Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differentially private publication of location entropy

Location entropy (LE) is a popular metric for measuring the popularity of various locations (e.g., points-of-interest). Unlike other metrics computed from only the number of (unique) visits to a location, namely frequency, LE also captures the diversity of the users' visits, and is thus more accurate than other metrics. Current solutions for computing LE require full access to the past visits of users to locations, which poses privacy threats. This paper discusses, for the first time, the problem of perturbing location entropy for a set of locations according to differential privacy. The problem is challenging because removing a single user from the dataset will impact multiple records of the database; i.e., all the visits made by that user to various locations. Towards this end, we first derive non-trivial, tight bounds for both local and global sensitivity of LE, and show that to satisfy ε-differential privacy, a large amount of noise must be introduced, rendering the published results useless. Hence, we propose a thresholding technique to limit the number of users' visits, which significantly reduces the perturbation error but introduces an approximation error. To achieve better utility, we extend the technique by adopting two weaker notions of privacy: smooth sensitivity (slightly weaker) and crowd-blending (strictly weaker). Extensive experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets show that our proposed techniques preserve original data distribution without compromising location privacy.
Physiological and Morphological Responses of the Temperate Seagrass Zostera muelleri to Multiple Stressors: Investigating the Interactive Effects of Light and Temperature

Understanding how multiple environmental stressors interact to affect seagrass health (measured as morphological and physiological responses) is important for responding to global declines in seagrass populations. We investigated the interactive effects of temperature stress (24, 27, 30 and 32°C) and shading stress (75, 50, 25 and 0% shade treatments) on the seagrass Zostera muelleri over a 3-month period in laboratory mesocosms. Z. muelleri is widely distributed throughout the temperate and tropical waters of south and east coasts of Australia, and is regarded as a regionally significant species. Optimal growth was observed at 27°C, whereas rapid loss of living shoots and leaf mass occurred at 32°C. We found no difference in the concentration of photosynthetic pigments among temperature treatments by the end of the experiment; however, up-regulation of photoprotective pigments was observed at 30°C. Greater levels of shade resulting in high photochemical efficiencies, while elevated irradiance suppressed effective quantum yield (ΔF/FM’). Chlorophyll fluorescence fast induction curves (FIC) revealed that the J step amplitude was significantly higher in the 0% shade treatment after 8 weeks, indicating a closure of PSII reaction centres, which likely contributed to the decline in ΔF/FM’ and photoinhibition under higher irradiance. Effective quantum yield of PSII (ΔF/FM’) declined steadily in 32°C treatments, indicating thermal damage. Higher temperatures (30°C) resulted in reduced above-ground biomass ratio and smaller leaves, while reduced light led to a reduction in leaf and shoot density, above-ground biomass ratio, shoot biomass and an increase in leaf senescence. Surprisingly, light and temperature had few interactive effects on seagrass health, even though these two stressors had strong effects on seagrass health when tested in isolation. In summary, these results demonstrate that populations of Z. muelleri in south-eastern Australia are sensitive to small chronic temperature increases and light decreases that are predicted under future climate change scenarios.
Interactive tracking and action retrieval to support human behavior analysis

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I joined the Ph.D. program not fully realizing how much effort one needs to spend in order to obtain this degree. This is certainly the most difficult thing that I have ever done in my life and it is only through the support of family and friends that I am able to complete this journey. I would like to thank my mom and dad, Purwani Eko Prihatin and Agus Sardjono, for always supporting me. Ever since I can remember, both of you always trust my judgment (maybe too much) and always believe in me. Only recently I realize how lucky I am to have been raised in such an environment. Next, I would like to thank my sister, Anindya Chandra Dewi, for always being there for me. I know no matter what happened I can always talk to you to cheer me up and make me feel better. I also would like to thank my grandpa and grandma for always showering me with love. I am incredibly fortunate to have a second set of parents like you two. Next, I would like to thank all the people in Wall Lab. It is hard to imagine a better group of friends to share a lab with. All of you are incredibly fun to be around with. and Paul Drews for being such fun lab mates and friends. I will always remember the many interesting discussions and fun conversations we had. I also would like to thank my roommate, Khaldoon Abu-Hakmeh. I didn't think our serendipitous meeting would turn into this lasting friendship. I am really lucky to have a friend like you that I can always rely on. Next, I would like to thank Bruce Chou for always being a good friend. You are one of the nicest people that I have ever met. I also would like to thank Vanessa, Grace, You are all awesome. Your companionship means a lot to me. It is impossible to list all my friends who have made this journey to be so fun and memorable. I have shared many interesting and personal moments with so many of you. I iii am really thankful to have the support and friendship from all of you. Last, I would like to thank all my committee members. It would be impossible for me to finish this journey without all your help and support. I would like to …
Realizing a Foundation for Programmability of ATM Networks with the Binding Architecture

