Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Black hole attack prevention based on authentication mechanism

The black hole attack is one of the security attacks that occur in Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs). In the attack, a malicious node exploits the routing protocol to advertise itself as having the shortest path to the node whose data packets it wants to intercept. In this paper, the black hole problem is addressed. An authentication mechanism, based on the hash function, the Message Authentication Code (MAC), and the Pseudo Random Function (PRF), is proposed for black hole prevention on top of Ad-hoc On-demand Distance Vector (AODV). The simulation results show the scheme provides fast message verification identifies black hole and discovers the safe routing avoiding the black hole attack.
Children's cycling in Australia: A review of determinants, the role of social connectedness and implications for policy and practice

Children's physical health, their emotional health and social wellbeing is reliant on their ability to travel independently and collectively with other children. Children's bicycle riding, particularly riding to school, is increasingly recognized as important, yet in Australia very few children cycle to school. As part of a broader project on children's independent mobility, this research seeks to identify the determinants of child bicycle riding and to explore associations between cycling and social connectedness. The intent is to identify if and how social environment influence children's cycling behaviors and how, in turn, cycling may help shape children's social connections, within particular neighborhood types. Theoretical insights into the roles of lead users and opinion leaders, derived from Kratzer and Lettl (2009), are fused with early experiences in the CATCH (Children's Active Travel, Connectedness and Health) project, to explore dimensions of cycling take-up and usage amongst children. These help frame a research agenda around child cycling and social connectedness that focuses on the phase of child development (aged 7-11 years) when children first develop key social perspectives and are given 'licenses' by parents for independent mobility. The scope and parameters for this research agenda are explored in detail. The questions raised, if answered, have the potential to significantly improve bicycle promotion activities and other policies targeting children's travel behavior.
African tourism and hospitality in global society: Central or peripheral?

Tourism in Africa and particularly, in the Sub-Saharan Africa is growing at a rate faster than the global tourism industry growth rate (Katongore et al., 2014). The International Monetary Fund (2013) viewpoint for the region remains broadly positive as a gross domestic product growth at 4.75% was registered in 2012, with projected increases to 5.5% for 2013 and 6% for 2014. This implies that Africa is gaining popularity as a long haul destination. According to a recent World Bank (2013) publication, tourism can be a powerful and meaningful development path for Africa. In fact, a welcome key finding of new research suggests that with effective planning and development, Africa’s tourism industry could create 3.8 million jobs over the next 10 years, with already, one in every 20 jobs in Africa involves the tourism, travel hospitality industry. Despite this seemingly impressive picture and percentage growth rate, while in the year 2012, the international tourist arrivals totalled to over 1.035 billion, Africa’s market share was only 52 million which is 5% of the global figure (United Nations World Tourism Organisation, 2012). This gloomy percentage raises a question whether African tourism and hospitality sector is actually central or peripheral in the global context, a question, which we attempt to address in this special issue. The Association of Tourism and Leisure Studies (ATLAS) – Africa chapter (http://www.atlas-euro.org/) brings together different Africa-based leisure, tourism and hospitality training and research institutions. It was founded in 2000 during its inaugural conference in Mombasa, Kenya. This first event was followed by further six ATLAS Africa conferences:
Slow Isotope Turnover Rates and Low Discrimination Values in the American Alligator: Implications for Interpretation of Ectotherm Stable Isotope Data

Stable isotope analysis has become a standard ecological tool for elucidating feeding relationships of organisms and determining food web structure and connectivity. There remain important questions concerning rates at which stable isotope values are incorporated into tissues (turnover rates) and the change in isotope value between a tissue and a food source (discrimination values). These gaps in our understanding necessitate experimental studies to adequately interpret field data. Tissue turnover rates and discrimination values vary among species and have been investigated in a broad array of taxa. However, little attention has been paid to ectothermic top predators in this regard. We quantified the turnover rates and discrimination values for three tissues (scutes, red blood cells, and plasma) in American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis). Plasma turned over faster than scutes or red blood cells, but turnover rates of all three tissues were very slow in comparison to those in endothermic species. Alligator δ15N discrimination values were surprisingly low in comparison to those of other top predators and varied between experimental and control alligators. The variability of δ15N discrimination values highlights the difficulties in using δ15N to assign absolute and possibly even relative trophic levels in field studies. Our results suggest that interpreting stable isotope data based on parameter estimates from other species can be problematic and that large ectothermic tetrapod tissues may be characterized by unique stable isotope dynamics relative to species occupying lower trophic levels and endothermic tetrapods.
Selecting the Optimal Order of Polynomial in the Almon Distributed Lag

