bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Explore Mother’s Educational Expectations and Aspirations: A Case from China
Authors: Liu HuiGuo
Published: July 2015

The research presented explores determinants of mother’s educational expectations and aspirations. In contrast to the effects of social economic status (SES) that have been examined in previous research, I have focused on a set of social psychological variables. With the help of data collected from the Gansu Survey of Children and Families, a survey of Chinese 9 to 12-year-old children in rural areas, I have analyzed mothers’ educational expectations and aspirations for their children using multinomial logistic regression. Evidence suggests important effects of personality (specifically confidence) and subjective economic status on mothers’ educational expectations. This lends support to the “pushed-from-behind” theory of attainment in which educational decisions are at least partly driven by opaque (beyond individual consciousness) social psychological mechanisms. The results call for further incorporation of social psychological variables into scholarship on educational decisions, and more generally, into the field of educational stratification. Moreover, the results also shed light on the theoretical and conceptual differentiation between educational expectations and aspirations.
Rancière: pedagogy and politics
Authors: Harris David Ernest
Published: July 2015

Rancière’s work on education is becoming widely known, but it must be understood in its context to avoid any misleadingly conventional readings and to grasp its general importance. The work on industrial history is obviously connected, but so are the more technical academic criticisms of Althusser, Bourdieu and Marx. These add considerably to conventional discussion by identifying a crucial contradiction between emancipatory goals and necessary hierarchies based on expertise.

 

Rancière’s work on aesthetics as a democratic arena has inspired some recent educational experiments in participation. His historical research can also be seen as providing support for current educational struggles against neoliberalism.

 

Rancière’s methods are assessed critically in turn, and the connections with Foucault can be seen to both unify the work overall and raise difficulties of its own.
The Status, Roles and Challenges of Teaching English Language in Ethiopia Context: the case of Selected Primary and Secondary Schools in Hawassa University Technology Village Area
Authors: Bachore Mebratu Mulatu
Published: July 2015

The main objectives of the study was to determine the status, roles and challenges of teaching English Language in Ethiopia Context, particularly in Selected Primary and Secondary Schools in Hawassa University Technology Village Area. The participants were English language and natural science teachers, students and school administrators. From Each secondary school, two, ten and two teachers, students and school administrators were selected respectively through random sampling. As a whole, 14 teachers, 46 students and 14 school administrators involved in the study. The research instruments employed to collect data were the questionnaire and interview. According to the results of the study, there were serious English language proficiency problems in the English teachers, students and teachers of other subjects in the area. The problems ranged from their ability of English language to their view which they were sharing to their students regarding the language. Similarly, results showed that teachers of other subjects ignore the language needs of students in content courses whenever they want to rush to cover the syllabus. When the root of the problems was discovered, there are various contributing factors such as poor capacity building activities, unavailability of opportunities to use the language except the English class. Hence, English language and other subject teachers should understand the learners’ need of English language and the challenges the face, and employ different techniques and strategies to alleviate the problems.
Descendants of Hardship: Prevalence, Drivers and Scarring Effects of Social Exclusion in Childhood
Authors: Vrooman J. Cok , Hoff Stella J. M. , Guiaux Maurice
Published: July 2015

The social exclusion of children is problematic for two reasons. Young people typically inherit their marginal position from their family, and therefore cannot be held responsible for their hardship themselves; and social exclusion in childhood may affect their wellbeing and subsequent development, possibly leading to a “scarring effect” in later life. In this contribution we develop an instrument for measuring social exclusion among children. Social exclusion is regarded as a theoretical construct with four sub-dimensions: material deprivation, limited social participation, inadequate access to social rights, and a lack of normative integration. First we analyse data from a survey of 2,200 Dutch children, which contains a large set of social exclusion items. We applied nonlinear principal components analysis in order to construct a multidimensional scale. Measured in this way, the prevalence of social exclusion among children is 4.5%. Boys and children living in large families are more likely to experience social exclusion than girls and children with few siblings. The parental level of education and dependency on social security benefits are also important driving factors of childhood social exclusion. Subsequently we investigate the scarring effect. Longitudinal administrative income and household data covering 25 years were combined with a new survey of just under 1,000 Dutch adults, a third of whom were poor as a child. The survey assessed their past and current degree of social exclusion, and their health and psychosocial development, educational career, past family circumstances, etc. In an absolute sense scarring turns out to have been limited during this period: a very large majority of those who were poor or excluded as a child are above the threshold values in adult life. However, the “descendants of hardship” are still more likely to be socially excluded as adults than people who grew up in more favourable conditions. A causal analysis suggests that low educational achievements are the main mediator of scarring risks.
The Development and Properties of the Support Needs Questionnaire
Authors: Davis Fabian A. , Burns Jan
Published: July 2015

