Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Adaptive Traffic Energy-Efficient MAC Protocol for Mobile Delay-Tolerant Sensor Networks

Delay-tolerant sensor networks (DTSNs) require efficient MAC transmission strategies that include energy constraint, relaxed latency, mobility support and diverse traffic load. Reservation-based and contention-based MAC schemes are used to improve throughput and energy consumption. In this paper, we propose a traffic adaptive, energy-efficient MAC protocol to achieve better data transmissions and as energy consumption, in order to satisfy the requirements in DTSN. In our protocol, reservation and contention modes are adjustable, in order to adapt to the traffic load with a suitable duty cycle length for achieving energy efficiency. The simulation results of our protocol demonstrate better performance in terms of energy efficiency and traffic adaptability than the schedule-based MAC protocol TDMA, the contention-based protocol CSMA, and the traffic adaptive protocol TRAMA under mobile DTSN environments.
Service Orchestration for Collaboration Patterns

This article describes a structuring of groupware services that allows end users to orchestrate the provided services in order to match their collaboration patterns. Our approach is based on the notion that different forms of collaboration require different combinations of groupware services, and that these provided services are the most important aspect of a groupware system for its users. Based on an analysis of a series of high-level collaboration patterns from the healthcare domain we illustrate where flexibility in groupware service design is needed. The resulting structuring has been evaluated by experts using scenarios and has been implemented in a proof-of-concept demonstrator.
Solving Large Scale Linear SVM with Distributed Block Minimization

Over recent years we have seen the appearance of huge datasets that do not fit into memory and do not even fit on the hard disk of a single computer. Moreover, even when processed on a cluster of machines, data are usually stored in a distributed way. The transfer of significant subsets of such datasets from one node to another is very slow. We present a new algorithm for training linear Support Vector Machines over such large datasets. Our algorithm assumes that the dataset is partitioned over several nodes on a cluster and performs a distributed block minimization along with the subsequent line search. The communication complexity of our algorithm is independent of the number of training examples. With our Map-Reduce/Hadoop implementation of this algorithm the accurate training of SVM over the datasets of tens of millions of examples takes less than 11 minutes.
Ultra-Low Temperature Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Because NMR spectroscopy requests more sensitivity and more resolution, high-frequency and high-power microwave irradiation of electron spins in a magnetic field, Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) is becoming a common partner for fast sample spinning NMR experiments. Currently, this technics is performed at minimum sample temperatures ∼100 K, using cold nitrogen gas to pneumatically spin and cool the sample. The desire is to improve NMR by providing ultra-low temperatures, using cryogenic helium gas. It is shown that stable and fast spinning can be attained for sample temperatures down to 30 K using a cryostat developed in our laboratory. Using this cryostat to cool a closed-loop of helium gas results in spinning frequencies that can greatly surpass those achievable with nitrogen gas. It results in substantial sensitivity enhancements (∼ 600) and according experimental time-savings by 2 to 4 orders of magnitude. Therefore, access to this temperature range is demonstrated to be both viable and highly pertinent.
Proactive, Reactive, and Interactive Risk Assessment and Management of URET Implementation in Air Route Traffic Control Centers

The current trend within air traffic management (ATM), as a part of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), is to increase the airspace system capacity to operate in diminishing capacity conditions while improving standards of safety. An extensive body of research exists regarding introducing automation into air traffic control in order to create more flexible and cost-efficient operations. The User Request Evaluation Tool (URET) is a strategic support tool designed to assist controllers with timely detection of conflicts; it offers tools for checking the conflict resolution clearances. This study develops general proactive, reactive, and interactive approaches for the risk assessment and management of the system in order to achieve quality (safety and serviceability) and reliability; it also presents a case study of URET implementation in Air Route Traffic Control Centers in the past ten years. First, the reactive approach, used in URET deployment, is developed, followed by developing the complementary and necessary proactive and interactive approaches. Safety Management and Assessment (SMAS) evaluation is performed for the reactive approach. Findings show that many factors led to cases of URET usage deviating from that provided for in the original design, and for using URET less often than it was originally intended.
Influence of CSI Estimation Error and Feedback Delay on Throughput of Layered Partially Non-Orthogonal Block Diagonalization with Adaptive Interference Admission Control for BS Cooperative MU-MIMO

