Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
C-Hint: An Effective and Reliable Cache Management for RDMA-Accelerated Key-Value Stores

Recently, many in-memory key-value stores have started using a High-Performance network protocol, Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA), to provision ultra-low latency access services. Among various solutions, previous studies have recognized that leveraging RDMA Read to optimize GET operations and continuing using message passing for other requests can offer tremendous performance improvement while avoiding read-write races. However, although such a design can utilize the power of RDMA when there is sufficient memory space, it has also raised new challenges on the cache management that do not exist in traditional key-value stores. First, RDMA Read deprives servers of the awareness of the read operations. Therefore, how to track popular items and make replacement decisions at the server side becomes a critical issue. Second, without the access knowledge from the clients, new approaches are needed for servers to efficiently and reliably reclaim the resources. Lastly, the remote pointers hold by clients to conduct RDMA are highly susceptible to the evictions made by remote servers. Thus, any replacement algorithm that solely considers the server-side hit ratio is insufficient and can cause severe underutilization of RDMA. In this work, we present C-Hint, an efficient and reliable cache management system that is designed to address the above three challenges. Its basic mechanism relies on a holistic design of the servers and the clients to orchestrate the access history information. Specifically, it consists of several techniques, including lease-based key-value management, popularity differentiated lease assignment, as well as several optimizations to achieve efficient and reliable cache management. We have implemented and integrated C-Hint into an in-house memory-resident key-value store, named HydraDB, and systematically evaluated its performance on an InfiniBand cluster with different workloads. Our experiment results demonstrate that C-Hint can efficiently outperform several other alternate solutions and deliver both high hit rate and low latency performance.
Measurement and assignment of the size-dependent optical spectrum in CdSe quantum dots.

We use photoluminescence excitation to study the electronic spectrum of CdSe quantum dots ranging from \ensuremath{\sim}12 to \ensuremath{\sim}53 \AA{} in radius. We follow the size evolution of ten quantum dot absorption features. Comparison of the spectra with theoretical predictions allows us to confidently assign six of these transitions. We discuss the most likely assignments for the remaining four. We find that the ${\mathit{n}}_{\mathit{hS}3/2}$1${\mathit{S}}_{\mathit{e}}$ and ${\mathit{n}}_{\mathit{hS}1/2}$1${\mathit{S}}_{\mathit{e}}$ transitions dominate the spectra, accounting for half of the observed features. Our size-dependent data exhibit two strong avoided crossings, demonstrating the importance of valence-band structure in the description of the excited states. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
Error exponents for the relay channel

Achievable error exponents for the relay channel are derived using the method of types. In particular, two block-Markov coding schemes are analyzed: partial decode-forward and compress-forward. The derivations require combinations of the techniques in the proofs of the packing lemma for the error exponent of channel coding and the covering lemma for the error exponent of source coding with a fidelity criterion.
Platelet Carbonic Anhydrase II, a Forgotten Enzyme, May Be Responsible for Aspirin Resistance

Background Thromboembolic events constitute a major health problem, despite the steadily expanding arsenal of antiplatelet drugs. Hence, there is still a need to optimize the antiplatelet therapy. Objectives The aim of our study was to verify a hypothesis that there are no differences in platelet proteome between two groups of healthy people representing different acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) responses as assessed by the liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) technique. Patients/Methods A total of 61 healthy volunteers were recruited for the study. Physical examination and blood collection were followed by platelet-rich plasma aggregation assays and platelet separation for proteomic LC/MS analysis. Arachidonic acid- (AA-) induced aggregation (in the presence of aspirin) allowed to divide study participants into two groups aspirin-resistant (AR) and aspirin-sensitive (AS) ones. Subsequently, platelet proteome was compared in groups using the LC/MS analysis. Results The LC/MS analysis of platelet proteome between groups revealed that out of all identified proteins, the only discriminatory protein, affecting aspirin responsiveness, is platelet carbonic anhydrase II (CA II). Conclusions CA II is a platelet function modulator and should be taken into consideration as a cardiovascular event risk factor or therapeutic target.
Smoothing Mechanism of Reaction Sintered SiC in Plasma Assisted Polishing Using Ceria Abrasive

