Non-Intrusive Distributed Tracing of Wireless IoT Devices with the FlockLab 2 Testbed

Testbeds for wireless IoT devices facilitate testing and validation of distributed target nodes. A testbed usually provides methods to control, observe, and log the execution of the software. However, most of the methods used for tracing the execution require code instrumentation and change essential properties of the observed system. Methods that are non-intrusive are typically not applicable in a distributed fashion due to a lack of time synchronization or necessary hardware/software support. In this article, we present a tracing system for validating time-critical software running on multiple distributed wireless devices that does not require code instrumentation, is non-intrusive and is designed to trace the distributed state of an entire network. For this purpose, we make use of the on-chip debug and trace hardware that is part of most modern microcontrollers. We introduce a testbed architecture as well as models and methods that accurately synchronize the timestamps of observations collected by distributed observers. In a case study, we demonstrate how the tracing system can be applied to observe the distributed state of a flooding-based low-power communication protocol for wireless sensor networks. The presented non-intrusive tracing system is implemented as a service of the publicly accessible open source FlockLab 2 testbed.

Counterparts, Essences and Quantified Modal Logic

It is commonplace to formalize propositions involving essential properties of objects in a language containing modal operators and quantifiers. Assuming David Lewis’s counterpart theory as a semantic framework for quantified modal logic, I will show that certain statements discussed in the metaphysics of modality de re, such as the sufficiency condition for essential properties, cannot be faithfully formalized. A natural modification of Lewis’s translation scheme seems to be an obvious solution but is not acceptable for various reasons. Consequently, the only safe way to express some intuitions regarding essential properties is to use directly the language of counterpart theory without modal operators.

Group decision-making with Fermatean fuzzy soft expert knowledge

With the rapid growth of population, the global impact of solar technology is increasing by the day due to its advantages over other power production technologies. Demand for solar panel systems is soaring, thus provoking the arrival of many new manufacturers. Sale dealers or suppliers face an uncertain problem to choose the most adequate technological solution. To effectively address such kind of issues, in this paper we propose the Fermatean fuzzy soft expert set model by combining Fermatean fuzzy sets and soft expert sets. We describe this hybrid model with numerical examples. From a theoretical standpoint, we demonstrate some essential properties and define operations for this setting. They comprise the definitions of complement, union and intersection, the OR operation and the AND operation. Concerning practice in this new environment, we provide an algorithm for multi-criteria group decision making whose productiveness and authenticity is dutifully tested. We explore a practical application of this approach (that is, the selection of a suitable brand of solar panel system). Lastly, we give a comparison of our model with certain related mathematical tools, including fuzzy and intuitionistic fuzzy soft expert set models.

The Essential Properties of Nanoemulsions

Nanoemulsions are a submicron with colloidal particulate systems ranging from 10 to 1,000 nm in size. Nanoemulsions hold enormous scope in the field of cosmetics, diagnostics, food, and paint. Moreover, nanoemulsions are ubiquitously regarded as superior drug carriers for the infusion of lipophilic cytotoxic antineoplastic agents on a particular target criterion. Nanoemulsions are prepared from two immiscible liquids that are mixed by employing surfactants and co-surfactants. It also encompasses some significant benefits like biocompatibility, non-immunogenicity, low toxicity, drug entrapment, nanoscale size, large surface area, long-term and restrained release, uncomplicated mode of formulation, as well as thermodynamic stability. Nanoemulsion drug delivery can address the major challenge of effective drug formulation due to its instability and poor solubility in the vehicle. The primary objective of this chapter is to provide a quick overview of various physico-properties of nanoemulsion, with a special emphasis on its various applications in various fields.

Image Searching System

Finding similar images on a visual sample is a difficult AI task, to solve which many works are devoted. The problem is to determine the essential properties of images of low and higher semantic level. Based on them, a vector of features is built, which will be used in the future to compare pairs of images. Each pair always includes an image from the collection and a sample image that the user is looking for. The result of the comparison is a quantity called the visual relativity of the images. Image properties are called features and are evaluated by calculation algorithms. Image features can be divided into low-level and high-level. Low-level features include basic colors, textures, shapes, significant elements of the whole image. These features are used as part of more complex recognition tasks. The main progress is in the definition of high-level features, which is associated with understanding the content of images. In this paper, research of modern algorithms is done for finding similar images in large multimedia databases. The main problems of determining high-level image features, algorithms of overcoming them and application of effective algorithms are described. The algorithms used to quickly determine the semantic content and improve the search accuracy of similar images are presented. The aim: The purpose of work is to conduct comparative analysis of modern image retrieval algorithms and retrieve its weakness and strength.

