Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Web Services Enabled E-Market Access Control Model

With the dramtic expansion of global e-markets, companies collaborate more and more in order to streamline their supply chains. Companies often form coalitions to reach the critical mass required to bid on a large volume or wide ranges of products. Meanwhile, they also compete with one another for market shares. Because of the complex relationships among companies, controlling the access to shared information found in e-markets is a challenging task. Currently, there is a lack of comprehensive approach in access control that can be used to maintain data security in e-markets. We propose to integrate several known access control mechanisms such as role-based access control, coalition-based access control, and relationship driven access control into an e-market access control (EMAC) model. In this paper, we present a web services based architecture for EMAC and the associated concepts and algorithms. We also illustrate via an automotive e-market example how the EMAC model can support e-market access control.
A Physically Inspired Clustering Algorithm: to Evolve Like Particles

Clustering analysis is a method to organize raw data into categories based on a measure of similarity. It has been successfully applied to diverse fields from science to business and engineering. By endowing data points with physical meaning like particles in the physical world and then leaning their evolving tendency of moving from higher to lower potentials, data points in the proposed clustering algorithm sequentially hop to the locations of their transfer points and gather, after a few steps, at the locations of cluster centers with the locally lowest potentials, where cluster members can be easily identified. The whole clustering process is simple and efficient, and can be performed either automatically or interactively, with reliable performances on test data of diverse shapes, attributes, and dimensionalities.
Hand-written character recognition using MEMS motion sensing technology

In this paper, a micro inertial measurement unit (muIMU) based on micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) sensors is applied to sense the motion information produced by characters written by human subjects. The muIMU is built to record the three-dimensional accelerations and angular velocities of the motions during hand-writing. (Here we write the characters in a plane, so only two accelerations and one angular velocity are taken from muIMU in processing the data discussed in this paper). Then, we compared the effectiveness of data processing methods such as FFT (fast Fourier transform) and DCT (discrete cosine transform) by showing their corresponding experimental results. Subsequently, we gave an analysis of these two methods, and chose DCT as the preferred data processing method. For character recognition (26 English alphabets and 10 numerical digits), unsupervised network self-organizing map (SOM) is applied to classify the characters and comparatively good results are obtained. Our goal is to show the feasibility of character recognition based on selected sensor motion information, and provide a potential technology for human-gesture recognition based on MEMS motion sensors.
A Statistical Pruning Strategy for Schnorr-Euchner Sphere Decoding

The high computational complexity of maximum likelihood (ML) decoding can impact many applications such as code division multiple access (CDMA) and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. The sphere decoder (SD) as an efficient ML decoder has therefore received significant attention in the wireless research community. This letter presents a new statistical method to reduce the complexity of the Schnorr and Euchner sphere decoder (SESD). The method uses a set of bounds, which are computed using the conditional probability based on the minimum metric of the current solution. A lookup tabic for the bounds can be computed offline. The proposed method is effective for any number of antennas with complexity savings about 50% or more over the conventional SD approach.
Collaborative P2P Streaming of Interactive Live Free Viewpoint Video

We study an interactive live streaming scenario where multiple peers pull streams of the same free viewpoint video that are synchronized in time but not necessarily in view. In free viewpoint video, each user can periodically select a virtual view between two anchor camera views for display. The virtual view is synthesized using texture and depth videos of the anchor views via depth-image-based rendering (DIBR). In general, the distortion of the virtual view increases with the distance to the anchor views, and hence it is beneficial for a peer to select the closest anchor views for synthesis. On the other hand, if peers interested in different virtual views are willing to tolerate larger distortion in using more distant anchor views, they can collectively share the access cost of common anchor views. Given anchor view access cost and synthesized distortion of virtual views between anchor views, we study the optimization of anchor view allocation for collaborative peers. We first show that, if the network reconfiguration costs due to view-switching are negligible, the problem can be optimally solved in polynomial time using dynamic programming. We then consider the case of non-negligible reconfiguration costs (e.g., large or frequent view-switching leading to anchor-view changes). In this case, the view allocation problem becomes NP-hard. We thus present a locally optimal and centralized allocation algorithm inspired by Lloyd's algorithm in non-uniform scalar quantization. We also propose a distributed algorithm with guaranteed convergence where each peer group independently make merge-and-split decisions with a well-defined fairness criteria. The results show that depending on the problem settings, our proposed algorithms achieve respective optimal and close-to-optimal performance in terms of total cost, and outperform a P2P scheme without collaborative anchor selection.
Fourier Transform Hyperspectral Visible Imaging and the Nondestructive Analysis of Potentially Fraudulent Documents

