Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Complementation of B Uchi Automata Revisited

As an alternative to the two classical proofs for complemen-tation of B uchi automata, due to B uchi himself and to McNaughton, we outline a third approach, based on stratiied alternating automata with a \weak" acceptance condition. Building on work by Muller, Saoudi, Schupp (1986) and Kupferman and Vardi (1997), we present a streamlined version of this complementation proof. An essential point is a de-terminacy result on innnite games with a weak winning condition. In a unifying logical setting, the three approaches are shown to correspond to three diierent types of second-order deenitions of ! -languages.
A Lab-Scale Experiment to Measure Terminal Velocity of Volcanic Ash

In this paper, a novel methodology to measure trajectory and terminal velocity of volcanic ash in laboratory is presented. The methodology consists of the following: (1) planning a lab-scale experiment in order to reproduce the sedimentation processes of fine volcanic ash based on the principle of dynamic similarity; (2) realizing the experimental setup using a glass tank filled with glycerine, a webcam-based vision system and a dedicated image postprocessing tool able to estimate the position and the terminal velocity of any particle falling in the tank; (3) performing a calibration procedure to accurately estimate the uncertainty on particle velocity; and (4) comparing the experimental results with estimations obtained by some particle fallout models available in literature. Our results show that there is a good agreement between experimental terminal velocities and those obtained applying a model which includes information on particle shape. The proposed methodology allows us to investigate how the particle shape affects the sedimentation processes. Since the latter is strategic to improve the accuracy on modeling ash fallout, this work will contribute to reduce risks to aviations during explosive eruptions.
Hermes-supporting distributed programming in a network of personal workstations

With distributed programming it is possible to support cooperation among users in a network, and to develop programs that run simultaneously on several machines to enhance their availability and performance. This potential is even more important nowadays where networks of workstations become an increasingly attractive alternative to big mainframes for organizing businesses and computing environments. In this work, a system that promotes distributed programming in a network of personal workstations is presented. It is implemented on top of an existing operating system as a collection of modules that introduce new functionality in an incremental fashion. The key idea of our approach is to view data items as abstract objects coupled to abstract descriptions indicating how their content can be written and read. This allows generic data transfer programs to be built without a priori knowing the type of the data items that are to be transfered. As an extension of this component an asynchronous mechanism is developed for exchanging arbitrarily complex messages over the network. At the application level, sending and receiving of messages occur asynchronously to each other so that a decoupling between the communicating processes is achieved. Finally, using the provided primitives a component is built which supports programming of extensible application objects that can be dynamically installed, referenced, and collected over a network. Such objects are automatically notified about incoming messages, thus they operate like special state machines whose transitions are triggered by message events; this technique is appropriate for capturing a wide range of distributed programs. Due to its clean internal structure, the system presents itself as a set of well separated, yet cooperating parts which can also be individually accessed by the programmer. This allows for great flexibility in application development Furthermore, the system encourages a disciplined programming style and guarantees type safety which we consider to be an important property of development environments. Our implementation also demonstrates that the proposed approach leads to acceptable performance at only a modest software cost
Vertex Covers and Secure Domination in Graphs

Let G = (V,E) be a graph and let S ⊆ V. The set S is a dominating set of G if every vertex in V \ S is adjacent to some vertex in S. The set S is a secure dominating set of G if for each u ∈ V \ S, there exists a vertex v ∈ S such that uv ∈ E and (S \ {v}) ∪ {u} is a dominating set of G. The minimum cardinality of a secure dominating set in G is the secure domination number γ s(G) of G. We show that if G is a connected graph of order n with minimum degree at least two that is not a 5-cycle, then γ s(G) ≤ n/2 and this bound is sharp. Our proof uses a covering of a subset of V(G) by vertex-disjoint copies of subgraphs each of which is isomorphic to K 2 or to an odd cycle.
Enhanced side-channel analysis method to detect hardware virtualization based rootkits

This paper describes a method of detecting hardware virtualization based rootkits by performance benchmarking by detecting performance degradation caused by the hardware virtualization itself. The method proposed is both passive and remote, so it is not easily detected by the rootkit. The method does not rely on an internal and therefore untrustable timing source, and does not rely on the rootkit's potentially imperfect representation of the actual physical characteristics of the computing platform. For these reasons, it is believed that this method is not subject to criticisms normally leveled against the currently proposed methods of detecting hardware virtualization or hardware virtualization rootkits. Measuring performance degradation requires a baseline, and compared with that baseline, the degradation must be sufficiently great to be judged anomalous with reasonable confidence. That degradation must also be accurately measurable by a trusted and therefore external timing source. Accordingly, the benchmarking experiment that has been devised was performed using commodity hardware and freely available software, to determine which resources virtualization seems to degrade performance most significantly, and of these resources, which are most accurately timed externally. Although the results are preliminary, and strictly speaking, apply only to the actual hardware used in the experiment, they nonetheless show that there is potential to use passive network analysis to detect hardware based virtualization rootkits and associated malware.
Simple Bounds from the Perturbative Regime of Inflation

