Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Understanding Stories of Information Systems Failures

Information systems development failures are prevalent in many domains and countries. The aim of this paper is to explore some of the issues related to the study of such phenomena. Failure situations are not set-up in advance as the subject of studies. Analysing causes and relationship retrospectively depends on the ability to obtain rich and subjective contextual information that can be shed a light on the circumstances that precipitate failures. The paper makes the case for the use of case history and ante-narrative methods for understanding such scenarios.
A centroid matching approach for real time foreground segmentation and occlusion handling

Demand and need in public place security has been raised in recent years. There is a wide scope of work to make a full automated real time video surveillance system to make a public place much safe and secure. The outcome of the CCTV and other digital surveillance can be enhanced by using real time foreground segmentation and occlusion handling technique. The outcome is used to analyse the suspicious activity and objects having important concern in public place security. The video frame foreground extraction and object prediction with occlusion is one of the major challenges in real time. Researchers are working on some novel foreground extraction techniques facing occlusion like major challenge in foreground feature extraction. In this paper a new parameter centroid matching has been proposed to extract foreground using k-mean clustering. It helps to track moving, occluded and unattended object in real time video frame.
The Ex-ante and Ex-post Information of an Asset Return

If realized return is not the ex-post realization of the ex-ante expectation, can we use average realized return to estimate the expected return? In text books, the authors treat realized return as a sample of return. In this paper, we redefine realized return and the ex-post return, and we argue that realized return cannot be the sample of return. This paper is the first to explain the difference between ex-post and realized return, and we show the inability of the realized return to be the ex-post realization of the ex-ante expectation of return. In this paper we go back to the basic of the asset-pricing model, for example, and we focus on the reason behind the failure of realized return as an estimator for expected return. We show that, in general, realized return cannot be a sample of return and using the average realized return as the estimator for the expected return has been misleading over the years.
Biped locomotion strategy in humanoid robot navigation: A case of speed-up walk

This paper presents analysis to define efficient biped walking locomotion for contribution to the research in humanoid robot navigation. We focus in improvement of walking speed without changing the reduction-ratio at the joint-motor system. Three parameters are considered: step length, hip-joint height and duty-ratio. Analysis based on simulations and experiments utilizing biped humanoid robot Bonten-Maru II were conducted. In addition, analysis to define efficient joint trajectories and gait pattern were also performed. The simulation analysis and experimental results with Bonten-Maru II reveals good performance in biped locomotion to improve walking speed and travel distance of the humanoid robot compared with current walking condition.
Reducing SDRAM Energy Consumption in Embedded Systems

DRAM energy consumption in embedded systems can be very high, exceeding that of the data cache or even of the entire processor. This paper presents a scheme for reducing the energy consumption of SDRAM memory access by a combination of techniques that take advantage of SDRAM energy efficiencies in bank and row access. This is achieved by using small, cachelike structures in the memory controller to prefetch an additional cache block(s) on reads and to combine block writes to the same DRAM row. The results quantify the DRAM energy consumption of MiBench applications and demonstrate significant savings in both the DRAM energy consumption, an average of 23%, and the energy-delay product, an average of 44%. The approach also improves performance: the CPI is reduced by 26% on an average.
Combining MDE and UML to Reverse Engineer Web-Based Legacy Systems

The research in this paper focuses on an approach to reverse engineering Web-based legacy systems with the integration of model-driven engineering and UML. Three types of link-based models of Web-based legacy systems are presented. Web-based legacy systems are parsed to find judgement conditions of model, and UML diagrams are described based on the modelling rules.
2 0 D ec 2 00 2 Isolated non-normal crossings

We describe a multivariable polynomial invariant for certain class of non isolated hypersurface singularities generalizing the characteristic polynomial on monodromy. The starting point is an extension of a theorem due to Lê and K.Saito on commutativity of the local fundamental groups of certain hyper-surfaces. The description of multivariable polynomial invariants is given in terms of the ideals and polytopes of quasiadjunction generalizing corresponding data used in the study of the homotopy groups of the complements to projective hypersurfaces and Alexander invariants of plane reducible curves.
ESPRIT LTR 21917 ( Pegasus II ) Deliverable 4 . 5 . 2 : Unix functionality

