Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Joint Decoding and Adaptive Compression with QoS Constraint for Uplinks in Cloud Radio Access Networks

Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN) is a promising candidate for future mobile networks to sustain the exponentially increasing demand for data rate. The centralized architecture enables C-RAN to exploit multi-cell cooperation and interference management effectively. In C-RAN, one baseband unit (BBU) communicates with users through distributed Remote Radio Heads (RRHs) which are connected to the BBU via high capacity, low latency fronthaul links and perform ``soft" relaying. However, the architecture of C-RAN imposes a shortage of fronthaul bandwidth because raw In-phase/Quadrature-phase (I/Q) samples are exchanged between the RRHs and the BBU. In this paper, we leverage on advanced signal processing to improve the compression efficiency in fronthaul uplinks. Specifically, we propose a joint decoding algorithm at the BBU that exploits the correlation among the RRHs and jointly performs decompressing and decoding. An upper bound of the Block Error Rate (BLER) of the proposed algorithm is derived using pair-wise error probability analysis. Based on the BLER upper bound, we propose an adaptive compression scheme which minimizes the fronthaul transmission rate while satisfying a target quality of service constrain on the BLER. Our proposed adaptive compressor originates from practical scenarios in which most applications tolerate certain non-zero BLER thresholds.
Sustainable tourism and resulting resident satisfaction at Jammu and Kashmir, India

Purpose – This study aims to examine the relative influence of four sustainability dimensions (environmental, economic, socio-cultural and institutional) in predicting resident satisfaction with the development of sustainable tourism. Prior literature focused mainly on the conceptualization and examination of tourist satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from a sample of 300 residents near two sustainable tourist sites of Gharana Wetland and Ramnagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Jammu and Kashmir, India. The partial least squares structural equation modelling method was performed to test the proposed relationships. Findings – Empirical evidence supported the positive and significant effect of environmental, economic, socio-cultural and institutional dimensions on residents’ satisfaction. Findings indicate that all four dimensions of sustainability should be considered as part of a holistic approach towards planning and monitoring sustainable tourism development. Research limitations/imp.
Evidence of specific cognitive deficits in patients with chronic low back pain under long-term substitution treatment of opioids.

BACKGROUND There is a growing number of patients worldwide being treated with long-term opioids for chronic non-cancer pain, although there is limited evidence for their effectiveness in improving pain and function. Opioid-use related adverse effects, especially in cognitive functioning in these patients, are rarely evaluated. OBJECTIVES The present study investigated the cognitive functions of patients with chronic back pain who underwent long-term opioid treatment in comparison with those patients without opioid usage and healthy controls. STUDY DESIGN A prospective, nonrandomized, cross-sectional study. SETTING Multidisciplinary pain management clinic, specialty referral center, University Hospital in Germany. METHODS In a prospective cross-sectional design, 37 patients with chronic back pain who underwent long-term opioid therapy (OP) were compared with 33 patients with chronic back pain without opioid therapy (NO) and 25 healthy controls (HC). Assessment of primary outcome included cognitive function such as information processing speed, choice reaction time, pattern recognition memory, and executive function. Other data included pain, back function, depression and anxiety, use of medication, and education status. The relationship between cognitive functions and anxiety/depression was analysed. RESULTS Both patient groups needed significantly longer time in information processing when compared to HC (Group 1: 41.87 ± 20.47 Group 2: 38.29 ± 19.99 Group 3: 30.25 ± 14.19). Additionally, OP patients had significantly reduced spatial memory capacity, flexibility for concept change, and impaired performance in working memory assessment compared to NO patients and HC. The impaired cognitive outcomes were significantly associated with pain intensity, depression scores, and medication use. LIMITATIONS Limitations include small number of patients with heterogeneous opioid therapy and the nonrandomized observational nature of the study. CONCLUSIONS Our findings give a differential view into the cognitive changes from chronic back pain with and without long-term opioids treatment. Chronic back pain itself impairs some distinct cognitive functions. Long-term opioid therapy adds further cognitive impairment.
Geometrical analysis of altitude estimation error caused by pixel quantization in stereo vision

Determining location of a target in a specific region is an important goal in some machine vision applications. The accuracy of the target localization is related to a number of parameters. Quantization process in the CCD of a camera node is one of the sources of error which results in achieving an estimation of the target location instead of its exact position. In this paper, we present a geometrical approach to analyze this error. The proposed approach models the field of view of each pixel as an oblique cone. Thus the ambiguity in localization, via two cameras with arbitrary configurations, is considered by intersection of two oblique cones. In this paper we utilize the difference between the maximum and minimum points of the cones intersection, in all three dimensions, as a criterion of error estimation. In order to determine the extremum points, the Lagrangain method is used. We show the validity of our model through simulations. Also, we analyze the effect of varying many parameters such as the baseline length, focal length, and pixel size, on the amount of the estimation error.
Systemic Risk in Financial Services

