Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A New Approach to Improve the Efficiency of Distributed Scheduling in IEEE 802.16 Mesh Networks

The recent standard for broadband wireless access networks, IEEE 802.16, which resulted in the development of metropolitan area wireless networks, includes two network organization modes: Point to Multi Point and Mesh. The mesh mode provides distributed channel access operations of peering nodes and uses TDMA technique for channel access modulation. According to IEEE 802.16 MAC protocol, there are two scheduling algorithms for assigning TDMA slots to each network node: centralized and distributed. In distributed scheduling algorithm, network nodes have to transmit scheduling message in order to inform other nodes about their transfer schedule. In this paper a new approach is proposed to improve distributed scheduling efficiency in IEEE 802.16 mesh mode, with respect to network condition in every transferring opportunity. For evaluating the proposed algorithm efficiency, several extensive simulations are performed in various network configurations and the most important system parameters which affect the network performance are analyzed.
Global error minimization in image mosaicing using graph connectivity and its applications in microscopy

Several applications such as multiprojector displays and microscopy require the mosaicing of images (tiles) acquired by a camera as it traverses an unknown trajectory in 3D space. A homography relates the image coordinates of a point in each tile to those of a reference tile provided the 3D scene is planar. Our approach in such applications is to first perform pairwise alignment of the tiles that have imaged common regions in order to recover a homography relating the tile pair. We then find the global set of homographies relating each individual tile to a reference tile such that the homographies relating all tile pairs are kept as consistent as possible. Using these global homographies, one can generate a mosaic of the entire scene. We derive a general analytical solution for the global homographies by representing the pair-wise homographies on a connectivity graph. Our solution can accommodate imprecise prior information regarding the global homographies whenever such information is available. We also derive equations for the special case of translation estimation of an X-Y microscopy stage used in histology imaging and present examples of stitched microscopy slices of specimens obtained after radical prostatectomy or prostate biopsy. In addition, we demonstrate the superiority of our approach over tree-structured approaches for global error minimization.
A Membrane Coat Complex Essential for Endosome-to-Golgi Retrograde Transport in Yeast

We have recently characterized three yeast gene products (Vps35p, Vps29p, and Vps30p) as candidate components of the sorting machinery required for the endosome-to-Golgi retrieval of the vacuolar protein sorting receptor Vps10p (Seaman, M.N.J., E.G. Marcusson, J.-L. Cereghino, and S.D. Emr. 1997. J. Cell Biol. 137:79–92). By genetic and biochemical means we now show that Vps35p and Vps29p interact and form part of a multimeric membrane-associated complex that also contains Vps26p, Vps17p, and Vps5p. This complex, designated here as the retromer complex, assembles from two distinct subcomplexes comprising (a) Vps35p, Vps29p, and Vps26p; and (b) Vps5p and Vps17p. Density gradient fractionation of Golgi/endosomal/vesicular membranes reveals that Vps35p cofractionates with Vps5p/Vps17p in a vesicle-enriched dense membrane fraction. Furthermore, gel filtration analysis indicates that Vps35p and Vps5p are present on a population of vesicles and tubules slightly larger than COPI/coatomer-coated vesicles. We also show by immunogold EM that Vps5p is localized to discrete regions at the rims of the prevacuolar endosome where vesicles appear to be budding. Size fractionation of cytosolic and recombinant Vps5p reveals that Vps5p can self-assemble in vitro, suggesting that Vps5p may provide the mechanical impetus to drive vesicle formation. Based on these findings we propose a model in which Vps35p/Vps29p/Vps26p function to select cargo for retrieval, and Vps5p/Vps17p assemble onto the membrane to promote vesicle formation. Conservation of the yeast retromer complex components in higher eukaryotes suggests an important general role for this complex in endosome-to-Golgi retrieval.
Intrusion detection system based on new association rule mining model

