Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling, Analysis, and Self-Management of Electronic Textiles

Scaling in CMOS device technology has made it possible to cheaply embed intelligence in a myriad of devices. In particular, it has become feasible to fabricate flexible materials (e.g., woven fabrics) with large numbers of computing and communication elements embedded into them. Such computational fabrics, electronic textiles, or e-textiles have applications ranging from smart materials for aerospace applications to wearable computing. This paper addresses the modeling of computation, communication and failure in e-textiles and investigates the performance of two techniques, code migration and remote execution, for adapting applications executing over the hardware substrate, to failures in both devices and interconnection links. The investigation is carried out using a cycle-accurate simulation environment developed to model computation, power consumption, and node/link failures for large numbers of computing elements in configurable network topologies. A detailed analysis of the two techniques for adapting applications to the error prone substrate is presented, as well as a study of the effects of parameters, such as failure rates, communication speeds, and topologies, on the efficacy of the techniques and the performance of the system as a whole. It is shown that code migration and remote execution provide feasible methods for adapting applications to take advantage of redundancy in the presence of failures and involve trade offs in communication versus memory requirements in processing elements.
Noninteractive Zero-Knowledge

Abstract : We investigate the possibility of disposing of interaction between Prover and Verifier in a zero-knowledge proof if they share beforehand a short random string. Without any assumption, we prove that non-interactive zero- knowledge proofs exist for some number theoretic languages for which no efficient algorithm is known. If deciding quadratic residuosity (modulo composite integers whose factorization is not known) is computationally hard, we show that the NP-complete language of satisfiability also possesses noninteractive zero-knowledge proofs.
New insights into the early steps of oil body mobilization during pollen germination

In some plants, pollen grains accumulate storage lipids that serve as energy supply during germination. Here, three enzymes involved in early steps of oil body mobilization in the male gametophyte were functionally characterized for the first time. The effect of extracellular sugars on pollen performance and oil body dynamics was also analysed. Olive pollen oil bodies showed phospholipase A, lipase, and lipoxygenase activities on their surface. Enzyme activity levels increased during germination with a maximum after 3h. Removal of extracellular sugars from the germination medium did not affect pollen performance but increased enzyme activity rates and sped up oil body mobilization. Inhibitors seriously hampered pollen germination and pollen tube growth, leading to a characteristic accumulation of oil bodies in the germinative aperture. It can be concluded that storage lipids are sufficient for proper olive pollen germination. A lipase and a lipoxygenase are likely involved in oil body mobilization. Extracellular sugars may modulate their function, while a phospholipase A may promote their access to the storage lipids.
Re-targetable OCR with Intelligent Character Segmentation

We have developed a font-model based intelligent character segmentation and recognition system. Using characteristics of structurally similar TrueType fonts, our system automatically builds a model to be used for the segmentation and recognition of the new script, independent of glyph composition. The key is a reliance on known font attributes. In our system three feature extraction methods are used to demonstrate the importance of appropriate features for classification. The methods are tested on both Latin (English) and non-Latin (Khmer) scripts. Results show that the character-level recognition accuracy exceeds 92\% for Khmer and 96\% for English on degraded documents. This work is a step toward the recognition of scripts of low-density languages which typically do not warrant the development of commercial OCR, yet often have complete TrueType font descriptions.
Examining the Formal Education of Children's Ministers in the United States: Suggestions for Professional Development, Christian Education, and Emerging Research

There is currently no empirically supported consensus on what children's ministers need to know in order to effectively serve the children in their local congregations. To shed light on this question, this paper presents a qualitative content analysis of undergraduate children's ministry degree programs in the United States (N = 30). Findings revealed a strong emphasis on theology and general ministry preparation, with most programs drawing from the related academic disciplines of psychology and education. Children's ministry specific courses included philosophical, programming, and administrative topics. Commonly assigned textbooks included both philosophical and practical content. Implications for practice and research are discussed.
Timing analysis for data caches and set-associative caches

The contributions of this paper are twofold. First, an automatic tool-based approach is described to bound worst-case data cache performance. The given approach works on fully optimized code, performs the analysis over the entire control flow of a program, detects and exploits both spatial and temporal locality within data references, produces results typically within a few seconds, and estimates, on average, 30% tighter WCET bounds than can be predicted without analyzing data cache behavior. Results obtained by running the system on representative programs are presented and indicate that timing analysis of data cache behavior can result in significantly tighter worst-case performance predictions. Second, a framework to bound worst-case instruction cache performance for set-associative caches is formally introduced and operationally described. Results of incorporating instruction cache predictions within pipeline simulation show that timing predictions for set-associative caches remain just as tight as predictions for direct-mapped caches. The cache simulation overhead scales linearly with increasing associativity.
Glass-based erbium activated micro-nano photonic structures

