Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Application of SysML to design of ATCA based LLRF control system

The paper presents the methodology of design of ATCA based LLRF system for XFEL linear accelerators. The LLRF system is used to control RF field in superconducting accelerating cavities regulating amplitude up to 0.03% and phase up to 0.03 deg. It is complex mixed analogue-digital control with latency of order of few tens of nanoseconds. The ATCA architecture was chosen due to high availability and reliability. The system design process is based on systematic and formal approach using SysML language and tools. This modern methodology changes the way of system description from “document centric” to “model centric”. It allows easy communication inside the designers team that is very important in wide international collaboration. In the design process the Use Case description of system functionality was applied. The hierarchical structure and requirements for subsystems was derived from the top level requirements and defined functionality of the system. The functions of various SysML diagrams are presented together with discussion which parts of the system are best described by which diagram type. Both structural and functional views of the system are presented. Since the discussed LLRF system will have distributed architecture the particular effort was put on interfaces description. The SysML tool used in the project was used not only to build SysML model but also allows to estimate project cost using Use Case Points method. This feature is very beneficial in preparation of the project budget.
Excess Demand and Cost Relationships Among Kentucky Nursing Homes

This article examines the influence of excess demand on nursing home costs. Previous work indicates that excess demand, reflected in a pervasive shortage of nursing home beds, constrains market competition and patient care expenditures. According to this view, nursing homes located in under-bedded markets can reduce costs and quality with impunity because there is no pressure to compete for residents. Predictions based on the excess demand argument were tested using 1989 data from a sample of 179 Kentucky nursing homes. Overall, the results provide partial support for the excess demand argument. Factors that may counteract the influence of excess demand are considered. Finally, the role of competition in nursing home markets and difficulties associated with making it operational are discussed.
Kinetochores are transported poleward along a single astral microtubule during chromosome attachment to the spindle in newt lung cells

During mitosis in cultured newt pneumocytes, one or more chromosomes may become positioned well removed (greater than 50 microns) from the polar regions during early prometaphase. As a result, these chromosomes are delayed for up to 5 h in forming an attachment to the spindle. The spatial separation of these chromosomes from the polar microtubule- nucleating centers provides a unique opportunity to study the initial stages of kinetochore fiber formation in living cells. Time-lapse Nomarski-differential interference contrast videomicroscopic observations reveal that late-attaching chromosomes always move, upon attachment, into a single polar region (usually the one closest to the chromosome). During this attachment, the kinetochore region of the chromosome undergoes a variable number of transient poleward tugs that are followed, shortly thereafter, by rapid movement of the chromosome towards the pole. Anti-tubulin immunofluorescence and serial section EM reveal that the kinetochores and kinetochore regions of nonattached chromosomes lack associated microtubules. By contrast, these methods reveal that the attachment and subsequent poleward movement of a chromosome correlates with the association of a single long microtubule with one of the kinetochores of the chromosome. This microtubule traverses the entire distance between the spindle pole and the kinetochore and often extends well past the kinetochore. From these results, we conclude that the initial attachment of a chromosome to the newt pneumocyte spindle results from an interaction between a single polar-nucleated microtubule and one of the kinetochores on the chromosome. Once this association is established, the kinetochore is rapidly transported poleward along the surface of the microtubule by a mechanism that is not dependent on microtubule depolymerization. Our results further demonstrate that the motors for prometaphase chromosome movement must be either on the surface of the kinetochore (i.e., within the corona but not the plate), distributed along the surface of the kinetochore microtubules, or both.
‘Away with the fairies?’ Disability within primary‐age children's literature

This article outlines the findings of a new study that explores the portrayal of disability within a sample of the primary‐age children's literature most readily available to UK schools. The kind of literature to which children are exposed is likely to influence their general perceptions of social life. How disability is handled by authors is therefore important from the standpoint of disability equality. Findings suggest that whilst there are some good examples of inclusive literature ‘out there’, discriminatory language and/or negative stereotypes about disability continue to be present in a range of more contemporary children's books. Clearly, more still needs to be done to ensure that schools and teachers are provided with information relating to the best examples of inclusion literature and efforts must continue to be made to inform authors, publishers and illustrators about how to approach the issue of disability.
AN APPROACH TO SOFTWARE CHANGE MANAGEMENT SUPPORT

The process of software change is complex, and needs to be managed and assisted by automated tools. In this paper, we present an approach to supporting software change management in software engineering environments. The major issues addressed include system representation, impact analysis and change propagation. In this approach, the change management activities are carried out on the original representation of software artifacts in the environment, rather than on a separate system model extracted. This enables assisted change propagation. We use both dependences and properties of software artifacts for impact analysis. Both impact analysis and change propagation are a combination of guided user intervention and automatic processing based on codi ed change patterns and propagation rules.
MicroRNA-153 Physiologically Inhibits Expression of Amyloid-β Precursor Protein in Cultured Human Fetal Brain Cells and Is Dysregulated in a Subset of Alzheimer Disease Patients*

