Blind adaptive equalizer for broadband MIMO time reversal STBC based on PDF fitting

In this paper, we propose a new blind adaptive technique used for the equalisation of space-time block coded (STBC) signals transmitted over a dispersive MIMO channel. The proposed approach is based on minimising the difference between the probability density function (PDF) of the equalizer output — estimated via the Parzen window method — and a desired PDF based on the source symbols. The cost function combines this PDF fitting with an orthogonality criterion derived from the STBC structure of the transmitted data in order to discourage the extraction of identical signals. This cost function motivates an effective and low-cost stochastic gradient descent algorithm for adapting the equaliser. The performance is demonstrated in a number of simulations and benchmarked against other blind schemes for the equalisation of STBC over broadband MIMO channels

Big Data and Official Statistics: Challenges and Applications at Statistics Netherlands

[EN] The use and application of Big Data in official statistics has made considerable progress at Statistics Netherlands. The major contributors are the increased attention for Big Data in the methodological research program, in the creation of experimental statistics and in its use for  regular statistics production. To stimulate this the Center for Big Data Statistics was setup in 2016. The most important research challenges identified are: 1. Concept: What (derived) concept is measured in Big Data? 2. Population: What part of the target population is included in Big Data? 3. Methods: What new methods (or new ways of thinking) are needed? 4. Infra: What infrastructural requirements are needed? The infrastructural (IT) challenge is ignored here. The fact that there is a steady increase in the application of Big Data at the office indicates the need (and progress made) in the study of the research challenges identified. The statistics that make use of Big Data and are either in production or for which an implementation process has started at Statistics Netherlands are: 1.  Using scanner data and scraped prices for the Consumer Price Index 2. Using road sensor data for Traffic Intensity statistics 3. Using website texts for Online Platform Economy statistics 4. Using social media for the Social Tension indicator 5. Using texts of online job advertisement for Vacancy statistics 6. Using solar panel output and weather data for Solar Energy production The presentation will discuss the research challenges and how this has affected the use of Big Data for official statistics at the office.Daas, P. (2022). Big Data and Official Statistics: Challenges and Applications at Statistics Netherlands. En 4th International Conference on Advanced Research Methods and Analytics (CARMA 2022). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 268-268. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/18975826826

The Shepherd Goes to War: Santo Domingo Revisited

The thirteenth century was witness to a revolution in personal piety and the Camino de Santiago represented this new age. Pilgrimage in the Middle Ages became not only a symbol of devotion, but also a powerful method of active participation in one’s own salvation.1 The importance of this burgeoning individualism is reflected by the miracle tales of a saint who is connected both spiritually and geographically to Santiago and his trail. Like the miracles attributed to the patron saint, the miracles of Santo Domingo de Silos, as they are interpreted by Gonzalo de Berceo, reflect this revolution in personal piety. In Berceo’s hagiography, Santo Domingo turns from intercessor and healer to liberator who actively seeks to reward those who demonstrate external practices of devotion

The Development of a Drug Delivery System Using Brain Endothelial Non-Antibody Binding Domains as Transport Carriers

The highly specialised brain capillary endothelial cells (BCEC) that constitute the blood brain barrier (BBB) exhibit high resilience to the penetration of xenobiotic and biologic therapeutics, making drug delivery to the central nervous system (CNS) a challenging feat. Endogenous BCEC receptors such as transferrin receptor (TfR) have been proposed as exploitable targets for therapeutic payload transport into the CNS, and have been successfully targeted using monoclonal antibodies to deliver therapeutic molecules into the brains of rodents and non-human primates via receptor mediated transcytosis (RMT). The overall aim of this study was to develop a BCEC drug delivery system using alternative domains to antibodies e.g. peptides and ssDNA aptamers, as a means of exploiting endogenous receptor transport mechanisms to deliver macromolecular drugs into the CNS via RMT. The expression of three receptor candidates, TfR, low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) and low-density lipoprotein-related receptor protein 1 (LRP1) were characterised for use as selectable targets on the cell surface of Immortalised human brain endothelial cells (hCMEC/D3) by flow cytometric analysis. Aptamers and cyclic peptide domains were then selected via in vitro selection techniques. The present findings highlight the selection of 13 peptides that demonstrate species cross-reactivity to human, mouse and rat TfR as determined by phage ELISA. Moreover, the lead candidate Pep1 was identified to share homology with a conserved 'DCSGNFCLF' motif found on transferrin. When expressed as a bivalent peptide-Fc fusion molecule, Pep1 was shown to internalise within the mouse and human brain endothelial cell lines, bEnd.3, and hCMEC/D3. Additionally, the overall enrichment of hTFR specific aptamers was demonstrated following twelve rounds of selection and high throughput sequencing of selected pools, data that warrants further investigation