The Support Needs Questionnaire (SNQ) measures the support people with severe mental illness need to attain valued social roles as a route to social inclusion. Its design derives from Wolfensberger’s Social Role Valorisation theory. It is a clinical tool comprising a comprehensive lifestyle inventory of “universal basic” and “disability” needs; and “revalorisation needs” arising from social devaluation and deep exclusion. The SNQ comprises eight discreet sub-scales based on O’Brien’s Five Service Accomplishments, the domains of which include Community Presence, Community Participation, Choice and Control, Social Roles and Respect, Skills and Competencies, and Finance. There are also two descriptive sub-scales: Physical and Mental Health. The item set was developed collaboratively with service users. This paper introduces the SNQ, its design rationale and development, and investigates aspects of its reliability, validity and utility. Care co-ordinators in a Community Mental Health Team rated eighty-two service users’ support needs at a two week interval using the SNQ, the Global Assessment Scale and the MARC-2. The SNQ is shown to have high test-retest reliability, good construct and concurrent validity, and good discriminatory power. It exhibited no floor or ceiling effects with the reference population. It could be used with a more diverse population. The descriptive sub-scales were weakest. The population profile showed moderate support was required for physical integration but high levels for social integration which is consistent with previous research. The SNQ has some good psychometric properties. Future research should address internal consistency and potential item redundancy, determine inter-rater reliability and change sensitivity.
Why Social Exclusion Persists among Older People in Australia
Authors: Miranti Riyana , Yu Peng
Published: July 2015

The existing literature on social exclusion among older people, though relatively limited, suggests that disadvantage among older people is cumulative in nature. Some aspects of disadvantage starting at early life stages have long-term consequences. As such, older people with disadvantages may be subject to higher risks of persistent social exclusion. This article aims to improve understanding of social exclusion and its persistence among senior Australians in three ways. Firstly, the incidence of social exclusion among older people is analysed using selected indicators. Secondly, the study examines whether an older person experiencing social exclusion at one time is more likely to experience it again (persistence). Thirdly, it investigates what factors may be protecting older people from social exclusion. The analysis is conducted using the first eight waves of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. The sample of older people is disaggregated into a younger group (55–64 years at wave 1) and an older group (65+ years). The article suggests that higher education and income, as well as better health conditions and previous employment experiences, are important protective factors from social exclusion for older Australians.
On the Properties of the Priority Deriving Procedure in the Pairwise Comparisons Method
Authors: Kułakowski Konrad
Published: July 2015

The pairwise comparisons method can be used when the relative order of preferences among different concepts (alternatives) needs to be determined. There are several popular implementations of this method, including the Eigenvector Method, the Least Squares Method, the Chi Squares Method and others. Each of the above methods comes with one or more inconsistency indices that help to decide whether the consistency of input guarantees obtaining a reliable output, thus taking the optimal decision.

This article explores the relationship between inconsistency of input and error of output. An error describes to what extent the obtained results correspond to the single expert’s assessments. On the basis of the inconsistency and the error, two properties of the weight deriving procedure are formulated. These properties are proven for eigenvector method and Koczkodaj’s inconsistency index. Several estimates using Koczkodaj’s inconsistency index for a principal eigenvalue, Saaty’s inconsistency index and the Condition of Order Preservation are also provided.
Soundness of Timed-Arc Workflow Nets in Discrete and Continuous-Time Semantics
Authors: Mateo José Antonio , Srba Jiří , Sørensen Mathias Grund
Published: July 2015

Analysis of workflow processes with quantitative aspects like timing is of interest in numerous time-critical applications. We suggest a workflow model based on timed-arc Petri nets and study the foundational problems of soundness and strong (time-bounded) soundness. We first consider the discrete-time semantics (integer delays) and explore the decidability of the soundness problems and show, among others, that soundness is decidable for monotonic workflow nets while reachability is undecidable. For general timed-arc workflow nets soundness and strong soundness become undecidable, though we can design efficient verification algorithms for the subclass of bounded nets. We also discuss the soundness problem in the continuous-time semantics (real-number delays) and show that for nets with nonstrict guards (where the reachability question coincides for both semantics) the soundness checking problem does not in general follow the approach for the discrete semantics and different zone-based techniques are needed for introducing its decidability in the bounded case. Finally, we demonstrate the usability of our theory on the case studies of a Brake System Control Unit used in aircraft certification, the MPEG2 encoding algorithm, and a blood transfusion workflow. The implementation of the algorithms is freely available as a part of the model checker TAPAAL (www.tapaal.net).
Shear strength of granular soils from the simulation of dynamic penetration tests
Authors: Lobo Bianca , Schnaid Fernando , Rocha Marcelo , Howie John
Published: July 2015

