Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Leveraging Data Promotion for Low Power D-NUCA Caches

D-NUCA caches are cache memories that, thanks to banked organization, broadcast search and promotion/demotion mechanism, are able to tolerate the increasing wire delay effects introduced by technology scaling. As a consequence, they will outperform conventional caches (UCA, Uniform CacheArchitectures) in future generation cores. Due to the promotion/ demotion mechanism, we observed that the distribution of hits across the ways of a D-NUCA cache varies across applications as well as across different execution phases within a single application. In this work, we show how such a behavior can be leveraged to improve the D-NUCA power efficiency as well as to decrease its access latency.In particular, we propose: 1) A new micro-architectural technique to reduce the static power consumption of a D-NUCA cache by dynamically adapting the number of active (i.e. powered-on) ways to the need of the running application; our evaluation shows that a strong reduction of the average number of active ways (37.1%) is achievable, without significantly affecting the IPC (-2.83%), leading to a resultant reduction of the Energy Delay Product (EDP) of 30.9%. 2) A strategy to estimate the characteristic parameters of the proposed technique. 3) An evaluation of the effectiveness of the proposed technique in the multicore environment.
Evaluation of Pastorex meningitis kit performance for the rapid identification of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C in Nigeria

Background Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C (NmC) has caused outbreaks in Nigeria of increasing size in three consecutive years since 2013. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for meningitis can facilitate quick identification of the causative pathogen; Pastorex can detect N. meningitidis serogroups A, C (NmC), Y/W135, N. meningitidis serogroup B/Escherichia coli K1, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), Streptococcus pneumoniae, and group B Streptococcus. There is no published field evaluation of Pastorex in the identification of NmC. We report our experience with Pastorex in detecting NmC in field conditions. Methods During sequential outbreaks of NmC in Nigeria in 2013, 2014 and 2015, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was collected from suspected cases of meningitis that met the case definition. Pastorex latex agglutination rapid test was done in the field and trans-isolate media were inoculated with CSF for culture and/or PCR, which was used as the reference standard for 63 paired samples. Results The sensitivity of Pastorex for NmC was 80.0% (95% CI 65.4–90.4%) and the specificity was 94.4% (95% CI 72.7–99.9%). The positive likelihood ratio (LR) was 14.4 (95% CI 2.1–97.3) and negative LR was 0.2 (95% CI 0.1–0.4). The positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV) were 97.3% (95% CI 85.8–99.9) and 65.4% (95% CI 44.3–82.8), respectively, with a prevalence estimate of 71.4% (95% CI 58.6–82.1). Conclusion Pastorex showed good performance in detecting NmC under field conditions. Prepositioning Pastorex at peripheral health facilities during non-epidemic periods is constrained by a short shelf-life of 1 month after the kit is opened. There is need for development of RDTs that are cheaper and with less challenging requirements for storage and usage.
Glypican-1 Is a Vehicle for Polyamine Uptake in Mammalian Cells

Polyamines (putrescine, spermidine, and spermine) are essential for growth and survival of all cells. When polyamine biosynthesis is inhibited, there is up-regulation of import. The mammalian polyamine transport system is unknown. We have previously shown that the heparan sulfate (HS) side chains of recycling glypican-1 (Gpc-1) can sequester spermine, that intracellular polyamine depletion increases the number of NO-sensitive N-unsubstituted glucosamines in HS, and that NO-dependent cleavage of HS at these sites is required for spermine uptake. The NO is derived from S-nitroso groups in the Gpc-1 protein. Using RNA interference technology as well as biochemical and microscopic techniques applied to both normal and uptake-deficient cells, we demonstrate that inhibition of Gpc-1 expression abrogates spermine uptake and intracellular delivery. In unperturbed cells, spermine and recycling Gpc-1 carrying HS chains rich in N-unsubstituted glucosamines were co-localized. By exposing cells to ascorbate, we induced release of NO from the S-nitroso groups, resulting in HS degradation and unloading of the sequestered polyamines as well as nuclear targeting of the deglycanated Gpc-1 protein. Polyamine uptake-deficient cells appear to have a defect in the NO release mechanism. We have managed to restore spermine uptake partially in these cells by providing spermine NONOate and ascorbate. The former bound to the HS chains of recycling Gpc-1 and S-nitrosylated the core protein. Ascorbate released NO, which degraded HS and liberated the bound spermine. Recycling HS proteoglycans of the glypican-type may be plasma membrane carriers for cargo taken up by caveolar endocytosis.
Globalisation and Income Gap between Rich and Poor Nations

