Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Offloading and Pricing Strategies for Heterogeneous Mobile Networks

In this work we consider the joint problem of offloading and pricing in heterogeneous networks comprising two-tier operators, namely, a Mobile Network Operator (MNO) and a pair of competing Small-cell Service Providers (SSPs). The offloading problem involves the MNO deciding the amount of traffic that it wishes to offload onto the SSPs. The SSPs, in turn, interact with each other through a pricing problem that requires the SSPs to fix competitive prices so as to maximize their revenue by trading more offloaded data with the MNO. The nature of the pricing scheme– flexible or flat – is fixed by the regulators. In flexible-pricing the SSPs can charge the MNO differently for different amount of traffic flows offloaded onto them. In contrast, under the flat-pricing scheme the SSPs are restricted to announce a fixed price irrespective of the offloaded traffic. For both pricing schemes, the MNO’s offloading problem is first formulated as a Stackelberg game with MNO as the leader, while SSPs constitute the followers. The solution to the offloading problem is characterized in terms of Stackelberg equilibria, referred to as the optimal-offloading strategy, which is in contrast to the full-offloading scenarios considered in the literature (where the entire data is naively offloaded onto the SSPs by the MNO). Next, the SSPs’ pricing problem (which appears as the followers’ game in the Stackelberg’s formulation) is formulated as a Bayesian game and the solution is characterized in terms of Bayesian Nash equilibria (BNE). We first establish that there are no BNEs in pure strategies, and then proceed to derive the structure of a mixed strategy symmetric BNE. Finally, we conduct an extensive numerical work to compare the performances of the flexible and flat-pricing schemes under optimal-offloading and full-offloading strategies. Through our study we find that the proposed optimal-offloading strategy yields a better payoff to the MNO, while the choice of pricing scheme (flexible or flat) that is favorable for the SSPs varies with the system parameters.
Delivering common property in Chinese contractual communities: Law, power and practice

This paper examines how common property is produced and delineated in contractual communities in China. Shanghai, one of the most developed Chinese cities with a burgeoning housing market, is used as a case study. The research analyses the power relations between land, construction and housing departments within Shanghai district governments and with developers, specifically, during the development phases of land leasing, construction permission and ownership registration. Drawing on the theoretical framework of new institutionalism, and its conception of path dependency in urban space, the article sheds light on what has led to the infringement on homeowners’ common property by developers. In a weak legal and regulatory system for property development, the departments within district governments shirk responsibility to each other, whereas developers hold considerable power. The article concludes that common property bears the imprint of power dynamics set in motion in the development phase and thus requires greater recognition.
Mediterranean Diet Adherence Is Associated with Favorable Health-Related Quality of Life, Physical Activity, and Sleep Quality in a Community-Dwelling Greek Older Population

Background: The Mediterranean diet (MD) is a beneficial dietary pattern with strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that can promote mental and physical human health. This study aims to assess the impact of MD adherence on health-related quality of life, physical activity levels, and sleep quality in a representative Greek elderly population. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. A total of 3254 persons ≥65 years from 14 different Greek regions, urban, rural and islands participated in this study, of which 48.4% were female and 51.6% were male. Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) was evaluated utilizing a short form healthy survey, physical activity was determined by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), sleep quality was assessed utilizing the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and MD adherence was assessed via the Mediterranean Diet Score (MedDietScore). Results: Moderate adherence to the MD and an increased prevalence of poor quality of life, low physical activity levels and inadequate sleep quality among the elderly population were recorded. High MD adherence was independently associated with better quality of life (OR: 2.31, 95% CI: 2.06–2.68, p = 0.0008), higher physical activity (OR: 1.89, 95% CI: 1.47–2.35, p = 0.0141) and adequate sleep quality (OR: 2.11, 95%: 1.79–2.44, p = 0.0018), female sex (OR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.02–1.68, p = 0.0032) and living with others (OR: 1.24, 95% CI: 0.81–1.76, p = 0.0375), after adjustment for potential confounding factors. In unadjusted analysis, participants’ age (p < 0.0001), anthropometric characteristics (p < 0.005), educational (p = 0.0026) and financial status (p = 0.0005) and smoking habits (p = 0.0031) were also identified as indicators of MD adherence; however, their impact on MD adherence was considerably attenuated after adjusting for confounding factors (p > 0.05). Conclusion: High MD adherence was correlated with favorable quality of life, higher levels of physical activity, and a more adequate sleep quality score. Strategies and public health policies that facilitate MD adherence and physical activity in older adults may improve sleep and quality of life, impacting overall wellbeing in this age group.
Flow of viscoelastic fluids through a porous channel—I

