Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Targeting system-level and Kernel-level optimizations of computer vision applications on embedded systems

Accelerating computer vision applications for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) is not a trivial task. Indeed, ADAS require real-time update rates at high image resolution. The task of accelerating computer vision applications falls into two major axes: system-level optimizations and kernel-level optimizations. The formal accelerate the whole use-case, while the latter act at the kernel or function granularity. In this paper, we propose an approach to target both system-level and kernel-level optimizations on different hardware architectures. While system-level optimizations cover, for instance memory bandwidth loading and inter-processor communication, kernel-level optimizations accelerate single kernels. Our approach consists in merging OpenVX framework and Numerical Template Toolbox (NT2) Library. OpenVX gives a close attention to system-level optimizations and enables hardware vendors to implement customized accelerated imaging and vision algorithms. NT 2 library accelerates kernels on different architectures with a minimal cost of rewriting, based on generative programming model. We test our approach on different computer vision kernels employed in ADAS. We target different acceleration techniques such as vectorization and shared memory parallelization. We perform our experiments on x86 architecture as well as on NVIDIA Tegra X1 ARM cores. We manage to execute OpenVX hardware customized kernels in both architectures without rewriting cost thanks to NT 2. Also, it is worth noting that we get the same performances on both architectures.
IL-4 Regulates Bim Expression and Promotes B Cell Maturation in Synergy with BAFF Conferring Resistance to Cell Death at Negative Selection Checkpoints

IL-4 plays an essential role in the activation of mature B cells, but less is known about the role of IL-4 in B cell maturation and tolerance checkpoints. In this study, we analyzed the effect of IL-4 on in vitro B cell maturation, from immature to transitional stages, and its influence on BCR-mediated negative selection. Starting either from purified CD19+IgM− B cell precursors, or sorted bone marrow immature (B220lowIgMlowCD23−) and transitional (B220intIgMhighCD23−) B cells from C57BL/6 mice, we compared the maturation effects of IL-4 and BAFF. We found that IL-4 stimulated the generation of CD23+ transitional B cells from CD23− B cells, and this effect was comparable to BAFF. IL-4 showed a unique protective effect against anti-IgM apoptotic signals on transitional B cell checkpoint, not observed with BAFF. IL-4 and BAFF strongly synergized to promote B cell maturation, and IL-4 also rendered it refractory to BCR-mediated cell death. IL-4 blocked upregulation of proapoptotic Bim protein levels induced by BCR crosslinking, suggesting that diminished levels of intracellular Bim promote protection to BCR-induced cell death. Evidence was obtained indicating that downmodulation of Bim by IL-4 occurred in a posttranscriptional manner. Consistent with data obtained in vitro, IL-4 in vivo was able to inhibit Bim upregulation and prevent cell death. These results contribute to the understanding of the role of IL-4 in B lymphocyte physiology, unveiling a previously undescribed activity of this cytokine on the maturation of B cells, which could have important implications on the breaking of B cell central tolerance in autoimmunity.
Developing the Conditions for Co-Op Students' Organizational Commitment through Cooperative Education.

Based in a French context, this research investigates the link between the French cooperative education (co-op) system and students’ organizational commitment. Following a quasi-experimental design with a control group, in a longitudinal approach, the study focuses on under-baccalaureate, undergraduate and graduate students. Results show that in the French context, co-op is an attitudinal process able to develop students’ affective organizational commitment under two conditions. The first is to build co-op as a way to socialize the co-op students with the organization. The second is to support co-op students during their studies and also after graduation. From a co-op research perspective, this study presents another model of co-op and proposes to build a link between co-op and organizational behavior and to think of co-op as an incubator for developing high performers within organizations. (Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 2015, 16(1), 39-51).
Liquid crystalline ordering and charge transport in semiconducting materials.

