Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Verification of unloadable C modules (Extended version)

Programs in unsafe languages, like C and C++, may dynamically load and unload modules. For example, some operating system kernels support dynamic loading and unloading of device drivers. This causes specific difficulties in the verification of such programs and modules; in particular, it must be verified that no functions or global variables from the module are used after the module is unloaded. We present the approach we used to add support for loading and unloading modules to our separation-logic-based program verifier VeriFast. Our approach to the specification and verification of function pointer calls, based on parameterizing function types by predicates, is sound in the presence of unloading, but at the same time does not complicate the verification of programs that perform no unloading, and does not require callers to distinguish between function pointers that point into unloadable modules and ones that do not. We offer a machine-checked formalization and soundness proof and we report on verifying a small kernel-like program using VeriFast. To the best of our knowledge, ours is the first approach for sound modular verification of C programs that load and unload modules. Verification of Unloadable Modules
Generating Sinewy Networks using Environment-Sensitive Automata

1-1 An example of a sinewy network. (Image produced by an initial version of the software component of this project.) 4 2-1 A sample L-System, showing the initiator, a single generator, and a sequence of two iterations. 5 2-2 Examples of biological structures created using L-Systems. (Taken from [22], The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants) 6 2-3 The effects of pruning. (Taken from [21], Synthetic Topiary) 7 3-1 A model of a plant growing toward a light source. (Taken from [3], Fast Estimation of Growth Direction in Virtual Plants Simulation) 8 3-2 Choosing the path for a new segment by checking for obstacles using rays. This method was used by Arvo and Kirk [2]. 9 3-3 A plant system grown using a VSA. This type of image is similar to what the project will hope to produce. (Taken from [7], Voxel Space Automata: Modeling with Stochastic Growth Processes in Voxel Space) 10 3-4 A simple 2D drawing made up of lines (left), and the voxel grid (right) produced when this drawing is tiled. (The voxel grid is 20x20 unit squares) 11 3-5 Mapping a line into a 2D voxel grid. The voxels are set in alphabetical order. (Taken from [1], A Fast Voxel Traversal Algorithm for Ray Tracing) 11 3-6 The affect of enhancers and inhibitors on a growth system. The intensity of each inhibitor and enhancer is shown in brackets. (Image produced by an initial version of the software component of this project.) 12 3-7 The appearance of a growth system given two sources, each with a texture of a single flat colour. 13 3-8 Two base textures, and the results when mixing them using the average and addition methods. (Taken from [5], An Artist's Real-Time 3D Glossary-Texture Blending Examples) 14 4
A Proof for the Approximate Sparsity of SLAM Information Matrices

For the Simultaneous Localization and Mapping problem several efficient algorithms have been proposed that make use of a sparse information matrix representation (e.g. SEIF, TJTF, treemap). Since the exact SLAM information matrix is dense, these algorithm have to approximate it (sparsification). It has been empirically observed that this approximation is adequate because entries in the matrix corresponding to distant landmarks are extremely small. This paper provides a theoretical proof for this observation, specifically showing that the off-diagonal entries corresponding to two landmarks decay exponentially with the distance traveled between observation of first and second landmark.
Shift-Invariant Contourlet Transform and Its Application to Stereo Matching

In this paper, we reformulate the conventional area-based stereo matching algorithm suffering from the windowing problem and solve it using shift-invariance contourlet transform. Multiple scale analysis has long been adopted in vision research. Investigation of the contourlet transform suggests that provide changeable window areas associated with the signal frequency components and hierarchically represent signals with multi-scale and multi-direction structure. The contourlet transform employs Laplacian pyramids to achieve multi-resolution decomposition and directional filter banks to achieve directional decomposition. It can capture the intrinsic geometrical structure that is key in visual information. Due to downsampling and upsampling, the contourlet transform is shift-variant. However, shift-invariance is desirable in stereo matching. In this paper we describe a generalization of the contourlet and the fully sampled a trous algorithm that provides approximate shift-invariance with an acceptable level of redundancy, and also discusses the advantages of applying contourlet transforms to stereo matching. An image pyramid is generated and used in the hierarchical stereo matching. That method consists of multiple passes which compute stereo matches with a coarse-to-fine and sparse-to-dense paradigm. Experimental results with real images are presented
Strong singularity of singular masas in II 1 factors

A singular masa A in a II1 factor N is defined by the property that any unitary w ∈ N for which A=wAw* must lie in A. A strongly singular masa A is one that satisfies the inequality ||EA- EwAw*||∞,2 ≥||w- EA(w)||2 for all unitaries w ∈ N where EA is the conditional expectation of N onto A, and ||⋅||∞,2 is defined for bounded maps Φ : N → N by sup{||Φ (x)||2:x ∈ N,||x||≤1}. Strong singularity easily implies singularity, and the main result of this paper shows the reverse implication.
Viscum album L. Extracts Protects HeLa Cells against Nuclear and Mitochondrial DNA Damage

