Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
HCI in the press: online public reactions to mass media portrayals of HCI research

HCI researchers working in publically funded institutions are increasingly encouraged to engage the public in their research. Mass media is often seen as an effective medium with which to communicate research to large parts of the population. We present an account of three HCI projects that have used engagements with mass media in order to communicate research to the public. We describe the motivations for working with mass media and the mechanics of writing press releases. A grounded theory analysis of online public responses to the projects in the mass media leads us to identify a number of concerns about how research is portrayed by news outlets and thus interpreted by the public. Tensions about technologies and wider societal issues were revealed that might normally be hidden when using traditional user-centred methods. We critically reflect on the efficacy of using the mass media in research and provide guidance for HCI researchers wishing to engage in dialogues with the public in the future.
Bid price control and dynamic pricing in clouds

The term Cloud Computing represents a paradigm for offering different kind of Web services, which can be dynamically developed, composed and deployed on virtualized infrastructure. This work will extend the concepts known from the revenue management to the specific case of Cloud Computing and propose two models, bid price control and a variant of dynamic pricing, that will compete with the commonly used static pricing. Both models will try to maximize revenues by controlling the availability or price of every offered fare class. The aim is to understand from a Cloud Computing company’s perspective, how decisions about the pricing and the optimal allocation of the given resources for the various Cloud Services can be supported. As expected, simulation results show that an optimally adjusted dynamic pricing model will outperform any pricing model with static prices and will simultaneously contribute to slightly smoother resource utilization in some cases. However, we will see that the adjustment itself is difficult to realize, and if conducted suboptimal, it may also have certain disadvantages compared to static prices. In combination with a reasonable product differentiation, the bid-price method performed very solid and in nearly any case better than the pure static pricing model.
Large population stochastic dynamic games: closed-loop McKean-Vlasov systems and the Nash certainty equivalence principle

Abstract. We consider stochastic dynamic games in large population conditions where multiclass agents are weakly coupled via their individual dynamics and costs. We approach this large population game problem by the so-called Nash Certainty Equivalence (NCE) Principle which leads to a decentralized control synthesis. The McKean-Vlasov NCE method presented in this paper has a close connection with the statistical physics of large particle systems: both identify a consistency relationship between the individual agent (or particle) at the microscopic level and the mass of individuals (or particles) at the macroscopic level. The overall game is decomposed into (i) an optimal control problem whose Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation determines the optimal control for each individual and which involves a measure corresponding to the mass effect, and (ii) a family of McKean-Vlasov (M-V) equations which also depend upon this measure. We designate the NCE Principle as the property that the resulting scheme is consistent (or soluble), i.e. the prescribed control laws produce sample paths which produce the mass effect measure. By construction, the overall closed-loop behaviour is such that each agent’s behaviour is optimal with respect to all other agents in the game theoretic Nash sense.
Answers with Consistent Support

This paper describes a Ph.D. project addressing the problem of computing query answers from an inconsistent database. Given a database instance and a set of integrity constraints, we say that an atom is a answer with consistent support to a query if the atom is an answer on some consistent subset of the data. This notion of an answer is based on a “credulous” query semantics. It avoids answers that arise only from inconsistent subsets of the data; but, at the same time, it admits justifiable answers that do not persist under all reasonable repairs of the data. In this paper, we show that the problem of producing query answers with consistent support has non-polynomial query complexity but polynomial data complexity. We provide an algorithm for rewriting queries such that for any database instance, the standard answers to the rewritten query are exactly the answers with consistent support to the original query.
The AC-3 Multichannel Coder

This paper describes the operation of the AC-3 multichannel adaptive transform coder. Coding a multiplicity of channels as a single entity is more efficient that coding individual channels, permitting a lower net data rate. The major processing blocks of the AC-3 coder are presented and discussed, along with the underlying psychoacoustic principles. Strengths and limitations of the coding techniques are cited.
Finite element method design and analysis of a MEMS comb drive

The purpose of this paper is to determine an optimum design for a DC-actuated, jagged-edge shaped comb drive incorporable in micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) as gripper actuator for micro-robotics domain precise manipulation. The commercial Comsol Multiphysics software based on finite element method (FEM) was used to carry out all the simulations in the 2D domain. Several geometries were analyzed here, starting with the design having a minimum and maximum gap distances between fingers of 3 and 7 μm, wich complies with the Multi-User MEMS Process (MUMPs). Comb displacement with respect to actuation voltage and electrostatic force acting upon the movable comb teeth as a function of finger displacement were plotted and compared to all the designs.
The appearance of impropriety : how the ethics wars have undermined American government, business, and society

