Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
New high step-up DC-DC converter for photovoltaic grid-connected applications

In this paper a new high step-up DC-DC converter suitable for photovoltaic applications is investigated. Boosting the low input voltage in the proposed topology is implemented by using coupled inductors and one semiconductor switch. By using a passive regenerative clamp circuit, the energy of leakage inductor is absorbed and this provides a wider possible range of output power. Moreover, using just one semiconductor switch with low voltage rating and soft turn on, results in lower switching losses and therefore higher efficiency. In this topology, bipolar outputs are generated and by connecting the negative terminal of the PV module to the output neutral point, the unwanted ground leakage currents in the PV systems is reduced drastically. Easy control due to employing one MOSFET switch is another feature of this topology. Theoretical analysis and principal operation of the circuit are discussed. An experimental prototype is implemented to verify the performance of the proposed inverter. The experimental results confirm the aforementioned features and the theoretical analysis of the converter operation.
Hardware Automated Dataflow Deployment of CNNs

Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) are the state of the art systems for image classiﬁcation and scene understating. However, such techniques are computationally intensive and involve highly regular parallel computation. CNNs can thus beneﬁt from a signiﬁcant acceleration in execution time when running on ﬁne grain programmable logic devices. As a consequence, several studies have proposed FPGA-based accelerators for CNNs. However, because of the huge amount of the required hardware resources, none of these studies directly was based on a direct mapping of the CNN computing elements onto the FPGA physical resources. In this work, we demonstrate the feasibility of this so-called direct hardware mapping approach and discuss several associated implementation issues. As a proof of concept, we introduce the haddoc2 open source tool, that is able to automatically transform a CNN description into a platform independent hardware description for FPGA implementation.
Discovering global network communities based on local centralities

One of the central problems in studying and understanding complex networks, such as online social networks or World Wide Web, is to discover hidden, either physically (e.g., interactions or hyperlinks) or logically (e.g., profiles or semantics) well-defined topological structures. From a practical point of view, a good example of such structures would be so-called network communities. Earlier studies have introduced various formulations as well as methods for the problem of identifying or extracting communities. While each of them has pros and cons as far as the effectiveness and efficiency are concerned, almost none of them has explicitly dealt with the potential relationship between the global topological property of a network and the local property of individual nodes. In order to study this problem, this paper presents a new algorithm, called ICS, which aims to discover natural network communities by inferring from the local information of nodes inherently hidden in networks based on a new centrality, that is, clustering centrality, which is a generalization of eigenvector centrality. As compared with existing methods, our method runs efficiently with a good clustering performance. Additionally, it is insensitive to its built-in parameters and prior knowledge.
A Channel Rendezvous Scheme for Cognitive Radio Networks

Cognitive radio networks need to utilize available spectrum in a dynamic and opportunistic fashion without causing interference to co-located primary nodes. Before data transmission begins, secondary nodes must establish a link on a channel which is not occupied by primary nodes. Unfortunately, in cognitive radio networks, the set of available channels can be different for each node, since it is determined by the relative locations of nodes to primary nodes. We are the first to present a distributed channel rendezvous scheme which finds a commonly available channel between any two nodes in a bounded time without synchronization. Our scheme determines the order, in which two nodes visit channels to find a common channel, if any, within a bounded time.
Admission and retention policies in teacher preparation programs: Legal and practical issues

Abstract This research examined the legal climate regarding admissions and retention in teacher preparation programs as well as the current practices of selected programs. The study utilized legal/archival research and an on‐line survey of 27 universities. Findings indicated that the legal parameters regarding admission and retention fall under the expectations established for other types of professional training. University officials have great latitude to make professional judgments. The survey found that most institutions have formal admission and retention policies, though the admission policies are more fully developed. Many universities reported having formal policies to consider student dispositions for teaching, though no single policy is used by more than one third of the universities surveyed (most employ informal means). Conclusions include that teacher preparation programs have more legal latitude than is being employed for admission and retention decisions, and it is recommended that the field establish professional norms for retention policies and assessing student dispositions for teaching.
Long‐term postinfarction melatonin administration alters the expression of DHPR, RyR2, SERCA2, and MT2 and elevates the ANP level in the rat left ventricle

