Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improving the Shuffle of Hadoop MapReduce

As an efficient parallel computing system based on MapReduce model, Hadoop is widely used for large-scale data analysis such as data mining, machine learning and scientific simulation. However, there are still some performance problems in MapReduce, especially the situation in the shuffle phase. In order to solve these problems, in this paper, a lightweight individual shuffle service component with more efficient I/O policy was proposed rather than the existing shuffle phase in MapReduce. We also describe how to implement the shuffle service in three steps: extract shuffle from reduce task as a shuffle task, reconstruct the shuffle task as a service and improve I/O scheduling policy on Map sides. Furthermore both simulated experiments and MapReduce job comparative studies are conducted to evaluate the performance of our improvements. The result reveals that our approach can decrease the whole job's execution time and make full use of cluster resources.
Applications of Probabilistic Graphical Models to Diagnosis and Control of Autonomous Vehicles

We present the main elements of a distributed architecture supporting diagnosis and control of autonomous robots. The purpose of the architecture is to assist the operator or piloting system in managing fault detection, risk assessment, and recovery plans under uncertainty. The architecture is generic, open, and modular consisting of a set of interacting modules including a decision module (DM) and a set of intelligent modules (IMs). The DM communicates with the IMs to request and obtain diagnosis and recovery action proposals based on data obtained from the robot piloting module. The architecture supports the use of multiple artiﬁcial intelligence techniques collaborating on the task of handling uncertainty. In this paper we focus on the application of Bayesian modeling to three problems of diagnosis and control of autonomous robots or vehicles. The paper describes and discusses how we use Limited Memory Inﬂuence Diagrams (LIMIDs) to represent and solve complex problems of diagnosis and control of ground and underwater robotic vehicles. In particular, we describe how battery monitoring and control problems related to an underwater and a ground vehicle are solved and how a sonar image quality assessment problem related to an underwater vehicle is solved.
Media Use and Materialism: A Comparative Study of Impact of Television Exposure and Internet Indulgence on Young Adults

Media exposure is often witnessed to promote materialism in youth. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to investigate and compare the level of materialism in young media users due to television exposure and Internet indulgence. A sample of 714 young media users (15–24 years) has been taken from schools and colleges of Punjab (India) and data have been analysed through hierarchical regression analysis and independent sample t-test through SPSS 19.0. Using a three-factor structure to measure materialism—material success, material happiness and material centrality—the findings reveal that media (TV and Internet) strongly inculcates materialism in young media users, when effects of child and family variables are controlled. But, magnitude of the effect of media (TV and Internet) is more prominently visible on material centrality construct than other two constructs of materialism. Also, groups of child and family variables showed significant differences across materialism constructs. Internet indulgence coupled with socio-oriented family communication significantly contributes to materialism. Because of the highest influence of media on material centrality, the leaders in the media industry should be more involved in scrutinizing the content and encourage their clients to develop more socially responsible depictions in media.
Pharmacological Characterisation of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Expressed in Human iPSC-Derived Neurons

Neurons derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) represent a potentially valuable tool for the characterisation of neuronal receptors and ion channels. Previous studies on iPSC-derived neuronal cells have reported the functional characterisation of a variety of receptors and ion channels, including glutamate receptors, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors and several voltage-gated ion channels. In the present study we have examined the expression and functional properties of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in human iPSC-derived neurons. Gene expression analysis indicated the presence of transcripts encoding several nAChR subunits, with highest levels detected for α3-α7, β1, β2 and β4 subunits (encoded by CHRNA3-CHRNA7, CHRNB1, CHRNB2 and CHRNB4 genes). In addition, similarly high transcript levels were detected for the truncated dupα7 subunit transcript, encoded by the partially duplicated gene CHRFAM7A, which has been associated with psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. The functional properties of these nAChRs have been examined by calcium fluorescence and by patch-clamp recordings. The data obtained suggest that the majority of functional nAChRs expressed in these cells have pharmacological properties typical of α7 receptors. Large responses were induced by a selective α7 agonist (compound B), in the presence of the α7-selective positive allosteric modulator (PAM) PNU-120596, which were blocked by the α7-selective antagonist methyllycaconitine (MLA). In addition, a small proportion of the neurons express nAChRs with properties typical of heteromeric (non-α7 containing) nAChR subtypes. These cells therefore represent a great tool to advance our understanding of the properties of native human nAChRs, α7 in particular.
High-support hostel care for mentally disordered offenders: a description of a service

