Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Beyond plain video recording of GUI tests: Linking test case instructions with visual response documentation

Information systems with sophisticated graphical user interfaces are still difficult to test and debug. As a detailed and reproducible report of test case execution is essential, we advocate the documentation of test case execution on several levels. We present an approach to video-based documentation of automated GUI testing that is linked to the test execution procedure. Viewing currently executed test case instructions alongside actual onscreen responses of the application under test facilitates understanding of the failure. This approach is tailored to the challenges of automated GUI testing and debugging with respect to technical and usability aspects. Screen recording is optimized for speed and memory consumption while all relevant details are captured. Additional browsing capabilities for easier debugging are introduced. Our concepts are evaluated by a working implementation, a series of performance measurements during a technical experiment, and industrial experience from 370 real-world test cases carried out in a large software company.
Interleukin-1 genetic association with periodontitis in clinical practice.

BACKGROUND Periodontitis is a bacterial disease modified by multiple risk factors. The pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin- (IL-1) is a key regulator of the host responses to microbial infection and a major modulator of extracellular matrix catabolism and bone resorption. It has been reported that variations in the IL-1 gene cluster on chromosome 2 are associated with increased susceptibility to severe adult periodontitis. METHODS The present study evaluated the association between a composite IL-1 genotype, including allele 2 at each of two loci (IL-1A +4845 plus IL- B +3954), and a broad spectrum of periodontally healthy to diseased patients in a population that is typically encountered in a dental practice setting. Ninety patients, non-smokers or former smokers with less than 10 pack-year (pk/yr) history, were recruited from a private dental practice. The major outcome variable was bone loss determined by computerized linear measurements of radiographs. Genotypes were analyzed from finger-stick blood samples using previously reported methods. RESULTS Multivariate logistic regression models demonstrated that patient age, former smoking history, and the IL-1 genotype were significantly associated with severity of adult periodontitis. For non-smokers or former light smokers (<5 pk/yr), IL-1 genotype positives were at increased odds ratio of having moderate to severe periodontal disease of 3.75 (95% CI: 1.04-13.50) to 5.27 (95% CI: 1.23-22.70), depending on ethnicity, compared to IL-1 genotype negatives. Former moderate smokers (>5 pk/yr and <10 pk/yr) who were IL-1 genotype negative were at increased odds ratio of having moderate to severe periodontal disease of 7.43 (95% CI: 1.20-46.20) compared to non-smokers or former light smokers who were IL-1 genotype negative. In addition, past smoking history was also a significant effect modifier as demonstrated by the statistically significant interaction between past smoking history status and IL-1 genotype status. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that the composite IL-1 genotype is significantly associated with the severity of adult periodontitis. It also confirmed that both IL-1 genotyping and smoking history provide objective risk factors for periodontal disease in a private practice environment.
A new synthetic web server trace generation methodology

We propose a new synthetic trace generation methodology for web server performance benchmarking. We discuss the two primary existing approaches to synthetic trace generation in terms of queueing models. We propose a new methodology as the natural combination of these two approaches. This hybrid approach permits natural modeling of client content and server session caching as well as a natural correspondence between the workload model parameters and the statistics of the resulting synthetic trace.
Biomimetic component coating on 3D scaffolds using high bioactivity of mesoporous bioactive ceramics

Background Mesoporous bioactive glasses (MBGs) are very attractive materials for use in bone tissue regeneration because of their extraordinarily high bone-forming bioactivity in vitro. That is, MBGs may induce the rapid formation of hydroxy apatite (HA) in simulated body fluid (SBF), which is a major inorganic component of bone extracellular matrix (ECM) and comes with both good osteoconductivity and high affinity to adsorb proteins. Meanwhile, the high bioactivity of MBGs may lead to an abrupt initial local pH variation during the initial Ca ion-leaching from MBGs at the initial transplant stage, which may induce unexpected negative effects on using them in in vivo application. In this study we suggest a new way of using MBGs in bone tissue regeneration that can improve the strength and make up for the weakness of MBGs. We applied the outstanding bone-forming bioactivity of MBG to coat the main ECM components HA and collagen on the MBG-polycarplolactone (PCL) composite scaffolds for improving their function as bone scaffolds in tissue regeneration. This precoating process can also expect to reduce initial local pH variation of MBGs. Methods and materials The MBG-PCL scaffolds were immersed in the mixed solution of the collagen and SBF at 37°C for 24 hours. The coating of ECM components on the MBG-PCL scaffolds and the effect of ECM coating on in vitro cell behaviors were confirmed. Results The ECM components were fully coated on MBG-PCL scaffolds after immersing in SBF containing dilute collagen-I solution only for 24 hours due to the high bone-forming bioactivity of MBG. Both cell affinity and osteoconductivity of MBG-PCL scaffolds were dramatically enhanced by this precoating process. Conclusion The precoating process of ECM components on MBG-PCL scaffold using a high bioactivity of MBG was not only effective in enhancing the functionality of scaffolds but also effective in eliminating the unexpected side effect. The MBG-PCL scaffold-coated ECM components ideally satisfied the required conditions of scaffold in tissue engineering, including 3D well-interconnected pore structures with high porosity, good bioactivity, enhanced cell affinity, biocompatibility, osteoconductivity, and sufficient mechanical properties, and promise excellent potential application in the field of biomaterials.
Design of path-based multicast routing protocol in MANET