Abstract: We investigated the effect of 2 wk continuous postinfarction subcutaneous melatonin supply on the expression of the rat left ventricular (LV) dihydropyridine receptor (DHPR), ryanodine receptor (RyR2), and sarco‐endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+‐ATPase2 (SERCA2), as they are fundamental proteins in cardiac contractility. The levels of plasma and LV atrial (ANP) and brain natriuretic peptide and melatonin were also measured, as was the expression of LV MT1 and MT2 receptors and pineal arylalkylamine N‐acetyltransferase. Myocardial infarction (MI) was induced by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery and vehicle or melatonin (4.5 mg/kg per day) was administered by subcutaneous osmotic pumps. Echocardiography, real‐time quantitative reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction, and western blotting were used to analyze the samples. Echocardiography revealed that MI induced serious systolic LV dysfunction. The expression of DHPR, RyR2, and SERCA2 mRNAs was significantly lower in the LVs of melatonin‐treated MI rats compared with vehicle‐treated rats (P < 0.01 for DHPR and P < 0.05 for RyR2 and SERCA2). Melatonin also elevated the amount of LV MT2 receptors to 1.9‐fold (P < 0.05) and the concentration of LV ANP to over fivefold (P < 0.05) compared with vehicle rats after MI. Therefore, the results suggest that melatonin may influence the cardiac contractility after MI by regulating the expression of DHPR, RyR2, and SERCA2, and melatonin receptors, particularly MT2s, might contribute to the postinfarction cardioprotective actions of melatonin. Furthermore, the finding of the relationship between melatonin and ANP suggests a novel mechanism for melatonin in protecting the heart after MI.
Hong Kong students' and teachers' beliefs on students' concerns and their causal explanation

This paper is based on research investigating Hong Kong Chinese teachers' and students' perceptions of junior secondary students' concerns and of the causes of students' difficulties. Responses from 2,045 secondary students and 214 teachers revealed that both students and teachers had similar systems of beliefs about students' concerns and the causes of students' difficulties. As dimensions of most students' concerns, both groups referred to study and educational future; friendship; physical appearance; relationships at home, with peers and at school; and psychological well-being and maladjusted behaviour. Both groups in various degrees attributed students' difficulties to students themselves, the family, school or peers. Employing Moscovici's theory of social representation as a conceptual framework, the findings illustrated that students' concerns and causal attribution are social representations shared by both student and teacher groups. Mismatch between students' and teachers' perceptions was more a divergence of views than a disparity. Students' and teachers' different social identities and their protection of group self-esteem are offered as an explanation for the mismatch in perception.
The Missing Dialogue between Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty: On the Importance of the Zollikon Seminars

Heidegger’s failure to discuss ‘the body’ in Being and Time has generated a cottage industry of criticism. In his recently translated Zollikon Seminars, Heidegger provides a response to the critics by offering a thematic account of the body that is strikingly similar to Merleau-Ponty’s account in Phenomenology of Perception. In this article, I draw on the parallels between these two texts in order to see how Heidegger’s neglect of the body affects his early project of fundamental ontology and to determine whether or not an account of the body is necessary to complete the project. I defend Heidegger by suggesting that any analysis of the body is ‘ontic’ or regional and is made possible only on the basis of Dasein, understood as a public ‘clearing’ (Lichtung) or ‘there’ (Da) of intelligibility that determines in advance the way things emerge-into-presence as the kinds of things that they are. Heidegger’s core concern in Being and Time is to unearth the essential, ‘ontological-existential’, structures of Dasein that make it possible for us to begin regional investigations into the problem of the body in the first place.
Balloon based vertebra separation in CT images

Vertebra segmentation from CT volume data is needed for several medical applications. For this, an important preprocessing step is the separation of neighboring vertebrae. We introduce a method to compute planes separating the individual vertebrae of the spine. For that purpose, a virtual balloon is inflated within the vertebral canal. After inflation, the balloon graphically shows swellings at the intervertebral regions and necks in the vertebra regions which can be distinguished by Gaussian curvature analysis on the balloon surface. Planes are constructed in the intervertebral regions separating the individual vertebrae. First tests have shown that our methods can be adapted to vertebra separation even in MRT volume data.
Cross-Guided Clustering: Transfer of Relevant Supervision across Tasks

Lack of supervision in clustering algorithms often leads to clusters that are not useful or interesting to human reviewers. We investigate if supervision can be automatically transferred for clustering a target task, by providing a relevant supervised partitioning of a dataset from a different source task. The target clustering is made more meaningful for the human user by trading-off intrinsic clustering goodness on the target task for alignment with relevant supervised partitions in the source task, wherever possible. We propose a cross-guided clustering algorithm that builds on traditional k-means by aligning the target clusters with source partitions. The alignment process makes use of a cross-task similarity measure that discovers hidden relationships across tasks. When the source and target tasks correspond to different domains with potentially different vocabularies, we propose a projection approach using pivot vocabularies for the cross-domain similarity measure. Using multiple real-world and synthetic datasets, we show that our approach improves clustering accuracy significantly over traditional k-means and state-of-the-art semi-supervised clustering baselines, over a wide range of data characteristics and parameter settings.
Europeanization, Actor Constellations and Spatial Policy Change in Greece

