Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Single gossiping with directional flooding routing protocol in wireless sensor networks

The traditional routing scheme, flooding, uses straightforward broadcasting to deliver data packets to the destination. This property not only wastes energy but also causes broadcast storms degrading the throughput. In order to solve the problem of heavy packet overhead, the flossiping routing protocol was proposed. Although the flossiping reduces the amount of packets, it suffers longer delay. We propose the single gossiping with directional flooding routing protocol. The gradient concept is added to the design of this scheme to make packet delivery directional. Under the restrictions of sensor networks, the scheme requires only the most basic functions and reasonable resources to achieve packet delivery. It improves on both the heavy overhead and long delay time encountered in the flooding and flossiping schemes.
Tropical origins of North and South Pacific decadal variability

The origin of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), the leading mode of sea surface temperature variability for the North Pacific, is a matter of considerable debate. One paradigm views the PDO as an independent mode centered in the North Pacific, while another regards it as a largely reddened response to El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) forcing from the tropics. We calculate the Southern Hemisphere equivalent of the PDO index based on the leading mode of sea surface temperature variability for the South Pacific and find that it adequately explains the spatial structure of the PDO in the North Pacific. A first‐order autoregressive model forced by ENSO is used to reproduce the observed PDO indices in the North and South Pacific. These results highlight the strong similarity in Pacific decadal variability on either side of the equator and suggest it may best be viewed as a reddened response to ENSO.
Soft segment free thermoplastic polyester elastomers with high performance

A soft segment free thermoplastic polyester elastomer is fabricated by controlling the stereochemical structure of molecular chains with the utilization of the cis 1,4-cyclohexylene ring moiety (cis-CHRM) in poly(butylene 1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylate) (PBC). PBC with 71% cis-CHRM exhibits good elasticity with shape recovery rates of 64% at 200% strain and 92% at break, tensile modulus, strength and elongation at break at 111 and 18 MPa and 1230%, respectively.
Approximate Bayesian multibody tracking

Visual tracking of multiple targets is a challenging problem, especially when efficiency is an issue. Occlusions, if not properly handled, are a major source of failure. Solutions supporting principled occlusion reasoning have been proposed but are yet unpractical for online applications. This paper presents a new solution which effectively manages the trade-off between reliable modeling and computational efficiency. The hybrid joint-separable (HJS) filter is derived from a joint Bayesian formulation of the problem, and shown to be efficient while optimal in terms of compact belief representation. Computational efficiency is achieved by employing a Markov random field approximation to joint dynamics and an incremental algorithm for posterior update with an appearance likelihood that implements a physically-based model of the occlusion process. A particle filter implementation is proposed which achieves accurate tracking during partial occlusions, while in cases of complete occlusion, tracking hypotheses are bound to estimated occlusion volumes. Experiments show that the proposed algorithm is efficient, robust, and able to resolve long-term occlusions between targets with identical appearance
Bidder Discounts and Target Premia in Takeovers

When a takeover is announced, the sum of the stock-market values of the firms involved often falls, and the value of the acquirer almost always does. Does this mean that takeovers do not raise the values of the firms involved? Not necessarily. We set up a model in which the equilibrium number of takeovers is constrained efficient. Yet, upon news of a takeover, a target's price rises, the bidder's price falls, and, most of the time the joint value of the target and acquirer also falls.
A Novel Layered DVC Structure for Wireless Surveillance System

In wireless surveillance system, simple video capture devices and confining transmission environment may limit the computational complexity and bandwidth. As the distributed video coding (DVC) structure can shift the complexity from the encoder to the decoder, we apply the DVC structure to the wireless surveillance system. Furthermore, because the moving objects are the focus of most concern, we propose a layered structure for DVC which concentrates the computation and bandwidth resources on the region of interest (ROI). We also propose a ROI detection scheme and a novel side information generation algorithm for this structure. The experimental results show that it can significantly improve the rate distortion (RD) performance for the surveillance video sequences.
The effects of query structure and dictionary setups in dictionary-based cross-language information retrieval

In this study, the effects of query structure and various setups of translation dictionaries on the performance of cross-language information retrieval (CLIR) were tested. The document collection was a subset of the TREC collection, and as test requests the study used TREC's health related topics. The test system was the INQUERY retrieval system. The performance of translated Finnish queries against English documents was compared to the performance of original English queries against English documents. Four natural language query types and three query translation methods, using a general dictionary and a domain specific (= medical) dictionary, were studied. There was only a slight difference in performance between the original English queries and the best crosslanguage queries, i.e., structured queries with medical dictionary and general dictionary translation. The structuring of queries was done on the basis of the output of dictionaries.
Improving iris segmentation by specular reflections removable

