Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Leveraging spatio-temporal redundancy for RFID data cleansing

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies are used in many applications for data collection. However, raw RFID readings are usually of low quality and may contain many anomalies. An ideal solution for RFID data cleansing should address the following issues. First, in many applications, duplicate readings (by multiple readers simultaneously or by a single reader over a period of time) of the same object are very common. The solution should take advantage of the resulting data redundancy for data cleaning. Second, prior knowledge about the readers and the environment (e.g., prior data distribution, false negative rates of readers) may help improve data quality and remove data anomalies, and a desired solution must be able to quantify the degree of uncertainty based on such knowledge. Third, the solution should take advantage of given constraints in target applications (e.g., the number of objects in a same location cannot exceed a given value) to elevate the accuracy of data cleansing. There are a number of existing RFID data cleansing techniques. However, none of them support all the aforementioned features. In this paper we propose a Bayesian inference based approach for cleaning RFID raw data. Our approach takes full advantage of data redundancy. To capture the likelihood, we design an n-state detection model and formally prove that the 3-state model can maximize the system performance. Moreover, in order to sample from the posterior, we devise a Metropolis-Hastings sampler with Constraints (MH-C), which incorporates constraint management to clean RFID raw data with high efficiency and accuracy. We validate our solution with a common RFID application and demonstrate the advantages of our approach through extensive simulations.
A multi-port current source model for multiple-input switching effects in CMOS library cells

The problem of multiple-input switching (MIS) has been mostly ignored by the timing CAD community. Not modeling MIS for timing can result in as much as 100% error in stage delay and slew calculation. The impact is especially severe on stages immediately after a bank of flops, where the inputs have a high probability of arriving simultaneously. Other problems such as modeling of interconnect loads, complex (nonlinear/nonmonotonic) input waveforms, power-droop impact on cell delay, nonlinear input capacitances, delay variations due to cross-capacitance, etc. are also known sources of error. In this paper, we introduce the multi-port current source model (MCSM). MCSM can efficiently handle an arbitrary number of simultaneously switching inputs, including single-input switching (SIS). Moreover, MCSM is comprehensive in that other modeling problems associated with delay and noise computation are elegantly covered. We demonstrate the applicability of MCSM on a large 65 nm industrial test-case. For cells experiencing MIS, the model yields delay and slew-rate errors within plusmn5% for 88.3% and 93.0% of the cases, respectively. We also present data that show that MCSM is an effective receiver model which captures active loading effects without incurring significant additional error. MCSM makes combined cell-level timing, noise, and power analysis a possibility
Similarities Building a Network between Researchers based on the Curriculum Lattes Platform

Using inference machines is one resource used to assist the decision-making process in data processing and interpretation, which allows attributing knowledge to a set of information items. In this sense this work implements a similarity algorithm that calculates the percentage of adherence found amongst academic profiles at the University of Brası́lia (UnB). The domain base use to provide the data for the work is that of the Lattes platform. This platform holds data on the scientific production of registered university scholars. The calculation provides a rating of the individuals and the approximations between their academic production. This is achieved by taking into account a base profile which is compared to one or more destination profiles. To run this procedure, the data held in each Curriculum Lattes is extracted, and an ontology of concepts is created that holds the data on the production to supply the information needed by the comparison task. These comparisons are made in each term of the name, for all the bibliographical production for both profiles compared. Each term can have a set of synonyms that are also taken into consideration in the comparison. And at the end the results are compiled and presented in a spreadsheet that holds the summaries for all adherence percentages that were compared. Applying the algorithm determines which people in a set have more or less proximity and a semantic link with the academic output when compared to other individuals. And that produces a similarity percentage.
Motor illusions: what do they reveal about proprioception?

