Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An algorithmic framework for efficient large-scale circuit simulation using exponential integrators

We propose an efficient algorithmic framework for time-domain circuit simulation using exponential integrators. This work addresses several critical issues exposed by previous matrix exponential based circuit simulation research, and makes it capable of simulating stiff nonlinear circuit system at a large scale. In this framework, the system's nonlinearity is treated with exponential Rosenbrock-Euler formulation. The matrix exponential and vector product is computed using invert Krylov subspace method. Our proposed method has several distinguished advantages over conventional formulations (e.g., the well-known backward Euler with Newton-Raphson method). The matrix factorization is performed only for the conductance/resistance matrix G, without being performed for the combinations of the capacitance/inductance matrix C and matrix G, which are used in traditional implicit formulations. Furthermore, due to the explicit nature of our formulation, we do not need to repeat LU decompositions when adjusting the length of time steps for error controls. Our algorithm is better suited to solving tightly coupled post-layout circuits in the pursuit for full-chip simulation. Our experimental results validate the advantages of our framework.
Unmixing Hyperspectral Data

In hyperspectral imagery one pixel typically consists of a mixture of the reflectance spectra of several materials, where the mixture coefficients correspond to the abundances of the constituting materials. We assume linear combinations of reflectance spectra with some additive normal sensor noise and derive a probabilistic MAP framework for analyzing hyperspectral data. As the material reflectance characteristics are not know a priori, we face the problem of unsupervised linear unmixing. The incorporation of different prior information (e.g. positivity and normalization of the abundances) naturally leads to a family of interesting algorithms, for example in the noise-free case yielding an algorithm that can be understood as constrained independent component analysis (ICA). Simulations underline the usefulness of our theory.
Presynaptic α2-GABAA Receptors in Primary Afferent Depolarization and Spinal Pain Control

Spinal dorsal horn GABAA receptors are found both postsynaptically on central neurons and presynaptically on axons and/or terminals of primary sensory neurons, where they mediate primary afferent depolarization (PAD) and presynaptic inhibition. Both phenomena have been studied extensively on a cellular level, but their role in sensory processing in vivo has remained elusive, due to inherent difficulties to selectively interfere with presynaptic receptors. Here, we address the contribution of a major subpopulation of GABAA receptors (those containing the α2 subunit) to spinal pain control in mice lacking α2-GABAA receptors specifically in primary nociceptors (sns-α2−/− mice). sns-α2−/− mice exhibited GABAA receptor currents and dorsal root potentials of normal amplitude in vitro, and normal response thresholds to thermal and mechanical stimulation in vivo, and developed normal inflammatory and neuropathic pain sensitization. However, the positive allosteric GABAA receptor modulator diazepam (DZP) had almost completely lost its potentiating effect on PAD and presynaptic inhibition in vitro and a major part of its spinal antihyperalgesic action against inflammatory hyperalgesia in vivo. Our results thus show that part of the antihyperalgesic action of spinally applied DZP occurs through facilitated activation of GABAA receptors residing on primary nociceptors.
Optimum Charging Profile for Lithium-Ion Batteries to Maximize Energy Storage and Utilization

The optimal profile of charging current for a lithium-ion battery is estimated using dynamic optimization implemented via control vector parameterization (CVP). An efficient reformulated model is used for simulating the system behavior of the Li-ion battery. Dynamic optimization is made possible due to the computationally inexpensive reformulated model. It is found that, if the battery is charged using the optimum profile estimated by dynamic optimization, more energy can be stored as compared with conventional charging of the battery. An attempt has been made to understand the dynamics of Li-ion batteries with competing transport and reaction phenomena at various scales and location inside the battery.
Methane Generation from the Intestine of Muscovy Ducks, Mule Ducks and White Roman Geese

