Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Duality theorems for joint source-channel coding

We consider joint source-channel coding for a memoryless Gaussian source and an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel. For a given code defined by an encoder-decoder pair (/spl alpha/, /spl beta/), its dual code is obtained by interchanging the encoder and decoder: (/spl beta/, /spl alpha/). It is shown that if a code (/spl alpha/, /spl beta/) is optimal at rate p channel uses per source sample and if it satisfies a certain uniform continuity condition, then its dual code (/spl beta/, /spl alpha/) is optimal for rate 1//spl rho/ channel uses per source sample. Further, it is demonstrated that there is a code which is optimal but its dual code is not optimal. Finally, using random coding, we show that there is an optimal code which has an optimal dual. The duality concept is also presented for the cases of (i) binary memoryless equiprobable source and binary-symmetric channel (BSC), and (ii) colored Gaussian source and additive colored Gaussian noise (ACGN) channel.
Research on Faceted Search Method for Water Data Catalogue Service

Traditionally the data retrieval is achieved by searching the metadata with keywords, though it is often difficult for ordinary users to express professional and precise query demands in the water industry. Regarding this issue, this paper introduces an exploratory retrieval method called faceted search by gradually recommending relevant facets to the users. Firstly, a unified modeling algorithm is proposed to construct the unified metadata model in XML for heterogeneous water metadata. Based on this model, candidate facet terms can be extracted and filtered, in order to retrieve the various water metadata uniformly. At last, a facet recommendation algorithm is proposed to help the users to sharpen their queries by prompting less but more accurate facets as the search gets deeper, after excluding those "irrelevant facets" and "redundant facets". The experimental results demonstrate that our facet recommendation algorithm can significantly improve the retrieval precision on querying the water data.
A simulation-based study of distribution strategies for pharmaceutical supply chains

This paper studies the impact of direct-ship distribution strategies in pharmaceutical supply chains. The typical supply chain for branded prescription pharmaceuticals consists of manufacturers, wholesalers, and pharmacies. A direct-ship strategy, also known as disintermediation, entails shipping directly to customers and is under consideration in the pharmaceutical industry. A direct-ship strategy can encompass partial or complete disintermediation of wholesalers, both of which have been successful in other industries. The goal of this work is to determine the impact of different delivery frequencies and degrees of disintermediation on pharmaceutical supply chains. Four direct-ship models with varying levels of disintermediation are compared. The operating policy under consideration is the frequency of deliveries to direct-ship customers. A simulation model is constructed to represent a pharmaceutical supply chain and distribution data is collected from an industry collaborator. The results show that a significantly lower total cost can be achieved with a hybrid strategy that sends 55% of volume directly to customers that operate their own distribution centers and customers that meet minimum order quantity requirements. Impact of delivery frequencies on transportation and inventory costs is also studied. Sensitivity analysis of the transportation: inventory cost ratio and truck utilization is performed to determine whether and when the best direct-ship distribution strategy should be changed.
BOARD AUDIT COMMITTEE EFFECTIVENESS VARIABLES AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF COMMERCIAL BANKS IN KENYA

v CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION. 1 1.1 Background of the study. 1 1.1.1 Corporate governance. 2 1.1.2 Board audit committee. 3 1.1.3 Organisational performance. 4 1.1.4 The banking industry in Kenya. 4 1.1. 5 Commercial banks in Kenya. 5 1.2 Research problem. 6 1.3 Research objective. 9 1.4 Value of the study. 9 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW. 11 2.
Consumer perception of organic food production and farm animal welfare

