Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relay assignment in Decode-and-Forward cooperative networks based on order-statistics

This paper offers the statistical analysis of relay assignment in cooperative Decode-and-Forward (DF) networks based on order statistics. By assuming a set of N independent Rayleigh fading channels, first the channel with r-th biggest SNR is analyzed. The diversity order and average error probability for this channel are calculated. Then it is assumed that there are two clusters of terminals and the terminals in each cluster are relatively close to each other, so they have equivalent average SNR to the destination. The cluster with better average SNR is assumed to be the relay cluster. The problem is to find best pairing of source-relays. By assuming the SNR of direct channels to be i.i. d. random variables, it's more reasonable to work with their order statistics, because order statistics reveal the relative SNR of the channels. This is the basic distinction of this paper from similar papers. Using this approach, two different scenarios are proposed to assign the best relay to each weak-channeled terminal based on the instantaneous SNR information. In the first scenario, only the SNR of direct links between the terminals and the destination are known; whereas in the second scenario we assume that the SNR of all channels are available. It's shown that in the second scenario, a much higher performance can be achieved through cooperation.
Evalulation of a Prosodic Labeling System Utilizing Linguistic Information

A prosodic labeling support system has been developed and evaluated. Large-scale prosodic databases are strongly desired for years, however, the construction of databases depend on hand labeling, because of diversity of prosody. We aim at not automating the whole labeling process, but making the hand labeling work more efﬁcient by providing labelers with appropriate support information. A method to generate J-ToBI labels utilizing linguistic information had been already proposed. We have developed a J-ToBI labeling system using initial labels generated by the proposed method, and conducted labeling experiments using the system. Records of the labeling work in the experiments proved that time required to do the labeling work was reduced to half by using the system with the initial labels. Subjective evaluation re-sults also veriﬁed the validity of the proposed method to support the labeling work.
Human parechoviruses as an important viral cause of sepsislike illness and meningitis in young children.

BACKGROUND Enteroviruses (EVs) belong to the family Picornaviridae and are a well-known cause of neonatal sepsis and viral meningitis. Human parechoviruses (HPeVs) type 1 and 2, previously named echovirus 22 and 23, have been associated with mild gastrointestinal or respiratory symptoms in young children. Six HPeV genotypes are currently known, of which HPeV3 is associated with neonatal sepsis and meningitis. METHODS Cerebrospinal fluid samples from children aged <5 years previously tested by EV-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) during 2004-2006 were selected (N= 761). Samples from 716 of those children were available for retrospective testing by HPeV-specific real-time PCR. The prevalence of EV and HPeV in these samples was compared. Data on clinical presentation of children infected with HPeV were retrospectively documented. RESULTS HPeV was found in cerebrospinal fluid samples from 33 (4.6%) of the children. Yearly prevalence of HPeV in cerebrospinal fluid varied remarkably: 8.2% in 2004, 0.4% in 2005, and 5.7% in 2006. EV was detected in 14% (108 of 761 samples), with no variation in yearly prevalence. Children with HPeV in cerebrospinal fluid presented with clinical symptoms of sepsislike illness and meningitis, which led to hospitalization and antibiotic treatment. CONCLUSION EV-specific PCRs do not detect HPeVs. The addition of an HPeV-specific PCR has led to a 31% increase in detection of a viral cause of neonatal sepsis or central nervous system symptoms in children aged <5 years. HPeV can be considered to be the second cause of viral sepsis and meningitis in young children, and rapid identification of HPeV by PCR could contribute to shorter duration of both antibiotic use and hospital stay.
Faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi kejayaan usahawan kredit mikro di Negeri Johor

Critical Success Factor (CSF) is the most important element for firms in existing industry to achieve competitive edge. CSF demonstrates the performance whether an enterprise has been successful and unsuccessful in achieving its target mission and vision formulated before the enterprise was formed. Organisation that are able to indentify and utilised CSF will develop its uniqueness in achieving its competitive edge. This study focused on critical success factors of small businesses that received funding under the micro credit scheme in Johor. A total of 233 small entrepreneurs under the TEKUN micro credit scheme were selected for this study. The research was conducted to determine the critical success factors prevalent among TEKUN entrepreneurs in Johor. The objective of the study is also to explore sectors preferred by most TEKUN entrepreneurs. The study identified key and critical factors that are essential for the success of the entrepreneurs and their firm. Ways to enhanced these factors were also proposed. Data collection methods involved interviews with key informants from YTN and by sending in questionnaires to respondent who were successful in obtaining the second TEKUN credit micro funding. Respondents were selected fromthe area of Mersing, Kota Tinggi, Pontian, Tebrau, Johor Bahru and Gelang Patah. The result of the study indicates that the three major critical factors of TEKUN entrepreneurs were management skills, work specialization and persistency (never give up).
Predictors of Physical Activity Patterns Across Adulthood: A Growth Curve Analysis

