Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How Complex Systems Fail

1) Complex systems are intrinsically hazardous systems. All of the interesting systems (e.g. transportation, healthcare, power generation) are inherently and unavoidably hazardous by the own nature. The frequency of hazard exposure can sometimes be changed but the processes involved in the system are themselves intrinsically and irreducibly hazardous. It is the presence of these hazards that drives the creation of defenses against hazard that characterize these systems.
Identification of Promoter Motifs Involved in the Network of Phytochrome A-Regulated Gene Expression by Combined Analysis of Genomic Sequence and Microarray Data1[w]

Several hundred Arabidopsis genes, transcriptionally regulated by phytochrome A (phyA), were previously identified using an oligonucleotide microarray. We have now identified, in silico, conserved sequence motifs in the promoters of these genes by comparing the promoter sequences to those of all the genes present on the microarray from which they were sampled. This was done using a Perl script (called Sift) that identifies over-represented motifs using an enumerative approach. The utility of Sift was verified by analysis of circadian-regulated promoters known to contain a biologically significant motif. Several elements were then identified in phyA-responsive promoters by their over-representation. Five previously undescribed motifs were detected in the promoters of phyA-induced genes. Four novel motifs were found in phyA-repressed promoters, plus a motif that strongly resembles the DE1 element. The G-box, CACGTG, was a prominent hit in both induced and repressed phyA-responsive promoters. Intriguingly, two distinct flanking consensus sequences were observed adjacent to the G-box core sequence: one predominating in phyA-induced promoters, the other in phyA-repressed promoters. Such different conserved flanking nucleotides around the core motif in these two sets of promoters may indicate that different members of the same family of DNA-binding proteins mediate phyA induction and repression. An increased abundance of G-box sequences was observed in the most rapidly phyA-responsive genes and in the promoters of phyA-regulated transcription factors, indicating that G-box-binding transcription factors are upstream components in a transcriptional cascade that mediates phyA-regulated development.
TELECOM ParisTech at ImageCLEF 2010 Photo Annotation Task: Combining Tags and Visual Features for Learning-Based Image Annotation

In this paper, we describe the participation of TELECOM ParisTech in the ImageCLEF 2010 Photo Annotation challenge. This edi- tion focuses on promoting combination between visual and tag features in order to enhance photo annotation. An image collection is supplied with tags which are used both for training and testing. Our training ap- proach consists of building SVM classiers and kernels which take into account the similarity between visual features as well as tags. The results clearly corroborate (i) the complementarity of tags and visual descriptors and (ii) the eectiveness of SVM classiers in photo annotation.
Exploring hardware transaction processing for reliable computing in chip-multiprocessors against soft errors

With shrinking transistor feature size, lowering nodal capacitance and supply voltage at new technology generations, microprocessors are becoming more vulnerable to single-event upsets and transients, a.k. a. , soft errors. While chip-multiprocessor (CMP) architecture has been employed in mainstream microprocessors and the number of on-chip processor cores keeps increasing, the system-level reliability of chip-multiprocessors is degrading reversely proportional to the core number. In this work, we propose to exploit abundant on-chip processor cores for redundant hardware transaction processing, which provides native support for error detection and recovery in transactional chip-multiprocessors (TxCMPs) against soft errors. The proposed transactional processor cores execute everything as transactions and TxCMPs execute redundant transactions on different cores. To alleviate the performance overhead due to transaction commits, we further propose two architectural optimizations, namely early partial commit packet transmission and speculative transaction execution in reliable computing mode. Our experimental evaluation confirms the effectiveness of our optimized TxCMPs in achieving low cost reliable computing against soft errors.
A new method for joint susceptibility artefact correction and super-resolution for dMRI

Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) has become increasingly relevant in clinical research and neuroscience. It is commonly carried out using the ultra-fast MRI acquisition technique Echo-Planar Imaging (EPI). While offering crucial reduction of acquisition times, two limitations of EPI are distortions due to varying magnetic susceptibilities of the object being imaged and its limited spatial resolution. In the recent years progress has been made both for susceptibility artefact correction and increasing of spatial resolution using image processing and reconstruction methods. However, so far, the interplay between both problems has not been studied and super-resolution techniques could only be applied along one axis, the slice-select direction, limiting the potential gain in spatial resolution. In this work we describe a new method for joint susceptibility artefact correction and super-resolution in EPI-MRI that can be used to increase resolution in all three spatial dimensions and in particular increase in-plane resolutions. The key idea is to reconstruct a distortion-free, high-resolution image from a number of low-resolution EPI data that are deformed in different directions. Numerical results on dMRI data of a human brain indicate that this technique has the potential to provide for the first time in-vivo dMRI at mesoscopic spatial resolution (i.e. 500μm); a spatial resolution that could bridge the gap between white-matter information from ex-vivo histology (≈1μm) and in-vivo dMRI (≈2000μm).
Fast sound field reproduction in box-shaped rooms: Rigid walls case

