Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Runtime Adaptability through Automated Model Evolution

Dynamically adaptive systems propose adaptation by means of variants that are specified in the system model at design time and allow for a fixed set of different runtime configurations. However, in a dynamic environment, unanticipated changes may result in the inability of the system to meet its quality requirements. To allow the system to react to these changes we propose a solution for automatically evolving the system model by integrating new variants and periodically validating existing ones based on updated quality parameters. To illustrate our approach we present a BPEL based framework using a service composition model to represent the system functional requirements. Our framework estimates Quality of Service (QoS) values based on information provided by our monitoring mechanism, ensuring that changes in QoS are reflected in the system model. We show how the evolved model can be used at runtime to increase the system's autonomic capabilities and delivered QoS.
Breaches on the Rise in Control Systems : A SANS Survey

Acquisition (SCADA) systems, monitor and control large industrial and infrastructure processes. Attacks against these systems, particularly energy-generation systems, are increasing and becoming more targeted against specific systems while also increasing in number. 1 SANS began examining this trend of attacks against SCADA and other control systems, publishing its first survey on SCADA and ICS security in June 2013. 2 Results showed that respondents were having difficulty securing their control system environments and were beginning to experience breaches. Since then, the number of entities with identified or suspected security breaches increased from 28% in our 2013 survey to nearly 40%, based on this year's survey findings. Taken online by 268 respondents, this nonscientific survey also indicates organizations are experiencing increased levels of concern over public safety and difficulties with visibility into their environments, including their vulnerabilities. It also points to the emergence of a new job definition that could bridge ICS and IT security roles. These and more results will be discussed in further detail in the following pages.
The Use of Behavioral Skills Training and In-Situ Training to Teach Children to Solicit Help When Lost: A Preliminary Investigation

Behavioral skills training (BST) was combined with in-situ training to teach young children to solicit help when they become lost from a caregiver at a store. Three children were taught to approach a cashier, tell the cashier their name, and inform the cashier that they are lost. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the effects of training. One of the three participants successfully met the criterion with the BST + in situ training treatment package alone, and the other two participants required an incentive to meet the criterion. All participants maintained the safety skill at follow-up evaluations.
Correlation of the inhibition by retinoids of tumor promoter-induced mouse epidermal ornithine decarboxylase activity and of skin tumor promotion.

Application of the potent tumor promoter, 12- O -tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), to mouse skin leads to a more than 200-fold increase in epidermal ornithine decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.17) activity, a phenotypic change proposed to be essential for skin tumor promotion. The correlation between TPA-induced ornithine decarboxylase activity and skin tumor promotion received additional support from our finding that vitamin A acid and its analogs inhibit both TPA-induced ornithine decarboxylase activity and formation of skin papillomas. The induction of ornithine decarboxylase activity was investigated following multiple applications of TPA to mouse skin initiated with dimethylbenz[a]anthracene, the regimen followed in initiation-promotion experiments. Ornithine decarboxylase activity was increased to about 600-fold during repeated applications of 17 nmol of TPA. Application of 1.7 nmol of retinoic acid 1 hr prior to each treatment with TPA inhibited TPA-induced ornithine decarboxylase activity by 60 to 80%. In tumor induction experiments, application of 1.7 or 17 nmol of retinoic acid 1 hr before each promotion with 17 nmol of TPA reduced by 57 and 75%, respectively, the number of papillomas per mouse. In contrast, retinoic acid treatment 24 hr after each TPA treatment did not suppress the formation of skin papillomas. Furthermore, application of retinoic acid at various times relative to the time of initiation with dimethylbenz[a]anthracene did not alter the development of skin tumors. The application of the trimethylmethoxyphenyl analog of ethyl retinoate, 13- cis -retinoic acid, or the dimethylmethoxyethylcyclopentenyl analog of retinoic acid 1 hr prior to each TPA application inhibited TPA-induced ornithine decarboxylase activity as well as formation of skin papillomas. The trimethylhydroxyphenyl analog of ethyl retinoate or the 13-trifluoromethyltrimethylmethoxyphenyl analog of ethyl retinoate altered neither TPA-induced ornithine decarboxylase activity nor development of skin papillomas. Treatment with retinoids did not result in any sign of local toxicity; also, the average weight of the control mice was identical to the average weight of those treated with retinoids. Furthermore, retinoid treatment specifically inhibited TPA-induced ornithine decarboxylase activity and the resultant increases in putrescine levels, but it did not inhibit TPA-induced S -adenosyl-l-methionine decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.50) activity and the accumulation of spermidine and spermine. The results indicate that the possible mechanism of prevention of skin papillomas by retinoids involves their ability to inhibit TPA-induced epidermal ornithine decarboxylase activity and the associated elevated putrescine levels. These findings suggest that the assay of the inhibition of TPA-induced ornithine decarboxylase activity by retinoids may be a simple, rapid screen for antipromoting properties of new synthetic retinoids.
Modern spacecraft - antique specifications

