Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The impact of channel correlation on space-time block codes for different modulation schemes

Space-time (ST) block codes have been used to achieve transmit diversity in wireless communication systems. In this paper, the performance of the ST block code proposed by Alamouti is investigated for correlated channels in combination with higher order modulation. Despite a cross-correlation coefficient of 0.9, for example, the diversity gain for all QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) schemes investigated is about the same and approximately 6.5 dB for an uncoded bit-error ratio (BER) of 10/sup -3/. In contrast using the same crosscorrelation coefficient, the diversity gain varies (by maximal 1 dB for a BER of 10/sup -3/) for different PSK modulation schemes, but is still in the range between 5.5 dB - 6.5 dB for a BER of 10/sup -3/. For forward error correction (FEC) coded transmission the same relative diversity gain is obtained as in the uncoded case.
HyperFork: Improving Serverless Latency and Throughput Through Virtual Machine Flash-Cloning

Serverless computing provides a simple model for executing computations in response to triggers. In many serverless deployments, these computations are executed within virtual machines for stronger isolation and fairness guarantees. As a result, the time required to boot a new virtual machine is a signi(cid:12)cant contributor to the latency of a serverless application. To minimize the latency introduced by the boot process, we propose an alternative paradigm in which new virtual machines are launched by (cid:13)ash-cloning a pre-booted machine image. To assess this scheme, we have created HyperFork, a (cid:13)ash-clone implementation built on top of KVM and the kvmtool virtual machine monitor. HyperFork duplicates the full machine state, including memory, disk contents, and CPU state, to the new virtual machine. For the contents of memory and disk, our implementation leverages copy-on-write optimizations exposed by the Linux kernel. We demonstrate that HyperFork reduces virtual machine cold-start times by up to 98 : 4% while increasing throughput by 46%{502% in serverless workloads. We discuss the optimizations employed to achieve this performance along with security and correctness implications of our approach.
Directional classification of cryptocurrencies using stock indices: the case of Bitcoin

This dissertation was written as part of the MSc in Banking and Finance at the International Hellenic University. The objective of the current thesis is an effort to examine the relationship between Bitcoin prices and stock market indices, as well as with stock prices of big capitalization companies. More specifically, it is an attempt to build a forecasting model that predicts Bitcoin prices to the highest accuracy that could be achieved. Since Nakamoto (2008) introduced the Bitcoin, the financial sectors have been struggling to comprehend this financial instrument, as its complexity seems to draw the attention of both investors and researchers. Due to its extreme volatility and compound nature, the engaging in such a trading, requires a more detailed evaluation and knowledge before stepping into the transaction environment. As the transaction frequency arises, the need to observe and study its behavior, attracts more and more researchers, with ultimate goal to build a forecasting model, with decent forecasting accuracy, that predicts this cryptocurrency's evolution. In order for the model to achieve its best potential, we have to provide multiple regressors. To support our research, we collected data from stock indices as well as stock prices from companies with big market capitalization. More specific, T. Panagiotidis et al. (2018) , after examining all potential suggested drivers: stock market indices, oil and gold, interest rates and internet trends, concludes that NIKKEI index is one of Bitcoin's determinants. Regarding other stock market indices, positive correlation is obtained by DJ, SSEC, and Nasdaq , setting the green light that more investigation on stock market indices had to be done. In addition, Salisu, Isah and Akanni, (2019) examines the effect of bitcoin prices in predicting the stock returns of the G7 countries. The conclusion drawn from this research is that the stock returns of the G7 are better forecasted when using as inputs the bitcoin prices rather than the respective macroeconomic factors. The main reason is that the G7 stock markets are integrated into the world of economy and thus are more sensitive to external shocks than internal shocks. The interesting aspect of this research is that Japan appears to be an exception. Our study is driven by conclusions mentioned in literature review but also by results that did not appear to have a significant impact on that particular research, but show some level of correction, intriguing us to investigate further on them. A significant contribution to the present thesis has been made by Professor Gogas, overseeing the whole research and providing accurate and concrete information and guidance on the machine learning process. Chasiotou Valentina 01/12/2019
Generalized-scattering-matrix modeling of waveguide circuits using FDTD field simulations

This paper presents a hybrid-analysis method for metal waveguide structures. The method is based on the generalized-scattering-matrix approach. The whole structure is divided into several components, each of which is characterized independently. Some components are analyzed using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, while the others are characterized analytically. For the FDTD simulations, we introduce a new technique for efficient and rigorous calculation of the scattering parameters. This hybrid method inherits the universality of the FDTD method and enables us to analyze larger and more complex structures using limited computer resources compared to the single FDTD analysis of a whole structure. A few results are given as examples to illustrate the validity of the method.
Potentials of rice wastes as soil amendment: Part 1: Effect on soil physical properties and maize ( zea mays l) yield.

