Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inter-individual differences in spectrotemporal modulation processing despite similar audiograms: Could they be used to assess supra- threshold hearing distortions?

The large heterogeneity observed among individuals with similar audiograms for understanding speech-in-noise poses an important challenge for current auditory sciences. In this talk, we will discuss the extent to which spectrotemporal modulation signals may be exploited to develop a better account of supra-threshold hearing capacities. We will present a novel integrated experimental-computational framework that was developed to assess spectrotemporal modulation processing characteristics in each individual. We will discuss recent psychophysical and modeling results obtained from normal-hearing and hearingimpaired individuals within this framework. Overall, this approach should pave the way for new research avenues to further determine the respective contribution of peripheral and central auditory mechanisms towards inter-individual differences in speech-in-noise intelligibility.
ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICANTS IN SOILS AND WATERS OF SELECTED INDUSTRIAL AREAS IN NIGERIA

Soil and water samples were taken from different industrial locations typically polluted by environmental toxicants in Nigeria to study the presence of environmental toxicants, human exposure and their health effects on man, plant and animals. Soil analyses for colour, compaction, moisture and pH profile as well as water conductivity chloride, hardness, chemical oxygen demand, phosphate, alkalinity, sulphate, and potentially harmful elements (Ni, Zn, Pb, Fe, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ba, As, Co and Se) were carried out using the Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS), Association of Officials of Analytical Chemists (AOAC). Bacteriological analysis for the presence of Escherichia coli and infrared detection of carbon hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur were also studied. Results showed the water and soil pH range of 3.08 to 3.80 and may be unsuitable for planting as against pH of 5.5 to 7.0 that can support plant growth. The levels of zinc (0.59 mg kg−1); Ni (0.24 mg kg−1); Se (0.9 mg kg−1) and lead (0.15 to 0.91 mg kg−1) dissolution into the water and soil samples were similarly observed with the lead permissible dose varies between 0.05 to 0.51 mg kg−1. The analysis describes the percentage of both positive and negative effects of these chemicals as 55.3% and 45.94%, respectively. Apart from the higher acidic content above permissible levels of some trace metals in all samples, the microbiological presence of Escherichia coli bacteria in all the samples can only serves as potential dangers to human health. Keywords— “environment”, “pollution”, “toxicant”, “health”, “bacteria”
Técnica ZAD Aplicada a un Convertidor Buck: Análisis de Estabilidad y de Transición al Caos

En este trabajo se presentan algunos resultados obtenidos al analizar el convertidor buck controlado mediante un modulador de anchura de pulsos (PWM) centrado. El ciclo de trabajo se calcula obligando a que una salida, definida como una ecuacion diferencial de primer orden en el error en tension, tenga promedio cero en cada ciclo. Los resultados obtenidos han mostrado que la tecnica garantiza frecuencia de conmutacion fija y una variedad de fenomenos no lineales como bifurcaciones y caos, en la medida en que el parametro asociado a la dinamica de primer orden, varia. Estos fenomenos han sido estudiados en el presente trabajo de forma analitica y numerica. Finalmente a nivel de simulacion se ha hecho uso de la tecnica Time Delay Auto-Synchronization para controlar el sistema.
Stochastic and deterministic processes drive wetland community assembly across a gradient of environmental filtering

