Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Code transformations and SIMD impact on embedded software energy/power consumption

The increasing demand for portable computing has elevated power consumption to be one of the most critical embedded systems design parameters. In this paper, we present a qualitative study wherein we examine the impact of code transformations on the energy and power consumption. Three main categories of code transformations are investigated, namely data, loop and procedural oriented transformations. Moreover, we evaluate the influence of employing Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) on energy and power dissipation via the utilization of compiler intrinsic C-functions. Results show that a trade-off between power and performance can be achieved by employing the intrinsic C-functions in conjunction with some transformations such as loop unrolling and procedure integration.
Exploring the Critical Thinking Skills of Analysis and Evaluation in 9th Graders Through the Use of Authentic Materials and the Socratic Method

This research aimed at exploring the interactive role of critical thinking skills and authentic materials in a group of male ninth graders at a private school in Bogota. These students were observed in order to determine how their written production and oral interaction was shaped when being in contact with a set of teaching units designed from authentic materials such as newspapers and TV broadcasts. These materials were designed after considering the results of a survey in which the participants were asked which topics they would like to work on during the application of this project. The outcomes of the study show that participatns analysed and judged topics using internal evidence and external criteria. These two features of thinking match the stages of human knowledge development initially proposed by Bloom (1974), and lightly modified by Facione (1998). The study also reveals that the quality and quantity of teacher feedback highly affects the quality of learner's production. Teachers' permanent reflection and refinement of techniques such as the Socratic questioning are key factors for obtaining more elaborate responses from EFL learners.
Blood pressure lowering and acute perihematomal brain edema after intracerebral hemorrhage.

See related article, p 1292. Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a common and often fatal subtype of stroke that produces severe neurological deficits in survivors.1 There are still no proven therapeutic interventions for ICH, but there has been much interest in the potential use of acutely reducing blood pressure to limit hematoma expansion. A key factor affecting ICH outcome is hematoma size, and hematoma expansion occurs in about one third of patients with ICH.2 This has led to 3 clinical trials: Intensive Blood Pressure Reduction in Acute Cerebral Hemorrhage Trial (INTERACT), Antihypertensive Treatment of Acute Cerebral Hemorrhage (ATACH), and The Intracerebral Hemorrhage Acutely Decreasing Arterial Pressure Trial (ICH ADAPT). 3–5 INTERACT 2 reported last year6 and suggested an improvement in outcome although this did not reach statistical significance. Understanding the importance of those results requires determination of whether acute blood pressure reductions may have detrimental and beneficial effects in patients with ICH. In this …
Preoperative Information Management System using Wireless PDAs

Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) and wireless communication are currently available in clinical settings. We developed wireless PDA software that assists anesthesiologists in pre-operative patient assessment. The device communicates with the hospital information system through a wireless LAN and is equipped with pre-programmed data entry templates for pre-operative assessment. As a preliminary test of the device, we randomly assigned residents in preoperative assessment to an intervention and a control arm and compared the results.
Generalization Methods in Bioinformatics

Protein secondary structure prediction and high-throughput drug screen data mining are two important applications in bioinformatics. The data is represented in sparse feature spaces and can be unrepresentative of future data. Supervised learners in this context will display their inherent bias toward certain solutions, generally solutions that fit the training set well. In this paper, we first describe an ensemble approach using subsampling that scales well with dataset size. A sufficient number of ensemble members using subsamples of the data can yield a more accurate classifier than a single classifier using the entire dataset. Experiments on several datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach. We report results from the KDD Cup 2001 drug discovery dataset in which our approach yields a higher weighted accuracy than the winning entry. We then extend our ensemble approach to create an over-generalized classifier for prediction by reducing the individual subsample size. The ensemble strategy using small subsamples has the effect of averaging over a wider range of hypotheses. We show that both protein secondary structure prediction and drug discovery prediction can be improved by the use of over-generalization, specifically through the use of ensembles of small subsamples.
Lossy compression of images without visible distortions and its application

It is shown that images can be subject to lossy compression in such a way that introduced distortions are not visible. For this purpose, two modern visual quality metrics, MSSIM and PSNR-HVS-M, can be used. Their values are to be provided not less than 0.99 and 40 dB, respectively, and the corresponding lossy compression is to be carried out. Attained compression ratio (CR) depends upon image properties and a coder used. The proposed methodology of lossy compression can be successfully exploited in remote sensing and medical imaging with producing CR by several times larger than the best lossless image compression techniques.
Discrete-time repetitive control with model-less FIR filter inversion for high performance nanopositioning