This paper presents a model for the numerical simulation of dynamic penetration tests in cohesionless soils. In the model, dynamic penetration equations are solved by finite difference analysis in the time domain to produce the discretization of the penetration system. The approach allows essential effects of the soil influence to be accounted for, including the dynamic soil resistance by viscous damping during penetration. The model performance has proved by comparisons between the static and dynamic resistance to reproduce the variation with time of measured force, velocity, displacement and energy associated with the interaction mechanism around split-spoon samplers when penetrating in the ground. A realistic representation of the dynamic penetration mechanism allows the internal friction angle of the soil to be estimated. The proposed methodology accounts for scale effects and produces values of φ′ within the same order of magnitude as those estimated from piezocone test data.
Analgesic and Neuropharmacological Activities of Methanol Extract from the Leaf of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia Viv.
Authors: Shahriar Mehedi , Chowdhury Sadia Afreen , Imam Mohammad Zafar , Datta Bidyut Kanti
Published: July 2015

The aim of study was to evaluate the analgesic and neuropharmacological activities of the leaf of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia. The central analgesic activity of the methanolic extract was evaluated in Swiss Albino mice by using tail immersion, hot plate and acetic acid-induced writhing tests at 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight. These tests showed significant analgesic activity of the extract compared to the standard drug, diclofenac-Na (1 mg/kg b.w.). The neuropharmacological activities were evaluated using hole cross, open field, light/dark box and elevated plus maze stage tests in mice model at 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight. The results of neuropharmacological assays demonstrated potential CNS depressant activity of the extract when compared to the standard drug, diazepam (1 mg/kg b.w.)Bangladesh Pharmaceutical Journal 18(2): 85-89, 2015
Preparation and Evaluation of Metronidazole Benzoate Periodontal Patches
Authors: Tasneem Farhana , Alam Marzia , Pathan Md Saiful Islam
Published: July 2015

Periodontitis is a serious gum disease that damages the soft tissue and destroys the bone that supports the teeth. According to WHO, globally 1520% of middle-aged (35-44 years) adults, suffer from severe periodontal (gum) diseases. Metronidazole benzoate is an antibacterial agent prescribed against different diseases including, periodontitis and several other protozoal infestations. The aim of this experiment was to formulate intrapocket periodontal patches of metronidazole benzoate to provide site specific therapeutic activity with very small loading dose. Nine (F1 to F9) formulations of metronidazole benzoate were prepared by solvent casting method using ethyl cellulose and Eudragit RLPO as polymers, dibutyl phthalate as plasticizer and alcohol and chloroform as solvent system. Various physicochemical evaluations including FTIR, Trinocular Microscopic images, folding endurance, surface pH and content uniformity were determined. All the batches revealed content uniformity between 94.0% to 98.0%. It was observed that the thickness and weight of the films were directly proportional to the total solid content of the film. F1 showed the lowest thickness and weight (232.5 ?m and 35.45 mg respectively) and F9 displayed the highest (864.7 ?m and 85.23 mg respectively). Folding endurance was directly proportional to the content of plasticizer. Formulation F3 was considered as the best formulation based on its transparent appearance, folding endurance (>200 times), surface pH (6-7) and 97.5% content uniformity.Bangladesh Pharmaceutical Journal 18(2): 97-102, 2015
Bioactivities of Chukrasia tabularis (A. Juss.)
Authors: Aktar Sharmin , Bilkiss Marzia , Tahia Faiza , Sikder Md Al Amin , Rashid Ridwan B , Rashid Mohammad A
Published: July 2015

The methanol extracts of bark and leaves of Chukrasia tabularis and their organic and aqueous soluble materials were subjected to screenings for antioxidant, cytotoxic, thrombolytic, membrane stabilizing, antimicrobial, analgesic and antidiarrhoel activities. In the DPPH free radical scavenging assay, the methanolic extract of bark of C. tabularis and the aqueous soluble fraction of methanol extract of leaves of C. tabularis revealed the highest free radical scavenging activity with IC50 values of 2.95 ?g/ml and 5.31 ?g/ml, respectively. The pet ether soluble fraction of methanolic extract of leaves and bark of C. tabularis displayed the highest cytotoxic potential having LC50 values 0.0167 ?g/ml and 3.89 ?g/ml, as compared to standard vincristine sulphate (LC50 value of 0.45 ?g/ml). During thrombolytic assay, the aqueous soluble fraction of leaves and carbon tetrachloride soluble fraction of bark of C. tabularis showed 34.04% and 56.37% clot lysis, respectively. In the membrane stabilizing assay, the carbontetrachloride and aqueous soluble materials of methanol extract of leaf inhibited 21.03% and 49.68% hypotonic solution- and heat-induced haemolysis of RBC, respectively. The crude extract of leaves of C. tabularis exhibited mild antibacterial activity, while that of leaves and bark revealed significant central analgesic activity at 400 mg/kg body weight. The crude extracts demonstrated significant peripheral analgesic activity at 200- and 400- mg/kg body weight. On the other hand, the crude extract of leaves of C. tabularis revealed significant antidiarrhoel activity.Bangladesh Pharmaceutical Journal 18(2): 126-131, 2015
Response to Intervention at the Secondary Education Level
Authors: Epler Pam L.
Published: July 2015

