Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Formal Semantics of Heterogeneous CUDA-C: A Modular Approach with Applications

We extend an off-the-shelf, executable formal semantics of C (Ellison and Rosu's K Framework semantics) with the core features of CUDA-C. The hybrid CPU/GPU computation model of CUDA-C presents challenges not just for programmers, but also for practitioners of formal methods. Our formal semantics helps expose and clarify these issues. We demonstrate the usefulness of our semantics by generating a tool from it capable of detecting some race conditions and deadlocks in CUDA-C programs. We discuss limitations of our model and argue that its extensibility can easily enable a wider range of verification tasks.
On-Orbit Spatial Characterization of MODIS With ASTER Aboard the Terra Spacecraft

This letter presents a novel approach for on-orbit characterization of MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) band-to-band registration (BBR) using Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) aboard the Terra spacecraft. The spatial resolution of ASTER spectral bands is much higher than that of MODIS, making it feasible to characterize MODIS on-orbit BBR using their simultaneous observations. The ground target selected for on-orbit MODIS BBR characterization in this letter is a water body, which is a uniform scene with high signal contrast relative to its neighbor areas. A key step of this approach is to accurately localize the measurements of each MODIS band in an ASTER measurement plane coordinate (AMPC). The ASTER measurements are first interpolated and aggregated to simulate the measurements of each MODIS band. The best measurement match between ASTER and each MODIS band is obtained when the measurement difference reaches its weighted minimum. The position of each MODIS band in the AMPC is then used to calculate the BBR. The results are compared with those derived from MODIS onboard Spectro-Radiometric Calibration Assembly. They are in good agreement, generally less than 0.1 MODIS pixel. This approach is useful for other sensors without onboard spatial characterization capability.
Probabilistic fusion of gait features for biometric verification

This paper examines the fusion of various gait metrics in a probabilistic framework. Using three gait modalities we describe a process for determining probabilistic match scores using intra and inter-class variance models together with Bayes rule. We then propose to fuse these modalities based on established fusion rules with weights determined in a principled manner. Using a large publicly available database we show improvements through fusion, both in terms of verification accuracy and class separation; we also consider how the accuracy of each modality and the correlation between the modalities affects overall performance.
SCIPX: A systemc to IP-Xact extraction tool

The IP-Xact formalism (IEEE 1685 standard), was introduced to help assemble IP components from distinct sources into an integrated design. Components would be expressed in high-level HDLs such as SystemC, and so should be the full design after composition. Currently, while components exist at SystemC level, they generally do not provide any local IP-Xact structural interface representation. The present contribution studies the difficulties in creating such an IP-Xact interface declaration from SystemC, solves most of them, and provide SystemC modeling guidelines so that a richer set of informations can be recovered and reported into IP-Xact.
Cohort study of birthweight, mortality, and disability

A study investigating the relation between fetal growth and subsequent mortality of Swedish residents born in Uppsala during 1915–29 identified slow fetal growth rate rather than small size at birth as the factor associated with increased risk of ischaemic heart disease.1 The study also showed an expected association between birthweight and infant mortality. Surprisingly, birthweight was also associated with mortality in children aged 1–14 years. This association has not been previously observed, so we sought confirmation of the relation in the 1958 British birth cohort study. Because childhood death is now rare, we also examined whether birthweight had long term effects on disability. The 1958 cohort includes about 17 000 people born on 3–9 March 1958 in England, Scotland, and Wales followed up to 1991.2 Birthweight was recorded …
Criterion validity of new WAIS–III subtest scores after traumatic brain injury

The criterion validity of the new subtests from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–Third Edition (WAIS–III; Wechsler, 1997) was evaluated in a sample of 100 patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Letter–Number Sequencing and Symbol Search, but not Matrix Reasoning, yielded statistically significant differences in performance between patients with moderate–severe TBI, patients with mild TBI, and demographically matched controls. Level of education accounted for a statistically significant amount of variance in the performance of patients with TBI, in addition to that explained by injury severity variables. It is concluded that Letter–Number Sequencing and Symbol Search have satisfactory criterion validity, but that they need to be supplemented with other measures in the context of neuropsychological evaluations. Matrix Reasoning, on the other hand, is not sensitive to the sequelae of TBI and more studies are needed to determine how it can be used for neuropsychological assessment purposes. (JINS, 2001, 7, 892–898.)
Structure and function of the ankle dorsiflexor muscles in young and moderately active men and women.

