Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting

In Everyday Blessings, Jon and Myla Kabat-Zinn show how parents can enrich their lives and the lives of their children through mindful parenting - that is, by honoring the fullness of the present moment, and within it, the inner potential and beauty that reside in both our children and ourselves. As parents, we are often caught up in moving so quickly and so automatically that we have trouble seeing our children fully in each moment, particularly when things are not occurring as we would like them to. As a result, it can be difficult for us to give our children the greatest possible gift a parent can give - one's own nonjudgmental, conscious, fully accepting presence. Everyday Blessings provides a powerful new way of looking at and facing the challenges of parenthood, illuminating how a lack of awareness fosters patterns that damage both parent and child, and how mindfulness can bring healing and transformation to this essential relationship. Through the inner work of cultivating mindfulness in our parenting and in our lives, we can find our own ways to nourish our children's soul needs and, in the process, grow ourselves.
CBIR Using Local and Global Properties of Image Sub-blocks

This paper proposes a content based image retrieval (CBIR) system using the local colour and texture features of selected image sub-blocks and global colour and shape features of the image. The image sub-blocks are roughly identified by segmenting the image into partitions of different configuration, finding the edge density in each partition using edge thresholding, morphological dilation and finding the corner density in each partition. The colour and texture features of the identified regions are computed from the histograms of the quantized HSV colour space and Gray Level Co- occurrence Matrix (GLCM) respectively. A combined colour and texture feature vector is computed for each region. The shape features are computed from the Edge Histogram Descriptor (EHD). Euclidean distance measure is used for computing the distance between the features of the query and target image. Experimental results show that the proposed method provides better retrieving result than retrieval using some of the existing methods.
Salubrinal attenuated retinal neovascularization by inhibiting CHOP-HIF1α-VEGF pathways

Retinal neovascularization (RNV) related disease is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the world. The aim of this study is to identify whether salubrinal could attenuate RNV by inhibiting CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP) homologous protein (CHOP)- hypoxia inducible factors 1α (HIF1α) -vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathways in both mouse retinal microvascular endothelial cells (mRMECs) and oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) mouse model. After being treated with salubrinal (20μmol/L) or CHOP-siRNA, mRMECs were exposed to a hypoxia environment. OIR mice were intraperitoneally injected with salubrinal (0.5 mg/kg/day) from P12 to P17. With salubrinal or CHOP-siRNA treatment, the elevated CHOP protein and mRNA levels in hypoxia-induced mRMECs were significantly decreased. HIF1α-VEGF pathways were activated under hypoxia condition, then HIF1α protein was degraded and VEGF secretion was down-regulated after salubrinal or CHOP-siRNA treatment. In OIR mice, the areas of RNV were markedly decreased with salubrinal treatment. Moreover, elevated expressions of CHOP, HIF1α and VEGF in retinas of OIR mice were all reduced after salubrinal treatment. It suggested that salubrinal attenuated RNV in mRMECs and OIR mice by inhibiting CHOP-HIF1α-VEGF pathways and could be a potential therapeutic target for hypoxia-induced retinal microangiopathy.
Le tutorat : richesses d'une méthode pédagogique

L'auteur etudie les caracteristiques, les apports et les limites du tutorat et tente de repondre aux questions liees a son application. Se basant sur les resultats de recherches recentes, il montre que cette methode doit etre utilisee en prenant compte de nombreux parametres. C'est dans cette perspective que sont etudies l'intervention tutorale, l'effet-tuteur et le tutorat interculturel. L'ouvrage analyse la notion de congruence cognitive. Il montre que les tuteurs peuvent eux-memes beneficier de la formule tutorale. L'ouvrage presente des experiences tutorales diverses realisees dans plusieurs pays, demon-trant que le tutorat se prete a des usages varies, pour repondre a des besoins specifiques. ,
Developing Online Courses: Ten Myths

Online education carries many benefits for individuals in rural areas as well as individuals with disabilities. The rapid growth of online courses and the increased number of institutions moving to online education has resulted in many instructors beginning to develop online courses for the first time. The article presents ten common myths that have sprung up concerning online course design and delivery, and offers accurate information regarding these misconceptions.
On the Number of Experiments Sufficient and in the Worst Case Necessary to Identify All Causal Relations Among N Variables

