Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimization of Radio Measurements Exploitation in Wireless Mobile Networks

Radio measurements play a crucial role in mobile wireless networks as they are input of Radio Resource Management (RRM) mechanisms, needed to assess mobile network reliability and to supervise the planned coverage area. Nevertheless, these measurements are used in their crude state without any additional intelligent treatment whereas they are a rich and unexploited source of information for the network. In this paper, we propose a new approach for the manipulation of existing radio measurements in wireless mobile networks. The goal is to optimize the use of these measurements with new approaches of exploitation in different locations of the network, basing on advanced signal processing tools. This new approach is based on nonparametric regression and smoothing methods. Interesting results are inferred from this analysis, based on real measurement traces collected in different environments and situations. Main results are the elaboration of a dynamic estimator of the attenuations components (pathloss, shadowing and fast fading), a method for the determination of the mobile user situation (incar, pedestrian and unmoving) as well as ameliorations in the handover procedure. We conclude that integrating advanced radio signal processing in RRM mechanisms is an efficient and easy-toimplement way for a better use of radio measurements.
What Are We Modeling When We Model Emotion?

The past 15 years have witnessed a rapid growth in computational modeling of emotion and cognitiveaffective architectures. Architectures are being built both to elucidate mechanisms of emotions, and to enhance believability and effectiveness of synthetic agents and robots. Yet in spite of the many emotion models developed to date, there is a lack of consistency, and clarity, regarding what exactly it means to ‘model emotions’. The purpose of this paper is to attempt to deconstruct the vague term ‘emotion modeling’ by (1) suggesting that we view emotion models in terms of two fundamental categories of processes: emotion generation and emotion effects; and (2) identifying some of the fundamental computational tasks necessary to implement these processes. These ‘model building blocks’ can then provide a basis for the development of more systematic guidelines for the theoretical and data requirements, and the representational and reasoning alternatives, in emotion modeling. Identification of a set of generic computational tasks is also a good starting point for a systematic comparison of alternative approaches.
Comparison between approximate and accurate line voltage THD, case II: Multilevel inverter with equal DC sources

Multilevel inverters have found wide applications in industry, especially in high-voltage and high power. Many researchers have attended to decrease the produced harmonic content of output voltage waveform. One of the criteria to determine the harmonic content, which is very popular, is Total Harmonic Distortion (THD). Therefore, determination of its actual amount is important. The voltage of three-phase multilevel inverter is divided to phase voltage and line to line voltage. In previous studies, the formula of phase THD has been calculated. In this paper, a new method is proposed which against the old approximate methods, takes all harmonics into account for the line to line THD of multilevel inverter with equal DC sources. To show difference between the proposed actual method and the approximate methods, a comparison is carried out for the 3, 5, 7 and 11 level inverters. For writing the codes and simulation, MATLAB software is used.
Are Healthcare Providers Asking about Environmental Exposures? A Community-Based Mixed Methods Study

People living near environmental hazards may develop symptoms and health conditions that require specialized monitoring and treatment by healthcare providers. One emerging environmental hazard is coal ash. Coal ash is comprised of small particles containing heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and radioactive elements. The overall purpose of this study was to explore whether healthcare providers ask patients if they live near an environmental hazard like coal ash storage sites and to assess what health conditions prompt a provider inquiry. Focus groups were conducted in 2012 and a cross-sectional survey was administered in 2013. Overall, 61% of survey respondents reported that their healthcare providers never asked if they lived near an environmental hazard. One focus group member stated “No, they don't ask that. They just always blame stuff on you…. ” Respondents with asthma and other lung conditions were significantly more likely to be asked by a healthcare provider if they lived near an environmental hazard. Due to the unique exposures from environmental hazards and the low prevalence of patients being asked about environmental hazards, we recommend that healthcare providers take environmental health histories in order to understand patients' exposures, to monitor symptoms of exposure, and to assist with education about reducing exposure.
Management of Guest Delight in Hotels: An Exploratory Study

Guest delight involves providing unexpected benefits along with the basic services to the guests in hotels. However, as the hotels continue to delight guests by providing delighter features along with the basic service, their expectations continue to increase. In every successive stay, they become inclined to expect the earlier delighter features. These may affect hotels’ profitability. Literature review has pointed out that reenacted and transitory delight may play an important role in the management of guest delight in hotels. The present study has attempted to explore these roles played by these two forms of delight in hotels. A survey was conducted by interviewing 500 repeat guests of 65 hotels in the 5 star deluxe, 4 star, 3 star, Heritage Grand and unclassified categories in India. This study has established the possible role of reenacted and transitory delight in management (continuation) of guest delight in hotels. Reenacted delight in hotels is connected with guests’ anticipation of similar value addition in their subsequent visits. Transitory delight in hotels is linked with guests’ expectation of changes in value addition in their consequent visits. This study has also determined certain categories of guests who could be targeted for delight through staggered delivery of pleasant surprises in order to create reenacted and transitory delights among them.
Association study of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase A1298C mutation with cerebral venous thrombosis risk in an Iranian population

