Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Performance implications of dynamic memory allocators on transactional memory systems

Although dynamic memory management accounts for a significant part of the execution time on many modern software systems, its impact on the performance of transactional memory systems has been mostly overlooked. In order to shed some light into this subject, this paper conducts a thorough investigation of the interplay between memory allocators and software transactional memory (STM) systems. We show that allocators can interfere with the way memory addresses are mapped to versioned locks on state-of-the-art software transactional memory implementations. Moreover, we observed that key aspects of allocators such as false sharing avoidance, scalability, and locality have a drastic impact on the final performance. For instance, we have detected performance differences of up to 171% in the STAMP applications when using distinct allocators. Moreover, we show that optimizations at the STM-level (such as caching transactional objects) are not effective when a modern allocator is already in use. All in all, our study highlights the importance of reporting the allocator utilized in the performance evaluation of transactional memory systems.
The effects of natural variation in background radioactivity on humans, animals and other organisms

Natural levels of radioactivity on the Earth vary by more than a thousand‐fold; this spatial heterogeneity may suffice to create heterogeneous effects on physiology, mutation and selection. We review the literature on the relationship between variation in natural levels of radioactivity and evolution. First, we consider the effects of natural levels of radiation on mutations, DNA repair and genetics. A total of 46 studies with 373 effect size estimates revealed a small, but highly significant mean effect that was independent of adjustment for publication bias. Second, we found different mean effect sizes when studies were based on broad categories like physiology, immunology and disease frequency; mean weighted effect sizes were larger for studies of plants than animals, and larger in studies conducted in areas with higher levels of radiation. Third, these negative effects of radiation on mutations, immunology and life history are inconsistent with a general role of hormetic positive effects of radiation on living organisms. Fourth, we reviewed studies of radiation resistance among taxa. These studies suggest that current levels of natural radioactivity may affect mutational input and thereby the genetic constitution and composition of natural populations. Susceptibility to radiation varied among taxa, and several studies provided evidence of differences in susceptibility among populations or strains. Crucially, however, these studies are few and scattered, suggesting that a concerted effort to address this lack of research should be made.
A Performance Evaluation and Examination of Open-Source Erasure Coding Libraries for Storage

Over the past five years, large-scale storage installations have required fault-protection beyond RAID-5, leading to a flurry of research on and development of erasure codes for multiple disk failures. Numerous open-source implementations of various coding techniques are available to the general public. In this paper, we perform a head-to-head comparison of these implementations in encoding and decoding scenarios. Our goals are to compare codes and implementations, to discern whether theory matches practice, and to demonstrate how parameter selection, especially as it concerns memory, has a significant impact on a code's performance. Additional benefits are to give storage system designers an idea of what to expect in terms of coding performance when designing their storage systems, and to identify the places where further erasure coding research can have the most impact.
The relationship between QT intervals and mortality in ambulant patients with chronic heart failure. The united kingdom heart failure evaluation and assessment of risk trial (UK-HEART)

AIMS Mortality in patients with heart failure remains high and is difficult to predict. QT interval parameters on a 12-lead ECG have been shown to predict arrhythmic events in patients with a variety of myocardial diseases. There is some, but not consistent, evidence that QT interval parameters may act as predictors of mortality, in particular sudden death, in patients with heart failure. In an adequately powered prospective study we have studied QT interval parameters in patients with stable chronic heart failure in order to determine whether they are predictive of all-cause mortality or mode of death. METHODS AND RESULTS Five hundred and fifty-four ambulant outpatients with chronic heart failure were recruited. A 12-lead ECG, chest radiograph, echocardiogram, 24 h ambulatory electrocardiogram and serum for biochemical analysis were obtained at baseline. Patients were followed for 471+/-168 days. QT intervals were measured in all leads blinded to patient's characteristics and outcome, were corrected for heart rate, and the maximum QT intervals, and QT dispersion (range of QT intervals) were determined. The same parameters were determined for JT intervals. The primary end-point was all-cause mortality, secondary end-points were sudden cardiac death and death due to progressive heart failure. Multivariate analysis with the Cox's proportional hazards model was used to determine which variables were independently related to outcome. Four hundred and ninety-five patients had analysable ECGs at study entry and of these 71 died during follow-up. The heart rate corrected QT dispersion and maximum QT interval were significant univariate predictors of all-cause mortality (P=0.026 and <0.0001 respectively), and also of sudden death and progressive heart failure death, but were not related to outcome in the multivariate analysis. The independent predictors of all-cause mortality were cardiothoracic ratio (P=0.0003), creatinine (P=0.0009), heart rate (P=0.007), echocardiographically derived left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (P=0.007) and ventricular couplets on 24 h electrocardiographic monitoring (P=0.015). CONCLUSION In an adequately powered prospective study none of the QT or JT parameters were shown to be independent predictors of outcome in patients with mild to moderate congestive heart failure. These variables do not therefore add to the prognostic information which can be gained from simple radiographic, biochemical, echocardiographic and Holter data in this group of patients.
Mechanical Control of Spin States in Spin-1 Molecules and the Underscreened Kondo Effect

