Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Topology adaptation and interference management in dense heterogeneous networks

We study topology adaptation, interference management, and cross-tier load balancing/shifting in densely deployed heterogenous networks (HetNets). A novel HetNet model is proposed, which considers dynamic traffic and interference. Long term average performance metrics, such as user throughput and base station utilization ratio, are used to evaluate the performance of the network. Due to lack of closed form representation, the proposed topology adaptation scheme focus on improving user experience, system stability and energy saving by adjusting the topology of the network on different system levels. A distributed algorithm is proposed to mitigate interference and adapt network topology. Topology adaptation is achieved by deciding the user assignment and pico base station on/off status. Numerical results suggest the proposed algorithm provides significant performance gains in user throughput, system stability, and energy saving.
Limitation of plant water use by rhizosphere and xylem conductance: results from a model

Hydraulic conductivity (K) in the soil and xylem declines as water potential (psi) declines. This results in a maximum rate of steady-state transpiration (E(crit)) and corresponding minimum leaf psi (psi(crit)) at which K has approached zero somewhere in the soil-leaf continuum. Exceeding these limits causes water transport to cease. A model determined whether the point of hydraulic failure (where K = 0) occurred in the rhizosphere or xylem components of the continuum. Below a threshold of root:leaf area (A(R):A(L)), the loss of rhizosphere K limited E(crit) and psi(crit). Above the threshold, loss of xylem K from cavitation was limiting. The A(R):A(L) threshold ranged from > 40 for coarse soils and/or cavitation-resistant xylem to < 0.20 in fine soils and/or cavitation-susceptible xylem. Comparison of model results with drought experiments in sunflower and water birch indicated that stomatal regulation of E reflected the species' hydraulic potential for extracting soil water, and that the more sensitive stomatal response of water birch to drought was necessary to avoid hydraulic failure. The results suggest that plants should be xylem-limited and near their A(R):A(L) threshold. Corollary predictions are (1) within a soil type the A(R):A(L) should increase with increasing cavitation resistance and drought tolerance, and (2) across soil types from fine to coarse the A(R):A(L) should increase and maximum cavitation resistance should decrease.
Modulus of Elasticity, Creep and Shrinkage of Concrete – PHASE II: Part 1– Creep Study

A laboratory testing program was performed to evaluate the physical and mechanical properties of typical Class II, IV, V and VI concrete mixtures made with a Miami Oolite limestone, a Georgia granite, and a lightweight aggregate Stalite, including compressive strength, indirect tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, creep, and shrinkage. A total of 18 different concrete mixes, with water-to-cement (w/c) ratio varying from 0.24 to 0.44, were evaluated. Fly ash and ground blast-furnace slag were also incorporated as mineral additives in these mixes. Creep apparatuses were designed and built for this study. The creep apparatuses and testing procedures used were found to work satisfactorily. The creep apparatus was capable of applying and maintaining a load up to 145,000 lb on the test specimens with an error of less than 2%. Curing condition had a significant effect on the creep behavior of concrete evaluated in this study. The concretes which had been moist-cured for 14 days had substantially lower creep coefficients than those which had been moist-cured for only 7 days. Using the test results from the concretes investigated, relationships were developed between various mechanical properties, including compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and elastic modulus. Relationships were also established between compressive strength of the concrete and the creep coefficient of the concretes. The predicted ultimate shrinkage strains and ultimate creep coefficients were determined for the concretes evaluated. The predicted ultimate creep coefficients of most of the concrete tested appeared to exceed 2.0.
Submodular function maximization via the multilinear relaxation and contention resolution schemes

We consider the problem of maximizing a non-negative submodular set function f:2N -> RR+ over a ground set N subject to a variety of packing type constraints including (multiple) matroid constraints, knapsack constraints, and their intersections. In this paper we develop a general framework that allows us to derive a number of new results, in particular when f may be a non-monotone function. Our algorithms are based on (approximately) solving the multilinear extension F of f [5] over a polytope P that represents the constraints, and then effectively rounding the fractional solution. Although this approach has been used quite successfully in some settings [6, 22, 24, 13, 3], it has been limited in some important ways. We overcome these limitations as follows. First, we give constant factor approximation algorithms to maximize F over an arbitrary down-closed polytope P that has an efficient separation oracle. Previously this was known only for monotone functions [36]. For non-monotone functions, a constant factor was known only when the polytope was either the intersection of a fixed number of knapsack constraints [24] or a matroid polytope [37,30]. Second, we show that contention resolution schemes are an effective way to round a fractional solution, even when f is non-monotone. In particular, contention resolution schemes for different polytopes can be combined to handle the intersection of different constraints. Via LP duality we show that a contention resolution scheme for a constraint is related to the correlation gap [1] of weighted rank functions of the constraint. This leads to an optimal contention resolution scheme for the matroid polytope. Our results provide a broadly applicable framework for maximizing linear and submodular functions subject to independence constraints. We give several illustrative examples. Contention resolution schemes may find other applications.
Research Description

My research is in the area of Natural Language Processing (NLP). I am fascinated by the idea of giving computers the ability to process human language. I like to develop formal, computational models from a statistical perspective; but I also enjoy making greater use of linguistic knowledge in the model design. For me, integrating the two fields of statistics and linguistics to solve practical problems is one of the greatest challenges in NLP and is also one of the most interesting parts.
Can Parallel Replication Benefit Hadoop Distributed File System for High Performance Interconnects?

The Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) is a popular choice for Big Data applications due to its reliability and fault-tolerance. HDFS provides fault-tolerance and availability guarantee by replicating each data block to multiple DataN-odes. The current implementation of HDFS in Apache Hadoop performs replication in a pipelined fashion resulting in higher replication times. Such large replication times adversely impact the performance of real-time, latency-sensitive applications. In this paper, we propose an alternative parallel replication scheme applicable to both the socket-based design of HDFS and the RDMA-based design of HDFS over InfiniBand. We analyze the challenges and issues in parallel replication and compare its performance with the existing pipelined replication scheme in HDFS over 1 GigE, IPoIB (IP over InfiniBand), 10 GigE and RDMA (Remote Direct Memory Access) over InfiniBand. Experiments performed over high performance networks (IPoIB, 10 GigE, and IB) show that the proposed parallel replication scheme is able to outperform the default pipelined design for a variety of benchmarks. We observe up to a 16% reduction in the execution time of the TeraGen benchmark. We are also able to increase the throughput reported by the TestDFSIO benchmark by up to 12%. The proposed parallel replication is also able to enhance the HBase Put operation performance by 17%. However, for lower performance networks like 1GigE and smaller data sizes, parallel replication does not benefit the performance.
Wave speeds in wavy Taylor-vortex flow

The speed of travelling azimuthal waves on Taylor vortices in a circular Couette system (with the inner cylinder rotating and the outer cylinder at rest) has been determined in laboratory experiments conducted as a function of Reynolds number R, radius ratio of the cylinders η, average axial wavelength $\overline{\lambda}$, number of waves m1 and the aspect ratio Γ (the ratio of the fluid height to the gap between the cylinders). Wave speeds have also been determined numerically for axially periodic flows in infinite-length cylinders by solving the Navier-Stokes equation with a pseudospectral technique where each Taylor-vortex pair is represented with 32 axial modes, 32 azimuthal modes (in an azimuthal angle of 2π/m1) and 33 radial modes. Above the onset of wavy-vortex flow the wave speed for a given η decreases with increasing R until it reaches a plateau that persists for some range in R. In the radius-ratio range examined in our experiments we find that the wave speed in the plateau region increases monotonically from 0.14Ω at η = 0.630 to 0. 45Ω at η = 0.950 (where the wave speed is expressed in terms of the rotation frequency Ω of the inner cylinder). There is a much weaker dependence of the wave speed on $\overline{\lambda}$, m1 and Γ. For three sets of parameter values (R, $\overline{\lambda}$, η and m1) the wave speeds have been measured, extrapolated to infinite aspect ratio, and compared with the numerically computed values. For each of these three cases the agreement is within 0.1 %.
Kernel regression for Head-Related Transfer Function interpolation and spectral extrema extraction

Head-Related Transfer Function (HRTF) representation and interpolation is an important problem in spatial audio. We present a kernel regression method based on Gaussian process (GP) modeling of the joint spatial-frequency relationship between HRTF measurements and obtain a smooth non-linear representation based on data measured over both arbitrary and structured spherical measurement grids. This representation is further extended to the problem of extracting spectral extrema (notches and peaks). We perform HRTF interpolation and spectral extrema extraction using freely available CIPIC HRTF data. Experimental results are shown.
A multidimensional shrinkage-thresholding operator

The scalar shrinkage-thresholding operator (SSTO) is a key ingredient of many modern statistical signal processing algorithms including: sparse inverse problem solutions, wavelet denoising, and JPEG2000 image compression. In these applications, it is customary to select the threshold of the operator by solving a scalar sparsity penalized quadratic optimization. In this work, we present a natural multidimensional extension of the scalar shrinkage thresholding operator. Similarly to the scalar case, the threshold is determined by the minimization of a convex quadratic form plus an euclidean penalty, however, here the optimization is performed over a domain of dimension N ≥ 1. The solution to this convex optimization problem is called the multidimensional shrinkage threshold operator (MSTO). The MSTO reduces to the standard SSTO in the special case of N = 1. In the general case of N ≫ 1 the optimal MSTO threshold can be found by a simple convex line search. We present three illustrative applications of the MSTO in the context of non-linear regression: l2-penalized linear regression, Group LASSO linear regression and Group LASSO logistic regression.
No-dependent signaling pathways in unloaded skeletal muscle

