Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficiently Generating FPGA Configurations through a Stack Machine

Parameterizable configurations are regular FPGA configurations in which some of the configuration bits are expressed as Boolean functions of a set of parameters. These configurations can be rapidly transformed to a specialized configuration by evaluating the Boolean functions for a specific set of parameter values and are therefore ideal for use in run-time reconfigurable systems. To accommodate the use of parameterizable configurations in commercial FPGAs, the concept of the Parameterizable Bitstream was introduced. In this paper, we introduce a hardware implementation that evaluates the Parameterizable Bitstream based on a stack machine architecture. We enabled fast generation of specialized configurations with a significant reduction in resources (80%) in comparison to the MicroBlaze soft processor when it is used as a configuration generation engine.
Milliarcsec-scale radio structure of a matched sample of Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 galaxies ⋆,⋆⋆

We have obtained mas-scale resolution very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) images of a sample of Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 galaxies at 5 GHz (wavelength, λ = 6 cm). The Seyferts of the two types were chosen to be matched in several orientation-independent properties, primarily in order to rigorously test predictions of the unified scheme. We detected all the 15 objects that we observed. In this paper we describe the observations and data reduction procedures, and present the VLBI radio images as well as simultaneous Very Large Array images that we obtained for these 15 Seyferts.
Library Anxiety: Stories, Theories and Possible Solutions

This issue, in collaboration with the State Library of New South Wales, we are pleased to feature the 2018 winner of the Jean Arnot Memorial Fellowship. The Fellowship is awarded to a female librarian or student of librarianship for an outstanding paper of no more than 5000 words on any aspect of librarianship. Papers focusing on innovative solutions to contemporary library issues and services are encouraged. The fellowship is named in honour of the late Jean Fleming Arnot, MBE, FLAA, a former staff member of the State Library of New South Wales. Miss Arnot retired as head cataloguer in 1968 after a distinguished career of over 47 years. Miss Arnot was active in women’s organisations and a pioneer in the campaign for equal pay for women. The Jean Arnot Memorial Fellowship is funded by a generous donation from the National Council of Women of New South Wales and the Australian Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Associations to commemorate Miss Arnot and her achievements. An award of $1000 is presented to the winner at the annual Jean Arnot Memorial Luncheon at NSW Parliament House. The Fellowship has been running for more than 20 years and is judged by a panel chaired by the Mitchell Librarian. Some of the previous award winners are listed on the following web site http://www.sl. nsw.gov. au/fellowships/jean-arnot-memorial-fellowship
Pattern in Escalations in Insurgent and Terrorist Activity

The escalation of fatal attacks by insurgent groups follows a common pattern. In military planning, it is important to be able to estimate not only the number of fatalities but how often attacks that result in fatalities will take place. We uncovered a simple dynamical pattern that may be used to estimate the escalation rate and timing of fatal attacks. The time difference between fatal attacks by insurgent groups within individual provinces in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and by terrorist groups operating worldwide, gives a potent indicator of the later pace of lethal activity.
Thrombophilia and avascular necrosis of femoral head in kidney allograft recipients.

BACKGROUND Thrombophilia has been implicated in the development of avascular necrosis (AVN) in various diseases. We aimed to search for the relation of both prothrombin gene G20210A mutation and factor V G1691A (factor V Leiden) mutation with AVN among kidney transplant recipients. METHODS Nineteen patients with AVN and 38 control patients without AVN were included. Clinical information was collected, and gender, age, type of renal allograft, duration and type of dialysis, presence of acute rejection, and cumulative doses of ciclosporin and corticosteroid administration were taken into consideration. Genotypes of factor V G1691A and prothrombin G20210A were determined by direct sequencing of genomic DNA. RESULTS Factor V Leiden mutation was detected in six patients (31.6%) among patients with AVN and in only three patients (7.9%) in the control group (P = 0.048). Two patients (10.5%) in the AVN group were determined to have prothrombin G20210A mutation, while no prothrombin G20210A mutation was detected in the control group. When both of the mutations causing thrombophilia were considered, a total of eight patients (42.1%) in the AVN group and three patients (7.9%) in the control group were identified (P = 0.004). CONCLUSION Thrombophilia seems to be an important risk factor for development of AVN. More studies are needed to clarify the role of factor V G1691A and prothrombin G20210A mutation for AVN.
Fast protein fold estimation from NMR-derived distance restraints

UNLABELLED PRIDE-NMR is a fast novel method to relate known protein folds to NMR distance restraints. It can be used to obtain a first guess about a structure being determined, as well as to estimate the completeness or verify the correctness of NOE data. AVAILABILITY The PRIDE-NMR server is available at http://www.icgeb. org/pride
Brown dwarfs as Galactic chronometers

