Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CDMA WIRELESS LOCATION UCLA Undergraduate Research Program in Electrical Engineering Summer

Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems and wireless location are studied in this paper. For CDMA systems, Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC) is applied for designing the RAKE receiver, and channel estimation is utilized to determine unknown channel gains. Time of Arrival (TOA) method is presented to estimate user’s location. The improvement on bit error rate (BER) and wireless location using an antenna array at each base station and employing multiple antennas is simulated and analyzed.
A Comparison of Modeling Techniques for Software Development Effort Prediction

Software metrics are playing an increasingly important role in software development project management, with the need to effectively control the expensive investment of software development of paramount concern. Research examining the estimation of software development effort has been particularly extensive. In this work, regression analysis has been used almost exclusively to derive equations for predicting software process effort. This approach, whilst useful in some cases, also suffers from a number of limitations in relation to data set characteristics. In an attempt to overcome some of these problems, some recent studies have adopted less common modeling methods, such as neural networks, fuzzy logic models and case-based reasoning. In this paper some consideration is given to the use of neural networks and fuzzy models in terms of their appropriateness for the task of effort estimation. A comparison of techniques is also made with specific reference to statistical modeling and to function point analysis, a popular formal method for estimating development size and effort.
Evaluating Government Policy in Transition Countries

The paper examines neoclassical measures to evaluate government policy in transition countries: 1) marginal factor prices and the return to capital, 2) growth rates and taxes, 3) inflation rates, and 4) debt/GDP ratios, related to international real business cycle and endogenous growth theory. It further postulates a way to consider the debt/equity position of the government, related to a risk-yield framework. This gives a potentially more useful indicator than the debt/GDP ratio alone. Empirically these measures are examined in an illustrative way for a set of Central European countries plus Germany and the US for comparison, for the period of 1990-1998, using an internally standardized data set from the on-line International Financial Statistics.
Role of Parental Income in Educational Attainment

During the post-World War II era, U.S. governmental policy has often been based on the idea that (in the absence of government action) access to college and, to a lesser extent, high school education may be limited because of liquidity constraints. The federal and state and local governments have instituted a number of policies to overcome these constraints. These policies include the Basic Opportunity Grants, loan programs that have been issued at or below market interest rates, the expansion of state-supported colleges that charge below-market tuitions rates, and the inception and expansion of local community or county colleges that also charge below-market tuition rates. While there may be noneconomic reasons that explain these changes or their magnitude, economic reasons, that rely on differences between private and social costs and benefits, can also be advanced. These include: (a) wiser societal choices made by a more educated society; (b) recoupment of social costs from higher tax revenues; (c) the reduction of private risks from lending arising from the pooling of risks thereby making the social supply of funds curve available to all individuals at the social discount rate; and (d) state and local economic development. Reason c implies that in the absence of governmental initiative some children would be restricted from achieving their socially optimal amount of education because parents' income and wealth limit their children's choices. Gary Becker (1975), Arthur Okun (1975), and Jere Behrman and myself (1985) argue that governmental policy to reduce private borrowing costs to the level of social costs reduces inefficiency while increasing equity-a rare result in the realm of economics. In this paper I consider why parental income might influence offspring's educational attainment and the policy implications of such an influence.
Technological Progress, Technical Efficiency &amp; Productivity Growth of Modern Service Industry: An Comparative Study on Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta

Using Malmquist index, this paper measures total factor productivity (TFP) of modern service industry in Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta during 2000-2008, analyzes the sources and trends of TFP growth. Conclusions are made as follows: TFP of modern service industry grew rapidly and had a downward trend in the two zones, and the source of economic growth has shifted from technical efficiency to technological progress. Modern service industry in Pearl River Delta was less dependent on investment and had higher TFP index and smaller internal differences than that in Yangtze River Delta. TFP differences between the two zones were mainly due to the differences in technological progress, which was higher in Pearl River Delta than in Yangtze River Delta.
Utilizing Social Networks for User Model Priming: User Attitudes

Research on user modeling based on social network information has shown that some user characteristics can be accurately inferred from users’ digital traces. This kind of information can be used to inform user models of adaptive systems for personalizing the system. This paper addresses a crucial question for practical application of this approach: Are users actually willing to provide their social Web profiles and how do they perceive this? An empirical study conducted with medical students shows that although participants are using social networks, they are reluctant about providing their identities and consider these portals rather private. The outcomes of the study uncover a clear need for further research on enhanced privacy and enhanced trust.
Cyclic AMP Promotes Neuronal Survival by Phosphorylation of Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3β

