Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distributed Power Control in CDMA Cellular Svstems

Chaouki Abdallah Electrical & Computer Engineering Department The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131 USA E-mail: chaouki@eece.unm. edu In wireless cellular communication, it is essential to find effective means for power control of signals received from randomly dispersed users within one cell. Effective power control will heavily impact the system capacity. Distributed power control (DPC) is a natural choice for such purposes, because, unlike centralized power control, DPC does not require extensive computational power. Distributed power control should be able to adjust the power levels of each transmitted signal using only local measurements, so that, in a reasonable time, all users will maintain the desired signal-to-interference ratio. In this paper, we review different approaches for power control, focusing on CDMA systems. We also introduce state-space methods and linear quadratic power control (LQPC) to solve the power-control problem. A simulation environment was developed to compare LQPC with earlier approaches. The results show that LQPC is more effective, and is capable of computing the desired transmission power of each mobile station in fewer iterations, as well as being able to accommodate more users in the system.
Evaluation of banking competition in Morocco: implementation of Panzar and Rosse model

This paper assesses the degree of competition in the Moroccan banking sector with the approach of Panzar and Rosse (1987). Thus, a revenue function of the reduced form was estimated using panel data on a sample of five Moroccan banks that hold more than 80% of the credit market. The results confirm empirically that the Moroccan banking sector is not competitive (by price or/and by quantity), is characterised by monopolistic competition which factors are specific to bank behaviour. Furthermore, analysis of the dynamics of the index of Panzar and Rosse between 1993 and 2010 made a claim stabilisation of competitive level, varying between 0.37 and 0.28, which suggests that banks in the presence strategies lead to agreements that reduce competition in the banking sector in Morocco.
The impact of physical activity on mortality in patients with high blood pressure: a systematic review

Background: Physical activity has been shown to be beneficial for the prevention and management of hypertension. In the general population, physical activity has been shown to decrease mortality. Purpose: The purpose of this systematic review was to identify and synthesize the literature examining the impact of physical activity on mortality in patients with high blood pressure (BP). Methods: An extensive search was conducted by two independent authors using Medline, Embase and Cochrane Library electronic databases (between 1985 and January 2012) and manual search from the reference list of relevant articles. Inclusion criteria were as follows: longitudinal design with minimum 1-year follow-up; hypertensive status of the cohort was indicated; and BP, physical activity, and mortality were measured. Results: Six articles evaluating a combined total of 48 448 men and 47 625 women satisfied the inclusion criteria. Cardiovascular and/or all-cause mortality were shown to be inversely related to physical activity in all studies. For example, patients with high BP who participated in any level of physical activity had a reduced risk (by 16–67%) of cardiovascular mortality, whereas a greater than two-fold increase in risk of mortality was noted in nonactive individuals. However, activity classification and parameters, such as frequency, duration, intensity, and volume, as well as BP status, were not consistent across studies. Conclusions: Regular physical activity is beneficial for reducing mortality in patients with high BP. More research is needed to establish the impact of specific kinds of physical activity and whether any differences exist between sexes.
Texture-Based Fingerprint Recognition Combining Directional Filter banks and Wavelet

To design an effective and robust fingerprint recognition method is still an open issue. Some texture-based methods such as directional energy method and wavelet method are available nowadays. However, directional energy method is insufficient to capture the detail information of fingerprint and it is also improper to directly use wavelet method to extract the feature since the complex and rich edge information of fingerprint. In this work we propose a texture-based method called DFB-Wavelet for fingerprint recognition via combining directional filter banks (DFB) and wavelet. The region of interest (ROI) composed of nonoverlapping square blocks, is decomposed into eight directions by employing DFB. Wavelet signatures are calculated as the features of a fingerprint image from each directional subband of DFB. The feature matching is performed on the global normalized Euclidean distance between the input fingerprint features and the templates features. Experimental results show that DFB-Wavelet method has the higher accuracy compared to the traditional texture-based methods.
Price Discrimination