This paper investigates the influence of channel state information (CSI) error at the transmitter on the achievable throughput of our previously reported layered partially non-orthogonal block diagonalization (BD) precoding method with adaptive interference admission control (AIAC) for downlink multiuser (MU) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission employing multiple base station (BS) cooperation. The impacts of the CSI estimation error at the user terminal and feedback delay are separately examined and they are compared to conventional approaches. Computer simulation results reveal that the layered BD with AIAC is more robust against CSI error at the transmitter than full BD with full CSI feedback, which implies the effectiveness of the layered BD with AIAC method in practice.
Question-Answer Driven Semantic Role Labeling: Using Natural Language to Annotate Natural Language

This paper introduces the task of questionanswer driven semantic role labeling (QA-SRL), where question-answer pairs are used to represent predicate-argument structure. For example, the verb “introduce” in the previous sentence would be labeled with the questions “What is introduced? ”, and “What introduces something? ”, each paired with the phrase from the sentence that gives the correct answer. Posing the problem this way allows the questions themselves to define the set of possible roles, without the need for predefined frame or thematic role ontologies. It also allows for scalable data collection by annotators with very little training and no linguistic expertise. We gather data in two domains, newswire text and Wikipedia articles, and introduce simple classifierbased models for predicting which questions to ask and what their answers should be. Our results show that non-expert annotators can produce high quality QA-SRL data, and also establish baseline performance levels for future work on this task.
The Duplicated B-Class Heterodimer Model: Whorl-Specific Effects and Complex Genetic Interactions in Petunia hybrida Flower Development

In both Antirrhinum (Antirrhinum majus) and Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), the floral B-function, which specifies petal and stamen development, is embedded in a heterodimer consisting of one DEFICIENS (DEF)/APETALA3 (AP3)-like and one GLOBOSA (GLO)/PISTILLATA (PI)-like MADS box protein. Here, we demonstrate that gene duplications in both the DEF/AP3 and GLO/PI lineages in Petunia hybrida (petunia) have led to a functional diversification of their respective members, which is reflected by partner specificity and whorl-specific functions among these proteins. Previously, it has been shown that mutations in PhDEF (formerly known as GREEN PETALS) only affect petal development. We have isolated insertion alleles for PhGLO1 (FLORAL BINDING PROTEIN1) and PhGLO2 (PETUNIA MADS BOX GENE2) and demonstrate unique and redundant properties of PhDEF, PhGLO1, and PhGLO2. Besides a full homeotic conversion of petals to sepals and of stamens to carpels as observed in phglo1 phglo2 and phdef phglo2 flowers, we found that gene dosage effects for several mutant combinations cause qualitative and quantitative changes in whorl 2 and 3 meristem fate, and we show that the PHDEF/PHGLO1 heterodimer controls the fusion of the stamen filaments with the petal tube. Nevertheless, when the activity of PhDEF, PhGLO1, and PhGLO2 are considered jointly, they basically appear to function as DEF/GLO does in Antirrhinum and to a lesser extent as AP3/PI in Arabidopsis. By contrast, our data suggest that the function of the fourth B-class MADS box member, the paleoAP3-type PETUNIA HYBRIDA TM6 (PhTM6) gene, differs significantly from the known euAP3-type DEF/AP3-like proteins; PhTM6 is mainly expressed in the developing stamens and ovary of wild-type flowers, whereas its expression level is upregulated in whorls 1 and 2 of an A-function floral mutant; PhTM6 is most likely not involved in petal development. The latter is consistent with the hypothesis that the evolutionary origin of the higher eudicot petal structure coincided with the appearance of the euAP3-type MADS box genes.
Thermal Creep Force: Analysis And Application

