Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Closed form solution and useful signal power maximization for interference alignment in multi-pair two-way relay networks

In this paper, bidirectional pair-wise communication between 2K nodes is considered. Each node has N antennas and wants to transmit d data streams to its communication partner. A single non-regenerative half-duplex relay with R antennas supports the communication. In this scenario, the process of interference alignment can be decomposed into partial signal alignment (PSA), partial channel alignment (PCA) and zero forcing (ZF). PSA and PCA are dual problems and we focus on PSA in this paper. PSA is a bilinear problem. A closed form solution is possible only when there is a sufficient number of variables in the system. In this paper, a closed form solution is proposed and the condition for the feasibility of the closed form solution is derived in terms of K;N;R; and d. Besides this, in order to improve the performance at low and medium signal to noise ratios (SNRs), a gradient based algorithm to maximize the useful signal power is also proposed. It is shown through simulations that in some cases, it is better to serve less node pairs and utilize the additional degrees of freedom in the system to maximize the useful signal power.
Derivation of Flip Ambiguity Probabilities to Facilitate Robust Sensor Network Localization

Erroneous local geometric realizations in some parts of the network due to their sensitivity to certain distance measurement errors is a major problem in wireless sensor network localization. This may in turn affect the localization of either the entire network or a large portion of it. This phenomenon is well-described using the notion of "flip ambiguity" in rigid graph theory. In this paper we analytically derive an expression for the flip ambiguity probabilities of arbitrary neighborhoods in two dimensional sensor networks. This probability can be used to mitigate flip ambiguities in two ways: 1) If an unknown sensor finds the probability of flip ambiguity on its location estimate larger than a predefined threshold, it may choose not to localize itself 2) Every known neighbor can be assigned with a confidence factor to its estimated location, reflecting the probability of flip ambiguity; a sensor with an initially unknown location can then choose only those known neighbors with a confidence factor greater than a predefined threshold. A recent study by co-authors have shown that the performance of sequential and cluster based localization schemes in the literature can be significantly improved by correctly identifying and removing neighborhoods with possible flip ambiguities from the localization process. One motivation of this paper is to enhance the performance of the robustness criterion presented in that study by accurately identifying the flip ambiguity probabilities of arbitrary neighborhoods. The various simulations done in this study show that our analytical calculations of the probability of flip ambiguity matches with the simulated detection of the probability very accurately.
Control of rhythmic robotic movements through synchronization with human muscle activity

We address the problem of extracting the fundamental frequency of an arbitrary periodic or quasi-periodic signal for application in robotic tasks. We focus on controlling periodic robotic movement by extracting the frequency of human movement by using surface electromyography (EMG), a technique by which muscle action potentials are gathered by electrodes placed on the skin. However, since the EMG signal is quasi-periodic with a lot of frequency components and noise, it is difficult to determine the frequency and phase of the measured limb motion. We propose to use nonlinear dynamical systems capable of extracting the frequency and the phase from an unknown periodic signal with an arbitrary waveform. The method uses a whole Fourier series representation in a feedback loop. It is capable of extracting the frequency and the phase of an unknown periodic signal in real-time, without any additional signal processing or preprocessing. Combining this method with an output dynamic system based on dynamic movement primitives, which generate the desired trajectory, allows synchronization between human muscles actions and some other system actions like robot motion or electrical neuromuscular stimulator activation.
The impact of two orthogonal factors in interactive fault localization

End users develop more software than any other group of programmers, using software authoring devices such as email ltering editors, by-demonstration macro builders, and spreadsheet environments. Despite this, there has been only a little research on nding ways to help these programmers with the dependability of the software they create. We have been working to address this problem in several ways, one of which includes supporting end-user debugging activities through fault localization techniques. Our preliminary studies have shown that some fault localization techniques can provide end users with e ective feedback; however, these studies provide no guidance into the factors that impact technique e ectiveness. This paper presents the results of an empirical study that examines the impact of two orthogonal factors on the e ectiveness of fault localization techniques. Our results have implications for fault localization for end users, and highlight the importance of separately evaluating each factor in a fault localization technique.
Climatic niches in phylogenetic comparative studies: a review of challenges and approaches

Studying the evolution of climatic niches through time in a phylogenetic comparative framework combines species distribution modeling with phylogenies. Phylogenetic comparative studies aid the understanding of the evolution of species’ environmental preferences by revealing the underlying evolutionary processes and causes, detecting the differences among groups of species or relative to evolutionary pattern of other phenotypic traits, but also act as a yardstick to gauge the adaptational potential under climate change. Because several alternatives exist on how to compute and represent the climatic niche, we here review and discuss the current state of the art and propose a best practice to use in comparative studies. Moreover we outline the common evolutionary models and available model-fitting methods and describe the procedure for ancestral niche reconstruction with the intention to give a broad overview and highlight the most advanced approaches for optimal niche-related comparative studies.
Parameter and state estimation for articulated heavy vehicles