Mobile Ad-hoc Network (MANET) has emerged as the self-organized wireless interconnection for the applications in random topology. However, achieving reliable multicast transmission in MANET is crucial due to the changeable network topology caused by the node mobility. In this paper, a novel scheme, named PBMRP (Path-based Multicast Routing Protocol for Ad-hoc Network) protocol that integrates routing layer and transport layer, is proposed to provide reliable multicast transmission by considering the maintenance effort of robust routing. The proposed scheme adopts the path information kept by each node for path restoration and can save the precious bandwidth resource when compared to traditional schemes. The simulation results show that the proposed PBMRP protocol can achieve the above objectives and is superior to that of the DSR with TCP-Reno scheme for the maintenance overhead and the path reliability.
What Community Contribution Pattern Says about Stability of Software Project?

Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) community management is an important issue. Contributor churn (joining or leaving a project) causes failure of the majority of software projects. In this paper, we present a framework to characterize stability of the community in software maintenance projects by mining Issue Tracking System (ITS). We identify key stability indicators and propose metrics to measure them. We conduct time series analysis on metrics data to examine the stability of the community. We model community participation patterns and forecast future behavior to help plan and support informed decision making. We present a case study of four years data of Google Chromium Project and investigate the inferential ability of the framework.
Quantum physics in neuroscience and psychology: a neurophysical model of mind–brain interaction

Neuropsychological research on the neural basis of behaviour generally posits that brain mechanisms will ultimately suffice to explain all psychologically described phenomena. This assumption stems from the idea that the brain is made up entirely of material particles and fields, and that all causal mechanisms relevant to neuroscience can therefore be formulated solely in terms of properties of these elements. Thus, terms having intrinsic mentalistic and/or experiential content (e.g. ‘feeling’, ‘knowing’ and ‘effort’) are not included as primary causal factors. This theoretical restriction is motivated primarily by ideas about the natural world that have been known to be fundamentally incorrect for more than three-quarters of a century. Contemporary basic physical theory differs profoundly from classic physics on the important matter of how the consciousness of human agents enters into the structure of empirical phenomena. The new principles contradict the older idea that local mechanical processes alone can account for the structure of all observed empirical data. Contemporary physical theory brings directly and irreducibly into the overall causal structure certain psychologically described choices made by human agents about how they will act. This key development in basic physical theory is applicable to neuroscience, and it provides neuroscientists and psychologists with an alternative conceptual framework for describing neural processes. Indeed, owing to certain structural features of ion channels critical to synaptic function, contemporary physical theory must in principle be used when analysing human brain dynamics. The new framework, unlike its classic-physics-based predecessor, is erected directly upon, and is compatible with, the prevailing principles of physics. It is able to represent more adequately than classic concepts the neuroplastic mechanisms relevant to the growing number of empirical studies of the capacity of directed attention and mental effort to systematically alter brain function.
Formulation and integration of learning differential equations on the stiefel manifold

This letter aims at illustrating the relevance of numerical integration of learning differential equations on differential manifolds. In particular, the task of learning with orthonormality constraints is dealt with, which is naturally formulated as an optimization task with the compact Stiefel manifold as neural parameter space. Intrinsic properties of the derived learning algorithms, such as stability and constraints preservation, are illustrated through experiments on minor and independent component analysis (ICA).
Conversation sur l'analyse stratégique d'une industrie « provisoire » : le cas des nutraceutiques et aliments fonctionnels au Québec et au Canada