The aim was to investigate determinants of ankle dorsiflexor muscle (DF) strength and size in moderately active young men and women (n = 30; age 20-31 yr). Concentric (Con) and eccentric (Ecc) strength were measured isokinetically. Magnetic resonance imaging was used to determine the muscle cross-sectional area (CSA). Multiple biopsies were obtained from the tibialis anterior muscle to determine total numbers, areas (Area I and II) and proportions (Prop I and II) of type I and II fibers, respectively, and relative contents of myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms MHC1, MHC2a, and MHC2x. Women had lower Con and Ecc strength (24 and 27%; P < 0.01), smaller CSA (19%; P < 0.001), lower Ecc DF specific strength (strength/CSA) (10%; P < 0.01), and smaller Area I and Area II (21 and 31%; P < 0.01) than men. Prop I, MHC1, estimated total number of fibers, and Con DF specific strength were similar for both sexes. Con DF strength was up to 72% determined by CSA and Prop I, and Ecc DF strength was up to 81% determined by CSA, Prop I, and sex; variables other than CSA explained at most 9%. Body weight and fiber areas explained >50% of the variation in CSA. In conclusion, CSA was the predominant determinant of DF strength, CSA was to a great extent determined by the body weight and the sizes of muscle fibers, and sex differences in Ecc specific strength require further study.
3D face recognition using optimised directional faces and fourier transform

This paper proposes an efficient multimodal face recognition method by combining the textural as well as depth features, extracted from directional faces of input image. Directional faces are obtained using filters which are designed using Local Polynomial Approximation (LPA). The efficient modified Local Binary Pattern (mLBP) operator is used for the feature extraction from optimized directional faces. The spectral representation of the concatenated block histogram of mLBP feature image acts as a robust face descriptor. Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) is used as the transformation tool. The fusion of both modalities is performed at score level. The experimental results shows that the proposed method gives better performance.
PUBLIC OPINION TOWARDS IMMIGRATION IN EUROPE: A HETEROGENEOUS APPROACH

While often seen and presented as a panacea for the aging populations of Europe to maintain a functioning welfare state, immigration provokes a very strong public opposition from the host society and substantive inter-group tensions. To tackle this issue in greater detail, in this dissertation, I explore how immigrant groups with different ethnic backgrounds are categorized by members of the host society and the implications of these classifications on attitudes towards immigration and on European Union integration. Specifically, I challenge the assumption of people's perception of immigrants as a homogenous group as evidenced by the widespread use of a single survey question inquiring about support for overall immigration. I argue that public's perception of immigration is highly heterogeneous, resulting in a hierarchical categorization of immigrants mainly based on cultural similarity cued by ethnicity. I further argue that economic considerations are important but they mainly motivate opposition to immigration of ethnic groups that are perceived culturally similar. However, prejudice and symbolic considerations are the primary cause of opposition to immigrants that are perceived culturally different. I provide strong evidence for the applicability of this model with German General Social Survey data from the year 2006, original in-depth interviews and survey experimental data with an embedded newspaper priming and list experiment that I collected in Berlin between 2007 and 2009. With a rigorous triangulation of methods, I not only show that cultural similarity has a direct and indirect impact on immigration attitudes, but I also demonstrate how this relationship is suppressed by social desirability bias -the respondent's aspiration to give socially desirable answers to "look good" to the researcher-. Finally, regarding the implications of my theory on attitudes towards the EU, I find that separating immigration attitudes by ethnic group reveals that fear of EU enlargement is actually a far more important motive of Euroskepticism than it has been shown so far. Also, when social desirability bias is accounted for, the perceptions of cultural threat due to an enlarged Europe play a much larger role in explaining EU attitudes than conventional survey data suggest.
The Ribosome Biogenesis Protein Nol9 Is Essential for Definitive Hematopoiesis and Pancreas Morphogenesis in Zebrafish

Ribosome biogenesis is a ubiquitous and essential process in cells. Defects in ribosome biogenesis and function result in a group of human disorders, collectively known as ribosomopathies. In this study, we describe a zebrafish mutant with a loss-of-function mutation in nol9, a gene that encodes a non-ribosomal protein involved in rRNA processing. nol9 sa1022/sa1022 mutants have a defect in 28S rRNA processing. The nol9 sa1022/sa1022 larvae display hypoplastic pancreas, liver and intestine and have decreased numbers of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs), as well as definitive erythrocytes and lymphocytes. In addition, ultrastructural analysis revealed signs of pathological processes occurring in endothelial cells of the caudal vein, emphasizing the complexity of the phenotype observed in nol9 sa1022/sa1022 larvae. We further show that both the pancreatic and hematopoietic deficiencies in nol9 sa1022/sa1022 embryos were due to impaired cell proliferation of respective progenitor cells. Interestingly, genetic loss of Tp53 rescued the HSPCs but not the pancreatic defects. In contrast, activation of mRNA translation via the mTOR pathway by L-Leucine treatment did not revert the erythroid or pancreatic defects. Together, we present the nol9 sa1022/sa1022 mutant, a novel zebrafish ribosomopathy model, which recapitulates key human disease characteristics. The use of this genetically tractable model will enhance our understanding of the tissue-specific mechanisms following impaired ribosome biogenesis in the context of an intact vertebrate.
Lowrank finite-differences and lowrank Fourier finite-differences for seismic wave extrapolation in the acoustic approximation

