Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ultra-fast-scalable BCH decoder with efficient-Extended Fast Chien Search

In this paper, we introduced new methods in implementing ultra-fast-efficient BCH decoder that frequently used in many applications. A Reformulated inversionless-Berlekamp-Massey algorithm is adopted in order to eliminate the finite-field inverter and to reduce the hardware complexity. Furthermore, we proposed a Direct reformulated-inversionless Berlekamp-Massey algorithm (DriBM). While in the Chien Search stage, the Constant-Factor Multiplication-Free Matrix transform is also introduced to avoid expensiveness which significantly reduce the area and critical path. Moreover, we also developed Extended Fast Chien Search algorithm which significantly reduce computation complexity and the area by nearly 33% compared to Constant-Factor MFTM. Using our proposed design, we design a BCH(15,7) decoder which can reach speed up to 2.2 GHz with total area of is 8170µm2 using 0. 18µm CMOS standard cell technology. The merits of the proposed algorithms and architecture are very efficient and fast. The implementation of the proposed BCH decoder architecture is also scalable to higher n block lengths and t number of correctable error, by using the same concept as we design BCH(63,51) using the same concept as BCH(15,7). In addition to the parallel BCH Decoder, we also design an area efficient parallel GF multiplier and squarer which minimized the number of logic gates. This design has been implemented and verified on Altera DE2 FPGA using codeword with various error positions and weight (0–2 guaranteed error correction). Due to its low complexity, it is suitable for VLSI implementation and also provide excellent tradeoffs between the correcting capacity, speed and area penalties.
Dynamic k-NN with Attribute Weighting for Automatic Web Page Classification(Dk-NNwAW)

The Internet has been in a state of explosive expansion over the last decade and a half. The addition of numerous web pages to the World Wide Web by a vast array of authors on a plethora of topics leaves behind the problem of organizing these web pages in order to improve search results leading to more relevant information. In this paper, a modified attribute weighted dynamic k-Nearest Neighbor classification algorithm, using k-Means clustering, is proposed. This presents a solution to the automatic classification of Web Pages on the WWW, supported by the adaptive dynamic nature of the algorithm. Web pages are classified based on the class distribution of the pages in their neighborhood. Attribute weighting is used primarily to improve classification accuracy in cases of imbalanced class distribution. Empirical results observed show good classification accuracy, while at the same time, improving on other shortcomings of the traditional kNN classification model. General Terms Your general terms must be any term which can be used for general classification of the submitted material such as Pattern Recognition, Security, Algorithms et. al.
Memory-Based Cluster Sampling for Remote Sensing Image Classification

In this paper, we address the problem of semi-automatic definition of training sets for the classification of remotely sensed images. We propose two approaches based on active learning aiming at removing both the proximal (low diversity) and the dense (low exploration during iterations) sampling redundancies. The first is encountered when several samples carrying similar spectral information are selected by the algorithm, while the second occurs when the heuristic is unable to explore undiscovered parts of the feature space during iterations. For this purpose, kernel k-means is used to cluster a set of uncertain candidates in the same space spanned by the kernel function defined in the SVM classification step. Two heuristics are proposed to maximize the speed of convergence to high classification accuracies: The first is based on binary hierarchical partitioning of the set of selected uncertain samples, while the second extends this approach by considering memory in the selection and thus dynamically adapts to the problem throughout the iterations. Experiments on both VHR and hyperspectral imagery confirm fast convergence of the algorithm, that outperforms state-of-the-art sampling schemes.
The Degree of Global DNA Hypomethylation in Peripheral Blood Correlates with That in Matched Tumor Tissues in Several Neoplasia

There are no good blood and serum biomarkers for detection, follow up, or prognosis of brain tumors. However, they are needed for more detailed tumor classification, better prognosis estimation and selection of an efficient therapeutic strategy. The aim of this study was to use the epigenetic changes in DNA of peripheral blood samples as a molecular marker to diagnose brain tumors as well as other diseases. We have applied a very precise thin-layer chromatography (TLC) analysis of the global amount of 5-methylcytosine (m5C) in DNA from brain tumors, colon and breast cancer tissues and peripheral blood samples of the same patients. The m5C level in tissue DNA from different brain tumor types, expressed as R coefficient, changes within the range of 0.2–1.6 and overlaps with R of that of blood samples. It negatively correlates with the WHO malignancy grade. The global DNA hypomethylation quantitative measure in blood, demonstrates a big potential for development of non-invasive applications for detection of a low and a high grade brain tumors. We have also used this approach to analyze patients with breast and colon cancers. In all these cases the m5C amount in DNA cancer tissue match with data of blood. This study is the first to demonstrate the potential role of global m5C content in blood DNA for early detection of brain tumors and others diseases. So, genomic DNA hypomethylation is a promising marker for prognosis of various neoplasms as well as other pathologies.
Editorial: Education for a Sustainable Future

