Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Practitioner Perspective on Integrating Agile and User Centred Design

This paper discusses an empirical study that identified challenges exhibited by industrial practitioners in integrating Agile development processes and User Centred Design (UCD). The study also identified practices utilised in order to achieve the integration. Fourteen in-depth, one-to-one interviews were conducted with 14 participants from 11 companies of varying sizes in five different countries. Those interviews covered a broad range of issues ranging from usability and user experience goals to incorporating user feedback in Agile teams. The study revealed the existence of a set of challenges including: lack of management support to UCD activities, lack of allocated time for upfront activities, communication between the development team and UCD practitioners, conducting usability testing, absence of UCD practitioners or their increased work load, and lack of documentation. The study also revealed methods utilised by industrial practitioners to tackle some of these challenges via iteration 0, parallel tracks and lightweight documentation. Industrial practitioners can utilise the description of integration challenges and corresponding practices in identifying potential challenges and proposed practices to deal with these anticipated challenges.
Motion-tolerance contextual visual saliency preserving for video retargeting

In this paper, in order to detect the focus of interest with motion-tolerance we propose a novel approach for modeling visual dynamics based on spatiotemporal slice (STS), which can provide rich visual patterns along a large temporal scale. Patch-based visual patterns are first computed to generate a codebook in the automatic specified spatiotemporal extent that is determined by contextual information in STS. The codebook is then used to compute its associated response in video frames and eventually an importance map for each frame covering the focus of interest can be obtained. To preserve the visual continuity an optimal video deformation constrained by the trajectories in STS is determined based on a multi-cue approach. Experimental results show that the proposed approach of video retargeting based on STS can effectively generate retargeted videos while maintain their isotropic manipulation and the continuous dynamics of visual perception.
ABCG2 Polymorphism Is Associated with Hyperuricemia in a Study of a Community-Based Korean Cohort

The purpose of the present study was to find novel loci associated with hyperuricemia using data from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) conducted on healthy Koreans. We conducted a GWAS using data from a community-based cohort study where 3,647 subjects aged 40–89 were recruited by the Korea National Institute of Health (KNIH). The community-based cohort consisted of subjects who did not suffer from any of 6 major diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, heart diseases, brain diseases, and cancers). Epidemiologic information includes 249 traits such as epidemiological surveys, physical examinations, and laboratory tests. A total of 3,647 participants, including 234 hyperuricemia cases (serum uric acid [SUA] level was 7 mg/dL or higher) and 3,413 controls, were genotyped by Illumina HumanOmni1-Quad BeadChip GWAS array at KNIH. In the multivariate regression analysis of clinical variables, significant variables associated with hyperuricemia were male gender (odds ratio [OR], 5.526; P = 3.2 × 10−10), old age (OR, 1.017; P = 0.040), high body mass index (BMI) (OR, 1.147; P = 5.4 × 10−7), current alcohol intake (OR, 2.413; P = 4.7 × 10−7), and high creatinine (OR, 1.647; P = 1.6 × 10−13). We identified a hyperuricemia susceptible loci (rs2054576 in ABCG2, OR, 1.883; P = 4.7 × 10−8) that passed a genome-wide significance threshold, adjusted by clinical variables (male, age, BMI, current alcohol, and creatinine). It was first identified that rs2054576 in ABCG2 is associated with hyperuricemia. Our results should be validated through replication studies among other Korean subjects or various ethnic groups.
Understanding geovisualization users and their requirements: a user-centred approach

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Models of Quantum Turing Machines

Quantum Turing machines are discussed and reviewed in this paper. Most of the paper is concerned with processes defined by a step operator T that is used to construct a Hamiltonian H according to Feynman's prescription. Differences between these models and the models of Deutsch are discussed and reviewed. It is emphasized that the models with H constructed from T include fully quantum mechanical processes that take computation basis states into linear superpositions of these states. The requirement that T be distinct path generating is reviewed. The advantage of this requirement is that Schr{umlt o}dinger evolution under H is one dimensional along distinct finite or infinite paths of nonoverlapping states in some basis B{sub C}. It is emphasized that B{sub C} can be arbitrarily complex with extreme entanglements between states of component systems. The new aspect of quantum Turing machines introduced here is the emphasis on the structure of graphs obtained when the states in the B{sub C} paths are expanded as linear superpositions of states in a reference basis such as the computation basis B{sub C}. Examples are discussed that illustrate the main points of the paper. For one example the graph structures of the paths in B{sub C}more » expanded as states in B{sub C} include finite stage binary trees and concatenated finite stage binary trees with or without terminal infinite binary trees. Other examples are discussed in which the graph structures correspond to interferometers and iterations of interferometers. « less
Age-related epigenetic regulation in the brain and its role in neuronal diseases

