Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distributed Wireless Ad hoc Grids with bandwidth control for collaborative node localisation

In this paper, we investigate the problem of distributed computing in tactical wireless sensor networks (WSNs). The constituent nodes of such WSNs are individually resource poor, but are collectively capable of carrying out significant calculations, if appropriately orchestrated. We propose a general distributed wireless ad hoc grids (DWAG) paradigm, exploiting concepts from the field of computational grids and modifying them in order to respect the constraints inherent in ad hoc sensor networking. In particular, we use our proposed paradigm to implement the CCA-MAP localisation algorithm on a real WSN test-bed. We investigate the impact of radio interference on the performance of the system, and propose a technique to ameliorate its effects. Our experimental results, conducted using different network topologies, demonstrate that it is possible to achieve significant performance improvements in terms of job latency by considering both the computing load and the network constraints.
Experience report: growing programming languages for beginning students

A student learning how to program learns best when the programming language and programming environment cater to her specific needs. These needs are different from the requirements of a professional programmer. Consequently, the design of teaching languages poses challenges different from the design of professional languages. Using a functional language by itself gives advantages over more popular, professional languages, but fully exploiting these advantages requires careful adaptation to the needs of the students' as-is, these languages do not support the students nearly as well as they could. This paper describes our experience adopting the didactic approach of How to Design Programs, focussing on the design process for our own set of teaching languages. We have observed students as they try to program as part of our introductory course, and used these observations to significantly improve the design of these languages. This paper describes the changes we have made, and the journey we took to get there.
Eviction-based Cache Placement for Storage Caches

Most previous work on buffer cache management uses an access-based placement policy that places a data block into a buffer cache at the block’s access time. This paper presents an eviction-based placement policy for a storage cache that usually sits in the lower level of a multi-level buffer cache hierarchy and thereby has different access patterns from upper levels. The main idea of the eviction-based placement policy is to delay a block’s placement in the cache until it is evicted from the upper level. This paper also presents a method of using a client content tracking table to obtain eviction information from client buffer caches, which can avoid modifying client application source code. We have evaluated the performance of this eviction-based placement by using both simulations with real-world workloads, and implementations on a storage system connected to a Microsoft SQL server database. Our simulation results show that the eviction-based cache placement has an up to 500% improvement on cache hit ratios over the commonly used access-based placement policy. Our evaluation results using OLTP workloads have demonstrated that the eviction-based cache placement has a speedup of 1.2 on OLTP transaction rates.
The Shear Stress of Host Cell Invasion: Exploring the Role of Biomolecular Complexes

Biological fluids, such as blood and mucosal secretions, continuously flow within the human body and form prominent barriers to pathogen colonization and invasion of host cells [1, 2]. Consequently, pathogens have evolved sophisticated molecular strategies to overcome the mechanical shear forces associated with resisting the flow of biological fluids; in particular, membrane anchored biomolecular complexes enable controlled deceleration, tight adhesion and, in the case of intracellular pathogens, penetration through the host cell membrane (Fig. 1A) [3–7]. The architecture of these biomolecular complexes have been the subject of numerous structural and biophysical investigations, which have yielded high resolution molecular blueprints of the host pathogen interface. However, our understanding of precisely how these biomolecular complexes function is somewhat limited by the technical challenges associated with measuring or modelling the effects of shear flow and related forces on protein complexes in the context of biological membranes [8]; recent studies have revealed the development and application of advanced technologies, such as optical tweezers, for studying the roles that mechanical forces play during pathogen attachment, but the stresses associated with subsequent membrane penetration events remain elusive [3, 7, 9]. To highlight the potential for correlating structural and biophysical data with the extent of dynamic shear stress experienced during diverse host cell invasion processes, we review here several structurally characterized invasion complexes from protozoan, bacterial, and viral pathogens. Figure 1 Comparison of structurally characterized invasion mechanisms employed by protozoan, bacterial and viral pathogens.
Send Orders of Reprints at Reprints@benthamscience.net Antibacterial Activity of Biosecur ® Citrus Extract Surface Cleaner against Vibrio Vulnificus

This study evaluated the antibacterial activity of Biosecur ® citrus extract surface cleaner against Vibrio vulnifi-cus using plate count method. Two concentrations, 0.5% and 2% of Biosecur ® surface cleaner were plated on Vibrio vul-nificus Agar (VVA) and tested for reduction of Vibrio vulnificus. In order to investigate the lasting residual activity of Biosecur ® , antibacterial activity tests were also performed at time intervals up to 2.5 h after Biosecur ® was plated on VVA. Biosecur ® showed 6-log reduction of Vibrio vulnificus at 2%, and 3-log reduction of Vibrio vulnificus at 0.5%. The antibacterial activity of 2% Biosecur ® against Vibrio vulnificus was shown to be equivalent to that of tetracycline. The residual activity of 2% Biosecur ® was shown to maintain for at least 2.5 h after application. This study confirmed the high activity and long lasting residual effect of a safe, non-toxic organic food grade surface cleaner.
Influence of the South Pacific decadal variability on Southeast China rainfall during boreal autumn