A conceptual framework, called the binding model, for the creation, deployment and management of multimedia services on ATM-based broadband networks with end-to-end quality-of-service (QoS) guarantees is presented. The key function of the associated binding architecture is to provide an open programmable environment that facilitates the easy creation of flexible services. We describe the implementation of a prototype binding architecture called xbind as a middleware toolkit for building open programmable ATM networks. Finally, we present our initial experiences with experimenting and deploying xbind over an ATM testbed and highlight some of the lessons learned.
A table-based method for single-pass cache optimization

Due to the large contribution of the memory subsystem to total system power, the memory subsystem is highly amenable to customization for reduced power/energy and/or improved performance. Cache parameters such as total size, line size, and associativity can be specialized to the needs of an application for system optimization. In order to determine the best values for cache parameters, most methodologies utilize repetitious application execution to individually analyze each configuration explored. In this paper we propose a simplified yet efficient technique to accurately estimate the miss rate of many different cache configurations in just one single-pass of execution. The approach utilizes simple data structures in the form of a multi-layered table and elementary bitwise operations to capture the locality characteristics of an application's addressing behavior. The proposed technique intends to ease miss rate estimation and reduce cache exploration time.
A Security Measure Selection Scheme with Consideration of Potential Lawsuits

1 Graduate School of Science and Technology, Shizuoka University, 3-5-1, Johoku, Naka, Hamamatsu, Japan 2 Graduate School of Informatics, Shizuoka University, 3-5-1, Johoku, Naka, Hamamatsu, Japan 3 NTT Information Sharing Platform Laboratories, 3-9-11 Midori-Cho, Musashino-Shi, Tokyo, 180-8585 Japan 4 Graduate School of Engineering, Soka University, Tangimachi, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-8577 Japan 5 Graduate School of Science and Technology, Tokyo Denki University, 2-2 Kanda-Nishiki-Cho, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo 101-8457 Japan
Further Understanding of Collaboration: A Case Study of How It Works with Teachers and Librarians

Collaboration between teachers and librarians is considered an essential element of school librarians' work. This case study examined a collaborative effort between teachers and librarians from diverse areas of expertise who collaborated in designing professional development workshops for a group of elementary school teachers and librarians. The purpose of the study was tofurther understand the process of teacher and librarian collaboration, and to evaluate the collaborative process using a proposed model of teacher and librarian collaboration.
Building on the Promise: State Initiatives to Expand Access to Early Head Start for Young Children and Their Families.

The federal Early Head Start program supports the healthy development of pregnant women and low-income infants and toddlers in the context of their families and communities. Research has shown that Early Head Start positively impacts children’s cognitive, language, and socialemotional development and parents’ progress toward self-sufficiency. Unfortunately, federal funds reach less than 3 percent of all eligible children. Currently, almost 20 states have taken action to expand and enhance Early Head Start services for infants, toddlers and their families.
Infliximab-Related Infusion Reactions: Systematic Review

Objective: Administration of infliximab is associated with a well-recognised risk of infusion reactions. Lack of a mechanism-based rationale for their prevention, and absence of adequate and well-controlled studies, has led to the use of diverse empirical administration protocols. The aim of this study is to perform a systematic review of the evidence behind the strategies for preventing infusion reactions to infliximab, and for controlling the reactions once they occur. Methods: We conducted extensive search of electronic databases of MEDLINE [PubMed] for reports that communicate various aspects of infusion reactions to infliximab in IBD patients. Results: We examined full texts of 105 potentially eligible articles. No randomised controlled trials that pre-defined infusion reaction as a primary outcome were found. Three RCTs evaluated infusion reactions as a secondary outcome; another four RCTs included infusion reactions in the safety evaluation analysis; and 62 additional studies focused on various aspects of mechanism/s, risk, primary and secondary preventive measures, and management algorithms. Seven studies were added by a manual search of reference lists of the relevant articles. A total of 76 original studies were included in quantitative analysis of the existing strategies. Conclusions: There is still paucity of systematic and controlled data on the risk, prevention, and management of infusion reactions to infliximab. We present working algorithms based on systematic and extensive review of the available data. More randomised controlled trials are needed in order to investigate the efficacy of the proposed preventive and management algorithms.
Hawking radiation from Trojan states in muonic Hydrogen in strong laser field

We show that the Unruh-Davies effect is measurable from Trojan wavepackets in muonic Hydrogen as the acceleration on the first muonic Bohr orbit reaches 10^25 of the earth acceleration. It is the biggest acceleration achievable in the laboratory environment which have been ever predicted for the cyclotronic configuration. We calculate the ratio between the power of Larmor radiation and the power of Hawking radiation. The Hawking radiation is measurable even for quantum numbers of the muon due to suppression of spontaneous emission in Trojan Hydrogen.
Small LTE Base Stations Deployment in Vehicle-to-Road- Infrastructure Communications