Intrusion detection is a problem of great significance to protecting information systems security. Its techniques fall into two general categories: anomaly detection and misuse detection, which complement each other. This research focuses on anomaly detection techniques for intrusion detection. Presently, several approaches based on classical association rule mining have been proposed for intrusion detection. Because two shortages existed in classical association rule mining problem, namely every item set is treated equivalently and a uniform minimum support and minimum confidence is used as weighing standard, many rules and uninteresting rules will be generated that causes low effectiveness of intrusion detection. Based on new association rule mining model proposed by Li etc. (2002) that can solve the two shortages at the same time, a new intrusion detection system was proposed. Because the interest of item as a degree is used and the mining algorithm is based on FP-tree, our preliminary experiment results show that the proposed system is more robust and efficient than that based on APRIORI.
Protein Methylation Activates Reconstituted Ryanodine Receptor-Ca2+ Release Channels from Coronary Artery Myocytes

Ryanodine receptors (RyR) play an important role in the regulation of intracellular Ca2+ concentration and in the control of vascular tone. However, the mechanism regulating the activity of RyR is poorly understood. The present study determined whether protein methylation participates in the control of RyR activity. Using a planar lipid bilayer clamping system, S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM), a methyl donor, significantly increased the activity of a 245-pS reconstituted Ca2+ release channel from coronary arterial smooth muscle (CASM) in a concentration-dependent manner. Addition of the protein methylation blockers, 3-deazaadenosine, S-adenosylhomocysteine or sinefungin into the cis solution markedly attenuated SAM-induced activation of RyR/Ca2+ release channels. By Western blot analysis, arginine N-methyltransferase (PRMT1) and FK506 binding protein (FKBP) were detected in the SR used for reconstitution of RyR. In the presence of anti-PRMT1 antibody (1:100), SAM-induced activation of RyR/Ca2+ channel was completely abolished. In addition, this SAM-induced increase in RyR/Ca2+ channel activity was blocked by 30 µM ryanodine and by FK506 (100 µM), a ligand for the RyR accessory protein. These results suggest that protein methylation activates RyR/Ca2+ release channels and may participate in the control of intracellular Ca2+ mobilization in CASM cells by transferring a methyl group to the arginine moiety of the RyR accessory protein, FKBP 12.
Diagnóstico comportamental da atividade produtiva: método de operacionalização do processo de inovação.

Capitulo 1. Inovacao e Avaliacao. Capitulo 2. Aspectos Teoricos da Elaboracao do Metodo de Avaliacao Capitulo 3. Metodo e Aplicacao do Diagnostico Comportamental a Produtores de Maracuja do Distrito Federal Capitulo 4. Plano de Analise Aplicado ao Diagnostico Comportamental da Atividade Produtiva Capitulo 5. Construcao e Utilizacao de Planilha Eletronica em Formato off-line: coleta de dados no campo
Chucky: exposing missing checks in source code for vulnerability discovery

Uncovering security vulnerabilities in software is a key for operating secure systems. Unfortunately, only some security flaws can be detected automatically and the vast majority of vulnerabilities is still identified by tedious auditing of source code. In this paper, we strive to improve this situation by accelerating the process of manual auditing. We introduce Chucky, a method to expose missing checks in source code. Many vulnerabilities result from insufficient input validation and thus omitted or false checks provide valuable clues for finding security flaws. Our method proceeds by statically tainting source code and identifying anomalous or missing conditions linked to security-critical objects.In an empirical evaluation with five popular open-source projects, Chucky is able to accurately identify artificial and real missing checks, which ultimately enables us to uncover 12 previously unknown vulnerabilities in two of the projects (Pidgin and LibTIFF).
Order Reduction of the Chemical Master Equation via Balanced Realisation

