Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hierarchical Routing in Low-Power Wireless Networks

POINT-TO-POINT routing is fundamental functionality in the Internet. Its objective is finding paths in the network along which any two devices (nodes) in different parts of the globe can exchange data with each other. It is the only functionality shared by all Internet nodes, be they in the Internet core or at its end-points, and conversely, to be a fully-fledged Internet node, any novel device has to implement this functionality. Wireless sensor nodes are such novel devices that aim to extend the digital world of the Internet into the surrounding physical world. They are tiny and are equipped with sensors and actuators, so that, embedded in the surrounding environment, they can sense various features of the environment and respond to these features by actuating physical objects, thereby controlling the environment. To fulfill this task, the devices have to communicate with each other via low-power radios, forming so-called wireless sensor networks (abbreviated sensornets or WSNs), and also with other devices on the Internet. To this end, in principle they need point-to-point routing functionality. The objective of this dissertation is thus to provide a point-to-point routing protocol for sensornets. Developing such a protocol, however, is extremely challenging. Due to their embedding in physical space, sensor nodes are severely constrained in terms of memory, bandwidth, and processing power. Moreover, the low-power wireless communication they employ is unreliable and does not allow for engineering node Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy otherwise, to republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission of the author and/or a fee. Konrad Iwanicki: “Hierarchical Routing in Low-Power Wireless Networks,” PhD Dissertation, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, June 2010. Copyright c © 2010 by Konrad Stanislaw Iwanicki.
The REMIT System for Paraphrasing Relational Query Expressions into Natural Language

1. ARsTRAm. REMIT Relational Model Interpreter and Translator is a formal query language to natural language interpreter designed to aid query verification in a relational database environment. The system has been developed to work in conjunction with the ICL natural language query interface, NEL, which translates English query expressions into the formal query language QUERYMASTER. Funding for this research project has been provided by International Computers Limited.
Transient Mitochondrial Permeability Transition Pore Opening Mediates Preconditioning-Induced Protection

Background—Transient (low-conductance) opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) may limit mitochondrial calcium load and mediate mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling. We hypothesize that transient mPTP opening and ROS mediate the protection associated with myocardial preconditioning and mitochondrial uncoupling. Methods and Results—Isolated perfused rat hearts were subjected to 35 minutes of ischemia/120 minutes of reperfusion, and the infarct-risk-volume ratio was determined by tetrazolium staining. Inhibiting mPTP opening during the preconditioning phase with cyclosporine-A (CsA, 0.2 μmol/L) or sanglifehrin-A (SfA, 1.0 μmol/L) abolished the protection associated with ischemic preconditioning (IPC) (20.2±3.6% versus 45.9±2.5% with CsA, 49.0±7.1% with SfA; P <0.001); and pharmacological preconditioning with diazoxide (Dzx, 30 μmol/L) (22.1±2.7% versus 46.3±3.0% with CsA, 48.4±5.5% with SfA; P <0.001), CCPA (the adenosine A1-receptor agonist, 200 nmol/L) (24.9±4.5% versus 54.4±6.6% with CsA, 42.6±9.0% with SfA; P <0.001), or 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP, the mitochondrial uncoupler, 50 μmol/L) (15.7±2.7% versus 40.8±5.5% with CsA, 34.3±3.1% with SfA; P <0.001), suggesting that mPTP opening during the preconditioning phase is required to mediate protection in these settings. Inhibiting ROS during the preconditioning protocols with N-mercaptopropionylglycine (MPG, 1 mmol/L) also abolished the protection associated with IPC (20.2±3.6% versus 47.1±3.8% with MPG; P <0.001), diazoxide (22.1±2.7% versus 56.3±3.8% with MPG; P <0.001), and DNP (15.7±2.7% versus 50.7±6.6% with MPG; P <0.001) but not CCPA (24.9±4.5% versus 26.5±8.4% with MPG; P =NS). Further experiments in adult rat myocytes demonstrated that diazoxide induced CsA-sensitive, low-conductance transient mPTP opening (represented by a 28±3% reduction in mitochondrial calcein fluorescence compared with control; P <0.01). Conclusions—We report that the protection associated with IPC, diazoxide, and mitochondrial uncoupling requires transient mPTP opening and ROS.
Benefiting from Disorder: Source Coding for Unordered Data

The order of letters is not always relevant in a communication task. This paper discusses the implications of order irrelevance on source coding, presenting results in several major branches of source coding theory: lossless coding, universal lossless coding, rate-distortion, high-rate quantization, and universal lossy coding. The main conclusions demonstrate that there is a significant rate savings when order is irrelevant. In particular, lossless coding of n letters from a finite alphabet requires Theta(log n) bits and universal lossless coding requires n + o(n) bits for many countable alphabet sources. However, there are no universal schemes that can drive a strong redundancy measure to zero. Results for lossy coding include distribution-free expressions for the rate savings from order irrelevance in various high-rate quantization schemes. Rate-distortion bounds are given, and it is shown that the analogue of the Shannon lower bound is loose at all finite rates.
High-responsivity high-speed and high-power partially depleted absorber waveguide photodiodes with relaxed coupling tolerances

