Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
MR-Tree-A Scalable MapReduce Algorithm for Building Decision Trees

Learning decision trees against very large amounts of data is not practical on single node computers due to the huge amount of calculations required by this process. Apache Hadoop is a large scale distributed computing platform that runs on commodity hardware clusters and can be used successfully for data mining task against very large datasets. This work presents a parallel decision tree learning algorithm expressed in MapReduce programming model that runs on Apache Hadoop platform and has a very good scalability with dataset size.
Full-rank linear-chain NeuroCRF for sequence labeling

Inspired by the success of deep neural network-hidden Markov model (DNN-HMM) in acoustic modeling for automatic speech recognition, a number of researchers from various fields have independently proposed the idea of combining DNN and conditional random fields (CRFs). Despite their subtle differences, this class of models is collectively referred to as “NeuroCRF” in this paper. We focus our attention on applying a linear-chain NeuroCRF to the fundamental and ubiquitous problem of sequence labeling in natural language processing with distributed word representations. We question the necessity of previous works' use of the neural network to learn a low-rank emission feature matrix, added to a transition feature matrix. By modeling a full-rank feature matrix directly, we show that statistically significant gains can be achieved on the CoNLL-2000 syntactic chunking task, without harming performance on tasks with low dependencies between consecutive labels, such as the CoNLL-2003 named entity recognition task.
Response to “Seven Myths about Green Jobs” and “Green Jobs Myths”

In this working paper, Robert Pollin responds to critics who purport to debunk “myths” about recent studies on the employment effects of investments in the clean energy economy. These papers are written as a response to what they term the “rapidly gaining popularity” of four studies that attempt to show the employment gains that can emerge from investments in building a clean energy economy in the United States, including Green Recovery, co-published by the Center for American Progress and PERI. Overall, these papers offer no challenge to the central explanations as to how investing in the green economy will provide significant benefits throughout the U.S. economy.
Design of Fuzzy IMM Algorithm based on Basis Sub-models and Time-varying Mode Transition Probabilities

In the real system application, the interacting multiple model (IMM) based algorithm requires less computing resources as well as a good performance with respect to the various target maneuverings. And it further requires an easy design procedure in terms of its structures and parameters. To solve these problems, a fuzzy interacting multiple model (FIMM) algorithm, which is based on the basis sub-models defined by considering the maneuvering property and the time-varying mode transition probabilities designed by using the mode probabilities as inputs of a fuzzy decision maker, is proposed. To verify the performance of the proposed algorithm, airborne target tracking is performed. Simulation results show that the FIMM algorithm solves all problems in the real system application of the IMM based algorithm.
Upward-rightward planar drawings

Upward drawing is a widely studied drawing convention for the visual representation of directed graphs. In an upward drawing vertices are mapped to distinct points of the plane, and edges are curves monotonically increasing in the vertical direction, according to their orientation. In particular, not all planar digraphs admit an upward planar drawing (i.e., an upward drawing with no edge crossing), and testing whether a planar digraph is upward planar drawable is NP-hard. Furthermore, straight-line upward planar drawings may require exponential area. In this paper we study a relaxation of upward drawings, called upward-rightward drawings; in such a drawing for any directed path from a vertex u to a vertex v it must be that either v is above u or v is to the right of u. In contrast with upward planarity, we prove that every planar digraph admits an upward-rightward planar drawing with straight-line edges and that this drawing can be computed in linear time and polynomial area.
The Parallel Solution of ABD Systems Arising in Numerical Methods for BVPs for ODEs

Many commonly used numerical methods for the solution of Boundary Value Problems (BVPs) for Ordinary Di erential Equations (ODEs) contain signi cant components that can be parallelized easily, and recent investigations have shown that substantial speedups are attainable on machines with a modest number of processors. However, a stage in most of these methods is the numerical solution of an Almost Block Diagonal (ABD) system of linear algebraic equations. Several authors have proposed parallel algorithms for solving such systems; unfortunately most are potentially unstable or o er only limited parallelism. As a result, solving ABD systems has proven to be a bottleneck in the overall execution time of parallel BVP codes. In recent papers, Wright presents new stable parallel algorithms for solving ABD systems ([Wrig 90b] and [Wrig 91a]). Each algorithm attains the theoretically optimal speedup for the problem if enough processors are available, and each can be adapted for use on architectures with fewer than the optimal number of processors. The algorithms in x3 of this paper were discovered independently and are similar to those in [Wrig 90b] and [Wrig 91a]. Extensions to the basic algorithm are described which make better use of available processors during the decomposition stage in order to increase parallelism in the back-solve stage. A new algorithm based on eigenvalue rescaling is presented in x4 which can be up to twice as fast as the fastest algorithm in x3. Numerical experiments show that this new algorithm does not exhibit the instability inherent in some earlier schemes. In addition, some insight supporting the numerical evidence is given.
Measuring Claw Conformation in Cattle: Assessing the Agreement between Manual and Digital Measurement

