Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Strategies for finding the adequate air void threshold value in computer assisted determination of air void characteristics in hardened concrete

The microscopic determination of air void characteristics in hardened concrete, defined in EN 480-11 as the linear-traverse method, is an extremely time-consuming and tedious task. Over past decades, several researchers have proposed relatively expensive mechanical automated systems which could replace the human operator in this procedure. Recently, the appearance of new high-resolution flatbed scanners has made it possible for the procedure to be automated in a fully-computerized and thus cost-effective way. The results of our work indicate the high sensitivity of such image analysis automated systems firstly to the quality of sample surface preparation, secondly to the selection of the air void threshold value, and finally to the selection of the probe system. However, it can be concluded that in case of careful validation and the use of the approach which is proposed in the paper, such automated systems can give very good estimate of the air void system parameters, defined in EN 480-11. The amount of time saved by using such a procedure is immense, and there is also the possibility of using alternative stereological methods to assess other, perhaps also important, characteristics of air void system in hardened concrete.
Digital watermarking method by selecting suitable pixel value from pixel value candidates near to original pixel value

In many watermarking methods, the tradeoff between robustness and image quality is controlled by watermarking strength. Thus the image quality was evaluated relatively under the condition of keeping the robustness against assumed attacks. Then another axis of keeping the image quality of watermarked images based on the absolute evaluation is useful for the improvement of watermarking methods. In this paper, we propose a new watermarking model based on the selection of the suitable pixel value from pixel value candidates near to an original pixel value. The proposed model can keep the absolute image quality of watermarked images by defining the set of pixel values for embedding. In the proposed model, embedding procedure is equal to the selection of the suitable pixel value from the set. We use a watermarking method in color space for the implementation of the conventional and the proposed watermarking model because the problem of watermarking methods with non-linear color transform can be solved by using the proposed model.
Pingu: A New Miniature Wearable Device for Ubiquitous Computing Environments

Around Device Interaction (ADI) is recently introduced in the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI)to provide touch less, more intuitive way of interaction using space beyond the physical boundary of the computing devices. In this paper, we introduce a new ADI input device called Pingu in the form factor of a fingering that allows users to interact with any nearby computing device with wireless connectivity in a ubiquitous environment. Fingering form factor is chosen for our prototype design, as it is socially acceptable and is commonly worn in everyday social contexts, and based on the previous research, the information entropy of interaction by fingers is greater than the entropy for any other parts of the human body. The current Pingu prototype is consisted of an extensive set of sensors, visual and vibrot actile feedback mechanisms with wireless connectivity that make it a unique input device for human-computer or human-human interaction in the form of gestures, tactile and touch. Its usage can range from advanced, tiny and novel gestural interaction with a variety of devices to mobile and networked sensing, and social computing. We present a few potential applications of Pingu such as social interaction, context recognition, in-car interaction, and physical activity analysis.
The Big Sort: College Reputation and Labor Market Outcomes

We explore how college reputation affects the "big sort," the process by which students choose colleges and find their first jobs. We incorporate a simple definition of college reputation—graduates' mean admission scores—into a competitive labor market model. This generates a clear prediction: if employers use reputation to set wages, then the introduction of a new measure of individual skill will decrease the return to reputation. Administrative data and a natural experiment from the country of Colombia confirm this. Finally, we show that college reputation is positively correlated with graduates' earnings growth, suggesting that reputation matters beyond signaling individual skill.
MMP-10/Stromelysin-2 Promotes Invasion of Head and Neck Cancer

