Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Biomolecular Electrostatics Simulation by an FMM-based BEM on 512 GPUs

We present simulations of biomolecular electrostatics at a scale not reached before, thanks to both algorithmic and hardware acceleration. The algorithmic acceleration is achieved with the fast multipole method (FMM) in conjunction with a boundary element method (BEM) formulation of the continuum electrostatic model. The hardware acceleration is achieved through graphics processors, GPUs. We demonstrate the power of our algorithms and software for the calculation of the electrostatic interactions between biological molecules in solution. Computational experiments are presented simulating the electrostatics of protein–drug binding and several multimillion atom systems consisting of hundreds to thousands of copies of the protein lysozyme. Even for the largest of these problems, which models over 20 million atoms and has more than six billion unknowns, one iteration step requires only a few minutes on 512 GPU nodes. We achieved a sustained performance of 34.6TFlops for the entire BEM calculation. We are currently adapting our solver to model the linearized Poisson–Boltzmann equation for dilute ionic solutions, and our BEM simulator is flexible enough to solve a variety of other integral equation problems as well, ranging from simple Poisson problems to Helmholtz problems in electromagnetics and acoustics to high Reynolds number flow.
How does tourism differ among generations? Tourists from the United States and their willingness to visit Japan

Abstract This study focuses on the demand-side of tourism. Previous demand-side research has mainly examined outbound tourism of Japanese, while few have looked at inbound. This paper aims to identify differences between five generations of tourists, from tourists in their 1920s to 1960s. A survey was conducted with American tourists. Factor analysis and ordered probit analysis show there are generation gaps regarding factors influencing inbound tourism to Japan. The findings of the study illustrate each generation has different factors influencing their tourism decisions, and indicate people involved in marketing destinations need to consider each generation separately.
Jackendoff ́ s Semantic Structures

Ray Jackendoff has developed a semantic theory which claims to be the semantic format corresponding to Transformational Grammar. As the syntactic rules the rules of sematics are implicitly known, and the basic structures are innate. This innateness of basic structures guarantees intersubjective reference. Each speaker refers only to his or her projected world, not to an objective world. He or she does so by using conceptual structures, which might be projected as entities of various kinds. This conceptual structure is the same in cognitive capacities as vision and the use of language. Concerning human categorization Jackendoff argues against other theories of meaning, especially theories of truth conditions (§1). Furthermore the semantic structures should obey a grammaticality constraint which is violated by the predicate calculus (§2). The thematic relations hypothesis (§3) concerns the underlying structure of all sematic fields.
Apgar Score Is Related to Development of Atopic Dermatitis: Cotwin Control Study

Aim. To study the impact of birth characteristics on the risk of atopic dermatitis in a twin population. Methods. In a population-based questionnaire study of 10,809 twins, 3–9 years of age, from the Danish Twin Registry, we identified 907 twin pairs discordant for parent-reported atopic dermatitis. We cross-linked with data from the Danish National Birth Registry and performed cotwin control analysis in order to test the impact of birth characteristics on the risk of atopic dermatitis. Results. Apgar score, OR (per unit) = 1.23 (1.06–1.44), P = 0.008, and female sex, OR = 1.31 (1.06–1.61), P = 0.012, were risk factors for atopic dermatitis in cotwin control analysis, whereas birth anthropometric factors were not significantly related to disease development. Risk estimates in monozygotic and dizygotic twins were not significantly different for the identified risk factors. Conclusions. In this population-based cotwin control study, high Apgar score was a risk factor for atopic dermatitis. This novel finding must be confirmed in subsequent studies.
Person Localization & Posture Recognition for Human-robot Interaction

The development of a hybrid system for (mainly) gesture-based human-robot interaction is presented, thereby describing the progress in comparison to the work shown at the last gesture workshop (see 2]). The system makes use of standard image processing techniques as well as of neural information processing. The performance of our architecture includes the detection of a person as a potential user in an indoor environment, followed by the recognition of its gestural instructions. In this paper, we concentrate on two major mechanisms: (i), the contour-based person localization via a combination of steerable lters and three-dimensional dynamic neural elds, and (ii), our rst experiences concerning the recognition of diierent instructional postures via a combination of statistical moments and neural classiiers.
Intraarticular administration of platelet-rich plasma with biodegradable gelatin hydrogel microspheres prevents osteoarthritis progression in the rabbit knee.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the therapeutic potential of administration of gelatin hydrogel microspheres containing platelet-rich plasma (PRP), by examining its effects on progression of osteoarthritis (OA) in a rabbit model. METHODS PRP and platelet-poor plasma (PPP) were prepared from rabbit blood. Adult rabbit chondrocytes were cultured in the alginate beads with the presence of 3% PRP or 3% PPP. Glycosaminoglycan (GAG) synthesis was quantified using dimethylmethylene blue assay. To confirm the anabolic effect of PRP in vivo, cartilage matrix gene expression was examined after intraarticular administration of PRP contained in gelatin hydrogel microspheres. The PRP contained in gelatin hydrogel microspheres was administered into the rabbit knee joint twice with an interval of 3 weeks, beginning 4 weeks after anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT). Ten weeks after ACLT, gross morphological and histological examinations were performed. RESULTS PRP significantly stimulated chondrocyte GAG synthesis in vitro. In the knee joint, expression of proteoglycan core protein mRNA in the articular cartilage increased after administration of PRP contained in microspheres. Intraarticular injections of PRP in gelatin hydrogel microspheres significantly suppressed progression of OA in the ACLT rabbit model morphologically and histologically. CONCLUSION The present findings indicate that sustained release of growth factors contained in PRP has preventive effects against OA progression. These preventive effects appear to be due to stimulation of cartilage matrix metabolism, caused by the growth factors contained in PRP.
Underactuated Adaptive Gripper Using Flexural Buckling

