Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neural-Network Lexical Translation for Cross-lingual IR from Text and Speech

We propose a neural network model to estimate word translation probabilities for Cross-Lingual Information Retrieval (CLIR). The model estimates better probabilities for word translations than automatic word alignments alone, and generalizes to unseen source-target word pairs. We further improve the lexical neural translation model (and subsequently CLIR), by incorporating source word context, and by encoding the character sequences of input source words to generate translations of out-of-vocabulary words. To be effective, neural network models typically need training on large amounts of data labeled directly on the final task, in this case relevance to queries. In contrast, our approach only requires parallel data to train the translation model, and uses an unsupervised model to compute CLIR relevance scores. We report results on the retrieval of text and speech documents from three morphologically complex languages with limited training data resources (Swahili, Tagalog, and Somali) and short English queries. Despite training on only about 2M words of parallel training data for each language, we obtain neural network translation models that are very effective for this task. We also obtain further improvements using (i) a modified relevance model, which uses the probability of occurrence of a translation of each query term in the source document, and (ii) confusion networks (instead of 1-best output) that encode multiple transcription alternatives in the output of an Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) system. We achieve overall MAP relative improvements of up to 24% on Swahili, 50% on Tagalog, and 39% on Somali over the baseline probabilistic model, and larger improvements over monolingual retrieval from machine translation output.
Electronic Outages: What Broke, Who Broke It, and How to Track It

As electronic books and electronic journals have become more prevalent, so too do the number of electronic resources outages related to those resources. This paper, distilled from a presentation delivered at the 2015 American Library Association Midwinter Meeting, describes the implementation of a new tracking system for electronic resources outages at the University of Michigan (UM). It elaborates on the decisions that went into building the system and the insights gleaned from analyzing a year’s worth of outages. It is hoped that such data might better inform decisions related to electronic resources at UM, and that its collection might inspire similar data-driving tracking elsewhere.
A Congestion-Aware Routing Algorithms Based on Traffic Priority in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor network allow the network manager to measure the observed events in a short radio range and give them an appropriate response. In many applications of wireless sensor network, due to the high volume of traffic, probability of congestion and packet loss increases. Congestion in sensor networks has a direct effect on energy efficiency and quality of service applications. Congestion may cause a buffer overflow, longer queuing time and higher packet loss. Packet loss not only reduces the reliability and quality of service application but also wastes energy. In this paper, a scheme for controlling congestion in wireless sensor network is proposed. The aim of the proposed method is to reduce congestion by considering the priority of data. In the proposed algorithm, according to the data priority, the packets will be classified. According to type of packet, traffic is redirected to control congestion in the network. Finally, the proposed algorithm is simulated and the result shows that the proposed algorithm improves the number of packet loss, energy consumption and average buffer size rather than the similar algorithm.
Towards a big data reference architecture

Technologies and promises connected to ‘big data’ got a lot of attention lately. Leveraging emerging ‘big data’ sources extends requirements of traditional data management due to the large volume, velocity, variety and veracity of this data. At the same time, it promises to extract value from previously largely unused sources and to use insights from this data to gain a competitive advantage. To gain this value, organizations need to consider new architectures for their data management systems and new technologies to implement these architectures. In this master’s thesis I identify additional requirements that result from these new characteristics of data, design a reference architecture combining several data management components to tackle these requirements and finally discuss current technologies, which can be used to implement the reference architecture. The design of the reference architecture takes an evolutionary approach, building from traditional enterprise data warehouse architecture and integrating additional components aimed at handling these new requirements. Implementing these components involves technologies like the Apache Hadoop ecosystem and so-called ‘NoSQL’ databases. A verification of the reference architecture finally proves it correct and relevant to practice. The proposed reference architecture and a survey of the current state of art in ‘big data’ technologies guides designers in the creation of systems, which create new value from existing, but also previously under-used data. They provide decision makers with entirely new insights from data to base decisions on. These insights can lead to enhancements in companies’ productivity and competitiveness, support innovation and even create entirely new business models.
Removal of residual catalyst from palm oil-based biodiesel using new ionic liquids analogous

In recent years, the productivity of machine tools has been significantly improved by using computer-based CAD/CAM systems for Computer Numerical Control (CNC). Various types of CAM software in the market that provide tool path programming and can be applied for different types of the machining process such as drilling, milling, and turning. However, sometimes the default tool path generated in the CAD/CAM system is not the optimal tool path which produces longer distance and increase the machining time. In this paper, we present cutting tools movement by Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) method in generation of shortest tool path. For observation of the performance of both methods, comparisons with conventional method have been carried out. The shortest path of drilling tool path adapts Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP) in determining the distance during machining. The simulation result shows that ACO and GA based tool path optimization is useful to find a lower distance of tool path generation for holes drilling process.
Microworlds for Learning Object-Oriented Programming: Considerations from Research to Practice

