Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Taxonomy and Survey of Content Delivery Networks

Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) have evolved to overcome the inherent limitations of the Internet in terms of user perceived Quality of Service (QoS) when accessing Web content. A CDN replicates content from the origin server to cache servers, scattered over the globe, in order to deliver content to end-users in a reliable and timely manner from nearby optimal surrogates. Content distribution on the Internet has received considerable research attention. It combines development of high-end computing technologies with highperformance networking infrastructure and distributed replica management techniques. Therefore, our aim is to categorize and analyze the existing CDNs, and to explore the uniqueness, weaknesses, opportunities, and future directions in this field. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive taxonomy with a broad coverage of CDNs in terms of organizational structure, content distribution mechanisms, request redirection techniques, and performance measurement methodologies. We study the existing CDNs in terms of their infrastructure, request-routing mechanisms, content replication techniques, load balancing, and cache management. We also provide an indepth analysis and state-of-the-art survey of CDNs. Finally, we apply the taxonomy to map various CDNs. The mapping of the taxonomy to the CDNs helps in “gap” analysis in the content networking domain. It also provides a means to identify the present and future development in this field and validates the applicability and accuracy of the taxonomy.
The nervous system of Xenacoelomorpha: a genomic perspective

Xenacoelomorpha is, most probably, a monophyletic group that includes three clades: Acoela, Nemertodermatida and Xenoturbellida. The group still has contentious phylogenetic affinities; though most authors place it as the sister group of the remaining bilaterians, some would include it as a fourth phylum within the Deuterostomia. Over the past few years, our group, along with others, has undertaken a systematic study of the microscopic anatomy of these worms; our main aim is to understand the structure and development of the nervous system. This research plan has been aided by the use of molecular/developmental tools, the most important of which has been the sequencing of the complete genomes and transcriptomes of different members of the three clades. The data obtained has been used to analyse the evolutionary history of gene families and to study their expression patterns during development, in both space and time. A major focus of our research is the origin of ‘cephalized’ (centralized) nervous systems. How complex brains are assembled from simpler neuronal arrays has been a matter of intense debate for at least 100 years. We are now tackling this issue using Xenacoelomorpha models. These represent an ideal system for this work because the members of the three clades have nervous systems with different degrees of cephalization; from the relatively simple sub-epithelial net of Xenoturbella to the compact brain of acoels. How this process of ‘progressive’ cephalization is reflected in the genomes or transcriptomes of these three groups of animals is the subject of this paper.
Alterations in White Matter Integrity in Young Adults with Smartphone Dependence

Smartphone dependence (SPD) is increasingly regarded as a psychological problem, however, the underlying neural substrates of SPD is still not clear. High resolution magnetic resonance imaging provides a useful tool to help understand and manage the disorder. In this study, a tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) analysis on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was used to measure white matter integrity in young adults with SPD. A total of 49 subjects were recruited and categorized into SPD and control group based on their clinical behavioral tests. To localize regions with abnormal white matter integrity in SPD, the voxel-wise analysis of fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) on the whole brain was performed by TBSS. The correlation between the quantitative variables of brain structures and the behavior measures were performed. Our result demonstrated that SPD had significantly lower white matter integrity than controls in superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), superior corona radiata (SCR), internal capsule, external capsule, sagittal stratum, fornix/stria terminalis and midbrain structures. Correlation analysis showed that the observed abnormalities in internal capsule and stria terminalis were correlated with the severity of dependence and behavioral assessments. Our finding facilitated a primary understanding of white matter characteristics in SPD and indicated that the structural deficits might link to behavioral impairments.
Eosinophils, probiotics, and the microbiome

