Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spectrum Sensing Over MIMO Channels Using Generalized Likelihood Ratio Tests

Spectrum sensing is a key function of cognitive radios and is used to determine whether a primary user is present in the channel or not. Many approaches have been proposed when both primary user and secondary user employ a single antenna. Recently several techniques have also been proposed assuming that the the secondary user employs multiple antennas. In this paper, we formulate and solve the generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) for spectrum sensing when both primary user transmitter and the secondary user receiver are equipped with multiple antennas. We do not assume any prior information about the channel statistics or the primary user's signal structure. Two cases are considered when the secondary user is aware of the energy of the noise and when it is not. The final test statistics derived from GLRT are based on the eigenvalues of the sample covariance matrix. Through analysis we exhibit the role of the eigenvalues in characterizing the signal+noise and noise subspaces in the received data. Simulation results are presented in terms of the receiver operating characteristics and detection probabilities for several cases of interest.
Motion Perception as a Partnership: Exogenous and Endogenous Contributions

terpersonal contexts, Journal of Personality and So cial Psychology, 57, 426-441 (1989). 8. M.H. Bazerman, C.F. Loewenstein, and S.B. White, Psychological determinants of utility in com petitive contexts: The impact of el ? citation proce dure, Administrative Science Quarterly, 37, 220 240(1992). 9. M.H. Bazerman, H. Schroth, P. Pradhan, K. Diekmann, and A. Tenbrunsel, Inconsistent prefer ences in job acceptance: The role of social compar ison processes and procedural justice, Organiza tional Behavior and Human Decision Processes (in press). 10. These three effects can be found in the fol lowing three papers, respectively: D. Lowenthal, Reversals of preference in candidate choice, unpub lished manuscript, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh (1993); D. Kahneman and I. Ritov, De terminants of stated willingness to pay for public goods: A study of the headline method, Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 9, 5-38 (1994); and C.K. Hsee, Elastic justification: Affective influences on monetary decision making, unpublished manu script, University of Chicago, Chicago (1993).
TapTap and MagStick: improving one-handed target acquisition on small touch-screens

We present the design and evaluation of TapTap and MagStick, two thumb interaction techniques for target acquisition on mobile devices with small touch-screens. These two techniques address all the issues raised by the selection of targets with the thumb on small tactile screens: screen accessibility, visual occlusion and accuracy. A controlled experiment shows that TapTap and MagStick allow the selection of targets in all areas of the screen in a fast and accurate way. They were found to be faster than four previous techniques except Direct Touch which, although faster, is too error prone. They also provided the best error rate of all tested techniques. Finally the paper also provides a comprehensive study of various techniques for thumb based touch-screen target selection.
Do Psychologically Autonomous Individuals Behave as if they Have Free Will?

One-hundred research subjects completed a standardized test measuring moral autonomy, a game-theory exercise measuring belief in the predictability of decisions, a previously published scale measuring belief in free will, and a previously unpublished survey measuring the conceptual structure of evil. Greater moral autonomy was positively correlated with game-theory postulations of predictable decision-making, rather than freely willed decision-making, and was negatively correlated with a factor-analysis theme suggesting that “the nature of evil is revealed by God. ” Belief in free will was positively correlated with the theme suggesting that “the nature of evil is revealed by God” and was negatively correlated with themes suggesting that “the potential for evil is within everyone,” that “the reality of others prevents harm to others,” and that “good will prevail over evil. ” These results support the conclusion that morally autonomous individuals do not behave as if they have free will. Instead, they behave as if their decision-making is predictable and determined.
‘Secular Orthodox Christianity’ versus ‘Religious Islam’ in Postcommunist Bulgaria

Abstract This article discusses some problems of Christian-Muslim dialogue in postcommunist Bulgaria. It reveals the difficulty most people have in distinguishing the religious from the national and the secular from the atheist. It points to a tendency to regard the revival of minority religions, especially Islam, chiefly in terms of a threat to national unity. It also sheds light on the discrepancy between the high degree of tolerance of Orthodox rituals shared by the majority of Bulgarian citizens and the prevailing concerns about religious teachings of any kind as endangering scientific knowledge.
Event detection in time series by genetic programming

The aim of event detection in time series is to identify particular occurrences of user-interest in one or more time lines, such as finding an anomaly in electrocardiograms or reporting a sudden variation of voltage in a power supply. Current methods are not adequate for detecting certain kinds of events without any domain knowledge. Therefore, we propose a Genetic Programming (GP) based event detection methodology in which solutions can be built from raw time series data. The framework is applied to five synthetic data sets and one real world application. The experimental results show that working on raw data even with a dimensionality as high as 140 × 80, genetic programming can achieve superior performance to conventional methods operating on pre-defined features. Furthermore, analysis of the evolved event detectors shows that they have captured the regularities inserted into the synthetic data sets and some individuals can be readily understood by humans.
Handling multivariable missing data in causal mediation analysis

