Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficient Interconnection Schemes for VLSI and Parallel Computation

Abstract : This thesis is primarily concerned with two problems of interconnecting components in VLSI technologies. In the first case, the goal is to construct efficient interconnection networks for general-purpose parallel computers. The second problem is a more specialized problem in the design of VLSI chips, namely multilayer channel routing In addition, a final part of this thesis provides lower bounds on the area required for VLSI implementations of finite-state machines. This thesis shows that networks based on Leiserson's fat- tree architecture are nearly as good as any network built in a comparable amount of physical space. It shows that these 'universal' networks can efficiently simulate competing networks by means of an appropriate correspondence between network components and efficient algorithms for routing messages on the universal network. In particular, a universal network of area A can simulate competing networks with O(lg cubed A) slowdown (in bit-times), using a very simple randomized routing algorithm and simple network components. Alternatively, a packet routing scheme of Leighton, Maggs, and Rao can be used in conjunction with more sophisticated switching components to achieve O(lg squared A) slowdown. (RRH)
Teaching Children Physical Education: Becoming a Master Teacher

Chapter 1. Successful Teaching Chapter 2. Planning to Maximize Learning Chapter 3. Creating a Positive Learning Environment Chapter 4. Minimizing Off-Task Behavior and Discipline Problems Chapter 5. Getting the Lesson Started Chapter 6. Instructing and Demonstrating Chapter 7. Motivating Children to Practice Chapter 8. Observing and Analyzing Chapter 9. Developing the Content Chapter 10. Providing Feedback Chapter 11. Building Critical-Thinking Skills Chapter 12. Building Positive Feelings Chapter 13. Assessing and Reporting Children's Progress Chapter 14. Continuing to Develop as a Teacher.
Experimental demonstration of net coding gain of 10.1 dB using 12.4 Gb/s block turbo code with 3-bit soft decision

Turbo FEC for 10 Gb/s optical transmission has been experimentally demonstrated, for the first time. Using a newly developed 3-bit soft decision LSI, a record coding gain was achieved with only 24.6% redundancy for an input BER of 1.98/spl times/10/sup -2/.
Exploratory Social Network Analysis with Pajek: Revised and Expanded Edition for Updated Software

This is an extensively revised and expanded third edition of the successful textbook on analysis and visualization of social networks integrating theory, applications, and professional software for performing network analysis. The main structural concepts and their applications in social research are introduced with exercises. Pajek software and data sets are available, so readers can learn network analysis through application and case studies. In the end, readers will have the knowledge, skills, and tools to apply social network analysis across different disciplines. A fundamental redesign of the menu structure and the capability to analyze much larger networks required a new edition. This edition presents several new operations, e.g., community detection, generalized main paths searches, new network indices, advanced visualization approaches, and instructions for installing Pajek under MacOSX. This third edition is up-to-date with Pajek version 5 and it introduces PajekXXL for very large networks and Pajek3XL for huge networks.
Sexual behavior causes activation and functional alterations of mesolimbic systems : neurobiology of motivation and reward.

There is increasing evidence that the various drugs of abuse converge upon common reward pathways in the brain. While it is clear that these circuits are involved in drug-induced reward and reinforcement, less is known about how these systems function when activated by normal motivated behaviors such as sexual behavior. Like drugs of abuse, sexual behavior is a rewarding and reinforcing behavior. Sexual behavior, however, is generally not considered an “addictive” behavior. Thus, understanding how neural circuits are activated by normal motivated behaviors may lead to a better understanding of the pathology of drug addiction. The first set of studies investigated the mechanisms by which sexual behavior activates the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system – a critical component of the neural circuitry regulating motivation and reward. These studies found that both sexual experience and sex-associated environmental cues cause endogenous opioid release and activation of DA producing neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). In addition, a large population of non-dopaminergic neurons was activated by sexual behavior. Therefore, the second set of studies explored the anatomical relationship between these sex-activation neurons and other components of the limbic system. These studies suggest that the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) may contribute to the activation of this cell population. The final set of studies investigated whether repeated endogenous activation of the mesolimbic system causes similar functional changes as repeated administration of drugs of abuse. Indeed, sexually experienced animals displayed a robust sensitization to the locomotor effects of amphetamine. Taken together, these studies suggest that sexual behavior activates the mesolimbic DA pathway and that repeated endogenous activation of this system results in long-term changes in its function.
The Social Place of the Portuguese Punk Scene: an Itinerary of the Social Profiles of its Protagonists