The main focus of the current review is the nitric oxide (NO)-mediated signaling mechanism in unloaded skeletal. Review of the published data describing muscles during physical activity and inactivity demonstrates that NO is an essential trigger of signaling processes, which leads to structural and metabolic changes of the muscle fibers. The experiments with modulation of NO-synthase (NOS) activity during muscle unloading demonstrate the ability of an activated enzyme to stabilize degradation processes and prevent development of muscle atrophy. Various forms of muscle mechanical activity, i.e., plantar afferent stimulation, resistive exercise and passive chronic stretch increase the content of neural NOS (nNOS) and thus may facilitate an increase in NO production. Recent studies demonstrate that NO-synthase participates in the regulation of protein and energy metabolism in skeletal muscle by fine-tuning and stabilizing complex signaling systems which regulate protein synthesis and degradation in the fibers of inactive muscle.
Using a Lease to Manage Service Contracts in Service Oriented Architectures

Service-oriented architecture concepts and Web Services specifications allow for an infinite binding between the service requestor and the service provider. This open-ended form of interaction constrains the service provider from changing service contracts, policies and endpoints. Other distributed technologies and protocols such as Jini and DHCP provide for the use of a lease to more easily manage service provider resources and to manage change in the environment more efficiently. This paper introduces the concept of a lease as it applies to service-oriented architectures and the concepts of an active lease which maintains state, and a passive lease to eliminate the need for the service provider to maintain a conversational state between service requestor and service provider. Lastly, this paper identifies the components of a service description that would require a rebinding should the components change, and it explores the impact of an active and a passive lease on several quality attributes.
Registro del águila solitaria ( Buteogallus solitarius , Tschudi 1844) en la planicie costera central de Oaxaca

We report the record of a solitary eagle (Buteogallus solitarius) in the municipality of Santa Maria Tonameca, in the central coastal plain of Oaxaca. The record was obtained through the use of a camera reflex. We considered this report as important due to the species’ demographic rarity and to recognize the places where the individuals of B. solitarius are registered in order to generate protection actions in the short to long term to improve its conservation.
Identification of an exported heat shock protein 70 in Plasmodium falciparum

Host cell remodelling is a hallmark of malaria pathogenesis. It involves protein folding, unfolding and trafficking events and thus participation of chaperones such as Hsp70s and Hsp40s is well speculated. Until recently, only Hsp40s were thought to be the sole representative of the parasite chaperones in the exportome. However, based on the re-annotated Plasmodium falciparum genome sequence, a putative candidate for exported Hsp70 has been reported, which otherwise was known to be a pseudogene. We raised a specific antiserum against a C-terminal peptide uniquely present in PfHsp70-x. Immunoblotting and immunofluorescence-based approaches in combination with sub-cellular fractionation by saponin and streptolysin-O have been taken to determine the expression and localization of PfHsp70-x in infected erythrocyte. The re-annotated sequence of PfHsp70-x reveals it to be a functional protein with an endoplasmic reticulum signal peptide. It gets maximally expressed at the schizont stage of intra-erythrocytic life cycle. Majority of the protein localizes to the parasitophorous vacuole and some of it gets exported to the erythrocyte compartment where it associates with Maurer’s clefts. The identification of an exported parasite Hsp70 chaperone presents us with the fact that the parasite has evolved customized chaperones which might be playing crucial roles in aspects of trafficking and host cell remodelling.
A mobile self-leveling landing platform for VTOL UAVs

A semi-autonomous mobile self-leveling landing platform designed to launch, recover and re-launch VTOL UAVs without the need for human intervention is described. The landing platform is rugged, lightweight and inexpensive, making it ideal for civilian applications that require a base station from which a rotorcraft UAV can be launched and/or recovered on terrain that is normally unsuitable for UAV take-off and landing. This landing platform is capable of autonomously self-leveling on rough terrain and inclines up to 25°, and can operate in isolated remote locations for extended periods of time using large onboard lithium batteries and wireless communication. The unique design aspects of this landing platform are that it is mobile, self-leveling, and man-portable. A fully-operational prototype has been designed, constructed and evaluated. Design details and experimental results are presented to demonstrate the landing platform's functionality, and that all primary design requirements have been met.
Antitumour immunity depends on STIM 1 and STIM 2 1312 correlates with survival , for instance in patients with small cell lung cancer

