Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adaptive bandwidth allocation for bridge downlink operation

The Wireless Mesh Network (WMN) is an emerging technology that has many potential applications with a huge consumer demand. There is a big demand to develop or choose among existing ones, suitable Medium Access Control protocol which matches communication needs of WMN. The IEEE 802.15. 3 MAC for Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) is a potential candidate for mesh networking over small distances. One approach to forming the WMN using IEEE 802.15. 3 technology is to interconnect two or more piconets using brigde devices. Piconet inter-connection through bridging techniques is an interesting problem, since it enables coverage of larger areas and accomodates larger number of devices. Bridge design in IEEE 802.15. 3 involves concepts of parent and child piconets which basically partition the bandwidth between parent and child piconets on TDMA basis. Bridge device has to be a member in parent piconet and coordinator in child piconet. Due to the resemblance to the similar approach in Bluetooth technology we will refer to this approach as to Master -Slave bridge. The scheduling of channel time to the bridge device is a challenging task. We investigate the performance of master-slave bridge (MS-bridge) that interconnects two IEEE 802.15. 3 piconets in a parent-child manner. We have designed an adaptive bandwidth allocation algorithm for bridge bandwidth allocation, and exam-
Magnetic turbulence production by streaming cosmic rays upstream of SNR shocks

We present preliminary results of Particle-In-Cell simula tions of magnetic turbulence production by isotropic cosmic-ray ions streaming upstream of sup ernova remnant shocks. The studies aim at testing the MHD predictions by Bell [1, 2] of a strong amplific ation of short-wavelength nonresonant wave modes and at studying the subsequent evolution of the ma gnetic turbulence and its backreaction on cosmic ray trajectories. The detailed knowledge of the up stream turbulence properties is crucial to ascertain all aspects of the shock acceleration process th e transport properties of cosmic rays, the shock structure, thermal particle injection and heating process es. An amplification of magnetic field would also facilitate the acceleration of particles beyond the ”knee” in the cosmic-ray spectrum. Our kinetic approach is particularly suited to address the backreaction o n the cosmic rays, and it allows us to test Bell’s prediction of the eventual formation of extended filamentar y st ucture in the cosmic-ray distribution and also to arrive at a reliable estimate of the total saturation magnetic-field level. The parameters chosen for the simulations are favorable for the rapid excitation of pu rely growing modes. We confirm the generation of the turbulent magnetic field due to the drift of cosmic-ray ions in the upstream plasma, but show that the growth rate of the field perturbations is much slower than estimated using the MHD approach and the amplitude of the turbulence saturates at about δB/B ∼ 1. The magnetic field also remains below equipartition with the upstream plasma.
Theory for ferrite-ferroelectric active ring resonator

A theory is developed for amplitude-frequency and phase-frequency characteristics of “active ring” resonator based on ferrite-ferroelectric layered structure. An active ring resonator (ARR) is a feedback circuit, the main parts of which are a ferrite-ferroelectric waveguiding structure and a microwave amplifier. It is shown that the amplitude-frequency (AFC) and the phase-frequency (PFC) characteristics of the ARR are determined by the dispersion law of the hybrid electromagnetic-spin waves (EMSWs) in ferrite-ferroelectric layered structure. It is demonstrated that the amplitude-frequency and phase-frequency characteristics of the active ring resonator are dual tunable. The dual tunability is achieved through changing the magnetic and/or electric bias fields. The quality factor of the resonance modes is controlled by the amplifier gain coefficient.
A Streaming Implementation of the Event Calculus

Events provide the fundamental abstraction for representing time-evolving information that may affect situations under certain circumstances. The research domain of Complex Event Recognition focuses on tracking and analysing streams of events, in order to detect event patterns of special significance. The event streams may originate from various sources, such as sensors, video tracking systems, computer networks, etc. Furthermore, the event stream velocity and volume pose significant challenges to event processing systems. We propose dRTEC, an event recognition system that employs the Event Calculus formalism and operates in multiple computer cores for scalable distributed event recognition. We evaluate dRTEC experimentally using two real world applications and we show that it is capable of real-time and efficient event recognition.
The Development of “ Forest Ranger ” as a 2 D Serious Game Application to increase Awareness against Illegal Logging

This study aims to develop a 2D game application which focuses on increasing public awareness about illegal logging that leads to the bigger problem of forest deforestation. This serious game application not only served as an entertainment game but also to educate users. Role-playing inside the game creates the cognitive perception of protecting the forest from any activities that would harm or make irreversible changes in the forest. The methodology of this application is based on the ADDIE model and it involves the use of specialized software and hardware in development of the fully functional prototype. The findings of this game app will create a gameplay of suspension of disbelief for the gamer when compared to the real situation and behaviours performed inside the forest. At the present time, the game application is partially developed and contains all the information regarding situations of the loggers in the forest and how the player interacts to prevent the logging activities from happening.
Characteristics of Conceptual Metaphor: A Case of Metaphorical Expressions Based on Human Senses in Vietnamese

