Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lens magnification by CL0024+1654 in the U and R band

We estimate the total mass distribution of the galaxy cluster CL0024+1654 from the measured source depletion due to lens magnication in the R band. Within a radius of 0:54h 1 Mpc, a total projected mass of (8:1 3:2)10 14 h 1 M (EdS) is measured. The 1 error here includes shot noise, source clustering, uncertainty in background count normalisation and contamination from cluster and foreground galaxies. This corresponds to a mass-to-light ratio of M=LB = 470 180. We compute the luminosity function of CL0024+1654 in order to estimate contamination of the background source counts from cluster galaxies. Three dierent magnication- based reconstruction methods are employed: 1) an estimator method using a local calculation of lens shear; 2) a non-local, self-consistent method applicable to axi-symmetric mass distributions; 3) a non-local, self-consistent method for derivation of 2D mass maps. We have modied the standard single power-law slope number count theory to incorporate a break and applied this to our observations. Fitting analytical magnication proles of dierent cluster models to the observed number counts, we nd that CL0024+1654 is best described either by a NFW model with scale radius rs = 334 191h 1 kpc and normalisation s =0 :23 0:08 or a power-law prole with slope =0 :61 0:11, central surface mass density 0 =1 :52 0:20 and assuming a core radius of rcore =3 5h 1 kpc. The NFW model predicts that the cumulative projected mass contained within a radiusR scales as M(<R )=2 :9 10 14 (R=1 0 ) 1:3 0: 5l g(R=1 0 ) h 1 M. Finally, we have exploited the fact that flux magnication eectively enables us to probe deeper than the physical limiting magnitude of our observations in searching for a change of slope in the U band number counts. We rule out both a total flattening of the counts with a break up to UAB 26:6 and a change of slope, reported by some studies, from d logN=dm =0 :4! 0:15 up to UAB 26:4 with 95% condence.
A Semianalytical Approach for a Nonconfocal Suspended Strip in an Elliptical Waveguide

A problem of a nonconfocal suspended strip in an elliptical waveguide is analyzed by using a semianalytical approach, which is the so-called null-field boundary integral-equation method (BIEM). The null-field BIEM is proposed by introducing the idea of null field, degenerate kernels, and eigenfunction expansion to improve the conventional dual boundary-element method (BEM). A closed-form fundamental solution can be expressed in terms of the degenerate kernel containing the Mathieu and modified Mathieu functions in the elliptical coordinates. Boundary densities are represented by using the eigenfunction expansion. By this way, the efficiency is promoted in three aspects: analytical boundary integral without numerical error, natural bases for boundary densities, and exact description of boundary geometry. Due to the semianalytical formulation, the null-field BIEM can fully capture the property of geometry and the error only occurs from the truncation of the number of the eigenfunction expansion terms in the real implementation. The present method is also a kind of meshless method since only boundary nodes are needed to construct influence matrices instead of using boundary elements. Both TE and TM cases are considered in this paper. To verify the validity of the present method, the dual BEM and finite-element method are also utilized to provide cutoff wavenumbers. Besides, the analytical solution of a confocal elliptical waveguide can be derived by using the present method. After comparing with published data, good agreement is made.
Enabling email access under intermittent connectivity

In this paper, we propose a PEP based Mail Proxy to enable mobile users to access email services over disruptive links. The proposed scheme offers a disruption tolerant proxy service for email client to communicate over intermittently connected links. The proposed scheme is transparent to the email client and requires no modification or configuration on the client. In addition, it enables the support for a large group of people without requiring individual configuration on each user device. The proposed protocol is implemented with SMTP support and a test bed is built. The performance result shows that it can deliver messages over disruptive links whereas direct IP connections fails.
Programming Reality within the Reality-Based Interaction Framework

