Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A 32.5-GS/s Sampler With Time-Interleaved Track-and-Hold Amplifier in 65-nm CMOS

This paper presents a high-speed and low feed-through sampler with two-channel time-interleaved track-and-hold amplifiers (THAs). The THA is based on switched buffer with active inductors load such that wide bandwidth in track-mode and small-signal feed-through in hold-mode can be both achieved within compact area. Furthermore, one clock-controlled auxiliary transistor is also introduced to cancel clock feed-through in hold-mode. With two-channel accurate on-chip clock and its distribution network, double sampling rate is achieved due to the two-channel time-interleaved structure used. The chip was fabricated in 65-nm RF-CMOS process with core area of 0.07 mm 2 and power consumption of 211 mW. The measurements show that the S-parameters matched input and output up to 40 GHz with 19.3-GHz bandwidth in track-mode, the spurious-free-dynamic-range above 35 dB and total harmonic distortion below -30 dB up to 6 GHz when the sampling rate is 16.26 GS/s for one channel.
Investigation of the Effectiveness of Cross-Media Indexing

Cross-media analysis and indexing leverages the individual potential of each indexing information provided by different modalities, such as speech, text and image, to improve the effectiveness of information retrieval and filtering in later stages. The process does not only constitute generating a merged representation of the digital content, such as MPEG-7, but also enriching it in order to help remedy the imprecision and noise introduced during the low-level analysis phases. It has been hypothesized that a system that combines different media descriptions of the same multi-modal audio-visual segment in a semantic space will perform better at retrieval and filtering time. In order to validate this hypothesis, we have developed a cross-media indexing system which utilises the Multiple Evidence approach by establishing links among the modality specific textual descriptions in order to depict topical similarity.
Efficient Range Indexing in DHT-Based Peer-to-Peer Networks

A fundamental problem of peer-to-peer (P2P) systems is efficiently locating a node that stores a desired data item. Distributed hash table (DHT) mechanisms have been proposed to address this problem and manage data in very large, structured P2P systems. DHT algorithms provide efficient exact match object search capabilities without requiring global indexing and are hence extremely scalable. However, supporting range queries efficiently remains a difficult problem. In this paper, we describe an extension to a currently available DHT implementation, in order to support range queries and at the same time preserve the important attributes of P2P systems.
Molecular adaptation of ruminal epithelia to highly fermentable diets 1

Feeding highly fermentable diets to ruminants is one strategy to increase energy intake. The increase in short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production and reduced ruminal pH associated with highly fermentable diets imposes a challenge to the metabolism and the regulation of intracellular pH homeostasis of ruminal epithelia. The ruminal epithelia respond to these challenges in a coordinated manner. Whereas the enlargement of absorptive surface area is well documented, emerging evidence at the mRNA and transporter and enzyme activity levels indicate that changes in epithelial cell function may be the initial response. It is not surprising that gene expression analysis has identified pathways involved in fatty acid metabolism, ion transport, and intracellular homeostasis to be the pathways dominantly affected during adaptation and after adaptation to a highly fermentable diet. These findings are important because the intraepithelial metabolism of SCFA, particularly butyrate, helps to maintain the concentration gradient between the cytosol and lumen, thereby facilitating absorption. Butyrate metabolism also controls the intracellular availability of butyrate, which is widely regarded as a signaling molecule. Current data indicate that for butyrate metabolism, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA synthase and acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase are potential regulatory points with transient upand downregulation during diet adaptation. In addition to nutrient transport and utilization, genes involved in the maintenance of cellular tight junction integrity and induction of inflammation have been identified as differentially expressed genes during adaptation to highly fermentable diets. This may have important implications on ruminal epithelial barrier function and the inflammatory response often associated with subacute ruminal acidosis. The objective of this review is to summarize ruminal epithelial adaptation to highly fermentable diets focusing on the changes at the enzyme and transporter activity levels, as well as the underlying molecular changes at the mRNA and protein expression levels.
Transmission Dynamics of Rift Valley Fever Virus: Effects of Live and Killed Vaccines on Epizootic Outbreaks and Enzootic Maintenance

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is an arthropod-borne viral pathogen that causes significant morbidity and mortality in small ruminants throughout Africa and the Middle East. Due to the sporadic and explosive nature of RVF outbreaks, vaccination has proved challenging to reduce RVFV infection in the ruminant population. Currently, there are two available types of vaccines, live and killed, in endemic areas. In this study, two mathematical models have been developed to explore the impact of live and killed vaccines on the transmission dynamics of RVFV. We demonstrate in general that vaccination helps reduce the severity of RVF outbreaks and that less delay in implementation and more vaccination attempts and effective vaccines can reduce the outbreak magnitude and the endemic number of RVFV. However, an introduction of a number of ruminants vaccinated by live vaccines in RVFV-free areas may cause an outbreak and RVFV may become endemic if there is sustained use of live vaccines. Other factors that are the important determinants of RVF outbreaks include: unsustained vaccination programs, recruitment of susceptible ruminants, and the seasonal abundance of mosquitoes.
Penetration depth as a DInSAR observable and proxy for soil moisture

