Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Tri-Phase Multimodal Evolutionary Search Performance Profile on the 'Hierarchical If and Only If' Problem

Previous work by the authors has explored performance profiles of simple evolutionary algorithms over a range of problems. These studies have revealed a consistent bimodal feature, where the optimal mutation rate occurs at the trough between two peaks in convergence time. However, careful examination revealed anomalies suggesting higher modality features in the performance profile under certain conditions. Here we report on a detailed examination of the performance profile of Watson et al's H-IFF problem, aimed at further exploring and understanding this multimodal performance profile. We find that the series of troughs correspond to a series of mutation rates which each seem tuned towards increasingly better suboptima. Further, by examining the curves of mean fitness, convergence time, and the variance of convergence time, we can identify a three-phase nature to the profile; i.e.: search behaviour cycles through three distinct phases, which repeat in synchronisation with peaks and troughs. These findings seem important in relation to the need for robust and reliable parameter tuning.
Sneak paths effects in CBRAM memristive devices arrays for spiking neural networks

In this paper, we study the effects of sneak paths and parasitic metal line resistance in arrays of CBRAM memristive devices operating as synapses for spiking neural networks. Three structures of crosspoint array are reviewed: the crossbar (1R), the anode connected matrix (1T-IR) and the cathode connected matrix (1T-IR). We show that the crossbar is an energy-consuming structure with high leakage during SET/RESET and with an increased switching time due to voltage drops along the lines. Furthermore, we show that parasitic line resistance can have a significant impact on the read resistance of the devices, depending on their location in the crossbar.
Robot reliability through fuzzy Markov models

In the past few years, new applications of robots have increased the importance of robotic reliability and fault tolerance. Standard approaches of reliability engineering rely on the probability model, which is often inappropriate for this task due to a lack of sufficient probabilistic information during the design and prototyping phases. Fuzzy logic offers an alternative to the probability paradigm, possibility, that is much more appropriate to reliability in the robotic context. Fuzzy Markov modeling, the technique developed in this paper, is a technique for analyzing fault tolerant designs under considerable uncertainty, such as is seen in compilations of component failure rates. It is sufficiently detailed to provide useful information while maintaining the fuzziness (uncertainty) inherent in the situation. It works well in conjunction with fuzzy fault trees, a well-established fuzzy reliability tool. Perhaps most importantly, it builds directly on existing reliability techniques, making it easy to add to reliability toolboxes.
Reconstruction of compressively sensed color images using modified reduced runtime recovery algorithm (MR3A)

Compression of data, which reduces storage space, bandwidth, complexity etc., has become mandatory for transmission of the same over wireless networks. Beyond traditional compression techniques, the last decade has seen immense development in the field of compressed sensing which projects the captured data to a lower dimensional space. These diminished values are sent to the receiver where special reconstruction procedures recover the original signal. The recovery is carried out so far iteratively, by solving the least squares problem, which results in increased complexity and time consumption. In order to address the above mentioned tradeoffs, non-iterative recovery algorithms have come into existence. This paper proposes one such non-iterative recovery algorithm, the modified reduced runtime recovery algorithm (MR3A) for color images, which efficiently recovers the color components with least number of measurements, giving a peak to signal noise ratio of above 30 dB, while maintaining less elapsed time and complexity. MR3A gives an accuracy of approximately 97% and structural similarity of 93% which proves its perfection in retrieving colors from compressively sensed color image data.
Investigating Cooperative Behavior in Ecological Settings: An EEG Hyperscanning Study

The coordinated interactions between individuals are fundamental for the success of the activities in some professional categories. We reported on brain-to-brain cooperative interactions between civil pilots during a simulated flight. We demonstrated for the first time how the combination of neuroelectrical hyperscanning and intersubject connectivity could provide indicators sensitive to the humans’ degree of synchronization under a highly demanding task performed in an ecological environment. Our results showed how intersubject connectivity was able to i) characterize the degree of cooperation between pilots in different phases of the flight, and ii) to highlight the role of specific brain macro areas in cooperative behavior. During the most cooperative flight phases pilots showed, in fact, dense patterns of interbrain connectivity, mainly linking frontal and parietal brain areas. On the contrary, the amount of interbrain connections went close to zero in the non-cooperative phase. The reliability of the interbrain connectivity patterns was verified by means of a baseline condition represented by formal couples, i.e. pilots paired offline for the connectivity analysis but not simultaneously recorded during the flight. Interbrain density was, in fact, significantly higher in real couples with respect to formal couples in the cooperative flight phases. All the achieved results demonstrated how the description of brain networks at the basis of cooperation could effectively benefit from a hyperscanning approach. Interbrain connectivity was, in fact, more informative in the investigation of cooperative behavior with respect to established EEG signal processing methodologies applied at a single subject level.
Detection of Helicobacter felis in a cat with gastric disease in laboratory animal facility