In this position paper, we propose the Reality-Based Interaction (RBI) framework as a basis for analyzing, designing, and understanding organic user interfaces and transitive materials. This framework also allows us to relate these research paths to the broader domain of emerging post-WIMP interaction techniques. We believe that viewing interaction through the lens of Reality-Based Interaction (RBI) might provide insights for design and uncover gaps or opportunities for future research.
Vitamin D supplementation in early childhood and risk of type 1 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objectives: To assess whether vitamin D supplementation in infancy reduces the risk of type 1 diabetes in later life. Methods: This was a systematic review and meta-analysis using Medline, Embase, Cinahl, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and reference lists of retrieved articles. The main outcome measure was development of type 1 diabetes. Controlled trials and observational studies that had assessed the effect of vitamin D supplementation on risk of developing type 1 diabetes were included in the analysis. Results: Five observational studies (four case-control studies and one cohort study) met the inclusion criteria; no randomised controlled trials were found. Meta-analysis of data from the case-control studies showed that the risk of type 1 diabetes was significantly reduced in infants who were supplemented with vitamin D compared to those who were not supplemented (pooled odds ratio 0.71, 95% CI 0.60 to 0.84). The result of the cohort study was in agreement with that of the meta-analysis. There was also some evidence of a dose-response effect, with those using higher amounts of vitamin D being at lower risk of developing type 1 diabetes. Finally, there was a suggestion that the timing of supplementation might also be important for the subsequent development of type 1 diabetes. Conclusion: Vitamin D supplementation in early childhood may offer protection against the development of type 1 diabetes. The evidence for this is based on observational studies. Adequately powered, randomised controlled trials with long periods of follow-up are needed to establish causality and the best formulation, dose, duration and period of supplementation.
Detecting intraday periodicities with application to high frequency exchange rates

Summary. Many recent papers have documented periodicities in returns, return volatility, bid–ask spreads and trading volume, in both equity and foreign exchange markets. We propose and employ a new test for detecting subtle periodicities in time series data based on a signal coherence function. The technique is applied to a set of seven half‐hourly exchange rate series. Overall, we find the signal coherence to be maximal at the 8‐h and 12‐h frequencies. Retaining only the most coherent frequencies for each series, we implement a trading rule that is based on these observed periodicities. Our results demonstrate in all cases except one that, in gross terms, the rules can generate returns that are considerably greater than those of a buy‐and‐hold strategy, although they cannot retain their profitability net of transactions costs. We conjecture that this methodology could constitute an important tool for financial market researchers which will enable them to detect, quantify and rank the various periodic components in financial data better.
Vulnerability Analysis and Attacks on NFC-Enabled Mobile Phones

Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled mobile phones and services are starting to appear in the field, yet no attempt was made to analyze the security of NFC-enabled mobile phones. The situation is critical because NFC is mostly used in the area of payment and ticketing. This paper presents our approach to security testing of NFC-enabled mobile phones. Our approach takes into account not only the NFC-subsystem but also software components that can be controlled through the NFC-interface. Through our testing approach, we were able to identify a number of previously unknown vulnerabilities, some of which can be exploited for spoofing of tag content, an NFC-based worm, and for Denial-of-Service attacks. We further show that our findings can be applied to real world NFC-services.
Mitigating packet loss in connectionless Bluetooth Low Energy

In this paper, we investigate various methods to combat packet loss in a residential communication system based on the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) standard, focusing on BLE's connectionless mode (undirected advertising) in which no retransmissions are possible. We start by introducing two orthogonally polarised antennas at the receiver, thus improving the probability of successful reception. This is followed by enabling error correction using redundancy introduced by the Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) code of BLE. The CRC error correction is based on a novel approach of applying iterative decoding algorithms. We then consider a BLE system deployed in a residential environment and utilise the presence of multiple receivers that are necessary to provide coverage. These three techniques come at no cost for the transmitter, thus preserving its energy efficiency. The final technique deals with error control coding in the application layer, in which some redundancy is added at the transmitter before data is sent to the physical layer. By combining all four methods, a distributed error correction algorithm is developed. Using real BLE packets collected in a typical 2-storey house, it is shown that the designed system can correct 80% of all corrupted packets.
Proteomic prediction and Renin angiotensin aldosterone system Inhibition prevention Of early diabetic nephRopathy in TYpe 2 diabetic patients with normoalbuminuria (PRIORITY): essential study design and rationale of a randomised clinical multicentre trial

Introduction Diabetes mellitus affects 9% of the European population and accounts for 15% of healthcare expenditure, in particular, due to excess costs related to complications. Clinical trials aiming for earlier prevention of diabetic nephropathy by renin angiotensin system blocking treatment in normoalbumuric patients have given mixed results. This might reflect that the large fraction of normoalbuminuric patients are not at risk of progression, thereby reducing power in previous studies. A specific risk classifier based on urinary proteomics (chronic kidney disease (CKD)273) has been shown to identify normoalbuminuric diabetic patients who later progressed to overt kidney disease, and may hold the potential for selection of high-risk patients for early intervention. Combining the ability of CKD273 to identify patients at highest risk of progression with prescription of preventive aldosterone blockade only to this high-risk population will increase power. We aim to confirm performance of CKD273 in a prospective multicentre clinical trial and test the ability of spironolactone to delay progression of early diabetic nephropathy. Methods and analysis Investigator-initiated, prospective multicentre clinical trial, with randomised double-masked placebo-controlled intervention and a prospective observational study. We aim to include 3280 type 2 diabetic participants with normoalbuminuria. The CKD273 classifier will be assessed in all participants. Participants with high-risk pattern are randomised to treatment with spironolactone 25 mg once daily, or placebo, whereas, those with low-risk pattern will be observed without intervention other than standard of care. Treatment or observational period is 3 years. The primary endpoint is development of confirmed microalbuminuria in 2 of 3 first morning voids urine samples. Ethics and dissemination The study will be conducted under International Conference on Harmonisation – Good clinical practice (ICH-GCP) requirements, ethical principles of Declaration of Helsinki and national laws. This first new biomarker-directed intervention trial aiming at primary prevention of diabetic nephropathy may pave the way for personalised medicine approaches in treatment of diabetes complications. Trial registration number NCT02040441; Pre-results.
Versatile MLCP estimator low-power fixed-width booth multiplier

