Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
MixApart: decoupled analytics for shared storage systems

Data analytics and enterprise applications have very different storage functionality requirements. For this reason, enterprise deployments of data analytics are on a separate storage silo. This may generate additional costs and inefficiencies in data management, e.g., whenever data needs to be archived, copied, or migrated across silos. We introduce MixApart, a scalable data processing framework for shared enterprise storage systems. With MixApart, a single consolidated storage back-end manages enterprise data and services all types of workloads, thereby lowering hardware costs and simplifying data management. In addition, MixApart enables the local storage performance required by analytics through an integrated data caching and scheduling solution. Our preliminary evaluation shows that MixApart can be 45% faster than the traditional ingest-then-compute workflow used in enterprise IT analytics, while requiring one third of storage capacity when compared to HDFS.
Do we really need EJB?

This paper, which is a compilation of the experiences of a number of software developers, is an attempt to guard the software community against the pitfalls of the EJB technology. It presents an anthology of experience that might help application developers realize when they are over-engineering their solution when the signs point to a different approach, probably to a different technology. We will start by juxtaposing the commonly agreed on advantages and disadvantages of the EJB architecture. Then we will see how some of the alleged advantages might turn out to possess a certain downside, in the sense that they might lead to solutions that, for reasons implicit in the EJB ideology, are far from efficient. On the basis of all that, we will try to distil rules of thumb about the situations for which the EJB paradigm is suitable and the ones in which it is to be avoided. We will complete the paper with our personal opinion about the viability of the EJB technology in the software arena as well as the prospects for this technology to find place in the applications of the near future.
Traffic Driven & Received Signal Strength Adaptive Handoff Scheme

In a cellular network, handoff is a transition for any given user from one base station to another geographically adjacent base station, as the user is free to move around. If handoff fails, it leads to forced termination of ongoing call. This is not user friendly at all. The major parameter in any network is defined by its Quality of Service (QOS) and handoff decision scheme plays a major role in QOS. In this paper, as the user is moving, handoff mechanism is analyzed on the basis of received signal strength from two different base stations and results are plotted using the Matlab code.
Methyl jasmonate down‐regulates survivin expression and sensitizes colon carcinoma cells towards TRAIL‐induced cytotoxicity

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Methyl jasmonate (MJ) is a plant stress hormone with selective cytotoxic anti‐cancer activities. The TNF‐related apoptosis‐inducing ligand (TRAIL) death pathway is an attractive target for cancer therapy. Although TRAIL receptors are specifically expressed in primary cancer cells and cancer cell lines, many types of cancer cells remain resistant to TRAIL‐induced cytotoxicity. Here we have assessed a possible synergy between MJ and TRAIL cytotoxicity in colorectal cancer (CRC) cell lines.
Effects of adenosine on human coronary arterial circulation.

Adenosine is a potent vasodilator used extensively to study the coronary circulation of animals. Its use in humans, however, has been hampered by lack of knowledge about its effects on the human coronary circulation and by concern about its safety. We investigated in humans the effects of adenosine, administered by intracoronary bolus (2-16 micrograms), intracoronary infusion (10-240 micrograms/min), or intravenous infusion (35-140 micrograms/kg/min) on coronary and systemic hemodynamics and the electrocardiogram. Coronary blood flow velocity (CBFV) was measured with a 3F coronary Doppler catheter. The maximal CBFV was determined with intracoronary papaverine (4.5 +/- 0.2.resting CBFV). In normal left coronary arteries (n = 20), 16-micrograms boluses of adenosine caused coronary hyperemia similar to that caused by papaverine (4.6 +/- 0.7.resting CBFV). In the right coronary artery (n = 5), 12-micrograms boluses caused maximal hyperemia (4.4 +/- 1.0.resting CBFV). Intracoronary boluses caused a small, brief decrease in arterial pressure (similar to that caused by papaverine) and no changes in heart rate or in the electrocardiogram. The duration of hyperemia was much shorter after adenosine than after papaverine administration. Intracoronary infusions of 80 micrograms/min or more into the left coronary artery (n = 6) also caused maximal hyperemia (4.4 +/- 0.1.resting CBFV), and doses up to 240 micrograms/min caused a minimal decrease in arterial pressure (-6 +/- 2 mm Hg) and no significant change in heart rate or in electrocardiographic variables. Intravenous infusions in normal patients (n = 25) at 140 micrograms/kg/min caused coronary vasodilation similar to that caused by papaverine in 84% of patients (4.4 +/- 0.9.resting CBFV). At submaximal infusion rates, however, CBFV often fluctuated widely. During the 140-micrograms/kg/min infusion, arterial pressure decreased 6 +/- 7 mm Hg, and heart rate increased 24 +/- 14 beats/min. One patient developed 1 cycle of 2:1 atrioventricular block, but otherwise, the electrocardiogram did not change. In eight patients with microvascular vasodilator dysfunction (delta CBFV, less than 3.5 peak/resting velocity after a maximally vasodilating dose of intracoronary papaverine), the dose-response characteristics to intracoronary boluses and intravenous infusions of adenosine were similar to those found in normal patients. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Histopathological and Ultrastructural Effect of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles on Male Wistar Rats Submandibular Glands