Spacecraft now and of the future are being controlled by EMC requirements of the past. Little has been done by the launch vehicle/spacecraft manufacturers to abandon MIL-STD- 461C which was released in 1986 because most of the electronics equipment being used aboard current launch vehicles is approved by similarity and heritage to MIL-STD-461C and its predecessors. Twenty years later these electronic equipment items are still not tested to today's MIL-STD-461E requirements because there is a risk that the items will fail to meet the requirements and thus the cost will increase if it becomes necessary to redesign the equipment. That cost is insignificant compared with the cost of losing an entire mission! In the 20 years that have elapsed since MIL-STD-461C was released, the EMC environment has undergone major changes. High speed digital devices have been created that have fundamental clock and bus frequencies that span the entire LV/SC frequency range from the UHF Band Flight Termination Systems through S-Band telemetry and C-Band tracking transponders. Personnel involved in ground operations can carry and use hand held transceivers and cellular telephones close by sensitive electronics equipment. There are now many more orbiting receivers and emitters, plus range assets have increased dramatically since 2001. It's way past time to bring requirements up-to-date!
Bacterivory by co-occurring red-tide algae, heterotrophic nanoflagellates, and ciliates

We investigated feeding of natural populations of red-tide algae, heterotrophic nanofla- gellates (HNFs), and ciliates (<30 µm in cell length) on natural populations of marine bacteria (mostly heterotrophic bacteria) in diverse Korean waters (Masan Bay, Jinhae Bay, Shiwha Bay, Keum River estuary, and the open coastal waters off Yeosu) during red tides in 2004 to 2005. To explore the functional responses of the dominant red-tide algae to bacteria, we also measured the ingestion rates of the dinoflagellates Cochlodinium polykrikoides, Heterocapsa rotundata, H. triquetra, and Proro- centrum minimum as well as the raphidophytes Chattonella ovata and Heterosigma akashiwo as a function of bacterial concentration in the laboratory. During red tides, ingestion rates of the red-tide algae C. polykrikoides, H. rotundata, H. triquetra, H. akashiwo, P. minimum, and P. triestinum on natural populations of bacteria in Korean waters (1.2 to 20.6 cells alga -1 h -1 ) were comparable to those of co-occurring HNFs (0.7 to 39.4 cells HNF -1 h -1 ), but much lower than those of co-occurring ciliates (15 to 713 cells ciliate -1 h -1 ). However, the combined grazing coefficients attributable to the dominant algal predators on natural populations of bacteria during red tides (0.04 to 1.71 d -1 ) were usually higher than those attributable to co-occurring HNFs (0.01 to 0.20 d -1 ) or ciliates (0.00 to 0.72 d -1 ). With increasing mean prey concentration, the ingestion rates of C. polykrikoides, H. rotundata, H. trique- tra, P. minimum, C. ovata, and H. akashiwo on bacteria rapidly increased at prey concentrations of ca. 5 to 10 × 10 6 cells ml -1 , and slowly increased or became saturated at higher prey concentrations. The maximum ingestion and clearance rates of C. polykrikoides, H. rotundata, H. triquetra, P. mini- mum, C. ovata, and H. akashiwo on bacteria (6 to 25 cells alga -1 h -1 and 1.0 to 4.5 nl alga -1 h -1 ) were comparable to those so far reported in the literature of HNFs on bacteria. The results of the present study suggest that, potentially, red-tide algae can have a considerable grazing impact on populations of bacteria during red tides and are sometimes the most effective protistan predators of marine bacteria.
Will Educators Ever Unmask that Determiner, Technology?:

