Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Biometric Template Security Approach to Fingerprints Based on Polynomial Transformations

—The use of biometric identiﬁers in the ﬁeld of information security, access control to resources, authentication in ATMs and banking among others, are of great concern because of the safety of biometric data. In the general architecture of a biometric system have been detected eight vulnerabilities, six of them allow obtaining minutiae template in plain text. The main consequence of obtaining minutia templates is the loss of biometric identiﬁer for life. To mitigate these vulnerabilities several models to protect minutiae templates have been proposed. Several vulnerabilities in the cryptographic security of these models allow to obtain biometric data in plain text. In order to increase the cryptographic security and ease of reversibility, a minutiae templates protection model is proposed. The model aims to make the cryptographic protection and facilitate the reversibility of data using two levels of security. The ﬁrst level of security is the data transformation level. In this level generates invariant data to rotation and translation, further transformation is irreversible. The second level of security is the evaluation level, where the encryption key is generated and data is evaluated using a deﬁned evaluation function. The model is aimed at mitigating known vulnerabilities of the proposed models, basing its security on the impossibility of the polynomial reconstruction.
Priority queue with customer upgrades

This article is concerned with a general multi‐class multi‐server priority queueing system with customer priority upgrades. The queueing system has various applications in inventory control, call centers operations, and health care management. Through a novel design of Lyapunov functions, and using matrix‐analytic methods, sufficient conditions for the queueing system to be stable or instable are obtained. Bounds on the queue length process are obtained by a sample path method, with the help of an auxiliary queueing system. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2012
MisoSR: Medical Image Isotropic Super-Resolution Reconstruction

Isotropic volumetric acquisition in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is often challenging. A large number of factors such as patient or physiological motion, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), available static magnetic field B0 and total scanning time limit the acquired resolution. Super-resolution (SR) is a post-processing tech- nique that optimally combines several anisotropic scans into a single isotropic volume that was not - or could not be - acquired in practice. If necessary conditions are met, the resulting isotropic volume offers clear improvements over the initial acquisitions such as reduced partial volume effect, oblique visualization and improved sharpness and SNR. This paper details the misoSR implementation of a SR isotropicreconstruction algorithm using the Insight Toolkit Library (ITK) library. It is a generic implementation that reconstructs an isotropic volume from any number of anisotropic volumes acquired from any orientation. The algorithm takes advantage of the inputs header information to handle the different scans properties such as field of view (FOV), resolution parameters and orientation. Step by step details on the implementation are given, parameters are individually detailed, and results are shown on different applications as an example of SR reconstruction. The algorithm is hosted on the Creatis Virtual Imaging Platform (VIP), which allows users to run misoSR without having to install the software on their system.
Design of 28 GHz Low-Power Phased-Array Receiver Frontend in CMOS

approved: Arun S. Natarajan This work presents the design and implementation of a low power phased-array receiver frontend at 28 GHz in 65 nm CMOS. The frontend incorporates a lowpower low-noise amplifier(LNA) and a passive reflection-type phase shifter (RTPS) capable of providing 360◦ phase shift with 5-bit phase resolution and low loss variation. Passive phase-shifters in the literature suffer from trade-offs between finite phase resolution, insertion loss and phase shift range, and hence do not provide 360◦ phase range with uniform, low loss across phase shift settings. The proposed systematic design and load optimization approach leads to the RTPS achieving state-of-art performance in terms of insertion loss with 360◦ phase shift range, loss variation across phase shift and rms phase error. The low-power LNA is based on a transformer-coupled neutralization architecture that increases gain in each LNA stage, allowing for lower power consumption. The phased-array frontend is designed for Ka-band applications and has been characterized in 65nm CMOS from 26 GHz -30 GHz. The measured RTPS achieves 360◦ phase shift with -7.75±0.3 dB and rms phase error of 0.3◦ at 28 GHz. The low power phased-array receiver frontend has overall gain of 9.5 dB, gain variation of ∼0.4 dB and measured noise figure of 4.9 dB at 28 GHz. The receiver frontend consumes 10 mW from a 0.9 V supply with phase shifter and LNA active area of 0.16 mm and 0.32 mm respectively in 65nm CMOS, demonstrating its suitability for integration into low-power phased array receivers for emerging high data rate 5G wireless communication applications at 28 GHz.
Review of mobile short message service security issues and techniques towards the solution

