Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Logic for Information Flow Analysis of Pointer Programs

This paper specifies a nontermination-insensitive, interp rocedural, information flow analysis for object-oriented programs via a Hoarelike logic. Pointer aliasing is ubiquitous in such programs , and can potentially leak confidential information. Therefore, assertions in the logic not only describe the noninterference property that formalizes confidentiality, but also describe aliasing pro perties. The representation of noninterference in assertions makes exp licit the independences between variables and addresses. The logic i s flowsensitive and can deem secure more programs than extant type based information flow analyses. Modular (or local) reasoning is a critical component of the l ogic. Apart from supporting interprocedural reasoning in a modul ar way, the logic also supports local reasoning about statein the style of Separation Logic. “Small” specifications are used; they men tion only the variables and addresses relevant to a command. Spec ifications are combined using a frame rule that is sound in the lo gic. An algorithm for the computation of postconditions is descr ibed: under certain assumptions, there exists a trongestpostcondition which the algorithm computes. The core language permits programmer assertions, in the sty l of ESC/Java, thereby providing a more fine-grained informat ion flow analysis. The logic can thus be viewed as a modular, inter procedural static checker for confidentiality.
Effectiveness of maternity support belts in reducing low back pain during pregnancy: a review.

AIMS This article aims to review the literature published to date on the types, current use, the biomechanical effects and adverse effects of maternity support belts for low back pain during pregnancy, to identify future research directions. BACKGROUND Lumbar/pelvic support belts are frequently recommended for the prevention and treatment of low back pain during pregnancy. DESIGN Systematic review. METHODS MEDLINE, CINAHL, the Cochrane Library and patents databases were electronically searched. RESULTS Maternity support belts belong to one of the four main types of maternity support garments, which are widely commercially-available. Current research showed limited evidence in support of the commercial maternity products regarding the effectiveness in the prevention and/or treatment of low back pain during pregnancy, other than that from the manufacturers. However, potential stabilisation effect of maternity support belt was demonstrated in some studies. Adverse effects reported include increased pain, fetal heart rate changes, skin irritation and discomfort. CONCLUSIONS There is insufficient scientific evidence to conclude that wearing maternity support belts reduces pregnancy-related low back pain and/or pelvic girdle pain. Future research directions in the area of biomechanics and physiology are recommended. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE This review provides comprehensive understanding of the effectiveness of maternity support belts for the relief of low back pain during pregnancy which will facilitate healthcare professionals in providing evidence-based advice to their patients.
Calabi-Yau Like PVHS and Characteristic Subvariety Over Bounded Symmetric Domains

It is strongly desirable to find new global Torelli theorem for Calabi-Yau manifold, which extends the celebrated global Torelli theorem for polarized K3 surface. The work of B.Gross [6] is closely related with this problem. In fact, at the Hodge theoretical level, B.Gross [6] have constructed certain canonical real polarized variation of Hodge structures over each irreducible tube domain, and then asked for the possible algebraic geometrical realizations of them(cf. §8 [6]).
Performance of Different Ensemble Kalman Filter Structures to Assimilate GRACE Terrestrial Water Storage Estimates Into a High‐Resolution Hydrological Model: A Synthetic Study

Among all remote sensing missions, the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) was unique as it measured the change in total water content across all terrestrial water storages (TWS) including subsurface, deep soil moisture, and groundwater. However, its coarse resolution is a major challenge for practical applications. Ensemble Kalman filters (EnKFs) are useful tools to combine observations with models to reduce prediction errors. But due to the coarse resolution of the GRACE products, the EnKF does not work well in its usual form. Accordingly, different EnKF structures have been proposed and employed but a comparison between them has not yet been attempted. Here we assessed these structures using a synthetic problem. Alternative structures were formed using different increment calculation and updating strategies, observation operators, and the types of observation fed to the filter. It was found that all available structures led to an improvement in model performance when measured against a synthetic reference. However, the degree of improvement was strongly dependent on the assimilation strategy. Assimilating absolute TWS values (the summation of the TWS anomalies and an unbiased baseline) gave the best model performance when combined with an increment calculation strategy in which the increments are calculated and applied to all days of the month. However, without an unbiased baseline, assimilating TWS changes still leads to an acceptable improvement in model performance. Among the observation operators, those that predict the observations as an average of multiple days had the best performance.
Urine Calcium/Citrate Ratio in Children With Hypercalciuric Stones