Booth multiplier is a multiplication of two binary numbers in two's complement notation and the proposed project new technique introduced i.e. fixed width multiplier is part of booth multiplier, in this 5-2 compressor is used with pipelining so that it leads to decrease the absolute error and improve the accuracy and delay also less. Unlike previous conditional-probability methods, the proposed Multi Level Conditional Probability uses entire nonzero code, namely MLCP, to estimate the truncation error and achieve higher accuracy levels. Pipeline architecture is used for decreasing delay. And entire the project working in the Xilinx model simulator tool and RTL developed written by code in VHDL.
Dosage effects of diabetes self-management education for Mexican Americans: the Starr County Border Health Initiative.

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to compare two diabetes self-management interventions designed for Mexican Americans: "extended" (24 h of education, 28 h of support groups) and "compressed" (16 h of education, 6 h of support groups). Both interventions were culturally competent regarding language, diet, social emphasis, family participation, and incorporating cultural beliefs. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We recruited 216 persons between 35 and 70 years of age diagnosed with type 2 diabetes >/=1 year. Intervention groups of eight participants and eight support persons were randomly assigned to the compressed or extended conditions. The interventions differed in total number of contact hours over the year-long intervention period, with the major difference being the number of support group sessions held. The same information provided in the educational sessions of the extended intervention was compressed into fewer sessions, thus providing more information during each group meeting. RESULTS The interventions were not statistically different in reducing HbA(1c); however, both were effective. A "dosage effect" of attendance was detected with the largest HbA(1c) reductions achieved by those who attended more of the extended intervention. For individuals who attended >/=50% of the intervention, baseline to 12-month HbA(1c) change was -0.6 percentage points for the compressed group and -1.7 percentage points for the extended group. CONCLUSIONS Both culturally competent diabetes self-management education interventions were effective in promoting improved metabolic control and diabetes knowledge. A dosage effect was evident; attending more sessions resulted in greater improvements in metabolic control.
Modest Salt Reduction Reduces Blood Pressure and Urine Protein Excretion in Black Hypertensives: A Randomized Control Trial

High blood pressure and proteinuria are the major risk factors for cardiovascular and renal disease. In black individuals, there is an increased risk of hypertension, stroke, heart failure, and kidney disease. There are no controlled studies of the effects of reducing salt intake on blood pressure and urine protein excretion in black individuals. Therefore, the aim of our study was to determine the effects of modest salt restriction on blood pressure and urine protein excretion in nondiabetic black hypertensive subjects. The study was randomized, double blind, and placebo controlled. After run-in periods on their usual diet and on reduced salt, participants continued to restrict their salt intake and then received either slow sodium tablets, designed to bring their salt intake back to normal, or placebo tablets for 4 weeks in a randomized, double-blind, crossover study. In the 40 who completed the study, urinary sodium excretion fell on slow sodium to placebo from 169±73 to 89±52 mmol per 24 hours (P<0.001; ≈10 to 5 g salt per day). Blood pressure fell from 159/101±13/8 to 151/98±13/8 mm Hg (P<0.01). Protein excretion fell from 93±48 mg to 75±30 mg per 24 hours (P<0.008). Thus, reducing salt intake from ≈10 to 5 g per day reduced blood pressure and urine protein excretion in black hypertensives. In light of these findings, we would recommend that all black individuals with raised blood pressure reduce their salt intake to ≤5 g per day.
Combating Coevolutionary Disengagement by Reducing Parasite Virulence

While standard evolutionary algorithms employ a static, absolute fitness metric, co-evolutionary algorithms assess individuals by their performance relative to populations of opponents that are themselves evolving. Although this arrangement offers the possibility of avoiding long-standing difficulties such as premature convergence, it suffers from its own unique problems, cycling, over-focusing and disengagement. Here, we introduce a novel technique for dealing with the third and least explored of these problems. Inspired by studies of natural host-parasite systems, we show that disengagement can be avoided by selecting for individuals that exhibit reduced levels of virulence, rather than maximum ability to defeat coevolutionary adversaries. Experiments in both simple and complex domains are used to explain how this counterintuitive approach may be used to improve the success of coevolutionary algorithms.
Why do people postpone parenthood? Reasons and social policy incentives.

