Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SIGACT news online algorithms column 2

From the editor: This issue’s column contains an article by Wolf Bein and Larry Larmore with a gentle introduction to the concepts of trackless and limited-bookmark online algorithms for paging and for the k-server problem. Many online algorithms for these problems studied in the literature need to keep track, in essence, of the whole computation history. It is natural then to ask whether good competitive constants can be achieved with simpler algorithms. The distinction between “simple” and “non-simple” algorithms has proven to be rather difficult to capture mathematically. The elegant notion of tracklessness is – in my view – a very promising step in this direction. Thanks to Wolf and Larry for agreeing to contribute this article (on a very short notice.) I would also like to take this opportunity to invite more contributions: surveys, technical articles, reviews, opinions, conference reports – anything related to online algorithms and competitive analysis. The column also contains an announcement of the OLA’04 workshop in Denmark. The report from the workshop is expected to appear in the September’04 issue.
Dalit Christian Life in the Interactional Milieu: A Social Dominance Perspective

The study examined how Christians of Dalit origin describe the experience of social dominance while engaging with socio-religious and school milieus, using a qualitative phenomenological enquiry. I purposively selected 30 Dalit Christians for in-depth interviews, from ‘Thachoor’ village in Tamil Nadu with history of violence against Dalit Christians in the recent past. All interviews were audio-taped, transcribed in Tamil and later translated into English. Data were analyzed using narrative thematic analysis. Findings reveal that interactional milieu (viz., social, religious and school milieus) characterized through social dominance of the higher castes. Dalit Christians’ responses included social dominance acceptance, dominance neutral and dominance challenge. High castes strategize social dominance through social distance, conflicts and deprivation of Dalits from help to maintain fear in collective Dalit memory. Collective internalizations of fear seemed to relate with psychosocial disability and social exclusion. The study concludes that high castes considerably exercise social dominance that substantially contribute to compromised agency and increased social exclusion.
Fairing Material Grain Contour Detection

On the basis of the modified Chan-Vese model and genetic algorithm, a new contour acquired method for image segmentation is presented. In the method, the raw contours were acquired by using the modified Chan-Vese model. The model is able to detect all the objects or details in the image. After that, the genetic algorithm was used to optimize the raw contours. The data points are respected as variables. The contours were then modeled as a continuous, nonlinear and multivariate optimization problem with many local optima. For this reason it is very difficult to reach a global optimum. In this paper, we convert the original problem into a discrete combinatorial optimization problem. The proposed method determines the appropriate contour location of the SiC/Al composite image automatically and simultaneously. The results show that our
Participatory elicitation of development needs in conflict environments

We report the results of developing a novel framework based on participatory social simulation to determine the development needs of populations. The framework remedies some of the shortcomings of survey-based need elicitation approaches in armed conflict or sensitive environments. We implemented the framework as a “development game” with the powerbrokers of the Baluchi Valley in Uruzgan, Afghanistan. In its simplest form, the development game does not require multiple interactions with players and produces data that can be used in an inverse simulation process that captures the players' private beliefs on development needs of the Baluchi Valley.
Parallel elastic registration using a multigrid preconditioned Gauss-Newton-Krylov solver , grid continuation and octrees

In this article, we present a parallel algorithm for intensity-based elastic image registration. This algorithm integrates several components: parallel octrees, multigrid preconditioning, a Gauss-Newton-Krylov solver, and grid continuation. We use a non-parametric deformation model based on trilinear finite element shape functions defined on octree meshes. Our C++ based implementation uses the Message Passing Interface (MPI) standard and is built on top of the Dendro and PETSc libraries. We demonstrate the performance of our method on synthetic and medical images. We demonstrate the scalability of our implementation on up to 4096 processors on the Sun Constellation Linux Cluster “Ranger” at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC).
Preprocessing Algorithms for Arabic Handwriting Recognition Systems

Preprocessing is one of basic phases of handwritten text recognition and it is crucial to reach high recognition rate. In this paper, we present several algorithms for Arabic handwritten text which are based on inherent properties of Arabic writing. These algorithms include noise removal and smoothing, diacritics detection, contour tracing/correction, baseline estimation, slope correction and detecting/correcting touching descenders. In first stage of propositions validation, each presented method is individually tested on the commonly used IFN/ENIT database. Then, the influence of the presented algorithms on the recognition rate is studied based on K-NN classifier and hybrid features. The obtained results show the efficiency of the proposed algorithms and their positive impact on features discrimination and recognition performance.
Congestion control for optimizing data transfer rate in mobile Ad-hoc networks using HSTCP

