Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Computational aspects of voting: a literature survey

Preference aggregation is a topic of study in different fields such as philosophy, mathematics, economics and political science. Recently, computational aspects of preference aggregation have gained especial attention and “computational politics” has emerged as a marked line of research in computer science with a clear concentration on voting protocols. The field of voting systems, rooted in social choice theory, has expanded notably in both depth and breadth in the last few decades. A significant amount of this growth comes from studies concerning the computational aspects of voting systems. This thesis comprehensively reviews the work on voting systems (from a computing perspective) by listing, classifying and comparing the results obtained by different researchers in the field. This survey covers a wide range of new and historical results yet provides a profound commentary on related work as individual studies and in relation to other related work and to the field in general. The deliverables serve as an overview where students and novice researchers in the field can start and also as a depository that can be referred to when searching for specific results. A comprehensive literature survey of the computational aspects of voting is a task that has not been undertaken yet and is initially realized here. Part of this research was dedicated to creating a web-depository that contains material and references related to the topic based on the survey. The purpose was to create a dynamic version of the survey that can be updated with latest findings and as an online practical reference.
The z-Transform and Automata-Recognizable Systems of Nonhomogeneous Linear Recurrence Equations over Semirings

A nonhomogeneous system of linear recurrence equations can be recognized by an automaton $\mathcal{A}$ over a one-letter alphabet $A = \{z\}$. Conversely, the automaton $\mathcal{A}$ generates precisely this nonhomogeneous system of linear recurrence equations. We present the solutions of these systems and apply the $z$-transform to these solutions to obtain their series representation. Finally, we show some results that simplify the series representation of the $z$-transform of these solutions. We consider single systems as well as the composition of two systems.
Tree-connectivity: Evaluating the graphical structure of SLAM

Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) in robotics, and a number of related problems that arise in sensor networks are instances of estimation problems over weighted graphs. This paper studies the relation between the graphical representation of such problems and estimationtheoretic concepts such as the Cramér-Rao lower bound (CRLB) and D-optimality. We prove that the weighted number of spanning trees, as a graph connectivity metric, is closely related to the determinant of CRLB. This metric can be efficiently computed for large graphs by exploiting the sparse structure of underlying estimation problems. Our analysis is validated using experiments with publicly available pose-graph SLAM datasets.
A Comparative Study of k-ShortestPath AlgorithmsA

EEcient management of networks requires that the shortest route from one point (node) to another is known; this is termed the shortest path. It is often necessary to be able to determine alternative routes through the network, in case any part of the shortest path is damaged or busy. The k-shortest paths represent an ordered list of the alternative routes available. Four algorithms were selected for more detailed study from over seventy papers written on this subject since the 1950's. These four were implemented in thèC' programming language and, on the basis of the results, an assessment was made of their relative performance. 1 The Background The shortest path through a network is the least cost route from a given node to another given node, and this path will usually be the preferred route between those two nodes. When the shortest path between two nodes is not available for some reason, it is necessary to determine the second shortest path. If this too is not available, a third path may be needed. The series of paths thus derived are known collectively as the k-shortest paths (KSP), and represent the rst, second, third,. , kth paths typically of least length from one node to another. In obtaining the KSPs, it is normally necessary to determine independently the shortest path (k = 1) between the two given nodes before computation of the remaining k ? 1 shortest paths can be carried out. Computation of shortest paths has been the subject of much research since the 1950s. It is important to realise that the term`shortest' does not just apply to the distance between two nodes, but can involve any single component made up of one or more factors, including cost, safety or time, that put a weighting on the route. KSP algorithms are thus widely used in the elds of telecommunications, operations research, computer science and transportation science. 2 The Problem The work presented here was driven by the desire to nd a faster algorithm to calculate the KSPs between nodes in a network than that, Yen 1], used to
MR image reconstruction using the GPU

Magnetic resonance (MR) image reconstruction has reached a bottleneck where further speed improvement from the algorithmic perspective is difficult. However, some clinical practices such as real-time surgery monitoring demand faster reconstruction than what is currently available. For such dynamic imaging applications, radial sampling in k-space (i.e. projection acquisition) recently revives due to fast image acquisition, relatively good signal-to-noise ratio, and better resistance to motion artifacts, as compared with the conventional Cartesian scan. Concurrently, using the graphic processing unit (GPU) to improve algorithm performance has become increasingly popular. In this paper, an efficient GPU implementation of the fast Fourier transform (FFT) will first be described in detail, since the FFT is an important part of virtually all MR image reconstruction algorithms. Then, we evaluate the speed and image quality for the GPU implementation of two reconstruction algorithms that are suited for projection acquisition. The first algorithm is the look-up table based gridding algorithm. The second one is the filtered backprojection method which is widely used in computed tomography. Our results show that the GPU implementation is up to 100 times faster than a conventional CPU implementation with comparable image quality.
Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report Perceptions of Neighborhood Crime , 1995

