Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neural acceleration for GPU throughput processors

Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) can accelerate diverse classes of applications, such as recognition, gaming, data analytics, weather prediction, and multimedia. Many of these applications are amenable to approximate execution. This application characteristic provides an opportunity to improve GPU performance and efficiency. Among approximation techniques, neural accelerators have been shown to provide significant performance and efficiency gains when augmenting CPU processors. However, the integration of neural accelerators within a GPU processor has remained unexplored. GPUs are, in a sense, many-core accelerators that exploit large degrees of data-level parallelism in the applications through the SIMT execution model. This paper aims to harmoniously bring neural and GPU accelerators together without hindering SIMT execution or adding excessive hardware overhead. We introduce a low overhead neurally accelerated architecture for GPUs, called NGPU, that enables scalable integration of neural accelerators for large number of GPU cores. This work also devises a mechanism that controls the tradeoff between the quality of results and the benefits from neural acceleration. Compared to the baseline GPU architecture, cycle-accurate simulation results for NGPU show a 2.4× average speedup and a 2.8× average energy reduction within 10% quality loss margin across a diverse set of benchmarks. The proposed quality control mechanism retains a 1.9 ×s average speedup and a 2.1 × energy reduction while reducing the degradation in the quality of results to 2.5%. These benefits are achieved by less than 1% area overhead.
Synaptic Strength Modulation after Cortical Trauma: A Role in Epileptogenesis

Traumatic brain injuries are often followed by abnormal hyperexcitability, leading to acute seizures and epilepsy. Previous studies documented the rewiring capacity of neocortical neurons in response to various cortical and subcortical lesions. However, little information is available on the functional consequences of these anatomical changes after cortical trauma and the adaptation of synaptic connectivity to a decreased input produced by chronic deafferentation. In this study, we recorded intracellular (IC) activities of cortical neurons simultaneously with extracellular (EC) unit activities and field potentials of neighboring cells in cat cortex, after a large transection of the white matter underneath the suprasylvian gyrus, in acute and chronic conditions (at 2, 4, and 6 weeks) in ketamine–xylazine-anesthetized cats. Using EC spikes to compute the spike-triggered averages of IC membrane potential, we found an increased connection probability and efficacy between cortical neurons weeks after cortical trauma. Inhibitory interactions showed no significant changes in the traumatized cortex compared with control. The increased synaptic efficacy was accompanied by enhanced input resistance and intrinsic excitability of cortical neurons, as well as by increased duration of silent network periods. Our electrophysiological data revealed functional consequences of previously reported anatomical changes in the injured cortex. We suggest that homeostatic synaptic plasticity compensating the decreased activity in the undercut cortex leads to an uncontrollable cortical hyperexcitability and seizure generation.
SPARK: A Keyword Search Engine on Relational Databases

Relational database is the most widely adopted and mature technology for information storage. As many services on the Web (e.g., blog and wiki sites) and advanced applications (e.g., customer relationship management systems and content management systems) are built on RDBMSs, increasing amount of text data is now stored in relational databases, accompanied by increasing demands of retrieving relevant information by free-style keyword search.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: psychological impact of hospitalization and isolation in an older adult population.

A cross-sectional matched control study was designed to investigate the impact of hospitalization and MRSA isolation on the psychological functioning of older adults undergoing rehabilitation.Twenty-two MRSA-positive and 20 MRSA-negative older adults completed standardized measures relating to depression, anxiety and anger. Both groups of participants had higher scores for anger than those estimated for community-based older adults. The level of depressive and anxious symptoms amongst the isolated group was significantly higher than that found for the MRSA-negative group or estimates for community-based older adults. There was no correlation between length of hospitalization or isolation and the outcome measures. The results suggest that, amongst older adult inpatients, isolation has a negative impact on mood in addition to that resulting from hospitalization. Those involved in caring for hospitalized older adults should be made aware of the potential psychological distress of isolation, and alternative approaches to isolation (such as hand hygiene, antibiotic restriction, surveillance) should be used in the management of MRSA whenever possible. Future studies should examine the best ways of managing the detrimental effects of isolation.
Ultraweak Photon Emission as a Non-Invasive Health Assessment: A Systematic Review

