Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ported Tutte Functions of Extensors and Oriented

The Tutte equations are ported (or set-pointed) when the equations F (N ) = geF (N/e) + reF (N \ e) are omitted for elements e in a distinguished set called ports. The solutions F , called ported Tutte functions, can distinguish different orientations of the same matroid. A ported extensor with ground set is a (fully) decomposable element in the exterior algebra (of antisymmetric tensors) over a vector space with a given basis, called the ground set, containing a distinguished subset called ports. A ported extensor is one way to present a linearly representable ported matroid or oriented matroid. There are extensor operations corresponding to oriented matroid dualization, and to deletions and contractions. We define a ported extensor function by means of dualization, port element renaming, exterior multiplication, and then contraction of all non-port elements. The main result is that this function satisfies a sign-corrected variant of the Tutte equations in which deletion and contraction are extensor operations, and addition and the anticommutative multiplication belong to an exterior algebra rather than to a commutative ring. For extensors representing unimodular, i.e., regular matroids with an empty port set, our function reduces to the basis generating function; and then, for graphs, to the Laplacian (or Kirchhoff) determinant. On graphs with port edges, the function value, as an extensor, signifies the space of solutions to Kirchhoff’s and Ohm’s electricity equations after projection to the voltage and current variables associated to the ports. In particular, the Laplacian matrix with the identity matrix appended presents one example of our extensor function’s value. Combinatorial interpretation of various determinants (the Plücker coordinates) generalize the matrix tree theorem and forest enumeration expressions for electrical resistance. We also demonstrate how the corank-nullity polynomial, basis expansions with activities, and a geometric lattice expansion generalize to ported Tutte functions of oriented matroids. The ported Tutte functions are parametrized, which raises the problem of how to generalize known characterizations of parametrized non-ported Tutte functions.
Specular Planar Target Surface Recovery via Coded Target Stereopsis

A key challenge facing computer vision systems is the presence of highly specular surfaces. Such surfaces present a challenge to conventional vision systems due to their reflective nature, which can mask the true structure of the surface and lead to incorrect measurements when traditional computer vision algorithms are used. Here we present a novel approach to reconstructing the local surface structure of highly specular, planar objects. The local surface structure of an object is obtained by utilizing the specular nature of the surface directly, rather than by making the common assumption that specularities are rare or do not exist. The basis of the technique presented here is to project controlled light patterns onto the object’s surface and to infer local surface structure by examining the interaction of the illuminant and the surface. The approach can be used to recover both specular and diffuse surface regions. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach.
Microstrip Patch Antenna with Defected Ground Structure for Bandwidth Enhancement

In this paper, a new Defected Ground Structure (DGS) consisting of I-shape slot in ground has been presented to enhance the bandwidth of the Microstrip Patch Antenna (MPA). The parameters such as Bandwidth, Return loss and VSWR are much improved in proposed antenna than simple MPA without defected ground structure. Finite Element Machine (FEM) based High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) software Version-13.0 is used to obtain the performance parameters of the proposed antenna. A comparison is also shown for the proposed antenna with the antenna structure without defect. The proposed antenna resonates in C-band at frequency of 6.0718 GHz with bandwidth of 132.3 MHz. A very good return loss of -46.75 dB is obtained for I-Shaped Defected Ground Structure (DGS). Also I-shaped DGS in the ground plane found to give a size reduction of about 5%. General Terms Bandwidth (B.W.), Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR), return loss (S11), gain and directivity.
Optimised inductively coupled reader antennas for smart HF RFID systems

The Internet of things (IoT) refers to uniquely identifiable objects and their virtual representations in an Internet-like structure to be managed and inventoried by computers. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) - a prerequisite for the IoT - is an automatic way for data transaction in object identification and is used to improve automation, inventory control and checkout operations. An RFID system consists of a reader device and one or several tags. Smart reader systems are building blocks for cutting edge applications of RFID and as a subdivision of these systems, RFID smart shelf solutions are started to be implemented for large-scale item-level management where characteristics of reader antennas are critical issue. This work focuses on designing optimised reader antennas for high frequency (HF) RFID smart shelf systems which operate based on inductive coupling between the tag and the reader antennas and have good performance in crowded environments. Firstly, an approach is presented to increase band-width of HF RFID reader antennas to improve the reception of sub-carrier frequencies. A fabricated enhanced band-width antenna at 13.56 MHz is evaluated for its capability in being used for smart shelf applications. The obtained band-width supports sub-carrier frequencies for all the HF RFID standards to be detected easier and thus leads to increased identification range. It is shown the HF RFID technology is capable of identifying the distance of tagged books based on the received magnetic field intensity. Secondly, multi turn small self resonant coil (MT SSRC) antennas are introduced and analysed as a new model of inductively coupled reader antennas. Based on the analysis, two turn planar SSRC (TTP SSRC) antennas having similar dimension with the current HF RFID reader antennas are investigated. Fabricated TTP SSRC antenna operating at 13.56 MHz is resulted to optimised Q factor and more uniform near field pattern in comparison with the similar antennas. Also, a number of TTP SSRC antennas operating at a distinct frequency, 13.56MHz, are fabricated on different substrates and it is shown the desired Q factor and antenna dimension can be obtained based on the dielectric characteristics of the substrate.
Security Vulnerabilities: From Analysis to Detection and Masking Techniques