Repetitive control (RC) is used to track and reject periodic exogenous signals. RC achieves tracking by incorporating a model of a periodic signal in the feedback path, which provides infinite loop-gain at the harmonic frequencies of the periodic signal. To improve robustness, the periodic signal model is bandwidth limited, and to improve the performance, an inverse plant response filter is used. This filter can either be an infinite impulse response (IIR) filter or a finite impulse response (FIR) filter. The accuracy of the filter typically determines the allowable bandwidth of the periodic signal model, and it is therefore desirable to obtain the most accurate inverse possible. In this paper a model-less method for synthesizing an FIR filter for the inverse response is presented, and it is compared to the common approach of using an inverse model-based IIR filter. An experimental comparison of the two approaches is presented, and it is demonstrated that the two methods produce identical results, but where the model-less FIR filter approach has the added benefit of avoiding the modeling effort needed to obtain the IIR filter.
Wi-Fi-Aided Magnetic Field Positioning with Floor Estimation in Indoor Multi-Floor Navigation Services

Our paper addresses Indoor Navigation, i.e., the navigation in the three-dimensional space of buildings. Indoor navigation lifecycle is alike outdoor navigation, and it embraces Mapping, Positioning, Path Planning, and En-route Assistance. In such life cycle, positioning is, of course, a critical element. In indoor navigation, an ideal positioning should operate in the indoor three-dimensional space, and integrate sensors, magnetometer, accelerator, etc. In order to achieve this goal, we combine External Navigation System (ENS) and Inertial Navigation System (INS). In ENS, Wi-Fi signal strengths estimate the floor information, and magnetometer matches magnetic data in real time. In INS, pedestrian motion is measured by accelerator with heading, user steps and walking distance. An eXtended Particle Filtering (XPF) effectively combines both positioning measurements and user movements. The integration of Wi-Fi-aided magnetic field positioning and XPF with Dead Reckoning is the main novelty of our solution, which has been validated by experiments and shows a good performance.
Leveraging Social Context for Modeling Topic Evolution

Topic discovery and evolution (TDE) has been a problem which has gained long standing interest in the research community. The goal in topic discovery is to identify groups of keywords from large corpora so that the information in those corpora are summarized succinctly. The nature of text corpora has changed dramatically in the past few years with the advent of social media. Social media services allow users to constantly share, follow and comment on posts from other users. Hence, such services have given a new dimension to the traditional text corpus. The new dimension being that today's corpora have a social context embedded in them in terms of the community of users interested in a particular post, their profiles etc. We wish to harness this social context that comes along with the textual content for TDE. In particular, our goal is to both qualitatively and quantitatively analyze when social context actually helps with TDE. Methodologically, we approach the problem of TDE by a proposing non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) based model that incorporates both the textual information and social context information. We perform experiments on large scale real world dataset of news articles, and use Twitter as the platform providing information about the social context of these news articles. We compare with and outperform several state-of-the-art baselines. Our conclusion is that using the social context information is most useful when faced with topics that are particularly difficult to detect.
The Effect of Calcium Chloride on Growth, Photosynthesis, and Antioxidant Responses of Zoysia japonica under Drought Conditions

Few attempts have been made to study the alleviating effects of signal molecules on zoysiagrass ( Zoysia japonica ) under drought stress. Calcium chloride has been shown to ameliorate the adverse effects of drought stress on many plants. It is necessary to investigate how to enhance drought tolerance of zoysiagrass using calcium chloride. The study elucidated the effects of calcium chloride on zoysiagrass under drought conditions by investigating the following parameters: biomass, chlorophyll (Chl) content, net photosynthetic rate (Pn), chlorophyll fluorescence, antioxidant enzymes, proline content, and malondialdehyde (MDA) content. Experimental conditions consisted of an aqueous CaCl2 solution at 5, 10, and 20 mM sprayed on zoysiagrass leaves for 3 d, following by an inducement of drought conditions by withholding water for 16 d. Under drought conditions, all CaCl2 pretreatments were found to increase the above-ground fresh biomass, as well as below-ground fresh and dry biomass. The resulting Chl (a, b, a+b) contents of the 5 and 10 mM CaCl2 pretreatment groups were higher than those of the control. In the later stages of drought conditions, the chlorophyll fluorescence parameter Fv/Fm was higher in leaves treated with 10 mM CaCl2 than in the leaves of the other two treatment groups. Zoysiagrass pretreated with 10 mM CaCl2 possessed both the maximum observed Pn and antioxidant enzyme activities. Meanwhile, lower MDA and proline contents were recorded in the plants pretreated with 5 and 10 mM CaCl2 under drought conditions. As a whole, the drought tolerance of zoysiagrass was improved to some extent by the application of a moderate calcium concentration.
Are Community College Presidencies Wise Career Moves?

