Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Reconfigurable Computing Engine for Wavelet Transforms

In the past a few years, wavelet transforms have become a hot topic of research. Discrete and continuous wavelet transforms have been widely used in signal and multimedia processing. Due to the high performance and flexibility of reconfigurable computing systems, it is very attractive to design a re configurable architecture for discrete and continuous wavelet transform of wide range of wavelet filters. In this paper, a unified computation framework for discrete and continuous wavelet transform based on lifting scheme and a reconfigurable architecture that includes reconfigurable lifting step arrays and reconfigurable address generator are proposed. The unified framework is the theory basis of this system. The step array is the computing core of this engine. And the address generator supports several memory scan pattern which is used to generate memory access addresses. In order to validate this architecture, an FPGA prototype is built based on Xilinx VirtexII FPGA to test the reconfiguration of 2-D discrete 5/3 and 9/7 transforms (defined in specification ofJPEG2000) and 2-D continuous Haar wavelet transform. Furthermore, a 3-level decomposition for a 512 times 512 grayscale image is performed and the results show that the decomposition can be finished within 12.16ms when running at 20MHz. It can be concluded that this design is applicable and scalable.
Bit-Stream Adders and Multipliers for Tri-Level Sigma–Delta Modulators

We propose both adder and multiplier circuits for bit-stream signal processing customized for tri-level sigma-delta modulated signals. These architectures are the 2-bit extensions from the existing 1-bit bit-stream adders and multipliers, and are shown to offer better signal-to-noise performance. Field-programmable gate array implementations then confirm their efficacy.
The Effects of Cognitively Complex Task on Fluency, Accuracy and Complexity of L2 Learners’ Written Performance

Cognitive complexity of task is one of the factors which influence L2 learners’ written performance. Although there have been a lot of studies in the field of task-based language teaching, a gap was discovered in the literature on the effects of cognitively complex task on L2 learners’ written performance. This pilot study was conducted to explore the effects of cognitive complexity of task on L2 learners’ written performance in the case of accuracy, complexity and fluency. This research was conducted by seven EFL students. In order to explore the effects of cognitively complex task on L2 learners’ written production, first participants were given a simple version of narrative task to write an essay. After one week the same participants were given complex version of the narrative task. Then the data was submitted to statistic means including oneway ANOVA. The results show that cognitively complex task improves fluency of participants of this study.
Massive MIMO meets decision fusion: Decode-and-fuse vs. decode-then-fuse

We study channel-aware decision fusion over a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channel in the largearray regime at the decision-fusion center (DFC). Inhomogeneous large-scale fading between the sensors and the DFC is consider in addition to the small-scale fading, and pilot-based channel estimation is performed at the DFC. Linear processing techniques are analyzed in order to design low-complexity alternatives to the optimum log-likelihood ratio test (LLRT). Performance evaluation based on Monte Carlo simulations are presented.
A Spectrophotometric Method to Determine the Inclination of Class I Objects

A new method that enables us to estimate the inclination of Class I young stellar objects is proposed. Since Class I objects are not spherically symmetric, it is likely that the observed feature is sensitive to the inclination of the system. Thus, we construct a protostar model by carefully treating two-dimensional radiative transfer and radiative equilibrium. We show from the present two-dimensional numerical simulations that the emergent luminosity LSED, which is the frequency integration of spectral energy distribution (SED), depends strongly on the inclination of the system i, whereas the peak flux is insensitive to i. Based on this result, we introduce a novel indicator fL, which is the ratio of LSED to the peak flux, as a good measure for the inclination. By using fL, we can determine the inclination regardless of the other physical parameters. The inclination would be determined by fL within an accuracy of ±5° if the opening angle of bipolar outflows is specified by any other procedure. Since this spectrophotometric method is easier than a geometrical method or a full SED fitting method, it could be a powerful tool for investigating the features of protostars statistically with observational data that will be provided by future missions, such as SIRTF, Astro-F, and ALMA.
Service-aware Overlay Adaptation in Ambient Networks