Quels sont les concepts utiles pour l’etude de la creation de valeur dans le secteur des nutraceutiques et aliments fonctionnels (NAF) au Canada ? Tres peu de donnees permettent de cerner les enjeux manageriaux et les determinants qui influencent la structure et l’organisation d’une industrie emergente au Canada. Une serie d’etudes exploratoires a ete menee sur les firmes de ce secteur. L’article propose ici d’utiliser les resultats de ces etudes au regard des cadres theoriques et construits empiriques existants dans la litterature de l’organisation industrielle et de l’analyse strategique. Il a pour but de faire une synthese des cadres theoriques actuels et de leurs articulations empiriques afin de mieux comprendre leur pertinence dans l’etude de la creation de valeur dans un secteur emergent. Il a egalement pour but d’esquisser les pistes theoriques prometteuses pour une meilleure comprehension d’un secteur en transition, voire « provisoire », marque par un environnement en evolution rapide et un cadre reglementaire specifique. Cet article comprend trois sections. Dans un premier temps, il presente l’objet d’analyse, l’alimentation-sante et montre les difficultes reliees au choix de cet objet d’analyse. Dans un deuxieme temps, a partir des cadres theoriques de l’Organisation Industrielle (OI) et de l’Analyse Strategique (AS), il fait le point sur les resultats de recherche obtenus sur les mecanismes de creation de valeur dans ce secteur. Enfin, dans une derniere partie, il identifie les limites empiriques des cadres theoriques et des travaux menes, et propose des pistes de recherche complementaires plus adaptees a l’objet d’analyse. Les courants actuels de la flexibilite strategique, de la cartographie de la performance, et de la dynamique des systemes apparaissent utiles pour comprendre les problematiques de l’evolution d’un secteur que les cadres theoriques de l’OI et de l’AS ne permettent d’aborder que de facon statique, et en phase le plus souvent stabilisee de maturite.
Forward–Backward Mean-Shift for Visual Tracking With Local-Background-Weighted Histogram

Object tracking plays an important role in many intelligent transportation systems. Unfortunately, it remains a challenging task due to factors such as occlusion and target-appearance variation. In this paper, we present a new tracking algorithm to tackle the difficulties caused by these two factors. First, considering the target-appearance variation, we introduce the local-background-weighted histogram (LBWH) to describe the target. In our LBWH, the local background is treated as the context of the target representation. Compared with traditional descriptors, the LBWH is more robust to the variability or the clutter of the potential background. Second, to deal with the occlusion case, a new forward-backward mean-shift (FBMS) algorithm is proposed by incorporating a forward-backward evaluation scheme, in which the tracking result is evaluated by the forward-backward error. Extensive experiments on various scenarios have demonstrated that our tracking algorithm outperforms the state-of-the-art approaches in tracking accuracy.
Global Monthly Water Scarcity: Blue Water Footprints versus Blue Water Availability

Freshwater scarcity is a growing concern, placing considerable importance on the accuracy of indicators used to characterize and map water scarcity worldwide. We improve upon past efforts by using estimates of blue water footprints (consumptive use of ground- and surface water flows) rather than water withdrawals, accounting for the flows needed to sustain critical ecological functions and by considering monthly rather than annual values. We analyzed 405 river basins for the period 1996–2005. In 201 basins with 2.67 billion inhabitants there was severe water scarcity during at least one month of the year. The ecological and economic consequences of increasing degrees of water scarcity – as evidenced by the Rio Grande (Rio Bravo), Indus, and Murray-Darling River Basins – can include complete desiccation during dry seasons, decimation of aquatic biodiversity, and substantial economic disruption.
A Media Synchronization Survey: Reference Model, Specification, and Case Studies

Researchers have addressed multimedia synchronization from various perspectives. The major issues include how to specify and how to implement synchronization. Especially in the specification area a variety of techniques have been published and implemented. This survey summarizes briefly synchronization requirements, presents a multimedia synchronization reference model, shows details of various specification approaches and applies the reference model to compare existing prominent approaches as case studies.
The effects of increasing exercise intensity on muscle fuel utilisation in humans

1 Contemporary stable isotope methodology was applied in combination with muscle biopsy sampling to accurately quantify substrate utilisation and study the regulation of muscle fuel selection during exercise. 2 Eight cyclists were studied at rest and during three consecutive 30 min stages of exercise at intensities of 40, 55 and 75 % maximal workload (Wmax). A continuous infusion of [U‐13C]palmitate and [6,6‐2H2]glucose was administered to determine plasma free fatty acid (FFA) oxidation and estimate plasma glucose oxidation, respectively. Biopsy samples were collected before and after each exercise stage. 3 Muscle glycogen and plasma glucose oxidation rates increased with every increment in exercise intensity. Whole‐body fat oxidation increased to 32 ± 2 kJ min−1 at 55 % Wmax, but declined at 75 % Wmax (19 ± 2 kJ min−1). This decline involved a decrease in the oxidation rate of both plasma FFA and triacylglycerol fat sources (sum of intramuscular plus lipoprotein‐derived triacylglycerol), and was accompanied by increases in muscle pyruvate dehydrogenase complex activation and acetylation of the carnitine pool, resulting in a decline in muscle free carnitine concentration. 4 We conclude that the most likely mechanism for the reduction in fat oxidation during high‐intensity exercise is a downregulation of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I, either by this marked decline in free carnitine availability or by a decrease in intracellular pH.
Full integration of a 3D demonstrator with TSV first interposer, ultra thin die stacking and wafer level packaging