Simple Summary Claw conformation is commonly measured in cattle. It can be measured at cow-side or, by using digital images, on a computer. This study compared, for five conformational features of the claw, measurements made directly from the hoof with those made from a digital image of the same claw. Of the five measures, only one, toe angle, had results where agreement was good enough for the two measurements to be used interchangeably. The variation in differences between the digital and manual results for the other four measures was too great for them to be used interchangeably. When measuring claw conformation, more attention needs to be paid to the method used and it should not just be assumed that a different technique would have produced the same result. Abstract Five measurements of claw conformation (toe angle, claw height, claw width, toe length and abaxial groove length) taken directly from the hoof were compared with the measurements taken from digital images of the same claws. Concordance correlation coefficients and limits-of-agreement analysis showed that, for four of the five measures (claw height, claw width, toe length and abaxial groove length), agreement was too poor for digital and manual measures to be used interchangeably. For all four of these measures, Liao’s modified concordance correlation coefficient (mCCC) was ≤0.4, indicating poor concordance despite Pearson’s correlation being >0.6 in all cases. The worst concordance was seen for toe length (mCCC = 0.13). Limits-of-agreement analysis showed that, for all four measures, there was a large variation in the difference between the manual and digital methods, even when the effect of mean on difference was accounted for, with the 95% limits-of-agreement for the four measures being further away from the mean difference than 10% of the mean in all four cases. The only one of the five measures with an acceptable concordance between digital and manual measurement was toe angle (mCCC = 0.81). Nevertheless, the limits-of-agreement analysis showed that there was a systematic bias with, on average, the manual measure of toe angle, being 2.1° smaller than the digital. The 95% limits-of-agreement for toe angle were ±3.4°, probably at the upper limit of what is acceptable. However, the lack of data on the variability of individual measurements of claw conformation means that it is unclear how this variability compares to measurement of toe angle in the same animal using the same or a different manual technique.
Exploring the dimensions of eco-feedback in the wild

This paper presents our efforts in understanding the long-term effects of eco-feedback devices. Our work argues that lack of long term in the wild studies is a missed opportunity to understand how these devices are used after the novelty wears off. We build on previous work that showed a significant decrease in user awareness after a short period with a relapse in consumption, with the presented studies we aimed to investigate if new forms of feedback could overcome this issue, maintaining the users awareness for longer periods of time.
Designing limited search algorithms for timeconstrained combinatorial optimization problemsJean

The objective of our work is the design of search algorithms for combi-natorial optimization problems with respect to time constraints. We rst analyse the diierent ways in which a search can be limited in order to identify the parameters for controlling the complexity of the algorithm. These parameters x the trade-oo between speed and completeness. Different strategies are then suggested in order to tune these parameters according to the time left. From a software engineering point of view a modeling language is required. We show the relevance of SaLSA by rst rewriting a number of limited search algorithms from the literature and then presenting our self-adjusting strategy in this language. Finally we report on experiments with a real-life application borrowed from the military domain.
Concepts á la modal: An extended review of Prinz's Furnishing the mind

In Furnishing the mind, Prinz defends a view of concept representation that assumes all representations are rooted in perception. This view is attractive, because it makes clear how concepts could be learned from experience in the world. In this paper, we discuss three limitations of the view espoused by Prinz. First, the central proposal requires more detail in order to support the claim that all representations are modal. Second, it is not clear that a theory of concepts must make a realist assumption. Third, the arguments focus on object categories that can be described by features, which are only one of many types of categories. Despite the flaws in the book, however, it clearly highlights a road that can be taken by those interested in defending an empiricist view of concepts.
Notice of RetractionAn algorithm for blind movement of nodes to improve network performance

Mobility of nodes is considered as the potential solution for improving Ad Hoc network performance, such as maintaining a specified network topology, improving the power efficiency, and enhancing signal-to-noise ratio at the receivers, etc. However, node movement consumes certain amount of energy, which is limited at nodes, and should be counted when optimizing the system performance. In this paper, a distributed adaptive movement control algorithm to optimize the performance and overall power of Ad Hoc networks is proposed. In this algorithm, the decision of node movement is adaptively made accordance with the receiving signal strength. The results show that the mobility control algorithm can be effective to improve the network connectivity and also the performance.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTER VISION SYSTEM (SAIF) FOR AUTOMATED INSPECTION OF GINSENG ROOTS QUALITY