Background: Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is an uncommon condition characterized by severe clinical manifestations and high mortality rate. There is limited data on the role of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) A1298C mutation as a risk factor for CVT development in Iranians. Aim: The aim was to investigate a possible association between fasting plasma homocysteine (Hcy) levels, MTHFR A1298C mutation, and CVT in Iranian population. Materials and Methods: The study population consisted of 50 patients with a diagnosis of CVT (20–63 years old) and 75 healthy subjects (18–65 years old) as control. Genotyping of the MTHFR A1298C mutation and Hcy measurement was carried out by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism technique and enzyme immunoassay method, respectively. Results: Fasting plasma total Hcy levels were significantly higher in CVT patients than controls (P = 0.015). No significant differences were observed in the MTHFR A1298C genotypes frequency between CVT patients and controls (P > 0.05). The frequency of the 1298C allele was 36% and 37.5% in CVT patients and controls, respectively and did not differ significantly between the two groups (P = 0.16). Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that MTHFR A1298Cmutation is not a significant risk factor for CVT.
Low Energy On-Line SBST of Embedded Processors

Software-based self-test (SBST) has emerged as an effective strategy for on-line testing of processors integrated in non-safety critical applications. Among the various systems that fall in the previous category, wireless sensor networks (WSN) are often deployed in harsh environments where the possibility of permanent and especially intermittent faults due to environmental hazards is significantly increased, thus on-line and in-field testing is necessary to guarantee the accuracy of the sensed values. At the same time, on-line testing of processors integrated in WSN has the extra requirement of minimum energy consumption, because these devices are operating on battery, cannot be connected to any external power supply, and the battery duration determines the lifetime of the system. In this paper we present a methodology for the optimization of SBST routines from the energy perspective. Techniques utilized for achieving energy reduction include energy aware loop synthesis, loop transformations, instruction substitution and register renaming. Simulation results show that the energy savings at processor level are up to 35.6%.
Distributive justice moderating the effects of self‐sacrificial leadership

This study examined the interactive effect of distributive justice and leader self‐sacrifice on employees' organizational commitment and autocratic leadership perceptions (ALP). We propose that positive leadership styles like self‐sacrifice will have a stronger impact on employees' attitudes and judgments when organizational outcomes are perceived and experienced as unfavorable or more negative. One such outcome that may turn out unfavorable is distributive justice. Findings indeed showed that leader self‐sacrifice positively influenced organizational commitment and negatively ALP, but only when distributive justice was low (i.e. perceptions of unfair outcomes).
Affective Intelligent Car Interfaces with Emotion Recognition

In this paper, we uncover a new potential application for multi-media technologies: affective intelligent car interfaces for enhanced driving safety. We also describe the experiment we conducted in order to map certain physiological signals (galvanic skin response, heart beat, and temperature) to certain driving-related emotions and states (Frustration/Anger, Panic/Fear, and Boredom/Sleepiness). We demonstrate the results we obtained and describe how we use these results to facilitate a more natural Human-Computer Interaction in our Multimodal Affective Car Interface for the drivers of the future cars.
Causal Relationships Between Phonics, Reading Comprehension, and Vocabulary Achievement in the Second Grade

AbstractThis study examined the causal relationships between three measures of reading achievement: phonics, reading comprehension, and vocabulary. Measures were obtained from 504 second-grade students at the beginning and end of the school year. A causal relationship was indicated if change in one of the three variables measured at the beginning of the year tended to precede change in the other variables measured at the end of the year. A cross-lagged panel analysis was used to test for such a pattern between the three variables. The findings indicate that phonics knowledge has a causal impact on both reading comprehension and vocabulary gains; reading comprehension has a causal effect on vocabulary gains. Further analysis of the data, using a path analysis model, verified these causal relationships. A second set of data obtained from 1,585 second-grade students at the beginning and end of another school year were used to examine these causal relationships once more. Path analysis findings again verified.
Hepatitis C in Methadone Maintenance Patients

Abstract Objective: This study measured the extent and examined implications of hepatitis C (HCV) infection in a methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) population. Method: Four hundred and sixty patients were tested for HCV-Ab, hepatic enzymes and bilirubin, HCV-RNA, and hepatitis B antibody. Results: Overall, 87% of this population had evidence of HCV-Ab. Among drug injectors (IDU), 96% were HCV-Ab positive. Among a subset of Laotian opium-smoking patients prevalence was only 11%. Sixty-two percent of patients with HCV-Ab had detectable HCV-RNA. Only 41% had elevated hepatic enzymes, and 5% had elevated bilirubin levels. All age groups were equally infected. Systemic problems in screening and treating HCV in drug users were identified. Conclusion: HCV infection poses significant long-term health risks for this population. Harm reduction interventions aimed at reducing transmission of HCV and other needle-related infectious disease deserves more consideration.
Outcome of regenerative therapy for age‐related vocal fold atrophy with basic fibroblast growth factor

