Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On Workload-driven Router Designs

Over the past 15 years, the number of networks connected to the Internet, also called Autonomous Systems (ASes), grew at least by a factor of ten. Accordingly, estimations of the global IP tra c further emphasize this trend with a growth by four orders of magnitude. All this puts persistent pressure toward the core infrastructure of the Internet which is required to keep up with the increasing tra c demand. Consequently, Internet routers need to maintain dynamic forwarding information for a large number of networks in a very fast memory, such that a destination lookup operation can be performed on each incoming packet at speed to comply with the low-latency requirements in Internet Service Provider (ISP) networks. The hardly foreseeable, indispensable capacity of this type of specialized memory and the di culties involved in handling the churn in its contents are primary obstacles in Internet router scalability, notably their price tag and energy consumption. In this thesis we rely on insights derived from Internet measurements to design a router architecture that relaxes the requirements for fast destination lookup memory. Firstly, a very small fraction of all networks (IP prefixes) capture most of the tra c — an opportunity for tra c o✏oading. Secondly, the Forwarding Information Base (FIB) can be compressed — an opportunity to reduce FIB memory requirements. Based on these observations we propose a novel IP router design that follows the split architecture paradigm; separating control from data plane functionality. The control plane is a complex, software-centric system that runs routing protocol daemons and acts as the data plane controller. The data plane on the other hand is a specialized, hardware-centric forwarding engine that provides the required primitives for IP routing. A communication channel constitutes a bridge connecting the two entities. Advances in open-source software routers as well as programmable switches enable us to build an IP router prototype that follows our design principles. The emergent developments in the Software Defined Networking (SDN) community and the OpenFlow protocol in particular match the needs of the communication channel and let us demonstrate the feasibility of our design. To complete the study of our prototype, we implement a framework that allows to spot critical performance impairments of OpenFlow-enabled switches. In this dissertation we raise the point that e cient and scalable router designs can be found by leveraging knowledge about router workload properties, i.e., Internet tra c. Accordingly, we conduct an extensive study of Internet tra c as seen by a large European Internet Exchange Point (IXP). The business model of an IXP is to provide a switching fabric that allows a large number of ASes to establish peering relationships and to exchange tra c. Member ASes connect their routers to the IXP’s switching fabric and announce IP prefix-based forwarding information to one another. The large number of neighboring routers that a single member router peers
Improving land sector governance in Nigeria : implementation of the land governance assessment framework

Nigeria is covered by two major types of vegetation: (i) the forest types consisting of mangrove swamp, freshwater swamp, and the tropical rainforest dominantly found in the south; and (ii) the savanna types consisting of Guinea, derived, Sudan, and Sahel savanna covering the middle belt and northern part of Nigeria. In spite of the rich endowments, Nigeria is still facing a lot of development challenges. The basic legal framework on land, the land use act (a federal enactment attached to the Constitution) has prescribed that all land in Nigeria within the territory of each state of the federation is vested in the control and management of the state governor in question. The inclusion of Nigeria as one of the six countries benefiting from the World Bank and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and other partner organizations in this land governance assessment framework (LGAF) pilot study at this point in time is one of the best things to happen to Nigeria and especially, to the Presidential Technical Committee on Land Reforms (PTCLR). Designed as a diagnostic instrument for rapid national evaluation of various aspects of land governance, the LGAF is to be implemented by in-country experts. The LGAF study started in February 2011 in Nigeria. The Nigerian study included a complementary module on large scale land acquisition (LSLA) with 16 dimensions.
Antioxidant properties of edible basidiomycete Phellinus igniarius in submerged cultures.

UNLABELLED Dried mycelia and mycelia-free broths produced by submerged cultures of Phellinus igniarius under optimal culture conditions were extracted using methanol and hot water and investigated for antioxidant properties. Methanolic extracts from dried mycelia (MEM) and mycelia-free broth (MEB) showed significant antioxidant properties for all EC(50) values less than 10 mg/mL except for MEB in scavenging effects on DPPH radicals. Hot water extracts from dried mycelia (HWEM) were evidenced by their low EC(50) values (<10 mg/mL) to be effective in reducing power, chelating effect on ferrous ions, and scavenging effect on superoxide anions. alpha-tocopherol was mainly found in MEM and gamma-tocopherol in MEB. Ascorbic acid and total flavonoids were abundant in methanolic extracts (MEM + MEB), whereas total phenols were rich in HWEM. An excellent correlation between contents of total phenols and EC(50) values was accomplished for antioxidant activity (R(2)= 0.996) and chelating ferrous ions ability (R(2)= 0.922). PRACTICAL APPLICATION In our paper, the products by submerged culture of Phellinus igniarius exhibited powerful antioxidant properties. Results told that extracts from fermenting products by P. igniarius might be good sources for antioxidant-related functional foods and pharmaceutical industries.
Effects of glycyrrhizin on the pharmacokinetics of puerarin in rats

