Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the mapping of Points of Interest through StreetView imagery and paid crowdsourcing

The use of volunteers has emerged as low-cost alternative to generate accurate geographical information, an approach known as Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI). However, VGI is limited by the number and availability of volunteers in the area to be mapped, hindering scalability for large areas and making difficult to map within a time-frame. Fortunately, the availability of street-view imagery enables the virtual exploration of urban environments, making possible the recruitment of contributors not necessarily located in the area to be mapped. In this paper, we describe the design, implementation, and evaluation of the Virtual City Explorer (VCE), a system to collect the coordinates of Points of Interest within a bounded area on top of a street view service with the use of paid crowdworkers. Our evaluation suggests that paid crowdworkers are effective for finding PoIs, and cover almost all the area. With respect to completeness, our approach does not find all PoIs found by experts or VGI communities, but is able to find PoIs that were not found by them, suggesting complementarity. We also studied the impact of making PoIs already discovered by a certain number of workers \emph{taboo} for incoming workers, finding that it encourages more exploration from workers , increase the number of detected PoIs , and reduce costs.
Identification of Smart Jammers: Learning based Approaches Using Wavelet Representation

Smart jammer nodes can disrupt communication between a transmitter and a receiver in a wireless network, and they leave traces that are undetectable to classical jammer identification techniques, hidden in the time-frequency plane. These traces cannot be effectively identified through the use of the classical Fourier transform based time-frequency transformation (TFT) techniques with a fixed resolution. Inspired by the adaptive resolution property provided by the wavelet transforms, in this paper, we propose a jammer identification methodology that includes a pre-processing step to obtain a multi-resolution image, followed by the use of a classifier. Support vector machine (SVM) and deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) architectures are investigated as classifiers to automatically extract the features of the transformed signals and to classify them. Three different jamming attacks are considered, the barrage jamming that targets the complete transmission bandwidth, the synchronization signal jamming attack that targets synchronization signals and the reference signal jamming attack that targets the reference signals in an LTE downlink transmission scenario. The performance of the proposed approach is compared with the classical Fourier transform based TFT techniques, demonstrating the efficacy of the proposed approach in the presence of smart jammers.
CRAQL: A Composable Language for Querying Source Code

This paper describes the design and implementation of CRAQL (Composable Repository Analysis and Query Language), a new query language for source code. The growth of source code mining and its applications suggest the need for a query language that can fully utilize and correlate across the unique structure and metadata of parsed source code. CRAQL is built on an underlying abstraction analogous to the underpinnings of SQL, but aimed at parsed source code. Thus, while SQL queries' inputs and outputs are sets of tuples, CRAQL queries' inputs and outputs are sets of abstract syntax trees (ASTs). This abstraction makes CRAQL queries composable (the output of one query can become the input to another) and improves the power of the language by allowing for querying of the tree structure and metadata, as well as raw text. Furthermore, the abstraction enables tree-specific language optimizations and allows CRAQL to be easily applied to any language that is parsable into ASTs. These attributes, along with a familiar syntax similar to SQL, allow complex queries to be expressed in a compact, straightforward manner. Questions such as "find the longest series of statements without any loops," "find methods that are never called," "find getters (0-parameter methods with a single statement that returns a member variable)," or "find the percentage of variables declared at the top of a block" all translate to simple, understandable queries in CRAQL. In this paper we describe the language, its features and capabilities. We compare CRAQL to other languages for querying source code and find that it has potential advantages in clarity and compactness. We discuss the features and optimizations added to support searching parse tree collections effectively and efficiently. Finally, we summarize the application of the language to millions of Java source files, the details of which are in a companion paper.
Measuring the Robustness of Graph Properties

In this paper, we propose a perturbation framework to measure the robustness of graph properties. Although there are already perturbation methods proposed to tackle this problem, they are limited by the fact that the strength of the perturbation cannot be well controlled. We firstly provide a perturbation framework on graphs by introducing weights on the nodes, of which the magnitude of perturbation can be easily controlled through the variance of the weights. Meanwhile, the topology of the graphs are also preserved to avoid uncontrollable strength in the perturbation. We then extend the measure of robustness in the robust statistics literature to the graph properties.
Closed-form performance analysis of linear MIMO receivers in general fading scenarios

