Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Q-Squared in Impact Assessment: A Review*

This paper reviews the contribution of mixed methods to impact assessment. Empirical examples are presented which demonstrate the value-added of Q 2 approaches through the combined analysis of causal effects (results) and mechanisms. Other examples include the use of narrative information in the construction of comparison groups, in the case of unmeasured or unobservable variables, the use of thought experiments to create counterfactual scenarios and the use of narrative information to investigate if the assessment of program performance is sensitive to the definition of benefits. Q 2 approaches have provided a richer causal analysis of program effects by integrating different models of causal inference and by bolstering analyses of counterfactual dependence.
A reliable, congestion-control led multicast transport protocol in multimedia multi-hop networks

We consider the challenges of achieving reliable multicast in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). MANET environments can experience high packet loss rates because of node mobility and wireless signal interference. In addition, they are extremely sensitive to the network load due to the broadcast nature of the shared wireless medium. Thus, in designing a reliable multicast transport protocol, two components are essential- reliability and congestion control. We describe and evaluate the performance of the reliable adaptive lightweight multicast (RALM) protocol. We show through simulation that when subject to a wide range of network conditions (e.g., traffic load, number of multicast sources, and mobility), RALM achieves reliability, while exhibiting low end-to-end delay and minimal control overhead compared against those of UDP and SRM.
Multispectral and hyperspectral imaging: applications for medical and surgical diagnostics

One of the keys to a surgeon's successful work is his or her ability to see and feel well enough to adequately identify problems, particularly those that were not anticipated. Thus, an extension of the surgeon's vision would be a significant breakthrough. Multispectral and hyperspectral imaging techniques, along with associated algorithms and image processing methodologies have been developed by the military for detecting, classifying and identifying targets amid background clutter. Applying this technology to medicine will allow novel exploration of anatomy, physiology and pathology.
Comment Is ‘ metabolically healthy ’ obesity abenign condition ?

O besity is typically associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events. However, a subset of obese individuals does not present phenotypic traits that characterize increased cardiovascular risk, such as insulin resistance. This condition has been called ‘metabolically healthy’ obesity. Indeed, 10–25% of obese individuals may not be impacted by metabolic abnormalities [1], which is a substantial number considering that obesity affects 300 million people worldwide. In a sub-analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys 1999–2004 (NHANES 1999–2004), 51.3% of overweight adults and 31.7% of obese adults were metabolically healthy as they showed either no or one metabolic syndrome trait [2]. The concept of healthy obesity challenges the notion that all overweight and obese individuals should be treated. Selecting such individuals for watchful surveillance could spare significant amounts of societal and economic resources. In this issue of the Journal, however, Lee et al. [3] present the results of a prospective observational study, which contests the concept of healthy obesity. The authors followed 2352 middle-aged and elderly normotensive participants enrolled in two cohorts, one urban, the other rural, of the Korean Genome Epidemiology Study, and checked for the incidence of hypertension over the course of 8 years through biennial clinical assessments. Six groups were studied based on BMI and metabolic syndrome components: healthy normal weight, unhealthy normal weight, healthy overweight, unhealthy overweight, healthy obesity, and unhealthy obesity, unhealthy meaning the presence of at least one component of metabolic syndrome. On the final year of follow-up, about 65% of participants were retained for the analyses. After multiple adjustments including family history of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, progressively increasing risk for incident hypertension in the combined urban and rural cohorts was observed in unhealthy overweight, and both healthy and unhealthy obese groups as compared with the healthy normal weight
Online Adaptive Hierarchical Clustering in a Decision Tree Framework

Abstract Online clustering is an issue in large amount of data crunching. Moreover, having a coarse-to-fine grain analysis is also desirable. We address both these problems in a single framework by designing an online adaptive hierarchical clustering algorithm in a decision tree framework. Our model consists of an online adaptive binary tree and a code formation layer. The adaptive tree hierarchically partitions the data and the finest level clusters are represented by the leaf nodes. The code formation layer stores the representative codes of the clusters corresponding to the leaf nodes, and the tree adapts the separating hyperplanes between the clusters at every layer in an online adaptive mode. The membership of a sample in a cluster is decided by the tree and the tree parameters are guided by the stored codes. As opposed to the existing hierarchical clustering techniques where certain local objective function at every level is optimized, we adapt the tree in an online adaptive mode by minimizing a global objective functional. We use the same global objective functional as used in the fuzzy c-means algorithm (FCM), however, we observe that the effect of the control parameter is different from that in the FCM. In our model the control parameter regulates the size and the number of clusters whereas in the FCM the number of clusters is always constant (c). We never freeze the adaptation process. For every input sample, the tree allocates it to certain leaf node and at the same time adapts the tree parameters simultaneously with the adaptation of the stored codes. We validate the effectiveness of our model on certain real-life datasets and also show that the model is able to perform unsupervised classification on certain datasets.
A Machine Learning Solution to a Marketing Problem: the Recommender System