A 3-month-old male cat in the animal facility was presented for investigation of anorexia and occasional vomiting. We collected the specimens from gastroscopic biopsy and stool collection. The gastroscopic biopsy specimens were tested using a rapid urease test, CLO Helicobacter-detection kits. Stool specimens were gathered and evaluated using the commercially available SD Bioline H. pylori Ag kit according to the manufacturer's instructions. Genomic DNAs from gastroscopic biopsy and stool specimens of the cat were extracted and submitted to the consensus PCR to amplify Helicobacter rpoB gene. Then the DNAs from gastroscopic biopsy and stool specimens were conducted a multiplex species-specific PCR to amplify urease B gene for H. heilmannii, H. pylori and H. felis. As the results, the rapid urease test with gastroscopic biopsy was revealed positive reaction. The result of H. pylori Stool Ag assay was one red line, negative for H. pylori. The gastroscopic biopsy and stool specimen were positive reactions by the consensus PCR reaction using the RNA polymerase beta-subunit-coding gene (rpoB) to detect Helicobacter species. By multiplex species-specific PCR with gastroscopic biopsy and stool specimens, no amplification products corresponding to either H. heilmannii or H. pylori were detected, but the specimens tested were positive for H. felis. This case was confirmed as gastroenteric disease induced by H. felis infection. On our knowledge, this is a very rare report about H. felis-induced gastroenteric disease in cat and may provide a valuable data on the study of feline Helicobacter infection.
Selective inhibition of intra-alveolar p55 TNF receptor attenuates ventilator-induced lung injury

Background Tumour necrosis factor (TNF) is upregulated in the alveolar space early in the course of ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI). Studies in genetically modified mice indicate that the two TNF receptors play opposing roles during injurious high-stretch mechanical ventilation, with p55 promoting but p75 preventing pulmonary oedema. Aim To investigate the effects of selective inhibition of intra-alveolar p55 TNF receptor on pulmonary oedema and inflammation during ventilator-induced lung injury using a newly developed domain antibody. Methods Anaesthetised mice were ventilated with high tidal volume and given an intratracheal bolus of p55-specific domain antibody or anti-TNF monoclonal antibody (‘pure’ VILI model). As a model of enhanced inflammation, a subclinical dose of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was included in the intratracheal antibody bolus (LPS+VILI model). Development of lung injury was assessed by respiratory mechanics and blood gases and protein levels in lavage fluid. Flow cytometry was used to determine leucocyte recruitment and alveolar macrophage activation, while lavage fluid cytokines were assessed by ELISA. Results The ventilation protocol produced deteriorations in respiratory mechanics and gas exchange with increased lavage fluid protein levels in the two models. The p55-specific domain antibody substantially attenuated all of these changes in the ‘pure’ VILI model, while anti-TNF antibody was ineffective. In the LPS+VILI model, p55 blockade prevented deteriorations in respiratory mechanics and oxygenation and significantly decreased neutrophil recruitment, expression of intercellular adhesion molecule 1 on alveolar macrophages, and interleukin 6 and monocyte chemotactic protein 1 levels in lavage fluid. Conclusions Selective inhibition of intra-alveolar p55 TNF receptor signalling by domain antibodies may open new therapeutic approaches for ventilated patients with acute lung injury.
Determining the Factors Influencing Enterprise Social Software Usage: Development of a Measurement Instrument for Empirical Assessment

With social software's rapid advancement in the private realm, corporations aim to adopt its technologies and to transfer social software benefits, such as enhanced collaboration and knowledge sharing, to their organizations. However, enterprise social software platforms (ESSPs) often lack substantial attention. While some research into users' motives to adopt social software in the private realm exists, the body of empirical studies on ESSP adoption is rather limited. Our research objective therefore is to contribute to closing this gap in research by determining the factors influencing employees' ESSP usage. Building on previous research, we present an ESSP adoption model. We then propose an according measurement instrument for empirically assessing the factors influencing ESSP usage. A card sorting and item ranking approach is conducted in order to preliminarily validate the measurement instrument. We eventually suggest methods of classical test theory for the further validation of the measurement instrument and the assessment of the ESSP adoption model.
Bidirectional equalizer arbitrated by Viterbi decoder path metrics

A bidirectional decision feedback equalizer (DFE) is proposed with the arbitration of the Viterbi decoder. The proposed DFE uses the minimum path metric between Viterbi decoders for the forward and reverse DFEs in the arbitration process. It has over 2 dB SNR gain against the conventional bidirectional DFE and the single DFE.
More than envy-free

