Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Due Time Setting for Peer-to-Peer Retrieval of Teaching Material in Cloud Computing Environments

Cloud computing technologies can be used to store a tremendous amount of learning resources, including educational videos. However, it is difficult for users to retrieve relevant teaching material in cloud environments by submitting a few keywords. We propose a search mechanism based on social networks. Furthermore, the issues of availability and trustworthiness have to be considered in teaching material retrieval process, in order to improve the retrieval performance. Current P2P file sharing applications focus on exact matching and ignore the dynamic nature inherent in P2P networks, which might degrade the retrieval performance in terms of precision and response time. Our idea is to appropriately set the due time to improve response time of P2P teaching material retrieval without sacrificing much precision. In this study, we formulate the due time setting problem as a bi-objective optimization problem and approximately solve it by an interaction-based heuristic method. The proposed approach consists of two phases: construction phase and sharing phase. In construction phase, peer information is acquired and managed in a decentralized manner. In sharing phase, the due time is interactively determined and the results are retrieved. A prototype of cloud platform has been constructed and experiments have been conducted to evaluate the performance of the approach. The experimental results show that the interactive algorithm performs well in P2P networks with low trust and availability. Also, a survey of satisfaction shows that the proposed method is more user-friendly.
Tunable bulk acoustic wave resonators based on Ba0.25Sr0.75TiO3 thin films and a HfO2/SiO2 bragg reflector

A switchable and tunable bulk acoustic wave resonator based on a paraelectric phase Ba<sub>0.25</sub>Sr<sub>0.75</sub>TiO<sub>3</sub> thin film and an all-dielectric HfO<sub>2</sub>/SiO<sub>2</sub> Bragg reflector is presented. The achieved tuning range (3.8%) and effective electromechanical coupling coefficient (7.1%) are the highest reported for solidly mounted tunable bulk acoustic wave resonators. The non-conductive Bragg reflector stack provides excellent integration possibilities.
Melatonin modulates 900 MHz microwave-induced lipid peroxidation changes in rat brain

Microwaves (MW) from cellular phones may affect biological systems by increasing free radicals, which may enhance lipid peroxidation levels of the brain, thus leading to oxidative damage. Melatonin is synthesized in and secreted by the pineal gland at night and exhibits anti-oxidant properties. Several studies suggest that supplementation with anti-oxidant can influence MW-induced brain damage. The present study was designed to determine the effects of MW on the brain lipid peroxidation system, and the possible protective effects of melatonin on brain degeneration induced by MW. Twenty-eight Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomly divided into three groups as follows: (1) sham-operated control group (N-8); (2) study 900-MHz MW-exposed group (N-8); and (3) 900-MHz MW-exposed-melatonin (100 mg/kg sc before daily MW exposure treated group) (N-10). Cortex brain and hippocampus tissues were removed to study the levels of lipid peroxidation as malonyl dialdehyde. The levels of lipid peroxidation in the brain cortex and hippocampus increased in the MW group compared with the control group, although the levels in the hippocampus were decreased by MW-melatonin administration. The brain cortex lipid peroxidation levels were unaffected by melatonin treatment. We conclude that melatonin may prevent MW-induced oxidative changes in the hippocampus by strengthening the anti-oxidant defense system, by reducing oxidative stress products.
Effects of Male Age and Female Nutritional Condition on Elk Reproduction

Spring calf:cow ratios in some Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus) populations of northeast Oregon have declined by almost 80% over the last 40 years. Studies have identified the age of breeding males and the nutritional condition of females as potentially contributing factors. We conducted a study in 2 trials, from 1989 to 1993 and from 1995 to 1999, to assess the effects of male age on conception dates and pregnancy rates of female elk in northeast Oregon. Results of the first trial, reported previously, showed a significant influence of male age on conception dates but not on pregnancy rates. The second trial, reported here, was intended to validate findings of the first. trial and to evaluate the interaction of male age and female nutritional condition. We managed an elk population within a 78-km2 enclosure to allow a single cohort of males to function as herd sires as they matured from 1.5 to 5.5 years of age. From animals killed in December, we estimated pregnancy rates, age, nutritional condition (kidney fat index, [MFI]), and lactation status of females and the conception dates of their fetuses. Mean conception dates occurred 1 week earlier as male age increased and were related to KFI in females. Nutritional condition of female elk was 67% higher in 1995 when breeding was by yearling males than in years when breeding was by 4-year-old or 5-year-old males. Pregnancy rates did not differ among ages of males. We used analysis of covariance with female nutritional condition as the covariate to evaluate the interactive effects of male age and female nutritional condition on conception dates of females bred by males of different ages across 2 trials. Mean conception dates (adjusted for female nutritional condition) pooled by age of males decreased from 4 October with yearling male sires to 21 September with 5-year-old male sires. Mean KFI of pregnant, lactating female elk was 118 during the validation and 148 during the initial trial. Pregnancy rates did not differ by male age between trials. We stress the importance of understanding the interactions between age of males and nutritional condition of females prior to interpreting the results of management strategies designed to retain older males because of the many factors that affect calf elk survival.
Immunomagnetic Enrichment, Genomic Characterization, and Prognostic Impact of Circulating Melanoma Cells

