Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stress testing real-time systems with genetic algorithms

Reactive real-time systems have to react to external events within time constraints: Triggered tasks must execute within deadlines. The goal of this article is to automate, based on the system task architecture, the derivation of test cases that maximize the chances of critical deadline misses within the system. We refer to that testing activity as stress testing. We have developed a method based on genetic algorithms and implemented it in a tool. Case studies were run and results show that the tool may actually help testers identify test cases that will likely stress the system to such an extent that some tasks may miss deadlines.
INVESTIGATIONS OF AIRBORNE LASER SCANNING SIGNAL INTENSITY ON GLACIAL SURFACES-UTILIZING COMPREHENSIVE LASER GEOMETRY MODELING AND ORTHOPHOTO SURFACE MODELING (A CASE STUDY: SVARTISHEIBREEN, NORWAY)

A comprehensive Geographic Information System (GIS) was developed to determine how the laser intensity of an Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) system was affected by 1) geometry and 2) surface type. The study area contained the Svartisheibreen glacier (Svartisen, Norway) and its immediate surroundings. A model was created which contained laser intensity, surface type, surface elevation, and the scan geometry. The model utilized flight data, laser point-generated Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), and orthophotos as input. The main results include: 1) the primary cause of peripheral decreases in intensity values (i.e. cross-path fading) is geometry-dependent; this variation was effectively eliminated by developing Composite Laser Intensity Models (CLIMs); 2) By means of geographical and statistical analysis, the remaining primary variables influencing the signal intensity were identified as the range, the surface elevation and the surface type. Through this investigation it has been determined that laser intensity modelling can be effectively employed to identify surface characteristics and surface classes of glacial regions. These findings suggest that laser intensity imaging is a cost-effective alternative or addition to other optical devices such as digital cameras.
A Hybrid Intelligent Approach for Automated Alert Clustering and Filtering in Intrusion Alert Analysis

As security threats change and advance in a drastic way, most of the organizations implement multiple Network Intrusion Detection Systems (NIDSs) to optimize detection and to provide comprehensive view of intrusion activities. But NIDSs trigger a massive amount of alerts even for a day and overwhelmed security experts. Thus, automated and intelligent clustering is important to reveal their structural correlation by grouping alerts with common attributes. We propose a new hybrid clustering model based on Improved Unit Range (IUR), Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and unsupervised learning algorithm (Expectation Maximization) to aggregate similar alerts and to reduce the number of alerts. We tested against other unsupervised learning algorithms to validate the performance of the proposed model. Our empirical results show using DARPA 2000 dataset the proposed model gives better results in terms of the clustering accuracy and processing time.
Activation of DNA Damage Response Induced by the Kaposi’s Sarcoma-Associated Herpes Virus

The human herpes virus 8 (HHV-8), also known as Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpes virus (KSHV), can infect endothelial cells often leading to cell transformation and to the development of tumors, namely Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS), primary effusion lymphoma (PEL), and the plasmablastic variant of multicentric Castleman’s disease. KSHV is prevalent in areas such as sub-Saharan Africa and the Mediterranean region presenting distinct genotypes, which appear to be associated with differences in disease manifestation, according to geographical areas. In infected cells, KSHV persists in a latent episomal form. However, in a limited number of cells, it undergoes spontaneous lytic reactivation to ensure the production of new virions. During both the latent and the lytic cycle, KSHV is programmed to express genes which selectively modulate the DNA damage response (DDR) through the activation of the ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) pathway and by phosphorylating factors associated with the DDR, including the major tumor suppressor protein p53 tumor suppressor p53. This review will focus on the interplay between the KSHV and the DDR response pathway throughout the viral lifecycle, exploring the putative molecular mechanism/s that may contribute to malignant transformation of host cells.
A Randomized Asynchronous Linear Solver with Provable Convergence Rate

Asynchronous methods for solving systems of linear equations have been researched since Chazan and Miranker published their pioneering paper on chaotic relaxation in 1969. The underlying idea of asynchronous methods is to avoid processor idle time by allowing the processors to continue to work and make progress even if not all progress made by other processors has been communicated to them. Historically, work on asynchronous methods for solving linear equations focused on proving convergence in the limit. How the rate of convergence compares to the rate of convergence of the synchronous counterparts, and how it scales when the number of processors increase, was seldom studied and is still not well understood. Furthermore, the applicability of these methods was limited to restricted classes of matrices (e.g., diagonally dominant matrices). We propose a shared-memory asynchronous method for general symmetric positive definite matrices. We rigorously analyze the convergence rate and prove that it is linear and close to that of our method’s synchronous counterpart as long as not too many processors are used (relative to the size and sparsity of the matrix). A key component is randomization, which allows the processors to make guaranteed progress without introducing synchronization. Our analysis shows a convergence rate that is linear in the condition number of the matrix, and depends on the number of processors and the degree to which the matrix is sparse.
Mobile Cloud Contextual Awareness with the Cloud Personal Assistant

