Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Model-Based Development of Embedded Systems: The SysWeaver Approach

Model-based development of embedded real-time systems is aimed at elevating the level of abstraction at which these systems are designed, analyzed, validated, coded and tested. The use of a coherent multi-dimensional model across all development phases enables model-based design to generate systems that are correct by construction. Even some commercial support is available for code generation from higher-level models. However, such code generation capabilities are usually limited to uniprocessor targets and to a limited range of operating environments. SysWeaver (previously called “Time Weaver”) is a model-based development tool that includes a flexible “syscode” generation scheme for distributed real-time systems that can be easily tailored to a wide range of target platforms. In this paper, we present our work on creating an interoperable toolchain to automatically generate complete runtime code using models. The toolchain includes a simulation tool (Matlab) and its code generator (Embedded Coder) along with SysWeaver. In this chain, the functional aspects of the system are specified in Simulink, Matlab’s modeling language, and translated into a SysWeaver model to be enhanced with timing information, the target hardware model and its communication dependencies. The final runtime code is then generated, automatically integrating the functional code generated with Embedded Coder and SysWeaver’s syscode. This syscode includes OS interfacing and network communication code with predictable timing behavior that can be verified at design time. Experiments with multi-node targets with end-to-end timing constraints in an automotive system show that many aspects of syscode and functional code generation can be automated. To our knowledge, this is the first time that multi-node executables including communication messages, functional behaviors and para-functional properties have been automatically generated using a general platform-independent framework.
Structure-Guided Design of an Engineered Streptavidin with Reusability to Purify Streptavidin-Binding Peptide Tagged Proteins or Biotinylated Proteins

Development of a high-affinity streptavidin-binding peptide (SBP) tag allows the tagged recombinant proteins to be affinity purified using the streptavidin matrix without the need of biotinylation. The major limitation of this powerful technology is the requirement to use biotin to elute the SBP-tagged proteins from the streptavidin matrix. Tight biotin binding by streptavidin essentially allows the matrix to be used only once. To address this problem, differences in interactions of biotin and SBP with streptavidin were explored. Loop3–4 which serves as a mobile lid for the biotin binding pocket in streptavidin is in the closed state with biotin binding. In contrast, this loop is in the open state with SBP binding. Replacement of glycine-48 with a bulkier residue (threonine) in this loop selectively reduces the biotin binding affinity (Kd) from 4×10−14 M to 4.45×10−10 M without affecting the SBP binding affinity. Introduction of a second mutation (S27A) to the first mutein (G48T) results in the development of a novel engineered streptavidin SAVSBPM18 which could be recombinantly produced in the functional form from Bacillus subtilis via secretion. To form an intact binding pocket for tight binding of SBP, two diagonally oriented subunits in a tetrameric streptavidin are required. It is vital for SAVSBPM18 to be stably in the tetrameric state in solution. This was confirmed using an HPLC/Laser light scattering system. SAVSBPM18 retains high binding affinity to SBP but has reversible biotin binding capability. The SAVSBPM18 matrix can be applied to affinity purify SBP-tagged proteins or biotinylated molecules to homogeneity with high recovery in a reusable manner. A mild washing step is sufficient to regenerate the matrix which can be reused for multiple rounds. Other applications including development of automated protein purification systems, lab-on-a-chip micro-devices, reusable biosensors, bioreactors and microarrays, and strippable detection agents for various blots are possible.
The Impact of Firm-Provided Training on Production: Testing for Firm-Size Effects

The returns to firm-provided training depend on many differentfactors. Firm size is an importantindicator of various of these factors, but recent research tends toneglect it. In this study thereturns to firm-provided training are estimated, taking account ofthree possible firm-sizeeffects: the HRM effect, selection effect and scale effect. Usingpanel data on 173 Dutch firms,support is found for the existence of the HRM effect: trainingsupport per working day (theaverage time a firm spends on setting up and coordinating a trainingprogram) has a positiveinfluence on the returns to training. In the absence of trainingsupport, training has no effect onproduction. Since on average smaller firms provide less trainingsupport per working day, thisimplies that small firms benefit less from firm-provided trainingthan their larger counterparts.
Robotic Mapping : A Biologic Approach

Mapping a 3D environment is a big challenge for roboticists, expecially in underwater environments. Nowadays, the most applied solution to this problem relies in Probabilistic Filters, but with the discovery of neurons in the mammalian brain associated with navigation tasks, biological approaches has been take place. This paper presents a system inspired in mammalian brain to solve the problem of mapping and localization of robots. Preliminaries results in simulated environments shows the relevance of the proposed method, which is highly parallelizable and capable of running in real time applications.
Real-time dense scene flow estimation using a RGB-D camera

