Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Scheduling speculative tasks in a compute farm

Users often behave speculatively, submitting work that initially they do not know is needed. Farm computing often consists of single node speculative tasks issued by, e.g., bioinformaticists comparing dna sequences and computer graphics artists rendering scenes who wish to reduce their time waiting for needed tasks and the amount they will be charged for unneeded speculation. Existing schedulers are not effective for such behavior. Our ‘batchactive’ scheduling exploits speculation: users submit explicitlylabeled batches of speculative tasks, interactively request outputs when ready to process them, and cancel tasks found not to be needed. Users are encouraged to participate by a new pricing mechanism charging for only requested tasks no matter what ran. Over a range of simulated user and task characteristics, we show that: batchactive scheduling improves visible response time - a new metric for speculative domains - by at least 2X for 20% of the simulations; batchactive scheduling supports higher billable load at lower visible response time, encouraging adoption by resource providers; and a batchactive policy favoring users who use more of their speculative tasks provides additional performance and resists a denialof- service.
Cefepime versus Ceftazidime as Empiric Therapy for Fever in Neutropenic Patients with Cancer

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacies of cefepime and ceftazidime as empiric therapy during the management of fever in cancer patients with chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. METHODS: A prospective, double-blind, randomized study of cefepime 2 g every eight hours and ceftazidime 2 g every eight hours was performed in 276 adult neutropenic (absolute neutrophil count <500/mm3) cancer patients with fever. RESULTS: Median duration of neutropenia was five days. Sixty-one percent (n = 188) of the patients were evaluable. Treatment was successful in 57% (58/101) of cefepime-treated patients and 60% (52/87) of ceftazidime-treated patients (95% CI −18 to 12; p = 0.77). Bacteremic clearance occurred in 71% (12/17) of cefepime-treated patients and 40% (6/15) of ceftazidime-treated patients (p = 0.3). Both drugs were well tolerated. CONCLUSIONS: Cefepime appears to be as effective as ceftazidime in the initial treatment of febrile episodes in adult cancer patients with chemotherapy-associated neutropenia of modest duration.
Association of Blood Monocyte and Platelet Markers with Carotid Artery Characteristics: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Carotid MRI Study

Background: Atherosclerosis is characterized by infiltration of inflammatory cells from circulating blood. Blood cell activation could play an important role in plaque formation. Methods: We analyzed the relationship between blood cellular markers and quantitative measures of carotid wall components in 1,546 participants from the ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) Carotid MRI Study. Carotid imaging was performed using a gadolinium contrast-enhanced MRI and cellular phenotyping by flow cytometry. Results: Monocyte Toll-like receptor (TLR)-2 is associated with larger plaques, while CD14, myeloperoxidase, and TLR-4 associate with smaller. Platelet CD40L is associated with smaller plaques and thinner caps, while P-selectin is associated with smaller core size. Conclusions: Blood cell activation is significantly associated with atherosclerotic changes of the carotid wall.
Preserved Affective Sharing But Impaired Decoding of Contextual Complex Emotions in Alcohol Dependence

BACKGROUND Prior research has repeatedly shown that alcohol dependence is associated with a large range of impairments in psychological processes, which could lead to interpersonal deficits. Specifically, it has been suggested that these interpersonal difficulties are underpinned by reduced recognition and sharing of others' emotional states. However, this pattern of deficits remains to be clarified. This study thus aimed to investigate whether alcohol dependence is associated with impaired abilities in decoding contextual complex emotions and with altered sharing of others' emotions. METHODS Forty-one alcohol-dependent individuals (ADI) and 37 matched healthy individuals completed the Multifaceted Empathy Test, in which they were instructed to identify complex emotional states expressed by individuals in contextual scenes and to state to what extent they shared them. RESULTS Compared to healthy individuals, ADI were impaired in identifying negative (Cohen's d = 0.75) and positive (Cohen's d = 0.46) emotional states but, conversely, presented preserved abilities in sharing others' emotional states. CONCLUSIONS This study shows that alcohol dependence is characterized by an impaired ability to decode complex emotional states (both positive and negative), despite the presence of complementary contextual cues, but by preserved emotion-sharing. Therefore, these results extend earlier data describing an impaired ability to decode noncontextualized emotions toward contextualized and ecologically valid emotional states. They also indicate that some essential emotional competences such as emotion-sharing are preserved in alcohol dependence, thereby offering potential therapeutic levers.
Wrist-ankle acupuncture as perineal pain relief after mediolateral episiotomy: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture in relieving perineal pain after mediolateral episiotomy during childbirth. DESIGN AND SUBJECTS Women with mediolateral episiotomy during delivery were enrolled in this study and were assigned to be treated or not with acupuncture. OUTCOMES MEASURES Perineal pain relieving effect of acupuncture was evaluated considering oral analgesics request during post-partum period and was the main outcome of this trial. RESULTS A total of 42 women were enrolled in this trial. Twenty-one (21) women were treated with "wrist-ankle" acupuncture, inserting one needle in their right ankle. A second group of 21 women was not treated with acupuncture. Women in the acupuncture group were significantly less likely to experience pain; only 8 of them (38.1%) asked for analgesics. All women in the second group assumed oral analgesics because of perineal pain (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Wrist-ankle acupuncture during the postpartum period is effective for perineal pain relief after mediolateral episiotomy.
Deafness Gene Expression Patterns in the Mouse Cochlea Found by Microarray Analysis

