Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterizing Middleware Mechanisms for Future Sensor Networks

Due to their promise for supporting applications society cares about and their unique blend of distributed systems and networking issues, wireless sensor networks (SN) have become an active research area. Most current SN use an arrangement of nodes with limited capabilities. Given SN device technology trends, we believe future SN nodes will have the computational capability of today's handhelds, and communication capabilities well beyond today's “motes”. Applications will demand these increased capabilities in SN for performing computations in-network on higher bit-rate streaming data. We focus on interesting fusion applications such as automated surveillance. These applications combine one or more input streams via synthesis, or fusion, operations in a hierarchical fashion to produce high-level inference output streams. For SN to successfully support fusion applications, they will need to be constructed to achieve application throughput and latency requirements while minimizing energy usage to increase application lifetime. This thesis investigates novel middleware mechanisms for improving application lifetime while achieving required latency and throughput, in the context of a variety of SN topologies and scales, models of potential fusion applications, and device radio and CPU capabilities. We present a novel architecture, DFuse, for supporting data fusion applications in SN. Using a DFuse implementation and a novel simulator, MSSN, of the DFuse middleware, we investigate several middleware mechanisms for managing energy in SN. We demonstrate reasonable overhead for our prototype DFuse implementation on a small iPAQ SN. We propose and evaluate extensively an elegant distributed, local role-assignment heuristic that dynamically adapts the mapping of a fusion application to the SN, guided by a cost function. Using several studies with DFuse and MSSN, we show that this heuristic scales well and enables significant lifetime extension. We propose and evaluate with MSSN a predictive CPU scaling mechanism for dynamically optimizing energy usage by processors performing fusion. The scaling heuristic seeks to make the ratio of processing time to communication time for each synthesis operation conform to an input parameter. We show how tuning this parameter trades latency degradation for improved lifetime. These investigations demonstrate MSSN's utility for exposing tradeoffs fundamental to successful SN construction.
Quality of Life and Mental Health Status of Arsenic-affected Patients in a Bangladeshi Population

Contamination of groundwater by inorganic arsenic is one of the major public-health problems in Bangladesh. This cross-sectional study was conducted (a) to evaluate the quality of life (QOL) and mental health status of arsenic-affected patients and (b) to identify the factors associated with the QOL. Of 1,456 individuals, 521 (35.78%) were selected as case and control participants, using a systematic random-sampling method. The selection criteria for cases (n=259) included presence of at least one of the following: melanosis, leucomelanosis on at least 10% of the body, or keratosis on the hands or feet. Control (non-patient) participants (n=262) were selected from the same villages by matching age (±5 years) and gender. The Bangladeshi version of the WHOQOL-BREF was used for assessing the QOL, and the self-reporting questionnaire (SRQ) was used for assessing the general mental health status. Data were analyzed using Student's t-test and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), and the WHOQOL-BREF and SRQ scores between the patients and the non-patients were compared. The mean scores of QOL were significantly lower in the patients than those in the non-patients of both the sexes. Moreover, the mental health status of the arsenic-affected patients (mean score for males=8.4 and females=10.3) showed greater disturbances than those of the non-patients (mean score for males=5.2 and females=6.1) of both the sexes. The results of multiple regression analysis revealed that the factors potentially contributing to the lower QOL scores included: being an arsenic-affected patient, having lower age, and having lower annual income. Based on the findings, it is concluded that the QOL and mental health status of the arsenic-affected patients were significantly lower than those of the non-patients in Bangladesh. Appropriate interventions are necessary to improve the well-being of the patients.
Focal Adhesion Kinase Is Required, But Not Sufficient, for the Induction of Long-Term Potentiation in Dentate Gyrus Neurons In Vivo

