Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Computer-science education as a cultural encounter: a socio-cultural framework for articulating learning difficulties

We present a framework for articulating learning difficulties in computer science (CS) based on the socio-cultural theoretical idea that learning means entering a culture. In school, teachers and students participate in two cultures simultaneously: (1) school and (2) the domain studied. CS students are members of a third culture, computer users and thus, in CS lessons, three cultural viewpoints are employed simultaneously, which might recast students' understanding of CS with ungenuine- CS elements. The power of this framework was demonstrated in a three-phase investigation into difficulties regarding correctness using questionnaires. The first two phases revealed how both school and the user's culture nurture students' misconceptions of correctness, which contribute to students' inadequate work habits. The third phase exposed teachers' dual viewpoint on a programming activity, which students can misinterpret as agreement with their (mis)understanding of the concept.
A Systematic Mapping Review of the First 20 Years of Software Aging and Rejuvenation Research

Although software aging and rejuvenation (SAR) is a young research field, in its first 20 years a lot of knowledge has been produced. Nowadays, important scientific journals and conferences include SAR-related topics in their scope of interest. This fast growing and wide range of dissemination venues pose a challenge to researchers to keep tracking of the new findings and trends in this area. In this work, we collected and analyzed SAR research data using analytics to detect trends, patterns, and thematic gaps, in order to provide a comprehensive view of this research field over its first 20 years. We adopted the systematic mapping approach to answer research questions such as: How the main topics investigated in SAR have evolved over time? Which are the most investigated aging effects? Which rejuvenation techniques and strategies are more frequently used?
A scalable rayleigh-ritz style method for large scale Canonical Correlation Analysis

In this paper, we propose a novel inverse-free iterative algorithm for efficiently solving the generalized eigenvalue problem in Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA). Compared with the state-of-the-art approach of reformulating it as a regression problem, our method is more efficient and can find the exact solution to the original generalized eigenvalue problem under a milder condition. Numerical experiments on several large-scale datasets illustrate the superior performance of the proposed method.
Fault detection for high availability RAID system

Designing storage systems to provide high availability in the face of failures needs the use of various data protection techniques, such as dual-controller RAID. The failure of controller may cause data inconsistencies of RAID storage system. Heartbeat is used to detect controllers whether survival. So, the heartbeat cycle's impact on the high availability of a dual-controller hot-standby system has become the key of current research. To address the problem of fixed setting heartbeat in building high availability system currently, an adaptive heartbeat fault detection model of dual controller, which can adjust heartbeat cycle based on the frequency of data read-write request, is designed to improve the high availability of dual-controller RAID storage system. Additionally, this heartbeat mechanism can be used for other applications in distributed settings such as detecting node failures, performance monitoring, and query optimization. Based on this model, the high availability stochastic Petri net model of fault detection was established and used to evaluate the effect of the availability. In addition, we define a AHA (Adaptive Heart Ability) parameter to scale the ability of system heartbeat cycle to adapt to the environment which is changing. The results show that, relatively speaking with fixed configuration, the design is valid and effective, and can enhance dual controller RAID system high availability.
Personality and negotiation revisited: The mediating role of negotiator cognition

Personality has been one of the most-studied factors in negotiation research, yet only inconsistent evidence has been provided for its impact on negotiation behaviors and outcomes. This paper proposes a mental model of personality and negotiation by integrating cognitive and social factors into the examination of negotiation processes. Testable propositions are then put forward before future research directions are discussed.
An Encryption Key Management Approach for Configuration Files

One of the major points of interest in software engineering nowadays is how to ensure applic- ations configuration files’ security. In fact, they very often contain confidential information as database connection credentials, thereby providing a vulnerability point to these applications, for those files having their information clearly written. Some studies upon 2200 applications revealed that 96% of them where vulnerable, and that 80% of those vulnerable applications contained vulnerabilities exposed by incorrect configuration information management. Encryp- tion is then used to secure these delicate files. The difficulty then resides in the usage and backup of the encryption key so as to guarantee data security. To do this, current approaches are either to hide the encryption key in the application source code or somewhere on disk, it’s safety then being compromised; or to protect the key by bounding it to a specific user account, the application can then operate only within this account, obligating that user to be physically present for the key to be available, which is an unacceptable constraint for large systems. In this paper, we propose an encryption key management model solving limitations mentioned above. The key lies only in main memory, which is great for its protection; it is subjected on a secure and flexible way (directly, through https or SMS) to the files security module when starting.
‘Interest’ and ‘Pleasure’: Two Determinants of a Monkey's Visual Preferences

