Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Orthros: A High-Reliability Operating System with Transmigration of Processes

We propose a method to solve problems that accompany recovering from operating system (OS) failures. First, to reduce recovery time, we make two OSes run simultaneously and configure them as an active-backup structure in one computer. This structure can provide a fast recovery from failures by a failover. Recovery time when using the proposed method is about 0.4 seconds at a minimum and up to about 10 seconds even if 2 GB memory is restored. Next, for smooth continuation of services after recovery, the proposed method preserves processes, their network connections, and file caches, and does not have runtime overhead to obtain a process execution status from the running active OS before a crash. In addition, the resources consumed to build the active-backup structure are only one CPU core and a small amount of memory. The hardware required to implement the proposed method is a multi-core processor and one disk for each OS, consequently, introduction of the proposed method incurs low cost. In the evaluation, we confirmed that the downtime was up to about 1.5 seconds when the active OS of the proposed system crashed while running a text editor, an NFS server, and a database server.
The Ups and Downs of Baryon Oscillations

Baryon acoustic oscillations, measured through the patterned distribution of galaxies or other baryon tracing objects on very large (100 Mpc) scales, offer a possible geometric probe of cosmological distances. Pluses and minuses in this approach's leverage for understanding dark energy are discussed, as are systematic uncertainties requiring further investigation. Conclusions are that 1) BAO offer promise of a new avenue to distance measurements and further study is warranted, 2) the measurements will need to attain ~1% accuracy (requiring a 10000 square degree spectroscopic survey) for their dark energy leverage to match that from supernovae, but do give complementary information at 2% accuracy. Because of the ties to the matter dominated era, BAO is not a replacement probe of dark energy, but a valuable complement.
Which Is Better, an Ensemble of Positive–Negative Pairs or a Centered Spherical Simplex Ensemble?

Abstract New methods to center the initial ensemble perturbations on the analysis are introduced and compared with the commonly used centering method of positive–negative paired perturbations. In the new method, one linearly dependent perturbation is added to a set of linearly independent initial perturbations to ensure that the sum of the new initial perturbations equals zero; the covariance calculated from the new initial perturbations is equal to the analysis error covariance estimated by the independent initial perturbations, and all of the new initial perturbations are equally likely. The new method is illustrated by applying it to the ensemble transform Kalman filter (ETKF) ensemble forecast scheme, and the resulting ensemble is called the spherical simplex ETKF ensemble. It is shown from a multidimensional Taylor expansion that the symmetric positive–negative paired centering would yield a more accurate forecast ensemble mean and covariance than the spherical simplex centering if the ensemble were .
Some New Ways of Modeling T/D Deletion in English

The paper is concerned with the morpheme-final inter-consonantal T/D deletion in Standard British English. Its main aim is to explore some new ways of modeling this phenomenon and to test several new variables. Among the innovations suggested in the study are separate treatments of /t/ and /d/ as dependent variables, analysis of so-called neutralized contexts, testing of several previously unstudied predictors (including usage-based predictors), recategorization of most of the traditional formal linguistic predictors, and a proposition of a new articulatory-gestural model of T/D deletion. It is concluded that the strongest constraints on T/D deletion are the presence of the following consonant (a phonetic predictor) and the influence of /CC/-sequence text frequency (a usage-based predictor). The results of the study show that although the traditional (formal) linguistic predictors play a prominent role in T/D deletion, this process cannot be adequately explained without taking into account the frequency of occurrence and the mutual interplay of language patterns.
On Space Utilization Enhancement of File Systems for Embedded Storage Systems

Since the mid-2000s, mobile/embedded computing systems conventionally have limited computing power, Random Access Memory (RAM) space, and storage capacity due to the consideration of their cost, energy consumption, and physical size. Recently, some of these systems, such as mobile phone and embedded consumer electronics, have more powerful computing capability, so they manage their data in small flash storage devices (e.g., Embedded Multi Media Card (eMMC) and Secure Digital (SD) cards) with a simple file system. However, the existing file systems usually have low space utilization for managing small files and the tail data of large files. In this work, we thus propose a dynamic tail packing scheme to enhance the space utilization of file systems over flash storage devices in embedded computing systems by dynamically aggregating/packing the tail data of (small) files together. To evaluate the benefits and overheads of the proposed scheme, we theoretically formulate analysis equations for obtaining the best settings in the dynamic tail packing scheme. Additionally, the proposed scheme was implemented in the file system of Linux operating systems to evaluate its capability. The results demonstrate that the proposed scheme could significantly improve the space utilization of existing file systems.
Genetic Algorithm based Fractal Image Compression

