Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Computer-assisted lighting design and control

This dissertation shows that computer-based lighting control systems can support the lighting design process considerably better than traditional consoles. It describes the Lula Project, a new software package for lighting design and control, that implements this level of support. Lula’s focus is on the conceptual ideas behind a lighting design rather than the concrete lighting fixtures used to put it on stage. Among the innovative aspects of the system are its model for designing static lighting looks and its subsystem for programmable continuous animated lighting. Lula’s application design is centered around the idea of componential lighting design that allows the user to express a lighting design as a hierarchy of components. Lula is a result of the rigorous application of high-level software engineering techniques and implementation technology from the general realm of functional programming. The high-level structure of the application rests upon stratified design, algebraic modelling, and domain-specific languages. Among the implementation techniques instrumental to Lula are automatic memory management, higher-order programming, functional data structures, data-directed programming, parametric inheritance, and concurrent programming. Zusammenfassung Computer-basierte Systeme für Beleuchtungssteuerung sind in der Lage, den Lichtdesigner weitaus besser zu unterstützen als es derzeit marktübliche Steuerkonsolen tun. Das Thema dieser Dissertation ist ein solches System, das Projekt Lula. Lula ist eine neue Software für Lichtregie und Beleuchtungssteuerung, welche die Modellierung der konzeptuellen Elemente eines Lichtdesigns ermöglicht, unabhängig von der konkreten Realisierung auf der Bühne. Unter den innovativen Aspekten des Systems ist das Modell für den Entwurf statischer Beleuchtungsszenen sowie das Subsystem für programmierbare, stetig animierte Beleuchtung. Das übergeordnete Prinzip bei Lula ist komponentenbasierte Lichtregie, die es dem Benutzer erlaubt, ein Lichtdesign als eine Hierarchie von Komponenten auszudrücken. Lula ist das Resultat konsequenter Anwendung von Entwurfsund ImplementierungsTechniken aus dem Bereich der funktionalen Programmierung. Die High-LevelStruktur des Systems baut auf stratifiziertes Design, algebraische Modellierung und anwendungsspezifische Programmiersprachen. Unter den Implementationstechniken, die entscheidend bei der Entwicklung von Lula waren, befinden sich automatische Speicherverwaltung, Higher-Order-Programmierung, funktionale Datenstrukturen, datengesteuerte Programmierung, parametrische Vererbung und nebenläufige Programmierung.
X-Ray Detection from Bona Fide and Candidate Brown Dwarfs in the ρ Ophiuchi Cloud with Chandra

We present results of an X-ray search from bona fide and candidate brown dwarfs in the ρ Ophiuchi cloud cores with the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The selected areas are two fields near the cloud center and are observed with the ACIS-I array of a 17′ × 17′ size and a ~100 ks exposure. Among 18 bona fide and candidate brown dwarfs listed by the infrared spectroscopy, we find X-ray emission from seven sources above 99.9% confidence level. Therefore, ~40% of the infrared-selected brown dwarfs in this cloud emit X-rays. For the brightest four sources, the X-ray spectra are made and are fitted with a thin-thermal plasma model of a temperature 1-2.5 keV. The X-rays are also time variable with rapid flares from two of the brown dwarfs. Assuming 2 keV temperature and using the empirical relation of AV versus NH, we estimate the X-ray luminosity or its upper limit of the other faint or non-X-ray sources. The X-ray luminosity (LX) of the X-ray-detected sources is in the range of 0.3-90 × 1028 ergs s-1, while the luminosity ratio of X-ray to bolometric (LX/Lbol) is 10-5-10-3, similar to those of low-mass pre-main-sequence and dMe stars. All these results suggest that the X-ray origin of brown dwarfs is the same as low-mass stars; strong magnetic activity at the stellar surface.
Studies on cell adhesion and recognition. III. The occurrence of α-mannosidase at the fibroblast cell surface, and its possible role in cell recognition