BACKGROUND Never before have parents in most Western societies had their first children as late as in recent decades. What are the central reasons for postponement? What is known about the link between the delay of childbearing and social policy incentives to counter these trends? This review engages in a systematic analysis of existing evidence to extract the maximum amount of knowledge about the reasons for birth postponement and the effectiveness of social policy incentives. METHODS The review followed the PRISMA procedure, with literature searches conducted in relevant demographic, social science and medical science databases (SocINDEX, Econlit, PopLine, Medline) and located via other sources. The search focused on subjects related to childbearing behaviour, postponement and family policies. National, international and individual-level data sources were also used to present summary statistics. RESULTS There is clear empirical evidence of the postponement of the first child. Central reasons are the rise of effective contraception, increases in women's education and labour market participation, value changes, gender equity, partnership changes, housing conditions, economic uncertainty and the absence of supportive family policies. Evidence shows that some social policies can be effective in countering postponement. CONCLUSIONS The postponement of first births has implications on the ability of women to conceive and parents to produce additional offspring. Massive postponement is attributed to the clash between the optimal biological period for women to have children with obtaining additional education and building a career. A growing body of literature shows that female employment and childrearing can be combined when the reduction in work-family conflict is facilitated by policy intervention.
Hidden Semi-Markov Model Based Speech Recognition System using Weighted Finite-State Transducer

In hidden Markov models (HMMs), state duration probabilities decrease exponentially with time. It would be an inappropriate representation of temporal structure of speech. One of the solutions for this problem is integrating state duration probability distributions explicitly into the HMM. This form is known as a hidden semi-Markov model (HSMM). Although a number of attempts to use explicit duration models in speech recognition systems have been proposed, they are not consistent because various approximations were used in both training and decoding. In the present paper, a fully consistent speech recognition system based on the HSMM framework is proposed. In a speaker-dependent continuous speech recognition experiment, HSMM-based speech recognition system achieved about 5.9% relative error reduction over the corresponding HMM-based one
Delay Bounds of Chunk-Based Peer-to-Peer Video Streaming

Peer-to-peer (P2P) systems exploit the uploading bandwidth of individual peers to distribute content at low server cost. While the P2P bandwidth sharing design is very efficient for bandwidth-sensitive applications, it imposes a fundamental performance constraint for delay-sensitive applications: The uploading bandwidth of a peer cannot be utilized to upload a piece of content until it completes the download of that content. This constraint sets up a limit on how fast a piece of content can be disseminated to all peers in a P2P system. In this paper, we theoretically study the impact of this inherent delay constraint and derive the minimum delay bounds for P2P live streaming systems. We show that the bandwidth heterogeneity among peers can be exploited to significantly improve the delay performance of all peers. We further propose a conceptual snowball streaming algorithm to approach the minimum delay bound in a dynamic P2P networking environment. Our analysis and simulation suggest that the proposed algorithm has better delay performance and more robust than static balanced multi-tree-based streaming solutions. Insights brought forth by our study can be used to guide the design of new P2P systems with shorter streaming delays.
F ¨ Ur Mathematik in Den Naturwissenschaften Leipzig Crack Initiation in Elastic Bodies Crack Initiation in Elastic Bodies

In this paper we study the crack initiation in a hyper-elastic body governed by a Griffith's type energy. We prove that, during a load process through a time dependent boundary datum of the type t → tg(x) and in absence of strong singularities (this is the case of homogeneous isotropic materials) the crack initiation is brutal, i.e., a big crack appears after a positive time ti > 0. On the contrary, in presence of a point x of strong singularity, a crack will depart from x at the initial time of loading and with zero velocity. We prove these facts (largely expected by the experts of material science) for admissible cracks belonging to the large class of closed one dimensional sets with a finite number of connected components. The main tool we employ to address the problem is a local minimality result for the functional E (u, Γ) := Z Ω f (x, ∇v) dx + kH 1 (Γ), where Ω ⊆ R 2 , k > 0 and f is a suitable Carathéodory function. We prove that if the uncracked configuration u of Ω relative to a boundary displacement ψ has uniformly weak singularities, then configurations (uΓ, Γ) with H 1 (Γ) small enough are such that E (u, ∅) < E (uΓ, Γ).