Age‐related vocal fold atrophy has become a significant voice disorder as the elderly population grows. However, several therapeutic challenges have limited attempts to improve voice quality. We reported that basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) stimulates fibroblasts to produce extracellular matrices such as hyaluronic acid in the lamina propria, leading to a regeneration of pliable vocal folds in animal models. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of bFGF for the treatment of age‐related vocal fold atrophy.
Perverse state formation and securitized democracy in Latin America

Two key themes of this special issue are: how violence challenges democracy and how democratic politics might, over time, diminish violence. This paper explores how violence(s) embedded in Latin America's state formation process are multiplied rather than diminished through democratization, generating a securitizing logic which fundamentally distorts democratic principles. Known for its high levels of historic violence(s), Latin America today is second only to Southern Africa in levels of homicide in the world. Some see contemporary violence in the region as a rupture from the past: ‘new violence’ characterized by its urban and social nature in contrast to the rural and political nature of the past. Violence, however, has a reproductive quality, by which it is transmitted through space as well as time. This article argues that rather than reflecting a rupture with the past, violence in Latin America has merely accelerated its complex reproduction in many forms across (gendered) spaces of socialization. The paradox is that the proliferation of this violence has occurred alongside democratic transitions. Although the state is not directly responsible for all the violence which is taking place, this article argues that in many countries it is the very trajectory of the state-formation process which has facilitated this rapid reproduction of violence. I call this process ‘perverse’. Democracy is increasingly subject to the fears and insecurities of the population, enabling the state to build its authority not on the protection of citizens' rights, but on its armed encounters and insidious collusions with violent actors in the name of ‘security provision’. Categories of people become non-citizens, subjected to abuse by state, para-state and non-state violent actors. If this process continues, democracy will ultimately be securitized.
Concordance of Changes in Metabolic Pathways Based on Plasma Metabolomics and Skeletal Muscle Transcriptomics in Type 1 Diabetes

Insulin regulates many cellular processes, but the full impact of insulin deficiency on cellular functions remains to be defined. Applying a mass spectrometry–based nontargeted metabolomics approach, we report here alterations of 330 plasma metabolites representing 33 metabolic pathways during an 8-h insulin deprivation in type 1 diabetic individuals. These pathways included those known to be affected by insulin such as glucose, amino acid and lipid metabolism, Krebs cycle, and immune responses and those hitherto unknown to be altered including prostaglandin, arachidonic acid, leukotrienes, neurotransmitters, nucleotides, and anti-inflammatory responses. A significant concordance of metabolome and skeletal muscle transcriptome–based pathways supports an assumption that plasma metabolites are chemical fingerprints of cellular events. Although insulin treatment normalized plasma glucose and many other metabolites, there were 71 metabolites and 24 pathways that differed between nondiabetes and insulin-treated type 1 diabetes. Confirmation of many known pathways altered by insulin using a single blood test offers confidence in the current approach. Future research needs to be focused on newly discovered pathways affected by insulin deficiency and systemic insulin treatment to determine whether they contribute to the high morbidity and mortality in T1D despite insulin treatment.
Unintentional bugs to vulnerability mapping in Android applications

The intention of an Android application, determined by the source code analysis is used to identify potential maliciousness in that application (app). Similarly, it is possible to analyze the unintentional behaviors of an app to identify and reduce the window of vulnerabilities. Unintentional behaviors of an app can be any developmental loopholes such as software bugs overlooked by a developer or introduced by an adversary intentionally. FindBugsTM and Android Lint are a couple of tools that can detect such bugs easily. A software bug can cause many security vulnerabilities (known or unknown) and vice-versa, thus, creating a many-to-many mapping. In our approach, we construct a matrix of mapping between the bugs and the potential vulnerabilities. A software bug detection tool is used to identify a list of bugs and create an empirical list of the vulnerabilities in an app. The many-to-many mapping matrix is obtained by two approaches - severity mapping and probability mapping. These mappings can be used as tools to measure the unknown vulnerabilities and their strength. We believe our study is the first of its kind and it can enhance the security of Android apps in their development phase itself. Also, the reverse mapping matrix (vulnerabilities to bugs) could be used to improve the accuracy of malware detection in Android apps.
The faint neutron star soft X-ray transient SAX J1810.8-2609 in quiescence

