Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lille 1 Spécialité : Informatique Soutenue par Mathieu Djamaï Algorithmes Branch-and-Bound Pair-à-Pair pour grilles de calcul

In the field of Combinatorial Optimization, the resolution to optimality of large instances of optimization problems through the use of Branch-and-Bound algorithms require a huge amount of computational resources. Nowadays, such resources are available from computing grids, which are sets of computing nodes geographically distributed over multiple sites. These parallel environments introduces multiples challenges related to the scalability, the heterogeneity of resources and the fault tolerance. Most of the existing approaches for the Branch-and-Bound algorithm are based on the Master-Slave paradigm where a central entity shares work units among slave entities in charge of processing them. Such an architecture represents an obstacle to scalability. In this thesis, we propose to face the challenges of grid environments and overcome this limitation by proposing an innovative and fully distributed approach based on the Peer-to-Peer paradigm. This architecture is based on a unique type of entity, a peer which is in charge of exploring its own local work pool and broadcasts global information to the network. We provide mechanisms to deal with the main tasks of the Branch-and-Bound algorithm : the load balancing, the diffusion of the best solution and the detection of the termination. Along with extensive experiments conducted on the Flow-Shop Scheduling Problem using the Grid’5000 Experimental Grid, we propose a formal proof of the correctness of our approach.In addition to this, we tackle a central issue when designing a Peer-toPeer application : the impact of the P2P network topology on the performance of our approach. This aspect is often ignored in most of existing works, where only a predefined organization is chosen for the peers. The obtained results showed that the approach allows to deploy computing networks at extreme scales, involving hundreds of thousands of computing cores. Our final contribution consists in a Fault-Tolerant approach to deal with the dynamicity of the network (the volatility of computational resources). Results indicate that it faces efficiently various real-case and failure-intensive situations.
A Hybrid Feature Extraction Method for Network Intrusion Detection System

Intrusion Detection System (IDS) is one of the important and useful technologies that used to monitor systems or networks. Several researchers have performed feature extraction methods to improve the performance of IDS for detecting network traffic and malicious attacks. Different input features will change the detection performance dramatically when using IDS. The classification process could be prolonged when using high-dimensional features in a large number of network traffic. Recently, feature representation and application of several classifiers became a keen interest for researchers to develop a new strategy to improve the classification performance. In this paper, a hybrid feature extraction (SA_PCA) is proposed from the combination of two algorithms namely Sparse Auto-encoder (SA) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for extracting high-level feature description to low-level features. Then, the extracted features are used for the classification using different classifiers. The hybrid SA_PCA is compared with other existing extraction methods that proposed by previous researchers. The simulation results for the proposed method includes: SA_PCA used to extract low-level feature from high-dimensional features and compared with other works and the extracted feature set is used for classification process using existing classifiers. The results show that the proposed hybrid method is more efficient for IDS.
Equilibrium replenishment in a supply chain with a single distributor and multiple retailers

This paper addresses a problem encountered by a large-scale health service supply chain operating in a periodic review mode. Due to the vital nature of the products it provides, the number and timing of urgent orders are not limited. As a result, increasingly high transportation costs are incurred and the problem is to select an inventory replenishment (review) period that minimizes the transportation cost. Moreover, the supply chain involves multiple retailers which inevitably and independently respond to any change in replenishment policy since it may affect their inventory costs. Such a relationship results in a game between a distribution centre and retailers. Since the problem is intractable due to its scale and stochastic nature, we combine a game theoretic approach with an empirical analysis. We show that this system is predictable using equilibria and that the current replenishment equilibrium of the health service supply chain is close to the Nash solution. Numerical analysis shows that the transportation costs are cut if the distribution centre implements in reality its formal (Stackelberg) leadership by reducing the replenishment period. However, this does not coordinate the supply chain and greater system-wide savings are possible by increasing the replenishment period if the supply chain is vertically integrated or the parties cooperate.
“ Grass to milk ” and beyond

Dr C.P. McMeekan’s book, “Grass to milk”, has been used as the basis of this paper. It is an historical account of a dairying system based on cows harvesting improved pastures in situ following a seasonally concentrated calving in the late winter. It was published in 1960, not as a text book, but as McMeekan’s “complete philosophy of New Zealand dairy farming”. The book’s contents present an opportunity to compare “performance” statistics for the described dairying system with those recently published in the peer reviewed literature and elsewhere. Commendable advances have been made in cow yield per lactation and feed conversion efficiency as well as in dry matter harvested per hectare. However, these advances have been partly offset by an increase in cow wastage, largely due to lower reproductive performance, even in research herds, in spite of interventions such as induced calving and treating anoestrous cows. What should be obvious from reviewing the seminal publication of McMeekan is that most of the management concepts described by McMeekan have stood the test of time and are as relevant today as they were 50 years ago.
Studies of Complex Component Analysis of Shear-Wave Splitting SN 3 . 2

