Polygonal broadcast, secret maturity, and the firing sensors

This work considers communication among sensors that are deployed in a geographic region. Each sensor is a computing device with severe resource limitations, low power, slow processing and small memory. The devices are distributed (uniformly) in the geographic region. In this work we present self-stabilizing broadcast, flooding and sense of direction procedures that fit the special characteristics of the system. Imaginary polygon tilings are presented as a general scheme for supporting communication in sensor networks. Broadcasting is a common way of communicating in ad hoc mobile networks such as sensor networks. We present broadcast procedures and show how they are used by a sensor for broadcasting globally and locally, achieving sense of direction and distributing secrets that activate the sensors simultaneously at a particular time without revealing the nature of the upcoming activity.     

Evaluating Semi-Exhaustive Verification Techniques for Bug Hunting

We propose a methodology to evaluate a rich set of BDD subsetting heuristics with respect to bug hunting and apply it to a set of real-life Intel designs. Our results illustrate that the evaluation metrics used to rate these heuristics in previous work were not tuned for bug-finding efficiency, which we believe is the major criterion that the heuristics need to meet.     

Predicting One's Own Forgetting: The Role of Experience-Based and Theory-Based Processes.

The authors examined the hypothesis that judgments of learning (JOL), if governed by processing fluency during encoding, should be insensitive to the anticipated retention interval. Indeed, neither item-by-item nor aggregate JOLs exhibited "forgetting" unless participants were asked to estimate recall rates for several different retention intervals, in which case their estimates mimicked closely actual recall rates. These results and others reported suggest that participants can access their knowledge about forgetting but only when theory-based predictions are made, and then only when the notion of forgetting is accentuated either by manipulating retention interval within individuals or by framing recall predictions in terms of forgetting rather than remembering. The authors interpret their findings in terms of the distinction between experience-based and theory-based JOLs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Processed Tissue–Derived Extracellular Matrices: Tailored Platforms Empowering Diverse Therapeutic Applications

Tissue‐derived decellularized extracellular matrices (dECM) have gradually become the gold standard of scaffolds for tissue engineering, owing to their close mirroring of the intricate composition, architecture, and topology of the native extracellular matrix (ECM). Intriguingly, further manipulation of these acellular tissues through various processing techniques has been demonstrated to be an effective strategy to control their characteristics and impart them with ample valuable new traits, thereby expanding their applicability to a significantly wider spectrum of research and translational applications. Herein, state‐of‐the‐art processed dECM platforms and their potential applications are focused on. The ECM characteristics that make it so appealing for tissue engineering are presented, followed by a concise discussion on the main considerations for choosing a dECM source for such applications. The key methodologies for dECM processing, including hydrogel production, bioprinting, electrospinning, and production of porous scaffolds, microcarriers, and microcapsules, as well as their inherent advantages and challenges, are introduced. To demonstrate the use of processed dECM platforms for tissue engineering, selected in vivo and in vitro applications recently developed utilizing these platforms are highlighted. Finally, concluding remarks and a prospective outlook for future developments and improvements in the field of processed dECM‐based devices are given.     

Electrospun Extracellular Matrix: Paving the Way to Tailor‐Made Natural Scaffolds for Cardiac Tissue Regeneration

Biomimetic scaffolds generally aim at structurally and compositionally imitating native tissue, thus providing a supportive microenvironment to the transplanted or recruited cells in the tissue. Native decellularized porcine extracellular matrix (ECM) is becoming the ultimate bioactive material for the regeneration of different organs. Particularly for cardiac regeneration, ECM is studied as a patch and injectable scaffolds, which improve cardiac function, yet lack reproducibility and are difficult to control or fine‐tune for the desired properties, like most natural materials. Seeking to harness the natural advantages of ECM in a reproducible, scalable, and controllable scaffold, for the first time, a matrix that is produced from whole decellularized porcine cardiac ECM using electrospinning technology, is developed. This unique electrospun cardiac ECM mat preserves the composition of ECM, self‐assembles into the same microstructure of cardiac ECM ,and ,above all, preserves key cardiac mechanical properties. It supports cell growth and function, and demonstrates biocompatibility in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, this work reveals the great potential of electrospun ECM‐based platforms for a wide span of biomedical applications, thus offering the possibility to produce complex natural materials as tailor‐made, well‐defined structures.     

