Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design & Analysis of High-Performance Floating-point Fused Multiply-add with Reduced Latency

: Floating-point unit is an integral part of any modern microprocessor. The fused multiply add (FMA) operation is important in many scientific and engineering applications. With the advancement in FPGA architecture latency has been the important focus of attention in order to improve performance. To improve the performance, two single-precision operations can be performed concurrently with one double-precision data path, which is very useful in multimedia and even scientific applications. Moreover, to reduce the additional area costs for supporting two single-precision operations in parallel, multiple double-precision units, i.e., the multiplier, shifter and adder, are reused as much as possible. In addition, in case of FADD instructions, the multiplier in the first stage is bypassed and kept in stable mode, which can significantly improve fused addition instruction performance and lower power consumption. The paper claims an estimated 15-20% reduction in latency as compared to a conventional fused multiply add (FMA).
Synergy between Colistin and the Signal Peptidase Inhibitor MD3 Is Dependent on the Mechanism of Colistin Resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii

ABSTRACT Synergy between colistin and the signal peptidase inhibitor MD3 was tested against isogenic mutants and clinical pairs of Acinetobacter baumannii isolates. Checkerboard assays and growth curves showed synergy against both colistin-susceptible strains (fractional inhibitory concentration index [FICindex] = 0.13 to 0.24) and colistin-resistant strains with mutations in pmrB and phosphoethanolamine modification of lipid A (FICindex = 0.14 to 0.25) but not against colistin-resistant Δlpx strains with loss of lipopolysaccharide (FICindex = 0.75 to 1). A colistin/MD3 combination would need to be targeted to strains with specific colistin resistance mechanisms.
Changes in Hospital Performance after Ownership Conversions

This paper examines the effects of ownership conversions on hospital performance between 1987 and 1998 in areas of financial performance, staffing, capacity, and unprofitable care. Conversions to government and for-profit ownership both increased the profit margin: the former due to rising revenue, and the latter due to reduced operating costs and rising revenue. Hospitals that converted to for-profit ownership had the greatest reduction in staffing relative to other converted hospitals. There was little change in bed capacity after conversion to for-profit status, but some reductions in bed capacity after conversion to government or nonprofit status. No conversion of any kind led to a reduced amount of unprofitable care, but conversion to private ownership (nonprofit and for-profit) increased the probability of trauma center closures.
Statins in primary prevention: impact on mortality. A meta-analysis study.

INTRODUCTION An evaluation of the effects of statins on total mortality in the context of primary prevention was carried out, by means of the analysis of data taken from major clinical trials published in the literature. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION Published systematic reviews were used to identify relevant clinical trials, and data from the third Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation study were also used. Meta-analysis was carried out using overall mortality data. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS A total of nine clinical trials were selected for further study, and in each of them patients had defined cardiovascular risk factors. Meta-analysis of the overall mortality results of the nine trials showed a significant reduction associated to statin therapy (odds ratio 0.886, 95% confidence limits 0.816-0.963), when compared to the control situation. At least one trial showed a numerical reduction of overall mortality with pravastatin, with atorvastatin and with rosuvastatin. Separate meta-analyses were carried out with clinical trials with each of these three drugs, yielding similar effects: pravastatin - odds ratio 0.852, 95% confidence limits 0.688-1.054; atorvastatin - odds ratio 0.853, 95% confidence limits 0.726-1.002; rosuvastatin - odds ratio 0.870, 95% confidence limits 0.749-1.010. CONCLUSIONS Statins used in primary prevention lead to a significant decrease in overall mortality. The effects of statins in primary prevention are limited to patients with defined cardiovascular risk factors.
Decision support aids with anthropomorphic characteristics influence trust and performance in younger and older adults

