Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
FPGA based acceleration of a particle simulation High performance computing application

In the present thesis, it has been studied the possibility to insert FPGAs in the world of High Performance Computing (HPC) systems. Such systems are hybrid platforms that exploit the pure parallel computation of GPUs in order to reach very high performances. Nevertheless, GPU-based systems are power-hungry and require a power consumption so large, that running and maintaining such systems could be technologically and economically too much expensive. This thesis framework is inserted within the ExaNeSt EU founded project which has the purpose to prototype energy efficient solutions to produce exascale-level supercomputers. Low power consumption requirement is tried to be satisfied using a Multiprocessor System-on-Chip, namely a system mounting on the same package both a ARM x86 processor and an Ultrascale+ FPGA: the whole module has been specifically designed with special attention to power consumption. High performance computer systems are very important in the field of computational science; in fact,this thesis investigated the possibility of using FPGA accelerators to offload the compute intensive parts of a Molecular Dynamic code. The miniMD is a simple, parallel molecular dynamics (MD) code composed of five different OpenCL kernels (neighbor_bin, neighbor_build, force_compute, integrate_initial, integrate_final) designed for studying the physical movements of atoms and molecules. In the first part of this thesis work, each kernel has been studied in order to understand which of kernel could be accelerated into the FPGA of the Multiprocessor SoC architecture. After a baselining of the full miniMD application, it has been demonstrated that the task related to the building of the neighbour particles for each molecule of the system (neighbor_build kernel) and the one related to the force computation (force_compute kernel) are the most compute intensive ones and have a prominent role into the total execution time of the application. Therefore, using the technique of High-Level-Synthesis it has been directly generated the RTL codes of each the above kernels. Specifically, for “neighbor_build” and “force_compute” kernels, different optimizations have been made inside their original OpenCL codes in order to accelerate their execution onto the FPGA. Moreover, it has been possible to notice that the most important optimizations could be performed in the downloading and uploading processes of the data handled by the kernels, directly into the global memory of the FPGA. These optimizations were meant to promote the burst memory transactions and to exploit efficiently the low bandwidth between the External DDR memory and the Programmable Logic (PL) therefore reducing the access time of the external memory. It is important to notice that in the aforementioned optimizations, loops have not been so easy to be speeded up due to their not perfect bounded nature. At the end, all the kernels have been merged and a single Vivado design of the miniMD application has been obtained to be later runned onto the Zynq Ultrascale+ device.
A ug 2 01 7 GENERATING POSITIVE GEOMETRIC ENTROPY FROM RECURRENT LEAVES

In this paper we introduce a new C−perturbation procedure, with respect to the C-Epstein topology, for C-foliations by surfaces. Using this perturbation procedure we show how one can use the existence of recurrent leaves of certain C r −foliation F to obtain a foliation G, C−close to F in the C−Epstein topology, which has a resilient leaf. In particular, one can take advantage of recurrence property to construct examples of C−foliations by surfaces, C−close to each other and such that one of them has a resilient leaf while the other is Riemannian (therefore has trivial dynamics).
Systematic Analysis of the Physiological Importance of Deubiquitinating Enzymes

Deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs) are proteases that control the post-translational modification of proteins by ubiquitin and in turn regulate diverse cellular pathways. Despite a growing understanding of DUB biology at the structural and molecular level, little is known about the physiological importance of most DUBs. Here, we systematically identify DUBs encoded by the genome of Drosophila melanogaster and examine their physiological importance in vivo. Through domain analyses we uncovered 41 Drosophila DUBs, most of which have human orthologues. Systematic knockdown of the vast majority of DUBs throughout the fly or in specific cell types had dramatic consequences for Drosophila development, adult motility or longevity. Specific DUB subclasses proved to be particularly necessary during development, while others were important in adults. Several DUBs were indispensable in neurons or glial cells during developmental stages; knockdown of others perturbed the homeostasis of ubiquitinated proteins in adult flies, or had adverse effects on wing positioning as a result of neuronal requirements. We demonstrate the physiological significance of the DUB family of enzymes in intact animals, find that there is little functional redundancy among members of this family of proteases, and provide insight for future investigations to understand DUB biology at the molecular, cellular and organismal levels.
Effectiveness of a Hospital-Based Multidisciplinary Pediatric Weight Management Program: Two-Year Outcomes of PHIT Kids.