The occurrence of α-mannosidase activity at the surface of hamster embryo (NIL) fibroblasts is indicated by the following findings: (a) When NIL cells were incubated on the glass surfaces on which ovalbumin glycopeptides were covalently linked, a rapid release of free mannose from ovalbumin glycopeptides was observed as evidenced by analysis on gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. (b) Cell suspensions as well as intact cell monolayers hydrolyzed rapidly p-nitrophenyl-α-D-mannoside, and the time-course of the hydrolytic cleavage was linear from the moment of mixing of the substrate with the cells. The hydrolysis of the nitrophenyl glycosides of β-D-mannose, α-D-galactose, β-D-galactose, α-L-fucose, β-D-glucose, β-D-N-acetylgalactosamine and β-D-N-acetylglucosamine was negligible or more than ten times lower as compared with the hydolysis of α-D-mannoside. (c) No released or secreted activity of mannosidase could be detected under the conditions used. (d) Studies using known proportions of broken cells in the incubation mixture indicated that more than 90 percent of the mannosidase activity measured was attributable to intact cells and not to broken cells or cell fragments. (e) Hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl-α-D-mannoside by cell monolayers was inhibited, in the order of decreasing inhibitory activity, by yeast mannan, ovalbumin, α-1,4-L-mannonolactone, α-methylmannoside, and mannose-6-phosphate. High inhibitory activity of the mannan polysaccharide and of ovalbumin favored the presence of the mannosidase activity at the cell surface, as these substrates may not penetrate rapidly into the cells. The following findings indicated that the cell surface mannosidase is mediating the cell adhesion based on the recognition of high-mannose-type glycopeptide: (a) Ovalbumin- coated plastic surfaces strongly promoted attachment and spreading of NIL fibroblasts, whereas the same ovalbumin coat did not promote attachment and spreading of some other cell types (BALB/c 3T3 fibroblasts and freshly prepared rat liver cells). (b) Digestion of ovalbumin with α-mannosidase greatly reduced the adhesion-mediating activity. (c) Cell adhesion to ovalbumin-coated surfaces was strongly inhibited by mannose tetrasaccharides, moderately by α-1,4-L-mannonolactone, and weakly by α- methylmannoside and mannose-6-phosphate. This order of the inhibitory activity for cell attachment is the same as that for the inhibition of mannosidic hydrolysis. The interpretation that the cell surface mannosidase is able to mediate cell adhesion is in agreement with previous studies suggesting that polyvalent glycosidase surfaces can promote cell adhesion to a degree similar to that caused by fibronectin and several lectins by interacting with their cell surface substrate site (the accompanying papers of this series).
Diffusion properties of single FoF1-ATP synthases in a living bacterium unraveled by localization microscopy

FoF1-ATP synthases in Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria are membrane-bound enzymes which use an internal protondriven rotary double motor to catalyze the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). According to the 'chemiosmotic hypothesis', a series of proton pumps generate the necessary pH difference plus an electric potential across the bacterial plasma membrane. These proton pumps are redox-coupled membrane enzymes which are possibly organized in supercomplexes, as shown for the related enzymes in the mitochondrial inner membrane. We report diffusion measurements of single fluorescent FoF1-ATP synthases in living E. coli by localization microscopy and single enzyme tracking to distinguish a monomeric enzyme from a supercomplex-associated form in the bacterial membrane. For quantitative mean square displacement (MSD) analysis, the limited size of the observation area in the membrane with a significant membrane curvature had to be considered. The E. coli cells had a diameter of about 500 nm and a length of about 2 to 3 μm. Because the surface coordinate system yielded different localization precision, we applied a sliding observation window approach to obtain the diffusion coefficient D = 0.072 μm2/s of FoF1-ATP synthase in living E. coli cells.
Automatic Detection of Defects in Applications without Test Oracles

