Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stereotype Threat Can Both Enhance and Impair Older Adults’ Memory

Negative stereotypes about aging can impair older adults’ memory via stereotype threat; however, the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are unclear. In two experiments, we tested competing predictions derived from two theoretical accounts of stereotype threat: executive-control interference and regulatory fit. Older adults completed a working memory test either under stereotype threat about age-related memory declines or not under such threat. Monetary incentives were manipulated such that recall led to gains or forgetting led to losses. The executive-control-interference account predicts that stereotype threat decreases the availability of executive-control resources and hence should impair working memory performance. The regulatory-fit account predicts that threat induces a prevention focus, which should impair performance when gains are emphasized but improve performance when losses are emphasized. Results were consistent only with the regulatory-fit account. Although stereotype threat significantly impaired older adults’ working memory performance when remembering led to gains, it significantly improved performance when forgetting led to losses.
Benefits of the empathy map method and the satisfaction of a company with its application in the development of concepts for a white glue tube

User-centered design (UCD) can be understood as a philosophy, a process, or even an approach, that has the objective to increase the consideration of user needs in the design process. In particular, an empathy map is a UCD method that seeks the definition of a user profile and user needs. Because the method is gaining importance in the literature and in applications to perform services and design products, we report on an application of the empathy map method and evaluate its usefulness. The empathy map was applied by 25 trainees in a controlled experiment in the concept phase for a white glue tube design process, in a partnership with a company that produces office supplies. The method helped in many aspects, mainly in organizing the information collected and understanding the user. Both the students and the company were satisfied with the results that the method provided.
Integrated position and attitude control for autonomous docking based on backstepping and input-to-state stability

In this paper, the spacecraft rendezvous and docking problem with target spacecraft on an arbitrary elliptical orbit is investigated. A nonlinear integrated position and attitude dynamics model is established. With Lyapunov analysis, an integrated position and attitude controller is proposed based on input-to-state stability (ISS) in the presence of torque uncertainty and external disturbances. Finally, simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the presented approach.
A Performance and Energy Consumption Analytical Model for GPU

Even with a powerful hardware in parallel execution, it is still difficult to improve the application performance and reduce energy consumption without realizing the performance bottlenecks of parallel programs on GPU architectures. To help programmers have a better insight into the performance and energy-saving bottleneck of parallel applications on GPU architectures, we propose two models: an execution time prediction model and an energy consumption prediction model. The execution time prediction model(ETPM) can estimate the execution time of massively parallel programs which take the instruction-level and thread-level parallelism into consideration. ETPM contains two components: memory sub-model and computation sub-model. The memory sub-model is estimating the cost of memory instructions by considering the number of active threads and GPU memory bandwidth. Correspondingly, the computation sub-model is estimating the cost of computation instructions by considering the number of active threads and the application's arithmetic intensity. We use ocelot to analysis PTX codes to obtain several input parameters for the two sub-models such as the memory transaction number and data size. Basing on the two sub-models, the analytical model can estimates the cost of each instruction while considering instruction-level and thread-level parallelism, thereby estimating the overall execution time of an application. The energy consumption prediction model(ECPM) can estimate the total energy consumption basing on the data from ETPM. We compare the outcome from the models and the actual execution on GTX260 and Tesla C2050. The results show that the models can reach almost 90 percentage accuracy in average for the benchmarks we used.
Inference control to protect sensitive information in text documents

This paper describes a framework and algorithms for ensuring a specified level of privacy in text data sets. Recent work has attempted to quantify the likelihood of privacy breaches for text data. We build on these notions to provide a means of controlling such breaches, couched in a multi-class classification framework. Our framework, called Text Inference Control, gives the user fine-grained control over the level of privacy needed for sensitive concepts present in that data. Additionally, our framework is designed to respect a user-defined utility metric on the data, which our methods try to maximize while redacting. In addition to our framework and algorithms, we show encouraging results on protecting the sensitive category while maximizing the preservation of the utility category on multiple data sets, against both automated attackers and human subjects.
Comparison of modular multilevel and neutral-point-clamped converters for medium-voltage grid-connected applications

Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are expected to increase in the number and capacity because of the increasing share of intermittent renewable energy resources in the electrical grid. Due to the cost and nature of the BESS, they are well suited for the primary reserve to balance load fluctuations in the grid. Power-electronic converters are employed for the power exchange between the transmission or distribution grid and the BESS. Usually, the voltage of such BESS is in the low-voltage range. This dc voltage can be stepped-up to medium voltage (MV) using a high-power dc-dc converter. The MV dc voltage is then inverted using an MV inverter to couple the BESS to the MV grid. In this work two converters, namely, the modular multilevel converter (MMC) and the three-level neutral-point-clamped (3L-NPC) converter, are compared and benchmarked for their application in BESS as MV inverter. Both converters are rated for 5 MVA and are to be connected to the 10 kV distribution grid. The converters are compared in terms of the components such as the number and ratings of the semiconductor devices, the filter elements; the operational characteristics such as the components losses, the system efficiency, the harmonic content of the terminal quantities; and in terms of the investment cost.
An Integrated Source and Channel Rate Allocation Scheme for Robust Video Coding and Transmission over Wireless Channels

A new integrated framework for source and channel rate allocation is presented for video coding and transmission over wireless channels without feedback channels available. For a fixed total channel bit rate and a finite number of channel coding rates, the proposed scheme can obtain the near-optimal source and channel coding pair, and corresponding robust video coding scheme such that the expected end-to-end distortion of video signals can be minimized. With the assumption that the encoder has the stochastic information such as average SNR and Doppler frequency of the wireless channel, the proposed scheme takes into account robust video coding, channel coding, packetization, and error concealment techniques altogether. An improved method is proposed to recursively estimate the end-to-end distortion of video coding for transmission over error-prone channels. The proposed estimation is about 1-3 dB more accurate compared to the existing integer-pel based method. Rate-distortion optimized video coding is employed for the trade-off between coding efficiency and robustness to transmission errors.
Comparing Rough Set Theory with Multiple Regression Analysis as Automated Valuation Methodologies

This paper focuses on the problem of applying rough set theory to mass appraisal. This methodology was first introduced by a Polish mathematician, and has been applied recently as an automated valuation methodology by the author. The method allows the appraiser to estimate a property without defining econometric modeling, although it does not give any quantitative estimation of marginal prices. In a previous paper by the author, data were organized into classes prior to the valuation process, allowing for the if-then, or right “rule” for each property class to be defined. In that work, the relationship between property and class of valued was said to be dichotomic.
Evidence of a Weak Galactic Center Magnetic Field from Diffuse Low-Frequency Nonthermal Radio Emission

New low-frequency 74 and 330 MHz observations of the Galactic center (GC) region reveal the presence of a large-scale (6° × 2°) diffuse source of nonthermal synchrotron emission. A minimum-energy analysis of this emission yields a total energy of ~(ϕ4/7f3/7) × 1052 ergs and a magnetic field strength of ~6(ϕ/f)2/7 μG (where ϕ is the proton to electron energy ratio and f is the filling factor of the synchrotron emitting gas). The equipartition particle energy density is 1.2(ϕ/f)2/7 eV cm-3, a value consistent with cosmic-ray data. However, the derived magnetic field is several orders of magnitude below the 1 mG field commonly invoked for the GC. With this field the source can be maintained with the supernova rate inferred from the GC star formation. Furthermore, a strong magnetic field implies an abnormally low GC cosmic-ray energy density. We conclude that the mean magnetic field in the GC region must be weak, of order 10 μG (at least on size scales ≳125'').
State-Dependent Relay Channel: Achievable Rate and Capacity of a Semideterministic Class

This paper considers the problem of communicating over a relay channel with state when noncausal state information is partially available at the nodes. We first establish a lower bound on the achievable rates based on noisy network coding and Gelfand-Pinsker coding, and show that it provides an alternative characterization of a previously known bound. We then introduce the class of state-decoupled relay channels and show that our lower bound is tight for a subclass of semideterministic channels. We also compute the capacity for two specific examples of this subclass - a channel with multiplicative binary fading and a channel with additive Gaussian interference. These examples are not special cases of previous classes of semideterministic relay channels with known capacity.
Finite-Length Scaling For Gallager A

We consider LDPC codes, transmission over the binary symmetric channel (BSC), and decoding using Gallager's algorithm A. For those ensembles whose threshold is determined by the behavior of the algorithm at the beginning of the decoding process we derive a scaling law. This scaling law has the same form as the scaling law which was established for the the case of transmission over the binary erasure channel (BEC). We show how the scaling parameters can be computed and point out some interesting open challenges.
Nonparametric Estimation and On-Line Prediction for General Stationary Ergodic Sources

We proposed a learning algorithm for nonparametric estimation and on-line prediction for general stationary ergodic sources. We prepare histograms each of which estimates the probability as a finite distribution, and mixture them with weights to construct an estimator. The whole analysis is based on measure theory. The estimator works whether the source is discrete or continuous. If it is stationary ergodic, then the measure theoretically given Kullback-Leibler information divided by the sequence length $n$ converges to zero as $n$ goes to infinity. In particular, for continuous sources, the method does not require existence of a probability density function.
Pigment-specific rates of phytoplankton growth and microzooplankton grazing in the open subarctic Pacific Ocean

