Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Requirements-Aware Systems: A Research Agenda for RE for Self-adaptive Systems

Requirements are sensitive to the context in which the system-to-be must operate. Where such context is well understood and is static or evolves slowly, existing RE techniques can be made to work well. Increasingly, however, development projects are being challenged to build systems to operate in contexts that are volatile over short periods in ways that are imperfectly understood. Such systems need to be able to adapt to new environmental contexts dynamically, but the contextual uncertainty that demands this self-adaptive ability makes it hard to formulate, validate and manage their requirements. Different contexts may demand different requirements trade-offs. Unanticipated contexts may even lead to entirely new requirements. To help counter this uncertainty, we argue that requirements for self-adaptive systems should be run-time entities that can be reasoned over in order to understand the extent to which they are being satisfied and to support adaptation decisions that can take advantage of the systems’ self-adaptive machinery. We take our inspiration from the fact that explicit, abstract representations of software architectures used to be considered design-time-only entities but computational reflection showed that architectural concerns could be represented at run-time too, helping systems to dynamically reconfigure themselves according to changing context. We propose to use analogous mechanisms to achieve requirements reflection. In this paper we discuss the ideas that support requirements reflection as a means to articulate some of the outstanding research challenges.
Regret of Queueing Bandits

We consider a variant of the multiarmed bandit problem where jobs queue for service, and service rates of different servers may be unknown. We study algorithms that minimize queueregret: the (expected) difference between the queue-lengths obtained by the algorithm, and those obtained by a “genie”-aided matching algorithm that knows exact service rates. A naive view of this problem would suggest that queue-regret should grow logarithmically: since queue-regret cannot be larger than classical regret, results for the standard MAB problem give algorithms that ensure queue-regret increases no more than logarithmically in time. Our paper shows surprisingly more complex behavior. In particular, the naive intuition is correct as long as the bandit algorithm’s queues have relatively long regenerative cycles: in this case queue-regret is similar to cumulative regret, and scales (essentially) logarithmically. However, we show that this “early stage” of the queueing bandit eventually gives way to a “late stage”, where the optimal queue-regret scaling is O(1/t). We demonstrate an algorithm that (order-wise) achieves this asymptotic queue-regret, and also exhibits close to optimal switching time from the early stage to the late stage.
Microarray based analysis of gene regulation by microRNA in intervertebral disc degeneration

The present study aimed to explore the underlying mechanism of the development of intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) by bioinformatics based on microarray datasets. GSE 19943 and GSE 34095 datasets downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus data were used to screen the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in IDD. The correlation between microRNAs and target genes was investigated using different algorithms. The underlying molecular mechanisms of the target genes were then explored using Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway and Gene Ontology function enrichment analysis. A total of 9 differentially expressed microRNAs, including 3 down- and 6 upregulated microRNAs and 850 DEGs were identified in tissue from patients with IDD. Two regulation networks of the target genes by microRNAs were constructed, including 33 upregulated microRNA-target gene pairs and 4 downregulated microRNA-target gene pairs. Certain target genes had been demonstrated to be involved in IDD progression via various pathways, including in the cell cycle and pathways in cancer. In addition, two important microRNAs (microRNA-222 and microRNA-589) were identified that were pivotal for the development of IDD, and their target genes, CDKNAB and SMAD4. In conclusion, a comprehensive miRNA-target gene regulatory network was constructed, which was found to be important in IDD progression.
THE HYPERACTIVE L DWARF 2MASS J13153094−2649513: CONTINUED EMISSION AND A BROWN DWARF COMPANION

We report new observations of the unusually active, high proper motion L5e dwarf 2MASS J13153094−2649513. Optical spectroscopy with Magellan/MagE reveals persistent nonthermal emission, with narrow H i Balmer, Na i and K i lines all observed in emission. Low-resolution near-infrared spectroscopy with the Infrared Telescope Facility/SpeX Spectrograph indicates the presence of a low-temperature companion, which is resolved through multi-epoch laser guide star adaptive optics imaging at the W. M. Keck Observatory. The co-moving companion is separated by 338 ± 4 mas, and its relative brightness (ΔKs = 5.09 ± 0.10) makes this system the second-most-extreme flux ratio very-low-mass binary identified to date. Resolved near-infrared spectroscopy with Keck/OSIRIS identifies the companion as a T7 dwarf. The absence of Li i absorption in combined-light optical spectroscopy constrains the system age to ≳0.8–1.0 Gyr, while the system's kinematics and unusually low mass ratio (M2/M1 = 0.3–0.6) suggest that it is even older. A coevality test of the components also indicates an older age, but reveals discrepancies between evolutionary and atmosphere model fits of the secondary, which are likely attributable to poor reproduction of its near-infrared spectrum. With a projected separation of 6.6 ± 0.9 AU, the 2MASS J1315−2649 system is too widely separated for mass exchange or magnetospheric interactions to be powering its persistent nonthermal emission. Rather, the emission is probably chromospheric in nature, consistent with an inversion in the age–activity relation in which strong magnetic fields are maintained by relatively old and massive ultracool dwarfs.
Watching Sex on Television Predicts Adolescent Initiation of Sexual Behavior

