Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
LLB: A fast and effective scheduling algorithm for distributed-memory systems

This paper presents a new algorithm called List-based Load Balancing (LLB) for compile-time task scheduling on distributed-memory machines. LLB is intended as a cluster-mapping and task-ordering step in the multi-step class of scheduling algorithms. Unlike current multistep approaches, LLB integrates cluster-mapping and task-ordering in a single step. The benefits of this integration are twofold. First, it allows dynamic load balancing in time, because only the ready tasks are considered in the mapping process. Second, communication is also considered, as opposed to algorithms like WCM and GLB. The algorithm has a low time complexity of O(E+V(log V+log P)), where E is the number of dependences, V is the number of tasks and P is the number of processors. Experimental results show that LLB outperforms known cluster-mapping algorithms of comparable complexity, improving the schedule lengths up to 42%. Furthermore, compared with LCA, a much higher-complexity algorithm, LLB obtains comparable results for fine-grain graphs and yields improvements up to 16% for coarse-grain graphs.
Assessing User Competence: Conceptualization and Measurement

Organizations today face great pressure to maximize the bene its from their investments in information technology (IT). They are challenged not just to use IT, but to use it as effectively as possible. Understanding how to assess the competence of users is critical in maximizing the effectiveness of IT use. Yet theuser competence construct is largely absent from prominent technology acceptance and it models, poorly conceptualized, and inconsistently measured. We begin by presenting a conceptual model of the assessment of user competence to organize and clarify the diverse literature regarding what user competence means and the problems of assessment. As an illustrative study, we then report the findings from an experiment involving 66 participants. The experiment was conducted to compare empirically two methods (paper and pencil tests versus self-report questionnaire), across two different types of software, or domains of knowledge (word processing versus spreadsheet packages), and two different conceptualizations of competence (software knowledge versus self-efficacy). The analysis shows statistical significance in all three main effects. How user competence is measured, what is measured, what measurement context is employed:all influence the measurement outcome. Furthermore, significant interaction effects indicate that different combinations of measurement methods, conceptualization, and knowledge domains produce different results. The concept of frame of reference, and its anchoring effect on subjects' responses, explains a number of these findings. The study demonstrates the need for clarity in both defining what type of competence is being assessed and in drawing conclusions regarding competence, based upon the types of measures used. Since the results suggest that definition and measurement of the user competence construct can change the ability score being captured, the existing information system (IS) models of usage must contain the concept of an ability rating. We conclude by discussing how user competence can be incorporated into the Task-Technology Fit model, as well as additional theoretical and practical implications of our research.
Performance of Encounternet Tags: Field Tests of Miniaturized Proximity Loggers for Use on Small Birds

Proximity logging is a new tool for understanding social behavior as it allows for accurate quantification of social networks. We report results from field calibration and deployment tests of miniaturized proximity tags (Encounternet), digital transceivers that log encounters between tagged individuals. We examined radio signal behavior in relation to tag attachment (tag, tag on bird, tag on saline-filled balloon) to understand how radio signal strength is affected by the tag mounting technique used for calibration tests. We investigated inter-tag and inter-receiver station variability, and in each calibration test we accounted for the effects of antennae orientation. Additionally, we used data from a live deployment on breeding barn swallows (Hirundo rustica erythrogaster) to analyze the quality of the logs, including reciprocal agreement in dyadic logs. We evaluated the impact (in terms of mass changes) of tag attachment on the birds. We were able to statistically distinguish between RSSI values associated with different close-proximity (<5m) tag-tag distances regardless of antennae orientation. Inter-tag variability was low, but we did find significant inter-receiver station variability. Reciprocal agreement of dyadic logs was high and social networks were constructed from proximity tag logs based on two different RSSI thresholds. There was no evidence of significant mass loss in the time birds were wearing tags. We conclude that proximity loggers are accurate and effective for quantifying social behavior. However, because RSSI and distance cannot be perfectly resolved, data from proximity loggers are most appropriate for comparing networks based on specific RSSI thresholds. The Encounternet system is flexible and customizable, and tags are now light enough for use on small animals (<50g).
Antiparasitic and Antimicrobial Isoflavanquinones from Abrus schimperi

