Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Investigating CMP Synchronization Mechanisms

Synchronization is an important aspect of multi-processor programs. Though necessary to communicate data or control information across different threads of a parallel program, excessive synchronization can serialize execution to the point where little benefit is seen from creating a parallel program.1 Synchronization in the operating systems can also have a large impact on performance when coordinating shared resources across different processors such as the scheduling queue. Much research across many decades has resulted in algorithms and hardware solutions that attempt to understand the numerous trade-offs in terms of latency, bandwidth, implementation complexity, etc. Nonetheless, synchronization remains a significant concern for parallel applications and architectures. Especially now that the computer industry is at a point where multiple processors can be placed onto a single chip, the trade-offs in the design of synchronization need to be revisited. Chip Multiprocessors (CMPs) and their workloads have a number of interesting properties that affect the costs of synchronization. In the next section, we make a few basic assumptions about these properties, and form hypotheses about CMP synchronization. We then characterize the amount and cost of synchronization occurring in a particular CMP design, limiting our preliminary study on mutual exclusion (mutex) locks. Finally, we propose an on-chip lock-arbiter to dynamically handle spin-locks in a queue-based manner.
An Architecture for Understanding Intent Using a Novel Hidden Markov Formulation

Understanding intent is an important aspect of communication among people and is an essential component of the human cognitive system. This capability is particularly relevant to situations that involve collaboration among multiple agents or detection of situations that can pose a particular threat. In this paper, we propose an approach that allows a physical robot to detect the intent of others based on experience acquired through its own sensory–motor capabilities, then use this experience while taking the perspective of the agent whose intent should be recognized. Our method uses a novel formulation of hidden Markov models (HMMs) designed to model a robot’s experience and interaction with the world when performing various actions. The robot’s capability to observe and analyze the current scene employs a novel vision-based technique for target detection and tracking, using a nonparametric recursive modeling approach. We validate this architecture with a physically embedded robot, detecting the intent of several people performing various activities.
Determining the Specificity of Terms based on Information Theoretic Measures

This paper introduces new specificity determining methods for terms based on information theoretic measures. The specificity of terms represents the quantity of domain specific information that is contained in the terms. Compositional and contextual information of terms are used in proposed methods. As the methods don’t rely on domain dependent information, they can be applied to other domains without extra processes. Experiments showed very promising results with the precision 82.0% when applied to the terms in MeSH thesaurus.
p95HER-2 Predicts Worse Outcome in Patients with HER-2-Positive Breast Cancer

Background: The HER-2 receptor undergoes a proteolytic cleavage generating an NH2-terminally truncated fragment, p95HER-2, that is membrane-associated and tyrosine-phosphorylated. We have reported that p95HER-2, but not the full-length receptor, p185HER-2, correlated with the extent of lymph node involvement in patients with breast cancer and its expression was significantly enhanced in nodal metastatic tissue. These facts suggested an important role for p95HER-2 either as a marker or cause of metastasis and poor outcome in breast cancer. In this work, we have studied the prognostic value of p95HER-2 in breast cancer. Methods: Primary breast tumor tissues (n = 483) were from surgical resections conducted in hospitals in two different countries: the U.S. (n = 334) and Spain (n = 149). HER-2 protein forms, including p185HER-2 and p95HER-2, were examined in extracts of primary breast tumors by Western blot analysis. The levels of the two forms (high or low) were tested for association with other clinicopathologic factors and for correlation with disease-free survival. Results: The median follow-up was 46 months. A high level of p95HER-2 in primary tumor tissue correlated with reduced 5-year disease-free survival (hazard ratio, 2.55; 95% confidence interval, 2.13-8.01; P < 0.0001). The median time for disease-free survival was 32 versus 139 months in patients with low levels of p95HER-2. In comparison, high levels of the full-length p185HER-2 did not significantly correlate with poor outcome (P > 0.1). Multivariate analysis revealed that high p95HER-2 was an independent predictor of disease-free survival (hazard ratio, 1.59; 95% confidence interval, 1.246-1.990; P = 0.0004). Conclusions: p95HER-2 expression is an independent prognostic factor in breast cancer and defines a group of patients with HER-2-positive breast cancer with significantly worse outcome.
Targeting GLI by GANT61 involves mechanisms dependent on inhibition of both transcription and DNA licensing