HE method proposed by Almon (1965) has been extensively used in the estimation of distributed lag models. It may be regarded as the least squares method under the linear constraint that the regression coefficients lie on a polynomial of a chosen order. Therefore, the loss or inefficiency of Almon's method (defined as some reasonable function of the mean square error matrix) could be smaller than that of the unconstrained least squares method. Then, an interesting question arises: for what order of polynomial is the loss minimized in a given distributed lag model? The answer depends upon several variables: the true values of the regression coefficients, the number of lags assumed in the model, the sample size, the ratio of the variance of the dependent variable to that of the error term, and the degree of the autocorrelation of the independent variable. In this paper we will evaluate numerically how the optimal order of polynomial is determined by these variables. Because the answer depends on so many variables, it is extremely important to design the study to produce meaningful conclusions. For this purpose we adopt one important simplifying assumption -that the independent variable follows a first-order autoregressive process with a varying correlation coefficient. Such a process is a good approximation of the processes of many economic variables. Given this simplification, we obtain definitive conclusions by judiciously defining the loss function so it depends simply and nicely on the parameters that we allow to change. As a result we can calculate the optimal order of polynomial for a given distributed lag model at a minimal computational cost. The essential part of our definition of the loss function is the trace of the product of the mean square error matrix and the autocovariance matrix of the independent variable. In section II we will offer rationales for this definition, as we believe that this definition has intrinsic merit as well as the advantage of simplifying our computation. Section II defines the model, defines the loss function for Almon's method, and discusses the rationale for and mathematical properties of the loss function. Section III presents and'analyzes the results of the numerical evaluation of the loss function for twelve models. Conclusions are presented in section IV.
Direct Current Control for Grid-Connected Diode-Clamped Inverters

The accurate control of the line current, robust and dynamic behavior even under distorted grids and other system faults are the most important requirements for grid-connected inverters. Applying direct current control to multilevel inverters combines the advantages of both and is an enabling step towards improved inverter performance. Direct current controllers suffer from high complexity at increased level count, which is resolved by using geometrical principles and simple analytical calculations for switching vector selection within the space vector diagram. The simplified, novel parametric controller concept is scalable to inverters with arbitrary level count, which does not require any switching tables and the new fully symmetric setup guarantees equal switching frequencies among the three phases. The hypotheses are further confirmed on a real hardware test setup on the example of a three-level NPC inverter hardware and a Xilinx development platform. Experimental results prove the expected behavior of the direct current control under various conditions, which shows a general approach to balance the dc-link capacitors of diode-clamped inverters within the theoretical limits and demonstrates the benefits of using field programmable gate arrays as a controller platform.
An approach to characterize ultra-thin conducting films protected against native oxidation by an in-situ capping layer

We propose and demonstrate the application of a test structure to characterize electrical properties of ultra-thin titanium nitride films passivated by a non-conducting amorphous silicon layer. The amorphous silicon layer is used to prevent the oxidation of the conducting layer. Platinum electrodes are realized on top of the a-Si. Good electrical contact between TiN and Pt is subsequently obtained by the silicidation reaction of a-Si and Pt at a relatively low temperature.
Emergency Management: A Challenge for Public Administration

Throughout history public policy makers have sought to anticipate the unexpected in order to reduce the risk to human life and safety posed by intermittently occurring natural and man-made hazardous events. Their efforts have provided the foundation for the current focus on emergency management as an important function of federal, state, and local governments. Within the context of the various statutes, regulations, and ordinances, emergency management can be defined as the process of developing and implementing policies that are concerned with:
Quantitative structure‐property relationships for prediction of boiling point, vapor pressure, and melting point

Boiling point, vapor pressure, and melting point are important physicochemical properties in the modeling of the distribution and fate of chemicals in the environment. However, such data often are not available, and therefore must be estimated. Over the years, many attempts have been made to calculate boiling points, vapor pressures, and melting points by using quantitative structure‐property relationships, and this review examines and discusses the work published in this area, and concentrates particularly on recent studies. A number of software programs are commercially available for the calculation of boiling point, vapor pressure, and melting point, and these have been tested for their predictive ability with a test set of 100 organic chemicals.
A Hypertext System with Controlled Hype