Using observational data and numerical experiments, the decadal relationship between South Pacific and rainfall over southeastern China during boreal autumn is examined. In the observational analyses, it is found that the boreal autumn South Pacific shows significant decadal variability with a significant periodicity of 11–21 years from 1960 to 2000, which is an independent phenomenon in the whole Pacific. This South Pacific decadal variability can induce significant decadal variability of boreal autumn rainfall over southeastern China. When the boreal autumn South Pacific decadal variability is in its positive phase, less rainfall appears over the southeastern China, and vice versa. The possible physical mechanisms are further investigated. It is suggested that the negative sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) in the extratropical South Pacific associated with positive phase of South Pacific decadal variability could result in an anomalous anticyclone to the east of Australia. The cross‐equatorial flow over the Maritime Continent and tropical western Pacific is enhanced under the influence of this anomalous anticyclone, favouring the location of western Pacific subtropical high moving more eastwards and then leading to the formation of anomalous cyclone over western North Pacific. To the west flank of this anomalous cyclone is the significantly anomalous northerly, which is favourable for less rainfall over southeastern China. On the other hand, significant negative SSTA appears in the Maritime Continent and tropical western Pacific could cause anomalous sinking motion here, which can further induce anomalous sinking motion over southeastern China through two meridional cells extending from Maritime Continent to southeastern China with a common rising branch over the southern South China Sea, thus resulting in less rainfall over southeastern China. Numerical experiments confirm our observational results.
Oil and Gas Projects in the Western Amazon: Threats to Wilderness, Biodiversity, and Indigenous Peoples

Background The western Amazon is the most biologically rich part of the Amazon basin and is home to a great diversity of indigenous ethnic groups, including some of the world's last uncontacted peoples living in voluntary isolation. Unlike the eastern Brazilian Amazon, it is still a largely intact ecosystem. Underlying this landscape are large reserves of oil and gas, many yet untapped. The growing global demand is leading to unprecedented exploration and development in the region. Methodology/Principal Findings We synthesized information from government sources to quantify the status of oil development in the western Amazon. National governments delimit specific geographic areas or “blocks” that are zoned for hydrocarbon activities, which they may lease to state and multinational energy companies for exploration and production. About 180 oil and gas blocks now cover ∼688,000 km2 of the western Amazon. These blocks overlap the most species-rich part of the Amazon. We also found that many of the blocks overlap indigenous territories, both titled lands and areas utilized by peoples in voluntary isolation. In Ecuador and Peru, oil and gas blocks now cover more than two-thirds of the Amazon. In Bolivia and western Brazil, major exploration activities are set to increase rapidly. Conclusions/Significance Without improved policies, the increasing scope and magnitude of planned extraction means that environmental and social impacts are likely to intensify. We review the most pressing oil- and gas-related conservation policy issues confronting the region. These include the need for regional Strategic Environmental Impact Assessments and the adoption of roadless extraction techniques. We also consider the conflicts where the blocks overlap indigenous peoples' territories.
Privacy Settings in Online Social Networks -- Preferences, Perception, and Reality

To approach privacy threats stemming from interacting with other users on Online Social Networks (OSN), effective Social Identity Management (SIdM) is a key requirement. SIdM refers to the deliberate and targeted disclosure of personal information to a subset of one's contacts on OSN. Yet, unlike the physical world, SIdM on OSN is compromised by unavailable or insufficient settings as well as by properties of mediated communication (e.g. persistence). In this paper, we employ a novel approach based on the participants' Facebook profiles content to study privacy settings in OSN. Our results indicate a mismatch between perceived, preferred, and actual settings that can be reduced to lack of awareness and control by the user.
Recurrent cervical cancer: detection and prognosis

Background. Only a small proportion of cervical cancer recurrences is detected during routine follow‐up. We investigated which percentage of recurrences is detected during follow‐up, which diagnostic tools are helpful to detect recurrent disease and which factors are of prognostic significance once recurrent disease has been established in patients treated for cervical cancer stage IB–IVA.
Can Taxes on Calorically Sweetened Beverages Reduce Obesity

Enlightened by the success of using tobacco taxes to curb smoking prevalence, many have argued that large beverage taxes are an attractive policy tool in the fight against obesity because, unlike many other foods, calorically sweetened beverages (CSBs) have little nutritional value. However, unlike tobacco which is harmful at any level of consumption, CSBs may be consumed in moderation as part of a healthy diet. In the United States on average, CSBs make up a large share of total daily calories—about 13% for adolescents and young adults (Figure 1). Thus, reducing the consumption of CSBs may substantially reduce caloric intake, as long as individuals do not compensate by adding calories from other foods or drinks.
Reverse Kalman Filtering US Inflation with Sticky Professional Forecasts