We show that if any number of variables are allowed to be simultaneously and independently randomized in any one experiment, log2(N) + 1 experiments are sufficient and in the worst case necessary to determine the causal relations among N >= 2 variables when no latent variables, no sample selection bias and no feedback cycles are present. For all K, 0 < K < 1/(2N) we provide an upper bound on the number experiments required to determine causal structure when each experiment simultaneously randomizes K variables. For large N, these bounds are significantly lower than the N - 1 bound required when each experiment randomizes at most one variable. For kmax < N/2, we show that (N/kmax-1)+N/(2kmax)log2(kmax) experiments aresufficient and in the worst case necessary. We over a conjecture as to the minimal number of experiments that are in the worst case sufficient to identify all causal relations among N observed variables that are a subset of the vertices of a DAG.
Regulation of a muscle-specific transgene by retinoic acid

Retinoic acid (RA) has been shown to have variable effects on myogenic differentiation in cell culture. The application of RA on primary cultures of embryonic somites, limb buds, and neonatal limbs inhibited myogenic differentiation in a dose-dependent way as indicated by the repression of: (a) myotube formation, (b) myosin heavy chain protein accumulation, (c) myosin light chain (MLC) 1/3, alpha sk-actin and myogenic factor transcript expression. Expression of retinoic acid receptors (RAR) was also affected by RA treatment, specifically RAR gamma transcripts were induced. To further understand the pleiotropic action of RA on myogenesis, we took advantage of two muscle-specific transgene markers which consisted of CAT reporter genes driven by regulatory elements either from the myosin light chain 1/3 locus (MLC- CAT) or the alpha-skeletal actin gene (alpha sk actin-CAT). RA inhibited MLC-CAT transgene but not alpha sk actin-CAT transgene expression in primary cultures from these mice. Analysis of MLC-CAT expression in transgenic mouse primary cultures and in stably transfected C2C12 cells demonstrated that repression of MLC-CAT activity by RA was dependent upon diffusible factors in chick embryo extract. We hypothesize that during development, the pleiotropic effects of RA on myogenesis do not depend solely on the distribution and concentration of RA itself, but are also influenced by extracellular signals in the embryonic environment.
Generalised Domain Model Acquisition from Action Traces

One approach to the problem of formulating domain models for planning is to learn the models from example action sequences. The LOCM system demonstrated the feasibility of learning domain models from example action sequences only, with no observation of states before, during or after the plans. LOCM uses an object-centred representation, in which each object is represented by a single parameterised state machine. This makes it powerful for learning domains which fit within that representation, but there are some well-known domains which do not. This paper introduces LOCM2, a novel algorithm in which the domain representation of LOCM is generalised to allow multiple parameterised state machines to represent a single object. This extends the coverage of domains for which an adequate domain model can be learned. The LOCM2 algorithm is described and evaluated by testing domain learning from example plans from published results of past International Planning Competitions.
Secure Message Broadcasting with Encryption Mechanism in VANETs

Vehicular Ad-hoc NETworks (VANETs) are one of the most promising applications of MANET uses cars as mobile nodes to create a mobile network. A VANET turns every participating car into a wireless router or node. As cars fall out of the signal range and drop out of the network, other cars can join in, connecting vehicles to one another so that a mobile Internet is created. Secured communication in Adhoc wireless networks has more significance since the communication signals are openly available as they propagate through air and are more vulnerable to attacks. The successful deployment of vehicular communication requires Vehicle-to-Vehicle and Vehicle-to-fixed station communication with security. The main idea is to implement an encryption mechanism that aims to encrypt and forward data among the nodes. The encryption method used is RSA. The objective is to tackle the security problem so that VANETs can be implemented in a high security environment. The proposed method demonstrated based on ns-2 simulations.
Rates of Litter Decomposition and Soil Respiration in Relation to Soil Temperature and Water in Different-Aged Pinus massoniana Forests in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China

To better understand the soil carbon dynamics and cycling in terrestrial ecosystems in response to environmental changes, we studied soil respiration, litter decomposition, and their relations to soil temperature and soil water content for 18-months (Aug. 2010–Jan. 2012) in three different-aged Pinus massoniana forests in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China. Across the experimental period, the mean total soil respiration and litter respiration were 1.94 and 0.81, 2.00 and 0.60, 2.19 and 0.71 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1, and the litter dry mass remaining was 57.6%, 56.2% and 61.3% in the 20-, 30-, and 46-year-old forests, respectively. We found that the temporal variations of soil respiration and litter decomposition rates can be well explained by soil temperature at 5 cm depth. Both the total soil respiration and litter respiration were significantly positively correlated with the litter decomposition rates. The mean contribution of the litter respiration to the total soil respiration was 31.0%–45.9% for the three different-aged forests. The present study found that the total soil respiration was not significantly affected by forest age when P. masonniana stands exceed a certain age (e.g. >20 years old), but it increased significantly with increased soil temperature. Hence, forest management strategies need to protect the understory vegetation to limit soil warming, in order to reduce the CO2 emission under the currently rapid global warming. The contribution of litter decomposition to the total soil respiration varies across spatial and temporal scales. This indicates the need for separate consideration of soil and litter respiration when assessing the climate impacts on forest carbon cycling.
"Remember, It's a Pilot": Exploring the Experiences of Teachers/Staff at a University-Assisted Community School.

