Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using FLOW to Improve Communication of Requirements in Globally Distributed Software Projects

Effective communication of requirements is essential in all software projects. In distributed projects communication faces even more and bigger challenges due to the narrow communication channels that are available. Applying information theory and information flow concepts as provided by FLOW to process improvement can help to overcome challenges associated with communication of requirements in global software projects. We participated in a software project distributed over three locations in three time zones. To test the feasibility of our FLOW perspective we analyzed the projects information flows. We found communication problems that are typical in a global context. Based on FLOW theory we developed three new suggestions to overcome these problems. Finally, we present a measurement approach that can be used to evaluate our suggestions in future global projects.
Aquatic insect ecophysiological traits reveal phylogenetically based differences in dissolved cadmium susceptibility

We used a phylogenetically based comparative approach to evaluate the potential for physiological studies to reveal patterns of diversity in traits related to susceptibility to an environmental stressor, the trace metal cadmium (Cd). Physiological traits related to Cd bioaccumulation, compartmentalization, and ultimately susceptibility were measured in 21 aquatic insect species representing the orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera. We mapped these experimentally derived physiological traits onto a phylogeny and quantified the tendency for related species to be similar (phylogenetic signal). All traits related to Cd bioaccumulation and susceptibility exhibited statistically significant phylogenetic signal, although the signal strength varied among traits. Conventional and phylogenetically based regression models were compared, revealing great variability within orders but consistent, strong differences among insect families. Uptake and elimination rate constants were positively correlated among species, but only when effects of body size and phylogeny were incorporated in the analysis. Together, uptake and elimination rates predicted dramatic Cd bioaccumulation differences among species that agreed with field-based measurements. We discovered a potential tradeoff between the ability to eliminate Cd and the ability to detoxify it across species, particularly mayflies. The best-fit regression models were driven by phylogenetic parameters (especially differences among families) rather than functional traits, suggesting that it may eventually be possible to predict a taxon's physiological performance based on its phylogenetic position, provided adequate physiological information is available for close relatives. There appears to be great potential for evolutionary physiological approaches to augment our understanding of insect responses to environmental stressors in nature.
Efficient Monitoring of Untrusted Kernel-Mode Execution

Recent malware instances execute completely in the kernel as drivers; they do not contain any user-level malicious processes. This design evades the system call monitoring used by many software security solutions, including malware analyzers and host-based intrusion detectors that track only user-level processes. To trace the behavior of kernel malware instances, we design and implement a hypervisor-based system called Gateway that monitors kernel APIs invoked by drivers. Gateway creates a hardened, non-bypassable monitoring interface by isolating drivers in an address space separate from the kernel. To overcome the performance degradation introduced by switches between these separate address spaces, our design rewrites binary kernel and driver code at runtime and generates new code on demand to optimize the address space transition speed. Our experimental measurements show performance overheads of 10% or better, with many overheads less than 1%. Our security evaluation shows that Gateway is able to monitor all kernel APIs invoked by malicious drivers across its non-bypassable interface.
A 5-level cascaded hybrid multilevel inverter for interfacing with renewable energy resources

A 5-level cascaded hybrid multilevel inverter for interfacing with renewable energy resources is developed. The objective of this research is to propose an alternative topology of hybrid cascaded multilevel inverter applications. The modified PWM technique is also developed to reduce switching losses. Also, the proposed topology can reduce the number of required power switches compared to a traditional cascaded multilevel inverter. PSIM (PowerSim) and Simulink/MATLAB are used to simulate the circuit operation and control signal. The 3-kW prototype is developed. The results show that this alternative topology can be applied for high power applications as a multilevel inverter.
Morphofunctional and Biochemical Approaches for Studying Mitochondrial Changes during Myoblasts Differentiation

This study describes mitochondrial behaviour during the C2C12 myoblast differentiation program and proposes a proteomic approach to mitochondria integrated with classical morphofunctional and biochemical analyses. Mitochondrial ultrastructure variations were determined by transmission electron microscopy; mitochondrial mass and membrane potential were analysed by Mitotracker Green and JC-1 stains and by epifluorescence microscope. Expression of PGC1α, NRF1α, and Tfam genes controlling mitochondrial biogenesis was studied by real-time PCR. The mitochondrial functionality was tested by cytochrome c oxidase activity and COXII expression. Mitochondrial proteomic profile was also performed. These assays showed that mitochondrial biogenesis and activity significantly increase in differentiating myotubes. The proteomic profile identifies 32 differentially expressed proteins, mostly involved in oxidative metabolism, typical of myotubes formation. Other notable proteins, such as superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), a cell protection molecule, and voltage-dependent anion-selective channel protein (VDAC1) involved in the mitochondria-mediated apoptosis, were found to be regulated by the myogenic process. The integration of these approaches represents a helpful tool for studying mitochondrial dynamics, biogenesis, and functionality in comparative surveys on mitochondrial pathogenic or senescent satellite cells.
Augmented exergaming: increasing exercise duration in novices