ABSTRACT Agents that elevate intracellular cyclic AMP (cAMP) levels promote neuronal survival in a manner independent of neurotrophic factors. Inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase and dominant-inactive mutants of the protein kinase Akt do not block the survival effects of cAMP, suggesting that another signaling pathway is involved. In this report, we demonstrate that elevation of intracellular cAMP levels in rat cerebellar granule neurons leads to phosphorylation and inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β). The increased phosphorylation of GSK-3β by protein kinase A (PKA) occurs at serine 9, the same site phosphorylated by Akt. Purified PKA is able to phosphorylate recombinant GSK-3β in vitro. Inhibitors of GSK-3 block apoptosis in these neurons, and transfection of neurons with a GSK-3β mutant that cannot be phosphorylated interferes with the prosurvival effects of cAMP. These data suggest that activated PKA directly phosphorylates GSK-3β and inhibits its apoptotic activity in neurons.
The Impact of AIDS on Income and Human Capital

This paper studies the impact of HIV/AIDS on per capita income and education. It explores two channels on how HIV/AIDS affects income that have not been sufficiently stressed by previous literature: the reduction of the incentives to stay in school due to shorter expected longevity and the reduction in productivity of experienced workers. In the model, individuals live for three periods, may get infected in the second period, and with some probability die of AIDS before reaching the third period of their lives. Parents care for the welfare of the future generations so that they will maximize lifetime utility of their dynasty. The simulations predict that the most affected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa in the future will be, on average, 30% poorer than they would be without AIDS. Schooling will decline in some cases by 40%. These figures are dramatically reduced with widespread medical treatment, as it increases the survival probability and productivity of infected individuals.
Numerical Characterization of Particle Beam Collimation: Part II Integrated Aerodynamic-Lens–Nozzle System

As a sequel to our previous effort on the modeling of particle motion through a single lens or nozzle, flows of gas–particle suspensions through an integrated aerodynamic-lens–nozzle inlet have been investigated numerically. It is found that the inlet transmission efficiency (ηt) is unity for particles of intermediate diameters (Dp ∼ 30–500 nm). The transmission efficiency gradually diminishes to ∼40% for large particles (Dp > 2500 nm) because of impact losses on the surface of the first lens. There is a catastrophic reduction of ηt to almost zero for very small particles (Dp ≤ 15 nm) because these particles faithfully follow the final gas expansion. We found that, for very small particles, particle transmission is mainly controlled by nozzle geometry and operating conditions. A lower upstream pressure or a small inlet can be used to improve transmission of very small particles, but at the expense of sampling rate, or vice versa. Brownian motion exacerbates the catastrophic reduction in ηt for small particles; we found that the overall particle transmission efficiency can be roughly calculated as the product of the aerodynamic and the purely Brownian efficiencies. For particles of intermediate diameters, Brownian motion is irrelevant, and the modeling results show that the transmission efficiency is mainly controlled by the lenses. Results for an isolated lens or nozzle are used to provide guidance for the design of alternative inlets. Several examples are given, in which it is shown that one can configure the inlet to preferentially sample large particles (with ηt > 50% for Dp = 50–2000 nm) or ultrafine particles (with ηt > 50% for Dp = 20–1000 nm). Some of the results have been compared with experimental data, and reasonable agreement has been demonstrated.
Review of the Correlation between Free Cash Flows and Debts Policies among the Listed Companies in Tehran Stock Exchange

The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between free cash flow and debt policies among the listed companies in Tehran Stock Exchange. The term of this research is 5-year period (2008 -2012) and the research population were the listed companies in Tehran Stock Exchange. The sample was also obtained by screening 180 companies. The results of testing research hypothesizes using panel data suggest that an increase in free cash flow causes a decrease in debt of active companies in Iran's capital market. In addition, the results indicated that growth in the company's financial leverage ratio has a significant negative correlation with the free cash flow. However, the correlation between financial leverage and cash flows in value companies is not significant at the 95% confidence level.
The Regionalism Debate: An Overview

AbstractThe following sections are included:IntroductionDefinitionsWTO Provisions for PTAsHistorical EvolutionEffects on Union MembersVinerian Analysis: Welfare Effects of a Tariff PreferenceTransport Costs and PTAsRules of Origin in FTAsNon-traditional Gains: Guaranteed Market Access, Shelter from Contingent Protection, Locking-in the Reforms and Dispute SettlementImplications for the Global Trading SystemCan PTA Expansion Lead to Global Free Trade? Do PTAs Make Multilateral Liberalization Less Likely? Do PTAs Lead to a Rise in Trade Barriers against Nonmembers? The Spaghetti-Bowl PhenomenonWTO-Illegal Policies in PTAsOpen Regionalism“Deep” IntegrationConclusions: Minimizing the Adverse Effects of PTAsReferences (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.) (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)
Risk Quantification of Retail Credit: Current Practices and Future Challenges

