Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of Effects of Grid Shape in WMN-SA System for Solution of Node Placement Problem in WMNs

One of the key advantages of Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) is their importance for providing cost-efficient broadband connectivity. There are issues for achieving the network connectivity and user coverage, which are related with the node placement problem. In this work, we consider the router node placement problem in WMNs for different area shapes and sizes. We want to find the optimal distribution of router nodes in order to provide the best network connectivity and provide the best coverage in a set of normally distributed clients. From the simulation results, we conclude that, when we use SA, The grid area size is 512, the size of Giant Component (GC) can reach maximal and the number of covered mesh clients has the best performance. For grid area size 1024, the size of GC does not converge for all shapes and the number of covered mesh clients converges slower. For greater area sizes, both the size of GC and the number of covered mesh clients do not converge to the maximum. When the grid shape is long and narrow, connecting mesh routers with other mesh routers is difficult. Thus, the size of GC is lower compared to when the shape of grid area is square.
X-ray Structure of a Neuronal Complexin-SNARE Complex from Squid*

Nerve terminals release neurotransmitters from vesicles into the synaptic cleft upon transient increases in intracellular Ca2+. This exocytotic process requires the formation of trans SNARE complexes and is regulated by accessory proteins including the complexins. Here we report the crystal structure of a squid core complexin-SNARE complex at 2.95-Å resolution. A helical segment of complexin binds in anti-parallel fashion to the four-helix bundle of the core SNARE complex and interacts at its C terminus with syntaxin and synaptobrevin around the ionic zero layer of the SNARE complex. We propose that this structure is part of a multiprotein fusion machinery that regulates vesicle fusion at a late pre-fusion stage. Accordingly, Ca2+ may initiate membrane fusion by acting directly or indirectly on complexin, thus allowing the conformational transitions of the trans SNARE complex that are thought to drive membrane fusion.
Incremental redundancy to reduce data retention errors in flash-based SSDs

As the market becomes competitive, SSD manufacturers are making use of multi-bit cell flash memory such as MLC and TLC chips in their SSDs. However, these chips have lower data retention period and endurance than SLC chips. With the reduced data retention period and endurance level, retention errors occur more frequently. One solution for these retention errors is to employ strong ECC to increase error correction strength. However, employing strong ECC may result in waste of resources during the early stages of flash memory lifetime as it has high reliability and data retention errors are rare during this period. The other solution is to employ data scrubbing that periodically refreshes data by reading and then writing the data to new locations after correcting errors through ECC. Though it is a viable solution for the retention error problem, data scrubbing hurts performance and lifetime of SSDs as it incurs extra read and write requests. Targeting data retention errors, we propose incremental redundancy (IR) that incrementally reinforces error correction capabilities when the data retention error rate exceeds a certain threshold. This extends the time before data scrubbing should occur, providing a grace period in which the block may be garbage collected. We develop mathematical analyses that project the lifetime and performance of IR as well as when using conventional data scrubbing. Through mathematical analyses and experiments with both synthetic and real workloads, we compare the lifetime and performance of the two schemes. Results suggest that IR can be a promising solution to overcome data retention errors of contemporary multi-bit cell flash memory. In particular, our study shows that IR can extend the maximum data retention period by 5 to 10 times. Additionally, we show that IR can reduce the write amplification factor by half under real workloads.
A new strategy to block tumor growth by inhibiting endocannabinoid inactivation