Conceptual Metaphor (CM) is the main factor in the thinking process of people as well as in the way people perceive the around world and at the same time. Although they are using conceptual metaphors, they do not find it is a metaphor. In the view of Cognitive Linguistics (CL) - a quite new approach in linguistics considering language as part of general cognition and thinking. Regarding language as an essential part of cognition, the field of metaphors has been focused on in the research of linguistics in the world. This may be explained that researchers have found the general characteristics of metaphors in languages. Vietnamese is not an exception, especially in expressing CM based on human senses (HSs). In other words, in Vietnamese, people use conceptual metaphors in a way that think or conceptualize the “target” domain through the “source” domain by experiencing their body parts and the nature systematically. This article refers to the characteristics of metaphors in the view of CL in detail along with special evidences in Vietnamese metaphorical expressions based on HSs. The related words and phrases were saved in order to serve examining their meanings if they were concrete or abstract in the view of CL in the online dictionaries so that the meanings of them were explained the most completely along with the descriptive, analytic and synthetic methods which are for describing the data collected to set up a foundation for analysis in clarifying the CM’s characteristics. The study brought a both general and particular view for learning a language with a hope to be applied in the research’s content for teaching, learning and translating for learners or researchers of Vietnamese more effectively.
SoK: Sharding on Blockchain

Blockchain is a distributed and decentralized ledger for recording transactions. It is maintained and shared among the participating nodes by utilizing cryptographic primitives. A consensus protocol ensures that all nodes agree on a unique order in which records are appended. However, current blockchain solutions are facing scalability issues. Many methods, such as Off-chain and Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) solutions, have been proposed to address the issue. However, they have inherent drawbacks, e.g., forming parasite chains. Performance, such as throughput and latency, is also important to a blockchain system. Sharding has emerged as a good candidate that can overcome both the scalability and performance problems in blockchain. To date, there is no systematic work that analyzes the sharding protocols. To bridge this gap, this paper provides a systematic and comprehensive review on blockchain sharding techniques. We first present a general design flow of sharding protocols and then discuss key design challenges. For each challenge, we analyze and compare the techniques in state-of-the-art solutions. Finally, we discuss several potential research directions in blockchain sharding.
CS 224 N Project Report : From Note 2 Vec to Chord 2 Vec

Between music and natural language, individual musical notes are analogous to characters and chords analogous to words, but the distinction between notes and chords is much more blurred. Here, we use domain knowledge to create vector representations that express chords as sums of their constituent notes, thus enabling efficient and effective representations of musical chords. We evaluate these vector embeddings on simple music theory tasks and demonstrate that these embeddings capture fundamental properties that are meaningful in music theory. Future work may involve evaluating the effectiveness of these vector representations as components for existing music generation models.
HEAVY METAL-INDUCED PROTEINS IN CHLAMYDOMONAS REINHARDTII AND THALASSIOSIRA WEISSFLOGII CELLS

The photosynthetic algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Thalassiosira weissflogii were exposed to several sublethal concentrations of Cd, Ni, and Pb. The cells were harvested at the end of the logarithmic phase of their growth curve. Heavy metal accumulation in the cells was determined in digested samples by atomic absorption spectrometry. After cell lysis, subcellular fractionation carried out by differential centrifugation and the isolated fractions were examined for their protein content, in order to identify and characterize proteins induced by heavy metal exposure. Size exclusion and ion exchange liquid chromatography were combined with polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis for protein identification. In this study, results are presented showing the induction of proteins due to the presence of heavy metals in the growing media.
Response: relationship between vitamin D and depression in multiple sclerosis