Set against the background of initial relatively low cross-country income and considerable poverty and deprivation in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the question of whether globalisation is associated with a 'catching up' in terms of real income growth, in absolute and relative terms, is both relevant and important. This paper contributes to the empirical literature by investigating globalisation as a channel of income gap reduction between SSA and developed countries. We employ Globalisation Indexes from the Konjunkturforschungsstelle (KOF) and the Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation (CSGR) in an Arellano-Bond dynamic panel GMM specification to test the hypothesis that globalisation has reduced the income gap between SSA and developed countries. We find no evidence that globalisation is associated with a reduction between SSA and developed countries over the period 1980-2009. This result is consistent with previous studies on country's absorptive capacity. An implication of this result for policy theorists is that structural features of SSA output require a more heterodox approach to all dimensions of human development.
Rotating black holes in a Gödel universe

We construct a five-dimensional, asymptotically Godel, three-charge black hole via dimensional reduction of an asymptotically plane wave, rotating D1-D5-brane solution of type-IIB supergravity. This latter is itself constructed via the solution generating procedure of Garfinkle and Vachaspati, applied to the standard rotating D1-D5-brane solution. Taking all charges to be equal gives a ``BMPV Godel black hole'', which is closely related to that recently found by Herdeiro. We emphasise, however, the importance of our ten-dimensional microscopic description in terms of branes. We discuss various properties of the asymptotically Godel black hole, including the physical bound on the rotation of the hole, the existence of closed timelike curves, and possible holographic protection of chronology.
Heat Shock Protein 25-Enriched Plasma Transfusion Preconditions the Heart against Doxorubicin-Induced Dilated Cardiomyopathy in Mice

Extracellular heat shock proteins (eHsps) in the circulation have recently been found to activate both apoptotic and protective signaling in the heart. However, the role of eHsps in doxorubicin (Dox)-induced heart failure has not yet been studied. The objective of the present study was to determine how Dox affects circulating eHsp25 in blood plasma and how eHsp25 affects Dox-induced dilated cardiomyopathy. Wild-type mice [HSF-1(+/+)] were pretreated with 100 μl of heterozygous heat shock factor-1 [HSF-1(+/−)] mouse plasma (which contained 4-fold higher eHsp25 compared with wild-type mice), HSF-1(+/+) plasma, or saline, before treatment with Dox (6 mg/kg). After 4 weeks of this treatment protocol, HSF-1(+/−) plasma-pretreated mice showed increased eHsp25 in plasma and improved cardiac function (percentage of fractional shortening 37.3 ± 2.1 versus 26.4 ± 4.0) and better life span (31 ± 2 versus 22 ± 3 days) compared with the HSF-1(+/+) plasma or saline-pretreated mice. Preincubation of isolated adult cardiomyocytes with HSF-1(+/−) plasma or recombinant human Hsp27 (rhHsp27) significantly reduced Dox-induced activation of nuclear factor-κB and cytokine release and delayed cardiomyocyte death. Moreover, when cardiomyocytes were incubated with fluorescence-tagged rhHsp27, a saturation in binding was observed, suggesting that eHsp25 can bind to surface receptors. Competitive assays with a Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) antibody reduced the rhHSP27 binding, indicating that Hsp25 interacts with TLR2. In conclusion, transfusion of Hsp25-enriched blood plasma protected the heart from Dox-induced cardiotoxicity. Hsp25 antagonized Dox binding to the TLR2 receptor on cardiomyocytes.
Autonomous learning for a cognitive agent using continuous models and inductive logic programming from audio-visual input

