Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Gfarm File System on Compute Clouds

Due to its ability to provide requested resources on demand, the use of cloud computing for data-intensive computing is expected to skyrocket in the coming years. The present IaaS cloud infrastructure is designed such that the compute cloud and the storage cloud are separate components. However, the design has one major problem, namely a trade-off has to be made between the network cost and storage performance. To cope with these problems, we are proposing high performance file system service in compute cloud that transparently utilizes file access locality on dynamic configuration of cloud computing infrastructure. We evaluated the system using micro benchmarks, MapReduce applications, and MPI-IO applications. Our system shows the scalable file I/O performance.
Title: Manifold learning and Random Projections for multi-view object recognition

Recognizing objects from different viewpoints is a challenging task. One approach for handling this task is to model the appearance of an object under different viewing conditions using a low dimensional subspace. Manifold learning describes the process by which this low dimensional embedding can be generated. However, manifold learning is an unsupervised method and thus gives poor results on classification tasks. To address this impediment of manifold learning, we investigated the combination of manifold learning and distance metric learning for the generation of a representation that is both discriminative and informative. In the proposed system, initial dimensionality reduction is achieved using random projections, a computationally efficient and data independent linear transformation. Distance metric learning is then applied to increase the separation between classes and improve the accuracy of
Communal and Individual Learning Contexts as They Relate to Mathematics Achievement Under Simulated Classroom Conditions

The current study builds on previous communalism research by exploring the enduring facilitative effects of communal learning contexts on academic achievement for African American children over extended time and while calling on critical thinking skills. In addition, this study sought to explore the communalism construct in a more applied academic environment that approximated real classroom conditions. This study examined performance differences in fraction problem solving among 96 low-income African American students in Grades 3 to 6 participating in either a communal or individual learning context. Pretest to posttest gains showed that students randomly selected for the communal learning context significantly outperformed students who learned in the individualistic context. Additionally, communal learning students outperformed their individual counterparts during each weekly domain assessments. Several promising results obtained draws the communalism construct to a more applied culturally relevant pedagogical tool.
Adaptive Application Scheduling under Interference in Kubernetes

Containers are rapidly replacing Virtual Machines (VMs) as the compute instance in cloud-based deployments. The significantly lower overhead of deploying containers (compared to VMs) has often been cited as one reason for this. However, interference caused by the limited isolation in shared resources can impact into the performance of hosted applications. We develop a Reference Net-based model of resource management within Kubernetes, primarily to better characterise such performance issues. Our model makes use of data obtained from a Kubernetes deployment, and can be used as a basis to design scalable (and potentially interference tolerant) applications that make use of Kubernetes.
Differential regulation of blood flow‐induced neovascularization and mural cell recruitment by vascular endothelial growth factor and angiopoietin signalling

Combining nitric oxide (NO)‐mediated increased blood flow with angiopoietin‐1–Tie2 receptor signalling induces arteriolargenesis – the formation of arterioles from capillaries – in a model of physiological angiogenesis. This NO–Tie‐mediated arteriolargenesis requires endogenous vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signalling. Inhibition of VEGF signalling increases pericyte coverage in microvessels. Together these findings indicate that generation of functional neovasculature requires close titration of NO–Tie2 signalling and localized VEGF induction, suggesting that the use of exogenous VEGF expression as a therapeutic for neovascularization may not be successful.
Genetics of behavior: selection for mating ability in chickens.

MATING behavior in animals is complex and determined by diverse genetic and environmental factors. As one aspect of this behavior, mating frequency in chickens has received considerable attention ( UPP 1928; WOOD-GUSH 1956; MCDANIEL and CRAIG 1959; SIEGEL 1959; CARBAUGH, SCHEIN and HALE 1962; JUSTICE, MCDANIEL and CRAIG 1962). These reports, while not in agreement on the best procedures for the study of this component of sexual behavior, were consistent in showing that it was highly variable. Although phenotypic variation is large, data are available to suggest a genetic basis for mating frequency and sex-drive in chickens. For example, GUHL (1951 ) found significant differences among males for mating frequency. Differences have been noted among sire families (WOOD-GUSH and OSE~QRNE 1959) and inbred lines (SIEGEL 1959). A repeatability estimate of . 31 was obtained by SIEGEL (1960a) for the number of completed matings made in 10-minute observation periods. Further, some progress in the separation of lines by selection for sex-drive has been reported by WOOD-GUSH (1958, 1960) and TINDELL and ARZE (1965). The present study was designed to measure the effects of mass selection in divergent directions for mating frequency at 31 to 34 weeks of age. Information was sought on the inheritance of this trait and its relationship with unselected characteristics.
Using Local Improved Structural Holes Method to Identify Key Nodes in Complex Networks

