Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Disaster Information Network Based on Software Defined Network Framework

In this paper, we introduce Software Defined Network framework based on dynamic network reconfiguration method to improve the connectivity. Our network system is consisted of multiple mobile routers based on currently available wireless LANs including IEEE802.11b, g, j, n, IEEE802.16 (WiMAX), cellular networks, satellite IP network and green energy. Those wireless networks are interconnected by OpenFlow Switch and their links and routes are managed by OpenFlow Controller. The proper communication links and routes can be selected based on the required network characteristic, such as electro-magnetic field strength, throughput, latency, packet loss rate and communication distance. User can continue to transmit/receive the disaster information in disaster area even though a part of the network infrastructure is damaged due to the disaster using OpenFlow framework as software defined architecture and green based energy. In this paper, we designed and implemented a disaster information wireless network with currently available different wireless LANs and constructed a prototype system to evaluate the performance of the mobile router.
Towards Personalized Cardiology: Multi-Scale Modeling of the Failing Heart

Background Despite modern pharmacotherapy and advanced implantable cardiac devices, overall prognosis and quality of life of HF patients remain poor. This is in part due to insufficient patient stratification and lack of individualized therapy planning, resulting in less effective treatments and a significant number of non-responders. Methods and Results State-of-the-art clinical phenotyping was acquired, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and biomarker assessment. An individualized, multi-scale model of heart function covering cardiac anatomy, electrophysiology, biomechanics and hemodynamics was estimated using a robust framework. The model was computed on n=46 HF patients, showing for the first time that advanced multi-scale models can be fitted consistently on large cohorts. Novel multi-scale parameters derived from the model of all cases were analyzed and compared against clinical parameters, cardiac imaging, lab tests and survival scores to evaluate the explicative power of the model and its potential for better patient stratification. Model validation was pursued by comparing clinical parameters that were not used in the fitting process against model parameters. Conclusion This paper illustrates how advanced multi-scale models can complement cardiovascular imaging and how they could be applied in patient care. Based on obtained results, it becomes conceivable that, after thorough validation, such heart failure models could be applied for patient management and therapy planning in the future, as we illustrate in one patient of our cohort who received CRT-D implantation.
Power to the people: exploring neighbourhood formations in social recommender system

The explosive growth of online social networks in recent times has presented a powerful source of information to be utilised in personalised recommendations. Unsurprisingly there has already been a large body of work completed in the recommender system field to incorporate this social information into the recommendation process. In this paper we examine the practice of leveraging a user's social graph in order to generate recommendations. Using various neighbourhood selection strategies, we examine the user satisfaction and the level of perceived trust in the recommendations received.
ROAD ROUNDABOUT EXTRACTION FROM VERY HIGH RESOLUTION AERIAL IMAGERY

Road roundabouts, as a class of road junctions, are generally not explicitly modelled in existing road extraction approaches. This paper presents a new approach for the automatic extraction of roundabouts from aerial imagery through the use of prior knowledge from an existing topographic database. The proposed snake-based approach makes use of ziplock snakes. The external force of the ziplock snake, which is a combination of the Gradient Vector Flow force and the Balloon force, is modified based on the shape of the roundabout central island to enable the roundabout border to be delineated. Fixed boundary conditions for the proposed snake are provided by the existing road arms. A level set framework employing a hybrid evolution strategy is then exploited to extract the central island. Black-and-white aerial images of 0.1 m ground resolution taken over suburban and rural areas have been used in experimental tests which have demonstrated the validity of the proposed approach.
Remote Attestation for HDD Files Using Kernel Protection Mechanism

