Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A design guideline for volatile STT-RAM with ECC and scrubbing

STT-RAM is considered as a promising alternative to SRAM due to its low static power (non-volatility) and high density. However, write operation of STT-RAM is inefficient in terms of energy and speed compared to SRAM and thus STT-RAM with low retention time (volatile STT-RAM) has been proposed at the cost of scrubbing and error correcting code (ECC). The more frequent scrubbing and stronger ECC are used, the shorter retention time is allowed. Based on extensive experiment and analytic STT-RAM model, this paper provides a guideline for designing a volatile STT-RAM with ECC and scrubbing.
Performance Modeling Extension of Directory Facilitator for Enhancing Communication in FIPA-Compliant Multiagent Systems

The growing adoption of highly distributed and intelligent industrial systems frequently denoted as Industry 4.0 or Industrial Internet of Things brings great opportunities as well as new research questions because connection of single devices into a cooperating community creates much larger and complex systems with new challenges regarding verification and security. This paper proposes a method to solve problems related to setup of timeouts used in communication protocols. The static setup is replaced with an enhancement of directory facilitator that in cooperation with a specialized sniffer agent continuously monitors the system load and eventually postpones starts of new tasks. This precaution eliminates saturation of computational resources and preserves the maximal reachable system performance. The proposed method is demonstrated through a simulation of a chilled water system using a test-bed of six minicomputers Raspberry Pi that host agents implemented in Jade.
The Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation on Skeletal Muscle in the mdx Mouse Model of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Vitamin D (VitD) has shown to be beneficial in reversing muscle weakness and atrophy associated with VitD deficiency. Duchenne muscular dystrophy is characterized by worsening muscle weakness and muscle atrophy, with VitD deficiency commonly observed. This study aimed to investigate the effect of VitD supplementation on dystrophic skeletal muscle. Eight-week old female control (C57BL/10; n = 29) and dystrophic (C57BL/mdx; n = 23) mice were randomly supplemented with one of three VitD enriched diets (1000, 8000 & 20,000 IU/kg chow). Following a four-week feeding period, the extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and soleus muscles contractile and fatigue properties were tested ex vivo, followed by histological analysis. As expected, mdx muscles displayed higher mass yet lower specific forces and a rightward shift in their force frequency relationship consistent with dystrophic pathology. There was a trend for mdx muscle mass to be larger following the 20,000 IU/kg diet, but this did not result in improved force production. Fiber area in the EDL was larger in mdx compared to controls, and there were higher amounts of damage in both muscles, with VitD supplementation having no effect. Four weeks of VitD supplementation did not appear to have any impact upon dystrophic skeletal muscle pathology at this age.
A Preliminary Study of the Effects of pH upon Fluorescence in Suspensions of Prevotella intermedia

The quantification of fluorescence in dental plaque is currently being developed as a diagnostic tool to help inform and improve oral health. The oral anaerobe Prevotella intermedia exhibits red fluorescence due to the accumulation of porphyrins. pH affects the fluorescence of abiotic preparations of porphyrins caused by changes in speciation between monomers, higher aggregates and dimers, but this phenomenon has not been demonstrated in bacteria. Fluorescence spectra were obtained from suspensions of P. intermedia that were adjusted to pHs commensurate with the range found within dental plaque. Two fluorescent motifs were identified; 410 nm excitation / 634 nm emission (peak A) and 398 nm excitation / 622 nm emission (peak B). A transition in the fluorescence spectra was observed from peak A to peak B with increasing pH which was also evident as culture age increased from 24 hours to 96 hours. In addition to these ‘blue-shifts’, the intensity of peak A increased with pH whilst decreasing with culture age from 24 to 96 hours. A bacterium’s relationship with the local physiochemical environment at the time of image capture may therefore affect the quantification of dental plaque fluorescence.
Assessment of Innovative Emergency Department Information Displays in a Clinical Simulation Center