Abstract The current banking crisis has reminded us of how risks materialising in one part of the financial system can have a widespread impact, affecting other financial markets and institutions and the broader economy. This paper, prepared on behalf of the Actuarial Profession, examines how such events have an impact on the entire financial system and explores whether such disturbances may arise within the insurance and pensions sectors as well as within banking. The paper seeks to provide an overview of a number of banking and other financial crises which have occurred in the past, illustrated by four case studies. It discusses what constitutes a systemic event and what distinguishes it from a large aggregate system wide shock. Finally, it discusses how policy-makers can respond to the risk of such systemic financial failures.
Colorization by automatically generating the priori knowledge

A one-dimensional luminance scalar is replaced by a vector of a colorful multi-dimension for every pixel of a monochrome image, it is called colorization. Obviously, it is under-constrained. Thereby, the priori knowledge is considered to be given to the monochrome image. Colorization using optimization algorithm is an effective algorithm for the above problem. However, it cannot effectively do with some images well without repeating experiments for confirming the place of scribbles. In our paper, we propose a colorization algorithm which can automatically generate the priori knowledge. We show our idea as below. Firstly, the prior knowledge crystallizes into some points of the prior knowledge which is automatically extracted by downsampling and upsampling method. And then we classify some points of the prior knowledge and give the points of the prior knowledge the corresponding colors. Lastly, the color image can be obtained by the color points of the prior knowledge. We demonstrate that our proposal not only effectively generates the prior knowledge but also colorizes the monochrome image according to requirements of user with some experiments.
Using virtual reality to reduce stress at work

Work related stress and depression is becoming a major concern at the work place and a major factor in decreased productivity amongst office workers. A Virtual Reality (VR) application was developed as a new form of stress management that could be deployed at the workplace and allow workers to relax during their breaks. The application consisted of a relaxing virtual environment and utilized the Oculus Rift VR headset. Two modes were offered. Firstly, a peaceful scenery intended purely for relaxation purposes and secondly, a combination of a relaxing virtual environment which also incorporated real-time, work related information. The latter to examine whether office workers would benefit from transferring some of their work in a more relaxing, virtual space. 32 participants took part in this study. The results show that participants enjoyed the relaxation experience, felt more relaxed after using the application and responded favorably to the idea of using virtual reality for relaxation at work as well as combining relaxing virtual environments with work related activities.
Realised absorptive capacity, technology acquisition and performance in international collaborative formations: an empirical examination in the Korean context

The research objectives of this paper are twofold. First, it attempts to identify the critical factors facilitating the acquisition of technology from foreign partner firms and performance enhancement in international collaborative formations. Second, it compares these factors across Western and Japanese sub-samples. A new concept, realised absorptive capacity, is employed to achieve these objectives. Using a sample collected through a questionnaire-based survey, our results show that trust and communication are critical components in transforming new knowledge, while active managerial involvement of the foreign firm and the participation of foreign expatriates are the keys to applying it for business operations. In particular, components consisting of the ability to exploit new knowledge (i.e. active managerial involvement of foreign firm, participation of foreign expatriates and provision of training) are closely associated with performance enhancement. In addition, our results confirm that there clearly exist different patterns of learning mechanisms and incompatible behaviours in improving performance between the two sub-samples. Based on the results, the authors suggest implications and future research avenues.
Key determinants of the circulatory exposure of organic anions: differences in hepatic uptake between multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 (Mrp2)-deficient rats and wild-type rats

Abstract 1. Raloxifene-6-glucuronide (R6G) is a substrate of rat multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 (Mrp2), a transporter responsible for biliary excretion of organic anions. 2. Pharmacokinetic modeling of R6G in Eisai hyperbilirubinemic rats (EHBRs), hereditary Mrp2-deficient rats, and wild-type Sprague–Dawley rats (SDRs) indicated that reduction in not only biliary excretion but also hepatic uptake of R6G influenced low clearance in EHBRs. 3. An integration plot study demonstrated that the hepatic uptake of R6G was 66% lower in EHBRs than that in SDRs. A reduction was observed for the other Mrp2 substrate Valsartan (95% lower) but not for estradiol-17β-glucuronide (E217βG). This variation may be associated with the difference in substrate specificity of transporters and/or inhibition of hepatic uptake of organic anions by endogenous substances such as bilirubin glucuronides. 4. In conclusion, incidental alteration of the hepatic uptake of organic anions should be considered as an explanation of their enhanced systemic exposure in EHBRs.
PENILAIAN KINERJA PADA PT. ADHI KARYA DENGAN PENDEKATAN BALANCED SCORECARD

