Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
FCatch: Automatically Detecting Time-of-fault Bugs in Cloud Systems

It is crucial for distributed systems to achieve high availability. Unfortunately, this is challenging given the common component failures (i.e., faults). Developers often cannot anticipate all the timing conditions and system states under which a fault might occur, and introduce time-of-fault (TOF) bugs that only manifest when a node crashes or a message drops at a special moment. Although challenging, detecting TOF bugs is fundamental to developing highly available distributed systems. Unlike previous work that relies on fault injection to expose TOF bugs, this paper carefully models TOF bugs as a new type of concurrency bugs, and develops FCatch to automatically predict TOF bugs by observing correct execution. Evaluation on representative cloud systems shows that FCatch is effective, accurately finding severe TOF bugs.
A simple model of balancing in the plane and a simple preview balance controller

This paper presents a new model of the dynamics of a general planar robot balancing on a point in the plane, in which the essential parameters of the robot’s balancing behaviour are reduced to just two numbers, both of which are simple functions of basic physical properties of the robot mechanism. A third number describes the effect of other movements on the robot’s balance. This model gives rise to a simple preview balance controller consisting of a four-term control law with easily calculated gains and a reverse-time low-pass filter acting on a preview of the command signal. The filter makes the robot lean in anticipation of future movements. Simulation results are presented showing the balance controller achieving excellent tracking of large fast motion commands while simultaneously maintaining the robot’s balance and accurately rejecting disturbances caused by other motions being performed by the robot. The controller is also robust to effects such as actuator saturation and sensor noise.
Modified Order-Reduction Method for Distributed Control of Multi-Spacecraft Networks With Time-Varying Delays

This paper studies the order-reduction method for robust distributed control of multi-spacecraft formation problems considering external disturbance and time-varying delays. Two kinds of delay-dependent controllers are designed to achieve accompanying flight and around flight, respectively. Further, a modified order-reduction method is proposed to reduce the order of sufficient conditions in the form of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), which guarantee the desired relative state between the controlled spacecraft and the reference point subject to $\boldsymbol{H}_{\infty}$ performance. Numerical simulations are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of theoretical results and show that the proposed modified order-reduction method can significantly reduce the numerical complexity of LMIs compared with existing ones.
Alterations of White Matter Integrity and Hippocampal Functional Connectivity in Type 2 Diabetes Without Mild Cognitive Impairment

Aims: To investigate the white matter (WM) integrity and hippocampal functional connectivity (FC) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients without mild cognitive impairment (MCI) by using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), respectively. Methods: Twelve T2DM patients without MCI and 24 age, sex and education matched healthy controls (HC) were recruited. DTI and rs-fMRI data were subsequently acquired on a 3.0T MR scanner. Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) combining region of interests (ROIs) analysis was used to investigate the alterations of DTI metrics (fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), λ1 and λ23) and FC measurement was performed to calculate hippocampal FC with other brain regions. Cognitive function was evaluated by using Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Brain volumes were also evaluated among these participants. Results: There were no difference of MMSE and MoCA scores between two groups. Neither whole brain nor regional brain volume decrease was revealed in T2DM patients without MCI. DTI analysis revealed extensive WM disruptions, especially in the body of corpus callosum (CC). Significant decreases of hippocampal FC with certain brain structures were revealed, especially with the bilateral frontal cortex. Furthermore, the decreased FA in left posterior thalamic radiation (PTR) and increased MD in the splenium of CC were closely related with the decreased hippocampal FC to caudate nucleus and frontal cortex. Conclusions: T2DM patients without MCI showed extensive WM disruptions and abnormal hippocampal FC. Moreover, the WM disruptions and abnormal hippocampal FC were closely associated. Highlights - T2DM patients without MCI demonstrated no obvious brain volume decrease. - Extensive white matter disruptions, especially within the body of corpus callosum, were revealed with DTI analysis among the T2DM patients. - Despite no MCI in T2DM patients, decreased functional connectivity between hippocampal region and some critical brain regions were detected. - The alterations in hippocampal functional connectivity were closely associated with those of the white matter structures in T2DM patients. This trial was registered to ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02420470, https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/).
FOR EFFICIENT SINGLE-CHANNEL SOURCE SEPARATION

