Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Making Hadoop MapReduce Byzantine Fault-Tolerant

MapReduce is a programming model and a runtime environment designed by Google for processing large data sets in its warehouse-scale machines (WSM) with hundreds to thousands of servers [2, 4]. MapReduce is becoming increasingly popular with the appearance of many WSMs to provide cloud computing services, and many applications based on this model. This popularity is also shown by the appearance of open-source implementations of the model, like Hadoop that appeared in the Apache project and is now extensively used by Yahoo and many other companies [7]. At scales of thousands of computers and hundreds of other devices like network switches, routers and power units, component failures become frequent, so fault tolerance is central in the design of the original MapReduce as also in Hadoop. The modes of failure tolerated are reasonably benign, like component crashes, and communication or file corruption. Although the availability of services based on these mechanisms is high, there is anecdotal evidence that more pernicious faults do happen and that they can cause service unavailabilities. Examples are the Google App Engine outage of June 17, 2008 and the Amazon S3 availability event of July 20, 2008. This combination of the increasing popularity of MapReduce applications with the possibility of fault modes not tolerated by current mechanisms suggests the need to use fault tolerance mechanisms that cover a wider range of faults. A natural choice is Byzantine fault-tolerant replication, which is a current hot topic of research but that has already been shown to be efficient [5, 6]. Furthermore, there are critical applications that are being implemented using MapReduce, as financial forecasting or power system dynamics analysis. The results produced by these applications are used to take critical decisions, so it may be important to increase
The effects of ram-pressure stripping on the internal kinematics of simulated spiral galaxies

Aims. We investigate the influence of ram-pressure stripping on th e internal gas kinematics of simulated spiral galaxies. Add itional emphasis is put on the question of how the resulting distorti ons of the gaseous disc are visible in the rotation curve and/or the full 2D velocity field of galaxies at di fferent redshifts. Methods. A Milky-Way type disc galaxy is modelled in combined N-body/hydrodynamic simulations with prescriptions for cooling, star formation, stellar feedback, and galactic winds. This model galaxy moves through a constant density and temperature gas, which has parameters similar to the intra-cluster medium (ICM). We study five di fferent configurations, in which the direction of the ram pressure on the gaseous disc varies from face-on to edge-on. Rotation curves (RCs) and 2D velocity fields of the gas are ext racted from these simulations in a way that follows the procedure applied to observations of distant, small, and faint galaxies as closely as possible. Results. We find that the appearance of distortions of the gaseous disc due to ram-pressure stripping depends on the direction of the acting ram pressure. In the case of face-on ram pressure, the distortions mainly appear in the outer parts of the galax y in a very symmetric way. This distinction between undisturbed inner part and symmetrically disturbed outer regions is visible i n both the rotation curve and the 2D velocity field. In contrast, in the c ase of edge-on ram pressure we find stronger distortions. In p articular, a mismatch between kinematic centre and the centre of the stellar disc becomes observable. In the RC, there are basically t wo features visible. The RC is asymmetric as the kinematic centre does not coincide with the optical centre of the galaxy. Secondly, t he outer parts of the RC are declining. The 2D velocity field also shows signa tures of the interaction in the inner part of the disc. At angl es smaller than 45 ◦ between the ICM wind direction and the disc, the velocity fiel d asymmetry increases significantly compared to larger angl es. Compared to distortions caused by tidal interactions, the effects of ram-pressure stripping on the velocity field are rela tively low in all cases and diffi cult to observe at intermediate redshift in seeing-limited observations.
A new approach to study dispersal: immigration of novel alleles reveals female‐biased dispersal in great reed warblers

We use the assignment technique and a new approach, the ‘novel allele technique’, to detect sex‐biased dispersal in great reed warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus. The data set consisted of immigrants and philopatric birds in a semi‐isolated population in Sweden scored at 21 microsatellite loci. Fourteen cohorts were represented of which the four earliest were used to define a reference population. Female immigrants had lower assignment probability than males (i.e. were less likely to have been sampled in the reference population), and carried the majority of ‘novel alleles’ (i.e. alleles observed in the population for the first time). The difference in number of novel alleles between sexes was caused by a strong over‐representation of females among the few individuals that carried several novel alleles, and there was a tendency for a corresponding female bias among individuals with low assignment probabilities. Immigrant males had similar or lower reproductive success than females. These results lead us to conclude that important interregional gene flow in great reed warblers depends on relatively few dispersing females, and that the novel allele technique may be a useful complement to the assignment technique when evaluating dispersal patterns from temporally structured data.
Association between Urinary Bisphenol A and Waist Circumference in Korean Adults

