Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Iterative Detection-Decoding of Interleaved Hermitian Codes for High Density Storage Devices

Traditionally, Reed-Solomon (RS) codes have been employed in magnetic data storage devices due to their effectiveness in correcting random errors and burst errors caused by thermal asperities and inter-symbol interference (ISI). However, as storage densities increase the effect of ISI becomes more severe and much longer RS codes are needed, but this requires significantly increasing the size of the finite field. A possible replacement for RS codes are the one-point Hermitian codes, which are a class of algebraic-geometric (AG) code that have larger block sizes and minimum Hamming distances over the same finite field. In this paper, we present a novel iterative soft detection-decoding algorithm for interleaved Hermitian codes. The soft decoding employs a joint adaptive belief propagation (ABP) algorithm and Koetter-Vardy (KV) list decoding algorithm. It is combined with a maximum a posteriori (MAP) partial response (PR) equalizer and likelihoods from the output of the KV or the ABP algorithm are fed back to the equalizer. The proposed scheme's iterative detection-decoding behavior will be analyzed by utilizing the Extrinsic Information Transfer (ExIT) chart. Our simulation results demonstrate the performance gains achieved by iterations and Hermitian codes' performance advantage over RS codes.
Low power optimization technique for BDD mapped circuits

The minimization of power consumption is an important design constraint for circuits used in portable devices. The switching activity of a circuit node in a CMOS digital circuit directly contributes to overall power dissipation. By approximating the switching activity of circuit nodes as internal switching probabilities in binary decision diagrams (BDDs), it is possible to estimate the dynamic power dissipation characteristic of circuits resulting from a structural mapping of a BDD. A technique for minimizing the overall sum of switching probabilities is presented. The method is based on efficient local operations on a BDD representing the functionality of the circuit to be realized. The resulting circuit that is obtained by mapping the BDD to CMOS pass transistors has in simulation (using a commercially available process model) shown reduced power dissipation characteristic. Experimental results on a set of MCNC benchmarks are given for this technique.
Design and deployment of industrial sensor networks: experiences from a semiconductor plant and the north sea

Sensing technology is a cornerstone for many industrial applications. Manufacturing plants and engineering facilities, such as shipboard engine rooms, require sensors to ensure product quality and efficient and safe operation. We focus on one representative application, preventative equipment maintenance, in which vibration signatures are gathered to predict equipment failure. Based on application requirements and site surveys, we develop a general architecture for this class of industrial applications. This architecture meets the application's data fidelity needs through careful state preservation and over-sampling. We describe the impact of implementing the architecture on two sensing platforms with differing processor and communication capabilities. We present a systematic performance comparison between these platforms in the context of the application. We also describe our experience and lessons learned in two settings: in a semiconductor fabrication plant and onboard an oil tanker in the North Sea. Finally, we establish design guidelines for an ideal platform and architecture for industrial applications. This paper includes several unique contributions: a study of the impact of platform on architecture, a comparison of two deployments in the same application class, and a demonstration of application return on investment.
An efficient association of a mobile client in wireless mesh network

Wireless Mesh Network (WMN) is an upcoming technology that supplements wired infrastructure with wireless backbone to provide Internet connectivity to mobile nodes (MN) or users in residential areas and offices. Here the each wireless backbone node operates both as a wireless router that forwards packets of other nodes & as a wireless bridge transmitting the packets of its clients WMN has the potential to deliver Internet broadband access, wireless local area network coverage and network connectivity for stationary or mobile hosts at low costs both for network operators and customers The core technology is based on routing packets in multihop fashion. In recent years, wireless mesh networks (WMN) together with related applications and services, have been actively researched. New applications include digital home, broadband, and wireless home Internet access, community and neighborhood networking, enterprise networking, metropolitan area networks, building automation, health and medical systems, public safety and security surveillance systems, intelligent transportation systems, emergency and disaster networking, etc. Generally speaking, a WMN is a group of self-organized and self-configured mesh clients and mesh routers interconnected via wireless link There are various routing protocols available for Wireless mesh network (WMN)The most popular ones are DSR, AODV and DSDV. In this thesis, an attempt has been made to compare these three protocols on the performance basis under different environments. The comparison has been done under two protocols namely UDP and TCP. The tools used for the simulation are NS2 which is the main simulator, NAM (Network Animator) and Tracegraph which is used for preparing the graphs from the trace files. The results presented in this thesis work clearly indicate that the different protocols behave differently under different environments. The results also illustrate the important characteristics of different protocols based on their performance and thus suggest some improvements in the respective protocols.
Exercise and glycemic imbalances: a situation-specific estimate of glucose supplement.