This article discusses algorithms to estimate parameters and states of articulated heavy vehicles. First, 3- and 5-degrees-of-freedom linear vehicle models of a tractor semitrailer are presented. Vehicle parameter estimation methods based on the dual extended Kalman filter and state estimation based on the Kalman filter are presented. A program of experimental tests on an instrumental heavy goods vehicle is described. Simulation and experimental results showed that the algorithms generate accurate estimates of vehicle parameters and states under most circumstances.
IMU-based iterative control for hip extension assistance with a soft exosuit

In this paper we describe an IMU-based iterative controller for hip extension assistance where the onset timing of assistance is based on an estimate of the maximum hip flexion angle. The controller was implemented on a mono-articular soft exosuit coupled to a lab-based multi-joint actuation platform that enables rapid reconfiguration of different sensors and control strategy implementation. The controller design is motivated by a model of the suit-human interface and utilizes an iterative control methodology that includes gait detection and step-by-step actuator position profile generation to control the onset timing, peak timing, and peak magnitude of the delivered force. This controller was evaluated on eight subjects walking on a treadmill at a speed of 1.5 m/s while carrying a load of 23 kg. Results showed that assistance could be delivered reliably across subjects. Specifically, for a given profile, the average delivered force started concurrently with the timing of the maximum hip flexion angle and reached its peak timing 22.7 ± 0.63% later in the gait cycle (desired 23%) with a peak magnitude of 198.2 ± 1.6 N (desired 200 N), equivalent to an average peak torque of 30.5 ± 4.7 Nm. This control approach was used to assess the metabolic effect of four different assistive profiles. Metabolic reductions ranging from 5.7% to 8.5% were found when comparing the powered conditions with the unpowered condition. This work enables studies to assess the biomechanical and physiological responses to different assistive profiles to determine the optimal hip extension assistance during walking.
Guided Local Search for the Three-Dimensional Bin-Packing Problem

The three-dimensional bin-packing problem is the problem of orthogonally packing a set of boxes into a minimum number of three-dimensional bins. In this paper we present a heuristic algorithm based on guided local search. Starting with an upper bound on the number of bins obtained by a greedy heuristic, the presented algorithm iteratively decreases the number of bins, each time searching for a feasible packing of the boxes. The process terminates when a given time limit has been reached or the upper bound matches a precomputed lower bound. The algorithm can also be applied to two-dimensional bin-packing problems by having a constant depth for all boxes and bins. Computational experiments are reported for two- and three-dimensional instances with up to 200 boxes, showing that the algorithm on average finds better solutions than do heuristics from the literature.
UNIBA-CORE: Combining Strategies for Semantic Textual Similarity

This paper describes the UNIBA participation in the Semantic Textual Similarity (STS) core task 2013. We exploited three different systems for computing the similarity between two texts. A system is used as baseline, which represents the best model emerged from our previous participation in STS 2012. Such system is based on a distributional model of semantics capable of taking into account also syntactic structures that glue words together. In addition, we investigated the use of two different learning strategies exploiting both syntactic and semantic features. The former uses ensemble learning in order to combine the best machine learning techniques trained on 2012 training and test sets. The latter tries to overcome the limit of working with different datasets with varying characteristics by selecting only the more suitable dataset for the training purpose.
Automatic Methods for Disambiguating Author Names in Bibliographic Data Repositories

Name ambiguity in the context of bibliographic citation records is a hard problem that affects the quality of services and content in digital libraries and similar systems. This problem occurs when an author publishes works under distinct names or distinct authors publish works under similar names. The challenges of dealing with author name ambiguity have led to a myriad of name disambiguation methods. In this tutorial, we characterize such methods by means of a proposed taxonomy, present an overview of some of the most representative ones and discuss open challenges.
Unattended Facial Expressions Asymmetrically Bias the Concurrent Processing of Nonemotional Information