The role of deterministic and stochastic processes in community assembly is a key question in community ecology. We evaluated the effect of an abiotic filter (hydroperiod) on the partitioned diversity of three taxonomic groups (birds, vegetation, macroinvertebrates) from prairie pothole wetlands in Alberta, Canada, which naturally vary in water permanence. We observed that alpha and gamma diversity were higher in permanent than temporary wetlands (16–25% and 34–47% respectively, depending on the taxon). This suggests an influence of deterministic constraints on the number of species a wetland can support. Taxa which cannot persist in shallow, temporary wetlands are excluded by the deterministic constraints that a shortened hydroperiod imposes. In contrast, we observed that beta diversity was significantly higher (2–12%) in temporary wetlands than permanent ones, and temporary wetlands supported more unique combinations of community composition than permanent wetlands, despite having a smaller regional species pool. This observation contradicts prior mesocosm studies that found beta diversity mirrored the pattern in gamma diversity along an environmental filtering gradient. We conclude that deterministic processes are more influential in more stable permanent wetlands, whereas stochastic processes play a more important role in assembly in dynamic temporary wetlands that must disassemble and re‐establish annually. Considering three distinct taxonomic groups differing in their relative mobility, our large‐scale field study demonstrates that both stochastic and deterministic processes act together to influence the assembly of multiple communities and that the relative importance of the two processes varies consistently along a gradient of environmental filtering.
Repeatability of wheelchair deceleration tests using a 3-D accelerometer

Rolling resistance is an important aspect of manual wheelchair (MWC) propulsion when assessing the subject’s physical capacities and characterising the MWC’s efficiency through its energy loss. For this reason, several authors have evaluated the braking force acting on the MWC from its deceleration on the field. For this purpose, the deceleration could be calculated from experimental data either by a second-order differentiation of the rear-wheel angular displacement (Coutts 1991, 1994), or from the movement differential equations during a 6–10-m-long deceleration (Frank and Abel 1988; Vinet et al. 1998; Hoffman et al. 2003). Other authors directly measured the MWC deceleration with a 3-D accelerometer (Vaslin and Dabonneville 2000; de Saint Rémy et al. 2003). Nevertheless, the eventual ground irregularities and wheels eccentricity may have an important effect on the results because the gravity acceleration, which reaches 100 times the braking deceleration, could be partially measured along the theoretical axis of the MWC movement. This study aims at quantifying the repeatability of the MWC deceleration test on the field, in three controlled conditions, using a 3-D accelerometer.
NUFTCP: Towards Smooth Network Updates in Software-Defined Datacenter Networks

Since the widespread deployment of the Software Defined Network in the datacenter, network updates become more and more common. However, modern TCP designs are not resilient to network updates, which introduce flow reroutes. Frequent and inconsistent network updates lead to severe performance degradation such as packet drop (caused by transient congestion) and out-of-order packets problems. In this paper, we verify and show the poor performance of common TCP implementations when there are frequent network updates. We analyze the reasons and propose a simple variant of DCTCP as a countermeasure, named NUFTCP (Network Update Friendly TCP). We evaluate NUFTCP with simulations. The results demonstrate that NUFTCP can more efficiently handle the problems of packet drop and out-of-order packets caused by network updates.
Social Positions and Fairness Views on Inequality

We link survey data on Danish people’s perceived income positions and fairness views on inequality within various reference groups to administrative records on their reference groups, income histories, and life events. People are, on average, well-informed about the income levels of their reference groups. Yet, lower-ranked respondents in all groups tend to overestimate their own position among others because they believe others’ incomes are lower than they actually are, whereas the opposite holds true for higher-ranked respondents. Misperceptions of positions in reference groups relate to proximity to other individuals, transparency norms, and visible signals of income. People view inequalities within their co-workers and education groups as significantly more unfair than overall inequality, yet underestimate inequality the most exactly within these groups. Views on the fairness of inequalities are strongly correlated with an individual’s current position, move with shocks like unemployment or promotions, and change when experimentally informing people about their actual positions. However, the higher perceived unfairness of income differences within co-workers and education groups stays unchanged. The theoretical framework shows that this can have important implications for redistribution policy.
HypMix: Hyperbolic Interpolative Data Augmentation

