Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On Equivalence Partitioning of Code Paths inside OS Kernel Components

Commercial-off-the-shelf operating systems (COTS OSs) are increasingly chosen as key building blocks in embedded system design due to their rich feature-set available at low costs. Unfortunately, as the complexity of such OSs increases, testing key OS components such as device drivers (DD) to ensure continuous service provision becomes increasingly challenging. Despite the improving test efforts targeting DDs, they still represent a significant cause of system outages as the test coverage is invariably limited by the inability to exhaustively assess and cover the operational states. Consequently, if representative operational execution profiles of DDs within an OS could be obtained, these could significantly improve the understanding of the actual operational DD state space and help focus the test efforts onto the execution hotspots. Focusing on characterizing DD operational activities while assuming no access to source code, our work enables profiling the runtime behavior of DDs solely based on I/Oand functional-call tracking. Such profiles are used to improve test adequacy against real-world workloads by enabling similarity quantification across them. The profiles also reveal execution hotspots in terms of functionalities activated in the field, allowing for dedicated test campaigns.
Power Control By Geometric Programming

In wireless cellular or ad hoc networks where Quality of Service (QoS) is interference-limited, a variety of power control problems can be formulated as nonlinear optimization with a system-wide objective, e.g., maximizing the total system throughput or the worst user throughput, subject to QoS constraints from individual users, e.g., on data rate, delay, and outage probability. We show that in the high Signal-to- interference Ratios (SIR) regime, these nonlinear and apparently difficult, nonconvex optimization problems can be transformed into convex optimization problems in the form of geometric programming; hence they can be very efficiently solved for global optimality even with a large number of users. In the medium to low SIR regime, some of these constrained nonlinear optimization of power control cannot be turned into tractable convex formulations, but a heuristic can be used to compute in most cases the optimal solution by solving a series of geometric programs through the approach of successive convex approximation. While efficient and robust algorithms have been extensively studied for centralized solutions of geometric programs, distributed algorithms have not been explored before. We present a systematic method of distributed algorithms for power control that is geometric-programming-based. These techniques for power control, together with their implications to admission control and pricing in wireless networks, are illustrated through several numerical examples.
Complementary QA network analysis for QA retrieval in social question‐answering websites

With the ubiquity of the Internet and the rapid development of Web 2.0 technology, social question and answering (SQA) websites have become popular knowledge‐sharing platforms. As the number of posted questions and answers (QAs) continues to increase rapidly, the massive amount of question‐answer knowledge is causing information overload. The problem is compounded by the growing number of redundant QAs. SQA websites such as Yahoo! Answers are open platforms where users can freely ask or answer questions. Users also may wish to learn more about the information provided in an answer so they can use related keywords in the answer to search for extended, complementary information. In this article, we propose a novel approach to identify complementary QAs (CQAs) of a target QA. We define two types of complementarity: partial complementarity and extended complementarity. First, we utilize a classification‐based approach to predict complementary relationships between QAs based on three measures: question similarity, answer novelty, and answer correlation. Then we construct a CQA network based on the derived complementary relationships. In addition, we introduce a CQA network analysis technique that searches the QA network to find direct and indirect CQAs of the target QA. The results of experiments conducted on the data collected from Yahoo! Answers Taiwan show that the proposed approach can more effectively identify CQAs than can the conventional similarity‐based method. Case and user study results also validate the helpfulness and the effectiveness of our approach.
Immunological serotype interactions and their effect on the epidemiological pattern of dengue

Long-term epidemiological data reveal multi-annual fluctuations in the incidence of dengue fever and dengue haemorrhagic fever, as well as complex cyclical behaviour in the dynamics of the four serotypes of the dengue virus. It has previously been proposed that these patterns are due to the phenomenon of the so-called antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) among dengue serotypes, whereby viral replication is increased during secondary infection with a heterologous serotype; however, recent studies have implied that this positive reinforcement cannot account for the temporal patterns of dengue and that some form of cross-immunity or external forcing is necessary. Here, we show that ADE alone can produce the observed periodicities and desynchronized oscillations of individual serotypes if its effects are decomposed into its two possible manifestations: enhancement of susceptibility to secondary infections and increased transmissibility from individuals suffering from secondary infections. This decomposition not only lowers the level of enhancement necessary for realistic disease patterns but also reduces the risk of stochastic extinction. Furthermore, our analyses reveal a time-lagged correlation between serotype dynamics and disease incidence rates, which could have important implications for understanding the irregular pattern of dengue epidemics.
Sustainable development of microfinance customers: An empirical investigation based on India

