Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Low-power techniques for video decoding

The H.264 video coding standard can deliver high compression efficiency at a cost of large complexity and power. The increasing popularity of video capture and playback on portable devices requires that the energy of the video processing be kept to a minimum. This work implements several architecture optimizations that reduce the system power of a high-definition video decoder. In order to decode high resolutions at low voltages and low frequencies, we employ techniques such as pipelining, unit parallelism, multiple cores, and multiple voltage/frequency domains. For example, a 3-core decoder can reduce the required clock frequency by 2.91 ×, which enables a power reduction of 61% relative to a full-voltage single-core decoder. To reduce the total memory system power, several caching techniques are demonstrated that can dramatically reduce the off-chip memory bandwidth and power at the cost of increased chip area. A 123 kB data-forwarding cache can reduce the read bandwidth from external memory by 53%, which leads to 44% power savings in the memory reads. To demonstrate these low-power ideas, a H.264/AVC Baseline Level 3.2 decoder ASIC was fabricated in 65 nm CMOS and verified. It operates down to 0.7 V and has a measured power down to 1.8 mW when decoding a high definition 720p video at 30 frames per second, which is over an order of magnitude lower than previously published results. Thesis Supervisor: Anantha Chandrakasan Title: Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Auditory streaming and listening effort: An event related potential study

Until now, an objective method to estimate listening effort with a minimum level of cooperation of the patient in order to fit hearing aids is not existent. The benefit of such a method would be to reduce the listening effort in hearing impaired persons by an adequate adaption of the hearing aids. Recently, we have shown that the wavelet phase synchronization stability (WPSS) of auditory late responses could serve as a measure to estimate listening effort. In this paper, we extend our previous studies by using for the first time syllable stimulation paradigms with two levels of difficulty due to the combination of the syllables. Furthermore, by taking the model of auditory stream selection into account, the complexity of the paradigms was enhanced by the generation of a second competing auditory stream beside the syllable stream. This stream consisted of multitalker babble noise at two different signal to noise ratios in order to mimic noisy environments. The data was collected from a total of 21 normal hearing subjects, who had always to detect a target syllable. It is concluded, that the WPSS is a robust measure to perceive differences between the effort needed to solve a task in an easy and a difficult listening condition. However, a further research will be to test hearing impaired persons to prove, if this electrophysiological method could be applied to improve the hearing aid fitting procedures in clinical settings.
The Immune System GTPase GIMAP6 Interacts with the Atg8 Homologue GABARAPL2 and Is Recruited to Autophagosomes

The GIMAPs (GTPases of the immunity-associated proteins) are a family of small GTPases expressed prominently in the immune systems of mammals and other vertebrates. In mammals, studies of mutant or genetically-modified rodents have indicated important roles for the GIMAP GTPases in the development and survival of lymphocytes. No clear picture has yet emerged, however, of the molecular mechanisms by which they perform their function(s). Using biotin tag-affinity purification we identified a major, and highly specific, interaction between the human cytosolic family member GIMAP6 and GABARAPL2, one of the mammalian homologues of the yeast autophagy protein Atg8. Chemical cross-linking studies performed on Jurkat T cells, which express both GIMAP6 and GABARAPL2 endogenously, indicated that the two proteins in these cells readily associate with one another in the cytosol under normal conditions. The GIMAP6-GABARAPL2 interaction was disrupted by deletion of the last 10 amino acids of GIMAP6. The N-terminal region of GIMAP6, however, which includes a putative Atg8-family interacting motif, was not required. Over-expression of GIMAP6 resulted in increased levels of endogenous GABARAPL2 in cells. After culture of cells in starvation medium, GIMAP6 was found to localise in punctate structures with both GABARAPL2 and the autophagosomal marker MAP1LC3B, indicating that GIMAP6 re-locates to autophagosomes on starvation. Consistent with this finding, we have demonstrated that starvation of Jurkat T cells results in the degradation of GIMAP6. Whilst these findings raise the possibility that the GIMAPs play roles in the regulation of autophagy, we have been unable to demonstrate an effect of GIMAP6 over-expression on autophagic flux.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is Ineffective as an Adjuvant to Daptomycin with Rifampicin Treatment in a Murine Model of Staphylococcus aureus in Implant-Associated Osteomyelitis