Organic semiconducting materials offer the advantage of solution processability into flexible films. In most cases, their drawback is based on their low charge carrier mobility, which is directly related to the packing of the molecules both on local (amorphous versus crystalline) and on macroscopic (grain boundaries) length scales. Liquid crystalline ordering offers the possibility of circumventing this problem. An advanced concept comprises: i) the application of materials with different liquid crystalline phases, ii) the orientation of a low viscosity high temperature phase, and, iii) the transfer of the macroscopic orientation during cooling to a highly ordered (at best, crystalline-like) phase at room temperature. At the same time, the desired orientation for the application (OLED or field-effect transistor) can be obtained. This review presents the use of molecules with discotic, calamitic and sanidic phases and discusses the sensitivity of the phases with regard to defects depending on the dimensionality of the ordered structure (columns: 1D, smectic layers and sanidic phases: 2D). It presents ways to systematically improve charge carrier mobility by proper variation of the electronic and steric (packing) structure of the constituting molecules and to reach charge carrier mobilities that are close to and comparable to amorphous silicon, with values of 0.1 to 0.7 cm(2) · V(-1) · s(-1) . In this context, the significance of cross-linking to stabilize the orientation and liquid crystalline behavior of inorganic/organic hybrids is also discussed.
Compensation of pulsation artifacts during optical imaging with and without cranial chamber

Functional Optical Imaging (OI) through the opened skull forms a group of Neuroimaging techniques characterized by a high temporal and spatial resolution on a meso-to macroscopic scale. State of the art OI experiments are generally difficult to execute, with a very timely surgical preparation preceding the experiment, that requires a skilled surgeon to mount a sealed imaging chamber onto the skull. The chamber reduces brain pulsation artifacts and swelling of the brain through movement restriction. In this work, we present preliminary results of a novel approach that does not rely on the usage of an imaging chamber with the goal to facilitate heavily the surgical animal preparation and to allow straightforward joint Electroencephalography - Optical Imaging recordings in the future. We carried out experiments to compare the movement restricting properties of the imaging chamber with the movement in a recording of an unconstrained and periodically irrigated brain. We used high-level image processing techniques to reduce brain pulsation artifacts and did a quantitative movement analysis of the recordings. Our results suggest that while recordings with imaging chamber show less sagittal movement, both with and without imaging chamber comprise the same lateral movements.
DevS/DosS sensor is bifunctional and its phosphatase activity precludes aerobic DevR/DosR regulon expression in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Two‐component systems, comprising histidine kinases and response regulators, empower bacteria to sense and adapt to diverse environmental stresses. Some histidine kinases are bifunctional; their phosphorylation (kinase) and dephosphorylation (phosphatase) activities toward their cognate response regulators permit the rapid reversal of genetic responses to an environmental stimulus. DevR–DevS/DosR–DosS is one of the best‐characterized two‐component systems of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The kinase function of DevS is activated by gaseous stress signals, including hypoxia, resulting in the induction of ~ 48‐genes DevR dormancy regulon. Regulon expression is tightly controlled and lack of expression in aerobic Mtb cultures is ascribed to the absence of phosphorylated DevR. Here we show that DevS is a bifunctional sensor and possesses a robust phosphatase activity toward DevR. We used site‐specific mutagenesis to generate substitutions in conserved residues in the dimerization and histidine phosphotransfer domain of DevS and determined their role in kinase/phosphatase functions. In vitro and in vivo experiments, including a novel in vivo phosphatase assay, collectively establish that these conserved residues are critical for regulating kinase/phosphatase functions. Our findings establish DevS phosphatase function as an effective control mechanism to block aerobic expression of the DevR dormancy regulon. Asp‐396 is essential for both kinase and phosphatase functions, whereas Gln‐400 is critical for phosphatase function. The positive and negative functions perform opposing roles in DevS: the kinase function triggers regulon induction under hypoxia, whereas its phosphatase function prevents expression under aerobic conditions. A finely tuned balance in these opposing activities calibrates the dormancy regulon response output.
Interference of age and supplementation of direct‐fed microbial and essential oil in the activity of digestive enzymes and expression of genes related to transport and digestion of carbohydrates and proteins in the small intestine of broilers

