Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transient Acoustic Wave Propagation in Porous Media

A porous material is a two-phase medium consisting of a solid part (skeleton) and a fluid part (pore space). During the propagation of a sound wave in such a medium, interactions between these two phases of different nature take place, giving various physical properties that are unusual in classical media. The large contact area between solid and fluid, which is the main characteristic of porous media induces new phenomena of diffusion and transport in the fluid, in relation to micro-geometry of the pore space. Many applications are concerned with understanding the behavior of acoustic waves in such media. In geophysics, we are interested in the propagation of acoustic waves in porous rocks, for information on soil composition and their fluid content. Oil companies have greatly contributed to the study of acoustic properties of natural porous media. In medicine, the characterization of porous media such as trabecular bone, is useful for diagnosing osteoporosis, bone disease that is manifested by the deterioration of bone microarchitecture. Acoustic characterization of materials is often achieved by measuring the attenuation coefficient and phase velocity in the frequency domain [1] or by solving the direct and inverse problems directly in the time domain [2–4]. The attractive feature of a time domain based approach is that the analysis is naturally limited by the finite duration of ultrasonic pressures and is consequently the most appropriate approach for the transient signal. The objective of this chapter is to show the most recent theoretical and experimental methods developed by the authors for the acoustic characterization of porous materials. The direct and inverse scattering problems are solved in time domain using experimental reflected and transmitted signals. The physical parameters of the porous medium are recovered by solving the inverse problem at the asymptotic domain corresponding to the high frequency range (ultrasound), and at the viscous domain (low frequency range). Figures 1 and 2 give an example of porous materials commonly used in the characterization. The figure 1 shows a sample of air-saturated plastic foam used for sound absorption, and figure 2 shows a sample of cancellous bone used in the diagnosis of the disease of osteoporosis.
ECG risk markers for atrial fibrillation and sudden cardiac death in minimally symptomatic obstructive sleep apnoea: the MOSAIC randomised trial

Objective Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), atrial fibrillation (AF) and sudden cardiac death (SCD) may occur concomitantly, and are of considerable epidemiological interest, potentially leading to morbidity and mortality. Effective treatment of OSA with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) could prevent progression and/or recurrence of AF and factors leading to SCD. Recently, a randomised controlled trial showed a statistically and clinically significant prolongation of measures of cardiac repolarisation after CPAP withdrawal in symptomatic patients with moderate to severe OSA. Whether or not CPAP therapy improves ECG risk markers of AF and SCD in patients with minimally symptomatic OSA as well, is unknown. Methods 3 centres taking part in the MOSAIC (Multicentre Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Interventional Cardiovascular) trial randomisd 303 patients with minimally symptomatic OSA to receive either CPAP or standard care for 6 months. Treatment effects of CPAP on P-wave duration, P-wave dispersion, QT interval, QT dispersion, Tpeak-to-Tend (TpTe) and TpTe/QT ratio were analysed. Results Participants were primarily men (83%). Mean age was 57.8 (7.2) and mean ODI (Oxygen Desaturation Index) at baseline was 13.1/h (12.3). Full 12-lead ECG data was available in 250 patients. Mean (SD) baseline intervals of P-wave duration, P-wave dispersion, QTc interval, QT dispersion, TpTe and TpTe/QT ratio in ms were 87.4 (8.3), 42.3 (11.9), 397.8 (22.7), 43.1 (16.7), 73.5 (13.7) and 0.19 (0.0), respectively. No treatment effect of CPAP on risk markers for AF and SCD was found. Conclusions There seems to be no effect of CPAP on ECG measures of arrhythmia risk in patients with minimally symptomatic OSA. Trial registration number ISRCTN34164388; Post-results.
Thickness dependence of properties of excimer laser crystallized nano-polycrystalline silicon

Excimer laser crystallization is used to produce layered nanocrystalline silicon from hydrogenated amorphous silicon, using a partial melting process. Three types of hydrogenated amorphous silicon samples, 100, 300, and 500 nm thick, were laser treated in order to investigate the changes to the structural, optical, and electrical properties as a function of amorphous silicon thickness with excimer laser crystallization. The resulting nanocrystalline thin films were characterized using Raman spectroscopy, optical absorption measurements, atomic force microscopy, forward recoil spectrometry, and current–voltage measurements. The relationship of crystalline volume and laser energy density was established, along with the behavior of the optical gap and its relationship to hydrogen content. Surface roughness effects are discussed in the context of photovoltaic applications. The effect of increased mobility on photoconductivity after excimer laser crystallization is also examined.
CASH: Revisiting Hardware Sharing in Single-Chip Parallel Processors