Background Periostin, IFN-induced transmembrane protein 1 (IFITM1) and Wingless-type MMTV integration site family, member 5B (Wnt-5b) were previously identified as the invasion promoted genes of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) by comparing the gene expression profiles between parent and a highly invasive clone. We have previously reported that Periostin and IFITM1 promoted the invasion of HNSCC cells. Here we demonstrated that Wnt-5b overexpression promoted the invasion of HNSCC cells. Moreover, stromelysin-2 (matrix metalloproteinase-10; MMP-10) was identified as a common up-regulated gene among Periostin, IFITM1 and Wnt-5b overexpressing HNSCC cells by using microarray data sets. In this study, we investigated the roles of MMP-10 in the invasion of HNSCC. Methods and Findings We examined the expression of MMP-10 in HNSCC cases by immunohistochemistry. High expression of MMP-10 was frequently observed and was significantly correlated with the invasiveness and metastasis in HNSCC cases. Next, we examined the roles of MMP-10 in the invasion of HNSCC cells in vitro. Ectopic overexpression of MMP-10 promoted the invasion of HNSCC cells, and knockdown of MMP-10 suppressed the invasion of HNSCC cells. Moreover, MMP-10 knockdown suppressed Periostin and Wnt-5b-promoted invasion. Interestingly, MMP-10 overexpression induced the decreased p38 activity and MMP-10 knockdown induced the increased p38 activity. In addition, treatment with a p38 inhibitor SB203580 in HNSCC cells inhibited the invasion. Conclusions These results suggest that MMP-10 plays an important role in the invasion and metastasis of HNSCC, and that invasion driven by MMP-10 is partially associated with p38 MAPK inhibition. We suggest that MMP-10 can be used as a marker for prediction of metastasis in HNSCC.
STMBench7: a benchmark for software transactional memory

Software transactional memory (STM) is a promising technique for controlling concurrency in modern multi-processor architectures. STM aims to be more scalable than explicit coarse-grained locking and easier to use than fine-grained locking. However, STM implementations have yet to demonstrate that their runtime overheads are acceptable. To date, empiric evaluations of these implementations have suffered from the lack of realistic benchmarks. Measuring performance of an STM in an overly simplified setting can be at best uninformative and at worst misleading as it may steer researchers to try to optimize irrelevant aspects of their implementations. This paper presents STMBench7: a candidate benchmark for evaluating STM implementations. The underlying data structure consists of a set of graphs and indexes intended to be suggestive of many complex applications, e.g., CAD/CAM. A collection of operations is supported to model a wide range of workloads and concurrency patterns. Companion locking strategies serve as a baseline for STM performance comparisons. STMBench7 strives for simplicity. Users may choose a workload, number of threads, benchmark length, as well as the possibility of structure modification and the nature of traversals of shared data structures. We illustrate the use of STMBench7 with an evaluation of a well-known software transactional memory implementation.
Discourse factors in multi-document summarization: text rewriting and summary evaluation

In this proposal we investigate some of the current open problems in automatic summarization and propose possible solutions. The two main issues that we address are the lack of cohesion and coherence of multi-document summaries and the evaluation of quality and content in summarization. We suggest an approach for improving the summary connectedness through reference rewrite and context-constrained content selection. Both approaches are based on statistical models derived from a corpus of human-produced abstracts, extracts and original newspaper articles, augmented with human-crafted and linguistically motivated rules. Guided by the need to evaluate the performace of the proposed approach, we also look into the development of evaluation protocols for summarization.
Slot Die Coated and Flexo Printed Highly Efficient SMOLEDs

A basic solution‐processable organic light‐emitting diode (OLED) stack comprising two organic layers is presented in this study. The hole injection layer (poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene)‐poly(styrenesulfonate), PEDOT:PSS) is slot die coated and flexographically printed for process comparison in terms of film homogeneity and the device performance. The emissive layer consisting of a small molecule host–guest system with a green triplet emitter is slot die coated. The single layer thicknesses are mapped by an in‐house developed imaging color reflectometry enabling the precise measurement of the layer thicknesses over the whole coating area (>50 cm2). Luminance, current density, and light and current efficiency are defined for two different pixel sizes with the active area of 6 × 4 and 14 × 14 mm2. A total of 100 OLEDs are measured showing a very low standard deviation for the different pixels. The solely slot die coated OLEDs show much higher current and power efficiency than the OLEDs with flexographically printed PEDOT:PSS. Small molecule OLEDs reach efficiencies up to 30 cd A−1 and 8 lm W−1. Additionally OLED demonstrators with an active area of ≈27 cm2 are fabricated.
CD28 and the Tyrosine Kinase Lck Stimulate Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Activity in T Cells via Inhibition of the Small G Protein Rap1