Developing service-aware self-adaptation systems in heterogeneous and rapidly changing wireless networks such as ambient networks is a challenging issue. Key research areas are adaptation policy definition, network context monitoring, and adaptation policy enforcement. In this paper, we present the ambient virtual pipe platform (AVPP) - that provides a flexible approach towards the creation and management of self-adaptation service-aware overlays in ambient networks
OPTIMUM OUTPUT POWER BACK-OFF in NON-LINEAR CHANNELS for OFDM BASED WLAN

Cyclically extended OFDM based WLAN systems have the capability to easily counteract frequency selective fading channels by one-tap equalizers in the frequency domain. Conversely, the sensitivity to nonlinear distortions, mainly introduced by power amplifiers, is one of the drawbacks of this modulation technique. Usually, the optimum Output power Back Off (OBO) is the one that minimizes the Total Degradation. Aim of this work is to show that the optimum OBO is a function of the channel behavior (e.g. AWGN, frequency selective Rician or Rayleigh fading channels). The effectiveness of amplifier predistortion and the gain introduced in the system link budget is also considered for different M-QAM constellation size. Computer simulations are shown and compared to an analytical approach.
Generalized co-occurrence matrix for multispectral texture analysis

We present a new co-occurrence matrix based approach for multispectral texture analysis. The spectral and spatial domains of the multispectral textures are processed separately. The color space used in this study is represented by subspaces and it is classified by the averaged learning subspace method (ALSM). In the spatial domain we use a generalized co-occurrence matrix for vector valued pixels. The texture feature vectors are classified by the k-nearest neighbor (KNN) classifier and the multilayer perceptron (MLP) network. Experimental results of the multispectral texture segmentation are presented.
Flourishing through Resilience: The Impact of a College Outdoor Education Program

A growing number of industries and organizations are developing initiatives that focus on and prioritize well-being. Among them are institutions of higher education. As Rogers and Lucas (2016) pointed out, “we are increasingly seeing universities around the world take on the challenge of moving beyond only measuring outcomes related to academic and career success and expanding the scope of their responsibility to include students’ well-being and their capacity to build lives of vitality, resilience, purpose, and engagement. ” Documented benefits of recreation, and in particular outdoor recreation, are numerous and include physiological benefits as well as an array of mental health benefits, such as reduction in stress and incidence of depressive symptoms, enhanced well-being, and increased peer support (e.g., Maller et al., 2015; Orsega-Smith, Mowen, Payne, & Godbey, 2004; Townsend, Pryor, Brown & St Leger, 2005). Many outdoor education programs are intentionally designed to utilize the myriad inherent physical, emotional, and mental challenges in order to achieve certain desired outcomes such as well-being (e.g., Sibthorp, Paisley, & Gookin, 2007). Participants from this study enrolled in a 13-day college outdoor education program completed a survey to measure resilience and mental health at the start and conclusion of the program. Resilience was measured using Wagnild and Young’s (1993) Resilience Scale (RS), and the Mental Health Continuum Short Form was used to measure the three domains of well-being (Keyes, 2009). A total of 132 participants completed the surveys over the three-year period ( N = 42 in 2011, N = 44 in 2012, and N = 46 in 2013). A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to determine if participation in the outdoor education program impacted participants’ perceived level of psychological resilience and perceived mental health. Results revealed statistically significant gains from pre-course to post-course on psychological resilience, and the overall mental health well-being measure significantly increased.There is an increased felt need on many college campuses to address student flourishing, resilience, commitment to the university and overall success. In recent years, colleges and universities have sought innovative programming ideas to address these student needs. As budgets tighten and programs undergo greater scrutiny recreation professionals (e.g., outdoor programs, recreation and wellness departments) working on college campus are finding an increasing need to demonstrate the outcomes of their program success and impact. Likewise, as a profession, we are in need of more evidence-based practice. College programs are in a prime position to use the momentum of the “outdoor interest” to elevate their impact through research and partnerships. Subscribe to JPRA
Teleparallel space – time with torsion yields geometrization of electrodynamics with quantized charges

