A Multiscale Pyramid Transform for Graph Signals

Multiscale transforms designed to process analog and discrete-time signals and images cannot be directly applied to analyze high-dimensional data residing on the vertices of a weighted graph, as they do not capture the intrinsic geometric structure of the underlying graph data domain. In this paper, we adapt the Laplacian pyramid transform for signals on Euclidean domains so that it can be used to analyze high-dimensional data residing on the vertices of a weighted graph. Our approach is to study existing methods and develop new methods for the four fundamental operations of graph downsampling, graph reduction, and filtering and interpolation of signals on graphs. Equipped with appropriate notions of these operations, we leverage the basic multiscale constructs and intuitions from classical signal processing to generate a transform that yields both a multiresolution of graphs and an associated multiresolution of a graph signal on the underlying sequence of graphs.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figure

Conceptualization of Man's Behavioral and Physical Characteristics as Animal Metaphors in the Spoken Discourse of Khezel People

Cognitive theory of metaphor has changed our understanding of metaphor as a figurative device to a matter of thought. It holds that metaphors are cognitively as well as culturally motivated. Despite having similar images in some languages, the culture-specific aspect of animal metaphors inspired the researchers to explore this area of metaphoric system in a local Kurdish variety to investigate how animal metaphors are reflected in spoken discourse. To achieve this objective, the authors collected and analyzed animal expressions adopted for praise and degradation of physical and behavioral characteristics in Khezeli dialect in Ilam, Iran. To create a representative corpus, the authors scrutinized spoken language and oral poetry of the dialect. The collected data indicate that more wild than domestic and more degrading than praising animal expressions are used for man's physical and behavioral characteristics. It is also confirmed that aspects of appearance, size, physical characteristics as well as body parts of animals are transferred to humans. Further, users' attitudes toward animals reflected themselves in their metaphors. Users were also found to have three categories of positive, positive/negative, and negative connotations for animal names. Despite the existence of similarities in the underlying patterns of metaphoric use in different languages, the research came to the conclusion that the types of animals used, their connotations and interpretations may be worlds apart and taking the meaning of one for another may lead to misunderstanding

Political Institutions and Government Spending Behavior: Theory and Evidence from Iran

This study examines how quality of political institutions affects the distribution of government budget in Iran. We first introduce a mechanism through which this can shift government expenditure from patronage to more constructive public spending. Using impulse response functions (IRF) and variance decomposition analysis (VDC) on the basis of Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model, our results imply that a positive shock towards more democratic institutions leads to negative and statistically significant response of military spending and positive and statistically significant response of education expenditures. Our results are robust to different political institutional quality indicators, ordering of variables in the VAR and different specifications of government spending categories

Political Institutions and Government Spending Behavior in Iran

This study examines how quality of political institutions affects the distribution of government budget and how development of government spending in major sections shapes the political institutions in Iran. This question has become especially important due to recent international sanctions, aiming to change the political behavior of Iran. We use the impulse response functions (IRF) and variance decomposition analysis (VDC) on the basis of Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model with annual data from 1960 to 2006. Our results show the importance of political institutions in patronage and public goods provision spending in Iran. The results imply that a shock in positive changes of democratic quality of institutions leads to negative and statistically significant response of military spending and positive and statistically significant response of education expenditures in short term. If sanctions are successful to change the political behavior of Iran in short run (Dizaji and Bergeijk, 2013), then one can also expect to see a reduction in allocated budget for military in Iran

Political institutions and government spending behavior in Iran

This study examines how quality of political institutions affects the distribution of government budget and how development of government spending in major sections shapes the political institutions in Iran. This question has become especially important due to recent international sanctions, aiming to change the political behavior of Iran. We use the impulse response functions (IRF) and variance decomposition analysis (VDC) on the basis of Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model with annual data from 1960 to 2006. Our results show the importance of political institutions in patronage and public goods provision spending in Iran. The results imply that a shock in positive changes of democratic quality of institutions leads to negative and statistically significant response of military spending and positive and statistically significant response of education expenditures in short term. If sanctions are successful to change the political behavior of Iran in short run (Dizaji and Bergeijk, 2013), then one can also expect to see a reduction in allocated budget for military in Iran

Suplementacija kreatinom mijenja hormonalnu reakciju organizma na vježbe s opterećenjem

