Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How Social and Communication Channels Shape and Challenge a Participatory Culture in Software Development

Software developers use many different communication tools and channels in their work. The diversity of these tools has dramatically increased over the past decade and developers now have access to a wide range of socially enabled communication channels and social media to support their activities. The availability of such social tools is leading to a participatory culture of software development, where developers want to engage with, learn from, and co-create software with other developers. However, the interplay of these social channels, as well as the opportunities and challenges they may create when used together within this participatory development culture are not yet well understood. In this paper, we report on a large-scale survey conducted with 1,449 GitHub users. We discuss the channels these developers find essential to their work and gain an understanding of the challenges they face using them. Our findings lay the empirical foundation for providing recommendations to developers and tool designers on how to use and improve tools for software developers.
Removal of Laryngeal Mask Airway in Adults Under Target-Controlled, Propofol–Fentanyl Infusion Anesthesia

AbstractAfter emergence from anesthesia, the incidence and severity of adverse airway effects caused by the laryngeal mask airway (LMA) can vary, depending on when the device was removed; nonetheless, reports differ regarding the exact optimal timing of LMA removal. The purpose of this study was to compare the rate of adverse events between 2 groups: those whose LMA was removed under general anesthesia (“deep” group) or under target-controlled infusion (TCI) of propofol (“awake” group). Institutional Review Board approval and written informed consent were obtained; 124 patients were then randomly allocated into either the “awake” group or the “deep” group. Anesthesia was induced and maintained using TCI of propofol, as well as intravenous fentanyl. In the “deep” group, the LMA was removed after surgery while the patients were deeply anesthetized using a target effect-site propofol concentration of 2 &mgr;g/mL, whereas in the “awake” group, the device was removed while the patients followed verbal instructions. The incidence of the following adverse events was recorded: coughing, straining, bronchospasm, laryngospasm, clenching, breath holding, gross purposeful movement, airway obstruction, retching, vomiting, and oxygen desaturation. If any such event occurred, the LMA removal was considered a failure. Airway hyperreactivity was recorded and graded – based on the severity of cough, breath holding, and oxygen desaturation.The failure rate was higher in the “awake” group (15/61; 24.6%) than in the “deep” group (5/60; 8.3%). Airway hyperreactivity was mild (score, <3) in both groups.Removal of the LMA under deep anesthesia using a target-controlled, effect-site propofol concentration of 2 &mgr;g/mL may be safer and more successful than removal when patients are fully awake after surgery.
Quantitative model of R-loop forming structures reveals a novel level of RNA–DNA interactome complexity

R-loop is the structure co-transcriptionally formed between nascent RNA transcript and DNA template, leaving the non-transcribed DNA strand unpaired. This structure can be involved in the hyper-mutation and dsDNA breaks in mammalian immunoglobulin (Ig) genes, oncogenes and neurodegenerative disease related genes. R-loops have not been studied at the genome scale yet. To identify the R-loops, we developed a computational algorithm and mapped R-loop forming sequences (RLFS) onto 66 803 sequences defined by UCSC as ‘known’ genes. We found that ∼59% of these transcribed sequences contain at least one RLFS. We created R-loopDB (http://rloop.bii.a-star.edu.sg/), the database that collects all RLFS identified within over half of the human genes and links to the UCSC Genome Browser for information integration and visualisation across a variety of bioinformatics sources. We found that many oncogenes and tumour suppressors (e.g. Tp53, BRCA1, BRCA2, Kras and Ptprd) and neurodegenerative diseases related genes (e.g. ATM, Park2, Ptprd and GLDC) could be prone to significant R-loop formation. Our findings suggest that R-loops provide a novel level of RNA–DNA interactome complexity, playing key roles in gene expression controls, mutagenesis, recombination process, chromosomal rearrangement, alternative splicing, DNA-editing and epigenetic modifications. RLFSs could be used as a novel source of prospective therapeutic targets.
Transforming growth factor beta suppresses human immunodeficiency virus expression and replication in infected cells of the monocyte/macrophage lineage

