Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Wireless Sensor Network With Perpetual Motes for Terrestrial Snail Activity Monitoring

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are increasingly adopted in agriculture to monitor environmental variables to predict the presence of pests. Differently from these approaches, this paper introduces aWSN to detect the presence of snails in the field. The network can be used to both trigger an alarm of early pest presence and to further elaborate statistical models with the addition of environmental data as temperature or humidity to predict snail presence. In this paper we also design our own WSN simulator to account for real-life conditions as an uneven spacing of motes in the field or different currents generated by solar cells at the motes. This allows achieving more realistic network deployment in the field. Experimental tests are included in this paper, showing that our motes are perpetual in terms of energy consumption.
Translating C# to Branching Symbolic Transducers

The paper looks at tooling aspects of transforming C# programs into symbolic transducers with branching rules (BSTs). The latter are used for describing list comprehensions that incorporate loopcarried state. One concrete application is log analysis where input streams of data are transformed into output streams of data via intermediate pipelines of transducers. The paper presents algorithms for translating C# to BSTs, and for exposing control state in BSTs.
Mapping by microstimulation of overlapping projections from area 4 to motor units of the baboon’s hand

It is known that the preferential accessibility of motor units of the baboon’s hand to cortical stimulation depends on the existence of colonies of pyramidal neurons which project monosynaptically to the appropriate spinal motoneurons. A complete description of the architecture of such a colony would include the size, shape and localization of its cortical territory; the maximum quantity of monosynaptic depolarization it can evoke in its target motoneuron; local variations of texture (density of output cells) within the territory; and extent of overlap, if any, between its territory and the territories occupied by other colonies. Systematic intracortical exploration with a stimulating microcathode excites spheres of tissue whose radii, at different current strengths, can be estimated within acceptable limits of accuracy. Such spheres are small in relation to the size of a colony, and can contain no more than a fraction of its pyramidal cells. Piecing these spheres together reveals the size, shape and texture of colonies and of the aggregations of colonies projecting to the motoneuron pools of particular hand muscles (1st dorsal interosseus, flexor and adductor pollicis brevis, extensor digitorum communis). They are localized in that part of area 4 that lies buried in the rostral wall of the central sulcus. Such aggregations occupy cortical territories measuring as much as 6.0 mm × 5.5 mm. Microstimulation provides critical evidence that they overlap. The words ‘discrete’ and ‘mosaic’ therefore have no place in the description of the fine-grained structure of cortico-motoneuronal output in the baboon. To discharge every cell in a colony simultaneously it is necessary to employ surface stimulation. Maximum output can be measured only by intracellular recording from the target motoneuron.
Small molecule–based inhibition of MEK1/2 proteins dampens inflammatory responses to malaria, reduces parasite load, and mitigates pathogenic outcomes

Malaria infections cause several systemic and severe single- or multi-organ pathologies, killing hundreds of thousands of people annually. Considering the existing widespread resistance of malaria parasites to anti-parasitic drugs and their high propensity to develop drug resistance, alternative strategies are required to manage malaria infections. Because malaria is a host immune response–driven disease, one approach is based on gaining a detailed understanding of the molecular and cellular processes that modulate malaria-induced innate and adaptive immune responses. Here, using a mouse cerebral malaria model and small-molecule inhibitors, we demonstrate that inhibiting MEK1/2, the upstream kinases of ERK1/2 signaling, alters multifactorial components of the innate and adaptive immune responses, controls parasitemia, and blocks pathogenesis. Specifically, MEK1/2 inhibitor treatment up-regulated B1 cell expansion, IgM production, phagocytic receptor expression, and phagocytic activity, enhancing parasite clearance by macrophages and neutrophils. Further, the MEK1/2 inhibitor treatment down-regulated pathogenic pro-inflammatory and helper T cell 1 (Th1) responses and up-regulated beneficial anti-inflammatory cytokine responses and Th2 responses. These inhibitor effects resulted in reduced granzyme B expression by T cells, chemokine and intracellular cell adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) expression in the brain, and chemokine receptor expression by both myeloid and T cells. These bimodal effects of the MEK1/2 inhibitor treatment on immune responses contributed to decreased parasite biomass, organ inflammation, and immune cell recruitment, preventing tissue damage and death. In summary, we have identified several previously unrecognized immune regulatory processes through which a MEK1/2 inhibitor approach controls malaria parasitemia and mitigates pathogenic effects on host organs.
Power characterization of functional units

