Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Generation of large finite‐element matrices on multiple graphics processors

This paper presents techniques for generating very large finite‐element matrices on a multicore workstation equipped with several graphics processing units (GPUs). To overcome the low memory size limitation of the GPUs, and at the same time to accelerate the generation process, we propose to generate the large sparse linear systems arising in finite‐element analysis in an iterative manner on several GPUs and to use the graphics accelerators concurrently with CPUs performing collection and addition of the matrix fragments using a fast multithreaded procedure. The scheduling of the threads is organized in such a way that the CPU operations do not affect the performance of the process, and the GPUs are idle only when data are being transferred from GPU to CPU. This approach is verified on two workstations: the first consists of two 6‐core Intel Xeon X5690 processors with two Fermi GPUs: each GPU is a GeForce GTX 590 with two graphics processors and 1.5 GB of fast RAM; the second workstation is equipped with two Tesla C2075 boards carrying 6 GB of RAM each and two 12‐core Opteron 6174s. For the latter setup, we demonstrate the fast generation of sparse finite‐element matrices as large as 10 million unknowns, with over 1 billion nonzero entries.
An approach to regulation of contact force and position in flexible-link constrained robots

We consider a flexible-link robotic manipulator with its end-effector in contact with a rigid work surface. The robot performs contact tasks on the work surface which requires control of the contact force exerted by the robot on the work surface as well as position control of the robot end-effector on the work surface. We design a control law for local regulation of contact force and position vectors to desired constant vectors. The design is based on the assumption that the links of the robot arm are very stiff, which allows the use of singular perturbation methods for control design. The control design procedure is based on a general model of a flexible-link robot manipulator which includes effects of actuator dynamics and joint flexibility. The control design method is illustrated using an example and it is shown that local regulation of contact force and position is achieved.
Simple but Reliable Two-Stage GA Based Load Flow

Abstract Genetic algorithm (GA) has been used to solve the power flow problem—a problem having epistatic objective function. Simple GA based implementation of the power flow without special constraint enforcement technique fails to converge, but the proposed algorithm converges reliably without such enforcement techniques. Decoupled property of the power system variables has been exploited in formulating the algorithm. A local search technique has also been incorporated into the algorithm to accelerate the solution. The proposed method can handle FACTS variables efficiently. Robustness of the algorithm has been verified on standard test systems for difficult operating conditions.
Colour correction pre-processing and chrominance reconstruction post-processing for multi-view video coding

In a multi-view video system, a great amount of data for storage and transmission raise an inevitable problem to be solved. In this study, a new multi-view video coding (MVC) method is proposed by performing colour correction as a pre-processing step and chrominance reconstruction as a post-processing step. In the proposed method, colour correction is first performed to eliminate colour differences among views and to improve coding efficiency simultaneously. Then, chrominance information in some particular views is discarded to reduce bit-rates. Finally, the discarded chrominance information is reconstructed accurately at the decoder. Experimental results show that the proposed method can better increase the bit-rate saving than the original MVC system. Moreover, the proposed method can accomplish higher quality reconstruction at the trivial cost of quality degradation.
[Therapeutic drug monitoring of primidone and phenobarbital].

Primidone is a minor first-generation antiepileptic drug, little currently prescribed for this indication, but except marketing authorization, remains a first-line treatment of essential tremor. Although it is metabolized in phenyl-ethyl-malondamide and phenobarbital, active metabolites that contribute also to its action, primidone is not a prodrug and is active by itself. The rate of conversion of primidone to phenobarbital is highly variable according to the subject. Generally accepted therapeutic range for primidone is between 5 and 10 mg/L (23-46 mmol/L). The therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of primidone must be accompanied by the determination of phenobarbital concentrations. The level of proof of the interest of the TDM primidone was estimated to be "probably useless". Phenobarbital, a very ancient anticonvulsant, is much less used today, for the benefit of other more recent compounds. It remains prescribed in neonatology and is one of the compounds used in status epilepticus. It is a molecule with a long half-life, metabolized in p-hydroxy-phenobarbital. It is a potent inducer of CYP3A4. Several side effects, especially drowsiness, are concentration-dependent. Generally accepted therapeutic range for phenobarbital is between 10 and 40 mg/L (43 - 172 mmol/L), without considering the type of crise. The level of proof of the interest of TDM of phenobarbital was evaluated as "recommended".
A flexible multi-port RAM compiler for datapath

