Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Pattern-Based Approach to Development of Service Mediators for Protocol Mediation

Service composition is one of the key objectives for adopting service oriented architecture. Today, Web services, however, are not always perfectly compatible and composition mismatches are common problems. Service mediation, generally classified into signature and protocol ones, thus becomes one key working area in SOA. While the former has received considerable attention, protocol mediation is still open and current approaches provide only partial solutions. In this paper, a pattern-based approach is proposed for developers to semi-automatically generate mediators and glue partially compatible services together. Based on the investigation on workflow patterns and message exchanging sequences in service interactions, several basic mediator patterns are developed and can be used to modularly construct advanced mediators that can resolve all possible protocol mismatches, especially such mismatches about complicated control logics. Moreover, the architecture for the service mediation system is designed and implemented to prove the feasibility of our approach.
Using the conflict : An application to sonar image registration

This paper presents an application of the theory of belief functions for classified images registration and fusion. We extend here some results developed on a previous paper to multiview images. For seabed characterization, we need to fuse the multi-view of sonar images to increase performances and build a complete mosaic. However, before fusion, we have to proceed to a classification of the data, and to an image registration. The proposed approach is based on the use of the conflict due to the combination as a dissimilarity measure in the classified images registration. The theory of belief functions allows an unique framework to model the imperfections and to fuse the classified images.
Night-Time Noise Index Based on the Integration of Awakening Potential

Sleep disturbance induced by night-time noise is a serious environmental problem that can cause adverse health effects, such as hypertension and ischemic heart disease. Night-time noise indices are used to facilitate the enforcement of permitted noise levels during night-time. However, existing night-time noise indices, such as sound exposure level (SEL), maximum sound level (LAmax) and night equivalent level (Lnight) are selected mainly because of practical reasons. Therefore, this study proposes a noise index based on neurophysiological determinants of the awakening process. These determinants have revealed that the potential on awakening is likely integrated into the brainstem that dominates wakefulness and sleep. From this evidence, a night-time noise index, Nawake,year, was redefined based on the integration of the awakening potential unit (punit) estimated from the existing dose-response relationships of awakening. The newly-defined index considers the total number of awakenings and covers a wide-range and number of noise events. We also presented examples of its applicability to traffic noise. Although further studies are needed, it may reveal a reasonable dose-response relationship between sleep disturbance and adverse health effects and provide a consistent explanation for the risks of different sound sources where the characteristics of noise exposure are quite different.
Improving lithium-ion battery power and energy densities using novel cathode architectures and materials

Lithium-ion batteries are commonly used as energy storage devices in a variety of applications. The cathode architectures and materials have a large influence on the performance of lithium-ion batteries, namely power and energy densities. Three-dimensional bicontinuous cathode structures should help improve the charge and discharge rate performances, while maintaining a high energy capacity. By controlling the pore architectures of the bicontinuous cathode structures, we hope to manipulate the power densities to our advantage. Here we demonstrate synthesis of anisotropic silica colloids with precise control over particle dimensions. Using external AC electric fields and casting techniques, the anisotropic colloids were made into useful templates for cathode fabrication. Nickel electrodeposition through the anisotropic colloidal templates, with subsequent template etching, produced nickel current collectors with rod-shaped pore architectures. Thin-films of lithiated manganese dioxide were deposited onto the nickel current collectors, and the cathodes were analyzed. New active materials in the three-dimensional bicontinuous cathodes should help to improve the overall energy density, without sacrificing structure-related power density. We demonstrate the ability to synthesize lithium manganese orthosilicate nanoparticles using a modified sol-gel route. Using this synthesis technique, a sol-gel dip-coating method on nickel foam is demonstrated and analyzed. These architectural and material fabrications demonstrated in this thesis provide new directions towards improving lithium-ion battery performance. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First class objects and indexes for chant manuscripts

We discuss a crucial part of infrastructure for the Web-delivery of medieval chant resources. Although widely accepted by software professionals, the distributed-content model is sharply opposed by some chant scholars. We advocate for a paradigm of the Web as a massive database where each "first class object" acts like a record; metadata about, and links to such objects are compiled in virtual libraries. Scholarly-edited indexes determine which objects are in libraries, and unreliable content is excluded. Special metadata ontologies can be defined without modifying the primary content.
EFL Learners ’ Willingness to Communicate : The Interplay between Language Learning Anxiety and Language Proficiency