The Response to Intervention (RTI) service delivery model has been incorporated into elementary schools throughout the United States. This multi-tiered model has been found to assist struggling students in all academic areas through the use of research-based instructional strategies. Because of its success at the elementary level, more and more secondary education institutions are turning to RTI as a viable model that can help students achieve academic success. This chapter provides a history of how the RTI model was established in American elementary schools as well as an overview of how it can be implemented into the secondary educational environment. The chapter also describes the components required for successful implementation along with challenges facing middle and high schools when using the model. This type of service delivery model is a new way of teaching within the secondary educational arena but has been shown to be extremely effective if implemented correctly.
Implementing Secondary RTI Models
Authors: Porter Susan G.
Published: July 2015

This chapter explores the critical role that superintendents, principals, and other school leaders play in the effective implementation of secondary Response to Intervention (RTI) models in schools and school districts. This chapter also outlines the unique challenges that school leaders often encounter in their efforts to implement RTI reforms in secondary schools, including the unique culture and structure of secondary schools, the mindset and perspectives of secondary teachers, and the complexity of secondary students and their academic challenges. Finally, through research-supported frameworks (e.g., teacher efficacy, distributed leadership models, and educational change process models), this chapter offers tools and strategies for educational leaders who are undergoing RTI reforms in their secondary schools.
Assistive Technology as Instructional Supports for Response to Intervention
Authors: Curtis Mary G.
Published: July 2015

This chapter examines current technology that may be used to enhance the learning process. Although technology changes rapidly on a near-daily basis, the hardware and software discussed here are currently available and being used to assist teachers in their presentations and to assist students in their learning. Assistive technology provides a unique manner in which to give students instructional supports in the classroom. From introducing new concepts to providing interactive repetition to alternative modes of assessment, technology has changed the modern-day classroom. Middle school and high school teachers clearly focus on their specific content area, but they may have trouble assisting students who exhibit learning problems. The technology in this chapter has been chosen specifically to satisfy that purpose.
RTI and Reading at the Secondary Level
Authors: Hall Carol , Mahoney Jamie
Published: July 2015

Response to Intervention (RTI) provides a framework for effective prevention and intervention to students who have difficulty reading at all achievement levels by using a school-wide, tiered system. RTI is the means for helping struggling students become successful readers before they have a chance to fall behind. Using evidence-based reading strategies within multiple classrooms such as the inclusive classroom or the resource classroom provides students with learning disabilities the opportunity to succeed in all content areas while applying these reading strategies. All teachers can use these strategies to assist the at-risk and struggling reader make progress. The purpose of this chapter is to share research, resources, and reading instructional methods appropriate for students at the secondary level that can help them meet their academic needs.
The Role of Writing in RTI at the Secondary Level
Authors: Herring Dawn S.
Published: July 2015

A focus on teaching effective written communication skills is a necessity in our nation's schools. Students need to develop good writing skills not only to ensure academic success but also to later thrive in the workplace and in society as a whole. For struggling writers, difficulties with written communication that emerged during elementary school will persist into middle school, high school, and beyond if effective interventions are not employed. Implementing a Response to Intervention (RTI) literacy model that promotes the integration of writing across the curriculum can help schools make huge strides in improving the motivations, skills, and outcomes of struggling writers. This chapter presents specific elements of effective writing instruction as well as instructional strategies that can be employed within an RTI framework to assist struggling writers school wide. The focus is on informing not only English/language arts teachers but also content area teachers on research-based classroom writing supports.
Response to Intervention in Middle and High School Mathematics
Authors: Patterson Lynn Gannon , Musselman Meagan
Published: July 2015

Secondary schools are complex in structure and are challenged daily to provide high-quality, effective Response to Intervention (RTI) models in their school settings. RTI must be handled very differently in a middle or high school compared to an elementary school, and larger numbers of students, stricter time constraints, lack of resources, and larger academic gaps are among the typical obstacles secondary teachers face, including math teachers. However, there are RTI models that will work well in math classes, including the Adolescent Mathematics Intervention Structure (AMIS), which focuses on providing motivation, opportunities for academic discourse, cooperative learning, and a positive mathematical classroom environment. Additionally, students thrive in a mathematical learning environment that includes a focus on multiple representations for the mathematics, manipulatives, and targeted learning centers designed specifically for middle and high school students. This chapter focuses on discussing AMIS and providing recommendations for its implementation in secondary math classes.
Science, Social Studies, and RTI
Authors: Brooks Louise
Published: July 2015

