Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An E-cient Update Management Mechanism for Clustered Query Result Caching Systems at Database-driven Web sites

A key problem in using caching technology for dynamic contents lies in update management. An update management scheme should be very efficient without imposing much extra burden to the system, especially to the original database server. We propose an efficient update management mechanism for query result caching in database-backed Web sites. Our method instantly processes each update and invalidates affected query results in the cache. The cache takes in charge of the update management process, and minimizes the overhead imposed to the database server. In addition, the mechanism employees a two-phase consistency checking method, which prunes out unaffected queries at the earliest possible moment. The method scales well with a high number of cached instances. As it minimizes the overhead to database servers, it also scales well up with the number of cache nodes in a system. Thus, it provides a scalable framework of update management for a multi-node or clustered cache architecture.
[Imbalance of plasma amino acids in patients with autism and subjects with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder].

INTRODUCTION Plasma and brain amino acids are influenced by dietary intake. Alterations of plasma amino acid concentrations have been reported in neuropsychiatric disorders. OBJECTIVE To analyse the plasma amino acid values in subject diagnosed with autism, with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and healthy subjects as controls. PATIENTS AND METHODS Forty subjects affected by autism, 11 with ADHD and 41 healthy subjects (age range 3 18 years old) were included in this study. Peripheral venous blood was obtained in fasting condition, collected in EDTA tubes and centrifuged. Plasma was de proteinised with sulfosalicylic acid. Amino acids were analysed by ion exchange liquid chromatography with an LKB amino acid analyser with sodium citrate elution system and ninhydrin reaction. Results were expressed as mmol/L. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS In both disorders a diminution of phenylalanine and glutamine plasma concentrations was observed beside an increase of glycine. Lysine appeared increased only in autistic subjects. These alterations produce an imbalance with the rest of plasma amino acids competing at the brain blood barrier by the same transport system thus causing alterations in the metabolism and/or transport of amino acids to the brain, altering CNS functions. The phenylalanine decreasing, beside glycine increasing appear to support the hypothesis of a disorder in the inhibitory neurotransmission system, especially in ADHD. The diminution of phenylalanine and the increasing of lysine in autism are suggestive that these two amino acids are metabolically related.
GabiPD – The GABI Primary Database integrates plant proteomic data with gene-centric information

GabiPD is an integrative plant “omics” database that has been established as part of the German initiative for Genome Analysis of the Plant Biological System (GABI). Data from different “omics” disciplines are integrated and interactively visualized. Proteomics is represented by data and tools aiding studies on the identification of post-translational modification and function of proteins. Annotated 2D electrophoresis-gel images are offered to inspect protein sets expressed in different tissues of Arabidopsis thaliana and Brassica napus. From a given protein spot, a link will direct the user to the related GreenCard Gene entry where detailed gene-centric information will support the functional annotation. Beside MapMan- and GO-classification, information on conserved protein domains and on orthologs is integrated in this GreenCard service. Moreover, all other GabiPD data related to the gene, including transcriptomic data, as well as gene-specific links to external resources are provided. Researches interested in plant protein phosphorylation will find information on potential MAP kinase substrates identified in different protein microarray studies integrated in GabiPD’s Phosphoproteomics page. These data can be easily compared to experimentally identified or predicted phosphorylation sites in PhosPhAt via the related Gene GreenCard. This will allow the selection of interesting candidates for further experimental validation of their phosphorylation.
Exposure to environmental and lifestyle factors and attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder in children — A review of epidemiological studies

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in children. Although the mechanisms that lead to the development of ADHD remain unclear, genetic and environmental factors have been implicated. These include heavy metals and chemical exposures, nutritional and lifestyle/psychosocial factors. The aim of this review was to investigate the association between ADHD or ADHD-related symptoms and widespread environmental factors such as phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA), tobacco smoke, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polyfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFCs) and alcohol. Medline, PubMed and Ebsco search was performed to identify the studies which analyze the association of prenatal and postnatal child exposure to environmental toxicants and lifestyle factors and ADHD or ADHD-related symptoms. The review is restricted to human studies published since 2000 in English in peer reviewed journals. Despite much research has been done on the association between environmental risk factors and ADHD or ADHD symptoms, results are not consistent. Most studies in this field, focused on exposure to tobacco smoke, found an association between that exposure and ADHD and ADHD symptoms. On the other hand, the impact of phthalates, BPA, PFCs, PAHs and alcohol is less frequently investigated and does not allow a firm conclusion regarding the association with the outcomes of interest.
Genetic polymorphism of alpha-lactalbumin gene in riverine buffalo