Hype is an X– based previewer for troff documents. It offers support for hypertext commands that can either be embedded into the troff sources or issued by independent UNIX® commands, while the previewer is running. The embedded commands leave tags in the troff output that are interpreted by hype, but are invisible to other previewers and to devices such as line-printers and typesetters. Issuing the commands at run-time make it possible to add hyper-text support to any troff document, without modification of the sources. The information required to built hypertext support of this type can be extracted from the raw troff-ouput files with a few simple post-processing tools that will be discussed.
Un Procédé Itératif de Dénombrement D'arbres Binaires et Son Application A Leur Génération Aléatoire

Presentation d'une methode de type geometrique pour denombrer les arbres binaires de taille n; on s'interesse d'abord a un type d'objets plus complexes les arbres binaires a feuilles numerotees, et on obtient pour ceux-ci un procede de construction iteratif tres simple, l'insertion des feuilles par numeros croissants
3‐Nitropropionic acid: a mitochondrial toxin to uncover physiopathological mechanisms underlying striatal degeneration in Huntington's disease

Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by a mutation in the gene encoding Huntingtin. The mechanisms underlying the preferential degeneration of the striatum, the most striking neuropathological change in HD, are unknown. Of those probably involved, mitochondrial defects might play an important role. The behavioural and anatomical similarities found between HD and models using the mitochondrial toxin 3‐nitropropionic acid (3NP) in rats and primates support this hypothesis. Here, we discuss the recently identified mechanisms of 3NP‐induced striatal degeneration. Two types of important factor have been identified. The first are the ‘executioner’ components that have direct roles in cell death, such as c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase and Ca2+‐activated protease calpains. The second are ‘environmental’ factors, such as glutamate, dopamine and adenosine, which modulate the striatal degeneration induced by 3NP. Interestingly, these recent studies support the hypothesis that 3NP and mutated Huntingtin have certain mechanisms of toxicity in common, suggesting that the use of 3NP might give new insights into the pathogenesis of HD. Research on 3NP provides additional proof that the neurochemical environment of a given neurone can determine its preferential vulnerability in neurodegenerative diseases.
A mobile data collection framework for the Sensor Web

In the idea of the Sensor Web, sensors should be discoverable, accessible and taskable over the internet. In this paper, we present a mobile data collection framework for connecting wireless sensors with the Sensor Web by using mobile devices. The proposed system is an extension to Locawe platform including now mapping and WSN features together with features of SWE especially Sensor Observation Service (SOS) specified by the Open Geospatial Consortium. Therefore, the Locawe platform running on mobile devices is used to connect to 6LoWPAN sensors, store the measurements of the sensors on the device's memory, convert it into sensor web protocols and insert the measurements into a sensor service as soon as wireless internet connection is available. As a proof of concept, the system is used within an air quality monitoring scenario.
A genetic algorithm in layered overlay multicast network

We present a new architecture named layered overlay multicast network (LOMN) for large-scale interdomain live media applications by strategically deploying the service brokers (SvBs) among the ASes. Genetic algorithm is selected to build the core multicast tree under delay constraint (CMTDC) for LOMN and propose a novel chromosomal coding scheme which uses destination-oriented method to represent chromosomes and general genetic and chromosome repair operators. The experimental results show that our solution model can obtain a near optimal solution for building the core multicasting tree.
INNOVATIONS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW LAW "FOR CIVIL SERVANTS" IN THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA, THE FUNCTION OF CONTEMPORARY PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Civil servants are those employees who serve the public interest through their performance, and therefore labor relations for this category are regulated by the law of "Civil Servant" and not the general provisions of labor legislation. Given that it is a law that serves the public administration, it aims to regulate labor relations for civil servants so that they can contribute to a better service to the public interest. This is why having a good civil service is considered as a state governance. In this paper, the main purpose is to address innovations of the new Law "On Civil Servants" in Albania, in order to reform public administration. Entry into force of this law has given a chance to Albanian public administration, to handle tasks as a small state, but effective, being renovated through fair competition and creates opportunities for professional and career. This law enables the administration based on decision-making processes transparent, inclusive and responsive to public. Public administration reform within the frame of this law, brought a radical change in terms of the relationship of state employees, at the workplace. Work in public administration can not be considered as a job where only the employee benefits from the advantages and comfort that the post provides without giving in return for which it provides its task. This law puts an end to this model, to restore civilian employee in the civil service through professional progress and efficiency of the service provided. In these conditions, public administration Its main challenge is in order to increase public confidence through increased quality of service, in compliance with European standards.
Temperature effect on tribological and mechanical properties of MEMS