Tyrosine kinase phosphorylation plays an important role in the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP). Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a 125 kDa nonreceptor tyrosine kinase that shows decreased phosphorylation in fyn mutant mice, and Fyn plays a critical role in LTP induction. By examining the role of FAK involved in LTP induction in dentate gyrus in vivo with medial perforant path stimulation, we found that both FAK and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation were increased significantly 5 and 10 min after LTP induction, whereas cAMP-responsive element binding protein (CREB) phosphorylation was increased 40 min later. Transfection of the dominant-negative FAK mutant construct HA-FAK(Y397F) impaired LTP, whereas transfection of the constitutively activated form HA-FAK(Δ1–100) reduced the threshold for LTP induction. Transfection of HA-FAK(Δ1–100) by itself did not induce long-lasting potentiation. Further, transfection of the HA-FAK(Y397F) construct decreased FAK, MAPK/ERK, and CREB phosphorylation, and the inhibition of MAPK/ERK decreased CREB phosphorylation. Moreover, blockade of NMDA receptor (NMDAR) did not decrease FAK, MAPK/ERK, and CREB phosphorylation although LTP induction was blunted by NMDAR antagonist. These biochemical changes were not associated with low-frequency stimulation either. Immunoprecipitation results revealed that tyrosine phosphorylation of NR2A and NR2B as well as the association of phosphorylated FAK with NR2A and NR2B was increased with LTP induction. These results together suggest that FAK is required, but not sufficient, for the induction of LTP in a NMDAR-independent manner and that MAPK/ERK and CREB are the downstream events of FAK activation. Further, FAK may interact with NR2A and NR2B to modulate LTP induction.
Unrolling Cycles to Decide Trigger Termination

Active databases have gained a substantial interest in recent years in enforcing database integrity, however, its current implementations suffer many problems such as running into an infinite loop. While deciding termination is an undecidable task, several works have been proposed to prove termination under certain situations. However, most of these algorithms cannot conclude termination if a cyclic execution actually presents during run-time. This is rather limited. The trigger system can still terminate if these cycles can only be executed a finite number of times. Adopting the trigger graph approach, we propose a method to detect if some cycles can only be executed finitely. We then present a cycleunrolling algorithm to remove those cycles that can only be executed finitely from a trigger graph. Similarly, we present the concept of finitelyupdatable predicate to further improve most existing detection methods. Finally, we conclude with an algorithm to detect if a given trigger system will terminate. ————————————————————— Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial advantages, the VLDB copyright notice and the title of the publication and its date appear, and notice is given that copying is by permission of the Very Large Data Base Endowment. To copy otherwise, or to republish, requires a fee and/or special permission from the Endowment. Proceedings of the 25th VLDB Conference, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1999.
Öğretmenler İçin Duygusal Zekâ Becerileri Eğitim Programının Tasarlanması, Uygulanması ve Değerlendirilmesi

Bu calismada; ogretmenlerin duygusal zeka becerileri konusunda davranislarini gelistirecek bir egitim programi tasarlanmis, gonullu olarak programa katilan ogretmenlere uygulanmistir. Uygulama surecinde programin ogretmenlerin duygusal zekâ becerilerinin onemi uzerine olan farkindalik duzeyleri ve duygusal zekâ ozelliklerine olan etkisi incelenmis, katilimci ogretmenlerin gorusleri dogrultusunda program degerlendirilmistir. Programin degerlendirilmesinde yontem olarak karma arastirma deseni secilmistir. Calismanin nitel verilerinde katilimcilarin her atolye sonrasinda duygusal zekâ becerileriyle ilgili olarak fark ettikleri durumlari belirtmeleri icin atolye gunlugu uygulamasi yapilmis, atolye gunluklerinden ortaya cikan veriler icerik analizi yoluyla incelenerek yorumlanmistir. Calismanin nicel boyutunda ise yari-deneysel desen uygulamasi secilmistir. Tasarlanan egitim programinin katilimci ogretmenlerin duygusal zekâ duzeylerine olan etkisini incelemek icin “Duygusal Zekâ Ozelligi Olcegi-Kisa Formu” on test ve son test seklinde uygulanmistir. Olcek araciligiyla elde edilen verilerin analizinde SPSS 21 programi kullanilarak Wilcoxcon Isaretli Siralamalar Testi yapilmis, on test ve son test sonuclari arasindaki farkin istatistiksel anlamli olup olmadigi incelenmistir. Diger taraftan programin katilimcilar tarafindan degerlendirilmesi icin 5’li likert tipi, 15 maddelik program degerlendirme formu olusturulmus ve bu form araciligiyla katilimci ogretmenlerin program konusundaki gorusleri alinmistir. Bu formdan elde edilen veriler ise SPSS 21 programi kullanilarak istatistiksel olarak betimlenmistir. Tum bu degerlendirmelerin sonunda, katilimcilarin duygusal zekâ becerileriyle ilgili olarak onemli duzeyde farkindaliga ulastiklari, duygusal zekâ ozelliklerinde istatistiksel olarak anlamli bir artis oldugu ve programin etkili bir program oldugunu dusundukleri ortaya cikmis, programin temel hedeflerine ulastigi belirlenmistir.
Modern Voting Tools , Social Incentives and Voter Turnout : Theory and Evidence