Engaging people in exercise is vital for the health of the population. Health issues such as obesity are significant ongoing concerns for governments and society across the world, which can be improved through increasing the exercise activities of the population. The problem of lack of motivation for and engagement in exercise is well known, and so identifying techniques to improve engagement in exercise activities is worthy of investigation. This project reports on an initiative designed to increase both the duration of exercise activity and the intensity of exercise activity, through a gamified exercise solution. Preliminary results indicate that augmenting traditional exercise equipment with gamified elements can increase the time spent exercising, when compared to non-gamified exercise equipment.
Changes in glial K+ currents with decreased extracellular volume in developing rat white matter

Whole cell patch‐clamp recordings of K+ currents from oligodendrocyte precursors in 10‐day‐old rats (P10) and, following myelination, in mature oligodendrocytes from 20‐day‐old rats (P20) were correlated with extracellular space (ECS) diffusion parameters measured by the local diffusion of iontophoretically injected tetramethylammonium ions (TMA+). The aim of this study was to find an explanation for the changes in glial currents that occur with myelination. Oligodendrocyte precursors (P10) in slices from corpus callosum were characterized by the presence of A‐type K+ currents, delayed and inward rectifier currents, and lack of tail currents after the offset of a voltage jump. Mature oligodendrocytes in corpus callosum slices from P20 rats were characterized by passive, decaying currents and large tail currents after the offset of a voltage jump. Measurements of the reversal potential for the tail currents indicate that they result from increases in [K+]e by an average of 32 mM during a 20 msec 100 mV voltage step. Concomitant with the change in oligodendrocyte electrophysiological behavior after myelination there is a decrease in the ECS of the corpus callosum. ECS volume decreases from 36% (P9–10) to 25% (P20–21) of total tissue volume. ECS tortuosity λ = (D/ADC)0.5, where D is the free diffusion coefficient and ADC is the apparent diffusion coefficient of TMA+ in the brain, increases as measured perpendicular to the axons from 1.53 ± 0.02 (n = 6, mean ± SEM) to 1.70 ± 0.02 (n = 6). TMA+ non‐specific uptake (k′) was significantly larger at P20 (5.2 ± 0.6 × 10−3s−1, n = 6) than at P10 (3.5 ± 0.4 × 10−3s−1, n = 6). It can be concluded that membrane potential changes in mature oligodendrocytes are accompanied by rapid changes in the K+ gradient resulting from K+ fluxes across the glial membrane. As a result of the reduced extracellular volume and increased tortuosity, the membrane fluxes produce larger changes in [K+]e in the more mature myelinated corpus callosum than before myelination. These conclusions also account for differences between membrane currents in cells in slices compared to those in tissue culture where the ECS is essentially infinite. The size and geometry of the ECS influence the membrane current patterns of glial cells and may have consequences for the role of glial cells in spatial buffering. J. Neurosci. Res. 49:98–106, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss Inc.
Executive Function, Working Memory, Perceptual-Motor Skills, and Speech Perception in Normal-Hearing Children: Some Preliminary Findings 1

Speech perception involves a number of complex cognitive processes. Previous work has suggested that executive function, working memory, and perceptualmotor skills play a role in children’s language development. In order to further investigate this relationship, we evaluated the correlations between perception of degraded speech, which represents an approximation of the auditory signal received by a cochlear implant user, with several tasks involving executive function, working memory, and sensory-motor function. Our data revealed that age and performance on two tasks, one representing executive function and one representing perceptual-motor skills, were significantly correlated with children’s perception of highly degraded speech. Moreover, correlations between each of these tasks and the perception of degraded speech remained strong and significant even when the effects of age were partialled out. These results suggest that processes attributed to executive function, such as attention, planning, motor control, hand-eye coordination, and problem solving, underlie spoken language processing and its development. The present findings with normal-hearing, typicallydeveloping children provide an initial benchmark for more detailed investigation of individual differences in performance and audiologic outcome among profoundly deaf children who use cochlear implants.
The Jinan Chinese Learner Corpus

