The emergence and widespread use of low-orbit satellite communication systems has become one of the triggers for the development of the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) technology. The main goal of this integration was to increase the level of vehicle safety not only in cities and their suburbs but especially in remote areas of the country. Despite its effectiveness, satellite IoV remains susceptible to attacks on the radio channel. One of the effective ways to counter such attacks is to use wireless transmission systems with the Frequency-Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) method. The effectiveness of FHSS systems largely depends on the operation of the pseudorandom code generator (PRCG), which is used to calculate the new operating frequency code (number). This generator must have the following properties. Firstly, it must have high cryptographic resistance to guessing a new operating frequency number by an attacker. Secondly, since this generator will be located on board the spacecraft, it must have high fault tolerance. The conducted studies have shown that substitution–permutation network “Kuznechik” (SPNK) meets these requirements. To ensure the property of resilience to failures and malfunctions, it is proposed to implement SPNK in codes of redundant residual class systems in polynomials (RCSP) using the isomorphism of the Chinese Remainder Theorem in polynomials. RCSP codes are an effective means of eliminating computation errors caused by failures and malfunctions. The aim of this work is to increase the fault tolerance of PRCG based on SPNK transformation by using the developed error correction algorithm, which has lower hardware and time costs for implementation compared to the known ones. The comparative analysis showed that the developed algorithm for error correction in RCSP codes provides higher fault tolerance of PRCG compared with other redundancy methods. Unlike the “2 out of 3” method of duplication, the developed algorithm ensures the operational state of PRCG not only when the first failure occurs but also during the subsequent second one. In the event of a third failure, RCSP is able to correct 73% of errors in the informational residues of code combination, while the “2 out of 3” duplication method makes it possible to fend off the consequences of only the first failure.

This study examines how major European online news outlets visually represent Syrian and Ukrainian refugees, offering a comparative analysis of the visual narratives that accompany coverage of two recent mass-displacement events. While previous research has documented textual double standards in media framing, far less attention has been paid to the role of images in shaping public perception. Photographs, often assumed to be denotative and objective, in fact carry powerful connotative meanings that can reinforce or contest prevailing discourses. The dataset consists of 200 lead images (100 per case) published between August and December 2015 for Syrian refugees and between February and July 2022 for Ukrainian refugees, drawn from leading online outlets in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. Using MAXQDA, images were qualitatively coded under three themes: (1) the representation gap (actual vs. illustrative images, scene composition, and identifying information); (2) framing and composition (photographic perspective, subject composition, and the presence and role of non- refugees); and (3) embodied displacement (expressions, bodily positions, spatial environments, and surrounding objects). Qualitative frequency tables and code- clouds support comparative interpretation. The findings reveal sharply divergent visual narratives. Syrian refugees are predominantly portrayed through distant, chaotic, and depersonalized imagery-anonymous masses, men-only groups, scenes of struggle, barbed wire, and survival objects-resulting in a dehumanizing and threatening visual frame. Ukrainian refugees, by contrast, are more often depicted as identifiable individuals or families, in orderly environments, with supportive officials, personal belongings, toys, and pets-producing a narrative of familiarity, proximity, and legitimacy.These visual asymmetries demonstrate that photographs do not merely illustrate news but actively construct hierarchies of deservingness. The study underlines the need for closer scholarly attention to visual media, particularly in an era where images are central to shaping public understanding of forced migration.

Sensory stimuli are encoded by the neuronal firing patterns they evoke in the brain. This neural code becomes less correlated as information ascends through the visual system. In the primary visual cortex (V1), a spatial frequency (SF) tuning shift from coarse-to-fine features occurs alongside a reduction in correlations between stimulus representations. Our previous study suggested that this decorrelation is facilitated by coarse-to-fine processing in V1. However, there is evidence that coarse-to-fine processing emerges in the upstream dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN), and it is unknown whether correlations between stimulus representations also decrease in this brain region. Therefore, the extent to which decorrelation is inherited from dLGN, is driven by local circuit dynamics in V1, or is the result of synergy between these areas is unknown. In this study, we compared extracellular neuronal activity recorded from dLGN and V1 of mice (of either sex) in response to sinusoidal gratings of different SFs. Despite also exhibiting coarse-to-fine processing, dLGN did not exhibit decorrelation in contrast to V1, suggesting that decorrelation emerges following a cortical transformation. In V1, many units exhibited a delayed shift to suppression that interacted with coarse-to-fine shifts on a time course coinciding with the decorrelation. Our results are therefore consistent with decorrelation emerging in V1 from a synergy between response properties in both dLGN and V1. These results demonstrate that geniculocortical dynamics enable discrimination between rich visual details and highlight the importance of cross-regional synergy to sensory processing.