This study examined the use of deliberately anthropomorphic automation on younger and older adults' trust, dependence and performance on a diabetes decision-making task. Research with anthropomorphic interface agents has shown mixed effects in judgments of preferences but has rarely examined effects on performance. Meanwhile, research in automation has shown some forms of anthropomorphism (e.g. etiquette) have effects on trust and dependence on automation. Participants answered diabetes questions with no-aid, a non-anthropomorphic aid or an anthropomorphised aid. Trust and dependence in the aid was measured. A minimally anthropomorphic aide primarily affected younger adults' trust in the aid. Dependence, however, for both age groups was influenced by the anthropomorphic aid. Automation that deliberately embodies person-like characteristics can influence trust and dependence on reasonably reliable automation. However, further research is necessary to better understand the specific aspects of the aid that affect different age groups. Automation that embodies human-like characteristics may be useful in situations where there is under-utilisation of reasonably reliable aids by enhancing trust and dependence in that aid. Practitioner Summary: The design of decision-support aids on consumer devices (e.g. smartphones) may influence the level of trust that users place in that system and their amount of use. This study is the first step in articulating how the design of aids may influence user's trust and use of such systems
Substrate Specificity and Inhibitor Studies of a Membrane-Bound Ganglioside Sialidase Isolated from Human Brain Tissue

Abstract A gangliosidespecific sialidase that controls cellular functions such as growth, differentiation, and adhesion has been observed in a variety of cells, but its characterization proved difficult due to firm membrane attachment and lability of the purified enzyme. Here we report on the specificity toward gangliosides and susceptibility to certain inhibitors of a ganglioside sialidase solubilized and purified 5100-fold from human brain. The sialidase removed terminal sialic acids from gangliosides GM3, GM4, GD3, GD2, GD1a, GD1b, GT1b and GQ1b, but was inactive toward gangliosides with sialic acid in a branching position (as in GM1 and GM2). LysoGM3 and GD1a were good substrates, too, whereas Oacetylation of the sialic acid as in 9-OacetylGD3 caused strongly reduced cleavage. The new influenza virus drug 4-guanidino-2-deoxy-2,3- dehydroNacetylneuraminic acid (Zanamivir) exhibited an IC50 value of about 710 5 M that was in the range of the classical sialidase inhibitor 2-deoxy-2,3-dehydro Nacetylneuraminic acid; the bacterial sialidase inhibitor 4-nitrophenyloxamic acid, however, was ineffective. The glycosaminoglycans heparan sulfate, heparin, chondroitin sulfates A and B, as well as dextran sulfate and suramin, were all strongly inhibitory, suggesting that glycosaminoglycans present on the cell surface or in the extracellular matrix may influence the ability of the sialidase to alter the ganglioside composition of the membrane.
Workplace violence: impact, causes, and prevention.

OBJECTIVES Using a variety of sources, the author explores the complex reasons for aggression and violence in workplace settings, as well as suggesting means of prevention and intervention. METHODS Literature Review. RESULTS Studies indicate workplace violence affects more than half of U.S. organizations, yet nearly 70 percent have no programs or policies to deal with this problem. Research indicates that aggressive behavior of a psychological nature often precedes physical violence in the workforce, yet employers regularly ignore warning signs even when reported by employees. Costs to U.S. employers are estimated in the millions due to employee absences, medical costs, theft, and costs related to litigation. CONCLUSIONS Organizations with cultures which support fair working conditions and zero-tolerance for workplace aggression have been shown to help mitigate workplace violence.
Substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) out-of-phase T-junction

A planar substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) T-junction, with transmission properties similar to an E-plane waveguide T-junction, is described. It comprises an SIW H-plane T-junction, and phase-inverting and phase-non-inverting sections inserted into the arms of the T-junction. The inverting section comprises a coplanar-waveguide (CPW) vertical interconnect that couples a pair of antipodal back-to-back SIW-to-CPW transitions. This arrangement swaps current from the top and bottom walls of the SIW to achieve phase-inversion. The non-inverting section comprises a pair of back-to-back SIW-to-CPW transitions, and is the same physical length as the inverting section and has a similar transmission apart from the no phase-inversion. The junction can be constructed using a 2-layer planar technology such as a double-sided printed circuit board. Simulations of a junction operating from 4 to 6 GHz demonstrate the feasibility of the approach.
Correction: Circular RNA Is Expressed across the Eukaryotic Tree of Life

