Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Container Based Video Surveillance Cloud Service with Fine-Grained Resource Provisioning

Many current video surveillance cloud platforms are built based on Virtual Machine (VM) technology that usually induces the loss of service performance and brings some challenges in the service management agility. In addition, the efficient resource provisioning for the heterogeneous video services is also a challenging issue in such a dynamic and shared cloud environment. In this paper, we firstly design a novel video surveillance cloud platform that employs the lightweight container technology and is defined according to the ITU standards. Our platform can provide a flexible and reconfigurable video microservice management environment with the high service capacity. Secondly, we propose a predictive fine-grained resource provisioning approach that can periodically predict the future workload and perform the proactive resource supply for the video microservices in the cloud. Our approach utilizes the service similarity matching and the time-series nearest neighbor regression to efficiently predict the future resource requirements, and dynamically optimizes the usage of resources based on predictive results while ensuring quality of service. Finally, we implement the proposed platform, and conduct the extensive experiments. The experimental results indicate that the proposed solution provides the higher service deployment density, accurately predicts the resource demands and significantly improves the resource utilization.
Parallel generational garbage collection

With the advent of parallel systems, opportunities for efficiency exist that have yet to be exploited, especially in the area of garbage collection. In this paper, a parallel generational garbage collection algorithm is presented that extends previous work by exploiting opportunities for parallelism in the garbage collection process itself. A prototype implementation of the parallel generational collector was developed and its execution simulated to determine its efficiency. For a certain class of programs, the parallel generational collector performed up to 67% less copying than a parallel copy collector and reduced elapsed times up to an additional 12%; corresponding reductions in overhead for the ongoing program were also observed.
Evaluation of the Ant Routing Algorithm in Wireless Ad-hoc Networks

— Mobile ad-hoc routing plays a fundamental role in wireless ad-hoc networks due to the difficulty of finding and maintaining a path in these highly dynamic networks. Swarm intelligence algorithms have been developed and adopted in these environments. This paper enhances the Ant Routing Algorithm by using reverse information to perform route maintenance in order to take into account the path traffic conditions. Simulation and experimental results are presented.
Web-based e-catalog systems in B2B procurement

E lectronic commerce (EC) has many possible definitions [1, 4, 6]; we define it as the use of electronic systems in the exchange of goods/services/information. There are two major divisions of EC on the Internet: consumer-oriented electronic commerce (CEC) and business-to-business oriented electronic commerce (BEC). Of the two, BEC is expected to grow more rapidly—from $114 billion in 1999 to $1.5 trillion in 2004 [5]. Electronic catalogs have become the entry point for both CEC and BEC and as such represent much of what is expected of EC. The benefits of e-catalogs for both
Combined Preemption and Queuing Schemes for Admission Control of a Wireless Emergency Network

Preemption is a possible way to ensure emergency traffic’s priority in wireless network. But a pure preemption policy can be especially harsh to low priority calls. A way to improve this is introducing a queuing mechanism, which means putting preempted calls into a queue so that they can resume when channels become available, as long as they do not give up due to waiting too long in the queue. Also, we bring out a single preemption scheme, to avoid calls being preempted multiple times. The analytical results for performance analysis of these methods are given, and based on them the performance of different schemes are evaluated and compared.
Adaptive playout mechanisms for packetized audio applications in wide-area networks

Recent interest in supporting packet-audio applications over wide area networks has been fueled by the availability of low-cost, toll-quality workstation audio and the demonstration that limited amounts of interactive audio can be supported by today's Internet. In such applications, received audio packets are buffered, and their playout delayed at the destination host in order to compensate for the variable network delays. The authors investigate the performance of four different algorithms for adaptively adjusting the playout delay of audio packets in an interactive packet-audio terminal application, in the face of such varying network delays. They evaluate the playout algorithms using experimentally-obtained delay measurements of audio traffic between several different Internet sites. Their results indicate that an adaptive algorithm which explicitly adjusts to the sharp, spike-like increases in packet delay which were observed in the traces can achieve a lower rate of lost packets for both a given average playout delay and a given maximum buffer size. <<ETX>>
A system for analyzing criminal social networks