This paper investigates social norms and voting behavior. I argue that social norms create incentives for signaling, i.e. voting for the purpose of being seen at the voting act. Empirical evidence on signaling can be gained by looking at the introduction of optional postal voting in Switzerland. Even though the possibility of mail voting reduced voting costs substantially, it didn’t increase turnout. Consistent with my model’s predictions, voter turnout decreased more in the smaller communities, but in the meantime, the share of cooperators (i.e. interested voters) was more positively affected there. Therefore, modern voting tools may decrease average turnout, but nevertheless increase the quality of the voting outcome. Current models predict the opposite, but ignore the effect of different voting systems on the incentive for signaling. JEL H0, Z13.
Efficient agent-based multicast on wormhole switch-based irregular networks

This paper describes an agent-based approach for scheduling multiple multicast on wormhole switch-based networks. Multicast/broadcast is an important communication pattern, with applications in collective communication operations such as barrier synchronization and global combining. Our approach assigns an agent to each subtree of switches such that the agents can exchange information efficiently and independently. The entire multicast problem is then recursively solved with each agent sending message to those switches that it is responsible for. In this way, communication is localized by the assignment of agents to subtrees. This idea can be easily generalized to multiple multicast since the order of message passing among agents can be interleaved for different multicasts. We conduct experiments to demonstrate the efficiency of our approach by comparing the results with SPCCO, a highly efficient multicast algorithm. We found that SPCCO suffers link contention when the number of simultaneous multiple multicast becomes large. On the other hand, our agent-based approach achieves better performance in large cases.
Stochastic model of central synapses: slow diffusion of transmitter interacting with spatially distributed receptors and transporters.

A detailed mathematical analysis of the diffusion process of neurotransmitter inside the synaptic cleft is presented and the spatio-temporal concentration profile is calculated. Using information about the experimentally observed time course of glutamate in the cleft the effective diffusion coefficient Dnet is estimated as Dnet approximately 20-50 nm(2) microseconds(-1), implying a strong reduction compared with free diffusion in aqueous solution. The tortuosity of the cleft and interactions with transporter molecules are assumed to affect the transmitter motion. We estimate the transporter density to be 5170 to 8900 micrometer(-2) in the synaptic cleft and its vicinity, using the experimentally observed time constant of glutamate. Furthermore a theoretical model of synaptic transmission is presented, taking the spatial distribution of post-synaptic (AMPA-) receptors into account. The transmitter diffusion and receptor dynamics are modeled by Monte Carlo simulations preserving the typically observed noisy character of post-synaptic responses. Distributions of amplitudes, rise and decay times are calculated and shown to agree well with experiments. Average open probabilities are computed from a novel kinetic model and are shown to agree with averages over many Monte Carlo runs. Our results suggest that post-synaptic currents are only weakly potentiated by clustering of post-synaptic receptors, but increase linearly with the total number of receptors. Distributions of amplitudes and rise times are used to discriminate between different morphologies, e.g. simple and perforated synapses. A skew in the miniature amplitude distribution can be caused by multiple release of pre-synaptic vesicles at perforated synapses.
Instructional Leadership and Teachers’ Functional Competency across the 21st Century Learning

