Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Design Methodology for Data-parallel Applications † Overview of the Design Methodology 1.1.1 High-level Expression of Designs 1.1.2 Data Parallel Design Notations Design Analysis and Refinement Taxonomy of Parallel Architectures

A methodology for the design and development of data parallel applications and components is presented. Data-parallelism is a well understood form of parallel computation, yet developing simple applications can involve substantial efforts to express the problem in low-level notations. We describe a process of software development for data-parallel applications starting from high-level specifications, generating repeated refinements of designs to match different architectural models and performance constraints, enabling a development activity with cost-benefit analysis. Primary issues are algorithm choice, correctness and efficiency, followed by data decomposition, load balancing and message-passing coordination. Development of a data-parallel multitarget tracking application is used as a case study, showing the progression from high to low-level refinements. We conclude by describing tool support for the process. 1. Introduction Data-parallelism can be generally defined as a computation applied independently to each of a collection of data, permitting a degree of parallelism that can scale with the amount of data. By this definition many computationally intensive problems can be expressed in a data-parallel fashion, but the definition is far more general than the data-parallel constructs found in typical parallel programming notations. For example, divide and conquer strategies are data parallel under this definition, but implementation of an efficient parallel divide-and-conquer algorithm such as quicksort (with full parallelism at each level of the division) is quite challenging using the parallel programming languages shown in figure 1. Thus the development of a data-parallel application can involve substantial effort to recast the problem to meet the limitations of the programming notation and target architecture. From a methodological point of view, the problems faced developing data-parallel applications are: • Target Architecture. Different target parallel architectures may require substantially different algorithms to achieve good performance, hence the target architecture has an early and pervasive effect on application development. • Multiplicity Of Target Architectures. For the same reasons just cited, the frequent requirement that an application must operate on a variety of different architectures (parallel or sequential) substantially complicates the development. 2 • Changes in Problem Specification or Target Architecture(s). Changes in problem specification and/or target environment must be accommodated in a systematic fashion, because of the large impact that either causes for parallel applications. By far the most important reason for developing data-parallel applications is the potential for scalable performance. Even in the face of the longer development times, a performance improvement of one or two orders of magnitude on current parallel machines …
Wavelength conversion up to 18 nm at 10 Gb/s by four-wave mixing in a semiconductor optical amplifier

We characterize the conversion bandwidth of a four-wave mixing semiconductor optical amplifier wavelength converter. Conversion of 10-Gb/s signals with bit-error-rate (BER) performance of <10/sup -9/ is demonstrated for wavelength down-shifts of up to 18 nm and upshifts of up to 10 nm.
Chemically Mediated Predator Avoidance in the Barton Springs Salamander (Eurycea sosorum)

Abstract: Predation is a dominant and influential factor in most ecological communities. However, little is known about how the federally endangered Barton Springs Salamander, Eurycea sosorum, responds to predators. Using captive-hatched (predator-naïve) salamanders, we examined the antipredator response of E. sosorum to chemical cues from (1) native Western Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis), (2) introduced Redbreast Sunfish (Lepomis auritus), (3) native Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides), and (4) a blank water control. Salamanders decreased activity (antipredator behavior) in response to all fish treatments but not to the blank water control. There was no difference between the response to the G. affinis and L. auritus, but salamanders responded less to these treatments than to M. salmoides. The antipredator response to G. affinis may be an ontogenetic hold over as G. affinis has been found to consume amphibian larvae and eggs. In an additional study to test whether antipredator behavior was a generalized response to all fish species, we found that E. sosorum did not respond to small, nonnative, nonpredatory Guppies (Poecilia reticulata). This suggests that the observed behavior in our first experiment represents antipredator behavior specific to the species tested. Overall, these results indicate that E. sosorum has innate recognition of predatory fish, and that the stronger antipredator response to M. salmoides over the other fish species may be an outcome of risk assessment. The antipredator response to G. affinis has management implications as G. affinis is sympatric with the largest population of E. sosorum, and may be consuming both eggs and larvae of these salamanders.
An Optimized Roadside Units (RSU) placement for delay-sensitive applications in vehicular networks

Over the last few years, a lot of applications have been developed for Vehicular Ad Hoc NETworks (VANETs) to exchange information between vehicles. However, VANET is basically a Delay Tolerant Network (DTN) characterized by intermittent connectivity, long delays and message losses especially in low density regions [1]. Thus, VANET requires the use of an infrastructure such as Roadside Units (RSUs) that permits to enhance the network connectivity. Nevertheless, due to their deployment cost, RSUs need to be optimally deployed. Hence, the main objective of this work is to provide an optimized RSUs placement for delay-sensitive applications in vehicular networks that improves the end-to-end application delay and reduces the deployment cost. In this paper, we first mathematically model the placement problem as an optimization problem. Then, we propose our novel solution called ODEL. ODEL is a two-steps technique that places RSUs only in useful locations and allows both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication: (i) the first step is comprehensive study that looks for the RSUs candidates locations based on connectivity information, and (ii) the second step uses genetic algorithm and Dijkstra algorithm to reduce the number of RSUs based on the deliverance time requirement and the deployment cost. We show the effectiveness of our solution for different scenarios in terms of applications delay (reduced by up to 84%) and algorithm efficiency (computation performance reduced by up to 79% and deployment cost reduced at least by up to 23%).
Validation of the Leicester Cough Questionnaire in non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis

Health-related quality of life is a potentially important marker for evaluating existing and new therapies in bronchiectasis. The Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ) is a symptom specific questionnaire designed to assess the impact of cough severity, a major symptom of bronchiectasis. This study aimed to validate the LCQ in bronchiectasis. The validity, responsiveness and reliability of the LCQ were assessed as follows: ability to discriminate severe and mild disease; change in score following antibiotic treatment for exacerbations; repeatability over a 6-month period in stable disease; and comparison with the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ). In total, 120 patients (51 with severe disease, 29 with moderate disease and 40 with mild disease) completed the LCQ and SGRQ. The area under the receiver–operator curve was good for both severe and mild disease (0.84 and 0.80 respectively, p<0.0001). Following 2 weeks' antibiotic treatment, the median LCQ score (interquartile range) improved from 11.3 (9.3–13.7) to 17.8 (15–18.8) (p<0.0001). The LCQ score was repeatable over 6 months in stable disease (intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.96 (95%CI 0.93–0.97), p<0.0001). Correlation between the LCQ and SGRQ scores was -0.7 in both stable disease and exacerbations (p<0.0001). The LCQ can discriminate disease severity, is responsive to change and is reliable for use in non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis.
Probabilistic tracking in joint feature-spatial spaces

In this paper, we present a probabilistic framework for tracking regions based on their appearance. We exploit the feature-spatial distribution of a region representing an object as a probabilistic constraint to track that region over time. The tracking is achieved by maximizing a similarity-based objective function over transformation space given a nonparametric representation of the joint feature-spatial distribution. Such a representation imposes a probabilistic constraint on the region feature distribution coupled with the region structure, which yields an appearance tracker that is robust to small local deformations and partial occlusion. We present the approach for the general form of joint feature-spatial distributions and apply it to tracking with different types of image features including row intensity, color and image gradient.
Motion Detection Method to Compensate Camera Flicker Using an Algorithm

This paper presents an improved motion detection system that is based on background subtraction method and threshold comparison method. Motion detection is used in many computer vision tasks like human tracking, pose estimation and recognition. It is a basic part for many computer vision tasks. Our purposed method makes background image using 10 previous consecutive frames. Our method detects motion via a standard webcam in realtime YUY2_640x480 resolution. Experimental results showed that the proposed method is more robust in nature as it can avoid the noise in motion detection due to camera flicker and useful to reduce the number of false positive alarms.
Perturbation analysis of high level instrumentation for SPMD programs

The process of instrumenting a program to study its behavior can lead to perturbations in the program's execution. These perturbations can become severe for large parallel systems or problem sizes, even when one captures only high level events. In this paper, we address the important issue of eliminating execution perturbations caused by high-level instrumentation of SPMD programs. We will describe perturbation analysis techniques for common computation and communication measurements, and show examples which demonstrate the effectiveness of these techniques in practice.
Combination of humans, climate, and vegetation change triggered Late Quaternary megafauna extinction in the Última Esperanza region, southern Patagonia, Chile

South America lost around 52 genera of mammals during a worldwide event known as the Late Quaternary Extinction episode. More than 80% of South American mammals weighing > 44 kg succumbed. Analysis of the megafaunal extinction chronology in relation to human arrival and major climate changes have revealed slightly different extinction patterns in different eco-regions of the continent, highlighting the importance of detailed regional analysis in order to understand how the possible drivers of extinction operated. Here we present an analysis of the megafaunal extinction in the Ultima Esperanza (UE) area of southwestern Patagonia, Chile. We have compiled a comprehensive chronology of megafaunal extinctions and earliest human occupation between 18–7 cal ka BP, based on radiocarbon dates from published literature. We calculated confidence intervals using the GRIWM method to estimate the times of human arrival and megafaunal local extinctions, and then compared these events to the timing of major climate and vegetation changes, fire frequency increase, and the Reclus volcanic eruption. Our results suggest that a combination of human impacts and climate–vegetation change drove megafaunal extinctions in the UE area, with the balance of factors being taxon specific; the volcanic eruption does not seem to have exacerbated extinctions. Competition between humans and mega-carnivores seems to be the most plausible cause for the extinction of the mega-carnivores. Coexistence of humans with extinct horses, extinct camels, and mylodonts for several thousand years rules out a scenario of blitzkrieg overkill of megafauna by humans. The transition of vegetation from cold grasslands to Nothofagus forests corresponds with the disappearance of Hippidion saldiasi and Lama cf. owenii. The later full establishment of Nothofagus forests and an increasing fire frequency coincided with the disappearance of mylodonts. A climate-driven reduction of open environments plausibly reduced herbivore's populations making them susceptible to local extinction.
E-Wiz: a Trapper Protocol for Hunting the Expressive Speech Corpora in Lab