Background: Expression of amyloid-β (Aβ) precursor protein (APP), implicated in Alzheimer disease (AD), is regulated by complex mechanisms involving microRNAs. Results: miR-153 reduces APP and Aβ in human brain cultures and is dysregulated in AD. Conclusion: miR-153 physiologically regulates human APP expression and Aβ and may contribute to AD pathoetiology. Significance: miR-153 is a potential novel drug target in AD. Regulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) precursor protein (APP) expression is complex. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are expected to participate in the molecular network that controls this process. The composition of this network is, however, still undefined. Elucidating the complement of miRNAs that regulate APP expression should reveal novel drug targets capable of modulating Aβ production in AD. Here, we investigated the contribution of miR-153 to this regulatory network. A miR-153 target site within the APP 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) was predicted by several bioinformatic algorithms. We found that miR-153 significantly reduced reporter expression when co-transfected with an APP 3′-UTR reporter construct. Mutation of the predicted miR-153 target site eliminated this reporter response. miR-153 delivery in both HeLa cells and primary human fetal brain cultures significantly reduced APP expression. Delivery of a miR-153 antisense inhibitor to human fetal brain cultures significantly elevated APP expression. miR-153 delivery also reduced expression of the APP paralog APLP2. High functional redundancy between APP and APLP2 suggests that miR-153 may target biological pathways in which they both function. Interestingly, in a subset of human AD brain specimens with moderate AD pathology, miR-153 levels were reduced. This same subset also exhibited elevated APP levels relative to control specimens. Therefore, endogenous miR-153 inhibits expression of APP in human neurons by specifically interacting with the APP 3′-UTR. This regulatory interaction may have relevance to AD etiology, where low miR-153 levels may drive increased APP expression in a subset of AD patients.
Doxorubicin-mediated radiosensitivity in multicellular spheroids from a lung cancer cell line is enhanced by composite micelle encapsulation

Background The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of composite doxorubicinloaded micelles for enhancing doxorubicin radiosensitivity in multicellular spheroids from a non-small cell lung cancer cell line. Methods A novel composite doxorubicin-loaded micelle consisting of polyethylene glycolpolycaprolactone/Pluronic P105 was developed, and carrier-mediated doxorubicin accumulation and release from multicellular spheroids was evaluated. We used confocal laser scanning microscopy and flow cytometry to study the accumulation and efflux of doxorubicin from A549 multicellular spheroids. Doxorubicin radiosensitization and the combined effects of irradiation and doxorubicin on cell migration and proliferation were compared for the different doxorubicin delivery systems. Results Confocal laser scanning microscopy and quantitative flow cytometry studies both verified that, for equivalent doxorubicin concentrations, composite doxorubicin-loaded micelles significantly enhanced cellular doxorubicin accumulation and inhibited doxorubicin release. Colony-forming assays demonstrated that composite doxorubicin-loaded micelles are radiosensitive, as shown by significantly reduced survival of cells treated by radiation + composite micelles compared with those treated with radiation + free doxorubicin or radiation alone. The multicellular spheroid migration area and growth ability verified higher radiosensitivity for the composite micelles loaded with doxorubicin than for free doxorubicin. Conclusion Our composite doxorubicin-loaded micelle was demonstrated to have radiosensitization. Doxorubicin loading in the composite micelles significantly increased its cellular uptake, improved drug retention, and enhanced its antitumor effect relative to free doxorubicin, thereby providing a novel approach for treatment of cancer.
MBStar: A Real-time Communication Protocol for Wireless Body Area Networks

In this paper, we report on the design and implementation of MBStar, a higher-frequency, real-time, reliable, secure protocol for wireless body area networks(WBAN). As in most proposals for body sensor networks, MBStar adopts the star topology for communication, and is designed to support a message rate as high as 400 Hz, which to the best of our knowledge, is the highest among low-power wireless communication protocols implemented at the present time. The physical layer of MBStar utilizes 802.15. 4 DSSS compatible radio for which a higher-frequency, reliable, TDMA MAC layer is built. There is a simple application layer designed for security on top of it. MBStar utilizes public/private key encryption for provisioning devices and does not involve any human configuration before device join. Considering the resource limit of most embedded systems, the TDMA requirement of computing a shared global communication schedule presents a practical problem since it may not be feasible for all the devices to communicate in a long hyper-period while the communication schedule between devices is being created or modified as devices depart and rejoin. We solve this problem by keeping only the global hyper-period schedule on the gateway side, with each device being configured with a shorter, local period. Then, retransmission is employed to resolve any conflicts between the devices. Our strategy has the property that, given any fixed task set, the minimal average number of retransmissions is independent of any communication scheduling algorithm, and the EDF (Earliest Deadline First) is optimal for our communication architecture. Finally, we present experimental results that demonstrate that MBStar is an effective protocol for wireless body area networks.
IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, Vol. 28