When given a choice between two visual stimuli (plain fields of light of different colour, photographs, cine films, etc.) monkeys show strong and consistent preferences. The strength and direction of the preferences is determined by two independent factors: the monkey's relative ‘interest’ in the stimuli (determined largely by their information content) and his relative ‘pleasure’ (determined by qualities such as colour and brightness). With an unchanging stimulus ‘interest’ rapidly fades but ‘pleasure’ (or ‘unpleasure’) remains stable. If the two factors are set against each other, as when a red-coloured cine film is paired with a plain white field (the pictorial content of the film being interesting, its colour unpleasant), interest over-rides pleasure in determining the observed preference. A quantitative model based on these principles predicts the behaviour in a variety of situations with great accuracy.
Geometry Processing and Statistical Shape Analysis of 3-D Anthropometry Data

3-D anthropometry data obtained from 3-D scanning technology provide detailed information about the human shape. However, due to the limitations of the sensors, such as field of view, lighting condition, and object self-occlusion, the raw 3-D data are usually noisy and incomplete. Much processing is necessary before they can be used for statistical analysis. In this paper, we present geometry processing tools for preparing the raw data for shape analysis. We show that these tools help extract useful information about the human shape.
Machine Learning and Model Based Diagnosis using Possible Conflicts and System Decomposition

This work presents an on-line diagnosis algorithm for dynamic systems that combines model based diagnosis and machine learning techniques. The Possible Conflicts method is used to perform consistency based diagnosis. Possible conflicts are in charge of fault detection and isolation. Machine learning methods are use to induce time series classifiers, that are applied on line for fault identification. The main contribution of this work is that Possible Conflicts are used to decompose the physical system. This decomposition allows defining the input-output structure of an ensemble of classifiers. Hence the structural knowledge provided by the Possible Conflicts is exploited by the machine learning methods. Possible Conflict decomposition may be used for class selection or for class and attribute selection. Experimental results on a simulated pilot plant show that class selection has an important potential to increase the classifier accuracy for several learning algorithms. The effect of an additional attribute selection depends on the kind of machine learning method, although it improves the accuracy of the most precise classifiers, especially at the first stages of the diagnosis processes, just after a fault has been detected.
An Implementation of the Detecting Method of Contour-Based Optical Flow Field of Deformable Body and Its Application in Ultrasound B-Scan Images for the Heart

Chian g Lin an d Yonghu a Lin Dept. Of Radio Engineering , FuZhou Universit y, Fujian 350002 P. R. Of China Abstract: -This paper presents a method for detecting contour-based optical flow field of the heart in ultrasound B-Scan images, which is Matching Algorithm of Boundary Cluster Centers. The heart being a deformable body, this paper, as a result, is a research on the optical flow field o f deformable body, which is of common concern in the research of optical flow field. This being our first research, we intend to simplify our target, i.e. we do not attempt to research on all pixels of the heart image, but rather our focus studies on some boundary cluster centers that can represent the motional condition of the heart. First, we obtain the boundary cluster centers of every frame. Second, we match the centers of the two neighboring frames according to the matching tactics of common motion and obtain the watching difference of every cluster center ( Si) i=1,2. , which is, then, divided by the interval time of neighboring frames ( t) ,i.e. Si / t=Vi(i=1, 2 .). In this way we obtain the optical flow field. The above tactics are the bases of the matching operation. If the tactics are correct, there will be a more accurate way to detect the optical flow field of a deformable body. The paper also shows some estimated results of B-Scan contour-based optical flow field by applying the method of matching algorithm of boundary cluster centers. Key –Wards : Computer Vision ;Optical Flow; Images o f Deformable Bo y CSCC'99 Proceedings, Pages:4551-4555
Efficacy of the Bilateral Ilioinguinal-Iliohypogastric Block with Intrathecal Morphine for Postoperative Cesarean Delivery Analgesia

The ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric (IIIH) block is frequently used as multimodal analgesia for lower abdominal surgeries. The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy of IIIH block using ultrasound visualization for reducing postoperative pain after caesarean delivery (CD) in patients receiving intrathecal morphine (ITM) under spinal anesthesia. Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatment groups for the bilateral IIIH block: Group A = 10 mL of 0.5% bupivacaine, Group B = 10 mL of 0.5% bupivacaine on one side and 10 mL of a normal saline (NSS) placebo block on the opposite side, and Group C = 10 mL of NSS placebo per side. Pain and nausea scores, treatment for pain and nausea, and patient satisfaction were recorded for 48 hours after CD. No differences were noted with respect to pain scores or treatment for pain over the 48 hours. There were no differences to the presence of nausea (P = 0.64), treatment for nausea (P = 0.21), pruritus (P = 0.39), emesis (P = 0.35), or patient satisfaction (P = 0.29). There were no differences in pain and nausea scores over the measured time periods (MANOVA, P > 0.05). In parturients receiving ITM for elective CD, IIIH block offers no additional postoperative benefit for up to 48 hours.
Accelerating Climate and Weather Simulations Through Hybrid Computing