The objective of this work was to assess the functional utility of new display concepts for an emergency department information system created using cognitive systems engineering methods, by comparing them to similar displays currently in use. The display concepts were compared to standard displays in a clinical simulation study during which nurse-physician teams performed simulated emergency department tasks. Questionnaires were used to assess the cognitive support provided by the displays, participants’ level of situation awareness, and participants’ workload during the simulated tasks. Participants rated the new displays significantly higher than the control displays in terms of cognitive support. There was no significant difference in workload scores between the display conditions. There was no main effect of display type on situation awareness, but there was a significant interaction; participants using the new displays showed improved situation awareness from the middle to the end of the session. This study demonstrates that cognitive systems engineering methods can be used to create innovative displays that better support emergency medicine tasks, without increasing workload, compared to more standard displays. These methods provide a means to develop emergency department information systems—and more broadly, health information technology—that better support the cognitive needs of healthcare providers.
Evading the Boomerang Effect: Using the Grant-Back Clause to Further Generative Appropriability from Technology Licensing Deals

Technology licensing agreements potentially can create future appropriability problems. Drawing on the appropriability literature, we argue that the inclusion of a grant-back clause in technology licensing agreements is an attempt to balance the gains from and protection of the focal firms’ technologies. We hypothesize that the closer the licensed technology is to the licensor’s core patented technologies, the more likely the licensing agreement will include a grant-back clause, while the closer the licensed technology is to the licensee’s core patent portfolio, the less likely the agreement will include a grant-back clause. We hypothesize also that technological uncertainty is a positive moderator in the decision to include a grant-back clause, if the licensed technology is close to either the licensee’s or the licensor’s core technologies. We employ a hierarchical nested decision model to test the hypotheses on a sample of 397 licensed technologies. This method allows us to model the choice to include a.
Occurrence of integrons and resistance genes among sulphonamide-resistant Shigella spp. from Brazil.

OBJECTIVES To determine the occurrence of class 1 and 2 integrons and antimicrobial resistance genes among sulphonamide-resistant Shigella strains isolated in Brazil during 1999-2003. METHODS Sixty-two Shigella (Shigella flexneri, n = 47 and Shigella sonnei, n = 15) were tested against 21 antimicrobial agents. The presence of integrons classes 1 and 2 and antimicrobial resistance genes was investigated by PCR using specific primers. RESULTS A total of eight antimicrobial resistance profiles were identified, with the profile of resistance to sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, spectinomycin, streptomycin and tetracycline being the most common among S. sonnei, and additionally to ampicillin and chloramphenicol among S. flexneri. Class 1 integrons were found in only two strains, whereas class 2 integrons were found in 56 (90.3%) of the strains. All class 2-positive strains had a similar fragment of 2214 bp harbouring a gene cassette array conferring resistance to trimethoprim, streptothricin and spectinomycin/streptomycin. The genes coding for resistance to chloramphenicol (catA1), tetracycline [tet(A) and tet(B)] and ampicillin (bla(OXA) and bla(TEM)), were detected in resistant strains. CONCLUSIONS The detection of class 1 and 2 integrons and additional antimicrobial resistance genes allowed us to identify the most frequent antimicrobial resistance patterns of Shigella spp. isolated in Brazil.
Quasiparticle GW Calculations on Lead-Free Hybrid Germanium Iodide Perovskite CH3NH3GeI3 for Photovoltaic Applications