Background Tonotopy is one of the most fundamental principles of auditory function. While gradients in various morphological and physiological characteristics of the cochlea have been reported, little information is available on gradient patterns of gene expression. In addition, the audiograms in autosomal dominant non syndromic hearing loss can be distinctive, however, the mechanism that accounts for that has not been clarified. We thought that it is possible that tonotopic gradients of gene expression within the cochlea account for the distinct audiograms. Methodology/Principal Findings We compared expression profiles of genes in the cochlea between the apical, middle, and basal turns of the mouse cochlea by microarray technology and quantitative RT-PCR. Of 24,547 genes, 783 annotated genes expressed more than 2-fold. The most remarkable finding was a gradient of gene expression changes in four genes (Pou4f3, Slc17a8, Tmc1, and Crym) whose mutations cause autosomal dominant deafness. Expression of these genes was greater in the apex than in the base. Interestingly, expression of the Emilin-2 and Tectb genes, which may have crucial roles in the cochlea, was also greater in the apex than in the base. Conclusions/Significance This study provides baseline data of gradient gene expression in the cochlea. Especially for genes whose mutations cause autosomal dominant non syndromic hearing loss (Pou4f3, Slc17a8, Tmc1, and Crym) as well as genes important for cochlear function (Emilin-2 and Tectb), gradual expression changes may help to explain the various pathological conditions.
Time Modulated Arrays: From their Origin to Their Utilization in Wireless Communication Systems

Time-modulated arrays (TMAs) are electromagnetic systems whose radiated power pattern is controlled by the application of variable-width periodical pulses to the individual elements. The nonlinear nature of the array operation causes the appearance of radiation patterns at the harmonic frequencies of such periodic pulses. The technique can be used for improving the side-lobe level (SLL) topology of the radiation pattern at the central frequency and/or to profitably exploit the harmonic patterns in order to supply smart antenna capabilities. Among the latter features, the TMA harmonic beamforming takes on special importance due to its attractive trade-off performance-hardware complexity. From this perspective, TMAs are sensors capable of transforming the spatial diversity of a communication channel into frequency diversity, thus improving the performance of a wireless communication. In addition to a walk through the origins of the concept, and a brief analysis of the mathematical fundamentals, this paper organizes the prolific state of the art of TMAs in two major thematic blocks: (1) TMA design from an antenna perspective; and (2) TMA design from a signal processing perspective.
Smart Roadster Project: Setting up Drive-by-Wire or How to Remote-Control your Car

Since research in intelligent autonomous road vehicles gets more and more popular, many interested researchers are confronted with the needs to setup a commercially available vehicle with drive-by-wire. Up-to-date road vehicles contain many mechatronical components, sensors and driver assistance systems, which can be interfaced and thus reduce the needs of expensive modiﬁcations and additional actors to a minimum. This paper describes how to interface steering, throttle and brake as well as built-in sensors, and shows an inexpensive way to provide a safe research platform for road traﬃc.
Gambogenic Acid Exerts Antitumor Activity in Hypoxic Multiple Myeloma Cells by Regulation of miR-21

Hypoxia is an inseparable component of the bone marrow (BM) microenvironment, accounting for aggressive tumor behavior and poor prognosis of multiple myeloma (MM). Gambogenic acid (GNA) has proven to be an attractive option for treatment of tumors due to its tumor suppressive activity. Herein, we found that GNA exhibits remarkable apoptotic activity against MM cells even under hypoxia. MicroRNA-21 (miR-21) has been found over-expressed in MM patients and associated with the occurrence and development of MM. Direct studies have shown that there is a functional link between hypoxia and miR-21 expression in multiple types of tumors. In the current study, we found that hypoxia increased miR-21 expression in U266 cells and miR-21 induced by hypoxia was associated with concurrent reductions in its target PTEN. After treatment with GNA, miR-21 expression in hypoxic U266 cells was strikingly downregulated in a dose-dependent manner. Besides, we identified that regulation of miR-21/PTEN by GNA under hypoxia is related with inhibition of HIF-1α accumulation and STAT3 phosphorylation. Furthermore, in vivo study revealed that intravenous GNA injection could significantly suppress tumor growth and the miR-21/PTEN pathway is involved in GNA's anti-tumor effects. Taken together, all these results indicated that GNA could be a highly potent therapeutic for human MM.
Operation Planning of Hydroelectric Systems: Application of Genetic Algorithms and Differential Evolution

