Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A 6.8mW 7.4Gb/s clock-forwarded receiver with up to 300MHz jitter tracking in 65nm CMOS

High density multilink interfaces such as QPI and HyperTransport include a dedicated link to carry a synchronous clock from the transmitter to receiver and shared by 5 – 20 data transceivers. Sub-rate clocks ameliorate jitter amplification in lossy channels. The forwarded clock must be frequency-multiplied and aligned with the data at each receiver. Per pin deskewing is done at startup [1]; the optimum deskew setting is stored and the calibration circuitry turned off during normal operation. Jitter on the forwarded clock is correlated with jitter on the data because both are generated by the same transmitter. Hence, jitter tolerance is improved by retiming the data with a clock that tracks correlated jitter on the forwarded clock [2]. However, since the delay of the data and clock paths typically differ by several UI, very high frequency jitter will appear out-of-phase at the receiver and should not be tracked. For a delay mismatch of L UI between clock and data, jitter tolerance is improved by tracking jitter up to fbit /4L [2]. If the mismatch is 5UI, at 4Gb/s and 8Gb/s the clock path jitter tracking bandwidth (JTB) should be 200MHz and 400MHz respectively. In summary, the clock path in a clock forwarded transceiver should provide flexible clock multiplication, a controlled phase shift, and a JTB adjustable over 100's of MHz to accommodate different channel losses, bit rates, and path delay mismatches.
An Efficient ML Decoder for Tail-Biting Codes Based on Circular Trap Detection

Tail-biting codes are efficient coding techniques to eliminate the rate loss in conventional known-tail convolutional codes at a cost of increased complexity in decoders. In addition, tail-biting trellis representation of block codes makes the trellis-based maximum likelihood (ML) decoder desirable for implementation. Circular Viterbi algorithm (CVA) is introduced to decode the tail-biting codes for its decoding efficiency. However, its decoding process suffers from circular traps, which degrade the decoding efficiency. In this paper, we propose an efficient checking rule for the detection of circular traps. Based on this rule, a novel maximum likelihood (ML) decoding algorithm for tail-biting codes is presented. On tail-biting trellis, computational complexity and memory consumption of this decoder are significantly reduced comparing to other available ML decoders, such as the two-phase ML decoder. To further reduce the decoding complexity, we propose a new near-optimal decoding algorithm based on a simplified trap detection strategy. The performance of the above algorithms is validated with simulation.
Occupational Safety and Health Professionals' Training in Italy: Qualitative Evaluation Using T-LAB.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the evaluation of a training course on chemicals for occupational safety and health (OSH) professionals. The study aims were to assess the effectiveness of the course; to find out what type of training met these workers' needs best, as their role is vital in the management of safety at work; and to test a qualitative assessment method using T‐LAB software for content analysis.Design/methodology/approach – Together with traditional methods for assessing reactions and learning, a qualitative method based on interviews was used, whose content was then analyzed with software for content and text analysis (T‐LAB). The interviews were designed to bring to light critical points, training needs and the participants' expectations of this course.Findings – The questionnaires on appreciation and learning indicated that on the whole the course was appreciated and the information provided had been learned and remembered adequately. However, qualitative evaluation brou.
CMOS high-speed I/Os - present and future

High-speed I/O circuits, once used only for PHYs, are now widely used for intra-system signaling as well because of their bandwidth, power, area, and cost advantages. This technology enables chips with over 1 Tb/s of I/O bandwidth today and over 10 Tb/s of bandwidth by 2010 as both signaling rates and number of high-speed I/Os increase with process scaling. Key technologies that enable this growth in I/O performance include low-jitter clock circuits and equalized signaling. An analysis of clock jitter and channel interference suggests that signaling rates should track transistor performance to rates of at least 40 Gb/s over boards, back-planes, and short-distance cables.
Ally or Adversary? Using Media Systems for Public Health

Abstract The media system controls information resources that public health agencies may wish to use to accomplish their goals, particularly in a crisis. The resources of the public health system sometimes are prized by the media system, and this provides opportunities for public health agencies to gain access to the media. This paper reviews the goals and resources of the media system as they relate to the mission of public health agencies in the periods before, during, and after a public health crisis. The various media are reviewed with attention to the role each can play for different purposes and at different stages of a crisis. The importance of presenting health information in the form of stories is emphasized, with specific advice regarding the attributes of an effective story. Resumen Los medios de comunicación controlan recursos de información que las agendas de salud pública pudieran desear utilizarpara lograr sus objetivos particularmente en una crisis. Los recursos del sistema de salud publica a veces son apreciados por los medios de comunicación y ésto ofrece oportunidades a as agendas de salud publica para obtener acceso a los medios de comunicación. Este trabajo revisa los objetivos y recursos de los medios de comunicación en su relación con la misión de las agencias de salud pública en los períodos antes, durantey después de una crisis de salud pública. Se revisan los varios medios de comunicación con atención al papel que cada una puede jugar para diferentes propósitos y en diferentes etapas de una crisis. Se enfatiza la importancia de presentar la informacion en salud en forma de historia enfatizando los atributos de una historia efectiva.
Cost-Aware On-Demand Resource Provisioning in Clouds