Background. Early sexual initiation is an important social and health issue. A recent survey suggested that most sexually experienced teens wish they had waited longer to have intercourse; other data indicate that unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases are more common among those who begin sexual activity earlier. The American Academy of Pediatrics has suggested that portrayals of sex on entertainment television (TV) may contribute to precocious adolescent sex. Approximately two-thirds of TV programs contain sexual content. However, empirical data examining the relationships between exposure to sex on TV and adolescent sexual behaviors are rare and inadequate for addressing the issue of causal effects. Design and Participants. We conducted a national longitudinal survey of 1792 adolescents, 12 to 17 years of age. In baseline and 1-year follow-up interviews, participants reported their TV viewing habits and sexual experience and responded to measures of more than a dozen factors known to be associated with adolescent sexual initiation. TV viewing data were combined with the results of a scientific analysis of TV sexual content to derive measures of exposure to sexual content, depictions of sexual risks or safety, and depictions of sexual behavior (versus talk about sex but no behavior). Outcome Measures. Initiation of intercourse and advancement in noncoital sexual activity level, during a 1-year period. Results. Multivariate regression analysis indicated that adolescents who viewed more sexual content at baseline were more likely to initiate intercourse and progress to more advanced noncoital sexual activities during the subsequent year, controlling for respondent characteristics that might otherwise explain these relationships. The size of the adjusted intercourse effect was such that youths in the 90th percentile of TV sex viewing had a predicted probability of intercourse initiation that was approximately double that of youths in the 10th percentile, for all ages studied. Exposure to TV that included only talk about sex was associated with the same risks as exposure to TV that depicted sexual behavior. African American youths who watched more depictions of sexual risks or safety were less likely to initiate intercourse in the subsequent year. Conclusions. Watching sex on TV predicts and may hasten adolescent sexual initiation. Reducing the amount of sexual content in entertainment programming, reducing adolescent exposure to this content, or increasing references to and depictions of possible negative consequences of sexual activity could appreciably delay the initiation of coital and noncoital activities. Alternatively, parents may be able to reduce the effects of sexual content by watching TV with their teenaged children and discussing their own beliefs about sex and the behaviors portrayed. Pediatricians should encourage these family discussions.
Availability evaluation of IPTV services in roadside backbone networks with vehicle-to-infrastructure communication

Vehicular Networks represent one of the main topics in the communication systems area. Increased deployment of vehicular networks together with new possibilities for Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services has spurred the interest in providing mobile IPTV via vehicular networks. Provisioning of IPTV services over vehicular networks can be expected to play a significant role in the next generation of TV systems. Users will choose IPTV based on the Quality of Experience (QoE). Among QoE measures, TV channel availability is one of the most significant. In this paper, we investigate the channel availability in IPTV services with different traffic intensity and a varying number of TV channels offered to find out the acceptable availability of TV channels or the Call Blocking Probability (CBP) in our study. Comprehensive experiments are carried out by means of our own simulation tool, i.e., a Monte Carlo simulator to conduct the evaluations for numerous scenarios taking into account realistic IPTV user behavior.
Rapamycin sensitizes cancer cells to growth inhibition by the PARP inhibitor olaparib

Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPi) have been developed and tested in a context of combining it with double-stranded (ds) DNA repair defects or inhibitors, as PARP inhibitor impairs single-stranded (ss) DNA break repair, resulting in the activation of the dsDNA break repair machinery. Rapamycin has been widely prescribed for more than a decade and recent studies have revealed that it may inhibit dsDNA break repair. The combination of the PARP inhibitor olaparib and rapamycin synergistically inhibited cell proliferation in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells, and even in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells with BRCA1 mutations. Rad51, which forms a polymer on ssDNA upon dsDNA breaks, plays an essential role in homologous recombination. Olaparib induced Rad51 focus formation, while rapamycin successfully inhibited it both in vivo and in vitro, suggesting that this combination worked through the blocking of both ssDNA break repair and dsDNA break repair; hence the cells cannot go through the G2/M checkpoint. The protein level of PARP was a predictive marker for both PAR activity and Rad51 focus formation in this combination. Collectively, these data suggest that this combination could have therapeutic potential in the treatment of cancer with high PARP expression, or in combination with cytotoxic chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
Mobility-sensitive topology control in mobile ad hoc networks

