Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A hybrid parallel algorithm for computer simulation of Electrocardiogram based on a CPU-GPU cluster

Biological computations like Electrocardiological modeling and simulation usually require high-performance computing environments. This paper introduces an implementation of parallel computation for computer simulation of Electrocardiograms (ECGs). We realized the parallel computation for computer simulation of ECGs on a CPU-GPU cluster using a hybrid parallel algorithm with the parallel program development tools-MPI, OpenMP, and CUDA. Furthermore, we proposed a load-prediction static scheduling and load-prediction dynamic scheduling to achieve efficient process-level and thread-level scheduling, respectively. Compared with traditional static and dynamic scheduling, our scheduling schemes are more efficient. In our research, we achieved a speedup of 55.1 using four PCs for the computer simulation of ECGs. This study demonstrates that the cluster can provide a cheap and efficient environment for parallel computations in biological modeling and simulation studies.
From the playing field to the classroom: The academic challenges for NCAA Division I athletes

ABSTRACT Student-athlete graduation rates have significantly increased in recent years, with the NCAA believing their retention and graduation rates now outpace the general college student population. Even with these promising changes, student-athletes still face a litany of academic challenges during their higher education experience. The purpose of this study is to overview these academic challenges and provide potential remedies for universities and athletic department to assist student-athletes during their educational journey. The challenges reviewed in this study include: athletic identity, admissions, first-year experience, student-athlete relationship with the athletic department, academic clustering and time constraints, stereotypes of student-athletes, and student-athlete burnout. Recommendations include improving campus connections, both inside and outside the athletic department, establishing an academic advising model for athletic advisors, and implementing a summer bridge program for incoming student-athletes.
The influence of cooperative game design patterns for remote play on player experience

The collaborative nature of many modern multiplayer games raises a lot of questions in cooperative game design. We address one of them in this paper by analyzing cooperative game patterns in remote gameplay in order to define benefits and drawbacks for each one. With the help of a user experiment, we analyzed player experience in a set of existing cooperative patterns for games played remotely without communication. By comparing patterns, supporting closely- and loosely-coupled collaboration, we discovered that the first type provided a more enjoyable experience but introduced additional challenges in case of a lack of communication. By analyzing patterns for both closely- and loosely-coupled interaction, we determined the most beneficial pattern within each type. We concluded with the results of a pattern comparison in co-located and remote setups.
A Fast Markov blanket discovery algorithm

Learning Markov blanket MB plays an important role in feature selection for classification, causal discovery, and Bayesian Networks learning. In this paper, an efficient and effective algorithm, called Fast Iterative Parent-Child based search of MB (FIPC-MB) is proposed to learn the MB of the target variable T. Foremost, we combined the IPC-MB algorithm with mutual information knowledge to initialize candidate parents and children (Cand_PC) of the the target node. Furthermore, we changed the sequence of variables belonging to Cand_PC(T). Finally, we employed the property of mutual information between two variables to select condition set instead of randomly choosing it from Cand_PC(T) for every conditionnal independence test(CI test). These operations drastically improve the efficiency of searching for condition set and decrease the number of CI tests. In addition, simulation experiments demonstrate that the FIPC-MB algorithm outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithm, IPC-MB, in terms of running efficiency and accuracy of performance.
Graph-Based Semantics of the .NET Intermediate Language

The semantics of a programming language are often described in a natural language. Such descriptions are often ambiguous and hard (or even impossible) to construct in a precise way. To tackle these problems one could specify a formal description of the semantics by using a mathematical model. In this report such a mathematical model is presented for the . NET Intermediate Language (IL) in the form of graphs and transformations to these graphs. In order to be able to perform transformations on graphs, we need a start graph. The . NET Intermediate Language generates bytecode and cannot supply such a start graph. Therefore we have constructed a translator that translates an arbitrary IL program into a so called Abstract Syntax Graph (ASG). The ASG is the start graph to which we now can apply graph transformations. Central in this report are graph production rules that we have specified in order to describe the semantics of . NET IL instructions. These production rules are used for transforming graphs, and by applying them to the (intermediate) graphs repeatedly it is possible to simulate a program. Although further research is necessary, we believe this project provides a promising basis of representing the semantics of the . NET Intermediate Language in an intuitive and formal way.
Planning a Patient-Centered Parkinson’s Disease Support Program: Insights from Narrative Medicine