The work presented in this paper details the design and performance characteristics of a new hyperspectral visible imaging technique. Rather than using optical filters or a dispersing element, this design implements Fourier transform spectroscopy to achieve spectral discrimination. One potentially powerful application of this new technology is the nondestructive analysis and authentication of written and printed documents. Document samples were prepared using red, blue, and black inks. The samples were later altered using a different ink of the same color. While the alterations are undetectable to the naked eye, the alterations involving the blue and black inks were easily detected when the spectrally resolved images were viewed. Analysis of the sample using the red inks was unsuccessful. A 2004 series $20 bill was imaged to demonstrate the application to document authentication. The results argue that counterfeit detection and quality control during printing are plausible applications of Fourier transform hyperspectral visible imaging. All of the images were subjected to fuzzy c-means cluster analysis in an effort to objectively analyze and automate image analysis. Our results show that cluster analysis can distinguish image features that have remarkably similar visible transmission spectra.
Dynamic Correlation: A Tool for Hedging House Price Risk?

Dynamic correlation models demonstrate that the relationship between interest rates and housing prices is non-constant. Estimates reveal statistically significant time fluctuations in correlations between housing price indexes and Treasury bonds, the S&P 500 Index, and stock prices of mortgage-related companies. In some cases, hedging effectiveness can be improved by moving from constant to dynamic hedge ratios. Empirics reported here point to the possibility that incorrect assumptions of constant correlation could lead to mis-pricing in the mortgage industry and beyond.
A Lecture on Integrating the Treatment of Uncertainty in Strategy 1

Uncertainty permeates business. Ask any astute businessman about an opportunity’s prospects and you will get a conditional reply and, the further in the future or the more uncommon the opportunity, the more restrictive the conditions. This is not dissemblance but rather a reflection of the certainty of uncertainty. To be more specific, to prospectively assess an opportunity, it is necessary to understand the future disposition of four fundamentals: a firm’s own capabilities, the intent and abilities of the competition (actual and potential), the wants and needs of customers, and a firm’s bargaining strength in its chain of value. Substantial lack of specificity regarding any one of these “Four C’s” can be correctly characterized as uncertain.3 Uncertainty takes on special relevance in Strategy, because many of the most important opportunities for increasing shareholder value4 will exhibit just
Query term ranking based on search results overlap

In this paper, we propose a method to rank and assign weights to query terms according to their impact on the topic of the query. We use Search Result Overlap Ratio (SROR) to quantify the overlap of the search results of the full query and a shorten query after removing one term. Intuitively, if the overlap is small, it indicates a big topic shift and the removed term should be discriminative and important. The SROR could be used for measuring query term importance with a search engine automatically. By this way, learning based models could be trained based on a large number of automatically labeled instances and make predictions for future queries efficiently.
A Study on the Use Contexts of Personal Computing Devices Using a Diary Study Method

In this study, the use contexts of personal computing devices (desktops, laptops, net books, tablets, and smartphones) are investigated in order to verify the existence of use context differences between different devices. Based on previous research, categorizations for the use context and sub-use context factors are proposed. A diary study method with a large number of samples is used to extract and define the use contexts. Also, a cross-tabulation analysis is used in the hypothesis testing. The results of this study demonstrate that the use context differs for each device. Therefore, it appears that the use contexts may have an effect on user behavior regarding different devices and services. The use context can be applied and extended to future research in order to measure the use context and to examine the effect of the use context on user behavior with the devices and services. This research provides a significant contribution as the first empirical study to verify the use context of personal computing devices and it is a foundational study for the development of measurements for use contexts.
Cross ontology query answering on the semantic web: an initial evaluation

PowerAqua is a Question Answering system, which takes as input a natural language query and is able to return answers drawn from relevant semantic resources found anywhere on the Semantic Web. In this paper we provide two novel contributions: First, we detail a new component of the system, the Triple Similarity Service, which is able to match queries effectively to triples found in different ontologies on the Semantic Web. Second, we provide a first evaluation of the system, which in addition to providing data about PowerAqua's competence, also gives us important insights into the issues related to using the Semantic Web as the target answer set in Question Answering. In particular, we show that, despite the problems related to the noisy and incomplete conceptualizations, which can be found on the Semantic Web, good results can already be obtained.
Designing for Development

There has been the criticism that urban design is increasingly being used as an entrepreneurial strategy for cities, transformed into a tool for attracting investment. This article examines the evolution of urban design plans in Los Angeles to understand the relationship between urban design practices and growth. Rather than a clear break in orientation, both early and later design strategies are explicit in promoting urban design as a tool to encourage development. While the broad “purposes” of urban design are similar over the period examined, the type of catalyst that would create growth has fewer public benefits in later years.
Depth-Dependent Glycosaminoglycan Concentration in Articular Cartilage by Quantitative Contrast-Enhanced Micro–Computed Tomography

