Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Estimation of the "natural" number of classes of a multispectral image

The availability of an effective internal similarity index to determine the "natural" number of classes in a multi- spectral satellite image would benefit the process of unsupervised image classification. Two similarity indices (DB and Xu) were tested in sections of multi-spectral satellite images from Landsat TM, SPOT HRVIR, ASTER and IKONOS. The images were initially clustered into a manageable number of classes using an unsupervised classification algorithm. These results were then structured hierarchically, and the internal similarity indices computed for each level. The inspection of the DB and Xu index plots were used to select the "natural" number of classes for each test image.
Distributed link scheduling for congestion control in multihop wireless network

A distributed link scheduling scheme with cross-layer design is conceived based on the physical interference model for controlling the congestion in multihop wireless networks. Link scheduling and nonlinear power control problem are analyzed based on the physical interference model and a distributed algorithm is designed to accomplish the rate allocation and the link scheduling. The algorithm is tested in the case that users randomly arrive at and depart the network following the Poisson Process. Simulation results verify that the network is stable with the proposed algorithm, by which the data rate of each user injected into the network is computed.
Exporting, Licensing, FDI and Productivity Choice: Theory and Evidence from Chilean Data*

This paper develops a trade model in which two heterogeneous firms located in two different countries make their productivity choices by choosing their optimal RD an intermediate ex-ante difference leads to the combination of exporting and an enlarged ex-post productivity difference; a large ex-ante difference brings the choice of FDI and an even larger ex-post productivity difference. Besides the ex-ante productivity effect, the model also shows how the difference in market demand sizes of two countries causes different preference among mode choices. I test two sets of theoretical hypotheses developed in this paper by using Chilean firm-level panel data from 2001 to 2007. These are how different mode choices are associated with different productivity levels and market shares and how the productivity difference between more productive foreign plants and less productive domestic plants affects the optimal mode choice decision. The empirical results are consistent with the model predictions.
Educación financiera en los estudiantes de pregrado de la Universidad del Quindí­o

El presente trabajo, tiene como proposito analizar el nivel de educacion financiera en los estudiantes de pregradoÂ de la Universidad del Quindi­o de las modalidades presencial y distancia. Entre los resultados se puede evidenciar que la mayori­a de los estudiantes no estan realizando una planeacion financiera debido al desconocimiento de las finanzas y la falta de informacion, llevandolos al endeudamiento excesivo y la falta de ahorro para el futuro.
Why Firms Avoid Cutting Wages

Firms very rarely cut nominal wages, even in the face of considerable negative economic shocks. The authors of this article use a unique survey of 14 European countries to ask firms directly about the incidence of wage cuts and to assess the relevance of a range of potential reasons for why the firms avoid cutting wages. They examine how firm characteristics and collective bargaining institutions affect the relevance of each of the common explanations for the infrequency of wage cuts. Concerns about the retention of productive staff and a lowering of morale and effort were reported as key reasons for downward wage rigidity across all countries and firm types. Restrictions created by collective bargaining were found to be an important consideration for firms in Western European (EU-15) countries but were one of the lowest-ranked obstacles in the new EU member-states in Central and Eastern Europe.
The coalescent

Ancestors in populations The history of alleles in populations is one of success and failure – those alleles that reproduce and those that do not. Every one reading this is the product of a successful allele, but if you look back just a single generation, you will find many individuals and alleles that have left no trace in the current generation. Looking back further, you will find more and more of such ghost lineages that have left no descendents today. This creates a somewhat biased view of evolution. Unless we can extract DNA from fossils, or mammoths frozen into the tundra, we can never know anything about those lineages that have left no descendents. By sampling genes from the current population, we can only ever learn about the successful lineages. So we might as well represent the history of the population simply in terms of the history of those lineages that have descendants in the current population. By rubbing out those individuals who have failed to leave descendants, the ancestral history of a population can be represented as a tree, or genealogy. In exactly the same manner a family tree or a species phylogeny represents the history of those lineages that have left representatives. It is a somewhat biased view of history, but relevant to understanding contemporary patterns. Ultimately, all alleles within a population are derived from just a single ancestor – the mitochondrial eve is an example. If you were to look further, you would see this single lineage snaking back through history until it meets the ancestral lineage of other extant species.
Similarity-based Web service matchmaking