The scope of this paper is to analyze the temperature effect on tribological and mechanical properties of materials used in the fabrication of the flexible components from Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS). Using a temperature control system and an atomic force microscope (AFM) with a nanoindentation module, the changes of the mechanical and tribological properties of MEMS material as a function of temperature are investigated. The temperature has influence on the tribological and mechanical behaviors of materials based on thermal relaxation. Firstly, the temperature effect on hardness and contact stiffness of MEMS materials is investigated. The coupling of the strain field to a temperature field provides an energy dissipation mechanism that allows the material to relax. In the case of investigated MEMS materials, the relaxation strength to be considered is that of the modulus of elasticity with influence on contact stiffness and hardness. Secondly, the temperature influence on tribological properties is determined. The tribological investigation of interest is the friction force measurement as a function of temperature. The direct measurement of the temperature effect on tribological and mechanical behavior of MEMS materials is important in order to improve the reliability design of MEMS and to increase the lifetime of microstructures from MEMS applications.
The Exchange Rate in the Presence of Transaction Costs: Implications for Tests of Purchasing Power Parity

With transaction costs for trading goods, the nominal exchange rate moves within a band around the nominal purchasing power parity (PPP) value. The authors model the behavior of the band and of the exchange rate within the band. The model explains why there are below-unity slope coefficients in regression tests of PPP and why these increase toward unity under hyperinflation or with low-frequency data. The authors' results are independent of the presence of nontraded goods in the economy. Copyright 1995 by American Finance Association.
A Dynamic Analysis of Debt‐Led and Debt‐Burdened Growth Regimes with Minskian Financial Structure

In this paper, we formally derive a version of the Minskian taxonomy of the firms' financial structure (hedge, speculative and Ponzi types), under the economic growth context in the long run. As for the economic growth, we formalize the mechanism of debt‐led (debt‐burdened) growth where the economy expands as the debt variables increase (decrease). By explicitly introducing the relationship between the finance growth regime and Minskian taxonomy in a dynamic model, the model in this paper enables us to evaluate whether or not the economic growth regime is sounded in terms of the firms' financial positions.
Mapping of Genomic Segments of Influenza B Virus Strains by an Oligonucleotide Microarray Method

ABSTRACT Similar to other segmented RNA viruses, influenza viruses can exchange genome segments and form a wide variety of reassortant strains upon coreplication within a host cell. Therefore, the mapping of genome segments of influenza viruses is essential for understanding their phenotypes. In this work, we have developed an oligonucleotide microarray hybridization method for simultaneous genotyping of all genomic segments of two highly homologous strains of influenza B virus. A few strain-specific oligonucleotide probes matching each of the eight segments of the viral genomes of the B/Beijing/184/93 and B/Shangdong/7/97 strains were hybridized with PCR-amplified fluorescently labeled single-stranded DNA. Even though there were a few mismatches among the genomes of the studied virus strains, microarray hybridization showed highly significant and reproducible discrimination ability and allowed us to determine the origins of individual genomic segments in a series of reassortant strains prepared as vaccine candidates. Additionally, we were able to detect the presence of at least 5% of mixed genotypes in virus stocks even when conventional sequencing methods failed, for example, for the NS segment. Thus, the proposed microarray method can be used for (i) rapid and reliable genome mapping of highly homologous influenza B viruses and (ii) extensive monitoring of influenza B virus reassortants and the mixed genotypes. The array can be expanded by adding new oligoprobes and using more quantitative assays to determine the origin of individual genomic segments in series of reassortant strains prepared as vaccine candidates or in mixed virus populations.
Energy for Sustainable Development: Key Issues and Challenges

Abstract Energy generation and use are strongly linked to all elements of sustainable development such as economic, social, and environmental. The history of human development rests on the availability and use of energy, the transformation from the early use of fire and animal power that improved lives, to the present world with use of electricity and clean fuels for a multitude of purposes. Energy is the neglected issue of the development debate. The lack of access to reliable and clean energy supplies is a major barrier to improving human well-being around the globe. There are an estimated 1.6 billion people living in the rural areas of developing countries who lack access to electricity, and so dependence on fossil fuels. Combustion of fossil fuels produces large amounts of CO2, an important greenhouse gas. In response to increasing concern about the effect of anthropogenic greenhouse gases on global climate, international action has been agreed to reduce these emissions. On the other hand, renewable energy is the great, barely tapped solution to the two great challenges of the coming century such as poverty and global warming. Not only can renewable energy provide a clean, flexible power source for homes, schools and hospitals, at the micro-to-medium scale it has huge potential to create meaningful and useful jobs.