A remote attestation that measures files on a hard disk drive (HDD) is important for intrusion detection on a data center server. When the server is infected by a rootkit or when a file measurement application is manipulated, the response of the kernel or the measurement application is not reliable. A trusted platform module (TPM) that achieves a chain of trust from BIOS to kernel upon booting is proposed to provide the remote attestation. However, as the data center server is rarely rebooted, the TPM is ill suited for file measurements of the running server. In this paper, we propose an on-demand remote attestation scheme for HDD files of the server. We designed and implemented a trust chain from the BIOS via the kernel and the file measurement application to the HDD files on a running server for secure integrity measurement. A memory virtualization technique is applied to guarantee the integrity of the running kernel, and the file measurement application is verified using a code signature. Also, we implement a mechanism that attaches the server's signature to a measurement result in a trusted kernel. Finally, our proposed scheme achieves a result whereby the remote verifier can measure the integrity of the server files securely at any time.
The neural correlates of perceiving human bodies: an ERP study on the body-inversion effect

The present study investigated the neural correlates of perceiving human bodies. Focussing on the N170 as an index of structural encoding, we recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) to images of bodies and faces (either neutral or expressing fear) and objects, while subjects viewed the stimuli presented either upright or inverted. The N170 was enhanced and delayed to inverted bodies and faces, but not to objects. The emotional content of faces affected the left N170, the occipito-parietal P2, and the fronto-central N2, whereas body expressions affected the frontal vertex positive potential (VPP) and a sustained fronto-central negativity (300–500 ms). Our results indicate that, like faces, bodies are processed configurally, and that within each category qualitative differences are observed for emotional as opposed to neutral images.
Visible/near infrared reflectance and chlorophyll content in Eucalyptus leaves

The visible/near infrared reflectance properties of leaves from several Eucalyptus species were studied to determine appropriate indices for remote sensing of chlorophyll content. A scatter correction technique was applied to the reflectance spectra to reduce the additive and multiplicative scattering effects of leaf surface and internal structure. This method gave improved calibrations for the estimation of chlorophyll content. Reflectance near 710nm wavelength showed maximum sensitivity to chlorophyll content. Reflectance near 550nm was a less sensitive indicator of chlorophyll content. Among several reflectance indices tested, the ratio (R850-R710)/(R850-R680) performed best, and is proposed as a new index for the remote estimation of chlorophyll content in higher plants. From the first derivative of reflectance, the ratio D1(754)/D1(704) and the wavelength position of the red edge were best correlated to chlorophyll content. The ratio D2(712)/D2(688) from the second derivative of reflectance was also .
2.4 A 0.028mm2 11mW single-mixing blocker-tolerant receiver with double-RF N-path filtering, S11 centering, +13dBm OB-IIP3 and 1.5-to-2.9dB NF

RF-tunable blocker-tolerant receivers (RXs) enhance the flexibility of multiband multistandard radios at low cost (Fig. 2.4.1). The mixer-first RX [1] delays the signal amplification to baseband (BB) by frequency-translating the BB lowpass response to RF as bandpass. This raises the out-of-band (OB) IIP3 (27dBm) at the expense of NF (5.5dB) and power (60mW) due to no RF gain. The noisecancellation RX [2] breaks such a tradeoff by paralleling a voltage-sensing RX with the mixer-first RX. This achieves a better pair of NF (1.9dB) and OB-IIP3 (13.5dBm), but sacrifices more die size (1.2mm2) and power (<;78mW) to accommodate the doubled RF and BB circuits. In [3], N-path RF filtering and noise cancellation are concurrently attained in one current-reuse RX. That approach saves die area (0.55mm2) and power (16.2mW) at a high OB-IIP3 (17.4dBm), but requires a high VDD (2.5V) to widen the voltage headroom. Also, seeing that its NF (4.6dB) is handicapped by the input-impedance matching requirement (S11<;-10dB), there is no flexibility to get better NF. Finally, as both [2] and [3] involve two mixing steps, the LO power is penalized.
Environmental innovation in industry: the importance of environmentally-driven users