We consider a Markov process in continuous time with a finite number of discrete states. The time-dependent probabilities of being in any state of the Markov chain are governed by a set of ordinary differential equations, whose dimension might be large even for trivial systems. Here, we derive a reduced ODE set that accurately approximates the probabilities of subspaces of interest with a known error bound. Our methodology is based on model reduction by balanced truncation and can be considerably more computationally efficient than solving the chemical master equation directly. We show the applicability of our method by analysing stochastic chemical reactions. First, we obtain a reduced order model for the infinitesimal generator of a Markov chain that models a reversible, monomolecular reaction. Later, we obtain a reduced order model for a catalytic conversion of substrate to a product (a so-called Michaelis-Menten mechanism), and compare its dynamics with a rapid equilibrium approximation method. For this example, we highlight the savings on the computational load obtained by means of the reduced-order model. Furthermore, we revisit the substrate catalytic conversion by obtaining a lower-order model that approximates the probability of having predefined ranges of product molecules. In such an example, we obtain an approximation of the output of a model with 5151 states by a reduced model with 16 states. Finally, we obtain a reduced-order model of the Brusselator.
Parallel On-Demand Hierarchy Construction on Contemporary GPUs

We present the first parallel on-demand spatial hierarchy construction algorithm targeting ray tracing on many-core processors such as GPUs. The method performs simultaneous ray traversal and spatial hierarchy construction focused on the parts of the data structure being traversed. The method is based on a versatile framework built around a task pool and runs entirely on the GPU. We show that the on-demand construction can improve rendering times compared to full hierarchy construction. We evaluate our method on both object (BVH) and space (kd-tree) subdivision data structures and compare them mutually. The on-demand method is particularly beneficial for rendering large scenes with high occlusion. We also present SAH kd-tree builder that outperforms previous state-of-the-art builders running on the GPU.
Evaluation of composition and mineral structure of callus tissue in rat femoral fracture

Abstract. Callus formation is a critical step for successful fracture healing. Little is known about the molecular composition and mineral structure of the newly formed tissue in the callus. The aim was to evaluate the feasibility of small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) to assess mineral structure of callus and cortical bone and if it could provide complementary information with the compositional analyses from Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy. Femurs of 12 male Sprague–Dawley rats at 9 weeks of age were fractured and fixed with an intramedullary 1.1 mm K-wire. Fractures were treated with the combinations of bone morphogenetic protein-7 and/or zoledronate. Rats were sacrificed after 6 weeks and both femurs were prepared for FTIR and SAXS analysis. Significant differences were found in the molecular composition and mineral structure between the fracture callus, fracture cortex, and control cortex. The degree of mineralization, collagen maturity, and degree of orientation of the mineral plates were lower in the callus tissue than in the cortices. The results indicate the feasibility of SAXS in the investigation of mineral structure of bone fracture callus and provide complementary information with the composition analyzed with FTIR. Moreover, this study contributes to the limited FTIR and SAXS data in the field.
Flipping MIS Classroom by Peers: Gateway to Student's Engagement Intention

Flipped classroom is one approach of active learning leading to better students' learning, abilities, and academic performance. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of applying the flipped classroom approach to MIS course, to examine the antecedents of engagement intention after participating the flipped classroom by peers, and to guide key factors of success student presentations. The quasi-experimental retrospective pre-post design is adopted during the whole semester. Eight rounds of student presentations were conducted. Data were collected after each round. Descriptive statistics, t-test, simple linear regression, and multiple linear regression were used. The findings confirm the relationships among perceived usefulness, satisfaction, and engagement intention. There were significant differences among students' perceived usefulness and intention before and after applying the flipped activities. Audience students also suggest the proper settings for the flipped classroom by peers.
Vulnerability reduction through local seismic culture

Work done in the area of vulnerability reduction by academics and professionals has been a key component in reducing adverse impacts of potential disasters. A primary type of vulnerability in which engineers have an important role to play is that related to the built environment. In particular, the disintegration and collapse of buildings are responsible for the vast majority of deaths and injuries, as well as economic losses and social disruption, following an earthquake. Traditionally, engineering research has focused on the development of new design philosophies and construction technologies as a means of reducing the vulnerability of buildings. The tendency to study and apply new technologies for better earthquake protection has been reinforced by evidence from recent earthquakes, suggesting that, where appropriately adopted, advances in construction materials and methods result in safer structures, sustaining less damage.
The DENIS Point Source Catalogue towards the Magellanic Clouds

