Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Medium Access Control in Vehicle to Roadside Networks

Traditional wireless Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols suffer from a number of drawbacks when used in vehicle to roadside networks. This paper proposes an efficient MAC protocol that addresses a number of critical aspects required for MAC protocols for vehicle to roadside networks including elimination of hidden terminals, prioritized and fast handoff, fairness among nodes and optimal choice of backoff parameters. An information theoretic lower bound is derived for the MAC layer overhead associated with node reassociations. Simulation results are used to demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed protocol in terms of the throughput and packet latency.
Anthropometric Measurements Usage in Medical Sciences

Morphometry is introduced as quantitative approach to seek information concerning variations and changes in the forms of organisms that described the relationship between the human body and disease. Scientists of all civilization, who existed until today, examined the human body using anthropometric methods. For these reasons, anthropometric data are used in many contexts to screen for or monitor disease. Anthropometry, a branch of morphometry, is the study of the size and shape of the components of biological forms and their variations in populations. Morphometrics can also be defined as the quantitative analysis of biological forms. The field has developed rapidly over the last two decades to the extent that we now distinguish between traditional morphometrics and the more recent geometric morphometrics. Advances in imaging technology have resulted in the protection of a greater amount of morphological information and have permitted the analysis of this information. The oldest and most commonly used of these methods is radiography. With developments in this area, CT and MRI have also been started to be used in screening of the internal organs. Morphometric measurements that are used in medicine, are widely used in the diagnosis and the follow-up and the treatment of the disease, today. In addition, in cosmetology use of these new measurements is increasing every day.
Volumetric modeling of colored pencil drawing

Not only photorealistic rendering but non-photorealistic rendering is considered an important research topic in artistic image synthesis. However, little attention has been given to colored pencil drawing. This paper proposes a volume graphics model for colored pencil drawing. The model consists of three sub-models, which describe in a volumetric fashion, the microstructure of paper, pigment distribution on paper, and pigment redistribution, respectively. The model takes advantage of volumetric offset distance accessibility and line integral convolution, and thus is highly controllable with a small number of parameters. A couple of synthesized color pencil drawing data sets are rendered using an existing volume visualizer to empirically prove that the model is descriptive enough to produce realistic images of colored pencil drawing.
European Conference on Information Systems ( ECIS ) Summer 10-6-2011 CONSIDERING USER ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOUR IN PERSUASIVE SYSTEMS DESIGN : THE 3 DRAB MODEL

As in any technology systems, analysis and design issues are among the fundamental challenges in persuasive technology. Currently, the Persuasive Systems Development (PSD) framework is considered to be the most comprehensive framework for designing and evaluation of persuasive systems. However, the framework is limited in terms of providing detailed information which can lead to selection of appropriate techniques depending on the variable nature of users or use over time. In light of this, we propose a model which is intended for analysing and implementing behavioural change in persuasive technology called the 3D-RAB model. The 3D-RAB model represents the three dimensional relationships between attitude towards behaviour, attitude towards change or maintaining a change, and current behaviour, and distinguishes variable levels in a user’s cognitive state. As such it provides a framework which could be used to select appropriate techniques for persuasive technology.
Towards blueprints for network architecture, biophysical dynamics and signal transduction

We review mathematical aspects of biophysical dynamics, signal transduction and network architecture that have been used to uncover functionally significant relations between the dynamics of single neurons and the networks they compose. We focus on examples that combine insights from these three areas to expand our understanding of systems neuroscience. These range from single neuron coding to models of decision making and electrosensory discrimination by networks and populations and also coincidence detection in pairs of dendrites and dynamics of large networks of excitable dendritic spines. We conclude by describing some of the challenges that lie ahead as the applied mathematics community seeks to provide the tools which will ultimately underpin systems neuroscience.
Shallow and Deep Networks Intrusion Detection System: A Taxonomy and Survey

Intrusion detection has attracted a considerable interest from researchers and industries. The community, after many years of research, still faces the problem of building reliable and efficient IDS that are capable of handling large quantities of data, with changing patterns in real time situations. The work presented in this manuscript classifies intrusion detection systems (IDS). Moreover, a taxonomy and survey of shallow and deep networks intrusion detection systems is presented based on previous and current works. This taxonomy and survey reviews machine learning techniques and their performance in detecting anomalies. Feature selection which influences the effectiveness of machine learning (ML) IDS is discussed to explain the role of feature selection in the classification and training phase of ML IDS. Finally, a discussion of the false and true positive alarm rates is presented to help researchers model reliable and efficient machine learning based intrusion detection systems.
Bicaudate ratio as a magnetic resonance imaging marker of brain atrophy in multiple sclerosis.

