Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hybrid MPI/OpenMP Parallel Programming on Clusters of Multi-Core SMP Nodes

Today most systems in high-performance computing (HPC) feature a hierarchical hardware design: Shared memory nodes with several multi-core CPUs are connected via a network infrastructure. Parallel programming must combine distributed memory parallelization on the node interconnect with shared memory parallelization inside each node. We describe potentials and challenges of the dominant programming models on hierarchically structured hardware: Pure MPI (Message Passing Interface), pure OpenMP (with distributed shared memory extensions) and hybrid MPI+OpenMP in several ¿avors. We pinpoint cases where a hybrid programming model can indeed be the superior solution because of reduced communication needs and memory consumption, or improved load balance. Furthermore we show that machine topology has a signi¿cant impact on performance for all parallelization strategies and that topology awareness should be built into all applications in the future. Finally we give an outlook on possible standardization goals and extensions that could make hybrid programming easier to do with performance in mind.
Postoperative Analgesia with Epidural Dexmedetomidine Compared with Clonidine following Total Abdominal Hysterectomies: A Prospective Double-blind Randomized Trial

Background and Aims: Anesthesia for total abdominal hysterectomies is not only concerned with relieving pain during intraoperative period but also during the postoperative period. We compared clonidine and dexmedetomidine as an adjuvant to levobupivacaine for epidural analgesia with respect to onset and duration of sensory block, duration of analgesia, and adverse effects. Materials and Methods: A total of 80 individuals between the age of 45 and 65 years of American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status Classes I and II who underwent total abdominal hysterectomies were randomly allocated into two groups, comprising 40 patients in each group. Group LC received 10 ml of 0.125% levobupivacaine and 2 μg/kg of clonidine while Group LD received 10 ml of 0.125% levobupivacaine and 1 μg/kg of dexmedetomidine through the epidural catheter. Onset of analgesia, time of peak effect, duration of analgesia, cardiorespiratory parameters, side effects, and need of rescue intravenous (IV) analgesics were observed. The data analysis was carried out with Z-test and Chi-square test. Results: The demographic profile and ASA physical classes were comparable between the groups. Group LD had early onset, early peak effect, prolonged duration, and stable cardiorespiratory parameters when compared with Group LC. Less number of patients (42.5%) in Group LD required IV rescue analgesics when compared to Group LC (70%) and was statistically significant. The side effects' profile was also comparable. Conclusion: Dexmedetomidine is a better neuraxial adjuvant compared with clonidine for providing early onset and prolonged postoperative analgesia and stable cardiorespiratory parameters.
A case-control study of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome during an outbreak in the southwestern United States.

In May 1993, an outbreak of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) occurred in the southwestern United States. A case-control study determined risk factors for HPS. Seventeen case-patients were compared with 3 groups of controls: members of case-patient households (household controls), members of neighboring households (near controls), and members of randomly selected households > or = 24 km away (far controls). Investigators trapped more small rodents at case households than at near (P = .03) or far control households (P = .02). After the number of small rodents was controlled for, case-patients were more likely than household controls to hand plow (odds ratio [OR], 12.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1-143.0) or to clean feed storage areas (OR, 33.4; 95% CI, 1.7-666.0). Case-patients were more likely than near controls to plant (OR, 6.2; 95% CI, 1.1-34.0) and more likely than far controls to clean animal sheds (OR, 11.9; 95% CI, 1.4-103.0). Peridomestic cleaning, agricultural activities, and an increased number of small rodents at the household were associated with HPS.
Correlation of Some Predisposing Intrinsic Conditions with the Morphological Integrity of the Achilles Tendon

