Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Enhancing collaborative filtering systems with personality information

Collaborative filtering (CF), one of the most successful recommendation approaches, continues to attract interest in both academia and industry. However, one key issue limiting the success of collaborative filtering in certain application domains is the cold-start problem, a situation where historical data is too sparse (known as the sparsity problem), new users have not rated enough items (known as the new user problem), or both. In this paper, we aim at addressing the cold-start problem by incorporating human personality into the collaborative filtering framework. We propose three approaches: the first is a recommendation method based on users' personality information alone; the second is based on a linear combination of both personality and rating information; and the third uses a cascade mechanism to leverage both resources. To evaluate their effectiveness, we have conducted an experimental study comparing the proposed approaches with the traditional rating-based CF in two cold-start scenarios: sparse data sets and new users. Our results show that the proposed CF variations, which consider personality characteristics, can significantly improve the performance of the traditional rating-based CF in terms of the evaluation metrics MAE and ROC sensitivity.
Image coding with multiple description scalar quantization using optimal filtering for quantization indexes

An image coding scheme based on multiple description scalar quantization (MDSQ) is presented in this paper. The proposed approach targets to improve coding efficiency for networks which have tendency to packet losses. In this work, it is aimed to estimate quantization indexes of lost descriptions at the decoder in least squares sense using optimal filter coefficients obtained at the encoder. Thus, the filter coefficients obtained at the encoder are also need to be transmitted in addition to descriptions. Experimental results show that the proposed approach provides better performance compared to conventional multiple description scalar quantization approach.
'THINK-NET': The CEPR Model of a Research Network

The key issues for the establishment of a nationally and internationally important ‘think-tank’ with global reach are the following: • how to identify the supply of good researchers • how to identify, perhaps to create, the demand for policy research who are the potential users, what do they want, what should they want? • what structure will best bring them together? • how to establish and maintain independence from both funders and policymakers • how to maximise the policy impact of good research
Concept for a security investigation framework

The number of detected and analyzed Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) campaigns increased over the last years. Two of the main objectives of such campaigns are to maintain long-term access to the environment of the target and to stay undetected. To achieve these goals the attackers use sophisticated and customized techniques for the lateral movement, to ensure that these activities are not detected by existing security systems. During an investigation of an APT campaign all stages of it are relevant to clarify important details like the initial infection vector or the compromised systems and credentials. Most of the currently used approaches, which are utilized within security systems, are not able to detect the different stages of a complex attack and therefore a comprehensive security investigation is needed. In this paper we describe a concept for a Security Investigation Framework (SIF) that supports the analysis and the tracing of multi-stage APTs. The concept includes different automatic and semi-automatic approaches that support the investigation of such attacks. Furthermore, the framework leverages different information sources, like log files and details from forensic investigations and malware analyses, to give a comprehensive overview of the different stages of an attack. The overall objective of the SIF is to improve the efficiency of investigations and reveal undetected details of an attack.
Performance improvement of capacitor-run single-phase induction motors by non-orthogonal armature windings

In a traditional capacitor-run motor, two armature windings are orthogonal and supplied by a single-phase source. Rotating air-gap MMF contains both forward and backward components, where the backward component leads to loss and noise. This paper presents a method to effectively weaken the backward component around the rated load while the forward component is kept constant, which improves the performance of the motor. The proposed method uses non-orthogonal armature windings. A complete technique is presented to calculate the shift angle between the stator windings and series capacitance for elimination of the backward rotating air-gap MMF at a specified load. Afterwards, a series of simulations are done to find the optimal shift angle and series capacitance.
Multimodal physical therapy management of a 48-year-old female with post-stroke complex regional pain syndrome

Abstract This case report describes a 48-year-old female who presented with complaints of right shoulder pain, hyperesthesias and swelling of the hand along with added symptoms of pain centralization following a cerebrovascular accident. On clinical evaluation, the patient satisfied the Budapest diagnostic criteria for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) type-1. Physical therapy management (1st three sessions) was initially focused on pain neurophysiology education with an aim to reduce kinesiophobia and reconceptualise her pain perception. The patient had an immediate significant improvement in her pain and functional status. Following this, pain modulation in the form of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, kinesio tape application, “pain exposure” physical therapy and exercise therapy was carried out for a period of 7 weeks. The patient had complete resolution of her symptoms which was maintained at a six-month follow-up.
Wire-driven mechanism for finger rehabilitation device