The affects are expressed in different levels of speech: meta-linguistic (expressiveness), linguistic (attitudes), both anchored in the “linguistic time”, and para-linguistic (emotions expressions) that is anchored in the timing of the events that cause the emotion. In an experimental approach, the corpora are the basis of analysis. Most of emotional corpus have been produced by acting/elicitating speakers on one hand (with a possible strong control), and on the other hand they have been collected in “real-life”. This paper proposes both a Wizard of Oz method for emotional induction and some tools (the E-Wiz platform and a pseudo language-learning software, the Sound Teacher scenario) in order to control the production of authentic data at the paralinguistic level of affects. The proposed protocol has been applied up to now to trap 17 subjects, including actors who reproduced the same utterances with acting methods. The labeling of emotional states was performed by the subjects themselves and is being perceptually validated.
NetVCR: a high-performance packet replay engine

This paper describes the design and implementation of NetVCR, a high-performance packet replay engine for use in evaluating the performance of networking devices. NetVCR is implemented on commodity hardware using widely available open-source software. To achieve high throughput and accuracy, NetVCR employs novel mechanisms for managing trace files and accurate low-overhead timers. In addition, through the use of low-latency kernel patches and priority scheduling, NetVCR can be made highly resilient to background system load. Using these mechanisms, NetVCR is able to support packet replay at rates well above OC-12 on an x86-based server.
Applications and performance analysis of a compile-time optimization approach for list scheduling algorithms on distributed memory multiprocessors

The authors discuss applications of BTDH (bottom-up top-down duplication heuristic) to list scheduling algorithms (LSAs). There are two ways to use BTDH for LSAs. BTDH can be used with an LSA to form a new scheduling algorithm (LSA/BTDH), and it can be used as a pure optimization algorithm for an LSA (LSA-BTDH). BTDH has been applied with two well-known LSAs: the highest level first with estimated time (HLFET) and the earlier task first (ETF) heuristics. Simulation results show that, given a directed acyclic growth (DAG), the graph parallelism of the DAG can accurately predict the number of processors to be used such that a good scheduling length and a good resource utilization (or efficiency) can be achieved simultaneously. In terms of speedups, LSA/BTDH >or= LSA-BTDH >or= ETF >or= HLFET. Experimental results of scheduling FFT programs, which are written in a single program multiple data (SPMD) programming approach, on NCUBE-2 are also presented. The results confirm the simulation results and show that the speedups of LSA/BTDH and LSA-BTDH are better than the speedups of LSAs. <<ETX>>
Oblivious processing in a fronthaul constrained Gaussian channel

We consider systems for which the transmitter conveys messages to the receiver through a capacity-limited relay station. The channel between the transmitter and the relay-station is assumed to be frequency selective additive Gaussian noise channel. It is assumed that the transmitter can shape the spectrum and adapt the coding technique as to optimize performance. The relay operation is oblivious(nomadic transmitters [1] ), that is, the specific codebooks used are unknown, while the spectral shape of the transmitted signal is available. We find the reliable information rate that can be achieved in this setting with Gaussian signaling, and to that end employ Gaussian bottleneck results [2] combined with Shannon's incremental frequency approach [3]. We also prove that unlike classical water-pouring, the allocated spectrum(power and bit-rate) of the optimal solution could be frequently discontinuous.
Energy Management for Joint Operation of CHP and PV Prosumers Inside a Grid-Connected Microgrid: A Game Theoretic Approach

This paper mainly focuses on the energy management of microgrids (MGs) consisting of combined heat and power (CHP) and photovoltaic (PV) prosumers. A multiparty energy management framework is proposed for joint operation of CHP and PV prosumers with the internal price-based demand response. In particular, an optimization model based on Stackelberg game is designed, where the microgrid operator (MGO) acts as the leader and PV prosumers are the followers. The properties of the game are studied and it is proved that the game possesses a unique Stackelberg equilibrium. The heuristic algorithm based on differential evolution is proposed that can be adopted by the MGO, and nonlinear constrained programing can be adopted by each prosumer to reach the Stackelberg equilibrium. Finally, via a practical example, the effectiveness of the model is verified in terms of determining MGO's prices and optimizing net load characteristic, etc.
Conservative Front Tracking with Improved Accuracy