This study analyzed fundamental frequency (f0) data from 717 German speakers, collected via the Plapper smartphone app, to investigate phonetic variation as a function of imagined addressee authority. Participants justified crossing a street during a red light, addressing either an imagined friend (male or female) or an imagined male police officer. Speakers consistently produced higher f0 when addressing the police officer, regardless of sex or age. The findings support Bell's Audience Design model, which posits that speakers adapt their speech to gain approval, and Ohala's frequency code theory, which associates elevated f0 with submissiveness in interactions involving authorities.

ABSTRACTPitch is a prosodic element of speech that speakers dynamically manipulate to convey intention and meaning, making it a powerful cue for spoken language. Neural encoding of fundamental frequency, the primary acoustic cue for pitch, has been shown to deteriorate with age and can occur as early as midlife without overt hearing loss. Here, we systematically examined neural coding of fundamental frequency in middle‐aged and young adult listeners using syllabic and naturalistic speech stimuli. We then examined the extent to which neural processing of pitch accents, phonological units of prosody that convey differences in word prominence in naturalistic speech, differed based on age group. Our findings revealed that middle‐aged adults exhibited reduced neural coding of fundamental frequency to syllabic and naturalistic stimuli compared with younger adults. Middle‐aged adults also demonstrated less distinct neural processing of pitch accents in naturalistic speech, as reflected by greater classification uncertainty in a neural network model classifying pitch accent categories. This finding suggests less specialized cortical processing of suprasegmental prosodic features in the auditory cortex in middle age. Reduced neural coding of fundamental frequency was associated with greater classification uncertainty for pitch accents, linking early auditory deficits to higher order prosodic processing challenges.

Beam-steered optical wireless communication (OWC) enables high-capacity indoor links where real-time user localization is crucial. We propose and experimentally demonstrate an all-optical method for ultrafast localization operating at 50 MHz in wavelength-controlled beam-steered OWC. The scheme exploits the mapping between user position and the wavelength of retro-reflected signals. Instantaneous wavelength identification is achieved through all-optical frequency coding and dispersive Fourier transform (DFT), allowing user positions to be derived from the time interval between two optical pulses without high-speed detection or digital processing. A theoretical model confirms a linear relation between instantaneous frequency and pulse interval, validated by numerical and experimental results. By shifting Fourier analysis entirely into the optical domain, the method offers a simple, low-cost, and energy-efficient solution for real-time and ultrafast user-specific localization in beam-steered OWC systems.

ABSTRACTThe pulvinar is a posterior thalamic nucleus, with a heterogeneous anatomo‐functional organization. It is divided into four parts, including the medial pulvinar, which is densely connected with primary unisensory and multisensory cortical regions, and subcortical structures, including the superior colliculus. Based on this connectivity, the medial pulvinar may play an important role in sensory processing and multisensory integration. However, its contribution to multisensory integration has rarely been directly investigated. To fill this knowledge gap, two macaque monkeys were trained on a fixation task, during which auditory, visual, and audiovisual stimuli were presented. We characterize local field potentials of the medial pulvinar associated with these stimuli. In the temporal domain, we describe an early and a late period showing multisensory integration, both dominated by sub‐additive processes (the audiovisual response is inferior to the sum of the unisensory responses). In the frequency domain, multisensory integration, mostly sub‐additive, is predominant in the lower frequencies (90% of recorded signals in 4.5–8.5 Hz and 96% in 8.5–20 Hz). Prevalence largely decreases in high frequencies (54% in 35–60 Hz, 37% in 60–120 Hz). This suggests that the medial pulvinar is a multisensory hub, integrating visual and auditory information in different frequency bands and contributing to cortico‐pulvino‐cortical multisensory computational loops.