: Fractal Image Compression is a lossy compression technique that has been developed in the early 1990s. Fractal image compression explores the self-similarity property of a natural image and utilizes the partitioned iterated function system (PIFS) to encode it. The fractal image compression problem had three major requirements: speeding up the compression algorithm, improving image quality and increasing compression ratio. So far, several methods have been proposed in order to speed-up fractal image compression. The time is essentially spent on the search of the similar domain block. This paper aims to present a method that uses Genetic algorithms to speed up computation time in fractal image compression with acceptable image quality and high compression rate. These improvements are obtained by encoding all regions in the image with different size blocks.
The Spectrum of Chaotic Time Series (II): Wavelet Analysis

This paper is a continuation of Part I where the authors treated the Fourier analysis of chaotic time series generated by a chaotic interval map. Here, we perform multiresolution analysis by using wavelet coefficients and characterize some necessary and sufficient conditions for the occurrence of chaos by the exponential growth with respect to the number of iterations n of certain sums of the wavelet coefficients.
Girls in Gangs: Exploring Risk in a British Youth Context

The existing literature on gangs has largely focused on boys from the United States. Using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), this study investigated select individual, peer, and community risk factors that differentiate gang and nongang girls in the United Kingdom. We find that 48.3% of gang-involved youth were girls, and that gang girls commit more crime than nongang girls. Furthermore, girls who live in socially disorganized neighborhoods are more likely to be members of gangs. The current research suggests that focusing on girls’ community environments may be beneficial to reducing gangs in the United Kingdom.
Simplified Assessment of Antiretroviral Adherence and Prediction of Virological Efficacy in HIV-Infected Patients in Cambodia

Background. Adherence to antiviral therapy is important for HIV-infected people living in low- and middle-income countries, because of poor access to alternative regimens. Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of adherence in Cambodian patients enrolled in the ESTHER program and treated with WHO first-line regimen for at least 6 months. The survey was based on a self-report questionnaire, drug assay, MCV measurement, visual analog scale, and viral load HIV RNA. Results. Two hundred fifty-nine patients treated for a median of 16 months participated in the survey. At inclusion in the program, 158 patients (61%) were ARV-naïve. The virological success rate was 71% overall and 81% in previously ARV-naive patients. Considered individually, the measures suggested perfect adherence in 71% to 93% of patients. In multivariate analysis adjusted for sex and therapeutic status before HAART initiation, only the biological markers were associated with virological efficacy. Self-funded treatment before entry to the program was highly predictive of virological failure. Conclusion. Adherence was excellent in these Cambodian patients. Biological markers were predictive of virological efficacy. MCV might thus serve as a simple alternative for assessing adherence and predicting virological efficacy among patients receiving AZT- or d4T-based regimens.
Sex-Specific Regulation of Mitochondrial DNA Levels: Genome-Wide Linkage Analysis to Identify Quantitative Trait Loci

Altered mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) levels have been associated with common diseases in humans. We investigated the genetic mechanism that controls mtDNA levels using genome-wide linkage analyses in families from the Genetic Analysis of Idiopathic Thrombophilia Project (GAIT). We measure mtDNA levels by quantitative real-time PCR in 386 subjects from 21 extended Spanish families. A variance component linkage method using 485 microsatellites was conducted to evaluate linkage and to detect quantitative trait loci (QTLs) involved in the control of mtDNA levels. The heritalibility of mtDNA levels was 0.33 (p = 1.82e-05). We identified a QTL on Chromosome 2 (LOD = 2.21) using all of the subjects, independently on their sex. When females and males were analysed separately, three QTLs were identified. Females showed the same QTL on Chromosome 2 (LOD = 3.09), indicating that the QTL identified in the analysis using all of the subjects was a strong female QTL, and another one on Chromosome 3 (LOD = 2.67), whereas in males a QTL was identified on Chromosome 1 (LOD = 2.81). These QTLs were fine-mapped to find associations with mtDNA levels. The most significant SNP association was for the rs10888838 on Chromosome 1 in males. This SNP mapped to the gene MRPL37, involved in mitochondrial protein translation. The rs2140855 on Chromosome 2 showed association in the analysis using all of the subjects. It was near the gene CMPK2, which encodes a mitochondrial enzyme of the salvage pathway of deoxyribonucleotide synthesis. Our results provide evidence of a sex-specific genetic mechanism for the control of mtDNA levels and provide a framework to identify new genes that influence mtDNA levels.
A Generalized Directional Laplacian Distribution : Estimation, Mixture Models and Audio Source Separation