Accumulating evidence indicates many brain functions are mediated by epigenetic regulation of neural genes, and their dysregulations result in neuronal disorders. Experiences such as learning and recall, as well as physical exercise, induce neuronal activation through epigenetic modifications and by changing the noncoding RNA profiles. Animal models, brain samples from patients, and the development of diverse analytical methods have broadened our understanding of epigenetic regulation in the brain. Diverse and specific epigenetic changes are suggested to correlate with neuronal development, learning and memory, aging and age-related neuronal diseases. Although the results show some discrepancies, a careful comparison of the data (including methods, regions and conditions examined) would clarify the problems confronted in understanding epigenetic regulation in the brain.
Area-throughput trade-offs for fully pipelined 30 to 70 Gbits/s AES processors

This paper explores the area-throughput trade-off for an ASIC implementation of the advanced encryption standard (AES). Different pipelined implementations of the AES algorithm as well as the design decisions and the area optimizations that lead to a low area and high throughput AES encryption processor are presented. With loop unrolling and outer-round pipelining techniques, throughputs of 30 Gbits/s to 70 Gbits/s are achievable in a 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS technology. Moreover, by pipelining the composite field implementation of the byte substitution phase of the AES algorithm (inner-round pipelining), the area consumption is reduced up to 35 percent. By designing an offline key scheduling unit for the AES processor the area cost is further reduced by 28 percent, which results in a total reduction of 48 percent while the same throughput is maintained. Therefore, the over 30 Gbits/s, fully pipelined AES processor operating in the counter mode of operation can be used for the encryption of data on optical links.
The thermal conductivity of dielectric solids at low temperatures (Theoretical)

The statistical equilibrium of phonons in the presence of a temperature gradient is investigated, and a general formula for the thermal conductivity of dielectric solids is obtained. This is applied to quartz glass, giving good agreement with values observed by Berman (1951), and to crystals. Comparison between theory and experiment are made for alkali-halides and quartz, and conclusions are drawn about the defects in neutron-irradiated quartz.
The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions: A Story of (In)secure Software Development

In this paper, we present the results of a security assessment performed on a home care system based on SOA, realized as web services. The security design concepts of this platform were specifically tailored to meet new security challenges and to be compliant with legal frameworks applicable to the healthcare domain. This security design was fed as input to the development team,which implemented the system. However, our assessment revealed a software platform with severe security weaknesses and vulnerabilities, demonstrating pitfalls that are, or should be, well known.Our experience re-confirms that security must be built as an intrinsic software property and emphasizes the need for security awareness throughout the whole software development lifecycle.
Acanthamoeba castellanii capping protein: properties, mechanism of action, immunologic cross-reactivity, and localization

We report further characterization of the physical and immunologic properties, mechanism of action, and intracellular localization of Acanthamoeba castellanii capping protein, an actin regulatory protein discovered by Isenberg (Isenberg, G., U. Aebi, and T. D. Pollard, 1980, Nature (Lond.) 288:455-459). The native molecular weight calculated from measurements of Stokes' radius (3.8 nm by gel filtration chromatography) and sedimentation coefficient (4.8 S by sucrose gradient velocity sedimentation) was 74,000 daltons. The subunit molecular weights were 31,000 and 28,000 daltons, so the native molecule is a heterodimer. The two subunits did not immunologically cross-react with each other or with any other proteins from Acanthamoeba or several other organisms. In studies of the mechanism of action, Isenberg (see above reference) found that capping protein blocked polymerization from the barbed end of actin filaments and sedimented with actin filaments. We confirmed that capping protein binds to actin filaments with a gel filtration assay. Capping protein decreased the length distribution and high shear viscosity of actin filaments. Capping protein did not bundle or cross-link actin filaments. Low concentrations of capping protein increased the critical concentration for muscle and ameba actin polymerization from 0.1 to 0.6 microM in Mg++ and EGTA. Increasing amounts of capping protein did not increase the critical concentration further. In Ca++ capping protein did not change the critical concentration for muscle actin, but did increase the critical concentration for ameba actin. Ca++ had no effect on the ability of capping protein to decrease the low or high shear viscosity of actin filaments. By indirect fluorescent antibody staining, capping protein was localized to the cell cortex, an area rich in actin filaments. During subcellular fractionation of homogenates, about 1/3 of cellular capping protein banded with a crude membrane fraction. The other 2/3 of cellular capping protein was soluble, with a Stokes' radius equal to that of the purified protein. The molar ratio of capping protein to actin in the cell was 1:150.
Neuromuscular junction degeneration in muscle wasting

