Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Digital Timestamps for Dispute Settlement in Electronic Commerce: Generation, Verification, and Renewal

Digital notary is receiving more and more attention as a social infrastructure in the network society. Digital time-stamping is a simple but very important form of the notary, and can be used to provide long-term authenticity. Its function is essential for dispute settlement in electronic commerce. This importance motivated us to have a clear survey on how to generate/verify digital time-stamps. In order to make longer use of digital time-stamping functions, we may have to update or renew our timestamps. The renewal must be completed before the expiry of the current time-stamp. However, the congestion problem of the renewal request has not yet been studied well. So the survey is followed by an investigation of renewal feasibility. The investigation uses a simple model in which the service provider’s mind and the users’ mind are independently represented by two different parameters. The condition for accepting renewal requests without queueing is discussed by using the two parameters. Another issue will occur when we submit high-dimensional contents to be time-stamped and the components of the contents are updated independently in later time; memory requirement on the client depends on the submission strategy. A discussion on different strategies is given as well.
Prediction-based Active Queue Management in the Internet

Random early detection (RED) is the most popular active queue management algorithm that is used by the Internet routers. This paper proposes a neuro-fuzzy controller which enhances the network performance by dynamically tuning of RED's maxp parameter. The controller first learns the network behavior against maxp variations and then adjusts maxp. Simulation results in ns-2 environment show that, the proposed learning RED, called LRED, keeps queue length and queuing delay in a pre-determined level and outperforms RED in terms of queue length and stability. Streszczenie. W artykule zaprezentowano sterownik neuro-fuzzy ktory poprawia dynamiczne strojenie system RED stosowanego do kolejkowania w Internecie. Proponowany uczący sie algorytm nazwany LRED pozwala na utrzymanie dlugości kolejki i opoźnienia w zalozonych granicach. (Aktywne zarządzanie kolejką w Internecie bazujące na przewidywaniu)
Benchmarking for syntax-based sentential inference

We propose a methodology for investigating how well NLP systems handle meaning preserving syntactic variations. We start by presenting a method for the semi automated creation of a benchmark where entailment is mediated solely by meaning preserving syntactic variations. We then use this benchmark to compare a semantic role labeller and two grammar based RTE systems. We argue that the proposed methodology (i) supports a modular evaluation of the ability of NLP systems to handle the syntax/semantic interface and (ii) permits focused error mining and error analysis.
Enhanced subspaced approach to interference mitigation

In this paper, we study an enhanced subspace based approach for the mitigation of multiple access interference (MAI) in direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (DS-CDMA) systems over frequency-selective channels. Blind multiuser detection based on signal subspace estimation is of special interest in mitigating MAI in CDMA systems since it is impractical to assume perfect knowledge of parameters such as spreading codes, time delays and amplitudes of all the users in a rapidly changing mobile environment. We develop a new blind multiuser detection scheme which only needs the priori knowledge of the signature waveform and timing of the user of interest. By exploiting the improper nature of multiple access interference (MAI) and intersymbol interference (ISI), the enhanced detector shows clear superiority to the conventional subspace-based blind multiuser detector. The performance advantages are shown to be more obvious in heavily loaded systems when the number of active users is large.
What do Temkin's simulations of reliable change tell us?

Due to space limitations I have chosen to confine my reply to the comments by Temkin (this issue, pp. 899–901) that touch most directly the concepts of practice effects and reliable change. Temkin seems to portray my adherence to the classic approach as a private affair. However, Temkin herself (Temkin et al., 1999) reported to utilize the most widely applied procedures of Jacobson and Truax and of Chelune et al., which are based on the classic approach. For unexplained reasons they had substituted a different standard error. The unsatisfactory justification later given in their reply to Hinton-Bayre's (2000) letter revealed the presumably actual reason: unfamiliarity with psychometrics including the classical test theory (CTT). Not surprisingly, Temkin ignores this historical aspect in her comment. Nevertheless, the new post-hoc arguments she brings up deserve, of course, a fair evaluation.
What cardiovascular defect does my prenatal mouse mutant have, and why?