Background: We desired relevant information from patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and their caregivers for help in planning a long-term support program. Methods: We compared 3 ap-proaches: 1) a standard needs assessment questionnaire, the Camberwell assessment of need in the elderly, 2) an open-ended listing of needs, and 3) participation in a narrative medicine program in which health care professionals were involved. Results: On the questionnaire, patients reported physical needs as the most important while their caregivers were more concerned about psychological needs. The open-ended listings revealed additional needs, particularly access to re-liable information about PD and to opportunities to participate in clinical research. The narrative medicine process yielded a number of new insights and proposed solutions, particularly related to the heterogeneity of needs across individuals, the importance of providing hope, and the fact that caregivers expressed that their needs had been largely neglected. Participation in the narrative medicine sessions led to an increase in measured empathy by health care professionals, an im-provement in measured depression among PD patients, but a worsening of measured depression among the caregivers. Conclusions: We have identified important needs and potential solutions to be considered in providing long-term support to patients with PD and their caregivers.
Conversations with Long-Time Adult Educators.

A study conducted life history interviews with long-time adult educators regarding their career paths and choices, philosophical perspectives, influences in professional careers, changes witnessed in the field, and predictions about future trends in adult education. A literature review focused on the history of adult education in the United States and major philosophical perspectives about adult education that have evolved. Study results were based on 17 adult educators who have been formally involved in the field throughout North America for at least 40 years and whose roles in the field were confirmed through published work or positions of responsibility or leadership. Data were collected through interviews, written responses to questionnaires, and review of background information from vitas and published literature. Six major themes were identified in data analysis: (1) there were commonalities in influences that helped shaped their careers, with most citing Cyril Houle as having been most influential; (2) (3) philosophical perspectives were diverse but remained generally unchanged; most participants identified similar changes in the field over the past 40 years; (4) predictions about future trends were congruent with their individual philosophical perspectives; (5) almost none of the individuals intentionally went into the field of adult education; and (6) even though most are officially retired, they were still involved in some form of adult education. (The survey is appended.) (YLB) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. CONVERSATIONS WITH LONG-TIME ADULT
A Comparative Study of Maintainability Index of Open Source Software

- The development of Open Source Software (OSS) is fundamentally different from the proprietary software. In the OSS development scenario a single developer or group of developers writes the source code for the first version of the software and make it freely available over the internet. Then other developers are invited to contribute to the existing code for its next release. Making the source code of the software available on the internet allows developers around the world to contribute code, add new functionality, improvement of the existing source code and submitting bug fixes to the current release. In such a software development scenario the maintenance of the open source software is a perpetual task. Developing an OSS system implies a series of frequent maintenance efforts for debugging existing functionality and adding new functionality to the software system. The process of making the modifications to software systems after their first release is known as maintenance process. The term maintainability is closely related to the software maintenance because maintainability means the easiness to perform maintenance of the system. The most widely used software metric to quantify the maintainability is known as Maintainability Index (MI). In this study the MI of four most popular OSS namely Apache, Mozilla Firefox, MySql and FileZilla for fifty successive releases was empirically investigated. The MI in terms of software metrics namely Lines of Code (LOC), Cyclomatic Complexity (CC), and Halstead Volume (V) was computed for all the fifty successive versions of four OSS. The software metrics were calculated using Resource Standard Metrics (RSM) tool and Crystal Flow tool. It was observed from the results that the MI value was the highest in case of Mozilla Firefox and was the lowest in the case of Apache OSS
Interactive algorithm for accurate segmentation of fiber-like objects

This paper presents a semi-automated algorithm for accurate and reproducible segmentation of fiber-like objects. Novel features are introduced that effectively characterize fiber-like objects. The method is based on the classic live-wire algorithm, but two important innovations are suggested for decreasing user introduced bias: optimization of manually edited seed points (automated set-up of seed points) and automated generation of seed points. We illustrate the performance of the method on computer generated synthetic images as well as on real biomedical images.
Eksistensi Dā’iyah di Tengah Domestikasi Citra Diri Perempuan Shalihah: Perspektif Feminis Eksistensialis

Being an empower women by actively showing her existence in the publicity is not easy. Moreover when it is related to leadership in the religion issues, where it is still dominated by men. This study aims to describe the existence that is fought by dā'iyah in the public space, whereas social construction holds them with domestication. This research uses descriptive qualita­tive methods. Techniques of collecting data by an in-depth interview, and validating by triangulation. The results show that “shalihah” concept is still closely related to domestic works, while the “imam” concept in the religion is still understood as a status that must be played by men. The criteria by sex are still in line with the quality of da’wah materials, da’wah methods, or even the knowledge of the missionary. So, dā'iyah feels a dilemma in carrying out their roles in the public and domestic space. For this reason, various strategies have been carried out by dā'iyah to maintain their existence.
#Screening out: Criminal justice students’ awareness of social media usage in policing