Iris segmentation is one of the most important steps in iris recognition system and determines the accuracy of matching. This paper proposes a new specular reflection removable method for accurate iris segmentation of in iris. The procedure includes two steps: sepcular reflection detection and image inpainting. Experimental results show that the technique has a good performance, which improve the accuracy on iris segmentation.
Threat, Intimidation, and Student Financial Market Knowledge: An Empirical Study

Threat emanating from financial markets may intimidate college students to some degree. In this article, the authors considered the influence of such intimidation on student financial market knowledge. They hypothesized a negative relationship between intimidation and market knowledge. An empirical study of over 150 undergraduate business school students at a regional university supported the hypothesized relationship. The authors found that introducing venues that permit experiential learning into college programs, perhaps assisted by Web-based technologies, may counter the effects of market intimidation on financial education.
Scalable Routing Strategies for Multi-Hop Ad-hoc Wireless Network

In this paper we consider a large population of mobile stations which are interconnected by a multihop wireless net. The applications of this wireless infrastructure range from ad hoc networking (eg, collaborative, distributed computing) to disaster recovery ((re, ood, earthquake), law enforcement (eg, crowd control), search and rescue and battleeeld. Key characteristics of this system are the large number of users, their mobility and the ability to operate without the support of a xed (wired or wireless) infrastructure. The last feature sets this system apart from existing cellular systems and in fact makes its design much more challenging. In this environment, we investigate routing strategies which scale well to large number and can handle mobility. In addition to large number and mobility, we address also the need to support multimedia communications, with low latency requirements for interactive traac and QoS support for real time streams (voice/video). In the wireless routing area, several schemes have already been proposed and implemented (eg, hierarchical routing, on-demand routing etc). We discuss the pro's and con's of the existing schemes, and introduce two new schemes-Fish-eye state routing (FSR) and Hierarchical State Routing (HSR)-which ooer some competitive advantages over the existing schemes. We compare the performance of existing and proposed schemes via simulation.
Optimizing Matrix Mapping with Data Dependent Kernel for Image Classification

Kernel based nonlinear feature extraction is feasible to extract the feature of image for classi(cid:12)cation.The current kernel-based method endures two problems: 1) kernel-based method is to use the data vector through transforming the image matrix into vector, which will cause the store and computing burden; 2) the parameter of kernel function has the heavy in(cid:13)uences on kernel based learning method. In order to solve the two problems, we present the method of optimizing matrix mapping with data dependent kernel for feature extraction of the image for classi(cid:12)cation. The method implements the algorithm without transforming the matrix to vector, and it adaptively optimizes the parameter of kernel for nonlinear mapping. The comprehensive experiments are implemented evaluate the performance of the algorithms.
Contingent Valuation Methodology : An economic assessment or a political measure ? An empirical investigation of Sagoff ’ s hypothesis

Many mainstream neo-classical economists interpret responses to Contingent Valuation (CV) methodologies as being an unbiased estimate of economic and personal preferences regarding an environmental change. Sagoff offers an alternative interpretation, claiming that environmental assessments primarily reflect citizen not personal concerns. The current study assesses Sagoff’s assumptions and the neo-classical assumptions by outlining an economic behavioural model and a citizen behavioural model. These behaviour models then are examined using a probit-based structural equation modelling procedure that is able to investigate a complicated set of relationships between the variables. Of particular interest is whether a measure of the tendency to engage in political action mediates the relationship between independent variables and the tendency to offer a positive Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) bid. The models were investigated using a sample of 385 UK residents who participated in a CV study which requested a one-off payment to a trust fund established specifically for a wetland recreation project. The relationship between environmental ethic and WTP bidding behaviour was fully mediated by the political action measure, which suggests that these participants were primarily motivated by citizen motives. The relationship between education category, residential location and environmental beliefs was partially mediated, suggesting these variables have a political and non-political influence on WTP bidding behaviour. Age category only had a direct influence on WTP bidding behaviour. It is concluded that motives underlying CV responses are complicated, reflecting both citizen and personal motives. The implications for practitioner’s measuring environmental values are discussed.
Comparison of Various Encryption Algorithms and Techniques for Secured Data Communication in Multinode Network

For a secured system it has been desired to make the combination of data and keys secured. One can hack the data by knowing the information about the radiations of a machine, key length, encryption time, number of stations and block size. Few algorithms creates dummy file which has been generated along with the encrypted data in order to misguide the hacker and acts as overheads. Short length keys are normally exposed to the hacker very easily that‟s why large key lengths have been preferred. For the encryption and transmission of data in Multinode Network (MN) various techniques are used. This paper covers the various techniques and algorithms used for the data security in MN.
Reduced-Load Equivalence and Induced Burstiness in GPS Queues with Long-Tailed Traffic Flows

