Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
BER Performance of LDPC Code with TH-PPM over UWB Channel

In this paper,the impact of Low density parity check code(LDPC) on performance of system under TH-PPM model over UWB channel is investigated. Single band UWB that is time hopping technique is used to randomizing the multi access capability without interference. The bit error rate of proposed system is simulated for different gain level by varying number of users.Low bit error rate is achieved even number of users gets increased. The low density parity check code is one of the superior error correcting code and are known to achieve the Shannon limit.LDPC Codes adds redundancy to the uncoded input data to make it more immune to channel impairements.The TH-PPM modulation which adapts its number of time hops depending on the required bit error rate and eliminates near far effect in multiple access communication.The proposed system is used to achieve fast,error free and secure communication in medical field.
Diesel Engine Exhaust Initiates a Sequence of Pulmonary and Cardiovascular Effects in Rats

This study was designed to determine the sequence of events leading to cardiopulmonary effects following acute inhalation of diesel engine exhaust in rats. Rats were exposed for 2 h to diesel engine exhaust (1.9 mg/m3), and biological parameters related to antioxidant defense, inflammation, and procoagulation were examined after 4, 18, 24, 48, and 72 h. This in vivo inhalation study showed a pulmonary anti-oxidant response (an increased activity of the anti-oxidant enzymes glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase and an increase in heme oxygenase-1 protein, heme oxygenase activity, and uric acid) which precedes the inflammatory response (an increase in IL-6 and TNF-α). In addition, increased plasma thrombogenicity and immediate anti-oxidant defense gene expression in aorta tissue shortly after the exposure might suggest direct translocation of diesel engine exhaust components to the vasculature but mediation by other pathways cannot be ruled out. This study therefore shows that different stages in oxidative stress are not only affected by dose increments but are also time dependent.
Gum chewing reduces ileus after elective open sigmoid colectomy.

HYPOTHESIS Gum chewing after elective open colon resection may stimulate bowel motility and decrease duration of postoperative ileus. DESIGN AND SETTING Prospective, randomized study in a community-based teaching hospital. PATIENTS Thirty-four patients undergoing elective open sigmoid resections for recurrent diverticulitis or cancer. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES First feelings of hunger, time to first flatus, time to first bowel movement, length of hospital stay, and complications. RESULTS A total of 34 patients were randomized into 2 groups: a gum-chewing group (n = 17) or a control group (n = 17). The patients in the gum-chewing group chewed sugarless gum 3 times daily for 1 hour each time until discharge. Patient demographics, intraoperative, and postoperative care were equivalent between the 2 groups. All gum-chewing patients tolerated the gum. The first passage of flatus occurred on postoperative hour 65.4 in the gum-chewing group and on hour 80.2 in the control group (P = .05). The first bowel movement occurred on postoperative hour 63.2 in the gum-chewing group and on hour 89.4 in the control group (P = .04). The first feelings of hunger were felt on postoperative hour 63.5 in the gum-chewing group and on hour 72.8 in the control group (P = .27). There were no major complications in either group. The total length of hospital stay was shorter in the gum-chewing group (day 4.3) than in the control group (day 6.8), (P = .01). CONCLUSIONS Gum chewing speeds recovery after elective open sigmoid resection by stimulating bowel motility. Gum chewing is an inexpensive and helpful adjunct to postoperative care after colectomy.
Genome Sequence of Delftia acidovorans HK171, a Nematicidal Bacterium Isolated from Tomato Roots

ABSTRACT Delftia acidovorans strain HK171, isolated from tomato roots, exhibited nematicidal activity against Meloidogyne incognita. Here, we present the genome sequence of D. acidovorans strain HK171, which consists of one circular chromosome of 6,430,384 bp, with 66.9% G+C content.
Vinculin regulates directionality and cell polarity in two- and three-dimensional matrix and three-dimensional microtrack migration

Cells can maneuver through 3D matrices by using tracks that exist in the matrix. The focal adhesion protein vinculin mediates the unidirectional movement through these tracks. Moreover, vinculin also promotes directional migration in 2D and 3D matrices. Vinculin’s role in migration is mediated by FAK activation.
A Template-Dependent Dislocation Mechanism Potentiates K65R Reverse Transcriptase Mutation Development in Subtype C Variants of HIV-1

