Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using extended positional grammars to develop visual modeling languages

In this paper we present the approach based on the formalism of Extended Positional Grammars for specifying, designing and implementing visual modeling languages. In order to stress the main characteristics of the approach and highlight its power, we describe the use of the formalism to implement statecharts languages which represent one of the most complex visual modeling languages used in the software engineering field. In the paper special emphasis is put on describing the benefits deriving from the use of such formal specifications such as incrementality, easy customization, and automatic generation of visual programming environments. Such features turn out to be especially important because visual modeling languages are subjected to continuous changes as the history of statecharts languages and UML diagrams shows. Moreover, visual languages can be effectively used only if they are supported by a powerful visual environment within they are embedded and used.
An Effective Approach for Adapting the Size of Subcomponents in Large-Scale Optimization with Cooperative Coevolution

The performance of cooperative co-evolutionary algorithms for large-scale global optimization (LSGO) can be significantly affected by the adopted problem decomposition. This study investigates a new adaptive Cooperative Coevolutionary algorithm in which several decompositions are concurrently applied during short learning phases. Moreover, the study includes some experimental results on a set of LSGO problems and a comparison with a recent approach based on reinforcement-learning. According to the numerical results, the proposed adaptive approach can provide a superior search efficiency on several benchmark functions.
Circular Patch Antenna with Enhanced Bandwidth using Narrow Rectangular Slit for Wi-Max Application

Since the inception of Microstrip Patch antenna constant efforts are being made to modify the overall performance of this class of antenna field . Although the microstrip antenna has some of shortcoming till this date such as low gain, narrow operating bandwidth, poor radiation efficiency, yet it has been one the most suitable candidate for modern wireless communication technology. This paper focus on the bandwidth enhancement of microstrip circular patch antenna by introducing a narrow rectangular slit of length 12 mm and width 0.6 mm and thickness 0.2 mm on the conventional circular patch. The proposed antenna is excited through the microstrip feed line technique and the antenna design and the parametric studies has been executed using Ansoft’s HFSS (High Frequency Structure Simulator) The antenna resonate at two frequencies 2.7GHz and 5.4GHz having gain1.215dBi & 5.37dBi at respective frequency, these bands cover the lower and upper band of Wi-Max application.
DGAT1 overexpression in muscle by in vivo DNA electroporation increases intramyocellular lipid content Published, JLR Papers in Press, December 1, 2004. DOI 10.1194/jlr.M400416-JLR200

In adipose tissue, the microsomal enzyme 1,2-acyl CoA:diacylglyceroltransferase-1 (DGAT1) plays an important role in triglyceride storage. Because DGAT1 is expressed in skeletal muscle as well, we aimed to directly test the effect of DGAT1 on muscular triglyceride storage by overexpressing DGAT1 using in vivo DNA electroporation. A pcDNA3.1-DGAT1 construct in saline was injected in the left tibialis anterior muscle of rats, followed by the application of eight transcutaneous pulses, using the contralateral leg as sham-electroporated control. Electroporation of the DGAT1 construct led to significant overexpression of the DGAT1 protein. The functionality of DGAT1 overexpression is underscored by the pronounced diet-responsive increase in intramyocellular lipid (IMCL) storage. In chow-fed rats, DGAT1-positive myocytes showed significantly higher IMCL content compared with the control leg, which was almost devoid of IMCL (1.99 ± 1.13% vs. 0.017 ± 0.014% of total area fraction; P < 0.05). High-fat feeding increased IMCL levels in both DGAT1-positive and control myocytes, resulting in very high IMCL levels in DGAT1-overexpressing myocytes (4.96 ± 1.47% vs. 0.80 ± 0.14%; P < 0.05). Our findings indicate that DGAT1 contributes to the storage of IMCL and that in vivo DNA electroporation is a promising tool to examine the functional consequences of altered gene expression in mature skeletal muscle.
Rapid analytical optimization of eddy-current shield thickness for associated loss minimization in electrical Machines

A copper or another high-conductivity shield is often used for coating the solid rotor for reducing the armature-reaction space and time-harmonic-induced surface eddy-current losses in a solid-rotor synchronous machine. Since finite-element-simulation-based surface-loss evaluation for shield design can be very time consuming and complicated; a simple analytical model for calculating the surface losses is derived in this paper. A set of equations is derived based on Maxwell's equations for a general case and applied to a solid-rotor synchronous machine. Simulation results are provided to show that the proposed analytical model can serve as an effective screening tool for determining the optimal shield thickness for minimizing the rotor surface losses. The model is useful for assisting the shield-design process for synchronous machines with solid rotors, especially for high-speed machines operating in conjunction with power electronic converters.
Minimizing Total Weighted Tardiness on Single Machine

