Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spatial encoding circuit techniques for peak power reduction of on-chip high-performance buses

We propose various low-latency spatial encoder circuits based on bus-invert coding for reducing peak energy and current in on-chip buses with minimum penalty on total latency. The encoders are implemented in dual-rail domino logic with interfaces for static inputs and static buses. A spatial and temporally encoded dynamic bus technique is also proposed for higher performance targets. Comparisons to standard on-chip buses of various lengths with optimal repeater configurations at the 130nm node show the energy-delay and peak current-delay design space in which the different encoder circuits are beneficial. A 9mm spatially encoded static bus exhibits peak energy gains beyond that achievable through repeater optimization for a single cycle operation at 1 GHz, with delay and energy overhead of the encoding included. For throughput constrained buses, the spatially encoded static bus can provide up to 31% reduction in peak energy, while the spatially and temporally encoded dynamic bus yields peak current reductions of more than 50% for all bus lengths.
Endogenous Phospholipid Metabolite Containing Topical Product Inhibits Ultraviolet Light-Induced Inflammation and DNA Damage in Human Skin

Background: N-palmitoylethanolamine (PEA) and organic osmolytes are endogenous components of the human epidermis and are generated from phospholipids in the stratum granulosum. PEA has been shown to exert potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. The endogenous organic osmolytes such as betaine and sarcosine control skin humidity, but have also been shown to inhibit ultraviolet (UV) light-induced oxidative stress in keratinocytes. Objectives: To investigate the effect of a PEA- and organic osmolyte-containing topical product (Physiogel AI®) on the development of UV light-induced erythema, thymine dimer formation and p53 tumor suppressor gene activation, as well as intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) and Ki67 expression in normal human skin. Methods: The UV-induced erythema was measured by a spectrofluorometric method. Thymine dimers, p53, ICAM-1 and Ki67 were detected in skin biopsies using immunohistochemistry. Results: Physiogel AI cream significantly inhibited the development of UV light-induced erythema and thymine dimer formation in normal human skin, but did not alter the number of Ki67+ proliferating keratinocytes and the expression of p53 and ICAM-1. Conclusions: Our results suggest that PEA and organic osmolytes might represent a new generation of compounds which suppress UV-induced photodamage.
Neuroethology of primate social behavior

A neuroethological approach to human and nonhuman primate behavior and cognition predicts biological specializations for social life. Evidence reviewed here indicates that ancestral mechanisms are often duplicated, repurposed, and differentially regulated to support social behavior. Focusing on recent research from nonhuman primates, we describe how the primate brain might implement social functions by coopting and extending preexisting mechanisms that previously supported nonsocial functions. This approach reveals that highly specialized mechanisms have evolved to decipher the immediate social context, and parallel circuits have evolved to translate social perceptual signals and nonsocial perceptual signals into partially integrated social and nonsocial motivational signals, which together inform general-purpose mechanisms that command behavior. Differences in social behavior between species, as well as between individuals within a species, result in part from neuromodulatory regulation of these neural circuits, which itself appears to be under partial genetic control. Ultimately, intraspecific variation in social behavior has differential fitness consequences, providing fundamental building blocks of natural selection. Our review suggests that the neuroethological approach to primate behavior may provide unique insights into human psychopathology.
An enhancement of multicast congestion control over hybrid wired/wireless networks

In wireless networks, random loss due to bit error leads to significant performance degradation to conventional multicast congestion control schemes. In this paper, we propose and study an enhanced multicast congestion control scheme, called EPGMCC (enhanced PGMCC), which achieves significant performance improvement over PGMCC over loss-prone wireless links. The key idea of EPGMCC is to discriminate random loss from congestion loss according to the measured network congestion level, and perform different actions accordingly. Specifically: 1) at the sender, it adapts the AIMD algorithms in TCP Veno (Cheng Peng Fu et al., 2003) to avoid the unnecessary window-halving induced by random loss and 2) at the receiver, a new scheme is designed to better measure the loss rate and thus help the sender to select the right representative of the group. Our extensive simulation results demonstrate that EPGMCC achieves significant throughput improvement over PGMCC in hybrid wired/wireless networks, furthermore, the improved throughput achieved by EPGMCC is not grabbed from the bandwidth of coexisting connections but from the utilization of available bandwidth that left unused. Throughput improvement of up to 40% can be demonstrated over typical wireless access link with 1% random loss rate.
A Case of Recurrent Benign Episodic Unilateral Mydriasis and Decreased Visual Acuity and Review of the Literature