Livestock are one of the largest single sources of methane emissions, which is a greenhouse gas. In this study, alfalfa meal was tested as a feed additive to lower the methane generation in the three species of waterfowl. Four experiments were conducted to determine methane generation in the intestines of Muscovy ducks, mule ducks and White Roman geese of the same age and with the same diet. In experiment I, the in vitro methane generation of the cecal contents was the largest compared to other intestinal compartments in each species (p < 0.05). Moreover, the methane generation of the cecal content or colon and rectum in goslings was higher than in mule and Muscovy ducklings (p < 0.05) at six weeks of age. In experiment II, the cumulative methane generation in the cecal content of mule ducks at 8 weeks of age was the largest among all species (p < 0.05). In experiment III, 4-month-old Muscovy ducks had the highest average methane generation per bird per day among the three species (p < 0.05). In experiment IV, the methane generation of the cecal content in birds fed a grower diet supplemented with a 30% alfalfa meal diet was lower than that of birds fed grower diet for all three species. Based on the above results, it is suggested that age, the method of measurement (in vitro vs. in vivo) and composition of diet significantly affect the level of methane generation in the intestine for Muscovy ducks, mule ducks and White Roman geese. The amounts of methane generation of the cecal contents in the three species were 36.1, 13.9, and 34.2 µg/g/4 h, respectively. By adding 30% alfalfa meal, the cumulative methane generation of the cecal contents for the three species were reduced by 63.3–95.5%. The addition of alfalfa meal to feed thus has good potential with regard to decreasing greenhouse gases emissions from waterfowl.
Acanthamoeba actin and profilin can be cross-linked between glutamic acid 364 of actin and lysine 115 of profilin

Acanthamoeba profilin was cross-linked to actin via a zero-length isopeptide bond using carbodiimide. The covalently linked 1:1 complex was purified and treated with cyanogen bromide. This cleaves actin into small cyanogen bromide (CNBr) peptides and leaves the profilin intact owing to its lack of methionine. Profilin with one covalently attached actin CNBr peptide was purified by gel filtration followed by gel electrophoresis and electroblotting on polybase-coated glass-fiber membranes. Since the NH2 terminus of profilin is blocked, Edman degradation gave only the sequence of the conjugated actin CNBr fragment beginning with Trp-356. The profilin-actin CNBr peptide conjugate was digested further with trypsin and the cross-linked peptide identified by comparison with the tryptic peptide pattern obtained from carbodiimide-treated profilin. Amino-acid sequence analysis of the cross-linked tryptic peptides produced two residues at each cycle. Their order corresponds to actin starting at Trp-356 and profilin starting at Ala-94. From the absence of the phenylthiohydantoin-amino acid residues in specific cycles, we conclude that actin Glu-364 is linked to Lys-115 in profilin. Experiments with the isoforms of profilin I and profilin II gave identical results. The cross-linked region in profilin is homologous with sequences in the larger actin filament capping proteins fragmin and gelsolin.
Implementing quasi-parallel breadth-first search in MapReduce for large-scale social network mining

Online social networks like Weibo and Twitter consist of billions of users and connections, and traditional approaches which are based on serial algorithms and leveraged only a single node or even a single core cannot suffice the that scale of data any more. We propose new distributed quasi-parallel breadth-first search scheme, the common graph traversal algorithm, based on the MapReduce framework, which has better performance (up to one scale of magnitude less time complexity for single-source cases or even better for multiple-source cases) than Pegasus, the state-of-the-art graph mining library, in terms of the complexity of computation and the I/O load. We apply our algorithms on the Weibo dataset, crawled from its website, which contains 135 million users and 10.2 billion directed connections among them, and occupies up to 400 gigabytes. The dataset is by far the largest one of online social networks in research. Based on the Weibo dataset with extremely skewed degree distribution, we give the empirical time complexity and I/O load analysis in each iteration of our proposed methods. Also, We ran the experiments on a 20-node Hadoop cluster to validate our analysis, and the results conform to our predicted empirical results.
Environmental tests and optical measurements in the validation process of TFT-LCD for avionics applications

