Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Leaner and meaner: Network coding in SIMD enabled commercial devices

Although random linear network coding (RLNC) constitutes a highly efficient and distributed approach to enhance communication networks and distributed storage, it requires additional processing to be carried out in the network and in end devices. For mobile devices, this processing translates into energy use that may reduce the battery life of a device. This paper focuses not only on providing a comprehensive measurement study of the energy cost of RLNC in eight different computing platforms, but also explores novel approaches (e.g., tunable sparse network coding) and hardware optimizations for Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) available in the latest generations of Intel and Advanced RISC Machines (ARM) processors. Our measurement results show that the former provides gains of two-to six-fold from the underlying algorithms over RLNC, while the latter provides gains for all schemes from 2× to as high as 20×. Finally, our results show that the latest generation of mobile processors reduce dramatically the energy per bit consumed for carrying out network coding operations compared to previous generations, thus making network coding a viable technology for the upcoming 5G communication systems, even without dedicated hardware.
ANALYTICAL MATRIX INVERSION AND CODE GENERATION FOR LABELING FLOW NETWORK PROBLEMS

Symbolic simplification and algebraic differentiation are only some of the advantages symbolic computations offer over their numerical counterparts. With a focus on sparse systems of linear equations, this contribution presents an analytical approach to a matrix inversion problem occurring in the field of Metabolic Flux Analysis. It is illustrated how the inherent complexity of the approach can be handled and how symbolic solutions can be compiled into highly performant machine code. Finally, benchmark results demonstrate that compiled analytical solutions offer comparable or even better performance than state-of-theart sparse matrix algorithms.
Rotation‐based multiple testing in the multivariate linear model

In observational microarray studies, issues of confounding invariably arise. One approach to account for measured confounders is to include them as covariates in a multivariate linear model. For this model, however, the application of permutation‐based multiple testing procedures is problematic because exchangeability of responses, in general, does not hold. Nevertheless, it is possible to achieve rotatability of transformed responses at the cost of a distributional assumption. We argue that rotation‐based multiple testing, by allowing for adjustments for confounding, represents an important extension of permutation‐based multiple testing procedures. The proposed methodology is illustrated with a microarray observational study on breast cancer tumors. Software to perform the procedure described in this article is available in the flip R package.
Ecological embeddedness and personhood: Have we always been capitalists?

Cet article reprend une polemique soulevee lors de la reunion annuelle de l'Association Americaine d'Anthropologie (AAA) en 1997, organisee en hommage a l'oeuvre de Roy Rappaport, et qui avait pour theme les relations entre la culture, le pouvoir, l'histoire et la nature. L'A. montre quelles sont les relations entre la personnalite du chercheur et ce qu'il entend par ecologie dans toute recherche en anthropologie ecologique. Il serait indispensable que les chercheurs puissent objectiviser leur position quant a leur objet de recherche et aux oppositions sur lesquelles ils travaillent, entre une specificite economique, cognitive et culturelle d'une part, et le processus de mondialisation ou d' homogeneisation d'autre part.
Mensen met een roeping: Een zegen of een zorg in de hulpverlening?

Mensen met een roeping ervaren hun werk als zinvol. Roeping leidt tot een verhoogde motivatie voor het werk en zou daardoor met minder emotionele uitputting kunnen samenhangen. Ook het gerelateerde begrip spiritualiteit zou negatief samenhangen met emotionele uitputting. Roeping zou ook de relatie tussen emotionele belasting en uitputting kunnen modereren. Bij 235 medewerkers in de geestelijke gezondheidszorg werd dit onderzocht. Spiritualiteit overlapte slechts in geringe mate met roeping. Verder bleek er een positieve samenhang te zijn tussen emotionele belasting en emotionele uitputting en een negatieve samenhang tussen roeping en emotionele uitputting. Roeping verklaarde vier procent van de variantie in emotionele uitputting, maar modereerde de relatie tussen emotionele belasting en emotionele uitputting niet. Een aspect van spiritualiteit, verbondenheid met ‘het zelf’, hing ook negatief samen met emotionele uitputting. Mensen met een roeping zijn dus niet op een speciale manier beschermd tegen emotionele belasting, maar hebben wel minder last van emotionele uitputting.
Biotechnologically Relevant Enzymes and Proteins