Bisphenol A (BPA) is widely used in the production of polycarbonate plastics, epoxy resins, and food and beverage containers. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between urinary concentrations of BPA and waist circumference in Korean adults. A total of 1,030 Korean adults (mean age, 44.3 ± 14.6 years) were enrolled in the study on the integrated exposure to hazardous materials for safety control, conducted by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety from 2010 to 2012. Abdominal obesity was defined as having a waist circumference of at least 90 cm and 85 cm for men and women, respectively. The participants were divided into 4 groups according to the urinary BPA concentration quartile. Waist circumference was significantly higher among subjects with a urinary BPA concentration in the highest quartile relative to those in the lowest quartile ( p = 0.0071). Linear regression analysis revealed a significant positive association between urinary BPA concentrations and body mass index, body fat, after adjusting for potential confounders. Moreover, subjects with urinary BPA concentrations in the fourth quartile were more likely to be obese compared to those with urinary BPA concentrations in the first quartile (odds ratio, 1.938; 95% CI: 1.314~2.857; p for trend = 0.0106). These findings provide evidence for a positive association between urinary BPA concentration and waist circumference in Korean adults.
An International Perspective on the New Zealand Productivity Paradox

New Zealand lags behind advanced OECD countries in productivity and per capita income levels, in spite of what can be characterised as growth-friendly structural policy settings. Using an augmentedSolow growth framework, this paper explores the “productivity paradox”, and identifies the main determinants of New Zealand’s economic under-performance. We find a sizeable contribution from New Zealand’s gap in knowledge-based capital (also referred to as intangible assets) and from its disadvantage in economic geography captured by an indicator of access to markets and suppliers. For instance, New Zealand’s low R&D intensity vis-a-vis advanced OECD countries can explain up to onethird of the productivity gap. The room for catch-up also extends to other types of intangible assets such as information and communication technology (ICT) and managerial practices. Furthermore, unfavourable access to large markets and suppliers of intermediate goods limits New Zealand’s trade intensity, especially its integration with global value chains where intensive transfer of advanced technologies often occurs. Overall, the empirical estimates provided in the paper suggest that remote access to markets and suppliers and low investment in innovation (as measured by R&D intensity) could together account for between 17 to 22 percentage points of the 27 percent productivity gap visa-vis the average of 20 OECD countries. iv An International Perspective on the New Zealand Productivity Paradox
Mutation operators for object-oriented systems: A survey

Mutation testing is a technique in which all possible faulty versions of a program are generated for mutation analysis and to assess the test suit adequacy. In literature, most research on mutation testing has been focused on traditional programming paradigm. Some of the traditional mutation-operators are incorporated in mutation testing of object oriented systems. Recently class level mutation operators are also defined, which is the main focus of this article with particular consideration of the OO programming (OOP) language JAVA. A number of automated tools have been developed to generate the defective versions of program and to execute them against test suit. Classification, evaluation of the mutation operators against some proposed parameters and identification of some research areas is a result of this survey.
Dynamics of DNA Squeezed Inside a Nanochannel via a Sliding Gasket

We use Brownian dynamics (BD) simulation of a coarse-grained (CG) bead-spring model of DNA to study the nonequilibrim dynamics of a single DNA molecule confined inside a rectangular nanochannel being squeezed with a sliding gasket piston or “nanodozer”. From our simulations we extract the nonequilibrim density profile c(x,t) of the squeezed molecule along the channel axis (x-coordinate) and then analyze the non-equilibrium profile using a recently introduced phenomenological Nonlinear Partial Differential Equation (NPDE) model. Since the NPDE approach also fits the experimental results well and is numerically efficient to implement, the combined BD + NPDE methods can be a powerful approach to analyze details of the confined molecular dynamics. In particular, the overall excellent agreement between the two complementary sets of data provides a strategy for carrying out large scale simulation on semi-flexible biopolymers in confinement at biologically relevant length scales.
Application-Level Speculative Processor Power Management

In this paper we perform application-level energy minimization through the control of the CPU power states during the program execution. To attain this goal we model the program and the underlying architecture with Markov Decision Process (MDP) models. The MDP model augments the program CFG with probabilities of how likely is to take the conditional branches and costs expressing how long and how much energy it takes to execute the various regions of code. We learn the models through program profiling, obtain offline an optimal solution, apply the solution to the existing program and then run the program to validate that the theoretical results are met. Using this method we are able to minimize the average total energy of the program, while keeping the average execution time below a given threshold. In certain cases we are also able to obtain better program Energy Delay Product (EDP) when following the standard optimal MDP policy than with other standard assignments of CPU power states. For example, the program EDP of the optimal solution can be 30% less than the EDP for the maximum performance power state. We also develop some new algorithms to tackle the problem of non-negligible CPU transition latencies with MDP optimization. This is but an instance of quantitative analysis and optimization. We can apply this method as well for the analysis and control of the Quality of Results (QoR) or the memory used by the software.
Hydrogen Sulphide Production in Healthy and Ulcerated Gastric Mucosa of Rats

Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) is produced endogenously via two enzymes dependent on pyridoxal phosphate (PLP): cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS, EC 4.2.1.22), cystathionase γ-liase (CTH, EC 4.4.1.1), and a third, 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (MPST, EC 2.8.1.2). H2S strengthens the defence mechanisms of the gastric mucosal barrier, and plays an important role in gastroprotection, including the increased resistance to damage caused by various irritants and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The study was conducted to determine the role of H2S in ulcerated gastric mucosa of rats caused by immobilization in cold water (WRS). The activity and expression of γ-cystathionase, cystathionine β-synthase, 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase, and rhodanese was compared with healthy mucosa, together with H2S generation, and cysteine, glutathione, and cystathionine levels. The results showed that the defence mechanism against stress is associated with stimulation of the production of H2S in the tissue and confirmed the observed advantageous effect of H2S on healing of gastric ulcers. In case of animals pretreated with exogenous sources of H2S and NaHS, and some changes observed in the ulcerated gastric mucosa tend to return to values found in the healthy tissue, a finding that is in accordance with the previously determined gastroprotective properties of H2S. The results presented in this paper point to the possible role of rhodanese in H2S production in the gastric mucosa of rats, together with the earlier mentioned three enzymes, which are all active in this tissue.
The Effect of Instructional Order on the L 2 Acquisition of the Korean Imperfective Aspect

It has been widely observed that in the L2 acquisition of aspect, progressive/imperfective marking is acquired earlier with activity verbs than with achievement verbs (the Aspect Hypothesis; Andersen & Shirai, 1994). This pattern has been seen repeatedly in Japanese -te i(e.g., Shirai & Kurono, 1998), and in -ko issand -a issin L2 Korean (e.g., Lee & Kim, 2007). However, Ishida (2004) found her L2 Japanese learners used -te imore accurately as a resultative marker than as a progressive marker, contr -te ilong before the progressive -te iwas introduced, which suggests that instructional variables have a strong effect on acquisition. This study tests whether or not the instructional order influences the acquisition of the Korean imperfective aspect. In L2 Korean acquisition, Lee and Kim (2007) and Ryu et al.(2008), found that the progressive -ko isswas acquired earlier than the resultative -ko iss-/-a iss-. We examined the pedagogical conditions of Japanese learners in Ryu et al. (2008) and those of English learners reported in Lee and Kim (2007) by analyzing the textbooks used and found that both groups of learners were introduced to the progressive -ko issfirst (first-year Korean), with the resultative -a issbeing introduced later (second-year Korean). Since this instructional order was used in both situations, it is not improbable that the progressive was acquired earlier than the resultative simply because the progressive was introduced earlier than the resultative. Thus, further study on the relationship between acquisition order and instruction order was required.
Broken Cloud Field Longwave-Scattering Effects

Abstract Throughout most of the shortwave spectrum, atmospheric gases do not absorb the abundant amount of incoming solar radiation. The shortwave-scattering albedo of clouds is very large. The combination of large amounts of incoming solar radiation, low gaseous absorptivity, and large cloud-scattering albedo enables clouds at one level of the atmosphere to affect the shortwave radiative transfer at all other atmospheric levels. Absorption by atmospheric gases is much stronger in the longwave. This localizes the effects of clouds in the longwave. Since longwave absorption is weakest in the window region (8–12 μm), cloud effects there will have the greatest chance of propagating to other levels of the atmosphere. In partially overcast conditions, individual cloud geometry and optical properties are important factors. Longwave calculations of most GCMs ignore individual cloud geometry. For liquid water clouds, the optical properties of clouds are also ignored. Previous work in the window region by Takara a.
The debate on labor standards and international trade: Lessons from Cambodia and Bangladesh

This study examines the status and enforcement of labor standards in two Asian economies (Cambodia and Bangladesh) that are experiencing strong pressures to cut labor costs and improve the price competitiveness of their textile and garment exports. Analysis of survey, interview, and compliance data indicate differing trajectories in compliance with basic labor standards. While problems persist in Bangladesh, compliance has improved in Cambodia following a trade agreement with the United States that linked positive trade incentives with labor standards enforcement. These contrasting experiences suggest that trade-linked schemes can achieve improvements in labor standards without hindering export growth or job growth.
The more people I meet, the more I like my dog: A study of pet-oriented social networks on the Web

Online social networks are one of the largest uses of the Web, and growing rapidly. They are also being used actively by pet owners. Just as pet owners are different, we might expect their needs within a social network to differ. In this work, we present an analysis of dog– and cat–owners behavior in pet–oriented social networks. Our results show that dog and cat owners use these sites quite differently. While dog owners focus on their relationship with their pets and looking for advice, cat owners tend to use the site more to build community. Both results show that these pet social networks are already being used to help support the human–animal bond online, and that different types of pet owners would benefit from different types of support within the systems. We discuss the implications of these results for designing networks to support different types of users and what this means for the understanding of passion–based social networks.
Online Appendix to "Firm-Specific Capital, Nominal Rigidities and the Business Cycle"

