Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Error Floor Analysis of LT Codes over the Additive White Gaussian Noise Channel

We investigate the error floor performance of Luby Transform (LT) codes over the additive white Gaussian noise channel. We first derive a lower bound on the bit error rate for an LT code, which we subsequently use to show that the corresponding error floor is predominantly caused by low-degree variable nodes. Based on this observation, we propose a modified encoding scheme for LT codes that provides a lower error floor with no increase in encoding and decoding complexities. The convergence behavior of the proposed scheme is analyzed using extrinsic information transfer charts, and shown to be similar to the original LT code. Numerical examples demonstrate the improvements of the modified LT code as a stand-alone code and as a component code of a Raptor code.
Event points: annotating XML documents for remote sharing

Collaboration is heavily based on sharing documents. However, most groupware toolkits do not directly support document sharing, but rather focus on supporting mechanisms such as remote concurrent access to shared objects. We propose the notion of event point as a single and unified concept for defining sharing capabilities of XML documents and introduce four types of event points for real-time groupware: replication, copy, echo, and synchronization. These event points support such collaborative features as real-time sharing, synchronization, telepointing, localization, and echo. The paper presents the concept of event point, its implementation in the DoPIdom toolkit, and some sample uses in our Sovigo drawing tool.
Meticulously detailed eye model and its application to analysis of facial image

We propose a system that is capable of detailed analysis of eye region images including position of the iris, degree of eyelid opening, and shape and texture of the eyelid. The system is based on a generative eye model that defines fine structures and motions of eye. The structure parameters represent structural individuality of the eye, including size and color of the iris, width and boldness of the double-fold eyelid, width of the bulge below the eye and width of the illumination reflection on the bulge. The motion parameters represent movements of the eye, including up-down position of the upper and lower eyelids and 2D position of the iris. The system first registers the eye model to the input in a particular frame and individualizes the model by adjusting the structure parameters. Then, it tracks motion of the eye by estimating the motion parameters across the entire image sequence. Combined with image stabilization to compensate the head motion, the registration and motion recovery of the eye are guaranteed to be robust.
Energy-efficient spectrum sharing and power allocation in cognitive radio femtocell networks

Both cognitive radio and femtocell have been considered as promising techniques in wireless networks. However, most of previous works are focused on spectrum sharing and interference avoidance, and the energy efficiency aspect is largely ignored. In this paper, we study the energy efficiency aspect of spectrum sharing and power allocation in heterogeneous cognitive radio networks with femtocells. To fully exploit the cognitive capability, we consider a wireless network architecture in which both the macrocell and the femtocell have the cognitive capability. We formulate the energy-efficient resource allocation problem in heterogeneous cognitive radio networks with femtocells as a Stackelberg game. A gradient based iteration algorithm is proposed to obtain the Stackelberg equilibrium solution to the energy-efficient resource allocation problem. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the Stackelberg equilibrium is obtained by the proposed iteration algorithm and energy efficiency can be improved significantly in the proposed scheme.
RSS-based localization with different antenna orientations

This paper analyzes the influence of the antenna orientation on the performance of Received Signal Strength (RSS) based localization algorithms. Existing RSS-based localization algorithms provide reliable results in environments with static sources of error. This paper analyzes the performance of three RSS-based algorithms in an environment with the antenna orientation as a dynamic source of error. We first experimentally verify that the antenna orientation has a large influence on the received signal strength by performing an extensive amount of measurements. As expected, these measurements show that the signal strength may vary more than a factor five under different antenna orientations. This paper shows that antenna orientations may decrease the performance of optimally calibrated RSS-based localization algorithms by as much as 32%, from 1.8 to 2.65 meter. In addition, it shows that improper calibration of the antenna orientation may decrease the accuracy by 64%, from 1.9 to 3.1 meter.
Cooperative object transportation by multiple mobile manipulators through a hierarchical planning architecture

Although planning a collision-free path for an object alone has long been solved, planning for safe transportation of objects by robots in presence of obstacles is a challenging task due to high dimensions of the system's composite configuration space. This paper addresses the problem of cooperative object transportation by multiple mobile manipulators through a two-layered Centralized-Decentralized architecture. In the higher (centralized) layer a collision-free global path is planned for the object using a novel sampling-based method called Optimally-connected Random Tree and without considering the space needed for obstacle avoidance of the robots, and in the lower (decentralized) layer the robots locally avoid obstacles and coordinate their motions with each other in order to reach the object and grasp, transport, and place it at the target position. The proposed method was implemented in Webots™ software for KUKA youBot mobile manipulators and its effectiveness was verified through numerous transportation scenarios.
New windows for tunable length fir filter design

