Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Combined Input-Output Queued Crossbar Architecture for High-Radix On-Chip Switches

High-radix, single-chip routers have emerged as efficient building blocks for interconnection networks. Researchers believe that hierarchical switch architectures are needed at high radices as crossbars scale with the square of the router radix. This article proposes a novel microarchitecture that allows flat crossbar switches to scale to 128 ports, supporting 32 Gbits per second per port (Gbps/port) while occupying 4.9 mm^2 and consuming 4.2 W, or supporting 64 Gbps/port at 7.5 mm^2 and 7.5 W, in 45-nm CMOS. Key features include deep crossbar pipelining to cope with wire delay, a novel cross-scheduler architecture to reduce wiring complexity, and catalytic custom gate placement within standard electronic design automation (EDA) flows. Furthermore, on a chip, crossbar speedup and combined I/O queuing (CIOQ) is better than hierarchical queueing, providing top performance with orders of magnitude lower memory cost. Finally, the authors compare CIOQ with Swizzle Switch prototypes and demonstrate high-radix crossbars' potential for system-on-chip interconnects.
Novel Approaches to Application and Performance Assessment of Insecticide Applications to Crop Leaves

ABSTRACT Uniform and controlled applications of insecticides constitute a fundamental aspect of applied research on performance of insecticides, We describe and evaluate a spraying device made from an artist airbrush and a soda bottle, the “bottle sprayer,” which can be used to apply insecticide formulations both under laboratory and field conditions. Using the bottle sprayer in conjunction with quantitative behavioral analysis, it was shown that 1) miticides can significantly affect movement patterns and 2) it is possible to quantify mite repellency to miticides. The combination of controlled sprays to portions of trial arenas and quantification of behavioral responses by individual spider mites may be used to address a wide range of applied questions related to spider mite ecology. We used the bottle sprayer to apply water on water-sensitive cards and used simple image analysis techniques to correlate average reflectance per pixels (quadratic reflectance in blue color band) with water dose applied. Consequently, we were able to propose a method to quantify dose applied based on average color on water-sensitive cards. The spray card analysis based on data generated with the bottle sprayer was used to interpret spray card data obtained from spray applications in a commercial potato, Solanum tuberosum L. , field and to discuss the possibility of developing quality control procedures for insecticide applications in field crops.
Chemosensory Information Processing between Keratinocytes and Trigeminal Neurons

Background: Trigeminal sensations can arise from the direct stimulation of intraepithelial free nerve endings or indirectly through information transmission from adjacent cells. Results: Exposure to the odorant chemicals induces a chemical communication between human HaCaT keratinocytes and mouse trigeminal neurons. Conclusion: Keratinocytes act as chemosensors linking the environment and the trigeminal system via ATP signaling. Significance: This work contributes to our knowledge of how chemical cues indirectly activate the trigeminal system. Trigeminal fibers terminate within the facial mucosa and skin and transmit tactile, proprioceptive, chemical, and nociceptive sensations. Trigeminal sensations can arise from the direct stimulation of intraepithelial free nerve endings or indirectly through information transmission from adjacent cells at the peripheral innervation area. For mechanical and thermal cues, communication processes between skin cells and somatosensory neurons have already been suggested. High concentrations of most odors typically provoke trigeminal sensations in vivo but surprisingly fail to activate trigeminal neuron monocultures. This fact favors the hypothesis that epithelial cells may participate in chemodetection and subsequently transmit signals to neighboring trigeminal fibers. Keratinocytes, the major cell type of the epidermis, express various receptors that enable reactions to multiple environmental stimuli. Here, using a co-culture approach, we show for the first time that exposure to the odorant chemicals induces a chemical communication between human HaCaT keratinocytes and mouse trigeminal neurons. Moreover, a supernatant analysis of stimulated keratinocytes and subsequent blocking experiments with pyrodoxalphosphate-6-azophenyl-2′,4′-disulfonate revealed that ATP serves as the mediating transmitter molecule released from skin cells after odor stimulation. We show that the ATP release resulting from Javanol® stimulation of keratinocytes was mediated by pannexins. Consequently, keratinocytes act as chemosensors linking the environment and the trigeminal system via ATP signaling.
Comparison and implementation of a 3-level NPC voltage link back-to-back converter with SiC and Si diodes