For the finishing of some difficult-to-machine materials, a novel polishing technique named plasma assisted polishing (PAP) was proposed. Ceria abrasive polishing with different electric power plasma irradiation was conducted on RS-SiC surface. Low RF power plasma (8 W) was used, many protrusions were generated which made the surface roughnesses bad (60.93 nm p-v, 5.51 nm rms). In contrast, the height and amount of protrusions decreased when RF power was increased to 12 W, which made the surface roughness better (31.83 nm p-v, 2.63 nm rms). Also, scratches completely disappeared after PAP. To explain the above results, the relationship of oxidation rate by plasma irradiation and material removal rate by abrasive polishing was taken into consideration. The different compositions in RS-SiC have different oxidation rates and levels of hardness. When the oxidation rate is higher than material removal rate, the heterogeneous polishing of RS-SiC is turned to homogeneous polishing of SiO2, and then a flat surface with an oxide layer can be obtained. To prove the above assumption, we firstly oxidized the surface with plasma irradiation for 1 h, and then PAP with a much lower load was conducted on the oxidized surface for 0.5 h. A scratch-free surface with 12.61 nm p-v and 1.45 nm rms was obtained which coincides with the mechanism we propose.
Perceived Age Estimation under Lighting Condition Change by Covariate Shift Adaptation

Over the recent years, a great deal of effort has been made to age estimation from face images. It has been reported that age can be accurately estimated under controlled environment such as frontal faces, no expression, and static lighting conditions. However, it is not straightforward to achieve the same accuracy level in real-world environment because of considerable variations in camera settings, facial poses, and illumination conditions. In this paper, we apply a recently-proposed machine learning technique called covariate shift adaptation to alleviating lighting condition change between laboratory and practical environment. Through real-world age estimation experiments, we demonstrate the usefulness of our proposed method.
Elastic mechanism design of a CMM contact probe

The measurement of miniature components with a micro- or nano-coordinate measuring machine requires a high precision contact scanning probe. The elastic mechanism of low stiffness is a major component of the contact scanning probe. A new elastic mechanism is analyzed by the theory of elasticity and finite element analysis in this paper. It is to realize the probe’s mechanical behavior and stiffness when designing an elastic mechanism for a contact scanning probe. The contact scanning probe is composed of a tungsten stylus with a ruby ball tip, a mechanism of floating plate suspended by four V-shaped leaf springs, and a 3D optical sensor. The leaf spring experiences elastic deformation when a contact force is applied. Uniform stiffness model is analyzed. Simulation and experimental results verify the correctness of the analysis.
Diamond like Carbon (DLC) Thin Films: Preparation and Characterization

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin films are prepared using plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) process at different bias voltage. We have studied their microstructural and electrical properties using Raman spectroscopy and current (I) – voltage (V) relationships. Electrical conductivity is gradually decreases with bias voltage as the films are becoming more and more diamond like carbon as observed from Raman spectroscopy results. Raman spectroscopy result shows that the ID/IG ratio gradually decreases indicating formation of more diamond like carbon films that responsible for the decrease of conductivity of the films. The full width half maximum of G peak increase with increase the bias voltage indicating the ring-like sp2 transforms to sp2 chains and raises the amount of sp3-chains. The structural disorder arises from the bond angle and bond length distortions in amorphous carbon films. Thus the structural disorder and mechanical properties such as hardness and elastic modulus increase with bias voltage.
Multiuser communications for broadband indoor power line channels using IDMA technology

Power line communication (PLC) systems are one of the most popular technologies for smart grids due to their cost efficiency. This paper presents bit error rate (BER) performance of traditional interleave-division multiple access (IDMA) systems over broadband (BB) indoor PLC channels. The BB PLC channels considered in this paper are proposed by Cañete and others. Subsequently, simulation results are carried out by using these different BB indoor PLC channel scenarios.
Insights into the DNA repair process by the formamidopyrimidine‐DNA glycosylase investigated by molecular dynamics

