Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SimilarNet: Pairwise Similarity Comparator Layer for Versatile Comparison

In recent years, deep learning has attracted considerable attention owing to its ability to address complex problems in various fields. One notable problem is metric space learning, which is aimed at learning feature embeddings through the calculation of the metric space similarity of feature vectors in the embedding space by training embedding models. However, research on metric space similarity has been limited, and the existing methods, such as those based on the cosine similarity or concatenate layer, exhibit drawbacks in terms of flexibility and performance. For example, to apply the cosine similarity, the shapes of the two vectors must be identical, and thus, an advanced comparator cannot be used. Moreover, the concatenate layer cannot reflect the positions of the elements in the two vectors, leading to deteriorated performance and learning success rates. To address these limitations, this paper proposes a specialized artificial neural network layer named SimilarNet, designed to compare two feature vectors while considering the positions of their elements to produce an output in a vector format. By leveraging the advantages of the cosine similarity and concatenation layer, SimilarNet can effectively compare two vectors, enabling the construction of trained comparison models using multidimensional activation functions. In addition, SimilarNet can realize 1:1 comparisons of data with different shapes, unlike cosine similarity. The results of experiments conducted on various datasets indicate that models employing SimilarNet outperform those with the concatenate layer in terms of the comparison accuracy by 4.3% to 26.5% and learning success rate by 5% to 75%.
Twin Deficits, Real Interest Rates and International Capital Mobility

We argue that the interactions among the current account and budget balances and the real interest rate can provide more information about the effective degree of financial openness of an economy than simple saving-investment correlations. Cointegration tests reveal a variety of linkages between the variables across countries. A number of economies (Canada, Germany, Netherlands, and increasingly the UK) appear to be small and open, while Japan and the USA are effectively closed. The (cid:147)twin deficits(cid:148) and (cid:147)current account targeting(cid:148) hypotheses receive some support in the short run.
HAMSA-DI: A Low-Power Dual-Issue RISC-V Core Targeting Energy-Efficient Embedded Systems

The RISC-V architecture has recently emerged as a popular open source option for the design of general purpose cores with a wide spectrum of operating specifications. In this paper, we present HAMSA-DI, a small footprint, energy-efficient, embedded RISC-V core, featuring a dynamically scheduled, in-order, dual-issue processing pipeline, supporting the popular Xpulp extensions. The proposed cost-effective dual-issue implementation provides a significant performance boost and improved energy-efficiency over baseline low-power cores under common benchmarks. These include a CoreMark score of 3.48 CM/MHz (+22%) and an Embench score of 1.3 (+13%) with certain benchmarks displaying as much as 22% less energy than the baseline CV32E40P core. The proposed design was fabricated as part of a 16nm test chip, running at 1GHz with an 0.8V supply voltage. Silicon measurements demonstrate that the proposed core can improve performance by as much as 8 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\times $ </tex-math></inline-formula> for programs operating with full dual-issue utilization with energy-efficiency improving by as much as 6.5 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\times $ </tex-math></inline-formula>, as compared to compiled code on a single-issue core.
Battle for the European Union in the periphery: contestation dynamics and domestic debates

ABSTRACT Connected by a shared endeavour to enhance understanding of the forces that shape contestation toward the EU in its peripheries and unprohibited in approach, this special section explores the concepts of contestation and periphery. Using various methodological approaches, the section showcases a series of overlapping and cross-cutting themes which contextually strengthen the phenomenon and experiences of contestation in peripheral states. In aggregating these themes, the authors attribute contestation to the growing ‘absence’ of the EU’s normative interest in peripheral states and the growing transactional/functional features that define peripheral state relationships with the EU. The authors draw attention to the opportunities for regional rivals, such as Russia and China to capitalize on the absence of the EU’s transformative power in peripheral states, the role of domestic forces in utilizing contestation as a means to preserve regime type and satisfy sovereignty concerns, and the incidences of peripheral states in shaping/reshaping their foreign policy positions in response to the Russia-Ukraine war. Taken together, our special section shows that contestation in Europe’s periphery is less an overt normative resistance against the EU and more an absence of EU normative efforts in peripheral states and the increasingly functional features which define peripheral states’ relationships with the EU.
Spatiotemporal variability and simulation of tillaged loess microtopography in water erosion

