Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of regular aquatic exercise on blood pressure: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background No meta-analysis has examined the effect of regular aquatic exercise on blood pressure. The purpose of this study was to perform a meta-analysis to evaluate the effects of regular aquatic exercise on blood pressure. Design A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Methods Databases were searched for literature published up to April 2017. The randomized controlled trials analysed involved healthy adults, an intervention group that only performed aquatic exercise and a control group that did not exercise, no other intervention, and trials indicated mean systolic blood pressure or diastolic blood pressure. The net change in blood pressure was calculated from each trial, and the changes in blood pressure were pooled by a random effects model, and the risk of heterogeneity was evaluated. Subgroup analysis of subjects with hypertension, subjects who performed endurance exercise (or not), and subjects who only swam (or not) was performed, and the net changes in blood pressure were pooled. Results The meta-analysis examined 14 trials involving 452 subjects. Pooled net changes in blood pressure improved significantly (systolic blood pressure −8.4 mmHg; diastolic blood pressure −3.3 mmHg) and the changes in systolic blood pressure contained significant heterogeneity. When subjects were limited to those with hypertension, those who performed endurance exercise and subjects who did not swim, pooled net changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly, but the heterogeneity of systolic blood pressure did not improve. Conclusion Like exercise on land, aquatic exercise should have a beneficial effect by lowering blood pressure. In addition, aquatic exercise should lower the blood pressure of subjects with hypertension, and other forms of aquatic exercise besides swimming should also lower blood pressure.
On Variance Reduction in Stochastic Gradient Descent and its Asynchronous Variants

We study optimization algorithms based on variance reduction for stochastic gradient descent (SGD). Remarkable recent progress has been made in this direction through development of algorithms like SAG, SVRG, SAGA. These algorithms have been shown to outperform SGD, both theoretically and empirically. However, asynchronous versions of these algorithms---a crucial requirement for modern large-scale applications---have not been studied. We bridge this gap by presenting a unifying framework for many variance reduction techniques. Subsequently, we propose an asynchronous algorithm grounded in our framework, and prove its fast convergence. An important consequence of our general approach is that it yields asynchronous versions of variance reduction algorithms such as SVRG and SAGA as a byproduct. Our method achieves near linear speedup in sparse settings common to machine learning. We demonstrate the empirical performance of our method through a concrete realization of asynchronous SVRG.
Long-Term Depression at Olfactory Nerve Synapses

The synapses formed by the olfactory nerve (ON) convey sensory information to olfactory glomeruli, the first stage of central odor processing. Morphological and behavioral studies suggest that glomerular odor processing is plastic in neonate rodents. However, long-term synaptic plasticity, a cellular correlate of functional and structural plasticity, has not yet been demonstrated in this system. Here, we report that ON→mitral cell (MC) synapses of 5- to 8-d-old mice express long-term depression (LTD) after brief low-frequency ON stimulation. Pharmacological techniques and imaging of presynaptic calcium signals demonstrate that ON-MC LTD is expressed presynaptically and requires the activation of metabotropic glutamate receptors but does not require fast synaptic transmission. LTD at the ON→ MC synapse is potentially relevant for the establishment, maintenance, and experience-dependent refinement of odor maps in the olfactory bulb.
Using a Lemmatizer to Support the Development and Validation of the Greek WordNet