In most existing localized topology control protocols for mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), each node selects a few logical neighbors based on location information and uses a small transmission range to cover those logical neighbors. Transmission range reduction conserves energy and bandwidth consumption, while still maintaining network connectivity. However, the majority of these approaches assume a static network without mobility. In a mobile environment network connectivity can be compromised by two types of "bad" location information: inconsistent information, which makes a node select too few logical neighbors, and outdated information, which makes a node use too small a transmission range. In this paper, we first show some issues in existing topology control. Then, we propose a mobility-sensitive topology control method that extends many existing mobility-insensitive protocols. Two mechanisms are introduced: consistent local views that avoid inconsistent information and delay and mobility management that tolerate outdated information. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is confirmed through an extensive simulation study
HLA-A locus mismatches and development of antibodies to HLA after lung transplantation correlate with the development of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome.

BACKGROUND Bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality after lung transplantation (LT). A retrospective analysis of clinical and immunologic variables were done to identify those that might predict the development of BOS. METHODS Of 112 LT performed over a 42-month interval, 94 survived at least 3 months and form the basis of this analysis. There was a minimum of 21 months follow-up. BOS was defined on the basis of declining spirometry (FEV1 <80% of baseline) and/or the presence of histologic obliterative bronchiolitis. All variables analyzed were subjected first to a univariate analysis; those variables appearing to carry significance were then subjected to a multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS Univariate analysis revealed the following to be predictors of the development of BOS: age (the probability of developing BOS declined with advancing age); donor/recipient HLA-A locus mismatch, with actuarial freedom from BOS being significantly greater with no A-locus mismatches versus cases with one or two mismatches (P=0.031); and development of anti-HLA antibodies after transplantation (P=0.006 vs. recipients without detectable antibodies). In multivariate analysis, only HLA locus mismatch and development of anti-HLA antibodies were significant independent predictors of the development of BOS. The remaining clinical variables (gender, type of LT, indication for LT, graft ischemic time, use of cardiopulmonary bypass, cytomegalovirus) and immunologic variables (crossmatch, frequent early acute rejection) did not correlate with the development of BOS. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that BOS is the result of an immune process, that differences at the HLA-A locus may play an important role in this process, and antibody-mediated injury may play a role in BOS.
Response of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) and IGFBP-3 to IGF-I treatment in severe insulin resistance.

It has been suggested that recombinant human IGF-I (rhIGF-I) is a potential therapeutic agent in diabetes mellitus. It is known to have glucose-lowering effects in normal individuals, in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes (NIDDM) and in extreme insulin-resistant states. IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) have the potential to affect the biological activity of rhIGF-I. We have studied the effect of infused rhIGF-I on IGFBP-1 and IGFBP-3 in a patient with Mendenhall's syndrome, a rare insulin-resistant state. During an infusion of 20 mg rhIGF-I, glucose concentrations fell from 44.1 +/- 7.2 to 31.5 +/- 7.2 (S.E.M.) mmol/l (P = 0.001), and insulin and C-peptide levels fell from 920 +/- 62 to 542 +/- 45 mU/l (P = 0.008) and 5466 +/- 633 to 3071 +/- 297 pmol/l (P = 0.02) respectively. Significant lowering of phosphate, magnesium and alkaline phosphatase concentrations was also noted. IGF-I levels rose from 48 +/- 10.2 to 410 +/- 50.1 micrograms/l (P = 0.001), and those of IGF-II fell from 279.8 +/- 8.3 to 104.3 +/- 7.9 micrograms/l (P = 0.001). IGFBP-1 concentrations did not significantly change during the infusion but those of IGFBP-3 increased from 1655 +/- 127 to 2197 +/- 334 micrograms/l (P = 0.002), despite a significant fall in GH concentrations from 10.7 +/- 2.6 to 4.1 +/- 1.1 mU/l (P = 0.007), suggesting that IGFBP-3 regulation is also IGF-I-dependent. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Context-aware recommender systems

Context-aware recommender systems (CARS) generate more relevant recommendations by adapting them to the specific contextual situation of the user. This article explores how contextual information can be used to create more intelligent and useful recommender systems. It provides an overview of the multifaceted notion of context, discusses several approaches for incorporating contextual information in recommendation process, and illustrates the usage of such approaches in several application areas where different types of contexts are exploited. The article concludes by discussing the challenges and future research directions for context-aware recommender systems.
Cortical allograft as a vehicle for antibiotic delivery