This paper considers a single machine total weighted tardiness scheduling problem. Total weighted tardiness scheduling problem is proven to be NP-hard and cannot be solved in a reasonable time for large size problem. A metaheuristic which is genetic algorithm is developed to solve such scheduling problem in this paper. Besides that, dispatching heuristics are also developed which serves as an initial solution to genetic algorithm. The developed genetic algorithm has the capability to provide good results and good improvement compared to dispatching heuristics.
Suppression of MRI Truncation Artifacts Using Total Variation Constrained Data Extrapolation

The finite sampling of k-space in MRI causes spurious image artifacts, known as Gibbs ringing, which result from signal truncation at the border of k-space. The effect is especially visible for acquisitions at low resolution and commonly reduced by filtering at the expense of image blurring. The present work demonstrates that the simple assumption of a piecewise-constant object can be exploited to extrapolate the data in k-space beyond the measured part. The method allows for a significant reduction of truncation artifacts without compromising resolution. The assumption translates into a total variation minimization problem, which can be solved with a nonlinear optimization algorithm. In the presence of substantial noise, a modified approach offers edge-preserving denoising by allowing for slight deviations from the measured data in addition to supplementing data. The effectiveness of these methods is demonstrated with simulations as well as experimental data for a phantom and human brain in vivo.
Efficient search on encrypted data

Encrypted data are being kept in remote server for purposes like backup and space savings. In order to retrieve these encrypted data, efficient search methods were proposed that enable the retrieval of the dataset without leaking too much information thus ensuring better security and less information leakage. An improved method is proposed in this paper for an efficient search on encrypted data which implements a keyword list in a hash table for each encrypted document. The keyword is encrypted in such a way that by providing the file server with required search information known as "a capability for a certain keyword", searches can be performed without leaking any information
CozyMaps: Real-time Collaboration on a Shared Map with Multiple Displays

With the use of several tablet devices and a shared large display, CozyMaps is a multi-display system that supports real-time collocated collaboration on a shared map. This paper builds on existing works and introduces rich user interactions by proposing awareness, notification, and view sharing techniques, to enable seamless information sharing and integration in map-based applications. Based on our exploratory study, we demonstrated that participants are satisfied with these new proposed interactions. We found that view sharing techniques should be location-focused rather than user-focused. Our results provide implications for the design of interactive techniques in collaborative multi-display map systems.
Evaluation of National Centers for Environmental Prediction Global Forecast System at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program Southern Great Plains Site

Since 2001 output from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction global weather forecast system (GFS) has been routinely processed to produce single column profiles at locations corresponding to the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program sites. In the present study, GFS forecast was examined and compared with ARM observations at the Southern Great Plain Central Facility for the years from 2001 through 2004. The comparison was made for the first 48 hours of forecast and primarily for surface energy fluxes and clouds. For most of the variables examined, the forecast compared well with the observations. The performance of the model has been improving along with model upgrades. For certain variables, persistent biases exist. For instance, the model overestimated latent heat flux by 80 W/m over the 1-3 PM time period of the day and, coincidently, overestimated surface downward solar flux by 43 W/m, and underestimated sensible heat flux by 48 W/m. As a result, the surface net heat budget in the forecast was balanced due to cancellation of errors. For cloud, the model was able to capture its observed temporal evolution and vertical distribution during major synoptic events. However, on average, the model largely underestimated cloud fraction in the lower and middle troposphere, and slightly overestimated in the upper troposphere. The forecast missed daytime non-precipitating low clouds seen in the observations. Diurnal cycle of clouds in the middle to lower troposphere was much weaker in the forecast than in the observation. The bias in cloud diurnal cycle was found to be responsible for a phase shift in the diurnal cycle of the forecast cloudy-sky surface downward longwave flux (SDLW). Further assessment was made for time before and after an upgrade of the GFS longwave radiative transfer module. After the upgrade, a systematic low bias of cloudy-sky SDLW found in the earlier forecast was eliminated; however, clear-sky SDLW at night became too large. The latter was probably caused by a nighttime warm bias in the lower and middle atmosphere. This investigation demonstrated the unique value of ARM observations in diagnosing and understanding forecast model errors, and for improving the forecast model physics.
A Combined Raindrop Aggregate Destruction Test-Settling Tube (RADT-ST) Approach to Identify the Settling Velocity of Sediment

