Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Collaborative Load Management with Safety Assurance in Smart Grids

Load shedding can combat the overload of a power grid that may jeopardize the grid’s safety. However, disconnected customers may be excessively inconvenienced or even endangered. With the emergence of demand-response based on cyber-enabled smart meters and appliances, customers may participate in solving the overload by curtailing their demands collaboratively such that no single customers will have to bear a disproportionate burden of reduced usage. However, compliance or commitment to curtailment requests by untrusted users is uncertain, which causes an important safety concern. This article proposes a two-phase load management scheme that (i) gives customers a chance to curtail their demands and correct a grid’s overload when there are no immediate safety concerns but (ii) falls back to load shedding to ensure safety once the grid enters a vulnerable state. Extensive simulations based on a 37-bus electrical grid and traces of real electrical load demonstrate the effectiveness of this scheme. In particular, if customers are, as expected, sufficiently committed to the load curtailment, overloads can be resolved in real time by collaborative and graceful usage degradation among them, thereby avoiding unpleasant load shedding.
Supporting hierarchy and heterogeneous interfaces in multi-hop wireless ad hoc networks

Much progress has been made toward solving the problem of routing packets inside an ad hoc network, but there are presently no complete proposals for connecting ad hoc networks together to form larger networks, or for integrating them with wired Internets. We describe a technique that allows a single ad hoc network to span across heterogeneous link layers. Using this technique, we can both integrate ad hoc networks into the hierarchical Internet and support the migration of mobile nodes from the Internet into and out of ad hoc networks via Mobile IP. Taken together, these solutions improve the scalability of flat ad hoc networks by introducing hierarchy, and they enable all nodes participating in the ad hoc network to be reachable from anywhere in the world. We have implemented each of the solutions in a real testbed of 8 nodes using the Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) protocol. Generalizing our solutions, we describe several abstract scenarios and present our ideas for solving them.
Planning, Scheduling and Monitoring for Airport Surface Operations

This paper explores the problem of managing movements of aircraft along the surface of busy airports. Airport surface management is a complex logistics problem involving the coordination of humans and machines. The work described here arose from the idea that autonomous towing vehicles for taxiing aircraft could offer a solution to the ’capacity problem’ for busy airports, the problem of getting more efﬁcient use of existing surface area to meet increasing demand. Supporting autonomous surface operations requires continuous planning, scheduling and monitoring of operations, as well as systems for optimizing complex human-machine interaction. We identify a set of computational subproblems of the surface management problem that would beneﬁt from recent advances in multi-agent planning and scheduling and probabilistic predictive modeling, and discuss preliminary work at integrating these components into a prototype of a surface management system.
Audio quality measurement by using digital watermarking

We present an objective audio quality measurement scheme by using semi-fragile digital audio watermarking. The scheme is based on the digital wavelet transform (DWT) and quantization. The original audio signal is not needed. The watermark is a PN-sequence generated from a secret key. We also discuss the optimization of the quantization step for different audio signals by employing an adaptive control method.
Health Related Quality of Life and Its Socio-Demographic Determinants among Iranian Elderly People: a Population Based Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction: In the stage of demographic transition, the rate of elderly is increasing and their health condition is a matter of concern. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the health related quality of life (QoL) and the associated socio-demographic determinants among Iranian elderly people. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study with a representative samples of 750 elderly people whom community dwelling in urban area of Babol, in the north of Iran. In a household survey, the demographic data were collected and the health related QoL was assessed with a validated standard short form questionnaire (SF-36). The multiple linear regression analysis was performed to determine the demographic characteristics in predicting QoL using SPSS ver 13. Results: The overall mean (SD) scores of QoL was 62.4(17.2) for men and 51.2 (17.9) for women. The mean scores of QoL in all dimensions in men had significantly higher than women. The adjusted regression coefficient of gender, age, educational level, being couple were significant on overall scores of QoL. Aging is inversely associated while male gender and education at high school or higher and being couple are positively associated in prediction of overall scores of QoL. Conclusion: The findings indicate that the health related QoL is rather poor in old people particular in women, elderly with low education level and being single. Therefore, healthcare policy makers should consider an urgent health interventional program among elderly people at present stage of demographic transition with emphasis on high risk demographic profiles.
ANALYSIS OF PCA-BASED AND FISHER DISCRIMINANT-BASED IMAGE RECOGNITION ALGORITHMS

