Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Novel Energy Efficient Multi-target Coverage Control Protocol with Event Driven Mechanism of Wireless Sensor Network

The covering problem and node deployment is a fundamental problem in the research of wireless sensor network. The number of nodes and the coverage of a network can directly affect performance and operating costs. For this reason, we propose an EMAC algorithm (Energy Efficient Multi-target Associate Coverage Algorithm). The algorithm uses the correlation between the nodes and dynamic grouping to adjust coverage area. Within the coverage area, we use the greedy algorithm to optimize the coverage area. So, the target node is uniformly covered by other sensor nodes and the network resources is optimized. To ensure the energy balance in wireless sensor network and extend the lifetime of it, we only wake partial nodes to work in a cycle, so that, they can work in turn. Experiments show that the algorithm can effectively reduce energy consumption, with better adaptability and effectiveness.
Linear system identification subject to colored noises in a networked environment

This paper is a continuing study of our recent work (Wang, Zheng and Chen, 2009) on the identification of linear time-invariant systems working in a networked environment. The identification problem is formulated under the configuration of event-driven actuators subject to random network-induced delays and packet dropouts; the associated networked identification problem is to identify continuous-time linear time-invariant models, based on the general non-uniformly non-synchronized sampled data. This paper proposes a modified version of the refined instrumental variable (RIVC) method that can efficiently deal with colored process noises. The convergence proof of the modified RIVC method is provided to fill up a gap in theory. Simulation examples are presented to illustrate the effectiveness and convergence of the proposed method.
Illinois Farmland Investment Performance,... Revisited,... Again...

USDA recently released the 2011 version of its annual summary of farmland values and rental rates, with final values for cropland in Illinois of $5,800/acre representing an 18% increase. Cash rent serves as a proxy for current income, and averaged about 3.2% for the same period. Total farm real estate values increased by roughly 16.3% for the year. Except for 2009, the past seven years have each seen double digit capital gains, and 3-4% annual current income. This performance during a period of unprecedented equity market volatility has resulted in substantially increased attention to the asset class, with an attendant increase in visibility of institutional investors, and resulted in some highly notable sales. Some have begun to question the sustainability or rationality of the current levels, and have used phrases including “bubble” and “overheated”. At the same time, there is little evidence to suggest that income values and capitalization costs are anything but rational given the current low interest rates and high relative incomes (see Schnitkey). But all of these descriptors — annual returns, capitalized values, volatility through time — are best viewed as relative indicators — if the equity markets had been returning 30% annually, the performance of farmland might look relatively poor, for example.
Traffic modeling for telecommunications networks

As new communications services evolve, professionals must create better models to predict system performance. The article provides an overview of computer simulation modelling for communication networks, as well as some important related modelling issues. It gives an overview of discrete event simulation and singles out two important modelling issues that are germane to extant and emerging networks: traffic modelling and rare event simulation. Monte Carlo computer simulation is used as a performance prediction tool and Markov models are considered. <<ETX>>
On the digital road to recovery? Assessment, theory, and treatment of depression via the internet

Background: The Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) was designed to measure the intensity of dysfunctional attitudes, a hallmark feature of depression. Various exploratory factor analytic studies of the DAS form A (DAS-A) yielded mixed results. The current study was set up to compare the fit of various factor models. Methods: We used a large community sample (N = 8,960) to test the previously proposed factor models of the DAS-A using confirmatory factor analysis. The retained model of the DAS-A was subjected to reliability and validity analyses. Results: All models showed good fit to the data. Finally, a two-factor solution of the DAS-A was retained, consisting of 17 items. The factors demonstrated good reliability and convergent construct validity. Significant associations were found with depression. Norm scores were presented. Conclusions: We advocate the use of a 17-item DAS-A, which proved to be useful in measuring dysfunctional beliefs. On the basis of previous psychometric studies, our study provides solid evidence for a two-factor model of the DAS-A, consisting of ‘dependency’ and ‘perfectionism/performance evaluation’. Proefschrift Esther zkaft.indd 16 17-08-2009 20:11:31 17 Measuring dysfunctional attitudes
Infrared Surface Brightness Distances to Cepheids: A Comparison of Bayesian and Linear-Bisector Calculations