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine whether microfinance activities aimed at the bottom of the pyramid consumers are sustainable. Design/methodology/approach The study follows a mixed methodology, manager’s views on sustainability of the programs were gauged by analyzing their responses in the areas of diversion of funds, operating cost, interest rates, and return rate of loans through semi-structured interviews. A survey was administered to 316 poor microfinance borrowers at the bottom of the pyramid in India in a cross-sectional field study format. The study used one sample t-test to test the sustainability of the microfinance activities. Findings All else being the same, microfinance activities aimed at the borrower’s communities are not sustainable. The major contributor to the lack of sustainability is the diversion of funds, results of both managers’ interviews and consumer survey provides strong evidence to support this. Though there are issues related to high interest rate, operating cost and low return on investment, it seems that the core issue behind all this is lack of full investment in the microfinance venture. Research limitations/implications The study was limited to only two states in India. The mixed nature of the study meant that semi-structured interviews with a relatively small sample were the most appropriate method to address the research question. Future studies with larger, more representative sample sizes are encouraged to investigate how the findings can be generalized to larger populations. Also the information which determines the experiences and satisfaction of the consumers is collected only once. This study does not account for any changes over time in the populations or their interest. Originality/value The impact of micro finance in alleviating poverty is questioned by researchers and there is demand for further empirical evidence. Therefore, the findings of this study complement with existing work to present a comprehensive understanding of this topic by investigating the sustainability aspect of these programs from the dimension of both customers and lenders.
Switch from BAX-dependent to BAX-independent germ cell loss during the development of fetal mouse ovaries

Female reproductive life is limited by the oocyte/follicle pool, which has been determined by the number of germ cells to enter meiosis and subsequent loss of oocytes. It has been suggested that apoptosis accounts for the elimination of germ cells throughout oogenesis. However, female germ cells are lost continuously while they undergo distinct cell cycles in fetal and neonatal life. No convincing evidence has yet been provided to show apoptotic death of oocytes during meiotic prophase in vivo. In this study, we examined the change in the germ cell population in mice deficient of BAX, a key proapoptotic molecule. The number of germ cells, identified by GCNA1 immunolabeling, approximately doubled in ovaries of Bax-/- mice compared with ovaries of heterozygous Bax+/- mice and wild-type Bax+/+ mice by 14.5 days post coitum (d.p.c.) and remained higher up to 24.5 d.p.c. However, there was a rapid loss of germ cells in Bax-/- ovaries, paralleling that in Bax+/- and Bax+/+ ovaries from 14.5-24.5 d.p.c. , a period in which most germ cells entered and progressed in meiotic prophase. These results suggest that, while progressing through meiotic prophase, oocytes are eliminated by a BAX-independent mechanism.
Extending PDDL for Hierarchical Planning and Topological Abstraction

Despite major progress in AI planning over the last few years, many interesting domains remain challenging for current planners. Topological abstraction can reduce planning complexity in several domains, decomposing a problem into a two-level hierarchy. This paper presents LAP, a planning model based on topological abstraction. In formalizing LAP as a generic planning framework, the support of a planning language more expressive than PDDL can be very important. We discuss how an extended version of PDDL can be part of our planning framework, by providing support for hierarchical planning and topological abstraction. We demonstrate our ideas in Sokoban and path-finding, two domains where topological abstraction is useful.
Multiple Instance Learning by Discriminative Training of Markov Networks

We introduce a graphical framework for multiple instance learning (MIL) based on Markov networks. This framework can be used to model the traditional MIL definition as well as more general MIL definitions. Different levels of ambiguity -- the portion of positive instances in a bag -- can be explored in weakly supervised data. To train these models, we propose a discriminative max-margin learning algorithm leveraging efficient inference for cardinality-based cliques. The efficacy of the proposed framework is evaluated on a variety of data sets. Experimental results verify that encoding or learning the degree of ambiguity can improve classification performance.
Cranial joint histology in the mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos): new insights on avian cranial kinesis