The objective of this study was to reveal the spatial variability of the microtopography in the Loess Plateau region of China during a simulated soil erosion process. Methods of artificial rainfall, laser scanning measurement, and geographic statistics were adopted to generate microdigital elevation model (M-DEM). Spatiotemporal variability characteristics under the condition of 1.5 mm min−1 (0.059 in min−1) rainfall intensity were studied. The results indicated that a probability division of relative elevation of microtopographic tillaged slope follows the normal distribution. It is valid to put microtopography elevation data into the geostatistics models. The fluctuations of different microtopographic tillaged slopes present a general trend in nearly all erosion phases: contour tillage > artificial digging > artificial backhoe > rake wear leveling. Tillage system is the critical factor for the spatial variability of M-DEMs. Spatiotemporal variability is affected by both structural properties and random attributes during the soil erosion process and comparatively more by the structural property. The contour tillage system should be the first choice in the agricultural tillage layout for soil and water conservation. According to the determined coefficient of the semivariogram function and the related coefficient r of the Kriging Cross validation, the natural tillage microtopography of loess slope can be imitated with a semivariogram function fitting curve model; in general, the Gaussian model and Spherical model can be widely adopted, except for the exponential model for artificial digging with a slope of 15°. Most importantly, the work has established a novel methodological framework for microtopography simulation of microscale (cm) area. Our study reveals the essence of microtopography of loess slope and lays a theoretical foundation and a support datum for further refining the boundaries of various erosion stages.
Laser scanners with polygonal mirrors: optomechanical analysis and design

We report a fully-developed theory of laser scanners with rotational Polygon Mirrors (PMs). The deduced scanning function, velocity, and acceleration of PMs have been deduced and discussed in comparison to those of Galvanometer Scanners (GSs). All other characteristic parameters have been obtained, including angular and linear field-of-view (FOV), as well as duty cycle [Proc. of the Romanian Acad. Series A 18, 25-33, 2017]. Although this developed theory considered the laser beams reduced to a single ray (i.e., the center axis of the beam), the specific approach has allowed further on for a complete analysis for scanning laser beams with finite diameters. The multi-parameter optomechanical analysis of these PM functions was performed as well, considering all constructive and functional parameters [Appl. Sci. 12, 5592 (2022)]. The non-linearity of scanning functions (i.e., the non-constant scanning velocities) has been approached. In order to linearize the PM or GS scanning function, a two supplemental mirrors device was developed. This increases the distance between the PM and its objective lens within a reasonable dimension of the system, by folding the scanned laser beam. Rules-of-thumb have been obtained for the design of these scanning heads. The optical part has been completed with a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of rotational PMs, assessing their structural integrity. An optomechanical design scheme completes the PM scanning heads study, highlighting the links between optical and mechanical aspects. This type of scheme can be utilized for other optomechanical scanners, as well.
Political Institutions, Electoral Systems, and Party Stability in 40 Democracies Including Brazil

This article investigates the impact of political and electoral institutions on party system stability in 40 democracies, including Brazil. Party stability is analyzed using the Electoral Party Variation (EPV) indicator, based on the Effective Number of Electoral Parties (ENEP). The political and electoral institutions of interest include electoral magnitude, electoral formula
Using a Survey and Discussion Forums on Students’ Satisfaction and Experience to inform the Development of a New Virtual Leaning Environment (VLE): A Data-driven Approach to Technology Use in Learning and Teaching

The virtual learning environment (VLE) is of great importance in Higher Education as a repository for course content, communication and student support. Students’ satisfaction with the VLE may impact greatly on their engagement with the VLE itself, and, consequently, module content and learning more widely. In moving to a new VLE we wished to optimise its design for our students’ needs by determining features that impact students’ usage. As such, in this study we tested the satisfaction of psychology students with the layout used in our current VLE, Blackboard Learn (BbL). Using an online survey, students rated their satisfaction for each element of the BbL template on a 7-point Likert-type scale, from 1 (‘extremely dissatisfied)’ to 7 (‘extremely satisfied’). Eighty-seven students enrolled in the BSc Psychology (N = 68) and BSc Psychology (Sport, Health and Exercise) (N = 19) programmes completed the survey. Results showed that, overall, students were very satisfied with their BbL structure. Open-text comments indicated students appreciated the clear, organised structure, making it very easy to navigate. However, students suggested clearer labelling and greater consistency across modules would improve their learning. These findings will be used to inform the template of our new VLE.
Turbo Bi-Static Radar in OTFS-Based Joint Communications and Sensing

In joint communications and sensing (JCS), the same waveform delivers data to communication receiver in the forward propagation of electromagnetic (EM) wave and fetches information of significant reflectors (radar targets) in the backward propagation. For both communications and sensing, there are pressing needs to identify the significant reflectors, for both communication channel estimation and radar target sensing, which share common information of the reflector positions and velocities. In this paper, the JCS transceiver and communication receiver are considered as a bi-static radar, which can exchange information via the communication links (data channel from the JCS transceiver to the communication receiver and reverse control channel from the the communication receiver to the JCS transceiver). Due to the common information, the target sensing in JCS is carried out in a turbo manner, through the mechanism of message passing and within the framework of Kalman filtering for the dynamics of reflectors. The validity of the proposed turbo sensing scheme is demonstrated by numerical simulations.
An Optimized Approach for Intrusion Detection in Internet of Softwarized Things

