Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Partial Parity Cache and Data Cache Management Method to Improve the Performance of an SSD-Based RAID

In this paper, a partial parity cache and data cache management method is presented for reducing the parity updating cost of a solid-state disk (SSD) based redundant array of inexpensive disk (RAID) system, thereby which the input/output (I/O) performance of the RAID system can be improved. SSDs have many advantages compared to hard disk drives. However, it is not advisable to directly add SSDs into a RAID system because doing so will decrease the performance and the life-time of the SSDs. In the RAID-5 system, parity generation includes read and write operations to the SSDs. Whenever there is a new write request to the RAID, the related parity must be updated and written to the SSDs. Such frequent parity updates result in poor RAID performance and shortens the life-time of the SSDs. This paper combines the prior methods and the proposed efficient buffer management method with a data cache. The proposed method reduces the number of read and write operations for generating parities in the RAID system. Experimental results show that the I/O performance of the RAID-5 system can be improved by 76% by using the proposed method.
Hydrodynamic effects created by argon stirring liquid steel in a one-strand tundish

Continuous casting of steel ensures the flexible production of different grades of slabs intended for the Rolling Mill departments. Therefore, it seems justifiable to search new solutions for tundish metallurgy. This study puts forward a new gas-permeable barrier’s design solution with two circular porous plugs, whose purpose is to punctually agitate the liquid steel in tundish. Two argon injection system locations were tested. The results for the hydrodynamic pattern of liquid steel and bubbles’ behaviour in the tundish were obtained from laboratory experiments with water glass model and computer simulations. Within the framework of the investigation, three argon flow rates, i.e. 5, 10 and 15 NL min−1, were considered. The designed gas-permeable barriers effectively stimulate active flow in the tundish for isothermal and non-isothermal conditions, while reducing the stagnant flow share and the transient zone extent.
AN EXPANDED TEST OF THE ECOLOGICAL MODEL OF PRIMATE SOCIAL EVOLUTION: COMPETITIVE REGIMES AND FEMALE BONDING IN THREE SPECIES OF SQUIRREL MONKEYS (SAIMIRI OERSTEDII, S. BOLIVIENSIS, AND S. SCIUREUS)

Two critical premises underlie prevalent interpretations of the ecological basis of variation among female primate social behavior. The first is that food distribution affects competitive regimes for food experienced by females. This leads, in turn, to the second premise that these competitive regimes generate predictable patterns of female social relationships and residence. Long-term field studies of S. oerstedii at Corcovado, Costa Rica and S. boliviensis at Manu, Peru (Mitchell et al. , 1991) provide what is widely considered as the most powerful support to date for such an ecological model. The data from these two squirrel monkey field studies are entirely consistent with the various incarnations of the van Schaik (1989) and associates' models linking a cascade of predictions on within- and between-sex social bonds and dispersal patterns to the presence or absence of significant within-group contest competition for food. A key premise of these models is that females tolerate the significant costs of within-group food competition because of the advantages group living affords in reduction of predation risk.In the current study, comparable ecological and behavioral data from long-term field observations of known individuals of S. sciureus at Raleighvallen, Suriname are used to expand the test of ecological models to three species. In all three sites female within-group direct competition regimes clearly follow from the distribution of fruit patches. In Suriname, however, S. sciureus females exhibit weak social bonds and rarely form coalitions with other females despite frequent, intense, even vicious within-group direct food competition. Although all males appear to emigrate from their natal troops, some females do as well, probably exceeding about 10% of the female group membership annually. Yet the lack of consistency with the expectations of the ecological model is only superficial. In fact, S. sciureus is the exception that corroborates the general robustness of predictions made in the ecological model. The fruit patches defended by S. sciureus, although small, are usually dense, extremely rewarding and easily defended by the individual with the greatest resource holding potential. Female coalitions to defend fruit patches would not be stable, as one female can ultimately prevail in monopolizing the resource. The lack of reliable foraging benefits to females who form coalitions and the consequent lack of strong female social bonds among female S. sciureus are completely concordant with the logical rationale underlying the ecological model.
Screening of dementia in community‐dwelling elderly through informant report