Formamidopyrimidine‐DNA glycosylase (Fpg) identifies and removes 8‐oxoguanine from DNA. All of the X‐ray structures of Fpg complexed to an abasic site containing DNA exhibit a common disordered region present in the C‐terminal domain of the enzyme. However, this region is believed to be involved in the damaged base binding site when the initial protein/DNA complex is formed. The dynamic behavior of the disordered polypeptide (named Loop) in relation to the supposed scenario for the DNA repair mechanism was investigated by molecular dynamics on different models, derived from the X‐ray structure of Lactococcus lactis Fpg bound to an abasic site analog‐containing DNA and of Bacillus stearothermophilus Fpg bound to 8‐oxoG. This study shows that the presence of the damaged base influences the dynamics of the whole enzyme and that the Loop location is dependent on the presence and on the conformation of the 8‐oxoG in its binding site. In addition, from our results, the conformation of the 8‐oxoG seems to be favored in syn in the L. lactis models, in agreement with the available X‐ray structure from B. stearothermophilus Fpg and with a possible catalytic role of the flexibility of the Loop region.
Fish and amphibians as potential reservoirs of Mycobacterium ulcerans, the causative agent of Buruli ulcer disease

Background : Buruli ulcer is a skin disease often associated with proximity to certain water bodies in Africa. Much remains unknown about the reservoir and transmission of this disease. Previous studies have suggested that fish may concentrate Mycobacterium ulcerans, the etiological agent of the disease, in their gills and intestines and serve as passive reservoirs of the bacterium. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that fish and amphibians serve as natural reservoirs of M. ulcerans or other closely related mycolactone-producing mycobacteria. Methods : Polymerase chain reaction targeting the enoyl reductase (ER) domain present in mlsA, which is required for mycolactone production, was used to screen water, fish, and amphibians from water bodies in Ghana for the presence of mycolactone-producing mycobacteria, and positive specimens were subjected to variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) typing. Results : The use of VNTR typing revealed the presence of Mycobacterium liflandii in a tadpole and a fish, and M. ulcerans in an adult frog. Similarity percentage analysis (SIMPER) showed that the predatory cichlid Hemichromis bimaculatus was associated with ER-positive water bodies. No amphibian species or fish-feeding guild served as a reliable indicator of the presence of mycolactone-producing mycobacteria in a water body, and there was no significant difference between fish and amphibian positivity rates (P-value=0.106). There was a significant difference between water bodies in the total number of ER-positive specimens (P-value=0.0164). Conclusions : Although IS2404-positive tadpoles and fish have been reported, this is the first VNTR confirmation of M. ulcerans or M. liflandii in wild amphibian and fish populations in West Africa. Results from this study suggest that amphibians should be carefully examined as potential reservoirs for M. ulcerans in West Africa, and that H. bimaculatus may be useful as an indicator of habitats likely to support mycolactone-producing mycobacteria.
Three-Dimensional Interactions in a Two-Segment Kinetic Chain. Part I: General Model

The motion of a body segment is determined by joint torques and by the motions of the segments proximal or distal to it. This paper describes a three-dimensional model that was used to determine the effects of the shoulder and elbow joint torques and of the upper trunk and arm motions on the angular accelerations of the arm segments during baseball pitching. Equations were developed to fractionate the three-dimensional components of the angular acceleration vector of each segment into angular acceleration terms associated with the joint torques made on the segment, and into various “motion-dependent” angular acceleration terms associated with the kinematic variables of the arm segments. Analysis of the values of the various motion-dependent angular acceleration terms permitted the determination of their contributions to the motion of the segment. Although the model was developed to provide further understanding of the mechanics of the throwing arm during baseball pitching, it can be used to analyze any tw.
Optimal Decentralized Protocols for Electric Vehicle Charging

