Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Conceptualization and Evaluation of Component-Based Testing Unified with Visual GUI Testing: An Empirical Study

In this paper we present the results of a two-phase empirical study where we evaluate and compare the applicability of automated component-based Graphical User Interface (GUI) testing and Visual GUI Testing (VGT) in the tools GUITAR and a prototype tool we refer to as VGT GUITAR. First, GUI mutation operators are defined to create 18 faulty versions of an application on which both tools are then applied in an experiment. Results from 456 test case executions in each tool show, with statistical significance, that the component-based approach reports more false negatives than VGT for acceptance tests but that the VGT approach reports more false positives for system tests. Second, a case study is performed with larger open source applications, ranging from 8,803-55,006 lines of code. Results show that GUITAR is applicable in practice but has some challenges related to GUI component states. The results also show that VGT GUITAR is currently not applicable in practice and therefore requires further research and development. Based on the study's results we present areas of future work for both test approaches and conclude that the approaches have different benefits and drawbacks. The component-based approach is robust and executes tests faster than the VGT approach, with a factor of 3. However, the VGT approach can perform visual assertions and is perceived more flexible than the component- based approach. These conclusions let us hypothesize that a combination of the two approaches is the most suitable in practice and therefore warrants future research.
Design considerations for ultra-low energy wireless microsensor nodes

This tutorial paper examines architectural and circuit design techniques for a microsensor node operating at power levels low enough to enable the use of an energy harvesting source. These requirements place demands on all levels of the design. We propose architecture for achieving the required ultra-low energy operation and discuss the circuit techniques necessary to implement the system. Dedicated hardware implementations improve the efficiency for specific functionality, and modular partitioning permits fine-grained optimization and power-gating. We describe modeling and operating at the minimum energy point in the subthreshold region for digital circuits. We also examine approaches for improving the energy efficiency of analog components like the transmitter and the ADC. A microsensor node using the techniques we describe can function in an energy-harvesting scenario.
Effect of epinephrine on glucose disposal during exercise in humans: role of muscle glycogen.

This study examined the effect of epinephrine on glucose disposal during moderate exercise when glycogenolytic flux was limited by low preexercise skeletal muscle glycogen availability. Six male subjects cycled for 40 min at 59 +/- 1% peak pulmonary O2 uptake on two occasions, either without (CON) or with (EPI) epinephrine infusion starting after 20 min of exercise. On the day before each experimental trial, subjects completed fatiguing exercise and then maintained a low carbohydrate diet to lower muscle glycogen. Muscle samples were obtained after 20 and 40 min of exercise, and glucose kinetics were measured using [6,6-2H]glucose. Exercise increased plasma epinephrine above resting concentrations in both trials, and plasma epinephrine was higher (P < 0.05) during the final 20 min in EPI compared with CON. Muscle glycogen levels were low after 20 min of exercise (CON, 117 +/- 25; EPI, 122 +/- 20 mmol/kg dry matter), and net muscle glycogen breakdown and muscle glucose 6-phosphate levels during the subsequent 20 min of exercise were unaffected by epinephrine infusion. Plasma glucose increased with epinephrine infusion (i.e., 20-40 min), and this was due to a decrease in glucose disposal (R(d)) (40 min: CON, 33.8 +/- 3; EPI, 20.9 +/- 4.9 micromol. kg(-1). min(-1), P < 0.05), because the exercise-induced rise in glucose rate of appearance was similar in the trials. These results show that glucose R(d) during exercise is reduced by elevated plasma epinephrine, even when muscle glycogen availability and utilization are low. This suggests that the effect of epinephrine does not appear to be mediated by increased glucose 6-phosphate, secondary to enhanced muscle glycogenolysis, but may be linked to a direct effect of epinephrine on sarcolemmal glucose transport.
Cloning and expression of translation elongation factor 2 (EF-2) in zebrafish

We have identified a developmentally regulated gene translation elongation factor 2 (EF-2) in zebrafish (GenBank Accession No. AAQ91234). Analysis of DNA sequence of zebrafish EF-2 shows that the 2826 bp cDNA spans an open reading frame from nucleotide 55 to 2631 and encodes a protein of 858 amino acids. It shares an identity of 92, 93, 93, 92, 79 and 80% in amino acid sequence to human, mouse, Chinese hamster, Gallus gullus, C. elegans and Drosophila EF-2, respectively. Zebrafish EF-2 protein has 16 conserved domains, GTP-binding domain is found in the NH2 terminus, and the ADP-ribosylation domain locates at the COOH terminus. Whole mount in situ hybridization on zebrafish embryos shows that the transcripts of EF-2 gene are detected during the early development of zebrafish embryo and constantly change from 5-somite stage to protruding-mouth stage. It expresses strongly throughout envelope at 5-somite stage. Then the stained cells concentrate strongly in the eyes, brain and muscle tissue. From prim-25 stage the stained cells only appear strongly in the lens and the anterior portion of the cerebellum.
Backward Plan Construction under Partial Observability Jussi Rintanen