In this paper, we present a novel framework for dense scene flow estimation using range data from a RGB-D camera. The Lucas/Kanade optical flow technique is extended to three dimensions for estimating dense scene flow. All of the computation is achieved in real time on an AscTec Pelican quadrotor onboard processor. One of the main ideas for our algorithm is to detect and predict the velocity of moving objects from the camera view. To achieve sufficient efficiency for real-time applications, we take advantage of the integral image technique to compute the value of arbitrary rectangular windows quickly. Experimental results of dense scene flow are shown in all 3 axes. Quantitative results are shown and analysed with different resolutions and various lighting conditions.
Home-based versus clinic-based care for patients starting antiretroviral therapy with low CD4+ cell counts: findings from a cluster-randomized trial

Objectives:African health services have shortages of clinical staff. We showed previously, in a cluster-randomized trial, that a home-based strategy using trained lay-workers is as effective as a clinic-based strategy. It is not known whether home-based care is suitable for patients with advanced HIV disease. Methods:The trial was conducted in Jinja, Uganda. One thousand, four hundred and fifty-three adults initiating ART between February 2005 and January 2009 were randomized to receive either home-based care or routine clinic-based care, and followed up for about 3 years. Trained lay workers, supervised by clinical staff based in a clinic, delivered the home-based care. In this sub-analysis, we compared survival between the two strategies for those who presented with CD4+ cell count less than 50 cells/&mgr;l and those who presented with higher CD4+ cell counts. We used Kaplan–Meier methods and Poisson regression. Results:Four hundred and forty four of 1453 (31%) participants had baseline CD4+ cell count less than 50 cells/&mgr;l. Overall, 110 (25%) deaths occurred among participants with baseline CD4+ cell count less than 50 cells/&mgr;l and 87 (9%) in those with higher CD4+ cell count. Among participants with CD4+ cell count less than 50 cells/&mgr;l, mortality rates were similar for the home and facility-based arms; adjusted mortality rate ratio 0.80 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.53–1.18] compared with 1.22 (95% CI 0.78–1.89) for those who presented with higher CD4+ cell count. Conclusion:HIV home-based care, with lay workers playing a major role in the delivery of care including providing monthly adherence support, leads to similar survival rates as clinic-based care even among patients who present with very low CD4+ cell count. This emphasises the critical role of adherence to antiretroviral therapy.
Addressing the link between paraoxonase-1 gene variants and the incidence of early onset myocardial infarction

Introduction The enzyme paraoxonase-1 (PON1) represents an endogenous defense mechanism against vascular oxidative stress, thereby contributing to the prevention of atherosclerosis. Several polymorphisms have been reported in the PON1 gene, including Q192R. PON1 phenotype is commonly expressed as the paraoxonase/arylesterase ratio (PON/ARE). The major aim of this study was to investigate the association between PON1 Q192R polymorphism, PON1 phenotypes and the incidence of early-onset acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in Egyptians. Material and methods The study subjects consisted of 102 AMI patients and 72 age-matched healthy controls. Genotyping and enzyme activities were determined using PCR-RFLP and kinetic spectrophotometric assays, respectively. Results The genotype distribution for the PON1 gene was significantly different between AMI patients (QQ = 38.24%, QR = 49.02%, RR = 12.75%) and controls (QQ = 66.67%, QR = 25%, RR = 8.33%). Allele frequencies were also significantly different between patients (Q = 62.75%, R = 37.25%) and controls (Q = 79.17%, R = 20.83%). The genotypes QR and RR showed higher risk for AMI compared to the homozygous QQ (odds ratio (OR) = 3.231, p < 0.001). The average PON/ARE ratio in MI patients (1.187 ±0.1) did not differ significantly from controls (1.118 ±0.26). However, it showed a significant difference among different genotypes in both AMI patients (QQ = 0.91 ±0.11, QR = 1.09 ±0.11 and RR = 2.65 ±0.4) (p = 0.0002) and controls (QQ = 0.68 ±0.1, QR = 1.07 ±0.11 and RR = 4.89 ±2.84) (p < 0.0001). Conclusions PON1 192R allele represents an independent risk factor for early-onset AMI in Egyptians, and PON1 Q192R polymorphism modulates the paraoxonase phenotype.
Focusing Search in Multiobjective Evolutionary Optimization through Preference Learning from User Feedback