Food for the Soul: Feasting and Fasting in the Spanish Middle Ages

This article examines the concept of Christian eating that can be found in a variety of texts from the 13th and 14th centuries. “Christian” eating can be defined as consumption that follows the precepts of the Christian calendar and also the recommendations of the Church. As both fasting and feasting are integral elements of the medieval calendar, this article looks at the depiction of food, its consumption, and its role in religious ritual in texts as varied as the Milagros de Nuestra Señora, the Vidas of Santa Maria Egipciaca and Santa Marta, and the more doctrinally liberal Libro de buen amor. By analyzing not only the penitential qualities of each of the foods prescribed but also the violence done toward the body by the prescribed diets and by the punishment for not following these diets, this essay shows how these diets work toward a specific mythology of penitence related as much to ascetic tendencies as to medieval gastronom

The Impact of IAS vs. IFRS(Voluntary) and IFRS(Voluntary) vs. IFRS(Mandatory) on Accounting Quality over Time: Inferences from Jordan

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of applying IFRS by Jordanian listed companies on the value relevance (quality) of accounting financial reporting. Using a sample of Jordanian banks and industrial companies reporting under IAS during 1997-2002 period, and IFRSVoluntary during 2003-2005 periods and IFRSMandatory during 2006-2014 period based on measures of earnings management, timely loss recognition and price-earnings association. The results show that we are unable to find systematic evidence that IFRS results in improved accounting quality for mandatory adopters over the last years. Our findings on earnings and book value of equity are becoming less value relevant during the IFRSM period compared to both the IAS and the IFRSV periods findings on earnings smoothing and timely loss recognition corroborate largely, while our findings with respect to the value relevance of accounting financial reporting. We do not find any change in meeting earnings targets for IFRS adopting relative to Jordanian companies. Further analysis shows that the value relevance (quality) of accounting financial reporting has worsened with the adoption of IFRS over time. Overall, these findings maintain several possible evidence of accounting quality improvement following the IFRS implementation and highlight the importance of accountings standards for financial reporting quality. Keywords: IAS, IFRS adoption, Earnings management, Earnings smoothing, Value relevance, Jordan

Women on Top: Power and Transgression in the \u3ci\u3eLibro del Conde Partinuplés

English In the romance tradition, women are relegated to “ideal love” or distracting presence, either Virgin (Christian presence) or Witch/Whore (pagan presence). The women in the Spanish Conde Partinuplés, however, transgress their typical roles. Throughout the tale, Partinuplés is aided by a succession of women who do not follow the rules of Romance. Through the transgression of gender and racial norms, the female-dominated spaces become spaces of transformative power. In direct opposition are the male-dominated Christian-identified spaces of the Church and Court. During the romance these spaces hold only treachery and falsehood for the young Count. The ambiguity of the Spanish romance allows for a constant negotiation of the boundaries of piety, race, and sexuality. It is through this ambiguity that the reader is allowed to imagine a world of possibility rather than probability. Spanish En la tradición del romance, las mujeres suelen quedar relegadas a ser un “amor ideal” o una presencia distractiva, ya sea virgen (presencia cristiana) o bruja/prostituta (presencia pagana). Las mujeres de El conde Partinuplés, sin embargo, transgreden estos roles típicos. La ambigüedad se deriva de estas obras permite una negociación constante de los límites de los conceptos de piedad, raza y sexualidad. Precisamente a través de esta ambigüedad se le permite al lector imaginar un mundo de posibilidades más que de probabilidades