Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Proofs of Data Residency: Checking whether Your Cloud Files Have Been Relocated

While cloud storage services offer manifold benefits such as cost-effectiveness or elasticity, there also exist various security and privacy concerns. Among such concerns, we pay our primary attention to data residency -- a notion that requires outsourced data to be retrievable in its entirety from local drives of a storage server in-question. We formulate such notion under a security model called Proofs of Data Residency (PoDR). can be employed to check whether the data are replicated across different storage servers, or combined with storage server geolocation to "locate" the data in the cloud. We make key observations that the data residency checking protocol should exclude all server-side computation and that each challenge should ask for no more than a single atomic fetching operation. We illustrate challenges and subtleties in protocol design by showing potential attacks to naive constructions. Next, we present a secure PoDR scheme structured as a timed challenge-response protocol. Two implementation variants of the proposed solution, namely NVeri and EVeri, describe an interesting use-case of trusted computing, in particular the use of Intel SGX, in cryptographic timed challenge-response protocols whereby having the verifier co-locating with the prover offers security enhancement. Finally, we conduct extensive experiments to exhibit potential attacks to insecure constructions and validate the performance as well as the security of our solution.
Emergency Identification and Analysis with EAIMS

Social media platforms are now a key source of information for a large segment of the public. As such, these platforms have a great potential as a means to provide real-time information to emergency management agencies. Moreover, during an emergency, these agencies are very interested in social media as a means to find public-driven response efforts, as well as to track how their handling of that emergency is being perceived. However, there is currently a lack advanced tools designed for monitoring social media during emergencies. The Emergency Analysis Identification and Management System (EAIMS) is a prototype service that aims to fill this technology gap by providing richer analytic and exploration tools than current solutions. In particular, EAIMS provides real-time detection of emergency events, related information finding, information access and credibility analysis tools for use over social media during emergencies.
Tooling the lexicon acquisition process for large-scale KBMT

Large-scale lexical knowledge acquisition is one of the most time critical steps in developing a knowledge-based machine translation system. In particular, developing the syntactic lexicon for the target language can be an unwieldy task, as on-line knowledge assets are likely to be more scarce than for the source language. This paper addresses this problem within the KANT machine translation system and describes how we structure the KA process to address this problem. This was done by first determining the nature of the desired process and then developing tools to implement that process. The tools themselves and the ways in which the helped us to realize our design goals are described. We conclude that, while the problem of lexical acquisition can be formidable, it can be overcome with proper foresight and tool design. <<ETX>>
Perspectives on User Experience for a Nation-wide Senior Telehealth Program

Prior evidence shows that senior people accept technology and enjoy self-monitoring. Home telehealth support increases their confidence and sense of security. The use of communication technologies plays an important role avoiding isolation and loneliness. This paper presents a qualitative study of 7 seniors, 4 nurses, 2 physicians and the program manager of a nation-wide senior telehealth program. The program targets the follow-up of senior people aged over 70 years old with about 24.000 participants. In order to minimize social isolation and promote healthy behaviours, nurses contact seniors through periodical phone-calls, applying a comprehensive geriatric assessment to evaluate their physical, mental and social wellbeing. Our findings show and compare the perspectives from the several program stakeholders, evaluating their interest in the adoption of a complementary web channel with an integrated personal health record. We present user experience concerns and directions that derive from the interviews' outcomes of our study to design senior telehealth multi-channel platforms.
Inter‐Vendor Variability of Left Ventricular Volumes and Strains Determined by Three‐Dimensional Speckle Tracking Echocardiography

Inter‐vendor discordance in three‐dimensional speckle‐tracking echocardiography (3DS) remains uncharacterized. We aimed to examine inter‐vendor discordance of left ventricular (LV) volumes, and functional parameters and their reproducibilities between two commercially available 3DS systems.
Assessment of climate change for extreme precipitation indices: A case study from the central United States

