Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Thread Tranquilizer: Dynamically reducing performance variation

To realize the performance potential of multicore systems, we must effectively manage the interactions between memory reference behavior and the operating system policies for thread scheduling and migration decisions. We observe that these interactions lead to significant variations in the performance of a given application, from one execution to the next, even when the program input remains unchanged and no other applications are being run on the system. Our experiments with multithreaded programs, including the TATP database application, SPECjbb2005, and a subset of PARSEC and SPEC OMP programs, on a 24-core Dell PowerEdge R905 server running OpenSolaris confirms the above observation. In this work we develop Thread Tranquilizer, an automatic technique for simultaneously reducing performance variation and improving performance by dynamically choosing appropriate memory allocation and process scheduling policies. Thread Tranquilizer uses simple utilities available on modern Operating Systems for monitoring cache misses and thread context-switches and then utilizes the collected information to dynamically select appropriate memory allocation and scheduling policies. In our experiments, Thread Tranquilizer yields up to 98% (average 68%) reduction in performance variation and up to 43% (average 15%) improvement in performance over default policies of OpenSolaris. We also demonstrate that Thread Tranquilizer simultaneously reduces performance variation and improves performance of the programs on Linux. Thread Tranquilizer is easy to use as it does not require any changes to the application source code or the OS kernel.
2 DNA Methylation and Histone Modifications in Patients With Cancer Potential Prognostic and Therapeutic Targets

Epigenetics, a combination of DNA modifications, chromatin organization, and variations in its associated proteins, configure a new entity that regulates gene expression throughout methylation, acetylation, and chromatin remodeling. In addition to silencing as a result of mutations, loss of heterozygosity, or classical genetic events epigenetic modification symbolizes essential early events during carcinogenesis and tumor development. The reversion of these epigenetic processes restoring normal expression of tumor-suppressor genes has consequently become a new therapeutic target in cancer treatment. Aberrant patterns of epigenetic modifications will be, in a near future, crucial parameters in cancer diagnosis and prognosis.
The Effectiveness of Simulation on Recognizing and Managing Clinical Deterioration: Meta-Analyses

The purpose of these meta-analyses was to quantitatively synthesize the effectiveness of simulation on student nurses’ and registered nurses’ ability to recognize and manage clinical deterioration in the acute care setting. A search of the literature resulted in 22 reports and 19 studies meeting inclusion criteria. Four random-effects analyses were conducted to examine two-group posttest and single-group pre–posttest intervention effect sizes for knowledge and performance. A total of 41 effect sizes were calculated from the data extracted. The standardized mean difference (d) for two-group posttest knowledge was d = 0.964 (p = .001) and for performance was d = 1.382 (p ≤ .001). The standardized mean difference for single-group pre–posttest knowledge was d = 1.231 (p ≤ .001) and performance was d = 1.610 (p ≤ .001). Findings indicate that simulation-based interventions have a positive effect on knowledge and performance. As simulation is increasingly used as a teaching modality in nursing, further research should aim to test standardized simulation-based education programs.
Concurrent learning adaptive control of linear systems with exponentially convergent bounds

Concurrent learning adaptive controllers, which use recorded and current data concurrently for adaptation, are developed for model reference adaptive control of uncertain linear dynamical systems. We show that a verifiable condition on the linear independence of the recorded data is sufficient to guarantee global exponential stability. We use this fact to develop exponentially decaying bounds on the tracking error and weight error, and estimate upper bounds on the control signal. These results allow the development of adaptive controllers that ensure good tracking without relying on high adaptation gains, and can be designed to avoid actuator saturation. Simulations and hardware experiments show improved performance. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Friction Welding And Its Applications In Today’s World

By developing technology of today, the necessity of using different materials by joining came out. The most suitable method in joining two different alloyed steel is to weld. The fact that the properties of welding zone are naturally different from the properties of steels in different alloyed at post welding process has came up and these differences occur some important problems. Among many kinds of welding methods, using the melting welding methods has also increased the number of these problems. However, in the connecting zone, many different zones come out by depending on composition and properties of the connecting materials. Deposite remain of the melting welding methods, welding faults of porosity and inside tightens of cooling are the important disadvantages of these methods and they decreases the strength of welding. For this reason, solid state welding methods are more suitable due to these melting welding faults. The most important and applicability of these methods are friction welding. For these reasons, in this study importance and application areas of friction welding were explained.
Thermal decomposition and kinetic evaluation of decanted 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) for reutilization as composite material