Background: Most studies have focused on ill-tendons with a little insight on how intrinsic factors correlate with the Achilles tendon (AT) morphology. Aim: This study aims at establishing how blood pressure (BP), blood glucose (BG), and body mass index (BMI) correlate with the morphology of the AT with emphasis on width changes. Materials and Methods: Participants were volunteers who were recruited during and after an organized health fair by the Medical Students' body of All Saints University, School of Medicine, Commonwealth of Dominica. A total of 336 people, consisting of 135 males and 201 females volunteered for the study. The most dominant age group was between 60 and 65 years. A self-administered questionnaire was used to acquire necessary information, and a preliminary clinical procedure was used to check for BP, BG, and BMI. Ultrasound examination was done in B-mode using a linear array high-frequency probe with a mediolateral approach at the AT. Results: Among the participants, 42.68%, 69.75%, and 30.38% had normal BP, BG, and BMI readings, respectively. BP, BG, and BMI statistically supported the hypothesis. Individuals with extreme BP, BG, and BMI had their AT width wider when compared with individuals with normal systemic readings. Sonographic examination revealed most participants with normal tendon morphology while some identifiable changes were observed among others. Conclusion: This study suggests that BP, BG, and BMI could affect the morphological integrity of the AT. It indicates that asymptomatic high blood sugar and BP could weaken the AT, leading to pain which may appear unrelated to the physician and patient.
Trajectory Visualization of Ego-Motion Videos with Pedestrian Based on Monocular Visual Odometry and Machine Learning

Trajectory visualization of ego-motion videos is one of the main building blocks of visionbased robot navigation technology. One solution is visual odometry, and the process of estimating of the agent trajectory using the input of a single monocular camera is called monocular visual odometry (MVO). While most of MVO are geometrical methods, the precision of feature-based MVO system depends on the calculation correctness of features extraction and matching. The moving objects in the ego-motion videos contributes to error propagation. The geometrical methods’ performances drop drastically in the scene with dynamic background and moving objects. On the other hand, machine learning has been showing outstanding performance in object detection and classification, e.g, Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HOG) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) are proved to be efficient in pedestrian detection. In order to minimize the impact of moving objects on visual odometer reliability, it is better to be able to detect more types of moving objects. However, human beings are the most important groups of the environment and also are one of the main external disturbances during the robot navigation. In this paper, human being is regarded as the main moving target in the process of visual odometry, and the accuracy of MVO is improved by eliminating the pedestrian feature points. In this research, a lean trajectory visualization system is proposed, and the pipeline which combines featured-based MVO and HOG + SVM method is proposed to eliminate moving pedestrians . According to the result of the experiments, improvements in the accuracy of camera poses estimation are shown.
Clustering support for inadequate test suite reduction

Regression testing is an important activity that can be expensive (e.g., for large test suites). Test suite reduction approaches speed up regression testing by removing redundant test cases. These approaches can be classified as adequate or inadequate. Adequate approaches reduce test suites so that they completely preserve the test requirements (e.g., code coverage) of the original test suites. Inadequate approaches produce reduced test suites that only partially preserve the test requirements. An inadequate approach is appealing when it leads to a greater reduction in test suite size at the expense of a small loss in fault-detection capability. We investigate a clustering-based approach for inadequate test suite reduction and compare it with well-known adequate approaches. Our investigation is founded on a public dataset and allows an exploration of trade-offs in test suite reduction. Results help a more informed decision, using guidelines defined in this research, to balance size, coverage, and fault-detection loss of reduced test suites when using clustering.
1406 . 4406 v 1 Posterior concentration rates for empirical Bayes procedures with applications to Dirichlet process mixtures SOPHIE

We provide conditions on the statistical model and the prior probability law to derive contraction rates of posterior distributions corresponding to data-dependent priors in an empirical Bayes approach for selecting prior hyper-parameter values. We aim at giving conditions in the same spirit as those in the seminal article of Ghosal and van der Vaart [23]. We then apply the result to specific statistical settings: density estimation using Dirichlet process mixtures of Gaussian densities with base measure depending on data-driven chosen hyper-parameter values and intensity function estimation of counting processes obeying the Aalen model. In the former setting, we also derive recovery rates for the related inverse problem of density deconvolution. In the latter, a simulation study for inhomogeneous Poisson processes illustrates the results.
On matrix estimation under monotonicity constraints

