Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
IMPLEMENTING GEOSPATIAL WEB SERVICES USING SERVICE ORIENTED ARCHITECTURE AND NOSQL SOLUTIONS

Today a huge amount of geospatial data is being created, collected and used more than ever before. The ever increasing observations and measurements of geosensor networks, satellite imageries, point clouds from laser scanning, geospatial data of Location Based Services (LBS) and location-based social networks has become a serious challenge for data management and analysis systems. Traditionally, Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS) were used to manage and to some extent analyse the geospatial data. Nowadays these systems can be used in many scenarios but there are some situations when using these systems may not provide the required efficiency and effectiveness. In these situations, NoSQL solutions can provide the efficiency necessary for applications using geospatial data. At the other hand, In order to provide full access to geospatial data, they have to be published as standard-based resources over the Web. In other words, custodians of geospatial data have to publish standard-based services to serve geospatial resources in interoperable and platform-independent manner. In this regard, geospatial services must be designed and developed using Service Orientation Architecture (SOA) to provide full interoperability for diverse kinds of end users. But in this context, nature of geospatial data prevents full potential of using SOA in GIS world. This paper proposes an approach to overcome the mentioned issue using SOA and NoSQL solutions.
Clinical Characteristics Associated With Aspiration or Penetration in Children With Swallowing Problem

Objective To evaluate demographic characteristics of children with suspected dysphagia who underwent videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) and to identify factors related to penetration or aspiration. Methods Medical records of 352 children (197 boys, 155 girls) with suspected dysphagia who were referred for VFSS were reviewed retrospectively. Clinical characteristics and VFSS findings were analyzed using univariate and multivariate analyses. Results Almost half of the subjects (n=175, 49%) were under 24 months of age with 62 subjects (18%) born prematurely. The most common condition associated with suspected dysphagia was central nervous system (CNS) disease. Seizure was the most common CNS disorder in children of 6 months old or younger. Brain tumor was the most important one for school-age children. Aspiration symptoms or signs were the major cause of referral for VFSS in children except for infants of 6 months old or where half of the subjects showed poor oral intake. Penetration or aspiration was observed in 206 of 352 children (59%). Subjects under two years of age who were born prematurely at less than 34 weeks of gestation were significantly (p=0.026) more likely to show penetration or aspiration. Subjects with congenital disorder with swallow-related anatomical abnormalities had a higher percentage of penetration or aspiration with marginal statistical significance (p=0.074). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that age under 24 months and an unclear etiology for dysphagia were factors associated with penetration or aspiration. Conclusion Subjects with dysphagia in age group under 24 months with preterm history and unclear etiology for dysphagia may require VFSS. The most common condition associated with dysphagia in children was CNS disease.
Cross-Country Efficiency Comparison between Italian and Spanish Public Universities in the period 2000-2005

The growing internationalization of European Higher Education requires more emphasis on crosscountry comparisons. In this paper, an efficiency analysis of Italian and Spanish universities is conducted; as well as from a comparative perspective. The efficiency scores are obtained using Data Envelopment Analysis. The results demonstrate a good average efficiency in both countries relative to each “countryspecific” frontier; but when compared together, Italian universities seem relatively more efficient. Malmquist indexes show, in both cases, efficiency improvements in the period considered. In the Italian case, this improvement is due to major “technological changes”; that is, the introduction of some structural reforms in the sector (e.g. Bachelor/Master curricula). In the Spanish case, there is an improvement in “pure” efficiency, which is due to new funding models. Further stages of the study underline the role of “regional effects”, probably due to different socio-economic conditions in Italy, and to the decentralization process in Spain.
Stochastic Energy Scheduling in Microgrids With Intermittent Renewable Energy Resources

Renewable energy resources such as wind and solar are an important component of a microgrid. However, the inherent intermittency and variability of such resources complicates microgrid operations. Meanwhile, more controllable loads (e.g., plug-in electric vehicles), distributed generators (e.g., micro gas turbines and diesel generators), and distributed energy storage devices (e.g., battery banks) are being integrated into the microgrid operation. To address the operational challenges associated with these technologies and energy resources, this paper formulates a stochastic problem for microgrid energy scheduling. The proposed problem formulation minimizes the expected operational cost of the microgrid and power losses while accommodating the intermittent nature of renewable energy resources. Case studies are performed on a modified IEEE 37-bus test feeder. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed stochastic microgrid energy scheduling model.
A signal detection method for uplink multiuser MIMO systems