Use of energetic materials has long been considered for only military purposes. However, it is very recent that their practical applications in wide range of commercial fields such as mining, road building, under water blasting and rocket propulsion system have been considered. About 5mg of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) in serviceable (Svc) as well as unserviceable (Unsvc) form were used for their thermal decomposition and kinetic parameters investigation. Thermogravimetric/ differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used to characterize two types of TNT. Arrhenius kinetic parameters like activation energy (E) and enthalpy (AH) of both TNT samples were determined using TG curves with the help of Horowitz and Metzger method. Simultaneously, thermal decomposition range was evaluated from DTA curves. Distinct diffraction peaks showing crystalline nature were obtained from XRD analysis. SEM results indicated that Unsvc TNT contained a variety of defects like cracks and porosity. Similarly, it is observed that thermal as well as kinetic behavior of both TNT samples vary to a great extent. Likewise, a prominent change in the activation energies (E) of both samples is observed. This in-depth study provides a way forward in finding solutions for the safe reutilization of decanted TNT.
Dom34‐Hbs1 mediated dissociation of inactive 80S ribosomes promotes restart of translation after stress

Following translation termination, ribosomal subunits dissociate to become available for subsequent rounds of protein synthesis. In many translation‐inhibiting stress conditions, e.g. glucose starvation in yeast, free ribosomal subunits reassociate to form a large pool of non‐translating 80S ribosomes stabilized by the ‘clamping’ Stm1 factor. The subunits of these inactive ribosomes need to be mobilized for translation restart upon stress relief. The Dom34‐Hbs1 complex, together with the Rli1 NTPase (also known as ABCE1), have been shown to split ribosomes stuck on mRNAs in the context of RNA quality control mechanisms. Here, using in vitro and in vivo methods, we report a new role for the Dom34‐Hbs1 complex and Rli1 in dissociating inactive ribosomes, thereby facilitating translation restart in yeast recovering from glucose starvation stress. Interestingly, we found that this new role is not restricted to stress conditions, indicating that in growing yeast there is a dynamic pool of inactive ribosomes that needs to be split by Dom34‐Hbs1 and Rli1 to participate in protein synthesis. We propose that this provides a new level of translation regulation.
No More Backstabbing... A Faithful Scheduling Policy for Multithreaded Programs

Efficient contention management is the key to achieving scalable performance for multithreaded applications running on multicore systems. However, contention management policies provided by modern operating systems increase context-switches and lead to performance degradation for multithreaded applications under high loads. Moreover, this problem is exacerbated by the interaction between contention management policies and OS scheduling polices. Time Share (TS) is the default scheduling policy in a modern OS such as Open Solaris and with TS policy, priorities of threads change very frequently for balancing load and providing fairness in scheduling. Due to the frequent ping-ponging of priorities, threads of an application are often preempted by the threads of the same application. This increases the frequency of involuntary context-switches as wells as lock-holder thread preemptions and leads to poor performance. This problem becomes very serious under high loads. To alleviate this problem, in this paper, we present a scheduling policy called Faithful Scheduling (FF), which dramatically reduces context-switches as well as lock-holder thread preemptions. We implemented FF on a 24-core Dell Power Edge R905 server running OpenSolaris.2009. 06 and evaluated it using 22 programs including the TATP database application, SPECjbb2005, programs from PARSEC, SPEC OMP, and some micro benchmarks. The experimental results show that FF policy achieves high performance for both lightly and heavily loaded systems. Moreover it does not require any changes to the application source code or the OS kernel.
FPGA implementation of the mix algorithm for state-of-charge estimation of Lithium-ion batteries

This paper describes the hardware implementation of a model-based State-of-Charge (SoC) estimation algorithm for Lithium-ion batteries. SoC estimation is essential to evaluate the remaining runtime of the battery, as well as to enhance its safety and life expectancy. Model-based SoC estimation is a good solution to the problem, but only offline tests have been presented so far. In this work, the SoC estimation algorithm is implemented on an FPGA device, following an innovative and automatic development flow, which starts from a MATLAB/Simulink model of the algorithm. The SoC estimation hardware block is combined with a soft-core processor to form a System on a Programmable Chip. Experimental results obtained exerting the battery with a current profile that simulates its operation in an electric vehicle are presented and discussed.
Prediction of major and clinically relevant bleeding in patients with VTE treated with edoxaban or vitamin K antagonists