Abstract 1. Puerarin has been reported to possess a wide range of pharmacological activities. This study investigated the effects of glycyrrhizin on the pharmacokinetics of puerarin in rats. 2. The pharmacokinetics of orally administered puerarin (50 mg/kg) with or without glycyrrhizin pretreatment (100 mg/kg/day for 7 days) were investigated. The plasma concentration of puerarin was determined using a sensitive and reliable LC-MS/MS method. The pharmacokinetics profiles were calculated and compared. Additionally, a Caco-2 cell transwell model was used to investigate the potential mechanism of glycyrrhizin’s effects on the pharmacokinetics of puerarin. 3. The results showed that when the rats were pretreated with glycyrrhizin, the maximum concentration (Cmax) of puerarin decreased from 761.25 ± 52.34 to 456.32 ± 34.75 ng/mL, and the area under the concentration–time curve from zero to infinity (AUC0–inf) also decreased from 4142.15 ± 558.51 to 2503.74 ± 447.57 μg·h/L. The oral clearance of puerarin increased significantly from 12.20 ± 1.53 to 20.47 ± 3.25 L/h/kg (p < 0.05). The Caco-2 cell transwell experiments indicated that glycyrrhizin could increase the efflux ratio of puerarin from 1.88 to 3.14. 4. In conclusion, these results indicated that glycyrrhizin could affect the pharmacokinetics of puerarin, possibly by decreasing the systemic exposure of puerarin by inducing the activity of P-gp.
‘It’s not mind blowing really….it’s about keeping people happy’: the perceptions of player welfare managers in Rugby Super League

Abstract At a time when the welfare needs of individuals within powerful organisations, such as professional sport, are being scrutinised it is appropriate to look at what is being done to support athletes and what more may be needed. The RFL, in recognition of the need for welfare support, introduced player welfare managers to all Super League clubs in 2011. Using an interpretivist approach, we report the findings from a series of semi-structured interviews with player welfare managers (PWMs) that explored the PWMs’ perceptions of player welfare, what impact they believe they are having on player welfare, and what else is needed to enhance the service. The PWMs perceive that they have been an important resource for players, independent of the club and coaches, which has allowed players to seek support for a range of issues. The use of the services provided by PWMs increased over the time between interviews, this, it is thought, is due in part to a change of culture within the sport. The PWMs felt the head coach, along with the backing of the club, and the RFL structure were important in the services being accessible and accepted. The PWMs were struggling to meet the demands of their job roles, which were largely part time. However, since the results of this and other studies were made accessible to the RFL, large-scale changes to welfare provision have been made, including making the PWMs’ posts full-time. This is seen as an important contribution and commitment to players’ welfare needs.
Turbo codes for satellite and wireless ATM

In connection oriented networks such as asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), small fixed-size cells are sent, so the choice of turbo codes which have block codes as component codes is suitable. We present a turbo coding scheme using Reed-Muller (RM) codes as component codes. In particular, we design the code in such a way as to match the structure of the ATM (and ATM-like) cells by shortening the RM turbo codes. The performance of these turbo codes and their shortened versions with different shortening patterns are investigated. We also consider the problem of carrier phase recovery when the proposed turbo coding scheme is used with quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK) modulation. The effects of phase offset and preamble size on the performance of shortened turbo code are reported.
Chloride ion transport in the isolated ciliary body.

Unidirectional chloride ion jiuxes were measured in the cat ciliary body isolated as a living membrane in vitro. A statistically significant net chloride ion influx (nutrient to secretory) was demonstrated both in the presence of the spontaneous membrane potential and in short-circuited membranes. The isotopically measured net chloride ion influx exceeded the short-circuit current of the membrane, which implied the existence of a net transport of other ion(s). Comparison of the sodium and chloride partial conductances with the total membrane conductance also suggested the existence of other conductive ionic transport. The active transport of chloride ions explains the polarity of the membrane potential observed in vitro, in which the ciliary epithelial surface of the membrane is electronegative relative to its stromal (scleral) surface. The invitro active chloride ion transport also correlates well with the chemically demonstrated excess of chloride in the aqueous humor over that required for thermodynamic equilibrium with plasma. The chloride ion transport system is discussed in relation to its possible importance as a target system for the action of acetazolamide.
Frequent Cross-Resistance to Dapivirine in HIV-1 Subtype C-Infected Individuals after First-Line Antiretroviral Therapy Failure in South Africa

