Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Opinion Formation in Online Public Debates Structured in Information Cascades: A System-Theoretic Viewpoint

Online information cascades (tree-like structures formed by posts, comments, likes, replies, etc.) constitute the spine of the public online information environment, reflecting its various trends, evolving with it and, importantly, affecting its development. While users participate in online discussions, they display their views and thus contribute to the growth of cascades. At the same time, users’ opinions are influenced by cascades’ elements. The current paper aims to advance our knowledge regarding these social processes by developing an agent-based model in which agents participate in a discussion around a post on the Internet. Agents display their opinions by writing comments on the post and liking them (i.e., leaving positive assessments). The result of these processes is dual: on the one hand, agents develop an information cascade; on the other hand, they update their views. Our purpose is to understand how agents’ activity, openness to influence, and cognitive constraints (that condition the amount of information individuals are able to proceed with) affect opinion dynamics in a three-party society. More precisely, we are interested in what opinion will dominate in the long run and how this is moderated by the aforementioned factors, the social contagion effect (when people’ perception of a message may depend not only on the message’s opinion, but also on how other individuals perceive this object, with more positive evaluations increasing the probability of adoption), and ranking algorithms that steer the order in which agents learn new messages. Among other things, we demonstrated that replies to disagreeable opinions are extremely effective for promoting your own position. In contrast, various forms of like activity have a tiny effect on this issue.
Single-Cell RNA sequencing investigation of female-male differences under PAD conditions

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is an age-related medical condition affecting mostly muscular arteries of the limb. It is the 3rd leading cause of atherosclerotic morbidity. The mechanical environment of endothelial cells (ECs) in PAD is characterized by disturbed blood flow (d-flow) and stiff extracellular matrices. In PAD, the stiffness of arteries is due to decreased elastin function and increased collagen content. These flow and stiffness parameters are largely missing from current models of PAD. It has been previously proven that ECs exposed to d-flow or stiff substrates lead to proatherogenic pathways, but the effect of both, d-flow and stiffness, on EC phenotype has not been fully investigated. In this study, we sought to explore the effect of sex on proatherogenic pathways that could result from exposing endothelial cells to a d-flow and stiff environment. We utilized the scRNA-seq tool to analyze the gene expression of ECs exposed to the different mechanical conditions both in vitro and in vivo. We found that male ECs exposed to different mechanical stimuli presented higher expression of genes related to fibrosis and d-flow in vitro. We validated our findings in vivo by exposing murine carotid arteries to d-flow via partial carotid artery ligation. Since women have delayed onset of arterial stiffening and subsequent PAD, this work may provide a framework for some of the pathways in which biological sex interacts with sex-based differences in PAD.
CORRELATING EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND COGNITIVE MATURITY OF PRESCHOOLERS IN SOME SELECTED DAYCARE CENTRES IN MOROGORO MUNICIPALITY

The early years of a child's life are a critical period for growth and development in both emotional and cognitive domains. Recent research has emphasized the interdependence and potential correlation between emotional development and cognitive maturity in preschool-aged children. This mixed-methods study aimed to investigate the relationship between emotional development and cognitive maturity in preschoolers, exploring specific aspects of emotional development associated with cognitive maturity. Quantitative measures of emotional development and cognitive maturity, along with qualitative interviews with parents or guardians, were employed. The findings, based on a sample of 300 preschoolers in Morogoro Municipality, reveal a significant positive correlation between emotional development and cognitive maturity (r = 0.72, p < 0.001). Emotional regulation emerged as a significant predictor of cognitive maturity (β = 0.40, p < 0.001), highlighting its role in promoting cognitive development. Parental involvement and environmental factors were identified as influential factors in moderating the relationship. These findings provide valuable insights for educators, parents, and policymakers, emphasizing the importance of promoting the holistic development of preschool-aged children through effective emotional regulation, parental involvement, and supportive environments.
Results of ichthyoplankton surveys along the southwest coast of India with special reference to pelagic fish resources