We examine the conditions under which a perturbative expansion around an inflating background is valid. When inflation is driven by a single field with a general sound speed, we find a lower limit on the sound speed related to the amplitude of the inflationary power spectrum. Generalizing the sound speed constraints to include scale dependence can limit the number of e-folds obtained in the perturbative regime and restrict otherwise apparently viable models. We also show that for models with a low sound speed, eternal inflation cannot occur in the perturbative regime.
A big data application to predict depression in the university based on the reading habits

This study deeply mines the correlation between reading habits and depressive tendency of university students based on the data set from university library records and mental health questionnaires results. This paper compares different text categorization algorithms including kNN, SVM and naive Bayesian classifier on accuracy and time-consuming under different sample sizes. Ultimately, we construct a book classifier using naive Bayesian classification algorithm based on polynomial model, and the accuracy of the classifier reaches to 0.823. To build a psychological prediction model, this study uses linear regression algorithm and logistic regression algorithm respectively and the prediction accuracy of the models are compared under different error criteria, which turns out the logistic model behaves better.
ABA+: Assumption-Based Argumentation with Preferences

We present a novel approach to account for preferences in a well known structured argumentation formalism, Assumption-Based Argumentation (ABA). The new formalism, called ABA+, incorporates object-level preferences (over assumptions) directly into the attack relation to reverse attacks. We give several basic desirable properties of ABA+.
A comparative study of the cascade-correlation architecture in pattern recognition applications

In this work, an experimental evaluation of the cascade-correlation architecture is carried out in different benchmarking pattern recognition problems. An extensive experimental framework is developed to establish a comparison between the cascade-correlation network (CC) and the more traditional multilayer perceptron (MLP) and radial basis function models (RBF). The different network configurations are evaluated with respect to generalization performance in three practical real-world tasks: the diagnosis of coronary diseases (heart), the credit screening problem (card) and the recognition of handwritten characters. It is also considered the issue of catastrophic forgetting in MLP and CC models. In addition to some clear potential advantages observed in the cascade-correlation network such as the on-learning definition of the number of hidden units, the practical satisfactory results obtained suggest that the CC model may represent in some situations an alternative to other traditional models such as the MLP and RBF networks.
The Use of ERS SAR Interferometric Coherence and PRI Images to Evaluate Crop Height and Soil Moisture

The aim of the project ("An assessment of SAR phasimetry by case studies in tectonics and agronomy", project ERS-TANDEM B302, PRODEX programme, Belgian OSTC and ESA funding) was to identify the capabilities of multitemporal SAR interferometric coherence and PRI images for the evaluation of soil moisture and crop height for four crop types (winter wheat, potato, sugar beet and maize) for different pilot fields. In winter and early spring, coherence images can be used to identify bare or nearly bare fields and then, PRI images are used to evaluate the soil moisture value for each bare field (field scale). During the growing season, coherence images are used to evaluate crop height for each studied crop type. The PRI images are also used at regional scale to accurately evaluate the soil moisture, even when there is a crop canopy.
Database of Periodic DNA Regions in Major Genomes

Summary. We analyzed several prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes looking for the periodicity sequences availability and employing a new mathematical method. The method envisaged using the random position weight matrices and dynamic programming. Insertions and deletions were allowed inside periodicities, thus adding a novelty to the results we obtained. A periodicity length, one of the key periodicity features, varied from 2 to 50 nt. Totally over 60,000 periodicity sequences were found in 15 genomes including some chromosomes of the H. sapiens (partial), C. elegans, D. melanogaster, and A. thaliana genomes.
Development and Application of a Synthetically-Derived Lead Biosensor Construct for Use in Gram-Negative Bacteria