The pleiotropic immunoregulatory cytokine transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) potently suppresses production of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the causative agent of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, in the chronically infected promonocytic cell line U1. TGF-beta significantly (50-90%) inhibited HIV reverse transcriptase production and synthesis of viral proteins in U1 cells stimulated with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) or interleukin 6 (IL- 6). Furthermore, TGF-beta suppressed PMA induction of HIV transcription in U1 cells. In contrast, TGF-beta did not significantly affect the expression of HIV induced by tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha). These suppressive effects were not mediated via the induction of interferon alpha (IFN-alpha). TGF-beta also suppressed HIV replication in primary monocyte-derived macrophages infected in vitro, both in the absence of exogenous cytokines and in IL-6-stimulated cultures. In contrast, no significant effects of TGF-beta were observed in either a chronically infected T cell line (ACH-2) or in primary T cell blasts infected in vitro. Therefore, TGF-beta may play a potentially important role as a negative regulator of HIV expression in infected monocytes or tissue macrophages in infected individuals.
Robust Multi-task Regression with Grossly Corrupted Observations

We consider the multiple-response regression problem, where the response is subject to sparse gross errors, in the high-dimensional setup. We propose a tractable regularized M-estimator that is robust to such error, where the sum of two individual regularization terms are used: the first one encourages row-sparse regression parameters, and the second one encourages a sparse error term. We obtain non-asymptotical estimation error bounds of the proposed method. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first analysis of the robust multi-task regression problem with gross errors.
Identification and counting of granulocytes by peroxidase reaction.

By TAPIO RYTOMAA P HLOXINE in propylene glycol provides a good and simple method of staining for the counting of eosinophilic granulocytes in the counting chamber. No comparable method has been available for the counting of neutrophils. The identification of cell types in certain excreta of the organism, especially in the intestinal contents, is a cumbersome procedure. ”2 It has, however, proved necessary for quantitative studies of granulocyte kinetics.2’3 The present experimental investigation introduces a staining method based on the utilization of myeloperoxidase, an enzyme specific for the myeloid cell series.4-6 This method makes it possible to differentiate between granulocytes and other cells both in the counting chamber and in smears.
ICAMF: Improved Context-Aware Matrix Factorization for Collaborative Filtering

Context-aware recommender system (CARS) can provide more accurate rating predictions and more relevant recommendations by taking into account the contextual in-formation. Yet the state-of-the-art context-aware matrix factorization approaches only consider the influence of con-textual information on item bias. Tensor factorization based Multiverse Recommendation deals with the contextual in-formation by incorporating user-item-context interaction into recommendation model. However, all of these approaches cannot fully capture the influence of contextual information on the rating. In this paper, we propose two improved context-aware matrix factorization approaches to fully capture the influence of contextual information on the rating. Both of the baseline predictors (user bias and item bias) and user-item-context interaction are fully concerned. Experimental results on three semi-synthetic datasets and one real world dataset show that the two proposed approaches outperform Multiverse Recommendation and the state-of-the-art context-aware matrix factorization methods in prediction performance.
Fully-integrated switched-capacitor voltage regulator with on-chip current-sensing and workload optimization in 32nm SOI CMOS

Efficient, stable, and fast power delivery against fluctuating workloads have become a critical concern for applications from battery-powered devices to high-performance servers. With high density on-chip capacitors, fully-integrated switched-capacitor (SC) voltage converters provide high efficiency down-conversion from a battery or off-chip voltage regulation modules. However, maintaining such efficiency with minimal supply noise across a wide range of fluctuating load currents remains challenging. In this paper, we propose an on-chip current sensing technique to dynamically modulate both switching frequency and switch widths of SC voltage converters, enhancing fast transient response and higher efficiency across a wide range of load currents. In conjunction with SC converters, we employ a low-dropout regulator (LDO) driven by a push-pull operational transconductance amplifier (OTA), whose current is mirrored and sensed with minimal power and efficiency overhead. The sensed load current directly controls the frequency and width of SC converters through a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) and a time-to-digital converter, respectively. In 32nm SOI CMOS, the proposed voltage regulator maintains 77-82% efficiency at 0.95V output voltage with less than 20mV steady-state ripple across 10X load current range of 100mA-1A and 33mV droop voltage for a 80mA/ns load transition, while providing a projected current density of 6W/mm2.
Elasticity model of a supercoiled DNA molecule