ABSTRACT A vaginal ring containing dapivirine (DPV) has shown moderate protective efficacy against HIV-1 acquisition, but the activity of DPV against efavirenz (EFV)- and nevirapine (NVP)-resistant viruses that could be transmitted is not well defined. We investigated DPV cross-resistance of subtype C HIV-1 from individuals on failing NVP- or EFV-containing antiretroviral therapy (ART) in South Africa. Plasma samples were obtained from individuals with >10,000 copies of HIV RNA/ml and with HIV-1 containing at least one non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase (NNRTI) mutation. Susceptibility to NVP, EFV, and DPV in TZM-bl cells was determined for recombinant HIV-1LAI containing bulk-amplified, plasma-derived, full-length reverse transcriptase sequences. Fold change (FC) values were calculated compared with a composite 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) from 12 recombinant subtype C HIV-1LAI plasma-derived viruses from treatment-naive individuals in South Africa. A total of 25/100 (25%) samples showed >500-FCs to DPV compared to treatment-naive samples with IC50s exceeding the maximum DPV concentration tested (132 ng/ml). A total of 66/100 (66%) samples displayed 3- to 306-FCs, with a median IC50 of 17.6 ng/ml. Only 9/100 (9%) samples were susceptible to DPV (FC < 3). Mutations L100I and K103N were significantly more frequent in samples with >500-fold resistance to DPV compared to samples with a ≤500-fold resistance. A total of 91% of samples with NNRTI-resistant HIV-1 from individuals on failing first-line ART in South Africa exhibited ≥3-fold cross-resistance to DPV. This level of resistance exceeds expected plasma concentrations, but very high genital tract DPV concentrations from DPV ring use could block viral replication. It is critically important to assess the frequency of transmitted and selected DPV resistance in individuals using the DPV ring.
Opiate Treatment in Depression Refractory to Antidepressants and Electroconvulsive Therapy

CASE REPORT The 24-year-old female college student was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder in 2003 after 2 episodes with auditory hallucinations, delusions of persecution, social withdrawal, hostility, and depressive mood. She was then treated with olanzapine, which resolved her productive symptoms. Because of severe weight gain, the antipsychotic medication was switched to risperidone (6 mg/d) in 2004. With the beginning of 2005, the patient developed a major depressive episode. She therefore discontinued risperidone therapy that subsequently led to the reoccurrence of psychotic symptoms. The patient was admitted to our hospital in March 2005, where she received aripiprazole (30 mg/d) and citalopram (20 mg/d). Under this combination therapy, her depression resolved, but she still reported minor auditory hallucinations, which, according to the patient, did not bother her, and she was discharged from our hospital. Although the patient achieved a relatively stable condition on aripiprazole, it was discontinued 1 year later, and she was prescribed quetiapine (1200 mg/d), followed by ziprasidone (200 mg/d) and, finally, amisulpride (400 mg/d). All these antipsychotics showed to be insufficient to resolve her psychotic symptoms efficiently. Against the background of noncompliance and the development of a new psychotic episode, the patient was admitted to our general acute psychiatric ward in December 2006. She reported depressive mood, insomnia, and auditory hallucinations. Because aripiprazole was the only atypical antipsychotic she felt comfortable with and showed compliance before, she agreed to take aripiprazole again. A few days after the patient received 30 mg/d of aripiprazole, the patient reported an increased sexual desire and uncontrollable urge to masturbate. There were no signs of a manic episode, and the aripiprazole plasma level was within normal limits. Concomitant medication at that time was citalopram and chlorprothixene. The patient indicated that she had the same experience in 2005, the first time she received aripiprazole. Before taking aripiprazole, she had a low sexual drive and interest, for which she called her disease and the medical treatment into account. At a follow-up visit 3 months later, the patient continued to report elevated libido and an unstoppable sexual desire around 2 to 3 times a week.
IT Infrastructure Transformation and its Impact on IT Capabilities in the Cloud Computing Context

The advent of cloud computing has transformed the way companies managing their information technology (IT) and information systems (IS). Cloud computing provides three different service models, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). This study was aimed to analyse the effects of IT infrastructure transformation into IaaS model on the changes in IT management capabilities. Based on the literature review, a research framework was developed. The framework suggests four IT capabilities components that can contribute to organizational agility, namely IT supply management, IT-business partnership, IT proactive posture and Change readiness IT capability. The framework was used to guide a case study to collect empirical data in a telecommunication company in Indonesia. Analysing the results of the case study, changes in the organization’s IT capabilities as the impact of IaaS adoption were discussed. This study provides insights into efforts to develop the required IT capabilities in order to realise the benefits from cloud computing adoption, in particular the IaaS.
Accounting information comparability, demand differences and cross-firm information transfer