Nanotechnology applications have occurred rapidly. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have useful effects for their less hazards on the environment and for their application usages: paints, cosmetics, biomedicine and food as zinc supplements. ZnO NPs toxic effect is due to their tissue accumulation ability. Four ZnO NPs concentration levels effect was investigated on 75 male Wistar rats submandibular gland for 8 weeks. Treated groups histopathological sections showed progressive atrophy and degenerative changes in acini and striated ducts dilatation. Treated groups ultrathin sections showed small irregular nucleus, degenerated mitochondria, few zymogen granules, dilated rough endoplasmic reticulum and plenty of phagocytosed apoptotic bodies and lysozomes. Study results proved ZnO NPs toxicity as their doses are one of critical factors which are influencing their toxicity.
A further study on steganalysis of LSB matching by calibration

In this paper, based on a careful investigation on the calibration (downsample) technique, we improve two detectors for detecting LSB matching: calibrated HCF COM and calibrated adjacency HCF COM. Instead of using the COM (center of mass) of the HCF (histogram characteristic function), we consider the ratio of the histogram's DFT coefficients of the image to the corresponding coefficients of the down-sampled image. Moreover, we propose to down-sample only for non-oscillating pixels. With a same level of computational complexity, the new detectors thus obtained are better than the old ones, especially for uncompressed images.
Effect of Pneumatic Compressing Powered Orthosis in Stroke Patients: Preliminary Study

Objective To evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a knee-ankle-foot orthosis powered by artificial pneumatic muscles (PKAFO). Methods Twenty-three hemiplegic patients (age, 59.6±13.7 years) were assessed 19.7±36.6 months after brain lesion. The 10-m walking time was measured as a gait parameter while the individual walked on a treadmill. Walking speed (m/s), step cycle (cycle/s), and step length (m) were also measured on a treadmill with and without PKAFO, and before and after gait training. Clinical parameters measured before and after gait training included Korean version of Modified Bathel Index (K-MBI), manual muscle test (MMT), and Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) of hemiplegic ankle. Gait training comprised treadmill walking for 20 minutes, 5 days a week for 3 weeks at a comfortable speed. Results The 10-m walking time, walking speed, step length, and step cycle were significantly greater with PKAFO than without PKAFO, and after gait training (both p<0.05). K-MBI was improved after gait training (p<0.05), but MMT and MAS were not. Conclusion PKAFO may improve gait function in hemiplegic patients. It can be a useful orthosis for gait training in hemiplegic patients.
Real-time stereo vision implementation on the Texas Instruments KeyStone II SoC