Endocannabinoid signaling has been shown to be enhanced in several cancer tissues and malignant cells, and studies in cell lines have shown that this up‐regulation might serve the purpose of providing transformed cells with a further means to inhibit their proliferation. Here we investigated the effect of inhibitors of endocannabinoid degradation on the growth of rat thyroid tumor xenografts induced in athymic mice. VDM‐11, a selective inhibitor of endocannabinoid cellular re‐uptake, and arachidonoyl‐serotonin (AA‐5‐HT), a selective blocker of endocannabinoid enzymatic hydrolysis, both inhibited the growth in vivo of tumor xenografts induced by the subcutaneous injection of rat thyroid transformed (KiMol) cells. This effect was accompanied by significantly enhanced endocannabinoid concentrations in the tumors excised at the end of the in vivo experiments. Endocannabinoids, as well as VDM‐11 and AA‐5‐HT, inhibited the growth in vitro of the transformed rat thyroid cells used to induce the tumors in vivo, and their effect was reversed at least in part by the cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist SR141716A. This compound, however, when administered alone, did not enhance, but instead slightly inhibited, the growth of rat thyroid transformed cells both in vitro and in tumor xenografts induced in vivo. These findings indicate that endocannabinoids tonically control tumor growth in vivo by both CB1‐mediated and non‐CB1‐mediated mechanisms and that, irrespective of the molecular mechanism of their anti‐proliferative action, inhibitors of their inactivation might be used for the development of novel anti‐cancer drugs.
GO-PCA: An Unsupervised Method to Explore Gene Expression Data Using Prior Knowledge

Method Genome-wide expression profiling is a widely used approach for characterizing heterogeneous populations of cells, tissues, biopsies, or other biological specimen. The exploratory analysis of such data typically relies on generic unsupervised methods, e.g. principal component analysis (PCA) or hierarchical clustering. However, generic methods fail to exploit prior knowledge about the molecular functions of genes. Here, I introduce GO-PCA, an unsupervised method that combines PCA with nonparametric GO enrichment analysis, in order to systematically search for sets of genes that are both strongly correlated and closely functionally related. These gene sets are then used to automatically generate expression signatures with functional labels, which collectively aim to provide a readily interpretable representation of biologically relevant similarities and differences. The robustness of the results obtained can be assessed by bootstrapping. Results I first applied GO-PCA to datasets containing diverse hematopoietic cell types from human and mouse, respectively. In both cases, GO-PCA generated a small number of signatures that represented the majority of lineages present, and whose labels reflected their respective biological characteristics. I then applied GO-PCA to human glioblastoma (GBM) data, and recovered signatures associated with four out of five previously defined GBM subtypes. My results demonstrate that GO-PCA is a powerful and versatile exploratory method that reduces an expression matrix containing thousands of genes to a much smaller set of interpretable signatures. In this way, GO-PCA aims to facilitate hypothesis generation, design of further analyses, and functional comparisons across datasets.
Are Enjoyment and Appreciation Both Yardsticks of Popularity?

The current study adopts a broad-based model of media and audience values as well as recent understandings of enjoyment versus appreciation to predict that aggregate audience appraisals should be related to film budget, gross, and measures of viewership differently depending on the type of appraisal elicited. Data suggest both enjoyment and appreciation are positively related to measures of aggregate selective exposure when controlling for film budget. This finding challenges a view that appreciation is negatively related to success. Discussion centers on implications for understanding potential functional aspects of audience appraisals and suggests future research on audience morality and media production.
Extended shadow maps

The most popular methods for interactive hard shadows rendering are shadow volumes and shadow maps. Shadow volumes generate precise shadows but require high fill rate. Due to excessive fill rate requirements, shadow maps are probably the most widely used means for generation of shadows, despite their well known aliasing problems. In this paper, Extended Shadow Maps are introduced, as a means to reduce required shadow map resolution and enhancing visual quality of shadows by encoding additional information about silhouette edges into the shadow map by drawing quads for silhouette preservation. Recent algorithms using this technique were not suitable for computer games due to their hardware requirements, because in this types of applications, high frame rate is required. Our algorithm, Extended Shadow Maps creates anti-aliased shadows using fast fixed-point pixel shaders version 1.4. For shadowing detection only 4 arithmetic instruction slots and 3 texture pipes are used. Also, all geometry required to render anti-aliased hard shadows using our new method can be stored in static vertex and index buf fers on graphics accelerator. Additionally, using one dp3 instruction, arbitrary attenuation function can be implemented.
The estrogen-dependent c-JunER protein causes a reversible loss of mammary epithelial cell polarity involving a destabilization of adherens junctions

