Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Implementation and Evaluation of Adaptive Cache Insertion Policies for Real-Time Systems

Memory caches are a key source of unpredictability in today’s cyber-physical systems. This fact is mainly due to the high time penalties caused by cache misses. A block that needs to be replaced may need up to 100 times more cycles than a block already in the cache (cache hit). Several studies in the area of realtime systems were carried out aiming to minimize the impact of cache memories on the Worst-Case Execution Time (WCET) of real-time systems. The main approaches are related to cache line replacement policies and cache partitioning mechanisms, as the LRU-based adaptive insertion policies LIP, BIP and DIP, which were developed to try to mitigate the trashing problem of LRU. Several studies have already proven that replacement policies can be influenced by cache parameters, but none of them presented an analysis of the impact of these parameters on policies applied to cache partitions.In this scenario, this work aims to provide an analysis of the impact that cache-related parameters have on the adaptive cache insertion policies applied to a set of benchmarks. For this, we used a cache profile simulator. The results obtained prove that parameters as cache partition size and the number of ways, in fact, play an important factor in the performance and schedulability of applications.
Strawberry Fruit Quality Assessment for Harvesting Robot using SSD Convolutional Neural Network

Strawberry has a tremendous economic value as well as being visually appealing. Therefore, strawberry farmers need to ensure that they only harvest good quality strawberries. However, assessing the quality of strawberries is not an easy problem, especially for local plantations which do not have enough human resources. As robotics becomes accessible and widely used for agriculture work such as harvesting fruit, the real-time embedded system computation power becomes much more powerful nowadays. This paper discusses the harvesting robot's ability to distinguish the quality of strawberries in realtime detection using computer vision technology in the form of object detection by utilizing a deep neural network in a single board computer (SBC). The robot software is built on Robot Operating System (ROS) framework. The proposed method is tested on a robot equipped with a monocular camera. The learning process shows that the robot can detect and differentiate between good and bad quality strawberries with 90% accuracy and maintain a high frame rate.
Tissue-Specific Expression Pattern in Ancherythroculter nigrocauda, a Sexually Size Dimorphic Fish

Certain members of the Actinopterygii class are known to exhibit sexual dimorphism (SD) that results in major phenotypic differences between male and female fishes of a species. One of the most common differences between the two sexes is in body weight, a factor with a high economic value in aquaculture. In this study, we used RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to study the liver and brain transcriptomes of Ancherythroculter nigrocauda, a fish exhibiting SD. Females attain about fourfold body weight of males at sexual maturity. Sample clustering showed that both sexes were grouped well with their sex phenotypes. In addition, 2,395 and 457 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in the liver and brain tissues, respectively. The gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses predicted the association of PPAR signaling, cytochrome P450, and steroid hormone biosynthesis to the differences in sexual size. In addition, weighted gene co-expression network analyses (WGCNA) were conducted, and the green module was identified to be significantly correlated with sexual size dimorphism (SSD). Altogether, these results improve our understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying SSD in A. nigrocauda.
Segmentation of Tricuspid Valve Leaflets From Transthoracic 3D Echocardiograms of Children With Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome Using Deep Learning

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is a severe congenital heart defect in which the right ventricle and associated tricuspid valve (TV) alone support the circulation. TV failure is thus associated with heart failure, and the outcome of TV valve repair are currently poor. 3D echocardiography (3DE) can generate high-quality images of the valve, but segmentation is necessary for precise modeling and quantification. There is currently no robust methodology for rapid TV segmentation, limiting the clinical application of these technologies to this challenging population. We utilized a Fully Convolutional Network (FCN) to segment tricuspid valves from transthoracic 3DE. We trained on 133 3DE image-segmentation pairs and validated on 28 images. We then assessed the effect of varying inputs to the FCN using Mean Boundary Distance (MBD) and Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC). The FCN with the input of an annular curve achieved a median DSC of 0.86 [IQR: 0.81–0.88] and MBD of 0.35 [0.23–0.4] mm for the merged segmentation and an average DSC of 0.77 [0.73–0.81] and MBD of 0.6 [0.44–0.74] mm for individual TV leaflet segmentation. The addition of commissural landmarks improved individual leaflet segmentation accuracy to an MBD of 0.38 [0.3–0.46] mm. FCN-based segmentation of the tricuspid valve from transthoracic 3DE is feasible and accurate. The addition of an annular curve and commissural landmarks improved the quality of the segmentations with MBD and DSC within the range of human inter-user variability. Fast and accurate FCN-based segmentation of the tricuspid valve in HLHS may enable rapid modeling and quantification, which in the future may inform surgical planning. We are now working to deploy this network for public use.
A Small Low-Cost Hybrid Orientation System and Its Error Analysis

