Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamic Coupling Strategy for Interdependent Network Systems Against Cascading Failures

In networked systems, initial failures at only a small part of the network may trigger a sequential failure process called cascading failures, which may eventually lead to the breakdown of the entire system. This vulnerability is further exacerbated in modern systems that consist of multiple networks, each carrying a flow or a load, that are interdependent; e.g., the smart-grid, transportation systems, etc. In this paper, we study the robustness of such systems against cascading failures under a flow-redistribution-based model where the flow from a failed node gets redistributed in part to nodes within the same network and in part to nodes in the other networks that are interdependent with the one where the initial failure took place. In such systems, the coupling coefficients between the networks that determine the portion of the flow that will distributed internally vs. externally are key to determining the robustness. Here, we investigate the progress of failures in a two-networked system and derive expressions that help characterize the final fraction of surviving nodes in both networks as a function of the coupling coefficients. Then, we develop a new dynamic coupling coefficient strategy that adjusts these parameters during the cascading failure process to improve the robustness. We show that our step-wise optimization (SWO) strategy significantly improves the robustness of the entire system compared to prior work that mainly focus on static coupling coefficients. This is shown through extensive simulations on different network topologies and different attack types.
Partial Likelihood Thompson Sampling

We consider the problem of deciding how best to target and prioritize existing vaccines that may offer protection against new variants of an infectious disease. Sequential experiments are a promising approach;however, challenges due to delayed feedback and the overall ebb and flow of disease prevalence make available methods inapplicable for this task. We present a method, partial likelihood Thompson sampling, that can handle these challenges. Our method involves running Thompson sampling with belief updates determined by partial likelihood each time we observe an event. To test our approach, we ran a semi-synthetic experiment based on 200 days of COVID-19 infection data in the US. © 2022 Proceedings of the 38th Conference on Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence, UAI 2022. All right reserved.
Cell-Free Massive MIMO-OFDM for High-Speed Train Communications

Cell-free (CF) massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems show great potentials in low-mobility scenarios, due to cell boundary disappearance and strong macro diversity. However, the great Doppler frequency offset (DFO) leads to serious inter-carrier interference in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technology, which makes it difficult to provide high-quality transmissions for both high-speed train (HST) operation control systems and passengers. In this paper, we focus on the performance of CF massive MIMO-OFDM systems with both fully centralized and local minimum mean square error (MMSE) combining in HST communications. Considering the local maximum ratio (MR) combining, the large-scale fading decoding (LSFD) cooperation and the practical effect of DFO on system performance, exact closed-form expressions for uplink spectral efficiency (SE) expressions are derived. We observe that cooperative MMSE combining achieves better SE performance than uncooperative MR combining. In addition, HST communications with small cell and cellular massive MIMO-OFDM systems are compared in terms of SE. Numerical results reveal that the CF massive MIMO-OFDM system achieves a larger and more uniform SE than the other systems. Finally, the train antenna centric (TA-centric) CF massive MIMO-OFDM system is designed for practical implementation in HST communications, and three power control schemes are adopted to optimize the propagation of TAs for reducing the impact of the DFO.
Chemical composition and ages of four globular clusters in M31 from the analysis of their integrated-light spectra