Background Infection can be a devastating complication after implantation of a cortical bone allograft. The allograft could act as a vehicle for local antibiotic prophylaxis. Material and methods We studied the release of antibiotics in vitro from cortical bone allografts impregnated with antibiotics for different periods of time. We also studied whether cortical allografts impregnated with antibiotics could eradicate Staphylococcus aureus from an experimentally infected graft in vivo. In the in vitro study, pieces of cortical bone were impregnated with netilmicin, vancomycin, ciprofloxacin and rifampicin for 1 h, 10 h and 100 h. The antibiotics were eluted into phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) for 7 days, with daily transfer of the bone into fresh PBS. In the in vivo study, cortical allografts impregnated with antibiotics were placed in rats intramuscularly. 10 μL of an S. aureus suspension (0.6 × 105 CFU) was placed in the intramedullary cavity. After 15 days, the allografts were removed and examined for bacterial growth. Results The amount of antibiotics released in vitro was influenced by the time used for antibiotic impregnation of the bone. Allografts impregnated with netilmicin, vancomycin and rifampicin effectively eradicated perioperative contamination with S. aureus in vivo. Interpretation This study shows that a cortical bone allograft would be an effective vehicle for local antibiotic delivery.
Tumor Antigen Cross-Presentation and the Dendritic Cell: Where it All Begins?

Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) that are critical for the generation of effective cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses; however, their function and phenotype are often defective or altered in tumor-bearing hosts, which may limit their capacity to mount an effective tumor-specific CTL response. In particular, the manner in which exogenous tumor antigens are acquired, processed, and cross-presented to CD8 T cells by DCs in tumor-bearing hosts is not well understood, but may have a profound effect on antitumor immunity. In this paper, we have examined the role of DCs in the cross-presentation of tumor antigen in terms of their subset, function, migration, and location with the intention of examining the early processes that contribute to the development of an ineffective anti-tumor immune response.
Regular Expressions with Counting: Weak versus Strong Determinism

We study deterministic regular expressions extended with the counting operator. There exist two notions of determinism, strong and weak determinism, which almost coincide for standard regular expressions. This, however, changes dramatically in the presence of counting. In particular, we show that weakly deterministic expressions with counting are exponentially more succinct and strictly more expressive than strongly deterministic ones, even though they still do not capture all regular languages. In addition, we present a finite automaton model with counters, study its properties and investigate the natural extension of the Glushkov construction translating expressions with counting into such counting automata. This translation yields a deterministic automaton if and only if the expression is strongly deterministic. These results then also allow to derive upper bounds for decision problems for strongly deterministic expressions with counting.
From good intentions to healthy habits: Towards integrated computational models of goal striving and habit formation

Computational models were developed in the ACT-R neurocognitive architecture to address some aspects of the dynamics of behavior change. The simulations aim to address the day-to-day goal achievement data available from mobile health systems. The models refine current psychological theories of self-efficacy, intended effort, and habit formation, and provide an account for the mechanisms by which goal personalization, implementation intentions, and remindings work.
Increased expression of c-jun, junB, AP-1, and preproenkephalin mRNA in rat striatum following a single injection of caffeine

The effect of a single injection of caffeine on the expression of c- fos, c-jun, junB, and junD, on activator protein 1 (AP-1) and on the levels of preproenkephalin mRNA in rat striatum was studied. Male rats were given caffeine (25 mg/kg, 50 mg/kg, or 100 mg/kg, i.p.) and sacrificed at different times (0.5, 1, 2, 4, or 8 hr) after administration. By using in situ hybridization of adjacent sections we found a rapid, transient, and dose-dependent increase of c-fos, c-jun, and junB by caffeine in striatum, especially in the lateral part. The induction peaked after 1 hr, but persisted for 2 hr, and in the case of junB for 4 hr. No induction of junD was found. A strong induction of junB, a weak induction of c-fos and c-jun, but not of junD, was seen in nucleus accumbens. Furthermore, by using gel shift assay we found an induction of AP-1 by caffeine (100 mg/kg) in striatum, which peaked 2 hr after administration and was clearly increased after 4 hr. c-Fos, c- Jun, and JunB proteins were components of the AP-1. There was also a dose-dependent induction of preproenkephalin mRNA, which was most pronounced in the lateral and caudal part of striatum; the level peaked 4 hr after injection and was still significantly increased after 8 hr. In a complementary study we could not find increased binding to the AP- 1-like site in the 5′-flanking sequence of proenkephalin following caffeine treatment. The data show that a single dose of caffeine induces a temporally and spatially characteristic pattern of c-fos, c- jun, and junB induction, followed by changes in AP-1 and preproenkephalin mRNA. Thus, a single dose of caffeine causes changes in gene transcription in the brain that may be related to the adaptive changes that occur after caffeine administration. However, a direct causal link between the immediate early genes and enkephalin could not be proven.