Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Global register partitioning

Modern computers have taken advantage of the instruction-level parallelism (ILP) available in programs with advances in both architecture and compiler design. Unfortunately, large amounts of ILP hardware and aggressive instruction scheduling techniques put great demands on a machine's register resources. With increasing ILP, it becomes difficult to maintain a single monolithic register bank and a high clock rate. To provide support for large amounts of ILP while retaining a high clock rate, registers can be partitioned among several different register banks. Each bank is directly accessible by only a subset of the functional units with explicit inter-bank copies required to move data between banks. Therefore, a compiler must deal not only with achieving maximal parallelism via aggressive scheduling, but also with data placement to limit inter-bank copies. Our approach to code generation for ILP architectures with partitioned register resources provides flexibility by representing machine dependent features as node and edge weights and by remaining independent of scheduling and register allocation methods. Experimentation with our framework has shown a degradation in execution performance of 10% on average when compared to an unrealizable monolithic-register-bank architecture with the same level of ILP.
Graph Regularized Sparse Coding for Image Representation

Sparse coding has received an increasing amount of interest in recent years. It is an unsupervised learning algorithm, which finds a basis set capturing high-level semantics in the data and learns sparse coordinates in terms of the basis set. Originally applied to modeling the human visual cortex, sparse coding has been shown useful for many applications. However, most of the existing approaches to sparse coding fail to consider the geometrical structure of the data space. In many real applications, the data is more likely to reside on a low-dimensional submanifold embedded in the high-dimensional ambient space. It has been shown that the geometrical information of the data is important for discrimination. In this paper, we propose a graph based algorithm, called graph regularized sparse coding, to learn the sparse representations that explicitly take into account the local manifold structure of the data. By using graph Laplacian as a smooth operator, the obtained sparse representations vary smoothly along the geodesics of the data manifold. The extensive experimental results on image classification and clustering have demonstrated the effectiveness of our proposed algorithm.
New radar observations of temporal and spatial dynamics of the midnight temperature maximum at low latitude and midlatitude

Presented here are several cases of midnight temperature maximum (MTM) observations using the Millstone Hill incoherent scatter radar (ISR) and Arecibo ISR. The MTM, a temperature enhancement in the upper atmosphere (at ~300 km altitude), is a poorly understood phenomenon as observations are sparse. An upward propagating terdiurnal tide and coupling between atmospheric regions may play a large part in the generation of the MTM, yet this phenomenon and its implications are not fully understood. Two nights (6 March 1989 and 12 July 1988) show clear cases of the MTM occurring between 30 and 34°N with amplitudes of ~100 K and at ~18°N with amplitudes of ~40 K. The MTMs occurred later at the higher latitude. Experiments in 2013 also show a clear MTM at 34° and 36°N from 250 to 350 km altitude. The ionospheric measurements presented here demonstrate a new application of a well‐established technique to study atmospheric parameters and allow us to study the latitudinal extent of the MTM. The results provide evidence of the phenomenon occurring at latitudes and altitudes not previously sampled by radar techniques, showing that the MTM is not just an equatorial process, but one that can easily reach midlatitudes. Simultaneous measurements with a Fabry‐Perot interferometer allow us to compare the neutral temperatures with the ion temperature. Overall, these are key observations that point to large‐scale effects that can help constrain model outputs at different heights and latitudes.
Allosteric Modulation of Endogenous Metabolites as an Avenue for Drug Discovery