This paper is concerned with the extent to which firms are integrating environmental considerations into their innovation process. After making some general observations on environmentally-linked technological innovations in industry, we review the results of research we have conducted in the UK. From this research, we conclude that, although such integration is indeed taking place to some extent, it is not necessarily leading to rapid environmental improvement and we identify some of the obstacles that are slowing progress. We suggest that more rapid improvement through environmental innovation is dependent on growth in the body of environmentally-driven users, a process that, to date, seems to be fertilised best by strong regulation. This would lead innovating firms to look more actively at environmental performance as a means of adding value instead of simply integrating environment into compliance checking procedures.
Quorum-sensing blockade as a strategy for enhancing host defences against bacterial pathogens

Conventional antibiotics target the growth and the basal life processes of bacteria leading to growth arrest and cell death. The selective force that is inherently linked to this mode of action eventually selects out antibiotic-resistant variants. The most obvious alternative to antibiotic-mediated killing or growth inhibition would be to attenuate the bacteria with respect to pathogenicity. The realization that Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and a number of other pathogens, controls much of their virulence arsenal by means of extracellular signal molecules in a process denoted quorum sensing (QS) gave rise to a new ‘drug target rush’. Recently, QS has been shown to be involved in the development of tolerance to various antimicrobial treatments and immune modulation. The regulation of virulence via QS confers a strategic advantage over host defences. Consequently, a drug capable of blocking QS is likely to increase the susceptibility of the infecting organism to host defences and its clearance from the host. The use of QS signal blockers to attenuate bacterial pathogenicity, rather than bacterial growth, is therefore highly attractive, particularly with respect to the emergence of multi-antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Navigating Environmental Attitudes

Chapter 1: Attitudes, Rivers, and Environmental Fixes Chapter 2: Reading Water and Minds Chapter 3: Aldo Leopold Meets the Bennington Women Chapter 4: Attitudes are Not Everything Chapter 5: Educating the Public . and Other Disasters Chapter 6: Norms Chapter 7: Aldo Leopold and the Flying Horse Chapter 8: Avoiding the Cognitive Fix Keeper Hole Chapter 9: Going with the Flow Chapter 10: Increasing the Flow: Activating and Creating Norms Chapter 11: Thinking Beyond the Rim Acknowledgements Notes Bibliography Index
Bext 2 (G,T) CAN BE NONTRIVIAL, EVEN ASSUMING GCH

Using the consistency of some large cardinals we produce a model of Set Theory in which the generalized continuum hypothesis holds and for some torsion-free abelian group G of cardinality ℵ! +1 and for some torsion group T Bext 2 (G,T) 6 0. Hence G.C. H. is not sufficient for getting the results of (10).
Maintaining forest diversity in a changing climate: A geophysical approach

Forest conservationists need a method to conserve the maximum amount of biological diversity while allowing species and communities to rearrange in response to a continually changing climate. Here, we develop such an approach for northeastern North America. First we characterize and categorize forest blocks based on their geology, landforms, and elevation zones. Next, for each distinct geophysical combination we locate the forest blocks with the highest amount of internally connected natural cover, and that have complex topography and large elevation ranges increasing their micro-climatic buffering. We hypothesized that these blocks have the greatest resilience to climate change, and will maintain a diversity of species and processes into the future. Finally we identify a network of high scoring blocks representing all geophysical settings and we examine the potential connections among and between them to prioritize linkages where maintaining natural covers would likely facilitate important regional movements. By focusing on the representation of physical diversity instead of on the current species composition, we identify a network of sites that will represent the full spectrum of forest diversity both now and into the future. We advocate that this geophysical approach to identifying a network of core forest areas and key connectors be used to inform and augment the traditional conservation focus on large forest reserves nested within a matrix of wellmanaged forest.
VERIFYING A VCI BUS INTERFACE MODEL USING AN LSC-BASED SPECIFICATION