Hypercalciuria is a common cause for stone formation in children. The aim was to delineate the role of urinary citrate in hypercalciuric children for protection against calcium stone formation. We evaluated random urine calcium, citrate, and creatinine in 149 controls, 78 hypercalciuric nonstone formers, and 34 hypercalciuric children with stone. Urine citrate/creatinine was highest in hypercalciuric nonstone formers 899 ± 351 compared with controls 711 ± 328 and stone formers 595 ± 289 (p < 0.01 vs. both). Calcium/creatinine ratio was similar in hypercalciuric stone and nonstone formers, but significantly higher than controls. Consequently, urine Calcium/citrate ratio (mg/mg) increased from control 0.17 ± 0.17 to 0.41 ± 0.23 (p < 0.001) in hypercalciuric nonstone formers, and to 0.65 ± 0.46 in stone formers (p < 0.001 compared with other groups). Area under receiver operating characteristic curve combined with multilevel risk analyses found calcium/citrate ratio of 0.326 to provide good discrimination between control and stone formers. We found 5th percentile for random urine citrate/creatinine ratio in school-aged children to be 176 mg/g, elevated urinary citrate excretion in hypercalciuric children to be protective against stone formation, and urine calcium/citrate ratio to be a good indicator for risk of stone formation. Whether intervention in hypercalciuric children to lower urine calcium/citrate <0.326 will provide protection against stone formation needs to be studied.
An Analogy Explanation for the Evaluation of Entrepreneurial Opportunities*

Entrepreneurs evaluate opportunities under conditions of uncertainty; they make judgments. To understand these evaluations, I develop an analogical model that represents an entrepreneurial opportunity in the mind of an individual. The model proposes that an opportunity is an analogical knowledge transfer from a source business domain to a target business domain. According to the model, the cognitive distance between the domains influences the opportunity evaluation. Additionally, the inspiration behind the analogy construction influences the opportunity evaluation. The empirical design employs a hypothetical scenario experiment and the results show that the two analogical properties matter for evaluation.
Acid-Adapted Strains of Escherichia coli K-12 Obtained by Experimental Evolution

ABSTRACT Enteric bacteria encounter a wide range of pHs throughout the human intestinal tract. We conducted experimental evolution of Escherichia coli K-12 to isolate clones with increased fitness during growth under acidic conditions (pH 4.5 to 4.8). Twenty-four independent populations of E. coli K-12 W3110 were evolved in LBK medium (10 g/liter tryptone, 5 g/liter yeast extract, 7.45 g/liter KCl) buffered with homopiperazine-N,N′-bis-2-(ethanosulfonic acid) and malate at pH 4.8. At generation 730, the pH was decreased to 4.6 with HCl. By 2,000 generations, all populations had achieved higher endpoint growth than the ancestor at pH 4.6 but not at pH 7.0. All evolving populations showed a progressive loss of activity of lysine decarboxylase (CadA), a major acid stress enzyme. This finding suggests a surprising association between acid adaptation and moderation of an acid stress response. At generation 2,000, eight clones were isolated from four populations, and their genomes were sequenced. Each clone showed between three and eight missense mutations, including one in a subunit of the RNA polymerase holoenzyme (rpoB, rpoC, or rpoD). Missense mutations were found in adiY, the activator of the acid-inducible arginine decarboxylase (adiA), and in gcvP (glycine decarboxylase), a possible acid stress component. For tests of fitness relative to that of the ancestor, lacZ::kan was transduced into each strain. All acid-evolved clones showed a high fitness advantage at pH 4.6. With the cytoplasmic pH depressed by benzoate (at external pH 6.5), acid-evolved clones showed decreased fitness; thus, there was no adaptation to cytoplasmic pH depression. At pH 9.0, acid-evolved clones showed no fitness advantage. Thus, our acid-evolved clones showed a fitness increase specific to low external pH.
Observations and simulations of seismoionospheric GPS total electron content anomalies before the 12 January 2010 M7 Haiti earthquake