Abstract : The existence of two motive forces on a Crookes radiometer has complicated the investigation of either force independently. The thermal creep shear force, in particular, has been subject to differing interpretations of the direction in which it acts and its order of magnitude. A horizontal vane radiometer design is provided, which isolates the thermal creep shear force. The horizontal vane radiometer is explored through experiment, kinetic theory, and the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. The qualitative agreement between the three methods of investigation is good. The quantitative agreement between the three methods of investigation is better than an order of magnitude in the cases examined. The thermal creep force is found to act from the hot side to the cold side of the vane. The peak in the radiometer's angular speed as a function of pressure is found to be explained as much by the behavior of the drag force as by the behavior of the thermal creep force. In addition, this dissertation provides scaling laws between millimeter-scale and micron-scale horizontal vane radiometers, a design of a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) horizontal vane radiometer, and conceptual designs of two MEMS energy harvesting devices that exploit the thermal creep force.
A concurrent, generational garbage collector for a multithreaded implementation of ML

This paper presents the design and implementation of a “quasi real-time” garbage collector for Concurrent Caml Light, an implementation of ML with threads. This two-generation system combines a fast, asynchronous copying collector on the young generation with a non-disruptive concurrent marking collector on the old generation. This design crucially relies on the ML compile-time distinction between mutable and immutable objects.
Cross-Layer Aware Routing Protocol for Hybrid Wireless Mesh Networks

Route selection in hybrid wireless mesh networks (WMNs) that contain mobile mesh clients with constrained energy is a critical research challenge. Existing routing protocols take the advantages of backbone mesh routing protocols but lack of consideration of the characteristics of clients. Most of these protocols capture interference and traffic load, but lack of considering the effect of mobility and energy constraints of clients. In this paper, we propose a Cross-Layer Aware (CLA) routing protocol, which is based on comprehensively considering characteristics of mesh routers and mesh clients for gateway traffic in hybrid WMNs. In CLA, we propose a new routing metric jointly considering four parameters in a cross-layer design: the MAC layer channel condition, the routing layer path length, the application layer mobility and constrained energy of clients. These parameters can capture the interference, traffic load, stability and energy efficiency, so as to select an optimum route. In addition, we develop a constrained forwarding mechanism to reduce flooding overhead by limiting the forwarding number of clients in CLA, which can reduce the energy consumption wasted in overhead. Simulation results show that the proposed CLA protocol can effectively improve the whole network performance. Index Terms—Hybrid WMNs, routing protocol, cross-layer aware, constrained forwarding
Critical Appraisal and Hazards of Surface Electromyography Data Acquisition in Sport and Exercise

The aim of this critical appraisal and hazards of surface electromyography (SEMG) is to enhance the data acquisition quality in voluntary but complex movements, sport and exercise in particular. The methodological and technical registration strategies deal with telemetry and online data acquisition, the placement of the detection electrodes and the choice of the most adequate normalization mode. Findings compared with the literature suggest detection quality differences between registration methods and between water and air data acquisition allowing for output differences up to 30% between registration methods and up to 25% decrease in water, considering identical measures in air and in water. Various hazards deal with erroneous choices of muscles or electrode placement and the continuous confusion created by static normalization for dynamic motion. Peak dynamic intensities ranged from 111% (in archery) to 283% (in giant slalom) of a static 100% reference. In addition, the linear relationship between integrated EMG (IEMG) as a reference for muscle intensity and muscle force is not likely to exist in dynamic conditions since it is muscle – joint angle – and fatigue dependent. Contrary to expectations, the literature shows 30% of non linear relations in isometric conditions also. SEMG in sport and exercise is highly variable and different from clinical (e.g. neurological) EMG. Choices of electrodes, registration methods, muscles, joint angles and normalization techniques may lead to confusing and erroneous or incomparable results.
The Use of the Ligament Augmentation and Reconstruction System (LARS) in Clinical Practice