Five illusions involving distortions in the perception of limb position, movement, and weight are described in the context of their contribution to understanding the sensory processes involved in proprioception. In particular, these illusions demonstrate that the position sense representation of the body and the awareness of limb movement result from the cross-calibration of visual and proprioceptive signals. Studies of the vibration illusion and phantom-limb phenomenon indicate that the perception of limb movement and position are encoded independently and can be dissociated. Postural aftereffects and the illusions of movement induced by vibration highlight the remarkable lability of this sense of limb position, which is a necessary feature for congruence between the spatial senses. Finally, I discuss the role of corollary discharges in the central processing of afferent information with respect to the size-weight and vibration illusions. The study of visual illusions has provided many valuable clues about the operation of the visual system (Coren & Girgus, 1978), to the extent that visual aftereffects have been described as the psychologist's microelectrode (Frisby, 1979). With the notable exception of the size-weight illusion, which was first described in the late nineteenth century (Charpentier, 1891), illusions involving the motor system have received much less attention. However, recent reports of illusory movements induced by mechanical vibration of the muscle tendon (Goodwin, McCloskey, & Matthews, 1972; Roll & Vedel, 1982; Vedel & Roll, 1983) have led to a revival of interest in kinesthetic illusions (Feldman & Latash, 1982a; Goodwin, 1976; Granit, 1972; Matthews, 1982). As with the classical visual illusions, these phenomena offer valuable insights into the perceptual mechanisms involved in proprioception and must be explained in terms of normal physiological mechanisms. I discuss disturbances in the perception of limb position and movement and of force and weight in this review in the context of their contribution to understanding perceptual processing in the sensorimotor system.
Mapping IT Governance to Software Development Process: From COBIT 5 to GI-Tropos

Mapping IT Governance principles from frameworks like COBIT 5 to Requirements-Driven Software Processes such as (GI-) Tropos or even RUP-based ones allows IT managers to propose governance and management rules for software development to cope with stakeholders’ requirements. On the one hand, IT Governance in software engineering has to ensure that software organization business processes meet strategic requirements of the organization. On the other hand, requirements-driven software methods are development processes using high-level social-oriented models to drive the software life cycle both in terms of project management and deductive iterative engineering techniques. Typically, such methods are well-suited for the inclusion and adaptation of governance principles immediately into the software development life cycle. To consolidate both perspectives, this paper proposes a generic framework allowing mapping IT governance principles to the GI-Tropos software processes.
Sharing video annotations

This paper describes an approach for locating annotations generated in one video and properly placing them in a second, modified version of the same video. We focus on modifications that standard Television (TV) broadcasts may experience, including content insertion and deletion (i.e., commercials), format conversions and different start/end recording times. To overcome these modifications, we propose content-based video timelines. We identify the position of a frame in a long video stream with an accuracy of one frame based on its content, without using embedded time codes. To make this approach feasible, we use a compact representation of a video frame, which we call a "fingerprint". Fingerprints capture small temporal variations within shots and therefore allow precise position recovery. Our fingerprints' efficient storage size, extraction time and comparison complexity suggest that our approach can be applied using off-the-shelf PCs and TV "set-top" boxes.
Explaining BGP Slow Table Transfers

Although there have been a plethora of studies on TCP performance in supporting of various applications, relatively little is known about the interaction between TCP and BGP, which is a specific application running on top of TCP. This paper investigates BGP's slow route propagation by analyzing packet traces collected from a large ISP and Route Views Oregon collector. In particular we focus on the prolonged periods of BGP routing table transfers and examine in detail the interplay between TCP and BGP. In addition to the problems reported in previous literature, this study reveals a number of new TCP transport problems, that collectively induce significant delays. Furthermore, we develop a tool, named T-DAT, that can be deployed together with BGP data collectors to infer various factors behind the observed delay, including BGP's sending and receiving behavior, TCP's parameter settings, TCP's flow and congestion control, and network path limitation. Identifying these delay contributing factors makes an important step for ISPs and router vendors to diagnose and improve the BGP performance.
Status of DDT and pyrethroid resistance in Indian Aedes albopictus and absence of knockdown resistance (kdr) mutation.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Aedes albopictus is one of the vectors for dengue and chikungunya and emergence of pyrethroid resistance in this species could be of a major concern in controlling the vector. This study reports insecticide susceptibility status of Ae. albopictus to DDT and pyrethroids in some Indian populations and status of presence of knockdown resistance (kdr) mutations. METHODS Three to four day old adult female Ae. albopictus collected from Delhi, Gurgaon (Haryana), Hardwar (Uttarakhand), Guwahati (Assam) and Kottayam (Kerala) were bio-assayed with DDT (4%), permethrin (0.75%) and deltamethrin (0.05%) impregnated papers using WHO standard susceptibility test kit. Mosquitoes were PCRgenotyped for F1534C kdr-mutation in the voltage-gated sodium channel (VGSC) gene. DDT and pyrethroid resistant individuals were sequenced for partial domain II, III and IV of VGSC targeting residues S989, I1011, V1016, F1534 and D1794 where kdr mutations are reported in Ae. aegypti. RESULTS Adult bioassays revealed varying degree of resistance against DDT among five populations of Ae. albopictus with corrected mortalities ranging between 61 and 92%. Kerala and Delhi populations showed incipient resistance against permethrin and deltamethrin respectively. All other populations were susceptible for both the synthetic pyrethroids. None of the kdr mutations was detected in any of DDT, deltamethrin and permethrin resistant individuals. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION Ae. albopictus has developed resistance against DDT and there is emergence of incipient resistance against pyrethroids in some populations. So far, there is no evidence of presence of knockdown resistance (kdr) mutation in Ae. albopictus.
2 Phenomenology of Positive Change: Personal Growth

