Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tide: achieving self-scaling in virtualized datacenter management middleware

The increasing popularity of system virtualization in datacenters introduces the need for self-scaling of the management layer to cope with the increasing demands of the management workload. This paper studies the problem of self-scaling in datacenter management middleware, allowing the management capacity to scale with the management workload. We argue that self-scaling must be fast during workload bursts to avoid task completion delays, and self-scaling must minimize resource usage to avoid resource contention with applications. To address these two challenges, we propose the design of Tide, a self-scaling framework for virtualized datacenter management. A salient feature of Tide is its fast capacity-provisioning algorithm that supplies just-enough capacity for the management middleware. We evaluate the effectiveness of Tide with both synthetic and real world workloads. Our results show that the self-scaling capability in Tide can substantially improve the throughput of management tasks during management workload bursts while consuming a reasonable amount of resources.
evelopment of high sensitivity potentiometric NO x sensor and its application to reath analysis

Using a combination of similar potentiometric sensors connected in series, a strategy for measuring NO at ppb concentrations has been demonstrated. Sensors numbering from 2 to 20 were fabricated, with each sensor based on YSZ electrolyte with WO3 sensing electrode and Pt-zeolite/Pt as the reference electrode. Use of a catalytic filter allows for the cancellation of interferences due to oxidizable gases, such as CO. The optimum operating temperature of the filter and sensor was determined to be 250 and eywords: arsh environment sensor ombustion sensor iomarkers of disease sthma monitoring 425 ◦C, respectively. For human breath samples, the interference from water was acute enough that only scrubbing through a dry ice/acetone bath led to adequate performance for detection of NO in the 5–80 ppb range with a 20-sensor array. A more practical strategy suitable for clinical analysis was demonstrated by using water saturated air as the background gas. A linear calibration curve in the range suitable for use in clinical analysis is demonstrated. nterferences
Efficient similarity search for covariance matrices via the Jensen-Bregman LogDet Divergence

Covariance matrices provide compact, informative feature descriptors for use in several computer vision applications, such as people-appearance tracking, diffusion-tensor imaging, activity recognition, among others. A key task in many of these applications is to compare different covariance matrices using a (dis)similarity function. A natural choice here is the Riemannian metric corresponding to the manifold inhabited by covariance matrices. But computations involving this metric are expensive, especially for large matrices and even more so, in gradient-based algorithms. To alleviate these difficulties, we advocate a novel dissimilarity measure for covariance matrices: the Jensen-Bregman LogDet Divergence. This divergence enjoys several useful theoretical properties, but its greatest benefits are: (i) lower computational costs (compared to standard approaches); and (ii) amenability for use in nearest-neighbor retrieval. We show numerous experiments to substantiate these claims.
The Effect of Personality and Coping on Perceived Work Stress among the White-Collar Workforce in Hong Kong

The relationship between personality dispositions and active coping with three work stress dimensions i.e. job satisfaction, physical stress, and psychological distress were studied among 173 white-collar Chinese adults in Hong Kong. Results indicated that neuroticism and conscientiousness, indexed by the Goldberg’s IPIP Lexical Big Five Scale, were correlated with the work stress variables. The other three personality factors i.e. extraversion, openness, and agreeableness showed no correlation with any of the work stress variables. Comparing the two personality factors, neuroticism demonstrated greater prediction on the variance in the work stress dimensions. Type-A behavioral pattern surprisingly showed no correlation with any of the work stress variables. Active coping was found to be positively correlated with job satisfaction and negatively correlated to both physical stress and psychological distress. Nevertheless, active coping did not moderate neither of the work stress outcome. These findings suggested that among all the personality traits, neuroticism is an important personality trait for the perception of work stress.
The ERP Auditlab - A Prototypical Framework for Evaluating Enterprise Resource Planning System Assurance

Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP) are comprehensive systems used in global organizations for distributed and complex transactions. Organizations are strongly dependent on these systems since they control critical business process flows. Assurance for these systems is needed to guarantee proper functionality, being in line with compliance requirements and to prevent fraudulent activities. We present a software prototype called the ERP AuditLab for auditing so called application controls in ERP systems. A case study is presented to give an impression about important application controls. We use the case study to derive the requirements for the ERP AuditLab.
Examining the Meaning of Procedural Justice among Serious Adolescent Offenders