OBJECTIVE For children with obesity, long-term sustainability of weight loss after treatment is difficult to achieve. This study examined 2-year anthropometric outcomes of a moderately intensive group behaviorally based weight management program. METHODS One hundred seventy-three children with obesity ages 8-18 years participated with their parent or adult caregiver in a 24-week multicomponent intervention, which was followed by monthly sessions for a total of 2 years. Children were considered treatment completers if they attended ≥50% of the 24 weekly sessions. A multilevel model (multiple assessment time points nested within participants) was used to test person-level change in BMI z-score (BMIz) for program completers between (1) pre- and post-treatment, (2) pretreatment and 24-month follow-up, (3) post-treatment and 12-month follow-up, and (4) post-treatment and 24-month follow-up. RESULTS One hundred twenty-four (72%) of the participants completed the 24-week intervention. Significant reductions in BMIz were observed over the course of treatment (β = -0.03; standard error [SE] = 0.004; t = -6.85; p < 0.001). Completers showed a significant reduction in BMIz between initiation of treatment and 2-year follow-up (n = 110 at 24 weeks; n = 38 at 24 months; β = -0.02; SE = 0.005; t = -4.12; p < 0.001). Children did not show any significant changes in BMIz between post-treatment and 24-month follow-up (β = -0.006; SE = 0.011; t = -0.61; p = 0.54), suggesting that treatment effects were maintained. CONCLUSIONS Children maintained treatment gains achieved during a 24-week family-based behavioral weight management program at 2-year follow-up. Although these findings suggest that gains are sustainable, further research is needed to understand how these long-term changes impact child health.
Measurement of partial discharge in needle-plane electrode using RC detector, HFCT, and antenna sensors

This paper deals with measurement of partial discharge in needle-plane electrode using RC detector, HFCT, antenna sensors. The partial discharges (PD) occur in the insulation of power apparatus when the applied electric field exceeds the electric strength of insulation. The most common electric arrangement for investigation partial discharge is needle-plane electrode which is able to produce very high divergent field around the needle tip. In this experiment, a needle-plane electrodes with 10 mm gap between the two electrodes is used to produce a high electric field. The curvature of the needle tip is 30o and the tip radius is 10 μm. The high voltage was applied to the electrode. PD occurring in the needle was observed by various sensors: RC detector, HFCT, and the antenna.
Analysis Absorption Band Positioning : A New Method for Hyperspectral Image Treatment

This work demonstrates a new program for the spectral classification of hyperspectral images based on the positioning of the absorption band. The program generates an image where the value of the pixel is the wavelength of the absorption band after the continuum removal. This program, when used with similar spectral features, provides a classification with better results than the usual procedures (i.e., SAM, SCM, SFF, correlation coefficient R used by Tricorder). This program was tested in AVIRIS hyperspectral images obtaining excellent results as much in mineralogical as vegetation discrimination.
An Automatic Malware Classification System using String List and APIs

최근 다양한 종류의 악성코드가 제작 및 유포 되어 일반 사용자의 컴퓨터를 감염시키고, 컴퓨터에 저장된 금융정보, ID나 비밀번호와 같은 각종 개인정보를 유출하는 것은 물론, 감염된 컴퓨터를 DDoS 공격 등에 이용하는 등 그 피해가 네트워크 전반에 걸쳐 나타나고 있다. 게다가 악성코드는 보 편화된 자동 생성 도구에 의해 쉽게 다양한 변종으로 생성될 수 있어 그 수가 기하급수적으로 늘어 날 전망이다. 그러나 기존 시그니처를 사용하는 탐지 방법은 변종에 대해 빠르게 대응할 수 없고 또 새로운 변종을 탐지하기 위해 데이터베이스를 업데이트하는 등 대응에 소요되는 시간이 빠르게 생산 되는 악성코드의 전파 속도에 뒤처지는 실정이다. 따라서 동종 및 변종 악성코드의 전파를 막기 위한 분석과 대응이 신속히 이루어질 것이 요구되고 있다. 본 논문에서는 악성코드의 바이너리 실행파일 및 행위 분석을 통해 동종 및 변종 악성코드를 분류하는 방법을 제시하고, 악성코드 샘플을 대상으로 제시한 기법을 통해 분류한 결과를 기술한다. 핵심어 : 악성코드 분류, 바이너리 분석, 행위 분석
The Influence of Infusions of 1-Desamino-8-D-Arginine Vasopressin (DDAVP) In Vivo on Thrombin Generation In Vitro