Abstract Brown dwarfs are natural clocks, cooling and dimming over time due to insufficient core fusion. They are also numerous and present in nearly all Galactic environments, making them potentially useful chronometers for a variety of Galactic studies. For this potential to be realized, however, precise and accurate ages for individual sources are required, a prospect made difficult by the complex atmospheres and spectra of low-temperature brown dwarfs; degeneracy between mass, age and luminosity; and the lack of useful age trends in magnetic activity and rotation. In this contribution, I review five ways in which ages for brown dwarfs are uniquely determined, discuss their applicability and limitations, and give current empirical precisions.
Democratizing the Parliament (cid:3)

This paper presents a replication algorithm that implements a highly-available, non-deterministic state machine. Our algorithm generalizes the Paxos parliament algorithm of Lamport to cope with non-deterministic computations, while preserving its nice resilience and e(cid:14)ciency properties. The algorithm is surprisingly simple, thanks to the use of two powerful underlying abstractions: weak consensus and weak leader election, together with a generic data structure: consensus bag. As a side-e(cid:11)ect of our work, we discuss some similarities and di(cid:11)erences between replicating deterministic and non-deterministic state machines. Indirectly, we revisit the traditional clas-si(cid:12)cation between state-machine replication and primary-backup.
Globally optimal hand-eye calibration

This paper introduces simultaneous globally optimal hand-eye self-calibration in both its rotational and translational components. The main contributions are new feasibility tests to integrate the hand-eye calibration problem into a branch-and-bound parameter space search. The presented method constitutes the first guaranteed globally optimal estimator for simultaneous optimization of both components with respect to a cost function based on reprojection errors. The system is evaluated in both synthetic and real world scenarios. The employed benchmark dataset is published online1 to create a common point of reference for evaluation of hand-eye self-calibration algorithms.
Periodontal disease: associations with diabetes, glycemic control and complications.

OBJECTIVE This report reviews the evidence for adverse effects of diabetes on periodontal health and periodontal disease on glycemic control and complications of diabetes. DESIGN MEDLINE search of the English language literature identified primary research reports published on (a) relationships between diabetes and periodontal diseases since 2000 and (b) effects of periodontal infection on glycemic control and diabetes complications since 1960. RESULTS Observational studies provided consistent evidence of greater prevalence, severity, extent, or progression of at least one manifestation of periodontal disease in 13/17 reports reviewed. Treatment and longitudinal observational studies provided evidence to support periodontal infection having an adverse effect on glycemic control, although not all investigations reported an improvement in glycemic control after periodontal treatment. Additionally, evidence from three observational studies supported periodontal disease increasing the risk for diabetes complications and no published reports refuted the findings. CONCLUSION The evidence reviewed supports diabetes having an adverse effect on periodontal health and periodontal infection having an adverse effect on glycemic control and incidence of diabetes complications. Further rigorous study is necessary to establish unequivocally that treating periodontal infections can contribute to glycemic control management and to the reduction of the burden of diabetes complications.
Blended-Learning Model Employed in Higher Education Institutes

Over the past few years, education professionals have become more pragmatic in their approach to technology-based media by using it to augment traditional forms of teaching delivery, such as classroom instruction and text-based materials. This trend has led to the rise of the term Blended-learning, which comprises both electronic and face-to-face interaction, creating opportunities that were not previously available (Petrova, 2002; Hollerer, 1999). Blended-learning model are implemented at the Chien-Kuo Technology University, Taiwan for upper-level-undergraduate English school students. In this article, the challenges and issues of designing next generation learning environments using current and emerging technologies are addressed. The flexible and practical approach proves that students with less English or computer-programming background can handle even an intermediate English course via blended learning, and the achievement, satisfaction and willingness of learning is significant increasing simultaneity.
Presenilin-1 Regulates Neural Progenitor Cell Differentiation in the Adult Brain

Presenilin-1 (PS1) is the catalytic core of the aspartyl protease γ-secretase. Previous genetic studies using germ-line deletion of PS1 and conditional knock-out mice demonstrated that PS1 plays an essential role in neuronal differentiation during neural development, but it remained unclear whether PS1 plays a similar role in neurogenesis in the adult brain. Here we show that neural progenitor cells infected with lentiviral vectors-expressing short interfering RNA (siRNA) for the exclusive knockdown of PS1 in the neurogenic microenvironments, exhibit a dramatic enhancement of cell differentiation. Infected cells differentiated into neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, suggesting that multipotentiality of neural progenitor cells is not affected by reduced levels of PS1. Neurosphere cultures treated with γ-secretase inhibitors exhibit a similar phenotype of enhanced cell differentiation, suggesting that PS1 function in neural progenitor cells is γ-secretase-dependent. Neurospheres infected with lentiviral vectors expressing siRNA for the targeting of PS1 differentiated even in the presence of the proliferation factors epidermal growth factor (EGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), suggesting that PS1 dominates EFG and bFGF signaling pathways. Reduction of PS1 expression in neural progenitor cells was accompanied by a decrease in EGF receptor and β-catenin expression level, suggesting that they are downstream essential transducers of PS1 signaling in adult neural progenitor cells. These findings suggest a physiological role for PS1 in adult neurogenesis, and a potential target for the manipulation of neural progenitor cell differentiation.
Nature soundscapes in apps and workplace design for the millennial generation : mood and arousal , stimulation , and distraction