There is currently substantial interest in the therapeutic properties of probiotic microorganisms as recent research suggests that oral administration of specific bacterial strains may reduce inflammation and alter the nature of endogenous microflora in the gastrointestinal tract. Eosinophils are multifunctional tissue leukocytes, prominent among the resident cells of the gastrointestinal mucosa that promote local immunity. Recent studies with genetically altered mice indicate that eosinophils not only participate in maintaining gut homeostasis, but that the absence of eosinophils may have significant impact on the nature of the endogenous gut microflora and responses to gut pathogens, notably Clostridium difficile. Furthermore, in human subjects, there is an intriguing relationship between eosinophils, allergic inflammation, and the nature of the lung microflora, notably a distinct association between eosinophil infiltration and detection of bacteria of the phylum Actinobacteria. Among topics for future research, it will be important to determine whether homeostatic mechanisms involve direct interactions between eosinophils and bacteria or whether they involve primarily eosinophil‐mediated responses to cytokine signaling in the local microenvironment. Likewise, although is it clear that eosinophils can and do interact with bacteria in vivo, their ability to discern between pathogenic and probiotic species in various settings remains to be explored.
Lost-Circulation Control for Formation-Damage Prevention in Naturally Fractured Reservoir: Mathematical Model and Experimental Study

Drill-in fluid loss is the most important cause of formation damage during the drill-in process in fractured tight reservoirs. The addition of lost-circulation material (LCM) into drill-in fluid is the most popular technique for loss control. However, traditional LCM selection is mainly performed by use of the trial-and-error method because of the lack of mathematical models. The present work aims at filling this gap by developing a new mathematical model to characterize the performance of drill-in fluid-loss control by use of LCM during the drill-in process of fractured tight reservoirs. Plugging-zone strength and fracture-propagation pressure are the two main factors affecting drill-in fluid-loss control. The developed mathematical model consists of two submodels: the plugging-zone-strength model and the fracture-propagation-pressure model. Explicit formulae are obtained for LCM selection dependent on the proposed model to control drill-in fluid loss and prevent formation damage. Effects of LCMmechanical and geometrical properties on loss-control performance are analyzed for optimal fracture plugging and propagation control. Laboratory tests on loss-control effect by use of different types and concentrations of LCMs are performed. Different combinations of acid-soluble rigid particles, fibers, and elastic particles are tested to generate a synergy effect for drill-in fluidloss control. The derived model is validated by laboratory data and successfully applied to the field case study in Sichuan Basin, China.
Socioeconomic Background , Education , and Labour Force Outcomes : Evidence from a Regional

This paper examines the long-term association of family socioeconomic status (SES), educational, and labour force outcomes in a regional U.S. longitudinal sample (N = 2,264). The results offer insights into the mechanisms underlying the role of family SES in transitions from secondary schooling to early work experiences. It was found that the academic achievement gap associated with SES widens during secondary schooling due in part to course level tracking. Family SES relates to college enrollment mainly via its association with academic gains in school, but also through family income and father’s occupational status. Family SES is weakly but significantly related to adult offspring’s earnings but more strongly related to occupational status. Educational qualifications and cognitive skills make independent contributions to the explanation of labor force
Freezing and thawing or freezing, thawing, and aging effects on beef tenderness.

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of freezing and thawing or freezing and thawing with an additional aging period after frozen storage on the tenderness of longissimus lumborum (LL) and semitendinosus (ST) steaks relative to aged, fresh steaks. Left-side LL and ST (n = 35 each) were obtained from U.S. Select carcasses classified at the grading stand by the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center visible and near-infrared spectroscopy tenderness system to have predicted slice shear force greater than 16.5 kg at 14 d postmortem. At 2 d postmortem, 2.54 cm thick steaks were cut from each muscle and assigned to 1 of the following treatments: 2 d fresh (2FRESH), 2 d freeze + thaw (2FREEZE), 2 d freeze + thaw + 12 d age (2FREEZE+12AGE), 14 d fresh (14FRESH), 14 d freeze + thaw (14FREEZE), 14 d freeze + thaw + 14 d age (14FREEZE+14AGE), and 28 d fresh (28FRESH). Steaks assigned to a freezing treatment were frozen at -26°C for 30 d before thawing/cooking or thawing with an additional aging period at 2°C. Slice shear force for LL and ST was lower (P < 0.01) for 2FREEZE (27.4 and 24.5 kg) and 14FREEZE (22.4 and 22.4 kg) compared to 2FRESH (33.0 and 29.2 kg) and 14FRESH (25.3 and 25.5 kg), respectively. Slice shear force for LL and ST was lower (P < 0.01) for 2FREEZE+12AGE (17.8 and 20.8 kg) and 14FREEZE+14AGE (14.6 and 19.0 kg) compared to 14FRESH (25.3 and 25.5 kg) and 28FRESH (18.7 and 21.7 kg), respectively. Desmin degradation for LL was not different (P > 0.05) between 2FREEZE (21.0%) and 2FRESH (14.6%) or between 14FREEZE (40.4%) and 14FRESH (38.4%); however, desmin degradation was higher (P < 0.06) in 2FREEZE+12AGE (46.7%) and 14FREEZE+14AGE (71.1%) when compared to 14FRESH (38.4%) and 28FRESH (60.5%), respectively. Cooking loss for LL was higher (P < 0.01) in 2FREEZE+12AGE (15.2%) compared to 14FRESH (14.0%) but was not different (P > 0.05) between 14FREEZE+14AGE (15.0%) and 28FRESH (14.3%). Freezing and thawing or a combination of freezing, thawing, and aging resulted in increased tenderness for LL and ST steaks when compared to fresh steaks with the same aging time. These results indicate freezing could be incorporated into normal commercial product distribution processes to improve the consistency of meat tenderness. Researchers who freeze steaks before tenderness assessment should be aware and acknowledge that freezing affects tenderness data.
A Leaf Image Retrieval Scheme Based on Partial Dynamic Time Warping and Two-Level Filtering