Rational and efficient handling of vehicular traffic and people movement is already nowadays a huge challenge that increasingly needs to be supported by dedicated technologies. Scenarios like Smart Cities and Smart Roads are therefore among the most promising areas in which major technological breakthroughs are expected in the next two decades. The delivery of end user services in these scenarios surely call for an ensemble of different technologies to be displaced together; for successful deployment of such technologies and for positive and effective impact on daily life, one of the most important factors is certainly the efficient, fast and flexible distribution of information. The possibility to transmit a large quantity of data is of course necessary in these kind of scenarios, but is not to be separated from the possibility to have higher spectral efficiency and higher flexibility of spectrum configuration. Another key factor is the cost of the network infrastructure, which can easily become a showstopper even for the most promising service or technology. In fact in recent years, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-road-infrastructure (V2I) communications have attracted great interest for the potentially extended usage in traffic applications and emergency situations. While in the former case the communication system is realized by means of an ad-hoc network (denoted as VANET), in the latter vehicles, i.e. mobile terminals, exchange data packets each other and with the Internet by means of a base station (BS) situated close to the road side. So, in V2I the BS controls the network and manages the connections with and between the vehicles, simplifying the vehicle transceiver and improving performance, including the reliability of emergency communications.
Welfare State Transformation: Convergence and the Rise of the Supply Side Model

This paper describes welfare state transformation in OECD countries since the 1970s against the background of the post-war settlement. Relying on quantitative macro-data and qualitative information from the literature, we show that welfare states have converged, especially regarding various spending measures, and also to a certain extent in some qualitative policy-making patterns. What has emerged can best be described as the 'supply-side welfare state' model, and this overall orientation is reflected in many welfare state areas. We differ from earlier prognoses of a race to the bottom by generous welfare states and disagree with the view that a supply-side orientation equals 'lean government' in terms of social expenditure. But convergence implies that the space to maneuver has shrunk for policy-makers. The consequences of the 2008 financial crisis for welfare states are difficult to predict; short-term counter-cyclical measures in reaction to the crisis highlight the importance of protective buffers in highly integrated economies. Still, some countries have experienced harsh austerity measures since then, and thus the 2008 financial crisis may mark the end of the convergence period described here.
Estimation of factors associated with the occurrence of white striping in broiler breast fillets.

Broiler breast fillets are sometimes characterized grossly by white parallel striations in the direction of the muscle fibers, and the condition is referred to as white striping. Depending on the severity of white striping, fillets can be classified as normal (NORM), moderate (MOD), or severe (SEV). The present study was intended to determine the factors associated with the occurrence of white striping in broiler breast fillets. Broiler birds (59 to 63 d) of 4 different commercial high-yielding strains (both males and females) fed with industrial type or phase-feeding regimens, were processed and ready-to-cook carcass weight was recorded. The carcasses were deboned at either 4 or 6 h postmortem. Fillets were scored for the degree of white striping at 24 h postmortem, and dimensions of fillets (length, width, cranial thickness, and caudal thickness), pH, color (L*, a* and b* values), cook loss, and Meullenet-Owens razor shear energy (MORSE) values were determined. About 55.8% of the birds used in the study showed some degree of white striping with MOD and SEV categories as 47.5 and 8.3%, respectively. Higher degrees of white striping were significantly (P < 0.05) related to higher cranial fillet thickness and ready-to-cook weights. The occurrence of SEV degrees of white striping was accompanied with increased b* values or yellowness of the meat. The growth differences in strains could influence the incidence of this condition, but feeding regimens and chill hour during processing did not. In addition, the degree of white striping did not show any significant (P > 0.05) relationship between various meat quality parameters such as pH, L*, a*, cook loss, and MORSE. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that there is a greater chance of higher degrees of white striping associated with heavier birds, but the condition is not related to any major changes in cooked meat quality.
AUTOMATIC VEHICLE TRACKING IN LOW FRAME RATE AERIAL IMAGE SEQUENCES

Traffic monitoring requires mobile and flexible systems that are able to extract densely sampled spatial and temporal traffic data in large areas in near-real time. Video-based systems mounted on aerial platforms meet these requirements, however, at the expense of a limited field of view. To overcome this limitation of video cameras, we developed a concept for automatic derivation of traffic flow data which is designed for commercial medium format cameras with a resolution of 25-40 cm and a rather low frame rate of only 1-3 Hz. Since resolution and frame rate are the most limiting factors, the focus of the first implementations and evaluations lies on the approach for automatic tracking of vehicles in image sequences of such type in near real-time. The tracking procedure relies on two basic components: a simple motion model to predict possible locations of previously detected vehicles in the succeeding images and an adaptive shape-based matching algorithm in order to match, i.e. recognize, the detected vehicles in the other images. To incorporate internal evaluations and consistency checks on which the decision of a correct track can be based, the matching is done over image triplets. The evaluation of the results shows the applicability and the potentials of this approach.
Religious and Scientific Faith in Simplicity

