Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Visual detection and tracking of unknown number of objects with nonparametric clustering methods

Clustering methods that do not expect the number of clusters to be known a priori and infer the number of clusters are known as nonparametric clustering methods in the literature. In this thesis we propose novel approaches to common computer vision applications using nonparametric clustering. We attack the problems of multiple object tracking and people counting. Our main motivation is to approach those as data association tasks where we de ne the data association problem speci c to the nature of the application and bene t from the nonparametric nature of the clustering model. We rst propose a detection free tracking method which tracks an unknown number of objects by clustering superpixels. We de ne the clusters as targets with spatial and visual features and track their changes through time by sequential clustering. The clusters yield tracked targets through time. We also propose a method for clustering short track segments into unknown number of tracks. The clustering similarity is de ned using the spatio-temporal features of the short track segments. The clustering process yields robust tracks of objects through time. We use this approach also to improve the tracking results of the detection free tracking proposed before. Finally we cluster raw person detector outputs to obtain groups of people in a scene and estimate the number of people inside a cluster using the features already extracted for clustering with a proposed metric which is invariant to perspective distortion.
Learning to use the spectrum in self-configuring heterogenous networks: a logit equilibrium approach

In this paper, we study the particular scenario where several transmitter-receiver pairs communicate subject to mutual interference due to the usage of the same frequency bands. In particular, we focus on the case of heterogeneous networks, where radio devices have different interests (utility functions), transmit configurations (sets of actions), as well as different signal processing and calculation capabilities. The underlying assumptions of this work are the followings: (i) the network is described by a set of states, for instance, the channel realization vector; (ii) radio devices are interested in their long-term average performance rather than instantaneous performance; (iii) each radio device is able to obtain a measure of its achieved performance at least once after updating its transmission configuration. Considering these conditions, we model the heterogenous network by a stochastic game. Our main contribution consists of a family of behavioral rules that allow radio devices to achieve an epsilon-Nash equilibrium of the corresponding stochastic game, namely a logit equilibrium. A thorough analysis of the convergence properties of these behavioral rules is presented. Finally, our approach is used in the context of a classical parallel interference channel in order to compare with existing results.
Insulin Sensitivity Among Obese Children and Adolescents, According to Degree of Weight Loss

Objective. Insulin sensitivity is impaired among some obese children, reflecting an atherogenic risk factor profile for the affected subjects. This study was performed to examine the amount of weight reduction required to improve insulin sensitivity. Methods. We studied changes in insulin sensitivity indices (ISIs) for glucose metabolism (homeostasis model assessment and quantitative insulin sensitivity check index) and fat metabolism (free fatty acids) during a 1-year period among obese children who attended an obesity intervention program. The children were divided into 4 groups according to their changes in body mass index (BMI) SD score (SDS), as follows: group I, decrease in SDS-BMI of ≥0.5; group II, decrease in SDS-BMI of ≥0.25 to <0.5; group III, decrease in SDS-BMI of <0.25; group IV, increase in SDS-BMI. Results. Fifty-seven obese children (age range: 6–14 years; median age: 10 years; 46% boys) were included in the study. The 4 groups did not differ with respect to age, gender, degree of overweight (SDS-BMI), or ISI values at baseline. An increase in SDS-BMI (group IV, n = 12) was followed by a significant decrease in ISI values. The ISIs improved for group I (n = 9), whereas there were no significant changes in these parameters for group II (n = 21) and group III (n = 15). Conclusions. During a 1-year period, an increase in weight among obese children was associated with a decrease in insulin sensitivity. Weight loss was followed by significant improvement in insulin sensitivity for glucose and fat metabolism but only if the SDS-BMI decreased by ≥0.5 during the 1-year period.
Expected Density of Progress of Cognitive Radio Networks with Selection Region Based Routing Protocol

Cognitive Radio networks which consist of primary and secondary networks are widely considered efficient systems to solve the serious problem of spectrum scarcity. The data transmission of secondary network is subject to the spectrum opportunity provided by primary network. In this paper, we investigate expected density of progress of secondary network with three routing strategies which are farthest receiver, random receiver and nearest receiver rooting strategies based on selection region. Numerical results show that the best performance can be achieved with nearest receiver routing strategy, and a maximum of expected density of progress could be got by setting an optimal transmission probability with that routing strategy.
Human-Bandwidth and the Design of Internet 2 Interfaces : Human Factors and Psychosocial Challenge

This article poses the question: What interface design techniques can amplify human bandwidth to make optimal use of the increased transmission and information bandwidth of Internet2? Emerging design approaches are identified. A set of design mandates growing out of users experiences with Internet1 has become the promise of Internet2. Three challenges facing Internet2 interface designers are introduced: the human-bandwidth challenge, the interface optimization challenge, and the psychosocial environment challenge. Key human-factors and human computer interaction design issues associated with teleimmersive interfaces and networked social computing are
Distortion of olfactory perception: diagnosis and treatment.