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the largest family of cell surface receptors and a key drug target class. Recently, allosteric drugs that can cobind with and modulate the activity of the endogenous ligand(s) for the receptor have become a major focus of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry for the development of novel GPCR therapeutic agents. This class of drugs has distinct properties compared with drugs targeting the endogenous (orthosteric) ligand-binding site that include the ability to sculpt cellular signaling and to respond differently in the presence of discrete orthosteric ligands, a behavior termed “probe dependence. ” Here, using cell signaling assays combined with ex vivo and in vivo studies of insulin secretion, we demonstrate that allosteric ligands can cause marked potentiation of previously “inert” metabolic products of neurotransmitters and peptide hormones, a novel consequence of the phenomenon of probe dependence. Indeed, at the muscarinic M2 receptor and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor, allosteric potentiation of the metabolites, choline and GLP-1(9–36)NH2, respectively, was ∼100-fold and up to 200-fold greater than that seen with the physiological signaling molecules acetylcholine and GLP-1(7–36)NH2. Modulation of GLP-1(9–36)NH2 was also demonstrated in ex vivo and in vivo assays of insulin secretion. This work opens up new avenues for allosteric drug discovery by directly targeting modulation of metabolites, but it also identifies a behavior that could contribute to unexpected clinical outcomes if interaction of allosteric drugs with metabolites is not part of their preclinical assessment.
Efficient WiFi deployment algorithms based on realistic mobility characteristics

Recent years have witnessed the emergence of numerous new Internet services for mobile users. Supporting mobile applications via public WiFi networks has received significant research attention due to the drastic increase of penetration rate of 802.11-based networks. Nevertheless, recent empirical studies showed that unplanned WiFi networks cannot provide satisfactory Quality of Service for interactive mobile applications due to intermittent network connectivity. In this paper, we exploit realistic mobility characteristics of users to deploy WiFi Access Points (APs) for continuous service for mobile users. We study two AP deployment problems that aim to maximize the continuous user coverage and to minimize the AP deployment cost, respectively. Both problems are formulated based on mobility graphs that capture the statistical mobility patterns of users. We prove that both problems are NP-hard. We develop several optimal and approximation algorithms with provable performance bounds for different topologies of mobility graphs. The effectiveness of our approaches is validated by extensive simulations using real user mobility traces.
Inhibition of EP2/EP4 signaling abrogates IGF-1R-mediated cancer cell growth: Involvement of protein kinase C-θ activation

Associations between growth factor receptor-mediated cell signaling and cancer cell growth have been previously characterized. Receptors for prostaglandin E2, such as EP2, and EP4, play roles in cancer growth, progression and invasion. Thus, we examined the interactions between EP2/EP4- and IGF-1R-mediated cellular signaling in human pancreatic cancer cells. Selective antagonists against EP2 and EP4 abrogated IGF-1-stimulated cell growth and suppressed MEK/ERK phosphorylation. In subsequent experiments, phospho-antibody arrays indicated increased phosphorylation levels of protein kinase C-θ (PKC-θ) at the Thr538 position following the inhibition of EP2/EP4-mediated signaling. Inhibition of PKC-θ activity impaired cell viability compared with EP2/EP4-antagonized IGF-1-stimulated cells. PKC-θ kinase MAP4K3, which plays a pivotal role in PKC-θ activation, also affected growth signaling in the presence of EP2/EP4 antagonists. Administration of EP2 and EP4 antagonists significantly inhibited the growth of an orthotopic xenograft of IGF-1-secreting pancreatic cancer cells, with increased phospho-PKC-θ and decreased phospho-ERK. Clinico-pathological analyses showed that 17.4% of surgical pancreatic cancer specimens were quadruple-positive for IGF-1R, EP2 (or EP4), MAP4K3, and PKC-θ. These results indicate a novel signaling crosstalk between EP2/EP4 and IGF-1R in cancer cells, and suggest that the MAP4K3-PKC-θ axis is central and could be exploited as a molecular target for cancer therapy.
Analysis of the pathogenic potential of nosocomial Pseudomonas putida strains

