Application of virtual reality technology improves the functionality of brain networks in individuals experiencing pain

Medical procedures are inherently invasive and carry the risk of inducing pain to the mind and body.Recently,efforts have been made to alleviate the discomfort associated with invasive medical procedures through the use of virtual reality(VR)technology.VR has been demonstrated to be an effective treatment for pain associated with medical procedures,as well as for chronic pain conditions for which no effective treatment has been established.The precise mechanism by which the diversion from reality facilitated by VR contributes to the diminution of pain and anxiety has yet to be elucidated.However,the provision of positive images through VR-based visual stimulation may enhance the functionality of brain networks.The salience network is diminished,while the default mode network is enhanced.Additionally,the medial prefrontal cortex may establish a stronger connection with the default mode network,which could result in a reduction of pain and anxiety.Further research into the potential of VR technology to alleviate pain could lead to a reduction in the number of individuals who overdose on painkillers and contribute to positive change in the medical field.

Modeling and Comprehensive Review of Signaling Storms in 3GPP-Based Mobile Broadband Networks:Causes,Solutions,and Countermeasures

Control signaling is mandatory for the operation and management of all types of communication networks,including the Third Generation Partnership Project(3GPP)mobile broadband networks.However,they consume important and scarce network resources such as bandwidth and processing power.There have been several reports of these control signaling turning into signaling storms halting network operations and causing the respective Telecom companies big financial losses.This paper draws its motivation from such real network disaster incidents attributed to signaling storms.In this paper,we present a thorough survey of the causes,of the signaling storm problems in 3GPP-based mobile broadband networks and discuss in detail their possible solutions and countermeasures.We provide relevant analytical models to help quantify the effect of the potential causes and benefits of their corresponding solutions.Another important contribution of this paper is the comparison of the possible causes and solutions/countermeasures,concerning their effect on several important network aspects such as architecture,additional signaling,fidelity,etc.,in the form of a table.This paper presents an update and an extension of our earlier conference publication.To our knowledge,no similar survey study exists on the subject.

Unlocking the future:Mitochondrial genes and neural networks in predicting ovarian cancer prognosis and immunotherapy response

BACKGROUND Mitochondrial genes are involved in tumor metabolism in ovarian cancer(OC)and affect immune cell infiltration and treatment responses.AIM To predict prognosis and immunotherapy response in patients diagnosed with OC using mitochondrial genes and neural networks.METHODS Prognosis,immunotherapy efficacy,and next-generation sequencing data of patients with OC were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus.Mitochondrial genes were sourced from the MitoCarta3.0 database.The discovery cohort for model construction was created from 70% of the patients,whereas the remaining 30% constituted the validation cohort.Using the expression of mitochondrial genes as the predictor variable and based on neural network algorithm,the overall survival time and immunotherapy efficacy(complete or partial response)of patients were predicted.RESULTS In total,375 patients with OC were included to construct the prognostic model,and 26 patients were included to construct the immune efficacy model.The average area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the prognostic model was 0.7268[95% confidence interval(CI):0.7258-0.7278]in the discovery cohort and 0.6475(95%CI:0.6466-0.6484)in the validation cohort.The average area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the immunotherapy efficacy model was 0.9444(95%CI:0.8333-1.0000)in the discovery cohort and 0.9167(95%CI:0.6667-1.0000)in the validation cohort.CONCLUSION The application of mitochondrial genes and neural networks has the potential to predict prognosis and immunotherapy response in patients with OC,providing valuable insights into personalized treatment strategies.

Pluggable multitask diffractive neural networks based on cascaded metasurfaces

Optical neural networks have significant advantages in terms of power consumption,parallelism,and high computing speed,which has intrigued extensive attention in both academic and engineering communities.It has been considered as one of the powerful tools in promoting the fields of imaging processing and object recognition.However,the existing optical system architecture cannot be reconstructed to the realization of multi-functional artificial intelligence systems simultaneously.To push the development of this issue,we propose the pluggable diffractive neural networks(P-DNN),a general paradigm resorting to the cascaded metasurfaces,which can be applied to recognize various tasks by switching internal plug-ins.As the proof-of-principle,the recognition functions of six types of handwritten digits and six types of fashions are numerical simulated and experimental demonstrated at near-infrared regimes.Encouragingly,the proposed paradigm not only improves the flexibility of the optical neural networks but paves the new route for achieving high-speed,low-power and versatile artificial intelligence systems.