ABSTRACT Proliferation of T cells via activation of the T-cell receptor (TCR) requires concurrent engagement of accessory costimulatory molecules to achieve full activation. The best-studied costimulatory molecule, CD28, achieves these effects, in part, by augmenting signals from the TCR to the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase cascade. We show here that TCR-mediated stimulation of MAP kinase extracellular-signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) is limited by activation of the Ras antagonist Rap1. CD28 increases ERK signaling by blocking Rap1 action. CD28 inhibits Rap1 activation because it selectively stimulates an extrinsic Rap1 GTPase activity. The ability of CD28 to stimulate Rap1 GTPase activity was dependent on the tyrosine kinase Lck. Our results suggest that CD28-mediated Rap1 GTPase-activating protein activation can help explain the augmentation of ERKs during CD28 costimulation.
Practical Emulation of Software Defects in Source Code

Software fault injection is a fundamental technique to evaluate the behavior of systems in presence of software defects. However, in spite of the considerable number of software fault injection proposals, the lack of readily available and practical tools persists as the most serious limitation to the generalized use of software fault injection. This paper describes a fault injection tool designed to simplify the software fault injection process. The tool modifies the source code of target programs by altering the abstract syntax tree and producing software patches automatically. Several key challenges were addressed in the development of the tool. Firstly, we formally describe the software fault injection operators, which has been neglected in previous proposals. Secondly, we propose a comprehensive test suite to verify the correctness of software fault injectors. Thirdly, we improve the performance of the fault injection process by compiling only the file in which a defect is injected and linking/installing that file. Finally, we examine the implications of dealing with macros, and the limitations that source code macros impose on software fault injection. The results of injecting software faults into the Apache web server, as an example of possible target, show how these challenges have been addressed.
A first qualitative comparison of the admission control in FTT-SE, HaRTES and AVB

Ethernet is gaining importance in fields such as automation, avionics and automotive. In these fields novel multimedia-based applications must coexist with traditional control systems, which leads to high diversity in size, intensity and timing requirements of the traffic traversing the channel. Multimedia traffic is characterised by having large size, low intensity and soft real-time requirements, while control traffic usually conveys small amounts of information with a high intensity and hard real-time requirements. Moreover, many modern applications must support on-line connection and disconnection of participants. Since Ethernet was designed as a general purpose data network protocol it lacks appropriate support for real-time communications and dynamic quality of service management. Several protocols were proposed to cope with these drawbacks, including Flexible Time-Triggered Switched Ethernet and, more recently, Audio Video Bridging. In this paper we discuss the importance of the admission control and make a comparison of the implementations carried out in the aforementioned protocols.
A Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism in an Endo-1,4-β-Glucanase Gene Controls Seed Coat Permeability in Soybean

Physical dormancy, a structural feature of the seed coat known as hard seededness, is an important characteristic for adaptation of plants against unstable and unpredictable environments. To dissect the molecular basis of qHS1, a quantitative trait locus for hard seededness in soybean (Glycine max (L) Merr. ), we developed a near-isogenic line (NIL) of a permeable (soft-seeded) cultivar, Tachinagaha, containing a hard-seed allele from wild soybean (G. soja) introduced by successive backcrossings. The hard-seed allele made the seed coat of Tachinagaha more rigid by increasing the amount of β-1,4-glucans in the outer layer of palisade cells of the seed coat on the dorsal side of seeds, known to be a point of entrance of water. Fine-mapping and subsequent expression and sequencing analyses revealed that qHS1 encodes an endo-1,4-β-glucanase. A single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) introduced an amino acid substitution in a substrate-binding cleft of the enzyme, possibly reducing or eliminating its affinity for substrates in permeable cultivars. Introduction of the genomic region of qHS1 from the impermeable (hard-seeded) NIL into the permeable cultivar Kariyutaka resulted in accumulation of β-1,4-glucan in the outer layer of palisade cells and production of hard seeds. The SNP allele found in the NIL was further associated with the occurrence of hard seeds in soybean cultivars of various origins. The findings of this and previous studies may indicate that qHS1 is involved in the accumulation of β-1,4-glucan derivatives such as xyloglucan and/or β-(1,3)(1,4)-glucan that reinforce the impermeability of seed coats in soybean.
High frequency bulk resonators for bio/chemical diagnostics and monitoring applications