Lead-free organic–inorganic halide perovskites have gained much attention as nontoxic alternatives to CH3NH3PbI3 in next-generation solar cells. In this study, we have examined the geometric and electronic properties of methylammonium germanium iodide CH3NH3GeI3 using density functional theory. Identifying a suitable functional to accurately model the germanium halide perovskites is crucial to allow the theoretical investigation for tuning the optoelectronic properties. The performance of various functionals (PBE, PBE+D3, PBEsol, PBEsol+D3, HSE06, and HSE06+D3) has been evaluated for modelling the structure and properties. The calculation of electronic properties was further refined by using the quasiparticle GW method on the optimized geometries, and that has an excellent agreement with the experiment. We report from our GW calculations that the characteristic of the density of states for CH3NH3GeI3 resembles the density of states for CH3NH3PbI3 and the effective masses of the charge carriers of CH3NH3GeI3 are comparable to the effective masses of CH3NH3PbI3 as well as silicon used in commercially available solar cells.
The Acceptance and Consulting Quality of Automatic Emergency Call Systems for Cars

Since March 2018 cars in the EU need to be equipped with a car emergency call system called eCall. The continuous critique linked to eCall and data protection was the starting point for two studies: the first analysed acceptance factors of the eCall system, while the second study analysed the consulting quality in relation to data protection linked to emergency call systems in cars. The safety feeling generated by the existence of eCall, concerns regarding the data usage as well as trust in handling data have been identified as the main drivers for the acceptance of eCall systems. The second study showed that customers as well as seller/consultants are not yet properly informed about the new system.
Tinmith-evo5 - an architecture for supporting mobile augmented reality environments

This paper presents a summary of a new software architecture we have developed, known as Tinmith-evo5, which is designed as one possible methodology for writing complex AR applications. While software for 2D environments is very mature, in the 3D case there is still missing software support that we are attempting to address.
iRhom2 controls the substrate selectivity of stimulated ADAM17-dependent ectodomain shedding

Protein ectodomain shedding by ADAM17 (a disintegrin and metalloprotease 17), a principal regulator of EGF-receptor signaling and TNFα release, is rapidly and posttranslationally activated by a variety of signaling pathways, and yet little is known about the underlying mechanism. Here, we report that inactive rhomboid protein 2 (iRhom2), recently identified as essential for the maturation of ADAM17 in hematopoietic cells, is crucial for the rapid activation of the shedding of some, but not all substrates of ADAM17. Mature ADAM17 is present in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (mEFs) lacking iRhom2, and yet ADAM17 is unable to support stimulated shedding of several of its substrates, including heparin-binding EGF and Kit ligand 2 in this context. Stimulated shedding of other ADAM17 substrates, such as TGFα, is not affected in iRhom2−/− mEFs but can be strongly reduced by treating iRhom2−/− mEFs with siRNA against iRhom1. Activation of heparin-binding EGF or Kit ligand 2 shedding by ADAM17 in iRhom2−/− mEFs can be rescued by wild-type iRhom2 but not by iRhom2 lacking its N-terminal cytoplasmic domain. The requirement for the cytoplasmic domain of iRhom2 for stimulated shedding by ADAM17 may help explain why the cytoplasmic domain of ADAM17 is not required for stimulated shedding. The functional relevance of iRhom2 in regulating shedding of EGF receptor (EGFR) ligands is established by a lack of lysophasphatidic acid/ADAM17/EGFR-dependent crosstalk with ERK1/2 in iRhom2−/− mEFs, and a significant reduction of FGF7/ADAM17/EGFR-stimulated migration of iRhom2−/− keratinocytes. Taken together, these findings uncover functions for iRhom2 in the regulation of EGFR signaling and in controlling the activation and substrate selectivity of ADAM17-dependent shedding events.
VParC: a compression scheme for numeric data in column-oriented databases

Compression is one of the most important techniques in data management, which is usually used to improve the query efficiency in database. However, there are some restrictions on existing compression algorithms that have been applied to numeric data in column! oriented databases. First , a compression algorithm is suitable only for columns with certain data distributions not for all kinds of data columns; second, a data column with irregular distribution is hard to be compressed; third, the data column compressed by using heavyweight methods cannot be operated before decompression which leads to inefficient query. Based on the fact that it is more possible for a column to have sub! regularity than have global! regularity, we developed a compression scheme called Vertically Partitioning Compression (VParC). This method is suitable for columns with different data distributions, even for irregular columns in some cases. The more important thing is that data compressed by VParC can be operated directly without decompression in advance. Details of the compression and query evaluation ap! proaches are presented in this paper and the results of our experiments demonstrate the promising features of VParC.
Barriers to Health Care in Rural Mozambique: A Rapid Ethnographic Assessment of Planned Mobile Health Clinics for ART