An unexpectedly large fraction of genes in metazoans (human, mouse, zebrafish, worm, fruit fly) express high levels of circularized RNAs containing canonical exons. Here we report that circular RNA isoforms are found in diverse species whose most recent common ancestor existed more than one billion years ago: fungi (Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Saccharomyces cerevisiae), a plant (Arabidopsis thaliana), and protists (Plasmodium falciparum and Dictyostelium discoideum). For all species studied to date, including those in this report, only a small fraction of the theoretically possible circular RNA isoforms from a given gene are actually observed. Unlike metazoans, Arabidopsis, D. discoideum, P. falciparum, S. cerevisiae, and S. pombe have very short introns (,100 nucleotides or shorter), yet they still produce circular RNAs. A minority of genes in S. pombe and P. falciparum have documented examples of canonical alternative splicing, making it unlikely that all circular RNAs are by-products of alternative splicing or ‘piggyback’ on signals used in alternative RNA processing. In S. pombe, the relative abundance of circular to linear transcript isoforms changed in a gene-specific pattern during nitrogen starvation. Circular RNA may be an ancient, conserved feature of eukaryotic gene expression programs. Citation: Wang PL, Bao Y, Yee M-C, Barrett SP, Hogan GJ, et al. (2014) Circular RNA Is Expressed across the Eukaryotic Tree of Life. PLoS ONE 9(3): e90859. doi:10. 1371/journal.pone. 0090859 Editor: Thomas Preiss, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australia Received November 22, 2013; Accepted February 5, 2014; Published March 7, 2014 Copyright: 2014 Wang et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Funding: This work was supported mainly by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. POB is an investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. PLW was supported by a grant from the Canary Foundation. JS was supported by NIH NCI 1K99CA168987-01. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. * E-mail: julia.salzman@stanford.edu ¤ Current address: University of California Santa Cruz and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America
A shared document-based annotation tool to support learner-centred collaborative learning

A shared document-based annotation tool was presented, and its usefulness in two different real-life web-based university-level courses (adult learners, n= 27 and adolescent learners, n= 23) was empirically investigated. The study design embodied three data collection phases: (1) a pretest measuring self-rated motivation, learning strategies, and social ability; (2) log file data analysis showing actual use of the system features; and (3) a posttest in a form of an email survey. For both groups, the results showed that the level of motivation has a positive effect on activity in the system and the final grade. The learners, who reported to have good time-management strategies, were the most active users of the system. The level of social ability predicted both the number of consecutive comments in the documents and the threads in document-related newsgroup discussions. Log file data analysis showed that user activity in the system was positively related to the final grade in both samples. Results of the posttest showed that all the respondents agreed when asked: (1) if the system brought added value to the learning process; (2) if the use of the system changed their studying habits favourably; and (3) if they would like to use the system in other courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
A new horizontal collision detection scheme for avatar with avatar in collaborative virtual environment

To guarantee collision-free locomotion of avatar in collaborative virtual environment, a collision detection scheme should be provided to prevent avatar from not only penetrating into all other virtual obstacles but also colliding with all other avatars without stalling any avatar with ultimate goal of user's senses of presence, reality and immersion. This paper discussed how to design a horizontal collision detection scheme for avatar with avatar. First, it proposed several design considerations for a horizontal collision detection scheme. Second, through collision precaution and collision repulsive field that are two attached properties to avatars, the process procedure of the whole collision detection is divided into three processes: collision determination, collision avoidance and path amendment. On the basis of above works, this paper presented a new horizontal collision detection scheme AACD for avatar with avatar in collaborative virtual environment. Finally, architecture of AACD is described in details in this paper.
Characterizing unknown events in MEG data with group factor analysis