Spin Control Through Molecular Stretching Molecules with high symmetry, such as metal complexes with several equivalent ligands, can, in principle, have this symmetry broken by stresses that lengthen bonds in one direction. Parks et al. (p. 1370; see the Perspective by Jarillo-Herrero) placed cobalt complexes in a break-junction contact and then applied a mechanical force to slowly open the contact. Low-temperature measurement of differential conductance revealed a splitting of the Kondo peak at zero-applied voltage into two features, which occurred by breaking the degeneracy of S = 1 triplet states. This assignment of the spin state was confirmed by the evolution of splitting with magnetic field and by comparison to theory for a case where the conduction electrons only partially screen the spin states. Controlled stretching of individual transition-metal complexes enables direct manipulation of the molecule’s spin states. The ability to make electrical contact to single molecules creates opportunities to examine fundamental processes governing electron flow on the smallest possible length scales. We report experiments in which we controllably stretched individual cobalt complexes having spin S = 1, while simultaneously measuring current flow through the molecule. The molecule’s spin states and magnetic anisotropy were manipulated in the absence of a magnetic field by modification of the molecular symmetry. This control enabled quantitative studies of the underscreened Kondo effect, in which conduction electrons only partially compensate the molecular spin. Our findings demonstrate a mechanism of spin control in single-molecule devices and establish that they can serve as model systems for making precision tests of correlated-electron theories.
A preliminary study of three and four levels degenerative cervical spondylosis treated with peek cages and anterior cervical plate.

OBJECTIVE A retrospective study was performed in case with three and four levels degenerative cervical spondylosis that underwent anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) with polyetheretherketone (PEEK) cages and anterior cervical plate to evaluate the efficacy and outcome. MATERIAL AND METHOD Clinical and radiographic results of 16 patients (6 women and 10 men) between January 2006 and June 2009 with follow-up more than 24 months were evaluated Spinal curvature, segmental sagittal angulations, construct height and the radiographic fusion success rate were measured Odom's criteria, visual analog scale (VAS), Nurick and modified JOA (Japanese Orthopedic Association) score were used to assess the clinical results. RESULTS There was significant difference between pre- and post-operative in degree of lordosis, segmental Cobb angle and clinical outcomes (p < 0.01). Clinical outcomes were classified as 'excellent' or 'good' according to Odom's criteria in 14 patients (success rate: 87.5%). Mean follow-up period was 36 months. Flexion and extension lateral radiographs showed 100% fusion rate. The construct height and sagittal alignment were maintained on the final follow-up observations. No cage failure, subsiding or dislodgement was showed on follow-up radiographs. CONCLUSION Interbody fusion with PEEK cages packed with bone substitute and aspirated bone marrow which additions of cervical plate eliminate the complications of graft harvest and is a good option for the treatment of patients with three and four levels degenerative cervical spondylosis.
Antioxidative Effect of Citrus Essential Oil Components on Human Low-density Lipoprotein In Vitro

We studied the antioxidative action to evaluate the effect of citrus essential oil components on human LDL in vitro. Among the authentic volatile compounds tested, γ-terpinene showed the strongest antioxidative effect, and inhibited both the Cu2+-induced and AAPH-induced oxidation of LDL. γ-Terpinene added after 30 min (mid-lag phase) and 60 min (propagation phase) of incubation of LDL with Cu2+ inhibited LDL oxidation.
Bioluminescent model for the quantification of photothermal ablative breast cancer therapy mediated by near-infrared nanoparticles

Multifunctional theranostic nanoparticles hold promise for enabling non-invasive image guided cancer therapy such as photothermal therapy. Human breast tumor models in which response to image guided therapy can quickly and non-invasively be determined are needed to facilitate translation and application of these technologies. We hypothesize that a system utilizing a murine light-reporter mammary tumor cell line and near-infrared nanoparticles (NIR-NP) can be used to quantify response to therapy and determine fate of nanoparticles following photothermal ablation.
Hard and Easy Distributions of SAT Problems