This essay presents a marketing problematic along with a way of solving it with the help of statistical tools. Precisely, a Recommender System is built to address a marketing problem for a supermarket in Germany. Both the theoretical and the practical aspects of the use of Machine Learning methods are underlined. Our focus is oriented in two parts. First, we define precisely a problem, from the conceptual meaning to its natural mathematical translation. Second, we provide an analysis that is anchored to business constraints, on top of being an academic paper. Highlight is made on unifying notations for this specific problem, and on comparing different methods before and after their implementation. This work is designed to fulfill the Master’s thesis requirements with advanced statistical approach. Mathematical background is emphasized in parallel with hands-on implementation using the open source software R.
An Improved Model Based on BPNN for Class-D Power Amplifier

Abstract An improved behavioral model based on BP neural network and approximation theory is proposed to describe the nonlinearity of Class-D power amplifier in this paper. Firstly, the hidden layer neurons are activated by a group of Chebyshev orthogonal polynomial basis functions (So the BP neural network is also called as Chebyshev orthogonal basis neural network in this paper), and the algorithm based on pseudo-inverse is used, which could immediately determine the neural network weights. Then, the input vector and the hidden-layer output matrix of neural network have to be normalized to enhance the neural network convergence precision, and the optimized algorithm, based on the relationship between the average error function and the number of hidden layer neurons, is used to determine the required optimal number of neurons in hidden layer. Finally, simulation results show that the improved behavioral model based on Chebyshev orthogonal basis neural network has faster computing speed and higher accuracy than traditional model.
Rare events and reverse-time models

Consideration is given to the estimation by simulation of probabilities of rare but potentially damaging events in Markovian systems. The problem is that the rarity of an event prevents its regular occurrence in simulation, and hence very long, time-consuming simulation runs are needed. It is shown how significantly faster estimates of the probabilities of rare events can be found by simulating a reverse-time model in place of the forward-time system. The simulation speedup afforded by simulating with the reverse-time model is compared with that obtained with alternative methods based on large deviations theory, using an uncontrolled Aloha system as an example. <<ETX>>
Command-Set and Presentation Method in the Training of Telidon Operators

Two experiments were conducted concerning the introduction of the Telidon videotex system to novice users. In the first, three training systems, involving training via a videotape presentation, a written manual and a specially designed interactive computer package, were contrasted with Telidon novices who either had computing experience, typing experience or skill in neither of these fields. It was found that computer-experienced subjects had some advantage, but differences between groups and training systems were only apparent in the initial phase of Telidon use. Users tended to prefer the interactive training system. In the second experiment different types of command-word sets were compared in terms of comprehension and preference. Alternative methods of organization of command-words on a command card were also contrasted. Although no significant differences emerged in comprehension, users preferred command words with a close approximation to English and categorization of command-words on the basis of task requirements.
The car Package

October 29, 2007 Version 1.2-7 Date 2007/10/27 Title Companion to Applied Regression Author John Fox . I am grateful to Douglas Bates, David Firth, Michael Friendly, Gregor Gorjanc, Spencer Graves, Richard Heiberger, Georges Monette, Henric Nilsson, Brian Ripley, Sanford Weisberg, and Achim Zeleis for various suggestions and contributions. Maintainer John Fox Depends R (>= 2.1.1), stats, graphics Suggests MASS, nnet, leaps LazyLoad yes LazyData yes Description This package accompanies J. Fox, An R and S-PLUS Companion to Applied Regression, Sage, 2002. The package contains mostly functions for applied regression, linear models, and generalized linear models, with an emphasis on regression diagnostics, particularly graphical diagnostic methods. There are also some utility functions. With some exceptions, I have tried not to duplicate capabilities in the basic distribution of R, nor in widely used packages. Where relevant, the functions in car are consistent with na.action = na.omit or na.exclude. License GPL (>= 2) URL http://www.r-project.org, http://socserv.socsci. mcmaster.ca/jfox/
Scheduling Workloads in Cloud Computing

Computing (cloud) is emerging as a promising paradigm that offers computing as a utility. In this paper, we look at some scheduling policies for workloads in clouds. Suitability of a cloud simulation for developing and evaluating policies is discussed. We simulate a cloud scenario and report results observed from executing the scenario. Then, we share our experiences with a cloud simulation toolkit and suggest fundamental building blocks of a cloud simulation.
A View From On High: Heinrich Berann’s Panoramas and Landscape Visualization Techniques for the U.S. National Park Service