Traditional operating systems present fixed, high-level abstractions to application developers and users. These are part of standard APIs, such as POSIX or X/OPEN, which are typically implemented as a thin library layer on top of monolithic kernels. Recent efforts in operating system research, however, have focussed on providing more flexibility and new functionality to applications by lowering the abstraction level to a minimal kernel interface. Higher-level abstractions are provided through user-level servers or, more recently, through shared libraries. These library based operating systems allow the design and implementation of arbitrary high-level abstractions as user-level shared libraries on top of a minimal kernel interface. Nemesisis a library based operating system which offers genuine support for multi-media data stream types by providing Quality of Service guarantees for all shared resources in the system. In Nemesis, the libraries implementing the high level abstractions are carefully designed to avoid interactions between different processes for shared state. Abstractions which rely on traditional stateful APIs are handled using library componets calledpersonalities, described in (Neugebauer & Black 1998). This deliverable report describes the design and implementation of a personality offering Unix-like functionality for the Nemesis operating system. This effort was motivated on two grounds: first, to research the techniques and feasibility of providing such functionality in a single address space system such as Nemesis, and second, by the desire to take advantage of the vast amount of existing application code available for Unix systems.
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in a New Era

Contents: Prologue Introduction and Overview 1. Before the New Era: The Story of the FCPA and Its Early Enforcement 2. FCPA Foundational Knowledge 3. The FCPA's Anti-Bribery Provisions 4. The FCPA's Books and Records and Internal Controls Provisions 5. FCPA Enforcement 6. Reasons for the Increase in FCPA Enforcement 7. The FCPA's Long Tentacles 8. FCPA Compliance and Best Practices 9. FCPA Reform Conclusion
AUTOMATIC CAMERA CALIBRATION IN CLOSE-RANGE PHOTOGRAMMETRY

Automatic camera calibration via self-calibration with the aid of coded targets is now very much the norm in closerange photogrammetry. This is irrespective of whether the cameras to be calibrated are high-end metric, or the digital SLRs and consumer-grade models that are increasingly being employed for image-based 3D measurement. Automation has greatly simplified the calibration task, but there are real prospects that important camera calibration issues may be overlooked in what has become an almost black-box operation. This paper discusses the impact of a number of such issues, some of which relate to the functional model adopted for self-calibration, and others to practical aspects which need to be taken into account when pursuing optimal calibration accuracy and integrity. Issues discussed include interior orientation stability, calibration reliability, focal plane distortion, image point distribution, variation in lens distortion with image scale, colour imagery and chromatic aberration, and whether 3D object space control is warranted. By appreciating and accounting for these issues, users of automatic camera calibration will enhance the prospect of achieving an optimal recovery of scene-independent camera calibration parameters.
Local limits of conditioned Galton-Watson trees: the condensation case

We provide a complete picture of the local convergence of critical or subcritical Galton-Watson tree conditioned on having a large number of individuals with out-degree in a given set. The generic case, where the limit is a random tree with an infinite spine has been treated in a previous paper. We focus here on the non-generic case, where the limit is a random tree with a node with infinite out-degree. This case corresponds to the so-called condensation phenomenon.
Compact low-voltage rail-to-rail bulk-driven CMOS opamp for scaled technologies

This paper illustrates the rail-to-rail capability of a single-pair bulk-driven CMOS input stage operated from an extremely low supply voltage. A composite input stage is also introduced for performance comparison, based on experimental data obtained in standard 0.35-μm CMOS technology with a supply voltage of 1 V. Measurements demonstrate the rail-to-rail suitability of the single-pair input stage and show advantages of this approach in some amplifier performance, such as linearity and common-mode rejection ratio, as compared to the case of the composite solution. The performance achieved can be extended to a nanoscale process, as lower supply voltages in scaled technologies are expected.
An Artificial Immune System Model Based on Semantics

With the development of artificial immune technology, People set more and more focus on the diagnosis problem in such complex distribution systems based on artificial immunity. This paper presents an intelligent methodology for diagnosing incipient faults in mine hoist. In this fault diagnosis system, In order to enhance the fault diagnosis performance, we propose a novel ideal of semantic-centered fault diagnosis based on artificial immunity for mine hoist. Concerning with the disadvantage negative selection algorithm can not effectively capture the semantic information in some complex spaces, in the given definition of model-based fault diagnosis, this paper proposes a logic-based semantic model. The model represents lymphocytes and antigens as logic-operator, which can express complex semantics and gain the minimal diagnosis by the theorem provers of first order logic. Finally, in the background of process-based abnormal detection, we designed a systematic framework which tries to exploit semantic information. It proves that this model can effectively solve the semantic problem of diagnosis for mine hoist.
Multicystic Hepatocarcinoma Mimicking Liver Abscess

The diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) became easier in relation to the improved radiological examinations; however, the neoplasm may occur under atypical presentations mimicking other benign or malignant processes. Multicystic HCC mimicking a liver abscess associated with septic-type fever and leukocytosis is rare, has a poor prognosis, and poses diagnostic and therapeutic dilemmas. We present the case of an 80-year-old patient, who presented with fever, leukocytosis, and large cystic masses involving right and left lobes of the liver initially considered abscesses and finally diagnosed as HCC after open drainage and liver biopsy. Although the patient died on the tenth postoperative day due to pulmonary oedema, the authors emphasize the high index of suspicion needed in the diagnosis of this unusual presentation of HCC.
Churchill on the Home Front, 1900–1955

