Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Scalable real-time parallel garbage collection for symmetric multiprocessors

Garbage collection or automatic memory reclamation frees the programmer from the tedious and often error-prone task of memory deallocation. Since its incorporation into LISP in 1970, it has proved popular among high-level and safe programming languages such as Perl, ML, and Java. Due to the disruption of collection on the application, past efforts have concentrated on bounding application pause times by collecting incrementally or by using a multiprocessor. However, these sometimes successful collectors are not suitable for providing both scalable parallelism and real-time response at the same time. This thesis describes the first parallel, real-time garbage collection algorithm. Using an abstract symmetric multiprocessor model, we prove space and time bounds guaranteeing that every application pause is constant and that the collector takes bounded space. The possibility of multiple collector and application threads executing simultaneously requires careful synchronization to preserve correctness. To achieve real-time bounds, large objects must be copied incrementally and particular attention must be paid to turning the collector on and off. Finally, load-balancing using a scalable stack or queue provides good parallelism. In order to make the algorithm practical for incorporation into a runtime system, two types of changes are necessary. First, most compilers require a richer interface including stacks and global variables. Also, we must eliminate certain constructs in the abstract model that have no obvious translation. The difficulty in these modifications lies in preserving the other properties of the collector. Second, algorithmic changes for improving performance were adopted. These modifications reduce collection overhead and memory consumption. The resulting algorithm has been implemented in the context of the TILT/SML compiler. Using a set of 15 benchmarks, the collector was tested on an Enterprise 10K. In the 5 ms range, the collector is able to always provide the application with 15% to 35% access to the processor even when the collector is on. As for scalability, the collector gives a speedup of 24 to 29 when running with 32 processors. The collector's speedup is, in all cases, greater than that of the application.
Channels with state information and mismatched decoding

A single-user state-dependent channel with mismatched decoding is considered. Several setups are studied, which differ by the manner in which the state information is available to the encoder (causally or non-causally), and by whether or not the decoder is cognizant of the state sequence. We present achievable rates for these channels based on random coding and random binning and we also observe special cases. In the non-causal case (the mismatched Gelfand Pinsker channel) we introduce a scheme of layered binning and calculate the corresponding achievable rate.
The virtPresenter lecture recording system: Automated production of web lectures with interactive content overviews

Lecture recordings can be a powerful addition to traditional lectures and they can even serve as a main content source in a number of didactic scenarios. If users can quickly locate relevant passages in a recording, the recording combines the ease of search that comes with electronic text based media with the authenticity and wealth of information that is delivered in a live lecture. Locating relevant passages in a time based media such as a recorded lecture is, however, not as easy as searching an electronic text document. This article presents the virtPresenter lecture recording system that tackles navigation in web lectures with a hypermedia navigation concept that is improved with interactive content overviews. Apart from navigation in web lectures the article also addresses didactic scenarios for web lectures and issues related to the workflow of recording lectures.
Constructive Negation in CLP ( H )

Inclusion of negation into logic programs is considered traditionally to be painful as the incorporation of full logic negation tends to super-exponential time complexity of the prover. Therefore the alternative approaches to negation in logic programs are studied and among them, the procedural negation as failure sounds to be the most successful and the most widely used. However, with the spread of Constraint Logic Programming (CLP), a different approach called constructive negation becomes more popular. The reasons for acceptance of constructive negation are the preservation of the advantages of the negation as failure, i.e., efficiency and handling special features of the language, and, at the same time, while removing the main drawbacks, i.e., handling ground negative subgoals and usage as a test only. In this paper we present a constructive approach to negation in logic programs. We concentrate on implementation aspects of constructive negation here, i.e., on the design of CLP(H) system, where H is the Herbrand Universe. According to the CLP approach, we use equalities and disequalities to process unification and negation. We describe a constraint solver for solving equality and disequality constraints over the Herbrand Universe and we propose a unique filtering system to obtain relevant solutions. Finally, we combine the constraint solver with the filtering system to implement the constructive negation efficiently. The presented approach to constructive negation is justified by an implementation work.
Assisting in fault localization using visual programming constructs

