Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis and design of human-robot swarm interaction in firefighting

In a variety of emergency settings robot assistance has been identified as highly valuable, providing remote, and thus safe, access and operation. There are many different forms of human-robot interactions, allowing a team of humans and robots to take advantage of skills of each team member. A relatively new area of research considers interactions between human and a team of robots performing as a swarm. This work is concerned with the interactive use of autonomous robots in fire emergency settings. In particular, we consider a swarm of robots that are capable of supporting and enhancing fire fighting operations co-operatively and we investigate how firefighters in the field work with such a swarm. This paper outlines some of the key characteristics of this emergency setting. It discusses possible forms of interactions with swarm robotics being examined in the GUARDIANS project. The paper addresses the use of assistive swarm robotics to support firefighters with navigation and search operations. It reports on existing firefighters operations and how human-swarm interactions are to be used during such operations. The design approaches for human-swarm interaction are described and the preliminary work in the area are outlined. The paper ends by linking current expertise with common features of emergency related interaction design.
Adaptive pilot pattern for OFDM systems

In OFDM communication systems over fading channels, link adaptation based on the available channel state information at the transmitter (i.e., power allocation, adaptive modulation and coding rate) increases the spectral efficiency and reliability of the link. In this work, we explore the possibility to extend the set of transmission parameters to be adaptively selected to the pilot arrangement (i.e., to the collocation of pilot subcarriers on the time-frequency grid). Based on the prediction of the channel estimation error at the receiver, the transmitter can minimize the number of pilot subcarriers that guarantees a sufficiently reliable channel estimate according to quality of service requirements. Prediction of the channel estimation error is performed by computing the error covariance matrix of Kalman filters. The adaptive pilot arrangement problem is formulated and a "greedy" solution is proposed. Simulations show the effectiveness of the algorithm with respect to periodic re-training.
A Dictionary of Affect in Language: IV. Reliability, Validity, and Applications

The 1984 Dictionary of Affect in Language by Sweeney and Whisseli includes more than 4,000 words which have been rated along the bipolar affective dimensions of Evaluation and Activation. A series of three experiments was conducted to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Dictionary and to improve its reliability by the inclusion of additional ratings. Exp. I, II, and III demonstrate the reliability of the Dictionary values and provide evidence of concurrent validity. A further series of three experiments (IV, V, VI) was designed to apply the Dictionary as a tool for assessing or preselecting the affective tone of words. Success (as defined by significant effects) is associated with the use of the Dictionary in choosing words for a verbal learning experiment (IV) and its use to score freely produced self-descriptive word lists (V) and the description of famous media characters (VI).
Language motivation and attitudes: a study with English for Academic Purposes learners

Abstract The study investigates English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course learners’ motivation within the L2 Motivational Self System Framework (cf. DORNYEI; CLEMENT, 2001; DORNYEI, 2005; CSIZER; DORNYEI, 2005b) and their achievement. The framework consists of three components, of which the ideal L2 self is the most important in the maintenance of motivation. Brazilian learners of EAP, students of a federal university in Belo Horizonte, participated in the study. The data was collected by means of questionnaires about attitude and motivation towards the L2, L2 learning and EAP, and also the ethnicity and socioeconomic backgrounds of learners. The EAP course as a program component of a broader, federal Brazilian policy with both national and international stakeholders was also examined. The results suggest that the learners possess a well-established ideal L2 self. The variables measured in this project presented a positive tendency towards L2 motivation. This confirms that the participants were motivated to learn the L2 language, in this case English. The socioeconomic and ethnic variables indicate that whites from a middle-class background are the majority group on campus. Recommendations for further research in L2 motivation and policy studies conclude the paper. Keywords: EAP. Educational policy. International education. L2 motivational self system. Language attitudes. L2 learning. Resumo Este estudo investiga a motivacao de aprendizes de Ingles para Fins Academicos (IFA) a partir do Modelo de Autossistema Motivacional na L2 (DORNYEI; CLEMENT, 2001; DORNYEI, 2005; CSIZER; DORNYEI, 2005b) e o aproveitamento dos aprendizes no curso. O modelo de Autossistema Motivacional na L2 consiste de tres componentes, nos quais o self ideal na L2e o mais importante para a manutencao da motivacao. Os participantes do estudo eram aprendizes brasileiros de IFA, estudantes de uma universidade em Belo Horizonte. Os dados foram coletados em questionarios sobre atitude e motivacao em relacao a L2, aprendizagem de L2 e IFA, bem como informacoes dos participantes a respeito de questoes de etnia e situacao socioeconomica. Foi examinado tambem o curso IFA como componente de um amplo programa de politica federal com foco nacional e internacional. Os resultados sugerem que os participantes apresentam um self ideal na L2 bem estabelecido. As demais variaveis indicaram uma tendencia positiva em relacao a motivacao. Esse dado confirma que os participantes estavam motivados para aprender a L2. As variaveis socioeconomicas e etnicas indicaram que os estudantes brancos, de classe media representam o grupo majoritario presente no campus universitario estudado. Palavras-chave: IFA. Politicas educacionais. Educacao internacional. Modelo de Autossistema Motivacional na L2. Atitude linguistica. Aprendizagem de L2.
Optimal Selection of a Connected Reserve Network