In the communication era congestion is the bottleneck which degrades the performance. In Ad hoc networks due to infrastructure less character there is no guaranteed bandwidth and node mobility. The traditional TCP variants were good for wired environment, whereas in Ad-hoc networks there are lots of other factors to be considered. We are comparing the traditional TCP Reno and its new variant HSTCP for congestion handling. The congestion window is one of the factors that determine the number of bytes that can be outstanding at any time. The congestion window indicates the maximum amount of data that can be sent out on a connection without being acknowledged. HSTCP comes into picture only if the congestion window size increases abruptly. To improve the retransmission time and to avoid congestion in completely dynamic conditions where node mobility is completely random is the main concern of our research work. HSTCP outperforms when compared to TCP Reno for different network parameters.
Image browsing and navigation using hierarchical classification

In this paper, we attempt to address the inadequacies of query-based image retrieval, and argue the importance of structured browsing and navigation methods. We propose to build a hierarchical classification model, which is the basic structure for image browsing and navigation. Currently a prototype system has been implemented, called CHROMA. CHROMA provides both a visual tool to browse or navigate through the image collection, which can be used in combination with existing query-based methods. In addition, by measuring the required iterations of thumbnail browsing we evaluate the improvements in retrieval effectiveness of the browsing and navigation approach.
An optimization method for edge-detector parameter tuning based on visual perception

An optimization method for tuning the parameters of edge detection algorithms based on visual perception is proposed and applied to the Sobel, Laplacian of Gaussian (LoG), and Canny detectors. The method uses human visual quality perception to compare edge maps generated by different edge detector parameter values and iteratively reduces the parameter search space by means of a coordinate search. The method is applicable to any parameterized edge detector. Examples demonstrate that use of the Canny detector yields the most visually appealing edge maps. However, it requires 2.5 and 1.8 times the number of iterations required by the Sobel and LoG detectors, respectively.
Sampled- and continuous-time passivity and stability of virtual environments

We propose a new time-domain passivity observer (PO) and passivity controller (PC) which removes the constant-velocity assumption during one sample time, which was used in our previous PO/PC approach. A new sampled-time definition of passivity is introduced, and this new definition is compared with the previous sampled-time definition of passivity. Through this comparison, we propose the more accurate PO/PC approach. The proposed new PO/PC approach is applied to the "Excalibur" haptic interface system with very high stiffness (K = 120 kN/spl middot/m) virtual environment, and stable contact is demonstrated.
An instructive role for the interstitial matrix in tissue patterning: tissue segregation and intercellular invasion

Intercellular invasion is the intrusion of the cells of one tissue into space occupied by a second tissue. The alternative situation to invasion, one characteristic of most coherent tissues, is segregation, with identifiable boundaries existing between contiguous tissues. The interfaces between mesenchymal and myocardial tissues in the developing avian heart show a profoundly different character in different regions of the heart: the interface between epicardial mesenchyme and heart wall myocardium is planar, without intermingling of the two cell types, whereas the interface between endocardial cushion mesenchyme and myocardium is diffuse, with extensive invasion of both tissue types across the border to produce intermingling of the two tissues. Thus, invasion and tissue segregation coexist in different regions of the mesenchyme-myocardium contact zone. Investigation of the involvement of the interstitial matrix in invasion and segregation has been conducted by maintaining the two tissues in mutual contact in organ culture. Investigation of the mechanisms by which the two cell types sort out in randomized chimeric tissue reaggregates has provided insight into the conditions for tissue segregation. We have modeled invasion in organ culture by fusing aggregates of myocardial cells with aggregates of cardiac mesenchymal cells. Cells of both tissues invaded the partner aggregate during a period of 1-3 d of coculture. Both invasion and segregation in the aggregates appear to depend on the presence or absence of a fibronectin-rich interstitial matrix elaborated by the cardiac mesenchyme. During sorting, the matrix appears selectively in regions occupied by the mesenchyme. Under conditions of culture that are nonpermissive for matrix deposition, sorting fails to occur. Stimulation of matrix deposition by addition of serum, transforming growth factor beta, or isolated matrix itself is accompanied by sorting out of the two tissues. Sorting out is blocked reversibly by inclusion of the fibronectin adhesion site peptide, GRGDSP. Invasion of fused aggregates is preceded by a redistribution of the fibronectin- containing matrix of the mesenchymal aggregate such that matrix-poor regions come to occupy the interface with the myocardial partner aggregate. The invasion that ensues involves mesenchymal cells emigrating from, and myocardial cells intruding into, matrix-poor regions of the mesenchymal aggregate. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
An inducible knockout mouse to model the cell-autonomous role of PTEN in initiating endometrial, prostate and thyroid neoplasias

