Framework for Better Understanding a Face-to-Face Videoconferencing Using H.263 Codec

Face-to-face Videoconferencing is a popular option for many large organizations because it minimizes the need for travel. Instead of continually paying for traveling expenses, a company can either pay to set up a high speed network which has many usages (including videoconferencing) or they can rent time on an existing network. Employees will also no longer be burdened with the need to travel. While face-to-face videoconferencing performance is heavily influenced by the underlying hardware and software, a g...     

Earthquake onset detection using spectro-ratio on multi-threshold time–frequency sub-band

Automatic onset detection and picking algorithm has been proposed by applying the spectro-ratio on time–frequency sub-band. The proposed algorithm does not need any parameter settings as it will work on data generated by either short or very broad band seismometers. Our algorithm is applied on local events from Cairo region recorded by three stations of the Egyptian National Seismic Network (ENSN). Maximum standard deviation is observed to be 0.113 s of the corresponding manual picks made by analysts.     

Principles and performance analysis of SeCond: A system for epidemic peer-to-peer content distribution

We propose and design a peer-to-peer system, SeCond, addressing the distribution of large sized content to a large number of end systems in an efficient manner. In contrast to prior work, it employs a self-organizing epidemic dissemination scheme for state propagation of available blocks and initiation of block transmissions. In order to exploit heterogeneity of peers, enhance the utilization of system resources and for the ease of deployment, scalability, and adaptivity to dynamic peer arrivals/departures, we propose mechanisms for adjusting protocol parameters dynamically according to the bandwidth usages. We describe design and analysis details of our protocol SeCond. Comprehensive performance evaluations and comparison with the BitTorrent system model have been accomplished for a wide range of scenarios. Performance results include scalability analysis for different arrival/departure patterns, flash-crowd scenario, overhead analysis, and fairness ratio. The major metrics we study include the average file download time, load on the primary seed, uplink/downlink utilization, and communication overhead. We show that SeCond is a scalable and adaptive protocol which takes the heterogeneity of the peers into account. The protocol is as fair as BitTorrent although it has no explicit strategy addressing free-riding. We also illustrate the applicability of an analytical fluid model to the behavior of SeCond.     

Measuring robustness of computing systems

System builders are becoming increasingly interested in robust design. We believe that a methodology for generating robustness metrics will help the robust design research efforts and, in general, is an important step in the efforts to create robust computing systems. The purpose of the research in this paper is to quantify the robustness of a resource allocation, with the eventual objective of setting a standard that could easily be instantiated for a particular computing system to generate a robustness metric. The paper exposes how not considering the uncertainties can result in gross overestimation of the system capacity, and shows a method for reducing the impact of uncertainty, and even use it to our advantage if the uncertainties are correlated. We present our theoretical foundation for a robustness metric and give its instantiation for a particular system.     

Inertial microfluidics for continuous particle filtration and extraction

In this paper, we describe a simple passive microfluidic device with rectangular microchannel geometry for continuous particle filtration. The design takes advantage of preferential migration of particles in rectangular microchannels based on shear-induced inertial lift forces. These dominant inertial forces cause particles to move laterally and occupy equilibrium positions along the longer vertical microchannel walls. Using this principle, we demonstrate extraction of 590 nm particles from a mixture of 1.9 μm and 590 nm particles in a straight microfluidic channel with rectangular cross-section. Based on the theoretical analysis and experimental data, we describe conditions required for predicting the onset of particle equilibration in square and rectangular microchannels. The microfluidic channel design has a simple planar structure and can be easily integrated with on-chip microfluidic components for filtration and extraction of wide range of particle sizes. The ability to continuously and differentially equilibrate particles of different size without external forces in microchannels is expected to have numerous applications in filtration, cytometry, and bioseparations.     

Fuzzy-based hunger games search algorithm for global optimization and feature selection using medical data

Neural Computing and Applications - Feature selection (FS) is one of the basic data preprocessing steps in data mining and machine learning. It is used to reduce feature size and increase model...     

Design and simulation of autonomous military vehicle control system based on machine vision and ensemble movement approach

The Journal of Supercomputing - On the battlefield, early detection of armored vehicles can have a positive effect. Because according to this issue, timely and appropriate reactions can be done....     

Predicting Mobile Cross-Platform Adaptation Using a Hybrid Sem–ANN Approach

Owing to constant changes in user needs, new technologies have been introduced to keep pace by building sustainable applications. Researchers and practitioners are keen to understand the factors that create an attractive user interface. Although the use of cross-platform applications and services is increasing, limited research has examined and evaluated cross-platforms for developing mobile applications for different operating systems. This study evaluates cross-platform features, identifying the main factors that help to create an attractive user adaptation when building sustainable applications for both Android and iOS. Flutter and React Native were selected so end-users could test their features using the cross-platform usability assessment model. Usability, satisfaction, and navigation were tested to measure the cross-platform adaptation and end-user experience. The data were analyzed using hybrid structural equation modeling (SEM) and artificial neural network (ANN) approaches. The study results show that usability and navigation both have a positive effect on adaptation on Flutter and React Native, while satisfaction only has an effect on Flutter. The navigation variable was also the most significant predictor of adaptation for both models. This study has several implications and makes contributions to the research field, to developers, and to end-users.     

ETAS: predictive scheduling of functions on worker nodes of Apache OpenWhisk platform

The Journal of Supercomputing - Fast execution of functions is an inevitable challenge in the serverless computing landscape. Inefficient dispatching, fluctuations in invocation rates, burstiness...     

Behaviour of sand–clay mixtures for road pavement subgrade

Materials forming sand grains and colluvial soil deposits have a distinct structure, consisting of a composite matrix of coarse and fine soil grains. The influence of sand grains content on the behaviour of sand–clay mixtures was investigated by a series of intensive laboratory experiments. The California bearing ratio (CBR), unconfined compression strength (UCS) and compaction tests were carried out on various contents of sand and clay mixtures. The sand–clay mixtures were prepared with sand contents of 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50% by weight. The laboratory tests on these mixtures have indicated that their behaviour will depend on the relative concentration of the sand and clay samples. The results of the tests showed a decrease in the UCS, and an increase the CBR values with an increase in the amount of sand. An increase in dry unit weight and a decrease in respective moisture content by an increase in the amount of sand were observed in the compaction tests.