Summary: Since the advent of mouse targeted mutations, gene traps, an escalating use of a variety of complex transgenic manipulations, and large‐scale chemical mutagenesis projects yielding many mutants with cardiovascular defects, it has become increasingly evident that defects within the heart and vascular system are largely responsible for the observed in utero lethality of the embryo and early fetus. If a transgenically altered embryo survives implantation but fails to be born, it usually indicates that there is some form of lethal cardiovascular defect present. A number of embryonic organ and body systems, including the central nervous system, gut, lungs, urogenital system, and musculoskeletal system appear to have little or no survival value in utero (Copp, 1995). Cardiovascular abnormalities include the failure to establish an adequate yolk‐sac vascular circulation, which results in early lethality (E8.5–10.5); poor cardiac function (E9.0–birth); failure to undergo correct looping and chamber formation of the primitive heart tube (E9.0–11.0); improper septation, including division of the common ventricle and atria and the establishment of a divided outflow tract (E11.0–13.0); inadequate establishment of the cardiac conduction system (E12.0–birth); and the failure of the in utero cardiovascular system to adapt to adult life (birth) and close the interatrial and aorta‐pulmonary trunk shunts that are required for normal fetal life. Importantly, the developmental timing of lethality is usually a good indicator of both the type of the cardiovascular defect present and may also suggest the possible underlying cause/s. The purpose of this review is both to review the literature and to provide a beginner's guide for analysing cardiovascular defects in mouse mutants. genesis 35:1–21, 2003. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
OMA DM‐based remote software fault management for mobile devices

Mobile devices (e.g. mobile handsets or PDAs) have gained much functionality and intelligence with the growth of mobile network technologies and the increased use of mobile services. As a consequence, mobile devices have become more complex and many related problems have occurred. Specifically, sudden rebooting and freezing problems caused by software faults decrease the availability of the mobile device and cause inconvenience to end‐users. To solve such problems, academia and industry have focused on Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) Device Management (DM); this method is the international de facto standard for mobile device management. In this paper, we propose a software fault management method to remotely determine and correct problems of mobile devices based on OMA DM. We present a definition of management objects and a method to collect them from mobile devices using the OMA DM protocol. We also present a method for debugging and correcting software faults using the collected information. Finally, we present a prototype implementation and performance evaluation to validate our proposed method. Results of the performance evaluation show that our proposed method is efficient and scalable in regard to network traffic overhead and response time. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
SALSA: the stochastic approach for link-structure analysis

Today, when searching for information on the WWW, one usually performs a query through a term-based search engine. These engines return, as the query's result, a list of Web pages whose contents matches the query. For broad-topic queries, such searches often result in a huge set of retrieved documents, many of which are irrelevant to the user. However, much information is contained in the link-structure of the WWW. Information such as which pages are linked to others can be used to augment search algorithms. In this context, Jon Kleinberg introduced the notion of two distinct types of Web pages: hubs and authorities. Kleinberg argued that hubs and authorities exhibit a mutually reinforcing relationship: a good hub will point to many authorities, and a good authority will be pointed at by many hubs. In light of this, he dervised an algoirthm aimed at finding authoritative pages. We present SALSA, a new stochastic approach for link-structure analysis, which examines random walks on graphs derived from the link-structure. We show that both SALSA and Kleinberg's Mutual Reinforcement approach employ the same metaalgorithm. We then prove that SALSA is quivalent to a weighted in degree analysis of the link-sturcutre of WWW subgraphs, making it computationally more efficient than the Mutual reinforcement approach. We compare that results of applying SALSA to the results derived through Kleinberg's approach. These comparisions reveal a topological Phenomenon called the TKC effectwhich, in certain cases, prevents the Mutual reinforcement approach from identifying meaningful authorities.
Bayesian Nonlinear Hyperspectral Unmixing With Spatial Residual Component Analysis

This paper presents a new Bayesian model and algorithm for nonlinear unmixing of hyperspectral images. The proposed model represents the pixel reflectances as linear combinations of the endmembers, corrupted by nonlinear (with respect to the endmembers) terms and additive Gaussian noise. Prior knowledge about the problem is embedded in a hierarchical model that describes the dependence structure between the model parameters and their constraints. In particular, a gamma Markov random field is used to model the joint distribution of the nonlinear terms, which are expected to exhibit significant spatial correlations. An adaptive Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm is then proposed to compute the Bayesian estimates of interest and perform Bayesian inference. This algorithm is equipped with a stochastic optimisation adaptation mechanism that automatically adjusts the parameters of the gamma Markov random field by maximum marginal likelihood estimation. Finally, the proposed methodology is demonstrated through a series of experiments with comparisons using synthetic and real data and with competing state-of-the-art approaches.
Distribution of bacterioplankton in meromictic Lake Saelenvannet, as determined by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of PCR-amplified gene fragments coding for 16S rRNA