We present the Jinan Chinese Learner Corpus, a large collection of L2 Chinese texts produced by learners that can be used for educational tasks. The present work introduces the data and provides a detailed description. Currently, the corpus contains approximately 6 million Chinese characters written by students from over 50 different L1 backgrounds. This is a large-scale corpus of learner Chinese texts which is freely available to researchers either through a web interface or as a set of raw texts. The data can be used in NLP tasks including automatic essay grading, language transfer analysis and error detection and correction. It can also be used in applied and corpus linguistics to support Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research and the development of pedagogical resources. Practical applications of the data and future directions are discussed.
Rapid host adaptation by extensive recombination

Experimental investigations into virus recombination can provide valuable insights into the biochemical mechanisms and the evolutionary value of this fundamental biological process. Here, we describe an experimental scheme for studying recombination that should be applicable to any recombinogenic viruses amenable to the production of synthetic infectious genomes. Our approach is based on differences in fitness that generally exist between synthetic chimaeric genomes and the wild-type viruses from which they are constructed. In mixed infections of defective reciprocal chimaeras, selection strongly favours recombinant progeny genomes that recover a portion of wild-type fitness. Characterizing these evolved progeny viruses can highlight both important genetic fitness determinants and the contribution that recombination makes to the evolution of their natural relatives. Moreover, these experiments supply precise information about the frequency and distribution of recombination breakpoints, which can shed light on the mechanistic processes underlying recombination. We demonstrate the value of this approach using the small single-stranded DNA geminivirus, maize streak virus (MSV). Our results show that adaptive recombination in this virus is extremely efficient and can yield complex progeny genomes comprising up to 18 recombination breakpoints. The patterns of recombination that we observe strongly imply that the mechanistic processes underlying rolling circle replication are the prime determinants of recombination breakpoint distributions found in MSV genomes sampled from nature.
Research on Pretreatment of Questions Based on Large-scale Real Questions Set

Aiming at the set of large-scale real questions collected from the question-answering system based on community, a novel pretreatment method of questions is put forward. The method uses KNN-based active learning algorithm to train the classifier, and uses the neighborhood category system to classify the questions efficiently. On this basis, the classified set of questions is divided into equivalence classes so that the semantically related questions are got together in combination with statistical information, semantic information and subject information based on the LDA model. The final experimental results show the effectiveness of the methods proposed.
Enhancement of Biofilm Formation on Pyrite by Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans

Bioleaching is the mobilization of metal cations from insoluble ores by microorganisms. Biofilms can enhance this process. Since Sulfobacillus often appears in leaching heaps or reactors, this genus has aroused attention. In this study, biofilm formation and subsequent pyrite dissolution by the Gram-positive, moderately thermophilic acidophile Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans were investigated. Five strategies, including adjusting initial pH, supplementing an extra energy source or ferric ions, as well as exchanging exhausted medium with fresh medium, were tested for enhancement of its biofilm formation. The results show that regularly exchanging exhausted medium leads to a continuous biofilm development on pyrite. By this way, multiply layered biofilms were observed on pyrite slices, while only monolayer biofilms were visible on pyrite grains. In addition, biofilms were proven to be responsible for pyrite leaching in the early stages.
TNFα Signaling Regulates Cystic Epithelial Cell Proliferation through Akt/mTOR and ERK/MAPK/Cdk2 Mediated Id2 Signaling

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) is present in cyst fluid and promotes cyst growth in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). However, the cross-talk between TNFα and PKD associated signaling pathways remains elusive. In this study, we found that stimulation of renal epithelial cells with TNFα or RANKL (receptor activator of NF-κB ligand), a member of the TNFα cytokine family, activated either the PI3K pathway, leading to AKT and mTOR mediated the increase of Id2 protein, or MAPK and Cdk2 to induce Id2 nuclear translocation. The effects of TNFα/RANKL on increasing Id2 protein and its nuclear translocation caused significantly decreased mRNA and protein levels of the Cdk inhibitor p21, allowing increased cell proliferation. TNFα levels increase in cystic kidneys in response to macrophage infiltration and thus might contribute to cyst growth and enlargement during the progression of disease. As such, this study elucidates a novel mechanism for TNFα signaling in regulating cystic renal epithelial cell proliferation in ADPKD.
Conceptualising conflicts between student participation and other rights and interests