In this paper, we present a short review of the activity performed in developing glass-based photonic structures on the nano and micro scale, based on the sol-gel techniques and activated by rare earth ions. Optical and spectroscopic assessment of glass ceramic waveguides is discussed. Luminescence enhancement is demonstrated. Refractive index modulation upon UV exposure is measured in SiO2-SnO2 film. Finally, results concerning Er3+-activated opal-based photonic crystal are presented. In the case of inverted opals a quantum efficiency of 90% was estimated.
Path planning using optically computed potential fields

An algorithm for the optical computation of potential field maps suitable for mobile robot navigation is described, and experimentally produced maps and paths are presented. The parallel analog optical computation uses a two-dimensional spatial light modulator on which an image of the potential field map is generated. Optically calculated fields contain no local minima, tend to produce paths centered in gaps between obstacles, and produce paths which give preference to wide gaps. Calculation of 128*128 pixel fields at a few hertz is possible with current technology, and calculation time vs. map size scales favorably in comparison to digital electronic computation. <<ETX>>
Microgrids: Integration of distributed energy resources into the smart-grid

• Droop-controlled microgrids can be used in islanded mode. • New concept of flexible microgrids can operate in both grid-connected and islanded mode. • Improvements to the conventional droop method are required for integrate inverter-based energy resources: • Improvement of the transient response • Virtual impedance: harmonic power sharing and hot-swapping • Adaptive droop control laws • The hierarchical control is required for a AC microgrid, analogous as those proposed in the DC-coupled microgrid: • Primary control is based on the droop method allowing the connection of different AC sources without any intercommunication. • Secondary control avoids the voltage and frequency deviation produced by the primary control. Only low bandwidth communications are needed to perform this control level. A synchronization loop can be add in this level to transfer from islanding to grid connected modes. • Tertiary control allows to import/export active and reactive power to the grid. • Additional features are also required to the flexible microgrids: • Voltage ride-through • Black-start operation • Grid impedance estimation • Storage energy management and control
High-Voltage Modular Power Supply Using Parallel and Series Configurations of Flyback Converter for Pulsed Power Applications

To cover wide range of pulsed power applications, this paper proposes a modularity concept to improve the performance and flexibility of the pulsed power supply. The proposed scheme utilizes the advantage of parallel and series configurations of flyback modules in obtaining high-voltage levels with fast rise time (dv/dt). Prototypes were implemented using 600-V insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) switches to generate up to 4-kV output pulses with 1-kHz repetition rate for experimentation. To assess the proposed modular approach for higher number of the modules, prototypes were implemented using 1700-V IGBTs switches, based on ten-series modules, and tested up to 20 kV. Conducted experimental results verified the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Book Reviews: The Text Mining Handbook: Advanced Approaches to Analyzing Unstructured Data by Ronen Feldman and James Sanger

Text mining is the process of discovering information in large text collections, and automatically identifying interesting patterns and relationships in textual data. It is a relatively new research area, which has recently raised much interest among the research and industry communities, mainly due to the continuously increasing amount of information available on the Web and elsewhere. Text mining is a highly interdisci-plinary research area, bringing together research insights from the fields of data mining, natural language processing, machine learning, and information retrieval. In particular, text mining is closely related to the older area of data mining, which targets the extraction of interesting information from data records, although text mining is allegedly more difficult, as the source data consists of unstructured collections of documents rather than structured databases. The book by Feldman and Sanger is a thorough introduction to text mining, covering the general architecture of text mining systems, along with the main techniques used by such systems. It addresses both the theory and practice of text mining, and it illustrates the different techniques with real-world scenarios and practical applications. It is particularly relevant for students and professional practitioners, being structured as a self-contained handbook that does not require previous experience in any of the research fields involved. The book is structured into twelve chapters, which gradually introduce the area of text mining and related topics, starting with an introduction to the task of text mining, and ending with examples of practical applications from three different domains. The first chapter can be regarded as an overview of the book. It starts by defining the problem of text mining and the key elements in text mining: the document collections, the document features (words, terms, and concepts), and the role of background knowledge in text mining. It then briefly touches upon the possible applications of text mining, such as pattern discovery and trend analysis, and shortly discusses the interface layer of text mining systems. The second part of the chapter lays down the general architecture of a text mining system, which also serves as a rough guide for the rest of the book, as it describes the main components of a text mining system that are described in detail in subsequent chapters. Chapter 2 is one of the longest chapters in the book, and also one of the most dense in terms of newly introduced concepts. Despite being a more difficult read compared …
LIUM’s SMT Machine Translation Systems for WMT 2011