A well planned and systematic Ichthyoplankton survey programme was carried out by the UNDP/ FAO Pelagic Fishery Project, Cochin (1971-79) along the southwest coast of India. These surveys were part of the Project's programmes for assessment of the Pelagic fish resources of the Project area extending from Ratnagiri to Tuticorin. Major part of the field work was conducted from 1971 to 1975 over the shelf and adjacent waters. The survey results indicated that all the dominant pelagic species spawned over the shelf in the entire range of their distribution in most months of the year. The peak of spawning in almost all cases was aligned to the Southwest Monsoon period with a secondary peak in the Northeast Monsoon in some species ; including the mackerel. The larval distribution showed a southward drift and concentration in areas south of 12° N, spreading over oceanic waters in this sector. No consistent and positive relationship between the abundance of larvae of a particular species with the magnitude of its fishery in the area was evident. However in cases like the whitebaits the larval abundance gave corroborative evidence supporting the findings of simultaneous acoustic surveys on the very high potential of these fishes. On the other hand the predominance of the larvae of frigate mackerels, compared to those of Indian mackerel is not supported by commensurate fishery for the former species or potential in the surveyed area. The paper critically reviews the findings of the surveys on the spawning, distribution and abundance of the larvae of the major pelagic fishes and their resources along the southwest coast of India.
Upregulation of miR-22 alleviates oxygen–glucose deprivation/ reperfusion-induced injury by targeting Tiam1 in SH-SY5Y cells

MicroRNA-22 (miR-22) has been reported to exert a neuroprotective effect. However, the specific role and mechanism of miR-22 in ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)-induced brain injury are still not known well. In this study, we evaluated whether miR-22 participates in I/R-induced neuronal injury and the potential mechanism by us-ing an oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R) model in vitro . Our results showed that miR-22 was significantly down-regulated in SH-SY5Y cells suffering from OGD/R. Up-regulation of miR-22 by its specific mimic could protect SH-SY5Y cells against OGD/R-induced injury. The luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that T-cell lymphoma invasion and metastasis 1 (Tiam1) was a direct target of miR-22. MiR-22 mimic obviously inhibited Tiam1 expression in OGD/R-exposed SH-SY5Y cells. Tiam1 siRNA could attenuate OGD/R-induced SH-SY5Y cell injury. In addition, Tiam1 siRNA reduced the activation of Ras-related C3 botulinum toxin substrate 1 (Rac1) in OGD/R-exposed SH-SY5Y cells, and up-regulation of Rac1 activity could attenuate the neuroprotective effect of miR-22 up-regulation. Furthermore, OGD/R exposure led to increased methylation of miR-22, and the demeth-ylating agent 5-Aza-dC significantly up-regulated miR-22 expression and inhibited Tiam1 expression and Rac1 activation. Taken together, our results demonstrated that DNA methylation-mediated miR-22 down-regulation ag-gravated I/R-induced neuron injury by promoting the activation of Tiam1/Rac1 signals. Our findings provide a deeper understanding of I/R-induced brain injury and suggest that miR-22 may be a promising therapeutic target for this disease.
Application of remote monitoring and ground-based sensing in pastoralism

The development and implementation of an innovative system applying digital aerospace technologies in pastoralism constitute one of the current trends in agricultural development designed to solve numerous problems associated with soil fertility restoration in grazing pastures. Here, a promising line of research is to explore the feasibility of using satellite systems for an overall nutrient yield assessment per hectare of grazing land. The present article describes a comprehensive approach to the optimization of pastoralism that is based on remote methods for assessing pasture fertility using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and artificial Earth satellites. An analysis of existing methodological approaches reveals that the formalization of prediction processes is complicated by the lack of a theoretical basis for creating appropriate model-algorithmic support. The data on vegetation index dynamics and the nutritional values of forage plants obtained by interpreting imagery from a UAV camera and the multispectral cameras of a satellite service, as well as data from a portable handheld nitrogen sensor, were compared with the actual nutritional values of pasture plants. The study results provide a means to optimize the grouping of grazing animals, taking into account the actual possibility of achieving an increase in live weight. The provided findings indicate the possibility of achieving an additional 11.06% increase in daily live weight gain in young sheep (Jalgin Merino) when keeping them in pasture areas having a vegetation index of at least 0.5. Remote monitoring based on satellite service allows more efficient use of pastures. Study shows a positive relationship between remote sensing NDVI and feed nutritional value. Animal grazing optimization provides an additional 11.06% increase in live weight gain.
Qualifying Exam

1 Question 1 3 1.1 Dynamic tracing Performance . 3 1.1.1 Space complexity of dynamic tracing . 3 1.1.2 Time complexity of dynamic tracing . 3 1.2 Space complexity of type inference . 4 1.3 Time complexity of type inference . 4 1.3. 1 Join . 5 1.3. 2 Naive type environment creation . 5 1.3. 3 Naive type environment creation (optimized) . 5 1.3. 4 Squash Vertically . 5 1.3. 5 Squash Horizontally . 6 1.3. 6 Overall time complexity . 6 1.4 Benchmarks . 7 1.4. 1 Benchmark 1: 2 tags . 7 1.4. 2 Benchmark 2: Many tags . 7 1.4. 3 Results . 9 1.5 Can space use be bounded by reducing traces as collected? 9 1.6 Daikon . 10 1.6. 1 Daikon’s expressivity vs Typed Clojure’s dynamic inference 10 1.6. 2 Space/time overhead of Daikon’s dynamic tracing . 10 1.6. 3 Space/time overhead of Daikon’s type inference . 11 1.6. 4 Checking Daikon’s invariants in a refinement type system 12
Single-Case Pilot Study For Longitudinal Analysis Of Referential Failures And Sentiment In Schizophrenic Speech From Client-Centered Psychotherapy Recordings