We reported a partially depleted absorber evanescently coupled waveguide photodiode that achieves 17 mA saturation current, 0.81 A/W responsivity, >50 GHz bandwidth and /spl plusmn/2.0 /spl mu/m (/spl plusmn/1.3 /spl mu/m) horizontal (vertical) -1 dB coupling tolerances.
Broadband superstrate aperture antenna for 60GHz applications

Broadband and high-efficient aperture antenna / array covered with a superstrate layer at 60 GHz is investigated. Adding a superstrate layer with a specific size will induce a significant effect on antenna performances. The maximum measured gain of a single aperture antenna with superstrate is 13.1 dBi with a broad 2∶1 VSWR bandwidth of 15%, which covers the 60GHz communication range. It is found that the measured gain of a single antenna with superstrate increases nearly 8 dB at 60 GHz over its basic aperture antenna. This superstrate antenna gives a high estimated efficiency of 79%. The radiation patterns are found to be broadside all over the frequency band. Also studied a 2 × 2 aperture antenna array with superstrate. The maximum measured gain for a 2 × 2 array is 16.6 dBi with an efficiency of 74%, for the optimised supertsrate size. The 2∶1 measured VSWR bandwidth is 13.3%. The radiation patterns are found to be broadside all over the frequency band. Hence supertstrate aperture antenna technology is a viable candidate for broadband, high efficient applications at 60 GHz.
Small-Signal Modeling and Parameters Design for Virtual Synchronous Generators

The concept of the virtual synchronous generator (VSG) is emerging as an attractive solution for controlling the grid-connected inverter when the renewable energy has a high penetration level into the grid. This paper focuses on the small-signal modeling and parameters design of the power loop of the VSG, and points out that the bandwidth of the power loop should be far less than twice the line frequency for the purpose of avoiding the VSG output voltage to be severely distorted. Consequently, the line-frequency-averaged small-signal model of the VSG is derived for system analysis and parameters design. Based on the model, the decoupling conditions between the active power loops (APLs) and the reactive power loops (RPLs) of the VSG are given. Finally, a step-by-step parameters design method is proposed to facilitate the design of the control parameters of the VSG. A 10-kVA prototype is built and tested in the laboratory, and the experimental results are given to verify the effectiveness of the theoretical analysis and the proposed parameters design method.
Using Soft Constraints to Interpret Descriptions of Shapes

The contribution of this paper is to test different models that correctly interpret descriptions of shapes provided by web-users and are able to select which object is being described by them in a language game, a game in which one user describes a selected object of those composing the scene (see figure 1), while another user has to guess which object has been described (see figure 2). The given description needs to be non ambiguous and accurate enough to allow other users to guess the described shape correctly. The descriptions need to be parsed to extract the syntax and the words' classes used, and to interpret the semantics of them. We have modeled the meaning of these descriptions by means of soft constraints, which represent the meaning of words, and an aggregation function which combine the meanings of the words into the meaning of the description. We have proven that if we use the syntax to detect whether a description is simple or complex (those referring to two or more objects) the system can learn better semantic models and improve the results, increasing the precision from 79% to 81%, the recall from 34% to 58% and the f-measure from 48% to 68%.
Managing glaucoma in developing countries.

A recent estimate of the number of people affected by glaucoma worldwide suggested that by 2020 there will be approximately 80 million people with the disease, of which 11 million will be bilaterally blind.1 Due to the paucity of information on disease prevalence in Latin America, estimates of prevalence for this region have been derived mostly from studies conducted in Hispanic populations living in the United States.1 These extrapolated prevalence rates are likely to be inaccurate, particularly in Brazil, due to its heterogeneous and highly racially-mixed population.
The Perception of Emotion from Acoustic Cues in Natural Speech

Knowledge of human perception of emotional speech is imperative for the development of emotion in speech recognition systems and emotional speech synthesis. Owing to the fact that there is a growing trend towards research on spontaneous, real-life data, the aim of the present thesis is to examine human perception of emotion in naturalistic speech. Although there are many available emotional speech corpora, most contain simulated expressions. Therefore, there remains a compelling need to obtain naturalistic speech corpora that are appropriate and freely available for research. In that regard, our initial aim was to acquire suitable naturalistic material and examine its emotional content based on listener perceptions. A web-based listening tool was developed to accumulate ratings based on large-scale listening groups. The emotional content present in the speech material was demonstrated by performing perception tests on conveyed levels of Activation and Evaluation. As a result, labels were determined that signified the emotional content, and thus contribute to the construction of a naturalistic emotional speech corpus. In line with the literature, the ratings obtained from the perception tests suggested that Evaluation (or hedonic valence) is not identified as reliably as Activation is. Emotional valence can be conveyed through both semantic and prosodic information, for which the meaning of one may serve to facilitate, modify, or conflict with the meaning of the other—particularly with naturalistic speech. The subsequent experiments aimed to investigate this concept by comparing ratings from perception tests of non-verbal speech with verbal speech. The method used
High-Redshift Supernova Rates

