Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Slowing the time-fluctuating MIMO channel by beam forming

It has been reported that the number of transmitters that can be used beneficially in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system is limited by the coherence time of the channel due to difficulties with channel estimation at the receiver. Furthermore, rapid channel fluctuations degrade the performance of feedback schemes that would otherwise increase the information throughput that may be achieved. These impediments either reduce achievable capacity or impose an effective "speed limit" on the mobile, above which the effective throughput is reduced. In this paper, the signal incident at the mobile is represented as a sum of plane waves. The channel transfer matrix is found to factor into time-dependent and time-independent parts. A processing method is proposed whereby the received signals are first preprocessed so as to produce signals that fluctuate on a much slower time scale. The preprocessing consists of beam forming, followed by Doppler compensation for signals received on each beam. Both operations are nonsingular and do not alter the capacity of the MIMO channel. Beam forming effectively partitions the angular spectrum at the mobile, with each partition suffering a smaller Doppler spread, resulting in a "slowed down" channel fluctuation due to mobile motion. The coherence time of the preprocessed channel is found to increase by a factor on the order of the number of mobile receive antennas. In the limit of an infinite number of mobile receive antennas, the MIMO channel is shown to become static. These results remove constraints imposed by training requirements on the number of transmit antennas and increase allowed vehicle speeds. The "slowed down" channel characteristics may also be fed back to the transmitter, allowing an increase in information throughput.
Implementing an Application-Specific Instruction-Set Processor for System-Level Dynamic Program Analysis Engines

In recent years, dynamic program analysis (DPA) has been widely used in various fields such as profiling, finding bugs, and security. However, existing solutions have their own weaknesses. Software solutions provide flexibility in DPA but they suffer from tremendous performance overhead. In contrast, core-level hardware engines rely on specialized integrated logics and attain extremely fast computation, but they have a limited functional extensibility because the logics are tightly coupled with the host processor. To mend this, a prior system-level approach utilizes an existing channel to integrate their hardware without necessitating the host architecture modification and introduced great potential in performance. Nevertheless, the prior work does not address the detailed design and implementation of the engine, which is quite essential to leverage the deployment on real systems. To address this, in this article, we propose an implementation of programmable DPA hardware engine, called program analysis unit (PAU). PAU is an application-specific instruction-set processor (ASIP) whose instruction set is customized to reflect common features of various DPA methods. With the specialized architecture and programmability of software, our PAU aims at fast computation and sufficient flexibility. In our case studies on several DPA techniques, we show that our ASIP approach can be successfully applicable to complex DPA schemes while providing hardware-backed power in performance and software-based flexibility in analysis. Recent experiments on our FPGA prototype revealed that the performance of PAU is 4.7-13.6 times faster than pure software DPA, and the power/area consumption is also acceptably small compared to today's mobile processors.
Sensory Perception in Autism Spectrum Conditions : a brief research update

Many people on the autism spectrum report having difficulties or differences in sensory perception. For example, in Temple Grandin’s famous book “Thinking In Pictures” she describes her sensory experiences the following: “From as far back as I can remember, I always hated to be hugged. I wanted to experience the good feeling of being hugged, but it was just too overwhelming. It was like a great, all-engulfing wave of stimulation, and I reacted like a wild animal”(1). Temple Grandin also highlights the high variability seen in sensory perception across ASC: “Over the years I have observed that sensory sensitivities in autism are highly variable. One child will love to play with running water, and another autistic child will run away and scream when a toilet flushes”. Anecdotal reports provide valuable information and help us to understand how people with ASC perceive the world differently, however they are not quantitative and can not reveal underlying mechanisms of sensory processing differences. One important question is at what level are people with ASC experiencing sensory differences? Is it at a low-level, e.g. are individuals with ASC better able to detect small differences in vision, hearing, smell or taste? Or at a high-level of perception, e.g. individuals with ASC might interpret sensory stimuli differently, such as a light touch on the shoulder (i.e. their sensory receptors perceive touch in the same way, but their brain interprets it as more intense). Several research methods have been used to quantify and describe sensory processing difficulties in ASC and attempt to answer some of these important questions. These methods include sensory questionnaires, observations, experimental studies and neuroimaging studies for example.
Reward Based Motor Adaptation Mediated by Basal Ganglia