Purpose: The finding of melanoma cells in the peripheral blood, thus far mainly inferred from the PCR-based demonstration of tyrosinase mRNA, has been associated with metastatic melanoma. Neither the malignant nature nor the prognostic significance of circulating cells could be established. To address this question, we analyzed immunomagnetically isolated circulating melanoma cells for chromosomal aberrations and performed a clinical follow-up study of the enrolled patients. Experimental Design: In a prospective study, blood samples were taken from 164 melanoma patients and 50 donors without malignant disease. Circulating melanoma cells were enriched by immunomagnetic cell sorting using a murine monoclonal antibody against the melanoma-associated chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan. To prove the malignant origin of the positive cells and to define their chromosomal aberrations, we analyzed the genomes of 15 individually isolated cells from seven patients by single-cell comparative genomic hybridization (SCOMP). Results: Absolute and relative frequencies of circulating melanoma cells were associated with stage and with the presence or absence of detectable tumor. The detection of two or more cells correlated significantly with a reduced survival of patients with metastatic melanoma. All of the cells that were analyzed by SCOMP displayed multiple chromosomal changes and carried aberrations typical for melanoma. Conclusions: Immunomagnetic enrichment enables isolation and genomic characterization of circulating melanoma cells. The prognostic impact on survival of metastatic patients apparently reflects the aggressiveness of an ongoing tumor spread. Direct genomic analysis of the enriched and isolated cells will help to clarify the molecular-genetic basis of the establishment of generalized melanoma.
Managing Business Process Risk Using Rich Organizational Models

Business processes represent the operational capabilities of an organization. In order to ensure process continuity, the effective management of risk becomes an area of key concern. In this paper we propose an approach for supporting risk identification with the use of higher-level organizational models. We provide some intuitive metrics for extracting measures of actor criticality, and vulnerability from organizational models. This helps direct risk management to areas of critical importance within organization models. Additionally, the information can be used to assess alternative organizational structures in domains where risk mitigation is crucial. At the process level, these measures can be used to help direct improvements to the robustness and failsafe capabilities of critical or vulnerable processes. We believe our novel approach, will provide added benefits when used with other approaches to risk management during business process management, that do not reference the greater organizational context during risk assessment.
A Spatially Continuous Model of Carbohydrate Digestion and Transport Processes in the Colon

A spatially continuous mathematical model of transport processes, anaerobic digestion and microbial complexity as would be expected in the human colon is presented. The model is a system of first-order partial differential equations with context determined number of dependent variables, and stiff, non-linear source terms. Numerical simulation of the model is used to elucidate information about the colon-microbiota complex. It is found that the composition of materials on outflow of the model does not well-describe the composition of material in other model locations, and inferences using outflow data varies according to model reactor representation. Additionally, increased microbial complexity allows the total microbial community to withstand major system perturbations in diet and community structure. However, distribution of strains and functional groups within the microbial community can be modified depending on perturbation length and microbial kinetic parameters. Preliminary model extensions and potential investigative opportunities using the computational model are discussed.
Coordinated and Distinct Functions of Velvet Proteins in Fusarium verticillioides

ABSTRACT Velvet-domain-containing proteins are broadly distributed within the fungal kingdom. In the corn pathogen Fusarium verticillioides, previous studies showed that the velvet protein F. verticillioides VE1 (FvVE1) is critical for morphological development, colony hydrophobicity, toxin production, and pathogenicity. In this study, tandem affinity purification of FvVE1 revealed that FvVE1 can form a complex with the velvet proteins F. verticillioides VelB (FvVelB) and FvVelC. Phenotypic characterization of gene knockout mutants showed that, as in the case of FvVE1, FvVelB regulated conidial size, hyphal hydrophobicity, fumonisin production, and oxidant resistance, while FvVelC was dispensable for these biological processes. Comparative transcriptional analysis of eight genes involved in the ROS (reactive oxygen species) removal system revealed that both FvVE1 and FvVelB positively regulated the transcription of a catalase-encoding gene, F. verticillioides CAT2 (FvCAT2). Deletion of FvCAT2 resulted in reduced oxidant resistance, providing further explanation of the regulation of oxidant resistance by velvet proteins in the fungal kingdom.
Estimation of Sparse Binary Pairwise Markov Networks using Pseudo-likelihoods

