Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
AGREEMENT-RELATED PROBLEMS: FROM SEMI-PASSIVE REPLICATION TO TOTALLY ORDERED BROADCAST

Abstract Agreement problems constitute a fundamental class of problems in the context of distributed sys-tems. All agreement problems follow a common pattern: all processes must agree on some com-mon decision, the nature of which depends on the speciﬁc problem. This dissertation mainlyfocuses on three important agreements problems: Replication , Total Order Broadcast , and Con-sensus . Replication is a common means to introduce redundancy in a system, in order to improve itsavailability. A replicated server is a server that is composed of multiple copies so that, if one copyfails, the other copies can still provide the service. Each copy of the server is called a replica. Thereplicas must all evolve in manner that is consistent with the other replicas. Hence, updating thereplicated server requires that every replica agrees on the set of modiﬁcations to carry over. Thereare two principal replication schemes to ensure this consistency: active replication and passive replication.In Total Order Broadcast, processes broadcast messages to all processes. However, all mes-sages must be delivered in the same order. Also, if one process delivers a message
Amelioration of Cerebral Ischemic Injury by a Synthetic Seco-nucleoside LMT497

Recently, we reported that the A3 adenosine receptor (A3AR) agonist LJ529 (2-chloro-N6-(3-iodobnzyl)-5'-N-methylcarbamoyl-4'-thioadenosine) reduces cerebral ischemic injury via inhibition of recruitment of peripheral inflammatory cells into ischemic brain lesion. A3AR agonists, however, are known to possess anti-platelet activity, which may deter the combination therapy with tissue plasminogen activator for the therapy of cerebral ischemic stroke. Thus, the present study investigates the neuroprotective/anti-ischemic effect of a synthetic seco-nucleoside, LMT497 ((S)-2-((R)-1-(2-chloro-6-(3-iodobenzylamino)-9H-purin-9-yl)-2-hydroxyethoxy)-3-hydroxy-N-methylpropanamide) with little anti-platelet activity. LMT497 neither showed A3AR binding activity nor anti-platelet activity. In our present study LMT497 significantly attenuated the injury/death of cortical neurons exposed to oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) followed by re-oxygenation (R). LMT497 significantly reduced the ascending cellular level of reactive oxygen species under ischemic conditions by increasing the superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels. LMT497 also inhibited the migration of microglia which mediates inflammatory responses in ischemia. In rats subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO, 1.5 h) followed by reperfusion, LMT497 largely reduced brain infarction volume, and edema, and improved neurological score. Therapeutic efficacy of LMT497 was obtained by twice treatments even at 10 h and 18 h after the onset of ischemia. Collectively, LMT497 could be a therapeutic drug candidate with a wide therapeutic time window for the treatment of cerebral ischemic stroke.
Periodic-stochastic modeling of separation of precipitation into rainfall and snowfall

Modelers must separate precipitation into rainfall and snowfall because the two processes have significant differences as inputs to runoff. The purpose of the present study is to model this separation, provided that available data permit the coding of observed precipitation as rainfall, snowfall, and/or mixed rainfall-snowfall. Modeling of precipitation is realized by a simple approach such as the periodic-stochastic Markov chain description of occurrence and nonoccurrence of time interval precipitation. The exponential probability distribution based functions, with periodic parameters, are used for modeling the nonzero values of precipitation. The generated series are then separated into rainfall and snowfall components by means of the rainfall-precipitation ratio. This ratio is modeled as a periodic-stochastic process in the range zero to one. The bounded (0, 1)-beta distribution function is selected as the appropriate distribution function to describe the ratio when it can also assume values between zero and unity. Most parameters in modeling precipitation and the ratio show periodicity, often fitted well by one- or two-harmonic Fourier functions. Two sets of daily precipitation series, each ten years long, are used to demonstrate the results of modeling daily precipitation and daily rainfall-precipitation ratio: the Besanson precipitation gauging station in the Durance River basin, France (as a point process), and the W-3 watershed area, near Danville, Vermont (as a daily average areal precipitation process). The investigation shows the feasibility of modeling the separation when observed precipitation is coded for rainfall, snowfall, and/or mixed rainfall-snowfall.
Issues and advances in research methods on video games and cognitive abilities