Object-Oriented paradigm is a common paradigm for introductory programming courses. However, many teachers find that transitioning to teaching this paradigm is a difficult task. To overcome this complexity, many experienced teachers use microworlds to give beginner students an intuitive and rapid understanding of fundamental abstract concepts of Object-Oriented Programming, leading to a more effective learning. Microworlds have thus, become known to be engaging and facilitating complex concepts understanding, however, we know little on the process by which microworlds can be effective for learning, and how they motivate beginners. In this article, we attempt to identify the design principles of microworlds that offer support structures for providing engaging and meaningful learning activities that facilitate programming learning. We will explore individually each design principle, while focusing on its relation to learning and its relevance for learning Object-Oriented Programming. We finally, present PrOgO, a novel programming microworld, we designed on the basis of existing microworlds.
The impact of automation on professional catalogers

The introduction of the bibliographic utilities in the 1970s produced far-reaching changes in cataloging departments by allowing the bulk of the material to be processed more quickly and cost effectively by nonprofessionals. In turn, that change caused professionals' duties to shift to handling the more difficult items and ignited a body of literature that discussed those catalogers' future roles. This paper tracks the dislocations brought about by the utilities for professional catalogers and tests the foresight of the forecasters by analyzing job advertisements for catalogers from 1970 to 1989
Using Comparable Corpora to Augment Statistical Machine Translation Models in Low Resource Settings

Previously, statistical machine translation (SMT) models have been estimated from parallel corpora, or pairs of translated sentences. In this thesis, we directly incorporate comparable corpora into the estimation of end-to-end SMT models. In contrast to parallel corpora, comparable corpora are pairs of monolingual corpora that have some cross-lingual similarities, for example topic or publication date, but that do not necessarily contain any direct translations. Comparable corpora are more readily available in large quantities than parallel corpora, which require significant human effort to compile. We use comparable corpora to estimate machine translation model parameters and show that doing so improves performance in settings where a limited amount of parallel data is available for training. The major contributions of this thesis are the following: ‚ We release ‘language packs’ for 151 human languages, which include bilingual dictionaries, comparable corpora of Wikipedia document pairs, comparable corpora of time-stamped news text that we harvested from the web, and, for
Changes: The Past, Present, and Future of the Nearby Dwarf Galaxy NGC 55

Spectra that cover wavelengths from 0.6 to 1.1 μm are used to examine the behavior of emission and absorption features in a contiguous 22 × 300 arcsec2 region centered on the nearby dwarf galaxy NGC 55. This area includes the two largest star-forming complexes in the galaxy, as well as other star-forming structures in the little-explored northwest part of the disk. Based on the relative strengths of various emission features measured over spatial scales of many tens of parsecs, it is concluded that the ionization states and sulphur abundances in most of the star-forming regions near the center of NGC 55 are similar. A large star-forming region is identified in the northwest part of the disk at a projected distance of ∼1 kpc from the center of the galaxy that has distinct ionization properties. In addition to tracing areas of present-day star formation, the spectra are also used to identify fossil star-forming regions by mapping the depth of the near-infrared Ca triplet. One such area is identified near the intersection of the major and minor axes. There is a corresponding concentration of bright red stars in archival [3.6] and [4.5] images that are part of a mass concentration that is structurally distinct from the surrounding disk. It is suggested that the area near the intersection of the major and minor axes in NGC 55 is a proto-nucleus. The spectra of bright unresolved sources that are blended stellar asterisms, compact H ii regions, and star clusters are also discussed. The spectra of some of the H ii regions contain Ca triplet absorption lines, signaling a concentration of stars in the resolution element that span many millions of years. Six of the unresolved sources have spectroscopic characteristics that are indicative of C stars embedded in intermediate-age clusters, and these are likely compact star clusters that are analogous to those in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The peculiar properties of NGC 55 have been well documented in the literature, and it is argued that these may indicate that NGC 55 is transforming into a dwarf lenticular galaxy.
Data Analysis for Precision 21 cm Cosmology

