Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Two priority buffered multistage interconnection networks

This paper presents a novel architecture of internally two priority buffered multistage interconnection network (MIN). First, we compare by simulation the new architecture against a single priority MIN and demonstrate up to N times higher high-priority throughput in a hot spot situation, when N is the number of inputs. In addition, under uniform traffic assumption we show an increase in the low priority throughput, without any change in the high priority throughput. Moreover, while in the single priority system the high priority delay and its standard deviation are increased when low priority traffic is present, it is kept constant in the dual priority system. Finally, we introduce a new approach of long Markovian memory performance model to better capture the packet dependency in a single priority MIN under uniform traffic and extend this model for a dual priority MIN. Model results are shown to be very accurate.
Source-stirring and mechanical-stirring reverberation chamber measurement comparison for 900MHz and 1800MHz

This paper presents comparison results between measurements using mechanical-stirring and source-stirring techniques in a reverberation chamber. Three criteria (S21 scatter plot, log normalized received power Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) plot, and the number of independent samples calculated from each data set) are used in the determination of the source-stirring method effectiveness. The results show that source-stirring is capable of producing good statistics and is comparable to the standard mechanical-stirring technique that is often employed in reverberation chamber measurements.
Voluntary discharge frequencies of human motoneurons at different muscle lengths

The relationship between the discharge frequencies of motoneurons and the voluntary force at high contraction strengths (50% to 100%maximum) was determined for tibialis anterior with the ankle: (i) at 90° (control length) and (ii) this angle reduced by about 15° (short length), an amount sufficient to reduce the maximal voluntary force by about 35%. In the shortened position, twitch contraction and half‐relaxation times were reduced by 11% and 18%, respectively. At both muscle lengths, the ability to activate the muscle fully by voluntary effort was confirmed by twitch interpolation. Motor unit firing rates were recorded during isometric voluntary contractions lasting 10 seconds, performed at 50%, 75%, and 100% maximal force. At each length, discharge rates varied in proportion to the relative force exerted. Despite the difference in twitch contractile speed at the two lengths, no significant differences were found between motoneuron discharge rates recorded at each muscle length during maximal or submaximal contractions.
Background and Purpose Experimental Approach Conclusions and Implications

The α7 nicotinic receptor dual allosteric agonist and positive allosteric modulator GAT107 reverses nociception in mouse models of inflammatory and neuropathic pain Orthosteric agonists and positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) of the α7 nicotinic ACh receptor (nAChR) represent novel therapeutic approaches for pain modulation. Moreover, compounds with dual function as allosteric agonists and PAMs, known as ago-PAMs, add further regulation of receptor function. Initial studies examined the α7 ago-PAM, GAT107, in the formalin, complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA), LPS inflammatory pain models, the chronic constriction injury neuropathic pain model and the tail flick and hot plate acute thermal nociceptive assays. Additional studies examined the locus of action of GAT107 and immunohistochemical markers in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord in the CFA model. Complementary pharmacological and genetic approaches confirmed that the dose-dependent antinociceptive effects of GAT107 were mediated through α7 nAChR. However, GAT107 was inactive in the tail flick and hot plate assays. In addition, GAT107 blocked conditioned place aversion elicited by acetic acid injection. Furthermore, intrathecal, but not intraplantar, injections of GAT107 reversed nociception in the CFA model, suggesting a spinal component of action. Immunohistochemical evaluation revealed an increase in the expression of astrocyte-specific glial fibrillary acidic protein and phosphorylated p38MAPK within the spinal cords of mice treated with CFA, which was attenuated by intrathecal GAT107 treatment. Importantly, GAT107 did not elicit motor impairment and continued to produce antinociceptive effects after subchronic administration in both phases of the formalin test. Collectively, these results provide the first proof of principle that α7 ago-PAMs represent an effective pharmacological strategy for treating inflammatory and neuropathic pain.
4] F. Bancilhon, a Note on the Performance of Rule Based Systems. in Mcc Technical Report 11 Conclusions and Future Work 10 Discussion of the Suucient Condition 9 a Suucient Condition 8 Functional Dependencies over Gc and M