We present Bitwise Neural Networks (BNN) as an efficient hardwarefriendly solution to single-channel source separation tasks in resourceconstrained environments. In the proposed BNN system, we replace all the real-valued operations during the feedforward process of a Deep Neural Network (DNN) with bitwise arithmetic (e.g. the XNOR operation between bipolar binaries in place of multiplications). Thanks to the fully bitwise run-time operations, the BNN system can serve as an alternative solution where efficient real-time processing is critical, for example real-time speech enhancement in embedded systems. Furthermore, we also propose a binarization scheme to convert the input signals into bit strings so that the BNN parameters learn the Boolean mapping between input binarized mixture signals and their target Ideal Binary Masks (IBM). Experiments on the single-channel speech denoising tasks show that the efficient BNN-based source separation system works well with an acceptable performance loss compared to a comprehensive real-valued network, while consuming a minimal amount of resources.
Clip, connect, clone: combining application elements to build custom interfaces for information access

Many applications provide a form-like interface for requesting information: the user fills in some fields, submits the form, and the application presents corresponding results. Such a procedure becomes burdensome if (1) the user must submit many different requests, for example in pursuing a trial-and-error search, (2) results from one application are to be used as inputs for another, requiring the user to transfer them by hand, or (3) the user wants to compare results, but only the results from one request can be seen at a time. We describe how users can reduce this burden by creating custom interfaces using three mechanisms: clipping of input and result elements from existing applications to form cells on a spreadsheet; connecting these cells using formulas, thus enabling result transfer between applications; and cloning cells so that multiple requests can be handled side by side. We demonstrate a prototype of these mechanisms, initially specialised for handling Web applications, and show how it lets users build new interfaces to suit their individual needs.
Parasites as prey in aquatic food webs: implications for predator infection and parasite transmission

While the recent inclusion of parasites into food-web studies has highlighted the role of parasites as consumers, there is accumulating evidence that parasites can also serve as prey for predators. Here we investigated empirical patterns of predation on parasites and their relationships with parasite transmission in eight topological food webs representing marine and freshwater ecosystems. Within each food web, we examined links in the typical predator – prey sub web as well as the predator – parasite sub web, i.e. the quadrant of the food web indicating which predators eat parasites. Most predator – parasite links represented ‘ concomitant predation ’ (consumption and death of a parasite along with the prey/host; 58 – 72%), followed by ‘ trophic transmission ’ (predator feeds on infected prey and becomes infected; 8 – 32%) and predation on free-living parasite life-cycle stages (4 – 30%). Parasite life-cycle stages had, on average, between 4.2 and 14.2 predators. Among the food webs, as predator richness increased, the number of links exploited by trophically transmitted parasites increased at about the same rate as did the number of links where these stages serve as prey. On the whole, our analyses suggest that predation on parasites has important consequences for both predators and parasites, and food web structure. Because our analysis is solely based on topological webs, determining the strength of these interactions is a promising avenue for future research.
Concord grape juice, cognitive function, and driving performance: a 12-wk, placebo-controlled, randomized crossover trial in mothers of preteen children.

BACKGROUND Daily consumption of Concord grape juice (CGJ) over 3-4 mo has been shown to improve memory function in adults with mild cognitive impairment and reduce blood pressure in hypertensive adults. These benefits likely result from the high concentration of polyphenols in CGJ. Increased stress can impair cognitive function and elevate blood pressure. Thus, we examined the potential beneficial effect of CGJ in individuals with somewhat stressful and demanding lifestyles. OBJECTIVE We sought to examine the effects of the daily consumption of CGJ for 12 wk on cognitive function, driving performance, and blood pressure in healthy, middle-aged working mothers. DESIGN Twenty-five healthy mothers (aged 40-50 y) of preteen children who were employed for ≥30 h/wk consumed 12 ounces (355 mL) of either CGJ (containing 777 mg total polyphenols) or an energy-, taste-, and appearance-matched placebo daily for 12 wk according to a randomized crossover design with a 4-wk washout. Verbal and spatial memory, executive function, attention, blood pressure, and mood were assessed at baseline and at 6 and 12 wk. Immediately after the cognitive battery, a subsample of 17 women completed a driving performance assessment at the University of Leeds Driving Simulator. The 25-min driving task required participants to match the speed and direction of a lead vehicle. RESULTS Significant improvements in immediate spatial memory and driving performance were observed after CGJ relative to placebo. There was evidence of an enduring effect of CGJ such that participants who received CGJ in arm 1 maintained better performance in the placebo arm. CONCLUSIONS Cognitive benefits associated with the long-term consumption of flavonoid-rich grape juice are not exclusive to adults with mild cognitive impairment. Moreover, these cognitive benefits are apparent in complex everyday tasks such as driving. Effects may persist beyond the cessation of flavonoid consumption, and future studies should carefully consider the length of washout within crossover designs. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01411631.
Polyaniline integrated carbon nanohorn: A superior electrode materials for advanced energy storage

