Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Astrocyte-Neuron Interactions Regulate Nervous System Assembly and Function: A Dissertation

Astrocytes densely infiltrate the brain and intimately associate with synaptic structures. In the past 20 years, they have emerged as critical regulators of both synapse assembly and synapse function. During development, astrocytes modulate the formation of new synapses, and later, control refinement of synaptic connections in response to activity dependent cues. In a mature nervous system, astrocytes modulate synapse function through a variety of mechanisms. These include ion buffering, neurotransmitter uptake and the release of molecules that activate synaptic receptors. Through such roles, astrocytes shape the structure and function of neuronal circuits. However, how astrocytes and synapses reciprocally communicate during circuit assembly remains an unanswered question in the field. The vast majority of our understanding of astrocyte biology has come from studies conducted in mammals, where it is challenging to dissect molecular mechanisms with cell type specificity. Drosophila melanogaster is a less established model system for studying astrocyteneuron interactions, but its vast array of genetic tools and rapid life cycle promises great potential for precisely targeted manipulations. My thesis work has utilized Drosophila melanogaster to investigate the reciprocal nature of astrocyte-synapse communication. First, I characterized Drosophila late metamorphosis as a developmental stage in which astrocyte-synapse associations can be studied. My work demonstrates that during this time, when the adult Drosophila nervous system is being assembled, synapse formation relies on the coordinated infiltration of astrocyte membranes into the neuropil. Next, I show that in a reciprocal manner, neural activity can shape astrocyte biology during this time as well and impart long lasting effects on neuronal circuit function. In particular expression of the astrocyte GABA transporter (GAT) is modulated in an activity-dependent manner via astrocytic GABABR1/2 receptor signaling. Inhibiting astrocytic GABABR1/2 signaling strongly suppresses hyperexcitability in a Drosophila seizure model, vii arguing this pathway is important for modulating excitatory/inhibitory balance in vivo. Finally, utilizing the ease of the Drosophila system, I performed a reverse genetic screen to identify additional astrocyte factors involved in modulating excitatory-inhibitory neuronal balance.
Analyzing The Personal Behavior Of Adolescence Using Artificial Neural Networks

: Adolescence bridges the gulf between childhood and adulthood. Adolescence is a period of stress and strain. This stormy period starts from the middle of adolescence and lasts till the end of adolescence. The physical changes in the body of adolescent greatly influence the emotional behavior of adolescent. Psychologists face many difficulties in studying the behavior of adolescent because they don’t want others to observe their behaviors which they claim as their private affairs. The present condition of the society doesn’t give much attention to understand the emotional changes occurred during adolescence. This type of situation makes adolescence to fall as a victim to emotional storms. This research proposed a machine learning technique called Efficient Multilayered Backpropagation Algorithm(EMBPA) to overcome difficulty in studying the emotional intelligence of adolescence. The various factors influencing the emotional behavior of adolescence was framed as questionnaire and distributed to college students studying under graduate and post graduate course in different districts of Tamilnadu. Backpropagation Algorithm was used to analyzed the collected data and a neural network was constructed. The reason which highly influence the emotional intelligence of adolescence was identified from the neural network. The performance of the Backpropagation Algorithm was measured with the help of the performance metrics. The information gained from this research helps to understand the emotional difficulties of adolescence and helps to properly channelize their behavior to better development of the society.
Truman, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Simulated Social Media

Conducting unbiased empirical research in social media spaces is of great importance. However, it is a highly restrictive space for researchers who are not aligned with, or working from within, the companies who control those spaces. Additionally, even when access to social media networks is available, there are a range of ethical concerns and hurdles around conducting experimental research. Here we present a proof of concept for a system of easily accessible software tools which leverage procedural generation, machine learning, and interactive media to allow researchers– from both technical and non-technical domains– to conduct investigations that involve human personality traits (i.e., Big 5 attributes) in a simulated social media environment. Our past research on personality attributes in social media spaces is both our motivation and exemplar use case, as we have found that affordances and social mores inﬂuence individual presentation as measured by personality traits.
Integrating Models of Self-Regulation

Self-regulation is a core aspect of human functioning that helps facilitate the successful pursuit of personal goals. There has been a proliferation of theories and models describing different aspects of self-regulation both within and outside of psychology. All of these models provide insights about selfregulation, but sometimes talk past each other, make only shallow contributions, or make contributions that are under-appreciated by scholars working in adjacent areas. The purpose of this article is to integrate across the many different models in order to refine the vast literature on selfregulation. To achieve this objective, we first review some of the more prominent models of selfregulation coming from social psychology, personality psychology, and cognitive neuroscience. We then integrate across these models based on four key elements—level of analysis, conflict, emotion, and cognitive functioning—specifically identifying points of convergence, but also points of insufficient emphasis. We close with prescriptions for future research.
Rate of Occurrence of Fatal Accidents in Malaysian Construction Industry after BIM Implementation