Abstract This article seeks to analyze EU influence on Greek planning by focusing on the role of domestic actors implicated in the process of Europeanization. It aims to examine the key agents involved in planning reforms, systematize the major discourses in the policy-process and explore the core instruments used as well. Linking key literature to first-hand information (legal documents, case-law, speeches, unpublished committees' reports and conference proceedings) and eye-witness accounts, the paper attempts to highlight the role of both strategies and ideas in different episodes of Europeanization of Greek spatial planning.
Adaptive Shrinkage in Bayesian Vector Autoregressive Models

ABSTRACT Vector autoregressive (VAR) models are frequently used for forecasting and impulse response analysis. For both applications, shrinkage priors can help improving inference. In this article, we apply the Normal-Gamma shrinkage prior to the VAR with stochastic volatility case and derive its relevant conditional posterior distributions. This framework imposes a set of normally distributed priors on the autoregressive coefficients and the covariance parameters of the VAR along with Gamma priors on a set of local and global prior scaling parameters. In a second step, we modify this prior setup by introducing another layer of shrinkage with scaling parameters that push certain regions of the parameter space to zero. Two simulation exercises show that the proposed framework yields more precise estimates of model parameters and impulse response functions. In addition, a forecasting exercise applied to U.S. data shows that this prior performs well relative to other commonly used specifications in terms of point and density predictions. Finally, performing structural inference suggests that responses to monetary policy shocks appear to be reasonable.
Change in the Embedding Dimension as an Indicator of an Approaching Transition

Predicting a transition point in behavioral data should take into account the complexity of the signal being influenced by contextual factors. In this paper, we propose to analyze changes in the embedding dimension as contextual information indicating a proceeding transitive point, called OPtimal Embedding tRANsition Detection (OPERAND). Three texts were processed and translated to time-series of emotional polarity. It was found that changes in the embedding dimension proceeded transition points in the data. These preliminary results encourage further research into changes in the embedding dimension as generic markers of an approaching transition point.
D THREADS : Efficient and Deterministic Multithreading

Multithreaded programming is notoriously difficult to get right. A key problem is non-determinism, which complicates debugging, testing, and reproducing errors in multithreaded applications. One way to simplify multithreaded programming is to enforce deterministic execution. However, past deterministic systems are incomplete or impractical. Language-based approaches require programmers to write their code in specialized languages. Other systems require program modification, do not ensure determinism in the presence of data races, do not work with general-purpose multithreaded programs, or suffer substantial performance penalties (up to 8× slower than pthreads) that limit their usefulness. This paper presents DTHREADS, an efficient deterministic multithreading system for unmodified C/C++ applications. DTHREADS not only prevents semantic errors like race conditions and deadlocks, but also can enhance performance by eliminating false sharing of cache lines. DTHREADS leverages virtual memory and process isolation, combined with a deterministic commit protocol, to ensure robust deterministic execution with low runtime overhead. Experimental results show that DTHREADS substantially outperforms a state-of-the-art deterministic runtime system, and often matches—and occasionally exceeds—the performance of pthreads.
Dynamic range improvement by narrow-channel effect suppression and smear reduction technologies in small pixel IT-CCD image sensors

Technologies for narrow-channel effect suppression in photodiodes (PDs) and vertical CCDs (V-CCDs) and for smear reduction in PDs have been developed in order to improve dynamic range in small pixel interline-transfer CCD (IT-CCD) image sensors. The new technologies have been applied to a progressive-scan IT-CCD image sensor with 5 /spl mu/m square pixels and have (1) increased the charge handling capability of its V-CCDs to 4500 electrons/V; (2) improved its smear value to -95 dB; and (3) increased the saturation charge of its PDs to 2.3/spl times/10/sup 4/ electrons.
Leptin Is Required for Glucose Homeostasis after Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass in Mice