SUMMARY PTEN is one of the most frequently mutated tumor suppressor genes in human cancers. The role of PTEN in carcinogenesis has been validated by knockout mouse models. PTEN heterozygous mice develop neoplasms in multiple organs. Unfortunately, the embryonic lethality of biallelic excision of PTEN has inhibited the study of complete PTEN deletion in the development and progression of cancer. By crossing PTEN conditional knockout mice with transgenic mice expressing a tamoxifen-inducible Cre-ERT under the control of a chicken actin promoter, we have generated a tamoxifen-inducible mouse model that allows temporal control of PTEN deletion. Interestingly, administration of a single dose of tamoxifen resulted in PTEN deletion mainly in epithelial cells, but not in stromal, mesenchymal or hematopoietic cells. Using the mT/mG double-fluorescent Cre reporter mice, we demonstrate that epithelial-specific PTEN excision was caused by differential Cre activity among tissues and cells types. Tamoxifen-induced deletion of PTEN resulted in extremely rapid and consistent formation of endometrial in situ adenocarcinoma, prostate intraepithelial neoplasia and thyroid hyperplasia. We also analyzed the role of PTEN ablation in other epithelial cells, such as the tubular cells of the kidney, hepatocytes, colonic epithelial cells or bronchiolar epithelium, but those tissues did not exhibit neoplastic growth. Finally, to validate this model as a tool to assay the efficacy of anti-tumor drugs in PTEN deficiency, we administered the mTOR inhibitor everolimus to mice with induced PTEN deletion. Everolimus dramatically reduced the progression of endometrial proliferations and significantly reduced thyroid hyperplasia. This model could be a valuable tool to study the cell-autonomous mechanisms involved in PTEN-loss-induced carcinogenesis and provides a good platform to study the effect of anti-neoplastic drugs on PTEN-negative tumors.
Red traffic light detection using fast radial symmetry transform

Traffic light is one of the important signs for drivers that help managing the car flow and reducing accident on the road. As of today technology, there exists a traffic light detection system that warns the driver to reduce the accident significantly. In this paper, we are concerned with only the red and yellow traffic light to reduce false positive and time consumption. The fast radial symmetry transform is a fast variation of the circular Hough transform. The CIELab color model is used because it is less dependent on lighting conditions. The precision and the recall of the proposed method are increased from previous work.
Adaptive self-similarity based image super-resolution using non local means

Self-similarity based SR method on the LF-HF domain basically relies on the assumption that LF patch is highly correlated with HF patch. However, this assumption is content-specific significantly, and we can occasionally observe little correlation between LF and HF patch especially for texture region of natural images. In this paper we propose a new self-similarity based SR method to reflect this observation. There are two differences between the proposed and existing methods. First, HF details of target HR image are recovered by finding the similar patches on the MF domain in case of texture region. Second, the proposed method performs pixel-based reconstruction by adopting the concept of non-local means. Experimental results show that the proposed method can reconstruct more realistic image details.
Visualization of logic analysis of phylogenetic profiles (LAPP)

Recently Bowers et al analyzed triplet logic relationships among 4873 clusters of orthologous groups (COGS) from 67 fully sequenced organisms by calculating how well logic relationships between proteins a and b predicted the presence or absence of protein c (the uncertainty). The log of the normalized uncertainty distribution follows an approximately linear relationship for uncertainties in the interval [0.1, 0.9]. Using fitted parameters of this relationship as a characterization, we develop four types of visual analysis for LAPP data: distributions of uncertainty over logical relation type, distributions of uncertainty over functional categories, relationships of uncertainty of the overall population to known network relationships of a particular organism, and relationships of uncertainty distributions to groups obtained by standard clustering techniques. The purpose of this study is two-fold: to better understand the implications of uncertainty predictions for automatic protein network generation and to create new visualization tools for looking at this type of data.
A discriminative cascade CNN model for offline handwritten digit recognition

This paper presents a high-performance two-stage cascade CNN model. The main idea behind the cascade CNN model is complementary classification objectives between Stage I and Stage II. Discriminative learning is introduced to train Stage II by feeding back poorly recognized training samples. Experiments have been conducted on the competitive MNIST handwritten digit database. The cascade model achieved the best state-of-the-art performance with an error rate of 0.18%.
Enhanced security and authentication mechanism in cloud transactions using HMAC