We compare the results on the chemical composition of four globular clusters (GCs) in M31 (Bol6, Bol20, Bol45, and Bol50) (Maricheva 2021. Study of integrated spectra of four globular clusters in M 31. Astrophys. Bull. 76:389–404. doi: https://doi.org/10.1134/S199034132104009X) to the available literature data on integrated-light spectroscopy of globular clusters with similar ages and chemical abundances in our Galaxy and M31 and on the chemical abundances of stars in two galaxies. The clusters and their literature analogues are of moderate metallicity −1.1 < [Fe/H] < −0.75 dex and older (10 Gyr). Mg, Ca, and C abundances of four GCs are higher than literature estimates for the GCs in M31 with [Fe/H] ∼ −1 dex obtained using high-resolution integrated-light spectroscopy methods. Using literature data, we did not find complete analogues for the studied clusters in our Galaxy and M31 in terms of age, helium mass fraction (Y), and chemical composition. The alpha-element abundances in four clusters are about 0.2 dex higher than the average for stars in the Galactic field at [Fe/H] ∼ −1 dex. We suggest that these and Maricheva’s (Maricheva M. 2021) findings about lower metallicities of the studied objects than the average metallicity of red giants in the M31 halo and about the abundances of alpha-process elements in them corresponding to the average value for stars in the M31 inner halo likely indicate that the star formation process in the vicinity of M31 at the time of our sample clusters formation was complex with the inflow of fresh gas from the intergalactic medium and violent star forming events associated with SNe II bursts.
Boron nitride on SiC(0001)

In the ﬁeld of van der Waals heterostructures, the twist angle between stacked two-dimensional (2D) layers has been identiﬁed to be of utmost importance for the properties of the heterostructures. In this context, we previously reported the growth of a single layer of unconventionally oriented epitaxial graphene that forms in a surfactant atmosphere [F. C. Bocquet et al. , Phys. Rev. Lett. 125 , 106102 (2020)]. The resulting G- R 0 ◦ layer is aligned with the SiC lattice, and hence represents an important milestone towards high quality twisted bilayer graphene (tBLG), a frequently investigated model system in this ﬁeld. Here, we focus on the surface structures obtained in the same surfactant atmosphere, but at lower preparation temperatures at which a boron nitride template layer forms on SiC(0001). In a comprehensive study based on complementary experimental and theoretical techniques, we ﬁnd – in contrast to the literature – that this template layer is a hexagonal B x N y layer, but not high-quality hBN. It is aligned with the SiC lattice and gradually replaced by low-quality graphene in the 0 ◦ orientation of the B x N y template layer upon annealing.
ReZone: Disarming TrustZone with TEE Privilege Reduction

In TrustZone-assisted TEEs, the trusted OS has unrestricted access to both secure and normal world memory. Unfortunately, this architectural limitation has opened an aisle of exploration for attackers, which have demonstrated how to leverage a chain of exploits to hijack the trusted OS and gain full control of the system, targeting (i) the rich execution environment (REE), (ii) all trusted applications (TAs), and (iii) the secure monitor. In this paper, we propose ReZone. The main novelty behind ReZone design relies on leveraging TrustZone-agnostic hardware primitives available on commercially off-the-shelf (COTS) platforms to restrict the privileges of the trusted OS. With ReZone, a monolithic TEE is restructured and partitioned into multiple sandboxed domains named zones, which have only access to private resources. We have fully implemented ReZone for the i.MX 8MQuad EVK and integrated it with Android OS and OP-TEE. We extensively evaluated ReZone using microbenchmarks and real-world applications. ReZone can sustain popular applications like DRM-protected video encoding with acceptable performance overheads. We have surveyed 80 CVE vulnerability reports and estimate that ReZone could mitigate 86.84% of them.
Discrete Optimal Transport with Independent Marginals is #P-Hard

We study the computational complexity of the optimal transport problem that evaluates the Wasserstein distance between the distributions of two K-dimensional discrete random vectors. The best known algorithms for this problem run in polynomial time in the maximum of the number of atoms of the two distributions. However, if the components of either random vector are independent, then this number can be exponential in K even though the size of the problem description scales linearly with K. We prove that the described optimal transport problem is #P-hard even if all components of the first random vector are independent uniform Bernoulli random variables, while the second random vector has merely two atoms, and even if only approximate solutions are sought. We also develop a dynamic programming-type algorithm that approximates the Wasserstein distance in pseudo-polynomial time when the components of the first random vector follow arbitrary independent discrete distributions, and we identify special problem instances that can be solved exactly in strongly polynomial time.
Modeling extremes with d-max-decreasing neural networks