We conducted a systematic review (SR) of the peer reviewed scientific literature on ultraweak photon emissions (UPE) from humans. The question was: Can ultraweak photon emissions from humans be used as a non-invasive health assessment? A systematic search was conducted across eight relevant databases: PubMed/MEDLINE, BIOSIS, CINAHL, PSYCHINFO, All of Cochrane EBM databases, GIDEON, DoD Biomedical Research, and clinicaltrials.gov from database inception to October 2011. Of the 1315 studies captured by the search strategy, 56 met the inclusion criteria, out of which 1 was a RCT, 27 were CCT, and 28 were observational and descriptive studies. There were no systematic reviews/meta-analyses that fit the inclusion criteria. In this report, the authors provide an assessment of the quality of the RCT included; describe the characteristics of all the included studies, the outcomes assessed, and the effectiveness of photon emission as a potential health assessment tool. This report demonstrates that the peer reviewed literature on UPE and human UPE measurement in particular is surprisingly large. Most of the human UPE literature is of good to high quality based on our systematic evaluation. However, an evaluation tool for systematically evaluating this type of “bio-evaluation” methodology is not currently available and would be worth developing. Publications in the peer reviewed literature over the last 50 years demonstrate that the use of “off-the-shelf” technologies and well described methodologies for the detection of human photon emissions are being used on a regular basis in medical and research settings. The overall quality of this literature is good and the use of this approach for determining inflammatory and oxidative states of patients indicate the growing use and value of this approach as both a medical and research tool.
Information literacy landscapes: an emerging picture

Purpose – To describe the various landscapes in which information literacy has been explored and to propose new ways of thinking about information literacy.Design/methodology/approach – Draws on constructivist‐influenced grounded theory method employed during doctoral research into information literacy practices of firefighters.Findings – Information‐literate people are more usefully described as being engaged, enabled, enriched and embodied. Information literacy is conceptualized through this research as a way of knowing. The revised and extended definition is a more appropriate one to underpin an emerging ontological perspective on information literacy and to foster an understanding of information literacy as a meta‐competency.Research limitations/implications – The research was limited to an in‐depth exploration of one professional group in one geographic location over 18 months.Practical implications – The provision of a broader definition of the information literacy and the illustration of how inform.
Term-class-max-support (TCMS): A simple text document categorization approach using term-class relevance measure

In this paper, a simple text categorization method using term-class relevance measures is proposed. Initially, text documents are processed to extract significant terms present in them. For every term extracted from a document, we compute its importance in preserving the content of a class through a novel term-weighting scheme known as Term_Class Relevance (TCR) measure proposed by Guru and Suhil (2015) [1]. In this way, for every term, its relevance for all the classes present in the corpus is computed and stored in the knowledgebase. During testing, the terms present in the test document are extracted and the term-class relevance of each term is obtained from the stored knowledgebase. To achieve quick search of term weights, B-tree indexing data structure has been adapted. Finally, the class which receives maximum support in terms of term-class relevance is decided to be the class of the given test document. The proposed method works in logarithmic complexity in testing time and simple to implement when compared to any other text categorization techniques available in literature. The experiments conducted on various benchmarking datasets have revealed that the performance of the proposed method is satisfactory and encouraging.
Evaluating asthma websites using the Brief DISCERN instrument