&NA; The objectives of this study were to describe alterations that age and dietary inclusion of direct‐fed microbial (DFM) Bacillus subtilis (BS) and a specific essential oil (EO) blend (carvacrol, cinnamaldehyde, cineol, and pepper extract) causes in the activity of digestive enzymes (maltase: MALT; aminopeptidase‐N: APN; intestinal alkaline phosphate: IAP) and expression patterns of genes related to transport (oligopeptide transporter gene: SLC15A1; Na+‐dependent glucose and galactose transporter gene: SLC5A1; Na+‐independent glucose, galactose, and fructose transporter gene: SLC2A2; ATPase, Na+/K+ transporting gene: ATP1A1) and digestion (aminopeptidase‐N gene: ANPEP; maltase‐glucoamylase gene: MGAM; Sucrase‐isomaltase gene: SI) of carbohydrates and proteins in the small intestine of broilers. Also, the objective was to analyze if growth performance of broilers is affected by supplementation (BS and EO blend). Day‐old male broiler chicks (n = 1,320) were assigned to 5 treatments. Diets included a basal diet (BD) as a negative control (CON); experimental diets were BD + BS; BD + BS + EO; BD + EO; BD + antibiotic growth promoter (AGP) avilamycin was the positive control. Performance was evaluated between 1 to 42 d. Transcript abundance of transport‐related genes and digestion‐related genes were assayed by RT‐qPCR and determined at d 7, 21, and 42. MALT‐, APN‐, and IAP‐specific activities were determined at d 7, 21, and 42. Broilers fed BS had greater SLC15A1 mRNA abundance compared to CON, while EO and AGP were related to higher activities of IAP and APN. Analysis over time revealed higher abundance of MGAM, SLC2A2, SLC15A1, SLC5A1 and SI mRNA at d 42 when compared to d 7. Activity of IAP decreased after d 7 and activity of MALT increased with age. The current study suggests that age had effect over carbohydrate and protein transport and carbohydrate digestion. The supplementation of BS DFM hade evident effect over protein transport and that the use of EO in the diet enhanced the activities of carbohydrate and protein digestion, reflecting improvement in digestive and transport physiology of birds. Changes performed by BS DFM and EO did not favor performance.
A repetitive sequence element 3′ of the human c‐Ha‐ras1 gene has enhancer activity

Efficient expression of the human c‐Ha‐ras1 gene requires sequences 3′ of those specifying the polyadenylation of its transcripts. These sequences can stimulate the expression of heterologous genes in a manner largely independent of position and orientation, arguing that they possess a transcriptional enhancing activity that regulates the c‐Ha‐ras1 promoter. As this element is associated with a repetitive domain that is highly polymorphic, it is possible that the activity of this enhancer is variable within the human population.
Trans-cellular Propagation of Tau Aggregation by Fibrillar Species*

