Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spectrum sharing with QoS awareness in cognitive radio networks

Cognitive radio is a promising technology that aims to enhance the utilization of the radio spectrum. This is achieved by providing opportunistic access to the unlicensed users or the secondary users. In this paper, quality of service (QoS) in cognitive radio networks is investigated for a heterogeneous network model. A modified cognitive radio spectrum sharing algorithm based on the Hungarian algorithm is proposed and compared to first come first served (FCFS) scheduling technique. The modified algorithm proposed a cost function based on the required and the available signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the application and channel, respectively. Simulation results reveal the robustness of the proposed algorithm under nonfading, Rayleigh and Nakagami fading channels in terms of achieved SNR, data rate and spectrum utilization compared to FCFS algorithm.
Study and Development of a Software Implemented Fault Injection Plug-in for the Xception tool/PowerPC 750

System validation and evaluation of critical computer systems has become of great importance due to the relevance and value of these systems. One way to perform the dependability verification of computer systems is to resort to fault injection techniques, more precisely Software Implemented Fault Injection (SWIFI). This technique allows understanding the behaviour of a computer system by inserting artificial faults. This enables developers to create fault tolerant systems that can sustain faults in a real world environment. This project dealt with a SWIFI plug-in for the Xception tool. This project ultimate goal was to port an already existing plug-in for the PowerPC603 Microprocessor using the real-time operating system VxWorks to the PowerPC 750 Microprocessor using the same operating system. Since this tool has such a specific purpose, it was necessary to clearly define a process that could assure that the result of the port would be a proper and fully functional plug-in. To do so, a porting methodology that reflects the special needs of this kind of tool was developed. This porting methodology reflected the already defined software development process and was developed with guidelines to make the porting process more precise and seamless. In this port it was defined everything pertaining requirements, software architecture and tests as well as a Software Implemented Fault Injection methodology that allowed to contextualise scientifically the plug-in i.e., in which way this plug-in reflects the proprieties, that have been defined as essential by several studies, of a tool of this kind. The porting methodology proved to be quite helpful as it allowed porting the plug-in successfully. Acknowledgements I would like to thank Ricardo Barbosa, my tutor at Critical Software, for his guidance throughout the project, to Ana Paiva, my tutor at FEUP for clearly defining this project, Sérgio Vidal for helping me with technical details. I would also like to thank Miguel Pinto, Ricardo Batista and Pedro Braga for their companionship and good humour.
Low levels of ribosomal RNA partly account for the very high photosynthetic phosphorus-use efficiency of Proteaceae species

Abstract Proteaceae species in south-western Australia occur on phosphorus- (P) impoverished soils. Their leaves contain very low P levels, but have relatively high rates of photosynthesis. We measured ribosomal RNA (rRNA) abundance, soluble protein, activities of several enzymes and glucose 6-phosphate (Glc6P) levels in expanding and mature leaves of six Proteaceae species in their natural habitat. The results were compared with those for Arabidopsis thaliana. Compared with A. thaliana, immature leaves of Proteaceae species contained very low levels of rRNA, especially plastidic rRNA. Proteaceae species showed slow development of the photosynthetic apparatus (‘delayed greening’), with young leaves having very low levels of chlorophyll and Calvin–Benson cycle enzymes. In mature leaves, soluble protein and Calvin–Benson cycle enzyme activities were low, but Glc6P levels were similar to those in A. thaliana. We propose that low ribosome abundance contributes to the high P efficiency of these Proteaceae species in three ways: (1) less P is invested in ribosomes; (2) the rate of growth and, hence, demand for P is low; and (3) the especially low plastidic ribosome abundance in young leaves delays formation of the photosynthetic machinery, spreading investment of P in rRNA. Although Calvin–Benson cycle enzyme activities are low, Glc6P levels are maintained, allowing their effective use.
Universal bilingualism

Lexically linked domains in language allow a speaker to formulate incompatible rules. How should they be represented theoretically? We argue that a speaker has a set of mini-grammars for different domains so that, in effect, every speaker is bilingual. It is argued that Tense or Agreement Checking, V-2 for quotation, and resumptive pronouns, all lead to bilingual representations. In addition, this perspective on Theoretical Bilingualism suggests that optionality and stages in the acquisition of an initial grammar should also be characterized as a form of bilingualism.
Technology Foresight for IT Investment: Multi-Criteria Decision-Making versus Prediction Markets