The problem of computing the set of Pareto-optimal solutions in multiobjective optimization has been tackled by means of different approaches in previous years, including evolutionary algorithms. A key advantage of computing the whole set of Pareto-optimal solutions is completeness: None of the solutions that might be maximally preferred by the user is lost. An obvious disadvantage, however, is the computational effort, which may become prohibitive for high-dimensional problems. Besides, the resulting set itself may become rather large, making it impracticable to present the entire set to the user. In order to mitigate these problems, we propose a method for incorporating user-feedback in the optimization process by asking the user for pairwise preferences. The pairwise preferences thus produced are then used as training examples for a preference learning method leading to a hypothetical utility model that approximate the true but unknown (latent) utility function of the user. This model is used to focus the search on the most promising parts of the Pareto front, which is approximated by an evolutionary algorithm.
Parameter estimation of the pyrolysis model for fir based on particle swarm algorithm

In order to solve the problem of parameter estimation of nonlinear model in chemical engineering, a novel heuristic optimization approach is presented. The proposed approach develops and employs particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique to search for optimal solution of the parameter estimation. Firstly, the proposed approach converts the problem of parameter estimation of nonlinear model into an equation solving problem that is prone to be optimized. Secondly, two extrema of PSO are used as the target, and all the particles synchronously move through the solution space roundly and efficiently to find the optimum parameter estimation. The feasibility of the proposed method is demonstrated by the parameter estimation example of the pyrolysis model for fir.
RNAi-Mediated Knockdown of Catalase Causes Cell Cycle Arrest in SL-1 Cells and Results in Low Survival Rate of Spodoptera litura (Fabricius)

Deregulated reactive oxygen species (ROS) production can lead to the disruption of structural and functional integrity of cells as a consequence of reactive interaction between ROS and various biological components. Catalase (CAT) is a common enzyme existing in nearly all organisms exposed to oxygen, which decomposes harmful hydrogen peroxide, into water and oxygen. In this study, the full length sequence that encodes CAT-like protein from Spodoptera litura named siltCAT (GenBank accession number: JQ_663444) was cloned and characterized. Amino acid sequence alignment showed siltCAT shared relatively high conservation with other insect, especially the conserved residues which defined heme and NADPH orientation. Expression pattern analysis showed that siltCAT mRNA was mainly expressed in the fat body, midgut, cuticle and malpighian tube, and as well as over last instar larvae, pupa and adult stages. RNA interference was used to silence CAT gene in SL-1 cells and the fourth-instar stage of S. litura larvae respectively. Our results provided evidence that CAT knockdown induced ROS generation, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in SL-1 cells. It also confirmed the decrease in survival rate because of increased ROS production in experimental groups injected with double-stranded RNA of CAT (dsCAT). This study implied that ROS scavenging by CAT is important for S. litura survival.
Implementation of a Central Line Maintenance Care Bundle in Hospitalized Pediatric Oncology Patients

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether a multidisciplinary, best-practice central line maintenance care bundle reduces central line-associated blood stream infection (CLABSI) rates in hospitalized pediatric oncology patients and to further delineate the epidemiology of CLABSIs in this population. METHODS: We performed a prospective, interrupted time series study of a best-practice bundle addressing all areas of central line care: reduction of entries, aseptic entries, and aseptic procedures when changing components. Based on a continuous quality improvement model, targeted interventions were instituted to improve compliance with each of the bundle elements. CLABSI rates and epidemiological data were collected for 10 months before and 24 months after implementation of the bundle and compared in a Poisson regression model. RESULTS: CLABSI rates decreased from 2.25 CLABSIs per 1000 central line days at baseline to 1.79 CLABSIs per 1000 central line days during the intervention period (incidence rate ratio [IRR]: 0.80, P = .58). Secondary analyses indicated CLABSI rates were reduced to 0.81 CLABSIs per 1000 central line days in the second 12 months of the intervention (IRR: 0.36, P = .091). Fifty-nine percent of infections resulted from Gram-positive pathogens, 37% of patients with a CLABSI required central line removal, and patients with Hickman catheters were more likely to have a CLABSI than patients with Infusaports (IRR: 4.62, P = .02). CONCLUSIONS: A best-practice central line maintenance care bundle can be implemented in hospitalized pediatric oncology patients, although long ramp-up times may be necessary to reap maximal benefits. Further research is needed to determine if this CLABSI rate reduction can be sustained and spread.
Underwater Communication in the Baltic Sea Using Iterative Equalization

We introduce a multi-channel soft input/soft output receiver for underwater communication that performs joint iterative channel estimation, linear equalization, and decoding. The transmitted symbols were encoded using a turbo coded bit-sequence. Our method exploits the gain present in the turbo code through a feed-back of soft information from the decoder to the channel estimator and to the equalizer. The use of several receiving hydrophones makes the method more robust to frequency selective or low-SNR channels, or can improve reception in channels with very large delay spreads. We give examples of such channels measured in the Baltic Sea at two different sea trials during 2005 and 2006. Properties like time variations of the channel impulse response or channel Doppler spread are given, as well as decoding examples using our method. It is shown that the multi-channel version of the receiver achieve error free reception of 4000 coded symbols per second up to 60 km through channels featuring very large delay spreads. The maximum transmitter source level used was 180 dB re 1uPa at 1m at the carrier frequency 12 kHz.
Monitoring indoor environments using intelligent mobile sensors

