Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reliable, scalable and interoperable internet telephony

The public switched telephone network (PSTN) provides ubiquitous availability and very high scalability of more than a million busy hour call attempts per switch. If large carriers are to adopt Internet telephony, then Internet telephony servers should offer at least similar quantifiable guarantees for scalability and reliability using metrics such as call setup latency, server call handling capacity, busy hour call arrivals, mean-time between failures and mean-time to recover. This thesis presents a reliable, scalable and interoperable Internet telephony architecture for user registration, call routing, conferencing and unified messaging using commodity hardware. The results extend beyond Internet telephony to encompass multimedia communication in general. The architecture presented in this thesis deals with two aspects: at least PSTN-grade reliability and scalability of the Internet telephony servers, and interoperable Internet telephony services such as conferencing and voice mail using existing protocols. We describe the architecture and implementation of our Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based enterprise Internet telephony architecture known as Columbia InterNet Extensible Multimedia Architecture (CINEMA). It consists of a SIP registration and proxy server, a multi-party conferencing server, a gateway for interworking SIP with ITU's H.323, an interactive voice response system and a multimedia mail server. CINEMA provides a distributed interoperable architecture for collaboration using synchronous communications like multimedia conferencing, instant messaging, shared web-browsing, and asynchronous communications like discussion forum, shared files, voice and video mails. It allows seamless integration with various communication means like telephone, IP phone, web and electronic mail. We present two techniques for providing scalability and reliability in SIP: server redundancy and a novel peer-to-peer architecture. For the former, we use DNS-based load sharing among multiple distributed servers that use backend SQL databases to maintain user records. Our two-stage architecture scales linearly with the number of servers. For the latter, we propose a peer-to-peer Internet telephony architecture that supports basic user registration and call setup as well as advanced services such as offline message delivery, voice mail and multi-party conferencing using SIP. It interworks with server-based SIP infrastructures.
pVHL Function Is Essential for Endothelial Extracellular Matrix Deposition

ABSTRACT The tumor suppressor von Hippel-Lindau protein (pVHL) is critical for cellular molecular oxygen sensing, acting to target degradation of the hypoxia-inducible factor alpha transcription factor subunits under normoxic conditions. We have found that independent of its function in regulating hypoxic response, the VHL gene plays a critical role in embryonic endothelium development through regulation of vascular extracellular matrix assembly. We created mice lacking the VHL gene in endothelial cells; these conditional null mice died at the same stage as homozygous VHL-null mice, with similar vascular developmental defects. These included defective vasculogenesis in the placental labyrinth, a collapsed endocardium, and impaired vessel network patterning. The defects in embryonic vascularization were correlated with a diminished vascular fibronectin deposition in vivo and defective endothelial extracellular fibronectin assembly in vitro. We found that the impaired migration and adhesion of VHL-null endothelial cells can be partially rescued by the addition of back exogenous fibronectin, which indicates that pVHL regulation of fibronectin deposition plays an important functional role in vascular patterning and maintenance of vascular integrity.
Population dynamics of the modified theta model: macroscopic phase reduction and bifurcation analysis link microscopic neuronal interactions to macroscopic gamma oscillation

Gamma oscillations of the local field potential are organized by collective dynamics of numerous neurons and have many functional roles in cognition and/or attention. To mathematically and physiologically analyse relationships between individual inhibitory neurons and macroscopic oscillations, we derive a modification of the theta model, which possesses voltage-dependent dynamics with appropriate synaptic interactions. Bifurcation analysis of the corresponding Fokker–Planck equation (FPE) enables us to consider how synaptic interactions organize collective oscillations. We also develop the adjoint method (infinitesimal phase resetting curve) for simultaneous equations consisting of ordinary differential equations representing synaptic dynamics and a partial differential equation for determining the probability distribution of the membrane potential. This method provides a macroscopic phase response function (PRF), which gives insights into how it is modulated by external perturbation or internal changes of parameters. We investigate the effects of synaptic time constants and shunting inhibition on these gamma oscillations. The sensitivity of rising and decaying time constants is analysed in the oscillatory parameter regions; we find that these sensitivities are not largely dependent on rate of synaptic coupling but, rather, on current and noise intensity. Analyses of shunting inhibition reveal that it can affect both promotion and elimination of gamma oscillations. When the macroscopic oscillation is far from the bifurcation, shunting promotes the gamma oscillations and the PRF becomes flatter as the reversal potential of the synapse increases, indicating the insensitivity of gamma oscillations to perturbations. By contrast, when the macroscopic oscillation is near the bifurcation, shunting eliminates gamma oscillations and a stable firing state appears. More interestingly, under appropriate balance of parameters, two branches of bifurcation are found in our analysis of the FPE. In this case, shunting inhibition can effect both promotion and elimination of the gamma oscillation depending only on the reversal potential.
Abstracting runtime heaps for program understanding