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of short-term creatine supplementation on hormonal responses to resistance exercise. 27 trained men were randomly divided into a creatine supplementation group [the CR group (n=15), taking 4×5 g creatine monohydrate/day] or a placebo supplementation group [the PL group (n=12), taking 4×7.5 g maltodextrin/day]. A double-blind research design was employed for a 7-day supplementation period. After this period, the participants performed exercise testing. Blood tests occurred on day 1 prior to supplementation loading (1Pre) and after this period [on the exercise testing day: pre-exercise (Pre), immediately post-exercise (IP), and 15 (15P) and 30 (30P) minutes post-exercise] for the measurement of the serum growth hormone and testosterone concentrations. Significant differences in the number of repetitions and volume were seen with CR (7.2±1.3 repetitions, 1560±386 kg) compared to PL (5.6±2 repetitions, 1089±341 kg) at set 5 of the exercise protocol (p=.01). Serum growth hormone and testosterone were significantly higher at 15P in CR (6.1±1.8 ng/ml, 70.1±19 pmol/L) compared to PL (4.1±1.7 ng/ml, 44.8±16 pmol/L) [(p=.02), (p=.01)]. The enhanced exercise performance resulted in a significantly greater increase in both the growth hormone and testosterone concentrations, indicating an augmented anabolic hormone response to creatine supplementation.Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je utvrditi utjecaj kratkotrajne suplementacije kreatinom na hormonsku reakciju organizma kod vježbi s opterećenjem. 27 treniranih muškaraca nasumično su podijeljeni u grupu koja je uzimala kreatin [CR skupina (n=15), 4×5 g kreatin monohidrata po danu] ili u placebo skupinu [PL grupa (n=12), 4×7.5 g maltodextrina po danu]. Dvostruka anonimna metoda istraživanja bila je korištena pri realizaciji sedmodnevnog suplementacijskog perioda. Nakon perioda suplementacije, provedena su finalna testiranja. Testiranje krvnih uzoraka provedeno je prvog dana eksperimenta neposredno prije suplementacije (1Pre) i nakon eksperimentalnog perioda [na dan finalnih testiranja: prije izvođenja vježbi s opterećenjem (Pre), neposredno nakon izvođenja vježbi s opterećenjem (IP), te 15 (15P) i 30 (30P) minuta nakon izvođenja vježbi s opterećenjem] za mjerenje koncentracije seruma hormona rasta i testosterona. Statistički značajne razlike u broju ponavljanja i veličini ukupnog opterećenja utvrđene su kod CR skupine (7.2±1.3 ponavljanja, 1560±386 kg) u usporedbi s PL skupinom (5.6±2 ponavljanja, 1089±341 kg) kod 5. serije provedenog protokola vježbanja (p=.01). Serumi hormona rasta i testosterona bili su statistički značajno veći u 15P kod CR skupine (6.1±1.8 ng/ml, 70.1±19 pmol/L) u usporedbi s PL skupinom (4.1±1.7 ng/ml, 44.8±16 pmol/L) [(p=.02), (p=.01)]. Bolji rezultati u finalnom testiranju kod CR skupine rezultirali su statistički značajno većom koncentracijom hormona rasta i testosterona u odnosu na PL skupinu, što pokazuje povećanu reakciju anaboličkih hormona na suplementaciju kreatinom

Hybrid building with sustainability elements

LAUREA MAGISTRALEIl termine "costruzione ibrida" appare in vari media o blog architettonici negli ultimi anni. La costruzione ibrida include sia il contesto urbano che l'architettura stessa, che è caratterizzata da un'elevata complessità programmatica. Sembra una versione migliorata di edifici a uso misto per risolvere problemi legati all'uso misto come la scarsità di terra. Tuttavia, molte persone non conoscono il significato di costruzione ibrida, o possono anche sentire che non vi è alcuna differenza tra costruzione ibrida e mista.The term of ‘hybrid building’ appears in various architectural media or blog in recent years. Hybrid building includes both the city context and the architecture itself, which is characterized by a high programmatic complexity. It seems like an improved version of mixed use building to solve problems related to mixed use such as land scarcity. However, many people do not know the meaning of hybrid building, or may even feel that there is no difference between hybrid and mixed use building

MAC-Oriented Programmable Terahertz PHY via Graphene-based Yagi-Uda Antennas

Graphene is enabling a plethora of applications in a wide range of fields due to its unique electrical, mechanical, and optical properties. In the realm of wireless communications, graphene shows great promise for the implementation of miniaturized and tunable antennas in the terahertz band. These unique advantages open the door to new reconfigurable antenna structures which, in turn, enable novel communication protocols at different levels of the stack. This paper explores both aspects by, first, presenting a terahertz Yagi-Uda-like antenna concept that achieves reconfiguration both in frequency and beam direction simultaneously. Then, a programmable antenna controller design is proposed to expose the reconfigurability to the PHY and MAC layers, and several examples of its applicability are given. The performance and cost of the proposed scheme is evaluated through full-wave simulations and comparative analysis, demonstrating reconfigurability at nanosecond granularity with overheads below 0.02 mm$^{2}$ and 0.2 mW.Comment: Accepted for presentation in IEEE WCNC '1

MEMS-tunable dielectric metasurface lens

Varifocal lenses, conventionally implemented by changing the axial distance between multiple optical elements, have a wide range of applications in imaging and optical beam scanning. The use of conventional bulky refractive elements makes these varifocal lenses large, slow, and limits their tunability. Metasurfaces, a new category of lithographically defined diffractive devices, enable thin and lightweight optical elements with precisely engineered phase profiles. Here we demonstrate tunable metasurface doublets, based on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), with more than 60 diopters (about 4%) change in the optical power upon a 1-μm movement of one metasurface, and a scanning frequency that can potentially reach a few kHz. They can also be integrated with a third metasurface to make compact microscopes (~1 mm thick) with a large corrected field of view (~500 μm or 40 degrees) and fast axial scanning for 3D imaging. This paves the way towards MEMS-integrated metasurfaces as a platform for tunable and reconfigurable optics