Because of the high stakes involved in integrating externally developed intellectual property (IP) cores used in System on Chip (SOC) designs, methods and tool support for quick, easy, decisive standard compliance verification must be developed. Such methods and tools include formal standard specifications that are easy to read, formal definitions of standard compliance and automatic generation of model checking assertions which together imply compliance. We compare two efforts in verifying that the same register transfer level (RTL) code complies with the Virtual Component Interface (VCI) Standard. In so doing, we show that using Live Sequence Charts (LSCs) as a formal notation for protocol specification has potential to aid automatic protocol compliance verification.
Role of Acetate in Production of an Autoinducible Class IIa Bacteriocin in Carnobacterium piscicola A9b

ABSTRACT Carnobacterium piscicola strain A9b isolated from cold smoked salmon inhibits growth of the food-borne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes partly due to the production of a proteinaceous compound (L. Nilsson, L. Gram, and H. H. Huss. J. Food Prot. 62:336-342, 1999). The purpose of the present study was to purify the compound and describe factors affecting its production, with particular emphasis on food-relevant factors. Amino acid sequencing showed that the compound is a class IIa bacteriocin with an N-terminal amino acid sequence identical to that of carnobacteriocin B2. The production of the bacteriocin was autoinducible, and the threshold level for induction was 9.6 × 10−10 M. We also report, for the first time, that acetate acts as an induction factor, with a threshold concentration of 0.3 to 12 mM. Acetate could not act as an inducer during the late exponential phase of C. piscicola A9b. The induction of bacteriocin production showed a dose-dependent relationship at acetate concentrations of up to 10 to 20 mM (depending on the growth medium) and at a concentration of 1.9 × 10−8 M for the bacteriocin itself; a saturation level of bacteriocin specific activity was reached at these concentrations of induction factors. The combined use of both inducers did not enhance the saturation level of bacteriocin production compared to that seen with the use of each inducer alone. Increasing NaCl and glucose concentrations negatively influenced the efficiency of acetate as an induction factor. Based on the results, carnobacteriocin B2 was used as an induction factor to manipulate the production of bacteriocin in cold smoked salmon juice and thus improve the ability to inhibit L. monocytogenes.
Buy-in to Online Courses: Reflections from E-learners' Journal Papers

This paper is a qualitative study of graduate students' experiences as e-learners as reflected in papers based on their journals. The study examined what students experience as they take an online course, and how students express their buy-in or lack of buy-in to an online course. Students' initial concerns about their transition to this new environment were related to learning strategies and inexperience with technology. They described their personal growth in adjusting to the online learning environment, and they personalized their journal papers with their unique writing styles, including metaphors and analogies. In general, buy-in.or lack of buy-in to the online course was not necessarily dependent on students' entering levels of technological experience but seemed to reflect the students' initial mindset or a mindset change that occurred during the course. Guidelines for e-learning are offered. (Contains 19 references.) (Author/MES) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. 1 Buy-in to Online Courses: Reflections from E-learners' Journal Papers PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY
Absence Epilepsy in Childhood: Electroencephalography (EEG) Does Not Predict Outcome

Absence epilepsy is a form of generalized epilepsy commonly seen in children. The clinician is often presented with a patient whose electroencephalogram does not fit the typical absence pattern. The purpose of this study is to more closely examine both typical and atypical absence variants and their outcome. A retrospective chart review was performed on children diagnosed with absence epilepsy over the past 5 years at the University of Alberta. A total of 119 patients were reviewed. Patients were classified with typical or atypical absence seizures following International League Against Epilepsy criteria and electroencephalography (EEG) characteristics. Clinical seizure characteristics, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), initial response to treatment, and outcome were examined. Seizure characteristics were similar in both the typical and atypical absence groups. Aura, complex automatisms, changes in tone, and incontinence were seen in both groups, although status epilepticus was found only in the atypical group. Associated comorbid conditions such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning disorders, and enuresis were found equally in both groups. Developmental delay was found more often in the atypical group. Of the typical group, 83% responded to an initial antiepileptic drug (either valproic acid or ethosuximide), whereas only 51% of the atypical group came under control. Remission at 2 years however, was similar between groups, with 76% of the typical group and 71% of the atypical group completely seizure free. Absence seizures in childhood, both typical and atypical, share similar clinical and electroencephalographic features and appear to be part of a continuum. Associated comorbid features such as ADHD, learning disorders, and developmental delay are also seen in both groups. The outcome for both types is excellent, although the atypical variants may be initially more difficult to control.
Structural geology of the proposed site area for a high-level radioactive waste repository, Yucca Mountain, Nevada