In the present paper a way of geometrization of electrodynamics is proposed, which makes use of a generalization of Riemannian geometry considered already by Einstein and Cartan in the 20ies. Cartan’s differential forms description of a teleparallel space–time with torsion is modified by introducing distortion 1-forms instead of the basis 1-forms ω which correspond to the distortion tensor in dislocation theory. The interplay between the first and second Bianchi identity and between their structure equations is seen as the action of an antisymmetry operator (trace of the exterior product with the basis 1-forms ω) which is dual to the contraction operator. Under the condition of teleparallelism, the antisymmetrized part of the distorsion 1–form is proposed as electromagnetic field, whereas the antisymmetrized part of torsion contributes to the electromagnetic current. Cartan’s structure equations, the Bianchi identities, Maxwell’s equations and the continuity equation are thus linked in a most simple way. However, the superposition principle turns out to hold for weak electromagnetic fields only. The Levi-Civita connection yields as usual the gravitational phenomena on a large scale, whereas the teleparallel connection is assumed to describe electrodynamics and microphysics. After these purely geometric considerations a physical interpretation of the derived equations, using analogies to the theory of defects in ordered media, is given. Considering closed loops in dislocation theory, a simple defect appears as source of the electromagnetic field, giving evidence for a quantization of the electric charge. Further congruences with quantum mechanical observations that arise are discussed, supporting the hypothesis that elementary particles may be described as topological defects of space–time. Finally, the implications on dimensions of the respective physical quantities are investigated. In agreement with the differential geometry results,
Antioxidant Properties of the Mung Bean Flavonoids on Alleviating Heat Stress

Background It is a widespread belief in Asian countries that mung bean soup (MBS) may afford a protective effect against heat stress. Lack of evidence supports MBS conferring a benefit in addition to water. Results Here we show that vitexin and isovitexin are the major antioxidant components in mungbean (more than 96% of them existing in the bean seed coat), and both of them could be absorbed via gavage into rat plasma. In the plasma of rats fed with mungbean coat extract before or after exposure to heat stress, the levels of malonaldehyde and activities of lactate dehydrogenase and nitric oxide synthase were remarkably reduced; the levels of total antioxidant capacity and glutathione (a quantitative assessment of oxidative stress) were significantly enhanced. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that MBS can play additional roles to prevent heat stress injury. Characterization of the mechanisms underlying mungbean beneficial effects should help in the design of diet therapy strategies to alleviate heat stress, as well as provide reference for searching natural medicines against oxidative stress induced diseases.
A Traveling Wave based Communication Mechanism for Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper, we propose and evaluate a selforganizing communication mechanism for wireless sensor networks where a large number of sensor nodes are deployed. To accomplish application-oriented periodic communication without any centralized controls, we adopt traveling wave phenomena of a pulse-coupled oscillator model by regarding sensor nodes as oscillators and emission of radio signals as firing. We first investigate conditions of a phase-response curve to attain wave-formed firing patterns regardless of the initial phase of oscillators. We adopt the derived phase-response curve to accomplish the desired form of message propagation through local and mutual interactions among neighboring sensor nodes. Through simulation experiments, we confirm that our mechanism delivers sensor information to / from a designated node in a more energyefficient manner than other method, although it takes time to generate a traveling wave.
Data stream processing in fetal monitoring system: II. Application to signal processing

Centralised fetal monitoring system belongs to signal processing system class. The main functions of the system are signal acquisition from bedside monitors, on-line trace analysis and dynamic presentation of incoming data. Collected data set is controlled by centralised application. Relational database management system can’t process sampled at high frequency biomedical signals on-line. Therefore, we decide to build our own data management system dedicated to stream processing that support continuous queries. This paper describes a method of building a query plan based on proposed algebra. The presented example of application enables implementation of algorithm determining long and short term indices for fetal heart rate variability assessment on the basis of declarative query language. Our solution enables to define query based on data streams that makes the updated answers currently available.
Berry Esseen Bounds for Combinatorial Central Limit Theorems and Pattern Occurrences, using Zero and Size Biasing