With roots in community development and the work of Dewey, a compelling case has been made for universities to be involved in urban school reform. Further, with increasing demands placed on universities to become responsive to community needs, university partnerships with K–12 schools are one means by which institutions of higher education have become involved in local educational issues. One particular type of community–school–university involvement approach is a University-Assisted Community School (UACS). Much of the research related to such school–university partnerships has focused on describing what a UACS “looks like,” with little attention given to the day-to-day experiences of those that work within a UACS. In this paper, we present findings from a qualitative study examining the experiences of teachers and staff who have participated in the development of and/or taught at a UACS afterschool program. Findings highlighted (1) the challenges and transitions associated with being a pilot effort; (2) the felt differences between universi ties and schools as they relate to on-the-ground implementation; and (3) the potential of the UACS model as a collaborative vehicle for accomplishing tasks that neither institution can accomplish alone. We point to implications related to school–university partnerships and directions for future research.
Minflotransit: min-cost flow based transistor sizing tool

This paper presents MINFLOTRANSIT, a new transistor sizing tool for fast sizing of combinational circuits with minimal cost. MINFLOTRANSIT is an iterative relaxation based tool that has two alternating phases. For a circuit with |<italic>V</italic>| transistors and |<italic>E</italic>| wires, the first phase <italic>(D-phase)</italic>) is based on minimum cost network flow, which in our application, has a worst-case complexity of <italic>O</italic>(|<italic>V</italic>||<italic>E</italic>|<italic>log</italic>(<italic>log</italic>(|<italic>V</italic>|))). The second phase <italic>W-phase</italic> has a worst case complexity of <italic>O</italic>(|<italic>V</italic>||<italic>E</italic>|). In practice, during our simulations both the <italic>D-phase</italic> and <italic>W-phase</italic> show a near linear run-time dependence on the size of the circuit, comparable to TILOS. Simulation results show excellent run-time behavior for MINFLOTRANSIT on all the ISCAS85 benchmark circuits. For reasonable delay targets MINFLOTRANSIT shows up to 16.5% area savings over a circuit sized using a TILOS-like algorithm.
A Pragmatic Oscillome: Aligning Visual Attentional Mechanisms with Language Comprehension

A growing body of work over the last decade has investigated the potential functional role of neural oscillations in language comprehension (Giraud and Poeppel, 2012; Doelling and Poeppel, 2015; Lewis and Bastiaansen, 2015; Ding et al., 2016). I will explore how a number of recent developments in the field, and related domains of systems neuroscience, can generate much-needed linking hypotheses between the language sciences and neuroscience. To this end, I will focus on an area of linguistics whose existence has barely been acknowledged by the oscillation literature—pragmatics—and argue that elementary principles of discourse interpretation (though not more complex, peripheral aspects of pragmatic knowledge) can be implemented via generic, domain-general mechanisms elsewhere argued to be responsible for particular aspects of visual cognition. It will be suggested that these two systems share a number of striking computational/representational properties, and hence may share homologous dynamic and connectomic substrates.
Efficient Timing and Frequency Offset Estimation in OFDM Systems

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is a bandwidth efficient modulation scheme used widely for high speed data communication. Fast and ro- bust synchronization algorithms are necessary for OFDM systems operating in burst mode like WLANs. In this paper, we propose an efficient timing and carrier frequency synchronization method for OFDM. The proposed scheme needs only one OFDM symbol for both symbol/frame timing and frequency offset estimation, while previous synchronization algorithms need more than two OFDM symbols as a training sequence. Numerical analysis shows that the proposed frequency estimator nearly achieves the Cramer-Rao lower bound for the variance of the frequency offset estimate, despite the reduction in the training sequence length.
Integrated readout and drive circuits for a microelectromechanical gyroscope