Purpose The primary purpose of this study was to examine the quality of sponsored and unsponsored asthma websites using the Brief DISCERN instrument and to evaluate whether the Health On the Net Code of Conduct (HONcode) logo was present, thereby indicating that the site met the criteria. The Internet is an important source of health information for patients and their families. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the quality of sponsored and unsupported asthma websites. A secondary aim was to determine the readability and reading ease of the materials for each website along with the grade level. Methods We queried seven Internet search engines using the keyword “asthma. ” The websites were evaluated using the six-item Brief DISCERN instrument and by ascertaining whether the HONcode quality label was present. The websites were also evaluated for readability employing Flesch-Kincaid grade level and Flesch reading ease tools using Microsoft Office Word 2013 software. Results A total of 22 unique websites were included in the study. Approximately 68% of the websites reviewed had a Brief DISCERN cutoff score of ≥16. The overall Brief DISCERN scores ranged from 6 to 30, and the mean score was 17.32 (SD =6.71). The Flesch-Kincaid grade level scores ranged from 2.9 to 15.4, and the average reading grade score was 9.49 (SD =2.7). The Flesch reading ease scores ranged from 17 to 82.7, with a mean reading ease score of 53.57 (SD =15.03). Sites with a HONcode quality label had significantly higher Brief DISCERN scores than those without one (t=2.3795; df=20; p=0.02). Conclusion Brief DISCERN scores revealed that there is quality asthma information for children and their families available on the Internet. The grade level ranged between 2.9 and 15.4 among the websites. However, the mean grade level scores were 9.3–9.89, which is high for the average consumer. Access to accurate information via the Internet, with appropriate readability, may enable pediatric asthma patients and their caregivers to better control and manage asthma.
Improvement of manufacture technology and research of actuators based on ionic polymer-metal composites

The purpose of this work is to improve the operational characteristics of actuators based on ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMC) by improving their manufacture technology. The optimal thickness of the ion-exchange membrane was determined. The technology of metal electrode deposition, the composition of actuator electrolyte solution and the storage method of actuators were optimized.
Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation on Blood Pressure in Blacks

Blacks have significantly higher rates of hypertension than whites, and lower circulating levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D. There are few data about the effect of vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) supplementation on blood pressure in blacks. During 2 winters from 2008 to 2010, 283 blacks (median age, 51 years) were randomized into a 4-arm, double-blind trial for 3 months of placebo, 1000, 2000, or 4000 international units of cholecalciferol per day. At baseline, 3 months, and 6 months, systolic and diastolic pressure and 25-hydroxyvitamin D were measured. The 3-month follow-up was completed in 250 (88%) participants. The difference in systolic pressure between baseline and 3 months was +1.7 mm Hg for those receiving placebo, −0.66 mm Hg for 1000 U/d, −3.4 mm Hg for 2000 U/d, and −4.0 mm Hg for 4000 U/d of cholecalciferol (−1.4 mm Hg for each additional 1000 U/d of cholecalciferol; P=0.04). For each 1-ng/mL increase in plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D, there was a significant 0.2-mm Hg reduction in systolic pressure (P=0.02). There was no effect of cholecalciferol supplementation on diastolic pressure (P=0.37). Within an unselected population of blacks, 3 months of oral vitamin D3 supplementation significantly, yet modestly, lowered systolic pressure. Future trials of vitamin D supplementation on blood pressure are needed to confirm these promising results, particularly among blacks, a population for whom vitamin D deficiency may play a more specific mechanistic role in the pathogenesis of hypertension.
Ponseti Technique For Management Of Congenital Idiopathic Club Foot.