As the increasing of issue width has diminishing returns with superscalar processor, thread parallelism with a single chip is becoming a reality. In the past few years, both SMT (Simultaneous MultiThreading) and CMP (Chip MultiProcessor) approaches were first investigated by academics and are now implemented by the industry. In some sense, CMP and SMT represent two extreme design points. In this paper, we propose to explore possible intermediate design points for on-chip thread parallelism in terms of design complexity and hardware sharing. We introduce the CASH parallel processor (for CMP And SMT Hybrid). CASH retains resource sharing a la SMT when such a sharing can be made non-critical for implementation, but resource splitting a la CMP whenever resource sharing leads to a superlinear increase of the implementation hardware complexity. For instance, sparsely used functional units (e.g. dividers), but also branch predictors and instruction and data caches, can be shared among several «processor» cores. CASH does not exploit the complete dynamic sharing of resources enabled on SMT. But it outperforms a similar CMP on a multiprogrammed workload, as well as on a uniprocess workload. Our CASH architecture shows that there exists intermediate design points between CMP and SMT.
Nonlinear temperature effects indicate severe damages to U.S. crop yields under climate change

The United States produces 41% of the world's corn and 38% of the world's soybeans. These crops comprise two of the four largest sources of caloric energy produced and are thus critical for world food supply. We pair a panel of county-level yields for these two crops, plus cotton (a warmer-weather crop), with a new fine-scale weather dataset that incorporates the whole distribution of temperatures within each day and across all days in the growing season. We find that yields increase with temperature up to 29° C for corn, 30° C for soybeans, and 32° C for cotton but that temperatures above these thresholds are very harmful. The slope of the decline above the optimum is significantly steeper than the incline below it. The same nonlinear and asymmetric relationship is found when we isolate either time-series or cross-sectional variations in temperatures and yields. This suggests limited historical adaptation of seed varieties or management practices to warmer temperatures because the cross-section includes farmers' adaptations to warmer climates and the time-series does not. Holding current growing regions fixed, area-weighted average yields are predicted to decrease by 30–46% before the end of the century under the slowest (B1) warming scenario and decrease by 63–82% under the most rapid warming scenario (A1FI) under the Hadley III model.
MEGA: A biologist-centric software for evolutionary analysis of DNA and protein sequences

The Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis (MEGA) software is a desktop application designed for comparative analysis of homologous gene sequences either from multigene families or from different species with a special emphasis on inferring evolutionary relationships and patterns of DNA and protein evolution. In addition to the tools for statistical analysis of data, MEGA provides many convenient facilities for the assembly of sequence data sets from files or web-based repositories, and it includes tools for visual presentation of the results obtained in the form of interactive phylogenetic trees and evolutionary distance matrices. Here we discuss the motivation, design principles and priorities that have shaped the development of MEGA. We also discuss how MEGA might evolve in the future to assist researchers in their growing need to analyze large data set using new computational methods.
Consumer attitudes toward mobile advertising

Academic research in the field of mobile advertising has to date been fragmented and the results have been controversial. The purpose of this research is to study the consumer view of mobile advertising in order to discover how consumers in Finland perceive mobile advertisements. A thorough literature review of previous studies in the fields of social psychology, advertising psychology and mobile advertising was conducted to establish the theoretical foundations of this study. On the basis of the literature review a research framework of consumer attitudes in the mobile advertising context was constructed. METHODOLOGY Research data was collected in cooperation with a Finnish mobile solution provider as a part of mobile advertising campaigns implemented during the fall of 2009. The data consisted of two samples. The primary sample received a mobile advertisement where as the control group did not. The purpose was to examine the attitudinal differences between these two groups. Text message invitations to the survey were sent to both samples. The questionnaire could be directly accessed through a link in the text message or alternatively by typing in the address to the browser on a computer. The response rates were 5,45 % for the primary sample and 11,7 % for the control group. After the data collection phase the data was subjected to various statistical analyses to test the hypotheses presented in the research framework. FINDINGS The results of the study highlight the importance of utilizing customer data in the design of mobile advertising campaigns. When the mobile advertiser has the possibility to target actual needs of customers based on existing customer data, attitudes toward mobile advertisements are likely to be positive. This implies that mobile advertising should be based on service rather than selling. perustuen mobiilimainonnan tulisi olla pikemmin palvelulähtöistä kuin puhtaasti myyvää.
Adaptive shape processing in primary visual cortex

