Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A comparison of Algorithms for Sparse Matrix Factoring and Variable Reordering aimed at Real-time Multibody Dynamic Simulation

The increasing competitiveness of sectors such as automotive, robotics or spatial aircraft manufacturing calls for a reduction of their lifecycle-design stages. In this context, being able to perform dynamic analyses of complex Multibody Systems (MBS) before manufacturing is becoming more and more valuable. This discipline is useful for studying the dynamic behavior of such products, but also for testing electronic controllers even before a prototype is built. Not surprisingly, it is a common practice to combine both real components and simulation models through Hardware-in-the-loop testing, i.e. testing a real electronic control unit (ECU) with the dynamics of a simulated vehicle. A natural prerequisite for those applications is being able to solve the equations of motion that govern these models faster than real-time. However, this kind of problems involves computationally expensive linear algebra operations, hence the interest in identifying the computational bottlenecks in order to discern on which operations shall we focus our optimization efforts. The aim of this paper is comparing the overall computation time spent in solving the equations required for performing a dynamic simulation of a MBS, using different linear algebra packages freely available as Open Source C/C++ libraries. We focus on different matrix factoring and variable ordering algorithms, since their selection is shown to have a great impact on performance. The benchmark is carried out by means of real-time capable code that implements an augmented Lagrangian formulation based on the principle of virtual powers, modeled in natural coordinates and using the fourthorder Runge-Kutta numerical integration method. The test problem for our benchmark is an Nx ◊ Ny four-bar planar mechanism, similar to the one employed in [1] but with multiple (Ny) loops stacked vertically. Such a MBS has Ny degrees-of-freedom. The elements have a uniformly-distributed mass of 1 kg each and the unique acting forces are the body weights. Let the MBS be characterized by N natural coordinates q which, being redundant, require the introduction of M kinematic constraint equations: (q,t) = 0. The equations of motion for such a MBS can be formulated from the application of the method of virtual powers [2]. Taking into account the forces at the pairs, one arrives at ˙
A Custom Precision Based Architecture for Accelerating Parallel Tempering MCMC on FPGAs without Introducing Sampling Error

Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) is a method used to draw samples from probability distributions in order to estimate - otherwise intractable - integrals. When the distribution is complex, simple MCMC becomes inefficient and advanced, computationally intensive MCMC methods are employed to make sampling possible. This work proposes a novel streaming FPGA architecture to accelerate Parallel Tempering, a widely adopted MCMC method designed to sample from multimodal distributions. The proposed architecture demonstrates how custom precision can be intelligently employed without introducing sampling errors, in order to save resources and increase the sampling throughg put. Speedups of up to two orders of magnitude compared to software and 1.53x-76.88x compared to a GPGPU implementation are achieved when performing Bayesian inference for a mixture model.
The impact of Lyman series photons on the intergalactic medium during the Epoch of Reionization

The role of higher order Lyman series photons in the 21 cm absorption or emission signature of the intergalactic medium (IGM) against the background cosmic microwave background (CMB) during the Epoch of Reionization is examined. It is shown that, taking into account the diminishing resonance line scattering cross-section with increasing Lyman order, a non-negligible net scattering rate of higher order Lyman photons is expected. The resulting radiative cascades will substantially enhance the number density of Lyα photons near a radiation source. It is also shown that the higher order Lyman series photons are able to collisionally heat the IGM by amounts of tens to hundreds of degrees kelvin. The possibility that the Wouthuysen-Field effect may be suppressed by the presence of dust near a galaxy is discussed, and it is shown that the higher order Lyman series photons would still induce the effect, but with a somewhat reduced 21 cm radiation efficiency. It is also demonstrated that extended low surface brightness emission-line haloes will be produced from radiative cascades following the scattering of higher order Lyman series photons. These haloes would provide a unique means of confirming that reionization source candidates were surrounded by an IGM that was still largely neutral on large scales.
Model Selection Criterion Applied to Visual Perception

Model selection, which means selecting a suitable model from a class of plausible candidate models to explain the given data, is important in almost every field of scientific research including visual perception process. In fact, model selection bears a striking similarity to visual perception in view of inverse problem, and model selection is an all-pervading problem in visual perception. This paper elucidates the relation between model selection and visual perception and shows an illustrative application example of quantitative characterization of Gestalt cues for contour grouping by using a new information geometric model selection criterion IGMSC. The experimental results show that applying model selection criterion in visual perception is helpful to solve the ill-posedness of perception problem and determine the suitable quantitative model
Staff Group Unanimity in the Care of Juveniles in Institutional Treatment: Routines, Rituals, and Relationships