The impact of video game playing on cognitive abilities has been the focus of numerous studies over the last 10 years. Some cross-sectional comparisons indicate the cognitive advantages of video game players (VGPs) over non-players (NVGPs) and the benefits of video game trainings, while others fail to replicate these findings. Though there is an ongoing discussion over methodological practices and their impact on observable effects, some elementary issues, such as the representativeness of recruited VGP groups and lack of genre differentiation have not yet been widely addressed. In this article we present objective and declarative gameplay time data gathered from large samples in order to illustrate how playtime is distributed over VGP populations. The implications of this data are then discussed in the context of previous studies in the field. We also argue in favor of differentiating video games based on their genre when recruiting study samples, as this form of classification reflects the core mechanics that they utilize and therefore provides a measure of insight into what cognitive functions are likely to be engaged most. Additionally, we present the Covert Video Game Experience Questionnaire as an example of how this sort of classification can be applied during the recruitment process.
Regularization based super resolution imaging using FFT:s

This paper address the problem of super resolution imaging, using regularized amplitude estimation. Using a Bayesian problem formulation the regularization is applied through a prior distribution of the amplitudes. We investigate both a "super Gaussian" and a Student-t prior distribution. We derive maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimators for the amplitudes, based on the "Space-Alternating Generalized Expectation-Maximization" (SAGE) method, that only uses FFT:s in each iteration. The behavior of the algorithms for different choices of regularization parameters are illustrated through simple one dimensional examples, and SAR imaging is illustrated through an example using MSTAR data.
Effects of viral lower respiratory tract infection on lung function in infants with cystic fibrosis.

OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of respiratory viral infections on pulmonary function in infants with cystic fibrosis (CF) after the respiratory virus season (October through March). METHODS Recruitment was for one respiratory virus season during a 3-year span, 1988 to 1991, with reenrollment allowed; 22 infants <2 years of age with CF (30 patient-seasons) and 27 age-matched controls (28 patient-seasons) participated. Primary outcome variables were preseason and postseason pulmonary function tests and serology for viral antibodies. Twice-weekly telephone calls screened for respiratory symptoms. The presence of respiratory symptoms triggered a home visit and an evaluation for upper or lower (LRTI) respiratory tract infection. A nasopharyngeal sample for viral culture was performed with each visit. RESULTS Controls and CF infants each had a mean of 5.3 acute respiratory illnesses; CF infants were four times more likely to develop an LRTI compared with controls (odds ratio, 4.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.3 and 16.5). Three of 7 (43%) CF infants with respiratory syncytial virus infection (documented by culture) required hospitalization. Controls had no association between respiratory illness and postseason pulmonary function. For CF infants, reduced postseason maximal flow at functional residual capacity (V'maxFRC) was associated with two interactions, ie, respiratory syncytial virus infection and LRTI, and male sex and LRTI; increased gas trapping (FRC) was associated with an interaction between respiratory syncytial virus and LRTI and day care. Postseason pulmonary function tests were obtained a mean of 3. 2 months after final LRTI. CONCLUSIONS Infants with CF incurring respiratory virus infection are at significant risk for LRTI, for hospitalization, and for deterioration in lung function that persists months after the acute illness.
Decreasing Nonmarital Births and Strengthening Marriage to Reduce Poverty

Since the 1970s, the share of U.S. children growing up in single-parent families has doubled, a trend that has disproportionately affected disadvantaged families. Paul Amato and Rebecca Maynard argue that reversing that trend would reduce poverty in the short term and, perhaps more important, improve children's growth and development over the long term, thus reducing the likelihood that they would be poor when they grew up. The authors propose school and community programs to help prevent nonmarital births. They also propose to lower divorce rates by offering more educational programs to couples before and during marriage. Amato and Maynard recommend that all school systems offer health and sex education whose primary message is that parenthood is highly problematic for unmarried youth. They also recommend educating young people about methods to prevent unintended pregnancies. Ideally, the federal government would provide tested curriculum models that emphasize both abstinence and use of contraception. All youth should understand that unintended pregnancies are preventable and have enormous costs for the mother, the father, the child, and society. Strengthening marriage, argue the authors, is also potentially an effective strategy for fighting poverty. Researchers consistently find that premarital education improves marital quality and lowers the risk of divorce. About 40 percent of couples about to marry now participate in premarital education. Amato and Maynard recommend doubling that figure to 80 percent and making similar programs available for married couples. Increasing the number of couples receiving services could mean roughly 72,000 fewer divorces each year, or around 65,000 fewer children entering a single-parent family every year because of marital dissolution. After seven or eight years, half a million fewer children would have entered single-parent families through divorce. Efforts to decrease the share of children in single-parent households, say the authors, would almost certainly be cost effective in the long run and could reduce child poverty by 20 to 29 percent.
Generalized gradient approximation for the exchange-correlation hole of a many-electron system.

