Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
FAB: flash-aware buffer management policy for portable media players

This paper presents a novel buffer management scheme for portable media players equipped with flash memory. Though flash memory has various advantages over magnetic disks such as small and lightweight form factor, solid-state reliability, low power consumption, and shock resistance, its physical characteristics imposes several limitations. Most notably, it takes relatively long time to write data in flash memory and the data cannot be overwritten before being erased first. Since an erase operation is performed as a unit of larger block, the employed strategy for mapping logical blocks onto physical pages affects real performance of flash memory. This article suggests a flash-aware buffer management scheme that reduces the number of erase operations by selecting a victim based on its page utilization rather than based on the traditional LRU policy. Our scheme effectively minimizes the number of write and erase operations in flash memory, reducing the total execution time by 17% compared to the LRU policy.
Study on the effect of uncertainty on Multi-objective Optimization Problems

In general, parameters in multi-objective optimization are assumed as deterministic with no uncertainty. However, uncertainty in the parameters can affect both variable and objective spaces. The corresponding Pareto optimal fronts, resulting from the perturbed problem, define a cloud of curves. In this work, the main objective is to study the resulting cloud of curves in order to identify regions of more robustness and, therefore, to assist the decision making process. Preliminary results, for a very limited set of problems, show that the resulting cloud of curves exhibits regions of less variation, which are, therefore, more robust to parameter uncertainty.
Prevalence of stroke in three semi-urban communities in middle-belt region of Nigeria: a door to door survey

Introduction The burden of stroke has been projected to increase for developing countries, but data are limited, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. This necessitated this study to determine the stroke prevalence in a semi urban community in middle-belt region of Nigeria. Methods A two-phase door-to-door study was performed in three semi-urban communities of Kwara state; in the first phase 12,992 residents were screened and probable stroke cases were identified by trained health care workers. In the second phase individuals adjudged to be positive for stroke were screened with a stroke-specific questionnaire and made to undergo a complete neurological examination by a neurologist. Stroke diagnosis was based on clinical evaluation using WHO criteria. Results Out of the numbers that were screened, 18 probable stroke cases were identified in the first stage, and of these, 17 fulfilled WHO criteria for stroke, giving a crude prevalence rate of 1.31/1000 population. The prevalence of stroke was higher among the males than the females (1.54/1000 vs. 1.08/1000) with a ratio 1.4: 1. Sixteen subjects (94.1%) had one or more risk factors for stroke. Uncontrolled systemic hypertension (82.4%) was the commonest risk factors for stroke followed by transient ischaemic attack (TIA) (41.2%). Conclusion Stroke is a condition that is prevalent in our environment; especially in older adults and men. Uncontrolled systemic hypertension and previous transient ischaemic attacks were the commonest risk factors for stroke in our community.
Infusing Global Perspectives in Social Studies Education in Turkey: Pre-service Social Studies Teachers

Bu calismanin amaci, sosyal bilgiler ogretmen adaylarinin kuresel bakis acisini nasil algiladigini ve sosyal bilgiler ogretmen egitim programinin kuresel bakis acisini kazandirmasi bakimindan nasil degerlendirdiklerini incelemektir. Arastirmada, olgubilimsel desen kullanilmistir. 11 sosyal bilgiler ogretmen adayi ile iki yari-yapilandirilmis gorusme ve katilimcilarin tuttuklari gunluklerden elde edilen veriler NVivo 10 paket programi kullanilarak analiz edilmistir. Veriler tumevarimsal analiz teknigi ile cozumlenmistir. Veriler 2009–2010 ogretim yilinin bahar yari yilinda toplanmistir. Bulgular, katilimcilarin kuresel bakis acisi hakkinda dusuncelerinin ve tanimlarinin, kuresellesme konusundaki inanclari ile sekillendigini gostermektedir. Ayrica katilimcilar sosyal bilgiler dersinin kuresel bakis acisi kullanilarak ogretilmesinin ogrencilerin, farkli kulturlerin yani sira etnik ve dini gruplara dair kendi onyargilarini ve sterotiplerini anlamalarina olanak tanidigini ve ogretmen egitimi programlarinin bu tur bir kazanimi saglamada yetersiz oldugunu belirtmislerdir.
Diabetes, Insulin Use, and Cancer Risk: Are Observational Studies Part of the Solution–or Part of the Problem?

