Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Active Networking System Evaluation : A Practical Experience

The aim of the Active Networking today effort is to design, develop and implement new communication architectures that allow rapid, safe and dependable creation, reconfiguration, and deployment of advanced networking services, protocols and management components. The Active Networking paradigm achieves this goal through the concepts of (1) self-directing data units called Capsule or Smart Packets, and (2) Open Programmable Nodes. The conjunction of these concepts will ultimately result into networks with greatly improved communication services that meet user requirements efficiently and securely. This paper reviews and evaluates two major architectures of Active Networking, the well-known Active Node Transport System (ANTS) and the SwitchWare framework. We discuss the differences between the two architectures and platforms, and feedbacks from practical experiences. RESUME: Le but des reseaux actifs est de concevoir, de developper et d'implementer de nouvelles architectures de communications permettant la creation, la reconfiguration et le deploiement rapide et sure de services reseaux avances, protocoles et composantes de gestion. Le paradigme des reseaux actifs realise ceci a travers de nouveaux concepts : (1) Capsules ou Paquets Intelligents, et (2) des nœuds programmables. La conjonction de ces concepts conduira a des reseaux offrant des services ameliores lesquels rassemblent les besoins de l'utilisateur de facon efficace et sure. Ce papier passe en revue et evalue deux architectures majeures des reseaux actifs, ANTS et SwitchWare. On discutera les differences entre ces deux architectures et leurs plateformes, ainsi que les observations obtenues au travers d'une experience pratique.
Cogels of Hyaluronic Acid and Acellular Matrix for Cultivation of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells: Potential Application for Vocal Fold Tissue Engineering

Stem cells based tissue engineering has been one of the potential promising therapies in the research on the repair of tissue diseases including the vocal fold. Decellularized extracellular matrix (DCM) as a promising scaffold has be used widely in tissue engineering; however, it remained to be an important issue in vocal fold regeneration. Here, we applied the hydrogels (hyaluronic acid [HA], HA-collagen [HA-Col], and HA-DCM) to determine the effects of hydrogel on the growth and differentiation of human adipose-derived stem cells (hADSCs) into superficial lamina propria fibroblasts. hADSCs were isolated and characterized by fluorescence-activated cell sorting. The results indicated that HA-DCM hydrogel enhanced cell proliferation and prolonged cell morphology significantly compared to HA and HA-Col hydrogel. Importantly, the differentiation of hADSCs into fibroblasts was also promoted by cogels of HA-Col and HA-DCM significantly. The differentiation of hADSCs towards superficial lamina propria fibroblasts was accelerated by the secretion of HGF, IL-8, and VEGF, the decorin and elastin expression, and the synthesis of chondroitin sulfate significantly. Therefore, the cogel of HA-DCM hydrogel was shown to be outstanding in apparent stimulation of hADSCs proliferation and differentiation to vocal fold fibroblasts through secretion of important growth factors and synthesis of extracellular matrix.
Modeling flow and transport in a two-dimensional dual-permeability system with spatially variable hydraulic properties

Most field soils exhibit soil spatial variability as well as soil structure. The challenge is to account adequately for both types of spatial heterogeneity in simulation models. A numerical finite element code was used to compare singleand dual-permeability approaches for modeling variably saturated flow and transport in two-dimensional heterogeneous soil systems. The code was based on the Richards’ equation for water flow and the advection-dispersion equation for solute transport. Spatial variability in the soil hydraulic properties was accounted for by randomly generating a hydraulic conductivity field using a one-dimensional first-order Markov process. Soil structural effects were modeled with a two-domain concept in which a firstorder kinetic expression is used to describe the transfer of water and solute between the two domains. Numerical experiments were carried out for the case of furrow irrigation, including the breakthrough of a conservative solute to the groundwater table. We compared five different scenarios: a single domain having uniform hydraulic properties (SU), a single domain with a randomly distributed hydraulic conductivity (SR), a dual-permeability system with uniform hydraulic properties (DU), a dualpermeability system with a randomly distributed fracture hydraulic conductivity (DRF), and a dual-permeability system having a randomly distributed matrix hydraulic conductivity (DRM). All scenarios started with pressure heads in equilibrium with a constant groundwater table 150 cm below the soil surface and zero initial solute concentrations. The simulated two-dimensional (2D) vertical concentration profiles showed preferential pathways resulting from both the spatial variability (SR) and soil structure (DRF) scenarios. As expected, drainage of water from the bottom of the profile occurred significantly earlier for dualthan for single-permeability scenarios. The combination of having spatial variability in the hydraulic properties and invoking the dual-permeability approach yielded the quickest and largest leaching of solute. The 2D dual-permeability approach should considerably improve the simulation of water and solute movement in naturally heterogeneous field soils. 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Design and Analysis of Cross-Layer Contention Resolution Algorithms for Multi-Packet Reception Slotted ALOHA Systems