This paper presents a high efficiency 10 kVA high-frequency input and output Si IGBT and SiC Schottky diode 3-level neutral point clamped voltage dc-link back-to-back converter (3LNPC-VLBBC). A switching frequency of 48 kHz makes the converter suitable for driving high-speed and low-inductive machines. A detailed loss analysis reveals that only four of the six diodes in a 3-level bridge-leg have to be replaced by SiC diodes to enable high efficiency operation if an appropriate modulation scheme is used. A comparison with an All-Si 3-level converter shows a reduction of the semiconductor losses by 10% at the nominal operating point. In addition, a semiconductor chip area based comparison is presented, showing the chip area partitioning of the individual semiconductor types and the corresponding costs for different implementations. The payback time for the additional costs resulting from replacing the Si diodes in the 3-level converter by SiC diodes due to energy savings is estimated. Finally, experimental results of the prototype are provided.
Lexical diversity for adults with and without aphasia across discourse elicitation tasks

Background: Differences in lexical diversity (LD) across different discourse elicitation tasks have been found in neurologically intact adults (NIA) (Fergadiotis, Wright, & Capilouto, 2010) but have not been investigated systematically in people with aphasia (PWA). Measuring lexical diversity in PWA may serve as a useful clinical tool for evaluating the impact of word retrieval difficulties at the discourse level. Aims: The study aims were (a) to explore the differences between the oral language samples of PWA and NIA in terms of LD as measured by dedicated computer software (voc-D), (b) to determine whether PWA are sensitive to discourse elicitation task in terms of LD, and (c) to identify whether differences between PWA and NIA vary in magnitude as a function of discourse task. Method & Procedures: Oral language samples from 25 PWA and 27 NIA were analysed. Participants completed three commonly used discourse elicitation tasks (single pictures, sequential pictures, story telling) and voc-D was used to obtain estimates of their LD. Outcomes & Results: A mixed 2 × 3 ANOVA revealed a significant group × task interaction that was followed by an investigation of simple main effects and tetrad comparisons. Different patterns of LD were uncovered for each group. For the NIA group results were consistent with previous findings in the literature according to which LD varies as a function of elicitation technique. However, for PWA sequential pictures and story telling elicited comparable estimates of LD. Conclusions: Results indicated that LD is one of the microlinguistic indices that are influenced by elicitation task and the presence of aphasia. These findings have important implications for modelling lexical diversity and selecting and interpreting results from different discourse elicitation tasks.
Reduced serum concentrations of carboxylated and undercarboxylated osteocalcin are associated with risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus in a high cardiovascular risk population: a nested case-control study.

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE Because it has been suggested that osteocalcin (OC), an osteoblast-derived hormone, is a new link between bone and glucose metabolism, we tested whether serum carboxylated osteocalcin (cOC) and undercarboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC) levels are independently associated with the development of type 2 diabetes in subjects at high cardiovascular risk. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A prospective, nested case-control study was conducted using data from the Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea (PREDIMED) study. We included 153 case subjects with newly diagnosed diabetes and 306 individually matched control subjects free of diabetes identified during a mean 5-year follow-up. Conditional logistic regression models were used to estimate matched odds ratios for incident diabetes according to categories of both forms of OC measured by ELISAs. RESULTS Baseline serum concentrations of both forms of OC were significantly lower in case subjects than in control subjects. In subjects with incident cases of diabetes, concentrations of cOC, but not of ucOC, were inversely and significantly associated with homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance levels (β = -0.335) and with fasting glucose concentrations (β = -0.044) in control subjects, independent of other relevant confounders. In the conditional logistic model that took into account the matching factors, the odds ratios for diabetes incidence in the lowest vs the highest tertile of cOC and ucOC were 2.03 (95% confidence interval, 1.32-3.13) and 1.88 (1.23-2.85), respectively. Further adjustment for family history of diabetes, lifestyle, and other confounding factors did not appreciably change the magnitude of these associations. CONCLUSION In a population at high cardiovascular risk, low concentrations of serum cOC and ucOC were strongly associated with an increased risk of incident diabetes.
Providing Data Dissemination Services in the Future Internet

In this paper authors examine benefits and motivations for the Information-Centric Networking (ICN) concept [1][2] under the point of view of an Internet Service Provider (ISP). A proposal for a Global Information Network (GIN) is advanced, which should follow a standardization path. Authors believe that ICN will enable ISPs to provide native support to typical data dissemination services (e.g. file sharing, distributed storage, caching, instant messaging, VoIP, etc.) currently provided by overlay networks and P2P applications (e.g. eMule/eDonkey [3], BitTorrent [4], Kazaa [5], Skype [6], Akamai [7], etc.). This will be possible by integrating most of the basic features of the current P2P overlay networks into the ISP's network infrastructure. As a result, new advanced communication services will be offered at a new networking layer, sitting on top of a transport infrastructure, based either on IP or whatever new transport technology. The potential of this change in the Internet architecture could be dramatic, since ICN impacts both the communication model and the network infrastructure. Furthermore, it is foreseeable that the business relationships among most of the actors (customers, network providers, ISPs, content providers, search engines) will be also deeply changed.
Differential regulation of the expression of estrogen, progesterone, and androgen receptors by sex steroid hormones in the vagina: immunohistochemical studies.