Tendons and ligaments injuries have become more and more common due to the increase of the general populations interest in sports and physical activities. Beginning with the 1970s many researchers have tried to reconstruct the torn ligaments and tendons, at first using products such as Polyflex and Proplast ligaments, with poor results. In recent years the use LARS ligament has been researched. The Ligament Augmentation and Reconstruction System, now at its 3rd generation, is an artificial ligament made out of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) that over time allows tissue ingrowth, recreating the natural orientation of anatomical ligament and tendon fibers.
Technical Notes on Endoscopic Transnasal Transsphenoidal Approach for Clival Chondrosarcoma

Although there are various operative approaches for clival tumors, a transsphenoidal approach is one of choices when the main tumor extention is in an anterior-posterior direction with a slight lateral extension. However, this approach sometimes provides only narrow and deep operative field. Recently, endoscopic transnasal transsphenoidal approach is quite an effective approach for clival tumors because of the improvement of surgical instruments, image guidance systems, and techniques and materials of wound closure. In this paper, we describe the effectiveness, technical problems, and solution of this approach based on our experiences with two clival chondrosarcomas that was removed by endoscopic transnasal transsphenoidal approach.
Characterization of some archaeological ceramics and clay samples from Zamala - Far-northern part of Cameroon (West Central Africa)

Seventeen ceramics samples (515±95 BP, about 580 years old) and two clay raw materials from Zamala (Far-northern, Cameroon) were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal analysis (DTA/TG) and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. The aim of the work was the deduction of the production technology and provenance of these ceramics. With the exception of one sample the analysed ceramics formed a homogeneous chemical and mineralogical group. The observed mineralogical phases were quartz, mica (biotite), potassium feldspar (microcline) and plagioclase (albite and oligoclase). The XRD study of two local clays yielded the presence of quartz, kaolinite, mica, feldspar and plagioclase. The presence of the broad endothermic peak in the DTA/TG curves of the clays and its absence in the curves of the ceramics indicated that the firing temperature of the ceramics was above 550-600 °C, which is the temperature of the kaolinite-metakaolinite transformation. The firing experiments of the clay between 400-1200 °C in oxidizing atmosphere showed that mica disappeared above 900 °C. Therefore, the firing temperature of the sherds should have been between 600-900 °C. The chemical correlation between ceramics and local clay materials pointed out to a local production of these ceramics.
Target sensing for cognitive radios

Since spectrum sensing provides the foundation of a cognitive radio system, it has to be highly reliable. Most often, the bandwidth of the underlying sensor is much smaller than the bandwidth of interest. Conventional swept sensing methods can easily miss primary user systems with either relatively low duty cycles or fast hopping. A traditional way to improve the detection probability in such situations is to sense and average over an appropriate time interval, but obviously at the expense of precious system resources. We suggest to use predictive modeling of the radio environment and sense only those spectral areas, which are expected to be occupied by a primary system. We name this novel algorithm ‘target sensing’ as the sensing approach is adapted to the target of interest. In this contribution, we discuss different challenges and issues involved with target sensing. Moreover, we compare its performance with conventional sensing methods. We can state that target sensing performs significantly better, especially when small sensing bandwidth platforms are used.
The Role of the Board in Firm Strategy: Integrating Agency and Organisational Control Perspectives

The role of the board of directors in firm strategy has long been the subject of debate. However, research efforts have suffered from several deficiencies: the lack of an overarching theoretical perspective, reliance on proxies for the strategy role rather than a direct measure of it and the lack of quantitative data linking this role to firm financial performance. We propose a new theoretical perspective to explain the board’s role in strategy, integrating organisational control and agency theories. We categorise a board’s approach to strategy according to two constructs: strategic control and financial control. The extent to which either construct is favoured depends on contextual factors such as board power, environmental uncertainty and information asymmetry.
GRAPHS WHOSE MINIMAL RANK IS TWO