Construction industry impacts the health and safety of its workers tremendously. This study is aimed to determine the rate of occurrence of fatal accidents after BIM implementation in Malaysia. The data used for the research was obtained from the Department of Safety and Health (DOSH) website, and it was validated by the relevant professionals through interview. This descriptive analysis was grounded in 796 fatal accidents over the period of 2010-2018. Of those accidents, 38.16% were related to fall-related, 30.39% struck-by, 17.67% caught in-between, 9.89% drowning/asphyxiation and 3.89% others. The results indicate that the types of accidents identified are similar to that of most countries in the world. The findings also revealed that the accidents had occurred because one or combination of the following: management's failure, unsafe site conditions, workers behavior, and environmental factors. Future work will concentrate on the use of BIM-based tools for job hazard identification and safety training.
Driving Fatigue Recognition With Functional Connectivity Based on Phase Synchronization

Accumulating evidences showed that the optimal brain network topology was altered with the progression of fatigue during car driving. However, the extent of the discriminative power of functional connectivity that contributes to driving fatigue detection is still unclear. In this article, we extracted two types of features (network properties and critical connections) to explore their usefulness in driving fatigue detection. EEG data were recorded twice from twenty healthy subjects during a simulated driving experiment. Multiband functional connectivity matrices were established using the phase lag index, which serve as input for the following graph theoretical analysis and critical connections determination between the most vigilant and fatigued states. We found a reorganization of a brain network toward less efficient architecture in fatigue state across all frequency bands. Further interrogations showed that the discriminative connections were mainly connected to frontal areas, i.e., most of the increased connections are from frontal pole to parietal or occipital regions. Moreover, we achieved a satisfactory classification accuracy (96.76%) using the discriminative connection features in $\beta $ band. This article demonstrated that graph theoretical properties and critical connections are of discriminative power for manifesting fatigue alterations and the critical connection is an efficient feature for driving fatigue detection.
The Implications of Adopting and Implementing Electronic Human Resource Management Practices on Job Performance

Past literature supports positive links between electronic human resource management practices (E-HRM), and job performance. However, poor application of e-HRM practices in the Nigerian public sector resulted in poor job performance and unwholesome ethical practices. As a result, calls for further research have been suggested, particularly on the direct process through which the adoption and implementation of e-HRM practices such e-communication; e-compensation, e-training and e-performance appraisal are likely to influence job performance. Hence, the purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between electronic Human resource Management (E-HRM) practices and job performance (i.e. task, contextual, adaptive performance, and counterproductive work behaviour at the individual level. We employed a quantitative approach with survey from 214 academic and non academic staff in five higher institutions in Northern part of Nigeria. Using partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), the quantitative results indicated that some of the components of E-HRM practices were positively associated with job performance. For instance, both e-communication, and e-compensation were significantly and positively related to all the dimensions of job performance (i.e. task, contextual, adaptive, and counterproductive work behaviour. Also, e-training was found to be positively related to task and adaptive performance only. Similarly, results showed that e-performance appraisal practice was only related to contextual performance and counterproductive work behaviour. On the contrary, e-training practice demonstrated no significant effect on contextual performance and counterproductive work behaviour. Similarly, no significant direct effect was found between e-performance appraisal and task and adaptive performance. Implications of the findings for future research and practice, as well as the limitations of the study are highlighted.
Representation of Third-World Tourism Place in Instagram

The representation of third-world destination in the various forms of tourism marketing media was highlighted by previous studies. Meanwhile, social media were used commonly by tourism agencies to engage with tourists for the purpose of destination marketing. However, minimal research reported on third-world tourism representation in social media. Guided by orientalism theory, this study analysed photos and their captions posted in the official Instagram account of Indonesia Tourism Ministry to identify how third-world tourism was represented. The findings of the study showed that in terms of the destination, the theme of the landscape was promoted more prominently than two other themes (culture and service). Two sub-dimensions were highlighted in terms of people (the host and tourist) depiction: physical role and clothing. The study pointed out that the host was more represented in their active roles and in cultural/festival custom as well as in uniform; meanwhile, the tourist was more presented in their passive roles and in casual, and swimwear. Two ideas of binary position were uncovered by the study based on those findings: modern/traditional and master/servant. Besides, some related issues were raised through the study findings and recommended to be addressed for future research.
EcoFuzz: Adaptive Energy-Saving Greybox Fuzzing as a Variant of the Adversarial Multi-Armed Bandit