This paper analyzes current practices at U.S. banks for quantifying credit in retail portfolios and examines the challenges confronting banks and regulators in developing an internal ratings based (IRB) approach to setting capital requirements for retail exposures. The paper finds that approaches that directly estimate portfolio volatility are potentially a viable approach to estimating economic capital, but currrently these methods do not provide a reliable approach for setting regulatory requirements. Alternative approaches based on direct estimating of structural risk parameters (e.g. probabilty of default) are currently a more viable option for setting capital standards.
Leprosy: An Overview of Pathophysiology

Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease, is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, a microorganism that has a predilection for the skin and nerves. The disease is clinically characterized by one or more of the three cardinal signs: hypopigmented or erythematous skin patches with definite loss of sensation, thickened peripheral nerves, and acid-fast bacilli detected on skin smears or biopsy material. M. leprae primarily infects Schwann cells in the peripheral nerves leading to nerve damage and the development of disabilities. Despite reduced prevalence of M. leprae infection in the endemic countries following implementation of multidrug therapy (MDT) program by WHO to treat leprosy, new case detection rates are still high-indicating active transmission. The susceptibility to the mycobacteria and the clinical course of the disease are attributed to the host immune response, which heralds the review of immunopathology of this complex disease.
Morphostructural MRI Abnormalities Related to Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated to Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis associated neuropsychiatric disorders include major depression (MD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), bipolar affective disorder, euphoria, pseudobulbar affect, psychosis, and personality change. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) studies focused mainly on identifying morphostructural correlates of MD; only a few anecdotal cases on OCD associated to MS (OCD-MS), euphoria, pseudobulbar affect, psychosis, personality change, and one research article on MRI abnormalities in OCD-MS have been published. Therefore, in the present review we will report mainly on neuroimaging abnormalities found in MS patients with MD and OCD. All together, the studies on MD associated to MS suggest that, in this disease, depression is linked to a damage involving mainly frontotemporal regions either with discrete lesions (with those visible in T1 weighted images playing a more significant role) or subtle normal appearing white matter abnormalities. Hippocampal atrophy, as well, seems to be involved in MS related depression. It is conceivable that grey matter pathology (i.e., global and regional atrophy, cortical lesions), which occurs early in the course of disease, may involve several areas including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the orbitofrontal cortex, and the anterior cingulate cortex whose disruption is currently thought to explain late-life depression. Further MRI studies are necessary to better elucidate OCD pathogenesis in MS.
WORKPLACE SPIRITUALITY AND ENGAGEMENT AMONG EMPLOYEES IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS

Spirituality at work is not about religious beliefs. Rather, it is about people who perceive themselves as spirited beings, whose spirit needs energizing at work. It is about experiencing real purpose and meaning in their work beyond paychecks and task performance. Workplace spirituality also provides intrinsic motivation to employees and the work activities become intrinsically motivating, resulting in greater engagement at work. Till date, however, little research concerning the relationship between workplace spirituality and employee engagement. Therefore, present study intended to examine the propositions dealing with the spirituality at work and employee engagement among the employees of non-government organizations. The study was conducted on thirty (30) employees of two different sector organizations based in Delhi/NCR and quantitative research designed measures were used. Ashmos and Duchon (2000) (1) scale was administered on the employees for assessing workplace spirituality and for employee engagement, scale by Schaufeli et al.(2002) (21) was administered on the same sample for assessing their level of engagement. The finding of the research indicated that in the public sector organizations, higher level spirituality at work among the employees was found and they also scored high on engagement, whereas private sector employees scored low on workplace spirituality and they were also scored low on employee engagement. However, positive relationship between the scores of workplace spirituality and employee engagement was found.
Statistical Study on Perceived JPEG Image Quality via MCL-JCI Dataset Construction and Analysis

The subjective test for compressed visual content is typically conducted by few experts called golden eyes. Here, we attempt to characterize the visual experience on JPEG-coded images of ordinary people statistically. To achieve this goal, a new image quality database, MCL-JCI, is constructed and introduced in this work. We explain the test procedure and conduct a preliminary analysis on test results. It is observed that people can only differentiate a finite number of quality levels and the perceived quality plot is a stair function of the coding bit rate. The relationship between the perceived quality plot and image content is discussed.
An Autonomous Forest Fire Detection System Based On Spatial Data Mining and Fuzzy Logic