For two decades, Americans have engaged in a vast campaign to clean up our ethical act in politics, in the workplace, and in local communities. We have crafted a mountain of regulations, created vast networks of committees and consultants, and become accustomed to speaking of such taboos as "conflicts of interest" and "the appearance of impropriety. " Perhaps one statistic says it best: Corporations currently spend over $1 billion per year on ethics consultants. Yet at the same time, our confidence that politicians and businesspeople will "do the right thing" has dropped to an all-time low. Our ethics efforts have failed. As Peter Morgan and Glenn Reynolds entertainingly and devastatingly describe, we have made legitimate ethical concerns into absurd standards, and wielded our moral whims like dangerous weapons. The Appearance of Impropriety offers a bracing antidote for executives, group leaders, and anyone in public life: A reminder of some basic rules of good conduct that must be taken back from the pundits and bureaucrats that surround us.
Measures and LMI for impulsive optimal control with applications to space rendezvous problems

This paper shows how to find lower bounds on, and sometimes solve globally, a large class of nonlinear optimal control problems with impulsive controls using semi-definite programming (SDP). This is done by relaxing an optimal control problem into a measure differential problem. The manipulation of the measures by their moments reduces the problem to a convergent series of standard linear matrix inequality (LMI) relaxations, each giving a lower bound on the global infimum of the original problem. The case of the impulsive rendezvous of two orbiting spacecrafts is then treated. Global optimality of the solutions can be guaranteed numerically by a posteriori simulations, and we can recover simultaneously the optimal impulse time and amplitudes by simple linear algebra.
Safety and immunogenicity of inactivated poliovirus vaccine made from Sabin strains: a phase II, randomized, positive-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND The production of Sabin inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) can reduce biosafety requirements in the posteradication/post-oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) era. We conducted a phase II, randomized, positive-controlled trial to assess the safety and immunogenicity of Sabin IPV. METHODS The test groups (A, B, and C) received 3 doses of high, middle, and low D antigen (D Ag) of Sabin IPV at ages 2, 3, and 4 months, respectively. Infants in 2 control groups, group D and group E, received 3 doses of trivalent OPV and conventional IPV (cIPV), respectively, on the same schedule as that of groups A, B, and C. Serum samples were collected before and 30 days after the administration of the third dose. RESULTS In total, 500 infants were randomly assigned to 5 groups, and 449 infants completed the vaccine series. No serious adverse events were associated with vaccinations. After 3 doses, the seroconversion rates in groups A, B, C, D, and E were 100%, 97.8%, 96.6%, 100%, and 90.1%, respectively, for type 1 poliovirus; 97.7%, 95.7%, 78.7%, 100%, and 90.1%, respectively, for type 2; and 98.8%, 98.9%, 93.3%, 100%, and 97.8%, respectively, for type 3. CONCLUSIONS Sabin IPV has good safety characteristics. The seroconversion rates for type 1 poliovirus (most appropriate concentration, 15 D Ag units [DU]), type 2 (32 DU), and type 3 (45 DU) Sabin IPV were similar to those of the OPV and cIPV control groups. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION NCT01056705.
A methodology for development of a model warehouse for identifying innovative services in academic libraries

This study is part of a larger project that ultimately aims to enhance effectiveness and relevance of academic libraries in today's ubiquitous and highly networked environments. The current study asserts that management of customer knowledge, enabled by appropriate customer knowledge taxonomy, will potentially lead to both enhancements in the current customer services as well as identification and design of new and innovative customer services in general, and in academic libraries in particular. As the first stage of the larger project, the present study provides a high-level methodology for development of a model warehouse as a precursor for attainment of the above higher goal using the theoretical perspective of knowledge management. Findings of the current study are expected to benefit knowledge-based organizations that may already have implemented some kind of customer relationship management system with an accumulation of associated historic customer data.
Wirkung föderaler Strukturen in der staatlichen Innovationsförderung