Intelligent computer-vision system for automated inspection of food safety and quality (SAIF) developed on the basis of compact CCD camera with IEEE-1396 interface and configurable software (IMAQ TM 6.1, Lab VIEW 7.0) is presented. It offers an extensive set of optimized functions for advanced image acquisition, segmentation, feature extraction, data analysis, spatial measurement and calibration. It also includes the ability to set up complex pass/fail decisions in order to control digital I/O devices such as PLC. The system application for online inspection of ginseng root quality during drying was developed. Area shrinkage was continuously monitored through computer-vision system by extracting morphological features with thresholding and pixels counting. Colour changes were monitored through computer-vision system as surface color intensity. Relationships between image attributes and physical parameters of drying (shrinkage/moisture, color/quality) were used for online estimation of actual moisture content and quality degradation. Testing of system proved accuracy in estimation of ginseng quality and process parameters in multi-stage drying. The feasibility of SAIF as system observer for closed-loop control is discussed.
Boosting for feature selection for microarray data analysis

We have investigated the use of boosting techniques for feature selection for microarray data analysis. We propose a novel algorithm for feature selection and have tested it on three datasets. The results clearly show that our boosting technique for feature selection outperformed the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney U-test commonly used in microarray data analysis, and produced more accurate boosting ensembles when they were constructed with the features selected by our technique.
Precision-Controlled Retrieval of Qualitative Information from Databases Using Hierarchies

Can we retrieve objects from a database that are just close to a desired item? Can we control the retrieval process up to a given error? Can we define a semantic similarity between objects to be retrieved? The paper seeks for positive answers to these questions by using hierarchies. Sometimes, qualitative values can be arranged in a hierarchy, a tree with certain properties. Hierarchies allow the definitions of following constructs: the confusion conf(r, s) in using qualitative value r instead of the intended or correct value s (such as using ‘umbrella’ when ‘raincoat’ was intended); a predicate P that holds for object o within confusion , written P (o); the closeness of an object to a predicate (closeness of fit); how close or similar two objects are; predicate P (o), where the total (cumulative) error produced by object o is at most . These constructs are used in an extended SQL notation to retrieve, from a database, answers imperfectly fulfilling a predicate, up to a desired confusion (error). The extended SQL expression (a query) is automatically transformed to normal SQL, which then retrieves. It is shown how to extend any relational database for precision-controlled retrieval and updates. Examples are given.
Research Article Factors Associated with the Use of Drug-eluting Stents in Patients Presenting with Acute St-segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Background. Drug-eluting stents (DES) have proven clinical superiority to bare-metal stents (BMS) for the treatment of patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Decision to implant BMS or DES is dependent on the patient's ability to take dual antiplatelet therapy. This study investigated factors associated with DES placement in STEMI patients. Methods. Retrospective analysis was performed on 193 patients who presented with STEMI and were treated with percutaneous coronary intervention at an urban, tertiary care hospital. Independent factors associated with choice of stent type were determined using stepwise multivariate logistic regression. Odds ratio (OR) was used to evaluate factors significantly associated with DES and BMS. Results. 128 received at least one DES, while 65 received BMS. BMS use was more likely in the setting of illicit drug or alcohol abuse ([OR] 0.15, 95% CI 0.05–0.48, í µí± ≤ 0.01), cardiogenic shock (OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.10–0.73, í µí± = 0.01), and larger stent diameter (OR 0.28, 95% CI 0.11–0.68, í µí± ≤ 0.01). Conclusions. In this analysis, BMS implantation was associated with illicit drug or alcohol abuse and presence of cardiogenic shock. This study did not confirm previous observations that non-White race, insurance, or income predicts BMS use.
Lazy-RTGC: A Real-Time Lazy Garbage Collection Mechanism with Jointly Optimizing Average and Worst Performance for NAND Flash Memory Storage Systems

Due to many attractive and unique properties, NAND flash memory has been widely adopted in mission-critical hard real-time systems and some soft real-time systems. However, the nondeterministic garbage collection operation in NAND flash memory makes it difficult to predict the system response time of each data request. This article presents Lazy-RTGC, a real-time lazy garbage collection mechanism for NAND flash memory storage systems. Lazy-RTGC adopts two design optimization techniques: on-demand page-level address mappings, and partial garbage collection. On-demand page-level address mappings can achieve high performance of address translation and can effectively manage the flash space with the minimum RAM cost. On the other hand, partial garbage collection can provide the guaranteed system response time. By adopting these techniques, Lazy-RTGC jointly optimizes both the average and the worst system response time, and provides a lower bound of reclaimed free space. Lazy-RTGC is implemented in FlashSim and compared with representative real-time NAND flash memory management schemes. Experimental results show that our technique can significantly improve both the average and worst system performance with very low extra flash-space requirements.
An active strategy for plane detection and estimation with a monocular camera

