Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On improving privacy and security through user-informed design

What is Privacy? It is “a state in which one is not observed or disturbed by other people”. Or at least that is what Oxford Dictionary of Modern English provides us with [4]. However with the state of “disturbance” or “observation” today, it may be a little hard to define. Let’s take the term “disturbance”; the way we interpret a behavior as annoying or unsolicited varies from individual to individual. When we move this to the virtual and mobile world, the borders we draw become even less obvious, as will be presented. The factors influencing user perception of what can be called “disturbing” in terms of privacy depend on the context as much as information itself. Now, for the “observation”. It is no longer just about “other people”. “Other people” observe us through computers and mobile devices. These computers are everywhere, even in devices that users do not normally consider as such, for instance cars or refrigerators. That is why it is important to talk about privacy in the context of computers and not only the personal world. It is my strong belief, and hypothesis of the following thesis, that users do care about their privacy; they just do not know how to protect it. In my work I postulate the following. First, it is time to stop thinking of users as enemies. They are our allies and we need to collaborate with them to develop privacy tools that they need and find intuitive. We are all users. Second, people do care about protecting at least their own Personally Identifiable Information (PII) data that can be used to find the link between an online personality and a real person, and distinguish them from other people [101]. Thus, to improve adaptability of Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs), we need to make them more personal, targeted at specific problems and focused. Finally, although users want to protect their PII, they neither have the technical knowledge and the right tools, nor will they give up usability for privacy. It has been estimated that the time required to read all privacy policies, if paid as a regular wage, would equal $780 billion [13]. Therefore, the tools that are being developed need to be transparent, and allow for exploration and education for the people who are willing to use them. Overwhelming people with choice is as bad as not giving it to them. I have observed that despite all the efforts to develop good PETs, we are still failing. To this end, I present the following dissertation which is a complete work towards building a new way of creating systems. I call it User-Informed Design (UID). In the first part of my Thesis, I show what motivated me, based on attacks we performed, along with literature research I have done. Next, I talk about the security analysis of Operating Systems and build a model for such evaluation, so that attacks can be prevented. It can be concluded that any system will fail sooner or later and, most importantly, we need to make sure that the user is aware of the shortcomings of their device, knows how to handle it, and protect their privacy. “On Improving Privacy and Security Through User-Informed Design. ”
Division Unit for Binary Integer Decimals

In this work, we present a radix-10 division unit that is based on the digit-recurrence algorithm and implements binary encodings (Binary Integer Decimal or BID) for significands. Recent decimal division designs are all based on the Binary Coded Decimal (BCD) encoding. We adapt the radix-10 digit-recurrence algorithm to BID representation and implement the division unit in standard cell technology. The implementation of the proposed BID division unit is compared to that of a BCD based unit implementing the same algorithm. The comparison shows that for normalized operands the BID unit has the same latency as the BCD unit and reduced area, but the normalization is more expensive when implemented in BID.
Intelligent Single-Channel Methods for Multi-Source Audio Analysis

This thesis investigates the potential of recent machine learning methods for the challenging task of information extraction from single-channel audio where the source of interest is mixed with multiple interfering sources. World-leading results are demonstrated on challenging speech separation and recognition problems where speech is mixed with non-stationary background noise such as music. Furthermore, state-of-the-art results are presented in selected music information retrieval applications involving polyphonic audio.
Predicting strength of additively manufactured thermoplastic polymer parts produced using material extrusion

Purpose The weakest point in additively manufactured polymer parts produced by material extrusion techniques such as Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) is the interface between adjacent layers and deposition toolpaths or “roads”. We introduce a novel analytical approach that uses the temperature history of these interfaces, polymer rheological data, and polymer welding theory to predict the mechanical strength of parts subjected to uniaxial tension. Design/methodology/approach The approach is validated using experimental data for two common 3D printed polymers: (1) polycarbonate (PC) and (2) acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). Interface temperature history data is collected in-situ using infrared imaging. Rheological data of the PC and ABS used to fabricate the FFF parts in this study was determined experimentally. The prediction of strength of the interfaces was performed using polymer weld theory from the literature adapted to the specific properties of the PC and ABS feedstock used in this study. Find.
Cognitive Externalities and HCI: Towards the Recognition and Protection of Cognitive Rights

Human-computer interaction (HCI) technologies are designed to have outcomes. Many unintentional effects, however, are beyond the scope, notice and accountability of current evaluation practices. Using a new minimalist theory of semiotics called finite semiotics, this paper frames these effects as cognitive externalities. It argues that the well-established economic theory around externalities should be adapted to regulate this aspect of HCI: both to remedy inefficiencies and inequalities, and forestall further exploitation. To this end, the paper calls for recognition of cognitive property rights and for HCI to work towards evaluating any HCI technology as its complete delta in global cognition.
Electrodynamics Sensor for the Image Reconstruction Process in an Electrical Charge Tomography System

