Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Putting home storage management into Perspective

Perspective is a decentralized data management system for the growing collection of consumer electronics that store and access digital content. Perspective uses a new construct, called the view, to concisely describe which data objects each device may store and access. By knowing the views in the system, a device can know which devices may need to hear about any particular update and which devices to contact for a particular search query. By exchanging views, an ensemble of devices can coordinate and share data efficiently without relying on a centralized server; it works the same in the home or for a subset of devices outside the home. Experiments with Perspective confirm that views improve ensemble creation and search performance, by avoiding costs that are linear in the number of objects stored, without penalizing performance relative to an ideal centralized server setup. 1Intel Research Pittsburgh Acknowledgements: We thank the members and companies of the PDL Consortium (including APC, EMC, Equallogic, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Network Appliance, Oracle, Panasas, Seagate, Sun, and Symantec) for their interest, insights, feedback, and support. This material is based on research sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation, via grant #CNS-0326453. Brandon Salmon is supported in part by an NSF Fellowship, and in part by an Intel Fellowship. Part of this work was done while Brandon Salmon was an intern at Intel Research Pittsburgh.
Ultrax: An Animated Midsagittal Vocal Tract Display for Speech Therapy

Speech sound disorders (SSD) are the most common communication impairment in childhood, and can hamper social development and learning. Current speech therapy interventions rely predominantly on the auditory skills of the child, as little technology is available to assist in diagnosis and therapy of SSDs. Realtime visualisation of tongue movements has the potential to bring enormous benefit to speech therapy. Ultrasound scanning offers this possibility, although its display may be hard to interpret. Our ultimate goal is to exploit ultrasound to track tongue movement, while displaying a simplified, diagrammatic vocal tract that is easier for the user to interpret. In this paper, we outline a general approach to this problem, combining a latent space model with a dimensionality reducing model of vocal tract shapes. We assess the feasibility of this approach using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to train a model of vocal tract shapes, which is animated using electromagnetic articulography (EMA) data from the same speaker.
The West Wing: Fiction Can Serve Politics

The increasingly popular design technique called 'personas' provides a natural way to introduce issues of diversity and power relationships in software development. Persona development is a powerful technique that must be used carefully. It may be the most effective way to introduce participative approaches into mass market software development. This is of broader significance because it is increasingly risky to work locally without carefully considering the directions of commercial software development.
Use of Nanocrystalline Hydroxyapatite With Autologous BMA and Local Bone in the Lumbar Spine

Study Design: A retrospective, multicenter, medical record review and independent analysis of computed tomographic scans was performed in 46 patients to determine radiographic arthrodesis rates after 1-segment, 2-segment, or 3-segment instrumented posterolateral fusions (PLF) using autograft, bone marrow aspirate (BMA), and a nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite bone void filler (nHA). Objective: To determine the radiographic arthrodesis rates after instrumented lumbar PLF using local autograft, BMA, and nHA. Summary of Background Data: The use of iliac crest autograft in posterolateral spine fusion carries real and significant risks. Many forms of nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite have been studied in various preclinical models, but no human studies have reviewed its efficacy as a bone graft supplement in PLF. Methods: Posterolateral arthrodesis progression was documented approximately 12 months postoperatively using a computed tomographic scan and evaluated by an independent radiologist for the presence of bridging bone. One-year postoperative clinical outcomes were assessed using the PROLO score. Results: Radiographically, 91% patients treated exhibited bilateral or unilateral posterolateral bridging bone. Ninety-four percent of the segments treated exhibited bilateral or unilateral posterolateral bridging bone, whereas 6% segments exhibited no posterolateral bridging bone on either side. A total of 93% individual sites treated exhibited posterolateral bridging bone. In 1-segment, 2-segment, and 3-segment arthrodesis, 88%, 93%, and 100%, respectively, of individual sites exhibited radiographic bridging bone. One-year postoperative PROLO scores for 77% patients were excellent or good. There were no complications related to the posterolateral graft mass and no symptomatic nonunions. Conclusions: The arthrodesis rates after instrumented lumbar fusion using local autograft mixed with BMA and the nHA is equivalent to the rates reported for iliac crest autograft in these indications, including stringent indications, such as 3-segment procedures. By approximately 12 months postoperatively, there was no significant difference in the rates of bridging bone between the 1-segment, 2-segment, and 3-segment procedures.
Cardiac resynchronization therapy: a breakthrough in heart failure management

