Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SYNC or ASYNC: time to fuse for distributed graph-parallel computation

Large-scale graph-structured computation usually exhibits iterative and convergence-oriented computing nature, where input data is computed iteratively until a convergence condition is reached. Such features have led to the development of two different computation modes for graph-structured programs, namely synchronous (Sync) and asynchronous (Async) modes. Unfortunately, there is currently no in-depth study on their execution properties and thus programmers have to manually choose a mode, either requiring a deep understanding of underlying graph engines, or suffering from suboptimal performance. This paper makes the first comprehensive characterization on the performance of the two modes on a set of typical graph-parallel applications. Our study shows that the performance of the two modes varies significantly with different graph algorithms, partitioning methods, execution stages, input graphs and cluster scales, and no single mode consistently outperforms the other. To this end, this paper proposes Hsync, a hybrid graph computation mode that adaptively switches a graph-parallel program between the two modes for optimal performance. Hsync constantly collects execution statistics on-the-fly and leverages a set of heuristics to predict future performance and determine when a mode switch could be profitable. We have built online sampling and offline profiling approaches combined with a set of heuristics to accurately predicting future performance in the two modes. A prototype called PowerSwitch has been built based on PowerGraph, a state-of-the-art distributed graph-parallel system, to support adaptive execution of graph algorithms. On a 48-node EC2-like cluster, PowerSwitch consistently outperforms the best of both modes, with a speedup ranging from 9% to 73% due to timely switch between two modes.
Mitochondrial Dynamics and Oxidative Stress Cytochrome c release from rat liver mitochondria is compromised by increased saturated cardiolipin species induced by sucrose feeding

Ruiz-Ramírez A, Barrios-Maya MA, López-Acosta O, Molina-Ortiz D, El-Hafidi M. Cytochrome c release from rat liver mitochondria is compromised by increased saturated cardiolipin species induced by sucrose feeding. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 309: E777–E786, 2015. First published September 8, 2015; doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00617. 2014. —Cytochrome c release from mitochondria has been described to be related to reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. With ROS generation being increased in fatty liver from sucrose-fed (SF) rats, we hypothesized that cytochrome c release might be positively associated with H2O2 generation from SF mitochondria. Surprisingly, cytochrome c release from mitochondria of SF liver was found to be significantly lower compared with control (C) mitochondria oxidizing pyruvate/malate or succinate. Exposure of mitochondria to exogenous superoxide radical generated by the xanthine/xanthine oxidase system elicits a dose-response cytochrome c release in both control and SF mitochondria, but cytochrome c release remains lower in SF mitochondria compared with C mitochondria. Furthermore, the addition of ebselen, PEG-catalase, or catalase, a H2O2 scavenger, significantly reduces cytochrome c release from C and SF mitochondria. Our results suggest that both intraand extramitochondrial H2O2 are involved in cytochrome c release, but the persisting difference between C and SF levels can be attributed to the differences in cardiolipin compositions. Indeed, the ratio of palmitic acid-rich cardiolipin species was found to be increased in lipid membrane from SF mitochondria compared with C mitochondria, whereas that of linoleic acid-rich cardiolipin species was found decreased. In addition, the content of tafazzin, a protein responsible for cardiolipin remodeling, was decreased in SF mitochondria. Therefore, we conclude that the changes observed in the composition of cardiolipin molecular species in SF mitochondria may be involved in cytochrome c interaction with mitochondrial inner membrane lipid and in its reduced release from SF mitochondria.
Chlorpyrifos is associated with slower serum cholinesterase recovery in acute organophosphate-poisoned patients