Atypical sensory processing, particularly in the auditory domain, is one of the most common and quality-of-life affecting symptoms seen in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is a leading inherited cause of ASD and a majority of FXS individuals present with auditory processing alterations. While auditory hypersensitivity is a common phenotype observed in FXS and Fmr1 knockout (KO) rodent models, it is important to consider other auditory coding impairments that could contribute to sound processing difficulties and disrupted language comprehension in FXS. We have shown previously that a Fmr1 KO rat model of FXS exhibits heightened sound sensitivity that coincided with abnormal perceptual integration of stimulus bandwidth, indicative of altered spectral processing. Frequency discrimination is a fundamental aspect of sound encoding that is important for a range of auditory processes, such as source segregation and speech comprehension, and disrupted frequency coding could thus contribute to a range of auditory issues in FXS and ASD. Here we explicitly characterized spectral processing deficits in male Fmr1 KO rats using an operant conditioning tone discrimination assay and in vivo electrophysiological recordings from the auditory cortex and inferior colliculus. We found that Fmr1 KO rats exhibited poorer frequency resolution, which corresponded with neuronal hyperactivity and broader frequency tuning in auditory cortical but not collicular neurons. Using an experimentally informed population model, we show that these cortical physiological differences can recapitulate the observed behavior discrimination deficits, with decoder performance being tightly linked to differences in cortical tuning width and signal-to-noise ratios. Together, these findings indicate that cortical hyperexcitability in Fmr1 KO rats may act to preserve signal-to-noise ratios and signal detection threshold at the expense of sound sensitivity and fine feature discrimination, highlighting a potential mechanistic locus for a range of auditory behavioral phenotypes in FXS.

Atypical sensory processing, particularly in the auditory domain, is one of the most common and quality-of-life affecting symptoms seen in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is a leading inherited cause of ASD and a majority of FXS individuals present with auditory processing alterations. While auditory hypersensitivity is a common phenotype observed in FXS and Fmr1 knockout (KO) rodent models, it is important to consider other auditory coding impairments that could contribute to sound processing difficulties and disrupted language comprehension in FXS. We have shown previously that a Fmr1 KO rat model of FXS exhibits heightened sound sensitivity that coincided with abnormal perceptual integration of stimulus bandwidth, indicative of altered spectral processing. Frequency discrimination is a fundamental aspect of sound encoding that is important for a range of auditory processes, such as source segregation and speech comprehension, and disrupted frequency coding could thus contribute to a range of auditory issues in FXS and ASD. Here we explicitly characterized spectral processing deficits in male Fmr1 KO rats using an operant conditioning tone discrimination assay and in vivo electrophysiological recordings from the auditory cortex and inferior colliculus. We found that Fmr1 KO rats exhibited poorer frequency resolution, which corresponded with neuronal hyperactivity and broader frequency tuning in auditory cortical but not collicular neurons. Using an experimentally informed population model, we show that these cortical physiological differences can recapitulate the observed behavior discrimination deficits, with decoder performance being tightly linked to differences in cortical tuning width and signal-to-noise ratios. Together, these findings indicate that cortical hyperexcitability in Fmr1 KO rats may act to preserve signal-to-noise ratios and signal detection threshold at the expense of sound sensitivity and fine feature discrimination, highlighting a potential mechanistic locus for a range of auditory behavioral phenotypes in FXS.