This paper is derived from a larger scale project investigating consumer attitudes towards organic food in the UK. Presents focus group results on consumer perceptions, attitudes and behaviour in relation to two key interrelated food trends: organic food and animal welfare. The results indicate that consumers often confuse organic and free‐range products because they believe that “organic” is equivalent to “free‐range” food. Focus group discussions were conducted to identify the main beliefs and attitudes towards organic food of both organic and non‐organic food buyers. Results indicate that, although health and food safety concerns are the main motives for organic food purchases, ethical concerns, specifically in relation to standards of animal welfare, play a significant influencing role in the decision to purchase organic food. The results are consistent with parallel research into consumer concerns about animal welfare, which showed that consumers are primarily concerned about food safety issues. Furthermore, the research illustrates the central outcome that animal welfare is used by consumers as an indicator of other, more important product attributes, such as safety and the impact on health. Indeed, ethical considerations seem to motivate the purchase of organic food and free‐range products and, therefore, may be viewed as interrelated. However, such ethical frameworks are closely related, if not contingent upon, the quality of the product, which includes perceptions of higher standards of safety and healthiness. Based on the qualitative data, suggests that the organic market could take advantage of research on consumer motivation to buy free‐range products, by embodying ethical concerns as an indicator of product quality.
Antifungal, antibacterial and antimycobacterial activity of Entada abysinnica Steudel ex A. Rich (Fabaceae) methanol extract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the antifungal, antibacterial and antimycobacterial properties of methanol extract of Entada abysinnica steudel ex. A. Rich (Fabaceae) leaves used by herbalists from the Lake Victoria region, Kenya. The extract was tested against four strains of mycobacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium kansasii, Mycobacterium fortuitum, and Mycobacterium smegmatis) using BACTEC Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube (MGIT) 960 system and the proportional method. Standard procedures were used to determine the zones of inhibition, minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimum bactericidal/fungicidal concentrations (MBCs/MFCs) for Candida albicans, Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The extract showed activity against some mycobacteria strains, especially M. tuberculosis. It also showed strong antimicrobial activity (zones of inhibition were between 9.00 and 14.10 mm) against C. albicans, Sa. typhi, and St. aureus. The extract gave a better zone of inhibition against C. albicans than fluconazole whose zone of inhibition was 13.00 mm. The MICs and MBCs for C. albicans and Sa. typhi were good. The crude extracts were also analyzed for the presence of phytochemicals. Phytochemical screening indicated that the extract most abundantly contained tannins, saponins, and flavonoids. The data suggest that the methanolic leaves extract of E. abysinnica could be a rich source of antimicrobial agents, especially antifungals. The results further show that there is some merit in the use of the plant in alternative medical practices. However, bioassays of isolated compounds are underway and will be reported during subsequent communications.
Breast lesion characterization using whole‐lesion histogram analysis with stretched‐exponential diffusion model

Diffusion‐weighted imaging (DWI) has been studied in breast imaging and can provide more information about diffusion, perfusion and other physiological interests than standard pulse sequences. The stretched‐exponential model has previously been shown to be more reliable than conventional DWI techniques, but different diagnostic sensitivities were found from study to study.
An Evaluation of Logistics and Related Journals

Logistics and related journals typically are oriented towards two audiences: practitioners and/or educators. This article examines practitioner and educator perceptions of logistics and related journals. Comparisons are made among the various journals both with each other and with the perceived ideal characteristics of logistics journals. While differences were found to exist between the academics and practitioners, the overall perceptions were surprisingly similar.
Flexible textile antenna array

Flexible conductive textile material can make it possible to design flexible antennas that are wearable and nonintrusive to the user. It is this simplicity to the user that makes them suitable for applications such as health-monitoring systems. With the goal in mind of designing a wearable flexible antenna, a two element textile antenna array is designed to work at 2.45 GHz frequency. CST Microwave Studio has been used to verify the design. Various fabrication techniques were used. To further decrease the size of the antenna, a slot loaded design is proposed. In addition to the antenna, a connector design which will provide a reliable physically strong connection is proposed in this paper. For the cutting of the fabric a craft cutting machine was used. This machine has an accuracy of 0.05 mm, which is sufficient for the prototype manufacturing. The connector design is done by 3D printing method.
Hydrogel-embedded nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite granules (elastic blocks) based on a cross-linked polyvinylpyrrolidone as bone grafting substitute in a rat tibia model

Purpose The aim of this study was to examine the in vivo characteristics and levels of integration and degradation of a ready-to-use bone grafting block with elastic properties (elastic block) for the use in surgery. Materials and methods Thirty-six male Wistar rats underwent surgical creation of a well-defined bone defect in the tibia. All created defects – one per animal – were filled with an unsintered nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite embedded either with a non-cross-linked hydrogel carrier (CONT, n=18) or a cross-linked hydrogel carrier (elastic block [EB], n=18) based on polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and silica sol, respectively. The animals were killed after 12 (n=12), 21 (n=12) and 63 days (n=12). The bone formation and defect healing were quantified by histomorphometric measurements made in paraffin sections. Additionally, immunohistochemical (tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase [TRAP] and alkaline phosphatase [aP]), antibody-based examinations (CD68) and energy-dispersive x-ray scattering measurements of silica atom concentration were carried out. Results A larger remaining bone defect area overall was observed in EB after 12 days and 21 days. After 63 days, similar areas of remaining bone defects were found. The amount of the remaining carrier material in EB overall was higher at all times. In CONT no residual carrier material was found at 12 days and later. CD68 analyses showed significantly lower level of CD68-positive marked cells after 21 days in CONT, and nonsignificant differences at 12 and 63 days, respectively. Additionally, a significantly higher level of aP-positive marked cells was observed in CONT after 12 days. Later on, the levels of aP-positive marked cells were slightly higher in EB (21 and 63 days). Furthermore, no significant differences regarding the level of TRAP-positive marked cells in each group were observed. Conclusion The bone substitute (EB) with the cross-linked PVP-based hydrogel carrier leads at the beginning to a higher amount of remaining carrier material and remaining bone substitute. This delayed degradation is supposed to be the reason for the observed lower level of bone remodeling and is caused by the irradiation changes (cross links) in the structure in PVP.
How bricks‐and‐mortar attributes affect online banking adoption