Purpose. Organophosphate poisoning (OPP) accounts for 200,000 deaths annually in developing countries. Serum cholinesterase (SChE) is of diagnostic value in patients with OPP and is checked repeatedly during the course of treatment. This study aimed to investigate the recovery pattern in patients with OPP using linear mixed models. Methods. Using a retrospective cohort study design, we included 212 adult OPP patients who had visited the emergency department (ED) in a tertiary medical center between 2000 and 2010. One hundred and thirty-one patients were available for analysis, as 81 patients did not meet the criteria and were excluded. Information regarding basic personal characteristics, initial vital signs and severity scores, laboratory data, type and amount of organophosphate ingested, treatment, and serial SChE values was collected. A random coefficient model with a random intercept and a random slope of time were added to address the dynamic relationships of SChE with time and other associated factors. Results. The initial SChE activity and recovery rates varied among patients with OPP. The type of organophosphate, the first SChE activity, and the initial APACHE II score were significantly related to the SChE recovery trend. Chlorpyrifos and methamidophos had significantly slower and faster SChE recovery rates, respectively, than other organophosphates. Sex, dose of Pralidoxim (2-PAM), and delay in obtaining medical assistance did not significantly affect SChE recovery. Conclusions. This study demonstrated the pattern and associated correlates of SChE activity recovery in patients with acute OPP. Chlorpyrifos appeared to have a slower SChE activity recovery rate than other organophosphates.
Investigating code smell co-occurrences using association rule learning: A replicated study

Previous research demonstrated how code smells (i.e., symptoms of the presence of poor design or implementation choices) threat software maintainability. Moreover, some studies showed that their interaction has a stronger negative impact on the ability of developers to comprehend and enhance the source code when compared to cases when a single code smell instance affects a code element (i.e., a class or a method). While such studies analyzed the effect of the co-presence of more smells from the developers' perspective, a little knowledge regarding which code smell types tend to co-occur in the source code is currently available. Indeed, previous papers on smell co-occurrence have been conducted on a small number of code smell types or on small datasets, thus possibly missing important relationships. To corroborate and possibly enlarge the knowledge on the phenomenon, in this paper we provide a large-scale replication of previous studies, taking into account 13 code smell types on a dataset composed of 395 releases of 30 software systems. Code smell co-occurrences have been captured by using association rule mining, an unsupervised learning technique able to discover frequent relationships in a dataset. The results highlighted some expected relationships, but also shed light on co-occurrences missed by previous research in the field.
Fresh frozen plasma should be given earlier to patients requiring massive transfusion.

BACKGROUND Acidosis, hypothermia, and coagulopathy were identified more than 20 years ago as a deadly triad for patients presenting with exsanguinating hemorrhage. This led to fundamental changes in initial management of severely injured patients. Despite major advances, hemorrhage remains a leading cause of early death in trauma patients. Recent studies report most severely injured patients to be coagulopathic at admission, before resuscitation interventions, and that traditional massive transfusion practice grossly underestimates needs. The hypothesis for this study is that our pre-intensive care unit (ICU) massive transfusion (MT) protocol does not adequately correct coagulopathy, and that early uncorrected coagulopathy is predictive of mortality. METHODS Data maintained in our Trauma Research Database were reviewed. Univariate logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the association of early ICU international normalized ratio (INR) and outcomes, including survival. RESULTS Ninety-seven of 200 patients admitted during 51 months (ending January 2003) and resuscitated using our standardized ICU shock resuscitation protocol received MT (> or =10 units packed red blood cells [PRBC]) during hospital day 1 (age, 39 +/- 2; ISS, 29 +/- 1; survival, 70%.) All patients required emergency operating room and/or interventional radiology procedures and arrived in the ICU 6.8 +/- 0.3 hours after admission. Coagulopathy, present at hospital admission (pre-ICU INR, 1.8 +/- 0.2), persisted at ICU admission (initial ICU INR, 1.6 +/- 0.1). Pre-ICU resuscitation, 9 +/- 1 L crystalloid fluid, 12 +/- 1 units PRBC, 5 +/- 0.4 units fresh frozen plasma (FFP), was consistent with our MT protocol by which FFP was not given until after 6 units PRBC. ICU resuscitation involved 11 +/- 1 L lactated Ringer's solution (LR) and 10 +/- 1 units PRBC. Mean pH was normal within 8 hours. Mean temperature increased from approximately 35 degrees C to >37 degrees C within 4 hours. In the ICU during resuscitation, patients received 10 +/- 1 units FFP for coagulopathy; the ratio of FFP:PRBC was 1:1. Mean INR decreased to 1.4 +/- 0.03 within 8 hours and remained nearly constant for the remaining 16 hours of ICU resuscitation, indicating moderate coagulopathy. Statistical analysis found severity of coagulopathy (INR) at ICU admission associated with survival outcome (p = 0.02; area under receiver operator curve [ROC] = 0.71.) CONCLUSION These data indicate acidosis and hypothermia to be well managed. Coagulopathy was not corrected in the ICU despite adherence to pre-ICU MT and ICU protocols, likely because of inadequate pre-ICU intervention. More aggressive pre-ICU intervention to correct coagulopathy may be effective in decreasing PRBC requirement during ICU resuscitation, and, because of the association with increased mortality, could improve outcome. We have revised our pre-ICU MT protocol to emphasize early FFP in a FFP:PRBC ratio of 1:1. We think that treatment of coagulopathy can be improved with the development of standardized protocols, both empiric and data driven.
The Notion of Rupture in Estonian Narrative Memory: On the Construction of Meaning in Autobiographical Texts on the Stalinist Experience