The Web site of computer manufacturer Dell asks prospective buyers to declare whether they are a home user, small business, large business or government entity. Two years ago, the price of a 512MBmemory module, part number A0193405, depended on which business segment one declared. At that time, Dell quoted $289.99 for a large business, $266.21 for a government agency, $275.49 for a home, and $246.49 for a small business. What explains these price differences? How does Dell benefit from it? Different segments have different willingness to pay. Dell optimizes its prices, offering lower prices to relatively price-sensitive segments. An interesting aspect of Dell’s attempt to charge different prices to different customers is that the customers aid Dell in its effort. According to a Dell spokesperson, each segment independently sets prices and the customer is free to buy from whichever is cheapest. Thus, the customers paying more are choosing to pay more, probably because they do not expect the prices to vary so significantly. This chapter explores the economic rationale for price discrimination. Section 2 presents the basic theory of price discrimination and describes the conditions necessary for price discrimination to exist. Section 3 then discusses direct price discrimination, while indirect price discrimination is discussed in Section 4. Section 5 provides a discussion of the welfare effects associated with price discrimination, while Section 6 concludes this chapter with a discussion of the antitrust implications of price discrimination.
Effect of Noise on Analog Circuit Testing

The effect of test environment noise (tester noise) on test waveforms is considered. We show that tests generated ignoring the tester noise characteristics are prone to failure when actually applied to the circuit-under-test (CUT). The failure may result in the good circuit being declared faulty or the faulty circuit being declared good. This failure is independent of the fault model and nature of the test, i.e., AC or DC, time domain or frequency domain. We characterize the total noise at the primary outputs (PO's) of the circuit using second order statistics. We use the noise power spectrum and root mean square (RMS) values to make decisions about the test waveforms and recommend more noise-robust tests. For non-linear circuits we use the Central Limit Theorem of statistics to approximate narrow band noise at a primary input (PI) by a sum of sinusoidal distributions, and we use Monte-Carlo simulations to determine the noise at the PO's in the time domain. Results of experiments on an instrumentation amplifier, a biquadratic filter, and a Gilbert multiplier are presented, which prove that valid tests in a noise-free environment are invalid when tester noise is considered.
Advancetid network based wireless, single PMS for multiple-patient monitoring

Real-time monitoring of the physical condition of the patients is one of the major challenges faced by hospital authorities nowadays. All the hospitals today have one Patient Monitoring System (PMS) per patient. Also human intervention is needed frequently for critical patients. In this paper we propose a network based Wireless Single PMS (NWSPMS), which can monitor multiple patients to measure various physical parameters. This must be precise, fast and effective for transmission of information about their health condition to the concerned. Also there lies a need to transmit more parameters and more data for the convenience and fast response by the staffs in the hospital. Since we need an immediate response, we make use of the voice-call facility apart from the SMS mechanism via an GSM modem. The system proposed here monitors blood pressure, heart beat rate, body temperature and ECG of the elderly patient thus giving an overall condition of the patient.
Modeling repetitive, non‐globular proteins

While ab initio modeling of protein structures is not routine, certain types of proteins are more straightforward to model than others. Proteins with short repetitive sequences typically exhibit repetitive structures. These repetitive sequences can be more amenable to modeling if some information is known about the predominant secondary structure or other key features of the protein sequence. We have successfully built models of a number of repetitive structures with novel folds using knowledge of the consensus sequence within the sequence repeat and an understanding of the likely secondary structures that these may adopt. Our methods for achieving this success are reviewed here.
Switched Reluctance Motor Switching Strategy Comparison

This paper is related to comparison of two switching techniques that can be applied to asymmet ric bridge converter driven switched reluctance machine. Switc hed reluctance motor operation principles are discussed . Theoretical circuit operation description and Matlab simulation software are used for switching technique comparison. After analysis shows that modification of switching technique have following advantages: lower semiconductor commutation losses, lower current pulsations, reduced voltage stress.
A Taxonomy and Review of Positive Consumer Dispositions toward Foreign Countries and Globalization

International marketing research has shown vivid interest in consumers’ positive dispositions toward foreign countries and globalization. Motivated by the aim to segment international consumer markets, the literature has introduced and adopted a plethora of constructs and measurement instruments to capture such dispositions. However, the current state of literature is problematic because of an unsorted range of constructs with overlapping conceptualizations, diverse operationalizations, and fragmented empirical findings regarding the impact of these constructs on consumer responses. Consequently, making an informed choice on which construct(s) to employ in substantive research (and why) is extremely difficult. This article aims to advance the international marketing literature by (1) developing a conceptual taxonomy of constructs of positive consumer dispositions that highlights their similarities and unique features; (2) undertaking a comprehensive review of the relevant conceptualizations and operationalizations; and (3) providing guidance for further research on positive dispositions, including antecedents, response variables, and potential mediating and moderating influences. To move substantive research in this field further, this article also proposes a research framework that comprises antecedents, causal sequences of dispositions, effects on consumer response variables, and potential boundary conditions.
A hypothesis on the pathophysiological mechanisms that underlie levodopa‐ or dopamine agonist‐induced dyskinesia in Parkinson's disease: Implications for future strategies in treatment