Summary Better understanding of risk factors for major bleeding events during anticoagulant treatment for venous thromboembolism (VTE) may help physicians when deciding on intensity and duration of treatment. The primary aim of this study was to identify risk factors for major and clinically relevant bleeding in patients receiving the oral factor Xa inhibitor edoxaban or warfarin for the treatment of acute VTE. We analysed data from 8240 patients who received ≥1 dose of study drug in the Hokusai-VTE study. Bleeding risk factors were evaluated in 4118 patients who received edoxaban and significant variables were combined in a prediction model. We used the C-statistic to estimate model discrimination and bootstrap techniques for internal validation. Major bleeding occurred in 56/4118 (1.4 %) patients given edoxaban and in 66/4122 (1.6 %) patients given warfarin. Clinically relevant bleeding occurred in 349 (8.5 %) and 423 (10.3 %), respectively. Significant risk factors for major bleeding during edoxaban treatment were female sex, concomitant antiplatelet therapy, haemoglobin ≤10 g/dl, history of arterial hypertension, and systolic blood pressure >160 mmHg. The discrimination of the model was high (C-statistic: 0.71) for major bleeding, lower for clinically relevant bleeding (C-statistic: 0.62) and when the model was applied to patients receiving warfarin (C-statistic 0.60). In conclusion, we identified five main predictors of major bleeding in patients receiving edoxaban for the treatment of acute VTE. A risk model based on these factors predicted an increased risk of bleeding with good discrimination. Supplementary Material to this article is available online at www.thrombosis-online.com.
Daily visual stimulation in the critical period enhances multiple aspects of vision through BDNF-mediated pathways in the mouse retina

Visual experience during the critical period modulates visual development such that deprivation causes visual impairments while stimulation induces enhancements. This study aimed to determine whether visual stimulation in the form of daily optomotor response (OMR) testing during the mouse critical period (1) improves aspects of visual function, (2) involves retinal mechanisms and (3) is mediated by brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and dopamine (DA) signaling pathways. We tested spatial frequency thresholds in C57BL/6J mice daily from postnatal days 16 to 23 (P16 to P23) using OMR testing. Daily OMR-treated mice were compared to littermate controls that were placed in the OMR chamber without moving gratings. Contrast sensitivity thresholds, electroretinograms (ERGs), visual evoked potentials, and pattern ERGs were acquired at P21. To determine the role of BDNF signaling, a TrkB receptor antagonist (ANA-12) was systemically injected 2 hours prior to OMR testing in another cohort of mice. BDNF immunohistochemistry was performed on retina and brain sections. Retinal DA levels were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography. Daily OMR testing enhanced spatial frequency thresholds and contrast sensitivity compared to controls. OMR-treated mice also had improved rod-driven ERG oscillatory potential response times, greater BDNF immunoreactivity in the retinal ganglion cell layer, and increased retinal DA content compared to controls. VEPs and pattern ERGs were unchanged. Systemic delivery of ANA-12 attenuated OMR-induced visual enhancements. Daily OMR testing during the critical period leads to general visual function improvements accompanied by increased DA and BDNF in the retina, with this process being requisitely mediated by TrkB activation. These results suggest that novel combination therapies involving visual stimulation and using both behavioral and molecular approaches may benefit degenerative retinal diseases or amblyopia.
Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy Characteristics of Corrosion Behavior of Rebar in Concrete

Understandings of the physical significance of elements in equivalent circuit model of rebar corrosion in concrete are not quite similar.In order to give a reasonable explanation, experiments of rebar corrosion in concrete induced by chloride penetration and carbonation were designed,and then the characteristics of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS) of test specimens were carefully examined.It was found from the test results that,for the rebar corrosion induced by chloride attack,three capacitance arcs were observed in impedance spectroscopy.However, for the rebar corrosion induced by carbonation,there exsited only two capacitance arcs in impedance spectroscopy,which corresponded with characteristics of rebar in passivation state. Low frequency capacitance arc shrank gradually with corrosion going on.As relative humidity increasing, high frequency and low frequency capacitance arcs both shrank,which meant decreasing of concrete resistivity and polarization resistance of rebar.Finally,a simplified equivalent circuit model was proposed and verified by experiment.
Highly Sensitive Colorimetric Biosensor for Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B by a Label-Free Aptamer and Gold Nanoparticles

A simple, sensitive and selective colorimetric biosensor for the detection of Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) was developed using SEB-binding aptamer (SEB2) as recognition element and unmodified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as colorimetric probes. The assay is based on color change from red to purple due to conformational change of aptamer in the presence of SEB, and the phenomenon of salt-induced AuNPs aggregation which could be monitored by naked eye or UV–vis spectrometer. Results showed that the AuNPs can effectively differentiate the SEB induced conformational change of the aptamer in the presence of a given high salt concentration. A linear response in the range of 50 μg/mL to 0.5 ng/mL of SEB concentration was obtained. The assay was highly specific to SEB as compared to other related toxins. The limit of detection (LOD) of SEB achieved within few minutes was 50 ng/mL visually and spectrometric method improved it to 0.5 ng/mL. Robustness of the assay was tested in artificially spiked milk samples and cross-checked using in house developed sandwich ELISA (IgY as capturing and SEB specific monoclonal as revealing antibody) and PCR. This colorimetric assay could be a suitable alternative over existing methods during biological emergencies due to its simplicity, sensitive and cost effectiveness.
Knowledge-Based Methods To Train and Optimize Virtual Screening Ensembles

