Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A 6-bit 800MS/s flash ADC in 0.35μm CMOS

In this work, a 6-bit 800 MS/s flash analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is proposed. An optimized resistance ratio averaging scheme is applied to: (1) reduce the offset, nonlinearity, (2) increase the accuracy and mismatch insensitivity (3) minimize the size of elements towards the more compact size, smaller area and higher speed for the ADC. To maximize all these achievements, most favorably, it is completely built by NMOS transistors. The proposed ADC is simulated by Hspice using 0.35 μm TSMC technology and shows 32.24 dB/45.9 dB SNDR/SFDR, 5.06 bits ENOB, and the low power consumption of 45.12 mW from a 3.3V supply.
WORKING PAPER NO. 13-23 LARGE CAPITAL INFUSIONS, INVESTOR REACTIONS, AND THE RETURN AND RISK-PERFORMANCE OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS OVER THE BUSINESS CYCLE

We examine investors’ reactions to announcements of large capital infusions by U.S. financial institutions (FIs) from 2000 to 2009. These infusions include private market infusions (seasoned equity offerings (SEOs)) as well as injections of government capital under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The sample period covers both business cycle expansions and contractions, and the recent financial crisis. We present evidence on the factors affecting FIs’ decisions to raise capital, the determinants of investor reactions, and post-infusion risk-taking of the recipients, as well as a sample of matching FIs. Investors reacted negatively to the news of private market SEOs by FIs, both in the immediate term (e.g., the two days surrounding the announcement) and over the subsequent year, but positively to TARP injections. Reactions differed depending on the characteristics of the FIs, and the stage of the business cycle. More financially constrained institutions were more likely to have raised capital through private market offerings during the period prior to TARP, and firms receiving a TARP injection tended to be riskier and more levered. In the case of TARP recipients, they appeared to finance an increase in lending (as a share of assets) with more stable financing sources such as core deposits, which lowered their liquidity risk. However, we find no evidence that banks’ capital adequacy increased after the capital injections.
Biped humanoid robot Mahru III

This paper presents a new biped humanoid robot Mahru III (150 cm, 62 Kg) developed by Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd in 2007. The ultimate goal of this project is to design biped humanoid robots connected to a wireless network environment so that they can be used in our daily life. As the first step, Mahru III was built as a pilot platform for future household companion robots. In this paper we focus on the design of the mechanical system, electrical/electronic parts, and the control algorithm with some experimental results. We designed the mechanical system to achieve lightweight, high stiffness and high energy efficiency through CAE(computer aided engineering) analysis and DOE(design of experiments)-based optimization. We also built an extensible electrical/electronic system to provide for future network-based applications. Walking control algorithm is realized to make stable walking on an uneven floor possible. The experiments of the first phase shows that our humanoid can walk at 1.3 km/h and overcome 1 cm protrusions successfully.
The Role of Return Value Prediction in Exploiting Speculative Method-Level Parallelism

This work studies the performance impact of return value prediction in a system that supports speculative method-level parallelism (SMLP). A SMLP system creates a speculative thread at each method call, allowing the method and the code from which it is called to be executed in parallel. To improve performance, the return values of methods are predicted in hardware so that no method has to wait for its sub-method to complete before continuing to execute. For Java programs, we find that two-thirds of methods have a non-void return type, and perfect return value prediction improves performance by an average of 44% compared with a system with no return value prediction. However, the performance of realistic predictors is limited by poor prediction accuracy on integer return values and undesirable update characteristics due to the SMLP environment. A Parameter Stride (PS) return value predictor is proposed to address some of the deficiencies of the standard predictors by predicting based on method arguments. Combining the PS predictor with previous predictors results in 7% speedup on average versus a system with hybrid return value prediction, and 21% speedup versus a system with no return value prediction.
Region-based amplification system of speech for listeners with hearing impairments