In complex networks, it is significant to rank the nodes according to their importance. In this paper we present an algorithm based on an improved Structural Holes method to identify the key nodes of a complex network. Since our approach does not need to consider the global structure of a network but only consider the number of one node's neighbors and it's next nearest neighbors, the nodes importance can be calculated with local information of a complex network. Experimental results of ARPA net show that our method is better than some important ranking measures such as between ness, degree or closeness. It is very useful for evaluating the key nodes in large scale and complicated networks, in which evaluation of nodes importance is almost impossible to calculate with global information.
The goal of software architecture analysis: confidence building or risk assessment

Software architecture analysis methods of flexibility tend to concentrate on averages. Based on the changes incurred by a number of scenarios, the flexibility of the system is assessed. This approach holds the danger that really complex scenarios, scenarios that impose real risks, are overlooked or their effect gets smoothened. We propose a method aimed at finding and assessing the really complicated scenarios. We provide a twodimensional framework to structure the process of finding those complicated scenarios.
How components of facial width to height ratio differently contribute to the perception of social traits

Facial width to height ratio (fWHR) is a morphological cue that correlates with sexual dimorphism and social traits. Currently, it is unclear how vertical and horizontal components of fWHR, distinctly capture faces’ social information. Using a new methodology, we orthogonally manipulated the upper facial height and the bizygomatic width to test their selective effect in the formation of impressions. Subjects (n = 90) saw pair of faces and had to select the face expressing better different social traits (trustworthiness, aggressiveness and femininity). We further investigated how sex and fWHR components interact in the formation of these judgements. Across experiments, changes along the vertical component better predicted participants' ratings rather than the horizontal component. Faces with smaller height were perceived as less trustworthy, less feminine and more aggressive. By dissociating fWHR and testing the contribution of its components independently, we obtained a powerful and discriminative measure of how facial morphology guides social judgements.
An Improved Reversible Data Hiding in Encrypted Images Using Side Match

This letter proposes an improved version of Zhang's reversible data hiding method in encrypted images. The original work partitions an encrypted image into blocks, and each block carries one bit by flipping three LSBs of a set of pre-defined pixels. The data extraction and image recovery can be achieved by examining the block smoothness. Zhang's work did not fully exploit the pixels in calculating the smoothness of each block and did not consider the pixel correlations in the border of neighboring blocks. These two issues could reduce the correctness of data extraction. This letter adopts a better scheme for measuring the smoothness of blocks, and uses the side-match scheme to further decrease the error rate of extracted-bits. The experimental results reveal that the proposed method offers better performance over Zhang's work. For example, when the block size is set to 8 8, the error rate of the Lena image of the proposed method is 0. 34%, which is significantly lower than 1.21% of Zhang's work.
Slopes of 2-adic overconvergent modular forms with small level

Let $\tau$ be the primitive Dirichlet character of conductor 4, let $\chi$ be the primitive even Dirichlet character of conductor 8 and let $k$ be an integer. Then the $U_2$ operator acting on cuspidal overconvergent modular forms of weight $2k+1$ and character $\tau$ has slopes in the arithmetic progression ${2,4,. ,2n,. }$, and the $U_2$ operator acting on cuspidal overconvergent modular forms of weight $k$ and character $\chi \cdot \tau^k$ has slopes in the arithmetic progression ${1,2,. ,n,. }$. We then show that the characteristic polynomials of the Hecke operators $U_2$ and $T_p$ acting on the space of classical cusp forms of weight $k$ and character either $\tau$ or $\chi\cdot\tau^k$ split completely over $\qtwo$.
Studying the Cognitive Involvement of Glia Cells Using Stochastic Functional Microscopy

The latest brain researches are showing the relevance of glia cells in cognitive processes like learning and memory. One of the main problems related to this type of investigations is about complexity: there are between 10 and 40 times more glia than neurons in the central nervous system of mammalians; the other main problem is about synaptic communication: glia cells (like astrocytes and microglia) use basically a chemical information system, therefore electrophysiological tecniques are not very efficient. The recent development of PALM and STORM microscopy can be a very powerful solution to these two main problems. This strategy can be included in a broader, hypothetical discipline called cognitive gliascience.
Nucleosome fragility is associated with future transcriptional response to developmental cues and stress in C. elegans