Implant-associated infections caused by bacterial biofilms are difficult to treat. Surgical intervention is often necessary to cure the patient, as the antibiotic recalcitrance of biofilms renders them untreatable with conventional antibiotics. Intermittent hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT) has been proposed as an adjuvant to conventional antibiotic treatment and it has been speculated that combining HBOT with antibiotics could improve treatment outcomes for biofilm infections. In this study we addressed whether HBOT could improve treatment outcomes of daptomycin and rifampicin combination therapy. The effect of HBOT on the treatment outcomes of daptomycin and rifampicin against implant-associated osteomyelitis was quantified in a murine model. In total, 80 mice were randomized into two groups receiving antibiotics, either alone or in combination with daily intermittent HBOT (304 kPa for 60 min) following injection of antibiotics. Treatment was initiated 11 days after animals were infected with Staphylococcus aureus and treatment duration was 14 days. We found that HBOT did not improve the cure rate and did not reduce the bacterial load on the implant surface or in the surrounding tissue. Cure rates of daptomycin + rifampicin were 40% in infected tibias and 75% for implants while cure rates for HBOT-daptomycin + rifampicin were 50% and 85%, respectively, which were not significantly higher (Fisher’s exact test). While it is encouraging that the combination of daptomycin and rifampicin is very effective, our study demonstrates that this efficacy cannot be improved by adjuvant HBOT.
The Centre for Market and Public Organisation Geographic Proximity and Firm-university Innovation Linkages: Evidence from Great Britain Geographic Proximity and Firm-university Innovation Linkages: Evidence from Great Britain

The Centre for Market and Public Organisation (CMPO) is a leading research centre, combining expertise in economics, geography and law. Our objective is to study the intersection between the public and private sectors of the economy, and in particular to understand the right way to organise and deliver public services. The Centre aims to develop research, contribute to the public debate and inform policy-making. CMPO, now an ESRC Research Centre was established in 1998 with two large grants from The Leverhulme Trust. In 2004 we were awarded ESRC Research Centre status, and CMPO now combines core funding from both the ESRC and the Trust. Abstract We investigate evidence for spatially mediated knowledge transfer from university research. We examine whether firms locate their R&D labs in proximity to university research departments, and whether those that do are more likely to cooperate with, or source information from universities in the course of their innovative activities. We find evidence that pharmaceutical firms locate their R&D facilities near to frontier chemistry research departments, consistent with accessing localised knowledge spillovers, but also linked to the presence of science parks. In industries such as chemicals and vehicles there is less evidence of immediate co-location with universities, but those innovative firms that do locate near to relevant research departments are more likely to engage with universities. Acknowledgements We would like to thank seminar participants at the London School of Economics and Nottingham Business School for helpful comments. We are grateful to Robert Joyce for excellent research assistance and to Rupert Harrison who contributed to earlier stages of the research. Laura Abramovsky and Helen Simpson would like to thank the ESRC Impact of Higher Education Institutions on Regional Economies Initiative (RES-171-22-0001), and Helen Simpson the Leverhulme Trust (F/00/182/AZ) for financial support for this research. The authors thank the UK DTI for access to the Community Innovation Survey data and for seed funding for this research. This work contains statistical data from ONS which is Crown copyright and reproduced with the permission of the controller of HMSO and Queen.s Printer for Scotland. The use of the ONS statistical data in this work does not imply the endorsement of the ONS in relation to the interpretation or analysis of the statistical data. This work uses research datasets which may not exactly reproduce National Statistics aggregates. All errors are the responsibility of the authors.
Stability across cohorts in divorce risk factors

