Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dual scheduling and quantised control for networked control systems with communication constraints

A novel integrated design scheme of average dwell time scheduling strategy, dynamic bandwidth allocation policy and quantised control for a collection of networked control systems (NCSs) with time delay and communication constraints is proposed in this paper. A scheduling policy is presented to accommodate the limitation of communication capacity which depends on the convergence rate of closed-loop system and divergence rate of open-loop plant. Linear programming technique is adopted to dynamically allocate bit rate for each node and the strategy is used to make trade-offs between the network utilisation and the control performance which provides an effective way of optimising the quality of control (QoC) and the quality of service (QoS) for NCSs. Mid-tread uniform quantisers update the quantisation rules according to the assignment of the bit rate and convert the quantised state into a kind of input saturation with bounded disturbances. Taking into account the effect of dual scheduling strategy and quantisation, the NCSs are modelled as discrete-time switched systems with bounded disturbances. Furthermore, a scheduling and quantised feedback control co-design procedure is proposed for the simultaneous stabilisation of the collection of networked subsystems. Finally, a simulation example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Inhibition of subtilisin BPN' by reaction site P1 mutants of Streptomyces subtilisin inhibitor.

It has been shown that the P1 site (the center of the reactive site) of protease inhibitors corresponds to the specificity of the cognate protease, and consequently specificity of Streptomyces subtilisin inhibitor (SSI) can be altered by substitution of a single amino acid at the P1 site. In this paper, to investigate whether similar correlation between inhibitory activity of mutated SSI and substrate preference of protease is observed for subtilisin BPN', which has broad substrate specificity, a complete set of mutants of SSI at the reaction site P1 (position 73) was constructed by cassette and site-directed mutagenesis and their inhibitory activities toward subtilisin BPN' were measured. Mutated SSIs which have a polar (Ser, Thr, Gln, Asn), basic (Lys, Arg), or aromatic amino acid (Tyr, Phe, Trp, His), or Ala or Leu, at the P1 site showed almost the same strong inhibitory activity toward subtilisin as the wild type (Met) SSI. However, the inhibitory activity of SSI variants with an acidic (Glu, Asp), or a beta-branched aliphatic amino acid (Val, Ile), or Gly or Pro, at P1 was decreased. The values of the inhibitor constant (Ki) of mutated SSIs toward subtilisin BPN' were consistent with the substrate preference of subtilisin BPN'. A linear correlation was observed between log(1/Ki) of mutated SSIs and log(1/Km) of synthetic substrates. These results demonstrate that the inhibitory activities of P1 site mutants of SSI are linearly related to the substrate preference of subtilisin BPN', and indicate that the binding mode of the inhibitors with the protease may be similar to that of substrates, as in the case of trypsin and chymotrypsin. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Prenatal diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis by duplex real‐time PCR using fluorescence resonance energy transfer hybridization probes

The diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis frequently relies on PCR tests of amniotic fluid (AF). A duplex real‐time quantitative PCR test based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer was developed to quantify the parasite load and to decrease the risk of contamination. An internal control based on the detection of 10 pg mouse DNA added to the AF was included to check for PCR efficiency. The relationship between the parasite load and the occurrence of ultrasonographic abnormalities in 87 samples of AF was analyzed. Seven AF (8%) had a parasitic load >103; 14 (16%) had >102–≤103; 26 (30%) had >10–≤102; and 40 (46%) had ≤10 parasites/ml. Four of the six AF with cerebral ventriculomegaly had >103 parasites/ml. The other two had 130 and 24 parasites/ml, respectively. No parasitic loads of >103 parasites/ml and no ultrasonographic abnormalities were observed in the 11 AF with maternal toxoplasmosis in the third trimester. Therefore, there is a trend to associate high parasite count with ultrasonographic abnormality, but the main concern remains early maternal infection. The importance of quantification should be better evaluated with postnatal studies. The duplex LightCycler PCR test currently provides rapid and safe results. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ExanaDBT: A Dynamic Compilation System for Transparent Polyhedral Optimizations at Runtime

