Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A flexible design space exploration platform for wireless sensor networks

My dissertation presents a flexible design space exploration platform for wireless sensor networks and an extensible design flow. The conceived platform enables the fast creation and evaluation of custom sensor node hard- and software architectures without developing custom hardware. One important feature of my platform is that it allows the evaluation of the computational- and communication domain of a sensor node in respect to power consumption.
Identification of gametophytic mutations affecting female gametophyte development in Arabidopsis.

The female gametophyte (embryo sac or megagametophyte) plays a critical role in sexual reproduction of angiosperms. It is the structure that produces the egg cell and central cell which, following fertilization, give rise to the seed's embryo and endosperm, respectively. In addition, the female gametophyte mediates a host of reproductive processes including pollen tube guidance, fertilization, and the induction of seed development. Several major events occur during megagametogenesis, including syncitial nuclear divisions, cellularization, nuclear migration and fusion, and cell death. While these events have been described morphologically, the molecules regulating them in the female gametophyte are largely unknown. We discuss a genetic screen based on reduced seed set and segregation distortion to identify mutations affecting megagametogenesis and female gametophyte function. We report on the isolation of four mutants (fem1, fem2, fem3, and fem4) and show that the four mutations map to different locations within the genome. Additionally, we show that the fem1 and fem2 mutations affect only the female gametophyte, while the fem3 and fem4 mutations affect both the female and male gametophyte. We analyzed female gametophyte development in these four mutants as well as in the gfa2, gfa3, gfa4, gfa5, and gfa7 mutants. We found that the fem2, fem3, gfa4, and gfa5 mutants abort development at the one-nucleate stage, while the fem1, fem4, gfa2, gfa3, and gfa7 mutants are affected in processes later in development such as polar nuclei fusion and cellularization. The establishment of a genetic screen to identify mutants and the development of a rapid procedure for analyzing mutant phenotypes represent a first step in the isolation of molecules that regulate female gametophyte development and function.
A comparison of problem-based and traditional education on nursing students' locus of control and problem-solving skills.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study is to compare the locus of control and problem-solving skills of nursing students studying with the problem-based learning method with those of nursing students studying with the traditional method. METHODS This is a descriptive and comparative study. For data collection, the Problem-Solving Skills Inventory and the Locus of Control Scale were used. The study sample included 680 nursing students. CONCLUSIONS It was determined that the problem-based learning method was more effective in the development of problem-solving skills and internal locus of control than was the traditional method.
Phenotypic resistance to thrombin-induced platelet microbicidal protein in vitro is correlated with enhanced virulence in experimental endocarditis due to Staphylococcus aureus

Thrombin-induced platelet microbicidal protein (tPMP) is secreted by rabbit platelets following thrombin stimulation, and it kills common endovascular pathogens in vitro, including Staphylococcus aureus. Therefore, pathogens which exhibit tPMP resistance in vitro possess a potential survival advantage in vivo at sites of endovascular damage. We generated an isogenic S. aureus strain pair, differing in tPMP susceptibility, by transposon (Tn551) mutagenesis of a tPMP-susceptible (tPMPs) parental strain (ISP479) to derive a stably tPMP-resistant (tPMPr) strain, ISP479R. ISP479 and ISP479R were equivalent in vitro in the following phenotypes: biotyping, antiobiograms, platelet adherence and aggregation, growth kinetics, cell wall-associated protein A expression, and fibrinogen binding. Genotypic comparisons of chromosomal DNA of strains ISP479 and ISP479R following restriction endonuclease digestion revealed indistinguishable pulsed-field gel electrophoretic patterns. The genotype exhibited by strain ISP479R was linked to the tPMP-resistant phenotype, as it was transducible into the initially tPMP-susceptible parental strain, ISP479. Southern hybridization verified the presence of a single copy of Tn551 in the same chromosomal restriction site of both ISP479R and tPMPr transductants of ISP479. The correlation of in vitro tPMP susceptibility phenotypes with the ability to induce experimental endocarditis (a prototypical endovascular infection) was evaluated. Despite equivalent rates of endocarditis induction, animals infected with strain ISP479R achieved significantly higher vegetation bacterial densities over a 7-day post-challenge period than did animals infected with strain ISP479. These data suggest that tPMPr microbial strains have a selective advantage in experimental staphylococcal endocarditis. Furthermore, the major impact of tPMP resistance upon endocarditis pathogenesis appears to involve a postvalvular adherence event(s), most probably by facilitating bacterial proliferation within vegetations.
Assessment of gastric emptying using a low fat meal: establishment of international control values