Since willingness to communicate (WTC) model integrates psychological, linguistic, and communicative variables to predict L2 communication, and a few number of studies have tested the model with EFL students, the current study is an attempt to shed light on the examination of Iranian EFL university students’ WTC and its interaction with their language anxiety and language proficiency. By helping the students to decrease language anxiety and increase a willingness to use the L2 inside and outside the classroom, we direct the focus of language teaching away from merely linguistic and structural competence to authentic communication. The purpose of this study is to understand whether WTC model could explain the relationships between psychological and linguistic variables in Iranian context to predict students’ WTC. Forty nine university students participated in this study, they took TOEFL first and then filled out two questionnaires of WTC. For data analysis, Repeated Measures ANOVA and Spearman correlation were run and the results have revealed that Iranian university students’ WTC is directly related to their language proficiency but not language anxiety. Therefore, linguistic variables appear to be more predictive of WTC for Iranians, and language instructors should work on their students’ English proficiency.
Invariant directional feature extraction and matching approach for robust off-line signature verification

Off-line handwritten signature verification systems are highly required in different domains like financial transactions, forensic sciences, and legal document authentication. The proposed directional features are extracted from off-line signatures to accurately describe the angle of the pixels connection in the signature, for the reason of differentiating accurately between genuine and skilled forged signatures. Directional feature requires the adjustment of the skewness of the signature to uniform axis in the preprocessing of the signature. The accuracy of signature rotation varies according to the degree of the intra-personal variations of the signer. This work proposes a feature extraction method that generates rotation invariant directional features. The angle of each connection between pixel-pair is considered with respect to the next pixel-pair connection rather than to a global signature axis. Then matches between two different signatures by counting the longest common subsequence in these signatures. The experimental work are applied on two benchmark data sets that include skilled and genuine signatures. The accuracy of the proposed approach is between 90%-94%, outperforms the traditional SIFT/SURF based approaches.
The Measurement and Evaluation for Large-Scale Object-Oriented Software System

Traditional software metrics have the limitations for large-scale software system, so we construct the static structure model for large-scale software by structural mapping and visualization, propose a integrated metrics set based on complex networks parameters according to the perspective of software engineering. The feasibility and validity of the metrics were testified through statistical analyzing the data from a set of software projects; and these experiments show that it can not only uncover the features of software structure such as scale free, small world, but also can get some latent rules about design and structure. These features can be conveniently used by designers and developers to understand the system, control complexity and improve process.
Rotating topological black holes

A class of metrics solving Einstein's equations with a negative cosmological constant and representing rotating, topological black holes is presented. All such solutions are in the Petrov type-$D$ class, and can be obtained from the most general metric known in this class by acting with suitably chosen discrete groups of isometries. First, by analytical continuation of the Kerr\char21{}de Sitter metric, a solution describing uncharged, rotating black holes whose event horizon is a Riemann surface of arbitrary genus $gg1,$ is obtained. Then a solution representing a rotating, uncharged toroidal black hole is also presented. The higher genus black holes appear to be quite exotic objects; they lack global axial symmetry and have an intricate causal structure. The toroidal black holes appear to be simpler; they have rotational symmetry and the amount of rotation they can have is bounded by some power of the mass.
Computer Breakdown as a Stress Factor during Task Completion under Time Pressure: Identifying Gender Differences Based on Skin Conductance

In today's society, as computers, the Internet, and mobile phones pervade almost every corner of life, the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on humans is dramatic. The use of ICT, however, may also have a negative side. Human interaction with technology may lead to notable stress perceptions, a phenomenon referred to as technostress. An investigation of the literature reveals that computer users' gender has largely been ignored in technostress research, treating users as "genderneutral. " To close this significant research gap, we conducted a laboratory experiment in which we investigated users' physiological reaction to the malfunctioning of technology. Based on theories which explain that men, in contrast to women, are more sensitive to "achievement stress," we predicted thatmale users would exhibit higher levels of stress than women in cases of system breakdown during the execution of a human-computer interaction task under time pressure, if compared to a breakdown situation without time pressure. Using skin conductance as a stress indicator, the hypothesis was confirmed. Thus, this study shows that user gender is crucial to better understanding the influence of stress factors such as computer malfunctions on physiological stress reactions.
Improving unstructured peer-to-peer systems by adaptive connection establishment

In unstructured peer-to-peer (P2P) systems, the mechanism of a peer randomly joining and leaving a P2P network causes a topology mismatch between the P2P logical overlay network and the physical underlying network, incurring a large volume of redundant traffic in the Internet. In order to alleviate the topology mismatch problem, we propose adaptive connection establishment (ACE), an algorithm for building an overlay multicast tree among each source node and the peers within a certain diameter from the source peer and further optimizing the neighbor connections that are not on the tree while retaining the search scope. Our simulation study shows that this approach can effectively solve the mismatch problem and significantly reduce P2P traffic. We further study the trade-offs between the topology optimization rate and the information exchange overhead by changing the diameter used to build the tree.
MAS-Based Management and Control Strategies for Integrated Hybrid Energy System