The flow of viscoelastic fluids through a porous channel with one impermeable wall is computed. The flow is characterized by a boundary value problem in which the order of the differential equation exceeds the number of boundary conditions. Three solutions are developed: (i) an exact numerical solution, (ii) a perturbation solution for small R, the cross-flow Reynold's number and (iii) an asymptotic solution for large R. The results from exact numerical integration reveal that the solutions for a non-Newtonian fluid are possible only up to a critical value of the viscoelastic fluid parameter, which decreases with an increase in R. It is further demonstrated that the perturbation solution gives acceptable results only if the viscoelastic fluid parameter is also small. Two more related problems are considered: fluid dynamics of a long porous slider, and injection of fluid through one side of a long vertical porous channel. For both the problems, exact numerical and other solutions are derived and appropriate conclusions drawn.
Basal Ganglia Compensatory White Matter Changes on DTI in Alzheimer’s Disease

The volume reduction of the gray matter structures in patients with Alzheimer’s disease is often accompanied by an asymmetric increase in the number of white matter fibers located close to these structures. The present study aims to investigate the white matter structure changes in the motor basal ganglia in Alzheimer’s disease patients compared to healthy controls using diffusion tensor imaging. The amounts of tracts, tract length, tract volume, quantitative anisotropy, and general fractional anisotropy were measured in ten patients with Alzheimer’s disease and ten healthy controls. A significant decrease in the number of tracts and general fractional anisotropy was found in patients with Alzheimer’s disease compared to controls in the right caudate nucleus, while an increase was found in the left and the right putamen. Further, a significant decrease in the structural volume of the left and the right putamen was observed. An increase in the white matter diffusion tensor imaging parameters in patients with Alzheimer’s disease was observed only in the putamen bilaterally. The right caudate showed a decrease in both the diffusion tensor imaging parameters and the volume in Alzheimer’s disease patients. The right pallidum showed an increase in the diffusion tensor imaging parameters but a decrease in volume in Alzheimer’s disease patients.
Diurnal Variation of Deep Cumulus Convection

Abstract This paper presents observational evidence in support of the existence of a large diurnal cycle (one daily maximum and one daily minimum) of oceanic, tropical, deep cumulus convection. The more intense the deep convection and the more associated it is with organized weather systems, the more evident is a diurnal cycle with a maximum in the morning. At many places heavy rainfall is 2–3 times greater in the morning than in the late afternoon-evening. Many land stations also show morning maxima of heavy rainfall. The GATE observations show a similar diurnal range in heavy rainfall, but the time of maximum occurrence is in the afternoon. This occurrence is 6–7 h later than in most other oceanic regions and is probably a result of downwind influences from Africa and the fact that the GATE heavy rainfall was often associated with squall lines. Diurnal variations in low-level, layered and total cloudiness show a much smaller range. The variability of deep convection and heavy rainfall is not readily obs.
STACK for interactive online numerical analysis tutorials: development, competence and performance