Nucleosomes have structural and regulatory functions in all eukaryotic DNA-templated processes. The position of nucleosomes on DNA and the stability of the underlying histone-DNA interactions affect the access of regulatory proteins to DNA. Both stability and position are regulated through DNA sequence, histone post-translational modifications, histone variants, chromatin remodelers, and transcription factors. Here, we explored the functional implications of nucleosome properties on gene expression and development in C. elegans embryos. We performed a time-course of micrococcal nuclease (MNase) digestion, and measured the relative sensitivity or resistance of nucleosomes throughout the genome. Fragile nucleosomes were defined by nucleosomal DNA fragments recoverable preferentially in early MNase-digestion time points. We found fragile nucleosomes at locations where we expected to find destabilized nucleosomes, like transcription factor binding sites where nucleosomes compete with DNA-binding factors. Contrary to our expectation, the presence of fragile nucleosomes in gene promoters was anti-correlated with transcriptional activity. Instead, genes with fragile nucleosomes in their promoters tended to be expressed in a context-specific way, operating in neuronal response, the immune system, and stress response. Nucleosome fragility at these promoters was strongly and positively correlated with the AT content of the underlying DNA. There was not a strong correlation between promoter nucleosome fragility and the levels of histone modifications or histone variants. Our data suggest that in C. elegans promoters, nucleosome fragility is primarily a DNA-encoded feature that poises genes for future context-specific activation in response to environmental stress and developmental cues.
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Cc by Test Case Selection Using Bee Colony Optimization

In software development life cycle (SDLC), testing phase is the most important phase. In regression testing there evolves the number of test cases that are impractical to test all of them. Therefore to overcome this problem, testing is done using selected test cases to reduce the testing effort and get the desired result accurately. We present the selection of test cases with the help of Bee Colony Optimization (BCO) Algorithm. The Algorithm proposed here uses swarm based intelligence technique on Maximum coverage to select the best of breed test case to evaluate any errors in the development cycle therefore the BCO produce optimal no. of test cases solving optimization problem.
Effect of force feedback on performance of robotics-assisted suturing

This paper is aimed at exploring the effect of force feedback on the performance of a knot-tightening task in robotics-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RAMIS). In this work, we evaluate performance during the knot-tightening task in three scenarios: without force feedback, with visual force feedback and with direct force reflection on the subject's hand. Different performance measures have been implemented: quality of the knot, amount and consistency of the tightening force applied on the suture, user's control of the instrument, tissue damage, and task completion time. Seven subjects participated in this study and were asked to tighten the second throw of surgical knots using a dual arm teleoperation system that is capable of force reflection in 7 Degrees of Freedom (DOFs), 6-DOF rigid body motion plus the gripper. The results show that visual force feedback allows superior performance in the quality of the suture knots with high consistency in the tightening force, while direct force feedback can significantly improve the user's control of the instrument.
Epidemiology of Uterine Myomas: A Review

Myomas are the most common benign tumors of the genital organs in women of childbearing age, causing significant morbidity and impairing their quality of life. In our investigation, we have reviewed the epidemiological data related to the development of myomas in order to homogenize the current data. Therefore, a MEDLINE and PubMed search, for the years 1990-2013, was conducted using a combination of keywords, such as "myoma," "leiomyoma," "fibroids," "myomectomy," "lifestyle," "cigarette," "alcohol," "vitamins," "diet," and "hysterectomy". Randomized controlled studies were selected based upon the authors’ estimation. Peer-reviewed articles examining myomas were sorted by their relevance and included in this research. Additional articles were also identified from the references of the retrieved papers and included according to authors’ estimation. Many epidemiologic factors are linked to the development of myomas; however, many are not yet fully understood. These factors include age, race, heritage, reproductive factors, sex hormones, obesity, lifestyle (diet, caffeine and alcohol consumption, smoking, physical activity and stress), environmental and other influences, such as hypertension and infection. Some of the epidemiological data is conflicting. Thus, more research is needed to understand all the risk factors that contribute to myoma formation and how they exactly influence their onset and growth.
A XON 2 — A visual object recognitionsystemfor non-rigid objects

This article describes a viewer-centered, feature-based object recognition system capable to distinguish up to 200 different objects. It has to cope with images of non-rigid objects showing partial occlusion. Therefore, we suggest the exclusive use of color and texture information. To accomplish this, we introduce some novel feature types, which we have successfully tested on a variety of classification problems.
Protein sequence comparison based on the wavelet transform approach.