One method of identifying images is to measure the similarity between images. This is accomplished by using measures such as the 1 L norm, 2 L norm, covariance, Mahalanobis distance, and correlation. These similarity measures can be calculated on the images in their original space or on the images projected into a new space. I discuss two alternative spaces in which these similarity measures may be calculated, the subspace created by the eigenvectors of the covariance matrix of the training data and the subspace created by the Fisher basis vectors of the data. Variations of these spaces will be discussed as well as the behavior of similarity measures within these spaces. Experiments are presented comparing recognition rates for different similarity measures and spaces using hand labeled imagery from two domains: human face recognition and classifying an image as a cat or a dog. for their support and knowledge over the past two years. Every member of my committee has been involved in some aspect of this thesis. It is through their interest and persuasion that I gained knowledge in this field. I thank Jonathon Phillips for providing me with the results and images from the FERET evaluation. Furthermore, I thank Jonathon for patiently answering numerous questions.
The Eight-Year Stability of Problem Behavior in an Epidemiologic Sample

This study assessed the 8-y stability and change of parent-reported problem behaviors in 791 children from the general population assessed at 2-y intervals with the same standardized procedure, the child behavior checklist (CBCL). Problem behaviors were rather stable across even the relatively long time interval of 8 y. The 8-y stability coefficient for total problem score was 0.48, with somewhat higher stability for externalizing than internalizing problems. Despite stability, problem behaviors also changed considerably across time. These changes do not only reflect the increase in chronologic age. The present study showed that there are changes in children's problem levels that result from historical time influences. These secular trends seemed of even greater importance than aging effects, and reflect a slight increase of the norm of children's problem behaviors.
Tourette syndrome and tic disorders: a decade of progress.

OBJECTIVE This is a review of progress made in the understanding of Tourette syndrome (TS) during the past decade including models of pathogenesis, state-of-the-art assessment techniques, and treatment. METHOD Computerized literature searches were conducted under the key words "Tourette syndrome," "Tourette disorder," and "tics. " Only references from 1996-2006 were included. RESULTS Studies have documented the natural history of TS and the finding that tics usually improve by the end of the second decade of life. It has also become clear that TS frequently co-occurs with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), obsessive-compulsive disorder, and a range of other mood and anxiety disorders. These comorbid conditions are often the major source of impairment for the affected child. Advances have also been made in understanding the underlying neurobiology of TS using in vivo neuroimaging and neurophysiology techniques. Progress on the genetic front has been less rapid. Proper diagnosis and education (involving the affected child and his or her parents, teachers, and peers) are essential prerequisites to the successful management of children with TS. When necessary, modestly effective antitic medications are available, although intervening to treat the comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and/or obsessive-compulsive disorder is usually the place to start. CONCLUSIONS Prospective longitudinal studies and randomized clinical trials have led to the refinement of several models of pathogenesis and advanced our evidence base regarding treatment options. However, fully explanatory models are needed that would allow for more accurate prognosis and the development of targeted and efficacious treatments.
Redistribution and Stabilization of Cell Surface Glutamate Receptors during Synapse Formation