The use of sediment settling velocity based on mineral grain size distribution in erosion models ignores the effects of aggregation on settling velocity. The alternative approach, wet-sieved aggregate size distribution, on the other hand, cannot represent all destructive processes that eroded soils may experience under impacting raindrops. Therefore, without considering raindrop impact, both methods may lead to biased predictions of the redistribution of sediment and associated substances across landscapes. Rainfall simulation is an effective way to simulate natural raindrop impact under controlled laboratory conditions. However, very few methods have been developed to integrate rainfall simulation with the settling velocity of eroded sediment. This study aims to develop a new proxy, based on rainfall simulation, in order to identify the actual settling velocity distribution of aggregated sediment. A combined Raindrop Aggregate Destruction Test-Settling Tube (RADT-ST) approach was developed to (1) simulate aggregate destruction under a series of simulated rainfalls; and (2) measure the actual settling velocity distribution of destroyed aggregates. Mean Weight Settling Velocity (MWSV) of aggregates was used to investigate settling behaviors of different soils as rainfall kinetic energy increased. The results show the settling velocity of silt-rich raindrop impacted aggregates is likely to be underestimated by at least six times if based on mineral grain size distribution. The RADT-ST designed in this study effectively captures the effects of aggregation on settling behavior. The settling velocity distribution should be regarded as an evolving, rather than steady state parameter during erosion events. The combined RADT-ST approach is able to generate the quasi-natural sediment under controlled simulated rainfall conditions and is adequately sensitive to measure actual settling velocities of differently aggregated soils. This combined approach provides an effective tool to improve the parameterization of settling velocity input for erosion models.
Novel Complex Conjugate-Phase Transform technique for cancelable and irrevocable biometric template generation for fingerprints

This paper introduces a novel method for cancellable and irrevocable biometric template generation. The proposed method named as complex conjugate phase transform takes the main components like bit shifted-phase, twin complex conjugate transpose and chaff point generation along with it. The strength of the proposed method is tested in different aspects such as cancelability, irrevocability and security. The performance of the same is also calculated in terms of time and space complexity; ROC analysis is also carried out. The proposed method achieves higher matching scores; and the experimental results show that the proposed complex conjugate phase transform is better in all the aspects of performance.
Enhanced Clustering Method using 3 D Laser Range Data for an Autonomous Vehicle

This paper describes an enhanced clustering method for 3D point cloud data which is acquired from a laser range scanning system. The proposed method overcomes the instinctive problems of the vertical or horizontal scanning system. The acquired 3D laser range data for an autonomous vehicle has a disadvantage in that the point cloud data from the system is not equally distributed based on distance. Moreover, the data information describes only the object’s shown surface. The proposed method uses essentially a radially bounded nearest neighbor approach and describes the definition of nearest neighbor points on the point cloud data from the scanning system. The method uses a Gaussian-based approach to find nearest neighbor points during the clustering process. In conclusion, the experimental results for the clustering and segmentation are shown with real data. Key–Words: 3D point cloud data, clustering, segmentation, autonomous vehicle, object recognition.
Semantic and Pragmatic Computing with GETARUNS

We present a system for text understanding called GETARUNS, in its deep version applicable only to Closed Domains. We will present the low level component organized according to LFG theory. The system also does pronominal binding, quantifier raising and temporal interpretation. Then we will introduce the high level component where the Discourse Model is created from a text. Texts belonging to closed domains are characterized by the fact that their semantics is controlled or under command of the system; and most importantly, sentences making up the texts are fully parsed without failures. In practice, these texts are short and sentences are also below a certain threshold, typically less than 25 words. For longer sentences the system switches from the topdown to the bottomup system. In case of failure it will backoff to the partial system which produces a very lean and shallow semantics with no inference rules. The small text we will present contains what is called a "psychological statement" sentence which contributes an important bias as to the linking of the free pronominal expression contained in the last sentence.
Learning pairwise comparisons of items with bigram content features for recommending