One prerequisite for effective institutional care is that staff agree on how to deliver treatment and have a unified view of how to achieve change—in other words, to have staff group unanimity (SGU). This study used the Correctional Program Assessment Inventory (CPAI) 2000, interviews with key staff, and observations of daily activities to examine the levels of SGU on eight treatment wards in Sweden. Results show that staff members had differing views of the theory and methods, low common therapeutic goals, low to modest confidence in management, and low agreement about how treatment should be delivered. At institutions displaying low and medium levels of SGU, observations revealed significantly less interactions between staff and residents, and the residents spend a lot less time in staff supervised activities than at institutions with a high level of SGU. This article also considers the complexity of promoting positive interactions among the staff while maintaining close relationships between the staff and residents.
Histogram of Gradients of Time–Frequency Representations for Audio Scene Classification

Presents our entry to the Detection and Classification of Acoustic Scenes challenge. The approach we propose for classifying acoustic scenes is based on transforming the audio signal into a time-frequency representation and then in extracting relevant features about shapes and evolutions of time-frequency structures. These features are based on histogram of gradients that are subsequently fed to a multi-class linear support vector machines.
What’s it all about? Making sense of Australian university learning and teaching plans

Universities put considerable resources into developing learning and teaching plans. In this paper, we examine the purpose of these plans in the context of legislative requirements, public accountability and the quality agenda. We analyse a sample of Australian university learning and teaching plans using a framework we have developed based on theory and research on strategic planning and core themes in learning and teaching. Analysis reveals considerable variation in plans’ form and format, planning characteristics and learning and teaching themes addressed and omissions of key characteristics and themes. We consider the ability of such plans to meet the needs of internal and external readers, we discuss implications for their capacity to direct and motivate changes aimed at improving learning and teaching and we challenge the higher education sector to determine more clearly the role of learning and teaching plans.
Randomized phase II non-inferiority study (NO16853) of two different doses of capecitabine in combination with docetaxel for locally advanced/metastatic breast cancer.

BACKGROUND This phase II study investigated whether a lower-than-approved dose of capecitabine, plus docetaxel (XT), would improve tolerability versus standard-dose XT without compromising efficacy. PATIENTS AND METHODS Women aged ≥18 years with locally advanced/metastatic breast cancer resistant to anthracycline-based chemotherapy in the (neo)adjuvant, first- or second-line metastatic setting were eligible. Patients were randomly assigned to receive standard-dose XT (capecitabine 1250 mg/m(2) twice daily, days 1-14; docetaxel 75 mg/m(2), day 1 every 3 weeks) or low-dose XT (capecitabine 825 mg/m(2) twice daily, days 1-14; docetaxel as above). The primary objective was to demonstrate non-inferiority of low-dose to standard-dose XT in terms of progression-free survival (PFS). RESULTS 470 patients were randomly allocated in a 1 : 1 ratio to standard-dose or low-dose XT. Median PFS was 7.9 versus 5.8 months [hazard ratio 1.16, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.95-1.43] in the standard-dose and low-dose arms, respectively. The upper limit of the 95% CI was above the predefined non-inferiority margin (1.35, P = 0.078). Secondary efficacy end points were consistent with PFS. The frequency and severity of adverse events was similar in both treatment arms. CONCLUSIONS Non-inferiority of low-dose to standard-dose XT in terms of PFS was not demonstrated; this may be due to regional subgroup effects.
Financial Contagion and Market Liquidity - Evidence from the Asian Crisis

Models of financial crisis and contagion predict that an economic crisis turns into a crisis of market liquidity in the presence of borrowing constraints, information asymmetry and risk aversion. Based on the firm-level data on a sample of exposed and unexposed US stocks to the Asian currency crisis, we find a significant increase (decrease) in the crisis period bid-ask spreads (depth) and their volatilities for both the groups. While our results underscore the imprints of flight to quality, we detect little causal patterns in liquidity innovations. An important implication of our findings, as evidenced by the recent crisis, is that regulatory response to enhance liquidity during a crisis should not be limited to the industries and markets directly exposed to the crisis. Finally, we find that the deterioration in market liquidity provides a partial explanation for the crisis-induced abnormal returns.
On the treeness of internet latency and bandwidth

Existing empirical studies of Internet structure and path properties indicate that the Internet is tree-like. This work quantifies the degree to which at least two important Internet measures--latency and bandwidth--approximate tree metrics. We evaluate our ability to model end-to-end measures using tree embeddings by actually building tree representations. In addition to being simple and intuitive models, these trees provide a range of commonly-required functionality beyond serving as an analytical tool. The contributions of our study are twofold. First, we investigate the ability to portray the inherent hierarchical structure of the Internet using the most pure and compact topology, trees. Second, we evaluate the ability of our compact representation to facilitate many natural tasks, such as the selection of servers with short latency or high bandwidth from a client. Experiments show that these tasks can be done with high degree of success and modest overhead.
Towards robust indexing for ranked queries