Activity level is a core but understudied individual difference. Understanding patterns of physical activity over long periods may be key to understanding why some individuals develop healthy lifestyles. The present study transformed qualitative information from the Terman Life Cycle Study to examine patterns of leisure time physical activity across four decades (1936-1972). Activities were converted into metabolic equivalent (MET) ratings, and then activity patterns, individual variation, and child and adult personality predictors of differing trajectories were examined using growth curve modeling. For overall activity, a quadratic model fit best, with decelerating decline as people aged. Males were consistently more active than females. Much individual variation was present, but childhood energy and sociability, and adult extraversion and neuroticism predicted average activity levels and change. Results suggest that physical activity needs to be understood within the context of the individual’s personality and long-term trajectory, not merely current motivations.
Customer service quality strategy in the tourism and leisure industry : a case study of Mkabati Nature Reserve

Customer defections have been linked to service encounter failure in the tourism, leisure and hospitality industry. This study embraces the idea of improving customer acquisition, retention and satisfaction through proactively promoting operational excellence and improved customer service strategies. Mkambati Nature Reserve is studied to evaluate its customer service levels and to lay the foundation for the development of strategies for customer service improvement. Located in rural Transkei (Eastern Cape) wild coast, the resort is trying to position itself as a world-class holiday destination. However, increasing competition and the changing needs of its customers are threatening to erode its market share. The challenge for management is how to grow its market through customer acquisition and retention. This customer service measurement survey is one of regular surveys meant to evaluate the levels of customer service at Mkambati. A research questionnaire was designed to establish the profile of the visitors, their impression of the levels of service they receive and the key attractions. The respondents were also required to give a general opinion of the service they received and any other factors of concern. The data collected has been used to test the proposition: Customers are satisfied with the level of customer service received at the game reserve, i.e. at reservations, arrival, game drives, with accommodation, at the beach, restaurant and bar, cultural village, and at departure. A literature review of customer service in the tourism, leisure and hospitality industry has been under taken. The unique features of customer service in the tourism and leisure industry emerged. These are variability, perishability, intangibility and inseparability. It also emerged that there are 10 dimensions of service quality i.e. reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding and reliability. However, they have been reduced to the five dimensions of service quality i.e. reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles. The SERVQUAL instrument has been used to analyse data relating to customer perceptions at Mkambati Nature Reserve. The population of the research study consists of the residents and tourists in South Africa and the respondents were selected using a simple random sampling technique. A total of 300 questionnaires were issued and 270 were returned resulting in a 90% response rate. Mathematical and statistical data treatments have been employed to evaluate the survey results. Data has been presented using tables and graphs. The research results were analysed using the computer software, Microsoft Excel and a statistical software package: Statistica. The statements in the questionnaire have been reduced to the five dimensions of customer service. It emerged that responsiveness has the highest rating of all service dimensions, followed by reliability, assurance, empathy. The least rating was for tangibles. The mean score and standard deviation…
A high step-up DC-DC converter with switched-capacitor and ZVS realization

As generally acknowledged, the high step-up DC-DC converter is widely used in the sustainable energy system as the front-end stage of the DC-AC converter. Therefore, a novel high step-up DC-DC converter is proposed in this paper. The proposed converter with network of switched-inductor and switched-capacitor can achieve high voltage gain under low duty cycle. Meanwhile, the active switches and diodes suffer from low voltage stress compared with conventional step-up DC-DC converter. More importantly, the presented converter employs an auxiliary resonant circuit to realize zero-voltage switching (ZVS) turn-on and ZVS turn-off for the active switches, resulting in high conversion efficiency. Firstly, the operation principle and steady-state performance are discussed in detail. Then, prototype with power rating of 200W is built to verify the performance of the proposed converter. The maximum efficiency of the prototype can be up to 96.3%, and the experimental results agree with the theoretical analysis and the simulation results well.
Impact of Information Culture and Information Behaviour on Information Quality

Purpose: Although Information Quality (IQ) is a widely discussed topic, people’s influence on the Information Quality remains insufficiently explored. There are many indicators in the academic literature that people play an important role in creating and maintaining information, however, there is a lack of studies investigating how people’s behaviour and attitude towards information influence the Information Quality within the organisation. The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of Information Culture and Information Behaviour dimensions on Information Quality. Design/methodology/approach: An online survey has been conducted among office workers of Wellington based medium and large companies. Adapted from previous research questionnaires have been used to determine people’s perceptions of the Information Culture of the companies, the Information Behaviour of employees and Information Quality. Findings: Research reveals that Information Culture has moderate positive impact on Information Quality. Information Behaviour has a strong positive relationship with Information Quality. Research limitations/implications: Research has drawn attention to Information Quality problems, but this time from a slightly different angle focusing on the impact of Information Culture and Information Behaviour on Information Quality. The presented study provides an insight into what factors of Information Culture and Information Behaviour are the most favourable for maintaining good quality information. This knowledge is important for organisations that seek ways of improving Information Quality. However, due to the limited time framework, the small sample and taking into account that this paper is probably the first research of its kind, the results need further investigation by other research studies. Originality/value: The presented research appears to be the first of this kind and provides valuable knowledge into how employees might influence the quality of the information, which is the strategic resource of contemporary organisations.
Incontinence Among Nursing Home Patients: Clinical and Functional Correlates

