Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
VPC prediction: reducing the cost of indirect branches via hardware-based dynamic devirtualization

Indirect branches have become increasingly common in modular programs written in modern object-oriented languages and virtual machine based runtime systems. Unfortunately, the prediction accuracy of indirect branches has not improved as much as that of conditional branches. Furthermore, previously proposed indirect branch predictors usually require a significant amount of extra hardware storage and complexity, which makes them less attractive to implement. This paper proposes a new technique for handling indirect branches, called Virtual Program Counter (VPC) prediction. The key idea of VPC prediction is to treat a single indirect branch as multiple virtual conditional branches in hardware for prediction purposes. Our technique predicts each of the virtual conditional branches using the existing conditional branch prediction hardware. Thus, no separate storage structure is required for predicting indirect branch targets. Our evaluation shows that VPC prediction improves average performance by 26.7% compared to a commonly-used branch target buffer based predictor on 12 indirect branch intensive applications. VPC prediction achieves the performance improvement provided by at least a 12KB (and usually a 192KB) tagged target cache predictor on half of the examined applications. We show that VPC prediction can be used with any existing conditional branch prediction mechanism and that the accuracy of VPC prediction improves when a more accurate conditional branch predictor is used.
Spectral properties of signal fading and Doppler spectra distribution in urban mobile communication links

In this work we continue the analysis of a probabilistic approach and the corresponding stochastic multi-parametric model of wave propagation in built-up areas with randomly distributed buildings. Here we concentrate on the spectral properties of signal strength spatial variations and on Doppler spread spectrum distribution of signal power. The analysis is based on a unified stochastic approach of radio wave propagation above the built-up terrain with applications to mobile communications. We analyze the signal power spectrum of spatial frequencies and the signal power distribution in the Doppler domain for moving vehicles, taking into account Doppler shift proportional to the vehicle antenna speed with respect to the base station. The comparison between the theoretical prediction and experimental data was motivated by the proposed stochastic model and by other existing statistical models to verify the signal power distribution in the Doppler domain for various urban environments and terminal heights with respect to building rooftops. New effects of terrain features on signal power spectrum distribution are obtained and examined through the comparison with existing models and experimental data.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy: High-resolution melting curve analysis as an affordable diagnostic mutation scanning tool in a South African cohort.

BACKGROUND Duchenne/Becker muscular dystrophy (D/BMD) is an X-linked recessive muscle disorder affecting 1/3 500 live male births worldwide. Up to 70% of all D/BMD cases are caused by exonic deletions or duplications routinely identified in diagnostic laboratories worldwide.The remaining patients harbour other sequence alterations for which testing availability is limited owing to the expense of interrogating the large DMD gene. Genetic screening for D/BMD in South Africa currently includes multiple ligase-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) for exonic deletions and duplications and linkage analysis. No genetic testing for small mutations in the DMD gene is offered, leaving a third of D/BMD families without genetic closure. The advent of potential mutation-specific therapies for DMD necessitates comprehensive testing protocols. OBJECTIVE To investigate the effectiveness and affordability of high-resolution melting curve analysis (hrMCA) for detection of small/point mutations in the DMD gene, for possible inclusion into the local public health-funded diagnostic service. METHODS DNA from 24 patients who had previously tested deletion-negative with multiplex polymerase chain reaction (mPCR) was analysed by MLPA and hrMCA. RESULTS MLPA revealed eight previously undetected exonic rearrangements: five deletions and three duplications. HrMCA of the remaining samples revealed three nonsense, four frameshifts, one splice-site, one missense and one single-base substitution in the Dp427promoter/exon1 of the DMD gene. In addition, 41 polymorphisms and three changes of uncertain significance were detected. CONCLUSION These findings identify hrMCA as an affordable and effective mutation scanning tool for incorporation into the local diagnostic setting, allowing for better genetic counselling of more DMD families and selection of potential candidates for future therapies.
New roles for art galleries: Art-viewing as a community intervention for family carers of people with mental health problems