Within a simple elastic theory, we study the elongation versus force characteristics of a supercoiled DNA molecule at thermal equilibrium in the regime of small supercoiling. The partition function is mapped to the path integral representation for a quantum charged particle in the field of a magnetic monopole with unquantized charge. We show that the theory is singular in the continuum limit and must be regularised at an intermediate length scale. We find good agreement with existing experimental data, and point out how to measure the twist rigidity accurately. LPTENS 97/28.
Assessing the stationarity of Australian precipitation extremes in forced and unforced CMIP5 simulations

AbstractKnowledge of the range of precipitation variability and extremes is restricted in regions such as Australia, where instrumental records are short and paleoclimatic records are limited in spatial and temporal extent and resolution. In such comparatively data-poor regions, there is limited context for understanding the statistical unusualness of recently observed extreme events, such as heavy rain and drought, and the influence of stochastic and anthropogenic forcings on their magnitude. This study attempts to further understandings of the range of forced and unforced variability using CMIP5 climate models. Focusing on extremes in the magnitude of monthly, seasonal, and annual precipitation, the distribution of instrumental-period observed precipitation in various Australian regions is compared to simulated precipitation in historical experiments as well as various long experiment (preindustrial control and Last Millennium) and anthropogenically forced simulations of the twenty-first century (RCP2.6.
Robust filtering for discrete-time systems with bounded noise and parametric uncertainty

This note presents a new approach to finite-horizon guaranteed state prediction for discrete-time systems affected by bounded noise and unknown-but-bounded parameter uncertainty. Our framework handles possibly nonlinear dependence of the state-space matrices on the uncertain parameters. The main result is that a minimal confidence ellipsoid for the state, consistent with the measured output and the uncertainty description, may be recursively computed in polynomial time, using interior-point methods for convex optimization. With n states, l uncertain parameters appearing linearly in the state-space matrices, with rank-one matrix coefficients, the worst-case complexity grows as O(l(n + l)/sup 3.5/) With unstructured uncertainty in all system matrices, the worst-case complexity reduces to O(n/sup 3.5/).
SCAN: a small-world structured p2p overlay for multi-dimensional queries

This paper presents a structured P2P overlay SCAN that augments CAN overlay with long links based on Kleinberg's small-world model in a <i>d</i>-dimensional Cartesian space. The construction of long links does not require the estimate of network size. Queries in multi-dimensional data space can achieve <i>O</i>(log <i>n</i>) hops by equipping each node with <i>O</i>(log <i>n</i>) long links and <i>O</i>(<i>d</i>)short links.
Assessing Green and Blue Water: Understanding Interactions andMaking Balance between Human and Nature

