The main objective of this dissertation is to present the structural design, performance evaluation, and complexity reduction of iterative joint channel estimation and data detection receivers. One of the main technical challenges in advanced wireless communications stems from the characteristics of a wireless channel, e.g., time selectivity of a channel, mobility of users, and multipath propagation. Channel estimation is essential for achieving reliable information transmission for practical wireless communication applications. Numerous channel estimation structures have been developed for different underlying channels using pilot-symbol assisted modulation (PSAM) approaches. However, since pilot symbols carry no data information, the time and the power spent on pilot symbols degrades the efficiency and the throughput of the system. Therefore, it is necessary to minimize the pilot insertion ratio without degrading the error performance. This motivates our research on iterative joint channel estimation and data detection receivers with full- and reduced- or low-complexity. In this thesis, we first propose an iterative channel estimator (ICE), based on a maximum a posteriori (MAP) algorithm, for single-carrier systems with PSAM structures. In contrast to existing MAP channel estimators, the proposed channel estimator has a lower computational complexity, which increases linearly with the modulation alphabet size. The computational complexity is reduced by exploiting a survivor in an efficient manner, while achieving comparable error performance to a full complexity receiver. For orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems, we also propose novel signal constellations to facilitate channel estimation without pilot symbol transmission, and analyze the bit error rate for the proposed constellations. We also develop a suitable joint channel estimation and data detector with full- and low-complexity for the proposed constellations. This low-complexity ICE achieves an error performance comparable to the ICE with full-complexity. Finally, for vertical Bell Laboratories layered space-time OFDM systems, we propose an ICE based on a PSAM structure for time-varying multipath fading channels. By exploiting the statistical properties of a wireless channel, we also develop a method to suppress intercarrier interference due to the channel time selectivity, and propose a low-complexity ICE that exploits a priori information in an efficient manner.

In order to increase the data-path utilization of the programmable graphics processor units (GPU) which often stall by waiting for the execution results of those long-latency instructions, multi-thread technique is very often used in the design of GPU. This thesis proposes a multi-thread single unified core GPU design which owns several key features. First, its processor core can execute not only the vertex and fragment shading programs, but also the software rasteriation module which is mostly implemented by a individual hardware module in other GPU designs. Next, the thread-switching policy in our design is based on the non-preempt blocked scheduling. Normally, whether an instruction will be stalled cannot be detected until it enters the instruction-decode stage. In order to achieve zero-penalty thread switching, a single assistant bit will be padded to each instruction in a thread to tell if the next instruction in the same thread will be stalled or not. This mechanism can help achieve a speed-up of 1.4 in some benchmarks used in this thesis. The register file used in GPU processor is usually equipped with up to four access ports, such that it will occupy a significant portion of the entire GPU especially for muti-thread designs where the register set has to be duplicated by several copies. The implementation cost of the register file can be reduced by decreasing its access port number to two based on the proposed multi-bank approach in this thesis. Our experimental results show that this approach can help reduce the overall gate count by 26.12%. Finally, the rest of fixed-pipeline fragment operation is realized by an iterative time-sharing architecture in order to further save the silicon area. The overall gate count of the proposed GPU is 600K.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the leading cause of cancer in Taiwan, which consumes high medical expense among the total healthcare expenditure and becomes the significant burden to the finance of National Health Insurance (NHI). However, population-based statistics about the cost with the survival rate is rare. Objective: Through analyzing the data from the Bureau of National Health Insurance and hospital clinical files, we estimated the medical expenditure for treating HCC patients and the factors associated with treatment outcome. Methods: The National Health Insurance data from 1996 to 2002 with ICD-9 code 155 were used, which include age, gender, visiting time, and medical cost for inpatient or outpatient visits. The population-based data were analyzed to estimate 1-5 year survival probability and medical cost of HCC patients. In hospital-based data, 189 patients from 1991 to 2004 were recorded by clinical chart and 62 of them diagnosed during 2002 and 2004 were further selected to match the claim data. These informations were used for computing survival or recurrence probability, related factors, and medical cost. Results: For all incident cases in 1997, the average 5-year cumulated cost was NT$ 219,398, while the cumulated cost for those patients survived more than five years was NT$ 491,288. The survival probability was 30.8% for more than one year, 20.9% for more than two years, 15.2% for more than three years, 11.3% for more than four years, and 9.7% for more than five years in 1997 respectively. Female and those age >45-65 years old seemed to have better survival outcomes than male and those age ¡Ø45 years old or >65 years old , the averaged medical cost per treated case surviving more than five years were T$2,457,214 for male and NT$ 1,987,874 for female. Hospital clinical data indicated that TNM stages, therapy choice, liver cirrhosis, and ascites are risk factors for surviving. Although pre-TACE treatment has higher expenditure, its five-year survival probability is better than other treatments in this research. Conclusions: This paper presents medical cost with survival probability and its associated factors for HCC patients and further estimates the medical cost per life saved for treating HCC patients. Our findings can offer the policy-maker, provider, and patient to evaluate the intervention or prevention program in the future.