Objective: This study aimed to understand the psychological and social aspects of how art-viewing, in a public art gallery, could be used as an activity to support family carers of people with mental health problems. Methods: Using grounded theory methodology, interviews from eight carer-participants and two facilitator-participants were analysed, along with podcasts created from audio-recordings of the gallery sessions. Results: Art-viewing was conceptualised as an experience that engaged carers on emotional, aesthetic and educational levels. Psychological processes such as mentalising, reflexivity and externalising were identified in the responses stimulated by art-viewing. Conclusions: The findings suggest that art-viewing in a group within a gallery setting has the potential to be used more widely as a community-based, low-cost and non-clinical activity to provide social and psychological support for carers of people with mental-health problems.
Zoledronic acid use in cancer patients

Bone is the most common site for metastasis from solid tumors, and the majority of patients will develop bone metastases during the natural course of their disease. Bisphosphonates are an effective treatment for preventing skeletal‐related events in patients with bone metastases and may preserve functional independence and quality of life. Although several bisphosphonates have been investigated in patients with solid tumors, only zoledronic acid (ZOL) is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency for preventing skeletal‐related events in patients across a broad range of solid tumors. In addition, bisphosphonates, notably ZOL, prevent cancer treatment‐induced bone loss in breast and prostate cancer patients who are receiving endocrine therapy. It also has been demonstrated that ZOL directly and indirectly inhibits cancer cell growth in vitro and growth and tumorigenesis in animal model systems. These properties may produce clinically meaningful benefits. In recent clinical studies in patients with cancer, ZOL improved overall and prolonged disease‐free survival. Ongoing clinical trials in patients with solid tumors will provide further insight into the potential of ZOL to prevent distant metastases and improve survival. Cancer 2011. © 2010 American Cancer Society.
Distinct Frontoparietal Networks Set the Stage for Later Perceptual Identification Priming and Episodic Recognition Memory

Recent imaging evidence suggests that a network of brain regions including the medial temporal lobe, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, and dorsal posterior parietal cortex supports the successful encoding of long-term memories. Other areas, like the ventral posterior parietal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices, have been associated with encoding failure rather than success. In line with the transfer-appropriate processing view, we hypothesized that distinct neural networks predict successful encoding depending on whether the later memory test draws primarily on perceptual or conceptual memory representations. Following an encoding phase, memory was assessed in a combined incidental perceptual identification and intentional recognition memory test. We found that during encoding, activation in ventral posterior parietal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex predicted successful perceptual identification priming, whereas activation in ventrolateral prefrontal and dorsal posterior parietal cortex predicted successful recognition memory. Extending recent theories of attention to memory, the results suggest that ventral parietal regions support stimulus-driven attention to perceptual item features, forming memories accessed by later perceptual memory tests, whereas dorsal parietal regions support attention to meaningful item features, forming memories accessed by later conceptual memory tests.
Culture, cognition and language in the constitution of reading and writing practices in an adult literacy classroom

In this article we analyze a discursive interaction between a researcher and an Youth and Adult Education student intending to show the meanings and uses of reading and writing taken by him. We take as our basis for discussion the theoretical-methodological contributions from Historical-Cultural Psychology and Paulo Freire's theories, which are combined with Bakhtin's concept of dialogue. This procedure allowed us, on one hand, getting into the other's perspective and, on the other hand, to make relations between cognition, language and culture to understand the adult students' metacognitive strategies, in the appropriation process of literacy practices of school culture. Thus, we could discuss the intimate relationship between doing and knowing and the importance of school in the transition from concrete thinking to the abstract thinking and vice-versa.
The social psychology of health