In the environmental monitoring field there is a vast variety of possible applications for microfabricated MEMS sensors. As an example, a network of miniaturized sensors could detect toxic gases, harmful airbornes, explosives in air or, in liquid, monitor the quality of drinking water. The integration of miniaturized MEMS mass sensors into lab on chip systems will lead to point of care systems designed to be inexpensive, portable, and field-ready with high sensitivity and specificity. One of the most common techniques to transduce the interaction between the sensor and the target chemical species is by monitoring the target mass, that is continuously deposited or removed from the sensor’s surface, while the sensor’s structure vibrates in resonance. This thesis presents the development of MEMS mass sensors based on mechanical microresonators in the very high frequency range 12-132 MHz. This devices can be operated in gaseous environments thanks to the high Qfactors and show very high mass sensitivities and very small mass resolutions. The resonators have been microfabricated at the DTU-Danchip facility exploiting the microfabrication knowledge already present in the DyNEMS group. The devices have been characterized in terms of electrical properties and mass sensing performance. Chemical and biological mass sensing experiments have been performed in order to investigate the behavior of these devices in different environments. The microresonators have been used to detect copper ions in drinking water and as temperature sensors in humid environment. Moreover, they have been used as tool to investigate the interaction between water molecules and DNA. Finally, nanograss have been etched into the body of the microresonators in order to improve the mass sensitivy of the devices. On the whole, the experimental results demonstrate that new and highly sensitive mass sensing systems, based on the MEMS microresonators presented in this thesis, could be developed.
Optimization of arc welding processes using a neural network

With the rapid progress of information technology, it has become an easy matter to obtain personal computers capable of networking and performing rapid calculations. It has thus become possible for such tasks as numerical simulation of a weld pool, which previously required the use of a mainframe computer, to be performed by a personal computer used by an individual. There is also a supply of a range of application software packages, including some that deal with neural networks (NNs), previously something that one had to study by oneself, so that anyone can study these by writing input/output data. Also, as CPUs and DSPs become cheaper and faster, they are increasingly fitted to welding power sources as digitalization processes. Thus, welding conditions are stored in a memory at the welding power source to be reproduced when necessary. Further, feedback control is performed within the power source and the arc voltage and current are controlled. With such digitalization, it is possible to carry out welding stably whatever the changes in, for example, the air temperature. This technology can cope with the progressive shortage in skilled and experienced operatives. On the other hand, as the processing capabilities of the PSPs used in welding power sources increase, it has become possible to carry out processes other than feedback control. By using this capability, it is possible to carry out online study of NNs. The NN began with the neural model study carried out by McCulloch–Pitts in 1943 and according to Rosenblatt, cognition is carried out by multiple linked NNs. This was applicable to linear separable cognition but could not be applied to, for example, exclusive disjunction, where linear separation is not possible. In 1984, Rumelhart et al. proposed error back propagation as a sigmoid function (SF) and learning method. It thus became possible to use NNs for recognition even when linear separation was ineffective. The chief characteristic of this is that when the relationship between input and output is unclear, the mapping relationship between the input and output can be expressed through learning. It thus became possible to apply NNs to a wide range of fields including welding. In the field of arc welding, NNs have been used for weld bead inspection, estimation of melt depth and bead width from welding conditions (current, voltage and weld velocity) in TIG welding, and molten inlet control for the depth of TIG welding molten pool, etc. – . In GMA welding too, NNs have been used for estimation of weld conditions and molten pool control. Thus, arc welding processes can be optimized using NNs. Since the input/ output relationship of the systems can be constructed, it is also possible to estimate welding conditions using calculable information, even in cases of information, such as molten pool depth and length of extension, where direct calculation is not possible. Examples of this are described below.
Compiling standard ML to Java bytecodes