In cycle-accurate RTL level power estimation, a table is used to characterize the power consumed by each functional unit. The size of the table grows exponentially with the size of the inputs. We present a partitioning power modeling technique to reduce the table size. Results indicate that this technique works for shifters and register files with reasonable accuracy and much smaller table size. Results also show that by multiplying a constant factor, this technique also works for multipliers. Simulation time is reduced significantly. Similar techniques may also work for dividers.
Induction of canonical Wnt signaling by alsterpaullone is sufficient for oral tissue fate during regeneration and embryogenesis in Nematostella vectensis

Although regeneration is widespread among metazoa, the molecular mechanisms have been studied in only a handful of taxa. Of these taxa, fewer still are amenable to studies of embryogenesis. Our understanding of the evolution of regeneration, and its relation to embryogenesis, therefore remains limited. Using β‐catenin as a marker, we investigated the role of canonical Wnt signaling during both regeneration and embryogenesis in the cnidarian Nematostella vectensis. The canonical Wnt signaling pathway is known to play a conserved role in primary axis patterning in triploblasts. Induction of Wnt signaling with alsterpaullone results in ectopic oral tissue during both regeneration and embryogenesis by specifically upregulating β‐catenin expression, as measured by qRTPCR. Our data indicate that canonical Wnt signaling is sufficient for oral patterning during Nematostella regeneration and embryogenesis. These data also contribute to a growing body of literature indicating a conserved role for patterning mechanisms across various developmental modes of metazoans. Developmental Dynamics 240:2673–2679, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Crisis Management 2.0: Towards a Systematization of Social Software Use in Crisis Situations

In this paper, the authors propose a systematization of social software use in crisis situations, examining different types of cooperation and challenges. The authors discuss how the organizational actors involved in crisis management (police, fire-fighters, organizations, etc.) and the affected citizens are communicating and can communicate and collaborate through the use of social software. After defining the term ‘social software,’ the authors outline its use in crisis management. They present two case studies where they have examined the use of social software in 2010: first during the disruption of air travel caused by the eruptions of the volcano Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland and second during the mass panic at the Love Parade music festival in Germany. Based on both previous work and case studies
Multiple standardization of parasuicide ('attempted suicide') rates in Edinburgh.

SEVERAL studies of 'attempted suicide', better termed parasuicide, have been carried out in Edinburgh in recent years. The city is well placed for such studies as the great majority of cases receiving hospital attention are admitted to the Regional Poisoning Treatment Centre (RPTC) at the Royal Infirmary. Statistics compiled by the Scottish Home and Health Department show that in 1967 95% of all adult patients admitted to hospital from an Edinburgh address for treatment of poisoning were received by the RPTC. Cases of self-injury are also received at the RPTC though they are less systematically referred than are the poisoning cases and thus likely to be less fully represented than the former
A New Freshwater Naked Lobose Amoeba Korotnevella venosa n. sp. (Amoebozoa, Discosea)

A new freshwater species of naked lobose amoebae Korotnevella venosa n. sp. isolated from freshwater pond in St. Petersburg, Russia was studied with light and transmission electron microscopy. Basket scales of this species have six vertical columns supporting perforated rim. The latter has tongue‐like broadening with membranous region. Vertical columns bifurcate at both ends so that neighboring columns are connected by their bifurcations forming combined structure. Basket scales of K. venosa are similar to those of Korotnevella hemistylolepis in having six full‐length vertical columns and perforated rim. At the same time, they are different in having tongue‐like broadening of perforated rim with membranous region and absence of six half‐length columns and an intermediate crosspiece. Phylogenetic trees based on 18S rDNA gene placed K. venosa either at the base of the whole Korotnevella clade, next to K. hemistylolepis, or as a sister to the clade comprising Korotnevella species with latticework basket in large scales.
Department of Computing MEng Final Year Project Motion stabilisation for video sequences

