Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A CMOS 90 nm 55 mW 3.4-to-9.2 GHz 12 Band Frequency Synthesizer for MB-OFDM UWB

A frequency synthesizer for ultra-wideband (UWB) multiband orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MB-OFDM) applications is designed in TSMC 90 nm CMOS technology. It is based on two wideband PLLs (8 MHz open loop unit gain frequency) capable of settling in less than 300 ns with a 66 MHz external reference. The PLL tuning range (6.6-9.2 GHz) is extended down to 3.4 GHz by a dedicated circuit able to divide the output frequency by 1, 1.5 and 2 with a power consumption of less than 3 mW. Measured data fit the UWB MB-OFDM specifications with an integrated phase noise of 2.8RMS o at maximum output frequency and an aggregate spurious tone power of less than -27 dBc. The joint power consumption is 55 mW and the synthesizer core area occupies less than 0.5 mm2 .
Identification of the Bacterial Microflora in Dairy Products by Temporal Temperature Gradient Gel Electrophoresis

ABSTRACT Numerous microorganisms, including bacteria, yeasts, and molds, are present in cheeses, forming a complex ecosystem. Among these organisms, bacteria are responsible for most of the physicochemical and aromatic transformations that are intrinsic to the cheesemaking process. Identification of the bacteria that constitute the cheese ecosystem is essential for understanding their individual contributions to cheese production. We used temporal temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TTGE) to identify different bacterial species present in several dairy products, including members of the genera Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Leuconostoc, Enterococcus, Pediococcus, Streptococcus, and Staphylococcus. The TTGE technique is based on electrophoretic separation of 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) fragments by using a temperature gradient. It was optimized to reveal differences in the 16S rDNA V3 regions of bacteria with low-G+C-content genomes. Using multiple control strains, we first set up a species database in which each species (or group of species) was characterized by a specific TTGE fingerprint. TTGE was then applied to controlled dairy ecosystems with defined compositions, including liquid (starter), semisolid (home-made fermented milk), and solid (miniature cheese models) matrices. Finally, the potential of TTGE to describe the bacterial microflora of unknown ecosystems was tested with various commercial dairy products. Subspecies, species, or groups of species of lactic acid bacteria were distinguished in dairy samples. In conclusion, TTGE was shown to distinguish bacterial species in vitro, as well as in both liquid and solid dairy products.
Distinct Biological Network Properties between the Targets of Natural Products and Disease Genes

We show that natural products target proteins with a high number of protein−protein functional interactions (high biological network connectivity) and that these protein targets have higher network connectivity than disease genes. This feature may facilitate disruption of essential biological pathways, resulting in competitor death. This result also suggests that additional sources of small molecules will be required to discover drugs targeting the root causes of human disease in the future.
TREASURE: Trust Enhanced Security for Cloud Environments

Today, cloud computing is one of the popular technologies. In addition to this, most of the hardware that is being shipped today is equipped with the TPM which can be used for realization of trusted platforms. Recently several TPM attestation techniques such as binary attestation and property based attestation techniques have been proposed but there are some fundamental issues that need to be addressed for using these techniques in practice. In this paper we consider an architecture where different services are hosted on the cloud infrastructure by multiple cloud customers (tenants). Then we consider an attacker model that is specific to the cloud and some of the challenges with the current TPM based attestation techniques. We will also propose a novel trust enhanced security model for cloud which overcomes the challenges with the current TPM based attestation techniques and efficiently deals with the attacks in the cloud. In our model, the cloud service provider is used as the Certification Authority (CA) for the tenant virtual machines. The CA only certifies the basic security properties which are the assurance on the traffic originating from the tenant virtual machine and validation of the tenant virtual machine transactions. The components of the CA monitor the interactions of the tenant virtual machine for the certified properties. Since the tenant virtual machines are running on the cloud service provider infrastructure, it is aware of the dynamic changes to the tenant virtual machine. The CA can terminate the ongoing transactions and/or dynamically isolate the tenant virtual machine if there is a variation in the behaviour of the tenant virtual machine from the certified properties. Hence our model can be used to address the challenges with the current TPM based attestation techniques and efficiently deal with the attacks in the cloud. We will present implementation of our model on Xen and how it deals with the attacks in different attack case scenarios. We will also show that our model is beneficial for the cloud service providers, tenants and tenant customers.
The cross-cultural validity of the Learning-Centered Leadership framework and its assessment instrument for principals

