Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High-Performance Hypervisor Architectures: Virtualization in HPC Systems

Virtualization presents both challenges and opportunities for HPC systems and applications. This paper reviews them and also offers technical insights into two key challenges faced by future highend machines: (1) the I/O challenges they face and (2) the multicore nature of future HPC platforms. Concerning the latter, we argue the need to better structure virtualization solutions, to improve the compute experience of future HPC applications, and to provide scalability for virtualization solutions on future many-core platforms. Concerning (1), we present new methods for device virtualization, along with evidence that such methods can improve the I/O performance experienced by guest operating systems and applications running on HPC machines. Experimental results validate the claims made in (1) and (2), attained with the Xen hypervisor running on modern multi-core machines. Finally, the paper offers new directions for research in virtualization for HPC machines. It describes ways for further improving the effective I/O performance as seen by HPC applications by extending virtualization to associate application-relevant functions with I/O data streams and through QoS support for these streams. Other issues discussed are reliability enhancements for I/O, and online system and resource management.
Author's Personal Copy Physical Communication Channel Model and Analysis for Wireless Underground Sensor Networks in Soil Medium

In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: a b s t r a c t Wireless underground sensor networks (WUSNs) constitute one of the promising application areas of the recently developed wireless sensor networking techniques. The main difference between WUSNs and the terrestrial wireless sensor networks is the communication medium. The propagation characteristics of electromagnetic (EM) waves in soil and the significant differences between propagation in air prevent a straightforward characterization of the underground wireless channel. To this end, in this paper, advanced channel models are derived to characterize the underground wireless channel and the foundational issues for efficient communication through soil are discussed. In particular, the underground communication channel is modeled considering not only the propagation of EM waves in soil, but also other effects such as multipath, soil composition, soil moisture, and burial depth. The propagation characteristics are investigated through simulation results of path loss between two underground sensors. Moreover, based on the proposed channel model, the resulting bit error rate is analyzed for different network and soil parameters. Furthermore, the effects of variations in soil moisture are investigated through field measurement results. The theoretical analysis and the simulation results prove the feasibility of wireless communication in underground environment and highlight several important aspects in this field. This work will lead to the provision of a generic framework for underground wireless communication and the realization of WUSNs.
A Buddhist Economic System—In Principle: Non-Attachment To Worldly Things Is Dominant But The Way Of The Law Is Held Profitable

Abstract. Some of the major canonical scriptures of Buddhism are examined, as well as some of the secondary literature about these writings, in order to see what type of economic system might be inferred from the religious tenets which Gautama Buddha expounded. The personal and social ethics underlying such a system, the economic institutions which are consistent with such moral rules and the attitudes toward property and wealth which they inspire re analyzed for the light they shed on the explanation of economic behavior.
The Hormetic Zone: An Ecological and Evolutionary Perspective Based upon Habitat Characteristics and Fitness Selection

Fitness varies nonlinearly with environmental variables such as temperature, water availability, and nutrition, with maximum fitness at intermediate levels between more stressful extremes. For environmental agents that are highly toxic at exposures that substantially exceed background levels, fitness is maximized at concentrations near zero-a phenomenon often referred to as hormesis. Two main components are suggested: (1) background hormesis, which derives from the direct adaptation of organisms to their habitats; and (2) stress-derived hormesis, which derives from metabolic reserves that are maintained as an adaptation to environmental stresses through evolutionary time. These reserves provide protection from lesser correlated stresses. This article discusses illustrative examples, including ethanol and ionizing radiation, aimed at placing hormesis into an ecological and evolutionary context. A unifying approach comes from fitness-stress continua that underlie responses to abiotic variables, whereby selection for maximum metabolic efficiency and hence fitness in adaptation to habitats in nature underlies hormetic zones. Within this reductionist model, more specific metabolic mechanisms to explain hormesis are beginning to emerge, depending upon the agent and the taxon in question. Some limited research possibilities based upon this evolutionary perspective are indicated.
Model Reduction by Balanced Truncation for Systems with Nuclear Hankel Operators

We prove the H-infinity error bounds for Lyapunov balanced truncation and for optimal Hankel norm approximation under the assumption that the Hankel operator is nuclear. This is an improvement of the result from Glover, Curtain, and Partington [SIAM J. Control Optim. , 26 (1998), pp. 863--898], where additional assumptions were made. The proof is based on convergence of the Schmidt pairs of the Hankel operator in a Sobolev space. We also give an application of this convergence theory to a numerical algorithm for model reduction by balanced truncation.
Conditional maximum likelihood timing recovery