In gripping devices, adapting to highly unstructured environments such as irregularly shaped objects and surfaces continues to be challenging. To achieve safe and reliable gripping, many researchers have employed various underactuated mechanisms such as differential and compliant mechanisms. All these mechanisms have demonstrated successful gripping performances. They, however, have hardly considered scalability issues of underactuated mechanisms originating from additional force transmissions and onerous mechanism assembly. In this paper, we propose a structurally simple and scalable underactuated mechanism. The mechanism is demonstrated on a gripping device called the “Buckling gripper. ” The Buckling gripper achieves adaptive gripping on rugged, uneven, and undulating surfaces typically found in the natural world. The key design principle of the Buckling gripper is inspired by a caterpillar's proleg that highly deforms depending on the shape of the contact surface. This key principle is applied to the gripper via flexural buckling. Normally, buckling is avoided in mechanical designs, but the buckling behavior of a flexure with an adequately selected length provides wide gripping range with a narrow range of force variation, which provides a sufficient number of contacts with even contact forces. As a result, the Buckling gripper achieves adaptive gripping on various surfaces, similar to a caterpillar.
Mechanisms for Junction Degradation of Advanced MOSFETs Induced by Plasma Processing

MOSFETs with high-k gate stack (HfAlOx/SiO2) and those with SiO2 showed characteristic degradation induced by Ar-based electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma, i.e., the increase in off-state leakage current (IOff). The measurements of all source-to-drain current paths in MOSFETs revealed that the leakage through S/D-body junction was dominant. For both cases of the high-k gate stack and SiO2, n-MOSFETs receive more severe damage than p-MOSFETs. It was found that difference of the gate leakage between high-k gate stack and SiO2 impacts on the junction degradation. C-V measurement identified that a root cause of the leakage increase is attributed to plasma-induced defect generation in the junction region.
A Glutathione S-Transferase with Activity towards cis-1,2-Dichloroepoxyethane Is Involved in Isoprene Utilization by Rhodococcus sp. Strain AD45

ABSTRACT Rhodococcus sp. strain AD45 was isolated from an enrichment culture on isoprene (2-methyl-1,3-butadiene). Isoprene-grown cells of strain AD45 oxidized isoprene to 3,4-epoxy-3-methyl-1-butene,cis-1,2-dichloroethene tocis-1,2-dichloroepoxyethane, andtrans-1,2-dichloroethene totrans-1,2-dichloroepoxyethane. Isoprene-grown cells also degraded cis-1,2-dichloroepoxyethane andtrans-1,2-dichloroepoxyethane. All organic chlorine was liberated as chloride during degradation ofcis-1,2-dichloroepoxyethane. A glutathione (GSH)-dependent activity towards 3,4-epoxy-3-methyl-1-butene, epoxypropane,cis-1,2-dichloroepoxyethane, andtrans-1,2-dichloroepoxyethane was detected in cell extracts of cultures grown on isoprene and 3,4-epoxy-3-methyl-1-butene. The epoxide-degrading activity of strain AD45 was irreversibly lost upon incubation of cells with 1,2-epoxyhexane. A conjugate of GSH and 1,2-epoxyhexane was detected in cell extracts of cells exposed to 1,2-epoxyhexane, indicating that GSH is the physiological cofactor of the epoxide-transforming activity. The results indicate that a GSHS-transferase is involved in the metabolism of isoprene and that the enzyme can detoxify reactive epoxides produced by monooxygenation of chlorinated ethenes.
3-D STACKED CACHE DATA MANAGEMENT FOR ENERGY MINIMIZATION OF 3-D CHIP-MULTIPROCESSOR