OBJECTIVE Significant structural changes occur in the rat vagina in response to sex steroid hormone deprivation and replacement. However, the mechanism by which these changes occur is not clearly understood and our current hypothesis is that these effects are mediated, at least in part, by the expression of sex steroid hormone receptors. The goal of this study was to assess changes in steroid hormone receptor expression and distribution in response to sex steroid hormone deprivation and administration. METHODS Female rats were either kept intact (controls) or ovariectomized. Ovariectomized animals were treated with vehicle, estradiol, testosterone, progesterone, or hormone combinations. Using immunohistochemistry, hormone receptor distribution was assessed in all layers of the vaginal wall. RESULTS After ovariectomy, estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) was up-regulated and progesterone receptor (PR) was down-regulated. Estradiol replacement restored these ovariectomy-induced changes, and this effect was dose-dependent. Androgen receptor (AR) expression was unaffected by ovariectomy or estradiol replacement. However, testosterone treatment resulted in increased AR density in the muscularis. Addition of either testosterone or progesterone to estradiol mitigated but did not abolish the effects of estradiol alone. CONCLUSION Estradiol down-regulated ERalpha and up-regulated PR expression in the vagina, suggesting this may be a mechanism to prevent continued proliferation of the epithelium by surges of estradiol during the estrous cycle.
Biological evaluation and pharmacophore modeling of some benzoxazoles and their possible metabolites

A series of benzoxazole derivatives and some possible primary metabolites were evaluated as anticancer agents. In vitro anti‐proliferative activities of the compounds were tested using the SRB assay on cancerous (HeLa) and non‐cancerous (L929) cell lines. It was found that 17 of 21 tested compounds had cytotoxic activity on HeLa cells and the cytotoxic activities of the compounds were 15–700 times higher than on L929 cells. We generated two distinct pharmacophore models for the cytotoxic activities of the compounds on HeLa and L929 cells. While active compounds such as camptothecin and X8 fitted the two models generated for both cell lines, selective cytotoxic compounds such as XT3B fitted only the model generated for HeLa cells. Evaluation of the genotoxic activities of the cytotoxic compounds with the alkaline comet assay revealed that compounds X17 and XT3 showed strong genotoxic effects against HeLa cells at low concentrations whereas they had no genotoxic effect on L929 cells. Due to the selective ability for inducing DNA strand breaks only on cancerous cells, the compounds were identified as effective derivatives for anticancer candidates.
Charting the Trajectory of a Flexible Community-University Collaboration in an Applied Learning Ecosystem

Current fiscal cuts provide numerous challenges for community organizations in their mission to provide evidence-based services. Universities are focusing on career-related experiences, largely experiential learning opportunities, to support enhanced student outcomes. Community engagement is often touted as a goal for universities and community collaboration is increasingly viewed as favourable in research. Thus, a community-university partnership which focuses on evaluation would serve to meet the needs of both groups currently experiencing challenges in service delivery and training, respectively. This article presents a case study of a community-university partnership between Renascent and Ryerson University that has evolved over time to meet the needs of both partners. We discuss the applied learning ecosystem, which extends from the supervisory context to the history of the academic institutional partner. We also discuss the flexibility in collaboration, noting the change over time to meet the evolving needs of both the university and the community partner. We aspire to contribute to the literature documenting the range of community-engaged partnerships by providing experiences and reflections to support others in this area.
Epidermal Growth Factor Induction of Apolipoprotein A-I Is Mediated by the Ras-MAP Kinase Cascade and Sp1*

Insulin induces apolipoprotein A-I,apoA-I gene transcription via a membrane receptor with intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity. This finding prompted us to ask whether the gene is stimulated by epidermal growth factor (EGF), EGF a peptide hormone that binds to another member of the receptor superfamily with tyrosine kinase activity. Our data showed that like insulin, EGF increased abundance of apoA-I protein and transcription of the gene in human hepatoma, Hep G2 cells. The effects of both hormones appeared direct because their induction of apoA-I gene transcription was not affected by the protein synthesis inhibitor, cycloheximide. Although both insulin and EGF stimulate apoA-I expression, each hormone binds to a distinct membrane receptor thus suggesting differential intracellular signaling. Therefore, we used a panel of inhibitors to define the pathway(s) that mediate the actions of these hormones. Whereas, the actions of EGF required only the Ras-mitogen-activated protein, MAP kinase, those of insulin were mediated by equal participation of both the Ras-MAP kinase and protein kinase C, PKC cascades. Despite differences in signaling pathways triggered by each hormone receptor, the activation ofapoA-I transcription required the participation of a single transcription factor, Sp1. Furthermore, EGF induction of transcription was attenuated by mutating the MAP kinase site at amino acid, Thr266 rendering Sp1 phosphorylation deficient. In summary, EGF stimulation of apoA-I expression is mediated solely by the Ras-MAP kinase cascade and enhanced activity of this pathway requires Sp1 with an intact phosphorylation site at Thr266. However, insulin induction of this gene is different and requires both Ras-MAP kinase and PKC pathways but their actions are also mediated by Sp1.
Inhibition of Airway Inflammation by Amino-Terminally Modified RANTES/CC Chemokine Ligand 5 Analogues Is Not Mediated through CCR3

