Model-free detection of unique events in time series

Recognition of anomalous events is a challenging but critical task in many scientific and industrial fields, especially when the properties of anomalies are unknown. In this paper, we introduce a new anomaly concept called “unicorn” or unique event and present a new, model-free, unsupervised detection algorithm to detect unicorns. The key component of the new algorithm is the Temporal Outlier Factor (TOF) to measure the uniqueness of events in continuous data sets from dynamic systems. The concept of unique events differs significantly from traditional outliers in many aspects: while repetitive outliers are no longer unique events, a unique event is not necessarily an outlier; it does not necessarily fall out from the distribution of normal activity. The performance of our algorithm was examined in recognizing unique events on different types of simulated data sets with anomalies and it was compared with the Local Outlier Factor (LOF) and discord discovery algorithms. TOF had superior performance compared to LOF and discord detection algorithms even in recognizing traditional outliers and it also detected unique events that those did not. The benefits of the unicorn concept and the new detection method were illustrated by example data sets from very different scientific fields. Our algorithm successfully retrieved unique events in those cases where they were already known such as the gravitational waves of a binary black hole merger on LIGO detector data and the signs of respiratory failure on ECG data series. Furthermore, unique events were found on the LIBOR data set of the last 30 years.

Normalizing a new language hierarchy: Event names in post-Soviet urban space

Naming practices not only reveal ideological contestation in a particular community, but also contribute to the discursive construction of a new social reality. However, the transformative role of naming practices as a semiotic resource for reimagining language hierarchy has been overlooked. This socio-onomastics study aims to explore shifting ideological premises and semiotic mechanisms of normalizing a new language hierarchy in post-Soviet urban space. In doing so, the study diachronically examines naming practices of choosing and using event names, which are more fluid and often short-lived in comparison to other names such as toponyms, anthroponyms or brand names. The study analyses 1246 unique event names mentioned in a local Russian-language newspaper Вечерний Алматы (Vechernii Almaty) over the period of time from 1989 to 2019. The results show a decrease in the use of Russian for name production. Further examination reveals a steady increase in non-integrated event names in Kazakh and English in Russian-language newspaper texts; there are few examples of translation and transliteration, no examples of transcription or loanwords in more recent texts. Our comparison shows that in the context of the multilingual Almaty transgressing the purist norms of standard Russian has become a new norm. We argue that these new local strategies of naming and using names are a semiotic mechanism of domination; they work to normalize a new language hierarchy where the Russian language is no longer the only dominant code of the public and official domain. Our account adds to the discussion of the discursive power of naming in challenging dominant language practices.

Event Reliability in Wireless Sensor Networks

<p>Ensuring reliable transport of data in resource-constrained Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is one of the primary concerns to achieve a high degree of efficiency in monitoring and control systems. The two reliability mechanisms typically used in WSNs are packet reliability and event reliability. Packet reliability, which requires all packets from all the sensor nodes to reach the sink, can result in wastage of the sensors' limited energy resources. Event reliability, which only requires that one packet related to each event reaches the sink, exploits the overlap of the sensing regions of densely deployed sensor nodes to eliminate redundant packets from nodes in close proximity that contain duplicate information about an event. The majority of previous research in this area focuses on packet reliability rather than event reliability. Moreover, the research that does focus on event reliability relies on the sink to impose some form of control over the flow of data in the network. The sinks' centralized control and decision-making increases the transmission of unnecessary packets, which degrades overall network performance in terms of energy, congestion and data flow. This thesis proposes a distributed approach to the control of the flow of data in which each node makes in-node decisions using data readily available to it. This reduces the transmission of unnecessary packets, which reduces the network cost in terms of energy, congestion, and data flow. The major challenges involved in this research are to: (i) accurately identify that multiple packets are carrying information about the same event, (ii) reliably deliver the packets carrying information about the unique event, (iii) ensure that enough information about the area of interest is reliably delivered to the sink, and (iv) maintain the event coverage throughout the network. This thesis presents the Event Reliability Protocol (ERP) and its extension, the Enhanced Event Reliability Protocol (EERP). The protocols aim for the reliable transmission of a packet containing information about each unique event to the sink while identifying and minimizing the unnecessary transmission of similar redundant packets from nodes in the region of the event. In this way, the sensor nodes consume less energy and increase the overall network lifetime. EERP uses a multilateration technique to identify multiple packets containing similar event information and thus is able to filter redundant packets of the same event. It also makes use of implicit acknowledgment (iACKs) for reliable delivery of the packets to the sink node. The process is based on the hop-by-hop mechanism where the decisions are made locally by the intermediate nodes. The thesis reports on simulations in QualNet 5.2 for verifying the accuracy of our event identification and event reliability mechanisms employed in the ERP and EERP. The results show that EERP performs better in terms of minimizing overall packet transmission and hence the energy consumption at the sensor nodes in a WSN. Also, the results for event identification mechanism and reliable event delivery show that EERP considerably improves upon other protocols in terms of unique events delivery.</p>