Purpose – This paper analyzes how consumers’ perceptions of their traditional bank influence their decision to adopt the services offered by the same bank on the internet. Design/methodology/approach – The data required in this paper were gathered by means of a personal survey conducted with customers of various banks totaling 633, which distribute their services by traditional channels as well as on the internet. A Binomial Logistic Regression process was analyzed to assess the influence of trust, incomes, age, sex, education and employment on the adoption of the financial services offered by a traditional bank on the internet. Findings – The results in the paper showed that consumer trust in a traditional bank, as well as incomes, age and sex are factors that influence consumers’ decision to work with the same bank via the internet. Research limitations/implications – The paper shows that, turning to the limitations of the work, it is necessary to point out that the majority of individuals who participa.
Adaptive Adjustment of Compressed Measurement for Energy-Efficient Data Gathering in WSNs

In CS based data gathering method, a small number of measurements arouse a great deal of improvement in reducing energy consumption, and hold a low reconstruction accuracy. In addition, fixed number of measurements are not always work effectively since signals change over time in actual WSNs. Based on recent theoretical results for L1-L1 minimization, a novel adaptive measurement algorithm for compressed data gathering is proposed to calculate the number of measurements taken at each time on-the-fly. In the algorithm, an estimation model is established based on the Pearson correlation of sensor readings within one-hop neighbors, which provides side information for L1-L1 minimization. Compared with conventional data gathering schemes, the proposed method allows a dramatic reduction in the number of measurements or reconstruction error, which contributes to energy-efficient data collection process.
Goal-Oriented Adaptivity in Pointwise State Constrained Optimal Control of Partial Differential Equations

We derive primal-dual weighted goal-oriented a posteriori error estimates for pointwise state constrained optimal control problems for second order elliptic partial differential equations. The constraints give rise to a primal-dual weighted error term representing the mismatch in the complementarity system due to discretization. In the case of sufficiently regular active (or coincidence) sets and problem data, a further decomposition of the multiplier into a regular $L^2$-part on the active set and a singular part concentrated on the boundary between the active and inactive set allows us to further characterize the mismatch error. The paper ends with a report on the behavior of the error estimates for test cases including the case of singular active sets consisting of only smooth curves or points.
Group Report: Representations in Natural and Artificial Systems

The concept of representation has proven useful in the study of nervous, computational and robotic systems. Examples of representation from neuro­ science include descriptions of the visual system, where the activity of neurons reflect properties of the visual environment (e.g. Hubei and Wiesel, 1968; Martin, 1994). Central brain areas contain representations: for example neurons in the hippo­ campus are influenced in a predictable fashion by the position of the animal (O ’Keefe and Nadel, 1978). In the motor system the activity of neurons relates to the activation of muscles and coordinate movement (e.g. Georgopoulos et al., 1982). The concept of a neural representation covers a wide range of phenomena, from the relation between sensory inputs and the environment through neu­ ral codes of an organisms location within the envi­ ronment to the relationship between neural activ­ ity and motor actions allowing interaction with the environment. Issues of representation are also found in computational science and robotics. For example, computational models of information processing for categorization of inputs can be broadly divided into two classes: those that postu­ late a single “object-centred” representation of each category or object and those that postulate multiple units to represent each category or object
Kinetic bases of the primary hyperlipidaemias: studies of apolipoprotein B turnover in genetically defined subjects.