Summary To investigate the effect of increasing FVIII:C in-vivo on coagulation ex-vivo, DDAVP was infused over 15 min in 10 volunteers and in-vitro thrombin generation measured. FVIII:C rose from 0.42 and 0.43 IU/ml before DDAVP to 1.38, 1.73 and 1.78 IU/ml at 15, 30 and 60 min respectively (p <0.001). A computer-assisted thrombin generation test was performed in defibrinated plasma using chromogenic substrate, S2238. Time to reach 50% maximal thrombin activity (T50/s) and lag phase of thrombin generation (lag/s) were measured. Lag shortened from 75 and 60 s before to 45 s during and after infusion (p <0.001). T50 shortened from 78.5 and 76.0 to 62.5, 60.0 and 58.5 s at times 15 (p <0.01), 30 (p <0.001) and 60 (p <0.001) min. FVIII:C correlated inversely with lag and T50 (r = –0.847, p <0.001, r = –0.826, p <0.001, n = 10) respectively. These findings show that acute elevations of FVIII:C in-vivo accelerate in-vitro thrombin production. This work suggests that elevated FVIII:C levels in-vivo may be important in thrombo-occlusive disease.
The (1,3)β‐d‐glucan synthase subunit Bgs1p is responsible for the fission yeast primary septum formation

Cytokinesis is a crucial event in the cell cycle of all living cells. In fungal cells, it requires co‐ordinated contraction of an actomyosin ring and synthesis of both plasmatic membrane and a septum structure that will constitute the new cell wall end. Schizosaccharomyces pombe contains four essential putative (1,3)β‐d‐glucan synthase catalytic subunits, Bgs1p to Bgs4p. Here we examined the function of Bgs1p in septation by studying the lethal phenotypes of bgs1+ shut‐off and bgs1Δ cells and demonstrated that Bgs1p is responsible and essential for linear (1,3)β‐d‐glucan and primary septum formation. bgs1+ shut‐off generates a more than 300‐fold Bgs1p reduction, but the septa still present large amounts of disorganized linear (1,3)β‐d‐glucan and partial primary septa. Conversely, both structures are absent in bgs1Δ cells, where there is no Bgs1p. The septum analysis of bgs1+‐repressed cells indicates that linear (1,3)β‐d‐glucan is necessary but not sufficient for primary septum formation. Linear (1,3)β‐d‐glucan is the polysaccharide that specifically interacts with the fluorochrome Calcofluor white in fission yeast. We also show that in the absence of Bgs1p abnormal septa are formed, but the cells cannot separate and eventually die.
Nonprehensile Manipulation via Multisensory Learning from Demonstration by Ku