A β-glucosidase from Novosphingobium sp. GX9 with high catalytic efficiency toward isoflavonoid glycoside hydrolysis and (+)-catechin transglycosylation Abstract In view of the important role of isoflavonoids and their related glycoconjugates in human health, there is considerable interest in their enzymatic conversion. SBGL, a novel β-glucosidase isolated from Novosphingobium sp. GX9, was expressed in Escherichia coli and found to have high activity for hydrolysis of daidzin and genistin. SBGL showed very low K m values for daidzin and genistin, and the k cat /K m values for these substrates were 33,300 and 19,200 s-1 mM-1 , respectively. The SBGL glucosidase could also transglycosylate the flavanol (+)-catechin at saturating acceptor concentrations, which has not previously been reported for a β-glucosidase and is difficult to achieve synthetically.
Gene signature of the embryonic meniscus

The meniscus is a fibrocartilagenous disc in the knee that protects the joint from damage. Meniscal injuries are common, however repair efforts are largely unsuccessful and are not able to prevent the degenerative changes that result in development of osteoarthritis. Tissue regeneration in adults often recapitulates events of embryonic development, suggesting the regulatory pathways controlling morphogenesis are candidate repair signals. Here we use laser capture microdissection to collect mouse embryonic day 16 (E16) meniscus, articular cartilage, and cruciate ligaments. RNA isolated from these tissues was then used to perform genome‐wide microarray analysis. We found 38 genes were differentially expressed between E16 meniscus and articular cartilage and 43 genes were differentially expressed between E16 meniscus and cruciate ligaments. Included in our data set were extracellular matrix proteins, transcription factors, and growth factors, including TGF‐β modulators (Lox, Dpt) and IGF‐1 pathway members (Igf‐1, Igfbp2, Igfbp3, Igfbp5). Ingenuity Pathway Analysis revealed that IGF‐1 signaling was enriched in the meniscus compared to the other joint structures, while qPCR showed that Igf‐1, Igfbp2, and Igfbp3 expression declined with age. We also found that several meniscus‐enriched genes were expressed either in the inner or outer meniscus, establishing that regionalization of the meniscus occurs early in development. © 2013 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 32:46–53, 2014.
Characterization of ultrastructure and its relation with DNA fragmentation in Fas‐induced apoptosis of cultured cardiac myocytes

The purposes of the present study were to define precisely the ultrastructural features of apoptosis in cultured cardiomyocytes and to determine whether DNA fragmentation is essential for the apoptotic morphology. When cultured neonatal murine cardiomyocytes were incubated with an agonistic anti‐Fas antibody in the presence of a non‐toxic amount of actinomycin D or cycloheximide, approximately 70% of them had lost their viability after 24 h. The dead cardiomyocytes showed the typical ultrastructural changes of apoptosis on transmission and scanning electron microscopy, as well as by positive in situ nick end‐labelling (TUNEL), positive Taq polymerase‐based in situ ligation, a DNA ladder pattern on gel electrophoresis, and an increase in the active fragment of caspase‐3. According to TUNEL at the electron microscopic level, apoptotic nuclear change, cytoplasmic shrinkage, and DNA fragmentation always occurred simultaneously in apoptotic cardiomyocytes. Other ultrastructural features of apoptosis were the appearance of abundant lipid‐like structures in the cytoplasm of cardiomyocytes at the early phase, and a high incidence of plasma membrane rupture and formation of apoptotic bodies at the later phase. When zinc, an inhibitor of Ca2+/Mg2+‐dependent endonuclease, was added to the present model, activation of caspase‐3 and an apoptotic ultrastructure were still observed in spite of the lack of DNA fragmentation, indicating that this type of myocyte death is also apoptosis. In conclusion, the typical apoptotic ultrastructure and DNA fragmentation occur simultaneously in association with caspase‐3 activation in Fas‐stimulated cultured cardiomyocytes. Apoptotic morphology can, however, be observed even without DNA fragmentation. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Diálogo de saberes in La Vía Campesina: food sovereignty and agroecology