In 1995 the percentage of U.S. households identifying crime as a neighborhood problem remained about 7%, according to the American Housing Survey. 1 The percentage of households identifying crime as a problem had reached 7.4% in 1991 and was fairly constant afterwards. Somewhat similar to the Nation's general pattern of violent victimization rates, household perceptions of crime as a problem rose during the late 1980's and early 1990's and then leveled off. Nevertheless, differences between perception and actual victimization are found. As crime later dropped sharply from 1994 to 1995, perceptions of crime remained relatively stable. As a general matter, the gap between perceptions of crime and actual experience of crime varied among different subpopulations. For example, in 1995 the percentage of black households indicating a crime problem was almost 2.5 times greater than the percentage of white households. This difference was not nearly as large In 1995, 7% of U.S. households identified crime as a neighborhood problem. Over the 1985-95 period the percentage of households saying that crime was a problem reached 7.4% in 1991 and remained relatively constant through 1995. Black, central city, and renter households were more likely than other types of households to identify crime as a neighborhood problem. Twenty-five percent of black public housing households and 13% of white public housing households reported crime as a neighborhood problem in 1995. Perceptions of crime vulnerability generally reflected actual relative likelihood of criminal victimization. From 1992 to 1995 a higher percentage of black households than white households had experienced nonlethal violent crime. In 1995 about 9% of black urban households were victimized by violent crime compared to 7% of white urban households. In 1995, 8% of public housing households were victimized by violent crime compared to 6% of non-public housing households. 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% Among central city households from 1985 to 1995, a higher percentage of black than white households cited crime as a problem Black central city households White central city households Highlights 1 "Household" refers to occupants of a housing unit. A household representative provided information for the entire unit.
Dynamic voltage & frequency scaling with online slack measurement

Timing margins in FPGAs are already significant and as process scaling continues they will have to grow to guarantee operation under increased variation. Margins enforce worst-case operation even in typical conditions and result in devices operating more slowly and consuming more energy than necessary. This paper presents a method of dynamic voltage and frequency scaling that uses online slack measurement to determine timing headroom in a circuit while it is operating and scale the voltage and/or frequency in response. Doing so can significantly reduce power consumption or increase throughput with a minimal overhead. The method is demonstrated on a number of benchmark circuits under a range of operating conditions, constraints and optimisation targets.
Usability Evaluation of Visualization Interfaces for Content-based Music Retrieval Systems

This research presents a formal user evaluation of a typical visualization method for content-based music information retrieval (MIR) systems, and also proposes a novel interface to improve MIR usability. Numerous interfaces to visualize content-based MIR systems have been proposed, but reports on user evaluations of such proposed GUIs are scarce. This research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a typical 2-D visualization method for content-based MIR systems, by conducting comparative user evaluations against the traditional list-based format to present MIR results to the user. Based on the observations of the experimental results, we next propose a 3-D visualization system, which features a function to specify sub-regions of the feature space based on genre classication results, and a function which allows users to select features that are assigned to the axes of the 3-D space. Evaluation of this GUI conclude that the functions of the 3-D system can significantly improve both the efcienc y and usability of MIR systems.
Overview of Techniques for Improving MAC over Wireless Sensor Networks

— In recent years, sensor networks have transitioned from being objects of academic research interest to a technology that is frequently being deployed in real-life applications and rapidly being commercialized. Wireless sensor networks use battery operated computing and sensing devices. Energy consumption continues to remain a barrier challenge in many sensor network applications that require long lifetimes. However, lower sensing ranges result in dense networks, which bring the necessity to achieve an efficient medium access protocol subject to power constraints. Various MAC protocols with different objectives were proposed for wireless sensor networks. This article surveys several techniques that show promise in addressing and alleviating this MAC improvement challenge. In this paper, we describe several MAC protocols proposed for sensor networks emphasizing their advantages and disadvantages. Finally, we point out conclusion on MAC layer design.
G‐protein genomic association with normal variation in gray matter density