Mobile health clinics can markedly decrease clients' transportation time and cost to access antiretroviral therapy (ART) and other health services in rural areas, potentially improving use. Close coordination with community leaders and regularly scheduled visits by the mobile clinics are critical. Mobile health clinics can markedly decrease clients' transportation time and cost to access antiretroviral therapy (ART) and other health services in rural areas, potentially improving use. Close coordination with community leaders and regularly scheduled visits by the mobile clinics are critical. ABSTRACT Background: In Mozambique, 1.6 million people are living with HIV, and over 60% of the population lives in rural areas lacking access to health services. Mobile health clinics, implemented in 2013 in 2 provinces, are beginning to offer antiretroviral therapy (ART) and basic primary care services. Prior to introduction of the mobile health clinics in the communities, we performed a rapid ethnographic assessment to understand barriers to accessing HIV care and treatment services and acceptability and potential use of the mobile health clinics as an alternative means of service delivery. Methods: We conducted assessments in Gaza province in January 2013 and in Zambezia Province in April–May 2013 in districts where mobile health clinic implementation was planned. Community leaders served as key informants, and chain-referral sampling was used to recruit participants. Interviews were conducted with community leaders, health care providers, traditional healers, national health system patients, and traditional healer patients. Interviewees were asked about barriers to health services and about mobile health clinic acceptance. Results: In-depth interviews were conducted with 117 participants (Gaza province, n = 57; Zambezia Province, n = 60). Barriers to accessing health services included transportation and distance-related issues (reliability, cost, and travel time). Participants reported concurrent use of traditional and national health systems. The decision to use a particular health system depended on illness type, service distance, and lack of confidence in the national health system. Overall, participants were receptive to using mobile health clinics for their health care and ability to increase access to ART. Hesitations concerning mobile health clinics included potentially long wait times due to high patient loads. Participants emphasized the importance of regular and published visit schedules and inclusion of community members in planning mobile health clinic services. Conclusion: Mobile health clinics can address many barriers to uptake of HIV services, particularly related to transportation issues. Involvement of community leaders, providers, traditional healers, and patients, as well as regularly scheduled mobile clinic visits, are critical to successful service delivery implementation in rural areas.
Stability and plasticity of intrinsic membrane properties in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons: effects of internal anions

CA1 pyramidal neurons from animals that have acquired hippocampal tasks show increased neuronal excitability, as evidenced by a reduction in the postburst afterhyperpolarization (AHP). Studies of AHP plasticity require stable long‐term recordings, which are affected by the intracellular solutions potassium methylsulphate (KMeth) or potassium gluconate (KGluc). Here we show immediate and gradual effects of these intracellular solutions on measurement of the AHP and basic membrane properties, and on the induction of AHP plasticity in CA1 pyramidal neurons from rat hippocampal slices. The AHP measured immediately after establishing whole‐cell recordings was larger with KMeth than with KGluc. In general, the AHP in KMeth was comparable to the AHP measured in the perforated‐patch configuration. However, KMeth induced time‐dependent changes in the intrinsic membrane properties of CA1 pyramidal neurons. Specifically, input resistance progressively increased by 70% after 50 min; correspondingly, the current required to trigger an action potential and the fast afterdepolarization following action potentials gradually decreased by about 50%. Conversely, these measures were stable in KGluc. We also demonstrate that activity‐dependent plasticity of the AHP occurs with physiologically relevant stimuli in KGluc. AHPs triggered with theta‐burst firing every 30 s were progressively reduced, whereas AHPs elicited every 150 s were stable. Blockade of the apamin‐sensitive AHP current (IAHP) was insufficient to block AHP plasticity, suggesting that plasticity is manifested through changes in the apamin‐insensitive slow AHP current (sIAHP). These changes were observed in the presence of synaptic blockers, and therefore reflect changes in the intrinsic properties of the neurons. However, no AHP plasticity was observed using KMeth. In summary, these data show that KMeth produces time‐dependent changes in basic membrane properties and prevents or obscures activity‐dependent reduction of the AHP. In whole‐cell recordings using KGluc, repetitive theta‐burst firing induced AHP plasticity that mimics learning‐related reduction in the AHP.
Foreign language anxiety and its effects on studets' determination to study English: to abandon or not to abandon?