Numerous studies have suggested that the K65R reverse transcriptase (RT) mutation develops more readily in subtype C than subtype B HIV-1. We recently showed that this discrepancy lies partly in the subtype C template coding sequence that predisposes RT to pause at the site of K65R mutagenesis. However, the mechanism underlying this observation and the elevated rates of K65R development remained unknown. Here, we report that DNA synthesis performed with subtype C templates consistently produced more K65R-containing transcripts than subtype B templates, regardless of the subtype-origin of the RT enzymes employed. These findings confirm that the mechanism involved is template-specific and RT-independent. In addition, a pattern of DNA synthesis characteristic of site-specific primer/template slippage and dislocation was only observed with the subtype C sequence. Analysis of RNA secondary structure suggested that the latter was unlikely to impact on K65R development between subtypes and that Streisinger strand slippage during DNA synthesis at the homopolymeric nucleotide stretch of the subtype C K65 region might occur, resulting in misalignment of the primer and template. Consequently, slippage would lead to a deletion of the middle adenine of codon K65 and the production of a -1 frameshift mutation, which upon dislocation and realignment of the primer and template, would lead to development of the K65R mutation. These findings provide additional mechanistic evidence for the facilitated development of the K65R mutation in subtype C HIV-1.
The Dynamic Structure of Social Capital: How Interpersonal Connections Create Communitywide Benefits

Social capital is built via a network of connections among individuals in a community. Interactions among individuals within such a network make various endeavors more successful than they would be without such connections. The community becomes something more than a collection of individuals, because this structure has beneficial effects on economic and other efforts of community members, and provides benefits to the community as a whole. While benefits of social capital are well documented, the mechanisms of social capital -- how it produces such benefits -- are less well understood. Several mechanisms have been suggested, however, and these can form the basis for the structure of system dynamics models with which these various hypothesized mechanisms of social capital can be examined. One can more clearly conceptualize and define social capital by using the structure of these models.
Double informational asymmetry, signaling, and environmental taxes

This paper examines the effect of signaling on environmental taxation when each polluter privately knows whether its production cost is low or high, whereas third parties (i.e. the rival firms and the regulator) have only a subjective perception on such a cost. Consequently, there is both horizontal and vertical asymmetric information, and each polluting firm can strategically manipulate both the competitor and the policymaker's prior cost perceptions. We show that if the policymaker's ecological conscience is sufficiently high, polluters wish to be perceived as low-cost firms and, to this end, they will produce a high output level and they will emit a high emissions level. Therefore, optimal pollution taxes are higher than would be the case if firms' costs were not signaled in such a manner as to force low-cost polluters, in an attempt to distinguish themselves from high-cost polluters (by increasing their output level and their emissions level), to reduce the distortions in their production and also in their emissions levels. By contrast, if the policymaker values environmental quality less than consumption, environmental taxes become negative (a subsidy per unit of pollutant emitted), but each polluting firm continues to attempt to convince the other players (the rival firm and the regulator) that it is a low-cost supplier. In this case, if the quantity produced by each polluter signals its costs, over-subsiding holds as compared to the benchmark case of non-signaling.
Rendering artistic light patterns

By combining knowledge from computer graphics and visual arts, we have built a projection installation based on a novel sketch-based shape pattern rendering method. Our novel rendering method is guided by an artist's drawing, and generates shape patterns resembling the input image, creating animation with an organic appearance. We have also applied the proposed method to render foliage shadow effects for virtual scenes. The major contribution of method is its ability to automatically render richly detailed, animated lighting patterns from an approximate lighting plan drawing. In our research team, professional artists and computer graphics researchers work together to develop our rendering method and the artistic rendering projects side by side. This interdisciplinary approach helps us to design and evolve our method for creating aesthetic work with computer graphics technologies.
Measuring and validating food insecurity in Embo, using the food insecurity scale and index

ii DECLARATION iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v DEDICATION vii TABLE OF CONTENTS viii LIST OF FIGURES x LIST OF TABLES xi CHAPTER 1: THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING 1 1.1 Background and rationale for the study 1 1.2 Statement of the problem 3 1.3 Study sub-problems 3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5 2.
Qtm and PPP Effect on Long-Run Price Behavior: The Importance of Openness

We study the effect of economic openness on domestic prices by linking the quantity theory of money (QTM) with purchasing power parity (PPP). Our model pertains to long run domestic price movements, and shows that economic openness has a negative relation with QTM and a positive relation with PPP. Cointegration estimations show that the deviation from QTM rises and that from PPP falls as the economy becomes more open. We also find that QTM and PPP have a strongly negative one-to-one relation. The policy implications center on the use of exchange rate targets in monetary policy.
Detecting Conflicts in ABAC Policies with Rule-Reduction and Binary-Search Techniques

Attribute-based access control (ABAC) policies are effective and flexible in governing the access to information and resources in open distributed computing environments. However, ABAC policy rules are often complex making them prone to conflicts. This paper proposes an optimized method to detect the conflicts between statistically conflicting rules in an ABAC policy. This method includes two optimization techniques: rule reduction and binary-search. The first technique reduces the rules into a set of compact, semantically equivalent rules through removing redundant information among the rules. The binary-search technique is then applied to discover the conflicts among them.
Causes of Ethical Erosion in Nigerian Universities