We discuss a new class of window functions based on the inverse of the product of two Gamma functions. These windows depend on two parameters and have performance similar to the Kaiser windows. By a proper selection of the two parameters we obtain windows that have the additional interesting property that smaller parts of the whole window are indeed efficient windows in the same class. If such a window is used to design a FIR filter, subsets of coefficients of the whole filter are efficient FIR filters of lower order. The possibility to tune the length of a filter to adapt to changing ressources such as processing time or power is a desirable property in highly integrated mobile devices.
TERAPIA POR CONTENSÃO INDUZIDA EM PACIENTE COM AVC INFANTIL: ESTUDO DE CASO CONSTRAINT-INDUCED MOVEMENT THERAPY IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN WITH PEDIATRIC STROKE: A CASE STUDY

RESUMO. O objetivo deste estudo foi valiar os efeitos da Terapia por Contensao Induzida (TCI) na funcao manual e amplitude de movimento (ADM) do membro superior paretico (MSP) de crianca com AVC. Trata-se de estudo de caso com paciente hemiparetico a D, avaliado com o Pediatric Motor Activity Log (PMAL) e Goniometria do MSP, sendo realizada uma avaliacao inicial (AI); avaliacao final I (AFI) ao final da intervencao e avaliacao final II (AFII) tres meses apos. A TCI teve duracao de um mes, tres dias por semana com duracao de tres horas cada, sendo estimulado a realizar exercicios fisioterapeuticos, atividades de vida diaria, tarefas de lazer e escolares com o MSP. A AI foi comparada com a AFI em que pode-se observar aumento na pontuacao principalmente em qualidade e, na comparacao da AFI com a AFII, houve melhora principalmente na frequencia, alem de manutencao dos ganhos obtidos na AFI. Quanto a Goniometria, houve melhora principalmente da ADM ativa de alguns movimentos do membro e pouca diminuicao de alguns movimentos na AFII. A TCI mostrou-se eficaz para melhora da funcao manual e na ADM do MSP em paciente com AVC infantil, podendo servir como base para estudos com amostras maiores.
FACE RECOGNITION WITH HARMONIC DE-LIGHTING

Evaluations of the state-of-the-art of both academic face recognition algorithms and commercial systems have shown that performance of most current technologies degrades due to the variations of illumination. We propose a novel technique for face recognition under generic illumination in this paper, namely, calibrating an input face image to an image under canonical illumination, named as face de-lighting, to reduce the negative effect of non-ideal illumination in the original image. The canonical illumination is defined as an illumination environment in which light is constant in every direction. Inspired by the low dimension effect of light on Lambertian surface and the compact representation of the canonical illumination in spherical frequency space (only the DC component needed), face de-lighting is achieved with spherical harmonics. Experiments show the effectiveness of the proposed method in both lighting estimation and face recognition.
Variability and heritability of cell division pathways in Toxoplasma gondii

A histone 2b-YFP fusion protein stably expressed in Toxoplasma gondii has several advantages: it reveals previously hidden details of nuclear morphology; it makes it possible to observe cell-cycle events; it provides a basis for quantitative measurements of DNA content in living cells; and it enables sorting of live cells according to cell-cycle phase or ploidy. With this cell line it was possible to recognize and directly clone individual progeny arising from different patterns of cell division that produce two, three or four daughter cells. These experiments established that the progeny produced by all cell division pathways are viable and infective. Furthermore, the number of progeny produced by a mature parasite during cell division is not correlated with the number of its siblings. The complete repertoire of cell division pathways is therefore inherited by a single cell produced through any one of the individual paths. The results expand the range of what must be considered normal in T. gondii cell division and provide a useful tool for further study of nuclear structure and proliferation in this important human pathogen.
Gratitude predicts hope and happiness: A two-study assessment of traits and states

Abstract Gratitude is the appreciation of a gift received; happiness is the enjoyment of a present good; and hope is the desire for a valued future. Two studies investigated gratitude as a predictor of hope and happiness. In Study 1, hierarchical regressions (N = 181) revealed that trait gratitude exceeded other constructs (forgivingness, patience, self-control) in predicting trait hope and happiness. In Study 2, we experimentally tested the impact of a gratitude-related writing intervention on state hope and happiness. Participants (N = 153) first wrote about a current, meaningful, hoped-for outcome and completed state hope and happiness measures. Participants were randomly assigned to either (a) gratefully remember a past hope that had been fulfilled or (b) a control condition. The grateful remembering condition (vs. control) prompted significant increases in state hope and happiness, commending grateful remembering as a practice that can bolster present happiness and hope for the future.
AGENT-BASED SIMULATION OF A SHOP FLOOR CONTROLLER USING HYBRID COMMUNICATION PROTOCOLS

