Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The 1992 SRC Algorithm Animation Festival

During the last two weeks of July 1992, twenty researchers at Digital Equipment Corporation's Systems Research Center participated in the 1st Annual SRC Algorithm Animation Festival. Only two of the researchers had previously animated an algorithm, and not too many more had ever written an application that involved graphics. The author reports on the Animation Festival, describing why we did it and what we did, and commenting on what we learned. <<ETX>>
Computer simulation of the Tevatron crystal extraction experiment

The Fermilab crystal-extraction experiment E853 at Tevatron was simulated by Monte Carlo code CATCH tested earlier in the CERN-SPS experiment. Predictions for the extraction efficiency, angular scans and extracted beam profiles are presented. Several ideas are proposed and tested by the simulation, how to get in E853 the key information of the extraction experiment: the "septum width" of a crystal and dependence of extraction efficiency on it, the impact parameters of protons at crystal, and the contribution of the first and multi passes to the extraction. The ways to optimize E853 are analyzed.
Horizontally transferred fungal carotenoid genes in the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae

Carotenoids are organic pigments commonly synthesized by plants, algae and some micro-organisms. Through absorption of light energy, carotenoids facilitate photosynthesis and provide protection against photo-oxidation. While it was presumed that all carotenoids in animals were sequestered from their diets, aphids were recently shown to harbour genomic copies of functional carotenoid biosynthesis genes that were acquired via horizontal gene transfer from fungi. Our search of available animal transcripts revealed the presence of two related genes in the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae. Phylogenetic analyses suggest that the T. urticae genes were transferred from fungi into the spider mite genome, probably in a similar manner as recently suggested for aphids. The genes are expressed in both green and red morphs, with red morphs exhibiting higher levels of gene expression. Additionally, there appear to be changes in the expression of these genes during diapause. As carotenoids are associated with diapause induction in these animals, our results add to recent findings highlighting the importance of eukaryotic horizontal gene transfer in the ecology and evolution of higher animals.
Cyclooxygenase immunohistochemical staining in the human ductus arteriosus after 24 weeks of gestational age

Cyclooxygenase inhibitors (CI) which contained risks to fetal health were one of the most effective tocolytics. In order to indirectly investigate the effects of CI in human ductus arteriosus, immunohistochemical staining for cyclooxygenase-1 (COX1) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2) was evaluated in post-mortem fetuses with gestational ages between 24 and 34 weeks. Neither COX1 nor COX2 staining was related to gestational age. COX1 and COX2 staining in the vessel walls were not related to each other. COX1 staining in the endothelium, inner media and outer media were positively correlated with each other (COX1 endothelium vs IM staining Spearman's rho statistic [rs] = 0.721, p = 0.001; COX1 endothelium vs OM staining [rs] = 0.634, p = 0.004; COX1 IM vs OM staining [rs] = 0.931, p = 0.001). COX2 staining of endothelium was not correlated with either IM or OM staining. In conclusion, COX2 staining in the post-mortem specimens of human ductus arteriosus between 24 and 34 weeks is weak and limited to the endothelium.
Lost in transition? How network structure affects knowledge loss in interpersonal knowledge-sharing ties

In this paper, we study knowledge loss as a theoretical concept novel to the knowledge transfer literature by focusing on 3,429 knowledge sharing ties among 330 employees in a data solution company and considering network features associated with incomplete transfers of knowledge from a source to a recipient. Results indicate that that while strength of direct ties does reduce the amount of knowledge lost in interpersonal exchanges, network range (i.e. ability to connect with otherwise disconnected others) increases it. Tie strength further moderates the relationship between network range and knowledge loss. By observing a ? cost? to network range in terms of lost knowledge, we suggest that more attention should be paid not only to the advantages, but also to the liabilities associated with different network positions. Theoretical and practical implications for knowledge management are discussed.
Machining burrs formation & deburring of aluminium alloys

Although the machinability of most aluminium alloys can be classified as relatively easy when the tool wear and the cutting energy are considered, these materials could however raise some concerns when the chip formation and the burr formation are of concern. Burr formation, a phenomenon similar to chip generation, is a common problem that occurs in several industrial sectors, such as the aerospace and automobile sectors. It has also been among the most troublesome impediments to high productivity and automation, and large‐ ly affects the machined part quality. To ensure competitiveness, precise and burr-free com‐ ponents with tight tolerances and better surface finish are demanded. Intensive research conducted during the last decades has laid out the mechanisms of burr formation and de‐ burring in a very comprehensive fashion, and has introduced integrated strategies for burr prevention and minimization. Despite all the improvements realized, there are still many challenges encountered in understanding, modeling and optimizing the burr formation process and size, through production growth and cycle time reduction. Furthermore, acquir‐ ing a solid knowledge on deburring methods and the links between them and burr size is strongly recommended.
Automated Object Layout Optimization in a Portable Microkernel