Abstract: The contemporary feature of Nigerian university system is that of anarchy, chaos and acrimony. These can be seen in various vices such as sexual harassment, admission racketeering, exam malpractice as well as unhealthy rivalry in competition for various positions in the university system. The cause of which can be traced to lack of ethical behaviour. The genesis of this ethical erosion is to be unraveled by this paper in the proceeding paragraphs.Key words: Erosion; Nigerian Universities; Ethical BehaviourResume: La caracteristique contemporaine du systeme universitaire nigerien est celle de l'anarchie, du chaos et de l'amertume. Ceux-ci peuvent etre vus dans divers vices tels que le harcelement sexuel, le racket d'admission, la malversation d'examen aussi bien que la rivalite malsaine en concurrence pour differentes positions dans le systeme universitaire. La cause dont peut etre trace au manque de comportement moral. La genese de cette erosion morale doit etre demelee par ce document dans les paragraphes de marche a suivre. Mots cles: Erosion; Universites nigeriennes; Comportement moral
CSM

The cloud service marketplace (CSM) is an exploratory project aiming to provide “an AppStore for Services. ” It is an intelligent online marketplace that facilitates service discovery and acquisition for enterprise customers. Traditional service discovery and acquisition are time-consuming. In the era of OneClick Checkout and pay-as-you-go service plans, users expect services to be purchased online efficiently and conveniently. However, as services are complex and different from software apps, the currently prevailing App Store based on keyword search is inadequate for services. In CSM, exploring and configuring services are an iterative process. Customers provide their requirements in natural language and interact with the system through questioning and answering. Learning from the input, the system can incrementally clarify users’ intention, narrow down the candidate services, and profile the configuration information for the candidates at the same time. CSM’s back end is built around the Services Knowledge Graph (SKG) and leverages data mining technologies to enable the semantic understanding of customers’ requirements. To quantitatively assess the value of CSM, empirical evaluation on real and synthetic datasets and case studies are given to demonstrate the efficacy and effectiveness of the proposed system.
Diagnosing smartphone's abnormal behavior through robust outlier detection methods

Smartphones have become increasingly popular and nowadays with the using of 3G networks, the needs in terms of connectivity in a business environment are substantial. Malicious use of such devices is highly dangerous since users may be victims of such use. In this paper, we present two statistical methods (Minimum Covariance Determinant (MCD) and Minimum Volume Ellipsoid (MVE) used to detect abnormal smartphone's applications. Initial experiments results prove the efficiency and the accuracy of the MVE and MCD in detecting abnormal smartphone's applications.
Nonrigid stereo reconstruction using linear programming

Nonrigid reconstruction plays an important role in many applications like image-based modeling, human-computer interaction. In this paper, we propose an effective approach for 3D non-rigid structure reconstruction using linear programming from an image pair taken with a stereo rig. In contrast to previous approaches, the proposed method neither involves smoothness constraints nor need prior knowledge between consecutive frames, which enables us to recover shapes of surfaces with smooth, sharp and other complex deformations from a single image pair. Specifically, we model the surface as a triangulated mesh and formulate the reconstruction problem as a Linear Programming (LP) problem using L∞ that can be effectively solved. The LP problem consists of data constraints which are 3D-to-2D keypoint correspondences and shape constraints which preserve original lengths of mesh edges. The robustness and accuracy of our approach are evaluated quantitatively on synthetic data and on real data.
Macroeconomic Forecasting with Mixed Frequency Data: Forecasting Us Output Growth and Inflation

Although many macroeconomic series such as US real output growth are sampled quarterly, many potentially useful predictors are observed at a higher frequency. We look at whether a recently developed mixed data-frequency sampling (MIDAS) approach can improve forecasts of output growth and inflation. We carry out a number of related real-time forecast comparisons using various indicators as explanatory variables. We find that MIDAS model forecasts of output growth are more accurate at horizons less than one quarter using coincident indicators ; that MIDAS models are an effective way of combining information from multiple indicators ; and that the forecast accuracy of the unemployment-rate Phillips curve for inflation is enhanced using the MIDAS approach.
The Impact of Information System Quality and Media Quality on the Intention to Use IPTV

This study examines the factors influencing internet protocol television (IPTV) usage intention. Using Davis"s technology acceptance model (TAM) and DeLone and McLean"s model of information system success, this study investigates the effects of information system quality (information quality, system quality, and service quality) and media quality on IPTV use in terms of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and usage intention. We examined the proposed model by employing structural equation modeling and survey data from 222 IPTV users. The results indicate that information quality, service quality, and media quality had significant effects on perceived usefulness and that information quality and media quality had significant effects on perceived ease of use. However, system quality had no effect on perceived usefulness or perceived ease of use. In addition, perceived ease of use influenced perceived usefulness, and perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use influenced IPTV usage intention. Further, the stability and reliability of IPTV services encouraged IPTV use, and successful IPTV services showed high media quality.
IR-UWB Received Signal Reconstruction Based on Quantized Compressed Sensing

