Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adaptive backstepping control for a single-link flexible robot manipulator driven DC motor

In this paper, an adaptive backstepping control method is developed for a single-link robotic manipulator coupled to a brushed direct current DC motor with a nonrigid joint. The developed method uses the Lyapunov approach. It guarantees the uniform ultimate boundedness of the closed-loop system signals and the tracking error converges to zero asymptotically for any initial conditions. Simulation results also demonstrate the feasibility, effectiveness and advantage of the method.
The Impact of Transformational Leadership and Commitment on Teachers’ Innovative Behaviour

Rapid technological and social changes in society have led to reformation and transformation in educational system. This has demands for innovative behaviour among teachers that play the key role in implementing the educational reformation and transformation schemas at school. The purpose of this study is to describe the level of innovative behaviour among teachers in secondary school in Malaysia and the impact of transformational leadership on teachers’ innovative behaviour before and after the inclusion of teachers’ commitment as mediator. This study employed a survey method, which utilised a set of questionnaire containing items to measure three main variables, namely. transformational leadership of school leaders, teachers’ commitment and innovative behaviour. There were 961 teachers from various secondary schools were randomly selected as respondents which consisted of 704 female teachers and 257 male teachers. The mean values show that the level of innovative behaviour among teachers are moderately high. Further, the hierarchical linear regression analysis identified teachers’ commitment partially mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and teachers’ innovative behaviour. This study provides a glimpse of teachers innovative behaviour improvement resulted from transformational leadership and their commitment towards their career and organization. Keyword: Transformational leadership, commitment, innovative behaviour, schoolteachers.
The Shape of the Vocabulary Predicts the Shape of the Bias

Children acquire attentional biases that help them generalize novel words to novel objects. Researchers have proposed that these biases arise from regularities in the early noun vocabulary children learn and suggest that the specifics of the biases should be tied to the specifics of individual children’s vocabularies. However, evidence supporting this proposal to date comes from studies of group means. The current study examines the relations between the statistics of the nouns young children learn and the similarities and differences in the biases they demonstrate. We show that individual differences in vocabulary structure predict individual differences in novel noun generalization. Thus, these data support the proposal that word learning biases emerge from the regularities present in individual children’s vocabularies and, importantly, that children’s on-line attention during an experiment is mediated by instances of past learning.
LineScout power line robot: Characterization of a UTM-30LX LIDAR system for obstacle detection

This paper presents the characterization of the Hokuyo UTM-30LX laser range finder applied to obstacle detection on power line conductors. First, an overview section defines requirements and explains why the UTM-30LX was selected for this application. Next, since there is no published characterization of this particular sensor's performance, a comprehensive set of experiments is described, both general tests and ones specific to the novel problem of scanning a power line conductor to detect where obstructions are present. It is then explained how the LIDAR can be mounted on the LineScout power line robot and what algorithm is used to detect obstacles ahead. Basic results obtained on a full-scale power line mock-up clearly demonstrate the potential of the approach.
Solving coverability problems of petri nets by partial deduction

In recent work it has been shown that infinite state model checking can be performed by a combination of partial deduction of logic programs and abstract interpretation. This paper focuses on one particular class of problem--coverability for (infinite state) Petri nets--and shows how existing techniques and tools for declarative programs can be successfully applied. In particular, we show that a restricted form of partial deduction is already powerful enough to decide all coverability properties of Petri Nets. We also prove that two particular instances of partial deduction exactly compute the Karp-Miller tree as well as Finkel's minimal coverability set. We thus establish an interesting link between algorithms for Petri nets and logic program specialisation.
Empirical Activity: Assessing the Perceptual Properties of the Size Visual Variation in UML Sequence Diagram

Recent empirical studies about UML showed that software practitioners often use it to communicate. When they use diagram(s) during a meeting with clients/users or during an informal discussion with their architect, they may want to highlight some elements to synchronise the visual support to their discourse. To that end, they are free to use color, size, brightness, grain and/or orientation. The mentioned freedom is due to the lack of formal specifications of their use in the UML standard and refers to what is called the secondary notation, by the Cognitive dimensions framework. According to the Semiology of Graphics (SoG), one of the main references in cartography, each mean of visual annotation is characterized by its perceptual properties. Being under modeler's control, the 5 means of visual annotations can differently be applied to UML graphic components: to the border, text, background and to the related other graphic nodes. In that context, the goal of this research is to study the effective implementations, which maintain the perceptual properties of, especially, the size visual variation. This latter has been chosen because it is considered as the " strongest " among the other visual means, having all the perceptual properties. The present proposal consists of a quantitative methodology using an experiment as strategy of inquiry. The participants will be the˜20the˜the˜20 attendees of the HuFaMo workshop. They must be experts on modeling and they know UML. The treatment is the reading and the visual extraction of information from a set of UML sequence diagrams, provided via a web application. The dependent variables we study are the responses and the response times of participants, that will be validated based on the SoG principles.
Mobile Awareness Routing Protocol for Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks Based on Optimal Relay Nodes