Accurate calculation of a disparity map in real-time is a challenge in computer vision and autonomous applications due to the expensive computation cost. This paper describes a local temporal stereo method, using normalized cross correlation (NCC) as the matching cost function. To increase the performance in terms of speed without degrading the quality, a down sampling of the disparity map in the y-axis has been used, with a restricted search range along the y-axis. In addition to these, the search range is further restricted by referencing the disparity map from the previous frames. The algorithm is evaluated on a Texas Instruments (TI) KeyStone II embedded SoC with four ARM cores and eight DSP cores. The application has been written using OpenMP, OpenCL and IPC/MessageQ for parallelising the program. The core of the application has been optimised for this specific platform using linear assembly code in order to take advantage of SIMD instructions available with the DSP. The application achieved 77 FPS on a 1242×375 resolution video with 80 disparity levels using one ARM core and eight DSP cores.
An insight to ocular in situ gelling systems

Eye is delicate organ of body whose defence mechanism restricts entry of exogenous substances. Conventional drug delivery systems get washed off within a short period of time and results in poor ocular bioavailability. Development of in situ gel having protracted ocular residence time is one of the mile stone triumphs by pharmaceutical researcher for treatment of eye aliments. This polymeric system showed sol-to-gel phase transition by change in physiological parameters in pre-corneal area which includes pH, temperature or ionic interactions etc. Three types of in situ gels are well known based on mechanism involved in phase transition viz. temperature dependent, pH sensitive, ion activated systems. Gel formed after phase transitions have high viscosity along with bio-adhesive property, which increases resistance for instantaneous rinse off due to defence contrivance. Plus it prevents nasal-lachrymal drainage and avoids the systemic side effects. Recently, in situ gels have been vexed in amalgamation with another drug delivery system. It may include use of two or more stimuli systems together or added advantages of nano-technology. Combination of in situ gel with nano-particles is utmost remedy for ocular treatment with water insoluble drugs.
Accuracy of Hospital Discharge Coding Data for the Surveillance of Drain-Related Meningitis

Surveillance of healthcare-associated infections is labor intensive and complex. Discharge coding is an accessible source of information that may support detection of cases. For drain-related meningitis, however, discharge coding data had low sensitivity (32%) and positive predictive value (35%) and could neither replace nor improve existing complex surveillance systems.
Changing of the guards: a framework for understanding and improving entry guard selection in tor

Tor is the most popular low-latency anonymity overlay network for the Internet, protecting the privacy of hundreds of thousands of people every day. To ensure a high level of security against certain attacks, Tor currently utilizes special nodes called entry guards as each client's long-term entry point into the anonymity network. While the use of entry guards provides clear and well-studied security benefits, it is unclear how well the current entry guard design achieves its security goals in practice. We design and implement Changing of the Guards (COGS), a simulation-based research framework to study Tor's entry guard design. Using COGS, we empirically demonstrate that natural, short-term entry guard churn and explicit time-based entry guard rotation contribute to clients using more entry guards than they should, and thus increase the likelihood of profiling attacks. This churn significantly degrades Tor clients' anonymity. To understand the security and performance implications of current and alternative entry guard selection algorithms, we simulate tens of thousands of Tor clients using COGS based on Tor's entry guard selection and rotation algorithms, with real entry guard data collected over the course of eight months from the live Tor network.
How Increasing Technology Reliance is Influencing Behaviors and Happiness

The relentless permeation of technology continually reshapes human behavior, interactions, and reactions. These, in turn, directly impact—for better and worse—personal happiness. This paper studies the issue from four perspectives. First, how specific, important behaviors are changing what we do more of, and what we are doing less frequently. Second, how these changes influence time choice decisions. Third, what influence these behavioral changes and time choice decisions has on happiness. Fourth, how these changing behavioral trends—along with the “Facebook Effect”—map against Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and the human pursuit of happiness. This paper shares twenty-one specific examples of things we now do more of, and fourteen behaviors we are now doing less of; and overlays these changes against time-use decision-making and the impact of those time choices on happiness.
Structural modelling of the annulus fibrosus - an anisotropic hyperelastic model approach at the lamellar level

This work was aimed at developing a first approach to produce structural models of the Annulus Fibrosus, i.e. constitutive models of individual lamellae. Parameters of Holzapfel’s model were fitted using literature data on the behaviour of tissue components. Used on sample-specific or simplified geometries, the effect on the whole annulus deformation of the fibre angles, interlamellar behaviour, and incompressibility was analysed to assess their role in the disc mechanics.
Investigation of epoxy matrix viscosity in the initial stage of its formation