Conducting tutorials for large classes requires number of manpower/venues. In this work we exploit the power of mathematics plugin (System for Teaching and Assessment using Computer Algebra Kernel - STACK) embedded within Moodle to conduct online tutorials for Numerical Analysis; undergraduate second year course taught in 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 academic years at theUniversity of Dar es Salaam. Varieties of randomized questions were authored to cover the content of the coursewhile testing different learning objectives exhausting direct and iterative computations, analytical and guided proofs. Students got feedback of their work immediately from their anticipated mistakes. Students' participation and engagement in the tutorials are promising. Final scores do not show any negative impact from the application of online tutorials. Handling of online tutorials is important as number of students enrolled every year is increasing disproportionally with the available teaching staffs. This can also be appropriate tool for both delivering mathematics content interactively and assessing mathematics learning when meetings between teachers and students are limited (e.g. during pandemic period) or not necessary (e.g. distance learning programmes).
A Compact Bandpass Filter Manifold With Ultrawide Frequency and Bandwidth Tuning

This paper reports a comprehensive design methodology and a compact multilayer integration concept for a fully-reconfigurable bandpass filtering (BPF) manifold with simultaneous ultrawide center frequency and bandwidth (BW) tuning. The manifold is based on two RF-switched tune-all BPFs whose transfer function is shaped by three-poles and two transmission zeros (TZs) (i.e., three-pole/two-TZs). Tunability can be achieved by solely reconfiguring the resonant frequency of its constituent resonators (i.e., tuning-coupling less approach). A multi-layer PCB-based vertical integration scheme is proposed for size miniaturization leading to 43% smaller area than a conventional single layer implementation approach. For practical validation purposes, a BPF manifold was designed, built and measured. It exhibited ultrawide continuous center frequency tuning between 1.8 and 3.85 GHz (2.2:1) and continuous BW tuning between 2.5-3:1 (e.g 132–410 MHz at 2 GHz). For all of the aforementioned tuning states, the minimum passband insertion loss (IL) was measured between 2–9 dB and its IIP3 between 12.3-30 dBm.
A Dozen Years of Temperature Observations at the Summit: Central Greenland Automatic Weather Stations 1987–99

Abstract On 4 May 1987, the first automatic weather station (AWS) near the summit of the Greenland Ice Sheet began transmitting data. Air temperature records from this site, AWS Cathy, as well as nearby AWS at the Greenland Ice Sheet Project II (GISP2, now Summit) camp have been combined with Special Sensor Microwave Imager brightness temperature data to create a composite temperature history of the Greenland summit. This decadal-plus-length (4536 days) record covers the period from May 1987 to October 1999 and continues currently. The record is derived primarily from near-surface temperature data from AWS Cathy (May 1987–May 1989), AWS GISP2 (June 1989–November 1996), and AWS Summit (May 1996 and continuing). Despite the 35-km distance between them, the AWS Cathy data have been converted to the equivalent basis of temperatures from the AWS GISP2 and AWS Summit locations. The now completed “Summit” temperature time series represents a unique record that documents a multiyear temperature recovery after the.
Transport Catastrophe Near the Superconductor-Insulator Transition

Thin films of Amorphous indium oxide undergo a magnetic field driven superconducting to insulator quantum phase transition. In the insulating phase, the current-voltage characteristics show large current discontinuities due to overheating of electrons. Here we follow the temperature and magnetic field evolution of the discontinuities while approaching the quantum critical point. We show that the onset voltage for the discontinuities vanishes as we approach the quantum critical point. As a result the insulating phase becomes unstable with respect to any applied voltage making it, at least experimentally, immeasurable. We emphasize that unlike previous reports of the absence of linear response near quantum phase transitions, in our system, the departure from equilibrium is discontinuous. We discuss the "catastrophic" implications of such a discontinuous response on transport measurements. Whether the instability is only an experimental barrier or also a theoretical limit remains an open question.
Marine Macroalgae Polyphenols as Potential Neuroprotective Antioxidants in Neurodegenerative Diseases