Screening tools for cognitive decline still have low accuracy for dementia, mainly in cases of mild dementia. All of them are affected by factors such as age, sex, educational level, sensory deficits and several mental disorders. The information provided by a proxy close to the patient has been used during recent years in dementia diagnosis. Therefore, new questionnaires, which use standardized information from relatives, have been developed. The aim of this study was to validate a Spanish version (S‐IQCODE) of the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE), a dementia screening questionnaire in Spanish population‐based samples. A validity study of the screening tool was carried out in two population‐based samples of community‐dwelling elderly with different sociodemographic characteristics (urban and rural samples). Dementia diagnosis was performed by neurologists according to DSM‐III‐R criteria. The S‐IQCODE showed a higher accuracy than the MMSE in both samples: sensitivity of 82% and 83% vs 73% and 83%, specificity of 90% and 83% vs 78% and 74%, accuracy of 89% and 83% vs 77% and 75%. Moreover, while the S‐IQCODE did not have associations with any extraneous factors, the MMSE showed significant correlations with age (−0.51), educational level (0.62), mental health (−0.40), premorbid intelligence (0.67) and intellectual level (0.75). The results obtained with the S‐IQCODE show that it could possibly be applied in screening for dementia in community‐dwelling elderly. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Inner Camera Invariants and Their Applications

In this paper we present some results on carrying out geometric computer vision tasks ignoring the (possibly changing) internal parameters of the camera. We assume absence of camera skew and derive new invariants which are independent of the internal parameters of the camera. These invariants can be used to address several vision problems: 1) Unlike previous methods of camera pose determination, we localize the camera with respect to a landmark frame without the assumption that the internal parameters are known, and, consequently, camera calibration is not required. Indices computed only from images can be used for robot navigation. 2) Conversely, when the camera positions are known, we show that is is possible to compute the Euclidean structure from multiple views even with varying and unknown internal camera parameters. In general the solutions are non-linear, though in some special cases we propose linear methods. 3) For the problem of simultaneous computation of Euclidean pose and structure using uncalibrated cameras, few of the existing approaches to camera selfcalibration and 3-D reconstruction neither the stratified approach nor the method using Kruppa’s equations, can be effectively used in the case of varying and unknown internal parameters. We show that Euclidean pose and 3-D structure can be simultaneously computed directly using these inner camera invariants. For each of the cases mentioned above, we derive the necessary conditions under which a finite number of (or unique) solutions can be found. Our experiments demonstrate the applicability of the methods.
Biodegradable Poly(lactic acid) Scaffold for Tissue Engineering: A Brief Review

Biodegradable polymers have been recorganized as alternative materials for tissue engineering applications, due to their ability to degrade through simple hydrolysis to products which can be accomplished through enzymatic activities in human body. Among various biomaterials used in the synthesis of biodegradable polymer scaffold, poly (lactic acid) (PLA) has recently received significant attention among researchers. Poly (lactic acid) is at present one of the most preferred biodegradable polymer for this purpose and has convincingly demonstrated the proof of concept as biodegradable materials used in polymeric scaffold. This is due to their mechanical properties and biological properties such as biocompatibility and biodegradability. Most importantly incorporation of PLA with natural polymers such as polyethylene glycol (PEG), gelatin, and collagen enhanced a good mechanical properties with controllable degradation time. In particular, PLA has been extensively studied for the development of scaffold for tissues such as bone tissue, drug delivery, stent and artificial organ in commercial use and in research. In this review paper, an overview of the scaffold design requirement and the influence of fabrication techniques on the pore size and physical properties were discussed in detailed.
FlexRadio: Fully Flexible Radios and Networks

When a wireless node has multiple RF chains, there are several techniques that are possible; MIMO, full-duplex and interference alignment. This paper aims to unify these techniques into a single wireless node. It proposes to make a wireless node fully flexible such that it can choose any number of its RF chains for transmission and the remaining for simultaneous reception. Thus, MIMO and full duplex are subset configurations in our design. Surprisingly, this flexibility performs better than MIMO or full duplex or interference alignment or multi-user MIMO. This paper presents the design and implementation of FlexRadio, the first system enabling flexible RF resource allocation. We implement FlexRadio on the NI PXIe 1082 platform using XCVR2450 radio front-ends. FlexRadio node networks achieves a median gain of 47% and 38% over same networks with full duplex and MIMO nodes respectively.
Structure and Problem Hardness: Goal Asymmetry and DPLL Proofs in SAT-Based Planning

In AI Planning, as well as Verification, a successful method is to compile the application into boolean satisfiability (SAT), and solve it with state-of-the-art DPLL-based procedures. There is a lack of formal understanding why this works so well. Focussing on the Planning context, we identify a form of problem structure concerned with the symmetrical or asymmetrical nature of the cost of achieving the individual planning goals. We quantify this sort of structure with a simple numeric parameter called AsymRatio, ranging between 0 and 1. We show empirically that AsymRatio correlates strongly with SAT solver performance in a broad range of Planning benchmarks, including the domains used in the 3rd International Planning Competition. We then examine carefully crafted synthetic planning domains that allow to control the amount of structure, and that are clean enough for a rigorous analysis of the combinatorial search space. The domains are parameterized by size n, and by a structure parameter k, so that AsymRatio is asymptotic to k/n. The CNFs we examine are unsatisfiable, encoding one planning step less than the length of the optimal plan. We prove upper and lower bounds on the size of the best possible DPLL refutations, under different settings of k, as a function of n. We also identify the best possible sets of branching variables (backdoors). With minimum AsymRatio, we prove exponential lower bounds, and identify minimal backdoors of size linear in the number of variables. With maximum AsymRatio, we identify logarithmic DPLL refutations (and backdoors), showing a doubly exponential gap between the two structural extreme cases. This provides a concrete insight into the practical efficiency of modern SAT solvers.
Independent β-arrestin 2 and G protein-mediated pathways for angiotensin II activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2