Modern programming environments provide extensive support for inspecting, analyzing, and testing programs based on the algorithmic structure of a program. Unfortunately, support for inspecting and understanding runtime data structures during execution is typically much more limited. This paper provides a general purpose technique for abstracting and summarizing entire runtime heaps. We describe the abstract heap model and the associated algorithms for transforming a concrete heap dump into the corresponding abstract model as well as algorithms for merging, comparing, and computing changes between abstract models. The abstract model is designed to emphasize high-level concepts about heap-based data structures, such as shape and size, as well as relationships between heap structures, such as sharing and connectivity. We demonstrate the utility and computational tractability of the abstract heap model by building a memory profiler. We use this tool to identify, pinpoint, and correct sources of memory bloat for programs from DaCapo.
Handbook of Human Development: Concepts, Measures, and Policies

Among the most influential ideas that have shaped development thinking in recent years is the concept of human development. The perspective is particularly critical in today's world as we collectively think of solutions to end global poverty, promote human security and establish a just and peaceful society for all. This volume brings together the collection of papers that have shaped the human development approach with its set of concepts, measurement tools, and policy perspectives. The volume is divided into four sections: conceptual foundations, measurement, policy explorations, and new frontiers addressing the political dimensions of human development. The original contributions, so ably put together by the contributors, will stimulate thinking and action. This will be an essential source to all who are committed to taking action towards development that serves the health, well-being, freedom, and dignity of people.
Job-Optimized Map-Side Join Processing Using MapReduce and HBase with Abstract RDF Data

The amount of RDF data being published on the Web is increasing at a massive rate. MapReduce-based distributed frameworks have become the general trend in processing SPARQL queries against the RDF data. Currently, query processing systems that use MapReduce have not been able to keep up with increases in semantic annotated data, resulting in non-interactive SPARQL query processing. The principal reason is that intermediate query results from join operations in a MapReduce framework are so massive that network bandwidth and hard disk drive I/O speeds may not keep pace with the processing speed. In this paper, we present an efficient SPARQL processing system that uses MapReduce and HBase. The system runs a job optimized query plan using our proposed abstract RDF data to decrease the amount of intermediate data, thus resulting in faster query processing performance. We also present an efficient algorithm of using Map-side joins while also using the abstract RDF data to filter out unneeded RDF data. Experimental results show that the proposed approach demonstrates better performance when processing queries with a large set of inputs than those found in previous works.
Developments in HIV-1 immunotherapy and therapeutic vaccination

Since the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) pandemic began, few prophylactic vaccines have reached phase III trials. Only one has shown partial efficacy in preventing HIV-1 infection. The introduction of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has had considerable success in controlling infection and reducing transmission but in so doing has changed the nature of HIV-1 infection for those with access to ART. Access, compliance, and toxicity alongside the emergence of serious non-AIDS morbidity and the sometimes poor immune reconstitution in ART-treated patients have emphasized the need for additional therapies. Such therapy is intended to contribute to control of HIV-1 infection, permit structured treatment interruptions, or even establish a functional cure of permanently suppressed and controlled infection. Both immunotherapy and therapeutic vaccination have the potential to reach these goals. In this review, the latest developments in immunotherapy and therapeutic vaccination are discussed.
Securing implantable cardiac medical devices: use of radio frequency energy harvesting

Implantable Medical Devices (IMDs) are surgically implanted into a human body to collect physiological data and perform medical therapeutic functions. They are increasingly being used to improve the quality of life of patients by treating chronic ailments such as cardiac arrhythmia, diabetes, and Parkinson's disease. Wireless IMDs have shown recently important security concerns. In particular, it has been stated that lethal attacks can be launched on these devices. In this paper, we propose a solution to secure IMDs against unauthorized access, battery depletion, and denial of service attacks. A Radio Frequency energy harvesting solution is used to design a powerless mutual authentication protocol. A technique for dynamic biometric keys extraction from electrocardiogram signals collected at both sides (the programmer and the IMD) is used, allowing to secure access to the IMD devices in regular and emergency situations.
Generation of Recombinant Antibodies against Orchardgrass Acidic nsLTP-Like Proteins