This work aims at answering to the 3D mega trend of silicon based platform and 3D wafer level packaging (3D-WLSiP). We focus on the development of architectures compliant with high volume markets for applications like mobile telecommunication. In this market, the silicon material will remain the key platform for 3D integration and has to offer the vertical interconnection as well as ultra-thin packages to fit into very slim electronic devices. We have designed both a mechanical demonstrator with daisy chains and a fully functional product based on a silicon interposer, focusing on forward and backward compatibility between Front-End and 3D packaging and the development of a complete set of advanced technological modules: - Thru-silicon-via interconnections (TSV) with copper via-mid technologies. - Ultra-thin (20 and 35 μm) chips fabrication using dicing before grinding (DBG) with 45° beveled edge and plasma stress release technology. - Thin chips stack on the TSV interposer before processing the back side (stacking first) with two different approaches. The first one is a flip chip integration based on Cu/SAC μ-bumps while the second is the Back-to-Face (B2F) way based on high topology RDL after permanent bonding of the chips face up on the interposer. Chip bonding is done with several materials either on die side with die attach film (DAF) or on interposer side using wafer level spin coated polymers. - Thin wafer handling using advanced temporary bonding process to handle the thin silicon interposer wafers during the integration based on BSI product from Brewer Science and ZoneBOND™ technology. Moreover different strategies of handling have been investigated involving high topology temporary bonding as well as carrier flip-flop approaches. - Thin wafer level packaging (TWLP) has been implemented sequentially on front side and back side of the thin resulting in a fully 3D-WLSiP module. Thermo-mechanical FEM simulation and first reliability assessment using mechanical demonstrator have been carried out and support the good mechanical behaviour of the integration. Electrical tests have been also completed that allows comparing the performances of F2F and B2F interconnection schemes in terms of resistances and yield at front side level but also at back side level after TSV exposure, RDL and bumps. Successful results of development loops have led to start processing a full functional product benefiting of the best process flow.
The interaction between training and plasticity in the poststroke brain.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Recovery after stroke can occur either via reductions in impairment or through compensation. Studies in humans and nonhuman animal models show that most recovery from impairment occurs in the first 1-3 months after stroke as a result of both spontaneous reorganization and increased responsiveness to enriched environments and training. Improvement from impairment is attributable to a short-lived sensitive period of postischemic plasticity defined by unique genetic, molecular, physiological, and structural events. In contrast, compensation can occur at any time after stroke. Here, we address both the biology of the brain's postischemic sensitive period and the difficult question of what kind of training (task-specific vs. a stimulating environment for self-initiated exploration of various natural behaviors) best exploits this period. RECENT FINDINGS Data suggest that three important variables determine the degree of motor recovery from impairment: the timing, intensity, and approach to training with respect to stroke onset; the unique postischemic plasticity milieu; and the extent of cortical reorganization. SUMMARY Future work will need to further characterize the unique interaction between types of training and postischemic plasticity, and find ways to augment and prolong the sensitive period using pharmacological agents or noninvasive brain stimulation.
Management of Patients with Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma: Literature Review

Allergic rhinitis (AR) and asthma are disorders of the airway characterized by inflammation of the respiratory mucosa. The presence of one disorder increases the likelihood that the other will also occur. As they are mechanistically intertwined, one can exacerbate the other when both conditions are present. In addition, comorbid AR and asthma have an additive impact on patients’ health-related quality of life. The Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) recommendations suggest that asthma patients should be evaluated for AR, and all AR patients should undergo tests for asthma. They also suggest that ideally, a combined strategy should be used to treat the upper and lower airway diseases. While treatment for AR includes antihistamines, intranasal glucocorticosteroids, antileukotrienes, and specific immunotherapy, data suggest that these treatment approaches may also improve asthma outcomes. This article reviews current clinical approaches to the diagnosis and management of patients with comorbid AR and asthma.
Preferential Substrate Binding Orientation by the Molecular Chaperone HscA*

HscA, a specialized bacterial hsp70-class chaperone, interacts with the iron-sulfur cluster assembly protein IscU by recognizing a conserved LPPVK sequence motif at positions 99–103. We have used a site-directed fluorescence labeling and quenching strategy to determine whether HscA binds to IscU in a preferred orientation. HscA was selectively labeled on opposite sides of the substrate binding domain with the fluorescent probe bimane, and the ability of LPPVK-containing peptides having tryptophan at the N or C terminus to quench bimane fluorescence was measured. Quenching was highly dependent on the position of tryptophan in the peptide and the location of bimane on HscA implying a strong directional preference for peptide binding. Similar experiments showed that full-length IscU binds in the same orientation as IscU-derived peptides and that binding orientation is unaffected by the co-chaperone HscB. The preferred orientation of the HscA-IscU complex is the reverse of that previously described for peptide complexes of Escherichia coli DnaK and rat Hsc70 substrate binding domain fragments establishing that hsp70 isoforms can bind peptide/polypeptide substrates in different orientations.