Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Practical Temporal Prefetching With Compressed On-Chip Metadata

Temporal prefetchers are powerful because they can prefetch irregular sequences of memory accesses, but temporal prefetchers are commercially infeasible because they store large amounts of metadata in DRAM. This article presents Triage, the first temporal data prefetcher that does not require off-chip metadata. Triage builds on two insights: (1) Metadata are not equally useful, so the less useful metadata need not be saved, and (2) for irregular workloads, it is more profitable to use portions of the LLC to store metadata than data. We also introduce novel schemes to identify useful metadata, to compress metadata, and to determine the fraction of the LLC to dedicate for metadata. Using an industrial-strength simulator running irregular workloads on a single-core system, we show that at a prefetch degree of 4, Triage improves performance by 41.1 percent compared to a baseline with no prefetching, whereas BO, a state-of-the-art prefetcher that uses only on-chip metadata, sees only 10.9 percent improvement. Compared with MISB, a temporal prefetcher that uses off-chip metadata, Triage provides a design alternative that reduces memory traffic by an order of magnitude (260.8 percent extra traffic for MISB at degree 1 versus 56.9 percent for Triage), while reducing coverage by 20 percent.
Small-Scale Solar–Bio-Hybrid Power Generation Using Brayton and Rankine Cycles

This study conducted a detailed technical analysis of small-scale solar–bio-hybrid power generation systems using Rankine (steam turbine) and Brayton (gas turbine) cycles. Thermodynamic models were developed to characterize the state of working fluid and select the most suitable solar collection technology for individual power generation systems. Net capacity factor of power generation and utilization efficiencies of solar and biogas energy were used as parameters to evaluate energy generation and conclude the preferred system configuration. The analysis concluded that the steam turbine system has better global efficiency (67.7%) than the gas turbine system (55.7%), while the gas turbine system has better electricity generation efficiency (27.0%) than that (5.6%) of the steam turbine system. The effects of different climates on the selection of suitable hybrid systems were also investigated to delineate suitability and feasibility of different hybrid systems. In addition, the method used in this study can also be applied to investigate and optimize other small-scale hybrid renewable energy generation systems.
Physical Layer Security Assisted Computation Offloading in Intelligently Connected Vehicle Networks

In this paper, we propose a secure computationoffloading scheme (SCOS) in intelligently connected vehicle (ICV) networks, aiming to minimize overall latency of computing via offloading part of computational tasks to nearby servers in small cell base stations (SBSs), while securing the information delivered during offloading and feedback phases via physical layer security. Existing computation offloading schemes usually neglected time-varying characteristics of channels and their corresponding secrecy rates, resulting in an inappropriate task partition ratio and a large secrecy outage probability. To address these issues, we utilize an ergodic secrecy rate to determine how many tasks are offloaded to the edge, where ergodic secrecy rate represents the average secrecy rate over all realizations in a time-varying wireless channel. Adaptive wiretap code rates are proposed with a secrecy outage constraint to match time-varying wireless channels. In addition, the proposed secure beamforming and artificial noise (AN) schemes can improve the ergodic secrecy rates of uplink and downlink channels even without eavesdropper channel state information (CSI). Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed schemes have a shorter system delay than the strategies neglecting time-varying characteristics.
Benefits and Challenges of a Blended Online Youth Development Graduate Degree Program