In a portable microkernel, the increasing diversity of target configurations can lead to software complexity problems. Insufficiencies of current kernel programming techni ques manifest in excessive preprocessor use for code selection, i code duplication, and in suboptimal performance. Object-oriented programming can solve the portability problems. However, t he language implementation of inheritance often enforces a me mory layout of objects that is governed by inheritance relations , not by access patterns, resulting in suboptimal cache usage on t he kernel’s critical path. In this paper we present an automated approach to eliminating inheritance-induced overheads in selected performance-c ritical data structures. We combine class flattening and profile-gui ded data member reordering and heavily rely on microkernel characteristics. Evaluation in the L4 microkernel indicates that we can use fine-grained class hierarchies in the kernel at no cos t and still optimize for the target system, allowing for portable yet efficient microkernels.
Secure National Electronic Voting System

Electronic voting provides accuracy and efficiency to the electoral processes. World democracies would benefit from a secure e-voting system not only to improve voter participation and trust but also to prevent electoral fraud. However, current e-voting systems are complex and have security weaknesses. In this paper, we describe a secure e-voting system for national and local elections (S-Vote). This system satisfies the important requirements of an e-voting system through state-of-the-art technologies and secure processes. S-Vote relies on homomorphic cryptography, zero-knowledge proofs, biometrics, smartcards, open-source software, and secure computers for securely and efficiently implementing the system processes over the various stages of the electoral process, without relying on online network connections. We outline the main conclusions of the pilot implementations of S-Vote that tested the main technologies and processes used. We also explain how the used technologies and processes achieve the system requirement. In conclusion, we recommend adopting S-Vote for its security, flexibility, economic, and scalability features.
Gender‐related boardroom dynamics: How Scandinavian women make and can make contributions on corporate boards

– The objective of this article is to examine and conceptualise gender‐related boardroom dynamics that affect how women can make contributions on corporate boards. , – Stories were collected from eight women directors about their experiences from more than 100 corporate boards. Narrative methods were used in the data analysis. , – Women as well as men need to understand the power game inside and outside the boardroom. Their contribution depends on the ability and willingness to make alliances with the most influential actors, to spend time on preparations, being present on the most important decision‐making arenas, and to take leadership roles. , – The study has implications for theory as well as practice. Process‐oriented theories should be included in studies of boards and governance, and the study showed that boardroom dynamics are not neutral to gender. Concepts and relationships are suggested that should be included in further theory development. The study has also given several practical examples and suggestions on how women can make contributions on corporate boards. , – The study has value for developing the role of women directors.
A Compact High-Performance Programmable-Gain Analog Front End for HomePlug AV2 Communication in 0.18- $\mu \text{m}$ CMOS

An analog front end suitable for powerline communication HomePlug AV2 is firstly presented. Targeting different input power level, an attenuation-programmable gain amplifier (AT-PGA) and a low- noise amplifier are adopted as the input stage of receiver, respectively, followed by a fourth-order low-pass filter and a PGA with a build-in feedback control to improve linearity and stay constant bandwidth. A line driver with programmability in transmitter is designed to synthesize output impedance for maximizing the power density transmission ratio in power lines characterized by an impedance of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$50~\Omega $ </tex-math></inline-formula>. The analog front end is realized in 0.18-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> 3.3-V CMOS technology with power consumption of 160 mW (receiver) and 350 mW (transmitter) that occupies a 5.75-mm<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{2}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> die area (dual channel). The receiver exhibits a bandwidth of 100 MHz and a gain range from −26.2 to 21 dB, with a minimum noise figure of 20.2 dB at maximum gain 21 dB and maximum IIP3 of 36.1 dBm at minimum gain −26.2 dB. The transmitter achieves 47-dB low-band multi-tone power ratios (MTPR) and 9.6-dB high-band MTPR.
P system model optimisation by means of evolutionary based search algorithms

Executable Biology, also called Algorithmic Systems Biology, uses rigorous concepts from computer science and mathematics to build computational models of biological entities. P systems are emerging as one of the key modelling frameworks within Executable Biology. In this paper, we address the continuous backward problem: given a P system model structure and a target phenotype (i.e. an intended biological behaviour), one is tasked with finding the (near) optimal parameters for the model that would make the P system model produce the target behaviour as closely as possible. We test several real-valued parameter optimisation algorithms on this problem. More specifically, using four different test cases of increasing complexity, we perform experiments with four evolutionary algorithms, and one variable neighbourhood search method combining three other evolutionary algorithms. The results show that, when there are few parameters to optimise, a genetic and two differential evolution based algorithms are robust optimisers attaining the best results. However, when the number of parameters increases, the variable neighbourhood search approach performs better.
The magnetic field dependence of water T1 in tissues