We construct a generalized gradient approximation (GGA) for the density ${\mathit{n}}_{\mathrm{xc}}$(r,r+u) at position r+u of the exchange-correlation hole surrounding an electron at r, or more precisely for its system and spherical average 〈${\mathit{n}}_{\mathrm{xc}}$(u)〉=(4\ensuremath{\pi}${)}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$\ensuremath{\int}d${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}}_{\mathit{u}}$ ${\mathit{N}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$\ensuremath{\int}${\mathit{d}}^{3}$r n(r)${\mathit{n}}_{\mathrm{xc}}$(r,r+u). Starting from the second-order density gradient expansion, which involves the local spin densities ${\mathit{n}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\uparrow}}}$(r),${\mathit{n}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\downarrow}}}$(r) and their gradients \ensuremath{\nabla}${\mathit{n}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\uparrow}}}$(r),\ensuremath{\nabla}${\mathit{n}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\downarrow}}}$(r), we cut off the spurious large-u contributions to restore those exact conditions on the hole that the local spin density (LSD) approximation respects. Our GGA hole recovers the Perdew-Wang 1991 and Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof GGA's for the exchange-correlation energy, which therefore respect the same powerful hole constraints as LSD. When applied to real systems, our hole model provides a more detailed test of these energy functionals, and also predicts the observable electron-electron structure factor. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
Flexible Framework for Local Wireless Services

One of the main objectives in setting up wireless services is to provide feasible content for the mobile users wherever and whenever they might need it. The dream of having services with meaningful content available at the right place, at the right time and with lowest possible cost is coming true with local wireless services. Local service development has its unique set of problems, like the dynamic nature of the service environment and co-operation of different wireless communication systems. In this paper, we present a flexible framework that takes these aspects into consideration, models them in an intuitive way and provides an easy-to-use service development approach.
Potential Ambient Energy-Harvesting Sources and Techniques

Ambient energy harvesting is also known as energy scavenging or power harvesting, and it is the process where energy is obtained from the environment. A variety of techniques are available for energy scavenging, including solar and wind powers, ocean waves, piezoelectricity, ther-moelectricity, and physical motions. For example , some systems convert random motions, including ocean waves, into useful electrical energy that can be used by oceanographic monitoring wireless sensor nodes for autonomous surveillance. Ambient energy sources are classified as energy reservoirs, power distribution methods, or power-scavenging methods, which may enable portable or wireless systems to be completely battery independent and self sustaining. The students from different disciplines, such as industrial technology, construction, design and development and electronics, investigated the effectiveness of ambient energy as a source of power. After an extensive literature review, students summarized each potential ambient energy source and explained future energy-harvesting systems to generate or produce electrical energy as a support to conventional energy storage devices. This article investigates recent studies about potential ambient energy-harvesting sources and systems. Introduction Today, sustaining the power requirement for autonomous wireless and portable devices is an important issue. In the recent past, energy storage has improved significantly. However, this progress has not been able to keep up with the development of microprocessors, memory storage , and wireless technology applications. For example, in wireless sensor networks, battery-powered sensors and modules are expected to last for a long period of time. However, conducting battery maintenance for a large-scale network consisting of hundreds or even thousands of sensor nodes may be difficult, if not impossible. Ambient power sources, as a replacement for batteries, come into consideration to minimize the maintenance and the cost of operation. Power scavenging may enable wireless and portable electronic devices to be completely self-sustaining, so that battery maintenance can
Development of a POS Tagger for Malayalam - An Experience

A Parts of Speech tagger for Malayalam which uses a stochastic approach has been proposed. The tagger makes use of word frequencies and bigram statistics from a corpus. The morphological analyzer is used to generate a tagged corpus due to the unavailability of an annotated corpus in Malayalam. Although the experiments have been performed on a very small corpus, the results have shown that the statistical approach works well with a highly agglutinative language like Malayalam
Pathogen prevalence predicts human cross-cultural variability in individualism/collectivism

Pathogenic diseases impose selection pressures on the social behaviour of host populations. In humans (Homo sapiens), many psychological phenomena appear to serve an antipathogen defence function. One broad implication is the existence of cross-cultural differences in human cognition and behaviour contingent upon the relative presence of pathogens in the local ecology. We focus specifically on one fundamental cultural variable: differences in individualistic versus collectivist values. We suggest that specific behavioural manifestations of collectivism (e.g. ethnocentrism, conformity) can inhibit the transmission of pathogens; and so we hypothesize that collectivism (compared with individualism) will more often characterize cultures in regions that have historically had higher prevalence of pathogens. Drawing on epidemiological data and the findings of worldwide cross-national surveys of individualism/collectivism, our results support this hypothesis: the regional prevalence of pathogens has a strong positive correlation with cultural indicators of collectivism and a strong negative correlation with individualism. The correlations remain significant even when controlling for potential confounding variables. These results help to explain the origin of a paradigmatic cross-cultural difference, and reveal previously undocumented consequences of pathogenic diseases on the variable nature of human societies.
Responses of barley Albina and Xantha mutants deficient in magnesium chelatase to soil salinity