In this paper, an approach to sound field reproduction in reverberant rooms is presented. We focus on box-shaped rooms with fully reflective (rigid) walls. We propose a scheme based on mode-matching in the spatio-temporal Fourier domain combined with a simple least-squares approach to derive the loudspeaker weights that render the target sound-ield. By taking advantage of the fast Fourier transform (FFT), the method leads to a fast way to compute the loudspeaker weights. We address the reconstruction of basic sound ields (room-modes) using linear loudspeaker array conigurations. This is important, as more complex sound ields can be decomposed into a set of weighted room-modes. Our simulations show that accurate and eficient reconstruction of room-modes in a reverberant environment with perfectly reflective walls is possible.
Dept. for Speech, Music and Hearing Quarterly Progress and Status Report Diverse Voice Qualities: Models and Data Diverse Voice Qualities: Models and Data

TMH-QPSR 2/I 996 The voice source for different voice qualities has been investigated. The glottal signal has been attained using inverse filtering of the speech signal. Two different methods for modelling the results are demonstrated. An acoustic model, the LF voice source model, h s been fitted to the inverse filtered waveform and the LF parameters have been used to describe the voice pulse. The parameters of a vocal cord model, the Liljencrants model, has been manipulated to produce glottal pulses similar to the natural pulses. The parameter settings are discussed.
A finite-interval constant modulus algorithm

A finite-interval constant modulus algorithm is developed which is vastly simpler than the Analytic Constant Modulus Algorithm and, unlike that algorithm, can claim to minimize a constant modulus criterion. It requires one QR decomposition of a data matrix, followed by a power iteration. Step size bounds which ensure monotonic convergence are obtained in analytic form, and proper tuning leads to an algorithm which converges typically within a few iterations. The algorithm thus gives a computationally feasible method for implementing constant modulus signal restoration in packet-based transmission systems.
On the complexity reduction of turbo decoding for wideband CDMA

Two simple but effective methods for reducing the average complexity (and power consumption) of the conventional turbo-cyclic-redundancy-check decoding scheme with negligible performance degradation in a wideband direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (W-CDMA) environment are introduced. When applied to a W-CDMA turbo code with frame length 640 b at a bit-error rate (BER) of 10/sup -6/, the resultant modified schemes can save up to 73% of the average decoding complexity, relative to the conventional scheme. In general, the proposed schemes are more attractive for short-frame and low-BER applications.
When efficiency matters: Towards quality of context-aware peers for adaptive communication in VANETs

In the near future vehicles will be equipped with embedded communication capabilities in order to perform context-sensitive tasks such as traffic flow control and incident avoidance. In large scale vehicular networks it is of vital importance that the information exchanged between the vehicles meets a certain level of quality so that they can make informed automated decisions. In this paper we define Quality of Context (QoC) and Peer Reputation (PR) for nodes in vehicular networks and propose ways to apply them for efficient communication. Thus, we provide a two-fold solution in which on the one hand we focus on the quality of the information and on the other hand we aim at determining the reputation of the nodes involved in the communication. This helps to eliminate the use of erroneous, ambiguous and imprecise information provided by unknown entities. Our simulated experiments show that our mechanism significantly reduces network traffic usage, eases out the decision making process and guarantees a minimum level of quality.
Trust management system for Opportunistic Cloud Services

We have over the past three years been working on the feasibility of Opportunistic Cloud Services (OCS) for enterprises. OCS is about enterprises strategically contributing and utilizing spare IT resources as cloud services. One of the major challenges that such a platform faces is data security and trust management issues. This paper presents a trust management system for OCS platforms. It models the concept of trust and applies it to OCS platforms. The trust model and the trust management system are verified through the simulation of the computation of the trust values with Infrastructure as a Service, and Software as a Service, usage scenarios.
Specific forms of human trafficking in Slovenia: overview and preventive measures

Abstract Paper presents a research study on specific forms of human trafficking in Slovenia. The research indicates that the vulnerability of migrant workers in Slovenia results from their social vulnerability and deteriorating social conditions in the countries of origin. Employers are aware of these conditions and take advantage of the situation, which results in planned recruitment of workers in countries of origin. Furthermore, cases of human trafficking for the purpose of forced criminality and forced begging, as well as trafficking in children, are also indicated in the research. However, in the time period under review the Slovene police detected only a few underage victims of crimes that can be considered as trafficking. No evidence of trafficking in human organs, tissues and blood was found, but the research unveiled some cases indicating illegal intercountry adoptions. The research results and recommendations can guide further action and the planning of preventive activities.
A Comparative Analysis of the EU-Morocco FTA vs . Multilateral Trade Liberalization

