Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimization Schemes for Variability-Driven VLSI Design Automation

Title of dissertation: Optimization Schemes for Variability-Driven VLSI Design Automation Azadeh Davoodi, Doctor of Philosophy, 2006 Dissertation directed by: Professor Ankur Srivastava Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Today’s IC design is facing several challenges due to increasing circuit complexity and decreasing feature size, as it pushes to extend Moore’s law into nano-scale dimensions. Apart from the challenges that arise directly as a result of feature scaling (e.g., increasing leakage power, reliability issues), imperfections in the manufacturing process have recently turned into a major design hurdle, due to the variations they cause in the device and interconnect parameters from their target values. From an IC design automation perspective, a shift in paradigm, from deterministic to probabilistic, is needed to handle the unpredictable nature of these fabrication variations. In such a probabilistic paradigm, the varying circuit parameters such as leakage power or delay should be accurately modeled, and their correlations due to common sources of variations or physical location on the chip should be well captured. Moreover, variability-driven (probabilistic) design automation needs to efficiently generate a high quality solution. A particular challenge in variability-driven design automation is to define optimality measures among candidate solutions, which allow for inferior solutions to be removed from the solution space thus reducing the run-time complexity. In this dissertation, the superiority probability is introduced as such an optimality measure, and two methods are proposed to compute this probability: an accurate Conditional Monte Carlo simulation method, and an efficient moment-matching approximation method. The effectiveness of using the superiority probability is shown in the context of two important design automation applications: 1) the buffer insertion problem, 2) the dual-Vth leakage optimization problem. Another important task in variability-driven design automation is to develop optimization techniques that can provably generate the optimal solution in an efficient way. In this dissertation, the application of the gate sizing problem is explored to optimally reduce the loss due to fabrication variations in the presence of a timing constraint. The presented formulation, in contrast with the existing variabilitydriven approaches which are all based on heuristics, is provably optimal. Moreover, unlike existing approaches, it is independent of any assumption on the source and nature of variations. Optimization Schemes for Variability-Driven VLSI Design Automation
Image deconvolution by local order preservation of pixels values

Positron emission tomography is more and more used in radiation oncology, since it conveys useful functional information about cancerous lesions. Its rather low spatial resolution, however, prevents accurate tumor delineation and heterogeneity assessment. Post-reconstruction deconvolution with the measured point-spread function can address this issue, provided it does not introduce undesired artifacts. These usually result from inappropriate regularization, which is either absent or making too strong assumptions about the structure of the signal. This paper proposes a deconvolution method that is based on inverse problem theory and involves a new regularization term that preserves local pixel value order relationships. Such regularization entails relatively mild constraints that are directly inferred from the observed data. This paper investigates the theoretical properties of the proposed regularization and describes its numerical implementation with a primal-dual algorithm. Preliminary experiments with synthetic images are presented to compare quantitatively and qualitatively the proposed method to other regularization schemes, like TV and TGV.
Selected Patterns for Software Connguration Management

Much of the detailed knowledge required to implement good Software Connguration Management systems has not been adequately cataloged and documented. The Design Pattern methodology provides a means to help rectify this deeciency. Based on the authors' experience in implementing Software Connguration Management tools, a selection of basic techniques for Software Connguration Management are presented as Design Patterns. Though the techniques present are not new, their formulation in terms of Design Patterns facilitates the learning and understanding of SCM system design. It may also facilitate the use of these techniques outside traditional SCM such as for CAD and databases.
A Study of the Impact between the Macroeconomic Variables and the Brazilian Stock Exchange Index Through the Vector Autoregression and the Vector Error Correction

The current scenery of the economical conjuncture states that Brazil presents solid economical indexes, able to provide a suitable financial system for the growth of the stock market in the country. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the correlation between a set of specific macroeconomic variables and the assets return in the Brazilian stock market, making use of the methodology of the multivaried model VAR. The variable used are: the GDP, the interest rate (SELIC), the Exchange rate, the inflation (IPCA), the price of a petrol barrel, the gold rate (BM&F) and the return of the Brazilian stock market, represented by the Indice da Bolsa de Valores de Sao Paulo (Ibovespa). Thus, it was intended to contribute for the understanding of how the internal macroeconomic variables can affect the decision taking on investment through the stock market in order to provide an additional tool for the decision-taking by the market agents as well as the authorities who, somehow, interfere in the conduction of the country´s monetary and exchange rate policy.
Automated 3-D Micrograsping Tasks Performed by Vision-Based Control