Although the regulation of neurotransmitter receptors during synaptogenesis has been studied extensively at the neuromuscular junction, little is known about the control of excitatory neurotransmitter receptors during synapse formation in central neurons. Using antibodies against extracellular N-terminal (N-GluR1) and intracellular C-terminal (C-GluR1) domains of the AMPA receptor subunit GluR1, combined with surface biotinylation and metabolic labeling studies, we have characterized the redistribution and metabolic stabilization of the AMPA receptor subunit GluR1 during synapse formation in culture. Before synapse formation, GluR1 is distributed widely, both on the surface and within the dendritic cytoplasm of these neurons. The diffuse cell surface pool of receptor appears to be mobile within the membrane and can be induced to cluster by the addition of N-GluR1 to live neurons. As cultures mature and synapses form, there is a redistribution of surface GluR1 into clusters at excitatory synapses where it appears to be immobilized. The change in the distribution of GluR1 is accompanied by an increase in both the half-life of the receptor and the percentage of the total pool of GluR1 that is present on the cell surface. Blockade of postsynaptic AMPA and NMDA receptors had no effect on the redistribution of GluR1. These results begin to characterize the events regulating the distribution of AMPA receptors and demonstrate similarities between synapse formation at the neuromuscular junction and at excitatory synapses in cultured neurons.
Assessment of drinking water quality of Kopiliq village in Skenderaj, Kosovo

Abstract It is known that groundwater is an indispensable element without which we cannot think of life on our planet. It is also known that around 50% of the world’s population uses drinking water sources to meet the existential needs. Increment of population, industrial development and environmental pollution in our globe, directly or indirectly, has not only impacted groundwater pollution, but has also contributed in reducing the amount of water needed to meet elementary needs of man and other living beings. Therefore, for humanity, proper monitoring of groundwater became a priority in order to identify pollution levels and prevention of potable water sources from eventual contamination. Although Kosovo has sufficient water reserves, in most villages in the absence of infrastructure, the rural population in most cases for the purpose of providing drinking water uses water wells and springs. For this very reason, we have assessed the quality of the water wells located in the central part of Kosovo, in the village Kopiliq of Skenderaj. To assess the water quality of these wells, we have set the monitoring network, based on five monitoring points (wells), determining the organoleptic, physico-chemical parameters and bacteriological characteristics. Obtained sample results were compared with the reference values of Directive 98/83/EC – for drinking water quality and some wells resulted in exceeding the reference values for nitrite, chloride and total dissolved solids (TDS) whereas all wells were highly contaminated with bacteria.
Grouping-Proofs Based Access Control Using KP-ABE for IoT Applications

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a new paradigm in which every-day objects are interconnected between each other and to the Internet. This paradigm is receiving much attention of the scientific community and it is applied in many fields. In some applications, it is useful to prove that a number of objects are simultaneously present in a group. For example, an individual might want to authorize NFC payment with his mobile only if k of his devices are present to ensure that he is the right person. This principle is known as Grouping-Proofs. However, existing Grouping-Proofs schemes are mostly designed for RFID systems and don’t fulfill the IoT characteristics. In this paper, we propose a Threshold Grouping-Proofs for IoT applications. Our scheme uses the Key-Policy Attribute-Based Encryption (KP-ABE) protocol to encrypt a message so that it can be decrypted only if at least k objects are simultaneously present in the same location. A security analysis and performance evaluation is conducted to show the effectiveness of our proposal solution.
Focus of Attention in Reinforcement Learning

Classification-based reinforcement learning (RL) methods have recently been proposed as an alternative to the traditional value-function based methods. These methods use a classifier to represent a policy, where the input (features) to the classifier is the state and the output (class label) for that state is the desired action. The reinforcement-learning community knows that focusing on more important states can lead to improved performance. In this paper, we investigate the idea of focused learning in the context of classification-based RL. Specifically, we define a useful notation of state importance, which we use to prove rigorous bounds on policy loss. Furthermore, we show that a classification-based RL agent may behave arbitrarily poorly if it treats all states as equally important.
Immunological and virological factors at baseline may predict response to structured therapy interruption in early stage chronic HIV-1 infection