This paper describes the development of finger rehabilitation device for post stroke patient. The device applied a wire-driven mechanism concept for hand grasping and releasing based on finger extension and flexion movement. The prototype of wire-driven mechanism is developed based on human hand anatomy and movement study. Three different designs and prototype testing are conducted to testify the wire-driven mechanism concept as the finger rehabilitation device. The device can assist repetitive finger extension and flexion movement during the rehabilitation period. The actuating system of the device enables the patient to control the movement by using the self-motion control concept. Pilot test for the device will be conducted after the final prototype is developed.
GikiCLEF: Crosscultural Issues in an International Setting: Asking non-English-centered Questions to Wikipedia

In this paper we provide a full overview of GikiCLEF, an evaluation contest (track) that was specifically designed to expose and investigate cultural and linguistic issues involved in multimedia collections and searching. In GikiCLEF, 50 topics were developed by a multilingual team with non-English users in mind. Answers should be found in Wikipedia, but not trivially, in the sense that the task should be difficult for human users as well. Crosslinguality was fostered and encouraged by the evaluation measures employed. We present the motivation and the organization process, the management system developed, dubbed SIGA, an overview of participation and results, concluding with what we have learned from the whole initiative.
Quantum decay into a non-flat continuum

We study the decay of a prepared state into non-flat continuum. We find that the survival probability P(t) might exhibit either stretched-exponential or power-law decay, depending on non-universal features of the model. Still there is a universal characteristic time t0 that does not depend on the functional form. It is only for a flat continuum that we get a robust exponential decay that is insensitive to the nature of the intra-continuum couplings. The analysis highlights the co-existence of perturbative and non-perturbative features in the local density of states, and the nonlinear dependence of 1/t0 on the strength of the coupling.
Synchronization in delayed discrete-time Complex networks

The synchronization problem of discrete-time complex networks with time-varying delays is investigated. Both time-varying delays in the network couplings and time-varying delays in the dynamical nodes are considered. The novel delay-dependent criteria in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMI) are derived based on free-weighting matrices technique and appropriate Lyapunov functional proposed recently. An example is given to illustrate the effectiveness and advantage of the proposed synchronization criteria.
Gain-Scheduling-Based State Feedback Integral Control for Networked Control Systems

This paper presents a new controller design method for networked control systems (NCSs), which is motivated by that static state feedback control (SSFC) shows an offset in the plant output when there is nonzero disturbance. Different from the existing SSFC results, the proposed method constructs a gain-scheduling-based state feedback integral controller, where an integral action is introduced to address the nonzero disturbance issue, and most especially, a gain scheduling strategy is employed to improve the control performance of NCSs. Moreover, the obtained results are also extended to the output feedback case. Simulation and experimental results are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Credit Risk Modeling: Theory and Applications

Credit risk is today one of the most intensely studied topics in quantitative finance. This book provides an introduction and overview for readers who seek an up-to-date reference to the central problems of the field and to the tools currently used to analyze them. The book is aimed at researchers and students in finance, at quantitative analysts in banks and other financial institutions, and at regulators interested in the modeling aspects of credit risk. David Lando considers the two broad approaches to credit risk analysis: that based on classical option pricing models on the one hand, and on a direct modeling of the default probability of issuers on the other. He offers insights that can be drawn from each approach and demonstrates that the distinction between the two approaches is not at all clear-cut. The book strikes a fruitful balance between quickly presenting the basic ideas of the models and offering enough detail so readers can derive and implement the models themselves. The discussion of the models and their limitations and five technical appendixes help readers expand and generalize the models themselves or to understand existing generalizations. The book emphasizes models for pricing as well as statistical techniques for estimating their parameters. Applications include rating-based modeling, modeling of dependent defaults, swap- and corporate-yield curve dynamics, credit default swaps, and collateralized debt obligations.
The Hot, Diffuse Gas in a Dense Cluster of Massive Stars

We present an analytic model describing the "cluster wind" flow that results from the multiple interaction of the stellar winds produced by the stars of a dense cluster of massive stars. The analytic solution (obtained by matching an inner and an outer solution at the radius of the stellar cluster) can have asymptotically subsonic or supersonic behavior, the latter possibility being appropriate for the case of a cluster surrounded by a low-pressure environment. We also present a three-dimensional numerical simulation of such a cluster wind. We find that the behavior of the mean flow computed from the numerical simulation quite closely follows the flow properties deduced from the analytic model. Finally, we discuss the observational properties of the cluster wind produced by dense clusters such as the "Arches" cluster close to the center of our Galaxy. In particular, we predict that the X-ray emission from the intracluster gas in this stellar cluster could be detectable.
Fairness, responsibility, and welfare