Clinically, olfaction can fail in any of three ways: (i) decreased sensitivity (hyposmia, anosmia) and two types of distortion (dysosmia); (ii) distorted quality of an odorant stimulation (troposmia); (iii) perceived odor when no odorant is present (phantosmia, hallucination). The distortions are usually much more upsetting to a person's quality of life than a simple loss. An ipsilatersal loss of olfactory sensitivity is often identified in the nostril with any type of olfactory distortion. The pathophysiology of a stimulated distortion (troposmia) is likely a decreased number of functioning olfactory primary neurons so that an incomplete characterization of the odorant is made. In phantosmia, two possible causations include an abnormal signal or inhibition from the primary olfactory neurons or peripheral olfactory or trigeminal signals that "trigger" a central process. The clinician's goal is to carefully define the problem (e.g. taste versus smell, real versus perceived, one versus two nostrils), to perform the appropriate examination and testing and to provide therapy if possible. Treatment includes assurance with no active therapy (because many of these will naturally resolve), topical medications, systemic medications, anesthesia to parts of the nose and, rarely, referral for surgical excision of olfactory neurons. Endoscopic transnasal operations have the advantage of treating phantosmia and sometimes allowing a return of olfactory ability after the operation.
Preface to Le concept de loi économique dans “Le Capital,” by Gérard Duménil

This preface constitutes Althusser’s most consistent epistemological account of Marx's Capital since Reading Capital. Althusser considers Duménil's reading to be at odds with both empiricist and rationalist interpretations of Marx's Capital. He argues that Capital is characterized by different orders of exposition. The major order of exposition, comprising a range of concepts, including capital itself, is visible, homogeneous, and unified. The other orders of exposition, which are not simply “historical” or “concrete,” interrupt and cut across the major one. For Althusser, Marx’s chapters on the “working day” or “primitive accumulation” act as an “exterior” with respect to the concepts of the major order. Thus each concept takes its place within limits set by this exterior. These limits are not deducible from the categories of political economy; rather they transform those categories, revealing their contingency. For Althusser, this contingency in the presentation of Capital challenges us constantly to rethink Marx’s thought in the context of our own times.
Graph-based LT and raptor codes

This paper deals with LT and Raptor codes used on a noiseless channel, as it is the case for the BEC or the AWGN channel with high SNR. The performance measure for such family of codes is the efficiency, i.e., the average amount of redundancy needed to decode the information bits. We consider the new class of graph-based LT and Raptor codes, we analyze their efficiency and we show that the optimal degree distribution of the LT code depends on the rate of the precoder.
Food security in the context of energy and resource depletion: Sustainable agriculture in developing countries

Abstract Food insecurity remains high in most of sub-Saharan African. That insecurity is made even more acute by the increasing scarcity and degradation of natural resources. Low soil fertility is a consistent problem faced by agriculturalists and herders. The dominant international thrust to increase food production has been to stimulate trade, enhanced by technology and its transfer. While international bodies acknowledge the importance of small farmers, they operate as if improving the technologies, trade regimes and value chains that are characteristic of industrial agriculture will have the same results in local ecosystems in developing countries. Price volatility makes access to purchased inputs more risky for smallholders and the governments that subsidize those inputs. The diverse local contexts that serve as the base of African agriculture are thus assumed to be overridden by technology. In contrast, a systems approach that focuses on sustainability of the local ecosystem, social and cultural relationships and economic security can be as, or more productive than industrial agriculture and have a much better opportunity to increase food security in developing countries. Such a systems-based shift in practices, such as the application of conservation agriculture and integrated systemic approaches in Millennium Villages, have potential of addressing household livelihood strategies and production issues in a sustainable, farmer-based way. Resource-conserving agriculture has been shown to increase yields in developing countries. Priority should be given to developing technologies that follow the systems principles of sustainable agriculture, integrating biological and ecological processes (such as nutrient cycling, nitrogen fixation, soil regeneration and biodiversity) into the production processes; minimizing use of non-renewable inputs that cause harm to the environment or to the health of farmers and consumers; and making productive use of the knowledge and skills of farmers and their collective capacities to work together to solve common problems. A variety of models are on the ground in Africa, and there is political will in the African Union to increase investment in agriculture. What sort of investments, policy interventions and capacity building are more effective in increasing productivity and the well-being of agricultural producers? Are strategies aimed at reducing the number of people involved in farming and herding viable in the context of a stagnant world economy?
Modular Metatheory for Memory Consistency Models

