Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Typestate-Guided Fuzzer for Discovering Use-after-Free Vulnerabilities

Existing coverage-based fuzzers usually use the individual control flow graph (CFG) edge coverage to guide the fuzzing process, which has shown great potential in finding vulnerabilities. However, CFG edge coverage is not effective in discovering vulnerabilities such as use-after-free (UaF). This is because, to trigger UaF vulnerabilities, one needs not only to cover individual edges, but also to traverse some (long) sequence of edges in a particular order, which is challenging for existing fuzzers. To this end, we propose to model UaF vulnerabilities as typestate properties, and develop a typestate-guided fuzzer, named UAFL, for discovering vulnerabilities violating typestate properties. Given a typestate property, we first perform a static typestate analysis to find operation sequences potentially violating the property. Our fuzzing process is then guided by the operation sequences in order to progressively generate test cases triggering property violations. In addition, we also employ an information flow analysis to improve the efficiency of the fuzzing process. We have performed a thorough evaluation of UAFL on 14 widely-used real-world programs. The experiment results show that UAFL substantially outperforms the state-of-the-art fuzzers, including AFL, AFLFast, FairFuzz, MOpt, Angora and QSYM, in terms of the time taken to discover vulnerabilities. We have discovered 10 previously unknown vulnerabilities, and received 5 new CVEs.
Decision Tree Classifiers to Determine the Patient’s Post- Operative Recovery Decision

Machine Learning aims to generate classifying expressions simple enough to be understood easily by the human. There are many machine learning approaches available for classification. Among which decision tree learning is one of the most popular classification algorithms. In this paper we propose a systematic approach based on decision tree which is used to automatically determine the patient’s post–operative recovery status. Decision Tree structures are constructed, using data mining methods and then are used to classify discharge decisions.
Study of Efficient technique based on Entropic Threshold for edge detection in Bone Marrow Images

Thresholding is an important task in image processing. It is a main tool in pattern recognition, image segmentation, edge detection and scene analysis. In this paper, we present a new thresholding technique based on Tsallis and shannon entropy. The main advantages of the proposed method are its robustness and its flexibility. We present experimental results for this method, and compare results of the algorithm against several leading-edge detection methods, such as Canny and Sobel. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves better result than some classic methods and the quality of the edge detector of the output images is robust.
MARCINKIEWICZ–Θ–SUMMABILITY OF DOUBLE FOURIER SERIES

A general summability method of two-dimensional Fourier series is given with the help of an integrable function θ. Under some conditions on θ we show that if the maximal Marcinkiewicz-Fejér operator is bounded from a Banach space X to Y, then the maximal Marcinkiewiczθ-operator is also bounded. As special cases the trigonometric and WalshFourier series and the Fourier transforms are considered. It is proved that the maximal operator of the Marcinkiewicz-θ-means of these Fourier series is bounded from Hp to Lp (p0 < p ≤ ∞) and is of weak type (1,1), where p0 < 1 is depending only on the type of the Fourier series. As a consequence we obtain a generalization of a summability result due to Marcinkievicz and Zhizhiashvili, more exactly, the Marcinkiewicz-θ-means of a function f ∈ L1 converge a.e. to the function in question. Some special cases of the θ-summation are considered, such as the Weierstrass, Picar, Bessel, Riesz, de La Vallée-Poussin, Rogosinski and Riemann summations. The research was supported by the Hungarian Scientific Research Funds (OTKA) No. T043769. AMS Subject classification: Primary 42B08, 42A24, 42C10; Secondary 42B30, 42A38.
Characterising the structure of the shape tangent space for objects with complex symmetry

