Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Synchronization by Two-Way Message Exchanges: Cramér-Rao Bounds, Approximate Maximum Likelihood, and Offshore Submarine Positioning

Accurate clock synchronization is vital to many applications of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). The availability of a mathematical tool that at an early design stage can provide insight into the theoretically achievable performance of the clock synchronization may accordingly be valuable in the initial design phase of the network. Therefore, the achievable clock synchronization accuracy is examined in a WSN employing a two-way message exchange model under a Gaussian assumption. The Cramer-Rao bound for the estimation of the clock parameters is derived for four different parameterizations (i.e., different nuisance parameters), reflecting different levels of prior knowledge concerning the system parameters. The results on the Cramer-Rao bound are transformed into a lower bound on the mean square error of the clock offset, a figure of merit often more relevant, characterizing the system performance. Further, by introducing a set of artificial observations through a linear combination of the observations originally obtained in the two-way message exchange, an approximate maximum likelihood estimator for the clock parameters is proposed. The estimator is shown to be of low complexity and it obeys near-optimal performance, that is, a mean square error in the vicinity of the Cramer-Rao bound. The applicability of the derived results is shown through a simulation study of an offshore engineering scenario, where a remotely operated underwater vehicle is used for operations at the seabed. The position of the vehicle is tracked using a WSN.
Prevalence of asthma and wheeze in the Highlands of Scotland.

EDIrOR,-In their study on asthma and wheeze in the Highlands of Scotland Austin et al performed exercise tests on children in six geographical regions between April and June 1992.1 The prevalence of exercise induced bronchospasm was particularly high on the Isle of Skye which was one of the most rural of the areas studied. However, data from the weekly returns service of the Royal College of General Practitioners showed that new episodes of asthma in 5-14 year olds were almost three times greater in June compared with April in 1992. Both asthma and hay fever show annual and seasonal variation2 and are partly affected by the severity of the prevailing pollen season. Clearly, unless the exercise testing was carried out simultaneously in each region, comparisons are likely to be unreliable.
Two types of branching programs with bounded repetition that cannot efficiently compute monotone 3-CNFs

It is known that there are classes of 2-CNFs requiring exponential size non-deterministic read-once branching programs to compute them. However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no superpolynomial lower bounds for branching programs of a higher repetition computing a class of 2-CNFs. This work is an attempt to make a progress in this direction. We consider a class of monotone 3-CNFs that are almost 2-CNFs in the sense that in each clause there is a literal occurring in this clause only. We prove exponential lower bounds for two classes of non-deterministic branching programs. The first class significantly generalizes monotone read-$k$-times {\sc nbp}s and the second class generalizes oblivious read $k$ times branching programs. The lower bounds remain exponential for $k \leq \log n/a$ where $a$ is a sufficiently large constant.
Evaluation of Light-Emitting Diode (LED-660 Nm) Application over Primary Osteoblast-Like Cells on Titanium Surfaces: An In Vitro Study

Background: The goal of this study was to evaluate the behavior of neonatal rat calvarial osteoblast-like cells cultured on different implant surfaces and exposed once or three times to a 660-nm light-emitting diode (LED). Methods: An LED with a 660-nm wavelength was applied once or three times to cultured cells on standard and modified sandblasted acid-etched surfaces (SLA and SLActive; Straumann, Basel, Switzerland). To analyze the effect of the LED on cell proliferation, numbers, and viability, cells were cultured on titanium discs, and measurements were taken after 72 h. Cell proliferation rates were assessed using a bromodeoxyuridine immunohistochemical technique. Cell morphologies were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results: Osteoblast-like cells proliferated on all tested surfaces, with differences among groups in cell counts and DNA synthesis values. The application of one LED treatment caused a significant increase in cell count in the SLActive group in comparison with the SLA group (p = 0.001), whereas the application of three LED treatments caused a significant decrease in cell count in the SLA group compared with the SLActive group (p < 0.001). After 72 h, the number of cells was highest in the SLActive group exposed once to the LED. Conclusions: One LED application in the SLActive group resulted in significantly increased cell numbers. However, these findings were not exactly compatible with the SEM findings, which demonstrated fewer cells and weak attachments between cells and to the surface. Thus, further studies using different LED application times are needed to clarify the reason for the increased number of cells that are apparently incapable of attaching to the titanium surfaces after 72 h.
Towards a discipline of experimental algorithmics