Directional or Circular statistics are pertaining to the analysis and interpretation of directions or rotations. In this work, a novel probability distribution is proposed to model multidimensional sparse directional data. The Generalized Directional Laplacian Distribution (DLD) is a hybrid between the Laplacian distribution and the von Mises-Fisher distribution. The distribution's parameters are estimated using Maximum-Likelihood Estimation over a set of training data points. Mixtures of Directional Laplacian Distributions (MDLD) are also introduced in order to model multiple concentrations of sparse directional data. The author explores the application of the derived DLD mixture model to cluster sound sources that exist in an underdetermined instantaneous sound mixture. The proposed model can solve the general ${K\times L~(K< L)}$ underdetermined instantaneous source separation problem, offering a fast and stable solution.
Uncertainty analysis of eddy covariance CO2 flux measurements for different EC tower distances using an extended two-tower approach

Abstract. The use of eddy covariance (EC) CO2 flux measurements in data assimilation and other applications requires an estimate of the random uncertainty. In previous studies, the (classical) two-tower approach has yielded robust uncertainty estimates, but care must be taken to meet the often competing requirements of statistical independence (non-overlapping footprints) and ecosystem homogeneity when choosing an appropriate tower distance. The role of the tower distance was investigated with help of a roving station separated between 8 m and 34 km from a permanent EC grassland station. Random uncertainty was estimated for five separation distances with the classical two-tower approach and an extended approach which removed systematic differences of CO2 fluxes measured at two EC towers. This analysis was made for a data set where (i) only similar weather conditions at the two sites were included, and (ii) an unfiltered one. The extended approach, applied to weather-filtered data for separation distances of 95 and 173 m gave uncertainty estimates in best correspondence with an independent reference method. The introduced correction for systematic flux differences considerably reduced the overestimation of the two-tower based uncertainty of net CO2 flux measurements and decreased the sensitivity of results to tower distance. We therefore conclude that corrections for systematic flux differences (e.g., caused by different environmental conditions at both EC towers) can help to apply the two-tower approach to more site pairs with less ideal conditions.
Read Bulk Data From Computational RFIDs

Without the need of local energy supply, computational RFID (CRFID) sensors are emerging as important platforms enabling a variety of sensing and computing applications. Nevertheless, the data throughput of CRFIDs is very low. This paper aims at efficiently reading bulk data from CRFIDs using commodity RFID readers. We carry out thorough experiment studies to investigate the root cause of the low data throughput of CRFIDs. The experiment results suggest that the fundamental problem of data transfer stems from the mismatch between the stringent timing requirement of commodity standard and the limited packet handling capability of CRFIDs. We further propose several simple yet effective techniques to allow CRFIDs to meet stringent timing requirement of commodity RFID readers and achieve efficient data transfer. We implement a prototype system based on the WISP CRFIDs and commercial off-the-self RFID readers. We carry out extensive experiments on the prototype systems, which show that the proposed scheme works well with the commodity RFID readers.
Deep venous thrombosis screening system using numerical measures

An experimental system and interface that indicate the likelihood of deep venous thrombosis using objective numerical measures was developed, based on the conventional compression ultrasound examination. A sensorized ultrasound probe is used to acquire force, location and image data to assess a vessel segment for compression. Ultrasound image data is segmented using a modified Star-Kalman algorithm. A user interface displays the results using a 3-D representation. A tissue phantom was developed for testing and validation. Initial results with this phantom and healthy volunteers are presented.
"Novel 20 MW downhill conveyor system using three-level converters"

This paper presents a very new drive system used to transport ore from the mine down to the concentrator plant in the copper mine Los Pelambres. Eight 2500 kW motors are driven by three-level inverters with GTOs. A three-level active front end (AFE) is used at the input side of each inverter. A GTO chopper is used to provide controlled electrical braking in case of line loss. The paper presents the requirements and alternatives for the drive system and the control strategies for the converters and the belt. A novel application of the selective harmonic elimination method is used to reduce the input current harmonics. Special attention is dedicated to the interaction with the electrical network. The most relevant features of the system are: (i) fuseless operation; (ii) adjustable power factor; (iii) reduced input current harmonics; and (iv) smooth transition between motoring and regenerating modes and 15 MW of regenerated power with more than six months of successful operation.
A Graph Based Query Focused Multi-Document Summarization