It is widely accepted that the basal ganglia (BG) play a key role in action selection and reinforcement learning. However, despite considerable number of studies, the BG architecture and function are not completely understood. Action selection and reinforcement learning are facilitated by the activity of dopaminergic neurons, which encode reward prediction errors when reward outcomes are higher or lower than expected. The BG are thought to select proper motor responses by gating appropriate actions, and suppressing inappropriate ones. The direct striato-nigral (GO) and the indirect striato-pallidal (NOGO) pathways have been suggested to provide the functions of BG in the two-pathway concept. Previous models confirmed the idea that these two pathways can mediate the behavioral choice, but only for a relatively small number of potential behaviors. Recent studies have provided new evidence of BG involvement in motor adaptation tasks, in which adaptation occurs in a non-error-based manner. In such tasks, there is a continuum of possible actions, each represented by a complex neuronal activity pattern. We extended the classical concept of the two-pathway BG by creating a model of BG interacting with a movement execution system, which allows for an arbitrary number of possible actions. The model includes sensory and premotor cortices, BG, a spinal cord network, and a virtual mechanical arm performing 2D reaching movements. The arm is composed of 2 joints (shoulder and elbow) controlled by 6 muscles (4 mono-articular and 2 bi-articular). The spinal cord network contains motoneurons, controlling the muscles, and sensory interneurons that receive afferent feedback and mediate basic reflexes. Given a specific goal-oriented motor task, the BG network through reinforcement learning constructs a behavior from an arbitrary number of basic actions represented by cortical activity patterns. Our study confirms that, with slight modifications, the classical two-pathway BG concept is consistent with results of previous studies, including non-error based motor adaptation experiments, pharmacological manipulations with BG nuclei, and functional deficits observed in BG-related motor disorders.
A Bayesian network approach to context sensitive query expansion

Pseudo relevance feedback (PRF) via query expansion assumes that the top ranked documents from the first-pass retrieval are relevant. The most informative terms in the pseudo relevant documents are then used to update the original query representation in order to boost the retrieval performance. Most current PRF approaches estimate the importance of the candidate expansion terms based on their statistics on document level. However, in traditional PRF approaches, the context information is always ignored in traditional query expansion models. Therefore, off-topic terms can also be selected, which may result in a decrease of retrieval performance. In this paper, we propose a context-based feedback framework based on Bayesian network, in which multiple context information can be taken into account. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of our framework, we explore two different kinds of context in our experiments. The experimental results show that our proposed algorithm performs significantly better than a strong PRF baseline.
Handbook of the Economics of Giving, Altruism and Reciprocity

Preface. Part II: Family transfers. 13. Microeconomic models of family transfers (A. Laferrere, F-C. Wolff). 14. Altruism, exchange or indirect reciprocity: what do the data on family tranfers show? (L. Arrondel, A.Masson). 15. Intergenerational altruism and neoclassical growth models (P. Michel, E. Thibault, J-P. Vidal). 16. Wealth transfer taxation: A survey of the theoretical litterature (H. Cremer, P. Pestieau). 17. The economics of migrants remittances (F. Docquier, H. Rapoport). Part III: Third sector and labor. 18. Philanthropy (J. Andreoni). 19. Donative nonprofit organizations (M. Bilodeau, R.S. Steinberg). 20. The economics of organ transplantation (E.D. Thorne). 21. Altruism, reciprocity and cooperation in the workplace (J.J. Rotemberg). 22. Reciprocity, altruism and cooperative production (L. Putterman). Part IV: The political economy of voluntary transfers. 23. Strong reciprocity and the welfare state (C. Fong, S. Bowles, H.Gintis). 24. Selfishness, altruism and normative principles in the economic analysis of social transfers (D. Blanchet, M. Fleurbaey). 25. The political economy of intergenerational cooperation (A. Cigno). 26. The economics of international aid (R. Kanbur).
European Parliaments under Scrutiny : Discourse strategies and interaction practices