Technology enters the classroom today in a whirl of public discourses that valorize or demonize computers and the Internet. Structuring subjectivity in a bi-polar fashion, these discourses offer educators only two positions: either proponents or opponents of new technology. Both positions are deterministic and construct similar romantic subjects that exhibit little agency. Because the reach of these opposite stances is so broad, this article interrogates the history and contemporary presence of the debate. By questioning and comparing subjectivity, the author examines these positions and indicates some rhetorical moves that set the tone for the arguments. Because bipolar discourses often yield overblown arguments and improbable scenarios, they provide little assistance to citizens and educators attempting to understand technology in the schools. The author recommends a more complex sociocultural discussion to guide the use of technology in the schools.
Mapping the Range of Information Contained in the Iconic Hand Gestures that Accompany Spontaneous Speech

This study tested McNeill’s theory that the iconic gestures that accompany speech in everyday talk convey critical information in interpersonal communication. Using a structured interview to measure the amount of information respondents receive from clause-length clips depicting aspects of a cartoon story, we discovered that when respondents could see the iconic gestures as well as hear the speech they received significantly more accurate information about those aspects of the original story depicted in the clips than when they just heard the speech. We also discovered that it was only with respect to certain semantic categories, namely, the relative position and the size of objects, that the beneficial effect of gestural communication was significant. We then considered in detail how specific attributes of actions and of objects are communicated via the iconic representation within individual gestures. Lastly, we discuss the implications of these findings for models of human communication in this area.
Study in Venezuela and Stomach Cancer : A Case-Control Helicobacter pylori Updated

The role of Helicobacter pyloriinfection in gastric cancer was evaluated in a high-risk population in Venezuela using serological assays in a study of 302 cases and 483 neighborhood controls. To investigate the claim that assays forH. pylori should use antigens derived from local strains, four different assays derived from Venezuelan and European strains were used. Prevalence of IgG H. pylori antibodies in controls was very high, with estimates between 72 and 92%. Prevalence was similar in cases and controls. However, cases had lower antibody titers. This effect was observed only in subjects with low pepsinogen (PG) levels PGI/PGII<3.0), which suggested that extensive atrophy in cases causes a loss of H. pylori infection, with a consequent reduction in antibody titer. In addition, advanced cases (stage II or higher) had lower antibody titers than less advanced cases, which indicated that the lower antibody titers in cases may be attributable partially to a diminished immune response. All of the four assays for antiH. pylori antibodies gave similar results. No evidence was found for the superiority of the assay based on Venezuelan strains. These results are consistent with other casecontrol studies in high-risk populations and highlight the difficulties of investigating H. pylori infection in retrospective studies.
Mineralogical characterization using neural networks: Composition of mafic minerals in martian meteorites from their spectra