The method for analysing object symmetry (Mardia et al. 2000; Kent and Mardia 2001) has been developed for the studies of shape variation in structures tha t are bilaterally symmetric (e.g. human faces). Further work related object symmetry to the structure of the s ape tangent space which was decomposed into one subspace of symmetric shape variation and one subspace of asymmetric shape variation (Kolamunnage and Kent 2003; Kolamunnage and Kent 2005). For instance, principal component analysis (PCA) yields separate principal components (PCs) conta ini g either symmetric or asymmetric shape variation (Kolamunnage and Kent 2003).
Financial stability of the banking sector in European countries: A comparative analysis

The outburst of the financial crisis in 2008 raised a number of questions about financial stability and banking development, given that the crisis originated in advanced economies, where the financial sector had grown both very large and very complex. This study presents the results of research into ways of ensuring financial stability in the banking sectors in European and EU associated countries. The empirical analysis for EU member and associate countries is carried out for the period 2004-2014 and shows that significant heterogeneity in the member states’ descriptions of their banking sectors not only led to different levels of Z-score, but also to principally different factors influencing the stability of banking activities in EU countries and countries associated with the EU. Keywords: Banking sector, Financial stability, EU Integration. JEL: F15, F36, G21.
Investigation of Impact Damage in Composites with Infrared Thermography

This work is concerned with low-velocity impact of composi te materials which are mainly used for aerospace applications. Infrared thermography is used with a twofold f unction of surface temperature mapping when the specimen is being impacted and of non destructive evaluati on (NDE) technique. Several specimens were fabricated involving a polymeric matrix reinforced wit h carbon, or glass fibres and a fibre metal laminate (hybrid composite such as Glare®). Specimens were first non-dest ructively inspected with lock-in thermography to search for manufacturing defects, then impacted each at a different energy and again inspected with lock-in thermography. Impact tests were carried out with a modif ied Charpy pendulum including an impactor of hemispherical nose 24 mm in diameter. The impact energy was varied in the range 2-19 Joule by varying the height of the Charpy arm. The SC6000 infrared camera was us ed to view the specimen surface opposite to impact; thermal images were acquired at 96 Hz. The obtained results show that the impact on-line monitoring supplies useful information for the material characteriza tion. In particular, the analysis of the hot zones prov ides understanding of the damage origin and propagation.
Approximate Bayesian Binary and Ordinal Regression with Structured Uncertainty in the Inputs

We propose a novel approach to binary and ordinal prediction with structured uncertainty in the input variables. It is based on efficiently approximating the prediction model conditional on the inputs and then marginalizing the conditional model over the input space using Monte Carlo approximation. For efficiency, the well-known Laplace approximation is used for the binary case and we derive a similar approximation for the ordinal case. Empirical evaluation on sports data shows that the proposed approach substantially improves forecasting accuracy and highlights the severity of the problem of uncertainty in the input variables in sports.
Securing Image Transmission Using In- Compression Encryption Technique

Multimedia is one of the most popular data shared in the Web, and the protection of it via encryption techniques is of vast interest. In this paper, a secure and computationally feasible Algorithm called Optimized Multiple Huffman Tables (OMHT) technique is proposed. OMHT depends on using statistical-model-based compression method to generate different tables from the same data type of images or videos to be encrypted leading to increase compression efficiency and security of the used tables. A systematic study on how to strategically integrate different atomic operations to build a multimedia encryption system is presented. The resulting system can provide superior performance over other techniques by both its generic encryption and its simple adaptation to multimedia in terms of a joint consideration of security, and bitrate overhead. The effectiveness and robustness of this scheme is verified by measuring its security strength and comparing its computational cost against other techniques. The proposed technique guarantees security, and fastness without noticeable increase in encoded image size.
Inequality and Effort: An Experiment on Competition Between Teams

