Sung Park^1,*, Seongeon Park², Mincheol Whang²

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.71, No.2, pp. 3761-3784, 2022, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2022.023738

Abstract Artificial entities, such as virtual agents, have become more pervasive. Their long-term presence among humans requires the virtual agent's ability to express appropriate emotions to elicit the necessary empathy from the users. Affective empathy involves behavioral mimicry, a synchronized co-movement between dyadic pairs. However, the characteristics of such synchrony between humans and virtual agents remain unclear in empathic interactions. Our study evaluates the participant's behavioral synchronization when a virtual agent exhibits an emotional expression congruent with the emotional context through facial expressions, behavioral gestures, and voice. Participants viewed an emotion-eliciting video stimulus (negative or positive) with a virtual agent. The… More >

Prohim Tam¹, Sa Math¹, Ahyoung Lee², Seokhoon Kim^1,3,*

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.71, No.2, pp. 3319-3335, 2022, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2022.023215

Abstract Federated learning (FL) activates distributed on-device computation techniques to model a better algorithm performance with the interaction of local model updates and global model distributions in aggregation averaging processes. However, in large-scale heterogeneous Internet of Things (IoT) cellular networks, massive multi-dimensional model update iterations and resource-constrained computation are challenging aspects to be tackled significantly. This paper introduces the system model of converging software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) to enable device/resource abstractions and provide NFV-enabled edge FL (eFL) aggregation servers for advancing automation and controllability. Multi-agent deep Q-networks (MADQNs) target to enforce a self-learning softwarization, optimize resource allocation… More >

Shahid Yousaf^1,*, Hafiz Mahfooz Ul Haque², Abbas Khalid¹, Muhammad Adnan Hashmi³, Eraj Khan¹

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.71, No.2, pp. 3355-3373, 2022, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2022.023019

Abstract Recent years have witnessed the expeditious evolution of intelligent smart devices and autonomous software technologies with the expanded domains of computing from workplaces to smart computing in everyday routine life activities. This trend has been rapidly advancing towards the new generation of systems where smart devices play vital roles in acting intelligently on behalf of the users. Context-awareness has emerged from the pervasive computing paradigm. Context-aware systems have the ability to acquire contextual information from the surrounding environment autonomously, perform reasoning on it, and then adapt their behaviors accordingly. With the proliferation of context-aware systems and smart sensors, real-time monitoring… More >

Faizan Rasheed¹, Kok-Lim Alvin Yau², Rafidah Md Noor³, Yung-Wey Chong^4,*

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.71, No.2, pp. 2225-2247, 2022, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2022.022952

Abstract This paper investigates the use of multi-agent deep Q-network (MADQN) to address the curse of dimensionality issue occurred in the traditional multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) approach. The proposed MADQN is applied to traffic light controllers at multiple intersections with busy traffic and traffic disruptions, particularly rainfall. MADQN is based on deep Q-network (DQN), which is an integration of the traditional reinforcement learning (RL) and the newly emerging deep learning (DL) approaches. MADQN enables traffic light controllers to learn, exchange knowledge with neighboring agents, and select optimal joint actions in a collaborative manner. A case study based on a real traffic… More >

Nipun Chhabra^*, Manju Bala, Vrajesh Sharma

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.71, No.1, pp. 2019-2035, 2022, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2022.021797

Abstract Cloud computing technology is the culmination of technical advancements in computer networks, hardware and software capabilities that collectively gave rise to computing as a utility. It offers a plethora of utilities to its clients worldwide in a very cost-effective way and this feature is enticing users/companies to migrate their infrastructure to cloud platform. Swayed by its gigantic capacity and easy access clients are uploading replicated data on cloud resulting in an unnecessary crunch of storage in datacenters. Many data compression techniques came to rescue but none could serve the purpose for the capacity as large as a cloud, hence, researches… More >

Nouh Sabri Elmitwally^1,2, Asma Kanwal^3,4, Sagheer Abbas³, Muhammad A. Khan⁵, Muhammad Adnan Khan^6,*, Munir Ahmad³, Saad Alanazi¹

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.70, No.3, pp. 4947-4964, 2022, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2022.021104

