Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Energy-Aware Ant Colony Based Workload Placement in Clouds

With increasing numbers of energy hungry data centers energy conservation has now become a major design constraint. One traditional approach to conserve energy in virtualized data centers is to perform workload (i.e., VM) consolidation. Thereby, workload is packed on the least number of physical machines and over-provisioned resources are transitioned into a lower power state. However, most of the workload consolidation approaches applied until now are limited to a single resource (e.g., CPU) and rely on simple greedy algorithms such as First-Fit Decreasing (FFD), which perform resource-dissipative workload placement. Moreover, they are highly centralized and known to be hard to distribute. In this work, we model the workload consolidation problem as an instance of the multi-dimensional bin-packing (MDBP) problem and design a novel, nature-inspired workload consolidation algorithm based on the Ant Colony Optimization (ACO). We evaluate the ACO-based approach by comparing it with one frequently applied greedy algorithm (i.e., FFD). Our simulation results demonstrate that ACO outperforms the evaluated greedy algorithm as it achieves superior energy gains through better server utilization and requires less machines. Moreover, it computes solutions which are nearly optimal. Finally, the autonomous nature of the approach allows it to be implemented in a fully distributed environment.
Decision-theoretic reasoning in medicine : bringing out the diagnosis

Decision-theoretic formalisms such as influence diagrams and POMDPs can be used to solve complex decision problems in clinical medicine. These formalisms then help to construct a decision policy that prescribes the best clinical actions given patient-specific findings. The notion of diagnosis and its role in clinical reasoning is however left implicit. This paper shows how diagnoses can be made explicit in multivariate POMDPs that are used for clinical problem solving. The aim is to facilitate the user’s understanding of the recommendations of a decision policy. Three types of differential diagnoses, each with its own perspective on the importance of diagnostic hypotheses, are presented. Examples from the domain of paediatric cardiology are used to illustrate the ideas presented.
Comment on the Equality Condition for the I-MMSE Proof of Entropy Power Inequality

The paper establishes the equality condition in the I-MMSE proof of the entropy power inequality (EPI). This is done by establishing an exact expression for the deficit between the two sides of the EPI. Interestingly, a necessary condition for the equality is established by making a connection to the famous Cauchy functional equation.
Mobile robot navigation in textureless unknown environment based on plane estimation by using single omni-directional camera

In this paper, we propose a method for a mobile robot to navigation in textureless environment using an omni-directional camera. The method makes an environment map consisting of 3D edge points obtained from omni-directional camera images and estimates the locations of planes by analysing these 3D edge points so that the robot can autonomously travel while avoiding walls as obstacles. The method has the advantage that it can generate a 3D map in environments constructed by textureless planes. It is important to improve robustness of obstacle detection in order to realize navigation with a long distance. The proposed method was evaluated in more complex environment such as a long corridor and a corner.
4.5G: A milestone along the road to 5G

Since 1980s, in every decade, a new generation of mobile communication appears with new features and characteristics. The performance indicators in every such new system are better than the previous. In between the two full consecutive generations, there exist incremental hybrid systems which is normally better than their predecessors. It has been observed in 1990s as 2.5G (also several other versions commonly known as 2.xG) which was better than 2G; and in 2000s as 3.xG versions which were incremental upgradations over 3G. In case of 4G too, such incremental upgradations has been observed. Recently proposed 4.5G cellular communication system is better than 4G in several aspects. 4.5G is the outcome of the LTE evolution whose legacy is LTE Advanced (commonly known as 4G). It is now considered as a version closer to 5G in terms of performance metrics. In this article, we present the features and characteristics of 4.5G cellular communication system and discuss its proximity with 5G.
RSU centric channel allocation in Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks

Safety and non safety related VANET messages have localized spatial scope and limited time relevance. A MAC protocol must ensure timely delivery of such messages with high reliability over a shared wireless medium. The Vehicles moving on the road form a fluid strait jacketed topology. In this paper, an RSU centric channel allocation protocol has been proposed to minimize channel allocation time and management overhead. An RSU divides the limited bandwidth allocated to a region into prefixed overlapping spatial clusters and the channel in each cluster is divided into time slots. A time slot is allotted to a vehicle in accordance to the priority of the request and availability of the channel. Simulation results indicate that the allocation scheme is able to deliver packets within the stipulated time with high reliability for different vehicle speeds and density for channel allocation based on three overlapping clusters. Moreover, the technique does not suffer from the hidden and exposed node problem.
Representing Progressive Dynamic 3D Meshes and Applications

Dynamic 3D mesh sequences, also called 3D animation, have been widely used in the movie and gaming industries. However, the huge storage requirements of dynamic mesh data make it problematic for a number of applications such as rendering, transmission over a network, and displaying on mobile devices. This paper proposes a multi resolution representation of 3D animation that results displaying 3D animation progressively. The proposed method transforms traditional 3D animation representation into progressive representation, which takes up less storage and memory space. The progressive representation is constructed by compressing the animation into a base animation with sequenced refining operators. The base animation is viewable and can be reconstructed by transmitting for only a few seconds, which is also called thumbnail animation in this paper, the more detailed animation can be refined smoothly with applying refining operators. As the results, the resolution of animation can be free to change at real-time, where the resolution can be increased automatically or even controlled by user. Moreover, the progressive animation is more suitable for transmitting and displaying through the network.
Covariations of Sea Surface Temperature and Wind over the Kuroshio and Its Extension: Evidence for Ocean-to-Atmosphere Feedback(.

Abstract Satellite microwave measurements are analyzed, revealing robust covariability in sea surface temperature (SST) and wind speed over the Kuroshio Extension (KE) east of Japan. Ocean hydrodynamic instabilities cause the KE to meander and result in large SST variations. Increased (reduced) wind speeds are found to be associated with warm (cold) SST anomalies. This positive SST–wind correlation in KE is confirmed by in situ buoy measurements and is consistent with a vertical shear adjustment mechanism. Namely, an increase in SST reduces the static stability of the near-surface atmosphere, intensifying the vertical turbulence mixing and bringing fast-moving air from aloft to the sea surface. South of Japan, the Kuroshio is known to vary between nearshore and offshore paths. These paths are very persistent and can last for months to years. As the Kuroshio shifts its path, coherent wind changes are detected from satellite data. In particular, winds are high south of Tokyo when the Kuroshio takes the near.
Robust Shift-and-Invert Preconditioning: Faster and More Sample Efficient Algorithms for Eigenvector Computation

We provide faster algorithms and improved sample complexities for approximating the top eigenvector of a matrix. Offline Setting: Given an $n \times d$ matrix $A$, we show how to compute an $\epsilon$ approximate top eigenvector in time $\tilde O ( [nnz(A) + \frac{d \cdot sr(A)}{gap^2}]\cdot \log 1/\epsilon )$ and $\tilde O([\frac{nnz(A)^{3/4} (d \cdot sr(A))^{1/4}}{\sqrt{gap}}]\cdot \log1/\epsilon )$. Here $sr(A)$ is the stable rank and $gap$ is the multiplicative eigenvalue gap. By separating the $gap$ dependence from $nnz(A)$ we improve on the classic power and Lanczos methods. We also improve prior work using fast subspace embeddings and stochastic optimization, giving significantly improved dependencies on $sr(A)$ and $\epsilon$. Our second running time improves this further when $nnz(A) \le \frac{d\cdot sr(A)}{gap^2}$. Online Setting: Given a distribution $D$ with covariance matrix $\Sigma$ and a vector $x_0$ which is an $O(gap)$ approximate top eigenvector for $\Sigma$, we show how to refine to an $\epsilon$ approximation using $\tilde O(\frac{v(D)}{gap^2} + \frac{v(D)}{gap \cdot \epsilon})$ samples from $D$. Here $v(D)$ is a natural variance measure. Combining our algorithm with previous work to initialize $x_0$, we obtain a number of improved sample complexity and runtime results. For general distributions, we achieve asymptotically optimal accuracy as a function of sample size as the number of samples grows large. Our results center around a robust analysis of the classic method of shift-and-invert preconditioning to reduce eigenvector computation to approximately solving a sequence of linear systems. We then apply fast SVRG based approximate system solvers to achieve our claims. We believe our results suggest the general effectiveness of shift-and-invert based approaches and imply that further computational gains may be reaped in practice.
Detection of Carotid Artery from Pre-Processed Magnetic Resonance Angiogram