Abstract. Water resources assessment is crucial for human well-being and ecosystem’s health. Assessments by considering both the blue and green water are of great significance as the green water plays a critical but often ignored role in the terrestrial ecosystem, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Many approaches have been developed for green and blue water valuation, while few of them considers the interrelationship between them. This study proposed a new framework for green and blue water assessment by considering the interactions between them in an arid endorheic river basin where hydrological cycling is dramatically altered by human activities. Results show that even though the green water is the dominant water resources, the blue water is also critical. Most of the blue water are transformed to green water through physically and human induced processes to meet the water demand of ecosystems. Time and spatial variability of water supply and consumption forms totally different blue and green water regimes in different ecosystems. We also found that human use an increasing share of water with the decrease of the water availability. The massive water use by human reduces the water use for natural ecosystems. This indicates that natural ecosystems will take a higher risk of freshwater use when the water use competition increases. This study provides crucial information to better understand the interactions between green and blue water by assessing water resources in an explicit way. It also provides crucial implications for water management aiming to make the balance between humankind and nature.
Highly diffusion-sensitized tensor imaging of unilateral cerebral arterial occlusive disease.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Selective neuronal death is a well-recognized histopathologic sequel to moderate ischemic brain damage. However, radiologic visualization of these changes has not been established, even with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). We sought to determine whether DTI with b values > or =1900 s/mm(2) reveals occult diffusion abnormalities in patients with cerebral arterial occlusive disease. METHODS Six patients (five men, one woman; mean age +/- standard deviation, 66 +/- 8 years) with unilateral internal carotid or middle cerebral arterial occlusive disease but not parenchymal T2 hyperintensity underwent 3T fast DTI with b < or = 1300 s/mm(2) and slow DTI with b > or = 1900 s/mm(2). We postprocessed mean diffusibility and fractional anisotropy (FA) images from the fast and slow DTI datasets. Standardized asymmetry indices (AIs) were used to identify regional asymmetries. Diagnostic accuracy among the DTI modalities was assessed by means of receiver operating characteristic analysis. RESULTS In hemispheres ipsilateral to occluded vessel, AIs were significantly elevated on fast mean-diffusibility images of white matter at the levels of the internal capsule (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.00, 1.09; P = .045) and corona radiata (95% CI: 1.01, 1.12; P = .034). AIs were significantly decreased on slow FA images at the internal capsule (95% CI: 0.84, 0.98; P = .018) and white matter at the internal capsule level (95% CI: 0.92, 1.00, P = .043). The slow FA map had the highest accuracy (89.8%) for detecting the hemisphere ipsilateral to arterial occlusion. CONCLUSION Slow FA maps acquired by using DTI with high b values are useful for visualizing ischemic brain damage in apparently normal WM.
Ca2+ or Sr2+ Partially Rescues Synaptic Transmission in Hippocampal Cultures Treated with Botulinum Toxin A and C, But Not Tetanus Toxin

Botulinum (BoNT/A–G) and tetanus toxins (TeNT) are zinc endopeptidases that cleave proteins associated with presynaptic terminals (SNAP-25, syntaxin, or VAMP/synaptobrevin) and block neurotransmitter release. Treatment of hippocampal slice cultures with BoNT/A, BoNT/C, BoNT/E, or TeNT prevented the occurrence of spontaneous or miniature EPSCs (sEPSCs or mEPSCs) as well as the [Ca2+]o-independent increase in their frequency induced by phorbol ester, 0.5 nm α-latrotoxin, or sucrose. [Ca2+]o-independent and -dependent release thus requires that the target proteins of clostridial neurotoxins be uncleaved. In contrast, significant increases in mEPSC frequency were produced in BoNT-treated, but not TeNT-treated, cultures by application of the Ca2+ionophore ionomycin in the presence of 10 mm[Ca2+]o. The frequency of sEPSCs was increased in BoNT-treated, but not TeNT-treated, cultures by increasing [Ca2+]o from 2.8 to 5–10 mm or by applying 5 mm Sr2+. Large Ca2+ and Sr2+ influxes thus can rescue release after BoNT treatment, albeit less than in control cultures. The nature of the toxin-induced modification of Ca2+-dependent release was assessed by recordings from monosynaptically coupled CA3 cell pairs. The paired-pulse ratio of unitary EPSCs evoked by two presynaptic action potentials in close succession was 0.5 in control cultures, but it was 1.4 and 1.2 in BoNT/A- or BoNT/C-treated cultures when recorded in 10 mm[Ca2+]o. Log–log plots of unitary EPSC amplitude versus [Ca2+]o were shifted toward higher [Ca2+]o in BoNT/A- or BoNT/C-treated cultures, but their slope was unchanged and the maximal EPSC amplitudes were reduced. We conclude that BoNTs reduce the Ca2+ sensitivity of the exocytotic machinery and the number of quanta released.
Mining Web Structures Using Multi-Dimensional Data Mining Model

