Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the Non-Existence of Minimum Storage Regenerating Codes With Repair-by-Transfer Property

Regenerating codes are the family of distributed storage codes that achieve the optimal trade-off between storage overhead and the bandwidth consumption for the repair of a single node failure. Recent research reveals that, with certain regenerating codes, the amount of disk read for the repair can be reduced to as much as the repair bandwidth (i.e., the amount of data to be transferred), which makes encoding at the helper nodes unnecessary. In literature, such a property is often referred to as the repair-by-transfer property. Searching for regenerating codes with the repair-by-transfer property has been of great interest. In this manuscript, we prove that there does not exist a minimum storage regenerating (MSR) code with the repair-by-transfer property for the case of k ≥ 3, β <; d - k + 1, where k is the number of storage nodes required to reconstruct the original file, d is the number of helper nodes, and β is the number of symbols transmitted from each helper node.
Work performance at 40 degrees C with Canadian Forces biological and chemical protective clothing.

This study examined the effects of a hot environmental temperature (40 degrees C and 50% relative humidity) and metabolic rate on soldiers' tolerance time (TT) while wearing various levels of the Canadian Forces biological and chemical (BC) defence protective clothing. The subjects, 19 unacclimatized males, were assigned to exercise at either a light intermittent (LI) (N = 4), light continuous (LC) (N = 5), moderate continuous (MC) (N = 5) or heavy continuous (HC) (N = 5) metabolic rate. For groups LI and LC, exercise involved walking on a treadmill at 4.0 km.h-1 with a 0% grade and lifting 10 kg boxes. LI alternated between 15 min of exercise and 15 min of rest. Group MC walked at 4.8 km.h-1 with a 3% grade and lifted 15 kg boxes. Group HC walked at 4.8 km.h-1 with a 7.5% grade and lifted 20 kg. Subjects were tested wearing three levels of clothing protection: combat clothing (L); combat clothing and a semi-permeable BC overgarment (M); combat clothing and BC overgarment, gloves, boots and respirator (H). TT was the time until rectal temperature reached 39.3 degrees C, heart rate reached 95% maximum, dizziness or nausea precluded further exercise, or 5 h had elapsed. For group LI, TT was similar for L (137 +/- 15 min) and M (117 +/- 9 min) clothing. TT was significantly reduced for H (67 +/- 6 min) clothing. For group LC, TT was greater for L (91 +/- 11 min) compared with either M (68 +/- 7 min) or H (55 +/- 2 min) clothing. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Distress and quality of life in an ethnically diverse sample awaiting breast cancer surgery

Poor breast cancer–related quality of life is associated with flattened cortisol rhythms and inflammation in breast cancer survivors and women with advanced disease. We explored the associations of cancer-specific distress (Impact of Events Scale), mood (Profile of Mood States), activity/sleep (wake after sleep onset, 24-hour autocorrelation coefficient) and cortisol (diurnal slope) circadian rhythms, and inflammation (interleukin-6) with quality of life (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–Breast) among patients awaiting breast cancer surgery (N = 57). Models were adjusted for differences in age and cancer stage. Distress and mood disturbance were significantly correlated with lower quality of life. Ethnic differences in the relationship between distress and mood disturbance with global quality of life and subscales of quality of life were observed. Actigraphic measures showed that in comparison with non-Hispanic patients, African Americans had significantly poorer activity/sleep (wake after sleep onset, 24-hour autocorrelation coefficient). Circadian disruption and inflammation were not associated with quality of life. Physiological dysregulation and associated comorbidities may take time to develop over the course of disease and treatment.
Principal angles between subspaces and their tangents

Principal angles between subspaces (PABS) (also called canonical angles) serve as a classical tool in mathematics, statistics, and applications, e.g., data mining. Traditionally, PABS are introduced and used via their cosines. The tangents of PABS have attracted relatively less attention, but are important for analysis of convergence of subspace iterations for eigenvalue problems. We explicitly construct matrices, such that their singular values are equal to the tangents of PABS, using several approaches: orthonormal and nonorthonormal bases for subspaces, and orthogonal projectors. Cornell University Library This work may not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part for any commercial purpose. Permission to copy in whole or in part without payment of fee is granted for nonprofit educational and research purposes provided that all such whole or partial copies include the following: a notice that such copying is by permission of Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.; an acknowledgment of the authors and individual contributions to the work; and all applicable portions of the copyright notice. Copying, reproduction, or republishing for any other purpose shall require a license with payment of fee to Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright c ©Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc., 2012 201 Broadway, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
Design of a flexible coprocessor unit