We have compiled the near infrared Point Source Catalogue (PSC) towards the Magellanic Clouds (MCs) extracted from the data obtained with the Deep Near Infrared Survey of the Southern Sky - DENIS (Epchtein et al. 1997). The catalogue covers an area of of 19.87* 16 square degrees centered on (RA, DEC)=(5h27m20s, -69o00\'00\'\') for the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and 14.7* 10 square degrees centered on (RA, DEC)=(h02m40s, -73o00\'00\'\' for the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) at the epoch J2000. It contains about 1300000 sources towards the LMC and 300000 sources towards the SMC each detected in at least 2 of the 3 photometric bands involved in the survey (I, J, Ks). 70% of the detected sources are true members of the Magellanic Clouds, respectively and consist mainly of red giants, asymptotic giant branch stars and super-giants. The observations have all been made with the same instrument and the data have been calibrated and reduced uniformly. The catalogue provides a homogeneous set of photometric data.
BamHash: a checksum program for verifying the integrity of sequence data

Summary Large resequencing projects require a significant amount of storage for raw sequences, as well as alignment files. Since the raw sequences are redundant once the alignment has been generated, it is possible to keep only the alignment files. We present BamHash, a checksum based method to ensure that the read pairs in FASTQ files match exactly the read pairs stored in BAM files, regardless of the ordering of reads. BamHash can be used to verify the integrity of the files stored and discover any discrepancies. Thus, BamHash can be used to determine if it is safe to delete the FASTQ files storing raw sequencing reads after alignment, without the loss of data. Availability and Implementation The software is implemented in C++, GPL licensed and available at https://github.com/DecodeGenetics/BamHash Contact pmelsted@hi.is
Activation of mGlu3 Receptors Stimulates the Production of GDNF in Striatal Neurons

Metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors have been considered potential targets for the therapy of experimental parkinsonism. One hypothetical advantage associated with the use of mGlu receptor ligands is the lack of the adverse effects typically induced by ionotropic glutamate receptor antagonists, such as sedation, ataxia, and severe learning impairment. Low doses of the mGlu2/3 metabotropic glutamate receptor agonist, LY379268 (0.25–3 mg/kg, i.p.) increased glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) mRNA and protein levels in the mouse brain, as assessed by in situ hybridization, real-time PCR, immunoblotting, and immunohistochemistry. This increase was prominent in the striatum, but was also observed in the cerebral cortex. GDNF mRNA levels peaked at 3 h and declined afterwards, whereas GDNF protein levels progressively increased from 24 to 72 h following LY379268 injection. The action of LY379268 was abrogated by the mGlu2/3 receptor antagonist, LY341495 (1 mg/kg, i.p.), and was lost in mGlu3 receptor knockout mice, but not in mGlu2 receptor knockout mice. In pure cultures of striatal neurons, the increase in GDNF induced by LY379268 required the activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase pathways, as shown by the use of specific inhibitors of the two pathways. Both in vivo and in vitro studies led to the conclusion that neurons were the only source of GDNF in response to mGlu3 receptor activation. Remarkably, acute or repeated injections of LY379268 at doses that enhanced striatal GDNF levels (0.25 or 3 mg/kg, i.p.) were highly protective against nigro-striatal damage induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine in mice, as assessed by stereological counting of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive neurons in the pars compacta of the substantia nigra. We speculate that selective mGlu3 receptor agonists or enhancers are potential candidates as neuroprotective agents in Parkinson's disease, and their use might circumvent the limitations associated with the administration of exogenous GDNF.
Interleukin-6 RNA knockdown ameliorates acute lung injury induced by intestinal ischemia reperfusion in rats by upregulating interleukin-10 expression