Embryogenic and non-embryogenic suspension cultures of orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.) secreted into the culture medium a set of proteins, among which low molecular mass (11/12 kDa) proteins were found. However, only the 11/12 kDa proteins from the embryogenic suspension cultures reacted specifically with an antiserum raised against the carrot EP2 non-specific lipid transfer protein (nsLTP). Two-dimensional (2-D) electrophoretic analysis revealed that the extracellular nsLTP-like proteins from the embryogenic lines were acidic proteins, with pI values ranging between 4.3 and 6.4, and the 11/12 kDa proteins of the nonembryogenic lines were basic ones (pI 8-9.3). This is only the second case to report on the accumulation of extracellular acidic nsLTP-like proteins in the culture medium during somatic embryogenesis. A naı¨ve phage display Griffin1. library was used to select single-chain phage antibodies, which specifically bind to acidic nsLTP-like proteins. Nine phage clones were selected after four rounds of biopanning of the target proteins blotted on a nitrocellulose membrane. Three soluble monoclonal single-chain phage antibodies, expressed in the non-suppressor E. coli strain HB2151, were purified by metal affinity chromatography and found to be highly specific for the acidic nsLTP-like proteins from the embryogenic suspension cultures. The application of the selected monoclonal antibodies for localization and elucidation of the role of the acidic nsLTP-like proteins in vivo is discussed.
Time Course of Adenosine‐Induced Pulmonary Vein Reconnection after Isolation: Implications for Mechanism of Dormant Conduction

Background: Adenosine (ADO) has been proposed to reconnect isolated pulmonary veins (PVs) postablation through hyperpolarization of damaged myocytes in an animal model. However, PV reconnection can occur via ADO‐mediated sympathetic activation. We sought to determine the mechanism of ADO‐induced PV reconnection in the clinical setting by characterizing its time course and location in patients undergoing PV isolation.
Implementation and Evaluation of multimodal input/output channels for task-based industrial robot programming

Programming industrial robots is not very intuitive, and the programmer has to be a domain expert for e.g. welding and programming to know how the task is optimally executed. For SMEs such employees are not affordable, nor cost-effective. Therefore a new system is needed where domain experts from a specific area, like welding or assembly, can easily program a robot without knowing anything about programming languages or how to use TeachPads. Such a system needs to be flexible to adapt to new tasks and functions. These requirements can be met by using a task based programming approach where the robot program is built up using a hierarchical structure of process, tasks and skills. It also needs to be intuitive so that domain experts don't need much training time on handling the system. Intuitive interaction is achieved by using different input and output modalities like gesture input, speech input, or touch input which are suitable for the current task. This master thesis focuses on the implementation of a user interface (GUI) for task based industrial robot programming and evaluates different input modalities (gesture, speech, touch, pen input) for the interaction with the system. The evaluation is based on a user study conducted with 30 participants as a Wizard-Of-Oz experiment, where non expert users had to program assembly and welding tasks to an industrial robot, using the previously developed GUI and various input and output modalities. The findings of the task analysis and user study are then used for creating a semantic description which will be used in the cognitive robotics-worker cell for automatically inferring required system components, and to provide the best suited input modality.
Integrating the Least Developed Countries into the World Trading System: The Current Impact of EU Preferences Under Everything But Arms

Trade preferences are a key element in industrial countries'efforts to assist the integration of least developed countries (LDCs) into the world economy. Brenton provides an initial evaluation of the impact of the European Union's recently introduced"Everything but Arms"(EBA) initiative on the products currently exported by the LDCs. He shows that the changes introduced by the EBA initiative in 2001 are relatively minor for currently exported products, primarily because over 99 percent of EU imports from the LDCs are in products which the EU had already liberalized, and the complete removal of barriers to the key remaining products-rice, sugar, and bananas-has been delayed. Brenton looks at the role EU preferences to LDCs in general have been playing and could play in assisting the integration of the LDCs. He shows that there is considerable variation across countries in the potential impact that EU preferences can have given current export structures. There is a group of LDCs for whom EU trade preferences on existing exports are not significant since these exports are mainly of products where the most-favored-nation duty is zero. Export diversification is the key issue for these countries. For other LDCs, EU preferences have the potential to provide a more substantial impact on trade. However, the author shows that only 50 percent of EU imports from non-ACP (Africa, Caribbean, and Pacific) LDCs which are eligible actually request preferential access to the EU. The prime suspect for this low level of use are the rules of origin, both the restrictiveness of the requirements on sufficient processing and the costs and difficulties of providing the necessary documentation. More simple rules of origin are likely to enhance the impact of EU trade preferences in terms of improving market access and in stimulating diversification toward a broader range of exports.
The Response of Duck Erythrocytes to Hypertonic Media