1 Firms 31.1 General Setup 31.2 Capital Utilization Decision (First-failed-Try) . 61.2. 1 Amuchsimplersetup. 71.3 CapitalFirstOrderCondition 91.4 InvestmentFirstOrderCondition 111.5 Capital Utilization First Order Condition (Second Try) . 111.6 ScalingandLinearizingtheFirm’sFirstOrderConditions 121.6. 1 SomeUsefulAggregationResults 121.6. 2 TheUtilizationRateofCapital 131.6. 3 TheInvestmentFirstOrderCondition 131.6. 4 TheCapitalFirstOrderCondition 151.6. 5 TheShadowRentalRateofCapital 161.6. 6 TheCapitalEvolutionEquation 171.7 Marginal Cost 182 Households 202.1 MoneyDemand 202.2 First Order Condition for C
Moderating Effects of Gender in the Acceptance of Mobile SNS - Based on UTAUT Model

With the proliferation of Mobile SNS, understanding users' acceptance behavior has become an important issue for researchers and service providers. Relevant studies have focused on the relationship of different influence factors of acceptance, little research have been conducted to investigate the moderating effects of gender. This paper incorporates perceived enjoyment with UTAUT theory as research base model and investigates the difference between male and female users in the acceptance of Mobile SNS. Data collected from 359 respondents in China is analyzed. The analysis result shows that gender moderates the effects of Social Influence on Behavioral Intention and Facilitating Conditions on Use Behavior.
Determinants of chronic fatigue in disease-free breast cancer patients: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND Quality of life after cancer treatment becomes more important as the number of long-term survivors increases. This study aimed to investigate complaints of fatigue after treatment for breast cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS The study patients were 150 women who had finished curative treatment for breast cancer by a mean of 29 months before commencement of this study. Measurements included computerised questionnaires and a daily Self-Observation List. RESULTS Thirty-eight per cent of the sample were severely fatigued, compared with 11% in a matched sample of women without a history of cancer. No association was found between fatigue and former treatment. The 'severely fatigued disease-free breast cancer patient' scored more 'problematic' on psychological well-being, functional impairment, sleep disturbance, physical activity, social support, neuropsychological and social functioning compared with the 'non-severely fatigued disease-free breast cancer patient'. Furthermore, the severely fatigued patients had a lower sense of control with respect to their fatigue complaints and stronger breast cancer- and psychologically-related attributions with regard to the causes of fatigue compared with the non-severely fatigued patients. Regression analyses indicated that sleep disturbance, physical activity and causal attributions contributed significantly to the subjective experience of fatigue. CONCLUSIONS Severe fatigue is a problem for almost 40% of the sample of breast cancer survivors. Severe fatigue is related to physical, psychological, social, cognitive and behavioural factors.
Comparison between in situ and MODIS-derived spectral reflectances of snow and sea ice in the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica

The spectral albedo and directional reflectance of snow and sea ice were measured on sea ice of various types, including nilas, grey ice, pancake ice, multi-year pack ice, and land-fast ice in the Ross, Amundsen and Bellingshausen seas during a summer cruise in February through March 2000. Measurements were made using a spectroradiometer that has 512 channels in the visible and near-infrared (VNIR) region in which 16 of the 36 bands of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) are covered. Directional reflectance is also retrieved from the MODIS radiometrically calibrated data (Level 1B) concurrently acquired from the first National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Observing System (EOS) satellite, Terra. The locations of the ground ice stations are identified accurately on the MODIS images, and the spectral albedo and directional reflectance values at the 16 VNIR MODIS bands are extracted for those pixel locations. MODIS-derived reflectance is then corrected for the intervening atmosphere whose parameters are retrieved from the MODIS atmospheric profiles product (MOD07_L2) for the same granule. The corresponding spectral albedo and directional reflectance with the same viewing geometry as MODIS are derived from our ground-based spectroradiometer measurements. Because the footprint of the ground spectroradiometer is much smaller than the pixel sizes of MODIS images, the averaged spectral reflectance and albedo in the vicinity of each ice station are simulated for the corresponding MODIS pixel from the ground spectral measurements by weighting over different surface types (various ice types and open water). An accurate determination of ice concentration is important in deriving ground reflectance of a simulated pixel from in situ measurements. The best agreement between the in situ and MODIS measurements was found when the ground had 10/10 ice concentration (discrepancy range 0.2–11.69%, average 4.8%) or was oneice-type dominant (discrepancy range 0.8–16.9%, average 6.2%). The more homogeneous the ground surface and the less variable the ground topography, the more comparable between the in situ and satellite-derived reflectance is expected.