This paper presents and compares two original techniques for disruptive technology assessment and foresight based on opposite paradigm: a management science approach (Multi-Criteria Decision-Making) versus a Web 2.0 approach (Prediction Market). These approaches are intended to support the management of a technology portfolio and the assessment of new technology by an IT organization. In order to explore the relevance of the research, we conducted several experiments in real environments. The results demonstrated that the rigor of management science and the participation of the Web 2.0 approach are complementary strengths for technology foresight.
Threats on building models from CVS and Bugzilla repositories: the Mozilla case study

Information obtained by merging data extracted from problem reporting systems - such as Bugzilla - and versioning systems - such as Concurrent Version System (CVS) - is widely used in quality assessment approaches. This paper attempts to shed some light on threats and difficulties faced when trying to integrate information extracted from Mozilla CVS and bug repositories. Indeed, the heterogeneity of Mozilla bug reports, often dealing with non-defect issues, and lacking of traceable information may undermine validity of quality assessment approaches relying on repositories integration. In the reported Mozilla case study, we observed that available integration heuristics are unable to recover thousands of traceability links. Furthermore, Bugzilla classification mechanisms do not enforce a distinction between different kinds of maintenance activities. Obtained evidence suggests that a large amount of information is lost; we conjecture that to benefit from CVS and problem reporting systems, more systematic issue classification and more reliable traceability mechanisms are needed.
Double echo steady state magnetic resonance imaging of knee articular cartilage at 3 Tesla: a pilot study for the Osteoarthritis Initiative

Background: Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (qMRI) may provide valuable measures of cartilage morphology in osteoarthritis (OA) but has been confined to sequences with relatively long acquisition times at 1.5 Tesla (T). Objective: To test the accuracy and precision of knee cartilage qMRI with a fast double echo, steady state (DESS) sequence with water excitation (we) at 3 T. Methods: As a pilot study for the Osteoarthritis Initiative, test-retest MR images were acquired in the knees of 19 participants with no OA to moderate degrees of clinical OA. Two double oblique coronal fast low angle shot (FLASHwe) sequences (1.5 mm slice thickness) were acquired at 3 T, and two sagittal DESSwe sequences (0.7 mm slice thickness). Double oblique coronal multiplanar reformats (MPR) were performed (1.5 mm slice thickness) from the sagittal DESSwe. Knee joint cartilage plates were quantified unpaired in random order with blinding to subject identification. Results: In the femorotibial joint, precision errors (root mean square coefficient of variation in % for unpaired analysis) for cartilage volume and thickness were 3.0–6.4% with coronal FLASHwe, 2.4–6.2% with coronal MPR DESSwe, and 2.3–8.2% with sagittal DESSwe. Correlation coefficients between DESSwe and FLASHwe ranged from r = 0.88 to 1.0. In the femoropatellar joint, precision errors (sagittal DESSwe) were 3.4–8.5%. Conclusions: DESSwe permits accurate and precise analysis of cartilage morphology in the femorotibial joint at 3 T. Further studies are needed to examine the accuracy of DESSwe in the femoropatellar joint and its ability to characterise sensitivity to longitudinal changes in cartilage morphology.
Are Banks Dead? Or are the Reports Greatly Exaggerated?

This paper reexamines the conventional wisdom that commercial banking is an industry in severe decline. We find that a careful reading of the evidence does not justify this conclusion. It is true that on-balance sheet assets held by commercial banks have declined as a share of total intermediary assets. But this measure overstates any drop in banking, for three reasons. First, it ignores the rapid growth in commercial banks' off-balance sheet activities. Second, it fails to take account of the substantial growth in off-shore C&I lending by foreign banks. Third, it ignores the fact that over the last several decades financial intermediation has grown rapidly relative to the rest of the economy. We find that after adjusting the measure of bank assets to account for these considerations there is no clear evidence of secular decline. To corroborate these findings, we also construct an alternative measure of the importance of banking, using data from the national income accounts. Again, we find no clear evidence of a sustained decline. At most the industry may have suffered a slight loss of market share over the last decade. But as we discuss, this loss may reflect a transitory response to a series of adverse shocks and the phasing in of new regulatory requirements, rather than the beginning of a permanent decline.
Extensive Variation in Chromatin States Across Humans