This paper presents our efforts to bridge the gap between mobile context awareness, and mobile cloud services, using the Cloud Personal Assistant (CPA). The CPA is a part of the Context Aware Mobile Cloud Services (CAMCS) middleware, which we continue to develop. Specifically, we discuss the development and evaluation of the Context Processor component of this middleware. This component collects context data from the mobile devices of users, which is then provided to the CPA of each user, for use with mobile cloud services. We discuss the architecture and implementation of the Context Processor, followed by the evaluation. We introduce context profiles for the CPA, which influence its operation by using different context types. As part of the evaluation, we present two experimental context-aware mobile cloud services to illustrate how the CPA works with user context, and related context profiles, to complete tasks for the user.
Aligning Multiple Research Techniques in Cognitive Neuroscience: Why Is It Important?

The need to align multiple experimental procedures and produce converging results so as to demonstrate that the phenomenon under investigation is real and not an artifact is a commonplace both in scientific practice and discussions of scientific methodology (Campbell and Stanley 1963; Wimsatt 1981). Although sometimes this is the purpose of aligning techniques, often there is a different purpose—multiple techniques are sought to supply different perspectives on the phenomena under investigation that need to be integrated to answer the questions scientists are asking. After introducing this function, I will illustrate it by considering three of the major techniques in cognitive neuroscience for linking cognitive function with neural structure.
Do youth access control policies stop young people smoking? Evidence from Ireland

Increasing the legal age at which individuals can buy tobacco has become an increasingly common policy tool aimed at reducing youth smoking. There remains, however, some debate on whether such policies are an efficient use of resources. Evidence thus far has either (i) relied on local or regional Minimum Legal Age (MLA) reforms which suffer from a range of potential endogeneity and spillover biases, or (ii) rely on the use of adult population control groups that are, in many cases, unsuitable. Missing from the debate on the effectiveness of MLA policy is an analysis of a national increase in an MLA, where a suitable control group of identically aged adolescents exists. The 2001 MLA reform in the Republic of Ireland, which increased the MLA from 16 to 18, offers natural experiment conditions whereby issues relating to endogeneity, spillover effects and unreliable control groups are made redundant. The outcomes examined in the analysis are also novel compared to previous research, as both intensity of current smoking behaviour and previous smoking experience are examined. The evidence found here strongly supports increases in MLAs as an effective policy tool to reduce youth smoking rates.
Symmetry Breaking Predicates for SAT-based DFA Identification

It was shown before that the NP-hard problem of deterministic finite automata (DFA) identification can be effectively translated to Boolean satisfiability (SAT). Modern SAT-solvers can tackle hard DFA identification instances efficiently. We present a technique to reduce the problem search space by enforcing an enumeration of DFA states in depth-first search (DFS) or breadth-first search (BFS) order. We propose symmetry breaking predicates, which can be added to Boolean formulae representing various DFA identification problems. We show how to apply this technique to DFA identification from both noiseless and noisy data. Also we propose a method to identify all automata of the desired size. The proposed approach outperforms the current state-of-the-art DFASAT method for DFA identification from noiseless data. A big advantage of the proposed approach is that it allows to determine exactly the existence or non-existence of a solution of the noisy DFA identification problem unlike metaheuristic approaches such as genetic algorithms.
Rosario Castellanos, feminista a partir de sus propias palabras

Based on an analysis of the journalistic reporting of Rosario Castellanos, this article highlights her importance as a pioneering intellectual of Mexican feminism. It defends the idea that her forceful, clear, and lucid reports demonstrate modern feminist thinking, turning on concepts of the effects of cultural mandates on female behavior, and supporting a critical look at the condition of women in Mexican society. In effect, Castellanos rejects the notion of victimization, instead stressing the need for women to stop being self-complacent; she proposes that women take responsibility for their own lives, thus developing and polishing ideas that are notably relevant and even radical today.
Model-based Testing of Mobile Systems - An Empirical Study on QuizUp Android App