-1 and 20 t ha -1 ) to an acid ultisol in South Eastern Nigeria during 2008, 2009 and the residual effect tested in 2010 cropping seasons. Results of the study showed significantly (P < 0.05) lower bulk density and higher values of total porosity, aggregate stability and hydraulic conductivity in waste amended plots relative to control. Waste application at the studied rates improved soil physical properties leading further to enhanced maize grain yield.
Aplicación del Código de Barras de ADN (DNA Barcoding) para la identificación de especies vegetales de interés industrial

The market for botanical products is growing worldwide due to consumers preference for natural products. This makes them targets for adulteration, which is more common and difficult to detect in industrialized derivatives. It is critical to have reliable procedures that allow their authentication. In this study, DNA-based molecular tools were applied to generate applied genomic information to classify samples of fresh and industrialized aromatic and medicinal herbs. The work was based on the DNA Barcoding strategy using fresh tissue samples of known taxonomic identity (references) and industrialized samples. The results obtained indicate that the rbcL and matK markers are amplifiable with the primers used, obtaining high quality bi-directional sequences in the case of fresh tissue in 83% of the cases for rbcL and in 63% of the cases for matK. In the industrialized samples the values were 50 and 35% respectively. The BOLD tool allowed the classification of most of the samples. This methodology is a useful and accessible tool that allows the classification in groups, although its performance is limited by the representation of the species in the databases.
Spreading the News on Carbon Capture and Storage: A State-Level Comparison of US Media

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has received abundant federal support in the USA as an energy technology to mitigate climate change, yet its position within the energy system remains uncertain. Because media play a significant role in shaping public conversations about science and technology, we analyzed media portrayal of CCS in newspapers from four strategically selected states. We grounded the analysis in Luhmann's theory of social functions, operationalized through the socio-political evaluation of energy deployment (SPEED) framework. Coverage emphasized economic, political/legal, and technical functions and focused on benefits, rather than risks of adoption. Although news coverage connected CCS with climate change, the connection was constrained by political/legal functions. Media responses to this constraint indicate how communication across multiple social functions may influence deployment of energy technologies.
Pengaruh Intervensi Psikoedukasi Berbasis Audio Visual Terhadap Internet Addiction

Objective: to determine the effect of audiovisual-based psychoeducation interventions on internet addiction . Methods: Research design was quasy experiment with control group. The sample are 51 respondents. Data was analyzed using paired t test. Results: There are differences in internet addiction scores (p value 0.0001) in both of groups Conclusion: intervention for internet addiction was effectively intervened with psychoeducation. In particular this intervention applying psychological treatments that can increase the effectiveness of intervention for internet addiction is more than just cognitive treatment. This shows that innovative intervention approaches are more effective in dealing with internet addiction
Dictionary Learning for Image Style Transfer

Deep image representations learned by CNNs have been shown to successfully separate image content from style, but the generic feature representations learned by CNNs are far from interpretable. Drawing upon recent developments in neural network inspired extensions of Dictionary Learning (DL) to multi-layer models, I present a framework using dictionary learning and sparse code representations to separate image content and style in natural images. This framework provides an interpretable decomposition of images into high and low frequency representations that can be used to generate new images by combining the style and content of any two arbitrary images. These decompositions and visualizations of convolutional (cid:12)lters provide novel insights into the image representations learned by convolutional neural networks and demonstrate the potential of DL and sparse code representations for image analysis and transformation.
On the generality of some memory laws

Several memory laws have been established for the free recall of word lists. The generality of some of these laws were tested, using tasks which the subjects performed (SPTs) as to-be-recalled list items. SPT recall obeyed one law of word recall in showing a strong positive recency effect in immediate free recall, which appeared to be due to these events being in a temporary state of high accessibility. Differences between word and SPT recall were: 1) The reliable primacy effect associated with word recall did not appear in SPT recall; 2) Subjects reported using active memorisation strategies for word lists, but not for SPT lists; 3) Unlike word recall, diverting the subject's attention to so-called deep or shallow features of the SPTs during presentation did not affect the level of their recall. These results considered together with Cohen & Stewart's (1981) finding that SPT recall was not age-sensitive were taken to indicate that SPTs should be regarded as a different class of memory event than words, and that memory models dealing with SPT recall should de-emphasize the importance of encoding, stressing instead retention, and retrieval operations.
Genre leadership et motivation par le travail dans l’administration sportive