SUMMARY: В исследовании Эне Кёресаар анализируются биографии эстонцев в контексте воспоминания о сталинском периоде. Применяя различные теоретические модели, концептуализирующие взаимоотношения личного воспоминания биографии и социально-культурных рамок коллективной памяти, Кёресаар исследует конструирование эстонской истории и эстонских частных биографий. По мнению исследователя, ключевым элементом этого конструирования является тема “разрыва”, прерывности национальной истории и частных биографий. По мнению авторов воспоминаний и респондентов, эти разрывы национальной истории лишили эстонцев “естественной” истории нации и сделали невозможным постоянный доступ к “национальным ценностям”. Разрывы национальной истории в коллективной памяти и частных биографиях функционируют как структурирующие элементы, придавая нарративный характер воспоминанию, одновременно являясь идеологически нагруженными элементами восприятия прошлого. Исследователь обсуждает взаимосвязь частных биографий и коллективной (национальной) памяти и ставит вопрос о практическом совпадении в эстонском случае “нарративных моделей” памяти индивидуальной и памяти коллективной.
Outcomes of atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis managed without revascularization.

OBJECTIVE To determine how often patients with renal artery stenosis (RAS) managed without revascularization progress to accelerated hypertension and/or renal failure. PATIENTS AND METHODS We examined the outcomes of 68 patients (mean +/- SEM age, 71.8 +/- 0.9 years) with high-grade (>70%) RAS identified between 1989 and 1993 who were treated without renal revascularization for at least 6 months after angiography. The time to last follow-up averaged 38.9 +/- 2.8 months. Other vascular beds were affected in 66 of the 68 patients. End points were revascularization, nephrectomy, dialysis, or death. RESULTS The mean +/- SEM serum creatinine level rose from 1.4 +/- 0.1 to 2.0 +/- 0.2 mg/dL (P<.001). Mean +/- SEM blood pressure did not change (157 +/- 3/83+/-2 vs 155 +/- 3/79 +/- 2 mm Hg), but the need (mean +/- SEM) for medication increased from 1.6+/-0.1 to 1.9+/-0.1 drugs (P=.02). Four patients (5.8%) eventually underwent renal revascularization for refractory hypertension (1 patient), for progressive stenosis (1 patient), and during aortic reconstruction (2 patients). One additional patient underwent nephrectomy to improve blood pressure control. Five others (7.4%) developed end-stage renal disease (ESRD) for reasons other than progressive vascular disease, namely, diabetes (3 patients), atheroemboli (1 patient), and contrast toxicity without RAS progression (1 patient). In 1 further case, the reason for ESRD was unknown, and it may have been caused by vascular occlusion. During follow-up, 19 patients died of unrelated causes, including myocardial infarction and stroke. CONCLUSIONS These data indicate that antihypertensive medication requirements increased and renal function deteriorated modestly in a subset of patients with atherosclerotic RAS managed initially without vascular intervention. Many achieved stable blood pressure for many years. Deterioration of renal function and mortality risk were greatest in patients with bilateral stenosis or stenosis to a solitary functioning kidney. These results reinforce the need for meticulous follow-up for disease progression but underscore the role of competing risks and high mortality from other cardiovascular diseases, which primarily determine the outcomes in patients with RAS and widespread atherosclerotic disease.
Interaction of CD44 and hyaluronan is the dominant mechanism for neutrophil sequestration in inflamed liver sinusoids

