Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Energy consumption and garbage collection in low-powered computing Technical Report: CU-CS-930-02 ∗

We have measured the energy eﬃciency of diﬀer-ent memory management strategies on a high performance pocket computer. We conducted our study by measuring the energy consumption of eight C programs with four diﬀerent memory management strategies each. The memory management strategies are: no deallocation, explicit deallocation, conservative mark-and-sweep garbage collection, and conservative mark-and-sweep incremental garbage collection. Our measurements show that diﬀerent memory management strategies have very diﬀerent energy requirements. In the most extreme case, one program consumed 40 times as much energy with incremental garbage collection than with explicit deallocation. We demonstrate that, although overall energy use is strongly correlated with execution time, the processor and peripheral energies separately do not correlate well with execution time.
Hydrogen sulfide regulates cardiac function and structure in adriamycin-induced cardiomyopathy.

BACKGROUND The present study was designed to investigate if hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a novel gasotransmitter, might have a regulatory effect on cardiac function and structure, as well as oxidative stress, in adriamycin (ADR)-induced cardiomyopathy. METHODS AND RESULTS Hemodynamic measurements, histopathological examination and stereological ultrastructural analysis of mitochondria in ADR-treated rats showed characteristics of cardiomyopathy with remarkable greater size and smaller number of cardiomyocytic mitochondria and a significantly low H2S content in plasma and myocardium, but increased levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARs) and decreased superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities in plasma and myocardium compared with controls (P<0.01). However, administration of the H2S donor, NaHS, markedly improved cardiac function, as demonstrated by elevated left ventricular developed pressure (+/-LVdp/dtmax; P<0.01) with ameliorated morphological alterations in the myocardium. Myocardial TBARs content decreased, whereas the activities of SOD and GSH-Px increased (P<0.01 and P<0.05, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Downregulation of endogenously-generated H2S is probably involved in the pathogenesis of ADR-induced cardiomyopathy, whereby H2S reduces lipid peroxidation, increases antioxidation, and inhibits oxidative stress injury.
Detection and parameter estimation of extended targets using the generalized monopulse estimator

In many radar applications extended targets appear together with point targets. An important problem in particular for tracking algorithms is to rapidly detect these extended targets and to determine their centroid and shape. We present a detector for extended targets and maximum-likelihood (ML) estimators for the centroid and the extension which are based only on the outputs of the generalized monopulse ratio. The generalized monopulse ratio is based on the sum and difference beams generated from the digital outputs of arbitrary subarrays of a planar array. It is therefore applicable to various kinds of modern array antennas. The extended target is characterized by an ellipse in the azimuth-elevation plane. The statistical performance of the centroid and the extension estimators is characterized by analytically their mean and variance. Numerical simulations indicate that these statistical characterizations are accurate and that small extended targets can be detected early. The statistical performance measures can therefore also be used for parametric system studies.
Metrics based refactoring

Refactoring is one key issue to increase internal software quality during the whole software lifecycle. Since identifying structures where refactorings should be applied often is explained with subjective perceptions like "bad taste" or "bad smell", an automatic refactoring location finder seems difficult. We show that a special kind of metrics can support these subjective perceptions and thus can be used as an effective and efficient way to get support for the decision of where to apply refactoring. Due to the fact that the software developer is the last authority, we provide powerful and metrics based software visualisation to support the developers in judging their products. The authors demonstrate this approach for four typical refactorings and present both a tool supporting the identification and case studies of its application.
Compressed NVRAM based Memory Systems

In this paper we examine a 2-level memory system that uses emerging nonvolatile RAM (NVRAM) technologies to build a main memory system with DRAM acting like a cache. We discuss the architectural aspects of such a structure including power-performance tradeoff and how compressed NVRAM storage can help. The analysis indicates that the power benefits of using emerging NVRAM technologies can be very substantial; however, latency sensitive workloads can suffer significant performance impact compared with same sized DRAM only memory. The analysis also shows that compression can provide significant benefits in terms of reducing the NVRAM read/write bandwidth and either enhancing the NVRAM life or reducing the size of NVRAM required.
Outage Analysis of Spectrum Sharing Over $M$-Block Fading With Sensing Information