Cloud computing has been gaining increased popularity among companies for a couple of years. Low upfront costs and the enormous elasticity make it an attractive alternative to in-house IT solutions. However, most companies still tend to overprovision their IT infrastructures induced by the buffering behavior to avoid violations of service level agreements. The introduction of dynamic scaling in IT infrastructures promises enormous cost-saving potential. We identify factors of influence for cost-aware operation of an on-demand provisioned system and propose a novel provisioning model that attempts to optimally scale the cloud at any time. Following the design science paradigm we formulize the elements of our simulation framework and carry out extensive simulations under fine-grained real world settings. Compared to common operation strategies, our approach delivers superior performance results. Finally, we derive managerial implications based on the cloud customer’s preference between costawareness and SLA compliance.
Inertial parameter estimation of floating base humanoid systems using partial force sensing

Recently, several controllers have been proposed for humanoid robots which rely on full-body dynamic models. The estimation of inertial parameters from data is a critical component for obtaining accurate models for control. However, floating base systems, such as humanoid robots, incur added challenges to this task (e.g. contact forces must be measured, contact states can change, etc.) In this work, we outline a theoretical framework for whole body inertial parameter estimation, including the unactuated floating base. Using a least squares minimization approach, conducted within the null-space of unmeasured degrees of freedom, we are able to use a partial force sensor set for full-body estimation, e.g. using only joint torque sensors, allowing for estimation when contact force measurement is unavailable or unreliable (e.g. due to slipping, rolling contacts, etc.). We also propose how to determine the theoretical minimum force sensor set for full body estimation, and discuss the practical limitations of doing so.
Do Better Wages Reduce Crime? A Research Note

Abstract. Recent research has called into question theoretical and empirical findings demonstrating a deterrent effect of punishment. Also challenged has been the view that improved employment opportunities help to reduce participation in illegitimate activities. This research note summarizes newly published econometric findings revealing that better wages and employment indeed do appear to reduce individual recidivism rates, at least in the major data set studied. The data are drawn from the Baltimore LIFE experiment. Maximum likelihood methods are used to estimate the probability of recidivism one year after release from prison and the probability of avoiding rearrest or “survival” each month after release from prison. It is found that higher average weekly wages are associated with lower recidivism and higher survival rates. In contrast, no evidence is found to confirm a deterrent effect of punishment. [Complete documentation is published in S. L. Myers, Jr “Estimating the Economic Model of Crime: Employment vs. Punishment Effects,”.
Incorporating a Bayesian wide phonetic context model for acoustic rescoring

This paper presents a method for improving acoustic model precision by incorporating wide phonetic context units in speech recognition. The wide phonetic context model is constructed from several narrower context-dependent models based on the Bayesian framework. Such a composition is performed in order to avoid the crucial problem of a limited availability of training data and to reduce the model complexity. To enhance the model reliability due to unseen contexts and limited training data, flooring and deleted interpolation techniques are used. Experimental results show that this method gives improvement of the word accuracy with respect to the standard triphone model.
On the in-field functional testing of decode units in pipelined RISC processors

The paper is dealing with the in-field test of the decode unit of RISC processors through functional test programs following the SBST approach. The paper details a strategy based on instruction classification and manipulation, and signatures collection. The method does not require the knowledge of detailed implementation information (e.g., the netlist), but is based on the Instruction Set of the processor. The proposed method is evaluated on an industrial SoC device, which includes a PowerPC derived processor. Results demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of the strategy; the proposed solution reaches over 90% of stuck-at fault coverage while an instruction coverage based approach does not overcome 70%.
Ordering Finite-State Markov Channels by Mutual Information

In this paper, an ordering result is given for Markov channels with respect to mutual information, under the assumption of an independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) input distribution. For those Markov channels in which the capacity-achieving input distribution is i.i. d. , this allows ordering of the channels by capacity. The complexity of analyzing general Markov channels is mitigated by this ordering, since it is possible to immediately determine that a wide class of channels, with different numbers of states, has a smaller mutual information than a given channel.
Sex Steroids Influence Brain‐Derived Neurotropic Factor Secretion From Human Airway Smooth Muscle Cells