We thank the authors Iwasaki et al. for their interest in our work and we like to further elaborate on their comments. The authors raise the relevant point that other depression scales are used. While we used the subscale depression of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to measure depressive complaints (1), Iwasaki et al. used the Zung SelfRating Depression Scale (2). While both scales are self-rating scales for depression (3, 4), the HADS, in which no somatic symptoms are included, is specifically designed for somatic populations. For example, scoring fatigue as a symptom of depression in MS will interfere with true depression score, because up to 90% of MS patients experience fatigue (5). In addition, the HADS is validated in MS patients (6). Therefore, we preferred to use the HADS. Nevertheless, we agree with the authors that it would be interesting to explore the association between vitamin D status and depression using other validated depression scales. Iwasaki et al. (2) describe that they did not find a correlation between cognitive function and depressive state. However, their lack of a correlation might be explained by their small patient cohort (n = 24), because a moderate to large negative effect of depression on cognitive function was shown in large cohorts (7). In addition, Iwasaki et al. used the Mini-Mental State Examination, short verbal recall and visuospatial ability copying designs to measure cognitive deficits. Although depression can influence different cognitive domains, in particular a negative effect on executive functioning has been described (8). The authors mention a correlation between MRI brain lesions and depression. Interestingly, high vitamin D status has been associated with the development of fewer T2 and gadoliniumenhancing brain MRI lesion in MS patients (9). Besides the immune regulatory effect of vitamin D in the periphery (10) or a direct effect of vitamin D within the central nervous system, CNS) (11), modulation of brain lesions, as measured by MRI, might be a mechanism of action. Unfortunately, we do not have MRI data in our cross-sectional cohort. Therefore, we are not able to assess this hypothesis. Our findings were based on a cross-sectional study, with a relatively limited number of patients included. Therefore, it is necessary to confirm our observation that vitamin D status is negatively associated with depressive symptoms in MS patients. This should preferentially be performed in prospective studies with sufficient statistical power. Moreover, vitamin D supplementation trials in MS are currently enrolling patients (12). Adding depression as an outcome measure might be of great value to validate a beneficial effect of vitamin D on depressive symptoms. Once these findings can be confirmed, it creates an exciting new area of research in depression in MS patients, and most likely also in other diseases.
Spectral efficiency limits in crosstalk-impaired multi-core fiber links

We revise the latest advances on ultra-high throughput transmission using crosstalk-limited single-mode multicore fibers and compare these with the theoretical spectral efficiency limits of such systems. We relate the crosstalk-imposed spectral efficiency limits with fiber parameters, such as cladding diameter, core pitch, and trench design. Furthermore, we investigate the potential of techniques such as direction interleaving and highorder MIMO to improve the throughput or reach of these systems when using various modulation formats.
Catamenial pneumothorax in Ghana: case report and literature review

Catamenial pneumothorax is a rare condition that is often misdiagnosed. It is defined as spontaneous pneumothorax occurring within 72 hours before or after onset of menstruation. Etiology is unknown but could be linked to endometriosis. Pleural ablation via thoracoscopy and hormonal therapy are mainstay treatment options to avoid recurrence. We present a case of a young adult female who experienced gradual painless abdominal distention that resolved spontaneously after each menses twelve years post menarche. She was first seen at a peripheral facility where laparotomy undertaken was negative for suspected ectopic pregnancy. However, a bleeding omental mass was noticed and a biopsy taken. Histopathology reported it as an endometriotic tissue. The patient subsequently had recurrent cyclical chest pains and breathlessness leading to the diagnosis of catamenial pneumothorax. She had chemical pleurodesis done with sterile talc after chest tube drainage and has been well over two years now.
Friction and Wear Properties of Cold Gas Dynamic Sprayed α-Al 2 O 3-Al Composite Coatings

Different proportions of α-Al 2 O 3 and pure Al powders were coated onto AZ91D magnesium alloy substrates by cold gas dynamic spray. The microstructure and morphologies of the coatings were observed by scanning electron microscope. The friction and wear properties were tested by a ball-on-disk wear tester. It was found that the interfaces between grains and substrates formed close boundaries. It is revealed that the composite coatings could increase the friction or wear properties of the coatings. It was observed that the wear of coatings was converted from adhesive wear into abrasive wear with α-Al 2 O 3 particles increasing and that the adhesive wear accompanied with abrasive wear would increase the wear rate of coatings.
Hybrid Rate and Power Adaptive Distributed Spectrum Optimization for DSL Systems

Besides rate-adaptive spectrum optimization, power minimization in multi-carrier Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) systems subject to far-end crosstalk (FEXT) is an important topic as it allows to reduce energy consumption and at the same time avoid excessive crosstalk on lines from other systems. However, an optimal solution for this class of problems requires centralized algorithms with high complexity which is not feasible for practical systems. In this work, a semi-distributed, low-complexity and near-optimal algorithm generalizing Distributed Spectrum Balancing (DSB) is proposed for a general class of spectrum management problems which allows the provider to trade off data rates against power consumption. Results from numerical simulations demonstrate near-optimal performance and fast convergence.
Chapter 13 Disease Spreading in Time-Evolving Networked Communities

