Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
5th generation 64-bit powerpc- compatible commercial processor design

IBM's NorthStar superscalar RISC microprocessor integrates high-bandwith and short pipe depth with low latency and zero cycle branch mispredict penalty into a fully scalable 64-bit PowerPC-compatible symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) implementation. Based on PowerPC architecture, the first in the Star Series of microprocessors, the NorthStar processor contains the fundamental design features used in the newly available RS/6000 and AS/400 server systems targeted at leading edge performance in commercial applications as characterized by such industry standard benchmarks as TPC-C, SAP, Lotus Notes and SpecWeb. This paper provides an overview of how the processor microarchitecture, silicon technology, packaging technology, and systems architecture have been leveraged to produce outstanding high-performance in commercial applications and server markets. Follow on microprocessors in the Star Series are also described. The design point and performance attributes of the currently available NorthStar microprocessor and planned enhancements are reviewed. Design Point The first microprocessor to launch in the Star Series, internally referred to by the code name " NorthStar " , is used in AS/400 and RS/6000 systems. In these systems it is referred to as the PowerPC A50 and RS64-II processor, respectively. The NorthStar microprocessor design objectives were to provide more performance, reliability, and functional robustness than previous 64-bit PowerPC commercial/server processor designs while reducing product and development costs. The basic design philosophy was to reuse as much as possible from the previous design point [1], adding enhancements only if they were simple or resulted in significant improvements to the design objectives. The result of this approach is a microprocessor with the following attributes: Ÿ 4 way superscalar Ÿ 5 stage deep pipeline Ÿ Branch mispredict penalty of zero or one cycle Ÿ 64 Kilo Byte (KB) on-chip Level One (L1) instruction cache Ÿ 64 KB on-chip L1 data cache with one cycle load-to-use latency Ÿ Support for up to a 32 Mega Byte (MB) Level Two (L2) cache with a 5 cycle load-to-use latency Ÿ 8.4 Giga Byte (GB) per second L2 cache bandwidth Ÿ 32 byte wide on-chip busses Ÿ 262 MHz operating frequency Ÿ 162 mm 2 die size Ÿ 27 Watts maximum power Major differences from the previous design point include switching from BiCMOS technology into CMOS technology, consolidating the processor from 5 chips into 1, reducing the power by a factor of 5, and adding support for an external L2 cache. The technology strategy of the NorthStar design was to produce a high performance …
Title High-throughput micromixers based on acoustic streaming induced by surface acoustic wave

Flow characteristics in microfluidic devices is naturally laminar due to the small channel dimensions. Mixing based on molecular diffusion is generally poor. In this paper, we report the fabrication and characterization of active surface-acousticwave-driven micromixers which exploit the acoustic streaming effect to significantly improve the mixing efficiency. A side-by-side flow of water and fluorescent dye solution was driven by a syringe pump. Surface wave with a frequency of 13 MHz was launched perpendicular to the flow. The wave was generated by two designs of interdigitated electrodes on LiNbO3 substrate: parallel electrodes and focusing electrodes. The mixing efficiency was observed to be proportional to the square of the applied voltage. Under the same applied voltage, the focusing type offers a better mixing efficiency. The fabriN. T. Nguyen School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Nanyang Technological University 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, Singapore 639798 Tel. : +65-6790-4457 Fax: +65-6792-4062 E-mail: mntnguyen@ntu.edu. sg
A Pilot Genome-Scale Profiling of DNA Methylation in Sporadic Pituitary Macroadenomas: Association with Tumor Invasion and Histopathological Subtype