OBJECTIVE:The diagnosis of gastroparesis implies delayed gastric emptying. The diagnostic gold standard is scintigraphy, but techniques and measured endpoints vary widely among institutions. In this study, a simplified scintigraphic measurement of gastric emptying was compared to conventional gastric scintigraphic techniques and normal gastric emptying values defined in healthy subjects.METHODS:In 123 volunteers (aged 19–73 yr, 60 women and 63 men) from 11 centers, scintigraphy was used to assess gastric emptying of a 99Tc-labeled low fat meal (egg substitute) and percent intragastric residual contents 60, 120, and 240 min after completion of the meal. In 42 subjects, additional measurements were taken every 10 min for 1 h. In 20 subjects, gastric emptying of a 99Tc-labeled liver meal was compared with that of the 99Tc-labeled low fat meal.RESULTS:Median values (95th percentile) for percent gastric retention at 60, 120, and 240 min were 69% (90%), 24% (60%) and 1.2% (10%) respectively. A power exponential model yielded similar emptying curves and estimated T50 when using images only taken at 1, 2 and 4 h, or with imaging taken every 10 min. Gastric emptying was initially more rapid in men but was comparable in men and women at 4 h; it was faster in older subjects (p < 0.05) but was independent of body mass index.CONCLUSIONS:This multicenter study provides gastric emptying values in healthy subjects based on data obtained using a large sample size and consistent meal and methodology. Gastric retention of >10% at 4 h is indicative of delayed emptying, a value comparable to those provided by more intensive scanning approaches. Gastric emptying of a low fat meal is initially faster in men but is comparable in women at 4 h; it is also faster in older individuals but is independent of body mass.
Evaluation of a family nursing intervention for distressed pregnant women and their partners: a single group before and after study.

AIM To report a study of the effects of an antenatal family nursing intervention for emotionally distressed women and their partners. BACKGROUND High levels of depressive symptoms and anxiety are common in pregnant women, and their partners are likely to suffer from a higher degree of these symptoms than those of non-distressed women. Maternal anxiety and depressive symptoms influence the development of the foetus and child negatively. Distress-reducing interventions for couples are scarce. DESIGN The design was a pre- and post-test single group quasi-experiment. METHODS All women distressed during the last two trimesters of pregnancy were referred by midwives to a family nursing home-visiting service in a primary care setting in Iceland. They were invited to participate in the study from November 2007-September 2009. The final sample was 39 couples. Assessment of distress was through self-reporting of depressive symptoms and anxiety, self-esteem, and dyadic adjustment. The couple received four home visits that were guided by the Calgary Family Nursing Model. RESULTS Women experienced a higher degree of distress than men before the intervention. Couple's distress was interrelated, and improvement was significant on all indicators after the intervention. CONCLUSION Healthcare professionals who care for distressed expectant women should attend to their partners' mental health status. The Calgary Family Nursing Model is an appropriate guide for nursing care of distressed prospective couples in a primary care setting.
Leakage-resilient storage scheme for cryptographic applications

Since the side-channel attacks arise as a huge threat for cryptographic schemes than previously realized, it is necessary to implement proven-secure leakage-resilient cryptographic schemes and use them for real-world purposes. In this work our effort is to implement two leakage-resilient cryptographic schemes, a leakage-resilient storage scheme and a refreshing protocol, which have been proven-secure and accepted by the cryptographic community since 2011 (ASIACRYPT 2011). Our aim is to open up the direction for implementing the useful leakage-resilient cryptographic schemes for future usage.
Single-trial event-related potential extraction through one-unit ICA-with-reference