In this paper, we propose a region-based amplification system of speech for listeners with hearing impairments using the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT). The proposed system classifies the speech waveform into four main regions then amplifies each one of them in particular sub-bands according to their frequency components. The classification scheme segments the waveform into silence, voiced, unvoiced or mixed regions. The amplification process consists in applying a set of variable gain factors within the selected sub-bands that have been generated using an audiometric frequency-scale. The DWT is used in both classification and amplification steps. Experimental results show that the proposed system delivers high quality amplification of speech regions.
Neutrophilic Inflammation Cell Trafficking Amplifies Airway Endotoxin Augmented Antigen-Induced Th1

CD4 (cid:1) Th1 cells play a critical role in orchestrating host defense against pathogens and in the pathogenesis of many immune-mediated diseases. The control of Th1 cell trafﬁcking into sites of infection and inﬂammation is an important determinant of Th1 cell function. We have previously shown that trafﬁcking of adoptively transferred Ag-speciﬁc Th1 cells into the lung following airway Ag challenge depends on CXCR3 expression on Th1 cells and STAT1-inducible CXCR3 ligands in the lung. In this study, we show that LPS alters the mechanisms of Th1 cell recruitment. After a single intranasal dose of LPS, trafﬁcking of adoptively transferred Ag-speciﬁc Th1 cell into the lung in response to airway Ag challenges was no longer dependent on CXCR3 and its ligands and instead was mediated through additional G (cid:2) i-coupled chemoattractant receptor pathways, including CCR5. In addition, LPS markedly increased the magnitude of Ag-speciﬁc Th1 cell homing into the airways following airway Ag challenges. The increased trafﬁcking of Ag-activated Th1 cells, in turn, dramatically ampliﬁed LPS-induced airway neutrophilic inﬁltration by maintaining high levels of the neutrophil active chemokines, KC and MIP-2, through an IFN- (cid:3) dependent mechanism. Therefore, LPS increases Ag-speciﬁc Th1 cell trafﬁcking into the airways and Ag-speciﬁc Th1 cells amplify the airway neutrophilic inﬂammatory response initiated by LPS. This reciprocal interaction between LPS and Ag-activated Th1 cells represents a collaborative connection between the innate and adaptive arms of the immune system. The Journal of Immunology, 2009, 182: 7946–7956.
Gabor-HOG Features based Face Recognition Scheme

Extraction of invariant features is the core of Face RecognitionSystems (FRS). This work proposes a novel feature extractor-fusion scheme using two powerful feature descriptor known as Gabor Filters (GFs) and Histogram of Oriented Gradient (HOG), which the face image is filtered with the multiscale multiresolution Gabor filter bank to generate multiple Gabor magnitude images (GMIs), then the down-sampled GMIs and apply Histogram of Oriented Gradient to form the features. The experimental results on the FERET face database show the effectiveness of our methods.
Internet‐Based Reverse Auctions by the Brazilian Government

The scope of this paper is to discuss the use of Internet Technology in the process of procurement currently employed by the Brazilian Federal Government. The focus of this analysis is on the Internet‐Based Reverse Auction system employed by the Federal Administration to purchase goods and services from the standpoint of efficiency, efficacy and accountability. An explanatory single case study methodology addressing web‐based purchase of pharmaceutical products by the Ministry of Social Security is used to answer the research questions raised in this paper. Technical, human and structural obstacles, as well as legal constraints that must be overcome, are also addressed. Conclusions detailing some findings and the advantages and disadvantages of this new modus operandi are also presented in this work.
Neuro-Evolution for Multi-Agent Policy Transfer in RoboCup Keep-Away: (Extended Abstract)

An objective of transfer learning is to improve and speedup learning on target tasks after training on a different, but related source tasks. This research is a study of comparative Neuro-Evolution (NE) methods for transferring evolved multi-agent policies (behaviors) between multi-agent tasks of varying complexity. The efficacy of five variants of two NE methods are compared for multi-agent policy transfer. The NE method variants include using the original versions (search directed by a fitness function), behavioural and genotypic diversity based search to replace objective based search (fitness functions) as well as hybrid objective and diversity (behavioral and genotypic) maintenance based search approaches. The goal of testing these variants to direct policy search is to ascertain an appropriate method for boosting the task performance of transferred multi-agent behaviours. Results indicate that an indirect encoding NE method using hybridized objective based search and behavioral diversity maintenance yields significantly improved task performance for policy transfer between multi-agent tasks of increasing complexity. Comparatively, NE methods not using behavioral diversity maintenance to direct policy search performed relatively poorly in terms of efficiency (evolution times) and quality of solutions in target tasks.
Correction of the Fundamental Voice Frequency Using Tactile and Visual Feedback