Mobile sink is a kind of node with mobility in wireless sensor networks, which is proved to balance the energy consumption of the whole network effectively and solve the "Energy hole" problem. The central focus of the study is to build a dynamic route from the sensor to the mobile sink. A mobile awareness routing protocol for mobile wireless sensor networks based on optimal relay nodes (MAOR) is proposed. First, the network is divided into clusters according to LEACH. Then the nodes percept the movement of the mobile sink and found the relay nodes on the optimal forward position calculated by the relevance of communication distance and energy consumption. Finally, the data collected by the clusters is transmit for the sensor to the mobile sink through the optimal relay nodes. Experiment result show that the MAOR is of benefit to achieve an evident improvement of network lifetime.
C-->U editing of apolipoprotein B mRNA in marsupials: identification and characterisation of APOBEC-1 from the American opossum Monodelphus domestica

The C->U editing of RNA is widely found in plant and animal species. In mammals it is a discrete process confined to the editing of apolipoprotein B (apoB) mRNA in eutherians and the editing of the mitochondrial tRNA for glycine in marsupials. Here we have identified and characterised apoB mRNA editing in the American opossum Monodelphus domestica. The apoB mRNA editing site is highly conserved in the opossum and undergoes complete editing in the small intestine, but not in the liver or other tissues. Opossum APOBEC-1 cDNA was cloned, sequenced and expressed. The encoded protein is similar to APOBEC-1 of eutherians. Motifs previously identified as involved in zinc binding, RNA binding and catalysis, nuclear localisation and a C-terminal leucine-rich domain are all conserved. Opossum APOBEC-1 contains a seven amino acid C-terminal extension also found in humans and rabbits, but not present in rodents. The opossum APOBEC-1 gene has the same intron/exon organisation in the coding sequence as the eutherian gene. Northern blot and RT-PCR analyses and an editing assay indicate that no APOBEC-1 was expressed in the liver. Thus the far upstream promoter responsible for hepatic expression in rodents does not operate in the opossum. An APOBEC-1-like enzyme such as might be involved in C->U RNA editing of tRNA in marsupial mitochondria was not demonstrated. The activity of opossum APOBEC-1 in the presence of both chicken and rodent auxiliary editing proteins was comparable to that of other mammals. These studies extend the origins of APOBEC-1 back 170 000 000 years to marsupials and help bridge the gap in the origins of this RNA editing process between birds and eutherian mammals.
Approximation of optimal step size control for acoustic echo cancellation

One of the most widely used gradient-based adaptation algorithms is the so called normalized least mean square (NLMS) algorithm. The rate of convergence, misadjustment and noise insensitivity of the NLMS-type algorithm depend on the proper choice of the step size parameter, which controls the weighting applied to each coefficient update. Different step size methods have been proposed to improve the convergence of NLMS-type filters, while preserving the steady-state performance. The step size methods considered here use either a step size parameter which varies with time or a separate, tap-individual step size for each filter tap. The derivation of the respective step size methods is based on different optimization criteria. In this paper a step size parameter is proposed satisfying a combined optimization criterion leading to a time variant and individual step size parameter. The realization aspects of the new concept are discussed for an acoustic echo control application as an example.
The Local Nature of List Colorings for Graphs of High Girth

We consider list coloring problems for graphs $\mathcal{G}$ ofgirth larger than clogΔ-1n, where nand Δ≥ 3 are,respectively, the order and the maximum degree of $\mathcal{G}$,and cis a suitable constant. First, we determine that theedge and total list chromatic numbers of these graphs are$\chi'_l({\mathcal{G}}) = \Delta$ and $\chi''_l({\mathcal{G}}) =\Delta + 1$. This proves that the general conjectures ofBollobas and Harris (1985), Behzad and Vizing (1969) andJuvan, Mohar and `krekovski (1998) hold for this particular classof graphs. Moreover, our proofs exhibit a certain degree of "locality",which we exploit to obtain an efficient distributed algorithm ableto compute both kinds of optimal list colorings. Also, using an argument similar to one of Erdos, we showthat our algorithm can compute k-list vertex colorings ofgraphs having girth larger than clogk-1n.
Congestion Control for Scalable Video Streaming Using the Scalability Extension of H.264/AVC