Compressed sensing (CS) theory provides a new solution for low-rate sampling design of IR-UWB receiver, but the quantization process is usually idealized in existent CS based sampling architectures. In this paper, the influence of quantization noise is fully considered, and an IR-UWB signal reconstruction method with high anti-noise performance is proposed. Based on the analysis of the noise distribution characteristics, the signal reconstruction optimization model is revised, and then the performance of Dantzig-Selector (DS) method is compared with the traditional algorithms. Further, a Joint DS-SP method which can self-adaptively select the reconstruction algorithms between DS and SP (Subspace Pursuit) is proposed. Simulation results show that the Joint DS-SP method can not only get the best performance under different noise regions and quantization precisions, but also show a computational complexity trade-off between DS and SP, thus provides a new strategy of CS signal reconstruction for the design of IR-UWB receiver's digital back-end.
Efficiency Issues in Transitional Economies

Part 1 The transition, production theory, Hungarian accounting and data: measurement in periods of transition the economics of transition parametric and non-parametric measures of efficiency and total factor productivity - theoretical relationships the contribution of accounting information in efficiency measurement -Hungarian firm level data appendix - reconciliation of accounting data. Part 2 Models, estimation and results: primal and dual approaches and functional forms - production function and estimation and explanation firm and industry level efficiency measurement using parametric and non-parametric, deterministic and stochastic frontiers the importance of firm size - estimates of returns to scale and the decomposition of technical and scale efficiency inter-temporal consistency, panel data estimation, one and two-factor error component models appendix - inter-temporal effects. Part 3 The index number approach to productivity, efficiency and technical change, with an application to structural transformation: examining changes over time using parametric TFP indices decomposing productivity into efficiency and technical change - leading sectors and the transformation conclusion.
An open architecture patient monitoring system using standard technologies

Computer-aided bedside patient monitoring is applied in areas where real-time vital function analysis takes place. Modern bedside monitoring requires not only the networking of bedside monitors with a central monitor but also other standard communication interfaces. In the paper, an approach to patient monitoring is introduced. A patient monitoring system was developed and implemented based on an existing industry standard communication network, using standard hardware components and software technologies. The open architecture system design offers scalability, standard interfaces, and flexible signal interpretation possibilities.
Hydrodynamic micro-encapsulation of aqueous fluids and cells via ‘on the fly’ photopolymerization

We report a new technique that, in contrast to conventional methods, uses a microfluidic platform for the fabrication of polymeric microcapsules that can contain sensitive biological materials. This encapsulation process is carried out through the use of hydrodynamic phenomena (e.g., multiphase laminar flow), and ‘on the fly’ photopolymerization. Our method allows for the generation of microcapsules whose size can be controlled by a regulation of flow rates, and the polymerized capsule can protect fragile materials, such as cells, DNA and enzymes from harsh environments. The proposed approach is extended to the fabrication of a microcontainer that can handle small volumes of liquid. The flexibility of the method across different materials and scales is a key advantage over many existing methods.
Coexistence of multivalent and monovalent TCRs explains high sensitivity and wide range of response

A long-standing paradox in the study of T cell antigen recognition is that of the high specificity–low affinity T cell receptor (TCR)–major histocompatibility complex peptide (MHCp) interaction. The existence of multivalent TCRs could resolve this paradox because they can simultaneously improve the avidity observed for monovalent interactions and allow for cooperative effects. We have studied the stoichiometry of the TCR by Blue Native–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and found that the TCR exists as a mixture of monovalent (αβγɛδɛζζ) and multivalent complexes with two or more ligand-binding TCRα/β subunits. The coexistence of monovalent and multivalent complexes was confirmed by electron microscopy after label fracture of intact T cells, thus ruling out any possible artifact caused by detergent solubilization. We found that although only the multivalent complexes become phosphorylated at low antigen doses, both multivalent and monovalent TCRs are phosphorylated at higher doses. Thus, the multivalent TCRs could be responsible for sensing low concentrations of antigen, whereas the monovalent TCRs could be responsible for dose-response effects at high concentrations, conditions in which the multivalent TCRs are saturated. Thus, besides resolving TCR stoichiometry, these data can explain how T cells respond to a wide range of MHCp concentrations while maintaining high sensitivity.
Pediatric lung transplantation: 10 years of experience

Lung transplantation is a well-established treatment for advanced lung diseases. In children, the diseases that most commonly lead to the need for a transplantation are cystic fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, and bronchiolitis. However, the number of pediatric lung transplantations being performed is low compared with the number of transplants performed in the adult age group. The objective of this study was to demonstrate our experience with pediatric lung transplants over a 10-year period in a program initially designed for adults.