Viscum album L. is a semiparasitic plant grown on trees and widely used for the treatment of many diseases in traditional and complementary therapy. It is well known that some activities of Viscum album extracts are varied depending on the host trees, such as antioxidant, apoptosis-inducing, anticancer activities of the plant. The aim of the present study is to examine the comparative effects of methanolic extracts of V. album grown on three different host trees (locust tree, lime tree, and hedge maple tree) on H2O2-induced DNA damage in HeLa cells. Oxidative damage in mitochondrial DNA and two nuclear regions was assessed by QPCR assay. The cells were pretreated with methanolic extracts (10 μg/mL) for 48 h, followed by the treatment with 750 μM H2O2 for 1 hour. DNA damage was significantly induced by H2O2 while it was inhibited by V. album extracts. All extracts completely protected against nuclear DNA damage. While the extract from lime tree or white locust tree entirely inhibited mitochondrial DNA damage, that from hedge maple tree inhibited by only 50%. These results suggest that methanolic extracts of V. album can prevent oxidative DNA damage, and the activity is dependent on the host tree.
Pattern recognition techniques in on-line hand written signature verification - A survey

Over the last two decades, in the field of secure communication and financial on-line applications, we have witnessed an explosive growth in biometric personal authentication systems which are covenant with a measurable physical characteristic or behavioral trait. On-line refers to making use of the time functions of the signing process. Verification of on-line signature as a biometric modality still is challenging fields of research, since the number of pointer based devices emerges as input devices for many e-commerce and m-commerce applications. The deployment of automatic handwritten signature verification with technology still remains open for novel methods due to inter-class and intra-class variations of signature. Since the area is currently one of the most on the go and the bulk of research is very large, this survey paper covers some of the examples of the ways.
The Bekenstein bound, topological quantum field theory and pluralistic quantum cosmology

The Bekenstein bound, topological quantum field theory and pluralistic quantum cosmology ABSTRACT An approach to quantum gravity and cosmology is proposed based on a synthesis of four elements: 1) the Bekenstein bound and the related holo-graphic hypothesis of 't Hooft and Susskind, 2) topological quantum field theory, 3) a new approach to the interpretational issues of quantum cosmol-ogy and 4) the loop representation formulation of non-perturbative quantum gravity. A set of postulates are described, which define a pluralistic quantum cosmological theory. These incorporates a statistical and relational approach to the interpretation problem, following proposals of Crane and Rovelli, in which there is a Hilbert space associated to each timelike boundary, dividing the universe into two parts. A quantum state of the universe is an assignment of a statistical state into each of these Hilbert spaces, subject to certain conditions of consistency which come from an analysis of the measurement problem. A proposal for a concrete realization of these postulates is described, which is based on certain results in the loop representation and topological quantum field theory, and in particular on the fact that spin networks and punctured surfaces appear in both contexts. The Capovilla-Dell-Jacobson solution of the constraints of quantum gravity are expressed quantum mechanically in the language of Chern-Simons theory, in a way that leads also to the satisfaction of the Bekenstein bound.
Incorporating conditional independence assumption with support vector machines to enhance handwritten character segmentation performance

Learning Bayesian belief networks (BBN) from corpora and incorporating the extracted inferring knowledge with a support vector machines (SVM) classifier has been applied to character segmentation for unconstrained handwritten text. By taking advantage of the plethora of unlabeled data found in image databases in addition to available labeled examples, we overcome the expensive task of annotating the whole set of training data and the performance of the character segmentation learner is increased. In addition to this approach, which has not yet been used for this task, we have experimented with two well-known machine learning methods (learning vector quantization and a simplified version of the transformation-based learning theory). We argue that a classifier generated from BBN and SVM is well suited for learning to identify the correct segment boundaries. Empirical results support this claim. Performance has been methodically evaluated using both English and Modern Greek corpora in order to determine the unbiased behavior of the trained models. Limited training data are proved to have satisfactory results. We have been able to achieve precision exceeding 87.5%.
Distributed User Association in Energy Harvesting Small Cell Networks: An Exchange Economy With Uncertainty