ABSTRACT There is limited literature describing innovative models for forensic care. This paper describes the patient group, the model of care, and outcomes for residents in a 24-h supported hostel for mentally disordered offenders leaving secure setting over 13 years. In this period, of 160 referrals received, the service accepted 81 individuals. Over half moved to less supported placements following their tenure. This type of provision moves individuals to less supported settings and may contribute to a reduction in costly hospital stays for forensic patients with complex needs and histories of harming others.
International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth CHANGES IN EARNINGS IN BRAZIL , CHILE , AND MEXICO : DISENTANGLING THE FORCES BEHIND PRO-POOR CHANGE IN LABOUR MARKETS

Despite the recovery of economic growth in Latin America during the 1990s, rising unemployment, high informality rates and sluggish wages lie at the root of high inequality and poverty. This paper looks at changes in hourly earnings from the early 1990s to the early 2000s in three relatively stable countries: Brazil, Chile and Mexico. Using econometric techniques, the paper decomposes the change in earnings per worker into changes in the demographic and socio-occupational characteristics of workers, changes in the returns to such characteristics, and changes in unobservable factors. The paper attempts to address the link between labour markets and the dynamics of inequality and poverty by comparing the average performance of the entire working labour force with the performance of the 20 per cent of workers with the lowest earnings. The paper finds that earnings per worker are the result of slow-moving changes in the structure of employment and the characteristics of workers, as well as rapid changes in the prices of labour for specific workers. Demographic changes, better education and the decline of agricultural labour are among the most significant changes in the structure of employment, and they contribute to observed changes in earnings. Among the most important changes in prices contributing to the change in earnings are changes in the returns to formal and informal employees relative to the self-employed; changes to full-time employment relative to part-time workers; changes in the returns to urban workers relative to rural workers; and change in the earnings of workers in services relative to workers in agriculture. In general, changes in earnings frequently favoured low-earning workers, mostly because of the change in the returns for their labour. This is in contrast to the changes in the structure of employment, which tended to favour high-earning workers. JEL Classification: C13, D31, J21, J24, J31. ∗ The authors are grateful to Dag Ehrenpreis, Terry McKinley and Carlos Salas for comments and recommendations, and to Celio da Silva for excellent research assistance. ** Carnegie Endowment for International Peace/UNDP. *** Poverty Practice, Bureau for Development Policy, UNDP. **** International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth. 2 International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth
ANFIS-based computation to study the nanoscale circuit including the hot-carrier and quantum confinement effects

In this paper, we present a new approach based on fuzzy logic for the modeling of the subthreshold swing factor by using the Adaptive Network Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS). It is also assumed that the nanoscale Double Gate (DG) MOSFET device under study is subject to both hot-carrier and quantum effects. Afterward, an analytical expression is deduced for the transconductance parameter from the subthreshold swing fuzzy model. The developed framework is then adopted as a basis of studying the degradation mechanism of a single transistor amplifier. The obtained results show good agreement with the numerical simulations provided by ATLAS 2D-simulator. The proposed model presented in this paper offers a simple and accurate approach to study the nanoscale CMOS-based circuit behavior including the hot-carrier damage and quantum effects.
Therapeutic and Medicinal Uses of Aloe vera: A Review