In this paper, we propose an efficient signal detection method for uplink multiuser systems based on collaborative spatial multiplexing (CSM). The proposed method achieves near-optimal performance and shows only 0.8dB loss at the target frame error rate (FER) of 10−2. It also requires substantially lower computational complexity than the QRD-M method especially when the modulation order is high (e.g., 16-QAM and 64-QAM). Moreover, the error performance of each user is almost the same in the proposed method, which is an important property in a multiuser multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system where each user's error performance must satisfy some fixed error rate criteria. This is a big advantage over other detection methods such as the ordered successive interference cancellation (OSIC) and the QRD-M methods, where the error performance varies greatly among users.
Agonistic carotenoid signalling in male red-collared widowbirds: aggression related to the colour signal of both the territory owner and model intruder

Carotenoid colour displays are widely assumed to be honest indicators of individual health or quality, primarily in mate attraction. Here we show that sexually dimorphic carotenoid ornamentation functions as an agonistic signal in male red-collared widowbirds, Euplectes ardens. Mounted male models differing (within natural limits) in the intensity of carotenoid signalling were presented to wild resident males as simulated intruders, perched or made to ‘fly’ across the territory with the elongated tail folded or keeled. Perched mounts were generally ignored, and stronger aggression towards ‘flying’ models with a keeled tail (i.e. as in courtship display) than a folded tail suggests the tail display is used to assess the intention of intruding males. Territory owners were less aggressive towards models with intense collar display, suggesting that carotenoid coloration functions as a badge of status in this species. The level of aggressive response was also related to the resident’s own badge in that males with larger, redder collars responded more aggressively to the models. In addition, males with a larger collar signal defended larger territories and spent less time in territory defence. Apart from the collar size and ‘redness’, no other morphological variable predicted the aggressive response of territorial males. Given the previously demonstrated insignificance of the collar in female mate choice, we suggest that the nuptial carotenoid coloration is an honest signal of dominance or fighting ability, sexually selected through male contest competition over territories.  2001 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour
Measuring neutrino masses and dark energy with weak lensing tomography

Surveys of weak gravitational lensing of distant galaxies will be one of the key cosmological probes in the future. We study the ability of such surveys to constrain neutrino masses and the equation of state parameter of dark energy, focusing on how tomographic information can improve the sensitivity to these parameters. We also provide a detailed discussion of systematic effects pertinent to weak lensing surveys, and the possible degradation of sensitivity to cosmological parameters due to these effects. For future probes such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope survey, we find that, when combined with cosmic microwave background data from the Planck satellite, a sensitivity to neutrino masses of can be reached. These results are not affected by variations in the running of the scalar spectral index, the time-dependence of the dark energy equation of state, and/or the number of relativistic degrees of freedom.
A Hennessy-Milner Property for Many-Valued Modal Logics

A Hennessy-Milner property, relating modal equivalence and bisimulations, is defined for many-valued modal logics that combine a local semantics based on a complete MTL-chain (a linearly ordered commutative integral residuated lattice) with crisp Kripke frames. A necessary and sufficient algebraic condition is then provided for the class of image-finite models of these logics to admit the Hennessy-Milner property. Complete characterizations are obtained in the case of many-valued modal logics based on BL-chains (divisible MTL-chains) that are finite or have universe [0,1], including crisp Lukasiewicz, Godel, and product modal logics.
Open educational resources in Malaysia

Open educational resources (OER) are a relatively new phenomenon in the Malaysian higher education (HE) sector. Although there have been “lone rangers” strongly advocating the use of OER in the country, many HE institutions, including Wawasan Open University, Open University of Malaysia and Asia e University, are yet to make use and reuse of OER a mainstream practice. There also seems to be reticence over making content freely available to the nation or the region, as well as an absence of policy directions. Notwithstanding, some of these institutions, urged on by individual staff, are taking a serious look at adopting an institutional policy on OER and digital resources. A prime example of this new movement is the OER-based, self-directed open and distance learning course material developed by Wawasan Open University as a pilot project leading to an institutional policy on the use and reuse of OER. Under a grant from the International Development Research Centre of Canada through an umbrella study on Openness and Quality in Asian Distance Education, a team of collaborators from various Asian countries developed an extensive survey instrument to identify the Asian landscape of digital resources and OER. In Malaysia, the instrument was officially made available to 15 public, private not-for-profit and private for-profit HE institutions. A total of 43 valid responses were received from individuals who are using digital resources/OER, as well as institutional authorities who commented on the institutional stand on OER. This report summarises the findings from the survey responses gathered from Malaysia and provides an overview of the Malaysian HE landscape with respect to digital resources and OER use.
The Impact of Visual Complexity on Children's Learning Websites in Relation to Aesthetic Preference and Learning Motivation