Improved Clustering and Resource Allocation for Ultra-Dense Networks

To reduce the interference among small cells of Ultra-Dense Networks(UDN),an improved Clustering-Assisted Resource Allocation(CARA)scheme is proposed in this paper.The proposed scheme is divided into three steps.First,an Interference-Limited Clustering Algorithm(ILCA)based on interference graph corresponding to the interference relationship between Femtocell Base Stations(FBSs),is proposed to group FBSs into disjoint clusters,in which a pre-threshold is set to constrain the sum of interference in each cluster,and a Cluster Head(CH)is selected for each cluster.Then,CH performs a twostage sub-channel allocation within its associated cluster,where the first stage assigns one sub-channel to each user of the cluster and the second stage assigns a second sub-channel to some users.Finally,a power allocation method is designed to maximize throughput for a given clustering and sub-channel configuration.Simulation results indicate that the proposed scheme distributes FBSs into each cluster more evenly,and significantly improves the system throughput compared with the existing schemes in the same scenario.

Joint User Association and Resource Allocation for Self-Backhaul Ultra-Dense Networks

In order to meet the exponentially increasing demand on mobile data traffic, self-backhaul ultra-dense networks(UDNs) combined with millimeter wave(mm Wave) communications are expected to provide high spatial multiplexing gain and wide bandwidths for multi-gigabit peak data rates. In selfbackhaul UDNs, how to make the radio access rates of small cells match their backhaul rates by user association and how to dynamically allocate bandwidth for the access links and backhaul links to balance two-hop link resources are two key problems on improving the overall throughputs. Based on this, a joint scheme of user association and resource allocation is proposed in self-backhaul ultra-dense networks. Because of the combinatorial and nonconvex features of the original optimization problem, it has been divided into two subproblems. Firstly, to make the radio access rates of small base stations match their backhaul rates and maximize sum access rates per Hz of all small cells, a proportional constraint is introduced, and immune optimization algorithm(IOA) is adopted to optimize the association indicator variables and the boresight angles of between users and base stations. Then, the optimal backhaul and access bandwidths are calculated by differentiating the general expression of overall throughput. Simulation results indicatethat the proposed scheme increases the overall throughputs significantly compared to the traditional minimum-distance based association scheme.

Evolution, resilience and causes of global petroleum gas trade networks: 1995-2020

Based on the HS 4-digit code trade data in UNCOMTRADE from 1995 to 2020, this paper analyzes the characteristics of the evolution of the global PG trade network using the complex network approach and analyzes the changes in its resilience at the overall and country levels, respectively. The results illustrated that:(1) The scale of the global PG trade network tends to expand, and the connection is gradually tightened, experiencing a change from a “supply-oriented” to a “supply-and-demand” pattern, in which the U.S., Russia, Qatar, and Australia have gradually replaced Canada, Japan, and Russia to become the core trade status, while OPEC countries such as Qatar, Algeria, and Kuwait mainly rely on PG exports to occupy the core of the global supply, and the trade status of other countries has been dynamically alternating and evolving.(2) The resilience of the global PG trade network is lower than that of the random network and decreases non-linearly with more disrupted countries. Moreover, the impact of the U.S. is more significant than the rest of countries. Simulations using the exponential random graph model(ERGM) model revealed that national GDP, institutional quality, common border and RTA network are the determinants of PG trade network formation, and the positive impact of the four factors not only varies significantly across regions and stages, but also increases with national network status.