This paper presents a streaming system using the scalability extension of H.264/AVC. The system provides a congestion control algorithm, which is supported by a channel bandwidth estimation running on the client. It uses retransmission only for packets from the base layer to limit the burden on the congested network. The bandwidth estimation allows the transmission rate to be quickly adjusted to the currently available bandwidth of the network. Compared to binomial congestion control, the proposed system allows for shorter start-up times and faster data rate adaptation. The paper describes the components of this streaming system and the results of experiments with competing UDP and TCP applications showing that the proposed approach reaches a throughput at least 50% higher than existing congestion control algorithms for streaming video without using more than the fair share of the bandwidth of the bottleneck link.
Towards an extensible efficient event processing kernel

The efficient processing of large collections of patterns (Boolean expressions, XPath queries, or continuous SQL queries) over data streams plays a central role in major data intensive applications ranging from user-centric processing and personalization to real-time data analysis. On the one hand, emerging user-centric applications, including computational advertising and selective information dissemination, demand determining and presenting to an end-user only the most relevant content that is both user-consumable and suitable for limited screen real estate of target (mobile) devices. We achieve these user-centric requirements through novel high-dimensional indexing structures and (parallel) algorithms. On the other hand, applications in real-time data analysis, including computational finance and intrusion detection, demand meeting stringent subsecond processing requirements and providing high-frequency and low-latency event processing over data streams. We achieve real-time data analysis requirements by leveraging reconfigurable hardware -- FPGAs -- to sustain line-rate processing by exploiting unprecedented degrees of parallelism and potential for pipelining, only available through custom-built, application-specific, and low-level logic design. Finally, we conduct a comprehensive evaluation to demonstrate the superiority of our proposed techniques in comparison with state-of-the-art algorithms designed for event processing.
Methodological Considerations for Comparison of Cross-species Use of Tactile Contact

Cross-species comparisons are benefited by compatible datasets; conclusions related to phylogenetic comparisons, questions on convergent and divergent evolution, or homologs versus analogs can only be made when the behaviors being measured are comparable. A direct comparison of the social function of physical contact across two disparate taxa is possible only if data collection and analyses methodologies are analogous. We identify and discuss the parameters, assumptions and measurement schemes applicable to multiple taxa and species that facilitate cross-species comparisons. To illustrate our proposed guidelines for evaluating the role played by tactile contact in social behavior across disparate taxa, this paper presents data on mother-offspring relationships in the two species studied by the authors: chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) and dolphins (bottlenose and spotted, Tursiops truncatus and Stenella frontalis, respectively). Cross-species comparative studies allow for a more comprehensive assessment of the similarities and differences with respect to how animals traverse the relationships that form their social groups and societies.
Application of Unsupervised Learning Techniques to Business Meta-Data , using Yelp Data

When designing effective marketing strategies for products, marketers often consider the ”marketing mix” – the value of the product, the price it might be offered at, how the product is promoted and the places where the product can be accessed or purchased. In competitive marketplaces, a better understanding of the elements of the marketing mix might lead to better marketing strategies and be incredibly valuable.
Wavelet transform-based downsampling for low bit-rate video coding

Video coding has been a very hot area of research for a long time. The latest standard High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) outperforms H.264 a lot and needs only half of bit-rate to obtain the same performance. However HEVC is designed for high definition video such as 1080p and above. The high compression rate calls for high complexity, which limits the application in some low bandwidth and low complexity conditions. In this paper, an idea of wavelet transform-based downsampling scheme for intra mode is used before HEVC coding to ensure the bandwidth for low frequency content of video in low bit-rate condition. Furthermore the downsampled size of video can reduce the complexity of HEVC encoding procedure to only a quarter of the original size. To make the performance better, we also allocate bandwidth for high frequency content. Bit-plane encoding with frame partition is used to encode the high frequency coefficients efficiently. Bit-plane encoding scheme encodes big data first so that the high frequency content can be transmitted in an arbitrary truncated bitstream. Frame partition uses fewer bits to encode more coefficients. Simulation results of intra mode coding are presented to show the advantage of our algorithm. The proposed wavelet transform-based downsampling scheme reduces the complexity of HEVC. Together with high frequency coefficients encoding, our algorithm can perform similar coding performance as HEVC.
A publication-subscription interaction schema for desktop grid computing