Pseudomonas putida strains are ubiquitous in soil and water but have also been reported as opportunistic human pathogens capable of causing nosocomial infections. In this study we describe the multilocus sequence typing of four P. putida strains (HB13667, HB8234, HB4184, and HB3267) isolated from in-patients at the Besançon Hospital (France). The four isolates (in particular HB3267) were resistant to a number of antibiotics. The pathogenicity and virulence potential of the strains was tested ex vivo and in vivo using different biological models: human tissue culture, mammalian tissues, and insect larvae. Our results showed a significant variability in the ability of the four strains to damage the host; HB13667 did not exhibit any pathogenic traits, HB4184 caused damage only ex vivo in human tissue cultures, and HB8234 had a deleterious effect in tissue culture and in vivo on rat skin, but not in insect larvae. Interestingly, strain HB3267 caused damage in all the model systems studied. The putative evolution of these strains in medical environments is discussed.
Morpho-histological characterisation of the alimentary canal of an important food fish, Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer)

Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer) is a food fish of increasing aquaculture importance. In order to improve our understanding on the digestive system and feeding of this species, morphological and histological features of the gut were studied. Morphologically, the Asian seabass gut is defined by a short and muscular esophagus, well-developed stomach and comparatively short intestine. Mucous secreting goblet cells reactive to PAS (Periodic Acid Schiff) and AB (Alcian Blue) stain were present throughout the esophagus. The stomach was sac-like and could be distinguished into the cardiac, fundic and pyloric regions. Gastric glands and mucus cells were predominately present in the cardiac and fundic regions. Five finger-like pyloric caeca were present between the stomach and intestine. The intestine was a short, tubular structure with no morphological differences between the various regions. Histologically, the intestinal regions were similar, the main difference being in the number of goblet cells that increased from anterior to posterior intestine, with 114 ± 9, 153 ± 7 and 317 ± 21 goblet cells in the anterior, mid and posterior regions, respectively. The intestinal epithelium stained positively for PAS, but the staining was stronger for acidic glycoproteins. The rectum was similar to intestine, except for increased goblet cell numbers (anterior rectum: 529 ± 26; posterior rectum: 745 ± 29). Gut morpho-histology did not respond to salinity changes, however, there was a significant reduction of mucosal height, goblet cell numbers and muscularis thickness upon food deprivation.
Journal of Business Cases and Applications the Mobile Apps Industry: a Case Study

From its origins with the advent of Apple's iPhone in 2007, to an industry that could potentially be worth as much as $100 billion by 2015, the mobile apps industry has experienced nearly unprecedented growth. The unique aspects of the industry are discussed in terms of how they have encouraged the widespread popularity of smartphones and other mobile devices and have transformed electronic gaming, internet retailing, and social networking. As major competitors in this arena, Apple and Google have endeavored to distinguish themselves in terms of their relationships with app developers, numbers and uniqueness of apps available, as well as the marketplaces in which the apps are sold. While these battles are waged, others (Blackberry RIM, Facebook, and Amazon) have continued to find their loyal users and niches in the market. Forecasts unanimously paint a very bright future for the industry, but potential stumbling blocks remain in the form of, monetization difficulties, accusations of exploiting children, and security and privacy issues.
Crossings and nestings of matchings and partitions

We present results on the enumeration of crossings and nestings for matchings and set partitions. Using a bijection between partitions and vacillating tableaux, we show that if we fix the sets of minimal block elements and maximal block elements, the crossing number and the nesting number of partitions have a symmetric joint distribution. It follows that the crossing numbers and the nesting numbers are distributed symmetrically over all partitions of [n], as well as over all matchings on [2n]. As a corollary, the number of k-noncrossing partitions is equal to the number of k-nonnesting partitions. The same is also true for matchings. An application is given to the enumeration of matchings with no k-crossing (or with no k-nesting). Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary 05A18, secondary 05E10, 05A15.
An Empirical Study of What Drives Consumers to Use Mobile Advertising in China

