Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phytoplankton in a changing world: cell size and elemental stoichiometry

Global increases in atmospheric CO2 and temperature are associated with changes in ocean chemistry and circulation, altering light and nutrient regimes. Resulting changes in phytoplankton community structure are expected to have a cascading effect on primary and export production, food web dynamics and the structure of the marine food web as well the biogeochemical cycling of carbon and bio-limiting elements in the sea. A review of current literature indicates cell size and elemental stoichiometry often respond predictably to abiotic conditions and follow biophysical rules that link environmental conditions to growth rates, and growth rates to food web interactions, and consequently to the biogeochemical cycling of elements. This suggests that cell size and elemental stoichiometry are promising ecophysiological traits for modelling and tracking changes in phytoplankton community structure in response to climate change. In turn, these changes are expected to have further impacts on phytoplankton community structure through as yet poorly understood secondary processes associated with trophic dynamics.
Frequency of prenatal cytogenetic diagnosis and pregnancy outcomes by maternal race–ethnicity, and the effect on the prevalence of trisomy 21, Metropolitan Atlanta, 1996–2005

The prevalence of trisomy 21 has been reported to differ by race–ethnicity, however, the results are inconsistent and the cause of the differences is unknown. Using data from 1996 to 2005 from the Metropolitan Atlanta Congenital Defects Program (MACDP), we analyzed the use of prenatal cytogenetic testing and the subsequent use of elective termination among pregnancies affected with any MACDP‐eligible birth defect and trisomy 21, by maternal race–ethnicity. We then examined whether these factors could explain the observed differences in the prevalence of trisomy 21 among race–ethnicity groups. Among all pregnancies with birth defects, prenatal cytogenetic testing as well as elective terminations after an abnormal prenatal cytogenetic test result were observed less frequently among Hispanic women than among non‐Hispanic white women (odds ratio [OR] 0.66, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.56–0.78, respectively). In pregnancies affected by trisomy 21, both the Hispanic and the non‐Hispanic black populations had more live births (89.5% and 77.8%, respectively) and fewer elective terminations (5.7% and 15.2%, respectively) compared to the non‐Hispanic white population (63.0% live births, 32.3% elective terminations). After adjusting for elective terminations, non‐Hispanic white mothers had a higher live birth prevalence of trisomy 21 compared to non‐Hispanic black (OR 0.64, 95% CI 0.54–0.76) or Hispanic mothers (OR 0.69, 95% CI 0.55–0.86). Overall, our data suggest that factors associated with decisions made about the use of prenatal testing, and about pregnancy management after testing, might play a large role in the race–ethnicity differences observed in the live birth prevalence of trisomy 21. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Wavelength Sensitivity of Enhanced Photodegradable Polyethylenes, ECO, and LDPE/MX

The wavelength sensitivity for decrease in percent elongation at break of ethylene carbon monoxide copolymer (ECO) and a low density polyethylene containing a metal compound prooxidant (LDPE/MX) on exposure to a borosilicate-filtered xenon-arc source was determined using a set of sharp cut-on filters. The spectral region primarily responsible for the degradation at 60°C is 323-328 nm for ECO and 323-338 nm for LDPE/MX. At 77°C, the sensitivity shifts about 10 nm to longer wavelengths. Based on the wavelength sensitivity of these materials to solar simulated radiation and the transmission properties of window glass, these materials can be expected to lose desirable mechanical properties when exposed to window-glass-filtered sunlight.
Achieving the Gaussian Rate-Distortion Function by Prediction

The "water-filling" solution for the quadratic rate-distortion function of a stationary Gaussian source is given in terms of its power spectrum. This formula naturally lends itself to a frequency domain "test-channel" realization. We provide an alternative time-domain realization for the rate-distortion function, based on linear prediction. This solution has some interesting implications, including the optimality at all distortion levels of pre/post filtered vector-quantized differential pulse code modulation (DPCM), and a duality relationship with decision-feedback equalization (DFE) for inter-symbol interference (ISI) channels
Integrating Dublin Core Metadata for Cultural Heritage Collections Using Ontologies

Metadata interoperability is an active research area, especially for cultural heritage collections, which consist of heterogeneous objects described by a variety of metadata schemas. In this paper we propose an ontology-based metadata interoperability approach, which exploits, in an optimal way, the semantics of metadata schemas. In particular, we propose the use of CIDOC/CRM ontology as a mediating schema and present a methodology for mapping DC Type Vocabulary to CIDOC/CRM, demonstrating a real-world effort for ontology-based metadata integration.
A Use Case Analysis of Legal Knowledge-Based Systems