Locating variable definition use interactions (du-chains) that are associated with program faults is one of the most difficult and time-consuming task of the intraprocedural testing/debugging process. This task is further complicated by the presence of loops and aliases. To locate faults associated with untraversed du-chains, developers must identify suspicious variables, statements, controls and loop paths involved in failures. This paper presents a new technique that uses visualization to assist with these tasks. The technique employs a mapping scheme that uses visual artifacts and colors to visually map the participation of each statement, control, and variable du-chains, in the outcome of the execution of a procedure. Using our visual mapping technique, a user can inspect the colored artifacts, and identify, in addition to predicate and non-predicate statements, du-chains involved in failures, and potentially locate program faults. The paper also describes a prototype tool that implements our visual testing technique, along with a set of an empirical study that we have used to evaluate the error detection capability of our technique. The results of the subject we studied show that the technique can be effective in helping a user locate faults that are associated with untraversed statements, controls, and above all du-chains, in a procedure under test
Vanilla sauce and songs: literacies in a heritage language school

ABSTRACT To educate their diverse learners in a culturally and linguistically responsive way, teachers must recognise that students come to school with rich literacies learned in their homes and communities. To shed light on one particular linguistic group’s engagement with literacies in the context of community, the current study examines a Finnish heritage language school in the U.S. Through the lenses of literacy socialisation and new literacies, the study closely analyses interview data, classroom observations, and classroom talk to highlight the multiple modes, cultural underpinnings, and purposes of literacies practised by four of the school’s teachers. Findings affirm that the school’s literacy socialisation practices are deeply sociocultural and connected to broader ideologies about the purposes of literacies and the values and customs of the heritage culture.
Disciplining Black activism: post-racial rhetoric, public memory and decorum in news media framing of the Black Lives Matter movement

ABSTRACT The Black Lives Matter movement was created from a hashtag used on Twitter in 2013 in the United States when George Zimmerman was acquitted of murdering unarmed Black teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida, United States. Advocacy and non-violent protests by Black Lives Matter groups have been framed in news media reporting as riots and the group has been called ‘racist’ and ‘anti-law enforcement’. This paper will unpack three rhetorical strategies that the news media uses to discuss BLM. I argue that the effect of these rhetorical strategies is the delegitimization of the very real problems concerning racial profiling and racial killings that the Black Lives Matter group protests. I will examine Black Lives Matter’s own goals and how these are ignored or questioned by the news media in that the group is framed in a delegitimizing manner. This paper uses Eduardo Bonilla-Silva’s concept of racial grammar in conjunction with a Foucauldian emphasis on governmentality to examine these instances of racist rhetoric in re-presentations of Black Lives Matter movement in US news media.
On the controllability of multiple dynamic agents with fixed topology

This paper focuses on the controllability of multi-agent systems with fixed topology based on agreement protocols. We analyze three models of agents: single integrator, double integrator and high-order integrator. For a group of single-integrator agents, controllability is studied in a unified framework for both networks with leader-following structure and networks with undirected graph. Some new necessary/sufficient conditions for controllability of networks of single-integrator agents are established. For networks of double-integrator agents, we prove that controllability of the networks is equivalent to that of networks of single-integrator agents under the same topology and same prescribed leaders. This result is further extended to the case of networks of high-order-integrator agents. Moreover, two influencing factors of controllability of networks are investigated, that is, the selection of leaders and the link weights of graphs.
Characterization of a p75NTR Apoptotic Signaling Pathway Using a Novel Cellular Model*

The p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) belongs to the tumor necrosis factor receptor/nerve growth factor receptor superfamily. In some cells derived from neuronal tissues it causes cell death through a poorly characterized pathway. We developed a neuronal system using conditionally immortalized striatal neurons, in which the expression of p75NTR is inducibly controlled by the ecdysone receptor. In these cells p75NTR induces apoptosis through its death domain in a nerve growth factor-independent manner. Caspases 9, 6, and 3 are activated by receptor expression indicating the activation of the common effector pathway of apoptosis. Cell death is blocked by a dominant negative form of caspase 9 and Bcl-XLconsistent with a pathway that involves mitochondria. Significantly, the viral flice inhibitory protein E8 protects from p75NTR-induced cell death indicating that death effector domains are involved. A p75NTR construct with a deleted death domain dominantly interferes with p75NTR signaling, implying that receptor multimerization is required. However, in contrast to the other receptors of the family, p75NTR-mediated apoptosis does not involve the adaptor proteins Fas-associated death domain protein or tumor necrosis factor-associated death domain protein, and the apical caspase 8 is not activated. We conclude that p75NTR signals apoptosis by similar mechanisms as other death receptors but uses different adaptors and apical caspases.
Teachable Interfaces for Individuals with Dysarthric Speech and Severe Physical Disabilities