We have compared the results of Bayesian statistical calculations and linear-bisector calculations for obtaining Cepheid distances and radii by the infrared surface brightness method. We analyzed a set of 38 Cepheids using a Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo method that had been recently studied with a linear-bisector method. The distances obtained by the two techniques agree to 1.5% ± 0.6%, with the Bayesian distances being larger. The radii agree to 1.1% ± 0.7%, with the Bayesian determinations again being larger. We interpret this result as demonstrating that the two methods yield the same distances and radii. This implies that the short distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud found in recent linear-bisector studies of Cepheids is not caused by deficiencies in the mathematical treatment. However, the computed uncertainties in distance and radius for our data set are larger in the Bayesian calculation by factors of 1.4-6.7. We give reasons to favor the Bayesian computations of the uncertainties. The larger uncertainties can have a significant impact on interpretation of Cepheid distances and radii obtained from the infrared surface brightness method.
The Insider-Outsider Theory: A Survey

This article is an idiosyncratic survey of the insider-outsider theory, describing the vision underlying the theory, and evaluating salient contributions to the literature in the light of this vision. We also indicate what appear to have been dead-ends and red herrings in past research. The first section deals with the theory, concerning how labor turnover costs influence insider wages and outsiders’ opportunities and how these costs affect employment and unemployment. We also address the more complex, and open, question of how employment and unemployment move through time, in response to labor market shocks. The second section deals with the insider-outsider theory in relation to two important economic institutions: unions and social norms. The third section confronts the relevant empirical evidence. Finally, the last section concludes by clarifying some common misunderstandings and identifying promising areas of future research.
Cloud computing security issues and challenges

Cloud computing is a set of IT services that are provided to a customer over a network on a leased basis and with the ability to scale up or down their service requirements. Usually cloud computing services are delivered by a third party provider who owns the infrastructure. It advantages to mention but a few include scalability, resilience, flexibility, efficiency and outsourcing non-core activities. Cloud computing offers an innovative business model for organizations to adopt IT services without upfront investment. Despite the potential gains achieved from the cloud computing, the organizations are slow in accepting it due to security issues and challenges associated with it. Security is one of the major issues which hamper the growth of cloud. The idea of handing over important data to another company is worrisome; such that the consumers need to be vigilant in understanding the risks of data breaches in this new environment. This paper introduces a detailed analysis of the cloud computing security issues and challenges focusing on the cloud computing types and the service delivery types. Keywords: Cloud
Agenda setting and framing in Hurricane Ike news

News media have considerable ability to influence the public agenda. This thesis explores media agenda setting and framing in Hurricane Ike in order to infer whether the way disasters are covered in the news is a contributing factor in the lack of public attention on hurricane loss mitigation. The frequency and intensity of Atlantic hurricanes is increasing, placing residents along the U.S. Gulf Coast at greater risk, yet little has been done to try to reduce the impact from hurricanes. This study is grounded in agenda setting theory and utilized content analysis to examine newspaper coverage of Hurricane Ike in the Houston Chronicle and the Dallas Morning News from September 14, 2008 through October 14, 2008. Results indicate that media focus on disaster response/relief, devastation, recovery, and economic impact, with personal accounts informing all of these themes. Attention is on the immediate and short-term effects of the disaster, with little attention devoted to the issue of reducing future hurricane risk. Hurricane Ike News 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 5 Importance of the Study 5 Statement of the Problem 6 Definition of Terms Used 7 Organization of Remaining Chapters 8 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 9 Theoretical Basis 9 News Media and Disasters 14 Research Questions 19 CHAPTER 3: SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY 20 The Scope of the Study 20 Methodology of the Study 21 Research Design 22 Validity 24 Reliability 25 CHAPTER 4: THE STUDY 26 Introduction 26 Data Analysis 26 Results 27 Discussion 33 CHAPTER 5: SUMMARIES AND CONCLUSIONS 38 Limitations of the Study 38 Further Study Recommendations 38 Conclusions 39 REFERENCES 41 APPENDIX 53 Hurricane Ike News 5 Chapter
Constructing business profiles based on keyword patterns on Web sites

The study examined the possibility of constructing business profiles (specifically, product profiles) based on keyword patterns on various types of Web sites, including a company's own Web site, blog sites, and Web sites that have particular keywords and also hyperlinks pointing to company Web sites. To test the proposed methods, we selected China's four major oil companies and two other companies that have related products. We collected three rounds of data over a 7-month period from these three Web sources and analyzed the numbers of retrieved pages to construct business profiles. The business profiles constructed were checked against business information collected from other sources such as company annual reports and company newsletters to determine the correctness of the profiles and thus the usefulness of the proposed methods. We found that we can construct fairly accurate profiles by examining the frequency distribution of product keywords on company Web sites. Analyzing the frequency distribution of blogs on various topics was very useful in following major business events and developments during particular time periods. We also conducted qualitative content analysis for a sample of 454 Web pages retrieved from the three sources. Findings from the content analysis confirmed the conclusions from the quantitative analysis. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Using cointegration methods to estimate the interconnectedness of intangible strategic assets