Stimulation of a mutant angiotensin type 1A receptor (DRY/AAY) with angiotensin II (Ang II) or of a wild-type receptor with an Ang II analog ([sarcosine1,Ile4,Ile8]Ang II) fails to activate classical heterotrimeric G protein signaling but does lead to recruitment of β-arrestin 2-GFP and activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) (maximum stimulation ≈50% of wild type). This G protein-independent activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase is abolished by depletion of cellular β-arrestin 2 but is unaffected by the PKC inhibitor Ro-31-8425. In parallel, stimulation of the wild-type angiotensin type 1A receptor with Ang II robustly stimulates ERK1/2 activation with ≈60% of the response blocked by the PKC inhibitor (G protein dependent) and the rest of the response blocked by depletion of cellular β-arrestin 2 by small interfering RNA (β-arrestin dependent). These findings imply the existence of independent G protein- and β-arrestin 2-mediated pathways leading to ERK1/2 activation and the existence of distinct “active” conformations of a seven-membrane-spanning receptor coupled to each.
Sulfur Mustard Research—Strategies for the Development of Improved Medical Therapy

OBJECTIVE Sulfur mustard (SM) is a bifunctional alkylating substance being used as chemical warfare agent (vesicant). It is still regarded as a significant threat in chemical warfare and terrorism. Exposure to SM produces cutaneous blisters, respiratory and gastrointestinal tract injury, eye lesions, and bone marrow depression. Victims of World War I as well as those of the Iran-Iraq war have suffered from devastating chronic health impairment. Even decades after exposure, severe long-term effects like chronic obstructive lung disease, lung fibrosis, recurrent corneal ulcer disease, chronic conjunctivitis, abnormal pigmentation of the skin, and different forms of cancer have been diagnosed. METHODS This review briefly summarizes the scientific literature and own results concerning detection, organ toxicity of SM, its proposed toxicodynamic actions, and strategies for the development of improved medical therapy. RESULTS Despite extensive research efforts during the last century, efficient antidotes against SM have not yet been generated because its mechanism of action is not fully understood. However, deeper insights into these mechanisms gained in the last decade and promising developments of new drugs now offer new chances to minimize SM-induced organ damage and late effects. CONCLUSION Polymerase inhibitors, anti-inflammatory drugs, antioxidants, matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors, and probably regulators of DNA damage repair are identified as promising approaches to improve treatment.
Telling the truth from lie in individual subjects with fast event-related f MRI

Deception is a clinically important behavior with poorly understood neurobiological correlates. Published functional MRI (fMRI) data on the brain activity during deception indicates that, on a multisubject group level, lie is distinguished from truth by increased prefrontal and parietal activity. These findings are theoretically important; however, their applied value will be determined by the accuracy of the discrimination between single deceptive and truthful responses in individual subjects. This study presents the first quantitative estimate of the accuracy of fMRI in conjunction with a formal forced-choice paradigm in detecting deception in individual subjects. We used a paradigm balancing the salience of the target cues to elicit deceptive and truthful responses and determined the accuracy of this model in the classification of single lie and truth events. The relative salience of the task cues affected the net activation associated with lie in the superior medial and inferolateral prefrontal cortices. Lie was discriminated from truth on a single-event level with an accuracy of 78%, while the predictive ability expressed as the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC) was 85%. Our findings confirm that fMRI, in conjunction with a carefully controlled query procedure, could be used to detect deception in individual subjects. Salience of the task cues is a potential confounding factor in the fMRI pattern attributed to deception in forced choice deception paradigms.
Comparison of proteins synthesized by two different isolates of Anaplasma marginale