Winston Churchill's place in history as an orator, war leader and international statesman is secure. Far less attention has been given to his ideas about the development of our national life at home. No other politician has crossed the floor of the House of Commons twice and gone on to become Prime Minister. Yet it is the narrow view, Addison argues, to see Churchill's performance on the home front as merely that of an egoistic opportunist, employing his gift for rhetoric to keep centre stage regardless of principle. In his youth an Edwardian liberal, in middle age a supporter of the far right, few regarded him as anything but an old-fashioned figure when, unexpectedly, he returned to the centre of British politics in 1940. Yet few today can deny the impact made by his vision of Britain.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act: Overextension of Copyright Protection and the Unintended Chilling Effects on Fair Use, Free Speech, and Innovation

INTRODUCTION . 145 I. IMPACT ON FAIR USE . 149 II. IMPACT ON FREE SPEECH AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH . 154 III. IMPACT ON INNOVATION AND COMPETITION . 160 IV. UNRESOLVED ISSUES AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS . 164 CONCLUSION . 169
Critical success factors for an Information Security Management System

Information is the lifeblood of all modern organisations; it needs to flow through an organisation in an orderly way, without blockages, without contamination and most importantly without leakage. Yet the news media continue to report stories of critical information loss. Organisations around the world, both large and small, public and private, are failing to protect their most critical asset: information. This paper presents the findings of an empirical study of information security auditors' and information security practitioners' views and experiences concerning the implementation, operation, and certification of an information security management system (ISMS). Using a modified action research approach and grounded theory, the study describes the participants' unique experiences and insights primarily in terms of critical success factors vital to the implementation, operation, and certification processes. The initial stages of a theoretical framework, providing synthesised views of the critical success factors informed by this research is proposed.
A Novel Non-Iterative Localization Solution

In this paper, a new method is proposed for low complexity localization based on measured/estimated ranges. First, it is proved that the method provides a better estimator than the well known non-iterative direct methods documented in literature, i.e. the Spherical Interpolation and the Linear Least Squares method. It does so by exploiting two similar full constrained models. The proposed estimator is better, in the sense that it corresponds to an equal or smaller value of the original least-squares objective function. Second, the method goes without iterations, and therefore requires considerably less computation power than the iterative techniques such as the Gauss-Newton method. Validation is performed based on actual Ultra-WideBand (UWB) radio measurements conducted in typical office environments, with signal bandwidths varying from 1 to 7.5 GHz. Results show that the position estimates obtained with the proposed non-iterative method have lower root mean squared errors than any other tested well-known direct methods.
Adoptive Immunotherapy for Hematological Malignancies Using T Cells Gene-Modified to Express Tumor Antigen-Specific Receptors

Accumulating clinical evidence suggests that adoptive T-cell immunotherapy could be a promising option for control of cancer; evident examples include the graft-vs-leukemia effect mediated by donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) and therapeutic infusion of ex vivo-expanded tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) for melanoma. Currently, along with advances in synthetic immunology, gene-modified T cells retargeted to defined tumor antigens have been introduced as “cellular drugs”. As the functional properties of the adoptive immune response mediated by T lymphocytes are decisively regulated by their T-cell receptors (TCRs), transfer of genes encoding target antigen-specific receptors should enable polyclonal T cells to be uniformly redirected toward cancer cells. Clinically, anticancer adoptive immunotherapy using genetically engineered T cells has an impressive track record. Notable examples include the dramatic benefit of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) gene-modified T cells redirected towards CD19 in patients with B-cell malignancy, and the encouraging results obtained with TCR gene-modified T cells redirected towards NY-ESO-1, a cancer-testis antigen, in patients with advanced melanoma and synovial cell sarcoma. This article overviews the current status of this treatment option, and discusses challenging issues that still restrain the full effectiveness of this strategy, especially in the context of hematological malignancy.
Eye Tracking for Aesthetics : Unexplored Possibilities

Until now, eye tracking has been used in evaluation largely to assess the accessibility of key information. Though useful, this is a fairly limited measure of user experience. There is some reason to hope that eye tracking can provide a more general means of quantifying apparently subjective aesthetic aspects of a viewer’s experience. This is supported by some interesting but limited experimental results, and a long tradition in art. The basic research necessary to assess if this is realizable has not been undertaken. However, developments in recording and interpreting eye movement data make this a fruitful area for future research.
Privacy Preserving Confidential Forensic Investigation for Shared or Remote Servers