Since a microgrid consists of various distributed energy resources and local loads, integration of a distributed grid and multiple microgrids leads to an integrated hybrid energy system. This paper focuses on improving profit, economy, security, and dynamic performance of the integrated hybrid energy system by means of developing different areas of management and control strategies upon four-level hierarchical multiagent system. The level 1 agent implements optimal price bidding strategies for high profit of the overall system. The level 2 agent optimizes the energy management strategies for economic operation of each microgrid. The level 3 agent executes coordinated switching control for maintaining security of each microgrid. The level 4 agent facilitates local hybrid control of each distributed energy resource for guaranteeing dynamic performance. Finally, validity of the proposed scheme is tested by means of simulation study.
ELEVEN Predatory Identity Can Explain Nest Predation Patterns

Knowledge of dominant predators is necessary to identifY predation patterns and mitigate losses to nest predation, especially for endangered songbirds. We monitored songbird nests with timelapse infrared video cameras at Fort Hood Military Reservation, Texas, from 1997 to 2002 and 2005, and in Austin, Texas, during 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2009. Predation was the most common source of nest failure. We identified 13 species of predators during 126 predation events. Snakes were the most frequent nest predator group (n = 48), followed by birds (n = 25), fire ants (n = 22), cowbirds (n = 15), and mammals (n = 14). We evaluated models predicting probability of predation by five predator groups that represented two groups of hypotheses: temporal and nest activity factors, and habitat and landscape factors. Snake and fire ant predation primarily occurred at night, whereas bird predation occurred during the day. Mammal predation occurred during both day and night. Predicted nest predation by birds, cowbirds, and mammals decreased throughout the breeding season, but predation by fire ants Predation is often the leading cause of nest failure for passerines (Newton 1998, Thompson 2007). High predation rates can limit productivity of a population and have been implicated as a possible source of declining and snakes increased. Predation was highest on older nestlings (>6 days old) by all predator groups except fire ants, which depredated young nestlings more. The percent urban land class in the landscape and nest height affected predator groups at shrub and canopy nests differently. Bird and snake predation increased for canopy nesters with increasing urbanization and nest height. Cowbird predation increased for shrub nesters with increasing urbanization and nest height, and increased with greater percent of open land use in the landscape for both guilds. We found no good predictor of mammal predation, likely because small and meso-mammals were lumped. We suggest future investigations of nest predation either identifY predators, or at least consider who the likely predators are, and consider predator-specific hypotheses.
A search for mountain waves in MLS stratospheric limb radiances from the winter Northern Hemisphere: Data analysis and global mountain wave modeling

[1] Despite evidence from ground-based data that flow over mountains is a dominant source of gravity waves (GWs) for the Northern Hemisphere winter middle atmosphere, GW-related signals in global limb radiances from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) have shown little direct evidence of mountain waves. We address this issue by combining a renewed analysis of MLS limb-track and limb-scan radiances with global mountain wave modeling using the Naval Research Laboratory Mountain Wave Forecast Model (MWFM). MLS radiance variances show characteristics consistent with mountain waves, such as enhanced variance over specific mountain ranges and annual variations that peak strongly in winter. However, direct comparisons of MLS variance maps with MWFM-simulated mountain wave climatologies reveal limited agreement. We further develop a detailed “MLS GW visibility function” that accurately specifies the three-dimensional in-orbit sensitivity of the MLS limb-track radiance measurement to a spectrum of GWs with different wavelengths and horizontal propagation directions. On postprocessing MWFM-generated mountain wave fields through these MLS visibility filters, we generate MWFM variance maps that agree substantially better with MLS radiance variances. This combined data analysis and MLS-filtered MWFM modeling leads us to conclude that many MLS variance enhancements can be associated with mountain waves forced by flow over specific mountainous terrain. These include mountain ranges in Europe (e.g., Scandinavia; Alps; Scotland; Ural, Putoran, Altai, Hangay and Sayan Mountains; Yablonovyy, Stanovoy, Khingan, Verkhoyansk and Central Ranges), North America (e.g., Brooks Range, MacKenzie Mountains, Colorado Rockies), southeastern Greenland, and Iceland. Our results show that given careful consideration of the in-orbit sensitivity of the instrument to GWs, middle atmospheric limb radiances measured from UARS MLS, as well as from the new MLS instrument on the Earth Observing System (EOS) satellite, can provide important global information on mountain waves in the extratropical Northern Hemisphere stratosphere and mesosphere.
Computer-Based Medical Decision Making: From MYCIN to VM

