Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Generalized Hash Chain Traversal with Selective Output

A hash chain H for a one-way hash function h(·) is a sequence of hash values , where v0 is a public value, vn a secret value, and vi =h(vi+1). A hash chain traversal algorithm T computes and outputs the hash chain H, returning vi in time period (called round) i for 1 ≤ i ≤ n. While previous hash chain traversal algorithms were designed to output all hash values vi (1 ≤ i ≤ n) in order, there are applications where every m-th hash value (i.e., vm, v2m, v3m, . . .) is required to be output. We introduce a hash chain traversal algorithm that selectively outputs every m-th hash value efficiently. The main technique is a transformation from a hash chain traversal algorithm outputting every hash value into that outputting every m-th hash value. Compared with the direct use of previous hash chain traversal algorithms, our proposed method requires less memory storages and computational costs.
Maternal Cohabitation and Educational Success 145

Sociology of Education 2005, Vol. 78 (April): 144–164 144 Social scientists who have studied the family and those who have studied educational stratification have produced convincing evidence that parental divorce is negatively associated with educational success. Compared to children who live with both parents until adulthood, children from divorced families have lower educational expectations, poorer school attendance, and lower grades (Amato 2001; Astone and McLanahan 1991; Hanson, McLanahan, and Thomson 1998; Sun and Li 2001; Teachman et al. 1998). They are also less likely to graduate from high school or to attend college (Biblarz and Gottainer 2000; McLanahan and Sandefur 1994; Ploeg 2002; Pong and Ju 2000; Sandefur and Wells 1999). Research has suggested that mothers’ remarriage does not improve the chances of children’s high school graduation and that children from stepparent families are only marginally better off than are those from single-parent families on many educational outcomes (Astone and McLanahan 1991; McLanahan and Sandefur 1994). While the impact of parents’ divorce and remarriage on educational success has been 03. Raley 4/14/05 2:26 PM Page 144
Bayesian mapping of multiple quantitative trait loci from incomplete outbred offspring data.

A general fine-scale Bayesian quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping method for outcrossing species is presented. It is suitable for an analysis of complete and incomplete data from experimental designs of F2 families or backcrosses. The amount of genotyping of parents and grandparents is optional, as well as the assumption that the QTL alleles in the crossed lines are fixed. Grandparental origin indicators are used, but without forgetting the original genotype or allelic origin information. The method treats the number of QTL in the analyzed chromosome as a random variable and allows some QTL effects from other chromosomes to be taken into account in a composite interval mapping manner. A block-update of ordered genotypes (haplotypes) of the whole family is sampled once in each marker locus during every round of the Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm used in the numerical estimation. As a byproduct, the method gives the posterior distributions for linkage phases in the family and therefore it can also be used as a haplotyping algorithm. The Bayesian method is tested and compared with two frequentist methods using simulated data sets, considering two different parental crosses and three different levels of available parental information. The method is implemented as a software package and is freely available under the name Multimapper/outbred at URL http://www.rni. helsinki.fi/mjs/.
A Generic Algorithm Template for Divide-and-Conquer in Multicore Systems

The divide-and-conquer pattern of parallelism is a powerful approach to organize parallelism on problems that are expressed naturally in a recursive way. In fact, recent tools such as Intel Threading Building Blocks (TBB), which has received much attention, go further and make extensive usage of this pattern to parallelize problems that other approaches parallelize following other strategies. In this paper we discuss the limitations to express divide-and-conquer parallelism with the algorithm templates provided by the TBB. Based on our observations, we propose a new algorithm template implemented on top of TBB that improves the programmability of many problems that fit this pattern, while providing a similar performance. This is demonstrated with a comparison both in terms of performance and programmability.
Dynamic online views of meta-indexes

For a collection of digitized monographs in a subject domain, a domain meta-index provides a summary of domain concepts, and a structured vocabulary to support a scholar's navigation and search. We present a prototype of a Meta-index User Interface (MUI) that provides views of a domain at three levels: summarizing and comparing domains, exposing the regularities of a domain's vocabulary, and displaying book information and page content related both to objectively-representative books, and to specific user searches.
Toward on-line transition to autonomous teleoperation from master-slave manipulation

A new approach to telerobotic manipulation is proposed. Using swept volume of a slave manipulator tele-operated initially by a human operator, on-line transition to autonomous tele-operation from master-slave manipulation is achieved without any geometric model of the object in an environment. This feature enables wider application in an unstructured environment.
A wavelength assignment heuristic to minimize SONET ADMs in WDM rings