Over the past quarter-century, many covariates of divorce have been identified. However, the extent to which the effects of these covariates remain constant across time is not known. In this article, I examine the stability of the effects of a wide range of divorce covariates using a pooled sample of data taken from five rounds of the National Survey of Family Growth. This sample includes consistent measures of important predictors of divorce, covers marriages formed over 35 years (1950–1984), and spans substantial historical variation in the overall risk of marital dissolution. For the most part, the effects of the major sociodemographic predictors of divorce do not vary by historical period. The one exception is race. These results suggest that the effects associated with historical period have been pervasive, simultaneously altering the risk of divorce for most marriages
Thermosetting polyurethane‐multiwalled carbon nanotube composites: Thermomechanical properties and nanoindentation

In this study, composites based on a thermoset polyurethane elastomer (PU) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) in the case of a PU of high elastic modulus (>200 MPa) are analyzed for the first time. As-grown and modified nanotubes with 4 wt % of oxygenated functions (MWCNT-ox) were employed to compare their effect on composite properties and maxima mechanical properties (elastic modulus and tensile strength) were reached at 0.5 wt % of MWCNT-ox. Furthermore, by examining the morphology using optical and electron microscopies better dispersion and interaction of the nanotube-matrix was observed for this material. DMTA data supports the observation of an increase in the glass transition temperature of ∼20°C in the nanocomposites compared with the thermoset PU, which is an important result because it shows extended reliability in extreme environments. Finally, nanoindentation tests allowed a comparison with the conventional mechanical tests by measuring the elastic modulus and hardness at the subsurface of PU and the nanocomposites. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 41207.
Mass-balanced randomization of metabolic networks

Motivation: Network-centered studies in systems biology attempt to integrate the topological properties of biological networks with experimental data in order to make predictions and posit hypotheses. For any topology-based prediction, it is necessary to first assess the significance of the analyzed property in a biologically meaningful context. Therefore, devising network null models, carefully tailored to the topological and biochemical constraints imposed on the network, remains an important computational problem. Results: We first review the shortcomings of the existing generic sampling scheme—switch randomization—and explain its unsuitability for application to metabolic networks. We then devise a novel polynomial-time algorithm for randomizing metabolic networks under the (bio)chemical constraint of mass balance. The tractability of our method follows from the concept of mass equivalence classes, defined on the representation of compounds in the vector space over chemical elements. We finally demonstrate the uniformity of the proposed method on seven genome-scale metabolic networks, and empirically validate the theoretical findings. The proposed method allows a biologically meaningful estimation of significance for metabolic network properties. Contact: basler@mpimp-golm.mpg. de; nikoloski@mpimp-golm.mpg. de Supplementary Information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Improvement of thermal and fire properties of polypropylene

In the present research, the thermal stability and fire properties of polypropylene (PP) have been improved through direct melt intercalation of PP, organically modified montmorillonite (OMMT), calcium carbonate (CaCO3) nanoparticles, and conventional flame retardants, i.e., decabromodiphenyl oxide (DB) and antimony trioxide (AO). The morphology of the compound was characterized by means of X-ray diffractometry and transmission electron microscopy. Thermogravimetry analysis (TGA), cone-calorimetry, limiting oxygen index, UL-94, and tensile tests were also employed to investigate thermal and mechanical properties as well as the flammability of the compounds. Data, obtained from TGA, indicated that simultaneous incorporation of both OMMT and CaCO3 nanoparticles forms a synergistic effect to improve both the thermal and thermo-oxidative stability. The kinetic analysis of polymer degradation showed that the presence of nanoparticles hindered the thermal degradation of PP. The combination of OMMT and CaCO3 was more effective to improve fire properties than OMMT and DB/AO. The experimental results indicated that the incorporation of OMMT and CaCO3 improved both the tensile (i.e., the increase of yield strength, tensile strength, and Young's modulus) and thermal properties. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008
Mitigation of malicious attacks on networks