We stand at a critical moment in Earth’s history, a time when humanity must choose its future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise. To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace. Towards this end, it is imperative that we, the peoples of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life, and to future generations. (Preamble, The Earth Charter, 2000)
Cost effectiveness of rosuvastatin in patients at risk of cardiovascular disease based on findings from the JUPITER trial

Abstract Objective: This study assessed the long-term cost effectiveness of rosuvastatin therapy compared with placebo in reducing the incidence of major cardiovascular (CVD) events and mortality. Methods: A probabilistic Monte Carlo simulation model estimated long-term cost effectiveness of rosuvastatin therapy (20 mg daily) for the prevention of CVD mortality and morbidity. The model included three stages: (1) CVD prevention simulating the 4 years of the JUPITER trial, (2) initial CVD prevention beyond the trial, and (3) subsequent CVD event prevention. A US payer perspective was assessed reflecting direct medical costs, and up to a lifetime horizon. Sensitivity analyses tested the robustness of the model estimates. Results: For a hypothetical cohort of 100,000 patients at moderate and high risk of CVD events based on Framingham risk of ≥10%, estimated quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) gained with rosuvastatin therapy compared with placebo was 33,480 over a lifetime horizon, and 25,380 and 9916 over 20-year and 10-year horizons, respectively. Approximately 12,073 events were avoided over the lifetime; 6,146 non-fatal MIs, 2905 non-fatal strokes, and 4030 CVD deaths avoided. Estimated incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) for cost per QALY was $7062 (lifetime), $10,743 (20-year horizon), and $44,466 (10-year horizon). For a hypothetical cohort similar to the overall JUPITER population, the cost per QALY ICER was $11,025 for the lifetime and $60,112 for a 10-year horizon. Limitations: The cost-effectiveness comparison of rosuvastatin 20 mg was against no active treatment (as opposed to an alternative statin) due to lack of comparative cardiovascular morbidity and mortality risk reduction data for other statins in a population similar to the JUPITER trial population. The analysis was conducted from the payer perspective and lack of inclusion of indirect costs limit interpretability of results from a societal perspective. Conclusions: Treatment with rosuvastatin 20 mg daily, is a cost-effective treatment alternative to no treatment in patients at a higher risk (Framingham risk ≥10%) of CVD.
A Sensor Network Data Compression Algorithm Based on Suboptimal Clustering and Virtual Landmark Routing Within Clusters

A kind of data compression algorithm for sensor networks based on suboptimal clustering and virtual landmark routing within clusters is proposed in this paper. Firstly, temporal redundancy existing in data obtained by the same node in sequential instants can be eliminated. Then sensor networks nodes will be clustered. Virtual node landmarks in clusters can be established based on cluster heads. Routing in clusters can be realized by combining a greedy algorithm and a flooding algorithm. Thirdly, a global structure tree based on cluster heads will be established. During the course of data transmissions from nodes to cluster heads and from cluster heads to sink, the spatial redundancy existing in the data will be eliminated. Only part of the raw data needs to be transmitted from nodes to sink, and all raw data can be recovered in the sink based on a compression code and part of the raw data. Consequently, node energy can be saved, largely because transmission of redundant data can be avoided. As a result the overall performance of the sensor network can obviously be improved.
Reliability and validity of the scale for the assessment and rating of ataxia: A study in 64 ataxia patients

The objective of this study was to test the reliability and validity of the Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA) in ataxia patients not suffering from autosomal dominant spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA). To this end, 64 patients with various ataxia disorders or stable cerebellar lesions were rated independently by two investigators. In addition to SARA, the following assessment instruments were applied: ataxia disease stage, Barthel index and part IV (functional assessment) of the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating scale (UHDRS‐IV). Eighteen patients were rated twice. Inter‐rater and intrarater reliability were very high with ICCs of 0.98 and 0.99. Internal consistency was high indicated by Cronbach's α of 0.97. Factorial analysis revealed that the rating results were mainly determined by one major factor with an eigenvalue of 6.34 which explained 52.8% of the variance. SARA score increased with disease stage (P < 0.0001) and was closely correlated with Barthel index (r = −0.63, P < 0.0001) and UHDRS‐IV (r = −0.62, P < 0.0001), but only weakly correlated with disease duration (r = 0.44, P < 0.001). The results suggest that SARA is a reliable and valid measure of ataxia in non‐SCA ataxia patients. © 2007 Movement Disorder Society
“The norm is a flux of change”: teachers’ experiences in international schools