This paper proposes a Publish-Subscribe framework for the design of Desktop Grid (DG) middleware. This work focuses on a modeling and a verification of a DG protocol based on the Publish-Subscribe paradigm and introduces a prototype that we are currently developing. Our prototype implementation is based on Redis, a key-value no-SQL Web 2.0 tool with Publish-Subscribe functionality. Whereas most previous approaches required to build a number of layers before the layer of the DG middleware, we have only one layer in our system. In addition, our system is characterized to be light in terms of coding lines and used resources. It is therefore very convenient to implement DGs on resource constrained systems, e.g. tablets and smartphones.
Automatic noise modeling for ghost-free HDR reconstruction

High dynamic range reconstruction of dynamic scenes requires careful handling of dynamic objects to prevent ghosting. However, in a recent review, Srikantha et al. [2012] conclude that "there is no single best method and the selection of an approach depends on the user's goal". We attempt to solve this problem with a novel approach that models the noise distribution of color values. We estimate the likelihood that a pair of colors in different images are observations of the same irradiance, and we use a Markov random field prior to reconstruct irradiance from pixels that are likely to correspond to the same static scene object. Dynamic content is handled by selecting a single low dynamic range source image and hand-held capture is supported through homography-based image alignment. Our noise-based reconstruction method achieves better ghost detection and removal than state-of-the-art methods for cluttered scenes with large object displacements. As such, our method is broadly applicable and helps move the field towards a single method for dynamic scene HDR reconstruction.
Common capacity-limited neural mechanisms of selective attention and spatial working memory encoding

One characteristic feature of visual working memory (WM) is its limited capacity, and selective attention has been implicated as limiting factor. A possible reason why attention constrains the number of items that can be encoded into WM is that the two processes share limited neural resources. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have indeed demonstrated commonalities between the neural substrates of WM and attention. Here we investigated whether such overlapping activations reflect interacting neural mechanisms that could result in capacity limitations. To independently manipulate the demands on attention and WM encoding within one single task, we combined visual search and delayed discrimination of spatial locations. Participants were presented with a search array and performed easy or difficult visual search in order to encode one, three or five positions of target items into WM. Our fMRI data revealed colocalised activation for attention‐demanding visual search and WM encoding in distributed posterior and frontal regions. However, further analysis yielded two patterns of results. Activity in prefrontal regions increased additively with increased demands on WM and attention, indicating regional overlap without functional interaction. Conversely, the WM load‐dependent activation in visual, parietal and premotor regions was severely reduced during high attentional demand. We interpret this interaction as indicating the sites of shared capacity‐limited neural resources. Our findings point to differential contributions of prefrontal and posterior regions to the common neural mechanisms that support spatial WM encoding and attention, providing new imaging evidence for attention‐based models of WM encoding.
Investigating the impact of automated transcripts on non-native speakers' listening comprehension

Real-time transcripts generated by automatic speech recognition (ASR) technologies hold potential to facilitate non-native speakers’ (NNSs) listening comprehension. While introducing another modality (i.e., ASR transcripts) to NNSs provides supplemental information to understand speech, it also runs the risk of overwhelming them with excessive information. The aim of this paper is to understand the advantages and disadvantages of presenting ASR transcripts to NNSs and to study how such transcripts affect listening experiences. To explore these issues, we conducted a laboratory experiment with 20 NNSs who engaged in two listening tasks in different conditions: audio only and audio+ASR transcripts. In each condition, the participants described the comprehension problems they encountered while listening. From the analysis, we found that ASR transcripts helped NNSs solve certain problems (e.g., “do not recognize words they know”), but imperfect ASR transcripts (e.g., errors and no punctuation) sometimes confused them and even generated new problems. Furthermore, post-task interviews and gaze analysis of the participants revealed that NNSs did not have enough time to fully exploit the transcripts. For example, NNSs had difficulty shifting between multimodal contents. Based on our findings, we discuss the implications for designing better multimodal interfaces for NNSs.
Theoretical aspects in wheeled mobile robot control

This work presents some considerations regarding mathematical models and control solutions for a class of mobile robots namely two-wheeled differential drive mobile robots, one of the most utilized mechanical structures now in mobile robotics practice. The closed loop control diagrams for position control and respectively for direction control in tracking along imposed trajectories are developed, analyzed and included in this paper. For these control solutions, the paper presents therefore some analyses regarding the stability in different circumstances. In addition, direct and inverse cinematic models for this class of mobile robots are included.