Todays FPGA technology allows reconfigurable hardware to be integrated into standard PC hardware. A hardware like this allows for on-the-fly reconfigurable hardware. It is possible to remove and insert complete subsystems just by reinitializing the configurable components. These systems make new demands on software that often can't be fulfilled by the classical device driver concept used in todays operating systems. This paper presents a flexible and on-the-fly reconfigurable hardware subsystem for interworking systems. Furthermore, a software integration for fast and efficient reconfiguration of the hardware is introduced. It provides a flexible integration into a Unix environment.
Subspace Iteration Randomization and Singular Value Problems

A classical problem in matrix computations is the efficient and reliable approximation of a given matrix by a matrix of lower rank. The truncated singular value decomposition (SVD) is known to provide the best such approximation for any given fixed rank. However, the SVD is also known to be very costly to compute. Among the different approaches in the literature for computing low-rank approximations, randomized algorithms have attracted researchers' attention recently due to their surprising reliability and computational efficiency in different application areas. Typically, such algorithms are shown to compute with very high probability low-rank approximations that are within a constant factor from optimal, and are known to perform even better in many practical situations. In this paper, we present a novel error analysis that considers randomized algorithms within the subspace iteration framework and show with very high probability that highly accurate low-rank approximations as well as singular values ca.
A bacterial cell–cell communication signal with cross‐kingdom structural analogues

Extracellular signals are the key components of microbial cell–cell communication systems. This report identified a diffusible signal factor (DSF), which regulates virulence in Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris, as cis‐11‐methyl‐2‐dodecenoic acid, an α,β unsaturated fatty acid. Analysis of DSF derivatives established the double bond at the α,β positions as the most important structural feature for DSF biological activity. A range of bacterial pathogens, including several Mycobacterium species, also displayed DSF‐like activity. Furthermore, DSF is structurally and functionally related to farnesoic acid (FA), which regulates morphological transition and virulence by Candida albicans, a fungal pathogen. Similar to FA, which is also an α,β unsaturated fatty acid, DSF inhibits the dimorphic transition of C. albicans at a physiologically relevant concentration. We conclude that α,β unsaturated fatty acids represent a new class of extracellular signals for bacterial and fungal cell–cell communications. As prokaryote–eukaryote interactions are ubiquitous, such cross‐kingdom conservation in cell–cell communication systems might have significant ecological and economic importance.
A Multiscale Investigation of Ground Water Flow at Clear Lake, Iowa

Ground water flow was investigated at Clear Lake, a 1468‐ha glacial lake in north‐central Iowa, as part of a comprehensive water quality study. A multiscale approach, consisting of seepage meters (and a potentiomanometer), Darcy's law, and an analytic element (AE) model, was used to estimate ground water inflow to and outflow from the lake. Estimates from the three methods disagreed. Seepage meters recorded a median‐specific discharge of 0.25 μm/s, which produced a lake inflow rate between 90,750 and 138,200 m3/d, but no detectable outflow. A wave‐induced Bernoulli effect probably compromised both inflow and outflow measurements. Darcy's law was applied to 11 zones around the lake, producing inflow and outflow values of 10,500 and 5000 m3/d, respectively. The AE model, GFLOW, coupled with the parameter estimation model, UCODE, simulated ground water flow in a 700‐km2 region using 31 hydraulic head and base flow measurements as calibration targets. The model produced ground water inflow and outflow rates of 14,300 and 9200 m3/d, respectively. Although not a substitute for field data, the model's ability to simulate ground water flow to the lake and the region, estimate uncertainty for model parameters, and calculate a lake stage and associated lake water balance makes it a powerful tool for water quality management and an attractive alternative to the traditional methods of ground water/lake investigation.
Motor variability in sports: A non-linear analysis of race walking

Abstract This aim of this study was to analyse the nature of movement variability and to assess whether entropy measures may represent a valuable synthetic index of neuromuscular organization. The regularity of kinematic/kinetic time series during race walking, the changes in the structure of intra-individual variability over the test session, and the influence of athletic skill in (inter)national rank athletes were investigated. Motion analysis techniques were used. Sample entropy (SampEn) was adopted to examine fluctuations in lower limb angles and ground reaction forces. The regularity of both original and surrogate time series was assessed and compared, by estimating SampEn, to verify the presence of non-linear features in movement variability. SampEn was statistically lower in the original data than in surrogates. In contrast, the regularity of time series did not change significantly throughout the subsequent intra-individual repetitions. Hip and ankle joint angles and vertical ground reaction force manifested increased entropy for skilled athletes. Results suggest that race walking variability was not only the product of random noise but also contained information about the inherent propriety of the neuro-musculo-skeletal system. Furthermore, they provide some indications about neuromuscular control of the lower limb joints during race walking gait, and about the differences between more and less skilled individuals.
Dynamic Changes in Pro- and Anti-Inflammatory Cytokine Profiles and Gamma Interferon Receptor Signaling Integrity Correlate with Tuberculosis Disease Activity and Response to Curative Treatment

