Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Retrieving the performance overhead of synchronization mechanisms of various popular operating systems

The importance of multi-core processors increases every day. So multi-threaded programming also becomes more important. Due to data consistency it is necessary to synchronize specific parts of the code. These synchronizing methods cause an overhead during program execution. This paper analyses this overhead based on time on different operating systems. On the one hand, the paper gives a short introduction to the most important synchronization methods, on the other hand a test application is introduced to determine the delay time of each of these methods. All tests are designed to give real world examples of how much overhead is produced. Following the given data of the test application, the delay times of different operating systems are compared to each other. The paper shows that some methods perform better on one system and others perform better on the other systems.
Automatic liver segmentation from ct scans using intensity analysis and level-set active contours

Liver segmentation from CT scans is still a challenging task due to the liver characteristics in terms of shape and intensity variability. In this work, we propose an automatic segmentation method of the liver from CT data sets. The framework consists of three main steps: liver shape model localization, liver intensity range estimation and localized active contouring. We proposed an adaptive multiple thresholding technique to estimate the range of the liver intensities. First, multiple thresholding is used to extract the dense tissue from the whole CT scan. A localization step is then used to find the approximate location of the liver in the CT scan, to localize a constructed mean liver shape model. A liver intensity-range estimation step is then applied within the localized shape model ROI. The localized shape model and the estimated liver intensity range are used to build the initial mask. A level set based active contour algorithm is used to deform the initial mask to the liver boundaries in the CT scan. The proposed method was evaluated on two public data sets: SLIVER07 and 3D-IRCAD. The experiments showed that the proposed method is able to segment to liver in all CT scans in the two data sets accurately.
Hypoxia enhances antibody‐dependent dengue virus infection

Dengue virus (DENV) has been found to replicate in lymphoid organs such as the lymph nodes, spleen, and liver in post‐mortem analysis. These organs are known to have low oxygen levels (~0.5–4.5% O2) due to the vascular anatomy. However, how physiologically low levels of oxygen affect DENV infection via hypoxia‐induced changes in the immune response remains unknown. Here, we show that monocytes adapted to 3% O2 show greater susceptibility to antibody‐dependent enhancement of DENV infection. Low oxygen level induces HIF1α‐dependent upregulation of fragment crystallizable gamma receptor IIA (FcγRIIA) as well as HIF1α‐independent alterations in membrane ether lipid concentrations. The increased FcγRIIA expression operates synergistically with altered membrane composition, possibly through increase membrane fluidity, to increase uptake of DENV immune complexes for enhanced infection. Our findings thus indicate that the increased viral burden associated with secondary DENV infection is antibody‐dependent but hypoxia‐induced and suggest a role for targeting hypoxia‐induced factors for anti‐dengue therapy.
PTSD: Catastrophizing in Combat as Risk and Protection

We used the Army Person-Event Data Environment to explore risk and protective factors for diagnosed posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We examined the entire eligible cohort of 79,438 active duty soldiers who deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan between 2009 and 2013, an unusually large and complete cohort. Soldiers highest on catastrophic thinking were 29% more likely to develop PTSD than soldiers with average catastrophic thinking, whereas soldiers lowest on catastrophic thinking were 25% less likely to develop PTSD, adjusting for demographic characteristics; psychological (including baseline depression), behavioral, and physical health; and military characteristics. Soldiers who faced four or more combat stressors were 120% more likely to develop PTSD than soldiers who experienced two combat stressors. Additionally, soldiers higher in catastrophic thinking and experiencing higher combat intensity were 274% more likely to develop PTSD than those low on both. The Army might consider interventions to reduce catastrophic thinking prior to combat to lower PTSD casualties.
A Low-Power High-Frequency CMOS Peak Detector

A low-power,high-frequency CMOS peak detector is proposed.This detector can detect RF signal and base-band signal peaks.The circuit is designed using SMIC 0. 35μm standard CMOS technology.Both theoretical calculations and post simulations show that the detection error is no more than 2% for various temperatures and processes when the input amplitude is larger than 400mV.The detection bandwidth is up to 10GHz,and its static current dissipation is less than 20μA.
Impact of Leishmania mexicana Infection on Dendritic Cell Signaling and Functions