A long-standing hypothesis states that low year-round phytoplankton biomass in the open subarctic Pacific Ocean is maintained by herbivorous grazing. To evaluate the balance between phytoplankton growth and microzooplankton grazing, we carried out seawater dilution experiments at two subarctic Pacific locations in June and September 1987. Pigment-specific phytoplankton growth and grazing rates were obtained from dilution experiments by HPLC separation of phytoplankton pigments. This approach allowed us to look at the relationship between growth and grazing rates for different phytoplankton taxa. A wide range of rates was observed during any given experiment. Pigment-specific growth rates ranged from 0.0 to 0.8 d−1; pigment-specific microzooplankton grazing rates ranged from 0.0 to 0.6 d−1. The highest growth rates appeared attributable to large diatoms, as indicated by both pigment and cell-count data. Grazing rates were most closely matched with growth rates for small (<10 µm) phytoplankton species; large diatom species seemed to be unaffected by microzooplankton grazing. Higher grazing rates were measured on pigments with the lowest standing stocks.
How to Further Increase Leakage Exploitation Rate in Profiled Side-Channel Attacks ?

Template Attack is widely accepted to be one of the most powerful side-channel attacks, because it is assumed that one has full knowledge of targeted crypto devices and thus be well capable of characterizing the side-channel leakages. However, whether or not Template Attack exploits side-channel leakages to the fullest is still not clear. In this paper, we present a negative answer to this central question, by introducing a normalization process into original Template Attack. We present Normalized Template Attack, which has the normalization process. Furthermore, we prove that Normalized Template Attack is better that its original counterpart in terms of leakage exploitation rate. We evaluate the key-recovery efficiency of Normalized Template Attack and original Template Attack as well under identical scenarios, by performing attacks against both simulated and real power traces. Our experimental results show that our method is valid end effective. Remarkably enough, this normalization process is of extremely low computation cost. Therefore, we argue that the normalization process should be integrated as a necessary part of profile attacks in order to better understand the practical threats of these attacks.
Semantic Parsing with Verbal SubcategorizationJordi

The aim of this work is to explore new methodologies on Semantic Parsing for unrestricted texts. Our approach follows the current trends in Information Extraction (IE) and is based on the application of a verbal sub-categorization lexicon (LEXPIR) by means of complex pattern recognition techniques. LEXPIR is framed on the theoretical model of the verbal sub-categorization developed in the Pirapides project.
Jurisprudential analysis of Maqasid al-Shariah in managing Mosques funds: a case study of Tabung Masjid (TM) in Malaysia.

Mosques funds in part of Muslim countries where Tabarruaat (voluntary donation) is in operation ought to have huge impact on Muslim youth empowerment and poverty alleviation. However, managing these funds in these Muslim countries to bring about the foreseen impact remains untapped. In Malaysia, the setup of Tabung Masjid (TM) has not been effective to serve the purpose of Islam. This is either partly due to unawareness of the Islamic jurisprudential perspectives on TM funds or partly due to the uninformed ways to manage these funds. This paper aims to assess way of which funds generated from TM in Malaysian is being managed. Access to the TM management will be sought to evaluate the effectiveness of the impact of these funds. The assessments of the way TM is managed at present will be analyzed on the jurisprudential perspective of Muslim classical and contemporary scholars. The central question of this paper will be how mosques funds can be effectively used for Muslim youth empowerment. The author will suggest, through the analysis of available data of mosques’ funds in Terengganu, Malaysia, productive methods of managing the TM which is more in tandem to the objectives of Islamic Law (Maqasid al-Shariah).
Gravity at sea —A memoir of a marine geophysicist—

A history of studies on the gravity measurements at sea in Japan is reviewed with an emphasis on the contribution of the author. The first successful measurements at sea were made in 1923 by Vening Meinesz in the Netherlands using the pendulum apparatus installed in a submarine. However, the gravity measurements using a submarine are not convenient because the access to a submarine is limited. Professor Chuji Tsuboi made a number of unsuccessful attempts at developing a gravity meter that can be operated on a normal surface ship by reducing the noise by minimizing the motion of the gravity meter through a mechanical design. I have chosen a new approach toward the measurements of gravity on a surface ship by simplifying the mechanical part using a string gravity meter that was installed directly on a vertical gyroscope in combination with the numerical and/or electronic reduction of noises. With this gravity meter TSSG (Tokyo Surface Ship Gravity Meter), we firstly succeeded in measuring gravity at sea onboard a surface ship in July 1961 and the measurements have been extended to the northwestern Pacific and beyond. The results reveal the fine structures of gravity field in and around trenches that provide important clues as to a number of geodynamic issues including the nature of the trench-trench interaction and the interaction of trenches with seamounts.
Assessing Macro Uncertainty in Real-Time When Data Are Subject To Revision