Boundary detection is playing an important role in the medical image analysis. In certain cases it becomes very difficult for the doctors to assess the carotid arteries from the magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) of the neck. In this paper an attempt has been made to detect carotid arteries from the neck magnetic resonance angiograms, so as to overcome such difficulties. The algorithm pre-processes the magnetic resonance angiograms and subsequently detects the carotid artery. Stenosis is expected to reduce the diameter of the vessel. The diameter can be measured from the vasculature detected image. As the algorithm successfully detects the carotid artery from the neck magnetic resonance angiograms, therefore it will help doctors for diagnosis and serve as a step in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
Crumple: A Method for Complete Enumeration of All Possible Pseudoknot-Free RNA Secondary Structures

The diverse landscape of RNA conformational space includes many canyons and crevices that are distant from the lowest minimum free energy valley and remain unexplored by traditional RNA structure prediction methods. A complete description of the entire RNA folding landscape can facilitate identification of biologically important conformations. The Crumple algorithm rapidly enumerates all possible non-pseudoknotted structures for an RNA sequence without consideration of thermodynamics while filtering the output with experimental data. The Crumple algorithm provides an alternative approach to traditional free energy minimization programs for RNA secondary structure prediction. A complete computation of all non-pseudoknotted secondary structures can reveal structures that would not be predicted by methods that sample the RNA folding landscape based on thermodynamic predictions. The free energy minimization approach is often successful but is limited by not considering RNA tertiary and protein interactions and the possibility that kinetics rather than thermodynamics determines the functional RNA fold. Efficient parallel computing and filters based on experimental data make practical the complete enumeration of all non-pseudoknotted structures. Efficient parallel computing for Crumple is implemented in a ring graph approach. Filters for experimental data include constraints from chemical probing of solvent accessibility, enzymatic cleavage of paired or unpaired nucleotides, phylogenetic covariation, and the minimum number and lengths of helices determined from crystallography or cryo-electron microscopy. The minimum number and length of helices has a significant effect on reducing conformational space. Pairing constraints reduce conformational space more than single nucleotide constraints. Examples with Alfalfa Mosaic Virus RNA and Trypanosome brucei guide RNA demonstrate the importance of evaluating all possible structures when pseduoknots, RNA-protein interactions, and metastable structures are important for biological function. Crumple software is freely available at http://adenosine.chem.ou.edu/software.html.
The scattering transformation for networked control systems

Communication time delay in a networked control system (NCS) degrades the performance and may lead to instability. For the first time the scattering transformation is applied to NCS in order to guarantee stability in the presence of arbitrarily large constant time delay. This approach, initially derived from network theory and often used in bilateral teleoperation with time delay, requires in its original version all subsystems to be passive. In this paper a stability condition is derived relaxing this restriction such that also non-passive plants can be stabilized. The performance of the proposed approach is superior over two standard approaches, the Smith predictor and PI control in the presence of time delay uncertainties. Experimental validation results are presented
Small molecule inhibitor screen identifies synergistic activity of the bromodomain inhibitor CPI203 and bortezomib in drug resistant myeloma