BACKGROUND Clubfoot or congenital talipes equinovarus, is a congenital deformity of the foot. It consists of cavus, adduction, varus and equinus. This is due to medial displacement of navicular and calcaneus around the talus. Talus is in equinus. Medial deviation of the head and neck of talus is due to force of calcaneus on talus. METHODS This descriptive case series study was conducted at Orthopaedic unit, Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad from 1st August 2015 to 31st January 2016 to determine the frequency of idiopathic clubfoot correction, by using the Ponseti method. A total of 177, unilateral and bilateral clubfeet, from both genders were studied. Patients between age of 2 weeks to 2 years were included in the study. Basic pirani score six (06) who were previously untreated were included in the study. Syndromic patients, previously treated and patients with associated neuro-mascular disorders were excluded from the study. Patients who were corrected with serial castings, were put in foot abduction brace. Those who needed some sort of surgery underwent surgery. All the data was collected in the proforma and analysed by SPSS version 16.00. RESULTS A total of 177 clubfeet were included in the study. Mean age of the patients was 10.28±7.45 ranging from 2 weeks 2 years. There were 93 (52.5%) male and 84 (43.5%) female out of total 177 patients. Of these 20 patients were corrected with serial casting only while 150 patients underwent percutaneous tenotomy, which is a minor procedure and done on out -patient department basis. After correction, the feet were put in 70 degree of abduction in abduction brace. Only 7 patients required some sort of surgery, more than tenotomy. CONCLUSIONS Ponseti is very effective, economical and non-invasive way of treating congenital idiopathic clubfoot. Only resistant cases may need some sort of extensive surgery.
The Mirror DBMS at TREC-8

The database group at University of Twente participates in TREC8 using the Mirror DBMS, a prototype database system especially designed for multimedia and web retrieval. From a database perspective, the purpose has been to check whether we can get sufficient performance, and to prepare for the very large corpus track in which we plan to participate next year. From an IR perspective, the experiments have been designed to learn more about the effect of the global statistics on the ranking.
Joint modeling of cell and nuclear shape variation

It is shown for the first time that cell shape can be accurately predicted from nuclear shape (and vice versa) for three different cell lines. This correlation is reduced by altering protein C1QBP or various drugs. In addition, a generative model is given for the kinetics of shape change. The software is available in the open-source CellOrganizer system.
Regulation of NFkappaB in hepatic ischemic preconditioning.

BACKGROUND The second messengers tyrosine kinase (TK) and protein kinase C (PKC) have been implicated in mediating the cellular signaling cascade during hepatic ischemic preconditioning (IPC). We evaluated the role of TK and PKC on the modulation of the transcription factor nuclear factor kappa B (NFkappaB) and its inhibitor IkappaB alpha during IPC. STUDY DESIGN Yorkshire pigs underwent routine harvest. IPC livers underwent 15 minutes of ischemia and 15 minutes of in situ perfusion before harvest, with or without pretreatment with a TK inhibitor (genistein) or a PKC inhibitor (chelerythrine). During cold storage and reperfusion, tissue extracts were analyzed for IkappaB alpha phosphorylation and NFkappaB levels and for TK and PKC activity by Western blot. RESULTS Control pig livers demonstrated no change in the levels of TK, PKC, IkappaB alpha, or NFkappaB before cold ischemia. IPC grafts demonstrated activation of TK and PKC with increased IkappaB alpha phosphorylation and NFkappaB levels before cold ischemia. IPC grafts pretreated with genistein demonstrated inhibition of TK activation but not of PKC activation. Genistein-pretreated grafts also demonstrated inhibition of IkappaB alpha phosphorylation and a lack of NFkappaB translocation to the nucleus throughout the entire experiment. IPC grafts pretreated with chelerythrine demonstrated inhibition of PKC activation but not TK activation. Chelerythrine-pretreated grafts also demonstrated IkappaB alpha phosphorylation before cold ischemia and enhanced nuclear levels of NFkappaB. CONCLUSIONS Data suggest that the role of TK in IPC might be mediated in part by NFkappaB, but PKC does not depend on NFkappaB for its effect. Two parallel signaling pathways might explain these data.
On the Rationality and Optimality of Transportation Networks Defense