Inertial orientation systems have many potential uses beyond air- and spacecraft applications. Compared to the conventional large-scale system, the novel aspects of an orientation system based on micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) are small size, lightweight, low-power consumption, and low cost by the inclusion of microsensors with on-chip functionality, such as micromachined rate gyroscopes, accelerometers, and etc. However, the performance associated with these low-cost MEMS sensors is generally not satisfied. A conventional strapdown method based on integral of angular rate to figure out attitudes will inevitably induce long-term drift. For eliminating this accumulative error and thus using the low-cost navigation system for a long-duration mission, a hybrid configuration by combining a MEMS-based azimuth-level detector with the conventional strapdown system is proposed in this paper. The azimuth-level detector is composed of three-axis MEMS accelerometers and three-axis MEMS magnetometers. With an absolute solution based on the gravity and the earth magnetic field rather than the integral algorithm, attitude and heading estimation without drift errors can be obtained so as to facilitate adjusting the attitude and heading for the conventional strapdown system. The hierarchical computation process for estimating the attitude and heading using the hybrid system is depicted first. Then, comprehensive system errors including transformation errors of the computation, such as skew, scale, and drift errors, are analyzed. Finally, it is verified by both of formula analysis and experimental test that the accumulative errors can be effectively eliminated via this hybrid scheme.
A MUX based Latch Technique for the detection of HardwareTrojan using Path Delay Analysis

The security in several applications like military, space related applications etc. is the important factor that one must ensure, similar to software trojans(virus) there exists Hardware Trojans (HT). Hardware Trojans are malicious elements added to the existing circuit which affect the functionality of the circuit. There are various methods like measuring the delay of the Hardware Trojan inserted path, Side channel analysis, Gold reference method etc. to detect the HT's. But their effectiveness is limited due to various factors like process variation and noise. A structure based on latch is proposed earlier as a self-reference method to overcome the above limits but the hardware complexity and time required for analyzing delays of measuring various paths is high. The time required for this method to detect the Hardware Trojan is high because the number of iterations is more in detecting the Trojans in each and every path available in the code. This problem can be overcome by addition of new mux-based latch to detect the Hardware Trojan. It can even detect small Hardware Trojan accurately and it also overcomes the defects in the side channel analysis making this method a self-reference based with high resolution and reliability.
Future Trends in Disability and Its Determinants Among Chinese Community Patients With Anxiety Disorders: Evidence From a 5-Year Follow-Up Study

Background: Anxiety disorders (ADs) are a group of disorders with a high disability rate and bring a huge social burden. In China, information on future trends in the disability among community ADs patients and its determinants are rare. The objectives of this study are to describe the future trends in the disability among ADs patients living in community and to investigate the determinants of the disability. Methods: Participants diagnosed with 12-month ADs in the China Mental Health Survey (CMHS) were followed up by telephone from April to June 2018 to assess the future trends in the disability in a 5-year interval using the World Health Organization's Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0. The disability rate was reported and its determinants were analyzed by complex sample design multivariate logistic regression. Results: Totally 271 patients were interviewed by telephone and 33 informants finished proxy interviews. The disability rates were 45.9% and 14.3% among ADs patients at baseline and during the follow-up. Patients with general anxiety disorder (GAD) or agoraphobia with/without panic disorder (AGP) had the lower decrease and higher disability during the follow-up than patients with other subtypes. Patients aged in middle age (aged 40–49 years old, OR = 11.12, 95% CI: 4.16–29.72), having disability at baseline (OR = 7.18, 95% CI: 1.37–37.73), having comorbidity with three or more physical diseases (OR = 9.27, 95% CI: 2.48–34.71), and having comorbidity with other mental disorders (OR = 3.97, 95% CI: 1.13–13.96) had higher disability during the follow-up. Conclusions: The disability rate tends to decrease among ADs patients living in communities. Treatment priority should be given for ADs patients with disability and those in middle age. Treatments for the comorbidity of other mental disorders or physical diseases should be considered when treating anxiety.
Decreased Intrinsic Neural Timescales in Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

It is well established that epilepsy is characterized by the destruction of the information capacity of brain network and the interference with information processing in regions outside the epileptogenic focus. However, the potential mechanism remains poorly understood. In the current study, we applied a recently proposed approach on the basis of resting-state fMRI data to measure altered local neural dynamics in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE), which represents how long neural information is stored in a local brain area and reflect an ability of information integration. Using resting-state-fMRI data recorded from 36 subjects with mTLE and 36 healthy controls, we calculated the intrinsic neural timescales (INT) of neural signals by summing the positive magnitude of the autocorrelation of the resting-state brain activity. Compared to healthy controls, the INT values were significantly lower in patients in the right orbitofrontal cortices, right insula, and right posterior lobe of cerebellum. Whereas, we observed no statistically significant changes between patients with long- and short-term epilepsy duration or between left-mTLE and right-mTLE. Our study provides distinct insight into the brain abnormalities of mTLE from the perspective of the dynamics of the brain activity, highlighting the significant role of intrinsic timescale in understanding neurophysiological mechanisms. And we postulate that altered intrinsic timescales of neural signals in specific cortical brain areas may be the neurodynamic basis of cognitive impairment and emotional comorbidities in mTLE patients.
Coping in Pediatric Burn Survivors and Its Relation to Social Functioning and Self-Concept