Abstract The “rise of police indiscretion” on social media has sparked demands to closely monitor officers’ online activity and more effectively screen job applicants. The extent to which criminal justice majors are aware that personal profile content on networking sites (e.g. Facebook and Twitter) factor into recruitment, background checks, and personnel monitoring practices is absent in the literature. Results from a survey of undergraduate students enrolled at a private North-east university indicate their perceptions of police usage of social media to generally align with the manner in which these officials leverage this technology. Few respondents rated their own comments, pictures and videos as inappropriate but were critical of material posted by other site users. And, though comfortable with a range of potential audiences viewing their content, students were unequivocal in their expectation of privacy even as they varied in confidence that their posts would be shielded from employer searches.
An Application of CoSMoS Design Methods to Pedestrian Simulation

In this paper, we discuss the implementation of a simple pedestrian simulation that uses a multi agent based design pattern developed by the CoSMoS research group. Given the nature of Multi Agent Systems (MAS), parallel processing techniques are inevitably used in their implementation. Most of these approaches rely on conventional parallel programming techniques, such as threads, Message Passing Interface (MPI) and Remote Method Invocation (RMI). The CoSMoS design patterns are founded on the use of Communicating Sequential Processes (CSP), a parallel computing paradigm that emphasises a process oriented rather than object oriented programming perspective.
Prevalence of Anaemia among OPD Patients of a Tertiary Care Hospital of Eastern India

Prevalence of anaemia is very high in tertiary care hospital O.P.D. patients. Reproductive age group female, adolescence females and children are the main victims. The present India government strategies and programmes are not sufficient to control the growing menace of anaemia. So newer strategies and target groups must be formulated.
The Lineage-Specific Evolution of Aquaporin Gene Clusters Facilitated Tetrapod Terrestrial Adaptation

A major physiological barrier for aquatic organisms adapting to terrestrial life is dessication in the aerial environment. This barrier was nevertheless overcome by the Devonian ancestors of extant Tetrapoda, but the origin of specific molecular mechanisms that solved this water problem remains largely unknown. Here we show that an ancient aquaporin gene cluster evolved specifically in the sarcopterygian lineage, and subsequently diverged into paralogous forms of AQP2, -5, or -6 to mediate water conservation in extant Tetrapoda. To determine the origin of these apomorphic genomic traits, we combined aquaporin sequencing from jawless and jawed vertebrates with broad taxon assembly of >2,000 transcripts amongst 131 deuterostome genomes and developed a model based upon Bayesian inference that traces their convergent roots to stem subfamilies in basal Metazoa and Prokaryota. This approach uncovered an unexpected diversity of aquaporins in every lineage investigated, and revealed that the vertebrate superfamily consists of 17 classes of aquaporins (Aqp0 - Aqp16). The oldest orthologs associated with water conservation in modern Tetrapoda are traced to a cluster of three aqp2-like genes in Actinistia that likely arose >500 Ma through duplication of an aqp0-like gene present in a jawless ancestor. In sea lamprey, we show that aqp0 first arose in a protocluster comprised of a novel aqp14 paralog and a fused aqp01 gene. To corroborate these findings, we conducted phylogenetic analyses of five syntenic nuclear receptor subfamilies, which, together with observations of extensive genome rearrangements, support the coincident loss of ancestral aqp2-like orthologs in Actinopterygii. We thus conclude that the divergence of sarcopterygian-specific aquaporin gene clusters was permissive for the evolution of water conservation mechanisms that facilitated tetrapod terrestrial adaptation.
Tangible vs. virtual representations: when tangibles benefit the training of spatial skills

Tangible user interfaces (TUIs) have been the focus of much attention in the HCI and learning communities because of their many potential benefits for learning. However, there have recently been debates about whether TUIs can actually increase learning outcomes and if so, under which conditions. In this article, we investigate the effect of object representation (physical vs. virtual) on learning in the domain of spatial skills. We ran a comparative study with 46 participants to measure the effects of the object representation on the ability to establish a link between 2D and 3D representations of an object. The participants were split into two conditions: in the first one, the 3D representation of the object was virtual; in the second one, it was tangible. Findings show that in both conditions the TUI led to a significant improvement of the spatial skills. The learning outcomes were not different between the two conditions, but the performance during the activities was significantly higher when using the tangible representation as opposed to the virtual one, and even more so in for difficult cases.
A unified framework for modeling and implementation of hybrid systems with synchronous controllers