The evolution of avian cranial kinesis is a phenomenon in part responsible for the remarkable diversity of avian feeding adaptations observable today. Although osteological, developmental and behavioral features of the feeding system are frequently studied, comparatively little is known about cranial joint skeletal tissue composition and morphology from a microscopic perspective. These data are key to understanding the developmental, biomechanical and evolutionary underpinnings of kinesis. Therefore, here we investigated joint microstructure in juvenile and adult mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos; Anseriformes). Ducks belong to a diverse clade of galloanseriform birds, have derived adaptations for herbivory and kinesis, and are model organisms in developmental biology. Thus, new insights into their cranial functional morphology will refine our understanding of avian cranial evolution. A total of five specimens (two ducklings and three adults) were histologically sampled, and two additional specimens (a duckling and an adult) were subjected to micro‐computed tomographic scanning. Five intracranial joints were sampled: the jaw joint (quadrate‐articular); otic joint (quadrate‐squamosal); palatobasal joint (parasphenoid‐pterygoid); the mandibular symphysis (dentary‐dentary); and the craniofacial hinge (a complex flexion zone involving four different pairs of skeletal elements). In both the ducklings and adults, the jaw, otic and palatobasal joints are all synovial, with a synovial cavity and articular cartilage on each surface (i.e. bichondral joints) ensheathed in a fibrous capsule. The craniofacial hinge begins as an ensemble of patent sutures in the duckling, but in the adult it becomes more complex: laterally it is synovial; whereas medially, it is synostosed by a bridge of chondroid bone. We hypothesize that it is chondroid bone that provides some of the flexible properties of this joint. The heavily innervated mandibular symphysis is already fused in the ducklings and remains as such in the adult. The results of this study will serve as reference for documenting avian cranial kinesis from a microanatomical perspective. The formation of: (i) secondary articular cartilage on the membrane bones of extant birds; and (ii) their unique ability to form movable synovial joints within two or more membrane bones (i.e. within their dermatocranium) might have played a role in the origin and evolution of modern avian cranial kinesis during dinosaur evolution.
Online identification of a neuro-fuzzy model through indirect fuzzy clustering of data space

In this paper we propose a new approach to identify a neuro-fuzzy model. In our approach, data space is partitioned indirectly through a fuzzy clustering method. The clusters are not created directly through spatial features of data points. A gradient vector is defined as major feature of clustering in data space. This feature is estimated for each incoming data points. Creating and updating fuzzy membership functions, adding new clusters and removing redundant clusters are performed through it. Correspond with cluster parameters, fuzzy rules are defined and a neuro-fuzzy model is identified recursively. Prediction of monthly sunspots number is considered to demonstrate the capability of the proposed Neuro-Fuzzy Model.
Bactenecins, defense polypeptides of bovine neutrophils, are generated from precursor molecules stored in the large granules

Bactenecins are highly cationic polypeptides of bovine neutrophil granules and exert in vitro a potent antimicrobial activity. We have previously purified two bactenecins, designated in an abbreviated form Bac7 and Bac5 from their approximate molecular masses of 7 and 5 kD (Gennaro, R., B. Skerlavaj, and D. Romeo. 1989. Infect. Immun. 57:3142- 3146). Here we have studied the biosynthesis, processing, and localization of precursors of Bac7 and Bac5 in bovine bone marrow cells of the myeloid lineage. In vitro translation directed by mRNA isolated from these cells has shown that the primary translation products are preprobactenecins of 23.5 and 21 kD, and are processed to polypeptides of 20 and 15.8 kD, respectively. The 20-kD polypeptide is the granule storage form of Bac7, or proBac7, as also demonstrated by Western blot analysis of lysates of peripheral neutrophils. Between 15 and 50 min from the beginning of its biosynthesis the 15.8-kD polypeptide is converted into the 15-kD granule storage form of Bac5, or proBac5. As shown by immunogold EM, proBac7 and proBac5 are sorted and targeted to the matrix of the so called large granules, which are the predominant organelles in the cytoplasm of bovine neutrophils and are the exclusive store of the nonoxidative antimicrobial system of these cells. Solubilization of granules with Triton X-100 with concomitant unmasking of proteases leads to cleavage of the proforms to Bac7 and Bac5. Experiments performed with protease inhibitors suggest that the proteolytic cleavage is catalyzed in detergent-solubilized neutrophils by neutral serine protease(s), very likely derived from the azurophil granules.
3D Vision: Developing an Embedded Stereo-Vision System

The DeepSea G2 stereo vision system that Tyzx developed features an embedded stereo camera consisting of two CMOS imagers, a Tyzx DeepSea 2 stereo application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a DSP/coprocessor, a PowerPC running Linux, and an Ethernet connection. About the size of a hardback book, the G2 delivers real-time - 30 frames per second (fps) - interpretations of visual data even in challenging environments and has been deployed in a variety of applications, including person-tracking and autonomous-vehicle navigation.
Haptic simulation of fixture loading planning

The paper presents a haptic-guided fixture loading planning system. The system consists three parts, a multi-body contact dynamics solver based on time-stepping, and Gauss-Seidel method, a planning scheme based on a criteria of non-jamming condition that can monotonously increase the contacts with locators, and a haptic simulation system
A Method for Enforcing Integrability in Shape from Shading Algorithms

