Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Riding the Waves: the Role of the Body Wave in Undulatory Fish Swimming1

Abstract A continuously swimming mullet modulates its thrust production by changing slip-the ratio between its swimming speed U and the speed V with which the body wave travels down its body. This variation in thrust is reflected in the wake of the fish. We obtained 2-dimensional impressions of the wake behind a mullet swimming at a slip of 0.7 equivalent to active swimming, at a slip of 0.9 close to free-wheeling, and at a slip of 1.1 when the fish is braking. Independent of the slip, vortices are shed at the tail when the tail tip reaches its maximum lateral excursion. The manner in which the wake changes as it decays depends on the degree of slip: At a slip well below unity, the wake decays without any qualitative changes in shape, the medio-frontal cross section of the mature wake consists of a double row of alternating vortices separated by an undulating jet, and the angle between the jet flow and the mean path of motion is close to 45°; at a slip above unity, the vortices stretch out laterally and the mature wake resembles a single row of oval vortices with two vortex cores, and the jet between the vortices is almost perpendicular to the mean path of motion; the wake at slip of 0.9 exhibits a pattern intermediate between the wakes at slips 0.7 and 0.9 with slightly elongate vortices and a jet angle of 61°.
Plasmonic enhancement of absorption in bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells

We present plasmonics-enhanced organic solar cells (OSCs) containing nanostructures of plasmonic metals in the hole transport layer extending to the active layer of the solar cell. Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) modeling was employed to simulate the interaction of incident light with the plasmonic nanostructures, leading to a broadband absorption enhancement in the OSCs. We studied the effect of employing nanostructures of different sizes and materials on the absorption enhancement in the OSCs. In some OSCs, we demonstrate 32% increase in the short circuit current density due to the presence of plasmonic nanostructures.
The Diffusion of Networked Gaming in the United States and Korea

Elizabeth Fife, Mark Hillebrandt, Francis Pereira, Fynnwin Prager, Laura Armey, Center for Telecom Management, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA Chung Kim, Visiting Scholar, Center for Telecom Management, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Korea Abstract This paper seeks to explain the different rates of adoption for networked gaming and mobile gaming technology in the United States and Korea. We use the Global Acceptance of Technology model to analyze the diffusion of online gaming technology according to cultural and socio-demographic factors mediated by the influence of technology-related factors. Using data collected from a survey of U.S. and Korean gamers, we find that the high rate of adoption of online gaming services in Korea compared to usage in the United States can be partially explained by social and cultural differences between the two countries. From this data we also analyze the willingness of consumers in each market to pay for online gaming services and find marked differences between U.S. and Korean consumers. We additionally consider the implications and potential barriers to the adoption of advanced online gaming features such as mobile online gaming in the United States.
Complete sequence and organization of the mitochondrial genome of Cyclemys atripons (Testudines, Geoemydidae)

The Black Bridged Leaf Turtle, Cyclemys atripons (Testudines; Cryptodira; Geoemydidae), is a poorly known species within the genus Cyclemys. We determined the complete nucleotide sequence of the Cyclemys atripons mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) and found it to be 16,500 base pairs (bp) in length, with the genome organization, gene order and base composition being identical to that of the typical vertebrate. However, unlike for most turtle mtDNA so far reported, an extra base was not found in the NADH3 gene. The C. atripons control region of mtDNA was 981 bp long. Comparisons with three other geoemydids showed that the C. atripons control region contained a highly variable region at the 3' end composed of AT enriched tandem repeats containing a fifteen-unit 5'-A (AT)3-3' variable number of tandem repeats (VNTRs).
Studying hardware and software trade-offs for a real-life web 2.0 workload

Designing data centers for Web 2.0 social networking applications is a major challenge because of the large number of users, the large scale of the data centers, the distributed application base, and the cost sensitivity of a data center facility. Optimizing the data center for performance per dollar is far from trivial. In this paper, we present a case study characterizing and evaluating hardware/software design choices for a real-life Web 2.0 workload. We sample the Web 2.0 workload both in space and in time to obtain a reduced workload that can be replayed, driven by input data captured from a real data center. The reduced workload captures the important services (and their interactions) and allows for evaluating how hardware choices affect end-user experience (as measured by response times). We consider the Netlog workload, a popular and commercially deployed social networking site with a large user base, and we explore hardware trade-offs in terms of core count, clock frequency, traditional hard disks versus solid-state disks, etc., for the different servers, and we obtain several interesting insights. Further, we present two use cases illustrating how our characterization method can be used for guiding hardware purchasing decisions as well as software optimizations.
Joint optimization of communication rates and linear systems