Abstract. In this paper we aim to give a description of the computational toolsthat have been designed and implemented to support the development and validationprocess of the Greek WordNet, which is currently being developed in the frameworkof the BalkaNet project. In particular, we focus on the description of a lemmatizer forthe Greek language, which has been used as the basis for a number of tools supportingthe linguists in their work of developing and validating the Greek WordNet. 1 Introduction The software infrastructure needed in view of building the Greek WordNet was developedduring two consecutive projects. The DiaLexico project [3] which aimed at the constructionof a lexical database with semantic relations for the Greek language and the BalkaNetproject [9], which aims at the development of a multilingual lexical database with semanticrelations for each of the following languages: Bulgarian, Czech, Greek, Romanian, Serbianand Turkish. The deployment of computational tools has been proved to be of majorimportance in the course of the aforementioned projects. The tools and resources used for thedevelopment of the monolingual Greek WordNet had to take into account the peculiarities ofthe Greek language, which is considered as a lesser-studied one.In this paper we focus on the description of a lemmatizer, which has been used as thebasis of a number of tools supporting the linguists in their work of extracting and processingthe necessary linguistic information from dictionaries and corpora. Up to now, lemmatizershave been developed for the Greek language, mainly as tools to support specic applications,or as part of systems that support full morphological processing and require a large numberof lexical resources. Examples of such systems are [5] and [8] which utilize the two-levelmorphology model [7] which uses a morpheme based lexicon, grammatical rules and anite-state automaton and [6] where a lazy tagging method with functional decompositionis implemented.In our approach the lemmatizer was designed so as to be useful for a numberof different tools, to require as few lexical resources as possible and to be computationallyefcient.
Detecting and tolerating Byzantine faults in database systems

This thesis describes the design, implementation, and evaluation of a replication scheme to handle Byzantine faults in transaction processing database systems. The scheme compares answers from queries and updates on multiple replicas which are off-the-shelf database systems, to provide a single database that is Byzantine fault tolerant. The scheme works when the replicas are homogeneous, but it also allows heterogeneous replication in which replicas come from different vendors. Heterogeneous replicas reduce the impact of bugs and security compromises because they are implemented independently and are thus less likely to suffer correlated failures. A final component of the scheme is a repair mechanism that can correct the state of a faulty replica, ensuring the longevity of the scheme. The main challenge in designing a replication scheme for transaction processing systems is ensuring that the replicas state does not diverge while allowing a high degree of concurrency. We have developed two novel concurrency control protocols, commit barrier scheduling (CBS) and snapshot epoch scheduling (SES) that provide strong consistency and good performance. The two protocols provide different types of consistency: CBS provides single-copy serializability and SES provides single-copy snapshot isolation. We have implemented both protocols in the context of a replicated SQL database. Our implementation has been tested with production versions of several commercial and open source databases as replicas. Our experiments show a configuration that can tolerate one faulty replica has only a modest performance overhead (about 10-20% for the TPC-C benchmark). Our implementation successfully masks several Byzantine faults observed in practice and we have used it to find a new bug in MySQL. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Ph. 617-253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.)
A compact optimization methodology for single-ended LNA

An equation-based method for the optimization and design of single-ended low noise amplifiers (LNA) is presented. The performance metrics of the LNA such as gain, noise figure and input impedance are formulated in terms of the design variables. The parasitics are included early in the design process and optimal LNA designs satisfying the required specifications are found by the optimizer. Optimal LNA designs based on a 0.35 /spl mu/m CMOS technology obtained by the presented approach are further verified by the spectre simulator of the Cadence design environment. The specifications and performance of the designs are found to be in close agreement, validating the compact optimization technique presented in this work.
Towards the Perceptual Quality Evaluation of Compressed Light Field Images

Evaluation of perceived quality of light field images, as well as testing new processing tools, or even assessing the effectiveness of objective quality metrics, relies on the availability of test dataset and corresponding quality ratings. This paper presents SMART light field image quality dataset. The dataset consists of source images (raw data without optical corrections), compressed images, and annotated subjective quality scores. Furthermore, analysis of perceptual effects of compression on SMART dataset is presented. Next, the impact of image content on the perceived quality is studied with the help of image quality attributes. Finally, the performances of 2-D image quality metrics when applied to light field images are analyzed.
VisBDD - A Web-based Visualization Framework for OBDD Algorithms