SUMMARY In application domains that do not have a test oracle, such as machine learning and scientific computing, quality assurance is a challenge because it is difficult or impossible to know in advance what the correct output should be for general input. Previously, metamorphic testing has been shown to be a simple yet effective technique in detecting defects, even without an oracle. In metamorphic testing, the application’s “metamorphic properties” are used to modify existing test case input to produce new test cases in such a manner that, when given the new input, the new output can easily be computed based on the original output. If the new output is not as expected, then a defect must exist. In practice, however, metamorphic testing can be a manually intensive technique for all but the simplest cases. The transformation of input data can be laborious for large data sets, and errors can occur in comparing the outputs when they are very complex. In this paper, we present a tool called Amsterdam that automates metamorphic testing by allowing the tester to easily set up and conduct metamorphic tests with little manual intervention, merely by specifying the properties to check, configuring the framework, and running the software. Additionally, we describe an approach called Heuristic Metamorphic Testing, which addresses issues related to false positives and non-determinism, and we present the results of new empirical studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of metamorphic testing techniques at detecting defects in real-world programs without test oracles. Copyright c 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Received .
A glottal chink model for the synthesis of voiced fricatives

This paper presents a simulation framework that enables a glottal chink model to be integrated into a time-domain continuous speech synthesizer along with self-oscillating vocal folds. The glottis is then made up of two main separated components: a self-oscillating part and a constantly open chink. This feature allows the simulation of voiced fricatives, thanks to a self-oscillating model of the vocal folds to generate the voiced source, and the glottal opening that is necessary to generate the frication noise. Numerical simulations show the accuracy of the model to simulate voiced fricative, and also phonetic assimilation, such as sonorization and devoicing. The simulation framework is also used to show that the phonatory/articulatory space for generating voiced fricatives is different according to the desired sound: for instance, the minimal glottal opening for generating frication noise is shorter for /z/ than for /3/.
Compact Structures for Interactive Global Illumination on Large Cultural Objects

Cultural Heritage scenes usually consist of very large and detailed 3D objects with high geometric complexity. Even the raw visualization of such 3D objects already involves a large amount of memory and computation time. When trying to improve the sense of immersion and realism by using, global illumination techniques the demand on these resources becomes prohibitive Our approach uses regular grids combined with a vector-based representation to efﬁciently capture low-frequency indirect illumination. A ﬁxed set of irradiance vectors is stored in 3D textures (for complex objects) and in 2D textures (for mostly planar objects). The vector-based representation offers additional robustness against local variations of the geometry. Consequently, the grid resolution can be set independently of geometric complexity, and the memory footprint can therefore be reduced. The irradiance vectors can be precomputed on a simpliﬁed geometry. For interactive rendering, we use an appearance preserving simpliﬁcation of the geometry. The indirect illumination within a grid cell is interpolated from its associated irradiance vectors, resulting in an everywhere-smooth reconstruction.
Effects of frequency range, timbre and intonation on melodic contour identification with acoustic simulation of cochlear implant

The aim of this study was to determine how melodic contour identification with cochlear implant was affected by the frequency range, timbre and intonation. Noise-excited vocoder was used to simulate the signal processing for cochlear implant system. Melodic contour identification tests were carried out with eight normal-hearing subjects. Stimuli from four instruments (piano, trumpet, clarinet and violin) were utilized with different frequency ranges and intonations. Our experimental results showed that (i) temporal envelope information was important for melodic contour identification when the spectral information was limited; (ii) frequency range, timbre and intonation could influence melodic contour identification performance of the normal-hearing subjects when listening to the acoustic simulation of cochlear implant.
Validation of a Food Frequency Questionnaire for Vitamin D and Calcium Intake in Healthy Female College Students