Terrorist attacks on transportation networks have traumatized modern societies. With a single blast, it has become possible to paralyze airline traffic, electric power supply, ground transportation or Internet communication. How and at which cost can one restructure the network such that it will become more robust against a malicious attack? We introduce a new measure for robustness and use it to devise a method to mitigate economically and efficiently this risk. We demonstrate its efficiency on the European electricity system and on the Internet as well as on complex networks models. We show that with small changes in the network structure (low cost) the robustness of diverse networks can be improved dramatically whereas their functionality remains unchanged. Our results are useful not only for improving significantly with low cost the robustness of existing infrastructures but also for designing economically robust network systems.
Effect of 3 types of antifungal agents on hardness of 2 different commercially available tissue conditioners: An in-vitro study

Objectives: The primary objective of the following study is to evaluate and secondary objective is to compare the hardness of two different tissue conditioners before and after the addition of three types of antifungal agents. Materials and Methods: Two types of tissue conditioners: viscogel and coe-soft were manipulated with three types of antifungal agents (fluconazole, clotrimazole, neem) and placed in the metal mold as per the manufacturer's instructions. A total of 240 samples were fabricated and divided into two groups of 120 samples each and were grouped as, T1 - Viscogel. , T2 - Coe-soft. These were subjected to hardness test on 1 st , 7 th 14 th days with the Shore-A-Durometer equipment. Results: Tissue conditioners showed an increase in hardness values with the use of antifungal agents in all the groups. Conclusion: The study can be concluded that hardness of Viscogel was statistically significant when mixed with fluconazole and compared with coe-soft as on 1 st day, 7 th day and 14 th day.
On the Passivity of Polynomial Chaos-Based Augmented Models for Stochastic Circuits

This paper addresses for the first time the issue of passivity of the circuit models produced by means of the generalized polynomial chaos technique in combination with the stochastic Galerkin method. This approach has been used in literature to obtain statistical information through the simulation of an augmented but deterministic instance of a stochastic circuit, possibly including distributed transmission-line elements. However, transient simulations raise the critical question as to whether such an augmented network is passive or not. This paper discusses the general requirements for the augmented circuits to be passive and provides a sufficient condition for their passivity. Some numerical examples illustrate the theoretical results and conclude the paper.
Expression of Somatostatin Receptor Subtypes in Cultured Astrocytes and Gliomas

Abstract: Expression of receptors for the neuropeptide somatostatin was investigated in vitro in rat and human astrocytes, glioma cell lines, and solid human glial tumors that were all immunopositive for the astrocytic marker glial fibrillary acidic protein. After affinity labelling with a peptide‐gold conjugate of known biological activity, somatostatin‐binding sites could be visualized at the light‐ and electron‐microscopic level on the surface of glial cells. Glioma cells were generally labeled more strongly than were normal astrocytes and preferentially bound the ligand at their processes and not at their somata as were normal cells. Somatostatin transmembrane receptor (SSTR) subtype expression was probed by reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction: In rat and human cortical astrocytes and in one glioma cell line (U 118), a pattern of three subtypes (SSTR‐1, SSTR‐2, and SSTR‐4) was detected, whereas, in all other glioma cell lines and in six solid glial tumors investigated, the SSTR‐2 subtype was relatively stronger, expressed either alone or in combination with SSTR‐1; sometimes SSTR‐3 or SSTR‐4 was demonstrated in clearly reduced amounts. In astrocytes and gliomas, somatostatin reduced the levels of cyclic AMP elicited by the adenylate cyclase activator forskolin indicating that at least one of the receptor subtypes is negatively linked to adenylate cyclase. In contrast to other cell types, somatostatin did not inhibit the basal or the fetal calf serum‐stimulated proliferation of astrocytes, glioma cell lines, or glial tumors in culture. Thus, strong SSTR‐2 subtype expression characterizes glial tumors, but somatostatin is ineffective in inhibiting their growth.
Combined nickel-cobalt-cadmium resistance encoded by the ncc locus of Alcaligenes xylosoxidans 31A