Human communities are organized in complex webs of contacts that may be represented by a graph or network. In this graph, vertices identify individuals and edges establish the existence of some type of relations between them. In real communities, the possible edges may be active or not for variable periods of time. These so-called temporal networks typically result from an endogenous social dynamics, usually coupled to the process under study taking place in the community. For instance, disease spreading may be affected by local information that makes individuals aware of the health status of their social contacts, allowing them to reconsider maintaining or not their social contacts. Here we investigate the impact of such a dynamical network structure on disease dynamics, where infection occurs along the edges of the network. To this end, we define an endogenous network dynamics coupled with disease spreading. We show that the effective infectiousness of a disease taking place along the edges of this temporal network depends on the population size, the number of infected individuals in the population and the capacity of healthy individuals to sever contacts with the infected, ultimately dictated by availability of information regarding each individual’s health status. Importantly, we also show how dynamical networks strongly decrease the average time required to eradicate a disease. J.M. Pacheco (! ) Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Universidade do Minho, 4710 057, Braga, Portugal Departamento de Matemática e Aplicações, Universidade do Minho, 4710 057, Braga, Portugal ATP-group, P-2744-016, Porto Salvo, Portugal e-mail: jmpacheco@math.uminho. pt S. Van Segbroeck ATP-group, P-2744-016, Porto Salvo, Portugal F.C. Santos ATP-group, P-2744-016, Porto Salvo, Portugal INESC-ID & Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 2744-016, Porto Salvo, Portugal © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017 N. Masuda, P. Holme (eds.), Temporal Network Epidemiology, Theoretical Biology, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-5287-3_13 291 292 J.M. Pacheco et al.
LEARNER ATTITUDES AS A FACTOR IN BLENDED LEARNING EFFECTIVENESS

Learner attitudes towards learning environments can be a drive or an impediment to learning effectiveness. Attitudes towards innovative pedagogies involving technology as in blended learning need to be established so as to incorporate such technologies in modern teaching and learning. This paper explores the attitudes of learners towards blended learning and seeks to establish whether there are attitudinal differences with regard to gender and learner attitudes in different schools at a Ugandan university. It also examines whether the attitudes are significant predictors of learning performance and satisfaction in blended learning. Students from three out of five schools and the directorate of postgraduate studies were involved in blended learning using Moodle. One course unit was selected from each school and students had a one month face-to-face session of a seventeen week semester followed by another month online. They finally had another face-to-face session towards the end of the semester for review and final semester examinations. A questionnaire survey was administered to 238 learners to gather data on their attitudes regarding learner autonomy, quality of instructional methods, course structure, course interface and interactions. The end of semester evaluation results were used to measure performance while the instrument introduction captured the respondents’ details of age, gender and school/directorate. Descriptive statistics showed that learners had positive attitudes towards blended learning. T-test results indicated no attitudinal differences between male and female learners while a one-way ANOVA revealed no significant differences in the learners’ attitudes from the different schools and the directorate. Regression analysis showed that learner attitudes did not predict learning performance but did predict learner satisfaction. Our results show that blended learning is a venture worth undertaking by educational institutions but the attitude factor predicting learning performance needs to be established and therefore remains the focus of future work.
AN EQUILIBRIUM ASSET PRICING MODEL WITH NOISY EARNINGS REPORTS

We examine the effect of the noisy earnings reports on the equity premium in an asset pricing model. In our model, consumers make their investment decisions based on preliminary announcements of earnings reports and after the revisions are made by the release of the actual earnings reports they make their consumption decisions. Consequently, the stochastic discount factor used for asset price determination is based on the preliminary announcements rather than the true earnings process. The variance of the revisions plays an important role in the decisions of the consumers. If the variance of revisions is high the agents will tend to ignore the announcements and rely on the mean of historical earnings realizations. This tends to smooth the stochastic discount factor in the pricing equation which has the impact of reducing the equity premium in the model. Therefore, the equity premium puzzle is even more severe than reported by Mehra and Prescott (1985) when imperfect earnings forecasts are accounted for and consumers face a signal extraction problem in earnings.
A Stochastic Process Degradation Model for effects of 3-year GH replacement therapy for GH deficiency on bone mineral density in younger and elderly adults

The paper presents a stochastic gamma process model to account for both population (i.e sampling) and temporal variability associated with a degradation process that typically increases the probability of failure with the aging of a structure. The proposed method is more versatile than the random-variable degradation rate model commonly used in the structural reliability literature. The reason being that the random rate model cannot capture temporal variability associated with evolution of degradation. The paper also describes two methods for estimating parameters of the gamma process to facilitate its practical engineering applications. Little is known of the effects of long – term GH replacement on bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) in elderly GH –deficient (GHD) adults using Stochastic Degradation model. This study shows that GH replacement increases lumbar (L2 – L4) spine and femur neck BMD and BMC not only in younger but also in elderly GHD patients. So Mathematical result supports the notion that long – term GH replacement is also useful in elderly GHD patients.