Alpha-lactalbumin (α-LA) is a major whey protein found in milk. Polymorphs of α-LA gene are reported to be significantly associated with milk production and constituent traits. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to detect polymorphism in α-LA at the genic level and to explore allelic variability at this locus. A total of 196 animals, belonging to four breeds of riverine buffalo viz. Bhadwari, Mehsana, Surti and Murrah were included under the present investigation. Two fragments i.e. 133 bp (Exon 1) and 159 bp (Exon 2) of α-LA gene were amplified by polymerase chain reaction and subsequently, single strand confirmation polymorphism (SSCP) study was carried out to identify different allelic pattern and genotypes of the animal included in the study. Both fragment of α-LA gene was found to be polymorphic in all the four breeds of riverine buffalo. Number of genotypes and allele varied breed to breed for both the fragments. In case of 133 bp fragment, four alleles A, B, C and D were found among different breeds of buffalo whereas in 159 bp fragment, five alleles namely A, B, C, D and E was found in different breeds. Nucleotide sequence data of different alleles showed the presence of both silent as well as functional mutation leading to variability in polypeptide chain.
Sustained ocular hypertension induces dendritic degeneration of mouse retinal ganglion cells that depends on cell type and location.

PURPOSE Glaucoma is characterized by retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death and frequently associated with elevated IOP. How RGCs degenerate before death is little understood, so we sought to investigate RGC degeneration in a mouse model of ocular hypertension. METHODS A laser-induced mouse model of chronic ocular hypertension mimicked human high-tension glaucoma. Immunohistochemistry was used to characterize overall RGC loss and an optomotor behavioral test to measure corresponding changes in visual capacity. Changes in RGC functional properties were characterized by a large-scale multielectrode array (MEA). The transgenic Thy-1-YFP mouse line, in which a small number of RGCs are labeled with yellow fluorescent protein (YFP), permitted investigation of whether subtypes of RGCs or RGCs from particular retinal areas were differentially vulnerable to elevated IOP. RESULTS Sustained IOP elevation in mice was achieved by laser photocoagulation. We confirmed RGC loss and decreased visual acuity in ocular hypertensive mice. Furthermore, these mice had fewer visually responsive cells with smaller receptive field sizes compared to controls. We demonstrated that RGC dendritic shrinkage started from the vertical axis of hypertensive eyes and that mono-laminated ON cells were more susceptible to IOP elevation than bi-laminated ON-OFF cells. Moreover, a subgroup of ON RGCs labeled by the SMI-32 antibody exhibited significant dendritic atrophy in the superior quadrant of the hypertensive eyes. CONCLUSIONS RGC degeneration depends on subtype and location in hypertensive eyes. This study introduces a valuable model to investigate how the structural and functional degeneration of RGCs leads to visual impairments.
Efficient link-based clustering in a large scaled blog network

In this paper, we address efficient processing of link-based clustering in large-scaled data environment. LinkClus is a link-based clustering method that provides good accuracy and reasonable performance. This paper first shows that this method is not sufficiently scalable to be applied to a huge volume of real-world blog data. Then, we observe that the performance bottleneck of LinkClus exists on the initial clustering step. We propose a new method to get over this performance bottleneck. The proposed method first identifies the seed sets for initial clustering efficiently. Here, each seed set consists of a small number (=2~3) of objects that are highly similar to one another. The method then adds every other object into one of seed sets that are the most similar to the object. It also eliminates those objects of very few links that negatively affect the accuracy, thereby enhancing the overall processing performance. Via experiments with real-world blog data, we verify the scalability and accuracy of the proposed method.
NOTES AND PROBLEMS IDENTIFICATION IN TRIANGULAR SYSTEMS USING CONTROL FUNCTIONS

This note discusses identification in nonparametric, continuous triangular systems. It provides conditions that are both necessary and sufficient for the existence of control functions satisfying conditional independence and support requirements. Confirming a commonly noticed pattern, these conditions restrict the admissible dimensionality of unobserved heterogeneity in the first-stage structural relation, or more generally the dimensionality of the family of conditional distributions of second-stage heterogeneity given explanatory variables and instruments. These conditions imply that no such control function exists without assumptions that seem hard to justify in most applications. In particular, none exists in the context of a generic random coefficient model.
Déterminants psychosociaux du changement de comportement dans le choix du mode de transport : le cas de l'intermodalité