An applied general equilibrium model with oligopoly and scale economies, based on detailed plant-level data, is used to contrast the impacts of the Morocco-EU free trade area (FTA) to multilateral trade liberalization on Morocco’s economy. Simulation results show that the FTA agreement is likely to have adverse effects on Morocco due to: (a) deteriorating terms of trade, (b) reductions in output per firm in industries dominated by scale economies, (c) diversion of imports away from non-EU suppliers, and (d) potentially adverse effects on the aggregate demand for labor. We contrast this FTA with a multilateral liberalization scenario along the lines of those proposed under the Doha Development Round and find this more beneficial to Morocco, with overall welfare gains due to: (a) lesser terms of trade losses, (b) positive scale effects, (c) non-preferential liberalization of imports into Morocco, and (d) a positive impact on aggregate labor demand. We conclude that Morocco would be better off pursuing trade liberalization in the multilateral arena. JEL classification: F12, F14, F15
Concepts for transaction recovery in nested transactions

The concept of nested transactions offers more decomposable execution units and finer grained control over recovery and concurrency as compared to 'flat' transactions. To exploit these advantages, especially transaction recovery has to be refined and adjusted to the requirements of the control structure. In this paper, we investigate transaction recovery for nested transactions. Therefore, a model for nested transaction is introduced allowing for synchronous and asynchronous transaction invocation as well as single call and conversational interfaces. For the resulting four parameter combinations, the properties and dependencies of transaction recovery are explored if a transaction is 'unit of recovery' and if savepoints within transactions are used to gain finer recovery units.
An Informed Watermarking Scheme Using Hidden Markov Model in the Wavelet Domain

 Abstract : Attaining robustness, imperceptibility and high capacity are of great rank in digital watermarking. In this paper a new watermarking technique is introduced based on the ideologies of informed coding and informed embedding. A hidden markov model (HMM) in the wavelet domain is developed to convert image into vector tree. An optimal embedding strength vector is obtained by using the Viterbi algorithm. The hidden markov model avoids the problem of unobtainability of exact embedding strength in the receiver due to informed embedding. Because of HMM based detector at the receiver the performance of watermarking is degraded so Taylor series approximated locally optimum test (TLOT) detector is developed to improve the detection performance in the extraction algorithm. The proposed robust watermarking algorithm has high sturdiness against common attacks in signal processing and shows a comparable performance in the state of the art scheme with a greatly reduced arithmetic complexity.
Pathological characterization of TgElk mice injected with brain homogenate from elk with chronic wasting disease

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is classified as a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy or prion disease that affects cervids. CWD has been reported in 15 US states, two Canadian provinces, and in imported elk on several farms in Korea. This study was conducted to examine the molecular biological and pathogenic characteristics of a CWD-associated prion isolated in Korea. The epidemiological origin of this pathogen was also determined. Homozygous TgElk mice were infected with a CWD-affected elk brain pool prepared from the brain of an imported Canadian elk. We measured the incubation time of the pathogen, neuropathological changes by immunohistochemical staining, the pattern(s) of scrapie prion protein (PrPSc) deposition, and PrPSc protein profiles by Western blotting. We found that TgElk mice infected with brain homogenate from the elk suffering from CWD showed incubation times, vacuolar degeneration, and PrPSc accumulation similar to those previously reported in the literature. Our results suggest that homozygous TgElk mice efficiently transmit CWD with short incubation times and that this animal can serve a valuable research model and reliable in vivo diagnostic tool.
On the Force-Closure Analysis of n-DOF Cable-Driven Open Chains Based on Reciprocal Screw Theory

It has been mathematically proven that a completely restrained n- degree-of-freedom (n-DOF) single rigid-bodied cable-driven platform requires a minimum of n + 1 cables with positive tension to fully constrain it. However, the force-closure analysis of open chains that are driven by cables is still an open question. For the case of an n -DOF cable-driven open chain, the following two important questions arise. 1) How can the force-closure analysis be carried out for a given cable routing configuration, while retaining the geometric insights of the problem? 2) Are n + 1 cables sufficient to fully constrain the entire chain? This paper addresses these issues by proposing a systematic and novel approach based on the reciprocal screw theory. The key idea is to express wrenches acting on the open chain as linear combinations of the reciprocal screws and determine the total required torques at each joint. This is followed by equating the joint torques that are provided by the cable forces with the joint torques, which are required by the external wrenches, and checking for force closure. The proposed methodology can analyze open chains with arbitrary cable routing configuration. The analysis shows that the entire n-DOF open chain requires a minimum of n + 1 cables to fully constrain it.
Iterative Multiuser Detection and Decoding with Spatially Coupled Interleaving