The influential members of a criminal organization are usually targeted by criminal investigators for removal or surveillance. Identifying and capturing these influential members will most likely to disrupt the organization. We propose in this paper a forensic analysis system called CLDRI that can identify the most influential members of a criminal organization. First, a network representing a criminal organization is built from Mobile Communication Data that belongs to the organization. In such a network, a vertex represents an individual criminal and an edge represents the communication attempts between two criminals. CLDRI employs formulas that quantify the degree of importance of each vertex in the network relative to all other vertices. We present these formulas through series of improvement refinements. All the formulas incorporate novel-weighting schemes for the edges of networks. We evaluated the quality of CLDRI by comparing it experimentally with two systems. Results showed improvement.
Assortative mating for human height: A meta‐analysis

The study of assortative mating for height has a rich history in human biology. Although the positive correlation between the stature of spouses has often been noted in western populations, recent papers suggest that mating patterns for stature are not universal. The objective of this paper was to review the published evidence to examine the strength of and universality in assortative mating for height.
Accurate, Fast and Cost-Effective Diagnostic Test for Monosomy 1p36 Using Real-Time Quantitative PCR

Monosomy 1p36 is considered the most common subtelomeric deletion syndrome in humans and it accounts for 0.5–0.7% of all the cases of idiopathic intellectual disability. The molecular diagnosis is often made by microarray-based comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH), which has the drawback of being a high-cost technique. However, patients with classic monosomy 1p36 share some typical clinical characteristics that, together with its common prevalence, justify the development of a less expensive, targeted diagnostic method. In this study, we developed a simple, rapid, and inexpensive real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay for targeted diagnosis of monosomy 1p36, easily accessible for low-budget laboratories in developing countries. For this, we have chosen two target genes which are deleted in the majority of patients with monosomy 1p36: PRKCZ and SKI. In total, 39 patients previously diagnosed with monosomy 1p36 by aCGH, fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), and/or multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) all tested positive on our qPCR assay. By simultaneously using these two genes we have been able to detect 1p36 deletions with 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity. We conclude that qPCR of PRKCZ and SKI is a fast and accurate diagnostic test for monosomy 1p36, costing less than 10 US dollars in reagent costs.
The Random forest approach for land cover mapping

In this paper, we proposed a new random forest algorithm designed specifically for the land cover mapping problem. Three approaches are investigated, namely, pixel-based, neighbor-looking and combination of both. In the pixel-based approach, we use the fact that all decision trees are different whereas, in the neighbor-looking, the decisions from neighboring pixels are used when the decisions from the Random forest is not clear. Our results on simulated and actual data set showed that our new RF approaches outperformed the traditional one.
Comparative study of camshift and KLT algorithms for real time face detection and tracking applications

Face detection and tracking is one of the emerging research areas in the image analysis and computer vision systems. This face detection and tracking helps local security forces to investigate crime incidents. This paper describes a face tracking framework that is capable of tracking a face in real time rapidly frame by frame. Camshift algorithm and KLT algorithm implemented and a comparison study between these two algorithms has been described in this paper. A real time video is experimented using these two algorithms for face detection and tracking. The experimental results show that the KLT algorithm performance is better than the Camshift algorithm in detecting the face and tracking the face. In this article it has been shown how the KLT algorithm proved to be better tracking algorithm than Camshift algorithm.
C ∗ -algebras over topological spaces: the bootstrap class

We carefully define and study C � -algebras over topological spaces, possibly non- Hausdorff, and review some relevant results from point-set topology along the way. We explain the triangulated category structure on the bivariant Kasparov theory over a topo- logical space and study the analogue of the bootstrap class for C � -algebras over a finite topological space.
Biomarker-adaptive threshold design: a procedure for evaluating treatment with possible biomarker-defined subset effect.

BACKGROUND Many molecularly targeted anticancer agents entering the definitive stage of clinical development benefit only a subset of treated patients. This may lead to missing effective agents by the traditional broad-eligibility randomized trials due to the dilution of the overall treatment effect. We propose a statistically rigorous biomarker-adaptive threshold phase III design for settings in which a putative biomarker to identify patients who are sensitive to the new agent is measured on a continuous or graded scale. METHODS The design combines a test for overall treatment effect in all randomly assigned patients with the establishment and validation of a cut point for a prespecified biomarker of the sensitive subpopulation. The performance of the biomarker-adaptive design, relative to a traditional design that ignores the biomarker, was evaluated in a simulation study. The biomarker-adaptive design was also used to analyze data from a prostate cancer trial. RESULTS In the simulation study, the biomarker-adaptive design preserved the power to detect the overall effect when the new treatment is broadly effective. When the proportion of sensitive patients as identified by the biomarker is low, the proposed design provided a substantial improvement in efficiency compared with the traditional trial design. Recommendations for sample size planning and implementation of the biomarker-adaptive design are provided. CONCLUSIONS A statistically valid test for a biomarker-defined subset effect can be prospectively incorporated into a randomized phase III design without compromising the ability to detect an overall effect if the intervention is beneficial in a broad population.
Pseudo green's functions and waveform tomography