The last 30 years have seen enormous progress in the design of algorithms, but comparatively little of it has been put into practice, even within academic laboratories. Indeed, the gap between theory and practice has continuously widened over these years. Moreover, many of the recently developed algorithms are very hard to characterize theoretically and, as initially described, suffer from large running-time coefficients. Thus the algorithms and data structures community needs to return to implementation as one of its principal standards of value; we call such an approach Experimental Algorithmics. Experimental Algorithmics studies algorithms and data structures by joining experimental studies with the traditional theoretical analyses. Experimentation with algorithms and data structures is proving indispensable in the assessment of heuristics for hard problems, in the characterization of asymptotic behavior of complex algorithms, in the comparison of competing designs for tractable problems, in the formulation of new conjectures, and in the evaluation of optimization criteria in a multitude of applications. Experimentation is also the key to the transfer of research results from paper to production code, providing as it does a base of well-tested implementations. We present our views on what is a suitable problem to investigate with this approach, what is a suitable experimental setup, what lessons can be learned from the empirical sciences, and what pitfalls await the experimentalist who fails to heed these lessons. We illustrate our points with examples drawn from our research on solutions for NP-hard problems and on comparisons of algorithms for tractable problems, as well as from our experience as reviewer
Understanding the topologies of BitTorrent networks: A measurement view

BitTorrent (BT) is one of the most popular Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network applications. Most characteristics (except the topology) of BT network have been examined extensively by measurement approaches. In this work, we deploy a measurement system to study the performance-related properties of BT topologies. We also use our measurement system to verify some previous simulation and experiment results obtained by other researchers. Different from previous results, we observe that a BT swarm has short distance, low clustering coefficient and Gaussian-like degree-frequency distribution. This indicates that a BT swarm is very close to a random network rather than a scale-free network or a small world. We observe that the diameter of a BT network at the initial stage is small even when 95% of peers use the peer exchange extension but the networks are not fully connected at the steady stages.
Preparation and Environmental Resistance of Dual-Wavelength Polypropylene Fluorescent Anti-Counterfeiting Fibers

The UV short-wavelength/infrared excitable dual-wavelength fluorescent anti-counterfeiting polypropylene (PP) fibers were spun by the traditional melt spinning process. The effects of pH value, temperature, and solvents on the structure and properties of fibers were investigated by means of tensile tester, fluorescence spectrometer and scanning electron microscope (SEM), respectively. The results showed that the fibers could emit red light under the excitation of 254 nm wavelength UV light and emit green light under the excitation of 980 nm wavelength infrared light, which show the double anti-counterfeiting effects. The dual-wavelength fluorescent fibers showed stable mechanical properties in acid and alkali resistance, whereas the fluorescence properties of fibers decreased with the increase of processing time in acid and alkali solutions. With the extension of high temperature treatment time, the mechanical properties of fibers decreased slightly and tended to be stable, while the fluorescence performance of fibers decreased gradually. The influences of different organic solvents on the properties of fluorescent fibers were different, and the fibers showed relatively good solvent resistance.
Planar Resonant Structures for Biosensing Applications

Planar Resonant Structures for Biosensing Applications Aida Delfan Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Physics University of Toronto 2014 This thesis presents theoretical studies of spontaneous Raman scattering and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) from molecules on resonant multilayer structures. A simple isotropic model is exploited to describe the Raman polarizability of molecules, and a Green function method is used to calculate the scattering fields from molecules. The response of the multilayer structures to incident fields is characterized through a transfer matrix method that allows derivation of semi-analytic expressions for Raman cross sections and CARS powers in terms of Fresnel coefficients of the structures. The main focus in this thesis is on purely dielectric structures, especially truncated periodic multilayers that support Bloch surface waves (BSW). The dispersion relation of these resonances can be engineered to allow resonant coupling of all incoming and outgoing fields in spontaneous Raman scattering and CARS. As a result, the spontaneous Raman cross section is enhanced up to 10 in particular directions and the CARS power from monolayers is significant for millimeter wide incident beams. I compare the spontaneous Raman and CARS powers from thin layers of molecules on multilayer structures supporting BSWs and show how these ratios scale when the molecules form lipid bilayers. I present experimental realizations of surface enhanced Raman scattering from acetone and sulphur molecules on BSW structures and show that the excitation of BSWs results in observation of Raman lines that are not observable on a bare prism. I use a Fresnel coefficient pole analysis to develop a systematic strategy for designing
A software based approach for autonomous projectile attitude and position estimation

This work brings a contribution on projectile attitude and position estimation in a noisy context. Due to strong non linearities and poor observability of the dynamical model, describing the projectile behavior, very few estimation techniques could be applied. The main features lie in the use of an EKF based estimator that use a sliding window of output measurements and assures a strong tracking using magnetometer sensor only. Furthermore, we notice that the proposed approach may be applied to a general class of non linear discrete time systems with few computational requirements. High performances, even in the presence of unknown biases, are shown through simulation results.
A Statistic Study for the ADBIS Period 1994-2006