We propose a fully conservative front tracking algorithm for systems of nonlinear conservation laws. The algorithm improves by one order in its convergence rate over most finite difference schemes. Near tracked discontinuities in the solution, the proposed algorithm has ${\mathcal O}(\Delta x)$ errors, improving over ${\mathcal O}(1)$ errors commonly found near a discontinuity. Numerical experiments which confirm these assertions are presented.
Testing the Ep,i–Lp,iso–T0.45 correlation on a BeppoSAX and Swift sample of gamma-ray bursts

Using a sample of 14 BeppoSAX and 74 Swift GRBs with measured redshift we tested the correlation between the intrinsic peak energy of the time-integrated spectrum, E p,i , the isotropic-equivalent peak luminosity, L p,iso , and the duration of the most intense parts of the GRB computed as T 0.45 ('Firmani correlation'). For 41 out of 88 GRBs we could estimate all of the three required properties. Apart from 980425, which appears to be a definite outlier and notoriously peculiar in many respects, we used 40 GRBs to fit the correlation with the maximum likelihood method discussed by D'Agostini, suitable to account for the extrinsic scatter in addition to the intrinsic uncertainties affecting every single GRB. We confirm the correlation. However, unlike the results by Firmani et al., we found that the correlation does have a logarithmic scatter comparable with that of the E p,i -E iso ('Amati') correlation. We also find that the slope of the product L p,iso T 0.45 is equal to ∼0.5, which is consistent with the hypothesis that the E p,i -L p,iso -T 0.45 correlation is equivalent to the E p,i -E iso correlation (slope ∼0.5). We conclude that, based on presently available data, there is no clear evidence that the E p,i -L p,iso -T 0.45 correlation is different (both in terms of slope and dispersion) from the E p,i -E iso correlation.
Gamification for IR: The Query Aspects Game

The creation of a labelled dataset for Information Retrieval (IR) purposes is a costly process. For this reason, a mix of crowdsourcing and active learning approaches have been proposed in the literature in order to assess the relevance of documents of a collection given a particular query at an affordable cost. In this paper, we present the design of the gamification of this interactive process that draws inspiration from recent works in the area of gamification for IR. In particular, we focus on three main points: i) we want to create a set of relevance judgements with the least effort by human assessors, ii) we use interactive search interfaces that use game mechanics, iii) we use Natural Language Processing (NLP) to collect different aspects of a query. 1
The previewable switch: a light switch with feedforward

A light switch and its spatial mapping constitute an unsolved, user interface problem introduced to the realm of Human Computer Interaction by Norman. In this paper, we introduce the Previewable Switch which is a light switch enhanced with a touch sensor with an ability to provide a user a glimpse of which lights will turn on/off prior to compressing the switch. Such concept of communicating a result prior to taking an action is known as feedforward [6]. Feedforward is an important element to be considered in the user interface design as it provides clear and instant affordance of what will occur before the next action. We present the findings from the study in regard to behavior and spatial mapping. We will discuss the effect of feedforward as a design element in a user interface.
Modulating fear extinction memory by manipulating SK potassium channels in the infralimbic cortex

Fear extinction correlates with increased infralimbic (IL) neuronal excitability. Since small conductance Ca2+-dependent K+ (SK) channels modulate neuronal excitability and certain types of learning and memory, pharmacological modulation of SK channels could be used to regulate IL excitability and fear extinction. To test this, we first determined the effect of blocking SK channels with apamin on the intrinsic excitability of IL pyramidal neurons in brain slices. In whole-cell patch-clamp recordings, apamin increased the number of spikes evoked by a depolarizing current pulse, increased the firing frequency, and reduced the fast afterhyperpolarizing potential (fAHP) indicating that blockade of SK channels could be used to enhance the intrinsic excitability of IL neurons. Next, we assessed whether SK channels in IL regulate extinction of conditioned fear by infusing apamin into IL of fear conditioned rats prior to extinction training. Apamin infusion did not affect conditioned freezing at the beginning of the extinction session or within-session extinction. However, the following day, apamin-infused rats showed significantly less conditioned freezing. To further examine the importance of SK channels in IL in fear extinction, we assessed the effect of the SK channel activator DCEBIO on IL neuronal excitability and fear extinction. Activation of SK channels with DCEBIO decreased the number of evoked spikes, reduced the firing frequency, and enhanced the fAHP of IL neurons. Infusion of DCEBIO into IL prior to fear extinction impaired recall of fear extinction without affecting acquisition of extinction. Taken together, these findings suggest that SK channels are involved in regulating IL excitability and extinction-induced plasticity. Therefore, SK channels are a potential target for the development of new pharmacological treatments to facilitate extinction in patients suffering from anxiety disorders.