In multi-component reflection and VSP surveys, the two horizontal components can be taken as the real and imaginary parts of a complex component. This transforms multicomponent data from conventional Cartesian coordinates to polar coordinates, and allows the calculation of instantaneous amplitude, instantaneous phase, and instantaneous frequency. We call this technique complex component analysis. These instantaneous attributes convey information about both the variation of waveforms and the variation of polarizations. Thus complex component analysis can help to evaluate the effects of anisotropy in in situ rocks in terms of the polarization of fast split shear-wave and the delay between two split shear-waves. Furthermore, complex component analysis of shearwaves is a natural extension of complex trace analysis of P-wave data sets, when only the real part of the complex trace is recorded. By this extension, complex component analysis can aid stratigraphic interpretation. After giving the basic definitions of a complex component, we present three examples of field data to demonstrate the use of the technique in stratigraphic interpretation and anisotropic interpretation. The results are colour-coded diagrams, which will be shown at the meeting but are not included in the abstract.
In Search of a Global Belief Model for Discrete-Time Uncertain Processes

To model discrete-time uncertain processes, we argue for the use of a global belief model in the form of an upper expectation that satisfies a number of simple and intuitive axioms. We motivate these axioms on the basis of two possible interpretations for this upper expectation: a behavioural interpretation similar to that of Walley’s, and an interpretation in terms of upper envelopes of linear expectations. Subsequently, we show that the most conservative upper expectation satisfying our axioms coincides with a particular version of the game-theoretic upper expectation introduced by Shafer and Vovk. This has two important implications. On the one hand, it guarantees that there is a unique most conservative global belief model satisfying our axioms. On the other hand, it shows that Shafer and Vovk’s model can be given an axiomatic characterisation, thereby providing an alternative motivation for adopting this model, even outside their framework.
An Improved Semantic Role Labeling for Myanmar Text

Linguists have always been trying to revolute the techniques of Natural Language Processing (NLP) in order to promote the automatic understanding of languages by the machines. In today’s era, Internet revolution creates us to deal with the beauties of language such as various lexical usage, intricate semantic structures and meaning daily used by internet users as well as timely published by the articles or papers on the Internet.
Drafting 2D Characters with Primitive Shape Scaffolds

- Primitive shapes, namely circle, triangle and square, form the basis of design and cognition of a large number of objects we find around us. Inspired by this, we have recently proposed a primitive shape field representation that simplifies detailed convex shapes. In this paper, we apply this representation in image annotation, character drafting, and repurposing of 2D artwork. We implement a character design system that allows artists to sketch rough drafts using body-part scaffolding and then retarget a pre-annotated library image onto the draft mannequin. We also compare this algorithm with Free Form Deformation lattice deformers. This allows them to quickly create an estimate of the desired character without spending effort in inking and painting. The key technical algorithms presented here have a wide range of applications, such as structured shape design (humanoid cartoons, vehicles, consumer products, etc.), content retrieval, morphing, cartoonification/stylization, and procedural detailing (textures/shapes). The key technical contributions of this paper are vector fitting of strokes and a novel primitive cage field image-warping algorithm to warp articulated characters.
University of Groningen Scaffolding expository history text reading

Reading comprehension is an important predictor for academic success, yet many adolescents in secondary education face difficulties when reading their textbooks. In this quasi-experimental study, we developed a digital learning environment to scaffold students' expository text reading in seventh-grade history classrooms. Students in the experimental condition could use hints comprised of cognitive and metacognitive reading strategy instruction, whereas students in the control condition received no additional support. A comparison of posttest comprehension between conditions showed no significant differences. However, students in the experimental condition who accessed hints during history text reading performed significantly better on the posttest than students who did not use hints at all. We found no differences between conditions regarding students' selfregulated learning or motivation, but students' awareness of problem-solving reading strategies significantly increased in the experimental condition. Finally, a comparison of students with different reading levels showed that below-average readers benefitted most from digital reading practice.
EXPLORING PERFORMANCE OF TCP VARIANTS IN WIRED AND WIRELESS NETWORKS

In the current Internet with a high traffic load Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is the key transport layer protocol. In spite of resource bottlenecks and largely unpredictable user access pattern, the TCP congestion control algorithm plays an important role to make the internet usable with successful transactions. There major implementations of TCP in use are Tahoe, Reno, New Reno and SACK. In this work, extensive simulations are performed to evaluate these TCP congestion control algorithms on different deployments to study various network parameters such as effective bandwidth utilization, fair resource allocation between different delay links. Analyses of the simulations are done and they go in the favor of TCP Sack in both wired and wireless environment. The variants show some amount of difference in their performance when they are compared in wired and wireless environment. The implementations suggest mechanism for determining when a segment should re-transmit and how should the sender behave when it encounters congestion and what pattern of transmission it should follow to avoid congestion.
What Could Plumes Look Like ?