[1] In this paper, the total electron content (TEC) of the global ionosphere map (GIM) is used to detect seismoionospheric anomalies associated with the 12 January 2010 M7 Haiti earthquake, and an ionospheric model is applied to simulate the detected anomalies. The GIM temporal variation shows that the TEC over the epicenter significantly enhances on 11 January 2010, 1 day before the earthquake. The latitude-time-TEC (LTT) plots reveal three anomalies: (1) the northern crest of equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) moves poleward, (2) the TECs at the epicenter and its conjugate increase, and (3) the TECs at two dense bands in the midlatitude ionosphere of 35°N and 60°S further enhance. The spatial analysis demonstrates that the TEC enhancement anomaly appears specifically and persistently in a small region of the northern epicenter area. The simulation well reproduces the three GIM TEC anomalies, which indicate that the dynamoelectric field of the ionospheric plasma fountain might have been perturbed by seismoelectric signals generated around the epicenter during the earthquake preparation period.
Estimating Welfare in Insurance Markets Using Variation in Prices

We provide a graphical illustration of how standard consumer and producer theory can be used to quantify the welfare loss associated with inefficient pricing in insurance markets with selection. We then show how this welfare loss can be estimated empirically using identifying variation in the price of insurance. Such variation, together with quantity data, allows us to estimate the demand for insurance. The same variation, together with cost data, allows us to estimate how insurer's costs vary as market participants endogenously respond to price. The slope of this estimated cost curve provides a direct test for both the existence and nature of selection, and the combination of demand and cost curves can be used to estimate welfare. We illustrate our approach by applying it to data on employer-provided health insurance from one specific company. We detect adverse selection but estimate that the quantitative welfare implications associated with inefficient pricing in our particular application are small, in both absolute and relative terms.
The tiptop/teashirt genes regulate cell differentiation and renal physiology in Drosophila

The physiological activities of organs are underpinned by an interplay between the distinct cell types they contain. However, little is known about the genetic control of patterned cell differentiation during organ development. We show that the conserved Teashirt transcription factors are decisive for the differentiation of a subset of secretory cells, stellate cells, in Drosophila melanogaster renal tubules. Teashirt controls the expression of the water channel Drip, the chloride conductance channel CLC-a and the Leukokinin receptor (LKR), all of which characterise differentiated stellate cells and are required for primary urine production and responsiveness to diuretic stimuli. Teashirt also controls a dramatic transformation in cell morphology, from cuboidal to the eponymous stellate shape, during metamorphosis. teashirt interacts with cut, which encodes a transcription factor that underlies the differentiation of the primary, principal secretory cells, establishing a reciprocal negative-feedback loop that ensures the full differentiation of both cell types. Loss of teashirt leads to ineffective urine production, failure of homeostasis and premature lethality. Stellate cell-specific expression of the teashirt paralogue tiptop, which is not normally expressed in larval or adult stellate cells, almost completely rescues teashirt loss of expression from stellate cells. We demonstrate conservation in the expression of the family of tiptop/teashirt genes in lower insects and establish conservation in the targets of Teashirt transcription factors in mouse embryonic kidney.
With a little help from the database-developing voice-controlled directory information systems