Many current neuroscientific experiments can be seen as data analysis problems with two or more data sources: brain activity and stimulus features or, as in this paper, activity of two brains. These setups have been analyzed with Canonical Correlation Analysis or its multiple-source probabilistic extension Group Factor Analysis, which capture statistical dependencies between the data sources in correlating components. We relax the assumption of global correlations and search for correlating signals related to discrete events. The assumption is that the sources correlate only during events with known timings, inferred from a stimulus stream for instance, but the type or nature of each event is not known. The unsupervised modelling of the events can then be viewed as a generalization of conditional averaging. We apply the model on two-person MEG measurements, in a demonstration task of identifying which of the two persons utters a word.
Facial three dimensional surface imaging : an overview

laser scanning, facial morphology, stereophotogrammetry, three dimensional imaging. Abstract The surface facial imagings have many applications in medical fields. The recent past has seen great advances in three dimensional imaging which include laser scanning or stereophotogrammetry. Here, we reviewed various systems with reference to image acquisition, advantages and disadvantages. Examples of important clinical application with reference to the human face are also discussed. Finally, a 3D imaging system at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) is described.
The P1 plasmid is segregated to daughter cells by a ‘capture and ejection’ mechanism coordinated with Escherichia coli cell division

The fate of the P1 plasmid of Escherichia coli was followed by time‐lapse photomicroscopy. A GFP–ParB fusion marked the plasmid during partition (segregation) to daughter cells at slow growth rate. The process differs from that previously inferred from statistical analysis of fixed cells. A focus of plasmid copies is captured at the cell centre. Immediately before cell division, the copies eject bidirectionally along the long axis of the cell. Cell division traps one or more plasmid copies in each daughter. They are not directed to a prescribed position but are free to move, associate and disassociate. Later, they are captured to the new cell centre to restart the cycle. A null P1 par mutant associates to form a focus, but it is neither captured nor ejected. A dominant negative ParB protein forms a plasmid focus that attaches to the cell centre but never ejects. It remains captive at the centre and blocks host cell division. The cells elongate. Eventually the intact focus is pushed to one side and the cells divide simultaneously in several places at the same time. This suggests that the wild‐type plasmid imposes a regulatory node on the host cell cycle, preventing cell division until its own segregation is completed.
Effect of self-discrepancy on specificity of autobiographical memory retrieval

Research using a cue word paradigm has consistently shown that depression, in both adults and adolescents, is associated with difficulties in retrieving specific autobiographical memories. Inspired by previous work stating that depressed feelings are related to a perceived discrepancy between attributes of the actual and the ideal self, the present study aimed to investigate the hypothesis that cues bringing discrepancies between the actual and ideal selves to the foreground might promote or facilitate the recall of overgeneral (instead of specific) autobiographical memories. In two studies adolescents provided autobiographical memories in response to 10 high-discrepant and 10 low-discrepant words. As predicted, results in both studies showed an effect of cue word discrepancy on the specificity of autobiographical memories such that participants retrieved a smaller proportion of specific and a greater proportion of overgeneral memories in response to high-discrepant words as compared to low-discrepant words. The findings are discussed in terms of the self-memory system (SMS) as a conceptual framework of autobiographical memory (Conway & Pleydell-Pearce, 2000).
Pleiotropic Effects of Inactivating a Carboxyl-Terminal Protease, CtpA, in Borrelia burgdorferi