Interpolation-based regularisation methods for data augmentation have proven to be effective for various tasks and modalities. These methods involve performing mathematical operations over the raw input samples or their latent states representations - vectors that often possess complex hierarchical geometries. However, these operations are performed in the Euclidean space, simplifying these representations, which may lead to distorted and noisy interpolations. We propose HypMix, a novel model-, data-, and modality-agnostic interpolative data augmentation technique operating in the hyperbolic space, which captures the complex geometry of input and hidden state hierarchies better than its contemporaries. We evaluate HypMix on benchmark and low resource datasets across speech, text, and vision modalities, showing that HypMix consistently outperforms state-of-the-art data augmentation techniques. In addition, we demonstrate the use of HypMix in semi-supervised settings. We further probe into the adversarial robustness and qualitative inferences we draw from HypMix that elucidate the efficacy of the Riemannian hyperbolic manifolds for interpolation-based data augmentation.
The improvement of dryland farming sustainable management in food-insecure areas in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

Riptanti, E. W. , Masyhuri, M. , Irham, I. & Suryantini, A. (2021). The improvement of dryland farming sustainable management in food-insecure areas in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 27 (5), 829–837 Sustainable management of dryland farming plays an important role in food-insecure areas. Various agricultural policies and programs cannot be achieved without considering the sustainability of farm management. This article aims to analyze the sustainability of the management of dryland farming in food-insecure areas and the strategies to increase its sustainability. The study took a sample of the area on three large islands in the Province of East Nusa Tenggara (ENT), Indonesia. The samples of 240 farmers were taken by snowball sampling. Data were analyzed using the Multi Dimensional Scale (MDS) method. In this method, an ordination technique called Rapid Appraisal for Dryland Farming Management (RAP-DAFARM) was applied. The results of the study show that multidimensional management of dryland farming is less sustainable. To improve the sustainability status of dryland farming management in the future, some strategies are implemented, including increasing the role of capital supporting institutions, grouped-farming management patterns, agricultural insurance programs, agricultural livestock waste utilization, and others.
Risk-based water resources planning in England and Wales: challenges in execution and implementation

In this paper we describe the execution of a risk-based analysis on a simple, small-scale water resources planning problem. We aim to understand whether a risk-based approach could underpin the regulated water resources planning process in England and Wales. We demonstrate the practical feasibility of the approach and identify clear benefits over the conventional planning methods. We also identify several nontrivial challenges for scaling up and caution against the view that better quality decisions would emerge naturally from risk-based analyses. Useful future research might focus on: (1) the development of practical methodologies for applying these approaches to larger, more complex resource zones; (2) identifying and overcoming problems associated with regulating a risk-based water resources planning process; and (3) developing methods of economic options appraisal that can deploy the outputs of a risk-based analysis to inform planning decisions.
Automation and labor market polarization in an evolutionary model with heterogeneous workers

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mechanisms underlying the relationship between automation and labor market polarization. To do so, we build an agent-based model (ABM) in which workers, heterogeneous in nature and level of skills, interact endogenously on a decentralized labor market with firms producing goods requiring specific set of skills to realize the tasks necessary for the production process. The two scenarios considered, with and without automation, confirm that automation is indeed a key factor in polarizing the structure of skill demand and increasing wage inequality. This result emerges even without reverting to the routine-based technical change (RBTC) hypothesis usually found in the literature, giving some support to the complexity-based technical change (CBTC) hypothesis. Finally, we also highlight that the impact of automation on the distribution of skill demand and wage inequality is correlated with the velocity of technical change.
New white dwarf envelope models and diffusion-Application to DQ white dwarfs

Context. Recent studies of the atmospheres of carbon-rich (DQ) white dwarfs have demonstrated the existence of two different populations that are distinguished by the temperature range, but more importantly, by the extremely high masses of the hotter group. The classical DQ below 10 000 K are well understood as the result of dredge-up of carbon by the expanding helium convection zone. The high-mass group poses several problems regarding their origin and also an unexpected correlation of effective temperature with mass. Aims. We propose to study the envelopes of these objects to determine the total hydrogen and helium masses as possible clues to their evolution. Methods. We developed new codes for envelope integration and diffusive equilibrium that are adapted to the unusual chemical composition, which is not necessarily dominated by hydrogen and helium. Results. Using the new results for the atmospheric parameters, in particular, the masses obtained using Gaia parallaxes, we confirm that the narrow sequence of carbon abundances with Teff in the cool classical DQ is indeed caused by an almost constant helium to total mass fraction, as found in earlier studies. This mass fraction is smaller than predicted by stellar evolution calculations. For the warm DQ above 10 000 K, which are thought to originate from double white dwarf mergers, we obtain extremely low hydrogen and helium masses. The correlation of mass with Teff remains unexplained, but another possible correlation of helium layer masses with Teff as well as the gravitational redshifts casts doubt on the reality of both and suggests possible shortcomings of current models.
A NOVAL ENERGY EFFICIENT APPROACH FOR COMPOSITE EVENT DETECTION IN WSN