A multiport RAM compiler with flexible layout and port-organization has been developed in an 1.0- mu m CMOS technology. A novel memory cell scheme with an additional column enable gate yielded a controllability over the aspect ratio of the layout. This compiler generates up to 32 K three-port RAM and 16 K six-port RAM. Each port operates statically and asynchronously with each other port. The address access times of the generated three-port RAMs are 5.0 ns (1 kbit) and 10.0 ns (32 kbit), for example. <<ETX>>
Modeling and interpretation of ultra-wideband microwave scattering measurements of simulated sea ice

An ultra-wideband radar and a plane-wave antenna operating over a frequency range from 500 MHz to 18 GHz were used to measure the scattering response of bare saline ice, snow-covered ice and pancake ice at the US Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) during the 1994 and 1995 winter seasons. Measurements were made at incidence angles between 0/spl deg/ and 50/spl deg/ with VV polarization. To estimate the scattering coefficient as a function of frequency, the authors had to extract the wideband response of the target. They used the Thomson's Multiple Windows technique to estimate the high-resolution spectrum and to extract the wideband response of the signal. At 0/spl deg/, the scattering from bare ice stayed fairly constant with about 1- to 2-dB variation across the 2- to 18-GHz frequency range. This indicates that the coherent component dominates over this frequency range. For pancake ice, the scattering increased from 21 to 29 dB with increasing frequency, which indicates an increasing contribution from the incoherent component with increasing frequency. In contrast, the scattering from snow-covered ice decreased from 25 to 19 dB with increasing frequency, which indicates a decreasing contribution from the coherent component at the higher frequencies. At 30/spl deg/ incidence angle, the scattering increased as a function of frequency, which is an indication of dominant incoherent scattering. The angular response of the scattering coefficients obtained using the plane-wave system show that surface scattering dominates at least until 30/spl deg/ for all the ice types. The results were compared with some simple models.
LPDC assisted block coded modulation for transmission over Rayleigh fading channels

Coded modulation is a bandwidth efficient scheme that combines the functions of coding and modulation. Low density parity check (LDPC) codes have attracted wide research interests owing to their relatively low decoding complexity, while maintaining a comparable performance to that of the best known channel codes, namely turbo codes. In this contribution we proposed an LDPC assisted block coded modulation (LDPC-BCM) scheme for transmission over Rayleigh fading channels, which requires no bandwidth expansion. The performance of the proposed LDPC-BCM scheme will be compared to that of similar throughout turbo trellis coded modulation (TTCM) schemes. Specifically, 1, 2 and 3 bit per symbol effective throughput quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), 8-level phase shift keying (8PSK) and 16-level quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM) are studied in comparison to the corresponding TTCM benchmarkers. Furthermore, we comparatively study the associated decoding complexity. It is shown that owing to its block-based structure which is capable of overbridging deep channel fades, LDPC-BCM constitutes a better solution for transmission over hostile Rayleigh fading channels than TTCM, in particular when the system's affordable delay is limited.
Detecting DDoS Attacks Using Conditional Random Fields

In recent years, the detection technology based on machine learning algorithms for distributed denialof-service (DDoS) attacks has made great progress. However, previous methods fail to make full use of contextual information and rely heavily on the probability distribution of the input data. To avoid those pitfalls, the Conditional Random Fields (CRF) model is introduced in this paper for DDoS attacks detection. Firstly, the CRF is trained to build the classification model for DDoS attacks based on three groups of statistical features including conditional entropy, flag ratios and protocol ratios. Then, the trained CRF models are used to identify the attacks with model inference. Experimental results demonstrate that, the proposed approach can accurately distinguish between attacks and normal network traffic, and is more robust to resist disturbance of background traffic than its counterparts.
Generalized equilibrium modeling: the methodology of the SRI-Gulf energy model. Final report

The report provides documentation of the generalized equilibrium modeling methodology underlying the SRI-Gulf Energy Model and focuses entirely on the philosophical, mathematical, and computational aspects of the methodology. The model is a highly detailed regional and dynamic model of the supply and demand for energy in the US. The introduction emphasized the need to focus modeling efforts on decisions and the coordinated decomposition of complex decision problems using iterative methods. The conceptual framework is followed by a description of the structure of the current SRI-Gulf model and a detailed development of the process relations that comprise the model. The network iteration algorithm used to compute a solution to the model is described and the overall methodology is compared with other modeling methodologies. 26 references.
Kinematic and 3D motion prediction for gaze control