The mantle plume hypothesis was proposed thirty years ago by Jason Morgan to explain hotspot volcanoes such as Hawaii. A thermal diapir (or plume) rises from the thermal boundary layer at the base of the mantle and produces a chain of volcanoes as a plate moves on top of it. The idea is very attractive, but direct evidence for actual plumes is weak, and many questions remain unanswered. With the great improvement of seismic imagery in the past ten years, new prospects have arisen. Mantle plumes are expected to be rather narrow, and their detection by seismic techniques requires specific developments as well as dedicated field experiments. Regional travel-time tomography has provided good evidence for plumes in the upper mantle beneath a few hotspots (Yellowstone, Massif Central, Iceland). Beneath Hawaii and Iceland, the plume can be detected in the transition zone because it deflects the seismic discontinuities at 410 and 660 km depths. In the lower mantle, plumes are very difficult to detect, so specific methods have been worked out for this purpose. There are hints of a plume beneath the weak Bowie hotspot, as well as intriguing observations for Hawaii. Beneath Iceland, highresolution tomography has just revealed a wide and meandering plume-like structure extending from the core-mantle boundary up to the surface. Among the many phenomena that seem to take place in the lowermost mantle (or D9), there are also signs there of the presence of plumes. In this article I review the main results obtained so far from these studies and discuss their implications for plume dynamics. Seismic imaging of mantle plumes is still in its infancy but should soon become a turbulent teenager.
DC Current Flow Controller for Multilevel Converter Multi terminal HVDC Grids using Fuzzy logic controllers

In this paper, the design of a novel DC current flow controller (CFC) and evaluates the control performance of balancing and regulating the DC branch currents using the DC CFC in a meshed multiterminal HVDC (MTDC) grid along with fuzzy logic controller was proposed. Here we are using fuzzy logic controller instead of using other controllers. The DC CFC consists of two identical full bridge DC-DC converters with the capacitors of the two converters being connected in parallel. The control performance of the DC CFC is tested on a meshed 3-terminal (3-T) HVDC grid, which is based on modular multilevel converters (MMC) using fuzzy logic controller. The DC branch current control in the meshed MTDC grid is achieved using the proposed control strategy of the DC CFC, and is verified through case studies on the realtime digital simulator (RTDS). Simulation was done by using MATLAB/Simulink software.
MicroRNA-27 a adjusts diabetic nephropathy patients and inhibits TGF-β / Smad signaling pathway

The aim of this study was to determine the function and mechanism of microRNA-27a in diabetic nephropathy. Firstly, microRNA-27a expression of diabetic nephropathy patients was up-regulated. Up-regulation of microRNA-27a expression promoted apoptosis, caspase-3, FN, Col-IV, and α-SMA protein expression, suppressed E-cadherin protein expression, and induced TGFβ1 and p-Smad2 protein expression in diabetic nephropathy model vitro. Down-regulation of microRNA-27a expression suppressed apoptosis, caspase-3, FN, Col-IV, and α-SMA protein expression, induced E-cadherin protein expression, and reduced TGFβ1 and p-Smad2 protein expression in diabetic nephropathy model vitro. The results showed that microRNA-27a adjusts diabetic nephropathy patients and inhibits renal TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway, provide new insights into the progression of diabetic nephropathy.
Microbial indicators for soil quality Schloter

The living soil is instrumental to key life support functions (LSF) that safeguard life onEarth. The soilmicrobiome has a main role as a driver of these LSF. Current global developments, like anthropogenic threats to soil (e.g., via intensive agriculture) and climate change, pose a burden on soil functioning. Therefore, it is important to dispose of robust indicators that report on the nature of deleterious changes and thus soil quality. There has been a long debate on the best selection of biological indicators (bioindicators) that report on soil quality. Such indicators should ideally describe organisms with key functions in the system, or with key regulatory/connecting roles (so-called keystone species). However, in the light of the huge functional redundancy in most soil microbiomes, finding specific keystone markers is not a trivial task. The current rapid development of molecular (DNA-based) methods that facilitate deciphering microbiomes with respect to key functions will enable the development of improved criteria by which molecular information can be tuned to yield molecular markers of soil LSF. This review critically examines the current state-ofthe-art in molecular marker development and recommends avenues to come to improved future marker systems.
Fuzzing Ethereum Smart Contracts ( research statement )