A protein's chemical properties, the chain conformation, the function of the protein and its species specificity are determined by the information contained in the amino acid sequence. Proteins of similar functions have at some level sequential identical amino acid sequences. The closer the phylogenetic relationship, the more similar are the sequences. To find the similarities between two or more protein sequences is of great importance for protein sequence analysis. The differences in the amino acid sequences permit the construction of a family tree of evolution. In this work, a comparison method was devised that is capable of analysing a protein sequence 'hierarchically', i.e. it can examine a protein sequence at different spatial resolutions. Based on a wavelet decomposition of protein sequences and a cross-correlation study, a sequence-scale similarity concept is proposed for generating a similarity vector, which renders the comparison of two sequences feasible at different spatial resolutions (scales). This new similarity concept is an expansion of the conventional sequence similarity, which only takes into account the local pairwise amino acid match and ignores the information contained in coarser spatial resolutions.
Living in the Anthropocene: towards a risk-taking society

Social debates about nature are changing. Understandings of nature as largely independent of human activity and available for exploitation have given way to concerns about its protection, and have further shifted towards strategies focused on actively managing and producing nature. This article aims to make sense of this shift using a risk framework. Originating from the modern notion of risk that amalgamates risk minimisation and risk-taking, it suggests that environmental decision-making is shifting from an emphasis on the prevention and minimisation of risk towards a focus on risk management and risk-taking. The article revisits debates about the Anthropocene as well as trends in environmental sociology and developments in economics to illustrate how the notion of ‘nature’ has changed. It reflects a growing trend of debates considering humans’ responsibility for their natural environment, as well as the need to shape it actively and see it as a problem of market design. In conclusion, it argues that these changes characterise the sprawl of social risk-taking into the natural environment. Still considered complex, dynamic and difficult to understand, the notion of ‘nature’ as increasingly shaped and produced by humanity is pushing humanity into an age of environmental risk-taking or a risk-taking society.
Task-induced deactivation identified by SPM and Group Independent Component Analysis

Task-induced deactivation (TID) refers to some regional decrease in blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal during a cognitive task compared to a baseline. Several functional imaging studies have found co-activation in a distributed network cortical regions, including ventral anterior cingulate cortex (vACC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PPC) that characterizes the default mode of human brain. This founding led to a hypothesis that these regions constitute a network supporting a TID mode network of brain function. In this study, two complementary methods, one applying the general linear model and the other a data driven approach called group independent component analysis (ICA), were utilized to analyze the fMRI data obtained two tasks, Chinese verb generation and the English noun word reading. Both methods yielded similar, but not identical, results and detected a network of robustly activated some midline regions including anterior and posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus. However, the ICA method segregated functional elements into two separate maps and identified ventral cingulate component and a fronto-parietal component. The results suggest that these two components in tasks induced deactivation might be linked to different mental function and play a significant role during "resting" or "passive" baseline.
No third-party punishment in chimpanzees

Punishment can help maintain cooperation by deterring free-riding and cheating. Of particular importance in large-scale human societies is third-party punishment in which individuals punish a transgressor or norm violator even when they themselves are not affected. Nonhuman primates and other animals aggress against conspecifics with some regularity, but it is unclear whether this is ever aimed at punishing others for noncooperation, and whether third-party punishment occurs at all. Here we report an experimental study in which one of humans' closest living relatives, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), could punish an individual who stole food. Dominants retaliated when their own food was stolen, but they did not punish when the food of third-parties was stolen, even when the victim was related to them. Third-party punishment as a means of enforcing cooperation, as humans do, might therefore be a derived trait in the human lineage.
Facial tracking method for noncontact respiration rate monitoring

A non-contact method of monitoring respiration rate is developed. The approach involved tracking a facial region of interest (ROI) associated with respiration in thermal images. Image processing techniques were used to enhance the recorded thermal images and to remove unwanted noise. The skin surface area centered on the tip of the nose was specified by a circle that covered the region affected by respiration process. Feature extraction and signal processing methods were applied to this region to compute the respiration rate. It was demonstrated that the method could successfully track the ROI for both regular and random head movement types and could determine respiration rate in a noncontact manner. Further work is in progress to enhance the algorithm so that it can cope with very large head movements.
Wirkung des Fahrens auf NeuroBikes auf die mathematische Lösungskompetenz und die EEG Gehirnaktivität: eine Interventionsstudie

Ein Einfluss des Fahrradfahrens auf kognitive Verarbeitungsprozesse wurde von mehreren Studien ermittelt (Crabbe & Dishmann, 2004; Etnier & Sibley, 2003; Kamijo et al., 2007). Das NeuroBike ist ein instabiles System, welches in der Sporttherapie und im Sporttraining Anwendung findet. Die Gleichgewichtsbewegung, verursacht durch das in der Mitte des Rahmens applizierte Gelenk, ist dem Kreuzgang des Menschen ähnlich und sorgt laut Hersteller für eine positive Beeinflussung der Gehirnfunktion. In der vorliegenden Studie untersuchten wir die Auswirkungen des Fahrens des NeuroBikes auf die mathematische Lösungskompetenz und die spontane EEG-Gehirnaktivität.