Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Convex Relaxation Methods for Community Detection

This paper surveys recent theoretical advances in convex optimization approaches for community detection. We introduce some important theoretical techniques and results for establishing the consistency of convex community detection under various statistical models. In particular, we discuss the basic techniques based on the primal and dual analysis. We also present results that demonstrate several distinctive advantages of convex community detection, including robustness against outlier nodes, consistency under weak assortativity, and adaptivity to heterogeneous degrees. This survey is not intended to be a complete overview of the vast literature on this fast-growing topic. Instead, we aim to provide a big picture of the remarkable recent development in this area and to make the survey accessible to a broad audience. We hope that this expository article can serve as an introductory guide for readers who are interested in using, designing, and analyzing convex relaxation methods in network analysis.
Association of Uremic Toxins and Inflammatory Markers with Physical Performance in Dialysis Patients

Association of higher serum levels of uremic toxins and inflammatory markers with poorer physical performance is understudied. We measured the six-minute walk test (6MWT), 10 repetition sit-to-stand test (STS-10), handgrip strength (HGS), and Human Activity Profile (HAP) questionnaire score in 90 prevalent hemodialysis patents, with low comorbidity to reduce the potential confounding of concomitant disease. Midweek pre-dialysis serum levels of asymmetric dimethyl-arginine (ADMA), β2-microglobulin (B2M), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), indoxyl sulfate (IS), insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), interleukin 6 (IL-6), myostatin, and urea were analyzed as predictor parameters of physical performance measures in adjusted models. Serum levels of most measured toxins were not significantly related to performance, except for ADMA, which was significantly related to poorer performance in the STS-10 test (B = 0.11 ± 0.03 s, p < 0.01). Higher hs-CRP was associated with poorer results in the 6MWT (B = −2.6 ± 0.97 m, p < 0.01) and a lower HAP score (B = −0.36 ± 0.14, p = 0.01). There were no other significant associations found. We conclude that inflammation may be a more important pathway to physical impediment than uremic toxemia. This suggests that there is a large physical rehabilitation potential in non-inflamed uremic patients.
Global tectonic evolution of Venus, from exogenic to endogenic over time, and implications for early Earth processes

Venus provides a rich arena in which to stretch one's tectonic imagination with respect to non-plate tectonic processes of heat transfer on an Earth-like planet. Venus is similar to Earth in density, size, inferred composition and heat budget. However, Venus' lack of plate tectonics and terrestrial surficial processes results in the preservation of a unique surface geologic record of non-plate tectonomagmatic processes. In this paper, I explore three global tectonic domains that represent changes in global conditions and tectonic regimes through time, divided respectively into temporal eras. Impactors played a prominent role in the ancient era, characterized by thin global lithosphere. The Artemis superstructure era highlights sublithospheric flow processes related to a uniquely large super plume. The fracture zone complex era, marked by broad zones of tectonomagmatic activity, witnessed coupled spreading and underthrusting, since arrested. These three tectonic regimes provide possible analogue models for terrestrial Archaean craton formation, continent formation without plate tectonics, and mechanisms underlying the emergence of plate tectonics. A bolide impact model for craton formation addresses the apparent paradox of both undepleted mantle and growth of Archaean crust, and recycling of significant Archaean crust to the mantle. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Earth dynamics and the development of plate tectonics’.
Design Trade-offs of High-Speed Energy-Efficient Modulators for Short-Range Optical Interconnects

Data centre and high-performance computers need quick distribution of tasks and information amongst a large number of nodes. Therefore, reconfigurable energy-efficient optical interconnects for the rack to rack, board to board, chip to chip and intra-chip communication is required. The electro-optical modulator is the key component for this purpose which needs to be optimized at the component level. Performance analysis of the modulators is necessary to enable system designers to choose proper designs which satisfy system level parameters such as loss, bandwidth, and energy efficiency, while considering link budget limitations. In this paper, the performance trade-offs of Mach Zehnder modulators - with corrugated waveguide or ring enhanced structures- are investigated in terms of physical parameters, like drive voltage and length.
Level 2 Features with Feedback Mechanism for Toddler Fingerprint Recognition

This study is carried out to improve matching accuracy between level 1 feature and level 2 feature of a fingerprint by applying feedback mechanism. Level 1 feature consists of ridge frequency and orientation while level 2 feature consists of minutia point coordinate and orientation. The matching accuracy of level 1 feature slightly lower compared with level 2 feature and the accuracy even higher when applying feedback mechanism. The toddler fingerprint image that used in this study consist of 400 images from 7 toddlers that obtained by the author. The matching accuracy of level 2 feature improved approximately around 18.6% when both feedback mechanism employed, and 14.5% without feedback mechanism on both sides compared to level 1 feature accuracy.
Active Contour Model Based on Local Intensity Fitting Energy for Image Segmentation and Bias Estimation

