Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
3D stacking for multi-core architectures: From WIDEIO to distributed caches

3D stacking has been viewed as a breakthrough solution for increasing performance in multi-core architectures. The hope is to solve some of the main issues in current multi-core architectures: external memory pressure and latency; I/O bottleneck; communication power consumption. In this paper, some advances of this field of research are shown, starting with a WIDEIO experience on a real chip for solving DRAM accesses issue. The integration of a 512 bit-width bus is demonstrated in a Network-on-Chip (NoC) multi-core framework and the resulting performance based on a 65nm prototype with 10μm diameter Through Silicon Vias (TSV). The potentiality of 3D scaling thanks to 3D asynchronous Network-on-Chip implementation is then shown. Finally, an innovative 3D stacked distributed cache strategy aimed at lowering memory latency and external memory bandwidth requirements is presented. This new memory partitioning demonstrates the efficiency of 3D stacking to rethink architectures for addressing multi-core scaling challenges.
Examining the Connections within the Startup Ecosystem: A Case Study of St. Louis

Abstract We critically examine how an entrepreneurial ecosystem is structured using an exploratory and bottom-up approach. Past studies in this area have discussed the presence of elements in the system or captured the ecosystem as holistically as possible by extending to social, cultural, and institutional dimension. However, we find that such aggregated conceptualizations gave limited understanding to how different elements are connected and constitute the system. Here, we apply a social network approach by analyzing the connections of the ecosystem at multiple layers: (1) among entrepreneurs, (2) among support organizations, and (3) between and among entrepreneurs and key support organizations. Through a series of interviews with entrepreneurs and support organizations in St. Louis, we find that the ways in which support organizations in this region interacted with each other and with entrepreneurs, including explicit cross-organizational collaboration and strategic structuring of resources, significantly impacted the way that entrepreneurs interacted with one another and with organizations, thus deepening our understanding of these connections and identifying intervening points within the ecosystem.
The Employee Health Care Value Survey: round one.

In a groundbreaking arrangement, a consortium of large employers--the Xerox, GTE, and Digital Equipment Corporations--launched the Employee Health Care Value Survey during fall 1993. Completed by 24,306 employees, this survey was used to develop comparable methods for assessing corporate health care benefit strategies. It also enabled fair comparisons of thirty-two health plans across the country on more than sixty criteria. Variation in performance among plans was substantial, with managed care plans--particularly prepaid group practices and individual practice associations (IPAs)--recording the most favorable rankings on disenrollment, overall satisfaction, and other measures of "bottom-line performance. " Variation in enrollees' health among plans was more modest, with indemnity enrollees posing a somewhat greater illness burden to their plans than enrollees of other plan types. The employers and evaluated health plans are now using the results for multiple purposes, including quality improvement initiatives, employee-based plan performance reports, employee contribution strategies, and health promotion programs.
Mapping Natural Polymorphisms of Hepatitis C virus NS3/4A Protease and Antiviral Resistance to Inhibitors in Worldwide Isolates

Background Several inhibitors for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS3/4A protease are under development. Although previous studies identified viral resistance mutations, there is little information on the natural variability of proteases from the different viral subtypes. Here, we aimed to determine both the natural variability and presence of resistance or compensatory mutations to new protease inhibitors (PI) in NS3/4A proteases from worldwide HCV isolates. Methods A comprehensive analysis was performed in 380 HCV NS3 sequences (275 genotype 1; 105 other genotypes) from public HCV databases (EuHCVdb and Los Alamos). Amino acid polymorphism and signature patterns were deduced in the protease domain, including all sites associated with resistance to the PIs BILN-2061, Telaprevir (VX-950), Boceprevir (SCH-503034), SCH-6 and ITMN-191. Results Few of the residues in the catalytic triad or in substrate/metal-binding sites were polymorphic, and were identified in only 4/380 isolates. However, a relevant polymorphism was found in sites associated either with resistance to PI (V36, I170 and D168) or with compensatory mutations (I71, T72, Q86 and I153). Furthermore, some unique genotype-specific signature patterns associated with resistance to PI were also identified. Conclusions We describe for the first time the relevant natural polymorphisms of the HCV NS3/4A protease in worldwide isolates. Although the prevalence of major resistance mutations is very low, many compensatory sites are naturally polymorphic among proteases from several HCV subtypes. These data will help to determine whether HCV resistance is likely to be selected with new PIs and will aid the design of genotypic resistance testing.
Effect of Atorvastatin on PM10-induced Cytokine Production by Human Alveolar Macrophages and Bronchial Epithelial Cells

