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Publications

Publications by CSE

2023

Labelled Indoor Point Cloud Dataset for BIM Related Applications

Authors
Abreu, N; Souza, R; Pinto, A; Matos, A; Pires, M;

Publication
DATA

Abstract
BIM (building information modelling) has gained wider acceptance in the AEC (architecture, engineering, and construction) industry. Conversion from 3D point cloud data to vector BIM data remains a challenging and labour-intensive process, but particularly relevant during various stages of a project lifecycle. While the challenges associated with processing very large 3D point cloud datasets are widely known, there is a pressing need for intelligent geometric feature extraction and reconstruction algorithms for automated point cloud processing. Compared to outdoor scene reconstruction, indoor scenes are challenging since they usually contain high amounts of clutter. This dataset comprises the indoor point cloud obtained by scanning four different rooms (including a hallway): two office workspaces, a workshop, and a laboratory including a water tank. The scanned space is located at the Electrical and Computer Engineering department of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto. The dataset is fully labelled, containing major structural elements like walls, floor, ceiling, windows, and doors, as well as furniture, movable objects, clutter, and scanning noise. The dataset also contains an as-built BIM that can be used as a reference, making it suitable for being used in Scan-to-BIM and Scan-vs-BIM applications. For demonstration purposes, a Scan-vs-BIM change detection application is described, detailing each of the main data processing steps. Dataset: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7948116 Dataset License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

2023

Taming Metadata-intensive HPC Jobs Through Dynamic, Application-agnostic QoS Control

Authors
Macedo, R; Miranda, M; Tanimura, Y; Haga, J; Ruhela, A; Harrell, SL; Evans, RT; Pereira, J; Paulo, J;

Publication
2023 IEEE/ACM 23RD INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON CLUSTER, CLOUD AND INTERNET COMPUTING, CCGRID

Abstract
Modern I/O applications that run on HPC infrastructures are increasingly becoming read and metadata intensive. However, having multiple applications submitting large amounts of metadata operations can easily saturate the shared parallel file system's metadata resources, leading to overall performance degradation and I/O unfairness. We present PADLL, an application and file system agnostic storage middleware that enables QoS control of data and metadata workflows in HPC storage systems. It adopts ideas from Software-Defined Storage, building data plane stages that mediate and rate limit POSIX requests submitted to the shared file system, and a control plane that holistically coordinates how all I/O workflows are handled. We demonstrate its performance and feasibility under multiple QoS policies using synthetic benchmarks, real-world applications, and traces collected from a production file system. Results show that PADLL can enforce complex storage QoS policies over concurrent metadata-aggressive jobs, ensuring fairness and prioritization.

2023

Formally verifying Kyber Episode IV: Implementation correctness

Authors
Almeida, JB; Barbosa, M; Barthe, G; Grégoire, B; Laporte, V; Léchenet, JC; Oliveira, T; Pacheco, H; Quaresma, M; Schwabe, P; Séré, A; Strub, PY;

Publication
IACR Trans. Cryptogr. Hardw. Embed. Syst.

Abstract
In this paper we present the first formally verified implementations of Kyber and, to the best of our knowledge, the first such implementations of any post-quantum cryptosystem. We give a (readable) formal specification of Kyber in the EasyCrypt proof assistant, which is syntactically very close to the pseudocode description of the scheme as given in the most recent version of the NIST submission. We present high-assurance open-source implementations of Kyber written in the Jasmin language, along with machine-checked proofs that they are functionally correct with respect to the EasyCrypt specification. We describe a number of improvements to the EasyCrypt and Jasmin frameworks that were needed for this implementation and verification effort, and we present detailed benchmarks of our implementations, showing that our code achieves performance close to existing hand-optimized implementations in C and assembly.