The transnational rural social movement La Vía Campesina has been critically sustained and shaped by the encounter and diálogo de saberes (dialog among different knowledges and ways of knowing) between different rural cultures (East, West, North and South; peasant, indigenous, farmer, pastoralist and rural proletarian, etc.) that takes place within it, in the context of the increasingly politicized confrontation with neoliberal reality and agribusiness in the most recent phase of capital expansion. This dialog among the ‘absences’ left out by the dominant monoculture of ideas has produced important ‘emergences’ that range from mobilizing frames for collective action – like the food sovereignty framework – to social methodologies for the spread of agroecology among peasant families.
Spiritual Well-Being, Relationships, and Work Satisfaction in the Treatment of Homeless Veterans with Alcohol/Other Drug Problems

SUMMARY This study examined a random sample of 600 homeless male veterans, aged 46 to 65, who served in the military during the Vietnam War. The purpose of the study was to identify predictors of readmission to an inpatient treatment program for alcohol and drug abuse in a 2-year follow-up. Among the strongest predictors were comorbidity, suicidal thoughts, memory loss, and childhood sexual and physical abuse. Improvements in family relationships, friendships, work satisfaction, and spiritual well-being were positively related to length of time homeless veterans remained in the community without readmission. Discussion of these findings for service provisions was presented.
Rising Markets and Failing Health: An Inquiry into Subaltern Health Care Consumption under Neoliberalism

This research highlights some of the fundamental weaknesses in the market-based economic approach for a developing society. This study of health care consumption by subaltern groups in India reveals that consumers believe that greater reliance on a market-based system has contributed to a decline in the state health institutions, proliferation of private clinics, and a close physician—pharmaceutical firm nexus. Accordingly, instead of creating a more efficient system of health care delivery, market forces are instrumental in marginalization of the subaltern sections of the population. Ramifications of these findings include a suggested expansion in quality of life marketing framework to include the concept of consumer empowerment with specific emphases on dimensions of control and exclusion.
Curvature Estimation of 3D Point Cloud Surfaces Through the Fitting of Normal Section Curvatures

As the technical development of laser scanning and image based modeling, more and more point cloud data are obtained to represent 3D geometric shapes of natural objects. Calculation of differential properties of 3D discrete geometry becomes one fundamental work. Through the relation of discrete normal curvatures and principal curvatures, a new algorithm is presented on estimating the principal curvatures and principal directions 3D point cloud surface. Based on the local fitting of each normal section circle properties with the position and the normal at a neighbor point, principal curvatures and principal directions are estimated from the contribution of these neighbor points. Optimization of this estimation is converted as a linear system by least squares fitting to all discrete normal curvatures corresponding to its neighbor points. A local feature curve, called as normal curvature index lines, is constructed to show the efficiency of this work. This curve is intuitive and equivalent to Dupin index line. Experiments are designed on Gaussian curvature, mean curvature and principal directions for an analytical surface and discrete surfaces of point cloud data. Experimental results show that this work is more advantageous than similar approaches, ad have applications to shape analysis and measurements.
An Enhanced Vision Processing Algorithm for a Micro-manipulation System