1. Introduction (by Ilie, Cornelia) 2. Part I. Parliamentary roles and identities 3. Political identities in parliamentary debates (by Dijk, Teun A. van) 4. Identity co-construction in parliamentary discourse practices (by Ilie, Cornelia) 5. The public and private sphere in parliamentary debate: The construction of the addresser in the Portuguese Parliament (by Aldina Marques, Maria) 6. Part II. Ritualised strategies of parliamentary confrontation 7. The presentation of a new Government to Parliament from ritual to personalisation: A case study from Italy (by Antelmi, Donella) 8. Patterns of interaction in Austrian parliamentary debates: On the pragmasemantics of unauthorized interruptive comments (by Zima, Elisabeth) 9. The Government control function of the French National Assembly in Questions au gouvernement (by Lorda, Clara Ubaldina) 10. Part III. Procedural, discursive and rhetorical particularities of post-Communist parliaments 11. Managing dissent and interpersonal relations in the Romanian parliamentary discourse (by Ilie, Cornelia) 12. Parliamentary discourse and political transition: Polish Parliament after 1989 (by Ornatowski, Cezar M.) 13. Czech parliamentary discourse: Parliamentary interactions and the construction of the addressee (by Madzharova Bruteig, Yordanka) 14. Part IV. Contrastive studies of parliamentary rhetoric and argumentation 15. Ad-hominem arguments in the Dutch and the European Parliaments: Strategic manoeuvring in an institutional context (by Plug, H. Jose) 16. Rhetorical Strategies in the British and Spanish parliaments (by Inigo-Mora, Isabel) 17. Index of names 18. Index of subjects
SOFIA: Agent Scenario for Forest Industry - Tailoring UBIWARE Platform Towards Industrial Agent-driven Solutions

Current economical situation in Finnish forest industry desperately calls for higher degree of efficiency in all stages of the production chain. The competitiveness of timber-based products directly and heavily depends on the raw material cost. At the same time, the successes of companies, that use timber, determine the volumes of the raw wood consumption and, therefore, drive forest markets. However, wood consuming companies (e.g. paper producers) can not unilaterally dictate logging and transportation prices to their contractors, because profitability of those, has already reached its reasonable margins (Vesterinen, 2005, Penttinen, 2009). Recent research conducted in 2005-2008 shows extremely high degree of inefficiency in logistic operations amongst logging and transportation companies. Some of them have already realized the need for cooperative optimization, which calls for cross-company integration of existing information and control systems; however privacy and trust issues prohibit those companies from taking the open environment solutions. Therefore, the researchers have suggested new mediator-based business models that leverage the utilization and preserve current state of affairs at the same time. New business solutions for logistic optimization can be built, when a unified view on the market players is possible. Nevertheless, with fast development of communications, RFID and sensor technologies, forest industry sector is experiencing a technological leap. The adoption of innovative technologies opens possibilities for enactment of new business scenarios driven by bleeding edge ICT tools and technologies. We introduce an application scenario of the semantic agent platform called UBIWARE to the forest industry sector of Finland.
NGOs and civil society : democracy by proxy?

Glossary. 1. Non--Governmental Organizations: Pawns or Practitioners. 2. The Ties that Bind: Northern NGOsa Relationships with Southern NGOs. 3. Analysing Institutional Interdependence: A Conceptual Framework. 4. Paying the Piper and Calling the Tune: Northern NGOsa Capacity Building Support for Southern NGOs. 5. Cascading Conditionalities and the Role of International Organizations in Capacity Building. 6. Sierra Leone and The Gambia: Case Studies of NGO Interdependence. 7. Sustainable Idealism: Innovative Financing Strategies and NGOsa Contribution to Civil Society Development. 8. Conclusions: a Just Say Noa : Strengthening Southern NGOsa Capacity to Contribute to Civil Society. References. Index.
Innovation Management: Strategies, Implementation, and Profits

