Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dataflow Design Tool: User's Manual

The Dataflow Design Tool is a software tool for selecting a multiprocessor scheduling solution for a class of computational problems. The problems of interest are those that can be described with a dataflow graph and are intended to be executed repetitively on a set of identical processors. Typical applications include signal processing and control law problems. The software tool implements graph-search algorithms and analysis techniques based on the dataflow paradigm. Dataflow analyses provided by the software are introduced and shown to effectively determine performance bounds, scheduling constraints, and resource requirements. The software tool provides performance optimization through the inclusion of artificial precedence constraints among the schedulable tasks. The user interface and tool capabilities are described. Examples are provided to demonstrate the analysis, scheduling, and optimization functions facilitated by the tool.
Analysis of Mental Workload and Operating Behavior in Secondary Tasks while Driving

Despite the fact that drivers are performing a lot of distracting tasks while driving (e.g. usage of infotainment systems) they are usually able to manage difficult situations. Drivers often seem to be able to adapt and effectively regulate their behavior according to the demands of the driving situation. Not much is known about the functional behavior that allows drivers to successfully regulate their intentional demands. The current study aims to investigate these adaptations and provides a methodological approach to do so. 38 participants performed a simulated driving task while using an In-Vehicle Infotainment System (IVIS). Driving data and activity data for the secondary task were recorded and analyzed continuously over time. Participants permanently adapted their driving behavior and particularly reduced their secondary task activity when approaching critical driving situations. To measure these adaptations, a continuous analysis of both driving as well as secondary task behavior is essential.
A New Message Authentication Code Scheme Based on Feature Extraction of Fingerprint in Cloud Computing

An era of cloud computing which leads to quick growth and deployment of information technology, it has also commanded to worries that user's identity could be penetrated by the prohibited copying and modification of message exchanged between two entities (Sender and Receiver) inside cloud environment. There are several schemes in this field which suffered from many attacks such as dictionary, insider, and modification attacks. In order to enhance this state, we need a strong scheme to assurance and strengthen of user's message. In this paper, we propose a new scheme of message authentication code based on features extraction of user's fingerprint used to prove the integrity of user's message. Features are extracted from user's fingerprint to generate message code for each user's login and prevent malicious attacks such as Man-In-The-Middle (MITM), replay, and insider attacks. Additionally, our proposed scheme includes many security characteristics like user's message anonymity, data integrity for user's message, session key agreement, and one time message code for each user's session. The experimental results view the efficiency and sturdiness of ourproposed scheme. KeywordsCloud Computing; Fingerprint; Features Extraction; Message Authentication Code; Security.
Sparse Hyperspectral Image Modeling and Restoration

The first step in signal processing is to find an appropriate model for the observed signal. This is a very crucial task especially in remote sensing. From one hand, the model should be close to the reality and take into account all the facts and interferences along the signal acquisition. On the other hand, the model should be simple to work with. Therefore, there always is a trad-off between these two conflict facts. In some applications such as remote sensing, the captured signal is usually degraded by different factors such as atmospheric haze and instrumental noises. Hence, signal restoration plays a significant role in remote sensing including hyperspectral imaging. Hyperspectral imaging is an imaging technique which provides contiguous spectra from a scene. Hyperspectral images have several applications in remote sensing such as unmixing, change detection and classification. Therefore, the main goal of the thesis is to find suitable models and estimating approaches for hyperspectral images to improve the result of the aforementioned applications. The first major contribution of the thesis is to introduce Stein’s unbiased risk estimator (SURE) as an automatic technique for model and tuning parameter selection (including rank selection) for hyperspectral image analysis. As a result, this thesis proposes two automatic SURE-based techniques for both hyperspectral rank selection and hyperspectral image restoration (called SPAMARS and SPAWMARS). Proposing a new and fast restoration method (called FORPDN) based on classical linear model and inspired by the specific spectral characteristic of hyperspectral image is the next contribution of the thesis. That technique is improved by incorporating the sparsity property (called GLASSORPDN). Also, several sparse reduced-rank restoration techniques are proposed for hyperspectral feature extraction and restoration and compared based on classification accuracies. An important contribution of the thesis is to propose a novel reduced-rank wavelet-based model for hyperspectral images. Based on the proposed model,
Classroom‐Based Assessment Issues for Language Teacher Education

In recent years there has been an increasing professional and policy interest in classroom-based assessment. This chapter focuses on some of the key conceptual and professional issues associated with classroom-based assessment from the point of view of language teacher knowledge and practice, with particular reference to the teaching of English to speakers of other languages. The discussion will, inter alia, cover the following issues: assessment for different purposes; validity and reliability; perspectives on language and language learning in relation to assessment; and curriculum content in language assessment. These issues will be addressed with language teacher education in mind. Specific considerations related to classroom-based assessment will be foregrounded where appropriate. The discussion will draw on relevant work in language education and educational assessment, in addition to the research literature in second language assessment. Keywords: Assessment methods; Classroom assessment; ESL/EFL; Language teaching
Patch-based methods for variational image processing problems