We analyze the queueing behavior of long-tailed traffic flows under the Generalized Processor Sharing (GPS) discipline. We show a sharp dichotomy in qualitative behavior, depending on the relative values of the weight parameters. For certain weight combinations, an individual flow with long-tailed traffic characteristics is effectively served at a constant rate. The effective service rate may be interpreted as the maximum average traffic rate for the flow to be stable, which is only influenced by the traffic characteristics of the other flows through their average rates. In particular, the flow is essentially immune from excessive activity of flows with ‘heavier’-tailed traffic characteristics. In many situations, the effective service rate is simply the link rate reduced by the aggregate average rate of the other flows. This confirms that GPS-based scheduling algorithms provide a potential mechanism for extracting significant multiplexing gains, while isolating individual flows. For other weight combinations however, a flow may be strongly affected by the activity of ‘heavier’-tailed flows, and may inherit their traffic characteristics, causing induced burstiness. The stark contrast in qualitative behavior illustrates the crucial importance of the weight parameters.
Is there a stratospheric fountain

The impact of convection on the thermal structure of the Tropical Tropopause Layer (TTL) was investigated from a series of four daily radiosonde ascents and weather S-band radar observations carried out during the HIBISCUS campaign in the South Atlantic Convergence Zone in Southeast Brazil in February 2004. The temperature profiles display a large impact of convective activity on the thermal structure of the TTL. Compared to non-active periods, convection is observed to result in a cooling of 4.5°C to 7.5°C at the Lapse Rate Tropopause at 16 km, propagating up to 19 km or 440 K potential temperature levels in the stratosphere in most intense convective cases. Consistent with the diurnal cycle of echo top heights seen by a S-band weather radar, a systematic temperature diurnal cycle is observed in the layer, displaying a rapid cooling of 3.5°C on average (–9°, –2°C extremes) during the development phase of convection in the early afternoon during the most active period. Since the cooling occurs during daytime within a timescale of 6-h, its maximum amplitude is at the altitude of the Cold Point Tropopause at 390 K and temperature fluctuations associated to gravity waves do not display significant diurnal change, the afternoon cooling of the TTL cannot be attributed to radiation, advection, gravity waves or adiabatic lofting. It implies a fast insertion of adiabatically cooled air parcels by overshooting turrets followed by mixing with the warmer environment. During most intense convective days, the overshoot is shown to penetrate the stratosphere up to 450 K potential temperature level. Such fast updraft offers an explanation for the presence of ice crystals, and enhanced water vapour layers observed up to 18–19 km (410–430 K) in the same area by the HIBISCUS balloons and the TROCCINOX Geophysica aircraft, as well as high tropospheric chemical species concentrations in the TTL over land observed from space. Overall, injection of cold air by irreversible mixing of convective overshoots as proposed by Danielsen (1982) do not appear as episodic isolated features, but common and systematic events over a land convective area, that is a Stratospheric Fountain. Though the two-stages process proposed by Sherwood (2000) may also be operative, it offers a mechanism for producing the chemical, moisture and thermal properties observed in the stratosphere. The consistency between convective cooling of the TTL and weather radar echoes heights observed during the summer over South-East Brazil and the TRMM radar OPFs and LIS lightning events maximum frequencies, the latter showing also maximum events over Africa, South-East Asia, the Indonesian Islands and Northern Australia depending on the season (Liu and Zipser, 2005), suggests the existence of several "Stratospheric Fountains" over continents instead of the oceanic area of Micronesia as proposed by Newell and Gould-Stewart (1982), which appears a region of little overshoot.
PTL: PCM Translation Layer

PCM (Phase Change Memory) has been used as NOR flash replacement in embedded systems, and poses interesting system-level challenges for transparent exploitation of these memory structures by embedded systems software. We propose such a system-level transparent framework, called PTL (PCM Translation Layer), to efficiently manage PCM. PTL's translation layer conceals the physical constraints of the PCM architecture so that embedded systems software can use PCMs in a transparent manner, while efficiently exploiting the idiosyncrasies of the PCM architecture. We study the requirements for transparently managing PCM in embedded systems, and propose the system architecture of PTL. As a case study, we propose a simple yet effective wear leaveling technique by exploiting application-specific features in embedded systems. The experimental results show that our wear leveling technique can effectively improve the lifetime of PCM chips compared with the previous work. We expect this work can serve as a first step towards the full exploration of PCM in embedded systems.
Radio Variability of the Sagittarius $ {\rm A^*}$ due to an Orbiting Star