We propose decentralized algorithms for optimally scheduling electric vehicle charging. The algorithms exploit the elasticity and controllability of electric vehicle related loads in order to fill the valleys in electric demand profile. We formulate a global optimization problem whose objective is to impose a generalized notion of valley-filling, study properties of the optimal charging profiles, and give decentralized offline and online algorithms to solve the problem. In each iteration of the proposed algorithms, electric vehicles choose their own charging profiles for the rest horizon according to the price profile broadcast by the utility, and the utility updates the price profile to guide their behavior. The offline algorithms are guaranteed to converge to optimal charging profiles irrespective of the specifications (e.g., maximum charging rate and deadline) of electric vehicles at the expense of a restrictive assumption that all electric vehicles are available for negotiation at the beginning of the planning horizon. The online algorithms relax this assumption by using a scalar prediction of future total charging demand at each time instance and yield near optimal charging profiles. The proposed algorithms need no coordination among the electric vehicles, hence their implementation requires low communication and computation capability. Simulation results are provided to support these results.
Articulation index predictions for hearing-impaired listeners with and without cochlear dead regions.

Vickers, Moore, and Baer [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 110, 1164–1175 (2001)] reported that hearing-impaired subjects with cochlear “dead regions” benefited from amplification of frequencies up to an octave above the estimated edge frequency of the dead region, but not beyond, whereas hearing-impaired subjects without dead regions did show benefit beyond this boundary. Dead regions are thought to have no functioning inner hair cells. Vickers et al. indicated that a clinical test for detecting dead regions would provide supplementary information that is important for hearing aid fitting. Furthermore, they suggested that the articulation index (AI) may overestimate the potential benefit of amplification for listeners with dead regions because the AI does not account for the presence of dead regions. To evaluate their claims, we conducted an AI analysis [H. Fletcher, Speech and Hearing in Communication (Van Nostrand, New York, 1953); H. Fletcher and R. H. Galt, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 22, 89–151 (1950)]. Results show tha.
The Change in Overstrain Level Resulting From Machining of an Autofrettaged Thick-Walled Cylinder

An analytical model for predicting the level of autofrettage following either inner, outer, or combined machining of a gun barrel is developed based on Hill's (Hill, R., 1950, The Mathematical Theory of Plasticity, Clarendon Press, Oxford, U.K.) solution for the autofrettage residual stress field. The analysis results in very simple algebraic expressions for the post-machining level of autofrettage in terms of the original level induced in the blank tube. In parallel, a finite element analysis of the machining process is performed in which the residual stress field is simulated by an equivalent thermal load. The numerical results are found to be in excellent agreement with the analytical ones. Thus, as an equivalent thermal load can always be determined, either analytically or numerically, for any other approximations to the residual stress field due to autofrettage (Perl, M., 1988, ASME J. Pressure Vessel Technol., 110, pp. 100-102), the foregoing methodology can be readily applied, enabling the determination of post-machining autofrettage level in these cases.
Post-cementation colorimetric evaluation of the interaction between the thickness of ceramic veneers and the shade of resin cement.

PURPOSE To evaluate the color parameters (CIELab*) after the cementation of ceramic disks of different thicknesses onto a resin substrate using four different shades of resin cements, and determine the color difference (ΔE) between the adhesively cemented disks and a 10 mm-thick A1 shade ceramic control (target color). METHODS Ceramic disks, simulating laminate veneers, with thicknesses of 0.5, 0.7 and 1.0 mm (shade A1, IPS Classic) were fabricated (n = 40) and cemented with a dual-cured resin cement (Variolink II, shades A1, bleach, opaque and transparent) onto 120 2 mm-thick resin composite substrates (shade A3.5, Adoro). Each ceramic disk was photocured for 80 seconds. The determination of the CIELab* parameters of each ceramic-cement-substrate set was performed with a spectrophotometer. A 10 mm-thick A1 ceramic disk was used as a control. The results for the color difference (ΔE) obtained from L*, a* and b* parameters were analyzed using ANOVA and Tukey's test (α = 0.05). RESULTS The ΔE values ranged from 2.46 (1.0 mm, opaque cement) to 12.11 (0.5 mm, A1 cement). The opaque cement showed the lower ΔE values, followed by the bleach, transparent and A1 cements. With respect to the thickness of the ceramic, color differences between the target color and the group with 1.0 mm ceramic disks were smaller for all cement shades tested. Only the combination of 1.0 mm ceramic disks cemented with the opaque cement was able to mask the background color (ΔE < 3.7). The color differences between the control and the specimens cemented with opaque resin cement were smaller in comparison with the bleach, transparent and A1 cements.
A Multidrug Resistance–Associated Protein Involved in Anthocyanin Transport in Zea mays