Purpose of reviewDenervation is a hallmark of age-related and other types of muscle wasting. This review focuses on recent insights and current viewpoints regarding the mechanisms and clinical relevance of maintaining the neuromuscular junction to counteract muscle wasting resulting from aging or neural disease/damage. Recent findingsActivity-dependent regulation of autophagy, the agrin-muscle specific kinase-Lrp4 signaling axis, and sympathetic modulation are principal mechanisms involved in stabilizing the neuromuscular junction. These findings are derived from several animal models and were largely confirmed by human gene expression analysis as well as insights from rare neuromuscular diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and congenital myasthenic syndromes. Based on these insights, agrin-derived fragments are currently being evaluated as biomarkers for age-related muscle wasting. Tuning of autophagy, of the agrin pathway, and of sympathetic input are being studied as clinical treatment of muscle wasting disorders. SummaryBasic research has revealed that maintenance of neuromuscular junctions and a few signaling pathways are important in the context of age-dependent and other forms of muscle wasting. These findings have recently started to enter clinical practice, but further research needs to substantiate and refine our knowledge.
Comparison of the complexes formed by cytochrome P450cam with cytochrome b5 and putidaredoxin, two effectors of camphor hydroxylase activity.

Structural perturbations in cytochrome P450cam (CYP101) induced by the soluble fragment of cytochrome b5, a nonphysiological effector of CYP101, were investigated by NMR spectroscopy and compared with the perturbations induced by the physiological reductant and effector putidaredoxin (Pdx). Chemical shifts of perdeuterated [U-15N]CYP101 backbone amide (NH) resonances were monitored as a function of cytochrome b5 concentration by 1H-15N TROSY-HSQC experiments. The association of cytochrome b5 with the reduced CYP101-camphor-carbon monoxide complex (CYP-S-CO) perturbs many of the same resonances that Pdx does, including regions of the CYP101 molecule implicated in substrate access and orientation. The perturbations are smaller in magnitude than those observed with Pdx(r) due to a lower binding affinity (a Kd of 13 +/- 3 mM, for the reduced cytochrome b5-CYP-S-CO complex compared to a Kd of 26 +/- 12 microM for the Pdx-CYP-S-CO complex). The results are in accord with our previous suggestion that the observed perturbations are related to effector activity and support the proposal that the primary role of the effector is to populate the active conformation of CYP101 to prevent uncoupling [Pochapsky, S. S. , et al. (2003) Biochemistry 42, 5649-5656]. A titratable perturbation is observed at the 1H resonance of the 8-CH3 group of CYP101-bound camphor upon addition of cytochrome b5, a phenomenon also associated with the formation of the CYP101 x Pdx complex, albeit with larger perturbations [Wei, J. Y. , et al. (2005) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 127, 6974-6976]. The effector activity of the particular rat cytochrome b5 construct used for NMR studies was confirmed by monitoring the enzymatic turnover that yielded 5-exo-hydroxycamphor using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Finally, the common features of the perturbations observed in the NMR spectra of the two complexes are discussed, and their relevance to effector activity is considered.
Feature extraction for nearest neighbor classification: Application to gender recognition

In this article, we perform an extended analysis of different face‐processing techniques for gender recognition problems. Prior research works show that support vector machines (SVM) achieve the best classification results. We will show that a nearest neighbor classification approach can reach a similar performance or improve the SVM results, given an adequate selection of features of the input data. This selection is performed using a dimensionality reduction technique based on a modification of nonparametric discriminant analysis, designed to improve the nearest neighbor classification. The choice of nearest neighbor is especially justified by the use of a large database. We also analyze a nonlinear algorithm, locally linear embedding, and its supervised version. Given that this technique is focused on preserving the local configuration of the neighborhood of each point, it should be a priori a good dimensionality reduction technique for extracting good features for nearest neighbor classification. A complete comparative study with the most classical face‐processing techniques is also performed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Int Syst 20: 561–576, 2005.
And/or tree probabilities of Boolean functions

We consider two probability distributions on Boolean functions defined in terms of their representations by $\texttt{and/or}$ trees (or formulas). The relationships between them, and connections with the complexity of the function, are studied. New and improved bounds on these probabilities are given for a wide class of functions, with special attention being paid to the constant function $\textit{True}$ and read-once functions in a fixed number of variables.
Simulation of Thermoelectric Performance of Bulk SrTiO3 with Two‐Dimensional Electron Gas Grain Boundaries