Intensity nonuniformity is one of the common issues in image segmentation, which is caused by technical limitations or external interference. In this paper, a novel region-based active contour model is presented for interleaved segmentation of images with intensity nonuniformity and correction of the bias field. First, we define the local region-based fitting image by using the information of bias field and the intensity, and simultaneously introducing the local difference between the input image and estimated image. Next, a likelihood fitting image energy functional is built in a local region around each point. Then, a level set method is used to present a total energy functional, which contains the level set distance regularization term and the length regularization term. Extensive experiments are conducted on synthetic images and real medical images to demonstrate the advantages of our model over the state-of-the-art methods. Segmentation results show robustness to initialization and noise, as well as significant improvements in both accuracy and execution time.
Epigenetic cues modulating the generation of cell‐type diversity in the cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex is composed of a large variety of distinct cell‐types including projection neurons, interneurons, and glial cells which emerge from distinct neural stem cell lineages. The vast majority of cortical projection neurons and certain classes of glial cells are generated by radial glial progenitor cells in a highly orchestrated manner. Recent studies employing single cell analysis and clonal lineage tracing suggest that neural stem cell and radial glial progenitor lineage progression are regulated in a profound deterministic manner. In this review we focus on recent advances based mainly on correlative phenotypic data emerging from functional genetic studies in mice. We establish hypotheses to test in future research and outline a conceptual framework how epigenetic cues modulate the generation of cell‐type diversity during cortical development.
FusedLSTM: Fusing frame-level and video-level features for Content-based Video Relevance Prediction

This paper describes two of my best performing approaches on the Content-based Video Relevance Prediction challenge. In the FusedLSTM based approach, the inception-pool3 and the C3D-pool5 features are combined using an LSTM and a dense layer to form embeddings with the objective to minimize the triplet loss function. In the second approach, an Online Kernel Similarity Learning method is proposed to learn a non-linear similarity measure to adhere the relevance training data. The last section gives a complete comparison of all the approaches implemented during this challenge, including the one presented in the baseline paper.
Towards Cereceda's conjecture for planar graphs

The reconfiguration graph $R_k(G)$ of the $k$-colourings of a graph $G$ has as vertex set the set of all possible $k$-colourings of $G$ and two colourings are adjacent if they differ on the colour of exactly one vertex. Cereceda conjectured ten years ago that, for every $k$-degenerate graph $G$ on $n$ vertices, $R_{k+2}(G)$ has diameter $\mathcal{O}({n^2})$. The conjecture is wide open, with a best known bound of $\mathcal{O}({k^n})$, even for planar graphs. We improve this bound for planar graphs to $2^{\mathcal{O}({\sqrt{n}})}$. Our proof can be transformed into an algorithm that runs in $2^{\mathcal{O}({\sqrt{n}})}$ time.
Single Rule Evaluation (SRE): Computational Algorithmic Debugging for Complex SWRL Rules

: SWRL is an extension for OWL which allows the use of Horn clause like rules in ontologies. SWRL rules are an expressive instrument for OWL-based ontologies simplifying and augmenting deductive reasoning capabilities. With increasing size and complexity rule bases becomes more and more fragile as logical inconsistencies in the overall structure of the rule base are difﬁcult to ﬁnd. However, available debugging options require immense manual effort, if not even become an impossible task. Therefore, there is an expressed need for developers and end users to get an efﬁcient and easy to use interactive rule evaluation instrument. In this paper we present a new method for a simpliﬁed debugging process that we call Single Rule Evaluation (SRE) . This SRE method enables the user to iterate through the reasoning process of the ontology and the set of inference rules and examines each atom of a selected SWRL Rule to deliver detailed information about the inferred output. In addition to a theoretical concept, we present a prototypical implementation of SRE as a Prot´eg´e plugin that can be invoked during the modelling process to test rules for consistency.
Extending OpenAPI 3.0 to Build Web Services from their Specification

Web services are meant to be used by other programs. Developers (or other programs) need to understand how to interact with them, which means documentation is crucial. Some standards like OpenAPI define ways to document web services and target both humans and programs. Many tools can be used to help developers to work in a forward engineering process: they use hand-written OpenAPI models as input and automatically generate a skeleton of a working application, for example. However, this approach is not suitable to generate working applications if several evolutions occur over time, which often results in a misalignment between the OpenAPI model and the web services implementation. Here we show how we extend the OpenAPI 3.0 specification to allow building actual web services using a Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) approach. We extend the SWSG tool to make it possible to generate code from an extended OpenAPI model. This leverages a MDE approach to build web services from a model while benefiting from OpenAPI 3.0 tooling and ecosystem.
Needs Assessment for a Targeted Health Promotion Campaign