We use prior theory and experimental results to construct a quantitative relationship between soil moisture and the penetration depth of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) microwaves at L-, C-, and X-bands. This relationship is nonlinear and indicates that a change of 5% volumetric water content (VWC) can cause between 1 and 50 mm of change in C-band penetration depth depending on initial VWC. Because these depths are within the range of differential interferogram SAR (DInSAR) measurement capability, penetration depth may be a viable proxy for measuring soil moisture. DInSAR is unlikely to detect a measurable change in penetration depth above 30% VWC, though certain clay rich soils may continue to cause surface deformation above that level. The possibility of using clay swelling as a proxy for soil moisture was found to be less feasible than penetration depth. Soil moisture may also be a significant, and previously unrecognized, source of noise in the measurement of subtle deformation signals or the creation of digital elevation models using repeat-pass DInSAR.
On minimax optimal linear transforms for detection with side information in Gaussian setup

We consider the problem of detection with side information to model robust signal hashing for content tracking. The receiver observes corrupted (by additive colored Gaussian noise) message signals and performs detection, knowing the noise statistics and only some partial information about the message set, which is obtained via applying a dimensionality- reducing linear transform (represented by a full-rank matrix) to the messages. We derive the optimal GLRT-rule for the binary detection setup and find the corresponding error probability. Next, under some mild assumptions on the message set, we analytically derive the minimax-optimal linear transform matrix that minimizes the worst (over the set of messages) case error probability.
Use what you''ve got: Steps toward opportunistic computing

We define opportunistic computing environments as augmented reality environments that attempt to minimally perturb existing work practices and allow users to opportunistically take advantage of them. In this paper, we present Rasa, an opportunistic computing environment for military command and control that augments the physical objects on a command post map by observing and understanding the users speech, pen, and touch-based multimodal language. We give a thorough account of Rasas underlying multiagent framework, recognition, understanding, and multimodal integration components. Finally, we examine three properties of languagegenerativity, comprehensibility, and compositionalitythat render it suitable as an augmentation scheme. Finally, we compare these properties of language to those of current tagging technologies and approaches.
Energy-aware compilation and hardware design for VLIW embedded systems

Tomorrow's embedded devices need to run multimedia applications demanding high computational power with low energy consumption constraints. In this context, the register file is a key source of power consumption and its inappropriate design and management severely affects system power. In this paper, we present a new approach to reduce the energy of shared register files in forthcoming embedded VLIW processors running real-life applications up to 60% without performance penalty. This approach relies on limited hardware extensions and a compiler-based energy-aware register assignment algorithm to deactivate at run-time parts of the register file (i.e., sub-banks) in an independent way.
Prenatal Origins of Temperament: Fetal Growth, Brain Structure, and Inhibitory Control in Adolescence

Objective Individual differences in the temperamental dimension of effortful control are constitutionally based and have been associated with an adverse prenatal developmental environment, with structural brain alterations presenting a potential mechanism. We investigated this hypothesis for anatomically defined brain regions implicated in cognitive and inhibitory motor control. Methods Twenty-seven 15–16 year old participants with low, medium, or high fetal growth were selected from a longitudinal birth cohort to maximize variation and represent the full normal spectrum of fetal growth. Outcome measures were parent ratings of attention and inhibitory control, thickness and surface area of the orbitofrontal cortex (lateral (LOFC) and medial (MOFC)) and right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG), and volumetric measures of the striatum and amygdala. Results Lower birth weight was associated with lower inhibitory control, smaller surface area of LOFC, MOFC and rIFG, lower caudate volume, and thicker MOFC. A mediation model found a significant indirect effect of birth weight on inhibitory control via caudate volume. Conclusions Our findings support a neuroanatomical mechanism underlying potential long-term consequences of an adverse fetal developmental environment for behavioral inhibitory control in adolescence and have implications for understanding putative prenatal developmental origins of externalizing behavioral problems and self-control.
Negative Pisot and Salem numbers as roots of Newman polynomials