Cette these apporte un eclairage sur les perceptions de differents modes de transport (intermodalite, automobile, transports en commun) et sur leur impact sur le choix modal et le changement de comportement de deplacement. Le premier objectif empirique est d'identifier le poids respectif des determinants socio-demographiques, structurels et psychologiques dans le choix d'utiliser les transports en commun et de recourir a l'intermodalite plutot que de se deplacer en voiture. Les resultats obtenus indiquent que les perceptions des aspects instrumentaux et de detente ressentie predisent le recours aux transports en commun (etude 1) et a l'intermodalite (etude 2). Les determinants socio-demographiques n'ont pas d'effet sur le choix modal lorsque la presence des infrastructures et les perceptions sont controlees. Afin d'integrer les determinants structurels et subjectifs du choix modal, un modele est propose. Ce modele demontre que les attitudes, les normes sociales, les conditions facilitatrices et les habitudes ont un effet sur le mode de transport choisi. L'habitude apparait ici comme un facteur determinant du choix modal (etude 3). Le deuxieme objectif empirique de cette these est, compte tenu de l'importance de l'habitude dans le choix modal, de proposer des strategies pour deconditionner le choix du mode de transport. La premiere strategie consiste a profiter de la gene ressentie lors d'importants travaux de voirie dans le cadre de l'amenagement d'une nouvelle ligne de tramway a Grenoble pour inciter les individus a questionner leur choix modal et changer leurs habitudes (etude 4). Dans le cadre de ces travaux, la gene ressentie est elevee mais bien acceptee du fait de la perception positive des politiques en faveur des transports en commun. La seconde strategie consiste a proposer une incitation economique (ici un abonnement a tarif reduit dans le cadre d'un Plan de Deplacement d'Entreprise ou PDE) pour amener les salaries des entreprises a questionner leurs choix de deplacement et a modifier leurs habitudes (etude 5). Le PDE apparait comme un outil efficace de changement modal mais de nombreux salaries qui ont cru y trouver un mode de deplacement revolutionnaire sont decus et risquent de developper une attitude fortement negative et durable envers les transports en commun. Des recommandations sont faites pour une communication efficiente visant a modifier les comportements de deplacement, pour l'amelioration des demarches PDE et pour l'utilisation des travaux de voirie comme levier de deconditionnement du choix modal.
Relationship between spectral components of cardiovascular variabilities and direct measures of muscle sympathetic nerve activity in humans.

BACKGROUND Spectral analysis of RR interval and systolic arterial pressure variabilities may provide indirect markers of the balance between sympathetic and vagal cardiovascular control. METHODS AND RESULTS We examined the relationship between power spectral measurements of variabilities in RR interval, systolic arterial pressure, and muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) obtained by microneurography over a range of blood pressures. In eight healthy human volunteers, MSNA, RR interval, intra-arterial pressure, and respiration were measured during blood pressure reductions induced by nitroprusside and during blood pressure increases induced by phenylephrine. Both low-frequency (LF; 0.10 +/- 0.01 Hz) and high-frequency (HF; 0.23 +/- 0.01 Hz) components were detected in MSNA variability. Increasing levels of MSNA were associated with a shift of the spectral power toward its LF component. Decreasing levels of MSNA were associated with a shift of MSNA spectral power toward the HF component. Over the range of pressure changes, the LF component of MSNA variability was positively and tightly correlated with LF components of RR interval (in normalized units; P < 10(-6)) and of systolic arterial pressure variability (both in millimeters of mercury squared and normalized units; P < 5 x 10(-5) and P < 5 x 10(-6), respectively). The HF component of MSNA variability was positively and tightly correlated with the HF component (in normalized units) of RR-interval variability (P < 3 x 10(-4)) and of systolic arterial pressure variability (P < .01). CONCLUSIONS During sympathetic activation in normal humans, there is a predominance in the LF oscillation of blood pressure, RR interval, and sympathetic nerve activity. During sympathetic inhibition, the HF component of cardiovascular variability predominates. This relationship is best seen when power spectral components are normalized for total power. Synchronous changes in the LF and HF rhythms of both RR interval and MSNA during different levels of sympathetic drive are suggestive of common central mechanisms governing both parasympathetic and sympathetic cardiovascular modulation.
A unified framework for hybrid control: model and optimal control theory