Model-based estimates of future uncertainty are generally based on the in-sample fit of the model, as when Box–Jenkins prediction intervals are calculated. However, this approach will generate biased uncertainty estimates in real time when there are data revisions. A simple remedy is suggested, and used to generate more accurate prediction intervals for 25 macroeconomic variables, in line with the theory. A simulation study based on an empirically estimated model of data revisions for U.S. output growth is used to investigate small-sample properties.
Selective region based images encryption

Image security is of great importance in many applications including Military, Medical and many others. Generally, images are of very large sizes and conventional encryption techniques are not considered good. An approach that is very recently found in literature is of selective encryption of multimedia images. In this paper a new approach is introduced for the selection of the area in the image that will select maximum information area for encryption based on percentage of coefficients. Un-encrypted area is permuted with the encrypted area that will further enhance the security of the images. The mean square error (MSE) and peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) values show a huge difference in between the original and encrypted images.
Quantum Tunneling , Trace Anomaly and Effective Metric

We compute the corrections, using the tunneling formalisim based on a quantum WKB approach, to the Hawking temperature and Bekenstein-Hawking entropy for the Schwarzschild black hole. The results are related to the trace anomaly and are shown to be exactly equivalent to results inferred from Hawking’s original calculation based on path integrals using zeta function regularization. Finally, exploiting the corrected temperature and periodicity arguments we also find the modification to the original Schwarzschild metric which captures the effect of back reaction.
An XML-based middleware for peer-to-peer computing

An increasing number of distributed applications will be written for mobile hosts, such as laptop computers, third generation mobile phones, personal digital assistants, watches and the like, with focus on peer-to-peer collaboration. Application engineers have to deal with a new set of problems caused by mobility, such as low bandwidth, context changes or loss of connectivity. During disconnection, independently from each others, users will typically update local replicas of shared data, possibly generated by peers. The resulting inconsistent replicas need to be reconciled upon re-connection. To support building mobile applications that use both replication and reconciliation over ad-hoc networks, we have designed XMIDDLE, a peer-to-peer middleware that targets mobile computing settings. In this paper we describe XMIDDLE and show how reflection capabilities are used to allow application engineers to influence replication and reconciliation techniques. XMIDDLE enables the transparent sharing of XML documents across heterogeneous mobile peers, allowing online and off-line access to data.
Draft Genome Sequence of Enterobacter aerogenes, a DDE-Degrading and Plant Growth-Promoting Strain Isolated from Cucurbita pepo

ABSTRACT We report here the draft genome of Enterobacter aerogenes, a Gram-negative bacterium of the Enterobacteriaceae isolated from Cucurbita pepo root tissue. This bacterium shows 2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-1,1-dichloroethylene (DDE)-degrading potential and plant growth-promoting capacity. An analysis of its 4.5-Mb draft genome will enhance the understanding of DDE degradation pathways and phytoremediation applications for DDE-contaminated soils.
STRUCTURAL PARAMETERS OF STELLAR DISKS FROM TWO MICRON ALL SKY SURVEY IMAGES OF EDGE-ON GALAXIES

We present results of an analysis of the J, H, and Ks Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) images of 139 spiral edge-on galaxies selected from the Revised Flat Galaxies Catalog. The basic structural parameters scale length (h), scale height (z0), and central surface brightness of the stellar disks (μ0) are determined for all selected galaxies in the near-infrared (NIR) bands. The mean relative ratios of the scale heights of the thin stellar disks in the J:H:Ks bands are 1.16:1.08:1.00, respectively. Comparing the scale heights obtained from the NIR bands for the same objects, we estimate the scale heights of the thin stellar disks corrected for the internal extinction. We find that the extinction-corrected scale height is, on average, 11% smaller than that in the K band. Using the extinction-corrected structural parameters, we find that the dark-to-luminous mass ratio is, on average, 1.3 for the galaxies in our sample within the framework of a simplified galactic model. The relative thicknesses of the stellar disks z0/h correlates with their face-on central surface brightnesses obtained from the 2MASS images. We also find that the scale height of the stellar disks shows no systematic growth with radius in most of our galaxies.