Objective A quantitative contrast-enhanced micro–computed tomography (qCECT) method was developed to investigate the depth dependency and heterogeneity of the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) concentration of ex vivo cartilage equilibrated with an anionic radiographic contrast agent, Hexabrix. Design Full-thickness fresh native (n = 19 in 3 subgroups) and trypsin-degraded (n = 6) articular cartilage blocks were imaged using micro–computed tomography (μCT) at high resolution (13.4 μm3) before and after equilibration with various Hexabrix bathing concentrations. The GAG concentration was calculated depth-dependently based on Gibbs-Donnan equilibrium theory. Analysis of variance with Tukey’s post hoc was used to test for statistical significance (P < 0.05) for effect of Hexabrix bathing concentration, and for differences in bulk and zonal GAG concentrations individually and compared between native and trypsin-degraded cartilage. Results The bulk GAG concentration was calculated to be 74.44 ± 6.09 and 11.99 ± 4.24 mg/mL for native and degraded cartilage, respectively. A statistical difference was demonstrated for bulk and zonal GAG between native and degraded cartilage (P < 0.032). A statistical difference was not demonstrated for bulk GAG when comparing Hexabrix bathing concentrations (P > 0.3214) for neither native nor degraded cartilage. Depth-dependent GAG analysis of native cartilage revealed a statistical difference only in the radial zone between 30% and 50% Hexabrix bathing concentrations. Conclusions This nondestructive qCECT methodology calculated the depth-dependent GAG concentration for both native and trypsin-degraded cartilage at high spatial resolution. qCECT allows for more detailed understanding of the topography and depth dependency, which could help diagnose health, degradation, and repair of native and contrived cartilage.
Are we helping them to pass or setting them up for failure? Assessment related experiences of partially sighted students

The needs of visually impaired students are often neglected in South African universities. Partially sighted students are left to provide for themselves because of the invisibility of their barrier to learning. This paper is a presentation of assessment-related experiences of partially sighted students at a university of technology in South Africa. The study was guided by two critical questions: What are partially sighted students’ assessmentrelated experiences, and why? A qualitative case study within an intepretivist paradigm was used. Four partially sighted students were purposively selected to participate in semi-structured interviews and a focus group discussion. Data was analysed using content analysis. It was found that partially sighted students’ needs are neglected. Prerequisites such as providing large font size and extra-time are taken for granted, yet they are consequential to every partially sighted student. Guided by a theoretical framework of the social model, the study concludes that an individualistic approach to supporting partially sighted students does not only make them feel included, but also enables them to realise their full potential.
Absorption cross section in warped AdS3 black hole revisited

We investigate the absorption cross section for minimal-coupled scalars in the warped AdS3 black hole. According to our calculation, the cross section reduces to the horizon area in the low energy limit as usually expected in contrast to what was previously found. We also calculate the greybody factor and find that the effective temperatures for the two chiral CFT's are consistent with that derived from the quasinormal modes. Observing the conjectured warped AdS/CFT correspondence, we suspect that a specific sector of the CFT operators with the desired conformal dimension could be responsible for the peculiar thermal behaviour of the warped AdS3 black hole.
Improving Internal Coefficient Consistencies of an Instrument to Measure Engineering Students' Intellectual Development

This paper summarizes the modifications required in improving internal consistency of the Perry Developmental Questionnaire from El-Farargy (2010). The purpose of the survey is to obtain information on students' attitudes, ethics and problem-solving skills; the types of data collected are similar to those of Perry type questionnaires for assessing students' intellectual development. This survey is the first pilot test conducted among 30 third-year chemical engineering students. The second and third pilot tests were conducted among 30 third-year mechanical engineering students. Likert-type instead of Osgood-type scale was used for the modified items. As a result of the modifications, improvement was seen in internal consistency where Cronbach's Alpha reliability value changed from 0.54 to 0.81 in the third test. Therefore, it can be concluded that the instrument is suitable to be used by all engineering students in the Malaysian context. This will help educators understand their learners and improve the way in which they teach future engineers. This paper discusses the ongoing progress of the instrument modification to improve the internal consistency as summarized by the results obtained.
OS CONSÓRCIOS INTERMUNICIPAIS DO ESTADO DO PARANÁ RESULTANTES DO PLANO NACIONAL DE GERENCIAMENTO DE RESÍDUOS SÓLIDOS: ESTUDO DA REGIÃO 17