Exposure to ambient air pollution particles (PM10) has been associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Inhaled pollutants induce a pulmonary and systemic inflammatory response that is thought to exacerbate cardiovascular disease. The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors (statins) have been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects that could contribute to their beneficial effect in cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study is to determine the effects of statins on PM10-induced cytokine production in human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs) and alveolar macrophages (AMs). Primary HBECs and AMs are obtained from resected human lung. Cells are pretreated with different concentrations of atorvastatin for 24 hours and then exposed to 100 μg/mL urban air pollution particles (EHC-93). Cytokine levels (interleukin-1β, interleukin-8, granulocyte-macrophage colonystimulating factor, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α) are measured at messenger RNA and protein levels using real-time polymerase chain reaction and bead-based multiplex immunoassay, respectively. PM10 exposure increases production of these cytokines by both cell types. Atorvastatin attenuates PM10-induced messenger RNA expression and cytokine production by AMs but not by HBECs. It is concluded that statins can modulate the PM10-induced inflammatory response in the lung by reducing mediator production by AMs.
Intratask and intertask asymmetry analysis of motor function

Ample evidence from functional magnetic resonance imaging studies has demonstrated functional brain asymmetries in the motor cortex and cerebellum within the task of finger-to-thumb (intratask), but the asymmetries across left and right hand-performed tasks of finger-to-thumb (intertask) are little known. Here, we found that intratask evoked asymmetry responses in the motor cortex and cerebellum, and interestingly in the Extra-Nuclear and insula. Intertask comparisons between left and right hand-activated images and between the asymmetries of intratasks of left and right hand, however, revealed distinct lateralization responses in the temporal cortex, extranuclear, parahippocampal gyrus, cingulate gyrus and prominently in basal ganglia. These results suggest that multiple aspects of functional asymmetries in motor organization are reflected in specific brain regions.
The benefits of corporate social responsibility: an empirical study

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been found to positively affect the financial performance of firms. However, firms are increasingly monitoring outcomes that are not traditional financial measures as a means to gauge sustainable success. This study sought to understand if there are benefits to engaging in CSR beyond traditional financial outcomes. Specifically, the link between CSR and employee turnover and customer satisfaction was studied. The data provide strong support for the hypothesized relationships. CSR appears to diminish employee turnover while improving customer satisfaction. This study therefore offers empirical evidence that CSR can offer benefits to firms beyond traditional financial-orientated rewards.
The relationship between assessment and learning

However, repetition of a statement does not mean that it is true or, at least, true in all contexts. It is also widely accepted that there are significant drivers of learning that are not related to assessment, and indeed, may be at odds with the intentions of assessment. These are the influence of the informal and ⁄or hidden curricula, frequently related to exposure to role models. It is possible to imagine a progression with a rather different outcome from that sometimes ascribed to Confucius:
Directing osteogenesis of stem cells with hydroxyapatite precipitated electrospun eri–tasar silk fibroin nanofibrous scaffold

Stimulating stem cell differentiation without growth factor supplement offers a potent and cost-effective scaffold for tissue regeneration. We hypothesise that surface precipitation of nano-hydroxyapatite (nHAp) over blends of non-mulberry silk fibroin with better hydrophilicity and RGD amino acid sequences can direct the stem cell towards osteogenesis. This report focuses on the fabrication of a blended eri–tasar silk fibroin nanofibrous scaffold (ET) followed by nHAp deposition by a surface precipitation (alternate soaking in calcium and phosphate solution) method. Morphology, hydrophilicity, composition, and the thermal and mechanical properties of ET/nHAp were examined by field emission scanning electron microscopy, TEM, FT-IR, X-ray diffraction, TGA and contact angle measurement and compared with ET. The composite scaffold demonstrated improved thermal stability and surface hydrophilicity with an increase in stiffness and elastic modulus (778 ± 2.4 N/m and 13.1 ± 0.36 MPa) as compared to ET (160.6 ± 1.34 N/m and 8.3 ± 0.4 MPa). Mineralisation studies revealed an enhanced and more uniform surface deposition of HAp-like crystals, while significant differences in cellular viability and attachment were observed through 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay and confocal microscopy study. The cell viability and expression of adhesion molecules (CD 44 and CD 29) are found to be optimum for subsequent stages of growth proliferation and differentiation. The rates of proliferation have been observed to decrease owing to the transition of MSC from a state of proliferation to a state of differentiation. The confirmation of improved osteogenic differentiation was finally verified through the alkaline phosphatase assay, pattern of gene expression related to osteogenic differentiation and morphological observations of differentiated cord blood human mesenchymal stem cells under fluorescence microscope. The results obtained showed the improved physicochemical and biological properties of the ET/nHAp scaffold for osteogenic differentiation without the addition of any growth factors.
Dual Sign Algorithm for Adaptive Filtering

A new algorithm, which is a variant of the sign algorithm, is proposed for the adaptive adjustment of an FIR digital filter with an aim of improving the original convergence characteristics, yet retaining the advantage of hardware simplicity. Based on a recently proposed theory for the sign algorithm, a practical design method is derived for the new algorithm, and it is shown by computer simulation that the new algorithm in fact performs significantly better than the original algorithm.
Mistletoe Extract in the Palliation of End Stage Cancer

