Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Kanbanize the release engineering process

Release management process must be adapted when IT organizations scale up to avoid discontinuity at the release flow and to preserve the software quality. This paper reports on means to improve the release process in a large-scale project. It discusses the rationale behind adopting Kanban principles for release management, how to implement these principles within a transitional approach, and what are the benefits. The paper discusses the post-transitional product to assess the status of the outcomes.
Method for constructing an AOD-related atmospheric correction time series for the CLARA-A2 SAL data record

In the Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring (CM SAF) project, financially supported by EUMETSAT, the 34-year long (1982-2015) broadband albedo time series CLARA-A2 SAL (the Surface ALbedo from the CM SAF cLoud, Albedo and RAdiation data record, second version) was produced from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) measurements. CLARA-A2 SAL data record uses a Simplified Method for Atmospheric Correction algorithm SMAC for correcting for atmospheric effects. Aerosol optical depth (AOD) is the main input of the algorithm. Because there were no global AOD time series for the whole needed time period (1982-2015), the AOD-related time series were constructed, and the method for calculating it is described in this report. Publishing unit: Meteorological research Classification (UDC)
A scalable and provably secure hash-based RFID protocol

The biggest challenge for RFID technology is to provide benefits without threatening the privacy of consumers. Many solutions have been suggested but almost as many ways have been found to break them. An approach by Ohkubo, Suzuki and Kinoshita using an internal refreshment mechanism seems to protect privacy well but is not scalable. We introduce a specific time-memory trade-off that removes the scalability issue of this scheme. Additionally we prove that the system truly offer's privacy and even forward privacy. Our third contribution is an extension of the scheme which offers a secure communication channel between RFID tags and their owner using building blocks that are already available on the tag. Finally we give a typical example of use of our system and show its feasibility by calculating all the parameters.
Evaluación de transformadores de estado sólido CC-CA

In this paper the analysis of two topologies of solid state transformers, three-phase, DC to AC, bidirectional, isolated, single-stage conversion, based on the principle of operation of dual active bridge converters is presented. The principle of operation and strategy of modulation used in each topology is explained. Finally simulation results are shown to evaluate and compare the performance of both converters.
Brain Herniations into the Dural Venous Sinuses or Calvarium: MRI of a Recently Recognized Entity

Brain herniations into dural venous sinuses (DVS) are rare findings recently described and their etiology and clinical significance are controversial. We describe five patients with brain herniations into the DVS or calvarium identified on MRI, and discuss their imaging findings, possible causes, and relationship to the patient's symptoms. All patients were examined with MRI including high resolution pre- and post-contrast T1- and T2-weighted sequences. With respect to brain herniations we documented their locations, signal intensities in different sequences, and size. We then reviewed clinical records in an attempt to establish if any symptoms were related to the presence of these herniations. Three males and two females were examined (age range, 11–68 years). Three patients had unilateral temporal lobe herniations into transverse sinuses, one had a cerebellar herniation into the skull, and one had bilateral temporal lobe herniations into the transverse sinuses as well as a cerebellar herniation into the sigmoid sinus. In all, the herniated brain and surrounding cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) had normal signal intensity on all MRI sequences. When correlated with clinical symptoms, brain herniations were thought to be incidental and asymptomatic in three patients and two patients had histories of headaches. Brain herniations with surrounding CSF into the DVS/skull should be considered potential sources of filling defects in the DVS. We believe that they are probably incidental findings that may be more common than previously recognized and should be not confused with the more common arachnoid granulations, clots, or tumors. Two patients had headaches, but their relation to the presence of herniated brain was uncertain.
Long Term Clinical Outcomes of Malignant Meningiomas