Planned and reflexive behaviors often occur in the presence of emotional stimuli and within the context of an individual's acute emotional state. Therefore, determining the manner in which emotion and attention interact is an important step toward understanding how we function in the real world. Participants in the current investigation viewed centrally displayed, task-irrelevant, face distractors (angry, neutral, happy) while performing a lateralized go/no-go continuous performance task. Lateralized go targets and no-go lures that did not spatially overlap with the faces were employed to differentially probe processing in the left (LH) and right (RH) cerebral hemispheres. There was a significant interaction between expression and hemisphere, with an overall pattern such that angry distractors were associated with relatively more RH inhibitory errors than neutral or happy distractors and happy distractors with relatively more LH inhibitory errors than angry or neutral distractors. Simple effects analyses confirmed that angry faces differentially interfered with RH relative to LH inhibition and with inhibition in the RH relative to happy faces. A significant three-way interaction further revealed that state anxiety moderated relations between emotional expression and hemisphere. Under conditions of low cognitive load, more intense anxiety was associated with relatively greater RH than LH impairment in the presence of both happy and threatening distractors. By contrast, under high load, only angry dis-tractors produced greater RH than LH interference as a function of anxiety.
The place of Palestinians in tourist and Zionist discourses in the ‘City of David’, occupied East Jerusalem

ABSTRACT The ‘City of David’ in Silwan is on the original site of Jerusalem. Located in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem, it is both an illegal Israeli settlement in a Palestinian neighbourhood and a popular international tourist destination. This article examines how the site is narrated by tour operators and tourists through fieldwork, interviews and analysis of tourist comments on the TripAdvisor site. It argues that Israeli settlers have successfully harnessed tourist discourse in order to present their vision of a Jewish Jerusalem in which Palestinian existence is ignored or treated as a threat. The site allows tourists to connect to and experience a mythical biblical past, something which answers to tourist desires to have an authentic encounter with the destination culture. In the site’s narratives, the presence of Palestinians in the area is elided over through spatial and linguistic separation and by denying their legitimate presence. This indicates how the congruence between Zionist and tourist discourses discursively legitimises Israeli colonisation of Silwan.
A 1D pulse wave propagation model of the hemodynamics of calf muscle pump function

The calf muscle pump is a mechanism which increases venous return and thereby compensates for the fluid shift towards the lower body during standing. During a muscle contraction, the embedded deep veins collapse and venous return increases. In the subsequent relaxation phase, muscle perfusion increases due to increased perfusion pressure, as the proximal venous valves temporarily reduce the distal venous pressure (shielding). The superficial and deep veins are connected via perforators, which contain valves allowing flow in the superficial‐to‐deep direction. The aim of this study is to investigate and quantify the physiological mechanisms of the calf muscle pump, including the effect of venous valves, hydrostatic pressure, and the superficial venous system. Using a one‐dimensional pulse wave propagation model, a muscle contraction is simulated by increasing the extravascular pressure in the deep venous segments. The hemodynamics are studied in three different configurations: a single artery–vein configuration with and without valves and a more detailed configuration including a superficial vein. Proximal venous valves increase effective venous return by 53% by preventing reflux. Furthermore, the proximal valves shielding function increases perfusion following contraction. Finally, the superficial system aids in maintaining the perfusion during the contraction phase and reduces the refilling time by 37%. © 2015 The Authors. International Journal for Numerical Methods in Biomedical Engineering published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Optimal Hedging Strategy for Risk Management on a Network

In this paper, we derive and assess a framework in which a firm's financial environment is an integral part of its hedging decisions. In the framework, the characteristics of firms in the network and their interconnections affect the firm's risk management strategy through impact on contract cost and efficacy of protection. We apply the model to an investment fund's decision making problem for transferring equity risk to a set of banks and obtain its optimal hedging decision based on a risk-return tradeoff analysis. We find hedge costs greatly influence the fund's choice of counterparties for contract: the cost advantage of a counterparty would award it a dominant role in the magnitude of protection sought from the counterparty. In the a posteriori analysis, we evaluate the hedge efficacy in terms of the counterparties' ability to honor the hedge contract. We investigate counter-party risk by introducing network-caused default probability and recovery rate to our model. We find that the objective and measures used for corporate risk management decide the optimality of hedge contract in the a posteriori analysis. Firms focusing on minimizing variance of firm value might consider a small deviation from the a priori optimal strategy; while those focussed on tail risk tend to stay with the a priori optimal strategy.
Neuropsychological and Related Clinical Features Associated with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: A Latent Class Analysis