Retrieving source characteristics for moderate-sized earthquakes in sparsely instrumented regions has been made possible in recent years, through the modeling of waveforms at regional distances. The techniques used in such studies model waveforms successfully at long period, using Green's functions for simple 1D crustal models. For small earthquakes (M < 4), however, long-period signals are usually noisy, and modeling short-period waveforms requires refined Green's functions such as used in the empirical Green's function (eGf) approach. In this article, we present a new technique that generates such Green's functions by perturbing individual generalized ray responses calculated from a 1D model. The model is divided into blocks, and velocities in the blocks are allowed to vary, which shifts the arrival time of the individual rays similar to conventional tomography. The amplitudes of the rays are perturbed independently to accommodate local velocity variations in the structure. For moderate-sized earthquakes with known source mechanism and time history, the velocity variation in each block and the amplification factor for individual rays can be optimized using a simulated annealing algorithm. The resulting modified Green's functions, pseudo Green's functions (pGfs), can be used to study the relative location and characteristics of neighboring events. The method is also useful in retrieving 2D structure, which is essentially waveform tomography.
Power optimization in multi-processor systems

In modern computing system, processor technology has evolved tremendously with ever increasing processor frequency and number of processors cores. With better performance, more power is utilized. This research focuses on manipulating processor frequency, taking advantage of frequency scaling feature and combining with processor affinity to optimize power consumption in processors, with the objective to propose a power optimization algorithm. Various test scenarios and test cases are presented to confirm and support the power optimization algorithm using frequency scaling and processor affinity with the optimum configuration.
Robust homing for autonomous robots

In autonomous exploration tasks, robots usually rely on a SLAM system to build a map of the environment online and then use it for navigation purposes. Although there has been substantial progress in robustly building accurate maps, these systems cannot guarantee the consistency of the resulting environment model. In this paper, we address the problem of robustly guiding a robot back to its starting location after exploring an unknown environment-even if the mapping system fails to produce a consistent map. To tackle this problem, we propose a two-step procedure. First, we check if the current map is consistent using a statistical test. If the map is consistent, we navigate the robot back to its starting location using a standard navigation system. In case of an inconsistent map, however, we propose to rewind the trajectory from the current location to the start without relying on a map. We implemented the proposed system in ROS and showcase its effectiveness on an autonomous exploration robot in real underground and office environments.
Radiation budget estimates over Africa and surrounding oceans: inter-annual comparisons

Three independent datasets of Radiation Budget at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) spanning two decades are compared: the Scanner Narrow Field of View data (from ERBE, ScaRaB, and CERES instruments, 1985–2005), the ERBS Nonscanner Wide Field of View data (1985–1998) and the simulated broadband fluxes from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP-FD, 1983–2004). The analysis concerns the shortwave (SW) reflected flux, the longwave (LW) emitted flux and the net flux at the Top Of the Atmosphere (TOA) over Africa and the surrounding oceans (45° S–45° N/60° W–60° E), a region particularly impacted by climate variability. For each month, local anomalies are computed with reference to the average over this large region, and their differences between the 2002–2005 and 1985–1989 periods are analysed. These anomalies are, for a large part, independent on the general observed trends (about 2.5 W m −2 per decade), which may be affected by possible calibration drifts. Although the regional flux anomalies can be related to calibration through the scene identification and the choice of the anisotropy correction, this effect is limited if the calibration drifts remains reasonable. Large inter-annual variations are observed locally. Over a part of the South East Atlantic (35°–10° S/10° W–10° E), including the marine low cloud area off Angola, there is a decrease of the yearly means of net flux estimated to 2.2, 3 and 6 W m −2 respectively for the Scanner, Nonscanner and ISCPP-FD data. Over a narrow strip of the Sahel Zone, the net flux increases by about 5 W m −2 . We believe that these observations are real. They could be due to the impact of calibration drift but only if the drifts were significant (>4%) and correlated between the datasets, which is highly improbable.
Implementation of RBAC in Health Care Adhoc Networks

As adhoc networks are becoming popular for a variety of applications, so are the issues engulfing their implementations. In this paper, we describe a health care application in an area where normal network connectivity is not available hence adhoc networking of small scale health care units and corresponding devices become necessary. We discuss how different roles of such units can be framed to facilitate RBAC conformant access. Further, we propose XML implementation of such access control within a typical health care environment .
The qualitative content analysis process.