BackgroundThe objective was to analyse which baseline factors could predict a favourable outcome after structured therapy interruption (STI). MethodsData of three Spanish pilot studies of STI in early stage chronic HIV-1-infected patients were analysed. A set of 37 variables at baseline was used. Plasma and tonsillar tissue viral load (VL), lymphocyte immunophenotyping and proliferative responses (LPR) to mitogens and specific antigens, and HIV-1 specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses were assessed at baseline. Response was defined as a VL set-point after 6 months off antiretroviral therapy after the last interruption of < 5000 copies/ml and 0.5 log10 below baseline PVL before any antiretroviral therapy. ResultsAfter STI, the 44 patients were classified as follows: 18 (41%) as responders, 26 (59%) as non-responders. In the univariate analysis patients who responded had a significantly lower baseline level of CD4CD38 (P = 0.0068) and naive CD4 T cells (P = 0.03), and a higher level of memory CD4 T cells (P = 0.03) and proliferative response to tetanus toxoid (TT) (P = 0.01) and HIV-1 p24 (P = 0.03) than non-responders. A model incorporating five qualitative variables transformed according to the median value (CD4CD38, CD4 naive and memory T cells and stimulation index to TT and HIV-1 p24) at baseline could classify 97% of patients correctly (P = 0.0001). ConclusionsA level of memory CD4 T cells and proliferative response to recall antigens above the median may predict a good response to STI, suggesting that preserved memory response in CD4 T cells is important factor.
On Equivalence and Inconsistency of Answer Set Programs with External Sources

HEX-programs extend of answer-set programs (ASP) with ex-ternal sources. In previous work, notions of equivalence ofASP programs under extensions have been developed. Mostwell-known are strong equivalence, which is given for pro-grams P and Q if P ∪ R and Q ∪ R have the same answersets for arbitrary programs R, and uniform equivalence, whichis given if this is guaranteed for sets R of facts. More fine-grained approaches exist, which restrict the set of atoms inthe added program R. In this paper we provide a characteriza-tion of equivalence of HEX -programs. Since well-known ASPextensions (e.g. constraint ASP) amount to special cases ofHEX , the results are interesting beyond the particular formal-ism. Based on this, we further characterize inconsistency ofprograms wrt. program extensions. We then discuss possibleapplications of the results for algorithms improvements.
Carbohydrate Recognition on MUC1‐Expressing Targets Enhances Cytotoxicity of a T Cell Subpopulation

The influence of the epithelial mucin MUC1 on T cell‐mediated lysis was analysed using lymph node lymphocytes (LNL) from patients with colorectal carcinoma. LNL were stimulated with allogeneic, MUC1‐transfected B cells and the bulk cultures were cloned. Alloreactive cytotoxic T cell clones were obtained which preferentially lysed MUC1‐expressing targets. The majority was CD4+ and MHC‐class II‐restricted, and a minor group was CD8+ and MHC‐class I‐restricted. All the clones expressed CD3 and TCRαβ, and were CD56−. The capacity to preferentially kill MUC1‐expressing targets was stable in several clones for up to 6 months in culture. The enhancing effect of MUC1 on the lysis was investigated in more detail. It was only seen after inhibition of O‐linked glycosylation in the targets. Furthermore, this effect was completely abrogated by the monoclonal antibody 3C9, directed against the Thomsen–Friedenreich antigen (T‐antigen, Galβ1–3GalNAc bound α1–3 to Ser/Thr) as well as by the soluble disaccharide Galβ1–3GalNAc, but not by other similar disaccharides. The authors conclude that in their system the preferential killing of MUC1‐expressing targets is due to the recognition of an internal carbohydrate epitope accessible on underglycosylated MUC1, possibly T‐antigen, by an auxiliary receptor molecule on T cells.
Tilting bundles via the Frobenius morphism

We show how to construct tilting bundles for a class of smooth projective varieties using characteristic $p$ methods. Given such a variety $X$, reduce it modulo a prime number and consider the direct image of the structure sheaf under the Frobenius morphism. We prove that under suitable restrictions on the characteristic, these direct images are tilting bundles for some toric Fano varieties, Del Pezzo surfaces, and flag varieties $G/B$ of type $A_2$ and $B_2$.
Stress State in the Kumano Basin and in Slope Sediment Determined From Anelastic Strain Recovery: Results From IODP Expedition 338 to the Nankai Trough