Unilateral mydriasis has a variety of causes, some of which are life-threatening. Migraine with benign episodic unilateral mydriasis is a nonsurgical cause of anisocoria, with unknown underlying pathophysiology. This disorder is thought to be caused by an Adie’s pupil triggered by migraine due to overactivation of the sympathetic nervous system or hypoactivity of the parasympathetic nervous system. We present the case of a 47-year-old patient who had recurrent benign episodic unilateral mydriasis associated with migraine headaches. Other vascular causes of mydriasis were investigated and excluded. Ultimately, the patient’s symptoms of blurred vision and pupillary dilation resolved over the 2 weeks after onset. We reviewed all 50 cases of benign episodic unilateral mydriasis reported in the literature and summarized common presentations of this disorder. The case presented here is typical in its progression and associated symptom of blurred vision, which is reported in 56% of cases in the literature.
Still-to-Video face recognition via weighted scenario oriented discriminant analysis

In Still-to-Video (S2V)face recognition, only a few high resolution images are enrolled for each subject, while the probe is videos of complex variations. As faces present distinct characteristics under different scenarios, recognition in the original space is obviously inefficient. In this paper, we propose a novel discriminant analysis method to learn separate mappings for different scenarios (still, video), and further pursue a common discriminant space based on these mappings. Concretely, by modeling each video as a set of local models, we form the scenario-oriented mapping learning as an Image-Model discriminant analysis framework. The learning objective is formulated by incorporating the intra-class compactness and inter-class separability for good discrimination. Moreover, a weighted learning scheme is introduced to concentrate on the discriminating information of the most confusing samples and then further enhance the performance. Experiments on the COX-S2V dataset demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Anti-tobacco advertisements by Massachusetts and Philip Morris: what teenagers think

Objective: To assess teenagers' receptivity to anti-tobacco television advertisements produced by public health organisations and by tobacco companies. Reactions were examined as a function of the message type as well as the respondents' demographics and smoking status. Design: A 1999 telephone survey of teenagers in households identified during a random digit dial survey of adults conducted during the prior four years. Respondents were asked to describe an ad they had seen in the past 30 days, and then to rate its perceived effectiveness. Participants: Respondents were 733 youth between the ages of 14 and 17 years. Intervention: The most prominent anti-tobacco advertisements broadcast in Massachusetts during the time covered by the survey consisted of those produced by the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program and those produced by the Philip Morris tobacco company. The ads described by respondents were grouped into four categories based on their sponsor and their approach. Main outcome measures: Perceived effectiveness of anti-tobacco advertisements seen during the month before the survey as measured on an 11 point scale. Results: Ads featuring the serious consequences of smoking were seen as significantly more effective by youth than both Massachusetts ads that did not discuss illness (p < 0.001) and Philip Morris “Think, Don't Smoke” ads (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Youth prevention programmes should not shy away from anti-tobacco ads that feature the serious consequences of smoking. These types of ads are the ones perceived as most effective by teenagers regardless of their smoking status, age, sex or ethnicity.
Matrix inversion in O(log n) on a scan-enhanced reconfigurable mesh computer

With the arrival ofthe current generation offast processor chips and improved interconnect technology, low-cost 3-dimensional reconfigurable mesh computers have become more feasible. They could present an attractive price/performance option to large supercomputers and small clusters of workstations. In 1976 Csanky introduced a parallel algorithm for matrix inversion which executed in O(log n) steps on n4 processors. Csanky's algorithm was designed for a CREW PRAM. More recently, Leighton produced an implementation of Csanky's algorithm for n meshes of trees which achieves O(log n) steps on 4n4 3n3 processors.
Localism and Religiosity in the Netherlands

According to Roof (1978), the associations observed frequently between religiosity and social conservatism are primarily artifacts of localism. Lehman, however, has argued that localism should not be treated as a unidimensional construct and that an analysis of both social and cultural localism raises doubts about this interpretation. Likewise, Black (1985) has reasoned that "breadth of perspective" accounts for much of what Roof has attributed to locality identification. This research addressed these issues using data from a 1985 Dutch survey. The results tended to support Lehman's multidimensional assumption, with cultural localism being far more predictive of religiosity and conservative attitudes than was social localism. Parts of Roof's theory were replicated, but several aspects found no support. Possible explanations for the divergent findings are discussed.
Cellular neural networks for hexagonal image processing

In this paper, cellular neural networks (CNNs) for hexagonal image processing (HIP) frameworks has been proposed. In this paper, we combine two distinguished researches; one is CNNs, which provide efficient computing abilities. The other is HIP, which contains most compact structure. Both CNNs and HIP are inspired by biology. CNNs present the behaviors which are most similar to the retina of human's eyes, and HIP presents architecture which is also most similar to the distribution of cells on the retina.
A Multiple-Stream Registerless Shared-Resource Processor