Anthocyanin biosynthesis is one of the most thoroughly studied enzymatic pathways in biology, but little is known about the molecular mechanisms of its final stage: the transport of the anthocyanin pigment into the vacuole. We have identified a multidrug resistance–associated protein (MRP), ZmMrp3, that is required for this transport process in maize (Zea mays). ZmMrp3 expression is controlled by the regulators of anthocyanin biosynthesis and mirrors the expression of other anthocyanin structural genes. Localization of ZmMRP3 in vivo shows its presence in the tonoplast, the site at which anthocyanin transport occurs. Mutants generated using antisense constructs have a distinct pigmentation phenotype in the adult plant that results from a mislocalization of the pigment as well as significant reduction in anthocyanin content, with no alteration in the anthocyanin species produced. Surprisingly, mutant plants did not show a phenotype in the aleurone. This appears to reflect the presence of a second, highly homologous gene, ZmMrp4, that is also coregulated with the anthocyanin pathway but is expressed exclusively in aleurone tissue. This description of a plant MRP with a role in the transport of a known endogenous substrate provides a new model system for examining the biological and biochemical mechanisms involved in the MRP-mediated transport of plant secondary metabolites.
A cross-sectional survey examining the extent to which interprofessional education is used to teach nursing, pharmacy and medical students in Australian and New Zealand Universities

The current status of interprofessional education (IPE) in Australian and New Zealand universities is largely unexamined despite its generally acknowledged benefit. Data are also limited about the use of IPE in teaching medication safety to nursing, pharmacy and medical students. For this reason a web-based cross-sectional survey was used to gather information from Australian and New Zealand universities offering nursing, pharmacy or medical programs. Responses were received from 31 of the 43 (72%) target universities. Eighty percent of the participants indicated that they currently offer IPE experiences, but only 24% of these experiences met the accepted definition of IPE. Of the participants who offer IPE as defined by Center for the Advancement of Interprofessional Education, only 50% use it to teach medication safety. Timetabling restrictions and lack of appropriate teaching and learning resources were identified as the main barriers to implementation of IPE. All participants reported that staff development, multi-media and e-learning resources would be beneficial to IPE initiatives and the teaching of medication safety. Innovative approaches will be needed to overcome the barriers and facilitate the uptake of quality IPE more broadly. Web-based and e-learning options promise a possible way forward, particularly in the teaching of medication safety to nursing, pharmacy and medical students.
Energy-efficient collision-free medium access control for wireless sensor networks

The traffic-adaptive medium access protocol (TRAMA) is introduced for energy-efficient collision-free channel access in wireless sensor networks. TRAMA reduces energy consumption by ensuring that unicast, multicast, and broadcast transmissions have no collisions, and by allowing nodes to switch to a low-power, idle state whenever they are not transmitting or receiving. TRAMA assumes that time is slotted and uses a distributed election scheme based on information about the traffic at each node to determine which node can transmit at a particular time slot. TRAMA avoids the assignment of time slots to nodes with no traffic to send, and also allows nodes to determine when they can become idle and not listen to the channel using traffic information. TRAMA is shown to be fair and correct, in that no idle node is an intended receiver and no receiver suffers collisions. The performance of TRAMA is evaluated through extensive simulations using both synthetic- as well as sensor-network scenarios. The results indicate that TRAMA outperforms contention-based protocols (e.g., CSMA, 802.11 and S-MAC) as well as scheduling-based protocols (e.g., NAMA) with significant energy savings.