Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Usability evaluation of orientation techniques for medical image analysis using tabletop system

Tabletop systems support simultaneous multi-user multi-touch interaction to select and manipulate digital contents such as text, images, and videos directly and in a natural way. These digital contents require the proper orientation to perform co-located collaborative tasks. To achieve this, some orientation techniques are also proposed in different domains. But, the orientation issue is still reported for collaborative medical image analysis around tabletop systems. The presence of the inappropriate digital content-orientation on tabletop displays limits the collaborative medical image analysis. It also decreases the visibility, accessibility and readability of digital contents during co-located collaborative interaction. This paper presents a user study to evaluate usability of the two different orientation techniques for diagnosing and monitoring of medical images from the user perspective. Subsequently, the comparative analysis of those techniques is presented and discussed based on the obtained data. The findings suggest that the manual-orientation technique provide better usability as compared to the global-orientation technique for diagnosing and monitoring the medical images. Finally, the future work is suggested based on the obtained findings to enhance the usability.
Targeting TBP-Associated Factors in Ovarian Cancer

As ovarian tumors progress, they undergo a process of dedifferentiation, allowing adaptive changes in growth and morphology that promote metastasis and chemoresistance. Herein, we outline a hypothesis that TATA-box binding protein associated factors (TAFs), which compose the RNA Polymerase II initiation factor, TFIID, contribute to regulation of dedifferentiation states in ovarian cancer. Numerous studies demonstrate that TAFs regulate differentiation and proliferation states; their expression is typically high in pluripotent cells and reduced upon differentiation. Strikingly, TAF2 exhibits copy number increases or mRNA overexpression in 73% of high-grade serous ovarian cancers (HGSC). At the biochemical level, TAF2 directs TFIID to TATA-less promoters by contact with an Initiator element, which may lead to the deregulation of the transcriptional output of these tumor cells. TAF4, which is altered in 66% of HGSC, is crucial for the stability of the TFIID complex and helps drive dedifferentiation of mouse embryonic fibroblasts to induced pluripotent stem cells. Its ovary-enriched paralog, TAF4B, is altered in 26% of HGSC. Here, we show that TAF4B mRNA correlates with Cyclin D2 mRNA expression in human granulosa cell tumors. TAF4B may also contribute to regulation of tumor microenvironment due to its estrogen-responsiveness and ability to act as a cofactor for NFκB. Conversely, TAF9, a cofactor for p53 in regulating apoptosis, may act as a tumor suppressor in ovarian cancer, since it is downregulated or deleted in 98% of HGSC. We conclude that a greater understanding of mechanisms of transcriptional regulation that execute signals from oncogenic signaling cascades is needed in order to expand our understanding of the etiology and progression of ovarian cancer, and most importantly to identify novel targets for therapeutic intervention.
Model Checking Techniques for the Performance Analysis of Delay Tolerant Networks with On-off Behavior

Sparse network of fixed or mobile wireless devices, where most of the time there does not exist a complete path from a source to a destination are often referred to as delay tolerant networks. The store-carry-and-forward principle, according to which messages can be stored at mobile nodes moving around the network area before being forwarded to the destination, allows the transmission of messages in such systems. In this paper, we use an analytical framework to study delay tolerant networks, based on asCSL model checking techniques. In particular we focus on the case in which fixed sensors exhibit on-off behavior to overcome battery capacity limitations.
A Wideband Monopole with G Type Structure

In this paper,a new monopole with G type structure is proposed,consisting of two wires rectangle rings with radius of 2 mm. The software Numerical Electromagnetic Code (NEC) is used to analyze the proposed antenna and a prototype is designed. The experimental and numerical results of the designed wideband antenna are presented and analyzed,and a 510 MHz bandwidth from 0.86 GHz to 1.37 GHz is demonstrated. The experimental and numerical results fit well.
Mid‐day volatility spikes in U.S. futures markets

Recent work offers mixed results regarding the nature of intraday volatility patterns in futures markets and, specifically, the existence of spikes in futures return volatility during the middle of the U.S. trading day (Crain & Lee, 1995; Kawaller, Koch, & Peterson, 1994). This note analyzes time and sales data on two markets—Eurodollar futures and deutsche mark futures—to investigate the existence of such spikes, and to examine the nature of changes in intraday volatility patterns over time. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 19: 195–216, 1999
The Shapley Axiomatization for Values in Partition Function Games

One of the long-debated issues in coalitional game theory is how to extend the Shapley value to games with externalities (partition-function games). When externalities are present, not only can a player's marginal contribution - a central notion to the Shapley value - be defined in a variety of ways, but it is also not obvious which axiomatization should be used. Consequently, a number of authors extended the Shapley value using complex and often unintuitive axiomatizations. Furthermore, no algorithm to approximate any extension of the Shapley value to partition-function games has been proposed to date. Given this background, we prove in this paper that, for any well-defined measure of marginal contribution, Shapley's original four axioms imply a unique value for games with externalities. As an consequence of this general theorem, we show that values proposed by Macho-Stadler et al., McQuillin and Bolger can be derived from Shapley's axioms. Building upon our analysis of marginal contribution, we develop a general algorithm to approximate extensions of the Shapley value to games with externalities using a Monte Carlo simulation technique.
Does Adolescent Popularity Mediate Relationships between Both Theory of Mind and Love of Money and Consumer Ethics?