Foreign language anxiety (FLA) has attracted much interest. However, little is known about whether FLA affects students’ determination to study a foreign language, which is believed to be an important initial condition for students to be able to learn the foreign language effectively. This study investigated anxious tertiary students’ experiences in learning English as a foreign language (EFL) in order to determine whether their anxiety affected their determination to study English. Participants were 49 non-English major students from a university in Vietnam who were identified as being anxious. Data were collected using autobiographies and interviews, and were analysed using a content analysis approach facilitated by NVivo. The findings indicate that awareness of the importance of English and volition were two important factors that influenced anxious students’ determination to study English. The study suggests that students’ awareness of the importance of English should be enhanced, and that their volitional strategies should be strengthened, in order to assist them in managing their anxiety effectively and thus to persist in EFL learning.
Breaking the connection: displacement of the desmosomal plaque protein desmoplakin from cell-cell interfaces disrupts anchorage of intermediate filament bundles and alters intercellular junction assembly

The desmosomal plaque protein desmoplakin (DP), located at the juncture between the intermediate filament (IF) network and the cytoplasmic tails of the transmembrane desmosomal cadherins, has been proposed to link IF to the desmosomal plaque. Consistent with this hypothesis, previous studies of individual DP domains indicated that the DP COOH terminus associates with IF networks whereas NH2-terminal sequences govern the association of DP with the desmosomal plaque. Nevertheless, it had not yet been demonstrated that DP is required for attaching IF to the desmosome. To test this proposal directly, we generated A431 cell lines stably expressing DP NH2-terminal polypeptides, which were expected to compete with endogenous DP during desmosome assembly. As these polypeptides lacked the COOH-terminal IF-binding domain, this competition should result in the loss of IF anchorage if DP is required for linking IF to the desmosomal plaque. In such cells, a 70-kD DP NH2- terminal polypeptide (DP-NTP) colocalized at cell-cell interfaces with desmosomal proteins. As predicted, the distribution of endogenous DP was severely perturbed. At cell-cell borders where endogenous DP was undetectable by immunofluorescence, there was a striking absence of attached tonofibrils (IF bundles). Furthermore, DP-NTP assembled into ultrastructurally identifiable junctional structures lacking associated IF bundles. Surprisingly, immunofluorescence and immunogold electron microscopy indicated that adherens junction components were coassembled into these structures along with desmosomal components and DP-NTP. These results indicate that DP is required for anchoring IF networks to desmosomes and furthermore suggest that the DP-IF complex is important for governing the normal spatial segregation of adhesive junction components during their assembly into distinct structures.
Scheduling time-bounded dynamic software adaptation

Component-based software increasingly needs dynamic adaptation to support applications in domains such as automotive, avionics or robotic systems. Dynamic software adaptation involves both the integration of new, previously unanticipated features and the update of existing features without requiring system downtime. Software adaptations must often be time-bounded, e.g., due to mobility constraints. Inconsistent or inaccurate behaviour may result from an adaptation that does not complete within specified time constraints. Service providers must therefore take time constraints into account when scheduling adaptation actions. This paper describes an algorithm for time-bounded scheduling of adaptation actions and demonstrates the validity of its results.