Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Large-scale Versus Small-scale Variation Decomposition , Followed by Kriging Based on a Relative Variogram , in Presence of a Non-stationary Residual Variance

We propose here an interpolation method based on a decomposition of the data in largeand small-scale variation. This decomposition was performed using a two-way directional decomposition, similar to the decomposition used by Cressie in his median-polish kriging (1993), though we applied decomposition by means instead of medians. We considered the effects isolated by the decomposition as associated to intervals along the two directions, and not to a row or column coordinate. We replaced the "plating" used by Cressie to interpolate large -scale variation between grid rows and columns by the fit of a more continuous surface, with surface mean over each interval accounting for its associated mean effect. Residuals were predicted by kriging. However, as residual variance appeared to be strongly linked to large-scale-variation structure, we did not assume variance stationarity. Rather, we built a variance predictor based on this structure and modelled the data continuity through a relative variogram, relative to the sum of predicted variances at the tail and head of the lag vector. In the kriging equations, the variogram value used to characterize the variation between two locations was the relative variogram corresponding to the lag separating these two locations, rescaled by the sum of variance predictors at these two locations.
Wireless network interface energy consumption implications of popular streaming formats

With the proliferation of mobile streaming multimedia, available battery capacity constrains the end-user experience. Since streaming applications tend to be long running, wireless network interface card's (WNIC) energy consumption is particularly an acute problem. In this work, we explore the WNIC energy consumption implications of popular multimedia streaming formats from Microsoft (Windows media), Real (Real media) and Apple (Quick Time). We investigate the energy consumption under varying stream bandwidth and network loss rates. We also explore history-based client-side strategies to reduce the energy consumed by transitioning the WNICs to a lower power consuming sleep state. We show that Microsoft media tends to transmit packets at regular intervals; streams optimized for 28.8 Kbps can save over 80% in energy consumption with 2% data loss. A high bandwidth stream (768 Kbps) can still save 57% in energy consumption with less than 0.3% data loss. For high bandwidth streams, Microsoft media exploits network-level packet fragmentation, which can lead to excessive packet loss (and wasted energy) in a lossy network. Real stream packets tend to be sent closer to each other, especially at higher bandwidths. Quicktime packets sometimes arrive in quick succession; most likely an application level fragmentation mechanism. Such packets are harder to predict at the network level without understanding the packet semantics.
Towards generic quality prediction models for spoken dialogue systems - a case study

In this paper, models are investigated which aim at predicting quality perceived during the interaction with spoken dialogue systems, on the basis of instrumentally or expert-derived interaction parameters. More specifically, it will be evaluated how generic model predictions are when going from one system or user group to the next. In two experiments, user quality judgments have been collected according to a recently standardized framework, and a large number of interaction parameters have been extracted. The results show that both changes in the user group and in the system configuration significantly impact prediction performance. Potential reasons for the observed limitations are discussed.
Maximum Life-time Broadcast Authentication Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

Broadcast authentication is a critical security service in wireless sensor networks (WSNs), as it allows a sender to broadcast messages to multiple nodes in an authenticated way. Symmetric key based schemes such as μTESLA and μTESLA-like schemes have been proposed to provide such services for WSNs, however, the life-time of these schemes is constrained by the length of the key chains. To address this problem, this paper propose a light-weight, scalable broadcast authentication scheme. In this paper, the proposed scheme uses series of short key chains that let the fore key chain to carry the Commitment Distribution Message (CDM) of the following key chain and amortize the CDM over multiple small parts to minimize the communication overhead. This allows the short key chains to continue indefinitely. Moreover, the comprehensive analysis shows that this scheme is efficient and robust against packet loss, and leads to efficient solution to the raised problems.
Time and frequency selective Ricean MIMO capacity: An ergodic operator approach

From the standpoint of Information theory, a time and frequency selective Ricean ergodic MIMO channel can be represented in the Hilbert space l2(ℤ) by a random ergodic self-adjoint operator whose Integrated Density of States (IDS) governs the behavior of the Shannon's mutual information. In this paper, it is shown that when the numbers of antennas at the transmitter and at the receiver tend to infinity at the same rate, the mutual information per receive antenna tends to a quantity that can be identified. This result can be obtained by analyzing the behavior of the Stieltjes transform of the IDS in the regime of the large numbers of antennas.
Evaluation on the Impact of Image Quality on Image Retrieval