The millennial generation’s media multitasking behaviour may negatively impact their ability to ignore distractions and sustain attention. Background nature soundscapes may be used to block out distracting sounds or to create a stimulating environment whilst working or studying. Previous research into the effects of listening to music has shown that it can improve performance in certain tasks because it lifts mood and is cognitively arousing. However, background sounds can cause distractions that negatively impact performance in some tasks. This includes tasks that require some degree of serial recall. The current research employed both an experiment and a diary study to investigate the potential impact of the use of nature soundscapes by millennial generation students. In the experimental study, it was found that nature soundscapes did not increase positive mood or cognitive arousal. When compared to a soundscape with low acoustic variation, a nature soundscape with high acoustic variation negatively impacted performance in a mental arithmetic task that requires serialization in working memory. No difference in performance was found when these soundscapes were compared to silence. The diary study revealed that nature soundscapes were viewed as a tool for stabilizing mood, masking external distracting sounds, and providing a background ambience conducive to study.
Adaptive and dynamic funnel replication in clouds

We consider the problem of strongly consistent replication in a multi data center cloud setting. This environment is characterized by high latency communication between data centers, significant fluctuations in the performance of seemingly identical virtual machines (VMs) and temporary disconnects of data centers from the rest of the cloud. In this paper we introduce the adaptive and dynamic Funnel Replication (FR) protocol that is designed to achieve high throughout and low latency for reads, to accommodate arbitrary latency/throughput tradeoffs for writes, to maximize performance in the face of VM performance variations and to provide high availability for read requests in the presence of network partitions. FR is based on the idea of flexible write dissemination topologies which enables it to achieve, per message, the desired tradeoff between latency and throughput, depending on the message size, the observed network conditions, and the importance of latency as indicated by the client. We demonstrate the benefits of flexible dissemination topologies and show that in a cloud setting with N identical replicas FR can improve the write latency up to a factor of N/2 for N ≥ 2 compared to the notable chain replication (CR) protocol at the expense of a slight decrease in the write throughput. In a setting with potentially high variability in the performance of replicas, e.g., as in Amazon EC2, FR can achieve throughput up to a factor of 16 higher than CR while also improving the latency. FR does this by adopting a topology that consists of concurrent disjoint data replication paths so that load on high throughput paths is adaptively increased while load on congested replicas is reduced.
Do Female Employees at Small and Medium Enterprises Perceive Open Source Software Usefulness and Satisfaction Differently from Male Employees? A Survey Analysis

Many companies, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs), use open source software (OSS) to promote the strategic application of their information technology assets. Several studies have claimed that male and female employees in SMEs differ in their use of various information technologies. This study investigates the factors influencing the perceived usefulness of and satisfaction with OSS among employees at SMEs in various industries, specifically comparing male and female employee perceptions. For this purpose, this study uses a proposed research model to examine the effects of quality factors—such as ease of maintenance, cost advantage, customization, and job relevance—on perceived usefulness of and satisfaction with OSS. Data were collected from 328 randomly selected survey responses of employees in various organizations using OSS. A structural equational model was created using AMOS 22.0 to test the proposed hypotheses in the research model. Results show that all OSS quality factors were significantly related to the perceived usefulness of OSS in both genders, positively affecting satisfaction. Moreover, the perceptions of male and female employees differed in relation to each research model variable. These findings suggest that employees value specific OSS qualities while perceiving its usefulness and their satisfaction.
The Science of Training I: Admissions, Curriculum, and Research Training

Though still young in its development, a foundation of research is emerging regarding admissions, curriculum, and research training in psychology. It is unclear, however, the degree to which this foundation informs the actions of psychology educators and training programs. We review the emerging evidence, giving specific focus to the following 3 areas: (a) admission processes (e.g., interviews and quantitative scores); (b) curriculum (e.g., content and processes); and (c) research training (e.g., trainee variables, mentorship, and the larger research training environment). Perhaps the most concerning set of findings from this nascent empirical literature indicates insufficient diversity in the training to workforce pipeline. Based on our review, several other conclusions are drawn with recommendations for programs to foster an evidence-based approach to training.
Sensitivity to Interaural Time Differences in the Inferior Colliculus with Bilateral Cochlear Implants