What is a fair distribution of resources and other goods when individuals are partly responsible for their achievements? This book develops a theory of fairness incorporating a concern for personal responsibility, opportunities and freedom. With a critical perspective, it makes accessible the recent developments in economics and philosophy that define social justice in terms of equal opportunities. It also proposes new perspectives and original ideas. The book separates mathematical sections from the rest of the text, so that the main concepts and ideas are easily accessible to non-technical readers. It is often thought that responsibility is a complex notion, but this monograph proposes a simple analytical framework that makes it possible to disentangle the different concepts of fairness that deal with neutralizing inequalities for which the individuals are not held responsible, rewarding their effort, respecting their choices, or staying neutral with respect to their responsibility sphere. It dwells on paradoxes and impossibilities only as a way to highlight important ethical options and always proposes solutions and reasonable compromises among the conflicting values surrounding equality and responsibility. The theory is able to incorporate disincentive problems and is illustrated in the examination of applied policy issues such as: income redistribution when individuals may be held responsible for their choices of labor supply or education; social and private insurance when individuals may be held responsible for their risky lifestyle; second chance policies; the measurement of inequality of opportunities and social mobility.
A lifetime-aware runtime mapping approach for many-core systems in the dark silicon era

In this paper, we propose a novel lifetime reliability-aware resource management approach for many-core architectures. The approach is based on hierarchical architecture, composed of a long-term runtime reliability analysis unit and a short-term runtime mapping unit. The former periodically analyses the aging status of the various processing units with respect to a target value specified by the designer, and performs recovery actions on highly stressed cores. The calculated reliability metrics are utilized in runtime mapping of the newly arrived applications to maximize the performance of the system while fulfilling reliability requirements and the available power budget. Our extensive experimental results reveal that the proposed reliability-aware approach can efficiently select the processing cores to be used over time in order to enhance the reliability at the end of the operational life (up to 62%) while offering the comparable performance level of the state-of-the-art runtime mapping approach.
A 20-Gb/s Burst-Mode Clock and Data Recovery Circuit Using Injection-Locking Technique

A 20-Gb/s clock and data recovery circuit incorporates injection-locking technique to achieve high-speed operation with low power dissipation. The circuit creates spectral line at the frequency of data rate and injection-locks two cascaded LC oscillators. A frequency-monitoring mechanism is employed to ensure a close matching between the VCO natural frequency and data rate. Fabricated in 90-nm CMOS technology, this circuit achieves a bit error rate of less than 10-9 in both continuous (PRBS of 231-1) and burst modes while consuming 175 mW from a 1.5-V supply.
Limits on Replenishment of the Resting CD4+ T Cell Reservoir for HIV in Patients on HAART

Whereas cells productively infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) decay rapidly in the setting of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), latently infected resting CD4+ T cells decay very slowly, persisting for the lifetime of the patient and thus forming a stable reservoir for HIV-1. It has been suggested that the stability of the latent reservoir is due to low-level viral replication that continuously replenishes the reservoir despite HAART. Here, we offer the first quantitative study to our knowledge of inflow of newly infected cells into the latent reservoir due to viral replication in the setting of HAART. We make use of a previous observation that in some patients on HAART, the residual viremia is dominated by a predominant plasma clone (PPC) of HIV-1 not found in the latent reservoir. The unique sequence of the PPC serves as a functional label for new entries into the reservoir. We employ a simple mathematical model for the dynamics of the latent reservoir to constrain the inflow rate to between 0 and as few as 70 cells per day. The magnitude of the maximum daily inflow rate is small compared to the size of the latent reservoir, and therefore any inflow that occurs in patients on HAART is unlikely to significantly influence the decay rate of the reservoir. These results suggest that the stability of the latent reservoir is unlikely to arise from ongoing replication during HAART. Thus, intensification of standard HAART regimens should have minimal effects on the decay of the latent reservoir.
A Taxonomy of Privacy

Privacy is a concept in disarray. Nobody can articulate what it means. As one commentator has observed, privacy suffers from an embarrassment of meanings. Privacy is far too vague a concept to guide adjudication and lawmaking, as abstract incantations of the importance of privacy do not fare well when pitted against more concretely-stated countervailing interests. In 1960, the famous torts scholar William Prosser attempted to make sense of the landscape of privacy law by identifying four different interests. But Prosser focused only on tort law, and the law of information privacy is significantly more vast and complex, extending to Fourth Amendment law, the constitutional right to information privacy, evidentiary privileges, dozens of federal privacy statutes, and hundreds of state statutes. Moreover, Prosser wrote over 40 years ago, and new technologies have given rise to a panoply of new privacy harms. A new taxonomy to understand privacy violations is thus sorely needed. This article develops a taxonomy to identify privacy problems in a comprehensive and concrete manner. It endeavors to guide the law toward a more coherent understanding of privacy and to serve as a framework for the future development of the field of privacy law.
Petri Net-Based FTL Architecture for Parametric WCET Estimation via FTL Operation Sequence Derivation

