Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pulsed Neural Networks and their Application

Pulsed neural networks are networks of spiking neurons, which represent an entirely new class of artificial neurons. Here we present an overview of pulsed neural networks, including the structure, function and available training mechanisms for networks of spiking neurons. We highlight differences between this model, “first generation” threshold gates, and “second generation” sigmoid activation gates, and we examine current research into pulsed neural networks and the use of temporal information in neural processing. Lastly, we summarize our own research toward the end of using pulsed neural networks to identify computer users by the cadence of their keystrokes.
CALCioM: Mitigating I/O Interference in HPC Systems through Cross-Application Coordination

Unmatched computation and storage performance in new HPC systems have led to a plethora of I/O optimizations ranging from application-side collective I/O to network and disk-level request scheduling on the file system side. As we deal with ever larger machines, the interference produced by multiple applications accessing a shared parallel file system in a concurrent manner becomes a major problem. Interference often breaks single-application I/O optimizations, dramatically degrading application I/O performance and, as a result, lowering machine wide efficiency. This paper focuses on CALCioM, a framework that aims to mitigate I/O interference through the dynamic selection of appropriate scheduling policies. CALCioM allows several applications running on a supercomputer to communicate and coordinate their I/O strategy in order to avoid interfering with one another. In this work, we examine four I/O strategies that can be accommodated in this framework: serializing, interrupting, interfering and coordinating. Experiments on Argonne's BG/P Surveyor machine and on several clusters of the French Grid'5000 show how CALCioM can be used to efficiently and transparently improve the scheduling strategy between two otherwise interfering applications, given specified metrics of machine wide efficiency.
Prevalence of hepatitis-B surface antigen (HBsAg) positivity in Solapur District, Maharashtra State, India

Background: Hepatitis B virus is a partially double-stranded circular DNA virus and is a member of the Hepadnaviridae family. The virus consists of a core capsid which contains viral DNA and this is surrounded by an envelope containing surface antigen (HBsAg). Both whole, incomplete virus particles, consisting entirely of HBsAg, are produced during replication of HBV. The HBsAg particles vary greatly in morphology and are found in high concentrations in early acute infection and continue to be produced in chronic disease.1 Objectives: Diagnostic potential of Hepatitis-B surface antigen (HBsAg) positivity and its p revalence was evaluated among volunteers from various localities in Solapur District, Maharashtra State, India. Methodology: The prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was studied from Solapur, Maharashtra State, India, among 767 volunteers (male 470 and female 297), aged 05-55 years volunteers, who required medical check-ups. Blood samples, collected during March to May 2010, were tested for HBsAg using a third-generation ELISA kit. Results: Of the 767 volunteers, male 1.82% and female 1.17% were positive for HBsAg. The results revealed that hepatitis B infection in the target group was below the intermediate endemicity. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that proper training of new entrants in the medical field can be pivotal in preventing HBsAg and it is advocated that a programme for education, vaccination and prophylaxis must be implemented in all healthcare set ups. Key words: HBsAg; Hepatitis B surface antigen; HEPALISA; Jaundice; seroprevalence. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3329/bjms.v10i2. 7803 Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol.10 No.2 Apr’11 pp.91-94
Structural properties of genotype–phenotype maps

The map between genotype and phenotype is fundamental to biology. Biological information is stored and passed on in the form of genotypes, and expressed in the form of phenotypes. A growing body of literature has examined a wide range of genotype–phenotype (GP) maps and has established a number of properties that appear to be shared by many GP maps. These properties are ‘structural’ in the sense that they are properties of the distribution of phenotypes across the point-mutation network of genotypes. They include: a redundancy of genotypes, meaning that many genotypes map to the same phenotypes, a highly non-uniform distribution of the number of genotypes per phenotype, a high robustness of phenotypes and the ability to reach a large number of new phenotypes within a small number of mutational steps. A further important property is that the robustness and evolvability of phenotypes are positively correlated. In this review, I give an overview of the study of GP maps with particular emphasis on these structural properties, and discuss a model that attempts to explain why these properties arise, as well as some of the fundamental ways in which the structure of GP maps can affect evolutionary outcomes.
Fukushima Review II on Migration of radionuclides from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident

Copyright © 2018 by The Geochemical Society of Japan. 2016), five years after the accident. We are very pleased that 12 manuscripts with important scientific knowledge were included in this volume, which can be categorized into the two subject areas (a) and (b) described above. In category (a), the first contribution is an invited review by Kajino et al. (2018) regarding atmospheric modeling of radionuclides from the FDNPP, which describes the first step of dispersion of the radionuclides in the environment. Tsuruta et al.’s (2018) analysis of radiocesium found in particulate matter collected hourly (using filter tapes) from the atmosphere during the accident significantly contributes to our understanding of the initial dispersion process of the radionuclides. The initial chemical form of radiocesium released into the atmosphere is still an open question. The discovery of micrometer-sized spherical particles that contained high concentrations of radiocesium by Adachi et al. (2013) stimulated follow-up studies of water insoluble, Cs-enriched particles in the environment surrounding the FDNPP. In this issue, Yamaguchi et al. (2018) and Satou et al. (2018) demonstrated that new types of the Cs-enriched particles, with larger size non-spherical shapes, can be found in environment. Miura et al. (2018) detected micrometerspherical particles, as reported in Adachi et al. (2013), in suspended matters in river water and discuss their importance as a form of radiocesium in environment. Geochemical studies on various processes affecting the radionuclides released from the FDNPP, which can be categorized into (b), were reported in this issue for radioiodine in rainwater (Matsumura et al., 2018), possible secondary dispersion of radiocesium from biogenic sources (Nakagawa et al., 2018), solid-water distribution of radiocesium in river water (Tanaka et al., 2018), desorption of radiocesium from suspended particles in river-brackish-seawater system (Sakaguchi et al., 2018), and vertical profiles of radiocesium in marine sediment off the coast of Fukushima (Fukuda et al., 2018). Additional studies in this issue contributing to the Fukushima Review II on Migration of radionuclides from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident
Part-Based Visual Tracking with Online Latent Structural Learning

Despite many advances made in the area, deformable targets and partial occlusions continue to represent key problems in visual tracking. Structured learning has shown good results when applied to tracking whole targets, but applying this approach to a part-based target model is complicated by the need to model the relationships between parts, and to avoid lengthy initialisation processes. We thus propose a method which models the unknown parts using latent variables. In doing so we extend the online algorithm pegasos to the structured prediction case (i.e., predicting the location of the bounding boxes) with latent part variables. To better estimate the parts, and to avoid over-fitting caused by the extra model complexity/capacity introduced by the parts, we propose a two-stage training process, based on the primal rather than the dual form. We then show that the method outperforms the state-of-the-art (linear and non-linear kernel) trackers.
Glycogen Regulation and Functional Role in Mouse White Matter

CNS glycogen, contained predominantly in astrocytes, can be converted to a monocarboxylate and transported to axons as an energy source during aglycaemia. We analysed glycogen regulation and the role of glycogen in supporting neural activity in adult mouse optic nerve, a favourable white matter preparation. Axon function was quantified by measuring the compound action potential (CAP) area. During aglycaemia, axon function persisted for 20 min, then declined in conjunction with glycogen content. Lactate fully supported CAPs in the absence of glucose, but was unable to sustain glycogen content; thus, axon failure occurred rapidly when lactate was withdrawn. Glycogen content in the steady state was directly proportional to bath glucose concentration. Increasing [K+]o to 10 mm caused a rapid decrease in glycogen content. Latency to onset of CAP failure during aglycaemia was directly proportional to glycogen content and varied from about 2 to 30 min. Intense neural activity reduced glycogen content in the presence of 10 mm bath glucose and CAP area gradually declined. CAP area declined more rapidly during high frequency stimulation if monocarboxylate transport was inhibited. This suggested that astrocytic glycogen was broken down to a monocarboxylate(s) that was used by rapidly discharging axons. Likewise, depleting glycogen by brief periods of high frequency axon stimulation accelerated onset of CAP decline during aglycaemia. In summary, these experiments indicated that glycogen content was under dynamic control and that glycogen was used to support the energy needs of CNS axons during both physiological as well as pathological processes.
Control Strategy of Active Power Filters Using Multiple Voltage-Source PWM Converters

The control strategy of active power filters using switching devices is proposed on the basis of the instantaneous reactive power theory. This aims at excellent compensation characteristics in transient states as well as steady states. The active power filter is developed, of which the power circuit consists of quadruple voltage-source PWM converters. As the result, interesting compensation characteristics were verified experimentally which could not be obtained by the active power filter based on the conventional reactive power theory.
Current Concepts and Future Directions for the Assessment of Autoantibodies to Cellular Antigens Referred to as Anti-Nuclear Antibodies

The detection of autoantibodies that target intracellular antigens, commonly termed anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA), is a serological hallmark in the diagnosis of systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARD). Different methods are available for detection of ANA and all bearing their own advantages and limitations. Most laboratories use the indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) assay based on HEp-2 cell substrates. Due to the subjectivity of this diagnostic platform, automated digital reading systems have been developed during the last decade. In addition, solid phase immunoassays using well characterized antigens have gained widespread adoption in high throughput laboratories due to their ease of use and open automation. Despite all the advances in the field of ANA detection and its contribution to the diagnosis of SARD, significant challenges persist. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the current status on ANA testing including automated IIF reading systems and solid phase assays and suggests an approach to interpretation of results and discusses meeting the problems of assay standardization and other persistent challenges.
La educación multicultural: enfoques y brechas en cuatro escuelas municipales en Santiago, Chile / Multicultural education: approaches and gaps in four municipal schools in Santiago, Chile

3 Introducción. 4-6 Contexto del tema investigado.4 Marco teórico. 5 La base de la investigación. 7 Preguntas iníciales de la investigación. 7 Objetivo de la investigación. 7 Hipótesis del trabajo.7 Justificación y límites de la investigación. 7 Metodología. 8 Ética. 9 Resultados y análisis. 9-25 Enfoques actuales en las escuelas.9 Brechas y desafíos identificados.15 Visiones para el futuro.20 Conclusiones e investigaciones más a fondo.25 Bibliografía. 27 Apéndice. 28
Requirements Engineering in Agile Software Development

Finding out, analyzing, documenting, and checking requirements are important activities in all development approaches, including agile development. This paper discusses problems concerned with the conduction of requirements engineering activities in agile software development processes and suggests some improvements to solve some challenges caused by agile requirements engineering practices in large projects, like properly handling and identifying sensitive (including non- functional) requirements, documenting and managing requirements documentation, keeping agile teams in contact with outside customers. The paper also discusses the requirements traceability problem in agile software development and the relationships between the traceability and refactoring processes and their impact on each other.
Cutaneous Reactions

An interesting paragraph in the April number of A merican Medicine deals with the effect of the administration of certain drugs upon the different skin reactions. From recent researches it appears that normal individuals react positively to the luetin test after the administration of sixty or more grains of potassium iodide. Tuberculin reactions are intensified after iodides or bromides have been given. It is clearlv of importance to distinguish between skin reactions of specific origin and those due to the administration of drugs. Indeed, it is by no means unlikely that failure to recognize the influence of medicines ingested may account in part for the divergent results obtained by observers with the luetin reaction and similar diagnostic tests.
Terrain-Corrected Gamma: Improved Thematic Land-Cover Retrieval for SAR with Robust Radiometric Terrain Correction

In regions with significant terrain variations, the modulation of SAR backscatter by mountain slopes can dominate interpretation of the radar imagery unless effective countermeasures are first applied. We first demonstrate deficiencies in conventional radiometric treatments. Geocoded-terrain-corrected (GTC) products assume an ellipsoid-model for the radiometry, even if they improve upon geocoded-ellipsoid-corrected (GEC) imagery by properly compensating for the effects of terrain variations on image geometry. Both the sigma nought and gamma nought radiometric normalisation conventions as applied to distributed targets have an ellipsoidal Earth assumption at their core. Simply using a local-incidence-angle-mask (LIM) to normalise image radiometry fails to adequately model the image formation process. We prefer to use instead a product that we refer to as terrain-corrected gamma for backscatter analysis. The product makes use of SAR image simulation, incorporating shadow checks and proper accounting of local illuminated area in foreshortened and even layover areas: the result is a substantially improved sensor model in comparison to LIM-based backscatter retrieval. Use of terrain- corrected gamma in a radiometrically terrain-corrected (RTC) product enables multi-track and even multi- sensor image overlays, as terrain-induced backscatter variations are normalised using the available DEM. By properly normalising the hills and mountains, the growing availability of SAR images from diverse sensors can be compared on a “level playing field”. Time series analysis of hundreds of multi-track ASAR wide swath images covering Switzerland is shown to benefit when comparisons are made using terrain-corrected gamma rather than GTC or LIM- normalised SAR backscatter retrievals. We show how the spring snow melt period can be followed well using multi-track ASAR WS data only if terrain-corrected gamma backscatter values are used as the basis for comparison. Finally, we recommend improved standard backscatter retrieval from land surfaces in future SAR missions such as Biomass or CoReH2O, and Sentinel-1.
Combining fault injection and model checking to verify fault tolerance in multi-agent systems

The ability to guarantee that a system will continue to operate correctly under degraded conditions is key to the success of adopting multi-agent systems (MAS) as a paradigm for designing complex agent based fault tolerant systems. In order to provide such a guarantee, practically usable tools and techniques for verifying fault tolerant MAS architectures are urgently required. In this paper we address this requirement by combining automatic fault injection with model checking to verify fault tolerance in MAS. We present a generic method to mutate a model of a correctly behaving system into a faulty one, and show how the mutated model can be used to reason about fault tolerance, which includes recovery from faults. The usefulness of the proposed method is demonstrated by injecting automatically a fault into a sender-receiver protocol, and verifying temporal and epistemic specifications of the protocol's fault tolerance using the MCMAS model checker.
Regional Poverty and Income Inequality in Central and Eastern Europe: Evidence from the Luxembourg Income Study

This paper reports levels of income inequality and poverty in four Central and Eastern European countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Russia. Unlike previous research on transition economies, we aggregate the detailed individual-level income surveys made available through the efforts of the Luxembourg Income Study at the regional level of analysis. Although national-level investigations have contributed much to our understanding of the income distribution dynamics, these studies mask intra-country variance in levels of income inequality and thus may not capture the true distribution of household income and accurately reflect individual well-being. Accordingly, we compute summary measures of inequality and relative poverty rates, using both local and national relative poverty lines, for the most recent waves of data available. We offer comparisons between regional and national median incomes and assess levels of inter- and intra-regional income inequality.
A high-fiber diet does not protect against asymptomatic diverticulosis.

BACKGROUND & AIMS The complications of diverticulosis cause considerable morbidity in the United States; health care expenditures for this disorder are estimated to be $2.5 billion per year. Many physicians and patients believe that a high-fiber diet and frequent bowel movements prevent the development of diverticulosis. Evidence for these associations is poor. We sought to determine whether low-fiber or high-fat diets, diets that include large quantities of red meat, constipation, or physical inactivity increase risk for asymptomatic diverticulosis. METHODS We performed a cross-sectional study of 2104 participants, 30-80 years old, who underwent outpatient colonoscopy from 1998 to 2010. Diet and physical activity were assessed in interviews using validated instruments. RESULTS The prevalence of diverticulosis increased with age, as expected. High intake of fiber did not reduce the prevalence of diverticulosis. Instead, the quartile with the highest fiber intake had a greater prevalence of diverticulosis than the lowest (prevalence ratio = 1.30; 95% confidence interval, 1.13-1.50). Risk increased when calculated based on intake of total fiber, fiber from grains, soluble fiber, and insoluble fiber. Constipation was not a risk factor. Compared to individuals with <7 bowel movements per week, individuals with >15 bowel movements per week had a 70% greater risk for diverticulosis (prevalence ratio = 1.70; 95% confidence interval, 1.24-2.34). Neither physical inactivity nor intake of fat or red meat was associated with diverticulosis. CONCLUSIONS A high-fiber diet and increased frequency of bowel movements are associated with greater, rather than lower, prevalence of diverticulosis. Hypotheses regarding risk factors for asymptomatic diverticulosis should be reconsidered.
Rapid mutation detection by the Transgenomic wave analyser DHPLC identifies MYOC mutations in patients with ocular hypertension and/or open angle glaucoma

Aims: To rapidly screen Scottish patients with a family history of open angle glaucoma (OAG) or ocular hypertension (OHT) for mutations in the myocilin gene (MYOC) and develop a new rapid screening method for MYOC mutation detection. Methods: All three exons of the MYOC gene were amplified by PCR from genomic DNA and subjected to direct DNA sequencing. Mutation detection methodology was also developed based on denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC). A recurrent mutation was investigated by analysis of microsatellite haplotypes at the MYOC gene locus. Results: Mutations were identified by DNA sequencing in four families. MYOC mutation Q368X was found in three kindreds and the fourth family carried the mutation G367R. The Q368X mutation was found to be associated with the same haplotype for markers closely flanking the MYOC gene. The mutations were identified by direct sequencing and were also readily detected by DHPLC analysis of PCR fragments, demonstrating that this is a robust method for MYOC analysis in future. Conclusions: Mutations in the MYOC gene were identified in patients presenting with highly variable phenotypes from normal through OHT to severe OAG. Haplotype analysis showed that mutation Q368X is likely to be an ancestral mutation in this population. DHPLC analysis is an accurate, rapid and cost effective method for MYOC mutation analysis in large population samples.
Effects of slopes on the stormwater attenuation performance in extensive green roof

This study is aimed to determine the effects of slope on stormwater retention and peak flow attenuation performances in extensive green roof in Malaysia. One green roof test bed with dimensions of 2.0 m (length) x 1 m (width) x 0.2 m (height) was constructed in Universiti Tenaga Nasional. The substrate layer was fixed as 130 mm depth and placed on top of the filter fabric and drainage layers. The green roof test bed was planted with Portulaca Grandiflora (sedum species) as the native plant in Malaysia. Different slopes (0 º, 2 º, 5 º and 7 º) of green roof test bed were tested in this study for its stormwater retention and peak flow attenuation performances. The results show that stormwater retention percentages are ranged from 56.9% to 52.3%. The stormwater retention percentages are decreased as slope increased in this study. Flat slope showed the longest observed time of peak flow while the 7 º slope has the shortest observed time of peak flow. This finding suggests that slope has a significant impact to the stormwater retention and peak flow attenuation performances in extensive green roof.