data types; cf. Data encapsulation; Inheritance Administrative data processing; cf. Spreadsheet programs Algebraic specification dyn. model for OO modeling, formalization and integrat. Cheng, B.H. C. , + , T-SE Aug 02 747-762 Application program interfaces config. mgt. policy prog. testbed. van der Hoek, A. , + , T-SE Jan 02 79-99 dyn. real-time distributed systs. engng. Ravindran, B. , T-SE Jan 02 30-57 embedded multiprocessor sig. proc. systs. , rapid prototyping. Janka, R.S. , + , T-SE Sep 02 832-846 Visper, OO distributed parallel prog. framework. Stankovic, N. , + , T-SE May 02 478-493 Attribute grammars noncircular attribute grammar class. based on look-ahead behavior. Wuu Yang, T-SE Mar 02 210-227
Multiple Manifold Clustering Using Curvature Constrained Path

The problem of multiple surface clustering is a challenging task, particularly when the surfaces intersect. Available methods such as Isomap fail to capture the true shape of the surface near by the intersection and result in incorrect clustering. The Isomap algorithm uses shortest path between points. The main draw back of the shortest path algorithm is due to the lack of curvature constrained where causes to have a path between points on different surfaces. In this paper we tackle this problem by imposing a curvature constraint to the shortest path algorithm used in Isomap. The algorithm chooses several landmark nodes at random and then checks whether there is a curvature constrained path between each landmark node and every other node in the neighborhood graph. We build a binary feature vector for each point where each entry represents the connectivity of that point to a particular landmark. Then the binary feature vectors could be used as a input of conventional clustering algorithm such as hierarchical clustering. We apply our method to simulated and some real datasets and show, it performs comparably to the best methods such as K-manifold and spectral multi-manifold clustering.
Learning Gaussian Mixture Models With Entropy-Based Criteria

In this paper, we address the problem of estimating the parameters of Gaussian mixture models. Although the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm yields the maximum-likelihood (ML) solution, its sensitivity to the selection of the starting parameters is well-known and it may converge to the boundary of the parameter space. Furthermore, the resulting mixture depends on the number of selected components, but the optimal number of kernels may be unknown beforehand. We introduce the use of the entropy of the probability density function (pdf) associated to each kernel to measure the quality of a given mixture model with a fixed number of kernels. We propose two methods to approximate the entropy of each kernel and a modification of the classical EM algorithm in order to find the optimum number of components of the mixture. Moreover, we use two stopping criteria: a novel global mixture entropy-based criterion called Gaussianity deficiency (GD) and a minimum description length (MDL) principle-based one. Our algorithm, called entropy-based EM (EBEM), starts with a unique kernel and performs only splitting by selecting the worst kernel attending to GD. We have successfully tested it in probability density estimation, pattern classification, and color image segmentation. Experimental results improve the ones of other state-of-the-art model order selection methods.
History-Assisted Energy-Efficient Spectrum Sensing for Infrastructure-Based Cognitive Radio Networks

Spectrum sensing is a prominent functionality to enable dynamic spectrum access (DSA) in cognitive radio (CR) networks. It provides protection to primary users (PUs) from interference and creates opportunities of spectrum access for secondary users (SUs). It should be performed efficiently to reduce the number of false alarms and missed detections. Continuous sensing for a long time incurs cost in terms of increased energy consumption; thus, spectrum sensing ought to be energy efficient to ensure the prolonged existence of CR devices. This paper focuses on using of history to help achieve energy-efficient spectrum sensing in infrastructure-based CR networks. The scheme employs an iteratively developed history processing database that is used by CRs to make decisions about spectrum sensing, subsequently resulting in reduced spectrum scanning and improved energy efficiency. Two conventional spectrum sensing schemes, i.e., energy detection (ED) and cyclostationary feature detection (CFD), are enriched by history to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. System-level simulations are performed to investigate the sensitivity of the proposed history-based scheme by performing detailed energy consumption analysis for the aforementioned schemes. Results demonstrate that the employment of history ensued in improved energy efficiency due to reduced spectrum scanning. This paper also suggests which spectrum sensing scheme can be the best candidate in a particular scenario by looking into computational complexity before comparative analysis is presented with other states of the art.
Concurrent Probabilistic Temporal Planning