This paper presents a novel approach to including non-instantaneous discrete control transitions in the linear hybrid automaton approach to simulation and verification of hybrid control systems. In this paper we study the control of a continuously evolving analog plant using a controller programmed in a synchronous programming language. We provide extensions to the synchronous subset of the SystemJ programming language for modeling, implementation, and verification of such hybrid systems. We provide a sound rewrite semantics that approximate the evolution of the continuous variables in the discrete domain inspired from the classical supervisory control theory. The resultant discrete time model can be verified using classical model-checking tools. Finally, we show that systems designed using our approach have a higher fidelity than the ones designed using the hybrid automaton approach.
R&D for Wireless Multimedia Communications in Next Decade

The rapid convergence of the voice, data and video networks is driving the wireless communications industry to undergo and unprecedented paradigm shift. Similar to voice services, multimedia services are now an indispensable mobile service component. This is exemplified by Apple’s recent success in selling more than one million units of its next-generation iPhone 3GS on the first debut weekend in June even when the recession is in full swing. In this article, we will review and envisage the R&D development on multimedia technologies and the underlying wireless communication networks, respectively. IEEE Multimedia Communication Technical Committee (MMTC) This work may not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part for any commercial purpose. Permission to copy in whole or in part without payment of fee is granted for nonprofit educational and research purposes provided that all such whole or partial copies include the following: a notice that such copying is by permission of Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.; an acknowledgment of the authors and individual contributions to the work; and all applicable portions of the copyright notice. Copying, reproduction, or republishing for any other purpose shall require a license with payment of fee to Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc. All
Vision based emergency landing field auto-selecting method for fixed-wing UAVs

In this paper, a vision based method is proposed for fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles' emergency landing field auto-selecting and security analyzing. Firstly, a strip structure detector SSD is designed to detect candidate landing fields in aerial images such as runways and roads. The SSD can also give the candidate strip's precise direction. Secondly, the relationship of image position, direction, the real length of a strip on the ground and its length in image is deduced. Based on this relationship, a region can be determined around a candidate point in the image for security analyzing. In the end, we present an emergency landing field auto-selecting algorithm. Experiments with real aerial images show the validity of SSD, simulations verify the correctness of the deduced conclusion and the feasibility of the presented algorithm.
Polyethylene Glycol (PEG)-Treated Hydroponic Culture Reduces Length and Diameter of Root Hairs of Wheat Varieties

Wheat is an important cereal crop worldwide that often suffers from moisture deficits at the reproductive stage. Polyethylene glycol (PEG)-treated hydroponic conditions create negative osmotic potential which is compared with moisture deficit stress. An experiment was conducted in a growth chamber to study the effects of PEG on root hair morphology and associated traits of wheat varieties. Plants of 13 wheat varieties were grown hydroponically and three different doses of PEG 6000 (w/v): 0% (control), 0.3% and 0.6% (less than −1 bar) were imposed on 60 days after sowing for 20 days’ duration. A low PEG concentration was imposed to observe how initial low moisture stress might affect root hair development. PEG-treated hydroponic culture significantly decreased root hair diameter and length. Estimated surface area reduction of root hairs at the main axes of wheat plants was around nine times at the 0.6% PEG level compared to the control plants. Decrease in root hair diameter and length under PEG-induced culture decreased “potential” root surface area per unit length of main root axis. A negative association between panicle traits, length and dry weight and the main axis length of young roots indicated competition for carbon during their development. Data provides insight into how a low PEG level might alter root hair development.
Brown Dwarfs in the Pleiades Cluster: a CCD-based R,I survey

We have obtained deep CCD R and I mosaic imaging of 578 arcmin$^{2}$ within 1$^{\circ}$. 5 of the Pleiades' center -- reaching a completeness magnitude I=19.5 -- with the aim of finding free-floating brown dwarfs. Teide~1, the best $bona$ $fide$ brown dwarf discovered so far in the cluster (Rebolo, Zapatero Osorio \& Mart\'\i n 1995), arose as a result of a combined photometric and astrometric study of $\sim$1/4 of our covered area. The extension of our two-colour survey provides eight new additional brown dwarf candidates whose photometry is rather similar to that of Teide~1. Several of them are even fainter. Follow up low-resolution spectroscopy (Mart\'\i n, Rebolo \& Zapatero Osorio 1996) shows that one of them is indeed a Pleiades brown dwarf. Most of the remaining candidates are background late-M dwarfs which are contaminating our survey, possibly due to a small (previously unknown) cloud towards the cluster which affects some of our CCD fields. We did not expect any foreground M8--M9 field dwarf in our surveyed volume and surprisingly we have found one, suggesting that its number could be larger than inferred from recent luminosity function studies in the solar neighbourhood.