Cet article presente une caracterisation de la scene punk portugaise, entre 1977 et 2014, tout en tenant compte des profils sociaux de ses protagonistes. Il est base sur la proposition sociologique selon laquelle le positionnement social des acteurs sociaux influe sur ce qu’ils font, disent ou sentent. Leur profilage social aidera a comprendre leur role dans la scene musicale. Cette approche a ete jugee fondamentale dans l’interpretation des cultures jeunes ayant emerge dans le contexte d’apres-guerre et la facon dont ils ont repense la culture pop. Dans cet article, nous avons deux objectifs particuliers : d’une part, etablir un portrait des principaux personnages de la scene punk portugaise a travers la definition des profils sociaux de 214 personnes interviewees entre mai 2012 et octobre 2014 ; d’autre part, permettre des comparaisons avec d’autres scenes musicales au Portugal, et/ou avec des scenes punk dans d’autres pays. Ici, nous devons evidemment tenir compte de la condition sociale de ces protagonistes, y compris non seulement leur origine de classe et sa presente affiliation, mais aussi d’autres caracteristiques pertinentes, telles que le sexe et l’âge. Ainsi, cet article va explorer les themes suivants : les roles et les fonctions des sujets au sein de la scene punk ; les relations entre les sexes ; les differents groupes d’âge et le vieillissement ; les localisations des sujets dans le territoire portugais, a la fois en termes d’origine et de residence ; le capital scolaire ; et les groupes socio-professionnels.
On the construction of representations for individuals from descriptions in text

Abstract Subjects read texts describing pairs of individuals sentence by sentence in a self-paced reading time task and then answered questions about the individuals and recalled them. The task is designed to explore how people represent the binding of attributes to individuals. The reading time data show that the construction of representations is organised around what is known about the currently referenced individual. The more that is known the more slowly subjects read. This slowing is not due to articulatory rehearsal. A regression model of reading times describes the partitioning of working memory resources across the semantic structures being processed. The construction processes yield redundant representations consisting of sets of feature values encoding aspects of the information in the text and contributing independently to memory performance. Modelling in terms of feature representations enables prediction of the patterns of error in recall. The reading time and recall error models are interpr.
A ccg-based method for training a semantic role labeler in the absence of explicit syntactic training data

Treebanks are a necessary prerequisite for many NLP tasks, including, but not limited to, semantic role labeling. For many languages, however, treebanks are either nonexistent or too small to be useful. Time-critical applications may require rapid deployment of natural language software for a new critical language—much faster than the development time of a traditional treebank. This dissertation describes a method for generating a treebank and training syntactic and semantic models using only semantic training information—that is, no human-annotated syntactic training data whatsoever. This will greatly increase the speed of development of natural language tools for new critical languages in exchange for a modest drop in overall accuracy. Using Combinatory Categorial Grammar (CCG) in concert with Propbank semantic role annotations allows us to accurately predict lexical categories in combination with a partially hidden Markov model. By training the Berkeley parser on our generated syntactic data, we can achieve SRL performance of 65.5% without using a treebank, as opposed to 74% using the same feature set with gold-standard data.
Hyperopt: a Python library for model selection and hyperparameter optimization

Sequential model-based optimization (also known as Bayesian optimization) is one of the most efficient methods (per function evaluation) of function minimization. This efficiency makes it appropriate for optimizing the hyperparameters of machine learning algorithms that are slow to train. The Hyperopt library provides algorithms and parallelization infrastructure for performing hyperparameter optimization (model selection) in Python. This paper presents an introductory tutorial on the usage of the Hyperopt library, including the description of search spaces, minimization (in serial and parallel), and the analysis of the results collected in the course of minimization. This paper also gives an overview of Hyperopt-Sklearn, a software project that provides automatic algorithm configuration of the Scikit-learn machine learning library. Following Auto-Weka, we take the view that the choice of classifier and even the choice of preprocessing module can be taken together to represent a single large hyperparameter optimization problem. We use Hyperopt to define a search space that encompasses many standard components (e.g. SVM, RF, KNN, PCA, TFIDF) and common patterns of composing them together. We demonstrate, using search algorithms in Hyperopt and standard benchmarking data sets (MNIST, 20-newsgroups, convex shapes), that searching this space is practical and effective. In particular, we improve on best-known scores for the model space for both MNIST and convex shapes. The paper closes with some discussion of ongoing and future work.
Digital Signature Standard (DSS)

Abstract : This standard specifies a suite of algorithms, which can be used to generate a digital signature. Digital signatures are used to detect unauthorized modifications to data and to authenticate the identity of the signatory. In addition, the recipient of signed data can use a digital signature in proving to a third party that the signature was in fact generated by the signatory. This is known as nonrepudiation since the signatory cannot, at a later time, repudiate the signature.
Writing Web Logs in the ESL Classroom: A Study of Student Perceptions and the Technology Acceptance Model