EA and RJS examined the patients. Authors AB and JD carried out the data coding and manuscript preparation. read and approved of the final ABSTRACT Aim: The current research examined neuropsychological and key features related to Geschwind-Behan-Galaburda (GBG) model (i.e., non-right handedness, learning problems, autoimmune disease) in patients with Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). Methods: A large sample of patients with CRPS (n=509) were evaluated with a neuropsychological protocol that assessed executive control, language/ lexical retrieval, and declarative memory. A portion of our sample was assessed with the modified Oldfield-Edinburgh questionnaire (n= 262) surveyed handedness, learning problems, and autoimmune disease was obtained on a portion of patients. Results: Latent Class Analysis identified four neuropsychological classes: patients with moderate cognitive impairment (n= 44), patients with elements of an amnestic syndrome (n= 93), patients with intact but low average/ average neuropsychological test performance (n= 191), and patients with average/ high average neuropsychological test performance (n= 181). Elements of dysexecutive impairment were obtained in some groups. A minority, but statistically significant number of patients presented with mixed/ non-right handedness (26.30%); learning disabilities/ related problems (18.40%); and autoimmune disease (23.50; P < .001, all analyses). While intact neuropsychological performance was generally found in this large sample of patients with CRPS patients, elements of mild dysexecutive and amnestic impairment were observed in a portion of patients. Conclusion: Neuropsychological impairment is present in a minority number of patients. The statistically significant incidence of non-right handedness, learning problems, and autoimmune medical disorders among a subset of patients is consistent with elements of the GBG model. Summary: These data suggest the presence of mild neuropsychological deficits in some patients along with the possibility for anomalous brain development, suggesting a possible predisposition for CRPS in some patients.
Labeling method for acceleration data using an execution sequence of activities

In the area of activity recognition, many systems using accelerometers have been proposed. Common method for activity recognition requires raw data labeled with ground truth to learn the model. To obtain ground truth, a wearer records his/her activities during data logging through video camera or handwritten memo. However, referring a video takes long time and taking a memo interrupts natural activity. We propose a labeling method for activity recognition using an execution sequence of activities. The execution sequence includes activities in performed order, does not include time stamps, and is made based on his/her memory. Our proposed method partitions and classifies unlabeled data into segments and clusters, and assigns a cluster to each segment, then assign labels according to the best-matching assignment of clusters with the user-recorded activities. The proposed method gave a precision of 0.812 for data including seven kinds of activities. We also confirmed that recognition accuracy with training data labeled with our proposal gave a recall of 0.871, which is equivalent to that with ground truth.
Relationship between social anxiety and perceived trustworthiness

Four different patterns of biased ratings of facial expressions of emotions have been found in socially anxious participants: higher negative ratings of (1) negative, (2) neutral, and (3) positive facial expressions than nonanxious controls. As a fourth pattern, some studies have found no group differences in ratings of facial expressions of emotion. However, these studies usually employed valence and arousal ratings that arguably may be less able to reflect processing of social information. We examined the relationship between social anxiety and face ratings for perceived trustworthiness given that trustworthiness is an inherently socially relevant construct. Improving on earlier analytical strategies, we evaluated the four previously found result patterns using a Bayesian approach. Ninety-eight undergraduates rated 198 face stimuli on perceived trustworthiness. Subsequently, participants completed social anxiety questionnaires to assess the severity of social fears. Bayesian modeling indicated that the probability that social anxiety did not influence judgments of trustworthiness had at least three times more empirical support in our sample than assuming any kind of negative interpretation bias in social anxiety. We concluded that the deviant interpretation of facial trustworthiness is not a relevant aspect in social anxiety.
Independent recruitments of a translational regulator in the evolution of self-fertile nematodes

Pleiotropic developmental regulators have been repeatedly linked to the evolution of anatomical novelties. Known mechanisms include cis-regulatory DNA changes that alter regulator transcription patterns or modify target-gene linkages. Here, we examine the role of another form of regulation, translational control, in the repeated evolution of self-fertile hermaphroditism in Caenorhabditis nematodes. Caenorhabditis elegans hermaphrodites initiate spermatogenesis in an otherwise female body through translational repression of the gene tra-2. This repression is mediated by GLD-1, an RNA-binding protein also required for oocyte meiosis and differentiation. By contrast, we show that in the convergently hermaphroditic Caenorhabditis briggsae, GLD-1 acts to promote oogenesis. The opposite functions of gld-1 in these species are not gene-intrinsic, but instead result from the unique contexts for its action that evolved in each. In C. elegans, GLD-1 became essential for promoting XX spermatogenesis via changes in the tra-2 mRNA and evolution of the species-specific protein FOG-2. C. briggsae GLD-1 became an essential repressor of sperm-promoting genes, including Cbr-puf-8, and did not evolve a strong association with tra-2. Despite its variable roles in sex determination, the function of gld-1 in female meiotic progression is ancient and conserved. This conserved role may explain why gld-1 is repeatedly recruited to regulate hermaphroditism. We conclude that, as with transcription factors, spatially localized translational regulators play important roles in the evolution of anatomical novelties.