The use of lead in manufacturing has decreased significantly over the last few decades. However, previous widespread use of lead-containing products and their incorrect disposal has resulted in environmental contamination. Accumulation of harmful quantities of lead pose a threat to all living organisms, through inhalation, ingestion, or direct contact, resulting in lead poisoning. This study utilized synthetic biology principles to develop plasmid-based whole-cell bacterial biosensors for detection of lead. The genetic element of the lead biosensor construct consists of pbrR, which encodes the regulatory protein, together with its divergent promoter region and a promoterless gfp. GFP expression is controlled by PbrR in response to the presence of lead. The lead biosensor genetic element was cloned onto a low-copy number broad host range plasmid, which can stably exist in a range of laboratory and environmental isolates, including Pseudomonas, Shewanella, and Enterobacter. The biosensors constructed were found to be sensitive, rapid, and specific and could, as such, serve as monitoring tools for lead-contaminated water.
Carbapenemases: the Versatile β-Lactamases

SUMMARY Carbapenemases are β-lactamases with versatile hydrolytic capacities. They have the ability to hydrolyze penicillins, cephalosporins, monobactams, and carbapenems. Bacteria producing these β-lactamases may cause serious infections in which the carbapenemase activity renders many β-lactams ineffective. Carbapenemases are members of the molecular class A, B, and D β-lactamases. Class A and D enzymes have a serine-based hydrolytic mechanism, while class B enzymes are metallo-β-lactamases that contain zinc in the active site. The class A carbapenemase group includes members of the SME, IMI, NMC, GES, and KPC families. Of these, the KPC carbapenemases are the most prevalent, found mostly on plasmids in Klebsiella pneumoniae. The class D carbapenemases consist of OXA-type β-lactamases frequently detected in Acinetobacter baumannii. The metallo-β-lactamases belong to the IMP, VIM, SPM, GIM, and SIM families and have been detected primarily in Pseudomonas aeruginosa; however, there are increasing numbers of reports worldwide of this group of β-lactamases in the Enterobacteriaceae. This review updates the characteristics, epidemiology, and detection of the carbapenemases found in pathogenic bacteria.
Do Compensation Consultants Have Distinct Styles?

Using hand-collected compensation consultant data, we investigate whether compensation consultants exhibit distinct styles in the determination of CEO pay level and compensation structure. Our tests, which include the use of placebo samples that involve the scrambling of consultants as benchmarks, yield little evidence of idiosyncratic compensation consultant style. However, we do observe style-like effects and some resultant perverse outcomes either when (i) there is greater potential for client firms’ managers to take actions in their self-interest or (ii) consultants face conflicts of interest. Overall, we find evidence consistent with both the “efficient” and “agency” views of CEO compensation contracts.
Microtubule dynamics in nerve cells: analysis using microinjection of biotinylated tubulin into PC12 cells

To study microtubule (MT) dynamics in nerve cells, we microinjected biotin-labeled tubulin into the cell body of chemically fused and differentiated PC12 cells and performed the immunofluorescence or immunogold procedure using an anti-biotin antibody followed by secondary antibodies coupled to fluorescent dye or colloidal gold. Incorporation of labeled subunits into the cytoskeleton of neurites was observed within minutes after microinjection. Serial electron microscopic reconstruction revealed that existing MTs in PC12 neurites incorporated labeled subunits mainly at their distal ends and the elongation rate of labeled segments was estimated to be less than 0.3 micron/min. Overall organization of MTs in the nerve cells was different from that in undifferentiated cells such as fibroblasts. Namely, we have not identified any MT-organizing centers from which labeled MTs are emanating in the cell bodies of the injected cells. Stereo electron microscopy revealed that some fully labeled segments seemed to start in the close vicinity of electron dense material within the neurites. This suggests new nucleation off some structures in the neurites. We have also studied the overall pattern of the incorporation of labeled subunits which extended progressively from the proximal part of the neurites toward their tips. To characterize the mechanism of tubulin incorporation, we have measured mean density of gold labeling per unit length of labeled segments at different parts of the neurites. The results indicate access of free tubulin subunits into the neurites and local incorporation into the neurite cytoskeleton. Our results lead to the conclusion that MTs are not static polymers but dynamic structures that continue to elongate even within the differentiated nerve cell processes.
Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory of Work Motivation: The Case of Tourism Employees

The article focuses on work motivation of Slovenian front-line employees working in tourism. The motivation is analyzed using a Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory of work motivation, which is based on two factor groups of work motivation – growth factors that motivate, and hygiene factors that do not motivate, yet their absence causes work dissatisfaction. The empirical research results indicated that growth factors (e.g. recognition and responsibility) have a major impact on work motivation, while hygiene factors (e.g. salary) did not show statistically significant impact. The findings of the research could be useful for management in tourism industry, who should give more attention to growth factors or strengthen their meaning by increasing front-line employees’ responsibilities, recognition, enabling additional trainings and giving adequate information as these factor have a pivotal meaning for employees’ work motivation.
Scaling Peer-to-Peer Games in Low-Bandwidth Environments