The Conference on Advances in Databases and Information Systems (ADBIS) was initiated by the Moscow ACM SIGMOD chapter, and started in 1993 as a mainly Russian national event. Since then, it has been morphed into a high-quality internationally visible scientific forum in the area of the databases and information systems. The key aim of ADBIS is to diffuse state-of-the-art research results into the research communities of Central and East Europe and to increase their opportunities for international scientific collaboration. This re- port summarizes statistic measures on historic data since 1994, which relate to several criteria such as acceptance ratios and academic impact as well as other criteria related to the ADBIS penetration into European and other geographical communities or its role as a catalyst for international collaboration. The raw data have been collected from the ADBIS proceedings (Springer Verlag WiC and LNCS series, as well as local ones), the SIGMOD Anthology, the Database and Logic Programming (DBLP) website and the google.scholar. com website. Several interesting outcomes have been derived and some thoughts for future evolution of the ADBIS success are being reported.
STICS: searching with strings, things, and cats

This paper describes an advanced search engine that supports users in querying documents by means of keywords, entities, and categories. Users simply type words, which are automatically mapped onto appropriate suggestions for entities and categories. Based on named-entity disambiguation, the search engine returns documents containing the query's entities and prominent entities from the query's categories.
Thin-film models for viscoelastic liquid bi-layers

4 In this work we consider a two-layer system of viscoelastic liquids of corotational Jeffreys’ 5 type dewetting from a Newtonian liquid substrates. We derive conditions that allow for the 6 first time the asymptotically consistent reduction of the free boundary problem for the two7 layer system to a system of coupled thin-film equations that incorporate the full nonlinear 8 viscoelastic rheology. We show that these conditions are controlled by the order of magnitude 9 of the viscosity ratio of the liquid layers and their thickness ratio. For pure Newtonian flow, 10 these conditions lead to a thin-film model that couples a layer with a parabolic flow field to 11 a layer described by elongational flow. For this system we establish asymptotic regimes that 12 relate the viscosity ratio to a corresponding apparent slip. We then use numerical simulations 13 to discuss the characteristic morphological and dynamical properties of viscoelastic films of 14 corotationl Jeffreys’ type dewetting from a solid as well as liquid substrate. 15
Learning the track and planning ahead in a car racing controller

We propose a robust approach for learning car racing track models from sensory data for the car racing simulator TORCS. Our track recognition system is based on the combination of an advanced preprocessing step of the sensory data and a simple classifier that delivers six types of track shapes similar to the ones a human would recognize. Out of these, establishing a complete track model is straightforward. This model provides an information advantage to controller strategies, as it generally enables planning. We demonstrate how such a planning controller can be derived by a mixture of expert knowledge and a simple evolutionary learning approach and give experimental evidence that knowing not only the current conditions but also the big picture of the track is beneficial, as may be expected.
GNSS Signal Tracking Performance Improvement for Highly Dynamic Receivers by Gyroscopic Mounting Crystal Oscillator

In this paper, the efficiency of the gyroscopic mounting method is studied for a highly dynamic GNSS receiver’s reference oscillator for reducing signal loss. Analyses are performed separately in two phases, atmospheric and upper atmospheric flights. Results show that the proposed mounting reduces signal loss, especially in parts of the trajectory where its probability is the highest. This reduction effect appears especially for crystal oscillators with a low elevation angle g-sensitivity vector. The gyroscopic mounting influences frequency deviation or jitter caused by dynamic loads on replica carrier and affects the frequency locked loop (FLL) as the dominant tracking loop in highly dynamic GNSS receivers. In terms of steady-state load, the proposed mounting mostly reduces the frequency deviation below the one-sigma threshold of FLL (1σFLL). The mounting method can also reduce the frequency jitter caused by sinusoidal vibrations and reduces the probability of signal loss in parts of the trajectory where the other error sources accompany this vibration load. In the case of random vibration, which is the main disturbance source of FLL, gyroscopic mounting is even able to suppress the disturbances greater than the three-sigma threshold of FLL (3σFLL). In this way, signal tracking performance can be improved by the gyroscopic mounting method for highly dynamic GNSS receivers.
STABILITY PREDICTION OF TITANIUM MILLING WITH DATA DRIVEN RECONSTRUCTION OF PHASE-SPACE

Significant research effort has been carried out in the detection of chatter, which is one of the main barriers against titanium milling. State-of-the-art techniques are unable to satisfy requirements of industry in terms of in-process chatter detection. The present study reports the use of sensor-signal driven reconstructed phase space attractors combined with image correlation as a solution of chatter prediction during milling of titanium in industry. The method uses Poincaré sections of reconstructed phase space attractor as patterns to identify the onset of chatter in the apparently random behavior of vibrations in the milling process. Image correlation of Poincaré sections indicates the onset of chatter in the milling process.
Extending Lifetime and Reducing Garbage Collection Overhead of Solid State Disks with Virtual Machine Aware Journaling