Abstract Detection of personality using emotions is a research domain in artificial intelligence. At present, some agents can keep the human’s profile for interaction and adapts themselves according to their preferences. However, the effective method for interaction is to detect the person’s personality by understanding the emotions and context of the subject. The idea behind adding personality in cognitive agents begins an attempt to maximize adaptability on the basis of behavior. In our daily life, humans socially interact with each other by analyzing the emotions and context of interaction from audio or visual input. This paper presents a conceptual personality model… More >

Gulzar Mehmood¹, Muhammad Zahid Khan¹, Muhammad Fayaz², Mohammad Faisal¹, Haseeb Ur Rahman¹, Jeonghwan Gwak^3,4,5,6,*

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.70, No.3, pp. 5929-5948, 2022, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2022.020546

Abstract Due to the advancement in wireless technology and miniaturization, Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs) have gained enormous popularity, having various applications, especially in the healthcare sector. WBANs are intrinsically resource-constrained; therefore, they have specific design and development requirements. One such highly desirable requirement is an energy-efficient and reliable Data Aggregation (DA) mechanism for WBANs. The efficient and reliable DA may ultimately push the network to operate without much human intervention and further extend the network lifetime. The conventional client-server DA paradigm becomes unsuitable and inefficient for WBANs when a large amount of data is generated in the network. Similarly, in… More >

Zhipeng He^1,2, Junqi Xue^1,2, Yanzi Ke^1,2, Ying Luo^1,2,*, Qiming Lu^1,2, Yuehua Xu^1,2, Chaoqun Zhang^1,2,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.3, pp. 591-604, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.017790

Abstract Nowadays, waterborne polyurethanes (WPUs) prepared from renewable resources has attracted more and more attention. However, due to its structure, the prepared films easily swells in water and greatly affects the application range of WPUs. Therefore, solving the problem of water resistance is a way to improve the application range of WPUs. In this study, a series of WPU dispersions were prepared using castor oil as the bio-based polyol. Besides, the thiol-ene photo click reaction was carried out on the WPU films for silane modification. The effect of the silane modification on the chemical structures of the WPU dispersions and the… More > Graphic Abstract

Liqiong Ding¹, Pingsheng Li², Liu He¹, Fengnan Xu¹, Jieqiong Ding^3,*, Binhua Luo^1,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.3, pp. 767-780, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.016903

Abstract The development of contrast agents that can be activated by multiple modes is of great significance for tumor diagnosis. In this study, the lactoferrin (Lf)-conjugated polylactic acid (PLLA) nanobubbles (Lf-PLLA NBs) were used to encapsulate liquid perfluoropentane (PFP) with the double emulsion method, creating PFP loaded (PFP/Lf-PLLA) NBs for the ultrasound/magnetic resonance dual-modality imaging of subcutaneous tumor. The particle diameter and stability of nanobubbles were investigated by photon correlation spectroscopy. The biocompatibility of nanobubbles was preliminarily evaluated by cell proliferation and migration assay, hemolysis rate, and blood biochemistry analysis. A B-mode clinical ultrasound real-time imaging system was used to perform… More >

Fazli Wahid¹, Muhammad Sharif², Shah Fahad³, Amjad Ali⁴, Muhammad Adnan¹, Rafiullah¹, Shah Saud⁵, Subhan Danish^6,*, Muhammad Arif Ali⁶, Niaz Ahmed⁶, Hüseyin Arslan⁷, Doğan Arslan⁸, Murat Erman⁸, Ayman EL Sabagh^8,9,*, Fatemeh Gholizadeh¹⁰, Rahul Datta¹¹

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.91, No.2, pp. 257-278, 2022, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2022.016512

Abstract Phosphorus (P) is a critical nutrient that plays an essential role in improving soil fertility for optimum plant growth and productivity. It is one of the most deficient macro-nutrients in agricultural soils after nitrogen and is considered inadequate for plant growth and production. To P availability in soils, the farmers are applying huge amounts of synthetic P fertilizers that adversely affect the wider environment, groundwater, soil fertility and microbial population. Many beneficial microbes are known to release and supply soluble P for improving growth and yield of a variety of plants in a sustainable manner in P deficient soils. Thus,… More >