Fiber-like polyaniline (PANI)/carbon nanohorn (CNH) composites (PACN composites) were prepared as elec- trode materials for supercapacitor by simple method that involves in-situ polymerization of aniline in the presence of CNH in acidic (HCl) medium with noteworthy electrochemical performances. Thus, the prepared PACN composites show high specific capacitance value of ! 834 F/g at 5 mV/s scan rate compared to ! 231 F/g for pure PANI and CNH (! 145 F/g) at same scan rate of 5 mV/s. CNHs are homogeneously dispersed throughout the matrix and coated successfully. Thus, it pro- vides more active sites for nucleation and electron transfer path. In addition, the composites show high electrical conductiv- ity in the order of ! 6.7·10 -2 S·cm -1 which indicates the formation of continuous interconnected conducting network path in the PACN composites. Morphological study of the PACN composites was carried out by high resolution transmission elec- tron microscopy (HRTEM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM).
The Vps13p–Cdc31p complex is directly required for TGN late endosome transport and TGN homotypic fusion

Yeast VPS13 is the founding member of a eukaryotic gene family of growing interest in cell biology and medicine. Mutations in three of four human VPS13 genes cause autosomal recessive neurodegenerative or neurodevelopmental disease, making yeast Vps13p an important structural and functional model. Using cell-free reconstitution with purified Vps13p, we show that Vps13p is directly required both for transport from the trans-Golgi network (TGN) to the late endosome/prevacuolar compartment (PVC) and for TGN homotypic fusion. Vps13p must be in complex with the small calcium-binding protein Cdc31p to be active. Single-particle electron microscopic analysis of negatively stained Vps13p indicates that this 358-kD protein is folded into a compact rod-shaped density (20 × 4 nm) with a loop structure at one end with a circular opening ∼6 nm in diameter. Vps13p exhibits ATP-stimulated binding to yeast membranes and specific interactions with phosphatidic acid and phosphorylated forms of phosphatidyl inositol at least in part through the binding affinities of conserved N- and C-terminal domains.
The Author's Reply.

patient is not easy, the literature is very scanty on this topic. Temmerman et al reported in 2 obese patients with cirrhosis that the use of VLCDs (800 calories daily, 25% carbohydrates, 45% protein, 30% fat), under close medical supervision, was safe and effective in reducingweight and improving the MELD score without any associated adverse effect even on FFM. This debate remains of utmost importance in the
Retrieving Common Discretionary Lane Changing Characteristics From Trajectories

Conventional lane change methods directly collected steering angle data via onboard sensors to accurately capture the actions of individual drivers. We can hardly use such methods to collect massive data from examinees, because of time and financial costs. In order to retrieve common steering behaviors for lots of drivers, we propose a method to retrieve common discretionary lane change (DLC) steering characteristics from trajectory data. The key technique of this new method is solving an inverse problem that converts the measured trajectory into the unmeasured steering maneuvers under the assumed vehicle movement dynamics. We find that most normal DLC trajectories in the next generation simulation datasets could be well reproduced by a simple target heading angle preview control model. This finding sheds important light into driver behavior study and better explains how human control vehicles. Based on these findings, we can nonintrusively evaluate driving performance or physiological states of drivers based on online roadside monitoring data (e.g., the data collected from roadside video cameras). This opens a promising field of applications for enhancing driving safety.
The Jaw Adductor Muscle Complex in Teleostean Fishes: Evolution, Homologies and Revised Nomenclature (Osteichthyes: Actinopterygii)

The infraclass Teleostei is a highly diversified group of bony fishes that encompasses 96% of all species of living fishes and almost half of extant vertebrates. Evolution of various morphological complexes in teleosts, particularly those involving soft anatomy, remains poorly understood. Notable among these problematic complexes is the adductor mandibulae, the muscle that provides the primary force for jaw adduction and mouth closure and whose architecture varies from a simple arrangement of two segments to an intricate complex of up to ten discrete subdivisions. The present study analyzed multiple morphological attributes of the adductor mandibulae in representatives of 53 of the 55 extant teleostean orders, as well as significant information from the literature in order to elucidate the homologies of the main subdivisions of this muscle. The traditional alphanumeric terminology applied to the four main divisions of the adductor mandibulae – A1, A2, A3, and Aω – patently fails to reflect homologous components of that muscle across the expanse of the Teleostei. Some features traditionally used as landmarks for identification of some divisions of the adductor mandibulae proved highly variable across the Teleostei; notably the insertion on the maxilla and the position of muscle components relative to the path of the ramus mandibularis trigeminus nerve. The evolutionary model of gain and loss of sections of the adductor mandibulae most commonly adopted under the alphanumeric system additionally proved ontogenetically incongruent and less parsimonious than a model of subdivision and coalescence of facial muscle sections. Results of the analysis demonstrate the impossibility of adapting the alphanumeric terminology so as to reflect homologous entities across the spectrum of teleosts. A new nomenclatural scheme is proposed in order to achieve congruence between homology and nomenclature of the adductor mandibulae components across the entire Teleostei.
Rewarding effects of physical activity predict sensitivity to the acute subjective effects of d-amphetamine in healthy volunteers