Ensemble docking can be a successful virtual screening technique that addresses the innate conformational heterogeneity of macromolecular drug targets. Yet, lacking a method to identify a subset of conformational states that effectively segregates active and inactive small molecules, ensemble docking may result in the recommendation of a large number of false positives. Here, three knowledge-based methods that construct structural ensembles for virtual screening are presented. Each method selects ensembles by optimizing an objective function calculated using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve: either the area under the ROC curve (AUC) or a ROC enrichment factor (EF). As the number of receptor conformations, N, becomes large, the methods differ in their asymptotic scaling. Given a set of small molecules with known activities and a collection of target conformations, the most resource intense method is guaranteed to find the optimal ensemble but scales as O(2N). A recursive approximation to the optimal solution scales as O(N2), and a more severe approximation leads to a faster method that scales linearly, O(N). The techniques are generally applicable to any system, and we demonstrate their effectiveness on the androgen nuclear hormone receptor (AR), cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2), and the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor δ (PPAR-δ) drug targets. Conformations that consisted of a crystal structure and molecular dynamics simulation cluster centroids were used to form AR and CDK2 ensembles. Multiple available crystal structures were used to form PPAR-δ ensembles. For each target, we show that the three methods perform similarly to one another on both the training and test sets.
Synthesis of Polyaniline/Graphene Nanocomposites and Its Optical, Electrical and Electrochemical Properties

Polyaniline/Graphene nanocomposites (PANI/G) were synthesised at various loadings of graphene to polyaniline (PANI) ratio. Their structural and morphological characterization has been investigated by DRS-UV-Vis, Raman spectroscopy, XRD, field emission scanning electron microscopy. Further the electrical conductivity and electrochemical measurements were measured using four probe method and cyclic voltammetry. As the weight ratio of PANI to G decreased from 9:1 to 5:5 (G1:G5), the electrical conductivity of the nanocomposites increased by an order of four. This was attributed to a considerable increase in the carrier mobility in the presence of graphene sheets. As a result, the conductivity of the nanocomposites increased from 16.11 to 460.08 S cm−1 at 298 K. Electrochemical properties of the composites are measured by cyclic voltammetric technique to measure the band gap and specific capacitance of the composites. Results predict that the developed PANI/G nanocomposites could be used in electrochemical energystorage device.
Histopathological Image Classification With Color Pattern Random Binary Hashing-Based PCANet and Matrix-Form Classifier

The computer-aided diagnosis for histopathological images has attracted considerable attention. Principal component analysis network (PCANet) is a novel deep learning algorithm for feature learning with the simple network architecture and parameters. In this study, a color pattern random binary hashing-based PCANet (C-RBH-PCANet) algorithm is proposed to learn an effective feature representation from color histopathological images. The color norm pattern and angular pattern are extracted from the principal component images of R, G, and B color channels after cascaded PCA networks. The random binary encoding is then performed on both color norm pattern images and angular pattern images to generate multiple binary images. Moreover, we rearrange the pooled local histogram features by spatial pyramid pooling to a matrix-form for reducing the dimension of feature and preserving spatial information. Therefore, a C-RBH-PCANet and matrix-form classifier-based feature learning and classification framework is proposed for diagnosis of color histopathological images. The experimental results on three color histopathological image datasets show that the proposed C-RBH-PCANet algorithm is superior to the original PCANet and other conventional unsupervised deep learning algorithms, while the best performance is achieved by the proposed feature learning and classification framework that combines C-RBH-PCANet and matrix-form classifier.
Characterization, in Vivo Evaluation, and Molecular Modeling of Different Propofol-Cyclodextrin Complexes To Assess Their Drug Delivery Potential at the Blood-Brain Barrier Level

In this study, we investigated the ability of the general anesthetic propofol (PR) to form inclusion complexes with modified β-cyclodextrins, including sulfobutylether-β-cyclodextrin (SBEβCD) and hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPβCD). The PR/SBEβCD and PR/HPβCD complexes were prepared and characterized, and the blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeation potential of the formulated PR was examined in vivo for the purpose of controlled drug delivery. The PR/SBEβCD complex was found to be more stable in solution with a minimal degradation constant of 0.25 h-1, a t1/2 of 2.82 h, and a Kc of 5.19 × 103 M-1 and revealed higher BBB permeability rates compared with the reference substance (PR-LIPURO) considering the calculated brain-to-blood concentration ratio (logBB) values. Additionally, the diminished PR binding affinity to SBEβCD was confirmed in molecular dynamics simulations by a maximal Gibbs free energy of binding (ΔGbind = -18.44 kcal·mol-1), indicating the more rapid PR/SBEβCD dissociation. Overall, the results demonstrated that SBEβCD has the potential to be used as a prospective candidate for drug delivery vector development to improve the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of general anesthetic agents at the BBB level.