Members of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor family are known to be specifically involved in mammary carcinogenesis. As a nuclear target of activated receptors, we examined c-Jun in mammary epithelial cells. For this, we used a c-JunER fusion protein which was tightly controlled by estrogen. Activation of the JunER by hormone resulted in the transcriptional regulation of a variety of AP-1 target genes. Hormone-activated JunER induced the loss of epithelial polarity, a disruption of intercellular junctions and normal barrier function and the formation of irregular multilayers. These changes were completely reversible upon hormone withdrawal. Loss of epithelial polarity involved redistribution of both apical and basolateral proteins to the entire plasma membrane. The redistribution of E-cadherin and beta- catenin was accompanied by a destabilization of complexes formed between these two proteins, leading to an enrichment of beta-catenin in the detergent-soluble fraction. Uninduced cells were able to form three- dimensional tubular structures in collagen I gels which were disrupted upon JunER activation, leading to irregular cell aggregates. The JunER- induced disruption of tubular structures was dependent on active signaling by growth factors. Moreover, the effects of JunER could be mimicked in normal cells by the addition of acidic fibroblast growth factor (aFGF). These data suggest that a possible function of c-Jun in epithelial cells is to modulate epithelial polarity and regulate tissue organization, processes which may be equally important for both normal breast development and as initiating steps in carcinogenesis.
Effects of the Amino-Carbonyl Reaction of Ribose and Glycine on the Formation of the 2(or 5)-Ethyl-5(or 2)-methyl-4-hydroxy-3(2H)-furanone Aroma Component Specific to Miso by Halo-Tolerant Yeast

The formation of HEMF[2(or 5)-ethyl-5(or 2)-methyl-4-hydroxy-3(2H)-furanone], the aroma component specific to miso and soy sauce, was promoted by cultivating the halo-tolerant yeast, Zygosaccharomyces rouxii, in a medium including the amino-carbonyl reaction products based on ribose and glycine. The glucose concentration in the medium influenced the HEMF formation by Z. rouxii.
Design and Implementation of a Web 2.0 Service Platform for DPWS-Based Home-Appliances in the Cloud Environment

Cloud computing has been evolved as a key computing platform for sharing resources and services. People should have a relatively convenient environment and life for handling home-appliances. This study designs and develops a Web 2.0 Service Platform (WSP) for DPWS-based Home-appliances in the Cloud environment, which is composed of mobile users, home appliances and the cloud environment. WSP automatically records and observes user's behaviors to adapt related home-appliances based on the ontology technique. A mobile user can use a smart phone to control and handle home-appliances through Web2.0 Blog-based interfaces. Finally, WSP can be an inference model for researchers when developing home-appliance controllers in the future.
EFFECTIVE COMPRESSION OF HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE IMAGES

There's a plenty of file formats designed for storing high dynamic range (HDR) images. But none of them provide satisfactory compression ratio and backward compatibility with existing file formats. In this paper we propose an approach to lossy compressing HDR data in a standard JPEG/JFIF file. An original HDR file is decomposed into a tone mapped version of it LDR (low dynamic range) 24bpp and additional information needed to restore the original HDR image from LDR. The LDR image is compressed using standard JPEG encoder and forms a foreground image. Extra data is carried wavelet-compressed as a subband in the file. Naive (not HDR-enabled) applications will see the image as a normal JPEG/JFIF file and will extract only the LDR data giving user a preview of the original HDR image. HDR-enabled applications will extract additional information from the subband channel and restore the HDR image. The results of compressing a series of natural and synthetic HDR images using various tone mapping operators and lossy compression settings are presented and discussed in the paper.
Approximating Smallest Enclosing Balls with Applications to Machine Learning