ABSTRACT While many academic degree programs target nontraditional students who are working professionals, the literature exploring the challenges facing nontraditional students has not considered the experiences of students pursuing youth development degrees. This study explored benefits and challenges nontraditional students associate with participating in a graduate degree program in youth development delivered through a blended online instruction model. Data were collected via an online survey administered to 95 graduates of a blended online youth development leadership degree program at a state university in the Southeastern United States. Respondents answered questions about changes in competency using a retrospective format, challenges associated with degree completion, and time since participation in the degree program. Competency scores were compared using paired samples t-tests, indicating significant (p ≤.05) pre-to-post degree program growth in all competency areas. Top-ranked challenges to degree completion included: (1) balancing the degree requirements with employment responsibilities and personal/family responsibilities and (2) writing and study skills confidence when returning to academic work after many years. Correlation analyses indicated no significant relations between when respondents participated in the program and the average change reported on any competency (all p's>.05). Additionally, alumni generally ranked challenges in a similar manner regardless of when they participated in the program. Implications for both research and practice are considered for organizations providing professional development or academic degree programs for youth development professionals.
Ensemble-based data assimilation of atmospheric boundary layer
observations improves the soil moisture analysis

Abstract. We revise the potential of assimilating atmospheric boundary layer observations into the soil moisture. Previous studies often stated a negative assimilation impact of boundary layer observations on the soil moisture analysis, but recent developments in physically-consistent hydrological model systems and ensemble-based data assimilation lead to an emerging potential of boundary layer observations for land surface data assimilation. To explore this potential, we perform idealized twin experiments for a seven-day period in Summer 2015 with a coupled atmosphere-land modelling platform. We use TerrSysMP for these limited-area simulations with a horizontal resolution 1.0 km in the land surface component. We assimilate sparse synthetic 2-metre-temperature observations into the land surface component and update the soil moisture with a localized Ensemble Kalman filter. We show a positive assimilation impact of these observations on the soil moisture analysis during day-time and a neutral impact during night. Furthermore, we find that hourly-filtering with a three-dimensional Ensemble Kalman filter results in smaller errors than daily-smoothing with a one-dimensional Simplified Extended Kalman filter, whereas the Ensemble Kalman filter additionally allows us to directly assimilate boundary layer observations without an intermediate optimal interpolation step. We increase the physical consistency in the analysis for the land surface and boundary by updating the atmospheric temperature together with the soil moisture, which as a consequence further reduces errors in the soil moisture analysis. Based on these results, we conclude that we can merge the decoupled data assimilation cycles for the land surface and the atmosphere into one single cycle with hourly-like update steps.
Research Status of Gesture Recognition Based on Vision: A Review

Gesture control, as a new type of interactive method, has the characteristics of rich expression, convenient control, and fast. It has huge application prospects in entertainment, home furnishing, and industry. Gesture recognition is the basis of gesture control. Gesture recognition technology based on visual detection acquires gesture information in a non-contact manner, which enables the operator to have a better operating experience and is favored by scholars at home and abroad. In order to fully understand the existing research methods of visual gesture recognition, firstly, the basic process of visual gesture recognition is explained. According to the principle of the gesture recognition method, it is divided into gesture recognition based on traditional methods and gesture recognition based on deep learning. And the specific methods are analyzed and summarized in detail. Finally, the technical difficulties of visual gesture recognition are analyzed and discussed, and the development trend of gesture recognition based on vision is prospected.
Immigrant believers from Muslim backgrounds and factors that facilitate a positive Christian identity

Ministry to Muslims has increasingly focused attention on the retention and discipleship of believers from Muslim backgrounds within the Christian community, and is often framed as issues pertaining to identity formation. This article is based on a dissertation completed in 2015 where 20 immigrant believers from Muslim backgrounds in North America were interviewed, and their experiences were interpreted according to Henri Tajfel and John Turner’s social identity theory and self-categorization theory. Interpreted as “walking out of Islam and walking Christianity out,” this article sheds light on believers from Muslim backgrounds’ post-conversion processes as they seek to find the ideal Christian community to walk their faith out, with implications for ministries reaching out to the diaspora and issues pertaining to globalization and cultural hybridization.
Simulation Design, Findings, and Call to Action for Managing Difficult Patient Encounters