In this paper, we propose an efficient leaf image retrieval scheme based on its shape feature. To represent leaf shape, we first derive a distance curve from each leaf using distances between its center and the points along the contour. Next, for the storage and matching purpose, we extract a set of Fourier Coefficients (FCs) from the curve. Typically, a set of FCs fails to restore the original curve completely. In order to reduce the difference between original and restored curves, we divide whole curve into several partitions such that each partition has a small difference with the original curve. For image matching, we propose a Partial Dynamic Time Warping (PDTW) algorithm. We also propose a categorization scheme using the number of unit curves for filtering purpose. In the experiment, we show that our proposed scheme improved both efficiency and accuracy of leaf image retrieval.
A comprehensive data management framework for opportunistic communication on mobile phones

Several of our non-profit partners working in rural areas complain about poor data connectivity from their mobile phones. To instrument this, we deployed a simple application on Android mobile phones of two field staff located in the state of Jharkhand in India to continuously probe 2G GPRS EDGE connectivity across several days. We found that the connectivity was quite flaky and underwent frequent disruptions as the staff moved around for their work. This motivated us to develop a comprehensive data management framework that can run on mobile devices and help application developers cope with several issues including communication on flaky connections, data synchronization, support for transactions, and consistency management. Most previous work in the area of supporting communication in poorly connected regions has focused on connection management and session persistence across disconnections, while we focus more on data management challenges that arise in these scenarios. We have built and deployed an application for media transfer using this framework, and are now using this experience to improve the framework. Our connectivity-testing Android application logged signal strengths and HTTP ping latencies to www.google. com to check for connection availability, and uploaded the traces every few hours to our server for analysis. The application was deployed on Samsung Galaxy Fit phones provided by us to two staff working with our field partner. Figure 1 shows the HTTP ping latencies (~ 2RTTs) and availability plotted on the map of Ranchi, the main city in which the field staff are located. The points in red indicate no connectivity, green points indicate moderate latency and the blue ones indicate high latency values. As can be seen, the mobile devices often run into areas of poor availability, and we found the mean time between disconnections and the maximum disconnection period to be 83mins and 30mins respectively.
User-driven innovation in the future applications lab

User-driven innovation regards users as a resource in the innovation process. Taking prototypes of novel technology as a starting point, a dialogue with users becomes a springboard to generate new ideas. The user group is often highly specialized, and not necessarily the intended end users of the technology. The Future Applications Lab has successfully used this approach in several recent projects. In Pin&Play, we pushed the development of novel surface-based networking in collaboration with the staff of a film festival. In context photography we engaged a group of photographers with a unique outlook on the process of picture taking.
Alpha-Tocopherol Concentration in Fetal and Maternal Tissues of Pregnant Rats Supplemented with Alpha-Tocopherol