Cochlear implant (CI) users struggle with music perception. Generally, they have poorer pitch discrimination and timbre identification than peers with normal hearing, which reduces their overall music appreciation and quality of life. This study's primary aim was to characterize how the increased difficulty of comparing pitch changes across musical instruments affects CI users and their peers with no known hearing loss. The motivation is to better understand the challenges that CI users face with polyphonic music listening. The primary hypothesis was that CI users would be more affected by instrument switching than those with no known hearing loss. The rationale was that poorer pitch and timbre perception through a CI hinders the disassociation between pitch and timbre changes needed for this demanding task. Pitch discrimination was measured for piano and tenor saxophone including conditions with pitch comparisons across instruments. Adult participants included 15 CI users and 15 peers with no known hearing loss. Pitch discrimination was measured for 4 note ranges centered on A2 (110 Hz), A3 (220 Hz), A4 (440 Hz), and A5 (880 Hz). The effect of instrument switching was quantified as the change in discrimination thresholds with and without instrument switching. Analysis of variance and Spearman's rank correlation were used to test group differences and relational outcomes, respectively. Although CI users had worse pitch discrimination, the additional difficulty of instrument switching did not significantly differ between groups. Discrimination thresholds in both groups were about two times worse with instrument switching than without. Further analyses, however, revealed that CI users were biased toward ranking tenor saxophone higher in pitch compared with piano, whereas those with no known hearing loss were not so biased. In addition, CI users were significantly more affected by instrument switching for the A5 note range. The magnitude of the effect of instrument switching on pitch resolution was similar for CI users and their peers with no known hearing loss. However, CI users were biased toward ranking tenor saxophone as higher in pitch and were significantly more affected by instrument switching for pitches near A5. These findings might reflect poorer temporal coding of fundamental frequency by CIs.

In the current era, there is increasing interest in data security, especially in cloud computing. Homomorphic Encryption (HE) supported by Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology offers a promising solution in this field. Homomorphic encryption ensures that computations are performed on encrypted data without decryption, thus ensuring privacy. However, the integration of AI algorithms and text mining in the cloud environment is still a challenging topic. The study aims to develop a framework for partial homomorphic encryption combined with a deep learning algorithm for text mining in the cloud environment. The aim of the proposed approach is to evaluate the trade-offs between security and computational performance through deep learning to ensure the highest accuracy.The proposed method uses frequency coding and combines it with the developed deep learning algorithm, which is based on the dynamic change of the weights accompanying the neural network. The text mining model is integrated by multiplying the encrypted frequency by the factor derived from the weight in the neural network iterations. The model was trained on data in two standard datasets and the model was tested afterwards. The computational overheads were evaluated as the text size before and after encryption, the use of computing resources, and the amount of noise generated. Using HE allowed for successful text mining on encrypted data, with minimal impact on accuracy. The ciphertext size was 3.3x larger than plaintext, with increased computational overhead. The computational resource utilization was balanced in an acceptable manner for cloud storage, with noise growth not exceeding 31% while accuracy remained at 98%. In this study, the feasibility of using homomorphic encryption on texts supported by deep learning technology in a cloud environment was concluded. This provides a solution for computational operations on data while preserving privacy. The framework provides a balance between security and computational efficiency and is important for applications that require high levels of security, despite some challenges that may be solved in the future by machine learning and working on larger texts.

Public deliberations engage a diverse group of stakeholders to discuss and deliberate on issues that are value-based or contentious. Evaluating the quality of deliberations is critical because outcomes can inform public policy decisions. Quality evaluations often include a qualitative analysis of verbatim transcripts of deliberation sessions to determine if deliberation goals are met, but the analytic methods that are often used are often not well developed. The purpose of this report is to describe a quality evaluation of a public deliberation on the acceptability of minor self-consent for biomedical HIV prevention trials that used enhanced qualitative analysis. The analysis included a directed content analysis using an established framework of deliberation principles, frequency code counts displayed on distribution tables, and an inductive content analysis to describe the nature of the remarks coded to each principle. The evaluation confirmed the overall high quality of the deliberation but also revealed that quality would have been enhanced by strategies that better encouraged deliberants to (a) challenge opinions of others, (b) consider a societal perspective in forming their views, (c) consistently provide reasons for stated opinions, and (d) apply information provided by experts in their arguments. The results of the quality evaluation can be used to inform protocol refinement and facilitator training for future deliberations.