Standard interfaces including keyboards, mice and speech recognizers pose a major obstacle for individuals with severe speech and physical disabilities. A person with insufficient control of their hands or voice will be unable to efficiently use such interfaces. We are investigating teachable interfaces, which can adapt to the preferences and abilities of an individual user. The user provides active feedback to the system to guide the adaptation process. This paper reports on preliminary work, which will form the basis for building a teachable interface for individuals with severely dysarthric speech. Ultimately, the system would be capable of translating “unintelligible” vocalizations into effective actions or clearly articulated synthesized speech.
The Mental Health Continuum-Short Form in Organisational Contexts: Factorial Validity, Invariance, and Internal Consistency

The study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the MHC-SF within selected organisational contexts. Specifically, the aim was to determine the factorial validity, measurement invariance, and reliability of the instrument for South African organisations. A cross-sectional online survey-based research design was employed, coupled with a convenience sampling strategy (N = 624). The results showed that the original three-dimensional factor structure of the MHC-SF fitted the data the best. Items loaded statistically significantly on all three subscales (emotional, psychological, social wellbeing). Further, the scale showed full configure, convergent and metric invariance between males and females. However, invariance was not established in either age cohorts, language groups, or marital status. The instrument proved to be reliable at both a lower (Cronbach Alpha) and upper level (Composite reliability) limit within South African organisational contexts.
Neural Correlates of Illusory Line Motion

Illusory line motion (ILM) refers to a motion illusion in which a flash at one end of a bar prior to the bar's instantaneous presentation or removal results in the percept of motion. While some theories attribute the origin of ILM to attention or early perceptual mechanisms, others have proposed that ILM results from impletion mechanisms that reinterpret the static bar as one in motion. The current functional magnetic resonance imaging study examined participants while they made decisions about the direction of motion in which a bar appeared to be removed. Preceding the instantaneous removal of the bar with a flash at one end resulted in a motion percept away from the flash. If this flash and the bar's removal overlapped in time, it appeared that the bar was removed towards the flash (reverse ILM). Independent of the motion type, brain responses indicated activations in areas associated with motion (MT+), endogenous and exogenous attention (intraparietal sulcus, frontal eye fields, and ventral frontal cortex), and response selection (ACC). ILM was associated with lower percept scores and higher activations in ACC relative to real motion, but no differences in shape-selective areas emerged. This pattern of brain activation is consistent with the attentional gradient model or bottom-up accounts of ILM in preference to impletion.
Wet Paper Coding for Watermarking of Binary Images

We propose a new method to embed data in binary images, including scanned text, figures, and signatures. Our method relies on the concept of wet paper codes. The shuffling before embedding is used in order to equalize irregular embedding capacity from diverse areas in the image. The hidden data can be extracted without the original binary image. We illustrate some examples of watermarked binary images after wet paper coding.
Transparency Versus Backroom Deals in Bargaining ∗

We design an experiment to study the effects of transparency on bargaining processes. We show that whether transparency arrises endogenously depends on the degree of competition between subjects. In a competitive setting there is no transparency: subjects use private communication channels to compete for favors from those in power and establish backroom deals. In the absence of competition the bargaining process is transparent: subjects communicate publicly and outcomes are more egalitarian. We further show that in a competitive setting, imposing transparency by requiring all communication to be public reduces the observed competition between subjects and leads to more egalitarian outcomes.
Sentencing and the iron cage: judges’ experiences with rationalization

ABSTRACT Judicial decision-making has significant consequences for individuals, families, local communities, and social institutions. Mandatory sentencing guidelines were originally created to control disparity in the sentencing process. After years of implementation, they further embedded rationalization in the system, which has formalized complex processes leading to mass incarceration. However, recent court cases have made guidelines advisory rather than mandatory in some states. The purpose of this study is to examine Michigan judges’ experiences with sentencing guidelines one year after shifting from mandatory to advisory guidelines, and to examine how guidelines constrain and enable discretion in judicial decision-making. It draws upon theories of the rationalization of criminal justice organizations and past research on criminal courts. Our results show (1) guidelines serve as an influential ‘starting point,’ and frame sentencing decisions, (2) formal and substantive rationality both continue to influence sentencing, and (3) judges perceive the shift to advisory guidelines will only have minimal effects on sentencing patterns across the state.
Comprehensive evaluation of fusion transcript detection algorithms and a meta-caller to combine top performing methods in paired-end RNA-seq data