We develop a dual‐impact theory, treat popularity (peer nominations) as a common mediator between both theory of mind and love of money and consumer ethics (deceptive/misleading/harmful shopping practices). We theorise our direct and indirect paths as follows: Directly, love of money is more strongly related to consumer unethical beliefs than theory of mind. Indirectly, theory of mind attracts popularity that fuels consumer unethical beliefs. Our data from multiple sources (survey of 769 French teenagers and peer nominations of popularity) support our theory. Multi‐group analyses across gender, age, school, and money reveal new discoveries: Theory of mind directly excites consumer unethical beliefs for teens with money from work only. Love of money is related to consumer unethical beliefs—much stronger for senior high school (HS) students than for junior HS teens and much stronger for males than for females. Without money (from work and from parents), teenagers with high theory of mind become popular, but have no consumer unethical beliefs. Theory of mind is not related to girls' popularity, but popular girls have consumer unethical beliefs. Our alarming insights illustrate: Increasing work experience and age induces consumer unethical beliefs. Our theory provides implications for retail managers and to the fields of behavioural economics, monetary intelligence, and business ethics.
HW/SW Co-design Integrating High-Speed Authentication Module for IPSec/IPv6

E.U. has set a special goal for 2010 which is the adoption, by at least 25%, of IPv6. IPv6 incorporates the usage of IPSec which provides cryptographic services to every data packet which is transmitted via Internet. This means that there is a major need for High Speed designs of IPSec protocol. It has been shown that the limiting factor of IPSec performance is the incorporated hash function. Hash functions, form a special family of cryptographic algorithms that satisfy current requirements for security, confidentiality and validity for several applications in technology. In this paper we propose a hardware design and implementation that increases throughput and frequency significantly and at the same time keeps the area small enough for the hash function RIPEMD-160. This technique involves the application of partial unrolling and spatial pre-computation. The proposed technique leads to an implementation with 35% higher throughput than the conventional one.
The Neglected Continent of IS Research: A Research Agenda for Sub-Saharan Africa

Research with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), a major region within the world’s second largest continent, is almost non-existent in mainstream information systems research. Although infrastructures for information and communication technology (ICT) are well established in the more developed and industrialized parts of the world, the same is not true for developing countries. Research on developing countries has been rare in mainstream IS and, even where existent, has often overlooked the particular situation of SSA, home to 33 of the world’s 48 least-developed countries. Ironically, it is such parts of the world that can stand to gain the most from the promise of ICT with applications that would help the socioeconomic development of this region. In this study, we present the need for focused research on the ICT development and application for SSA. The information systems research community has a unique and valuable perspective to bring to the challenges this region faces in developing its ICT infrastructure, ∗ Detmar Straub was the accepting senior editor for this paper. IS RESEARCH PERSPECTIVES ARTICLE Mbarika et al./Neglected Continent of IS research Journal of the Association for Information Systems, Vol. 6, No.5, pp.130-170/May 2005 131 hence extending research and practice in ICT diffusion and policy. We present here a research agenda for studying the adoption, development, and application of ICT in SSA. In particular, teledensity, telemedicine, online education, and e-commerce present important areas for research, with implications for research, practice, and teaching.
Norm effects on eating behaviour: the role of social identity

The main theme of the thesis was to examine the relationship between social influences and adults’ eating behaviour, in particular how social identity affects the norm influence on eating behaviour. Chapter One describes the general background and evaluates the research literature. Chapter Two reports the results of a longitudinal investigation of the relationship between perceived eating norms and self-reported food consumption among a student population. Chapter Three presents a pair of online studies that tested whether social norms predict eating and whether there is an interaction between norm effects and social identity in both a community and student population. Chapter Four presents the results of two laboratory-based experiments that examined the moderating effect of social identity on the relationship between social norm messaging and healthy /unhealthy food consumption using a remote-confederate design. Chapter Five reports the results of a laboratory study that examined the effect of manipulating social identity on social norm enhancement of eating behaviour. Chapter Six reviews all findings, reflects on the importance of completed work, and concludes that social influences on eating are robust and social identity plays a moderating role. The findings have implications for the development of norm-identity based interventions in promoting healthier dietary habits.
Interspike Interval Based Filtering of Directional Selective Retinal Ganglion Cells Spike Trains