Websites in addition to being usable must also be pleasurable to look at. However, although much research has been conducted into usability, subjective issues have been far less explored. The purpose of this research is to look at the relationship between visual complexity, aesthetics, and learning motivation in children’s learning websites. An experiment was set up that involved 132 11-12 year-old children using homepages taken from Websites designed for children as test materials. In the experiment, the children were randomly assigned into 3 groups and given a different visual complexity Website according to their group. The Websites given were: homepage with a low degree of visual complexity; homepage with a moderate degree of visual complexity; and homepage with a high degree of visual complexity. This study is guided by Berlyne’s experimental theory, which suggests that there is an inverted-U shaped relationship between preference for a stimulus and its complexity. The study applies his theory and aims to understand the relationship between visual complexity, aesthetic preference, and learning motivation. The findings show that children prefer aesthetics of a medium level of perceived complexity, supporting Berlyne’s theory. It also shows that children’s aesthetic preferences and learning motivation are correlated. The findings have implications for Web designers working on children’s Websites as they suggest that by manipulating visual complexity viewing pleasure can be enhanced or depreciated. Hsiu-Feng Wang National Chiayi University, Taiwan Julian Bowerman Loughborough University, UK
A Probabilistic Temporal Logic with Frequency Operators and Its Model Checking

Probabilistic Computation Tree Logic (PCTL) and Continuous Stochastic Logic (CSL) are often used to describe specifications of probabilistic properties for discrete time and continuous time, respectively. In PCTL and CSL, the possibility of executions satisfying some temporal properties can be quantitatively represented by the probabilistic extension of the path quantifiers in their basic Computation Tree Logic (CTL), however, path formulae of them are expressed via the same operators in CTL. For this reason, both of them cannot represent formulae with quantitative temporal properties, such as those of the form "some properties hold to more than 80% of time points (in a certain bounded interval) on the path. " In this paper, we introduce a new temporal operator which expressed the notion of frequency of events, and define probabilistic frequency temporal logic (PFTL) based on CTL\star. As a result, we can easily represent the temporal properties of behavior in probabilistic systems. However, it is difficult to develop a model checker for the full PFTL, due to rich expressiveness. Accordingly, we develop a model-checking algorithm for the CTL-like fragment of PFTL against finite-state Markov chains, and an approximate model-checking algorithm for the bounded Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) -like fragment of PFTL against countable-state Markov chains.
Wage Mobility of Foreign-Born Workers in the United States

This paper presents new evidence on whether foreign-born workers assimilate. While the existing literature focuses on the convergence/divergence of average wages, this study extends the analysis to the distribution of wages by looking at wage mobility. We measure the foreign-native gap in year-to-year transition probabilities from one decile group to another of a wage distribution, where the deciles are determined by native samples. Our results, based on the Current Population Survey for 1996–2008, suggest that immigrants in middle and bottom decile groups, who are the majority of immigrants, tend to fall behind relative to natives in the same decile groups.
From Federated Databases to a Federated Data Warehouse System

Although Data Warehousing is regarded as a mature technology now, the definition of a federated architecture for Data Warehouse (DW) integration remains an open research question. This paper identifies requirements on a Federated DW System and proposes an architecture supporting the tightly coupled integration of heterogeneous data marts into a global, logical schema. In order to enable the processing of queries in the federation, our approach provides a Dimension Algebra (DA) and Fact Algebra (FA) to define the mappings between the global and local schemas. Moreover, we demonstrate how to apply DA and FA expressions for dimension and fact integration and explain the benefits of such an approach.
Field enhancement in a photonic band gap cavity assisted by metal grooves

In this paper we explore the possibility to accomplish field enhancement in the visible range in a photonic band gap cavity inserted in a Bragg waveguide, assisted by a silver metal groove. The investigation we carried out shows how the resonant mode can be localized in dielectric region under a Bragg grating; a thorough evaluation of some characteristic parameters also allows to determine whether the plasmons originating at the metal-dielectric interface actually play a key role in the field localization and enhancement phenomenon. The analysis has been performed by using the FDTD method, where the actual data of the Ag permittivity are introduced by means of the Drude model. This application can represent an alternative fashion of tuning and enhancing the resonant mode for novel LED applications.
E11/Podoplanin Protein Stabilization Through Inhibition of the Proteasome Promotes Osteocyte Differentiation in Murine in Vitro Models