In a 3-D processor-memory system, multiple cache dies can be stacked onto multi-core die to reduce latency and power of the on-chip wires connecting the cores and the cache, which finally increases the power efficiency. However, there are two challenging issues. The principle is high power density (resulting from multiple die stacking) that incurs many temperature-related problems including temperature dependent leakage power and another is the processor-cache traffic congestions that occur at through-silicon vias (TSVs) shared by multiple stacked caches. In this model a runtime cache data mapping is discussed for 3-D stacked L2 caches to minimize the overall energy of 3-D chip multiprocessors (CMPs). The suggested method considers both temperature distribution and memory traffic of 3-D CMPs. Experimental result shows energy reduction achieving up to 22.88% compared to an existing solution which considers only the temperature distribution. New tendencies envisage 3D MultiProcessor System-On-Chip (MPSoC) design as a promising solution to keep increasing the performance of the nextgeneration high performance computing (HPC) systems. However, as the power density of HPC systems increases with the arrival of 3D MPSoCs with energy reduction achieving up to 19.55% by supplying electrical power to the computing equipment and constantly removing the generated heat is rapidly becoming the dominant cost in any HPC facility. Thus, both power and thermal/cooling implications play a major role in the design of new HPC systems, given the energy constraints in our society. Therefore, EPFL, IBM and ETHZ have been working within the CMOSAIC Nano-Tera.ch program project in the last three years on the development of a holistic thermally-aware design.
Can social contagion spread without key players?

Contagion models have been used to study the spread of social behavior among agents of a population, such as information diffusion, social influence, and participation to collective action (e.g., protests). Key players, which are typically high-degree, -k-core or -centrality agents in a networked population, are considered important for spreading social contagions. In this paper, we ask whether contagions can propagate through a population that is void of key players. We use Erdos-Renyi random graphs as a representation of unstructured populations that lack key players, and investigate whether complex contagions - those requiring reinforcement - can spread on them. We demonstrate that two game-theoretic contagion models that utilize common knowledge for collective action can readily spread such contagions, which is a significant difference from classic complex contagion models. We compare contagion dynamics results on unstructured networks to those on more typically-studied, structured social networks to understand the role of network structure. We test a total of 14 networks. The two common knowledge models are also contrasted to understand the effects of different modeling assumptions on dynamics. We show that under a wide range of conditions, these two models produce markedly different results.
Visual anticipation biases conscious decision making but not bottom-up visual processing

Prediction plays a key role in control of attention but it is not clear which aspects of prediction are most prominent in conscious experience. An evolving view on the brain is that it can be seen as a prediction machine that optimizes its ability to predict states of the world and the self through the top-down propagation of predictions and the bottom-up presentation of prediction errors. There are competing views though on whether prediction or prediction errors dominate the formation of conscious experience. Yet, the dynamic effects of prediction on perception, decision making and consciousness have been difficult to assess and to model. We propose a novel mathematical framework and a psychophysical paradigm that allows us to assess both the hierarchical structuring of perceptual consciousness, its content and the impact of predictions and/or errors on conscious experience, attention and decision-making. Using a displacement detection task combined with reverse correlation, we reveal signatures of the usage of prediction at three different levels of perceptual processing: bottom-up fast saccades, top-down driven slow saccades and consciousnes decisions. Our results suggest that the brain employs multiple parallel mechanism at different levels of perceptual processing in order to shape effective sensory consciousness within a predicted perceptual scene. We further observe that bottom-up sensory and top-down predictive processes can be dissociated through cognitive load. We propose a probabilistic data association model from dynamical systems theory to model the predictive multi-scale bias in perceptual processing that we observe and its role in the formation of conscious experience. We propose that these results support the hypothesis that consciousness provides a time-delayed description of a task that is used to prospectively optimize real time control structures, rather than being engaged in the real-time control of behavior itself.
Mobile crowd sensing and computing: when participatory sensing meets participatory social media

With the development of mobile sensing and mobile social networking techniques, mobile crowd sensing and computing (MCSC), which leverages heterogeneous crowdsourced data for large-scale sensing, has become a leading paradigm. Built on top of the participatory sensing vision, MCSC has two characteristic features: it leverages heterogeneous crowdsourced data from two data sources: participatory sensing and participatory social media; and it presents the fusion of human and machine intelligence in both the sensing and computing processes. This article characterizes the unique features and challenges of MCSC. We further present early efforts on MCSC to demonstrate the benefits of aggregating heterogeneous crowdsourced data.
Integrated consistent and complete "expert" and data mining