During the past forty years and more, the economics in Taiwan have grown rapidly and staidly. It has been making the national income and the level of living life a huge upgrading there. As well as the income distribution has become more averagely and reasonably. That is why Taiwan is taken as a successful model for developing countries. The research objective of this study is to understand the relationship between the socioeconomic indicators and the dimensions of economic development. This study started with the related literatures and effected factors of economic development. Then collecting the statistic data and indicators that are from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan, Department of Statistics, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Ministry of the Interior to construct the dimensions of economic development and its effected factors. The following work is using Factor Analysis to combine these socioeconomic indicators and form them to four main dimensions that including the Condition of Industrialization, Investment and Consumption, the Condition of Employment, Trading and Saving. Afterwards using the Multiple Linear Regression to find out the influence of these four socioeconomic dimensions against each dimension of economic development. Finally using the Canonical Correlation Analysis to find out the Canonical Weights and make the biggest correlation between the linear combination of socioeconomic dimensions and the linear combination of dimensions of economic development. The conclusions found in this study are: (1) Economic Growth Rate was effected mainly by the Trading and Saving, (2) Per Capita GNP was effected mainly by the Condition of Industrialization, (3) Ratio of Highest 5th¡¦s income to Lowest 5th¡¦s was effected mainly by the Condition of Employment and Trading and Saving. Therefore, this study suggests that to improve future economics based on ¡§knowledge¡¨ in order to increase international competitive ability and adapt the changes of industrial structure. Extending the national compulsory education and reforming the education system in order to improve the quality of manpower. In order to access the labor force soon, a policy encouraging the advanced courses on the job. Moreover, making use of resources in Taiwan to develop the tourist industries in order to increase employments.

Pregnancy diagnosis by transrectal ultrasonography (using a 5 MHZ linear probe) presented the maximum sensitivity and negative predictive values at day 26 and day 29 after estrus in heifers and cows, respectively. Palpation per rectum using the fetal membrane slip for pregnancy diagnosis did not increase embryo/fetus mortality when compared with a positive control group of non-palpated females. The use of a controlled randomized block design was a useful approach to study this problem. Blocking for category and number of embryos allowed us to remove these confounding factors. Factors that affected pregnancy loss during the first four months of pregnancy were: period of pregnancy, age of the animal, number of previous lactations and number of embryos. Pregnancy loss was higher during the embryonic than fetal periods. Spontaneous embryo/fetal mortality increased with the age of the animal and lactation number. The risk of spontaneous embryo/fetus mortality was higher in twin than in single pregnancies. Two types of embryo/fetus mortality were noted: Type I and Type II. Type I was characterized by presence of positive fetal membrane slip by palpation per rectum, signs of degeneration by transrectal ultrasonography and persistence of a functional corpus luteum. The uterus took approximately 3 weeks to be noted clean by transrectal ultrasonography and the animals showed estrus one month after the conceptus was diagnosed dead. Type II was characterized by absence of positive signs of pregnancy by palpation per rectum, absence of signs of degeneration by transrectal ultrasonography and absence of a functional corpus luteum. Pregnancy loss in nuclear transfer derived embryos was higher compared to in vivo derived embryos produced by artificial insemination. Pregnancy loss occurred mainly during the transition from the embryonic to the fetal period. Embryo/fetus mortality detected was Type I. Progesterone produced by the corpus luteum was noted at pregnancy levels for approximately two weeks after embryo/fetus death. Protein B, a hormonal placental marker, was maintained at pregnancy levels for approximately 3 weeks after embryo/fetus death. No differences in the levels of the two hormones were noted when comparing females with dead or live conceptuses.