The plant Aloe vera is used in Ayurvedic, Homoeopathic and Allopathic streams of medicine, and not only tribal community but also most of the people for food and medicine. The plant leaves contains numerous vitamins, minerals, enzymes, amino acids, natural sugars and other bioactive compounds with emollient, purgative, anti-microbial, anti inflammatory, antioxidant, aphrodisiac, anti-helmenthic, antifungal, antiseptic and cosmetic values for health care. This plant has potential to cure sunburns, burns and minor cuts, and even skin cancer. The external use in cosmetic primarily acts as skin healer and prevents injury of epithelial tissues, cures acne and gives a youthful glow to skin, also acts as extremely powerful laxative.
In Vitro Effects of a Small-Molecule Antagonist of the Tcf/ß-Catenin Complex on Endometrial and Endometriotic Cells of Patients with Endometriosis

Background Our previous studies suggested that aberrant activation of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling might be involved in the pathophysiology of endometriosis. We hypothesized that inhibition of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling might result in inhibition of cell proliferation, migration, and/or invasion of endometrial and endometriotic epithelial and stromal cells of patients with endometriosis. Objectives The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of a small-molecule antagonist of the Tcf/ß-catenin complex (PKF 115–584) on cell proliferation, migration, and invasion of endometrial and endometriotic epithelial and stromal cells. Methods One hundred twenty-six patients (78 with and 48 without endometriosis) with normal menstrual cycles were recruited. In vitro effects of PKF 115–584 on cell proliferation, migration, and invasion and on the Tcf/ß-catenin target genes were evaluated in endometrial epithelial and stromal cells of patients with and without endometriosis, and in endometrial and endometriotic epithelial and stromal cells of the same patients. Results The inhibitory effects of PKF 115–584 on cell migration and invasion in endometrial epithelial and stromal cells of patients with endometriosis prepared from the menstrual phase were significantly higher than those of patients without endometriosis. Levels of total and active forms of MMP-9 were significantly higher in epithelial and stromal cells prepared from menstrual endometrium in patients with endometriosis compared to patients without endometriosis. Treatment with PKF 115–584 inhibited MMP-9 activity to undetectable levels in both menstrual endometrial epithelial and stromal cells of patients with endometriosis. The number of invasive cells was significantly higher in epithelial and stromal cells of endometriotic tissue compared with matched eutopic endometrium of the same patients. Treatment with PKF 115–584 decreased the number of invasive endometriotic epithelial cells by 73% and stromal cells by 75%. Conclusions The present findings demonstrated that cellular mechanisms known to be involved in endometriotic lesion development are inhibited by targeting the Wnt/β-catenin pathway.
Prognostic Value of SPARC in Patients with Pancreatic Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective There is a heated debate on whether the prognostic value of SPARC is favorable or unfavorable. Thus, we carried out a meta-analysis evaluating the relationship between SPARC expression and the prognosis of patients with pancreatic cancer. Methods We searched PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science for relevant articles. The pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and corresponding 95%CI of overall survival (OS) were calculated to evaluate the prognostic value of SPARC expression in patients with pancreatic cancer. We also performed subgroup analyses. Results With 1623 patients pooled from 10 available studies, the incorporative HR showed an unfavorable prognosis of patients with pancreatic cancer in the multivariate analysis (HR = 1.55, 95%CI: 1.11–2.17, P = 0.01), but not in univariate analysis (HR = 1.41, 95%CI: 0.47–4.21, P = 0.54) and estimate (HR = 1.24, 95%CI: 0.72–2.13, P = 0.44). And this adverse impact could also be found in the subgroup analyses in multivariate analysis, especially in the stroma (HR = 1.53, 95%CI: 1.05–2.24, P = 0.03). However, the combined HR had the highly significant heterogeneity. No obvious publication bias was found. Conclusions SPARC might be an unfavorable indicator in patients with pancreatic cancer, especially in the stroma. More and further researches should be conducted to reveal the prognostic value of SPARC.
Rhythm perception and production predict reading abilities in developmental dyslexia