People who are deaf or hard of hearing require correction of the fundamental frequency that usually is achieved by help of a phonodiologist. The work of the phonodiologist can be however strongly reduced by using appropriate devices that can help the patient to train the voice positioning. This paper reports the development of such a system based on FPGA's technology that providing tactile and visual feedback. Contrary to the feedback from the phonodiologist that is usually relative, the feedback provided by a device can be provided in absolute terms. This feature can improve the learning process that however needs the initial learning provided by the phonodiologist.
Distorting the sarcomere

One of the goals of cardiovascular science is to create a mathematical model of the heart that can predict ventricular function in healthy and diseased states, and that can be used to help improve treatment options for patients with heart disease. To be clinically useful, the model will have to include structural information about the shapes of the chambers and the action of the valves, and about how the electrical activity spreads from the sino-atrial node to the ventricular cells. It will also have to incorporate information about the contractile properties of the myocardial cells in different regions of the heart. In this issue, Ford et al. present a mathematical model that could provide a simpler and better way of predicting how force varies within real ventricular cells during the cardiac cycle.
Glass transitions of organic compounds. III. Cellulose substrate technique and aliphatic alcohols

The cellulose blotter/torsion pendulum technique used for the determination of relaxations that occur in low molecular weight compounds, oligomeric materials, and amorphous polymers is discussed. The glass transition temperature of a number of aliphatic alcohols and hydrocarbons have been determined and correlated with a method proposed by Gorskii in 1934. The glass transition temperature and molecular weight of these compounds follow the relationship Tg = BMa rather than Tg = Tg(∞) - K/M. Although differences exist between the primary, secondary, and tertiary alcohols, they appear to follow a similar general pattern. In contrast, the hydrocarbons investigated have markedly different behavior.
Commodity Transformation for DSLs LPT With lex , yacc , and XSLT

We believe that the appropriate characterization of when a language is a DSL, and when it is not, is best made through examination of the relative assignment of resources to a project. We present a new approach to the construction of text transform tools for the prodution of DSLs, and some constraints which shape this approach; not an examination of a specific implementation or architecture. We emphasize the use of ubiquitous tools to do transforms. A reader with concrete experience in some lexer and some parser generation packages, and some XML library with XSLT features, should be able to produce a tool using this approach in a day or two. The presentation is at a high enough level that the reader without this concrete and immediately applicable knowledge can still follow the approach. The goal is to make the production of small domain-specific languages common by promoting simplicity of implementation and use of the tools at hand. We use as an example the development of a parser for a simple parenthesis language. We also present a novel way of dealing with delimited lists in a parser specifica-
Simultaneous Source for non-uniform data variance and missing data

The use of simultaneous sources in geophysical inverse problems has revolutionized the ability to deal with large scale data sets that are obtained from multiple source experiments. However, the technique breaks when the data has non-uniform standard deviation or when some data are missing. In this paper we develop, study, and compare a number of techniques that enable to utilize advantages of the simultaneous source framework for these cases. We show that the inverse problem can still be solved efficiently by using these new techniques. We demonstrate our new approaches on the Direct Current Resistivity inverse problem.
A Standard Kinetic Energy Reservoir in Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglows

We present a comprehensive sample of X-ray observations of 41 γ-ray burst (GRB) afterglows, as well as jet opening angles, θj, for a subset with measured jet breaks. We show that there is a significant dispersion in the X-ray fluxes, and hence isotropic X-ray luminosities (LX,iso), normalized to t = 10 hr. However, there is a strong correlation between LX,iso and the beaming fractions, fb ≡ [1 - cos(θj)]. As a result, the true X-ray luminosity of GRB afterglows, LX = fbLX,iso, is approximately constant, with a dispersion of only a factor of 2. Since ϵeEb ∝ LX, the strong clustering of LX directly implies that the adiabatic blast wave kinetic energy in the afterglow phase, Eb, is tightly clustered. The narrow distribution of LX also suggests that p ≈ 2, that inverse Compton emission does not in general dominate the observed X-ray luminosity, and that radiative losses at t < 10 hr are relatively small. Thus, despite the large diversity in the observed properties of GRBs and their afterglows, the energy imparted by the GRB central engine to the relativistic ejecta is approximately constant.
Parallel-implemented message passing algorithm for SCMA decoder based on GPGPU

Current multi-user detection scheme for sparse code multiple access (SCMA) is iterative message passing algorithm (MPA) in which the message update strategy is in a parallel manner. To take full advantage of MPA's feature of parallelism, this letter proposes a hardware implementation strategy of max-log MPA decoder used in SCMA systems with soft baseband, which is based on general-purpose computing on graphics processing units (GPGPU). By splitting the decoding process into independent and concurrent threads, the proposed strategy can significantly reduce the process latency of max-log MPA decoder. Simulation results of decoding efficiency demonstrate that the parallel strategy can considerably accelerate the decoding process. Meanwhile, the launch details and the performance analysis of decoder's key kernel function are presented in expectation of making further improvement on current scheme.
Constraining the Overall Kinematics of the 2004 Sumatra and the 2005 Nias Earthquakes Using the Earth’s Gravest Free Oscillations

The giant Aceh–Sumatran 2004 earthquake is the largest earthquake recorded since the great Chilean 1960 and the Alaskan 1964 events. The Earth’s free oscillations were strongly excited and recorded by numerous stations with an extremely good signal-to-noise ratio, even for the gravest modes. These particular modes are interesting because phases of these well-separated split free oscillations carry information on the overall kinematics of the source of large earthquakes ( M w >8) and, in particular, on the length, duration, and mean rupture velocity. Using the singlet-stripping technique, we study some of the Earth’s gravest free oscillations ( S 2, S 3, S 4, 1 S 2, S , and 1 S ) recorded at several broadband permanent stations (Geoscope, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology [iris], Global Geodynamics Project [ggp]) to recover individual singlet parameters: phases, frequencies, and quality factors. We use these parameters to constrain the spatiotemporal extent of the source of the Sumatra earthquake of 26 December 2004 and the Nias earthquake of 28 March 2005. We mainly use vertical-component data from seismometers and superconducting gravimeters, because they are less noisy than the horizontal seismic data, but we also show that, for the 2004 event, horizontal components can also be used (1 S 2). On the basis of the initial phase measurements presented here, we obtain, for the 2004 event, a fault length of about 1250 km and a duration of about 550 sec. For the 2005 event, our measurements favor a model in which the southern segment breaks ≈40 sec later, but the bilateral nature of the rupture and its spatial dimension prevent us from properly constraining its spatial extent.
Energy-efficient TDMA Medium Access Control

In this paper we study the energy efficiency and channel efficiency of TDMA MAC protocol scheduling mechanisms. Most MAC protocols are based on phase grouping that basically has three phases in a frame: uplink, downlink and reservation. We propose a new mechanism in which we have multiple uplink and downlink phases. These phases are grouped per mobile in a frame. Although this has a negative effect on the capacity of the channel, it allows the mobile to turn the power off from the wireless interface for a longer period. We made this choice since in a mobile multimedia environment it is more important that connections have a certain QoS, than highest possible bandwidth. We present an analysis in which these two basic mechanisms are compared in respect to bandwidth efficiency and energy efficiency. We have developed and implemented a novel MAC protocol based on mobile grouping that provides Quality of Service (QoS) support for diverse traffic types.
Electrical Circuit Flashover Model of Polluted Insulators under AC Voltage Based on the Arc Root Voltage Gradient Criterion