S U M M A R Y We introduce a novel finite-difference (FD) approach for seismic wave extrapolation in time. We derive the coefficients of the finite-difference operator from a lowrank approximation of the space-wavenumber, wave-propagator matrix. Applying the technique of lowrank finitedifferences, we also improve the finite difference scheme of the two-way Fourier finite differences (FFD). We call the new operator lowrank Fourier finite differences (LFFD). Both the lowrank FD and lowrank FFD methods can be applied to enhance accuracy in seismic imaging by reverse-time migration. Numerical examples confirm the validity of the proposed technique.
Mitochondria in Cardiovascular Physiology and Disease Xanthine oxidase inhibition preserves left ventricular systolic but not diastolic function in cardiac volume overload

James D. Gladden, Blake R. Zelickson, Jason L. Guichard, Mustafa I. Ahmed, Danielle M. Yancey, Scott Ballinger, Mayilvahanan Shanmugam, Gopal J. Babu, Michelle S. Johnson, Victor Darley-Usmar, and Louis J. Dell’Italia University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Comprehensive Cardiovascular Center, UAB Birmingham, Alabama; Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Disease, UAB, Birmingham, Alabama; Department of Pathology, UAB, Birmingham, Alabama; UAB Center for Free Radical Biology, UAB, Birmingham, Alabama; Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, New Jersey; and Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Birmingham, Alabama
Hiding Sensitive Association Rules without Altering the Support of Sensitive Item(s)

Association rule mining is an important data-mining technique that finds interesting association among a large set of data items. Since it may disclose patterns and various kinds of sensitive knowledge that are difficult to find otherwise, it may pose a threat to the privacy of discovered confidential information. Such information is to be protected against unauthorized access. Many strategies had been proposed to hide the information. Some use distributed databases over several sites, data perturbation, clustering, and data distortion techniques. Hiding sensitive rules problem, and still not sufficiently investigated, is the requirement to balance the confidentiality of the disclosed data with the legitimate needs of the user. The proposed approach uses the data distortion technique where the position of the sensitive items is altered but its support is never changed. The size of the database remains the same. It uses the idea of representative rules to prune the rules first and then hides the sensitive rules. Advantage of this approach is that it hides maximum number of rules however, the existing approaches fail to hide all the desired rules, which are supposed to be hidden in minimum number of passes. The paper also compares of the proposed approach with existing ones.
A Memetic Algorithm for OSPF Routing

With increasing Internet traffic demand, service providers have adopted new technologies to improve the utilization of existing network resources. Data packet routing algorithms can have a major impact on network utilization. Packets are sent along network paths from source to destination following a protocol. Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) is one of the most commonly used intra-domain Internet routing protocols. In OSPF, traffic is routed along shortest paths, splitting flow at nodes with more than one outgoing link on a shortest path to the destination IP address. Integer link weights (in the range 1 to 65535) are assigned by the network operator. A path length is the sum of the weights of the links in the path. We consider the problem of determining OSPF weights, given a set of projected demands, with the objective of minimizing network congestion. The weight assignment problem is NP-hard. Ericsson, Resende, and Pardalos [2] proposed a genetic algorithm (GA) for OSPF weight setting. In this paper, we extend the GA by adding to it a local improvement procedure, resulting in a memetic algorithm (MA). We compare the MA with an optimized version of the GA and show that the MA not only finds better solutions, but also converges to a given solution in less time.
COLLISION THERMALIZATION OF NUCLEONS IN RELATIVISTIC HEAVY-ION COLLISIONS

We consider a possible mechanism of thermalization of nucleons in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Our model belongs, to a certain degree, to the transport ones; we investigate the evolution of the system created in nucleus–nucleus collision, but we parametrize this development by the number of collisions of every particle during evolution rather than by the time variable. We based on the assumption that the nucleon momentum transfer after several nucleon–nucleon (–hadron) elastic and inelastic collisions becomes a random quantity driven by a proper distribution. This randomization results in a smearing of the nucleon momenta about their initial values and, as a consequence, in their partial isotropization and thermalization. The trial evaluation is made in the framework of a toy model. We show that the proposed scheme can be used for extraction of the physical information from experimental data on nucleon rapidity distribution.
Stakeholders' qualitative perspectives of effective telepractice pedagogy in speech-language pathology.