NAD+ capping of RNA in Archaea and Mycobacteria

Chemical modifications of RNA affect essential properties of transcripts, such as their translation, localization and stability. 5-end RNA capping with the ubiquitous redox cofactor nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) has been discovered in organisms ranging from bacteria to mammals. However, the hypothesis that NAD+ capping might be universal in all domains of life has not been proven yet, as information on this RNA modification is missing for Archaea. Likewise, this RNA modification has not been studied in the clinically important Mycobacterium genus. Here, we demonstrate that NAD+ capping occurs in the archaeal and mycobacterial model organisms Methanosarcina barkeri and Mycobacterium smegmatis. Moreover, we identify the NAD+-capped transcripts in M. smegmatis, showing that this modification is more prevalent in stationary phase, and revealing that mycobacterial NAD+-capped transcripts include non-coding small RNAs, such as Ms1. Furthermore, we show that mycobacterial RNA polymerase incorporates NAD+ into RNA, and that the genes of NAD+-capped transcripts are preceded by promoter elements compatible with SigA/SigF dependent expression. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that NAD+ capping exists in the archaeal domain of life, suggesting that it is universal to all living organisms, and define the NAD+-capped RNA landscape in mycobacteria, providing a basis for its future exploration.

Nightlife Ethnography: A Phenomenological Approach

This chapter offers advice on how to conduct phenomenological ethnographic research in nightlife settings such as bars, nightclubs, and music festivals. It argues that phenomenological ethnography focuses on studying experiences as they occur to the people living them. Phenomenological ethnographers use their bodies as research instruments to develop an experiential connection and understanding of the people they are studying. Priority is given to clarifying essential properties of embodied, emotional, and sensory experiences, and to describing these as precisely as possible. The chapter proposes that the Durkheimian concept of collective effervescence may be used as a sensitizing tool to understand and describe some of the essence of what people search for, and sometimes experience, in nightlife settings. In particular, the concept is helpful in the study of intensive forms of celebration and intoxication. The chapter concludes with policy recommendations and suggestions to direct future research.

Traquest Model

Atomicity, consistency, isolation and durability are essential properties of many distributed systems. They are often abbreviated as the ACID properties. Ensuring ACID comes with a price: it requires extra computing and network capacity to ensure that the atomic operations are done perfectly, or they are rolled back. When we have higher requirements on performance, we need to give up the ACID properties entirely or settle for eventual consistency. Since the ambiguity of the order of the events, such algorithms can get very complicated since they have to be prepared for any possible contingencies. Traquest model is an attempt for creating a general concurrency model that can bring the ACID properties without sacrificing a too significant amount of performance.

A New Approach on Transforms: Formable Integral Transform and Its Applications

In this paper, we introduce a new integral transform called the Formable integral transform, which is a new efficient technique for solving ordinary and partial differential equations. We introduce the definition of the new transform and give the sufficient conditions for its existence. Some essential properties and examples are introduced to show the efficiency and applicability of the new transform, and we prove the duality between the new transform and other transforms such as the Laplace transform, Sumudu transform, Elzaki transform, ARA transform, Natural transform and Shehu transform. Finally, we use the Formable transform to solve some ordinary and partial differential equations by presenting five applications, and we evaluate the Formable transform for some functions and present them in a table. A comparison between the new transform and some well-known transforms is made and illustrated in a table.

Legless soft robots capable of rapid, continuous, and steered jumping

Jumping is an important locomotion function to extend navigation range, overcome obstacles, and adapt to unstructured environments. In that sense, continuous jumping and direction adjustability can be essential properties for terrestrial robots with multimodal locomotion. However, only few soft jumping robots can achieve rapid continuous jumping and controlled turning locomotion for obstacle crossing. Here, we present an electrohydrostatically driven tethered legless soft jumping robot capable of rapid, continuous, and steered jumping based on a soft electrohydrostatic bending actuator. This 1.1 g and 6.5 cm tethered soft jumping robot is able to achieve a jumping height of 7.68 body heights and a continuous forward jumping speed of 6.01 body lengths per second. Combining two actuator units, it can achieve rapid turning with a speed of 138.4° per second. The robots are also demonstrated to be capable of skipping across a multitude of obstacles. This work provides a foundation for the application of electrohydrostatic actuation in soft robots for agile and fast multimodal locomotion.