We wanted to determine whether alpha-tocopherol supplementation to pregnant rats could increase the concentration of alpha-tocopherol in maternal and fetal plasma and tissues. Pregnant rats were treated with alpha-tocopherol on days 18 and 19 gestation and studied at day 20. A control group was studied in parallel. Treatment of pregnant rats with alpha-tocopherol increased its concentration in maternal and fetal plasma, in all maternal plasma lipoprotein fractions, in maternal and fetal liver and in the placenta. The fetal and maternal concentration of alpha-tocopherol were positively correlated.
Developmental genetics and psychopathology: Some new feathers for a fine old hat

Abstract Without even knowing of their existence, Mendel discovered how genes operate when they are completely penetrant, although they rarely are, at least with respect to human personality and psychopathology; yet quantitative genetics results have conclusively demonstrated their substantial macrolevel influence. Now we need to understand just how incompletely penetrant genes make their contributions to psychopathology. Exciting new developments in molecular genetics and epigenetics provide new insight into gene action in principle but have been of limited value so far in understanding the emergence of psychopathology. Some of the most helpful postulates might come from evolutionary and developmental biology and agricultural breeding experiments. I describe the all but forgotten evolutionary mechanisms articulated by Schmalhausen, a Russian evolutionary biologist whose work was suppressed by Stalin in the 1940s. I focus on Schmalhausen's law, the observation that organisms living in conditions at the boundary of their tolerance in any one aspect of existence will be vulnerable to expression of genetic liabilities related to all other aspects of existence. I show how Schmalhausen's ideas are relevant to the results of a century-long corn-breeding experiment and the current concepts of facilitated variation and cryptic genetic variation. I then discuss the relevance of all of these to understanding genetic influences on personality and psychopathology.
Sleep deprivation‐induced alterations in excitatory synaptic transmission in the CA1 region of the rat hippocampus

Although the function of sleep remains elusive, there is compelling evidence to suggest that sleep plays an important role in learning and memory. A number of studies have now shown that sleep deprivation (SD) results in significant impairment of long‐term potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampus. In this study, we have attempted to determine the mechanisms responsible for this impairment. After 72 h SD using the multiple‐platform technique, we observed a reduction in the whole‐cell recorded NMDA/AMPA ratio of CA1 pyramidal cells in response to Schaffer collateral stimulation. This impairment was specific to sleep deprivation as rats placed over a single large platform, which allowed sleep, had a normal NMDA/AMPA ratio. mEPSCs evoked by local application of a high osmolarity solution revealed no differences in the AMPA receptor function. NMDA currents recorded from outside‐out patches excised from the distal dendrites of CA1 cells displayed a reduction in amplitude after SD. While there were no alterations in the glutamate sensitivity, channel open probability or the single channel conductance of the receptor, a crosslinking assay demonstrated that the NR1 and NR2A subunits of NMDA receptors were preferentially retained in the cytoplasm after SD, indicating that SD alters NMDAR surface expression. In summary, we have identified a potential mechanism underlying SD‐induced LTP impairment. This synaptic alteration may underlie the cognitive deficits seen following sleep deprivation and could represent a target for future intervention studies.
Nonlinear dynamic structures

Methods for nonlinear impulse response analysis are introduced. The methods are based on conditional moment profiles defined for a stationary time series. Comparing conditional moment profiles to baseline profiles is the nonlinear analog of conventional impulse-response analysis. The bootstrap may be used for statistical inference. Profile bundles may be examined for evidence of damping or persistence. Application to bivariate NYSE price and volume series from 1928 to 1987 finds evidence of a heavily damped 'leverage effect' and a differential response of trading volume to 'common-knowledge' price shocks. Copyright 1993 by The Econometric Society.
Mechanisms of Inactivation of p 14 ARF , p 15 INK 4 b , and p 16 INK 4 a Genes in Human Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma 1