The Operation Planning of Hydroelectric Systems is a large, dynamic, stochastic, interconnected and nonlinear optimization problem. In this model, the minimization of penalized thermal complementation is considered as the objective function with the water discharge of hydroelectric plants at each period as the decision variables. An adaptation of two Evolutionary Metaheuristics, the Genetic Algorithm and the Differential Evolution, are proposed in this paper to solve this problem. These methods consider a set of solutions in order to perform exploration and exploitation of the search space allowing them to find several good quality solutions that can serve as alternatives to a given scenario. Tests performed with the Brazilian Subsystems and compared to one of the current used approaches show that the evolutionary methods can improve current solutions and can also bring the benefit of alternative solutions.
DEBONDING OF CARBON-FIBRE-REINFORCED POLYMER PLATE FROM CONCRETE BEAMS.

The overall aim of the study reported in this paper was to examine the plate-debonding phenomenon when carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates are used as externally bonded additional reinforcement to strengthen reinforced concrete beam structural elements. The main variables investigated include the amount of tension reinforcement, the concrete strength, the amount of shear reinforcement and the location and arrangement of externally bonded anchorages. Six strengthened reinforced concrete beams, 150 × 250 × 3000 mm in size, with externally bonded unidirectiona CFRP laminates, were tested under four-point bending over an effective span of 2800 mm. The distinguishing feature in the design of the beams was the arrangement and location of the externally bonded anchorages. The beams were extensively instrumented, and deflection, concrete/ steel/plate strain and the plate-debonding process were continuously monitored during load testing to failure. The results of the tests were then critically analysed. It is shown that plate debonding in a sudden, brittle manner is a major problem associated with CFRP plate-bonding technology. Carefully designed external anchorages and lateral confinement of the compression zone are shown to be very effective in enhancing the overall performance of the strengthened beams and the utilization of the CFRP sheet.
Production Capacity Allocation for Multi-Generational Products Based on Decision Tree Method

In this paper, we study the problem of how to allocate capacity for multi-generational products when a manufacture makes production decision. We establish a capacity allocation model for three generations of products and obtain the optimal allocation strategy by incremental decision tree analysis. Through the numerical experiment and parameter sensitivity analysis, we analyze the influence of products price, cost and salvage on the decision results. We also provide management implications for manufactures using decision-making tools to improve revenue.
Semitransparent polymer solar cells

Bulk heterojunction based polymer:fullerene solar cells have attracted intensive research interest both in academic and industrial communities in the last two decades, mainly related to their potential low-cost production process. A power conversion efficiency of over 10% has been reported recently, making the commercialization of this clean and cheap solar energy convertor a realistic prospect for the near future. The intrinsic features of semitransparency and color tunability of the thin polymeric photoactive films are the greatest asset for polymer solar cells. Recently, aesthetic semitransparent polymer solar cells (ST-PSCs) that can be integrated into transparent windows, roofs, glass and other semitransparent architectural elements have received much attention. In this perspective paper, we present the progress in achieving high performance ST-PSCs, discuss the requirements for transparent electrodes, focusing on alternatives to tin-doped indium oxide, and address the challenges ahead to make ST-PSC viable for real applications. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry
Optimization of an effective growth medium for culturing probiotic bacteria for applications in strict vegetarian food products

Background : This study aimed to modify de Man Rogosa Sharpe culture medium (termed MRS) for selective cultivation of probiotics strain for the consumption by the strictly vegetarian human population. Vegetarian probiotic foods by definition must be free from all animal-derived ingredients. This not only includes the product ingredients but the probiotic inoculum as well. Probiotic starter cultures are traditionally grown and stored in media containing milk or meat-derived ingredients. The presence of these ingredients makes the probiotic cell concentrates unsuitable for use in vegetarian products and thus creates the need for a growth medium which is free from animal-derived ingredients. Present study investigated the growth of a strain of Lactobacillus lactis in MRS . The present invention relates in general to a bacterial culture media, and more specifically a complex microbial culture media, based on plant seed powder extract in place of animal extract for probiotic bacterial growth. Methods : Lactobacillus lactis, a probiotic, was grown in standard MRS culture medium as well as in our various test media (TM) containing various vegetal source in place of beef extract, yeast extract and peptone as in case of MRS. The inoculated culture mediums were incubated at 37C for 72 hours and growth of probiotic is recorded at regular intervals. The growth was recorded as Colony Forming Units (CFUs). Results : The best growth of probiotic is observed in TM 2. TM 2 is the leguminous seed extract. Starter culture mediums for probiotics or other bacteria primarily contain protein from animal source. The possibility of using vegetal protein from TM 2 extract in place of peptones and meat extract for the nitrogen supplementation of culture media for the growth of lactic acid bacteria has been demonstrated. Conclusion : The absolute vegetarian culture medium containing TM 2 is better than standard MRS for the growth of probiotics. Abbreviations : de Man Rogosa Sharpe (MRS), Colony Forming Units (CFU), test media (TM), National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Tamarind seed powder (TSP), solid-state fermentation (SSF), Lactobacillus casei Shirota (LcS) Keywords : probiotics, lactic acid bacteria, vegetarian
Chromosomes tell half of the story: the correlation between karyotype rearrangements and genetic diversity in sedges, a group with holocentric chromosomes

