Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Proactive Fault Tolerance Approach to High Performance Computing (HPC) in the Cloud

Cloud computing offers new computing paradigms, capacity, and flexibility to high performance computing (HPC) applications with provisioning of a large number of Virtual Machines (VMs) for computation-intensive applications using the Hardware as a Service (HaaS) model. Due, however, to the large number of VMs and electronic components in HPC systems in the cloud, any fault during the execution would result in re-running the application, which will cost time, money and energy. In this paper we present a proactive Fault Tolerance (FT) approach to HPC systems in the cloud to reduce the wall clock execution time in the presence of faults. We develop a generic FT algorithm for HPC systems in the cloud. Our algorithm does not rely on a spare node prior to prediction of a failure. We analyze the dollar cost of provisioning spare nodes to assess the value of our approach. Our experimental results obtained from a real cloud execution environment show that the wall clock execution time of the computation-intensive applications in cloud can be reduced by as much as 30%. The frequency of check pointing of computation-intensive applications can be reduced to 50% with our fault tolerance approach for HPC in the cloud, compared to current FT approaches.
The Case for a Vaccine Purchase Fund

Executive Summary This note proposes that the international community establish a Vaccine Purchase Fund designed to assure pharmaceutical firms of a market if they develop vaccines for tuberculosis, malaria, or AIDS, the world’s three most deadly infectious diseases. No expenditures would be made from the fund until an effective vaccine was developed. These diseases account for about 5 million deaths worldwide per year, or about 9% of all deaths. The target for vaccines purchased by the fund will be children born each year in low income countries with high incidence of each disease. Assuming these vaccines are purchased for $10 $40 dollars per protected child, and an estimated total of 160 million vaccine purchases are made, expenditures from the fund would amount to approximately $1.6 billion to $6.4 billion per year if vaccines against all three of these diseases are developed. This of course would be a very small amount to save millions of lives. The late 20 century has been described as the second golden age of vaccines. As a result of recent scientific advances, including, for example, sequencing of the genomes of the agents which cause TB and malaria, efforts to develop vaccines against these diseases in the near future are scientifically warranted. Yet pharmaceutical firms conduct very little vaccine research for these diseases, anticipating that the potential market would not justify the hundreds of millions of dollars in necessary research and development expenditure. Markets are expected to be limited for two reasons. First, these diseases largely affect poor countries; virtually all malaria infections and more than 95% of new tuberculosis and 95% of HIV infections occur in the developing world. Second, governments and international organizations are typically monopoly purchasers of vaccines, and they use this power to insist on low vaccine prices. Existing vaccines for developing country diseases are typically purchased at pennies per dose. Pharmaceutical companies doubt that they would be able to sell vaccines to governments and international organizations at prices that would cover the research and development expenditures. An effective strategy for combating these three diseases requires three components: better use of existing prevention, control, and treatment technologies; support for basic research conducted in the public sector and academic institutions, including the work which will form the basis for the applied work of vaccine development; and a commitment to private sector firms that if they succeed at the expensive applied work of developing a vaccine, they will have a market for their product. A Vaccine Purchase Fund could provide this critical third component. A board representing donors would establish policies for future vaccine purchases. Contributions to the Fund could take the form either of cash or of binding commitments to provide funds if and when an eligible vaccine was developed. Contributions could be made over a number of years, according to an initially agreed timetable, so that the fund would build an endowment over time.
Senescence-unrelated impediment of osteogenesis from Flk1+ bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells induced by total body irradiation and its contribution to long-term bone and hematopoietic injury.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Ionizing irradiation is a common treatment for cancer patients and can result in adverse side effects affecting the bone and hematopoietic systems. Although some studies have demonstrated that ionizing radiation can induce apoptosis and senescence in hematopoietic stem cells, little is known about the effects of total body irradiation (TBI) on bone marrow (BM) mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). The objectives of this study were to determine the response of BM MSC to irradiation stress, such as cellular senescence and differentiation potential in BM MSC, and the clinical significance of these changes caused by TBI. DESIGN AND METHODS At different time points after TBI, Flk1+ MSC were isolated from BM of male C57BL/6 mice and analyzed for colony forming units-fibroblast (CFU-F), cellular senescence-related indices and osteogenic potential. Bone histomorphometric analysis, immunohistochemical staining and bone mineral density (BMD) tests were performed to detect the effects of TBI on bone and the hematopoietic system. RESULTS TBI reduced the pool of BM mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells, and altered osteoblast differentiation ability of BM MSC evidenced by changes in TAZ expression. These alterations, sustained up to 28 days post-irradiation, were independent of cellular senescence in BM MSC. Irradiated mice showed obvious bone loss and destruction of the hematopoietic osteoblastic niche, which is normally comprised of spindle-shaped N-cadherin-expressing osteoblasts. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS TBI treatment results in impairment in BM MSC, which might be responsible for bone loss and, at least partially, for impaired hematopoiesis.
Echolocation signals of wild harbour porpoises, Phocoena phocoena