PURPOSE The purposes of this study were to describe a newly developed algorithm that estimates the glucose supplement on a patient- and situation-specific basis and to test whether these amounts would be appropriate for maintaining blood glucose levels within the recommended range in exercising type 1 diabetic patients. METHODS The algorithm first estimates the overall amount of glucose oxidized during exercise on the basis of the patient's physical fitness, exercise intensity, and duration. The amount of supplemental CHO to be consumed before or during the effort represents a fraction of the burned quantity depending on the patient's usual therapy and insulin sensitivity and on the time of day the exercise is performed. The algorithm was tested in 27 patients by comparing the estimated amounts of supplemental CHO with the actual amounts required to complete 1-h constant-intensity walks. Each patient performed three trials, each of which started at different time intervals after insulin injection (81 walks were performed overall). Glycemia was tested every 15 min. RESULTS In 70.4% of the walks, independent of the time of day, the amount of CHO estimated by the algorithm would be adequate to allow the patients to complete the exercise with a glucose level within the selected thresholds (i.e., 3.9-10 mmol·L(-1)). CONCLUSIONS The algorithm provided a satisfactory estimate of the CHO needed to complete the exercises. Although the performance of the algorithm still requires testing for different exercise intensities, durations, and modalities, the results indicate its potential usefulness as a tool for preventing immediate exercise-induced glycemic imbalances (i.e., during exercise) in type 1 diabetic patients, in particular for spontaneous physical activities not planned in advance, thus allowing all insulin-dependent patients to safely enjoy the benefits of exercise.
Enterococcus faecalis Inhibits Superantigen Toxic Shock Syndrome Toxin-1-Induced Interleukin-8 from Human Vaginal Epithelial Cells through Tetramic Acids

The vaginal mucosa can be colonized by many bacteria including commensal organisms and potential pathogens, such as Staphylococcus aureus. Some strains of S. aureus produce the superantigen toxic shock syndrome toxin-1, which can penetrate the vaginal epithelium to cause toxic shock syndrome. We have observed that a female was mono-colonized with Enterococcus faecalis vaginally as tested in aerobic culture, even upon repeated culture for six months, suggesting this organism was negatively influencing colonization by other bacteria. In recent studies, we demonstrated an “outside-in” mechanism of cytokine signaling and consequent inflammation that facilitates the ability of potential pathogens to initiate infection from mucosal surfaces. Thus, we hypothesized that this strain of E. faecalis may make anti-inflammatory factors which block disease progression of more pathogenic organisms. E. faecalis MN1 inhibited interleukin-8 production from human vaginal epithelial cells in response to the vaginal pathogens Candida albicans, Gardnerella vaginalis, and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, as well as to toxic shock syndrome toxin-1. We further demonstrated that this organism secretes two tetramic acid compounds which appear responsible for inhibition of interleukin-8 production, as well as inhibition of T cell proliferation due to toxic shock syndrome toxin-1. Microbicides that include anti-inflammatory molecules, such as these tetramic acid compounds naturally produced by E. faecalis MN1, may be useful in prevention of diseases that develop from vaginal infections.
Extraction of Definitional Contexts from Restricted Domains by Measuring Synthetic Judgements and Word Relevance

In this article we present an ongoing work for extracting conceptual information from specialized-domain texts. Concepts are forms of dividing the world in classes and they are the fundamental pieces for constructing ontologies. In this sense, ontology learning is the (semi-) automatic support for constructing an ontology. Input data are required for the ontology learning and this data are the basic source from which to learn the relevant concepts for a domain, their definitions as well the relations holding between them. With this necessity in mind, we propose here a methodology that takes into account the level of synthetic judgements and word relevance in a sentence in order to filter out and rank sentences. Sentences with high relevance and low level of synthetic judgements should have at least a predicative verb characteristic of analytical definitions for being good candidates.
Treatment of intrabony defects with an enamel matrix protein derivative or bioabsorbable membrane: an 8-year follow-up split-mouth study.