An approach for enforcing integrability, a particular implementation of the approach, an example of its application to extending an existing shape-from-shading algorithm, and experimental results showing the improvement that results from enforcing integrability are presented. A possibly nonintegrable estimate of surface slopes is represented by a finite set of basis functions, and integrability is enforced by calculating the orthogonal projection onto a vector subspace spanning the set of integrable slopes. The integrability projection constraint was applied to extending an iterative shape-from-shading algorithm of M.J. Brooks and B.K. P. Horn (1985). Experimental results show that the extended algorithm converges faster and with less error than the original version. Good surface reconstructions were obtained with and without known boundary conditions and for fairly complicated surfaces. >
AURORA: AUtomatic RObustness coveRage Analysis Tool

Code coverage is usually used as a measurement of testing quality and as adequacy criterion. Unfortunately, code coverage is very sensitive to modifications of the code structure, and, therefore, we can achieve the same degree of coverage with different testing effort by writing the same program in syntactically different ways. For this reason, code coverage can provide the tester with misleading information. In order to understand how a testing criterion is affected by code structure modifications, we have introduced a way to measure the sensitivity of coverage to code changes by means of code-to-code transformations. However the manual execution of the robustness analysis is tedious, time consuming and error prone. In order to solve these issues we present AURORA, a tool that automates the robustness analysis process and leverages the capabilities offered from several existing tools. AURORA has an extendible architecture that concretely supports the tester in the execution of the robustness analysis. Due to this extendible architecture, each user can personalize the robustness analysis to his/her needs. AURORA allows the user to add new transformations by using TXL, which is a programming language specifically designed to support source transformation tasks. It performs the coverage evaluation by using existing code coverage tools and is based on the use of the JUnit framework.
Computer games as a sociocultural phenomenon : games without frontiers, war without tears

Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Introduction A.Jahn-Sudmann & R.Stockmann PART 1: GAME DESIGN AND AESTHETICS The Aesthetic Vocabulary of Video Games J.Van Dreunen Can Games Get Real? A Closer Look at 'Documentary' Digital Games I.Bogost & C.Poremba Emotional Design of Computer Games and Fiction Films D.C.Rusch 'Applied Game Theory': Innovation, Diversity, Experimentation in Contemporary Game Design H.Jenkins & K.Squire PART 2: SPACE AND TIME There and Back Again: Reuse, Signifiers, and Consistency in Created Game Spaces P.Berger Another Bricolage in the Wall: Deleuze and Teenage Alienation J.P.Cain PART 3: WAR AND VIOLENCE Programming Violence: Language and the Making of Interactive Media C.Herbst Impotence and Agency: Computer Games as a Post-9/11 Battlefield H.Lowood S(t)imulating War: From Early Films to Military Games D.Rentfrow PART 4: ETHICS AND MORALITY Player in Fabula. Ethics of Interaction as Semiotic Negotiation Between Authorship and Readership M.Maietti 'Moral Management': Dealing with Moral Concerns to Maintain Enjoyment of Violent Video Games C.Klimmt, H.Schmid, A.Nosper, T.Hartmann & P.Vorderer Beyond Good and Evil: The Inhuman Ethics of Redemption and Bloodlines W.Slocombe PART 5: POLITICS AND IDEOLOGY Preconscious Apocalypse. The Failure of Capitalism in Computer Games S.O. Cavalcanti Borders and Bodies in City of Heroes: (Re)imaging American Identity Post 9/11 N.Marshall Anti-PC Games. Exploring Articulations of the Politically Incorrect in GTA San Andreas A.Jahn-Sudmann & R.Stockmann Strip-Shift-Impose-Recycle-Overload-Spill-Breakout-Abuse. Artists' (Mis-)Appropriations of Shooter Games M.Engeli PART 6: COMPUTER GAME PLAY(ERS) AND CULTURAL IDENTITIES Presence-Play: The Hauntology of the Computer Game D.Lockwood & T.Richards Negotiating Online Computer Games in East Asia: Manufacturing Asian MMORPGs and Marketing 'Asianness' D.Chan Teenage Girls 'Play House' - The Cyber-drama of the Sims L.Dyson Cited Computer Games References Index
Building a player strategy model by analyzing replays of real-time strategy games

Developing computer-controlled groups to engage in combat, control the use of limited resources, and create units and buildings in real-time strategy (RTS) games is a novel application in game AI. However, tightly controlled online commercial game pose challenges to researchers interested in observing player activities, constructing player strategy models, and developing practical AI technology in them. Instead of setting up new programming environments or building a large amount of agentpsilas decision rules by playerpsilas experience for conducting real-time AI research, the authors use replays of the commercial RTS game StarCraft to evaluate human player behaviors and to construct an intelligent system to learn human-like decisions and behaviors. A case-based reasoning approach was applied for the purpose of training our system to learn and predict player strategies. Our analysis indicates that the proposed system is capable of learning and predicting individual player strategies, and that players provide evidence of their personal characteristics through their building construction order.