Heart failure is now considered an epidemic. In patients with heart failure, electrical and mechanical dyssynchrony, evident primarily as prolongation of the QRS‐complex on the surface electrocardiogram, is associated with detrimental effects on the cardiovascular system at several levels. In the past 10 years, studies have demonstrated that by stimulating both cardiac ventricles simultaneously, or almost simultaneously [cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT)], the adverse effects of dyssynchrony can be overcome. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview of different aspects of CRT including the rationale behind and evidence for efficacy of the therapy. Issues with regard to gender effects and patient follow‐up as well as a number of unresolved concerns will also be discussed.
Immunoregulation of cutaneous leishmaniasis. T cell lines that transfer protective immunity or exacerbation belong to different T helper subsets and respond to distinct parasite antigens

BALB/c mice can be protected against a normally fatal Leishmania major infection by immunization with a partially purified, soluble subfraction of the parasite (fraction 9). In this study, we demonstrate that a T cell line established against fraction 9, designated line 9, transfers protection equivalent to that obtained by active immunization. In contrast, T cell lines (lines 1 and 9.2) responsive to a nonprotective soluble fraction (fraction 1) not only failed to protect BALB/c mice against L. major, but exacerbated the infection. Most importantly, in addition to differing in their antigen specificity, protective and exacerbative T cells lines could be distinguished on the basis of the lymphokines produced, a characteristic previously used to separate murine Th cells into two subsets, designated Th1 and Th2. We found that the protective cell line, line 9, displayed the Th1 property of secreting IL-2 and IFN- gamma, while the exacerbating lines secreted IL-4 and IL-5, a characteristic of Th2 cells. Our results demonstrate that Th1 and Th2 cells may have dramatically different effects on the outcome of an infection, and suggest that susceptibility and resistance in experimental leishmaniasis may depend upon a balance between the Th subsets induced.
Investment Strategies for Flexible Resources

This article studies optimal investment in flexible manufacturing capacity as a function of product prices (margins), investment costs and multivariate demand uncertainty. We consider a two-product firm that has the option to invest in product-dedicated resources and/or in a flexible resource that can produce either product, but has to make its investment decision before demands are observed. The flexible resource provides the firm with a hedge against demand uncertainty, but at a higher investment cost than the dedicated resources. Our analysis highlights the important role of price (margin) and cost mix differentials, which, in addition to the correlation between product demands, significantly affect the investment decision and the value of flexibility. Contrary to the intuition also prevalent in the academic literature, we show that it can be advantageous to invest in flexible resources even with perfectly positively correlated product demands.
Design of high power-addecd efficiency FET amplifiers operating with very low drain bias voltages for use in mobile telephones at 1.7 GHz

Two single-stage GaAs class F power amplifiers with very high efficiency at low drain bias voltages have been designed and tested at 1.7 GHz. The first power amplifier was designed to achieve maximum power-added efficiency while the second power amplifier design realizes the best compromise between output power and power-added efficiency. At Vds=3V, the measured output power of the first amplifier is l9dBm with a power-added efficiency of 73%. The output power of the second amplifier (also biased at Vds=3V) is 24dBm with a power-added efficiency of 70%. These results were achieved by using suitable terminations for the second and third harmonics. In our knowledge, the obtained results present the state of the art published for low voltage bias conditions.
Effect of Grain Size on the Microwave Dielectric Characteristics of High‐Energy Ball‐Milled Zinc Magnesium Titanate Ceramics