Title of Document: EXAMINING THE MEANING OF PROCEDURAL JUSTICE AMONG SERIOUS ADOLESCENT OFFENDERS Megan Bears Augustyn, Doctor of Philosophy, 2013 Directed By: Professor Raymond Paternoster, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice Attempts to reduce delinquent/criminal behavior among juveniles tend to operate outside of the criminal justice system. Part of this emphasis is due to the fact that the criminal justice system has long prescribed to a control/deterrence framework even though this perspective has not been shown to be overly effective. However, a growing body of literature has begun to realize the importance of ―process‖ over ―control‖ within the criminal justice system; thus demonstrating that increasing perceptions of procedural justice and legitimacy can increase compliant behavior and reduce offending. This investigation seeks to add to the growing body of literature examining the normative perspective of compliance through the examination of the role of procedural justice and legitimacy among serious adolescent offenders. The value of this work is in its contribution to important gaps in the extant literature. First, it expands the outcomes of interest to include official measures of recidivism and substance use. More importantly, though, this research will examine how perceptions of legitimacy are formed through variable experiences and definitions of procedural justice among serious adolescent offenders, and, in turn, determine how these experiences and definitions are related to recidivism. Finally, this dissertation examines whether or not the relevance and meaning of procedural justice varies among males of different race/ethnicity. Using a sample of 1,353 serious adolescent offenders from the Pathways to Desistance Study, weak evidence exists regarding the applicability of Procedural Justice Theory as a means to reduce recidivism. However, subsequent analyses reveal that the theory is better at predicting the relative frequency of criminal acts as well as overall recidivism among novice offenders. This dissertation also speaks to the importance of personal interactions with the police in the formation of perceptions of legitimacy and the reduction of recidivism rates among some serious adolescent offenders. This research has important implications for the generality of Procedural Justice Theory and it speaks to the need to continue to examine the relevance of the normative perspective of compliance among adolescents, in general, in order to determine if this population actually appeals to morality when making decisions to
A comparative study of single-leg ground reaction forces in running lizards

The role of different limbs in supporting and propelling the body has been studied in many species with animals appearing to have either similarity in limb function or differential limb function. Differential hindlimb versus forelimb function has been proposed as a general feature of running with a sprawling posture and as benefiting sprawled postured animals by enhancing maneuvering and minimizing joint moments. Yet only a few species have been studied and thus the generality of differential limb function in running animals with sprawled postures is unknown. We measured the limb lengths of seven species of lizard and their single-limb three-dimensional ground reaction forces during high-speed running. We found that all species relied on the hindlimb for producing accelerative forces. Braking forces were forelimb dominated in four species and equally distributed between limbs in the other three. Vertical forces were dominated by the hindlimb in three species and equally distributed between the forelimb and hindlimb in the other four. Medial forces were dominated by the hindlimb in four species and equally distributed in the other three, with all Iguanians exhibiting hindlimb-biased medial forces. Relative hindlimb to forelimb length of each species was related to variation in hindlimb versus forelimb medial forces; species with relatively longer hindlimbs compared with forelimbs exhibited medial forces that were more biased towards the hindlimbs. These results suggest that the function of individual limbs in lizards varies across species with only a single general pattern (hindlimb-dominated accelerative force) being present.
Validation of a predictive model to estimate the risk of conversion from ocular hypertension to glaucoma.

OBJECTIVES To develop and validate a predictive model to estimate the risk of conversion from ocular hypertension to glaucoma. METHODS Predictive models for the 5-year risk of conversion to glaucoma were derived from the results of the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study (OHTS). The performance of these models was assessed in an independent population of 126 subjects with ocular hypertension from a longitudinal study (Diagnostic Innovations in Glaucoma Study [DIGS]). The performance of the OHTS-derived models was assessed in the DIGS cohort according to equality of regression coefficients, discrimination (c-index), and calibration. RESULTS Thirty-one patients (25%) developed glaucoma during follow-up. Hazard ratios for DIGS- and OHTS-derived predictive models were similar for age, intraocular pressure, central corneal thickness, vertical cup-disc ratio, and pattern standard deviation but were significantly different for the presence of diabetes mellitus. When applied to the DIGS population, the OHTS-derived predictive models had reasonably good discrimination (c-indexes of 0.68 [full model] and 0.73 [reduced model]) and calibration. CONCLUSIONS The OHTS-derived predictive models performed well in assessing the risk of glaucoma development in an independent population of untreated subjects with ocular hypertension. A risk scoring system was developed that allows calculation of the 5-year risk of glaucoma development for an individual patient.
Automatic detection of creaky voice using epoch parameters

This paper proposes a method based on epoch parameters for detection of creaky voice in speech signal. The epoch parameters characterizing the source of excitation considered in this work are number of epochs in a frame, strength of excitation of epochs and epoch intervals. Analysis of epoch parameters estimated from zero-frequency ﬁltering method with different window sizes is carried out. Distinct variations in the epoch parameters are observed for modal and creaky voiced regions. Variances of epoch parameters are used as input features to train a neural network classiﬁer for identifying creaky regions. Performance evaluation results indicate that the proposed method performs signiﬁcantly better than the existing creaky detection methods on different speech databases.
Application of mathematical model to multiple-dose experimental chemotherapy for fatal murine pneumonia