Pediatric burn survivors experience increased risk for bullying, stigmatization, body image concerns, and problematic social functioning. Although coping behaviors are associated with engagement in social supports and positive self-concept in multiple pediatric illness populations, their relation has not been examined in pediatric burns. This study examined coping in relation to social functioning and self-concept in 51 pediatric burn survivors aged 7–17years (M=12.54; SD=2.65). Survivors and their caregivers completed the Child Coping Strategies Checklist (CCSC; youth report); the Burn Injury Social Questionnaire (BISQ; parent and youth report); and the Piers-Harris Children’s Self-Concept Scale-2 (PH-2; youth report). Associations between coping, social functioning, self-concept, demographic features, and burn injury characteristics were examined via bivariate correlations. Hierarchical linear regressions examined whether coping strategies predicted social functioning and youth self-concept beyond burn injury and demographic variables. Social functioning concerns were positively correlated with total body surface area (TBSA; r=0.63 and 0.40, respectively). TBSA was the only significant predictor of parent-reported social concerns (β=0.65, p<0.001). Greater distraction coping predicted fewer youth-reported social concerns (β=−0.39, p=0.01). Greater active coping (B=0.67, p=0.002) and lower avoidance coping (B=−0.36, p=0.03) predicted better youth-reported self-concept. This study advances our understanding of coping as potentially protective for psychosocial adjustment. Clinicians working with child burn survivors should incorporate active coping interventions into treatment. Further research including larger and more diverse samples is needed to understand the role of coping approaches on psychological adjustment during burn healing.
Evaluating the Role of Breathing Guidance on Game-Based Interventions for Relaxation Training

Working in a fast-paced environment can lead to shallow breathing, which can exacerbate stress and anxiety. To address this issue, this study aimed to develop micro-interventions that can promote deep breathing in the presence of stressors. First, we examined two types of breathing guides to help individuals learn deep breathing: providing their breathing rate as a biofeedback signal, and providing a pacing signal to which they can synchronize their breathing. Second, we examined the extent to which these two breathing guides can be integrated into a casual game, to increase enjoyment and skill transfer. We used a 2 × 2 factorial design, with breathing guide (biofeedback vs. pacing) and gaming (game vs. no game) as independent factors. This led to four experimental groups: biofeedback alone, biofeedback integrated into a game, pacing alone, and pacing integrated into a game. In a first experiment, we evaluated the four experimental treatments in a laboratory setting, where 30 healthy participants completed a stressful task before and after performing one of the four treatments (or a control condition) while wearing a chest strap that measured their breathing rate. Two-way ANOVA of breathing rates, with treatment (5 groups) and time (pre-test, post-test) as independent factors shows a significant effect for time [F(4, 50) = 18.49, p < 0.001, ηtime2=0.27] and treatment [F(4, 50) = 2.54, p = 0.05, η2 = 0.17], but no interaction effects. Post-hoc t-tests between pre and post-test breathing rates shows statistical significance for the game with biofeedback group [t(5) = 5.94, p = 0.001, d = 2.68], but not for the other four groups, indicating that only game with biofeedback led to skill transfer at post-test. Further, two-way ANOVA of self-reported enjoyment scores on the four experimental treatments, with breathing guide and game as independent factors, found a main effect for game [F(1,20)=24.49,p<0.001, ηgame2=0.55], indicating that the game-based interventions were more enjoyable than the non-game interventions. In a second experiment, conducted in an ambulatory setting, 36 healthy participants practiced one of the four experimental treatments as they saw fit over the course of a day. We found that the game-based interventions were practiced more often than the non-game interventions [t (34) = 1.99, p = 0.027, d = 0.67]. However, we also found that participants in the game-based interventions could only achieve deep breathing 50% of the times, whereas participants in the non-game groups succeeded 85% of the times, which indicated that the former need adequate training time to be effective. Finally, participant feedback indicated that the non-game interventions were better at promoting in-the-moment relaxation, whereas the game-based interventions were more successful at promoting deep breathing during stressful tasks.
Analysis and modeling verification for thermal-mechanical deformation in flip-chip packages