While the field of sociophonetics generally views social meanings of linguistic features as indexical and socially constructed, prosodic features have long been argued to have supposedly natural, iconic, universal associations, according to “biological codes,” for example, the frequency code that links high versus low pitch with small versus large body size, female versus male gender (via sexual dimorphism), and hence, affective meanings like uncertainty versus confidence. This study looks at affective meanings of two features of New Zealand English associated with opposing pitch extremes: Uptalk with high pitch and creaky voice with low. In a matched-guise experiment, listeners of different ages were asked to rate short speech samples from young women containing uptalk and creaky voice on a series of affective meaning scales. Results showed that while uptalk was rated more negatively overall, ratings largely aligned with predicted iconic associations of pitch for each scale. However, there were differences by listener age, especially for creak. We argue these results show that the availability of iconic associations of pitch depends on social factors such as the listeners’ beliefs and experience, such as group differences related to age, which affect the seeming naturalness of a given iconic link.

Chronic sustained hypoxia (CSH) is known to induce functional and structural changes in the respiratory system. The diaphragm, as the main inspiratory muscle of mammals, is particularly important in the neuromotor regulation of respiration. Diaphragm electromyography (dEMG) records the sum of motor unit action potentials (MUAP) and provides information regarding motor unit recruitment and frequency coding during muscle contraction. We aimed to assess changes in dEMG activity following CSH. Herein, eight male Wistar rats (2-3 months) were subjected to CSH (10±0.5% O2) for 10 successive days. Invivo dEMG recording was employed to assess changes in the diaphragm electrical activity. Filtered and rectified dEMGs were used for further analyses. Findings showed that CSH for 10 consecutive days significantly changed the pattern of dEMG signals. The slope of the rising phase of RMS-enveloped dEMG bursts was much steeper in CSH rats compared to normoxic control rats (rise time: 373 vs. 286ms; P=0.005). Burst frequency significantly decreased following CSH (59 vs. 42bursts/min; P=0.0001), which was associated with a significant increase in burst amplitude (P=0.039) and inter-burst duration (0.65 vs. 0.88s; P=0.041). Power spectral density analyses showed that the mean frequency (293 vs. 266Hz; P=0.033) and high-frequency to low-frequency power ratio (P=0.009) of dEMG signals significantly declined in CSH rats. Notably, the regularity of frequency and amplitude of dEMG signals did not change significantly following CSH.

Atypical sensory processing, particularly in the auditory domain, is one of the most common and quality-of-life affecting symptoms seen in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is the leading inherited cause of ASD and a majority of FXS individuals present with auditory processing alterations. While auditory hypersensitivity is a common phenotype observed in FXS and Fmr1 KO rodent models, it is important to consider other auditory coding impairments that could contribute to sound processing difficulties and disrupted language comprehension in FXS. We have shown previously that a Fmr1 knockout (KO) rat model of FXS exhibits heightened sound sensitivity that coincided with abnormal perceptual integration of sound bandwidth, indicative of altered spectral processing. Frequency discrimination is a fundamental aspect of sound encoding that is important for a range of auditory processes, such as source segregation and speech comprehension, and disrupted frequency coding could thus contribute to a range of auditory issues in FXS and ASD. Here we explicitly characterized spectral processing deficits in male Fmr1 KO rats using an operant conditioning tone discrimination assay and in vivo electrophysiology recordings from the auditory cortex and inferior colliculus. We found that Fmr1 KO rats exhibited poorer frequency resolution, which corresponded with neuronal hyperactivity and broader frequency tuning in auditory cortical but not collicular neurons. Using an experimentally informed population model, we show that these cortical physiological differences can recapitulate the observed behavior discrimination deficits, with decoder performance being tightly linked to differences in cortical tuning width and signal-to-noise ratios. These findings suggest that cortical hyperexcitability may account for a range of auditory behavioral phenotypes in FXS, providing a potential locus for development of novel biomarkers and treatment strategies that could extend to other forms of ASD.