The conditional maximum likelihood (CML) principle, well known in the context of sensor array processing, is applied to the problem of timing recovery. A new self-noise free CML-based timing error detector is derived. Additionally, a new (conditional) Cramer-Rao bound (CRB) for timing estimation is obtained, which is more accurate than the extensively used modified CRB (MCRB).
The impact of nebular emission on the ages of z~6 galaxies

We examine the influence of nebular continuous and line emission in high redshift star forming galaxies on determinations of their age, formation redshift and other properties from SED fits. We include nebular emission consistently with the stellar emission in our SED fitting tool and analyse differentially a sample of 10 z~6 galaxies in the GOODS-S field studied earlier by Eyles et al. (2007). We find that the apparent Balmer/4000 Ang breaks observed in a number of z~6 galaxies detected at >~3.6 micron with IRAC/Spitzer can be mimicked by the presence of strong restframe optical emission lines, implying in particular younger ages than previously thought. Applying these models to the small sample of z~6 galaxies, we find that this effect may lead to a typical downward revision of their stellar ages by a factor ~3. In consequence their average formation redshift may drastically be reduced, and these objects may not have contributed to cosmic reionisation at z>6. Extinction and stellar mass estimates may also be somewhat modified, but to a lesser extent. Careful SED fits including nebular emission and treating properly uncertainties and degeneracies are necessary for more accurate determinations of the physical parameters of high-z galaxies.
Human values, legal regulation, and approval of homosexuality in Europe: A cross‐country comparison

Although research has revealed a trend toward liberalization of attitudes toward homosexuality in Western countries, acceptance of homosexuality differs remarkably among individuals and across countries. We examine the roles of individual value priorities and of national laws regarding homosexuality and the interaction between them in explaining approval of homosexuality. Data are drawn from the European Social Survey and include representative national samples of 27 European countries in 2010. As hypothesized, individuals who prioritized openness to change and universalism values approved of homosexuality more, whereas those who prioritized conservation and power values exhibited more disapproval. Approval was greater in countries whose laws regarding homosexuality were more progressive. In addition, legal regulation of homosexuality moderated the associations of individual value priorities. In countries with more progressive laws, both the positive effect of openness to change values and the negative effect of conservation values on approval of homosexuality were weaker. However, the positive effect of universalism values and the negative effect of power values did not vary as a function of national laws regarding homosexuality. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An investigation of Libyan EFL teachers’ conceptions of the communicative learner-centred approach in relation to their implementation of an English language curriculum innovation in secondary schools

This phenomenographical investigation explores conceptions of the communicative learner-centred approach (CLCA) held by a sample of Libyan English foreign language teachers (EFL) in relation to their implementation of an English language curriculum innovation in secondary schools. A mixed approach employing quantitative (survey questionnaire) and qualitative (semi-structure interview) research methods was used for data collection during the first phase of this research. Martons’ (1981)phenomenographical approach was employed for analysing the qualitative data and the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) programme was used for analysing the quantitative data. Content analysis was used for analysing qualitative data gathered through an open-ended questionnaire completed by ten English language inspectors during the second phase of this research. Fourteen conceptions and misconceptions of the CLCA have been explored through this investigation. School location and place of graduation did not have significant effect on teachers’ conception of the principles and practices of the CLCA and the teachercentred approach (TCA). However, the less experienced teachers were more positive about those related to the TCA than were the experienced ones. Influential barriers related to individual, contextual and cultural considerations have been identified as responsible for limiting the success of the teachers’ attempts to implement this approach. Nevertheless, the majority of the participants (teachers and inspectors) were positive about the notion of implementing the CLCA for teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) in the Libyan context. However, the current conditions and realities in Libya seem to fit a weak version of this approach but not a strong one. i This study is significant because it adds to the literature new insights about EFL teachers’ conceptions and practices of the CLCA as a Western teaching methodology for TEFL in developing countries and challenges the argument of considering this approach inappropriate in these contexts. The findings of this study also have potential implications for school reform, curriculum design, EFL teacher education and training and for developing the role of language inspectors in Libya. These implications may be applied in similar contexts. Moreover, this study provides empirical evidence for the possibility of employing both qualitative and quantitative approaches in phenomenographical investigations.
Social Contexts and Social Learning in Sexual Coercion and Aggression: Assessing the Contribution of Fraternity Membership

A social learning theory of deviant behavior (Akers, 1985) is used to identify the process through which fraternity membership may be correlated with sexual aggression. Fraternity members are significantly more likely than "independents" to engage in nonphysical coercion and to use drugs and alcohol as a sexual strategy but do not differ significantly in their use of physical coercion. When the social learning variables are controlled fraternity membership has no significant effect on sexual coercion and aggression.
Reasons for Refusing Cataract Surgery in Illiterate Individuals in a Tribal Area of Andhra Pradesh, India