Top-<i>k</i> query asks for <i>k</i> tuples ordered according to a specific ranking function that combines the values from multiple participating attributes. The combined score function is usually linear. To efficiently answer top-<i>k</i> queries, preprocessing and indexing the data have been used to speed up the run time performance. Many indexing methods allow the online query algorithms progressively retrieve the data and stop at a certain point. However, in many cases, the number of data accesses is sensitive to the query parameters (i.e., linear weights in the score functions). In this paper, we study the sequentially layered indexing problem where tuples are put into multiple consecutive layers and any top-<i>k</i> query can be answered by at most <i>k</i> layers of tuples. We propose a new criterion for building the layered index. A layered index is robust if for any <i>k</i>, the number of tuples in the top <i>k</i> layers is minimal in comparison with all the other alternatives. The robust index guarantees the worst case performance for arbitrary query parameters. We derive a necessary and sufficient condition for robust index. The problem is shown solvable within O(n<sup>d</sup>log <i>n</i>) (where <i>d</i> is the number of dimensions, and <i>n</i> is the number of tuples). To reduce the high complexity of the exact solution, we develop an approximate approach, which has time complexity <i>O</i>(2<sup><i>d</i></sup> <i>n</i>(log <i>n</i>)<sup><i>r(d)</i>-1</sup>), where <i>r(d)</i> = ⌈<i>d</i>/2⌉ + ⌊<i>d</i>/2⌋ ⌈<i>d</i>/2⌉. Our experimental results show that our proposed method outperforms the best known previous methods.
Can intensity of long-term follow-up for survivors of childhood and teenage cancer be determined by therapy-based risk stratification?

Objective To determine the feasibility of therapy-based, risk-stratified follow-up guidelines for childhood and teenage cancer survivors by evaluating adverse health outcomes in a survivor cohort retrospectively assigned a risk category. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Tertiary level, single centre, paediatric cancer unit in South East Scotland. Participants All children and teenagers diagnosed with cancer (<19 years) between 1 January 1971 and 31 July 2004, who were alive more than 5 years from diagnosis formed the study cohort. Each survivor was retrospectively assigned a level of follow-up, based on their predicted risk of developing treatment-related late effects (LEs; levels 1, 2 and 3 for low, medium and high risk, respectively). Adverse health outcomes were determined from review of medical records and postal questionnaires. LEs were graded using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Event, V.3. Results 607 5-year survivors were identified. Risk stratification identified 86 (14.2%), 271 (44.6%) and 250 (41.2%) as levels 1, 2 and 3 survivors, respectively. The prevalence of LEs for level 1 survivors was 11.6% with only one patient with grade 3 or above toxicity. 35.8% of level 2 survivors had an LE, of whom 9.3%, 58.8%, 18.5%, 10.3% and 3% had grades 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 toxicity, respectively. 65.2% of level 3 survivors had LE, of whom 5.5% (n=9), 34.4% (n=56), 36.2% (n=59), 22.1% (n=36) and 1.8% (n=3) had grades 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 toxicity, respectively. Conclusions Therapy-based risk stratification of survivors can predict which patients are at significant risk of developing moderate-to-severe LEs and require high-intensity long-term follow-up. Our findings will need confirmation in a prospective cohort study that has the power to adjust for all potentially confounding variables.
LDPC Code Construction with Low Error Floor Based on the IPEG Algorithm

We propose a modification on the improved progressive-edge-growth(IPEG) algorithm. Proposed modification increases the connectivity of variable nodes using extrinsic message degree of variable nodes, which results in reducing the small stopping sets. Through computer simulation, we confirm that the codes constructed by the proposed algorithm have lower error floor than those constructed by the original IPEG algorithm.
The development of the trigeminal nerve in baboon embryos (Papio sp.)

The arrangement of the trigeminal nerve or its primordium was studied in 27 baboon embryos and fetuses 2.5–63.0 mm (crown‐rump length), 24–64 days insemination age. The head region of seven representative specimens was reconstructed graphically or with wax. The entire extramedullary part of the nerve, including the related parasympathetic ganglia, was traced microscopically in serial sections stained with either hematoxylin and eosin or protargol‐S and eosin.
Multiple sources in advertising appeals: When product endorsers are paid by the advertising sponsor

Previous research has shown that respondents who are exposed to multiple sources featured in an advertising appeal engage in more diligent processing of the message arguments than those who are exposed to a single message source presenting the same basic appeal. Other research has demonstrated that the persuasive advantage of an appeal can be significantly diminished when respondents perceive that the message source is motivated by the compensation received to endorse a product. Using a 2 (Single vs. Multiple Sources)×2 (Paid vs. Unpaid Source) between-subjects factorial design, subjects were shown a print advertisement for a new multivitamin food supplement. Results showed that subjects exposed to unpaid multiple sources generated significantly more positive thoughts and attitudes than those exposed to a similar number of sources who were paid to endorse the product. In contrast, subjects in the single-source conditions showed no significant differences in the number of thoughts and the strength of attitudes in response to paid versus unpaid message sources. Theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed.
Spatial soundfield recording over a large area using distributed higher order microphones