We consider a user association problem in the downlink of a small cell network, where small cells are powered solely through ambient energy harvesting. Since energy harvesting is opportunistic in nature, the amount of harvested energy is a random variable, without a priori known statistical characteristics. Thus, at the time of user association, the amount of available energy is unknown. We model the network as a competitive market with uncertainty, where self-interested small cells, modeled as consumers, are willing to maximize their utility scores by selecting users, represented as commodities. The utility scores of small cells depend on the random amount of harvested energy, formulated as nature’s state. For this model we prove the existence of Arrow-Debreu equilibrium. In addition, we analyze the equilibrium with respect to uniqueness, Pareto-efficiency, and social-optimality. Moreover, based on the Walras’ tatonnoment process and the static knapsack problem, we develop an efficient distributed user association scheme which converges to the equilibrium. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed model through intensive numerical analysis.
Finite-Size Critical Behavior of the Driven Lattice Gas

We present a detailed Monte Carlo study of the high-temperature phase of the two-dimensional driven lattice gas at infinite driving field. We define a finite-volume correlation length, study its finite-size-scaling behavior and extrapolate it to the infinite-volume limit by using an iterative extrapolation method. The same method is applied to the susceptibility. We determine the transverse exponents and �. They turn out to be in perfect agreement with the theoretical predictions. We also compute the transverse Binder parameter, which apparently vanishes at the critical point, and the distribution of the magnetization. These results confirm the Gaussian nature of the transverse excitations.
Potential functional applications of extracellular vesicles: a report by the NIH Common Fund Extracellular RNA Communication Consortium

The NIH Extracellular RNA Communication Program's initiative on clinical utility of extracellular RNAs and therapeutic agents and developing scalable technologies is reviewed here. Background information and details of the projects are presented. The work has focused on modulation of target cell fate by extracellular vesicles (EVs) and RNA. Work on plant-derived vesicles is of intense interest, and non-mammalian sources of vesicles may represent a very promising source for different therapeutic approaches. Retro-viral-like particles are intriguing. Clearly, EVs share pathways with the assembly machinery of several other viruses, including human endogenous retrovirals (HERVs), and this convergence may explain the observation of viral-like particles containing viral proteins and nucleic acid in EVs. Dramatic effect on regeneration of damaged bone marrow, renal, pulmonary and cardiovascular tissue is demonstrated and discussed. These studies show restoration of injured cell function and the importance of heterogeneity of different vesicle populations. The potential for neural regeneration is explored, and the capacity to promote and reverse neoplasia by EV exposure is described. The tremendous clinical potential of EVs underlies many of these projects, and the importance of regulatory issues and the necessity of general manufacturing production (GMP) studies for eventual clinical trials are emphasized. Clinical trials are already being pursued and should expand dramatically in the near future.
Non-contrastive features and categorical patterning in Chinese diminutive suffixation: Max[F] or Ident[F]?

The influence of non-contrastive phonetic details such as intergestural timing, stop release burst and articulatory effort expense on phonological patterning has been discussed extensively in Browman & Goldstein (1992), Flemming (1995), Jun (1995), Kirchner (1997), Silverman (1997), Boersma (1998), Gordon (1999), Hayes (1999), Steriade (1999, 2000), Zhang (forthcoming), among others. Even though the way in which phonology incorporates phonetic factors is debatable (see Hayes & Steriade, forthcoming for an overview of the debate and § 3.1.1 for more detailed discussion), the fact that there exist phonological patterns that are governed by phonetic factors seems less so. In this paper, without committing myself to any view of how phonetic factors are encoded in phonology, I present the case of Chinese retroflex suffixation in support of the relevance of non-contrastive phonetic features to categorical phonological patterning. In addition, I argue that MAXFEATURE constraints (Lombardi 1995, 1998, Casali 1996, Pulleyblank 1996, Causley 1997, Walker 1999; henceforth Max[F]) are needed to account for the data in question.
Impact of voting advice applications on voters's decision-making

So-called online Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) have become very popular all over Europe. Millions of voters are using them as an assistance to make up their minds for which party they should vote. Despite this popularity there are only very few studies about the impact of these tools on individual electoral choice. On the basis of the Swiss VAA smartvote we present some first findings about the question whether VAAs do have a direct impact on the actual vote of their users. In deed, we find strong evidence that Swiss voters were affected by smartvote. However, our findings are somewhat contrary to the results of previous studies from other countries. Furthermore, the quality of available data for such studies needs to be improved. Future studies should pay attention to both: the improvement of the available data, as well as the explanation of the large variance of findings between the specific European countries.
“It Is So Swedish That You Have to Work”. Returning Swedish Migrant Women’s Negotiations of Gender Equality and Heterosexuality