Estimation and prediction of the state of dynamical systems operating in three dimensions, and of mechanisms acting in space, provide a way for multiple-loop, multirate, time-delayed control systems to cooperate. Animate vision systems, biological or robotic, employ gaze control systems to acquire, fixate, and stabilize images. The aim is to build robust gaze control behavior from cooperating lower level visual reflexes. Solutions are explored through simulation incorporating ten primitive gaze control capabilities, more or less comparable to subsystems in primate gaze and head control. Versions of several of the subsystems have been implemented on a binocular robot. Smith prediction is the basic paradigm, using kinematic simulation of the agent and optimal filtering to predict world state. <<ETX>>
PHCS: Aplicativo Móvel para Acompanhamento de Pacientes do Sistema de Atenção Primária a Saúde

Aplicativos no monitoramento da saude a nivel primario representam uma solucao interessante tanto para evitar um colapso no sistema hospitalar quanto para promover a saude em casa. No entanto, os ganhos potenciais com este monitoramento exigem infraestruturas de hardware e software para atender toda a demanda no gerenciamento, armazenamento, processamento e transfer- encia de informacoes com confiabilidade e seguranca. Este projeto visa a uti- lizacao, por agentes de saude integrantes do programa de Atencao Primaria a Saude, do software PHCS sob a infraestrutura oferecida pelo projeto COMAH, para realizacao de acompanhamento e acoes preventivas em seus pacientes, que implica em menor impacto e reducao de custos.
Movement-Based Interaction Applied to Physical Rehabilitation Therapies

Background: Health care environments are continuously improving conditions, especially regarding the use of current technology. In the field of rehabilitation, the use of video games and related technology has helped to develop new rehabilitation procedures. Patients are able to work on their disabilities through new processes that are more motivating and entertaining. However, these patients are required to leave their home environment to complete their rehabilitation programs. Objective: The focus of our research interests is on finding a solution to eliminate the need for patients to interrupt their daily routines to attend rehabilitation therapy. We have developed an innovative system that allows patients with a balance disorder to perform a specific rehabilitation exercise at home. Additionally, the system features an assistive tool to complement the work of physiotherapists. Medical staff are thus provided with a system that avoids the need for them to be present during the exercise in specific cases in which patients are under suitable supervision. Methods: A movement-based interaction device was used to achieve a reliable system for monitoring rehabilitation exercises performed at home. The system accurately utilizes parameters previously defined by the specialist for correct performance of the exercise. Accordingly, the system gives instructions and corrects the patient’s actions. The data generated during the session are collected for assessment by the specialist to adapt the difficulty of the exercise to the patient’s progress. Results: The evaluation of the system was conducted by two experts in balance disorder rehabilitation. They were required to verify the effectiveness of the system, and they also facilitated the simulation of real patient behavior. They used the system freely for a period of time and provided interesting and optimistic feedback. First, they evaluated the system as a tool for real-life rehabilitation therapy. Second, their interaction with the system allowed us to obtain important feedback needed to improve the system. Conclusions: The system improves the rehabilitation conditions of people with balance disorder. The main contribution comes from the fact that it allows patients to carry out the rehabilitation process at home under the supervision of physiotherapists. As a result, patients avoid having to attend medical centers. Additionally, medical staff have access to an assistant, which means their presence is not required in many exercises that involve constant repetition. [J Med Internet Res 2014;16(12):e281]
AN INTEGRATED MOBILE CONTENT RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM

Many features have been added to mobile devices to assist the user's information consumption. However, there are limitations due to information overload on the devices, hardware usability and capacity. As a result, content filtering in a mobile recommendation system plays a vital role in the solution to this problem. A system that utilises content filtering can recommend content which matches a user's needs based on user preferences with a higher accuracy rate. However, mobile content recommendation systems have problems and limitations related to cold start and sparsity. The problems can be viewed as first time connection and first content rating for non-interactive recommendation systems where information is insufficient to predict mobile content which will match with a user's needs. In addition, how to find relevant items for the content recommendation system which are related to a user's profile is also a concern. An integrated model that combines the user group identification and mobile content filtering for mobile content recommendation was proposed in this study in order to address the current limitations of the mobile content recommendation system. The model enhances the system by finding the relevant content items that match with a user's needs based on the user's profile. A prototype of the client-side user profile modelling is also developed to demonstrate the concept. The integrated model applies clustering techniques to determine groups of users. The content filtering implemented classification techniques to predict the top content items. After that, an adaptive association rules technique was performed to find relevant content items. These approaches can help to build the integrated model. Experimental results have demonstrated that the proposed integrated model performs better than the comparable techniques such as association rules and collaborative filtering. These techniques have been used in several recommendation systems. The integrated model performed better in terms of finding relevant content items which obtained higher accuracy rate of content prediction and predicted successful recommended relevant content measured by recommendation metrics. The model also performed better in terms of rules generation and content recommendation generation. Verification of the proposed model was based on real world practical data. A prototype mobile content recommendation system with client-side user profile has been developed to handle the revisiting user issue. In addition, context information, such as time-of-day and time-of-week, could also be used to enhance the system by recommending the related content to users during different time periods. Finally, it was shown that the proposed method implemented fewer rules to generate recommendation for mobile content users and it took less processing time. This seems to overcome the problems of first time connection and first content rating for non-interactive recommendation systems.
3D reconstruction from monocular image sequences