This study examined the relationship between school leaders’ instructional leadership and teachers’ functional competency in high prestige schools in the Northern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The research design employed for this study was descriptive method of the correlational survey type. This survey was administered to 225 teachers from 12 secondary and primary schools to collect the necessary data. Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale Questionnaire was adopted from Hallinger and Murphy (1985) and Integrated Assessment Module for Education Services Officers (2014) was used to obtain the data. The study found that the level of instructional leadership among the leaders as high (M=3.94, SD=.55) and the level of teachers’ functional competency as very high (M=4.23, SD=.41). The finding also revealed that there is a very strong significant relationship between school leaders’ instructional leadership and teachers’ functional competency (r = .956, p = .000). The findings further suggested that there is an averagely strong significant relationship (r = .397, p = .000) between school leaders’ instructional leadership and teachers’ knowledge; and a positive with weak but significant relationship (r = .345, p = .000) between school leaders’ instructional leadership and teachers’ skills. This study recommends that school leaders adopt instructional leadership in their practices to improve teachers’ functional competency.
Misuse and Dependence on Non-Prescription Codeine Analgesics or Sedative H1 Antihistamines by Adults: A Cross-Sectional Investigation in France

Background Given the growing worldwide market of non-prescription drugs, monitoring their misuse in the context of self-medication represents a particular challenge in Public Health. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of misuse, abuse, and dependence on non-prescription psychoactive drugs. Method During one month, in randomly solicited community pharmacies, an anonymous questionnaire was offered to adults requesting paracetamol (control group), codeine combined with paracetamol in analgesics, or sedative H1 antihistamines. Responses about misuse (drug use not in agreement with the Patient Information Leaflet) abuse (excessive drug use having detrimental consequences), and dependence (established according to questions adapted from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition criteria) on psychoactive drugs were compared to those of the paracetamol control group. Results 295 patients (mean age 48.5 years, 68.5% of women) having used one of the studied drugs during the previous month were included. Misuse and dependence to codeine analgesics concerned 6.8% and 17.8% of the patients exposed to these drugs, respectively, (n = 118), which was significantly higher than for paracetamol. 19.5% had used codeine analgesics daily for more than six months. Headache was the most frequent reason for persistent daily use. A high prevalence of persistent daily users of sedative H1 antihistamines was also observed. Whereas these drugs are recommended only for short treatment courses of occasional insomnia, 72.2% of the participants having taken doxylamine (n = 36) were daily users, predominantly for more than six months. Conclusions Results on misuse and dependence on non-prescription codeine analgesics suggest that chronic pain, in particular chronic cephalalgia, requires better medical care. In addition, as for hypnotics on prescription, persistent use of doxylamine for self-medication is not justified until an acceptable benefit-risk ratio for chronic sleep disturbance is shown by clinical data.
The relationships between CEO characteristics and strategic risk-taking in family firms

Abstract We examine the influences of chief executive officer (CEO) personal characteristics on family firms’ strategic risk-taking. Building on upper echelons theory, we investigate the influences of CEO family relationships, the CEO professional education, other career experiences, tenure, and career horizon have on the risk level a company takes. By analyzing a sample of 107 Italian family firms listed on the Milan Stock Exchange, we find that company’s risk-taking significantly and negatively relates to CEO family relationship and professional education, but positively to CEO career horizon. This provides support to the argument that such CEO personal characteristics are key factors in explaining differences in risk-taking among family firms. Further, our analysis of control variables shows that family firms’ risk-taking relates positively to board size and negatively to company size. These results suggest that company and board characteristics also significantly influence the risk levels taken by a company.
Studies of turbulent boundary layer flow throughdirect numerical simulation