The ability to derive meaning from complex sensory input requires the integration of information over space and time, as well as cognitive mechanisms to shape that integration. We studied these processes in the primary visual cortex (V1), where neurons are thought to integrate visual inputs along contours defined by an association field (AF). We recorded extracellularly from single cells in macaque V1 to map the AF, by using an optimization algorithm to find the contours that maximally activated individual cells. We combined the algorithm with a delayed-match-to-sample task, to test how the optimal contours might be molded by the monkey's expectation for particular cue shapes. We found that V1 neurons were selective for complex shapes, a property previously ascribed to higher cortical areas. Furthermore, the shape selectivity was reprogrammed by perceptual task: Over the whole network, the optimal modes of geometric selectivity shifted between distinct subsets of the AF, alternately representing different stimulus features known to predominate in natural scenes. Our results suggest a general model of cortical function, whereby horizontal connections provide a broad domain of potential associations, and top–down inputs dynamically gate these linkages to task switch the function of a network.
A PDG-based Tool and its Use in Analyzing Program Control Dependences

This paper explores the potential of a program representation called the program dependence graph (PDG) for representing and exposing programs’ hierarchical control dependence structure. It presents several extensions to current PDG designs, including a node labeling scheme that simplifies and generalizes PDG traversal. A post-pass PDG-based tool called PEDIGREE has been implemented. It is used to generate and analyze the PDGs for several benchmarks, including the SPEC92 suite. In particular, initial results characterize the control dependence structure of these programs to provide insight into the scheduling benefits of employing speculative execution, and exploiting control equivalence information. Some of the benefits of using the PDG instead of the CFG are demonstrated. Our ultimate aim is to use this tool for exploiting multi-grained parallelism.
The use of MOOCs in transnational higher education for accreditation of prior learning, programme delivery, and professional development

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how, and the extent to which, massive open online courses (MOOCs) might be used in the accreditation of students’ prior learning, in programme delivery at international branch campuses, and for lecturers’ professional development (PD) in transnational higher education. Design/methodology/approach – The data were obtained from two international branch campuses in the United Arab Emirates. The research adopted a qualitative methodology that involved 20 lecturers participating in semi-structured interviews and ten lecturers participating in a focus group. A rigorous process of content analysis was used to analyse and interpret the data. Findings – Lecturers in transnational higher education perceived that MOOCs were not suitable for accredited prior learning but that they might be useful as a supplementary resource for student learning and for personal PD. There was a strong belief that as international branch campuses offered a commodified product, MOOCs.
Early Antiretroviral Therapy Is Associated with Lower HIV DNA Molecular Diversity and Lower Inflammation in Cerebrospinal Fluid but Does Not Prevent the Establishment of Compartmentalized HIV DNA Populations

Even when antiretroviral therapy (ART) is started early after infection, HIV DNA might persist in the central nervous system (CNS), possibly contributing to inflammation, brain damage and neurocognitive impairment. Paired blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were collected from 16 HIV-infected individuals on suppressive ART: 9 participants started ART <4 months of the estimated date of infection (EDI) (“early ART”), and 7 participants started ART >14 months after EDI (“late ART”). For each participant, neurocognitive functioning was measured by Global Deficit Score (GDS). HIV DNA levels were measured in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and CSF cell pellets by droplet digital (dd)PCR. Soluble markers of inflammation (sCD163, IL-6, MCP-1, TNF-α) and neuronal damage (neurofilament light [NFL]) were measured in blood and CSF supernatant by immunoassays. HIV-1 partial C2V3 env deep sequencing data (Roche 454) were obtained for 8 paired PBMC and CSF specimens and used for phylogenetic and compartmentalization analysis. Median exposure to ART at the time of sampling was 2.6 years (IQR: 2.2–3.7) and did not differ between groups. We observed that early ART was significantly associated with lower molecular diversity of HIV DNA in CSF (p<0.05), and lower IL-6 levels in CSF (p = 0.02), but no difference for GDS, NFL, or HIV DNA detectability compared to late ART. Compartmentalization of HIV DNA populations between CSF and blood was detected in 6 out of 8 participants with available paired HIV DNA sequences (2 from early and 4 from late ART group). Phylogenetic analysis confirmed the presence of monophyletic HIV DNA populations within the CSF in 7 participants, and the same population was repeatedly sampled over a 5 months period in one participant with longitudinal sampling. Such compartmentalized provirus in the CNS needs to be considered for the design of future eradication strategies and might contribute to the neuropathogenesis of HIV.
A General Analog Network Coding for Wireless Systems with Fading and Noisy Channels

