Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantifying Cloud Elasticity with Container-Based Autoscaling

Containers have been a pervasive approach to help rapidly develop, test and update the Internet of Things applications (IoT). The autoscaling of containers can adaptively allocate computing resources for various data volumes over time. Therefore, elasticity, a critical feature of a cloud platform, is significant to measure the performance of lightweight containers. In this paper, we propose a framework with container auto-scaler. It monitors containers resource usage and accordingly scales in or scales out containers in need. Further, we define elasticity mathematically in order to quantify the cloud elasticity using the proposed framework. Extensive experiments are carried out with different workload modes, workload durations, and scaling cool-down period of times. Experiment results show that the framework captures the workload variation firmly with a very short delay. We also find out that the cloud platform shows the best elasticity in repeat workload mode due to its recurring and predictable feature. Finally, we discover the length of the cool-down period should be properly set up in order to balance system stability and good elasticity.
Behavioral Characterization of β-Arrestin 1 Knockout Mice in Anxiety-Like and Alcohol Behaviors

β-Arrestin 1 and 2 are highly expressed proteins involved in the desensitization of G protein-coupled receptor signaling which also regulate a variety of intracellular signaling pathways. Gene knockout (KO) studies suggest that the two isoforms are not homologous in their effects on baseline and drug-induced behavior; yet, the role of β-arrestin 1 in the central nervous system has been less investigated compared to β-arrestin 2. Here, we investigate how global β-arrestin 1 KO affects anxiety-like and alcohol-related behaviors in male and female C57BL/6 mice. We observed increased baseline locomotor activity in β-arrestin 1 KO animals compared with wild-type (WT) or heterozygous (HET) mice with a sex effect. KO male mice were less anxious in a light/dark transition test, although this effect may have been confounded by increased locomotor activity. No differences in sucrose intake were observed between genotypes or sexes. Female β-arrestin 1 KO mice consumed more 10% alcohol than HET females in a limited 4-h access, two-bottle choice, drinking-in-the-dark model. In a 20% alcohol binge-like access model, female KO animals consumed significantly more alcohol than HET and WT females. A significant sex effect was observed in both alcohol consumption models, with female mice consuming greater amounts of alcohol than males relative to body weight. Increased sensitivity to latency to loss of righting reflex (LORR) was observed in β-arrestin 1 KO mice although no differences were observed in duration of LORR. Overall, our efforts suggest that β-arrestin 1 may be protective against increased alcohol consumption in females and hyperactivity in both sexes.
Locally adaptive contrast enhancement using convolutional neural network

Law contrast images obtained from smart phones or any imaging devices are difficult to process by image processing systems and general users. Therefore, an enhancement of low contrast image is an important task in image processing and for device users. In this paper, we propose a method to detect low contrast regions using CNN(Convolutional Neural Network) and to improve the image quality by using chromatic contrast weight. Experiments show that the proposed method reduces over enhancement, while recovering details of low contrast regions.
CliMBOS: A Modular NFV Cloud Backend for the Internet of Things

The emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) as an increasingly pervasive influx of connected devices into people's everyday lives calls for an appropriate level of support by the network. Considering societal issues related to the data produced by IoT devices such as privacy and data ownership, together with technical issues of confidentiality, isolation, and scalability of the IoT server infrastructure, we observe that the present cloud computing model based on large-scale consolidated databases and services may not be universally applicable. In this paper we make a case for supporting IoT backends via network function virtualization (NFV) as a way to better align user privacy needs with the strong technical guarantees that purpose-built virtualized network functions can provide.
Semen Cassiae Extract Improves Glucose Metabolism by Promoting GlUT4 Translocation in the Skeletal Muscle of Diabetic Rats

