Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
OpenBox: A Software-Defined Framework for Developing, Deploying, and Managing Network Functions

We present OpenBox — a software-defined framework for network-wide development, deployment, and management of network functions (NFs). OpenBox effectively decouples the control plane of NFs from their data plane, similarly to SDN solutions that only address the network’s forwarding plane. OpenBox consists of three logic components. First, user-defined OpenBox applications provide NF specifications through the OpenBox north-bound API. Second, a logically-centralized OpenBox controller is able to merge logic of multiple NFs, possibly from multiple tenants, and to use a network-wide view to efficiently deploy and scale NFs across the network data plane. Finally, OpenBox instances constitute OpenBox’s data plane and are implemented either purely in software or contain specific hardware accelerators (e.g., a TCAM). In practice, different NFs carry out similar processing steps on the same packet, and our experiments indeed show a significant improvement of the network performance when using OpenBox. Moreover, OpenBox readily supports smart NF placement, NF scaling, and multi-tenancy through its controller.
A comprehensive head pose and gaze database

Within the past decade, many computational approaches have been developed to estimate gaze directions of persons based on their facial appearance. Most researchers used common face datasets with only a l imited representation of different head poses to train and verify their algorithms. Moreover, in most datasets, faces have neither a defined gaze direction, nor do they incor porate different combinations of eye gaze and head pose. Therefore, we recorded an extended dataset of 20 sub jects including faces in various combinations of head pos e and eye gaze leading to a total amount of 2220 colour i mages (111 per subject). The images were produced under controlled conditions, i.e. we used a technique to make sure that the subjects adjust their head and eyes appropriately. Furthermore, all images are manually labelled with landmarks indicating important featur es of the face. Finally, we evaluate the dataset with two computational methods for head pose and gaze estimation respectively.
The Next Generation Energy Management System Design Final Project Report

(PSERC) is a multi-university Center conducting research on challenges facing the electric power industry and educating the next generation of power engineers. More information about PSERC can be found at the Center's website: Notice Concerning Copyright Material PSERC members are given permission to copy without fee all or part of this publication for internal use if appropriate attribution is given to this document as the source material. This report is available for downloading from the PSERC website. research project titled " The Next Generation EMS Design " (project T-45). We express our appreciation for the support provided by PSERC's industry members and by the Energy Management Systems (EMS) were invented in the seventies to add computationally intensive applications to the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Systems which were introduced as the core infrastructure for scanning the field data in the sixties. Over the last 50 years, many EMS functions were implemented and SCADA was further enhanced. Recently, limitations of low scanning capability of traditional SCADA became obvious and new substation Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) such as Digital Protective Relays (DPRs), Digital Fault Recorders (DFRs) and Phasor Measurement units (PMUs) offered much better time resolution of the field measurements. Such developments led to a question addressed in this project: how should future EMS systems evolve assuming that new IEDs may be integrated in a common data measurement infrastructure? This report is organized in eight sections. The first section presents the project objectives and a brief survey of the literature highlighting the various views on EMS enhancements. This section identifies the need for new EMS design with the following desirable features (a) integration of field data; (b) introduction of new decision-making tools based on data analytics for knowledge extraction; and (c) flexible implementation architecture that allows transition from legacy to new designs. The second section presents a brief technical background of legacy EMS designs. The perspectives of original EMS architects on designing the original data acquisition system are discussed. The limitations of the conventional SCADA system in monitoring the system states comprehensively is identified as the root cause for redesigning the EMS system. The mismatch between legacy and new EMS design requirements affect data acquisition, data management, and communication architecture. This mismatch opens new opportunities for data acquisition system enhancements. The third section introduces the technology developments in the field monitoring devices and the issues in the current power system operating …
Farm Commodity Programs: Direct Payments, Counter-Cyclical Payments, and Marketing Loans

This report discusses federal law that has authorized farm income and commodity price support programs for over 70 years.The 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171) authorizes the current programs for the 2002-2007 crop years. The payment framework combines direct payments of the 1996 farm bill (P.L. 104-127) with counter-cyclical payments of prior laws. Subsidies continue for wheat, feed grains, upland cotton, and rice, and soybeans and peanuts are added to the list of major crops. Dry peas, lentils, and chickpeas were added to the loan program, and wool, mohair, and honey were reinstated. This report covers grains, cotton, oilseeds, and peanuts. These commodities have similar rules, and generally account for about two-thirds of CCC outlays.
Moral Hazard Effects of Bailing out under Asymmetric Information