CONTEXT Brain atrophy has emerged as a useful surrogate marker of disease involvement in multiple sclerosis (MS). The relationship between whole-brain or regional atrophy and cognitive dysfunction is poorly understood. OBJECTIVES To determine whether the bicaudate ratio (BCR)-the minimum intercaudate distance divided by brain width along the same line-is increased in MS and to compare the ability of the BCR, whole-brain atrophy, and other magnetic resonance imaging markers to predict cognitive dysfunction. DESIGN Case-control study. SETTING University-affiliated clinic. PARTICIPANTS Sixty patients with MS and 50 age- and sex-matched control subjects. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Bicaudate ratio, whole-brain atrophy, T2 lesion load, T1 ("black hole") lesion load, and caudate volume were measured quantitatively using fluid-attenuated inversion recovery, T1-weighted, and gradient-echo magnetic resonance imaging scans. Symbol Digit Modalities Test was used to assess cognitive function. RESULTS The BCR (mean [SD]) was higher in patients with MS (0.11 [0.03]) than in controls (0.09 [0.02]) (P<.001), suggesting subcortical atrophy in MS. The BCR was related to total T2 (r = 0.56, P<.001) and T1 (r = 0.40, P<.002) lesion volumes, but not caudate volume in patients with MS. Regression modeling selected BCR (P<.05), but not whole-brain atrophy, T1 or T2 lesion volume, or caudate volume as predictive of Symbol Digit Modalities Test score in patients with MS. CONCLUSIONS The BCR is increased in MS and is more closely associated with cognitive dysfunction than are other magnetic resonance imaging surrogate markers including whole-brain atrophy. Increased BCR is best explained by frontal horn ventricular enlargement due to atrophy of deep frontal subcortical white matter. This highlights the close relationship between subcortical atrophy and cognitive impairment in patients with MS.
Psychophysiological Measurement and Meaning

As Potter and Bolls (2012) rightfully note in the introductory chapter of Psychophysiological Measurement and Meaning: Cognitive and Emotional Processing of Media, the use of psychophysiological measures in communication research has burgeoned in recent years. A cursory glance through the pages of JOBEM over the past 2 decades reveals numerous articles that have employed physiological measures to examine audience processing of and response to content and structural elements within media messages, most prominently within the context of television news (e.g., Fox, Lang, Chung, Lee, Schwartz, & Potter, 2004; Lang, Potter, & Grabe, 2003). Other flagship journals within the discipline including the Journal of Communication and Media Psychology have been equally receptive to research that employs physiological measures to examine psychological processes involved in media consumption. Thus, although perhaps not a dominant approach, the use of physiological measures in the study of audience reception of media content is certainly commonplace. As the use of these measures has become more common, introducing and explaining what they mean to all scholars within the discipline has become more important. To that end, Potter and Bolls’ book has the potential to facilitate this understanding both for students as well as researchers not familiar with this tradition of research. Although Lang’s (1994) edited volume has long served as a useful introduction and review of psychophysiological measures, an up-to-date and comprehensive text that both explains and demystifies these measures was sorely needed. Thus, the book serves as a useful reference both for those with a general interest in
USBee: Air-gap covert-channel via electromagnetic emission from USB

In recent years researchers have demonstrated how attackers could use USB connectors implanted with RF transmitters to exfiltrate data from secure, and even air-gapped, computers (e.g., COTTONMOUTH in the leaked NSA ANT catalog). Such methods require a hardware modification of the USB plug or device, in which a dedicated RF transmitter is embedded. In this paper we present ‘USBee,’ a software that can utilize an unmodified USB device connected to a computer as a RF transmitter. We demonstrate how a software can intentionally generate controlled electromagnetic emissions from the data bus of a USB connector. We also show that the emitted RF signals can be controlled and modulated with arbitrary binary data. We implement a prototype of USBee, and discuss its design and implementation details including signal generation and modulation. We evaluate the transmitter by building a receiver and demodulator using GNU Radio. Our evaluation shows that USBee can be used for transmitting binary data to a nearby receiver at a bandwidth of 20 to 80 BPS (bytes per second).
Changing schools: more than a lick of paint and a well-orchestrated performance?

Creative Partnerships aims to change the ways in which children learn and teachers teach, and to support whole school change. Our research examines how schools take up the `cultural offer' made by Creative Partnerships. In this article, drawing on data from snapshot visits to 40 English schools, we suggest that it has made a difference to school culture and to its meaning-making practices. In many of the schools it has also spread beyond one-off projects to help teachers change their pedagogical approach more generally. We found a consistent trend across the schools towards cross-curricular and integrated approaches which in some cases had also produced structural shifts in the use of space, time, budgets and promotion positions. We raise some concerns about the ways in which performative regimes inhibit what some schools are able to achieve, but also point to challenges for Creative Partnerships relating to assessment, knowledge, and understandings about social justice.
An Approach to Knowledge Transfer in Software Measurement