Electrical charge tomography (EChT) is a non-invasive imaging technique that is aimed to reconstruct the image of materials being conveyed based on data measured by an electrodynamics sensor installed around the pipe. Image reconstruction in electrical charge tomography is vital and has not been widely studied before. Three methods have been introduced before, namely the linear back projection method, the filtered back projection method and the least square method. These methods normally face ill-posed problems and their solutions are unstable and inaccurate. In order to ensure the stability and accuracy, a special solution should be applied to obtain a meaningful image reconstruction result. In this paper, a new image reconstruction method – Least squares with regularization (LSR) will be introduced to reconstruct the image of material in a gravity mode conveyor pipeline for electrical charge tomography. Numerical analysis results based on simulation data indicated that this algorithm efficiently overcomes the numerical instability. The results show that the accuracy of the reconstruction images obtained using the proposed algorithm was enhanced and similar to the image captured by a CCD Camera. As a result, an efficient method for electrical charge tomography image reconstruction has been introduced.
The Measurable Belief of Trust in Social Networks

As Web-based online communities are rapidly growing, the agents in social groups need to know their measurable belief of trust for safe and successful interactions. In this paper, we propose a formal model of reputation resulting from available feedbacks in online communities. The notion of trust can be defined as an aggregation of consensus given a set of reputations. The expected trust of an agent further represents the center of gravity of the distribution of its trustworthiness and untrustworthiness. And then, we precisely describe the relationship between reputation, trust, and expected trust through a concrete example of their computations. We apply our trust model to online Internet settings in order to show how the trust is involved in a rational decision-making of the agents.
Design of a scalable DNA shearing system using phased-array ultrasonic transducer

In this paper, we present the design of a Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) shearing system based on unique acoustic waves generated using a phased-array transducer. Four 90° sector-transducers are used to build a circular array transducer. Each 90°-transducer is excited with separate RF signal of same or different phase. The proposed transducer structure generates bulk lateral ultrasonic waves in the DNA sample; the lateral waves produce both convergence and vortexing effects in the sample. The converged lateral acoustic waves are required to break the DNA sample-meniscus inside the tube and the rotational component of acoustic field is used to recirculate the DNA sample to get homogeneous shearing with tight fragment distribution. Finally, we present the experimental results of DNA sheared to different mean fragment sizes using the proposed system and validate the shearing-capability of the proposed system.
How to Select Knowledge Management Systems: A Framework to Support Managers

The purpose of this paper is to provide a methodological framework which could support managers in the selection of Knowledge Management Systems. The framework is based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process approach. Several aspects should draw the attention of an organization's upper level of management seeking to implement a Knowledge Management System and many specific issues have to be considered. As such, the framework has been built by making use of an ad-hoc hierarchical structure, where each singular specificity is described and compared, second-order criteria are studied and analysed, and optional decisions are highlighted and evaluated. This methodological framework offers a good applicability to different business contexts, since its hierarchical arrangement suits most of the needs of numerous organizations. Consequently, it can be regarded as a holistic approach able to assist decision makers in their Knowledge Management System selection process.
On the Number and 3D Placement of Drone Base Stations in Wireless Cellular Networks

Using drone base stations (drone-BSs) in wireless networks has started attracting attention. Drone-BSs can assist the ground BSs in both capacity and coverage enhancement. One of the important problems about integrating drone-BSs to cellular networks is the management of their placement to satisfy the dynamic system requirements. In this paper, we propose a method to find the positions of drone-BSs in an area with different user densities using a heuristic algorithm. The goal is to find the minimum number of drone-BSs and their 3D placement so that all the users are served. Our simulation results show that the proposed approach can satisfy the quality-of-service requirements of the network.
The Global Digital Divide: Evidence and Drivers

This article presents an analysis of the global digital divide, based on data collected from 45 countries, including the ones belonging to the European Union, OECD, Brazil, Russia, India, and China BRIC. The analysis shows that one factor can explain a large part of the variation in the seven ICT variables used to measure the digital development of countries. This measure is then used with additional variables, which are hypothesised as drivers of the divide for a regression analysis using data from 2015, 2013, and 2011, which reveals economic and educational imbalances between countries, along with some aspects of geography, as drivers of the digital divide. Contrary to the authors' expectations, the English language is not a driver.
Dynamic-MUSIC: accurate device-free indoor localization