34 some property is preserved? If not preserved, how do we utilize the properties of the individual programs in evaluating the xpoint of the union? If a program has a property P, what can we say about the program obtained by applying various program transformations such as Magic Sets 5, 20]? As an example of what we look for, consider the composition of two programs in which one acts as a library for the other. Then the property of pairwise non-uniiability of elements of GC, and the FDs established for the library program { determined, for example, during application of Theorem 9.1 { are often suucient input to an analysis of the other program, to detect that the composed program is subsumption-free. The optimization of xpoint evaluation is critical to the eeciency of the bottom-up approach to logic program evaluation. We believe that the results in this paper have practical and theoretical signiicance, and point to an important new direction for further research. 33 The dependency s 1 ! s 2 holds only on GC, not M. Thus, we can see that the program is subsumption-free (since the above dependency allows us to show that the head determines the body in the R relation corresponding to the rst relation), using Theorem 7.1. However, our suucient condition for subsumption-freedom (Theorem 9.1) cannot establish this. 2 From an examination of Theorem 9.1 and Proposition 8.1, it is natural to consider whether simply replacing the second condition of Theorem 9.1 by the corresponding condition on R would yield a more powerful suucient condition. Unfortunately the condition is no longer suucient, as the next example shows. P is not subsumption-free since the facts q(U; V) and q(U; f(W)) are generated, and the former subsumes the latter. However the head determines the body in the relation R for the rst rule, and so the proposed condition would (incorrectly) infer that P is subsumption-free. 2 The examples suggest that, although we need to develop stronger suucient conditions { reasoning with GC and R in addition to their ground counterparts { their development is not straightforward. However the techniques we have developed for establishing FDs over non-ground relations provide a starting point. We have studied bottom-up xpoint evaluation techniques for logic programs and identiied some important properties that permit novel optimizations. We have developed a framework for reasoning about properties like subsumption-freedom by associating relations with rules …
5338 - BEHAVIO OF MASS CONCRETE USING SMEARED CRACK APPROACH IN THREE DIMENSIONAL PROBLEMS

A smeared crack approach has been proposed to model the static and dynamic behavior of mass concrete in three-dimensional space. The proposed model simulates the tensile fracture on the mass concrete and contains pre-softening behavior, softening initiation, fracture energy conservation and strain rate effects under dynamic loads. It was found that the proposed model gives excellent results and crack profiles comparing with the available data under static loads. Morrow Point dam was analyzed including dam-reservoir interaction effects to consider its nonlinear seismic behavior. It was found that the resulted crack profiles are in good agreement with the contour of maximum principal stresses and no numerical instability occurred during the analysis.
CEP Discussion Paper No 1147 May 2012 Immigration , Offshoring and American Jobs

How do offshoring and immigration affect the employment of native workers? What kinds of jobs suffer, or benefit, most from the competition created by offshore and immigrant workers? In contrast to the existing literature that has mostly looked at the effects of offshoring and immigration separately, we argue that one can gain useful insights by jointly investigating the interactions among native, immigrant and offshore workers. We develop our argument in three steps. First, we present some new facts on 58 U.S. manufacturing industries from 2000 to 2007. Second, we build on Grossman and Rossi-Hansberg (2008) to design a model of task assignment among heterogeneous native, immigrant and offshore workers that fits those facts. Third, we use the model to draw systematic predictions about the effects of immigration and offshoring on native workers and we test these predictions on the data. We find that, within the manufacturing sector, immigrants do not compete much with natives, as these two groups of workers are relatively specialized in tasks at opposite ends of the skill intensity spectrum. Offshore workers, on the other hand, seem to be specialized in tasks of intermediate skill intensity. We also find that offshoring has no effect on native employment in the aggregate, while the effect of immigration on native employment is positive. This hints at the presence of a “productivity effect" whereby offshoring and immigration improve industry efficiency, thereby creating new jobs.
Telomere length measurement by fluorescence in situ hybridization and flow cytometry: tips and pitfalls.