This paper describes the development of French--English and English--French statistical machine translation systems for the 2011 WMT shared task evaluation. Our main systems were standard phrase-based statistical systems based on the Moses decoder, trained on the provided data only, but we also performed initial experiments with hierarchical systems. Additional, new features this year include improved translation model adaptation using monolingual data, a continuous space language model and the treatment of unknown words.
Perceptual-Learning Evidence for Separate Processing of Asynchrony and Order Tasks

Normal perception depends, in part, on accurate judgments of the temporal relationships between sensory events. Two such relative-timing skills are the ability to detect stimulus asynchrony and to discriminate stimulus order. Here we investigated the neural processes contributing to the performance of auditory asynchrony and order tasks in humans, using a perceptual-learning paradigm. In each of two parallel experiments, we tested listeners on a pretest and a posttest consisting of auditory relative-timing conditions. Between these two tests, we trained a subset of listeners ∼1 h/d for 6–8 d on a single relative-timing condition. The trained listeners practiced asynchrony detection in one experiment and order discrimination in the other. Both groups were trained at sound onset with tones at 0.25 and 4.0 kHz. The remaining listeners in each experiment, who served as controls, did not receive multihour training during the 8–10 d between the pretest and posttest. These controls improved even without intervening training, adding to evidence that a single session of exposure to perceptual tasks can yield learning. Most importantly, each of the two groups of trained listeners learned more on their respective trained conditions than controls, but this learning occurred only on the two trained conditions. Neither group of trained listeners generalized their learning to the other task (order or asynchrony), an untrained temporal position (sound offset), or untrained frequency pairs. Thus, it appears that multihour training on relative-timing skills affects task-specific neural circuits that are tuned to a given temporal position and combination of stimulus components.
Pareto-optimal resilient controller placement in SDN-based core networks

With the introduction of Software Defined Networking (SDN), the concept of an external and optionally centralized network control plane, i.e. controller, is drawing the attention of researchers and industry. A particularly important task in the SDN context is the placement of such external resources in the network. In this paper, we discuss important aspects of the controller placement problem with a focus on SDN-based core networks, including different types of resilience and failure tolerance. When several performance and resilience metrics are considered, there is usually no single best controller placement solution, but a trade-off between these metrics. We introduce our framework for resilient Pareto-based Optimal COntroller-placement (POCO) that provides the operator of a network with all Pareto-optimal placements. The ideas and mechanisms are illustrated using the Internet2 OS3E topology and further evaluated on more than 140 topologies of the Topology Zoo. In particular, our findings reveal that for most of the topologies more than 20% of all nodes need to be controllers to assure a continuous connection of all nodes to one of the controllers in any arbitrary double link or node failure scenario.
RBM45 competes with HDAC1 for binding to FUS in response to DNA damage

Abstract DNA damage response (DDR) is essential for genome stability and human health. Recently, several RNA binding proteins (RBPs), including fused-in-sarcoma (FUS), have been found unexpectedly to modulate this process. The role of FUS in DDR is closely linked to the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Given that RBM45 is also an ALS-associated RBP, we wondered whether RBM45 plays any function during this process. Here, we report that RBM45 can be recruited to laser microirradiation-induced DNA damage sites in a PAR- and FUS-dependent manner, but in a RNA-independent fashion. Depletion of RBM45 leads to abnormal DDR signaling and decreased efficiency in DNA double-stranded break repair. Interestingly, RBM45 is found to compete with histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) for binding to FUS, thereby regulating the recruitment of HDAC1 to DNA damage sites. A common familial ALS-associated FUS mutation (FUS-R521C) is revealed to prefer to cooperate with RBM45 than HDAC1. Our findings suggest that RBM45 is a key regulator in FUS-related DDR signaling whose dysfunction may contribute to the pathogenesis of ALS.
Headliners: Proteins: Timeless Protein Plays a Role in Coupling Cell Cycle and Circadian Rhythm