Fuzzing is one of the most effective approaches for identifying security vulnerabilities. As a state-of-the-art coverage-based greybox fuzzer, AFL is a highly effective and widely used technique. However, AFL allocates excessive energy (i.e., the number of test cases generated by the seed) to seeds that exercise the high-frequency paths and can not adaptively adjust the energy allocation, thus wasting a signiﬁcant amount of energy. Moreover, the current Markov model for modeling coverage-based greybox fuzzing is not profound enough. This paper presents a variant of the Adversarial Multi-Armed Bandit model for modeling AFL’s power schedule process. We ﬁrst explain the challenges in AFL’s scheduling algorithm by using the reward probability that generates a test case for discovering a new path. Moreover, we illustrated the three states of the seeds set and developed a unique adaptive scheduling algorithm as well as a probability-based search strategy. These approaches are implemented on top of AFL in an adaptive energy-saving greybox fuzzer called EcoFuzz. EcoFuzz is examined against other six AFL-type tools on 14 real-world subjects over 490 CPU days. According to the results, EcoFuzz could attain 214% of the path coverage of AFL with reducing 32% test cases generation of that of AFL. Besides, EcoFuzz identiﬁed 12 vulnerabilities in GNU Binutils and other software. We also extended EcoFuzz to test some IoT devices and found a new vulnerability in the SNMP component.
Robust Secure FPGA-based Wireless Smart Meters

Smart meters that measure the use of residential energy at fine granularities are the foundation of a future smart electricity grid. In this paper, a novel design of FPGA-based smart meters is proposed to measure the energy consumption and at the same time it provides secure wireless connections with the concentrator in Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). A basic idea of this system is to use Physical Unclonable Function (PUF), which is a die-unique challenge–response function, for generating a unique signature of meter based on IC process variations and to use Channel Status Information (CSI) for providing a secure wireless channel between meter and concentrator.
Possible directions in the protection of the neglected invertebrate biodiversity

Read the Feature Paper: Protected areas and insect conservation: questioning the effectiveness of Natura 2000 network for saproxylic beetles in Italy Commentaries on this Feature Paper: Institutional vertebratism hampers insect conservation generally; not just saproxylic beetle conservation; Knowledge gaps in protected area effectiveness
Visual Dashboard Design for eSports Spectatorship: Opportunities and Challenges

Spectatorship is an integral part of the massively popular eSports due to its spectator-friendly nature. Previous research has examined eSports fans’ spectator motivation and the role of technology in supporting and enriching fans’ spectator experience for eSports and traditional sports as well. Inspired by this work, we discuss the opportunities and challenges of three future directions on designing a visual dashboard for eSports spectatorship.
The enigma of cuboid diamonds: the causes of inverse distribution of optical centers within the growth zones

In the present work, diamonds with yellow cores and a slightly colored or colorless rims have been studied. Three groups of crystals that differ in spectroscopic features have been identified. In the crystals of the first group, the heterogeneity in color is due to the variation in nitrogen concentration, which is present as the simplest low-temperature nitrogen С center. Absorption spectra of the first group display peaks at wavenumbers 1344 and 1332 cm–1 of С and С+ centers, respectively. The second group also exhibits higher nitrogen concentrations in the form of C centers in the colored zone. However, the concentration of nitrogen in the form of high temperature А-centers, and the total nitrogen content is higher at the periphery of crystals. The FTIR absorption spectra of this group display both 1344 and 1332 cm–1 peaks. Crystals of the third group do not contain C centers. The 1332 cm–1 and the A center bands are observed in the FTIR absorption spectra. In the photoluminescence spectra of the colored zone of the third group, the bands S1 and S2 have been found and the doublet lines 883 and 885 nm of the simplest Ni-containing centers. Previously unobserved systems with zerophonon lines at 799.5, 819.6, 869.5 and 930 nm lines have been registered in the photoluminescence spectra of the third group under 787 nm excitation. It is hereby proposed that this luminescence is due to Ni-containing centers. In the third group of crystals, Ni seems to stabilize C+ centers and hence the coloring of crystal zones is consistent with Ni impurity distribution. Crystals of each group have distinct sources: the first group is from Yubileinaya pipe, the second from the placers of North Yakutia with unknown primary sources and the third from the Uralian deposits.
Convex Relaxations of Security Constrained AC Optimal Power Flow Under Uncertainty

System operators have to ensure an N-1 secure operation, while dealing with higher degrees of uncertainty. This paper proposes a semidefinite relaxation of the chance and security constrained optimal power flow (SCOPF). Our main contributions are the introduction of systematic methods to obtain zero relaxation gap, providing a tractable chance constrained SCOPF formulation, and addressing scalability. We introduce a systematic procedure to obtain zero relaxation gap using a penalty term on power losses. To achieve tractability of the joint chance constraint, a piecewise affine approximation, and a combination of randomized and robust optimization is used. To address scalability, we propose an iterative solution algorithm to identify binding constraints, and we apply a chordal decomposition of the semidefinite constraints. We demonstrate the performance of our approach on IEEE 24 and IEEE 118 bus system using realistic day-ahead forecast data and obtain tight near-global optimality guarantees.
Clinical aspects of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli infections.