In this paper, we propose contention resolution algo- rithms for immediate and deferred first-transmission protocols in a multi-packet reception slotted ALOHA system based on code division multiple access. The system employs a central base station that broadcasts the retransmission probability for each slot to all mobile terminals within its coverage. The base station estimates the system backlog by exploiting cross- layer information on multiple access interference. Based on this information, the retransmission probability is chosen in order to maximize the expectation of the system throughput conditioned on the number of retransmitting terminals. The performance of our algorithms and the system stability are evaluated by theoretical analysis and compared to simulations. Under perfect power control it is shown that our algorithms are stable and their performance very closely approaches the analytical upperbound of the system throughput. Under imperfect power control, the simulation result shows that the algorithms remain robust in maintaining 50% throughput efficiency in a coded system with 2 dB in power control errors.
Using PlanetLab for network research: myths, realities, and best practices

PlanetLab is a continuously-evolving global network research testbed that is simultaneously used by hundreds of researchers for diverse tasks, ranging from short-term self-contained experiments among PlanetLab nodes to continuously-running Web-accessible services with tens of thousands of non-PlanetLab users. While PlanetLab cannot provide a perfectly-customized environment for every experiment, it has been changing over time, and the base of knowledge of how to best utilize it has also been growing. As a result, many of the early observations researchers made about PlanetLab would change if rechecked today. In this paper, we discuss these issues and explain whether they remain, have been addressed via PlanetLab's evolution, or can be avoided by the use of best practices. Where possible, we provide quantitative evidence showing the realities of PlanetLab and possible research avenues to further broaden the opportunities for using PlanetLab in network research.
‘They thought I wasn’t good enough for social work practice’

The few studies of why social work students fail their practice learning opportunity (PLOs) have been undertaken through the lens of practice educators, lecturers and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) with no input from students. Using qualitative interviews; this research explores the reasons for failure from the perspective of the students. The findings identified a number of interrelated issues such as previous work experiences, family history and personal circumstances as the rationale for what led those interviewed into social work. Issues such as ill health, personal problems and lack of clarity around assessment criteria as well as perceived lack of support from HEIs were identified as some of the factors that led students to fail their practice learning experiences. Recommendations from those interviewed included the suggestion that HEIs should, at the recruitment stage, provide clear information about the implications of failing practice learning opportunities and clarify what type of support for is available for those who fail. The students interviewed also echo the desire expressed by the HEIs and practice educators for clearer assessment criteria/frameworks and a more supportive process for all parties.
Learning Prior and Observation Augmented Density Models for Behaviour Recognition

Recognition of human behaviours requires modeling the underlying spatial and temporal structures of their motion patterns. Such structures are intrinsically probabilistic and therefore should be modelled as stochastic processes. In this paper we introduce a framework to recognise behaviours based on both learning prior and continuous propagation of density models of behaviour patterns. Prior is learned from training sequences using hidden Markov models and density models are augmented by current visual observation.
On the capacity analysis of HetNets with range expansion and eICIC

Poisson Point Process (PPP) models provide important insights for the analysis of heterogeneous networks (HetNets). Recently, several theoretical results which investigate the outage and the capacity of HetNets have been developed based on PPPs. The goal of the present paper is to provide exact analytical expressions for the capacity of range expanded and interference coordinated HetNets, and validate these theoretical analysis through well-documented computer simulations. Both analytical and simulated capacity results are obtained for various range expansion and interference coordination scenarios, and are shown to have good agreement.
Concurrent Object-Oriented Description Frameworks for Massively Parallel Computing

