Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluating QUIC Performance Over Web, Cloud Storage, and Video Workloads

QUIC was launched in 2013 with a goal to provide reliable, connection-oriented and end-to-end encrypted transport and is recently standardized in May 2021 by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). This work evaluates QUIC performance over the web, cloud storage, and video workloads and compares them to traditional TLS/TCP. To this end, we have designed tests (<monospace>quic_perf</monospace>, <monospace>tls_perf</monospace> and <monospace>video</monospace>) and conducted measurements from 2018 – 2021 using multiple vantage points: an educational network, a high-bandwidth low-RTT residential link in Germany and a low-bandwidth high-RTT residential link in India. We target Alexa Top-1M for web workloads and probe them towards the support for QUIC, TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3. By measuring <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\lt 5.7$ </tex-math></inline-formula>K websites that support QUIC, we observe that QUIC has up to <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\approx 140$ </tex-math></inline-formula>% lower mean connection times than TLS 1.2/1.3 over TCP for low-bandwidth and high-RTT networks. When comparing different versions of QUIC, we observe that IETF QUIC connection times are slightly better than different versions (<monospace>Q050</monospace>, <monospace>Q046</monospace>, <monospace>Q044</monospace>, <monospace>Q043</monospace>, <monospace>Q039</monospace> and <monospace>Q035</monospace>) of gQUIC. For cloud storage workloads, we observe that TLS 1.2 over TCP exhibits higher throughput for larger file sizes (>20 MB up to 2 GB), while QUIC exhibits higher throughput for smaller file sizes (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\leq 20$ </tex-math></inline-formula> MB) while downloading files from Google Drive. At the same time, QUIC has much higher CPU utilization than TLS 1.2 over TCP, almost double while downloading a large file (200 MB) from Google Drive due to in-kernel optimizations that benefit TCP. For video workloads, we observe that QUIC is 534 ms faster than TLS 1.2 over TCP from India (406 ms from Germany) in establishing a connection to YouTube media servers. Although we witness that (similar to cloud storage workloads) the overall download rate is higher over TLS, QUIC still tends to depict better video content delivery with reduced stall events and up to 50% lower stall durations due to its lower latency overheads. To support reproducibility, the developed tests and the collected data are made publicly available to the community.
Modulation and amplification of radiative far field heat transfer: Towards a simple radiative thermal transistor

We show in this article that phase change materials (PCM) exhibiting a phase transition between a dielectric state and a metallic state are good candidates to perform modulation as well as amplification of radiative thermal flux. We propose a simple situation in plane parallel geometry where a so-called radiative thermal transistor could be achieved. In this configuration, we put a PCM between two blackbodies at different temperatures. We show that the transistor effect can be achieved easily when this material has its critical temperature between the two blackbody temperatures. We also see, that the more the material is reflective in the metallic state, the more switching effect is realized whereas the more PCM transition is stiff in temperature, the more thermal amplification is high. We finally take the example of VO2 that exhibits an insulator-metallic transition at 68{\textdegree}C. We show that a demonstrator of a radiative transistor could easily be achieved in view of the heat flux levels predicted. Far-field thermal radiation experiments are proposed to back the results presented.
Multifrequency Study of Periodic Nulling and Subpulse Drifting in Pulsar J2048−1616

We have carried out a detailed study of single-pulse emission from the pulsar J2048−1616 (B2045−16), observed at 732, 1369, and 3100 MHz frequencies using the Parkes 64 m radio telescope. The pulsar possesses three well-resolved emission components, with the central component resembling core emission. The single pulses show the presence of two distinct periodic modulations using fluctuation spectral analysis. About 12% nulls are found to create alternating bunches of nulls and bursts in a quasiperiodic manner with longer periodicities of 83, 28, and 14 rotational periods for simultaneous observations at 732 and 3100 MHz. At 1369 MHz, the quasiperiodic nulling is detected, as well, to modulate across the entire profile both in the core and conal components simultaneously with a fluctuation rate of about 50 rotational periods, and the nulling fraction is estimated to be around 10%. Additionally, the quasiperiodic modulations are significantly dependent on time. In addition to nulling, the pulsar also presents subpulse drifting in the single-pulse sequences with shorter periodicity. The subpulse drifting is presented in the conal components and is absent in the central core emission. The leading component is modulated in longitude with a period of three pulses. The trailing component remains phase stationary within the pulse window but periodically modulates in amplitude with a period of three pulses. Finally, possible physical mechanisms are discussed.
A preliminary approach to the acoustic-perceptual characterization of dysarthria