The redshifted 21 cm line is an emerging tool in cosmology, in principle permitting three-dimensional surveys of our universe that reach unprecedentedly large volumes, previously inaccessible length scales, and hitherto unexplored epochs of our cosmic timeline. Large radio telescopes have been constructed for this purpose, and in recent years there has been considerable progress in transforming 21 cm cosmology from a field of considerable theoretical promise to one of observational reality. Increasingly, practitioners in the field are coming to the realization that the success of observational 21 cm cosmology will hinge on software algorithms and analysis pipelines just as much as it does on careful hardware design and telescope construction. This review provides a pedagogical introduction to state-of-the-art ideas in 21 cm data analysis, covering a wide variety of steps in a typical analysis pipeline, from calibration to foreground subtraction to map making to power spectrum estimation to parameter estimation.
Cloud G074.11+00.11: a stellar cluster in formation

Context. We present molecular line and dust continuum observations of a Planck-detected cold cloud, G074.11+00.11. The cloud consists of a system of curved filaments and a central star-forming clump. The clump is associated with several infrared sources and H2O maser emission. Aims. We aim to determine the mass distribution and gas dynamics within the clump to investigate if the filamentary structure seen around the clump repeats itself on a smaller scale, and to estimate the fractions of mass contained in dense cores and filaments. The velocity distribution of pristine dense gas can be used to investigate the global dynamical state of the clump, the role of filamentary inflows, filament fragmentation, and core accretion. Methods. We used molecular line and continuum observations from single dish observatories and interferometric facilities to study the kinematics of the region. Results. The molecular line observations show that the central clump may have formed as a result of a large-scale filament collision. The central clump contains three compact cores. Assuming a distance of 2.3 kpc, based on Gaia observations and a three-dimensional extinction method of background stars, the mass of the central clump exceeds 700 M⊙, which is roughly ~25% of the total mass of the cloud. Our virial analysis suggests that the central clump and all identified substructures are collapsing. We find no evidence for small-scale filaments associated with the cores. Conclusions. Our observations indicate that the clump is fragmented into three cores with masses in the range [10, 50] M⊙ and that all three are collapsing. The presence of an H2O maser emission suggests active star formation. However, the CO lines show only weak signs of outflows. We suggest that the region is young and any processes leading to star formation have just recently begun.
An Optimization-Based Cooperative Path-Following Framework for Multiple Robotic Vehicles

This article addresses the design of an optimization-based cooperative path-following control law for multiple robotic vehicles that optimally balances the transient tradeoff between coordination and path-following errors. To this end, we formulate a more general multiagent framework where each agent is associated with a continuous-time dynamical model, which governs the evolution of its state, and an output equation that is a function of both the state of the agent and a coordination vector. According to a given network topology, each agent can access its state and coordination vector, as well as the coordination vectors of the neighboring agents. In this setup, the goal is to design a distributed control law that steers the output signals to the origin, while simultaneously driving the coordination vectors of the agents of the network to consensus. To solve this, we propose a model predictive control scheme that builds on a pre-existing auxiliary consensus control law to design a performance index that combines the output regulation objective with the consensus objective. Convergence guarantees under which one can solve this coordinated output regulation problem are provided. Numerical simulations display the effectiveness of the proposed scheme applied to a cooperative path following the control problem of a network of 3-D nonholonomic robotic vehicles.
Capacity of Linear Private Information Retrieval from Coded, Colluding, and Adversarial Servers.

In this work, we prove the capacity of MDS coded, linear private information retrieval (PIR) in the presence of colluding servers, as well as the capacity of symmetric, linear PIR with colluding, adversarial, and nonresponsive servers. This positively settles the capacity conjectures stated by Freij-Hollanti et al. and Tajeddine et al., in the case of linear PIR schemes. It is also shown that, further restricting to the practical case of strongly-linear PIR schemes with deterministic linear interference cancellation, defined in this paper, the so-called star product scheme proposed by Freij-Hollanti et al. is optimal and induces no capacity loss. This observation enables to prove the capacity of strongly-linear PIR schemes for any number of files.
An information-theoretic treatment of quantum dichotomies

Given two pairs of quantum states, we want to decide if there exists a quantum channel that transforms one pair into the other. The theory of quantum statistical comparison and quantum relative majorization provides necessary and sufficient conditions for such a transformation to exist, but such conditions are typically difficult to check in practice. Here, by building upon work by Keiji Matsumoto, we relax the problem by allowing for small errors in one of the transformations. In this way, a simple sufficient condition can be formulated in terms of one-shot relative entropies of the two pairs. In the asymptotic setting where we consider sequences of state pairs, under some mild convergence conditions, this implies that the quantum relative entropy is the only relevant quantity deciding when a pairwise state transformation is possible. More precisely, if the relative entropy of the initial state pair is strictly larger compared to the relative entropy of the target state pair, then a transformation with exponentially vanishing error is possible. On the other hand, if the relative entropy of the target state is strictly larger, then any such transformation will have an error converging exponentially to one. As an immediate consequence, we show that the rate at which pairs of states can be transformed into each other is given by the ratio of their relative entropies. We discuss applications to the resource theories of athermality and coherence, where our results imply an exponential strong converse for general state interconversion.
High-sensitivity maps of molecular ions in L1544