Transportation infrastructures have recently gained increasing attention in the context of homeland security. Being both a main target for attacks as well as a method for carrying out such attacks, much effort is being allocated these days towards increasing our understanding regarding transportation networks [18]. Specifically, measuring and predicting human mobility patterns along the links of a transportation network has been of a great importance to researchers in the field, as it contains the basic information needed in order to cope with transportation related threats more efficiently. Such threats can take for example the form of a group of terrorists trying to reach their target by car, or a truck filled with chemical or radioactive material. These threats require homeland security agencies to rapidly deploy monitoring or surveillance units in key junctions, dispatch air units to central locations etc. Clearly, carrying out this mission relies on the knowledge of what are those key traffic junctions, and how to deploy the existing (and always on shortage) resources most efficiently. Hitherto, producing the transportation data required for answering these questions was done off-line and relied heavily on expensive and time consuming surveying and on-field observational methods. Network Betweenness is known to be highly correlated with network load in communication and transportation networks. In this work we show how a specially designed BeYaniv Altshuler MIT Media Lab, e-mail: yanival@media.mit. edu Rami Puzis Deutsche Telekom Lab, Department of Information Systems Eng., Ben-Gurion University, e-mail: puzis@bgu.ac. il Yuval Elovici Deutsche Telekom Lab, Department of Information Systems Eng., Ben-Gurion University, e-mail: elovici@bgu.ac. il Shlomo Bekhor Transportation Research Institute, Technione-mail: sbekhor@technion.ac. il Alex (Sandy) Pentland MIT Media Lab, e-mail: sandy@media.mit. edu
Long‐term course of substantia nigra hyperechogenicity in Parkinson's disease

A hyperechogenicity of the (SN+) in transcranial sonography corroborates the diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (iPD). Although it is thought to represent a biomarker of the disease that is independent of disease severity and progression, differing results have been reported describing a positive correlation of the size and advancing clinical stage. In 50 parkinsonian patients, transcranial ultrasound and clinical examination was performed twice with a mean time interval of 6.4 years. SN+ did not change in size significantly between the first and second examination, whereas clinical parkinsonian symptoms—as determined by the motor part of the UPDRS—significantly worsened (P < 0.001). We found a highly significant intraindividual correlation in SN+ sizes between both examinations (P < 0.001). The size of SN+ did not correlate with the UPDRS part III at the time of first or second ultrasound examination. Progression of motor symptoms between the first and second investigation did not correlate with the size of SN+ at baseline. Furthermore, even in the subgroup of patients with an interval of ≥8 years between examinations, there was no significant change in SN+ size. SN+ represents a largely stable biomarker in iPD and does not reflect disease progression. The size of SN+ does not predict the further course of the disease. © 2012 Movement Disorder Society
A Plant-Produced Bacteriophage Tailspike Protein for the Control of Salmonella

The receptor binding domain of the tailspike protein Gp9 from the P22 bacteriophage was recently shown to reduce Salmonella colonization in the chicken gut. In this study, we transiently expressed the receptor binding domain of the Gp9 tailspike protein in Nicotiana benthamiana, and targeted it to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) or to the chloroplasts. Gp9 was also fused to either an elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) or hydrophobin I tag, which were previously described to improve accumulation levels of recombinant proteins. The highest levels of recombinant protein accumulation occurred when unfused Gp9 was targeted to the ER. Lower levels of chloroplast-targeted Gp9 were also detected. ELP-fused Gp9 was purified and demonstrated to bind to Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium in vitro. Upon oral administration of lyophilized leaves expressing Gp9-ELP to newly hatched chickens, we found that this tailspike protein has the potential to be used as a therapeutic to control Salmonella contamination in chickens.
Evolution analysis for Accessibility Excessiveness in Java

In Java programs, access modifiers are used to control the accessibility of fields and methods from other objects. Choosing appropriate access modifiers is one of the key factors to improve program quality and to reduce potential vulnerability. In our previous work, we presented a static analysis method named Accessibility Excessiveness (AE) detection for each field and method in Java program. We have also developed an AE analysis tool named ModiChecker that analyzes each field and method of the input Java programs, and reports their excessiveness. In this paper, we have applied ModiChecker to several OSS repositories to investigate the evolution of AE over versions, and identified transition of AE status and the difference in the amount of AE change between major version releases and minor ones. Also we propose when to evaluate source code with AE analysis.