Using solid-state reaction route and high-energy ball milling technique Zn1−xMgxTiO3 (x = 0–0.5) compositions were synthesized. These ball milled samples were sintered at 1100°C for 2 h and microwave dielectric properties such as dielectric constant (e’), quality factor (Q), and temperature coefficient of resonant frequency (τf) were studied. Significant improvement in quality factor of ~ 65% was observed for x = 0.3. To understand the effect of sintering duration on the microwave dielectric properties, single phase Zn0.7Mg0.3TiO3 samples were sintered at 1100°C for different durations from 2 to 20 h. The grain size increases with sintering duration and it influences to enhance the microwave dielectric properties and as a result, the quality factor further improved by three times. The dielectric constant and temperature coefficient of resonant frequency showed a slight improvement of ~ 10%–15% with sintering duration.
Primary and secondary frequency control in an autonomous microgrid supported by a load-shedding strategy

This paper proposes a frequency control strategy for an islanded inverter-based microgrid which based on the priority of supply, has got two distinct types of loads, namely sensitive and deferrable. The proposed strategy consists of primary and secondary levels of generation control supported by a load-shedding scheme. The primary control regulates the output power of the distributed generator (DG) units to be proportional to their ratings while secondary control has got the duty of frequency restoration after each load change. Functionality of these two levels is demonstrated to be independent of each other. Both controls are in distributed forms which have no need of communication infrastructure. Moreover, the proposed load-shedding strategy is activated occasionally to restore frequency despite the limitation of secondary control since the sensitive loads always demand high power quality. The performance of the proposed control scheme is verified by using digital time-domain simulation studies in the MATLAB/SIMULINK software environment.
Factorization as a rank 1 problem

Tomasi and Kanade (1992) introduced the factorization method for recovering 3D structure from 2D video. In their formulation, the 3D shape and 3D motion are computed by using an SVD to approximate a matrix that is rank 3 in a noiseless situation. In this paper we reformulate the problem using the fact that the x and y coordinates of each feature are known from their projection onto the image plane in frame 1. We show how to compute the 3D shape, i.e., the relative depths z, and the 3D motion by a simple factorization of a matrix that is rank 1 in a noiseless situation. This allows the use of very fast algorithms even when using a large number of features and large number of frames. We also show how to accommodate confidence weights for the feature trajectories. This is done without additional computational cost by rewriting the problem as the factorization of a modified matrix.
The morphological changes of intestinal mucosa in growing rabbits

The study aimed to increase understanding of digestive function from the development of the digestive tract from suckling to maturity in rabbits. The relative weights of the digestive tract (in relation to body weight) in different segments increase linearly during the rapid growth period between 2 and 8 weeks of age; thereafter intestinal weight gain is slower. An underdeveloped mucosal histology was observed in the hindgut of suckling rabbits at 2 weeks compared with 4 weeks of age. From SEM micrographs, the small intestinal mucosal villi look more slender and finger-like in the suckling period, thereafter becoming broader or tongue-like or plate-shaped in mature rabbits. The micrographs showed a compact arrangement in the underdeveloped hindgut mucosa at 2 weeks, but after weaning as hindgut fermentation becomes significant the mucosa increased in surface area.
Learning brain regions via large-scale online structured sparse dictionary learning

We propose a multivariate online dictionary-learning method for obtaining decompositions of brain images with structured and sparse components (aka atoms). Sparsity is to be understood in the usual sense: the dictionary atoms are constrained to contain mostly zeros. This is imposed via an $\ell_1$-norm constraint. By "structured", we mean that the atoms are piece-wise smooth and compact, thus making up blobs, as opposed to scattered patterns of activation. We propose to use a Sobolev (Laplacian) penalty to impose this type of structure. Combining the two penalties, we obtain decompositions that properly delineate brain structures from functional images. This non-trivially extends the online dictionary-learning work of Mairal et al. (2010), at the price of only a factor of 2 or 3 on the overall running time. Just like the Mairal et al. (2010) reference method, the online nature of our proposed algorithm allows it to scale to arbitrarily sized datasets. Experiments on brain data show that our proposed method extracts structured and denoised dictionaries that are more intepretable and better capture inter-subject variability in small medium, and large-scale regimes alike, compared to state-of-the-art models.
Dynamic Data Redistribution for MapReduce Joins