We use a sample of 42 supernovae detected with the Advanced Camera for Surveys on board the Hubble Space Telescope as part of the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey to measure the rate of core-collapse supernovae to z ~ 0.7 and Type Ia supernovae to z ~ 1.6. This significantly increases the redshift range at which supernova rates have been estimated from observations. The rate of core-collapse supernovae can be used as an independent probe of the cosmic star formation rate. Based on the observations of 17 core-collapse supernovae, we measure an increase in the core-collapse supernova rate by a factor of ~1.6 in the range 0.3 < z < 0.7 and an overall increase by a factor of ~7 to z ~ 0.7 in comparison with the local core-collapse supernova rate. The increase in the rate in this redshift range is consistent with recent measurements of the star formation rate derived from UV-luminosity densities and IR data sets. Based on 25 Type Ia supernovae, we find a Type Ia supernova rate that is a factor of 3-5 higher at z ~ 1 compared to earlier estimates at lower redshifts (z < 0.5), implying that the Type Ia supernova rate traces a higher star formation rate at redshifts z > 1 compared to low redshift. At higher redshift (z ≳ 1), we find a suggested decrease in the Type Ia rate with redshift. This evolution of the Ia rate with redshift is consistent with a Type Ia progenitor model, in which there is a substantial delay between the formation of the progenitor star and the explosion of the supernova. Assuming that the Type Ia progenitor stars have initial main-sequence masses 3 M☉ < M < 8 M☉, we find that 5%-7% of the available progenitors explode as Type Ia supernovae.
Biological function of the ammonia-induced inactivation of glutamine synthetase in Escherichia coli.

In the first 15–30 see after addition of 10 mM NH4+ to Escherichia coli cells, one observes a 20-fold increase in the concentration of glutamine, an approximate one-third reduction in the stationary concentration of glutamate, an approximate 90% decrease in the concentration of ATP and a decrease in the activity of glutamine synthetase to a few percent of the initial value. In the subsequent 30 see, glutamine synthetase remains inactive, glutamine concentration decreases, glutamate concentration increases 2 to 3-fold, and the ATP concentration rises slowly. The above-mentioned changes after addition of NH4+, together with previous observations on properties of purified glutamine synthetase and adenylyl transferase, make the following sequence of events probably: NH4+ enters the cells and is quickly incorporated into glutamate yielding glutamine, with a concomitant utilization of ATP. The accumulated glutamine stimulates the adenylyl transferase resulting in an inactivation of glutamine synthetase. Thus, 15 sec after addition of NH4+, further synthesis of glutamine is prevented. Consequently, glutamate concentration increases, glutamine concentration decreases, and ATP concentration increases. On the basis of these findings and conclusions, the following biological functions of NH4+ inactivation of glutamine synthetase are discussed: (a) prevention of a too high level of glutamine and (b) prevention of a sustained decrease in the ATP concentration which would be harmful to the cell.
Skeletal palaeopathology and the rheumatic diseases: where are we now?

Many rheumatologists have an interest in the history of the rheumatic diseases. Sources of historical data include medical manuscripts, non-medical literature, art, and archaeological specimens such as mumnnmies and skeletons. Skeletal material is more commonly available than mummies and should provide valuable data on rheumatic diseases which leave imprints on bones. Over the last decade there have been an increasing number of publications on arthritis in skeletons; this article briefly reviews these reports and their contribution to rheumatology.
PREDICTION OF NET BEDLOAD TRANSPORT RATES OBTAINED IN OSCILLATING WATER TUNNELS AND APPLICABILITY TO REAL SURF ZONE WAVES

Experimental studies of sediment transport rates due to nearshore waves are often conducted in oscillating water tunnels (OWTs). In an OWT, the oscillatory motion produced by the piston propagates almost instantaneously along the entire tunnel. Consequently, unlike the wave motion in the sea or in a wave flume, flow in an OWT is uniform along the tunnel, and second-order wave propagation effects (such as Longuet-Higgins's streaming) are absent. The effect of these hydrodynamic differences between OWT and sea waves on sediment transport rates has generally been neglected. In this paper we present a simple, practical formulation to evaluate bed shear stresses and bedload transport rates due to asymmetric and skewed waves plus a current in an OWT, based on fitting the exact results of a rigorous, analytical model of the OWT wave-current boundary layer. By then accounting for real wave effects we find that wave propagation significantly affects the predicted period-averaged net sediment transport rates. Such real wave effects can therefore not be neglected when comparing nearshore transport models with OWT data.
Effects of a small fish cage farm on zooplankton assemblages ( Cladocera and Copepoda : Crustacea ) in a sub-tropical reservoir ( SE Brazil )