We mentioned in the introduction to Chapter 5 that MYCIN provided a starting point for several additional research projects. The Ventilator Manager (VM) project of Larry Fagan had its beginnings in the MYCIN project but quickly diverged because of the dynamic nature of the intensive care unit (ICU) setting for which it was designed. MYCIN required a "snapshot" approach to patient assessment-temporal trends were poorly handled and advice was generally provided on the basis of a patient's situation at a single point in time. In dynamic settings like an ICU, however, decisions may be dependent on frequent sequential assessments of the patient's status. Fagan's work was accordingly also influenced by another earlier Stanford project known as HASP/SlAP (Nii et al., 1982). That system was not concerned with medical issues, but did develop iterative techniques for the ongoing analysis of signals. Although Fagan was a graduate student at Stanford at the time, much of his work was based at Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. The director of the postsurgical ICU there, Dr. John Osborn, had developed an elaborate monitoring system that was in routine use. However, the amount of data generated was sometimes overwhelming, particularly for physicians in training. It was clear that there was expertise involved in learning how to interpret the data, and the idea developed to build an expert system that could monitor" the various physiological parameters and give advice accordingly. The following chapter discusses the resulting evolution from
A Novel Endo-Hydrogenase Activity Recycles Hydrogen Produced by Nitrogen Fixation

Background Nitrogen (N2) fixation also yields hydrogen (H2) at 1∶1 stoichiometric amounts. In aerobic diazotrophic (able to grow on N2 as sole N-source) bacteria, orthodox respiratory hupSL-encoded hydrogenase activity, associated with the cell membrane but facing the periplasm (exo-hydrogenase), has nevertheless been presumed responsible for recycling such endogenous hydrogen. Methods and Findings As shown here, for Azorhizobium caulinodans diazotrophic cultures open to the atmosphere, exo-hydrogenase activity is of no consequence to hydrogen recycling. In a bioinformatic analysis, a novel seven-gene A. caulinodans hyq cluster encoding an integral-membrane, group-4, Ni,Fe-hydrogenase with homology to respiratory complex I (NADH : quinone dehydrogenase) was identified. By analogy, Hyq hydrogenase is also integral to the cell membrane, but its active site faces the cytoplasm (endo-hydrogenase). An A. caulinodans in-frame hyq operon deletion mutant, constructed by “crossover PCR”, showed markedly decreased growth rates in diazotrophic cultures; normal growth was restored with added ammonium—as expected of an H2-recycling mutant phenotype. Using A. caulinodans hyq merodiploid strains expressing β-glucuronidase as promoter-reporter, the hyq operon proved strongly and specifically induced in diazotrophic culture; as well, hyq operon induction required the NIFA transcriptional activator. Therefore, the hyq operon is constituent of the nif regulon. Conclusions Representative of aerobic N2-fixing and H2-recycling α-proteobacteria, A. caulinodans possesses two respiratory Ni,Fe-hydrogenases: HupSL exo-hydrogenase activity drives exogenous H2 respiration, and Hyq endo-hydrogenase activity recycles endogenous H2, specifically that produced by N2 fixation. To benefit human civilization, H2 has generated considerable interest as potential renewable energy source as its makings are ubiquitous and its combustion yields no greenhouse gases. As such, the reversible, group-4 Ni,Fe-hydrogenases, such as the A. caulinodans Hyq endo-hydrogenase, offer promise as biocatalytic agents for H2 production and/or consumption.
Achievable Rate Regions for the Two-way Relay Channel

We study the two-way communication problem for the relay channel. Hereby, two terminals communicate simultaneously in both directions with the help of one relay. We consider the restricted two-way problem, i.e., the encoders at both terminals do not cooperate. We provide achievable rate regions for different cooperation strategies, such as decode-and-forward based on block Markov superposition coding. We also evaluate the regions for the special case of additive white Gaussian noise channels. We show that a combined strategy of block Markov superposition coding and Wyner-Ziv coding achieves the cut-set upper bound on the sum-rate of the two-way relay channel when the relay is in the proximity of one of the terminals
Evidence and Implications of Regime Shifts: Time-Varying Effects of the U.S. and Japanese Economies on House Prices in Hawaii

We show that local house prices may be driven almos t entirely by the demands of one identifiable group for several years and then b y demands of another group at other times. We present evidence that house prices in Haw aii were subject to such regime shifts. Prices responded to demands associated with U.S. incomes and wealth for most years from 1975 through 2008. For about a decade st arting in the middle of the 1980s, after the Japanese yen appreciated dramatically and J panese housing and stock market wealth soared, however, house prices in Hawaii resp onded to Japanese incomes and wealth. Estimated models with these regime shifts o u performed conventional, constantcoefficient models. The regime-shifting model helps explain why, when, and by how much the volatility and the elasticities of house p rices in Hawaii with respect to the incomes and wealth of the U.S. and Japan varied ove r tim .