We present algorithms for partially observable planning that iteratively compute belief states with an increasing distance to the goal states. The algorithms handle nondeterministic operators, but restrict to problem instances with a finite upper bound on execution length, that is plans without loops. We discuss an implementation of the algorithms which uses binary decision diagrams for representing belief states. It turns out that generation of new belief states from existing ones, corresponding to the use of conditional branches in the plans, can very naturally be represented as standard operations on binary decision diagrams. We also give a preliminary experimental evaluation of the algorithms.
Social Media account linkage using user-generated geo-location data

Since cyber offenders often create multiple accounts on different Social Media Platforms (SMPs) to serve their disparate malicious intentions, law enforcement agency investigators often encounter the task of recognizing all the accounts used by the same person across SMPs, i.e., account linkage (AL). Although a number of techniques have been proposed for AL, their performance may be degraded by factors such as information asymmetry, poor data quality, data unavailability, as well as application scope limitation. In this paper, we solve AL in an unsupervised manner by utilizing user-generated geo-location data in SMPs, which is more robust than common clues used in existing techniques. A co-clustering-based AL framework is proposed in which account clusterings in temporal and spatial dimensions are carried out synchronously and enhance the results of each other. Experiments carried out on a real-world dataset demonstrate the feasibility and validity of the proposed framework.
Study of Chaos Control of a Dual-Ring Erbium-Doped Fiber Laser Using Parameter Method

Abstract This paper aims to study single-parameter and dual-parameter chaos control of a dual-ring erbium-doped fiber laser. We present the control model to pressure chaotic behavior of the laser to a periodic state or multi-periodic states by introducing a periodic mutational signal to adjust the losses of dual ring. When the loss of single ring is shifted between two different levels, the laser behaviors can be deduced to two single-period states, while two rings can emit cyclic pulses. We find a control-locking regime and discuss its frequency characteristic of the laser. When another signal is taken to control to perform on the loss, the laser can be deduced to show a period-2 state, a period-3 state, period-4 state and other multi-periodic states. And we find dual-dynamic controlled regimes, in which, one ring of the laser can be produced to show a periodic state while another ring presents a period-3 state. We find also a dual-period regime or a period-4 regime. When both the losses of dual ring are adjusted by shifting between different levels, the laser can produce a period-4, a period-6 and other multi-periodic states. The result indicates that chaos control of a dual-ring erbium-doped fiber laser can be realized using the single-parameter and dual-parameter methods.
A Service-Oriented Approach to Document-Centric Situational Collaboration Processes

Agile networked and service-centric organizations increasingly rely on organizational processes of an open collaborative nature that are not well supported by standard information technology. Enterprise documents and service computing are orthogonal technologies that provide promising features to amend this situation, as regards human interaction, as well as situational control structures, but their paradigms cannot easily be integrated. In this paper we illustrate open document-driven collaborations and discuss their requirements. Furthermore, we introduce a service-oriented approach to integrating enterprise documents within SOA landscapes leveraging service mashups for situational document collaboration.
Lateral-torsional buckling capacity of Hybrid Double-I-Box Beams: A numerical approach

In this article, a parametric study on the lateral-torsional buckling performance of thin-walled cold-formed steel Hybrid Double-I-Box Beams through numerical analyses has been presented. These built-up beams have distinctive cross-section geometry; the presence of more section modulus at the flanges provides high resistance to flexural bending and the closed-box portion offers high stiffness to resist torsion and lateral buckling. Therefore, these beams can be used for longer spans. The nonlinear finite element analysis was performed using ABAQUS software. All the beams were modelled as ideal finite element models adopting simply supported boundary conditions and loads were applied as end moments. To acquire a large number of data, three varying parameters were considered namely, hybrid parameter ratio, that is, yield strength of flange steel to web steel (1.0, 1.3, 1.5 and 1.7); ratio of breadth to depth of the beam (4/6, 5/6, 6/6 and 7/6); and length of the beam (1.0, 2.5, 5.0, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 in m). The thickness of both the flanges and the webs were 2.5 mm. All these parameters alter the overall slenderness of the members. It is shown that at larger spans, Hybrid Double-I-Box Beams experience lateral buckling. The results obtained from the numerical studies were plotted on nondimensional moment versus nondimensional slenderness graph. These results were compared with the predictions using effective width method design rules specified in Euro codes EN 3-1-3 and buckling curve-d of EN 3-1-1, which was originally adopted lateral-torsional buckling capacities of hot-rolled steel ‘I’ sections, and the adequacy is checked. It was found that Hybrid Double-I-Box Beams has higher lateral-torsional buckling capacity than common ‘I’ or box sections. Hence, a new simplified design equation was proposed for determining lateral-torsional buckling capacity of Hybrid Double-I-Box Beams.
Durability-Related Properties of Concrete Made with Chloride-Contaminated Materials