Linear precoding and post-processing schemes are ubiquitous in wireless multi-input-multi-output (MIMO) settings, due to their reduced complexity with respect to optimal strategies. Despite their popularity, the performance analysis of linear MIMO receivers is mostly not available in closed form, apart for the canonical (uncorrelated Rayleigh fading) case, while for more general fading conditions only bounds are provided. This lack of results is motivated by the complex dependence of the output signal-to-interference and noise ratio (SINR) at each branch of the receiving filter on both the squared singular values as well as the (typically right) singular vectors of the channel matrix. While the explicit knowledge of the statistics of the SINR can be circumvented for some fading types in the analysis of the linear Minimum Mean-Squared Error (MMSE) receiver, this does not apply to the less complex and widely adopted Zero-Forcing (ZF) scheme. This work provides the first-to-date closed-form expression of the probability density function (pdf) of the output ZF and MMSE SINR, for a wide range of fading laws, encompassing, in particular, correlations and multiple scattering effects typical of practically relevant channel models.
Capacity Optimality of AMP in Coded Systems

This paper studies a large random matrix system (LRMS) model involving an arbitrary signal distribution and forward error control (FEC) coding. We establish an area property based on the approximate message passing (AMP) algorithm. Under the assumption that the state evolution for AMP is correct for the coded system, the achievable rate of AMP is analyzed. We prove that AMP achieves the constrained capacity of the LRMS with an arbitrary signal distribution provided that a matching condition is satisfied. We provide related numerical results of binary signaling using irregular low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes. We show that the optimized codes demonstrate significantly better performance over unmatched ones under AMP. For quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) modulation, bit error rate (BER) performance within 1 dB from the constrained capacity limit is observed.
End-to-End Performance Analysis of Underwater Optical Wireless Relaying and Routing Techniques Under Location Uncertainty

On the contrary of low speed and high delay acoustic systems, underwater optical wireless communication (UOWC) can deliver a high speed and low latency service at the expense of short communication ranges. Therefore, multihop communication is of utmost importance to extend the range, improve degree of connectivity, and overall performance of underwater optical wireless networks (UOWNs). In this regard, this paper investigates relaying and routing techniques and provides their end-to-end (E2E) performance analysis under the location uncertainty. To achieve robust and reliable links, we first consider adaptive beamwidths and derive the divergence angles under the absence and presence of a pointing-acquisitioning-and-tracking (PAT) mechanism. Thereafter, important E2E performance metrics (e.g., data rate, bit error rate, transmission power, amplifier gain, etc.) are obtained for two potential relaying techniques; decode & forward (DF) and optical amplify & forward (AF). We develop centralized routing schemes for both relaying techniques to optimize E2E rate, bit error rate, and power consumption. Alternatively, a distributed routing protocol, namely Light Path Routing (LiPaR), is proposed by leveraging the range-beamwidth tradeoff of UOWCs. LiPaR is especially shown to be favorable when there is no PAT mechanism and available network information. In order to show the benefits of multihop communications, extensive simulations are conducted to compare different routing and relaying schemes under different network parameters and underwater environments.
Purification and Characterization of a Protease Inhibitor with Anticancer Potential from Bacillus endophyticus JUPR15

Introduction: Protease Inhibitors (PIs) constitute a group of proteins widely distributed among all organisms and their main function includes their ability to inhibit the proteolytic activity. PIs represent an important role in the regulation of various cellular physiological and biological processes, including cell cycle, cell death, differentiation and immune response.Hence, in our search for novel anticancer compounds, we isolated microorganisms from various environmental sources and screened them for the production of protease inhibitors. Promising isolates were further checked for their protease inhibitory activity by their ability to inhibit the activity of trypsin and chymotrypsin, which were measured spectrophotometrically.The isolate identified as Bacillus endophyticus JUPR15 was found to be promising with higher inhibitory activity than the other isolates. The inhibitor was purified by cold acetone precipitation and column chromatography and further subjected to characterization studies by performing 12 % SDS-PAGE to determine the molecular weight and gelatin-PAGE assay to confirm its inhibitory activity.The isolate exhibited promising anticancer activity on in-vitro Hela and HepG2 cancer cell lines, showing its application potentials.
Fasting during Ramadan and its effects on glycemic control and other metabolic markers among diabetic patients stratified to different risk groups

The objective of this study is to assess the metabolic control of diabetes during Ramadan fasting among different risk groups. This cohort study included 203 diabetic patients attending Prince Abdulaziz Bin Majid Diabetic Center in Madinah, who intended to fast during Ramadan 2014. They were divided into high-risk group (68.47%), low-risk group (23.65%) and very high-risk group (7.88%). Weight, waist circumference (WC), blood pressure (BP), glycosylated hemoglobin (Hb A1c), creatinine and lipid profile were all measured 2 weeks before Ramadan, 4 weeks during the period of the fast and on the week that followed the end of the month. Hypoglycemia was highest in the very high-risk group (42.9%) which consisted of type 1 diabetics. Hb A1c significantly decreased in the high (9.13 ± 1.46% vs 8.75 ± 1.46%), (p=0.014) and very high-risk (9.88 ± 2.00 vs 8.64 ± 1.67), (p = 0.005) groups but increased in the low-risk group (7.0548 ± .93% vs 7.49 ± .99%), (p=0.002). Weight, WC, BP, creatinine, and lipid profile were similar in lowand high-risk patients. The very high-risk group showed significantly increased systolic BP and total cholesterol levels (P= 0.018 and 0.001). In conclusion, fasting Ramadan has different impacts on glycemic control among different risk groups. Hypoglycemia and other unfavorable effects observed among the very high-risk group mandate close monitoring during fasting.
Philo of Alexandria’s interpretation of the Jewish cultus