The web log is an exceptionally valuable tool for the teaching of second language writing, particularly written communication skills (Johnson, 2004; Wu, 2005). More and more international educators have applied this easy-to-use technology to classroom instruction and language learning (Campbell, 2003; Johnson, 2004). However, what is largely unknown is Malaysian students’ reaction to writing web logs in English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the perception of writing web logs among Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) HM115 diploma students who took the BEL311 English course in their third semester based on the three Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) variables. Specifically, the study sought to identify whether the two TAM determinants,Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) and Perceived Usefulness (PU), affected the students’ behavioural intention (BI) to use web logs for specific writing tasks. This study employed Davis’s TAM (1989) and its questionnaire-based measurement instrument and three hypotheses were formulated based on the objectives of the study. The pilot test’s result confirmed the reliability of the modified TAM-based questionnaire. The findings showed that students accept writing web logs as a classroom activity since they perceived online journals to be more useful rather than easy to use. ISSN 1823-7797 © 2009 Asian Centre for Research on University Learning and Teaching (ACRULeT), Faculty of Education, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia. This document is a self-archiving copy of a copyrighted publication. The published article can be cited in APA (6th ed.) format as: Mah, B. Y. , & Er, A. N. (2009). Writing Web logs in the ESL classroom: A study of student perceptions and the Technology Acceptance Model. Asian Journal of University Education (ACRULeT), 5(1), 47–70. Retrieved from http://eprints.uitm. edu.my/id/eprint/363
The modeling of resistive interconnects for integrated circuits

Techniques for analyzing the signal transmission properties of long resistive interconnects on integrated circuits are presented. Because accurate measurements of propagation characteristics on chip are difficult to make, RC transmission line theory is used to establish exact performance. The results of various simulations are compared to this theoretical performance. Guidance is provided for selecting the number of elements needed to accurately simulate performance under various conditions.
Methods for Blind Estimation of Speckle Variance in SAR Images: Simulation Results and Verification for Real-Life Data

Blind estimation of noise characteristics (BENC), such as noise type, its statistics and spectrum, has become an actual practical task for various image processing applications (Vozel et al., 2009). There are several reasons for this. First, noise is one of the main factors degrading and determining the quality of images of different types: grayscale and color optical (Liu et al., 2008; Foi et al., 2007; Plataniotis&Venetsanopoulos, 2000), component images in certain subbands of hyperspectral remote sensing data (Aiazzi et al., 2006), radar and ultrasound medical images (Lin et al., 2010; Oliver&Quegan, 2004), etc. Second, information on noise characteristics is valuable and widely exploited in most of stages of image processing. For example, it is used in edge detection for threshold setting (Davies, 2000), image filtering (Touzi, 2002; Lee et al., 2009) including denoising techniques based on orthogonal transforms (Mallat, 1998; Sen‐ dur&Selesnick, 2002; Egiazarian et al., 1999), image reconstruction (Katsaggelos, 1991), lossy compression of noisy images (Bekhtin, 2011), non-reference assessment of image visual quality (Choi et al., 2009), etc. Third, although there can be initial assumptions on noise type and a range of variations of its statistical parameters, these parameters can be quite different even for a given imaging system depending upon conditions of its operation. The requirements to information accuracy on noise parameters are rather strict, e.g., variance of pure additive or pure multiplicative noise has to be known or pre-estimated with a relative error not larger than ±20% (Abramov et al., 2004). Thus, it is often desirable to estimate noise characteristics for a given image.
A First Course in Continuum Mechanics: Bibliography

A concise account of various classic theories of fluids and solids, this book is for courses in continuum mechanics for graduate students and advanced undergraduates. Thoroughly class-tested in courses at Stanford University and the University of Warwick, it is suitable for both applied mathematicians and engineers. The only prerequisites are an introductory undergraduate knowledge of basic linear algebra and differential equations. Unlike most existing works at this level, this book covers both isothermal and thermal theories. The theories are derived in a unified manner from the fundamental balance laws of continuum mechanics. Intended both for classroom use and for self-study, each chapter contains a wealth of exercises, with fully worked solutions to odd-numbered questions. A complete solutions manual is available to instructors upon request. Short bibliographies appear at the end of each chapter, pointing to material which underpins or expands upon the material discussed.
Higher order and adaptive Discontinuous Galerkin methods for 3d aerodynamic flows