Plastic flip-chip packaging provides a high-performance and low-cost approach for development of electronic packages. The underfill material plays a key role in enhancing shear fatigue reliability of the solder bump interconnection between the chip and the substrate. However, it raises another reliability concern for delamination at the chip/underfill and the underfill/substrate interfaces. This paper focuses on the driving force of the delamination by investigating the stress distribution at the chip/underfill and the underfill/substrate interfaces. An in-situ moire interferometry technique was used to measure the thermal deformation in the interface areas of an underfilled flip-chip-on-board package. Finite element analysis (FEA) and an analytical solution based on the built-up-bar (BUB) theory were performed to examine the localized stress distribution under thermal loading. The correlation between the experimental and modeling results is discussed. The use of BUB analysis to examine the effect of material properties on stress and deformation of multilayered packages is also discussed.
A Randomized Control Trial of a Brief Self-Compassion Intervention for Perfectionism, Anxiety, Depression, and Body Image

Objective: Due to a rise in perfectionistic tendencies and growing concerns about the increase in mental health conditions among students this study aimed to examine the effects of a brief intervention in self-compassion on maladaptive perfectionism, anxiety, depression, and body image. Methods: The intervention consisted of four seminars and a silent half-day retreat with short lectures and relevant experiential practices from Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). This randomized wait-list control trial was pre-registered at Clinicaltrials.gov (ID: NCT03453437, Unique Protocol ID: UiBMSC2018). University students were randomly assigned to the intervention group and wait-list control group and filled out surveys weekly. A repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the groups pre- and post-treatment. Mixed level modeling was used to analyze changes in all outcome measures over time. Results: Eighty-nine participants completed the intervention. Results of the ANOVA showed significant post-intervention reductions in maladaptive perfectionistic tendencies and symptoms of depression and anxiety, in addition to increased self-compassion and improved body image in the intervention group as compared to the wait-list group. Mixed level modeling showed statistically significant changes in self-compassion, maladaptive perfectionism, adaptive perfectionism, anxiety, and depression but not body image. Only the mixed level modeling showed small but significant changes to adaptive perfectionism, also called strivings. Implications of different changes to maladaptive perfectionism than adaptive perfectionism are discussed.
Superior Verbal Memory Outcome After Stereotactic Laser Amygdalohippocampotomy

Objective: To evaluate declarative memory outcomes in medically refractory epilepsy patients who underwent either a highly selective laser ablation of the amygdalohippocampal complex or a conventional open temporal lobe resection. Methods: Post-operative change scores were examined for verbal memory outcome in epilepsy patients who underwent stereotactic laser amygdalohippocampotomy (SLAH: n = 40) or open resection procedures (n = 40) using both reliable change index (RCI) scores and a 1-SD change metric. Results: Using RCI scores, patients undergoing open resection (12/40, 30.0%) were more likely to decline on verbal memory than those undergoing SLAH (2/40 [5.0%], p = 0.0064, Fisher's exact test). Patients with language dominant procedures were much more likely to experience a significant verbal memory decline following open resection (9/19 [47.4%]) compared to laser ablation (2/19 [10.5%], p = 0.0293, Fisher's exact test). 1 SD verbal memory decline frequently occurred in the open resection sample of language dominant temporal lobe patients with mesial temporal sclerosis (8/10 [80.0%]), although it rarely occurred in such patients after SLAH (2/14, 14.3%) (p = 0.0027, Fisher's exact test). Memory improvement occurred significantly more frequently following SLAH than after open resection. Interpretation: These findings suggest that while verbal memory function can decline after laser ablation of the amygdalohippocampal complex, it is better preserved when compared to open temporal lobe resection. Our findings also highlight that the dominant hippocampus is not uniquely responsible for verbal memory. While this is at odds with our simple and common heuristic of the hippocampus in memory, it supports the findings of non-human primate studies showing that memory depends on broader medial and lateral TL regions.
Bthere or be Square: A Method for Extreme Contextualization of Design

E Eriksson, M Ludvigsen, A Lykke-Olesen, R Nielsen IDC | Interaction Design Collegium, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, Sweden, Centre for Interactive Spaces, Department of Design, Aarhus School of Architecture, Aarhus, Denmark, Centre for Advanced Visualization and Interaction, Institute of Information and Media Studies, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark | eva.Eriksson@cs.chalmers. se
Applying lean thinking in commercial management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop two hypotheses explaining the role of commercial management in the lean business model: lean construction is a viable choice of commercial strategy; and lean commercial management is an integral part of lean construction system subordinate to the project delivery. This is completed as a part of conceptualisation of the lean commercial management discipline in construction on the abstract level and followed by deriving its main principles.Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on the direct observation of the companies pursuing lean strategy in construction as well as of those following non‐lean business models, review of case studies and literature.Findings – Traditional commercial arrangements do not comply with the lean construction requirements and may hamper the exploration of its full potential. Lean commercial management differs in the way that its primary role is to support the production process thus it is subordinated to it.Research l.