Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Current Trends and the Future of Software-Managed On-Chip Memories in Modern Processors

Processors are unable to achieve significant gains in speed using the conventional methods. For example increasing the clock rate increases the average access time to on-chip caches which in turn lowers the average number of instructions per cycle of the processor. On-chip memory system will be the major bottleneck in future processors. Software managed on-chip memories (SMCs) are on-chip caches where software can explicitly read and write some or all of the memory references within a block of caches. This paper analyzes the current trends for optimizing the use of these SMCs. We separate and compare these trends based on general classifications developed during our study. The paper not only serves as a collection of recent references, information and classifications for easy comparison and analysis but also as a motivation for improving the SMC management framework for embedded systems. It will also make a first step towards making them useful for general purpose multicore processors.
Safety of Oral Propranolol for the Treatment of Infantile Hemangioma: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Given the widespread use of propranolol in infantile hemangioma (IH) it was considered essential to perform a systematic review of its safety. The objectives of this review were to evaluate the safety profile of oral propranolol in the treatment of IH. METHODS: We searched Embase and Medline databases (2007–July 2014) and unpublished data from the manufacturer of Hemangiol/Hemangeol (marketed pediatric formulation of oral propranolol; Pierre Fabre Dermatologie, Lavaur, France). Selected studies included ≥10 patients treated with oral propranolol for IH and that either reported ≥1 adverse event or effect (AE) or planned to capture AEs. Data capture was standardized and extracted study design, demographic characteristics, IH characteristics, intervention, and safety outcomes. AEs were assigned a system organ class and preferred term. RESULTS: A total of 83 of 398 identified literature records met the inclusion criteria, covering 3766 propranolol-treated patients. The manufacturer’s data for 3 pooled clinical trials (435 propranolol-treated patients) and 1 Compassionate Use Program (1661 patients) were included. AE data were reported for 1945 of 5862 propranolol-treated patients. The most frequently reported AEs included a range of sleep disturbances, peripheral coldness, and agitation. The most serious AEs (atrioventricular block, bradycardia, hypotension, bronchospasm/bronchial hyperreactivity, and hypoglycemia-related seizures) were managed by decreasing doses or temporary/permanent discontinuation of propranolol. Limitations included the variety of included study designs; monitoring, collection, and reporting of AE data; small sample sizes for some articles; and the wide scope of review. CONCLUSIONS: Oral propranolol is well tolerated if appropriate pretreatment assessments and within-treatment monitoring are performed to exclude patients with contraindications and to minimize serious side effects during treatment.
Predominant role of the 9-hydroxy metabolite of risperidone in elevating blood prolactin levels.

OBJECTIVE The atypical antipsychotic risperidone significantly raises plasma prolactin levels in patients, but clozapine, olanzapine, and quetiapine do not. The differences in neuroendocrine response may be connected with the metabolism of the medications. The authors examined the contributory role of risperidone's active metabolite 9-hydroxy-risperidone by measuring plasma concentrations of risperidone, 9-hydroxy-risperidone, and prolactin. METHOD Blood samples taken from 25 patients with psychotic disorders following 6 weeks of treatment with risperidone (mean dose=3 mg/day) were examined. Mean plasma concentrations of risperidone, 9-hydroxy-risperidone, and prolactin were 4.6, 19.4, and 49.3 ng/ml, respectively. RESULTS The oral dose of risperidone correlated significantly with plasma concentrations of risperidone, 9-hydroxy-risperidone, active moiety, and prolactin. The plasma concentration of 9-hydroxy-risperidone, but not of risperidone, correlated significantly with increases in plasma prolactin. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that the 9-hydroxy metabolite plays a predominant role in risperidone's effect on prolactin release.
Is there any association between impaired health-related quality of life and non-adherence to medical therapy in inflammatory bowel disease?

Abstract Objectives. Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) have a huge impact on the patients' lives and require continuous medication and long-term medical follow-up. The Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) is a commonly used questionnaire measuring health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Our aim was to evaluate whether HRQOL influences medication adherence and vice versa in IBD patients, and to find relationships between demographic parameters, therapeutic modalities and non-adherence or HRQOL. Patients and methods. Five hundred ninety-two IBD patients treated at six Hungarian tertiary centers were enrolled. Patients completed the SF-36 questionnaire and a medication adherence report scale during their visits. The associations between demographic parameters, HRQOL, different kinds of therapies and non-adherence were analyzed. Results. The most affected dimension was physical functioning and least affected were the social functions. About 42.7% of the patients revealed their HRQOL to be acceptable. About 74.6% of the patients believed that the prescribed medications actually improved their HRQOL. Diarrhea was the most common and most severe symptom during the course of the disease. Non-adherence was reported in 13.4% of the patients. ‘Forgetting to take the medication' was the main reason for non-adherence in 67.6% of the cases. Medication adherence was significantly higher among nonsmoker patients, and also in the case of immunomodulator therapy. There was no association between the sum of HRQOL and different subscores and non-adherence. Conclusion. Inflammatory bowel disease is associated with low HRQOL, which is not affected by drug therapy. The impaired quality of life in IBD is mainly influenced by the disease itself.
Occipitocervical Fusion Using Recombinant Human Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2: Adverse Effects due to Tissue Swelling and Seroma