In this study, we test the ability of neural networks to determine the composition of magmatic rocks from their laboratory spectra. We first describe the structure and behaviour of the multilayer perceptron that we implement and train for quantitative characterization. For that purpose, reference laboratory spectra of mafic minerals from both natural and synthetic samples are used. As their composition in terms of the three mafic minerals, olivine (OL), orthopyroxene (OPX) and clinopyroxene (CPX) are known, those spectra are given as inputs during the learning phase of the neural network. In the analysis phase, we use the neural network to process spectra acquired on SNCs (Shergottites, Nakhlites, Chassignites) meteorite samples that are considered to be representative of Mars surface. The network outputs mineralogical compositions very quickly, performing only explicit operations. Our preliminary results show that neural networks are able to quantify mafic minerals, especially in the case of complex mixtures, with much improved computer efficiency and comparable accuracy compared to usual methods. This is very promising regarding future analysis of huge datasets.
Distinct Counting with a Self-Learning Bitmap

Estimating the number of distinct values is a fundamental problem in database that has attracted extensive research over the past two decades, due to its wide applications (especially in the Internet). Many algorithms have been proposed via sampling or sketching for obtaining statistical estimates that only require limited computing and memory resources. However, their performance in terms of relative estimation accuracy usually depends on the unknown cardinalities. In this paper, we address the following question: can a distinct counting algorithm have uniformly reliable performance, i.e. constant relative estimation errors for unknown cardinalities in a wide range, say from tens to millions? We propose a self-learning bitmap algorithm (S-bitmap) to answer this question. The S-bitmap is a bitmap obtained via a novel adaptive sampling process, where the bits corresponding to the sampled items are set to 1, and the sampling rates are learned from the number of distinct items already passed and reduced sequentially as more bits are set to 1.A unique property of S-bitmap is that its relative estimation error is truly stabilized, i.e. invariant to unknown cardinalities in a prescribed range. We demonstrate through both theoretical and empirical studies that with a given memory requirement, S-bitmap is not only uniformly reliable but more accurate than state-of-the-art algorithms such as the multiresolution bitmap \cite{bitmap:2006} and Hyper LogLog algorithms \cite{flajolet.et. al.07} under common practice settings.
Onset of classical QCD dynamics in relativistic heavy ion collisions

The experimental results on hadron production obtained recently at RHIC offer a new prospective on the energy dependence of the nuclear collision dynamics. In particular, it is possible that parton saturation---the phenomenon likely providing initial conditions for the multiparticle production at RHIC energies---may have started to set in central heavy ion collisions already around the highest CERN SPS energy. We examine this scenario, and make predictions based on high density QCD for the forthcoming $\sqrt{s}=22$ GeV run at RHIC.
Understanding the trade-offs of device, circuit and application in ReRAM-based neuromorphic computing systems

Resistive memory (ReRAM) features nonvolatile storage, high resistance, dense structure, and analogy to the matrix-vector multiplication operation. These characteristics demonstrate the great potential of ReRAM in the development of neuromorphic computing systems. In this paper, we show the importance of the comprehensive understanding across the device, circuit, and application levels in ReRAM-based neuromorphic system, through the discussion of three major problems — weight mapping, reliability, and system integration.
Antecedents and Outcomes of Work-Family Conflict Among Married Professional Women: Evidence from Singapore

The study reported here examined the impact ol fivc antecedent sets of work and family domain variables on three types of work-lamily conflict (job-spouse, job-parent, and job-homemakcr) and the impact of these types of work-family conflict on well-being and work outcome measures. Data were obtained from 354 married professional women from duil-career families in Singapore. Results indicate that married professional women in this study experienced moderate amounts of each type of work-lamily conflict. Role stressors explained the most variance in job-spouse and job-homemaker conflicts while task characteristics explained the most variance in job-parent conflict. The three types of work-family conflict explained only modest amounts of the variance in the well-being and work outcome measures. The findings are discussed within a feminist framework and an option for combining work and family lives is suggested.
Nano-magnet based ultra-low power logic design using non-majority gates

In this paper we explore the intriguing possibility of nano-magnet based logic using non-majority gates. The design approach can offer significant area, delay and energy advantages, compared to a majority-gate based logic design. Our analysis based on NAND-gate based ring-oscillator (RO) shows an improvement of 29% in frequency and 33% in area compared to MQCA based design. Moreover, using the performance metric of millions of operations per second per micro-watt power (P) per micron square area (A) - MOPS/P/A, our RO design with narrow gap cladding HCLOCK enhancement, shows an improvement of 13X compared to an RO in 15nm CMOS technology.
THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LMX, JOB SATISFACTION AND TURNOVER INTENTION