Two beta-lactam antibiotics, cefazolin and cefmenoxime, were administered for 7 days to mice with pneumonia caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae by using dosage regimens that would simulate multiple dosing in usual clinical treatments at dosing intervals of 8 or 12 h. Viable numbers of the bacteria in the lungs were measured at 12- or 24-h intervals. The mathematical model established in a previous single-dose study was applied in this study to explain the time courses of the changes in bacterial count over 7 days. However, because the error in viable count measurements was larger than that in the previous study, the time course of the changes in mean viable count was not regular and the viable count reduction rate changed during multiple dosing, and therefore it was difficult to explain the time course by repeated application of the mathematical model described previously. This study suggests that the changes in pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters during multiple dosing need to be considered.
Mapping of the Epstein-Barr virus and C3dg binding sites to a common domain on complement receptor type 2

Complement receptor type 2 (CR2;CD21), a member of the superfamily of proteins containing short consensus repeats (SCRs), is the B cell receptor for both the gp350/220 envelope protein of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and for the C3dg protein of complement. By analysis of CR2 deletion mutants and chimeras formed with CR1 (CD35) we determined that of the 15 SCRs in CR2, the NH2-terminal two SCRs are necessary and sufficient to bind both gp350/220 and C3dg with affinities equivalent to those of the wild-type receptor. The epitope for OKB-7, a mAb that blocks binding of both EBV and C3dg and shares with these ligands B cell-activating capabilities, also requires both SCR-1 and SCR-2, whereas mAbs lacking these functions bind to other SCRs. Thus, EBV, a polyclonal activator of B cells, has selected a site that is proximate or identical to the natural ligand binding site in CR2, perhaps reflecting the relative immutability of that site as well as its signal transducing function.
Smart Brick-A Low Cost , Modular Wireless Sensor For Civil Structure Monitoring

We report results on the design and implementation of a low cost wireless multi-sensor system to enable the creation of smart building materials such as smart bricks. We have demonstrated a proof-of-concept device that samples both digital and analog sensor data from a number of configurable sensors, processes the data, and wirelessly transmits it to a data collection receiver with a maximum range of 101m using a tiny helical antenna. Evaluation of the effects of common civil materials on system performance is also presented. Power consumption performance is evaluated and suggestions made for future work.
Field Theory of Yang-Mills Quantum Mechanics for D Particles

We propose a new field-theoretic framework for formulating the non-relativistic quantum mechanics of D particles (D0 branes) in a Fock space of U (N ) Yang-Mills theories with all different N simultaneously. D-particle field operators, which create and annihilate a D particle and hence change the value of N by one, are defined. The base space of these D-particle fields is a (complex) vector space of infinite dimension. The gauge invariance of Yang-Mills quantum mechanics is reinterpreted as a quantum-statistical symmetry, which is taken into account by setting up a novel algebraic and projective structure in the formalism. Ordinary physical observables of Yang-Mills theory, obeying the standard algebra, are expressed as bilinear forms of the D-particle fields. Together with the open-closed string duality, our new formulation suggests a trinity of three different but dual viewpoints of string theory.
Integration of mesenchymal stem cells into islet cell spheroids improves long-term viability, but not islet function

ABSTRACT Pancreatic islets, especially the large islets (> 150µm in diameter) have poor survival rates in culture. Co-culturing with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has been shown to improve islet survival and function. However, most co-culture studies have been comprised of MSC surrounding islets in the media. The purpose of this study was to determine whether islet survival and function was improved when the 2 populations of cells were intermingled with each other in a defined geometry. Hybrid spheroids containing 25, 50 or 75 or 90% islets cells with appropriate numbers of MSCs were created along with spheroids comprised of only islet cells or only MSCs. Spheroids were tested for yield, viability, diameter, cellular composition, and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. The 25% islet/75% MSC group created the fewest spheroids, with the poorest survival and insulin secretion and the largest diameter. The remaining groups were highly viable with average diameters under 80µm at formation. However, the hybrid spheroid groups preferred to cluster in islet-only spheroids. The 50, 75 and 90% islet cell groups had excellent long-term survival with 90–95% viability at 2 weeks in culture, compared with the islet only group that were below 80% viability. The glucose-stimulated insulin secretion was not statistically different for the 50, 75, or 90 groups when exposed to 2.4, 16.8, or 22.4 mM glucose. Only the spheroids with 25% islet cells had a statistically lower levels of insulin release, and the 100% had statistically higher levels at 22.4 mM glucose and in response to secretagogue. Thus, imbedded co-culture improved long-term viability, but failed to enhance glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in vitro.
Expressing Emotion: Myths, Realities, and Therapeutic Strategies