: Wireless sensor networks, well known communicating architectures today, are often used to detect the occurrence of some environmental events, such as pollution monitoring, forest fire detection, location and tracking, etc. In order to reduce irrelevant alarms, multiple attributes are used in the event detection process. It is important to reduce the amount of data exchange within a WSN, in order to optimize the use of power and energy resources within nodes. Event-based clustering for composite event detection for wireless sensor networks is proposed in this paper which performs local computation at sensor nodes and local data aggregation at level of each cluster heads in order to reduce the communication overhead and improving the energy efficiency. In real world applications it is important to get the reports as soon as possible. In order to achieve this routing is performed based on the node weights. In this paper our focus is to reduce the reporting delay of nodes without compromising the energy efficiency.
Iron from coal combustion particles dissolves much faster than 1 mineral dust under simulated atmospheric acid conditions

Mineral dust is the largest source of aerosol iron (Fe) to the offshore global ocean, but acidic processing of coal fly 14 ash (CFA) in the atmosphere could be an important source of soluble aerosol Femay result in a disproportionally higher 15 contribution of bioavailable Fe. Here, we determined the Fe speciation and dissolution kinetics of CFA from Aberthaw (United 16 Kingdom), Krakow (Poland), and Shandong (China) in solutions which simulate atmospheric acidic processing. In CFA-PM 10 17 fractions, 8%-21.5% of the total Fe was as hematite and goethite (dithionite extracted Fe), 2%-6.5 % as amorphous Fe 18 (ascorbate extracted Fe), while magnetite (oxalate extracted Fe) varied from 3%-22%. The remaining 50%-87 % of Fe was 19 associated with other Fe-bearing phases, possibly aluminosilicates. High concentrations of ammonium sulphate sulfate 20 ((NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 ), often found in wet aerosols, increased Fe solubility of CFA up to 7 times at low pH (2-3). The oxalate effect on 21 the Fe dissolution rates at pH 2 varied considerably depending on the samples, from no impact for Shandong ash to doubled 22 dissolution for Krakow ashOur results showed a large variability in the effects of oxalate on the Fe dissolution rates at pH 2, 23 from no impact in Shandong ash to doubled dissolution in Krakow ash. However, this enhancement was suppressed in the 24 presence of high concentrations of (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 . Dissolution of highly reactive (amorphous) Fe was insufficient to explain the 25 high Fe solubility at low pH in CFA, and the modelled dissolution kinetics suggests that other Fe-bearing phases such as 26 magnetite may also dissolve relatively rapidly under acidic conditions. Overall, Fe in CFA dissolved up to 7 times faster than 27 in a Saharan dust precursor samplethan in Saharan dust samples at pH 2. Based on these laboratory data, we developed a new 28 scheme for the proton-and oxalate-promoted Fe dissolution of CFA, which was implemented into the global atmospheric 29 chemical transport model IMPACT. The revised model showed a better agreement with observations of surface concentration 30 of dissolved FeFe solubility in aerosol particles over the Bay of Bengal, due to the initial rapid release of Fe and the suppression 31 of the oxalate-promoted dissolution at low pHdue to the rapid Fe release at the initial stage at highly acidic conditions. The 32 improved model also enabled us to predict sensitivity to a more dynamic range of pH changes, particularly between 33 anthropogenic combustion and biomass burning aerosols.
Life-Cycle Assessment of the Use of Jatropha Biodiesel in Indian Locomotives (Revised)