We have conducted an acoustic-perceptual evaluation of 15 dysarthric and 15 neurologically healthy speakers. On the one hand, speech samples were analysed with Praat (13 acoustic parameters were extracted, related to F0, frequency and amplitude variation, as well as other source and vocal tract measures). On the other hand, two raters evaluated all the voices perceptually using the Simplified Vocal Profile Analysis (SVPA), which implements a visual analog scale for each voice quality setting in an online interface. The results show, for the perceptual analyses, that (1) intra- and interrater agreement is overall very good; and that (2) the perceptual settings ‘vocal tract tension’ and ‘laryngeal tension’ are the most useful to characterize dysarthria. In terms of statistical modelling, most linear models were significant using only 4-5 acoustic parameters, but the specific parameters in each model depend on the VPA setting under consideration. All in all, acoustic-perceptual assessment through the SVPA seems to be an important complement to traditional assessment in dysarthria, as it provides information on the functioning of the supraglottic structures commonly affected in this type of motor speech disorder, in which the muscles used to produce speech are damaged, paralyzed, or weakened.
Parametric Analysis of Cross-Frame Layout on Distortion-Induced Fatigue in Skewed Steel Bridges

The effects of skew angle, cross-frame spacing, cross-frame layout, cross-frame stiffness, and load placement on the potential for distortion-induced fatigue damage in steel bridges was investigated by performing a suite of more than 1,000 analysis jobs of high-resolution three-dimensional finite-element models. Susceptibility to fatigue damage was quantified in terms of computed stress demand in the web gap region of the girders. Bridge configurations with three different cross-frame layouts were evaluated, including configurations with cross-frames placed parallel to skew angle (skewed-parallel) and perpendicular to the girder line, both staggered (skewed-staggered) and unstaggered (skewed-unstaggered). Skew angles of configurations evaluated ranged between 0 and 50°, and cross-frame spacing ranged from 2.29 to 9.14 m (7.50 to 30.0 ft). Influence and envelope surfaces were constructed to show the relationship between load placement, location of the maximum web gap stress, and the magnitude of the maximum web gap stress. It was found that maximum web gap stress always occurred when loads were positioned directly above the intersection of a cross-frame and girder web. The parametric study showed that cross-frame stiffness and spacing had a significant effect on the susceptibility to distortion-induced fatigue damage; greater cross-frame stiffness resulted in higher web gap stresses, and increased cross-frame spacing resulted in increased web gap stresses. It was also found that the bridge configuration was key to determining the location of the web gaps where damage is most likely to occur. In skewed-parallel and skewed-unstaggered layouts, maximum web gap stresses were identified in top web gaps, whereas in skewed-staggered configurations, maximum stresses occurred in bottom web gaps. It was found that in configurations with staggered cross-frames, maximum web gap stresses tended to occur in regions of support, where cross-frames are often placed back-to-back along the skewed alignment.
Strong off-target antibody reactivity to malarial antigens induced by RTS,S/AS01E vaccination is associated with increased protection