Geologic mapping and fracture studies have documented the fundamental patterns of joints and faults in the thick sequence of rhyolite tuffs at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the proposed site of an underground repository for high-level radioactive waste. The largest structures are north-striking, block-bounding normal faults (with a subordinate left-lateral component) that divide the mountain into numerous 1–4-km-wide panels of gently east-dipping strata. Block-bounding faults, which underwent Quaternary movement as well as earlier Neogene movement, are linked by dominantly northwest-striking relay faults, especially in the more extended southern part of Yucca Mountain. Intrablock faults are commonly short and discontinuous, except those on the more intensely deformed margins of the blocks. Lithologic properties of the local tuff stratigraphy strongly control the mesoscale fracture network, and locally the fracture network has a strong influence on the nature of intrablock faulting. The least faulted part of Yucca Mountain is the north-central part, the site of the proposed repository. Although bounded by complex normal-fault systems, the 4-km-wide central block contains only sparse intrablock faults. Locally intense jointing appears to be strata-bound. The complexity of deformation and the magnitude of extension increase in all directions away from the proposed repository volume, especially in the southern part of the mountain where the intensity of deformation and the amount of vertical-axis rotation increase markedly. Block-bounding faults were active at Yucca Mountain during and after eruption of the 12.8–12.7 Ma Paintbrush Group, and significant motion on these faults postdated the 11.6 Ma Rainier Mesa Tuff. Diminished fault activity continued into Quaternary time. Roughly half of the stratal tilting in the site area occurred after 11.6 Ma, probably synchronous with the main pulse of vertical-axis rotation, which occurred between 11.6 and 11.45 Ma. Studies of sequential formation of tectonic joints, in the context of regional paleo-stress studies, indicate that north- and northwest-striking joint sets formed coevally with the main faulting episode during regional east-northeast–west-southwest extension and that a prominent northeast-striking joint set formed later, probably after 9 Ma. These structural analyses contribute to the understanding of several important issues at Yucca Mountain, including potential hydrologic pathways, seismic hazards, and fault-displacement hazards.
Environmental drivers of large, infrequent wildfires: the emerging conceptual model

Large, infrequent fires (LIFs) can have substantial impacts on both ecosystems and the economy. To better understand LIFs and to better predict the effects of human management and climate change on their occurrence, we must first determine the factors that produce them. Here, we review local and regional literature investigating the drivers of LIFs. The emerging conceptual model proposes that ecosystems can be typified based on climatic conditions that determine both fuel moisture and fuel amount. The concept distinguishes three ecosystem types: (1) biomass-rich, rarely dry ecosystems where fuel moisture rather than fuel amount limits LIFs; (2) biomass-poor, at least seasonally dry ecosystems where fuel amount rather than fuel moisture limits LIFs; and (3) biomass-poor, rarely dry ecosystems where both fuel amount and fuel moisture limit the occurrence of LIFs. Our main goal in this paper is to discuss the drivers of LIFs and the three mentioned ecosystem types in a global context. Further, we will discuss the drivers that are not included within the `fuels' versus `climate' discussion. Finally, we will address the question: what kinds of additional information are needed if models predicting LIFs are to be coupled with global climate models? As with all generalizations, there are local deviations and modifications due to processes such as disturbance interaction or human impact. These processes tend to obscure the general patterns of the occurrence of LIFs and are likely to cause much of the observed controversy and confusion in the literature.