Berry-Esseen-type bounds to the normal, based on zero- and size-bias couplings, are derived using Stein's method. The zero biasing bounds are illustrated in an application to combinatorial central limit theorems in which the random permutation has either the uniform distribution or one that is constant over permutations with the same cycle type, with no fixed points. The size biasing bounds are applied to the occurrences of fixed, relatively ordered subsequences (such as rising sequences) in a random permutation, and to the occurrences of patterns, extreme values, and subgraphs in finite graphs.
Can Physicians Identify Inappropriate Nuclear Stress Tests?: An Examination of Inter-Rater Reliability for the 2009 Appropriate Use Criteria for Radionuclide Imaging

Background— We sought to determine inter-rater reliability of the 2009 Appropriate Use Criteria for radionuclide imaging and whether physicians at various levels of training can effectively identify nuclear stress tests with inappropriate indications. Methods and Results— Four hundred patients were randomly selected from a consecutive cohort of patients undergoing nuclear stress testing at an academic medical center. Raters with different levels of training (including cardiology attending physicians, cardiology fellows, internal medicine hospitalists, and internal medicine interns) classified individual nuclear stress tests using the 2009 Appropriate Use Criteria. Consensus classification by 2 cardiologists was considered the operational gold standard, and sensitivity and specificity of individual raters for identifying inappropriate tests were calculated. Inter-rater reliability of the Appropriate Use Criteria was assessed using Cohen &kgr; statistics for pairs of different raters. The mean age of patients was 61.5 years; 214 (54%) were female. The cardiologists rated 256 (64%) of 400 nuclear stress tests as appropriate, 68 (18%) as uncertain, 55 (14%) as inappropriate; 21 (5%) tests were unable to be classified. Inter-rater reliability for noncardiologist raters was modest (unweighted Cohen &kgr;, 0.51, 95% confidence interval, 0.45–0.55). Sensitivity of individual raters for identifying inappropriate tests ranged from 47% to 82%, while specificity ranged from 85% to 97%. Conclusions— Inter-rater reliability for the 2009 Appropriate Use Criteria for radionuclide imaging is modest, and there is considerable variation in the ability of raters at different levels of training to identify inappropriate tests.
Sensitive ELISA for measuring elastin breakdown products in plasma.

SD Kucich et al. (1) described an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (EUSA) for soluble degradation products of elastin (elastin-derived peptides, EDP) in plasma. They reported a nonspecific loss of measurable EDP owing to coacervation of the elastin-a physical phenomenon in which certain proteins exhibit reversible aggregation on heating or increasing the ionic strength (2). We modified an ELISA to obviate this phenomenon. EDP used as standards were prepared (2), and the protein concentration was determined (3) (standard: human serum albumin). We used a specific polyclonal antibody to solubilized human lung elastin, raised in rabbits (a gift from Dr. Robert Mecham, Pulmonary Div., Washington Univ. School ofMed., St. Louis, MO). Its specificity was confirmed by double diffusion in agarose and in an ELISA with humanderived elastin (solubilized), fibronectin, neutrophil elastase, collagen, albumin, heparan sulfate, dermatin sulfate, hyaluronic acid, or normal rabbit serum as the antigen. Only solubilized elastin gave a positive reaction. We coated the ELISA plates and generated a standard curve as described (1). In brief, we incubated appropriate dilutions ofthe unknown sample or known concentration of EDP with antibody to EDP (in excess). After 24 h we n mt. unlts/L CV, % transferred the reaction mixtures to U-bottomed ELISA plates coated with EDP, incubated for 1 h at room temperature, then washed with PBS-Tween (per liter, 10 mmol of P04, 150 mmol of NaC1, 1 g of Tween 20). Phosphate ions
A novel timestamp ordering approach for co-existing traditional and cooperative transaction processing