We provide a new way to filter US inflation into trend and cycle components, based on extracting long-run forecasts from the Survey of Professional Forecasters. We operate the Kalman filter in reverse, beginning with observed forecasts, then estimating parameters, and then extracting the stochastic trend in inflation. The trend-cycle model with unobserved components is consistent with numerous studies of US inflation history and is of interest partly because the trend may be viewed as the Fed’s evolving inflation target or long-horizon expected inflation. The sluggish reporting attributed to forecasters is consistent with evidence on mean forecast errors. We find considerable evidence of inflation-gap persistence and some evidence of implicit sticky information. But statistical tests show we cannot reconcile these two widely used perspectives on US inflation forecasts, the unobserved-components model and the sticky-information model.
Comparative evaluation of risk factors, outcome and biomarker levels in young and old acute ischemic stroke patients

Background Stroke is the third leading cause of death and disability worldwide accounting for 400-800 strokes per 100,000 individuals each year. Purpose In the present study, we compared risk factors, clinical outcome, and prognostic biomarkers NSE, S-100 ßß and ITIH4 levels in young and old acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients. Methods We compared the risk factors and clinical outcomes in young (n = 38) and old (n = 66) AIS patients admitted to tertiary health care centre in Central India. In addition, we also evaluated NSE, S100ββ & ITIH4 levels in admission and discharge samples of young and old AIS patients with different clinical outcome. Results Hypertension was a major risk factor in 45% of young and 80% of old AIS patients. Hospital outcome was less favorable in young AIS patients with higher dependent rates of 24% as compared to 12% in old AIS patients. Whereas long term outcome at 12 and 18 months after discharge was more favorable in young AIS patients with low dependency rates of 16% and 11% as compared to 41% and 24% in older AIS patients respectively. Similarly, serum NSE, S100ββ and ITIH4 levels showed a distinct pattern of expression at discharge time in AIS patients with improved and dependent outcome in both the age groups. Conclusion Young males with hypertension and smoking habits are at a high risk of AIS while old AIS patients are at a greater risk of worse long term outcome. Serum levels of NSE and S100ββ are independent predictors of outcome in AIS patients. Similarly, it also suggests that serum ITIH4 levels could be used as a potential biomarker for predicting the outcome in AIS patients.
The Intraseasonal Dynamics of the Mixed Layer Pump in the Subpolar North Atlantic Ocean: A Biogeochemical‐Argo Float Approach

The detrainment of organic matter from the mixed layer, a process known as the mixed layer pump (ML pump), has long been overlooked in carbon export budgets. Recently, the ML pump has been investigated at seasonal scale and appeared to contribute significantly to particulate organic carbon export to the mesopelagic zone, especially at high latitudes where seasonal variations of the mixed layer depth are large. However, the dynamics of the ML pump at intraseasonal scales remains poorly known, mainly because the lack of observational tools suited to studying such dynamics. In the present study, using a dense network of autonomous profiling floats equipped with bio‐optical sensors, we captured widespread episodic ML pump‐driven export events, during the winter and early spring period, in a large part of the subpolar North Atlantic Ocean. The intraseasonal dynamics of the ML pump exports fresh organic material to depth (basin‐scale average up to 55 mg C·m−2·day−1), providing a significant source of energy to the mesopelagic food web before the spring bloom period. This mechanism may sustain the seasonal development of overwintering organisms such as copepods with potential impact on the characteristics of the forthcoming spring phytoplankton bloom through predator‐prey interactions.
Optimizing Event-Driven Localization

Sensor node localization is a challenging task because of severe constraints on cost, energy, and effective range of sensor devices. To overcome limitations in existing solutions, this paper formally describes, designs, implements, and evaluates a Convex Optimization-based Method for Event-Driven Localization, i.e., COMEDL, in large-scale wireless sensor networks. The key idea behind COMEDL is to estimate the two-dimensional location coordinates of sensor nodes by processing multiple one-dimensional node sequences that can be easily obtained via loosely guided localization event distributions. The proposed design is evaluated through theoretical analysis, extensive simulations, and physical experiments (an indoor test-bed with 44 MICAz sensor nodes). Evaluation results demonstrate that COMEDL can effectively localize nodes with improved accuracy and flexibility.
Syntax-driven semantic frame composition in Lexicalized Tree Adjoining Grammars