We consider the problem of estimating an unknown $n_1 \times n_2$ matrix $\mathbf{\theta^*}$ from noisy observations under the constraint that $\mathbf{\theta}^*$ is nondecreasing in both rows and columns. We consider the least squares estimator (LSE) in this setting and study its risk properties. We show that the worst case risk of the LSE is $n^{-1/2}$, up to multiplicative logarithmic factors, where $n = n_1 n_2$ and that the LSE is minimax rate optimal (up to logarithmic factors). We further prove that for some special $\mathbf{\theta}^*$, the risk of the LSE could be much smaller than $n^{-1/2}$; in fact, it could even be parametric i.e., $n^{-1}$ up to logarithmic factors. Such parametric rates occur when the number of "rectangular" blocks of $\mathbf{\theta}^*$ is bounded from above by a constant. We derive, as a consequence, an interesting adaptation property of the LSE which we term variable adaptation -- the LSE performs as well as the oracle estimator when estimating a matrix that is constant along each row/column. Our proofs borrow ideas from empirical process theory and convex geometry and are of independent interest.
STREPTOCOCCUS MUTANS AND LACTOBACILLUS LEVELS IN ORAL CLEFT PATIENTS

Aim. The aim of the present study was to search the manner in which cariogenic bacteria might coexist with know bacteria that produce volatile sulfur compounds and represent the cause of habitasis. Materials and methods. 100 patients aged 11-21y with palatal clefts and malocclusions were divided into two groups: group A was treated with fixed orthodontic appliances, group B was treated with removable appliances. The untreated group C represented the control one. Patients were examined for halitosis and an assessment for cariogenic bacteria from saliva samples was performed. Significance established at p<0.05 was used to analyze the data by U-Mann-Whitney test and r-Spearman coefficient. Results. The patients presented lower levels of Streptococcus mutans than expected. Group B showed an inverse relationship between halitosis and the presence of cariogenic bacteria. Groups A and C had higher levels of Streptococcus mutans that did not inhibit the development of microbes that produce volatile sulfur compounds. Conclusion. Our study showed that cleft palate patients have a diminished caries risk comparing to non cleft ones. Therefore, these patients have special oral hygiene needs and must focus on brushing either the tongue or an appliance.
Cloud robotics paradigm for enhanced navigation of autonomous vehicles in real world industrial applications

Autonomous vehicles require advances sensing technologies, in order to be able to safely share the environment with human operators. Those sensing technologies are in fact necessary for identifying the presence of unforeseen objects, and measuring their position and velocity. Furthermore, classification is necessary for effectively predicting their behavior. In this paper we consider the presence of sensing systems both on-board each vehicle, and installed on infrastructural elements. While the simultaneous presence of multiple sources of information heavily improves the amount (and quality) of available data, it generates the need for effective data fusion and storage systems. Hence, we introduce a centralized cloud service, that is in charge of receiving and merging data acquired by different sensing systems. Those data are then distributed to the autonomous vehicles, that exploit them for implementing advanced navigation strategies. The proposed methodology is validated in a real industrial environment to safely perform obstacle avoidance with an autonomously driven forklift.
Données image et décision : détection automatique de variations dans des séries temporelles par réseau de Kohonen

