Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clock distribution architectures: a comparative study

This paper evaluates and compares different clock architectures such as mesh, tree and their hybrids, on several industrial designs. The goal of our study is to gain a quantitative understanding of engineering trade-offs between different architectures with respect to clock skew, latency, timing uncertainty, and power. This understanding will lead to guidelines for determining the best clock architecture for the design specification and constraints. To the best of our knowledge, no work has been published on evaluating and comparing these architectures on real industrial designs. Our study shows that mesh-based architectures are better than tree architectures for skew (< 1ps skew) and are more robust to variations (18% reduction in timing uncertainty as compared to tree). The power penalty associated with a mesh as compared to a tree was found to be between 10-40%. Use of multiple meshes can help reduce the power penalty
Learning Word-to-Meaning Mappings

Children face ve central diiculties when learning the vocabulary of their native language: learning from multi-word utterances, bootstrapping from an empty mental lexicon, referential uncertainty, noise, and homonymy. These diiculties are modeled formally via a simpliied lexical acquisition task called the mapping problem. Algorithms for solving this mapping problem are developed, based on the intuitive notions of cross-situational learning and the principle of contrast. Computer simulation demonstrates that these techniques are eeective in solving this mapping problem. This motivates the hypothesis that children use such techniques, inter alia, when learning language.
M-theory on manifolds of G2 holonomy and type IIA orientifolds

We demonstrate that M-theory compactifications on 7-manifolds of G{sub 2} holonomy, which yield 4d N = 1 supersymmetric systems, often admit at special loci in their moduli space a description as type IIA orientifolds. In this way, we are able to find new dualities of special IIA orientifolds, including dualities which relate orientifolds of IIA strings on manifolds of different topology with different numbers of wrapped D-branes. We also discuss models which incorporate, in a natural way, compact embeddings of gauge theory/gravity dualities similar to those studied in the recent work of Atiyah, Maldacena and Vafa.
GABAA Receptor Dynamics and Constructing GABAergic Synapses

GABAA receptors are located on the majority of neurons in the central and peripheral nervous system, where they mediate important actions of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid. Early in development the trophic properties of GABA allow a healthy development of the nervous system. Most neurons have a high intracellular Cl-concentration early in life due to the late functional expression of the Cl-pump KCC2, therefore GABA has excitatory effects at this stage. Upon higher expression and activation of KCC2 GABA takes on its inhibitory effects while glutamate functions as the major excitatory neurotransmitter. Like all multisubunit membrane proteins the GABAA receptor is assembled in the ER and travels through the Golgi and remaining secretory pathway to the cell surface, where it mediates GABA actions either directly at the synapses or at extrasynaptic sites responding to ambient GABA to provide a basal tonic inhibitory state. In order to adapt to changing needs and information states, the GABAergic system is highly dynamic. That includes subtype specific trafficking to different locations in the cell, regulation of mobility by interaction with scaffold molecules, posttranslational modifications, that either directly affect channel function or the interaction with other proteins and finally the dynamic exchange between surface and intracellular receptor pools, that either prepare receptors for recycling to the surface or degradation. Here we give an overview of the current understanding of GABAA receptor functional and molecular dynamics that play a major part in maintaining the balance between excitation and inhibition and in changes in network activity.
Power and Effective Study Size Based on Approximations to the Expected Likelihood Ratio Test in Heritability Studies

Determining statistical power and precision of heritability estimates can be difficult particularly in complex pedigrees. Previous work focused on the power to detect heritability by using the expectation of the likelihood ratio test (ELRT). This work is extended to the more general setting involving arbitrary null hypotheses. We derive two Taylor series expansion which approximate the ELRT in terms of one or two relatedness summary parameters, which are simple functions of the eigenvalues (variance) or log-eigenvalues (mean and variance) of twice the kinship matrix. We evaluate the accuracy of these approximations compared to the exact ELRT, and derive formulae for expected confidence interval width which are function of only the relatedness summary parameters. Further, we demonstrate that an effective number of unrelated sibpairs can be calculated from the relatedness summary parameters for any complex pedigree. The result of these approximations provides an easily-calculated summary of the relatedness within a study. For the purposes of planning or comparing studies, these summary parameters provide information about how the relatedness within large complex pedigrees may affect statistical inference. POWER APPROXIMATIONS FOR HERITABILITY ANALYSIS 3
An efficient multilevel coherent optical system: M-4Q-QAM