Pituitary adenomas (PAs) are neoplasms that may cause a variety of neurological and endocrine effects. Although known causal contributors include heredity, hormonal influence and somatic mutations, the pathophysiologic mechanisms driving tumorigenesis and invasion of sporadic PAs remain unknown. We hypothesized that alterations in DNA methylation are associated with PA invasion and histopathology subtype, and that genome-scale methylation analysis may complement current classification methods for sporadic PAs. Twenty-four surgically-resected sporadic PAs with varying histopathological subtypes were assigned dichotomized Knosp invasion scores and examined using genome-wide DNA methylation profiling and RNA sequencing. PA samples clustered into subgroups according to functional status. Compared with hormonally-active PAs, nonfunctional PAs exhibited global DNA hypermethylation (mean beta-value 0.47 versus 0.42, P = 0.005); the most significant site of differential DNA methylation was within the promoter region of the potassium voltage-gated channel KCNAB2 (FDR = 5.11×10−10). Pathway analysis of promoter-associated CpGs showed that nonfunctional PAs are potentially associated with the ion-channel activity signal pathway. DNA hypermethylation tended to be negatively correlated with gene expression. DNA methylation analysis may be used to identify candidate genes involved in PA function and may potentially complement current standard immunostaining classification in sporadic PAs. DNA hypermethylation of KCNAB2 and downstream ion-channel activity signal pathways may contribute to the endocrine-inactive status of nonfunctional PAs.
Assessing public policy impacts: one application of Cooperatives Participating of Agricultural Cooperatives Capitalization Program (Procap-Agro) in Brazil

In this paper we proposed an instrumental framework for assessing impacts of credit public policies applied to agricultural cooperatives in Brazil. Considering whether cooperatives that received funding of the Agricultural Cooperatives Capitalization Program (PROCAP-AGRO) have undergone changes related to operating efficiency and financial structure. For this, was used financial ratios and econometric approach. Results indicating improvements in the cooperatives after the PROCAPAGRO on certain financial ratios and distinct effects on the technical efficiency, as a result of the varied use of program resources. Finally, we conclude about the potential of the proposed assessment methodology.
Effect of microwave radiations on phase stability of zirconia nanoparticles *

Zirconia (ZrO2) is a strong, osseoconductive and transparent ceramic thus can be used as biomedical implants. Moreover, its ivory color makes it suitable for teeth coatings. Due to the excellent characteristics of zirconia polycrystalline ceramic materials, such as low thermal conductivity, excellent biocompatibility, high fracture toughness and strength, high crack resistance and low wear rates are widely used for many applications. These characteristics of the final hydrous zirconia sols are dependent on the experimental conditions, including intensity of microwave radiations, concentration of reactants, nature of anions along with stirring and aging time. Aim of this study is to prepare transparent, dense and single-phase stabilized zirconia nanoparticles. In-order to investigate the effect of above mentioned parameters on zirconia phase and toughness, microwave radiation of various intensities (17, 33 and 55% of total power) is used. From XRD data it can be inferred that the amorphous structure with humps at 28.2o is an indication of presence of stabilized t-ZrO2. Crystallite size decreases with increase in intensity of microwave. These assynthesized dense nanoparticles result in high value of hardness ~988HV under optimized conditions.
Classifing Analogue Modulated Communication Signals Using Bayes Decision Criterion

Bu calisma , analog modulasyonlu haberlesme isaretlerinin (AM, DSB, SSB (USB), LSB, FM) siniflandirilmasi icin bir algoritma sunmaktadir. Onerilen siniflandirici, Bayes Karar kuralim ve birkac anahtar ozelligi belirlenen amac cercevesinde kullanmaktadir. Siniflandiricinin performans degerlendirmesi, farkli modulasyon turleri icin bilgisayar ortaminda hazirlanan benzetimler ile gerceklestirilmistir. Benzetimlerden elde edilen sonuclarda, basarinin %90 civarinda oldugu gorulmustur.
Could the novel ‘double-hole’ technique be an alternative for the inflow occlusion method?