A Newman polynomial has all its coefficients in {0, 1} and constant term 1. It is known that every root of a Newman polynomial lies in the slit annulus {z ∈ C : τ−1 < |z| < τ} \ R+, where τ denotes the golden ratio, but not every polynomial having all of its conjugates in this set divides a Newman polynomial. We show that every negative Pisot number in (−τ,−1) with no positive conjugates, and every negative Salem number in the same range obtained by using Salem’s construction on small negative Pisot numbers, is satisfied by a Newman polynomial. We also construct a number of polynomials having all their conjugates in this slit annulus, but that do not divide any Newman polynomial. Finally, we determine all negative Salem numbers in (−τ,−1) with degree at most 20, and verify that every one of these is satisfied by a Newman polynomial.
InteractiveDESK: a computer-augmented desk which responds to operations on real objects

Office and engineering workers’ workloads are reduced with a computer-augmented desk named InteractiveDESK. The desk has a large desktop display with a pen-input facility and an ordinary upright display with a keyboard, thus integrating features of conventional systems and pen-based systems. The desk detects the operations on real objects on its real desk top, and responds to the operations to reduce users’ workloads. The prototype of the desk assists users in switching input methods and retrieving electronic files.
Fine granularity optimal spare allocation and replacement in reconfiguration system

This paper presents an analytical method of shared spare redundancy in fine granularity for reconfiguration system. The particularity of spare redundancy lies that the spare unit for replacement is available for more than one functional unit. To analyze the reliability of this special redundancy system, the structure function is re-defined and the replacement matrix is proposed to represent the system structure at first. Then, the reliability of system can be derived by introducing matrix decomposition operation. Later, a modified simulated-annealing algorithm is proposed to solve the optimal spare allocation problem. The goals of solving spare allocation and reconfiguration are to achieve maximum reliability. At last, simulation results show that the proposed method can be efficient in terms of average moves in reconfiguration.
Drivers' quality ratings for switches in cars: assessing the role of the vision, hearing and touch senses

Sensory integration is critical to the perception of quality in automobile interior design. To investigate the relative contribution of the senses of vision, touch and hearing to the perception of quality for in-car switches, 30 participants rated eight switches taken from two vehicles when all senses were available and under various conditions of sensory deprivation: no hearing; no vision; no touch. Results indicated that touch had the greatest role to play in judgements of quality, enabling participants more easily to differentiate between the two vehicle designs. Furthermore, correlation and regression analyses for specific switches indicated that touch contributed up to three times as much to quality ratings compared to either the vision or hearing senses. Future research should aim to verify such findings and to establish which aspects of touch have particular influence.
On Wireless Internet Content Quality

The call for the wireless Internet also calls for new technological solutions as well as for good quality wireless Internet and mobile content. The idea of the wireless Internet is to be able to provide mobile users on the move and on the spot with highly personalised, localised and on-time information. Right now there is an ongoing discussion about the quality of web content. However, the discussion and the research on mobile content quality, as well as the content quality features of the wireless Internet, seem to be missing. In this paper we outline the basic unequivocal content quality characteristics of wireless Internet content. We also discuss the highly value adding ability of being able to serve the wireless Internet user the high quality information that optimises interpretation of the content and thus triggers action. We also point out the problem of integrating the content of two totally different media, like mobility and the Internet. We suggest that if this content symbiosis is not successful, the wireless Internet will not be one of the unequivocal media like the fixed-line Internet is now becoming.
Conceiving and Researching Transnationalism

A review of recent research across several disciplines not surprisingly finds a wide variety of descriptions surrounding meanings, processes, scales and methods concerning the notion of 'transnationalism'. Here, several clusters or themes are suggested by way of disentangling the term. These include transnationalism as a social morphology, as a type of consciousness, as a mode of cultural reproduction, as an avenue of capital, as a site of political engagement, and as a reconstruction of 'place' or locality. These and other approaches to transnationalism are being explored in a newly commissioned ESRC research programme on Transnational Communities (see http:// www.transcomm.ox.ac.uk).
Design and experimental testing of vehicle-following control for small electric vehicles with communication

This study proposes a vehicle-following control system for personal electric vehicles (EV). Recently, projects aimed at using personal vehicles to solve vehicle transportation problems associated with overcrowding in cities and depopulation in mountain villages have been under way in several regions in Japan. This study was conducted to contribute to improving mobility in depopulated regions by applying vehicle-following control technology to personal vehicles. In this paper, the issues associated with introducing personal vehicles in depopulated regions are summarized by explaining the background of personal vehicles and that of depopulated regions in Japan. Related studies that we have conducted to address these issues are summarized. The details of vehicle-following control technology that is targeted at controlling vehicle-to-vehicle time using wireless communication are explained. Evaluation experiments conducted using small EVs are described. The results of the evaluation experiments confirm the efficient following performance achieved with the proposed vehicle-following control system.
Choosing an Exchange Rate Regime: The Role of Economic Distance and Aggregate Shocks