The information regarding visual stimulus is encoded in spike trains at the output of retina by retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Among these, the directional selective cells (DSRGC) are signaling the direction of stimulus motion. DSRGCs' spike trains show accentuated periods of short interspike intervals (ISIs) framed by periods of isolated spikes. Here we use two types of visual stimulus, white noise and drifting bars, and show that short ISI spikes of DSRGCs spike trains are more often correlated to their preferred stimulus feature (that is, the direction of stimulus motion) and carry more information than longer ISI spikes. Firstly, our results show that correlation between stimulus and recorded neuronal response is best at short ISI spiking activity and decrease as ISI becomes larger. We then used grating bars stimulus and found that as ISI becomes shorter the directional selectivity is better and information rates are higher. Interestingly, for the less encountered type of DSRGC, known as ON-DSRGC, short ISI distribution and information rates revealed consistent differences when compared with the other directional selective cell type, the ON-OFF DSRGC. However, these findings suggest that ISI-based temporal filtering integrates a mechanism for visual information processing at the output of retina toward higher stages within early visual system.
Adjustable speed drives with square-wave input current: a cost effective step in development to improve their performance

As the excellent performance on the motor side is now a generally available feature of adjustable speed drives (ASDs), issues like improving the interaction with the grid or the robustness of the drive against unbalanced voltage supply becomes an important research field. PWM rectifiers with sinusoidal input current, which fully solve these issues, are commercially available but they are expensive and therefore not widely used. Active front-end topologies with non-sinusoidal input current that offer a better tradeoff between grid side performance and cost are an interesting alternative. This paper investigates the impact of having an ASD with a square-wave input current on both the grid and motor side performance. An interesting topology results if the traditional DC-link choke in a diode-frontend stage ASD is replaced with a low installed power current source (electronic inductor). The design aspects, control method and its protection are presented. It is proven by simulations that it provides not only square-wave input current over a wide range of power grid conditions, but additionally stabilizes the DC-link voltage which enables operation of the motor at rated power.
Structure Formation inside Triaxial Dark Matter Halos: Galactic Disks, Bulges, and Bars

We investigate formation and evolution of galactic disks immersed in assembling live DM halos. Models have been evolved from cosmological initial conditions and represent the collapse of an isolated density perturbation. The baryons include gas participating in star formation (SF) and stars with the energy feedback onto the ISM. We find that (1) the triaxial halo figure tumbling is insignificant and the angular momentum (J) is channeled into the internal circulation, while the baryonic collapse is stopped by the centrifugal barrier; (2) density response of the (disk) baryons is out of phase with DM, thus washing out the inner halo ellipticity; (3) the total J is neatly conserved, even in models accounting for stellar feedback; (4) the specific J for DM is nearly constant, while that for baryons is decreasing; (5) early stage of disk formation resembles the cat's cradle—a small amorphous disk fueled via radial string patterns—followed by growing oval disk whose shape varies with its orientation to the halo major axis; (6) the disk gas layer thins when the SF rate drops below ~5 M☉ yr-1; (7) about half of the baryons remain outside the disk SF region or in the halo as a hot gas; (8) rotation curves appear to be flat and account for the observed disk/halo contributions; (9) a range of bulge-dominated to bulgeless disks was obtained, depending on the stellar feedback parameter, ϵSF: smaller ϵSF leads to a larger and earlier bulge; lower density threshold for SF leads to a smaller, thicker disk; gas gravitational softening mimics a number of intrinsic processes within the ISM; (10) models are characterized by an extensive bar-forming activity; (11) nested bars form in response to the gas inflow along the primary bars, as shown by Heller, Shlosman, and Athanassoula.
A Dynamic, Multi‐Level Model of Culture: From the Micro Level of the Individual to the Macro Level of a Global Culture

This paper proposes a multi-level model of culture, consisting of structural and dynamic characteristics that explain the interplay between various levels of culture. The paper begins with a summary of existing models of culture and continues with the proposed multi-level model of culture. The structural dimension represents the nested structure of culture from the most macro level of a global culture, through national, organisational and team cultures, and down to the representation of culture at the individual level. The dynamic nature of culture conveys the top-down–bottom-up processes where one cultural level affects changes in other levels of culture. Specifically, the model proposes that globalisation, as the macro level of culture, affects, through top-down processes, behavioral changes of members in various cultures.
Chaotic Oscillator Based on Memristor and Its Circuit Implementation

This paper proposes a novel memristor system, which is constructed based on a square monotone-increasing nonlinearity by replacing the non-linear resistance of typical Chua's circuit. Basic properties of the memristor system are analyzed by calculating its Lyapunov exponent spectrum and investigating its Poincare diagrames. Its hardware implementation is designed using field programmable gate array (FPGA). Comparing the experimental results with the numerical simulation, the two are the very same, and be able to generate chaotic attractor.
Exploring the microsoft .NET micro framework for prototyping applied Wireless Sensor Networks