MapReduce has become a popular method for data processing, in particular for large scale datasets, due to its accessibility as a scalable yet convenient programming paradigm. Data processing tasks often involve joins, and the repartition and fragment-replicate joins are two widely-used join algorithms utilised within the MapReduce framework. This paper presents a multi-join supporting tuple redistribution, building on both the repartition and fragment-replicate joins. Hadoop is used to demonstrate how reduce tasks may improve performance by passing intermediate results to other reduce tasks that are better able to process them using Apache ZooKeeper as a means of communication and data transfer. A performance analysis is presented showing the technique has the potential to reduce response times when processing multiple joins in single MapReduce jobs.
Multi-Subband-Monte-Carlo investigation of the mean free path and of the kT layer in degenerated quasi ballistic nanoMOSFETs

This paper examines, by means of multi-subband-Monte-Carlo (MSMC) simulations, the prediction of the well known compact formula for back-scattering in nanoMOSFETs, analyzing the effect of carrier degeneracy and complex scattering mechanisms on the back-scattering. The paper also addresses the definition of an appropriate mean-free-path and its relationship to the low-field mobility
A Functional Variant of the Adipocyte Glycerol Channel Aquaporin 7 Gene Is Associated With Obesity and Related Metabolic Abnormalities

Aquaporin 7 (AQP7), the gateway protein controlling glycerol release, has recently emerged as a modulator of adipocyte metabolism. AQP7 knockout mice develop obesity and hyperglycemia. The contribution of AQP7 to these abnormalities in humans is unknown. We examined whether common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the AQP7 gene modulate the risk of obesity and related abnormalities. Among several SNPs we identified, A-953G in the AQP7 promoter was associated with type 2 diabetes in 977 (530 female/447 male) Caucasians: odds ratio for XG (i.e., AG+GG) versus AA individuals was 1.36 (95% CI 1.01–1.84), P = 0.04. This finding was entirely due to the association among females (1.8 [1.2–2.6], P = 0.004), which was no longer significant when adjusted for BMI. In fact, BMI was higher in XG than in AA females (30.8 ± 6.6 vs. 28.9 ± 5.2, P = 0.002). This association was confirmed in independent case-control study (n = 299 female subjects) for morbid obesity (1.66 [1.01–2.74], P = 0.04). Luciferase and mobility shift assays showed that, compared with −953A, the −953G promoter had reduced transcriptional activity (P = 0.001) and impaired ability to bind CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP)β transcription factor (P = 0.01). Finally, AQP7 expression in adipose tissue decreased from AA to AG to GG individuals (P = 0.036). These data strongly suggest that AQP7 downregulation is pathogenic for obesity and/or type 2 diabetes.
Mixed Constraint Satisfaction: A Framework for Decision Problems under Incomplete Knowledge

Constraint satisfaction is a powerful tool for representing and solving decision problems with complete knowledge about the world. We extend the CSP framework so as to represent decision problems under incomplete knowledge. The basis of the extension consists in a distinction between controllable and uncontrollable variables -- hence the terminology "mixed CSP" -- and a "solution" gives actually a conditional decision. We study the complexity of deciding the consistency of a mixed CSP. As the problem is generally intractable, we propose an algorithm for finding an approximate solution.
Separating Hash Families: A Johnson-type bound and New Constructions