SUMMARY Field recordings of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) were made in the inner Danish waters with a vertical array of three or four hydrophones. The back-calculated source level ranged from 178 to 205 dB re 1μ Pa pp @ 1 m with a mean source level of 191 dB re 1 μPa pp @ 1 m. The maximum source level was more than 30 dB above what has been measured from captive animals, while the spectral and temporal properties were comparable. Calculations based on the sonar equation indicate that harbour porpoises, using these high click intensities, should be capable of detecting fish and nets and should be detectable by porpoise detectors over significantly larger distances than had previously been assumed. Harbour porpoises in this study preferred a relatively constant inter-click interval of about 60 ms, but intervals up to 200 ms and down to 30 ms were also recorded.
Routing in ISL networks considering empirical IP traffic

Next-generation satellite networks are expected to provide a variety of applications with diverse performance requirements, which will call for the development of adaptive routing procedures supporting different levels of services. In this paper, we propose traffic class dependent (TCD) routing, which has the potential to differentiate between traffic classes using different optimization criteria in route calculation. The performance of TCD routing is evaluated for different traffic scenarios using an empirical traffic source model derived from the real backbone Internet traffic trace and compared with results obtained with equivalent Poisson traffic as a reference point. In addition, TCD routing is compared with a simple single service routing procedure, which does not make any distinction between traffic classes. Performance analysis, in terms of average packet delay, normalized data throughput, and normalized link load, reveals improved routing resulting from traffic class differentiation, regardless of the traffic scenario considered. The performance measures based of aggregate traffic flow show no significant difference between routing of empirical and equivalent Poisson traffic.
Neuroprotective effects of umbelliferone and esculetin in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease

The production of reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial dysfunction in the brain are both associated with the progression of several neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease. These characteristics are also observed when rodents are exposed to the neurotoxin 1‐methyl‐4‐phenyl‐1,2,3,6‐tetrahydropyridine (MPTP), a compound that causes nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurotoxicity and that has been used previously for assessing the effectiveness of neuroprotective agents. In this study, the neuroprotective effects of two coumarins, umbelliferone and esculetin, against MPTP‐induced neurotoxicity were examined in C57BL/6J mice. The results show that dietary administration of umbelliferone and esculetin significantly attenuated MPTP‐induced neurotoxicity in the substantia nigra pars compacta but not striatum, as measured by tyrosine hydroxylase staining. Both coumarins also prevented an MPTP‐induced increase in nitrosative stress as measured by 3‐nitrotyrosine immunoreactivity and also maintained glutathione levels in MPTP‐exposed mice as well as in cell lines exposed to the metabolite 1‐methyl‐4‐phenylpyridinium. Umbelliferone and esculetin also prevented MPTP‐dependent caspase 3 activation, an indicator of apoptosis, but did not inhibit monoamine oxidase activity. This is the first time that the neuroprotective capabilities of these coumarins have been demonstrated, and the results indicate that umbelliferone and esculetin can protect against MPTP‐induced neurotoxicity in the mouse. These compounds can cross the blood–brain barrier, so their effectiveness indicates that they have the potential to protect in neurodegenerative disease such as Parkinson's disease. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Squeezing quantum information through a classical channel: measuring the "quantumness" of a set of quantum states

This article is an introduction to quant-ph/0302092. We propose to quantify how "quantum" a set of quantum states is. The quantumness of a set is the worst-case difficulty of transmitting the states through a classical communication channel. Potential applications of this measure arise in quantum cryptography, where one might like to use an alphabet of states most sensitive to quantum eavesdropping, and in lab demonstrations of quantum teleportation, where it is necessary to check that entanglement has indeed been used.
Operational experiences with high-volume network intrusion detection

In large-scale environments, network intrusion detection systems (NIDSs) face extreme challenges with respect to traffic volume, traffic diversity, and resource management. While crucial for acceptance and operational deployment, the research literature mainly omits such practical difficulties. In this paper, we offer an evaluation based on extensive operational experience. More specifically, we identify and explore key factors with respect to resource management and efficient packet processing and highlight their impact using a set of real-world traces. On the one hand, these insights help us gauge the trade-offs of tuning a NIDS. On the other hand, they motivate us to explore several novel ways of reducing resource requirements. These enable us to improve the state management considerably as well as balance the processing load dynamically. Overall this enables us to operate a NIDS successfully in our high-volume network environments.
Uremic toxins and platelet function.