Em 2010, o Governo Federal instituiu a Politica Nacional de Residuos Solidos (PNRS), atraves da Lei 12.305/10, visando resolver problemas ambientais gerados pela disposicao inadequada de residuos solidos urbanos, nos chamados lixoes a ceu aberto. No Parana, em 2013 foi implantado o Plano Estadual para a Gestao Integrada e Associada de Residuos Solidos Urbanos do Parana (PEGIRSU). Esse plano tem por objetivo auxiliar os municipios na busca de solucoes para eliminacao dos lixoes. Atraves do plano, o Parana foi divido em 20 regioes estrategicas para as quais foram elaboradas linhas de acoes e investimentos. O Objetivo deste estudo e analisar as praticas de gestao de residuos solidos, desde a implantacao da PNRS, na regiao 17, com enfoque principal sobre a implantacao de consorcio de residuos. A metodologia amparou-se em pesquisa exploratoria com abordagem qualitativa. Os resultados iniciais indicam que nos quase quatro anos de implantacao do PEGIRSU, e quase sete anos da Lei 12.305/10, em alguns aspectos de gestao houve avancos significativos, mas em outras situacoes a situacao em 2017 e a mesma encontrada em 2010.
Visualizing Regulation in Rule-based Models

Rule-based modeling is a powerful way to model kinetic interactions in biochemical systems. Rules enable a precise encoding of biochemical interactions at the resolution of sites within molecules, but obtaining an integrated global view from sets of rules remains challenging. Current automated approaches to rule visualization fail to address the complexity of interactions between rules, limiting either the types of rules that are allowed or the set of interactions that can be visualized simultaneously. There is a need for scalable visualization approaches that present the information encoded in rules in an intuitive and useful manner at different levels of detail. We have developed new automated approaches for visualizing both individual rules and complete rule-based models. We find that a more compact representation of an individual rule promotes promotes understanding the model assumptions underlying each rule. For global visualization of rule interactions, we have developed a method to synthesize a network of interactions between sites and processes from a rule-based model and then use a combination of user-defined and automated approaches to compress this network into a readable form. The resulting diagrams enable modelers to identify signaling motifs such as cascades, feedback loops, and feed-forward loops in complex models, as we demonstrate using several large-scale models. These capabilities are implemented within the BioNetGen framework but the approach is equally applicable to rule-based models specified in other formats.
Evaluating Retailer's Performance Based on Sharing Supplier's Capacity Information

In a two-echelon supply chain system with one retailer and one manufacturer, the mathematical model of retailer's inventory level and operation cost by sharing the manufacturer 's supply capacity information on time is constructed when the market demand refers to AR(1) model. Based on the order-up-to S level policy, without sharing supplier's capacity information and with sharing supplier's capacity information, the inventory holding and shortages costs are discussed. Supplier's capacity information sharing leads to increased information flows, reduced uncertainty, and a more coordination supply chain. The analyses show that the reductions of retailer's average inventory and average costs are substantial with the capacity information sharing.
Surface plasmon amplification by stimulated emission in nanolenses

We propose surface plasmon amplification by stimulated emission of radiation (spaser) in nanolenses: Linear center-symmetric chains of metal nanospheres, embedded in an active medium of quantum dots. Predominantly amplified are the dark, odd-parity eigenmodes, which do not suffer dipole-radiative losses and produce coherent local optical fields comparable in strength to atomic fields, with minimal far-field radiation. There are many prospective applications for such spasers.
A Microfabricated Planar Digital Microrobot for Precise Positioning Based on Bistable Modules

Size reduction is a constant objective in new technologies for which very accurate devices are needed when manipulating submillimetric objects. A new kind of microfabricated microrobot based on the use of bistable modules is designed to perform open-loop controlled micropositioning tasks. The DiMiBot (a specific digital microrobot) opens a new paradigm in the design of microrobots by using mechanical stability instead of complex control strategies. We propose a new architecture of digital microrobot for which forward and inverse kinematics models are easy to use. These kinematic models are validated with finite-element-analysis simulations before the fabrication of a real DiMiBot prototype. Tests and characterization of the prototype are made and compared with the desired behavior. Thanks to its submicrometric resolution and to its small dimensions (~ 400-μm thickness), it is able to manipulate microobjects in confined environments, where no other robot can be used.
Navigation Strategies in Regionalized Environments

In this work three navigation experiments are reported that studied use and interaction of navigation strategies both during the learning of a virtual environment and during subsequent route planning tasks. Special interest concerned the role of regions within the environments. Results from experiment 1 suggest that the regions are perceived and encoded in spatial memory very early during the process of learning an evironment. During navigation such regional information could be used to ovecome missing or imprecise detailed spatial information. Experiment 2 and experiment 3 studied the use and interaction of route planning strategies that are applied after an environment has been learned. Results suggest that (i.) human route planning is based on region-connectivity and not place-connectivity alone, (ii.) that route planning takes into account the distribution of multiple target locations and (iii.) the complexity of alternative paths.