Cross-Layer Framework for Capacity Analysis in Multiuser Ultra-Dense Networks with Cell DTx

Cell discontinuous transmission(Cell DTx)is a key technology to mitigate inter-cell interference(ICI)in ultra-dense networks(UDNs).The aim of this work is to understand the impact of Cell DTx on physical-layer sum rates of SBSs and link-layer quality-of-service(QoS)performance in multiuser UDNs.In this work,we develop a cross-layer framework for capacity analysis in multiuser UDNs with Cell DTx.In particular,we first extend the traditional one-dimensional effective capacity model to a new multidimensional effective capacity model to derive the sum rate and the effective capacity.Moreover,we propose a new iterative bisection search algorithm that is capable of approximating QoS performance.The convergence of this new algorithm to a unique QoS exponent vector is later proved.Finally,we apply this framework to the round-robin and the max-C/I scheduling policies.Simulation results show that our framework is accurate in approximating 1)queue length distribution,2)delay distribution and 3)sum rates under the above two scheduling policies,and further show that with the Cell DTx,systems have approximately 30% higher sum rate and 35% smaller average delay than those in full-buffer scenarios.

Activation Redistribution Based Hybrid Asymmetric Quantization Method of Neural Networks

The demand for adopting neural networks in resource-constrained embedded devices is continuously increasing.Quantization is one of the most promising solutions to reduce computational cost and memory storage on embedded devices.In order to reduce the complexity and overhead of deploying neural networks on Integeronly hardware,most current quantization methods use a symmetric quantization mapping strategy to quantize a floating-point neural network into an integer network.However,although symmetric quantization has the advantage of easier implementation,it is sub-optimal for cases where the range could be skewed and not symmetric.This often comes at the cost of lower accuracy.This paper proposed an activation redistribution-based hybrid asymmetric quantizationmethod for neural networks.The proposedmethod takes data distribution into consideration and can resolve the contradiction between the quantization accuracy and the ease of implementation,balance the trade-off between clipping range and quantization resolution,and thus improve the accuracy of the quantized neural network.The experimental results indicate that the accuracy of the proposed method is 2.02%and 5.52%higher than the traditional symmetric quantization method for classification and detection tasks,respectively.The proposed method paves the way for computationally intensive neural network models to be deployed on devices with limited computing resources.Codes will be available on https://github.com/ycjcy/Hybrid-Asymmetric-Quantization.

Intelligent Fast Cell Association Scheme Based on Deep Q-Learning in Ultra-Dense Cellular Networks

To support dramatically increased traffic loads,communication networks become ultra-dense.Traditional cell association(CA)schemes are timeconsuming,forcing researchers to seek fast schemes.This paper proposes a deep Q-learning based scheme,whose main idea is to train a deep neural network(DNN)to calculate the Q values of all the state-action pairs and the cell holding the maximum Q value is associated.In the training stage,the intelligent agent continuously generates samples through the trial-anderror method to train the DNN until convergence.In the application stage,state vectors of all the users are inputted to the trained DNN to quickly obtain a satisfied CA result of a scenario with the same BS locations and user distribution.Simulations demonstrate that the proposed scheme provides satisfied CA results in a computational time several orders of magnitudes shorter than traditional schemes.Meanwhile,performance metrics,such as capacity and fairness,can be guaranteed.

Mobility-driven user-centric AP clustering in mobile edge computing-based ultra-dense networks

ultra-Dense Network(UDN)has been envisioned as a promising technology to provide high-quality wireless connectivity in dense urban areas,in which the density of Access Points(APs)is increased up to the point where it is comparable with or surpasses the density of active mobile users.In order to mitigate inter-AP interference and improve spectrum efficiency,APs in UDNs are usually clustered into multiple groups to serve different mobile users,respectively.However,as the number of APs increases,the computational capability within an AP group has become the bottleneck of AP clustering.In this paper,we first propose a novel UDN architecture based on Mobile Edge Computing(MEC),in which each MEC server is associated with a user-centric AP cluster to act as a mobile agent.In addition,in the context of MEC-based UDN,we leverage mobility prediction techniques to achieve a dynamic AP clustering scheme,in which the cluster structure can automatically adapt to the dynamic distribution of user traffic in a specific area.Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can highly increase the average user throughput compared with the baseline algorithm using max-SINR user association and equal bandwidth allocation,while it guarantees at the same time low transmission delay.