It is getting popular that customers make use of third party data service providers to store their data and emails. It is common to have a large server shared by many different users. This creates a big problem for forensic investigation. It may not be easy to clone a copy of data from the storage device(s) due to the huge volume of data. Even if it is possible to make a clone, there are many irrelevant information/data stored in the same device for which the investigators have no right to access. The other alternative is to let the service provider search the relevant information and retrieve the data for the investigator provided a warrant can be provided. However, sometimes, due to the confidentiality of the crime, the investigator may not want the service provider to know what information they are looking for or the service provider herself may be one of the suspects. The problem becomes even more obvious in terms of cloud computing technology. In this paper, we address this problem and using homomorphic encryption and commutative encryption, we provide two forensically sound schemes to solve the problem so that the investigators can obtain the necessary evidence while the privacy of other users can be protected and at the same time, the service provider cannot know what information the investigators are interested in.
Study on the Pseudorandomness and Complexity of Chaotic Binary Sequences

The pseudorandomness and complexity of binary sequences generated by typical Lorenz chaotic system and Chebyshev map are analyzed and discussed in this paper. The binary sequences are obtained from the chaotic real-valued sequences generated by chaotic systems by using T. Kohda binary quantification algorithm. The statistical test, correlation function, spectral analysis, Lempel-Ziv complexity and approximate entropy are regarded as quantitative measures to characterize the pseudorandomness and complexity of binary sequences. The experimental results show the finite binary sequences generated by chaotic system approach the random sequences of Lempel-Ziv level. They are of good properties in the pseudorandomness, complexity and nonperiodicity. However, their pseudorandomness and complexity don't enhance with the sequence length increased, but degrade in the criterion of approximate entropy. Furthermore, the results of data statistics analysis show that the Lorenz system is better than Chebyshev map as the source of pseudorandomness.
Comparison of breakdown mechanism of HfO2 and HfSiOx high-k gate dielectrics with N2 RTA treatment on TDDB constant voltage stress

In this work, we study the effects of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on HfO<inf>2</inf> and HfSiO<inf>x</inf> gate dielectrics. The film electrical characteristics, TDDB reliability, breakdown characteristics and mechanism, and the optimum temperature of N<inf>2</inf> RTA treatment were investigated. We also propose a model to explain breakdown mechanism and the difference between HfO<inf>2</inf> and HfSiO<inf>x</inf> dielectrics. For lifetime projection of TDDB reliability, the HfSiO<inf>x</inf> dielectric possesses less breakdown detection issue and superior time to breakdown than those of HfO<inf>2</inf> dielectric.
One Nation Under Debt: Hamilton, Jefferson, and the History of What We Owe

Like its current citizens, the United States was born in debt-a debt so deep that it threatened to destroy the young nation. Thomas Jefferson considered the national debt a monstrous fraud on posterity, while Alexander Hamilton believed debt would help America prosper. Both, as it turns out, were right. One Nation Under Debt explores the untold history of America's first national debt, which arose from the immense sums needed to conduct the American Revolution. Noted economic historian Robert Wright, Ph.D. tells in riveting narrative how a subjugated but enlightened people cast off a great tyrant-"but their liberty, won with promises as well as with the blood of patriots, came at a high price. " He brings to life the key events that shaped the U.S. financial system and explains how the actions of our forefathers laid the groundwork for the debt we still carry today. As an economically tenuous nation by Revolution's end, America's people struggled to get on their feet. Wright outlines how the formation of a new government originally reduced the nation's debt-but, as debt was critical to this government's survival, it resurfaced, to be beaten back once more. Wright then reveals how political leaders began accumulating massive new debts to ensure their popularity, setting the financial stage for decades to come. Wright traces critical evolutionary developments-from Alexander Hamilton's creation of the nation's first modern capital market, to the use of national bonds to further financial goals, to the drafting of state constitutions that created non-predatory governments. He shows how, by the end of Andrew Jackson's administration, America's financial system was contributing to national growth while at the same time new national and state debts were amassing, sealing the fate for future generations.
A REVIEW ON IMAGE SEGMENTATION TECHNIQUES WITH REMOTE SENSING PERSPECTIVE

With the growing research on image segmentation, it has become important to categorise the research outcomes and provide readers with an overview of the existing segmentation techniques in each category. In this paper, different image segmentation techniques applied on optical remote sensing images are reviewed. The selection of papers include sources from image processing journals, conferences, books, dissertations and thesis out of more than 3000 journals, books and online research databases available at UNB. The conceptual details of the techniques are explained and mathematical details are avoided for simplicity. Both broad and detailed categorisations of reviewed segmentation techniques are provided. The state of art research on each category is provided with emphasis on developed technologies and image properties used by them. The categories defined are not always mutually independent. Hence, their interrelationships are also stated. Finally, conclusions are drawn summarizing commonly used techniques and their complexities in application