In general, users usually rate items according to interestingness of some features in items on the internet. Considering competitive relationships of ratings on one user interest level and context information of the item content features, this paper proposes an approach to predict items' ratings basing on paired comparisons of different rating items with bigram content features. In the paper, we assume that the user interest on each item can be represented by the combination of different bigram content features, and employ Bradley-Terry model to confirm the user interestingness of each feature pair. Experimental results show that this approach outperforms popular approaches and the competitive approach without context information.
Altered insula activation in anticipation of changing emotional states: neural mechanisms underlying cognitive flexibility in special operations forces personnel

Individuals who perform optimally in extreme conditions, such as elite military warriors, can provide valuable insight into the neurobehavioral mechanisms underlying extraordinary performance. In the current study, we examined the degree to which Navy SEALs, when compared with healthy volunteers, could show more right anterior insula activation when shifting from anticipating one emotion to another during functional MRI. Consistent with our hypothesis, SEALs showed attenuated insula activation to negative image relative to positive image anticipation and greater right anterior insula activation during affective set-shifting. These findings suggest that elite warriors show combined (a) minimal reactivity during negative stimuli and (b) an enhanced ability to efficiently change their physiological state. These neural changes may underlie their ability to perform well in stressful situations.
Design and evaluation of the combined input and crossbar queued (cicq) switch

Packet switches are used in the Internet to forward information between a sender and receiver and are the critical bottleneck in the Internet. Without faster packet switch designs, the Internet cannot continue to scale-up to higher data rates. Packet switches must be able to achieve high throughput and low delay. In addition, they must be stable for all traffic loads, must efficiently support variable length packets, and must be scalable to higher link data rates and greater numbers of ports. This dissertation investigates a new combined input and crossbar queued (CICQ) switch architecture. Some unbalanced traffic loads result in instability for input queued (IQ) and CICQ switches. This instability region was modeled, and the cause of the instability was found to be a lack of work conservation at one port. A new burst stabilization protocol was investigated that was shown to stabilize both IQ and CICQ switches. As an added benefit, this new protocol did not require a costly internal switch speed-up. Switching variable length packets in IQ switches requires the segmentation of packets into cells. The process also requires an internal switch speed-up which can be costly. A new method of cell-merging in IQ switches reduced this speed-up. To improve fairness for CICQ switches, a block and transfer method was proposed and evaluated. Implementation feasibility of the CICQ switch was also investigated via a field programmable gate array (FPGA) implementation of key components. Two new designs for round robin arbiters were developed and evaluated. The first of these, a proposed priority-encoder-based round robin arbiter that uses feedback masking, has a lower delay than any known design for an FPGA implementation. The second, an overlapped round robin arbiter design that fully overlaps round robin polling and scheduling, was proposed and shown to be scalable, work conserving, and fair. To allow for multi-cabinet implementation and minimization of the size of the cross point buffers, a distributed input port queue scheduler was investigated. This new scheduler minimizes the amount of buffering needed within the crossbar. The two primary contributions of this dissertation are (1) a complete understanding of the performance characteristics of the CICQ switch, and (2) new methods for improving the performance, stability, and scalability of the CICQ switch. This work has shown that the CICQ switch can be the switch architecture of the future.
Institutionalize Reciprocity to Overcome the Public Goods Provision Problem

Cooperation is fundamental to human societies, and one of the important paths for its emergence and maintenance is reciprocity. In prisoner’s dilemma (PD) experiments, reciprocal strategies are often effective at attaining and maintaining high cooperation. In many public goods (PG) games or n-person PD experiments, however, reciprocal strategies are not successful at engendering cooperation. In the present paper, we attribute this difficulty to a coordination problem against free riding among reciprocators: Because it is difficult for the reciprocators to coordinate their behaviors against free riders, this may lead to inequality among players, which will demotivate them from cooperating in future rounds. We propose a new mechanism, institutionalized reciprocity (IR), which refers to embedding the reciprocal strategy as an institution (i.e., institutionalizing the reciprocal strategy). We experimentally demonstrate that IR can prevent groups of reciprocators from falling into coordination failure and achieve high cooperation in PG games. In conclusion, we argue that a natural extension of the present study will be to investigate the possibility of IR to serve as a collective punishment system.
An Exercise in Protocol Veriication

We present methods and tools for the veriication of behaviours of Lotos programs, based on the explicit construction of a nite automaton. We discuss a behaviour oriented style for Lotos that eases the construction of this model. We present the veriication tools integrated in the lite tool set, and illustrate the approach with the full speciication and analysis of a datagram protocol.