Chemokines play a key role in the recruitment of activated CD4+ T cells and eosinophils into the lungs in animal models of airway inflammation. Inhibition of inflammation by N-terminally modified chemokines is well-documented in several models but is often reported with limited dose regimens. We have evaluated the effects of doses ranging from 10 ng to 100 μg of two CC chemokine receptor antagonists, Met-RANTES/CC chemokine ligand 5 (CCL5) and aminooxypentane-RANTES/CCL5, in preventing inflammation in the OVA-sensitized murine model of human asthma. In the human system, aminooxypentane-RANTES/CCL5 is a full agonist of CCR5, but in the murine system neither variant is able to induce cellular recruitment. Both antagonists showed an inverse bell-shaped inhibition of cellular infiltration into the airways and mucus production in the lungs following allergen provocation. The loss of inhibition at higher doses did not appear to be due to partial agonist activity because neither variant showed activity in recruiting cells into the peritoneal cavity at these doses. Surprisingly, neither was able to bind to the major CCR expressed on eosinophils, CCR3. However, significant inhibition of eosinophil recruitment was observed. Both analogues retained high affinity binding for murine CCR1 and murine CCR5. Their ability to antagonize CCR1 and CCR5 but not CCR3 was confirmed by their ability to prevent RANTES/CCL5 and macrophage inflammatory protein-1β/CCL4 recruitment in vitro and in vivo, while they had no effect on that induced by eotaxin/CCL11. These results suggest that CCR1 and/or CCR5 may be potential targets for asthma therapy.
RBP2‐H1/JARID1B is a transcriptional regulator with a tumor suppressive potential in melanoma cells

The RBP2‐H1/JARID1B nuclear protein belongs to the ARID family of DNA‐binding proteins and is a potential tumor suppressor that is lost during melanoma development. As we have recently shown, one physiological function of RBP2‐H1/JARID1B is to exert cell cycle control via maintenance of active retinoblastoma protein. We now add new evidence that RBP2‐H1/JARID1B can also directly regulate gene transcription in a reporter assay system, either alone or as part of a multimolecular complex together with the developmental transcription factors FOXG1b and PAX9. In melanoma cells, chromatin immunoprecipitation combined with promoter chip analysis (ChIP‐on‐chip) suggests a direct binding of re‐expressed RBP2‐H1/JARID1B to a multitude of human regulatory chromosomal elements (promoters, enhancers and introns). Among those, a set of 23 genes, including the melanoma relevant genes CDK6 and JAG‐1 could be confirmed by cDNA microarray analyses to be differentially expressed after RBP2‐H1/JARID1B re‐expression. In contrast, in nonmelanoma HEK 293 cells, RBP2‐H1/JARID1B overexpression only evokes a minor transcriptional response in cDNA microarray analyses. Because the transcriptional regulation in melanoma cells is accompanied by an inhibition of proliferation, an increase in caspase activity and a partial cell cycle arrest in G1/0, our data support an anti‐tumorigenic role of RBP2‐H1/JARID1B in melanocytic cells. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Does Residential Housing Crowd Out or Promote Households’ Stock Investment? Evidence from China

ABSTRACT Limited participation in risky financial markets has long been a puzzle. Empirical evidence shows a strong relationship between housing and investment of risky financial assets, but with varying and conflicting results. We contribute to the literature by distinguishing housing for consumption and for investment, and by considering the role of housing price expectation when exploring households’ participation in stock markets. We find that home equity ratio and housing area play significant roles in households’ participation in stock markets. Households with higher home equity ratio or larger housing are less likely to own, and hold fewer stock assets if they do. We also find that the number of houses has a positive effect on stock investment for households with the same home equity ratio and housing size, which could be explained by credit rationing. Furthermore, housing price expectation has a negative effect on stock investment; this effect is larger for homeowners with multiple houses who are more likely to take houses for investment. Our results show insights into conflicting results of the relationship between real estate and stock investment.