CT presents a web-based visualization framework nded for learning and understanding basic algorithms rdered Binary Decision Diagrams (OBDDs). With key algorithm for OBDD-synthesis, the ITEn be explored in depth and step-by-step by the user, lved data structures can be made visible at different traction. The framework is intended as well as for lso for professionals, who want to gain more insight erful OBDD data structure that is used in many nd synthesis tools, for a better understanding of the echanisms and the problem complexity, without ent on reading textbooks.
Effect of respiratory hyperoxic challenge on magnetic susceptibility in human brain assessed by quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM)

The purpose of this study was to measure the regional change of magnetic susceptibility in human brain upon inhalation of 100% oxygen by MRI quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM). Fourteen healthy volunteers were scanned in a 3 T MR scanner with a 3D multi‐gradient‐echo sequence while breathing medical air (normoxia) and pure oxygen (hyperoxia). QSM images and R2* maps were calculated. Mean susceptibility differences versus white matter were measured in regions of interest covering veins, gray matter (GM), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) under both conditions. Hyperoxia resulted in a strong susceptibility decrease in large veins (−154.4 ± 65.9 ppb, p < 10−6), in a smaller reduction in GM (−1.3 ± 1 ppb, p < 0.001), and in a susceptibility increase in ventricular CSF (3.8 ± 1.8 ppb, p < 10−5). The susceptibility decrease in veins implied an increase of venous oxygen saturation (SvO2) by 10.1 ± 4.0%. Compared with QSM, R2* was more seriously affected by long‐distance effects not related to local tissue oxygenation and increased in cerebral frontal regions (3 ± 2 s−1, p < 0.0004) due to paramagnetic molecular oxygen in cavities. The results highlight the potential of QSM to yield region‐specific quantitative oxygenation information, and, thus, for applications such as oxygen‐therapy monitoring or identification of hypoxic tumor tissue during radiotherapy planning. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Morphology of single Shockley-type stacking faults generated by recombination enhanced dislocation glide in 4H–SiC

Abstract Morphology of single Shockley-type stacking faults (SFs) generated by recombination enhanced dislocation glide (REDG) in 4H–SiC are discussed and analysed. A complete set of the 12 different dissociated states of basal-plane dislocation loops is obtained using the crystallographic space group operations. From this set, six different double rhombic-shaped SFs are derived. These tables indicate the rules that connect shapes of SFs with the locations of partial dislocations having different core structures, the positions of slip planes in a unit cell, and the Burgers vectors of partial dislocations. We applied these tables for the analysis of SFs generated by the REDG effect reported in the past articles. Shapes, growing process of SFs and perfect dislocations for origins of SFs were well analysed systematically.
Simulation of Power Line Communication using ATP-EMTP and MATLAB

In this paper, a simulation test bed for narrowband Power Line Communications (PLC) is demonstrated. The method is able to quickly assess the performance of modulation schemes for an arbitrary network constructed in the ATP-EMTP software, both for point to point and for multi-point to point communication. Demodulation is carried out in MATLAB. The test setup is used to implement Orthogonal Division Multiplexing (OFDM) on a number of ‘typical’ medium voltage (MV) distribution networks. The simulation results show that with a considered choice of OFDM parameter values, robust, real time communication over the narrowband PLC channel is possible.
Correlation between expression of cellular retinol-binding protein 1 and its methylation status in larynx cancer