The transmembrane glycoprotein E11 is considered critical in early osteoblast–osteocyte transitions (osteocytogenesis), however its function and regulatory mechanisms are still unknown. Using the late osteoblast MLO‐A5 cell line we reveal increased E11 protein/mRNA expression (P < 0.001) concomitant with extensive osteocyte dendrite formation and matrix mineralization (P < 0.001). Transfection with E11 significantly increased mRNA levels (P < 0.001), but immunoblotting failed to detect any correlative increases in E11 protein levels, suggestive of post‐translational degradation. We found that exogenous treatment of MLO‐A5 and osteocytic IDG‐SW3 cells with 10 μM ALLN (calpain and proteasome inhibitor) stabilized E11 protein levels and induced a profound increase in osteocytic dendrite formation (P < 0.001). Treatment with other calpain inhibitors failed to promote similar osteocytogenic changes, suggesting that these effects of ALLN rely upon its proteasome inhibitor actions. Accordingly we found that proteasome‐selective inhibitors (MG132/lactacystin/ Bortezomib/Withaferin‐A) produced similar dose‐dependent increases in E11 protein levels in MLO‐A5 and primary osteoblast cells. This proteasomal targeting was confirmed by immunoprecipitation of ubiquitinylated proteins, which included E11, and by increased levels of ubiquitinylated E11 protein upon addition of the proteasome inhibitors MG132/Bortezomib. Activation of RhoA, the small GTPase, was found to be increased concomitant with the peak in E11 levels and its downstream signaling was also observed to promote MLO‐A5 cell dendrite formation. Our data indicate that a mechanism reliant upon blockade of proteasome‐mediated E11 destabilization contributes to osteocytogenesis and that this may involve downstream targeting of RhoA. This work adds to our mechanistic understanding of the factors regulating bone homeostasis, which may lead to future therapeutic approaches. J. Cell. Physiol. 231: 1392–1404, 2016. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Cellular Physiology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A tangible design tool for sketching materials in products

Abstract Industrial designers make sketches and physical models to start and develop ideas and concept designs. Such representations have advantages that they support fast, intuitive, rich, sensory exploration of solutions. Although existing tools and techniques provide adequate support where the shape of the product is concerned, the exploration of surface qualities such as material and printed graphics is supported to a much lesser extent. Moreover, there are no tools that have the fluency of sketching that allow combined exploration of shape, material, and their interactions. This paper evaluates Skin, an augmented reality tool designed to solve these two shortcomings. By projecting computer-generated images onto the shape model Skin allows for a “sketchy” tangible interaction where designers can explore surface qualities on a three-dimensional physical shape model. The tool was evaluated in three design situations in the domain of ceramics design. In each case, we found that the joint exploration of shape and surface provided creative benefits in the form of new solutions; in addition, a gain in efficiency was found in at least one case. The results show that joint exploration of shape and surface can be effectively supported with tangible augmented reality techniques and suggest that this can be put to practical use in industry today.
DISA: Detection and isolation of sneaky attackers in locally monitored multi-hop wireless networks

Local monitoring has been demonstrated as a powerful technique for mitigating security attacks in multi-hop ad hoc networks. In local monitoring, nodes overhear partial neighborhood communication to detect misbehavior such as packet drop or delay. However, local monitoring as presented in the literature is vulnerable to a class of attacks that we introduce here called stealthy packet dropping. Stealthy packet dropping disrupts the packet from reaching the destination by malicious behavior at an intermediate node. However, the malicious node gives the impression to its neighbors that it performed the legitimate forwarding action. Moreover, a legitimate node comes under suspicion. We introduce four ways of achieving stealthy packet dropping, none of which is currently detectable. We provide a protocol called DISA, based on local monitoring, to remedy each attack. DISA incorporates two techniques—having the neighbors maintain additional information about the routing path, and adding some checking responsibility to each neighbor. We show through analysis and simulation that basic local monitoring (BLM) fails to efficiently mitigate any of the presented attacks while DISA successfully mitigates them. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Tracking back the root cause of a path change in interdomain routing

Interdomain routes change over time, and it is impressive to observe up to which extent. Routes may change many times in the same day and sometimes in the same hour or minute. Such changes are caused by several types of events, e.g., a routing policy variation in an ISP, a router reboot, or a link fault. In this paper we do a step towards the identification of the cause of route changes, a problem that is attracting increasing attention from both researchers and network administrators. Namely, we propose a methodology for analyzing a given BGP route change in order to, at least partially, locate the event that triggered the change. The methodology is supported by a publicly available on-line service.
Information Conveyed by Vowels

Most speech sounds may be said to convey three kinds of information: linguistic information which enables the listener to identify the words that are being used; socio‐linguistic information, which enables him to appreciate something about the background of the speaker; and personal information which helps to identify the speaker. An experiment has been carried out which shows that the linguistic information conveyed by a vowel sound does not depend on the absolute values of its formant frequencies, but on the relationship between the formant frequencies for that vowel and the formant frequencies of other vowels pronounced by that speaker. Six versions of the sentence Please say what this word is were synthesized on a Parametric Artificial Talking device. Four test words of the form b‐(vowel)‐t were also synthesized. It is shown that the identification of the test word depends on the formant structure of the introductory sentence. Some psychological implications of this experiment are discussed, and hypot.