In this paper, we present a dynamic compilation system called ExanaDBT for transparently optimizing and parallelizing binaries at runtime based on the polyhedral model. Starting from hot spot detection of the execution, ExanaDBT dynamically estimates gains for optimization, translates the target region into highly optimized code, and switches the execution of original code to optimized one. To realize advanced loop-level optimizations beyond trace- or instruction-level, ExanaDBT uses a polyhedral optimizer and performs loop transformation for rewarding sustainable performance gain on systems with deeper memory hierarchy. Especially for successful optimizations, we reveal that a simple conversion from the original binaries to LLVM IR will not enough for representing the code in polyhedral model, and then investigate a feasible way to lift binaries to the IR capable of polyhedral optimizations. We implement a proof-of-concept design of ExanaDBT and evaluate it. From the evaluation results, we confirm that ExanaDBT realizes dynamic optimization in a fully automated fashion. The results also show that ExanaDBT can contribute to speeding up the execution in average 3.2 times from unoptimized serial code in single thread execution and 11.9 times in 16 thread parallel execution.
De Voorspellende Waarde van Intelligentie, Werkgeheugen, Leerkrachtattitude en Motivatie voor de Rekenvaardigheid van Leerlingen

rekenvaardigheid van leerlingen. Conclusie en discussie Intelligentie, werkgeheugen en motivatie zijn significante voorspellers voor de rekenvaardigheid van leerlingen. Motivatie lijkt een mediërende invloed te hebben op de voorspellende waarde van intelligentie en werkgeheugen voor rekenvaardigheid. Vervolgonderzoek zal zich, om een breder beeld te kunnen krijgen over hoe de verschillen in rekenprestaties ontstaan, ook moeten richten op andere variabelen zoals geslacht en sociaal economische status.
Competing Across Technology-Differentiated Channels: The Impact of Network Externalities and Switching Costs

Technology-driven commerce channels, such as the Web, possess several unique features that differentiate them from traditional channels. The interaction between firms operating across these differentiated channels involves interesting competitive dynamics that cannot be captured by isolated models of electronic markets. This paper develops a stylized spatial differentiation model to examine the impact of differences in channel flexibility, network externalities, and switching costs on competition between online, traditional, and hybrid firms. A basic model highlighting the moderating influence of the hybrid firm on both channels is extended to account for differential network externalities and switching costs across the two channels. Our analysis indicates that while network effects as well as switching costs lead to the tipping of markets, such tipping occurs primarily due to the moderating effects of the competing channel. More importantly, with network effects an increased market share does not translate into higher profits. Contradictory to conventional wisdom, our results indicate that in a static market, consumers rather than firms, benefit from increasing network externalities, with competitive effects outweighing the surplus-extraction abilities of firms. Our results also highlight the importance of alternative revenue streams and provide insights for firms grappling with issues of channel choice as well as integration and divestiture.
Quality Local Refinement of Tetrahedral Meshes Based on Bisection

We present a three-dimensional (3-D) local refinement algorithm for tetrahedral meshes based on a bisection procedure. The quality of refined meshes is guaranteed in terms of a tetrahedron shape measure $\eta $. Specifically, it is proved that the algorithm creates a finite number, which only depends on the number of tetrahedra in the initial mesh, of classes of similar tetrahedra in all refined tetrahedra. Furthermore, if ${\bf T}$ is a tetrahedron in the original mesh, and ${\bf T}_i^n $ is any refined tetrahedron of ${\bf T}$, then $\eta ({\bf T}_i^n ) \geq c\eta ({\bf T})$, where c is a positive constant independent of ${\bf T}$ and the number of refinements. It is also proved that for any interior face in the final mesh, the absolute value of the difference of the bisection levels of the two adjacent tetrahedra incident on the face is $ \leq 2$, which indicates that local refinements on tetrahedra can be smoothly extended to their neighbors. The expected time complexity of the algorithm is $O(N)$, wh.
Urinary S-100B Concentrations in Term and Preterm Infants at Risk for Brain Damage