We report results from large-scale experiments in satisfiability testing. As has been observed by others, testing the satisfiability of random formulas often appears surprisingly easy. Here we show that by using the right distribution of instances, and appropriate parameter values, it is possible to generate random formulas that are hard, that is, for which satisfiability testing is quite difficult. Our results provide a benchmark for the evaluation of satisfiability-testing procedures.
Cimplifier: automatically debloating containers

Application containers, such as those provided by Docker, have recently gained popularity as a solution for agile and seamless software deployment. These light-weight virtualization environments run applications that are packed together with their resources and configuration information, and thus can be deployed across various software platforms. Unfortunately, the ease with which containers can be created is oftentimes a double-edged sword, encouraging the packaging of logically distinct applications, and the inclusion of significant amount of unnecessary components, within a single container. These practices needlessly increase the container size-sometimes by orders of magnitude. They also decrease the overall security, as each included component-necessary or not-may bring in security issues of its own, and there is no isolation between multiple applications packaged within the same container image. We propose algorithms and a tool called Cimplifier, which address these concerns: given a container and simple user-defined constraints, our tool partitions it into simpler containers, which (i) are isolated from each other, only communicating as necessary, and (ii) only include enough resources to perform their functionality. Our evaluation on real-world containers demonstrates that Cimplifier preserves the original functionality, leads to reduction in image size of up to 95%, and processes even large containers in under thirty seconds.
Containing the Secret of Child Sexual Abuse

This study reports a grounded theory study of the process of how children tell of their experiences of child sexual abuse from the perspectives of young people and their parents. Individual interviews were conducted with 22 young people aged 8 to 18, and 14 parents. A theoretical model was developed that conceptualises the process of disclosure as one of containing the secret of child sexual abuse. Three key dynamics were identified: the active withholding of the secret on the part of the child, the experience of a ‘pressure cooker effect’ reflecting a conflict between the wish to tell and the wish to keep the secret, and the confiding itself which often occurs in the context of an intimacy being shared. Children’s experiences of disclosure were multidetermined and suggest the need for multifaceted and multisystemic approaches to prevention and intervention. The need for the secret to be contained, individually and interpersonally in appropriate safeguarding and therapeutic contexts needs to be respected in helping children tell.
Loop Patterns in C Programs

In this work, we conduct a systematic study of loops in C programs. We describe static analyses capable of efficiently identifying definite iteration in C code. Our experiments show that over one third of loops in our benchmarks take this form. To cover further loops, we systematically weaken our definition of definite iteration and derive a family of loop classes that are heuristics for definite iteration. We then measure the occurrence of these classes on real-world C code and investigate which statements are used to express them. Finally, we empirically show that our classification is meaningful -- (a) it describes the majority of loops in our benchmarks, (b) the classes are good heuristics for termination, and (c) they can be used as software metrics to characterize benchmarks for software verification.
Monetary Policy, Global Liquidity and Commodity Price Dynamics

This paper examines the interactions between money, interest rates, goods and commodity prices at a global level. For this purpose, we aggregate data for major OECD countries and follow the Johansen/Juselius cointegrated VAR approach. Our empirical model supports the view that, when controlling for interest rate changes and thus different monetary policy stances, money (defined as a global liquidity aggregate) is still a key factor to determine the long-run homogeneity of commodity prices and goods prices movements. The cointegrated VAR model fits with the data for the analysed period from the 1970s until 2008 very well. Our empirical results appear to be overall robust since they pass inter alia a series of recursive tests and are stable for varying compositions of the commodity indices. The empirical evidence is in line with theoretical considerations. The inclusion of commodity prices helps to identify a significant monetary transmission process from global liquidity to other macro variables such as goods prices. We find further support of the conjecture that monetary aggregates convey useful information about variables such as commodity prices which matter for aggregate demand and thus inflation. Given this clear empirical pattern it appears justified to argue that global liquidity merits attention in the same way as the worldwide level of interest rates received in the recent debate about the world savings and liquidity glut as one of the main drivers of the current financial crisis, if not possibly more.
Genetic hitchhiking versus background selection: the controversy and its implications

The controversy on the relative importance of background selection (BGS; against deleterious mutations) and genetic hitchhiking (associated with positive directional selection) in explaining patterns of nucleotide variation in natural populations stimulated research activities for almost a decade. Despite efforts from many theorists and empiricists, fundamental questions are still open, in particular, for the population genetics of regions of reduced recombination. On the other hand, the development of the BGS and hitchhiking models and the long struggle to distinguish them, all of which seem to be a purely academic exercise, led to quite practical advances that are useful for the identification of genes involved in adaptation and domestication.
Differences in Outcome and Predictors Between Ischemic and Intracerebral Hemorrhage: The South London Stroke Register