Cancer has overtaken cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of death in individuals under the age of 65 in the general population, but it is still overshadowed by cardiovascular disease in those with diabetes. People with type 2 diabetes are nonetheless more likely to develop cancer—and to die from it—than members of the general population, so cancer should be numbered among the complications of diabetes (1). Furthermore, the number of cancer victims with diabetes will inevitably rise in proportion to our success in combating vascular disease in the diabetic population. How can the increased cancer risk in diabetes be explained? To begin with, it should be noted that obesity, insulin resistance, and/or increased levels of IGF-1 and insulin are strongly associated with most (but not all) of the diabetes-related cancers in the nondiabetic population (1). This suggests that hyperglycemia does not play an essential role in the pathogenesis of these tumors, but does not exclude the possibility that it might have secondary effects such as enhanced tumor growth or resistance to anti-tumor therapy. IGF-1 and insulin offer a more plausible mechanistic explanation for the overlapping risk of cancer in the nondiabetic and diabetic populations. Both hormones are mitogenic (but not mutagenic), both are present at high levels in insulin-resistant states, and their receptors are overexpressed on the surface of cancer cells associated with diabetes. They thus have the potential to act as tumor growth factors in vivo as well as in vitro (2,3). On this argument, which we will refer to as the insulin supply hypothesis, drugs used to treat diabetes might influence the risk of cancer by modulating the insulin/IGF axis (1). There is, however, a possible alternative explanation for the increased risk of cancer in diabetes, which we refer to as the glucose supply hypothesis. …
Combined Analysis of the Binary Lens Caustic-crossing Event MACHO 98-SMC-1

We fit the data for the binary lens microlensing event MACHO 98-SMC-1 from five different microlensing collaborations and find two distinct solutions characterized by binary separation d and mass ratio q: (d,q) = (0.54,0.50) and (d,q) = (3.65,0.36), where d is in units of the Einstein radius. However, the relative proper motion of the lens is very similar in the two solutions, 1.30 km s-1 kpc-1 and 1.48 km s-1 kpc-1, thus confirming that the lens is in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The close binary can be either rotating or approximately static but the wide binary must be rotating at close to its maximum allowed rate to be consistent with all the data. We measure limb-darkening coefficients for five bands ranging from I to V. As expected, these progressively decrease with rising wavelength. This is the first measurement of limb darkening for a metal-poor A star.
Separation of AC0[⊕] Formulas and Circuits

We give the first separation between the power of formulas and circuits in the AC0[⊕] basis (unbounded fan-in AND, OR, NOT and MOD2 gates). We show that there exist poly(n)-size depth-d circuits that are not equivalent to any depth-d formula of size no(d) for all d ≤ O(log(n)/log log(n)). This result is obtained by a combination of new lower and upper bounds for Approximate Majorities, the class of Boolean functions {0,1}n→{0,1} that agree with the Majority function on a 3/4 fraction of the inputs. AC0[⊕] formula lower bound. We show that every depth-d AC0[⊕] formula of size s has a 1/4-error polynomial approximation over F2 of degree O((1/d) logs)d−1. This strengthens a classic O(logs)d−1 degree approximation for circuits due to Razborov (1987). Since any polynomial that approximates the Majority function has degree Ω( √ n), this result implies an exp(Ω(dn1/2(d−1))) lower bound on the depth-d AC0[⊕] formula size of all Approximate Majority functions for all d ≤ O(logn). Monotone AC0 circuit upper bound. For all d ≤O(log(n)/log log(n)), we give a randomized construction of depth-d monotone AC0 circuits (without NOT or MOD2 gates) of size exp(O(n1/2(d−1))) that compute an Approximate Majority function. This strengthens a construction of formulas of size exp(O(dn1/2(d−1))) due to Amano (2009). ACM Classification: F.1. 3, F.2. 3 AMS Classification: 68Q17, 68Q15
Dual Label in Situ Hybridization Studies Provide Evidence that Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone Neurons Do Not Synthesize Messenger Ribonucleic Acid for μ, κ, or δ Opiate Receptors.

