Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Controlling market power and price spikes in electricity networks: Demand-side bidding

In this article we report an experiment that examines how demand-side bidding can discipline generators in a market for electric power. First we develop a treatment without demand-side bidding; two large firms are allocated baseload and intermediate cost generators such that either firm might unilaterally withhold the capacity of its intermediate cost generators from the market to benefit from the supracompetitive prices that would result from only selling its baseload units. In a converse treatment, ownership of some of the intermediate cost generators is transferred from each of these firms to two other firms such that no one firm could unilaterally restrict output to spawn supracompetitive prices. Having established a well controlled data set with price spikes paralleling those observed in the naturally occurring economy, we also extend the design to include demand-side bidding. We find that demand-side bidding completely neutralizes the exercise of market power and eliminates price spikes even in the presence of structural market power.
Full-Duplex Cyber-Weapon With Massive Arrays

In order to enhance secrecy performance of protecting scenarios, understanding the illegitimate side is crucial. In this paper, from the perspective of the illegitimate side, the security attack from a full-duplex cyber-weapon equipped with massive antenna arrays is considered. To evaluate the behavior of the proposed cyber-weapon, we develop a closed-form, a tight approximation, and asymptotic expressions of the achievable ergodic secrecy rate with taking into consideration imperfect channel estimation at the cyber-weapon. The results show that even under some disadvantage conditions, i.e., imperfect channel estimation and self-interference, the full-duplex massive array cyber-weapon can disable traditional physical layer protecting schemes, i.e., increasing the transmit power and the number of antennas at the legitimate transmitter. In addition, when a transmit power optimization scheme for maximizing the difference between the eavesdropping rate and the legitimate rate is applied at the full-duplex cyber-weapon, the malicious attack is even more dangerous. The results also reveal that when the legitimate side faces an advance adversary, it is essential to prevent important information in the training phases exposing to the illegitimate side.
The Impact of Workers' Compensation on Outcomes of Surgical and Nonoperative Therapy for Patients With a Lumbar Disc Herniation: SPORT

Study Design. Prospective randomized and observational cohorts. Objective. To compare outcomes of patients with and without workers' compensation who had surgical and nonoperative treatment for a lumbar intervertebral disc herniation (IDH). Summary of Background Data. Few studies have examined the association between worker's compensation and outcomes of surgical and nonoperative treatment. Methods. Patients with at least 6 weeks of sciatica and a lumbar IDH were enrolled in either a randomized trial or observational cohort at 13 US spine centers. Patients were categorized as workers' compensation or nonworkers' compensation based on baseline disability compensation and work status. Treatment was usual nonoperative care or surgical discectomy. Outcomes included pain, functional impairment, satisfaction and work/disability status at 6 weeks, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months. Results. Combining randomized and observational cohorts, 113 patients with workers' compensation and 811 patients without were followed for 2 years. There were significant improvements in pain, function, and satisfaction with both surgical and nonoperative treatment in both groups. In the nonworkers' compensation group, there was a clinically and statistically significant advantage for surgery at 3 months that remained significant at 2 years. However, in the workers' compensation group, the benefit of surgery diminished with time; at 2 years no significant advantage was seen for surgery in any outcome (treatment difference for SF-36 bodily pain [−5.9; 95% CI: −16.7–4.9] and physical function [5.0; 95% CI: −4.9–15]). Surgical treatment was not associated with better work or disability outcomes in either group. Conclusion. Patients with a lumbar IDH improved substantially with both surgical and nonoperative treatment. However, there was no added benefit associated with surgical treatment for patients with workers' compensation at 2 years while those in the nonworkers' compensation group had significantly greater improvement with surgical treatment.
Discourse theories vs. Topic-Focus articulation applied to prosodic focus assignment in Romanian