A novel high-performance processor architecture for processing a large number of independent instruction streams is proposed and its operating behavior studied. The proposed processor operates on instruction words in a two-address format (thereby eliminating the "operating registers"), and is organized in a fashion which permits as high degree of internal buffering and pipelining. The processor has the following properties: 1) The hardware cost grows only slightly more than linearly with the overall implementation cost; 2) The overall performance is primarily dependent on the processor wordtime and is only secondarily dependent on the supporting memory cycle time; 3) All instruction stream interfaces with memory occur at special queuing (buffer) units which are used to "unscramble" the instruction streams and continually provide work for subsequent processing elements.
Tracking pedestrians using smoothed colour histograms in an interacting multiple model framework

In this paper, we present a method for tracking pedestrians in video sequences captured by a fixed camera. Pedestrians are detected in every video frame using the human detector proposed by Dalal and Triggs. An interacting multiple model method is used to predict and update pedestrian trajectories from current frame to the next one. We employ a stationary model and a constant velocity model in our method to handle cases such as when a pedestrian suddenly stops or changes walking direction. We smooth the colour histogram that describes the appearance of each detected pedestrian using kernel density estimation. Our experimental results show that our tracking method outperforms one that uses the Kalman filter and colour histograms.
Mindfulness Training to Reduce Substance Abuse in Adolescent Trauma Survivors

Rates of adolescent substance use and abuse (SUA) are noteworthy in America. A national survey of drug use [1] found that an estimated 50% of adolescents in the United States have used illegal drugs before leaving high school. About 25% report having used drugs other than marijuana, such as cocaine, ecstasy, or hallucinogens. Although SUA continues to decline, more than 20% of high school seniors endorsed binge drinking within the previous two weeks (Johnston et al., 2014) [1]. Rates of adolescent victimization and interpersonal violence in the United States are also high and SUA is even more common among traumatized adolescents. For example, those with a history of physical or sexual victimization are three times more likely to report past or current substance abuse than those without a history of trauma (Kilpatrick, Saunders, & Smith, 2003) [2].
Senior Executives, IT Reputation Building & Market Valuation

The objective of this study is to identify factors that help build an IT reputation, and to evaluate whether markets value a firm’s ability to develop and sustain its IT reputation. Building on IT strategic leadership and IT business value literature, we argue that a similarity in the background and hierarchical proximity between CEO and senior IT executive increases the likelihood that the firm will develop an IT reputation, and this similarity/proximity is more important for product differentiating companies. Building on signaling theory, we argue that IT reputation matters to investors because it reduces information asymmetry. Investors interpret a firm’s sustainable IT reputation as a signal of its superior past IT strategy and future IT investment prospects thus raising its market value. The predicted relationships are validated by results from over 1300 US firms that have appeared in the Information Week 500 lists in the period from 1997 to 2009.
Ablation of Indian Hedgehog in the Murine Uterus Results in Decreased Cell Cycle Progression, Aberrant Epidermal Growth Factor Signaling, and Increased Estrogen Signaling1

Conditional ablation of Indian hedgehog (Ihh) in the murine uterus results in mice that are sterile because of defects in embryo implantation. We performed microarray analysis on these mice at the time point at which the Ihh target genes are induced by the administration of exogenous hormone to mimic Day 3.5 of pregnancy. This analysis identified 863 genes altered by the conditional ablation of Ihh. Of these, genes that regulated the cell cycle were overrepresented. In addition, genes involved in epidermal growth factor (EGF) and estrogen (E2) signaling were found to be deregulated upon Ihh ablation. Furthermore, upon conditional ablation of Ihh, 15-mo-old mice exhibited hallmarks of estrogenized uteri, such as cystically dilated glands and hyalinized stroma. Thus, Ihh regulates embryo implantation by having an impact on the cell cycle, EGF signaling, and E2 signaling.
Escalation of drug use in early-onset cannabis users vs co-twin controls.

CONTEXT Previous studies have reported that early initiation of cannabis (marijuana) use is a significant risk factor for other drug use and drug-related problems. OBJECTIVE To examine whether the association between early cannabis use and subsequent progression to use of other drugs and drug abuse/dependence persists after controlling for genetic and shared environmental influences. DESIGN Cross-sectional survey conducted in 1996-2000 among an Australian national volunteer sample of 311 young adult (median age, 30 years) monozygotic and dizygotic same-sex twin pairs discordant for early cannabis use (before age 17 years). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Self-reported subsequent nonmedical use of prescription sedatives, hallucinogens, cocaine/other stimulants, and opioids; abuse or dependence on these drugs (including cannabis abuse/dependence); and alcohol dependence. RESULTS Individuals who used cannabis by age 17 years had odds of other drug use, alcohol dependence, and drug abuse/dependence that were 2.1 to 5.2 times higher than those of their co-twin, who did not use cannabis before age 17 years. Controlling for known risk factors (early-onset alcohol or tobacco use, parental conflict/separation, childhood sexual abuse, conduct disorder, major depression, and social anxiety) had only negligible effects on these results. These associations did not differ significantly between monozygotic and dizygotic twins. CONCLUSIONS Associations between early cannabis use and later drug use and abuse/dependence cannot solely be explained by common predisposing genetic or shared environmental factors. The association may arise from the effects of the peer and social context within which cannabis is used and obtained. In particular, early access to and use of cannabis may reduce perceived barriers against the use of other illegal drugs and provide access to these drugs.
Atomic incremental garbage collection and recovery for a large stable heap