We propose a novel neural network architecture that enables non-parametric calibration and generation of multivariate extreme value distributions (MEVs). MEVs arise from Extreme Value Theory (EVT) as the necessary class of models when extrapolating a distributional fit over large spatial and temporal scales based on data observed in intermediate scales. In turn, EVT dictates that $d$-max-decreasing, a stronger form of convexity, is an essential shape constraint in the characterization of MEVs. As far as we know, our proposed architecture provides the first class of non-parametric estimators for MEVs that preserve these essential shape constraints. We show that our architecture approximates the dependence structure encoded by MEVs at parametric rate. Moreover, we present a new method for sampling high-dimensional MEVs using a generative model. We demonstrate our methodology on a wide range of experimental settings, ranging from environmental sciences to financial mathematics and verify that the structural properties of MEVs are retained compared to existing methods.
Operator θ-Hölder functions with respect to ‖ ⋅ ‖ p , 0 < p ⩽ ∞

Funding information University International Postgraduate Award (UIPA), UNSW; Australian Research Council, Grant/Award Number: FL170100052 Abstract Let θ ∈ (0, 1) and (, τ) be a semifinite von Neumann algebra. We consider the function spaces introduced by Sobolev (J. London Math. Soc. (2) 95 (2017), 157–176; Geom. Funct. Anal. 27 (2017), 676–725) (denoted by Sd,θ), showing that there exists a constant d > 0 depending on p, 0 < p ⩽ ∞, only such that every function f ∶ R → C ∈ Sd,θ is operator θ-Hölder with respect to ‖ ⋅ ‖p, that is, there exists a constantCp,f depending onp andf only such that the estimate ‖‖f(A) − f(B)‖‖p ⩽ Cp,f‖‖‖|A − B|θ‖‖‖p
Functional products fortified with probiotic LAB isolated from Egyptian dairy sources showed hypolipidemic effects in Albino rats

Biological food industry has increased economic importance of new Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) with functional aspects such as health promoting and enhanced sensorial traits. The objectives of the present study were the isolation and genotypic characterization (16S rRNA) of new LAB isolates from Egyptian Laban Rayeb, Zabady and mothers’ breast milk as potential probiotics. Strains were in vitro and in vivo evaluated for their safety and probiotic health promoting traits in Albino rats then applied into two types of functional dairy products. Three strains Streptococcus thermophilus MH422542, Enterococcus faecium MH422543 and Lactococcus lactis subsp lactis MH422545, were selected from a pool of 82 strains. St. thermophilus showed proteolytic activity and production of Exopolysaccharides (EPS). When evaluated in animal models; the strains showed hypolipidemic effects especially E. faecium that reduced atherogenic indices up to 88%. The strains modulated the gut microbiota by reducing Staphylococcus sp. and coliforms with no adverse effects either on blood parameters, antioxidant enzymes, cancer markers or hepatocytes histological examination. Only E. faecium MH422543 showed an immune response by increased white blood cells (WBC) while lymph and platelets values were not affected. The probiotic strains approved their convenience as starter/ adjunct cultures and enhanced organoleptic properties of the fermented dairy products.
Efficacy and community-effectiveness of insecticide treated nets for the control of visceral leishmaniasis: A systematic review