Optical Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) rings are being deployed to support multiple SONET/SDH self-healing rings over a single physical optical ring. In such systems, the dominating cost is the SONET Add/Drop Multiplexers (ADMs). To minimize the system cost, algorithms must be developed to assign wavelengths to lightpaths in the system so that the number of ADMs required is minimized. However the problem of optimal wavelength assignment to minimize SONET ADMs is NP-hard. Existing heuristic algorithms for this problem include the assign first, the iterative matching and the iterative merging heuristics. In this paper we propose a new wavelength assignment heuristic to minimize SONET ADMs. Our heuristic is on average 3% to 5% more effective in finding the opportunities to share ADMs (and thus to reduce the total number of ADMs required) than the most effective existing heuristic, the iterative merging algorithm.
Tunable osteogenic differentiation of hMPCs in tubular perfusion system bioreactor

The use of bioreactors for bone tissue engineering has been widely investigated. While the benefits of shear stress on osteogenic differentiation are well known, the underlying effects of dynamic culture on subpopulations within a bioreactor are less evident. In this work, we explore the influence of applied flow in the tubular perfusion system (TPS) bioreactor on the osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal progenitor cells (hMPCs), specifically analyzing the effects of axial position along the growth chamber. TPS bioreactor experiments conducted with unidirectional flow demonstrated enhanced expression of osteogenic markers in cells cultured downstream from the inlet flow. We utilized computational fluid dynamic modeling to confirm uniform shear stress distribution on the surface of the scaffolds and along the length of the growth chamber. The concept of paracrine signaling between cell populations was validated with the use of alternating flow, which diminished the differences in osteogenic differentiation between cells cultured at the inlet and outlet of the growth chamber. After the addition of controlled release of bone morphogenic protein‐2 (BMP‐2) into the system, osteogenic differentiation among subpopulations along the growth chamber was augmented, yet remained homogenous. These results allow for greater understanding of axial bioreactor cultures, their microenvironment, and how well‐established parameters of osteogenic differentiation affect bone tissue development. With this work, we have demonstrated the capability of tuning osteogenic differentiation of hMPCs through the application of fluid flow and the addition of exogenous growth factors. Such precise control allows for the culture of distinct subpopulation within one dynamic system for the use of complex engineered tissue constructs. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2016;113: 1805–1813. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Building Dialectal Arabic Corpora

The aim of this research is to identify local Arabic dialects in texts from social media (Twitter) and link them to specific geographic areas. Dialect identification is studied as a subset of the task of language identification. The proposed method is based on unsupervised learning using simultaneously lexical and geographic distance. While this study focusses on Libyan dialects, the approach is general, and could produce resources to support human translators and interpreters when dealing with vernaculars rather than standard Arabic.
Co-synthesis of pipelined structures and instruction reordering constraints for instruction set processors

This paper presents a hardware/software co-synthesis approach to pipelined ISP (instruction set processor) design. The approach synthesizes the pipeline structure from a given instruction set architecture (behavioral) specification. In addition, it generates a set of reordering constraints that guides the compiler back-end (reorderer) to properly schedule instructions so that possible pipeline hazards are avoided and throughput is improved. Co-synthesis takes place while resolving pipeline hazards, which can be attributed to interin-struction dependencies (IIDs). An extended taxonomy of IIDs have been proposed for the systematic analysis of pipeline hazards. Hardware/software methods are developed to resolve IIDs. Algorithms based on taxonomy and resolutions are constructed and integrated into the pipeline synthesis process to explore hardware and software design space. Application benchmarks are used to evaluate possible designs and guide the design decision. The power of the co-synthesis tool PIPER is demonstrated through pipeline synthesis of one illustrative example and two ISPs, including an industrial one (TDY-43). In comparison with other related approaches, our approach achieves higher throughput and provides a systematic way to explore the hardware/software trade-off.
Elastin metabolism in pelvic tissues: is it modulated by reproductive hormones?