Investors should seriously assess and consider investment objects when they are proceeding domestically newly-issued equity funds investment. According to this study, the returns of domestically newly-issued equity funds are negative whether they are invested locally or overseas. If we take excess returns into account, the returns rate will be lower. General excess returns¡]systematic risk BETA¡^¡Bnet flow rate ¡]Flow¡^¡Bequity funds turnover rate¡]Turn¡^¡Baverage investment amount per person¡]AVG¡^etc. four factors are listed in this study. The past ten-year excess returns of domestically newly-issued equity funds are researched the correlationship of these variables. The empirical results show:there is a positively significant relationship risk, the higher the systematic risk is, the better the funds¡¦ performance is. Funds excess returns are positively significantly related with equity funds turnover rate; the situation represents: the more active this month investment objects are the better this month performance is. The relationship between equity funds excess returns and net flow rate is statistically insignificant; no matter what the net buying amount of this month is higher or lower than last month funds assets scale, the performance of the funds is not affected. The relationship between funds excess returns and investment amount is statistically insignificant. As far as domestically newly-issued international equity funds are concerned, funds excess returns are statistically insignificant with systematic risk, net flow rate and funds turnover rate, that is, the performance of international equity funds is not affected by domestical systematic risk, net flow rate and fund turnover rate. Funds excess return rate is negatively significantly related with the investment amount per person, that is, the bigger the net funds assets scale or the smaller the beneficiaries of the funds is, the worse the performance of the funds is. In other words, when topical news¡]for example BDI index fluctuations¡B the rise of BRICs¡B the large scale epidmic¡^ferment,the international equity funds commodity which is enjoying busy trading will result in loss in the first year-end after investing, it verifies the proverb¡XDon¡¦t go to the place where many persons gatter.

Se ha estudiado el valor nutricional del contenido proteico de la hoja de coca (Erythroxylum coca Lamarck var. Coca). Para lograr éste objetivo se aislaron por precipitación a pH 5.1 y 4.0 dos fracciones proteicas de un extracto alcalino de ésta hoja preparado con una solución de “tocra” (sustancia alcalina utilizada con la coca en el hábito de su masticación).Después de una purificación parcial con solventes de extracción (éter dietílico ,acetona ,alcohol 96°) de la mezcla de ambas fracciones proteicas, se prepararon dos dietas Experimentales con diferentes niveles de proteína (FP COCA 4.5% y FP COCA 9.0%). De igual modo se prepararon dos dietas Controles a base de caseína (CAS 4.5% y CAS 9.0%). Estas dietas fueron administradas ad libitum por 10 días, a grupos de ratas (n=6-9) en desarrollo. Al término de éste periodo los animales fueron sacrificados ,determinándose los valores de los índices PER, las actividades de arginasa hepática y los pesos de los órganos y de sus contenidos proteicos. Los resultados mostraron que los índices PER fueron menores y las actividades de la arginasa hepática mayores en los animales de los grupos FP COCA ,que en los animales alimentados con caseína. En grupos mejor alimentados , FP COCA 9.0% y CAS 9.0% estos valores fueron PER:1.4 ; arginasa 63.6±14.6 μmoles de ornitina/mg de proteína hepática y PER: 3.8 ; arginasa 51.4±9.6 μmoles de ornitina /mg de proteína hepática respectivamente. Los pesos de los órganos fueron igualmente menores en los grupos FP COCA pero sus contenidos proteicos fueron semejantes al de los grupos controles. Estos hallazgos sugieren que la proteína de la coca, cuando es dada en un valor del 9.0% tiene un valor importante el cual puede ser mejorado si se lograse suplementar con otras proteínas. Así mismo los resultados sugieren que se debe obtener fracciones proteicas de mayor pureza para determinar con mayor exactitud su calidad. / NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF THE PROTEIN OF COCA LEAF(Erythroxylum coca)The study was designed to search the biological value of the protein contents in the coca leaf (Erythroxylum coca) .To aproach this two protein fractions were isolated from an alkaline coca leaves extract prepared with “tocra” (alkaline substance used with coca for chewing) by precipitating them at two different pH(5.1 and 4.0).After partial purification by extracting solvents (diethyl ether ,acetone and ethanol 96 °) of the mixture of both fractions two Experimental diets with different protein levels (FP COCA 4.5% and FP COCA 9.0%) were prepared. Likewise two casein Control diets (CAS 4.5% and CAS 9.0%) were made. All diets were fed ad libitum for 10 days to groups (n=6-9) of growing rats. Ending this period protein efficiency ratio (PER) liver arginase activity , tissue weights and its protein contents were determined. Results show minor PER index values but major arginase activities in both Experimental groups than in Control groups .In FP COCA 9.0% group , PER 1.4;arginase 63.6 ±14.6 μmoles of ornitina/mg liver protein and in CAS 9.0% group, PER 3.8 ; arginase 51.4 ±9.6 μmoles of ornitina/mg liver protein. Tissue weights were also diminished but its protein contents were similar .These findings suggest that protein of coca leaf given at 9% has some important biological value wich could be improved by supplementation with other proteins. Moreover ,these results prompt also to us to obtein a more purified coca leaf protein for improving its utilization.