Agents are autonomous and computational entities that perceive their environment through sensors and act upon their environment through effectors. Application of agents in simulation of manufacturing system helps in modelling the concurrent behaving entities close to the real system. A manufacturing agent should be modelled to impart the required functionality to the manufacturing entity. As agents are autonomous, they run asynchronously and need to be synchronized with the simulation clock for simulating the manufacturing system. This paper deals with the synchronization of manufacturing agents, working of the agent-based simulator of a shop floor controller for a sample manufacturing system and the hybrid communication protocols involved during simulation. The manufacturing agents were built on JADE™ platform, which is a leading multi agent development framework that helps in developing FIPA compliant agent-based systems. Agent-based modelling and simulation of entities in the manufacturing system provides flexibility for real-time decision making.
Phonological Development of Mandarin-English Bilingual Children in New Zealand

• Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person. • Authors control the copyright of their thesis. You will recognize the author's right to be identified as the author of this thesis, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate. • You will obtain the author's permission before publishing any material from their thesis.
A Simple Iterative Gaussian Detector for Severely Delay-Spread MIMO Channels

In this paper, a low-complexity high-performance detection algorithm for multiple input multiple output (MIMO) channels with severe delay spread is proposed. This algorithm performs iterative data detection over factor graphs which apply an independence approximation as well as a Gaussian approximation. It is shown that this algorithm achieves a near-optimum BER performance for coded MIMO systems with severe delay spread. The computational complexity of this algorithm is strictly linear in the number of transmit antennas, the number of receive antennas, and the number of non-zero channel coefficients.
A Three State Hard-Core Model on a Cayley Tree

Abstract We consider a nearest-neighbor hard-core model, with three states , on a homogeneous Cayley tree of order k (with k + 1 neighbors). This model arises as a simple example of a loss network with nearest-neighbor exclusion. The state σ(x) at each node x of the Cayley tree can be 0, 1 and 2. We have Poisson flow of calls of rate λ at each site x, each call has an exponential duration of mean 1. If a call finds the node in state 1 or 2 it is lost. If it finds the node in state 0 then things depend on the state of the neighboring sites. If all neighbors are in state 0, the call is accepted and the state of the node becomes 1 or 2 with equal probability 1/2. If at least one neighbor is in state 1, and there is no neighbor in state 2 then the state of the node becomes 1. If at least one neighbor is in state 2 the call is lost. We focus on ‘splitting’ Gibbs measures for this model, which are reversible equilibrium distributions for the above process. We prove that in this model, ∀ λ > 0 and k ≥ 1, there exists a unique translationinvariant splitting Gibbs measure *. We also study periodic splitting Gibbs measures and show that the above model admits only translation - invariant and periodic with period two (chess-board) Gibbs measures. We discuss some open problems and state several related conjectures.
ALLOCATING AND SCHEDULING HARD REAL-TIME TASKS ON A POINT-TO-POINT DISTRIBUTED SYSTEM

A. BurnsM. NicholsonK. TindellN. ZhangReal-Timeand Distributed Systems Research GroupDepartment of Computer Science,University of York, UKemail: burns@minster.york. ac.ukABSTRACTPoint-to-pointarchitectures have a number of advantages over other forms ofdistribution: there is no shared communication media to schedule and they re-scalewith the minimum of disturbance. An example of a point-to-pointnetwork is the DIA(Data Interaction Architecture). This platform has been designed speciﬁcally tosupport real-time applications. In this paper we consider the static allocation andprocess based scheduling of applications running on point-to-pointarchitectures; weuse DIA as an exemplar platform. Application code is assumed to consist ofprecedence related processes that may exchange data. Timing requirements areassigned to input/output activities through a chain of process executions (called areal-timetransaction). The allocation activity is performed by a simulated annealingalgorithm; this is described. The algorithm allocates processes (subject to constraintssuch as keeping replicas apart), assigns priorities to each process and where necessaryconstructs routes through the point-to-pointnetwork. In effect the allocation choosesintermediate response times within the transaction such that the end-to-enddeadline issatisﬁed. 1. INTRODUCTIONPoint-to-pointarchitectures have a number of advantages over other forms of distribution: there is noshared communication media to schedule and they re-scale(off-line)with the minimum of disturbance.In this paper we consider the problems involved in running hard real-timeapplications on point-to-point networks.An example of a point-to-pointnetwork is the DIA (Data Interaction Architecture)
The vision of software clone management: Past, present, and future (Keynote paper)