1: Introduction and Overview. PART I. Fundamentals. 2: Models of Innovation. 3: Competencies and Endowments. 4: Sources and Transfers of Innovation. PART II. Strategizing. 5: Recognizing the Potential of Innovation. 6: Reducing Uncertainty. 7: Choosing a Profit Site. 8: Strategic Choice or Environmental Determinism. 9: Identifying Potential Co-opetitors. PART III. Implementation and Protection of Profits. 10: Financing Innovation. 11: Implementing the Decision to Adopt. 12: Protecting Entrepreneurial Rents. PART IV. Globalization. 13: Globalization for Innovation. 14: Innovating for Emerging Economies. 15: The Role of National Governments in Innovation. 16: Strategic Innovation Process. Appendix 1 Standards and Dominant Designs. Appendix 2 Organizational Structures. Appendix 3 Organizational Boundaries. Glossary. Case 1: Netscape Corporation. Index
The Growth of Farm Tenancy in the United States

Introduction, 393. — I. "Land ownership," 394. — II. Tenancy and mortgage indebtedness, 396. — III. Share croppers, 398; leases to relatives, 399. —IV. Farm laborers, 402. —V. The "agricultural ladder," 407. — VI. Analysis by decades, 411. — VII. Analysis by regions and groups, 413. —VIII. Growth 1930–35, 416. —IX. Descent of the "ladder," 417. — X. Character of our tenancy, 421. — XI. Conclusions, 423.
Structural Abnormalities of Endoscopy-Negative Reflux Disease – Real or Perceived?

About two thirds of individuals affected by gastroesophageal reflux disease suffer from endoscopy-negative esophageal reflux disease. Often, these individuals do not receive adequate medication. In contrast, erosive reflux disease is much better defined and even subclassified as mucosal breaks of the esophageal epithelium. It is known from large trials that gastroesophageal reflux disease is probably not a categorical disease without further progression. On the other hand, the first structural changes of the esophageal epithelium indicating the beginning of reflux disease are unknown. Furthermore, it is not known when reflux esophagitis is structurally healed (besides symptom relief). Histological markers are based on observations made without clinical correlation. It has gradually become clear that there are no specific reflux-induced esophageal lesions. All described histological criteria can be also observed in other esophageal conditions. Structural abnormalities are believed to be found more often close to the lesser gastric curvature or the right esophageal wall. Furthermore, it could be shown with a standardized biopsy protocol that a good correlation with clinical findings is possible. Conventional histological criteria include thickness of basal cell layer, length of papillae and inflammatory infiltrates. New criteria include dilation of intercellular spaces and changes of protein distribution within intercellular spaces. All changes are reversible with PPI therapy. In conclusion, structural abnormalities are not specific for gastroesophageal reflux disease or NERD but are reversible with PPI, which underlines their relevance.
Fulfilment of administrative and professional organisational obligations and nurses' customer-oriented behaviours.

AIM The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between the perceived quality of organisational exchange and nurses' customer-oriented behaviours. BACKGROUND Hospitals face increasing competitive market conditions. Registered nurses interact closely with patients and therefore play an important front-office role towards patients. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted. Registered nurses (n = 151) of a Belgian hospital received a questionnaire to assess the fulfilment of administrative and professional organisational obligations and their customer-oriented behaviours. RESULTS We found a positive relationship between psychological contract fulfilment and nurses' customer-oriented behaviours. More precisely administrative and professional psychological contract fulfilment relates significantly to nurses' service delivery and external representation. In case of internal influence only administrative psychological contract fulfilment was significantly related. CONCLUSIONS Nurses' perceptions of the fulfilment of administrative and professional obligations are important to their customer-oriented behaviours. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT Nurse managers must be aware of the impact of fulfilling both administrative and professional obligations of registered nurses in order to optimise their customer-oriented behaviours.
Spatial Variations in Growth Rate within Klebsiellapneumoniae Colonies and Biofilm

