Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Structure and properties of melt‐spun PET/MWCNT nanocomposite fibers

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) melt-spun fibers were modified with multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) to obtain conductive microfibers smaller than 90 μm in diameter. Physical properties such as crystallinity and orientation of as-spun fibers were studied by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and microscopy techniques at different draw ratios (DR) and MWCNT concentrations. Morphological and orientation analysis of MWCNT after melt-spinning process showed agglomerates formation and highly oriented CNTs. The study of the orientation of PET crystalline phase in drawn fibers proved that the addition of nanoparticles decreases the orientation of crystalline units inside the fibers. The orientation of MWCNT as well as that of PET chains was studied using Raman spectroscopy at different DR and a high degree of CNT orientation was observed under high DR conditions. Mechanical and electrical properties of as-spun fibers were also investigated. Our results showed that it was possible to achieve conductive fibers at a MWCNT concentration of 2% w/w, and more conductive fibers using higher DR were also obtained without increasing the MWCNT concentration. Mechanical properties results showed interestingly high value of maximum tensile strain at break (emax) of nanocomposite fibers, up to three times more than pure PET fibers. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 50:1956–1968, 2010. © 2010 Society of Plastics Engineers
Language and the Performance of English-Language Learners in Math Word Problems.

In this article, Maria Martiniello reports the findings of a study of the linguistic complexity of math word problems that were found to exhibit differential item functioning for English-language learners (ELLs) and non-ELLs taking the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) fourth-grade math test. It builds on prior research showing that greater linguistic complexity increases the difficulty of Englishlanguage math items for ELLs compared to non-ELLs of equivalent math proficiency. Through textual analyses, Martiniello describes the linguistic features of some of the 2003 MCAS math word problems that posed disproportionate difficulty for ELLs. Martiniello also uses excerpts from children's think-aloud transcripts to illustrate the reading comprehension challenges these features pose to Spanish-speaking ELLs. Through both DIF statistics and the voices of children, the article scrutinizes the appropriateness of inferences about ELLs' math knowledge based on linguistically complex test items.
Phylogeography and population history of Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus L.): a genealogical approach reveals genetic structuring among the eastern Atlantic stocks

Despite the resolving power of DNA markers, pelagic and migratory marine fish species generally show very little geographical population structuring. In mackerel (Scomber scombrus L.) population differentiation has been detected only at a transatlantic scale. By applying two regions in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) (D–loop and cytochrome b (cytb)) in combination with genealogical and frequency–based statistical approaches, our data suggest population differentiation among eastern Atlantic spawning stocks. In contrast, and indicative of homing behaviour, no genetic structuring was observed among shoals of individuals outside the spawning season. Among spawning stocks, mtDNA D–loop sequences detected differentiation within the eastern Atlantic, while the cytb gene detected transatlantic differentiation. The impact of recurrent events (e.g. gene flow restricted by isolation by distance) and historic events (e.g. population range expansions) among spawning stocks was investigated applying a nested cladistic analysis of geographical distribution of cytb haplotype lineages. In the eastern Atlantic, historical population range expansion, presumably in connection with recolonization of northern areas after the last glaciation, is suggested to be the main factor determining mtDNA lineage distribution. This was supported by estimates of mtDNA nucleotide diversity, where the highest diversity was observed for the stock spawning in the Bay of Biscay, for which the size estimate is only 15% of the largest stock (Celtic Sea). In addition to revealing population differentiation, our data demonstrate the importance of sampling strategy and the power of applying statistical methods addressing both ongoing and historical population processes.
Involuntary admissions under the Mental Health Act 2007 (New South Wales): A comparison of patients detained by ambulance officers, medical practitioners and accredited persons in an emergency department

The Mental Health Act (MHA) 2007 (New South Wales [NSW]) is used to transport to, detain and treat individuals in a mental health facility. Patients are frequently taken to EDs under the MHA or detained in the ED for a mental health assessment. In NSW, medical practitioners, accredited persons, police and more recently ambulance officers, are authorised to write certificates under the MHA. There is an absence of research on the use of the MHA in NSW EDs. The primary research question for this study was: ‘What is the involuntary admission rate for persons detained under the MHA in an NSW tertiary referral ED? ’
Physically Embedded Genetic Algorithm Learning in Multi-Robot Scenarios: The PEGA algorithm