Brain derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) is emerging as an important player in airway inflammation, remodeling, and hyperreactivity. Separately, there is increasing evidence that sex hormones contribute to pathophysiology in the lung. BDNF and sex steroid signaling are thought to be intricately linked in the brain. There is currently little information on BDNF and sex steroid interactions in the airway but is relevant to understanding growth factor signaling in the context of asthma in men versus women. In this study, we assessed the effect of sex steroids on BDNF expression and secretion in human airway smooth muscle (ASM). Human ASM was treated with estrogen (E2) or testosterone (T, 10 nM each) and intracellular BDNF and secreted BDNF measured. E2 and T significantly reduced secretion of BDNF; effects prevented by estrogen and androgen receptor inhibitor, ICI 182,780 (1 μM), and flutamide (10 μM), respectively. Interestingly, no significant changes were observed in intracellular BDNF mRNA or protein expression. High affinity BDNF receptor, TrkB, was not altered by E2 or T. E2 (but not T) significantly increased intracellular cyclic AMP levels. Notably, Epac1 and Epac2 expression were significantly reduced by E2 and T. Furthermore, SNARE complex protein SNAP25 was decreased. Overall, these novel data suggest that physiologically relevant concentrations of E2 or T inhibit BDNF secretion in human ASM, suggesting a potential interaction of sex steroids with BDNF in the airway that is different from brain. The relevance of sex steroid–BDNF interactions may lie in their overall contribution to airway diseases such as asthma. J. Cell. Physiol. 231: 1586–1592, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A Relational Approach to Durable Poverty, Inequality and Power

Abstract The article argues for what can be called a ‘relational’ approach to poverty: one that first views persistent poverty as the consequence of historically developed economic and political relations, and second, that emphasises poverty and inequality as an effect of social categorisation and identity, drawing in particular on the experience of adivasis (‘tribals’) and dalits (‘untouchables’) subordinated in Indian society. The approach follows Charles Tilly's Durable Inequality in combining Marxian ideas of exploitation and dispossession with Weberian notions of social closure. The article then draws on the work of Steven Lukes, Pierre Bourdieu and Arjun Appadurai to argue for the need to incorporate a multidimensional conception of power; including not only power as the direct assertion of will but also ‘agenda-setting power’ that sets the terms in which poverty becomes (or fails to become) politicised, and closely related to power as political representation. This sets the basis for discussion of the politics of poverty and exclusion.
3D Recovery with Simultaneous Accuracy Estimation and the Following Mesh Refinement

This paper presents a feature-based 3D recovery system. We start from the small set of reliable features those were detected and tracked on the sequence of digital images. Using the factorization algorithms we recover a model of the scene and estimate its accuracy. Next the preliminary mesh is refined as follows. We choose an image from the initial sequence and search for new features using Harris corner detector. Using the initial set of features we build hypothesizes about the positions of corresponding points on another image of the sequence. These estimations are defined more accurately by Kanade-Lucas tracker.
Effect of Buspirone on the Behavioral Regulation of Rats in Low versus High Anxiety Conditions

Abstract Introduction: Buspirone (CAS 33386-08-2) is reported to have anxiolytic effects in humans and is mostly described for mild anxiety. To further explore the effects of buspirone on different levels of anxiety, the effect of buspirone was evaluated in two different conditions of the open field which were distinguished as low and high anxiety (enclosed and exposed open field, respectively). Materials and methods: Twenty-eight albino Wistar rats (350–400 g) were tested in two different arena settings, an enclosed and an exposed open field. Fourteen animals were initially injected with 1 ml saline while the others (n = 14) received buspirone 3 mg/kg. Results: The data showed clear differences in the two open-field settings, suggesting a higher anxiety level in the exposed open field. In addition, correlation analysis showed that the two anxiety tests measure different aspects of anxiety. Buspirone treatment reduced the behavioral activity in both the enclosed and exposed open field, which is generally interpreted as an anxiogenic effect. However, buspirone increased the time in the center areas and decreased the frequencies in the outer regions. These behavioral changes are generally seen as an anxiolytic effect. Correlation analysis showed that buspirone treatment disrupted the relation between indices of anxiety. Conclusion: These results showed that in an open-field setting buspirone appears to have a dual effect. The reduced activity and increase in time spent in the center areas are indicative of both an anxiogenic and an anxiolytic effect, respectively. This was found in both open-field settings, suggesting that the effects of buspirone are independent of the anxiety level.
Building school-wide capacity for improvement: the role of leadership, school organizational conditions, and teacher factors