In order to support both traditional short transaction and long cooperative transactions, we propose a novel timestamp ordering approach. With this timestamp ordering method, short transactions can be processed in the traditional way, as if there are no cooperative transactions, therefore not be blocked by long transactions; cooperative transactions will not be aborted when there is a conflict with short transactions, rather it will incorporate the recent updates into its own processing; and the serializabilities, among short transactions, and between a cooperative transaction (group) and other short transactions, are all preserved.
GPR 34 as a lysophosphatidylserine receptor

GPR34, a P2Y receptor family member, was identified as a candidate lysophosphatidylserine (LysoPS) receptor in 2006. However, it was controversial whether LysoPS is a real ligand for GPR34. Kitamura et al. (GPR34 is a receptor for lysophosphatidylserine with a fatty acid at the sn-2 position. J. Biochem. 2012;151:511 518), using several methods for detecting activation of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) and chemically synthesized LysoPS analogues, concluded that GPR34 is a cellular receptor for LysoPS, especially with a fatty acid at the sn-2 position. Furthermore, three additional GPCRs belonging to the P2Y family were recently identified as GPCRs for LysoPS, supporting the idea that GPR34 is a LysoPS receptor.
Checkpointing vs. Migration for Post-Petascale Supercomputers

An alternative to classical fault-tolerant approaches for large-scale clusters is failure avoidance, by which the occurrence of a fault is predicted and a preventive measure is taken. We develop analytical performance models for two types of preventive measures: preventive checkpointing and preventive migration. We also develop an analytical model of the performance of a standard periodic checkpoint fault-tolerant approach. We instantiate these models for platform scenarios representative of current and future technology trends. We find that preventive migration is the better approach in the short term by orders of magnitude. However, in the longer term, both approaches have comparable merit with a marginal advantage for preventive checkpointing. We also find that standard non-prediction-based fault tolerance achieves poor scaling when compared to prediction-based failure avoidance, thereby demonstrating the importance of failure prediction capabilities. Finally, our results show that achieving good utilization in truly large-scale machines (e.g., 2^{20} nodes) for parallel workloads will require more than the failure avoidance techniques evaluated in this work.
PLUS: Personal lifelog upstreaming system

These days lifelog data collected from smartphones provide a substantial amount of information that helps to enhance personalized medical services. Because of the high dependency on smartphones, however, there are some drawbacks to the personalized services. Although smartphones acts as small portable computers, smartphones have some limitations of computing power and storage spaces. Moreover, the loss or disclosure of private information could occur when a smartphone is changed or lost. So it is natural to come up with a system that lifelog data are sent to a stable and powerful server and the server utilizes the data efficiently and effectively. Since the system handles very sensitive personal information with unstable network wireless connections, an elaborate design of upstreaming system is required. This paper introduces the personal lifelog upstreaming system, called PLUS, that ensures us to transfer lifelog data in a smartphone to a stable server in a secure and reliable way. We also present the details of upstreaming protocol that shows how PLUS ensures the security and reliability during lifelog data transmission.
Free Fatty Acids Activate Renin-Angiotensin System in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes through Nuclear Factor-kappa B Pathway

The activity of a local renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in the adipose tissue is closely associated with obesity-related diseases. However, the mechanism of RAS activation in adipose tissue is still unknown. In the current study, we found that palmitic acid (PA), one kind of free fatty acid, induced the activity of RAS in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. In the presence of fetuin A (Fet A), PA upregulated the expression of angiotensinogen (AGT) and angiotensin type 1 receptor (AT1R) and stimulated the secretion of angiotensin II (ANG II) in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Moreover, the activation of RAS in 3T3-L1 adipocytes was blocked when we blocked Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling pathway using TAK242 or NF-κB signaling pathway using BAY117082. Together, our results have identified critical molecular mechanisms linking PA/TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway to the activity of the local renin-angiotensin system in adipose tissue.