Philo of Alexandria holds a significant place in the intellectual environment in which Christianity originated and an examination, therefore, of his thought is of value in appreciating the influences which affected the development of that religion. The aspect of his thought considered in this study is his treatment of the Jewish cultus. The two major English works on Philo published during this century are by H.A. Wolfson and E.R. Goodenough respectively. The former sees Philo primarily as a philosopher and says little of his cultic or mystical interest. Goodenough, however, maintains that Philo transformed the Jewish cultus into a Hellenistic mystery. Turning to the writings of Philo, his treatment of various aspects of the cult are considered in turn, beginning with the Temple. From this it emerges that, on the one hand, he reads a spiritual meaning into the various parts of the Temple and, on the other, uses the Temple imagery to describe his personal mysticism. This twofold approach is also employed in his treatment of the remainder of the cult, namely the priesthood, sacrifice and the festivals. It is important that the two methods used by Philo in handling cultic material be clearly distinguished from each other. The spiritualising of the cult is very different from the metaphorical use of cultic imagery to describe another type of religion and passages in which the latter method is being used are not indicative of Philo's attitude to the cult, a fact which Goodenough fails to appreciate. Contrary to Goodenough's view, Philo did not turn the Jewish cultus into a mystery, rather he held it in tension with his personal mysticism in a way which enabled him to remain a practising Jew while continuing his study of mystic philosophy.
Barriers of Nurse Collaboration for the Care of Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients in Emergency Departments: A Pilot Study

Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) is a cardiovascular disease that is one of the main causes of death worldwide. Nurse collaboration in Indonesia is still very complex and inadequate. Positive collaboration in providing care for patients with ACS is essential in the practice of nursing services. This study aims to explore the barriers in the implementation of nurses-physicians collaboration for the care of patient with ACS in Emergency Departments (EDs). This research is a qualitative survey using purposive sampling. It was conducted on 16 nurses who worked in emergency departments from four general hospitals in East Java, Indonesia. Research data were collected using open-ended questions in semi-structured interviews. There were three themes obtained from the data analysis, which include the difference of confidence between senior and junior nurses in ACS actions, limitations in performing professional nursing, and unclear job responsibilities. Collaboration of nurses and physicians in emergency departments still faces many problems. It is important to carry out interprofessional education initiations for nursing and medical students, apply peer-mentoring to increase the self-confidence of junior nurse, develop and train the clinical pathway of collaboration between physicians and nurses for the care of ACS patients in EDs.
“In Cycles of Dreams, Despair, and Desperation:” Research Perspectives on Infertility Specific Distress in Patients Undergoing Fertility Treatments

“Emotional distress in infertility” is a broad expression that loosely denotes anxiety, depression, grief, crisis, depleting psychological well-being, and all forms of affective and interpersonal disturbances faced by individuals with infertility. The distress is usually associated with involuntary childlessness as it is an unwelcoming event. The developmental crisis associated with childlessness poses a threat to one's sense of self at all levels (individual, family and social). Distress may begin before or during treatments as a person experiences the loss of control over attaining parenthood, anxiety or dejection after the diagnosis, treatments, its complications particularly its limited success rates. This paper reviews the basic concepts, theoretical models related to infertility specific distress (ISD). It elaborates on the effects of individual and treatment-specific variables on ISD with special highlights gathered from the national and international research.
Serum CRP level in day of ovum pickup and embryo transfer as a predictor for success in patients undergoing IVF/ ICSI

Background: This study was performed to determine the level of serum C-reactive protein (CRP) in day of ovum pickup and embryo transfer as a predictor for success in patients undergoing In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and Intracytoplasmic Sperm injection (ICSI). Methods: This study was a cross sectional study (prospective) that was conducted in assisted reproduction unit in Al-Azhar University Hospital on 50 infertile patients who were candidate for IVF/ICSI, using standard long protocol, blood was drawn two times during cycle, in the day of ovum pick up and the day of embryo transfer.Results: In (70.6 %) the serum of CRP level was higher in day of embryo transfer than day of ovum pick up. The ratio of CRP level in the day of embryo transfer to the day of ovum pick up was heigher (1.54) in patients who became pregnant after ICSI, patients with less than this ratio have not been pregnant.Conclusions: Controlled ovarian hyper stimulation and puncture of ovaries can potentiate systemic stimulation so increasing serum CRP level in day of embryo transfer rather than day of ovum pick up can predict success in patients undergoing IVF/ICSI.
Optimal speed and torque estimations for improving the DTC dynamic performance of induction machines