While detecting genetic variations underlying brain structures helps reveal mechanisms of neural disorders, high data dimensionality poses a major challenge for imaging genomic association studies. In this work, we present the application of a recently proposed approach, parallel independent component analysis with reference (pICA‐R), to investigate genomic factors potentially regulating gray matter variation in a healthy population. This approach simultaneously assesses many variables for an aggregate effect and helps to elicit particular features in the data. We applied pICA‐R to analyze gray matter density (GMD) images (274,131 voxels) in conjunction with single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data (666,019 markers) collected from 1,256 healthy individuals of the Brain Imaging Genetics (BIG) study. Guided by a genetic reference derived from the gene GNA14, pICA‐R identified a significant SNP‐GMD association (r = −0.16, P = 2.34 × 10−8), implying that subjects with specific genotypes have lower localized GMD. The identified components were then projected to an independent dataset from the Mind Clinical Imaging Consortium (MCIC) including 89 healthy individuals, and the obtained loadings again yielded a significant SNP‐GMD association (r = −0.25, P = 0.02). The imaging component reflected GMD variations in frontal, precuneus, and cingulate regions. The SNP component was enriched in genes with neuronal functions, including synaptic plasticity, axon guidance, molecular signal transduction via PKA and CREB, highlighting the GRM1, PRKCH, GNA12, and CAMK2B genes. Collectively, our findings suggest that GNA12 and GNA14 play a key role in the genetic architecture underlying normal GMD variation in frontal and parietal regions. Hum Brain Mapp 36:4272–4286, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Technical Efficiency among Peasant Farmers Participating in Natural Resource Management Programmes in Central America

This study examines the extent to which technical efficiency (TE) is related to activities promoted by two natural resource management programmes recently completed in Central America. Data for a total of 639 farms operating in the hillsides of El Salvador and Honduras are used to estimate a household-level input-oriented stochastic distance frontier simultaneously with a TE effects model. The main finding of this study is that improvements in TE are financially beneficial to farm households while also contributing to environmental sustainability. The results also reveal a positive association between productivity and output diversification, and a positive relationship between TE and off-farm income, human capital and agricultural extension.
Novel low duty cycle schemes from ultra wide band to ultra low power

Electronic devices steadily penetrate almost every area of life and transform our surrounding more and more into a dense heterogeneous wireless network. To enable the potential of such a network, a wireless technology with high scalability potential is required supporting devices with ultra low power consumption as well as high data rates. Ultra wideband (UWB) is a promising technology inherently supporting such a system scalability. However, ultra low power communication is still a major challenge. A rigorous low duty cycle operation of UWB impulse radio (UWB-IR) transceivers seems a potential key to ultra low power communication. Thereby, two different approaches are possible. Low pulse rate (LPR) systems realize the low duty cycle by a large pulse repetition period. High pulse rate (HPR) systems achieve the low duty cycle by burst-wise transmission at high peak data rate. Analysis and optimization of these two approaches is the main contribution of this thesis. National authorities impose hard constraints on peak and average transmit power of UWB devices, which makes transmit power an important optimization parameter. Therefore, the impact of peak and average power constraints on UWB-IR signals is analyzed with focus on the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) regulations. A joint maximization of peak and average transmit power leads then to modified LPR and HPR schemes with important gains in link margin, coverage and performance. The modified LPRs correspond to a novel type of UWB-IR schemes directly derived from the FCC peak power constraint. They are especially suited for rich scattering environments and drastically increase the TX/RX-scalability in the sense of a tunable trade-off between transmitter and receiver complexity. Moreover, for energy detectors (ED) with a fixed, sufficiently large
Document Discovery: Constructing Social Networks with Topic Modeling

This thesis deals with the problem of constructing social networks with topic modeling. To be more specific, it describes how we identify the local communities where people share same interests as well as link this groups together to construct social networks. These problems will be addressed in the course of discussion, and corresponding practical solutions will be provided. I will present the system which fully implements the ideas I propose, in order to achieve the goal.
The contribution of TMS to frontotemporal dementia variants

Objective – Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) includes different heterogeneous conditions mainly characterized by personality changes and cognitive deficits in language and executive functions; movement disorders have also been associated with FTLD. The present study aimed to measure the primary motor cortex (M1) inhibitory and facilitatory functions in patients affected by FTLD.
Comparison of Color and Color with Edge Feature Extraction Using Contribution-Based Clustering Algorithm

Search and retrieval of images based on content has attracted considerable attention in recent years from the research community. Classification and Clustering algorithm are used to improve the result of Content based Image retrieval. This paper relies on a combination of color and edge features of image for the accurate retrieval of images. Color features are extracted by RGB color histogram and edge features are extracted by using canny edge detection algorithm. Contribution based Clustering algorithm is applied to those features to form the cluster of images. Experimental results have been tested on the test dataset of about 771 images from the Washington University database. Combination of Color with Edge features gives the better result than the standalone color extraction with contribution based clustering algorithm. Our experiment improves the recall value and f-measure value of image retrieval.
Beyond the Dichotomous Worlds Hypothesis: Towards a Plurality of Corporate Governance Logics