With a four-stage sequential game model, we study how bailouts ameliorate the effects of liquidation on fundamentals, reduce the likelihood of currency crises and affect the financial sector's (non-observable) effort. In stage 1, exchange rate regime is announced and all agents receive probabilistic information that a shock may occur in stage 4. Here, the government can commit to an optimal bailout or may wait until stage 4 when a bad shock may occur. The private sector in stage 2 forms exchange rate expectations, and decides on investments and effort. In stage 3, the government faces costs due to expectations of devaluation and liquidation, and may decide to pre-emptively abandon its exchange rate policy. We show that commitment decisions have very important implications for the agents' optimal decisions.
Human interaction with digital ink : legibility measurement and structural analysis

Literature suggests that it is possible to design and implement pen-based computer interfaces that resemble the use of pen and paper. These interfaces appear to allow users freedom in expressing ideas and seem to be familiar and easy to use. Different ideas have been put forward concerning this type of interface, however despite the commonality of aims and problems faced, there does not appear to be a common approach to their design and implementation. This thesis aims to progress the development of pen-based computer interfaces that resemble the use of pen and paper. To do this, a conceptual model is proposed for interfaces that enable interaction with "digital ink". This conceptual model is used to organize and analyse the broad range of literature related to pen-based interfaces, and to identify topics that are not sufficiently addressed by published research. Two issues highlighted by the model: digital ink legibility and digital ink structuring, are then investigated. In the first investigation, methods are devised to objectively and subjectively measure the legibility of handwritten script. These methods are then piloted in experiments that vary the horizontal rendering resolution of handwritten script displayed on a computer screen. Script legibility is shown to decrease with rendering resolution, after it drops below a threshold value. In the second investigation, the clustering of digital ink strokes into words is addressed. A method of rating the accuracy of clustering algorithms is proposed: the percentage of words spoiled. The clustering error rate is found to vary among different writers, for a clustering algorithm using the geometric features of both ink strokes, and the gaps between them. The work contributes a conceptual interface model, methods of measuring digital ink legibility, and techniques for investigating stroke clustering features, to the field of digital ink interaction research.
A new encoding mechanism for low power inter-chip serial communication in asynchronous circuits

Since asynchronous circuits consume power only when activities actually happen, the conventional serial communication scheme where the embedded clock is always transmitted and the clock and data recovery (CDR) circuit is continuously working is very wasteful for connecting asynchronous circuit cores. This paper proposes a new serial communication scheme for asynchronous circuits where the power consumption of the line drivers in the transmitter and the deserializer in the receiver are reduced to almost 0 for the period when no data is transmitted. The proposed scheme is based on a new encoding mechanism where four voltage levels are used in order to embed a clock signal explicitly and a new sampler that extracts the clock and data without using PLL/DLL based circuits. This paper shows overall ideas of the proposed scheme and some initial HSPICE simulation results using 28nm and 130nm device technologies.
New analysis of the asymptotic behavior of the Lempel-Ziv compression algorithm

We give a new analysis and proof of the Normal limiting distribution of the number of phrases in the 1978 Lempel-Ziv compression algorithm on random sequences built from a memoriless source. This work is a follow-up of our last paper on this subject in 1995. The analysis stands on the asymptotic behavior of a DST obtained by the insertion of random sequences. Our proofs are augmented of new results on moment convergence, moderate and large deviations, redundancy analysis.
Research on mobility variance caused by TSV-induced mechanical stress in 3D-IC

Due to mismatch in the coefficients of thermal expansion of silicon and copper, mechanical stresses in surrounding silicon are induced near TSV in 3D ICs. In this paper, the mobility variance of substrate material caused by TSV-induced stress is researched. Firstly the semi-analytical model for TSV-induced stress distribution is introduced. An analytical model for TSV-induced stress distribution is then developed base on the semi-analytical model with curve fitting method. At last, a mobility variance model is obtained combining with piezoresistive effect theory. The influence of TSV diameter, distance to TSV, crystal orientation, carrier type, and the difference of CTEs on mobility variance are analyzed based on the mobility variance model.
Guaranteed Cost Control for Uncertain Stochastic Systems with State and Input Delays

This paper deals with the problem of guaranteed cost control for uncertain stochastic systems with state and input-delays. Attention is focused on the design of a state feedback controller such that the resulting closed-loop system is mean-square asymptotically stable and guarantees that a given quadratic cost function has an upper bound. In terms of a linear matrix inequality (LMI), a sufficient condition for the solvability of this problem is derived. When the LMI is satisfied, the expression of desired state feedback controller is proposed. A numerical example is given to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach
PUBLIC WORKS : POLICY EXPECTATIONS AND PROGRAMME REALITY