Density functional theory calculations and Boltzmann transport theory are used to simulate the thermoelectric properties of SrTiO3 ceramics with two-dimensional electron gas grain boundaries (GBs). This material can achieve a large thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT>1 at room temperature) by utilizing quantum confinement and energy filtering at GBs. The latter causes the ZT value to reach a maximum before decreasing with an increasing GB barrier height. The optimum barrier height was approximately 0.06 eV higher than the Fermi energy of the grain interior. Our results may aid the design of materials with environmentally benign thermoelectric oxides.
Looking Beyond the Large Scale Effects of Global Change: Local Phenologies Can Result in Critical Heterogeneity in the Pine Processionary Moth

Global temperature has increased by 0.85 • C between 1880 and 2012, with an acceleration during the last decades and many extreme weather events since about 1950 (IPCC, 2014). A consequence already observed is the change of species distributions. Thermal requirements and constraints are key factors in shaping realized distributions, and climate warming may move or remove these distributional barriers (Walther et al., 2002; Chen et al., 2011). Another consequence of climate warming is a phenology shift for many species (Parmesan, 2006). In plants and ectotherms, shifts in lifecycle timing can result from the direct relationship between temperature and developmental rate (Liu et al., 1995; Chuine et al., 2003). However, phenology is likely driven by a combination of both short-term plastic responses and long-term evolutionary responses to environmental variation (Chuine, 2010; Briscoe et al., 2012). Consequences of climate change on phenology have often been documented by the study of single life stages (Briscoe et al., 2012). Altered lifecycle timing not only changes climatic conditions undergone by a given stage but can also have cascading effects on subsequent stages. Phenological responses to climate change are thus limited by tradeoffs across the lifecycle, as stages are not independent and often have contrasting thermal sensitivities and requirements (Briscoe et al., 2012). Phenology shifts have been largely studied in plants, showing the role of temporal optimization to cope with several stage-specific constraints (Chuine, 2010). In insects, the overall phenological answer depends on similar complex interactions among life stages with antagonistic or non-additive effects (Briscoe et al., 2012). In turn, these tradeoffs necessarily differ across the distribution due to spatial heterogeneity in climatic conditions and inter-population differentiation. Yet, the relationship between phenology and range shifts has rarely been investigated. Its study requires long time-series of phenology and large-scale surveys of distribution over time, but such historical datasets are rare. The pine processionary moth (PPM), Thaumetopoea pityocampa, is a well-documented Lepidopteran insect which extends its distribution northwards and to higher elevations in Europe as a response to attenuated cold constraint since the 1990s (Roques et al., 2015). This range expansion is acknowledged to be one of the few responses to climate change with direct causal relationship demonstrated (Rosenzweig et al., 2007). For this species, historical data are available not only on distribution at continental scale, but also on phenology and its variation within and among
Increased Expression of the Tail-Anchored Membrane Protein SLMAP in Adipose Tissue from Type 2 Tally Ho Diabetic Mice

The tail-anchored membrane protein, sarcolemmal membrane associated protein (SLMAP) is encoded to a single gene that maps to the chromosome 3p14 region and has also been reported in certain diabetic populations. Our previous studies with db/db mice shown that a deregulation of SLMAP expression plays an important role in type 2 diabetes. Male Tally Ho mice were bred to present with either normoglycemia (NG) or hyperglycemia (HG). Abdominal adipose tissue from male Tally Ho mice of the HG group was found to have a significantly lower expression of the membrane associated glucose transporter-4 (GLUT-4) and higher expression of SLMAP compared to tissue from NG mice. There were 3 isoforms expressed in the abdominal adipose tissue, but only 45 kDa isoform of SLMAP was associated with the GLUT-4 revealed by immunoprecipitation data. Knock down studies using SLMAP siRNA with adipocytes resulted in a significant reduction in SLMAP and a decrease in glucose uptake. Thus, SLMAP may be an important regulator of glucose uptake or involved in GLUT-4 fusion/translocation into the plasma membrane of mouse abdominal adipose tissue and changes in SLMAP expression are linked to hyperglycemia and diabetes.
A Study of Acupuncture Treatment for Enuresis in Children with Mental and Physical Handicap

At a hospital for children with severe mental and physical handicap where the incidence of nocturnal enuresis exceeds 88%, a group of 128 children between the ages of 5 and 19 years (65% of those resident) were treated with acupuncture. The overall response showed good or very good benefit for 29% of patients, while 44% had none. The most responsive age group was the 10 to 14 year olds with 50% success; there was no difference between boys and girls. Children with the most severe mental retardation and those with day time faecal and urinary incontinence responded less well. The benefit felt by the whole hospital community at the reduction of bed wetting was substantial. The author believes that acupuncture for enuresis in mentally and physically handicapped children is an effective and worthwhile treatment.