The late Heinrich Berann, from Austria, was generally regarded as the most accomplished panoramist of all time. During the decade before his retirement in 1994, Berann painted four panoramas for the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) that demonstrated his genius for landscape visualization. This paper examines the widely admired, but little understood, vocation of panorama making, with emphasis on Berann’s NPS pieces, concepts, and techniques. Explanation is offered about how the panorama for Denali National Park, Alaska, was planned, compiled, sketched, and painted—starting from a blank sheet of paper. Berann’s techniques for landscape manipulation are then analyzed, including his unorthodox habit of rotating mountains and widening valleys, and his unique interpretations of vertical exaggeration. His graphical special effects used for portraying realistic environments are reviewed. The paper finishes with illustrations that compare Berann’s panoramas to digitallygenerated landscapes.
The Java EE 7 Tutorial, Volume 2

The Java EE 7 Tutorial: Volume 2, Fifth Edition, is a task-oriented, example-driven guide to developing enterprise applications for the Java Platform, Enterprise Edition 7 (Java EE 7). Written by members of the Java EE documentation team at Oracle, this book provides new and intermediate Java programmers with a deep understanding of the platform. This guide includes descriptions of platform features and provides instructions for using the latest versions of NetBeans IDE and GlassFish Server Open Source Edition. The book introduces Enterprise JavaBeans components, the Java Persistence API, the Java Message Service (JMS) API, Java EE security, transactions, resource adapters, Java EE Interceptors, Batch Applications for the Java Platform, and Concurrency Utilities for Java EE. The book culminates with three case studies that illustrate the use of multiple Java EE 7 APIs.
An Improvement of Task Scheduling Algorithms and Hardware Scheduler of Real-time Operating System

To the existing real-time operating systems implemented by software, it is hard to continually enhance their real-time performance by simply improving their scheduling algorithms. New scheduling algorithms of μC/OS-II real-time operating systems and their hardware implementation are shown in this paper. They breakthrough the limit of the number of total task, and hardware task scheduler was used to select tasks from ready list instead of the original ready table, improving the efficiency and maintaining the correctness of the realtime system. This system design adopted VHDL hardware description language and implemented and simulated in ISE 8.2. Based on the result, new task scheduling algorithms and hardware scheduler decrease the cost of hardware logic and spending of running time, while the new task management and TCB data structure keep the correctness of the original software version.
Cell loss concealment method for MPEG video in ATM networks

Cell loss is inevitable in ATM networks due to network congestion and appears to be a critical factor affecting the quality of the video signal. For transmitting MPEG video over ATM networks, cell loss causes error propagation in both the spatial and temporal domain, which in turn leads to severe degradation in the image quality. We first introduce a structural method for packing MPEG video bit-stream into ATM cells. With this method, the impact of cell loss can be limited to the lost cells only. A cell loss compensation method called modified boundary matching algorithm is then proposed for transmitting the MPEG video bit-stream in ATM networks. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method yields satisfactory results even when the cell loss rate is very high.
RTPA: a new approach to real-time system specification

The specification of real-time software systems is a 3D problem known as system architectures, time and event manipulation, and dynamic memory allocation. A real-time system consists of two types of component, architectural and operational. The former were often overlooked in real-time software system design, particularly when adopting a formal approach. Real-time process algebra (RTPA) is a set of new mathematical notations for formally describing system architectures, and static and dynamic behaviors. This paper describes a new approach to the specification and refinement of real-time systems by using RTPA. First, the RTPA meta-processes, algebraic relations, and system architectural notations are introduced. The RTPA system specification method and refinement scheme for real-time system are then described. The expressive power of RTPA on formal specification of software system architectures as well as behaviors is demonstrated by examples. Applications of RTPA in a number of case studies show that the extremely small set of formal notations of RTPA is sufficient for modeling and specifying architectures of real-time systems, as well as their static and dynamic behaviors.
Faculty Perceptions of Technology Distance Education Transactions: Qualitative Outcomes to Inform Teaching Practices

Understanding instructors‟ perceptions of distance education transactions is becoming increasingly important as the mode of distance learning has become not only accepted, but preferred by many students. A need for more empirical qualitative data was evident as anecdotal information still dominates the research literature. The study focused on the faculty of an established distance learning program at a small Midwestern university. Qualitative interviews were gathered, coded and analyzed. Faculty who used technology in their distance education courses were targeted. Faculty perceptions on course context, students, interpersonal and procedural transactions, learning and teaching transactions, and assessment transactions were gathered. The qualitative analysis provided rich data to further inform distance education programs‟ administrative, technological, and andragogical needs. Recommendations for future study, including a model for transactional hierarchy, were proffered.
What If Creativity Were 60 Things Not One, Towards a Grammar of Design