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to select a theoretical framework for effective school leadership that is connected with research, standards and current practices in the USA, and examine its validity and generalizability cross-culturally. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses both qualitative and quantitative methods through expert panel evaluation, cognitive interviews, and field testing of the instrument. The author asks: How well does the Learning-Centered Leadership (LCL) framework align with the professional standards and current practices of principals in urban Chinese schools in the opinion of the experts? Is there evidence that its leadership assessment instrument has construct validity in Chinese urban schools based on the re-examination of its content and measurement criteria? And is there evidence that the instrument is yielding consistent results when taken by the intended participants? How effective are the analytic strategies employed by this study in detecting the equivalences.
Engineering toxins for 21st century therapies

‘Engineering Toxins for 21st Century Therapies’ (9–10 September 2010) was part of the Royal Society International Seminar series held at the Kavli International Centre, UK. Participants were assembled from a range of disciplines (academic, industry, regulatory, public health) to discuss the future potential of toxin‐based therapies. The meeting explored how the current structural and mechanistic knowledge of toxins could be used to engineer future toxin‐based therapies. To date, significant progress has been made in the design of novel recombinant biologics based on domains of natural toxins, engineered to exhibit advantageous properties. The meeting concluded, firstly that future product development vitally required the appropriate combination of creativity and innovation that can come from the academic, biotechnology and pharma sectors. Second, that continued investigation into understanding the basic science of the toxins and their targets was essential in order to develop new opportunities for the existing products and to create new products with enhanced properties. Finally, it was concluded that the clinical potential for development of novel biologics based on toxin domains was evident.
Does IQ = IQ? Comparability of Intelligence Test Scores in Typically Developing Children

Numerous intelligence tests are available to psychological diagnosticians to assess children’s intelligence, but whether they yield comparable test results has been little studied. We examined test scores of 206 typically developing children aged 6 to 11 years on five German intelligence tests (Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales; Snijders Oomen Nonverbal Intelligence Test; Intelligence and Development Scales; Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 4th edition; Culture Fair Intelligence Test Scale 2), which were individually administered. On a sample level, the test scores showed strong correlation and little or no mean difference. These results indicate that the tests measure a similar underlying construct, which is interpreted as general intelligence. On an individual level, however, test scores significantly differed across tests for 12% to 38% of the children. Differences did not depend on which test was used but rather on unexplained error. Implications for the application of intelligence assessment in psychological practice are discussed.
Influence of Bypass on Flow Through Plate Fin Heat Sinks

Forced air convection cooling of plate fin heat sinks is typically used as an effective means of cooling microelectronic devices because of its inherent simplicity and cost effectiveness. While the increased surface area obtained by placing plate fin heat sinks in close proximity to one another can significantly reduce the boundary resistance because of the added surface area, the added pressure drop associated with a constrained flow can lead to a decrease in inter-fin flow velocity along with a decrease in heat transfer. The ability to accurately predict the distribution of fluid flow between the fins of a heat sink and the fluid flow bypassing the heat sink is critical in the design and effective operation of heat sinks used to cool electronic components. An analytical model for predicting air flow and pressure drop across the heat sink is developed by applying conservation of mass and momentum over the bypass regions and in the flow channels established between the fins of the heat sink. The model is applicable for the entire laminar flow range and any type of bypass (side, top or both) or fully shrouded configurations. During the development of the model, the flow is assumed to be steady, laminar, developing flow. The model is found in good agreement with the experimental data over a wide range of flow conditions, heat sink geometries and bypass configurations, typical of many applications found in microelectronics and related fields. Data published in the open literature are also used to show the flexibility of the models to simulate a variety of applications. The model is also correlated to a simple equation within plusmn12% confidence level for easy calculation of channel velocity through the heat sink when heat sink geometry, duct geometry and flow conditions are known.
Use of classical conditioning procedures in behavioral pharmacology