The addition of a hypertonic bathing medium to duck erythrocytes results in an initial instantaneous phase of osmotic shrinkage and, when the [K]o of the hypertonic solution is larger than "normal," in a second, more prolonged phase, the volume regulatory phase. During the latter, which also requires extracellular Na, the cells swell until they approach their initial isotonic volume. The increase in cell volume during the volume regulatory phase is accomplished by a gain in the cell content of K, Cl, and H2O. There is also a smaller increase in the Na content of the cell. Potassium is accumulated against an electrochemical gradient and is therefore actively transported into the cell. This accumulation is associated with an increase, although dissimilar, in both K influx and efflux. Changes in cell size during the volume regulatory phase are not altered by 10-4 M ouabain, although this concentration of ouabain does change the cellular cation content. The response is independent of any effect of norepinephrine. The changes in cell size during the volume regulatory phase are discussed as the product of a volume controlling mechanism identical in principle to the one reported in the previous paper which controls cell volume in hypotonic media. Similarly, this mechanism can regulate cell size, when the Na-K exchange, ouabain-inhibitable pump mechanism is blocked.
Reduced Expression of Endothelial Connexin37 and Connexin40 in Hyperlipidemic Mice: Recovery of Connexin37 After 7-Day Simvastatin Treatment

Objective—We sought to clarify the response of endothelial connexins to hyperlipidemia and lipid-lowering therapy. Methods and Results—Aortic endothelial gap junctions were analyzed by en face immunoconfocal microscopy and electron microscopy in C57BL/6 mice subjected to the following regimens: (1) normal chow (NC) for 3 months (3 mo), (2) NC for 9 mo, (3) NC for 3 mo, followed by a cholesterol-enriched diet (CED) for 6 mo, (4) NC for 3 mo and CED for 6 mo, with simvastatin in the final week, and (5) (in apoprotein E [apoE]-deficient mice) NC and examined at 3 mo and 7 to 9 mo. In wild-type mice, connexin37 (Cx37) and Cx40 were markedly downregulated in the CED-fed animals compared with those fed NC (CED vs 9-mo NC, 77% reduction in Cx37 and 65% reduction in Cx40; both P <0.01). After simvastatin treatment, Cx40 remained depressed, but Cx37 recovered to 94% of the level found in non–cholesterol-fed animals (P <0.01). Electron microscopy demonstrated that gap junctions were smaller in animals fed the CED compared with those given simvastatin and with controls fed NC (P <0.01). Endothelial connexins were rare in the atherosclerotic plaques of apoE-deficient mice. Conclusions—Mouse aortic endothelial gap junctions and connexins are downregulated during long-term hyperlipidemia. Short-term treatment with simvastatin leads to recovery of Cx37 expression but not Cx40 expression.
Underwater image enhancement by attenuation inversionwith quaternions

In this paper, an underwater image enhancement method using quaternions is presented. This work aims to improve color rendition and contrast of the objects, as if the scene has been taken out of water. This method is based on light attenuation inversion after processing a color space contraction using quaternions. Applied to the white, the attenuation gives a hue vector caracterizing the water color. Using this reference axis, geometrical transformations into the color space are computed with quaternions. Pixels of water areas of processed images are moved to gray or colors with a low saturation whereas the objects remain fully colored. Thus, the contrast of the observed scene is significantly improved and the difference between the background and the rest of the image is increased, giving a first approach towards a pre-segmentation step.
Particle Swarm Optimization for multimodal combinatorial problems and its application to protein design

Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is a well-known technique for numerical optimization with realparameter representation. Like other meta-heuristics, PSO is usually designed for the goal of finding a single optimal solution for a given problem. However, many scientific and engineering optimization problems have convoluted search spaces with a large number of optima. This paper explores the ability of a cooperative combinatorial PSO (CCPSO) used in tandem with explicit diversity strategies to discover sets of high-quality and diverse solutions. This idea has been pursued in numerical optimization in several PSO variants, but no explicit PSO has been developed to handle multimodal combinatorial problems. A protein sequence redesign problem is selected to assess the exploratory ability of multimodal CCPSO by evaluating both the quality and diversity of the solutions obtained.
Towards the next generation of near-infrared spectroscopy

Although near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) was originally designed for clinical monitoring of tissue oxygenation, it has also been developing into a useful tool for neuroimaging studies (functional NIRS). Over the past 30 years, technology has developed and NIRS has found a wide range of applications. However, the accuracy and reliability of NIRS have not yet been widely accepted, mainly because of the difficulties in selective and quantitative detection of signals arising in cerebral tissue, which subject the use of NIRS to a number of practical restrictions. This review summarizes the strengths and advantages of NIRS over other neuroimaging modalities and demonstrates specific examples. The issues of selective quantitative measurement of cerebral haemoglobin during brain activation are also discussed, together with the problems of applying the methods of functional magnetic resonance imaging data analysis to NIRS data analysis. Finally, near-infrared optical tomography—the next generation of NIRS—is described as a potential technique to overcome the limitations of NIRS.
A New Almost Difference Set Construction

This paper considers the appearance of almost difference sets in non-abelian groups. While numerous construction methods for these structures are known in abelian groups, little is known about ADSs in the case where the group elements do not commute. This paper presents a construction method for combining abelian difference sets into nonabelian almost difference sets, while also showing that at least one known almost difference set construction can be generalized to the nonabelian case.