With recent developments of highly parallel computers, practical methods for developing programs on such machines become urgent. In this research, we regard concurrent object-oriented programming (COOP) languages as basic languages for highly parallel machines, and try to achieve high performance by implementing language systems on massively parallel machines and developing application programs / parallel algorithms in COOP languages. We are actually conducting two lines of research according to two different types of MIMD massively parallel architectures. One assumes machines equipped with customized hardware facilitating data-driven (multithreading) execution and the other does not assume such hardware. Below we report our research results of the former line of research [4, 8, 6, 5]. Some of the research results of the latter line can be found in [1, 8, 2, 3]. As for the language system, we propose a language design suitable for parallel execution and implementation schemes that achieve high performance. Our implementation target is a fine-grained data-driven parallel computer, EM-4, developed at Electrotechnical Laboratories, which is regarded as an archi-prototype of the RWC-1 machine. We designed and implemented a novel runtime architecture and optimizing compiler, including reactive representations of objects, efficient management of message buffers with free-lists, interruptible pipelined message sends, plan-do style intermediate code, an efficient implementation scheme for table look-up, and advanced register / storage allocation. As for application programs / parallel algorithms, we have already devised concurrent object-oriented algorithms for highly parallel computers, (e.g., N -body problem [7]) and evaluated them. We developed a prototype compiler and runtime system which executes theN -body problem program on EM4, and measured its performance. The performance measurements on EM-4 show that the cost of each remote object-creation and remote message-passing can be, in order, comparable to that of a sequential procedure call and theN -body algorithm based on the concurrent objectoriented models can be executed efficiently for a wide range of N . Our results indicate that the object-oriented concurrent computation models and languages are viable for solving practical problems on highly parallel MIMD machines.
Reappraisal and expected value modulate risk taking

Decision making is informed by appraisals of appetitive cues and their associated opportunities for rewards. Such appraisals can be modulated by cognitive regulation strategies in order to promote goal-directed choices. Little is known about how cognitive regulation strategies, especially reappraisal, alter risk taking during decision making. To characterise the effect of reappraisal on risk taking, we systematically varied both the goal of regulation and the value of the decision options. Participants engaged in two reappraisal strategies with opposite goals, to increase (“emphasise”) or decrease (“de-emphasise”) the importance of an upcoming decision, during the presentation of cues signalling monetary decisions. The expected value of taking a risk was systematically varied across decisions such that a risky choice could be beneficial or disadvantageous. Reappraisal strategies increased or decreased risk taking in accordance both with regulation goals and expected value information. These results suggest that reappraisal can be used to flexibly alter behaviour associated with appetitive cues while maintaining value information.
Organizational learning to manage sustainable development

Combating global warming, safeguarding ecological support systems and reducing energy and resource use as well as maintaining functioning societies are key challenges for many businesses today and in the near future. These problems have been addressed under the integrating concept of sustainable development. Implementing sustainable development in corporations, however, necessitates organizational learning. In light of a wide variation in corporate behaviour in accepting these challenges or not, the question arises of when and why companies pursue processes of learning and change to integrate sustainability, what effects these innovations have, and to what extent, and what factors promote or inhibit learning. This article addresses these questions on the basis of an empirical analysis of six companies. The study analyses internal and external explanatory factors for the occurrence of sustainability-oriented learning and change processes in medium-sized and large companies. Our findings highlight the role of learning mechanisms, leadership styles, internal networks and change agents. In terms of company-external factors, the study focused on the pressure applied by stakeholders and governmental regulation. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Random Graphs with Motifs

We introduce and analyze a particular generalization of the Erdös-Rényi random graph model that is based on adding not only edges but also copies of small graphs onto the nodes of a graph. The resulting model is analytically tractable and can generate random graphs with local structures that are not tree like. First, we introduce the simplest generalization called the triplet model corresponding to the addition of three node subgraphs and investigate some of its key properties. In the undirected model we obtain a random graph with non-zero clustering and assortativity while in the directed case we obtain a graph with triangular motifs. Then, we formulate our model in its full generality by allowing the addition of graphs of arbitrary size and generalize the results obtained for the triplet model.
Primary calvarial ectopic meningiomas

Meningiomas should be considered as a possible diagnosis when dealing with tumors of the head and neck, even though these lesions may be located outside the cranial cavity. We report three patients who harbored primary ectopic epidural meningioma arising in the right occipital, parietal and left frontal region protruding extracranially through destructed calvarium and also developing intracranially without dural involvement. The diagnostic value of CT scan is emphasized and the relevant literature on ectopic meningioma is reviewed.
Empowering teachers: using teaching images to understand self

During a professional development program, teachers working in child care centres reflected on their images of teaching and their images of self as teacher. Teachers explored their images by engaging in conversation, drawing, metaphor and journal writing. Insights provided by these reflective strategies enabled teachers to experience greater self-understanding, awareness and knowledge and reduced feelings of isolation common to teachers who work in child care centres. This renewed awareness was empowering leading teachers to feel more certain and confident about their complex teaching roles and their teaching decisions. Feeling better equipped to deal with ongoing complexity, the teachers were able to imagine new possibilities for their work and felt liberated to progress in new directions.
Mutual information approach to blind separation-deconvolution

In this paper, we propose an approach to the blind separation-deconvolution problem, based on the mutual information criterion. Formulas for the quasi Newton algorithm are provided. More interesting results have been obtained in the pure deconvolution case. By a clever parameterization of the deconvoluting filter, the quasi Newton algorithm also become particularly simple. Simulation results showing the good performance of this algorithm are provided.
Differential Neuronal Representation of Spatial Attention Dependent on Relative Target Locations during Multiple Object Tracking