Abundant evidence suggests that opiatergic neurons play an important intermediary role in the regulation of LHRH release by ovarian steroids; however, it is unclear whether opiates communicate directly or indirectly with LHRH neurons. To investigate this issue, we used dual label in situ hybridization histochemistry to determine whether LHRH neurons synthesize messenger RNA (mRNA) for mu, kappa, and/or delta opiate receptors. For these studies, we examined both intact (n = 3) and ovariectomized, steroid-treated rats. Ten of the ovariectomized rats were implanted 1 week later (day 0) with SILASTIC brand (Dow Corning) capsules of estradiol. On the morning of day 2, half of the estradiol-treated rats were injected with 5 mg progesterone. All animals were killed at approximately 1530 h on day 2. We found that cells expressing mu, kappa, and delta opiate receptor mRNAs were in all sections that also contained LHRH neurons. In every case, LHRH neurons were seen to be surrounded by or in close proximity to cells containing mu, kappa, or delta mRNAs. However, regardless of steroid treatment, we found no neurons containing both LHRH mRNA and mRNAs encoding any of the three receptor subtypes. These results support the hypothesis that LHRH neurons are regulated indirectly by opiatergic neurons.
Osteonecrosis in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

The morbidity and toxicity associated with current intensive treatment protocols for acute lymphoblastic leukemia in childhood become even more important as the vast majority of children can be cured and become long-term survivors. Osteonecrosis is one of the most common therapy-related and debilitating side effects of anti-leukemic treatment and can adversely affect long-term quality of life. Incidence and risk factors vary substantially between study groups and therapeutic regimens. We therefore analyzed 22 clinical trials of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia in terms of osteonecrosis incidence and risk factors. Adolescent age is the most significant risk factor, with patients >10 years old at the highest risk. Uncritical modification or even significant reduction of glucocorticoid dosage cannot be recommended at this stage. A novel and innovative approach to reduce osteonecrosis-associated morbidity might be systematic early screening for osteonecrosis by serial magnetic resonance images. However, discriminating patients at risk of functional impairment and debilitating progressive joint disease from asymptomatic patients still remains challenging.
The Prism of Change

Abstract This article presents and discusses the communicative behaviour in the continuity texts produced by public service television providers in Denmark in the digital era. Based on a case study of the two main channels, DR and TV 2, the article argues that, after previous trends towards convergence in the way the two providers communicate, the present developments exhibit a divergence. Three major differences are found in the efforts to (1) hold on to and ‘herd’ the viewers within the scope of products and platforms, (2) strengthen the provider–viewer relationship, and (3) stand out with a distinctive set of institutional values. The findings are interpreted as a consequence of the challenges and opportunities facing the providers in terms of funding and in terms of meeting public service obligations, in a situation of tension between a traditional linear model of broadcasting and an emerging non-linear model.
The Effects of Low-Vision Rehabilitation on Reading Speed and Depression in Age Related Macular Degeneration: A Meta-Analysis

Importance Age related macular degeneration (AMD) is a progressive eye disease that, as of 2015, has affected 11 million people in the U.S. and 1.5 million in Canada causing central vision blindness. By 2050, this number is expected to double to 22 million. Eccentric vision is the target of low-vision rehabilitation aids and programs for patients with AMD, which are thought to improve functional performance by improving reading speed and depression. Objective This study evaluates the effect of various low-vision rehabilitation strategies on reading speed and depression in patients 55 and older with AMD. Data Sources Computer databases including MEDLINE (OVID), EMBASE (OVID), BIOSIS Previews (Thomson-Reuters), CINAHL (EBSCO), Health Economic Evaluations Database (HEED), ISI Web of Science (Thomson-Reuters) and the Cochrane Library (Wiley) were searched from the year 2000 to January 2015. Study Selection Included papers were research studies with a sample size of 20 eyes or greater focused on AMD in adults aged 55 or older with low vision (20/60 or lower). Data Extraction and Synthesis Two independent reviewers screened and extracted relevant data from the included articles. Standardized mean difference (SMD) was chosen as an effect size to perform meta-analysis using STATA. Fixed- and random-effect models were developed based on heterogeneity. Main Outcomes Reading Speed and Depression Scores. Results A total of 9 studies (885 subjects) were included. Overall, a significant improvement in reading speed was found with a SMD of 1.01 [95% CI: 0.05 to 1.97]. Low-vision rehabilitation strategies including micro-perimetric biofeedback, microscopes teaching program significantly improved reading speed. Eccentric viewing training showed the maximum improvement in reading speed. In addition, a non-significant improvement in depression scores was found with a SMD of -0.44 [95% CI: -0.96 to 0.09]. Conclusion A considerable amount of research is required in the area of low-vision rehabilitation strategies for patients with AMD. Based on current research, low-vision rehabilitation aids improve reading speed. However, they do not have a significant effect on depression scores in those 55 and older with AMD.
Precomputation for finding paths with two additive weights