The EtOH extract of Abrus schimperi (Fabaceae), collected in Kenya, demonstrated significant activity against Leishmania donovani promastigotes with IC50 value of 3.6 μg/mL. Bioassay-guided fractionation of CHCl3 fraction using Centrifugal Preparative TLC afforded two antiparasitic isoflavanquinones, namely amorphaquinone (1) and pendulone (2). They displayed IC50 values of 0.63 μg/mL and 0.43 μg/mL, respectively, against L. donovani promastigotes. Both the compounds were also evaluated against L. donovani axenic amastigotes and amastigotes in THP1 macrophage cultures. In addition, compounds 1 and 2 showed antiplasmodial activity against Plasmodium falciparum D6 and W2 strains, while 2 displayed antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (each IC50 1.44 μg/mL). The 1H and 13C data of 1, not fully assigned previously, were unambiguously assigned using 1D and 2D NMR HMBC and HMQC experiments. In addition, the absolute stereochemistry of the isolated compounds 1 and 2 was revised as C-(3S) based on Circular Dichroism experiments. This appears to be the first report of amorphaquinone (1) and pendulone (2) from the genus Abrus.
Representing frequencies in speech

Cepstral features derived from power spectrum are widely used for automatic speech recognition. Very little work, if any, has been done in speech research to explore phasebased representations. In this paper, an attempt is made to investigate the use of phase function in the analytic signal of critical-band filtered speech for deriving a representation of frequencies present in the speech signal. Results are presented which show the validity of this approach.
Enforced Expression of Spi-B Reverses T Lineage Commitment and Blocks β-Selection 1

The molecular changes that restrict multipotent murine thymocytes to the T cell lineage and render them responsive to Ag receptor signals remain poorly understood. In this study, we report our analysis of the role of the Ets transcription factor, Spi-B, in this process. Spi-B expression is acutely induced coincident with T cell lineage commitment at the CD4−CD8−CD44−CD25+ (DN3) stage of thymocyte development and is then down-regulated as thymocytes respond to pre-TCR signals and develop beyond the β-selection checkpoint to the CD4−CD8−CD44−CD25− (DN4) stage. We found that dysregulation of Spi-B expression in DN3 thymocytes resulted in a dose-dependent perturbation of thymocyte development. Indeed, DN3 thymocytes expressing approximately five times the endogenous level of Spi-B were arrested at the β-selection checkpoint, due to impaired induction of Egr proteins, which are important molecular effectors of the β-selection checkpoint. T lineage-committed DN3 thymocytes expressing even higher levels of Spi-B were diverted to the dendritic cell lineage. Thus, we demonstrate that the prescribed modulation of Spi-B expression is important for T lineage commitment and differentiation beyond the β-selection checkpoint; and we provide insight into the mechanism underlying perturbation of development when that expression pattern is disrupted.
On the Complementarity of the Consensus-Based Disorder Prediction

Intrinsic disorder in proteins plays important roles in transcriptional regulation, translation, and cellular signal transduction. The experimental annotation of the disorder lags behind the rapidly accumulating number of known protein chains, which motivates the development of computational predictors of disorder. Some of these methods address predictions of certain types/flavors of the disorder and recent years show that consensus-based predictors provide a viable way to improve predictive performance. However, the selection of the base predictors in a given consensus is usually performed in an ad-hock manner, based on their availability and with a premise that more is better. We perform first-of-its-kind investigation that analyzes complementarity among a dozen recent predictors to identify characteristics of (future) predictors that would lead to further consensus-based improvements in the predictive quality. The complementarity of a given set of three base predictors is expressed by the differences in their predictions when compared with each other and with their majority vote consensus. We propose a regression-based model that quantifies/predicts quality of the majority-vote consensus of a given triplet of predictors based on their individual predictive performance and their complementarity measured at the residue and the disorder segment levels. Our model shows that improved performance is associated with higher (lower) similarity between the three base predictors at the residue (segment) level and to their consensus prediction at the segment (residue) level. We also show that better consensuses utilize higher quality base methods. We use our model to predict the best-performing consensus on an independent test dataset and our empirical evaluation shows that this consensus outperforms individual methods and other consensus-based predictors based on the area under the ROC curve measure. Our study provides insights that could lead to the development of a new generation of the consensus-based disorder predictors.
Distributed Representation of Subgraphs

Network embeddings have become very popular in learning effective feature representations of networks. Motivated by the recent successes of embeddings in natural language processing, researchers have tried to find network embeddings in order to exploit machine learning algorithms for mining tasks like node classification and edge prediction. However, most of the work focuses on finding distributed representations of nodes, which are inherently ill-suited to tasks such as community detection which are intuitively dependent on subgraphs. Here, we propose sub2vec, an unsupervised scalable algorithm to learn feature representations of arbitrary subgraphs. We provide means to characterize similarties between subgraphs and provide theoretical analysis of sub2vec and demonstrate that it preserves the so-called local proximity. We also highlight the usability of sub2vec by leveraging it for network mining tasks, like community detection. We show that sub2vec gets significant gains over state-of-the-art methods and node-embedding methods. In particular, sub2vec offers an approach to generate a richer vocabulary of features of subgraphs to support representation and reasoning.
SAGE Guideline Modeling: Motivation and Methodology