Mediation analysis is commonly used in epidemiological research, but guidance is lacking on how multivariable missing data should be dealt with in these analyses. Multiple imputation (MI) is a widely used approach, but questions remain regarding impact of missingness mechanism, how to ensure imputation model compatibility and approaches to variance estimation. To address these gaps, we conducted a simulation study based on the Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study. We considered six missingness mechanisms, involving varying assumptions regarding the influence of outcome and/or mediator on missingness in key variables. We compared the performance of complete-case analysis, seven MI approaches, differing in how the imputation model was tailored, and a"substantive model compatible"MI approach. We evaluated both the MI-Boot (MI, then bootstrap) and Boot-MI (bootstrap, then MI) approaches to variance estimation. Results showed that when the mediator and/or outcome influenced their own missingness, there was large bias in effect estimates, while for other mechanisms appropriate MI approaches yielded approximately unbiased estimates. Beyond incorporating all analysis variables in the imputation model, how MI was tailored for compatibility with mediation analysis did not greatly impact point estimation bias. BootMI returned variance estimates with smaller bias than MIBoot, especially in the presence of incompatibility.
Convergence theory, labour movements, and corporatism: The case of housing 1

This study undertakes a statistical analysis of housing policy and housing market developments in 18 advanced industrial countries comparing the early 1970s with the mid‐1980s. The article applies three modes of theoretical explanation, namely convergence theory, labour movement theory, and an institutional model based on theories of corporatism, focusing upon the first mode. The results show that contrary to convergence theory and its associated thesis of a particular “logic of industrialism”, institutional and ideological factors loom large. Analysing the structure of the market, ideological factors are found to be of greatest importance. At the same time, housing market processes and the character of housing policy are primarily determined by institutional factors, that is, the way in which market actors have been organized into or out of the housing policy system.
Planar near-field measurement of low directivity embedded antennas using a synthetic array probe technique

One of the limitations of planar near-field measurement using conventional processing is the inability to test small antennas with typically less than two wavelengths aperture dimensions because of the excessive ripple errors. This ripple is caused by discontinuity of the measured field at the edge of the plane of measurement which causes the generation of equivalent line sources which produce their own radiation pattern after transformation into the far-field. The ripple can also be viewed as resulting from a spectral domain convolution of the scan window and the antenna aperture field which contains a singularity. The technique presented here reduces the near-field level at the edges of plane of measurement by combining near-field data points to form a directive synthetic array of probes. This allows using the planar measurements for measuring antennas embedded in a large structure without rotating these structures or collecting excessively large scan data points. The deconvolution of the array factor in the spectral domain will be independent from the probe correction. The disadvantage of this processing is the limited measurement angular range in which the processed data are valid.
Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases II: Celiac sprue and gluten intolerance

ABSTRACT Celiac disease, and, more generally, gluten intolerance, is a growing problem worldwide, but especially in North America and Europe, where an estimated 5% of the population now suffers from it. Symptoms include nausea, diarrhea, skin rashes, macrocytic anemia and depression. It is a multifactorial disease associated with numerous nutritional deficiencies as well as reproductive issues and increased risk to thyroid disease, kidney failure and cancer. Here, we propose that glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide, Roundup®, is the most important causal factor in this epidemic. Fish exposed to glyphosate develop digestive problems that are reminiscent of celiac disease. Celiac disease is associated with imbalances in gut bacteria that can be fully explained by the known effects of glyphosate on gut bacteria. Characteristics of celiac disease point to impairment in many cytochrome P450 enzymes, which are involved with detoxifying environmental toxins, activating vitamin D3, catabolizing vitamin A, and maintaining bile acid production and sulfate supplies to the gut. Glyphosate is known to inhibit cytochrome P450 enzymes. Deficiencies in iron, cobalt, molybdenum, copper and other rare metals associated with celiac disease can be attributed to glyphosate’s strong ability to chelate these elements. Deficiencies in tryptophan, tyrosine, methionine and selenomethionine associated with celiac disease match glyphosate’s known depletion of these amino acids. Celiac disease patients have an increased risk to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which has also been implicated in glyphosate exposure. Reproductive issues associated with celiac disease, such as infertility, miscarriages, and birth defects, can also be explained by glyphosate. Glyphosate residues in wheat and other crops are likely increasing recently due to the growing practice of crop desiccation just prior to the harvest. We argue that the practice of "ripening" sugar cane with glyphosate may explain the recent surge in kidney failure among agricultural workers in Central America. We conclude with a plea to governments to reconsider policies regarding the safety of glyphosate residues in foods
Food Photography I: the perception of food portion size from photographs