Study Design. Case presentation and literature review. Objective. To review the safety of using INFUSE bone graft (recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 applied to an absorbable collagen sponge) in occipitocervical (OC) fusion. Summary of Background Data. Although INFUSE bone graft is currently approved for use in certain tibial fractures, oral maxillary procedures, and anterior lumbar interbody fusion, it has been extensively used “off-label” in posterolateral lumbar and anterior cervical fusions. INFUSE is highly effective in promoting cervical spine fusion via an anterior approach, but its potential role in promoting bony fusion in posterior cervical or OC fixation has not been studied. Methods. A 53-year-old woman with basilar invagination underwent OC fixation using INFUSE bone graft. Three days after surgery she experienced neurologic decline associated with significant tissue swelling and a large postoperative seroma under significant pressure. She made excellent recovery after reoperation and drainage. An extensive review of the literature was performed to propose a modified approach to the use of INFUSE in OC fixation. Results. Proper dosing and delivery of INFUSE for posterior cervical/OC fixation is not currently known. Previously published experience with anterior cervical fusion suggests that INFUSE can have potent inflammatory effects on paraspinal soft tissue. Conclusion. INFUSE should only be used for OC fixation in patients at elevated risk of nonunion. To prevent complications due to soft tissue swelling, consideration should be given to preventing direct exposure of INFUSE to paraspinal musculature, prolonged soft tissue drainage, and prophylactic treatment with perioperative steroid therapy.
Free Radical Scavenging and Antioxidant Activities of Silymarin Components

Silymarin is an over the counter food supplement that is sold as a liver enhancement and liver protection preparation. It is a major constituent of the seeds of Silybum marianum which is composed of a mixture of seven major components and several minor compounds. The seven major components: taxifolin, silychristin, silydianin, silybin A, silybin B, iso-silybin A and iso-silybin B were isolated and purified from the crude mixture of silymarin using preparative high performance liquid chromatography to determine which were the most effective for liver protection. Free radical scavenging, hydroxyl radical antioxidant capacity, oxygen radical antioxidant capacity, trolox-equivalent antioxidant capacity and total antioxidant capacity antioxidant activities were determined for each of the individual purified components as well as the crude silymarin mixture. Taxifolin was the most effective component for scavenging free radicals in the DPPH assay with an EC50 of 32 µM far more effective than all other components which showed EC50 ranging from 115 to 855 µM. Taxifolin was also found to be the most effective antioxidant in the oxygen radical antioxidant capacity (ORAC) assay with a trolox equivalent of 2.43 and the second most effective in the hydroxyl radical antioxidant capacity (HORAC) assay with a gallic acid equivalent of 0.57. Other antioxidants assays did not show significant differences between samples.
Homing Receptors and the Control of Lymphocyte Migration

The traffic of lymphocytes is controlled in part by the selective interaction of circulating lymphocytes with specialized high endothelial venule (HEV) cells at sites of lymphocyte exit from the blood. At least three independent receptor systems are responsible for controlling lymphocyte traffic to different lymphoid organs or to sites of inflammation: one mediates lymphocyte interaction with HEV in peripheral lymph nodes, another in mucosa-associated lymphoid tissues, and a third in inflamed synovium. The receptors mediating lymphocyte recognition of HEV in different organs appear to be structurally related yet antigenically and functionally distinct 90 kD glycoproteins. Receptors for lymph node HEV can function as mammalian lectins, and probably interact with specific carbohydrate ligands on high endothelial cells. Mouse and human homing receptors share both antigenic and structural features, indicating a high conservation of lymphocyte-endothelial recognition systems during evolution. They play an essential part in the immune process by controlling lymphocyte traffic during B- and T-cell differentiation, and by segregating effector cells derived from stimulation in different tissues, thus simultaneously increasing the efficiency of organ-specific immune responses and decreasing possibilities for autoimmune crossreactions. Homing receptors are also expressed by many mouse and human lymphoid neoplasms, and appear to play a role in lymphoma metastasis. Related if not identical receptors are expressed by other leukocyte types, including polymorphonuclear leukocytes, monocytes, and large granular lymphocytes (natural killer cells). Thus lymphocyte homing receptors are members of a family of glycoprotein receptors for endothelium that control the extravasation of lymphocytes as well as other leukocytes, and help regulate both non-specific and specific immune responses in vivo.
Monte Carlo study of titration of linear polyelectrolytes