Leishmania parasites have the ability to modify macrophage signaling pathways in order to survive and multiply within its mammalian host. They are also known to invade other cells including neutrophils, fibroblasts and dendritic cells (DCs). DCs have an important role in immunity as the link between innate and adaptive immunity, necessary for the development of an effective response; however, the impact of Leishmania mexicana infection on DCs has been poorly studied. Herein, we report that Leishmania infection rapidly induced DC protein tyrosine phosphatases activity, leading to MAP kinases inactivation. In line with this, L. mexicana was found to decrease the nuclear translocation of transcription factors such as AP-1 and NF-κB. Concomitantly, L. mexicana-infected DCs showed reduced expression of several surface antigen-presenting and co-stimulatory molecules upon LPS stimulation. Leishmania-induced interference on DC maturation was further reflected by their reduced capacity to present OVA antigen to OVA-specific T cells, as shown by abrogation of IL-2 production by the T cells. Collectively, our data revealed that DC infection by L. mexicana appears to affect the cellular and immunological mechanisms necessary for the development of an effective and protective immune response, therefore favouring the survival and propagation of the parasite within its host.
Selecting the optimal buffer management for opportunistic networks both in pedestrian and vehicular contexts

Opportunistic networks are a form of mobile ad-hoc networks that exploit users mobility to provide data sharing. Individual nodes store, carry and forward messages using direct communication between devices; no fixed infrastructure of communication is required. The final goal is to reach the totality of the participating users. The efficiency of message diffusion depends on the users' mobility, the transfer time, and the device buffer management. User's mobility determines the number of contacts and their duration while the transfer time depends on the size of the interchanged messages and the channel throughput. The device buffer management is a critical factor since, due to its limited size, the chosen policy for forwarding messages when a connection is available and for message dropping when the buffer is full can impact greatly on the diffusion of the messages. In this paper we focus on this issue, evaluating the impact of different buffer management approaches in two different scenarios: pedestrian and vehicular. The results show that the best buffer management is the combination of smallest message forwarding and largest message dropping. We also show that a TTL (Time to Live) of 24 hours allows the best diffusion because it corresponds to the daily movement pattern of the nodes.
Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance in relation to the incidence of cardiovascular disease: the San Antonio Heart Study.

OBJECTIVE The prospective association between insulin levels and risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is controversial. The objective of the present study was to investigate the relationship of the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), as well as insulin levels, with risk of nonfatal and fatal CVD over the 8-year follow-up of the San Antonio Heart Study. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Between 1984 and 1988, randomly selected Mexican-American and non-Hispanic white residents of San Antonio participated in baseline examinations that included fasting blood samples for glucose, insulin, and lipids, a glucose tolerance test, anthropometric measurements, and a lifestyle questionnaire. Between 1991 and 1996, 2,569 subjects who were free of diabetes at baseline were reexamined using the same protocol. RESULTS Over the follow-up period, 187 subjects experienced an incident cardiovascular event (heart attack, stroke, heart surgery, angina, or CVD death). Logistic regression analysis indicated that risk of a CVD event increased across quintiles of HOMA-IR after adjustment for age, sex, and ethnicity (P for trend <0.0001; quintile 5 vs. quintile 1, odds ratio [OR] 2.52, 95% CI 1.46-4.36). Additional adjustment for LDL, triglyceride, HDL, systolic blood pressure, smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise, and waist circumference only modestly reduced the magnitude of these associations (P for trend 0.02; quintile 5 vs. quintile 1, OR 1.94, 95% CI 1.05-3.59). Furthermore, there were no significant interactions between HOMA-IR and ethnicity, sex, hypertension, dyslipidemia, glucose tolerance (impaired glucose tolerance versus normal glucose tolerance), or obesity. The magnitude and direction of the relationship between insulin concentration and incident CVD were similar. CONCLUSIONS We found a significant association between HOMA-IR and risk of CVD after adjustment for multiple covariates. The topic remains controversial, however, and additional studies are required, particularly among women and minority populations.
Toward a Behaviorally Grounded Theory of Inforrmation Value

, Economic models of information value have had little impact on the theory and practice of MIS. This is due in part to difficulties in operationalizing these models, but more importantly, it is due to problems in the theory that stem from descriptively invalid assumptions. This paper examines those assumptions and reviews five major areas for modification: the decision process, human judgment under uncertainty, the choice of actions, multiple information signal resolution, and multiple decisions over time. Incorporation of valid descriptive assumptions in the economic theory wi I I move the field toward a behaviorally grounded theory of information value. INTRODUCTION (1966), Feltham (1968), Mock (1971), and others have been awkward and unsatisfac> The theory of information economics has tory in their results. This has led some to had little discernible impact on the theory abandon the unidimensional value model in and practice of management information favor of multiattribute approaches. King systems design and evaluation, despite and Epstein (1976), and Ahituv (1980) have large and obvious overlapping interests. each presented operational multiattribute The economic theory has provided models schemes which maintain little of the subof the transmission and communication of stance of the economic theory. information (Marschak, 1968; Shannon & Weaver, 1949), and of the value of an The major root of the problem with ecoinformation system (Marschak, 1971). It nomic information value theory, though, is has provided models of the optimal choice not its inoperability, but that it is based from among available information system upon invalid and unrealistic assumptions components (Marschak, 1971; Mock, 1969), about decision making and how managers and of the comparative informativeness of utilize information. Consider, as an exinformation systems (Blackwell, 1953). ample Blackwell's Theorem ( 1953), probaHowever, none of these models has had bly the best known result of information much influence on MIS. economics. The theorem directly implies that a more disaggregated information Part of the explanation of this unhappy system is always at least as desirable as a situation is that the theory is difficult to less detailed system (Hilton, 1981). Within operationalize, because theoretical models the confines of severe assumptions, such as of information value require large numbers unlimited and costless information procof input parameters that are sometimes essing, this result is valid, but in a more impossible to estimate. Direct applicatypical managerial setting the validity tions of the theory by Bedford and Onsi vanishes and the entire point is lost. Thus,
Reviewing children's collaboration practices in storytelling environments