Diabetes mellitus is a clinical syndrome characterised by hyperglycaemia; its complications lead to disability and even death. Semen Cassiae is a traditional Chinese medicine, which has anti-hypertensive, anti-hyperlipidaemia, anti-oxidation, and anti-ageing properties. Our study was designed to evaluate the action of total anthraquinones of Semen Cassiae extract (SCE) on the improvement of glucose metabolism in diabetic rats and to elucidate the underlying mechanism. First, we evaluated the effect of SCE on normal rats. Next, we observed the effect of SCE using a rat model of diabetes, which was established by feeding rats with high-energy diet for 4 weeks and a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ; 30 mg/kg) 3 weeks after starting the high-energy diet. Rats in different SCE groups (administered 54, 108, and 324 mg/kg/day of SCE) and metformin group (162 mg/kg/day, positive control drug) were treated with the corresponding drugs 1 week before starting high-energy diet and treatment continued for 5 weeks; meanwhile, rats in the control group were administered the same volume of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose solution (vehicle solution). One week after STZ injection, fasting blood glucose (FBG), oral glucose tolerance (OGT), fasting serum insulin (FSI) and serum lipids were quantified. Finally, the expression of proteins in the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)–Akt–AS160–glucose transporter isoform 4 (GLUT4) signalling pathway was detected by western blotting. The data indicated that the levels of FBG and serum lipids were significantly lowered, and OGT and FSI were markedly increased in diabetic rats treated with SCE (108 mg/kg/day); however, SCE did not cause hypoglycaemia in normal rats. The molecular mechanisms were explored in the skeletal muscle. SCE markedly restored the decreased translocation of GLUT4 in diabetic rats. Moreover, the protein expressions of phosphorylated-AS160 (Thr642), phosphorylated-Akt (Ser473) and PI3K were significantly increased after SCE treatment in the skeletal muscle. These results indicate that SCE exerts an anti-hyperglycaemic effect by promoting GLUT4 translocation through the activation of the PI3K–Akt–AS160 signalling pathway. Our findings suggest that treatment with SCE, containing anthraquinones, could be an effective approach to enhance diabetes therapy.
Nanocomposites from Polycaprolactone (PCL)/Soy Protein Isolate (SPI) Blend with Organoclay

New biobased, ecofriendly nanocomposites were prepared from polycaprolactone (PCL)/soy protein isolate (SPI) blend (80/20 wt/wt) with organically modified clay, by melt compounding. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy analysis revealed that an intercalated nanocomposite was formed and the silicate layers of the clay were uniformly dispersed at a nanometer scale in matrix polymer. There was great enhancement of both tensile and dynamic mechanical properties in the nanocomposite. A rheological study revealed that the nanocomposite exhibits strong shear-thinning behavior in the melted state, and a percolated network of clay particles was formed in the melted state.
A 0.25–1.7-GHz, 3.9–13.7-mW Power-Scalable, −10-dBm Harmonic Blocker-Tolerant Mixer-First RF-to-Digital Receiver for Massive MIMO Applications

To be cost-effective and energy-efficient, massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) arrays must be constructed from radio elements with low power and high linearity, but can tolerate higher noise than conventional stand-alone radios. This letter presents a low-power 0.25–1.7-GHz power- and resolution-scalable mixer-first receiver tailored for variable-element massive MIMO systems with digital beamforming. The receiver includes tunable mixer size and harmonic recombination, dissipates 3.0–12.1 mW (at 1 GHz) with 13.6–19-dB noise figure (NF) while tolerating −10 dBm nearby/harmonic blockers. Two scalable 0.4–0.8-mW, 7.0–9.1-ENOB, 80-MS/s SAR analog-to-digital converters complete the RF-to-digital receiver. When used in large arrays, this configurable receiver can utilize array-level noise averaging to maintain nearly constant array-level power consumption and NF even as the array size grows by a factor of four from 16 to 64 elements, while maintaining good linearity.
Temperature Effect of Electrical Resistivity of Carbon Black Filled Polymers