The grammar framework presented in this paper combines Lexicalized Tree Adjoining Grammar (LTAG) with a (de)compositional frame semantics. We introduce elementary constructions as pairs of elementary LTAG trees and decompositional frames. The linking between syntax and semantics can largely be captured by such constructions since in LTAG, elementary trees represent full argument projections. Substitution and adjunction in the syntax then trigger the unification of the associated semantic frames, which are formally defined as base-labelled feature structures. Moreover, the system of elementary constructions is specified in a metagrammar by means of tree and frame descriptions. This metagrammatical factorization gives rise to a fine-grained decomposition of the semantic contributions of syntactic building blocks, and it allows us to separate lexical from constructional contributions and to carve out generalizations across constructions. In the second half of the paper, we apply the framework to the analysis of directed motion expressions and of the dative alternation in English, two well-known examples of the interaction between lexical and constructional meaning.
On the Role of a Market Maker in Networked Cournot Competition

We study Cournot competition among firms in a networked marketplace that is centrally managed by a market maker. In particular, we study a situation in which a market maker facilitates trade between geographically separate markets via a constrained transport network. Our focus is on understanding the consequences of the design of the market maker and on providing tools for optimal design. To that end we provide a characterization of the equilibrium outcomes of the game between the firms and the market maker. Our results highlight that the equilibrium structure is impacted dramatically by the market maker's objective - depending on the objective there may be a unique equilibrium, multiple equilibria, or no equilibria. Further, the game may be a potential game (as in the case of classical Cournot competition) or not. Beyond characterizing the equilibria of the game, we provide an approach for designing the market maker in order to optimize a design objective (e.g., social welfare) at the equilibrium of the game. Additionally, we use our results to explore the value of transport (trade) and the efficiency of the market maker (as compared to a single, aggregate market).
Comunidad, bienes comunes y turismo en Floreana (Islas Galápagos)

Floreana inhabitants are increasingly dependent on tourism, but they do not locally control the tourist activity (flows, benefits, management). Thus, they intend to change the tourist model. The development of an alternative community-based tourism involves a necessary process of community building and the emergence of commons, which means a local repositioning both facing the market (incarnate in tour operators) and the State (defined by conservation policies). This process presents difficulties of external and internal origins, since the local society is heterogeneous. Floreana is a metaphor “good for thinking” multiple processes that are emerging in contemporary societies. How is a “commons” produced? How does community-building takes place? How much space is left between market and State to promote community and commons?
Evaluating the Impact of Conditional Cash Transfer Programs: Lessons from Latin America

Unlike most development initiatives, conditional cash transfer programs recently introduced in the Latin America and the Caribbean region have been subject to rigorous evaluations of their effectiveness. These programs provide money to poor families, conditional on certain behavior, usually investments in human capital-such as sending children to school or bringing them to health centers on a regular basis. Rawlings and Rubio review the experience in evaluating the impact of these programs, exploring the application of experimental and quasi-experimental evaluation methods and summarizing results from programs launched in Brazil, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Evaluation results from the first generation of programs in Brazil, Mexico, and Nicaragua show that conditional cash transfer programs are effective in promoting human capital accumulation among poor households. There is clear evidence of success in increasing enrollment rates, improving preventive health care, and raising household consumption. Despite this promising evidence, many questions remain unanswered about the impact of conditional cash transfer programs, including those concerning their effectiveness under different country conditions and the sustainability of the welfare impacts.
HIGH-VELOCITY CLOUDS IN THE NEARBY SPIRAL GALAXY M 83

We present deep H i 21 cm and optical observations of the face-on spiral galaxy M 83 obtained as part of a project to search for high-velocity clouds (HVCs) in nearby galaxies. Anomalous-velocity neutral gas is detected toward M 83, with 5.6 × 107 M☉ of H i contained in a disk rotating 40–50 km s−1 more slowly in projection than the bulk of the gas. We interpret this as a vertically extended thick disk of neutral material, containing 5.5% of the total H i within the central 8 kpc. Using an automated source detection algorithm to search for small-scale H i emission features, we find eight distinct, anomalous-velocity H i clouds with masses ranging from 7 × 105 to 1.5 × 107M☉ and velocities differing by up to 200 km s−1 compared to the H i disk. Large on-disk structures are coincident with the optical spiral arms, while unresolved off-disk clouds contain no diffuse optical emission down to a limit of 27 r′ mag per square arcsec. The diversity of the thick H i disk and larger clouds suggests the influence of multiple formation mechanisms, with a galactic fountain responsible for the slowly rotating disk and on-disk discrete clouds, and tidal effects responsible for off-disk cloud production. The mass and kinetic energy of the H i clouds are consistent with the mass exchange rate predicted by the galactic fountain model. If the HVC population in M 83 is similar to that in our own Galaxy, then the Galactic HVCs must be distributed within a radius of less than 25 kpc.