Separating hash families are useful combinatorial structures which are generalizations of many well-studied objects in combinatorics, cryptography and coding theory. In this paper, using tools from graph theory and additive number theory, we solve several open problems and conjectures concerning bounds and constructions for separating hash families. Firstly, we discover that the cardinality of a separating hash family satisfies a Johnson-type inequality. As a result, we obtain a new upper bound, which is superior to all previous ones. Secondly, we present a construction for an infinite class of perfect hash families. It is based on the Hamming graphs in coding theory and generalizes many constructions that appeared before. It provides an affirmative answer to both Bazrafshan-Trung's open problem on separating hash families and Alon-Stav's conjecture on parent-identifying codes. Thirdly, let $p_t(N,q)$ denote the maximal cardinality of a $t$-perfect hash family of length $N$ over an alphabet of size $q$. Walker II and Colbourn conjectured that $p_3(3,q)=o(q^2)$. We verify this conjecture by proving $q^{2-o(1)}<p_3(3,q)=o(q^2)$. Our proof can be viewed as an application of Ruzsa-Szemer{\'e}di's (6,3)-theorem. We also prove $q^{2-o(1)}<p_4(4,q)=o(q^2)$. Two new notions in graph theory and additive number theory, namely rainbow cycles and $R$-sum-free sets, are introduced to prove this result. These two bounds support a question of Blackburn, Etzion, Stinson and Zaverucha. Finally, we establish a bridge between perfect hash families and hypergraph Tur{\'a}n problems. This connection has not been noticed before. As a consequence, many new results and problems arise.
A single nucleotide polymorphism on the GALNT14 gene as an effective predictor of response to chemotherapy in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma

Previously, a pilot genome‐wide association study has identified candidate single nucleotide polymorphism predictors for the therapeutic response of 5‐fluorouracil, mitoxantrone and cisplatin (FMP) combination chemotherapy in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, we conducted a prospective confirmatory study to examine the predictive value of rs9679162 (located on GALNT14 gene) for the therapeutic responses using a split‐dose FMP protocol. One hundred and seven advanced HCC patients receiving split‐dose FMP therapy were enrolled. All patients were in Barcelona Clinical Liver Cancer Stage C with either main portal vein thrombosis and/or distant metastasis. Of them, 105 (98.1%) were Child‐Pugh classification B. GALNT14 genotype was determined before therapy. Of the patients included, 28 were rs9679162 “TT” and 79 were “non‐TT” (“GG” + “GT”) genotype. The median overall survival, time‐to‐progression, response rate and disease control rate were (“TT” versus “non‐TT”) 6.8 versus 3.9 months (p < 0.001), 3.9 versus 2.1 months (p < 0.001), 28.6% versus 10.1% (p = 0.029) and 35.7% versus 15.2% (p = 0.030), respectively. Multivariate analysis indicated that rs9679162 genotype was an independent predictor for overall survival (p = 0.002). Categorical analysis showed that 17 patients with “TT” genotype, tumor size < 10 cm and neutrophils < 74% had a median overall survival of 25.5 months and a therapeutic response rate of 47.1%. In conclusion, this prospective study confirmed that GALN14 genotype (rs9679162) was an effective predictor for therapeutic outcome in advanced HCC patients treated by FMP chemotherapy. Combining GALNT14 genotype and clinical parameters, a subgroup of patients with excellent outcome was identified.
Gray matter loss correlates with mesial temporal lobe neuronal hyperexcitability inside the human seizure‐onset zone

Purpose: Patient studies have not provided consistent evidence for interictal neuronal hyperexcitability inside the seizure‐onset zone (SOZ). We hypothesized that gray matter (GM) loss could have important effects on neuronal firing, and quantifying these effects would reveal significant differences in neuronal firing inside versus outside the SOZ.
Intelligence System for Software Maintenance Severity Prediction

The software industry has been experiencing a software crisis, a difficulty of delivering software within budget, on time, and of good quality. This may happen due to number of defects present in the different modules of the project that may require maintenance. This necessitates the need of predicting maintenance urgency of the particular module in the software. In this paper, we have applied the different predictor models to NASA five public domain defect datasets coded in C, C++, Java and Perl programming languages. Twenty one software metrics of different datasets and Java Classes of thirty five algorithms belonging to the different learner categories of the WEKA project have been evaluated for the prediction of maintenance severity. The results of ten fold cross validation are recorded in terms of Accuracy, Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) for different project datasets. The results show that logistic model Trees (LMT) and Complimentary Naive Bayes (CNB) based Model provide a relatively better prediction consistency compared to other models and hence, can be used for the maintenance severity prediction of the software. The developed system can also be used for analysis and to evaluate the influence of different factors on the maintenance severity of different software project modules.