Fifty-one male and female volunteers aged 18–90 years from a wide variety of social and occupational backgrounds completed 7284 assessments of portion size in relation to food photographs. Subjects were shown six portion sizes (two small, two medium and two large) for each of six foods, and asked to compare the amount on the plate in front of them to (a) a series of eight photographs showing weights of portions from the 5th to the 95th centile of portion size (British Adult Dietary Survey), or (b) a single photograph of the average (median) portion size. Photographs were prepared either in colour or in black and white, and in two different sizes. The order of presentation of foods; use of black and white or colour; the size of photographs; and presentation of eight or average photographs were each randomized independently. On average, the mean differences between the portion size presented and the estimate of portion size using the photographs varied from -8 to + 6g (-4 to + 5%) for the series of eight photographs, and from -34 to −1g (-23 to + 9%) for the single average photograph. Large portion sizes tended to be underestimated more than medium or small portion sizes, especially when using the average photograph (from -79 to -14g, -37 to -13%). Being female, 65 years and over, or retired, or seeing photographs in colour, were all associated with small but statistically significant overestimations of portion size. Having a body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m2 was associated with an 8% underestimate of portion size. We conclude that use of a series of eight photographs is associated with relatively small errors in portion size perception, whereas use of an average photograph is consistently associated with substantial underestimation across a variety of foods.
Experimental investigation at 10 Gb/s of the noise suppression capabilities in a pass-through configuration in SOA-based interferometric structures

We experimentally investigate a pass-through scheme for all-optical noise suppression in a SOA-based interferometric structure at 10 Gb/s. An input power dynamic range of /spl sim/8 dB as well as a noise suppression capability of /spl sim/4.5 dB has been demonstrated. Furthermore, the transmission properties have been investigated showing a small pre-amplified penalty of /spl sim/0.3 dB after transmission over 31 km of standard single mode fiber.
The Interplay between Tubulins and P450 Cytochromes during Plasmodium berghei Invasion of Anopheles gambiae Midgut

Background Plasmodium infection increases the oxidative stress inside the mosquito, leading to a significant alteration on transcription of Anopheles gambiae detoxification genes. Among these detoxification genes several P450 cytochromes and tubulins were differently expressed, suggesting their involvement in the mosquito's response to parasite invasion. P450 cytochromes are usually involved in the metabolism and detoxification of several compounds, but are also regulated by several pathogens, including malaria parasite. Tubulins are extremely important as components of the cytoskeleton, which rearrangement functions as a response to malaria parasite invasion. Methodology/Principal Findings Gene silencing methods were used to uncover the effects of cytochrome P450 reductase, tubulinA and tubulinB silencing on the A. gambiae response to Plasmodium berghei invasion. The role of tubulins in counter infection processes was also investigated by inhibiting their effect. Colchicine, vinblastine and paclitaxel, three different tubulin inhibitors were injected into A. gambiae mosquitoes. Twenty-four hours post injection these mosquitoes were infected with P. berghei through a blood meal from infected CD1 mice. Cytochrome P450 gene expression was measured using RT-qPCR to detect differences in cytochrome expression between silenced, inhibited and control mosquitoes. Results showed that cytochrome P450 reductase silencing, as well as tubulin (A and B) silencing and inhibition affected the efficiency of Plasmodium infection. Silencing and inhibition also affected the expression levels of cytochromes P450. Conclusions Our results suggest the existence of a relationship between tubulins and P450 cytochromes during A. gambiae immune response to P. berghei invasion. One of the P450 cytochromes in this study, CYP6Z2, stands out as the potential link in this association. Further work is needed to fully understand the role of tubulin genes in the response to Plasmodium infection.
Spontaneous rupture of hepatocellular carcinoma: conservative management and selective intervention.