Mobile robots offering services like transportation tasks enter various areas of our daily work-life. In this paper, the authors present a concept for monitoring indoor environments using intelligent mobile robots. The basic components in this concept are the autonomously or semi-autonomously acting mobile robots, which should unburden the staff in their everyday duties. The paper describes both the system architecture based on the blackboard concept, and the structure of the individual modules (agents). As an example the authors describe a world-modeling agent, a path-planning agent and a navigation agent. Moreover, a humanlike and easy to use 3D user interface to control the robots is presented.
Temperature and Precipitation Affect Seasonal Patterns of Dispersing Tobacco Thrips, Frankliniella fusca, and Onion Thrips, Thrips tabaci (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) Caught on Sticky Traps

Abstract Effects of temperature and precipitation on the temporal patterns of dispersing tobacco thrips, Frankliniella fusca, and onion thrips, Thrips tabaci, caught on yellow sticky traps were estimated in central and eastern North Carolina and eastern Virginia from 1997 through 2001. The impact that these environmental factors had on numbers of F. fusca and T. tabaci caught on sticky traps during April and May was determined using stepwise regression analysis of 43 and 38 site-years of aerial trapping data from 21 and 18 different field locations, respectively. The independent variables used in the regression models included degree-days, total precipitation, and the number of days in which precipitation occurred during January through May. Each variable was significant in explaining variation for both thrips species and, in all models, degree-days was the single best explanatory variable. Precipitation had a comparatively greater effect on T. tabaci than F. fusca. The numbers of F. fusca and T. tabaci captured in flight were positively related to degree-days and the number of days with precipitation but negatively related to total precipitation. Combined in a single model, degree-days, total precipitation, and the number of days with precipitation explained 70 and 55% of the total variation in the number of F. fusca captured from 1 April through 10 May and from 1 April through 31 May, respectively. Regarding T. tabaci flights, degree-days, total precipitation, and the number of days with precipitation collectively explained 57 and 63% of the total variation in the number captured from 1 April through 10 May and from 1 April through 31 May, respectively.
Visualising data stories together: Reflections on data journalism education from the Bournemouth University Datalabs Project.

Even hardened journalists can experience psychological strains when covering harrowing news stories of conflict, disaster and human suffering. Over the past 10 years, the incidence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in war correspondents has been well documented and awareness among mainstream news organisations of the dangers to mental health posed by prolonged exposure to such reporting has risen. But how does a group of student journalists – the next generation of news professionals cope under pressure when confronted with a realistic role-play scenario depicting the chaos and personal trauma of a natural disaster? And what are the implications for the learning and teaching of the core skills of journalism and story telling? This paper, based on observation and questioning of a cohort of postgraduate journalism students taking part in a complex exercise built around the 2005 Hurricane Katrina catastrophe, explores two main areas: firstly, the personal experience of students interviewing actors portraying victims and survivors of the hurricane; and secondly their practice
Protecting Against Privacy Compromise and Ballot Stuffing by Eliminating NonDeterminism from End-to-end Voting Schemes

End-to-end voting schemes have been researched significantly over the past two decades and aim to establish voter verifiable elections. Many of these schemes rely on non-deterministic inputs, such as the randomness used in encryption, for several tasks in the voting process. Karlof et al. show that the randomness in a scheme by Neff enables potential malicious subliminal channels. We revist the issue of non-determinism and show that it leads to possible attacks on several end-to-end voting schemes including coercion and ballot stuffing. In particular, we argue that non-determinism in cryptographic voting schemes is problematic in general. In this paper we present a technique for eliminating non-determinism in cryptographic voting protocols. Our approach provides the voter with a proof of deterministically generated pseudorandomness. This requires trust in at least one of the political parties. Our method is general and we discuss its application to several existing voting protocols. As such, our constructions provide probabilistic assurance to the voter that her ballot was created deterministically.
Modeling and simulation of train automatic speed control system based on genetic algorithm

To solve the state transition problems and improve the adaptability, robustness and anti-interference ability, the model of train automatic speed control system is built and a kind of operation control strategy based on genetic algorithm is put forward. Using the theory of Finite State Machine, the state sequencing is analyzed and the speed regulation is studied. Based on the effects of the control algorithm, a series of simulations are implemented and the result shows that the strategy is feasible.