Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On How to Improve FPGA-Based Systems Design Productivity via SDAccel

Custom hardware accelerators are widely used to improve the performance of software applications in terms of execution times and to reduce energy consumption. However the realization of an hardware accelerator and its integration in the final system is a difficult and error prone task. For this reason, both Industry and Academy are continuously developing Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools to assist the designer in the development process. Even if many of the steps have been nowadays automated, system integration and SW/HW interfaces definition and drivers generation are still almost completely manual tasks. The last tool released by Xilinx, however, aims at improving the hardware design experience by leveraging the OpenCL standard to enhance the overall productivity and to enable code portability. This paper provides an overview of the SDAccel potentiality comparing its design flow with other methodologies using two case studies from the Bioinformatics field: brain network and protein folding analysis.
An Expectation-Transformer Model for Probabilistic Temporal Logic

We interpret the modal μ-calculus over a new model [10], to give a temporal logic suitable for systems exhibiting both probabilistic and demonic nondeterminism. The logical formulae are real-valued, and the statements are not limited to properties that hold with probability 1. In achieving that conceptual step, our technical contribution is to determine the correct quantitative generalisation of the Boolean operators: one that allows many of the standard Boolean-based temporal laws to carry over the reals with little or no structural alteration, even for properties that hold with probability strictly between 0 and 1. The generalisation is not obvious, but is dictated by our discovery elsewhere of the algebraic property that characterises the next-time operator over the new model: it is arithmetic ‘sublinearity’ [20, Fig.4 p.342], which replaces the Boolean conjunctivity that characterises next-time in a modal algebra. We confirm by example that the new modal laws can be used for quantitative reasoning about probabilistic/demonic behaviour. The random walk is treated using only those laws and real-number arithmetic: arguing from precise numeric premises, more specific than simply ‘with some non-zero probability’, we reach numeric conclusions that are not simply ‘with probability 1’.
A Representation For Robot Plans

A representation for robot plans is proposed. The representation of a given plan reflects the structure of the process which produced the plan. This information is useful in both the original construction of the plan and its subsequent modification if unforeseen events cause execution failures. A programmed system that constructs and executes (in simulation) plans for journeys using a large system of public transport is described to illustrate the advantages of the representation. It is also shown how the representation could be used for more typical robot-planning worlds.
Chemical composition of essential oil and anti trichomonas activity of leaf, stem, and flower of Rheum ribes L. extracts

Objectives: Trichomoniasis is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in humans and is caused by the protozoan Trichomonas vaginalis. Nowadays, increasing resistance to drugs such as metronidazole resulted in many problem, so new effective remedies are needed. In this study, we evaluate constituents of essential oil and anti-trichomonas activity of Rheum ribes. Materials and Methods: The essential oil from Rheum ribes L. flower growing wild in Iran was analyzed by GC/MS. The parasites were treated with different extract and fractions of the flower, stem, and leave of the plant. Anti-trichomonas activity was evaluated using an in vitro assay. Results: In all, 19 compounds were identified; palmitic acid [27.08%], n-eicosane [9.9%], n-tetracosane [7.34%], linoleic acid [6.56%], and ethyl linoleate [4.76%] were the main components of the oil. Rheum ribes extracts and fractions concentration dependently inhibited the ability of parasites to growth. This was associated with polarity of solvent used for fractionation and plant parts used for extraction. Conclusion: Findings demonstrate the potential of Rheum ribes extracts as an anti-trichomonas agent for human use. Further studies are required to evaluate its toxicity and safety.
Binding of Murine Leukemia Virus Gag Polyproteins to KIF4, a Microtubule-Based Motor Protein

ABSTRACT A cDNA clone encoding a cellular protein that interacts with murine leukemia virus (MuLV) Gag proteins was isolated from a T-cell lymphoma library. The sequence of the clone is identical to the C terminus of a cellular protein, KIF4, a microtubule-associated motor protein that belongs to the kinesin superfamily. KIF4-MuLV Gag associations have been detected in vitro and in vivo in mammalian cells. We suggest that KIF4 could be involved in Gag polyprotein translocation from the cytoplasm to the cell membrane.
Efficiency improvement of the impulsive wireless power transmission through biomedical tissues by varying the duty cycle