Duplicated code or code clones are a kind of code smell that have both positive and negative impacts on the development and maintenance of software systems. Software clone research in the past mostly focused on the detection and analysis of code clones, while research in recent years extends to the whole spectrum of clone management. In the last decade, three surveys appeared in the literature, which cover the detection, analysis, and evolutionary characteristics of code clones. This paper presents a comprehensive survey on the state of the art in clone management, with in-depth investigation of clone management activities (e.g., tracing, refactoring, cost-benefit analysis) beyond the detection and analysis. This is the first survey on clone management, where we point to the achievements so far, and reveal avenues for further research necessary towards an integrated clone management system. We believe that we have done a good job in surveying the area of clone management and that this work may serve as a roadmap for future research in the area.
Sloan School of Management Working Paper 4322-03 June 2003 Asset Prices and Exchange Rates

This paper develops a simple two-country, two-good model, in which the real exchange rate, stock and bond prices are jointly determined. The model predicts that stock market prices are correlated internationally even though their dividend processes are independent, providing a theoretical argument in favor of financial contagion. The foreign exchange market serves as a propagation channel from one stock market to the other. The model identifies interconnections between stock, bond and foreign exchange markets and characterizes their joint dynamics as a three-factor model. Contemporaneous responses of each market to changes in the factors are shown to have unambiguous signs. These implications enjoy strong empirical support. Estimation of various versions of the model reveals that most of the signs predicted by the model indeed obtain in the data, and the point estimates are in line with the implications of our theory. Furthermore, the uncovered interest rate parity relationship has a risk premium term in our model, shown to be volatile. We also derive agents’ portfolio holdings and identify economic environments under which they exhibit a home bias, and demonstrate that an international CAPM obtaining in our model has two additional factors. JEL Classifications: G12, G15, F31, F36
Risk Factors for Shoulder and Elbow Injuries in Adolescent Baseball Pitchers

Background There is little evidence supporting current safety recommendations for adolescent pitchers. Hypothesis Pitching practices of adolescent pitchers without history of arm injury will be significantly different from those of adolescent pitchers who required shoulder or elbow surgery. Study Design Case control study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods Ninety-five adolescent pitchers who had shoulder or elbow surgery and 45 adolescent pitchers who never had a significant pitching-related injury completed a survey. Responses were compared between the 2 groups using t tests and analyses. Multivariable logistic regression models were developed to identify the risk factors. Results The injured group pitched significantly more months per year, games per year, innings per game, pitches per game, pitches per year, and warm-up pitches before a game. These pitchers were more frequently starting pitchers, pitched in more showcases, pitched with higher velocity, and pitched more often with arm pain and fatigue. They also used anti-inflammatory drugs and ice more frequently to prevent an injury. Although the groups were age matched, the injured group was taller and heavier. There were no significant differences regarding private pitching instruction, coach's chief concern, pitcher's self-rating, exercise programs, stretching practices, relieving frequency, pitch type frequency, or age at which pitch types were first thrown. Conclusion Pitching practices were significantly different between the groups. The factors with the strongest associations with injury were overuse and fatigue. High pitch velocity and participation in showcases were also associated with increased risk for injury. Clinical Relevance New recommendations were made based on these results. Adherence to the recommendations may reduce the incidence of significant injury to adolescent pitchers.
Co-visualization of DNA damage and ion traversals in live mammalian cells using a fluorescent nuclear track detector

Abstract The geometric locations of ion traversals in mammalian cells constitute important information in the study of heavy ion-induced biological effect. Single ion traversal through a cellular nucleus produces complex and massive DNA damage at a nanometer level, leading to cell inactivation, mutations and transformation. We present a novel approach that uses a fluorescent nuclear track detector (FNTD) for the simultaneous detection of the geometrical images of ion traversals and DNA damage in single cells using confocal microscopy. HT1080 or HT1080–53BP1-GFP cells were cultured on the surface of a FNTD and exposed to 5.1-MeV/n neon ions. The positions of the ion traversals were obtained as fluorescent images of a FNTD. Localized DNA damage in cells was identified as fluorescent spots of γ-H2AX or 53BP1-GFP. These track images and images of damaged DNA were obtained in a short time using a confocal laser scanning microscope. The geometrical distribution of DNA damage indicated by fluorescent γ-H2AX spots in fixed cells or fluorescent 53BP1-GFP spots in living cells was found to correlate well with the distribution of the ion traversals. This method will be useful for evaluating the number of ion hits on individual cells, not only for micro-beam but also for random-beam experiments.