Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cooperative diversity in wireless networks based on best relay selection:4th G mobile communication

Transmit diversity generally requires more than one antenna at the transmitter. But many wireless devices are limited by size or hardware complexity to one antenna. Recently, a new class of methods called cooperative communication has been proposed that enables single-antenna mobiles in multi-user environment to share their antennas and form a virtual multiple-antenna transmitter that allow them to achieve transmit diversity. However, most of proposed methods require distributed space-time coding algorithms which is very critical. We propose a method that provides transmit diversity gain on the order of the number of relays in the network. Our scheme first selects the best relay from a set of M available relays then uses this ldquobestrdquo relay for cooperation between the transmitter and the receiver. The selection of best relay is not required any topology information and is based on local measurements of the instantaneous channel conditions. The theoretic analysis of outage probability shows that our scheme achieves the same diversity-multiplexing tradeoff as achieved by more complex protocols, where distributed space-time coding for M relays is required.
Coalition formation in multilateral negotiations with a potential for logrolling: An experimental analysis of negotiators' cognition processes

In the present study we analyse the topic of coalition formation in multi-issue multilateral negotiations under different voting rules when there is the opportunity of logrolling. We have carried out 3 experiments and compare our findings with the standard public choice theory predictions. In the first experiment we have shown that in a situation of 3-issues and 3-parties negotiations with majority rule, most of the subjects behave in a satisficing, not in a optimizing, way. They are found to be subject to a "Zone of Agreement Bias" (ZAB) which induces them to form suboptimal coalitions and to choose Pareto-dominated agreements. Moreover, we find that the cycling problem predicted by public choice theory in most cases does not arise. In experiment 2 we have shown that the adoption of the unanimity, instead of the majority, rule reduced the suboptimizing effect of the ZAB, and produced a much higher rate of optimal agreements. Experiment 3 shows that the results obtained in experiments 1 and 2 hold even when the level of complexity of the negotiation problem increases. To this aim we considered a situation of four-issues and four-parties negotiations under both the majority and the unanimity rule.
Domestic Fiscal Policy in a Monetary Union: What are the Spillovers? / Fiskalpolitik in einer Währungsunion: Internationale Auswirkungen

Summary This paper examines the spillovers of domestic fiscal expansion in a monetary union. Such a policy action leads to cross-country crowding-out effects on the one hand and cross-country multiplier effects on the other. The overall effect is indeterminate a priori. The approach pursued is therefore an empirical one, using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model with a simple representation of the money market. Three groups of parameters are identified as key determinants of the fiscal policy spillover: the elasticities of substitution in foreign trade (being a measure of the degree of trade integration), the interest elasticity of money demand, and the elasticity of wages with respect to the employment situation. For a reasonable range of parameter configurations, the interest rate effect always dominates the multiplier effect. Especially, even with a degree of trade integration four times as high as commonly assumed the overall spillover is (slightly) negative. Zusammenfassung Dieser Artikel untersucht die internationalen Auswirkungen einer nationalen Staatsausgabenerhöhung in einer Währungsunion. Eine solche Maßnahme führt zum Export von Verdrängungseffekten und von Multiplikatoreffekten. Beide Arten von Spillovers werden in einer Währungsunion vermutlich stärker ausfallen als in einer Situation nationaler Währungen und flexibler Wechselkurse. Wegen der zu erwartenden komplexen Reaktionen wird ein monetäres berechenbares allgemeines Gleichgewichtsmodell als Analyseinstrument eingesetzt. Es zeigt sich, daß allgemeine Gleichgewichtsreaktionen in der Tat eine große Bedeutung für die Transmission der Effekte haben, wobei drei Parameter für die Ergebnisse ausschlaggebend sind: die Zinselastizität der Geldnachfrage, die Substitutionselastizitäten im Außenhandel und die Flexibilität der Löhne. Dabei bestimmen die ersten beiden Parameter, wie stark der exportierte Verdrängungseffekt in Relation zum exportierten Multiplikatoreffekt ausfällt. Von den betrachteten Parameterkonstellationen führt keine zur Dominanz des exportierten Multiplikatoreffekts über den exportierten Verdrängungseffekt. Jedoch ist der negative Gesamteffekt unter „günstigen“ Bedingungen sehr gering.
Portfolios of the Poor: How the World's Poor Live on $2 a Day

List of Tables vii List of Figures ix Chapter One: The Portfolios of the Poor 1 Chapter Two: The Daily Grind 28 Chapter Three: Dealing with Risk 65 Chapter Four: Building Blocks: Creating Usefully Large Sums 95 Chapter Five: The Price of Money 132 Chapter Six: Rethinking Microfinance: The Grameen II Diaries 154 Chapter Seven: Better Portfolios 174 Appendix 1: The Story behind the Portfolios 185 Appendix 2: A Selection of Portfolios 211 Acknowledgments 243 Notes 247 Bibliography 265 Index 273
Modulation of Hydrogen Peroxide Production in Cellular Systems by Low Level Magnetic Fields