BACKGROUND Telomeres containing noncoding DNA repeats at the end of the chromosomes are essential for chromosomal stability and are implicated in regulating the replication and senescence of cells. The gradual loss of telomere repeats in cells has been linked to aging and tumor development and methods to measure telomere length are of increasing interest. At least three methods for measuring the length of telomere repeats have been described: Southern blot analysis and quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization using either digital fluorescence microscopy (Q-FISH) or flow cytometry (flow-FISH). Both Southern blot analysis and Q-FISH have specific limitations and are time-consuming, whereas the flow-FISH technique requires relatively few cells (10(5)) and can be completed in a single day. A further advantage of the flow-FISH method is that data on the telomere length from individual cells and subsets of cells (lymphocytes and granulocytes) can be acquired from the same sample. In order to obtain accurate and reproducible results using the flow-FISH technique, we systematically explored the influence of various steps in the protocol on telomere length values and established an acceptable range for the most critical parameters. METHODS Isolated leukocytes from whole blood are denatured by heat and 70%/75% formamide, then hybridized with or without a telomere-specific fluorescein isothiocyante (FITC)-conjugated peptide nucleic acid probe (PNA). Unbound telomere PNA is washed away, the DNA is counterstained, and telomere fluorescence is measured on a flow cytometer using an argon ion laser (488 nm) to excite FITC. For each sample, duplicates of telomere PNA-stained and unstained tubes are analyzed. RESULTS Cell counts and flow-FISH telomere length measurements were performed on leukocytes and thymocytes of humans and other species. Leukocyte suspensions were prepared by two red blood cell lysis steps with ammonium chloride. Optimal denaturation of DNA was achieved by heating at 85-87 degrees C for 15 min in a solution containing 70%/75% formamide. Hybridization was performed at room temperature with a 0.3 microg/ml telomere-PNA probe for at least 60-90 min. Unbound telomere-PNA probe was diluted at least 4,000-40,000 times with wash steps containing 70%/75% formamide at room temperature. LDS 751 and DAPI were suitable as DNA counterstains as they did not show significant interference with telomere length measurement. CONCLUSIONS The use of flow-FISH for telomere length measurements in nucleated blood cells requires tight adherence to an optimized protocol. The method described here can be used to determine rapidly the telomere length in subsets of nucleated blood cells.
Pilot study comparing the efficacy of two cleaning techniques in reducing environmental contamination with cyclophosphamide.