This paper explores the ability of public works programmes (PWPs) to promote employment and reduce poverty. Public works are a key component of the current social protection framework in South Africa, constituting the only significant form of social support for the able-bodied working age unemployed, and are ascribed considerable potential in terms of addressing the central challenges of unemployment and poverty. Despite this policy prominence, the targeting of public works programmes and their micro-economic and labour market impacts have not been studied systematically in South Africa, rendering evidence-based policy development in this area problematic. This paper attempts to provide some initial responses to these questions in order to establish an evidence base for future policy development, and to identify some of the key policy lessons arising, drawing evidence from two case studies, the Gundo Lashu programme in Limpopo, and the Zibambele programme in KwaZulu Natal. The paper also reviews the policy context, and the characterisation of the unemployment problem in the policy discourse. The paper concludes that while PWPs can offer a partial response to the problems of poverty and unemployment if appropriately designed, the gap between policy expectation and programme reality is significant, and that PWPs cannot offer an adequate social protection response to the growing problem of the working age poor. The paper asserts that there is a need to recognise that PWPs can have only a limited role in the context of entrenched and structural unemployment, and that supply-side interventions are of limited value in response to poverty and unemployment among the low-skilled, given ongoing structural shifts in the South African economy and the delinking of economic growth and employment.
Mechanism of entry into the cytosol of poliovirus type 1: requirement for low pH

The effect of a number of drugs and culture conditions on the entry into cells of a strain of poliovirus 1 (Brunende) was tested. The cells were exposed in the dark to light-sensitive, neutral red-containing virus, in the presence of the drug to be tested. Then the cells were exposed to light, transferred to normal medium, and incubated overnight. Cytopathogenic effect was measured as inhibition of [3H]leucine incorporation. Compounds that dissipate proton gradients across membranes, like monensin, protonophores, and amines, and compounds that inhibit the acidification process, such as N,N'- dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCCD) and tributyltin, inhibited the entry of virus, but not virus binding. This was also the case with metabolic inhibitors that deplete cells for ATP. The same compounds also inhibited the cell-induced alteration of the virus particles. When cells with surface-bound virus were exposed to low pH, the virus entered efficiently, even in the presence of monensin and DCCD. The results indicate that acidification somehow facilitates the entry of the virus RNA into the cytosol and that under normal conditions the entry occurs from intracellular acidic vesicles.
Serratia odorifera a Midgut Inhabitant of Aedes aegypti Mosquito Enhances Its Susceptibility to Dengue-2 Virus

Mosquito midgut plays a crucial role in its vector susceptibility and pathogen interaction. Identification of the sustainable microflora of the midgut environment can therefore help in evaluating its contribution in mosquito-pathogen interaction and in turn vector competence. To understand the bacterial diversity in the midgut of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, we conducted a screening study of the gut microbes of these mosquitoes which were either collected from fields or reared in the laboratory “culture-dependent” approach. This work demonstrated that the microbial flora of larvae and adult Ae. aegypti midgut is complex and is dominated by Gram negative proteobacteria. Serratia odorifera was found to be stably associated in the midguts of field collected and laboratory reared larvae and adult females. The potential influence of this sustainable gut microbe on DENV-2 susceptibility of this vector was evaluated by co-feeding S. odorifera with DENV-2 to adult Ae. aegypti females (free of gut flora). The observations revealed that the viral susceptibility of these Aedes females enhanced significantly as compared to solely dengue-2 fed and another gut inhabitant, Microbacterium oxydans co-fed females. Based on the results of this study we proposed that the enhancement in the DENV-2 susceptibility of Ae. aegypti females was due to blocking of prohibitin molecule present on the midgut surface of these females by the polypeptide of gut inhabitant S. odorifera.
Hybrid Knowledge Model to Help End-Users Retreive Relevant Information

In this short paper, we present the knowledge representation model called Extended Semantic Network. The basic idea of this proposal is to imagine data representation techniques which can reason beyond the classical techniques in information retrieval systems. It is argued that by employing hybrid techniques one can address the good recall with powerful deduction problems. Our objective here is to achieve semi-supervised knowledge representation technique with good accuracy and minimum human intervention, using the heuristically developed information processing and integration methods.
Splitter/Combiner Microstrip Sections Loaded With Pairs of Complementary Split Ring Resonators (CSRRs): Modeling and Optimization for Differential Sensing Applications

This paper focuses on the analysis of splitter/ combiner microstrip sections where each branch is loaded with a complementary split ring resonator (CSRR). The distance between CSRRs is high, and hence, their coupling can be neglected. If the structure exhibits perfect symmetry with regard to the axial plane, a single transmission zero (notch) at the fundamental resonance of the CSRR, arises. Conversely, two notches (i.e., frequency splitting) appear if symmetry is disrupted, and their positions are determined not only by the characteristics of the CSRRs but also by the length of the splitter/combiner sections. A model that includes lumped elements (accounting for the CSRR-loaded line sections) and distributed components (corresponding to the transmission lines) is proposed and used to infer the position of the transmission zeros. Frequency splitting is useful for the implementation of differential sensors and comparators based on symmetry disruption. Using the model, the length of the splitter/combiner sections necessary to optimize the sensitivity of the structures as sensing elements is determined. Parameter extraction and comparison with electromagnetic simulations and measurements in several symmetric and asymmetric structures is used to validate the model. Finally, a prototype device sensor/comparator based on the proposed CSRR-loaded splitter/combiner microstrip sections is presented.
The Dark Net: Self-Regulation Dynamics of Illegal Online Markets for Identities and Related Services