In the end stage cancer patients where in the cure is an obligate failure necessitates the palliation approach which focuses on creating an easy and comfort life to the patient rather than treating them as an experimental model for the research [1]. Palliation approach would help in the quality improvement of the end stage life whose recovery cannot be expected. Various palliation therapies have been developed which can mentally support the well-being of the victim. Massage is also proved to be the better approach in some of the diseases. The current work is an approach where in the use of mistletoe extract in various concentrations has been used towards reaching the goal [2]. Several studies provide the beneficial effects of the mistletoe and its palliation effect. The present work aimed towards analysing the palliation of cancer symptoms like Pain, Anorexia and Insomnia etc. Whose treatment would bring back the Psychological strength and general immunity of the patient? The study is based on the use of a treatment methodology which emphasizes on maintaining the patients mental condition and peace by controlling or totally preventing the side effects. Apart from its pathogenic activity, the new scientific era has revealed its importance in the treatment of cancer this breakthrough in the history of cancer therapy. There are very few side effects which may be caused by the use of mistletoe extract [3-8]. The inherent nature of this extract can provide a soothing effect for the patients thereby maintaining a pleasant environment for the patient. Palliation therapy focuses on the psychological effect of the patient rather than the metabolic change.
Patterns of Psychiatric Morbidity in a Genito-urinary Clinic

The prevalence of psychiatric disorder (by DSM–III criteria) in a population attending a genito-urinary clinic was found to be 31%. The performance of the Hospital Anxiety Depression (HAD) scale as a screening questionnaire for psychiatric disorder was assessed. Case definition by a score of 8 or more on either of the anxiety or depressive subscales produced optimal results, giving sensitivities of 82% and 70%, and specificities of 94% and 68%, for depressive and anxiety disorders respectively.
The effect of paracetamol or diclofenac administered before operation on postoperative pain and behaviour after adenoidectomy in small children

We compared the effects of rectally administered diclofenac (12.5 mg) with paracetamol (125 mg) on pre‐ and postoperative behaviour and the need for supplementary analgesia in 44 children scheduled for adenoidectomy (with or without myringotomy). The study drugs were given in combination with diazepam (0.5 mg.kg1) about 20 min before the children were taken to the operating theatre. On arrival there, the children who had received diclofenac were significantly quieter (<0.05), easier to handle (p < 0.01) and cried less (p < 0.05) than those in the paracetamol group. During recovery, children in the diclofenac group needed fewer supplementary doses of intravenous pethidine than those receiving paracetamol (p < 0.001). There were no obvious differences between the groups in intra‐operative bleeding (as estimated by the surgeon), or in measured blood loss. No postoperative complications became evident. The pre‐operative rectal administration of diclofenac for pain relief after adenotomy is safe and effective.
Low-dimensional Embedding of Large-scale Infinite-dimensional Function Spaces with Application to Human Brain Connectome

Graph-based dimensionality reduction techniques assume that each datapoint can be written as a fixed width vector with a well-defined distance measure among datapoints; also, they typically assume that the number of instances is small enough to perform matrix inversion or pseudo-inversion. This paper considers dimensionality reduction on data using graph-based methods when two extreme circumstances arise: (1) the data is composed of functional objects instead of feature vectors, and (2) the data contains many objects so that standard methods become numerically and computationally intractable. In the case of functional data, even if a finite representation is available (for example a linked-list of points), converting that representation into a standard vector representation is required so that a meaningful distance measure can be defined. In this paper, we present a two-stage framework to embed a large-scale functional space into a low-dimensional vector space while preserving the original similarity in the reduced space. In particular, after converting the function space into a high-dimensional vector space in the first stage, we have developed a fast and robust approximation to the Laplacian-based dimensionality reduction methods in the second stage to deal with large number of datapoints.
Recognition of printed Arabic text using neural networks

The main theme of the paper is the automatic recognition of Arabic printed text using artificial neural networks in addition to conventional techniques. This approach has a number of advantages: it combines rule based (structural) and classification tests; feature extraction is inexpensive; and execution time is independent of character font and size. The technique can be divided into three major steps: The first step is preprocessing in which the original image is transformed into a binary image utilizing a 300 dpi scanner and then forming the connected component. Second, global features of the input Arabic word are then extracted such as number of subwords, number of peaks within the subword, number and position of the complementary character, etc. Finally, an artificial neural network is used for character classification. The algorithm was implemented on a powerful MS-DOS microcomputer and written in C.
High Titers of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Infectivity Associated with Extremely Low Levels of PrPSc in Vivo*