ABSTRACT Since the first human A/H7N9 infection in Hong Kong, there has been an ongoing threat of human-to-human transmission, potentially causing a pandemic. Because there is no vaccine for A/H7N9, the individual preventive measures become all the more important for reducing transmission. However, due to the ongoing threat of numerous avian influenza viruses, the public may suffer from pandemic-media-fatigue. This study was done to assess the need for a targeted A/H7N9 health promotion campaign. Steven and Gillam’s framework using epidemiological, comparative, and corporate approaches was used to assess the need for a targeted A/H7N9 health promotion campaign. Local surveillance data showed that Hong Kong faces a double burden of increasing seasonal influenza activity and threat of an avian influenza pandemic. Experts warned of potential severity and difficulties in A/H7N9 control. In contrast, surveys showed that the Hong Kong public were suffering from pandemic-media-fatigue, lacked anxiety, had misconceptions, and were not vigilant in preventive practices. This was more evident in certain demographics. Content analysis showed that health promotion materials were not targeted or tailored in countries with human A/H7N9 cases. Targeted health promotion campaigns and framing the issue to increase public and media awareness are crucial in preventing the current pandemic-media-fatigue. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13:596-604)
Innovative Off-Board EV Home Charging Station as a Smart Home Enabler: Present and Proposed Perspectives

This paper presents an innovative off-board electric vehicle home charging station (EV-HCS) operating as a smart home (SH) enabler. The present status and the proposed perspectives in terms of operation modes are comprehensively addressed along the paper showing the contextualization of the addressed research topic. Comparing with the existing solution, the main motivations and advantages of the off-board EV-HCS are: (a) Off-board dc EV charger, faster than a classical on-board EV charger; (b) Flexible operating power value, aiming an optimized power management in the home; (c) Operation as an active conditioner for the home or the grid, with or without an EV plugged-in, which represents an attractive functionality for enhancing the operation of SHs and smart grids; (d) Bidirectional operation with an EV. The methods used to describe these advantages are validated using computer simulations. The control algorithm is succinctly described, demonstrating its adaptability to the power electronics topology presented for the EV-HCS hardware. The obtained results demonstrate that the proposed EV-HCS presents attractive functionalities for enhancing the EV integration into SHs and smart grids.
Investigation of Rain Induced Depolarization by Means of a Physically Based Simulator

A physically based simulator is applied in this work to investigate the depolarization induced by rain along Earth-space links, and specifically to shed light on the impact of different precipitation types (stratiform/convective) and of the axial ratio selected to model the drop oblateness. To this aim, we employ rain maps derived from an S-band weather radar as input to the simulator. Results indicate that the Cross Polar Discrimination (XPD) depends more on the drop axial ratio than on the type of precipitation event, and, more in general, they give a hint of the usefulness of the proposed simulator to isolate and investigate the contribution of the different atmospheric constituents to the overall XPD.
Complete Charge Recovery Diode Free Adiabatic Logic

The proposed logic uses both the input and its complement to evaluate the output while ensuring zero nonadiabatic losses through the use of a pair of Transmission Gate like structures. The logic ensures that the operation of charging and discharging is done adiabatically. The use of Transmission Gate like structures further ensures the reduction in adiabatic losses and delay. Simulations have been performed on the proposed circuit based inverter using TANNER EDA TOOL in 180nm technology. The proposed circuit shows significant energy saving in comparison to available DFAL.
When crust comes of age: on the chemical evolution of Archaean, felsic continental crust by crustal drip tectonics

The secular evolution of the Earth's crust is marked by a profound change in average crustal chemistry between 3.2 and 2.5 Ga. A key marker for this change is the transition from Archaean sodic granitoid intrusions of the tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite (TTG) series to potassic (K) granitic suites, akin (but not identical) to I-type granites that today are associated with subduction zones. It remains poorly constrained as to how and why this change was initiated and if it holds clues about the geodynamic transition from a pre-plate tectonic mode, often referred to as stagnant lid, to mobile plate tectonics. Here, we combine a series of proposed mechanisms for Archaean crustal geodynamics in a single model to explain the observed change in granitoid chemistry. Numeric modelling indicates that upper mantle convection drives crustal flow and subsidence, leading to profound diversity in lithospheric thickness with thin versus thick proto-plates. When convecting asthenospheric mantle interacts with lower lithosphere, scattered crustal drips are created. Under increasing P-T conditions, partial melting of hydrated meta-basalt within these drips produces felsic melts that intrude the overlying crust to form TTG. Dome structures, in which these melts can be preserved, are a positive diapiric expression of these negative drips. Transitional TTG with elevated K mark a second evolutionary stage, and are blends of subsided and remelted older TTG forming K-rich melts and new TTG melts. Ascending TTG-derived melts from asymmetric drips interact with the asthenospheric mantle to form hot, high-Mg sanukitoid. These melts are small in volume, predominantly underplated, and their heat triggered melting of lower crustal successions to form higher-K granites. Importantly, this evolution operates as a disseminated process in space and time over hundreds of millions of years (greater than 200 Ma) in all cratons. This focused ageing of the crust implies that compiled geochemical data can only broadly reflect geodynamic changes on a global or even craton-wide scale. The observed change in crustal chemistry does mark the lead up to but not the initiation of modern-style subduction. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Earth dynamics and the development of plate tectonics’.
Facial Expression Recognition Using Gabor-Mean-DWT Feature Extraction Technique

