Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Combined non-orthogonal joint zero-diagonalization and joint diagonalization for sources separation

This communication is concerned with blind separation of instantaneous mixtures of source signals based on the use of spatial quadratic time-frequency (spectrum) distributions. First, we propose a new algorithm to perform the non orthogonal joint zero-diagonalization and joint-diagonalization of given sets of matrices. We also present a selection procedure of useful time-frequency points in order to automatically determine which matrices have to be joint (zero-) diagonalized. One advantage of the proposed approaches is that they do not require any whitening stage and thus they are intended to work even with a class of correlated signals, rather than the classical independent one. Finally, computer simulations are provided in order to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods and to compare them with more classical ones
The cost-effectiveness of routine tuberculosis screening with Xpert MTB/RIF prior to initiation of antiretroviral therapy: a model-based analysis

Background:In settings with high tuberculosis (TB) prevalence, 15–30% of HIV-infected individuals initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) have undiagnosed TB. Such patients are usually screened by symptoms and sputum smear, which have poor sensitivity. Objective:To project the clinical and economic outcomes of using Xpert MTB/RIF(Xpert), a rapid TB/rifampicin-resistance diagnostic, to screen individuals initiating ART. Design:We used a microsimulation model to evaluate the clinical impact and cost-effectiveness of alternative TB screening modalities – in all patients or only symptomatic patients – for hypothetical cohorts of individuals initiating ART in South Africa (mean CD4 cell count = 171 cells/&mgr;l; TB prevalence 22%). We simulated no active screening and four diagnostic strategies, smear microscopy (sensitivity 23%); smear and culture (sensitivity, 100%); one Xpert sample (sensitivity in smear-negative TB: 43%); two Xpert samples (sensitivity in smear-negative TB: 62%). Outcomes included projected life expectancy, lifetime costs (2010 US$), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs). Strategies with ICERs less than $7100 (South African gross domestic product per capita) were considered very cost-effective. Results:Compared with no screening, life expectancy in TB-infected patients increased by 1.6 months using smear in symptomatic patients and by 6.6 months with two Xpert samples in all patients. At 22% TB prevalence, the ICER of smear for all patients was $2800 per year of life saved (YLS), and of Xpert (two samples) for all patients was $5100/YLS. Strategies involving one Xpert sample or symptom screening were less efficient. Conclusion:Model-based analysis suggests that screening all individuals initiating ART in South Africa with two Xpert samples is very cost-effective.
Determinants of Income Inequality in U.S. Nonmetropolitan Tourism- and Recreation-Dependent Communities

This study examines the determinants of income inequality in nonmetropolitan tourism- and recreation-dependent, manufacturing-dependent, and farming-dependent communities. Earnings in tourism and recreation industry, race, and region show a positive relationship with income inequality. Median household income and manufacturing employment are negatively related to income inequality. Tourism- and recreation-related variables (tourism and recreation employment, and tourism and recreation earnings) are identified as factors that contribute to income inequality. Race dualism and tourism- and recreation-dependent communities also contribute to increases in income inequality. Results of this study show that income inequality in selected U.S. nonmetropolitan communities increased during 1990 and 2000. The need for additional research on income inequality associated with tourism and recreation development is discussed. Characteristics of the labor market in the tourism and recreation industry and economic structures of the communities will be main issues in investigating the relationship between tourism and recreation development and income inequality.
Why does the bid-ask spread vary over the day?

This paper shows that the findings of Chan, Christie and Schultz (Journal of Business, 68, 1995) of no intraday variation in the average bid-ask spread is not general to all competitive markets, and in particular does not apply to the London Stock Exchange during the mandatory quote period. This is important because it revives the possibility of explanations of intraday variation in the bid-ask spread which involve individual market-makers widening their individual spreads for example in response to informed trading, inelastic demand or the need to discover prices at the start of the day. However there is no evidence of individual market makers widening their bid-ask quote spreads during the warm up and cool down periods at the start and the end of the trading day outwith the mandatory quote period. The only single explanation which might explain the whole day variation observed in the inside and the average bid-ask spreads both inside and outside of the mandatory quote is inventory control.
Irrigation access and per capita consumption expenditure in farm households: Evidence from Ghana