Objective. To implement and evaluate a laboratory simulation for teaching difficult patient encounter skills to pharmacy students to improve their self-assessed communication abilities and skills in the affective domain. Methods. Twelve simulation scenarios that represented difficult patient encounters in a variety of practice settings were developed. All students completed a self-assessment of their ability to communicate during difficult patient encounters before and after the simulations, and wrote a guided reflection afterward. The impact of the simulation was evaluated using quantitative and qualitative methodology. Three student cohorts were analyzed to determine whether significant change occurred in students’ self-perceived communication abilities. Thematic analysis of the qualitative reflection responses was performed. Results. Over three years, three student cohorts of third-year professional students participated in the simulations (n=236). Students self-rated their ability to communicate on a 0-100 scale. Mean self-rating of ability prior to the simulation was 57.7 (SD=15.9) and after was 79.2 (SD=15.2). This mean difference of 21.5 points equates to an approximate 20% increase in self-rated ability. Variability in self-ratings between the cohorts was not significant. Qualitative analysis revealed that the simulation identified for student areas needing further development which in turn promoted self-awareness. Students expressed that learning in the safe, formative environment provided by the simulation contributed to their professional growth and was relevant to their future practice of pharmacy. Conclusion. This simulation fills a gap in skills-based education, addresses the affective domain of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) Standards, transfers easily to schools and colleges of pharmacy. This supports a call to action for pharmacy educators to provide purposeful opportunities for students to practice communicating with patients during difficult encounters.
TOF-PET Image Reconstruction With Multiple Timing Kernels Applied on Cherenkov Radiation in BGO

Today Time-of-Flight (TOF), in PET scanners, assumes a single, well-defined timing resolution for all events. However, recent BGO–Cherenkov detectors, combining prompt Cherenkov emission and the typical BGO scintillation, can sort events into multiple timing kernels, best described by the Gaussian mixture models. The number of Cherenkov photons detected per event impacts directly the detector time resolution and signal rise time, which can later be used to improve the coincidence timing resolution. This work presents a simulation toolkit which applies multiple timing spreads on the coincident events and an image reconstruction that incorporates this information. A full cylindrical BGO–Cherenkov PET model was compared, in terms of contrast recovery and contrast-to-noise ratio, against an LYSO model with a time resolution of 213 ps. Two reconstruction approaches for the mixture kernels were tested: 1) mixture Gaussian and 2) decomposed simple Gaussian kernels. The decomposed model used the exact mixture component applied during the simulation. Images reconstructed using mixture kernels provided similar mean value and less noise than the decomposed. However, typically, more iterations were needed. Similarly, the LYSO model, with a single TOF kernel, converged faster than the BGO–Cherenkov with multiple kernels. The results indicate that the model complexity slows down convergence. However, due to the higher sensitivity, the contrast-to-noise ratio was 26.4% better for the BGO model.
Key Enablers of Industry 4.0 Development at Firm Level: Findings From an Emerging Economy

Organizations in both developed and developing economies are paying great attention to the Industry 4.0 revolution and associated uses of technologies due to its potential benefits to the manufacturing industry. However, there are a limited number of empirical studies due to its early stage of adoption around the world, especially regarding the key technological factors that are necessary. This article addresses this research gap by identifying the factors that enable successful Industry 4.0 technologies adoption in an emerging economy country, grouping them, and ranking the groups based on priorities for adoption. The study adopts a mixed-method research methodology. Q-sort technique and analytic hierarchy process, respectively, were used to group enabling factors and prioritize the groups for Industry 4.0 technologies adoption. Thereafter, semistructured interviews of key stakeholders in the manufacturing sector in Thailand were carried out to validate and support findings from the quantitative analysis. Five industry experts from automotive and electronic parts/components manufacturers were interviewed. The results show that human capital is the most important readiness dimension for Industry 4.0 technologies implementation. Interoperability and data handling were found to be the next in importance. On the contrary, hardware and technology systems, such as data security and technological infrastructure, were identified as the least important of the technology readiness dimensions. These findings provide a different perspective to extant studies that posited that technology-based factors as the most important for Industry 4.0 success.
Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry for the Simultaneous Quantification of Eleven Phytochemical Constituents in Traditional Korean Medicine, Sogunjung Decoction