Spatially coupled (SC) interleaving is proposed to improve the performance of iterative multiuser detection and decoding (MUDD) for quasi-static fading multiple-input multiple-output systems. The linear minimum mean-squared error (LMMSE) demodulator is used to reduce the complexity and to avoid error propagation. Furthermore, sliding window MUDD is proposed to circumvent an increase of the decoding latency due to SC interleaving. Theoretical and numerical analyses show that SC interleaving can improve the performance of the iterative LMMSE MUDD for regular low-density parity-check codes.
Strain-controlled fundamental gap and structure of bulk black phosphorus

We study theoretically the structural and electronic response of layered bulk black phosphorus to in-layer strain. Ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the strain energy and interlayer spacing display a strong anisotropy with respect to the uniaxial strain direction. To correctly describe the dependence of the fundamental band gap on strain, we used the computationally more involved GW quasiparticle approach that is free of parameters and superior to DFT studies, which are known to underestimate gap energies. We find that the band gap depends sensitively on the in-layer strain and even vanishes at compressive strain values exceeding about 2%, thus suggesting a possible application of black P in strain-controlled infrared devices.
William Karush and the KKT Theorem

This chapter is mainly about William Karush and his role in the Karush-KuhnTucker theorem of nonlinear programming. It tells the story of fundamental optimization results that he obtained in his master’s thesis: results that he neither published nor advertised and that were later independently rediscovered and published by Harold W. Kuhn and Albert W. Tucker. The principal result – which concerns necessary conditions of optimality in the problem of minimizing a function of several variables constrained by inequalities – first became known as the Kuhn–Tucker theorem. Years later, when awareness of Karush’s pioneering work spread, his name was adjoined to the name of the theorem where it remains to this day. Still, the recognition of Karush’s discovery of this key result left two questions unanswered: why was the thesis not published? and why did he remain silent on the priority issue? After learning of the thesis work, Harold Kuhn wrote to Karush stating his intention to set the record straight on the matter of priority, and he did so soon thereafter. In his letter to Karush, Kuhn posed these two questions, and Karush answered them in his reply. These two letters are quoted below. Although there had long been optimization problems calling for the maximization or minimization of functions of several variables subject to constraints, it took the advent of linear programming to inspire the name “nonlinear programming. ” This term was first used as the title of a paper [30] by Harold W. Kuhn and Albert W. Tucker. Appearing in 1951, the paper contained many results, but interest focused on the one declaring conditions that must be satisfied by a solution of the
Rabring7 Degrades c-Myc through Complex Formation with MM-1

We have reported that a novel c-Myc-binding protein, MM-1, repressed E-box-dependent transcription and transforming activities of c-Myc and that a mutation of A157R in MM-1, which is often observed in patients with leukemia or lymphoma, abrogated all of the repressive activities of MM-1 toward c-Myc, indicating that MM-1 is a novel tumor suppressor. MM-1 also binds to the ubiquitin-proteasome system, leading to degradation of c-Myc. In this study, we identified Rabring7, a Rab7-binding and RING finger-containing protein, as an MM-1-binding protein, and we found that Rabring7 mono-ubiquitinated MM-1 in the cytoplasm without degradation of MM-1. Rabring7 was also found to bind to c-Myc and to ubiquitinate c-Myc in a threonine 58-dependent manner. When c-Myc was co-transfected with MM-1 and Rabring7, c-Myc was degraded. Furthermore, it was found that c-Myc was stabilized in MM-1-knockdown cells even when Rabring7 was transfected and that Rabring7 was bound to and co-localized with MM-1 and c-Myc after MM-1 and Rabring7 had been translocated from the cytoplasm to the nucleus. These results suggest that Rabring7 stimulates c-Myc degradation via mono-ubiquitination of MM-1.
Using rendezvous to overcome communication limitations in multirobot exploration

In cooperative multirobot systems, communication can speed up completion, reduce redundancy, and prevent interference between robots. Typically, wireless point-to-point communication is used to coordinate robots. However, environmental interference, unpredictable network conditions, and distances between robots can affect the reliability of wireless communication. Therefore, approaches other than continuous message passing throughout exploration are useful. We consider the problem of coordinating a multirobot system to explore an unknown, large, open environment. An approach that uses sector search with rendezvous is presented. Robots explore an environment in sectors, or designated areas, and periodically meet to communicate map information of what they have explored. Our approach is compared to other communication paradigms in simulation. Results suggest that sector search with rendezvous is more efficient than having no communications. It further demonstrates advantages over scenarios in which robots communicate only with other robots in close proximity, and is comparable to a role-based approach with dynamic team hierarchies.