Investment in agricultural water management has been one key poverty reduction strategy in developing countries. In Ghana, irrigation development for livelihood support, which dates back to the 1960s manifested in the development of formal irrigation infrastructure, starting with the rural savannah and coastal regions. This study applied a propensity score matching (PSM) approach and regression analysis (ordinary least squares and switching regression) to ascertain that, pro-poor irrigation investment in the rural savannah region of Ghana is justified due to significant irrigation contribution to consumption expenditure per capita in farm households. The results also show differences in the impacts of irrigation access on household consumption expenditure per capita due to differences in the methodologies employed. The gain in household consumption expenditure per (GH¢) using the different methodologies are as follows: Propensity Score Matching approach (GH¢ 24.90, GH¢28.30), ordinary least squares regression (GH¢ 5.40), and switching regression (GH¢23.70). Thus, the range of estimates of irrigation’s impact on household consumption expenditure is positive (GH¢ 5.4 to GH¢ 28.3). The differences in the magnitude of these estimates are ascribed to the underlying assumptions and robustness of each of these methodologies employed in the study. Key words: Irrigation, consumption expenditure, propensity score matching, ordinary least squares regression, switching regression, Ghana.
Cystic fibrosis adult care: consensus conference report.

2004;125;1S-39S Chest and David Rodman James R. Yankaskas, Bruce C. Marshall, Beth Sufian, Richard H. Simon * Cystic Fibrosis Adult Care html http://chestjournal.chestpubs. org/content/125/1_suppl/1S.full. and services can be found online on the World Wide Web at: The online version of this article, along with updated information ISSN:0012-3692 ) http://chestjournal.chestpubs. org/site/misc/reprints.xhtml ( of the copyright holder. may be reproduced or distributed without the prior written permission Northbrook, IL 60062. All rights reserved. No part of this article or PDF by the American College of Chest Physicians, 3300 Dundee Road, 2004 Physicians. It has been published monthly since 1935. Copyright CHEST is the official journal of the American College of Chest
Broadband synchronization of underwater acoustic communication signals using superimposed pilots

A low-complex methodology to synchronize broadband underwater acoustic channels is proposed. The aim of the scheme is to process the received signal in such a way that the highly time-varying discrete-time channel turns time-invariant. Suggested is an LMS-like strategy based on superimposed pilots. Simulations on realistic models show that the proposed scheme is able to maintain very stable channel properties throughout long data frames. This indicates that the derived strategy is a highly attractive component for various underwater communication applications as channel variation is often the limiting factor in system performance.
Rats and mice immunised with chimeric human/mouse proteinase 3 produce autoantibodies to mouse Pr3 and rat granulocytes

Aim: In this study, we employed chimeric human/mouse Proteinase 3 (PR3) proteins as tools to induce an autoantibody response to PR3 in rats and mice. Method: Rats and mice were immunised with recombinant human PR3 (HPR3), recombinant murine PR3 (mPR3), single chimeric human/mouse PR3 (HHm, HmH, mHH, mmH, mHm, Hmm) or pools of chimeric proteins. Antibodies to mPR3 and HPR3 were measured by ELISA. Antibodies to rat PR3 were determined by indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) on rat white blood cells. Urinalysis was performed by dipstick analysis. Kidney and lung tissue was obtained for pathological examination. Results: In mice, immunisation with the chimeric human/mouse PR3 Hmm led to an autoantibody response to mPR3. Rats immunised with the chimeric human/mouse PR3 Hmm, HmH and mmH, or a pool of the chimeric human/mouse PR3 proteins, produced antibodies selectively binding to rat granulocytes as detected by IIF. No gross pathological abnormalities could be detected in kidney or lungs of mice or rats immunised with chimeric human/mouse PR3. Conclusion: Immunisation with chimeric human/mouse proteins induces autoantibodies to PR3 in rats and mice. Chimeric proteins can be instrumental in developing experimental models for autoimmune diseases.
Contractual agreements for coordination and vendor‐managed delivery under explicit transportation considerations

We consider the coordination problem between a vendor and a buyer operating under generalized replenishment costs that include fixed costs as well as stepwise freight costs. We study the stochastic demand, single‐period setting where the buyer must decide on the order quantity to satisfy random demand for a single item with a short product life cycle. The full order for the cycle is placed before the cycle begins and no additional orders are accepted by the vendor. Due to the nonrecurring nature of the problem, the vendor's replenishment quantity is determined by the buyer's order quantity. Consequently, by using an appropriate pricing schedule to influence the buyer's ordering behavior, there is an opportunity for the vendor to achieve substantial savings from transportation expenses, which are represented in the generalized replenishment cost function.
A Prince, a King, and a Referendum: Rugby, Politics, and Nationhood in Wales, 1969–1979