Researchers have developed procedures for dividing up goods between self-interested agents such that the allocation is envy-free (Brams and Taylor, 1996). An allocation is envy-free when every agent believes that its share is not less than anyone else's share. These procedures are not efficient (in the sense of Pareto optimality) in general. Envy-free procedures allow agents to ignore the utility metrics of other agents if they are satisfied with a fair share of the goods being divided. From a multiagent systems research perspective, however, we are interested in studying augmentations of these procedures in which agents use models of the decision strategies or utility metrics of other agents to try to obtain more than their fair share. For example, it may be possible to improve the allocation to the modeling agent without decreasing the utility of another agent if they trade things that one considers useless but is of value to the other agent. In particular, we are investigating the problem of dividing up a continuously divisible good among two agents. We assume that one agent has a model of the utility function of the other agent. We have adapted an envy-free division scheme for the two-agent problem to obtain a procedure by which the modeling agent can get more than its fair share of the allocation. The procedure also has the desired property of envy-freeness.
An architecture for persistent reactive behavior

In this paper we describe ICARUS, an integrated architecture for intelligent physical agents. The framework supports long-term memories for hierarchical concepts and skills, along with mechanisms for recognizing concepts that hold in the environment, determining which skills are applicable, and selecting for execution the skill with the highest expected value. We illustrate these processes with examples from the domain of in-city driving, and we report experimental studies on a package-delivery task that examine ICARUS' ability to combine reactive behavior with persistence over time. We conclude with a discussion of related work on agent architectures and our plans for extending the system.
RELATIONS BETWEEN PIGMENT CONTENT AND PHOTOSYNTHETIC CHARACTERISTICS IN A BLUE-GREEN ALGA

1. The blue-green alga Anacystis nidulans was cultured under steady state conditions at 25 and 39°C. and under several different light intensities to give five different types of cells. 2. Cells were submitted to pigment analysis based upon acetone extracts and aqueous extracts obtained by sonic disintegration. The different cell types show a threefold range of chlorophyll content and a fourfold range of phycocyanin content with only minor changes in the chlorophyll/phycocyanin ratio. Cells of highest pigment content were estimated to contain 2.8 per cent chlorophyll a and 24 per cent phycocyanin, the latter on a total chromoproteid basis. 3. Light intensity curves of photosynthesis were obtained for each of the cell types at 25 and at 39°C. The slopes of the light-limited regions of the curves are approximately linear functions of chlorophyll and phycocyanin contents. Maximum light-saturated rates of photosynthesis at 25 and 39° show no simple relation to pigment content.
Base Station Localization in Search of Empty Spectrum Spaces in Cognitive Radio Networks

The radio spectrum in wireless communication systems is being allocated up quickly with ever increasing demands in wireless industries. Cognitive radio is a way of opportunistically sharing the scare spectrum among primary and secondary users of the spectrum. The key challenge in deploying cognitive radio networks is to find out the spectrum holes in the primary wireless systems in order to allow the secondary users to operate. In this paper, we present novel localization algorithms based on grid-search and EM (expectation maximization) methods under the GMM (Gaussian mixture model) to find out the positions of the base stations and identify the spatial spectrum holes for cognitive radio deployments. Under this approach, we model the problem as localizing multiple unknown radio sources using a mobile measurement station, which is different from the problem modeling of many previous localization solutions. We evaluate our localization algorithms using both simulations and experiments.
Slice thickness measurements.

A new slice thickness test object is discussed, with results of feasibility tests using 13 transducers from six different commercial scanners presented. Both inplane beamwidth and slice thickness measurements could be easily performed and interpreted. For proper equipment gain settings the slice thickness measurement results were found to be independent of receiver gain with a tissue‐mimicking (TM) fill in the test object. This is explained by a simple model in which test object low‐amplitude internal fill echoes effectively act as an invariant measurement reference level with respect to the slice thickness profile echoes. This model also predicts that in clinical images the inplane lateral resolution (and slice thickness) will be governed by the local image contrast between adjacent tissues as well as the beam profile. Slice thickness measurement results from various types of real‐time transducers demonstrate their inherent slice thickness focal characteristics.
Small-World Social Relationship Awareness in Unstructured Peer-to-Peer Networks

Unstructured peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing networks are popular in the mass market. As the peers participating in unstructured networks interconnect randomly, they rely on flooding query messages to discover objects of interest. Empirical measurement studies indicate that the peers in P2P networks have similar preferences, and recently proposed unstructured P2P networks intend to organize the participating peers in a small-world (SW) fashion by exploiting the knowledge of contents stored in peers. As existing algorithms for constructing SW-based unstructured P2P networks may not precisely reveal the object sharing patterns, the resultant networks thus may not perform searches efficiently and effectively by exploiting the common interests among peers. In this paper, we suggest a novel P2P network formation algorithm to construct SW-based unstructured networks. We validate our proposal in simulations with an empirical data set, and the simulation results prove that our proposal greatly outperforms existing algorithms in terms of search efficiency and effectiveness.
In-Hospital Medical Complications and Long-Term Mortality After Ischemic Stroke