Unconventional multi- and many-core processors (e.g., IBM® Cell B.E. ™ and NVIDIA® GPU) have emerged as effective accelerators in trial climate and weather simulations. Yet these climate and weather models typically run on parallel computers with conventional processors (e.g., Intel®, AMD®, and IBM) using Message Passing Interface (MPI). To address challenges involved in efficiently and easily connecting accelerators to parallel computers, we investigated using IBM’s Dynamic Application Virtualization (DAV) software in a prototype hybrid computing system with representative climate and weather model components. The hybrid system comprises 2 Intel blades and 2 IBM QS22 Cell B.E. blades, connected with both InfiniBand® (IB) and 1-Gigabit Ethernet. The system significantly accelerates a solar radiation model component by offloading compute-intensive calculations to the Cell blades. Systematic tests show that DAV can seamlessly offload compute-intensive calculations from Intel blades to Cell B.E. blades in a scalable, load-balanced manner. However, noticeable communication overhead was observed, mainly due to IP over IB protocol. Full utilization of IB Sockets Direct Protocol (SDP) and the lower latency production version of DAV will reduce this overhead.
Buying stock market winners on Warsaw Stock Exchange - quantitative backtests of a short term trend following strategy

This paper focuses on one of the most popular issues in the Polish finance - is the `buying stock market winners' profitable on the Warsaw Stock Exchange? This study tested whether Ichimoku trend following strategy performed better than simple buy & hold benchmark. For automated backtests WIG30 index components in the period 2012-12-28 to 2015-05-06 were used. The empirical results suggest that buying recent “winners” is very ineffective. These preliminary findings may imply contrarian nature of the short-term Polish financial market.
Aerial Targets Threat Evaluation Based on Interval-Number and Entropy-Weight Analysis

Aiming at the problem of aerial targets threat evaluation, a new aerial targets threat evaluation method based on interval-number and entropy-weight analysis is put forward by combining the interval-number and information entropy theories. The approach we present transform the aerial targets evaluation problem to multi-target decision-making problem. The core idea and evaluation arithmetic of the approach are presented in detail. Method of ascertaining weight in traditional evaluation arithmetic is subjective. But in this paper, the approach we present solves the problem in traditional evaluation arithmetic. The validity of the arithmetic is shown by an existing instance in the end. Keywords-Threat Evaluation; Aerial Targets; Interval-number; Entropy-weight Analysis
The Calcium/Calmodulin/Kinase System and Arrhythmogenic Afterdepolarizations in Bradycardia-Related Acquired Long-QT Syndrome

Background—Sustained bradycardia is associated with long-QT syndrome in human beings and causes spontaneous torsades de pointes in rabbits with chronic atrioventricular block (CAVB), at least partly by downregulating delayed-rectifier K+-current to cause action potential (AP) prolongation. We addressed the importance of altered Ca2+ handling, studying underlying mechanisms and consequences. Methods and Results—We measured ventricular cardiomyocyte [Ca2+]i (Indo1-AM), L-type Ca2+-current (ICaL) and APs (whole-cell perforated-patch), and Ca2+-handling protein expression (immunoblot). CAVB increased AP duration, cell shortening, systolic [Ca2+]i transients, and caffeine-induced [Ca2+]i release, and CAVB cells showed spontaneous early afterdepolarizations (EADs). ICaL density was unaffected by CAVB, but inactivation was shifted to more positive voltages, increasing the activation-inactivation overlap zone for ICaL window current. Ca2+-calmodulin–dependent protein kinase-II (CaMKII) autophosphorylation was enhanced in CAVB, indicating CaMKII activation. CAVB also enhanced CaMKII-dependent phospholamban-phosphorylation and accelerated [Ca2+]i-transient decay, consistent with phosphorylation-induced reductions in phospholamban inhibition of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+-ATPase as a contributor to enhanced SR Ca2+ loading. The CaMKII-inhibitor KN93 reversed CAVB-induced changes in caffeine-releasable [Ca2+]i and ICaL inactivation voltage and suppressed CAVB-induced EADs. Similarly, the calmodulin inhibitor W7 suppressed CAVB-induced ICaL inactivation voltage shifts and EADs, and a specific CaMKII inhibitory peptide prevented ICaL inactivation voltage shifts. The SR Ca2+-uptake inhibitor thapsigargin and the SR Ca2+ release inhibitor ryanodine also suppressed CAVB-induced EADs, consistent with an important role for SR Ca2+ loading and release in arrhythmogenesis. AP-duration changes reached a maximum after 1 week of bradypacing, but peak alterations in CaMKII and [Ca2+]i required 2 weeks, paralleling the EAD time course. Conclusions—CAVB-induced remodeling enhances [Ca2+]i load and activates the Ca2+-calmodulin-CaMKII system, producing [Ca2+]i-handling abnormalities that contribute importantly to CAVB-induced arrhythmogenic afterdepolarizations.
Rational modulation of conformational fluctuations in adenylate kinase reveals a local unfolding mechanism for allostery and functional adaptation in proteins