A framework for autonomous (human-like) learning of object, event and protocol models from audio-visual data, for use by an artificial “cognitive agent”, is presented. This is motivated by the aim of creating a synthetic agent that can observe a scene containing unknown objects and agents, operating under unknown spatio-temporal motion protocols, and learn models of these objects and protocols sufficient to act in accordance with the implicit protocols presented to it. The framework supports low-level (continuous) statistical learning methods, for object learning, and higher-level (symbolic) learning for sequences of events representing implicit temporal protocols (analogous to grammar learning). Symbolic learning is performed using the “Progol” Inductive Logic Programming (ILP) system to generalise a symbolic data set, formed using the lower level (continuous) methods. The subsumption learning approach employed by the ILP system allows for generalisations of concepts such as equality, transitivity and symmetry, not easily generalised using standard statistical techniques, and for the automatic selection of relevant configural and temporal information. The system is potentially applicable to a wide range of domains, and is demonstrated in multiple simple game playing scenarios, in which the agent first observes a human playing a game (including vocal facial expression), and then attempts game playing based on the low level (continuous) and high level (symbolic) generalisations it has formulated.
STORM: A Secure Overlay for P2P Reputation Management

A fundamental problem that confronts decentralized reputation systems is the design of efficient, secure and incentive-compatible mechanisms to gather trust information despite malicious peers, and particularly collusion. This paper presents STORM (for secure structured overlay for reputation management), a P2P protocol which addresses this issue. STORM provides support for gathering peers reputation information safely by self-organizing peers into clusters of peers of common interests. To mitigate the effect of malicious peers, STORM relies on a randomized decision algorithm aiming at securing the routing table maintenance, and on constrained redundant routing focusing on securing information lookup. We show STORM efficiency and robustness through a formal analysis. Specifically, we prove a lower bound on the number of malicious peers that can be inserted in routing tables and we show that our solution is very close to optimal. Finally, we show that our constrained redundant routing approach succeeds at countering collusive behavior.
Fast Online EM for Big Topic Modeling

The expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm can compute the maximum-likelihood (ML) or maximum a posterior (MAP) point estimate of the mixture models or latent variable models such as latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA),which has been one of the most popular probabilistic topic modeling methods in the past decade. However, batch EM has high time and space complexities to learn big LDA models from big data streams. In this paper, we present a fast online EM (FOEM) algorithm that infers the topic distribution from the previously unseen documents incrementally with constant memory requirements. Within the stochastic approximation framework, we show that FOEM can converge to the local stationary point of the LDA's likelihood function. By dynamic scheduling for the fast speed and parameter streaming for the low memory usage, FOEM is more efficient for some lifelong topic modeling tasks than the state-of-the-art online LDA algorithms to handle both big data and big models (aka, big topic modeling) on just a PC.
A Hybrid Prediction Model for Moving Objects

Existing prediction methods in moving objects databases cannot forecast locations accurately if the query time is far away from the current time. Even for near future prediction, most techniques assume the trajectory of an object's movements can be represented by some mathematical formulas of motion functions based on its recent movements. However, an object's movements are more complicated than what the mathematical formulas can represent. Prediction based on an object's trajectory patterns is a powerful way and has been investigated by several work. But their main interest is how to discover the patterns. In this paper, we present a novel prediction approach, namely The Hybrid Prediction Model, which estimates an object's future locations based on its pattern information as well as existing motion functions using the object's recent movements. Specifically, an object's trajectory patterns which have ad-hoc forms for prediction are discovered and then indexed by a novel access method for efficient query processing. In addition, two query processing techniques that can provide accurate results for both near and distant time predictive queries are presented. Our extensive experiments demonstrate that proposed techniques are more accurate and efficient than existing forecasting schemes.
Dark Memory and Accelerator-Rich System Optimization in the Dark Silicon Era