The community structure of bacterioplankton in meromictic Lake Saelenvannet was examined by PCR amplification of the V3 region of 16S rRNA from microbial communities recovered from various depths in the water column. Two different primer sets were used, one for amplification of DNA from the domain Bacteria and another specific for DNA from the domain Archaea. Amplified DNA fragments were resolved by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), and the resulting profiles were reproducible and specific for the communities from different depths. Bacterial diversity estimated from the number and intensity of specific fragments in DGGE profiles decreased with depth. The reverse was true for the Archaea, with the diversity increasing with depth. Hybridization of DGGE profiles with oligonucleotide probes specific for phylogenetic groups of microorganisms showed the presence of both sulfate-reducing bacteria and methanogens throughout the water column, but they appeared to be most abundant below the chemocline. Several dominant fragments in the DGGE profiles were excised and sequenced. Among the dominant populations were representatives related to Chlorobium phaeovibrioides, chloroplasts from eukaryotic algae, and unidentified Archaea.
Factor stability of the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory as a function of test-retest performance, age and sex

The Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (EHI) was administered to 600 students from two urban secondary schools and two universities. The respondents were categorized by age (three groups) and sex. The questionnaire was re-administered to a sample of 69 respondents after an interval of 4 weeks. Principal axes factor analysis of the test and retest data showed the EHI to have a single factor which exhibited a high stability over the test-retest time period. However, one item (the use of scissors) was relatively unstable in relation to the derived (handedness) factor. A simple factor structure was also extracted from each ‘age × sex’ data set. The handedness factor showed a high stability across both age and sex. However, three items (knife, broom and box-lid) did not load well on the handedness factor and were generally unstable in relation to this factor. When assessing handedness with this questionnaire it is recommended that responses to particular items be weighted according to their stability and their contribution to the handedness factor. Alternative scoring procedures would seriously affect the otherwise high validity that this questionnaire has for assessing handedness.
Ultrasound measures of muscle thickness: intra‐examiner reliability and influence of body position

Ultrasound is an inexpensive and practical alternative to gold standard measures of muscle mass. Changes in body position may lead to intra‐muscular fluid shifts that may affect the reliability of ultrasound measures. We assessed test–retest reliability of ultrasound measures of muscle thickness and the effect of position on these measures. Measures of muscle thickness were made from B‐mode ultrasound images in 18 healthy participants. Repeated measurements were made by one examiner from two participant positions; standing and recumbent, from 18 anatomical sites. Results demonstrated high test–retest reliability for measures taken in both participant positions [intra‐class coefficient (ICC) scores 0·65 to 0·94], except for the recumbent posterior lower leg measures (ICC 0·34). Recumbent measures were significantly smaller than those taken with participants standing. Length of time participants spent lying down did not significantly affect measures, indicating that any changes in intra‐muscular fluid related to the time spent recumbent are negligible.
Myelin‐associated glycoprotein reduces axonal branching and enhances functional recovery after sciatic nerve transection in rats

The mature peripheral nervous system (PNS) generally shows better regeneration of injured axons as opposed to the central nervous system (CNS). However, complete functional recovery is rarely achieved even in the PNS although morphologically good axonal regeneration often occurs. This mainly results from aberrant reinnervation due to extensive branching of cut axons with consequent failure of synchronized movements of the muscles. Myelin‐associated glycoprotein (MAG), a well‐characterized molecule existing both in the CNS and PNS myelin, is considered to be a potent inhibitor of axonal regeneration especially in the CNS. In the present study, we investigated whether MAG has any effects not only on axonal elongation, but also on axonal branching. We show herein that MAG minimized branching of the peripheral axons both in vitro and in vivo via activation of RhoA. Furthermore, after sciatic nerve transection in rats, focal and temporary application of MAG to the lesion dramatically enhanced the functional recovery. Using double retrograde labeling and preoperative/postoperative labeling of spinal neurons, reduced hyperinnervation and improved accuracy of target reinnervation was confirmed, respectively. In conclusion, as MAG significantly improves the quality of axonal regeneration, it can be used as a new therapeutic approach for peripheral nerve repair with possible focal and temporary application. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A novel smart nanowire biosensor with hybrid sensor/memory/CMOS technology