It is very challenging to improve the power conversion efficiency (PCE) in wireless power transmission (WPT), especially through the propagation channel of biological tissue. The received power for biomedical applications is usually very weak due to the security regulations of Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) and the propagation attenuation by biological tissues. So the input power (PIN) of the RF-DC rectifier is usually not high, and the optimal PCE cannot be achieved as conventional efficient rectifiers do. In this paper, we propose an impulsive technique to promote the PCE at a low input power level at −10 dBm and to optimize the performance by varying the duty cycles of the impulsive power waves. Therefore, the dc output voltage (Vout) and PCE can be effectively improved from 1.176 to 1.905 volt (62%) and from 13.83% to 36.29%, respectively. Furthermore, the wireless channels for such wideband power transmission techniques and the biological channel effects are investigated in this paper. Fundamental analysis is setup to predict the tissue attenuation loss. Through the measurements, we found that our proposed techniques can improve the Vout and PCE within the 10 mm thickness of biological tissues (pork) and supply more wireless power for biomedical implantable systems.
Alzheimer’s Facebook support groups: uses, gratifications and perceptions of information accuracy for caregivers

This study was designed to explore how Alzheimer’s caregivers use Facebook support groups. Specifically it describes what kinds of activities caregivers engage in when in Facebook support groups, explores the motivation behind participation, and details perceived advantages and disadvantages of the groups. Whether Facebook support groups are considered a primary and accurate source of disease information was also explored. The study was qualitative in nature and consisted of 20 caregiver interviews, conducted via phone and Skype. Guided by uses and gratifications theory (Katz, Blumler & Gurevitch, 1974), the study employed six research questions to fully explore the experiences of caregivers in Facebook support groups. Generally speaking, the study identified the primary theme of community, and three subthemes including context, advice and emotional release/support. There were also significant findings on the primacy and accuracy of information. The ability to more fully understand these themes in the context of the caregiver experience will provide health care professionals with a foundation on which they can build effective ways to tap existing Facebook support groups and bolster support as the Alzheimer’s epidemic grows exponentially between now and 2050.
Outlawing ghosts: avoiding out-of-thin-air results

It is very difficult to define a programming language memory model for shared variables that both • allows programmers to take full advantage of weakly-ordered memory operations, but still • correctly disallows so-called "out-of-thin-air" results, i.e. results that can be justified only via reasoning that is in some sense circular. Real programming language implementations do not produce out-of-thin-air results. Architectural specifications successfully disallow them. Nonetheless, the difficulty of disallowing them in language specifications causes real, and serious, problems. In the absence of such a specification, essentially all precise reasoning about non-trivial programs becomes impractical. This remains a critical open problem in the specifications of Java, C, and C++, among others. We argue that there are plausible and relatively straight-forward solutions, but their performance impact requires further study. In the long run, they are likely to require strengthening of some hardware guarantees, so that they translate properly to guarantees at the programming language source level.
PERSONALITY PROCESSES AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES Interpersonal Evaluations Following Threats to Self : Role of Self-Esteem

In 2 studies, the authors used dyadic interactions to assess the influence of ego threat on likability as a function of self-esteem. In both studies, 2 naive participants engaged in a structured conversation; in half of the dyads, I participant received an ego threat prior to the interaction. In the 1st study, threatened high self-esteem participants were rated as less likable than were threatened low self-esteem participants. The 2nd study confirmed that ego threats are associated with decreased liking for those with high self-esteem and with increased liking for those with low self-esteem. A mediational analysis demonstrated that decreased liking among high self-esteem participants was due to being perceived as antagonistic. Study 2 also indicated that the findings could not be explained by trait levels of narcissism. These patterns are interpreted in terms of differential sensitivity to potential interpersonal rejection.
Neurosupportive Role of Vanillin, a Natural Phenolic Compound, on Rotenone Induced Neurotoxicity in SH-SY5Y Neuroblastoma Cells

Vanillin, a phenolic compound, has been reported to offer neuroprotection against experimental Huntington's disease and global ischemia by virtue of its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic properties. The present study aims to elucidate the underlying neuroprotective mechanism of vanillin in rotenone induced neurotoxicity. Cell viability was assessed by exposing SH-SY5Y cells to various concentrations of rotenone (5–200 nM) for 24 h. The therapeutic effectiveness of vanillin against rotenone was measured by pretreatment of vanillin at various concentrations (5–200 nM) and then incubation with rotenone (100 nM). Using effective dose of vanillin (100 nM), mitochondrial membrane potential, levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and expression patterns of apoptotic markers were assessed. Toxicity of rotenone was accompanied by the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, increased ROS generation, release of cyt-c, and enhanced expressions of proapoptotic and downregulation of antiapoptotic indices via the upregulation of p38 and JNK-MAPK pathway proteins. Our results indicated that the pretreatment of vanillin attenuated rotenone induced mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and apoptosis. Thus, vanillin may serve as a potent therapeutic agent in the future by virtue of its multiple pharmacological properties in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases including PD.
Semi-Supervised Feature Clustering with Application to Word Sense Disambiguation