Traditional Storytelling fosters creativity, imagination, socialization, and full body engagement. On the other hand, digital storytelling promises additional benefits as for example multi-media use and more kinds of expressions. While this is comprehensible, digital storytelling should still appreciate benefits of traditional storytelling. In reviewing digital storytelling literature we found that many described case studies and systems may potentially fulfill these requirements but are still in need for improvement. We found three understandings of storytelling within the papers (remote authoring, collocated authoring, and enriched experiences). To fully meet the benefits of traditional storytelling future digital storytelling environments should provide authoring tools that support children's collaboration practices to create, share, and perform stories.
Nanoscale Adhesion Forces of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Type IV Pili

A variety of bacterial pathogens use nanoscale protein fibers called type IV pili to mediate cell adhesion, a primary step leading to infection. Currently, how these nanofibers respond to mechanical stimuli and how this response is used to control adhesion is poorly understood. Here, we use atomic force microscopy techniques to quantify the forces guiding the adhesion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa type IV pili to surfaces. Using chemical force microscopy and single-cell force spectroscopy, we show that pili strongly bind to hydrophobic surfaces in a time-dependent manner, while they weakly bind to hydrophilic surfaces. Individual nanofibers are capable of withstanding forces up to 250 pN, thereby explaining how they can resist mechanical stress. Pulling on individual pili yields constant force plateaus, presumably reflecting conformational changes, as well as nanospring properties that may help bacteria to withstand physiological shear forces. Analysis of mutant strains demonstrates that these mechanical responses originate solely from type IV pili, while flagella and the cell surface localized and proposed pili-associated adhesin PilY1 play no direct role. We also demonstrate that bacterial–host interactions involve constant force plateaus, the extension of bacterial pili, and the formation of membrane tethers from host cells. We postulate that the unique mechanical responses of type IV pili unravelled here enable the bacteria to firmly attach to biotic and abiotic surfaces and thus maintain attachment when subjected to high shear forces under physiological conditions, helping to explain why pili play a critical role in colonization of the host.
Generative network models identify biological mechanisms of altered structural brain connectivity in schizophrenia

Background Alterations in the structural connectome of schizophrenia patients have been widely characterized, but the mechanisms leading to those alterations remain largely unknown. Generative network models have recently been introduced as a tool to test the biological underpinnings of the formation of altered structural brain networks. Methods We evaluated different generative network models to investigate the formation of structural brain networks in healthy controls (n=152), schizophrenia patients (n=66) and their unaffected first-degree relatives (n=32), and we identified spatial and topological factors contributing to network formation. We further investigated the association of these factors to cognition and to polygenic risk for schizophrenia. Results Structural brain networks can be best accounted for by a two-factor model combining spatial constraints and topological neighborhood structure. The same wiring model explained brain network formation for all groups analyzed. However, relatives and schizophrenia patients exhibited significantly lower spatial constraints and lower topological facilitation compared to healthy controls. The model parameter for spatial constraint was correlated with the polygenic risk for schizophrenia and predicted reduced cognitive performance. Conclusions Our results identify spatial constraints and local topological structure as two interrelated mechanisms contributing to normal brain development as well as altered connectomes in schizophrenia. Spatial constraints were linked to the genetic risk for schizophrenia and general cognitive functioning, thereby providing insights into their biological basis and behavioral relevance.
A Modified Naive Bayes to online training assessment in virtual reality simulators

Training systems based on virtual reality are used in several areas. In these systems the user is immersed into a virtual world to have realistic training through realistic interactions. In such training is important to know the quality of user? s training. Several approaches to perform assessment in training simulators based on virtual reality have been proposed. However, they did not present a satisfactory solution for special cases as a bone marrow harvest in patients with bones deteriorated by disease. In this paper, we present an approach to online training assessment based on a modified naive Bayes, which can manipulate qualitative and quantitative variables simultaneously.
Probing the Active Site of the Deoxynucleotide N-Hydrolase Rcl Encoded by the Rat Gene c6orf108*