Feature extraction for machine learning-based intrusion detection in IoT networks

A large number of network security breaches in IoT networks have demonstrated the unreliability of current Network Intrusion Detection Systems(NIDSs).Consequently,network interruptions and loss of sensitive data have occurred,which led to an active research area for improving NIDS technologies.In an analysis of related works,it was observed that most researchers aim to obtain better classification results by using a set of untried combinations of Feature Reduction(FR)and Machine Learning(ML)techniques on NIDS datasets.However,these datasets are different in feature sets,attack types,and network design.Therefore,this paper aims to discover whether these techniques can be generalised across various datasets.Six ML models are utilised:a Deep Feed Forward(DFF),Convolutional Neural Network(CNN),Recurrent Neural Network(RNN),Decision Tree(DT),Logistic Regression(LR),and Naive Bayes(NB).The accuracy of three Feature Extraction(FE)algorithms is detected;Principal Component Analysis(PCA),Auto-encoder(AE),and Linear Discriminant Analysis(LDA),are evaluated using three benchmark datasets:UNSW-NB15,ToN-IoT and CSE-CIC-IDS2018.Although PCA and AE algorithms have been widely used,the determination of their optimal number of extracted dimensions has been overlooked.The results indicate that no clear FE method or ML model can achieve the best scores for all datasets.The optimal number of extracted dimensions has been identified for each dataset,and LDA degrades the performance of the ML models on two datasets.The variance is used to analyse the extracted dimensions of LDA and PCA.Finally,this paper concludes that the choice of datasets significantly alters the performance of the applied techniques.We believe that a universal(benchmark)feature set is needed to facilitate further advancement and progress of research in this field.

Two-Codebook-Based Cooperative Precoding for TDD-CoMP in 5G Ultra-Dense Networks

In ultra-dense networks （UDN）, the local precoding scheme for time-division duplex coordinated multiple point transmission （TDD-CoMP） can have a good performance with no feedback by using reciprocity between uplink and dovallink. However, if channel is time-varying, the channel difference would cause codeword mismatch between transmitter and receiver, which leads to performance degradation. In this paper, a linear interpolation method is proposed for TDD-CoMP system to estimate the uplink channel at the receiver, which would reduce the channel difference caused by time delay and decrease the probability of codeword mismatch between both sides. Moreover, to mitigate severe inter-cell interference and increase the coverage and throughput of celledge users in UDN, a two-codebook scheme is used to strengthen cooperation between base stations （BSs）, which can outperform the global precoding scheme with less overhead. Simulations show that the proposed scheme can significantly improve the link performance compared to the global precoding scheme.

Rao Algorithms-Based Structure Optimization for Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks

The structural optimization of wireless sensor networks is a critical issue because it impacts energy consumption and hence the network’s lifetime.Many studies have been conducted for homogeneous networks,but few have been performed for heterogeneouswireless sensor networks.This paper utilizes Rao algorithms to optimize the structure of heterogeneous wireless sensor networks according to node locations and their initial energies.The proposed algorithms lack algorithm-specific parameters and metaphorical connotations.The proposed algorithms examine the search space based on the relations of the population with the best,worst,and randomly assigned solutions.The proposed algorithms can be evaluated using any routing protocol,however,we have chosen the well-known routing protocols in the literature:Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy(LEACH),Power-Efficient Gathering in Sensor Information Systems(PEAGSIS),Partitioned-based Energy-efficient LEACH(PE-LEACH),and the Power-Efficient Gathering in Sensor Information Systems Neural Network(PEAGSIS-NN)recent routing protocol.We compare our optimized method with the Jaya,the Particle Swarm Optimization-based Energy Efficient Clustering(PSO-EEC)protocol,and the hybrid Harmony Search Algorithm and PSO(HSA-PSO)algorithms.The efficiencies of our proposed algorithms are evaluated by conducting experiments in terms of the network lifetime(first dead node,half dead nodes,and last dead node),energy consumption,packets to cluster head,and packets to the base station.The experimental results were compared with those obtained using the Jaya optimization algorithm.The proposed algorithms exhibited the best performance.The proposed approach successfully prolongs the network lifetime by 71% for the PEAGSIS protocol,51% for the LEACH protocol,10% for the PE-LEACH protocol,and 73% for the PEGSIS-NN protocol;Moreover,it enhances other criteria such as energy conservation,fitness convergence,packets to cluster head,and packets to the base station.