Background: Fusion transcripts are formed by either fusion genes (DNA level) or trans-splicing events (RNA level). They have been recognized as a promising tool for diagnosing, subtyping and treating cancers. RNA-seq has become a precise and efficient standard for genome-wide screening of such aberration events. Many fusion transcript detection algorithms have been developed for paired-end RNA-seq data but their performance has not been comprehensively evaluated to guide practitioners. In this paper, we evaluated 15 popular algorithms by their precision and recall trade-off, accuracy of supporting reads and computational cost. We further combine top-performing methods for improved ensemble detection. Results: Fifteen fusion transcript detection tools were compared using three synthetic data sets under different coverage, read length, insert size and background noise, and three real data sets with selected experimental validations. No single method dominantly performed the best but SOAPfuse generally performed well, followed by FusionCatcher and JAFFA. We further demonstrated the potential of a meta-caller algorithm by combining top performing methods to re-prioritize candidate fusion transcripts with high confidence that can be followed by experimental validation. Conclusion: Our result provides insightful recommendations when applying individual tool or combining top performers to identify fusion transcript candidates.
Impact of Kinetic Uncertainties on Accurate Prediction of NO Concentrations in Premixed Alkane-Air Flames

ABSTRACT Accurate thermochemical mechanisms that can predict the formation of nitrogen oxides (NO ) are important design tools for low-emissions engines. The lack of accurate direct measurements of reaction rates and the associated measurement scatter have resulted in recommended rate parameters for individual chemical reactions that have large uncertainty intervals. In an effort to quantify the impact of these parametric uncertainties on emissions predictions, forward uncertainty propagation is performed with five spectral methods. Sparse grids are identified as the optimal technique to rapidly construct accurate surrogate models. Subsequent polynomial expansions with sparse grids, performed in one-dimensional atmospheric laminar flames for only the 30 uncertain reactions that greatly affect NO formation, produce uncertainty intervals two orders of magnitude larger than nominal predictions. Primary uncertainty sources were identified with reaction pathway analyses to evaluate the contribution of individual formation routes and the uncertainties in prompt NO were found to propagate mostly from the CH chemistry. These results highlight the necessity of a comprehensive approach, using experimental measurements with uncertainty quantification and inference techniques, to reduce uncertainty and develop predictive NO models.
Stratification, specialization, and proliferation of primary keratinocyte cultures. Evidence of a functioning in vitro epidermal cell system

A population of neonatal mouse keratinocytes (epidermal basal cells) was obtained by gentle, short-term trypsin separation of the epidermal and dermal skin compartments and discontinuous Ficoll gradient purification of the resulting epidermal cells. Over 4--6 wk of culture growth at 32--33 degrees C, the primary cultures formed a complete monolayer that exhibited entire culture stratification and upper cell layer shedding. Transmission and scanning electron microscopy demonstrated that the keratinocyte cultures progressed from one to two cell layers through a series of stratification and specialization phenomena to a six to eight cell layer culture containing structures characteristic of epidermal cells and resembling in vivo epidermal development. The temporal development of primary epidermal cell culture specialization was confirmed by use of two histological techniques which differentially stain the specializing upper cell layers of neonatal mouse skin. No detectable dermal fibroblast co-cultivation was demonstrated by use of the leucine aminopeptidase histochemical technique and routine electron microscope surveillance of the cultures. Incorporation of [3H]thymidine ([3H]Tdr) was greater than 85% into DNA and was inhibited by both 20 micron cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C) and low temperature. Autoradiography and 90% inhibition of [3H]Tdr incorporation by 2 mM hydroxyurea indicated that keratinocyte culture DNA synthesis was scheduled (not a repair phenomenon). The primary keratinocytes showed an oscillating pattern of [3H]Tdr incorporation into DNA over the initial 23--25 days of growth. Autoradiography demonstrated that the cultures contained 10--30% proliferative stem cells from days 2-25 of culture. The reproducibility of both the proliferation and specialization patterns of the described primary epidermal cell culture system indicates that these cultures are a useful tool for investigations of functioning epidermal cell homeostatic control mechanisms.