Part I: Introduction. Expression, Nonexpression, and Well-Being: An Overview. Part II: Theory: Intrapersonal Processes. The Myth of Emotional Venting. Blind Spots and Epiphanies: Expression, Nonexpression, and Emotional Insight. The "Shoulds," "Oughts," and "Musts" of Emotional Behavior: Expressive Goals and Values. Part III: Theory: Interpersonal Processes. Family Socialization of Emotional Behavior. Men, Women, and the Language of Love. Telling One's Troubles: Expression of Distress in Intimate Relationships. Part IV: Treatment Implications: Formulation and Practice. Expression and Nonexpression in Psychotherapy: Facilitating Emotional Expression and Behavioral Change. Beyond Sadness: Therapeutic Approaches to Emotional Constriction in Depression. Flooding or Blunting: Vacillating Expression and Nonexpression in Bereavement and Trauma. Emotional Expression in Marital Therapy. Expression-Related Interventions in Health Psychology. Conclusion. Balance in Emotional Behavior.
Human-inspired multi-contact locomotion with AMBER2

This paper presents a methodology for translating a key feature encoded in human locomotion - multi-contact behavior - to a physical 2D bipedal robot, AMBER2, by leveraging novel controller design, optimization methods, and software structures for the translation to hardware. This paper begins with the analysis of human locomotion data and uses it to motivate the construction of a hybrid system model representing a multi-contact robotic walking gait. By again looking to human data for inspiration, human-inspired controllers are developed and used in the formulation of an optimization problem that yields stable human-like multi-domain walking in simulation. These formal results are translated to hardware implementation via a novel dynamic trajectory generation strategy. Finally, the specific software structures utilized to translate these trajectories to hardware are presented. The end result is experimentally realized stable robotic walking with remarkably human-like multi-contact foot behaviors.
Increased plasma concentration of matrix metalloproteinase-7 in patients with coronary artery disease.

BACKGROUND Plaque rupture is often associated with breakdown of the extracellular matrix in the shoulder region of a plaque. We tested whether plasma concentrations of various matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) could serve as markers for plaque instability as well as relationships between plasma MMPs and inflammatory markers. METHODS The study group included 65 men with angiographically verified CAD (45 with stable and 20 with unstable CAD) and 28 healthy controls. Circulating MMP, TIMP-1, C-reactive protein, and cytokine concentrations were measured by ELISA. Leukocyte subtype counts in whole blood were determined, and T-cell subsets and natural killer cells were measured by flow cytometry. Differences in continuous variables between groups were tested by ANOVA with the Scheffé F-test used as a post hoc test, and correlations were analyzed by a linear regression method. RESULTS The plasma concentration of MMP-7 was increased in patients with stable and unstable CAD, whereas MMP-2 and -3 concentrations were decreased. The plasma concentration of TIMP-1 was significantly increased in patients with unstable CAD. MMP-2, -3, and -7 showed no correlations with established markers of inflammation. However, MMP-2 correlated positively with the number of natural killer cells in patients with stable and unstable CAD. CONCLUSION Plasma concentrations of MMPs and TIMPs may be markers of CAD but appear to be differentially regulated.
Recruitment of Foxp3+ T regulatory cells mediating allograft tolerance depends on the CCR4 chemokine receptor

Although certain chemokines and their receptors guide homeostatic recirculation of T cells and others promote recruitment of activated T cells to inflammatory sites, little is known of the mechanisms underlying a third function, migration of Foxp3+ regulatory T (T reg) cells to sites where they maintain unresponsiveness. We studied how T reg cells are recruited to cardiac allografts in recipients tolerized with CD154 monoclonal antibody (mAb) plus donor-specific transfusion (DST). Real-time polymerase chain reaction showed that intragraft Foxp3 levels in tolerized recipients were ∼100-fold higher than rejecting allografts or allografts associated with other therapies inducing prolonged survival but not tolerance. Foxp3+ cells were essential for tolerance because pretransplant thymectomy or peritransplant depletion of CD25+ cells prevented long-term survival, as did CD25 mAb therapy in well-functioning allografts after CD154/DST therapy. Analysis of multiple chemokine pathways showed that tolerance was accompanied by intragraft up-regulation of CCR4 and one of its ligands, macrophage-derived chemokine (CCL22), and that tolerance induction could not be achieved in CCR4−/− recipients. We conclude that Foxp3 expression is specifically up-regulated within allografts of mice displaying donor-specific tolerance, that recruitment of Foxp3-expressing T reg cells to an allograft tissue is dependent on the chemokine receptor, CCR4, and that, in the absence of such recruitment, tolerizing strategies such as CD154 mAb therapy are ineffectual.