Unlike traditional dark silicon works that attack the computing logic, this article puts a focus on the memory part, which dissipates most of the energy for memory-bound CPU applications. This article discusses the dark memory state and present Pareto curves for compute units, accelerators, and on-chip memory, and motivates the need for HW/SW codesign for parallelism and locality. –Muhammad Shafique, Vienna University of Technology
Effect of Si Content on Turning Machinability of Al-Si Binary Alloy Castings

In this study, Al–Si alloy was employed as a specimen which added Si to improve the chip breakability, and the effect of eutectic Si and primary Si on the machinability of the Al–Si alloy was investigated. For chip breakability, eutectic Si made chip thin, and primary Si was cracked during machining and acted as a nucleus of chip breaking. For surface roughness, the effect of eutectic Si was higher than that of primary Si, and eutectic Si reduced the adhesion on cutting edge. The decrease of surface roughness resulted in a corresponding decrease in adhesion on cutting edge. Additionally, the cracking of primary Si was responsible for the increase of surface roughness in hypereutectic alloys. Tool wear was increased with an increase of the number of eutectic Si. In hypereutectic alloys, tool wear was accelerated by the contact between tool and crashed primary Si.
Differential Expression of Vasopressin, Oxytocin and Corticotrophin‐Releasing Hormone Messenger RNA in the Paraventricular Nucleus of the Prairie Vole Brain Following Stress

Forced swimming, as an effective stressor, has been found to facilitate the development of pair bonds in male but to interfere with this behaviour in female prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster). In the present study, we found that forced swimming differentially influenced the expression of messenger RNA for vasopressin, oxytocin and corticotrophin‐releasing hormone (CRH) in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) in the prairie vole brain. Forced swimming did not alter vasopressin mRNA labelling, but did induce a sustained decrease in oxytocin mRNA labelling and a progressive increase in CRH mRNA labelling in the PVN. The elevated CRH mRNA labelling appeared to be due to an increased number of cells synthesizing CRH mRNA and an enhanced ability of individual cells to produce CRH mRNA. Male and female prairie voles did not differ in the vasopressin, oxytocin or CRH mRNA expression either at the basal levels or in response to swimming stress. Together, these data indicate that the hypothalamic response of vasopressin, oxytocin and CRH messenger RNAs to swimming stress is regulated by distinct transcriptional factors. In addition, it seems unlikely that these changes are involved directly in the sex differences in pair bond formation.
Surfactant Protein D (SP‐D) and Systemic Scleroderma (SSc)

We measured serum levels of SP‐D in collagen diseases (110 cases) such as systemic scleroderma (SSc), scleroderma spectrum disorders (SSD), systemic lupus erythematodes (SLE), Sjögren syndrome (Sjs), dermatomyositis (DM), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and dermatitis (DE) (109 cases) as a control. Additionally, we performad a correlation analysis to determine how these levels were related to pulmonary fibrosis and function test (vital capacity, %DLco). The serum levels of SP‐D increased in SSc patients with Barnett type III more than in SSc patients with Barnett type I or II, while they increased slightly in SSD (incomplete type of SSc) patients. The differences in these figures were statistically significant between the SSc (SSc & SSD) and non‐SSc (SLE, DM, Sjs & RA) groups (p<0.005). The serum levels of SP‐D in SSc patients with anti‐topoisomerase I antibodies were statistically higher than those in SSc patients with other types of anti‐nuclear antibodies. There was a statistically significant correlation between the severity of pulmonary fibrosis and the serum levels of SP‐D, and a statistically negative correlation between SP‐D levels and vital capacity or %DLco, but there was no proportional correlation with the forced expiatory volume (FEV1.0%). There was no statistical relationship between pre‐ and post‐therapy with photopheresis; however, there was a statistical correlation between the serum levels of SP‐D and KL‐6. In the group of collagen diseases, plasma levels of SP‐D were higher than serum levels of SP‐D. Patients with SSc possess higher levels of SP‐D than do those with other collagen diseases and dermatitis, which may correspond to the severity of pulmonary fibrosis.
Time-domain Optical Coherence Tomography system with integrated delay line for surgical guidance applications