Because sustainability issues have a primary importance in the construction field, the use of alternative raw materials in concrete production has been widely studied in recent years, especially considering the fact that freshwater is becoming as precious a resource as virgin stones, which are used as aggregates for both concrete and cement production. However, for the durability of reinforced concrete structures, a negligible chloride content in the raw materials should be guaranteed in order to avoid a premature corrosion initiation on reinforcement. Within the Infravation project SEACON, the possible use of recycled aggregate from salt-contaminated concrete structures, seawater- and chloride-contaminated cement have been studied in combination with corrosion-resistant reinforcement for durable concrete structures. Specifically, the experimental study presented in this article is aimed at investigating the effects of chlorides in the raw materials on the durability-related properties of concrete. To this purpose, different concrete mixtures with chloride-contaminated materials were tested in terms of microstructural analysis, mechanical performance, and transport properties (such as compressive strength, capillary water absorption, chlorides, and carbonation penetration). The characterization of concretes showed that the use of chloride-contaminated materials did not negatively influence the early age microstructural features of the hardened cement paste, except for the presence of chlorides in the cement paste. Overall, chloride contamination did not affect the penetration of the carbonation and the capillary absorption, whereas an influence was observed in the resistance to chloride penetration.
The Hedging Performance in New Agricultural Futures Markets: A Note.

Agribusiness companies and farmers must cope with the risk of price changes when buying or selling agricultural commodities. Hedging price risk with agricultural commodity futures offers a way of minimizing this risk. Information is needed on the hedging effectiveness of these futures. Because many new agricultural futures markets, especially those in Europe, are thin markets, hedgers face liquidity risks which have to be taken into account when evaluating hedging effectiveness. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Determination of Distortions and Sizes of Cellulose Nanocrystallites

As is known, natural cellulose of various origin is a semi-crystalline polysaccharide, which contains 50-80% of crystalline phase in a form of rod-like nanocrystallites of different sizes [1]. Knowledge of sizes of nanocrystallites is very important because it allows clarify the supra molecular organization of cellulose fibers and structure of cellulosic products such as nano crystalline particles, nanofibrils, etc. There are several methods for measuring the size of the nanocrystallites: electron microscopy (EM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), wide-angle Xray scattering (WAXS), etc. Besides the average length of crystallites can be estimated from level-off degree of polymerization (P) of the hydrolyzed cellulose samples [2, 3]. The results of EM, AFM, P and other methods showed that nanocrystallites of natural cellulose have rodlike shape, 3-15 nm in transverse direction and 100-500 nm in longitudinal direction [4-6].
FolderPredictor: Reducing the cost of reaching the right folder

Helping computer users rapidly locate files in their folder hierarchies is a practical research problem involving both intelligent systems and user interface design. This article reports on FolderPredictor, a software system that can reduce the cost of locating files in hierarchical folders. FolderPredictor applies a cost-sensitive prediction algorithm to the user's previous file access information to predict the next folder that will be accessed. Experimental results show that, on average, FolderPredictor reduces the number of clicks spent on locating a file by 50%. Several variations of the cost-sensitive prediction algorithm are discussed. An experimental study shows that the best algorithm among them is a mixture of the most recently used (MRU) folder and the cost-sensitive predictions. Furthermore, FolderPredictor does not require users to adapt to a new interface, but rather meshes with the existing interface for opening files on the Windows platform.
Interactive shape modeling using a skeleton-mesh co-representation

We introduce the Polar-Annular Mesh representation (PAM). A PAM is a mesh-skeleton co-representation designed for the modeling of 3D organic, articulated shapes. A PAM represents a manifold mesh as a partition of polar (triangle fans) and annular (rings of quads) regions. The skeletal topology of a shape is uniquely embedded in the mesh connectivity of a PAM, enabling both surface and skeletal modeling operations, interchangeably and directly on the mesh itself. We develop an algorithm to convert arbitrary triangle meshes into PAMs as well as techniques to simplify PAMs and a method to convert a PAM to a quad-only mesh. We further present a PAM-based multi-touch sculpting application in order to demonstrate its utility as a shape representation for the interactive modeling of organic, articulated figures as well as for editing and posing of pre-existing models.
Progress and Promise of FDG-PET Imaging for Cancer Patient Management and Oncologic Drug Development