The RTS,S/AS01E vaccine targets the circumsporozoite protein (CSP) of the Plasmodium falciparum parasite. Using protein microarrays, levels of IgG to 1,000 P. falciparum antigens were measured in 2,138 infants (age 6-12 weeks) and children (age 5-17 months) from 6 African sites of the phase 3 trial, sampled before and at four longitudinal visits after vaccination. One month post-vaccination, IgG responses to 17% of all probed antigens showed differences between RTS,S/AS01E and comparator vaccination groups, whereas no prevaccination differences were found. A small subset of antigens presented IgG levels reaching 4- to 8 fold increases in the RTS,S/AS01E group, comparable in magnitude to anti-CSP IgG levels (~11-fold increase). They were strongly cross-correlated and correlated with anti CSP levels, waning similarly over time and re-increasing with the booster dose. Such an intriguing phenomenon may be due to cross-reactivity of anti-CSP antibodies with these antigens. RTS,S/AS01E vaccinees with strong off target IgG responses had an estimated lower clinical malaria incidence after adjusting for age group, site and post-vaccination anti-CSP levels. RTS,S/AS01E-induced IgG may bind strongly not only to CSP, but to unrelated malaria antigens, and this seems to either confer, or at least be a marker of, increased protection from clinical malaria.
Marriage and family metaphors in online Jordanian sociopolitical editorials

Contextualized within corruption issues in Jordan, the Arab Spring uprisings as well as outsiders’ padded relations and interests in the Arab region, this study explores how MARRIAGE and FAMILY metaphors construct the political reality of the partners involved. The integrative principles of the conceptual metaphor theory and critical metaphor analysis along with the concept of ‘metaphor scenario’ were applied to the data gathered from online Jordanian editorials published by Ahmad Al-Zu’bi (2010-2015). These metaphors were found in 97 out of 1000 editorials used in a larger study of different metaphors. Findings suggest the political relationships of the Arab rulers with the citizens and the outsiders are akin to marriage of convenience that violate the sociocultural traditions. Gender roles also appear to be tailored to the notion of masculine authority over femininity in so far as husbands’ stubbornness or tenacity contributes to wives’ zero-tolerance, hence the collapse of marriage and family system which is reflected on the ailing situation of the Jordanian sociopolitics. The key emotion of shaming permeates in 7 metaphorical scenarios: A stepmother scenario, illegitimate pregnancy, marriage proposal, dysfunctional family, parentless children, engagement, and married partners scenarios. Rhetorically, these scenarios serve as a call for principled relations between partners and emancipation of the passive Arabs from oppressing politics.
MICRO-ECONOMIC IMPACT OF FERTILIZER SUBSIDY IN PADDY CULTIVATION IN SRI LANKA

Concerning Paddy cultivation, it is one of the major sectors of livelihood of Sri Lanka employing for more than 1.8 million people. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the fertilizer subsidy given for the paddy sector. Mahaweli Development Project is one of the most important projects regarding agriculture sector in Sri Lanka. The contribution of paddy yield under that areas are much higher than the other areas in Sri Lanka. Evaluating that micro level sector of paddy farmers is timely important regarding fertilizer subsidy scheme in Sri Lanka. Therefore, the objective of the study is to evaluate microeconomic impact of fertilizer subsidy in Sri Lanka with special reference to Murawesihena Block under Udawalawe irrigation system.Primary data was gathered from 110 farmers inMurawesihena Block in order to find the impact of fertilizer subsidy in micro level. Multiple regression analysis and Cobb-Douglas Production function were used to analyze the impact of fertilizer usage. In this study, it was found that, there is a positive relationship between fertilizer usage and average paddy yield in the study area. However, the contribution of that amount is a little bit amount compared to other variables in the model. Furthermore, in order to increase the yield, it should be used more capital-intensive paddy farming methods than labor intensive methods by reviewing study results. So, it can be concluded that, the need of existence of all farmers inclusive fertilizer subsidy scheme in Sri Lanka with the assistance of Mahaweli Block Management Offices.
On building automatic camera-management system for online lecture broadcasting