The 9p21 gene cluster, harboring growth suppressive genesp14, p15, and p16, is one of the major aberration hotspots in human cancers. It was shown that p14 and p16 play active roles in the p53 and Rb tumor suppressive pathways, respectively, and p15 INK4b is a mediator of the extracellular growth inhibition signals. To elucidate specific targets and aberrations affecting this subchromosomal region, we constructed a detailed alteration map of the 9p21 gene cluster by analyzing homozygous deletion, hypermethylation, and mutation of the p14, p15, and p16 genes individually in 40 esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCCs) and compared the genetic alterations with mRNA expression in 18 of these samples. We detected aberrant promoter methylation of the p16 gene in 16 (40%), ofp14 in 6 (15%), and of p15 in 5 (12.5%) tumor samples. Mostp16 methylations were exclusive, whereas all but one of thep14/ p15 methylations were accompanied by concomitant p16 methylation. We detected homozygous deletion of p16 in 7 (17.5%), of p14-E1b in 13 (33%), and of p15 in 16 (40%) tumor samples. Most deletions occurred exclusively on the E1b-p15 loci. Two samples contained p14 deletion but with p16 and p15 intact. No mutation was detected in thep14 and p16 genes. Comparative RT-PCR showed good concordance between suppressed mRNA expression and genetic alteration for p15 and p16 genes in the 18 frozen samples, whereas 5 of the 13 cases with suppressed p14 mRNA expression contained no detectable E1 b alteration but aberrations in the p16 locus. Our results show that in human ESCCs, p14 is a primary target of homozygous deletion along withp15, whereasp16 is the hotspot of hypermethylation of the 9p21 gene cluster. The frequent inactivation of the p14 and p16 genes may be an important mechanism for the dysfunction of both the Rb and p53 growth regulation pathways during ESCC development.
Larval stages of Brachylaima fuscatum in the terrestrial snail Limicolaria aurora from southern Nigeria

Abstract Of 150 specimens of the gastropod snail Limicolaria aurora examined from the Edo and Delta states of Nigeria, 63.4% were infected with larval digeneans comprising mother sporocysts (12.1%) daughter sporocysts (20.4%) cercariae (43.1%) and metacercariae (24.5%). Attempts to experimentally infect three 14-day-old chicks (Gallus domesticus) and two laboratory-bred 4-month-old mice (Mus musculus) by oral feeding and peritoneal injection with cercariae were negative, although experimental infections of chicks via a cloacal drop yielded 62 immature and 37 mature worms from the intestinal caeca and ileum. The worms were identified as Brachylaima fuscatum (Trematoda: Brachylaimidae). The study also revealed that L. aurora acts as an intermediate host for B. fuscatum, in addition to Eulota sp. , Helix sp. , Helicella sp. , Oxychilus sp. and Agrolimax sp.
Circulating endothelin-1 concentrations in patients with chronic hypoxia.

AIMS--To evaluate the behavior of plasma endothelin-1 in patients with chronic hypoxia. METHODS--Fifteen male patients (mean age 52.1 +/- 3.1 years) with mild chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were studied. Twelve healthy men (mean age 48.3 +/- 5.4 years) served as controls. Both patients and controls underwent standard pulmonary function tests, echocardiographic evaluation, and arterial blood gas evaluation. Blood samples for endothelin-1 assay were taken from a previously incannulated antecubital vein after 60 minutes of rest in the supine position. Endothelin-1 was measured by radioimmunoassay after extraction from plasma. RESULTS--Patients with chronic hypoxia had lower PaO2 values (66.1 +/- 6.2 mmHg) than controls (83.8 +/- 2.7 mmHg) but PaCO2 values were similar (38.1 +/- 2.5 v 36.7 +/- 3.1 mmHg, respectively). Arterial pulmonary pressure, therefore, was higher in patients (18.1 +/- 3.7 mmHg) than in controls (10.4 +/- 2.7 mmHg) as were circulating endothelin-1 concentrations (1.22 +/- 0.36 v 0.57 +/- 0.1 pg/ml). Furthermore, plasma endothelin-1 concentrations were negatively correlated with PaO2 and directly correlated with pulmonary pressure levels. No significant correlations were found in controls. CONCLUSIONS--These results show a clear relation between chronic hypoxia and circulating endothelin-1 concentrations. Therefore, chronic hypoxia may be regarded as an important stimulus for endothelin-1 release and as one of the main contributors to increased vasoconstriction in the vascular pulmonary bed which often accompanies lung disease.