The SAGE ( S tandards-Based Sharable A ctive G uideline E nvironment) project is a collaboration among research groups at six institutions in the US. The ultimate goal of the project is to create an infrastructure that will allow execution of standards-based clinical practice guidelines across heterogeneous clinical information systems. This paper describes the design goals of the SAGE guideline model in the context of the technological infrastructure and guideline modeling methodology that the project is developing.
Ultra-wideband antenna in coplanar technology

Ultra-wideband (UWB) antennas are one of the most important elements for UWB systems. With the release of the 3.1 10.6 GHz band, applications for short-range and high-bandwidth handheld devices are primary research areas in UWB systems. Therefore, the realization of UWB antennas in printed-circuit technologies within relatively small substrate areas is of primary importance. This thesis focuses on the design of a new UWB antenna based on coplanar technology. Compared with microstrip circuitry, coplanar technology achieves easier fabrication and wider antenna bandwidth. Two professional full-wave field solver software packages, HFSS and MEFiSTo-3D, are used as analysis tools to obtain antenna performances. A new printed-circuit antenna in coplanar technology for UWB systems is introduced. The frequency of operation is 3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz with a VSWR < 2. Nearly omni-directional characteristics in vertical polarization are demonstrated at selected frequencies. Relatively good group delay characteristics are obtained and compare well with other published UWB antenna designs.
Surface Structures and Contact Angles of Electrospun Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Nanofiber Membranes

Abstract Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) nanofiber membranes with different surface structures were obtained by controlling operating parameters in the electrospinning process. The diameters and assembling morphology of the PVDF nanofibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption based on the BET (Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller) principle was applied to measure the specific surface area of the nanofiber membranes, the contact angles on the nanomembrane were evaluated by static micro-drop observation, and a modified Yang equation was applied to analyze the contact angles. The results revealed that the BET specific surface area was the key factor affecting the contact angles.
Photosynthetic Characteristics of Portulaca grandiflora, a Succulent C(4) Dicot : CELLULAR COMPARTMENTATION OF ENZYMES AND ACID METABOLISM.

The succulent, cylindrical leaves of the C(4) dicot Portulaca grandiflora possess three distinct green cell types: bundle sheath cells (BSC) in radial arrangement around the vascular bundles; mesophyll cells (MC) in an outer layer adjacent to the BSC; and water storage cells (WSC) in the leaf center. Unlike typical Kranz leaf anatomy, the MC do not surround the bundle sheath tissue but occur only in the area between the bundle sheath and the epidermis. Intercellular localization of photosynthetic enzymes was characterized using protoplasts isolated enzymatically from all three green cell types.Like other C(4) plants, P. grandiflora has ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase and the decarboxylating enzyme, NADP(+)-malic enzyme, in the BSC. Unlike other C(4) plants, however, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, pyruvate, Pi dikinase, and NADP(+)-malate dehydrogenase of the C(4) pathway were present in all three green cell types, indicating that all are capable of fixing CO(2) via phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and regenerating phosphoenolpyruvate. Other enzymes were about equally distributed between MC and BSC similar to other C(4) plants. The enzyme profile of the WSC was similar to that of the MC but with reduced activity in most enzymes, except mitochondrion-associated enzymes.Intracellular localization of enzymes was studied in organelles partitioned by differential centrifugation using mechanically ruptured mesophyll and bundle sheath protoplasts. Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase was a cytosolic enzyme in both cells; whereas, ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase and NADP(+)-malic enzyme were exclusively compartmentalized in the bundle sheath chloroplasts. NADP(+)-malate dehydrogenase, pyruvate, Pi dikinase, aspartate aminotransferase, 3-phosphoglycerate kinase, and NADP(+)-triose-P dehydrogenase were predominantly localized in the chloroplasts while alanine aminotransferase and NAD(+)-malate dehydrogenase were mainly present in the cytosol of both cell types. Based on enzyme localization, a scheme of C(4) photosynthesis in P. grandiflora is proposed.Well-watered plants of P. grandiflora exhibit a diurnal fluctuation of total titratable acidity, with an amplitude of 61 and 54 microequivalent per gram fresh weight for the leaves and stems, respectively. These changes were in parallel with changes in malic acid concentration in these tissues. Under severe drought conditions, diurnal changes in both titratable acidity and malic acid concentration in both leaves and stems were much reduced. However, another C(4) dicot Amaranthus graecizans (nonsucculent) did not show any diurnal acid fluctuation under the same conditions. These results confirm the suggestion made by Koch and Kennedy (Plant Physiol. 65: 193-197, 1980) that succulent C(4) dicots can exhibit an acid metabolism similar to Crassulacean acid metabolism plants in certain environments.
Midgut microbiota and host immunocompetence underlie Bacillus thuringiensis killing mechanism