Most Wireless Sensor Network platforms - such as the Mica, Iris, and Telos B families of motes - use low-power 8-bit microprocessors which have limited memory and processing capabilities, thus requiring researchers to implement communication protocols and data processing routines using low-level programming practices that are tedious and cumbersome. Rich features available in modern desktop operating systems - such as threads, memory management, and exception-handling - are largely absent. The Microsoft . NET Micro Framework implements a scaled-back . NET framework suitable for development on low-cost, low-power wireless sensors, while providing developers a rapid software development environment for prototyping embedded applications. Here, this technology is explored by comparing performance characteristics with those of traditional 8-bit platforms, as well as Sun SPOT, a popular platform that also uses a managed-language runtime. The . NET Micro Framework platform was found to offer researchers the most flexibility in terms of hardware and software prototyping.
Removal of hydrocarbons from crude oil contaminated agricultural soil by phytoremediation using Mariscus alternifolius and Fimbristylis ferruginea

Crude oil extraction is one major route through which hydrocarbons are released into the environment and hydrocarbon contamination is highly hazardous to the ecosystem. This study investigated the removal of hydrocarbons from crude oil contaminated agricultural soils using Mariscus alternifolius Vahl. and Fimbristylis ferruginea plant species. Before planting, the polluted soil (negative control) had a total petroleum hydrocarbon concentration of 17962.11±1000.00 mg/kg and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentration of 440.97±1.00 mg/kg. Likewise, the soil oil and organic carbon contents were 3.25±0.10 ppm and 3.06±0.02% respectively. Results, 90 days after planting, indicated a significant decrease in the total petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations of M. alternifolius (100.82±46.31 mg/kg) and F. ferruginea (110.41±39.68 mg/kg) treated soils. Likewise, there was a significant decrease in the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentration of M. alternifolius treated soil (95.69±65.44 mg/kg). The oil content of the treated soils significantly decreased to 1.03±0.28 ppm and 0.84±0.33 ppm in M. alternifolius and F. ferruginea treated soils respectively, while the organic content of the treated soils significantly decreased to 2.16±0.09% and 2.20±0.20% in M. alternifolius and F. ferruginea treated soils respectively. Phytoremediation using M. alternifolius and F. ferruginea has proven to be potent in the remediation of hydrocarbon contaminated soil through enhancement and recovery of the polluted soil. These plant species which improved the cultivation and germination competence of the treated soils thus making the soil probable for agricultural and other related purposes are therefore recommended for used in the phytoremediation of crude oil contaminated soils. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.5281/zenodo.2603912
Holographic UV laser microsurgery

Abstract We use a spatial light modulator (SLM) to diffract a single UV laser pulse to ablate multiple points on a Drosophila embryo. This system dynamically generates a phase hologram for ablating a user-defined pattern fast enough to be used with living, and thus moving, tissue. We demonstrate the ability of this single-pulse multi-point system to perform two experiments that are very difficult for conventional microsurgery—isolating single cells in vivo and measuring fast retractions from large incisions.
A Safety Concept for a Railway Mixed-Criticality Embedded System Based on Multicore Partitioning

Mixed-criticality systems integrating applications subject to different safety-criticality levels into the same multicore embedded platform can provide potential benefits over traditionally followed federated architectures. While these advantages encourage many safety related industries, such as transportation systems, to venture to consider the mixed-criticality paradigm, many challenges related to safety certification of multicore approaches may hinder their adoption. This paper describes a safety concept for a railway signalling mixed-criticality system based on multicore partitioning that meets IEC-61508 and EN-5012X industrial safety standards. To reduce the conceptual gap caused by the fact that multicore partitioning and virtualization are still not 'common practice in industry' the safety concept argumentation is developed incrementally. To this end, it starts by the description of the commonly followed federated approach and transforms it up to meet integrated mixed-criticality paradigm upon two analogous multicore implementations, a COTS and an FPGA based in-house solution.
Die antisoziale Persönlichkeitsstörung – Hintergründe von Bösartigkeit

Schon im Altertum wurden skrupellose Charaktere beschrieben: „Der Skrupellose … spielt gern den Gastwirt, den Puffbesitzer und den Steuereintreiber und pflegt kein schändliches Gewerbe von sich zu weisen … Seine Mutter läßt er hungern, (läßt) sich beim Diebstahl erwischen, und im Gefängnis wohnt er länger als im eigenen Haus“ (Theophrast 2000, S. 37). Was ist seither passiert und wie ist das heutige Verständnis von Antisozialität?