In recent years, content-based image retrieval (CBIR) using local invariant features has been a hot research topic. In CBIR, the retrieval performance, such as accuracy and efficiency, is significantly affected by the quality of the query image. Generally, the image quality is determined by many factors, such as image resolution, noise addition, rotation, JPEG compression, selected local features, etc. In this paper, we make a comprehensive study on those factors to investigate their impact on image search accuracy. We build the baseline system with the classic Bag-of-Visual-Words model and the inverted index structure. Two public released datasets, i.e., UKBench and Oxford Building, are selected as ground truth dataset. Based on the extensive experimental study, some conclusions are drawn from the evaluation results. In UKBench dataset, performance keeps stable if the image size is controlled in a certain range of 384×288 to 576×432. Also, the JPEG conpreession ratio can be reduced to as low as 8% of base one but has little impact on retrieval performance. What is more, Image performance achieves 90% of best result though its PSNR value is 32 when we test in Oxford Building dataset.
Modeling Supply Chain Performance of Organized Garment Retailing

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to produce the findings of a research project seeking to develop and validate a model for measuring supply chain performance of organized garment retailing in India. Design/methodology/approach - The paper draws its conclusions from an analysis of survey data from samples of Indian organized garment retailing practitioners and consultants. The pre-pilot and pilot survey has been done to improve the questionnaire. Later, large scale survey is used to classify key performance indicators and structural equation modeling has been used to develop and validate a model for measuring supply chain performance of organized garment retailing in India. Findings -The twenty key performance indicators have been arranged to measure the supply chain performance of organized garment retailing. The first most important group of key performance indicator is inventory metrics with seven indicators in this node. This nodal point needs to be supported by another supply chain node, i.e., flexibility metrics with three indicators. Also, keeping in view the customer requirements, customer metrics have developed another nodal point for assessing supply chain performance. This nodal point has the support of six performance indicators. The stakeholder metric presents the final nodal point for assessing supply chain performance. This nodal point uses four indicators and projects the monetary outcome of the business. Research limitations/implications - Larger-scale empirical studies are required from the top management for enhanced validity. In particular, the explicit comparison of the supply chain performance of major firms is recommended for future research. Also, there is a need to compare organized and unorganized garment retailing sector for gap analysis. Originality/value - This is the first study to systematically develop and validated a model for measuring supply chain performance of organized garment retailing in India. The analyses and discussions provide a basis for future research. In addition, the insights of this study shall help for the betterment of this sector.
Exercise and quality of life in patients with cystic fibrosis: A 12-week intervention study

It was hypothesised that increased exercise capacity is related to improved quality of life (QoL) in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). A 12-week individually tailored unsupervised aerobic exercise programme was offered to 42 patients with CF. At the start and at the end of the exercise programme, data on QoL, current exercise habits and preferences, anthropometric data, exercise test, and lung function test were collected. Adherence was observed by a heart rate (HR) monitor. A total of 24 patients accepted to be enrolled in the exercise programme and 14 completed the programme. Another 14 patients declined to be enrolled in the exercise programme but completed the Cystic Fibrosis Questionnaire for Adolescents and Adults (CFQ-R 14+). Four patients did not want to participate at all. The 14 patients completing the exercise programme had a significantly increased VO2max, but they showed no significant change in total QoL score. However, the scores in the domain of treatment burden and emotional functioning increased significantly. There was no significant difference in QoL and lung function between patients participating in the exercise programme (n = 24) and non-participants (n = 14). A 12-week individually tailored unsupervised aerobic exercise programme where HR monitors were used significantly affected VO2max. Improvement in QoL could not be demonstrated in this study.
Community structure and antibiotic production of Streptomyces nodosus bioreactors cultured in liquid environments

Immobilized bacteria are being assessed by industry for drug delivery, novel fermentation systems and the protection of organisms in harsh environments. Alginate bioreactors containing Streptomyces nodosus were examined for community structure, cell viability and amphotericin production under different growth conditions. When cell proliferation was encouraged, substrate hyphae were found inside the alginate matrix and within multicellular projections on the surface of the capsule. The periphery of these projections had erect and branched hyphae, morphologically identical to aerial hyphae. Antibiotic production from immobilized organisms was assessed using conditioned culture medium to eliminate the emergence of a free‐dwelling population. These organisms sporulated with reduced antibiotic production compared with free‐dwelling cultures. The commitment to sporulate was independent of a surface but dependent on community size and nutritional status. This is the first report of the sporulation of S. nodosus in liquid cultures and description of the multicellular community the organism adopts at a solid–liquid interface.
The Association between NOS3 Gene Polymorphisms and Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy Susceptibility and Symptoms in Chinese Han Population