We present a framework based on operational semantics for formalizing shared-memory multithreaded programming languages with relaxed memory consistency models. The key feature of our framework is a division of each system’s semantics into two modules, the program semantics and the heap semantics. This modularization allows elegant, concise, and reusable components. It is trivial to use the same memory model with multiple languages and the same language with multiple memory models. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our framework by proving several results. First, we give a semantics for the Partial Store Order memory model, and prove that data-race-free programs exhibit sequentially-consistent semantics using this model. Critically, we did not need to define a specific language semantics to prove this result. We assumed only that the language satisfies certain sanity checks easily met by realistic languages. Second, we generalize the notion of type safety to arbitrary memory models, and prove type safety for a multithreaded simply-typed lambda calculus for any type-preserving memory model. Finally, we present a model of the MSI cache coherence protocol, and prove that it is semantically equivalent to sequential consistency for any language. We used the Coq proof assistant to carry out and mechanically verify all our work. Our Coq code is freely available and was modularly designed to support reuse for future extensions and projects.
Multithreaded dependence graphs for concurrent Java programs

Understanding program dependencies in a computer program is essential for many software engineering activities including program slicing, testing, debugging, reverse engineering, and maintenance. We present a dependence-based representation called multithreaded dependence graph, which extends previous dependence-based representations, to represent program dependencies in a concurrent Java program. We also discuss some important applications of a multithreaded dependence graph in a maintenance environment for concurrent Java programs.
Private school vouchers for expanding secondary school access? The case of Tanzania

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the current contributions of private schools to education provision in Tanzania, and to consider the feasibility of a school voucher program to contribute to the expansion of the secondary school system, compared to the alternative expansion of public secondary education. Design/methodology/approach The study offers an analysis of current educational circumstances and educational goals in Tanzania, and projects differential costs and outcomes associated with various options for expanding secondary education. Data come from two sources: a census of the private schooling market in the Morogoro Urban district, conducted as part of the World Bank’s Systems Approach for Better Education Results initiative; and Tanzania’s National Panel Survey 2010–2011. Findings For those students unable to cover the full cost of secondary education, findings suggest that a targeted private school voucher would be an efficient and equitable policy mechanism for secondary school expansion. Such an approach would ease the financial burden on government for constructing all new schools, yet assure access for the most vulnerable. Originality/value The implementation of school voucher programs is increasing in low-income countries. It is important for policy makers to carefully consider the appropriateness of this type of policy intervention for their particular educational contexts. This paper models an approach by which researchers and policymakers can assess the educational circumstances of a particular location, and determine the potential effectiveness of a private school voucher policy.
Nothing is for Free: Security in Searching Shared and Encrypted Data

Most existing symmetric searchable encryption schemes aim at allowing a user to outsource her encrypted data to a cloud server and delegate the latter to search on her behalf. These schemes do not qualify as a secure and scalable solution for the multiparty setting, where users outsource their encrypted data to a cloud server and selectively authorize each other to search. Due to the possibility that the cloud server may collude with some malicious users, it is a challenge to have a secure and scalable multiparty searchable encryption (MPSE) scheme. This is shown by our analysis on the Popa-Zeldovich scheme, which says that an honest user may leak all her search patterns even if she shares only one of her documents with another malicious user. Based on our analysis, we present a new security model for MPSE by considering the worst case and average-case scenarios, which capture different server-user collusion possibilities. We then propose a MPSE scheme by employing the bilinear property of Type-3 pairings and prove its security based on the bilinear Diffie-Hellman variant and symmetric external Diffie-Hellman assumptions in the random oracle model.
Primary User Localization Algorithm Based on Compressive Sensing in Cognitive Radio Networks