In peer-to-peer multiplayer games, each peer must send periodic updates of its objects to other peers. Since typical broadband users have little upload bandwidth, updates to each player will be infrequent when there are many players in the game. This leads to choppy and unsatisfying gameplay. Therefore, we propose three techniques to compensate for low upload bandwidth in peer-to-peer games: focus sets, pairwise rapid agreement, and guidable AI. To test these techniques, we implement them and conduct a user study that evaluates the resulting game. We find that our techniques make a game played with low bandwidth significantly more fun than existing techniques, and nearly as much fun as one played on a LAN. Thus, they enable an order of magnitude more players than existing techniques.
The Power of Institutions and Agents: Sources of Failed University-Community Collaboration.

Some urban university engagements with their local communities have given the mistaken impression that universities can be neutral or equal partners with their communities. When universities adopt this view (e.g., the case presented in this article), they contribute to unsuccessful partnerships with their communities. Failures can be prevented if universities establish engagement programs and structures that linkfaculty expertise to the knowledge needs of the community.
Multiple signal extraction by multiple interference attenuation in the presence of random noise in seismic array data

A vector of digital filters is derived for the multichannel processing of the signals acquired by an array of sensors with the objective of extracting multiple desired signals by the attenuation of multiple interferences and random noise. The signals and interferences are assumed to have arbitrary waveforms with no a priori knowledge of these waveforms. The time duration of the recorded array data is assumed to be long enough to incorporate all time delayed propagated waveforms at the sensors of the array. The derivation is for the general case of an arbitrary array geometric configuration and is not confined to the special case of a linear array of equispaced sensors. The rationale adopted in the derivation of the filters is to give first priority at each discrete frequency to passing the signals, a second priority to canceling the interferences, and a third priority to attenuating the random noise. This rationale well suits the case of seismic data that are dominantly corrupted by strong interferences rather than random noise. Solving a constrained minimization problem derives the vector of array filters. The computation of this vector requires the application of a powerful matrix decomposition technique for the detection of any redundant and/or inconsistent constraints at each discrete frequency. The simulation results demonstrate the extraction ability of the derived filters in both the multiple input single output and the multiple input multiple output processing schemes.
Prediction of Protein Functions Based on K-Cores of Protein-Protein Interaction Networks and Amino Acid Sequences

Comprehensive analysis of protein-protein interactions and amino acid sequences plays important roles to understand protein functions in molecular level. A k-core of a network or a graph is a subgraph in which all nodes are connected to at least k other nodes in the subgraph. In a protein-protein interaction network, a node represents a protein and an edge represents an interaction between proteins. A kcore of a protein-protein interaction network usually contains cohesive groups of proteins. On the other hand, phylogenetic analysis classifies proteins into groups based on the similarity of amino acid sequences. In this work, we use k-cores of protein-protein interaction networks and phylogenetic analysis to predict the functions of some function-unknown proteins of E.coli.
How to Run POSIX Apps in a Minimal Picoprocess

We envision a future where Web, mobile, and desktop applications are delivered as isolated, complete software stacks to a minimal, secure client host. This shift imbues app vendors with full autonomy to maintain their apps' integrity. Achieving this goal requires shifting complex behavior out of the client platform and into the vendors' isolated apps. We ported rich, interactive POSIX apps, such as Gimp and Inkscape, to a spartan host platform. We describe this effort in sufficient detail to support reproducibility.
How Many 2D Silhouettes Does It Take to Reconstruct a 3D Object?

A 2D silhouette of a 3D object O constrains O inside the volume obtained by back-projecting the silhouette from the viewpoint. A set of silhouettes specifies a boundary volume R, the intersection of the volumes due to each silhouette. This approach to the reconstruction of 3D objects is referred to asvolume intersection(VI). Not every concave object O is exactly reconstructable from its silhouettes. The closest approximation of O that can be obtained with VI is itsvisual hull. Only objects coincident with their visual hulls are exactly reconstructable. In practice, to reconstruct an object or its visual hull we must also face computational problems. This paper addresses the problem of finding the theoretical minimum number of silhouettes necessary for the best possible reconstruction of an object. We have found that, in general, the optimal reconstruction of polyhedra with a bounded numbernof faces may take an unbounded number of silhouettes. In the case of viewpoints lying also inside the convex hull of a polyhedron exactly reconstructable or with a polyhedral visual hull, we show thatO(n5) silhouettes are sufficient, and we describe an algorithm for finding the viewpoints.