“…it is not the argument structure that triggers the intonational phrasing, but the [discourse, subclausal n.b.] relation of backgrounding. ” (K. von Heusinger, 2007) Is it? If yes, how? The present paper, maintaining our attempts for applying Prague School's Topic-Focus Articulation (TFA) algorithm on the syntax-prosody interface of Romanian, proposes two comparative lines of investigation for the intonational focus assignment: (A) The TFA algorithm is improved at clause level with hints from Gussenhoven's SAAR (Sentence Accent Assignment Rule), then extended to inter-clause level, i.e. complex sentences. The new shape of the TFA algorithm is applied to compute the Topic-Focus values in the discursive context, while the information-structural (IS) spans of Theme(s)-Rheme(s) are detached, at clause level, as lowest-highest degrees of Communicative Dynamism (CD) vs. Systemic Order (SO). (B) The second approach we experiment for assigning intonational focus and phrasing is based on the combined and intensive use of discourse theories for computing the IS categories and structures: the Background-Kontrast entities (associated with the Prague School's Topic-Focus) are obtained with Asher's (1993) Segmented Discourse Representation Theory (SDRT) analysis, while Theme-Rheme structures within the finite clause are computed with Leong's (2004) Inference-Boundary (IB) algorithm (of Hallidayan inspiration), applied for the first time to Romanian. Furthermore, this second direction is inspired from and joins the IS-discourse theory proposed by Heusinger (2007), which relies on SDRT inter-clausal evolution of discourse variables for computing the Background-Kontrast. While maintaining the classical SDRT (including rhetorical) discourse relations at the inter-clause level, Heusinger introduces a set of IS-semantics relations, and hands down at sub-clause level the rhetorical and focus particle relations with significant role in intonational-prosodic phrasing. Examples of these two types of research are compared to a gold, intonationally annotated set of Romanian sentences, the proposed theoretical and procedural techniques aiming to balance the pessimistic-realistic view on prosody prediction that it is the speaker-presupposition (and hearer-accommodation) which determines the IS focal scopes, rather than the bare text.
Human maternal behaviour is associated with arginine vasopressin receptor 1A gene

Parenting is one of the main influences on children's early development, and yet its underlying genetic mechanisms have only recently begun to be explored, with many studies neglecting to control for possible child effects. This study focuses on maternal behaviour and on an allele at the RS3 promoter region of the arginine vasopressin receptor 1A (AVPR1A) gene, previously associated with autism and with higher amygdala activation in a face-matching task. Mothers were observed during a free-play session with each of their 3.5-year-old twins. Multilevel regression analyses revealed that mothers who are carriers of the AVPR1A RS3 allele tend to show less structuring and support throughout the interaction independent of the child's sex and RS3 genotype. This finding advances our understanding of the genetic influences on human maternal behaviour.
Algorithm-data driven optimization of adaptive communication networks

This paper is motivated by the emerging vision of an automated and data-driven optimization of communication networks, making it possible to fully exploit the flexibilities offered by modern network technologies and heralding an era of fast and self-adjusting networks. We build upon our recent study of machine-learning approaches to (statically) optimize resource allocations based on the data produced by network algorithms in the past. We take our study a crucial step further by considering dynamic scenarios: scenarios where communication patterns can change over time. In particular, we investigate network algorithms which learn from the traffic distribution (the feature vector), in order to predict global network allocations (a multi-label problem). As a case study, we consider a well-studied fc-median problem arising in Software-Defined Networks, and aim to imitate and speedup existing heuristics as well as to predict good initial solutions for local search algorithms. We compare different machine learning algorithms by simulation and find that neural network can provide the best abstraction, saving up to two-thirds of the algorithm runtime.
MicroRNAs and the regulation of fibrosis

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, noncoding RNAs of 18–25 nucleotides that are generally believed to either block the translation or induce the degradation of target mRNA. miRNAs have been shown to play fundamental roles in diverse biological and pathological processes, including cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and carcinogenesis. Fibrosis results from an imbalance in the turnover of extracellular matrix molecules and is a highly debilitating process that can eventually lead to organ dysfunction. A growing body of evidence suggests that miRNAs participate in the fibrotic process in a number of organs including the heart, kidney, liver and lung. In this review, we summarize our current understanding of the role of miRNAs in the development of tissue fibrosis and their potential as novel drug targets.
InfoShield: a security architecture for protecting information usage in memory

Cyber theft is a serious threat to Internet security. It is one of the major security concerns by both network service providers and Internet users. Though sensitive information can be encrypted when stored in non-volatile memory such as hard disks, for many e-commerce and network applications, sensitive information is often stored as plaintext in main memory. Documented and reported exploits facilitate an adversary stealing sensitive information from an application's memory. These exploits include illegitimate memory scan, information theft oriented buffer overflow, invalid pointer manipulation, integer overflow, password stealing Trojans and so forth. Today's computing system and its hardware cannot address these exploits effectively in a coherent way. This paper presents a unified and lightweight solution, called InfoShield that can strengthen application protection against theft of sensitive information such as passwords, encryption keys, and other private data with a minimal performance impact. Unlike prior whole memory encryption and information flow based efforts, InfoShield protects the usage of information. InfoShield ensures that sensitive data are used only as defined by application semantics, preventing misuse of information. Comparing with prior art, InfoShield handles a broader range of information theft scenarios in a unified framework with less overhead. Evaluation using popular network client-server applications shows that InfoShield is sound for practical use and incurs little performance loss because InfoShield only protects absolute, critical sensitive information. Based on the profiling results, only 0.3% of memory accesses and 0.2% of executed codes are affected by InfoShield.
A wideband low cost E-band SIW antenna array for high capacity mmWave radio