Five extreme precipitation indicators were calculated on an annual basis for 1890 through 2013 and analysed to determine spatial patterns and temporal trends in the frequency and magnitude of observed extreme precipitation events in Kansas located in the central United States. Indicators were selected from the list of the World Meteorological Organization–Commission for Climatology (WMO–CCL) and the Research Programme on Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR). The indicators included the number of days with precipitation greater than or equal to 10 mm/day (R10), maximum number of consecutive dry days (CDD; days with precipitation lower that 1 mm), maximum 5‐day precipitation total (R5D), and simple daily intensity index (SDII) which is the annual precipitation total divided by number of days with precipitation greater than or equal to 1 mm, and the fraction of annual total precipitation due to events exceeding the 95th percentile (R95T) based on the period 1961–1990. Positive trends in the results were found for a majority of stations for R10, R5D, SDII, and R95T. Consecutive dry days was the only index that had a negative trend at a majority of stations. Spatial pattern analysis indicates greater changes in frequencies and magnitudes for eastern Kansas. Results from this study highlight observed climate shifts in precipitation patterns with a tendency towards greater and more frequent extreme precipitation in eastern Kansas and a tendency towards drier conditions in western Kansas. These hydroclimatic adjustments can produce costly impacts in areas that include flood management, hydraulic structures, water availability throughout the year, agricultural production, ecosystems, and human health.
Mixed Reservoir Wetting in Unconventional Reservoirs and Interpretation of Porosity/Resistivity Cross Plots, Derived From Triple-Combo Log Data

The URTeC Technical Program Committee accepted this presentation on the basis of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). The contents of this paper have not been reviewed by URTeC and URTeC does not warrant the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information herein. All information is the responsibility of, and, is subject to corrections by the author(s). Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this paper does so at their own risk. The information herein does not necessarily reflect any position of URTeC. Any reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of URTeC is prohibited.
Power Output Prediction From Jump Height and Body Mass Does Not Appropriately Categorize or Rank Athletes

Abstract Ache-Dias, J, Dal Pupo, J, Gheller, RG, Külkamp, W, and Moro, ARP. Power output prediction from jump height and body mass does not appropriately categorize or rank athletes. J Strength Cond Res 30(3): 818–824, 2016—The purposes of this study were (a) to verify the agreement of categorization and ranks based on the actual power output measured by a force plate (PPact) and the estimated power output (PPest) from jump height and body mass (BM), and (b) to verify whether the ratio standard is adequate to scale the PPact for BM. The countermovement jumps of 309 male athletes were analyzed. The athletes were first categorized into tertiles (superior, intermediate, and inferior) according to PPact and PPest. After that the athletes were ranked (highest to lowest power output) according to PPact and PPest. The PPest equation explained 81% of PPact variance (standard error of estimate = 277.4 W). The PPest (3,757.1 ± 579.8 W) displayed similar mean values compared with PPact (3,757.1 ± 642.3 W). However, the agreement between the categories generated by PPact and PPest was only moderate (k = 0.6; p < 0.01), and in the intermediate tertile, the categorization differs 38.8%. The agreement between the ranks analyzed from a Bland-Altman plot shows bias zero, but a wide limits of agreement (81 ranks; 26.2%). For the PPact scaling, the ratio standard may be considered as an adequate method for removing the BM effect, considering the lack of correlation between the scaled PPact (PPact/BM) and BM, and also the confirmation of Tanner's special circumstance. In conclusion, our findings indicate that the athlete's power output was not appropriately categorized or ranked when using PPest. Furthermore, the use of the scaled PPact is recommended to fairly compare athletes with different BMs.
Opioidergic changes in the pineal gland and hypothalamus in cluster headache: A ligand PET study

Using PET with the opioidergic ligand [11C]diprenorphine, the authors demonstrate decreased tracer binding in the pineal gland of cluster headache patients vs healthy volunteers. Opioid receptor availability in the hypothalamus and cingulate cortex depended on the duration of the headache disorder. Therefore, the pathophysiology of cluster headache may relate to opioidergic dysfunction in circuitries generating the biologic clock.
Opportunities and Challenges in Computing Fresh Groundwater Discharge to Continental Coastlines: A Multimodel Comparison for the United States Gulf and Atlantic Coasts

The fresh component of submarine groundwater discharge (fresh SGD) transports nutrient and contaminant loads from land to sea. Fresh SGD fluxes are poorly known but depend on geology, topography, climate, and land use. Here we assess two general approaches for quantifying the magnitude of fresh SGD over regional to continental scales—water budgets (lumped parameter models) and groundwater flow models—focusing on the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts as a large‐scale case study. Estimates of fresh SGD fluxes from groundwater flow models are more variable than estimates from water budgets, and both are often less than field‐based estimates. Both approaches predict the volume of fresh SGD within approximately 50% of 12.3 km3/year, in line with previous estimates, and differences are largely driven by hydrographic data inputs. The simplified water budget approach, while computationally cheap, cannot resolve flow paths or continuous flux distributions and may neglect groundwater flow from deep aquifers or distal recharge zones. Conversely, three‐dimensional groundwater flow models can resolve flow paths and fresh SGD contributions from heterogeneous aquifer systems but are computationally expensive and require more parameterization. Ultimately, multiple models and integrated field data are needed to improve our estimates of fresh SGD fluxes over a wide range of scales.
A New Pricing Function for Power Control Game in Wireless Data Networks