Increased generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and an altered redox status have long been observed in cancer cells, suggesting that ROS might be involved in the development of these cells. However, recent studies suggest that inducing an excess of ROS in cancer cells can be exploited for therapeutic benefits. Cancer cells in advanced stage tumors frequently exhibit multiple genetic alterations and high oxidative stress, suggesting that it might be possible to preferentially modulate the development of these cells by controlling their ROS production. Low levels of ROS are also important for the development and survival of normal cells. In this manuscript, we present data on the influence of the suppression of the Earth's magnetic field (low level magnetic fields or LLF) which magnitudes range from 0.2 µT to 2 µT on the modulation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in human fibrosarcoma cancer cell line HT1080, pancreatic AsPC-1 cancer cell line, and bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells (PAEC) exposed to geomagnetic field (control; 45 µT–60 µT). Reduction of the Earth's magnetic field suppressed H2O2 production in cancer cells and PAEC. The addition of catalase and superoxide dismutase (SOD) mimetic MnTBAP inhibited the magnetic field effect. Modulating ROS production by magnetic fields may open new venues of biomedical research and therapeutic strategies.
Tumor-Localized Ligation of CD3 and CD28 with Systemic Regulatory T-Cell Depletion Induces Potent Innate and Adaptive Antitumor Responses

Purpose: Tumor-localized activation of immune cells by membrane-tethered anti-CD3 antibodies (CD3L) is under investigation to treat poorly immunogenic tumors. Here we sought to elucidate the mechanism of antitumor immunity elicited by CD3L. Experimental Design: CD3L and CD86 were expressed on poorly immunogenic B16 melanoma cells (B16/3L86 cells) and the effect of various lymphocytes, including CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, natural killer T (NKT) cells, and regulatory T cells, on antitumor activity was investigated. Results: B16/3L86 cells activated naïve T cells; suppressed tumor growth in subcutaneous, peritoneal, and metastasis models; and protected mice from rechallenge with B16 melanoma cells. However, in vivo antitumor activity against primary B16/3L86 tumors unexpectedly depended on NKT cells rather than CD4+ or CD8+ T cells. Treatment of mice with low-dose cyclophosphamide or anti-CD25 antibody to deplete regulatory T cells unmasked latent T-cell antitumor activity; the number of activated CD8+ T cells in tumors increased and B16/3L86 tumors were completely rejected in a CD8+ and CD4+ T-cell–dependent fashion. Furthermore, fibroblasts expressing CD3L and CD86 suppressed the growth of neighboring B16 cancer cells in vivo, and direct intratumoral injection of adenoviral vectors expressing CD3L and CD86 or CD3L and a membrane-tethered anti-CD28 antibody significantly suppressed the growth of subcutaneous tumors. Conclusions: Tumor-located ligation of CD3 and CD28 can activate both innate (NKT cells) and adaptive (CD4+ and CD8+ T cells) responses to create a tumor-destructive environment to control tumor growth, but modulation of regulatory T cells is necessary to unmask local adaptive antitumor responses.
The constrained coalitional price setting game: theory and applications

In a number of simple settings there do not exist Nash equilibria, to the Bertrand price setting game, in pure strategies. Two prominent examples where pure strategy solutions do not exist are price competition with convex costs and spatial competition with finite buyers. This thesis develops an alternative model of price formation. The model examines as a nontransferable utility coalitional game the set of outcomes that are feasible in the Bertrand price setting game. In spatial models with finite buyers the core of this NTU coalitional game is equivalent to the set of outcomes that can be produced by undercut-proof prices. While in a market for a homogeneous good, where sellers face convex costs, the market clearing price is always in the core. Moreover, where at least two sellers compete on the supply side, as buyers become numerous the core collapses to only admit market clearing outcomes. In some settings the price setting game developed in this thesis produces results that contradict the predictions of Bertrand. Where this occurs the core outcomes tend to be more efficient than the corresponding BertrandNash equilibrium. For example, double-marginalisation is never a core outcome in vertically related markets. The existence of solutions in pure strategies allows previously intractable problems in spatial markets to be tackled with relative ease. Two such problems are addressed in this thesis: The first investigates the consequence of replacing the continuum of buyers, with a large but finite set of buyers, in common spatial models. It is shown that the maximum stable mark-ups on both the Hotelling line and circle are halved where the continuum is replaced by an arbitrarily large number of discrete buyers. The difference arises because competition at the margin is more intense where sellers are competing for an atom. The second is to develop a theory of price competition in a market for a homogeneous good, where the option to trade is defined by a buyer-seller network. The necessary and sufficient conditions for a network to behave competitively are characterised, and it is shown that local price distortions can propagate across the network; resulting in supra-competitive pricing.
International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids a Fourier–chebyshev Spectral Collocation Method for Simulating Flow past Spheres and Spheroids