Objective. In recent years, ICA has been one of the more popular methods for extracting event-related potential (ERP) at the single-trial level. It is a blind source separation technique that allows the extraction of an ERP without making strong assumptions on the temporal and spatial characteristics of an ERP. However, the problem with traditional ICA is that the extraction is not direct and is time-consuming due to the need for source selection processing. In this paper, the application of an one-unit ICA-with-Reference (ICA-R), a constrained ICA method, is proposed. Approach. In cases where the time-region of the desired ERP is known a priori, this time information is utilized to generate a reference signal, which is then used for guiding the one-unit ICA-R to extract the source signal of the desired ERP directly. Main results. Our results showed that, as compared to traditional ICA, ICA-R is a more effective method for analysing ERP because it avoids manual source selection and it requires less computation thus resulting in faster ERP extraction. Significance. In addition to that, since the method is automated, it reduces the risks of any subjective bias in the ERP analysis. It is also a potential tool for extracting the ERP in online application.
COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN COMMUNITY-BASED REHABILITATION PROGRAMMES

Central to the community-based rehabilitation (CBR) approach is the concept of community participation. While many projects are based on the CBR approach, it is not evident how many CBR projects indeed use and measure community participation. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively analyse the extent of evaluation of community participation in CBR studies evaluated over the last thirty years. A total of 22 evaluations of CBR projects were carried out. Three studies each from Australia, India, Zimbabwe and two studies each from England, Philippines, Vietnam and one each from Finland, Guyana, Jamaica, Japan, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Thailand, and the United States were included in the analysis. From the 22 studies that evaluated CBR, only six evaluated community participation. In the six evaluations that measured community participation, it was found that four documented positive effects of participation, while two showed that community participation did not work, or was inadequate in the project. Community participation as a construct has not been adequately measured by CBR programmes. There is need to measure all dimensions of participation including measurement of the number of people with disabilities reached and quantity and quality of resources generated as a result of community participation. Valid and reliable measures of community participation need to be developed.
The effects of telocinobufagin isolated from Chan Su on the activation and cytokine secretion of immunocytes in vitro

Many traditional Chinese medicines have been used as immunomodulators that act as either immunosuppressants or immunostimulators. Recently, our lab successfully isolated a monomer telocinobufagin (TCB) from the chloroform extract of Chan Su (Venenum Bufonis). In the present paper, we evaluated the immunomodulatory effects of this compound in vitro. We found that TCB significantly stimulates splenocyte proliferation when administered alone or in combination with polyclonal T‐cell mitogens concanavalin A (Con A) and lipopolysaccharide. Telocinobufagin markedly enhances natural killer cell and peritoneal macrophage activation. Telocinobufagin increases the percentage of CD4, CD8 positive cells within a population of splenocytes. Moreover, we found that the level of several Th1 cytokines, including interleukin‐2 (IL‐2), interleukin‐12 (IL‐12), interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) and tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α), are significantly increased after TCB treatment, while the level of the Th2 cytokine interleukin‐4 (IL‐4) is significantly decreased. As a result, the ratio of Th1/Th2 is significantly increased. Taken together, these results indicate that TCB has potential immune system regulatory effects and suggest that this compound could be developed as a novel immunotherapeutic agent to treat cancer and other immune‐mediated diseases, and it may become a new immunomodulatory agent in many regions.
Guidelines for weighting factors design in Model Predictive Control of power converters and drives