HYPOTHESIS A conservative approach using selective intervention is better than an aggressive approach using nonselective intervention for ruptured hepatocellular carcinoma. DESIGN Nonrandomized controlled trial. SETTING A university hospital. PATIENTS AND INTERVENTIONS From 1984 to 1990, an aggressive approach was adopted in which 29 and 8 of a total of 40 patients underwent surgical intervention or attempted transarterial embolization (TAE), respectively. From 1991 to 1997, a more conservative approach was used. The initial treatment for 72 patients was conservative with close monitoring. Additional hemostatic procedures consisting of TAE (n = 13) or surgical intervention (n = 9) were given, depending on the clinical progress, disease status, and liver function of the patients. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES In-hospital mortality, survival. RESULTS In-hospital mortality rate was 62% (25 of 40 patients) in the first period and 51% (37 of 72 patients) in the second period. The respective median survival times were 7 and 12 days. If 36 patients with end-stage malignant neoplasms were excluded, the in-hospital mortality rate became 60% (18 of 30 patients) in the first period and 35% (16 of 46 patients) in the second period (P = .03, chi2 test). The respective median survival times became 8 and 72 days (P = .02, log rank test). In the second period, 7 (54%) of 13 patients who underwent TAE and 1 (11%) of 9 patients who underwent surgical intervention died within the same hospital admission (P = .07, Fisher exact test). CONCLUSIONS Selective intervention was cost-effective and gave better results than an aggressive approach. When intervention was indicated for hemostasis, surgery seemed better than TAE although the difference was not statistically significant.
THE MAKING OF THE IOC ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AS THE THIRD DIMENSION OF THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT

The Winter Olympics at Nagano, Japan, in 1998 marked the first Games at which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had a clearly articulated environmental protection policy that was to be followed by the organizing committee. This article attempts to explain the conditions under which this policy came to be, arguing that it was the widespread environmental damage at the 1992 Albertville and the Savoie Region Games, and the subsequent environmentally conscious Green Games of Lillehammer, Norway (1994), that were the historical benchmarks for the development of this policy. The importance of human/environment interaction in the creation of global sport policy is developed and demonstrates the primacy of local initiatives (Albertville, Lillehammer) upon transnational global concerns (IOC environmental policy), an example of the so-called disjuncture debate. The IOC declaration that environmental protection has become the third dimension of the Olympic movement, alongside sport and culture, is problematic; the IOC policy statements suggest that the IOC led in the development of environmental protection. The authors argue that, after Albertville, the IOC was pressured into developing an environmental policy but had little understanding of how to address this global issue. The Norwegian people, with their long-standing and well-developed respect for nature, provided an example that the IOC embraced. The local initiative of Lillehammer has become the global policy that all future Olympic Games organizing committees must follow if they are to win the bid to organize an Olympiad.
Effect of medication adherence on blood pressure control and risk factors for antihypertensive medication adherence.

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES We aim to investigate a range of risk factors associated with medication adherence among Chinese hypertensive patients. We also aim to investigate the association between medication adherence and blood pressure control. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted among Chinese hypertensive patients in a comprehensive teaching hospital in Shanghai, China, using a validated scale, a self-designed questionnaire and patients' medical records. RESULTS Of the 232 eligible participants, 61 (26.3%), 51 (22.0%) and 120 (51.7%) showed low, medium and high adherence, respectively. Adjusted for socio-demographic, clinical and patient-related factors, antihypertensive medication adherence was significantly associated with better systolic blood pressure control (P=0.001), whereas the association with diastolic blood pressure control was relatively weak (P=0.334). In the multivariate analysis, patients with longer duration of drug use [P=0.012, odds ratio (OR)=0.46, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.25-0.84], combination of antiplatelet agents (0.002, 0.38, 0.20-0.71), less concerns of medical cost (0.001, 0.18, 0.02-0.51), more availability of professional guidance (0.002, 0.34, 0.17-0.66) and more availability of family support (0.036, 0.51, 0.27-0.96) were more likely to adhere to their drug regimens. CONCLUSIONS The rate of suboptimal medication adherence among Chinese hypertensive patients is quite high. Interventions could focus upon the risk factors to improve antihypertensive medication adherence in clinical practice.
Antibacterial Efficacy of Raw and Processed Honey

In vitro antibacterial activity of methanol, ethanol, and ethyl acetate extracts of raw and processed honey was tested against Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, Enterococcus faecalis, and Micrococcus luteus) and Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Salmonella typhi). Both types of honey showed antibacterial activity against tested organisms with the zone of inhibition (ZOI) ranging from 6.94 to 37.94 mm, while E. coli, S. typhi, and P. aeruginosa showed that sensibility towards all the extracts with ZOI ranges between 13.09 to 37.94 mm. The methanol extract showed more potent activity than other organic extracts. Gram-negative bacteria were found to be more susceptible as compared to Gram-positive bacteria except E. faecalis. The broth microdilution assay gave minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) value of 625 μg/mL, while the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) ranges between 625 μg/mL 2500 μg/mL. The study showed that honey has antibacterial activity (bacteriostatic and bactericidal effect), similar to antibiotics, against test organisms and provides alternative therapy against certain bacteria.