This paper presents a study that uses extensive analysis of real security vulnerabilities to drive the development of: 1) runtime techniques for detection/masking of security attacks and 2) formal source code analysis methods to enable identification and removal of potential security vulnerabilities. A finite-state machine (FSM) approach is employed to decompose programs into multiple elementary activities, making it possible to extract simple predicates to be ensured for security. The FSM analysis pinpoints common characteristics among a broad range of security vulnerabilities: predictable memory layout, unprotected control data, and pointer taintedness. We propose memory layout randomization and control data randomization to mask the vulnerabilities at runtime. We also propose a static analysis approach to detect potential security vulnerabilities using the notion of pointer taintedness.
Affine image region detection and description

This paper describes a novel approach for affine invariant region detection and description. At the detection stage, a hierarchical clustering mechanism is employed to group image pixels into regions. This process is based on the Bounded Irregular Pyramid (BIP) and takes into account a colour contrast measure, internal region descriptors and attributes of their shared boundaries. High-contrasted regions are selected as salient regions. On the other hand, geometrically and photometrically normalized regions are represented by a kernel-based descriptor. The lenght descriptor is reduced by applying Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The protocol proposed by Mikolajczyk et al. has been conducted to compare the proposed approach with other similar methods. Experimental results prove that the performance of our proposal is high in terms of computational consuming and distinguished region detection and description abilities.
Fast and Distributed Computation of Schedules in Wireless Networks

In a wireless network with node exclusive spectrum sharing, two popular schedules are maximum weight matching (MWM) schedule and maximum size matching (MSM) schedule. The former has been proved to be throughput optimal and has superior delay properties, and the latter schedules as many links, with packets to transmit, as possible. However, it is challenging to design algorithms for computing these schedules that (i) are distributed, (i.e., only local message exchanges between neighboring nodes are permitted) (ii) have low running times (iii) exchanges a small number of messages. In this paper, we develop algorithms that satisfy these properties and also provide good approximations to MWM and MSM schedules. We also note that constant approximation to MWM leads to improved delay properties. We refer to a round as a length of time over which every node in the network can make at most one message-transmission attempt. We propose distributed algorithms for computing (i) 1/2 - epsi e approximation to MWM schedule in O(log(1/epsi) log2 n) rounds, and (ii) 2/3 - epsi approximation to MSM schedule in O((1/epsi) log2 n) rounds, where n is the network size. Simulation results with a popular model for wireless ad-hoc networks demonstrate that (i) our algorithms perform within 85% - 95% of the optimal in many scenarios, and (ii) the time-complexity of the algorithms can be reduced considerably in practice. The number of message transmissions for both our algorithms scale as O(n log2 n). In summary, ours is the first work to (i) provide half (two-third) approximate distribute algorithms for computing MWM (MSM) schedule with logarithmic time- complexity and quasi-linear message exchanges (ii) demonstrate that the algorithms are close to optimal for realistic topologies.
Believe it or not: Factors influencing credibility on the Web

This article reviews selected literature related to the credibility of information, including (1) the general markers of credibility, and how different source, message and receiver characteristics affect people's perceptions of information; (2) the impact of information medium on the assessment of credibility; and (3) the assessment of credibility in the context of information presented on the Internet. The objective of the literature review is to synthesize the current state of knowledge in this area, develop new ways to think about how people interact with information presented via the Internet, and suggest next steps for research and practical applications. The review examines empirical evidence, key reviews, and descriptive material related to credibility in general, and in terms of on-line media. A general discussion of credibility and persuasion and a description of recent work on the credibility and persuasiveness of computer-based applications is presented. Finally, the article synthesizes what we have learned from various fields, and proposes a model as a framework for much-needed future research in this area.
EEG signal and video analysis based depression indication