The short message service (SMS) is one of the highly used and well-tried mobile services with global availability within all GSM networks. The existing SMS is limited to the transmission of secure plain text between different mobile phone subscribers. SMS does not have any built-in procedure to authenticate the text and offer security for the text transmitted as data, because most of the applications for mobile devices are designed and developed without taking security into consideration. This paper details an overview of the current SMS security aspects and concerns during the SMS transmission. It also chronologically presents the existing mechanisms used to protect the SMS with the goal to provide useful advices for further research. In addition, the security and efficiency of these mechanisms are analysed, considering the limitation on the mobile devices and the security requirements. Finally it suggests the SMS security future direction for generating extra research topics. Key words: Short message service security, short message service cryptography, short message service security analysis, mobile communication, mobile public key infrastructure.
– A toolbox for using quantitative MRI in neuroscience and clinical research

Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (qMRI) finds increasing application in neuroscience and clinical research due to its sensitivity to micro-structural properties of brain tissue, e.g. axon, myelin, iron and water concentration. We introduce the hMRI-toolbox, an easy-to-use opensource tool for handling and processing of qMRI data presented together with an example dataset. This toolbox allows the estimation of high-quality multi-parameter qMRI maps (longitudinal and effective transverse relaxation rates R1 and R 2, proton density PD and magnetisation transfer MT ) that can be used for calculation of standard and novel MRI biomarkers of tissue microstructure as well as improved delineation of subcortical brain structures. Embedded in the Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM) framework, it can be readily combined with existing SPM tools for estimating diffusion MRI parameter maps and benefits from the extensive range of available tools for high-accuracy spatial registration and statistical inference. As such the hMRI-toolbox provides an efficient, robust and simple framework for using qMRI data in neuroscience and clinical research.
Region‐wide temporal and spatial variation in Caribbean reef architecture: is coral cover the whole story?

The architectural complexity of coral reefs is largely generated by reef‐building corals, yet the effects of current regional‐scale declines in coral cover on reef complexity are poorly understood. In particular, both the extent to which declines in coral cover lead to declines in complexity and the length of time it takes for reefs to collapse following coral mortality are unknown. Here we assess the extent of temporal and spatial covariation between coral cover and reef architectural complexity using a Caribbean‐wide dataset of temporally replicated estimates spanning four decades. Both coral cover and architectural complexity have declined rapidly over time, with little evidence of a time‐lag. However, annual rates of change in coral cover and complexity do not covary, and levels of complexity vary greatly among reefs with similar coral cover. These findings suggest that the stressors influencing Caribbean reefs are sufficiently severe and widespread to produce similar regional‐scale declines in coral cover and reef complexity, even though reef architectural complexity is not a direct function of coral cover at local scales. Given that architectural complexity is not a simple function of coral cover, it is important that conservation monitoring and restoration give due consideration to both architecture and coral cover. This will help ensure that the ecosystem services supported by architectural complexity, such as nutrient recycling, dissipation of wave energy, fish production and diversity, are maintained and enhanced.
Controllable 3D display system based on frontal projection lenticular screen

A novel auto-stereoscopic three-dimensional (3D) projection display system based on the frontal projection lenticular screen is demonstrated. It can provide high real 3D experiences and the freedom of interaction. In the demonstrated system, the content can be changed and the dense of viewing points can be freely adjusted according to the viewers’ demand. The high dense viewing points can provide smooth motion parallax and larger image depth without blurry. The basic principle of stereoscopic display is described firstly. Then, design architectures including hardware and software are demonstrated. The system consists of a frontal projection lenticular screen, an optimally designed projector-array and a set of multi-channel image processors. The parameters of the frontal projection lenticular screen are based on the demand of viewing such as the viewing distance and the width of view zones. Each projector is arranged on an adjustable platform. The set of multi-channel image processors are made up of six PCs. One of them is used as the main controller, the other five client PCs can process 30 channel signals and transmit them to the projector-array. Then a natural 3D scene will be perceived based on the frontal projection lenticular screen with more than 1.5 m image depth in real time. The control section is presented in detail, including parallax adjustment, system synchronization, distortion correction, etc. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of this novel controllable 3D display system.
Racial Bias in Perceptions of Size and Strength: The Impact of Stereotypes and Group Differences

Recent research has shown that race can influence perceptions of men’s size and strength. Across two studies (Study 1: N = 1,032, Study 2: N = 303) examining men and women from multiple racial groups (Asian, Black, and White adults), we found that although race does impact judgments of size and strength, raters’ judgments primarily track targets’ objective physical features. In some cases, racial stereotypes actually improved group-level accuracy, as these stereotypes aligned with racial-group differences in size and strength according to nationally representative data. We conclude that individuals primarily rely on individuating information when making physical judgments but do not completely discount racial stereotypes, which reflect a combination of real group-level differences and culturally transmitted beliefs.
Distributed Inference for Linear Support Vector Machine