Abstract Purpose: To assess the reasons for refusing cataract surgery in illiterate individuals in a tribal area of India. Methods: A prospective study evaluated 1046 subjects who had undergone screening in eye camps and included 398 of 492 referred subjects with cataract who refused to seek cataract surgery. Subjects were assessed to elicit general and specific reasons for non-compliance. Multiple logistic regression analysis was applied to determine the associations; p < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Overall, 83% (329/398) of subjects reported that they could manage with their current vision. The five most common reasons they did not proceed with cataract surgery were: fear of losing current vision, work priority, lack of support systems, a dependency due to old age, and expenses required after surgery. Odds of seeking treatment were lower among unemployed subjects (odds ratio, OR, 0.4, 95% confidence interval, CI, 0.19–0.86; p = 0.01) and in patients with family income <1000 Indian rupees per month (OR 0.5, 95% CI 0.34–0.94; p = 0.02), and higher among those unilaterally blind (OR 10.8, 95% CI 3.3–35.6; p ≤ 0.01). Conclusion: In a tribal setting, 83% of individuals referred for cataract surgery did not proceed with surgery. Reasons given for non-compliance were not directly related to the surgery but focused on valid day-to-day difficulties anticipated to increase following surgery. Beyond accessibility and cost of surgery, other social and infrastructural factors need to be addressed to increase the uptake of cataract surgery.
Activation of Muscarinic and Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors in the Nucleus Accumbens Core Is Necessary for the Acquisition of Drug Reinforcement

Neurotransmitter release in the nucleus accumbens core (NACore) during the acquisition of remifentanil or cocaine reinforcement was determined in an operant runway procedure by simultaneous tandem mass spectrometric analysis of dopamine, acetylcholine, and remifentanil or cocaine itself. Run times for remifentanil or cocaine continually decreased over the five consecutive runs of the experiment. Intra-NACore dopamine, acetylcholine, and drug peaked with each intravenous remifentanil or cocaine self-administration and decreased to pre-run baseline with half-lives of ∼10 min. As expected, remifentanil or cocaine peaks did not vary between the five runs. Surprisingly, however, drug-contingent dopamine peaks also did not change over the five runs, whereas acetylcholine peaks did. Thus, the acquisition of drug reinforcement was paralleled by a continuous increase in acetylcholine overflow in the NACore, whereas the overflow of dopamine, the expected prime neurotransmitter candidate for conditioning in drug reinforcement, did not increase. Local intra-accumbens administration by reverse microdialysis of either atropine or mecamylamine completely and reversibly blocked the acquisition of remifentanil reinforcement. Our findings suggest that activation of muscarinic and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the NACore by acetylcholine volume transmission is necessary during the acquisition phase of drug reinforcement conditioning.
Diastolic Filling Parameters Derived from Myocardial Perfusion Imaging Can Predict Left Ventricular End-Diastolic Pressure at Subsequent Cardiac Catheterization

Morbidity and mortality increase when diastolic dysfunction accompanies coronary artery disease (CAD). An elevated stress 201Tl lung-to-heart ratio (LHR) is a traditional marker of elevated left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP), which adds prognostic value in CAD. Since the introduction of 99mTc-labeled agents, this valuable marker has been lost. Hence, there is only a limited ability to assess diastolic dysfunction by myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). Methods: Fifty-two consecutive patients with an ejection fraction of ≥45% underwent MPI and cardiac catheterization within 15 d. Peak filling rate (PFR), time to PFR (TPFR), and filling rate during the first third of diastole (1/3FR) were obtained from MPI with SPECT software. Resting 201Tl LHR was calculated manually, and LVEDP was obtained at catheterization. Results: PFR, TPFR, and 1/3FR correlated significantly with LVEDP (r = −0.53, 0.45, and −0.45, respectively; P = 0.00005, 0.0009, and 0.0009, respectively), whereas resting 201Tl LHR did not (r = 0.10, P = 0.49). Receiver-operating-characteristic curve analysis of PFR, TPFR, and 1/3FR for detecting LVEDPs of ≥18 mm Hg showed areas under the curve of 0.83, 0.75, and 0.80, respectively. The combination of PFR and 1/3FR showed a negative predictive value of 84%, a positive predictive value of 86%, and a specificity of 94%. Conclusion: Diastolic filling variables obtained with the SPECT software showed a significant correlation with LVEDP. PFR, TPFR, and 1/3FR were superior to resting 201Tl LHR and showed good sensitivity, specificity, and predictive power for detecting LVEDPs of ≥18 mm Hg. Hence, combining data on the presence of perfusion defects with data on diastolic impairments can be achieved by adding these variables to MPI results.
Correlation between SN‐5 and computed tomography in children with chronic rhinosinusitis