We present a fully automated micrograsping methodology that uses a micro-robot and a microgripper to automatically grasp a micropart in three-dimensional (3-D) space. To accurately grasp a micropart in 3-D space, we propose a three-stage micrograsping strategy: (i) coarse alignment of a micropart with a microgripper in the image plane of a video camera system; (ii) alignment of the micropart with the microgripper in the direction normal to the image plane; (iii) fine alignment of the micropart with the microgripper in the image plane, until the micropart is completely grasped. Two different vision-based feedback controllers are employed to perform the coarse and fine alignment in the image plane. The vision-based feedback controller used for the fine alignment employs position feedback signals obtained from two special patterns, which can achieve submicron alignment accuracy. Fully automated micrograsping experiments are conducted on a microassembly robot. The experimental results show that the average alignment accuracy achieved during automated grasping is approximately ± 0.07 μm; the time to complete an automated micrograsping task is as short as 7.9 seconds; and the success rate is as high as 94%.
Molecular phylogeny of cuckoos supports a polyphyletic origin of brood parasitism

We constructed a molecular phylogeny of 15 species of cuckoos using mitochondrial DNA sequences spanning 553 nucleotide bases of the cytochrome b gene and 298 nucleotide bases of the ND2 gene. A parallel analysis for the cytochrome b gene including published sequences in the Genbank database was performed. Phylogenetic analyses of the sequences were done using parsimony, a sequence distance method (Fitch‐Margoliash), and a character‐state method which uses probabilities (maximum likelihood). Phenograms support the monophyly of three major clades: Cuculinae, Phaenicophaeinae and Neomorphinae‐Crotophaginae. Clamator, a strictly parasitic genus traditionally included within the Cuculinae, groups together with Coccyzus (a nonobligate parasite) and some nesting cuckoos. Tapera and Dromococcyx, the parasitic cuckoos from the New World, appear as sister genera, close to New World cuckoos: Neomorphinae and Crotophaginae. Based on the results, and being conscious that a more strict resolution of the relationships among the three major clades is required, we postulate that brood parasitism has a polyphyletic origin in the Cuculiformes, with parasite species being found within the three defined clades. Evidence suggests that species within each clade share a common parasitic ancestor, but some show partial or total loss of brood parasitic behaviour.
FoP: never-ending face recognition and data lifting

In this demonstration, we present Faces of Politics (FoP), a face detection system from pictures illustrating news articles. The first iteration of the face recognition model propelling FoP was trained using Freebase data about politicians and their pictures. FoP is a never-ending system: when a new face is recognized, the learned model is updated accordingly. At this step, FoP is also giving data in return to the LoD cloud that fed him in the first place: it leverages visual knowledge as Linked Data.
The writer as teacher: reflections from the margins

ABSTRACT This article is a reflective account of my work as a writer-in- residence in 12 post-primary schools, over two academic years. Coming from the perspective of a writer the article fills a gap in the literature, where a substantial body of work exists on the teacher as writer, but little exists on the writer as teacher. The article makes a case for the importance of creative writing when it is related to the life experience of young writers and freed from the constraints of a skills and outcomes conception of curriculum. It suggests the potential of the role of the writer as teacher in a context where some teachers recognise the importance of creativity but feel unable to encourage it in their classrooms. The article links the model of practice developed in the residency to the Personal Growth model of English associated with the London School.
Insights into the Mechanisms of Protective Immunity against Cryptococcus neoformans Infection Using a Mouse Model of Pulmonary Cryptococcosis

Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that causes life-threatening pneumonia and meningoencephalitis in immune compromised individuals. Previous studies have shown that immunization of BALB/c mice with an IFN-γ-producing C. neoformans strain, H99γ, results in complete protection against a second pulmonary challenge with an otherwise lethal cryptococcal strain. The current study evaluated local anamnestic cell-mediated immune responses against pulmonary cryptococcosis in mice immunized with C. neoformans strain H99γ compared to mice immunized with heat-killed C. neoformans (HKC.n.). Mice immunized with C. neoformans strain H99γ had significantly reduced pulmonary fungal burden post-secondary challenge compared to mice immunized with HKC.n. Protection against pulmonary cryptococcosis was associated with increased pulmonary granulomatous formation and leukocyte infiltration followed by a rapid resolution of pulmonary inflammation, which protected the lungs from severe allergic bronchopulmonary mycosis (ABPM)-pathology that developed in the lungs of mice immunized with HKC.n. Pulmonary challenge of interleukin (IL)-4 receptor, IL-12p40, IL-12p35, IFN-γ, T cell and B cell deficient mice with C. neoformans strain H99γ demonstrated a requirement for Th1-type T cell-mediated immunity, but not B cell-mediated immunity, for the induction of H99γ-mediated protective immune responses against pulmonary C. neoformans infection. CD4+ T cells, CD11c+ cells, and Gr-1+ cells were increased in both proportion and absolute number in protected mice. In addition, significantly increased production of Th1-type/pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, and conversely, reduced Th2-type cytokine production was observed in the lungs of protected mice. Interestingly, protection was not associated with increased production of cytokines IFN-γ or TNF-α in lungs of protected mice. In conclusion, immunization with C. neoformans strain H99γ results in the development of protective anti-cryptococcal immune responses that may be measured and subsequently used in the development of immune-based therapies to combat pulmonary cryptococcosis.
FLGBP: Improved Method for Gait Representation and Recognition