Spatial considerations are important in conservation reserve design. A particularly important spatial requirement is the connectivity of selected sites. Direct connections between reserve sites increase the likelihood of species persistence by allowing dispersal and colonization of other areas within the network without species having to leave the reserve. The conventional set-covering and maximal-covering formulations of the reserve selection problem assume that species representation is the only criterion in site selection. This approach usually results in a small but highly fragmented reserve, which may not be desirable. We present a linear integer programming framework incorporating spatial contiguity as an additional site selection criterion. An empirical application to a data set on the occurrence of breeding birds in Berkshire, United Kingdom, demonstrates that site connectivity requires a significantly larger reserve. Incorporation of spatial criteria increases the computational complexity of the problem. To overcome this, we use a two-stage procedure where the original sites are aggregated first and an optimum solution is determined for the aggregate sites. Then, site selection is restricted to original sites included in the aggregate solution and a connected reserve is determined. In this particular application the above procedure generated a significantly more efficient reserve than a heuristic selection.
Global Transcriptional Response of Clostridium difficile Carrying the ϕCD38-2 Prophage

ABSTRACT Clostridium difficile is one of the most dangerous pathogens in hospital settings. Most strains of C. difficile carry one or more prophages, and some of them, like ϕCD38-2 and ϕCD119, can influence the expression of toxin genes. However, little is known about the global host response in the presence of a given prophage. In order to fill this knowledge gap, we used high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to conduct a genome-wide transcriptomic analysis of the epidemic C. difficile strain R20291 carrying the ϕCD38-2 prophage. A total of 39 bacterial genes were differentially expressed in the R20291 lysogen, 26 of them being downregulated. Several of the regulated genes encode transcriptional regulators and phosphotransferase system (PTS) subunits involved in glucose, fructose, and glucitol/sorbitol uptake and metabolism. ϕCD38-2 also upregulated the expression of a group of regulatory genes located in phi-027, a resident prophage common to most ribotype 027 isolates. The most differentially expressed gene was that encoding the conserved phase-variable cell wall protein CwpV, which was upregulated ∼20-fold in the lysogen. Quantitative PCR and immunofluorescence showed that the increased cwpV expression results from a greater proportion of cells actively transcribing the gene. Indeed, ∼95% of lysogenic cells express cwpV, as opposed to only ∼5% of wild-type cells. Furthermore, the higher proportion of cells expressing cwpV results from a higher frequency of recombination of the genetic switch controlling phase variation, which we confirmed to be dependent on the host-encoded recombinase RecV. In summary, ϕCD38-2 interferes with phase variation of the surface protein CwpV and the expression of metabolic genes.
Extraction of User Preference for Video Stimuli Using EEG‐Based User Responses

Owing to the large number of video programs available, a method for accessing preferred videos efficiently through personalized video summaries and clips is needed. The automatic recognition of user states when viewing a video is essential for extracting meaningful video segments. Although there have been many studies on emotion recognition using various user responses, electroencephalogram (EEG)‐based research on preference recognition of videos is at its very early stages. This paper proposes classification models based on linear and nonlinear classifiers using EEG features of band power (BP) values and asymmetry scores for four preference classes. As a result, the quadratic‐discriminant‐analysisbased model using BP features achieves a classification accuracy of 97.39% (±0.73%) , and the models based on the other nonlinear classifiers using the BP features achieve an accuracy of over 96%, which is superior to that of previous work only for binary preference classification. The result proves that the proposed approach is sufficient for employment in personalized video segmentation with high accuracy and classification power.
Assessment of node density in Cartesian Ad hoc Routing Protocols (CARP)

With the rapid development in the geographical positioning system (GPS) technology, the geographical routing category of the MANET protocols has recently been a hot research area. The Cartesian Ad hoc Routing Protocols (CARP) are a set of three adaptive and connectionless protocols that address the problem of routing and power consumption in MANET. These protocols are used to limit the number of forwarding nodes in a logical transmission area. Density of an ad hoc network is considered a network parameter in CARP, and is used in the calculations to form a logical transmission area. The CARP assume that the nodes have some knowledge about the density from previous activity of the network, but no specific density determining mechanism has been described. This research paper presents a density determining mechanism for location aware nodes that use CARP. As the nodes are location aware, the location information is used as a key parameter to conduct a census of nodes. The nodes in a network with implementation of CARP can use this density value to form the logical broadcast area. As the nodes in MANET are potentially in motion, density may change over time. The proposed algorithm also tracks the density value over time and keeps it updated as per situation of the network. The simulation results in OPNET Modeler 10.5 validate the performance of this density determining algorithm for CARP
Parental psychosis, risk factors and protective factors for schizophrenia and other psychosis : the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966

