Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Advanced Principal Component-Based Compression Schemes for Wireless Sensor Networks

This article proposes two models that improve the Principal Component-based Context Compression (PC3) model for contextual information forwarding among sensor nodes in a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). The proposed models (referred to as iPC3 and oPC3) address issues associated with the control of multivariate contextual information transmission in a stationary WSN. Because WSN nodes are typically battery equipped, the primary design goal of the models is to optimize the amount of energy used for data transmission while retaining data accuracy at high levels. The proposed energy conservation techniques and algorithms are based on incremental principal component analysis and optimal stopping theory. iPC3 and oPC3 models are presented and compared with PC3 and other models found in the literature through simulations. The proposed models manage to extend the lifetime of a WSN application by improving energy efficiency within WSN.
Transcriptional Adaptation of Drug-tolerant Mycobacterium tuberculosis During Treatment of Human Tuberculosis.

BACKGROUND Treatment initiation rapidly kills most drug-susceptible Mycobacterium tuberculosis, but a bacterial subpopulation tolerates prolonged drug exposure. We evaluated drug-tolerant bacilli in human sputum by comparing messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of drug-tolerant bacilli that survive the early bactericidal phase with treatment-naive bacilli. METHODS M. tuberculosis gene expression was quantified via reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction in serial sputa from 17 Ugandans treated for drug-susceptible pulmonary tuberculosis. RESULTS Within 4 days, bacterial mRNA abundance declined >98%, indicating rapid killing. Thereafter, the rate of decline slowed >94%, indicating drug tolerance. After 14 days, 16S ribosomal RNA transcripts/genome declined 96%, indicating slow growth. Drug-tolerant bacilli displayed marked downregulation of genes associated with growth, metabolism, and lipid synthesis and upregulation in stress responses and key regulatory categories-including stress-associated sigma factors, transcription factors, and toxin-antitoxin genes. Drug efflux pumps were upregulated. The isoniazid stress signature was induced by initial drug exposure, then disappeared after 4 days. CONCLUSIONS Transcriptional patterns suggest that drug-tolerant bacilli in sputum are in a slow-growing, metabolically and synthetically downregulated state. Absence of the isoniazid stress signature in drug-tolerant bacilli indicates that physiological state influences drug responsiveness in vivo. These results identify novel drug targets that should aid in development of novel shorter tuberculosis treatment regimens.
Few Inductive Models for Grammatical Relations Recovery

This paper describes our experience with few models for recovering the grammatical relations in isolated English sentences. Our method starts with a set of linguistically motivated features and then uses machine learning methods to induce a classifier able to identify relations such as logical subject, direct object, etc. Our experiments show that our set of features is powerful and can deliver promising results.
Sketch-Based Annotation and Visualization in Video Authoring

Authoring context-aware, interactive video representation is usually a complex process. A user-friendly multimedia authoring environment is thus solicited to explore and express users' design ideas efficiently and naturally. In this paper we present a sketch-based two-layer representation, called scene structure graph (SSG), to facilitate the video authoring process. One layer in SSG uses sketches as a concise form with which the visualization of scene information is easily understood and the other layer uses a graph to represent and edit the narrative structure in the authoring process. With SSG, the authoring process works in two stages. In the first stage, various sketch forms such as symbols and hand-drawing illustrations are used as basic primitives to annotate the video clips and the hyperlinks encoding spatio-temporal relations are established in SSG. In the second stage, sketches in SSGs are modified and new SSG is composed for any particular authoring purpose. Three user studies are elaborated, showing that the SSG is user-friendly and can achieve a good balance between expressiveness of users' intent and ease of use for authoring of interactive video.
Effects of fire on chaparral soils in Arizona and California and postfire management implications

Wildfires and prescribed burns are common throughout Arizona and California chaparral. Predicting fire effects requires understanding fire behavior, estimating soil heating, and predicting changes in soil properties. Substantial quantities of some nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus, are lost directly during combustion. Highly available nutrients released during a fire are deposited on the soil surface where they are immobilized or lost by erosion. Information on the effect of fire on physical, chemical, and biological soil properties provides a basis for discussing short- and long-term consequences of postfire rehabilitation treatments on total. nutrient losses, changes in nutrient availability, decreased infiltration rates, and erosion. Arizona and California chaparral show both similarities and differences.
Autonomy in the Japanese Context