The GLI genes are transcription factors and in cancers are oncogenes, aberrantly and constitutively activated. GANT61, a specific GLI inhibitor, has induced extensive cytotoxicity in human models of colon cancer. The FOXM1 promoter was determined to be a transcriptional target of GLI1. In HT29 cells, inhibition of GLI1 binding at the GLI consensus sequence by GANT61 led to inhibited binding of Pol II, the pause-release factors DSIF, NELF and p-TEFb. The formation of R-loops (RNA:DNA hybrids, ssDNA), were reduced by GANT61 at the FOXM1 promoter. Pretreatment of HT29 cells with α-amanitin reduced GANT61-induced γH2AX foci. Co-localization of GLI1 and BrdU foci, inhibited by GANT61, indicated GLI1 and DNA replication to be linked. By co-immunoprecipitation and confocal microscopy, GLI1 co-localized with the DNA licensing factors ORC4, CDT1, and MCM2. Significant co-localization of GLI1 and ORC4 was inhibited by GANT61, and enrichment of ORC4 occurred at the GLI binding site in the FOXM1 promoter. CDT1 was found to be a transcription target of GLI1. Overexpression of CDT1 in HT29 and SW480 cells reduced GANT61-induced cell death, gH2AX foci, and cleavage of caspase-3. Data demonstrate involvement of transcription and of DNA replication licensing factors by non-transcriptional and transcriptional mechanisms in the GLI-dependent mechanism of action of GANT61.
Who is the Best Connected Legislator ? A Study of Cosponsorship Networks

Using large-scale network analysis I map the cosponsorship networks of all 280,000 pieces of legislation proposed in the U.S. House and Senate from 1973 to 2004. In these networks a directional link can be drawn from each cosponsor of a piece of legislation to its sponsor. I use a number of statistics to describe these networks such as the quantity of legislation sponsored and cosponsored by each legislator, the number of legislators cosponsoring each piece of legislation, the total number of legislators who have cosponsored bills written by a given legislator, and network measures of closeness, betweenness, and eigenvector centrality. I then introduce a new measure I call ‘connectedness’ which uses information about the frequency of cosponsorship and the number of cosponsors on each bill to make inferences about the social distance between legislators. Connectedness predicts which members will pass more amendments on the floor, a measure which is commonly used as a proxy for legislative influence. It also predicts roll call vote choice even after controlling for ideology and partisanship. I would like to thank Tracy Burkett, Diane Felmlee, Jeff Gill, Ben Highton, Bob Huckfeldt, Jonathan Kaplan, Mark Lubell, Mark Newman, Mason Porter, Brian Sala, and Walt Stone for helpful comments and Skyler Cranmer for research assistance. This paper was originally prepared for presentation at the 2005 Midwest Political Science Association and American Political Science Association annual conferences. A copy of the most recent version can be found at http://jhfowler.ucdavis.edu. Contact: Department of Political Science, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616. (530) 752-1649. E-mail: jhfowler@ucdavis.edu
Coated Particles Fuel Compact-General Purpose Heat Source for Advanced Radioisotope Power Systems

Coated Particles Fuel Compacts (CPFC) have recently been shown to offer performance advantage for use in Radioisotope Heater Units (RHUs) and design flexibility for integrating at high thermal efficiency with Stirling Engine converters, currently being considered for 100 We. Advanced Radioisotope Power Systems (ARPS). The particles in the compact consist of 238PuO2 fuel kernels with 5‐μm thick PyC inner coating and a strong ZrC outer coating, whose thickness depends on the maximum fuel temperature during reentry, the fuel kernel diameter, and the fraction of helium gas released from the kernels and fully contained by the ZrC coating. In addition to containing the helium generated by radioactive decay of 238Pu for up to 10 years before launch and 10–15 years mission lifetime, the kernels are intentionally sized (⩾ 300 μm in diameter) to prevent any adverse radiological effects on reentry. This paper investigates the advantage of replacing the four iridium‐clad 238PuO2 fuel pellets, the two floating graphit.
Reducing information overload in social networks through streamlined presentation: a study of content-centric and person-centric contexts

In this paper, we develop an approach for selectively choosing messages to present to users in social networks, based on a detailed modeling of the kind of network, as well as distinct features of the messages and the peers who author these messages. All of this is set against the backdrop of the preferences of the user. We make a distinction between person-centric and content-centric networks and illustrate how, through a judicious combination of user modeling and trust modeling, one is able to develop a generalized algorithm that has the potential to improve upon current network designs.
Characterising equilibrium logic and nested logic programs: Reductions and complexity1,2