Rcl is a potential anti-angiogenic therapeutic target that hydrolyzes the N-glycosidic bond of 2′-deoxyribonucleoside 5′-monophosphate, yielding 2-deoxyribose 5-phosphate and the corresponding base. Its recently elucidated solution structure provided the first insight into the molecular basis for the substrate recognition. To facilitate the development of potent and specific inhibitors of Rcl, the active site was probed by site-directed mutagenesis and by the use of substrate analogs. The nucleobase shows weak interactions with the protein, and the deoxyribose binding pocket includes the catalytic triad Tyr-13, Asp-69, and Glu-93 and the phosphate binding site Ser-87 and Ser-117. The phosphomimetic mutation of Ser-17 to Glu prevents substrate binding and, thus, abolishes the activity of Rcl. The synthetic ligand-based analysis of the Rcl binding site shows that substitutions at positions 2 and 6 of the nucleobase as well as large heterocycles are well tolerated. The phosphate group at position 5 of the (deoxy)ribose moiety is the critical binding determinant. This study provides the roadmap for the design of small molecules inhibitors with pharmacological properties.
Depth-Assisted Rectification of Patches - Using RGB-D Consumer Devices to Improve Real-time Keypoint Matching

This paper presents a method named Depth-Assisted Rectification of Patches (DARP), which exploits depth information available in RGB-D consumer devices to improve keypoint matching of perspectively distorted images. This is achieved by generating a projective rectification of a patch around the keypoint, which is normalized with respect to perspective distortions and scale. The DARP method runs in real-time and can be used with any local feature detector and descriptor. Evaluations with planar and non-planar scenes show that DARP can obtain better results than existing keypoint matching approaches in oblique poses.
Secure Multi-User Transmission Using CoMP Directional Modulation

Directional Modulation is a recently developed multi-antenna technique for secure transmission. It allows to transmit signals in desired directions while distorting the signal in the other directions. To secure the transmission in a scenario where eavesdropper is in the same direction as legitimate user, a coordinated multipoint scheme is proposed to have a location- specific secure communication that works even when a rich scattering environment is not available. Simulations are presented to verify the proposed scheme using 3 base stations.
Contingent versus Deterministic Plans in Multi-Modal Journey Planning

Deterministic planning is the de facto standard in deployed multi-modal journey planning systems. However, in reality, transportation networks feature many types of uncertainty, including variations of the arrival and the departure times of public transport vehicles. Under uncertainty, deterministic plans could result in missed connections, leading to an arrival time much worse than originally planned. We contribute an empirical study using transportation network data from three European cities. We show that, in the presence of uncertainty, contingent plans can often provide significant savings in terms of travel time. We view our results as important because they advocate adopting uncertainty-aware multi-modal journey plans, shifting from the current practice based on using deterministic planning.
Antibacterial Action of Structurally Diverse Cationic Peptides on Gram-Positive Bacteria

ABSTRACT Antimicrobial cationic peptides are ubiquitous in nature and are thought to be a component of the first line of defense against infectious agents. It is widely believed that the killing mechanism of these peptides on bacteria involves an interaction with the cytoplasmic membrane. Cationic peptides from different structural classes were used in experiments withStaphylococcus aureus and other medically important gram-positive bacteria to gain insight into the mechanism of action. The membrane potential-sensitive fluorophore dipropylthiacarbocyanine was used to assess the interactions of selected antimicrobial peptides with the cytoplasmic membrane of S. aureus. Study of the kinetics of killing and membrane depolarization showed that, at early time points, membrane depolarization was incomplete, even when 90% or more of the bacteria had been killed. CP26, a 26-amino-acid α-helical peptide with a high MIC against S. aureus, still had the ability to permeabilize the membrane. Cytoplasmic-membrane permeabilization was a widespread ability and an action that may be necessary for reaching an intracellular target but in itself did not appear to be the killing mechanism. Transmission electron microscopy of S. aureus andStaphylococcus epidermidis treated with CP29 (a 26-amino-acid α-helical peptide), CP11CN (a 13-amino-acid, proline- and tryptophan-rich peptide), and Bac2A-NH2 (a linearized version of the 12-amino-acid loop peptide bactenecin) showed variability in effects on bacterial structure. Mesosome-like structures were seen to develop in S. aureus, whereas cell wall effects and mesosomes were seen with S. epidermidis. Nuclear condensation and abherrent septation were occasionally seen in S. epidermidis. Our experiments indicated that these peptides vary in their mechanisms of action and that the mechanism of action likely does not solely involve cytoplasmic-membrane permeabilization.