With the increasing growth in popularity of Web services, matchmaking of relevant Web services becomes a significant challenge. Commonly, Web service is described by WSDL and published on UDDI registers. UDDI provides limited search facilities allowing only a keyword-based search of businesses, services, and the so called tModels based on names and identifiers. This category-based keyword-browsing method is clearly insufficient. Semantic Web service uses DAML-S instead of WSDL to represent capabilities of Web services. This improvement enables software agents or search engines to automatically find appropriate Web services via ontologies and reasoning algorithm enriched methods. However, the high cost of formally defining to the heavy and complicated services makes this improvement widespread adoption unlikely. To cope with these limitations, we have developed a suite of methods which assesses the similarity of Web services to achieve matchmaking. In particular, we present a conceptual model which classifies properties of Web services into four categories. For each category, a similarity assessment method has been given. In Web service matchmaking process, these similarity assessment methods can be used together or individually. Experiments highlight complementary contributions that our work makes to facilitate Web service matchmaking.
Temporal Variation of ETo in Recent 50 Years in Hilly Area of Central Sichuan

Monthly potential evapotranspiration (ET0) from 1957 to 2010 is estimated with Penman-Monteith method in four stations in hilly area of central Sichuan, China. Results show that ET0has a decrease, temperature has a significant increase, relative humidity has a significant decrement, sunshine duration and wind speed have very significantly downward trends. Climate tends to warming and drying in recent 50 years.
Investigating interactions between ARQ mechanisms and TCP over wireless links

In this paper we investigate interactions between TCP and wireless ARQ mechanisms. The aim is to understand what is the best configuration of the wireless link protocol in order to guarantee TCP performance, seemingly a controversial issue. Interactions between TCP and different link layer mechanisms are evaluated by means of an analytic model, that reproduces a generic selective repeat ARQ protocol (widely used in the current wireless environments) and the TCP behavior in a wired-cum-wireless network scenario. A numerical investigation is carried out in a specific case study (TCP over 3G radio access) by means of simulations collected with a very detailed UMTS-TDD simulator based on ns. Our main finding is that fully reliable ARQ protocols are the best choices from the TCP perspective; in fact, whereas a residual packet loss left over by not fully reliable ARQ protocols may not degrade appreciably TCP throughput performance as long as it is a fraction of the overall end-to-end TCP packet loss, no apparent performance advantages (e.g. energy savings) come from limiting the number of retransmission attempts at the wireless link layer.
HoverZoom: making on-screen keyboards more accessible

Text entry on mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets almost exclusively depends on using on-screen keyboards that base on touch interaction. Due to the often limited space available on the touchscreen, the keys are displayed very small and are therefore hard to hit, especially in mobile scenarios or with users that do not have perfect eyesight. In our work we utilize a feature of some smartphones where a user's finger is detected before it touches the screen. This hover detection is used to enlarge the area of the keyboard under the finger to make it more readable and easier to use. A first working prototype exists and will be evaluated in the near future.
Applying limited-preemptive scheduling to peak load reduction in smart buildings

The coordination of appliances in a smart building to limit the peak load is one of the common objectives of power load management approaches such as the Demand-Side Management (DSM). The DSM, in turn, is an important research challenge in the field of smart energy systems and smart grids. This paper investigates the use of the limited-preemption scheduling approach to the coordination of a set of household appliances in a smart building. This approach is enabled by the application of a real-time scheduling framework to manage the activation of electric loads. The limited-preemption technique aims to reduce the number of stop/restart operations applied to interruptible devices, while ensuring the same performance in terms of peak load reduction. The original contribution of this paper w.r. t. to previous works on real-time scheduling with limited-preemption is to present some peculiar issues related to preemptions of electric loads and to assess suitability and benefits of this approach when applied to interruptible household appliances. Simulated results show the effectiveness of this method.
Optical properties of human skin

Abstract. A survey of the literature is presented that provides an analysis of the optical properties of human skin, with particular regard to their applications in medicine. Included is a description of the primary interactions of light with skin and how these are commonly estimated using radiative transfer theory (RTT). This is followed by analysis of measured RTT coefficients available in the literature. Orders of magnitude differences are found within published absorption and reduced-scattering coefficients. Causes for these discrepancies are discussed in detail, including contrasts between data acquired in vitro and in vivo. An analysis of the phase functions applied in skin optics, along with the remaining optical coefficients (anisotropy factors and refractive indices) is also included. The survey concludes that further work in the field is necessary to establish a definitive range of realistic coefficients for clinically normal skin.
DBM-DB: the diamondback moth genome database