Rhythm organizes events in time and plays a major role in music, but also in the phonology and prosody of a language. Interestingly, children with developmental dyslexia—a learning disability that affects reading acquisition despite normal intelligence and adequate education—have a poor rhythmic perception. It has been suggested that an accurate perception of rhythmical/metrical structure, that requires accurate perception of rise time, may be critical for phonological development and subsequent literacy. This hypothesis is mostly based on results showing a high degree of correlation between phonological awareness and metrical skills, using a very specific metrical task. We present new findings from the analysis of a sample of 48 children with a diagnosis of dyslexia, without comorbidities. These children were assessed with neuropsychological tests, as well as specifically-devised psychoacoustic and musical tasks mostly testing temporal abilities. Associations were tested by multivariate analyses including data mining strategies, correlations and most importantly logistic regressions to understand to what extent the different auditory and musical skills can be a robust predictor of reading and phonological skills. Results show a strong link between several temporal skills and phonological and reading abilities. These findings are discussed in the framework of the neuroscience literature comparing music and language processing, with a particular interest in the links between rhythm processing in music and language.
Schedule-Dependent Effect of Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate (EGCG) with Paclitaxel on H460 Cells

Background Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a major biologically active component of green tea, has anti-cancer activity in human and animal models. We investigated the schedule-dependent effect of EGCG and paclitaxel on growth of NCI-H460 non-small cell lung cancer cells. Methods To investigate the combined effect of EGCG (E) and paclitaxel (P), combination indices (CIs) were calculated, and cell cycle analysis was performed. For the effect on cell apoptosis, western blot analysis was also performed. Results CI analysis demonstrated that both concurrent and sequential E → P treatments had antagonistic effects (CIs >1.0), but sequential P → E had synergistic effects (CIs <1.0), on the growth inhibition of NCI-H460 cells. In the cell cycle analysis, although paclitaxel induced G2/M cell cycle arrest and increased the sub-G1 fraction, concurrent EGCG and paclitaxel treatments did not have any additive or synergistic effects compared with the paclitaxel treatment alone. However, western blot analysis demonstrated that sequential P → E treatment decreased the expression of Bcl-2 and procaspase-3 and increased poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage; while minimal effects were seen with concurrent or sequential E → P treatments. Conclusion Concurrent or sequential E → P treatment had opposite effects to P → E treatment, where P → E treatment showed a synergistic effect on growth inhibition of NCI-H460 cells by inducing apoptosis. Thus, the efficacy of EGCG and paclitaxel combination treatment seems to be schedule-dependent.
Prediction of nuclear hormone receptor response elements.

The nuclear receptor (NR) class of transcription factors controls critical regulatory events in key developmental processes, homeostasis maintenance, and medically important diseases and conditions. Identification of the members of a regulon controlled by a NR could provide an accelerated understanding of development and disease. New bioinformatics methods for the analysis of regulatory sequences are required to address the complex properties associated with known regulatory elements targeted by the receptors because the standard methods for binding site prediction fail to reflect the diverse target site configurations. We have constructed a flexible Hidden Markov Model framework capable of predicting NHR binding sites. The model allows for variable spacing and orientation of half-sites. In a genome-scale analysis enabled by the model, we show that NRs in Fugu rubripes have a significant cross-regulatory potential. The model is implemented in a web interface, freely available for academic researchers, available at http://mordor.cgb. ki.se/NHR-scan.
The Googleplex

Google is the most popular search engine and a highly valued Internet company. The question is therefore what may be social consequences of its long-term operation. This paper draws the vision of a 'Googleplex', the ultimate automatic Internet-driven holistic marketing machine for the post-modern market and analyses it from the perspective of trust and identity to show possible changes in our perception of those important constructs that permeates our society.
Send Orders of Reprints at Reprints@benthamscience.org Lysosomal Rerouting of Hsp70 Trafficking as a Potential Immune Activating Tool for Targeting Melanoma