O 1 July 1969 at Caernarfon Castle, Charles Windsor was invested as the Prince of Wales, to varying reactions across his nation. The Daily Mirror thought Charles had “triumphantly and spectacularly draped his ermine-trimmed mantle around the shoulders of a nation and received more than an affectionate hug in return. ” Some opinion polls suggested that three-quarters of the Welsh population supported the event, but others claimed that half the Welsh thought it a waste of time. Those proud to be both Welsh and British waved flags and rejoiced, but those who saw the event as an English colonial imposition reacted with apathy or protested, throwing eggs or even bombs. The day before the investiture, two members of Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru (Movement for the defense of Wales) had been killed when gelignite, which they planned to plant on the Royal train’s route, exploded prematurely. What was meant to be a day of celebration for Wales had revealed how divided the nation was in understanding what it meant to be Welsh. As The Times pointed out, the investiture was supposed to be “the greatest television spectacular in history, a carnival to entice tourists to Wales for years and thus fortify the Exchequer, a public relations and political sop to pacify the nationalist stirrings of Wales. ” The Labour Party, who had dominated post-1945
Picturing Bornholm: Producing and Consuming a Tourist Place through Picturing Practices

This paper explores the continuous making of the Danish island Bornholm as a tourist place in and through performances and objects of painting, literature, postcards, brochures and snapshot photographs throughout the last 200 years. It examines the changing “imaginative geographies” that has produced and reproduced Bornholm as a particular tourist place over time. Rather than seeing Bornholm as a unique, bounded and fixed island, it is grasped as a “place of movement” that comes into existence through relationships; it floats around within mobile, trans‐national networks of humans, technologies, images and “place myths”. Photographic practices and objects are crucial components in the mobile networks producing and reproducing specific places. Tourist places are produced places and tourists are co‐producers of such places. This article is innovative as it examines the picturing of Bornholm through “ordinary” tourists' photos as much as commercial photography. The conventional idea that the camerawork of tourists are pre‐formed by commercial photography is questioned as it is shown that commercial photographers and tourists in some ways picture Bornholm differently. In a wider perspective this paper is a contribution to the study of how “mobilities of photography” produce geographical imaginations and places.
Institution and Development Revisited: A Nonparametric Approach

The paper uses nonparametric methodology to examine the role of institutions in understanding differential levels of development across countries. By using the Li-Racine (2004) generalized kernel estimation methodology, our paper allows a deeper look into the impact of institutions on development. The analysis is carried out for a set of 102 countries over 1980 to 2004. Similar to parametric results established in the literature, the nonparametric analysis lends further support to the view that institutions matter in the development of countries in the context of economic policies and geographic factors. There is minimal evidence to suggest that institutions have a negative impact on development. Our results further indicate (a) parametric estimates suffer from misspecification bias and (b) the impact of institutional quality on development quality is heterogeneous across countries and time periods.
Compulsory Private Pension Plans—

overseas, namely, the concept of compulsory employer-sponsored pension plans. This approach attempts to provide income security for the individual through a combination of Social Security and legally mandated employer-sponsored pension plans, rather than through a continued expansion of the former. Considering the frustrations authorities in the developed countries of Western Europe and North America are experiencing in establishing their present Social Securi-
HOW NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT REFORMS CHALLENGE THE ROLES OF PROFESSIONALS

ABSTRACT The article discusses the relationship between New Public Management reforms and professional roles in European countries. The author presents the traditional autonomous role of professionals and argues that this role is challenged in New Public Management reforms. Then the author looks more closely into the comparative European literature on New Public Management reforms to find general messages about the specific challenges for professionals. And the Danish way of implementing New Public Management reforms is introduced with a specific combination of decentralisation, managerialism and democratisation. Professionals are faced with all of these reform strategies and each of them raises important research questions in a study of reforms and roles. Finally the author presents the few European comparative studies on actual changes in professional role as a consequence of New Public Management reforms and the result is the upcoming of maybe a new interactive role and professional managers. The result calls for further studies into these new roles.
Human Asset Measurement: A Comparison of the Artifact-Based Approach versus Input Methods

While the importance of measuring the value of human assets in organizations is not in question, the acknowledged preferred method and the assurance of accurately measuring them have been topics of debate for several decades. Professionals in both the fields of Human Resource Management and Accounting have worked for years to develop a workable method of measurement that provides mutually agreeable results that ultimately promote organizational success. This article is an attempt to evaluate two current contrasting approaches of human asset valuation with one view advocating the traditional method of input valuation while the other promotes an artifact-based output approach.
Design of electromagnetic band gap structures using filter theory

This paper presents a simple approach for designing planar electromagnetic band gap structures. The approach is based on designing a planar band pass filter at a desired center frequency. A simple modification is introduced to the well known design steps of the filter. This modification allows for specifying the high impedance property of the structure, as well as its stop band, using a circuit simulator. The validity of the proposed method is shown by applying it in designing some novel structures. Simulations using circuit modeling, full wave simulators, along with laboratory measurements are presented
Quantitative Real-Time Legionella PCR for Environmental Water Samples: Data Interpretation