Plane detection and estimation from visual data is a classical problem in robotic vision. In this work we propose a novel active strategy in which a monocular camera tries to determine whether a set of observed point features belongs to a common plane, and, if so, what are the associated plane parameters. The active component of the strategy imposes an optimized camera motion (as a function of the observed scene) able to maximize the convergence in estimating the scene structure. Based on this strategy, two methods are then proposed to solve the plane estimation task: a classical solution exploiting the homography constraint (and, thus, almost completely based on image correspondances across distant frames), and an alternative method fully taking advantage of the scene structure estimated incrementally during the camera motion. The two methods are extensively compared in several case studies by discussing the various pros/cons.
Regularized covariance estimation in scaled Gaussian models

We consider regularized covariance estimation in scaled Gaussian settings, e.g., Elliptical distributions, compound-Gaussian processes and spherically invariant random vectors. The classical maximum likelihood (ML) estimate due to Tyler is asymptotically optimal under different criteria and can be efficiently computed even though the optimization is non-convex. We propose a unified framework for regularizing this estimate in order to improve its finite sample performance. Our approach is based on the discovery of hidden convexity within the ML objective, namely convexity on the manifold of positive definite matrices. We regularize the problem using appropriately convex penalties. These allow for shrinkage towards the identity matrix, shrinkage towards a diagonal matrix, shrinkage towards a given positive definite matrix, and regularization of the condition number. We demonstrate the advantages of these estimators using numerical simulations.
Analyzing the System of Preferential Tariffs for Least Developed Countries

This paper analyzes the rents available from non‐reciprocal preferential tariffs for least developed countries (LDCs) on all exports to the quad countries at the tariff line level. Most of the rents come from the European Union (EU) in clothing and textiles, while the USA and Canada offer few rents and charge significant tariffs to LDCs. We develop a dual economy labor market model that generates an income distribution and simulates the distributional effects of preferences. We find that the benefits of the preferences outweigh any adverse distributional effects. Relative inequality may increase with preferences in some cases, but absolute incomes increase in every case. We conclude that in the absence of multilateral liberalization, preferences are beneficial to some LDCs and expansion of preferences is desirable. In the event of multilateral liberalization, an import subsidy scheme that maintains the rents is the most desirable outcome.
Effects of recombinant human interleukin-10 on Treg cells, IL-10 and TGF-β in transplantation of rabbit skin

The current study aimed to investigate the rejection and survival time of grafted skin, and the changes of Treg cells, interleukin 10 (IL-10) and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) in peripheral blood following skin transplantation with recombinant human interleukin-10 (rhIL-10) or cyclosporin A (CsA), as well as the role of IL-10 in immunological rejection mechanisms. A total of 36 rabbits were divided into two groups. The skin of a donor rabbit was transplanted onto the back of one receptor rabbit. Receptors were randomly divided into six groups, including rhIL-10 low-dose (5 μg/kg/d), rhIL-10 high-dose (10 μg/kg/d), CsA low-dose (5 mg/kg/d), CsA high-dose (10 mg/kg/d), rhIL-10 (5 μg/kg/d) and CsA (5 mg/kg/d) and negative control normal saline (NS; 1 ml/d). All groups received intramuscular drug injection for ten days, beginning one day prior to skin transplantation surgery. Following transplantation, each rabbit’s peripheral blood was collected at different times. The changes of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells, IL-10 and TGF-β were determined by flow cytometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. When compared with the control group, the rejection and survival times of the experimental groups were longer following skin graft. Compared with the two CsA groups and the control group, the proportion of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells of rhIL-10 groups was significantly upregulated on the 4th and 7th days following surgery. However, TGF-β levels were not significantly different. Data suggested that the concentration of IL-10 was positively correlated with the proportion of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells. In addition, IL-10 may delay the rejection time of rabbit skin transplantation and prolong the survival time. Thus, the role of IL-10 in inhibited allograft rejection may be associated with CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells and IL-10, and may be independent of TGF-β.
The WT10G dataset and the evolution of the web

The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, we study the evolution of the web based on data available from an earlier snapshot of the web and compare the results with those predicted in [2]. Secondly, we establish whether the WT10G dataset, a popular benchmark for the development and evaluation of internet based applications is appropriate for the tasks. Finally, is there a need for a collection of a new dataset for such purposes. The findings are that the appropriateness of using the popular WT10G dataset in recent Internet-based experiments is questionable and that there is a need for a new collection of dataset for development and evaluation purposes of algorithms related to Internet search engine developments.