Dans le secteur sportif fonde sur l’equite et l’humanisme, les inegalites en termes de genre dans l’ascension professionnelle au sein de l’administration sportive sont remarquables en Tunisie. Nous enregistrons une sous-representation des femmes dans la pratique sportive et aux postes de decision. L’objectif de cette recherche est d’etudier le parcours professionnel des hommes et des femmes leaders dans l’administration sportive. Cette etude permet de confronter et de croiser les regards en termes de stereotypes sociaux, de style de direction, de motivation au travail et de solutions collectives. Cette approche collective permettrait d’elaborer un diagnostic commun et de dessiner des pistes de convergences, pour avancer sur la voie de l’equite socio-economique en termes de genre. Cette etude s’est basee sur une demarche exploratoire a partir d’entretiens semi-directifs avec des femmes et des hommes occupant des postes de decision dans l’administration sportives en Tunisie. Les resultats sont en faveur de l’egalite des chances en termes de carriere professionnelle, d’un style de leadership cooperatif et du modele des caracteristiques du travail comme source de motivation interne. Cependant, les hommes interviewes ont manifeste des stereotypes sociaux en termes de genre, quand il s’agit de la gestion des evenements sportifs et de la conciliation vie professionnelle/vie privee.
Rest Areas Management; the Effect of Demographic Information into Users’ Preferences for Planning Parameters of Rest Areas

Rest areas have been built on the freeway to avoid traffic accidents and drowsiness so that road travelers can rest. These supplemental rest areas are very small-sized resting facilities located between the larger regular rest areas, which is a unique design. However, the management of rest areas and their accommodations need to be improved by considering the effective factors involved. In this spirit, the purpose of this research is to study the effect of users’ preferences into planning parameters in rest areas. The study examines several rest areas, their roles and services. Customer satisfaction includes check-in time and purchase, type of service for travelers, intention to use the rest areas service, and satisfaction with the rest areas service. A survey study was carried out among 360 passengers of four rest areas in different locations in Iran. The participants claimed that providing praying room (M= 4.13) is the service most expected from rest areas. They also expected better landscaping of these places in providing shaded spaces (M= 4.13) to mitigate temperatures in hot seasons. The results also show that there is a significant difference between genders in terms of recreational activities (t= 2.81, α= 0.005), landscape amenities (t= 2.01, α= 0.044), welfare services (t= 3.05, α= 0.002), where women prioritized these factors more than men did. The findings of this research can be used in better management, accommodating, and designing of future crossing rest areas according to tourists’ preferences.
Stochastic Epidemic Models on Complex Network

The spread of a virus or the outbreak of an epidemic are natural examples of stochastic processes. Classical mathematical descriptions of such phenomenon include various branching processes such as the SIR (Susceptible-Infected-Recovered) model and the SIS (Susceptible-Infected-Susceptible) model. The basis of this thesis consists of giving a comprehensive overview of the mathematical theory behind these models with an emphasis on the SIR model and its evolution on complex networks. Further, following [1],[2],[3], we consider the evoSIR on three network structures (Erdös Rényi Graph (ER graph), configuration model network and the preferential attachment model) in which a susceptible after learning the status of his neighbour breaks that connection at rate ρ and rewire to a randomly chosen individual in the population. We show through simulations that, delSIR can reduce the final size of an outbreak of a diseases with a higher probability. Finally, we show that the network structure crucially influences the measures to control the outbreak of diseases at the population level.
Ocean wave observation by CW mm-wave radar with narrow beam

A new ocean wave spectra observation method applied to intermittent back specula reflecting signal obtaining from a narrow radio beam spot on the water wave surface is proposed. The method uses a shipborne BBM CW mm wave Doppler radar with narrow beam. The wave spectra and velocity component are directly obtained from the received Doppler signal. Moreover the wave traveling direction and wave vector velocity are also obtained from multi-observation of azimuth directions. These are successfully evaluated on ocean wave data obtained by the radar.
Business Planning as Pedagogy: Language and Control in a Changing Institutional Field

Language and power are central to an understanding of control. This paper uses the work of Pierre Bourdieu to argue that an enriched view of power, in the form of symbolic violence, is central. We examine the pedagogical function business plans played in the provincial museums and cultural heritage sites of Alberta, Canada. The struggle to name and legitimate practices occurs in the business planning process, excluding some knowledges and practices and teaching and utilizing other knowledges and ways of viewing the organization. We show that control involves both redirecting work and changing the identity of producers, in particular, how they understand their work through the construction of markets, consumers, and products. This process works by changing the capital, in its multiple forms-symbolic, cultural, political and economic-in an organizational and institutional field.
Changes in the distribution of δ13C of deep water ΣCO2 between the Last Glaciation and the Holocene