In the past years, there has been fast growth in various applications which generates penetrating and personal information dependent on the Internet of things (IoT). The Softwarization of a network may improvise its inclusive flexibility. The software-enabled proficiency has made it functional for mobile devices, wireless, and telecommunication networks through the progression of technologies like network function virtualization (NFV), software-defined network (SDN), and mobile edge networks. Because of the penetrating nature of information or data, there has been a large flow of intruders who steal information from these kinds of applications. So, for building a robust defensive system in contrast with impostors, a robust intrusion detection system (IDS) must be formed. In this paper, we use IDS to classify the dataset and present our approach for securing the Internet of Softwarized things (IoST). The performance of the planned model is estimated in contrast to the model for checking the efficiency. The paper presents a cross search algorithm approach for securing the IoST.
Ecogeography of Dioscorea remotiflora Kunth: An Endemic Species from Mexico

Dioscorea remotiflora, a perennial climbing herbaceous plant native to Mexico, produces tubers with great nutritional and ethnobotanical value. However, most ecological aspects of this plant remain unknown, which limits its cultivation and use. This is why the objective of this research was to characterize the ecogeography of D. remotiflora as a source to determine its edaphoclimatic adaptability and current and potential distribution. A comprehensive database encompassing 480 geo-referenced accessions was assembled from different data sources. Using the Agroclimatic Information System for México and Central America (SIAMEXCA), 42 environmental variables were formulated. The MaxEnt model within the Kuenm R package was employed to predict the species distribution. The findings reveal a greater presence of D. remotiflora in harsh environments, characterized by arid to semiarid conditions, poor soils, and hot climates with long dry periods. Niche modeling revealed that seven key variables determine the geographical distribution of D. remotiflora: precipitation of the warmest quarter, precipitation of the driest month, minimum temperature of the coldest month, November–April solar radiation, annual mean relative humidity, annual moisture availability index, and May–October mean temperature. The current potential distribution of D. remotiflora is 428,747.68 km2. Favorable regions for D. remotiflora coincide with its current presence sites, while other suitable areas, such as the Yucatán Peninsula, northeast region, and Gulf of Mexico, offer potential expansion opportunities for the species distribution. The comprehensive characterization of Dioscorea remotiflora, encompassing aspects such as its soil habitats and climate adaptation, becomes essential not only for understanding its ecology but also for maximizing its economic potential. This will enable not only its sustainable use but also the exploration of commercial applications in sectors such as the pharmaceutical and food industries, thus providing a broader approach for its conservation and optimal utilization in the near future.
Premières réflexions sur la préfiguration d'un observatoire lyonnais du climat

L’adaptation aux effets du changement climatique se prete idealement a l’observation. A l’echelle locale, des projets porteurs ont ete inities ces dernieres annees de la part des chercheurs, des praticiens et des acteurs economiques. Ils necessitent, toutefois, une structure operationnelle pour mutualiser les connaissances acquises et les competences diverses. Pour entreprendre cette demarche partenariale, une etude de prefiguration a ete initiee, dont ce texte constitue un premier point d’avancement. Deux problematiques sont precisement evoquees : la necessite de creer un reseau d’observations au regard des besoins des gestionnaires et des chercheurs, ainsi que les missions potentielles d’une telle structure.
Histovariability and lifestyle in Proterochampsidae Romer, 1966 (Archosauriformes) from the Chañares Formation (Late Triassic), northwestern Argentina

This present work reports new data on the palaeohistology of Chañares Formation (early Carnian) proterochampsids based on appendicular bones, particularly Chanaresuchus bonapartei Romer, 1971 (i.e., PULR-V 116, femur, tibia and fibula) and Tropidosuchus romeri Arcucci, 1990 (i.e., PVL-4606, femur), and provides new insights into their paleobiology, histovariability, as well as lifestyle. Chanaresuchus bonapartei presents intraspecific and interelemental histovaribility with collagen fibers organized from lamellar to woven fibered bone tissue, and degree of vascular density from sparse to dense. Both specimens appear to have attained sexual and skeletal maturity, but somatic maturity could not be inferred. Tropidosuchus romeri presents intraspecific histovaribility with collagen fibers organized from parallel-fibered to woven fibered bone tissue, and dense vascularization. The lifestyle analysis for T. romeri, using a statistical model that employs anatomical and microanatomical data, suggests a terrestrial habit. The Proterochampsidae Romer, 1966 recovered from the Chañares Formation exhibits a large disparity in growth strategies among individuals of the same taxa, and with respect to other contemporaneous Archosauriformes.
Handover Management of Aerial Users in Integrated HAPS-Ground Wireless Networks