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the reproducibility and validity of a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) and assess calcium and vitamin D intake in health female college students. Methods: Thirty-five healthy female students were conveniently selected to participate in the study. None of the subjects were taking any supplements. The FFQ was validated against intakes from a three-day diet food record report (FR). Results: Positive correlations were observed of daily vitamin D (r = 0.82, p < 0.001) and calcium intake (r = 0.74, p < 0.001) derived from FFQ compared with the FR. The mean intake of vitamin D and calcium derived from FFQ and FR were (233 ± 90, 654 ± 391) and (231 ± 79, 611 ± 352), respectively. The FFQ overestimated vitamin D and Calcium by 2 IU /day (95% CI: –8, 9, p < 0.676 and 43 mg/d (95% CI: 20, 65, p < 0.01). Conclusions: The FFQ used in this study shows promising validation evidence to be used in the future for assessing vitamin D and calcium intakes in female students.
The optical light curves of Cygnus X-2 (V1341 Cyg) and the mass of its neutron star

We present U, B and V light curves (taken from the literature) of the low-mass X-ray binary Cygnus X-2. We show that the most significant photometric periods seen in the B and V light curves are consistent with half of the orbital period found from spectroscopy (P=9.8444 d). The `lower envelopes' of the light curves folded on the orbital period are ellipsoidal (i.e. they have two maxima and two minima per orbital cycle). We fit an ellipsoidal model to the lower envelopes of the B and V light curves to derive inclination constraints. This model includes light from an accretion disc, and accounts for eclipses and X-ray heating. Using the extreme assumption that there is no disc light, we derive a lower limit on the inclination of i≥ 49°. If we assume the accretion disc is steady-state where its radial-temperature profile goes as T(r)∝ r-3/4, we find an inclination of i=62°. 5 ± 4°. However, the predicted ratio of the disc flux to the total flux in B (the `disc fraction') is larger than what is observed (≈0.55 compared with ≤0.3). If we use a flatter radial-temperature profile of the disc expected for strongly irradiated discs [T(r) ∝ r-3/7], then we find an inclination of i = 54° 6 and a disc fraction in B of ≈ 0.30. However, in this case the value of χ2 is much larger (48.4 with 36 degrees of freedom compared with 40.9 for the steady-state case). Adopting i=62°. 5 ±4° and using a previous determination of the mass ratio (q=Mc/Mx=0.34 ± 0.04) and the optical mass function [f(M)=0.69 ± 0.03 M⊙], we find that the mass of the neutron star is Mx=1.78 ± 0.23 M⊙ and the mass of the secondary star is Mc=0.60 ± 0.13 M⊙. We derive a distance of d=7.2 ± 1.1 kpc, which is significantly smaller than a recent distance measurement of d=11.6 ± 0.3 kpc derived from an observation of a type I radius-expansion X-ray burst, but consistent with earlier distance estimates.
Extending Cluster Tree Compilation with non-Boolean variables in Product Configuration : a Tractable Approach to Preference-based Configuration

Product knowledge compilation is gaining momentum in configuration, because it provides complete deduction with a guaranteed bounded response time, which is the basis for truly interactive and accurate configurators. In order to be compiled, a Product Knowledge Base must be expressed in propositional logic or in a CSP formalism with multi-valued discrete variables. This is sufficient to express product diversity and to allow a basic configuration based on product features only. But it is not sufficient to efficiently implement sophisticated strategies using non-Boolean functions such as price or user preference, and the resulting usability of the configurator will be poor. These optimization functions can be expressed in a Penalty Logic framework, and we show in this paper that within the Cluster Tree compilation scheme, weighted statements can be incorporated to the compiled structure, allowing tractable queries and adding desirable functionalities such as price filtering and user preference maximization, with exact backtrack-free algorithms and with the same bounded response time guarantee as a basic configuration.
Real Output and Unit Labor Costs as Predictors of Inflation