BACKGROUND Academic programmes in speech-language pathology are increasingly providing telehealth/telepractice clinical education to students. Despite this growth, there is little information describing effective ways to teach it. AIMS The current exploratory study analyzed the perceptions of speech-language pathology/therapy (SLP/SLT) faculty, student and SLP/SLT clinicians to ascertain effective pedagogical approaches for telepractice service delivery, rank the relative importance of telepractice skills and knowledge competencies, and define any pedagogical challenges to teaching them. METHODS & PROCEDURES Qualitative data were collected from two sources: three open-ended questions within an online survey (SLP/SLT faculty n = 31, graduate students n = 16, telehealth ('telepractice') clinicians n = 16); and follow-up telephone interviews (n = 22). Data were analyzed with a grounded theory approach followed by a summative rank-order analysis of themes. OUTCOMES & RESULTS All three groups agreed the most effective telepractice instructional approach was telepractice demonstrations (such as students role playing or watching a supervisor). Professional development approaches such as workshops or training manuals were less effective and didactic approaches such as lecture-only were ineffective. Skills and knowledge competencies students needed before entering the workforce were, in order of implied importance: telepractice clinical skills, telepractice technology skills, legal knowledge pertinent to telepractice and knowledge of telepractice literature. The most important telepractice clinical skills students needed to acquire were appropriate selection of telepractice materials and engaging the client over the internet. Many participants said teaching and learning telepractice was more challenging than in-person service delivery because of the difficulties in selecting appropriate telepractice clinical materials, managing technology problems and engaging with clients over the internet. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS Despite substantial limitations to this investigation, findings imply that telepractice instruction, like other methods of SLP/SLT clinical education, may be most effective when students engage in critical thinking and problem-solving issues through intense practice. Because the skills and competencies associated with telepractice appear to vary in their perceived value, academic programmes may wish to consider prioritizing how they are taught, giving students additional instruction in the selection of telepractice clinical materials and development of online interpersonal communication skills. For some clinical educators, the challenges associated with telepractice may necessitate additional educator training.
Flexible Demonstration Learning System for Variable Number of Robots

In this paper, we present flexMLfD, a robot independent and task independent demonstration learning system that supports a variable number of robot learners. Our approach is based on the Confidence-Based Autonomy (CBA) demonstration learning algorithm, which provides the means for a single robot to learn a task policy through interaction with a human teacher. The generalized representation and adjustable robot autonomy provided by the CBA algorithm enable the flexible system design and multi-robot learning capabilities of flexMLfD. Building upon the CBA single-robot algorithm, we contribute a robot-independent modular software architecture for multi-robot learning, interaction and control. To highlight the generality of the presented learning system, we present three example domains, each utilizing from two to seven real robots.
To catch a chorus: using chroma-based representations for audio thumbnailing

An important application for use with multimedia databases is a browsing aid, which allows a user to quickly and efficiently preview selections from either a database or from the results of a database query. Methods for facilitating browsing, though, are necessarily media dependent. We present one such method that produces short, representative samples (or "audio thumbnails") of selections of popular music. This method attempts to identify the chorus or refrain of a song by identifying repeated sections of the audio waveform. A reduced spectral representation of the selection based on a chroma transformation of the spectrum is used to find repeating patterns. This representation encodes harmonic relationships in a signal and thus is ideal for popular music, which is often characterized by prominent harmonic progressions. The method is evaluated over a sizable database of popular music and found to perform well, with most of the errors resulting from songs that do not meet our structural assumptions.
Dirty paper coding based optimal MIMO relay communications

In this paper, we address the optimal source and relay matrices design issue for a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) relay network using the dirty paper coding (DPC) scheme at the source node. The aim is to minimize the mean-squared error (MSE) of the signal waveform estimation at the destination. Using the property of uplink-downlink duality, the original DPC-based MIMO relay system is first converted to a dual system with a decision feedback equalizer (DFE) at the destination. Then we jointly optimize the source and relay matrices of the dual system. Finally the optimal source and relay matrices of the DPC-based system are obtained by exploiting the link between the source, relay, and destination matrices of the original and dual MIMO relay systems. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed DPC-based MIMO relay system performs much better than the existing linear minimal MSE (MMSE)-based relaying approach in terms of bit-error-rate.
The score distribution and factor structure of the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences‐Positive Scale (CAPE‐P15) in a Canadian sample

Psychotic‐like experiences (PLEs) share several risk factors with psychotic disorders and confer greater risk of developing a psychotic disorder. Thus, individuals with PLEs not only comprise a valuable population in which to study the aetiology and premorbid changes associated with psychosis, but also represent a high‐risk population that could benefit from clinical monitoring or early intervention efforts.