A coherent multilevel transmission system based on the modulation of all the optical field degrees of freedom (the four quadratures of the optical field) is presented. The transmitted symbols are represented in the space of the field quadratures by a square lattice of points, so that both the transmitter and the decision devices can be easily implemented. The proposed modulation formats allow high spectral efficiency systems to be designed without paying a great sensitivity penalty with respect to binary systems. For this reason the proposed modulation format seems promising for application in densely spaced very-high-capacity FISM networks and in high-speed data transmission in parallel computers. >
A systematic scoping review of adherence to reporting guidelines in health care literature

Background Reporting guidelines have been available for the past 17 years since the inception of the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials statement in 1996. These guidelines were developed to improve the quality of reporting of studies in medical literature. Despite the widespread availability of these guidelines, the quality of reporting of medical literature remained suboptimal. In this study, we assess the current adherence practice to reporting guidelines; determine key factors associated with better adherence to these guidelines; and provide recommendations to enhance adherence to reporting guidelines for future studies. Methods We undertook a systematic scoping review of systematic reviews of adherence to reporting guidelines across different clinical areas and study designs. We searched four electronic databases (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Web of Science, Embase, and Medline) from January 1996 to September 2012. Studies were included if they addressed adherence to one of the following guidelines: Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT), Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), Quality of Reporting of Meta-analysis (QUOROM), Transparent Reporting of Evaluations with Nonrandomized Designs (TREND), Meta-analysis Of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) and Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE). A protocol for this study was devised. A literature search, data extraction, and quality assessment were performed independently by two authors in duplicate. This study reporting follows the PRISMA guidelines. Results Our search retrieved 5159 titles, of which 50 were eligible. Overall, 86.0% of studies reported suboptimal levels of adherence to reporting guidelines. Factors associated with better adherence included journal impact factor and endorsement of guidelines, publication date, funding source, multisite studies, pharmacological interventions and larger studies. Conclusion Reporting guidelines in the clinical literature are important to improve the standards of reporting of clinical studies; however, adherence to these guidelines remains suboptimal. Action is therefore needed to enhance the adherence to these standards. Strategies to enhance adherence include journal editorial policies endorsing these guidelines.
Estimation uncertainty of direct monetary flood damage to buildings

Traditional flood design methods are increasingly supplemented or replaced by risk-oriented methods which are based on comprehensive risk analyses. Besides meteoro- logical, hydrological and hydraulic investigations such anal- yses require the estimation of flood impacts. Flood impact assessments mainly focus on direct economic losses using damage functions which relate property damage to damage- causing factors. Although the flood damage of a build- ing is influenced by many factors, usually only inundation depth and building use are considered as damage-causing factors. In this paper a data set of approximately 4000 dam- age records is analysed. Each record represents the direct monetary damage to an inundated building. The data set cov- ers nine flood events in Germany from 1978 to 1994. It is shown that the damage data follow a Lognormal distribution with a large variability, even when stratified according to the building use and to water depth categories. Absolute depth- damage functions which relate the total damage to the water depth are not very helpful in explaining the variability of the damage data, because damage is determined by various pa- rameters besides the water depth. Because of this limitation it has to be expected that flood damage assessments are associ- ated with large uncertainties. It is shown that the uncertainty of damage estimates depends on the number of flooded build- ings and on the distribution of building use within the flooded area. The results are exemplified by a damage assessment for a rural area in southwest Germany, for which damage esti- mates and uncertainty bounds are quantified for a 100-year flood event. The estimates are compared to reported flood damages of a severe flood in 1993. Given the enormous un- certainty of flood damage estimates the refinement of flood damage data collection and modelling are major issues for further empirical and methodological improvements.
Ammonium Is Toxic for Aging Yeast Cells, Inducing Death and Shortening of the Chronological Lifespan

Here we show that in aging Saccharomyces cerevisiae (budding yeast) cells, NH4 + induces cell death associated with shortening of chronological life span. This effect is positively correlated with the concentration of NH4 + added to the culture medium and is particularly evident when cells are starved for auxotrophy-complementing amino acids. NH4 +-induced cell death is accompanied by an initial small increase of apoptotic cells followed by extensive necrosis. Autophagy is inhibited by NH4 +, but this does not cause a decrease in cell viability. We propose that the toxic effects of NH4 + are mediated by activation of PKA and TOR and inhibition of Sch9p. Our data show that NH4 + induces cell death in aging cultures through the regulation of evolutionary conserved pathways. They may also provide new insights into longevity regulation in multicellular organisms and increase our understanding of human disorders such as hyperammonemia as well as effects of amino acid deprivation employed as a therapeutic strategy.
Notice of RetractionImpact of housing consumption on economic growth in China