Background: Elevated serum concentrations of S-100B, a 21-kDa protein expressed in astroglial cells, has been used to assess cerebral damage after head trauma, infection, ischemia, and perinatal asphyxia. Objective: As S-100B is eliminated by the kidneys, we investigated the feasibility of measuring S-100B in urine of newborns with severe perinatal asphyxia, and in very low birth weight (VLBW) preterm infants at risk for neurodevelopmental impairment. Methods: We first analyzed urine samples of 8 term or near-term newborns without major medical problems, followed by urine samples of 2 term newborns with severe birth asphyxia, and finally urine samples of 8 VLBW (gestational age 24–28 weeks) infants collected every 4 h for up to 10 days. Results: Urinary S-100B concentrations in 8 term or near-term newborns without major medical problems were consistently <1 µg/l. In 2 term newborns with severe asphyxia (Apgar 0/0/0 and 0/2/4) who subsequently had widespread cerebral damage on magnetic resonance imaging, peak urinary S-100B concentrations on the first day of life were 28.1 and 28.4 µg/l, respectively. In 5/8 VLBW infants, urinary S-100B was >1 µg/l in samples obtained on the first day of life (range 1.2–44.9 µg/l, median 6.8 µg/l). Peak S-100B in urine samples collected during the first 12 h of life were negatively related to gestational age (Rs = –0.882, p = 0.009). Three of the 8 preterm infants had peak urinary concentrations >10 µg/l but neither ultrasound signs of brain damage nor neurodevelopmental delay at 1 year corrected age. Conclusions: The determination of urinary S-100B concentrations might be helpful in term infants with severe asphyxia, while high urinary S-100B concentrations in preterm infants are to be attributed to immaturity.
Sevoflurane Prevents Liver Inflammatory Response Induced by Lung Ischemia-Reperfusion

Background Transplants cause ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury that can affect distant organs. Liver is particularly sensitive to IR injury. The present randomized experimental study was designed to investigate a possible protective effect of sevoflurane against liver inflammatory response to lung IR in a lung upper lobe left autotransplant model. Methods Two groups (sevoflurane and control) of eight swines each were submitted to upper lobe left lung autotransplant. Hypnotic maintenance was performed with sevoflurane 3% or propofol 8 to 10 mg/kg per hr until pneumonectomy was done; then propofol was used for all animals. Blood and liver samples were taken in four different moments: prepneumonectomy, prereperfusion, 10 min postreperfusion and 30 min postreperfusion to measure levels of interleukin (IL)-1&bgr;, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-&agr;, monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP)-1, nuclear factor (NF)-&kgr;B, C-reactive protein, ferritin and caspase 3. Non-parametric test was used to find statistical meaning. Results Lung IR markedly increased the expression of TNF-&agr;, IL-1&bgr;, MCP-1, NF-&kgr;B and caspase activity in control livers compared with basal levels, whereas liver IL-10 expression decreased 10 and 30 min post-reperfusion. Sevoflurane significantly decreased TNF-&agr;, IL-1&bgr;, MCP-1, NF-&kgr;B liver expression and caspase 3 activity. Sevoflurane also reverted the lung IR-induced decrease in IL-10 expression. Conclusions The present results indicate that lung IR caused hepatic injury. Sevoflurane attenuated liver injury in a model of upper lobe left lung autotransplant in pigs.
McEliece cryptosystem based identification and signature scheme using chained BCH codes