A stable heap is storage that is managed automatically using garbage collection, manipulated using atomic transactions, and accessed using a uniform storage model. These features enhance reliability and simplify programming by preventing errors due to explicit deallocation, by masking failures and concurrency using transactions, and by eliminating the distinction between accessing temporary storage and permanent storage. Stable heap management is useful for programming languages for reliable distributed computing, programming languages with persistent storage, and object-oriented database systems. Many applications that could benefit from a stable heap (e.g., computer-aided design, computer-aided software engineering, and office information systems) require large amounts of storage, timely responses for transactions, and high availability. We present garbage collection and recovery algorithms for a stable heap implementation that meet these goals and are appropriate for stock hardware. The collector is incremental: it does not attempt to collect the whole heap at once. The collector is also atomic: it is coordinated with the recovery system to prevent problems when it moves and modifies objects. The time for recovery is independent of heap size, even if a failure occurs during garbage collection.
Modulation of CaV2.3 Calcium Channel Currents by Eugenol

Eugenol, a natural congener of capsaicin, is a routine analgesic agent in dentistry. We have recently demonstrated the inhibition of CaV2.2 calcium channel and sodium channel currents to be molecular mechanisms underlying the analgesic effect of eugenol. We hypothesized that CaV2.3 channels are also modulated by eugenol and investigated its mode of action using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique in a heterologous expression system. Eugenol inhibited calcium currents in the E52 cell line, stably expressing the human CaV2.3 calcium channels, where TRPV1 is not endogenously expressed. The extent of current inhibition was not significantly different between naïve E52 cells and TRPV1-expressing E52 cells, suggesting no involvement of TRPV1. In contrast, TRPV1 activation is prerequisite for the inhibition of CaV2.3 calcium channels by capsaicin. The results indicate that eugenol has mechanisms distinct from those of capsaicin for modulating CaV2.3 channels. We suggest that inhibition of CaV2.3 channels by eugenol might contribute to its analgesic effect.
Neuronal correlates of voluntary facial movements

Whereas the somatotopy of finger movements has been extensively studied with neuroimaging, the neural foundations of facial movements remain elusive. Therefore, we systematically studied the neuronal correlates of voluntary facial movements using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS, Ekman et al., 2002). The facial movements performed in the MRI scanner were defined as Action Units (AUs) and were controlled by a certified FACS coder. The main goal of the study was to investigate the detailed somatotopy of the facial primary motor area (facial M1). Eighteen participants were asked to produce the following four facial movements in the fMRI scanner: AU1+2 (brow raiser), AU4 (brow lowerer), AU12 (lip corner puller) and AU24 (lip presser), each in alternation with a resting phase. Our facial movement task induced generally high activation in brain motor areas (e.g., M1, premotor cortex, supplementary motor area, putamen), as well as in the thalamus, insula, and visual cortex. BOLD activations revealed overlapping representations for the four facial movements. However, within the activated facial M1 areas, we could find distinct peak activities in the left and right hemisphere supporting a rough somatotopic upper to lower face organization within the right facial M1 area, and a somatotopic organization within the right M1 upper face part. In both hemispheres, the order was an inverse somatotopy within the lower face representations. In contrast to the right hemisphere, in the left hemisphere the representation of AU4 was more lateral and anterior compared to the rest of the facial movements. Our findings support the notion of a partial somatotopic order within the M1 face area confirming the “like attracts like” principle (Donoghue et al., 1992). AUs which are often used together or are similar are located close to each other in the motor cortex.
Automatic detection of gaze direction for NLP applications

This paper proposes a solution for detecting the Eye Accessing Cue (EAC) model used in Neuro-Linguistic Programming based on the position of the eye center inside the bounding box of the eye. The eye points are determined using an iris center detection method based on the curvature of the isophote and a facial points detection method based on graph models. The distribution of luminance is analyzed inside the bounding box and added as an extra feature to increase the detection rate. This paper also introduces a new database with manual markings used for testing the EAC detection as generated by various classifiers.
Influence of DC Joule heating on the Domain Structures of Fe-B-Si Amorphous Glass-Covered Magnetic Wires

In this paper, we have determined the values of the internal stresses induced on the radial, azimuthal and axial directions during dc Joule heating. We have calculated the internal stresses and magnetic domain structures for five samples considered as being representative cases. These stresses are owing to the successive heating, crystallization and cooling of the metal as well as to contractions generated by the glass cover in the metal during the thermal treatment due to difference between the thermal expansion coefficients of metal and glass.