We present experiments in which a group of autonomous mobile robots learn to perform fundamental sensor-motor tasks through a collaborative learning process. Behavioural strategies, i.e. motor responses to sensory stimuli, are encoded by means of genetic strings stored on the individual robots, and adapted through a genetic algorithm (Mitchell, 1998) executed by the entire robot collective: robots communicate their own strings and corresponding fitness to each other, and then execute a genetic algorithm to improve their individual behavioural strategy. The robots acquired three different sensormotor competences, as well as the ability to select one of two, or one of three behaviours depending on context ("behaviour management"). Results show that fitness indeed increases with increasing learning time, and the analysis of the acquired behavioural strategies demonstrates that they are effective in accomplishing the desired task.
A datapath compiler with technology portability

In digital signal processing (DSP) ICs and microprocessors, the datapath is the core where al1 computationJ are performed. A datapath compiler is generally used to automaticdly generate layouts for datapaths by taking advantage of the bit-sliced stmcture presented in datapaths. Conventional datapath compilers focus on using regularity to generate layouts with minimum area, while the timing issues are not well addressed. Some attempts are being made to attack this prnblem in synthesis tools, which employ logic optimization techniques to synthesize datapaths in a regularity-aware manner. and then generate netlists with placement data to guide the physical design. We approach this problem from the opposite direction. Le. , we start from physical design based on module generation and then plan to incorporate timing optimization techniques into the system in the future. The work presented in the thesis is the first step towards this direction. A datapath compiler has been developed and implemented based on an object-oriented design that allows the future extension for static timing analysis and optimization. The timing issues have not been addressed directly in the thesis. A set of Java classes has been developed for design capture. A new type of over-ce11 routing algorithm designed specifically for datapaths has been proposed and implemented. This is the first time that a ce11 layout generation tool has been used to generate cells on the fly in a datapath compiler. Using CLASSIC-SC for ce11 generation is also the main reason that we can achieve technology portability. Other features of the datapath compiler include parameterization in bit width, the ability to deal with the irregularity that exists in realworld datapaths, and a GUI for capturing designs, displaying and exporting layouts. A cornparison with a custom layout shows that this new datapath compiler can produce comparable layouts in area while being technology portable.
Cerebrovascular Disease and Stroke in Korean Male Adolescent

Purpose This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and incidence of cerebrovascular disease (CVD) and stroke in Korean male adolescents. Materials and Methods The authors reviewed all medical certificates, medical records, and radiologic images from the examinations of Korean military conscription from January 2008 to May 2011. Results Of the 101156 examinees, 40 had CVD and stroke during adolescence. The overall prevalence and incidence of CVD and stroke was 39.54 cases per 100000 adolescents and 2.08 cases per 100000 adolescents per year, respectively and these were similar to the worldwide data. There were 3 cases of aneurysm, 3 cases of dural arteriovenous fistula, 11 cases of arteriovenous malformation, 4 cases of cavernous hemangioma, 4 cases of cerebrovascular infarction, 16 cases of Moyamoya disease, and 1 case of missing data. The incidence of arteriovenous malformation (0.57 cases per 100000 adolescents per year) was lower than the incidence for the worldwide general population. The incidence of Moyamoya disease was higher than that in any other country (15.82 cases per 100000 adolescents, vs. 0.83 cases per 100000 adolescents per year). Conclusion We observed ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, each accounting for approximately half of cases, and high incidence of Moyamoya disease with low incidence of arteriovenous malformation in Korean male adolescents.
RNA-mediated gene activation

The regulation of gene expression by non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) has become a new paradigm in biology. RNA-mediated gene silencing pathways have been studied extensively, revealing diverse epigenetic and posttranscriptional mechanisms. In contrast, the roles of ncRNAs in activating gene expression remains poorly understood. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of gene activation by small RNAs, long non-coding RNAs, and enhancer-derived RNAs, with an emphasis on epigenetic mechanisms.
Ventricular parasystole and ventricular couplets: A re‐entry within the parasystolic focus?

We report a 62‐year‐old man with a persistent ventricular rhythm originating in a parasystolic focus associated with frequent ventricular couplets with fixed coupling. Both intravenous (IV) procainamide (l g) and propafenone (70 mg IV) promptly suppressed only the second component of ventricular couplets, suggesting that re‐entry rather than enhanced automaticity was the mechanism of ventricular couplets. On the contrary, the nonresponse of ventricular rhythm and ventricular couplets to verapamil (10 mg IV) suggested that triggered activity should not play a role in the genesis of this ventricular rhythm. The mechanisms of the ventricular couplets (rapidly discharging parasystolic focus vs. re‐entry) are discussed.
Routing, L2 Addressing, and Packet Filtering in a Hardware Engine