ABSTRACT Quantitative Legionella PCRs targeting the 16S rRNA gene (specific for the genus Legionella) and the mip gene (specific for the species Legionella pneumophila) were applied to a total of 223 hot water system samples (131 in one laboratory and 92 in another laboratory) and 37 cooling tower samples (all in the same laboratory). The PCR results were compared with those of conventional culture. 16S rRNA gene PCR results were nonquantifiable for 2.8% of cooling tower samples and up to 39.1% of hot water system samples, and this was highly predictive of Legionella CFU counts below 250/liter. PCR cutoff values for identifying hot water system samples containing >103 CFU/liter legionellae were determined separately in each laboratory. The cutoffs differed widely between the laboratories and had sensitivities from 87.7 to 92.9% and specificities from 77.3 to 96.5%. The best specificity was obtained with mip PCR. PCR cutoffs could not be determined for cooling tower samples, as the results were highly variable and often high for culture-negative samples. Thus, quantitative Legionella PCR appears to be applicable to samples from hot water systems, but the positivity cutoff has to be determined in each laboratory.
Promoting urban green tourism: The development of the other map of Toronto

While the focus of ecotourism has largely been on rural or sensitive areas, the vast majority of tourists visit an urban environment. This paper examines how the Green Tourist Association in Toronto, Canada, developed the concept of urban green tourism — a concept that promotes environmental responsibility, local economic vitality, cultural diversity and experiential richness. In looking at promoting greener practices, the association developed the ‘Other Map of Toronto’. This map highlights eco-businesses, green spaces, galleries and heritage sites, natural food stores, and sustainable transportation options among other features. The development and launch of the map is discussed and some of the problems encountered are examined. Key strategies for launching green tourism products are presented in the recommendations.
Development Economics and Method: A Quarter Century of ABCDE

This, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) and also of the Washington Consensus, is a good time to take stock of development economics. What have we learned? What do we need to unlearn? What is the right methodology for development economics so that future knowledge is on firmer footing? These are important questions and this year’s ABCDE and this introduction is a stocktaking of where we stand on these questions. Development economics has come a long way from Adam Smith’s towering achievement in putting the discipline on a firm theoretical footing to some great strides in empirical methods in recent times. What we need to focus on now is the blending of analytics, statistics and intuition; and of using theory to integrate disparate empirical research.
Marginal structural models in clinical research: when and how to use them?: Clinical Epidemiology in Nephrology

Abstract Marginal structural models are a multi‐step estimation procedure designed to control for the effect of confounding variables that change over time, and are affected by previous treatment. When a time‐varying confounder is affected by prior treatment standard methods for confounding control are inappropriate, because over time the covariate plays both the role of confounder and mediator of the effect of treatment on outcome. Marginal structural models first calculate a weight to assign to each observation. These weights reflect the extent to which observations with certain characteristics (covariate values) are under‐represented or over‐represented in the sample with the respect to a target population in which these characteristics are balanced across treatment groups. Then, marginal structural models estimate the outcome of interest taking into account these weights. Marginal structural models are a powerful method for confounding control in longitudinal study designs that collect time‐varying information on exposure, outcome and other covariates.
The global patterns and prevalence of AIDS and HIV infection.

This update on world prevalence of HIV infections and patterns of transmission begins with definitions of AIDS, and an evaluation of efficiency of reporting, and ends with tentative projections and global impact of the pandemic. In developed countries the CDC/WHO clinical and serological definition of AIDS as formulated in 1985 and modified in 1987 is used, but in rural Africa the WHO clinical definition of AIDS is appropriate. AIDS reporting has improved, and is considered 80% complete from the U.S. Reporting is variable among some European and Latin American countries, and is only preliminary in Eastern Europe, Middle East, Asia and the Pacific. Estimates of 10-20% reporting in Africa is given. About 250,000 cases are probably ongoing. ELISA tests are now considered very accurate. Global transmission patterns fall into 3 classes: I. homosexual and bisexual men, iv drug users, their partners, with a male to female ratio of 10-15:1, in industrialized countries. Here overall prevalence is 1%, but may be as high as 50% susceptible groups. Pattern II. heterosexuals, sex ratio 1:1, common perinatal transmission, significant transmission by syringes and blood products, in Central and Eastern Africa and parts of the Caribbean and Latin America. Pattern III. both homosexuals and heterosexuals, infected after mid-1980s, most cases transmitted by foreign travellers, some by imported blood products, in Eastern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific Islands excluding Australia and New Zealand. WHO estimates that up to 10 million people are already infected with HIV, and that by 1991 1 million will develop AIDS. The average incubation time is 8-9 years. The majority of cases will appear within 4-5 years. Since most cases are adults aged 20-49 years, and many are urban, more educated adults, economic and political destabilization may be possible in some areas.