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) has been targeted for elimination from Southeast Asia (SEA). The disease has been endemic in SEA, and in other parts of the world involving both humans and animals. One of the key strategies for combating VL is controlling for the vector sandfly. There are a few vector control strategies that are currently in practice. We sought to assess the efficacy and community effectiveness of insecticide treated nets (ITNs) in controlling the burden of sandfly and the occurrence of VL among humans. We conducted a systematic review following a study protocol and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) criteria. 6331 initial hits were retrieved from Google Scholar, Lilacs, PubMed, Science Direct, WHOlis, WHOiris and PAHOiris. 25 met the full inclusion criteria. Findings show that the insecticide impregnated bednets and the commercially treated long lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) are effective in controlling sandflies, with mortalities as high as 75% lasting over a year; although their role in controlling VL in the community was not extensively studied, since effectiveness was usually measured with sandflies densities. Findings also show that insecticide impregnated bednets are low cost and well accepted in the community, however, early erosion of insecticides from nets could occur. Some studies also showed that killing of sandflies may not translate into reduction of VL, therefore sandfly knock down and killing data needs to be interpreted with caution. Conclusions of this review are (1) combining insecticide impregnated bednets, as targeted interventions, with another vector control measure, particularly indoor residual spraying, and in conjunction with case detection, could be the way forward to controlling VL in resource limited settings. (2) Given the current low incidence of VL in SEA, it can be difficult to further research the community effectiveness of those control measures in reducing VL.
Do individual and institutional predictors of misconduct vary by country? Results of a matched-control analysis of problematic image duplications

Pressures to publish, perverse incentives, financial interest and gender are amongst the most commonly discussed risk factors for scientific misconduct. However, evidence of their association with actual data fabrication and falsification is inconclusive. A recent case-controlled analysis of articles containing problematic image duplications suggested that country of affiliation of first and last authors is a significant predictor of scientific misconduct. The same analysis found null or negative associations with individual proxies of publication rate, impact and gender. The latter findings, in line with previous evidence, failed to support common hypotheses about the prevalence and causes of misconduct, but country-level effects may have confounded these results. Here we extend and complete previous results by comparing, via matched-controls analysis, articles from authors in the same country. We found that evidence for individual-level risk factors may be significant in some countries, and null or opposite in others. In particular, in countries where publications are rewarded with cash incentives, and especially China, the risk of problematic image duplication was higher for more productive, more frequently cited, earlier-career researchers working in lower-ranking institutions, in accordance with a “misaligned incentives” explanation for scientific misconduct. However, a null or opposite pattern was observed in all other countries, and especially the USA, UK and Canada, countries where concerns for misaligned incentives are commonly expressed. In line with previous results, we failed to observe a statistically significant association with industry funding and with gender. This is the first direct evidence of a link between publication performance and risk of misconduct and between university ranking and risk of misconduct. Commonly hypothesised individual risk factors for scientific misconduct, including career status and productivity, might be relevant in countries where cash-reward policies generate perverse incentives. In most scientifically active countries, however, where other incentives systems are in place, these patterns are not observed, and other risk factors might be more relevant. Policies to prevent and correct scientific misconduct may need to be tailored to a countries’ or institutions’ specific context.
Macrophages in Skeletal Muscle Dystrophies, An Entangled Partner

While skeletal muscle remodeling happens throughout life, diseases that result in its dysfunction are accountable for many deaths. Indeed, skeletal muscle is exceptionally capable to respond to stimuli modifying its homeostasis, such as in atrophy, hypertrophy, regeneration and repair. In particular conditions such as genetic diseases (muscular dystrophies), skeletal muscle’s capacity to remodel is strongly affected and undergoes continuous cycles of chronic damage. This induces scarring, fatty infiltration, as well as loss of contractibility and of the ability to generate force. In this context, inflammation, primarily mediated by macrophages, plays a central pathogenic role. Macrophages contribute as the primary regulators of inflammation during skeletal muscle regeneration, affecting tissue-resident cells such as myogenic cells and endothelial cells, but also fibro-adipogenic progenitors, which are the main source of the fibro fatty scar. During skeletal muscle regeneration their function is tightly orchestrated, while in dystrophies their fate is strongly disturbed, resulting in chronic inflammation. In this review, we will discuss the latest findings on the role of macrophages in skeletal muscle diseases, and how they are regulated.
CRISPRroots: on- and off-target assessment of RNA-seq data in CRISPR–Cas9 edited cells

