Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A systematic approach to quantifying and improving the availability of internet services

As network services, in particular Internet services such as Yahoo or Google pervade our daily lives, we are demanding higher availability from them. Yet, studies show that these services are achieving only 99 to 99.9% availability, which implies they are unavailable from anywhere between a few hours to a few days each year (when accumulated). In comparison, the public switched telephone network is down for only a few minutes each year. To achieve a similar perception of availability for Internet services, significant effort is required. However, research in this context has focused primarily on performance and scalability, with less attention to availability. This thesis develops an availability-cognizant approach to building such multi-criteria Internet services. Topics in this thesis are motivated by three key observations. First, there is a dearth of systematic techniques to evaluate service availability. While various techniques have been explored in the context of mission critical systems, these are too detailed and expensive for application within Internet services. Therefore, high availability in Internet services has mostly been achieved through application of ad hoc techniques developed using experience as guide. We improve upon the status quo by presenting a base methodology that quantifies average availability of a service under a given fault load, and allows identification of individual contributions to unavailability of each fault type in the fault load. We also present a novel formulation for a metric to evaluate a service under multiple criteria, namely performance and availability, called performability. Second, services when choosing their platform often trade-off availability with other factors such as cost and scalability. Clusters of commodity components, a popular choice among Internet services, have regular component failures. While various high availability techniques exist, their individual benefits or when applied in combination is not well understood. This thesis shows how multiple such techniques can be applied in an evolutionary manner while understanding their benefits quantitatively. Additionally, we propose a novel technique called Fault Model Enforcement that effectively complements the implemented techniques by forcing recovery paths at run-time for faults not handled by the service. Finally, this thesis tackles a critical observation: operator mistakes are a major cause for service unavailability. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Relative radiometric correction of DMD based coded aperture spectral imager in MWIR band

The digital micromirror devices (DMD), as binary-coded masks, is an essential optical component in the coded aperture snapshot spectral imaging system (CASSI). However, DMD operating in MWIR or LWIR band usually introduces serious stray radiation by its diffraction effect, resulting in non-uniform images received by the CASSI. In this paper, we propose a new relative radiometric correction method for the DMD based CASSI in MWIR band. The method integrates a new coding method of CASSI and the traditional multipoint calibration method, and it can well suppress the nonuniformity noise of the infrared focal plane array. The working principle of the DMD based CASSI in MWIR band is introduced, then we design a new Hadamard coding mask, and investigate the corresponding decoding method. The mathematical mode of relative radiometric correction is established, and the relative radiometric calibration experiment is conducted to illustrate our method in detail. The experiment results indicate that the uniformity of the IR image at different temperatures corrected by the proposed algorithm is very good, and the temporal variation non-uniformity noise of the infrared focal plane array can be effectively suppressed.
Hand Sign Recognition System Based on EIT Imaging and Robust CNN Classification

Hand sign recognition is gaining importance in human-human and in human-machine communication and interaction. Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) is thereby very interesting as it provides information on impedance changes in depth of the Section of the arm, which infers muscle contractions. This paper introduces an EIT imaging system for hand sign recognition and monitoring having a low complexity and including an electronic interface with 8 electrodes placed on the forearm, a Gauss-Newton image reconstruction algorithm, a robust CNN based hand sign classification and a virtual hand model for visualization. A database has been collected for EIT measurements in pole mode taken by eight subjects performing the American sign language numbers from 0 to 9. The overall imaging system is validated using a water tank system, where conductive objects can be changed in properties and positions. The correspondence between the reconstructed images and the expected muscle behavior for the hand signs is investigated. A robust Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) classification algorithm was implemented and optimized by implementing an Adam optimizer and conducting a dedicated study to avoid overfitting. The results obtained by CNN are compared to the results by a Support Vector Machine (SVM), and a Softmax classifier. They show a classification accuracy of 95.94%, 75.61%, and 62.9% respectively. In term of subject dependency, the system using the CNN model shows a higher performance, as the accuracy decreases only by 0.72% while increasing the number of subjects from one to eight. Finally, for visualization, a 3D virtual hand model is designed and controlled based on detected hand signs.
Design and Implementation of Mobile Objects Tracking System Based on Wireless Sensor Network

ZigBee technology, based on the IEEE802.15. 4 protocol, is a newly developed short range wireless communication technology with the merits of low cost, low power consumption at comparably lower data rate. Mobile objects tracking system based on wireless sensor network becomes a hot topic recently. The paper, aiming at wireless sensor network, investigates the tracking system. Based on RSSI and location engine, the tacking system is implemented. The system includes three parts: hardware platform preparation, communication program of nodes and PC monitor software. The core of hardware platform is CC2430 and CC2431. The exploitation of node communication program is based on Z-Stack protocol stack which is provided by TI. The paper goes into details of the nodes communication flow. Elaborate solution is proposed in this paper. In the end, practical test is implemented. This part analyzes the influence of the different location area consisted by reference nodes to the accuracy and stability of blind nodes.
A study on boundary of small disturbance stability region