Based on the theory of planned behavior, this paper builds an integrated research model to explore the factors that influencing consumer intention of using mobile advertising in China. Some variables from technology acceptance model and the theory of attitude toward Internet advertising are added in the research model. A survey is developed in several universities, and the structural equitation modeling technique is used to examine the model. The result shows that "informativeness", "entertainment" and "credibility" of the advertising information are the most important factors that influencing the consumers' acceptance of mobile advertising. Existing knowledge, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use also have positive effect on consumers' usage intention. Perceived risk and irritation of the advertising information have negative effect on consumers' usage intention.
Better Algorithms and Hardness for Broadcast Scheduling via a Discrepancy Approach

We study the broadcast scheduling problem with the objective of minimizing the average response time. There is a single server that can hold n pages of unit size, and multiple requests for these pages arrive over time. At each time slot the server can broadcast one page which satisfies all the outstanding requests for this page at that time. The goal is to find a schedule to minimize the average response time of the requests, i.e. the duration since a request arrives until it is satisfied. We give an O(log1.5 n) approximation algorithm for the problem improving upon the previous O(log2 n) approximation. We also show an Ω(log1/2-e n) hardness result, and an integrality gap of Ω(log n) for the natural LP relaxation for the problem. Prior to our work, only NP-Hardness and a (tiny) constant integrality gap was known. These results are based on establishing a close connection to the discrepancy minimization problem for permutation set-systems. Specifically, our improved approximation is based on using recent algorithmic ideas developed for discrepancy minimization. Our integrality gap is obtained from the Ω(log n)-lower bound on the discrepancy of 3-permutations, while our hardness result is based on establishing the first hardness result for the discrepancy of e-permutations.
Prevalence, Diversity, and Load of Borrelia species in Ticks That Have Fed on Humans in Regions of Sweden and Åland Islands, Finland with Different Lyme Borreliosis Incidences

The incidence of Lyme borreliosis (LB) in a region may reflect the prevalence of Borrelia in the tick population. Our aim was to investigate if regions with different LB incidences can be distinguished by studying the prevalence and diversity of Borrelia species in their respective tick populations. The Borrelia load in a feeding tick increases with the duration of feeding, which may facilitate a transmission of Borrelia Spirochetes from tick to host. Therefore, we also wanted to investigate how the Borrelia load in ticks that have fed on humans varies with the duration of tick feeding. During 2008 and 2009, ticks that had bitten humans were collected from four regions of Sweden and Finland, regions with expected differences in LB incidence. The duration of tick feeding was estimated and Borrelia were detected and quantified by a quantitative PCR assay followed by species determination. Out of the 2,154 Ixodes ricinus ticks analyzed, 26% were infected with Borrelia and seven species were identified. B. spielmanii was detected for the first time in the regions. The tick populations collected from the four regions exhibited only minor differences in both prevalence and diversity of Borrelia species, indicating that these variables alone cannot explain the regions’ different LB incidences. The number of Borrelia cells in the infected ticks ranged from fewer than ten to more than a million. We also found a lower number of Borrelia cells in adult female ticks that had fed for more than 36 hours, compared to the number of Borrelia cells found in adult female ticks that had fed for less than 36 hours.
Parathyroid Hormone-Related Protein (PTHrP): A Key Regulator of Life/Death Decisions by Tumor Cells with Potential Clinical Applications

Parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP), classically regarded as the mediator of the humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy syndrome, is a polyhormone that undergoes proteolytic processing into smaller bioactive forms. These bioactive forms comprise an N-terminal-as well as midregion-and C-terminal peptides, which have been shown to regulate various biological events, such as survival, proliferation and differentiation, in diverse cell model systems, both normal and pathological. A number of experimental data have demonstrated that PTHrP is also able to modulate tumor-relevant phenotypic expressions, thereby playing a role in early and advanced tumorigenesis, and in the response to treatment. In particular, interest has mainly been focused on the effects of PTHrP on cell proliferation/apoptosis, migration and invasion, which are the main roles involved in cancer development in vivo. The objective of this review is to discuss collectively the literature data on the molecular and biochemical basis of the mechanisms underlying the different, and sometimes opposite, effects exerted by PTHrP on various neoplastic cytotypes, with some final comments on both present and potential utilization of PTHrP as a target for anti-cancer therapy.
Orthostatic hypotension predicts all-cause mortality and coronary events in middle-aged individuals (The Malmö Preventive Project)