Biodiversity metrics on ecological networks: Demonstrated with animal gastrointestinal microbiomes

Biodiversity has become a terminology familiar to virtually every citizen in modern societies.It is said that ecology studies the economy of nature,and economy studies the ecology of humans;then measuring biodiversity should be similar with measuring national wealth.Indeed,there have been many parallels between ecology and economics,actually beyond analogies.For example,arguably the second most widely used biodiversity metric,Simpson(1949)’s diversity index,is a function of familiar Gini-index in economics.One of the biggest challenges has been the high“diversity”of diversity indexes due to their excessive“speciation”-there are so many indexes,similar to each country’s sovereign currency-leaving confused diversity practitioners in dilemma.In 1973,Hill introduced the concept of“numbers equivalent”,which is based on Renyi entropy and originated in economics,but possibly due to his abstruse interpretation of the concept,his message was not widely received by ecologists until nearly four decades later.What Hill suggested was similar to link the US dollar to gold at the rate of$35 per ounce under the Bretton Woods system.The Hill numbers now are considered most appropriate biodiversity metrics system,unifying Shannon,Simpson and other diversity indexes.Here,we approach to another paradigmatic shift-measuring biodiversity on ecological networks-demonstrated with animal gastrointestinal microbiomes representing four major invertebrate classes and all six vertebrate classes.The network diversity can reveal the diversity of species interactions,which is a necessary step for understanding the spatial and temporal structures and dynamics of biodiversity across environmental gradients.

Falcon Optimization Algorithm-Based Energy Efficient Communication Protocol for Cluster-Based Vehicular Networks

Rapid development in Information Technology(IT)has allowed several novel application regions like large outdoor vehicular networks for Vehicle-to-Vehicle(V2V)transmission.Vehicular networks give a safe and more effective driving experience by presenting time-sensitive and location-aware data.The communication occurs directly between V2V and Base Station(BS)units such as the Road Side Unit(RSU),named as a Vehicle to Infrastructure(V2I).However,the frequent topology alterations in VANETs generate several problems with data transmission as the vehicle velocity differs with time.Therefore,the scheme of an effectual routing protocol for reliable and stable communications is significant.Current research demonstrates that clustering is an intelligent method for effectual routing in a mobile environment.Therefore,this article presents a Falcon Optimization Algorithm-based Energy Efficient Communication Protocol for Cluster-based Routing(FOA-EECPCR)technique in VANETS.The FOA-EECPCR technique intends to group the vehicles and determine the shortest route in the VANET.To accomplish this,the FOA-EECPCR technique initially clusters the vehicles using FOA with fitness functions comprising energy,distance,and trust level.For the routing process,the Sparrow Search Algorithm(SSA)is derived with a fitness function that encompasses two variables,namely,energy and distance.A series of experiments have been conducted to exhibit the enhanced performance of the FOA-EECPCR method.The experimental outcomes demonstrate the enhanced performance of the FOA-EECPCR approach over other current methods.

Multi-Scale-Matching neural networks for thin plate bending problem

Physics-informed neural networks are a useful machine learning method for solving differential equations,but encounter challenges in effectively learning thin boundary layers within singular perturbation problems.To resolve this issue,multi-scale-matching neural networks are proposed to solve the singular perturbation problems.Inspired by matched asymptotic expansions,the solution is decomposed into inner solutions for small scales and outer solutions for large scales,corresponding to boundary layers and outer regions,respectively.Moreover,to conform neural networks,we introduce exponential stretched variables in the boundary layers to avoid semiinfinite region problems.Numerical results for the thin plate problem validate the proposed method.