Recently, unprecedentedly accurate data on the orbital motion of stars in the vicinity of the Sagittarius $ {\rm A^*}$ have been available. Such information can be used not only to constrain the mass of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) in the Galactic center but also to study the source of the radio emission. Two major competing explanations of the radio spectrum of the Sagittarius $ {\rm A^*}$ are based on two different models, that is, hot accretion disk and jet. Hence, independent observational constraints are required to resolve related issues. We explore the possibility of using the observational data of the star S2, currently closest to the Galactic center, to distinguish physical models for the radio emission of the Sagittarius $ {\rm A^*}$, by applying the stellar cooling model to the Sagittarius $ {\rm A^*}$ with the orbital parameters derived from the observation. The relative difference in the electron temperature due to the stellar cooling from the star S2 at the pericenter is a few parts of a thousand and the consequent relative radio luminosity difference is order of $10^{-4}$. Therefore, one could possibly expect to observe the radio flux variation with a periodic or quasi-periodic modulation in the frequency range at $\nu \la {\rm 100 MHz}$ if the radiatively inefficient hot accretion flows are indeed responsible for the radio emission, contrary to the case of a jet. According to our findings, even though no periodic radio flux variations have been reported up to date a radiatively inefficient hot accretion disk model cannot be conclusively ruled out.
Seeing red; the development of pON.mCherry, a broad-host range constitutive expression plasmid for Gram-negative bacteria

The development of plasmid-mediated gene expression control in bacteria revolutionized the field of bacteriology. Many of these expression control systems rely on the addition of small molecules, generally metabolites or non-metabolized analogs thereof, to the growth medium to induce expression of the genes of interest. The paradigmatic example of an expression control system is the lac system from Escherichia coli, which typically relies on the Ptac promoter and the Lac repressor, LacI. In many cases, however, constitutive gene expression is desired, and other experimental approaches require the coordinated control of multiple genes. While multiple systems have been developed for use in E. coli and its close relatives, the utility and/or functionality of these tools does not always translate to other species. For example, for the Gram-negative pathogen, Legionella pneumophila, a causative agent of Legionnaires’ Disease, the aforementioned Ptac system represents the only well-established expression control system. In order to enhance the tools available to study bacterial gene expression in L. pneumophila, we developed a plasmid, pON.mCherry, which confers constitutive gene expression from a mutagenized LacI binding site. We demonstrate that pON.mCherry neither interferes with other plasmids harboring an intact LacI-Ptac expression system nor alters the growth of Legionella species during intracellular growth. Furthermore, the broad-host range plasmid backbone of pON.mCherry allows constitutive gene expression in a wide variety of Gram-negative bacterial species, making pON.mCherry a useful tool for the greater research community.
Problem solving in neurological physiotherapy – setting the scene

A therapist using a problem-solving approach to the management of neurological patients prior to the 1940s may have asked: How can I train the person to use their unaffected body parts to compensate for the affected parts, and how can I prevent deformity? The result was a strong emphasis on orthopaedic intervention with various types of splints, strengthening exercises and surgical intervention. However, in the 1940s several other ideas emerged, the most popular being the Bobath approach. Bobath (1985) with others, such as Peto (Forrai 1999), Kabat & Knott (1954), Voss (1967) and Rood (1954), pioneered the neurological approach to these disorders, recognising that patients with neurological impairment, in particular stroke patients, had potential for functional recovery of their affected body parts. For the child with a neurodevelopmental disorder, the approach was based on the idea that each child’s development could be guided by the therapist, to maximise their potential for functional independence and minimise contractures and deformities. While the Bobath approach is one of the most used and accepted in the UK, little has been written about it in recent years, and there is no robust evidence for its efficacy (Davidson & Waters 2000). In the last few years there has been a further progression in the neurorehabilitation field, with increasing interest in different models of central nervous system (CNS) function, skill acquisition and training. For example, for some therapists, the emphasis for retraining of the neurologically CHAPTER CONTENTS
Static property checking using ATPG vs. BDD techniques

Static property checking verifies pre-defined functional design rules such as "bus contention", "racing condition"; and "don't-care case". A static property checker typically uses formal verification techniques to prove the property under verification. If the property is proven false, a counter-example is generated for debugging the design. Among the different static property checking approaches, ATPG-based and BDD-based are the most powerful and successful ones. We implement both approaches with several optimization techniques on the same framework to compare their performance. The experimental results on industrial designs show that these two approaches have different strength and weakness in proving the static properties. Furthermore, the results indicate that they often complement each other and therefore a hybrid approach may result in better performance. We propose a static property checker based on combined ATPG and BDD techniques. The experimental results show that this combined approach can prove all the static properties in the test cases while still maintaining comparable performance.