In this paper, a novel E-band antenna array with high bandwidth is presented. The distribution network is based on Substrate-Integrated-Waveguide (SIW) technology and consists of several H-plane T-junctions in the lower layer. The coupling slot aperture has been designed with a special offset from the center axis of the waveguide for strong excitation of the SIW antenna. The radiating element has 3-dB beam-width of 25 degrees in E plane and 30 degrees in H plane making it compatible with beam steering. To show the validity of the approach, a 4×4 E-band array prototype is presented in this paper. The E-band antenna array is approximately 12mm×12mm in size realized by Rogers 4350 substrate. The antenna has been optimized for 71-86 GHz E-band frequency range. The broadside measured gain from 77-86 GHz is better than 15 dBi. This concept can be used for any application where SIW transmission can be implemented, and is compatible with low cost multilayer technologies.
Surge endurance capability testing of supercapacitor families

Supercapacitors are usually low voltage, high capacity devices with milliohm order equivalent series resistances. They usually have time constants from fractional seconds to seconds. Due to these long time constants, compared to the time durations of power line transients in the range of few microseconds to several 100 microseconds, these devices may be able to withstand short duration surges with energy values specified in IEEE C62–41 series and IEC 61400–4–5 and similar standards. However there is little or no manufacturer data sheet information on these aspects. The paper provides the details of a test procedure to test the surge withstand capability of supercapacitors. In addition, essential details of a customized tester interface required for a lightning surge simulator and surge-endurance test results for three supercapacitor families are also presented.
Hospital and community pharmacists’ perception of the scope, barriers and challenges of pharmacy practice-based research in Nigeria

Objectives: To evaluate perception, extent of involvement and barriers to pharmacy practice-based research among community and hospital pharmacists in Ibadan, Oyo state, southwestern Nigeria. Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was carried out among 65 hospital and 86 community pharmacists with at least five-year post-qualification experience, using pre-tested questionnaire. Socio-demographic information, extent of involvement, relevance and scope, as well as barriers to pharmacy practice-based research were explored. Data were summarised using descriptive statistics. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney-U tests were used for evaluating ranked variables at p<0.05. Results: Nearly all participants (>95.0%) in each practice category agreed that pharmacy practice-based research is essential to pharmacy profession. Greater than 90.0% agreed that pharmacy practice-based research may help in identifying gaps to improve practice. Thirty-five (40.7%) community and 36(55.4%) hospital pharmacist participants had previously involved in practice-based research. Seventy-seven (89.5%) community and 55(84.3%) hospital pharmacists agreed that acquisition of additional research-oriented training is essential for effective conduct of pharmacy practice-based research. More than one-half in each category agreed that inadequate financial commitment and lack of access to patient’s data are major barriers to pharmacy practice-based research. Conclusions: Community and hospital pharmacists agreed that pharmacy practice based research is essential to pharmacy profession, especially in identifying areas of focus to improve practice. Necessity for acquiring additional training in research, financial constraints and lack of access to patient’s data were identified as barriers to pharmacy practice-based research. Thus, there is a need to continually stimulate pharmacists’ interest in research so as to enhance professional competence and promote healthcare development.
Prevention of pneumothorax in needle lung biopsy by breathing 100% oxygen

In an attempt to decrease pneumothorax after transthoracic needle lung biopsy we evaluated the effect of breathing 100% oxygen during the procedure. Fifty consecutive biopsies on 46 hospital patients were performed on subjects breathing either oxygen or compressed air. The selected gas, chosen randomly, was given for five minutes before the biopsy and continued for 30 minutes after. Twenty-six procedures were on air (group 1) and 24 on pure oxygen (group 2). Four subjects in group 2 were eliminated from analysis because they were unable to sustain the required oxygen breathing. Results showed fewer pneumothoraces with subjects breathing oxygen (four out of 20) than with those breathing air (11 out of 26). Three patients in group 1 required chest tube drainage for symptoms of dyspnoea, but none were required in group 2. The peak area of gas accumulation for each pneumothorax was smaller in group 2, with a mean surface area of 27·1 cm2 (range 9·6-63·8), than in group 1 mean of 68·1 cm2 (range 6·4-172·4). The rather surprising finding of fewer pneumothoraces in the oxygen group may be explained by rapid absorption of small leaks immediately after lung puncture. These results were statistically significant (p<0·05). We conclude that 100% oxygen breathing during transthoracic needle biopsy decreases the number and size of pneumothoraces and propose this simple technique to decrease the morbidity of transthoracic needle lung biopsy.
Lower Extremity Deep Vein Thrombosis is Associated with Mortality among Patients Hospitalized with Congestive Heart Failure: Results from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Nationwide Inpatient Sample (1998-2007)