Aims Orthostatic hypotension (OH) has been linked to increased mortality and incidence of cardiovascular disease in various risk groups, but determinants and consequences of OH in the general population are poorly studied. Methods and results Prospective data of the Swedish ‘Malmö Preventive Project’ (n = 33 346, 67.3% men, mean age 45.7 ± 7.4 years, mean follow-up 22.7 ± 6.0 years) were analysed. Orthostatic hypotension was found in 6.2% of study participants and was associated with age, female gender, hypertension, antihypertensive treatment, increased heart rate, diabetes, low BMI, and current smoking. In Cox regression analysis, individuals with OH had significantly increased all-cause mortality (in particular those aged less than 42 years) and coronary event (CE) risk. Mortality and CE risk were distinctly higher in those with systolic blood pressure (BP) fall ≥30 mmHg [hazard ratio (HR): 1.6, 95% CI 1.3–1.9, P < 0.0001 and 1.6, 95% CI 1.2–2.1, P = 0.001] and diastolic BP fall ≥15 mmHg (HR: 1.4, 95% CI 1.1–1.9, P = 0.024 and 1.7, 95% CI 1.1–2.5, P = 0.01). In addition, impaired diastolic BP response had relatively greater impact (per mmHg) on CE incidence than systolic reaction. Conclusion Orthostatic hypotension can be detected in ∼6% of middle-aged individuals and is often associated with such comorbidities as hypertension or diabetes. Presence of OH increases mortality and CE risk, independently of traditional risk factors. Although both impaired systolic and diastolic responses predict adverse events, the diastolic impairment shows stronger association with coronary disease.
Does the Arctic sea ice have a tipping point?

Two IPCC fourth assessment report climate models have Arctic Ocean simulations that become sea‐ice‐free year around in 1%/year CO2 increase to quadrupling experiments. These runs are examined for evidence of accelerated climate change associated with the removal of sea ice, particularly due to increasing surface albedo feedback. Both models become seasonally ice‐free at an annual mean polar temperature of −9°C without registering much impact on the surface albedo feedback or disturbing the linear relationship between Arctic Ocean climate change and that of the surrounding region. When the polar temperature rises above −5°C, however, there is a sharp increase in the surface albedo feedback of one of the models, driving an abrupt elimination of Arctic ice and an increase in temperature above that expected from warming of the surrounding region. The transition to ice‐free conditions is more linear in the other model, with ocean heat flux playing the primary driving role.
Prolactin Levels and the Risk of Future Coronary Artery Disease in Apparently Healthy Men and Women

Background—Prolactin is increasingly recognized to play a stimulatory role in the inflammatory response. Because inflammation is considered of crucial importance in the development of atherosclerosis, we aimed to evaluate whether prolactin levels are associated with the occurrence of coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods and Results—We performed a nested case-control study in the prospective EPIC-Norfolk cohort. Cases were apparently healthy men and women, aged 45 to 79 years, who developed fatal or nonfatal CAD (n=882). Controls remained free of CAD (n=1490). Overall, systemic prolactin levels did not differ between cases and controls, and people in the highest prolactin tertile did not have a significantly increased risk of developing future CAD (in men, odds ratio, 1.21; 95% CI, 0.92 to 1.61; in women, odds ratio, 1.12; 95% CI, 0.76 to 1.64). However, in a separate immunohistochemical study, the presence of prolactin receptors could be demonstrated in postmortem human coronary artery plaques (preliminary data). Conclusions—Elevated systemic prolactin levels do not predict CAD in the general population. However, prolactin receptors were found in human coronary artery plaques. This observation may indicate a role of prolactin within atherosclerotic plaques. More studies are needed to define the possible role of prolactin in atherosclerotic plaque development.