This study surveyed executive administrators of community colleges that had experienced a presidential transition between 2006 and 2009. Its purpose was to determine their perceptions of career risk associated with the community college position of president. The study compared the perceptional changes to a prior study on the same subject by Johnson and Jones (2006). Of interest to the researchers was whether the role of president has become more risky in the past three years. Results of the recent study show an increase in the number of presidents leaving their jobs under pressure. Future comparable jobs seem to be available for most who want them. Consistent with these facts, the majority of executive officers surveyed believed the community college president position is indeed risky. They cited high expectations, evolving job responsibilities, lack of financial resources, board relations, and competing constituencies as reasons.
Post-merger evolution of a neutron star-black hole binary with neutrino transport

We present a first simulation of the post-merger evolution of a black hole-neutron star binary in full general relativity using an energy-integrated general-relativistic truncated moment formalism for neutrino transport. We describe our implementation of the moment formalism and important tests of our code, before studying the formation phase of an accretion disk after a black hole-neutron star merger. We use as initial data an existing general-relativistic simulation of the merger of a neutron star of mass 1. 4M_⊙ with a black hole of mass 7M_⊙ and dimensionless spin χBH=0.8. Comparing with a simpler leakage scheme for the treatment of the neutrinos, we find noticeable differences in the neutron-to-proton ratio in and around the disk, and in the neutrino luminosity. We find that the electron neutrino luminosity is much lower in the transport simulations, and that both the disk and the disk outflows are less neutron rich. The spatial distribution of the neutrinos is significantly affected by relativistic effects, due to large velocities and curvature in the regions of strongest emission. Over the short time scale evolved, we do not observe purely neutrino-driven outflows. However, a small amount of material (3×10^(−4)M_⊙) is ejected in the polar region during the circularization of the disk. Most of that material is ejected early in the formation of the disk, and is fairly neutron rich (electron fraction Ye∼0.15–0.25). Through r-process nucleosynthesis, that material should produce high-opacity lanthanides in the polar region, and could thus affect the light curve of radioactively powered electromagnetic transients. We also show that by the end of the simulation, while the bulk of the disk remains neutron rich (Ye∼0.15–0.2 and decreasing), its outer layers have a higher electron fraction: 10% of the remaining mass has Ye>0.3. As that material would be the first to be unbound by disk outflows on longer time scales, and as composition evolution is slower at later times, the changes in Ye experienced during the formation phase of the disk could have an impact on nucleosynthesis outputs from neutrino-driven and viscously driven outflows. Finally, we find that the effective viscosity due to momentum transport by neutrinos is unlikely to have a strong effect on the growth of the magnetorotational instability in the post-merger accretion disk.
Hamiltonian Medicine: Why the Social Lives of Pathogens Matter

The virulence of bacterial colonies often increases when the members of the colony are more highly related. [Foster][1] explains how kin selection theory can be used to analyze this phenomenon and discusses the characteristics of bacteria that enable them to benefit from living among their relatives. [1]: http://www.sciencemag. org/cgi/content/full/308/5726/1269
Norm enforcement in the city revisited: An international field experiment of altruistic punishment, norm maintenance, and broken windows

In laboratory experiments, people are willing to sanction norms at a cost—a behavioral tendency called altruistic punishment. However, the degree to which these findings can be generalized to real-world interactions is still debated. Only a small number of field experiments have been conducted, and initial results suggest that punishment is less frequent outside of the lab. This study replicates one of the first field experiments on altruistic punishment and builds ties to research on norm compliance and the broken windows theory. The original study addressed the enforcement of the anti-littering norm in Athens. We replicate this study in Bern, Zurich, and New York City. As an extension, we investigate how the experimental context (clean vs littered) impacts social norm enforcement. As a second extension, we investigate how opportunity structure impacts the maintenance of the anti-littering norm. Findings indicate that norms are universally enforced, although significantly less than in the standard laboratory experiment, and that enforcement is significantly more common in Switzerland than in New York. Moreover, individuals prefer more subtle forms of enforcement to direct punishment. We also find that enforcement is less frequent in littered than in clean contexts, suggesting that broken windows might not only foster deviant behavior but also weaken informal social control. Finally, we find that opportunity structure can encourage people to maintain norms, as indicated by the fact that people are more likely to voluntarily pick up litter when it is closer to a trash bin.
A formal approach to context scheduling for multicontext reconfigurable architectures