We present an empirical study in which model-based testing (MBT) was applied to a mobile system: the Android client of QuizUp, the largest mobile trivia game in the world. The study shows that traditional MBT approaches based on extended finite-state machines can be used to test a mobile app in an effective and efficient way. Non-trivial defects were detected on a deployed system that has millions of users and was already well tested. The duration of the overall testing effort was of three months, including the construction of the models. Maintaining a single behavioral model for the app was key in order to test it in an efficient way.
Stellar evolution with rotation IV: von Zeipel's theorem and anisotropic losses of mass and angular momentum

The von Zeipel theorem is generalised to account for differential rotation in the case of a “shellular” rotation law (cf. Zahn 1992). We write this law in the form Ω = Ω(r), a simplification which does not apply to fast rotation. We find that von Zeipel’s relation contains a small additional term, generally further increasing the radiative flux at the pole and decreasing it at the equator. We also examine the local Eddington factor in rotating stars and notice some significant differences with respect to current expressions. We examine the latitudinal dependence of the mass loss rates Ṁ(θ) in rotating stars and find two main source of wind anisotropies: 1) the “geff” effect which enhances the polar ejection; 2) the “opacity effect” (or “κ–effect”), which favours equatorial ejection. In O–stars the geff effect is expected to largely dominate. In B– and later type stars the opacity effect should favour equatorial ejection and the formation of equatorial rings. We also examine the behaviour of the wind density and notice a strong enhancement at the equator of B– and later type stars. Possible relations with the polar ejections and the skirt of η Carinae and with the inner and outer rings of SN 1987 A are mentioned. If Ṁ(θ) has sharp extrema due to some peaks in the opacity law, non equatorial and symmetrical rings may be produced. We also show that the global mass loss rate of a star at a given location in the HR diagram is rapidly increasing with rotation, which is in good agreement with the numerical models by Friend & Abbott (1986). Anisotropic stellar winds remove selectively the angular momentum. For example, winds passing through polar caps in O–stars remove very little angular momentum, an excess of angular momentum is thus retained and rapidly redistributed by horizontal turbulence. These excesses may lead some Wolf– Rayet stars, those resulting directly from O–stars, to be fast spinning objects, while we predict that the WR–stars which have passed through the red supergiant phase will have lower rotation velocities on the average. We also show how anisotropic ejection can be treated in numerical models by properly modifying the outer boundary conditions for the transport of angular momentum. Finally, in an Appendix the equation of the surface for stars with shellular rotation is discussed.
Virtual Visitors: Facebook Users and National Parks

Social media is ubiquitous in society today and shows no signs of slowing down. Many organizations have been trying to benefit from the large number of people using this communication tool. The National Park Service (NPS) is no exception to this. For the NPS, social media is a tool that can be used to engage, interpret, and communicate with people. However, we know next to nothing about the people who “like” national park Facebook pages, who are called “virtual visitors. ” This research begins to uncover the characteristics, motivations, and preferences of these virtual visitors. Additionally, comparisons are made between younger “millennial” and nonmillennial virtual visitors to evaluate how social media may be impacting different audiences. A survey conducted on Yellowstone National Park’s Facebook virtual visitors is used as a case study in this research. Results from this research indicate that virtual visitors are very similar to in-park visitors in regard to demographic variables, and the vast majority of them had visited Yellowstone National Park previously. Virtual visitors were motivated to “like” the Facebook page for education and entertainment, social, and affective reasons. Two different types of engagement were also revealed: passive and active, with passive engagement being more frequently participated in. Lastly, virtual visitors preferred communication scenarios where the park was highly engaged and interactive and users could build content. They were less supportive of solely user-driven scenarios, as well as solely park generated content scenarios. Comparisons between millennials and nonmillennials showed that millennials had different motivations, levels of engagement, and preferences for communication scenarios as well. Managers can use the information in this research to help develop more effective social media plans. Suggestions are provided for how to better fulfill the purposes of social media in the NPS by using the data from this research. This includes how to better engage users, as well as potentially reach users who are currently not as engaged. Several suggestions are also provided that focus on future research avenues, including continuing to refine and develop information on virtual visitors, trying to improve outreach via social media to underserved or desirable populations, and merging past research and management techniques with social media efforts. Subscribe to JPRA
Nonlinear Visual Control of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in GPS-Denied Environments