The present study includes experimental investigations of rheological properties of the epoxy composite matrix based on epoxy resin L and hardener EPH 161. It is shown that the temperature dependences of the oligomer viscosity and the hardener can be satisfactorily described by the Arrhenius equation. Dependence of epoxy resin viscosity on temperature and volume concentration of the hardener at the initial stage of the polymerization process is investigated. It is shown that the experimental results can be generalized with one universal dependence of concentration and temperature.
Information Rates For A Discrete-time Gaussian Channel With Intersymbol Interference And Stationary Inputs

Bounds are presented on I/sub i.i. d. /-the achievable information rate for a discrete Gaussian Channel with intersymbol interference (ISI) present and i.i. d. channel input symbols governed by an arbitrary predetermined distribution p/sub x/(x). The lower and upper bounds on I/sub i.i. d. / and I are formulated. The bounds on I/sub i.i. d. / are calculated for independent equiprobably binary channel symbols and for causal channels with ISI memory of degree one and two. The bounds on I/sub i.i. d. / are compared to the approximated (by Monte Carlo methods) known value of I/sub i.i. d. / and their tightness is considered. An application of the new lower bound on I/sub i.i. d. / yields an improvement on previously reported lower bounds for the capacity of the continuous-time strictly bandlimited (or bandpass) Gaussian channel with either peak or simultaneously peak power and bandlimiting constraints imposed on the channel's input waveform. >
Inkjet printed hydrophobic microfluidic channelling on porous substrates

Paperfluidic devices consist of patterned microfluidic channels formed on paper or paper-like material. The direction of surface and bulk liquid flow is typically controlled by patterning hydrophobic barriers on the otherwise hydrophilic paper substrate. A variety of hydrophobic materials and functional printing methods can be used for the patterning. Unlike conventional graphical printing, hydrophobising ink must penetrate the whole depth of the substrate to form an effective barrier against leakage from the channel. This study focuses on the development of solvent-based hydrophobic inks for inkjet printing of microfluidic patterning. Hydrophobic inks were produced by dissolving alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) and polystyrene (PS) in p-xylene. Hydrophobic test patterns were inkjet printed with these inks on two highly porous filter papers. The AKD-based ink was found to produce effective hydrophobic barriers but suffered from poorly defined borders. The PS-based ink produced well defined borders, but could only penetrate the full depth of the substrate on one of the chosen papers. Adding PS to AKD ink improved jettability. Hydrophobic ink penetration into filter paper was found to take place as surface film flow over the skeletal fibre structure of the paper. Therefore, paper fibre surface properties and ink surface tension and viscosity are considered to play controlling roles in determining the penetration depth. Differences seen with respect to aqueous wicking behaviour at the interface/border between hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions might be due to the Marangoni derived coffee stain effect and likely to interactions with the fibre surfaces.
Coupled Two-way Clustering Analysis of Breast Cancer and Colon Cancer Gene Expression Data

UNLABELLED We present and review coupled two-way clustering, a method designed to mine gene expression data. The method identifies submatrices of the total expression matrix, whose clustering analysis reveals partitions of samples (and genes) into biologically relevant classes. We demonstrate, on data from colon and breast cancer, that we are able to identify partitions that elude standard clustering analysis. AVAILABILITY Free, at http://ctwc.weizmann. ac.il. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION http://www.weizmann. ac.il/physics/complex/compphys/bioinfo2/
Prospective Case Study on Characterization of Colorectal Adenomas Comparing AFI with NBI