This paper deals with the experimental results concerning the validation testing of a custom TFT-LCD for avionics applications. In particular, the environmental tests and optical measurements have been carried out in order to characterize a customize display which will be installed in a military aircraft cockpit. The whole experimental activities devoted to the validation process of a new design solution for an avionics TFT-LCD underline the key role that measurements represent in aerospace applications.
ADOPTING EMERGING TE CHNOLOGIES : BRIDGING THE GAP IN PREPARING DISTANCE EDUCATORS F OR THE 21 ST CENTURY

For over ten years, the Master of Distance Education & E-Learning (MDE) program has been committed to the mission of developing high-quality professionals capable of managing and leading distance learning initiatives in diverse sectors and scenarios. Distance educators are faced with ever-changing environments where the demands for educating future generations are consistently dynamic and often unpredictable. The adoption and use of technology have shed light on the stark differences among educators and learners, highlighting the lag that can and does occur on the journey to becoming a digital citizen. For distance educators it is imperative that they become aware and proactive in continuously developing their technological abilities and skills.
Value of Bronchial Challenge in Scuba Diving Candidates

Bronchial challenges were effected with carbachol in 76 subjects who were candidates for a scuba diving group. Bronchial reactivity was assessed through airway resistance and forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1) measurements. Medical interrogation had revealed symptoms of recent (RA) or ancient (AA) asthma, or allergic rhinitis (AL). Nearly half of the subjects (47%) presented bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR), which was much more frequent in the RA group, but whose strength did not depend on clinical presentation. Prevalence of BHR was fairly high (36%) in the AL group. BHR constituted a contraindication to scuba diving because it may promote pulmonary barotrauma.
The Nitric Oxide–cGMP Pathway May Mediate Communication between Sensory Afferents and Projection Neurons in the Antennal Lobe ofManduca Sexta

The nitric oxide (NO)–cGMP signaling system is thought to play important roles in the function of the olfactory system in both vertebrates and invertebrates. One way of studying the role of NO in the nervous system is to study the distribution and properties of NO synthase (NOS), as well as the soluble guanylyl cyclases (sGCs), which are the best characterized targets of NO. We study NOS and sGC in the relatively simple and well characterized insect olfactory system of the hawkmoth, Manduca sexta. We have cloned Manduca sexta nitric oxide synthase (MsNOS) and two sGCs (MsGCα1 and MsGCβ1), characterized their basic biochemical properties, and studied their expression in the olfactory system. The sequences of theManduca genes are highly similar to their mammalian homologs and show similar biochemical properties when expressed in COS-7 cells. In particular, we find that MsGC functions as an obligate heterodimer that is stimulated significantly by NO. We also find that MsNOS has a Ca2+-sensitive NO-producing activity similar to that of mammalian neuronal NOS. Northern andin situ hybridization analyses show that MsNOS and the MsGCs are expressed in a complementary pattern, with MsNOS expressed at high levels in the antennae and the MsGCs expressed at high levels in a subset of antennal lobe neurons. The expression patterns of these genes suggest that the NO–sGC signaling system may play a role in mediating communication between olfactory receptor neurons and projection neurons in the glomeruli of the antennal lobe.
Does a Favor Request Increase Liking Toward the Requester?

ABSTRACT Although a request for help can impose a burden on the provider and has the potential of harming a relationship, the theory of amae suggests that in fact it could help promote a stronger relationship. In an experiment, both Japanese and American participants who were asked for help from a confederate increased their liking of the confederate relative to the baseline. Sociable impression of the confederate and perceived closeness of the relationship also increased relative to the baseline. There was, however, no such increase when participants helped the confederate without receiving a direct request. This study suggests that despite the potential risks to relationships, asking favors can provide opportunities for requesters to build and promote relationships.
Camera localization and building reconstruction from single monocular images