In order to study the flashover mechanism of polluted insulators under AC voltage, a new arc propagation criterion which is based on an arc root voltage gradient is proposed. This criterion can explain the variation of the arc root voltage gradient in the arc propagation process. Based on this criterion, a new distributed parameter electrical circuit flashover model of polluted insulators is presented. The arc channel is considered as an equivalent distributed parameter circuit model instead of using the arc voltage-gradient equation. The parameters of the arc model are obtained from the electromagnetic field distribution of the arc and the gas discharge theories. The arc root is considered as parallel paths including the polluted layer. The variation of the voltage on the arc root is related to the capability of arc propagation. This model takes the microscopic mechanism of arc root ionization into consideration, which can improve the accuracy of the flashover model. The results obtained from the presented model are in good agreement with other mathematical and experimental results.
Influence of aging on quench sensitivity effect of 7055 aluminum alloy

The influence of aging on the quench sensitivity effect of 7055 aluminum alloy was investigated by electrical conductivity test,ambient temperature tensile properties test and transmission electron microscopy.The results show that many coarse equilibrium η particles precipitate in grains and on grain boundaries in the alloy during slow quenching after solution treatment,which reduces the solutes available for aging hardening.Meanwhile,the vacancy concentration is also decreased,which is unfavorable for homogeneous nucleation.Thus,the mechanical properties of slow-quenched alloy after aging are decreased.Duplex aging has slight influence on the mechanical properties of the rapid-quenched alloy,but increases that of the slow-quenched one,thus eliminates the quench sensitivity effect to some extent.This is because that duplex aging results in more amounts of dispersing and homogeneously distributing hardening precipitates,and reduces the negative effect due to lower vacancy concentration.The optimal duplex aging in this investigation is 100 ℃,24 h+121 ℃,24 h.
Sortilin-Related Receptor SORCS3 Is a Postsynaptic Modulator of Synaptic Depression and Fear Extinction

SORCS3 is an orphan receptor of the VPS10P domain receptor family, a group of sorting and signaling receptors central to many pathways in control of neuronal viability and function. SORCS3 is highly expressed in the CA1 region of the hippocampus, but the relevance of this receptor for hippocampal activity remained absolutely unclear. Here, we show that SORCS3 localizes to the postsynaptic density and that loss of receptor activity in gene-targeted mice abrogates NMDA receptor-dependent and -independent forms of long-term depression (LTD). Consistent with a loss of synaptic retraction, SORCS3-deficient mice suffer from deficits in behavioral activities associated with hippocampal LTD, particularly from an accelerated extinction of fear memory. A possible molecular mechanism for SORCS3 in synaptic depression was suggested by targeted proteomics approaches that identified the ability of SORCS3 to functionally interact with PICK1, an adaptor that sorts glutamate receptors at the postsynapse. Faulty localization of PICK1 in SORCS3-deficient neurons argues for altered glutamate receptor trafficking as the cause of altered synaptic plasticity in the SORCS3-deficient mouse model. In conclusion, our studies have identified a novel function for VPS10P domain receptors in control of synaptic depression and suggest SORCS3 as a novel factor modulating aversive memory extinction.
DynaDroid: dynamic binary instrumentation based app behavior monitoring framework

Android OS market share has made it a feverish target of malicious attacks. Dynamic Binary Instrumentation (DBI) based tools are gaining prominence for behavioral program inspection, feature identification and virtual machine binary code translation. DBI has an advantage of being transparent, i.e. the application under inspection is never modified. In this paper we describe DynaDroid, DBI framework developed to build behavior based binary instrumentation methodology to effectively monitor Android Package (APK) behavior. Unlike the existing behavior monitoring approaches, the proposed DynaDroid reconstructs the Dalvik level and Java level semantics at a time. The proposed dynamic behavior approach can provide base for analyzing the native calls, Dalvik instructions and also generate profile for Java based API activity. We plan to build effective instrumentation framework to detect real malware with lightweight overhead.