Abstract Very large positive temperature coefficients of resistivity (PTC) found in a narrow temperature range with dispersions of carbon blacks in noncrystallizing polymers are caused by an increase in average particle or aggregate distances of the dispersed black. This effect is the result of their deagglomeration upon temperature increase, induced by the increased Brownian motion, predominantly caused by the large reduction in vehicle viscosity and aided by the increase in segmental motion of the polymeric molecules. Highest PTC effects are found in the range of the steepest resistivity-concentration curves for the carbon black dispersion, differing markedly for each black and each polymer. The range itself is determined by particle size, density, degree of aggregation and agglomeration, and by the presence of surface oxides. In crystalline polymers high PTC effects are predominantly caused by the large volume expansion of the polymer in the melting range, as well as by the formation of a uniform melt .
Optical fibre biosensors for oxygen and glucose monitoring

An optical fibre biosensor that uses an oxygen sensitive coating; Ruthenium complex [Dichlorotris(1,10-phenantroline)-ruthenium(II) hydrate], incorporated into an adhesive inorganic-organic hybrid polymer coating (ORMOCER) is described. The Ruthenium/ ORMOCER layer is used with optical fibres to form an extrinsic or intrinsic sensor. It can be applied to a microscope slide or lens to be interrogated by optical fibres, or form a cladding layer for an evanescent field optical fibre sensor. The Ruthenium complex is caused to fluoresce by a high brightness blue LED at 470 nm and the excitation light at 600nm is detected by a photomultiplier tube used as a photon counter, to measure fluorescence lifetime. The fluorescence is quenched by oxygen depletion within the layer, which can be linked to glucose by incorporation of suitable enzymes. The detection threshold is 0.7mg(O2)/litre, and the sensitivity is 70 ns/mg per litre.
Strike the Balance between System Utilization and Data Locality under Deadline Constraint for MapReduce Clusters

MapReduce paradigm has become a popular platform for massive data processing and Big Data applications. Although MapReduce was initially designed for high throughput and batch processing, it has also been used for handling many other types of applications and workloads due to its scalable and reliable system architecture. One of the emerging requirements for enterprise data-process computing is completion time guar- antee. However, there are only a few research works have been done for MapReduce jobs with deadline constraint. Therefore, in this paper, we aim to prevent jobs from missing deadline while maximizing the resource utilization and data locality of a MapReduce cluster. Our approach is to introduce a two-phase job scheduling mechanism which combines a job admission controller policy and a priority-based scheduling algorithm. We use a series of simulations over diverted workload to evaluate our system. The results show that our approach can guarantee job completion time in a heavy-loaded system, and achieve comparable data locality to the delay schedule algorithm in a light-loaded system. Furthermore, our approach can maximize system throughput by preventing system resources from being wasted by the jobs missing their deadlines.
Supporting Distributed Transaction Dependencies and Security Constraints: A knowledge Base Approach

For many applications, a distributed system is an attractive alternative to a single system because it supports global applications accessing multiple systems, and thus enhances performance. The rapid growth of advanced applications involving distributed transaction processing has resulted in the development of various distributed systems, models and transaction languages. In this paper, we present the InterBase system, its Parallel language (IPL), and its Interbase Logic Controller (ILC). IPL is a transaction-oriented language that allows users to write global transactions by specifying all associated actions and their sequences, as well as logical dependencies and data flows among subtransadions. ItC is used to control the different tasks to be performed within the Interbase environment, all without violating the autonomies of the local systems and respecting their heterogeneities. ILC guarantees two levels of consistency, consistency among transaction dependencies and consistency among security policies.
Response of Fibroblasts MRC-5 to Flufenamic Acid-Grafted MCM-41 Nanoparticles