Identity data, e.g. data to gain online access to computers, bank accounts, and credit card data, are traded in online marketplaces. This paper investigates the functioning of illegal online markets. These markets lack state regulation and the means to enforce agreements and the paper shows that they use alternative mechanisms to create trust among market participants. The sales outlets of illegal online markets are able to self-regulate the market and should be considered as a major device that makes cyber crime profitable.
The SAMI Galaxy Survey: extraplanar gas, galactic winds, and their association with star formation history

We investigate a sample of 40 local, main-sequence, edge-on disc galaxies using integral field spectroscopy with the Sydney-AAO Multi-object Integral field spectrograph (SAMI) Galaxy Survey to understand the link between properties of the extraplanar gas and their host galaxies. The kinematics properties of the extraplanar gas, including velocity asymmetries and increased dispersion, are used to differentiate galaxies hosting large-scale galactic winds from those dominated by the extended diffuse ionized gas. We find rather that a spectrum of diffuse gas-dominated to wind-dominated galaxies exist. The wind-dominated galaxies span a wide range of star formation rates (SFRs; −1 ≲ log (SFR/M⊙ yr−1) ≲ 0.5) across the whole stellar mass range of the sample (8.5 ≲ log (M*/M⊙) ≲ 11). The wind galaxies also span a wide range in SFR surface densities (10− 3–10− 1.5 M⊙ yr− 1 kpc− 2) that is much lower than the canonical threshold of 0.1 M⊙ yr− 1 kpc− 2. The wind galaxies on average have higher SFR surface densities and higher HδA values than those without strong wind signatures. The enhanced HδA indicates that bursts of star formation in the recent past are necessary for driving large-scale galactic winds. We demonstrate with Sloan Digital Sky Survey data that galaxies with high SFR surface density have experienced bursts of star formation in the recent past. Our results imply that the galactic winds revealed in our study are indeed driven by bursts of star formation, and thus probing star formation in the time domain is crucial for finding and understanding galactic winds.
Individual Differences Reveal Correlates of Hidden Hearing Deficits

Clinical audiometry has long focused on determining the detection thresholds for pure tones, which depend on intact cochlear mechanics and hair cell function. Yet many listeners with normal hearing thresholds complain of communication difficulties, and the causes for such problems are not well understood. Here, we explore whether normal-hearing listeners exhibit such suprathreshold deficits, affecting the fidelity with which subcortical areas encode the temporal structure of clearly audible sound. Using an array of measures, we evaluated a cohort of young adults with thresholds in the normal range to assess both cochlear mechanical function and temporal coding of suprathreshold sounds. Listeners differed widely in both electrophysiological and behavioral measures of temporal coding fidelity. These measures correlated significantly with each other. Conversely, these differences were unrelated to the modest variation in otoacoustic emissions, cochlear tuning, or the residual differences in hearing threshold present in our cohort. Electroencephalography revealed that listeners with poor subcortical encoding had poor cortical sensitivity to changes in interaural time differences, which are critical for localizing sound sources and analyzing complex scenes. These listeners also performed poorly when asked to direct selective attention to one of two competing speech streams, a task that mimics the challenges of many everyday listening environments. Together with previous animal and computational models, our results suggest that hidden hearing deficits, likely originating at the level of the cochlear nerve, are part of “normal hearing. ”
Neuron-glia communication in the control of oligodendrocyte function and myelin biogenesis

During the development of the central nervous system the reciprocal communication between neurons and oligodendrocytes is essential for the generation of myelin, a multilamellar insulating membrane that ensheathes the axons. Neuron-derived signalling molecules regulate the proliferation, differentiation and survival of oligodendrocytes. Furthermore, neurons control the onset and timing of myelin membrane growth. In turn, signals from oligodendrocytes to neurons direct the assembly of specific subdomains in neurons at the node of Ranvier. Recent work has begun to shed light on the molecules and signaling systems used to coordinate the interaction of neurons and oligodendrocytes. For example, the neuronal signals seem to control the membrane trafficking machinery in oligodendrocytes that leads to myelination. These interconnections at multiple levels show how neurons and glia cooperate to build a complex network during development.