The Sogunjung decoction (SGJD) is a traditional herbal formula that has been used to treat constipation and improve the constitution of infirm children in Korea. In this study, simultaneous quantification of gallic acid (1), magnoflorine (2), albiflorin (3), paeoniflorin (4), liquiritin apioside (5), liquiritin (6), liquiritigenin (7), coumarin (8), cinnamaldehyde (9), benzoylpaeoniflorin (10), and glycyrrhizin (11) was conducted using fast and sensitive liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS) multiple-reaction monitoring to develop a quality-control protocol for the SGJD. A Waters Acquity UPLC BEH C18 column (2.1 × 100 mm, 1.7 μm) was used for the chromatographic separation of the 11 marker compounds in the SGJD using two mobile phases (5 mM ammonium acetate in distilled water containing 0.1% (v/v) formic acid, and acetonitrile). The MS parameters for a simultaneous analysis were capillary voltage (3.0 kV), source temperature (150 °C), desolvation temperature (500 °C), desolvation gas flow (700 L/h), and cone gas flow (50 L/h). The developed LC–MS method was validated by the evaluation of linearity, limits of detection, limits of quantification, recovery and precision. By using the developed and validated assay, the 11 marker components in the SGJD were detected in amounts of 0.01–51.83 mg/g.
The propagation characteristics of rectangular waveguides filled with inhomogeneous double‐negative dielectrics using a semianalytical method

In this paper, we carry out the calculation of eigenvalues including cutoff wavenumbers and propagation constants in rectangular waveguides filled with inhomogeneous double‐negative (DNG) dielectrics whose permittivity varies along one transverse direction by using a semianalytical approach. Eigenequations for waveguides containing arbitrary continuously or discontinuously varying dielectrics are formulated by the semianalytical approach. We examine several representative inhomogeneous DNG dielectric distributions. When comparing these results with those of waveguides containing inhomogeneous double‐positive (DPS) dielectrics with same distribution profiles, we find the dielectric and geometric dependence of the cutoff wavenumbers to be quite different. Moreover, the dispersion signs of the TE/LSE modes might be changed by partially filling the waveguides with DNG dielectrics, which is caused by the opposite directions of energy transport in DPS and DNG dielectrics.
Du tracking, des contre-mesures et de leur efficacité dans la publicité ciblée

D'un Web de documents a l'interet commercial incertain, porte par des pionniers croyant au partage des connaissances, le Web a par la suite evolue vers une forme collaborative et temps reel rentabilisee par la publicite. Cette derniere a evolue vers la publicite ciblee incluant la publicite comportementale basee sur la collecte massive de traces d'usage. Ces traces proviennent de differents dispositifs de tracking incluant les adresses IP (IP tracking), les desormais connus cookies ou les empreintes (p. ex. browser fingerprinting et canvas fingerprinting). Si la collecte s'est au depart limitee au poste de travail (essentiellement au travers du navigateur), elle a pu par la suite s'etendre aux smartphones et objets connectes. En a decoule le marketing des traces et l'economie de l'attention auxquels les digital natives ont ete precocement confrontes. Diverses contres-mesures ont ete progressivement deployees par les utilisateurs (parametrage, extensions, p. ex. bloqueurs de publicites), par des services d'anonymisation (p. ex. VPN et proxy), par les editeurs eux-memes ou par le regulateur (p. ex. RGPD). Ce papier propose, d'une part, une presentation de la structuration du secteur de la publicite en ligne suivie par un etat de l'art sur les outils de tracking qui y sont deployes, d'autre part, un inventaire et une analyse des contre-mesures deployees ainsi que de leur efficacite. Nous montrons en particulier l'evolution rapide des techniques utilisees et l'heterogeneite de la couverture offerte par des dispositifs protecteurs a priori equivalents.
Hybridizing Lead–Acid Batteries with Supercapacitors: A Methodology