This paper reports our design, and implementation of an automatic lecture-room camera-management system. The motivation for building this system is to facilitate online lecture access and reduce the expense of producing high quality lecture videos. The goal of this project is a camera-management system that can perform as a human video-production team. To achieve this goal, our system collects audio/video signals available in the lecture room and uses the multimodal information to direct our video cameras to interesting events. Compared to previous work--which has tended to be technology centric--we started with interviews with professional video producers and used their knowledge and expertise to create video production rules. We then targeted technology components that allowed us to implement a substantial portion of these rules, including the design of a virtual video director, a speaker cinematographer, and an audience cinematographer. The complete system is installed in parallel with a human-operated video production system in a middle-sized corporate lecture room, and used for broadcasting lectures through the web. The system¡*s performance was compared to that of a human operator via a user study. Results suggest that our system's quality is close to that of a human-controlled system.
MT-CDMA system with two stage maximum likelihood symbol estimation

This paper presents a theoretical analysis for two-stage maximum likelihood estimation (TSMLE) based multi-tone code division multiple access (MT-CDMA) system in terms of average bit error rate (BER). The analysis is presented for slowly Rician fading and frequency selective channel in the indoor environment. A model for the computation of average bit error probability is derived for quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) modulation. The influence of number of tones is studied for given bandwidth (BW), bit rate and transmission power.
Real-time Forecasting of Vibrations with Nonstationarities

With recent advances in structural and materials engineering, a new class of structures has emerged consisting of systems subject to highly dynamic environments. Such systems include civil structures exposed to blast, spacecraft prone to debris strikes, and aerial vehicles experiencing in-flight changes. Real-time modeling and prediction of structural state will introduce new real-time health monitoring capability for such systems. To be practical, the models must be deployable on lightweight integrated platforms such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and microcontrollers. This paper evaluates two algorithms that employ multilayer perceptron neural networks (MLPs) that perform predictions and update the model in real-time on non-linear, non-stationary time series data. We show that these models perform well on real-world experimental datasets generated with a replica of the Air Force Research Lab’s DROPBEAR apparatus, exhibiting accuracy on par with MLPs trained offline. Results show that these two algorithms serve as viable candidates for real-time structural health monitoring applications.
ON THE BRANCH PRIMORDIA IN NECKERA AND RELATED GENERA (BRYOPHYTA)

Foliose and filamentose structures around branch primordia in Neckera and related genera were described by different authors using different terms. This study applied both morphological and physiological criteria to elucidation homology of structures around dormant branch buds. An effect of exogenous abscisic acid was studied on Exsertotheca crispa, and morphological studies were conducted on species of Neckera with and without paraphyllia. A specifics of Neckeraceae is that the dormant branch buds are large and not very clearly delimited. Proximal branch leaves are often spaced from the inner part of primordium and subdivided into 2–4 separate parts, which are very similar to paraphyllia. However, unlike paraphyllia, the proximal branch leaves are defined as descendants of branch apical cell, possess phylotaxis and are arranged in a pellucid zone around branch primordium. A large size of dormant branch buds in Neckera and related genera is associated or maybe even defined by shape of the apical cell. The apical cell is relatively small and more deeply sinked in the stem tissue than in most other pleurocarpous mosses. The homology and terminology of various foliose and filamentose structures around branch primordia are discussed.
Country Governance and Corporate Governance as determinants of Firm Efficiency; Empirical Study of Pakistan

Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) report of 2011 state that financial crises and failure of large corporation is due to weak governance system. Therefore, governments and regulatory bodies are convinced to ensure effective CG practices and strict regulatory requirements must be imposed. The primary aim of this research is to examine the effect of corporate governance both at country and firm-level on the firm’s efficiency of Pakistani listed non-financial firms. The empirical analyses consist of two parts. Initially firm efficiencies such as overall technical efficiency, Pure Technical efficiency and Scale efficiency are measured through Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique over a 10 years’ period from 2008 to 2017.These efficiency scores are used as proxies for firm performance. In the second stage, CGboth at firm and country level are used as independent variables to examine its impact on firm efficiencies scores. The results findings support the theoretical justifications that efficient system of CG and regulatory system ensures disclosures. These disclosures not only enhance accounting information quality but also help in reducing agency cost which in return improve investors protection. Thus, managers tend to take decisions in the best interest of shareholder by utilizing firm resources efficiently and effectively and as a result enhance firm efficiency.
Conditional Density Estimation with Normalizing Flows