2023

Using Digital Tools to Study the Health of Adults Born Preterm at a Large Scale: e-Cohort Pilot Study

Authors
Lorthe, E; Santos, C; Ornelas, JP; Doetsch, JN; Marques, SCS; Teixeira, R; Santos, AC; Rodrigues, C; Goncalves, G; Sousa, PF; Lopes, JC; Rocha, A; Barros, H;

Publication
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL INTERNET RESEARCH

Abstract
Background: Preterm birth is a global health concern. Its adverse consequences may persist throughout the life course, exerting a potentially heavy burden on families, health systems, and societies. In high-income countries, the first children who benefited from improved care are now adults entering middle age. However, there is a clear gap in the knowledge regarding the long-term outcomes of individuals born preterm. Objective: This study aimed to assess the feasibility of recruiting and following up an e-cohort of adults born preterm worldwide and provide estimations of participation, characteristics of participants, the acceptability of questions, and the quality of data collected. Methods: We implemented a prospective, open, observational, and international e-cohort pilot study (Health of Adult People Born Preterm-an e-Cohort Pilot Study [HAPP-e]). Inclusion criteria were being an adult (aged =18 years), born preterm (<37 weeks of gestation), having internet access and an email address, and understanding at least 1 of the available languages. A large, multifaceted, and multilingual communication strategy was established. Between December 2019 and June 2021, inclusion and repeated data collection were performed using a secured web platform. We provided descriptive statistics regarding participation in the e-cohort, namely, the number of persons who registered on the platform, signed the consent form, initiated and completed the baseline questionnaire, and initiated and completed the follow-up questionnaire. We also described the main characteristics of the HAPP-e participants and provided an assessment of the quality of the data and the acceptability of sensitive questions. Results: As of December 31, 2020, a total of 1004 persons had registered on the platform, leading to 527 accounts with a confirmed email and 333 signed consent forms. A total of 333 participants initiated the baseline questionnaire. All participants were invited to follow-up, and 35.7% (119/333) consented to participate, of whom 97.5% (116/119) initiated the follow-up questionnaire. Completion rates were very high both at baseline (296/333, 88.9%) and at follow-up (112/116, 96.6%). This sample of adults born preterm in 34 countries covered a wide range of sociodemographic and health characteristics. The gestational age at birth ranged from 23+6 to 36+6 weeks (median 32, IQR 29-35 weeks). Only 2.1% (7/333) of the participants had previously participated in a cohort of individuals born preterm. Women (252/333, 75.7%) and highly educated participants (235/327, 71.9%) were also overrepresented. Good quality data were collected thanks to validation controls implemented on the web platform. The acceptability of potentially sensitive questions was excellent, as very few participants chose the I prefer not to say option when available. Conclusions: Although we identified room for improvement in specific procedures, this pilot study confirmed the great potential for recruiting a large and diverse sample of adults born preterm worldwide, thereby advancing research on adults born preterm.

2023

Jay: A software framework for prototyping and evaluating offloading applications in hybrid edge clouds

Authors
Silva, J; Marques, ERB; Lopes, LMB; Silva, FMA;

Publication
SOFTWARE-PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE

Abstract
We present Jay, a software framework for offloading applications in hybrid edge clouds. Jay provides an API, services, and tools that enable mobile application developers to implement, instrument, and evaluate offloading applications using configurable cloud topologies, offloading strategies, and job types. We start by presenting Jay's job model and the concrete architecture of the framework. We then present the programming API with several examples of customization. Then, we turn to the description of the internal implementation of Jay instances and their components. Finally, we describe the Jay Workbench, a tool that allows the setup, execution, and reproduction of experiments with networks of hosts with different resource capabilities organized with specific topologies. The complete source code for the framework and workbench is provided in a GitHub repository.

2023

Geometric and Physical Building Representation and Occupant's Movement Models for Fire Building Evacuation Simulation

Authors
Neto, J; Morais, AJ; Gonçalves, R; Coelho, AL;

Publication
PROCEEDINGS OF SEVENTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, ICICT 2022, VOL. 2

Abstract
Building evacuation simulation allows for a better assessment of fire safety conditions in existing buildings, which is why it is of interest to develop an easyto-use-Web platform that helps fire safety technicians in this assessment. To achieve this goal, the geometric and physical representation of the building and installed fire safety devices are necessary, as well as the modelling of occupant movement. Although these are widely studied areas, in this paper, we present two new model approaches, either for the physical and geometric representation of a building or for the occupant's movement simulation, during a building evacuation process. To test both models, we develop a multi-agentWeb simulator platform. The tests carried out show the suitability of the model approaches herein presented.

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