Event Reliability in Wireless Sensor Networks

<p>Ensuring reliable transport of data in resource-constrained Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is one of the primary concerns to achieve a high degree of efficiency in monitoring and control systems. The two reliability mechanisms typically used in WSNs are packet reliability and event reliability. Packet reliability, which requires all packets from all the sensor nodes to reach the sink, can result in wastage of the sensors' limited energy resources. Event reliability, which only requires that one packet related to each event reaches the sink, exploits the overlap of the sensing regions of densely deployed sensor nodes to eliminate redundant packets from nodes in close proximity that contain duplicate information about an event. The majority of previous research in this area focuses on packet reliability rather than event reliability. Moreover, the research that does focus on event reliability relies on the sink to impose some form of control over the flow of data in the network. The sinks' centralized control and decision-making increases the transmission of unnecessary packets, which degrades overall network performance in terms of energy, congestion and data flow. This thesis proposes a distributed approach to the control of the flow of data in which each node makes in-node decisions using data readily available to it. This reduces the transmission of unnecessary packets, which reduces the network cost in terms of energy, congestion, and data flow. The major challenges involved in this research are to: (i) accurately identify that multiple packets are carrying information about the same event, (ii) reliably deliver the packets carrying information about the unique event, (iii) ensure that enough information about the area of interest is reliably delivered to the sink, and (iv) maintain the event coverage throughout the network. This thesis presents the Event Reliability Protocol (ERP) and its extension, the Enhanced Event Reliability Protocol (EERP). The protocols aim for the reliable transmission of a packet containing information about each unique event to the sink while identifying and minimizing the unnecessary transmission of similar redundant packets from nodes in the region of the event. In this way, the sensor nodes consume less energy and increase the overall network lifetime. EERP uses a multilateration technique to identify multiple packets containing similar event information and thus is able to filter redundant packets of the same event. It also makes use of implicit acknowledgment (iACKs) for reliable delivery of the packets to the sink node. The process is based on the hop-by-hop mechanism where the decisions are made locally by the intermediate nodes. The thesis reports on simulations in QualNet 5.2 for verifying the accuracy of our event identification and event reliability mechanisms employed in the ERP and EERP. The results show that EERP performs better in terms of minimizing overall packet transmission and hence the energy consumption at the sensor nodes in a WSN. Also, the results for event identification mechanism and reliable event delivery show that EERP considerably improves upon other protocols in terms of unique events delivery.</p>

Precarious Hope: Situated Perspectives on the COVID-19 Pandemic from Undergraduate Students in Manchester, UK

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the lives of young people, transforming and disrupting education provision, employment opportunities, social practices, mobilities, and experiences of health and well-being. In the UK context, the pandemic can be understood as both a unique event and as a further addition to the intersecting crises—including austerity and Brexit—that are increasingly shaping and constraining youth experiences and aspirations and exacerbating precarity and inequality. In this article, seven undergraduate students from Manchester, UK, with two academic co-authors, employ a co-productive approach to reflect on our experiences of the pandemic. Our autoethnographic accounts draw attention to the situated effects of the pandemic, and its intersection with existing challenges and pressures, including the gig economy, mental and physical ill health, and transnational family networks. At the same time, our narratives capture a sense of precarious hope: hopefulness that is both a product of precarity and itself precarious, opening up new possibilities for collectively imagining and pursuing viable and meaningful futures in uncertain times. Supporting our endeavours requires the inclusion of youth voices in research, policy, and practice; work we begin here.

Reflections on the COVID-19 Restrictions in Belgium and the Rule of Law

The paper examines the legality and legitimacy of Belgium’s COVID-19-related restrictions in light of national and international guidelines. Its discussion proceeds from the most vital characteristic of any law-based state: the government being subject to standards of substantive and procedural legality, even during a pandemic. After this, the effect of the crisis on the Belgian Rechtsstaat is examined, with special emphasis on the functioning of the separation of powers and on the unprecedented predominance of the executive power, alongside the legal basis for the latter’s actions. The author concludes that the Belgian measures against the virus’s spread have failed to meet the cumulative requirements of the rule-of-law test. Discussion then turns to the possibly huge ramifications for some wider debates in the field of philosophy of law, both for classic topoi ( such as law and morality or utilitarianism) and for contemporary current debates such as constitutionalism, sovereignty, and juristocracy. In its concluding remarks, the paper raises issues of the unspoken social contract between the people and the state: will the restrictions amid the pandemic go down in history as a singular, unique event or, instead, as a step on the slippery slope toward permanent crisis management in the name of a new sanitary order?