Summary Background Inflow occlusion on beating heart and cardiopulmonary bypass techniques have been proposed for the removal of foreign material, such as stents, catheters and mass lesions, from cardiac chambers. However, both techniques are not devoid of disadvantages and complications. In this article, we define an alternative, novel ‘double-hole’ technique, which is based on opening the right atrium without cardiopulmonary bypass . Methods Bovine hearts were obtained from a local supermarket. Two purse-string sutures were placed in the right atrium using 2-0 braided, non-absorbable polyester suture material, one close to the auricle, and the other close to the interatrial septum. The guidewire of a haemodialysis catheter was inserted through the superior vena cava into the right atrium and passed all the way through the right ventricle. Results We suggest that the double-hole technique may be useful, especially in revision cases with adhesions. Further research should be performed to document the efficacy and safety of this method. Conclusion We are aware that further extensive research is necessary to investigate the utility of this novel technique in contemporary cardiovascular surgery. We believe the doublehole technique has the potential to become a safe, practical and effective measure in the future.
Optimizing power consumption in networked devices

As networked devices have become less expensive and more capable, the market for these devices has exploded. Further, users are demanding greater speeds, better performance, and seamless operation from these devices. User demand for better QoS and better device interoperability is driving the development of devices with multiple network interfaces, and standards for integrating multiple interfaces into a single logical network. Proliferation of devices and multiple network interfaces means that power consumption at the networking layer becomes an increasingly relevant concern for device owners and operators. In this paper, we present methods and review approaches for reducing power consumption in four domains: in a single network interface in a single device; in a single network across all devices sharing that network; in a single device with multiple network interfaces connected to different media types; and across the union of devices with multiple network interfaces connected to different media types.
SEISMIC GEOTECHNICAL ROBUST DESIGN OF CANTILEVER RETAINING WALL USING RESPONSE SURFACE APPROACH

Seismic geotechnical design of retaining walls should consider the uncertainties not only in soil properties such as friction angle of the backfill but also in earthquake load such as peak ground acceleration (PGA). When the uncertainties are incorporated in the design, the robustness which is a measure of sensitivity of a design to uncertain parameters must be considered and evaluated for obtaining suitable design and corresponding construction cost. This paper presents a response surface-based robust geotechnical design approach for cantilever retaining wall subjected to earthquake load. First, the upper and lower bounds of the design variables were determined through dynamic retaining wall design using Mononobe-Okabe method for possible variations in the uncertain parameters. Then, dynamic finite element analyses were performed on a subset of designs by applying El Centro earthquake motions with varying PGA for computing the maximum wall tip deflection which is considered as the serviceability indicator. A response surface for the wall deflection was developed as a function of uncertain and design variables and validated. Finally, a design optimization was performed considering cost and robustness index as the objectives. Two robustness indices, standard deviation of the response and signal to noise ratio were used in this study and the results were compared. The optimization yielded a set of preferred designs, known as Pareto front, and the knee point concept was used to select the final optimal design.
Formal verification of Intelligent Mechatronic Systems with decentralized control logic

This paper introduces an approach to automatic verification of mechatronic systems designed as plug-and-play of Intelligent Mechatronic Components (IMC). The control logic of the system is composed from autonomous controllers of the IMCs and is automatically verified using model-checking. Net Condition Event Systems formalism (a modular extension of Petri net) is used to model the decentralized control logic and discrete-state dynamics of the plant. A re-configurable pick and place robot is used as an illustrative example. At first a three cylinder pick and place robot is used to design our new master-slave architecture for controller design and then the NCES models are re-used without much modification in a new 6 cylinder pick and place robot. The control model is then subjected to model checking using the ViVe/SESA model checker. A multi closed loop model of Plant and Controller is used and controller is extensively verified for safety, liveliness and functional properties of the robot. Computational Tree Logic (CTL) is used to specify these properties.
Minor Romance languages or ‘‘dialects’’ spoken in the central Veneto region and on the island of Grado show a type of vowel harmony referred to as metaphony