Polyphenols are beneficial natural compounds with antioxidant properties that have recently gain a lot of interest for their potential therapeutic applications. Marine polyphenols derived from marine macroalgae have been discovered to possess interesting antioxidant properties; therefore, these compounds can be included in several areas of drug development. Authors have considered the use of polyphenol extracts from seaweeds as neuroprotective antioxidants in neurodegenerative diseases. Marine polyphenols may slow the progression and limit neuronal cell loss due to their antioxidant activity; therefore, the use of these natural compounds would improve the quality of life for patients affected with neurodegenerative diseases. Marine polyphenols have distinct characteristics and potential. Among seaweeds, brown algae are the main sources of polyphenols, and present the highest antioxidant activity in comparison to red algae and green algae. The present paper collects the most recent in vitro and in vivo evidence from investigations regarding polyphenols extracted from seaweeds that exhibit neuroprotective antioxidant activity. Throughout the review, oxidative stress in neurodegeneration and the mechanism of action of marine polyphenol antioxidant activity are discussed to evidence the potential of algal polyphenols for future use in drug development to delay cell loss in patients with neurodegenerative disorders.
Coherency, free inverse monoids and related free algebras†

Abstract A monoid S is right coherent if every finitely generated subact of every finitely presented right S-act is finitely presented. This is the non-additive notion corresponding to that for a ring R stating that every finitely generated submodule of every finitely presented right R-module is finitely presented. For monoids (and rings) right coherency is an important finitary property which determines, amongst other things, the existence of a model companion of the class of right S-acts (right R-modules) and hence that the class of existentially closed right S-acts (right R-modules) is axiomatisable. Choo, Lam and Luft have shown that free rings are right (and left) coherent; the authors, together with Ruškuc, have shown that (free) groups, free commutative monoids and free monoids have the same properties. It is then natural to ask whether other free algebras in varieties of monoids, possibly with an augmented signature, are right coherent. We demonstrate that free inverse monoids are not. Munn described the free inverse monoid FIM(Ω) on Ω as consisting of birooted finite connected subgraphs of the Cayley graph of the free group on Ω. Sitting within FIM(Ω) we have free algebras in other varieties and quasi-varieties, in particular the free left ample monoid FLA(Ω) and the free ample monoid FAM(Ω). The former is the free algebra in the variety of unary monoids corresponding to partial maps with distinguished domain; the latter is the two-sided dual. For example, FLA(Ω) is obtained from FIM(Ω) by considering only subgraphs with vertices labelled by elements of the free monoid on Ω. The main objective of the paper is to show that FLA(Ω) is right coherent. Furthermore, by making use of the same techniques we show that FIM(Ω), FLA(Ω) and FAM(Ω) satisfy (R), (r), (L) and (l), related conditions arising from the axiomatisability of certain classes of right S-acts and of left S-acts.
Moderating Effect of ICT on the Relationship between Governance Quality and Income Inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa

The ICT-income inequality relationship and the governance quality-income inequality nexus have been investigated in recent years. However, the moderating effect of ICT on the governance quality-income inequality linkage has been largely ignored. To fill this gap in the literature, this study examines the moderating effect of ICT on the relationship between governance quality and income inequality for a panel of 42 sub-Saharan African economies over the period 1996–2020. To achieve this goal, the generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation technique has been adopted. The results reveal that while ICT contributes to the improvement of income distribution, governance quality contributes to the exacerbation of income inequality. Interestingly, the results unveil that the promotion of E-governance could contribute to improve social welfare and reduce income inequality. Policy implications are given based on the findings of this study. For instance, institutional reforms must be conducted by considering ICT as an important factor to improve income distribution.
Gender and corruption: examining the nexus in MENA countries using PMG-ARDL approach

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the relationship between gender and corruption in thirteen Middle East and North African (MENA) countries during 2006–2020. We find a poor performance in terms of both corruption and the lack of involvement of women in public life, with a correlation between these two phenomena in the region. Due to the presence of cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity in the panel, we employed second-generation econometric panel unit root and cointegration tests. Using the ARDL-PMG approach, which is categorised as an error-corrected model, we demonstrate that greater involvement of women in the economic and political sphere is associated with lower levels of corruption. The results also indicate that the link between corruption and gender is dependent on the context and institutional factors. The role of democracy and political stability in explaining this interaction is particularly important, especially when women are well-represented in decision-making positions. Finally, we provide evidence that improved gender equality can strengthen the connection between greater involvement of women in public life, and more success in tackling corruption. Greater gender egalitarianism can break down the male-dominated network of corruption that is widespread in MENA countries.
Quality Assurance for Infrastructure Orchestrators: Emerging Results from Ansible