Optical Coherence Tomography is a high resolution imaging technique able to provide in-depth information about living tissue. Among all its applications, it can be argued that surgical guidance is one of the most demanding in terms of system reliability, footprint and cost. In order to enable faster adoption of this technology in that field, we had already developed and demonstrated a new type of scanning delay line based on the thermo-optic effect of silicon. By changing the temperature of an integrated waveguide, we are able to produce a variation in optical delay. In this paper, we demonstrate the inclusion of such a device in a complete system and the performance levels that can be achieved with this technique. In particular, we show a line scan rate of 2kHz with good linearity and a scan range of 0.95mm in air. These values meet the needs of most surgical guidance applications.
MOLECULAR PHYLOGENY OF HAEMATOLOECHUS LOOSS, 1899 (DIGENEA: PLAGIORCHIIDAE), WITH EMPHASIS ON NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES

Phylogenetic hypothesis of 23 populations corresponding to 18 species of the digenean Haematoloechus from America, Europe, and Africa, based on ribosomal DNA 28S partial sequences (∼890 bp), is presented. Genetic divergence between the in-group and the out-groups ranged from 9.7 to 14.5% and within the in-group, from 0.9 to 12.2%. Eight most parsimonious trees 569 steps long were obtained, with a consistency index of 72%. Groups in the tree are not congruent with those in previous classification schemes of species in the genus, based on a small number of morphological characters. For this subset of Haematoloechus species, plesiomorphic hosts are species of Rana, with 2 colonizations to other amphibian groups. African species appear to have diverged after the separation of Gondwana and Laurasia. Therefore, South American species should appear as the closest relatives of African species when included in the analysis. The evidence presented suggests an ancestral wide distribution of North American representatives of the group, followed by successive contraction, amplification, and fragmentation of ranges and speciation events as a result of the intense volcanic activity in the central part of Mexico since the late Tertiary, the drying climate of western and central United States and northwestern Mexico from the early Eocene to the Pleistocene, and the glaciation during the Pleistocene.
Trimethoprim-sulfonamide combination therapy in early pregnancy.

QUESTION One of my patients presented with bacteriuria early in her pregnancy. Urine culture was positive for Escherichia coli. I would like to prescribe a trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole combination because it worked well for her in the past. What is known about the safety of this medication during early pregnancy? ANSWER Evidence-based studies report an association between trimethoprim-sulfonamide combinations in early pregnancy and several major malformations, such as neural tube defects and cardiovascular defects. If clinically possible, physicians are advised to use alternative antimicrobial medications for treatment of urinary tract infections during early pregnancy.
Adaptive blind equalization using weighted cumulant slices

Many linear methods have been proposed in the literature to blindly estimate the ARMA parameters of a time series using HOS. Nevertheless, they are mainly off-line and not much has been done in the adaptive case. The method proposed in this contribution is the adaptive version of the w-slice method. The recursion is based on the inversion lemma when attempting the solution of an undetermined matrix equation. The system impulse response can be recovered regardless of the ARMA or MA character of the system. The number of operations depends on the square of the system order and it is considerably reduced with respect to previous approaches. Application to channel deconvolution is shown. <<ETX>>
Preparation and properties of thermally conductive photosensitive polyimide/boron nitride nanocomposites

A new thermally conductive photoresist was developed. It was based on a dispersion of boron nitride (BN) nanoflakes in a negative-tone photosensitive polyimide (PSPI) precursor. 3-Mercaptopropionic acid was used as the surfactant to modify the BN nanoflake surface for the dispersion of BN nanoflakes in the polymer. The thermal conductivity of the composite films increased with increasing BN fraction. The thermal conductivity of the PSPI/BN nanocomposite was up to 0.47 W m−1 K−1 for a mixture containing 30 wt % nanosized BN filler in the polyimide matrix. Patterns with a resolution of 30 μm were obtained from the PSPI/BN nanocomposites. The PSPI/BN nanocomposites had excellent thermal properties. Their glass-transition temperatures were above 360°C, and the thermal decomposition temperatures were over 460°C. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011