Diagnosis of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) disease in humans and ruminants relies on the detection in post-mortem brain tissue of the protease-resistant form of the host glycoprotein PrP. The presence of this abnormal isoform (PrPSc) in tissues is taken as indicative of the presence of TSE infectivity. Here we demonstrate conclusively that high titers of TSE infectivity can be present in brain tissue of animals that show clinical and vacuolar signs of TSE disease but contain low or undetectable levels of PrPSc. This work questions the correlation between PrPSc level and the titer of infectivity and shows that tissues containing little or no proteinase K-resistant PrP can be infectious and harbor high titers of TSE infectivity. Reliance on protease-resistant PrPSc as a sole measure of infectivity may therefore in some instances significantly underestimate biological properties of diagnostic samples, thereby undermining efforts to contain and eradicate TSEs.
Dairy fat biomarkers and cardiometabolic health

Commonly held dietary guidelines discourage full-fat dairy consumption due its to high levels of saturated fatty acids, which are believed to aversely influence cardiovascular disease risk. Cardiovascular diseases cause more than one third of deaths in the developed world. With dairy often providing a large part of energy and nutrients in Western diets, research into its effects on human health is warranted. Several recent studies have suggested a protective role of dairy in the development of cardiometabolic disease. However, many of these have used imprecise methods of dietary assessment, based on questionnaires or interviews. Biomarkers are emerging as a means of evaluating diet in a more objective way. Currently used dairy fat biomarkers are minor fatty acid constituents of dairy that preferably are unique to dairy and not influenced by endogenous metabolism. These compounds can be measured in blood or adipose tissue samples, and can be good indicators of short (weeks) and long (years) term intakes, depending on the sampling medium. The most reliable indicator of dairy fat intake seems to be pentadecanoic acid (C15:0), however research in this area is somewhat lacking. Studies where these biomarkers have been evaluated in relation to cardiometabolic disease endpoints (incident cardiovascular disease or type-2 diabetes) have generally found dairy to elicit a protective effect. Crosssectional studies evaluating indices of the metabolic syndrome suggest that dairy fat may slow down disease progression. Further standardization of methodologies and validation of biomarker concentrations in relation to intake could improve reliability of biomarkerbased dietary assessments. Furthermore, combining chemical and traditional methods could provide even better precision than using either method alone.
A new double moment approach for the warm-rain process based on the WSM 6 scheme ( WDM 6 )

The double-moment approach for the bulk microphysics schemes that allows more flexibility of the size distribution enabling the mean diameter to evolve in contrast to the single-moment approach has become one of the promising methods to improve microphysical processes in the mesoscale modeling area. Cohard and Pinty (2000b) showed the superiority of a double-moment approach in two-dimensional experiments using a nonhydrostatic model even though the strength of these double-moment schemes relies on the accuracy of the representation of several microphysical processes. Such a scheme with prognostic equations of the raindrop number concentration is able to produce large drops in a reasonable concentration, compared with single-moment scheme. This study attempts to clarify the impact of the double moment approach over the single moment microphysics. To this end, a double moment warm rain microphysics is implemented into a single moment scheme, that is, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF)-Single-Moment 6-class (WSM6) Microphysics scheme. All microphysical parameters and ice-phase microphysics are identical for both single and double moment approach, which enables us to clarify the principle impact of double moment to the three-dimensional real time forecasting. The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 describes the proposed bulk microphysics scheme. Section 3 outlines the numerical experiments conducted in this study, and section 4 presents their results. Concluding remarks appear in the final section.
Over Expression of p 16 in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Oral Cavity

Introduction: In recent years, there has been a worldwide increase in the incidence of squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity in young adults who are often without a history of smoking and who are often female. Alterations in p16INK4A, the tumor suppressor gene, have been regularly reported in this condition. Materials and methods: It is an interesting study of 14 cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity collected in the department of stomatology and maxillofacial surgery. The term young is used to define patients aged 49 years or younger at the time of diagnosis. The expression of the p16INK4A protein was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. An invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity with strong expression of p16INK4A was used as a positive control. Results: 28% were women and 43% were non-smokers. All tumors were squamous cell carcinomas, most of them moderately differentiated (65% of cases). No tumors were in stage I, while 44% and 28% were in stage III and IV respectively. The tumors were located on the lip (50% of cases), the anterior two thirds of the tongue (21% of cases), gum (14% of cases), the floor of the mouth (8% of the cases) IFJ (7% of cases). A strong and diffuse immunoreactivity of p16INK4A was observed in all cases of epidermoid carcinomas of the oral cavity. Discussion: Our results are consistent with those described in several studies and are in favor of overexpression of the p16INK4A protein in dysplastic cells of the oral cavity, an intense immunostaining with p16INK4A could constitute an effective marker of precancerous lesions of high grade and potentially lesions The overexpression of p16INK4A can be used to identify and confirm these lesions. Therefore overexpression of p16INK4A can be widely used routinely