Keywords: Image processing ; Inverse problems ; Non-local algorithms ; Social sparsity ; Local binary descriptors ; Privacy These Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne EPFL, n° 5693 (2013)Programme doctoral Genie electriqueFaculte des sciences et techniques de l'ingenieurInstitut de genie electrique et electroniqueLaboratoire de traitement des signaux 2Jury: J.-Ph. Thiran (president), J.-F. Aujol, P. Fua, L. Jacques Public defense: 2013-4-26 Reference doi:10.5075/epfl-thesis-5693Print copy in library catalog Record created on 2013-04-17, modified on 2016-08-09
Intuitive Use of Products

The term "intuitive use" has been widely used with respect to various products and systems but has not yet been adequately defined. Through an extensive literature review, it was concluded that intuition is a cognitive process that utilises knowledge gained through prior experience. Intuitive use of products involves utilising knowledge gained through other products or experience(s). Therefore, products that people use intuitively should be those with features they have encountered before. A set of experiments with a digital camera was conducted to test the thesis. The results of these experiments support the thesis. It was found that prior knowledge of features or functions of the camera allowed participants to use those features intuitively, whereas unfamiliar features or functions had to be figured out, which was more time consuming and effortful.
The environment of weak emission-line quasars

The nature of weak emission-line quasars (WLQs) is probed by comparing the Baldwin effect (BEff) in WLQs and normal quasars [quasi-stellar objects (QSOs)]. We selected 81 high-redshift (z > 2.2) and two intermediate-redshift (z= 1.66 and 1.89) WLQs. Their rest-frame equivalent widths (EWs) of the C iv emission line and their Eddington ratio were obtained from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 (SDSS DR7) quasar catalogue or from Diamond-Stanic et al. We compare the parameters of WLQs with those of 81 normal quasars from Bright Quasar Survey and 155 radio-quiet and radio-intermediate quasars detected by SDSS and Chandra. The influence of the Eddington ratio, LBol/LEdd, and the X-ray to optical luminosity ratio, αox, on the BEff is analysed. We find that WLQs follow a different relationship on the EW(C iv)–LBol/LEdd plane than normal quasars. This relationship disagrees with the super-Eddington hypothesis. The weakness/absence of emission lines in WLQs does not seem to be caused by their extremely soft ionizing continuum but by low covering factor (Ω/4π) of their broad-line region. Comparison of emission-line intensities indicates that the ratios of high-ionization line and low-ionization line regions (i.e. ΩHIL/ΩLIL) are lower in WLQs than in normal QSOs. The covering factors of the regions producing C iv and Lyα emission lines are similar in both WLQs and QSOs.
Analysis of Hybrid Mobile Satellite System using SFC

An increasing number of hybrid mobile systems comprising a satellite and a terrestrial component are becoming standardized and realized. The next generation of these systems will employ higher dimensions adopting multiple-input multiple output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MIMO_OFDM) techniques. The Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) rush that has taken over the terrestrial wireless community, dual polarization transmission and reception has been envisaged as an effective MIMO realization for overcoming size limitations of either satellite or terrestrial mobile broadcasting systems. In this work, recent studies of dual polarization MIMO for each component is done and the use of full-rate full-diversity (FRFD) codes adopting a space frequency paradigm is reviewed. A scheme taking advantage of the separation between the subcarriers to enhance the coding gain is also proposed. By critically assessing the different options for the 4transmit, 2 receive hybrid scenario taking into account system and channel particularities, and the proposed scheme which is the solution for enhancing the performance of next generation hybrid mobile satellite systems is also demonstrated.
Case-based reasoning in software engineering

Case-based reasoning provides a new and revealing perspective for the reuse of system specifications during requirements engineering. The authors examine case-based reasoning with old specifications during requirements engineering using complex examples of requirements reuse and case studies of observed successful case-based reuse. Intelligent tool support for requirements engineering needs domain knowledge to develop and validate requirements specifications. The authors propose a paradigm for specification reuse which exploits the different skills and domain knowledge possessed by software engineers and support tools. A similar approach has also been implemented in several case-based reasoning tools. An intelligent advisor, known as AIR, has been designed and implemented to assist reuse of old specification cases.
Data Preserving Techniques for Collaborative Data Publishing