A number of important use cases for public administration ("e-governance") applications of legal knowledge-based systems are identified. For each use case, a data flow model is developed showing processes and document types sufficient to imple- ment the use case. Our main goal is to identify document types which, if standardized, would enable a modular set of interoperable components for building legal knowledge- based systems.
Multi-state models for event history analysis

An introduction to event history analysis via multi-state models is given. Examples include the two-state model for survival analysis, the competing risks and illness-death models, and models for bone marrow transplantation. Statistical model specification via transition intensities and likelihood inference is introduced. Consequences of observational patterns are discussed, and a real example concerning mortality and bleeding episodes in a liver cirrhosis trial is discussed.
Valence fluctuations and quasiparticle multiplets in plutonium chalcogenides and pnictides

The spectra of Pu chalcogenides and pnictides are computed with LDA+DMFT and interpreted with the aid of valence histograms and slave-boson calculations. We find the chalcogenides are mixed-valent ($n_f = 5.2$) materials with a strongly $T$-dependent low-energy density of states and a triplet of quasiparticle peaks below the Fermi level. Furthermore, we predict a doublet of reflected peaks above the Fermi level. In the pnictides, the raising of $f^6$ states relative to $f^5$ suppresses valence fluctuations, resulting in integral-valent ($n_f = 5.0$) local moment metals.
Building trust in peer-to-peer systems: a review

The decentralised, cooperative and self-organising nature of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) systems help to mitigate and even overcome many challenges which overwhelm the traditional client-server approaches. On the other hand, these very characteristics also introduce some novel issues in P2P environments. One of the critical issues is how to build the trust relationship within P2P systems. In this paper, we first discuss the desired properties that need to be considered while building trust in P2P systems. Then, we analyse two types of attacks both the ones mitigated by as well as the ones aimed at trust systems. After this, we divide the previous research work on building trust in P2P systems into two broad categories, that is, reputation-based and trade-based. We then review and discuss the advances in this area based on this classification. Finally, we point out some potential research directions in building trust securely in P2P systems.
Synergistic anti-inflammatory Activity of Lawsonia Inermis linn . and Chlorophytum Brovilianum sant

Nonsteroidal and steroidal drugs are generally used to treat inflammation. However, these drugs have side-effects like nausea, vomiting, etc. This lead to search for new anti-inflammatory agents from natural sources, which would be effective and safe. Many plant extracts show a synergistic effect with each other or with modern drugs. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the synergistic anti-inflammatory activity of chloroform extracts of leaves and roots tubers of Lawsonia inermis Linn. and Chlorophytum borivilianum Sant. respectively in albino wistar rats. The synergistic anti-inflammatory activity is evaluated by using plethysmometer. The study is carried out using dose of 200 mg/kg orally for both the extract individually and for combined extract. Both the chloroform extracts produced statistically significant and dose dependent inhibition of edema induced by Brewer’s yeast-induced rat paw edema and Cotton pellet induced granuloma at all doses when compared to the control groups. The percentage inhibition is also noted for the combination of chloroform extract. Both the extracts in combination did not exhibit toxicity in mice when given orally up to the concentration of 2000mg/kg. Statistically processed results support the conclusion, that the combination of extract of Lawsonia inermis Linn. and Chlorophytum borivilianum Sant. (1:1) possesses dose dependent, significant synergestic antiinflammatory activity against experimentally induced inflammation.
PuLP: Scalable multi-objective multi-constraint partitioning for small-world networks

We present PuLP, a parallel and memory-efficient graph partitioning method specifically designed to partition low-diameter networks with skewed degree distributions. Graph partitioning is an important Big Data problem because it impacts the execution time and energy efficiency of graph analytics on distributed-memory platforms. Partitioning determines the in-memory layout of a graph, which affects locality, intertask load balance, communication time, and overall memory utilization of graph analytics. A novel feature of our method PuLP (Partitioning using Label Propagation) is that it optimizes for multiple objective metrics simultaneously, while satisfying multiple partitioning constraints. Using our method, we are able to partition a web crawl with billions of edges on a single compute server in under a minute. For a collection of test graphs, we show that PuLP uses 8-39× less memory than state-of-the-art partitioners and is up to 14.5× faster, on average, than alternate approaches (with 16-way parallelism). We also achieve better partitioning quality results for the multi-objective scenario.
Formal methods versus software engineering: Is there a conflict

There has been a sigfilcant amount of controversy over the years, sparked lmgely by the publication of two papers [1,2] arguing that formal methods are either totally impractical as a means of gaining enhanced assurance or that the entire notion of mathematically establishing the correctness of a program is theoretically ill-founded. The result has been a sometimes vitriolic debate seeming to pose the fortnaf methods community against the rest of software engineering.
Microscopic colitis