Purpose Despite significant therapeutic progress in multiple myeloma, drug resistance is uniformly inevitable and new treatments are needed. Our aim was to identify novel, efficacious small-molecule combinations for use in drug resistant multiple myeloma. Experimental Design A panel of 116 small molecule inhibitors was used to screen resistant myeloma cell lines for potential therapeutic targets. Agents found to have enhanced activity in the bortezomib or melphalan resistant myeloma cell lines were investigated further in combination. Synergistic combinations of interest were evaluated in primary patient cells. Results The overall single-agent drug sensitivity profiles were dramatically different between melphalan and bortezomib resistant cells, however, the bromodomain inhibitor, CPI203, was observed to have enhanced activity in both the bortezomib and melphalan resistant lines compared to their wild-type counterparts. The combination of bortezomib and CPI203 was found to be synergistic in both the bortezomib and melphalan resistant cell lines as well as in a primary multiple myeloma sample from a patient refractory to recent proteasome inhibitor treatment. The CPI203-bortezomib combination led to enhanced apoptosis and anti-proliferative effects. Finally, in contrast to prior reports of synergy between bortezomib and other epigenetic modifying agents, which implicated MYC downregulation or NOXA induction, our analyses suggest that CPI203-bortezomib synergy is independent of these events. Conclusion Our preclinical data supports a role for the clinical investigation of the bromodomain inhibitor CPI203 combined with bortezomib or alkylating agents in resistant multiple myeloma.
Tactics-Based Remote Execution

Remote execution can transform the puniest mobile device into a computing giant. This would enable resourceintensive applications such as natural language translation, speech recognition, face recognition, and augmented reality to be run on tiny handheld, wearable or body-implanted platforms. Nearby compute servers, connected through a lowlatency wireless LAN, can provide the CPU cycles, memory, and energy needed for such applications. Unfortunately, two annoying facts cloud this rosy future. First, the partitioning of an interactive application into local and remote components that achieves good application performance is highly application-specific and platformspecific. Since mobile hardware evolves rapidly, this partitioning changes on the timescale of months rather than years. Incorrect partitioning can result in sluggish and intolerable interactive response. Hence, a tight and ongoing coupling between application developers and hardware platform developers appears inevitable. Second, matters are made worse by the fact that mobile environments exhibit highly variable resource availability. Bandwidth, energy and availability of compute servers can change on the timescale of minutes or hours, as a user moves to different locations. Re-partitioning an application for changed operating conditions at this timescale is therefore essential. These considerations suggest that an automated approach to partitioning applications for remote execution is necessary. However, partitioning an application automatically may result in bad performance if the intrinsic nature of the application is not factored into the partitioning decision. Another factor that clouds this future is that developing mobile applications is especially difficult because they have to be adaptive [14, 21, 38]. The resource constraints of mobile devices, the uncertainty of wireless communication quality, the concern for battery life, and the lowered trust typical of mobile environments all combine to complicate the design of mobile applications. Only through dynamic adaptation in response to varying runtime conditions can applications provide a satisfactory user experience. Unfortunately, the complexity of writing and debugging adaptive code adds to the application software development time. The key questions that this thesis is addressing can be expressed as follows:
They Love Me, They Love Me Not?: Social Power Shapes Expectations of Acceptance and Concerns about Rejection

Four studies tested the overriding hypothesis that an actor's high relative to low social power enhances the actor's expectations of social acceptance, and attenuates his or her concerns about social rejection, from others. Study 1 yielded correlational support for this hypothesis, while Studies 2 and 3 produced causal evidence. Study 3 also suggested that actor-power effects on acceptance expectations and rejection concerns emerge in relation to both opposite-power counterparts and others in general, though the effects tend to be stronger for the former. Finally, Study 4 confirmed that our effects are driven at least partly by an actor's power, though at times in interaction with the high or low power of potential sources of acceptance/ rejection. The present studies extend a growing literature on power's effects on processes and phenomena related to social acceptance and rejection. We discuss limitations, implications, and future directions.
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of a Silver-Coated Endotracheal Tube to Reduce the Incidence of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia

Objective. To conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis of the economic outcomes of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) prevention associated with silver-coated endotracheal tubes versus uncoated endotracheal tubes. Design. We used a simple decision model based on a hypothetical 1,000-patient cohort intubated with silver-coated or uncoated endotracheal tubes. The primary end point was marginal hospital savings per case of VAP prevented (savings from using silver-coated endotracheal tubes minus acquisition cost divided by number of VAP cases prevented). Methods. We followed each branch of the decision model to VAP or no VAP and conducted Monte Carlo simulations and sensitivity analyses. Inputs for VAP incidence, relative risk reduction, and hospital costs were derived from publicly available sources. Relative risk reduction was derived from the pivotal study of the silver-coated endotracheal tube. Results. In the base-case analysis, we reduced the pivotal study relative risk in incidence of microbiologically confirmed VAP in patients intubated ≥24 hours from 35.9% to 24%. Thus, 23 of 97 expected cases of VAP could be prevented with silver-coated endotracheal tubes. The savings per case of VAP prevented was $12,840 in the base case, with assumed marginal VAP cost of $16,620 and costs of $90.00 for coated and $2.00 for uncoated endotracheal tubes. Estimates were most sensitive to assumptions regarding VAP cost and relative risk reduction with silver-coated endotracheal tubes. Nonetheless, in multivariate sensitivity analyses, the silver-coated endotracheal tubes yielded persistent savings (95% confidence interval, $9,630-$16,356) per case of VAP prevented. With other base-case inputs held constant, breakeven cost for silver-coated endotracheal tubes was $388. Conclusions. The silver-coated endotracheal tube represents a strategy for preventing VAP that may yield hospital savings.
Outlaw and economics: Biker gangs and club goods

Today, outlaw motorcycle gangs are best known for their involvement in an international criminal network dealing in narcotics, human trafficking, and arms smuggling. Law enforcement agencies in three continents have identified groups like the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, and the Bandidos Motorcycle Club as a major threat to public safety. Before their descent into organized crime, outlaw bikers captured the imagination of the American public due to their peculiar look and outrageous behavior. They dressed in dirty sleeveless leather jackets and Nazi paraphernalia, their arms covered in tattoos of Nazi and White-supremacist symbolism. They drove highly customized, loud, and heavy American bikes—almost always Harley-Davidsons—and despised Japanese vehicles. They were notorious for their erratic behavior, in particular, the propensity to use violence in an idiosyncratic way when interacting with non-bikers and the public display of nudity and sexual practices. Unlike standard treatments of outlaw bikers, which draw from criminology, sociology, and psychology, I propose an explanation for these seemingly irrational and certainly odd practices rooted on the economic approach. Following the literature on the economic theory of religious sects, I argue that these odd practices served as effective obstacles to the ability of outlaw bikers to free ride on the club goods provided by these organizations.
Goal babbling of acoustic-articulatory models with adaptive exploration noise

We use goal babbling to bootstrap a parametric model of speech production for a complex 3D vocal tract model. The system learns to control the articulators for producing five different vowel sounds. Ambient speech influences learning on two levels: it organizes the learning process because it is used to generate a space of goals in which exploration takes place. A distribution learned from ambient speech provides the system with targets during exploration. Previous research with this vocal tract model showed that visual information have to be included for acquiring the vowel [u] via reward-based optimization. We model the learning process instead with goal-directed exploration where all targets are learned in parallel. As some vowels require more exploratory noise in the articulators than others, we propose a mechanism to adapt the noise amplitude depending on the system's competence in different regions of the goal space. We demonstrate that this self-aware learning leads to more stable results. The implemented system succeeds in acquiring vocalization skills for rounded as well as unrounded vowels using only a single modality.