The successful start of Economic and Monetary Union in Europe has prompted more research into the issue of exchange rate regimes and if there were any lessons to be drawn from the European experiment for other regions in the world. We review the relevant issues from an Optimum Currency Area perspective. The focus on issues relating to the suitability of switching to a common currency based on notions of economic distance and the correlation of aggregate economic shocks. The empirical evidence presented in this paper shows that the cost of monetary union declined substantially in some target countries while it appears to have risen in others.
Systemizing empathy: Teaching adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism to recognize complex emotions using interactive multimedia

This study evaluated Mind Reading, an interactive systematic guide to emotions, for its effectiveness in teaching adults with Asperger syndrome (AS) and high-functioning autism (HFA) to recognize complex emotions in faces and voices. Experiment 1 tested a group of adults diagnosed with AS/HFA (n = 19) who used the software at home for 10–15 weeks. Participants were tested on recognition of faces and voices at three different levels of generalization. A matched control group of adults with AS/HFA (n = 22) were assessed without any intervention. In addition, a third group of general population controls (n = 24) was tested. Experiment 2 repeated the design of Experiment 1 with a group of adults with AS/HFA who used the software at home and met in a group with a tutor on a weekly basis. They were matched to a control group of adults with AS/HFA attending social skills training and to a general population control group (n = 13 for all three groups). In both experiments the intervention group improved significantly more than the control group on close, but not distant, generalization tasks. Verbal IQ had significant effects in Experiment 2. Using Mind Reading for a relatively short period of time allows users to learn to recognize a variety of complex emotions and mental states. However, additional methods are required to enhance generalization.The first author was supported by the National Alliance for Autism Research, the Corob Charitable Trust, the Cambridge Overseas Trust and B'nai B'rith Leo Baeck scholarships. The second author was supported by the Shirley Foundation, the Medical Research Council, and the Three Guineas Trust. We are grateful to the following for helping with this study: our participants, Red Green and Blue Ltd, Jessica Kingsley Ltd, Pamela Yates for arranging and running the social skills groups, Andrea Macleod and Rob Whiskens (Autism West Midlands), Jill Howard (Autism London), Lynne Moxon (European Services for People with Autism), and Harriet Fisher and James Graham (The Interact Centre). Many thanks to Jacqueline Hill, Chris Ashwin, Sally Wheelwright, Matthew Belmonte, Yael Golan, Sarah Johnson, Emma Chapman, and Ilaria Minio Paluello. A version of this work was presented at the International Meeting For Autism Research (IMFAR), May 2004.
Zinc and Manduca sexta hemocyte functions

Abstract Two metalloproteases have recently been linked to the immune response in Lepidoptera. In addition, zinc is highly important in many mammalian immune-related functions. Because of these, we investigated the effect of zinc and two zinc-protease inhibitors on Manduca sexta hemocyte behavior in vitro. Plasmatocytes were significantly more elongated in Grace's medium supplemented with 100 µm zinc chloride than in the absence of zinc. To test whether zinc-dependent proteases were responsible for the increased length seen in the presence of zinc, we tested two zinc-protease inhibitors, phosphoramidon and bestatin. Each resulted in decreased plasmatocyte length compared to the control, but the distributions of lengths differed with each inhibitor. Each inhibitor also affected plasmatocyte network formation in vitro. This work suggests (1) that at least two different zinc proteases are involved in the cellular defense response of M. sexta, and (2) that zinc should be included in media used for in vitro studies of the immune response.
Too Big to Manage? Two Book Reviews

Roddy Boyd's Fatal Risk: A Cautionary Tale of AIG's Corporate Suicide and Greg Farrell's Crash of the Titans: Greed, Hubris and the Fall of Merrill Lynch and the Near Collapse of Bank of America are reviewed to analyze why AIG and Merrill Lynch nearly failed during the financial crisis of 2007--09. Both books argue that each firm collapsed because of failures of senior management. Using the accounts provided by the books, as well as other sources, the review goes further and argues that both firms were vulnerable to managerial failures because they were inefficiently large, complex, and leveraged, that is, "too big to manage. " The review also argues that these firms were able to get to that point because 40 years of governmental interventions in financial markets created the expectation that large financial firms are too big to fail.
An Expressive Mandarin Speech Corpus

The paper introduces an expressive mandarin speech corpus, which is supported by National Hi-tech program (863) and National Science Funding of China (NSFC), for research into expressive speech information processing. The corpus contains emotional speech, dialogue speech, etc. In order to get the subtle acoustic information, the paper also presents the annotation methods with multiple perception results for emotional speech. Furthermore, some acoustic analysis results are also discussed. The corpus has been proved very useful used in our research, on both emotional speech processing and spoken language synthesis/understanding.