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of relaxin on extracellular matrix protein expression in pelvic fibroblasts that were cultured from women with stress urinary incontinence compared with asymptomatic control subjects. STUDY DESIGN Periurethral vaginal wall fibroblasts from premenopausal women with stress urinary incontinence and continent women (in both the proliferative and secretory phase of the menstrual cycle) were stimulated with increasing concentrations of relaxin (0-500 ng/mL). The supernatant was sampled for matrix metalloproteinase-2 and -9 by zymography. Tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-1 and -2 and alpha-1 antitrypsin were evaluated with Western blot. Total elastase activity was measured by generation of free amino groups from succinylated elastin. Increasing concentrations of alpha-1 antitrypsin were added to cell lysate to evaluate total elastase activity inhibition. RESULTS Proliferative-phase stress urinary incontinence fibroblasts demonstrated an increase in matrix metalloproteinase-2 and no change in matrix metalloproteinase-9 and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-1 and -2 expressions with increasing relaxin concentrations. Cells from control subjects showed increased expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 and -9, but no change in tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases. Secretory-phase stress urinary incontinence fibroblasts showed no response in matrix metalloproteinase or tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase expressions with relaxin stimulation. Secretory-phase control fibroblasts reacted by increasing matrix metalloproteinase-2 and -9 and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-2. With respect to total elastase activity and alpha-1 antitrypsin expression, increasing doses of relaxin appear to increase elastolytic activity in stress urinary incontinence cells by decreasing the expression of alpha-1 antitrypsin in proliferative phase cells or increasing the total elastase activity in secretory phase cells. Fibroblast total elastase activity was inhibited by increasing concentrations of alpha-1 antitrypsin. CONCLUSION Elastase activity appears to be increased in relaxin-stimulated stress urinary incontinence fibroblasts by either decreased inhibitor (alpha-1 antitrypsin) production or increased elastase activity.
Symbolic Models for Nonlinear Control Systems Without Stability Assumptions

Finite-state models of control systems were proposed by several researchers as a convenient mechanism to synthesize controllers enforcing complex specifications. Most techniques for the construction of such symbolic models have two main drawbacks: either they can only be applied to restrictive classes of systems, or they require the exact computation of reachable sets. In this paper, we propose a new abstraction technique that is applicable to any nonlinear sampled-data control system as long as we are only interested in its behavior in a compact set. Moreover, the exact computation of reachable sets is not required. The effectiveness of the proposed results is illustrated by synthesizing a controller to steer a vehicle.
Murine mast cell lines as indicators of early events in mast cell and basophil development

To study early events in mast cell / basophil development, the phenotype of a panel of murine cell lines at various stages of differentiation was determined. Based on the expression on various mast cell‐specific proteases and several additional hematopoietic differentiation markers, the cell lines CFTL‐15 and MCP5 / L were clearly identified as mast cells, although with a relatively immature phenotype. These two cell lines express the high‐affinity IgE receptor α‐chain, the mouse mast cell protease (MMCP)‐5 and the carboxypeptidase A (CPA). Bone marrow‐derived mast cells and the transplantable mast cell tumor MTC were shown to express the IgE receptor α‐chain, MMCP‐5 and CPA, as well as the mast cell tryptase MMCP‐6 and the chymase MMCP‐4, a protease expressed only during late stages of mast cell differentiation. These two cell types thus display a more mature mast cell phenotype. In contrast, the cell lines P815 and 32D cl3 did not express any mast cell differentiation markers. Interestingly, the IC‐2 cell line was shown to express several markers for immature mast cells and in addition MMCP‐8, a serine protease which may represent a marker for mouse basophils. By antibody staining, almost all IC‐2 cells were shown to express MMCP‐8. This indicates that individual cells may simultaneously express both mast cell and basophil markers. Moreover, these findings suggest that an early branch point in hematopoietic development where mast cells and basophils have a common precursor cell may exist.
Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor Activation in Cerebellar Purkinje Cells as Substrate for Adaptive Timing of the Classically Conditioned Eye-Blink Response

To understand how the cerebellum adaptively times the classically conditioned nictitating membrane response (NMR), a model of the metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) second messenger system in cerebellar Purkinje cells is constructed. In the model, slow responses, generated postsynaptically by mGluR-mediated phosphoinositide hydrolysis and calcium release from intracellular stores, bridge the interstimulus interval (ISI) between the onset of parallel fiber activity associated with the conditioned stimulus (CS) and climbing fiber activity associated with unconditioned stimulus (US) onset. Temporal correlation of metabotropic responses and climbing fiber signals produces persistent phosphorylation of both AMPA receptors and Ca2+-dependent K+ channels. This is responsible for long-term depression (LTD) of AMPA receptors. The phosphorylation of Ca2+-dependent K+ channels leads to a reduction in baseline membrane potential and a reduction of Purkinje cell population firing during the CS–US interval. The Purkinje cell firing decrease disinhibits cerebellar nuclear cells, which then produce an excitatory response corresponding to the learned movement. Purkinje cell learning times the response, whereas nuclear cell learning can calibrate it. The model reproduces key features of the conditioned rabbit NMR: Purkinje cell population response is timed properly; delay conditioning occurs for ISIs of up to 4 sec, whereas trace conditioning occurs only at shorter ISIs; mixed training at two different ISIs produces a double-peaked response; and ISIs of 200–400 msec produce maximal responding. Biochemical similarities between timed cerebellar learning and photoreceptor transduction, and circuit similarities between the timed cerebellar circuit and a timed dentate-CA3 hippocampal circuit, are noted.
A New Domain Family in the Superfamily of Alkaline Phosphatases