Future wireless technologies, such as fifth-generation (5G), are expected to support real-time applications with high data throughput, e.g., holographic meetings. From a bandwidth perspective, cognitive radio (CR) is a promising technology to enhance the system's throughput via sharing the licensed spectrum. From a delay perspective, it is well known that increasing the number of decoding blocks will improve system robustness against errors while increasing delay. Therefore, optimally allocating the resources to determine the tradeoff of tuning the length of the decoding blocks while sharing the spectrum is a critical challenge for future wireless systems. In this paper, we minimize the targeted outage probability over the block-fading channels while utilizing the spectrum-sharing concept. The secondary user's outage region and the corresponding optimal power are derived, over two-block and $M$-block fading channels. We propose two suboptimal power strategies and derive the associated asymptotic lower and upper bounds on the outage probability with tractable expressions. These bounds allow us to derive the exact diversity order of the secondary user's outage probability. To further enhance the system's performance, we also investigate the impact of including the sensing information on the outage problem. The outage problem is then solved via proposing an alternating optimization algorithm, which utilizes the verified strict quasi-convex structure of the problem. Selected numerical results are presented to characterize the system's behavior and show the improvements of several sharing concepts.
PERIOD–TIMELESS Interval Timer May Require an Additional Feedback Loop

In this study we present a detailed, mechanism-based mathematical framework of Drosophila circadian rhythms. This framework facilitates a more systematic approach to understanding circadian rhythms using a comprehensive representation of the network underlying this phenomenon. The possible mechanisms underlying the cytoplasmic “interval timer” created by PERIOD–TIMELESS association are investigated, suggesting a novel positive feedback regulatory structure. Incorporation of this additional feedback into a full circadian model produced results that are consistent with previous experimental observations of wild-type protein profiles and numerous mutant phenotypes.
Developmental and neurological status of children at 4 years of age after heart surgery with hypothermic circulatory arrest or low-flow cardiopulmonary bypass.

BACKGROUND It is not known whether developmental and neurological outcomes in the preschool period differ depending on whether the predominant vital organ support strategy used in infant heart surgery was total circulatory arrest (CA) or low-flow cardiopulmonary bypass. METHODS AND RESULTS Infants with D-transposition of the great arteries who underwent an arterial-switch operation were randomly assigned to a support method consisting predominantly of CA or low-flow cardiopulmonary bypass. Developmental and neurological status were evaluated blindly at 4 years of age in 158 of 163 eligible children (97%). Neither IQ scores nor overall neurological status were significantly associated with either treatment group or duration of CA. The CA group scored lower on tests of motor function (gross motor, P=0.01; fine motor, P=0.03) and had more severe speech abnormalities (oromotor apraxia, P=0.007). Seizures in the perioperative period, detected either clinically or by continuous electroencephalographic monitoring, were associated with lower mean IQ scores (12.6 and 7.7 points, respectively) and increased risk of neurological abnormalities (odds ratios, 8.4 and 5.6, respectively). The performance of the full cohort was below expectations in several domains, including IQ, expressive language, visual-motor integration, motor function, and oromotor control. CONCLUSIONS Use of CA to support vital organs during open heart surgery in infancy is associated, at the age of 4 years, with worse motor coordination and planning but not with lower IQ or with worse overall neurological status.
Inhibition of macula densa-stimulated renin secretion by pharmacological blockade of cyclooxygenase-2.