Bilateral cochlear implantation attempts to increase performance over a monaural prosthesis by harnessing the binaural processing of the auditory system. Although many bilaterally implanted human subjects discriminate interaural time differences (ITDs), a major cue for sound localization and signal detection in noise, their performance is typically poorer than that of normal-hearing listeners. We developed an animal model of bilateral cochlear implantation to study neural ITD sensitivity for trains of electric current pulses delivered via bilaterally implanted intracochlear electrodes. We found that a majority of single units in the inferior colliculus of acutely deafened, anesthetized cats are sensitive to ITD and that electric ITD tuning is as sharp as found for acoustic stimulation with broadband noise in normal-hearing animals. However, the sharpness and shape of ITD tuning often depended strongly on stimulus intensity; some neurons had dynamic ranges of ITD sensitivity as low as 1 dB. We also found that neural ITD sensitivity was best at pulse rates below 100 Hz and decreased with increasing pulse rate. This rate limitation parallels behavioral ITD discrimination in bilaterally implanted individuals. The sharp neural ITD sensitivity found with electric stimulation at the appropriate intensity is encouraging for the prospect of restoring the functional benefits of binaural hearing in bilaterally implanted human subjects and suggests that neural plasticity resulting from previous deafness and deprivation of binaural experience may play a role in the poor ITD discrimination with current bilateral implants.
The evolution of newly qualified English teachers’ cognition in Malaysian primary schools

This thesis investigates the evolution of knowledge and beliefs of four newly qualified English teachers in their first year of teaching in Malaysian primary classrooms. Although there has been an increased interest in the study of teachers’ cognition in general education research over the years, studies on the cognitions of language teachers in their first year in the classroom remain limited, particularly research into the use of a longitudinal approach to case studies on newly qualified teachers’ beliefs. The aims of this qualitative multiple-case study were to explore the evolution of newly qualified teachers’ (NQTs) beliefs about teaching and learning during their first year of teaching, and to examine the factors that might influence their thinking and classroom practices. The four research participants were from the first cohort of a new Bachelor of Teaching (Hons) course in the Teaching of English as a Second Language (Primary Education) at an Institute of Teacher Education (ITE) in Malaysia. The data was gathered from Skype interviews, classroom observations, stimulated recall interviews and journal entries throughout the participants’ first year of teaching. They were then analysed both manually and using nVivo, a qualitative data analysis software. The outcome provides interesting insights into the evolving thoughts of the four NQTs. As well as shared areas of concern, they each display relatively distinctive reactions to their first-year teaching experiences. The findings support the current movement towards viewing teachers’ cognition constructions as an individual process, and classroom experience in a given moment seems to be the strongest element in NQTs’ belief formation. This study hopes to add to the understanding of the complexity of teachers’ cognition and the appropriacy of the existing pre-service training courses for teachers teaching in public schools. The potential impacts of the study include understanding the importance of providing real support systems for NQTs and adjusting the curriculum structure, content and pedagogy in pre-service English language teacher education to better prepare NQTs for the reality of the classroom.
XOR-Assisted Cooperative Diversity in OFDMA Wireless Networks: Optimization Framework and Approximation Algorithms

Network coding has been leveraged with cooperative diversity to improve performance in single channel wireless networks. However, it is not clear how network coding based cooperative diversity can be exploited effectively in multi-channel networks where overhearing is not readily available. Moreover, the question of how to practically realize the promising gains available, including multi-user diversity, cooperative diversity and network coding in multi-channel networks, also remains unexplored. This work represents the first attempt to unravel these two questions. In this paper, we propose XOR-CD, a novel XOR-assisted cooperative diversity scheme in OFDMA wireless networks. It can greatly improve the relay efficiency by over 100% mostly, thus uplifting the throughput performance by over 30% compared to conventional cooperative diversity scheme. In addition, we formulate a unifying optimization framework that jointly considers relay assignment, relay strategy selection, channel assignment and power allocation to reap different forms of gains. We design efficient polynomial time algorithms to solve the NP-hard problem with provably the best approximation factor, and verify their effectiveness using realistic simulations.
Advanced ridge flux analysis for fingerprint minutiae detection

This paper presents new fingerprint minutiae detection by the advanced ridge flux analysis. The considerable processing time taken by the conventional approaches, most of which use the ridge thinning process with a rather large calculation time, is a problem that has recently attracted increased attention. Though Ridge flux analysis method without using thinning process is proposed in order to reduce the computational time, there still remains a problem with low detection accuracy. The proposed approach is applied to detect minutiae by analyzing the curvature of ridge contours to achieve both of the computation time reduction and higher detection accuracy. The experimental results show that the proposed approach can achieve a reduction in calculation time, while achieving the same success detection rate as that of the conventional approaches.