Identity-based Public Key Cryptography ID-PKC allows to manage authentication of pubic key efficiently. Identification and signature scheme allow managing public key without digital authentication. This paper proposed McEliece cryptosystem based identification and the signature scheme using chained BCH codes and permuted decoding based on the norm of syndrome. The proposed signature scheme allows to use codes with short length and distance yet increasing the numbers of correctable errors and coding speed, to reduce the complexity of making signature procedures and verification as well as to construct a secured identification and signature scheme.
Do migrant girls perform better than migrant boys? Deviant gender differences between the reading scores of 15-year-old children of migrants compared to native pupils

In this paper, we analyse the gender differences between the educational performance of 15-year-old children of migrants from specific regions of origin countries living in different destination countries with the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 wave. We study whether this gender difference of migrant pupils deviates from the gender difference between the native pupils in their destination country. We analyse the educational performance of 16,612 daughters and 16,804 sons of migrants in destination countries across Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Oceania. We distinguish 62 origin countries and 12 origin areas in 30 destination countries. Female migrant pupils have both higher reading and math scores than comparable male migrant pupils, and these gender differences among migrant pupils are larger than among comparable native pupils. Parental socioeconomic background has an equal effect on the educational performance of daughters of migrants and on that of sons of migrants. The variation in educational performance by region of origin is, however, not clearly related to the poverty or traditionalism of regions.
The Development of the Multidimensional Social Competence Scale: A Standardized Measure of Social Competence in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism and its related disorders are commonly described as lying along a continuum that ranges in severity and are collectively referred to as autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Although all individuals with ASD meet the social impairment diagnostic criteria outlined in the DSM‐IV‐TR, they do not present with the same social difficulties. The variability in the expression and severity of social competence is particularly evident among the group of individuals with “high‐functioning” ASD who appear to have difficulty applying their average to above average intelligence in a social context. There is a striking paucity of empirical research investigating individual differences in social functioning among individuals with high‐functioning ASD. It is possible that more detailed investigations of social competence have been impeded by the lack of standardized measures available to assess the nature and severity of social impairment. The aim of the current study was to develop and evaluate a parent rating scale capable of assessing individual differences in social competence (i.e. strengths and challenges) among adolescents with ASD: the Multidimensional Social Competence Scale (MSCS). Results from confirmatory factor analyses supported the hypothesized multidimensional factor structure of the MSCS. Seven relatively distinct domains of social competence were identified including social motivation, social inferencing, demonstrating empathic concern, social knowledge, verbal conversation skills, nonverbal sending skills, and emotion regulation. Psychometric evidence provided preliminary support for the reliability and validity of the scale. Possible applications of this promising new parent rating scale in both research and clinical settings are discussed. Autism Res 2013, 6: 631–641. © 2013 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
An Efficient Layered Decoding Architecture for Nonbinary QC-LDPC Codes

Compared to binary low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes, nonbinary LDPC codes have better error performance when the code length is moderate. This paper presents an efficient layered decoder architecture for nonbinary quasi-cyclic (QC) LDPC codes using the proposed barrel-shifter-based permutation network and minimum value filter which is used to determine the first few smallest values from a given set. Through the permutation network, the decoding operations related to the multiplications over finite fields can be efficiently handled in the check-node operations, which simplifies the permutations in the variable-node operations and, hence, enables the layered decoder to be realized efficiently. In order to increase the throughput, we utilize the proposed permutation network and the minimum value filter to devise a selective-input min-max decoder architecture. Using a 90-nm CMOS process, we implemented three nonbinary decoders to demonstrate the proposed techniques.
Full‐length genomic analysis of hepatitis B virus isolates in a patient progressing from hepatitis to hepatocellular carcinoma