Long‐term treatment of human Parkinson's disease with levodopa or dopamine agonists is often complicated by the appearance of abnormal involuntary movements (dyskinesias) that are extremely difficult to control. Little is known of the cause, pathophysiological mechanisms, or possible strategies for amelioration of this manifestation of dyskinesia. A hypothesis is set forth on the neural mechanisms that mediate levodopa‐ or dopamine agonist‐induced dyskinesia (in particular chorea) as a side effect of the treatment of parkinsonism. Evidence is drawn from both clinical observations and experimental studies in a spectrum of movement disorders ranging from ballism through chorea to parkinsonism. It is proposed that (a) All forms of chorea, whatever their origin, share a common underlying neural mechanism. (b) Disordered activity of the subthalamic nucleus is central to the generation of choreic movements. In levodopa‐ or dopamine agonist‐induced dyskinesia, (c) The site of action of dopaminergic agents in causing chorea is the putamen. (d) The specific pathophysiological state conducive to the appearance of chorea is brought about by the long‐term exposure of the dopamine‐depleted (parkinsonian) putamen to exogenous dopaminergic agents. (e) Long‐term exposure to dopaminergic agents causes (either directly or indirectly) preferential inhibition of the subpopulation of putaminal neurones that project specifically to the lateral segment of the globus pallidus. This causes disinhibition of lateral pallidal neurones, which become overactive and physiologically inhibit the subthalamic nucleus. (f) The hypothesis suggests a number of possible strategies that might be useful for the alleviation of levodopa‐induced dyskinesia.
Web Page Summarization by using Concept Hierarchies

To address the problem of information overload and to make effective use of information contained on the Web, we created a summarization system that can abstract key concepts and can extract key sentences to summarize text documents including Web pages. Our proposed system is the first summarization system that uses a knowledge base to generate new abstract concepts to summarize documents. To generate abstract concepts, our system first maps words contained in a document to concepts contained in the knowledge base called ResearchCyc, which organized concepts into hierarchies forming an ontology in the domain of human consensus reality. Then, it increases the weights of the mapped concepts to determine the importance, and propagates the weights upward in the concept hierarchies, which provides a method for generalization. To extract key sentences, our system weights each sentence in the document based on the concept weights associated with the sentence, and extracts the sentences with some of the highest weights to summarize the document. Moreover, we created a word sense disambiguation method based on the concept hierarchies to select the most appropriate concepts. Test results show that our approach is viable and applicable for knowledge discovery and semantic Web.
Couples’ Strategies after Job Loss in West Germany and the United States – The Added Worker Effect and Linked Life Courses

In couple households, income losses due to men’s displacements may be offset by an increase in women’s earnings, the so called “Added Worker Effect” (AWE). I argue that previous research largely neglected the variation of the AWE due to intra-household characteristics. Following the idea of “linked life courses”, intra-household processes have an influence on the AWE and that this influence is structured by gender norms. I test the implications of this perspective using panel data from West Germany (GSOEP) and the United States (PSID). Results support my expectation that male breadwinner couples have lower AWE than modern and semi-modernized couples.
Endovascular Treatment for Acute Tandem Occlusion Stroke: Results from Case Series of 17 Patients

Background and Purpose: Tandem occlusive lesion, a major challenge for thrombectomy in acute anterior circulation strokes, is poorly represented in randomized trials. This study demonstrates the findings of thrombectomy in tandem occlusion and comparative analysis of two treatment groups (extracranial versus intracranial first subgroup). Patients and Methods: We enrolled and divided 17 patients with acute tandem ischemic stroke who received endovascular treatment into two groups. Group 1 with completed (100%) internal carotid artery (ICA) occlusion was treated by an extracranial stent, whereas Group 2 with severe (70%–99%) ICA occlusion was prioritized with intracranial thrombectomy. Data of clinical parameters, imaging and angiographic results, periprocedural complications, and results after 3 months were collected and analyzed. Results: The mean age of patients was 70.2 ± 8.8 years, and males accounted for 94.1%. The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale and Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) baseline were 16.6 ± 4.2 and 7.6 ± 1.1, respectively, with occlusive side was 52.9% on the right. Group 1 including ten cases (58.8%) was treated extracranial lesion with carotid stent before intracranial thrombectomy, and Group 2 with seven cases (41.2%) was prioritized intracranial thrombectomy. In total 17 procedures, there were ten stent retrievers (58.8%), four aspirations (23.5%), and three Solumbra (17.7%). No re-occlusion of carotid stent postoperation was recorded. The good revascularization (thrombolysis in cerebral infarction 2b-3) was archived in 82.4% of patients, while symptomatic hemorrhage was seen in 2 cases (11.8%). Three months after treatment, patients with favorable clinical outcome (Modified Rankin Scale ≤2) accounted for 47.1%. Conclusion: Our study determined a promising outcome with reasonable good recanalization and clinical recovery for endovascular intervention in tandem ischemic. In the subgroup of treatment, “extracranial stent first” had more complex disease with completed ICA occlusion which required longer procedure time may lead to worse outcome.
Effect of the rs997509 polymorphism on the association between ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase phosphodiesterase 1 and metabolic syndrome and impaired glucose tolerance in childhood obesity.