Objective Malignant meningiomas are rare and have worse prognosis than benign meningiomas. We report our experience of a malignant meningioma and review relevant literature in an attempt to investigate the clinical features, treatment, and prognosis of these tumors. Methods Fifteen patients underwent surgical treatment for intracranial malignant meningiomas between year 1990 and 2012 in our institution. Anaplastic meningiomas were diagnosed in thirteen cases and papillary meningiomas in two. Fourteen patients (93.3%) received radiotherapy after surgical resection. All patients were followed regularly including clinical-neurological follow-up as well as magnetic resonance imaging. Progression was determined radiographically when there was more than 10% of mass volume increase or when there were onset or worsening of neurological symptoms not attributable to other causes. Results Six patients were male and nine were women, and their mean age was 56.9 years (range 36-78). The median follow-up was 54 months (range 3-246). According to our study result, the 5-year progression free survival rate of malignant meningiomas was 53.6%. There were 2 cases (13.3%) of postoperative complications. Recurrences were confirmed in 4 patients (26.7%) during follow-up, the median recurrence time was 35 months (range 12-61), and further procedures were performed. Two of the recurred patients were treated with radiosurgery after secondary tumor resection, and other two patients were treated with radiosurgery alone. There was no more recurred disease patients in the follow-up period after then. Conclusion We report the outcomes of the aggressive surgery with radiation of malignant meningiomas. Although the data is limited, we found that radiosurgery treatment had favorable tumor control on recurred patients from our experience.
The Role of Antibiotics in Modulating Virulence in Staphylococcus aureus

SUMMARY Staphylococcus aureus is often involved in severe infections, in which the effects of bacterial virulence factors have great importance. Antistaphylococcal regimens should take into account the different effects of antibacterial agents on the expression of virulence factors and on the host's immune response. A PubMed literature search was performed to select relevant articles on the effects of antibiotics on staphylococcal toxin production and on the host immune response. Information was sorted according to the methods used for data acquisition (bacterial strains, growth models, and antibiotic concentrations) and the assays used for readout generation. The reported mechanisms underlying S. aureus virulence modulation by antibiotics were reviewed. The relevance of in vitro observations is discussed in relation to animal model data and to clinical evidence extracted from case reports and recommendations on the management of toxin-related staphylococcal diseases. Most in vitro data point to a decreased level of virulence expression upon treatment with ribosomally active antibiotics (linezolid and clindamycin), while cell wall-active antibiotics (beta-lactams) mainly increase exotoxin production. In vivo studies confirmed the suppressive effect of clindamycin and linezolid on virulence expression, supporting their utilization as a valuable management strategy to improve patient outcomes in cases of toxin-associated staphylococcal disease.
On the Summertime Planetary Boundary Layer with Different Thermodynamic Stability in China: A Radiosonde Perspective

AbstractStrongly influenced by thermodynamic stability, the planetary boundary layer (PBL) is key to the exchange of heat, momentum, and moisture between the ground surface and free troposphere. The PBL with different thermodynamic stability across the whole of China, however, is not yet well understood. In this study, the occurrence frequency and spatial distribution of the convective boundary layer (CBL), neutral boundary layer (NBL), and stable boundary layer (SBL) were systematically investigated, based on intensive summertime soundings launched at 1400 Beijing time (BJT) throughout China’s radiosonde network (CRN) for the period 2012 to 2016. Overall, the occurrences of CBL, NBL, and SBL account for 70%, 26%, and 4%, respectively, suggesting that CBL dominates in summer throughout China. In terms of the spatial pattern of PBL height, a prominent north–south gradient can be found with higher PBL height in northwest China. In addition, the PBL heights of CBL and NBL were found to be positively (negativ.
A Modified Particle Swarm Optimization and Simulation

To overcome premature searching by standard particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm, a new modified PSO with information of the closest particle is proposed. In the algorithm, the particle is updated not only by the best previous position and the best position among all the particles in the swarm, but also by the best previous position of the closest particle. To balance the trade-off between exploration and exploitation and convergence to the global optimum solution, a linearly varying acceleration coefficient over the generations was introduced. The simulation results show that the algorithm has better probability of finding global optimum and mean best value than others algorithm, especially for multimodal function.
Adaptive Consensus for a Class of Uncertain Nonlinear Multi-Agent Dynamical Systems