In this paper, we first survey prior work for computing exactly or approximately the smallest enclosing balls of point or ball sets in Euclidean spaces. We classify previous work into three categories: (1) purely combinatorial, (2) purely numerical, and (3) recent mixed hybrid algorithms based on coresets. We then describe two novel tailored algorithms for computing arbitrary close approximations of the smallest enclosing Euclidean ball. These deterministic heuristics are based on solving relaxed decision problems using a primal-dual method. The primal-dual method is interpreted geometrically as solving for a minimum covering set, or dually as seeking for a minimum piercing set. Finally, we present some applications in machine learning of the exact and approximate smallest enclosing ball procedure, and discuss about its extension to non-Euclidean information-theoretic spaces.
Conflict management in a virtual team

Virtual team members are geographically dispersed and reveal cultural diversity. Thus, conflict in a virtual team emerges more frequently than in a general team. The purpose of our study is to find the possibility of the indirect managing of conflict via the mediating role of the frequency of communication. This research examines the mediating role of communication frequency in virtual teams. Task conflict increases communication frequency, while relationship conflict decreases communication frequency. Increasing communication frequency by task conflict cannot mediate performance. Communication frequency can mediate the relationship between relationship conflict and performance. To avert a decrease in performance, virtual teams make efforts to formalize managerial structures or working procedures to coordinate opinions and activate communication by building team members' relationships in an effort to improve team performance. This study shows that functional and dysfunctional outcomes by conflict type are possible through the mediating role of communication frequency.
Charged, Rotating Black Objects in Einstein-Maxwell-Dilaton Theory in D ≥ 5

We show that the general framework proposed by Kleihaus et al. (2015) for the study of asymptotically flat vacuum black objects with k + 1 equal magnitude angular momenta in D ≥ 5 spacetime dimensions (with 0 ≤ k ≤ D - 5 2 ) can be extended to the case of Einstein–Maxwell-dilaton (EMd) theory. This framework can describe black holes with spherical horizon topology, the simplest solutions corresponding to a class of electrically charged (dilatonic) Myers–Perry black holes. Balanced charged black objects with S n + 1 × S 2 k + 1 horizon topology can also be studied (with D = 2 k + n + 4 ). Black rings correspond to the case k = 0 , while the solutions with k > 0 are black ringoids. The basic properties of EMd solutions are discussed for the special case of a Kaluza–Klein value of the dilaton coupling constant. We argue that all features of these solutions can be derived from those of the vacuum seed configurations.
Preparation and Properties of Melamine Urea-Formaldehyde Microcapsules for Self-Healing of Cementitious Materials

Self-healing microcapsules were synthesized by in situ polymerization with a melamine urea-formaldehyde resin shell and an epoxy resin adhesive. The effects of the key factors, i.e., core–wall ratio, reaction temperature, pH and stirring rate, were investigated by characterizing microcapsule morphology, shell thickness, particle size distribution, mechanical properties and chemical nature. Microcapsule healing mechanisms in cement paste were evaluated based on recovery strength and healing microstructure. The results showed that the encapsulation ability, the elasticity modulus and hardness of the capsule increased with an increase of the proportion of shell material. Increased polymerization temperatures were beneficial to the higher degree of shell condensation polymerization, higher resin particles deposition on microcapsule surfaces and enhanced mechanical properties. For relatively low pH values, the less porous three-dimensional structure led to the increased elastic modulus of shell and the more stable chemical structure. Optimized microcapsules were produced at a temperature of 60 °C, a core-wall ratio of 1:1, at pH 2~3 and at a stirring rate of 300~400 r/min. The best strength restoration was observed in the cement paste pre-damaged by 30% fmax and incorporating 4 wt % of capsules.
Aggregate Constraints for Virtual Manipulation with Soft Fingers