We consider a linear system, such as a controller or estimator, in which several signals are transmitted over communication channels with bit rate limitations. We model the effect of bit rate limited wireless channels by conventional uniform quantization, and use a standard white-noise model for quantization errors. We focus on finding the allocation of communication resources such as transmission powers, bandwidths, or time-slot fractions, that yields optimal system performance. We show that if the linear system is fixed, the problem of allocating communication resources is often convex. We discuss optimization algorithms that exploit the problem structure, and present efficient heuristics for obtaining integer-valued solutions. The problem of jointly allocating communication resources and designing the linear system is in general not convex, but can be solved heuristically in a way that exploits the problem structure and appears to work well in practice.
Enhancing Autonomous Agents Evolution with Learning by Imitation

This paper presents a new mechanism to enhance the evolutionary process of autonomous agents through lifetime adaptation by imitation. Imitation is an effective method for learning new traits and is naturally applicable within the evolutionary paradigm. We describe a set of simulations where a population of agents evolve to solve a certain task. In each generation, individuals can select other agents from the population as models (teachers) and imitate their behavior. In contradistinction to previous studies, we focus on the interaction between imitation and evolution when imitation takes place only across members of the same generation, and does not percolate across generations via vertical (cultural) transmission. We show how this mechanism can be applied to successfully enhance the evolution of autonomous agents, when other forms of learning are not applicable.
A Routing Algorithm based on Fuzzy Clustering and Minimum Cost Tree (FCMCT) in Wireless Sensor Network

Nowadays, wireless sensor network has been of interest to investigators and the greatest challenge in this part is the limited energy of sensors. Sensors usually are in the harsh environments and transit in these environments is hard and impossible and moreover the nodes use non- replaceable batteries. Because of this, saving energy is very important. In this paper we tried to decrease hard and complex computing with using soft computing such as fuzzy logic and we used it in cluster head selection part. Hard and complex computing can waist energy, because of this, we used some techniques to solve this problem. Minimum cost tree (MCT) helps to find minimum path, so we used this technique for intra cluster routing and again more over we used distributed source coding (DSC) technique for aggregating data. Finally all of methods could reduce energy consumption and increased network lifetime. Proposed algorithm is called FCMCT and simulation and results show improvement.
Molecular phylogenetics of Fonsecaea strains isolated from chromoblastomycosis patients in South Korea

Fonsecaea strains isolated from chromoblastomycosis patients in Korea and morphologically identified as Fonsecaea pedrosoi were re‐evaluated for typing by sequencing the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions. The ITS sequences of five Korean isolates and two reference strains were determined and then aligned with those of 11 related strains deposited in GenBank. In a phylogenetic tree constructed from these 18 strains, the Korean isolates and the references were clustered into two groups: Group A representing F. pedrosoi; Group B representing Fonsecaea monophora. These groups could be further divided into A1 and A2 subgroups and B1, B2 and B3 subgroups. Among five Korean strains, two isolates belonged to A1 subgroup, while one belonged to B1 subgroup and two to B2 subgroup. Despite the low numbers of Korean isolates and the small size of the Korean territory, this result indicates that the Fonsecaea strains prevalent in Korea are more diverse compared with those isolated in Japan and China. Moreover, F. monophora isolates, which had been reported to cause cutaneous infections as well as opportunistic neurotropic infections, were responsible for chromoblastomycosis in immunocompetent patients in Korea. In conclusion, ITS sequence analysis provided useful information not only for typing of Fonsecaea isolates in Korea but also regarding the geographical sources of these strains.
Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks: Current Trends and Future Directions

Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks (WMSNs) have emerged and shifted the focus from the typical scalar wireless sensor networks to networks with multimedia devices that are capable to retrieve video, audio, images, as well as scalar sensor data. WMSNs are able to deliver multimedia content due to the availability of inexpensive CMOS cameras and microphones coupled with the significant progress in distributed signal processing and multimedia source coding techniques. In this paper, we outline the design challenges of WMSNs, give a comprehensive discussion of the proposed architectures, algorithms and protocols for the different layers of the communication protocol stack for WMSNs, and evaluate the existing WMSN hardware and testbeds. The paper will give the reader a clear view of the state of the art at all aspects of this research area, and shed the light on its main current challenges and future trends. We also hope it will foster discussions and new research ideas among its researchers.
Scalar brane backgrounds in higher order curvature gravity