Background and Purpose— Inhospital medical complications account for a considerable portion of deaths during the early stage of stroke. However, relatively few studies have examined their long-term effects on mortality in stroke patients. Methods— We prospectively and consecutively collected data on 579 patients with acute ischemic stroke from November 1998 to February 2001. Mortality was confirmed using national death certificate data from 1999 to 2003. Results— During admission, one or more medical complications requiring intervention developed in 160 of these 579 patients (27.6%). For these 160 subjects, the 30-day, 90-day, 1-year, 2-year, 3-year, and 4-year mortalities were 16.3, 29.4, 46.9, 55.6, 61.3, and 70.7%, whereas the mortality figures for those without such complications (n=419) were 1.4, 3.8, 8.8, 15.0, 19.1, and 22.4 (P<0.001 with log-rank test). To eliminate the short-term effects of these complications and thus reveal their long-term effects, we investigated differences in mortality versus the presence of inhospital complications at more than 30 days, 90 days, 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years after stroke, respectively. Cox's proportional hazard regression analysis was applied at these times after stroke and showed that all hazard ratios of medical complications in terms of mortality were statistically larger than one, regardless of adjusting for effects of potential predictors on mortality. Conclusions— Our study shows that stroke patient mortality is influenced by inhospital medical complications significantly up to the chronic stage. This finding suggests that the appropriate prevention and management of inhospital complications could improve short-term and long-term prognoses after stroke.
Cloud adoption: prioritizing obstacles and obstacles resolution tactics using AHP

The enormous potential of cloud computing for improved and cost-effective service has generated unprecedented interest in its adoption. However, a potential cloud user faces numerous risks regarding service requirements, cost implications of failure and uncertainty about cloud providers' ability to meet service level agreements. These risks hinder the adoption of cloud. We extend the work on goal-oriented requirements engineering (GORE) and obstacles for informing the adoption process. We argue that obstacles prioritisation and their resolution is core to mitigating risks in the adoption process. We propose a novel systematic method for prioritising obstacles and their resolution tactics using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). We provide an example to demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the approach. To assess the AHP choice of the resolution tactics we support the method by stability and sensitivity analysis.
Reality Bites—or Does It?

Experiences of social threat (e.g., peer rejection, negative peer feedback) are commonplace in late childhood (Asher, Rose, & Gabriel, 2001). Although many children experience profound emotional distress after being socially threatened, others experience little distress (Reijntjes, Stegge, Meerum Terwogt, Kamphuis, & Telch, 2006). Theorists have emphasized the crucial role of self-views in explaining different responses to social threat. They disagree, however, about which kinds of selfviews are adaptive and maladaptive. Positive illusion theory holds that unrealistically positive, inflated self-views promote emotional resilience (Taylor & Armor, 1996; Taylor & Brown, 1988). According to this perspective, inflated self-views function as a psychological resource to buffer the negative emotional impact of threatening events. In contrast, reality-based theories hold that distorted self-views (inflated and deflated) have detrimental emotional consequences, and that realistic self-views are emotionally healthy (Jahoda, 1958; Kernis, 2003). According to these theories, realistic self-views allow children to form secure social relationships and ultimately create resilience to threatening events. The work described here pits these two theoretical perspectives against each other. We examined how children’s distorted selfviews influence their negative mood after experimentally manipulated threatening and nonthreatening social feedback. Because late childhood is a time of great concern about interpersonal acceptance, we studied 9to 12-year-old children. Positive illusion theory predicts a linear negative relationship between (positively) distorted self-views and threat-induced negative mood. Realitybased theories predict a U-shaped relationship, such that threatinduced negative mood is highest for individuals with the most inflated and the most deflated self-views.
Towards Reliable Storage of 56-bit Secrets in Human Memory

Challenging the conventional wisdom that users cannot remember cryptographically-strong secrets, we test the hypothesis that users can learn randomly-assigned 56- bit codes (encoded as either 6 words or 12 characters) through spaced repetition. We asked remote research participants to perform a distractor task that required logging into a website 90 times, over up to two weeks, with a password of their choosing. After they entered their chosen password correctly we displayed a short code (4 letters or 2 words, 18.8 bits) that we required them to type. For subsequent logins we added an increasing delay prior to displaying the code, which participants could avoid by typing the code from memory. As participants learned, we added two more codes to comprise a 56.4- bit secret. Overall, 94% of participants eventually typed their entire secret from memory, learning it after a median of 36 logins. The learning component of our system added a median delay of just 6.9 s per login and a total of less than 12 minutes over an average of ten days. 88% were able to recall their codes exactly when asked at least three days later, with only 21% reporting having written their secret down. As one participant wrote with surprise, "the words are branded into my brain. "