MLJ compiles SML'97 into verifier-compliant Java byte-codes. Its features include type-checked interlanguage working extensions which allow ML and Java code to call each other, automatic recompilation management, compact compiled code and runtime performance which, using a 'just in time' compiling Java virtual machine, usually exceeds that of existing specialised bytecode interpreters for ML. Notable features of the compiler itself include whole-program optimisation based on rewriting, compilation of polymorphism by specialisation, a novel monadic intermediate language which expresses effect information in the type system and some interesting data representation choices.
Commissioning experience with cone‐beam computed tomography for image‐guided radiation therapy

This paper reports on the commissioning of an Elekta cone‐beam computed tomography (CT) system at one of the first U.S. sites to install a “regular,” off‐the‐shelf Elekta Synergy (Elekta, Stockholm, Sweden) accelerator system. We present the quality assurance (QA) procedure as a guide for other users. The commissioning had six elements: (1) system safety, (2) geometric accuracy (agreement of megavoltage and kilovoltage beam isocenters), (3) image quality, (4) registration and correction accuracy, (5) dose to patient and dosimetric stability, and (6) QA procedures. The system passed the safety tests, and agreement of the isocenters was found to be within 1 mm. Using a precisely moved skull phantom, the reconstruction and alignment algorithm was found to be accurate within 1 mm and 1 degree in each dimension. Of 12 measurement points spanning a 9×9×15‐cm volume in a Rando phantom (The Phantom Laboratory, Salem, NY), the average agreement in the x, y, and z coordinates was 0.10 mm, −0.12 mm, and 0.22 mm [standard deviations (SDs): 0.21 mm, 0.55 mm, 0.21 mm; largest deviations: 0.6 mm, 1.0 mm, 0.5 mm] respectively. The larger deviation for the y component can be partly attributed to the CT slice thickness of 1 mm in that direction. Dose to the patient depends on the machine settings and patient geometry. To monitor dose consistency, air kerma (output) and half‐value layer (beam quality) are measured for a typical clinical setting. Air kerma was 6.3 cGy (120 kVp, 40 mA, 40 ms per frame, 360‐degree scan, S20 field of view); half value layer was 7.1 mm aluminum (120 kV, 40 mA). We suggest performing items 1, 2, and 3 monthly, and 4 and 5 annually. In addition, we devised a daily QA procedure to verify agreement of the megavoltage and kilovoltage isocenters using a simple phantom containing three small steel balls. The frequency of all checks will be reevaluated based on data collected during about 1 year. PACS number: 87.53. Xd
Cell Cycle Regulated Phosphorylation of the Telomere-Associated Protein TIN2

The protein TIN2 is a member of telomere-binding protein complex that serves to cap and protect mammalian chromosome ends. As a number of proteins in this complex are phosphorylated in a cell cycle-dependent manner, we investigated whether TIN2 is modified by phosphorylation as well. We performed phospho-proteomic analysis of human TIN2, and identified two phosphorylated residues, serines 295 and 330. We demonstrated that both these sites were phosphorylated during mitosis in human cells, as detected by Phos-tag reagent and phosphorylation-specific antibodies. Phosphorylation of serines 295 and 330 appeared to be mediated, at least in part, by the mitotic kinase RSK2. Specifically, phosphorylation of TIN2 at both these residues was increased upon expression of RSK2 and reduced by an inhibitor of the RSK family of kinases. Moreover, RSK2 phosphorylated TIN2 in vitro. The identification of these specifically timed post-translational events during the cell cycle suggests a potential mitotic regulation of TIN2 by phosphorylation.