ABSTRACT This paper delineates the conflicts that can arise between student participation and other rights and interests and presents a model that conceptualises these conflicts. It fills a gap in the developing literature on participation rights in education, which has yet to systematically address the possible ramifications of practices that implement these rights. The paper describes how students’ participation may constrain various other children’s rights: the right not to participate, not to be discriminated against, and to be protected from violence and abuse. In addition, it discusses possible clashes between the one-size-fits-all model of student participation and the rights of children and parents to culturally adaptable education. The paper also analyses how neoliberal practices of participation, such as high-stake student perception surveys, may undermine the social interest to empower teachers, which is intertwined with children’s best interests and their right to education.
Visual anomaly detection from small samples for mobile robots

We propose a novel method of visual anomaly detection for mobile robots in daily real-life settings. Visual anomaly detection using mobile robots is important for security systems or simply for gathering information. However, this task is challenging for two reasons. First, because the number of observed images sampled at the same location is small, anomaly detection systems cannot use standard statistical methods. Second, anomalies must be detected in the presence of other continuous, ambient changes in the visual scene, such as changes in lighting from morning to night. Regarding the former problem, we develop and apply an analysis-by-synthesis-based anomaly detection method for mobile robots. For the latter, we propose a novel definition of anomaly that uses observed samples at other locations to filter out ambient changes that should be ignored by the system. Experimental results demonstrate that our method can detect anomalies from small samples in the presence of ambient changes, which could not be detected by conventional methods.
How can you capture cultural dynamics?

Cross-cultural comparison is a critical method by which we can examine the interaction between culture and psychological processes. However, comparative methods tend to overlook cultural dynamics – the formation, maintenance, and transformation of cultures over time. The present article gives a brief overview of four different types of research designs that have been used to examine cultural dynamics in the literature: (1) cross-temporal methods that trace medium- to long-term changes in a culture; (2) cross-generational methods that explore medium-term implications of cultural transmission; (3) experimental simulation methods that investigate micro-level mechanisms of cultural dynamics; and (4) formal models and computer simulation methods often used to investigate long-term and macro-level implications of micro-level mechanisms. These methods differ in terms of level of analysis for which they are designed (micro vs. macro-level), scale of time for which they are typically used (short-, medium-, or long-term), and direction of inference (deductive vs. empirical method) that they imply. The paper describes examples of these methods, discuss their strengths and weaknesses, and point to their complementarity in inquiries about cultural change. Because cultural dynamics research is about meaning over time, issues deriving from interpretation of meaning and temporal distance between researchers and objects of inquiry can pose threats to the validity of the research and its findings. The methodological question about hermeneutic circle is recalled and further inquiries are encouraged.
From 3D Sensing to Printing

Three-dimensional (3D) sensing and printing technologies have reshaped our world in recent years. In this article, a comprehensive overview of techniques related to the pipeline from 3D sensing to printing is provided. We compare the latest 3D sensors and 3D printers and introduce several sensing, postprocessing, and printing techniques available from both commercial deployments and published research. In addition, we demonstrate several devices, software, and experimental results of our related projects to further elaborate details of this process. A case study is conducted to further illustrate the possible tradeoffs during the process of this pipeline. Current progress, future research trends, and potential risks of 3D technologies are also discussed.
Structure-Aware Visualization of Text Corpora

Trying to comprehend the structure and content of large text corpora can be a daunting and often time consuming task. In this paper, we introduce a novel tool that exploits the structural properties for extracting and visualizing the underlying topics in a given dataset. To this end, we make use of a combination of latent topic analysis, discriminative feature selection applied on top of the category structure of corpora, and various ranking methods in order to extract the most representative topics for a given corpus. The visual moniker to depict the outcome of these methods can be chosen based on the context. Such visual representations can be useful for depicting trends, identifying ``hot'' topics, and discovering interesting patterns in the underlying data. As applications, we create example representations for a variety of corpora obtained from conference proceedings, movie summaries, and newsgroup postings. Our user experiments demonstrate the viability of our approach, with a flower-like visualization inspired by the ``wheel of emotion'', for generating high quality representative topics and for unearthing hidden structures and connections in large document corpora.