ABSTRAK Penilaian kinerja dapat dikatakan sebagai faktor utama dalam pengembangan suatu perusahaan, karena hal ini merupakan sebuah sarana bagi manajemen untuk menelaah sejauh mana visi, misi dan tujuan perusahaan telah tercapai, menilai prestasi bisnis, manajer, divisi dan setiap individu dalam perusahaan serta untuk memprediksi harapan-harapan perusahaan kedepannya. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk memberikan kontribusi mengenai penilaian kinerja dengan pendekatan balanced scorecard dengan mengangkat studi kasus pada PT Adhi Karya (Persero) Tbk dengan tahun kajian 2010 sampai dengan tahun 2011. Penelitian ini diharapkan dapat memberikan implikasi bagi pemangku kepentingan seperti perusahaan dan manajemen, karyawan perusahaan, investor, calon investor, supplier , kreditur dan rekanan perusahaan. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian dapat disimpulkan bahwa kinerja PT Adhi Karya (Persero) Tbk pada tahun 2011 lebih baik dari tahun 2010. Kata Kunci: balanced scorecard, pengukuran kinerja, konstruksi
Zero observations and gender differences in cigarette consumption

Censoring mechanisms and gender differences are investigated for cigarette consumption by individuals in the USA. The Gaussian single-hurdle model is proposed which generalizes the specifications of Cragg (1971) and Heckman (1979) and allows examination of the empirical relevance of the two censoring mechanisms in the existing double-hurdle model. The proposed model performs better than Cragg's and Heckman's models but not as well as the double-hurdle model and also produces different elasticity estimates. The hypothesis of equal consumption parameters is rejected and demand elasticities found to differ between men and women. Income does not play a role and age has conflicting effects on the probability and level of cigarette smoking. Older individuals are less likely to smoke but, conditional on smoking, consume more cigarettes than their younger counterparts. Education has negative effects on the probability and level of smoking and can be an effective tool to curtail cigarette smoking.
Expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein and glutamine synthetase by Müller cells after optic nerve damage and intravitreal application of brain‐derived neurotrophic factor

Müller glia play an important role in maintaining retinal homeostasis, and brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has proven to be an effective retinal ganglion cell (RGC) neuroprotectant following optic nerve injury. The goal of these studies was to investigate the relation between optic nerve injury and Müller cell activation, and to determine the extent to which BDNF affects the injury response of Müller cells. Using immunocytochemistry and Western blot analysis , temporal changes in the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and glutamine synthetase (GS) were examined in rats after optic nerve crush alone, or in conjunction with an intravitreal injection of BDNF (5 μg). GFAP protein levels were normal at 1 day post‐crush, but increased ∼9‐fold by day 3 and remained elevated over the 2‐week period studied. Müller cell GS expression remained stable after optic nerve crush, but the protein showed a transient shift in its cellular distribution; during the initial 24‐h period post‐crush the GS protein appeared to translocate from the cell body to the inner and outer glial processes, and particularly to the basal endfeet located in the ganglion cell layer. BDNF alone, or in combination with optic nerve crush, did not have a significant effect on the expression of either GFAP or GS compared with the normal retina, or after optic nerve crush alone, respectively. The data indicate that although BDNF is a potent neuroprotectant in the vertebrate retina, it does not appear to have a significant influence on Müller cell expression of either GS or GFAP in response to optic nerve injury. GLIA 38:115–125, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Meaning Representation Parsing

This project is aimed at solving the task 8 of SemEval 2016, in which, any English sentence had to be converted into its Abstract Meaning Representation (AMR) [ISI, 2015]. All the data and the code for the baseline algorithm was provided by the organizer of the task. In the baseline algorithm provided for the same [Flanigan et al., 2014], we noticed that the AMR graph generation hugely depended on the focus of the sentence. And the baseline failed to recognize the focus quite often. So we used an LSTM to recognize the focus separately and use this new focus for generating the rest of the graph. 1 Abstract Meaning Representation “Abstract Meaning Representation (AMR) is a compact, readable, whole-sentence semantic annotation. Annotation components include entity identification and typing, PropBank semantic roles, individual entities playing multiple roles, entity grounding via wikification, as well as treatments of modality, negation, etc.” [May, 2015] 1. Who is doing what to whom in a sentence 2. Different from a parse tree, it is abstract 3. AMR does not say anything about how it wants to be processed. 4. It is not an interlingua. Figure 1: An ideal AMR graph for the sentence “The boy wants the girl to believe him. ”
Photoacoustic measurements of single red blood cells