Three‐dimensional, in situ stresses in the Kumano Basin and slope sediment (IODP Sites C0002 and C0022) in the Nankai Trough, southwest Japan, have been determined using the anelastic strain recovery (ASR) of core samples. Two samples taken from Hole C0002J, located in the bottom of the Kumano Basin, indicate that the maximum principal stress, σ1, is vertical. The intermediate principal stress, σ2, is oriented ENE–WSW, parallel to the trench axis. These stress orientations are similar to those obtained using ASR and borehole breakout methods in previous expeditions. In contrast, a sample from the lower section of the slope sediment (Hole C0022B), located beneath the megasplay fault, is characterized by σ1 plunging moderately to the ESE and σ3 oriented near‐horizontally, trending NNE–SSW. The direction of maximum horizontal stress obtained from ASR (WNW–ESE) is similar to that inferred from borehole breakouts in an adjacent hole (NW–SE). Trench‐normal compression and a near‐vertical σ2 are also inferred from focal mechanisms of very‐low‐frequency earthquakes within the Nankai accretionary prism, and from borehole breakouts in the hanging wall of the megasplay fault. These observations suggest that the horizontal compressional regime extends to a shallower level than previously thought, likely due to the shallow portion of the megasplay fault accumulating tectonic stress in response to plate convergence.
Artificial Intelligence Entering Public Healthcare Ecosystems: Do Policies Matter?

The artificial intelligence (AI) field can be traced back to the 1950th (Tzafestas, 2016). In recent years, with the emerging of web 3.0 and big data, AI is rapidly flourishing and start to be widely used in many fields, such as high tech, the automotive industry, financial services, retail, media, education, healthcare and travel (Chui, 2017). Early business adopters regard AI as increasing revenue, while organizations using AI expect lower costs and efficient service (Chui, 2017). In the healthcare sector, the use of AI is slow, compared with other fields, but its adoption is steadily increasing, due to the nature of healthcare services, which require face-to-face interactions for its service delivery (Jung & Padman, 2015). The use of AI in healthcare is a promising field for many businesses (Chui, 2017; Dirican, 2015; McKinsey Global Institute, 2017) and it will be likely to redesign the healthcare sector in many aspects, such as in mining medical records, designing treatment plans, and assisting repetitive jobs (Meskó, 2016).
Extremal rotating solutions in Horava gravity

Recently a new four-dimensional nonrelativistic renormalizable theory of gravity was proposed by Ho\ifmmode \check{r}\else \v{r}\fi{}ava. In this paper we have found different near horizon geometries in Ho\ifmmode \check{r}\else \v{r}\fi{}ava gravity. We find the rotating solutions in a special range of parameters of the theory. This range allows us to include up to six derivative terms in the equations of motion. We have found our solutions as perturbed solutions over spherical symmetric background with small rotating parameter.
Speed limit traffic sign detection and recognition based on support vector machines

Speed limit traffic sign recognition plays a key role in intelligent transport system (ITS), especially in driver assistant system (DAS) and intelligent autonomous vehicles (IAV). Although traffic signs are clearly defined in color, shapes for easily detecting purpose, an excellent traffic sign detection system still be a challenge for researchers and manufactures because of the strict requirements of correct rate to be able to apply in the reality. In this paper, a speed limit traffic sign detection and recognition program was developed based on Visual Studio and OpenCV library. We used color probability model to detect the candidates and applied Histogram of Gradient (HOG) combining with Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier to remove all wrong candidates, keep only speed limit traffic signs. Then the information of speed limit traffic sign was extracted. The testing results show that the system can detect and recognize the information of limit speed traffic signs with high correct rate even in complicated background conditions and existing overlapped area in traffic signs.