In recent years there has been a lot of focus on autonomy in the language classroom. It is believed that if we train our students to be able to work in a selfdirected way then they will not only be able to keep learning for their lifetime, but it will also enable them to use the language they have learnt without their teacher’s presence. However, many maintain that autonomy is a Western concept not suited to Asian students. It is considered that East Asian students are less independent, not only in their learning but in a deeper cultural way. The desire often attributed to East Asian students is to see themselves in relation to other people, rather than as individuals. The present research was carried out at Kanda University of International Studies to see in what ways and to what extent autonomy is suitable for Japanese students. The study looks at autonomy in the Japanese context, specifically in relation to the idea of individual versus group identity. The research questions for this study are: Do Japanese university students prefer to work in groups or independently? Are Japanese university students able to accurately assess the work of their peers? The Context The teaching philosophy within the English Language Institute (ELI) at Kanda University of International Studies (KUIS) is underpinned by Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), one of the central tenets of which is the exclusive use of
On-chip, photon-number-resolving, telecom-band detectors for scalable photonic information processing

We demonstrate an integrated photon-number resolving detector, operating in the telecom band at 1550 nm, employing an evanescently coupled design that allows the detector to be placed at arbitrary locations within a planar optical circuit. Up to 5 photons are resolved in the guided optical mode via absorption from the evanescent field into a tungsten transition-edge sensor. The detection efficiency of the absorbing tungsten region is 7.2 %.
Dynamic Workflow Instrumentation for Windows Workflow Foundation

As the complexity of business processes grows, the shift towards workflow-based programming becomes more attractive. The typical long-running characteristic of workflows imposes new challenges such as dynamic adaptation of running workflow instances. Windows Workflow Foundation (in short WF) was released by Microsoft as their solution for workflow-driven application development. Although WF contains features that allow dynamic workflow adaptation, the framework lacks an instrumentation framework to make such adaptations more manageable. Therefore, we built an instrumentation framework that provides more flexibility for applying workflow adaptation batches to workflow instances, both at creation time and during an instance's lifecycle. In this paper we present this workflow instrumentation framework and performance implications caused by dynamic workflow adaptation are detailed.
ANFIT: Two-layered Framework for Network Troubleshooting

the system in two layered architecture in order to efficiently troubleshoot the faults. The first layer is dedicated to detect where the network has gone wrong and the second layer is to identify the cause of fault. However, at present we narrow down our focus on Web Service application. We have analyzed real failure scenarios and ANFIT has been tested against them. This paper however, presents only the parts on system framework and overall architecture of ANFIT.
The renaissance of black phosphorus

One hundred years after its first successful synthesis in the bulk form in 1914, black phosphorus (black P) was recently rediscovered from the perspective of a 2D layered material, attracting tremendous interest from condensed matter physicists, chemists, semiconductor device engineers, and material scientists. Similar to graphite and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), black P has a layered structure but with a unique puckered single-layer geometry. Because the direct electronic band gap of thin film black P can be varied from 0.3 eV to around 2 eV, depending on its film thickness, and because of its high carrier mobility and anisotropic in-plane properties, black P is promising for novel applications in nanoelectronics and nanophotonics different from graphene and TMDs. Black P as a nanomaterial has already attracted much attention from researchers within the past year. Here, we offer our opinions on this emerging material with the goal of motivating and inspiring fellow researchers in the 2D materials community and the broad readership of PNAS to discuss and contribute to this exciting new field. We also give our perspectives on future 2D and thin film black P research directions, aiming to assist researchers coming from a variety of disciplines who are desirous of working in this exciting research field.
Does Measured School Quality Really Matter? An Examination of the Earnings-Quality Relationship

This paper examines the economic and empirical foundations of the aggregate evidence on the effect of schooling quality on earnings. A common framework is presented which nests all previous studies as special cases. We discuss two crucial identifying assumptions and test them. The first assumption is the absence of region of birth - region of resident interactions in the return to schooling. This rules out patterns of migration on the basis of realized earnings in the destination state. Both parametric and nonparametric versions of this hypothesis are tested. Using 1970, 1980 and 1990 Census data, it is decisively rejected. A second assumption is that log earnings equations are linear - or nearly linear in schooling. This assumption is false. We find that estimated earnings-quality relationships are sensitive to specification of the earnings function. When false linearity assumptions are relaxed, the only effect of measured schooling quality is on the returns for college graduates. The evidence for an aggregate earnings-quality relationship is weak once false empirical restrictions are relaxed.
Individual Planning or Adaptation: Personal Destinies of Non-Estonians in the Period of Socio-Economic Reforms of the 1990s in Estonia