In this paper we investigate an application of feature clustering for word sense disambiguation, and propose a semisupervised feature clustering algorithm. Compared with other feature clustering methods (ex. supervised feature clustering), it can infer the distribution of class labels over (unseen) features unavailable in training data (labeled data) by the use of the distribution of class labels over (seen) features available in training data. Thus, it can deal with both seen and unseen features in feature clustering process. Our experimental results show that feature clustering can aggressively reduce the dimensionality of feature space, while still maintaining state of the art sense disambiguation accuracy. Furthermore, when combined with a semi-supervised WSD algorithm, semi-supervised feature clustering outperforms other dimensionality reduction techniques, which indicates that using unlabeled data in learning process helps to improve the performance of feature clustering and sense disambiguation.
Multivariate Biomedical Signal Processing

Modeling physiological functions, such as heart rate and respiration, cannot be done singly, as they are interdependent due to the nervous system. Thus, they must be modeled as a set. This paper discusses modeling entire sets of variables. Probability is taken into consideration. The paper introduces the topic, then discussed multivariate linear models. The next section covers multivariate maximum likelihood inference, followed by a section on multivariate Bayesian inference. Examples and extensions are presented next. The paper concludes with an appendix on expanding a linear model with an uninformative prior. Keywords: interdependent variables; coupling factors; probability destribution; multiviate distribution; data likelihood
Host Cell Reactivation and Transcriptional Activation of Carboplatin-Modified BRCA1

The breast cancer susceptibility gene 1 (BRCA1) has been shown to maintain genomic stability through multiple functions in the regulation of DNA damage repair and transcription. Its translated BRCT (BRCA1 C-terminal domain) acts as a strong transcriptional activator. BRCA1 damaged by carboplatin treatment may lead to a loss of such functions. To address the possibility of the BRCA1 gene as a therapeutic target for carboplatin, we investigated the functional consequences of the 3′-terminal region of human BRCA1 following in vitro platination with carboplatin. A reduction in cellular BRCA1 repair of carboplatin-treated plasmid DNA, using a host cell reactivation assay, was dependent on the platination levels on the reporter gene. The transcriptional transactivation activity of the drug-modified BRCA1, assessed using a one-hybrid GAL4 transcriptional assay, was inversely proportional to the carboplatin doses. The data emphasized the potential of the BRCA1 gene to be a target for carboplatin treatment.
Bayesian detection of interference in satellite navigation systems

In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm to detect/compensate online interference effects when integrating Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and Inertial Navigation System (INS). The GNSS/INS coupling is usually performed by an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) which yields an accurate and robust localization. However, interference cause the GNSS measurement noise to increase unexpectedly, hence degrade the positioning accuracy. In this context, our contribution is twofold. We first study the impact of the GNSS noise inflation on the covariance of the EKF outputs so as to compute a least square estimate of the potential variance jumps. Then, this estimation is used in a Bayesian test which decides whether interference are corrupting the GNSS signal or not. It allows us to estimate their times of occurrence as well. In this way, the impaired measurements can be discarded while their impact on the navigation solution can be compensated. The results show the performance of the proposed approach on simulated data.
Exploration of Networks using overview+detail with Constraint-based cooperative layout

A standard approach to large network visualization is to provide an overview of the network and a detailed view of a small component of the graph centred around a focal node. The user explores the network by changing the focal node in the detailed view or by changing the level of detail of a node or cluster. For scalability, fast force-based layout algorithms are used for the overview and the detailed view. However, using the same layout algorithm in both views is problematic since layout for the detailed view has different requirements to that in the overview. Here we present a model in which constrained graph layout algorithms are used for layout in the detailed view. This means the detailed view has high-quality layout including sophisticated edge routing and is customisable by the user who can add placement constraints on the layout. Scalability is still ensured since the slower layout techniques are only applied to the small subgraph shown in the detailed view. The main technical innovations are techniques to ensure that the overview and detailed view remain synchronized, and modifying constrained graph layout algorithms to support smooth, stable layout. The key innovation supporting stability are new dynamic graph layout algorithms that preserve the topology or structure of the network when the user changes the focus node or the level of detail by in situ semantic zooming. We have built a prototype tool and demonstrate its use in two application domains, UML class diagrams and biological networks.
High level synthesis of pipelined instruction set processors and back-end compilers