For the first time, a novel smart biosensor with hybrid sensor/memory/CMOS poly-Si nanowire technology has been developed. Special designed oxide-nitride-oxide composite dielectric underneath 50nm nanowire realizes an electrically Vth-adjustable sensor to compensate device variation. The detections of pH, hydrogen peroxide and DNA are demonstrated using various functionalized receptors. A substrate-ionic coupling operation of the buried-channel field-effect sensor exhibits superior pH sensitivity (Vth shift > 100mV/pH) beyond Nernst limitation. The built-in memory of nanowire devices possess steady electrically Vth adjustment (Vth programming/erasing window > 2V), enable portable physiology monitoring and in-situ recording. In this work, we report a fully CMOS-compatible technique for Lab-on-Chip biosensor application.
The effect of contracted grades on self‐efficacy and motivation in teacher education courses

Summary The use of criterion‐referenced assessment in a course within an initial teacher education degree programme allows students to contract for particular grades, which are differentiated by the application of specific criteria. The impact of this target‐setting assessment method on student self‐efficacy and motivation was gauged by means of two instruments: a statistical comparison of the previous grade point averages, contracted grades and achieved grades for students who completed the course; and extended, open‐ended interviews with four of those students. The link among perceived control over assessment, self‐efficacy and motivation was confirmed. Implications for teacher educators and teachers are also considered.
Beyond Self-Report: Tools to Compare Estimated and Real-World Smartphone Use

Psychologists typically rely on self-report data when quantifying mobile phone usage, despite little evidence of its validity. In this paper we explore the accuracy of using self-reported estimates when compared with actual smartphone use. We also include source code to process and visualise these data. We compared 23 participants’ actual smartphone use over a two-week period with self-reported estimates and the Mobile Phone Problem Use Scale. Our results indicate that estimated time spent using a smartphone may be an adequate measure of use, unless a greater resolution of data are required. Estimates concerning the number of times an individual used their phone across a typical day did not correlate with actual smartphone use. Neither estimated duration nor number of uses correlated with the Mobile Phone Problem Use Scale. We conclude that estimated smartphone use should be interpreted with caution in psychological research.
Predicting cognitive decline in subjects at risk for Alzheimer disease by using combined cerebrospinal fluid, MR imaging, and PET biomarkers.

PURPOSE To assess the extent to which multiple Alzheimer disease (AD) biomarkers improve the ability to predict future decline in subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) compared with predictions based on clinical parameters alone. MATERIALS AND METHODS All protocols were approved by the institutional review board at each site, and written informed consent was obtained from all subjects. The study was HIPAA compliant. Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) baseline magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and fluorine 18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) studies for 97 subjects with MCI were used. MR imaging-derived gray matter probability maps and FDG PET images were analyzed by using independent component analysis, an unbiased data-driven method to extract independent sources of information from whole-brain data. The loading parameters for all MR imaging and FDG components, along with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteins, were entered into logistic regression models (dependent variable: conversion to AD within 4 years). Eight models were considered, including all combinations of MR imaging, PET, and CSF markers with the covariates (age, education, apolipoprotein E genotype, Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive subscale score). RESULTS Combining MR imaging, FDG PET, and CSF data with routine clinical tests significantly increased the accuracy of predicting conversion to AD compared with clinical testing alone. The misclassification rate decreased from 41.3% to 28.4% (P < .00001). FDG PET contributed more information to routine tests (P < .00001) than CSF (P = .32) or MR imaging (P = .08). CONCLUSION Imaging and CSF biomarkers can improve prediction of conversion from MCI to AD compared with baseline clinical testing. FDG PET appears to add the greatest prognostic information.
Using EEG artifacts for BCI applications

Brain computer interface (BCI) is about the communication channel between the brain of a human subject and a computerized device. Electroencephalography (EEG) signals are the primary choice as the sources of interpreting the intention of the human subject. EEG signals have a long history of being used in human health for the purposes of studying brain activities and medical diagnosis. EEG signals are very weak and are subject to the contamination from many artifact signals. For the applications in human health, true EEG signals, without the contamination, is highly desirable. However, for the purposes of BCI, where stable patterns from the source signals are critical, the origins of the signals are of less concern. In this paper, we propose a BCI, which is simple to implement and easy to use, by taking the advantage of EEG artifacts, generated by a number of purposely designed voluntary facial muscle movements.
Self, Teacher, and Faculty Assessments of Student Teaching Performance.

AbstractThis study explored relationships of performance assessments for student teachers among three groups of raters. A 78-item evaluation instrument was administered to 47 student teachers and to their academic and field supervisors. Analysis of the seven subsections of the instrument revealed that student teachers’ self-evaluations were significantly higher, for most categories, than either academic or field supervisors’ ratings. The high degree of agreement between the two types of supervisory ratings on all categories suggest the presence of halo effects.