Background and Purpose— Few population-based studies describing functional outcome between ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in the short- and long-term are available. Knowledge of the natural history and factors associated with poor outcome is important in providing prognostic information and resource allocation. Methods— Data were collected within the population-based South London Stroke Register between 1995 and 2011. Baseline data were collection of sociodemographic factors, case mix, risk factors before stroke, and acute stroke processes, with outcomes at 7 days, 3 months, 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years after stroke. Logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with poor outcome (dead and dependency: Barthel index <15). Results— Age and incontinence were associated with poor outcome at 3 months, 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years in ICH, whereas age, incontinence, failed swallow, atrial fibrillation, and diabetes mellitus were associated with poor outcome in ischemic stroke. ICH was more likely to have poorer outcomes at 3 months (odds ratio, 2.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.8–2.8) and 1 year (odds ratio, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.7–2.6) but not at 5 years (odds ratio, 1.1; 95% CI, 0.8–1.4) or 10 years (odd ratio, 0.8; 95% CI, 0.57–1.22); however, the improvement of functional outcome from day 7 to 3 months was significantly greater for ICH (regression coefficient: 1.8; 95% CI, 1.1–2.6; P<0.0001). Conclusions— ICH has poorer outcomes up to 5 years after stroke. The improvement of functional outcome up to 3 months was significantly greater with ICH. Identification of factors associated with poor outcome may be used for clinical predictions.
Ergodic Rate Analysis for Multipair Massive MIMO Two-Way Relay Networks

This paper considers a multipair massive multiple-input-multiple-output two-way relay network, in which multiple pairs of users are served by a relay station with a large number of antennas, which uses maximum ratio combining/maximum ratio transmission and a fixed amplification factor for reception/ transmission. First, the users' ergodic rates are derived for the case with a finite number of antennas, and then, the rate gain is analyzed when the transmit power of the senders and the relay is sufficiently large. We show that the ergodic rates increase with the number of antennas at the relay, i.e., N, but decrease with the number of user pairs, i.e., K, both logarithmically. The energy efficiency for the network is also investigated when the number of antennas grows to infinity. It is further revealed that the ergodic sum-rate can be maintained while the users' transmit power is scaled down by a factor of 1/N or the relay power by a factor of 2K/N. This indicates that users obtain an energy efficiency gain of N, but the relay has an energy efficiency gain of N divided by the number of users, i.e., 2K.
The Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) Glycoprotein B Cytoplasmic C-Terminal Tail Domain Regulates the Energy Requirement for EBV-Induced Membrane Fusion

ABSTRACT The entry of enveloped viruses into host cells is preceded by membrane fusion, which in Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is thought to be mediated by the refolding of glycoprotein B (gB) from a prefusion to a postfusion state. In our current studies, we characterized a gB C-terminal tail domain (CTD) mutant truncated at amino acid 843 (gB843). This truncation mutant is hyperfusogenic as monitored by syncytium formation and in a quantitative fusion assay and is dependent on gH/gL for fusion activity. gB843 can rescue the fusion function of other glycoprotein mutants that have null or decreased fusion activity in epithelial and B cells. In addition, gB843 requires less gp42 and gH/gL for fusion, and can function in fusion at a lower temperature than wild-type gB, indicating a lower energy requirement for fusion activation. Since a key step in fusion is the conversion of gB from a prefusion to an active postfusion state by gH/gL, gB843 may access this activated gB state more readily. Our studies indicate that the gB CTD may participate in the fusion function by maintaining gB in an inactive prefusion form prior to activation by receptor binding. IMPORTANCE Diseases resulting from Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection in humans range from the fairly benign disease infectious mononucleosis to life-threatening cancer. As an enveloped virus, EBV must fuse with a host cell membrane for entry and infection by using glycoproteins gH/gL, gB, and gp42. Among these glycoproteins, gB is thought to be the protein that executes fusion. To further characterize the function of the EBV gB cytoplasmic C-terminal tail domain (CTD) in fusion, we used a previously constructed CTD truncation mutant and studied its fusion activity in the context of other EBV glycoprotein mutants. From these studies, we find that the gB CTD regulates fusion by altering the energy requirements for the triggering of fusion mediated by gH/gL or gp42. Overall, our studies may lead to a better understanding of EBV fusion and entry, which may result in novel therapies that target the EBV entry step.