How do we lastingly change our lives for the better? This chapter presents a possible answer to this question by focusing on the concept of personal change. As underlined by recent research in psychology and neuroscience, personal change is a complex process depending on the person, the issues, and the situation. However, by merging the ideas of two influential transdiagnostic models of change – the Perceptual Control Theory and the TransTheoretical Model of Behavior Change – it is possible to describe a process of personal change that moves from an expressed desire for change to a recovery from inevitable relapses. Even if these characteristics of personal change are now shared by many of the leading approaches to psychotherapy, many of us experience psychological change without the help of any form of treatment. But how does this happen and why? In this chapter we suggest that our cognitive system is naturally shaped to identify and counter the experiential conflicts that are usually the main motives for change. This is achieved through a specific cognitive process – presence – whose goal is the control of the activity of the individual: I am present in a real or virtual space if I manage to put my intentions into action (enacting them). Specifically presence provides the self with a feedback about the status of its activity: the self perceives the variations in the feeling of presence (breakdowns and optimal experience) and tunes its activity accordingly. The role of breakdowns in personal change is clear: to push individuals towards it. By perceiving a conflict (awareness) between different goals the subject is pushed to resolve the conflict between them. Optimal experiences, also defined as “flow experiences”, instead allow the individual to consider long-term personal goals differently and to experiment with changing them. In other words optimal experiences, when meaningful for the individual, widen the array of thoughts and actions, facilitating generativity and behavioral flexibility. Within this view, we defined transformation of flow as a person’s ability to draw upon an optimal experience and use it to marshal new and unexpected psychological resources and sources of involvement.
A Variation on Selberg's Approximation Problem

Let $\alpha\in\mathbb{C}$ in the upper half-plane and let $I$ be an interval. We construct an analogue of Selberg's majorant of the characteristic function of $I$ that vanishes at the point $\alpha$. The construction is based on the solution to an extremal problem with positivity and interpolation constraints.
Comments on superstring field theory and its vacuum solution

We prove that the NS cubic superstring field theories are classically equivalent, regardless of the choice of Y−2 in their definition, and illustrate it by an explicit evaluation of the action of Erler's solution. We then turn to examine this solution. First, we explain that its cohomology is trivial also in the Ramond sector. Then, we show that the boundary state corresponding to it is identically zero. We conclude that this solution is indeed a closed string vacuum solution despite the absence of a tachyon field on the BPS D-brane.
A survey of usability engineering within the European I . T . Industry – Current practice and needs

The present paper reports on a survey of current practices in usability engineering and requirements for support within European I.T. organisations. Responses were obtained from 84 individuals working in nine European countries. The data were analysed in terms of four themes: respondents’ background, their interpretation and appreciation of the concept of usability, current practice with regard to usability evaluation, problems and requirements for support in conducting usability evaluation. Results suggest widespread awareness but only superficial application of Human Factors methods in Industry.
Robust Circular Arc Detection

In this paper we present a method to robustly detect circular arcs in a line drawing image. The method is fast, robust and very reliable, and is capable of assessing the quality of its detection. It is based on Random Sample Consensus minimization, and uses techniques that are inspired from object tracking in image sequences. It is based on simple initial guesses, either based on connected line segments, or on elementary mainstream arc detection algorithms. Our method consists of gradually deforming these circular arc candidates as to precisely fit onto the image strokes, or to reject them if the fitting is not possible, this virtually eliminates spurious detections on the one hand, and avoiding non-detections on the other hand.
Energy minimization of system pipelines using multiple voltages

Modem computer and communication system design has to consider the timing constraints imposed by communication and system pipelines, and minimize the energy consumption. We adopt the recent proposed model for communication pipeline latency and address the problem of how to minimize the power consumption in system-level pipelines under the latency constraints by selecting supply voltage for each pipeline stage using the variable voltage core-based system design methodology. We define the problem, solve it optimally under realistic assumptions and develop algorithms for power minimization of system pipeline designs based on our theoretical results. We apply this new approach to the 4-stage Myrinet GAM pipeline and with the appropriate voltage profiles, we achieve 93.4%, 91.3% and 26.9% power reduction on three pipeline stages over the traditional design.
Curve fitting algorithm using iterative error minimization for sketch beautification