This paper addresses the issue of privacy preserving in data mining process. Specifically, while considering a scenario in which two parties owning confidential databases wish to run a data mining algorithm on the union of their databases, without revealing any unnecessary information. Here two types of attack are discussed and they are “insider attack” and “outsider attack” by colluding data providers who may use their own data records to infer the data records contributed by other data providers. This paper includes a formal protection model named k-anonymity, ldiversity and t-closeness. Also secure multiparty computation protocol and their relationship with privacy-preserving data mining are discussed.
A Character-Based Postprocessing System for Handwritten Japanese Address Recognition

SUMMARY Based on a previous work on handwritten Japanese kanji character recognition[1], a postprocessing system for handwritten Japanese address recognition is proposed. Ba-sically, the recognition system is composed of CombNET-II, a general-purpose large-scale character recognizer and MMVA, a modiﬁed majority voting system. Beginning with a set of character candidates, produced by a character recognizer for each character that composes the input word and a lexicon, an interpretation to the input word is generated. MMVA is used in the postprocessing stage to select the interpretation that accumulates the highest score. In the case of more than one possible interpretation, the Conﬂict Analyzing System calls the character recognizer again to generate scores for each character that composes each interpretation to determine the ﬁnal output word. The proposed word recognition system was tested with 2 sets of handwritten Japanese city names, and recognition rates higher than 99% were achieved, demonstrating the eﬀectiveness of the method.
WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON REVENUE GROWTH, RISK AND DECISION MAKING?

The purpose of this paper is to provide recent overview on the impact of information technology on revenue growth, risk and decision making. To understand impact of information technology for the industry, track which shifts and changes could occur in comparison to traditional industry cooperation without information technology systems and finally analyze further development of IT projects and investments, its consequences for the company.
BK potassium channel mRNA level changes in gills of Atlantic salmon after brackish water transfer

BK potassium channels are implicated in a variety of physiological processes and they have been characterized in many species from Drosophila to humans although detailed studies about their properties and functions in the osmoregulation of teleosts are still lacking. In this study, we have cloned 911 bp corresponding to a partial Salmo salar BK channel coding sequence with high level of homology to BK channel sequences from other teleosts. Also, we have followed the BK gene expression pattern in gills of Atlantic salmon during brackish water (BW) acclimation. Interestingly, transfer from freshwater to BW induced an upregulation in mRNA BK channel expression in gills 7 days after transfer to BW, followed by a decrease in the expression. These results are the first describing mRNA changes of BK channel in gills of Atlantic salmon during BW acclimation, and they could suggest a possible role for BK channel during this adaptive response. Additionally, our results could position BK potassium channels expressed in the gills of Salmo salar as new candidates to be a marker of smoltification process, which may complement, and possibly outperform NKA activity measurement, the current gold standard of the Chilean industry.
Optimizing secure communication standards for disadvantaged networks

Abstract : We present methods for optimizing standardized cryptographic message protocols for use on disadvantaged network links. We first provide an assessment of current secure communication message packing standards and their relevance to disadvantaged networks. Then we offer methods to reduce message overhead in packing Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS) structures by using ZLIB compression and using a Lite version of CMS. Finally, we offer a few extensions to the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) to wrap secure group messages for chat on disadvantaged networks and to reduce XMPP message overhead in secure group transmissions. We present the design and implementation of these optimizations and the results that these optimizations have on message overhead, extensibility, and usability of both CMS and XMPP. We have developed these methods to extend CMS and XMPP with the ultimate goal of establishing standards for securing communications in disadvantaged networks.
Relationship between Cloud-Ground Lightning and Penetrative Clouds : A Multi-channel Satellite Application

This work presents a relationship between atmospheric discharges and penetrative convective clouds. It combines Infrared and Water Vapor channels from the GOES-12 geostationary satellite with cloud-ground lightning data from the Brazilian Integrated Lightning Detection Network (RINDAT) during the period from January to February 2005. The difference between water vapor and infrared brightness temperature is a tracer penetrating clouds. Due to the water vapor channel’s strong absorption, this difference is positive only during overshooting cases, when convective clouds penetrate the stratosphere. From this difference and the cloud-ground electrical discharge, measured on the ground by RINDAT, it was possible to adjust exponential curves that relate the brightness temperature difference from these two channels to the probability of occurrence of cloud-ground electrical discharges, with a very high coefficient of determination. If WV-IR brightness temperature difference is larger than -15K there is a high potential for cloudground lightning activity. As this difference increases the cloud-ground lightning probably increase, for example: if this difference is equal zero, the probability of having at least one cloud-ground electrical discharge is 10.9 %, 7.0% for two, 4.4% for four, 2.7% for eight and 1.5% for sixteen cloud-ground lightning discharges Through this process, was developed a scheme that estimates the probability of occurrence of cloud-ground lightning over all the continental region of South America. INPE ePrint: sid.inpe. br/mtc-m17@80/2007/12.13. 17.25 v1 2007-12-14
RLL-1: A Representation Language Language