To improve throughput of personal computers used as Internet routers, hardware acceleration can be used. Packet classification unit employed in the design utilizes content addressable memory combined with comparison instructions. Routing, link layer addressing, and packet filtering has to be performed in a single operation. We have developed a representation of the first two called routing-ARP table, and representation of filters based on decision diagrams. In this paper, we describe a method to combine them all together and convert the resulting structure into the hardware device. As a special case, the algorithm converts a decision diagram into a first-match structure. Dealing with implementation and limited hardware resources is mentioned.
Brief Announcement: Preserving Happens-before in Persistent Memory

Nonvolatile, byte-addressable memory (NVM) will soon be commercially available, but registers and caches are expected to remain transient on most machines. Without careful management, the data preserved in the wake of a crash are likely to be inconsistent and thus unusable. Previous work has explored the semantics of instructions used to push the contents of cache to NVM. These semantics comprise a "memory persistency model," analogous to a traditional "memory consistency model. " In this brief announcement we introduce "explicit epoch persistency", a memory persistency model that captures the current and expected semantics of Intel x86 and ARM v8 persistent memory instructions. We also present a construction that augments any data-race-free program (for release consistency or any stronger memory model) in such a way that preserved data are guaranteed to represent a consistent cut in the happens-before graph of the program's execution.
Compressing Yahoo Mail

Yahoo mail servers have been receiving an enormous number of messages each day for the past 17 years. The vast majority of today's messages are machine-generated (about 90% of the messages), based on a boilerplate with a small number of specific per-recipient changes. We show that the popular Zlib compression to gzip format fails to fully utilize the high similarity between these machine-generated messages. In this paper we analyze the data redundancy in Yahoo mail, and present methods to reduce its space requirements while using the standard Zlib library. Our results show we can further reduce the compressed data size by a factor of almost 2.5, compared to traditional gzip compression.
Reducing multicast traffic load for cellular networks using ad hoc networks

There has been recent extensive research on integrating cellular networks and ad hoc networks to overcome the limitations of cellular networks. Although several schemes have been proposed to use such hybrid networks to improve the performance of individual multicast groups, they do not address quality of service (QoS) issues when multiple groups are present. This paper, on the other hand, considers an interesting scenario of hybrid networks when an ad hoc network cannot accommodate all the groups and a base station has to select a subset of groups to optimize its bandwidth savings and maximize the utilization of the ad hoc network while providing QoS support for multicast users. In this paper, a network model for multicast admission control that takes wireless interference into account is developed, the group selection problem is formulated as a multidimensional knapsack problem, and an integer linear programming (ILP) formulation and a polynomial-time dynamic algorithm are proposed. A distributed implementation of the dynamic algorithm in real systems is also examined. Simulation studies demonstrate that the dynamic algorithm is able to achieve very competitive performance under various conditions, in comparison with the optimal solution computed by the ILP approach
Comparing performance of two mobile agent platforms in distributed search

We study the performance behavior of two mobile agent platforms (AGLET and TACOMA) in distributed search. The search problem is analyzed from two different standpoints: the single agent search and multiple agents search. Several experimental were carried out to measure the performance of mobile agent's solution to distributed search problem under variable network size, network topology and number of agents. The results indicate that the two mobile agent platforms have similar behavior but their performance varies with underling implementation, and the multiple agents approach performs better than the single agent approach in large networks.
Softening Up the Network for Scientific Applications

Scientific applications demand huge computational power connected through fast networks. They are developed using parallel kernel methods, usually implemented with the Message Passing Interface (MPI), presenting well-behaved communication patterns across computing nodes. The current network technologies do not allow defining traffic forwarding policies considering the different application traffic, resulting in an unbalanced load on the network links. Moreover, the devices are not concerned if the traffic is latency-sensitive or bandwidth-intensive. To handle this, we present NetSA, a framework exploiting the communication patterns of scientific applications, considering latency and bandwidth constraints, as the key logic for evenly placing the application flows on the network available paths. Through NetSA, the scientific application developer can easily modify the network behavior to best fit the application communication requirements. We have performed experiments for optimizing the MPI communication primitives and applied our solution to speed up scientific applications, obtaining an execution time reduction up to 27%.
Optimal Design of Nanostructures Used in Vibration Control

Since the atomic structure of carbon nanotubes demonstrates evidently anisotropic mechanical properties an analytical molecular structural mechanics model is introduced in order to derive longitudinal and circumferential moduli of nanotubes. The identification is based on the eigenfrequencies analysis of the proposed computational model. It is combined with the FE analysis and the interatomic potentials. Detailed derivations are presented and the predicted results are shown and discussed with a few computational examples.
First steps toward the geometry of cophylogeny