Social Psychology and Health - Shirlynn Spacapan PART ONE: PSYCHOSOCIAL MEDIATORS OF HEALTH STATUS Psychosocial Mediators of Health Status - Shirlynn Spacapan An Introduction Perceived Stress in a Probability Sample of the United States - Sheldon Cohen and Gail M Williamson The Other Side of Perceived Control - Suzanne C Thompson, Paul R Cheek and Melody A Graham Disadvantages and Negative Effects Social Support and the Cancer Patient - Shelley E Taylor and Gayle A Dakof PART TWO: HEALTH PROMOTION Health Promotion Programs - Shirlynn Spacapan and Stuart Oskamp An Introduction The Organization as a Context for Health Promotion - James R Terborg The Community as a Focus for Health Promotion - Nathan Maccoby The Value Dimension in Studies of Health Promotion - Robert M Kaplan
Loneliness in Middle Childhood: Concurrent and Longitudinal Predictors

The role of behavioral, sociometric, and attributional indices of social functioning in the development of peer-related loneliness was investigated in a short-term longitudinal study. Data were collected across a 1-year time span on 3 occasions from 128 third- through sixth-graders. Results were consistent with an additive model of loneliness. Withdrawn social behavior, lower peer acceptance, few or no friendships, and an internal-stable attributional style predicted higher levels of concurrent and future loneliness. Children who declined in peer acceptance, lost friends, and gained in internal-stable attributions showed gains in loneliness. Subgroup analyses indicated that children with no friends reported more loneliness than children with 1 or more friends; low-status friendless children reported more loneliness than low-status children with one or more friends; and low-status friendless children reported more loneliness than average- and high-status friendless children. Taken together, the findings suggest that loneliness in middle childhood is a stable phenomenon located in a complex web of interrelated aspects of social functioning.
FCGR2A and FCGR3A Genotypes in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Mother-to-Child Transmission

Host FcγR polymorphisms may influence HIV infection and disease progression. Here, we examine FCGR2A and FCGR3A genotypes in HIV mother-to-child transmission. Infant genotypes did not impact infection or progression, but the maternal FCGR3A genotype may influence early breastfeeding transmission risk.
Consumers' Green Commitment: Indication of a Postmodern Lifestyle?

Green consumer behaviour is one of the key focuses of contemporary research on the sociology of consumption. The constant presence of environmental issues related to consumption and the changes consumer society has faced during the 20th century are presumed to reflect on present consumer behaviour. The focus of this paper is twofold: first, the postmodern elements of consumer society will be discussed; second, the study analyses to what extent these elements of postmodernism fit with the phenomenon of contemporary green consumerism. The empirical part utilizes Finnish consumer behaviour-related data from 2003, which were analysed by applying various statistical methods. In this part, the study reports of the connection between lifestyle and green commitment. Lifestyle is measured by consumption styles and green commitment by certain environment-related consumption choices. The results suggest that different lifestyles explain green commitment better than traditional socio-economic background variables. The effect of postmodernism on green consumer behaviour is, thus, discussed.
Mast cell tryptase stimulates production of decorin by human testicular peritubular cells: possible role of decorin in male infertility by interfering with growth factor signaling.