Method for 3D reconstruction of known rigid objects from a single monocular image or a sequence of monocular images is presented. In the first part of the paper, a new computational approach to estimate pose and orientation of well-known objects in a 3D-scene from a single frame is discussed. The underlying theory is described in the context of a prototype matching problem and the existence of optimal solutions is proved. Furthermore, it is straightforward to extend the concept of prototype matching to the case of stereo or pseudo stereo applications and even more general setups. Hence, an improved 3D reconstruction with higher accuracy and increased stability can be achieved, for instance, by moving the camera along a linear sledge. The estimation of the ego-motion of a camera is covered as a special case by the introduced modeling via prototype matching. In the second part, experimental results for natural image sequences are analyzed. The derived accuracy and execution times of the described algorithms are illustrated. The last section deals with implementational details necessary to reduce the execution time under real-time restrictions.
Correlation between reversibility of airway obstruction and exhaled nitric oxide levels in children with stable bronchial asthma

Recent trials measuring exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) concentrations have suggested that it may be a useful measure of ongoing airway inflammation in patients with asthma. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between eNO levels and baseline as well as postbronchodilator spirometry, a measurement commonly used in the clinical setting to determine the severity of asthma and as a guide to therapeutic decisions. Forty‐nine patients between the ages of 5–16 years with physician‐diagnosed asthma who attended the pediatric pulmonary clinic for a routine asthma visit with spirometric evaluation were recruited for the study. eNO levels prior to spirometry were obtained before and after receiving inhaled β2 agonist. eNO samples were collected in impermeable bags (Tedlar®) and assayed within 24 hr by chemiluminescence. Regression analysis was used to assess the relationships between pre‐ and postbronchodilator eNO and spirometric variables. eNO was also compared in patients receiving and not receiving inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), as well as those whose therapy had been increased after evaluation by a pediatric pulmonologist or allergist.
Real‐Time Apartment Building Detection and Tracking with AdaBoost Procedure and Motion‐Adjusted Tracker

In this letter, we propose a novel approach to detecting and tracking apartment buildings for the development of a video‐based navigation system that provides augmented reality representation of guidance information on live video sequences. For this, we propose a building detector and tracker. The detector is based on the AdaBoost classifier followed by hierarchical clustering. The classifier uses modified Haar‐like features as the primitives. The tracker is a motion‐adjusted tracker based on pyramid implementation of the Lukas‐Kanade tracker, which periodically confirms and consistently adjusts the tracking region. Experiments show that the proposed approach yields robust and reliable results and is far superior to conventional approaches.
Application-specific low-power hybrid FPGA architecture design

Increasing demand for configuration time aware processing with stringent constraints for flexibility necessitates the design and development of a dynamically fast reconfigurable processor. This research work presents results obtained from hybrid FPGA architecture design methodology proposed in earlier work. Hybrid architecture is formed of ASIC units and LUT based processing elements. ASIC units represent tasks or core clusters obtained through common sub-graph analysis between basic blocks within and across routines of computation intensive applications and are basically recurring patterns. Results show that partial reconfiguration with the use of computation cores embedded in a sea of LUTs offer potential for massive savings in gate density by eliminating the need for redundant sub-circuit pattern configurations. Since ASICs cover only parts of data flow graphs, remaining computations are implemented on LUT based reconfigurable hardware. A new packing algorithm is proposed to form LUT based processing elements. Packing cost function prioritizes reduction of input/output pins of the clusters being formed. Results show that significant savings in number of nets to be routed are obtained through proposed method.
Range-angle performances of coherent MIMO long-range radars

Active antennas and modular generation and reception opens the way to radar systems where different waveforms are simultaneously transmitted and received through multiple channels (MIMO radars). Such an increase in the degrees of freedom is shown to allow improvements in angular resolution compared to standard wide beam. It can also be used to optimize the trade-offs between angular and range resolution and sidelobes. In this paper, the basic properties are analyzed on a new class of space-time circulating codes adapted to 2D antennas, and the benefits are demonstrated through fair comparisons of transmit/receive ambiguity functions.