Automated directory information is amongst the most challenging applications of automatic speech recognition. We present some basic techniques that try to overcome the deficiencies of the speech recognizer by incorporating as much additional knowledge as possible, such as the telephone directory. We derive a maximum a-posteriori decision rule which explicitly uses the telephone directory knowledge as well as the dialogue history to improve speech understanding accuracy. The rule allows us to take a combined decision on the joint probability over multiple dialogue turns, which yields good results in combination with spelling. Our spelling architecture permits continuous spelling of names and uses a context-free grammar to parse common spelling expressions. We review two different real time prototypes, on which we evaluated our decision rule. One (PADIS) operates on a small database and one (PADIS-XL) on a database with 130000 entries.
Building an Underwater Wireless Sensor Network Based on Optical: Communication: Research Challenges and Current Results

In this paper current research for an Underwater Wireless Sensor Network based on optical communication between nodes is described. Radio Frequencies are strongly attenuated in water and optical communication can be considered as a feasible solution to explore as an alternative to acoustic communication in case of short-range distance. At the moment, our work focuses on an optical Physical Layer developed considering the characteristics of IEEE 802.11 Infrared Physical Layer and the compatibility with the current IEEE 802.15. 4 protocol for terrestrial Wireless Sensor Networks. This approach, that allows the interface between the optical Physical Layer and the current terrestrial technology.for Wireless Sensor Networks, is a first step that will be followed by works on upper layers. In this paper, the main research challenges and current results are illustrated.
Knowledge-Based versus experimentally Acquired Distance and Angle Constraints for NMR Structure Refinement

Nuclear Overhauser effects (NOE) distance constraints and torsion angle constraints are major conformational constraints for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) structure refinement. In particular, the number of NOE constraints has been considered as an important determinant for the quality of NMR structures. Of course, the availability of torsion angle constraints is also critical for the formation of correct local conformations. In our recent work, we have shown how a set of knowledge-based short-range distance constraints can also be utilized for NMR structure refinement, as a complementary set of conformational constraints to the NOE and torsion angle constraints. In this paper, we show the results from a series of structure refinement experiments by using different types of conformational constraints--NOE, torsion angle, or knowledge-based constraints--or their combinations, and make a quantitative assessment on how the experimentally acquired constraints contribute to the quality of structural models and whether or not they can be combined with or substituted by the knowledge-based constraints. We have carried out the experiments on a small set of NMR structures. Our preliminary calculations have revealed that the torsion angle constraints contribute substantially to the quality of the structures, but require to be combined with the NOE constraints to be fully effective. The knowledge-based constraints can be functionally as crucial as the torsion angle constraints, although they are statistical constraints after all and are not meant to be able to replace the latter.
Genetics of Atrial Fibrillation: Implications for Future Research Directions and Personalized Medicine

Atrial fibrillation (AF) was first described in humans approximately 100 years ago,1 and familial forms of AF were reported over 70 years ago.2,3 Within the last ten years, three critical developments have advanced our understanding of the genetic basis of AF. First, multiple epidemiological studies have demonstrated that AF is heritable. Second, rare mutations predisposing to AF have been identified in potassium and sodium channels, gap junction proteins and signaling molecules. Finally, population-based, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have implicated novel biological pathways responsible for AF. The molecular biology of established mutations underlying AF has been well summarized.4,5 Here, we focus on the approaches employed to identify AF susceptibility loci and describe the findings from recent GWAS of AF. We also address future directions in the field of AF genetics that may improve our understanding of AF pathophysiology, risk prediction, prevention and patient management.
Accumulations of Heavy Metals in Roadside Soils Close to Zhaling, Eling and Nam Co Lakes in the Tibetan Plateau