ABSTRACT A gene encoding a putative carboxyl-terminal protease (CtpA), an unusual type of protease, is present in the Borrelia burgdorferi B31 genome. The B. burgdorferi CtpA amino acid sequence exhibits similarities to the sequences of the CtpA enzymes of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803 and higher plants and also exhibits similarities to the sequences of putative CtpA proteins in other bacterial species. Here, we studied the effect of ctpA gene inactivation on the B. burgdorferi protein expression profile. Total B. burgdorferi proteins were separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, and the results revealed that six proteins of the wild type were not detected in the ctpA mutant and that nine proteins observed in the ctpA mutant were undetectable in the wild type. Immunoblot analysis showed that the integral outer membrane protein P13 was larger and had a more acidic pI in the ctpA mutant, which is consistent with the theoretical change in pI for P13 not processed at the carboxyl terminus. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization—time of flight data indicated that in addition to P13, the BB0323 protein may serve as a substrate for carboxyl-terminal processing by CtpA. Complementation analysis of the ctpA mutant provided strong evidence that the observed effect on proteins depended on inactivation of the ctpA gene alone. We show that CtpA in B. burgdorferi is involved in the processing of proteins such as P13 and BB0323 and that inactivation of ctpA has a pleiotropic effect on borrelial protein synthesis. To our knowledge, this is the first analysis of both a CtpA protease and different substrate proteins in a pathogenic bacterium.
A validated 5.9 GHz Non-Line-of-Sight path-loss and fading model for inter-vehicle communication

Inter-vehicle communication promises to prevent accidents by enabling applications such as cross-traffic assistance. This application requires information from vehicles in Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) areas due to building at intersection corners. The periodic Cooperative Awareness Messages (CAM) are foreseen to be sent via 5.9 GHz IEEE 802.11p. While it is known that existing micro-cell models might not apply well, validated propagation models for vehicular 5.9 GHz NLOS conditions are still missing. In this paper, we develop a 5.9 GHz NLOS path-loss and fading model based on real-world measurements at a representative selection of intersections in the city of Munich. We show that a) the measurement data can very well be fitted to an analytical model, b) the model incorporates specific geometric aspects in closed-form as well as normally distributed fading in NLOS, and c) the model is of low complexity, thus, could be used in large-scale packet-level simulations. A comparison to existing micro-cell models shows that our model significantly differs.
A Comparative Study of Natural Killer Cell Activity, Lymphoproliferation, and Cell Phenotypes in Nonhuman Primates

Three different species of nonhuman primates (baboons [Papio hamadryas], rhesus monkeys [Macaca mulatta], and African green monkeys [Cercopithecus aethiops]) were evaluated for their natural killer cell activity, and for the ability of their peripheral blood mononuclear cells to proliferate in response to known mitogens (concanavalin A, phytohemagglutinin, and pokeweed mitogen) and to react with a panel of mouse monocional antibodies directed against human leukocyte surface antigens. Rhesus monkeys displayed the highest natural killer cell cytotoxic activity (185.7 ± 33 lytic units) compared with those of baboons (83.8 ± 19 lytic units) and of African green monkeys from West Africa (39.08 ± 8 lytic units) and from the Caribbean basin (37.9 ± 9 lytic units). No correlation was observed between the natural killer cell cytotoxic activity and the percentage of CD 16′ natural killer cells among the three species studied. High spontaneous proliferative capacity was observed in African green monkeys obtained from West Africa compared with those of the other species studied. Although no significant differences were noted in T and B cell mitogen-induced in vitro proliferation, baboon mononuclear cells were less responsive to concanavalin A (stimulation index of 16 ± 3 [x ± standard error of mean]) than to phytohemagglutinin (stimulation index of 47 ± 12). However, rhesus and African green monkey cells proliferated more efficiently in response to concanavalin A. Unlike in human beings where the ratio between helper-inducer (CD4 +) and cytotoxic-suppressor (CD8 +) T-lymphocytes is generally > 1, the CD4 +/ CD8 + ratios in baboons and rhesus and African green monkeys were 0.58, 0.69, and 0.35, respectively. Basic information on normal immune functions in these primates is important because of their increased use as experimental animal models for the study of human diseases such as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).