This article explores teachers’ perceptions of the effects of high student turnover in international schools in the UK. The research used a “grounded theory” approach for qualitative data collection and analysis, based on interviews with eight teachers in four international primary schools. The results of the grounded theory suggest that a process of “systemic containment” develops which helps the whole class, including newcomer pupils and their teachers, to cope with the frequent transitions. The discussion emphasises the role of the educational psychologist in encouraging teachers to become more informed and reflexive about inclusion of newcomers from abroad.
Local Directors of School Education in Greece: Their Role and Main Sources of Job Stress

Directors of education in Greece operate at prefectural level and are the heads of the local directorates or bureaus of primary/secondary education. Because of the centralized character of the educational system, their role is restricted to facilitating the smooth operation of the local school system and implementing the national policy on school education. The research reported in this article aims at investigating the job stress experienced by the Greek directors of education. Three hundred and fifty-seven Directors of Education took part in the study. The two main questions addressed concern: (1) the level of job stress experienced by the participants; and (2) the main sources of their job stress. The results showed that directors of education in Greece experience moderate occupational stress while the main sources of their work stress come from different domains including the shortage of human and financial resources, the implementation of national educational policies and reforms, the nature and the characteristics of their work, their relations with people and specific dimensions of their career. Moreover, variations were found between the different subgroups examined with directors of secondary education and directors of directorates of education reporting higher stress.
Tumor Suppressor p53 Is Required To Modulate BRCA1 Expression

ABSTRACT Individuals carrying mutations in BRCA1 orp53 genes are predisposed to a variety of cancers, and both tumor suppressor genes have been implicated in DNA damage response pathways. We have analyzed a possible functional link betweenp53 and BRCA1 genes. Here we show that BRCA1 expression levels are down-regulated in response to p53 induction in cells that undergo either growth arrest, senescence, or apoptosis. Physiological stimuli, such as exposure to DNA-damaging agents, also result in negative regulation of BRCA1 levels in a p53-dependent manner prior to causing cell cycle arrest. Nuclear run-on experiments and luciferase reporter assays demonstrate that the changes in BRCA1 expression are mainly due to transcriptional repression induced by p53. In conclusion, the data show that BRCA1 expression levels are controlled by the presence and activity of wild-type p53 and suggest the existence of an intracellular p53/BRCA1 pathway in the response of cells to stress conditions.
Alias Verification for Fortran Code Optimization

Abstract Alias analysis for Fortran is less complicated than for programming languages with pointers but many real Fortran programs violate the standard: a formal parameter or a common variable that is aliased with another formal parameter is modified. Compilers, assuming standard-conforming programs, consider that an assignment to one variable will not change the value of any other variable, allowing optimizations involving the aliased variables. Higher performance results but anything may happen: the program may appear to run normally, or may produce incorrect answers, or may behave unpredictably. The results may depend on the compiler and the optimization level. To guarantee the standard conformance of programs and to maintain the referential transparency in order to make program analyses exact and program optimizations safe, precise alias information retrieval at a reasonable cost, especially the determination of overlaps between arrays are studied in this paper. Static analyses and code instrumentation are used to find all violations of the prohibitions against aliasing in Fortran code. Alias violation tests are inserted only at places where it cannot be proved statically that they are useless in order to reduce the number of dynamic checks at run-time. A specific memory location naming technique is used to compact representation and enhance the precision of alias analysis. Modifications on the dependence graph created by aliasing are also studied to show the impact of aliases on some program optimizing transformations. Experimental results on SPEC95 benchmark are presented and some related issues are also discussed.
Results of Investigation of Multicell Converters With Balancing Circuit—Part I

This paper presents the results of an investigation of the multilevel multicell converters with a passive RLC balancing circuit applied for the maintenance of the voltage sharing on the capacitive sources of the converters. The topologies of DC/DC, AC/AC, DC/AC, and AC/DC multicell converters were analyzed. For the purpose of multilevel modulation, a multicell converter employs several capacitors that are connected to every cell-the flying capacitors, charged to a given level of voltage. An inadequate relation between the voltages across the flying capacitors (the unbalance state) results in the increase of the voltages above their rated values across the switches. An RLC series circuit (a balancing circuit) with the properly selected resonance frequency is connected in parallel to the load in order to eliminate the unbalance. The balancing process with the use of passive RLC depends on the configuration and parameters of the balancing circuit, the parameters of the converter, as well as on the operating conditions. This paper presents the mathematical description of both the converter and the balancing process, the balancing circuit approach in the different topologies of the multicell converters, a selection of the balancing circuit parameters, and the analysis of the improper control conditions.
Similarity Search Profiles as a Diagnostic Tool for the Analysis of Virtual Screening Calculations