Summary The need for data mining applications in describing, explaining and forecasting spatial patterns has been on a steady increase owing to the huge rise in the number of civilian satellite repositories and the efficient utilization of remotely sensed earth observation data for the study of earth system. Fire is one of the major causes of surface change and happens in the mass of vegetation zones across the world. Forest fires are key ecological threats that lead to deterioration of economy and environment besides endangering human lives. The motivation behind this paper is to obtain beneficial information from spatial data and use the same in the determination of spots at the risk of forest fire by utilizing data mining and artificial intelligence techniques. In this paper we have proposed a novel approach to detect the forest fire automatically from the spatial data corresponding to forest regions with the aid of clustering and fuzzy logic. Initially, the digital satellite images are converted into CIELab Color Space and clustering is performed to identify the regions showing hotspots of fire. A fuzzy set is formed with the color space values of the segmented regions which are followed by the derivation of fuzzy rules on basis of fuzzy logic reasoning for the detection of forest fires. The proposed system has been evaluated with the help of publicly available spatial data corresponding to forest regions.
DESYDE : Decentralized ( De ) synchronization in Wireless Sensor Networks

In the full version of this paper [3] we propose DESYDE: a decentralized approach for coordinating the radio activity of wireless sensor nodes. Inspired by the win-stay lose-shift strategy from game theory, our approach allows individual nodes to schedule their radio transmission, reception and sleeping periods without any form of explicit coordination. We implement DESYDE in the OMNeT++ sensor network simulator and compare its performance to two state-of-the-art scheduling protocols, namely S-MAC and D-MAC. We show that our approach adapts the wake-up cycle of each node to its traffic load and significantly reduces end-to-end communication delays.
The Internet as a Mental Health Advisor in Germany—Results of a National Survey

The internet constitutes a popular source of health information. However, the use of the internet and other modern media in the domain of mental health remains widely unclear. This study aimed at exploring the readiness for seeking information online and making use of online counseling and media-assisted psychotherapy. A representative survey of N = 2411 Germans was conducted. Results indicated that more than one fourth of Germans would consider seeking help online in case of psychic strain. Participants reported that they would use the internet when needing to research about mental health topics and to communicate with persons concerned on internet forums. Only a small number of participants had already used psychological online-counseling. The majority of subjects reported not having known about the possibility of online counseling. However, the willingness to make use of this option in the future was in a medium range. Concerning the treatment of mental disorders, participants showed a clear preference toward conventional face-to-face treatment. Less than 10% of participants considered the use of treatment supported by mobile phones, the internet, or virtual realities as likely. Certainly, readiness was significantly higher in persons who were already using the relevant devices—mobile phones, computers, and the internet. In the future, there will presumably be an increasing demand for media-assisted psychological counseling and interventions. Members of the health care system should therefore prepare for current developments and help enlighten patients with regard to the possibilities, and also the potential risks of e-mental health.
Analysis of physical interactions between peptides and HLA molecules and application to the detection of human immunodeficiency virus 1 antigenic peptides

The physical association of 40 antigenic peptides and purified HLA class I and class II molecules was monitored using a direct peptide binding assay (PBA) in solid phase and an inhibition peptide binding assay (IPBA) in which the competing peptide was present in a soluble phase. We also examined the ability of different peptides to inhibit the lytic activity of human antiviral cytolytic T cells towards cells incubated with the corresponding target peptide. Our results showed that: (a) Binding of a given human T cell-recognized peptide to several HLA class I and class II molecules occurred frequently. Nevertheless, preferential binding of peptides to their respective restriction molecules was also observed. (b) Binding of HLA molecules to peptides recognized by murine T cells occurred less frequently. (c) 11 of 24 (46%) randomly selected HIV-1 peptides contained agretopic residues allowing their binding to HLA molecules. (d) The kinetics of HLA/peptide association depended on the peptide tested and were faster than or similar to those reported for Ia molecules. Dissociation of these complexes was very low. (e) Peptide/HLA molecule binding was dependent on length, number of positive charges, and presence of hydrophobic residue in the peptide. (f) A correlation was demonstrated between a peptide inhibitory effect in the IPBA and its blocking effect in the cytolytic test. Our data indicated that the restriction phenomenon observed in T cell responses was not strictly related to either an elective HLA/peptide association, or a high binding capacity of a peptide to HLA molecules. These data also showed that the PBA and IPBA are appropriate for the detection of agretopic residues within HIV- 1 proteins.