Autologous 131I-labelled very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) and 125I-labelled low density lipoprotein (LDL) were injected into seven normal subjects and into forty-three hyperlipidaemic patients, classified into groups on the basis of family studies and clinical findings, to quantitate VLDL and LDL apolipoprotein B kinetics. In normal subjects, mean VLDL-B peptide synthetic rate was 15 . 1 mg kg-1 day-1, mean LDL-B peptide synthetic rate 7 . 7 mg kg-1 day-1 and mean LDL-B fractional catabolic rate (FCR) 0 . 31 day-1. In heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (n = 14) VLDL-B peptide production was normal in patients with normal triglyceride levels; in those with high triglyceride levels there was either VLDL overproduction or a catabolic defect. LDL-B peptide synthetic rates ranged from high normal to increased (8 . 5--18 . 0 mg kg-1 day-1) and LDL-B peptide FCR values were markedly reduced (0 . 14--0 . 28 day-1) confirming the presence of a defect in LDL catabolism but indicating over-production as well. In familial combined hyperlipidaemia (n = 11) VLDL-B peptide production ranged from normal to elevated (13 . 9--44 . 4 mg kg-1 day-1, mean 23 . 8 mg kg-1 day-1) correlating with the VLDl triglyceride level (i.e. with the phenotypic expression of the disorder). LDL-B peptide production ranged from high normal to markedly increased (8 . 9--19 . 5 mg kg-1 day-1, mean 12 . 2 mg kg-1 day-1) and correlated with LDL cholesterol levels (i.e. the phenotype), (r = +0 . 66, P < 0 . 05). Three patients with unclassified hypercholesterolaemia had increased LDL-B peptide synthetic rates. One patient with remnant hyperlipoproteinaemia (type III) had a high normal VLDL-B peptide synthetic rate, 17 . 3 mg kg-1 day-1, and a strikingly low FCR of VLDL-B. In familial hypertriglyceridaemia (three patients) there was a low VLDL-B peptide FCR. In unclassified hypertriglyceridaemia VLDL over-production was the finding in seven patients but four patients appeared to have catabolic defects only. Overall there were significant hyperbolic relationships between VLCL-B peptide FCR and VLDL-B peptide concentration (r = -0 . 78, P < 0 . 001, for the log/log relationship) and between LDL-B peptide FCR and LDL cholesterol (r = -0 . 88, P < 0 . 001 for the log/log relationship.)
Overexpression of heat shock protein Hsp27 protects against cerulein-induced pancreatitis.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Heat shock protein (Hsp) 27 regulates actin cytoskeletal dynamics, and overexpression of Hsp27 in fibroblasts protects against stress in a phosphorylation-dependent manner. Induction of Hsps occurs in acute pancreatitis, but Hsp27 has not been ascribed a specific role. To examine whether Hsp27 would ameliorate acute pancreatitis, we generated transgenic mice overexpressing human Hsp27 (huHsp27) or Hsp27 with the phosphorylatable residues Ser(15,78,82) mutated to aspartic acid (huHsp27-3D) to mimic phosphorylation or to alanine (huHsp27-3A), which is nonphosphorylatable. METHODS huHsp27 was expressed at high levels in the exocrine pancreas by use of a cytomegalovirus promoter. Protein expression was analyzed by Western blotting and immunofluorescence. Acute pancreatitis was induced with 6 or 12 hourly cerulein injections (50 microg/kg intraperitoneally) and its severity assessed by measuring serum amylase and lipase levels, pancreatic trypsin activity, edema, and morphologic changes by quantitative scoring of multiple histologic sections and visualization of filamentous actin. Systemic inflammatory effects were monitored by measuring lung myeloperoxidase activity (a marker of neutrophil infiltration). RESULTS huHsp27 protein was overexpressed in the pancreas and localized to pancreatic acini. Acute pancreatitis was ameliorated by overexpression of huHsp27 and the huHsp27-3D mutant, which were associated with suppression of pancreatic trypsin activity and acinar cell injury and preservation of the actin cytoskeleton. In contrast, these changes were unaffected by overexpression of the nonphosphorylatable huHsp27-3A mutant. CONCLUSIONS Pancreatic overexpression of huHsp27 protects against cerulein-induced acute pancreatitis in a specific phosphorylation-dependent manner and is associated with preservation of the actin cytoskeleton.
The Challenges and Benefits of Using Participant Observation to Understand the Social Interaction of Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

Observation methods have been used in both communication and interaction research. Qualitative interpretive approaches are rare where participants have complex communication needs. Issues for qualitative researchers utilizing participant observation research methods have been well documented, but a similar discussion is lacking where the participants are people with severe intellectual disability. Observational data collected from a study of adults with severe intellectual disabilities in interaction with their social network members were scrutinized to identify challenges and benefits of participant observation. Challenges identified include the consent process, changing roles, and researcher intrusion. The use of participant observation with adults with severe intellectual disabilities allows for unexpected insights and provides context and credence for other lines of inquiry. Participant observation may be useful with other groups of people.
Increased internal noise cannot account for motion coherence processing deficits in migraine

Aim: This study aimed to revisit previous findings of superior processing of motion direction in migraineurs with a more stringent direction discrimination task and to investigate whether increased internal noise can account for motion processing deficits in migraineurs. Methods: Groups of 13 migraineurs (4 with aura, 9 without aura) and 15 headache-free controls completed three psychophysical tasks: one detecting coherence in a motion stimulus, one discriminating the spiral angle in a glass pattern and another discriminating the spiral angle in a global-motion task. Internal noise estimates were obtained for all tasks using an N-pass method. Results: Consistent with previous research, migraineurs had higher motion coherence thresholds than controls. However, there were no significant performance differences on the spiral global-motion and global-form tasks. There was no significant group difference in internal noise estimates associated with any of the tasks. Conclusions: The results from this study suggest that variation in internal noise levels is not the mechanism driving motion coherence threshold differences in migraine. Rather, we argue that motion processing deficits may result from cortical changes leading to less efficient extraction of global-motion signals from noise.