Abstract Equilibrium logic is an approach to non-monotonic reasoning that extends the stable-model and answer-set semantics for logic programs. In particular, it includes the general case of nested logic programs, where arbitrary Boolean combinations are permitted in heads and bodies of rules, as special kinds of theories. In this paper, we present polynomial reductions of the main reasoning tasks associated with equilibrium logic and nested logic programs into quantified propositional logic, an extension of classical propositional logic where quantifications over atomic formulas are permitted. Thus, quantified propositional logic is a fragment of second-order logic, and its formulas are usually referred to as quantified Boolean formulas (QBFs). We provide reductions not only for decision problems, but also for the central semantical concepts of equilibrium logic and nested logic programs. In particular, our encodings map a given decision problem into some QBF such that the latter is valid precisely in case the former holds. The basic tasks we deal with here are the consistency problem, brave reasoning and skeptical reasoning. Additionally, we also provide encodings for testing equivalence of theories or programs under different notions of equivalence, viz. ordinary, strong and uniform equivalence. For all considered reasoning tasks, we analyse their computational complexity and give strict complexity bounds. Hereby, our encodings yield upper bounds in a direct manner. Besides this useful feature, our approach has the following benefits: First, our encodings yield a uniform axiomatisation for a variety of problems in a common language. Second, extant solvers for QBFs can be used as back-end inference engines to realise implementations of the encoded task in a rapid prototyping manner. Third, our axiomatisations also allow us to straightforwardly relate equilibrium logic with circumscription.
The Development of Control Processes Supporting Source Memory Discrimination as Revealed by Event-related Potentials

Improvement in source memory performance throughout childhood is thought to be mediated by the development of executive control. As postretrieval control processes may be better time-locked to the recognition response rather than the retrieval cue, the development of processes underlying source memory was investigated with both stimulus- and response-locked event-related potentials (ERPs). These were recorded in children, adolescents, and adults during a recognition memory exclusion task. Green- and red-outlined pictures were studied, but were tested in black outline. The test requirement was to endorse old items shown in one study color (targets) and to reject new items along with old items shown in the alternative study color (nontargets). Source memory improved with age. All age groups retrieved target and nontarget memories as reflected by reliable parietal episodic memory (EM) effects, a stimulus-locked ERP correlate of recollection. Response-locked ERPs to targets and nontargets diverged in all groups prior to the response, although this occurred at an increasingly earlier time point with age. We suggest these findings reflect the implementation of attentional control mechanisms to enhance target memories and facilitate response selection with the greatest and least success, respectively, in adults and children. In adults only, response-locked ERPs revealed an early-onsetting parietal negativity for nontargets, but not for targets. This was suggested to reflect adults' ability to consistently inhibit prepotent target responses for nontargets. The findings support the notion that the development of source memory relies on the maturation of control processes that serve to enhance accurate selection of task-relevant memories.
Progression of Atherosclerosis Is Associated With Variation in the &agr;1-Antitrypsin Gene

Objective—&agr;1-Antitrypsin (AAT) protects elastic tissue and may play a role in atherogenesis. The association of atherosclerosis progression with common AAT variants was considered in 2 clinical trials. Methods and Results—We examined the association of AAT V213A, S and Z deficiency alleles, and the functional 3′ UTR 11478G>A with change in minimal luminal diameter, a measure of focal disease, in the Lopid Coronary Angiography Trial gemfibrozil study of post-bypass men. S or Z carriers (n=14) showed strong progression of disease on placebo (11.5%) but responded well to treatment (3% regression). 11478A carriers treated with placebo or gemfibrozil showed significantly more disease progression (n=8, −14.5% and n=16, −4.0%, respectively) than 11478GG men (n=107, −7.0% and n=108, −1.4%, respectively; overall, P =0.003). VV213 men treated with gemfibrozil (n=68) showed −4.8% progression, whereas A213 carriers (n=55) showed +1.4% regression of disease (P =0.001). No V213A effect was seen on placebo (P =0.11). In the Diabetes Atherosclerosis Intervention Study fenofibrate trial of angiographic progression in type 2 diabetes, the association of 11478A with increased disease progression was confirmed in the treatment group, but not the gemfibrozil-treated A213 association with regression, suggesting a pharmacogenetic difference. Conclusions—Disease progression is associated with variation in AAT, and low AAT levels promote atherogenesis.
Integrating Haptic-Tactile Feedback into a Video-Capture-Based Virtual Environment for Rehabilitation

Video-capture virtual reality (VR) systems are gaining popularity as intervention tools. To date, these platforms offer visual and audio feedback but do not provide haptic feedback. We contend that adding haptic feedback may enhance the quality of intervention for various theoretical and empirical reasons. This study aims to integrate haptic-tactile feedback into a video capture system (GX VR), which is currently applied for rehabilitation. The proposed multi-modal system can deliver audio-visual as well as vibrotactile feedback. The latter is provided via small vibratory discs attached to the patient's limbs. This paper describes the system, the guidelines of its design, and the ongoing usability study.
The codon preference plot: graphic analysis of protein coding sequences and prediction of gene expression

The codon preference plot is useful for locating genes in sequenced DNA, predicting the relative level of their expression and for detecting DNA sequencing errors resulting in the insertion or deletion of bases within a coding sequence. The three possible reading frames are displayed in parallel along with the open reading frames and plots of the location of rare codons in each reading frame.
A pharmacokinetic model of filgrastim and pegfilgrastim application in normal mice and those with cyclophosphamide‐induced granulocytopaenia