Abstract This paper is concerned with adaptive consensus in multi-agent systems where each agent is dominated by an uncertain nonlinear dynamics, and adaptive controllers are presented for networks with and without time-delays, respectively. Consensus analysis is provided with Lyapunov functions for both cases, which shows that, with certain assumptions on the communication networks, consensus will be achieved asymptotically despite of parametric uncertainty in each agent. Without assuming that dynamics of each agent are passive as in the literature, the proposed control strategy adaptively renders the system passive. Moreover, this approach does not require linearity in the unknown parameter as assumed in our previous work. It can be obtained for undirected networks analogously, while the analysis here focuses on directed networks.
The Link between Default and Recovery Rates: Theory, Empirical Evidence and Implications

This paper analyzes the association between default and recovery rates on credit assets and seeks to empirically explain this critical relationship. We examine recovery rates on corporate bond defaults over the period 1982–2002. Our econometric univariate and multivariate models explain a significant portion of the variance in bond recovery rates aggregated across seniority and collateral levels. We find that recovery rates are a function of supply and demand for the securities, with default rates playing a pivotal role. Our results have important implications for credit risk models and for the procyclicality effects of the New Basel Capital Accord.
Sequential staining improves detection of CCR2 and CX3CR1 on monocytes when simultaneously evaluating CCR5 by multicolor flow cytometry

Chemokines and their receptors play an essential role within the immune system by dictating cellular migration. In vivo, receptor–ligand interactions rarely occur in isolation as cellular recruitment and migration are complex and highly coordinated processes often involving networks of multiple chemokines and multiple receptors. Simultaneous detection of multiple chemokine receptors on the single cell level is necessary to allow immunophenotyping studies that will help understand the intricacies of these networks. Chemokine receptors undergo a basal level of ongoing internalization, intracellular trafficking, and recycling back to the cell surface, even in the absence of the ligand. In the presence of ligand, receptor–ligand interactions enhance receptor internalization, reducing the cell surface receptor concentration, making precise determination of intrinsic levels challenging. Using multicolor flow cytometry, we sought to evaluate and optimize the simultaneous detection of cell surface expression levels of CCR2, CX3CR1, and CCR5 in primary human monocytes using a single antibody panel. We observed that staining for CCR2 alone or for CX3CR1 alone showed greater expression levels than when the cells were stained with the full panel of antibodies. Fluorescent‐minus‐one (FMO) controls revealed that ligation of the CCR5 monoclonal antibody to the receptor interfered with detection of CX3CR1 and CCR2. Sequential addition of antibodies during the staining procedure was sufficient to restore the detection levels, suggesting close proximity and possible functional interactions between CCR2/CCR5 and CX3CR1/CCR5 in monocytes. This study highlights the importance of optimizing staining procedures and using proper controls when simultaneously evaluating expression levels of multiple chemokine receptors by flow cytometry. Concurrent assessment of multiple receptors will provide insight and greater understanding of the complex interactions involved in cellular migration. © 2013 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry
Reliability and Validity Measurement of Sagittal Lumbosacral Quiet Standing Posture with a Smartphone Application in a Mixed Population of 183 College Students and Personnel