Model Predictive Control with a finite control set has emerged as a promising control tool for power converters and drives. One of the major advantages is the possibility to control several system variables with a single control law, by including them with appropriate weighting factors. However, at the present state of the art, these coefficients are determined empirically. There is no analytical or numerical method proposed yet to obtain an optimal solution. In addition, the empirical method is not always straightforward, and no procedures have been reported. This paper presents a first approach to a set of guidelines that reduce the uncertainty of this process. First a classification of different types of cost functions and weighting factors is presented. Then the different steps of the empirical process are explained. Finally, results for several power converters and drives applications are analyzed, which show the effectiveness of the proposed guidelines to reach appropriate weighting factors and control performance.
Implementation of Coordinated , Network-Wide Policies and Protocols with FlowFlex Paper

The increasing programmability of network devices gives protocol designers and network operators considerably more flexibility in defining custom protocols and traffic processing functions. Today, network operators and protocol designers have the option of either operating at flow-level granularity, which offers coordinated control; or packet-level granularity, which offers flexibility, but not coordinated control. Today’s network programming paradigms force operators to choose between the finegrained control and expressiveness of packet processing and the coordination of flow processing, which makes it difficult to quickly realize a distributed implementation of a global, network-wide policy. Designers must also choose between the flexibility of hardware-based solutions and the fast development cycles offered by software. This paper proposes a system called FlowFlex that offers network designers the best of both worlds: with FlowFlex, operators can quickly design, implement, and deploy network systems and protocols that offer fast, distributed, implementations that require coordinated control and finegrained operations on packets. We present the design and implementation of the FlowFlexframework and show how it can improve both expressiveness and efficiency for three real-world networking applications.
Aspects Related to Mevalonate Biosynthesis in Plants 1

We purified and characterized a membrane-associated enzyme system from radish {Raphanus sativus L. ) that is capable of converting acetyl-CoA into 3-hydroxy-3methylglutaryl-coenzyme A {HMG~CoA). The enzyme system apparently comprises acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase {EC 2.3. 1.9) and HMG-CoA synthase {EC 4.1. 3.5}. Its activity in vitro can be strongly stimulated by Fe n . When ferrous ions are applied chelated with ethylenediaminetetraacetate, citrate or adenosine 5'-triphosphate {ATP}, the stimulation is further increased. Stimulation is due to a higher catalytic efficiency as indicated by an increase in Vm~, whereas the affinity of the enzyme towards acetyl-CoA remains constant {Kin = 6 pM}. A considerable portion of HMCrCoA lyase activity is associated with the same membranes. HMG-CoA lyase {EC 4.1. 3.4} is also solubilized and partially co-purified. Its activity requires comparatively high concentrations of Mg 2+. The conversion of HMG-CoA to mevalonic acid is catalyzed by HMG~CoA reductase {EC 1.1. 1.34} that is associated with the same membranes. By cDNA encoding the Arabidopsis HMC~CoA reductase, we isolated a corresponding gene from a cDNA library newly established from etiolated radish seedlings. This full-length cDNA, referred to as AcRS3, encodes a polypeptide of 583 amino acids with a molecular mass of about 63 kDa. The hydropathy profile suggests the presence of two hydrophobic membrane-spanning domains within the Nterminal 165 amino acids. The carboxy-terminal part, where the catalytic site resides, is highly conserved in all eukaryotic HMG-CoA reductase genes sequenced so far. Lipids 26, 637-648 {1991}.
Pulse and respiratory grouping of sympathetic impulses in human muscle-nerves.

A characteristic type of spontaneous activity consisting of grouped discharges of impulses was detected when recording with a tungsten semi-microelectrode from peripheral nerve bundles innervating human skeletal muscles. An analysis of this phenomenon shows that the grouped discharges are due to volleys of impulses in efferent nerve fibres which are not skeletomotor. Some findings suggest that the efferent conduction velocity is very low (about 1 m/sec). The bursts were often “pulse-synchronous” and they tended to appear periodically during certain phases of the respiratory cycle. They were not accompanied by any significant changes in the intensity of the afferent responses to phasic or sustained muscle stretch. In some experiments, repeated noxious stimuli triggered showers of impulses in the muscle nerves, similar to the spontaneous bursts. The findings lead to the conclusion that the phenomenon is due to rhythmic outbursts of impulses in sympathetic nerve fibres.
Energy-Efficient Subcarrier Pairing and Power Allocation for DF Relay Networks with an Eavesdropper