Hybridizing a lead–acid battery energy storage system (ESS) with supercapacitors is a promising solution to cope with the increased battery degradation in standalone microgrids that suffer from irregular electricity profiles. There are many studies in the literature on such hybrid energy storage systems (HESS), usually examining the various hybridization aspects separately. This paper provides a holistic look at the design of an HESS. A new control scheme is proposed that applies power filtering to smooth out the battery profile, while strictly adhering to the supercapacitors’ voltage limits. A new lead–acid battery model is introduced, which accounts for the combined effects of a microcycle’s depth of discharge (DoD) and battery temperature, usually considered separately in the literature. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis on the thermal parameters and an economic analysis were performed using a 90-day electricity profile from an actual DC microgrid in India to infer the hybridization benefit. The results show that the hybridization is beneficial mainly at poor thermal conditions and highlight the need for a battery degradation model that considers both the DoD effect with microcycle resolution and temperate impact to accurately assess the gain from such a hybridization.
Embedded Transducers in Polymeric Coatings on Metallic Substrates

This paper provides a tutorial introduction to recently devised technologies for transducers embedded within the organic coatings of metallic (or, more generally, of electrically conductive) mechanical components, such as organically coated flat sheet steel, and three-dimensional machine parts, such as bearing supports and mold jaws. The integration of sensors and actuators into the surface coating of these components is of particular interest: first, it allows assessment of physical parameters at locally defined positions that are not accessible with usual discrete transducers; and second, a functionalized component equipped with sensory intelligence adds value for producer and customer. However, realization of embedded transducers entails challenges posed by (i) any potential preexisting protective organic coating and (ii) the shape and surface roughness of the underlying metallic substrate. This tutorial addresses the major issues that arise when sensors or actuators are to be integrated into the organic coating of an electrically conductive machine part, and provides hints and guidelines for successful realization based on recent research.
Analysis, Design, and Implementation of Multi-Quasi-Proportional-Resonant Controller for Thyristor-Controlled LC-Coupling Hybrid Active Power Filter (TCLC-HAPF)

Compared with the conventional active power filter, the thyristor-controlled LC-coupling hybrid active power filter (TCLC-HAPF) has a distinct characteristics of low dc-link operating voltage, which can lower the system and operational costs in the medium-voltage-level system. It also has a wider operational range than the conventional hybrid active power filter. Besides that, the TCLC-HAPF can provide reactive, harmonic, and unbalanced powers compensation simultaneously. In this article, the modeling of the TCLC-HAPF is investigated based on the linear control aspect. Then, the analysis, design, and implementation of a multi-quasi-proportional-resonant (MQPR) controller with gain scheduling for the TCLC-HAPF will be proposed, which can automatically change the resonant gain between the inductive and capacitive loads operation to improve its compensation performances. The proposed controller can significantly reduce the TCLC-HAPF steady-state current tracking errors and output current ripple. Finally, the simulation and experimental results are also provided to verify the effectiveness and performance of the MQPR controller for the TCLC-HAPF in comparison with the hysteresis current controller and quasi-proportional-resonant (QPR) controller, which shows superior compensating performances.
Eosin-Methylene Blue Agar Plates Protocol

Eosin-methylene blue (EMB) agar was first developed by Holt-Harris and Teague in 1916. They used EMB agar to clearly differentiate between the colonies of lactose fermenting and nonfermenting microbes. In the same medium, sucrose was also included to differentiate between coliforms that were able to ferment sucrose more rapidly than lactose and those that were unable to ferment sucrose. Lactose fermenter colonies were either black or possessed dark centers with transparent and colorless outer margins, while lactose or sucrose nonfermenters were colorless. EMB agar was shown to be more sensitive and stable and differentiated between sugar fermenters and nonfermenters faster when compared to other agars.