We consider the problems of estimating the parameters as well as the structure of binary-valued Markov networks. For maximizing the penalized log-likelihood, we implement an approximate procedure based on the pseudo-likelihood of Besag (1975) and generalize it to a fast exact algorithm. The exact algorithm starts with the pseudo-likelihood solution and then adjusts the pseudo-likelihood criterion so that each additional iterations moves it closer to the exact solution. Our results show that this procedure is faster than the competing exact method proposed by Lee, Ganapathi, and Koller (2006a). However, we also find that the approximate pseudo-likelihood as well as the approaches of Wainwright et al. (2006), when implemented using the coordinate descent procedure of Friedman, Hastie, and Tibshirani (2008b), are much faster than the exact methods, and only slightly less accurate.
Precarious work: Economic, sociological and political perspectives

This article brings together labour relations, sociological and political perspectives on precarious employment in Australia, identifying local contexts of insecurity and setting them within the economics of regional supply chains involving the use of migrant labour. In developing the concept of precarious work-societies, it argues that precarity is a source of individual and social vulnerability and distress, affecting family, housing and communal security. The concept of depoliticisation is used to describe the processes of displacement, whereby the social consequences of precarious work come to be seen as beyond the reach of agency. Using evidence from social attitudes surveys, we explore links between the resulting sense of political marginalisation and hostility to immigrants. Re-politicisation strategies will need to lay bare the common basis of shared experiences of insecurity and explore ways of integrating precarious workers into new community and global alliances.
Eecient Snapshot Diierential Algorithms for Data Warehousing

Detecting and extracting modi cations from information sources is an integral part of data warehousing. For unsophisticated sources, it is often necessary to infer modi cations by periodically comparing snapshots of data from the source. Although this snapshot di erential problem is closely related to traditional joins, there are significant di erences, which lead to simple new algorithms. In particular, we present algorithms that perform compression of records. We also present a window algorithm that works very well if the snapshots are not \very di erent. " The algorithms are studied via analysis and an implementation of two of them; the results illustrate the potential gains achievable with the new algorithms.
Pervasive Displays: Understanding the Future of Digital Signage

Fueled by falling display hardware costs and rising demand, digital signage and pervasive displays are becoming ever more ubiquitous. Such systems have traditionally been used for advertising and information dissemination, with digital signage commonplace in shopping malls, airports and public spaces. While advertising and broadcasting announcements remain important applications, developments in sensing and interaction technologies are enabling entirely new classes of display applications that tailor content to the situation and audience of the display. As a result, signage systems are beginning to transition from simple broadcast systems to rich platforms for communication and interaction. In this lecture, we provide an introduction to this emerging field for researchers and practitioners interested in creating state-of-the-art pervasive display systems. We begin by describing the history of pervasive display research, providing illustrations of key systems, from pioneering work on supporting collaboration to contemporary systems designed for personalized information delivery. We then consider what the near future might hold for display networks -- describing a series of compelling applications that are being postulated for future display networks. Creating such systems raises a wide range of challenges and requires designers to make a series of important trade-offs. We dedicate four chapters to key aspects of pervasive display design: audience engagement, display interaction, system software, and system evaluation. These chapters provide an overview of current thinking in each area. Finally, we present a series of case studies of display systems and our concluding remarks.
Biochemical characterization of the soluble form of the junctional plaque protein, plakoglobin, from different cell types.

A polypeptide of identical molecular mass (Mr 83,000) and charge to desmosomal plakoglobin from bovine snout epidermis was identified in soluble and pelletable fractions from diverse tissues and cells of different mammalian species, including cells and tissues devoid of desmosomes (e.g. endothelial, retinal, lenticular cells, fibroblasts). The protein, however, was not detected in erythrocytes and platelets and in myeloma cells, nor in smooth muscle tissue. In all cells examined, the plakoglobin soluble upon cell lysis in buffers of near-physiological pH and ionic strength (21-31% of the total plakoglobin in the different cell types) was found to exist in a distinct molecular form. On sucrose gradient centrifugation it appeared at about 7 S and gel filtration chromatography revealed a Stokes radius of about 5.0 nm, from which an Mr of about 170,000 was estimated. By using isoelectric focusing under non-denaturing conditions, soluble approximately equal to 7-S plakoglobin had an isoelectric point at about pH 5.3. The plaque-bound and the soluble form of plakoglobin were indistinguishable by electrical charge and molecular mass, regardless of the source, indicating molecular identity. Cross-linking of soluble proteins with cupric 1,10-phenanthroline resulted in the formaton of a cross-linked product of plakoglobin with similar physical properties as the native approximately equal to 7-S particle, which is compatible with the interpretation that the soluble plakoglobin particle is a dimer. While a major proportion of the plakoglobin in the desmosomal plaque was resistant to various extraction procedures, plakoglobin present in the plaques of non-desmosome-containing cells and tissues was readily extractable under low and high salt conditions. This indicates that differences exist in the binding of plakoglobin to desmosomal plaques and the plaques of non-demosomal junctions.
Mutual inductance calculation of movable planar coils on parallel surfaces