In this paper, we propose a nonlinear controller that stabilizes unmanned aerial vehicles in GPS-denied environments with respect to visual targets by using only onboard sensing. The translational velocity of the vehicle is estimated online with a nonlinear observer, which exploits spherical visual features as the main source of information. With the proposed solution, only four visual features have shown to be enough for the observer to operate in a real scenario. In addition, the observer is computationally light with constant numerical complexity, involving small-dimension matrices. The observer output is then exploited in a nonlinear controller designed with an integral backstepping approach, thus yielding a novel robust control system. By means of Lyapunov analysis, the stability of the closed-loop system is proved. Extensive simulation and experimental tests with a quadrotor are carried out to verify the validity and robustness of the proposed approach. The control system runs fully onboard on a standard processor, and only a low-cost sensing suite is employed. Tracking of a target whose speed exceeds 2 $\mathrm{m/s}$ is also considered in the real-hardware experiments.
Image Recognition Technique using Local Characteristics of Sub-sampled Images

An image recognition technique utilizing a database of image characteristics is introduced. This technique is different from eigenimage method which requires a large amount of information of training set images in terms of the size of each image and the number of images in the database. Especially, this technique is useful for recognizing images which have fixed shape and structure such as paintings and documents. In this study, images of 33 different classic paintings taken by a common camera phone are used to construct the database and a MATLAB code is written for image recognition. 66 different images of the 33 paintings are tested and approximately 80 % of them are recognized correctly. In the code, low pass filters for noise reduction, morphological operators such as dilation and majority filter for clear and smooth boundaries and Haralick corner detector to find characteristic points are used. To construct a database which consists of small size images, original images are trimmed to be a smaller image which contains only the region of interest. Furthermore, each image is sub-sampled to be a fixed size gray image which is 200 pixels by 200 pixels. Sub-sampling can reduce discrepancy of trimming position and angle/position of camera. Finally, using Haralick corner detector, 100 corner points which have large cornerness are selected per image. The points are positioned on a 200 by 200 binary image, which is a reference image in database. Some conventional image processing techniques are applied to an input image. The resulting image is also converted to a binary 200 pixels by 200 pixels image and compared with the 33 reference images in the database being shifted and warped.
Herbivore: A Scalable and Efficient Protocol for Anonymous Communication

Anonymity is increasingly important for networked applications amidst concerns over censorship and privacy. In this paper, we describe Herbivore, a peer-to-peer, scalable, tamper-resilient communication system that provides provable anonymity and privacy. Building on dining cryptographer networks, Herbivore scales by partitioning the network into anonymizing cliques. Adversaries able to monitor all network traffic cannot deduce the identity of a sender or receiver beyond an anonymizing clique. In addition to strong anonymity, Herbivore simultaneously provides high efficiency and scalability, distinguishing it from other anonymous communication protocols. Performance measurements from a prototype implementation show that the system can achieve high bandwidths and low latencies when deployed over the Internet.
A Java based framework for simulating peer-to-peer overlay networks

In the last few years many new structured overlay network protocols for peer-to-peer systems have appeared. Following that, the need to test and develop the protocols in a controlled environment arose and many different simulators were written, often only supporting a single protocol and designed with a specific simulation task in mind. We introduce a general component based framework in Java for writing peer-to-peer simulators, complete with methods for exporting and visualizing the simulation data. The simulation framework is built using the Java in Simulation Time (JiST) framework, a parallel discrete-event simulation package for Java, allowing close to pseudo code implementation of the protocols using simulated remote procedure calls, while still providing flexibility enough for down to packet level simulation of the protocols.
Decreased transcriptional corepressor p107 is associated with exercise‐induced mitochondrial biogenesis in human skeletal muscle

Increased mitochondrial content is a hallmark of exercise‐induced skeletal muscle remodeling. For this process, considerable evidence underscores the involvement of transcriptional coactivators in mediating mitochondrial biogenesis. However, our knowledge regarding the role of transcriptional corepressors is lacking. In this study, we assessed the association of the transcriptional corepressor Rb family proteins, Rb and p107, with endurance exercise‐induced mitochondrial adaptation in human skeletal muscle. We showed that p107, but not Rb, protein levels decrease by 3 weeks of high‐intensity interval training. This is associated with significant inverse association between p107 and exercise‐induced improved mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. Indeed, p107 showed significant reciprocal correlations with the protein contents of representative markers of mitochondrial electron transport chain complexes. These findings in human skeletal muscle suggest that attenuated transcriptional repression through p107 may be a novel mechanism by which exercise stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis following exercise.