Adhesion molecules known to be important for neutrophil recruitment in many other organs are not involved in recruitment of neutrophils into the sinusoids of the liver. The prevailing view is that neutrophils become physically trapped in inflamed liver sinusoids. In this study, we used a biopanning approach to identify hyaluronan (HA) as disproportionately expressed in the liver versus other organs under both basal and inflammatory conditions. Spinning disk intravital microscopy revealed that constitutive HA expression was restricted to liver sinusoids. Blocking CD44–HA interactions reduced neutrophil adhesion in the sinusoids of endotoxemic mice, with no effect on rolling or adhesion in postsinusoidal venules. Neutrophil but not endothelial CD44 was required for adhesion in sinusoids, yet neutrophil CD44 avidity for HA did not increase significantly in endotoxemia. Instead, activation of CD44–HA engagement via qualitative modification of HA was demonstrated by a dramatic induction of serum-derived HA-associated protein in sinusoids in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). LPS-induced hepatic injury was significantly reduced by blocking CD44–HA interactions. Administration of anti-CD44 antibody 4 hours after LPS rapidly detached adherent neutrophils in sinusoids and improved sinusoidal perfusion in endotoxemic mice, revealing CD44 as a potential therapeutic target in systemic inflammatory responses involving the liver.
Measurement of LDL-C after treatment with the CETP inhibitor anacetrapib[S]

Estimation of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) using the Friedewald (FR) formula is often inaccurate when triglycerides are elevated or VLDL particle composition is altered. We hypothesized that LDL-C estimation by the FR formula and other measurement methods might also be inaccurate in individuals treated with a cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitor. An assay comparison study was conducted using pre and posttreatment serum samples from 280 of the 811 patients treated with the CETP inhibitor anacetrapib in the DEFINE study (determining the ef ficacy and tolerability of CETP in hibition with anac e trapib). After 24 weeks of treatment with anacetrapib, mean LDL-C values by FR formula, Roche direct method (RDM) and Genzyme direct method (GDM) deviated from that measured by the β-quantification (BQ) reference method by –12.2 ± 7.5, –10.2 ± 6.6, –10.8 ± 8.8 mg/dl, respectively. After treatment with anacetrapib, the FR formula and detergent-based direct methods provided lower LDL-C values than those obtained by the BQ reference method. The bias by the FR formula appeared to be due to an overestimation of VLDL-C by the TG/5 component of the formula. Evaluation of the clinical significance of these findings awaits comprehensive lipid and cardiovascular outcome data from ongoing Phase III clinical studies of anacetrapib.
Invariant lattice strain and polarization in BaTiO3–CaTiO3 ferroelectric alloys

We report the lattice strain and polarization of the BaTiO3–CaTiO3 solid solution. We found that the lattice strain evaluated by the tetragonality of the tetragonal phase at room temperature is nearly independent of the composition within the limit of the solid solution. In association with this variation, the saturation polarization remains nearly unchanged. Such invariant lattice strain associated with the ionic displacement in ferroelectrics is considered to be responsible for the nearly compositional independence of the polarization and the observed ferroelectric Curie temperature. Its relatively stable polarization compared with that of pure BaTiO3 is very interesting for technological applications, such as in ferroelectric memory.
Estrous cycle and ovarian changes in a rat mammary carcinogenesis model after irradiation, tamoxifen chemoprevention, and aging.