We present the analysis of a 35-ksec-long Chandra observation of the neutron star soft X-ray transient (SXT) SAX J1810.8-2609. We detect three sources in the field of view. The position of one of them is consistent with the location of the ROSAT error circle of SAX J1810.8-2609. The accurate Chandra position of that source coincides with the position of the proposed optical counterpart, strengthening the identification as the counterpart. We detected the neutron star SXT system in quiescence at an unabsorbed luminosity of similar to1 x 10(32) erg s(-1) (assuming a distance of 4.9 kpc). This luminosity is at the low end of quiescent luminosities found in other neutron star SXTs. This renders support to the existence of a group of faint soft X-ray transients of which the accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658 is the most prominent member. The quiescent spectrum of SAX J1810.8-2609 is well-fitted with an absorbed power law with a photon index of 3.3 +/- 0.5. With a value of 3.3 x 10 21 cm 2, the galactic absorption is consistent with the value derived in outburst. Because the spectra of quiescent neutron star SXTs are often fitted with an absorbed blackbody or neutron star atmosphere plus power-law model, we also fitted the spectrum using those fitting functions. Both models provide a good fit to the data. If cooling of the neutron star core and/or crust is responsible for the soft part of the spectrum, the time-averaged mass accretion rate must have been very low (similar to5.7 x 10(13) M-circle dot yr(-1); assuming standard core cooling only) or the neutron star must be massive. We also discuss the possibility that the thermal spectral component in neutron stars in quiescence is produced by residual accretion.
Age Effects on Adjustments of Performance Monitoring to Task Difficulty

Performance monitoring which is a core component of the executive functions has been found to be altered in older adults. Specifically, older adults showed smaller amplitudes of the error-related negativity (Ne/ERN) but increased amplitudes of the correct-related negativity (Nc/CRN), and a lack of adjustment to stimulus-response compatibility. The present study used a visual size discrimination task with two difficulty levels to further examine age-related alterations of the adaptation to actual task demands. Older adults showed a cautious response strategy with slower but more accurate responses than younger adults. Both age groups showed post-error slowing. Misperception of errors in the difficult condition was larger in older adults. In contrast to older adults, Ne/ERN amplitudes decreased and Nc/CRN amplitudes increased from the easy to the difficult condition in younger adults. This may indicate that adjustment to task difficulty was reduced in the older age group. It is concluded that conscious perception of errors and adaptation of the automatic performance monitoring to changing task demands are affected by age.
Guidelines for reporting experiments involving animals: the ARRIVE guidelines

British Journal of Pharmacology (BJP) is pleased to publish a new set of guidelines for reporting research involving animals, simultaneously with several other journals; the ‘ARRIVE’ guidelines (Animals in Research: Reporting In Vivo Experiments). This editorial summarizes the background to the guidelines, gives our view of their significance, considers aspects of specific relevance to pharmacology, re‐states BJP's guidelines for authors on animal experiments and indicates our commitment to carrying on discussion of this important topic. We also invite feedback via the British Pharmacological Society website.
Grounded Theory Method (GTM) and the Abductive Research Strategy (ARS): a critical analysis of their differences

This paper addresses some important differences between Grounded Theory Method (GTM) and the Abductive Research Strategy (ARS). The early parts of the paper review Grounded Theory Method – both Glaser and Strauss’s (Corbin’s) Objectivist Grounded Theory Method (OGTM) and Charmaz’s Constructivist Grounded Theory Method (CGTM) – and Blaikie’s Abductive Research Strategy (ARS). It then discusses three distinctive differences between GTM (OGTM and, in particular, CGTM) and the ARS. While the first difference deals with the ontological and epistemological assumptions adopted, the second discusses the issues of scientific accounts and everyday accounts, and the third is about the problems of technical language and lay language. The aim of the paper is to reduce possible misunderstandings about the relationship between GTM, in particular, CGTM and the ARS.
Complexity Theory as a Link between Space and Place

Since the early 1970s, the notions of space and place have been located on the two sides of a barricade that divides what has been described as science's two great cultures. Space is located among the ‘hard’ sciences as a central term in the attempt of geography to transform the discipline from a descriptive into a quantitative, analytic, and thus scientific, enterprise. Place, on the other hand, is located among the ‘soft’ humanities and social philosophy oriented social sciences as an important notion in the post-1970 attempt to transform geography from a positivistic into a humanistic, structuralist, hermeneutic, critical science. More recently, the place-oriented geographies have adopted postmodern, poststructuralist, and deconstruction approaches, while the quantitative spatial geographies have been strongly influenced by theories of self-organization and complexity. In this paper I first point to, and then explore, structural similarities between complexity theories and theories oriented toward social philosophy. I then elaborate the thesis that, in consequence, complexity theories have the potential to bridge the geographies of space and place and, by implication, the two cultures of science. Finally, discuss in some detail conceptual and methodological implications.