Recently, flufenamic acid (FFA) was discovered among fenamates as a free radical scavenger and gap junction blocker; however, its effects have only been studied in cancer cells. Normal cells in the surroundings of a tumor also respond to radiation, although they are not hit by it directly. This phenomenon is known as the bystander effect, where response molecules pass from tumor cells to normal ones, through communication channels called gap junctions. The use of the enhanced permeability and retention effect, through which drug-loaded nanoparticles smaller than 200 nm may accumulate around a tumor, can prevent the local side effect upon controlled release of the drug. The present work, aimed at functionalizing MCM-41 (Mobil Composition of Matter No. 41) silica nanoparticles with FFA and determining its biocompatibility with human fibroblasts MRC-5 (Medical Research Council cell strain 5). MCM-41, was synthesized and characterized structurally and chemically, with multiple techniques. The biocompatibility assay was performed by Live/Dead technique, with calcein and propidium–iodide. MRC-5 cells were treated with FFA-grafted MCM-41 for 48 h, and 98% of cells remained viable, without signs of necrosis or morphological changes. The results show the feasibility of MCM-41 functionalization with FFA, and its potential protection of normal cells, in comparison to the role of FFA in cancerous ones.
Dynamic global resource allocation in shared data centers and clouds

We design, implement and evaluate a global resource allocator to provide end-to-end quality of service in shared data centers and Clouds. Global resource allocation involves performance modeling for proportioning several levels of storage cache, and the storage bandwidth between applications according to overall performance goals. The problem is challenging due to the interplay between different resources, e.g., changing the client cache quota affects the access pattern at the cache/disk levels below it in the storage hierarchy. We use a combination of on-line modeling and sampling to arrive at near-optimal configurations within minutes. The key idea is to incorporate access tracking and known resource dependencies e.g., due to cache replacement policies, into our performance model. In our experimental evaluation, we use both micro-benchmarks and the industry standard benchmarks TPC-W and RUBiS. We show that our global resource allocation approach provides up to a factor of 1.4 better overall performance compared to a combination of state-of-the-art single resource controllers, at the same cost.
Impact of Glycerol as Carbon Source onto Specific Sugar and Inducer Uptake Rates and Inclusion Body Productivity in E. coli BL21(DE3)

The Gram-negative bacterium E. coli is the host of choice for a multitude of used recombinant proteins. Generally, cultivation is easy, media are cheap, and a high product titer can be obtained. However, harsh induction procedures using isopropyl β-d-1 thiogalactopyranoside as inducer are often referred to cause stress reactions, leading to a phenomenon known as “metabolic” or “product burden”. These high expressions of recombinant proteins mainly result in decreased growth rates and cell lysis at elevated induction times. Therefore, approaches tend to use “soft” or “tunable” induction with lactose and reduce the stress level of the production host. The usage of glucose as energy source in combination with lactose as induction reagent causes catabolite repression effects on lactose uptake kinetics and as a consequence reduced product titer. Glycerol—as an alternative carbon source—is already known to have positive impact on product formation when coupled with glucose and lactose in auto-induction systems, and has been referred to show no signs of repression when cultivated with lactose concomitantly. In recent research activities, the impact of different products on the lactose uptake using glucose as carbon source was highlighted, and a mechanistic model for glucose-lactose induction systems showed correlations between specific substrate uptake rate for glucose or glycerol (qs,C) and the maximum specific lactose uptake rate (qs,lac,max). In this study, we investigated the mechanistic of glycerol uptake when using the inducer lactose. We were able to show that a product-producing strain has significantly higher inducer uptake rates when being compared to a non-producer strain. Additionally, it was shown that glycerol has beneficial effects on viability of cells and on productivity of the recombinant protein compared to glucose.
EARNEST: A 64 channel device for neural recording and sensory touch restoration in neural prosthetics

EARNEST is a complete embedded system for neural prosthetic applications. It includes recording capabilities of electroneurographic (ENG) signals from up to 4 intrafascicular electrodes with 16 channels each, recording of electromyographic(EMG) signals from 4 differential surface electrodes and multi-channel programmable electrical stimulation. It realizes a complete system for closed-loop bidirectional communication between the Peripheral Neural System (PNS) and an artificial limb. The system is built upon a programmable core for System-on-Chip and 3 different application specific integrated circuits (ASIC) realized in a 0. 35μ-m CMOS high-voltage process from ams designed to meet the constraints in terms of area, noise and power in view of a fully implantable system. The whole system has been successfully tested by means of in-vivo experiments with animal models.
The Identity of Information: How Deterministic Dependencies Constrain Information Synergy and Redundancy