Humans can simultaneously track multiple moving objects with attention. The number of objects that can be tracked is known to be larger when visual stimuli are presented bilaterally rather than presented unilaterally. To elucidate the underlying neuronal mechanism, we trained monkeys to covertly track a single or multiple object(s). We found that neurons in the lateral prefrontal cortex exhibited greater activity for the target passing through the receptive field (RF) than for distractors. During multiple-object tracking, response enhancement for one target presented in the RF was stronger when the other target was located in the opposite than the same visual hemifield. Because the neuronal modulation did not differ depending on relative target locations with respect to upper and lower visual hemifields, the distance between the targets does not explain the results. We propose that inherent, anatomical separation of visual processing for contralateral and ipsilateral visual fields might constrain cognitive capacity.
Dental fear and oral health and family characteristics of Finnish children

Objectives: Our aim was to describe the occurrence of dental fear among Finnish children of different ages and to ascertain how oral health and family characteristics are associated with dental fear. Methods: The subject groups were aged 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 years in two middle‐sized cities, and the 1474 participants were distributed over fairly equal samples of each age. A questionnaire given to each child to be filled out at home enquired about social background, oral hygiene habits, diet, and dental fear. Oral health status was examined clinically and radiographically by two calibrated dentists. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed for each age group in order to study the associations between dental fear and selected factors. Results: Dental fear was higher among 12‐ and 15‐year‐old children than among the younger ones. Pain, drilling, and local anesthesia were reported to be the most frightening aspects. Excluding the 12‐year‐olds, children whose family members reported dental fear were more likely to report dental fear than children whose family members did not report dental fear. Six‐ and 12‐year‐olds who had experienced caries were more likely to report dental fear than were caries‐free children. Among 6‐year‐olds, father's education modified the effect of a child's caries experience on child dental fear. Frequent intake of sugary items and a limit on eating candies to only one day per week were associated with higher dental fear. Conclusions: Fear of dental treatment is still fairly common among Finnish children, and the factors associated with it differ with the age of the child.
ROBOTIC MANIPULATORS INSPIRED BY CEPHALOPOD LIMBS

This paper connects the investigation of the biomechanics and behavior of octopus in the performance of a wide range of dexterous manipulations to the creation of octopus arm-like robots. This is achieved via the development of a series of octopus arm models which aid in both explaining the underlying octopus biomechanics and in developing a specification for the design of robotic manipulators. Robotic manipulators which match the key features of these models are then introduced, followed by the development of inverse kinematics for the circular (constant) curvature model.
Wavelet-Based Monitoring in Modern Biosurveillance

Current biosurveillance relies on classical statistical control charts for detecting disease out-breaks. However, these are not always suitable in this context. Assumptions of normality, independence, and stationarity are typically violated in syndromic data. Furthermore, outbreak signatures in such data are of unknown patterns, and therefore call for general detectors. We propose wavelet-based methods, which make less assumptions and are suitable for detecting abnormalities of unknown form. Wavelets have been widely used for data denoising and compression, but little work exists on using them for monitoring. We discuss monitoring-based issues and illustrate them using data on military clinic visits.
Correlation of carotenoid production, decreased membrane fluidity, and resistance to oleic acid killing in Staphylococcus aureus 18Z

Staphylococcus aureus is susceptible to killing by host-derived fatty acids. Studies were performed to test for a correlation between carotenoid production by S. aureus and protection against oleic acid. Oleic acid killing of cells grown in carotenoid expression medium was determined as the dosage of oleic acid in 2 M NaCl-2 mM EDTA that would kill 20% of the cells in 60 min at 37 degrees C (i.e., the 20% lethal dose). Compared with the wild-type strain (18Z), a carotenoid-deficient mutant strain (18Z-76) and strain 18Z grown in a medium that suppressed carotenoid production both showed increased sensitivity to oleic acid. Spontaneous revertants of strain 18Z-76 that regained the ability to produce carotenoids were as resistant to oleic acid as the wild-type strain. Oleic acid was shown by fluorescence polarization to decrease polarization values. Lower polarization values indicate a more-fluid membrane. To determine whether protection against oleic acid killing might depend on carotenoid stabilization of membranes, fluorescence polarization values were determined for strains showing different levels of carotenoid production. An indirect correlation was found between membrane fluidity and carotenoid production. We were able to conclude that there is a direct correlation between carotenoid production (i.e., cell pigmentation), cell membrane stability, and resistance to oleic acid-induced cell killing.