Device-free passive indoor localization is playing a critical role in many applications such as elderly care, intrusion detection, smart home, etc. However, existing device-free localization systems either suffer from labor-intensive offline training or require dedicated special-purpose devices. To address the challenges, we present our system named MaTrack, which is implemented on commodity off-the-shelf Intel 5300 Wi-Fi cards. MaTrack proposes a novel Dynamic-MUSIC method to detect the subtle reflection signals from human body and further differentiate them from those reflected signals from static objects (furniture, walls, etc.) to identify the human target's angle for localization. MaTrack does not require any offline training compared to existing signature-based systems and is insensitive to changes in environment. With just two receivers, MaTrack is able to achieve a median localization accuracy below 0.6 m when the human is walking, outperforming the state-of-the-art schemes.
Asymptotic normality of recursive algorithms via martingale difference arrays

We propose martingale central limit theorems as an tool to prove asymptotic normality of the costs of certain recursive algorithms which are subjected to random input data. The recursive algorithms that we have in mind are such that if input data of size N produce random costs L_N, then L_N=^D L_n+ L_N-n+R_N for N ≥ n_0≥ 2, where n follows a certain distribution P_N on the integers \0, \ldots ,N\ and L_k =^D L_k for k≥ 0. L_n, L_N-n and R_N are independent, conditional on n, and R_N are random variables, which may also depend on n, corresponding to the cost of splitting the input data of size N (into subsets of size n and N-n) and combining the results of the recursive calls to yield the overall result. We construct a martingale difference array with rows converging to Z_N:= [L_N - E L_N] / [√Var L_N]. Under certain compatibility assumptions on the sequence (P_N)_N≥ 0 we show that a pair of sufficient conditions (of Lyapunov type) for Z_N → ^DN(0,1) can be restated as a pair of conditions regarding asymptotic relations between three sequences. All these sequences satisfy the same type of linear equation, that is also the defining equation for the sequence (E L_N)_N≥ 0 and thus very likely a well studied object. In the case that the P_N are binomial distributions with the same parameter p, and for deterministic R_N, we demonstrate the power of this approach. We derive very general sufficient conditions in terms of the sequence (R_N)_N≥ 0 (and for the scale R_N=N^α a characterization of those α ) leading to asymptotic normality of Z_N.
Improving generalization capability of neural networks based on simulated annealing

This paper presents a single-objective and a multiobjective stochastic optimization algorithms for global training of neural networks based on simulated annealing. The algorithms overcome the limitation of local optimization by the conventional gradient-based training methods and perform global optimization of the weights of the neural networks. Especially, the multiobjective training algorithm is designed to enhance generalization capability of the trained networks by minimizing the training error and the dynamic range of the network weights simultaneously. For fast convergence and good solution quality of the algorithms, we suggest the hybrid simulated annealing algorithm with the gradient-based local optimization method. Experimental results show that the performance of the trained networks by the proposed methods is better than that by the gradient-based local training algorithm and, moreover, the generalization capability of the networks is significantly improved by preventing overfitting phenomena.
Infrared lasers for the treatment of moderate to severe periodontitis: An American Academy of Periodontology best evidence review

BACKGROUND This systematic review assesses the efficacy of infrared laser therapy used alone or as an adjunct to nonsurgical or surgical periodontal therapy, on clinical and patient-centered outcomes in patients with periodontitis. METHODS Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) with a follow-up duration ≥3 months that evaluated root surface debridement (i.e., scaling and root debridement with or without surgical access) to laser therapy alone or laser therapy plus root surface debridement for the treatment of adult patients (≥18 years old) with moderate to severe aggressive or chronic periodontitis were considered eligible for inclusion. The MEDLINE, EMBASE and CENTRAL databases were searched for articles published up to and including March 2016. Random effects meta-analyses were used throughout the review using continuous data (i.e., mean changes from baseline), and pooled estimates were expressed as weighted mean differences (MDs) with their associated 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Additionally, summaries are presented of the included RCTs, critical remarks of the literature and evidence quality rating/strength of recommendation of laser procedures. RESULTS Of the 475 potentially eligible articles, 28 were included in the review. Individual study outcomes and seven sets of meta-analysis (1 for the nonsurgical treatment of AgP and 9 for nonsurgical and surgical treatment of CP) showed a benefit of laser therapy in improving clinical attachment level (CAL) and probing depth (PD). However, the comparative differences in clinical outcomes were modest (< 1 mm) and the level of certainty for different therapies was considered low-to-moderate (i.e., more information would be necessary to allow for a reliable and definitive estimation of effect/magnitude of therapies on health outcomes). Overall, most of the Strength of Clinical Recommendations of laser therapies were considered weak or based on expert opinion. CONCLUSIONS In patients with moderate to severe periodontitis, the nonsurgical treatment of AgP and CP by SRP plus infrared diode laser, and the surgical treatment of CP by Er:YAG laser therapy alone may promote statistically significant improvements in PD and CAL. However, these gains are relatively small (< 1 mm) and provide modest clinical relevance compared with SRP alone.
Polyol derived Ni and NiFe alloys for effective shielding of electromagnetic interference