Public innovation support claims to reach out to firms facing barriers to innovate, especially smaller firms. Earlier studies showed that governmental programmes do not fulfil those aims. But the distinctions between different political levels introducing programmes are rarely analysed. The project therefore analyses the different characteristics of firms supported by either the regional, national or European level and connects it with the literature and evidence on federalism. The evaluation first uses the Mannheim Innovation Panel for empirical evidence in Germany and later the Community Innovation Survey for empirical evidence in Europe. Findings show that the three different levels of support reach firms with different characteristics. The regional level in federal and semi-federal countries reaches SMEs as firms with barriers to innovate, significantly better than other levels. But the effectiveness of the public innovation support framework is questionable after the analysis. Therefore a conflict of aims between a broader variety of firms and a more effective innovation framework has to be considered by policy makers.
An Introduction to Parallel Control and Management for High-Speed Railway Systems

This paper introduces a framework of parallel control and management for high-speed railway systems (HRSs). First, based on multiagent modeling, an artificial HRS that is consistent with realistic operations of the actual HRS is constructed. Then, different kinds of computational experiments are performed on the artificial HRS, followed by analysis and synthesis with a case. Finally, through an interactive and parallel operation between the actual and artificial HRSs, a set of practical control and management strategies can be achieved for the actual HRS. With the primary objective of ensuring reliability and safety of HRSs, this study could enhance the quality of services and the integrated transportability with other existing modes of transportation systems to provide appropriate recommendations and strategies for forming an overall effective comprehensive transportation system.
A Virtual Evaluation Track for Cross Language Link Discovery

The Wikipedia has become the most popular online source of encyclopedic information. The English Wikipedia collection, as well as some other languages collections, is extensively linked. However, as a multilingual collection the Wikipedia is only very weakly linked. There are few cross-language links or cross-dialect links (see, for example, Chinese dialects). In order to link the multilingual-Wikipedia as a single collection, automated cross language link discovery systems are needed – systems that identify anchor-texts in one language and targets in another. The evaluation of Link Discovery approaches within the English version of the Wikipedia has been examined in the INEX Linkthe-Wiki track since 2007, whilst both CLEF and NTCIR emphasized the investigation and the evaluation of cross-language information retrieval. In this position paper we propose a new virtual evaluation track: Cross Language Link Discovery (CLLD). The track will initially examine cross language linking of Wikipedia articles. This virtual track will not be tied to any one forum; instead we hope it can be connected to each of (at least): CLEF, NTCIR, and INEX as it will cover ground currently studied by each. The aim is to establish a virtual evaluation environment supporting continuous assessment and evaluation, and a forum for the exchange of research ideas. It will be free from the difficulties of scheduling and synchronizing groups of collaborating researchers and alleviate the necessity to travel across the globe in order to share knowledge. We aim to electronically publish peer-reviewed publications arising from CLLD in a similar fashion: online, with open access, and without fixed submission deadlines.
Fast algorithms to solve the Dantzig selector

The Dantzig selector is a linear regression model which aims to sparsely represent a response vector by regressors. This paper introduces two fast algorithms which solve the Dantzig selector. One algorithm is linearized alternating direction method (LADMM) which utilizes the separable structure to solve the Dantzig selector; another is a variant of Dantzig selector with sequential optimization (DASSO) which utilizes the sparsity prior to solve the Dantzig selector. We numerically compare the two algorithms on standard data sets, and show that taking advantage of properties of the problem itself enables designing fast algorithms.
Corporate Governance impact on the development of microfinance organizations : what should be taken into account ?

There are different ways of studying the development of microfinance organizations. Most of the time, people will adopt one of them based on what is their true objective. In some cases, this will mean focussing on the social impact ; in others, it will mean focussing on the financial and/or operational management ; in others still, it will mainly be related to the study of the complementarity aspects existing between the services provided – being financial or not – the institutionalization potential of the organization. In this paper, this won’t be the case. Indeed, in order to favor the debate, we have decided to deal with the future of the microfinance field, not so much by emphasizing such or such type of organization, but much more through a presentation of the corporate governance issues that constraint the options that the various types of organizations have when they deal with their own development.
Towards a selfie social network with automatically generated sentiment-bearing hashtags

Web 2.0 has witnessed increased focus on more user generated content and eventually on data analyzed and queried in meaningful ways. Selfies, a new form of user-generated content, have become an important part of the visual communication in social media. A large portion of images posted on some social networks are selfies. Behind each of these selfies lie the sentiments of the person in the photo posted. The authors of this paper believe that adding quantified sentiment indicators to these selfies can be a valuable addition to not only the social network users but also to the many networks already in existence. Motivated by the idea, the authors propose an addition to social networks that automatically captures the sentiments expressed in selfies as they are being posted. The captured sentiments are then presented along with the selfies' on the users' timeline. In this research, the authors propose Momented, a selfie social network. Momented works by tracking the sentiments expressed in the selfies posted on the Momented social network. Based on the emotions tracked from a particular selfie, the system automatically generates sentiment bearing hashtags. Tthe selfie along with the automatically generated hash tags are posted on the user's dashboard timeline.
AI-planning in a mobile autonomous robot with degraded software capabilities