Concentrations of four typical heavy metals (Cu; Zn; Cd and Pb) in roadside soils close to three lakes in the Tibetan Plateau were investigated in this study. The hierarchical tree-based regression method was applied to classify concentrations of the heavy metals and analyze their potential influencing factors. It was found that the Tibetan Plateau meadow soils with higher content of sand lead to higher concentrations of Cu; Zn and Pb. The concentrations of Cd and Pb increase with road traffic volume; and for the road segments with higher traffic volume; the Cd and Pb concentrations significantly decrease with the roadside distance. Additionally; the concentrations of Zn and Pb increase as the altitude of sampling site increases. Furthermore; the Hakanson potential ecological risk index method was used to assess the contamination degree of the heavy metals for the study regions. The results show that accumulations of Cu; Zn and Pb in roadside soils remain an unpolluted level at all sites. However; the Cd indices in the regions with higher traffic volume have reached a strong potential ecological risk level; and some spots with peak concentrations have even been severely polluted due to traffic activities.
Wearable interfaces for orientation and wayfinding

People with severe visual impairment need a means of remaining oriented to their environment as they move through it. Three wearable orientation interfaces were developed and evaluated toward this purpose: a stereophonic sonic guide (sonic ? carrot? ), speech output, and shoulder-tapping system. Street crossing was used as a critical test setting in which to evaluate these interfaces. The shoulder-tapping system was found most universally usable. Considering the great variety of co-morbidities within this population, the authors concluded that a combined tapping/speech interface would provide usability and flexibility to the greatest number of people under the widest range of environmental conditions.
Epithelial Cell Inflammasomes in Intestinal Immunity and Inflammation

Pattern recognition receptors (PRR), such as NOD-like receptors (NLRs), sense conserved microbial signatures, and host danger signals leading to the coordination of appropriate immune responses. Upon activation, a subset of NLR initiate the assembly of a multimeric protein complex known as the inflammasome, which processes pro-inflammatory cytokines and mediates a specialized form of cell death known as pyroptosis. The identification of inflammasome-associated genes as inflammatory bowel disease susceptibility genes implicates a role for the inflammasome in intestinal inflammation. Despite the fact that the functional importance of inflammasomes within immune cells has been well established, the contribution of inflammasome expression in non-hematopoietic cells remains comparatively understudied. Given that intestinal epithelial cells (IEC) act as a barrier between the host and the intestinal microbiota, inflammasome expression by these cells is likely important for intestinal immune homeostasis. Accumulating evidence suggests that the inflammasome plays a key role in shaping epithelial responses at the host–lumen interface with many inflammasome components highly expressed by IEC. Recent studies have exposed functional roles of IEC inflammasomes in mucosal immune defense, inflammation, and tumorigenesis. In this review, we present the main features of the predominant inflammasomes and their effector mechanisms contributing to intestinal homeostasis and inflammation. We also discuss existing controversies in the field and open questions related to their implications in disease. A comprehensive understanding of the molecular basis of intestinal inflammasome signaling could hold therapeutic potential for clinical translation.
European DEMO design strategy and consequences for materials

Demonstrating the production of net electricity and operating with a closed fuel-cycle remain unarguably the crucial steps towards the exploitation of fusion power. These are the aims of a demonstration fusion reactor (DEMO) proposed to be built after ITER. This paper briefly describes the DEMO design options that are being considered in Europe for the current conceptual design studies as part of the Roadmap to Fusion Electricity Horizon 2020. These are not intended to represent fixed and exclusive design choices but rather ‘proxies’ of possible plant design options to be used to identify generic design/material issues that need to be resolved in future fusion reactor systems. The materials nuclear design requirements and the effects of radiation damage are briefly analysed with emphasis on a pulsed ‘low extrapolation’ system, which is being used for the initial design integration studies, based as far as possible on mature technologies and reliable regimes of operation (to be extrapolated from the ITER experience), and on the use of materials suitable for the expected level of neutron fluence. The main technical issues arising from the plasma and nuclear loads and the effects of radiation damage particularly on the structural and heat sink materials of the vessel and in-vessel components are critically discussed. The need to establish realistic target performance and a development schedule for near-term electricity production tends to favour more conservative technology choices. The readiness of the technical (physics and technology) assumptions that are being made is expected to be an important factor for the selection of the technical features of the device.