The Response to Intervention (RTI) service delivery model has been used primarily in the secondary language arts (reading) academic content area and in the various math courses. RTI has rarely, if at all, been introduced in secondary science and social science courses, even though students are struggling in these courses due to the increase in reading and math content embedded within them. This chapter focuses on implementation of RTI in science and social studies courses at the secondary level. The utilization of a universal screener, tiers, progress monitoring, and fidelity is discussed, followed by a presentation of specific examples of research-based interventions that can be used at each tier level in the science and social sciences content areas.
RTI in Career and Technical Education
Authors: Remsen Mary Ann
Published: July 2015

Successful implementation of Response to Intervention (RTI) models at the secondary level is dependent on school-wide execution. However, because academic content is the primary focus of secondary educators, little attention has been focused on how to integrate RTI within elective courses, such as career and technical education courses. This chapter examines RTI practices at the secondary level with a focus on school-wide implementation to include career and technical education courses. RTI components and protocols, a proposed revised RTI framework and inclusive elements, and specific intervention strategies are discussed, all as they specifically relate to career and technical education. The information presented herein will be useful for educators seeking to improve RTI outcomes through school-wide integration of intervention strategies.
English Language Learners and the Response to Intervention Model
Authors: Higgins Melissa Christine
Published: July 2015

English language learners (ELLs) are often misdiagnosed as having a learning disability or speech and language impairment and as a result are placed into special education programs. Response to Intervention (RTI) is a framework that can reduce this misdiagnosis and help these learners achieve more over time. This chapter explains how some of this misdiagnosis occurs and how to use Response to Intervention with the ELL population to overcome this problem. It includes research-based interventions proven to work for this population, suggestions on how to implement an RTI model, and case studies of students who represent situations that often come up in the field. With successful implementation of an RTI program, it is hoped that all students will receive the targeted support that they need and deserve.
High School Turnaround
Authors: Stobaugh Rebecca , Chandler Wanda G. , White Crystal
Published: July 2015

After implementing Response to Intervention (RTI), a high school in a rural Kentucky community made a dramatic turnaround within 2 years after establishing structures to support both teachers and students. The principal, special education director, other administrators, district personnel, school improvement specialists, teacher leaders, interventionists (i.e., a high school content area specialist), and school faculty implemented changes that were responsible for the turnaround. High expectations, a positive school culture, professional development, guided planning, student assessment, data analysis, research-based intervention programs, and a systems change approach are some of the contributions that led to widespread improvements at the school level and in individual student gains.
Teacher Insight on RTI Implementation at the Middle and High School Levels
Authors: Epler Pam L.
Published: July 2015

The Response to Intervention (RTI) service delivery model has been incorporated at the elementary school level with success but is still lagging behind within the secondary school environment. This chapter demonstrates how two secondary schools, one a middle school and the other a high school, implemented the RTI model efficiently and effectively. The chapter shows that the RTI model can be successfully executed in different ways depending on a school's needs, funding, and personnel. The chapter provides details on the diagnostic practices, data collection methods, intervention strategies, administrative support, and professional development of each implemented model and includes insight from actual teachers and school counselors who participated in the implementations. A reflection on lessons learned from each school site is included.
Ongoing Issues Surrounding RTI
Authors: Chandler Wanda G.
Published: July 2015

Despite federal and state mandates regarding the use of the Response to Intervention (RTI) service delivery model and its widespread adoption in school districts across the nation, many issues still surround the model and its implementation, particularly at the secondary level. This chapter focuses on some of the more prevalent issues, including the importance of determining whether the RTI model as a whole is effective within middle and high school educational environments, how much time students should spend within each tier, how the roles of certain school personnel have changed with the implementation of the RTI model, the importance of providing transition services for all struggling students within RTI, how involved parents should be in the RTI process, how assessments are conducted within the model, and how gifted and talented students fit into the model.
Conceptualizing a Real-Time Remote Cardiac Health Monitoring System
Authors: Page Alex , Hassanalieragh Moeen , Soyata Tolga , Aktas Mehmet K. , Kantarci Burak , Andreescu Silvana
Published: July 2015

In today's technology, even leading medical institutions diagnose their cardiac patients through ECG recordings obtained at healthcare organizations (HCO), which are costly to obtain and may miss significant clinically-relevant information. Existing long-term patient monitoring systems (e.g., Holter monitors) provide limited information about the evolution of deadly cardiac conditions and lack interactivity in case there is a sudden degradation in the patient's health condition. A standardized and scalable system does not currently exist to monitor an expanding set of patient vitals that a doctor can prescribe to monitor. The design of such a system will translate to significant healthcare savings as well as drastic improvements in diagnostic accuracy. In this chapter, we will propose a concept system for real-time remote cardiac health monitoring, based on available and emerging technologies today. We will analyze the details of such a system from acquisition to visualization of medical data.
Energy Efficient Real-Time Distributed Communication Architectures for Military Tactical Communication Systems
Authors: Karaoglu Bora , Numanoglu Tolga , Tavli Bulent , Heinzelman Wendi
Published: July 2015