The dichotomous worlds hypothesis holds that corporate governance systems worldwide are either based on the Anglo-American shareholder model or the Eurasian stakeholder model. We suggest a more fine-grained classification, based on five corporate governance logics socially constructed, historical patterns of material practices, assumptions, values, beliefs, and rules by which all parties involved in economic productive activities structure their material interdependencies and provide meaning to the social reality of corporate life. These logics are discovered through a content analysis of the corporate governance reform codes of 38 countries.
Identification of Candida glabrata Genes Involved in pH Modulation and Modification of the Phagosomal Environment in Macrophages

Candida glabrata currently ranks as the second most frequent cause of invasive candidiasis. Our previous work has shown that C. glabrata is adapted to intracellular survival in macrophages and replicates within non-acidified late endosomal-stage phagosomes. In contrast, heat killed yeasts are found in acidified matured phagosomes. In the present study, we aimed at elucidating the processes leading to inhibition of phagosome acidification and maturation. We show that phagosomes containing viable C. glabrata cells do not fuse with pre-labeled lysosomes and possess low phagosomal hydrolase activity. Inhibition of acidification occurs independent of macrophage type (human/murine), differentiation (M1-/M2-type) or activation status (vitamin D3 stimulation). We observed no differential activation of macrophage MAPK or NFκB signaling cascades downstream of pattern recognition receptors after internalization of viable compared to heat killed yeasts, but Syk activation decayed faster in macrophages containing viable yeasts. Thus, delivery of viable yeasts to non-matured phagosomes is likely not triggered by initial recognition events via MAPK or NFκB signaling, but Syk activation may be involved. Although V-ATPase is abundant in C. glabrata phagosomes, the influence of this proton pump on intracellular survival is low since blocking V-ATPase activity with bafilomycin A1 has no influence on fungal viability. Active pH modulation is one possible fungal strategy to change phagosome pH. In fact, C. glabrata is able to alkalinize its extracellular environment, when growing on amino acids as the sole carbon source in vitro. By screening a C. glabrata mutant library we identified genes important for environmental alkalinization that were further tested for their impact on phagosome pH. We found that the lack of fungal mannosyltransferases resulted in severely reduced alkalinization in vitro and in the delivery of C. glabrata to acidified phagosomes. Therefore, protein mannosylation may play a key role in alterations of phagosomal properties caused by C. glabrata.
X-Ray Spectroscopy of PSR B1951+32 and Its Pulsar Wind Nebula

We present spatially resolved X-ray spectroscopy of PSR B1951+32 and its pulsar wind nebula (PWN) in supernova remnant (SNR) CTB 80 from a Chandra observation. The Chandra X-ray map clearly reveals various components of a ram-pressure-confined PWN embedded in the SNR ejecta: a point source representing the pulsar, X-ray emission from the bow shock, a luminous X-ray tail, a 30'' diameter plateau whose northwestern part is absent, and the more diffuse outer X-ray emission. The plateau is closely surrounded by the radio, [O III], [S II], and [N II] shells, and the outer diffuse emission is mostly within the Hα shells. While the spectra of all the features are well fitted with power-law models, a power-law plus blackbody model can fit the spectrum of the pulsar significantly better than using a power-law model alone. Generally, the spectra of these components obey the trend of steepening from the inside to the outside. However, the edge of the plateau probably has a harder spectrum than the central region of the plateau. The cause of the apparent hard spectrum of the plateau edge is unclear, but we speculate that it might be due to a shock between the PWN and the SNR ejecta. The possible blackbody radiation component from the pulsar has a temperature of 0.13 ± 0.02 keV and an equivalent emitting radius of 2.2 (d/2 kpc) km, and is thus probably from the hot spots on the pulsar. We also show in this paper that the blackbody temperature of the entire surface of PSR B1951+32 is much lower than those predicted by the standard neutron star cooling models.
Design of PI Controller using Characteristic Ratio Assignment Method for Coupled Tank SISO Process

This paper presents the PI controller design for coupled tank as Single Input Single Output (SISO) process using Characteristic Ratio Assignment (CRA) method.CRA is an approach to directly control the transient response of linear time invariant control systems. The transient response for all pole transfer function of n order system can be controlled by introducing a set of parameters(αi) characteristic ratio, (i=1,2,.,n) and ( )generalized time constant.The CRA method which satisfies more specification and performance of control system. The coupled tank as SISO process is a challenge plant for testing the performance of PI controller. The fundamental model of coupled tank as SISO process is obtained and CRA based PI controller is designed. Using a CRA-PI controller the simulation results has been simulated by MATLAB and real time results also can be implemented for coupled tank as SISO process.