We present results on the initial definition of proteins synthesized by two isolates of Anaplasma marginale. Bovine erythrocytes infected with A. marginale were radioactively labeled with [35S]methionine or a 3H-amino acid mixture during short-term in vitro culture. The labeled proteins were analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. This technique revealed protein bands of various apparent molecular weights from less than 14,000 to greater than 200,000. The bands observed represented A. marginale proteins because (i) uninfected erythrocytes from the same animal did not incorporate radioisotope during identical culture conditions, and (ii) the incorporation of radioisotope into proteins during culture of infected erythrocytes was inhibited by tetracycline but not by cycloheximide. The radioactive protein profiles of two different isolates of A. marginale, from Washington and Florida, were compared by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. About 200 proteins were resolved in each case. Several proteins differed in position when the two-dimensional gel maps were compared, indicating variations in protein structure between the two A. marginale isolates.
Comparative proteomic profiling of soleus, extensor digitorum longus, flexor digitorum brevis and interosseus muscles from the mdx mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is due to genetic abnormalities in the dystrophin gene and represents one of the most frequent genetic childhood diseases. In the X-linked muscular dystrophy (mdx) mouse model of dystrophinopathy, different subtypes of skeletal muscles are affected to a varying degree albeit the same single base substitution within exon 23 of the dystrophin gene. Thus, to determine potential muscle subtype-specific differences in secondary alterations due to a deficiency in dystrophin, in this study, we carried out a comparative histological and proteomic survey of mdx muscles. We intentionally included the skeletal muscles that are often used for studying the pathomechanism of muscular dystrophy. Histological examinations revealed a significantly higher degree of central nucleation in the soleus and extensor digitorum longus muscles compared with the flexor digitorum brevis and interosseus muscles. Muscular hypertrophy of 20–25% was likewise only observed in the soleus and extensor digitorum longus muscles from mdx mice, but not in the flexor digitorum brevis and interosseus muscles. For proteomic analysis, muscle protein extracts were separated by fluorescence two-dimensional (2D) gel electrophoresis. Proteins with a significant change in their expression were identified by mass spectrometry. Proteomic profiling established an altered abundance of 24, 17, 19 and 5 protein species in the dystrophin-deficient soleus, extensor digitorum longus, flexor digitorum brevis and interosseus muscle, respectively. The key proteomic findings were verified by immunoblot analysis. The identified proteins are involved in the contraction-relaxation cycle, metabolite transport, muscle metabolism and the cellular stress response. Thus, histological and proteomic profiling of muscle subtypes from mdx mice indicated that distinct skeletal muscles are differentially affected by the loss of the membrane cytoskeletal protein, dystrophin. Varying degrees of perturbed protein expression patterns in the muscle subtypes from mdx mice may be due to dissimilar downstream events, including differences in muscle structure or compensatory mechanisms that counteract pathophysiological processes. The interosseus muscle from mdx mice possibly represents a naturally protected phenotype.
Measurement of phase dependent impedance for 3-phase diode rectifier

This paper presents a new method to measure the phase dependent impedance from an experimental set up. Though most of power electronics based system is gradually migrating to IGBT based voltage source converter due to their controllability, the rectifier composed of diode or thyristor components are still widely used in AC-DC applications because of their cost effectiveness and reliability. However, these topologies generate harmonic problems in their network due to their switching instant variation caused by the frequency and phase of grid voltage. Hence, a lot of solutions have been proposed to provide an optimized solution for better power quality. However, the phase dependent impedance, which is driven by both switching instant variation and frequency coupling between ac and dc network, has not been treated in the design of passive filter or harmonic compensator design for power electronics application. It is found that the phase dependent impedance shows different properties with the impedance profiles, which have been proposed in the research. This paper explains a method to measure the phase dependent impedance profile from an experimental set up. Furthermore, the results are compared with results from time-domain simulations and results from an analytical model developed in the Harmonic State-Space (HSS).
Role of Grb7 Targeting to Focal Contacts and Its Phosphorylation by Focal Adhesion Kinase in Regulation of Cell Migration*

We have previously described Grb7 association with focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and its possible roles in cell migration. In this paper, we investigated the mechanisms by which Grb7 and its association with FAK regulate cell migration. We found that deletion of the Grb7 SH2 domain eliminated partial Grb7 localization to focal contacts and its ability to stimulate cell migration. Replacement of the SH2 domain with the focal adhesion targeting sequence from FAK resulted in the focal contacts localization of the chimeric molecule and restored its activity to stimulate cell migration. We also found that Grb7 could be phosphorylated by FAK, which was dependent on the FAK kinase activity but not the presence of the Src family kinases. Cell adhesion also enhanced Grb7 phosphorylation in FAK+/+ cells but not FAK−/− cells, suggesting that Grb7 is a physiological substrate of FAK. Furthermore, both Grb7 and the chimeric molecule did not increase migration of FAK−/− cells, although the chimeric molecule was targeted to the focal contacts. Last, we showed that other Grb7 family members could not stimulate cell migration under similar experimental conditions. Together, these results demonstrate a role for Grb7 targeting to focal contacts and its phosphorylation by FAK in the regulation of cell migration.