Blockchain has been gathering a lot of public attention due to the success of Bitcoin [1] and to high hopes in its benefits. A blockchain is a data structure – an append-only sequence of blocks – that stores transactions. Moreover, the term also denominates a distributed system that maintains copies of that data structure in a set of nodes. To add new information to a blockchain there is a consensus protocol that ensures that the blocks are appended in the same order in all the nodes. Bitcoin and most blockchains tolerate arbitrary (Byzantine) faults. Ethereum is a blockchain that both provides a cryptocurrency and supports the execution of smart contracts written in a Turing-complete language [2]. Smart contracts are similar to legal contracts but instead of having the terms recorded in a legal language they are coded as a computer program, written in a programming language [3], [2]. The advantages of the usage of smart contracts include low contracting enforcement, compliance costs, and no need for a trusted third party to validate the contract. Building software that works as expected is easier than assuring that nobody can use it in a way that it is not supposed to. This is troublesome with smart contracts as they often handle valuable assets. Furthermore, every execution happens in a public network and the source code is often available, so having security in perspective is important while developing smart contracts. There have been huge attacks exploiting vulnerabilities in smart contracts, such as the DAO attack that led to losses of 60M USD [4] and the Parity Multi-Sig Wallet attack with losses of 30M USD [5]. This work introduces a tool to detect vulnerabilities encoded in smart contracts developed for Ethereum. The goal is to provide a tool that uses fuzzing [6] or attack injection [7] to search for vulnerabilities in smart contracts by doing input injection. There are already a few experimental tools to discover vulnerabilities in smart contracts, but no fuzzers. Oyente creates a control flow graph and does symbolic execution to discover vulnerabilities [8]. Solidity-coverage is a tool that helps achieving full coverage during smart contract testing [9]. Manticore is a prototyping tool for dynamic binary analysis, with support for symbolic execution, taint analysis, and binary instrumentation [10]. Mythril uses concolic analysis to detect Fig. 1. Operation of smart contracts [14]
Clinical significance of ALDH 1 combined with DAPI expression in patients with esophageal carcinoma

Esophageal carcinoma is the most common type of tumor, with the incidence in China accounting for 50% of cases worldwide and the majority of patients not surviving due to tumor recurrence. According to the cancer stem cell theory, tumor development and recurrence is due to the excitation of a cancer stem cell. Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1) is an appropriate marker for cancer stem cells and the present study aimed at determining the function of ALDH1 in human esophageal carcinoma. Indirect fluorescence antibody staining was used to investigate the association between the level of ALDH1 protein expression and clinicopathological parameters, including sex, age, vein invasion, degree of tumor cell differentiation and clinical stage. DAPI was used to stain the nuclei of tumor cells and exclude non-tumor cells. The results of the present study revealed that ALDH1 expression was associated with the level of tumor cell differentiation, tumor-node-metastasis stage and lymphatic invasion. In addition, increased expression of ALDH1 was identified in esophageal carcinoma tissues compared with in healthy esophageal tissues. Therefore, ALDH1 may be used as a parameter for the pathology of esophageal carcinoma.
Bertrand and Cournot Competition in Two-Sided Markets

We study the price of anarchy of a natural pricing mechanism in which producers specify prices for their goods, and consumers directly specify how much of each good they desire. Specifically, each producer submits a linear pricing function that specifies a per-resource price p(d) as a function of the demand d that it faces. Assuming producers have convex marginal costs, we show that the price of anarchy is a function ρdem(ρsup) of the supply-side price of anarchy ρsup that reduces to the demand-side price of anarchy when ρsup = 1. We then derive an expression for ρsup as a function of the market’s structure; combined with ρdem, this expression leads to tight price of anarchy bounds in the two-sided market. Most notably, we find that the price of anarchy varies dramatically across different types of markets. It approaches zero when the consumers utilities yield highly inelastic demand; however, for any fixed demand elasticity, the price of anarchy improves to 2/3 as competitiveness within the market increases. In a monopsony setting, the mechanism achieves its highest price of anarchy of 3/4. Our results hold in multi-resource settings such as bandwidth markets over parallel-serial networks and, under an additional assumption on user demand, bandwidth markets over arbitrary networks. In the context of parallel-serial graphs, our analysis reveals how network structure affects the economic efficiency of the mechanism.
Development of flight control software for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Flight controller software is fundamental part of Unmanned Air Vehicle. It is responsible for acquisition and processing of sensor data, attitude estimation, parsing GPS data and vehicle stabilization. Flight control software should handle communication with ground control station (GCS), that includes command and control of the aerial vehicle and periodic telemetry indicating the vehicles status. This paper presents a comprehensive procedure on developing flight controller software of a fixed wing UAV. Primary focus is to develop software that illustrates a real-time scenario and capability of flexible reconfiguration. As a result software is developed under Free-RTOS. Keywords– Inertial Measurement Unit, Real Time Operating System, Attitude and Heading Reference System, Ground Control Station.