The objective has been to study turbulent boundary layers under adverse pressure gradients (APG) through direct numerical simulation (DNS). The numerical code is based on a pseudo-spectral technique which is suitable for the simple geometry (flat plate) considered here. A large effort has been put into the optimization of the numerical code on various super computers. Five large simulations have been performed, ranging from a zero pressure gradient boundary layer to a separating flow. The simulations have revealed many features of APG turbulent boundary layers which are difficult to capture in experiments. Especially the near-wall behavior has been investigated thoroughly, both through the statistical and instantaneous flow. Theoretical work based on the turbulent boundary layer equation has been conducted with the aim to develop near-wall laws suitable for turbulence models. The conditions for self-similarity and relations between mean flow parameters have been reviewed and applied in the DNS. The results from the simulations have confirmed the theoretical part of this work. The turbulent flows have also been investigated using turbulence models. A boundary layer under strong APG is difficult to predict correctly, and the separating boundary layer is one of the most difficult flows in this respect. The near-wall damping was improved by comparing DNS data and model predictions. The asymptotic behavior of an APG boundary layer for large Reynolds numbers has been determined through asymptotic analysis and with the aid of turbulence models. The DNS data have also been utilized for the investigation of instantaneous turbulence structures. The turbulent boundary layer was found to be populated by near-wall low-speed streaks and vortices shaped like a horseshoe, in agreement with earlier investigations. The instability mechanism behind the formation of these vortices is examined through a simulation of an artificial low-speed streak introduced in a laminar boundary layer. The turbulence statistics from the simulations have also been compared with other simulations of turbulent boundary layers and Couette flow. Descriptors: Turbulence, direct numerical simulation, boundary layer, separation, parallel computers, turbulence modelling.
The Notch Signaling Pathway Drives Astrogliogenesis by Regulating the Expression of the Transcription Factors NFIA and Sox9

In the developing nervous system the Notch signaling pathway has recently been shown to be necessary and sufficient for neural stem cells to differentiate into astroctyes, a process called astrogliogenesis. However, the mechanism of how Notch signaling regulates this process has not yet been characterized. Our lab is examining whether Notch signaling controls the expression of the genes NFIA and Sox9 which are known to regulate astogliogenesis. These candidate genes were selected because their DNA sequences have characteristics that indicate their expression could be controlled by Notch through a transcriptional complex of Notch and other proteins, including the DNA binding protein RBP/J. We developed a low-cost, effective method of qPCR to study the relative abundance of gene expression in mice that underwent selective deletion of the RBP/J gene in neural progenitors (including neural stem cells). We found that disrupting Notch signaling in neural progenitors of the developing central nervous system caused a significant decrease in both NFIA and Sox9 mRNA expression. In order to ensure that this trend was reflected at the protein level we performed fluorescence microscopy utilizing antibodies targeting the NFIA protein. To determine if Notch directly regulates NFIA and Sox9 expression we are currently optimizing a Chromatin immuno-Precipitation assay to establish whether the Notch-RBP/J transcriptional complex binds to the NFIA and Sox9 promoter regions that are important to drive their expression. These novel findings offer insight into this putative signaling pathway, advancing our understanding of how neural stem cell differentiation is regulated.
DETERMINATION OF MODULAR ELLIPTIC CURVES BY HEEGNER POINTS

For every integer N ≥ 1, consider the set K(N) of imaginary quadratic fields such that, for each K in K(N), its discriminant D is an odd, square-free integer congruent to 1 modulo 4, which is prime to N and a square modulo 4N. For each K, let c = ([x]−[∞]) be the divisor class of a Heegner point x of discriminant D on the modular curve X = X(0)(N) as in [GZ]. (Concretely, such an x is the image of a point z in the upper half plane H such that both z and Nz are roots of integral, definite, binary quadratic forms of the same discriminant D ([B]). ) Then c defines a point rational over the Hilbert class field H of K on the Jacobian J = J(0)(N) of X. Denote by cK the trace of c to K.