Depression is a common phenomenon in the present scenario. Due to the fast pace at which our lives move and immense pressure that we face adolescents, office goers and even the elders face depression. Diagnosing depression in the early curable stages is very important and may even save the life of a patient. EEG signal analysis has been used for medical research like epilepsy, sleep disorder, insomnia etc. Similarly, video signal analysis has been used for facial features detection, eye movement, emotion recognition etc. Collaborating both the methods accuracy of depression detection can be improved upon. This paper describes a novel method for combining both EEG signal analysis and facial emotion recognition through video analysis to successfully categorize depression into various levels. For this aim, power spectrum of three frequency bands (alpha, beta, and theta) and the whole bands of EEG are used as features along with standard deviation, mean and entropy.
A design of window shapes and weights in weighted median filters for texture images

In this paper, we propose a new design method for window shapes and weights of weighted median filters. This technique is applied to texture images corrupted by impulse noise. To improve mean square errors (MSE), the window shapes and weights are estimated by using the simulated annealing method, respectively. From simulation examples, the proposed method gives better results compared to the ordinary weighted median filters.
Constraining galactic models through parallax and astrometry of microlensing events

Various models for the Galactic distribution of massive compact halo objects (MACHOs) have been proposed for the interpretation of microlensing toward the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). A direct way to fit the best model is by measuring the lens parameters, which can be obtained by measuring the Einstein crossing time and the parallax effect on the microlensing light curve and by astrometry of centroids of images. In this work, the theoretical distribution of these parameters is obtained for the various power-law Galactic dark halo models and MACHO mass functions (MF). For self-lensing as one of the models for the interpretation of LMC events, the maximum shift of image centroids and the parallax parameter are one order of magnitude smaller than for models with dark halos. This can be used as a test for self-lensing, although the shift of image centroids 0.02 mas for the LMC events is unlikely to be observed by the astrometric missions such as FAME, GAIA and SIM.
Low Power Hierarchical Multiplier and Carry Look-Ahead Architecture

This paper proposes a novel 8x8 multiplier architecture based on Wallace Tree, efficient in terms of power and regularity without significant increase in delay and area. The idea involves the generation of partial products in parallel using AND gates. The addition of these partial products is done using Wallace Tree which is hierarchically divided into levels. There will be a significant reduction in the power consumption, since power is provided only to the level that is involved in computation and thereby rendering the remaining two levels switched off (by employing a control circuitry). Furthermore, to improve the speed of addition at the 3rd level of computation, a novel carry look-ahead adder (CLA) is also proposed which is better than the recently proposed CLA architecture when compared its efficiency in terms of area/speed. The efficiency of the proposed multiplier is also tested by embedding it in higher width partition multipliers.
Electrocardiogram (ECG) Biometric Authentication Using Pulse Active Ratio (PAR)

Biometric authentication is a one-to-one verification process. A successful biometric system must be capable of avoiding a fraudulent claim while at the same time ensuring the privacy of individuals. This paper presents a novel framework for using the electrocardiogram (ECG) as a biometric system for human authentication. A new feature extraction technique known as pulse active ratio (PAR) is derived and used to generate novel ECG feature vectors. The proposed method is validated by experiments on 112 subjects, performing 9800 ECG comparisons providing a 10% improvement when compared to conventional temporal and amplitude feature extraction methods.
Invited Review Series: Air Pollution and Lung Health Air Pollution and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseaser Esp_2112 395..401

Limited data suggest that outdoor air pollution (such as ambient air pollution or traffic-related air pollution) and indoor air pollution (such as secondhand smoking and biomass fuel combustion exposure) are associated with the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but there is insufficient evidence to prove a causal relationship at this stage. It also appears that outdoor air pollution is a significant environmental trigger for acute exacerbation of COPD, leading to increasing symptoms, emergency department visits, hospital admissions and even mortality. Improving ambient air pollution and decreasing indoor biomass combustion exposure by improving home ventilation are effective measures that may substantially improve the health of the general public.
A Quality Based Approach for the Analysis and Design of Information Systems

Information Systems (IS) require high cost for their maintenance activities. The relative cost for maintaining software and managing its evolution represents more than 90% of the total project cost [1]. The underlying assumption for this PhD work is that the earlier we can measure the quality of future software, the more we can improve it by being able to correct errors at the specifications level and the less will be the cost of these corrections. We propose to measure software quality using conceptual representations of the information system for both static and dynamic aspects.
FAQchat as in Information Retrieval system