Dexterous manipulation problem concerns control of a robot hand to manipulate an object in a desired manner. While classical dexterous manipulation strategies are based on stable grasping (or force closure), many human-like manipulation tasks do not maintain grasp stability, and often utilize the intrinsic dynamics of the object rather than the closed form of kinematic relation between the object and the robotic fingers. Such manipulation strategies are referred as nonprehensile or dynamic dexterous manipulation in the literature. Nonprehensile manipulation typically involves fast and agile movements such as throwing and flipping. Due to the complexity of such motions (which may involve impulsive dynamics) and uncertainties associated with them, it has been challenging to realize nonprehensile manipulation tasks in a reliable way. In this paper, we propose a new control strategy to realize practical nonprehensile manipulation tasks using a robot hand. The main idea of our control strategy are two-folds. Firstly, we make explicit use of multiple modalities of sensory data for the design of control law. Specifically, force data is employed for feedforward control while the position data is used for feedback (i.e. reactive) control. Secondly, control signals (both feedback and feedforward) are obtained by the multisensory learning from demonstration (LfD) experiments which are designed and performed for specific nonprehensile manipulation tasks in concern. We utilize various LfD frameworks such as Gaussian mixture model and Gaussian mixture regression (GMM/GMR) and hidden Markov model and GMR (HMM/GMR) to reproduce generalized motion profiles from the human expert’s demonstrations. The proposed control strategy has been verified by experimental results on dynamic spinning task using a sensory-rich two-finger robotic hand. The control performance (i.e. the speed and accuracy of the spinning task) has also been compared with that of the classical dexterous manipulation based on finger gating.
Behavioral Model and Simulation of Piezoelectric Nanopositioning Actuator

This paper presents modeling and simulations of Piezoelectric Nanopositioning Actuator, in past Classical actuators such as (electromagnetic, hydraulic and pneumatic) are the most used in the industry; new technologies based on different physical principles are being developed. In applications where the size of the actuator has to be minimized, or where fast response and high resolution are needed, the classical actuators fail to respond appropriately. For this reason, non-classical technologies are becoming more relevant. Among them, the piezoelectric actuators are proving to be a reliable solution for many engineering applications, ranging from micro and Nano positioning (machine tools, optic devices or modern microscopes biomedical, Nano-robots, and automotive). Modeling of Piezoelectric Nanopositioning Actuator it’s not easy and the control of the actuator is not easy too, the main work had been done using real time measurements using LabVIEW software and Data Acquisition system using different applied voltage. Bouc-Wen discovers the model the dynamics and hysteresis behavior in PZT actuator. Electromechanical model, pizo actuator, current and force relationship, and hysteresis model are present. Key Word: Electromechanical actuator, nanopositioning applications, nonlinearity hysteresis modeling, piezoelectric actuator,
haracterization of leaf cuticular waxes and cutin monomers of amelina sativa and closely-related Camelina species

Camelina sativa is an old world crop newly introduced to the semi-arid regions of the Southwestern US. Recently, Camelina gained attention as a biofuel feedstock crop due to its relatively high oil content, polyunsaturated fatty acids, very short growing season with fairly good adaption to marginal lands, and low input agricultural systems. To expand Camelina growing zones into more arid regions, it is important to develop new drought resistant cultivars that can grow under water-limited conditions. Plants having cuticles with low permeability to water can possess elevated dehydration avoidance and improved drought tolerance. To extend our understating of cuticle chemical composition among Camelina species, leaf wax and cutin monomers in seventeen accessions representing four Camelina species were analyzed. Camelina exhibited a wide range of wax and cutin contents. The primary alcohols and alkanes were the predominant classes of leaf wax, followed in abundance by wax esters, fatty acids, aldehyuticular wax tress tolerance des, alkylguaiacols, methylalkylresorcinols, -amyrin and ß-sitosterol. Among primary alcohols, the dominant constituents were the C24, C26 and C28 homologues, while the C31 homologue was the most abundant alkane among all Camelina accessions. Cutin monomers included monohydroxy monobasic acids, phenolics, monobasic acids, monohydroxy epoxymonobasic acids, and dibasic acids. Among the cutin monomers examined, the C16:0 diOH acid showed extensive variation among Camelina species. Published by Elsevier B.V.
CHANGES : A CONFLICT MANAGEMENT MODEL FOR ORGANIZATIONAL REDESIGN EFFORTS