The aim of this paper is to analyze the interrelationship between structural changes and personal destinies of non-Estonians. How do non-Estonians who have grown up in a socialist system and have finished their education in the late 1980s or early 1990s experience a societal transformation? Were structural and institutional changes brought about by a minimum of adaptations and fluctuations or a by maximum of turbulence and mobility? How successful were they in converting resources gained in the old system into other types of assets in post-socialist conditions? The paper is based on in-depth interviews conducted in 2003 and 2004 with non-Estonians graduating from secondary educational institutions in 1983 and belonging to the so-called “winners” cohort. One of the central results of the analysis is that non-Estonians’ behaviour was not so much directed by purposeful biographical projects but rather it could be characterized as an adaptation to new circumstances. Opportunities proved to be less a matter of individual control and planning than of unfavourable structural conditions. Our analysis indicated the stability of relative rankings in social hierarchy despite the huge amount of job moves. It was evident that having only higher education did not guarantee non-Estonians a stable position in the labour market. Broad social network helped to realize this resource.
Problem-based learning in data mining

Good teaching is teaching where the teaching method and assessment methods are aligned with the learning activities stated in objectives of the course. Typically such teaching is also studentfocused. One example of such a teaching method is problem-based learning. Problem-based learning has been widely studied and applied in many fields. In this paper we describe one example of how problem-based learning has been applied in teaching of data mining. We first describe the structure of a course of methods for data mining. Then we analyse the course both from a teacher's and from a students' perspective. We also present some ideas on how this course could still be improved in the future.
Analysis of loss of nuclear RNA in azo dye-induced hepatoma by DNA-RNA competitive hybridization.

DNA-RNA hybridization studies, using nuclear RNA's (nRNA's) labeled in vivo and in vitro with high specific radioactivities, were performed to compare the nRNA populations of normal rat liver, livers treated with 3'-methyl-4-dimethylaminoazobenzene (3'-Me-DAB), and 3'-Me-DAB-induced hepatomas. The study with normal liver nRNA labeled by i.p. injection of [3H]orotic acid indicated that the nuclei of a 3'-Me-DAB-induced transplanted hepatoma, AH136B, lacked some RNA species present in normal liver nuclei. No qualitative difference in thee RNA populations was seen between normal liver and the livers of rats fed a carcinogenic amount of 3'-Me-DAB, either alone or in combination with 4-nitrostilbene which enhanced the azo dye carcinogenesis. Then, nRNA's of both normal liver and AH136B hepatoma were labeled in vitro by phosphorylation with polynucleotide kinase and adenosine 5'-[gamma-32P]triphosphate. The competitive hybridization with 32P-labeled normal liver nRNA was competed, and the deletion of RNA in the nuclei of AH136B hepatoma or 3'-Me-DAB-induced primary hepatoma was estimated to be 15% or more in the measure of radioactivity of the hybridized normal liver nRNA. 32P-labeled AH136B hepatoma nRNA was completed completely by liver nRNA's, suggesting that no unique RNA species were present in the hepatoma nuclei.
A Cross-Layer Optimization between FEC and TCP over Satellite Networks

Forward error correction (FEC) scheme has dual side-effects on the throughput performance for the satellite networks. One is to consume some extra bandwidth to send redundant information, and the other is to disable the corruption-aware TCP variants to differentiate the corruption events from the loss events. This may result in significant throughput jitter while satellite channel is in an unsteady state, since the existing FEC directly discards any incompletely recovered MAC frames. This paper introduces an effective cross-layer optimization between FEC and TCP to make up the drawbacks of the existing scheme. Simulation result shows that the proposed scheme can significantly reduce the throughput jitter of the unstable satellite network with a variable bit error rate and could be a better choice, compared to the existing approaches.
Fuzzy Memory Theory and its Use in Cognitive Science

Fuzzy memory theory extends fuzzy set theory to the case of imperfectly performing memory devices. In fuzzy set theory, the key concept is that of graded set membership. The degree to which an item belongs to a set is specified by a continuous function. Fuzzy memory theory is organized around the analogous concept of graded recall. Items stored in a fuzzy memory are associated with cues, such that each item is recalled by provision of the corresponding cue. But unlike conventional memory (where cues are typically addresses) the recall process may vary in its degree of error. The item produced may embody missing information. The capacity of a fuzzy memory is then measured in terms of the net information content of recalled items. The theory has potential applications for new forms of technology, but also for the study of cognition. In particular, it can be the means of formalizing the properties of errorprone natural memory mechanisms. It can also supply a non-circular explanation for similarity-based category formation.
Avoiding reverse recovery effects in super junction MOSFET based half-bridges