Facial Expression Recognition is key vital topic for research in current scenario and has wide application as activity recognition, human-computer interaction, and person satisfaction index evaluation. This paper presents a novel feature extraction technique: Gabor-mean-DWT for automatic facial expression recognition from video image sequences and proposed technique is illumination invariant also. Facial Emotion can be recognized using unique edge and texture pattern on face. Gabor filter is able to extract edges and texture pattern of faces but have a problem of huge dimension and high redundancy. The problem of huge dimension and high redundancy is reduced by proposed Average-DWT feature reduction technique in order to increase accuracy of system. Proposed Gabor-Average-DWT provides a compact feature vector compared to existing Gabor based expression classification. Detailed quantitative analysis is done and results shows that the accuracy of proposed technique is better than existing state of art results.
Shock Location and CME 3-D Reconstruction of a Solar Type II Radio Burst with LOFAR

Type II radio bursts are evidence of shocks in the solar atmosphere and inner heliosphere emitting radio waves ranging from sub-meter to kilometre lengths. These shocks may be associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs) reaching speeds higher than the local magneto-sonic speed. Radio imaging of decametre wavelengths (20-90 MHz) is now possible with the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), opening a new radio window to study coronal shocks which leave the inner solar corona and enter the interplanetary medium and to understand their association with CMEs.
Dynamic Symbolic Execution with Scalable Interpolation Based Path Merging

This thesis deals with the automated detection of common software weaknesses in C programs. The approach is selective symbolic execution on the source code level with interpolation based path merging. Interpolation and path merging are used to reduce the necessary computational effort without reduction in bug detection accuracy compared to path coverage, the symbolic execution then achieves error and branch coverage. Interpolation is also used to further reduce the computational effort and to achieve a selectable coverage criterion (e.g., branch coverage), at the expense of false negative detections. The interpolation consists in a removal of constraints from the path constraint. It is shown that the considered algorithms yield an interpolation and coverage hierarchy with respect to subsets of constraints and subsets of program paths, and with respect to the implication of coverage criteria, respectively. Modification of source code is not necessary for analysis. Symbolic execution with Satisfiability Modulo Theories Solver is combined with binary instrumentation to efficiently detect different bug types. The implementation is a plug-in extension to the Eclipse C/C++ development tools and uses a debugger machine interface. It is evaluated by detecting memory access errors, infinite loops, information exposures, dead code and data race conditions in test programs from the Juliet test suite for program analyzers.
A Benchmark for the Short Version of the User Experience Questionnaire

To enable an interactive product to provide adequate user experience (UX), it is important to ensure the quantitative measurability of this parameter. The User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ) is a well-known and popular method for such a UX measurement. One of the key features of this questionnaire is a benchmark that helps to interpret measurement results by a comparison with a large dataset of results obtained for other products. For situations where filling out the entire UEQ is too time-consuming, there is a short version (UEQ-S). However, there is currently no sufficient data available to construct an independent and interpretable benchmark for this short version. This paper examines the efficiency of using a modified version of the existing benchmark of the full UEQ for this purpose. The paper also presents some additional evaluation results concerning the UEQ-S.
On the Performance of Cognitive Satellite-Terrestrial Relay Networks with Channel Estimation Error and Hardware Impairments

This paper investigates the joint impact of channel estimation errors (CEEs) and hardware impairments (HIs) on the performance of a cognitive satellite-terrestrial relay network (CSTRN), where the terrestrial and satellite links are considered following Rayleigh fading and shadowed Rician (SR) fading distributions, respectively. Besides, the terrestrial relay is working in half-duplex decode-and-forward (DF) mode. By employing a general and practical model to account for both the CEEs and HIs at each link, the end-to-end signal-to-noise-plus-distortion-and-error ratio (SNDER) is first obtained for the CSTRN. Then, closed-form expressions for the outage probability (OP) and throughput of the CSTRN are obtained, which allows us to demonstrate the aggregate impact of CEEs and HIs. In order to gain insightful findings, we further elaborate on the asymptotic OP and throughput at the high signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) condition and quantitatively determine the fundamental performance ceiling. Finally, Monte Carlo (MC) computer simulations are provided to verify the correctness of the analytical results. Besides, with representative numerical analysis’s help, interesting findings are presented.