Both religion and science start with basic assumptions that cannot be proved but are taken on faith. Here I note that one basic assumption that is rather common in both enterprises is the assumption that in comparing different hypotheses that all equally explain the observations, the simpler hypotheses are more probable (Occam's razor or the law of parsimony). That is, explanations should be made as simple at possible (though no simpler, since then they would not explain what is observed).
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This note uses some recent calculations of Conder and Bujalance (on classifying finite index group extensions of Fuchsian groups with abelian quotient and torsion free kernel) in order to determine the full automorphism groups of some cylic coverings of the line (including curves of Fermat and Lefschetz type). The answer is complete for cyclic covers that branch over three points. §1 Introduction Let C be a Riemann surface of genus g ≥ 2. As is known, the group of automorphisms of such a curve is finite. If the curve is given by an explicit affine equation in C 2 , a very compelling problem is to determine the symmetry group from the equation. In this paper we answer this problem completely for certain cyclic covers of the line. A cyclic covering of the line is a curve C with an affine equation in C 2 given by C : y n = (x − e 1) a 1 (x − e 2) a 2 · · · (x − e k) a k We only deal with irreducible curves (putting a small restriction on n and the a i 's). The special cases when n = 2 or n = p (an odd prime) are known as hyperelliptic curves or p-elliptic curves (see [11]). In [18], Namba conjectured that the isomorphism type of a cyclic cover y n = f (x) is determined entirely by the branching of the projection (x, y) ∈ C → x. This has been answered affirmatively for n = p by Nakajo [17]. A general discussion of these curves and their properties is given in §3. A consequence is that Namba's conjecture is true as far as the automorphism group of C is concerned, that is the isomorphism type of the group of automorphisms of C is determined by the branching. A cyclic cover C is clearly endowed with an action by the cyclic group Z n , (x, y) → (x, ζy), where ζ is a primitive n-th root of unity. If Aut(C) is the group of symmetries of C then Z n ⊂ Aut(C). Our aim then becomes to determine all possible extensions of Z n that can occur as automorphism groups of cyclic galois covers. To this end, we rely on techniques in Fuchsian group theory and on pivotal recent calculations of Bujalance, Conder and Cirre ([4], [3]). The main result of …
Is Chronic Low Back Pain Associated with the Prevalence of Coronary Heart Disease when Genetic Susceptibility Is Considered? A Co-Twin Control Study of Spanish Twins

Objective To investigate the chronic low back pain and coronary heart disease relationship, after adjusting for relevant confounders, including genetics. Methods In a cross-sectional design, 2148 twins were recruited from the Murcia Twin Registry, Spain. The exposure was chronic LBP and the outcomes were myocardial infarction and other coronary heart diseases—lifetime and in the last 2 years–based on standardized health-related questionnaires. First, logistic regression analysis investigated associations of the total sample followed by a matched co-twin control analyses, with all complete twin pairs discordant for chronic LBP utilised, separated for zygosity—dizygotic (DZ) and monozygotic (MZ) pairs, which adjusted for shared familial factors, including genetics. Results Chronic LBP pain is associated with lifetime myocardial infarction [odds ratio (OR) = 2.69, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.35–5.36], other coronary heart diseases over a lifetime (OR = 2.58, 95% CI: 1.69–3.93) and in the last two years (OR = 2.19, 95% CI: 1.33–3.60), while there was a borderline association with myocardial infarction in the last 2 years (OR = 2.64, 95% CI: 0.98–7.12). Although the magnitude of the association remained or increased in the co-twin control analyses, none reached statistical significance. Conclusion Chronic LBP is associated with a higher prevalence of myocardial infarction and coronary heart disease. It is possible that this association remains even when controlling for genetics and early shared environment, although this should be investigated with larger samples of twins discordant for LBP.
Typicality extraction in a Speaker Binary Keys model

In the field of speaker recognition, the recently proposed notion of “Speaker Binary Key” provides a representation of each acoustic frame in a discriminant binary space. This approach relies on an unique acoustic model composed by a large set of speaker specific local likelihood peaks (called specificities). The model proposes a spatial coverage where each frame is characterized in terms of neighborhood. The most frequent specificities, picked up to represent the whole utterance, generate a binary key vector. The flexibility of this modeling allows to capture non-parametric behaviors. In this paper, we introduce a concept of “typicality” between binary keys, with a discriminant goal. We describe an algorithm able to extract such typicalities, which involves a singular value decomposition in a binary space. The theoretical aspects of this decomposition as well as its potential in terms of future developments are presented. All the propositions are also experimentally validated using NIST SRE 2008 framework.