PURPOSE Variation in the effects of selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) on the estrous cycle and reproductive organs during aging could play an important role in the observed heterogeneity of tamoxifen chemoprevention efficacy against breast cancer. METHODS Of the 1,022 female Sprague Dawley rats enrolled in a long-term tamoxifen chemoprevention study, 87 were randomly chosen from four groups (irradiated, irradiated and tamoxifen treated, tamoxifen treated, and control). Vaginal smears were evaluated for determination of cycle stage, and vaginal pathologic changes. Correlation with the histologic features of reproductive tissues in 43 animals was made. RESULTS More tamoxifen-treated (21.9%; 7/32) rats had irregular cycling than did control (9%; 3/23) rats. Ovarian granulosa cell hyperplasia was present in 50% (3/6) of tamoxifen-treated rats, and 20% (2/10) of control rats. Endometrial-type cells (ETCs) were present only in tamoxifen-treated (tamoxifen alone 6.25% [2/32]) and tamoxifen/ radiation-treated (28.6% [4/14]) rats. CONCLUSION The modified Papanicolaou stain used here provided excellent morphologic detail for evaluating the estrous cycle in rodents. Tamoxifen altered vaginal cytologic and ovarian histologic features during aging. Results indicated that tamoxifen had direct and indirect effects on the reproductive tract, causing disturbance of the estrous cycle, shedding of ETCs, and promoting granulosa cell hyperplasia. Understanding of the heterogeneous response to tamoxifen chemoprevention during aging in rodents may provide important insights into the basis for tamoxifen chemoprevention failures in humans.
Resilience Engineering : New directions for measuring and maintaining safety in complex systems Third Progress Report , June 2007

The aviation industry as benchmark for resilience engineering is interesting only when it can be compared with at least one or a few compelling contrast cases. These industries should have their safety-critical nature in common with aviation, as well as an express willingness to learn from failure. Healthcare delivery, and in particular critical care medicine, is one candidate under consideration for further investigations of resilience engineering in other industries. Another is process industry, or even emergency/rescue services. Contrasting a selection of industries for their efforts to turn lessons from past failures into a broader, resilient future, is necessary for discovering contingent requirements for how to engineer resilience into a complex system. What works for one may not work for the other, or rather, particular measures of resilience (e.g. " preparedness ") may find completely different expressions in different systems. Also, these various industries (or their key constituent organizations) may be variously ill-calibrated about their own sources of safety and risk, making it hard to learn meaningful, actionable lessons from past failures. This second year will therefore help lay bare the scope and nature of problems in learning from failure by (selected) industries next to aviation, documenting their current practices, preconditions and aspirations, and building a requirements analysis for how to make resilience improvements sensitive to the constraints and opportunities offered by the various industries. Proposed deliverables 2007: Report(s) on learning activities and viability of resilience concepts across other worlds (e.g. aviation healthcare, nuclear, road traffic, railways, process industry). In order to be able to generate the 2007 deliverables, we have done the following during the first half of 2007: • Began to investigate the role of safety leadership in learning from failure and resilience at Swedish Nuclear installations (in collaboration with SKI, Statens Kärnkraftsinspektion). 3 Fieldwork is planned at nuclear installations during the autumn of 2007 so as to add to the corpus of contrast cases consistent with proposed 2007 deliverables. • Planned 2-month long fieldwork in a variety of departments at a large teaching hospital so as to generate a contrast case consistent with the 2007 workplan. This fieldwork will be carried out during December 2007 and January 2008. • Continued the experimental work with mid-fidelity simulations to study the learning and relevance of generic skills beyond proceduralized knowledge of how to handle escalating situations (see further in this progress report). This work has been a collaborative effort with …
Effects of a Cooperative Learning Program on the Elaborations of Students During Help Seeking and Help Giving

In this study, the effects of a teacher-training program on the elaborations and affective-motivational resources (i.e., intentions and attitudes toward help seeking, help giving, and achievement goals) of students working on a cooperative task were examined. Participants were teachers from seven primary schools and 24 dyads of sixth-grade students. In general, the program showed moderately positive effects on use of elaborations among the treatment dyads. Dyads with experience in cooperative learning achieved more than dyads without such experience. Mastery- and performance-oriented goals were negatively related to use of high-level elaborations and to student achievement, while use of high-level elaborations was positively related to student achievement.
I/sub DDQ/ testing of input/output resources of SRAM-based FPGAs

This paper presents a quiescent current-based (I/sub DDQ/) approach for testing input/output resources in SRAR-based FPGAs. Input/output resources include input/output blocks (IOBs) and the I/O interconnect. Test generation and application strategies are proposed by taking into account the limited controllability of the I/O resources. Configuration of these resources requires that the test stimuli must be provided by internal (logic and routing) resources. A detailed presentation for testing the I/O resources of the Xilinx XC4000 family is given.