Modulation of intracellular Ca2þ concentrations [Ca]i is an important signal transduction mechanism to regulate the function of immune cells (Feske, 2007; Vig & Kinet, 2009). In T cells, antigen binding by the T‐cell receptor (TCR) results in a [Ca]i rise that is due to Ca 2þ release from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and Ca2þ influx across the plasma membrane through Ca2þ release‐activated Ca2þ (CRAC) channels. Opening of CRAC channels is required for sustained [Ca]i increases, activation of Ca2þ dependent signalling molecules and T‐cell effector functions (Feske, 2007). The pore of the CRAC channel is formed by ORAI1 proteins in the plasma membrane. Channel opening and Ca2þ influx results from the binding of two proteins, stromal interaction molecules (STIM) 1 and STIM2, to ORAI1. STIM proteins are located in themembrane of the ER, where they sense [Ca]ER using an EF hand Ca 2þ binding domain in their N terminus. Ca2þ release from the ER causes oligomerization of STIM molecules, their translocation to the plasma membrane and binding to ORAI1. This process is called store‐operated Ca2þ
The Genetic Landscape of a Cell

Making Connections Genetic interaction profiles highlight cross-connections between bioprocesses, providing a global view of cellular pleiotropy, and enable the prediction of genetic network hubs. Costanzo et al. (p. 425) performed a pairwise fitness screen covering approximately one-third of all potential genetic interactions in yeast, examining 5.4 million gene-gene pairs and generating quantitative profiles for ∼75% of the genome. Of the pairwise interactions tested, about 3% of the genes investigated interact under the conditions tested. On the basis of these data, a reference map for the yeast genetic network was created. A genome-wide interaction map of yeast identifies genetic interactions, networks, and function. A genome-scale genetic interaction map was constructed by examining 5.4 million gene-gene pairs for synthetic genetic interactions, generating quantitative genetic interaction profiles for ~75% of all genes in the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A network based on genetic interaction profiles reveals a functional map of the cell in which genes of similar biological processes cluster together in coherent subsets, and highly correlated profiles delineate specific pathways to define gene function. The global network identifies functional cross-connections between all bioprocesses, mapping a cellular wiring diagram of pleiotropy. Genetic interaction degree correlated with a number of different gene attributes, which may be informative about genetic network hubs in other organisms. We also demonstrate that extensive and unbiased mapping of the genetic landscape provides a key for interpretation of chemical-genetic interactions and drug target identification.
Binaural speech enhancement with spatial cue preservation utilising simultaneous masking

Binaural multi-microphone noise reduction methods aim at noise suppression while preserving the spatial impression of the acoustic scene. Recently, a new binaural speech enhancement method was proposed which chooses per time-frequency (TF) tile either the enhanced target or a suppressed noisy version. The selection between the two is based on the input SNR per TF tile. In this paper we modify this method such that the selection mechanism is based on the output SNR. The proposed modification of deciding which TF tile is target-or noise-dominated leads to choices, which are better aligned with simultaneous masking properties of the auditory system, and, hence, improves the performance over the initial version of the algorithm.
The effectiveness of loop unrolling for modulo scheduling in clustered VLIW architectures

Clustered organizations are becoming a common trend in the design of VLIW architectures. In this work we propose a novel modulo scheduling approach for such architectures. The proposed technique performs the cluster assignment and the instruction scheduling in a single pass, which is shown to be more effective than doing first the assignment and later the scheduling. We also show that loop unrolling significantly enhances the performance of the proposed scheduler especially when the communication channel among clusters is the main performance bottleneck. By selectively unrolling some loops, we can obtain the best performance with the minimum increase in code size. Performance evaluation for the SPECfp95 shows that the clustered architecture achieves about the same IPC (Instructions Per Cycle) as a unified architecture with the same resources. Moreover when the cycle time is taken into account, a 4-cluster configurations is 3.6 times faster than the unified architecture.
Effectiveness of COVID-19 Vaccines: A Vaccinated-Only Approach

We used a modified screening method that ensures quasi-exchangeability of comparison groups to estimate COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness in people resident in the Federal State of Hessen, Germany. COVID-19 vaccination history of vaccinated subjects with reported symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection was used to determine vaccination status. Subjects with their first COVID-19 vaccination within 7 days before the imputed date of infection were considered unvaccinated. Vaccination is assumed not to have a relevant effect on outcome risk for the first seven days and to be fully developed after between 14 and 21 days. The immunization profile of the source population was estimated from the number of subjects vaccinated by dose, date and age group as recorded in the Hessian COVID-19 vaccination registry. Effect estimates were obtained using logistic regression, fitted by a Bayesian approach. The first dose of COVID-19 vaccines had a measurable effect during the predominance of the Alpha and Delta variants of SARS-CoV-2, but a smaller effect during Omicron predominance. Only during Alpha and Delta predominance did the second dose provide an added benefit. During Omicron predominance, the third dose provided additional protection, but that effect was smaller than for the Delta period. Comparison of our estimates with estimates using a conventional, not quasi-exchangeable, approach revealed substantial differences in some cases, without any recognizable pattern.