It has been recently brought into spotlight that through the exploitation of network coding concepts at physical-layer, the interference property of the wireless media can be proven to be a blessing in disguise. Nonetheless, most of the previous studies on this subject have either held unrealistic assumptions about the network properties, thus making them basically theoretical, or have otherwise been limited to fairly simple network topologies. We, on the other hand, believe to have devised a novel scheme, called Real Amplitude Scaling (RAS), that relaxes the aforementioned restrictions, and works with a wider range of network topologies and in circumstances that are closer to practice, for instance in lack of symbol-level synchronization and in the presence of noise, channel distortion and severe interference from other sources. The simulation results confirmed the superior performance of the proposed method in low SNRs, as well as the high SNR limits, where the effect of quantization error in the digital techniques becomes comparable to the channel.
Two Models of Learning and Achievement: An Explanation for the Achievement Gap?

Background/Context Despite decades of research, the persistence of the gap in student achievement between disadvantaged minority students and their middle-class peers remains unexplained. Purpose/Objective The purpose of the current article is to propose a new model of the achievement gap. Research Design Data were analyzed from three nationally representative data sets: The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study of the Kindergarten Class of 1998–1999 (ECLS-K), the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS), and the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS). Findings/Results The achievement gap may be explained as a consequence of the conventional structure of schooling and the failure to individualize task difficulty and provide performance feedback in a way that is necessary to ensure that all students experience mastery. Many students become disengaged and the effect is most severe for disadvantaged minority students. Alternative theories of the achievement gap do not adequately explain the observed pattern of data. A league table analysis indicates that interventions based on the proposed model of the achievement gap are more efficient than 21 alternative approaches for raising achievement and suggest a promising strategy for addressing the achievement gap.
Recentering, reanchoring & restarting an evolutionary algorithm

Recentering-restarting evolutionary algorithms have been used successfully to evolve epidemic networks. This study develops multiple variations of this algorithm for the purpose of evaluating its use for ordered-gene problems. These variations are called recentering or reanchoring-restarting evolutionary algorithms. Two different adaptive representations were explored that both use generating sets to produce local search operations. The degree of locality is controllable by setting program parameters. The variations and representations are applied to what may be considered the quintessential ordered gene problem, the Travelling Salesman Problem. Two sets of experimental analysis were performed. The first used large problem instances to determine how well this algorithm performs in comparison to benchmarks obtained from the DIMACS TSP implementation challenge. The second used many small problem instances to determine if any one of the recentering/reanchoring-restarting evolutionary algorithms outperforms the others. Variations of the recentering/reanchoring-restarting evolutionary algorithm were comparable to some of the best performing computational intelligence algorithms. In studying the small problem instances, no significant trend was found to suggest that one variation of baseline evolutionary algorithms or recentering/reanchoring-restarting evolutionary algorithms outperformed the others. This study shows that the new algorithms are very useful tools for improving results produced by other heuristics.
On rational sliceness of Miyazaki's fibered, − amphicheiral knots

We prove that fibered, − amphicheiral knots with irreducible Alexander polynomials are rationally slice. This contrasts with the result of Miyazaki that (2n,1) ‐cables of these knots are not ribbon. We also show that the concordance invariants ν+ and Υ from Heegaard Floer homology vanish for a class of knots that includes rationally slice knots. In particular, the ν+ ‐ and Υ ‐invariants vanish for these cable knots.
Crystal Structure of the Oxygen-dependant Coproporphyrinogen Oxidase (Hem13p) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae*

Coproporphyrinogen oxidase (CPO) is an essential enzyme that catalyzes the sixth step of the heme biosynthetic pathway. Unusually for heme biosynthetic enzymes, CPO exists in two evolutionarily and mechanistically distinct families, with eukaryotes and some prokaryotes employing members of the highly conserved oxygen-dependent CPO family. Here, we report the crystal structure of the oxygen-dependent CPO from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Hem13p), which was determined by optimized sulfur anomalous scattering and refined to a resolution of 2.0 Å. The protein adopts a novel structure that is quite different from predicted models and features a central flat seven-stranded anti-parallel sheet that is flanked by helices. The dimeric assembly, which is seen in different crystal forms, is formed by packing of helices and a short isolated strand that forms a β-ladder with its counterpart in the partner subunit. The deep active-site cleft is lined by conserved residues and has been captured in open and closed conformations in two different crystal forms. A substratesized cavity is completely buried in the closed conformation by the ∼8-Å movement of a helix that forms a lid over the active site. The structure therefore suggests residues that likely play critical roles in catalysis and explains the deleterious effect of many of the mutations associated with the disease hereditary coproporphyria.