OBJECTIVE Compare the efficacy of the cleaning technique usually employed in our healthcare facility to eliminate environmental contamination with cyclophosphamide with that of the Surface Safe commercial kit. METHODS This is a three-step evaluative and comparative study involving: (i) the voluntary contamination of the surface of a hood with a pre-established quantity of cyclophosphamide (20,000,000 ng), (ii) the cleaning of the work surface of the hood using a cleaning technique usually employed in our healthcare facility or that of the product Surface Safe, and (iii) the quantification of cyclophosphamide detected on the work surface. The usual cleaning technique involves the use of a mixture of 0.05% chlorhexidine and 70% ethyl alcohol to clean surfaces, whereas the product Surface Safe involves a combined two-step sodium hypochlorite and sodium thiosulfate wash. RESULTS The median concentrations of cyclophosphamide detected after the use of the usual technique and the product Surface Safe came to 165 ng cm(-2) (40-570) and 65 ng cm(-2) (57-110), respectively. The results obtained showed an average 99.5% efficacy in reducing the quantity of cyclophosphamide (ng) detected on the work surface for each of the two techniques that were evaluated. CONCLUSION The study demonstrates that reducing the residual concentration of cyclophosphamide on work surfaces to levels lower than 1 ng cm(-2) remains difficult despite the use of cleaning techniques with a high percentage of efficacy. It stressed the importance of combining two successive cleaning techniques to maximally restrict the residual concentration of hazardous drugs and suggests the use of a combination of sodium hypochlorite and sodium thiosulfate to best reduce environmental contamination levels.
Variation in the cost of medications for the treatment of colorectal cancer.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the economic burden of colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment on the healthcare system as treatment costs have risen 340-fold during the past 5 years. STUDY DESIGN Nationwide registry. METHODS Patients with CRC (N = 421) were selected from an observational prospective patient registry of US oncology clinics. The 8 most commonly prescribed regimens were identified. Standard dosing schedules were set for these regimens based on a literature review and expert CRC oncologist input. Each chemotherapeutic regimen was broken down into its component agents, and regimen costs were calculated by summing the costs of each agent per regimen. Price-per-milligram costs were calculated from Health Care Financing Administration Common Procedural Coding System codes for specific drugs. Patient population, temporal, and regional trends were studied among standard regimens. RESULTS The most common regimens were 5-fluorouracil-leucovorin calcium (5-FU/LV) (147 patients [34.9%]), fluorouracil-leucovorin-irinotecan hydrochloride (FOLFIRI) (111 patients [26.4%]), and fluorouracil-leucovorin-oxaliplatin (103 patients [24.5%]). The remaining 60 patients (14.3%) received irinotecan, capecitabine, and oxaliplatin; oxaliplatin; irinotecan in combination with oxaliplatin; or a miscellaneous regimen. The largest cost differential for 6 cycles of planned treatment was $35,971 between FOLFIRI ($36,999) and 5-FU/LV ($1028). On a per-week basis, treatment costs may differ by more than 91 times. Patient utilization of growth factors, ancillary medications, and monoclonal antibodies added significant costs. CONCLUSIONS The costs of CRC regimens varied considerably. Trends in treatment regimens have changed notably over time, with newer agents and supportive drugs adding substantially to treatment costs.
Ambulatory Monitoring in the Genetics of Psychosomatic Medicine

&NA; Psychosomatic disorders are composed of an array of psychological, biologic, and environmental features. The existing evidence points to a role for genetic factors in explaining individual differences in the development and maintenance of a variety of disorders, but studies to date have not shown consistent and replicable effects. As such, the attempt to uncover individual differences in the expression of psychosomatic disorders as a function of genetic architecture requires careful attention to their phenotypic architecture or the various intermediate phenotypes that make up a heterogeneous disorder. Ambulatory monitoring offers a novel approach to measuring time-variant and situation-dependent intermediate phenotypes. Recent examples of the use of ambulatory monitoring in genetic studies of stress reactivity, chronic pain, alcohol use disorders, and psychosocial resilience are reviewed in an effort to highlight the benefits of ambulatory monitoring for genetic study designs. Abbreviations EMA = ecological momentary assessment COMT = catechol-O-methyltransferase BDNF = brain-derived neurotrophic factor FM = fibromyalgia DRD4 = dopamine receptor D4
Analysis of Shrinkage and Thermal Stresses in Concrete Slabs Reinforced with GFRP Rebars

The corrosion resistance of glass-fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) rebars makes them a promising substitute for conventional steel reinforcing rebars in continuously reinforced concrete pavements (CRCPs). Studies are conducted concerning the effect of using GFRP rebars as reinforcement in CRCP on the concrete stress development, which is directly related to the concrete crack formation that is inevitable in CRCP. In this study, an analytical model of a freely supported reinforced concrete slab is first developed to simulate the shrinkage and thermal stress distributions in concrete owing to the restraint provided by GFRP rebars in comparison with the stresses induced by steel rebars. The results show that the stress level in concrete is reduced with GFRP rebars owing to a low Young's modulus of GFRP. In addition, the analytical model is utilized to estimate the concrete strain variation in the reinforced concrete slabs resulting from changes in the concrete volume, and the results are compared with the experimental observation. Finite-element (FE) analyses were also conducted to calculate the stress distribution and crack width of a GFRP-reinforced CRCP section subjected to both the concrete shrinkage and thermal change. By using the FE method, the crack spacing and crack width of a CRCP reinforced with GFRP rebars were predicted and compared with those of a steel-reinforced CRCP. The result shows that the crack spacing and the crack width of the GFRP-CRCP are larger than those of the steel-CRCP.
Development of binder systems based on CAB for powder injection moulding (PIM) and micro powder injection moulding (µ-PIM) of Zircon and Invar powders