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to advocate and implement cointegration methods for the estimation of interconnectedness of service quality and customer loyalty as intangible strategic assets within management decision.Design/methodology/approach – Using longitudinal time series quarterly data on loyalty and service quality, the paper uses cointegration methods to empirically estimate the weight of interconnectedness of customer loyalty and service quality as intangible strategic assets.Findings – The research evidence suggests that customer loyalty and service quality are interconnected intangible strategic assets that managers can develop, accumulate, estimate and deploy for superior competitive advantage.Originality/value – To the extent that the global economies are increasingly service‐driven, managerial capability to estimate intangible strategic assets as drivers of superior competitive advantage will remain strategically important. Assumedly, this paper is the first to illustrate how cointegrat.
Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 Imaging of Cassiopeia A

The young galactic supernova remnant Cassiopeia A was imaged with Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) aboard the Hubble Space Telescope through filters selected to capture the complete velocity range of the remnant's main shell in several emission lines. The primary lines detected, along with the specific WFPC2 filters used, were [O III] λλ4959, 5007 (F450W), [N II] λ6583 (F658N), [S II] λλ6716, 6731 + [O II] λλ7319, 7330 + [O I] λλ6300, 6364 (F675W), and [S III] λλ9069, 9532 (F850LP). About three-quarters of the remnant's 4′ diameter main shell was imaged with all four filters in three WFPC2 pointings, with most remaining shell regions imaged in just the F675W filter via three additional pointings. Considerable detail is observed in the reverse-shocked ejecta with typical knot scale lengths of 0. ″2–0. ″4 (1–2 × 1016 cm). Both bright and faint emission features appear highly clumped with little in the way of a smooth, diffuse emission component detected. Strong differences in [S III] and [O III] line intensities, indicating chemical abundance differences, are also seen, particularly in knots located along the bright northern limb and near the base of the northeastern jet. A line of curved overlapping filaments in the remnant's northwestern rim appears to mark the location of the remnant's reverse shock front in this region. The morphology of some finger-like ejecta structures elsewhere suggest cases in which the reverse shock front is encountering the remnant's clumped ejecta. Large velocity shears (≃1000 km s-1), possibly associated with the formation of these Rayleigh-Taylor–like features, are found in the line profiles of several emission lines (e.g., [S III] λλ9069, 9532 and [Cl II] λ8679) in ground-based, optical spectra of knots near the remnant's center. The [N II] images of the remnant's circumstellar knots (QSFs) reveal them to be 0. ″1–0. ″6 thick knots and filaments, often with diffuse edges facing away from the center of expansion. Three-color composite images of the whole remnant and certain sections, along with individual filter enlargements of selected regions of the bright optical shell, are presented and discussed.
Effectiveness of Biodiversity Surrogates for Conservation Planning: Different Measures of Effectiveness Generate a Kaleidoscope of Variation

Conservation planners represent many aspects of biodiversity by using surrogates with spatial distributions readily observed or quantified, but tests of their effectiveness have produced varied and conflicting results. We identified four factors likely to have a strong influence on the apparent effectiveness of surrogates: (1) the choice of surrogate; (2) differences among study regions, which might be large and unquantified (3) the test method, that is, how effectiveness is quantified, and (4) the test features that the surrogates are intended to represent. Analysis of an unusually rich dataset enabled us, for the first time, to disentangle these factors and to compare their individual and interacting influences. Using two data-rich regions, we estimated effectiveness using five alternative methods: two forms of incidental representation, two forms of species accumulation index and irreplaceability correlation, to assess the performance of ‘forest ecosystems’ and ‘environmental units’ as surrogates for six groups of threatened species—the test features—mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs, plants and all of these combined. Four methods tested the effectiveness of the surrogates by selecting areas for conservation of the surrogates then estimating how effective those areas were at representing test features. One method measured the spatial match between conservation priorities for surrogates and test features. For methods that selected conservation areas, we measured effectiveness using two analytical approaches: (1) when representation targets for the surrogates were achieved (incidental representation), or (2) progressively as areas were selected (species accumulation index). We estimated the spatial correlation of conservation priorities using an index known as summed irreplaceability. In general, the effectiveness of surrogates for our taxa (mostly threatened species) was low, although environmental units tended to be more effective than forest ecosystems. The surrogates were most effective for plants and mammals and least effective for frogs and reptiles. The five testing methods differed in their rankings of effectiveness of the two surrogates in relation to different groups of test features. There were differences between study areas in terms of the effectiveness of surrogates for different test feature groups. Overall, the effectiveness of the surrogates was sensitive to all four factors. This indicates the need for caution in generalizing surrogacy tests.
Near- and Far- Infrared Imaging for Vein Pattern Biometrics