For applications with a dc-link voltage in the range of 400 V and high switching frequencies, Super Junction MOSFETs are superior to standard MOSFETs due to their low on-state resistance. However, they suffer from an extensive reverse recovery effect of their intrinsic body diode. This limits their usage in hard-switching half-bridge configurations. This paper analyzes a modified half-bridge based on Super Junction MOSFETs, which offers significantly reduced reverse recovery losses while maintaining current conduction in reverse direction through the Super Junction MOSFET. Hence, the application of Super Junction MOSFETs in hard switched topologies becomes possible. Measurements of relevant voltage and current waveforms as well as the thermal distribution show the efficiency of the proposed method.
The acceleration of pipeline workloads under the FPGA area and bandwidth constraints

This work is motivated by the advance of heterogeneous computing and the strong demands of workload acceleration in practice. By considering pipeline workloads over FPGA, this paper explores a systematic methodology to configure the hardware instances of each pipeline stage such that the maximum of the execution time of each stage is minimized, where the FPGA allocation with the memory bandwidth constraint is considered. For the target problem, an algorithm is proposed and proved being optimal, and a real implementation study is conducted. In the experimental results, an image filter FPGA implementation can outperform the CPU, GPU, and baseline FPGA solutions by 460%, 73%, and 1030%, respectively. Extensive simulations were also conducted with a large FPGA size to show the scalability of this work.
Pre-Enrollment Reimbursement Patterns of Medicare Beneficiaries Enrolled in “At-Risk” HMOs

The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) has initiated several demonstration projects to encourage HMOs to participate in the Medicare program under a risk mechanism. These demonstrations are designed to test innovative marketing techniques, benefit packages, and reimbursement levels. HCFA's current method for prospective payments to HMOs is based on the Adjusted Average Per Capita Cost (AAPCC). An important issue in prospective reimbursement is the extent to which the AAPCC adequately reflects the risk factors which arise out of the selection process of Medicare beneficiaries into HMOs. This study examines the pre-enrollment reimbursement experience of Medicare beneficiaries who enrolled in the demonstration HMOs to determine whether or not a non-random selection process took place. The three demonstration HMOs included in the study are the Fallon Community Health Plan, the Greater Marshfield Community Health Plan, and the Kaiser-Permanente medical program of Portland, Oregon. The study includes 18,085 aged Medicare beneficiaries who had enrolled in the three plans as of April, 1981. We included comparison groups consisting of a 5 percent random sample of aged Medicare beneficiaries (N = 11,240) living in the same geographic areas as the control groups. The study compares the groups by total Medicare reimbursements for the years 1976 through 1979. Adjustments were made for AAPCC factor differences in the groups (age, sex, institutional status, and welfare status). In two of the HMO areas there was evidence of a selection process among the HMOs enrollees. Enrollees in the Fallon and Kaiser health plans were found to have had 20 percent lower Medicare reimbursements than their respective comparison groups in the four years prior to enrollment. This effect was strongest for inpatient services, but a significant difference also existed for use of physician and outpatient services. In the Marshfield HMO there was no statistically significant difference in pre-enrollment Medicare total reimbursements between the enrollee and comparison groups. However, outpatient and physician reimbursements were significantly higher (22 percent) among the enrollee group. The results of this study suggest that the AAPCC may not be an adequate mechanism for setting prospective reimbursement rates. The Marshfield results further suggest that the type of HMO may have an influence on the selection process among Medicare beneficiaries. If Medicare beneficiaries do not have to change providers to join an HMO, as in an IPA model or a staff model which includes most of the providers in an area, the selection process may be more likely to result in an unbiased risk group.
Co-design of Discrete Linear Quadratic Regulator and Resource Scheduling for Priority-Driven Networked Control Systems

In this paper, the problem how to distribute network bandwidth over a set of real-time control loops in order to optimize the total control performance in networked control systems is studied. The problem mentioned above can be divided into two sub-problems: how the control performance depends on the quality of service (QoS) of network such as sampling period, network induced delay and pocket dropout, and how a resource allocation strategy can be designed to optimize the overall control performance. Linear quadratic cost functions are used as control performance indicators. The continuous-time quadratic performance cost indicator is discretized which takes the network QoS into account. To guarantee the network QoS demands, a co-design method of control and bandwidth scheduling is proposed to guarantee both networked control performance and network QoS. Finally, a series of experiments based on True time is present, and the results show that the scheme is effective and necessary.