This paper presents a new method for reconstructing rectilinear buildings from single images under the assumption of flat terrain. An intuition of the method is that, given an image composed of rectilinear buildings, the 3D buildings can be geometrically reconstructed by using the image only. The recovery algorithm is formulated in terms of two objective functions which are based on the equivalence between the vector normal to the interpretation plane in the image space and the vector normal to the rotated interpretation plane in the object space. These objective functions are minimized with respect to the camera pose, the building dimensions, locations and orientations to obtain estimates for the structure of the scene. The method potentially provides a solution for large-scale urban modelling using aerial images, and can be easily extended to deal with piecewise planar objects in a more general situation.
Nasal Obstruction of the Newborn Revisited: Clinical and Subclinical Manifestations of Congenital Nasolacrimal Duct Obstruction Presenting as a Nasal Mass

wongenttal obstruction of the nasolacrimal drainage system (NLDS) commonly occurs, but rarely causes significant symptoms. The incidence of NLDS obstruc­ tion in the term fetus is approximately thirty percent; however, epiphora occurs in only six percent of infants. This discrepancy results from a combination of spon­ taneous resolution of NLDS obstruction in early life and a low rate of tear production soon after birth. NLDS obstruction resolves spontaneously in 85% of cases by the time the child reaches 9 months of age and surgical intervention in the form of probing is therefore gen­ erally not recommended, unless either sequelae develop or obstruction persists after the child attains 6 to 9 months of age. The nasolacrimal apparatus develops from a core of surface epithelium entrapped between the maxillary and frontonasal processes. Canalization occurs uniformly throughout the length of the NLDS. While failure of canalization may occur anywhere along the NLDS, it is most common at the distal end and results from an adhesion between the nasal mucosa and the nasolacri­ mal epithelium. Distal obstruction may result in epi­ phora and mucoid discharge.
Towards an analogue of Ihara's lemma for Shimura curves

The object of this work is to present the status of art of an open problem: to provide an analogue for Shimura curves of the Ihara's lemma \cite{Ihara73} which holds for modular curves. We will describe our direct result towards the "Problem of Ihara" and we will present some possible approaches to it, giving a formulation of our conjecture in terms of congruence subgroup problem for quaternion algebras. Since some modular forms can be reinterpreted as elements of the cohomology of Shimura curves, we will describe a consequence of the "Problem of Ihara" about congruence modules of modular forms and a consequence of it about the problem of raising the level of modular forms.
Idea Mining - Text Mining Supported Knowledge Management for Innovation Purposes

Following the emergence of Social Media and the increasing willingness of customers to share thoughts, ideas, and experiences companies are trying to capitalize on such activities. Due to the vast amount of user-generated content, manual analysis and interpretation will not meet the demands of companies in highly competitive environments. Based on an integrative process model, which describes the process of idea generation, we outline a BPMN-based path that allows companies to steer user participation and the application of Text Mining methods to gain valuable ideas for innovative products. Our approach also illustrates the Knowledge Management perspective supporting the customers during idea generation. In order to demonstrate the applicability of our model we finally depict the whole process utilizing Dell’s IdeaStorm.
Retinal Microvascular Abnormalities Predict Progression of Brain Microvascular Disease: An Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Background and Purpose— Brain microvascular disease leads to leukoaraiosis and lacunar infarcts and contributes to risk of stroke and cognitive decline. Given a shared pathophysiology, retinal microvascular signs are expected to predict brain microvascular disease progression. We investigated if either leukoaraiosis volume progression measured continuously or combined with incident lacunar infarcts would better demonstrate expected associations with retinal disease than has previously been shown. Methods— Eight hundred thirty participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study aged ≥55 years and without previous stroke received an initial brain magnetic resonance imaging, retinal photography, and, 10 years later, a follow up magnetic resonance imaging. We evaluated retinal vascular sign phenotypes as predictors of (1) leukoaraiosis volume increase, and (2) a new score combining leukoaraiosis volume change and incident lacunar infarcts. Hypertension and diabetes mellitus were evaluated as confounders and effect modifiers. Results— Individuals with any retinopathy (3.34 cm3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.74–5.96) or with arteriovenous nicking (2.61 cm3; 95% CI, 0.80–4.42) each had greater progression of leukoaraiosis compared with those without these conditions. Any retinopathy (odds ratio [OR], 3.18; 95% CI, 1.71–5.89) or its components—microaneurysms (OR, 3.06; 95% CI, 1.33–7.07) and retinal hemorrhage (OR, 3.02; 95% CI, 1.27–7.20)—as well as arteriovenous nicking (OR, 1.93; 95%, CI 1.24–3.02) and focal arteriolar narrowing (OR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.19–2.59), were associated with a higher quartile of a novel brain microvascular disease score combining leukoaraiosis progression with incident subclinical lacunes. Conclusions— A novel scoring method revealed associations of retinal signs with leukoaraiosis progression and brain microvascular disease, which have not been shown before.
Adolescent Overweight, Obesity and Chronic Disease-Related Health Practices: Mediation by Body Image