A chatbot is a conversational agent that interacts with users through natural languages. In this paper, we describe a new way to access information using a chatbot. The FAQ in the School of Computing at the University of Leeds has been used to retrain the ALICE chatbot system, producing FAQchat. The results returned from FAQchat are similar to ones generated by search engines such as Google. For evaluation, a comparison was made between FAQchat and Google. The main objective is to demonstrate that FAQchat is a viable alternative to Google and it can be used as a tool to access FAQ databases.
IOA: Improving SVM Based Sentiment Classification Through Post Processing

This paper describes our systems for expression-level and message-level sentiment analysis ‐ two subtasks of SemEval-2015 Task 10 on sentiment analysis in Twitter. First we built two baseline systems for the two subtasks using SVM with a variety of features. Then we improved the systems through model iteration and probability-output weighting respectively. Our submissions are ranked the 3rd and 2nd among eleven teams on the 2015 test set and progress test set in subtask A and the 7th and 4th among 40 teams on the two test sets respectively in subtask B.
Emergence of diverse behaviors from interactions between nonlinear oscillator complex networks and a musculoskeletal system

To understand the relationship between brain structure and behavior in the general movements of fetuses and infants from a complex systems perspective, we investigated how behaviors emerge from interactions between complex networks of nonlinear oscillators and musculoskeletal bodies. We prepared a snake-like robot and some network structures in a physical simulator. The various conditions imposed on the networks were (a) no connection among oscillators, (b) scalefree network, (c) one-dimensional lattice, (d) small-world network, and (e) random network. In the experiments, the robot exhibited multiple crawling and bending behaviors. By estimating the numbers of behavioral attractors, we revealed a qualitative difference between the scale-free network and other complex networks.
In vitro and in vivo inhibition of rabies virus replication by RNA interference

Rabies is a zoonotic disease that affects all mammals and leads to more than 55,000 human deaths every year, caused by rabies virus (RABV) (Mononegavirales: Rhabdoviridae: Lyssavirus). Currently, human rabies treatment is based on the Milwaukee Protocol which consists on the induction of coma and massive antiviral therapy. The aim of this study was to assess the decrease in the titer of rabies virus both in vitro and in vivo using short-interfering RNAs. To this end, three siRNAs were used with antisense strands complementary to rabies virus nucleoprotein (N) mRNA. BHK-21 cells monolayers were infected with 1000 to 0.1 TCID50 of PV and after 2 hours the cells were transfected with each of tree RNAs in separate using Lipofectamine-2000. All three siRNAs reduced the titer of PV strain in a least 0.72 logTCID50/mL and no cytotoxic effect was observed in the monolayers treated with Lipofectamine-2000. Swiss albino mice infected with 10.000 to 1 LD of PV strain by the intracerebral route were also transfected after two hours of infection with a pool 3 siRNAs with Lipofectamine-2000 by the intracerebral route, resulting in a survival rate of 30% in mice inoculated with 100 LD50, while the same dose led to 100% mortality in untreated animals. Lipofectamine-2000 showed no toxic effect in control mice. These results suggest that intracerebral administration of siRNAs might be an effective antiviral strategy for rabies.
Distributed File Replication System based on FreePastry DHT

Peer-to-peer networks provide a framework appropriate for building various distributed applications. One of such applications is a distributed file replication system. File replication ensures data availability in face of system component failures. In this paper, a distributed file replication system based on a distributed hash table, implemented as part of the course project, is described. The system supports basic operations provided by the traditional file systems. The protocols used for data replication and consistency are analyzed, and the implementation details are discussed. The methodology used to test the system performance is described, and the measurement results are presented and discussed.
Optimization of Volterra models with asymmetrical kernels based on generalized orthonormal functions

An improved approach to determine exact search directions for the optimization of Volterra models based on Generalized Orthonormal Bases of Functions (GOBF) is proposed. The proposed approach extends the work in [7], where a novel, exact technique for optimizing the GOBF parameters (poles) for Volterra models of any order was presented. The proposed extensions take place in two different ways: (i) the formulation here is derived in such a way that each multidimensional kernel of the model is decomposed into a set of independent orthonormal bases (rather than a single, common basis), each of which is parameterized by an individual set of poles intended for representing the dominant dynamic of the kernel along a particular dimension; and (ii) a novel, more computationally efficient method to analytically and recursively calculate the search directions (gradients) for the bases poles is derived. A simulated example is presented to illustrate the performance of the proposed approach. A comparison between the proposed method, which uses asymmetric kernels with multiple orthonormal bases, and the original method, which uses symmetric kernels with a single basis, is presented.