At least since Adam Smith, economists have recognized the beneficial effects of competition in markets. The possible positive influence of competition between teams on the free rider problem within teams is a more recent discovery. It is important because the free rider problem exists to some degree in most teams and because many outcomes in economic and social life depend on competition between teams. However, teams are rarely endowed equally and we do not know much about how such inequality affects the influence of competition on free riding. We address this question with an experiment. It is important not only because of the connections sketched above, but also because this is an overlooked aspect of how inequality impacts on society. We find that there is less free riding within teams when there is competition, that this is robust to moderate degrees of inequality but disappears when inequality is high. JEL classification codes C91, C92, D63, H41 Centre for Behavioural and Experimental Social Science University of East Anglia Norwich Research Park Norwich NR4 7TJ United Kingdom www.uea.ac.uk/ssf/cbess 1 INEQUALITY AND EFFORT: AN EXPERIMENT ON COMPETITION BETWEEN TEAMS* Shaun P. Hargreaves Heap (corresponding author) School of Economics and Centre for Behavioural and Experimental Social Science, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, U.K. s.hargreavesheap@uea.ac.uk, Ph: +44-1603-593422, Fax: +44-1603-456259. Abhijit Ramalingam School of Economics and Centre for Behavioural and Experimental Social Science, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, U.K. a.ramalingam@uea.ac.uk, Ph: +44-1603-597382, Fax: +44-1603-456259. Siddharth Ramalingam Cambridge Economic Policy Associates, Green Park, New Delhi 110016, India. siddharth.ramalingam@cepa.co.uk, Ph: +91-11-41012279, Fax: +44-2074054699. Brock V. Stoddard Department of Economics, Indiana University, 100 S. Woodlawn, Wylie Hall 105, Bloomington, IN 47405, U.S.A. brvstod@indiana.edu, Ph: +1-812-855-1021, Fax: +1-812-855-3736.
Spatialization Parameter Estimation in MDCT Domain for Stereo Audio

For representing multi-channel audio at low bit rate parametric coding techniques are used in many audio coding standards. An MDCT domain parametric stereo coding algorithm which represents the stereo channels as the linear combination of the ‘sum’ channel derived from the stereo channels and a reverberated channel generated from the ‘sum ’channel has been reported in literature. This model is inefficient in capturing the stereo image since only four parameters per sub-band is used as spatialization parameters. In this work we improve this MDCT domain parametric coder with an augmented parameter extraction scheme using an additional reverberated channel. We further modify the scheme by using orthogonalized de-correlated channels for analysis and synthesis of parametric stereo. A synthesis scheme with perceptually scaled parameter set is also introduced. Finally we present, subjective evaluation of the different parametric stereo schemes using MUSHRA test and the increased the perceptual audio quality of the synthesized signals are evident from these test results.
Physics/Dynamics Coupling at very high resolution: permitted versus parametrized convection

The resolution increases of the operational Integrated Forecast System (IFS) have been following the increase of performance of the super computers installed at ECMWF in the last 25 years. The next horizontal resolution upgrade of the global IFS is planned for 2015. The current spectral truncation T1279 which corresponds to a resolution of the reduced Gaussian grid of about 16 km will then be replaced by a T2047 and a Gaussian grid with a resolution of about 10 km around the globe. Such a resolution was, 20 years ago, accessible to operational limited area models (LAM) only. Operational LAM are now running with resolutions around 2 km or even higher; resolutions which were used by the research Cloud Resolving Models (CRM) 20 years ago (Weisman and Klemp, 1982, Guichard, 2004). In research mode, it is already possible to run global models with the resolution of the first CRM. Even if it still takes 20 years before we could run operationaly at such very high resolutions, global modelling is entering a new era where convective processes will step by step migrate from the world of parametrized processes to the world of 3D resolved circulations.
Assessing Service quality of Multiplex Theater using Assessing Service Gap Model