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a common complication following intestinal ischemia/reperfusion (II/R) injury and contributes to the associated high mortality rate. However, the underlying mechanism is poorly understood and treatments are limited. RNA interference (RNAi) has been demonstrated to provide a promising disease treatment strategy both in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, the present study aimed to test whether blocking the proinflammatory cytokine IL-6 by RNAi may protect the lungs from remote organ injury following II/R, and to investigate the potential underlying mechanisms. A total of 176 adult healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham, II/R, negative-control and IL-6-short hairpin (sh)RNA groups. The rats underwent II/R injury with occlusion of the superior mesenteric artery and coeliac artery to induce ischemia for 40 min, and were subsequently reperfused for 0–48 h. The negative-control group received a control lentiviral vector containing scrambled or non-specific sequences, and the IL-6-shRNA groups were administered with a vector containing an IL-6 shRNA sequence to affect RNAi-mediated knockdown of IL-6. ALI severity was determined by lung edema (lung wet/dry ratio) and histological analysis (lung injury scores). IL-6 localization, and mRNA and protein expression levels, were detected by immunofluorescence, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis, respectively. IL-10 expression induced by IL-6 knockdown in lung tissues was additionally detected. IL-6 RNAi was revealed to significantly reduce the expression of IL-6, which was associated with upregulated IL-10 expression in lung tissues. Consequently, the severities of ALI and edema induced by II/R were substantially improved. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that IL-6 RNAi may protect the lung from ALI induced by II/R, and that this protective role may be associated with upregulation of IL-10. These findings may contribute to the development of an IL-6-RNAi-based therapeutic strategy for the treatment of II/R-induced ALI.
Insecticide resistance monitoring and evaluation in disease transmitting mosquitoes

The emergence of mosquito species resistant to insecticides widely used in malaria and dengue control has the potential to impact severely on the control of these disease vectors. A limited number of resistance mechanisms, including modification of the insecticides' target site, or changes in rates of metabolism involving esterases, glutathione S-transferases or monooxygenases operate in all insects. The potential for resistance to develop in vectors has been apparent since the 1950's, but the scale of the problem has been poorly documented. Few new public health insecticides have been developed for control of disease vectors for the past three decades and without good stewardship these insecticides will cease to be effective for vector control. This may have a dramatic effect in disease endemic countries, as few affordable alternative insecticides can rapidly be made available for vector control. Here we review our ability to optimally measure and manage insecticide resistance in field populations of insects, which is crucial to the long term sustainability of insecticide-based disease control campaigns.
The role of information in nonstationary regression

ABSTRACT The role of standard likelihood-based measures of information and efficiency is unclear when regressions involve nonstationary data. Typically the standardized score is not asymptotically Gaussian and the standardized Hessian has a stochastic, rather than deterministic limit. Here we consider a time series regression involving a deterministic covariate which can be evaporating, slowly evolving or nonstationary. It is shown that conditional information, or equivalently, profile Kullback–Leibler and Fisher information remain informative about both the accuracy, i.e. asymptotic variance, of profile maximum likelihood estimators, and the power of point optimal invariant tests for a unit root. Specifically, these information measures indicate fractional, rather than linear trends that may minimize inferential accuracy. Such is confirmed in a numerical experiment.
Axial and pseudoscalar nucleon form factors from low energy pion electroproduction.

The cross section for exclusive [pi][sup +] electroproduction on the proton has been measured near threshold for the first time at two different values of the virtual photon polarization ([var epsilon][similar to]0.2 and [var epsilon][similar to]0.7). Using the low energy theorem for this reaction we deduce the axial and pseudoscalar weak form factors [ital G][sub [ital A]] and [ital G][sub [ital P]] at [vert bar][ital t][vert bar]=0.073, 0.139, and 0.179 (GeV/[ital c])[sup 2]. The slope of [ital G][sub [ital A]] agrees with the value obtained in neutrino experiments. [ital G][sub [ital P]] satisfies the pion pole dominance hypothesis, which is thus verified for the first time in this range of transfer.