Small disturbance stability region (SDSR) is a framework for understanding, evaluating the small disturbance stability of power systems in a more accurate and efficient way. With the definition in parameter space, SDSR can provide global information to engineers such as load margin, control direction and so on. This paper concentrates on demonstrating and analyzing the boundary of SDSR, which consist of local bifurcation points. Via a modified Philips-Heffron model, a thorough study on a simple system is performed to identify the important role of an induction motor (IM) model in SDSR's boundary constitution. Furthermore, simulation in a 9-bus system with composite load model confirms that IM and static load model has different significant impact on SDSR's boundary of power systems. Finally, the paper tests the conclusion in a practical bulk power system.
MV and LV powerline communications: new proposed IEC standards

Two new powerline communication systems are described, one for medium voltage (MV) and one for low voltage (LV). Both systems are accepted new work item proposals of IEC TC57/WG9. The MV system uses multicarrier modulation (MCM), also known as orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) or discrete multitone (DMT), whereas the low voltage powerline modem is based on fast frequency hopping spread spectrum (SS-FFH) modulation. In combination the outlined new powerline communication offers the possibility for reliable bi-directional data transfer from substation to any customer. Key applications for this system include distribution automation and demand side management (DA/DSM), automated meter reading (AMR) and especially communication demands for currently emerging business management systems for deregulated markets.
A CMOS current-to-voltage linear conversion for low-input current, low noise and low power

This paper presents a very simple circuit of balanced two-stage current amplifier and regulated cascode (RGC) amplifier to realize a linear current-to-voltage conversion. It can accept very low currents in the nA range. The noise model and strategies for noise reduction are discussed. The circuit is designed for 0. 18μm CMOS technology and verified by simulations.
“Ethno‐microbiology” of ethnic Indian fermented foods and alcoholic beverages

The concept of “ethno‐microbiology” is to understand the indigenous knowledge of the Indian people for production of culturally and organoleptically acceptable fermented foods by natural fermentation. About 1000 types of common, uncommon, rare, exotic and artisan fermented foods and beverages are prepared and consumed in different geographical regions by multi‐ethnic communities in India. Indian fermented foods are mostly acidic and some are alkaline, along with various types of alcoholic beverages. A colossal diversity of microorganisms comprising bacteria mostly belongs to phylum Firmicutes, filamentous moulds and enzyme‐ and alcohol‐producing yeasts under phyla Ascomycota and Mucoromycota, and few bacteriophages and archaea have been reported from Indian fermented foods. Some microorganisms associated with fermented foods have functionalities and health promoting benefits. “Ethno‐microbiology” of ethnic Indian people has exhibited the proper utilisation of substrates either singly or in combination such as fermented cereal‐legume mixture (idli, dosa and dhokla) in South and West India, sticky fermented soybean food (kinema and related foods), fermented perishable leafy vegetable (gundruk and related foods), fermented bamboo shoots (soibum and related foods) and fermented fish (ngari and others) in North East India, and fermented meat and sausage‐like products in the Indian Himalayas, fermented coconut beverage (toddy) in coastal regions, and various types of naturally fermented milk products (dahi and related products) in different regions of India. This review has also highlighted the “ethno‐microbiology” knowledge of the people involving the consortia of essential microorganisms in traditionally prepared amylolytic starters for production of cereal‐based alcoholic beverages. The novelty of this review is the interpretation of ethno‐microbiological knowledge innovated by ethnic Indian people on the use of beneficial microorganisms for food fermentation to obtain the desired fermented food products for consumption.
Patterns of risk-taking behaviors among motorcyclists at signalized intersections in Taiwan

: Motorcyclists 1 are the fastest-moving vulnerable road users, which made them overrepresented in road injuries and fatalities. In Taiwan, motorcyclists account for approximately 60% of total road fatalities each year, but little is known about the prevalence of risk-taking behaviors among motorcyclists. In the present study, a roadside observation was carried out to examine their unsafe riding behaviors, such as secondary task engagement, helmet non-use, and traffic violations. 4030 motorcyclists were observed at three signalized intersections in Tainan, Taiwan: 593 in a residential district, 1034 in a business park, and 2403 in the city center. 7.3% of them were engaged in at least one secondary task, with phone use (3.5%) being the most common one, followed by chatting with others (1.6%). Although nearly all riders were helmeted (98.9%), the majority of the riders used non-standard helmets: 65.2% wore an open-face helmet, 21.0% half helmet, and only 12.6% full-face helmet. 5.9% of all motorcyclists were observed breaking at least one traffic rule at the intersections, and the violations that occurred the most often were turn signal neglect (2.8%) and red-light running (2.6%). These risky riding behaviors were also associated with contextual variables and rider characteristics. The likelihood of distracted riding increased at a red light, in the city center, when riders were younger, male, delivery workers, and riding with an adult passenger. Traffic violations were more frequent in the city center, in the afternoon, and on a two-lane road. Furthermore, risk-taking behaviors were more prevalent in un-helmeted riders. Observations in different weather conditions, more traffic contexts, and locations are recommended for future studies to further understand their impact on motorcyclists’ adaptive riding behaviors.
Drug-Target Interaction Prediction Based on Multisource Information Weighted Fusion