ABSTRACT Studies of the economic consequences of accounting information comparability mainly focus on the level of the individual firm. There is little direct empirical evidence that investors use comparability for cross-firm investment. This paper empirically examines the impact of accounting information comparability on cross-firm information transfer from the perspective of investor information demand. We find that increases in comparability can facilitate the transfer of earnings information across firms, regardless of whether the investor uses the information to expect unknown or verify existing information. However, when the reliability of accounting information changes, the role of comparability is different. We also find that property rights and the information environment affect comparability’s influence. Finally, the use of comparable information by investors will reduce the market response to the firm’s earnings information. In summary, comparability plays an important role in investors’ acquisition and use of external information to assess a firm’s value. Our study provides a more comprehensive understanding of the economic consequences of accounting information comparability and has important implications for corporate information disclosure and government regulation.
Permanent endovascular balloon occlusion of the vertebral artery as an adjunct to the surgical resection of selected cervical spine tumors: A single center experience

Background and purpose Complete surgical resection of cervical spine tumors is often challenging when there is tumor encasement of major neck vessels. Pre-operative endovascular sacrifice of the major vessels can facilitate safe tumor resection. The use of transarterial detachable coils has been described in this setting, but it can be time-consuming and costly to occlude a patent parent vessel using this method. Our aim was to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of our endovascular detachable balloon occlusion technique, performed without prior balloon test occlusion in the pre-operative management of these tumors. Methods We retrospectively reviewed 18 consecutive patients undergoing pre-operative unilateral permanent endovascular balloon occlusion of tumor-encased vertebral arteries in our institution. Procedure-related ischemic or thromboembolic complication was defined as focal neurologic deficit attributable to the endovascular occlusion which occurs before subsequent surgical resection. Results Successful pre-operative endovascular vertebral artery sacrifice using detachable balloons was achieved in 100% (n = 18) of cases without prior balloon test occlusion. Procedural complication rate was 5.6% as one patient developed transient focal neurology secondary to a delayed cerebellar infarct at home on day 11 and subsequently made a full recovery. There were no cases of distal balloon migration. Complete macroscopic resection of tumor as reported by the operating surgeon was achieved in 89% of cases. Conclusion Pre-operative endovascular sacrifice of the vertebral artery using detachable balloons and without prior balloon test occlusion is a safe procedure with low complication rates and good surgeon reported rates of total resection.
Fermentation kinetics and ethanol production from different sweet sorghum varieties.

Abstract: In recent years bioethanol fuels derived from agricultural biomass resources or waste have been considered the cleanest liquid fuel alternative to fossil fuels. Ethanol consumption is expected to reach 11.2 billion gallons by 2012. Sweet sorghum, grown in the Southeast and Midwest states in US, contains 14%-20% fermentable sugar and is an ideal feedstock, owing to its ease of fermentation by yeast. The objectives of this research were to perform kinetic studies to determine the factors that may affect the rates of sugar consumption and ethanol production during fermentation of two varieties of sweet sorghum juice, Variety 1 (V-1) and Variety 2 (V-2), and to optimize the fermentation efficiency and ethanol production by varying strategies to process the juice before fermentation. Kinetic parameters of fermentation provide total sugar consumption rate of 3.4 g/(L
EAACI/GA2LEN/EDF guideline: management of urticaria

This guideline is the result of a consensus reached during a panel discussion at the second International Consensus Meeting on Urticara, Urticaria 2004, a joint initiative of the EAACI Dermatology Section and GA2LEN. Urticaria has a profound impact on the quality of life, and effective treatment is therefore required. The recommended first line treatment are nonsedating H1 antihistamines. They have proven to be effective in double‐blind controlled studies, but dosages increased up to fourfold over the recommended doses may be necessary. However, for different urticaria subtypes and in view of individual variation in the course of the disease and response to treatment, additional or alternative therapies may be required. Immunosuppressive drugs like cyclosporin A and corticosteroids are not recommended for long‐term treatment due to unavoidable severe adverse effects. This guideline was, in addition, accepted by the European Dermatology Forum (EDF) and formally approved by the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS).
Lay Theories About Social Class Buffer Lower-Class Individuals Against Poor Self-Rated Health and Negative Affect

The economic conditions of one’s life can profoundly and systematically influence health outcomes over the life course. Our present research demonstrates that rejecting the notion that social class categories are biologically determined—a nonessentialist belief—buffers lower-class individuals from poor self-rated health and negative affect, whereas conceiving of social class categories as rooted in biology—an essentialist belief—does not. In Study 1, lower-class individuals self-reported poorer health than upper-class individuals when they endorsed essentialist beliefs but showed no such difference when they rejected such beliefs. Exposure to essentialist theories of social class also led lower-class individuals to report greater feelings of negative self-conscious emotions (Studies 2 and 3), and perceive poorer health (Study 3) than upper-class individuals, whereas exposure to nonessentialist theories did not lead to such differences. Discussion considers how lay theories of social class potentially shape long-term trajectories of health and affect of lower-class individuals.