For military communication systems, it is important to achieve robust and energy efficient real-time communication among a group of mobile users without the support of a pre-existing infrastructure. Furthermore, these communication systems must support multiple communication modes, such as unicast, multicast, and network-wide broadcast, to serve the varied needs in military communication systems. One use for these military communication systems is in support of real-time mobile cloud computing, where the response time is of utmost importance; therefore, satisfying real-time communication requirements is crucial. In this chapter, we present a brief overview of military tactical communications and networking (MTCAN). As an important example of MTCAN, we present the evolution of the TRACE family of protocols, describing the design of the TRACE protocols according to the tactical communications and networking requirements. We conclude the chapter by identifying how the TRACE protocols can enable mobile cloud computing within military communication systems.
Sensing as a Service in Cloud-Centric Internet of Things Architecture
Authors: Kantarci Burak , Mouftah Hussein T.
Published: July 2015

Sensing-as-a-Service (S2aaS) is a cloud-inspired service model which enables access to the Internet of Things (IoT) architecture. The IoT denotes virtually interconnected objects that are uniquely identifiable, and are capable of sensing, computing and communicating. Built-in sensors in mobile devices can leverage the performance of IoT applications in terms of energy and communication overhead savings by sending their data to the cloud servers. Sensed data from mobile devices can be accessed by IoT applications on a pay-as-you-go fashion. Efficient sensing service provider search techniques are emerging components of this architecture, and they should be accompanied with effective sensing provider recruitment algorithms. Furthermore, reliability and trustworthiness of participatory sensed data appears as a big challenge. This chapter provides an overview of the state of the art in S2aaS systems, and reports recent proposals to address the most crucial challenges. Furthermore, the chapter points out the open issues and future directions for the researchers in this field.
Volunteer Computing on Mobile Devices
Authors: Tapparello Cristiano , Funai Colin , Hijazi Shurouq , Aquino Abner , Karaoglu Bora , Ba He , Shi Jiye , Heinzelman Wendi
Published: July 2015

Different forms of parallel computing have been proposed to address the high computational requirements of many applications. Building on advances in parallel computing, volunteer computing has been shown to be an efficient way to exploit the computational resources of under utilized devices that are available around the world. The idea of including mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, in existing volunteer computing systems has recently been investigated. In this chapter, we present the current state of the art in the mobile volunteer computing research field, where personal mobile devices are the elements that perform the computation. Starting from the motivations and challenges behind the adoption of personal mobile devices as computational resources, we then provide a literature review of the different architectures that have been proposed to support parallel computing on mobile devices. Finally, we present some open issues that need to be investigated in order to extend user participation and improve the overall system performance for mobile volunteer computing.
Selling FLOPs
Authors: Powers Nathaniel , Soyata Tolga
Published: July 2015

To meet the user demand for an ever-increasing mobile-cloud computing performance for resource-intensive mobile applications, we propose a new service architecture called Acceleration as a Service (AXaaS). We formulate AXaaS based on the observation that most resource-intensive applications, such as real-time face-recognition and augmented reality, have similar resource-demand characteristics: a vast majority of the program execution time is spent on a limited set of library calls, such as Generalized Matrix-Multiply operations (GEMM), or FFT. Our AXaaS model suggests accelerating only these operations by the Telecom Service Providers (TSP). We envision the TSP offering this service through a monthly computational service charge, much like their existing monthly bandwidth charge. We demonstrate the technological and business feasibility of AXaaS on a proof-of-concept real-time face recognition application. We elaborate on the consumer, developer, and the TSP view of this model. Our results confirm AXaaS as a novel and viable business model.
Hardware and Software Aspects of VM-Based Mobile-Cloud Offloading
Authors: Song Yang , Wang Haoliang , Soyata Tolga
Published: July 2015

To allow mobile devices to support resource intensive applications beyond their capabilities, mobile-cloud offloading is introduced to extend the resources of mobile devices by leveraging cloud resources. In this chapter, we will survey the state-of-the-art in VM-based mobile-cloud offloading techniques including their software and architectural aspects in detail. For the software aspects, we will provide the current improvements to different layers of various virtualization systems, particularly focusing on mobile-cloud offloading. Approaches at different offloading granularities will be reviewed and their advantages and disadvantages will be discussed. For the architectural support aspects of the virtualization, three platforms including Intel x86, ARM and NVidia GPUs will be reviewed in terms of their special architectural designs to accommodate virtualization and VM-based offloading.
A Tutorial on Network Latency and Its Measurements
Authors: Kwon Minseok
Published: July 2015