Context. The deuterium fraction in low-mass prestellar cores is a good diagnostic indicator of the initial phases of star formation, and is also a fundamental quantity to infer the ionisation degree in these objects. Aims. With the analysis of multiple transitions of N2H+, N2D+, HC18O+, and DCO+ we are able to determine the molecular column density maps and the deuterium fraction in N2H+ and HCO+ toward the prototypical prestellar core L1544. This is the preliminary step to derive the ionisation degree in the source. Methods. We used a non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) radiative transfer code combined with the molecular abundances derived from a chemical model to infer the excitation conditions of all the observed transitions. This allowed us to derive reliable maps of the column density of each molecule. The ratio between the column density of a deuterated species and its non-deuterated counterpart gives the sought-after deuteration level. Results. The non-LTE analysis confirms that, for the molecules analysed, higher-J transitions are characterised by excitation temperatures that are ≈1–2 K lower than those of the lower-J transitions. The chemical model that provides the best fit to the observational data predicts the depletion of N2H+ and to a lesser extent of N2D+ in the innermost region. The peak values for the deuterium fraction that we find are D/HN2H+ = 0.26−0.14+0.15 and D/HHCO+=0.035−0.012+0.015, in good agreement with previous estimates in the source.
Inverse Source Problems in an Inhomogeneous Medium with a Single Far-Field Pattern

This paper concerns time-harmonic inverse source problems with a single far-field pattern in two dimensions, where the source term is compactly supported in an a priori given inhomogeneous background medium. For convex-polygonal source terms, we prove that the source support together with the zeroth and first order derivatives of the source function at corner points can be uniquely determined. Further, we prove that an admissible set of source functions (including harmonic functions) having a convex-polygonal support can be uniquely identified by a single far-field pattern. A class of radiating sources is characterized and the extension of the radiated field across a corner point is proven impossible. The corner scattering theory leads to a data-driven inversion scheme for imaging an arbitrarily convex-polygonal source support.
Non-diffusive angular momentum transport in rotating $z$ -pinches

The stability of conducting Taylor–Couette flows under the presence of toroidal magnetic background fields is considered. For strong enough magnetic amplitudes such magnetohydrodynamic flows are unstable against non-axisymmetric perturbations which may also transport angular momentum. In accordance with the often used diffusion approximation, one expects the angular momentum transport to be vanishing for rigid rotation. In the sense of a non-diffusive $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6EC}$ effect, however, even for rigidly rotating $z$ -pinches, an axisymmetric angular momentum flux appears which is directed outward (inward) for large (small) magnetic Mach numbers. The internal rotation in a magnetized rotating tank can thus never be uniform. Those particular rotation laws are used to estimate the value of the instability-induced eddy viscosity for which the non-diffusive $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6EC}$ effect and the diffusive shear-induced transport compensate each other. The results provide the Shakura & Sunyaev viscosity ansatz leading to numerical values linearly growing with the applied magnetic field.
Practical trapped-ion protocols for universal qudit-based quantum computing

The notion of universal quantum computation can be generalized to multi-level qudits, which offer advantages in resource usage and algorithmic efficiencies. Trapped ions, which are pristine and well-controlled quantum systems, offer an ideal platform to develop qudit-based quantum information processing. Previous work has not fully explored the practicality of implementing trapped-ion qudits accounting for known experimental error sources. Here, we describe a universal set of protocols for state preparation, single-qudit gates, a new generalization of the M\o{}lmer-S\o{}rensen gate for two-qudit gates, and a measurement scheme which utilizes shelving to a meta-stable state. We numerically simulate known sources of error from previous trapped ion experiments, and show that there are no fundamental limitations to achieving fidelities above \(99\%\) for three-level qudits encoded in \(^{137}\mathrm{Ba}^+\) ions. Our methods are extensible to higher-dimensional qudits, and our measurement and single-qudit gate protocols can achieve \(99\%\) fidelities for five-level qudits. We identify avenues to further decrease errors in future work. Our results suggest that three-level trapped ion qudits will be a useful technology for quantum information processing.