ABSTRACT Pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and their signaling pathways play key roles in protection from and pathogenesis of mycobacterial infection, and their balance and dynamic changes may control or predict clinical outcome. Peripheral blood cells' capacity to produce proinflammatory (tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α], interleukin-12/23p40 [IL-12/23p40], and gamma interferon [IFN-γ]) and anti-inflammatory (IL-10) cytokines in response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis or unrelated stimuli (lipopolysaccharide, phytohemagglutinin) was studied in 93 pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients and 127 healthy controls from Indonesia. Their cells' ability to respond to IFN-γ was examined to investigate whether M. tuberculosis infection can also inhibit IFN-γ receptor (IFN-γR) signaling. Although there was interindividual variability in the observed responses, the overall results revealed that M. tuberculosis-induced TNF-α and IFN-γ levels showed opposite trends. Whereas TNF-α production was higher in active-TB patients than in controls, IFN-γ production was strongly depressed during active TB, correlated inversely with TB disease severity, and increased during therapy. By contrast, mitogen-induced IFN-γ production, although lower in patients than in controls, did not change during treatment, suggesting an M. tuberculosis-specific and reversible component in the depression of IFN-γ. Depressed IFN-γ production was not due to decreased IL-12/IL-23 production. Importantly, IFN-γ-inducible responses were also significantly depressed during active TB and normalized during treatment, revealing disease activity-related and reversible impairment in IFN-γR signaling in TB. Finally, IFN-γ/IL-10 ratios significantly correlated with TB cure. Taken together, these results show that M. tuberculosis-specific stimulation of IFN-γ (but not TNF-α) production and IFN-γR signaling are significantly depressed in active TB, correlate with TB disease severity and activity, and normalize during microbiological TB cure. The depression of both IFN-γ production and IFN-γR signaling may synergize in contributing to defective host control in active TB.
The Spatial Structure of Stimuli Shapes the Timescale of Correlations in Population Spiking Activity

Throughout the central nervous system, the timescale over which pairs of neural spike trains are correlated is shaped by stimulus structure and behavioral context. Such shaping is thought to underlie important changes in the neural code, but the neural circuitry responsible is largely unknown. In this study, we investigate a stimulus-induced shaping of pairwise spike train correlations in the electrosensory system of weakly electric fish. Simultaneous single unit recordings of principal electrosensory cells show that an increase in the spatial extent of stimuli increases correlations at short () timescales while simultaneously reducing correlations at long () timescales. A spiking network model of the first two stages of electrosensory processing replicates this correlation shaping, under the assumptions that spatially broad stimuli both saturate feedforward afferent input and recruit an open-loop inhibitory feedback pathway. Our model predictions are experimentally verified using both the natural heterogeneity of the electrosensory system and pharmacological blockade of descending feedback projections. For weak stimuli, linear response analysis of the spiking network shows that the reduction of long timescale correlation for spatially broad stimuli is similar to correlation cancellation mechanisms previously suggested to be operative in mammalian cortex. The mechanism for correlation shaping supports population-level filtering of irrelevant distractor stimuli, thereby enhancing the population response to relevant prey and conspecific communication inputs.
Complementary and alternative medicine for neck pain: Focus on manipulative therapies-chiropractic and osteopathic techniques

ABSTRACT Neck pain is an extremely common symptom with a variety of potential etiologies. A significant number of patients are turning to complementary and alternative medicine therapies. In particular, chiropractic and osteopathic manipulation techniques are discussed. “Low quality evidence”, as per the GRADE system criteria used by the Cochrane Review, supports the beneficial effects of these treatments Complications are generally benign and self-limited although occasional catastrophic consequences have been documented. Medical practitioners should familiarize themselves and their patients with the risks and benefits of complementary and alternative medicine in order to make informed decisions. Keywords neck pain, chiropractic, osteopathic, manipulation, complementary and alternative medicine INTRODUCTION Neck pain is a common and potentially difficult to treat problem. At any point in time, about 15% of adults are experiencing neck pain (Hellmann and Stone, 2007). In 2006, neck pain accounted for 13.2 million patient visits in The United States, or more than 1% of all healthcare visits to hospitals and physicians offices. Four out of five of these visits were comprised of patients between the ages of 18 and 64 with a slight preponderance of females at 58% (United States Bone and Joint Initiative, 2011). Various studies have described the patients who are using
Reduceing the size of MIMO arrays using adjoint-based geometry evolution

This paper presents an approach for reducing the size of multi-input multi-output (MIMO) system antennas. In this approach, we minimize the spacing between elements such that both the return loss of each element and the coupling between any two elements are less than -10 dB. To reduce the spacing, the shape of individual antenna elements is allowed to evolve using a gradient-based optimization. Adjoint sensitivities are utilized to efficiently solve the optimization problem. We illustrate this approach by designing a 1-by-2 ultra-wideband (UWB) microstrip MIMO array.
Looking Backward: A Critical Appraisal of Communitarian Thought