Responses of barley Albina and Xantha mutants deficient in magnesium chelatase to soil salinity. Soil salinity reduces the plant growth and grain yield in barley. The barley mutants Albina and Xantha deficient in magnesium chelatase, represent a suitable model object for analysis of the roles of chloroplast in salt stress response. Spring barley ( Hordeum vulgare cv. Svalofs Bonus) and four nonallelic Albina ( alb-e 16 and alb-f 17 ) and Xantha ( xan-s 46 and xan-b 12 ) mutants were used to investigate the effects of soil salinity on physiological traits of plants. Under salt stress, larger reduction in stomatal conductance and higher Na concentration was found in Albina and Xantha mutants compared with wild type (WT). In addition, the Albina and Xantha mutants had lower capacity of reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging while higher ROS generation rate compared with WT, exposed to soil salinity. Therefore, the limitations in chloroplast development affected Na + /K + homeostasis and decreased the oxygen scavenging capacity, hence affecting the salt tolerance in barley.
Contemporary cryptic sexuality in Trypanosoma cruzi

Clonal propagation is considered to be the predominant mode of reproduction among many parasitic protozoa. However, this assumption may overlook unorthodox, infrequent or cryptic sexuality. Trypanosoma cruzi, which causes Chagas disease, is known to undergo non‐Mendelian genetic exchange in the laboratory. In the field, evidence of extant genetic exchange is limited. In this study, we undertook intensive sampling of T. cruzi Discrete Typing Unit I in endemic eastern Colombia. Using Fluorescence‐activated cell sorting, we generated 269 biological clones from 67 strains. Each clone was genotyped across 24 microsatellite loci. Subsequently, 100 representative clones were typed using 10 mitochondrial sequence targets (3.76 Kbp total). Clonal diversity among humans, reservoir hosts and vectors suggested complex patterns of superinfection and/or coinfection in oral and vector‐borne Chagas disease cases. Clonal diversity between mother and foetus in a congenital case demonstrates that domestic TcI genotypes are infective in utero. Importantly, gross incongruence between nuclear and mitochondrial markers is strong evidence for widespread genetic exchange throughout the data set. Furthermore, a confirmed mosaic maxicircle sequence suggests intermolecular recombination between individuals as a further mechanism of genetic reassortment. Finally, robust dating based on mitochondrial DNA indicates that the emergence of a widespread domestic TcI clade that we now name TcIDOM (formerly TcIa/VENDom) occurred 23 000 ± 12 000 years ago and was followed by population expansion, broadly corresponding with the earliest human migration into the Americas.
Offshore wind farms in the Mediterranean Seascape - A tourist appeal or a tourist repellent?

In the run-up to a governmental invitation to tender for the construction offshore wind farms in the Languedoc Rousillon, coastal municipalities have been voicing fear about their potential impact on the tourist industry. To understand how offshore wind farms may affect tourism, we conducted a choice experiment with coastal tourists in Languedoc Rousillon. We elicited willingness to pay and willingness to accept compensation for wind turbines at different distances from the shore and examined whether potential visual nuisances may be compensated by associating the wind farm with recreational opportunities (observational boating, diving at artificial reefs and turbine foundations) or by adopting a coherent environmental policy. We show that the compensation required for the visual nuisance depends on the age segment of the tourists, their nationality, their vacation activities and their degree of loyalty to Languedoc Rousillon coastal community resorts. Our policy recommendation is two-fold: Everything else equals, wind farm implantation 12 km offshore is preferable from the viewpoint of favouring the tourist industry. With simultaneous application of a coherent environmental policy and wind farm associated recreational activities, a wind farm can be conceived from 5 km and outwards without a loss in tourist revenues.
Investigation of amorphous hydrogenated carbon layers as sacrificial structures for MEMS applications

This work presents a novel approach that utilizes amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-C:H) layers as sacrificial structures for MEMS applications. The a-C:H layer serves as a buried sacrificial layer in the fabrication process. With the removal of the a-C:H by plasma etching processes, the movable structures are released. The fabrication of test structures is based on silicon surface micromachining technology. On those test structures, etch rates were determined for two different etch chemistries. The use of a-C:H as a sacrificial layer offers several advantages such as dry release capabilities accompanied by a high thermal and mechanical stability of the sacrificial layer and thus the possibility to integrate those layers in standard CMOS technology. Consequently, the proposed dry removal techniques prevent movable structural components from stiction problems associated with wet processing. The newly developed sacrificial layer process is suitable for a wide range of MEMS applications.