Chromosome rearrangements may affect the rate and patterns of gene flow within species, through reduced fitness of structural heterozygotes or by reducing recombination rates in rearranged areas of the genome. While the effects of chromosome rearrangements on gene flow have been studied in a wide range of organisms with monocentric chromosomes, the effects of rearrangements in holocentric chromosomes—chromosomes in which centromeric activity is distributed along the length of the chromosome—have not. We collected chromosome number and molecular genetic data in Carex scoparia, an eastern North American plant species with holocentric chromosomes and highly variable karyotype (2n = 56–70). There are no deep genetic breaks within C. scoparia that would suggest cryptic species differentiation. However, genetic distance between individuals is positively correlated with chromosome number difference and geographic distance. A positive correlation is also found between chromosome number and genetic distance in the western North American C. pachystachya (2n = 74–81). These findings suggest that geographic distance and the number of karyotype rearrangements separating populations affect the rate of gene flow between those populations. This is the first study to quantify the effects of holocentric chromosome rearrangements on the partitioning of intraspecific genetic variance.
Saturated and Unsaturated Polymer Flows: Microphenomena and Modeling

Fabrication of large composite parts via resin impregnation necessarily involves both saturated and unsaturated flow. While Darcy’s law assumptions classically model only the saturated flow, the idea of a Darcy-type “permeability has been widely used to describe unsaturated flows as well. Differences between saturated and unsaturated resin flow through fibrous preforms have long been reported in the literature, however, and selection of permeability values for use in numerical simulation requires a clear understandingof the differences between these two flow types. Here, we present a new model for use in prediction of the ratios of these two permeabilities. Capillary effect and the fiber roughness are shown not to be dominant phenomena, as previously assumed by other workers. Instead, transverse flow into tows, which occurs after the fluid has permeated the intertow gaps, is found to produce significant differences in saturated and unsaturated flow velocities. Our model, which is based on Berman’s flow in a channel with porous walls, additionally accounts for walls reaching saturation as the flow moves axially through the reinforcement phase, and is shown to be in agreement with earlier experimental data. We also present analyses and experimental results based on atomic force microscopy on fiber roughness, showing its effects on flow to be of less importance than the tow permeation process. The investigation on roughness shows convincingly that for practical materials, roughness is not a concern in flow retardation at any scale (fiber or tow).
An Improved Particle-Based Coupling Method of Fluid and Rigid Bodies

We present an improved particle-based coupling method of fluid and rigid bodies which consists of fluid-rigid coupling and rigid-rigid coupling. To simulate both rigid-rigid and fluid-rigid coupling process, we compute the pressure and friction forces between rigid boundary particles and fluid particles. Then we discretize them by SPH method and obtain the resultant forces of rigid bodies and fluid. The main advantage of our method is that it does not rely on the surface normal of rigid bodies and not affected by the sampling density on rigid boundary. Combined with collision pretreatment and space divided neighboring research, our method can simulate the fluid and rigid bodies coupling process efficiently, which possesses high fidelity and strong robustness.
Spatial Scaling of Functional Structure in Bird and Mammal Assemblages

Differences in trait composition, or functional structure, of assemblages across spatial scales may stem from the ability to tolerate local conditions (environmental filters) and from assembly rules (biological filters). However, disentangling their respective roles has proven difficult, and limited generalities have emerged from research on the spatial scaling of functional structure. Here we quantify differences in trait composition among 679 spatially nested (i.e., paired regional pool and local community) bird and mammal assemblages worldwide. Among the regional pool, we identify species with trait combinations within the range observed locally as the ecological species pool. The ecological species pool has a trait structure that is generally different from that of the regional pool, consistent with the operation of environmental filters. In contrast, local species trait structure generally shows little difference from that of the ecological pool. We find notable deviations from expectations based on equiprobable draws from the ecological pool. However, these deviations vary little across scales and broad environmental gradients. For mammals, but not birds, this is consistent with assembly rules. Thus, by conceptualizing ecological pools, we demonstrate that functional structure is jointly determined by processes causing both low and high functional differences between scales and are able to quantify their relative importance.