An off‐lattice Metropolis Monte Carlo algorithm with reptation is used to find the average fractional ionization ᾱ as a function of pH for a generic ionizable linear polyelectrolyte in a salt solution. The polyelectrolyte is treated as a threefold rotational isomeric state model polymer; each unit can bear a negative charge or not with intrinsic ionization constant pKa. Debye–Huckel screening is assumed between the charges. For computational convenience, the dielectric constant of the polymer is taken to be that of the solvent. The number of units N was either 50 or 100. Monte Carlo results were collected for various Debye screening lengths at six combinations of number of chain units N, bond angle θ, and Manning parameter when fully charged, ξ0. For four of the combinations, ξ0 was 1 to take partial account of counterion condensation. These runs had N and θ of 50 and 1°, 50 and 70°, 100 and 1°, and 100 and 70°. The fifth combination had N=50, θ=70°, and ξ0=2.85. The sixth had N=50, θ=27.34°, and ξ0=0.72,.
Historic decline in primary productivity in western Gulf of Alaska and eastern Bering Sea: isotopic analysis of northern fur seal teeth

The cause(s) for the declines in marine mammal populations in the North Pacific and Bering Sea over the past 30 yr are unknown, despite progress in understanding the present ecology of this system. Explanations that attribute the declines to long-term decreases in marine productivity and/or short-term shifts in oceanographic conditions have been offered, but few studies have explored the issue from an explicitly historical perspective. Here we present a high-resolution, 52 yr time series of δ 13 C and δ 15 N values for teeth of juvenile male northern fur seal Callorhinus ursinus collected from a single colony on Saint Paul Island, Alaska in the eastern Bering Sea. Mean annual δ 13 C declined by ~1.1‰ from 1948 to 2000, while long-term mean annual δ 15 N did not significantly change. The relatively small but significant long-term decrease in δ 13 C most likely reflects anthro- pogenically-driven changes in surface ocean carbon reservoirs and not a decline in primary produc- tivity in the North Pacific and Bering Sea system. To assess short-term shifts in the time series, we de- trended the δ 13 C data; the δ 15 N time series did not require a correction. The corrected δ 13 C and uncorrected δ 15 N values showed low amplitude oscillations with a frequency of ~20 to 25 yr that are roughly in phase through time. The relative timing of these oscillations suggest they may be driven by shifts in the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO); however, the frequency of cycles in our time series is approximately half as long as the frequency of the PDO. Finally, mean δ 13 C and δ 15 N values sug- gest that juvenile males modify their migration patterns by Age 3 (GL3, the third year of growth). Specifically, they remain in high-latitude waters year-round (southern Bering Sea and/or western Gulf of Alaska).
An enhanced on-wafer millimeter-wave noise parameter measurement system

A novel on-wafer resistive noise source, useful for noise characterization of microwave devices with the cold noise power measurement technique, is described. The noise source enhances measurement accuracy by providing a calibrated noise temperature directly at the device reference plane. A procedure for determining the excess noise ratio of the noise source is presented and validated up to 40 GHz. The noise source is employed in an on-wafer measurement system, allowing the noise parameters of two-port devices to be extracted. Following a description of the apparatus and measurement procedure, an example of a high-electron-mobility transistor noise parameter measurement at millimeter-wave frequencies is presented.
Ethanol Decreases Negative Cell-cycle-regulating Proteins in a Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cell Line

Epidemiologic studies have provided evidence of an alcohol-associated increased risk of upper aerodigestive tract cancers. Recently we reported ethanol-induced proliferation in a squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) cell line, but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. In order to further clarify these findings, major G0/G1-regulating proteins were investigated in the present study. Synchronized cells of a SCCHN line (JP-PA) and a human immortalized keratinocyte line (HaCaT)--used as a control--were cultured with or without 10 -3 M ethanol for up to 96 h. At distinct time intervals the expression of cyclin D1 and the inhibitors p16, p18, p19 and p21 were determined by Western blot analyses. In both lines ethanol had no influence on the protein expression of cyclin D1. In contrast, distinct downregulations of p21, p18 and p19 were detectable at the protein level. The p16 protein was not expressed in the SCCHN line and was unchanged in the control line after the addition of ethanol. In these in vitro experiments the marked downregulation of important cell-cycle inhibitors may accelerate progression from the G1 to the S phase of the cell cycle. The relevance of our findings to in vivo conditions remains speculative, but the observed mechanisms of significantly reduced expression of cell-cycle inhibitor proteins may be involved in the carcinogenesis of head and neck malignancies.
The Impact of Minimum Wages on Labour Market Transitions