The quantization error (QE) from Self-Organizing Map (SOM) output after learning is exploited in these studies. SOM learning is applied on time series of spatial contrast images with variable relative amount of white and dark pixel contents, as in monochromatic medical images or satellite images. It is proven that the QE from the SOM output after learning provides a reliable indicator of potentially critical changes in images across time. The QE increases linearly with the variability in spatial contrast contents of images across time when contrast intensity is kept constant. The hitherto unsuspected capacity of this metric to capture even the smallest changes in large bodies of image time series after using ultra-fast SOM learning is illustrated on examples from SOM learning studies on computer generated images, MRI image time series, and satellite image time series. Linear trend analysis of the changes in QE as a function of the time an image of a given series was taken gives proof of the statistical reliability of this metric as an indicator of local change. It is shown that the QE is correlated with significant clinical, demographic, and environmental data from the same reference time period during which test image series were recorded. The findings show that the QE from SOM, which is easily implemented and requires computation times no longer than a few minutes for a given image series of 20 to 25, is useful for a fast analysis of whole series of image data when the goal is to provide an instant statistical decision relative to change/no change between images.
Fast appearance-based Person Re-Identification and Retrieval using Dissimilarity Representations

Person re-identification consists of recognizing an individual who has previously been observed over a camera network. It is a recently introduced computer vision task that can provide useful tools for many applications of video-surveillance. Person re-identification exhibits several challenging issues. Most notable ones are pose variations, partial occlusions, and changing lighting conditions. Another relevant issue is computational complexity. In this contribution, we present the results attained by the Pattern Recognition and Applications (PRA) Group in this field: 1) a framework for person re-identification methods; 2) a dissimilarity-based approach for speeding up existing methods; 3) a dissimilarity-based approach for retrieving images of individuals based on a textual query describing clothing appearance, instead of an image.
COMPARAÇÃO DE DISCOS POROSOS DE TITANIO COMERCIAL SINTERIZADOS A PLASMA EM CÁTODO PLANAR E CÁTODO OCO

Este trabalho apresenta os resultados de um estudo comparativo da sinterizacao a plasma em duas configuracoes: catodo oco e catodo planar. Para tal comparacao utilizou-se os seguintes recursos: analise da porosidade e tamanhos de poros por meio de um software, ensaio de molhabilidade e microdureza a fim de definir qual configuracao de sinterizacao a plasma e mais eficiente na confeccao de biomateriais para uso em arcaboucos.
A New Smart Grid Control and Operation Concept - Autonomic Power System

As the distributed energy resource (DER) penetrance increasing, future power system will be more large-scale with much complexity and uncertainty. Taking an active approach, active distribution network (ADN) can deal with future complex and uncertain challenges to some extent. However, too much re-lying on information exchange of each layer, ADN will lack global adaptability and stability. To make up for the deficiency, this paper proposes a new smart grid control and operation concept, namely autonomic power system (APS). Based on goal-directed mechanism, APS obtains global self-adaptive management. Meanwhile, under the concept of distributed coordination and autonomic control, autonomic units (AUs) in APS coordinate each other and make their own autonomic operation. APS takes not only an optimally and co-ordinately active control of power system, but also brings more intelligence with characteristics of self-configuration, self-optimization, self-protection and self-healing, i.e. self-management and overall self-adaption. Thus, APS completes real-time dynamic goals and makes the operation of future power system more intelligent, effective, safe and reliable.
Human Health Effects From Chronic Arsenic Poisoning–A Review