Recent developments of wireless battery charging platform have prompted the requirements to investigate the mutual inductance between a movable planar coil and the fixed planar coil on the charging platform. The wireless battery charging platform must allow the load to be placed anywhere on the charging surface. Therefore the relative position between the movable energy-receiving coil and the energy-transmitting coils on the charging platform must be flexible. In this paper, an extended formula is proposed for the mutual inductance calculation for two coaxial or non-coaxial planar spiral windings sandwiched between two double-layer substrates. It can quickly determine the mutual coupling of two planar windings that can have different relative positions and distance between them. This new calculation method provides a new and useful tool for determining the mutual inductance of a movable planar coil and the fixed planar coil on the wireless battery charging platform. The theory has been favorably tested and compared with practical measurements and also finite-element analysis.
Oscillator frequency stability improvement by means of negative feedback

A novel, simple method is proposed to increase the frequency stability of an oscillator. An additional negative feedback is used in combination with the positive loop of the harmonic oscillator to decrease the phase sensitivity to fluctuations of parameters other than the resonator. The main advantage of the proposed correction approach is that it does not require expensive external elements such as mixers or resonators. The validity of the method is theoretically demonstrated on a Colpitts oscillator using the control system theory approach and numerical simulations, and is experimentally verified with phase noise measurements of an actual oscillatormockup. It is shown that the medium-term frequency stability can be easily improved by a factor of ten.
Episodic-Like Memory for Cognitive Robots

The article presents an approach to providing a cognitive robot with a long-term memory of experiences-a memory, inspired by the concept of episodic memory (in humans) or episodic-like memory (in animals), respectively. The memory provides means to store experiences, integrate them into more abstract constructs, and recall such content. The paper presents an analysis of key characteristics of natural episodic memory systems. Based on this analysis, conceptual and technical requirements for an episodic-like memory for cognitive robots are specified. The paper provides a formal design that meets these requirements, and discusses its full implementation in a cognitive architecture for mobile robots. It reports results of simulation experiments which show that the approach can run efficiently in robot applications involving several hours of experience.
Cancer‐testis antigens in haematological malignancies

Immunotherapy is an attractive therapeutic option for patients with haematological malignancies. Until recently, the progress in the development of tumour vaccines for haematological malignancies had been slow due to the lack of suitable targets. Cancer‐testis (CT) antigens are potentially suitable molecules for tumour vaccines of haematological malignancies because of their high immunogenicity in vivo and their relatively restricted normal tissue distribution. This review evaluates the properties and potential functions of CT antigens. We discuss the expression of CT antigens in patient with haematological malignancies and provide evidence in support of their immunogenicity in vivo in these patients. We also address the role of ‘epigenetic’ regulation of CT antigens in haematological malignancies and how hypomethylating agents could induce the expression of some of these antigens in tumour cells to overcome the problem of heterogeneity of expression of the antigen within individual tumour specimens. Data implicating the interaction of the promoter genes of some of these CT antigens with the MeCP2 protein also suggest the potential role of the histone deacetylase inhibitors in inducing antigen expression in tumour cells. Finally, we discuss the direction of future research in advancing the development of tumour vaccines for haematological malignancies.
ResIn: a combination of results caching and index pruning for high-performance web search engines

Results caching is an efficient technique for reducing the query processing load, hence it is commonly used in real search engines. This technique, however, bounds the maximum hit rate due to the large fraction of singleton queries, which is an important limitation. In this paper we propose ResIn - an architecture that uses a combination of results caching and index pruning to overcome this limitation. We argue that results caching is an inexpensive and efficient way to reduce the query processing load and show that it is cheaper to implement compared to a pruned index. At the same time, we show that index pruning performance is fundamentally affected by the changes in the query traffic that the results cache induces. We experiment with real query logs and a large document collection, and show that the combination of both techniques enables efficient reduction of the query processing costs and thus is practical to use in Web search engines.