The growing size of modern data brings many new challenges to existing statistical inference methodologies and theories, and calls for the development of distributed inferential approaches. This paper studies distributed inference for linear support vector machine (SVM) for the binary classification task. Despite a vast literature on SVM, much less is known about the inferential properties of SVM, especially in a distributed setting. In this paper, we propose a multi-round distributed linear-type (MDL) estimator for conducting inference for linear SVM. The proposed estimator is computationally efficient. In particular, it only requires an initial SVM estimator and then successively refines the estimator by solving simple weighted least squares problem. Theoretically, we establish the Bahadur representation of the estimator. Based on the representation, the asymptotic normality is further derived, which shows that the MDL estimator achieves the optimal statistical efficiency, i.e., the same efficiency as the classical linear SVM applying to the entire data set in a single machine setup. Moreover, our asymptotic result avoids the condition on the number of machines or data batches, which is commonly assumed in distributed estimation literature, and allows the case of diverging dimension. We provide simulation studies to demonstrate the performance of the proposed MDL estimator.
Mountain Ultramarathon and Sarcomere Disruptions of Slow Fibers

Objective: To investigate changes after a mountain ultramarathon (MUM) in the serum concentration of fast (FM) and slow (SM) myosin isoforms, which are fiber-type-specific sarcomere proteins. The changes were compared against creatine kinase (CK), a widely used fiber-sarcolemma-damage biomarker, and cardiac troponin I (cTnI), a widely used cardiac biomarker. Methods: Observational comparison of response in a single group of 8 endurance-trained amateur athletes. Time-related changes in serum levels of CK, cTnI, SM, and FM from competitors were analyzed before, 1 h after the MUM, and 24 and 48 h after the start of the MUM by 1-way ANOVA for repeated measures or Friedman and Wilcoxon tests. Pearson correlation coefficient was employed to examine associations between variables. Results: While SM was significantly (P = .009) increased in serum 24 h after the beginning of the MUM, FM and cTnI did not change significantly. Serum CK activity peak was observed 1 h after the MUM (P = .002). Moreover, serum peaks of CK and SM were highly correlated (r = .884, P = .004). Conclusions: Since there is evidence of muscle damage after prolonged mountain running, the increase in SM serum concentration after a MUM could be indirect evidence of slow(type I) fiber-specific sarcomere disruptions.
Semiconductor wafer bonding

▪ Abstract When mirror-polished, flat, and clean wafers of almost any material are brought into contact at room temperature, they are locally attracted to each other by van der Waals forces and adhere or bond. This phenomenon is referred to as wafer bonding. The most prominent applications of wafer bonding are silicon-on-insulator (SOI) devices, silicon-based sensors and actuators, as well as optical devices. The basics of wafer-bonding technology are described, including microcleanroom approaches, prevention of interface bubbles, bonding of III-V compounds, low-temperature bonding, ultra-high vacuum bonding, thinning methods such as smart-cut procedures, and twist wafer bonding for compliant substrates. Wafer bonding allows a new degree of freedom in design and fabrication of material combinations that previously would have been excluded because these material combinations cannot be realized by the conventional approach of epitaxial growth.
Fast Stochastic Quadrature for Approximate Maximum-Likelihood Estimation

Recent stochastic quadrature techniques for undirected graphical models rely on near-minimax degree-$k$ polynomial approximations to the model's potential function for inferring the partition function. While providing desirable statistical guarantees, typical constructions of such approximations are themselves not amenable to efficient inference. Here, we develop a class of Monte Carlo sampling algorithms for efficiently approximating the value of the partition function, as well as the associated pseudo-marginals. More precisely, for pairwise models with $n$ vertices and $m$ edges, the complexity can be reduced from O(d^k) to O(k^4+kn+m+k! ), where d>4m is the parameter dimension. We also consider the uses of stochastic quadrature for the problem of maximum likelihood (ML) parameter estimation. For a completely observed model, our analysis gives rise to a probabilistic bound on the log likelihood of the data. Maximizing this bound yields an approximate ML estimate which, in analogy to the moment-matching of exact ML estimation, can be interpreted in terms of pseudo-moment-matching. We present experimental results illustrating the behavior of this approximate ML estimator.
Bioregulators protected the leaf anatomy and photosynthetic machinery under water deficit stress in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Water deficit is undoubtedly one of the most important environmental stresses limiting the productivity of chickpea around the world. Exogenous application of bioregulators has been found to be a novel technology for imparting stress tolerance in crop plants. This study evaluated the changes brought about by two bioregulators viz., thiourea (TU) and thidiazuron (TDZ) under water deficit stress in chickpea leaf anatomy, chloroplast ultrastructure and photosynthesis. The experiment was conducted using Pusa 362 (Desi type) chickpea variety. Imposed water deficit treatment decreased relative water content (RWC), membrane stability index (MSI) and photosynthetic rate (PN). However, bioregulators application maintained higher RWC, MSI and PN under water deficit stress. Under imposed water stress, compact palisade layers of the mesophyll tissue were disrupted and cell size of the mesophyll cells displayed drastic reduction. Chloroplast, under water stress, displayed a number of grana with lose type of thylakoid, large increase in osmiophillic granules, reduction in the amount of starch granules and overall disruption of the thylakoid membrane. Foliar application of bioregulators maintained the integrity of mesophyll tissue and chloroplast structure thereby protected the chickpea plants from the detrimental effects of water deficit stress.
Enhancing trade flows in asean plus six suvannaphakdy, sithanonxay