An ASIC is implemented for readout and drive of a bulk micromachined gyroscope utilizing electromagnetic actuation and sensing. A fully differential structure is used in the readout channel and drive loop to reduce the common-mode noise and interference. A low-noise front-end amplifier is designed to sense the rotation induced voltage signal. A switched-capacitor BPF with adjustable center frequency is proposed to track the resonance frequency and suppress the noise and harmonic components out of the signal bands. An AGC-based driving loop with PLL for demodulation clock generation is also designed and integrated on chip. The interface circuits are designed in a 0. 35μm 2P4M CMOS process. The simulation results show that the readout circuit achieves an input referred noise voltage of 16.5nV/√Hz and dynamic range of 80dB over the 100Hz bandwidth from a single 5V supply.
Probabilistic Programming for Malware Analysis

Constructing lineages of malware is an important cyber-defense task. Performing this task is difficult, however, due to the amount of malware data and obfuscation techniques by the authors. In this work, we formulate the lineage task as a probabilistic model, and use a novel probabilistic programming solution to jointly infer the lineage and creation times of families of malware.
Multi-processor Performance on the Tera MTA

The Tera MTA is a revolutionary commercial computer based on a multithreaded processor architecture. In contrast to many other parallel architectures, the Tera MTA can effectively use high amounts of parallelism on a single processor. By running multiple threads on a single processor, it can tolerate memory latency and to keep the processor saturated. If the computation is sufficiently large, it can benefit from running on multiple processors. A primary architectural goal of the MTA is that it provide scalable performance over multiple processors. This paper is a preliminary investigation of the first multi-processor Tera MTA. In a previous paper [1] we reported that on the kernel NAS 2 benchmarks [2], a single-processor MTA system running at the architected clock speed would be similar in performance to a single processor of the Cray T90. We found that the compilers of both machines were able to find the necessary threads or vector operations, after making standard changes to the random number generator. In this paper we update the single-processor results in two ways: we use only actual clock speeds, and we report improvements given by further tuning of the MTA codes. We then investigate the performance of the best single-processor codes when run on a two-processor MTA, making no further tuning effort. The parallel efficiency of the codes range from 77% to 99%. An analysis shows that the "serial bottlenecks" -- unparallelized code sections and the cost of allocating and freeing the parallel hardware resources -- account for less than a percent of the runtimes. Thus, Amdahl's Law needn't take effect on the NAS benchmarks until there are hundreds of processors running thousands of threads. Instead, the major source of inefficiency appears to be an imperfect network connecting the processors to the memory. Ideally, the network can support one memory reference per instruction. The current hardware has defects that reduce the throughput to about 85% of this rate. Except for the EP benchmark, the tuned codes issue memory references at nearly the peak rate of one per instruction. Consequently, the network can support the memory references issued by one, but not two, processors. As a result, the parallel efficiency of EP is near- perfect, but the others are reduced accordingly. Another reason for imperfect speedup pertains to the compiler. While the definition of a thread in a single processor or multi-processor mode is essentially the same, there is a different implementation and an associated overhead with running on multiple processors. We characterize the overhead of running "frays" (a collection of threads running on a single processor) and "crews" (a collection of frays, one per processor.)
MAGIC Database and Interfaces: An Integrated Package for Gene Discovery and Expression

The rapidly increasing rate at which biological data is being produced requires a corresponding growth in relational databases and associated tools that can help laboratories contend with that data. With this need in mind, we describe here a Modular Approach to a Genomic, Integrated and Comprehensive (MAGIC) Database. This Oracle 9i database derives from an initial focus in our laboratory on gene discovery via production and analysis of expressed sequence tags (ESTs), and subsequently on gene expression as assessed by both EST clustering and microarrays. The MAGIC Gene Discovery portion of the database focuses on information derived from DNA sequences and on its biological relevance. In addition to MAGIC SEQ-LIMS, which is designed to support activities in the laboratory, it contains several additional subschemas. The latter include MAGIC Admin for database administration, MAGIC Sequence for sequence processing as well as sequence and clone attributes, MAGIC Cluster for the results of EST clustering, MAGIC Polymorphism in support of microsatellite and single-nucleotide-polymorphism discovery, and MAGIC Annotation for electronic annotation by BLAST and BLAT. The MAGIC Microarray portion is a MIAME-compliant database with two components at present. These are MAGIC Array-LIMS, which makes possible remote entry of all information into the database, and MAGIC Array Analysis, which provides data mining and visualization. Because all aspects of interaction with the MAGIC Database are via a web browser, it is ideally suited not only for individual research laboratories but also for core facilities that serve clients at any distance.