This paper presents a new pricing function for noncooperative power control game in a single cell CDMA data network. Considering a utility function for each terminal, the purpose of power control in wireless data networks is to maximize network utility. In the proposed game, the pricing function is a linear function of the terminal's signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR). We first prove that the new game is a supermodular game and then we show the strategy space of the new game is such that it is possible to reach better equilibrium point compared to pricing function based on terminal's power. Simulation results show that the game with the proposed pricing function can improve the utility and power consumption of the terminals at equilibrium.
Selecting good corners for structure and motion recovery using a time-of-flight camera

In the robotics and computer vision communities, localization and mapping of an unknown environment is a well studied problem. To tackle this problem in real-time using a single camera, state-of-the-art Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) or Structure from Motion (SfM) algorithms can be used. To create the model of the unknown environment, the camera moves and adds to the map from point to point, and assumes that these detected points are unique 3D corners. However, the scene usually contains false 3D corners, lying at e.g. occlusion boundaries. Inserting these points into the map may lead to SLAM failure or to less accurate estimations in SfM. In this work, a corner selection scheme is proposed that exploits the amplitude and depth signals of a Time-of- Flight (ToF) camera. The selection scheme detects false 3D corners based on a 3D cornerness measure. We then prove that the rejection of these corners increases the accuracy with a simulated SfM example and show the results of using our selection scheme with the ToF camera sequences.
Unified Theory of Source Coding: Part I -- Two Terminal Problems

Since the publication of Shannon's theory of one terminal source coding, a number of interesting extensions have been derived by researchers such as Slepian-Wolf, Wyner, Ahlswede-K\"{o}rner, Wyner-Ziv and Berger-Yeung. Specifically, the achievable rate or rate-distortion region has been described by a first order information-theoretic functional of the source statistics in each of the above cases. At the same time several problems have also remained unsolved. Notable two terminal examples include the joint distortion problem, where both sources are reconstructed under a combined distortion criterion, as well as the partial side information problem, where one source is reconstructed under a distortion criterion using information about the other (side information) available at a certain rate (partially). In this paper we solve both of these open problems. Specifically, we give an infinite order description of the achievable rate-distortion region in each case. In our analysis we set the above problems in a general framework and formulate a unified methodology that solves not only the problems at hand but any two terminal problem with noncooperative encoding. The key to such unification is held by a fundamental source coding principle which we derive by extending the typicality arguments of Shannon and Wyner-Ziv. Finally, we demonstrate the expansive scope of our technique by re-deriving known coding theorems. We shall observe that our infinite order descriptions simplify to the expected first order in the known special cases.
Abstract Models for Dialogue Protocols: A Preliminary Report

In this report, we examine a variety of dialogue protocols, taking inspiration from two elds: natural language dialogue modelling and multiagent systems. In communicative interaction, one can identify dierent features that may increase the complexity of the dialogue structure. This motivates a hierarchy of abstract models for protocols that takes as a starting point protocols based on deterministic nite automata. From there, we proceed by looking at particular examples that justify either an enrichment or a restriction of the initial model.
Should edentulous patients be constrained to removable complete dentures? The use of dental implants to improve the quality of life for edentulous patients.

BACKGROUND Nowadays, there is some speculation among dental educators that the need for complete dentures will significantly decrease in the future and that training in their provision should be removed from the dental curriculum. OBJECTIVE To sensitise the reader to the functional shortcomings of complete denture therapy in the edentulous patient and present restorative options including implants to improve edentulous quality of life in these patients. METHODS Information retrieval followed a systematic approach using PubMed. English articles published from 1964 to 2008, in which the masticatory performance of patients with implant-supported dentures was assessed by objective methods and compared with performance with conventional dentures, were included. RESULTS National epidemiological survey data suggested that the adult population in need of one or two complete dentures will increase from 35.4 million adults in 2000 to 37.9 million adults in 2020. Clinical studies have showed that the ratings of general satisfaction were significantly better in the patients treated with implant overdentures post-delivery compared with the complete denture users. In addition, the implant group gave significantly higher ratings on comfort, stability and ability to chew. Furthermore, patients who received mandibular implant overdentures had significantly fewer oral health-related quality of life problems than did the conventional group. CONCLUSION Implant-supported dentures including either complete overdentures or a hybrid prosthesis significantly improve the quality of life for edentulous patients compared with conventional removable complete dentures. Therefore, the contemporary dental practitioner should consider other options as well as conventional removable complete dentures to restore edentulous patients.
Learning Rates for Classification with Gaussian Kernels

This letter aims at refined error analysis for binary classification using support vector machine (SVM) with gaussian kernel and convex loss. Our first result shows that for some loss functions, such as the truncated quadratic loss and quadratic loss, SVM with gaussian kernel can reach the almost optimal learning rate provided the regression function is smooth. Our second result shows that for a large number of loss functions, under some Tsybakov noise assumption, if the regression function is infinitely smooth, then SVM with gaussian kernel can achieve the learning rate of order , where is the number of samples.
Using computational and mechanical models to study animal locomotion.