This chapter describes the clinical aspects of infection with Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni subsp. jejuni) and Campylobacter coli, which are the main causes of Campylobacter enteritis in humans. The prodrome can be highly misleading in the absence of abdominal symptoms, which may not appear for two or even three days. Patients with prodromal symptoms tend to have more severe illness than those whose illness starts with diarrhea. The chapter discusses special aspects of infection, intestinal complications, and extraintestinal infection. The urinary tract seems an unlikely place to find campylobacters because they do not tolerate acid conditions well, but there are two reports of apparent C. jejuni urinary infection. In the first, the main site of infection was thought to be the prostate, but in the other, there appeared to be cystitis in a 6-year-old girl. Infections will be missed unless cultures specific for campylobacters are set up when morphologically suspect bacteria are seen in urine samples. The association of Campylobacter enteritis with Guillain-Barre syndrome, which emerged during the mid-1980s, greatly improved one's understanding of the morbidity of the disease. The chapter also describes the role of endoscopy and rectal biopsy in the management of patients. No specific treatment is required for most patients with Campylobacter enteritis, other than the oral replacement of fluid and electrolytes lost through diarrhea and vomiting. Erythromycin was the first antimicrobial agent to be used. Serious systemic infection should be treated with an aminoglycoside, such as gentamicin, or imipenem.
Improved PAPR Reduction for STBC-MIMO-OFDM by using New Phase Factor with Four Transmitting Antennas

In the modern world, wireless communications have been developed very rapidly and demand for multimedia services is growing day by day. Higher bandwidth over wireless network is requirement of communication systems. These systems are implemented using multi carrier frequencies for providing higher data transmission rate and mobility of user and these systems are implemented with use of MIMO OFDM (Multiple Input Multiple Output Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) technique. The MIMO OFDM have limitations of high PAPR and carrier frequency offset sensitivity. Integration of STBC with MIMO OFDM over frequency selective channel is implemented to improve further PAPR performance. In this frequency selective channel is converted to several flat fading channels thereby eliminating ISI. This technique STBC MIMO-OFDM has high Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR) also. To achieve better performance this PAPR also has to be reduced. In this paper, variation of different parameters like number of subcarriers, OFDM symbols and its effect on PAPR has been presented. Simulation Results show that reduction of PAPR is possible with increase in phase factor with four transmitting antennas.
One-century atmospheric heavy metal pollution on the southeast Mongolia Plateau: implications for pollution trend in China One-century sediment records of heavy metal pollution on the southeast Mongolia Plateau: implications for air pollution trends in China

One-century sediment records of heavy metal pollution on the southeast Mongolia Plateau: implications for air pollution trends in China Dejun Wan*, Lei Song, Xin Mao, Jinsong Yang, Zhangdong Jin, Handong Yang* a Institute of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050061, China b State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an 710075, China c Institute of Global Environmental Change, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China d Environmental Change Research Centre, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
Mobile phones in the classroom: Policies and potential pedagogy

Many university instructors (76% of our survey) have a mobile phone policy in their classrooms, due to the distractions of unregulated use. Yet only about half of those who ask students to put down their phones report that these policies are effective. Given that students want to and will use their phones, are instructors taking the opportunity to integrate these mobile devices as a part of media literacy or other pedagogy? We conducted a nationwide survey of more than 150 college instructors to explicate what policies are used, and where they come from; how they are enforced (e.g. rewards and punishments); and for those instructors who use mobile phones in instruction, whether and how the technology is used for academic purposes. Respondents (74%) permit mobile phones for basic classroom activities, but lack true integration with teaching and learning.
A new proposal for reliable unicast and multicast transport in Delay Tolerant Networks

We propose a new scheme for reliable transport, both for unicast and multicast flows, in Delay Tolerant Networks (DTNs). Reliability is ensured through the use of Global Selective ACKnowledgements (G-SACKs) which contain detailed (and potentially global) information about the receipt of packets at all the destinations. The motivation for using G-SACKs comes from the observation that one should take the maximum advantage of the contact opportunities which occur quite infrequently in DTNs. We also propose sharing of “packet header space” with G-SACK information and allow for random linear coding at the relay nodes. Our results from extensive simulations of the proposed scheme quantify the gains due to each new feature.