This paper investigates two infrared imaging technologies, far-infrared thermography and near-infrared imaging, to acquire hand vein pattern images for biometric purposes. The imaging principles for both technologies are studied in depth. Experiments involving data acquisition from various parts of hand, including the back of the hand, palm, and wrist are described using a population of 150 participants using both near and far infrared imaging techniques. Comparison and analysis of the data collected show that far-infrared thermography has difficulties in capturing vein images in the palm, and wrist. However, while it is more suitable for capturing the large veins in the back of the hand, it is sensitive to ambient conditions and human body condition and does not provide a stable image quality. On the other hand, near-infrared imaging produces good quality images when capturing vein patterns in the back of the hand, palm, and wrist. It is more tolerant to changes in environmental and body condition, but it also faces the problem of disruption due to skin features such as hairs and line patterns. An initial vein pattern biometric system is implemented. The results show that all the test subjects can be correctly identified.
Immunity-Related Protein Expression and Pathological Lung Damage in Mice Poststimulation with Ambient Particulate Matter from Live Bird Markets

The objective of this study was to obtain insight into the adverse health effects of airborne particulate matter (PM) collected from live bird markets and to determine whether biological material in PM accounts for immune-related inflammatory response. Mice were exposed to a single or repeated dose of PM, after which the expression of toll-like receptors (TLRs), cytokines, and chemokines in the lungs of infected mice were examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and histopathological analysis. Results after single and repeated PM stimulation with PM2.5+,PM2.5−,PM10+, and PM10− indicated that TLR2 and TLR4 played a dominant role in the inflammatory responses of the lung. Further analysis demonstrated that the expression levels of IL-1β, TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-8, IP-10, and MCP-1 increased significantly, which could eventually contribute to lung injury. Moreover, biological components in PM were critical in mediating immune-related inflammatory responses and should therefore not be overlooked.
Conditional Evaluation of Exchange Rate Predictive Ability in Long Run Regressions

In this paper we evaluate exchange rate predictability using a new framework developed by Giacomini and White (2004). In this new framework we test for conditional predictive ability rather than for unconditional predictive ability, which has been the usual approach thus far. Using several shrinkage based forecasting methods, including new methods proposed here, we evaluate conditional predictability of five bilateral exchange rates at differing horizons. Our results indicate that for most currencies a random walk would not be the best forecasting method in a real time forecasting exercise, at least for some predictive horizons. We also show that our proposed shrinkage methods in general perform on par with Bayesian shrinkage and ridge regressions, and sometimes they even perform better.
Genetic Diversity, Rather than Cultivar Type, Determines Relative Grain Cd Accumulation in Hybrid Rice

Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic element, and rice is known to be a leading source of dietary Cd for people who consume rice as their main caloric resource. Hybrid rice has dominated rice production in southern China and has been adopted worldwide. The characteristics of high yield heterosis of rice hybrids makes the public think intuitively that the hybrid rice accumulates more Cd in grain than do inbred cultivars. A detailed understanding of the genetic basis of grain Cd accumulation in hybrids and developing Cd-safe rice are one of the top priorities for hybrid rice breeders at present. In this study, we investigated genetic diversity and grain Cd levels in 617 elite rice hybrids collected from the middle and lower Yangtze River Valley in China and 68 inbred cultivars from around the world. We found that there are large variations in grain Cd accumulation in both the hybrids and their inbred counterparts. However, we found grain Cd levels in the rice hybrids to be similar to the levels in indica rice inbreds, suggesting that the hybrids do not accumulate more Cd than do the inbred rice cultivars. Further analysis revealed that the high heritability of Cd accumulation in the grain and the single indica population structure increases the risk of Cd over-accumulation in hybrid rice. The genetic effects of Cd-related QTLs, which have been identified in related Cd-QTL mapping studies, were also determined in the hybrid rice population. Four QTLs were identified as being associated with the variation in grain Cd levels; three of these loci exhibited obvious indica-japonica differentiations. Our study will provide a better understanding of grain Cd accumulations in hybrid rice, and pave the way toward effective breeding for high-yielding, low grain-Cd hybrids in the future.