We investigate differences in labour market transition rates between high and low minimum wage regimes using Canadian data spanning 1979–2008. We find that higher minimum wages result in lower hiring rates but also lower job separation rates. Importantly, the reduced separation rates are due mainly to reductions in layoffs, occur in the first six months of a job and are present for unskilled workers of all ages. Thus, jobs in higher minimum wage regimes are more stable but harder to get. For older workers, these effects are almost exactly offsetting, resulting in little impact on the employment rate.
Activation of Corneal Fibroblast–Derived Matrix Metalloproteinase-2 by Tryptase

Purpose: The presence of the active form of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and an increased concentration of tryptase are characteristics of tear fluid of individuals with vernal keratoconjunctivitis. Although tryptase does not mediate the activation of purified MMP-2, we have now examined whether it might activate MMP-2 in the presence of cultured human corneal fibroblasts. Methods: Corneal fibroblasts were cultured in the absence or presence of tryptase, and the activation status of MMP-2 was determined by gelatin zymography. Results: MMP-2 released from corneal fibroblasts was activated by exogenous tryptase. This effect was not mediated by protease-activated receptor 2 or the plasmin-plasminogen system, and it was not apparent on incubation of tryptase with medium conditioned by corneal fibroblasts. It was inhibited by tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-2 but not by TIMP-1. Conclusions: Tryptase activates MMP-2 released from corneal fibroblasts. This action requires the presence of the cells themselves and might be responsible for the presence of activated MMP-2 in tear fluid of individuals with vernal keratoconjunctivitis.
Combining satellite observations and reanalysis energy transports to estimate global net surface energy fluxes 1985–2012

Two methods are developed to estimate net surface energy fluxes based upon satellite‐derived reconstructions of radiative fluxes at the top of atmosphere and the atmospheric energy tendencies and transports from the ERA‐Interim reanalysis. Method 1 applies the mass‐adjusted energy divergence from ERA‐Interim, while method 2 estimates energy divergence based upon the net energy difference at the top of atmosphere and the surface from ERA‐Interim. To optimize the surface flux and its variability over ocean, the divergences over land are constrained to match the monthly area mean surface net energy flux variability derived from a simple relationship between the surface net energy flux and the surface temperature change. The energy divergences over the oceans are then adjusted to remove an unphysical residual global mean atmospheric energy divergence. The estimated net surface energy fluxes are compared with other data sets from reanalysis and atmospheric model simulations. The spatial correlation coefficients of multiannual means between the estimations made here and other data sets are all around 0.9. There are good agreements in area mean anomaly variability over the global ocean, but discrepancies in the trend over the eastern Pacific are apparent.
Genetic relationships between milk yield, somatic cell count, mastitis, milkability and leakage in Finnish dairy cattle population

Heritabilities and genetic and phenotypic correlations were estimated for subjectively scored milkability and leakage, clinically recorded mastitis, somatic cell score (SCS) and milk production using data from Finnish sire sampling program, health and milk recording system. Four sets of data were analyzed using multi-trait REML included in DMU-package with sire model. The data consisted of 23,854 Finnish Ayrshire (FAY) and 10,720 Finnish Hostein-Friesian (FHF) cows. Records of clinically recorded mastitis, SCS and milk production for three first lactation were used. Observations of milkability and leakage were collected from first calving cows. The estimated heritabilities for clinically recorded mastitis were low (0.01 0.02). The heritability estimate of leakage was 0.08. For milkability, heritability estimates were 0.24 for FAY and 0.16 for FHF. The heritabilities of SCS varied between 0.14 and 0.23. The phenotypic correlations were low (-0.11 0.29). The genetic correlations between milkability, leakage and SCS were from moderate to high positive (0.22 0.89). Genetic correlations between milkability and clinically recorded mastitis were negative or almost zero (-0.50 0.02). The genetic correlation among udder health traits was moderatly (0.31 0.49). The milkability and leakage were not genetically correlated with milk production. The clinically recorded mastitis had an antagonistic relationship with milk production (rg = 0.31 0.49). In general, these results indicate that milkability is an optimum trait, because selection for faster milking cows increases leakage and SCS and selection for slower milking cows increases clinical mastitis. In addition milkabililty is not correlated with milk production. ________________________________________________________________________________