An analysis method termed similarity search profiling has been developed to evaluate fingerprint-based virtual screening calculations. The analysis is based on systematic similarity search calculations using multiple template compounds over the entire value range of a similarity coefficient. In graphical representations, numbers of correctly identified hits and other detected database compounds are separately monitored. The resulting profiles make it possible to determine whether a virtual screening trial can in principle succeed for a given compound class, search tool, similarity metric, and selection criterion. As a test case, we have analyzed virtual screening calculations using a recently designed fingerprint on 23 different biological activity classes in a compound source database containing approximately 1.3 million molecules. Based on our predefined selection criteria, we found that virtual screening analysis was successful for 19 of 23 compound classes. Profile analysis also makes it possible to determine compound class-specific similarity threshold values for similarity searching.
Illumina next-generation sequencing reveals the complete mitochondrial genome of Psenopsis anomala (Perciformes: Centrolophidae) with phylogenetic consideration

Abstract Using Illumina next-generation sequencing (NGS), the complete mitochondrial genome of the Psenopsis anomala was sequenced in the present study. The mitochondrial genome of P. anomala is 16,528 bp long and consists of 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and a control region. The structure about gene order and composition of P. anomala mitochondrial genome is similar to those of most other vertebrates. The nucleotide compositions of the light strand in descending order is 29.18% of T, 27.97% of G, 27.06% of A, and 15.79% of C. With the exception of the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 6 (ND6) and eight tRNA genes, other mitochondrial genes are encoded on the heavy strand. The phylogenetic analysis by maximum-likelihood (ML) method shown that the Psenopsis anomala was closer to Peprilus triacanthus in the phylogenetic relationship.
A Class of Structured LDPC Codes Over GF(q) for Efficient Encoding

In this paper we present a class of structured LDPC codes over GF(q) which are suitable for efficient encoding. We derive the conditions under which the Phi matrix defined by Richardson & Urbanke in (2001) is an identity matrix over GF(q). If the parity-check matrix satisfies the derived conditions, the inversion of the Phi matrix can be removed in encoding process so that the computational complexity grows linearly with the code length. Simulation results show that efficiently encodable structured LDPC codes have no performance degradation due to the constraint on their design structure, compared with randomly constructed LDPC codes.
Democracy in Latin America

country and each presents a different situation; Second, because the answer depends also upon one's concept of democracy. It is probably fair to say that Latin Americans as people are as democratic as Anglo-Ameri cans. But their democracy is expressed in differ ent institutions and patterns of behavior. Some Latin American opinions on the subject, like those of Jose Vasconcelos expressed in his Cre ole Ulysses, are derived from riding third-class or steerage on the big steamships which plied the Caribbean and the coasts of South America in the pre-war days. Others, because of unpleas ant experiences with Anglo-Americans in Latin America or along the Mexican border, feel that they are more democratic because [they are] less class conscious than Anglo-Americans. A Brazilian, Haytian or Cuban observing Jim Crow conditions in the United States might well come to the same conclusion. To a large extent our concept of democ racy in the United States is an Anglo-American product, and especially a product of our own national history during the nineteenth century. We associate the term democracy with orderly elections, stability of government, universal secret suffrage, the federal system and even with certain legal sanctions for the protection of private property and individual economic enterprise which are part of the Anglo-Ameri can systems. Many of us of course, realize that democracy is more than this. From Jefferson on our leaders of democratic thought have pointed out the spiritual strivings and the social aspi rations which constitute its essence, particu larly the aspirations for a better and freer social order. They have seen that democracy is a com plex of all these strivings intimately associated with powerful dynamic elements arising from the conquest of a new continent and from the industrial and technological revolutions of the past century and a half. Inevitably these eco nomic changes broadened the basis of political participation in the nation-state as they opened up opportunities for ampler economic and cul tural life to larger masses of people affected by these historical processes. A good deal of what we recognize as democracy in the modern world is just this broadening of the basis of political structure. Democracy like dictatorship is not absolute. It exists in many different forms and degrees. It is a fact of history, not a proposition of theol ogy. It is a pattern of political behavior, infused with strong spiritual elements, the essence of which is the belief in attainment of a better