Abstract : The field of AI is strewn with knowledge representation languages. The language designer typically designs that language with one particular application domain in mind; as subsequent types of applications are tried, what had originally been useful features are found to be undesirable limitations, and the language is overhauled or scrapped. One remedy to this bleak cycle might be to construct a representation language whose domain is the field of representational languages itself. Toward this end, we designed and implemented RLL-1, a frame-based Representation Language Language. The components of representation languages in general (such as slots and inheritance mechanisms) and of RLL-1 itself, in particular, are encoded declaratively as frames. By modifying these frames, the user can change the semantics of RLL-1's components, and significantly alter the overall character of the RLL-1 environment. Often a large Artificial Intelligence project begins by designing and implementing a high-level language in which to easily and precisely specify the nuances of the task. The language designer typically builds his Representation Language around the one particular highlighted application (such as molecular biology for Units (Stefik), or natural language understanding for KRL (Bobrow & Winograd) and OWL (Szolovits, et al.)). For this reason, his language is often inadequate for any subsequent applications, except those which can be cast in a form similar in structure to the initial task. What had originally been useful features are subsequently found to be undesirable limitations. Consider Units' explicit copying of inherited facts or KRL's sophisticated but slow matcher.
IN VITRO CALLUS PRODUCTION AND ANTI-BACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF BARLERIA PRIONITIS LINN . AGAINST DENTAL CARIES PATHOGENS

Callus culture of Barleria prionitis Linn were established from leaf explants on MS medium supplemented with IAA and BAP in various combinations. The maximum production of calli was observed in the combination of IAA (2.0 mg/l) and BAP (1.5 mg/l). The methanolic extract from fresh callus cultures of Barleria prionitis which was cultured on MS medium fortified with IAA (2.0 mg/l) and BAP (1.5 mg/l) for 2 12 weeks was observed and examined for the potency of their phytochemicals against dental caries pathogens. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannin and phenolic compounds, terpenoids, steroids, saponins, flavonoids, carbohydrates, glycoside and cardiac glycoside. The antibacterial activity of the methanolic extract of the calli showed the activity against the Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus aureus, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Pseudomonas sp. Barleria prionitis leaf derived callus extract showed antibacterial activity against all but the strongest anti-bacterial activity against Lactobacillus acidophilus with MIC value of 0.250 mg/ml. The anti-bacterial potency of callus of leaf explants of Barleria prionitis against Lactobacillus acidophilus was compared with the standard antibiotic drug Ciprofloxacin.
Nonlinear Price-Volume Causality Between Stock and Warrant Markets in Taiwan

This paper applies linear and nonlinear Granger causality tests to examine the price-volume dynamics between warrants and their underlying stocks in Taiwan Stock Exchange. Based on intraday five-minute high frequency data, we find that there exists a bi-directional linear price–volume causal relation between these two markets. However, the linear causality from stock market to warrant market is more significant than that from warrant market to stock market. We also show that there exists unidirectional nonlinear price-volume causality from stock market to warrant market. According to these results, we conclude that the direction of information flow is mainly from stock market to warrant market. ∗ Department of International Trade, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan 116. Tel: 02-29393091 Ext. 81244. Email: wkuo@nccu.edu. tw.
Secure Cloud Computing Framework with Automatic Intrusion Detection and Prevention System

In cloud computing providing security to petabytes of data is very important. A recent survey on cloud security States that the security of user’s data has the highest priority as well as concern. Therefore, to provide secure cloud framework we have proposed a system named secure cloud computing framework with automatic intrusion detection and prevention system. With multi-layered security we can protect data in real-time and it has three layers of security as follows identity management, intrusion detection and prevention, encryption, cloud storage. To enhance security we proposed to add automatic intrusion detection and prevention technique for Brute force, SQL injection, wrapping attacks. Finally the data owner files are encrypted using RC6 and stored in public cloud storage named drop box. Keywords Cloud Computing, Brute force attack, wrapping attack, Sql injection, SSL attacks.
QUANTITATIVE PRECIPITATION ESTIMATION FOR HYDROMETEOROLOGICAL FORECAST IN PARANA , BRAZIL

The Curitiba Metropolitan Area (CMA) has been affected by thunderstorms and flash floods in two preferential seasons, spring and summer. In general, the problem was the high precipitation intensity occurred by isolated and convective clouds over the watershed into the city. The main meteorological systems in the CMA include some fast (12ms velocity propagation) and small (100km) squall lines that propagate eastward and isolated convective clouds. Sometimes, when the storm is very isolated, the precipitation cannot be registered because the density of stations. Then the streamflow can be rise fast, but it’s impossible to forecasting without the precipitation information as input in hydrological model. For these cases has been used integration of radar and satellite rainfall estimates.