Recently, in most existing studies, it is assumed that there are no interaction relationships between drugs and targets with unknown interactions. However, unknown interactions mean the relationships between drugs and targets have just not been confirmed. In this paper, samples for which the relationship between drugs and targets has not been determined are considered unlabeled. A weighted fusion method of multisource information is proposed to screen drug-target interactions. Firstly, some drug-target pairs which may have interactions are selected. Secondly, the selected drug-target pairs are added to the positive samples, which are regarded as known to have interaction relationships, and the original interaction relationship matrix is revised. Finally, the revised datasets are used to predict the interaction derived from the bipartite local model with neighbor-based interaction profile inferring (BLM-NII). Experiments demonstrate that the proposed method has greatly improved specificity, sensitivity, precision, and accuracy compared with the BLM-NII method. In addition, compared with several state-of-the-art methods, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and the area under the precision-recall curve (AUPR) of the proposed method are excellent.
Architecture and Trial Implementation of a Performance Testing Framework

The WAND Emulation Network is used by researchers to undertake performance evaluation of computer network software and hardware. While the network provides a powerful environment for testing, many of the procedures are ad hoc. Researchers must invest time in developing their own measurement system. Further, these systems are disjoint from one another, so results are not necessarily comparable. This report details the development of a testing framework that will allow easy emulation setup and measurement. Amongst the more important of these components is the automatic configuration of the network and the generation of traffic to create situations that fully test the capabilities of a device.
Evaluation of Slovene local pig breed Krškopolje for carcass and meat quality

e study is the first evaluation of the carcass and meat quality of Slovene local pig breed Krskopolje in comparison with the crosses of Krskopolje and a modern breed. Subjects were 29 pigs; 17 pigs were purebred Krskopolje pigs (KK), 12 pigs were the offspring of Krskopolje sow and modern breed male (LN55). Only a limited effect on carcass traits was obtained by crossing KK to a modern breed. Carcass length was longer (103.9 vs. 100.8 cm, P < 0.01), ham was heavier (14.5 vs. 14.1 kg, P < 0.05) and less fat (26 vs. 30 mm, P < 0.05) in LN55 × KK than in KK pigs. Pure KK pigs had lower pH 1 (pH 1 hour post mortem) (5.84 vs. 6.17, P < 0.01) but higher ultimate pH (pH 24 ) (5.60 vs. 5.51, P < 0.05) than LN55 × KK pigs. More intramuscular fat in the longissimus dorsi muscle (3.0 vs. 2.1%, P < 0.05) and darker ham colour (4.2 vs. 3.5, P < 0.01) were found for KK than for LN55 × KK pigs. No significant difference in the eating quality of roasted loin was observed, however KK pigs tended to have less tender meat that LN55 × KK crosses (5.4 vs. 5.7, P < 0.10). When processed into dry hams, a lower ham weight loss at salting was observed for KK than for LN55 × KK pigs (2.9 vs. 3.5%, P < 0.01). Dry hams of KK pigs had more salt (7.9 vs. 7.6, P < 0.10) and consequently lower non-protein nitrogen content (18.7 vs. 21.3, P < 0.001); dry-ham slices of KK pigs had darker colour (5.2 vs. 4.9, P < 0.05 for biceps femoris muscle; 5.8 vs. 5.5, P < 0.01 for semimembranosus muscle), better aroma (5.7 vs. 5.4, P < 0.05) and overall impression (5.8 vs. 5.4, P < 0.01) compared to dry hams of LN55 × KK pigs. e limited improvement of carcass quality in KK crosses, low pH 1 , and slightly less tender meat of pure KK pigs is likely to be related to the higher incidence of RYR1 gene mutation found in pure KK pigs (70% RYR1-Nn and 18% RYR1-nn) than in LN55 × KK crosses (17% RYR1-Nn).
ANXIETY, LIFE EVALUATION AND WELL-BEING DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC AMONG COMMUNITY IN SABAH, MALAYSIA