The diamondback moth Genome Database (DBM-DB) is a central online repository for storing and integrating genomic data of diamondback moth (DBM), Plutella xylostella (L.). It provides comprehensive search tools and downloadable datasets for scientists to study comparative genomics, biological interpretation and gene annotation of this insect pest. DBM-DB contains assembled transcriptome datasets from multiple DBM strains and developmental stages, and the annotated genome of P. xylostella (version 2). We have also integrated publically available ESTs from NCBI and a putative gene set from a second DBM genome (KONAGbase) to enable users to compare different gene models. DBM-DB was developed with the capacity to incorporate future data resources, and will serve as a long-term and open-access database that can be conveniently used for research on the biology, distribution and evolution of DBM. This resource aims to help reduce the impact DBM has on agriculture using genomic and molecular tools. Database URL: http://iae.fafu. edu.cn/DBM/
A compositional logic for protocol correctness

Abstract: We present a specialized protocol logic that is built around a process language for describing the actions of a protocol. In general terms, the relation between logic and protocol is like the relation between assertions in Floyd-Hoare logic and standard imperative programs. Like Floyd-Hoare logic, our logic contains axioms and inference rules for each of the main protocol actions and proofs are protocol-directed, meaning that the outline of a proof of correctness follows the sequence of actions in the protocol. We prove that the protocol logic is sound, in a specific sense: each provable assertion about an action or sequence of actions holds in any run of the protocol, under attack, in which the given actions occur. This approach lets us prove properties of protocols that hold in all runs, while explicitly reasoning only about the sequence of actions needed to achieve this property. In particular, no explicit reasoning about the potential actions of an attacker is required.
Initialisation du filtre particulaire et borne de Cram ér-Raoà posteriori appliqué au problème de pistage par mesure d ’ angle en coordonnées polaires modifiées

We here address the classical bearings-only tracking probl em (BOT) for a single object, which belongs to the general class of non linear filtering problems. Recent ly, algorithms based on sequential Monte Carlo methods (particle filtering) have been proposed. However, initiali zing particle filtering is often the main difficulty, especia lly if the state is only partially observed (BOT). To remedy for t his problem, the problem is immersed in a modified polar coordinate (MP) framework. This approach leads us to c onsider an original formulation of the BOT problem within the MP system. In particular, it is shown that this pro blem is relevant to a more general class of problems: nonlinear filtering with unknown state covariance. Inside this particular framework, particle filters can be quite convine ntly initialized by using only observed bearings (optimization problem). The whole algorithm performs quite satisfactori ly, avoiding the need of a strong prior about target location and velocity. Simulation results illustrate the benefits of thi s approach. The Posterior Cramér-Rao Bound (PCRB) provides a lower bound on the mean square error. Original PCRB approximations for the “partial” state target (the obs ervable components) are derived. It is well-known that the ”usual” PCRB is (very) over-optimistic. Relaxing the asymp totic unbiasness hypothesis, a new bound is derived, both for partial or complete state vectors, which presents a good agreement with estimated MSE from simulated data. Key-words: bearings-only tracking, initialization, sequential Mont e Carlo methods, posterior Cramér-Rao bound, performance analysis.
Centre De Referència En Economia Analítica Barcelona Economics Working Paper Series Information Networks and Worker Recruitment Information Networks and Worker Recruitment

This paper studies experimentally how the existence of social information networks affects the ways in which firms recruit new personnel. Through such networks firms learn about prospective employees' performance in previous jobs. Assuming individualistic preferences social networks are predicted not to affect overall labor market behavior, while with social preferences the prediction is that when bilaterally negotiated: (i) wages will be higher and (ii) that workers in jobs with incomplete contracts will respond with higher effort. Our experimental results are consistent with the social preferences view, both for the case of excess demand and excess supply of labor. In particular, the presence of information networks leads to more efficient allocations.
A fast counterexample minimization approach with refutation analysis and incremental SAT