Introduction: About 5.8 million patients suffer from Heart failure in the United States and this number is expected to be on the rise. These patients have been shown to be at increased risk of developing Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT). We analyzed 10 years of data from a nationwide database of inpatients to compare the outcomes of heart failure in patients with and without DVT. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted using data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) from 1998 to 2007(10 years). All Adult patients (above 18 years old) with Heart failure during this period were identified using ICD 9 codes. Baseline characteristics and outcomes of heart failure patients with documented DVT vs. without DVT were compared during the incident admission. Multivariate regression for mortality was conducted, controlling for age, gender, and the presence of co-morbidities. Another multivariate analysis was conducted to determine predictors of developing DVT in this population of heart failure patients. Results: Among 7,880,500 patients managed for Heart failure in this database during the study period, patients with DVT were more likely to have been older than those without DVT (p<0.01). They were noted to have had longer LOS {Median LOS 5 (IQR 3-8) vs. 8 (IQR 5 -13) days} and higher mortality rates (9.3 vs. 6.9% p values<0.01). On multivariate regression heart failure patients with DVT were 38% more likely to die than those without DVT after controlling for other co-morbidities (OR 1.38 p<0.01). Conclusion: Deep vein thrombosis is associated with mortality among heart failure patients. Also increasing length of hospital stay in this population was noted to be associated with higher DVT rates.
Emission-line properties of Seyfert 2 nuclei

This is the third paper of a series devoted to the study of the global properties of Joguet’s sample of 79 nearby galaxies observable from the southern hemisphere, of which 65 are Seyfert 2 galaxies. We use the population synthesis models of Paper II to derive ‘pure’ emission-line spectra for the Seyfert 2 galaxies in the sample, and thus explore the statistical properties of the nuclear nebular components and their relation to the stellar populations. We find that the emission-line clouds suffer substantially more extinction than the starlight, and we confirm the correlations between stellar and nebular velocity dispersions and between emission-line luminosity and velocity dispersions, although with substantial scatter. Nuclear luminosities correlate with stellar velocity dispersions, but Seyferts with conspicuous star-forming activity deviate systematically towards higher luminosities. Removing the contribution of young stars to the optical continuum produces a tighter and steeper relation, L ∝ σ 4 , consistent with the Faber‐Jackson law. Emission-line ratios indicative of the gas excitation such as [O III]/Hβ and [O III]/[O II] are statistically smaller for Seyferts with significant star formation, implying that ionization by massive stars is responsible for a substantial and sometimes even a dominant fraction of the Hβ and [O II] fluxes. We use our models to constrain the maximum fraction of the ionizing power that can be generated by a hidden active galactic nucleus (AGN). We correlate this fraction with classical indicators of AGN photoionization (i.e. X-ray luminosity and nebular excitation), but find no significant correlations. Thus, while there is a strong contribution of starbursts to the excitation of the nuclear nebular emission in low-luminosity Seyferts, the contribution of the hidden AGN remains elusive even in hard X-rays.
Encoding of Temporal Information by Timing, Rate, and Place in Cat Auditory Cortex

A central goal in auditory neuroscience is to understand the neural coding of species-specific communication and human speech sounds. Low-rate repetitive sounds are elemental features of communication sounds, and core auditory cortical regions have been implicated in processing these information-bearing elements. Repetitive sounds could be encoded by at least three neural response properties: 1) the event-locked spike-timing precision, 2) the mean firing rate, and 3) the interspike interval (ISI). To determine how well these response aspects capture information about the repetition rate stimulus, we measured local group responses of cortical neurons in cat anterior auditory field (AAF) to click trains and calculated their mutual information based on these different codes. ISIs of the multiunit responses carried substantially higher information about low repetition rates than either spike-timing precision or firing rate. Combining firing rate and ISI codes was synergistic and captured modestly more repetition information. Spatial distribution analyses showed distinct local clustering properties for each encoding scheme for repetition information indicative of a place code. Diversity in local processing emphasis and distribution of different repetition rate codes across AAF may give rise to concurrent feed-forward processing streams that contribute differently to higher-order sound analysis.