This paper reports pilot study results on 3 things: a) Creativity Models as a Possible Language of Design -- designers and others segment detailed protocols of actual design processes at points where creativity models change or conflict in the designer/process b) Meta-Creation Improves Creativity the same way Meta-Cognition Improves Cognition -- designers exposed to more creativity models and more diverse models briefly afterwards show slight increases in creativity of design outcomes c) Design and Creativity are at least 60 Diverse Things not One Thing -- there are at least 60 different models of creativity, each of which purports to explain all of creativity, (gotten from 8000 subjects in 41 nations and 63 professions via questionnaires and interviews) several of which combine in any design process. So systems or technologies that purport to “support” design, or creativity, as if they were each one basic process, are actually supports for 1/60th or less of the design approaches there and they may harm more creativity models than they help -- we do not know because they pretend that creating is one thing, neither noticing nor measuring their effects on the other 59 creativity models out there to be “supported” someday.
Effect Of Delay And Jitter On Wireless Ad-Hoc Networks (IEEE 802.11) With Various Routing Protocols

Wireless Ad-hoc networks have a dynamic nature that leads to constant changes in their topology. Therefore, there is need for robust dynamic routing protocol which can face the challenges of frequently changes topology. And to select a particular routing protocols for given Adhoc network situation, its performance characteristics be known in advance. This article presents effect of throughput in wireless Ad-hoc network on different routing protocols. Network simulator QualNet 5.0. 2 has been used to evaluate the performance of wireless networks with various routing protocols.
An animated virtual drummer

We describe a system for the automatic generation of a 3D animation of a drummer playing along with a given piece of music. The input, consisting of a sound wave, is analysed to determine which drums are struck at what moments. The Standard MIDI File format is used to store the recognised notes. From this higher-level description of the music, the animation is generated. The system is implemented in Java and uses the Java3D API for visualisation.
Performance evaluation of adaptive load balancing policies in distributed systems

This paper compares and evaluates various adaptive load balancing policies under the practical conditions by using simulation methods. The authors take account of the cost of collecting and reacting to state information and the dynamic delay caused by the congestion of network traffic as well as the cost of process migration. Their results provide convincing evidence that the benefit of several adaptive load balancing policies can in fact be realized in practice.
Combining approaches for early diagnosis of breast diseases using thermal imaging

This paper presents a combination of efforts on the construction of a tool to help in the diagnosis by infrared breast images. It considers from the basic problem of image acquisition and storage in a database to the automatic extraction of the region of interest of each breast (left and right), the feature extraction, the decision and the limits of the diagnosis as well. The main objective of this study is the analysis of the viability of the use of the IR images for automatic detection of pathologies by texture symmetric analysis. Moreover numerical simulations and experimentations are developed in order to analyse the relation between the internal temperature of the breast and the temperature on the breast surface during the image acquisition.
A fast algorithm for mixed-radix conversion in residue arithmetic

An algorithm based on a partitioning of the coefficient matrix when the mixed-radix conversion problem is cast as a set of linear congruent equations is presented. The algorithm partitions the moduli set into disjoint subsets such that the product of the moduli in each subset is less than the largest integer representable by the computer. It is shown that, with this partitioning strategy, mixed-radix representation of a residue number can be computed using less than O(n/sup 2/) arithmetic steps where n is the cardinality of the moduli set. It is also shown that if a good partitioning exists, then the algorithm requires only O(n/sup 1.5/) arithmetic steps. The algorithm is particularly suitable for single processor implementation of algorithms from the residue number system applications. <<ETX>>
Chinese Text Watermarking Method Based on TongYiCi CiLin

With the development of Internet, a huge volume of digital contents floated over the Internet daily. Digital watermarking is an effective way to realize authentication and copyright protection for digital contents over . Text is a dominant part of the internet contents, but there are few techniques available for text protection . This paper proposes a Chinese text watermarking algorithm based on TongYiCi CiLin. First, the words appearing at the TongYiCi CiLin are obtained and classified according to the fifth-layer structure of TongYiCi CiLin. Then, a watermark is mapped to the line number of high frequency semantic sets by Huffman coding and a watermark key is generated. The experimental results show that our algorithm can provide high capacity, good imperceptibility and robustness.