Background: Trans-cellular propagation of aggregation may be important in neurodegeneration, but mechanisms are unknown. Results: Tau fibrils are secreted into the extracellular space, where they directly trigger aggregation in recipient cells by contacting native protein. Conclusion: Trans-cellular movement of Tau fibrils seeds subsequent aggregation. Significance: Therapies that block trans-cellular movement, including antibodies, may have an important role in neurodegenerative diseases. Aggregation of the microtubule associated protein Tau is associated with several neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer disease and frontotemporal dementia. In Alzheimer disease, Tau pathology spreads progressively throughout the brain, possibly along existing neural networks. However, it is still unclear how the propagation of Tau misfolding occurs. Intriguingly, in animal models, vaccine-based therapies have reduced Tau and synuclein pathology by uncertain mechanisms, given that these proteins are intracellular. We have previously speculated that trans-cellular propagation of misfolding could be mediated by a process similar to prion pathogenesis, in which fibrillar Tau aggregates spread pathology from cell to cell. However, there has been little evidence to demonstrate true trans-cellular propagation of Tau misfolding, in which Tau aggregates from one cell directly contact Tau protein in the recipient cell to trigger further aggregation. Here we have observed that intracellular Tau fibrils are directly released into the medium and then taken up by co-cultured cells. Internalized Tau aggregates induce fibrillization of intracellular Tau in these naive recipient cells via direct protein-protein contact that we demonstrate using FRET. Tau aggregation can be amplified across several generations of cells. An anti-Tau monoclonal antibody blocks Tau aggregate propagation by trapping fibrils in the extracellular space and preventing their uptake. Thus, propagation of Tau protein misfolding among cells can be mediated by release and subsequent uptake of fibrils that directly contact native protein in recipient cells. These results support the model of aggregate propagation by templated conformational change and suggest a mechanism for vaccine-based therapies in neurodegenerative diseases.
Storage-Reserve Sizing With Qualified Reliability for Connected High Renewable Penetration Micro-Grid

The major challenge in high renewable penetration microgrid is the power mismatch between stochastic renewables and demand. Energy storage and reserve purchase are main techniques in reducing that. Storage sizing problem is widely investigated in literatures without reserve capacity co-optimizing. And due to innate no loss-of-load assumption, a large proportion of capacity is used to handle inessential energy deficiency with small probability. In this paper, storage-reserve sizing problem with qualified reliability is raised to integrate reserve sizing and loss-of-load probability (LOLP) index into existing storage sizing problem. Two-stage probabilistic model is established to minimize total cost with optimizing storage capacity during first-stage and reserve strategy during second-stage. Since the time-consuming Monte Carlo simulation and stage iteration are usually required in problem solving, Markovian steady-state sizing method is proposed to improve efficiency. Probability constraint is tested by mathematical quantile. And two-stage model is transformed to single-stage one attributed to analytical solution of second-stage. Meanwhile obtained relationship among storage capacity, reserve capacity, and LOLP index can help designers balance between capacity and reliability. Numerical test shows: needed capacity is significantly reduced with little sacrifice of reliability; storage-reserve combination is economical, since they are probabilistically complementary; proposed solution method is fast and accurate.
Comparison of a needle-type and a microdialysis continuous glucose monitor in type 1 diabetic patients.

OBJECTIVE We examined the reliability of two continuous glucose sensors in type 1 diabetic patients at night and during rapid glucose excursions and verified the hypothesized nocturnal hypoglycemic drift of the needle-type sensor (CGMSgold) and delay of the microdialysis sensor (GlucoDay). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Blood was sampled overnight twice per hour in 13 patients. Rapid-acting insulin was given subcutaneously 30 min after breakfast. Sampling once per minute started 45 min after breakfast and 75 min after insulin injection for 30 min, with the aim of determining peak and nadir glucose values. Mean absolute differences (MADs) between sensor and blood glucose values were calculated. Sensor curves were modeled for all patients using linear regression. Horizontal and vertical shifts of sensor curves from the blood glucose curves were assessed. A vertical shift indicates sensor drift and a horizontal shift sensor delay. RESULTS Drift was minimal in the needle-type and microdialysis sensors (-0.02 and -0.04 mmol/l). Mean +/- SD delay was 7.1 +/- 5.5 min for the microdialysis sensor (P < 0.001). MAD was 15.0% for the needle-type sensor and 13.6% for the microdialysis sensor (P = 0.013). After correction for the 7-min delay, the microdialysis MAD improved to 11.7% (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS The microdialysis sensor was more accurate than the needle-type sensor, with or without correction for a 7-min delay. In contrast to the previous version, the current needle-type sensor did not exhibit nocturnal hypoglycemic drift. Continuous subcutaneous glucose sensors are valuable adjunctive tools for glucose trend analyses. However, considering the large MADs, individual sensor values should be interpreted with caution.
Beliefs of older adults about their vulnerability to HIV/Aids, for the construction of nursing diagnoses.