Background/Aims: To examine whether body image mediates the association between overweight/obesity and chronic disease-related health practices (CDRHP), including lack of physical activity (PA), infrequent breakfast consumption (IBC), screen-based media use (SBM), and smoking. Methods: The 2006 Health Behaviors in School-Age Children survey was administered to a nationally representative sample of US students (n = 8,028) in grades 6-10 (mean age = 14.3 years). Outcome variables included self-reported measures of PA, SBM, IBC, and smoking. Body image was assessed with 5 items from the Body Investment Scale (α = 0.87) asking for agreement/disagreement with statements about one's body. Stratifying on gender, an initial regression model estimated the association between overweight/obesity and CDRHP. Mediation models that included body image were then compared to the initial model to determine the role of body image in the relationship between overweight/obesity and CDRHP. Results: Among boys, body image mediated the relationships of overweight/obesity with SBM, and of obesity with IBC. Among girls, it mediated the relationships of obesity with PA, IBC, and smoking, and of overweight with SBM. Conclusion: As the prevalence of overweight/obesity among adolescent boys and girls remains high, efforts to improve their body image could result in less frequent engagement in CDRHP.
Minimal spanning forests

Minimal spanning forests on infinite graphs are weak limits of minimal spanning trees from finite subgraphs. These limits can be taken with free or wired boundary conditions and are denoted FMSF (free minimal spanning forest) and WMSF (wired minimal spanning forest), respectively. The WMSF is also the union of the trees that arise from invasion percolation started at all vertices. We show that on any Cayley graph where critical percolation has no infinite clusters, all the component trees in the WMSF have one end a.s. In Z d this was proved by Alexander [Ann. Probab. 23 (1995) 87-104], but a different method is needed for the nonamenable case. We also prove that the WMSF components are "thin" in a different sense, namely, on any graph, each component tree in the WMSF has p c = 1 a.s. , where p c denotes the critical probability for having an infinite cluster in Bernoulli percolation. On the other hand, the FMSF is shown to be "thick": on any connected graph, the union of the FMSF and independent Bernoulli percolation (with arbitrarily small parameter) is a.s. connected. In conjunction with a recent result of Gaboriau, this implies that in any Cayley graph, the expected degree of the FMSF is at least the expected degree of the FSF (the weak limit of uniform spanning trees). We also show that the number of infinite clusters for Bernoulli(p u ) percolation is at most the number of components of the FMSF, where p u denotes the critical probability for having a unique infinite cluster. Finally, an example is given to show that the minimal spanning tree measure does not have negative associations.
Data augmentation priors for Bayesian and semi‐Bayes analyses of conditional‐logistic and proportional‐hazards regression

Data augmentation priors have a long history in Bayesian data analysis. Formulae for such priors have been derived for generalized linear models, but their accuracy depends on two approximation steps. This note presents a method for using offsets as well as scaling factors to improve the accuracy of the approximations in logistic regression. This method produces an exceptionally simple form of data augmentation that allows it to be used with any standard package for conditional‐logistic or proportional‐hazards regression to perform Bayesian and semi‐Bayes analyses of matched and survival data. The method is illustrated with an analysis of a matched case‐control study of diet and breast cancer. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.