Gait recognition is one of the lately emerged technologies in the field of biometrics which has various applications in the security and medical domains. This paper presents a novel holistic method for vision-based gait representation and recognition, named FLGBP. This method adopts the gait energy image to capture the spatio temporal characteristics of the human gait sequence during one motion cycle. Then, it applies Gabor filters and encodes the magnitude of the resulting Gabor image using a fuzzy local binary pattern (FLBP) operator. Gabor magnitude is utilized due to its richness of discriminative gait information rather than the phase of Gabor responses. A comparative study is made to measure the degree of improvement of FLGBP over other local Gabor patterns. Experiments are conducted using CASIA B dataset and classification is performed using the support vector machine (SVM). Experimental results show promising performance for the proposed FLGBP descriptor.
Observing conditions and mid-IR data quality

Ground-based mid-infrared (mid-IR) observations appear to be widely perceived as esoteric and demanding, and very sensitive to observing conditions. Although the principles of observing in the background-limited regime are well-known, it is difficult for the non-specialist to find specific information on exactly how mid-IR data can be affected by environmental conditions. Understanding these effects is important for the efficiency of mid-IR queue observing, the ability of classical observers to adapt their programs to the prevailing conditions, and the standard of data being delivered. Through operating mid-IR instruments in the queue at Gemini we have amassed a considerable database of standard star observations taken under a wide range of atmospheric conditions and in a variety of instrumental configurations. These data can be used to illustrate the effect of factors such as water vapour column, airmass, cloud cover, etc. on observed quantities like raw sky background, residual background, atmospheric transmission and image FWHM. Here we present some preliminary results from this study, which we hope to be of use to observatory users and staff as a guide to which environmental conditions are truly important to mid- IR imaging observations, and which can safely be neglected.
The transactivation‐competent carboxyl‐terminal domain of AF‐9 is expressed within a sexually dimorphic transcript in rat pituitary

We have investigated the biological role of the cellular counterpart of the leukemogenic AF‐9 gene by cloning the rat AF‐9 (rAF‐9) cDNA and defining the regulation of an anterior pituitary‐specific rAF‐9 transcript that is expressed in a sexually dimorphic manner. Expression of this transcript is down‐regulated after puberty in females and can be subsequently up‐regulated in adults by ovariectomy. Hormone replacement studies have provided direct evidence that rAF‐9 mRNA expression is suppressed by estrogen. Mapping the 1.9 kb anterior pituitary transcript has shown that it corresponds in size to the rAF‐9 cDNA clone, which contains an open reading frame (ORF) that is truncated compared with the human AF‐9 ORF, but encodes a previously defined transcriptional activation domain. Thus, the cellular AF‐9 gene is alternatively expressed in a manner that reflects the presence of translocated, functionally active (oncogenic) AF‐9 sequences in leukemias. Using a novel antisera raised against a rAF‐9 peptide, we have also demonstrated tissue‐ and sex‐specific expression of a nuclear 41 kDa anterior pituitary protein and have localized this protein to a major population of growth hormone synthesizing cells. By localizing the expression and defining the physiological regulation of rAF‐9, our studies have provided novel insights into the AF‐9 gene that will facilitate an understanding of both oncogenic and endocrine roles. —Morgan, H. , Smith, M. , Burke, Z. , Carter, D. The transactivation‐competent carboxyl‐terminal domain of AF‐9 is expressed within a sexually dimorphic transcript in rat pituitary. FASEB J. 14, 1109–1116 (2000)
A Regulatory Pathway, Ecdysone-Transcription Factor Relish-Cathepsin L, Is Involved in Insect Fat Body Dissociation

Insect fat body is the organ for intermediary metabolism, comparable to vertebrate liver and adipose tissue. Larval fat body is disintegrated to individual fat body cells and then adult fat body is remodeled at the pupal stage. However, little is known about the dissociation mechanism. We find that the moth Helicoverpa armigera cathepsin L (Har-CL) is expressed heavily in the fat body and is released from fat body cells into the extracellular matrix. The inhibitor and RNAi experiments demonstrate that Har-CL functions in the fat body dissociation in H. armigera. Further, a nuclear protein is identified to be transcription factor Har-Relish, which was found in insect immune response and specifically binds to the promoter of Har-CL gene to regulate its activity. Har-Relish also responds to the steroid hormone ecdysone. Thus, the dissociation of the larval fat body is involved in the hormone (ecdysone)-transcription factor (Relish)-target gene (cathepsin L) regulatory pathway.
Triples in the clouds