Extracellular Matrix Hydrogels Originated from Different Organs Mediate Tissue-Specific Properties and Function

Porcine extracellular matrix (pECM)-derived hydrogels were introduced, in recent years, aiming to benefit the pECM’s microstructure and bioactivity, while controlling the biomaterial’s physical and mechanical properties. The use of pECM from different tissues, however, offers tissue-specific features that can better serve different applications. In this study, pECM hydrogels derived from cardiac, artery, pancreas, and adipose tissues were compared in terms of composition, structure, and mechanical properties. While major similarities were demonstrated between all the pECM hydrogels, their distinctive attributes were also identified, and their substantial effects on cell-ECM interactions were revealed. Furthermore, through comprehensive protein and gene expression analyses, we show, for the first time, that each pECM hydrogel supports the spontaneous differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells towards the resident cells of its origin tissue. These findings imply that the origin of ECM should be carefully considered when designing a biomedical platform, to achieve a maximal bioactive impact.     

Integrated thermal effects of generic built forms and vegetation on the UCL microclimate

This paper presents a tool for quantifying the integrated thermal effect of built forms and of vegetation on the urban canopy layer (UCL) climate in design built-up alternatives. Three generic models were studied, representing the most common types of residential urban street: (a) the street form, a conventional type, with spacing between the houses, (b) the canyon form—a limiting case of the street form, (c) the courtyard house form. Recessed colonnades in streets and courtyards were considered in this study as the fourth generic model. The four models were analyzed hierarchically from shallow open spaces to deep ones. For each studied case, the built form effect, the vegetation effect and the colonnade effect were estimated using simulated data generated by the analytical Green CTTC model recently developed by the authors. Emphasis in this study is on the UCL air temperature variation at midday, in summer, in a hot-humid region, near the Mediterranean Sea coast (31–32 °N). Eighty-six simulations were generated for estimating the various thermal effects. In addition, 100 experimental observations at 11 urban wooded sites were analyzed to confirm the simulated effect of the trees. Statistical analysis indicates that each of the thermal effects of the built form, vegetation and of the colonnade can be explained each by one linear relationship, common to all the studied built-up generic models, to a high degree of accuracy and confidence level. This provides a useful general design tool, as opposed to the analysis of a particular simulated case, to assess the potential thermal effects of control variables in different building configurations. The study also considers the extent of the thermal effects of built form, vegetation and colonnades, in streets and in courtyards. These effects are shown to depend, each on the envelope ratio, an overall geometry factor, and thus are interdependent.     

Exploring a mnemonic debiasing account of the underconfidence-with-practice effect.

Judgments of learning (JOLs) underestimate the increase in recall that occurs with repeated study (the underconfidence-with-practice effect; UWP). The authors explore an account in terms of a foresight bias in which JOLs are inflated when the to-be-recalled target highlights aspects of the cue that are not transparent when the cue appears alone and the tendency of practice to alleviate bias by providing learners with cues pertinent to recall. In 3 experiments the UWP effect was strongest for items that induce a foresight bias, but delaying JOLs reduced the debiasing effects of practice, thereby moderating the UWP effect. This occurred when delayed JOLs were prompted by the cue alone (like during testing), not when prompted by the cue-target pair (like during study). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Choice Gap: The Divergent Online News Preferences of Journalists and Consumers

This study examines 4 online news sites to compare stories that journalists display most prominently with stories consumers read most frequently. We find that journalists' chosen stories are “soft” with respect to subject matter but not story format, and that these choices diverge from consumers' choices, resulting in a choice gap. The study design makes important methodological contributions by using the story as the unit of analysis, operationalizing “soft news” in terms of subject matter as well as format, and considering the influence of journalists' and consumers' choices on each other. This article discusses the implications of the findings on such issues as the dynamics of agenda setting, the prospects for consumer‐authored content, and the watchdog function of the media.