Objective: Many treatment engagement challenges are documented for adolescents with ADHD. Across contexts, helping professionals (i.e., therapists, prescribers, educators, coaches) might benefit from an engagement strategy toolbox to facilitate work with adolescents with ADHD and their families. Method: The current study describes the development and psychometric testing of the ADHD Engagement Process Code (AEPC), a measure that operationalizes engagement strategies in the context of a blended behavioral/motivational interviewing treatment for adolescent ADHD (Supporting Teens’ Autonomy Daily; STAND). The AEPC also operationalizes in-session parent and adolescent engagement-related behaviors. Behavior counts and global codes were coded for 840 audio-recorded STAND sessions delivered by 21 therapists to 121 adolescents. Subsets of tapes were double coded using the AEPC’s parent, adolescent, and therapist coding systems to assess kappa for line-by-line verbalizations and intraclass correlations for session-level behavior counts and global scores. Construct validity was assessed. We explored low frequency and low variability codes and examined correlations between codes. Results: AEPC codes possessed good to excellent inter-rater reliability and strong discriminant validity. Three low frequency codes and one low variability global were identified indicating opportunities for AEPC refinement. Conclusions: The AEPC is publicly available (https://osf.io/kshfy/) and offers a library of adolescent-specific codes for those interested in measuring provider, parent, or adolescent engagement behaviors in relevant populations or contexts.

Abstract The use of recurrent waveforms in over‐the‐horizon radar (OTHR) necessitates techniques for ambiguity resolution and manipulation. This paper provides a number of techniques for manipulating the shape of radar ambiguity functions. A new and simple characterisation of the radar ambiguity function is introduced in terms of twisted convolution. It is shown that the ambiguity function of any waveform can be transformed by any desired area preserving linear transformation of the delay‐Doppler plane. Furthermore, given the desired delay‐Doppler transformation, the corresponding waveform transformation can be explicitly constructed through the factorisation of matrices. Among other applications of this theory, it is shown that the usual OTHR phase and frequency coding techniques used for range‐folded spread Doppler clutter mitigation, which induce an approximate Doppler shearing of delay‐Doppler plane, can be replaced by chirp modulating the recurrent waveform. These non‐recurrent chirped waveforms induce an exact Doppler shearing and lead to simpler and more robust signal processing of the returns.

Bioinspired sensory systems based on spike neural networks have received considerable attention in resolving high energy consumption and limited bandwidth in current sensory systems. To efficiently produce spike signals upon exposure to external stimuli, compact neuron devices are required for signal detection and their encoding into spikes in a single device. Herein, it is demonstrated that Mott oscillative spike neurons can integrate sensing and ceaseless spike generation in a compact form, which emulates the process of evoking photothermal sensing in the features of biological photothermal nociceptors. Interestingly, frequency‐tunable and repetitive spikes are generated above the threshold value (Pth = 84 mW cm−2) as a characteristic of “threshold” in leaky‐integrate‐and‐fire (LIF) neurons; the neuron devices successfully mimic a crucial feature of biological thermal nociceptors, including modulation of frequency coding and startup latency depending on the intensity of photothermal stimuli. Furthermore, Mott spike neurons are self‐adapted after sensitization upon exposure to high‐intensity electromagnetic radiation, which can replicate allodynia and hyperalgesia in a biological sensory system. Thus, this study presents a unique approach to capturing and encoding environmental source data into spikes, enabling efficient sensing of environmental sources for the application of adaptive sensory systems.

Range Ambiguous Clutter Suppression for Forward-Looking Airborne Radar Based on Frequency Coding and Phase Waveforms Modulation in Slow-Time

Abstract The primary objective of this study is to develop and validate a method for estimating Link Margin and Doppler Shift to enhance the performance of the Ground Sensor Terminal (GST) for nanosatellite communication systems. The Link Margin estimation considers key factors such as Antenna Gain and losses, Atmospheric Effect, System Noise Temperature (Tsys), Margin (M), and Received Signal Strength (Pr). The methodology includes calculating the uplink budget using both the EB/No and SNR methods, with parameters extracted from the AMSAT IARU Link Model. Additionally, Doppler Shift is analysed as the change in frequency of the signal due to the relative motion between the satellite and the ground station. Mitigation strategies, including frequency management, adaptive modulation and coding, predictive tracking algorithms, and real-time feedback control systems, were explored as effective means to counteract the Doppler effect’s influence on signal integrity. The results indicate that for a satellite positioned at an altitude of 400 km, with a frequency of 145.825 MHz, the maximum Doppler shift at 0 degrees elevation is observed to be 4 kHz. Communication can be established with a link margin of 11.3 dB, starting from an elevation of 0 degrees, using the EB/No method, significantly improving the reliability and efficiency of data transmission in nanosatellite missions.