The magnetic field dependence of the composite 1H2O nuclear magnetic resonance signal T1 was measured for excised samples of rat liver, muscle, and kidney over the field range from 0.7 to 7 T (35–300 MHz) with a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer using sample‐shuttle methods. Based on extensive measurements on simpler component systems, the magnetic field dependence of T1 of all tissues studied are readily fitted at Larmor frequencies above 1 MHz with a simple relaxation equation consisting of three contributions: a power law, A*ω−0.60 related to the interaction of water with long‐lived‐protein binding sites, a logarithmic term B*τd*log(1+1/(ωτd)2) related to water diffusion at macromolecular interfacial regions, and a constant term associated with the high frequency limit of water‐spin‐lattice relaxation. The parameters A and B include the concentration and surface area dependences respectively. The logarithmic diffusion term becomes significant at high magnetic fields and is consistent with rapid translational dynamics at macromolecular surfaces. The data are fitted well with translational correlation times of approximately 15 ps for human brain white matter, but with a B value three times larger than gray matter tissues. This analysis suggests that the water‐surface translational correlation time is approximately three times longer than in gray matter. Magn Reson Med, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals Inc.
Estimating Trends in the Proportion of Transmitted and Acquired HIV Drug Resistance in a Long Term Observational Cohort in Germany

Objective We assessed trends in the proportion of transmitted (TDR) and acquired (ADR) HIV drug resistance and associated mutations between 2001 and 2011 in the German ClinSurv-HIV Drug Resistance Study. Method The German ClinSurv-HIV Drug Resistance Study is a subset of the German ClinSurv-HIV Cohort. For the ClinSurv-HIV Drug Resistance Study all available sequences isolated from patients in five study centres of the long term observational ClinSurv-HIV Cohort were included. TDR was estimated using the first viral sequence of antiretroviral treatment (ART) naïve patients. One HIV sequence/patient/year of ART experienced patients was considered to estimate the proportion of ADR. Trends in the proportion of HIV drug resistance were calculated by logistic regression. Results 9,528 patients were included into the analysis. HIV-sequences of antiretroviral naïve and treatment experienced patients were available from 34% (3,267/9,528) of patients. The proportion of TDR over time was stable at 10.4% (95% CI 9.1–11.8; p for trend = 0.6; 2001–2011). The proportion of ADR among all treated patients was 16%, whereas it was high among those with available HIV genotypic resistance test (64%; 1,310/2,049 sequences; 95% CI 62–66) but declined significantly over time (OR 0.8; 95% CI 0.77–0.83; p for trend<0.001; 2001–2011). Viral load monitoring subsequent to resistance testing was performed in the majority of treated patients (96%) and most of them (67%) were treated successfully. Conclusions The proportion of TDR was stable in this study population. ADR declined significantly over time. This decline might have been influenced by broader resistance testing, resistance test guided therapy and the availability of more therapeutic options and not by a decline in the proportion of TDR within the study population.
Distributed subchannel assignment in an OFDMA relay

The paper studies a distributed OFDMA system in which the transmitting nodes (source and relay) have access to channel information and to some interference-related information. Distributed subchannel allocation is modelled as a noncooperative game where the players are the source nodes. Channel-aware source nodes opportunistically select their subchannels while a channel-aware relay node assigns the input subchannels at relay to appropriate output subchannels in a way that maximizes the sum of utilities in terms of signal-to-noise ratio. Numerical examples illustrate the performance of distributed subchannel assignment; opportunistic channel allocation implies a trade-off between the average capacity and fairness.
Recommendations for performance assessment of automatic sleep staging algorithms

A number of automatic sleep scoring algorithms have been published in the last few years. These can potentially help save time and reduce costs in sleep monitoring. However, the use of both R&K and AASM classification, different databases and varying performance metrics makes it extremely difficult to compare these algorithms. In this paper, we describe some readily available polysomnography databases and propose a set of recommendations and performance metrics to promote uniform testing and direct comparison of different algorithms. We use two different polysomnography databases with a simple sleep staging algorithm to demonstrate the usage of all recommendations and presentation of performance results. We also illustrate how seemingly similar results using two different databases can have contrasting accuracies in different sleep stages. Finally, we show how selection of different training and test subjects from the same database can alter the final performance results.
Peer-to-peer live adaptive video streaming for Information Centric cellular networks