AIM This paper is a description of inductive and deductive content analysis. BACKGROUND Content analysis is a method that may be used with either qualitative or quantitative data and in an inductive or deductive way. Qualitative content analysis is commonly used in nursing studies but little has been published on the analysis process and many research books generally only provide a short description of this method. DISCUSSION When using content analysis, the aim was to build a model to describe the phenomenon in a conceptual form. Both inductive and deductive analysis processes are represented as three main phases: preparation, organizing and reporting. The preparation phase is similar in both approaches. The concepts are derived from the data in inductive content analysis. Deductive content analysis is used when the structure of analysis is operationalized on the basis of previous knowledge. CONCLUSION Inductive content analysis is used in cases where there are no previous studies dealing with the phenomenon or when it is fragmented. A deductive approach is useful if the general aim was to test a previous theory in a different situation or to compare categories at different time periods.
The Neutrality of Massachusetts' Taxation of Financial Institutions

The provision of financial services has changed dramatically over the past two decades. Technological innovation and deregulation have extended providers' geographic range and broadened the array of products they are capable of delivering. These changes have intensified competition among financial service firms. In recent years Massachusetts, like other states, has passed legislation designed to narrow disparities among the tax burdens of these institutions. At the same time, the Commonwealth has passed tax cuts designed to enhance the competitiveness of Massachusetts-based financial institutions. Consequently, the degree to which the Commonwealth has actually leveled the tax playing field for them is unclear. This article attempts to resolve the issue. The author concludes that tax changes enacted in recent years have widened some disparities in tax treatment of Massachusetts-based financial institutions while narrowing others. Tax burdens on most Massachusetts-based financial institutions have been reduced, enhancing their competitive standing vis-a`-vis their out-of-state rivals. However, it is not clear that the Commonwealth has narrowed interindustry differences in tax burdens. ; The author proposes that in the interests of tax neutrality, fairness, and administrative simplicity, the Commonwealth might consider narrowing disparities in tax treatment among financial institutions. He believes that measures designed to reduce differences in tax burdens merit further attention.
Fundamental Discreteness Limitations of Cosmological N-Body Clustering Simulations

Fundamental physical considerations and past tests suggest that there may be a problem with discreteness error in N-body methods widely used in cosmological clustering studies. This could cause problems with accuracy when coupled to hydrodynamics codes. We therefore investigate some of the effects that discreteness and two-body scattering may have on N-body simulations with "realistic" cosmological initial conditions. We use an identical subset of particles from the initial conditions for a 1283 particle-mesh (PM) calculation as the initial conditions for a variety of particle-particle-particle mesh (P3M) and tree code runs. The force softening length and particle number in the P3M and tree code runs are varied, and results are compared with those of the PM run. In particular, we investigate the effect of mass resolution (or equivalently the mean interparticle separation) since most "high-resolution" codes only have high resolution in gravitational force, not in mass. We show the evolution of a wide variety of statistical measures. The phase-insensitive two-point statistics, P(k) and ξ(R), are affected by the number of particles when the force resolution is held constant and differ in different N-body codes with similar parameters and the same initial conditions. Phase-sensitive statistics show greater differences. Results converge at the mean interparticle separation scale of the lowest mass-resolution code. As more particles are added but the absolute scale of the force resolution is held constant, the P3M and the tree runs agree more and more strongly with each other and with the PM run that had the same initial conditions, suggesting that the time integration is converging. However, they do not particularly converge to a PM run that continued the power-law fluctuations to small scales. This suggests high particle density is necessary for correct time evolution, since many different results cannot all be correct. Our results showing the effect of the presence or absence of small-scale initial power suggest that leaving it out is a considerable source of error on comoving scales of the missing wavelengths, which can be resolved by putting in a high particle density. Since the codes never agree well on scales below the mean comoving interparticle separation, we find little justification to use results on these scales to make quantitative predictions in cosmology. The range of values found for some quantities spans 50%, but others, such as the amount of mass in high-density regions, can be off by a factor of 3 or more. Our results have strong implications for applications such as the density of galaxy halos, early generation objects such as QSO absorber clouds, etc.