Though computational linguistic analyses have revealed the presence of distinctly characteristic language features in schizophrenic disordered speech, the relative stability of these language features in longitudinal samples is still unknown. This longitudinal pilot study analyzed schizophrenic disordered speech data from the archival therapy audio recordings of one patient spanning 23 years. End-to-end Neural Coreference Resolution software was used to analyze transcribed speech data from three therapy sessions to identify ambiguous pronouns, referred to as referential failures, which were reviewed and confirmed by multiple raters. Speech samples were analyzed using Google Cloud Natural Language API software for sentiment variables (i.e., score, valence, and magnitude). Referential failures and sentiment variables were analyzed within each session and all sessions combined to study the relationships between these variables within single sessions and over a span of 23 years. Results and implications for this study are discussed.
On transforming model‐based tests into code: A systematic literature review

Model‐based test design is increasingly being applied in practice and studied in research. Model‐based testing (MBT) exploits abstract models of the software behaviour to generate abstract tests, which are then transformed into concrete tests ready to run on the code. Given that abstract tests are designed to cover models but are run on code (after transformation), the effectiveness of MBT is dependent on whether model coverage also ensures coverage of key functional code. In this article, we investigate how MBT approaches generate tests from model specifications and how the coverage of tests designed strictly based on the model translates to code coverage. We used snowballing to conduct a systematic literature review. We started with three primary studies, which we refer to as the initial seeds. At the end of our search iterations, we analysed 30 studies that helped answer our research questions. More specifically, this article characterizes how test sets generated at the model level are mapped and applied to the source code level, discusses how tests are generated from the model specifications, analyses how the test coverage of models relates to the test coverage of the code when the same test set is executed and identifies the technologies and software development tasks that are on focus in the selected studies. Finally, we identify common characteristics and limitations that impact the research and practice of MBT: (i) some studies did not fully describe how tools transform abstract tests into concrete tests, (ii) some studies overlooked the computational cost of model‐based approaches and (iii) some studies found evidence that bears out a robust correlation between decision coverage at the model level and branch coverage at the code level. We also noted that most primary studies omitted essential details about the experiments.
Electronic circuits : design and applications

This text on electronic circuit design and application, has been given a new title as it has been updated and widened in scope. Written both for the student and the practising engineer and scientist, the book covers major aspects and applications of modern analogue and digital circuit design. Part I concentrates on analogue and digital circuits, on operational amplifiers, combinatorial and sequential logic and memories. Part II is application-oriented. Each chapter offers various solutions to a given problem, and is designed to enable the reader to understand ready-made circuits and/or to proceed reasonably quickly from theory to a working circuit. The design approach is often illustrated by an example. Analogue applications cover such topics as analogue computing circuits. The digital sections deal with AD and DA conversion, digitial computing circuits, microprocessors and digital filters.
Working at the Intersection of Race, Disability and Accessibility

Examinations of intersectionality and identity dimensions in accessibility research have primarily considered disability separately from a person’s race and ethnicity. Accessibility work often does not include considerations of race as a construct, or treats race as a shallow demographic variable, if race is mentioned at all. The lack of attention to race as a construct in accessibility research presents an oversight in our field, often systematically eliminating whole areas of need and vital perspectives from the work we do. Further, there has been little focus on the intersection of race and disability within accessibility research, and the relevance of their interplay. When research in race or disability does not mention the other, this work overlooks the potential to better understand the full nuance of marginalized and “otherized” groups. To address this gap, we present a series of case studies exploring the potential for research that lies at the intersection of race and disability. We provide examples of how to integrate racial equity perspectives into accessibility research, through positive examples found in these case studies and reflect on teaching at the intersection of race, disability, and technology. This paper highlights the value of considering how constructs of race and disability work alongside each other within accessibility research studies, designs of socio-technical systems, and education. Our analysis provides recommendations towards establishing this research direction.
Evaluation of Interprofessional Education and Collaboration in Optometry