While operant conditioning clearly dominates the field of behavioral pharmacology, over the past 10 years, classical conditioning has been used more frequently to study the effect of drugs on behavior. In particular, the rabbit nictitating membrane response (NMR) has been used to study the effects of drugs on learning. This procedure offers a number of advantages over other assessments of learning in mammals to the study of drug effects on learning. First, because the rabbit NMR is well characterized behaviorally, it is possible to relate a drug effect to a particular behavioral process (e.g., to an effect directly on learning vs. an effect on the psychological processing of the unconditioned stimulus). In addition, with recent advances in determining the neuroanatomical basis of the conditioned NMR, it may also be possible to relate a drug effect on learning to an effect at a particular anatomical locus. Finally, because the conditioned response is acquired rapidly, the effect of a drug on learning can be assessed rapidly within a large group of animals. The current paper details the behavioral techniques which have been developed to study the effects of drugs, in particular the opioids, on classical conditioning. A number of studies which have used classical conditioning procedures in the rabbit to study drug effects on acquisition, maintenance, and differentiation of conditioned responses are reviewed.
Mucosal disease of cattle: a late sequel to fetal infection

The introduction of a heifer which was persistently infected with bovine virus diarrhoea-mucosal disease virus into groups of pregnant cattle resulted in abortion, neonatal death, persistent infection and, subsequently, mucosal disease in the surviving progeny. Cattle affected with mucosal disease were invariably seronegative at the time of investigation and subsequent cases occurred only in calves previously identified as seronegative and persistently infected. The detection of virus antigen by immunofluorescent staining of cells obtained from the nasopharynx was shown to be an efficient and rapid method for identifying persistently infected cattle, correlating perfectly with virus isolation.
Attenuation of Replication Stress–Induced Premature Cellular Senescence to Assess Anti‐Aging Modalities

Described is an in vitro model of premature senescence in pulmonary adenocarcinoma A549 cells induced by persistent DNA replication stress in response to treatment with the DNA damaging drug mitoxantrone (Mxt). The degree of cellular senescence, based on characteristic changes in cell morphology, is measured by laser scanning cytometry. Specifically, the flattening of cells grown on slides (considered the hallmark of cellular senescence) is measured as the decline in local intensity of DNA‐associated DAPI fluorescence (represented by maximal pixels). This change is paralleled by an increase in nuclear area. Thus, the ratio of mean intensity of maximal pixels to nuclear area provides a very sensitive morphometric biomarker for the degree of senescence. This analysis is combined with immunocytochemical detection of senescence markers, such as overexpression of cyclin kinase inhibitors (e.g., p21WAF1) and phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 (rpS6), a key marker associated with aging/senescence that is detected using a phospho‐specific antibody. These biomarker indices are presented in quantitative terms defined as a senescence index (SI), which is the fraction of the marker in test cultures relative to the same marker in exponentially growing control cultures. This system can be used to evaluate the anti‐aging potential of test agents by assessing attenuation of maximal senescence. As an example, the inclusion of berberine, a natural alkaloid with reported anti‐aging properties and a long history of use in traditional Chinese medicine, is shown to markedly attenuate the Mxt‐induced SI and phosphorylation of rpS6. The multivariate analysis of senescence markers by laser scanning cytometry offers a promising tool to explore the potential anti‐aging properties of a variety agents. Curr. Protoc. Cytom. 69:9.47. 1‐9.47. 10. © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Canopy architecture and remote sensing of the fraction of photosynthetically active radiation absorbed by boreal conifer forests

Measurements of the fraction of photosynthetically active radiation (FPAR) absorbed by the forest overstory were made at 20 sites in black spruce (Picea mariana) and jack pine (Pinus banksiana) boreal forests located in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada. Canopies of both species have similar vertical tree crown structure but different branch and shoot architecture. Intensive investigation was made on the effect of these canopy architecture on the penetration of total visible radiation into the canopy at various solar zenith angles /spl theta/, quantified using the projection coefficient G/sub t/(/spl theta/). Based on experimental evidence, constant values of G/sub t/(/spl theta/) and the above- and below-canopy PAR reflectivities are suggested for these two species for the calculation of daily green FPAR. The calculation then requires only a single stand parameter: the effective green leaf area index (LAI) L/sub eg/, which is similar to the effective LAI L/sub e/ measured using optical instruments but reduced by a small fraction to remove the contribution of woody material to the total above-ground plant area. Daily green FPAR of the sites was correlated with the Simple Ratio (SR) and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) obtained from Landsat 5 TM images. The correlation was better in late-spring than in mid-summer, suggesting spring images are more useful for obtaining FPAR of the overstory. Comparisons of the present with previous results suggest that the background (understory and ground cover) signal and the tree crown shadows are important in satellite measurements of FPAR.
BUILDING BAYESIAN NETS FOR SOFTWARE DEFECT PREDICTION – A COMPARISON OF MANUAL , SEMI-AND FULLY-AUTOMATED SCHEMES