Experience has shown that a major obstacle towards real autonomy of mobile robots is the occurrence of unexpected faults at runtime. While past research has mainly focused on the hardware, we have developed methods for the localization and repair of faulty software components at runtime. However, as it is often not possible to autonomously repair failed components, the deliberative layer of the control system should be aware of the lost capabilities of the system and adapt its decision-making. In this paper we present an AIplanning system for an autonomous soccer robot. We model the abstract capabilities of the control system, and we show how the planning system infers the available capabilities from the results obtained by the runtime diagnosis. We augment action preconditions with capability requirements, and we propose a method which allows to dynamically determine the sensing capabilities required for monitoring of plans.
Influence of network delay and jitter on cooperation in multiplayer games

Like most applications deployed on the Internet, modern multiplayer games are subject to the impact of transmission delays and the variability thereof. These delays can be introduced either by the physical limitations of signal transmission speed or overload and queuing problems in intermediate nodes. The influence of this delay is far-reaching and impacts most interactive applications. More specifically, quantitative and qualitative studies have been conducted on competitive game genres, such as first person shooter and racing games. In contrast, this work investigates how network delay affects player experience in cooperative games, where players have to interact with shared objects and obstacles. In this game genre, one might expect an increased sensitivity to detrimental network factors due to the reliance on the (near-)perfect synchronization of actions between participants. In this paper, a series of consecutive user tests were carried out with one of the most recent games, Little Big Planet 2; which focuses primarily on the cooperative aspect. Analysis has shown that delays over 100 ms significantly decrease player performance and the way in which network quality is perceived. At the same time jitter negatively affects user performance, though players do not perceive this impairment as disturbing.
The Social Shaping of Packaged Software Selection

As organisations increasingly engage in the selection, purchase, and adoption of packaged software products, how these activities are carried out in practice becomes increasingly relevant for researchers and practitioners. Our focus in this paper is to propose a framework for understanding the packaged software selection process. The functionalist literature on this area of study suggests a number of generic recommendations, which are based on rational assumptions about the process and view the decision making that takes place as producing the “best technology solution. ’” To explore this, we conducted a longitudinal, in-depth study of packaged software selection in a small organisation. For interpretation of the case, we draw upon the Social Construction of Technology, a theoretical framework arguing that technology is socially constituted and regarding the process of development as contradictory and uncertain. We offer a number of contributions. First, we further our understanding of packaged software selection with the critique that we offer of the functionalist literature, drawing insights from the emerging critical/constructivist literature and expanding our domain of interest to encompass the wider environment. Second, we weave this together with our experiences in the field, drawing on social constructivism for theoretical support, to develop a framework of packaged software selection that shows how various actors shape the process.
Voice Recognition Algorithms using Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficient (MFCC) and Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) Techniques

Abstract — Digital processing of speech signal and voice recognition algorithm is very important for fast and accurate automatic voice recognition technology. The voice is a signal of infinite information. A direct analysis and synthesizing the complex voice signal is due to too much information contained in the signal. Therefore the digital signal processes such as Feature Extraction and Feature Matching are introduced to represent the voice signal. Several methods such as Liner Predictive Predictive Coding (LPC), Hidden Markov Model (HMM), Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and etc are evaluated with a view to identify a straight forward and effective method for voice signal. The extraction and matching process is implemented right after the Pre Processing or filtering signal is performed. The non-parametric method for modelling the human auditory perception system, Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCCs) are utilize as extraction techniques. The non linear sequence alignment known as Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) introduced by Sakoe Chiba has been used as features matching techniques. Since it’s obvious that the voice signal tends to have different temporal rate, the alignment is important to produce the better performance.This paper present the viability of MFCC to extract features and DTW to compare the test patterns.
Paraguay: Corruption, Reform, and the Financial System

This publication examines the long-standing problems of corruption in Paraguay and its economic effects. It considers how these institutional problems have contributed to the country's long-term economic underperformance and options for addressing these problems drawing from international best practices. Issues discussed include: financial crises and private sector credit, reform of the Caja Fiscal, equilibrium real exchange rate, terms of trade and regional factors.