COVID-19 pandemic has brought not only a high mortality rate from viral infection, but also has been drastic changes at the individual life and cause various mental health problems. A study conducted in China at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that various mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression and panic disorder was triggered by the pandemic. This study aimed to examine the perceived anxiety, and life evaluation among community in Sabah, Malaysia before and during pandemic Covid-19 and predictive factors of their well-being during pandemic. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and was used to measure anxiety. Satisfaction with Life Scale and the Cantril’s Self-Anchoring Ladder of Life Scale were used to measure life evaluation in term of quality of life, and the Flourishing Scale measured well-being. The questionnaire was disseminated through the snowball sampling technique. The study found the community of Sabah (N=406) perceived significantly higher levels of life satisfaction and better life evaluation before pandemic compared to during pandemic. In term of anxiety and well-being, the participants perceived moderate level of state and quite high level of trait anxiety. Surprisingly, the community reported a quite high level of well-being during pandemic Covid-19. Multiple regression results revealed trait anxiety affected participants' well-being negatively, but not state anxiety. Besides, the result also indicated that satisfaction with life predicted the community’s well-being significantly and positively.
Three Pathways to Case Selection in IB: A Twenty–Year Review, Analysis & Synthesis

With its focus on locational context, International Business (IB) is a prime candidate for the application of Case Study (CS) methodology. Yet many IB scholars still have doubts about CSs, possibly because strategies for their selection and disclosure procedures may lack rigor. The purpose of this article is to document and discuss CS selection in IB research, make suggestions for improvement, and thus raise the standard and status of CS research. Using qualitative content analysis, this paper examines CS selection strategies in four IB journals (1995-2014), relating them to chosen theoretical purposes and logics employed. Our results indicate that 12% of the 333 investigated CS articles lacked a section on methodology, and 41% of papers reported no indication of how CSs were selected. Drawing insights from the dataset, we propose and distinguish between theory-driven and phenomenon-driven CS selection approaches. In light of our evidence, best-practice papers are identified and apportioned to coherent pathways connecting theoretical purpose, logic and CS selection strategies. In doing so, we address the link between case selection and theorizing in CSs and advocate greater methodological sophistication and transparency of CS selection reporting in IB research.
Unified model for collector charge in heterojunction bipolar transistors

The base-collector capacitance and the collector transit-time in GaAs-based heterojunction bipolar transistors depend not only on base-collector voltage, but also on collector current. This has to be taken into account in a large-signal model. However, since collector transit-time and capacitance are both caused by the charge stored in the collector space-charge region, it is not possible to model them independently of each other. This paper investigates the interrelation between collector capacitance and transit-time due to transcapacitance effects, and presents an analytical unified description for both quantities, that is derived from measurement-extracted small-signal equivalent circuits. The model is verified by comparison of simulation and measurement data.
Fast photonic network modelling with new wavelet method

Pulse propagation in a nonlinear optical medium is described by the nonlinear Schrodinger equation. For large wavelength division multiplexing systems, the simulation time can run into weeks. We developed a new, flexible, fast and adaptive split-step wavelet collocation method (SSWCM). Using a set of compactly supported basis functions with cardinal property, the SSWCM has the complexity O(N). This is superior to the complexity O(N log/sub 2/ N) of the standard split-step Fourier method, and provides a substantial speed-up for large N.
POLYPHASIC TAXONOMY ANALYSE OF COMAMONAS TESTOSTERONІ RESISTANT ТО HEXACHLOROBENZENE

Based on the analysing phenotypic and genotypic properties, the taxonomic position of isolates # 46 and # 47 was established and assigned to the species Comamonas testosteronі UCM B-400 and UCM B-401. Isolates were selected from the soil with organochlorine wastes landfill of chemical enterprises in Kalush, Ivano-Frankivsk region, Ukraine. The strains are resistant to high hexachlorobenzene concentrations. According to morphological, cultural and biochemical properties, the studied strains are related to typical members of the Comamonadaceae family, they are motile gram-negative rods, aerobic, chemoorganotrophic. Saturated and unsaturated fatty acids with a carbon chain length from C10 to C18 were found in composition of cellular lipids. The qualitative and quantitative composition of marker hydroxy acids, namely: 2 hydroxyhexadecane (C16: 0 2OH) and 3 hydroxydecane (C10: 0 3OH) in the lipids of the strains ranged from 2-5%, which corresponded to their content in the representatives of the Comamonas genus. Phylogenetic analysing the nucleotide sequences of the 16S rRNA gene revealed the affinity of isolates # 46 (97.77%) and # 47 (98.05%) with a similar nucleotide sequence of a typical strain of Comamonas testosteroni LMG 1800. The 16S rRNA nucleotide sequences of Comamonas testosteroni UCM B-400 and UCM B-401 were placed in GenBank under the numbers SUB9376895 Comamonas_testosteroni_46 MW861636 and SUB9376895 Comamonas_testosteroni_47 MW861637.