Probabilistic planning problems are often modeled as Markov decision processes (MDPs), which assume that a single action is executed per decision epoch and that actions take unit time. However, in the real world it is common to execute several actions in parallel, and the durations of these actions may differ. This paper presents efficient methods for solving probabilistic planning problems with concurrent, durative actions. We adapt the formulation of Concurrent MDPs, MDPs which allow multiple instantaneous actions to be executed simultaneously. We add explicit action durations into the concurrent MDP model by encoding the problem as a concurrent MDP in an augmented state space. We present two novel admissible heuristics and one inadmissible heuristic to speed up the basic concurrent MDP algorithm. We also develop a novel notion of hybridizing an optimal and an approximate algorithm to yield a hybrid algorithm, which quickly generates high-quality policies. Experiments show that all our heuristics speedup the policy construction significantly. Furthermore, our approximate hybrid algorithm runs up to two orders of magnitude faster than other methods, while producing policies whose make-spans are typically within 5% of optimal.
Oncogene and Tumor Suppressor Gene Expression Changes in the Peripheral Blood Leukocytes of Patients with Colorectal Cancer

Aims and background The mortality of colorectal cancer continues to stagnate despite the development of new therapeutic approaches. Therefore, identifying high-risk population groups could contribute to the prevention of a considerable part of deaths caused by colorectal tumors. Methods Fifty patients with colon cancer and 50 patients with other, nonmalignant diseases were selected for the study. Expression of the c-myc, Ha-ras and p53 genes was determined in the peripheral leukocytes of the participants. Results Marked elevations of the expression of all three investigated genes were seen in the colon cancer patients when compared to the controls. Conclusions Our investigations showed that increases in the expression of c-myc, Ha-ras and p53 genes can be demonstrated in the peripheral leukocytes of colon cancer patients. By applying our method to clinical investigations, individuals with a high risk of having developed colon cancer may be identified and early diagnosis may be established.
MATE: MPLS adaptive traffic engineering

Destination-based forwarding in traditional IP routers has not been able to take full advantage of multiple paths that frequently exist in Internet service provider networks. As a result, the networks may not operate efficiently, especially when the traffic patterns are dynamic. This paper describes a multipath adaptive traffic engineering mechanism, called MATE, which is targeted for switched networks such as multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) networks. The main goal of MATE is to avoid network congestion by adaptively balancing the load among multiple paths based on measurement and analysis of path congestion. MATE adopts a minimalist approach in that intermediate nodes are not required to perform traffic engineering or measurements besides normal packet forwarding. Moreover MATE does not impose any particular scheduling, buffer management, or a priori traffic characterization on the nodes. This paper presents an analytical model, derives a class of MATE algorithms, and proves their convergence. Several practical design techniques to implement MATE are described. Simulation results are provided to illustrate the efficacy of MATE under various network scenarios.
Regulation and structure of YahD, a copper-inducible α/β serine hydrolase of Lactococcus lactis IL1403.

Lactococcus lactis IL1403 is a lactic acid bacterium that is used widely for food fermentation. Copper homeostasis in this organism chiefly involves copper secretion by the CopA copper ATPase. This enzyme is under the control of the CopR transcriptional regulator. CopR not only controls its own expression and that of CopA, but also that of an additional three operons and two monocistronic genes. One of the genes under the control of CopR, yahD, encodes an α/β-hydrolase. YahD expression was induced by copper and cadmium, but not by other metals or oxidative or nitrosative stress. The three-dimensional structure of YahD was determined by X-ray crystallography to a resolution of 1.88 Å. The protein was found to adopt an α/β-hydrolase fold with the characteristic Ser-His-Asp catalytic triad. Functional testing of YahD for a wide range of substrates for esterases, lipases, epoxide hydrolases, phospholipases, amidases and proteases was, however, unsuccessful. A copper-inducible serine hydrolase has not been described previously and YahD appears to be a new functional member of this enzyme family.
The Invasion Complex in Australian Political Culture

The political and social reaction to the ‘refugee crisis’ in Australia cannot be solely understood in purely geo-political or economic terms. Neither can the persistence of racism in Australian political culture be explained in terms of its electoral advantage. This article contends that the racist attitudes of the Australian Liberal Government, and John Howard in particular, hide deeper unconscious processes that are historically embedded in the national imaginary. These unconscious processes are manifested in the invasion complex which lies just below the surface of Australia’s political culture.
Increased Mastery Elements Associated With Imagery Rehearsal Treatment for Nightmares in Sexual Assault Survivors With PTSD.

Exposure, abreaction, and mastery have been proposed as the therapeutic processes of nightmare (NM) reduction. Imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT) effectively reduces NMs but involves minimal exposure and abreaction. The authors investigated the use of mastery in the scripting of new dreams (NDs) elaborated during IRT. NM an dN D reports were collected from 44 female sexual assault survivors with chronic NMs during their initial application of IRT. Mastery was assessed with a standardized dream coding system and a multidimensional mastery scale. NDs contained significantly fewer negative elements and more occurrences of positive elements and mas