Significance Bacillus thuringiensis and its toxins are widely used for insect control. Notwithstanding the remarkable importance of this insect pathogen, its killing mechanism has yet to be fully elucidated. Here we show that the microbiota resident in the host midgut triggers a lethal septicemia. The infection process is enhanced by reducing the host immune response and its control on replication of midgut bacteria invading the body cavity through toxin-induced epithelial lesions. The experimental approach used, leaving the midgut microbiota unaltered, allows identification of the bacterial species switching from resident symbionts to pathogens and sets the stage for developing new insect biocontrol technologies based on host immunosuppression as a strategy to enhance the impact of natural antagonists. Bacillus thuringiensis is a widely used bacterial entomopathogen producing insecticidal toxins, some of which are expressed in insect-resistant transgenic crops. Surprisingly, the killing mechanism of B. thuringiensis remains controversial. In particular, the importance of the septicemia induced by the host midgut microbiota is still debated as a result of the lack of experimental evidence obtained without drastic manipulation of the midgut and its content. Here this key issue is addressed by RNAi-mediated silencing of an immune gene in a lepidopteran host Spodoptera littoralis, leaving the midgut microbiota unaltered. The resulting cellular immunosuppression was characterized by a reduced nodulation response, which was associated with a significant enhancement of host larvae mortality triggered by B. thuringiensis and a Cry toxin. This was determined by an uncontrolled proliferation of midgut bacteria, after entering the body cavity through toxin-induced epithelial lesions. Consequently, the hemolymphatic microbiota dramatically changed upon treatment with Cry1Ca toxin, showing a remarkable predominance of Serratia and Clostridium species, which switched from asymptomatic gut symbionts to hemocoelic pathogens. These experimental results demonstrate the important contribution of host enteric flora in B. thuringiensis-killing activity and provide a sound foundation for developing new insect control strategies aimed at enhancing the impact of biocontrol agents by reducing the immunocompetence of the host.
Human Neuroscience

modulated by attention (Woods et al., 2010c). In the current study we utilized the average ACF coordinates defined in this previous study to characterize the roles of human ACFs in processing more complex stimuli: consonant–vowel–consonant (CVC) syllables and spectrally matched amplitude-modulated noise bursts (AMNBs). Human studies have long implicated the superior temporal gyrus (STG) and superior temporal sulcus (STS) in the phonological processing of speech sounds. Figure 1A shows the cortical surface locations of peak fMRI activations produced by spoken syllables and acoustically balanced control stimuli in 23 experiments that were meta-analyzed by Turkeltaub and Coslett (2010). The results have been superimposed on the population-averaged ACF boundaries from Woods et al. (2010c). Activations specifically associated with phonological processing are clustered along the STG in the mid-lateral belt and caudal parabelt (CPB) fields in both hemispheres. Figure 1B shows a similar map from Leaver and Rauschecker's (2010) recent study identifying regions that responded more strongly to consonant–vowel (CV) syllables than to bird song elements, sounds of musical instruments, or animal sounds. Speech-critical regions again cluster in mid-lateral belt fields at locations similar to those reported by Turkeltaub and Coslett (2010). provide estimates of the location of speech-critical cortex based on volumetric analyses of fMRI data, activations in auditory cortex can be localized more precisely when cortical-surface analysis techniques are used (Kang et al., 2004; Viceic et al., 2009). However, while a number of investigators have displayed and quantified activations on the cortical surface following volumetric analysis (Skipper et al., 2007; Zevin et al., 2010) only one study to date has used a thoroughgoing cortical surface analysis
The race for interferon‐free HCV therapies: a snapshot by the spring of 2012

After a decade of having been the standard of care (SOC) for the treatment of chronic HCV infection, PEGylated IFN (combined with ribavirin) is now at the verge of being complemented and then replaced by a combination of new DAAs and even some compounds interacting with host cell factors. Principal targets for the direct‐acting antivirals (DAAs) are the protease NS3/4A, the protein NS5A, and the RNA‐dependent RNA polymerase NS5B, which offers at least two target sites, the catalytic domain for nucleos(t)ides and several non‐catalytic (allosteric) domains for the non‐nucleoside type of NS5B inhibitors. Two PIs have already been approved, but many more NS3/4A, NS5A, and NS5B (up to 40! ) inhibitors are in (pre)clinical development. The abundance of candidate anti‐HCV drugs will, on the one hand, speed up their development but, on the other hand, complicate the choice of the most appropriate drug combination(s). Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.