In previous sketch recognition systems, curve has been fitted by a bit heuristic method. In this paper, we solved the problem by finding the optimal parameter of quadratic Bezier curve and utilize the error minimization between an input curve and a fitting curve by using iterative error minimization. First, we interpolated the input curve to compute the distance because the input curve consists of a set of sparse points. Then, we define the objective function. To find the optimal parameter, we assume that the initial parameter is known. Then, we derive the gradient vector with respect to the current parameter, and the parameter is updated by the gradient vector. This two steps are repeated until the error is not reduced. From the experiment, the average approximation error of the proposed algorithm was 0.946433 about 1400 synthesized curves, and this result demonstrates that the given curve can be fitted very closely by using the proposed fitting algorithm.
New Transmembrane Polyene Bolaamphiphiles as Fluorescent Probes in Lipid Bilayers.

Inspired by Archaebacterial lipids, transmembrane probes anchor a sensing fluorescent polyene with Ångström resolution deep within a lipid layer. These new bolaamphiphiles are obtained in good yields from a double cross-coupling between esters with a terminal acetylene group and conjugated 1,ω-dihalopolyenes, followed by partial reduction of the triple bond.
Crystal Structure of the Calcium Release–Activated Calcium Channel Orai

Architecture of a CRAC The calcium release–activated calcium (CRAC) channel generates intracellular calcium signals in response to depletion of calcium from the endoplasmic reticulum. Hou et al. (p. 1308, published online 22 November) report a high-resolution crystal structure of Orai, the CRAC channel pore from Drosophila melanogaster. Six Orai subunits surround a central pore that extends into the cytosol. The pore is in a closed conformation that is stabilized by anions binding to a basic region near the intracellular side. A ring of glutamates on the extracellular side form a selectivity filter. The channel architecture allows calcium permeation while regulating the flow to prevent overloading the cell with calcium. The unusual architecture of this ion-channel pore regulates the flow of calcium into cells. The plasma membrane protein Orai forms the pore of the calcium release–activated calcium (CRAC) channel and generates sustained cytosolic calcium signals when triggered by depletion of calcium from the endoplasmic reticulum. The crystal structure of Orai from Drosophila melanogaster, determined at 3.35 angstrom resolution, reveals that the calcium channel is composed of a hexameric assembly of Orai subunits arranged around a central ion pore. The pore traverses the membrane and extends into the cytosol. A ring of glutamate residues on its extracellular side forms the selectivity filter. A basic region near the intracellular side can bind anions that may stabilize the closed state. The architecture of the channel differs markedly from other ion channels and gives insight into the principles of selective calcium permeation and gating.
Eagle-Type Methicillin Resistance: New Phenotype of High Methicillin Resistance under mec Regulator Gene Control

ABSTRACT We report a novel phenotype of methicillin resistance, designated “Eagle-type” resistance, which is characteristic in its resistance to high concentrations of methicillin (64 to 512 μg/ml) and susceptibility to low concentrations of methicillin (2 to 16 μg/ml). The type of resistance was expressed in mutant strains selected with high concentrations (e.g., 128 to 512 μg/ml) of methicillin from the pre-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain N315, whose mecA gene transcription is strongly repressed by the mecI gene-encoded repressor protein MecI. The Eagle-type mutant strains harbored no mutation in themecI gene or in the operator region ofmecA gene to which MecI repressor is supposed to bind. In the representative Eagle-type strain h4, repression of mecAgene transcription and penicillin-binding protein 2′ production were found to be released by exposing the cells to a high concentration (128 μg/ml) of methicillin but not to lower concentrations (1 and 8 μg/ml) of methicillin. The strain h4 expressed paradoxical susceptibility (Eagle effect) to the cytokilling activity of methicillin. Experimental deletion of mecI gene from the chromosome of h4 by mecI-specific gene substitution converted its Eagle-type resistance to homogeneously high methicillin resistance. We cloned two novel genes, designated hmrA andhmrB, from genomic library of h4, which conferred Eagle-type resistance to N315 when introduced into the cell in multiple copies. The genes were shown to confer homogeneous methicillin resistance to the heterogeneously methicillin-resistant strain LR5 when they were introduced into on multicopy plasmids. This result strongly indicated that the genetic alteration responsible for the expression of the Eagle phenotype is identical, or equivalent in its effect, to the genetic alteration underlying heterogeneous-to-homogeneous conversion of methicillin resistance in S. aureus.