A photoacoustic method to infer the size, shape and orientation of single RBCs is presented. Diseased or damaged RBCs frequently have abnormal shapes and sizes, which can result from a variety of diseases. When using frequencies between 100 and 500 MHz, the photoacoustic power spectrum from RBCs has periodically varying minima and maxima that depend on the size and shape of the RBC. The signals from RBCs in a vertical and horizontal orientation relative to the transducer were compared to numerical simulations using a finite element model. Three different shapes commonly used to model RBCs were examined (at constant volume): a biconcave disk, an oblate ellipsoid and a sphere. For a single biconcave shaped RBC, good agreement in the shape of the power spectrum was observed between measured and numerical simulations for the RBC in both the vertical and horizontal orientation relative to the transducer. When the RBC was placed in a hypotonic solution, it swelled to a spherical shape. In this case, good agreement was observed between the measured signal and the spherical model. In this paper, we show that the photoacoustic power spectrum can be used to infer the size, shape and orientation of single RBCs.
Sacral nerve stimulation in faecal incontinence: position statement based on a collective experience

Objective Since the first paper published by Matzel et al., in 1995, on the efficacy of sacral nerve stimulation (SNS) in patients with faecal incontinence, the indications, the contraindications, the stimulation technique and follow up of implanted patients have changed. The aim of this article was to provide a consensus opinion on the management of patients with faecal incontinence treated with SNS.
Kindred Strangers: The Uneasy Relationship between Politics and Business in America

AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: The Study of Business and Politics3Ch. 1Why Businessmen Distrust Their State: The Political Consciousness of American Corporate Executives29Ch. 2Cooperative Regulation: Environmental Protection in Great Britain73Ch. 3The Globalization of Business Ethics: Why America Remains Distinctive91Ch. 4Government-Industry Relations in the United States: An Overview113Ch. 5The Public-Interest Movement and the American Reform Tradition141Ch. 6Lobbying the Corporation: Citizen Challenges to Business Authority166Ch. 7The Ethical Roots of Business Ethics195Ch. 8When Consumers Oppose Consumer Protection: The Politics of Regulatory Backlash214Ch. 9Political Science and the Study of Corporate Power: A Dissent from the New Conventional Wisdom239Ch. 10The Power of Business in America: A Reappraisal268Ch. 11The Power of Business in Capitalist Societies: A Comparative Perspective298Ch. 12A Case Study of Clear Air Legislation, 1967-1981323Appendix394Index397
Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Collection after Intermediate-Dose Cytarabine in Adult Patients with Acute Myeloblastic Leukemia Undergoing Autologous Blood Stem Cell Transplantation in First Complete Remission

Different strategies for collecting peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) for autologous blood stem cell transplantation (ABSCT) have been reported for patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML). We compared the clinical results of 2 consecutive protocols in 75 adult patients with AML in first complete remission who underwent ABSCT. In the first 56 patients (group A), PBSC were collected after induction and/or consolidation chemotherapy courses. In the subsequent 19 patients (group B), PBSC collection was done after a further intensification course with intermediate-dose cytarabine and mitoxantrone. Hematopoietic engraftment was similar in the 2 groups, with the median times to reach 0.5x109 neutrophils/L and 20x109 platelets/L being 13 days each in group A, and 12 days and 24 days, respectively, in group B. There were 3 graft failures (all in group A) and 5 transplantation-related deaths (6.6%, 4 in group A and 1 in group B). Although not statistically significant, the 3-year probabilities of both relapse (31% versus 66%; P = .12) and disease-free survival (60% versus 36%; P = .1) compared favorably for group B. Our study suggests that collection of PBSC after additional intensification can result in a better outcome for AML patients who undergo ABSCT.
Structure, function and latency regulation of a bacterial enterotoxin potentially derived from a mammalian adamalysin/ADAM xenolog

Enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis is the most frequent disease-causing anaerobe in the intestinal tract of humans and livestock and its specific virulence factor is fragilysin, also known as B. fragilis toxin. This is a 21-kDa zinc-dependent metallopeptidase existing in three closely related isoforms that hydrolyze E-cadherin and contribute to secretory diarrhea, and possibly to inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer. Here we studied the function and zymogenic structure of fragilysin-3 and found that its activity is repressed by a ∼170-residue prodomain, which is the largest hitherto structurally characterized for a metallopeptidase. This prodomain plays a role in both the latency and folding stability of the catalytic domain and it has no significant sequence similarity to any known protein. The prodomain adopts a novel fold and inhibits the protease domain via an aspartate-switch mechanism. The catalytic fragilysin-3 moiety is active against several protein substrates and its structure reveals a new family prototype within the metzincin clan of metallopeptidases. It shows high structural similarity despite negligible sequence identity to adamalysins/ADAMs, which have only been described in eukaryotes. Because no similar protein has been found outside enterotoxigenic B. fragilis, our findings support that fragilysins derived from a mammalian adamalysin/ADAM xenolog that was co-opted by B. fragilis through a rare case of horizontal gene transfer from a eukaryotic cell to a bacterial cell. Subsequently, this co-opted peptidase was provided with a unique chaperone and latency maintainer in the time course of evolution to render a robust and dedicated toxin to compromise the intestinal epithelium of mammalian hosts.