Abstract Microscopic colitis is an umbrella term used to include two idiopathic inflammatory bowel disorders that present with chronic watery diarrhea, normal endoscopic findings and characteristic inflammatory changes on histology. Collagenous colitis and lymphocytic colitis are distinguished by the presence of a thickened subepithelial collagen table. It is likely that they are a spectrum of one disease, but this is yet to be proven. The majority of cases tend to undergo spontaneous remission within a few years of onset, and their clinical course is benign, with no increase in risk of colorectal cancer. Sufficient evidence exists to suggest that microscopic colitis occurs as a response to one or more luminal antigens. A variety of medications have been reported in the treatment of this condition, but only colloidal bismuth and budesonide have thus far been shown to be effective in randomized controlled trials.
Recent Treatment of Interstitial Lung Disease with Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathies

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a prognostic factor for poor outcome in polymyositis (PM)/dermatomyositis (DM). The appropriate management of ILD is very important to improve the prognosis of patients with PM/DM. ILD activity and severity depend on the disease subtype. Therefore, clinicians should determine therapeutic strategies according to the disease subtype in each patient with PM/DM. Anti–melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 antibody and hyperferritinemia predict the development and severity of rapidly progressive (RP) ILD, particularly in East Asian patients. Combination therapy with corticosteroids, intravenous cyclophosphamide pulse, and calcineurin inhibitors should be administered in RP-ILD. In contrast, patients with anti–aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (ARS) show better responses to corticosteroids alone. However, ILDs with anti-ARS often display disease recurrence or become refractory to corticosteroid monotherapy. Recent studies have demonstrated that the administration of tacrolimus or rituximab in addition to corticosteroids may be considered in ILD patients with anti-ARS. Large-scale, multicenter randomized clinical trials should be conducted in the future to confirm that the aforementioned agents exhibit efficacy in ILD patients with PM/DM. The pathophysiology of ILD with PM/DM should also be elucidated in greater detail to develop effective therapeutic strategies for patients with ILD in PM/DM.
Biomarkers of Brain Injury in the Premature Infant

The term “encephalopathy of prematurity” encompasses not only the acute brain injury [such as intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH)] but also complex disturbance on the infant’s subsequent brain development. In premature infants, the most frequent recognized source of brain injury is IVH and periventricular leukomalacia (PVL). Furthermore 20–25% infants with birth weigh less than 1,500 g will have IVH and that proportion increases to 45% if the birth weight is less than 500–750 g. In addition, nearly 60% of very low birth weight newborns will have hypoxic-ischemic injury. Therefore permanent lifetime neurodevelopmental disabilities are frequent in premature infants. Innovative approach to prevent or decrease brain injury in preterm infants requires discovery of biomarkers able to discriminate infants at risk for injury, monitor the progression of the injury, and assess efficacy of neuroprotective clinical trials. In this article, we will review biomarkers studied in premature infants with IVH, Post-hemorrhagic ventricular dilation (PHVD), and PVL including: S100b, Activin A, erythropoietin, chemokine CCL 18, GFAP, and NFL will also be examined. Some of the most promising biomarkers for IVH are S100β and Activin. The concentrations of TGF-β1, MMP-9, and PAI-1 in cerebrospinal fluid could be used to discriminate patients that will require shunt after PHVD. Neonatal brain injury is frequent in premature infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care and we hope to contribute to the awareness and interest in clinical validation of established as well as novel neonatal brain injury biomarkers.
Synthesis of SiO2/CeO2 Nanopaticles with Core/Shell Structure and Their Polishing Performance

CMP is commonly recognized to be the most effective technique of achieving global planarization. SiO2 and CeO2 abrasives are the most commonly used in CMP slurries due to their good polish performance. To consider respectiveSubscript text advantages and synergistic effect, preparation of SiO2/CeO2 composite nanoparticles with core/shell structure have become a hot topic in CMP field. We introduced the preparation technology of SiO2/CeO2 and their applications in CMP in recent years.
A new method in modeling Central Pattern Generators to control quadruped walking robots

Aiming to real easy application in several quadruped robot platforms, this paper introduces a new method of modeling central pattern generators (CPG) to control quadruped locomotion. Not only can this new model generate all the primary gaits of quadrupeds stably with limit cycle effect, but it also has the ability of tuning the periodic outputs with arbitrary waveforms. The core idea is to combine strong points of two mathematical tools: Fourier series and Recurrent neural networks. In addition, a new biomimetic controller is also introduced using the proposed CPG model and several reflex modules. Finally, dynamic simulations are performed to validate the efficiency of the proposed controller.
Do we need bigram alignment models? On the effect of alignment quality on transduction accuracy in G2P