The study is an attempt to examine the relationships between LMX, turnover intention and job satisfaction among the nurses working in the Pakistani health-care sector. To achieve the purpose, the data was collected from 280 respondents. The results of the study revealed that LMX has positive association with nurses' job satisfaction, while it has a negative association with their intention to leave the organization. On the other hand, job satisfaction was found to perform the role of partial mediation between LMX and turnover intention.
The Conservatism of Emoji: Work, Affect, and Communication

This piece examines emoji as conduits for affective labor in the social networks of informational capitalism. Emoji, ubiquitous digital images that can appear in text messages, emails, and social media chat platforms, are rich in social, cultural, and economic significance. This article examines emoji as historical, social, and cultural objects, and as examples of skeuomorphism and of technical standardization. Now superseded as explicitly monetized objects by other graphics designed for affective interactions, emoji nonetheless represent emotional data of enormous interest to businesses in the digital economy, and continue to act symbolically as signifiers of affective meaning. We argue that emoji characters both embody and represent the tension between affect as human potential, and as a productive force that capital continually seeks to harness through the management of everyday biopolitics. Emoji are instances of a contest between the creative power of affective labor and its limits within a digital realm in the thrall of market logic.
Design and implementation of automatic number plate recognition on android platform

Android platform has gained popularity in recent years in terms of market share and number of available applications. Android operating system is built on a modified Linux kernel with built-in services such as email, web browser, and map applications. In this paper, automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) was designed and implemented on Android mobile phone platform. First, the graphical user interface (GUI) for capturing image using built-in camera was developed to acquire car plate number in Malaysia. Second, the preprocessing of raw image was done using contrast enhancement, filtering, and straightening. Next, an optical character recognition (OCR) using neural network was utilized to extract texts and numbers. The proposed ANPR algorithm was implemented and simulated using Android SDK on a computer. The preliminary results showed that our system is able to recognize most of the plate characters by almost 88%. Future research includes optimizing the system for mobile phone implementation with limited CPU and memory resources, and geo-tagging of the image using GPS coordinates and online database for various mobile applications.
Two-fingered grasp planning for randomized bin-picking : determining the best pick

This work aims to increase reliability and reduce cycle time in order to realize a commercially-viable visionguided robotic bin-picking system. We present a novel method for two-fingered grasp generation and target selection for binpicking of randomized parts. We also propose a definition for grasp robustness, and use this to formulate a new grasp quality measure. A densely-sampled set of grasps is generated and evaluated using our proposed quality measure. The highestquality grasps are then used to provide more valid picking options in the context of a randomized pile of parts, and to determine the best part to pick up. Our experimental results show a substantial increase in the average number of valid picking options when compared with a typical industrial approach for target selection.
Improved Phase Noise Model for Ultra Wideband VCO

An improved phase noise model for an ultra wideband differential voltage controlled oscillator is proposed which accurately models the impact of tuning voltage on phase noise performance. A series of design examples are presented, which indicate that results from the proposed model agree strongly with transistor level simulations. The model has been further extended to single ended structures where further design examples indicate that accuracy is maintained.
The Anthropology of Industrial Work

The anthropology of industrial work has had a relatively short although turbulent history. During the last 50 years the study of the shop floor has spawned a number of theories, each asserting its claim to universal validity. In this essay I propose to resolve the differences among these general theories by restoring them to the specific context in which they were ger­ minated-a particular period in capitalist development, a particular sector of the capitalist economy, or a particular capitalist society. By interpreting the multiplicity of general theories as reflecting the diversity of the capitalist labor process we can begin to grasp its underlying unity as well as under­ stand the forms and causes of its variation.