A user's information need, normally represented as a search query, can be satisfied by creating a query focused coherent and readable summary, by fusing the relevant parts of information from multiple documents. While aggregating the information from multiple documents, the quality of the summary is improved by eliminating redundant information from the document set. In this paper, we focus on removing such redundant information and identifying the essential components from multiple documents (represented as a single global semantic graph), with respect to the given query (represented as a query graph). While the redundancy elimination is carried out using various levels of graph matching which are then indicated through canonical labeling of graphs, the selection of essential components for a query focused summary is performed, through the modified spreading activation theory, where the query graph is also integrated during the spreading activation over the global graph. The proposed system shows significant improvements in generating summaries when compared to other existing summarization systems.
Multitask Diffusion Adaptation Over Networks

Adaptive networks are suitable for decentralized inference tasks. Recent works have intensively studied distributed optimization problems in the case where the nodes have to estimate a single optimum parameter vector collaboratively. However, there are many important applications that are multitask-oriented in the sense that there are multiple optimum parameter vectors to be inferred simultaneously, in a collaborative manner, over the area covered by the network. In this paper, we employ diffusion strategies to develop distributed algorithms that address multitask problems by minimizing an appropriate mean-square error criterion with l2-regularization. The stability and performance of the algorithm in the mean and mean-square error sense are analyzed. Simulations are conducted to verify the theoretical findings, and to illustrate how the distributed strategy can be used in several useful applications related to target localization and hyperspectral data unmixing.
The House of Federation to Approve an Emergency Regime in Ethiopia: Peeking through the Preamble

The charismatic leadership of Emperor Menelik has not only earned Ethiopia numerous nations, nationalities and peoples but also convinced the European colonialists to recognize the boundaries and existence of Ethiopia as a sovereign state. Following the glorious years of Emperor Menelik, bounded by political intrigues around the throne, deftly organized hectic negotiations to firmly land Ethiopia in the international political and legal space, and solidifying the accomplishment of Menelikian expansionism, Teferi Mekonnen was finally crowned the Emperor of Ethiopia in 1930. Questioning the existing political status of nations, nationalities and peoples came into the forefront during the reign of Haile Selassie although doomed to failure. The military government that assumed power in the footsteps of Haile Selassie was unsuccessful in the attainment of the request of ethno-nationalist political entrepreneurs who at the end brought down the government. The Federal constitution, in addition to making the right of the nations, nationalities and peoples’ non-derogable, has established the House of Federation to be composed of representatives of nations, nationalities and peoples. Above all, sovereignty is vested in the nations, nationalities, and peoples. Conversant to any imagination, the House that represents these groups is denied the authority to decide on issues of public emergency—a situation that threatens the life of the State. In consequence, this paper argues that power should be returned to the legitimate holders—the nations, nationalities, and peoples—a power to be exercised by the House of the Federation.
How do you take time? Work–life balance policies versus neoliberal, social and cultural incentive mechanisms in Icelandic higher education

It is suggested that the realization of work–life balance policies at the University of Iceland is compromised by an emphasis on neoliberal notions of growth and performance measurements in the form of new public management strategies. This is sustained by overt and covert incentive mechanisms, which in turn create a range of different gendered implications for academic staff. The results from semi-structured interviews suggest that while this tension field affects all academic staff, it is generally less favourable to women than to men. If women were granted time for the sake of family obligations, they risked a setback in their academic career due to decreased research activity. Women tended to view academic flexibility as an opportunity to engage in domestic responsibilities more so than men; and male interviewees tended to view the prioritization of family as a choice, while women tended to view it as a condition.
Alcohol Use Among Business Students: Demographic, Personality, and Social Correlates of Increased Consumption

ABSTRACT This article aims to investigate drinking patterns among business students, and dispositional (e.g., demographics) and social factors (e.g., norms of alcohol use) that may explain differences in alcohol consumption between business and non-business students. Students in Bergen, Norway, were invited to participate in a survey. The sample consisted of 11,236 students. Binary logistic regressions were run to examine the relationship between institutional affiliation and alcohol use when controlling for covariates associated with alcohol use. Business students had higher alcohol consumption than other students, and shared several dispositional and social factors known to predict alcohol use. The heightened alcohol use among business students can partly be explained by dispositional factors, but seems mostly related to social norms and attitudes.
Quantitative assessment of the software maintenance process and requirements volatility

This paper describes analysis techniques used to quantitatively assess the software maintenance process of a large military contractor, and the results obtained. The analysis techniques make use of basic data collected throughout the maintenance process. The data collected are extensive and allow a set of functional enhancements to be traced to process activities and product impact. Simple nonparametric statistical techniques are then applied to test relationships between data items. The results provide valuable information for predicting process and product characteristics, and assessing the maintenance process.