The aim of this study was to investigate whether risk factors for psychosis are different among those with and without parental psychosis, and to study the interaction between parental psychosis and risk factors. Protective factors for psychosis were also examined. Data from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (N = 10,458) was used. Biological risk factors in particular increased the risk for schizophrenia and other psychosis among those with parental psychosis. In the same group, the risk for schizophrenia was increased if the achievement of holding the head up and touching the thumb with the index finger was delayed. A new born’s large size, advanced maternal age and mother’s antenatal depressed mood had interactions with parental psychosis regarding risk for schizophrenia and the mother’s smoking during pregnancy regarding risk for other psychosis. Parental psychosis and delayed touching the thumb with the index finger had an interaction regarding risk for schizophrenia and other psychosis. Several variables were associated with the decreased risk for psychosis in the total sample. In the parental psychosis group, only a mother’s non-depressed mood and a mother’s working outside the home or studying associated to remaining unaffected. This study is one of the few studies to investigate risk factors for psychosis among those with and without parental psychosis and to examine interactions between parental psychosis and risk factors. This study showed that many risk factors increased the risk for schizophrenia and other psychosis only among those with parental psychosis. Hence, parental psychosis might even explain part of the association between some risk factors. Surprisingly few protective factors were found among those with parental psychosis. Further studies on the protective factors for psychosis are important in order to prevent psychosis in individuals at high risk.
Changing the Ties That Bind? The Emerging Roles and Identities of General Practitioners and Managers in the New Clinical Commissioning Groups in the English NHS

The English National Health Service (NHS) is undergoing significant reorganization following the 2012 Health and Social Care Act. Key to these changes is the shift of responsibility for commissioning services from Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) to general practitioners (GPs) working together in Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs). This article is based on an empirical study that examined the development of emerging CCGs in eight case studies across England between September 2011 and June 2012. The findings are based on interviews with GPs and managers, observations of meetings, and reading of related documents. Scott’s notion that institutions are constituted by three pillars—the regulative, normative, and cognitive–cultural—is explored here. This approach helps to understand the changing roles and identities of doctors and managers implicated by the present reforms. This article notes the far reaching changes in the regulative pillar and questions how these changes will affect the normative and cultural–cognitive pillars.
Inhibition of NFkappaB activation with curcumin attenuates plasma inflammatory cytokines surge and cardiomyocytic apoptosis following cardiac ischemia/reperfusion.

BACKGROUND Following cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and cardiac global ischemia and reperfusion, pro-inflammatory cytokines are activated and cause cardiomyocytic injury. Nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB is involved in regulating inflammatory signal transduction. Curcumin inhibits NF-kappaB activation and blocks the inflammatory responses. We studied whether curcumin could decrease myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury with cardioplegia during CPB and attenuate the appearance of apoptosis of cardiomyocytes. MATERIALS AND METHODS Rabbits received normal saline (group 1) or curcumin (70 mum/kg, group 2; 100 mum/kg, group 3) injection 2 h before CPB. Total CPB was initiated and cold (4 degrees C) antegrade intermittent crystalloid cardioplegia was delivered every 20 min for 60 min of cardiac arrest. Rabbits were weaned from CPB and reperfused for 4 h. Blood was sampled at various time points and then the reperfused hearts were harvested. RESULTS Postoperative elevation of plasma levels of interleukin (IL)-8 (14.5, 0.9, 2.9 times over baseline in groups 1-3, respectively, P < 0.05), IL-10 (201.1, 6.0, 14.9 times over baseline in groups 1-3, respectively, P < 0.05), TNF-alpha (9.4, 3.1, 3.9 times over baseline in groups 1-3, respectively, P < 0.05), and cardiac troponin I (141.2, 14.9, 15.0 times over baseline) significantly decreased in the curcumin groups. Appearance of apoptotic cardiomyocytes significantly decreased in the curcumin groups (5.69 +/- 1.64, 1.51 +/- 0.41, 2.43 +/- 0.49 per 1000 nuclei in groups 1-3, respectively, P < 0.01). The activation of neutrophil in the myocardium, which was measured using myocardial myloperoxidase activity assay, was significantly attenuated in the curcumin group. There was a significant increase in apoptosis-related cleavage fragments of caspase-3 and poly-ADP-ribose polymerase in group 1 compared to the other groups. CONCLUSIONS Curcumin, an inhibitor of NF-kappaB, ameliorated the surge of pro-inflammatory cytokines during CPB and decreased the occurrence of cardiomyocytic apoptosis after global cardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury.
Security considerations and requirements for Cloud computing