Education policies for greater accountability of schools assume that schools are capable of building their capacity for continuous improvement. While policy-makers, scholars, and practitioners acknowledge the importance of building school-wide capacity for continuous improvement, empirical evidence to this effect remains thin. In this study, we examine the extent to which school improvement capacity develops over time in a sample of elementary schools in The Netherlands. Leadership practices, school organizational conditions, teacher motivation, and teacher learning were used to measure school-wide capacity for improvement. Mixed-model analysis of longitudinal data from 1,010 teachers of 32 Dutch elementary schools showed that schools are capable of building school-wide capacity, and that sustaining a high level of capacity seemed to be more difficult. The findings suggest that improving leadership may be an important first step in the process of building school-wide capacity.
Invited Paper: A Model of Paradoxical Privacy Behavior in Online Users

Recent privacy research has identified some paradoxical behavior that online users often display, such as claiming to be conservative and then actually oversharing. In particular, recent work by Brandimarte et al. discussed an apparent privacy paradox in online interactions. According to the study, users tend to over-disclose private information if they perceive to have control over the disclosure of their content. In this paper, we formally explain this apparent paradox in user privacy behavior as a straightforward optimization of comfort with sharing and perceived control. We describe the interests of a social network site in managing user privacy options. Namely, a site seeks to maximize perceived user control, while managing costs associated with providing that control. Furthermore, we extend the discussion for the case of ynamic time, and study an optimal control problem for the site as it tries to allocate resources toward user privacy control.
Locomotion transition scheme with instability evaluation using Bayesian Network

The applicative field of activities of robots which have only one locomotion strategy is limited. As a mean of enhancing the mobile range, it is necessary to have various locomotion modes. Therefore, we focus on dynamic transitions between several kinds of locomotion modes adapting to environmental changes. In this paper, we aim to realize a stable locomotion along some unknown test courses with transition between biped and quadruped walks. To achive this transition, we propose a method to get environmental information and internal conditions. Robot plans locomotion based on recognition of test courses and estimate stability of walking using Bayesian Network. The effectiveness of proposed method is verified by experiments.
On the usefulness of linkage processing for solving MAX-SAT

Mixing of partial solutions is a key mechanism used for creating new solutions in many Genetic Algorithms (GAs). However, this mixing can be disruptive and generate improved solutions inefficiently. Exploring a problem's structure can help in establishing less disruptive operators, leading to more efficient mixing. One way of using a problem's structure is to consider variable linkage information. Once a proper linkage model for a problem is obtained, mixing becomes more efficient. This paper focuses on exploring different methods of building family of subsets (FOS) linkage models, which are then used with the Gene-pool Optimal Mixing Evolutionary Algorithm (GOMEA) to solve MAX-SAT problems. Individual algorithms from the GOMEA family are distinguished by how the FOS linkage models are constructed. The Linkage Tree Genetic Algorithm (LTGA) is a GOMEA instance which learns the linkage between problem variables by building a linkage tree in every generation. In this paper, we introduce SAT-GOMEA. This algorithm uses a predetermined FOS linkage model based on the SAT-problem's definition. Both algorithms use linkage information. We show that because of this information they are capable of performing significantly better than other algorithms from the GOMEA family which do not explore linkage. In a black-box (BBO) setting, LTGA performs well. We further study the use of linkage models outside of the typical BBO approach by examining the behavior of LTGA and the problem-specific SAT-GOMEA in a white-box setting, where more of the problem information is known. We show that with this white-box optimization (WBO) approach, exploring linkage information can still be beneficial. We further compare the performance of these algorithms with a selection of non-GOMEA based algorithms. From the BBO perspective, we compare LTGA with the well-known hBOA. In the WBO setting, many very efficient problem-specific local search (LS) algorithm exist. We specifically consider Walksat and GSAT and show that combining LS with LTGA or SAT-GOMEA increases their performance.
Joint Transceiver Design for MIMO Channel Shortening

Channel shortening equalizers can be employed to shorten the effective impulse response of a long intersymbol interference (ISI) channel in order, for example, to decrease the computational complexity of a maximum-likelihood sequence estimator (MLSE) or to increase the throughput efficiency of an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) transmission scheme. In this paper, the issue of joint transmitter-receiver filter design is addressed for shortening multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) ISI channels. A frequency-domain approach is adopted for the transceiver design which is effectively equivalent to an infinite-length time-domain design. A practical space-frequency waterfilling algorithm is also provided. It is demonstrated that the channel shortening equalizer designed according to the time-domain approach suffers from an error-floor effect. However, the proposed techniques are shown to overcome this problem and outperform the time-domain channel shortening filter design. We also demonstrate that the proposed transceiver design can be considered as a MIMO broadband beamformer with constraints on the time-domain multipath length. Hence, a significant diversity gain could also be achieved by choosing strong eigenmodes of the MIMO channel. It is also found that the proposed frequency-domain methods have considerably low computational complexity as compared with their time-domain counterparts.