As the physical sizes of many electrical devices and their components shrink to sometimes only a few microns, expanding dextrousness and obtaining rapidity of a precise micro-manipulation system become one of the major issues in the industry. Especially for an assembly process that handles complicated mechanical alignments of many tiny objects in the three-dimensional space, a proper identification of the alignment errors and a fast decision of manipulation plan should be guaranteed in order to keep the manufacturing costs in an affordable range. In most of the current precise manufacturing processes, identification of the misalignment is normally carried out by machine vision systems. And the limited data process speed of the vision system usually hampers enhancement of overall system performance. In the present work, a modified binary region median filter combined with a labeling based segmentation scheme for the enhancement of a machine vision system is introduced. The suggested algorithm shows not only shows improved data processing speed but provides a better accuracy on the identification of a target object.
A Qualitative Approach to Understanding Turkish Mothers of Children With Autism: Implications for Counselling

Abstract Most children with autism exhibit a variety of behaviours, which may create considerable stress in families. Parents of children with autism have to learn many strategies to support their children. Understanding the experiences of parents of autistic children is crucial in the design and delivery of the appropriate counselling services. The present study attempted to investigate the impact of having an autistic child on the lives of Turkish mothers. For this aim, a Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) Approach was followed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 mothers of autistic children. The interview questions were designed to investigate many facets of the mothers' experiences. For the data analysis, steps of CQR were followed, namely transcription of data, identification of main domains and core ideas, identification of categories and subcategories, and cross analysis. The analyses resulted in a variety of domains such as the reactions to the disability of the child, experience of stress and burnout, involvement with the education of the child, and evaluation of the facilities of the special education centre. Recommendations for guidance and counselling were drawn based on the categories of each domain.
The Visualization of Large Graphs Accelerated by the Parallel Nearest Neighbors Algorithm

The search of k-nearest neighbors (K-NN) is a very common task. The K-NN is utilized in many algorithms and scientific areas like clustering, classification, machine learning, N-body simulation, triangulation, image processing and/or video processing. However, the naive implementation of the K-NN is very slow. There are many novel algorithms for the K-NN search, but they are usually based on the hierarchical clustering. The parallelization of those algorithms is a little bit tricky task. This paper primarily presents a novel parallel method for searching the k-nearest neighbors. An appropriate clustering of a sparse space based on the regular grid and the parallel search of the K-NN using the precomputed clusters are introduced. The whole method is designed for the parallel GPU computation and it is implemented on the CUDA architecture. The presented K-NN is utilized to speed up a force-directed graph layout algorithm, which can visually demonstrate the suitability of found neighbors, because they affect the layout quality. The graphs are widely used in social network analysis, computer networks or large information systems like photographic databases or multimedia databases to visualize relationships between elements. The achieved results and performance tests are presented as well.
Adiponectin in a native Canadian population experiencing rapid epidemiological transition.

OBJECTIVE Adiponectin is emerging as an important protein in the etiology of obesity and related metabolic disorders. The objectives of this study were to determine cross-sectional and prospective associations of adiponectin concentration with adiposity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in a population-based study of Native Canadians, a group experiencing dramatic increases in diabetes and CVD. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS During the 1993-1995 baseline survey, samples for glucose, insulin, adiponectin, and lipids were collected after an overnight fast. Waist circumference and percent body fat were measured, and a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test was administered: n = 505 with normal glucose tolerance (NGT), 74 with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and 149 with diabetes. In 1998, 95 high-risk subjects, defined as those who, at baseline, had either IGT or NGT with an elevated 2-h glucose concentration (>/==" BORDER="0">7.0 mmol/l), participated in a follow-up examination using the protocol used at baseline. RESULTS After adjustment for covariates including percent body fat and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), adiponectin concentrations were significantly lower among men versus women (10.8 vs. 15.0 micro g/ml, P < 0.0001) and among diabetic versus NGT subjects (11.1 vs. 13.1 micro g/ml, P < 0.05). Adiponectin was inversely correlated with percent body fat, waist circumference, HOMA-IR, and triglyceride and positively correlated with HDL (r = |0.30|-|0.44|, all P < 0.0001). In multivariate linear regression analysis in nondiabetic subjects, HDL and percent body fat were significantly related to adiponectin variation among both men and women (R(2) = 28-29%). Factor analysis returned three underlying factors among these variables, with adiponectin loading on the second factor along with insulin, waist circumference, triglyceride, and HDL. In the follow-up study, higher adiponectin at baseline was significantly associated with increases in HDL (r = 0.24, P = 0.03) and decreases in HOMA-IR (r = -0.29, P = 0.009) after adjustment for covariates, including age, adiposity, and diabetes status at baseline and follow-up. CONCLUSIONS These population-based findings support the hypothesis that low circulating levels of adiponectin are an important determinant of risk of CVD.
Authority transfer method from automated to manual driving via haptic shared control

As defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), drivers are required to resume control from an automated driving system (ADS) in automated Level 2 and 3 driving when requested by the automated system. For example, the driver must resume manual driving control when the functional limitations of the ADS are approaching or have reached. In addition, he or she may also resume manual driving control whenever he/she realizes the functional limits of the system are approaching, or when an ADS malfunction is imminent. In such cases, it is necessary to smoothly transfer driving control to the driver, even when immediate steering actions are needed. Accordingly, this research proposes a method for smoothly transferring authority of steering control from the ADS to the driver in situations where drivers are required to perform quick steering actions. The method is based on a haptic shared control technique that can adjust the strength of the steering control by the ADS. We applied our method to a small electric vehicle and conducted experiments. It was demonstrated that the driver's intention to take over the control could be detected quickly only from the driver's steering operation. It was also suggested that aggressive steering behavior was suppressed with the proposed gain tuning technique, even in cases where the driver was required to engage in engage in immediate steering actions after resuming control.
OCR Context-Sensitive Error Correction Based on Google Web 1T 5-Gram Data Set

Since the dawn of the computing era, information has been represented digitally so that it can be processed by electronic computers. Paper books and documents were abundant and widely being published at that time; and hence, there was a need to convert them into digital format. OCR, short for Optical Character Recognition was conceived to translate paper-based books into digital e-books. Regrettably, OCR systems are still erroneous and inaccurate as they produce misspellings in the recognized text, especially when the source document is of low printing quality. This paper proposes a post-processing OCR context-sensitive error correction method for detecting and correcting non-word and real-word OCR errors. The cornerstone of this proposed approach is the use of Google Web 1T 5-gram data set as a dictionary of words to spell-check OCR text. The Google data set incorporates a very large vocabulary and word statistics entirely reaped from the Internet, making it a reliable source to perform dictionary-based error correction. The core of the proposed solution is a combination of three algorithms: The error detection, candidate spellings generator, and error correction algorithms, which all exploit information extracted from Google Web 1T 5-gram data set. Experiments conducted on scanned images written in different languages showed a substantial improvement in the OCR error correction rate. As future developments, the proposed algorithm is to be parallelised so as to support parallel and distributed computing architectures.
Analysis of improved μ-law companding technique for OFDM systems

High Peak-to-Average-Power Ratio (PAPR) of transmitted signals is a common problem in broadband telecommunication systems using an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation scheme, as it increases transmitter power consumption. In consumer applications where it impacts mobile terminal battery life and infrastructure running costs, this is a major factor in customer satisfaction. Companding techniques have been recently used to alleviate this high PAPR. In this paper, a companding scheme with an offset, amidst two nonlinear companding levels, is proposed to achieve better PAPR reduction while maintaining an acceptable bit error rate (BER) level, resulting in electronic products of higher power efficiency. Study cases have included the effect of companding on the OFDM signal with and without an offset. A novel closed-form approximation for the BER of the proposed companding scheme is also presented, and its accuracy is compared against simulation results. A method for choosing best companding parameters is presented based on contour plots. Practical emulation of a real time OFDM-based system has been implemented and evaluated using a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA).