Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Efficient Parallel Sorting Algorithm for Multicore Machines

Sorting an array of integers is one of the most basic problems in Computer Science. Also it is an issue in high performance database applications. Though literature is imbued with a variety of sorting algorithms, different architectures need different optimizations to reduce sorting time. This paper presents a Multicore ready parallel sorting algorithm which has been designed with Multicore/Manycore architecture in mind. Our study shows that the proposed algorithm is excellent for large input size and multiple free cores. In essence algorithm has potential to be a success in situations when one has large input and machine is a Multicore machine. The paper does not neglect overhead involved with parallel programming and suggests two system calls to check the availability of free cores and to reserve a core for a fixed time quantum. Keywords— Multicore.
Implications of Multiple Curve Construction in the Swedish Swap Market

The global financial crisis of 2007 caused abrupt changes in the financial markets. Interest rates that were known to follow each other diverged. Furthermore, both regulation and an increased awareness of counterparty credit risks have fuelled a growth of collateralised contracts. As a consequence, pre-crisis swap pricing methods are no longer valid. In light of this, the purpose of this thesis is to apply a framework to the Swedish swap market that is able to consistently price interest rate and cross currency swaps in the presence of non-negligible cross currency basis spreads, and to investigate the pricing differences arising from the use and type of collat- eral. Through the implementation of a framework proposed by Fujii, Shimada and Takahashi (2010b), it is shown that the usage of collateral has a noticeable impact on the pricing. Ten year forward starting swaps are found to be priced at lower rates under collateral. Moreover, the results from pricing off-market swaps show that disregarding the impact of collateral would cause one to consistently underestimate the change in value of a contract, whether in or out of the money. The choice of collateral currency is also shown to matter, as pricing under SEK and USD as the collateral currencies yielded different results, in terms of constructed curves as well as in the pricing of spot starting, forward starting and off-market swaps. Based on the results from the pricing of off-market swaps, two scenarios are outlined that exemplify the importance of correct pricing methods when terminating and novating swaps. It is concluded that a market participant who fails to recognise the pricing implications from the usage and type of collateral could incur substantial losses.
A review of modeling toolbox for BigData

Modeling tools and operators help the user / developer to identify the processing field on the top of the sequence and to send into the computing module only the data related to the requested result. The remaining data is not relevant and it will slow down the processing. The biggest challenge nowadays is to get high quality processing results with a reduced computing time and costs. The processing sequence must be reviewed on the top, so that we could add one or more modeling tools. The existing processing models do not take in consideration this aspect and focus on getting high calculation performances which will increase the computing time and costs. In this paper we provide you a study of the main modeling tools for BigData.
The Complementary Effects of Atorvastatin and Exercise Treatment on the Composition and Stability of the Atherosclerotic Plaques in ApoE Knockout Mice

Aim This study aimed to investigate the effects of combined atorvastatin and exercise treatment on the composition and stability of the atherosclerotic plaques in apolipoproteinE (apoE) knockout mice. Methods Forty male, apoE−/− mice were fed a high-fat diet for 16 weeks. Thereafter, while maintained on high-fat diet, they were randomized into four (n = 10) groups for 8 additional weeks: Group CO: Control. Group AT: Atorvastatin treatment (10 mg/Kg/day). Group EX: Exercise-training on treadmill. Group AT+EX: Atorvastatin and simultaneous exercise training. At the study’s end, plasma cholesterol levels, lipids and triglycerides were measured, along with the circulating concentrations of matrix-metalloproteinases (MMP-2,3,8,9) and their inhibitors (TIMP-1,2,3). Plaque area and the relative concentrations of collagen, elastin, macrophages, smooth muscle cells, MMP-2,3,8,9 and TIMP-1,2,3 within plaques were determined. Lastly, MMP activity was assessed in the aortic arch. Results All intervention groups showed a lower degree of lumen stenosis, with atheromatous plaques containing more collagen and elastin. AT+EX group had less stenosis and more elastin compared to single intervention groups. MMP-3,-8 -9 and macrophage intra-plaque levels were reduced in all intervention groups. EX group had increased TIMP-1 levels within the lesions, while TIMP-2 was decreased in all intervention groups. The blood levels of the above molecules increased during atherosclerosis development, but they did not change after the therapeutic interventions in accordance to their intra-plaque levels. Conclusion The two therapeutic strategies act with synergy regarding the extent of the lesions and lumen stenosis. They stabilize the plaque, increasing its content in elastin and collagen, by influencing the MMP/TIMP equilibrium, which is mainly associated with the macrophage amount. While the increased MMP-2,-3,-8 -9, as well as TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 circulating levels are markers of atherosclerosis, they are not correlated with their corresponding concentrations within the lesions after the therapeutic interventions, and cannot serve as markers for the disease development/amelioration.
MAF1 represses CDKN1A through a Pol III-dependent mechanism

MAF1 represses Pol III-mediated transcription by interfering with TFIIIB and Pol III. Herein, we found that MAF1 knockdown induced CDKN1A transcription and chromatin looping concurrently with Pol III recruitment. Simultaneous knockdown of MAF1 with Pol III or BRF1 (subunit of TFIIIB) diminished the activation and looping effect, which indicates that recruiting Pol III was required for activation of Pol II-mediated transcription and chromatin looping. Chromatin-immunoprecipitation analysis after MAF1 knockdown indicated enhanced binding of Pol III and BRF1, as well as of CFP1, p300, and PCAF, which are factors that mediate active histone marks, along with the binding of TATA binding protein (TBP) and POLR2E to the CDKN1A promoter. Simultaneous knockdown with Pol III abolished these regulatory events. Similar results were obtained for GDF15. Our results reveal a novel mechanism by which MAF1 and Pol III regulate the activity of a protein-coding gene transcribed by Pol II. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.06283. 001
DEVELOPMENT OF AN OFF-LINE PROGRAMMING ( OLP ) SYSTEM FOR A SERIAL LINK ROBOT MANIPULATOR

For robot manipulators, an OLP system provides a detailed 3D simulation test-bed for visuali zation and analysis of various what-if scenarios. This paper discusses the prototype OLP system developed at the Informatics Complex for a six degrees of freedom cylindrical serial manipulator. Paradigms from classical robotics literature have been used to develop models of kinematics and to plan manipulator trajectories. 3D graphics techniques have been used in an object-oriented programming environment; Microsoft Windows was chosen as the platform for the OLP system. The simulator provides a complete and flexible view of the manipulator, with menu driven task simulation capabilit y, and tools for visual and mathematical analysis of manipulator’ s performance. Mathematical models for kinematics and trajectory planning for the manipulator have effectively been integrated with the developed 3D simulation software.
Experimental Exploration of RSSI Model for the Vehicle Intelligent Position System

Vehicle intelligent position systems based on Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are efficiently utilized. The vehicle’s position accuracy is of great importance for transportation behaviors, such as dynamic vehicle routing problems and multiple pedestrian routing choice behaviors and so on. Therefore, a precise position and available optimization is necessary for total parameters of conventional RSSI model. In this papar, we investigate the experimental performance of translating the power measurements to corresponding distance between each pair of nodes. The priori knowledge about the environment interference could impact the accuracy of vehicles’s position and the reliability of paremeters greatly. Based on the real-world outdoor experiments, we compares different regression analysis of the RSSI model, in order to establish a calibration scheme on RSSI model. We showed that the average error of RSSI model is able to decrease throughout the rules of environmental factor n and shadowing factor ? respectively. Moreover, the calculation complexity is reduced. Since variation tendency of environmental factor n , shadowing factor ? with distance and signal strength could be simulated respectively, RSSI model fulfills the precision of the vehicle intelligent position system.
On the design of a triaxial accelerometer

Up to now, mainly uniaxial accelerometers are described in most publications concerning this subject. However, triaxial accelerometers are needed in the biomedical field. Commercially available triaxial accelerometers consisting of three orthogonally positioned uniaxial devices do not meet all specifications of the biomedical application. Therefore, a new highly symmetrical inherently triaxial accelerometer is being developed, the advantages of which are higher sensitivity and reduction of off-axis sensitivity.
Significance of reserve based routing approach in MANETs

Reserve based communication channel provide better performance in terms of throughput, good put and mobility, by contributing the acknowledgement based routing mechanism which guarantees the packet transfer to the destination in reliable manner by supporting the mobility. When the destination node moves during the communication its information about the location is updated by means of acknowledgement packet which enables the source to relay the packet appropriately In this paper we proposed the AODV routing method in which packet embedded with route reply as acknowledgement with each packet ensuring the route reservation. It is compared with DSR routing protocol performance which relay as non reserve based routing, using ns-2 simulation the results are analyzed to prove the significance of reserve based approach.
Regulation of Inwardly Rectifying K+ Channels in Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells by Intracellular pH

Inwardly rectifying K+ (Kir) channels in the apical membrane of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) play a key role in the transport of K+ into and out of the subretinal space (SRS), a small extracellular compartment surrounding photoreceptor outer segments. Recent molecular and functional evidence indicates that these channels comprise Kir7.1 channel subunits. The purpose of this study was to determine whether Kir channels in the RPE are modulated by extracellular (pHo) or intracellular pH (pHi), both of which change upon illumination of the dark‐adapted retina. The Kir current (IKir) in acutely dissociated bovine RPE cells was recorded in the whole‐cell configuration while altering pHo or pHi. In cells dialysed with pipette solution buffered to pH 7.2, step changes in pHo from 7.4 to 8.0, 7.0 or 6.5 had little effect on IKir. Acidification to pHo 6.0, however, caused a transient activation of IKir followed by a slower inhibition. To determine the dependence of IKir on pHi, we altered pHi within individual RPE cells at constant pHo by imposing transmembrane acetate concentration gradients. These experiments revealed a biphasic relationship between IKir and pHi: IKir was maximal at about pHi 7.1, but decreased sharply at more acidic or alkaline levels. To evaluate the role of Kir7.1 channels in the pHi‐dependent changes in IKir, we tested the effect of transmembrane acetate concentration gradients on Rb+ currents, which are 10‐fold larger than K+ currents for this channel subtype. Inwardly rectifying Rb+ currents were maximal at about pHi 7.0 and were inhibited by intracellular alkalinization or acidification. We conclude that the Kir conductance in the RPE is modulated by intracellular pH in the physiological range and that this reflects the behaviour of Kir7.1 channels. This sensitivity to pHi may provide an important mechanism linking photoreceptor activity and RPE function.
Simulation of PMD compensation using Optical ARMA Filters for WDM Systems

We demonstrate the use of an auto regressive moving average (ARMA) optical lattice alter in compensating polarization mode dispersion (PMD) by minimizing the differential group delay (DGD) within a given frequency range. A numerical simulation was performed for a 4th order ARMA filter to compare the DGD values before and after filtering. Also, a quasi-analytical simulation was performed to estimate the signal to noise (SNR) reduction after filtering.
Effect of timing misalignment jitter induced by Polarization Mode Dispersion in a dispersion-managed optical transmission link using DPSK modulation

The Bit Error Rate (BER) performance of a dispersion managed optical transmission link using Differential Phase Shift Keying (DPSK) modulation format in the presence of timing misalignment induced by Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD) has been investigated. The present work focuses on analytical evaluation of the timing jitter variance of the recovered signal, which is impaired by random pulse perturbation induced by PMD. The system performance penalty is obtained as a function of system parameters and the signal jitter characteristics. Our investigation shows that the random signal perturbations can seriously degrade bit-error-rate performance of the received DPSK signal. Our analysis also shows that DPSK modulation using RZ data is more robust to timing misalignment compared to NRZ-DPSK signal.
Method for selection of motor insurance fraud management system components based on business performance

Abstract. Fraud in motor insurance is assessed to incur annual losses in the range of 100 billion dollars. While much research exists in the fraud management field, majority only deals with partial problems and presupposes the independence of specific fraud management activities. Researches on components of fraud management system are rarely explicitly related to business performance improvements. These results in a common problem, which can be observed on the practitioners’ side: only small amount of companies can objectively assess which of the many fraud management system components proposed by researchers and vendors will help to solve their problems in fraud management. The method proposed in this paper can be used as a strategic tool for improvement of fraud management process in motor insurance companies. The method is designed to be used for a selection of fraud management system components, and is based on business performance. The input for the method is a set of key performance indicators that .
Towards quantum localisation in Gaussian random potentials

At suuciently low energies there is no absolutely continuous spectrum for a quantum-mechanical particle moving in multi-dimensional Euclidean space under the innuence of certain Gaussian random potentials. Since the pioneering work of Anderson 1] models of a single quantum-mechanical particle moving under the innuence of a random potential have attracted much attention from both physicists 2,3] and mathematicians 4,5]. The central issue is to understand the spectral characteristics of the associated random Schrr odinger operators in order to predict physically interesting quantities such as the (integrated) density of states or transport coeecients. Considerable progress has been achieved over the years in proving rigorously the existence of so-called localised states of one-and higher-dimensional lattice operators and of one-dimensional continuum operators. Localisation properties of random Schrr odinger operators in d-dimensional Euclidean space R I d ; d 2, have been derived, however, almost exclusively for random potentials with an underlying lattice structure, see 6] for the early work and 7,8] for recent results and further references. To our knowledge, the only works devoted to the localisation problem with a truly continuum random potential deal with a Poisson potential where an additional randomness in the single-impurity coupling constant had to be assumed 9,7]. Our goal here is to report on a localisation result for another type of a truly continuum random potential. More precisely, we will outline a proof for the absence of the absolutely continuous component in the low-energy spectrum of Schrr odinger operators with certain Gaussian random potentials.
Design of a systolic coprocessor for rational addition

We design a systolic coprocessor for the addition of signed normalized rational numbers. This is the most complicated rational operation: it involves GCD, exact division, multiplication and addition/subtraction. In particular the implementation of GCD and exact division improve significantly (2 to 4 times) previously known solutions. In contrast to the traditional approach, all operations are performed least-significant digits first. This allows bit-pipelining between partial operations at reduced area-cost. An Atmel FPGA design for 8-bit operands consumes 730 cells (3,500 equivalent gates) and runs at 25 MHz (5 MHz after layout). For 32-bit operands this would be in the same timing range as the software solutions, however a significant speed-up can be expected for longer operands because the linear time-complexity of the hardware algorithms.
Corporate control and governance practices in Russia

In Russia, the problem of corporate governance has become a frequent subject for discussion. Stories now abound about questionable corporate governance practices, such as share dilution, asset stripping, transfer pricing, complex ownership structures, limiting shareholders from attending the shareholders meetings. These practices, which have come to constitute corporate governance abuses to company shareholders, are considered to be factors adversely affecting the investment climate. At first glance, these non-transparent practices are a collection of independent cases of managerial malfeasance that are abusive to investors. However, there seems to be an internal logic in these widely used practices, as they have been functional for Russian corporates to navigate through circumstances characterised by an imperfect formal framework. The aim of this paper is to analyse such functionalities of the practices in light of an evolution of corporate Russia. Taking Yukos Oil Company as a case study, the paper demonstrates that resorting to these practices was instrumental in a process of ensuring corporate survival and strengthening market position by establishing a coherent corporate entity. This paper emphasises that these practices represent rational and logical responses by economic agents to the prevailing conditions shaped by policy choices, political and macroeconomic environment, and institutions.
Orchestrating interactions among parallel computations

Many parallel programs contain multiple sub-computations, each with distinct communication and load balancing requirements. The traditional approach to compiling such programs is to impose a processor synchronization barrier between sub-computations, optimizing each as a separate entity. This paper develops a methodology for managing the interactions among sub-computations, avoiding strict synchronization where concurrent or pipelined relationships are possible. Our approach to compiling parallel programs has two components: symbolic data access analysis and adaptive runtime support. We summarize the data access behavior of sub-computations (such as loop nests) and split them to expose concurrency and pipelining opportunities. The split transformation has been incorporated into an extended FORTRAN compiler, which outputs a FORTRAN 77 program augmented with calls to library routines written in C and a coarse-grained dataflow graph summarizing the exposed parallelism. The compiler encodes symbolic information, including loop bounds and communication requirements, for an adaptive runtime system, which uses runtime information to improve the scheduling efficiency of irregular sub-computations. The runtime system incorporates algorithms that allocate processing resources to concurrently executing sub-computations and choose communication granularity. We have demonstrated that these dynamic techniques substantially improve performance on a range of production applications including climate modeling and x-ray tomography, expecially when large numbers of processors are available.
Vision-based behaviors for multi-robot cooperation

This paper presents some advanced examples of reactive vision-based cooperative behaviors: 1) chasing and posing against another robot among others; 2) unblocking the path of another robot by removing an obstacle; and 3) passing an object from one to another. These behaviors are demonstrated using real mobile robots equipped with CCD cameras, in a complex environment, and with no central controller or explicit communication among the robots. The action observation is based on real time processing of optical flow analysis and stereo tracking. An extended behavior-based architecture for "cooperation by observation" is presented. The core extension consists of a mobile space buffer and an image space buffer with manipulable markers which control the internal flow of information, thereby coordinating parallel behaviors and achieving purposive tasks in complex and dynamic environments. <<ETX>>
Social Stratification and Mobility

mobility. Progress in descriptive model building reflects wide application and refinement of various advanced statistical techniques including structural equation models of the process of stratification (mobility), log-linear analysis of mobility tables, and stochastic models of positional (status) change. Advances have been less cumulative in analyzing class relations and hierarchical categories of social structure, especially when these relations and categories are conceived as properties of social aggregates and not of individuals (e.g., labor markets). Little, if any, refinement of major theoretical positions has ensued, particularly if attention is restricted to intellectual derivations from Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Sorokin, or Parsons.
Disinflation in Slovenia : Evidence from an Iterative Multisectoral Model

This article employs an iterative multisectoral model underpinned by estimates of sectoral price functions to simulate six disinflation scenarios for the Slovenian economy. The model simulations show that substantial progress in disinflation can be made during 2004. However, instead of relying on a single anti-inflationary tool, stabilization of the inflation rate at around 3-4 percent per annum demands highly coordinated implementation of at least three instruments: moderate deindexation of wages, rigorous price policy in those segments of the Slovenian economy where lack of competition does not assure price stability, and a prudent monetary policy.