Using an unbalanced panel dataset of bilateral trade flows, we study the determinants of bilateral trade of ASEAN 10 countries, Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea, from 1989 to 2009. We find that bilateral trade flow is positively related to the overall bilateral country size and similarity in country size and inversely related to the relative factor endowment differences, transportation costs, and import tariffs. Our simulation results show that establishing the free trade area in ASEAN+6 is important for promoting intraregional trade by about 39.3% ($66.6 billion), and that a new economic community of the “6” countries together with ASEAN promotes mutual trade.
Deep Convection Triggering by Boundary Layer Thermals. Part II: Stochastic Triggering Parameterization for the LMDZ GCM

This paper presents a stochastic triggering parameterization for deep convection and its implementation in the latest standard version of the Laboratoire de M�� Dynamique‐Zoom (LMDZ) general circulation model: LMDZ5B. The derivation of the formulation of this parameterization and the justification, based on large-eddy simulation results, for the main hypothesis was proposed in Part I of this study. Whereas the standard triggering formulation in LMDZ5B relies on the maximum vertical velocity within amean bulkthermal,thenew formulationpresentedhere(i)considersathermalsizedistributioninsteadof abulk thermal, (ii) provides a statistical lifting energy at cloud base, (iii) proposes a three-step trigger (appearance of clouds, inhibition crossing, and exceeding of a cross-section threshold), and (iv) includes a stochastic component. Here the complete implementation is presented, with its coupling to the thermal model used to treat shallow convectioninLMDZ5B.Theparameterizationistestedovervariouscasesinasingle-columnmodelframework. A sensitivity study to each parameter introduced is also carried out. The impact of the new triggering is then evaluated in the single-column version of LMDZ on several case studies and in full 3D simulations. It is found that the new triggering (i) delays deep convection triggering, (ii) suppresses it over oceanic trade wind cumulus zones, (iii) increases the low-level cloudiness, and (iv) increases the convective variability. The scale-aware nature of this parameterization is also discussed.
The class gal code for Relativistic Cosmological Large Scale Structure

We present accurate and efficient computations of large scale structure observables, obtained with a modified version of the class code which is made publicly available. This code includes all relativistic corrections and computes both the power spectrum C`(z1, z2) and the corresponding correlation function ξ(θ, z1, z2) of the matter density and the galaxy number fluctuations in linear perturbation theory. For Gaussian initial perturbations, these quantities contain the full information encoded in the large scale matter distribution at the level of linear perturbation theory. We illustrate the usefulness of our code for cosmological parameter estimation through a few simple examples.
A systematic review of epidemiological studies on the association between smokeless tobacco use and coronary heart disease

A systematic review was conducted of epidemiological studies focusing on the association between smokeless tobacco (SLT) use and coronary heart disease (CHD) in order to summarize the evidence and to identify scope for further study in South Asian countries. PubMed and ISI Web of Science databases were searched to find epidemiological studies (cohort, case-control and cross-sectional) published until 27 October, 2011. The search revealed 592 relevant references, from which 18 epidemiological studies were selected. Among the 18 studies, 11 studies were conducted in Sweden, 4 in the USA, 1 in India, 1 in Bangladesh, and 1 study was multi-centric involving 52 countries. Twelve studies included only men and six studies included both sexes. Three studies used South Asian SLT products. Nine studies found no statistically significant positive association between SLT use and CHD, while nine studies did find a positive association. Results of these studies differed according to age, gender, and SLT constituents. Currently published research does not provide conclusive evidence regarding the association between SLT use and CHD. SLT products and usage pattern in South Asia differ from those in Western settings, and cannot be extrapolated immediately to South Asian settings.
Affine-compact functors

Abstract Several well known polytopal constructions are examined from the functorial point of view. A naive analogy between the Billera–Sturmfels fiber polytope and the abelian kernel is disproved by an infinite explicit series of polytopes. A correct functorial formula is provided in terms of an affine-compact substitute of the abelian kernel. The dual cokernel object is almost always the natural affine projection. The Mond–Smith–van Straten space of sandwiched simplices, useful in stochastic factorizations, leads to a different kind of affine-compact functors and new challenges in polytope theory.