Here we introduce researchers in algebraic biology to the exciting new field of cophylogenetics. Cophylogenetics is the study of concomitantly evolving organisms (or genes), such as host and parasite species. Thus the natural objects of study in cophylogenetics are tuples of related trees, instead of individual trees. We review various research topics in algebraic statistics for phylogenetics, and propose analogs for cophylogenetics. In particular we propose spaces of cophylogenetic trees, cophylogenetic reconstruction, and cophylogenetic invariants. We conclude with open problems.
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Cc by Coverage Hole Detection in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor network is the area where many researchers are focusing. The emerging technology of WSN is expected to provide a broad range of applications, such as battlefield surveillance, environmental monitoring and smart space and so on. Coverage is the important quality of service which is provided by the wireless sensor network. The coverage hole problem is a fundamental issue in WSN. This problem occurs when sensor nodes are arranged randomly in the area, poor installment or nodes whose . power weeks and when the design of the network fails. This paper address the work of hole detection and healing in mobile WSNs and how reduce the redundancy in WSNs by various authors. By knowing the above issue, a modified hole detection and healing method is proposed that could remove the redundant nodes and moving the nodes that removes holes by using distributed virtual force based approach in WSNs.
Physical and cognitive effort discounting across different reward magnitudes: Tests of discounting models

The effort required to obtain a rewarding outcome is an important factor in decision-making. Describing the reward devaluation by increasing effort intensity is substantial to understanding human preferences, because every action and choice that we make is in itself effortful. To investigate how reward valuation is affected by physical and cognitive effort, we compared mathematical discounting functions derived from research on discounting. Seven discounting models were tested across three different reward magnitudes. To test the models, data were collected from a total of 114 participants recruited from the general population. For one-parameter models (hyperbolic, exponential, and parabolic), the data were explained best by the exponential model as given by a percentage of explained variance. However, after introducing an additional parameter, data obtained in the cognitive and physical effort conditions were best described by the power function model. Further analysis, using the second order Akaike and Bayesian Information Criteria, which account for model complexity, allowed us to identify the best model among all tested. We found that the power function best described the data, which corresponds to conventional analyses based on the R2 measure. This supports the conclusion that the function best describing reward devaluation by physical and cognitive effort is a concave one and is different from those that describe delay or probability discounting. In addition, consistent magnitude effects were observed that correspond to those in delay discounting research.
Effect of α‐Latrotoxin on Acetylcholine Release and Intracellular Ca2+ Concentration in Synaptosomes: Na+‐Dependent and Na+‐Independent Components

Abstract: We studied the effect of α‐latrotoxin (αLTX) on [14C]acetylcholine ([14C]ACh) release, intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i), plasma membrane potential, and high‐affinity choline uptake of synaptosomes isolated from guinea pig cortex. αLTX (10−10‐10−8M) caused an elevation of the [Ca2+]i as detected by Fura 2 fluorescence and evoked [14C]ACh efflux. Two components in the action of the toxin were distinguished: one that required the presence of Na+ in the external medium and another that did not. Displacement of Na+ by sucrose or N‐methylglucamine in the medium considerably decreased the elevation of [Ca2+]i and [14C]ACh release by αLTX. The Na+‐dependent component of the αLTX action was obvious in the inhibition of the high‐affinity choline uptake of synaptosomes. Some of the toxin action on both [Ca2+]i and [14C]ACh release remained in the absence of Na+. Both the Na+‐dependent and the Na+‐independent components of the αLTX‐evoked [14C]ACh release partly required the presence of either Mg2+ or Ca2+. The nonneurotransmitter [14C]choline was released along with [14C]ACh, but this release did not depend on the presence of either Na+ or Ca2+, indicating nonspecific leakage through the plasma membrane. We conclude that there are two factors in the release of ACh from synaptosomes caused by the toxin: (1) cation‐dependent ACh release, which is related to (a) Na+‐dependent divalent cation entry and (b) Na+‐independent divalent cation entry, and (2) nonspecific Na+‐ and divalent cation‐independent leakage.
Relation between geometry and kinematics of articulatory trajectory associated with emotional speech production

We investigate whether articulatory movement trajectories follow the nonlinear invariant relationship between the tangential velocity and the curvature, i.e. the one-third power law. The power law holds for articulatory trajectories of phonetic rendering, although the exponent is in the range 0.35–0.42 when averaged across speakers and emotions but is relatively invariant under speaker/emotion differences. However, the velocity gain factor, a proportional constant in the power law, is sensitive to such variations. While the power law reflects some common articulatory movement characteristics for phonetic rendering across speakers and emotions, the prosodic variation/speaker idiosyncrasy are reflected in the velocity gain factor.