The nickel-cobalt-cadmium resistance genes carried by plasmid pTOM9 of Alcaligenes xylosoxidans 31A are located on a 14.5-kb BamHI fragment. By random Tn5 insertion mutagenesis, the fragment was shown to contain two distinct nickel resistance loci, ncc and nre. The ncc locus causes a high-level combined nickel, cobalt, and cadmium resistance in strain AE104, which is a cured derivative of the metal-resistant bacterium Alcaligenes eutrophus CH34. ncc is not expressed in Escherichia coli. The nre locus causes low-level nickel resistance in both Alcaligenes and E. coli strains. The nucleotide sequence of the ncc locus revealed seven open reading frames designated nccYXHCBAN. The corresponding predicted proteins share strong similarities with proteins encoded by the metal resistance loci cnr (cnrYXHCBA) and czc (czcRCBAD) of A. eutrophus CH34. When different DNA fragments carrying ncc genes were heterologously expressed under the control of the bacteriophage T7 promoter, five protein bands representing NccA (116 kDa), NccB (40 kDa), NccC (46 kDa), NccN (23.5 kDa), and NccX (16.5 kDa) were detected.
Hypoxia Alters Cell Cycle Regulatory Protein Expression and Induces Premature Maturation of Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells

Background Periventricular white matter injury (PWMI) is a common form of brain injury sustained by preterm infants. A major factor that predisposes to PWMI is hypoxia. Because oligodendrocytes (OLs) are responsible for myelination of axons, abnormal OL development or function may affect brain myelination. At present our understanding of the influences of hypoxia on OL development is limited. To examine isolated effects of hypoxia on OLs, we examined the influences of hypoxia on OL development in vitro. Methodology/Findings Cultures of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) were prepared from mixed glial cultures and were 99% pure. OPCs were maintained at 21% O2 or hypoxia (1% or 4% O2) for up to 7 days. We observed that 1% O2 lead to an increase in the proportion of myelin basic protein (MBP)-positive OLs after 1 week in culture, and a decrease in the proportion of platelet-derived growth factor receptor α (PDGFRα)-positive cells suggesting premature OL maturation. Increased expression of the cell cycle regulatory proteins p27Kip1 and phospho-cdc2, which play a role in OL differentiation, was seen as well. Conclusions These results show that hypoxia interferes with the normal process of OL differentiation by inducing premature OPC maturation.
Lack of immune responsiveness to bovine serum albumin in insulin-dependent diabetes.

BACKGROUND Epidemiologic studies have implicated the ingestion of cow's milk in the pathogenesis of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). Moreover, in a recent study, 100 percent of patients with new-onset IDDM had antibodies against bovine serum albumin (BSA), with a majority directed against a 17-amino-acid BSA peptide (ABBOS). Cellular immune mechanisms are thought to be the principal mediators of pancreatic beta-cell destruction in IDDM. METHODS We measured the responses of peripheral-blood mononuclear cells to BSA and ABBOS or serum IgG anti-BSA antibodies (by particle-concentration fluorescence immunoassay) in 71 patients with IDDM, 55 subjects at various degrees of risk for IDDM, 36 patients with other autoimmune disorders (chronic autoimmune thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, and systemic lupus erythematosus), and 48 normal subjects. RESULTS The responses of peripheral-blood mononuclear cells to BSA or ABBOS were positive in 2 of 24 patients with new-onset IDDM, 1 of 25 first-degree relatives of patients with IDDM who were negative for islet-cell antibodies, 2 of 30 first-degree relatives of patients with IDDM who were positive for islet-cell antibodies, 1 of 28 patients with established IDDM, and 1 of 29 normal subjects. Similarly, anti-BSA antibodies were not detected significantly more often in patients with new-onset IDDM (3 of 31, 10 percent) than in normal subjects (1 of 37, 3 percent; P = 0.32). However, many patients with autoimmune disease and subjects at increased risk for IDDM had anti-BSA antibodies (frequency, 10 to 31 percent). CONCLUSIONS Anti-BSA antibodies may reflect a general defect in the process of immunologic tolerance associated with a predisposition to autoimmunity rather than immunity specific to beta cells. The absence of cellular immunity to BSA and ABBOS in IDDM does not support a role for this antigen in the pathogenesis of the disorder.