ABSTRACT Notions of gender equality are strongly linked to the Swedish self-image. This article explores returning Swedish migrant women’s negotiations of heterosexual gender equality ideals based on their experiences of being housewives to middle- and upper-class men with work contracts abroad. From fieldwork conducted within two networks for returning Swedes, the article provides an analysis of the ways in which the women talk about work, gender equality, and domestic workers. The analysis of the women’s accounts of gender relations shows that different ways of doing femininity are central in their narratives. By using the concepts “emphasized femininity” and “gender-equal femininity” the article highlights the different forms of femininity that can be traced in the women’s narratives. Drawing from the empirical examples, it is shown that the women are troubled by Swedish gender equality ideals and express a feeling of not “fitting in” after returning to Sweden. I suggest that the women’s articulations of not “fitting in” to (imagined) gender-equal Sweden tend to downplay the fact that they still have advantages that assist with “fitting in” from social positions such as class, whiteness, and (hetero)sexuality: positions which may create space for negotiating social norms in Sweden.
Low Complexity Code-Multiplexed Pilot Aided Adaptive MMSE Equalizer for CDMA Systems

In the high data rate transmission, multiple access interference (MAI) and inter-chip interference (ICI) in the CDMA systems become serious because of the multi-path propagation. A low complexity code-multiplexed pilot aided adaptive MMSE equalizer for CDMA systems is proposed based on the method of steepest decent and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). Computer simulation has shown that the performance of proposed low complexity adaptive MMSE equalizer approaches the ideal non-adaptive equalizer with the computational complexity reduced considerably.
Flipping a Graduate-Level Software Engineering Foundations Course

Creating a graduate-level software engineering breadth course is challenging. The scope is wide. Students prefer hands-on work over theory. Industry increasingly values soft skills. Changing software technology requires the syllabus to be technology-agnostic, yet abstracting away technology compromises realism. Instructors must balance scope with depth of learning. At Carnegie Mellon University, we designed a flipped-classroom course that tackles these tradeoffs. The course has been offered since Fall 2014 in the Silicon Valley campus. In this paper, we describe the course's key features and summarize our experiences and lessons learned while designing, teaching, and maintaining it. We found that the pure flipped-classroom format was not optimal in ensuring sufficient transfer of knowledge, especially in remote settings. We initially underestimated teaching assistantship resources. We gradually complemented video lectures and hands-on live sessions with additional live components: easily replaceable recitations that focus on current technology and mini lectures that address application of theory and common wisdom. We also provided the students with more opportunities to share their successes and experiments with their peers. We achieved scalability by increasing the number of teaching assistants, paying attention to teaching assistant recruitment, and fostering a culture of mentoring among the teaching team.
The embodied energy of food: the role of diet

The provision of food within a developed country requires the expenditure of large amounts of energy. This energy is used within the agricultural, transportation and retail sectors. Much of this will be energy derived from fossil fuels, implying a potential environmental impact. By using food consumption data from 2197 individuals an estimate is made of the width of the distribution of embodied energies for typical U.K. diets. The mean of this distribution is found to be surprisingly large, as is the standard deviation, indicating the potential for significant reductions in fossil-fuel-related greenhouse gas emissions by simple changes in diet.
Technology at work to mediate collaborative scientific enquiry in the field

This paper describes and contrasts findings from two related projects where groups of science pupils investigated local air pollution using a collection of mobile sensors and devices. Both projects however played out in different ways. A qualitative analysis of the projects points to the various issues that contributed to the different experiences despite similar technologies for a similar task. These include: project focus; type of facilitator input and the benefits of in-situ data collection combined with subsequent review and reflection. We point to specific relationships between technologies and context of use, and building on this draw out recommendations for the design of in-context, science learning sessions. This work contributes to the growing conceptual understanding, based on 'real world' experiences, of how mobile and ubiquitous technologies can be appropriated in context to support learning. It contributes to an increased understanding of the types of collaborative scientific activity that are supported by different technology configurations, and the roles that human and system facilitators can play in this process.
Multiaccess Communication in the Finite Blocklength Regime

Although real-world communication networks employ coding schemes with blocklengths as low as several hundred symbols, classical coding theorems of information theory rely on blocklengths approaching infinity. Following a recent line of work on channel dispersion in the finite blocklength regime, we use firstand second-order statistics to characterize low-complexity bounds on the capacity region of a discrete memoryless multiple access channel for a given finite blocklength and positive average error probability. Our bounds appear to be less computationally complex that other recently published bounds, because ours use only the means and variances of the relevant mutual information random variables instead of the full covariance matrix of these variables.
E-Business maturity and information technology in Portuguese SMEs

The latest technological advances made over recent times led to a profound market change, characterized by increased competition. In order to be competitive, organizations have been forced to adapt themselves to this new reality, seeking innovative solutions permitting them to achieve lower costs, greater productivity and differentiation from competition. This work focuses the e-business maturity stages of Portuguese small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Our goal is to identify in which e-business maturity stage they are and explore the relationship between their e-business maturity and the technology they use.