DNA Differences The extent to which genetic variation affects an individual's phenotype has been difficult to predict because the majority of variation lies outside the coding regions of genes. Now, three studies examine the extent to which genetic variation affects the chromatin of individuals with diverse ancestry and genetic variation (see the Perspective by Furey and Sethupathy). Kasowski et al. (p. 750, published online 17 October) examined how genetic variation affects differences in chromatin states and their correlation to histone modifications, as well as more general DNA binding factors. Kilpinen et al. (p. 744, published online 17 October) document how genetic variation is linked to allelic specificity in transcription factor binding, histone modifications, and transcription. McVicker et al. (p. 747, published online 17 October) identified how quantitative trait loci affect histone modifications in Yoruban individuals and established which specific transcription factors affect such modifications. Variability among humans with different ancestry affects chromatin states and gene expression. [Also see Perspective by Furey and Sethupathy] The majority of disease-associated variants lie outside protein-coding regions, suggesting a link between variation in regulatory regions and disease predisposition. We studied differences in chromatin states using five histone modifications, cohesin, and CTCF in lymphoblastoid lines from 19 individuals of diverse ancestry. We found extensive signal variation in regulatory regions, which often switch between active and repressed states across individuals. Enhancer activity is particularly diverse among individuals, whereas gene expression remains relatively stable. Chromatin variability shows genetic inheritance in trios, correlates with genetic variation and population divergence, and is associated with disruptions of transcription factor binding motifs. Overall, our results provide insights into chromatin variation among humans.
BLAST: RESOLVING THE COSMIC SUBMILLIMETER BACKGROUND

The Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (BLAST) has made 1 deg2, deep, confusion-limited maps at three different bands, centered on the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey South Field. By calculating the covariance of these maps with catalogs of 24 μm sources from the Far-Infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey, we have determined that the total submillimeter intensities are 8.60 ± 0.59, 4.93 ± 0.34, and 2.27 ± 0.20 nW m−2 sr−1 at 250, 350, and 500 μm, respectively. These numbers are more precise than previous estimates of the cosmic infrared background (CIB) and are consistent with 24 μm-selected galaxies generating the full intensity of the CIB. We find that the fraction of the CIB that originates from sources at z ⩾ 1.2 increases with wavelength, with 60% from high-redshift sources at 500 μm. At all BLAST wavelengths, the relative intensity of high-z sources is higher for 24 μm-faint sources than that for 24 μm-bright sources. Galaxies identified as active galactic nuclei (AGNs) by their Infrared Array Camera colors are 1.6–2.6 times brighter than the average population at 250–500 μm, consistent with what is found for X-ray-selected AGNs. BzK-selected galaxies are found to be moderately brighter than typical 24 μm-selected galaxies in the BLAST bands. These data provide high-precision constraints for models of the evolution of the number density and intensity of star-forming galaxies at high redshift.
Development of a virtual agent based social tutor for children with autism spectrum disorders

Virtual agents have been investigated as an educational tool for use with children on the autistic spectrum with positive results being gained for language skills with the use of autonomous agents and social skills with human-controlled agents. This project combines these ideas to investigate the utility of autonomous agents for teaching social skills. The virtual agent used in this project, known as the Thinking Head, has an ability to realistically portray facial expressions that lends it to this task. Two prototype modules were developed for this agent platform, one teaching basic conversation skills and the other dealing with bullying. In a pre-test-post-test evaluation, a group of children with autism who were exposed to the training modules obtained significantly higher post-test scores on their knowledge of these two topics. In addition, responses to a post-training survey indicated that participants found the virtual tutor enjoyable and useful.
Dietary Factors in Relation to Endometrial Cancer: A Nationwide Case-Control Study in Sweden

The incidence of endometrial cancer varies up to 10-fold between high- and low-incidence regions, suggesting the importance of environmental factors, including diet, in the etiology of this disease. However, few studies have examined the role of diet in the etiology of endometrial cancer. Using unconditional logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), we analyzed data from a large, case-control study of Swedish-born postmenopausal women aged 50-74 yr (709 cases and 2,887 controls) residing in Sweden between 1994 and 1995. We found no clear association between foods or food groups and endometrial cancer risk, although high consumption of certain foods, such as Brassica vegetables, coffee, and legumes, might be associated with small-to-moderate reduced risks of endometrial cancer, while red meat consumption might be associated with a small-to-moderate increased risk. Daily use of calcium supplements appeared to lower endometrial cancer risk (OR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.3-0.9, P for trend = 0.04), especially among women with low calcium intake from dairy products. On the other hand, the use of iron supplements appeared to increase the risk (OR = 1.7, 95% CI = 0.9-3.3, P for trend = 0.03). The findings are discussed with respect to previous studies and the possible underlying mechanisms.
The 2nd:4th digit ratio and asymmetry of hand performance in Jamaican children