Service quality is making customers satisfied with the lowest possible cost. In order to design and deliver such a service with a good quality, every stake holder who is involved in the process of constructing the service has to understand the expectation of the customer and the feasibility of the service in order to deliver a quality service in an efficient manner. The gap model explains that service quality gap between the expectation and perception of the customer is the accumulation of all the other gaps in the internal function during the design, construction and delivery stage. This study is to understand the requirements of the customer during their visit to the multiplex theaters using SERVQUAL analysis in service quality gap model. In this case SERVQUAL scale is used to identify the gap between expectation and perception of the customers visiting multiplex theaters and in addition to that an extensive study of other quality gaps has been discussed. KeywordsService; Service Quality; SERVQUAL; Multiplex Theaters; Service Gap Model;
Use of Participatory Video in Enhancing Sorghum Production among Smallholder Sorghum Farmers’ in Rachuonyo North Sub-County, Kenya

Push-pull technology (PPT) is currently and widely promoted amongst smallholder farmers in western Kenya in order to enhance sorghum production. It effectively controls the most critical biotic constraints of stemborers and striga weed affecting cereal production in smallholder farming systems in Africa. Since it is a relatively knowledge intensive technology, accessing information about its efficacy is critical for maximum adoption and continued use. PPT has been disseminated through traditional extension methods which have not proven very successful. Although PPT has been successfully demonstrated to improve livelihoods and welfare of poor farmers, its adoption by, and impact on the majority of the farmers and other end users remains a challenge. This is majorly attributed to ineffective dissemination pathways. Participatory Video (PV) is being promoted as an alternative to such methods to enhance use of PPT to increase sorghum production. This study sought to determine the effectiveness of PV in sharing PPT knowledge to enhance sorghum production among smallholder sorghum farmers in Rachuonyo North. The study utilized a crosssectional survey research design to collect data from 120 randomly selected smallholder sorghum farmers who were trained through PV, using a semi-structured interview schedule. The data was analyzed using SPSS and presented using frequency tables, percentages, charts, graphs, averages, and Chi-square test. The results indicated that almost all PV trained farmers easily shared out information to fellow farmers. The results also indicated a statistically significant positive relationship between knowledge shared and knowledge use. The study recommends sustainable upscaling of effective participatory methods and approaches like PV for public extension to reach more farmers beyond the study area, and for other agricultural enterprises. This is significant for policy on dissemination and adoption of agricultural productivity enhancing technologies such as PPT.
The use of free-space microwave non-destructive techniques: simulation of damage detection in carbon fibre reinforced composites

Microwave non-destructive testing (MNDT) methods represent an effective solution in detecting defects within composite structures with relatively low electrical conductivity. They offer the advantage to overcome the problems of traditional NDT techniques such as coupling, danger coming from ionizing radiation, limited depth of operation, large wavelengths, time consuming post processing. Near-field microwave and millimetre non-invasive inspections have been successfully used for detecting defects such as disbond and delamination in complex structures. In dielectric materials, they can be used for dielectric properties characterization, degree of porosity evaluation, degree of ageing, anisotropy, dielectric mixture constituents determination, state of cure. When it comes to the analysis of carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRPs), the use of these non-destructive techniques is restricted by the composite relatively high conductivity of about 10 S/m. In this paper, the investigation of a free-space microwave method for non-destructive testing of unidirectional CFRPs has been carried out by means of a pair of standard gain horn antennas, covering a frequency range from 26.5 GHz to 40 GHz. With the simulations, experimental results related to the presence/severity of the analysed defects are linked to the variations of the measured scattering parameters Sij . The approach is based on the comparison between the electromagnetic signal reflected and transmitted through a healthy sheet material under test, when a radio frequency (RF) wave is incident on it, and the one reflected and transmitted by a damaged sheet. The eventual presence of the defect is revealed by measuring the mismatch between the two transmitted waveforms. The performance of this radio wave technique is investigated in relation to surface defects and also in relation to those types of defects that are less detectable with this method, such as delaminations, cavities and inclusions. The simulations make use of the finite integration technique (FIT) and the finite element method (FEM).
An Experimental Approach For Evaluating Superpixel's Consistency Over 2D Gaussian Blur and Impulse Noise Using Jaccard Similarity Coefficient