Previous results from our laboratory have shown that in the isolated perfused juxtaglomerular apparatus, nonselective inhibitors of cyclooxygenase (COX) activity prevent the stimulation of renin secretion by a reduction in luminal NaCl concentration at the macula densa. The present studies were performed to examine which COX isoform is involved in NaCl-dependent renin secretion. In the absence of COX inhibitors, a reduction in luminal NaCl (from Na 141/Cl 120 mM to Na 26/Cl 7 mM) caused an increase in renin secretion rate from 4.5 ± 1.8 to 26.1 ± 7.4 nGU/min ( P < 0.01, n = 19). The presence of the COX-1 inhibitor valerylsalicylate (500 μM) in lumen and bath did not affect the stimulation of renin secretion by a reduction in luminal NaCl concentration (5 ± 1.8 nGU/min at high NaCl, and 30.5 ± 9.4 nGU/min at low NaCl; P < 0.01, n = 8). In contrast, the specific COX-2 inhibitor NS-398 (50 μM) in lumen and bath abolished the stimulating effect of low luminal NaCl (12.8 ± 3.9 nGU/min at high NaCl, and 10.7 ± 3.1 nGU/min at low NaCl; NS, n = 15). The finding that COX-2 is critically involved in macula densa control of renin secretion indicates that the COX-2-expressing epithelial cells in the tubuloglomerular contact area are a likely source of prostaglandins participating in the signaling pathway between the macula densa and renin-producing granular cells.
Mapping the Genetic Architecture of Gene Regulation in Whole Blood

Background We aimed to assess whether whole blood expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) with effects in cis and trans are robust and can be used to identify regulatory pathways affecting disease susceptibility. Materials and Methods We performed whole-genome eQTL analyses in 890 participants of the KORA F4 study and in two independent replication samples (SHIP-TREND, N = 976 and EGCUT, N = 842) using linear regression models and Bonferroni correction. Results In the KORA F4 study, 4,116 cis-eQTLs (defined as SNP-probe pairs where the SNP is located within a 500 kb window around the transcription unit) and 94 trans-eQTLs reached genome-wide significance and overall 91% (92% of cis-, 84% of trans-eQTLs) were confirmed in at least one of the two replication studies. Different study designs including distinct laboratory reagents (PAXgene™ vs. Tempus™ tubes) did not affect reproducibility (separate overall replication overlap: 78% and 82%). Immune response pathways were enriched in cis- and trans-eQTLs and significant cis-eQTLs were partly coexistent in other tissues (cross-tissue similarity 40–70%). Furthermore, four chromosomal regions displayed simultaneous impact on multiple gene expression levels in trans, and 746 eQTL-SNPs have been previously reported to have clinical relevance. We demonstrated cross-associations between eQTL-SNPs, gene expression levels in trans, and clinical phenotypes as well as a link between eQTLs and human metabolic traits via modification of gene regulation in cis. Conclusions Our data suggest that whole blood is a robust tissue for eQTL analysis and may be used both for biomarker studies and to enhance our understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying gene-disease associations.
A Greenhouse-Gas Information System: Monitoring and Validating Emissions Reporting and Mitigation

This study and report focus on attributes of a greenhouse-gas information system (GHGIS) needed to support MRVV the need for a system that meets specifications derived from imposed requirements; the need for rigorous calibration, verification, and validation (CVV the need to develop and adopt an uncertainty-quantification (UQ) regimen for all measurement and modeling data; and the requirement that GHGIS products can be subjected to third-party questioning and scientific scrutiny. This report examines and assesses presently available capabilities that could contribute to a future GHGIS. These capabilities include sensors and measurement technologies; data analysis and data uncertainty quantification (UQ) practices and methods; and model-based data-inversion practices, methods, and their associated UQ. The report further examines the need for traceable calibration, verification, and validation processes and attached metadata; differences between present science-/research-oriented needs and those that would be required for an operational GHGIS; the development, operation, and maintenance of a GHGIS missions-operations center (GMOC); and the complex systems engineering and integration that would be required to develop, operate, and evolve a future GHGIS.
Swift Guanxi in Online Marketplaces: The Role of Computer-Mediated Communication Technologies