Virtualization is becoming widely deployed in commercial servers. In our previous study, we proposed Virtual Machine Aware journaling (VMA journaling), a file system journaling approach for virtual server environments. With reliable VMM and hardware subsystems, VMA journaling eliminates journal writes while ensuring file system consistency and data integrity in virtual server environments, allowing it to be an effective alternative to traditional journaling approaches in these environments. In recent years, solid-state disks (SSDs) have shown their potential as a replacement of traditional magnetic disks in commercial servers. In this paper, we demonstrate the benefits of VMA journaling on SSDs. We compare the performance of VMA journaling and three traditional journaling approaches (i.e., the three journaling modes of the ext3 journaling file system) in terms of lifetime and garbage collection overhead, which are two key performance metrics for SSDs. Since a Flash Translation Layer (FTL) is used in an SSD to emulate traditional disk interface and the SSD performance highly depends on the FTL being used, three state-of-the-art FTLs (i.e., FAST, Super Block FTL and DFTL) are implemented for performance evaluation. The performance results show that, traditional full data journaling could reduce the lifetime of the SSD significantly. VMA journaling extends the SSD lifetime under full data journaling by up to 86.5%. Moreover, GC overhead is reduced by up to 80.6% when compared to the full data journaling approach of ext3. Finally, VMA journaling is effective under all the FTLs. These results demonstrate that VMA journaling is effective in SSD-based virtual server environments.
Effect of SWCNT on Tribological Behavior of Polymeric Nanocomposite

The nanoscale structure of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) has unique properties. These nanostructured additives can induce unusual characteristic in many polymer matrix. In one of our recent experiments, it was found that when adding SWCNTs into a polyimide (PI) matrix, friction becomes a function of the concentration of the additive. In this research, we analyze the behavior of the SWCNTs-PI nano-composite using an approximation approach. We report that the frictional behavior of the nanocomposite is dominated by the elastic and plastic deformation through randomly dispersed SWCNTs under different loading conditions. At low concentration of SWCNTs, its elasticity dominates the properties of composite while at higher concentration, plastic behavior of tubes plays a major role in describing the properties of composite. © 2008 ASME
Evidence of parasympathetic hyperactivity in functionally overreached athletes.

PURPOSE We analyzed HR variability (HRV) to detect alterations in autonomic function that may be associated with functional overreaching (F-OR) in endurance athletes. METHODS Twenty-one trained male triathletes were randomly assigned to either intensified training (n = 13) or normal training (n = 8) groups during 5 wk. HRV measures were taken daily during a 1-wk moderate training (baseline), a 3-wk overload training, and a 1-wk taper. RESULTS All the subjects of the intensified training group demonstrated a decrease in maximal incremental running test performance at the end of the overload period (-9.0% ± 2.1% of baseline value) followed by a performance supercompensation after the taper and were therefore diagnosed as F-OR. According to a qualitative statistical analysis method, a likely to very likely negative effect of F-OR on HR was observed at rest in supine and standing positions, using isolated seventh-day values and weekly average values, respectively. When considering the values obtained once per week, no clear effect of F-OR on HRV parameters was found. In contrast, the weekly mean of each HRV parameter showed a larger change in indices of parasympathetic tone in the F-OR group than the control group in supine position (with a 96%/4%/0% chance to demonstrate a positive/trivial/negative effect on Ln RMSSD after the overload period; 77%/22%/1% on LnHF) and standing position [98%/1%/1% on Ln RMSSD; 99%/0%/1% on LnHF; 95%/1%/4% on Ln(LF + HF)]. During the taper, theses responses were reversed. CONCLUSIONS Using daily HRV recordings averaged over each week, this study detected a progressive increase in the parasympathetic modulation of HR in endurance athletes led to F-OR. It also revealed that due to a wide day-to-day variability, isolated, once per week HRV recordings may not detect training-induced autonomic modulations in F-OR athletes.
Fatigue Flexural Behavior of Corroded Reinforced Concrete Beams Repaired with CFRP Sheets

This study investigated the flexural behavior of corroded steel reinforced concrete beams repaired with carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets under repeated loading. Thirty beams ( 152×254×2,000 mm ) were constructed and tested. Fatigue flexural failure occurred in 29 of these beams. The study showed that pitting of the steel reinforcement due to corrosion occurred only after about a 7% actual mass loss which coincided with a decrease in the fatigue performance of the beam. The controlling factor for the fatigue strength of the beams is the fatigue strength of the steel bars. Repairing with CFRP sheets increased the fatigue capacity of the beams with corroded steel reinforcement beyond that of the control unrepaired beams with uncorroded steel reinforcement. Beams repaired with CFRP at a medium corrosion level and then further corroded to a high corrosion level before testing had a comparable fatigue performance to those that were repaired and tested after corroding directly to a high corrosion level.