Symptom score questionnaires for evaluation of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) in adults does not correlate with computed tomography (CT) scan scores of paranasal sinuses. The SN‐5 is a validated symptom score questionnaire for the evaluation of CRS in children. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the correlation of the SN‐5 with the CT score in children.
Social Justice and Social Movements

SOCIAL JUSTICE AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS Tom R. Tyler and Heather J. Smith Department of Psychology University of California, Berkeley INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS WORKING PAPER NO. 61 JANUARY 1995 Draft of a chapter to appear in D. Gilbert, S.T. Fiske, and G. Lindzey (Eds.), Handbook of Social Psychology (4th edition). N.Y. : McGraw-Hill. Please do not quote. Comments are welcome. Department of Psychology, 3210 Tolman Hall - 1650, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-1650. (work: 510-642-5292/ FAX: 510-642-5293). e-mail: TTyler@Garnet.Berkeley. Edu. We would like to thank Robert Boeckmann for his help in preparing this chapter.
Determination of plasma soluble fibrin using a new ELISA method in patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation

We measured plasma levels of soluble fibrin (SF) in 98 patients suspected of having disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) using a newly developed enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and investigated the correlations between SF determinations and measurements of other hemostatic molecular markers to determine the diagnostic usefulness of determinations of SF. Patients were classified into four groups according to their clinical and laboratory findings: overt DIC (n = 33), subclinical DIC (n = 23), hypercoagulability (n = 22), and non‐DIC (n = 20). SF levels were significantly higher in patients with overt DIC compared with the other three groups and were significantly higher in the subclinical DIC and hypercoagulability groups compared with the non‐DIC patients. SF levels increased significantly with each increase in the clinical stage. Although levels of thrombin‐antithrombin III complex (TAT), prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 (PF1+2), cross‐linked fibrin degradation products (XDP), and plasmin‐antiplasmin complex (PAP) were significantly increased in patients with overt DIC compared with non‐DIC patients, the values of these hemostatic molecular markers did not consistently show an increase in association with advances in the disease stage. Plasma levels of SF in patients with overt DIC showed a positive correlation with levels of TAT, XDP, and FDP(E), but not with PF1+2 and PAP. Analysis of receiver‐operating characteristic curves showed that the sensitivity and specificity of SF were similar to those of XDP for diagnosis of DIC. The sensitivity and specificity of SF for diagnosis of overt DIC were both above 90% when the cut‐off value was set at 65 μg/ml. Plasma levels of SF were also increased in patients with extravascular fibrin formation without DIC.
A Computational Model for Spatial Working Memory Deficits in Schizophrenia

Abstract Cognitive deficits in schizophrenia have been hypothesized to be caused by altered synaptic transmission in circuits of the prefrontal cortex. 2 main hypotheses have been put forward: reduced inhibition and hypofunctional NMDA receptors. Recently, Lee et al. (2008) found that spatial working memory deficits in schizophrenic patients include a disproportionately high incidence of high-confidence error responses. Here, we have studied what synaptic dysfunction can generate this specific behavioral deficit using a computational network model of spatial working memory. We developed quantitative behavioral readout from our network simulations, which reflected the qualitative properties of underlying neural dynamics. We then analyzed the behavioral effect of the GABAergic and glutamatergic hypotheses on our network simulations. We found that reduction in inhibitory transmission in the network caused a reduction in performance through an increase of high-confidence errors, as in the experimental data. In contrast, a concerted reduction in NMDA-receptor-dependent transmission reduced performance via increased low-confidence errors. Only when NMDA receptors were specifically depleted in interneurons did the behavioral read-out of our network mimic the behavioral results for schizophrenic patients. Thus, dynamics in our model network support a role of both global inhibition reduction and hypofunctional NMDA receptors in interneurons in generating the behavioral deficits of simple spatial working memory tasks in schizophrenia.
Artificial Micro Worlds Part IV: Models of Complex Self-Reproducers

As Wolfram classification of cellular automata, we have divided a taxonomy of Artificial Micro Worlds (AMWs) into four classes. In previous work, we have presented many examples of self-reproducers belonging to Class 1. In this paper, we present a series of AMWs, belonging to Class 2 (complex AMWs which contain complex species of self-reproducers); Class 3 (which contains species of self-reproducers with chaotic behavior) and Class 4 (which contains species with hyper complex self-reproducers). In particular, we introduce an AMW, belonging to Class 2 (a loop-shaped system); several AMWs, belonging to Class 3 (species with a linear and chaotic behavior) and a series of AMWs, belonging to Class 4 (with species which show very different behaviors). Particular attention will be dedicated to a new type of AMW, which contains a species that has an incorporated developmental program.