The use of acridine orange to visualize and quantify spatial variations in growth rate within Klebsiella pneumoniae colonies and biofilm was investigated. Bacterial colonies supported on polycarbonate filter membranes were grown on R2A agar plates. Some colonies were sampled for cell enumeration, while others were cryoembedded, sectioned, and stained with the fluorescent nucleic acid stain acridine orange. Spatial patterns of fluorescent color and intensity with depth in the colony were quantified using confocal microscopy and image analysis of stained cross sections. Colonies sampled in the midexponential phase were thin (20 μm), had high average specific growth rates (>1 h−1), and had all the cells stained bright orange. Colonies sampled after more than 24 h of growth were thick (>200 μm) and were growing slowly (μ < 0.15 h−1). These older colonies were characterized by distinct bands of orange at the colony edges and a dark green center. Stained biofilm cross sections displayed a similar orange band at the biofilm−bulk fluid interface and a green interior. Colony‐average specific growth rates, determined by calculating the local slope of the cell accumulation versus time data, were correlated with colony‐average fluorescence intensities. There was no correlation betweeen average specific growth rate and orange or green intensity individually, but growth rate did correlate with the orange:green intensity ratio (r2 = 0.57). The resulting regression was used to predict specific growth rate profiles within colonies. These profiles indicated that bacteria were growing rapidly near the air and agar interfaces and more slowly in the center of the colonies when thicker than about 30 μm. The dimension of the orange bands ranged from 10 to 30 μm, which may indicate the thickness of growing regions. The inherent variability associated with this technique suggests that it is best applied in single species systems and that the results should be regarded as qualitative in nature.
A Conceptual Perspective on Brand Switching Behaviour of Consumers in Telecommunication Industry

The best thing to happen to mankind was the mobile phone. India has emerged as the fastest growing mobile phone market in the world. Mobile phone was thought of as a magical gadget in the past. It is a reality now. With the advent of advanced technologies like GSM, CDMA, WLL and 3G technology and growing number of service providers, the competition has increased many folds. Every day, companies belonging to both the public sectoras well as the private sector are putting in their resources and efforts to improve their services so as to give maximum benefit to their customers. Hyper competition in the telecommunication industry, availability of number of subscriber options for consumers, diverse tariff rates offered by each player influence consumers to switch their services providers. This paper focuses on enlisting factors influencing consumer switching behaviour in telecommunication industry. However, one thing is certain. By providing value added services and effective pricing strategies; telecom service providers can influence and control to a large extent the consumer brand switching behaviour and can retain customers.
THE REJECTION OF SKIN HOMOGRAFTS IN THE NORMAL HUMAN SUBJECT. PART I. CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS

Since Medawar's now classic description of the immunology of homograft rejection in the rabbit, most knowledge of the process has been gained from the laboratory animal. Medawar demonstrated that, after the rejection of an initial skin homograft, any subsequent exposure of the recipient to skin from the same donor resulted in accelerated rejection, a process he termed the "second-set" phenomenon (1, 2). Although many others had noted such a sequence [Holman, working with human skin in 1924 (3), and Woglom with animal tumors in 1929 (4)], it was Medawar who convincingly ascribed an immunologic cause to the process. Earlier reports from this hospital have dealt with homograft rejection in uremics (5), and other investigators have reported studies in burned patients (6, 7), and in those suffering from agammaglobulinemia (8) and Hodgkin's disease (9-11)-all clinical states known to be accompanied by altered immunologic reactivity. Because it is difficult to establish careful controls in such experimental groups, we have extended and altered the methods reserved for the laboratory animal, in order to have the opportunity to study healthy, adult, ambulatory volunteers. Converse and Rapaport (12) and Rapaport, Thomas, Converse and Lawrence (13) recently utilized such techniques in the human subject and their work served as background for much of this present study. Previous work in this laboratory has demonstrated that, after skin homograft re-