1. INTRODUCTION. Integration of knowledge management (KM) and Data Mining (DM) methods can benefit many applications. It permits to combine and mutually verify knowledge obtained from experts and extracted from raw data. Traditional expert systems rely on knowledge " extracted " in the form of If-Then diagnostic rules from experts. Systems based on Machine Learning technique rely on an available database for discovering diagnostic rules. These two sets of rules may contradict each other. An expert may not trust rules, as they may contradict his/her existing rules and experience. Also, an expert may have questionable or incorrect rules while the data/image base may have questionable or incorrect records. Moreover, data mining discovery may take the form different from If-Then rules and these rules may need to be decoded before they are compared to expert rules. For high-risk applications such as financial investment and life-critical medical applications, e.g., for breast cancer diagnosis, benefits of wise integration are especially evident [Kovalerchuk, Vityaev, Ruiz, 2000]. Suppose that a DM method extracted an " excellent " diagnostic rule, which is near 100% correct on the data used for discovering and testing the rule. On the other hand, assume that this rule contradicts the opinion of an experienced expert. Who will risk relying on such rule without extra analysis, e.g., for cancer diagnosis? An expert can argue that the rule was extracted from a non-representative database (DB) even if it is a large one. For instance, the DB contains a huge amount of negative examples (mammograms of benign cases) and just few positive (cancer) cases. Not the full variety of positive cases may be fully represented in the database. Similarly in risky investment, a buy/sell signal generated by a DM method may contradict an opinion of an experienced trader/investor. Integration of DM and KM methods can help to identify such situations beforehand, saving lives, money and bringing other benefits. Next, working on producing a consistent result may reveal a source of contradiction (e.g., a non-representative database or an unmotivated expert's opinion). Finally, this will build a foundation for better-combined results. In this paper knowledge management and data mining techniques are integrated using two methods-one from the KM area and other one from the DM area. The methods and their combination are powerful and unique in some sense. The first method is focused on knowledge acquisition from humans directly via dynamic optimized expert interview. It is …
Algorithm for deadline based task scheduling in heterogeneous grid environment

Grid technology is the structure of technology that provides highly efficient performance in the grid environment. Design of an efficient and reliable task scheduling algorithm is one of the challenging issues in grid computing. A novel improvised scheduling algorithm (IDSA) with deadline limitation for efficient job execution is proposed in this paper. This algorithm is compared with renowned task scheduling algorithms such as Prioritized Based Deadline Scheduling Algorithm (PDSA) and Earliest Deadline First (EDF) in terms of Average Tardiness ARt (the total delay time between the deadline and end time of the task by the total number of tasks) and Number of non-tardy jobs (total number of tasks finishes before their deadline). The proposed algorithm achieves 27.28 % and 30.0 % less ATi than the EDF and PDSA respectively at 4000 number of tasks. The computational results by proposed IDSA for Non-delayed tasks are 2.17 % and 1.70 % higher than the EDF and PDSA respectively at 4000 number of tasks. This enhances the performance of proposed IDSA compare to existing scheduling algorithms and shows IDSA is more suitable scheduling algorithm for grid computing.
Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Regional Heterogeneity of Myocardial Perfusion in Healthy Human Myocardium: Assessment with Magnetic Resonance Perfusion Imaging

The knowledge of myocardial perfusion in healthy volunteers is fundamental for evaluation of patients with ischemic heart disease. The study was conducted to determine range, regional variability, and transmural gradient of myocardial perfusion in normal volunteers with Magnetic Resonance Perfusion Imaging (MRPI). Perfusion was assessed in 17 healthy volunteers (age: 20 – 47 yr, 11 males) at rest and adenosine-induced hyperemia using a 1.5 T MR scanner. Perfusion was quantified (mL/g/min) for the transmural myocardium and separately for the endo-and epimyocardium in the anterior, lateral, posterior, and septal left ventricular wall using the Fermi model for constrained deconvolution. Regional variabilities for resting, hyperemic perfusion, ORDER REPRINTS epimyocardial PR (4.8 ± 1.8 vs. 3.5 ± 1.4, p < 0.01) in all regions but the septum, where endo-and epimyocardial perfusion and perfusion reserve were not different. A considerable regional variability of myocardial perfusion was confirmed with MRPI. The exceptional anatomical position of the septum is reflected by the lack of a perfusion gradient, which was demonstrated in all other regions but the septum.
A new dual output DC-DC converter based on SEPIC and Cuk converters

In this paper a new dual output converter is proposed based on the traditional Cuk and SEPIC converters. Two outputs of single input voltage source is useful in various cases (e.g. electrical machines, multi voltage DC micro grids, solar energy systems.). As the number of output is increased by means of transformers consequently the volume, cost and losses will rise. This topology uses less inductor and capacitor comparing separate converters. The proposed topology is applicable regarding to the different output polarity. In addition, this converter can be used in power supply with multiple voltages. Also the voltage stress of switches and diodes have been calculated. In this converter the voltage gain in one output has increased drastically. The converter analysis is carried out in steady state. Finally, simulation result is presented to validate mathematical analysis in MATLAB/Simulink environment.