Interactive dexterous manipulation of virtual objects remains a complex challenge that requires both appropriate hand models and accurate physically-based simulation of interactions. In this paper, we propose an approach based on novel aggregate constraints for simulating dexterous grasping using soft fingers. Our approach aims at improving the computation of contact mechanics when many contact points are involved, by aggregating the multiple contact constraints into a minimal set of constraints. We also introduce a method for non-uniform pressure distribution over the contact surface, to adapt the response when touching sharp edges. We use the Coulomb-Contensou friction model to efficiently simulate tangential and torsional friction. We show through different use cases that our aggregate constraint formulation is well-suited for simulating interactively dexterous manipulation of virtual objects through soft fingers, and efficiently reduces the computation time of constraint solving.
The problematic alliance between reconstruction and objectivity in international theory

This thesis aims to critique three leading advocates of a particular strand of postpositivism, which has become influential in contemporary international theory, and which is characterized by three defining features: the idea that a proper understanding of the world requires taking into account the intrinsically contingent character of that world, which is developed in opposition to the positivist philosophy of science; the attempt to conceptualize the contingent coming about of identities and practices as an ongoing and open process of intersubjective (re-) constitution; and the aim to understand this ongoing intersubjective constitution in a way that excludes normative judgements. The main purpose of the thesis is to point out a tension between these three features. What it argues is that the conceptualization of practices as intersubjectively constituted stands in tension with both the aim to account for the contingent character of these practices and the aim to understand these practices in a way that excludes normative judgements. In particular, the thesis attempts to point out three problems that arise from the combination of these three aims: first, it argues that the notion of intersubjective constitution entails a particular kind of determinism, which undermines the post-positivists' aim to account for the contingent character of practices; second, the thesis argues that this notion inevitably entails a normative stance by the theorist, which undermines the post-positivists' aim to understand intersubjective process of in a way that excludes normative judgements; third, it argues that, in the post-positivist empirical analyses, this normative stance is never defended and, as a result, entails the arbitrary privileging of particular moral attitudes over others. The main implication of this critique suggest the need for a fundamentally different notion of social scientific understanding, which explicitly recognizes and grounds the role of moral judgements. A minor implication is that contemporary cosmopolitan agendas in world politics seem inherently flawed.
Single channel speech enhancement in the modulation domain: New insights in the modulation channel selection framework

Recently, the ideal binary mask has been introduced in the modulation domain by extending the ideal channel selection method to modulation channel selection [1]. This new method shows substantial improvement in speech intelligibility but less than its predecessor despite the higher complexity. Here, we extend the previous finding from [1] and provide a more direct comparison of binary masking in the modulation domain with binary masking in the time-frequency domain. Subjective and objective evaluations are performed and provide additional insight into modulation domain processing.
Multi-resolution surfel mapping and real-time pose tracking using a continuously rotating 2D laser scanner

Mapping and real-time localization are prerequisites for autonomous robot navigation. They also facilitate situation awareness of remote operators in exploration or rescue missions. In this paper, we propose methods for efficient 3D mapping of environments and for tracking in real-time the 6D movement of autonomous robots using a continuously rotating 3D laser scanner. Multi-resolution surfel representations allow for compact storage and efficient registration of local maps. Real-time pose tracking is performed by a particle filter based on individual laser scan lines. We evaluate our approach using both data generated in simulation and measurements from challenging real environments.
Personal, Nonwork and Work Characteristics in Male and Female Absence Behavior

SUMMARY Data of 879 (male and female office and production) employees in the Netherlands reveal that absence is related to work characteristics as well as to personal and nonwork characteristics. However, it is shown that there are large differences in absence patterns between four different samples, indicating that absence is a sex- and occupation-related behaviour. Work-context variables, such as shift work and irregular working hours, are important for female absence, whereas task-related variables seem to be more important for male absence. In addition, time spent on leisure activities is mainly positively related to absence, whereas time spent on unpaid voluntary work is negatively related to absence, suggesting that consistency in the relation between work and nonwork is not likely.