Ni and NiFe alloys with different compositions have been successfully synthesized using a simple, surfactant-free polyol method. The morphological analysis demonstrated a uniform spherical nature of the alloys, with size range ∼10–30 nm. A very thin oxide layer was found to form over the alloy nanoparticles (NPs) which is weakly visible in TEM and later confirmed by XPS analysis. The magnetic properties of the Ni and NiFe NPs were measured using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) at room temperature. The saturation magnetization value was found to be lowest in Ni and keeps on increasing with increasing Fe content in the composition. The resistivity, as revealed from I–V characteristics, was shown to be lowest for the permalloy (Ni80Fe20) phase, while the values increase with further increment in the Fe content. The microwave shielding properties of the Ni and its Fe alloy NPs were investigated in the Ku band range. The lower EM wave transmittance with good reflection and absorption coefficients is responsible for the high shielding values. All of the alloys tested in this investigation showed excellent microwave shielding properties ranging from −21 to −41 dB in the entire Ku band, for ∼1 mm thick samples. The lowest EMI shielding range (−21 to −29 dB) was noted for Ni NPs while the highest was observed in the case of permalloy (−30 to −41 dB). The rest of the NiFe combinations show intermediate shielding effectiveness as compared to Ni and permalloy. Certainly, all of the NiFe alloy combinations we tested showed excellent EMI shielding above −30 dB, with significant enhancements in the absorption shielding efficiency. These alloys are good candidates for EMI shielding having the ability to attenuate 99.9% of electromagnetic radiation.
Designing Interactions for the Ageing Populations

We are experiencing two revolutions: ubiquitous digital technology and world-wide population aging: digital devices are becoming ubiquitous, and older people are becoming the largest demographic group. However, despite the recent increase in related CHI publication, older adults continue to be underrepresented in HCI research as well as commercially, further widening the digital divide they face and hampering their social participation. Therefore, the overarching aim of this workshop is to increase the momentum for such research within CHI and related fields such as gerontechnology. For this, we plan to create a space for discussing and sharing principles and strategies to design interactions and evaluate user interfaces for the aging population. We thus welcome contributions to empirical studies, theories, design and evaluation of user interfaces for older adults. Concretely, we aim to: map the state-of-art of senior-centred interaction research, build a multidisciplinary community of experts, and raise the profile of this research within SIGCHI.
Effect of Hydrated Lime on Moisture Susceptibility of Asphalt Mixtures

Moisture induced damage can cause a progressive deterioration in the performance of asphalt pavement by the loss of adhesion between asphalt binder and aggregate surface and/or loss of cohesion within the binder in the presence of water. The objective of this paper is to improve the asphalt mixtures resistance to moisture by using hydrated lime as an anti-stripping additive. For this purpose, two types of asphalt binder were utilized; asphalt grades (40-50) and (60-70) with one type of aggregate of 19.0 mm aggregate nominal maximum size, and limestone dust as a mineral filler. Marshall method was adopted to find the optimum asphalt content. Essentially, two parameters were determined to evaluate the moisture susceptibility, namely: The Index of Retained Strength and the Tensile Strength Ratio. The hydrated lime was added by 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 percentages (by weight of aggregate) using the saturated surface dry method. It was concluded that using hydrated lime will improve the moisture damage resistance. This was adopted as the value of tensile strength ratio increased by 24.50 % and 29.16% for AC (40-50) and AC (60-70) respectively, furthermore, the index of retained strength also increased by 14.28 % and 17.50 % for both asphalt grades. The optimum hydrated lime content founded to be 1.5 %.
Phase-compensation-based cooperative spectrum sensing algorithm for cognitive cloud networks

Spectrum sensing is the key technology in cognitive radio networks. In this paper, we propose novel cooperative sensing methods based on the phase compensation of signals received. In the scheme proposed, all of the signals received in secondary users (SUs) are sent to the cloud and compensated for their phase differences. After the phase compensation, the compensated signals are combined to be detected whether primary users (PUs) is present. In particular, the two phase compensation algorithms are presented. One is based on the Cosine law; the other is based on the steepest descent algorithm. It makes the cooperative spectrum sensing more accurately and efficiently. Simulation results show that the algorithms proposed provide better performance compared with other algorithms.
Data compression and prediction using machine learning for industrial IoT

Industrial IoT generates big data that is useful for getting insight from data analysis but storing all the data is a burden. To resolve it, we propose to compress the industrial data using neural network regression into a representative vector with lossy compression. For efficiency of the compression, we use the divide-and-conquer method such that the industrial data can be handled by the chunk size of data. Through our experiments, we verify that industrial data is represented by a function and predicted with high accuracy.