The concept of guanxi (i.e., a close and pervasive interpersonal relationship) has received little attention in the literature on online marketplaces, perhaps due to their impersonal nature. However, we propose that computer-mediated communication (CMC) technologies can mimic traditional interactive face-to-face communications, thus enabling a form of guanxi in online marketplaces. Extending the literature on traditional guanxi, we herein introduce the concept of swift guanxi, conceptualized as the buyer's perception of a swiftly formed interpersonal relationship with a seller, which consists of mutual understanding, reciprocal favors, and relationship harmony. Integrating theories of CMC and guanxi, we develop a model that explains how a set of CMC tools (i.e., instant messaging, message box, feedback system) facilitate repeat transactions with sellers by building swift guanxi and trust through interactivity and presence (social presence and telepresence) with sellers. Longitudinal data from 338 buyers in TaoBao, China's leading online marketplace, support our structural model, showing that the buyers' effective use of CMC tools enable swift guanxi and trust by enhancing the buyers' perceptions of interactivity and presence. In turn, swift guanxi and trust predict buyers' repurchase intentions and their actual repurchases from sellers. We discuss the implications of swift guanxi in online marketplaces with the aid of CMC technologies.
Automatic Measurement and Comparison of Vowel Nasalization across Languages

We used an innovative technique to measure the trajectories of vowel nasality in three languages: English, Mandarin, and Portuguese. An SVM classifier was trained on MFCC parameters at five positions in nasal and oral vowels, and the “nasality trajectory” for each language was evaluated in terms of classification accuracy at each of the five positions. The results support the view that Portuguese vowel nasality is phonemic while English and Mandarin vowel nasality is coarticulatory, although in all cases vowel nasalization starts at the vowel onset or even earlier.
Early detection of colorectal cancer: barriers to screening in the primary care setting.

their patients. 4 There is an ongoing debate about the role of GPs and primary care physicians (PCPs) and their potential contribution to the effective implementation of screening programmes, both opportunistic and populationbased. In addition to the assessment of the risk of developing CRC, in general, the involvement and the role of the GPs and PCPs in convincing patients to participate and initiate CRC screening should be further explored and elucidated, as it is of key importance in cultural and organizational context and health policy issues. 5 This editorial highlights certain issues that have an impact on the early detection of CRC and focuses on barriers to screening at primary care and general practice levels.
Cell cycle arrest and apoptogenic properties of opium alkaloids noscapine and papaverine on breast cancer stem cells

Abstract Previous report of the vast effectiveness of opium derivatives in cancer therapy is leading us to see possible effects of these derivatives on cancer stem cells in order to find new agent for cancer therapy. In this study, cells were stained for CSC markers and sorted by magnetic beads. CSCs exhibit the characteristic CD44+/CD24−/low/ESA+ phenotype. Noscapine and papaverine (alkaloids) showed anti-proliferative activity on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines. It was observed that noscapine has more cytotoxic effect on CSC derived from both cell lines compared with their parental cells. Papaverine has more cytotoxic effect on MCF-7 CSCs in comparison with parental cells, while CSCs population of MDA-MB-231 is more resistant to papaverine compared with MDA-MB-231 cells. Noscapine enhances apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 CSCs more than parent cells, while in MCF-7 CSCs the apoptosis is less than parent cells. Our results show that papverine is less active in terms of apoptotic effect on CSCs in both cell lines. Moreover, noscapine arrests MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 CSCs cell cycle at G2/M phase, while papverine arrests cell cycle at G0/G1 phase. It was suggested different mechanism for apoptotic cytotoxicity. The results of this study show possible specific effects of noscapine on these breast cell lines CSCs.
Talcage by medical thoracoscopy for primary spontaneous pneumothorax is more cost-effective than drainage: a randomised study