Quantifying the complex uncertainty associated with a prediction is important in many machine learning tasks. In conditional density estimation (CDE), the conditional density of the output given the input variables is modeled. We propose the Normalizing Flow Network (NFN), a high-capacity, neural network based model for CDE. By utilizing Normalizing Flows, a novel method of parametrizing densities, the NFN is capable of estimating complex conditional distributions. However, the NFN’s expressiveness leads to increased overfitting, particularly on small datasets. We review common neural network regularization techniques and show how, due to the model’s structure, they are inadequate when used in the context of CDE. To address these shortcomings, we develop a model-agnostic noise regularization approach that adds noise to the data during training. We derive how the proposed regularization introduces an inductive bias towards smooth distributions. Across 8 datasets, we demonstrate that this regularization approach outperforms existing methods. The NFN, combined with noise regularization, makes for a powerful novel CDE model capable of capturing complex predictive uncertainties, even in scenarios where data is scarce. Kurzzusammenfassung: Die Quantifizierung der mit einer Vorhersage verbundenen Unsicherheit ist zentraler Bestandteil vieler Methoden und Anwendungen des maschinellen Lernens. Bei der bedingten Wahrscheinlichkeitsschätzung (BWS) wird die bedingte Wahrscheinlichkeit der Ausgabevariablen anhand der Eingabevariablen modelliert. Wir stellen das Normalisierende Ströme Netzwerk (NSN) vor, ein leistungsfähiges, auf neuronalen Netzen basierendes Modell für BWS. Durch die Verwendung von Normalisierenden Strömen, einer neuartigen Methode zur Modellierung von Wahrscheinlichkeitsdichten, ist das NSN in der Lage, komplexe bedingte Wahrscheinlichkeiten anzunähern. Die Ausdrucksstärke des NSN führt jedoch zu vermehrter Überanpassung, insbesondere auf kleinen Datensätzen. Wir untersuchen gängige Techniken zur Regularisierung neuronaler Netze und zeigen, wie diese, aufgrund der inhärenten Modellstruktur, im Rahmen von BWS unzureichend sind. Um diese Mängel zu beheben, entwickeln wir eine Methode zur modellunabhängigen Rauschregularisierung. Wir zeigen, dass durch leichtes Verrauschen der Daten während des Trainings glattere Verteilungen gelernt werden und somit Überanpassung verhindert werden kann. Anhand von acht Datensätzen zeigen wir, dass der vorgestellte Regularisierungsansatz existierende Methoden in Effektivität übertrifft. Das NSN, kombiniert mit der Rauschregularisierung, bildet ein leistungsfähiges, neuartiges BWS-Modell, das in der Lage ist, komplexe bedingte Wahrscheinlichkeiten zu modellieren, auch wenn nur wenige Lerndaten zur Verfügung stehen.
Application of fuzzy set to lot-sizing production planning with remanufacturing and heterogeneous demands

Remanufacturing, which processes end-of-life products with disassembly, testing, reprocessing, and reassembly operations in such a way that their quality and performance is restored, has attracted substantial interest in recent years. In this article, we address a capacitated dynamic lot-sizing problem with remanufacturing, in which there are heterogeneous demand streams for newly manufactured products assembled wholly by brand-new components and remanufactured ones reassembled by reprocessed components. The demand for remanufactured products could also be satisfied by new ones, as remanufactured products do not meet self-demand, but not vice versa. For this planning problem, a fuzzy mixed integer linear programming model, which considers the uncertainties of market demands, the quantity of end-of-life products available, the remanufacturable rate, selling prices, unit cost values, and capacity constraints, is developed by triangular fuzzy numbers. After that, the fuzzy mixed integer linear programming model is transformed into a crisp equivalent by clarifying fuzzy constraints and objective. The solution approach is designed by genetic algorithm, in which self-adaptive formula is adopted to resolve difficulty in obtaining optimum value of crossover probability and mutation probability. Finally, a numerical example is suggested to demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed model and solution approach.