Tumor specific cell surface localization and release of the stress inducible heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) stimulate the immune system against cancer cells. A key immune stimulatory function of tumor-derived Hsp70 has been exemplified with the murine mela-noma cell model, B16 overexpressing exogenous Hsp70. Despite the therapeutic potential mechanism of Hsp70 transport to the surface and release remained poorly understood. We investigated principles of Hsp70 trafficking in B16 melanoma cells with low and high level of Hsp70. In cells with low level of Hsp70 apparent trafficking of Hsp70 was mediated by endosomes. Excess Hsp70 triggered a series of changes such as a switch of Hsp70 trafficking from endosomes to lysosomes and a concomitant accumulation of Hsp70 in lysosomes. Moreover, lysosomal rerouting resulted in an elevated concentration of surface Hsp70 and enabled active release of Hsp70. In fact, hy-perthermia, a clinically applicable approach triggered immediate active lysosomal release of soluble Hsp70 from cells with excess Hsp70. Furthermore, excess Hsp70 enabled targeting of internalized surface Hsp70 to lysosomes, allowing in turn heat-induced secretion of surface Hsp70. Altogether, we show that excess Hsp70 expressed in B16 melanoma cells diverts Hsp70 trafficking from endosomes to lysosomes, thereby supporting its surface localization and lysosomal release. Controlled excess-induced lysosomal rerouting and secretion of Hsp70 is proposed as a promising tool to stimulate anti-tumor immunity targeting melanoma. INTRODUCTION As tumors are often resistant to conventional therapies, development of alternative approaches is needed. An emerging and promising clinical approach is immunotherapy, where the patient's immune system is primed to fight cancer. The stress inducible heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) has been evaluated as a special tool for immunotherapy as it was shown to play a role in anti-tumor immunity mediated by both innate and adaptive immune system [1-4]. Stress inducible Hsp70 is normally confined to the cytoplasm and exerts cytoprotective, anti-apoptotic functions [5, 6]. Surprisingly, Hsp70 has been found on various tumor cell surfaces, while the corresponding normal cells were surface negative [7-9]. Membrane-bound Hsp70 on the tumor cell surface has been shown to trigger cytolytic attack by natural killer cells [10]. Moreover, intracellular Hsp70 was reported to be released from cancer cells [11-17]. Once released, extracellular Hsp70 exerts a dual, " chaperokine " function acting as a chaperone and a cytokine. Released Hsp70, due to its chaperone function, has the capacity to present tumor antigens for the adaptive immune system. At the same time, extracellular Hsp70, even …
Influence of Mineral Dust Aerosol on the Chemical Composition of the Atmosphere PI :

This proposal outlines a program of scientific research and educational development focused on mineral dust aerosol, atmospheric chemistry, and curricular use of satellite data. Mineral dust impacts the chemical composition of the atmosphere by providing a surface for heterogeneous chemistry, and for light scattering and absorption at photolytic wavelengths. We propose to assess the current and potential future influence of mineral dust on the chemical composition of the atmosphere by perfoming simulations of these processes within a global Chemical Transport Model (CTM). Research will focus on reducing uncertainties of the role of mineral dust on atmospheric NO y , SO x , and O 3 cycles. Mineral dust provides a surface for heterogeneous removal of first quantify the impact of these processes relative to the impact of other externally mixed aerosols (carbonaceous, sulfate). Second, we will study the influence of mineral dust on photochemistry and assess its regional and seasonal patterns and importance relative to these other aerosols. Although largely of natural origin, emissions of mineral dust are also highly susceptible to enchancement by anthropogenic disturbance such as land use change. Thus the satellite record of the last 20 years will provide crucial insights and constraints on the potential future impacts of mineral dust on the chemistry/climate system. The educational component of the proposal focuses on enhancing undergraduate and graduate exposure to, and experience with, remotely-sensed data. Graduate students will learn to obtain and use remotely-sensed data from the AVHRR, TOMS, and/or SeaWiFs satellites as their term project in my new course, Radiative Processes and Remote Sensing Our department's large undergraduate survey courses will all be enhanced to present students with new satellite data that illustrates each week's academic theme.