The authors propose a synthesis methodology for high-performance pipelined instruction set processors. Designing instruction set processors and constructing their compilers are mutually dependent tasks. Piper is a high level synthesis tool of the Advanced Design Automation System (ADAS) which controls the hardware-software interactions at the micro-architecture level. The key function of Piper is to perform pipeline scheduling with any fixed instruction-latency, and generate a reorder table for a back-end compiler to resolve potential pipeline hazards existing in the design. Models for performance and cost of both hardware and software are developed to characterize the design space. A synthesis example of a simple instruction set processor illustrates Piper's synthesis capabilities and how the performance and cost of hardware and software are estimated. <<ETX>>
Status of the global electroweak fit of the Standard Model

Results from the global Standard Model fit to electroweak precision data, including newest Tevatron measurements, are reviewed and discussed. The complete fit using also the constraints from the direct Higgs boson searches yields an upper limit on the Higgs mass of 153 GeV at 95% CL. The top mass is indirectly determined to be (177.2 +10.5 -7.8) GeV and (179.5 +8.8 -5.2) GeV for fits including or not the constraints from the direct Higgs searches, respectively. Using the 3NLO perturbative prediction of the massless QCD Adler function, the strong coupling constant at the Z-mass scale is determined to be alpha_s(MZ)=0.1193 +- 0.0028 +- 0.0001, which is in excellent agreement with the 3NLO result from hadronic tau decays. The perspectives of the electroweak fit for forthcoming and proposed future collider projects are discussed. The available constraints on the Higgs mass are convolved with the high-scale behaviour of the Higgs quartic coupling to derive likelihoods for the survival of the Standard Model versus its cut-off scale evolved up to the Planck mass.
Large‐scale alignment of optical polarizations from distant QSOs using coordinate‐invariant statistics

We introduce several coordinate-invariant statistical procedures in order to test for alignment of polarizations of electromagnetic radiation from astrophysical sources. A large-scale alignment of optical polarizations from distant quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) has recently been observed by Hutsemekers and collaborators. The new statistical procedures are based on comparing polarizations at different angular coordinates by making a parallel transport. The results of these statistical procedures continue to support the existence of the large-scale alignment effect in the QSO optical polarization data. The alignment is found to be much more pronounced in the data sample with low degrees of polarization, p ≤ 2 per cent. This suggests that the alignment may be attributed to some propagation effect. The distance scale over which the alignment effect is dominant is found to be of order 1 Gpc. We also find that a very large-scale alignment is present in the large-redshift, z ≥ 1, data sample. In fact, the data sample with z ≥ 1 appears to be aligned over the entire celestial sphere. This alignment is seen independent of the degree of polarization of the sources. We discuss possible physical effects, such as extinction and pseudoscalar-photon mixing, which may be responsible for the observations.
Differential evolution algorithm based pilot aided weighted data fusion scheme for uplink base-station cooperation system

Base Station Cooperation (BSC), has been a promising technique for combating the Inter-Cell Interference (ICI) by exchanging information through a high-speed optical fiber back-haul to increase the diversity gain. In this paper, we propose a novel pilot symbol assisted data fusion scheme for Uplink BSC (UBSC). Furthermore, the proposed scheme exploits the pre-defined pilot symbols as the sample of transmitted symbols to constitute a sub-optimal Weight Calculation (WC) model. To circumvent the non-linear programming problem of the proposed sub-optimal model, Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm is employed for searching the proper fusion weights. Compared with the existing equal weights based soft combining scheme, the proposed scheme can adaptively adjust the fusion weights according to the accuracy of cooperative information, which remains the relatively low computational complexity and back-haul traffic. Performance analysis and simulation results show that, the proposed scheme can significantly improve the system performance with the pilot settings of the existing standards.
REAL-TIME PLATFORM FOR THE CONTROL PROTOTYPING AND SIMULATION OF POWER ELECTRONICS AND MOTOR DRIVES

The paper presents state-of-the-art technologies and platform for real-time simulation and control of motor drives, power converters and power systems. Through its support for Model-Based Design method with Simulink®, its powerful hardware (multi-core processors and FPGAs), and its specialized model libraries and solvers, this realtime simulator (RT-LABTM) enables the engineer and researcher to efficiently implement advanced control strategies on embedded hardware, or to conduct extensive testing of complex power electronics and real-time transient simulation of large power systems.