OBJECTIVE to know the beliefs of older adults about their vulnerability to HIV/Aids, and to identify nursing diagnoses. METHOD a field research implemented in Family Health Units, in João Pessoa, Brazil. The sample included 250 older adults of both genders with data collected from April to July of 2011. A Test of Free Word Association was applied using the term HIV/Aids. A content analysis and cross-mapping of the most frequent terms with the International Classification for Nursing Practice, 2011 were performed. RESULTS 202 terms were identified in terms, with an overall frequency of 1156. Of the 202 terms, 16 were more frequent and were used to construct the nursing diagnoses. The diagnoses identified were knowledge about appropriate sexual behavior, ability for partial protection, fear of death and hopelessness. CONCLUSION understanding these beliefs drew from knowledge about factors related to, vulnerability to HIV/Aids aimed at planning health care actions for this population segment.
Relationships between executive cognitive function and lifetime substance use and obesity-related behaviors in fourth grade youth

A common factor related to both substance use and obesity is neuropsychological function. Executive cognitive function (ECF) is an overarching construct that represents individual neurocognitive skills involved in self-regulated, problem-solving, and goal-directed health behavior. The current study investigates cross-sectional associations among ECF and substance use, food intake, physical activity, and sedentary behavior in fourth grade children. Participants included 1,587, fourth grade children assessed at baseline of a school-based obesity prevention program entitled Pathways to Health. General linear models demonstrated that after covarying for other important factors, ECF proficiency was negatively associated with substance use, high-calorie snack food intake, and sedentary behavior. ECF proficiency was positively associated with fruit and vegetable intake as well as physical activity during out-of-school time. Results demonstrate that ECF can vary with respect to its relationship with multiple health behaviors, even within health outcomes (i.e., obesity). One implication is the potential of study findings to be translated into public health or clinical interventions that promote ECF as a correlate of both substance use and obesity-related behaviors.
The Interaction Material Profile: Understanding and Inspiring How Physical Materials Shape Interaction

This paper presents the interaction material profile, a novel structural approach that supports a material-centered analysis of how physical materials affect human-computer interaction from different perspectives and on different levels. Inspired by material dimensions as discussed in product design and in a material-iconographic approach to understand how materials create meanings in artworks, this profile defines a micro and a macro perspective on interaction materials and includes general as well as application-specific material aspects. It builds a model to compare and discuss the role of physical materials in existing user interfaces and serves as a structure to build a catalogue of selected interaction materials.
Non-invasive method of field imaging in parallel plate waveguides

We present a new non-invasive air-photonic-based method of terahertz (THz) field imaging inside a parallel plate waveguide. The method is based on THz field-enhanced second harmonic generation of the fundamental laser beam in an external electric field. We also demonstrate the direct measurements of the frequency-dependent reflection coefficient at the end of the waveguide.
Small and medium-sized enterprise policy: Designed to fail?

Significant doubts persist over the effectiveness of government policy to increase the numbers or performance of small- and medium-sized enterprises in the UK economy. We analyse UK political manifestoes from 1964 to 2015 to examine the development of small and medium-sized enterprise policy in political discourse. We do this by analysing how the broadly defined category of ‘small- and medium-sized enterprise’ has been characterised in the manifestoes and assess these characterisations in relation to the empirical evidence base. We highlight three consistent themes in UK political manifestoes during 1964–2015 where small- and medium-sized enterprises have been characterised as having the potential for growth, struggling to access finance and being over-burdened by regulation. We argue that homogenising the broad range of businesses represented by the small- and medium-sized enterprise category and characterising them in these terms misrepresents them, undermining policies developed in relation to this mischaracterisation.