Let F be a field, G =( V, E) be an undirected graph on n vertices, and let S(F, G) be the set of all symmetric n × n matrices whose nonzero off-diagonal entries occur in exactly the positions corresponding to the edges of G. For example, if G is a path, S(F, G )co nsists of the symmetric irreducible tridiagonal matrices. Let mr(F, G) be the minimum rank over all matrices in S(F, G). Then mr(F, G) = 1 if and only if G is the union of a clique with at least 2 vertices and an independent set. If F is an infinite field such that charF � , then mr(F, G) ≤ 2i f and only if the complement of G is the join of a clique and a graph that is the union of at most two cliques and any number of complete bipartite graphs. A similar result is obtained in the case that F is an infinite field with char F = 2. Furthermore, in each case, such graphs are characterized as those for which 6 specific graphs do not occur as induced subgraphs. The number of forbidden subgraphs is reduced to 4 if the graph is connected. Finally, similar criteria is obtained for the minimum rank of a Hermitian matrix to be less than or equal to two. The complement is the join of a clique and a graph that is the union of any number of cliques and any number of complete bipartite graphs. The number of forbidden subgraphs is now 5, or in the connected case, 3.
Calcium-activated chloride channels in the apical region of mouse vomeronasal sensory neurons

The rodent vomeronasal organ plays a crucial role in several social behaviors. Detection of pheromones or other emitted signaling molecules occurs in the dendritic microvilli of vomeronasal sensory neurons, where the binding of molecules to vomeronasal receptors leads to the influx of sodium and calcium ions mainly through the transient receptor potential canonical 2 (TRPC2) channel. To investigate the physiological role played by the increase in intracellular calcium concentration in the apical region of these neurons, we produced localized, rapid, and reproducible increases in calcium concentration with flash photolysis of caged calcium and measured calcium-activated currents with the whole cell voltage-clamp technique. On average, a large inward calcium-activated current of −261 pA was measured at −50 mV, rising with a time constant of 13 ms. Ion substitution experiments showed that this current is anion selective. Moreover, the chloride channel blockers niflumic acid and 4,4′-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2′-disulfonic acid partially inhibited the calcium-activated current. These results directly demonstrate that a large chloride current can be activated by calcium in the apical region of mouse vomeronasal sensory neurons. Furthermore, we showed by immunohistochemistry that the calcium-activated chloride channels TMEM16A/anoctamin1 and TMEM16B/anoctamin2 are present in the apical layer of the vomeronasal epithelium, where they largely colocalize with the TRPC2 transduction channel. Immunocytochemistry on isolated vomeronasal sensory neurons showed that TMEM16A and TMEM16B coexpress in the neuronal microvilli. Therefore, we conclude that microvilli of mouse vomeronasal sensory neurons have a high density of calcium-activated chloride channels that may play an important role in vomeronasal transduction.
On the prediction of unconfined compressive strength of silty soil stabilized with bottom ash, jute and steel fibers via artificial intelligence

The determination of the mixture parameters of stabilization has become a great concern in geotechnical applications. This paper presents an effort about the application of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques including radial basis neural network (RBNN), multi-layer perceptrons (MLP), generalized regression neural network (GRNN) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) in order to predict the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of silty soil stabilized with bottom ash (BA), jute fiber (JF) and steel fiber (SF) under different freeze-thaw cycles (FTC). The dosages of the stabilizers and number of freeze-thaw cycles were employed as input (predictor) variables and the UCS values as output variable. For understanding the dominant parameter of the predictor variables on the UCS of stabilized soil, a sensitivity analysis has also been performed. The performance measures of root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE) and determination coefficient (R2) were used for the evaluations of the prediction accuracy and applicability of the employed models. The results indicate that the predictions due to all AI techniques employed are significantly correlated with the measured UCS (p