Being successful in knowledge management is one of the most essential factors in any organization if one wishes to succeed in business in the future. This aspect is emphasized particularly in knowledge intensive organizations, such as software companies. Existing knowledge must be easily available for all and it must be possible to bring new information to the attention of everyone. This article introduces one example of a solution implemented to deal with this challenge. The case study described in this article deals with software engineering measurement and related knowledge collection, distribution and also utilization in practice. This example is one approach to trying to solve the challenges related to both the growing needs for effective knowledge transfer and for enhancing the utilization of measurement in software engineering. Povzetek: Prispevek obravnava meritve programske opreme glede prenosa znanja.
Development and Validation of Scores on a Measure of Six Academic Orientations in College Students

This article describes the development and score validation of a 36-item measure of six academic orientations in college students: structure dependence, creative expression, reading for pleasure, academic efficacy, academic apathy, and mistrust of instructors. Results from three studies indicate that the measuring instrument, the Survey of Academic Orientations (SAO), has six factorially distinct scales (Study 1) whose scores are stable across different semesters, yielding test-retest coefficients that range from . 63 to . 86 (Study 2). Also, each of the six scales relates in expected ways to basic personality traits, yielding validity coefficients of . 30 to . 69 (Study 3). Scores on the six scales are internally consistent, yielding coefficients alpha that range from . 59 to . 85 (Studies 1-3). Scale scores and a summative score of all 36 items, called the Adaptiveness index, are examined for their potential in predicting a variety of important student outcomes.
Qualitative Content Analysis

Der Beitrag beschreibt einen Ansatz systematischer, regelgeleiteter qualitativer Analyse von Text, der methodische Starken der quantitativen Inhaltsanalyse teilweise ubernimmt und zu einem qualitativ orientierten Instrumentarium ausweitet. Dazu werden historische Entwicklungslinien der Inhaltsanalyse aufgezeigt und die Grundlagen der Technik (Analyseeinheiten, Schrittmodelle, Arbeiten mit Kategoriensystemen, Gutekriterien) expliziert. Schlieslich werden an Techniken Qualitativer Inhaltsanalyse die induktive Kategorienentwicklung und die deduktive Kategorienanwendung naher dargestellt. Es wird gezeigt, wo Computerprogramme diese qualitativen Analyseschritte unterstutzen konnen, es werden Ansatzpunkte quantitativer Auswertungsschritte festgemacht und abschliesend die Moglichkeiten und Grenzen des Ansatzes diskutiert. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0002204
The politics of performance assessment: Lessons for higher education?

ABSTRACT Beginning with a typology of the purposes of performance assessment schemes in the public sector, the paper goes on to argue that in practice certain of these purposes have received much more political and organisational support than others. In particular, there has been a tendency in several public services for managerialist schemes to develop which place prime emphasis on economy and efficiency. This type of scheme may actually reduce the chances of achieving other kinds of objectives, particularly those concerned with effectiveness, professional development and collegiality. There has also been extensive neglect of the potential role of consumers in performance assessment. This analysis is then carried forward to a more detailed examination of different mechanisms by which assessment and appraisal schemes are implemented. Here, too, the tension between ‘top-down˚s efficiency schemes and professional development is clear. In conclusion an attempt is made to examine the implications of these sch.
Inactivation of Anopheles gambiae Glutathione Transferase ε2 by Epiphyllocoumarin

Glutathione transferases (GSTs) are part of a major family of detoxifying enzymes that can catalyze the reductive dehydrochlorination of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). The delta and epsilon classes of insect GSTs have been implicated in conferring resistance to this insecticide. In this study, the inactivation of Anopheles gambiae GSTε2 by epiphyllocoumarin (Tral 1) was investigated. Recombinant AgGSTε2 was expressed in Escherichia coli cells containing a pET3a-AGSTε2 plasmid and purified by affinity chromatography. Tral 1 was shown to inactivate GSTε2 both in a time-dependent manner and in a concentration-dependent manner. The half-life of GSTε2 in the presence of 25 μM ethacrynic acid (ETA) was 22 minutes and with Tral 1 was 30 minutes, indicating that Tral 1 was not as efficient as ETA as an inactivator. The inactivation parameters k inact and K I were found to be 0.020 ± 0.001 min−1 and 7.5 ± 2.1 μM, respectively, after 90 minutes of incubation. Inactivation of GSTε2 by Tral 1 implies that Tral 1 covalently binds to this enzyme in vitro and would be expected to exhibit time-dependent effects on the enzyme in vivo. Tral 1, therefore, would produce irreversible effects when used together with dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) in malaria control programmes where resistance is mediated by GSTs.
Speckle Reduction in 3D Optical Coherence Tomography of Retina by A-Scan Reconstruction

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a micrometer-scale, cross-sectional imaging modality for biological tissue. It has been widely used for retinal imaging in ophthalmology. Speckle noise is problematic in OCT. A raw OCT image/volume usually has very poor image quality due to speckle noise, which often obscures the retinal structures. Overlapping scan is often used for speckle reduction in a 2D line-scan. However, it leads to an increase of the data acquisition time. Therefore, it is unpractical in 3D scan as it requires a much longer data acquisition time. In this paper, we propose a new method for speckle reduction in 3D OCT. The proposed method models each A-scan as the sum of underlying clean A-scan and noise. Based on the assumption that neighboring A-scans are highly similar in the retina, the method reconstructs each A-scan from its neighboring scans. In the method, the neighboring A-scans are aligned/registered to the A-scan to be reconstructed and form a matrix together. Then low rank matrix completion using bilateral random projection is utilized to iteratively estimate the noise and recover the underlying clean A-scan. The proposed method is evaluated through the mean square error, peak signal to noise ratio and the mean structure similarity index using high quality line-scan images as reference. Experimental results show that the proposed method performs better than other methods. In addition, the subsequent retinal layer segmentation also shows that the proposed method makes the automatic retinal layer segmentation more accurate. The technology can be embedded into current OCT machines to enhance the image quality for visualization and subsequent analysis such as retinal layer segmentation.
The positive management of redundancy survivors: issues and lessons

Examines the concerns of survivors who remain in organizations following redundancies. Categorizes the issues which arise from these concerns and uncertainties into three categories: issues which arise following notification of forthcoming redundancies; issues arising from the notification of those affected; and issues following notification and termination of contract. Based on in‐depth interviews with senior human resource practitioners in 40 organizations, utilizes organizational practices and learning to explore the management of these issues. Recognizes the relationship between choice of redundancy strategy and the nature of the issues which arise. Argues that while organizations may be concerned with the needs of redundant staff, this will be insufficient to address the concerns and uncertainties of survivors. Also evaluates organizational practices aimed at building survivors′ commitment in the longer term. Argues that while organizations are attempting to recast their culture and their employment .
Cognitive and Neuroplasticity Mechanisms by Which Congenital or Early Blindness May Confer a Protective Effect Against Schizophrenia

Several authors have noted that there are no reported cases of people with schizophrenia who were born blind or who developed blindness shortly after birth, suggesting that congenital or early (C/E) blindness may serve as a protective factor against schizophrenia. By what mechanisms might this effect operate? Here, we hypothesize that C/E blindness offers protection by strengthening cognitive functions whose impairment characterizes schizophrenia, and by constraining cognitive processes that exhibit excessive flexibility in schizophrenia. After briefly summarizing evidence that schizophrenia is fundamentally a cognitive disorder, we review areas of perceptual and cognitive function that are both impaired in the illness and augmented in C/E blindness, as compared to healthy sighted individuals. We next discuss: (1) the role of neuroplasticity in driving these cognitive changes in C/E blindness; (2) evidence that C/E blindness does not confer protective effects against other mental disorders; and (3) evidence that other forms of C/E sensory loss (e.g., deafness) do not reduce the risk of schizophrenia. We conclude by discussing implications of these data for designing cognitive training interventions to reduce schizophrenia-related cognitive impairment, and perhaps to reduce the likelihood of the development of the disorder itself.
Fingerprinting the diseased prostate: Associations between BPH and prostate cancer

Two of the most common diseases which occur in ageing men relate to their prostate. BPH and prostate cancer are prevalent diseases which have an impact on most men as they age. The advent of gene expression analysis has provided an opportunity to examine these diseases in a novel fashion. These analyses, to date, have revealed associations between these two diseases which have not been previously identified. These commonalities include global genetic changes which occur throughout the prostates in individuals with these diseases. Understanding the fingerprints of these diseases is providing novel markers and treatment strategies for both BPH and prostate cancer. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Reporter Antigen Popliteal Lymph Node Assay

Many chemicals, including drugs and environmental pollutants, may have the intrinsic capacity to stimulate or dysregulate immune responses. These responses may create considerable problems for exposed subjects in terms of development of autoimmunity or hypersensitivity reactions. The popliteal lymph node assay (PLNA) provides a suitable tool to assess the immunostimulating potential of chemicals and might be a potential candidate as a screening tool in immunotoxicological hazard identification. The use of so‐called reporter antigens (RA) in this assay additionally enables differentiation between immunosensitizing (sensitizers), immunostimulating (irritants), and innocent chemicals. In the RA‐PLNA, the compound of interest is injected into the hind footpad together with a nonsensitizing dose of the RA. After 6 to 8 days, RA‐specific responses are monitored in the draining PLN by measuring RA‐specific antibody formation, cytokine secretion, and shifts in immune cell numbers. Hence, this simple and straightforward assay provides immunologically relevant information about the immunomodulating properties of a chemical.