Two popular inflation indicators commonly monitored by analysts are the pace of real economic activity and the rate of growth of labor costs. It is widely believed that if the economy grows at a rate above its long-run potential or, if the rate of growth of labor costs exceeds the trend rate in labor productivity, then inflation will accelerate. These beliefs derive from the “price markup hypothesis” implicit in the Phillips curve view of the inflation process. This view assumes that prices are set as a markup over productivity-adjusted labor costs and that they are also influenced by demand pressures. It assumes further that the degree of demand pressure can be measured by the excess of actual over potential output (termed the output gap). Thus, the Phillips curve view of the inflation process implies that past real output (measured relative to potential) and past growth in labor costs (adjusted for the trend in productivity) are relevant in predicting the price level.
A typology of irrigated farms as a tool for sustainable agricultural development in irrigation schemes: The case of the East Mitidja scheme, Algeria

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to propose the typology that links the characterization of the irrigated farms with their structural and functional aspects for the context of sustainable irrigated agricultural development. Design/methodology/approach - East Mitidja scheme is selected for this study. About 134 farms are selected from the irrigation scheme. Multiple correspondence and ascendant hierarchical classification are used as data mining tools to characterize the typology of irrigated farms. Findings - The typology provides a way of understanding the diversity of farms with regard to their socio-economic environment. It also helps to identify those farms that fall into broad categories of unsustainability. The latest implemented agricultural and irrigation policy has a differential effect on various types of farmers, favoring some and discouraging others. The socio-economic constraints have prevented the implementation of various development programs. This situation leads to the unsustainable exploitation of the water and land resources and to the promotion of unsustainable irrigation scheme. Practical implications - The findings and results may help decision makers to implement appropriate interventions in terms of resources, conditions and interests that are compatible with each identified class of farms. Originality/value - This is one of the first studies to explore irrigated agriculture development issues in Algeria using multivariate methods. The typological method can help policymakers to identify priorities. It can also be used to predict how different farmers will likely respond to government programs and policies regarding irrigated agricultural development.
Multicore-Aware Code Co-Positioning to Reduce WCET on Dual-Core Processors with Shared Instruction Caches

For real-time systems it is important to obtain the accurate worst-case execution time (WCET). Furthermore, how to improve the WCET of applications that run on multicore processors is both significant and challenging as the WCET can be largely affected by the possible inter-core interferences in shared resources such as the shared L2 cache. In order to solve this problem, we propose an innovative approach that adopts a code positioning method to reduce the inter-core L2 cache interferences between the different real-time threads that adaptively run in a multi-core processor by using different strategies. The worst-case-oriented strategy is designed to decrease the worst-case WCET among these threads to as low as possible. The other two strategies aim at reducing the WCET of each thread to almost equal percentage or amount. Our experiments indicate that the proposed multicore-aware code positioning approaches, not only improve the worstcase performance of the real-time threads but also make good tradeoffs between efficiency and fairness for threads that run on multicore platforms.
CCD Observations of the RR Lyrae Variables in the Globular Cluster NGC 5897

CCD observations for 10 (six previously known and four newly discovered) of the 11 RR Lyrae variables in NGC 5897 have been analyzed. The period-luminosity and period-amplitude plots indicate that the population of RR Lyrae variables in NGC 5897 includes three fundamental mode, four first-overtone and four second-overtone variables with mean periods 0.828, 0.459, and 0.343 days, respectively. The variables have properties similar to some of the Oosterhoff type II variables in ω Centauri. Two of the new variables (V11 and V13) were previously considered to be possible nonvariables that lie within or near the instability strip on the horizontal branch; both have V amplitudes less than 0.2 mag. There is a chance that one or two of the variables (V10 and possibly V3) might be anomalous Cepheids and not RR Lyrae stars.
Generic signaling service protocol: state-management and transport mechanisms

The next steps in signaling (NSIS) IETF working group has been recently created to design a generic IP signaling protocol supporting various signaling applications such as resource reservation and middle box configuration. This paper presents the generic signaling service protocol (GISP) we designed to contribute to the NSIS WG effort taking into consideration the current outputs of the working group. In particular, we focus on the state management and transport mechanisms of GISP.