This PhD Thesis studied the use of binders based on cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) andpoly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) in different type of materials, including a ceramic, the zirconiumsilicate, and a metallic alloy, the Invar 36. These materials share their low dimensionalstability with temperature with low coefficients of thermal expansion.The scope of this work is the study and comprehension of the behaviour of the mentionedbinder systems when they are employed in different PIM processes and under differentconditions and powder-types. With regard to this matter, different formulations were designedwith several types of PEG and CAB. These formulations were compared with commercialones. The intrinsic characteristics of each CAB were linked with the behaviour of the differentfeedstock also containing PEG and powder particles. The mixtures homogeneity, the optimumand critical solid loading and its flowability were assessed by torque and capillary rheology.Other complementary techniques such as electronic and light microscopy or the measurementof the mixtures densities by pycnometry were carried out to contrast rheology results. Thecompatibility between the feedstocks’ components and their thermal behaviour were analysedby calorimetry and thermogravimetry techniques. These methods were employed by the firsttime to determine the optimal solid loading.The optimal compositions were injected by using low or high pressures or by a micro injectionmoulding process. The debinding and sintering stages were optimised using severalatmospheres. Finally, the physical and mechanical properties of the final consolidated partswere measured.It could be concluded that the studied binder systems based on PEG and CAB presentedsuitable characteristics for PIM, providing improvements with respect to conventional bindersystems and by a more environmental friendly processing. However, that doctoral work wasjust a first approach to the use of these types of binder systems in PIM. Along this workseveral issues were detected and some topics regarding the processing should be furtherinvestigated to obtain the best of these binder systems.
Performance Evaluation of Dynamic Scheduler in Multiple Queue Shim Layer for Heterogeneous Vehicular Communications

Reliable wireless communications between vehicles (V2V) and between vehicles and infrastructure (V2I) will play a key role in future transport networks. Where there is overlapping coverage of multiple Radio Access Technologies, with no cooperation between them, a vehicle can use the different technologies simultaneously to enhance performance and improve resilience. This paper proposes an uplink Multi Interface Scheduling System (MISS) that incorporates intelligent interface selection, located at an intermediate shim layer on the user side, to achieve efficient bandwidth aggregation, or lower delay. The data can be sent on multiple technologies simultaneously or separately based on user preference and required performance. Rather than finding the best alternative amongst different technologies, this paper's algorithm aims to find all the available networks that can meet multiple criteria. Simulation has been carried out to determine the performance of the system in the presence of a range of different service types. The simulation results show that safety critical traffic can be prioritized in terms of throughput and delay where the resources are insufficient for all the services. This algorithm is ideally suited to vehicular networks, particularly where delivery of safety traffic is an essential requirement.
The Relationship between Language Learning Anxiety , Self-Esteem , and Academic Level among Iranian EFL Learners

The present study is an attempt to explore the relationship between language learning anxiety, self-esteem, and academic level among Iranian EFL learners. To this end, two self-report questionnaires were administered to a total of 108 language learners enrolled for Teaching English as a Foreign Language in two universities in Shiraz, Iran. Results indicated a negative correlation between language learning anxiety and self-esteem among the learners. Similarly, language learning anxiety and academic level were found to be negatively correlated. However, a positive correlation was seen between the learners’ self-esteem and their academic level. The findings include pedagogical implications for both language learners and language teachers.