Motion Stabilisation is the art of removing unwanted observable motion from a dynamic image sequence. Computer Vision techniques serve as a purely software based means of achieving motion stabilisation by applying a sequence of techniques including calculating an original global motion estimate using feature detection, feature tracking and outlier rejection. An update transformation is derived and applied to the original video sequence and a new stiller video is created. Minimally Invasive Heart surgery is a modern approach to heart surgery whereby the surgeon operates on the patient remotely using robotic arms to perform delicate operations within the patient. Benefits of such endoscopic surgery include less scarring, lower rates of wound infection and a faster recovery time. As patient demand for such surgery increases, the technique still poses problems for the surgeon such as having only an indirect view of the field of surgery via a small camera. When operating on the heart, traditionally a Heart Bypass machine is employed to still the heart to ease the job of the surgeon, however sometimes serious complications can arise as a result of using such machines. Beating Heart surgery requires the surgeon to operate on the heart whilst it is still beating which requires additional effort and concentration. Motion compensation of the beating heart has been investigated by several international research groups over recent years. In this project, we investigate the application of a recent 2D motion stabilisation method to the problem of motion compensation in minimally invasive beating heart surgery. The investigation served to assess how suitable this method is when applied to a 3D deforming surface such as the heart. For evaluation purposes, we apply the procedure to a video of a heart phantom as well as footage of a real moving heart and quantitatively and qualitatively measure the reduction in apparent motion in each video. The project found that 2D methods are capable of compensating non-linear 3D deforming motions to an extent. In our real heart video we found that our global motion estimate method was able to derive a decent global motion estimate despite the high level of specular reflection and pre-existing motion blur. Consequently, the method was able to compensate a substantial amount of respiratory motion in addition to a reduction in observable cardiac motion.
Genetic programming for low-resource systems

Embedded systems dominate the computing landscape. This dominance is increasing with the advent of ubiquitous computing whereby lightweight, low-resource systems are being deployed on a vast scale. These systems present new engineering challenges: high-volume production places a stronger emphasis on absolute cost, resources available to executing software are highly constrained, and physical manufacturing capabilities approach hard limits. Add to this the sensitive nature of many of these systems, such as smartcards used for financial transactions, and the development of these systems becomes a formidable engineering challenge. For the software engineer, the incentive to produce efficient and resource-aware software for these platforms is great, yet existing tools do not support them well in this task. It is difficult to assess the impact of decisions made at the source code level in terms of how they change a system's resource consumption. Existing toolchains, together with the very complex interactions of software and their host processors, can produce unforeseen implications at run-time of even small changes. We could describe such a situation as an instance of programming the unprogrammable, and Genetic Programming is one solution method used for such problems. Genetic Programming, inspired by nature's ability to solve problems involving complex interactions and strong pressures on resource consumption, is a clear candidate for attacking the challenges presented in these systems. Genetic Programming facilitates the creation and manipulation of source code in a way that grants us fine control over its measurable characteristics. In this thesis, I investigate the potential of Genetic Programming as a tool in controlling the non-functional properties of software, as a new method of designing code for low-resource systems. I demonstrate the feasibility of this approach, and investigate some of the ways Genetic Programming could be utilised by a practitioner. In doing so, I also identify key components that any application of Genetic Programming to such a domain will require. I review current low-resource system optimisation, Genetic Programming and methods for simultaneously handling multiple requirements. I present a series of empirical investigations designed to provide evidence for and against a set of hypotheses regarding the success of Genetic Programming in solving problems within the low-resource systems domain. These experiments include the creation of new software, the improvement of existing software and the fine-grained control of resource usage in general. Thus I will address a range of non-functional requirements related to the resource-consumption of a program, and demonstrate how we can apply techniques inspired by natural evolution in combination with conventional optimisation methods to address some of the problems that the plethora of low-resource systems present. To conclude, I review the progress made, reassess my hypotheses, and outline how these new methods can be carried forward to a wide range of applications.
Selection bias in epidemiological studies of infectious disease using Escherichia coli and avian cellulitis as an example

In epidemiological studies of infectious disease, researchers often rely on specific cues of the host, such as clinical signs, as surrogate indicators of pathogen presence. A selection bias would manifest if the specific visual cues used in sampling for the pathogen were not representative of the full range of signs caused by the strains of that pathogen. In our molecular epidemiological studies of Escherichia coli associated with avian cellulitis in broilers, we collect carcasses at the processing plant based on visual cues of lesion morphology. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to: (1) explore the potential impacts of selection bias in an application of infectious disease epidemiology, and (2) utilize a validation protocol to assess the potential for selection bias in our molecular epidemiological studies of E. coli and avian cellulitis. In two different trials, E. coli DNA fingerprints were compared between birds that our observers collected and the birds that the observers missed. Using Fisher's exact tests and simulation models, we determined that the isolates collected by the observers were not significantly different from the isolates missed by the observers (P>0·60 in both trials). Our method of selecting birds suspected of having cellulitis did not significantly bias our inferences about the population of E. coli associated with cellulitis in the flock. We encourage more investigators to critically assess the relationship of the sample to the target population in epidemiological studies of infectious disease.
The Association Between Ankle Brachial Pressure Index and Pulse Wave Velocity: Clinical Implication of Pulse Wave Velocity