We investigate the need for bigram alignment models and the benefit of supervised alignment techniques in graphemeto-phoneme (G2P) conversion. Moreover, we quantitatively estimate the relationship between alignment quality and overall G2P system performance. We find that, in English, bigram alignment models do perform better than unigram alignment models on the G2P task. Moreover, we find that supervised alignment techniques may perform considerably better than their unsupervised brethren and that few manually aligned training pairs suffice for them to do so. Finally, we estimate a highly significant impact of alignment quality on overall G2P transcription performance and that this relationship is linear in nature.
Formative Research for a Healthy Diet Intervention Among Inner-City Adolescents: The Importance of Family, School and Neighborhood Environment

Objectives: To understand influences on diet among low-income African-American adolescents in East Baltimore. Methods: Formative research was conducted for a food store-centered healthy diet intervention targeted to inner-city youth. Family, school and neighborhood influences on eating habits and health concepts were explored. Results: Family structure, economic resources and past experiences influence what food means to adolescents. Healthy food in school and local stores is limited. Terminology to categorize foods was identified, including the term “home foods”. Conclusions: Suggested adolescent nutritional interventions include promotion of home-based eating, improving availability of healthy foods in school and neighborhood stores, and targeted educational materials.
Orthonormal bases of compactly supported wavelets

We construct orthonormal bases of compactly supported wavelets, with arbitrarily high regularity. The order of regularity increases linearly with the support width. We start by reviewing the concept of multiresolution analysis as well as several algorithms in vision decomposition and reconstruction. The construction then follows from a synthesis of these different approaches.
Teaching old caches new tricks: RegionTracker and predictor virtualization

On-chip last-level caches are increasing to tens of megabytes to accommodate applications with large memory footprints and to compensate for high memory latencies and limited off-chip bandwidth. This paper reviews two on-going research efforts that exploit such large caches: coarse-grain cache management, and predictor virtualization. Coarse-grain cache management collects and stores cache information at a large memory region granularity (e.g., 1KB to 8KB). This coarse view of memory access behaviour enables optimizations that were not previously possible with conventional caches. Predictor virtualization is motivated by the observation that on-chip storage has become sufficiently large to accommodate allocating, on demand, a small percentage of its capacity for purposes other than storing program data and instructions. Predictor virtualization uses conventional caches to store program metadata, i.e., information about program behaviour. Such metadata information can be used for several optimizations that improve performance and power. This paper summarizes the progress made and the on-going activity in these two research efforts.
A critique of cyclomatic complexity as a software metric

McCabe's cyclomatic complexity metric (1976) is widely cited as a useful predictor of various software attributes such as reliability and development effort. This critique demonstrates that it is based upon poor theoretical foundations and an inadequate model of software development. The argument that the metric provides the developer with a useful engineering approximation is not borne out by the empirical evidence. Furthermore, it would appear that for a large class of software it is no more than a proxy for, and in many cases is outperformed by, lines of code. < >
Amnesic cache management for non-volatile memory

One characteristic of non-volatile memory (NVM) is that, even though it supports non-volatility, its retention capability is limited. To handle this issue, previous studies have focused on refreshing or advanced error correction code (ECC). In this paper, we take a different approach that makes use of the limited retention capability to our advantage. Specifically, we employ NVM as a file cache and devise a new scheme called amnesic cache management (ACM). The scheme is motivated by our observation that most data in a cache are evicted within a short time period after they have been entered into the cache, implying that they can be written with the relaxed retention capability. This retention relaxation can enhance the overall cache performance in terms of latency and energy since the data retention capability is proportional to the write latency. In addition, to prevent the retention relaxation from degrading the hit ratio, we estimate the future reference intervals based on the inter-reference gap (IRG) model and manage data adaptively. Experimental results with real-world workloads show that our scheme can reduce write latency by up to 40% (30% on average) and save energy consumption by up to 49% (37% on average) compared with the conventional LRU based cache management scheme.
Interaction between Streptococcus suis serotype 2 and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus in specific pathogen-free piglets

Secondary specific pathogen-free (sSPF) piglets were inoculated intranasally with Streptococcus suis serotype 2 alone, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) alone, or with PRRSV followed by S suis. Uninfected piglets were used as controls. Pigs inoculated with PRRSV (ATCC VR-2332) followed by challenge with a virulent strain (87555) of S suis serotype 2 developed clinical signs, suppurative meningitis and large numbers of S suis in their tissues, including the brain and meninges. Pigs inoculated with PRRSV alone, S suis (87555) alone, or with PRRSV and the DH5 strain of S suis serotype 2 (lacking a protein associated with virulence) and the uninfected piglets did not develop clinical signs or lesions or have large numbers of bacteria in their tissues. The results suggest that PRRSV predisposes sSPF pigs to infection and disease caused by virulent S suis serotype 2. Co-infection of piglets with PRRSV and a virulent strain of S suis may provide a useful model for the study of S suis septicaemia and meningitis.