Based on the standard definition of cloud computing developed by NIST, Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. Recent studies show security issues in cloud computing are considered as a major concern. There are different models that depict the responsibility of cloud providers and customers for securing the cloud computing environments based on different service models. To the best of our knowledge, despite there are various security standards and segregation of duty models, in most cases binding of security controls to use at each layers of the model is not specified. This problem leads to some ambiguities in how to use the existing security controls in different layers. In this paper, we will combine security standards and segregation of duty models of cloud computing to introduce a reference model and useful guidelines for securing the cloud computing environments. The proposed security reference model considers both the security requirements and controls in each service models and, for all cloud layers. Also, it separates the security responsibilities of cloud provider and cloud customer to manage security controls. Since this paper is concerned primarily all aspects of security requirements, it can be directly useful to individuals who want to provide or use the cloud computing environments.
The pleiotropic effects of tissue plasminogen activator in the brain: implications for stroke recovery

be inhibited by AG490 and/or SOCS3, can phosphorylate STAT3 through downstream signalling. The Raf/ MEK/ERK pathway can be inhibited by U0126 and involved in regulating gene transcription. The Raf/MEK/ERK pathway can also interact with the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway to phosphorylate S6. Activation of the PI3K/Akt/ mTOR pathway can be inhibited by the phsophatase, PTEN and/or rapamycin. PI3K/Akt/mTOR activation can trigger up-regulation of ribosomal p-S6 and protein translation.
Blue Light-emitting Diode Light Irradiation of Seedlings Improves Seedling Quality and Growth after Transplanting in Red Leaf Lettuce

In this study, we determined the effects of raising seedlings with different light spectra such as with blue, red, and blue + red light-emitting diode (LED) lights on seedling quality and yield of red leaf lettuce plants. The light treatments we used were applied for a period of 1 week and consisted of 100 μmol·m -2 ·s -1 of blue light, simultaneous irradiation with 50 μmol·m -2 ·s 1 of blue light and 50 μmol·m -2 ·s -1 of red light, and 100 μmol·m -2 ·s -1 of red light. At the end of the light treatment, that is 17 days after sowing (DAS), the leaf area and shoot fresh weight (FW) of the lettuce seedlings treated with red light increased by 33% and 25%, respectively, and the dry weight of the shoots and roots of the lettuce seedlings treated with blue-containing LED lights increased by greater than 29% and greater than 83% compared with seedlings grown under a white fluorescent lamp (FL). The shoot/root ratio and specific leaf area of plants irradiated with blue-containing LED lights decreased. At 45 DAS, higher leaf areas and FWs were obtained in lettuce plants treated with blue-containing LED lights. The total chlorophyll (Chl) contents in lettuce plants treated with blue-containing and red lights were less than that of lettuce plants treated with FL, but the Chl a/b ratio and carotenoid content increased under blue-containing LED lights. Polyphenol contents and the total antioxidant status (TAS) were greater in lettuce seedlings treated with blue-containing LED lights than in those treated with FL at 17 DAS. The higher polyphenol contents and TAS in lettuce seedlings at 17 DAS decreased in lettuce plants at 45 DAS. In conclusion, our results indicate that raising seedlings treated with blue light promoted the growth of lettuce plants after transplanting. This is likely because of high shoot and root biomasses, a high content of photosynthetic pigments, and high antioxidant activities in the lettuce seedlings before transplanting. The compact morphology of lettuce seedlings treated with blue LED light would be also useful for transplanting.
Creativity exercises in the field of entrepreneurship

In The Marble Game, students learn to consistently trade up in value. They begin with essentially nothing (a virtually worthless object) and proceed to amass as much value as they can over three weeks’ time. Past student successes include a student having amassed approximately $1,700 in value, and another student couples amassed $5,645 in cash.
Polarization- and Specular-Reflection-Based, Non-contact Latent Fingerprint Imaging and Lifting

In forensic science the finger marks left unintentionally by people at a crime scene are referred to as "latent fingerprints". Most existing techniques to detect and lift latent fingerprints require application of certain material directly onto the exhibit. The chemical and physical processing applied onto the fingerprint potentially degrades or prevents further forensic testing on the same evidence sample. Many existing methods also come with deleterious side effects. We introduce a method to detect and extract latent fingerprint images without applying any powder or chemicals on the object. Our method is based on the optical phenomena of polarization and specular reflection together with the physiology of fingerprint formation. The recovered image quality is comparable to existing methods. In some cases like the sticky side of a tape our method shows unique advantages.