When social reformers blame the current ills of Western culture on the loss of community, they often evoke an ideal past in which societies were characterized by shared values, respect for tradition, commitment to the common good, and similar attributes. Communitarians assert that community was prominent in the past, and argue that reclaiming the role community formerly played is necessary to counter the negative effects of individualism and liberal thinking. Considering the relevance of community for our moral and political life today, Derek Phillips offers the first thorough critique of the historical, often nostalgic, claims that underlie dominant versions of communitarian philosophy.When social reformers blame the current ills of Western culture on the loss of community, they often evoke an ideal past in which societies were characterized by shared values, respect for tradition, commitment to the common good, and similar attributes. Communitarians assert that community was prominent in the past, and argue that reclaiming the role community formerly played is necessary to counter the negative effects of individualism and liberal thinking. Considering the relevance of community for our moral and political life today, Derek Phillips offers the first thorough critique of the historical, often nostalgic, claims that underlie dominant versions of communitarian philosophy.
Analysis of advanced FEC versus traditional FEC in GNSS data structures

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), presently a USD 20 billion industry, has steadily growing applications in all possible spheres with some new high precision applications like indoor navigation etc. are at the cutting edge of the technology, thus requiring sophisticated FECs. In lieu of these facts and more, in this paper we undertake thorough analysis and comparison of Advanced FEC (such as LDPC Convolutional Code) versus Traditional FEC for finite length GNSS data frames on parameters such as computational complexity, processor complexity, delay, memory requirement and BER performance (depending on block length, memory) etc. Based on the above analysis, finally we shall be proposing the best fit FEC for present and future generation GNSS.
Interactive presentation: Logic level fault tolerance approaches targeting nanoelectronics PLAs

A regular structure and capability to implement arbitrary logic functions in a two-level logic form have placed crossbar-based Programmable Logic Arrays (PLAs) as promising implementation architectures in the emerging nanoelectronics environment. Yet reliability constitutes an important concern in the nanoelectronics environment, necessitating a thorough investigation and its effective augmentation for crossbar-based PLAs. We investigate in this paper fault masking for crossbar-based nanoelectronics PLAs. Missing nanoelectronics devices at the crosspoints have been observed as a major source of faults in nanoelectronics crossbars. Based on this observation, we present a class of fault masking approaches exploiting logic tautology in two-level PLAs. The proposed approaches enhance the reliability of nanoelectronics PLAs significantly at low hardware cost.
Forensic DNA Analysis on Microfluidic Devices: A Review

Abstract: The advent of microfluidic technology for genetic analysis has begun to impact forensic science. Recent advances in microfluidic separation of short‐tandem‐repeat (STR) fragments has provided unprecedented potential for improving speed and efficiency of DNA typing. In addition, the analytical processes associated with sample preparation––which include cell sorting, DNA extraction, DNA quantitation, and DNA amplification––can all be integrated with the STR separation in a seamless manner. The current state of these microfluidic methods as well as their advantages and potential shortcomings are detailed. Recent advances in microfluidic device technology, as they pertain to forensic DNA typing, are discussed with a focus on the forensic community.
Tensor Belief Propagation

We propose a new approximate inference algorithm for graphical models, tensor belief propagation, based on approximating the messages passed in the junction tree algorithm. Our algorithm represents the potential functions of the graphical model and all messages on the junction tree compactly as mixtures of rank-1 tensors. Using this representation, we show how to perform the operations required for inference on the junction tree efficiently: marginalisation can be computed quickly due to the factored form of rank-1 tensors while multiplication can be approximated using sampling. Our analysis gives sufficient conditions for the algorithm to perform well, including for the case of high-treewidth graphs, for which exact inference is intractable. We compare our algorithm experimentally with several approximate inference algorithms and show that it performs well.
2.4/5 GHz WLAN crescent antenna on flexible substrate

In this paper, we present a CPW-fed crescent antenna for WLAN/Wi-Max applications. The antenna is fabricated using a flexible Rogers substrate, which can be mounted on any surface. The proposed antenna is composed of an outer circular slot with an inner circular patch, whose centers are non-coinciding. The patch has an additional horizontal slot along its diameter. The proposed antenna was simulated using ADS and HFSS software. The antenna is characterized by its wide impedance bandwidth ranging from 2.4 GHz to 9.5 GHz. The antenna radiation is bi-polar. It radiates along the broadside direction at low-frequencies while the beam tilts as the frequency increases. The gain of the antenna ranges between 4.81 dBi to 8.84 dBi.