Aims The authors have previously reported that cellular retinol-binding protein 1 (CRBP1) gene gain and its expression correlated significantly with survival in laryngeal carcinoma patients. The authors hypothesised that inactivation of the CRBP1 gene through CpG methylation is associated with patient status and gene expression. In this work, the authors determine the expression and methylation status of the CRBP1 gene and its correlation with clinical variables of laryngeal carcinoma patients. Methods The CRBP1 gene methylation promoter was assessed by methylation specific PCR analysis in tissue samples from larynx cancer specimens and its expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry on paraffin embedded tissue using tissue microarray. The results were then compared with the clinical pathological variables and outcome measures. The study included 46 samples from patients with non-metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx without any previous oncological treatments. Results Lack of CRBP1 expression was seen in 17 of the 46 laryngeal carcinoma samples, while the remaining 29 samples showed increased expression. Significant associations were found between CRBP1 expression and methylation and patient status. There was a tendency for association in all clinical stages of the disease. CRBP1 gene expression and its unmethylated promoter correlated significantly with survival (p<0.05). Conclusions An early event of larynx cancer could be CRBP1 expression related to unmethylation of the promoter region. These features could also be associated with good response and survival. The authors hypothesised that increased expression and unmethylated promoter of the CRBP1 gene could be considered as markers for larynx cancer.
On achieving optimized capacity utilization in application overlay networks with multiple competing sessions

In this paper, we examine the problem of large-volume data dissemination via overlay networks. A natural way to maximize the throughput of an overlay multicast session is to split the traffic and feed them into multiple trees. While in single-tree solutions, bandwidth of leaf nodes may remain largely under-utilized, multi-tree solutions increase the chances for a node to contribute its bandwidth by being a relaying node in at least one of the trees. We study the following problems: (1) What is the maximum capacity multi-tree solutions can exploit from overlay networks? (2) When multiple sessions compete within the same network, what is the relationship of two contradictory goals: achieving fairness and maximizing overall throughput? (3) What is the impact of IP routing in achieving at constraining the optimal performance of overlay multicast.We extend the multicommodity flow model to the case of overlay data dissemination, where each commodity is associated with an overlay session, rather than the traditional source-destination pair. We first prove that the problem is solvable in polynomial time, then propose an ε-approximation algorithm, assuming that each commodity can be split in arbitrary ways. The solution to this problem establishes the theoretical upper bound of overall throughput that any multi-tree solution could reach. We then study the same problem with the restriction that each commodity can only be split and fed into a limited number of trees. A randomized rounding algorithm and an online tree-construction algorithm are presented. All these algorithms are evaluated by extensive simulations.
Stellar Populations and Variable Stars in the Core of the Globular Cluster M5

We report the discovery of a variable blue straggler in the core of the globular cluster M5, based on a 12 hr-long series of images obtained with the Planetary Camera aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. In addition, we present the light curves of 28 previously unknown or poorly studied large-amplitude variable stars (all but one are RR Lyrae stars) in the cluster core. A (V, U - I) color-magnitude diagram shows 24 blue stragglers within 2 core radii of the cluster center. The blue straggler population is significantly more centrally concentrated than the horizontal-branch and red giant stars.
Improving the reliability of RO PUF using frequency offset

Physical unclonable function (PUF) is a promising hardware security primitive that can be applied to various security related areas. The ring oscillator (RO) PUF is one of the most popular PUFs that can generate the volatile key by comparing the frequency between ROs. Previous RO PUFs incur unacceptable hardware overheads to improve the reliability in order to eliminate the effect of environment factors. In this paper, we propose a frequency offset algorithm (FOA) to enhance the reliability and low the hardware overhead. The key idea is to make the frequency difference larger than a given threshold by offsetting the frequencies of RO pairs. Experimental results show that our proposed FOA method has the better reliability and lower hardware overhead than the temperature-aware cooperative (TAC). Especially, our proposed method can achieve the 100% utilization of ROs.
The Pi-Calculus - a theory of mobile processes

From the Publisher: Mobile systems, whose components communicate and change their structure, now pervade the informational world and the wider world of which it is a part. The science of mobile systems is as yet immature, however. This book presents the pi-calculus, a theory of mobile systems. The pi-calculus provides a conceptual framework for understanding mobility, and mathematical tools for expressing systems and reasoning about their behaviors. The book serves both as a reference for the theory and as an extended demonstration of how to use pi-calculus to describe systems and analyze their properties. It covers the basic theory of pi-calculus, typed pi-calculi, higher-order processes, the relationship between pi-calculus and lambda-calculus, and applications of pi-calculus to object-oriented design and programming. The book is written at the graduate level, assuming no prior acquaintance with the subject, and is intended for computer scientists interested in mobile systems.
Absence of Endothelial ER&agr; Results in Arterial Remodeling and Decreased Stiffness in Western Diet–Fed Male Mice