Organizational design enhances a company’s business strategy by configuring and reconfiguring organizations through the alignment of processes, rewards, policies, structures, and practices. When the organizational design process takes place, the multiple changes involved have the potential to spur conflict that can adversely affect employees and the organization itself. Though conflict naturally ensues during organizational change, it can be successfully lessened with proper management. The purpose of this paper is to present a conflict management model for change agents to use when involved in organizational design. The model uses the acronym CHANGES, which stands for areas of attention for change agents to consider throughout the design process. These areas are: Communication, Help, Assessment, New Roles, Guidelines, Education, and Support.
Teaching in Advanced Midwifery Education Programmes : Nurse Educators ’ Perspectives

Genetics competencies in nursing education programmes are only found in Italy, United Kingdom and United States of America. Genetics should form an integral component of the nursing education programmes in South Africa. Omission to include genetics in nursing education programmes lead to the production of nursing workforce with restricted genetics competence. Such ill-prepared nurses are expected to comprehensively address the healthcare needs including genetics related health needs in practice. The genetics policy guideline in South Africa recommends that “recognition and management for common genetics disorders and birth defects, should be included in the training of post-basic clinical nurse practitioners” in the country. However, it remains uncertain if the advanced midwifery as post-basic nursing programme responds to the stated policy guideline recommendation. Qualitative design was used, 19 nurse educators in the advanced midwifery programmes were purposively selected and participated voluntarily. Three focus group discussions, four individuals face-to-face and four one-on-one telephone interviews were conducted to data saturation point. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. The need for learning outcomes, teaching content, teaching hours, learner evaluation, nurse educator training and programme revision to adequately accommodate and offer satisfactory genetics teaching emanated from data analysis.
I T ] 7 S ep 2 01 7 Geometry of Information Integration

Information geometry is used to quantify the amount of information integration within multiple terminals of a causal dynamical system. Integrated information quantifies how much information is lost when a system is split into parts and information transmission between the parts is removed. Multiple measures have been proposed as a measure of integrated information. Here, we analyze four of the previously proposed measures and elucidate their relations from a viewpoint of information geometry. Two of them use dually flat manifolds and the other two use curved manifolds to define a split model. We show that there are hierarchical structures among the measures. We provide explicit expressions of these measures.
X Ray Line Profile Analysis of Undoped ZnO thin Films Prepared by Successive IONIC Layer Adsorption and Reaction Method

Nanostructured Zinc oxide thin films have been synthesized onto suitably cleaned glass substrates by Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction (SILAR) Method. The structural properties of the grown thin film were studied using X-Ray Diffraction. The X-ray diffraction results revealed that the sample was crystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite phase. Lattice constant is determined using Nelson Riley plots. From X-ray broadening, crystallite sizes, lattice strain, stress and energy density were studied by using Williamson–Hall method and Modified Williamson Hall method.
Improving Information Retrieval Performance by Combining Different Text-Mining Techniques

WordNet, a hand-made, general-purpose, and machine-readable thesaurus, has been used in information retrieval research by many researchers, but failed to improve the performance of their retrieval system. Thereby in this paper we investigate why the use of WordNet has not been successful. Based on this analysis we propose a method of making WordNet more useful in information retrieval applications by combining it with other knowledge resources. A simple word sense disambiguation is performed to avoid misleading expansion terms. Experiments using several standard information retrieval test collections show that our method results in a significant improvement of information retrieval performance. Failure analysis were done on the cases in which the proposed method fail to improve the retrieval effectiveness. We found that queries containing negative statements and multiple aspects might cause problems in the proposed method and we also investigated the solution to these problems.
Medical Images Registration based on Normalized Dissimilarity Index

: Image registration is an essential step in a large number of processing chains for medical images. It is used to align two images taken at different times and from different sensors as well. In this paper, we are interested in the rigid registration and similarity measures. We describe a new registration approach, based on the normalized dissimilarity index that results from the local dissimilarity map (LDP). This LDP is obtained from distance transform applied to gray-scale images, to register, undergoing a binarization. We evaluate the performance of our method compared to the classical registration measurements such as correlation and mutual information, on a medical images database. We show that the mean squared error of our approach is more accurate in comparison to the classical registration methods to which researchers still adhere. The robustness of our proposed index is validated regarding the luminance variation and the presence of "the Pepper and Salt" as much as “the Gaussian" noise.