Algorithms for joint subcarrier pairing and power allocation are investigated in order to maximize the worst-case energy efficiency (EE) in dual-hop decode-and-forward (DF) relay networks in the presence of an active eavesdropper. Accordingly, we study the impact of number of subcarriers on the trade-off in performance between the EE and the spectrum efficiency (SE). The formulated EE optimization problem is the ratio of the secure SE over the entire power consumption in the network, subject to the constraints of total transmit power and subcarrier pairing. A near-optimal iterative algorithm is proposed to perform the subcarrier pairing and power allocation for achieving the maximum EE in the networks. Furthermore, a suboptimal algorithm is proposed with two-step resource allocation. By considering the subcarrier channel quality of the source-to-relay and relay-to-destination links, the subcarrier pairing is first performed, followed by an energy-efficient iterative power allocation scheme to maximize the EE. Numerical results validate the effectiveness and correctness of the proposed algorithms.
A Parameterization Approach for Enhancing PV Model Accuracy

Reliable and accurate photovoltaic (PV) models are essential for simulation of PV power systems. A solar cell is typically represented by a single diode equivalent circuit. The circuit parameters need to be estimated accurately to get an accurate model. However, one circuit parameter was assumed because of the limited information provided by commercial manufacturing datasheets, and thus the model accuracy is affected. This paper proposes a parameterization approach for PV models to improve modeling accuracy and reduce implementation complexity. It develops a method to accurately estimate circuit parameters, and thus improving the overall accuracy, relying only on the points provided by all commercial modules datasheet. The proposed modeling approach results in two simplified models demonstrating the advantage of fast simulation. The effectiveness of the modeling approach is thoroughly evaluated by comparing the simulation results with experimental data of solar modules made of mono-crystalline, multi-crystalline, and thin film.
FACTORS AFFECTING HOUSEHOLD RECYCLING BEHAVIOUR IN TOWNHOUSES IN PRETORIA , SOUTH AFRICA

Municipalities worldwide are under increasing pressure to reduce the amount of solid waste ending up in landfills. One way of doing so is to increase household participation in recycling. Although existing research identifies several factors affecting household recycling behaviour, South Africa poses a unique situation with regard to attitudinal and spatial factors. Socio-political transformation arguably causes many South Africans to be less concerned about the environment, while increasing living costs and fear of crime drive many households into smaller enclosed housing developments, especially townhouses, where several factors may impact recycling behaviour. Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour, this paper examines the effect of three factors on household recycling in townhouses, including ‘attitude’ (about recycling), ‘subjective norm’ (peer pressure), and ‘perceived behaviour control’ (ability to recycle). A survey of 300 households using selfadministered questionnaires was conducted in Equestria, an enclosed middle-income residential estate in Pretoria-east consisting of 13 different sub-estates, most of which are typical townhouse complexes. Both recyclers and non-recyclers showed positive attitudes toward recycling and felt peer-pressure to recycle. Non-recyclers, however, felt significantly less able to recycle. Most recyclers as well as non-recyclers indicated that various different interventions toward increasing recycling within townhouses may well cause them to recycle more, most notably a system where recycling companies collect recyclables from collection points inside the complex.
Analysis of the sensitivity for the TEM cross-correlation method to qualify TEM-waveguides for UWB measurements

This paper deals with the TEM cross-correlation method (TCCM) to qualify and characterize transverse electromagnetic (TEM) waveguides for arbitrary transient signals. In previous papers the applicability of the TCCM to waveguides was shown. The aim of this investigation is to apply the established limits of the various standards (e.g. the IEC 61000-4-20 Annex C) to this new method and determine the sensitivity of the TCCM.