Discontinuous Galerkin (DG) methods allow high-order flow solutions on unstructured as well as locally refined meshes by increasing the polynomial degree and using curved instead of straight-sided elements. In this talk, we give an extension of the adjoint consistency analysis of DG discretizations of the compressible Euler and Navier-Stokes equations. While in previous publications [1, 3, 7] only one specific discretization based on normal wall boundary fluxes and an associated discretization of aerodynamic force coefficients (like drag and lift coefficients) was known to be adjoint consistent, we provide (cf. [5]) a discretization of the force coefficients which results in an adjoint consistent discretization for any discretization of wall boundary fluxes provided by the baseline DG discretization is adjoint consistent on interior faces (like e.g. the SIPG or BR2 scheme). For an adjoint consistent discretization the discrete adjoint problem is a consistent discretization of the continuous adjoint problem. The discrete adjoint solution can be used in adjoint-based error estimation providing an estimate of the discretization error in the computed force coefficient. Furthermore, the error estimate can be decomposed in a sum of local indicators consisting of the primal residuals multiplied by the discrete adjoint solution. Adaptive mesh refinement using these so-called adjoint-based indicators targets at the accurate and efficient approximation of the force coefficient under consideration. Note, that an extension of this approach to the treatment of multiple force coefficients is given in [2]. In contrast to that, adaptive mesh refinement using indicators which include the primal residuals but are independent of any target quantity targets at the resolution of the overall flow field. Furthermore, it turned out that these so-called residual-based indicators are particularly well suited for the resolution and tracking of vortical systems (cf. [4]).
From Concord to Lexicon: Development and test of a corpus-based lexical tutor

Hands-on concordancing is often described as the future of computer assisted language learning, but first there are two problems. Its benefits have been hard to validate empirically, and it is conceived for advanced learners while the majority receiving formal language instruction are intermediate. This study describes the adaptation of concordance technology to lexical expansion, the development of a suitable interface (a concordance-based lexical tutor), and its testing with intermediate university students in Oman. The tutor exposes learners to 2400 words over two terms, the basic high-frequency words of English. The learners are lexicographers using the concordance to make a dictionary, deciding which words to include (metacognition) and searching for clear example sentences (multicontextual exposure and negotiated input). Results from use of the tutor are strong. Used as directed it replicates features of incidental learning from natural exposure but in a much compressed time frame.
Heuristic algorithms for the optimization of total weighted completion time for asynchronous transmission in a packet data transmission system

In this paper, the minimization of total weighted completion time (total cost) for asynchronous transmission in distributed systems is discussed. Special attention has been paid to the problem of message scheduling on the sender side. Messages to be sent form a queue, therefore the order in which they are to be sent has to be set. Scheduling algorithms can be chosen to optimize scheduling criteria such as total completion time or total weighted completion time. The message scheduling problem becomes complicated considerably when the transmitted data stream between the sender and the receiver is formed into packets. The WSPT (Weighted Shortest Processing Time) scheduling rule, which orders messages according to non-decreasing length and weight ratios has been proven to be non-optimal. It has been demonstrated that the problem of minimizing the total weighted completion time is NP-hard. Here, we propose heuristic algorithms for scheduling messages and experimentally evaluate the performance of these scheduling algorithms.
Learning Spanish with Laura: the effects of a pedagogical agent

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an animated pedagogical agent on Spanish vocabulary learning. Furthermore, the study examined learners’ reactions and attitudes towards the presence of the pedagogical agent in the web-based environments. A total of 47 university students enrolled in two fourth-semester Spanish classes participated in this study. The data were collected through a demographic information questionnaire, a vocabulary pre-test and two vocabulary post-tests (an immediate post-test and a delayed post-test), and a learning experience questionnaire. Analysis of the quantitative data did not yield significant differences between the control and the experimental groups with respect to vocabulary learning outcomes. Analysis of the qualitative data revealed learners’ preferences with respect to features embedded in the web-based language learning environments.
FDTD-based optical simulations methodology for CMOS image sensors pixels architecture and process optimization

This paper presents a new FDTD-based optical simulation model dedicated to describe the optical performances of CMOS image sensors taking into account diffraction effects. Following market trend and industrialization constraints, CMOS image sensors must be easily embedded into even smaller packages, which are now equipped with auto-focus and short-term coming zoom system. Due to miniaturization, the ray-tracing models used to evaluate pixels optical performances are not accurate anymore to describe the light propagation inside the sensor, because of diffraction effects. Thus we adopt a more fundamental description to take into account these diffraction effects: we chose to use Maxwell-Boltzmann based modeling to compute the propagation of light, and to use a software with an FDTD-based (Finite Difference Time Domain) engine to solve this propagation. We present in this article the complete methodology of this modeling: on one hand incoherent plane waves are propagated to approximate a product-use diffuse-like source, on the other hand we use periodic conditions to limit the size of the simulated model and both memory and computation time. After having presented the correlation of the model with measurements we will illustrate its use in the case of the optimization of a 1.75&mgr;m pixel.