With India's transportation sector relying heavily on imported petroleum-based fuels, the Planning Commission of India and the Indian government recommended the increased use of blended biodiesel in transportation fleets, identifying Jatropha as a potentially important biomass feedstock. The Indian Oil Corporation and Indian Railways are collaborating to increase the use of biodiesel blends in Indian locomotives with blends of up to B20, aiming to reduce GHG emissions and decrease petroleum consumption. To help evaluate the potential for Jatropha-based biodiesel in achieving sustainability and energy security goals, this study examines the life cycle, net GHG emission, net energy ratio, and petroleum displacement impacts of integrating Jatropha-based biodiesel into locomotive operations in India. In addition, this study identifies the parameters that have the greatest impact on the sustainability of the system.
"Three-Step Transformation of a Traditional University Course into a MOOC: a LouvainX Experience"

This paper presents a practical approach to transform a traditional mature university course into a MOOC. The approach has been applied to LFSAB1402 Informatics 2, a secondyear bachelor university level course about programming paradigms of 5 credits (ECTS), taught at Université catholique de Louvain (UCL) to about 300 students in engineering. The transformation was done in three steps spread over two years. A SPOC limited to our students was first created, covering part of the material of the traditional course. It was then opened worldwide as a MOOC. Finally, two MOOCs followed at the same time by our students and worldwide learners and covering all the material of the traditional course have been created. In addition to our 300 students, we had about 7000 (resp. 4000) external students for the first (resp. second) MOOC. About 90% of on-site students and about 4% of registered external students got a certificate at the end of the course. This gradual transformation of the traditional course has three main advantages. First, it makes it possible to reach two different publics given roughly the same efforts and human resources. Second, it opens the possibility for both publics to interact through the discussion forums. Third, it offers to our students a new learning experience supporting them in their regular work and allowing them to study the course autonomously.
Facing the Grim Truth: Repeated Prisoner’s Dilemma Against Robot Opponents ∗

We report on an experiment where subjects play an indeﬁnitely repeated prisoner’s dilemma game (1) against robot opponents known to play the Grim trigger strategy, and (2) the game’s continuation probability is varied aﬀecting whether cooperation can be rationalized. These two innovations allow us to classify the play in each supergame in one of 6 mutually exclusive categories, allowing us to identify whether subjects play theoretically optimally, whether they are biased towards/against cooperation, whether they make strategic mistakes, or whether they do something else. Some subjects defect after cooperating, perhaps anticipating the end of a supergame (in an attempt to “snipe”), and others cooperate after defecting (thus making strategic errors), which is harder to rationalize. Consistent with a simple model of inattention, we ﬁnd two gradients in strategic play, with cognitive diﬀerences predicting optimality vs errors gradient, and non-cognitive diﬀerences predicting persistent bias towards cooperation. These results suggest that cognition is important for the successful implementation of strategies.
THE ROBIN PROBLEM FOR THE NONLINEAR SCHRÖDINGER EQUATION ON THE HALF-LINE

We consider the nonlinear Schrödinger equation on the half-line x ≥ 0 with a Robin boundary condition at x = 0 and with initial data in the weighted Sobolev space H(R+). We prove that there exists a global weak solution of this initial-boundary value problem and provide a representation for the solution in terms of the solution of a Riemann– Hilbert problem. Using this representation, we obtain asymptotic formulas for the long-time behavior of the solution. In particular, by restricting our asymptotic result to solutions whose initial data are close to the initial profile of the stationary one-soliton, we obtain results on the asymptotic stability of the stationary one-solitons under any small perturbation in H(R+). In the focusing case, such a result was already established by Deift and Park using different methods, and our work provides an alternative approach to obtain such results. We treat both the focusing and the defocusing versions of the equation. AMS Subject Classification (2020): 35Q55, 35Q15, 35B40, 37K40.