<p>Den här magisteruppsatsen analyserar domen mot Microsoft i EG-domstolens första instans. Domen fastställde att Microsoft genom användningen av kopplingsförbehåll, missbrukat sin dominerande ställning enligt artikel 82 i EG-fördraget. Kopplingsförbehållet i det aktuella fallet bestod i att Microsoft uteslutande sålde två separata produkter tillsammans, operativsystemet Windows och mediaspelaren Windows Media Player. Före Microsoft-fallet tillämpades inom EG-rätten ett per se-förbud mot kopplingsförbehåll, vilket innebar att de automatiskt ansågs olagliga utan att effekterna av det individuella kopplingsförbehållet utreddes. Kopplingsförbehållet i Microsoft-fallet ansågs däremot ha en så komplicerad karaktär att en vidare utredning var nödvändig. Därför gjordes en övergång från per se-förbudet till en bedömning med inslag av rule of reason. Den nya bedömningen innebar bland annat en granskning av den effekt som kopplingsförbehållet hade på marknaden. Det var också möjligt för Microsoft att visa att kopplingsförbehållet hade konkurrensfrämjande effekter och effektivitetsvinster som övervägde kopplingsförbehållets konkurrenshämmande effekter, vilket skulle anses som sakligt skäl. Om det bedömdes att det fanns sakliga skäl till kopplingsförbehållet, skulle det kunna tillåtas.</p><p>I ett närmast identiskt fall av kopplingsförbehåll i USA, även det gällande Microsoft, ansågs en bedömning enligt rule of reason vara bättre än tillämpningen av ett per se-förbud. Det fanns dock betydande skillnader mellan den rule of reason-bedömning som förespråkades i USA och den europeiska bedömningen som hade inslag av rule of reason. I USA ansågs exempelvis testet som användes för att fastslå att kopplingsförbehållet bestod av två separata produkter som alltför tillbakablickande och riskerade att hämma teknologisk utveckling och innovation. Det synsättet fanns inte i Europa och därför tillämpades testet vid bedömningen av Microsofts kopplingsförbehåll. Den europeiska metoden för att bedöma kopplingsförbehåll ställde överlag betydligt hårdare krav på svaranden än den amerikanska motsvarigheten. I det europeiska fallet var det upp till Microsoft att visa att kopplingsförbehållet var ”indispensible”, det vill säga nödvändigt för att effektivitetsvinsterna och de konkurrensfrämjande effekterna skulle erhållas. Något krav på svaranden att visa att kopplingsförbehållet var nödvändigt ställdes inte i USA.</p><p>Trots att vi ställer oss positiva till avsteget från ett per se-förbud, anser vi att det nya sättet att bedöma kopplingsförbehåll har svagheter. Metoden att fastslå effekterna av kopplingsförbehållet är mycket spekulativt och kravet på att svaranden måste visa att kopplingsförbehållet är nödvändigt för att uppnå konkurrensfrämjande effekter är alltför hårt. Det råder fortfarande osäkerhet kring vilka konsekvenser den nya europeiska metoden kommer att få i framtiden vid bedömningen av kopplingsförbehåll enligt artikel 82 i EG-fördraget. Sedan Microsoft-fallets avgörande har det inte tagits upp något annat fall av kopplingsförbehåll, varken av Kommissionen eller EG-domstolen. Det är därför än så länge oklart om per se-förbudet är avskaffat och en rule of reason-inriktad bedömning kommer att göras i fortsättningen.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-71). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-71). Also available on the Internet.