We investigate maximally symmetric brane world solutions with a scalar field. Five-dimensional bulk gravity is described by a general lagrangian which yields field equations containing no higher than second order derivatives. This includes the Gauss-Bonnet combination for the graviton. Stability and gravitational properties of such solutions are considered, and we particularily emphasise the modifications induced by the higher order terms. In particular it is shown that higher curvature corrections to Einstein theory can give rise to instabilities in brane world solutions. A method for analytically obtaining the general solution for such actions is outlined. Generically, the requirement of a finite volume element together with the absence of a naked singularity in the bulk imposes fine-tuning of the brane tension. A model with a moduli scalar field is analysed in detail and we address questions of instability and non-singular self-tuning solutions. In particular, we discuss a case with a normalisable zero mode but infinite volume element.
Moving horizon control for biped robots without reference trajectory

This paper deals with a new control approach for biped robots. The technique is inspired by the prediction capability of human being. Optimal computations over a moving horizon are performed with a set of constraints which is modified online to be adapted to the obstacle-filled environment. Simulation results show the efficiency of the algorithm in the case of a gait on flat terrain and steep stairs.
Serotonin inhibits apoptosis of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells through 5-HT2A receptors involved in the pulmonary artery remodeling of pulmonary artery hypertension

ABSTRACT Decreased pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell (PASMC) apoptosis play a key role in pulmonary artery remodeling during pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH), but the mechanisms involved are unclear. Serotonin (5-HT) inhibits apoptosis in many pathologic processes by activating the 5-HT2A receptor. Therefore, we hypothesized that 5-HT may be the promoter of decreased apoptosis in PAH through the 5-HT2A receptor. We found that inhibition of the 5-HT2A receptor prevented the increase in pulmonary artery pressure and pulmonary artery remodeling in rats stimulated by monocrotaline. This effect was accompanied by increased apoptosis in the pulmonary artery. Cultured PASMCs stimulated with 5-HT showed a decrease in apoptosis with increased phosphorylation of extracellular signal regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDK), and mitochondrial transmembrane potential. These effects were markedly prevented by a 5-HT2A receptor inhibitor, an ERK1/2 activation inhibitor peptide I, or a PDK inhibitor. In conclusion, 5-HT inhibited PASMC apoptosis by activating the 5-HT2A receptor through the pERK1/2 and PDK pathways.5-HT decreasing apoptosis through 5-HT2A receptor is involved, at least in part, in pulmonary artery remolding.
k-p0f: A high-throughput kernel passive OS fingerprinter

Most critical security vulnerabilities depend on the OS. If a hacker finds a machine with a vulnerable OS, then he can attack the system. Network administrators can defend against OS-specific attacks if they can find vulnerable machines before hackers do, but physically checking or actively scanning a large network can take time and resources. This paper describes a modification of p0f implemented in the Linux kernel, called k-p0f, which is a tool for this problem. This paper describes the design of k-p0f and compares its performance to p0f with both laboratory-generated and real-world traffic.
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is making a multi-colour, three-dimensional map of the nearby Universe. The survey is in two parts. The first part is imaging one quarter of the sky in five colours from the near ultraviolet to the near infrared. This imaging survey is expected to detect around 50 million galaxies to a magnitude limit g∼23. The second part of the survey, taking place concurrently with the imaging, is to obtain spectra for up to 1 million galaxies and 100 000 quasars. From these spectra one obtains redshifts and hence distances, in order to map out the three-dimensional distribution of galaxies and quasars in the Universe. These observations will be used to constrain models of cosmology and of galaxy formation and evolution. This article describes the goals and methods used by the SDSS, the current status of the survey, and highlights some exciting discoveries made from data obtained in the first two years of survey operations.
Learning DLP from Uncertain Data

Description Logic Programs (DLP) is an expressive but tractable subset of OWL. In this paper, we study a rising but under-researched problem of learning DLP from uncertain data. Current research rarely explores the plentiful uncertain data populating the Semantic Web. We handle uncertain data in Inductive Logic Programming (ILP) framework by modifying the performance evaluation criteria. We adopt a pseudo-log-likelihood based measure (PLLBM) which efficiently evaluates the performance of different literals under uncertainties. We implement our approach and evaluate it on two datasets. The experimental results demonstrate that our approach is able to automatically learn a rule-set from uncertain data with acceptable
Supporting Distributed Shared Memory on multi-core Network-on-Chips using a dual microcoded controller

Supporting Distributed Shared Memory (DSM) is essential for multi-core Network-on-Chips for the sake of reusing huge amount of legacy code and easy programmability. We propose a microcoded controller as a hardware module in each node to connect the core, the local memory and the network. The controller is programmable where the DSM functions such as virtual-to-physical address translation, memory access and synchronization etc. are realized using microcode. To enable concurrent processing of memory requests from the local and remote cores, our controller features two mini-processors, one dealing with requests from the local core and the other from remote cores. Synthesis results suggest that the controller consumes 51k gates for the logic and can run up to 455 MHz in 130 nm technology. To evaluate its performance, we use synthetic and application workloads. Results show that, when the system size is scaled up, the delay overhead incurred by the controller may become less significant when compared with the network delay. In this way, the delay efficiency of our DSM solution is close to hardware solutions on average but still have all the flexibility of software solutions.
Ultrathin Gold Nanowires