During the course of our large-scale genome analysis a conserved domain, currently detectable only in the genomes of Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans and Anopheles gambiae, has been identified. The function of this domain is currently unknown and no function annotation is provided for this domain in the publicly available genomic, protein family and sequence databases. The search for the homologues of this domain in the non-redundant sequence database using PSI-BLAST, resulted in identification of distant relationship between this family and the alkaline phosphatase-like superfamily, which includes families of aryl sulfatase, N-acetylgalactosomine-4-sulfatase, alkaline phosphatase and 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate-independent phosphoglycerate mutase (iPGM). The fold recognition procedures showed that this new domain could adopt a similar 3-D fold as for this superfamily. Most of the phosphatases and sulfatases of this superfamily are characterized by functional residues Ser and Cys respectively in the topologically equivalent positions. This functionally important site aligns with Ser/Thr in the members of the new family. Additionally, set of residues responsible for a metal binding site in phosphatases and sulphtases are conserved in the new family. The in-depth analysis suggests that the new family could possess phosphatase activity.
Improved Rejection Prophylaxis With an Initially Intensified Dosing Regimen of Enteric-Coated Mycophenolate Sodium in De Novo Renal Transplant Recipients

Background. Approximately half of cyclosporine A-treated renal transplant recipients do not reach sufficient mycophenolic acid (MPA) exposure in the first weeks posttransplantation with standard MPA dosing regimens. Methods. Here, we present a prospectively planned meta-analysis of data from two 6-month parallel-run studies that evaluated the effect of an initially intensified versus standard dosing regimen of enteric-coated mycophenolate sodium (EC-MPS). Four hundred forty-one de novo renal transplant recipients were randomized (1:1) to intensified (2 weeks 2880 mg/d; subsequently 4 weeks 2160 mg/d; followed by 1440 mg/d) or standard (1440 mg/d) EC-MPS, with concomitant cyclosporine A treatment and steroids with or without anti-IL-2R induction. Primary endpoint was treatment failure (biopsy-proven acute rejection [BPAR], graft loss, or death) at month 6 posttransplantation. Results. Treatment failure rates were 17.4% in intensified and 22.4% in standard groups (P=0.110). The incidence of BPAR was 13.8% (intensified) vs. 19.3% (standard; P=0.034). A total of 80.5% (intensified) versus 39.0% (standard) of patients achieved 12 hr MPA-area under the curve more than 30 &mgr;g·hr/mL as early as day 3 posttransplant. Renal function, gastrointestinal symptom rating scores, and safety profiles were comparable between treatment groups. Conclusion. The initially intensified EC-MPS dosing regimen was associated with higher MPA exposure, significantly lower rate of BPAR, and comparable safety. However, the intensified regimen did not affect graft function or survival.
Sensor-assisted adaptive motor control under continuously varying context

Adaptive motor control under continuously varying context, like the inertia parameters of a ma- nipulated object, is an active research area that lacks a satisfactory solution. Here, we present and compare three novel strategies for learning control under varying context and show how adding tactile sensors may ease this task. The first strategy uses only dynamics information to infer the unknown inertia parameters. It is based on a probabilistic generative model of the control torques, which are linear in the inertia parameters. We demonstrate this inference in the special case of a single continuous context variable - the mass of the manipulated object. In the second strategy, instead of torques, we use tactile forces to infer the mass in a similar way. Finally, the third strategy omits this inference - which may be infeasible if the latent space is multi-dimensional - and directly maps the state, state transitions, and tactile forces onto the control torques. The additional tactile input implicitly contains all control-torque relevant properties of the manipu- lated object. In simulation, we demonstrate that this direct mapping can provide accurate control torques under multiple varying context variables.
Liquid Encapsulation in Parylene Microstructures Using Integrated Annular-Plate Stiction Valves

We report the design, fabrication and characterization of micromachined Parylene structures for self-sealing liquid encapsulation applications. Automatic sealing is enabled through the use of an integrated annular-plate stiction valve which greatly reduces device footprint over in-plane configurations. We achieve automatic wafer-level liquid entrapment without using adhesives or processing at elevated pressures or temperatures. The ability to track changes to the internal liquid volume through the use of electrochemical impedance measurements is also presented.