To evaluate the impact of interprofessional education (IPE) in final-year optometry learners, a questionnaire was given to assess their knowledge, attitude and skill around interprofessional collaboration (IPC) before they completed a placement with an interprofessional health clinic. Results showed that a majority of learners believed there is an increasing need for IPE and IPC in optometry and felt the development of multidisciplinary ideas and the enhancement of patient-centered care are the main benefits. Both the learners and clinic members indicated that they gained a personal satisfaction working together and were interested in future collaborations. Further investigation is required to enhance the understanding of how optometry improves patient care outcomes in an interprofessional setting.
Effects of Cognitive Training on Improving Cognitive Functions in the Elderly: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Study

Context: A methodical review and meta-analysis of cognitive intervention studies were conducted to clarify the effect of such interventions on memory. Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the effects of cognitive training on the improvement of cognitive function in older adults. Data Sources: The programs for improving cognitive performance, along with characteristics, among older adults were assessed by considering a literature review of previous studies. Study Selection: A total of 174 articles published between 1990 to 2017 in the area under study were selected. Each article was reviewed by two independent reviewers. Data Extraction: In this study, 15 studies and 910 subjects were selected for data analysis, and the meta-analysis was performed according to the Hedge method. Results: Based on the results, a positive effect size of 0.30 (SE = 0.07, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.165 - 0.436) was observed regarding the subjects’ cognitive function stemming from the interventions on individual and group cognitive-related therapies. The results were consistent, indicating that variances in effect size might be related to sampling error (Q = 88.592, df = 14, P = 0.000). Conclusions: The results confirm previous meta-analyses and methodical reviews showing that memory training plays a positive role in enhancing cognitive function.
Evaluation and development of normal year correction methodologies for icing climatology in wind farm applications

Wind power developments in cold and icing conditions pose new challenges to the wind power industry. Icing of wind turbines cause safety hazards, production losses and increased loads. This means that there is a need to develop a technique to quantify the icing climatology and corresponding eects on wind turbines to enable large scale wind power developments in the windy, sparesly populated areas of northern Sweden. This thesis is focused on evaluating the possibilities to estimate the long term icing climatology using mesoscale meteorological models in combination with existing ice models. The basis for the study were long term, low resolution time series from WRF and COAMPS in combination with high resolution, short term time series for the same geographical area, with the aim to nd a method for normal year correction of the icing climatology. A number of dierent methodologies for normal year correction of icing climatology were developed and evaluated using a few criteria: plausibility of the results, site dependency, sensitivity to data set used and sensitivity to the length of the time series used as reference. The ice modeling was performed using an implementation of the Makkonen algorithm for ice accretion. The normal year correction was performed using dierent theoretical reasoning and at dierent steps in the modeling. Linear regression of time series of standard meteorological parameters as well as of active ice hours and ice loads were tested. A method using iterative height adjustment of the parameters was developed as well as a basic method directly relating the high resolution modeled ice load to the low resolution modeled ice load. A method using averaged values for the dierent ice model input parameters was also tested. The evaluation showed promising results for the linear regression method. The dierent implementations showed feasible results and the outcome was not sensitive to the length of the correction basis. The height adjustment method was dicult to evaluate and was sensitive to the time series used as correction basis. The method using basic relations between high and low resolution parameters was extremely sensitive to the correction basis and the method based on averaged values did not show feasible results. Using active ice hours as basis for the normal year correction was shown to be preferable compared to using ice load. The conclusion drawn was that linear regression in combination with height adjustment to relate low resolution modeled icing climatology to high resolution icing climatology may be a promising tool. Development of the ice models used to estimate icing of wind turbines is needed, preferably a way to model ice directly on the wind turbine blades compared to the standard cylinder used in the Makkonen algorithm. Also, more reliable means to measure ice accretion are needed to enable further evaluation of the methods compared to the real icing climatology.
CARBENDAZIM ADSORPTION ON GRANULAR ACTIVATED CARBON OF COCONUT SHELL: OPTIMIZATION AND THERMODYNAMICS

The adsorption of the fungicide Carbendazim (CBZ) on granular activated carbon (GAC) of coconut shell was investigated through batch tests in deionized water. The most favorable conditions for the adsorption of CBZ were examined through the variation of the mass of GAC, temperature, and contact time. The Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was applied, seeking the best adsorption condition to optimize future tests. A thermodynamic analysis was carried out using the Van't Hoff method. The tests with the dosage of 10 mg of GAC and temperatures of 25º C and 30º C showed higher adsorption of the fungicide. The Freundlich isotherm adjusted best to the adsorption of the compound. The Freundlich intensity parameter had a result that contrasted with the value of ΔG regarding a spontaneous change. Physisorption predominates the adsorption of CBZ on GAC. It is an exothermic and spontaneous process that reduces the degree of disorder of the adsorbent/solution interface.