Recording and reproduction of spatial sound fields over a large area is an unresolved problem in acoustic signal processing. This is due to the the inherent restriction in recording higher order harmonic components using practically realizable microphone arrays. As the frequency increases and as the region of interest becomes large the number of microphones needed in effective recording increases beyond practicality. In this paper, we show how to use higher order microphones, distributed in a large area, to record and accurately reconstruct 2D spatial sound fields. We use sound field coefficient translation between origins to combine distributed field recording to a single sound field over the entire region. We use simulation examples in (i) interior and (ii) exterior fields to corroborate our design.
Using Perturbed QR Factorizations to Solve Linear Least-Squares Problems

We propose and analyze a new tool to help solve sparse linear least-squares problems min x k Ax ¡ b k 2 . Our method is based on a sparse QR factorization of a low-rank perturbation ˆ A of A . More pre-cisely, we show that the R factor of ˆ A is an e(cid:27)ective preconditioner for the least-squares problem min x k Ax ¡ b k 2 , when solved using LSQR. We propose applications for the new technique. When A is rank de(cid:28)cient we can add rows to ensure that the preconditioner is well-conditioned without column pivoting. When A is sparse except for a few dense rows we can drop these dense rows from A to obtain ˆ A . Another application is solving an updated or downdated problem. If R is a good preconditioner for the original problem A , it is a good preconditioner for the updated/downdated problem ˆ A . We can also solve what-if scenarios, where we want to (cid:28)nd the solution if a column of the original matrix is changed/removed. We present a spectral theory that analyzes the generalized spectrum of the pencil ( A ∗ A, R ∗ R ) and analyze the applications.
mrtl—A translation/localization regulatory protein encoded within the human c‐myc locus and distributed throughout the endoplasmic and nucleoplasmic reticular network

mrtl (myc‐related translation/localization regulatory factor) is a previously uncharacterized protein synthesized from the first open reading frame contained within the human c‐myc P0 transcript, ∼800 nucleotides upstream of the Myc coding sequence. The mrtl protein, 114 amino acids in length, is projected to contain an N‐terminal transmembrane domain and a highly charged C‐terminal interaction domain with homology to numerous RNA‐binding proteins. Using monoclonal antibodies raised against the hydrophilic C‐terminal domain, endogenous mrtl was visualized in human breast tumor cell lines and primary mammary epithelial cells at the nuclear envelope and contiguous endoplasmic/nucleoplasmic reticulum. mrtl colocalizes and coimmunoprecipitates with translation initiation factor eIF2α and the 40S ribosomal protein RACK1, and appears capable of binding specifically to the c‐myc RNA. Inducible ectopic overexpression of wild‐type mrtl interferes with the function of endogenous mrtl, which results in loss of Myc from the nucleus. Furthermore, treatment of cells with a peptide derived from the C‐terminal domain displaces endogenous mrtl and causes a dramatic reduction in total cellular Myc protein levels. Together with our previous work demonstrating complete loss of tumorigenicity in association with ectopic expression of the c‐myc P0 5′‐UTR (containing the mrtl coding sequence), these results suggest that mrtl may serve an important function in regulating Myc translation and localization to the nucleus, perhaps ultimately contributing to the role of the c‐myc locus in oncogenesis. J. Cell. Biochem. 105: 1092–1108, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Truss-based Community Search: a Truss-equivalence Based Indexing Approach

We consider the community search problem defined upon a large graph G: given a query vertex q in G, to find as output all the densely connected subgraphs of G, each of which contains the query v. As an online, query-dependent variant of the well-known community detection problem, community search enables personalized community discovery that has found widely varying applications in real-world, large-scale graphs. In this paper, we study the community search problem in the truss-based model aimed at discovering all dense and cohesive k-truss communities to which the query vertex q belongs. We introduce a novel equivalence relation, k-truss equivalence, to model the intrinsic density and cohesiveness of edges in k-truss communities. Consequently, all the edges of G can be partitioned to a series of k-truss equivalence classes that constitute a space-efficient, truss-preserving index structure, EquiTruss. Community search can be henceforth addressed directly upon EquiTruss without repeated, time-demanding accesses to the original graph, G, which proves to be theoretically optimal. In addition, EquiTruss can be efficiently updated in a dynamic fashion when G evolves with edge insertion and deletion. Experimental studies in real-world, large-scale graphs validate the efficiency and effectiveness of EquiTruss, which has achieved at least an order of magnitude speedup in community search over the state-of-the-art method, TCP-Index.