In this paper, we analyze the main issues in context scheduling for multicontext reconfigurable architectures from a formal point of view. We first provide an intuitive approach. which is later supported by a detailed analysis of the mathematical relations that express the reconfiguration process. This enables us to deduce a methodology for the minimization of context loading overhead, which considers the tradeoff between achievable system performance and algorithm efficiency. In this respect, the optimality necessary conditions are established in order to contrive an optimal search. However, as this approach is very time consuming we propose some heuristic techniques that reduce the algorithm complexity and accomplish very good results in relatively short execution time. This work has been developed as a part of an automated design environment for reconfigurable systems. A set of experiments has been developed so as to validate the theoretical results.
A Successive Approximation ADC using PWM Technique for Bio-Medical Applications

Analog to digital (A/D) converters provide the interface between the real world (analog) and the digital processingdomain. The analog signals to be converted may originate from many transducers that convert physical phenomena like temperature, pressure or position to elec‐ trical signals. Since these electrical signals are analog voltage or current proportionals to the measured physical phenomena, its necessary to convert them to digital domain to conduct any computational. Nowadays, the development of the IC technology resulted in a growth of digital systems. A/D converters are present in the automotive industry, embedded sys‐ tems and medicine for example. Thus, A/D converters have become important and the large variety of applications implies different types of A/D conversions. For the A/D type considerations, the analog input should be characterized as one of the fol‐ lowing three basic signal types [3].
Insights into molecular interactions between CaM and its inhibitors from molecular dynamics simulations and experimental data

In order to contribute to the structural basis for rational design of calmodulin (CaM) inhibitors, we analyzed the interaction of CaM with 14 classic antagonists and two compounds that do not affect CaM, using docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and the data were compared to available experimental data. The Ca2+-CaM-Ligands complexes were simulated 20 ns, with CaM starting in the “open” and “closed” conformations. The analysis of the MD simulations provided insight into the conformational changes undergone by CaM during its interaction with these ligands. These simulations were used to predict the binding free energies (ΔG) from contributions ΔH and ΔS, giving useful information about CaM ligand binding thermodynamics. The ΔG predicted for the CaM’s inhibitors correlated well with available experimental data as the r2 obtained was 0.76 and 0.82 for the group of xanthones. Additionally, valuable information is presented here: I) CaM has two preferred ligand binding sites in the open conformation known as site 1 and 4, II) CaM can bind ligands of diverse structural nature, III) the flexibility of CaM is reduced by the union of its ligands, leading to a reduction in the Ca2+-CaM entropy, IV) enthalpy dominates the molecular recognition process in the system Ca2+-CaM-Ligand, and V) the ligands making more extensive contact with the protein have higher affinity for Ca2+-CaM. Despite their limitations, docking and MD simulations in combination with experimental data continue to be excellent tools for research in pharmacology, toward a rational design of new drugs.
Feminist Morality and Competitive Reality: A Role for an Ethic of Care?

Abstract A language of care and relationship-building has recently appeared with prominence in the business literature, driven by the realities of the marketplace. Thus, it seems a propitious time to reflect on a decade of writing in feminist morality that has focussed on the concept of an ethic of care, and examine its relevance for today's business context. Is the idea of creating organizations that “care” just another management fad that subverts the essential integrity of concepts of ethical caring? Conversely, are these concepts capable of beginning an important dialogue that may help us to see new possibilities for simultaneously enhancing both the effectiveness and the moral quality of organizations in the future?
Analisis Sikap dan Niat Menggunakan Mini Laptop: Studi Pengembangan Model Penerimaan Teknologi

Consumers' acceptance and intention to adopt the new technology are crucial aspects of new product marketing. There is no guarantee that technology advancements will translate into successful adoption. This research tests a model to explain consumers' intention to use mini laptop. An extended adoption model based on the technology acceptance model is applied for pin-pointing the antecedents of intention to use mini laptop. The hypotheses are tested on data from a survey of 331 students. The results of this study show strong support for the effects of perceived expressiveness, perceived enjoyment, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and subjective norm on consumers' intention to use mini laptop. However, the effect of attitude toward use on intention to use mini laptop was insignificant.
No role for lightness in the encoding of Black and White: Race-contingent face aftereffects depend on facial morphology, not facial luminance

In the current study we use contingent face aftereffects to examine the contributions made by morphology and facial luminance cues to the encoding of race. African and European facial images differed in both morphology and luminance (ML), in morphology alone (M), or in luminance alone (L). Significant aftereffects were found in conditions where test stimuli included morphological information (ML and M), but not when it was absent (L). Furthermore, the size of the aftereffect for test conditions specifying race using both cues (ML) was no greater than when morphological information was the sole cue (M). This suggests that the effects measured here can be accounted for by differences in morphology alone. These results indicate that not only are individual reports of perceived racial typicality more significantly influenced by morphological shape cues than surface cues, but morphological cues appear to form the basis of the underlying neural encoding for faces of different races.