Recent advances in computational methods have made realistic large-scale simulations of animal locomotion possible. This has resulted in numerous mathematical and computational studies of animal movement through fluids and over substrates with the purpose of better understanding organisms' performance and improving the design of vehicles moving through air and water and on land. This work has also motivated the development of improved numerical methods and modeling techniques for animal locomotion that is characterized by the interactions of fluids, substrates, and structures. Despite the large body of recent work in this area, the application of mathematical and numerical methods to improve our understanding of organisms in the context of their environment and physiology has remained relatively unexplored. Nature has evolved a wide variety of fascinating mechanisms of locomotion that exploit the properties of complex materials and fluids, but only recently are the mathematical, computational, and robotic tools available to rigorously compare the relative advantages and disadvantages of different methods of locomotion in variable environments. Similarly, advances in computational physiology have only recently allowed investigators to explore how changes at the molecular, cellular, and tissue levels might lead to changes in performance at the organismal level. In this article, we highlight recent examples of how computational, mathematical, and experimental tools can be combined to ultimately answer the questions posed in one of the grand challenges in organismal biology: "Integrating living and physical systems. "
MAP: Mutation Arranger for Defining Phenotype-Related Single-Nucleotide Variant

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is widely used to identify the causative mutations underlying diverse human diseases, including cancers, which can be useful for discovering the diagnostic and therapeutic targets. Currently, a number of single-nucleotide variant (SNV)-calling algorithms are available; however, there is no tool for visualizing the recurrent and phenotype-specific mutations for general researchers. In this study, in order to support defining the recurrent mutations or phenotype-specific mutations from NGS data of a group of cancers with diverse phenotypes, we aimed to develop a user-friendly tool, named mutation arranger for defining phenotype-related SNV (MAP). MAP is a user-friendly program with multiple functions that supports the determination of recurrent or phenotype-specific mutations and provides graphic illustration images to the users. Its operation environment, the Microsoft Windows environment, enables more researchers who cannot operate Linux to define clinically meaningful mutations with NGS data from cancer cohorts.
Probabilistic, Multi-staged Interpretation of Spoken Utterances

We describe Scusi? , a multi-stage, spoken language interpretation mechanism designed to be part of a robot- mounted dialogue system. Scusi? 's interpretation process maps spoken utterances to conceptual graphs, and the nodes in these graphs to concepts in the world. Maximum posterior probability is used to rank the (partial) interpretations produced at each stage of this process. We show how the features of our interpretation process yield desirable behaviours that support robust and flexible system performance.
Multiphonon hole trapping from first principles

Nonradiative multiphonon capture of carriers into the gate dielectrics of metal-oxide-semiconductor systems and its involvement with the negative bias temperature instability is discussed. A simple method for the extraction of the line-shape function from an atomistic bulk defect model is suggested and applied to defect models in alpha quartz. Electronic structures are described using density functional theory.
Infrastructures for collaboration in virtual organisations

Many organisations are currently forced to collaborate with others in renewing their products and processes to stay competitive, to enter new or to retain their current markets, or to get easy access to new knowledge. Management of collaboration between two or more organisations is, however, still not well understood, given that about half of the collaborative endeavours fail. A methodology to support management of collaboration is still lacking. To build such a methodology, knowledge is needed on the process of collaboration. Much research has been devoted, however, to understanding the relationships between initial conditions and outcomes of a collaboration initiative. The results of this research are sometimes contradicting or not very well comparable because of differences in conceptualisation or ignorance of moderating factors. Moreover, a good design of initial conditions is necessary, but not sufficient. Conditions change during the process of collaboration. We need knowledge on the dynamics of the collaboration process to understand why and how conditions change and how they can be influenced. In this paper an approach will be presented that can support the gradual building of knowledge on the process of collaboration. The approach, which resulted from the Esprit IV project 23286 FREE (Fast Reactive Extended Enterprise), can be viewed as a first step towards building a methodology to support management of collaboration. The concept of infrastructures for collaboration will be introduced stressing the integral nature of management of collaboration.