Endothelial NOS (NOS3) has a potential role in the prevention of neuronal injury in hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). Thus, we aimed to explore the association between NOS3 gene polymorphisms and HIE susceptibility and symptoms in a Chinese Han population. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the NOS3 gene, rs1800783, rs1800779, and rs2070744, were detected in 226 children with HIE and 212 healthy children in a Chinese Han population. Apgar scores and magnetic resonance image scans were used to estimate the symptoms and brain damage. The association analyses were conducted by using SNPStats and SPSS 18.0 software. The genotype and allele distributions of rs1800779 and rs1799983 displayed no significant differences between the patients and the controls, while the rs2070744 allele distribution was significantly different (corrected P = 0.009). For clinical characteristics, the rs2070744 genotype distribution was significantly different in patients with different Apgar scores (≤5, TT/TC/CC = 6/7/5; 6~7, TT/TC/CC = 17/0/0; 8~9, TT/TC/CC = 6/2/0; 10, TT/TC/CC = 7/1/0; corrected P = 0.006) in the 1001 to 1449 g birth weight subgroup. The haplotype test did not show any associations with the risk and clinical characteristics of HIE. The results suggest that NOS3 gene SNP rs2070744 was significantly associated with HIE susceptibility and symptom expression in Chinese Han population.
Social Security, Endogenous Retirement, and Intrahousehold Cooperation

This paper studies the retirement incentives generated by the U.S. Social Security system in a framework which allows for different degrees of cooperation and strategic interaction between spouses. We examine the relative empirical performance of models specified under different assumptions about spouses' preferences (specifically over complementarities in leisure during retirement) and commitment to a jointly optimal retirement path. We assess the models' relative ability to replicate a large set of economic choices observed at or around the time of retirement. These choices include the tendency of individuals to retire close to the first availability of regular Social Security retirement benefits; for spouses to retire approximately at the same time; and for transitions into retirement to be made either through "bridge jobs" -- exit from a full-time career job several years before full retirement -- or through application for Social Security disability benefits. Our results suggest a role for non-cooperative behavior in households in which main-earners are subject to large transfer liabilities towards second-earners, which effectively introduce a `tax wedge' on earned income and affect both labor supply and retirement decisions. The different models also suggest different welfare implications for current Social Security policy in partial equilibrium, with the utility value of most features of the current system increasing with spousal complementarity in leisure, but decreasing in the degree non-cooperation between household members approaching retirement.
Author ' s personal copy Sensitive fluorogenic substrate for alkaline phosphatase

Alkaline phosphatase serves both as a model enzyme for studies on the mechanism and kinetics of phosphomonoesterases and as a reporter in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) and other biochemical methods. The tight binding of the enzyme to its inorganic phosphate product leads to strong inhibition of catalysis and confounds measurements of alkaline phosphatase activity. We have developed an alkaline phosphatase substrate in which the fluorescence of rhodamine is triggered on P–O bond cleavage in a process mediated by a ‘‘trimethyl lock. ’’ Although this substrate requires a nonenzymatic second step to manifest fluorescence, we demonstrated that the enzymatic first step limits the rate of fluorogenesis. The substrate enables the catalytic activity of alkaline phosphatase to be measured with high sensitivity and accuracy. Its attributes are ideal for enzymatic assays of alkaline phosphatase for both basic research and biotechnological applications. 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Alkaline phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.1) is a prototypical phosphomonoesterase [1–3] that is used often in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) and other biochemical methods [4]. Despite its frequent study and widespread use, determining rate constants for catalysis by alkaline phosphatase is difficult. This difficulty arises largely from the high affinity of alkaline phosphatase for its product, inorganic phosphate. For example, the well-known enzyme from Escherichia coli is inhibited with Ki 1 lM [5]. In typical spectrophotometric assays for alkaline phosphatase, the concentration of inorganic phosphate saturates the enzyme before a measurable signal is observable, thereby limiting accuracy. Fluorometric assays using aryl phosphates can overcome this limitation. Still, known fluorogenic substrates, such as fluorescein diphosphate [6], are hampered by chemical instability, two-hit kinetics, and pH-dependent fluorescence [7]. Rhodamine 110 is a xanthene dye first synthesized by Maurice Ceresole more than a century ago [8]. Its fluorescence is bright and pH-insensitive, and its emission and excitation wavelengths are ideal for biological assays [9]. To adapt rhodamine 110 as a reporter of enzymatic catalysis, we have employed the ‘‘trimethyl lock’’ as a trigger that couples fluorescence generation to a designated chemical reaction [10–13]. The trimethyl lock is an o-hydroxydihydrocinnamic acid derivative in which steric interactions among three methyl groups lead to rapid lactonization to a dihydrocoumarin ring (3, Scheme 1) with concomitant release of an alcohol or amine [14–16]. The scission of a labile bond to the phenolic oxygen enables the manifestation of fluorescence [10–13]. Here we describe how the trimethyl lock can enable the fluorescence of rhodamine 110 to report on P–O bond cleavage catalyzed by alkaline phosphatase. Materials and methods
The Golay Code Outperforms the Extended Golay Code Under Hard-Decision Decoding