Aim. Compare the characterization ability of AFI and NBI for colorectal adenomas. Methods. We prospectively enrolled 58 patients with 89 colorectal adenomas detected by white light colonoscopy. Such lesions were subsequently observed with both AFI and NBI and then treated by endoscopic resection. With respect to the 89 lesions, 3 experienced endoscopists retrospectively evaluated the visualization quality of the AFI and NBI images in a blind manner using a three-tier scale based on excellent, fair, and poor criteria. Results. There were 54, 31, and 4 lesions considered as excellent, fair, and poor visualization, respectively, using AFI in comparison to 53, 19, and 17 lesions, respectively, with NBI. The percentage of excellent and fair visualization lesions was 95.5% with AFI and 80.9% with NBI (P < .01). Conclusion. This study indicated that AFI may be more effective for the characterization of colorectal adenomas because of better visualization of such lesions compared to NBI.
Comparative localization of fibroblast growth factor receptor‐1, ‐2, and ‐3 mRNAs in the rat brain: In situ hybridization analysis

The present study provides a detailed comparative description in the adult rat brain of areas that express MRNAs coding for the fibroblast growth factor subtype receptors 1–3 (FGFR1–3). One observation in this analysis was a widespread expression in the brain of all three FGFR mRNAs, according to the following rank order: FGFR1, diencephalon < telencephalon < mesencephalon and metencephalon < myelencephalon; FGFR2 and FGFR3, telencephalon < diencephalon < mesencephalon and metencephalon < myelencephalon. Another observation was an apparent cellular specificity in their basal expression. Thus, the FGFR1 mRNA was expressed mainly in large and weakly stained cells, whereas FGFR2 transcripts were expressed primarily in small and strongly stained cells and in cells of brain regions devoid of neuronal cells, such as the white matter. FGFR3 mRNA was always detected in small and strongly stained cells with scattered distribution and was not expressed in the white matter. However, FGFR2 mRNA was weakly expressed also in large cells localized in some nuclei of the lower brainstem, in the diagonal band, and in the septum. Furthermore, in the medial habenula and in the nuclei of the pons, there exists a high density of cells expressing both FGFR1 and FGFR2 (60–100%). With neurotoxic lesions involving 6‐hydroxy‐dopamine microinjections in the substantia nigra, reactive glial cells in the lesioned area and surrounding the cannula tract showed an increase in the expression of both FGFR1 and FGFR2 mRNAs, whereas no increased expression was found for FGFR3 mRNA. Taken together, these findings showed that these three FGF receptors exist in all subtypes of cells of each brain region. Their apparent cellular specificity suggests that these receptor subtypes can have a differential trophic role in the brain, reflecting the various biological activities shown by the ligands of the FGF family. J. Comp. Neurol. 379:226–246, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Fine-Mapping of 18q21.1 Locus Identifies Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms Associated with Nonsyndromic Cleft Lip with or without Cleft Palate

Nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P) is one of the most common congenital birth defects. NSCL/P is a complex multifactorial disease caused by interactions between multiple environmental and genetic factors. However, the causal single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) signature profile underlying the risk of familial NSCL/P still remains unknown. We previously reported a 5.7-Mb genomic region on chromosome 18q21.1 locus that potentially contributes to autosomal dominant, low-penetrance inheritance of NSCL/P. In the current study, we performed exome sequencing on 12 familial genomes (six affected individuals, two obligate carriers, and four seemingly unaffected individuals) of a six-generation family to identify candidate SNPs associated with NSCL/P risk. Subsequently, targeted bidirectional DNA re-sequencing of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-amplified high-risk regions of MYO5B gene and sequenom iPLEX genotpying of 29 candidate SNPs were performed on a larger set of 33 members of this NSCL/P family (10 affected + 4 obligate carriers + 19 unaffected relatives) to find SNPs significantly associated with NSCL/P trait. SNP vs. NSCL/P association analysis showed the MYO5B SNP rs183559995 GA genotype had an odds ratio of 18.09 (95% Confidence Interval = 1.86–176.34; gender-adjusted P = 0.0019) compared to the reference GG genotype. Additionally, the following SNPs were also found significantly associated with NSCL/P risk: rs1450425 (LOXHD1), rs6507992 (SKA1), rs78950893 (SMAD7), rs8097060, rs17713847 (SCARNA17), rs6507872 (CTIF), rs8091995 (CTIF), and rs17715416 (MYO5B). We could thus identify mutations in several genes as key candidate SNPs associated with the risk of NSCL/P in this large multi-generation family.