The hemostatic abnormalities in patients with uremia are related to acquired functional platelet defects. Evidence derived from dialysis, in vitro studies with cell-free uremic plasma, and the ingestion or infusion of uremic metabolities indicate that one or more dialyzable toxins are responsible for altering the function of intrinsically normal platelets. Urea, creatinine, methylguanidine, phenol and phenolic acids, and guanidinosuccinic acid (GSA) have been proposed for this role. These substances affect platelet aggregation, platelet factor 3 activation induced by adenosine diphosphate (ADP), platelet ultrastructure, and bleeding time. Only guanidinosuccinic acid and perhaps the phenolic compounds thus far meet the most rigid criteria for toxins affecting platelet function. A toxin which competitively limits internal platelet transformation in response to exogenous adenosine diphosphate could account for the hemostatic abnormalities found in renal failure.
A comparative study of early postoperative feeding versus conventional feeding for patients undergoing cesarean section; a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE To compare the efficacy and side effects of early postoperative feeding versus conventional feeding for patients undergoing cesarean section. MATERIAL AND METHOD Women undertaking uncomplicated cesarean section under regional anesthesia were randomly assigned to early feeding or conventional feeding groups. Early-fed women were offered a liquid diet within 8 hours after surgery, advanced to a soft diet on the next meal and then a regular diet. Conventional-fed women were prohibited from mouth-fed for the first 24 hours after surgery, advanced to a liquid diet on the first postoperative day, and then a soft diet on the second postoperative day. RESULTS Two hundred patients were enrolled in the study; 107 patients were assigned to the early feeding group and 93 patients to the conventional feeding group. There were no significant differences in the demographic data between the two groups. In all cases, consistent anesthetic method was applied with no intraoperative adhesion and no post operative complications were observed. The rate of mild ileus symptoms in the early feeding group was significantly less than the conventional group (19.6% versus 31.1%, p = 0.03). The early feeding group also had significantly shorter time interval to bowel movement (16.7 hours versus 25.3 hours, p < 0.001), duration of intravenous fluid administration (20.5 hours versus 24.8 hours, p < 0.001), and overall length of hospital stays (3.3 days versus 4.0 days, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION The study results indicated that the early feeding after uncomplicated cesarean section had reduced the rate of ileus symptoms and offer potential benefits associated with shorter interval to bowel movement, intravenous fluid administration, and length of hospital stays. However, management of postoperative feeding requires proper counseling on details of both regimens and flexibilities should be provided to accommodate early feeding when requested by the patients.
Accepting performance degradation in fault-tolerant control system design

A novel fault-tolerant control system design technique has been proposed in this paper, which blends the multiple-model principle with the unavoidable performance degradation due to faults in actuators, sensors or system dynamics. The number of models employed depends on the characteristics of the system, the nature of the failures considered, and the physical limits of system variables. The achievable performance under various component failures are represented in the form of reference models, known as performance reduced reference models. These models are used to synthesize a set of controllers. Under a specific fault condition, proper controller and revised control system command input are selected automatically to achieve desired performance. A simulation example of an aircraft subject to different type of failures has been used to illustrate the design process and to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method.
Functional and Immunological Relevance of Anaplasma marginale Major Surface Protein 1a Sequence and Structural Analysis

Bovine anaplasmosis is caused by cattle infection with the tick-borne bacterium, Anaplasma marginale. The major surface protein 1a (MSP1a) has been used as a genetic marker for identifying A. marginale strains based on N-terminal tandem repeats and a 5′-UTR microsatellite located in the msp1a gene. The MSP1a tandem repeats contain immune relevant elements and functional domains that bind to bovine erythrocytes and tick cells, thus providing information about the evolution of host-pathogen and vector-pathogen interactions. Here we propose one nomenclature for A. marginale strain classification based on MSP1a. All tandem repeats among A. marginale strains were classified and the amino acid variability/frequency in each position was determined. The sequence variation at immunodominant B cell epitopes was determined and the secondary (2D) structure of the tandem repeats was modeled. A total of 224 different strains of A. marginale were classified, showing 11 genotypes based on the 5′-UTR microsatellite and 193 different tandem repeats with high amino acid variability per position. Our results showed phylogenetic correlation between MSP1a sequence, secondary structure, B-cell epitope composition and tick transmissibility of A. marginale strains. The analysis of MSP1a sequences provides relevant information about the biology of A. marginale to design vaccines with a cross-protective capacity based on MSP1a B-cell epitopes.
Predictors of affect following treatment decision‐making for prostate cancer: conversations, cognitive processing, and coping

Objective: Research suggests that cancer patients who are more involved in treatment decision‐making (TDM) report better quality of life following treatment. This study examines the association and possible mechanisms between prostate cancer patient's discussions about TDM and affect following treatment. We predicted that the length of time patients spent discussing treatment options with social networks and physicians prior to treatment would predict emotional adjustment after treatment. We further predicted that cognitive processing, coping, and patient understanding of treatment options would mediate this association.
Paraoxonase Enzyme Activity Is Enhanced by Zinc Supplementation in Hemodialysis Patients