While individual differences in reward sensitivity are believed to generalize across drugs and alternative rewards, this notion has received little empirical attention in human research. Here, we tested whether individual differences in the subjective rewarding effects of physical activity were associated with the subjective response to d-amphetamine administration. Healthy volunteers (n=95; age 18–35 years) completed questionnaires measuring the self-reported pleasurable effects of physical activity and other covariates, and this was followed by two double-blind counterbalanced sessions during which they received either 20 mg oral d-amphetamine or placebo. Subjective drug effects measures were collected before and repeatedly after drug administration. Subjective d-amphetamine-related effects were then reduced via principal components analysis into latent factors of “positive mood,” “arousal,” and “drug high. ” Multiple regression models controlling for placebo-related scores, session order, demographics, body mass index, level of physical activity, and use of other drugs showed that degree of self-reported physical activity reward was positively associated with d-amphetamine-induced positive mood and arousal (βs≥0.25, ps≤0.04), but was not associated with d-amphetamine-induced changes in drug high (β=0.13, p=0.24). These results provide novel evidence suggesting that individual differences in reward sensitivity cross over between d-amphetamine reward and physical activity reward in humans.
Grouper: A Framework for Developing Mobile Applications using a Secret Sharing Scheme and Untrusted Servers

Conventional mobile applications are built based on a client-server modal and require central servers for storing shared data and processing confidential information. If the central servers are accessed by an attacker, a curious administrator or a government, private information will be revealed because data is often stored on the central servers in the form of cleartext. This paper presents Grouper, a framework for developing mobile applications without trusted central servers. To provide object synchronization among mobile devices, Grouper uses a secret sharing scheme to create several shares from a marshalled object and uploads these shares to multiple untrusted servers. These untrusted servers construct a self-destruction system and delete shares after a certain period of time. Grouper consists of a client framework in Objective-C and a Web service in Java. We have implemented two applications using Grouper and evaluated the development efforts of them as well as the performance. Developing these applications demonstrates that Grouper requires little development effort to convert a standalone application to a data sharing application. Experimental results prove that the performance of Grouper is satisfactory for mobile applications that are used among a small group of people.
Prototyping and Simulating Complex Systems with Paper Craft and Augmented Reality: An Initial Investigation

We present early work developing an Augmented Reality (AR) system that allows young children to design and experiment with complex systems (e.g., bicycle gears, human circulatory system). Our novel approach combines low-fidelity prototyping to help children represent creative ideas, AR visualization to scaffold iterative design, and virtual simulation to support personalized experiments. To evaluate our approach, we conducted an exploratory study with eight children (ages 8-11) using an initial prototype. Our findings demonstrate the viability of our approach, uncover usability challenges, and suggest opportunities for future work. We also distill additional design implications from a follow-up participatory design session with children.
Calibration for the (Computationally-Identifiable) Masses

As algorithms increasingly inform and influence decisions made about individuals, it becomes increasingly important to address concerns that these algorithms might be discriminatory. The output of an algorithm can be discriminatory for many reasons, most notably: (1) the data used to train the algorithm might be biased (in various ways) to favor certain populations over others; (2) the analysis of this training data might inadvertently or maliciously introduce biases that are not borne out in the data. This work focuses on the latter concern. We develop and study multicalbration -- a new measure of algorithmic fairness that aims to mitigate concerns about discrimination that is introduced in the process of learning a predictor from data. Multicalibration guarantees accurate (calibrated) predictions for every subpopulation that can be identified within a specified class of computations. We think of the class as being quite rich; in particular, it can contain many overlapping subgroups of a protected group. We show that in many settings this strong notion of protection from discrimination is both attainable and aligned with the goal of obtaining accurate predictions. Along the way, we present new algorithms for learning a multicalibrated predictor, study the computational complexity of this task, and draw new connections to computational learning models such as agnostic learning.