Accurate recording of spinal posture with simple and accessible measurement devices in clinical practice may lead to spinal loading optimization in occupations related to prolonged sitting and standing postures. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to establish the level of reliability of sagittal lumbosacral posture in quiet standing and the validity of the method in differentiating between male and female subjects, establishing in parallel a normative database. 183 participants (83 males and 100 females), with no current low back or pelvic pain, were assessed using the “iHandy Level” smartphone application. Intrarater reliability (3 same-day sequential measurements) was high for both the lumbar curve (ICC2,1: 0.96, SEM: 2.13°, and MDC95%: 5.9°) and the sacral slope (ICC2,1: 0.97, SEM: 1.61°, and MDC95%: 4.46°) sagittal alignment. Data analysis for each gender separately confirmed equally high reliability for both male and female participants. Correlation between lumbar curve and sacral slope was high (Pearson's r = 0.86, p < 0.001). Between-gender comparisons confirmed the validity of the method to differentiate between male and female lumbar curve and sacral slope angles, with females generally demonstrating greater lumbosacral values (p < 0.001). The “iHandy Level” application is a reliable and valid tool in the measurement of lumbosacral quiet standing spinal posture in the sagittal plane.
Aging-aware timing analysis considering combined effects of NBTI and PBTI

Transistor aging due to Bias Temperature Instability (BTI) and Hot Carrier Injection (HCI) is one of the major reliability issues of VLSI circuits fabricated at nanometer technology nodes. Transistor aging increases the circuit delay over the time and ultimately leads to lifetime reduction of VLSI chips. Accurate aging-aware timing analysis is a key requirement to consider these effects in the design cycle. Our analysis shows that a separate (independent) analysis of different sources of aging leads to significant overestimation of post-aging delay. To overcome the problem of existing methods, we propose a new aging-aware gate delay model that precisely captures the combined effect of different aging sources on delay. Our results obtained from a set of benchmark circuits show that, our proposed gate-delay model estimates the aging-induced Δdelay by 7.8% (translating to 36.0% MTTF) more accurately in comparison to prior techniques. Moreover, we present a flow for integrating the proposed gate delay model with commercial timing analysis tools.
Unfavorable neurological outcome in diabetic patients with acute ischemic stroke is associated with incomplete recanalization after intravenous thrombolysis

Objective To assess the impact of diabetes on neurological outcome and recanalization in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) after intravenous thrombolysis (IVT). Methods Clinical data of 419 consecutive patients with AIS who received IVT between June 2009 and April 2014. Based on the medical history and new diagnosis, the patients were divided into groups with and without diabetes. Neurological outcomes at 24 h, 7 days and 3 months after IVT were evaluated. Favorable outcome was defined as National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score decrease ≥4 points from baseline or 0 at 24 h, NIHSS decrease ≥8 points or 0 at day 7, or modified Rankin scale ≤1 at 3 months after IVT. Recanalization on non-invasive imaging was evaluated in patients with large vessel occlusion (LVO) according to thrombolysis in myocardial infarction grades. Results Among 419 patients, 98 (23.4%) had diabetes. Multivariable analyses showed that comorbidity of diabetes was an independent predictor of unfavorable outcome at 24 h (OR=0.534, 95% CI 0.316 to 0.903, p=0.019), at day 7 (OR=0.382, 95% CI 0.220 to 0.665, p=0.001), and at 3 months (OR=0.464, 95% CI 0.266 to 0.808, p=0.007). In patients with LVO, diabetes was an independent predictor of incomplete recanalization 24 h after IVT (OR=0.268, 95% CI 0.075 to 0.955, p=0.042). Conclusions Diabetic patients with AIS had unfavorable neurological outcome, potentially linked to incomplete recanalization after IVT.
Grasping Force Control in Master-Slave System with Partial Slip Sensor

This paper discusses the development and control of the master-slave system capable of grasping an object with unknown coefficient of static friction. Partial slip information is known to be essential for conducting stable grasping in teleoperating system. The developed partial slip sensor contains strain gages in several ridges placed on the curvature contact surface of the elastic body. By measuring strain velocity of each ridge with the strain gages, the vibration that occurs due to the partial slip can be detected. We developed the master-slave system with the slave robot uses the developed sensor to detect a partial slip and automatically controls the grasping force. When an operator intentionally decreases the grasping force applied to the master device in order to release an object, the suppressor suppresses grasping force that is automatically increased by the slave robot. Through the grasp manipulation experiment, the validity of the developed system was confirmed
All-optical wavelength-routed NoC based on a novel hierarchical topology