The ill effects of human exposure to arsenic (As) have recently been reevaluated by government agencies around the world. This has lead to a lowering of As guidelines in drinking water, with Canada decreasing the maximum allowable level from 50 to 25 μg/L and the U.S. from 50 to 10 μg/L. Canada is currently contemplating a further decrease to 5 μg/L. The reason for these regulatory changes is the realization that As can cause deleterious effects at lower concentrations than was previously thought. There is a strong relationship between chronic ingestion of As and deleterious human health effects and here we provide an overview of some of the major effects documented in the scientific literature. As regulatory levels of As have been decreased, an increasing number of water supplies will now require removal of As before the water can be used for human consumption. While As exposure can occur from food, air and water, all major chronic As poisonings have stemmed from water and this is usually the predominant exposure route. Exposure to As leads to an accumulation of As in tissues such as skin, hair and nails, resulting in various clinical symptoms such as hyperpigmentation and keratosis. There is also an increased risk of skin, internal organ, and lung cancers. Cardiovascular disease and neuropathy have also been linked to As consumption. Verbal IQ and long term memory can also be affected, and As can suppress hormone regulation and hormone mediated gene transcription. Increases in fetal loss and premature delivery, and decreased birth weights of infants, can occur even at low (<10 μg/L) exposure levels. Malnourished people have been shown to be more predisposed to As-related skin lesions. A large percentage of the population (30–40%) that is using As-contaminated drinking water can have elevated As levels in urine, hair and nails, while showing no noticeable clinical symptoms, such as skin lesions. It is therefore important to carry out clinical tests of As exposure. Factors combining to increase/decrease the ill effects of As include duration and magnitude of As exposure, source of As exposure, nutrition, age and general health status. Analytical determinations of As poisoning can be made by examining As levels in urine, hair and toenails. Communities and individuals relying on groundwater sources for drinking water need to measure As levels to ensure that their supplies are safe. Communities with water As levels greater than 5 μg/L should consider a program to document As levels in the population.
Correlation between Corneal Endothelial Cell Characteristics and Dry Eye Disease

Purpose: To correlate corneal endothelium cell density with dry eye disease compared to an age-matched control group. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 150 eyes of 75 female students aged 19-25 years who did not have any history of eye injuries or eye disease affecting the corneal endothelium cell density, were recruited from KSU Female Campus. They were divided into groups based on their dry eye disease severity. All subjects undergone full ophthalmic examinations assessing their endothelium cell count using specular microscope and dryness level using Non-invasive Break up Time (NIBUT) using Keratograph4. Results: The mean endothelial cell density was significantly lower in subjects with severe dryness (2620.3 ± 252.2 cell/mm2) and moderate dryness (2801 ± 221.6 cell/mm2) than normal subjects (3067± 196.7 cell/mm2), p=. 000.In addition, the mean cell area was lower in normal subjects (327.4± 21.5 μm2) and increased with severity of dryness, in subjects with moderate dryness (358.9 ±27.1 μm2) and in subjects with severe dryness (384.8 ±33.7 μm2), p=. 000.There was variation in the mean cell volume, in normal subjects was (25±3.6) and (27.2±4.3) in moderate dryness and (25.5±3.6) in severe dryness, p=. 009. Conclusion: Results succeeded to demonstrate that in moderate to severe dryness, there was a significant reduction in the corneal endothelial cell density as compared to the ageand sex-matched control group. Correlation between corneal endothelial cells Characteristics and dry eye disease Correlation between corneal endothelial cell Characteristics and dry eye disease.
Temperature mediates vector transmission efficiency: inoculum supply and plant infection dynamics.

Climate, particularly environmental temperature, frequently plays an important role in disease epidemiology. This study investigated the role of environmental temperature on transmission of the generalist plant pathogen Xylella fastidiosa by its leafhopper vectors. In this system temperature is known to influence both vector performance and feeding rate, yet the implications for pathogen transmission have not been documented. Experiments were conducted over a range of temperatures to document effects on transmission efficiency of the California native Graphocephala atropunctata Signoret (blue‐green sharpshooter) and the invasive Homalodisca vitripennis Germar (glassy-winged sharpshooter). Inoculation efficiency of H. vitripennis was positively related to temperature. Graphocephala atropunctata mortality and transmission responded non-linearly to temperature, with the highest rates of both at the highest temperature. The experiment also evaluated whether differences in inoculum supply contributed to plant infection level using quantitative PCR. Although total X. fastidiosa population within G. atropunctata was not related to plant infection, the number of infectious vectors was a strong predictor of plant infection level‐suggesting that the number of inoculation events is important in the development of systemic infection of X. fastidiosa in grapevines. These results, along with existing evidence from the literature, point to wide-ranging impacts of climate on the epidemiology of X. fastidiosa diseases.