The role of estrogen receptor-α (ERα) signaling in the vasculature of females has been described under different experimental conditions and our group recently reported that lack of endothelial cell (EC) ERα in female mice fed a Western diet (WD) results in amelioration of vascular stiffness. Conversely, the role of ERα in the male vasculature in this setting has not been explored. In conditions of overnutrition and insulin resistance, augmented arterial stiffness, endothelial dysfunction, and arterial remodeling contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease. Here, we used a rodent model of decreased ERα expression in ECs [endothelial cell estrogen receptor-α knockout (EC-ERαKO)] to test the hypothesis that, similar to our findings in females, loss of ERα signaling in the endothelium of insulin-resistant males would result in decreased arterial stiffness. EC-ERαKO male mice and same-sex littermates were fed a WD (high in fructose and fat) for 20 weeks and then assessed for vascular function and stiffness. EC-ERαKO mice were heavier than littermates but exhibited decreased vascular stiffness without differences in endothelial-dependent vasodilatory responses. Mesenteric arteries from EC-ERαKO mice had significantly increased diameters, wall cross-sectional areas, and mean wall thicknesses, indicative of outward hypertrophic remodeling. This remodeling paralleled an increased vessel wall content of collagen and elastin, inhibition of matrix metalloproteinase activation and a decrease of the incremental modulus of elasticity. In addition, internal elastic lamina fenestrae were more abundant in the EC-ERαKO mice. In conclusion, loss of endothelial ERα reduces vascular stiffness in male mice fed a WD with an associated outward hypertrophic remodeling of resistance arteries.
Evaluation of discomfort of Goldmann tonometry without anaesthetic

Goldmann applanation tonometry (GAT) is considered the gold standard technique for tonometry. It is a procedure involving administration of topical anaesthetic (a drug which could have several side effects). This prevents a large number of vision care practitioners from using GAT, due to legal restrictions regarding the use of these ophthalmic drugs. The purpose of this study was to establish whether the discomfort experienced during non‐anaesthetic Goldmann Applanation Tonometry (NAGAT) would be acceptable to subjects. The intensity of pain inflicted by GAT, NAGAT, Non‐Contact Tonometry (NCT) and Schirmer test was assessed on thirty‐one subjects enrolled in the study using the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) to assess pain. The GAT was performed on one eye and the other three procedures were carried out in random order on the fellow eye. Initially, each subject was asked to score their Maximum Pain Without Complaint (MPWC). The MPWC and the Schirmer test were used as references to grade the pain levels. The scores for the five procedures were registered using the NRS (0–10) and compared using a non‐parametric statistical analysis (Friedman test and a post‐hoc analysis). In addition, IOP results for GAT and NAGAT were also compared using the t‐test. The scores obtained on the NRS ranged from 0–4, 0–5, 0–8, 0–7 and 3–8 with a median of 1, 1, 2, 2, and 5, respectively for NCT, GAT, NAGAT, Schirmer and MPWC. A statistically significant difference (p = 0.01) was found between the MPWC and the four clinical tests but no difference was found between the clinical tests. There was no statistically significant difference (p = 0.71) between the IOP results for GAT and NAGAT, 14.0 ± 2.0 mmHg and 13.8 ± 2.0 mmHg (mean ± 1S.D.) respectively. The Goldmann Applanation Tonometry without anaesthetic (NAGAT) can be performed with an acceptable level of discomfort for the majority of subjects and should be performed identically to a traditional GAT, informing the subjects about the possibility of feeling a small discomfort.