This article proposes a rigorous method to assess the consistency of superpixels for different superpixel segmentation algorithms. The proposed method extracts the superpixels that remain unchanged over certain levels of noise by adopting the Jaccard Similarity Coefficient (JSC). Technically, we developed a measure of Jaccard similarity for superpixel segmentation algorithms to compare the similarity between sets of superpixels (original and noisy). The algorithm calls the superpixel segmentation algorithm to generate the superpixel results of the original images and saves their boundary masks and labels. It then applies varying degrees of noise to the images and produces the superpixels results, and the process is repeated for four levels with increased noise value at each iteration. We chose 2D Gaussian Blur, Impulse Noise and a combination of both to corrupt the images. The proposed algorithm generates similarity indices of superpixels (original and noisy) using Jaccard Similarity (JS). To be categorized as a consistent superpixel, the similarity index must meet a predefined coefficient threshold (τ) of JSC. The superpixels consistency of four different superpixel segmentation algorithms including Bilateral geodesic distance (BGD), Flooding based superpixels generation (FBS), superpixels via geodesic distance (GDS), and Turbopixel (TP) are evaluated. Precisely, the experimental results demonstrated that no single algorithm was able to yield an optimal outcome and failed to maintain consistent superpixels at each level of noise. Conclusively, more robust superpixel algorithms must be developed to solve such problems effectively.
Bidding Strategies for Carrier in Combinatorial Transportation Auction

In combinatorial auction for truckload transportation service procurement, we introduce the bidding strategy for carrier facing the hard valuation problem to all possible routes. The model uses a bid-to-cost ratio of carriers surveyed in Thailand to represent the bidding behavior in combinatorial freight procurement. This model facilitates carrier to value the bid price for interested packages that involve with pattern of transportation service under different competitive environment. The results of analysis with hypotheses in regression model reveal significantly that a pattern of transportation service, a number of competitors, and a pre-empty backhaul to new lane distance ratio with number of competitors do impact negatively on a bid-to-cost ratio of carrier, whereas a pre-empty backhaul to new lane distance ratio does impact positively on a bidto-cost ratio of carrier in combinatorial transportation auction. To find optimal bid price for interested packages in the incomplete information game, the empirical study in stochastic optimization problem with Monte Carlo method can provide the best solution for carrier in order to acquire the maximum expected profit in the auction. The results present that the expected profit with optimal solution of bidder is more than the average benefit in the competition market obviously. While in turn the results also show that shipper could potentially reduce the cost of transportation service procurement regarding our solution algorithm considerably.
Averaging Method for PWM DC-DC Converters Operating in Discontinuous Conduction Mode With Feedback

In this paper, a one-cycle-average (OCA) discrete-time model for PWM dc-dc converter based onclosed-loop control method for discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) is presented. It leads toexact discrete-time mathematical representation of the OCA values of the output signal even atlow frequency. It also provides the exact discrete-time mathematical representation of theaverage values of other internal signals with little increase in simulation time. A comparison of thismodel to other existing models is presented through a numerical example of boost converter.Detailed simulation results confirm the better accuracy and speed of the proposed model.
Calculation of ISON Cometary Tail Temperature

The ion tail temperature of the comet ISON was calculated by using magnetohydrodynamic MHD laws. From these equations the focus is concentrating on determine the ion tail temperature from the relations of dynamic and static pressures results.MHD equations are numerically solved using Matlab simulation code using cubic volume element method, based on three dimensionl Cartesian coordinates that devided into equal 15x15x15 equally spaced mesh. The simulation was performed using 3-D Lax explicit method considering normalised physical propreties relative to those of the solar wind at 1 AU. The results explained that it is possible to deduce two types of temperature, the first being the isotropic temperature which is shown to vary slowly with distance from the cometary nucleus. The second type which is the dynamic temperature is shown to change continouosly and largely with distance from the cometary nucleus.