Infrastructure as code (IaC) is the practice of automatically managing computing infrastructure at scale. Despite yielding multiple benefits for organizations, the practice of IaC is susceptible to quality concerns, which can lead to large-scale consequences. While researchers have studied quality concerns in IaC manifests, quality aspects of infrastructure orchestrators, i.e., tools that implement the practice of IaC, remain an under-explored area. A systematic investigation of defects in infrastructure orchestrators can help foster further research in the domain of IaC. From our empirical study with 22,445 commits mined from the Ansible infrastructure orchestrator we observe (i) a defect density of 17.9 per KLOC, (ii) 12 categories of Ansible components for which defects appear, and (iii) the ‘Module’ component to include more defects than the other 11 components. Based on our empirical study, we provide recommendations for researchers to conduct future research to enhance the quality of infrastructure orchestrators.
Guest editorial: Holistic Nutritional Management as a tool to mitigate nitrogen pollution from dairy cattle farming

Introduction Nitrogen (N) pollution from agricultural activities has been a central social and scientific issue for at least the last three decades. Since the 1990s, a series of environmental policies to control N pollution have been implemented on global, national and regional scales, with the nitrates directive being the main policy implemented in the European Union (EU; 91/676/EEC). At the same time an immense body of scientific work has been accumulated to provide N pollution mitigation strategies. Even though this work resulted in significant potential to reduce N deposition both in absolute values and per unit of product produced, the problem remains
Point-Transitive Actions by the Unit Interval

An action is a continuous function α: T × X → X, where T is a semigroup, X is a Hausdorff space, and α(t 1, α(t 2, x)) = α(t 1,t 2 x) for all t 1, t 2 ∈ T and x ∈ X . If, for an action α, Q(α) = {x ∈ X| α(T × {x}) = X} is non-empty, then α is called a point-transitive action. Our aim in this note is to classify the point-transitive actions of the unit interval with the usual, nil, or min multiplications. The reader is referred to [5; 7; 9] for information concerning the general theory of semigroups. All semigroups which are considered here are compact and Abelian and all spaces are compact Hausdorff. Actions by semigroups have been studied in [1; 3; 8].
An In Vitro Approach to Model EMT in Breast Cancer

During the progression from ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) to invasive breast cancer (IBC), cells must overcome the physically restraining basement membrane (BM), which compartmentalizes the epithelium from the stroma. Since the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the epithelial and stromal compartments are biochemically and physically distinct from one another, the progression demands a certain degree of cellular plasticity for a primary tumor to become invasive. The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) depicts such a cell program, equipping cancer cells with features allowing for dissemination from the epithelial entity and stromal invasion at the single-cell level. Here, the reciprocal interference between an altering tumor microenvironment and the EMT phenotype was investigated in vitro. BM-typical collagen IV and stroma-typical collagen I coatings were applied as provisional 2D matrices. Pro-inflammatory growth factors were introduced to improve tissue mimicry. Whereas the growth on coated surfaces only slightly affected the EMT phenotype, the combinatorial action of collagen with growth factor TGF-β1 induced prominent phenotypic changes. However, EMT induction was independent of collagen type, and cellular accessibility for EMT-like changes was strongly cell-line dependent. Summarizing the entire body of data, an EMT-phenotyping model was used to determine cellular EMT status and estimate EMT-like changes. The miR200c-mediated reversion of mesenchymal MDA-MB-231 cells is reflected by our EMT-phenotype model, thus emphasizing its potential to predict the therapeutic efficacy of EMT-targeting drugs in the future.