Background & Aims Leptin, the protein product of the ob gene, increases energy expenditure and reduces food intake, thereby promoting weight reduction. Leptin also regulates glucose homeostasis and hepatic insulin sensitivity via hypothalamic proopiomelanocortin neurons in mice. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) induces weight loss that is substantial and sustained despite reducing plasma leptin levels. In addition, patients who fail to undergo diabetes remission after RYGB are hypoletinemic compared to those who do and to lean controls. We have previously demonstrated that the beneficial effects of RYGB in mice require the melanocortin-4 receptor, a downstream effector of leptin action. Based on these observations, we hypothesized that leptin is required for sustained weight reduction and improved glucose homeostasis observed after RYGB. Methods To investigate this hypothesis, we performed RYGB or sham operations on leptin-deficient ob/ob mice maintained on regular chow. To investigate whether leptin is involved in post-RYGB weight maintenance, we challenged post-surgical mice with high fat diet. Results RYGB reduced total body weight, fat and lean mass and caused reduction in calorie intake in ob/ob mice. However, it failed to improve glucose tolerance, glucose-stimulated plasma insulin, insulin tolerance, and fasting plasma insulin. High fat diet eliminated the reduction in calorie intake observed after RYGB in ob/ob mice and promoted weight regain, although not to the same extent as in sham-operated mice. We conclude that leptin is required for the effects of RYGB on glucose homeostasis but not body weight or composition in mice. Our data also suggest that leptin may play a role in post-RYGB weight maintenance.
CXCR4 Expression in Prostate Cancer Progenitor Cells

Tumor progenitor cells represent a population of drug-resistant cells that can survive conventional chemotherapy and lead to tumor relapse. However, little is known of the role of tumor progenitors in prostate cancer metastasis. The studies reported herein show that the CXCR4/CXCL12 axis, a key regulator of tumor dissemination, plays a role in the maintenance of prostate cancer stem-like cells. The CXCL4/CXCR12 pathway is activated in the CD44+/CD133+ prostate progenitor population and affects differentiation potential, cell adhesion, clonal growth and tumorigenicity. Furthermore, prostate tumor xenograft studies in mice showed that a combination of the CXCR4 receptor antagonist AMD3100, which targets prostate cancer stem-like cells, and the conventional chemotherapeutic drug Taxotere, which targets the bulk tumor, is significantly more effective in eradicating tumors as compared to monotherapy.
ASEM – the modern Silk Road: travelling ideas for education reforms and partnerships between Asia and Europe

Today the modern Silk Road between Asia and Europe is increasingly well-travelled in both directions by students, academics and policy makers. Over the last decade the European Union (EU) and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) have been making more attempts to shape this route by creating an educational partnership through an inter-regional forum for regional cooperation and policy development: the Asia–Europe Meeting (ASEM). Beside economic and diplomatic relations, education has been receiving increasing attention since the 2000s and has become an important and strategic act of cooperation by ASEM education ministers. Higher education and lifelong learning are the main topics for the multi-level dialogues and exchanges of ideas between the two regions. This paper describes the emergence of this new inter-regional educational phenomenon and examines its characteristics by analysing the case of the 10-year-old ASEM Lifelong Learning Initiative. Furthermore, the paper argues that ASEM education cooperation carries characteristics of a cultural and associational process, an agenda-setting process, a policy transfer process, an instrument for intra-regional integration and building regional identity.
Melatonin attenuated early brain injury induced by subarachnoid hemorrhage via regulating NLRP3 inflammasome and apoptosis signaling

Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a devastating condition with high morbidity and mortality rates due to the lack of effective therapy. Nucleotide‐binding oligomerization domain‐like receptor family pyrin domain‐containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation associated with the upregulation of apoptotic signaling pathway has been implicated in various inflammatory diseases including hemorrhagic insults. Melatonin is reported to possess substantial anti‐inflammatory properties, which is beneficial for early brain injury (EBI) after SAH. However, the molecular mechanisms have not been clearly identified. This study was designed to investigate the protective effects of melatonin against EBI induced by SAH and to elucidate the potential mechanisms. The adult mice were subjected to SAH. Melatonin or vehicle was injected intraperitoneally 2 hr after SAH. Melatonin was neuroprotective, as shown by increased survival rate, as well as elevated neurological score, greater survival of neurons, preserved brain glutathione levels, and reduced brain edema, malondialdehyde concentrations, apoptotic ratio, and blood–brain barrier (BBB) disruption. Melatonin also attenuated the expressions of NLRP3, apoptosis‐associated speck‐like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain (ASC), cleaved caspase‐1, interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β), and interleukin‐6 (IL‐6); these changes were also associated with an increase in the anti‐apoptotic factor (Bcl2) and reduction in the pro‐apoptotic factor (Bim). In summary, our results demonstrate that melatonin treatment attenuates the EBI following SAH by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome‐associated apoptosis.
The Accumulation of Capital

We've all had the experience at some time or other of walking through a department store and being amazed at the many different articles we see there. One counter after another filled with this, that, and the other thing-some useful, some of little or no use. Almost every day a new gadget is advertised, electric blankets, or hats that look like chimneys, or a special kind of vitamin tablets. A common reaction of people as they look in shop windows is, "What will they think of next? "This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.