We show that the binary Golay code is slightly more power efficient than the extended binary Golay code under maximum-likelihood (ML), hard-decision decoding. In fact, if a codeword from the extended code is transmitted, one cannot achieve a higher probability of correct decoding than by simply ignoring the 24th symbol and using an ML decoder for the non-extended code on the first 23 symbols. This is so, despite the fact that using that last symbol would allow one to sometimes correct error patterns with weight four. To our knowledge the worse performance of the extended Golay code has not been previously noted, but it is noteworthy considering that it is the extended version of the code that has been preferred in many deployments.
Letter to the Editor The distance to the Pleiades from orbital solution of the double-lined eclipsing binary HD 23642 ⋆,⋆⋆

Combining precise B, V photometry and radial velocities, we have been able to derive a firm orbital solution and accurate physical parameters for the newly discovered eclipsing binary HD 23642 in the Pleiades open cluster. The resulting distance to the binary and therefore to the cluster is 132 ± 2 pc. This closely confirms the distance modulus obtained by classical main sequence fitting methods (m - M = 5.60 or 132 pc), moving cluster techniques and the astrometric orbit of Atlas. This is the first time the distance to a member of the Pleiades is derived by orbital solution of a double-lined eclipsing binary, and it is intended to contribute to the ongoing discussion about the discordant Hipparcos distance to the cluster.
IEC 62439 PRP: Bumpless recovery for highly available, hard real-time industrial networks

Availability of automation networks can be increased by providing redundant links and nodes. Although many specifications of industrial Ethernet have been submitted to the International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC), they do not disclose methods to implement network redundancy. The IEC SC65C worked out a standard for implementing redundancy in switched Ethernet networks applicable to a variety of industrial networks, with different solutions depending on the grace time of the plant and on the level of redundancy desired. This paper describes IEC 62439's parallel redundancy protocol (PRP), a redundancy method applicable to hard real time systems, based on full duplication and parallel operation of two redundant networks. PRP nodes send on both networks at the same time, and receive from both, providing bumpless recovery. Duplicate discarding and management functions complement the standard.
Ablations of Ghrelin and Ghrelin Receptor Exhibit Differential Metabolic Phenotypes and Thermogenic Capacity during Aging

Background Obesity is a hallmark of aging in many Western societies, and is a precursor to numerous serious age-related diseases. Ghrelin (Ghrl), via its receptor (growth hormone secretagogue receptor, GHS-R), is shown to stimulate GH secretion and appetite. Surprisingly, our previous studies showed that Ghrl-/- mice have impaired thermoregulatory responses to cold and fasting stresses, while Ghsr-/- mice are adaptive. Methodology/Principal Findings To elucidate the mechanism, we analyzed the complete metabolic profiles of younger (3–4 months) and older (10–12 months) Ghrl-/- and Ghsr-/- mice. Food intake and locomotor activity were comparable for both null mice and their wild-type (WT) counterparts, regardless of age. There was also no difference in body composition between younger null mice and their WT counterparts. As the WT mice aged, as expected, the fat/lean ratio increased and energy expenditure (EE) decreased. Remarkably, however, older Ghsr-/- mice exhibited reduced fat/lean ratio and increased EE when compared to older WT mice, thus retaining a youthful lean and high EE phenotype; in comparison, there was no significant difference with EE in Ghrl-/- mice. In line with the EE data, the thermogenic regulator, uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1), was significantly up-regulated in brown adipose tissue (BAT) of Ghsr-/- mice, but not in Ghrl-/- mice. Conclusions Our data therefore suggest that GHS-R ablation activates adaptive thermogenic function(s) in BAT and increases EE, thereby enabling the retention of a lean phenotype. This is the first direct evidence that the ghrelin signaling pathway regulates fat-burning BAT to affect energy balance during aging. This regulation is likely mediated through an as-yet-unidentified new ligand of GHS-R.
A Study of the Multi-objective Next Release Problem

One of the first issues which has to be taken into account by software companies is to determine what should be included in the next release of their products, in such a way that the highest possible number of customers get satisfied while this entails a minimum cost for the company. This problem is known as the Next Release Problem (NRP). Since minimizing the total cost of including new features into a software package and maximizing the total satisfaction of customers are contradictory objectives, the problem has a multi-objective nature. In this work we study the NRP problem from the multi-objective point of view, paying attention to the quality of the obtained solutions, the number of solutions, the range of solutions covered by these fronts, and the number of optimal solutions obtained.Also, we evaluate the performance of two state-of-the-art multi-objective metaheuristics for solving NRP: NSGA-II and MOCell. The obtained results show that MOCell outperforms NSGA-II in terms of the range of solutions covered, while this latter is able of obtaining better solutions than MOCell in large instances. Furthermore, we have observed that the optimal solutions found are composed of a high percentage of low-cost requirements and, also, the requirements that produce most satisfaction on the customers.