BACKGROUND Treatments with either an enamel matrix protein derivative (EMD) or guided tissue regeneration (GTR) have been shown to promote periodontal regeneration. However, until recently, only limited data have been available on the long-term clinical results following these regenerative techniques. Therefore, the aim of this study was to present the 8-year results of a prospective, controlled, split-mouth clinical study evaluating the treatment of intrabony defects with EMD or GTR. METHODS Ten patients, each of whom displayed one pair of intrabony defects located contralaterally in the same jaw, were randomly treated with EMD or with GTR by means of bioabsorbable membranes. The following clinical parameters were evaluated at baseline and at 1 and 8 years after treatment: plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), bleeding on probing (BOP), probing depth (PD), gingival recession (GR), and clinical attachment level (CAL). The primary outcome variable was CAL. No statistically significant differences between the groups were found at baseline. RESULTS The sites treated with EMD demonstrated a mean CAL change from 9.5 +/- 1.2 mm to 6.3 +/- 1.3 mm (P <0.001) and 6.7 +/- 1.6 mm (P <0.001) at 1 and 8 years, respectively. No statistically significant differences were found between the 1- and 8-year results. Sites treated with GTR showed a mean CAL change from 9.7 +/- 1.3 mm to 6.7 +/- 0.9 mm (P <0.001) at 1 year and 6.8 +/- 1.2 mm (P <0.001) at 8 years. The CAL change between 1 and 8 years did not present statistically significant differences. Between the treatment groups, no statistically significant differences in any of the investigated parameters were observed at 1 and at 8 years. However, the study does not have the statistical power to rule out the possibility of a difference between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS Within their limits, the present results indicate the following: 1) the clinical improvements obtained following treatment with EMD or GTR can be maintained over a period of 8 years; and 2) further studies of much higher power need to be performed to support equivalence.
Optimal and near-optimal mechanism design with interdependent values

We study optimal and approximately-optimal mechanism design questions in the interdependent values model, which generalizes the standard setting of independent and private values. We focus our attention on ex post incentive compatible and individually rational mechanisms, and develop an analog of Myerson's optimal auction theory that applies to many interdependent settings of interest. We demonstrate two applications for specific interdependent settings: First, a parallel result to the well-known optimality of the second-price auction with reserve for i.i. d. ~bidders, where the English auction replaces the second-price one. Second, we identify good prior-independent auctions --- auctions with near-optimal expected revenue across a wide range of priors --- for certain interdependent value settings.
Characterization of Large Mumps Outbreak among Vaccinated Palestinian Refugees

During a large mumps virus (MuV) outbreak which occurred in the Palestinian refugee camps of the West Bank, 68.1% (2,636/3,871) of the cases were vaccinated with one dose of trivalent measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Attack rates by camp ranged from less than 1 case per 1,000 people in the population to 43/1,000 (overall, 11/1,000). The outbreak lasted from December 2003 to June 2005, with two peaks, one from April to May 2004 and the other from March to April 2005. To control the outbreak, a mass MMR vaccination campaign was conducted in May 2005. Evaluation of the immune status of cases (n = 59) and healthy controls (n = 51) revealed high levels of mumps immunoglobulin G (IgG) and a low MuV-specific IgM in clinical cases indicative of a booster immune response. This suggested a secondary rather than a primary infection due to the insufficient protection conferred by the single vaccine dose included in the vaccination program. This prediction was further confirmed by the low seroprevalence (68.6%) found in the healthy control group, which was below the threshold level required for MuV herd immunity. Mumps diagnosis was established mainly by reverse transcription-PCR in clinical samples obtained within 48 h from the onset of disease. Of the parotid fluids and nasopharyngeal aspirates analyzed, 92% were positive for MuV RNA, while only 33% of the urine samples were positive. Phylogenetic analysis of the MuV SH gene identified the outbreak strain as the H genotype, which has been in circulation worldwide at least since 1989.
Please Scroll down for Article Ergonomics Anticipation and Visual Search Behaviour in Expert Soccer Goalkeepers Anticipation and Visual Search Behaviour in Expert Soccer Goalkeepers

This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution , reselling , loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. A novel methodological approach is presented to examine the visual search behaviours employed by expert goalkeepers during simulated penalty kick situations in soccer. Expert soccer goalkeepers were classified as successful or unsuccessful based on their performance on a film-based test of anticipation skill, thereby allowing an intra-group comparison of visual search behaviour on the task. The anticipation test required participants to move a joystick in response to penalty kick situations presented on a large screen. The proportion of penalties saved was assessed as well as the frequency and time of initiation of joystick corrections. Visual search behaviour was examined using a portable eye movement registration system. The successful experts were more accurate in predicting the height and direction of the penalty kick, waited longer before initiating a response and appeared to spend longer periods of time fixating on the non-kicking leg compared with the non-successful experts.
A study of contention resolution algorithms with different types of feedback