Mining interesting structures of web organizations is a hot topic today. This paper proposes a method to mine non-trivial structures of an intranet-style web organiza,tion under multi-dimensional restrictions. To do so, we use our new datacube system named "ztemset cube". The itemset cube system does frequent itemset data-mining tasks in a datacube-style under multidimensional restrictions. Using this itemset cube, this paper analyzes structures of a web organization under the multi-dimensional restrictions about "what cores are important to which groups" and "wha,t cores are so when looking from which groups". As a new a,pproach, we model relationship between cores by a new core-community graph, and ca,lculate ranks of the cores there. Effects of our method are demonstrated by using all web sites under a university's domain.
Immobilization of Contaminants in Alkaline Solid Wastes Derived from Fossil Energy Conversion Process

The combustion of fossil fuels (eg coal, oil shale) to generate energy results in the production of alkaline solid wastes @y ash, clean coal technology (CCT) ash, spent shale etc). Reactions involving calcium (Ca) and carbon dioxide (C02) usually control the pH and mobility of inorganic contaminants such as Cd, P b and Se in alkaiine solid wastes. Samples offly ash, spent shale iutd CCT ash were reacted \r*ith CO:! at different pressures, moisture levels and for various reaction times. Treated and untreated samples were subjected to X-ray diffraction (XRD) and ABD TPA (ammonium bicarbonate diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid) extraction studies. Some C02 treatment conditions efectively precipitated calcite, and therefore lowered the pH and extractable concentrations of inorganic contaminants (eg Cd, Pb, Zn, Mn, As and Se) in alkaline solid wastes. Thus, the risk of these elements contaminating soils and groundwater resources could be reduced when CU2 treated alkaline solid wastes are disposed in landfills.
Diagnostic Accuracy of the GenoType MTBDRsl Assay for Rapid Diagnosis of Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in HIV-Coinfected Patients

ABSTRACT The Russian Federation is a high-tuberculosis (TB)-burden country with high rates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis multidrug resistance (MDR) and extensive drug resistance (XDR), especially in HIV-coinfected patients. Rapid and reliable diagnosis for detection of resistance to second-line drugs is vital for adequate patient management. We evaluated the performance of the GenoType MTBDRsl (Hain Lifescience GmbH, Nehren, Germany) assay on smear-positive sputum specimens obtained from 90 HIV-infected MDR TB patients from Russia. Test interpretability was over 98%. Specificity was over 86% for all drugs, while sensitivity varied, being the highest (71.4%) for capreomycin and lowest (9.4%) for kanamycin, probably due to the presence of mutations in the eis gene. The sensitivity of detection of XDR TB was 13.6%, increasing to 42.9% if kanamycin (not commonly used in Western Europe) was excluded. The assay is a highly specific screening tool for XDR detection in direct specimens from HIV-coinfected TB patients but cannot be used to rule out XDR TB.
Cosc460 Honours Report Improved Mobile Scrolling Interfaces

Mobile devices are everywhere, and their capabilities are impressive: they have gigabytes of data storage, abundant applications, graphics processors, and high bandwidth wireless communications. In many ways, they are yesterday’s desktop computer in your palm. And there lies the problem: their input and output devices are tiny, and interaction methods have not kept pace with the miniaturisation. This project examines the mobile scrolling design space and proposes two new touch based scrolling interfaces. The first is a tiered alphabet scroller, which is a specialised interface designed specifically for navigating alphabetically sorted lists. An evaluation did not show a performance improvement over a standard non-tiered scroller, but users generally preferred it and we gained insights into how it is used. The second is a general purpose hybrid scrolling technique that allows for a combination of rate based scrolling for navigating short and medium distances and zeroorder scrolling for navigating large distances. Evaluations showed that each component of this hybrid technique performed well for certain complementary types of tasks and that they would work together well as a hybrid technique.