In hepatitis B virus (HBV)‐endemic countries, the majority of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) arises in HBV carriers. High frequency of mutations at nucleotides 1762(A→T) and 1764(G→A) in the core promoter region have been described in HCC. Due to the differences in genetic backgrounds, environmental risk factors and random cellular insertion sites, it is difficult to analyze the possible roles of HBV variants detected in different HCC patients. In a follow‐up cohort study, an HBsAg‐positive asymptomatic carrier was diagnosed HCC within 4 years. Eleven full‐length HBV isolates, three from the first serum sample obtained 4 years pre‐HCC, and eight from serum sample, peri‐tumor and tumor tissue post‐HCC of this individual were sequenced and used to transfect HepG2 cells. When sequences were compared between pre‐ and post‐HCC isolates, no single mutation common to all post‐HCC isolates that differed from pre‐HCC isolates was found. Among all 11 isolates, there were 20 predicted amino acid substitutions shared by two or more post‐HCC isolates. These were located in the S(5), X(4), core(4), polymerase(4), pre‐S1(2) and pre‐S2(1) proteins. Possible roles of amino acid substitutions and enhanced replication efficiency in cells transfected by post‐HCC isolates are discussed. J. Med. Virol. 64:299–304, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Minimum detection window and inter-helix PI-line with triple-source helical cone-beam scanning

In this paper, we propose a helical cone-beam scanning configuration of triple symmetrically located X-ray sources, and study minimum detection windows to extend the traditional Tam-Danielsson window for exact image reconstruction. For three longitudinally displaced scanning helices of the same radius and a source location on any helix, the corresponding minimum detection window is bounded by the most adjacent turns respectively selected from the other two helices. The height of our proposed minimum detector window is only 1/3 of that in the single helix case. Associated with proposed minimum detection windows, we define the inter-helix PI-line and establish its existence and uniqueness property: through any point inside the triple helices, there exists one and only one inter-helix PI-line for any pair of the helices. Furthermore, we prove that cone-beam projection data from such a triple-source helical scan are sufficient for exact image reconstruction. Although there are certain redundancies among those projection data, the redundant part cannot be removed by shrinking the detector window without violating the data sufficiency condition. Those results are important components for development of exact or quasi-exact image reconstruction algorithms in the case of triple-source helical cone-beam scanning in the future.
EXTENDING THE NEARBY GALAXY HERITAGE WITH WISE: FIRST RESULTS FROM THE WISE ENHANCED RESOLUTION GALAXY ATLAS

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mapped the entire sky at mid-infrared wavelengths 3.4 μm, 4.6 μm, 12 μm, and 22 μm. The mission was primarily designed to extract point sources, leaving resolved and extended sources, for the most part, unexplored. Accordingly, we have begun a dedicated WISE Enhanced Resolution Galaxy Atlas (WERGA) project to fully characterize large, nearby galaxies and produce a legacy image atlas and source catalog. Here we demonstrate the first results of the WERGA project for a sample of 17 galaxies, chosen to be of large angular size, diverse morphology, and covering a range in color, stellar mass, and star formation. It includes many well-studied galaxies, such as M 51, M 81, M 87, M 83, M 101, and IC 342. Photometry and surface brightness decomposition is carried out after special super-resolution processing, achieving spatial resolutions similar to that of Spitzer Infrared Array Camera. The enhanced resolution method is summarized in the first paper of this two-part series. In this second work, we present WISE, Spitzer, and Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) photometric and characterization measurements for the sample galaxies, combining the measurements to study the global properties. We derive star formation rates using the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon sensitive 12 μm (W3) fluxes, warm-dust sensitive 22 μm (W4) fluxes, and young massive-star sensitive ultraviolet (UV) fluxes. Stellar masses are estimated using the 3.4 μm (W1) and 4.6 μm (W2) measurements that trace the dominant stellar mass content. We highlight and showcase the detailed results of M 83, comparing the WISE/Spitzer results with the Australia Telescope Compact Array H i gas distribution and GALEX UV emission, tracing the evolution from gas to stars. In addition to the enhanced images, WISE's all-sky coverage provides a tremendous advantage over Spitzer for building a complete nearby galaxy catalog, tracing both stellar mass and star formation histories. We discuss the construction of a complete mid-infrared catalog of galaxies and its complementary role of studying the assembly and evolution of galaxies in the local universe.