2-[18F]Fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) assesses a fundamental property of neoplasia, the Warburg effect. This molecular imaging technique offers a complementary approach to anatomic imaging that is more sensitive and specific in certain cancers. FDG-PET has been widely applied in oncology primarily as a staging and restaging tool that can guide patient care. However, because it accurately detects recurrent or residual disease, FDG-PET also has significant potential for assessing therapy response. In this regard, it can improve patient management by identifying responders early, before tumor size is reduced; nonresponders could discontinue futile therapy. Moreover, a reduction in the FDG-PET signal within days or weeks of initiating therapy (e.g., in lymphoma, non–small cell lung, and esophageal cancer) significantly correlates with prolonged survival and other clinical end points now used in drug approvals. These findings suggest that FDG-PET could facilitate drug development as an early surrogate of clinical benefit. This article reviews the scientific basis of FDG-PET and its development and application as a valuable oncology imaging tool. Its potential to facilitate drug development in seven oncologic settings (lung, lymphoma, breast, prostate, sarcoma, colorectal, and ovary) is addressed. Recommendations include initial validation against approved therapies, retrospective analyses to define the magnitude of change indicative of response, further prospective validation as a surrogate of clinical benefit, and application as a phase II/III trial end point to accelerate evaluation and approval of novel regimens and therapies.
The β-Hemolysin and Intracellular Survival of Streptococcus agalactiae in Human Macrophages

S. agalactiae (group B streptococci, GBS) is a major microbial pathogen in human neonates and causes invasive infections in pregnant women and immunocompromised individuals. The S. agalactiae β-hemolysin is regarded as an important virulence factor for the development of invasive disease. To examine the role of β-hemolysin in the interaction with professional phagocytes, the THP-1 monocytic cell line and human granulocytes were infected with a serotype Ia S. agalactiae wild type strain and its isogenic nonhemolytic mutant. We could show that the nonhemolytic mutants were able to survive in significantly higher numbers than the hemolytic wild type strain, in THP-1 macrophage-like cells and in assays with human granulocytes. Intracellular bacterial multiplication, however, could not be observed. The hemolytic wild type strain stimulated a significantly higher release of Tumor Necrosis Factor-α than the nonhemolytic mutant in THP-1 cells, while similar levels of the chemokine Interleukin-8 were induced. In order to investigate bacterial mediators of IL-8 release in this setting, purified cell wall preparations from both strains were tested and found to exert a potent proinflammatory stimulus on THP-1 cells. In conclusion, our results indicate that the β-hemolysin has a strong influence on the intracellular survival of S. agalactiae and that a tightly controlled regulation of β-hemolysin expression is required for the successful establishment of S. agalactiae in different host niches.
ARRAY: A Non-application-Related, Secure, Wide-Area Disaster Recovery Storage System

With our society more information-driven, we have begun to distribute data in wide-area storage systems. At the same time, both physical failure and logic error have made it difficult to bring the necessary recovery to bear on remote data disaster, and understanding this proceeding. We describe ARRAY, a system architecture for data disaster recovery that combines reliability, storage space, and security to improve performance for data recovery applications. The paper presents an exhaustive analysis of the design space of ARRAY systems, focusing on the trade-offs between reliability, storage space, security, and performance that ARRAY must make. We present RSRAII (Replication-based Snapshot Redundant Array of Independent Imagefiles) which is a configurable RAID-like data erasure-coding, and also others benefits come from consolidation both erasure-coding and replication strategies. A novel algorithm is proposed to improve snapshot performance referred to as SMPDP (Snapshot based on Multi-Parallel Degree Pipeline).
Using Blended Learning Strategies to Address Teaching Development Needs: How Does Canada Compare?

The provision of blended learning strategies designed to assist academics in the higher education sector with the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for effective teaching with technology has been, and continues to be, a challenge for teaching centres in Canada. It is unclear, first, whether this is an ongoing issue unique to Canada; and, second, if it is not unique to Canada, whether we might be able to implement different and/or more effective strategies based on what others outside Canada are doing. Teaching centre leaders in Australia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Britain, Scotland, and the United States (n=31) were interviewed to explore how their units used blended learning strategies. Findings suggest that, as in Canada, there is a “value gap” between academics and leaders of teaching centres regarding teaching development initiatives using blended learning strategies. Resume La disposition de strategies d’apprentissage mixte concues pour aider les instructeurs en enseignement superieur a obtenir les connaissances, les competences et les aptitudes requises pour enseigner de maniere efficace avec les technologies a constitue un defi pour les centres d’enseignement du Canada, et continue de l’etre. En outre, on ignore si ce probleme recurrent est unique au Canada et, s’il ne l’est pas, s’il serait possible d’etablir des strategies