SUMMARY An accurate Fourier–Chebyshev spectral collocation method has been developed for simulating flow past prolate spheroids. The incompressible Navier–Stokes equations are transformed to the prolate spheroidal coordinate system and discretized on an orthogonal body fitted mesh. The infinite flow domain is truncated to a finite extent and a Chebyshev discretization is used in the wall-normal direction. The azimuthal direction is periodic and a conventional Fourier expansion is used in this direction. The other wall-tangential direction requires special treatment and a restricted Fourier expansion that satisfies the parity conditions across the poles is used. Issues including spatial and temporal discretization, efficient inversion of the pressure Poisson equation, outflow boundary condition and stability restriction at the pole are discussed. The solver has been validated primarily by simulating steady and unsteady flow past a sphere at various Reynolds numbers and comparing key quantities with corresponding data from experiments and other numerical simulations.
Comparison of the CAF-DF and SAGE algorithms in multipath channel parameter estimation

In this paper, performance of the recently proposed cross ambiguity function - direction finding (CAF-DF) technique is compared with the space alternating generalized expectation maximization (SAGE) technique. The CAF-DF, iteratively estimates direction of arrival (DOA), time-delay, Doppler shift and amplitude corresponding to each impinging signal onto an antenna array by utilizing the cross ambiguity function. On synthetic signals, based on Monte Carlo trials, performances of the algorithms are tested in terms of root mean squared error (rMSE) at different signal-to-noise ratios (SNR). Cramer-Rao lower bound is included for statistical comparisons. Simulation results indicate the superior performance of the CAF-DF technique over SAGE technique for low and medium SNR values.
Categorification

Categorification is the process of finding category-theoretic analogs of set-theoretic concepts by replacing sets with categories, functions with functors, and equations between functions by natural isomorphisms between functors, which in turn should satisfy certain equations of their own, called `coherence laws'. Iterating this process requires a theory of `n-categories', algebraic structures having objects, morphisms between objects, 2-morphisms between morphisms and so on up to n-morphisms. After a brief introduction to n-categories and their relation to homotopy theory, we discuss algebraic structures that can be seen as iterated categorifications of the natural numbers and integers. These include tangle n-categories, cobordism n-categories, and the homotopy n-types of the loop spaces Omega^k S^k. We conclude by describing a definition of weak n-categories based on the theory of operads.
The impact of TQM practices on performance: a comparative study between Australian and Singaporean organizations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper compares the experience of organizations in Australia and Singapore with respect to the multidimensionality of TQM and its relationship with quality performance and innovation performance.Design/methodology/approach – A survey was initially conducted in Australia and replicated in Singapore using the same questionnaire. We obtained a total of 252 responses, 194 from Australia and 58 from Singapore. The respondents were all middle and senior management who had experience and understandings of their organizations' quality management and innovation activities.Findings – Results of the survey cross‐validate that TQM practices take place along several dimensions. Relatively more organic dimensions such as leadership and people management are related more to innovation performance, whilst more mechanistic dimensions such as customer focus and process management are significantly related to quality performance.Research limitations/implications – Relatively small sample size, e.
SMS based group communication system for mobile devices

This paper presents a group communication system for mobile devices, called MobileGCS. Mobile communication is slow, expensive and suffers from occasionally disconnections, especially when users are in movement. MobileGCS is based on SMS and enables group communication despite these restrictions. It provides all primitives needed for a chat application and handles process failures. As mobile communication is expensive, MobileGCS is designed for small message overhead and, additionally, exploits SMS based message relaying to handle short-term disconnections. In this work, we present the group maintenance service and the multicast service of MobileGCS. In order to distribute the overhead of failure discovery over all processes we introduce the concept of a circle of responsibility for failure detection. We discuss informally that MobileGCS can handle the most common failures while keeping the message overhead very low.
An unscented Kalman filter in designing dynamic GMDH neural networks for robust fault detection

This paper presents an identification method of dynamic systems based on a group method of data handling approach. In particular, a new structure of the dynamic multi-input multi-output neuron in a state-space representation is proposed. Moreover, a new training algorithm of the neural network based on the unscented Kalman filter is presented. The final part of the work contains an illustrative example regarding the application of the proposed approach to robust fault detection of a tunnel furnace.
Scaling up multi-agent systems through organizational structuring