Objectives: Recombinant human granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor (rhG‐CSF) is widely used as treatment for granulocytopaenia during cytotoxic chemotherapy; however, optimal scheduling of this pharmaceutical is unknown. Biomathematical models can help to pre‐select optimal application schedules but precise pharmacokinetic properties of the pharmaceuticals are required at first. In this study, we have aimed to construct a pharmacokinetic model of G‐CSF derivatives filgrastim and pegfilgrastim in mice.
A boundary element model of plasticity-induced fatigue crack closure

This paper describes a plane stress boundary element model of plasticity-induced fatigue crack closure. A simple Dugdale-type strip yield zone is used and quadratic programming techniques are employed to establish crack shape, stress and plastic deformation. The technique is extremely effective and the model can be readily implemented on a personal computer. Predictions of crack closure behaviour are produced for cracks growing under constant amplitude loading, and also following an overload or overload/underload cycle. These results are compared with an empirical R-ratio correction due to Walker and with experimental measurements taken from the literature. The model is found to give good predictions of crack behaviour under constant amplitude loading. Predictions for crack closure levels following an overload cycle give qualitative agreement with experimental results; the differences observed may well be due to the different definition of crack closure in the experiments.
Formally assessing an instructional tool: a controlled experiment in software engineering

This work describes a controlled experiment concerning the use of a learning aid during the instructional procedure. The core issue of investigation is whether this instructional aid can augment the cognitive transfer of the learners by personalizing the offered knowledge. For this purpose, a controlled experiment was conducted with the participation of 79 undergraduate students. The taught domain was two lessons concerning human-computer interaction: the first in usability engineering and the second in interface evaluation methodologies. A test session was also conducted to collect data on the assessment of the augmentation of the students' knowledge on the domain. Descriptive and inferential statistics were applied to the collected data to test the research hypotheses. The results showed that with regard to the transfer of simple information, this "lesson sheet" does not provide any statistically significant advantage, yet for complex information, a significant statistically improved performance was observed for the student group that used the tool. Finally, concerns about the application of the tool and further research in the area are also presented.
Self-Calibrating Camera-Assisted Presentation Interface

This paper presents a self-calibrating camera-assisted presentation interface that enables the user to control presentations using a laser pointer. The setup system consists of a computer connected to an LCD projector and a consumer-level digital camera aimed at the presentation screen. Although the locations, orientations and optical parameters of the camera and projector are unknown, the projector-camera calibrates itself by inferring the mapping between pixels in the camera image to pixels in the presentation slide. The camera is subsequently used to detect the position of the pointing device (such as a laser pointer dot) on the screen, allowing the laser pointer to emulate the pointing actions of a mouse. The user may then select active regions in the presentation, or even draw on the projected image. Additionally, arbitrary distortions due to projector placement are negated, allowing the projector (and camera) to be placed anywhere in the presentation room — for instance, at the side rather than the center of the room. This solution works with standard hardware, but could easily be incorporated into the next generation of LCD projector systems.
Waist Gain Is Associated with a Higher Incidence of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Korean Adults: A Cohort Study

Background We examined the relationship between changes in waist circumference (WC) and the incidence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Methods A cohort study of 37,130 men and women were followed-up annually or biennially. Differences in WC between baseline and subsequent measurements were categorized in quartiles: first (WC loss), second (no change in WC as the reference), third and highest quartiles (WC gain). The presence of fatty liver was determined using ultrasound. Parametric Cox modeling was used to estimate the adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of the incidence of NAFLD. Results During 127,324.4 person-years of follow-up, 6249 participants developed NAFLD. Despite adjusting for possible confounders, the risk of development of NAFLD increased with increasing quartiles of WC change in a dose-response manner (p for trend < 0.001). Compared with the reference, WC loss was associated with a lower risk of NAFLD (men: aHR 0.79 [95% CI: 0.73–0.87]; women: 0.72 [0.63–0.81]), and the highest quartile (WC gain) was associated with a higher risk of NAFLD (men: 1.30 [1.19–1.42]; women: 1.48 [1.31–1.67]). Conclusion Waist gain appears to increase the risk of developing NAFLD, independently of the baseline body mass index and WC.
H∞ fuzzy estimation for a class of nonlinear discrete-time dynamic systems

This paper studies H/sub /spl infin// fuzzy filtering design for state estimation of nonlinear discrete-time systems with bounded but unknown disturbances. First, the Takagi and Sugeno (1985) fuzzy model is proposed to represent a nonlinear system. Next, using a linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach, the H/sub /spl infin// fuzzy filtering problems are characterized in terms of a linear matrix inequality problem (LMIP). The LMIP can be efficiently solved using convex optimization techniques. Simulation examples are given to illustrate the design procedure and the applicability of the proposed method. The results indicate that the proposed method is suitable for practical applications.