Internet latency is crucial in providing reliable and efficient networked services when servers are placed in geographically diverse locations. The trend of mobile, cloud, and distributed computing accelerates the importance of accurate latency measurement due to its nature of rapidly changing locations and interactivity. Accurately measuring latency, however, is not easy due to lack of testing resources, the sheer volume of collected data points, the tedious and repetitive aspect of measurement practice, clock synchronization, and network dynamics. This chapter discusses the techniques that use PlanetLab to measure latency in the Internet, its underlying infrastructure, representative latency results obtained from experiments, and how to use these measure latencies. The chapter covers 1) details of using PlanetLab, 2) the Internet infrastructure that causes the discrepancy between local and global latencies, and 3) measured latency results from our own experiments and analysis on the distributions, averages, and their implications.
Operational Cost of Running Real-Time Mobile Cloud Applications
Authors: Kocabas Ovunc , Gyampoh-Vidogah Regina , Soyata Tolga
Published: July 2015

This chapter describes the concepts and cost models used for determining the cost of providing cloud services to mobile applications using different pricing models. Two recently implemented mobile-cloud applications are studied in terms of both the cost of providing such services by the cloud operator, and the cost of operating them by the cloud user. Computing resource requirements of both applications are identified and worksheets are presented to demonstrate how businesses can estimate the operational cost of implementing such real-time mobile cloud applications at a large scale, as well as how much cloud operators can profit from providing resources for these applications. In addition, the nature of available service level agreements (SLA) and the importance of quality of service (QoS) specifications within these SLAs are emphasized and explained for mobile cloud application deployment.
Theoretical Foundation and GPU Implementation of Face Recognition
Authors: Dixon William , Powers Nathaniel , Song Yang , Soyata Tolga
Published: July 2015

Enabling a machine to detect and recognize faces requires significant computational power. This particular system of face recognition makes use of OpenCV (Computer Vision) libraries while leveraging Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) to accelerate the process towards real-time. The processing and recognition algorithms are best sorted into three distinct steps: detection, projection, and search. Each of these steps has unique computational characteristics and requirements driving performance. In particular, the detection and projection processes can be accelerated significantly with GPU usage due to the data types and arithmetic types associated with the algorithms, such as matrix manipulation. This chapter provides a survey of the three main processes and how they contribute to the overarching recognition process.
Au-ACRAMTU-PEt3 Alters Redox Balance To Inhibit T Cell Proliferation and Function
Authors: Langston P. Kent , Yang Mu , Bierbach Ulrich , Parsonage Derek , Poole Leslie B. , Price Madeline J. , Grayson Jason M.
Published: July 2015

Although T cells play a critical role in protection from viruses, bacteria, and tumors, they also cause autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis. Unwanted T cell responses during organ transplant, graft-versus-host disease, and allergies are also major clinical problems. Although drugs are available to suppress unwanted immune responses, they have limited efficacy with serious side effects. Thus, new therapeutics limiting T cell activation, proliferation, and function can make an immediate clinical impact. To identify new suppressors of lymphocyte activation, proliferation, and function, we examined the immunosuppressive activity of gold(I) analogs of platinum-acridine antitumor agents. We found that the gold complex Au-ACRAMTU-PEt3 is a potent suppressor of murine and human T cell activation. Preincubation with Au-ACRAMTU-PEt3 suppresses the proliferation of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells at a similar concentration as pharmaceutical grade cyclosporine A. Au-ACRAMTU-PEt3 pretreatment decreases the production of IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-2, and IL-17 by human and murine CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. When mice were treated with Au-ACRAMTU-PEt3 during viral infection, the expansion of virus-specific CD8+ T cells was decreased 10-fold and viral load was elevated. Taken together, these results demonstrate that Au-ACRAMTU-PEt3 has potent immunosuppressive activity that could be used to suppress immune responses during transplantation and autoimmunity.
Nucleotide-Induced Membrane-Proximal Proteolysis Controls the Substrate Specificity of T Cell Ecto–ADP-Ribosyltransferase ARTC2.2
Authors: Menzel Stephan , Rissiek Björn , Bannas Peter , Jakoby Thomas , Miksiewicz Maria , Schwarz Nicole , Nissen Marion , Haag Friedrich , Tholey Andreas , Koch-Nolte Friedrich
Published: July 2015