In order to locate source signal more accurately in authorized frequency bands, a novel primary user localization algorithm based on compressive sensing (PU-CSL) in cognitive radio networks (CRNs) is proposed in this paper. In comparison to existing centroid locating algorithms, PU-CSL shows higher locating accuracy for integrally exploring correlation between source signal and secondary users (SUs). Energy detection is first adopted for collecting the energy fingerprint of source signal at each SU, then degree of correlation between source signal and SUs is reconstructed based on compressive sensing (CS), which determines weights of centroid coordinates. A weighted centroid scheme is finally utilized to estimate source position. Simulation results show that PU-CSL has smaller maximum error of positioning and root-mean-square error. Moreover, the proposed PU-CSL algorithm possess excellent location accuracy and strong anti-noise performance.
Primate tarsal bones from Egerkingen, Switzerland, attributable to the middle Eocene adapiform Caenopithecus lemuroides

The middle Eocene species Caenopithecus lemuroides, known solely from the Egerkingen fissure fillings in Switzerland, was the first Paleogene fossil primate to be correctly identified as such (by Ludwig Rütimeyer in 1862), but has long been represented only by fragmentary mandibular and maxillary remains. More recent discoveries of adapiform fossils in other parts of the world have revealed Caenopithecus to be a biogeographic enigma, as it is potentially more closely related to Eocene adapiforms from Africa, Asia, and North America than it is to any known European forms. More anatomical evidence is needed, however, to provide robust tests of such phylogenetic hypotheses. Here we describe and analyze the first postcranial remains that can be attributed to C. lemuroides-an astragalus and three calcanei held in the collections of the Naturhistorisches Museum Basel that were likely recovered from Egerkingen over a century ago. Qualitative and multivariate morphometric analyses of these elements suggest that C. lemuroides was even more loris-like than European adapines such as Adapis and Leptadapis, and was not simply an adapine with an aberrant dentition. The astragalus of Caenopithecus is similar to that of younger Afradapis from the late Eocene of Egypt, and parsimony and Bayesian phylogenetic analyses that include the new tarsal data strongly support the placement of Afradapis and Caenopithecus as sister taxa to the exclusion of all other known adapiforms, thus implying that dispersal between Europe and Africa occurred during the middle Eocene. The new tarsal evidence, combined with previously known craniodental fossils, allows us to reconstruct C. lemuroides as having been an arboreal and highly folivorous 1.5-2.5 kg primate that likely moved slowly and deliberately with little or no capacity for acrobatic leaping, presumably maintaining consistent powerful grasps on branches in both above-branch and inverted postures.
Who Borrows from the Lender of Last Resort?∗

Understanding why banks borrow from the Lender of Last Resort (LOLR) during a financial crisis is crucial to understanding the macroeconomic impact of such largescale interventions. We document a strong divergence among banks’ take-up of LOLR assistance during the financial crisis in the euro area, as banks which borrowed heavily also used increasingly risky collateral. We propose four explanations for this divergence: (1) illiquidity, (2) risk-shifting, (3) political economy, and (4) differences in banks’ private valuations. We test these explanations using proprietary data on all central bank borrowing and collateral pledged in the euro area from 2008 to 2011, together with holdings data from the European bank stress tests. Our results strongly support the risk-shifting explanation. We find it both in the financially-distressed countries, where illiquidity and political economy are also at work, and in the non-distressed countries, where it appears to be the main driver of differences in bank’s behavior. ∗The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of the European Central Bank or the Eurosystem. We thank Xavier Freixas, Xavier Gabaix, Mark Gertler, Simon Gilchrist, Anna Kovner, Arvind Krishnamurthy, Stijn van Nieuwerburgh, Tano Santos, Stan Zin, and seminar participants at Bocconi University, Chicago Federal Reserve Bank Structure Conference, Federal Reserve Board, Kellogg School of Management, MIT Sloan, NBER Monetary Economics Meeting, New York Federal Reserve Bank, New York University, SFS Finance Cavalcade, Tuck School of Business, University of Maryland, and University Pompeu Fabra for helpful comments and suggestions. All errors are our own. Corresponding authors: Philipp Schnabl (schnabl@stern.nyu.edu) and Itamar Drechsler (itamar.drechsler@stern.nyu.edu).