Various techniques have been used in software defect prediction. Bayesian nets (BNs) is one of such techniques. BNs have various advantages, especially important in an environment where no large dataset is available, as is typical for software defect prediction. BNs can be built using various schemes, depending on availability of domain knowledge and/or data: (1) automatically from the data, (2) manually by an expert or (3) using a mixture of expert knowledge and empirical data. This chapter discusses an experiment, which aim is to analyze and assess the accuracy of BNs for software defect prediction developed using these three schemes. An important assumption is to use a small set with data on past projects completed in a single company, with most of predictors describing development process quality. The results show that a model built by experts performs the most accurately to predict number of defects and defect rate; models generated using semiand fully-automated schemes achieve significantly lower accuracy. Two main reasons of such result are: (1) low volume of data used to automatically generate the model structure and parameters and (2) the need to discretize numeric variables using wide intervals.
Markov Properties with Sequential Bargaining

Basing on the discourse about traditional model of the securities markets pricing mechanism, and considering the reality of the "absence of the liquidity supplier" in our country's security markets, this paper works out a dynamic stochastic matching pricing model basing on Markov tactics of the traders. And by the empirical testing, it vitrifies the basic hypotheses of the model.
Algorithms for data migration with cloning

Our work is motivated by the problem of managing data on storage devices, typically a set of disks. Such high demand storage servers are used as web servers, or multimedia servers for handling high demand for data. As the system is running, it needs to dynamically respond to changes in demand for different data items. In this work we study the data migration problem, which arises when we need to quickly change one storage configuration into another. We show that this problem is NP-hard. In addition, we develop polynomial-time approximation algorithms for this problem and prove a worst case bound of 9.5 on the approximation factor achieved by our algorithm. We also compare the algorithm to several heuristics for this problem.
Project Proficiency: Assessing the Independent Effects of High School Reform in an Urban District

ABSTRACT. The authors sought to determine if an urban school district's effort to fundamentally change teaching, assessment, and intervention practices increased student achievement and decreased achievement variation among classrooms in 11 high schools. They examined Grade 11 mathematics achievement data from the 2009–2010 and 2010–2011 Kentucky Core Content Test. The sample consisted of 2,451 students in 11 high schools that implemented an initiative called Project Proficiency. The study used hierarchical linear modeling to determine if changes in instructional practices yielded academic gains, while controlling for individual and school socioeconomic status (SES) and prior student achievement. The analysis revealed that Project Proficiency had a significant impact on state mathematics achievement and reduced classroom variation by 55% in the final model, as opposed to 16% in the control group. Results also indicated that a school's SES had a greater influence on student achievement than an individual student's SES.
Permissibility and Practical Inference*

Many are drawn, at least initially, to the view that an agent’s reasons for acting have a direct bearing on whether he acts permissibly. A number of influential philosophers, however, have argued that this view is incorrect and that its appeal must derive from some sort of confusion. According to these philosophers, an agent’s reasons for acting may reveal the quality of his character or help determine the extent to which he is at fault for, or deserves praise or blame for, acting as he does, but they rarely, and then only indirectly, bear on whether he acts permissibly. This latter view naturally recommends itself if one takes acting impermissibly to be a matter of doing something against which a decisive moral case can be made, even if only in retrospect. Different moral theories give different accounts of what might constitute a decisive moral case against acting in a certain way, but all agree that whether a case can be made against acting in a certain way is independent of any agent’s actual grounds for acting in that way. I wish to examine a rather different way of thinking about permissibility, one according to which, roughly speaking, an agent acts impermissibly if and only if he acts for reasons insufficient to justify him
The Effect of Social and Classroom Ecological Factors on Promoting Self-Determination in Elementary School

The authors surveyed 233 elementary special educators in 23 states to determine (a) how the teaching of self-regulation strategies and classroom setting affected their perceptions of the importance of teaching self-determination, (b) the frequency with which they did so, and (c) the barriers to promoting self-determination. Results indicated that the frequency of teaching self-determination, more than the ratings of the importance of teaching it, was affected by the teaching of self-regulation strategies. Classroom setting affected only the perception of importance of teaching self-determination, and then only for teachers who taught some of the self-regulation strategies. The authors discuss the limitations and implications as well as offer suggestions for future research.