BACKGROUND Myofibroblastic, peritubular cells in the walls of seminiferous tubules produce low levels of the extracellular matrix (ECM) protein decorin (DCN), which has the ability to interfere with growth factor (GF) signaling. In men with impaired spermatogenesis, fibrotic remodeling of these walls and accumulation of tryptase-positive mast cells (MCs) occur. METHODS Human testicular biopsies with normal and focally impaired spermatogenesis (mixed atrophy) were subjected to immunohistochemistry and laser micro-dissection followed by RT-PCR. Primary human testicular peritubular cells (HTPCs), which originate from normal and fibrotically altered testes (HTPC-Fs), were studied by qRT-PCR, western blotting, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay measurements and Ca(2+) imaging. Phosphorylation and viability/proliferation assays were performed. RESULTS Immunohistochemistry revealed DCN deposits in the walls of tubules with impaired spermatogenesis. Mirroring the situation in vivo, HTPC-Fs secreted more DCN than HTPCs (P < 0.05). In contrast to HTPCs, HTPC-Fs also responded to the main MC product, tryptase, and to a tryptase receptor (PAR-2) agonist by further increased production of DCN (P < 0.05). Several GF receptors (GFRs) are expressed by HTPCs and HTPC-Fs. DCN acutely increased intracellular Ca(2+)-levels and phosphorylated epidermal GF (EGFR) within minutes. Platelet-derived GF (PDGF) and EGF induced strong mitogenic responses in HTPC/-Fs, actions that were blocked by DCN, suggesting that DCN in the ECM interferes with GF/GFRs signaling of peritubular cells of the human testis. CONCLUSIONS The data indicate that the increase in testicular DCN found in male infertility is a consequence of actions of MC-derived tryptase. We propose that the increases in DCN may consequently imbalance the paracrine signaling pathways in human testis.
Brief report: Adolescents' attitudes toward epilepsy: further validation of the Child Attitude Toward Illness Scale (CATIS).

OBJECTIVE To examine adolescents' attitudes toward having epilepsy using the Child Attitude Toward Illness Scale (CATIS) and to provide further psychometric validation of the scale in this population. METHODS Participants were 197 adolescents aged 11 to 17 years who completed the CATIS at two points and two external validation scales. Test-retest and internal consistency reliability and construct validity were computed. Analysis of variance was used to examine differences in attitudes according to gender, age, and epilepsy severity. RESULTS Girls, older adolescents, and those with more severe epilepsy had more negative attitudes toward having epilepsy than boys, younger adolescents, and those with moderate or mild epilepsy, respectively. Psychometric analyses yielded excellent internal consistency reliability and good test-retest reliability. The CATIS was moderately correlated with self-esteem and mastery, supporting its construct validity. CONCLUSIONS The CATIS is a useful and psychometrically sound tool to assess adolescents' attitudes toward having chronic illness.
The effects of paroxetine and other antidepressants in combination with alcohol in psychomotor activity related to car driving

Ten healthy female volunteers received single doses of amitriptyline 50 mg (AMI); mianserin 20 mg (MIA); trazodone 50 mg (TRA); paroxetine 30 mg (PAR) and placebo (PLA), with or without a ‘social’ dose of alcohol (ALC) in a double‐blind, balanced crossover study where each subject acted as her own control.
Quantitative Trait Locus Analysis

Alcoholism is a quantitative disorder that is caused by the combined influences of numerous genes (i.e., quantitative trait loci [QTLs]) and environmental factors. To identify QTLs for alcoholism, researchers compare subject groups (e.g., inbred mouse strains) that differ in both their genetic makeup (i.e., genotype) and alcohol-related trait (e.g., sensitivity to certain alcohol effects). Using statistical tests one can then determine whether a specific gene or DNA region contributes to the trait of interest. This strategy requires that the relevant gene exists in several variants (i.e., is polymorphic). To conduct such QTL analyses, researchers study either a large population of mice that all differ in their genotypes or compare several strains, each of which has a fixed genotype. However, QTL analyses still have several limitations. Nevertheless, such studies already have identified several DNA regions and genes that may affect the response to alcohol and thus may contribute to the risk for alcoholism.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SIALIC ACID AND MICROVASCULAR COMPLICATIONS IN TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS

Serum total sialic acid is a marker of acute phase response. Elevated levels have also been associated with several risk factors for diabetic vascular disease. The objective of the study was to find out a relationship between sialic acid and metabolic variables in type 2 diabetic patients with and without microvascular complications. Materials and Methods: This study included 200 subjects of whom 50 were of diabetes mellitus with nephropathy, 50 patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus with retinopathy, 50 patients of type 2 diabetes without any complication and 50 healthy individuals without diabetes mellitus (control subjects). The subjects aged 15 – 60 years were selected for study. Fasting venous blood samples were taken from all the 200 subjects. Simultaneously urine sample were also collected from each of them. All blood samples were analysed for fasting and postprandial glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein (LDL), high density lipoprotein (HDL), creatinine, HbAIc on fully automated analyser. Serum and urine sialic acid along with microalbumin levels were also estimated. Results: Serum total sialic acid concentrations were significantly higher among all diabetic subjects with or without complications compared to control subjects. In diabetic patients there was a significantly increasing trend of serum and urinary sialic acid with severity f nephropathy (p < 0.001) and with the degree of urinary albumin excretion (p < 0.001). Elevated serum sialic acid concentrations were also associated with severel risk factors. Conclusion: The main finding of this study is that elevated serum and urinary sialic acid and microalbumin concentration were strongly related to the presence of microvascular complications like diabetic nephropathy and retinopathy and cardiovascular risk factors in type 2 diabetic patients.
Action Attenuates the Effect of Visibility on Gesture Rates

Much evidence suggests that semantic characteristics of a message (e.g., the extent to which the message evokes thoughts of spatial or motor properties) and social characteristics of a speaking situation (e.g., whether there is a listener who can see the speaker) both influence how much speakers gesture. However, the Gesture as Simulated Action (GSA) framework (Hostetter & Alibali, ) predicts that these effects should not be independent but should interact such that the effect of visibility is lessened when a message evokes strong thoughts of action. This study tested this claim by comparing the gesture rates produced by speakers as they described 24 nouns that vary in how strongly they evoke thoughts of action. Further, half of the words were described with visibility between speaker and listener blocked. The results demonstrated a significant interaction as predicted by the GSA framework.
Bone Marrow–Derived Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1 Receptor CCR2 Is Critical in Angiotensin II–Induced Acceleration of Atherosclerosis and Aneurysm Formation in Hypercholesterolemic Mice

Abstract—Angiotensin II (Ang II) is implicated in atherogenesis by activating inflammatory responses in arterial wall cells. Ang II accelerates the atherosclerotic process in hyperlipidemic apoE−/− mice by recruiting and activating monocytes. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) controls monocyte-mediated inflammation through its receptor, CCR2. The roles of leukocyte-derived CCR2 in the Ang II-induced acceleration of the atherosclerotic process, however, are not known. We hypothesized that deficiency of leukocyte-derived CCR2 suppresses Ang II-induced atherosclerosis. Methods and Results—A bone marrow transplantation technique (BMT) was used to develop apoE−/− mice with and without deficiency of CCR2 in leukocytes (BMT-apoE−/−CCR2+/+ and BMT-apoE−/−CCR2−/− mice). Compared with BMT-apoE−/−CCR2+/+ mice, Ang II-induced increases in atherosclerosis plaque size and abdominal aortic aneurysm formation were suppressed in BMT-apoE−/−CCR2−/− mice. This suppression was associated with a marked decrease in monocyte-mediated inflammation and inflammatory cytokine expression. Conclusion—Leukocyte-derived CCR2 is critical in Ang II-induced atherosclerosis and abdominal aneurysm formation. The present data suggest that vascular inflammation mediated by CCR2 in leukocytes is a reasonable target of therapy for treatment of atherosclerosis.
Children's Descriptions of Peers: A Wernerian Developmental Analysis.

SCARLETT, HELAINE H. ; PRESS, ALLAN N. ; and CROCKETT, WALTER H. Children's Descriptions of Peers: A Wernerian Developmental Analysis. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1971, 42, 439-453. The development of interpersonal perception was studied in boys of grades 1, 3, and 5. The number of constructs subjects used to describe their peers increased monotonically with age, accompanied by a shift from the use of egocentric and concrete constructs to the use of nonegocentric and abstract constructs. Among first graders, length of descriptions varied as a function of the other's sex but not of the other's valence for the subject; among fifth graders, length of description varied with both the sex and the valence of the other person. Subjects who used relatively many constructs to describe their peers also used relatively many con-