Testosterone, particularly prenatal testosterone, has been implicated in the aetiology of many extragenital sexually dimorphic traits. It is difficult to test directly for the effect of prenatal testosterone in humans. However, Manning, Scutt, Wilson, and Lewis-Jones (1998b) have recently shown that the ratio of the length of the 2nd and 4th digits (2D:4D) in right hands negatively predicts testosterone levels in men. As digit ratios are fixed in utero it may be that the 2D:4D ratio is associated with many prenatally determined sexually dimorphic traits. We tested this for one case by examining the relationship between lateralised hand performance (LHP), as measured by an Annett peg board, and 2D:4D ratio in rural Jamaican children. 2D:4D ratio was measured from photocopies and X rays of hands. A low 2D:4D ratio in the right hand of boys and girls (photocopies) and the right hand of boys only (X rays) was associated with a reduction in rightward performance asymmetry. In both samples the difference in 2D:4D ratio between the hands (2D:4D left hand-2D:4D right hand) showed the strongest relationship with LHP i.e. high ratio in the left and low in the right correlated with a tendency towards a fast performance with the left hand. It is suggested that the 2D:4D ratio may be associated with the expression of other sexually dimorphic behavioural traits.
Accurate Modeling and Performance Analysis of IPM-PMASR Motors

Modern interior permanent magnet motors, suited to large constant-power speed ranges, have a multiple flux-barrier rotor structure and show a quite complex magnetic behavior. In this paper, the flux-current relationship of such motors is analyzed, and a simplified but effective model of the cross-saturation phenomenon is proposed and verified by experiment. In addition, new flux variables are introduced that allow a rigorous splitting of permanent-magnet (PM) and reluctance torques. It is shown that the PM contribution to torque is larger than expected from the PM no-load flux. This can lead to more accurate machine design and control strategies.
Motivation for Learning: An Implicit Decision-Making Process

Motivation for learning is concerned with the activation of learning behaviors. It has previously been proposed that decision-making models might offer an explanation for how learning behaviors do become activated. The aim of this position paper was to investigate this proposal. The three main decision-making models were described and analyzed. There were problematic aspects common to all the models, so it was argued that some modifications were necessary, in the following way. It was proposed that there are many factors that can influence learning behaviors, and some of these would have a positive influence (e.g., high self-efficacy, high individual interest, supportive peers) whereas others would have a negative influence (e.g., very low self- efficacy, lack of individual interest, disruptive peers, hunger and fatigue). In one particular lesson, a student could experience a combination of positive and negative factors, so this implies that a decision-making event would be necessary in order to determine whether or not learning behaviors become activated. For several reasons, it was concluded that at least part of the process of comparing the factors and making a decision could occur at a subconscious level.
Flow Control in Reliable Multicast Protocol

A Flow Control in Reliable Multicast transport protocol over combined (Fixed/Mobile) networks called (FCRM) is proposed. FCRM is based on a hierarchical structure where receivers are grouped into local regions. In each local region, there are special receivers, which are called Designated Receivers (DRs) and Mobile Agents (MAs). Each DR or MA is responsible for retransmission of requested packets to the receivers which belong to its local region. DRs and MAs send their acknowledgments periodically to the sender. They also process the acknowledgments sent to them from the Fixed Hosts (FHs) and Mobile Hosts (MHs) and they retransmit lost packets to the requesting receivers. In this paper each DR or MA sends its empty buffer size with the acknowledgment packet. Thus, when the sender calculates its available window, it compares the empty buffer sizes of all DRs and MAs and takes the smallest among them and compares this value with the value of the calculated available window and the available window is taken as the smaller of them. Simulations (using C++) have demonstrated the scalability of FCRM.
Calculating efficient semiparametric estimators for a broad class of missing-data problems

We develop efficient methods for computing semiparametric estimates in a wide variety of situations involving missing data and responseselective sampling. The methods are based on the profile likelihood. Estimates of the covariance matrix and associated test statistics are obtained at the same time. 2000 MSC codes: 62G99, 62J99.
GPCR Heterodimerization in the Reproductive System: Functional Regulation and Implication for Biodiversity

A G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) functions not only as a monomer or homodimer but also as a heterodimer with another GPCR. GPCR heterodimerization results in the modulation of the molecular functions of the GPCR protomer, including ligand binding affinity, signal transduction, and internalization. There has been a growing body of reports on heterodimerization of multiple GPCRs expressed in the reproductive system and the resultant functional modulation, suggesting that GPCR heterodimerization is closely associated with reproduction including the secretion of hormones and the growth and maturation of follicles and oocytes. Moreover, studies on heterodimerization among paralogs of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptors of a protochordate, Ciona intestinalis, verified the species-specific regulation of the functions of GPCRs via multiple GnRH receptor pairs. These findings indicate that GPCR heterodimerization is also involved in creating biodiversity. In this review, we provide basic and current knowledge regarding GPCR heterodimers and their functional modulation, and explore the biological significance of GPCR heterodimerization.