The W3C's Resource Description Framework (or RDF, in short) is a promising candidate which may deliver many of the original semi-structured data promises: flexible structure, optional schema, and rich, flexible URIs as a basis for information sharing. Moreover, RDF is uniquely positioned to benefit from the efforts of scientific communities studying databases, knowledge representation, and Web technologies. Many RDF data collections are being published, going from scientific data to general-purpose ontologies to open government data, in particular in the Linked Data movement. Managing such large volumes of RDF data is challenging, due to the sheer size, the heterogeneity, and the further complexity brought by RDF reasoning. To tackle the size challenge, distributed storage architectures are required. Cloud computing is an emerging paradigm massively adopted in many applications for the scalability, fault-tolerance and elasticity features it provides. This tutorial discusses the problems involved in efficiently handling massive amounts of RDF data in a cloud environment. We provide the necessary background, analyze and classify existing solutions, and discuss open problems and perspectives.
ESBMT: Enabling Multi-Tenancy in Enterprise Service Buses

Multi-tenancy is an essential property of Cloud computing. It helps service providers to maximize resource utilization and reduce servicing costs per customer. It is therefore important for key components of the contemporary enterprise environment like the Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) to support and enable multi-tenancy. For this purpose, in this work we investigate the requirements for multi-tenant ESB solutions, propose an implementation-agnostic ESB architecture that addresses these requirements, and discuss our proof-of-concept realization of this architecture.
Efficient Reliable Internet Storage ∗

This position paper presents a new design for an Internetwide peer-to-peer storage facility. The design is intended to reduce the required replication significantly without loss of availability. Two techniques are proposed. First, aggressive use of parallel recovery made possible by placing blocks randomly, rather than in a DHT-based fashion. Second, tracking of individual nodes availabilities, so that it becomes unnecessary to use worst case availability assumptions. The design uses a full membership DHT, and proposes a protocol for replica management.
Direct Writing of Gallium‐Indium Alloy for Stretchable Electronics

In this paper, a direct writing method for gallium‐indium alloys is presented. The relationships between nozzle inner diameter, standoff distance, flow rate, and the resulting trace geometry are demonstrated. The interaction between the gallium oxide layer and the substrate is critically important in understanding the printing behavior of the liquid metal. The difference between receding and advancing contact angles demonstrates that the adhesion of the oxide layer to the substrate surface is stronger than the wetting of the surface by the gallium‐indium alloy. This further demonstrates why free‐standing structures such as the traces described herein can be realized. In addition to the basic characterization of the direct writing process, a design algorithm that is generalizable to a range of trace geometries is developed. This method is applied to the fabrication of an elastomer‐encapsulated strain gauge that displays an approximately linear behavior through 50% strain with a gauge factor of 1.5.
Rapid Identification of Helicoverpa armigera and Helicoverpa zea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Using Ribosomal RNA Internal Transcribed Spacer 1

Rapid identification of invasive species is crucial for deploying management strategies to prevent establishment. Recent Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) invasions and subsequent establishment in South America has increased the risk of this species invading North America. Morphological similarities make differentiation of H. armigera from the native Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) difficult. Characteristics of adult male genitalia and nucleotide sequence differences in mitochondrial DNA are two of the currently available methods to differentiate these two species. However, current methods are likely too slow to be employed as rapid detection methods. In this study, conserved differences in the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) of the ribosomal RNA genes were used to develop species-specific oligonucleotide primers that amplified ITS1 fragments of 147 and 334 bp from H. armigera and H. zea, respectively. An amplicon (83 bp) from a conserved region of 18S ribosomal RNA subunit served as a positive control. Melting temperature differences in ITS1 amplicons yielded species-specific dissociation curves that could be used in high resolution melt analysis to differentiate the two Helicoverpa species. In addition, a rapid and inexpensive procedure for obtaining amplifiable genomic DNA from a small amount of tissue was identified. Under optimal conditions, the process was able to detect DNA from one H. armigera leg in a pool of 25 legs. The high resolution melt analysis combined with rapid DNA extraction could be used as an inexpensive method to genetically differentiate large numbers of H. armigera and H. zea using readily available reagents.
A Learner Oriented Ontology Of Metadata To Improve Effectiveness Of Learning Management Systems.

This paper presents an ontology for an e-Learning Management System (LMS), which arranges metadata, and defines the relationships of metadata, which are about learning objects; belong to academic courses and user profiles. This ontology has been incorporated as a critical part of the proposed architecture. By this ontology, effective retrieval of learning content, customizing LMS is expected. Metadata used in this paper are based on current metadata standards. This ontology specified in human and machine-readable formats. In implementing it, several APIs were defined to manage the ontology. They were introduced into a typical open sourced LMS. Proposed ontology maps user preferences with learning content to satisfy learner requirements. These learning objects are presented to the learner based on ontological relationships. Hence it increases the usability and customizes the LMS.