This paper presents a frame based contention resolution algorithm that can be systematically applied for random access protocols under different assumption of feedback types which include binary, ternary and known multiplicity feedbacks. We introduce two new algorithms that can effectively utilize feedback information to resolve packet collisions. Based on extensive simulation results, the achievable delay performance is shown to be highly dependent upon the amount of feedback information available to each user and how the feedback information is used in contention resolution. Multiplicity feedback in particular where the information about number of accessing packets is available, significant improvement in average delay can be achieved compared to binary and ternary feedbacks.
Single-image reflectance estimation for relighting by iterative soft grouping

Reflectance values for image-based relighting are often estimated from grouped pixels with similar reflectance, but such groupings are difficult to compute with certainty for sparse image data. To address this problem, we propose an iterative method that aggregates BRDF data in a single image with known geometry and lighting by soft grouping, where pixels contribute to one another's estimate according to their degree of reflectance similarity. Estimation of specular reflectance is further improved by albedo-independent soft grouping of pixels based on shape continuity. With recovered reflectances, we demonstrate realistic relighting for synthetic and real scenes, including surfaces with spatially-varying reflectance.
Microstructure and micro‐hardness of in situ synthesized TiC particles reinforced Fe‐based alloy composite coating by laser cladding

A Fe‐based composite coating reinforced by in situ synthesized TiC particles was fabricated on Cr12MoV steel by using 6 KW fiber laser cladding. A serial of experiment has been carried out with different laser power, scanning speed, and powder feed rate, from which TiC could be in situ synthesized only in certain realms laser cladding parameters. X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope and a hardness tester are used to test the microstructure, micro‐hardness and component distribution. The coating is mainly composed of alpha;‐Fe, TiC and Fe3C. TiC particles were commonly precipitated in three kinds of morphologies, such as quadrangle, cluster, and flower‐like shape. The grains were refined, and there were no cracks and few stomas. Defect‐free coating with metallurgical joint to the substrate was obtained. TiC distributed more concentratively in the upper layers than the middle and bottom layers. From the surface of cladding layer 0.8 mm the highest micro‐hardness was up to HV930, obviously higher than that of the substrate.
Arguments For Anonymity

This research identifies the balance of arguments relating for and against the use of online anonymity in society in the context of linking users to their true identity via real name policies. Survey results were extracted based on occupational status, focussing on both technology students and those in full time employment, which primarily consisted of staff at a High School. This provided a range of awareness and information (for instance with regard to online risk) of which is believed to influence the participants opinions and attitudes. In summary, results suggest students are less inclined to sacrifice the element of freedom and privacy associated with anonymity in comparison to those in full time employment. Students appear more aware and concerned with the barrier and difference between reality and virtual reality and, should they be identifiable, are likely to change their behaviours as a result. However, this measured as less of a concern for those in full time employment, who seemed more inclined than students towards the introduction of real name policies.
Optimizing Memory Access with Fast Address Computation on a MIPS Architecture

A 64-bit RISC processor is designed for large applications that need large memory address. Due to the restriction of the instruction fixed length, loading a 64-bit address needs a number of instructions, leading to a penalty both of memory performance and memory consumption. This paper describes an address computation method based on hardware and software co-design. In our extended MIPS processor which supports register + register addressing, we achieve an approximate effect of memory access as their 32-bit counterparts, we propose a software load-address method, which simplifies the calculation of 64-bit address. We implement our methods in the 64-bit OpenJDK 6 on MIPS, and give both performance and consumption comparisons for SPECjvm2008 and Dacapo. The experimental results show that the performance of SPECjvm2008 is improved by 5.1%, the performance of Dacapo is improved by 7.3% and near to 24% for some benchmarks. The size of method generated by JVM compiler is reduced by an average of 13%.
Comparative Study of Run-Time Defense Against Buffer Overflows

Buffer overflows are a common source of security problems in software systems. Various tools and techniques have been devised to prevent attacks on software vulnerable to buffer overflow attacks. In this paper we describe the current state of the art in b oth prevention and attack techniques. Making certain no area in memory is both executable and writable is shown to be an effective countermeasure against code-injecting attacks, but this too can often be circumvented.