High-performance AC drives require accurate speed, flux, and torque estimations to provide a proper system operation. Thus, this thesis proposes a robust observer, i.e. Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), to offer optimal estimations of these components in order to improve the dynamic performance of Direct Torque Control (DTC) of induction motor drives. The selection and quality of EKF covariance elements have a considerable bearing on the effectiveness of motor drives. Many EKF-based optimization techniques involve only a single objective for the optimal estimation of speed without giving concern to the other variables. In addition, the optimization is performed on a complicated EKF structure. Nevertheless, in this study, both speed and torque are concurrently estimated. The work presents a new method to investigate the selection of EKF filters by using a Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II) developed for resolving problems with multiobjectives. Filter element selection is the process of improving the concurrent estimation of speed and torque in order to increase EKF accuracy and allow higher drive efficiency. The proposed multi-optimal EKF-based estimation observer is used in combination with the sensorless direct torque control of induction motor. The investigated results for the multi-objective optimization indicate that the speed optimization gives superior performance when compared to the optimal torque. Owing to the large computation time of EKF algorithm, it increases the sampling time of DTC which leads to an increase in the motor torque ripples. The thesis proposes a Constant Frequency Torque Controller (CFTC) to replace the hysteresis torque controller that offers constant switching frequency and reduces torque ripples. Moreover, the CFTC has the capability of continuous switching regardless of speed variation; hence, leading to a consistent rotation of flux. Consequently, improvement on speed estimation, particularly at low and zero speed regions is accomplished and enhancement on the dynamic performance of torque is achieved when the reference speed change is applied from 0 rad/s, on the condition that the EKF observer is accurately optimized. To verify the improvements of the proposed methods, simulation and experimentation as well as comparison with the EKF-based DTC with the hysteresis controller are carried out.
The Frozen Moment: History and Some Uses of Film

In a much underrated film, The Great Waldo Pepper, George Roy Hill explored the interrelationships, as well as the contradictions between illusion and reality. The central character, a barnstroming pilot of the twenties, is an emotional casualty of the war. A "hot pilot" who never had a chance to prove himself in battle, he has spent the postwar years trying not so much to relive as to remake his wartime experiences. He wishes that he had fought the great German Ace , Ernst Kessler, and appropriates the experiences of another pilot to pretend that he had done so. At the climax of the film, fantasy and reality abruptly convergeas Waldo (now a stunt pilot) is hired to play out on film the role about which he had so often fantasized. Hill is testing the boundaries which divide reality and imagination through Waldo himself, a man who tries to make his dream real by attaching it to the proper set of facts. He tries to correct the director. The planes, as he points out, are not the models that were flown in 1918, and the physical setting does not correspond to its wartime original. But the man turns away impatiently, untroubled by such errors. "Anybody," he tells Waldo, "can supply accuracy, artists provide truth. " Perhaps. The problem will be familiar to any historian who draws upon creative work, whether paintings, or novels, or film, either as a research source or as a teaching aid. Students, too, need to think about the qualities of those different truths (or at least those different aspects of truth) which are the particular responsibility of the historian, the novelist, or the filmmaker. The habit of thinking
Measurement Properties of the Return-to-Work Self-Efficacy Scale in Workers with Shoulder Injuries.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to investigate the measurement properties of the Return-To-Work Self-Efficacy (RTWSE) scale in injured Canadian workers. Method: We assessed internal consistency, construct-convergent, and known-groups validity of the RTWSE scale's total score and the pain management and re-injury self-efficacy (PRSE), supervisor support self-efficacy (SSE), and coworkers support self-efficacy (CWSE) domains in workers who had participated in a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program. Disability was measured by using the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) scale. Spearman's ρ, odds ratios, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were used to examine the strength of the associations. Results: The data of 57 injured workers (43 men [75%], mean age 52 [11] y) were used for analysis. Internal consistency of the domains was satisfactory, with Cronbach's αs of 0.81, 0.87, and 0.92 for the CWSE, PRSE, and SSE, respectively. The PRSE domain correlated with the DASH (r = 0.39) and relevant domains of the RTWSE scale (rs = 0.47-0.78). The PRSE was able to differentiate between working and non-working people (AUC = 0.72). Satisfaction with the actual support received at work and overall job satisfaction correlated significantly with the total score and CWSE and SSE domains (AUCs ≥ 0.70). Conclusions: The RTWSE showed satisfactory internal consistency and construct convergent and known-groups validity in workers with shoulder injuries.