CONTEXT Variants on the nucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase-1 (ENPP-1) gene have been associated with obesity and insulin resistance. Because insulin resistance is a pivotal factor in the development of metabolic syndrome (MS) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), we aimed to test the association between the K121Q and rs997509 ENPP-1 variants with obesity, MS and IGT in obese children and adolescents. METHODS We screened 809 children, 409 obese and 400 lean controls. Obese subjects underwent a standard oral glucose tolerance test, whole body insulin sensitivity index (WBISI) and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) were calculated. RESULTS No difference in prevalence for K121Q and rs997509 polymorphisms between obese and controls (P > 0.05) were observed. Obese children carrying the rs997509 rare allele showed higher insulin (P = 0.001), HOMA (P < .001) and lower WBISI values (P = 0.04) compared with common allele homozygous. A similar observation was done for K121Q variant, with 121Q allele carriers showing higher insulin (P = 0.03) and HOMA (P = 0.04) values than 121K homozygotes. Moreover, subjects carrying the rs997509 rare allele had higher risk of MS (odds ratio 2.4, 95% confidence interval: 1.3-4.3) and IGT (odds ratio 4.7, 95% confidence interval: 1.9-11.4) than common allele homozygotes. Evaluating combined effects of both polymorphisms, which are in strong linkage disequilibrium, we showed that the effect on insulin sensitivity was due to the rs997509 T variant. CONCLUSION We conclude that the ENPP1 rs997509T allele can predispose obese children to MS and IGT and that this variant might drive the association between the ENPP1 121Q allele and insulin resistance.
Living-related liver transplantation and neurological outcome in children with fulminant hepatic failure.

BACKGROUND Fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) in children is associated with high mortality under medical management. Living-related liver transplantation (LRLT) is an accepted measure to treat the children with end-stage liver disease. Reversibility of hepatic encephalopathy is crucial for the quality of life among the survivors after transplantation. METHODS A retrospective review was made of the records of children undergoing LRLT at this hospital between May 1992 and November 1996. RESULTS Eleven children with FHF underwent emergency LRLT. The mean age was 5 years (range, 2 months to 15 years). The indication for transplantation was persistent or worsening hepatic encephalopathy and severe coagulopathy, despite repeated plasma exchanges or exchange transfusions. The cause of FHF was non-A, non-B hepatitis in seven children, hepatitis B in two children, herpes simplex virus hepatitis in one child, and fulminant Wilson's disease with intravascular hemolysis in one child. The grade of hepatic encephalopathy was II in four children, III in two, and IV in five. The actuarial survival rate was 73% after a mean follow-up of 28 months (range, 13-67 months). Short-term neurological morbidity was present in two children with grade IV encephalopathy who also showed brain edema on cranial computed tomography. Eight survivors exhibited no long-term neurological deficit; the mean intelligence or developmental quotient was 97 (range, 86-110) at the end of the follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS LRLT is an effective option for the treatment of FHF in children. The long-term neurological status is satisfactory among survivors.
Evidence for a single-niche model of positive selection.

Thymocyte maturation depends on interactions with thymic stromal elements expressing major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. Mutant mouse strains lacking MHC class I (beta 2-microglobulin-null) or class II (A beta-null) expression fail to generate normal CD8 or CD4 T-cell populations and provide model systems for reconstitution experiments. We have constructed in vitro chimeras between normal and MHC-deficient thymi to evaluate the efficiency of positive selection. Unexpectedly, the generation of mature single-positive thymocytes was proportional to the fraction of wild-type (i.e., MHC-expressing) stroma over a wide range of chimerism. Similar results were obtained for the development of T-cell receptor-transgenic thymocytes in graded chimeras expressing selecting and nonselecting MHC alleles. These findings are best explained by hypothesizing that positive selection involves a rate-limiting step at which each thymocyte can interact with only one stromal cell niche.