This paper, based on China's statistical data from 1985 to 2007, by employing unit root test, VAR model and variance decomposition, studies the impact of housing consumption on China's economic growth. The result denotes that the alteration of GDP is mostly affected by its own alteration, housing consumption is also important in explaining the variance of GDP. Housing consumption in China has greater impact on China's economic growth. The government urgently needs to take a series of policies and measures to enforce housing consumption.
Computing optical flow for motion images sequences by applying multi-constraints to multi-locations

Computing optical flow is one of the most fundamental problem to motion image analysis. Many methods have been proposed for computing optical flow, among them gradient-based methods are the most well-known and most used. A new gradient-based method for the computation of optical flow is proposed. In this method, optical flow is computed by minimizing a weighted least-squares error estimator for a constant motion vector model in a local spatial neighborhood, where the weight of each image location in the neighborhood is determined by its multiple constraints. Several experiments on real and synthetic image sequences have been carried out to verify the efficacy and the reliability of the new method.
Need for Big Data Query Processing

The Big Data Era. We are now entering the era of data deluge, where the amount of data outgrows the capabilities of query processing technology. Many emerging applications, from social networks to scientific experiments, are representative examples of this deluge, where the rate at which data is produced exceeds any past experience. For example, scientific analysis such as astronomy is soon expected to collect multiple Terabytes of data on a daily basis, while already web-based businesses such as social networks or web log analysis are confronted with a growing stream of large data inputs. Therefore, there is a clear need for efficient big data query processing to enable the evolution of businesses and sciences to the new era of data deluge.
Towards Video Quality of Experience and Selective Attention: A Subtitle-Based Measurement Study

Selective attention is the idea that visual attention is not granted equally to all regions of the visual field, but rather focuses on high-attention regions. In this paper, we propose that selectively improving the performance of video in regions that are given high attention by users can significantly improve the quality of experience (QoE) of video services. We investigate users' attention regions, and choose the subtitle region as a representative high-attention region to present a subtitle-based measurement study. This study concentrates on how and how much the subtitle region affects the QoE of video. First of all, we verify that changes in performance of the subtitle region can cause an illusion about users' judgment on video bitrate. Secondly, we present a logarithmic relationship between video bitrate and the QoE of video. Thirdly, we measure the improved QoE by improving the performance of the subtitle region. Finally, we demonstrate that selectively improving the performance of the subtitle region can significantly improve the QoE of video at little cost.
Psychological treatments for hypochondriasis: A narrative review

This paper presents a narrative review of psychological treatments for hypochondriasis and health anxiety. An extensive literature search encompassing publications in the English language yields over 40 case reports and systematic studies on mainly cognitive and behavioral interventions. After a brief introduction of the types of intervention, a summary of recent studies is given, and their methodological and clinical status are being discussed. It is concluded that there is a general evidence for psychological treatments (in particular cognitive-behavioral interventions) to be effective in reducing hypochondriacal symptoms. However, since most studies possess methodological flaws, their results should be interpreted with care.
How Margins are Set and Affect Asset Prices

I examine how margin requirements are set and affect prices in futures markets. Analyzing a data set covering the margins for 16 commodity futures, I find that the primary factors determining margins are contract-specific price volatility and the overall market volatility as captured by the VIX index. Contract-specific price volatility alone is found to explain 95% of the cross-sectional variation in margins. Furthermore, I find that margins affect liquidity and prices as predicted by theories of financial constraints. High margins reduce volume, increase price impact costs, and decrease open interest. In addition, an increase in the margins of futures in which speculators hold long positions reduces the futures price of long-term contracts.
Dynamics on K3 Surfaces: Salem Numbers and Siegel Disks

This paper presents the first examples of K3 surface automorphisms \(f : X \rightarrow X\) with Siegel disks (domains on which f acts by an irrational rotation). The set of such examples is countable, and the surface \(X\) must be non-projective to carry a Siegel disk. These automorphisms are synthesized from Salem numbers of degree 22 and trace −1, which play the role of the leading eigenvalue for \(f*|H^2(X)\). The construction uses the Torelli theorem, the Atiyah-Bott fixed-point theorem and results from transcendence theory.
DIFFRACTION FROM A GRATING ON A CHIRAL MEDIUM: APPLICATION OF ANALYTICAL REGULARIZATION METHOD