It is a hotly research topic to eliminate irrelevant variables from counterexample, to make it easier to be understood. BFL algorithm is the most effective counterexample minimization algorithm compared to all other approaches, but its run time overhead is very large due to one call to SAT solver per candidate variable to be eliminated. So we propose a faster counterexample minimization algorithm based on refutation analysis and incremental SAT. First, for every UNSAT instance of BFL, we perform refutation analysis to extract the set of variables that lead to UNSAT, all variables not belong to this set can be eliminated simultaneously. In this way, we can eliminate many variables with only one call to SAT solver. At the same time, we employ incremental SAT approach to share learned clauses between similar instances of BFL, to prevent overlapped state space from being searched repeatedly. Theoretic analysis and experiment result shows that, our approach can be 1 to 2 orders of magnitude faster than BFL, and still retain the minimization ability of BFL (Ravi and Somenzi, 2004).
(1/2, 1/2) REPRESENTATION SPACE — AN ab initio CONSTRUCT

A careful ab initio construction of the finite-mass (1/2, 1/2) representation space of the Lorentz group reveals it to be a spin-parity multiplet. In general, it does not lend itself to a single-spin interpretation. We find that the (1/2, 1/2) representation space for massive particles naturally bifurcates into a triplet and a singlet of opposite relative intrinsic parties. The textbook separation into spin-1 and spin-0 states occurs only for certain limited kinematical settings. We construct a wave equation for the (1/2, 1/2) multiplet, and show that the particles and antiparticles in this representation space do not carry a definite spin but only a definite relative intrinsic parity. In general, both spin-1 and spin-0 are covariantly inseparable inhabitants of massive vector fields. This last observation suggests that scalar particles, such as the Higgs, are natural inhabitants of massive (1/2, 1/2) representation space.
Classifying and assessing tremor movements for applications in man-machine intelligent user interfaces

We introduce a new intelligent user interface (IUI) and, also, a new methodology to identify the fatigue state for healthy subjects. The fatigue state is determined by means of a new type of input IUI, named Virtual Joystick. The main goal is to prove the ability of the new IUI system to identify the user's state. We describe the method used in data collecting, the method used to highlight the existence of different physiological and psychic fatigue states reflected by the tremor signal, the classifier system and, finally, the performances we obtained.
The Impact of Decision Rights and Long Term Relationships on Innovation Sharing

While innovation sharing between a buyer and a supplier can increase the e ciency and total pro t of a supply chain, many suppliers are reluctant to do so. Sharing innovations leaves the supplier in a vulnerable position if the buyer exploits the information (e.g. by re-sharing the supplier's innovation with competing suppliers). In this paper, we examine conditions under which a collaborative relationship can arise in this situation, with a supplier voluntarily sharing an innovation and a buyer repaying that trust by sharing the surplus increase rather than seeking competing bids from other suppliers. First we show, both theoretically and experimentally, that decisions to collaborate are a ected by the length of the relationship between the rms longer relationships lead to higher collaboration and higher total pro ts. We additionally show that collaboration depends not just on the rm-level relationship length, but also on the longor short-run focus of the employees within the rms that make decisions. We model the buyer as a dual decision maker, with long-run and/or short-run focused employees ( engineers and procurement managers ) determining the buyer's actions. We characterize the equilibrium of this model and show that collaborative outcomes depend on the level of control the long-run employee has within the buyer. Our experimental results verify this intuition. Collaborative relationships occur more often when the engineer has more control. However, the supplier's decision to share an innovation depends primarily on the rm-level relationship length, while the buyer's decision to seek competition depends more on the relationship focus of the controlling employees. Consequently, buyers' pro ts increase with long-run rm relationships (for any decision maker), while suppliers' pro ts only signi cantly increase with a long-run decision maker. Finally, while suppliers and engineers should theoretically ignore the actions of the previous procurement managers, we nd that both suppliers' and engineers' actions are correlated with the previous procurement managers' decision.
Insight in Image Collections by Multimedia Pivot Tables

We propose a multimedia analytics solution for getting insight in image collections by extending the powerful method of pivot tables, found in the ubiquitous spreadsheets, to multimedia. Our proposed solution is designed by considering the characteristics of multimedia data as well as insight and provides integral access to visual content through concept detection results, tags, geolocation, and other metadata. We present a set of scenarios of using the pivot tables for a collection of images, tags, and metadata from Flickr. User experiments have been instrumental in realizing the final design presented in this paper. The accompanying video shows the solution in action.
Comparing Fault-based Testing Strategies of General Boolean Specifications

Testing Boolean specifications in general form (GF) by the IDNF-oriented approaches always results in superabundant cost and missing detection of some faults. This paper proposes GF-oriented approaches to improve them. The experimental results show that the GF-oriented strategies could enhance the fault detection capability and reduce the sizes of test sets.