A review is given for the physics of ultrathin gold nanowires; nanowire with a couple of atoms in their wire diameter and monoatomic chain. The beginning part gives a tutorial of solid state gold with related materials. The explanation is based on quantum mechanics of electrons and is crucial for understanding nanowire properties. Next, properties of gold and other metal nanowires are reviewed for fabrication, observation and theory. Appearance of monoatomic chain and quantized conductance at room temperature are focused on. The rest of the article is devoted to helical multishell nanowires, a unique property of gold. The observed multishell configurations are limited to specific ones with ‘magic numbers’. Their formation mechanism is explained by a proposed theory and confirmed by quantum mechanical molecular dynamics simulation, atomistic simulation with quantum mechanical treatment of electrons. Finally, the helical multishell gold nanowire is discussed from a general scientific viewpoint and a future aspect is addressed so as to establish the foundation of nano electronics. KEYWORD : gold, ultrathin nanowire, quantized conductance, helical structure, quantum mechanical molecular dynamics simulation 1 Preprint (invited review article), to appear in Handbook of Nanophysics 4 : Nanotubes and Nanowires, ed. K. D. Sattler, CRC press, (2010).
Effects of Trichostatin A on drug uptake transporters in primary rat hepatocyte cultures

The present study was set up to investigate the effects of Trichostatin A (TSA), a prototypical epigenetic modifier, on the expression and activity of hepatic drug uptake transporters in primary cultured rat hepatocytes. To this end, the expression of the sinusoidal transporters sodium-dependent taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide (Ntcp) and organic anion transporting polypeptide 4 (Oatp4) was monitored by real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis and immunoblotting. The activity of the uptake transporters was analyzed using radiolabeled substrates and chemical inhibitors. Downregulation of the expression and activity of Oatp4 and Ntcp was observed as a function of the cultivation time and could not be counteracted by TSA. In conclusion, the epigenetic modifier TSA does not seem to exert a positive effect on the expression and activity of the investigated uptake transporters in primary rat hepatocyte cultures.
Interactive proofs and the hardness of approximating cliques

The contribution of this paper is two-fold. First, a connection is established between approximating the size of the largest clique in a graph and multi-prover interactive proofs. Second, an efficient multi-prover interactive proof for NP languages is constructed, where the verifier uses very few random bits and communication bits. Last, the connection between cliques and efficient multi-prover interaction proofs, is shown to yield hardness results on the complexity of approximating the size of the largest clique in a graph. Of independent interest is our proof of correctness for the multilinearity test of functions.
3-D Printing of Dielectric Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Characterization of Dielectric Flexible Materials

Dielectric electroactive polymers are materials capable of mechanically adjusting their volume in response to an electrical stimulus. However, currently these materials require multi-step manufacturing processes which are not additive. This paper presents a novel 3D printed flexible dielectric material and characterizes its use as a dielectric electroactive polymer (DEAP) actuator. The 3D printed material was characterized electrically and mechanically and its functionality as a dielectric electroactive polymer actuator was demonstrated. The flexible 3-D printed material demonstrated a high dielectric constant and ideal stress-strain performance in tensile testing making the 3-D printed material ideal for use as a DEAP actuator. The tensile stress-strain properties were measured on samples printed under three different conditions (three printing angles 0°, 45° and 90°). The results demonstrated the flexible material presents different responses depending on the printing angle. Based on these results, it was possible to determine that the active structure needs low pre-strain to perform a visible contractive displacement when voltage is applied to the electrodes. The actuator produced an area expansion of 5.48% in response to a 4.3 kV applied voltage, with an initial pre-strain of 63.21% applied to the dielectric material.
On the spectral efficiency of space-time spreading schemes for multiple antenna CDMA systems

We have previously introduced a particular space-time spreading (STS) scheme that can be used in order to provide important diversity gains in CDMA systems that use multiple antenna transceivers. While such simple STS schemes are simpler to implement (especially in terms of error-correction coding) than the BLAST (Bell-labs LAyered Space-Time) architecture, it is of interest to quantity the expected penalties paid in terms of spectral efficiency. We derive capacity expressions for such STS systems and compare them to the corresponding expressions of related BLAST systems. Interestingly enough, it turns out that for small numbers of antennas, the deviations in performance are not so high. These results suggest that, when small numbers of antennas are available, space-time spreading is a viable option that provides a good tradeoff between ease of implementation and increased spectral efficiency of direct-spreading CDMA systems.