Theoretical results on the electromagnetic wave difiraction from a periodic strip grating placed on a chiral medium are obtained. Analytical Regularization Method based on the solution to the vector Riemann-Hilbert boundary value problem was used to get robust numerical results in the resonant domain, where direct solution methods typically fail. It was shown that in the case of normal incidence of linearly polarized wave the cross-polarized fleld appears in the re∞ected fleld. For elliptically polarized incident wave the difiraction character essentially depends on the polarization direction of the incident wave. These difiraction peculiarities are more pronounced in the resonant domain. In∞uence of the dichroism caused by chiral medium losses is thoroughly studied. The combination of a chiral medium and a grating can be efiectively used for a frequency and polarization selection and for a mode conversion.
A real time license plate detection system based on boosting learning algorithm

Boosting is one of the most well-known and effective techniques in machine learning. The success of using boosting for training a face detector [28] has paved the way of using boosting for training object detectors and made it widely used in computer vision. In this work we present a new framework for fast and automatic detection of vehicle license plate based on boosting learning algorithm. Beside the traditional Haar-like features, we propose to use local binary pattern (LBP) feature for its robust and discriminative power. The boosting classifiers are trained on these features and then combined in an efficient way to achieve high performance. An intensive set of experiments have been conducted. The results show that the classifier with LBP outperform that of Haar-like in the same scenario for the license plate detection problem. By combining them in an reasonable way, our proposed system can perform in real time for detection of license plates with the accuracy up to 100%, outperform state-of-the-art approaches.
Addressing the Global Burden of Trauma in Major Surgery

Despite a technically perfect procedure, surgical stress can determine the success or failure of an operation. Surgical trauma is often referred to as the “neglected step-child” of global health in terms of patient numbers, mortality, morbidity, and costs. A staggering 234 million major surgeries are performed every year, and depending upon country and institution, up to 4% of patients will die before leaving hospital, up to 15% will have serious post-operative morbidity, and 5–15% will be readmitted within 30 days. These percentages equate to around 1000 deaths and 4000 major complications every hour, and it has been estimated that 50% may be preventable. New frontline drugs are urgently required to make major surgery safer for the patient and more predictable for the surgeon. We review the basic physiology of the stress response from neuroendocrine to genomic systems, and discuss the paucity of clinical data supporting the use of statins, beta-adrenergic blockers and calcium-channel blockers. Since cardiac-related complications are the most common, particularly in the elderly, a key strategy would be to improve ventricular-arterial coupling to safeguard the endothelium and maintain tissue oxygenation. Reduced O2 supply is associated with glycocalyx shedding, decreased endothelial barrier function, fluid leakage, inflammation, and coagulopathy. A healthy endothelium may prevent these “secondary hit” complications, including possibly immunosuppression. Thus, the four pillars of whole body resynchronization during surgical trauma, and targets for new therapies, are: (1) the CNS, (2) the heart, (3) arterial supply and venous return functions, and (4) the endothelium. This is termed the Central-Cardio-Vascular-Endothelium (CCVE) coupling hypothesis. Since similar sterile injury cascades exist in critical illness, accidental trauma, hemorrhage, cardiac arrest, infection and burns, new drugs that improve CCVE coupling may find wide utility in civilian and military medicine.
Fetal ECG Extraction from Abdominal Signals: A Review on Suppression of Fundamental Power Line Interference Component and Its Harmonics

Interference of power line (PLI) (fundamental frequency and its harmonics) is usually present in biopotential measurements. Despite all countermeasures, the PLI still corrupts physiological signals, for example, electromyograms (EMG), electroencephalograms (EEG), and electrocardiograms (ECG). When analyzing the fetal ECG (fECG) recorded on the maternal abdomen, the PLI represents a particular strong noise component, being sometimes 10 times greater than the fECG signal, and thus impairing the extraction of any useful information regarding the fetal health state. Many signal processing methods for cancelling the PLI from biopotentials are available in the literature. In this review study, six different principles are analyzed and discussed, and their performance is evaluated on simulated data (three different scenarios), based on five quantitative performance indices.
Aggregated multicast: an approach to reduce multicast state

IP multicast suffers from a scalability problem with the number of concurrently active multicast groups because it requires a router to keep the forwarding state for every multicast tree passing through it and the number of forwarding entries grows with the number of groups. In this paper, we propose an approach to reduce the multicast forwarding state. In our approach, multiple groups are forced to share a single delivery tree. We discuss the advantages and some implementation issues of our approach, and conclude that it is feasible and promising. We then propose metrics to quantify state reduction and analyze the bounds on state reduction of our approach. Finally, we use simulations to verify our analytical bounds and quantify the state reduction. These initial simulation results suggest that our method can reduce multicast state significantly.