An emerging trend in the prospective sixth-generation (6G) of wireless networks is to enhance terrestrial communication platforms by offering connectivity from the sky. Providing reliable sky coverage is, therefore, expected to have fundamental importance in enabling the connectivity of aerial equipment such as cargo drones and aerial vehicles. As a potential aerial network component with large coverage and enhanced capacity features, a high altitude platform station (HAPS) is an indispensable enabler to address the requirements of aerial users as opposed to the limited coverage that conventional terrestrial networks provide. To this end, this work aims at developing and studying an efficient mobility management solution for aerial users in HAPS-Ground integrated networks, where the aerial user can connect to the terrestrial base station, or to the HAPS that provides a better alternative communication link. The paper then proposes ways of handover skipping based on predefined system criteria, so as to minimize the impact of 3D mobility on the user experience. The performance of the proposed solution is studied by means of Monte Carlo simulation using different performance metrics including the coverage probability, handover rate, and network average throughput.
Research Progress in Diffusion Spectrum Imaging

Studies have demonstrated that many regions in the human brain include multidirectional fiber tracts, in which the diffusion of water molecules within image voxels does not follow a Gaussian distribution. Therefore, the conventional diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) that hypothesizes a single fiber orientation within a voxel is intrinsically incapable of revealing the complex microstructures of brain tissues. Diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI) employs a pulse sequence with different b-values along multiple gradient directions to sample the diffusion information of water molecules in the entire q-space and then quantitatively estimates the diffusion profile using a probability density function with a high angular resolution. Studies have suggested that DSI can reliably observe the multidirectional fibers within each voxel and allow fiber tracking along different directions, which can improve fiber reconstruction reflecting the true but complicated brain structures that were not observed in the previous DTI studies. Moreover, with increasing angular resolution, DSI is able to reveal new neuroimaging biomarkers used for disease diagnosis and the prediction of disorder progression. However, so far, this method has not been used widely in clinical studies, due to its overly long scanning time and difficult post-processing. Within this context, the current paper aims to conduct a comprehensive review of DSI research, including the fundamental principles, methodology, and application progress of DSI tractography. By summarizing the DSI studies in recent years, we propose potential solutions towards the existing problem in the methodology and applications of DSI technology as follows: (1) using compressed sensing to undersample data and to reconstruct the diffusion signal may be an efficient and promising method for reducing scanning time; (2) the probability density function includes more information than the orientation distribution function, and it should be extended in application studies; and (3) large-sample study is encouraged to confirm the reliability and reproducibility of findings in clinical diseases. These findings may help deepen the understanding of the DSI method and promote its development in clinical applications.
The economic impact of recreation development: a synopsis

Economic impacts per dollar of tourist expenditure have generally been found to be low compared to other economic sectors in local less-developed areas where recreation development is often proposed as a stimulus for economic growth. Tourism, however, can be economically important where potential or existing recreation attractions can encourage tourist spending in amounts large enough to offset these lower per-dollar impacts. In addition to definitions useful in interpreting the results of impact studies, findings from several investigations of local effects of recreation spending are discussed.
The Kernel Maximal Correlation Filter

In this paper we re-derive the maximum correlation cost function for Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Space (RKHS) algorithms and present a novel family of kernel adaptive filters that learn the bases of the projection space directly from the desired signal, without using the error. The error is only employed to project the target signal into the projection space, which provides more flexibility. Preliminary results show that the new filter architecture is able to construct projection bases from a single input source and is more accurate than the KLMS filter in real world problems.
SYNTHESIS, SPECTRAL CHARACTERIZATION OF SCHIFF BASE TRANSITION METAL COMPLEXES: ACHE INHIBITOR, ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY STUDIES

In the present study, we synthesized Novel ligand and their metal complexes with 8-((2-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)hydrazono)methyl)-7-hydroxy-4-methyl-2H-chromen-2-one ligand. The colored complexes were prepared by the addition of chloride salts of Manganese(II), Cobalt(II), Nickel(II) and Copper(II) to a solution of ligand. In conclusion, the structures of the obtained complexes were characterized by FT-IR, elemental analysis, UV-spectral studies, conductmetric and magnetic susceptibility measurements.