In a cloud environment, which deploys transactional database systems, the entities participating in the system provides proofs of authorization to the cloud server. The proofs may be any valid data given by the end user participating in a transaction being evaluated by a transaction manager for authorization purposes. There is a relaxed consistency model underlying the cloud services due to its elasticity. When the transaction databases are associated with distributed environment, there is a problem of inconsistency arising in the course of a transaction. First, the system meets many policy inconsistencies during the policy update process. Second, some factors which are external can cause the user credential inconsistencies during the transaction. To overcome these inconsistencies present in a cloud transaction the concept of trusted transaction is proposed which do not violate any policy or credential inconsistencies. The more general term can be given by using safe transactions which identifies the trusted transactions which conform to the basic properties of distributed storage systems. In this paper, we propose a method to enhance the security and authenticity of transactions performed through cloud environment. Study on, how safe and trusted transactions be performed by applying HMAC algorithm with associated policies is carriedout.
General models and algorithms for over-the-cell routing in standard cell design

When an over-the-cell routing layer is available for a VLSI standard cell layout, efficient utilization of routing space over the cells can significantly reduce layout area. Three physical models are presented to utilize the area over the cells for routing in standard cell designs. Also presented are efficient algorithms to choose and to route a planar subset of nets over the cells so that the resulting channel density is reduced as much as possible. For each of the physical models, it is shown how to arrange inter-cell routing, over-the-cell routing and power/ground buses to achieve valid routing solutions. Each algorithm exploits the particular arrangement in the corresponding physical model and produces provably good results in polynomial time. The saving in routing area achieved by these algorithms is up to 21 %. <<ETX>>
From passive to impersonal: A case study from Italian and its implications

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Graph Cut Liver Segmentation for Interstitial Ultrasound Therapy

Within a specific medical application, the primary liver cancer curative treatment by a percutaneous high intensity ultrasound surgery, our study was designed to propose a fast 3D semi-automatic segmentation method of the liver, the tumor and the hepatic vascular networks. This method is characterized by a graph description of contrast medium injected CT volume where the links between the nodes describe either the degrees of similarity between voxels of the same class (region based approach) or the class changes between two neighboring voxels (boundary based approaches). The various weights describing these two properties are defined after a first interactive training phase. A Max-Flow/Min-Cut graph cut algorithm allowed partitioning the volume in two representative subsets of the segmented classes.
A Practical Framework for Cleaning Robots

This paper presents an extension to the pattern-based genetic algorithm for multiple cleaning robots to achieve complete coverage path planning in an unknown environment. The extension is formulated in the form of a framework which consists of four phases. The phases are scouting, task distribution, cleaning, and confirmation. The scouting phase allows the robots to scout in the initially unknown floor plan. The task distribution phase distributes cleaning tasks to multiple robots. The cleaning phase uses the pattern-based genetic algorithm with an added function to cater to unforeseen obstacles. The confirmation phaserecleans all the tiles. The performance of our proposed approach have been evaluated with six different floor plans through computer experiments. The cleaning phase performs better than the generic pattern-based genetic algorithm approach.
Ready-meal consumption: associations with weight status and cooking skills

Abstract Objective The ready-meal market has grown considerably in recent years. At the same time, a degradation of traditional cooking skills has been observed. Ready meals are often rich in energy, fat and sugar and lack vegetables; however, studies investigating associations between ready-meal consumption, overweight and cooking skills are lacking. The present study examines whether demographic factors, overweight, beliefs about the nutritional value and taste of ready meals and cooking skills are associated with ready-meal consumption. Design Cross-sectional survey. Setting Ready-meal consumption, weight status, cooking skills, beliefs about the taste and nutritional value of ready meals and demographic variables were assessed with self-administered questionnaires. Data were analysed with one-way ANOVA and multiple regression analysis. Subjects A total of 1017 adults from the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Results Men reported being more positive about ready meals and having fewer cooking skills compared with women. Overweight adults (BMI > 25 kg/m2) were more positive about nutrients and vitamins in ready meals compared with normal-weight adults. Ready-meal consumption was associated with cooking skills (β = −0·192), age (β =− 0·228), overweight (β = 0·129), nutritional value (β = −0·131), taste (β = −0·126), working status (β = 0·096) and gender (β = 0·084). Conclusions Cooking skills were identified as a strong predictor of ready-meal consumption. The importance of cooking skills as a barrier to healthy eating should be explored, as it is plausible that cooking skills will further decrease in the future. Next, the study provided evidence for an association between ready-meal consumption and overweight. Further research should examine the importance of ready meals for the overweight epidemic.
Method for fast compression of program codes for remote updates in embedded systems

This paper presents the technology for remote system updating that allows software updates in embedded systems such as mobile phones and car navigation systems. Software updates are carried out using binary difference, software construction, and fast compression technologies. In this paper, we focus on a fast BPE (byte pair encoding) method of encoding program codes in embedded systems and show the index of relations between the updating time and the downloaded data size.