This study was undertaken to examine the association of specific medical and genitourinary conditions, medications, and functional disabilities with urinary incontinence (UI) in a nursing home (NH) population. Seventy‐six incontinent and 38 continent patients in a Veterans Administration NH were studied. Incontinence was highly associated with each of the physical and mental functional disabilities we examined. However, with the exception of recurrent urinary tract infections and dementia, no specific clinical factors were significantly more common among incontinent than continent patients. Although precise causes for the UI were not determined, these data highlight the potential role of impairments of physical and/or mental function in the pathogenesis of UI among NH patients, and emphasize the need to address these impairments in future research on the assessment and treatment of UI in this population.
[Combination therapy with reboxetine for major depression patients who are partial or nonresponders to serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors].

INTRODUCTION Recent studies have confirmed the usefulness of the therapeutical combination of two antidepressants from different pharmacological families in patients with single drug therapy resistant depression. METHODS In this prospective 6 weeks open-labeled study, efficacy of combination strategy was evaluated. This included the addition of reboxetine to 34 outpatients with DSM-IV major depressive disorder, who had not responded previously, or who partially responded to conventional treatment in single drug therapy with serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors (SSRI). Data were analyzed on a intent-to-treat basis. RESULTS Mean decrease in the 21 item Hamilton depression rating scale (HDRS) score was 49.4% (from 26.9 to 13.6; p<0.0001) and in the clinical global impressions scale (CGI) was 40.4% (from 4.6 to 2.7; p < 0.0001). At the end of the treatment, 47.1% of the patients we re considered in remission (HDRS < or = 10), 55.9% evaluated as responders (HDRS < or = 50%) and 58.8% considered as having improvement (CGI<4). No serious side effects were observed during combination therapy, the most frequent being nervousness and the urinary hesitancy (5.9%). CONCLUSIONS The results of this study suggest that addition of reboxetine to SSRI may be an effective and well-tolerated strategy in treatment-resistant patients who have failed to adequately respond to single drug therapy with SSRI.
Dietary n-3 fatty acids differentially affect sickness behavior in mice during local and systemic inflammation.

We tested the hypothesis that increased dietary fish oil levels (via modulation of the production of inflammatory mediators) modulate sickness symptoms (i.e., anorexia, cachexia, fever, lethargy) of systemic and local inflammation. Swiss Webster mice were implanted with biotelemeters to measure body temperature and motor activity and were fed a diet high in n-3 fatty acids (17% wt/wt menhaden oil) or a reference diet (17% wt/wt hydrogenated coconut oil or normal rodent chow) for 6 wk. Local inflammation was induced by subcutaneous injection of turpentine (100 microl/mouse). Systemic inflammation was elicited by intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 2.5 mg/kg). Fever, lethargy, anorexia, and weight decrease during turpentine abscess were all inhibited (P < 0.05) in mice fed the fish oil diet. Indomethacin, similar to the fish oil diet, attenuated the turpentine-induced symptoms in mice fed a normal diet. Dietary n-3 fatty acids prevented fever and attenuated the decrease in body weight caused by LPS but did not affect the LPS-induced lethargy and anorexia. Within 90 min of LPS injection, the bioactivity of plasma tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) increased to 98.2 +/- 5.1 ng/ml in mice fed fish oil compared with 32.6 +/- 3.6 ng/ml in those fed the reference diet (P < 0.05). Plasma prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) levels after LPS injection of mice fed the control diet increased within 90 min to 16.4 +/- 5.1 pg/ml. Mice fed the fish oil diet did not show any elevation in plasma PGE2 levels at that time (P < 0.05). We speculate that dietary n-3 fatty acids suppressed PGE2-related responses, including a PGE2-dependent negative feedback on TNF-alpha production, which resulted in differential modulation of sickness behavior depending on the locus of inflammation.
MMPI Two-Point Code-Type Frequencies of Drug Abusers in a Therapeutic Community