Fault Geometry and Slip Distribution of the 2021 Mw 7.4 Maduo, China, Earthquake Inferred from InSAR Measurements and Relocated Aftershocks

A nearly 70 yr hiatus of major seismic activity in the central eastern Bayan Har block (BKB) ended on 22 May 2021, when a multislip-peak sinistral strike-slip earthquake struck western Maduo County, Qinghai. This earthquake, which ruptured the nearly 170 km long Kunlun Pass–Jiangcuo fault, is a rather unique event and offers a rare opportunity to probe the mechanical properties of the intraplate lithosphere of the central eastern BKB. Here, we inferred the fault geometry associated with the Maduo earthquake using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), and relocated aftershocks and inverted the slip distribution through InSAR radar phases and range offsets. Our analysis revealed that the geometry of the fault varies along the strike: the southeastern end of the fault dips steeply to the northeast, whereas the northwestern end dips southwestward. Using the combined datasets to constrain a coseismic slip, we found that the 2021 Maduo event was dominated by sinistral strike-slip movement, with a slight normal-slip component at a shallow depth, rupturing the steep-dipping fault for nearly 170 km in length. Five asperities were detected along the fault strike in the shallow crust (0–12 km) with a peak slip of ∼4.2 m corresponding mostly to simple structures, namely, continuous and straight rupture segments, suggesting that the rupture propagated across geometrical barriers in a multiasperity way. Based on an analysis of the strain field and the focal mechanisms of both the 2021 Maduo earthquake and historical earthquakes that have occurred in the BKB, we propose that the fault zones within the BKB can also generate large earthquakes and have the ability to accommodate the ongoing eastward and northeastward penetration of the Indian plate into the Eurasian plate.

Compound Heterozygote of Point Mutation and Chromosomal Microdeletion Involving OTUD6B Coinciding with ZMIZ1 Variant in Syndromic Intellectual Disability

The OTUD6B and ZMIZ1 genes were recently identified as causes of syndromic intellectual disability (ID) with shared phenotypes of facial dysmorphism, distal limb anomalies, and seizure disorders. OTUD6B -and ZMIZ1 -related ID are inherited in autosomal recessive and autosomal dominant patterns, respectively. We report a 5-year-old girl with developmental delay, facial phenotypes resembling Williams syndrome, and cardiac defects. The patient also had terminal broadening of the fingers and polydactyly. Cytogenomic microarray (CMA), whole exome sequencing (WES), and mRNA analysis were performed. The CMA showed a paternally inherited 0.118 Mb deletion of 8q21.3, chr8:92084087–92202189, with OTUD6B involved. The WES identified a hemizygous OTUD6B variant, c.873delA (p.Lus291AsnfsTer3). The mother was heterozygous for this allele. The WES also demonstrated a heterozygous ZMIZ1 variant, c.1491 + 2T > C, in the patient and her father. This ZMIZ1 variant yielded exon 14 skipping, as evidenced by mRNA study. We suggest that Williams syndrome-like phenotypes, namely, periorbital edema, hanging cheek, and long and smooth philtrum represent expanded phenotypes of OTUD6B -related ID. Our data expand the genotypic spectrum of OTUD6B - and ZMIZ1 -related disorders. This is the first reported case of a compound heterozygote featuring point mutation, chromosomal microdeletion of OTUD6B, and the unique event of OTUD6B, coupled with ZMIZ1 variants.

Mujer, madre y conflicto: el caso de la “Sargento Matacho” (1933-1964)

Resumen: El interés por rastrear la figura de la madre bandolera, Rosalba Velásquez, conocida popularmente como la “Sargento Matacho”, detona en pleno desarrollo del trabajo de campo del proyecto “Recuerdos de infancia de antiguos niños guerrilleros”, patrocinado por la Convocatoria Orlando Fals Borda 2018. Allí, fuimos testigos de un sentido reencuentro entre miembros de la familia Velásquez, oriundos de Líbano (Tolima), quienes tras 49 años sin verse posibilitaron una serie de recuerdos y relatos en torno a la figura de la madre perdida: Rosalba Velásquez, la “Sargento Matacho”. Este escrito indaga sobre la figura de la bandolera, pero también sobre la madre desconocida, la mujer y la compañera, vista principalmente por el tercero de los hijos de Rosalba, William Velás- quez, durante su retorno junto con otros familiares a su natal Líbano, en septiembre de 2018. El texto busca, igualmente, registrar un suceso único: el reencuentro del hijo nacido de la guerra con las memorias de su madre perdida, la que un día salió al monte para jamás regresar. Woman, Mother, and Conflict: the Case of “Sargent Matacho” (1933-1964) Abstract: The interest in tracking the image of the guerrilla mother, Rosalba Velásquez, popularly known as Sergeant Matacho, triggers during the fieldwork of the “Childhood Memories of Former Guerrilla Children” project, supported by the Orlando Fals Borda 2018 sponsorship. There, we witnessed a meaningful reunion between members of the Velásquez family, native of Lebanon (Tolima), who after 49 years without seeing each other, enabled a runion and the emergence of a series of memories and narratives about the lost mother, Rosalba Velásquez, Sergeant Matacho. This paper inquiries about the image of the mother guerrilla, but also about the unknown mother, the woman, the affectionate caregiver, mainly seen by the third of Rosalba’s children, William Velásquez during his return along with other relatives, to Líbano (Tolima), in September 2018. The text also seeks to capture a unique event: The reunion of the son born of war, with the memories of his lost mother, who one day entered the Colombian mountains, to never return. Keywords: violence, guerrilla, children, Colombia, Tolima, woman, mother.

The US 2020 Election and Learning from History

The US 2020 presidential election constitutes an anomaly for the general paradigm of learning from history that organizes cross-national research in politics. Was it a unique event that can be ignored or must we consider that history is no longer a reliable guide?