This paper proposes a novel topology for optical Network on Chip (NoC) architectures with the key advantages of regularity, vertex symmetry, scalability to large scale networks, constant node degree, and simplicity. Moreover, we propose a minimal deterministic routing algorithm for the proposed topology which leads to small and simple photonic routers. Built upon our novel network topology, we present a scalable all-optical NoC, referred to as 2D-HERT, which offers passive routing of optical data streams based on their wavelengths. Utilizing wavelength routing method along with Wavelength Division Multiplexing technique, our proposed optical NoC eliminates the need for electrical resource reservation. We compare performance of the proposed architecture against electrical NoCs and alternative all-optical on-chip architectures under various synthetic traffic patterns. Averaging through different traffic patterns, achieves average per-packet power reduction of 53%, 45%, and 95% over optical crossbar, λ-router, and electrical Torus, respectively.
Shaping Unlimited Patterns: A Vision for State-of-the-Art Visual Scalability

Scaling data visualizations to represent large data sets remains one of the top challenges from the last decade. The fast growing amount of data is facing limitations of human perception and of technology as bottlenecks to exploring hidden patterns. This literature review summarizes the boundaries of visual scalability and their influencing factors, addressing state-of-the-art challenges. In a semantic differential approach, contrary characteristics were studied to support the classification of low and highly scalable data visualizations. As a result, the literature supports a vision of a shift toward adapting the taxonomy of visual scalability facing emergent technologies.
Application-Level Congestion Control Mechanisms for Large Scale Data Transfers Across Computational Grids

In this paper, we discuss the development of a highly efficient, application-level data transfer system for computational grids. We describe and evaluate two application-level congestion control mechanisms, and compare their performance with respect to each other and with that obtained by TCP. We show that both application-level protocols are able to obtain performance that is very close to the maximum available bandwidth while keeping data loss rates low (from 0.06% to 1.6 %). Also, we show that both approaches obtain throughput that is close to an order of magnitude greater than that achieved by TCP. Finally, we begin to address the important issue of whether all data loss should be assumed to represent a network congestion event, with the goal of crafting the response to observed data loss as a function of the root causes of such loss.
Exploring Continuous Pressure Input for Mobile Phones

The input capabilities of mobile phones are limited by their physical form factor. Approaches to augmenting those capabilities that expand the input space without negatively impacting size or weight are particularly desirable. We propose adding simple pressure sensors under the keypad buttons to provide multiple channels of continuous pressure input. Pressure input supports a larger and more interesting interaction space without some of the unusual or unwanted qualities of some other approaches. We describe an implementation of our pressure-augmented system and show a number of interaction techniques, some old and some new, facilitated by continual pressure. We contrast these techniques with previous sensor-augmentation devices and highlight notable differences and advantages. ACM Classification: H5.2 [Information interfaces and presentation]: User Interfaces – Interaction styles, Input devices and strategies.
A Position Based Ant Colony Routing Algorithm for Mobile Ad-hoc Networks

Position based routing algorithms use the knowledge of the position of nodes for routing of packets in mobile ad-hoc networks. Previously proposed position based routing algorithms may fail to find a route from a source to a destination in some types of ad-hoc networks and if they find a route, it may be much longer than the shortest path. On the other hand, routing algorithms which are based on ant colony optimization find routing paths that are close in length to the shortest paths. The drawback of these algorithms is the large number of control messages that needs to be sent or the long delay before the routes are established from a source to a destination. In this paper we propose a new reactive routing algorithm for mobile ad hoc networks, called POSANT (Position based Ant Colony Routing Algorithm), which combines the idea of ant colony optimization with information about the position of nodes. In contrast to the other ant colony optimization based routing algorithms, our simulations show that POSANT has a relatively short route establishment time while using a small number of control messages which makes it a scalable reactive routing algorithm.