Unsal-Kacmaz K, Mullen TE, Kaufmann WK, Sancar A. 2005. Coupling of human circadian and cell cycles by the Timeless protein. Mol Cell Biol 25:3109–3116. In mammals, the Timeless protein is necessary for proper functioning of circadian rhythm, the predictable “internal body clock” that regulates the 24-hour cycle of biological processes in animals and plants. The protein is also evolutionarily related to many cell cycle control proteins, which mediate cellular pathways that are activated by environmental changes or cellular injury, resulting in a protective response. In the current study, NIEHS grantee William K. Kaufmann and colleagues at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill set out to determine whether the Timeless protein may itself function as a core component of the human cell cycle. Disruptions in circadian rhythm have been implicated in a variety of diseases and conditions from common jet lag to cancer. The cell cycle is the orderly sequence of events by which a cell duplicates its contents and divides into two. Both systems have pervasive effects on physiology at the levels of the cell, organ, and organism. Although the two systems have distinct regulatory mechanisms, there is growing evidence that they are linked. Most mammalian cells function on an approximate 24-hour cell cycle, and the circadian clock has been implicated in regulating the phases of cell division. This linkage is important for a new field of research and medicine known as chronotherapy, which aims to coordinate the delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs with the circadian and cell cycles to maximize drug efficacy while minimizing side effects. Kaufmann and colleagues found that the human Timeless protein interacted with both Cry2 (a confirmed circadian clock protein) and Chk1 kinase (a cell cycle checkpoint protein). Timeless also appeared to play a role in the DNA damage checkpoint response, a process that arrests cell division and activates DNA repair mechanisms. Other experiments demonstrated that inhibiting production of Timeless protein seriously compromised checkpoint-regulated coordination of cell division, “indicating an intimate connection between the circadian cycle and DNA damage checkpoints. ” Although there is still much to be learned about the function and control of the Timeless protein, these results indicate that it does indeed act in the control of both the circadian clock and the cell cycle by interacting with circadian clock proteins and playing an important role in the DNA damage response. However, the authors point out that the circadian cycle operates normally in the absence of the cell cycle.
Reassessing the Risks of Tamiflu Use during a Pandemic to the Lower Colorado River

In studies on the effects of environmental factors on fetal growth, birth weight is usually corrected for gestational age. With the generalized use of ultrasound examinations in many countries, gestational age is often defined or corrected from the ultrasound measurements performed during or immediately after the first trimester of pregnancy, which are compared to a reference growth curve. As an illustration, in a cohort study investigating the association between exposure to perfluorinated chemicals and fetal growth, Fei et al. (2007) defined gestational age from ultrasound measures performed before 24 gestational weeks and, if this information was missing, from the date of the last menstrual period (LMP).
Clinical and inflammatory characteristics of the European U-BIOPRED adult severe asthma cohort

U-BIOPRED is a European Union consortium of 20 academic institutions, 11 pharmaceutical companies and six patient organisations with the objective of improving the understanding of asthma disease mechanisms using a systems biology approach. This cross-sectional assessment of adults with severe asthma, mild/moderate asthma and healthy controls from 11 European countries consisted of analyses of patient-reported outcomes, lung function, blood and airway inflammatory measurements. Patients with severe asthma (nonsmokers, n=311; smokers/ex-smokers, n=110) had more symptoms and exacerbations compared to patients with mild/moderate disease (n=88) (2.5 exacerbations versus 0.4 in the preceding 12 months; p<0.001), with worse quality of life, and higher levels of anxiety and depression. They also had a higher incidence of nasal polyps and gastro-oesophageal reflux with lower lung function. Sputum eosinophil count was higher in severe asthma compared to mild/moderate asthma (median count 2.99% versus 1.05%; p=0.004) despite treatment with higher doses of inhaled and/or oral corticosteroids. Consistent with other severe asthma cohorts, U-BIOPRED is characterised by poor symptom control, increased comorbidity and airway inflammation, despite high levels of treatment. It is well suited to identify asthma phenotypes using the array of “omic” datasets that are at the core of this systems medicine approach. Severe asthma results in more airway inflammation, worse symptoms and lower lung function, despite increased therapy http://ow.ly/QznR3
Multi-agent System for Translation Initiation Site Prediction

Accurate translation initiation site (TIS) prediction is very important for genomic analysis. It is a com- mon understanding that analyzing the large amount of genomic data by pure biological methods is impracti- cal if not impossible. Therefore many approaches have been proposed which apply some machine learning tech- nique to analyze a particular aspect of the data. We believe, however, that taking one single measure on the genomic data of intrinsically complicated nature will not yield a very comprehensive analysis. In this paper, we support this argument by showing how a particular biological measure is good for TIS prediction in certain sequences, but not others. We propose a novel approach which uses multiple agents, each of which investigates some distinct biological perspective. Since it is not al- ways necessary to involve all the agents to analyze any given data set, we introduce a heuristic component to predict the most appropriate agent combination scheme for the data given. Experimental results on two bench- mark data collections demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of our proposed approach. Keywords: translation initiation site prediction, multi-agent system, ribosome scanning model, gene ex- pression data.