Information Centric Networking (ICN) is a new paradigm in which the network layer provides users with content exposed as names, instead of providing communication channels between hosts. We present a P2P application for the live streaming of video contents encoded at multiple bit-rates. The application enables a limited set of neighboring cellular devices to increase the quality of video playback, by cooperatively using their cellular (e.g. 3G) and proximity (e.g. Wi-Fi Direct) wireless connections. The application exploits key functionalities of ICN: routing by name, in network caching and multicast delivery. We developed a prototype of the application and assessed its performance in a test-bed based on Linux devices with 3G connections, the CCNx tool, the VLC player and the MPEG DASH streaming format. Our main contribution is to show how ICN can provide support to emerging video streaming applications, and ease their creation.
Programmable central pattern generators: an application to biped locomotion control

We present a system of coupled nonlinear oscillators to be used as programmable central pattern generators, and apply it to control the locomotion of a humanoid robot. Central pattern generators are biological neural networks that can produce coordinated multidimensional rhythmic signals, under the control of simple input signals. They are found both in vertebrate and invertebrate animals for the control of locomotion. In this article, we present a novel system composed of coupled adaptive nonlinear oscillators that can learn arbitrary rhythmic signals in a supervised learning framework. Using adaptive rules implemented as differential equations, parameters such as intrinsic frequencies, amplitudes, and coupling weights are automatically adjusted to replicate a teaching signal. Once the teaching signal is removed, the trajectories remain embedded as the limit cycle of the dynamical system. An interesting aspect of this approach is that the learning is completely embedded into the dynamical system, and does not require external optimization algorithms. We use our system to encapsulate rhythmic trajectories for biped locomotion with a simulated humanoid robot, and demonstrate how it can be used to do online trajectory generation. The system can modulate the speed of locomotion, and even allow the reversal of direction (i.e. walking backwards). The integration of sensory feedback allows the online modulation of trajectories such as to increase the basin of stability of the gaits, and therefore the range of speeds that can be produced
Chronic Condition Combinations and Health Care Expenditures and Out-of-Pocket Spending Burden Among Adults, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2009 and 2011

Introduction Little is known about how combinations of chronic conditions in adults affect total health care expenditures. Our objective was to estimate the annual average total expenditures and out-of-pocket spending burden among US adults by combinations of conditions. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study using 2009 and 2011 data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. The sample consisted of 9,296 adults aged 21 years or older with at least 2 of the following 4 highly prevalent chronic conditions: arthritis, diabetes mellitus, heart disease, and hypertension. Unadjusted and adjusted regression techniques were used to examine the association between chronic condition combinations and log-transformed total expenditures. Logistic regressions were used to analyze the relationship between chronic condition combinations and high out-of-pocket spending burden. Results Among adults with chronic conditions, adults with all 4 conditions had the highest average total expenditures ($20,016), whereas adults with diabetes/hypertension had the lowest annual total expenditures ($7,116). In adjusted models, adults with diabetes/hypertension and hypertension/arthritis had lower health care expenditures than adults with diabetes/heart disease (P < .001). In adjusted models, adults with all 4 conditions had higher expenditures compared with those with diabetes and heart disease. However, the difference was only marginally significant (P = .04). Conclusion Among adults with arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension, total health care expenditures differed by type of chronic condition combinations. For individuals with multiple chronic conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes, new models of care management are needed to reduce the cost burden on the payers.
Adaptive Language Modeling Using the Maximum Entropy Principle

We describe our ongoing efforts at adaptive statistical language modeling. Central to our approach is the Maximum Entropy (ME) Principle, allowing us to combine evidence from multiple sources, such as long-distance triggers and conventional short-distance trigrams. Given consistent statistical evidence, a unique ME solution is guaranteed to exist, and an iterative algorithm exists which is guaranteed to converge to it. Among the advantages of this approach are its simplicity, its generality, and its incremental nature. Among its disadvantages are its computational requirements. We describe a succession of ME models, culminating in our current Maximum Likelihood/Maximum Entropy (ML/ME) model. Preliminary results with the latter show a 27% perplexity reduction as compared to a conventional trigram model.
Multi-Agent Systems by Incremental Gradient Reinforcement Learning

A new reinforcement learning (RL) methodology is proposed to design multi-agent systems. In the realistic setting of situated agents with local perception, the task of automatically building a coordinated system is of crucial importance. We use simple reactive agents which learn their own behavior in a decentralized way. To cope with the difficulties inherent to RL used in that framework, we have developed an incremental learning algorithm where agents face more and more complex tasks. We illustrate this general framework on a computer experiment where agents have to coordinate to reach a global goal.