Understanding how different information sources together transmit information is crucial in many domains. For example, understanding the neural code requires characterizing how different neurons contribute unique, redundant, or synergistic pieces of information about sensory or behavioral variables. Williams and Beer (2010) proposed a partial information decomposition (PID) that separates the mutual information that a set of sources contains about a set of targets into nonnegative terms interpretable as these pieces. Quantifying redundancy requires assigning an identity to different information pieces, to assess when information is common across sources. Harder et al. (2013) proposed an identity axiom that imposes necessary conditions to quantify qualitatively common information. However, Bertschinger et al. (2012) showed that, in a counterexample with deterministic target-source dependencies, the identity axiom is incompatible with ensuring PID nonnegativity. Here, we study systematically the consequences of information identity criteria that assign identity based on associations between target and source variables resulting from deterministic dependencies. We show how these criteria are related to the identity axiom and to previously proposed redundancy measures, and we characterize how they lead to negative PID terms. This constitutes a further step to more explicitly address the role of information identity in the quantification of redundancy. The implications for studying neural coding are discussed.
Citation for published version de Lemos , Rogerio and Bailey , Christopher ( 2018 ) Evaluating Self-Adaptive Authorisation Infrastructures

Self-adaptive systems are able to modify their behaviour and/or structure in response to changes that occur to the system itself, its environment, or even its goals. In terms of authorisation infrastructures, self-adaptation has been shown to provide runtime capabilities for specifying and enforcing access control policies and subject access privileges, with a goal to mitigate insider threat. The evaluation of self-adaptive authorisation infrastructures, particularly, in the context of insider threats, is challenging because simulation of malicious behaviour can only demonstrate a fraction of the types of abuse that is representative of the real-world. In this paper, we present an innovative approach based on an ethical game of hacking, protected by an authorisation infrastructure. A key feature of the approach is the ability to observe user activity preand post-adaptation when evaluating runtime consequences of selfadaptation. Our live experiments captured a wide range of unpredictable changes, including malicious behaviour related to the exploitation of known vulnerabilities. As an outcome, we demonstrated the ability of our self-adaptive authorisation infrastructure to handle malicious behaviour given the existence of real and intelligent users, in addition to capturing how users responded to adaptation.
Soy food intake after diagnosis of breast cancer and survival: an in-depth analysis of combined evidence from cohort studies of US and Chinese women.

BACKGROUND Soy isoflavones have antiestrogenic and anticancer properties but also possess estrogen-like properties, which has raised concern about soy food consumption among breast cancer survivors. OBJECTIVE We prospectively evaluated the association between postdiagnosis soy food consumption and breast cancer outcomes among US and Chinese women by using data from the After Breast Cancer Pooling Project. DESIGN The analysis included 9514 breast cancer survivors with a diagnosis of invasive breast cancer between 1991 and 2006 from 2 US cohorts and 1 Chinese cohort. Soy isoflavone intake (mg/d) was measured with validated food-frequency questionnaires. HRs and 95% CIs were estimated by using delayed-entry Cox regression models, adjusted for sociodemographic, clinical, and lifestyle factors. RESULTS After a mean follow-up of 7.4 y, we identified 1171 total deaths (881 from breast cancer) and 1348 recurrences. Despite large differences in soy isoflavone intake by country, isoflavone consumption was inversely associated with recurrence among both US and Chinese women, regardless of whether data were analyzed separately by country or combined. No heterogeneity was observed. In the pooled analysis, consumption of ≥10 mg isoflavones/d was associated with a nonsignificant reduced risk of all-cause (HR: 0.87; 95% CI: 0.70, 1.10) and breast cancer-specific (HR: 0.83; 95% CI: 0.64, 1.07) mortality and a statistically significant reduced risk of recurrence (HR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.61, 0.92). CONCLUSION In this large study of combined data on US and Chinese women, postdiagnosis soy food consumption of ≥10 mg isoflavones/d was associated with a nonsignificant reduced risk of breast cancer-specific mortality and a statistically significant reduced risk of recurrence.