As the most challenging problems of the upcoming next-generation networks, 2-constrained quality of service routing (QoSR) is NP-complete problem, for which we propose a novel precomputation algorithm, LEFPA. This algorithm converts two additive weights to a single metric with linear energy functions (LEFs) and pre-computes QoS routing table with multiple (B) LEFs to further enhance its scalability. We first analyze the performance of LEFs and give a method to determine the feasible and unfeasible areas in the metric space for a QoS request. We then introduce the proposed LEFPA, whose computation complexity is O(B(m+nlogn+n)). Furthermore, we use three methods to evaluate the routing performance. Extensive simulations show that our LEFPA has both absolutely and competitively high performance.
NLTE models of line-driven stellar winds – II. O stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud

We calculate non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) line-driven wind models of selected O stars in the spectral range of O4 to O9 in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). We compare predicted basic wind properties, i.e. the terminal velocity and the mass-loss rate with values derived from observation. We found relatively good agreement between theoretical and observed terminal velocities. On the other hand, predicted mass-loss rates and mass-loss rates derived from observation are in a good agreement only for higher mass-loss rates. Theoretical mass-loss rates lower than approximately 10^-7 M yr^-1 are significantly higher than those derived from observation. These results confirm the previously reported problem of weak winds, since our calculated mass-loss rates are in fair agreement with predictions of Vink et al. We study multicomponent models for these winds. For this purpose we develop a more detailed description of wind decoupling. We show that the instability connected with the decoupling of individual wind elements may occur for low-density winds. In the case of winds with very low observed mass-loss rates the multicomponent effects are important for the wind structure, however this is not able to explain consistently the difference between the predicted mass-loss rate and the mass-loss rate derived from observation for these stars. Similar to previous studies, we found the level of dependence of the wind parameters on the metallicity. We conclude that the wind mass-loss rate significantly increases with metallicity as , whereas the terminal velocity of wind on average depends on metallicity only slightly, namely v~Z^0.06 (for studied stars).
Evaluation of Radiometric Improvements With Electronic Crosstalk Correction for Terra MODIS Band 27

The MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) has 36 bands, covering a wavelength range from 0.4 to 14.4 μm. Terra MODIS band 27 (6.72 μm), a water vapor band, was found to have electronic crosstalk from other bands located on the same focal plane assembly, which causes surface feature contamination and pronounced detector level striping in the images. In a previous study, an algorithm using a linear approximation derived from on-orbit lunar observations was developed to correct the crosstalk effect. Results demonstrated that the correction substantially reduces the striping and removes the contaminated surface features. However, it was also demonstrated that the crosstalk effect might bring about a long-term increase in the brightness temperatures (BTs) in Terra band 27. In this paper, it is shown that there is a long-term drift (or decrease), which is strongly detector dependent, in the BT for the band induced by the crosstalk effect. It is also shown that the crosstalk correction with the linear algorithm substantially removes the detector-dependent long-term drift and greatly improves the radiometric accuracy of the band. The comparison between the BT of Terra band 27 in the most recent MODIS Level 1B (L1B) collection [Collection 6 (C6)] and those from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer using simultaneous-nadir-overpass observations shows that the detector-averaged long-term drift in the BT in Terra band 27 varies from approximately 1 K to 3 K. The detector difference can be as large as 9 K for a few detectors during the last five years in the northern and southern polar areas. With crosstalk correction applied, the long-term drift is reduced to be less than 0.5 K, and the detector difference is within 1 K. The crosstalk effect-induced detector-dependent long-term drift in Terra band 27 and the capability of the crosstalk correction algorithm to remove the drift are also assessed at three well-characterized sites with different radiance levels, namely, Dome Concordia (Dome C), Libya 1, and the Pacific Ocean at various radiometric levels. The long-term drift and the strong detector dependence of the drift are clearly observed at the three sites with the BT in the Terra band 27 C6 L1B products. The band-averaged BT drifts are about 0.8 K, 5 K, and 5.5 K, and the detector differences can be as large as 4 K, 12 K, and 15 K, respectively, for the three sites. With the crosstalk correction applied, the long-term drifts in the BT over the three sites are substantially removed, and the observed detector differences of Terra band 27 at the three sites are also significantly reduced. The crosstalk correction greatly improves the radiometric accuracy of the band as well as the image quality.
Coping Styles in Patients with Anxiety and Depression

Different individuals use different coping styles to cope with their problems. In patients with anxiety and/or depression, these have important implications. The primary objective of our study was to estimate the frequency of different coping mechanisms used by patients with symptoms of anxiety and depression. A descriptive, cross-sectional survey was conducted and patients with symptoms of anxiety and depression were identified using the Aga Khan University's Anxiety and Depression Scale (AKUADS). Coping styles were determined by using the 28-item Brief COPE inventory. We were able to recruit 162 people. The prevalence of anxiety and depression was found to be 34%. Females were more than 2 times likely to have anxiety and depression (P value = 0.024, OR = 2.62). In patients screening positive for AKUADS, “religion” was the most common coping mechanism identified. “Acceptance”, “Use of instrumental support”, and “Active coping” were other commonly used coping styles. Our findings suggest that religious coping is a common behavior in patients presenting with symptoms anxiety and depression in Pakistan. Knowledge of these coping styles is important in the care of such patients, as these coping methods can be identified and to some extent modified by the treating clinician/psychiatrist.
Blind MEM PDF Estimation for Detection in the Presence of Unknown Non-Gaussian Noise

In this letter we develop a new blind binary level detection in presence of unknown non-Gaussian noise using maximum entropy method (MEM). We show that the performance of the designed detector based on blind maximum entropy (BME) method is near to the one that is designed based on best entropy estimate (BEE) criterion.
A New Pleiades Member at the Lithium Substellar Boundary

We present the discovery of an object in the Pleiades open cluster, named Teide 2, with optical and infrared photometry that places it on the cluster sequence slightly below the expected substellar mass limit. We have obtained low- and high-resolution spectra that allow us to determine its spectral type (M6), radial velocity, and rotational broadening and to detect Hα in emission and Li I in absorption. All the observed properties strongly support the membership of Teide 2 in the Pleiades. This object has an important role in defining the reappearance of lithium below the substellar limit in the Pleiades. The age of the Pleiades' very low mass members, based on their luminosities and the absence or presence of lithium, is constrained to be in the range 100-120 Myr.
A communicable disease prediction benchmarking platform

The paper presents a platform for benchmarking disease prediction algorithms and mathematical models. The platform is applied to compare Bayesian and compartmental disease prediction models using. We used weekly aggregated cases of various diseases collected from a microbiology laboratory that covers northern Norway. The platform enables integration and benchmarking of various disease prediction models. Our benchmark shows that the Bayesian model was better on predicting the number of cases on a weekly basis. Normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) for the Bayesian prediction was within the range 0.072-0.1498 for weekly predictions, 0.171-0.254 for monthly. The compartmental SIR(S) model achieved a NRMSE of 0.133 for the weekly prediction against Influenza A data. Disease prediction models benchmarking platforms can help to improve the status of disease prediction systems, investment and time of development. It can speeds up mathematical modeling through its integrated environment for testing and evaluation.