Simple thoracoscopic talcage (TT) is a safe and effective treatment of primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP). However, its efficacy has not previously been estimated in comparison with standard conservative therapy (pleural drainage (PD)). In this prospective randomised comparison of two well-established procedures of treating PSP requiring at least a chest tube, cost-effectiveness, safety and pain control was evaluated in 108 patients with PSP (61 TT and 47 PD). Patients in both groups had comparable clinical characteristics. Drainage and hospitalisation duration were similar in TT and PD patients. There were no complications in either group. The immediate success rate was different: after prolonged drainage (>7 days), 10 out of 47 PD patients, but only 1 out of 61 TT patients required a TT as a second procedure. Total costs of hospitalisation including any treatment procedure were not significantly different between TT and PD patients. Pain, measured daily by visual analogue scales, was statistically higher during the first 3 days in TT patients but not in those patients receiving opiates. One month after leaving hospital, there was no significant difference in residual pain or full working ability: 20 out of 58 (34%) versus 10 out of 47 (21%) and 36 out of 61 (59%) versus 26 out of 39 (67%) in TT versus PD groups, respectively. After 5 yrs of follow-up, there had been only three out of 59 (5%) recurrences of pneumothorax after TT, but 16 out of 47 (34%) after conservative treatment by PD. Cost calculation favoured TT pleurodesis especially with regard to recurrences. In conclusion, thoracoscopic talc pleurodesis under local anaesthesia is superior to conservative treatment by chest tube drainage in cases of primary spontaneous pneumothorax that fail simple aspiration, provided there is efficient control of pain by opioids.
Formation of electrically conducting mesoscale wires through self-assembly of atomic clusters

Bi and Sb clusters deposited from an inert gas aggregation source have been used to form cluster-assembled wires on unpassivated, and SiO/sub 2/ passivated, V-grooved Si substrates. V-grooves (4-7 /spl mu/m in width, 6 /spl mu/m-1 mm in length) were prepared using optical lithography and anisotropic etching in KOH solution. The effectiveness of the surface templating technique was demonstrated by scanning electron microscope analysis carried out after deposition. When Sb clusters were deposited onto SiO/sub 2/ passivated substrates, the surface coverage was seen to vary from <20% on the unpatterned (normal-to-beam) surface (which is required to be nonconducting) to >100% at the apexes of the V-grooves used to promote growth of the wire. Sb wires produced with this technique currently have minimum widths of /spl sim/400 nm and lengths of /spl sim/1 mm. Electrical contacts can be positioned within the V-grooves prior to cluster deposition, thus enabling the initial onset of conduction and subsequent I(V) characteristic of a wire to be monitored in vacuum.
Decision-to-delivery intervals and total duration of surgery for Caesarean sections in a tertiary general hospital.

INTRODUCTION This study aimed to determine the decision-to-delivery intervals (DDIs), total duration of surgery and factors influencing these for Caesarean sections (CSs). METHODS A retrospective study was conducted of all CSs performed from August 2013 to June 2014 at a single tertiary general hospital. Data collected included maternal demographics, indications for CS, category of urgency, DDI, total duration of surgery, grade of first surgeon and number of previous CSs. RESULTS In total, 488 CSs (Category 1: n = 28; Category 2: n = 137; Category 3: n = 184; Category 4: n = 139) were studied. Overall mean duration of surgery was 41.7 minutes. Mean DDI was 23.9 minutes and 64.5 minutes for Category 1 and Category 2 CSs, respectively. For Category 1 CSs, deliveries during office hours had a significantly shorter DDI than deliveries out of office hours (p < 0.05). For Category 2 CSs, deliveries during office hours had a significantly longer DDI (p < 0.05). Total duration of surgery for senior surgeons was significantly shorter than for trainee surgeons (p < 0.05). Women with no previous CSs had a significantly shorter duration of surgery than those who had one or more (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION The majority of the deliveries were within the recommended DDI corresponding to the degree of urgency of CS. The influence of time of day on DDI might be due to challenges of time taken to transfer patients to operating theatres. Total duration of surgery was influenced by surgical experience, history of previous CS and individual surgical styles and preferences.