Background and Aims: Patients on maintenance hemodialysis (HD) face an increased risk of atherosclerosis, a crucial problem and the leading cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. This study was designed to evaluate the effects of zinc supplementation on paraoxonase (PON) enzyme activity in patients on HD. Methods: This double-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted from June 2005 to June 2007. Sixty HD patients were enrolled and divided into two groups: treatment (case) and control. The treatment and control groups were treated with 100 mg/day zinc or placebo, respectively, for 2 months. Serum zinc concentration was measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. PON activity was evaluated by spectrophotometric method. Lipid profile was determined using commercial kits, and apolipoprotein AI (Apo-AI) and B (Apo-B) levels were measured by commercial immunoturbidimetric kits. Results: In the case group, there was no significant change in the serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and Apo-B levels, while the serum levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), Apo-AI, and PON activity were significantly increased (p = 0.02). In the control group, although significant increases were observed in the serum levels of TC, TG, and Apo-B (p = 0.009, 0.019, and 0.001, respectively), the serum PON activity was significantly decreased (p = 0.025) and the serum levels of HDL, LDL, and Apo-AI were not changed. At the end of intervention period, the serum level of Apo-AI and PON activity were significantly higher in the case group. Conclusions: Zinc supplementation increased both the activity of PON and the serum level of Apo-AI in the HD patients.
On the large-angle anomalies of the microwave sky

We apply the multipole vector framework to full-sky maps derived from the first-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data. We significantly extend our earlier work showing that the two lowest cosmologically interesting multipoles, � = 2 and 3, are not statistically isotropic. These results are compared to the findings obtained using related methods. In particular, we show that the planes of the quadrupole and the octopole are unexpectedly aligned. Moreover, the combined quadrupole plus octopole is surprisingly aligned with the geometry and direction of motion of the Solar system: the plane they define is perpendicular to the ecliptic plane and to the plane defined by the dipole direction, and the ecliptic plane carefully separates stronger from weaker extrema, running within a couple of degrees of the null-contour between a maximum and a minimum over more than 120 ◦ of the sky. Even given the alignment of the quadrupole and octopole with each other, we find that their alignment with the ecliptic is unlikely at >98 per cent confidence level (CL), and argue that it is in fact unlikely at >99.9 per cent CL. Most of the � = 2 and 3 multipole vectors of the known Galactic foregrounds are located far from those of the observed sky, strongly suggesting that residual contamination by such foregrounds is unlikely to be the cause of the observed correlations. Multipole vectors,
Blue fluorescent amino acid for biological spectroscopy and microscopy

Significance Herein, we report a tryptophan-based fluorophore that emits in the visible spectral region when excited with 355-nm light. Because this blue fluorescent amino acid has a small size and affords unique photophysical properties, we expect that it will find use in various biological studies, especially in spectroscopic and/or microscopic measurements where an amino acid-sized fluorescence reporter is required. Many fluorescent proteins are currently available for biological spectroscopy and imaging measurements, allowing a wide range of biochemical and biophysical processes and interactions to be studied at various length scales. However, in applications where a small fluorescence reporter is required or desirable, the choice of fluorophores is rather limited. As such, continued effort has been devoted to the development of amino acid-based fluorophores that do not require a specific environment and additional time to mature and have a large fluorescence quantum yield, long fluorescence lifetime, good photostability, and an emission spectrum in the visible region. Herein, we show that a tryptophan analog, 4-cyanotryptophan, which differs from tryptophan by only two atoms, is the smallest fluorescent amino acid that meets these requirements and has great potential to enable in vitro and in vivo spectroscopic and microscopic measurements of proteins.
2 Osteophyte Formation in the Lumber Spine and Relevance to Low Back Pain

Vertebral osteophyte formation is a well-documented phenomenon that is associated with degeneration and altered mechanics of the spine, both of which have been considered to be the result of aging, a purely physiologic response to load bearing, or intrinsic spinal disease as etiologic factors. (Lane et al., 1993, O’Neill et al., 1999) They are recognized radiologically as hyperostosis at the region of the attachment of the annular fibers to the vertebral body and localized increases in bone mineral density. (Nathan et al., 1994) As the etiologic factors, the compressive forces on the vertebral endplates (Nathan et al., 1962), bone mineral density (Kinoshita et al., 1998), obesity (O’Neill et al., 1999) and genetic factors (Sambrook et al., 1999) have been reported as causes, although the absence of a single definitive factor causing spinal degeneration has led to a suggestion that several factors including both genetic and nongenetic ones contribute to the development of osteophyte formation. (Harada et al., 1998, Liu et al., 1997)