In Brazil, the environmental impacts of fish cage farming in water reservoirs have not been well studied. As this activity is being increasingly practiced, investigations on the impacts of this practice are strongly needed. The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of a small cage tilapia farm on zooplankton assemblages in an oligo/mesotrophic reservoir (Jurumirim Reservoir, Paranapanema River). Zooplankton, limnological variables, and water samples were obtained trimonthly during a year at two sample sites, one was located adjacent to the cage farm and the control area was located one kilometer away from it. Eighteen species were identified and Cladocera was the dominant group. The same species of microcrustaceans were identified at both sites. Among the ecological attributes studied, only evenness showed a tendency towards being higher in the control site. Significant differences between studied variables in the sites were observed only for material in suspension. The results of the study indicate that, during the studied period, the cage farm did not generate detectable changes in the zooplankton assemblages and their ecological attributes. However, small differences in some limnological variables could be an indication of some environmental changes associated with the fish farm system.
Clustering with Hypergraphs: The Case for Large Hyperedges

The extension of conventional clustering to hypergraph clustering, which involves higher order similarities instead of pairwise similarities, is increasingly gaining attention in computer vision. This is due to the fact that many clustering problems require an affinity measure that must involve a subset of data of size more than two. In the context of hypergraph clustering, the calculation of such higher order similarities on data subsets gives rise to hyperedges. Almost all previous work on hypergraph clustering in computer vision, however, has considered the smallest possible hyperedge size, due to a lack of study into the potential benefits of large hyperedges and effective algorithms to generate them. In this paper, we show that large hyperedges are better from both a theoretical and an empirical standpoint. We then propose a novel guided sampling strategy for large hyperedges, based on the concept of random cluster models. Our method can generate large pure hyperedges that significantly improve grouping accuracy without exponential increases in sampling costs. We demonstrate the efficacy of our technique on various higher-order grouping problems. In particular, we show that our approach improves the accuracy and efficiency of motion segmentation from dense, long-term, trajectories.
3607 Paying More to Hire the Best ? Foreign Firms , Wages and Worker Mobility

Paying More to Hire the Best? Foreign Firms, Wages and Worker Mobility In the context of the debate on the labour-market consequences of globalisation, we examine worker mobility in order to identify the wage differences between foreign and domestic firms. Using matched employer-employee panel data for Portugal, we consider virtually all spells of interfirm mobility over a period of ten years. We find that foreign firms offer significantly more generous wage policies, although there is also a (smaller) selection effect. The results are robust to the consideration of wage growth differences, the case of displaced workers and different subsets of workers. JEL Classification: J31, J63, F23
Clinical Medicine Insights: Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Disorders Clinical, Laboratory, and Ultrasound Assessment of the Knee in Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis

Open Access Full open access to this and thousands of other papers at Abstract Background: The aim of this work was to study the ultrasonographic (USG) features of knee joints in relation to clinical and laboratory measures in patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), and also to evaluate the accuracy of ultrasound in the diagnosis of local joint activity. Methods: This study included 20 with JRA and 20 matched and apparently healthy controls. All patients were subjected to full history taking, careful clinical examination and laboratory investigation. The knee joints of all patients and control were examined with plain radiography and ultrasonography on the same day of clinical examination using ultrasound to detect synovial thickness and effusion at the knee. Results: Mean USG knee synovial thickness was significantly greater in JRA patients versus controls (4.2 ± 2.4 mm versus 1.7 ± 0.3 mm, P , 0.001). Although knee effusion was not detected in any of the controls, it was demonstrated in 90% of JRA patients, with a mean effusion volume of 3.8 ± 3.1 mL. There was a statistically significant difference (P , 0.001) between clinically active and inactive knees with regard to knee synovial thickness. Mean knee effusion volume was significantly (P , 0.05) higher in the clinically active than in the clinically inactive knees. Patients with high disease activity had a significantly (P , 0.05) higher knee synovial thickness and knee effusion volume than patients with low and moderate disease activity. Significantly (P , 0.05) positive correlations were found between knee synovial thickness and articular index (AI) scores, disease activity score, clinical knee scores, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. Significant positive correlations (P , 0.05) were found between knee effusion volume and AI scores, visual analog scores, disease activity scores, clinical knee scores, ESR, and CRP levels. Significant negative correlations (P , 0.05) were found between knee effusion volumes and hemoglobin levels. Conclusion: UGS-detected parameters represent a reliable index of JRA disease activity with a higher sensitivity for knee synovial thickness and higher specificity for knee effusion.