Elucidating the complex interplay between protein structure and dynamics is a prerequisite to an understanding of both function and adaptation in proteins. Unfortunately, it has been difficult to experimentally decouple these effects because it is challenging to rationally design mutations that will either affect the structure but not the dynamics, or that will affect the dynamics but not the structure. Here we adopt a mutation approach that is based on a thermal adaptation strategy observed in nature, and we use it to study the binding interaction of Escherichia coli adenylate kinase (AK). We rationally design several single-site, surface-exposed glycine mutations to selectively perturb the excited state conformational repertoire, leaving the ground-state X-ray crystallographic structure unaffected. The results not only demonstrate that the conformational ensemble of AK is significantly populated by a locally unfolded state that is depopulated upon binding, but also that the excited-state conformational ensemble can be manipulated through mutation, independent of perturbations of the ground-state structures. The implications of these results are twofold. First, they indicate that it is possible to rationally design dynamic allosteric mutations, which do not propagate through a pathway of structural distortions connecting the mutated and the functional sites. Secondly and equally as important, the results reveal a general strategy for thermal adaptation that allows enzymes to modulate binding affinity by controlling the amount of local unfolding in the native-state ensemble. These findings open new avenues for rational protein design and fundamentally illuminate the role of local unfolding in function and adaptation.
Green's formulas for cone differential operators

Green's formulas for elliptic cone differential operators are established. This is achieved by an accurate description of the maximal domain of an elliptic cone differential operator and its formal adjoint; thereby utilizing the concept of a discrete asymptotic type. From this description, the singular coefficients replacing the boundary traces in classical Green's formulas are deduced.
Strongly typed heterogeneous collections

A heterogeneous collection is a datatype that is capable of storing data of different types, while providing operations for look-up, update, iteration, and others. There are various kinds of heterogeneous collections, differing in representation, invariants, and access operations. We describe HLIST - a Haskell library for strongly typed heterogeneous collections including extensible records. We illustrate HLIST's benefits in the context of type-safe database access in Haskell. The HLIST library relies on common extensions of Haskell 98. Our exploration raises interesting issues regarding Haskell's type system, in particular, avoidance of overlapping instances, and reification of type equality and type unification.
Regulation of Photosynthetic Electron Transport and Photoinhibition

Photosynthetic organisms and isolated photosystems are of interest for technical applications. In nature, photosynthetic electron transport has to work efficiently in contrasting environments such as shade and full sunlight at noon. Photosynthetic electron transport is regulated on many levels, starting with the energy transfer processes in antenna and ending with how reducing power is ultimately partitioned. This review starts by explaining how light energy can be dissipated or distributed by the various mechanisms of non-photochemical quenching, including thermal dissipation and state transitions, and how these processes influence photoinhibition of photosystem II (PSII). Furthermore, we will highlight the importance of the various alternative electron transport pathways, including the use of oxygen as the terminal electron acceptor and cyclic flow around photosystem I (PSI), the latter which seem particularly relevant to preventing photoinhibition of photosystem I. The control of excitation pressure in combination with the partitioning of reducing power influences the light-dependent formation of reactive oxygen species in PSII and in PSI, which may be a very important consideration to any artificial photosynthetic system or technical device using photosynthetic organisms.
A promising method for the measurement of the local acceleration of gravity using Bloch oscillations of ultracold atoms in a vertical standing wave

An obvious determination of the local acceleration of gravity g can be deduced from the measurement of the velocity of falling atoms using a π-π pulses sequence of stimulated Raman transitions. By using a vertical standing wave to hold atoms against gravity, we expect to improve the relative accuracy by increasing the upholding time in the gravity field and to minimize the systematic errors induced by inhomogeneous fields, owing to the very small spatial amplitude of the atomic center-of-mass wavepacket periodic motion. We also propose to use such an experimental setup nearby a Watt balance. By exploiting the g/h (h is the Planck constant) dependence of the Bloch frequency, this should provide a way to link a macroscopic mass to an atomic mass.
Elastic Scheduling for Flexible Workload Management

An increasing number of real-time applications related to multimedia and adaptive control systems require greater flexibility than classical real-time theory usually permits. We present a novel scheduling framework in which tasks are treated as springs with given elastic coefficients to better conform to the actual load conditions. Under this model, periodic tasks can intentionally change their execution rate to provide different quality of service and the other tasks can automatically adapt their periods to keep the system underloaded. The proposed model can also be used to handle overload conditions in a more flexible way and to provide a simple and efficient mechanism for controlling a system's performance as a function of the current load.