Summary form only given. Over the last four years, the author has been working on the design of a distributed sensor network for vehicle tracking using adaptive radar sensors. This effort has reignited his long-term interest in the use of organizational structuring for handling scaling issues in multiagent systems. In This work, he first examines how organizational structuring was used in their design to reduce the computational and communication load involved in coordinating agent activities, and he discusses experiments that indicate the complex set of issues that need to be considered in evaluating the effectiveness of different organizational variants. He also briefly illustrates how it is possible to model the performance of these variants analytically, and predicts their performance. He then presents bottom-up techniques, based on negotiation, for organizational instantiation and adaptation in a dynamic environment. Finally, he discusses some work on a knowledge-based top-down approach for organizational design.
Trajectory analyses for five-axis machine tools

In order to achieve high accuracy, less machining time, and more machining variety, normally, additional two rotary axes are set up on top of traditional three- axis CNC machine tool, which is called five-axis machines. The tool motion for five-axis machines in this research includes both translating and rotating axis movements simultaneously. This research analyzes the contour errors for multi-axis machine tools that have coordinated motion for both rotating and translating axes. This error depends on the setup of the machine, the distance between the center of rotating axis and the workpiece, and the increment of the rotating axis. A computer software program is developed to calculate the contour errors and simulate actual tool trajectory for multi-axis machine tools. This contour error analyses can be used to produce more accurate 5-axis tool paths for the advanced CAD/CAM system. A demonstrated example is provided to implement the tool trajectory error analyses for five-axis machining.
Patience and Ultimatum in Bargaining

This study investigates in a two-stage two-player model how the decision to make an ultimatum and how much to demand depends on the impatience of the agents and the pie uncertainty. First, players simultaneously decide on their ultimatums. If the ultimatum(s) are compatible then the player(s) receive his (their) demand(s) in the second period and the eventually remaining player becomes residual claimant. If no ultimatums are made then there is a Rubinstein-Stahl bargaining. Relative impatience induces ultimatums but does not affect the demanded amount. In a discrete (continuous) setting there exist no equilibrium without an ultimatum (with mutual ultimatums).
Consistency and Refinement for Interval Markov Chains 12

Interval Markov Chains (IMC), or Markov Chains with probability intervals in the transition matrix, are the base of a classic specification theory for probabilistic systems (Larsen and J onsson, 1991). The standard semantics of IMCs assigns to a specification the set of all Markov Chains that satisfy its interval constraints. The theory then provides operators for deciding emptiness of conjunction and refinement (entailment) for such specifications. In this paper we study complexity of several problems for IMCs, that stem from compositional modeling methodologies. In particular, we close the complexity gap for thorough refinement of two IMCs and for deciding the existence of a common implementation for an unbounded number of IMCs, showing that these problems are EXPTIME-complete. W e discuss suitable notions of determinism for specifications, and show that for deterministic IMCs the syntactic refinement operators are complete with respect to model inclusion. Finally, we show that deciding consistency (emptiness) for an IMC is polynomial and that existance of common implementation can be established in polynomial time for any constant number of IMCs. K eywords: Markov Chain, Abstraction, Refinement, Complexity, Determinism A preliminary version of this paper appeared in the 5th International Conference on Language and Automata Theory and Applications. W ork supported by the European STREP-COMBEST project no. 215543, by VKR Centre of Excellence MT-LAB, and by an “Action de Recherche Collaborative” ARC (TP)I.
Diagnostic system based on the information analysis of Electrocardiograph

The paper presents measurement models for diagnosis various diseases using the parameters extracted from Electrocardiograph (ECG) signal. The approach includes: measurement of basic ECG parameters, creating of alphabet codes which present the dynamics of measured parameters, encoding the serial stream of the codes, comparison and recognition with pre-recorded patterns in order to take diagnosis. The intensive testing showed an efficiency of proposed method.
Walk-Sums and Belief Propagation in Gaussian Graphical Models

We present a new framework based on walks in a graph for analysis and inference in Gaussian graphical models. The key idea is to decompose the correlation between each pair of variables as a sum over all walks between those variables in the graph. The weight of each walk is given by a product of edgewise partial correlation coefficients. This representation holds for a large class of Gaussian graphical models which we call walk-summable. We give a precise characterization of this class of models, and relate it to other classes including diagonally dominant, attractive, non-frustrated, and pairwise-normalizable. We provide a walk-sum interpretation of Gaussian belief propagation in trees and of the approximate method of loopy belief propagation in graphs with cycles. The walk-sum perspective leads to a better understanding of Gaussian belief propagation and to stronger results for its convergence in loopy graphs.