ARTC2.2 is a toxin-related, GPI-anchored ADP-ribosyltransferase expressed by murine T cells. In response to NAD+ released from damaged cells during inflammation, ARTC2.2 ADP-ribosylates and thereby gates the P2X7 ion channel. This induces ectodomain shedding of metalloprotease-sensitive cell surface proteins. In this study, we show that ARTC2.2 itself is a target for P2X7-triggered ectodomain shedding. We identify the metalloprotease cleavage site 3 aa upstream of the predicted GPI anchor attachment site of ARTC2.2. Intravenous injection of NAD+ increased the level of enzymatically active ARTC2.2 in serum, indicating that this mechanism is operative also under inflammatory conditions in vivo. Radio–ADP-ribosylation assays reveal that shedding refocuses the target specificity of ARTC2.2 from membrane proteins to secretory proteins. Our results uncover nucleotide-induced membrane-proximal proteolysis as a regulatory mechanism to control the substrate specificity of ARTC2.2.
The T Cell Repertoire–Diversifying Enzyme TSSP Contributes to Thymic Selection of Diabetogenic CD4 T Cell Specificities Reactive to ChgA and IAPP Autoantigens
Authors: Viret Christophe , Mahiddine Karim , Baker Rocky Lee , Haskins Kathryn , Guerder Sylvie
Published: July 2015

Multiple studies highlighted the overtly self-reactive T cell repertoire in the diabetes-prone NOD mouse. This autoreactivity has primarily been linked to defects in apoptosis induction during central tolerance. Previous studies suggested that thymus-specific serine protease (TSSP), a putative serine protease expressed by cortical thymic epithelial cells and thymic dendritic cells, may edit the repertoire of self-peptides presented by MHC class II molecules and shapes the self-reactive CD4 T cell repertoire. To gain further insight into the role of TSSP in the selection of self-reactive CD4 T cells by endogenous self-Ags, we examined the development of thymocytes expressing distinct diabetogenic TCRs sharing common specificity in a thymic environment lacking TSSP. Using mixed bone marrow chimeras, we evaluated the effect of TSSP deficiency confined to different thymic stromal cells on the differentiation of thymocytes expressing the chromogranin A–reactive BDC-2.5 and BDC-10.1 TCRs or the islet amyloid polypeptide–reactive TCR BDC-6.9 and BDC-5.2.9. We found that TSSP deficiency resulted in deficient positive selection and induced deletion of the BDC-6.9 and BDC-10.1 TCRs, but it did not affect the differentiation of the BDC-2.5 and BDC-5.2.9 TCRs. Hence, TSSP has a subtle role in the generation of self-peptide ligands directing diabetogenic CD4 T cell development. These results provide additional evidence for TSSP activity as a novel mechanism promoting autoreactive CD4 T cell development/accumulation in the NOD mouse.
Reshaping of Human Macrophage Polarization through Modulation of Glucose Catabolic Pathways
Authors: Izquierdo Elena , Cuevas Víctor Delgado , Fernández-Arroyo Salvador , Riera-Borrull Marta , Orta-Zavalza Emmanuel , Joven Jorge , Rial Eduardo , Corbi Angel L. , Escribese María M.
Published: July 2015

Macrophages integrate information from the tissue microenvironment and adjust their effector functions according to the prevalent extracellular stimuli. Therefore, macrophages can acquire a variety of activation (polarization) states, and this functional plasticity allows the adequate initiation, regulation, and resolution of inflammatory responses. Modulation of the glucose metabolism contributes to the macrophage adaptation to the surrounding cytokine milieu, as exemplified by the distinct glucose catabolism of macrophages exposed to LPS/IFN-γ or IL-4. To dissect the acquisition of macrophage effector functions in the absence of activating cytokines, we assessed the bioenergetic profile of macrophages generated in the presence of GM-CSF (GM-MØ) or M-CSF (M-MØ), which do not release pro- or anti-inflammatory cytokines unless subjected to additional activating stimuli. Compared to M-MØ, GM-MØ displayed higher oxygen consumption rate and aerobic glycolysis (extracellular acidification rate [ECAR]), as well as higher expression of genes encoding glycolytic enzymes. However, M-MØ exhibited a significantly higher oxygen consumption rate/ECAR ratio. Surprisingly, whereas aerobic glycolysis positively regulated IL1B, TNF, and INHBA mRNA expression in both macrophage subtypes, mitochondrial respiration negatively affected IL6, IL1B, TNF, and CXCL10 mRNA expression in M-MØ. The physiological significance of these results became evident under low oxygen tensions, as hypoxia enhanced ECAR in M-MØ via HIF-1α and HIF-2α, increased expression of glycolytic enzymes and GM-MØ–specific genes, and diminished expression of M-MØ–associated genes. Therefore, our data indicate that GM-MØ and M-MØ display distinct bioenergetic profiles, and that hypoxia triggers a transcriptomic switch in macrophages by promoting a HIF-1α/HIF-2α-dependent increase in ECAR.