Robot-Oriented 6G Satellite-UAV Networks: Requirements, Paradigm Shifts, and Case Studies

Networked robots can perceive their surroundings, interact with each other or humans,and make decisions to accomplish specified tasks in remote/hazardous/complex environments. Satelliteunmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) networks can support such robots by providing on-demand communication services. However, under traditional open-loop communication paradigm, the network resources are usually divided into user-wise mostly-independent links,via ignoring the task-level dependency of robot collaboration. Thus, it is imperative to develop a new communication paradigm, taking into account the highlevel content and values behind, to facilitate multirobot operation. Inspired by Wiener’s Cybernetics theory, this article explores a closed-loop communication paradigm for the robot-oriented satellite-UAV network. This paradigm turns to handle group-wise structured links, so as to allocate resources in a taskoriented manner. It could also exploit the mobility of robots to liberate the network from full coverage,enabling new orchestration between network serving and positive mobility control of robots. Moreover,the integration of sensing, communications, computing and control would enlarge the benefit of this new paradigm. We present a case study for joint mobile edge computing(MEC) offloading and mobility control of robots, and finally outline potential challenges and open issues.

Regulatable Orthotropic 3D Hybrid Continuous Carbon Networks for Efficient Bi-Directional Thermal Conduction

Vertically oriented carbon structures constructed from low-dimen-sional carbon materials are ideal frameworks for high-performance thermal inter-face materials(TIMs).However,improving the interfacial heat-transfer efficiency of vertically oriented carbon structures is a challenging task.Herein,an orthotropic three-dimensional(3D)hybrid carbon network(VSCG)is fabricated by depositing vertically aligned carbon nanotubes(VACNTs)on the surface of a horizontally oriented graphene film(HOGF).The interfacial interaction between the VACNTs and HOGF is then optimized through an annealing strategy.After regulating the orientation structure of the VACNTs and filling the VSCG with polydimethylsi-loxane(PDMS),VSCG/PDMS composites with excellent 3D thermal conductive properties are obtained.The highest in-plane and through-plane thermal conduc-tivities of the composites are 113.61 and 24.37 W m^(-1)K^(-1),respectively.The high contact area of HOGF and good compressibility of VACNTs imbue the VSCG/PDMS composite with low thermal resistance.In addition,the interfacial heat-transfer efficiency of VSCG/PDMS composite in the TIM performance was improved by 71.3%compared to that of a state-of-the-art thermal pad.This new structural design can potentially realize high-performance TIMs that meet the need for high thermal conductivity and low contact thermal resistance in interfacial heat-transfer processes.

Correcting Climate Model Sea Surface Temperature Simulations with Generative Adversarial Networks:Climatology,Interannual Variability,and Extremes

Climate models are vital for understanding and projecting global climate change and its associated impacts.However,these models suffer from biases that limit their accuracy in historical simulations and the trustworthiness of future projections.Addressing these challenges requires addressing internal variability,hindering the direct alignment between model simulations and observations,and thwarting conventional supervised learning methods.Here,we employ an unsupervised Cycle-consistent Generative Adversarial Network(CycleGAN),to correct daily Sea Surface Temperature(SST)simulations from the Community Earth System Model 2(CESM2).Our results reveal that the CycleGAN not only corrects climatological biases but also improves the simulation of major dynamic modes including the El Niño-Southern Oscillation(ENSO)and the Indian Ocean Dipole mode,as well as SST extremes.Notably,it substantially corrects climatological SST biases,decreasing the globally averaged Root-Mean-Square Error(RMSE)by 58%.Intriguingly,the CycleGAN effectively addresses the well-known excessive westward bias in ENSO SST anomalies,a common issue in climate models that traditional methods,like quantile mapping,struggle to rectify.Additionally,it substantially improves the simulation of SST extremes,raising the pattern correlation coefficient(PCC)from 0.56 to 0.88 and lowering the RMSE from 0.5 to 0.32.This enhancement is attributed to better representations of interannual,intraseasonal,and synoptic scales variabilities.Our study offers a novel approach to correct global SST simulations and underscores its effectiveness across different time scales and primary dynamical modes.