Two-point MMPI code-types of drug abusers in a psychiatric, residential, drug-free therapeutic community were obtained to identify the most frequent two-point codes of drug abusers and see if a large proportion of the protocols could be classified into a small number of two-point codes. Responses indicated that the 48/84 and 49/94 codes were most frequent, and 80.6% of the MMPI protocols could be classified into only seven two-point codes, 48/84, 49/94, 24/42, 89/98, 46/64, 78/87 and 28/82.
Linear and threshold model genetic parameters for disease, fertility and milk production in dairy cattle

This study provides estimates of genetic parameters for various diseases, fertility and 305-day milk production traits in dairy cattle using data from a UK national milk recording scheme. The data set consisted of 63891 multiple lactation records on diseases (mastitis, lameness, milk fever, ketosis and tetany), fertility traits (calving interval, conception to first service, number of services for a conception, and number of days to first service), dystocia and 305-day milk, fat and protein yield. All traits were analysed by multi-trait repeatability linear animal models (LM). Binary diseases and fertility traits were further analysed by threshold sire models (TM). Both LM and TM analyses were based on the generalized linear mixed model framework. The LM included herd-year-season of calving (HYS), age at calving and parity as fixed effects and genetic, permanent environmental and residual effects as random. The TM analyses included the same effects as for LM, but HYS effects were treated as random to avoid convergence problems when HYS sub-classes had 0 or 100% incidence. Because HYS effects were treated as random, herd effects were fitted as fixed effects to account for effect of herds in the data. The LM estimates of heritability ranged from 0•389 to 0•399 for 305-day milk production traits, 0•010 to 0•029 for fertility traits and 0•004 to 0•038 for diseases. The LM estimates of repeatability ranged from 0•556 to 0•586 for 305-day milk production traits, 0•029 to 0•086 for fertility traits and 0•004 to 0•100 for diseases. The TM estimates of heritabilities and repeatabilities were greater than LM estimates for binary traits and were in the range 0•012 to 0•126 and 0•013 to 0•168, respectively. Genetic correlations between milk production traits and fertility and diseases were all unfavorable: they ranged from 0•07 to 0•37 for milk production and diseases, 0•31 to 0•54 for milk production and poor fertility and 0•06 to 0•41 for diseases and poor fertility. These results show that future selection programmes should include disease and fertility for genetic improvement of health and reproduction and for sustained economic growth in the dairy cattle industry.
The Impact of Organization Capital on Firm Innovation

Using a sample of patents granted to U.S. firms over the period 1980-2008, we find that firms’ organization capital has a positive impact on innovation. Specifically, we find that firms with more organization capital generate greater number of patents and receive more citations on their patents. The results are robust to the use of alternative measures of organization capital and innovation and using a two-stage least squares method and propensity-score matching to control for endogeneity. In addition, we find that better capabilities to handle inherent difficulties associated with the innovation process and reducing career concern threats are possible mechanisms through which organization capital affects firm innovation. Overall, the results provide strong evidence about the vital role organizational characteristics such as investment in organization capital play for innovation, an important driver of firm value and economic growth.
Timber yield from second entry logging in the lowland mixed dipterocarp forest of Deramakot, Sabah

Whilst timber production from first entry logging in dipterocarp forests is well reported, there is relatively little published information on timber yields from second entry logging. Such information is useful in providing an indication of the long-term sustainability of timber output from repeated logging. We studied timber yield from second entry logging in the lowland mixed dipterocarp forest of the Deramakot Forest Reserve, Sabah, about 30 years after the first logging. Logging operations in Deramakot follow the standards prescribed in the Reduced Impact Logging (RIL) Guidelines for Sabah. Up to end of 2006, RIL had been carried out in 19 compartments in Deramakot, ranging in size from 315-770 ha. The net logged area, or net area affected by logging operations, averaged 27.8 % of the compartment size. Logging intensity averaged 8.6 trees ha-1, or roughly, 55 m3 ha-1, and salvaged logging residue was 5.2 m3 ha-1; hence, the total net volume extracted was 60.2 m3 ha-1. The dipterocarps accounted for the largest proportion (90%) of merchantable timber yield from Deramakot. The species were mainly Keruing {Dipterocarpus spp. : 28.7%), Red seraya (Shorea spp.: 23.2%), and White seraya (Parashorea spp.: 12.7%). Timber output from second entry logging in Deramakot was much lower than those figures reported from logging operations using similar harvesting guidelines in the primary forests of Sabah. This could mean that after 30 years since the first logging, the forest has not attained its original mature phase structure, and is therefore still in a growing phase. However, the relatively low proportion of net logged area raises concern as to whether the harvesting was properly planned to optimize extraction rates. The results also do not support the suggestion that repeated logging may shift the composition of timber stands from one that was formerly dominated by dipterocarps to one dominated by non-dipterocarps, at least not for the second round of logging. Realistically, it would take several cutting cycles to draw any conclusions on the long-term sustainability of timber yield from Deramakot.