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between ankle brachial pressure index and pulse wave velocity in patients with peripheral arterial disease. Methods: Brachial-knee and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity were measured by pneumoplethysmography using cuffs in a standard technique. Correlation between pulse wave velocity and Doppler-ankle brachial pressure index was assessed by Spearman correlation and receiver operating curves. Results: A total of 133 claudicants were assessed. Analysis by developing receiver operating curves for ankle brachial pressure index and pulse wave velocity showed that patients with ankle brachial pressure index over 0.6 were more likely to have a bk-pulse wave velocity over 9.2 m/s and ba-pulse wave velocity over 9.5 m/s. Conclusion: These results show for the first time that nondiabetic vascular patients may have measurable significant arterial stiffness independent of an impaired ankle brachial pressure index. These data suggest that pulse wave velocity may be valuable in screening and evaluating the severity of peripheral arterial disease.
Challenges for the formulation of a universal vaccine against dengue

Dengue is rapidly becoming a disease of an escalating global public health concern. The disease is a vector-borne disease, transmitted by the bite of an Aedes spp. mosquito. Dynamic clinical manifestations, ranging from asymptomatic, flu-like febrile illness, dengue fever (DF) to dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) with or without dengue shock syndrome (DSS), make the disease one of the most challenging to diagnose and treat. DF is a self-limited illness, while DHF/DSS, characterized by plasma leakage resulting from an increased vascular permeability, can have severe consequences, including death. The pathogenesis of dengue virus infection remains poorly understood, mainly due to the lack of a suitable animal model that can recapitulate the cardinal features of human dengue diseases. Currently, there is no specific treatment or antiviral therapy available for dengue virus infection and supportive care with vigilant monitoring is the principle course of treatment. Since vector control programs have been largely unsuccessful in preventing outbreaks, vaccination seems to be the most viable option for prevention. There are four dengue viral serotypes and each one of them is capable of causing severe dengue. Although immunity induced by infection by one serotype is effective in protection against the homologous viral serotype, it only has a transient protective effect against infection with the other three serotypes. The meager cross protective immunity generated wanes over time and may even induce a harmful effect at the time of subsequent secondary infection. Thus, it is imperative to have a vaccine that can elicit equal and long-lasting immunity to all four serotypes simultaneously. Numerous tetravalent vaccines are currently either in the pipeline for clinical trials or under development. For those frontrunner tetravalent vaccines in clinical trials, despite good safety and immunogenicity profiles registered, issues such as imbalanced immune responses between serotypes and questions with regard to whether the optimum formulation have been identified remain unresolved. This review centers on these issues and offers strategies that may improve the tetravalent vaccine formulation.
Use of FOXJ1CreER2T mice for inducible deletion of embryonic node gene expression

The ciliated cells of the node of the mouse embryo contribute to the establishment of left–right patterning via generation of leftward laminar fluid flow and initiation of a left‐sided morphogen gradient. Here, we identify FOXJ1CreER2T mice in which expression of Cre recombinase is directed to ciliated node cells. The data demonstrate that foxj1 is expressed specifically in the node throughout the developmental window critical for left–right patterning. In transgenic embryos, Cre expression is detected by immunohistochemistry in ciliated cells of the node. Rosa26R reporter mice, in which expression of lacZ is activated only after Cre‐mediated recombination, demonstrate strong and uniform labeling at the node when crossed with FOXJ1CreER2T mice. Cell labeling occurred as early as 0‐ to 2‐somite stages, specifically within cells of the node, and recombination was highly efficient in response to tamoxifen. FOXJ1CreER2T transgenic mice represent a new genetic tool for the analysis of node‐specific gene expression and will also be valuable in the study of node cell lineage and temporal cell fate mapping. genesis 47:132–136, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Role of Money in Saudi Arabia: A Dynamic Analysis

This paper examines the role of money in the economy of Saudi Arabia using a vector autoregressive approach (VAR). Unit root tests show that logs of money supply (LM1), non-oil GDP (LNOY), and price level (LP) are difference stationary and cointegrated. Variance decompositions and impulse response functions reveal that there exists a bi-directional causation between money supply and nominal non-oil GDP and a unidirectional causation runs from LM1 to LP and from LNOY to LP. These findings suggest that inflation in Saudi Arabia may happen as a result of bottlenecks in supply side and/or a growth in money supply more than the growth in income. These results also lend partial support to the monetarist theory of inflation. Based on these results, it can be said that Saudi Monetary Agency (SAMA) might be able to successfully maintain price stability at consumer's level by targeting narrow money stock. However, tight monetary policy could have a strong feedback on output. Therefore, simultaneous fiscal measures may help in achieving a longer-term sustainable economic growth.