A flash translation layer (FTL) provides file systems with transparent access to NAND flash memory. Although many applications running on it require real-time guarantees, it is difficult to provide tight worst case execution time (WCET) bounds with conventional static WCET analysis since an FTL exhibits a large variance in execution time depending on its runtime state. Parametric WCET analysis could be an effective alternative but it is also challenging to formulate a parametric WCET function for an FTL program because traditional FTL architecture does not properly model the runtime availability of flash resources in its code structure. To overcome such a limitation, we propose Petri net-based FTL architecture where a Petri net explicitly specifies dependencies between FTL operations and the runtime resource availability. It comes with an FTL operation sequencer that derives at runtime the shortest sequence of FTL operations for servicing an incoming FTL request under the current resource availability. The sequencer computes the WCET of the request by merely summing the WCETs of only those FTL operations in the sequence. Our experimental results show the effectiveness of our FTL architecture. It allowed for tight WCET estimation that yielded WCETs shorter by a factor of 54 than statically analyzed ones.
Direct Activation of Rat Spinal Dorsal Horn Neurons by Prostaglandin E2

Whole-cell patch-clamp and intracellular recording techniques have been used to study the action of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) on neurons in adult rat transverse spinal cord slices. Bath-applied PGE2 (1–20 μm) induced an inward current or membrane depolarization in the majority of deep dorsal horn neurons (laminas III–VI; 83 of 139 cells), but only in a minority of lamina II neurons (6 of 53 cells). PGE2 alone never elicited spontaneous action potentials; however, it did convert subthreshold EPSPs to suprathreshold, leading to action potential generation. PGE2-induced inward currents were unaffected by perfusion with either a Ca2+-free/high Mg2+ (5 mm) solution or tetrodotoxin (1 μm), indicating a direct postsynaptic action. Both 17-phenyl trinor prostaglandin E2 (an EP1 agonist) and sulprostone (an EP3 agonist) had little effect on membrane current, whereas butaprost methyl ester (an EP2 agonist) mimicked the effect of PGE2. Depolarizing responses to PGE2 were associated with a decrease in input resistance, and the amplitude of inward current was decreased as the holding potential was depolarized. PGE2-induced inward currents were reduced by substitution of extracellular Na+ withN-methyl-d-glucamine and inhibited by flufenamic acid (50–200 μm), which is compatible with activation of a nonselective cation channel. These results suggest that PGE2, acting via an EP2-like receptor, directly depolarizes spinal neurons. Moreover, these findings imply an involvement of spinal cord-generated prostanoids in modulating sensory processing through an alteration in dorsal horn neuronal excitability.
Telelife: An immersive media experience for rehabilitation

In recent years, emergence of telerehabilitation systems for home-based therapy has altered healthcare systems. Telerehabilitation enables therapists to observe patients status via Internet, thus a patient does not have to visit rehabilitation facilities for every rehabilitation session. Despite the fact that telerehabilitation provides great opportunities, there are two major issues that affect effectiveness of telerehabilitation: relegation of the patient at home, and loss of direct supervision of the therapist. Since patients have no actual interaction with other persons during the rehabilitation period, they will become isolated and gradually lose their social skills. Moreover, without direct supervision of therapists, rehabilitation exercises can be performed with bad compensation strategies that lead to a poor quality recovery. To resolve these issues, we propose telelife, a new concept for future rehabilitation systems. The idea is to use media technology to create a totally new immersive media experience for rehabilitation. In telerehabilitation patients locally execute exercises, and therapists remotely monitor patients' status. In telelife patients, however, remotely perform exercises and therapists locally monitor. Thus, not only telelife enables rehabilitation at distance, but also improves the patients' social competences, and provides direct supervision of therapists. In this paper we introduce telelife to enhance telerehabilitation, and investigate technical challenges and possible methods to achieve telelife.
Appendix B Information theory from first principles

Although the transmitted and received signals are continuous-valued in most of the channels we considered in this book, the heart of the communication problem is discrete in nature: the transmitter sends one out of a finite number of codewords and the receiver would like to figure out which codeword is transmitted. Thus, to focus on the essence of the problem, we first consider channels with discrete input and output, so-called discrete memoryless channels (DMCs). Both the input x m and the output y m of a DMC lie in finite sets and respectively. (These sets are called the input and output alphabets of the channel respectively.) The statistics of the channel are described by conditional probabilities p j i i∈ j∈ . These are also called transition probabilities. Given an input sequence x = x 1 x N , the probability of observing an output sequence y= y 1 y N is given by1