We propose a very general framework that systematizes the notion of a hybrid system, combining differential equations and automata, governed by a hybrid controller that issues continuous-variable commands and makes logical decisions. We first identify the phenomena that arise in real-world hybrid systems. Then, we introduce a mathematical model of hybrid systems as interacting collections of dynamical systems, evolving on continuous-variable state spaces and subject to continuous controls and discrete transitions. The model captures the identified phenomena, subsumes previous models, yet retains enough structure to pose and solve meaningful control problems. We develop a theory for synthesizing hybrid controllers for hybrid plants in all optimal control framework. In particular, we demonstrate the existence of optimal (relaxed) and near-optimal (precise) controls and derive "generalized quasi-variational inequalities" that the associated value function satisfies. We summarize algorithms for solving these inequalities based on a generalized Bellman equation, impulse control, and linear programming.
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes Commentary Commentary on Aspects of Lola Lopes' Paper

Lopes (1996) clearly has limited patience with the Try to work through with undergraduates the equivalence concept of ''rationality'' as a basis for, or descriptor of, human decision making. I, in contrast, find some of the principles of rationality reasonably compel-(1) ling — as do subjects when the situation allows them to see the structure of the decision they face — and where the symbol (u, E; v) means one receives u if event E occurs and v otherwise and the underlying chance so it strikes me as relevant to understand in some detail just which principles of rationality are and are experiment is independently run twice to realize the events D and E. I believe that the empirical evidence not being violated. This, I believe, is the thrust of a good deal of the contemporary work, some of which is heavily against the behavioral accuracy of most structural rationality properties, but it is much less so she mentions, relating data and theory. The first question is just what does the behavioral against preference rationality. 2 The rank-dependent utility (RDU) models of the evidence against subjective expected utility (SEU), which surely is overwhelming, tell us is wrong with 1980s (for a summary see Quiggin, 1993) have exactly the feature of maintaining preference rationality and that theory. that it is very important to abandoning most of structural rationality. Their most complex structural property is what has been called distinguish between two types of rationality embodied in SEU. The one, called preference rationality, event commutativity: includes such principles as transitivity and conse-(2) a gamble by something better can only make the gamble better). Violations of these properties typically Here the bottom line is reasonably clear: x if D and E both occur and 0 otherwise; they differ only in the are viewed as errors when they are pointed out to subjects. The other type, called structural rationality, order in which D and E are realized. 3 This has been tested and although the results are somewhat mixed, says that one's preferences should not be altered by changing the way a gamble is formulated so long as the most careful laboratory study (Chung, von Win-terfeldt, & Luce, 1994) supports Eq. (2) for a large the bottom line remains unchanged. 1 It may well be that people agree to this in principle, but most un-proportion of subjects. Adding further, more complex conditions of structural …
Bottleneck features from SNR-adaptive denoising deep classifier for speaker identification

In this paper, we explore the potential of using deep learning for extracting speaker-dependent features for noise robust speaker identification. More specifically, an SNR-adaptive denoising classifier is constructed by stacking two layers of restricted Boltzmann machines (RBMs) on top of a denoising deep autoencoder, where the top-RBM layer is connected to a soft-max output layer that outputs the posterior probabilities of speakers and the top-RBM layer outputs speaker-dependent bottleneck features. Both the deep autoencoder and RBMs are trained by contrastive divergence, followed by backpropagation fine-tuning. The autoencoder aims to reconstruct the clean spectra of a noisy test utterance using the spectra of the noisy test utterance and its SNR as input. With this denoising capability, the output from the bottleneck layer of the classifier can be considered as a low-dimension representation of denoised utterances. These frame-based bottleneck features are than used to train an iVector extractor and a PLDA model for speaker identification. Experimental results based on a noisy YOHO corpus show that the bottleneck features slightly outperform the conventional MFCC under low SNR conditions and that fusion of the two features lead to further performance gain, suggesting that the two features are complementary with each other.
A projection-based error analysis of HDG methods for Timoshenko beams

We introduce a new technique for the error analysis of hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin (HDG) methods. The technique relies on the use of a new projection whose design is inspired by the form of the numerical traces of the methods. This renders the analysis of the projections of the discretization errors simple and concise. By showing that these projections of the errors are bounded in terms of the distance between the solution and its projection, our studies of influence of the stabilization parameter are reduced to local analyses of approximation by the projection. We illustrate the technique on a specific HDG method applied to a model second-order elliptic problem.