NONMYOPIC HARMONY AND THE NATURE OF DERIVATIONS Rachel Walker University of Southern California Robert Westmoreland, 62–81. Bloomington: Indiana University Linguistics Club. Lasnik, Howard, and Tim Stowell. 1991. Weakest crossover. Linguistic Inquiry 22:687–720. Munn, Alan. 1993. Topics in the syntax and semantics of coordinate structures. Doctoral dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park. Nunes, Jairo. 2004. Linearization of chains and sideward movement. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Postal, Paul. 1993. Parasitic gaps and the across-the-board phenomenon. Linguistic Inquiry 24:735–754. Ross, John Robert. 1967. Constraints on variables in syntax. Doctoral dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, MA. Rudin, Catherine. 1988. On multiple questions and multiple wh-fronting. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 6:445–501. Williams, Edwin. 1990. The ATB theory of parasitic gaps. The Linguistic Review 6:265–279.
Self-initiated versus externally triggered movements. I. An investigation using measurement of regional cerebral blood flow with PET and movement-related potentials in normal and Parkinson's disease subjects.

We have read with interest the article, 'Self-initiated versus externally triggered movements I. An investigation using measurement of regional cerebral blood flow with PET and movement-related potentials in normal and Parkinson's disease subjects' by Jahanshahi et al. (1995). The authors argue that their results substantiate the assumption that the supplementary motor area (SMA) contributes to the 'early' Bereitschaftspotential. We wish to raise some methodological points and propose a different interpretation of the results.
Attack Based Articulation Analysis of Nylon String Guitar

The study of musical expressivity is an active field in sound and music computing. The research interest comes from different motivations: to understand or model music expressivity; to identify the expressive resources that characterize an instrument, musical genre, or performer; or to build synthesis systems able to play expressively. In this paper, we present a system that focuses on the study of expressivity in nylon-string guitars. Specifically, our system combines several state of the art analysis algorithms to identify guitar left-hand articulations such as legatos and appoggiaturas. We describe the components of our system and provide some preliminary results by analyzing single articulations and some short melodies.
Patchwork Stereo: Scalable, Structure-Aware 3D Reconstruction in Man-Made Environments

In this paper, we address the problem of Multi-View Stereo (MVS) reconstruction of highly regular man-made scenes from calibrated, wide-baseline views and a sparse Structure-from-Motion (SfM) point cloud. We introduce a novel patch-based formulation via energy minimization which combines top-down segmentation hypotheses using appearance and vanishing line detections, as well as an arrangement of creased planar structures which are extracted automatically through a robust analysis of available SfM points and image features. The method produces a compact piecewise-planar depth map and a mesh which are aligned with the scene's structure. Experiments show that our approach not only reaches similar levels of accuracy w.r. t state-of-the-art pixel-based methods while using much fewer images, but also produces a much more compact, structure-aware mesh in a considerably shorter runtime by several of orders of magnitude.
The Riddoch syndrome: insights into the neurobiology of conscious vision.

We have studied a patient, G.Y. , who was rendered hemianopic following a lesion affecting the primary visual cortex (area VI), sustained 31 years ago, with the hope of characterizing his ability to discriminate visual stimuli presented in his blind field, both psychophysically and in terms of the brain activity revealed by imaging methods. Our results show that (i) there is a correlation between G.Y. 's capacity to discriminate stimuli presented in his blind field and his conscious awareness of the same stimuli and (ii) that G.Y. 's performance on some tasks is characterized by a marked variability, both in terms of his awareness for a given level of discrimination and in his discrimination for a given level of awareness. The observations on G.Y. , and a comparison of his capacities with those of normal subjects, leads us to propose a simple model of the relationship between visual discrimination and awareness. This supposes that the two independent capacities are very tightly coupled in normal subjects (gnosopsia) and that the effect of a VI lesion is to uncouple them, but only slightly. This uncoupling leads to two symmetrical departures, on the one hand to gnosanopsia (awareness without discrimination) and on the other to agnosopsia (discrimination without awareness). Our functional MRI studies show that V5 is always active when moving stimuli, whether slow or fast, are presented to his blind field and that the activity in V5 co-varies with less intense activity in other cortical areas. The difference in cerebral activity between gnosopsia and agnosopsia is that, in the latter, the activity in V5 is less intense and lower statistical thresholds are required to demonstrate it. Direct comparison of the brain activity during individual 'aware' and 'unaware' trials, corrected for the confounding effects of motion, has also allowed us, for the first time, to titrate conscious awareness against brain activity and show that there is a straightforward relationship between awareness and activity, both in individual cortical areas, in this case area V5, and in the reticular activating system. The imaging evidence, together with the variability in his levels of awareness and discrimination, manifested in his capacity to discriminate consciously on some occasions and unconsciously on others, leads us to conclude that agnosopsia, gnosopsia and gnosanopsia are all manifestations of a single condition which we call the Riddoch syndrome, in deference to the British neurologist who, in 1917, first characterized the major aspect of this disability. We discuss the significance of these results in relation to historical views about the organization of the visual brain.
Formulating customized specifications for resource allocation problem of distributed embedded systems

There are plentiful attempts for increasing the efficiency, generality and optimality of the Design Space Exploration (DSE) algorithms for resource allocation problems of distributed embedded systems. Most contemporary approaches formulate DSE as an optimization or SAT problem, based on a set of predefined constraints. In this way, the end users lose the flexibility to guide and customize the exploration based on specifics of their actual problem. Besides, during the design of the DSE algorithms, manual formulation is time consuming and error-prone. To solve these problems, 1) a formal representation is defined for capturing customized architectural constraints based on a combination of propositional logic and Pseudo-Boolean (PB) formulas; 2) A process is designed to automatically translate these architectural constrains into corresponding Integer Linear Programming (ILP) constraints, commonly used for DSE. The translation process is also optimized to create ILP formulation with less introduced variables so as to reduce computation time. The results show that the generated constraints correctly reflect the corresponding specification with decent efficiency.
Constrained Localization: Mapping Wireless Sensor Nodes in Predefined Positions

This paper proposes a novel method for solving localization problems leveraging on node position constraints. This consists in mapping n wireless nodes onto n predefined positions in a map. The problem may be solved by first applying standard localization algorithms to get an initial estimate of the node positions in the area and, successively, mapping each estimated position to the closest admissible point in the map. Results can be improved by applying algorithms that are explicitly designed to manage the available information for the constrained problem. In this study, we propose three algorithms, based on a greedy, multi dimensional scaling, and belief propagation approach, respectively. The algorithms are analyzed and compared by using synthetic data. Results reveal that the belief propagation approach, suitably modified to account for the position constraints, outperforms the other algorithms in all the considered settings.
Trends and sociocultural factors for childhood overweight in La Reunion Island

Objective. – To examine time trends (study 1) and sociocultural factors associated with childhood overweight (study 2) in La Reunion Island. Design. – Study 1: a longitudinal analysis of anthropometric data available from health services in the town of Saint-Pierre. Study 2: a case – control study. Subjects. – Study 1: 1753 children born between 1977 and 1996. Study 2: 101 six-year old overweight children sex-matched with 101 nonoverweight children. Measurements. – Study 1: overweight at birth (birth weight > 4 kg) and at age 4 and 6 using French references and references from the International Obesity Task Force. Study 2: parental and perinatal data, child’s lifestyle and representation of food, all collected from the mother. Results. – Study 1: a dramatic increase in the prevalence rate of overweight at 4 and at 6 is observed, more severe in girls. Study 2: multivariate logistic regressions showed that mother’s overweight was the only variable significantly associated with overweight in both the sexes. The other associated factors were related to sociocultural and family features and sedentarity. Logistic probability functions derived from these data are proposed as a tool for detection of at risk families. Conclusion. – Our results show the need for a targeted prevention of overweight. We offer a proposal based on education and behaviour modification in La Reunion Island. © 2007 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.