Abstract The CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing tool is used to study genomic variants and gene knockouts, and can be combined with transcriptomic analyses to measure the effects of such alterations on gene expression. But how can one be sure that differential gene expression is due to a successful intended edit and not to an off-target event, without performing an often resource-demanding genome-wide sequencing of the edited cell or strain? To address this question we developed CRISPRroots: CRISPR–Cas9-mediated edits with accompanying RNA-seq data assessed for on-target and off-target sites. Our method combines Cas9 and guide RNA binding properties, gene expression changes, and sequence variants between edited and non-edited cells to discover potential off-targets. Applied on seven public datasets, CRISPRroots identified critical off-target candidates that were overlooked in all of the corresponding previous studies. CRISPRroots is available via https://rth.dk/resources/crispr.
The emphasis on Supervised Agricultural Experience programs by high school agricultural education teachers

The Emphasis on Supervised Agricultural Experience Programs by High School Agricultural Education Teachers. John Ashley Workman Every year thousands of high school FFA members around the nation earn degrees through their SAE programs. Supervised Agriculture Experience programs (SAEs) are used for students to take interest, mix with information and practices learned in the classroom and apply them in a real life scenario. The purpose of this study was to look at the emphasis and importance agricultural teachers are putting on SAEs in their programs. The study was limited to six states, approximately 1,500 teachers. The final set of useable surveys numbered 391 (26.1%). Educators were presented with an online survey, which was broken down into sections. Many of the findings pointed to issues with time, numbers, and other activities in agricultural education as reasons trends show a decline in the number of students with SAEs.
Modern Engineering Laboratories at a Distance

This paper describes the technical aspects of conducting laboratory experiments from remote locations. Sixteen laboratory systems are available at UTC for students to operate remotely via the Internet. Collected data can be shared with other students via the Web. The laboratory systems described in the paper could be used by engineering and engineering technology programs in lieu of or to supplement existing laboratory curriculum content.
Computational modelling of mechano-electric feedback and its arrhythmogenic effects in human ventricular models

Abstract The current study aims to investigate the role of mechano-electric feedback (MEF) in healthy cardiac cycles and in cardiac arrhythmia using human ventricular models. The numerical formulation of stretch-activated channels (SACs) in terms of the fibre stretch of the myocardium is incorporated into the modified Hill model that describes the myocardium as an electro-visco-active material. Additionally, we propose models of SACs formulated in terms of the rate of stretch along fibre direction and the stretch along sheet direction. We analyze the effect of the three different models for SACs and different material properties on the regular cycles by using electrocardiogram and volume-time curves, and show that the each model of SACs has regionally different influences on the heart model. Moreover, we simulate ‘commotio cordis’ and ‘precordial thump’ and demonstrate that MEF plays a major role in the occurrence of fibrillation and defibrillation in the absence of the structural cardiac damage. Furthermore, we study the role of MEF in premature ventricular contraction when the blood pressure is disturbed.
A novel method for objective in-situ measurement of audibility in bone conduction hearing devices – a pilot study using a skin drive BCD

Abstract Objective Objective measurement of audibility (verification) using bone conduction devices (BCDs) has long remained an elusive problem for BCDs. For air conduction hearing aids there are well-defined and often used objective methods, and the aim of this study is to develop an objective method for BCDs. Design In a novel setup for audibility measurements of bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) attached via a soft band, we used a skin microphone (SM) on the forehead measuring in-situ sound field thresholds, maximum power output (MPO) and international speech test signal (ISTS) responses. Study sample Five normal-hearing persons. Result Using the electrical output of SM it was possible to objectively measure the audibility of a skin drive BCD, presented as an eSPL-o-gram showing thresholds, MPO and ISTS response. Normalised eSPL-o-gram was verified against corresponding FL-o-grams (corresponding force levels from skull simulator and artificial mastoid (AM)). Conclusion The proposed method with the SM can be used for objective measurements of the audibility of any BCDs based on thresholds, MPO and speech response allowing for direct comparisons of hearing and BCD output on the same graph using an eSPL-o-gram. After normalisation to hearing thresholds, the audibility can be assessed without the need for complicated calibration procedures.