Carbon isotopic measurements on the benthic foraminiferal genus Cibicidoides document that mean deep ocean δ13C values were 0.46 ‰ lower during the last glacial maximum than during the Late Holocene. The geographic distribution of δ13C was altered by changes in the production rate of nutrient-depleted deep water in the North Atlantic. During the Late Holocene, North Atlantic Deep Water, with high δ13C values and low nutrient values, can be found throughout the Atlantic Ocean, and its effects can be traced into the southern ocean where it mixes with recirculated Pacific deep water. During the glaciation, decreased production of North Atlantic Deep Water allowed southern ocean deep water to penetrate farther into the North Atlantic and across low-latitude fracture zones into the eastern Atlantic. Mean southern ocean δ13C values during the glaciation are lower than both North Atlantic and Pacific δ13C values, suggesting that production of nutrient-depleted water occurred in both oceans during the glaciation. Enriched 13C values in shallow cores within the Atlantic Ocean indicate the existence of a nutrient-depleted water mass above 2000 m in this ocean.
Does social submissivity or aggressivity influence sensibility of mice to methamphetamine effects

The aim of this study was to evaluate, if mice with a differential behavioural approach, either aggressive or submissive, express after repeated methamphetamine administration dissimilar behavioural sensitization patterns. The experimental mouse groups - control, aggressive and timid mice did not differ in the exhibition of horizontal locomotor activity in the open field test.
Diffusion of a single-phase fluid through a general deterministic partially-fissured medium

The sigma convergence method was introduced by G. Nguetseng for studying deterministic homogenization problems beyond the periodic set- ting and extended by him to the case of deterministic homogenization in gen- eral deterministic perforated domains. Here we show that this concept can also model such problems in more general domains. We illustrate this by con- sidering the quasi-linear version of the distributed-microstructure model for single phase uid ow in a partially ssured medium. We use the well-known concept of algebras with mean value. An important result of de Rham type is rst proven in this setting and then used to get a general compactness result associated to algebras with mean value in the framework of sigma convergence. Finally we use these results to obtain homogenized limits of our micro-model in various deterministic settings, including periodic and almost periodic cases.
Cloud Computing perception and organisational impact on large Croatian enterprises

Aim of this research is to identify and analyze perception and organizational impact of Cloud Computing (CC) as new and emerging paradigm in ICT to large Croatian enterprises. To develop survey questions, interviews with leading CC vendors were conducted and content analysis of global vendors websites was done. After development of the insight to „cloud promise“ and issues which are most discussed between vendors and their partners, survey questionnaire was developed and send to large Croatian enterprises over the internet. *Lugovic Sergej* *Buselic Vjeran* *Tadej Iva*
Making string theory empirical: defending unitary incompatibility between effective theories

The conventional understanding of how string theory is to be verified by demonstrating reduction to a realistic effective quantum field theory is questioned. If one interprets a quantum theory in epistemic sense, then an effective theory and a more fundamental theory do not have to agree on its probabilistic predictions. Uncertainties at one energy scale may disappear and be resolved in a different energy scale. The only real requirement is that a more fundamental theory mathematically reproduces an effective theory, not agreements on probabilistic predictions. Unitary incompatibility between theories is defended. This allows for resolving the measurement problem, bridging entropic gravity with string theory, and empirical matching of string theory.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT OPPORTUNISTIC BEHAVIOUR

The theoretical paradigm on the principal-agent relationship stipulates that management should use organizational resources in a manner that benefits all parties of the firm. However, the failure of some corporate giants has been traced to the opportunistic behavior of management, wherein managers abuse their power by controlling the release of corporate information to satisfy their own objectives. Corporate governance mechanisms have therefore been suggested as an approach to mitigating managerial opportunism. This study examined the link between corporate governance mechanisms and the mitigation of managerial opportunism through the use of a performance related executive compensation scheme as an aspect of corporate governance, modelling opportunistic behaviour as asymmetric information proxied by analysts following the firm. Using primary data from a sample of 125 randomly selected top executives in Nigerian firms, and applying OLS regression, the paper found that the CEO benefits and bonuses ratio, and executive benefits and bonuses, could reduce managerial opportunism. On the other hand, CEO long-term mix was found to increase opportunistic behaviour contrary to apriori expectation. It is recommended that the CEO benefit ratio and executive bonuses be employed by Nigerian firms to check opportunistic behaviour by management.