Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Parallel Programming Models for Dense Linear Algebra on Heterogeneous Systems

We present a review of the current best practices in parallel programming models for dense linear algebra DLA on heterogeneous architectures. We consider multicore CPUs, stand alone manycore coprocessors, GPUs, and combinations of these. Of interest is the evolution of the programming models for DLA libraries { in particular, the evolution from the popular LAPACK and ScaLAPACK libraries to their modernized counterparts PLASMA for multicore CPUs and MAGMA for heterogeneous architectures, as well as other programming models and libraries. Besides providing insights into the programming techniques of the libraries considered, we outline our view of the current strengths and weaknesses of their programming models { especially in regards to hardware trends and ease of programming high-performance numerical software that current applications need { in order to motivate work and future directions for the next generation of parallel programming models for high-performance linear algebra libraries on heterogeneous systems.
Teaching the ABCs of bioinformatics: a brief introduction to the Applied Bioinformatics Course

With the development of the Internet and the growth of online resources, bioinformatics training for wet-lab biologists became necessary as a part of their education. This article describes a one-semester course ‘Applied Bioinformatics Course’ (ABC, http://abc.cbi.pku.edu.cn/) that the author has been teaching to biological graduate students at the Peking University and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences for the past 13 years. ABC is a hands-on practical course to teach students to use online bioinformatics resources to solve biological problems related to their ongoing research projects in molecular biology. With a brief introduction to the background of the course, detailed information about the teaching strategies of the course are outlined in the ‘How to teach’ section. The contents of the course are briefly described in the ‘What to teach’ section with some real examples. The author wishes to share his teaching experiences and the online teaching materials with colleagues working in bioinformatics education both in local and international universities.
Analysis of the Signaling Pathway Involved in the Regulation of Hexokinase II Gene Transcription by Insulin*

The hexokinases, by converting glucose to glucose 6-phosphate, help maintain the glucose concentration gradient that results in the movement of glucose into cells through the facilitative glucose transporters. Hexokinase II (HKII) is the major hexokinase isoform in skeletal muscle, heart, and adipose tissue. Insulin induces HKII gene transcription in L6 myotubes, and this, in turn, increases HKII mRNA and the rates of HKII protein synthesis and glucose phosphorylation in these cells. Inhibitors of distinct insulin signaling pathways were used to dissect the molecular mechanism by which HKII gene expression is induced by insulin in L6 myotubes. Treatment with wortmannin, an inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase), or with rapamycin, an inhibitor of the pathway from the insulin receptor to p70/p85 ribosomal S6 protein kinase (p70s6k), prevented the induction of HKII mRNA by insulin. In contrast, treatment with PD98059, an inhibitor of mitogen-activated protein kinase activation, had no effect on insulin-induced HKII mRNA. In addition, rapamycin blocked the insulin-induced expression of an HKII promoter-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase fusion gene transiently transfected into L6 myotubes, whereas PD98059 had no such effect. These results suggest that a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/p70s6k-dependent pathway is required for regulation of HKII gene transcription by insulin and that the Ras-mitogen-activated protein kinase-dependent pathway is probably not involved.
Usages for Cellular Adhesion and Traction Forces

Cell mechanobiology studies have incorporated microand nanotechnology-based tools to understand the interaction between cells and their surrounding environment. These tools have helped to uncover findings that physical factors in the extracellular matrix can strongly affect important cell functions like proliferation, migration, differentiation, and survival. Here, we review the nanotechnologies that have been used for cellular adhesions and traction forces and the findings that have come at the molecular and protein level.
Learning Exploration/Exploitation Strategies for Single Trajectory Reinforcement Learning

We consider the problem of learning high-performance Exploration/Exploitation (E/E) strategies for finite Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) when the MDP to be controlled is supposed to be drawn from a known probability distribution pM(·). The performance criterion is the sum of discounted rewards collected by the E/E strategy over an infinite length trajectory. We propose an approach for solving this problem that works by considering a rich set of candidate E/E strategies and by looking for the one that gives the best average performances on MDPs drawn according to pM(·). As candidate E/E strategies, we consider index-based strategies parametrized by small formulas combining variables that include the estimated reward function, the number of times each transition has occurred and the optimal value functions ˆ V and ˆ Q of the estimated MDP (obtained through value iteration). The search for the best formula is formalized as a multi-armed bandit problem, each arm being associated with a formula. We experimentally compare the performances of the approach with R-max as well as with ǫ-Greedy strategies and the results are promising.
SOIL COMPACTION : HOW TO DO IT , UNDO IT , OR AVOID DOING IT

Soil compaction reduces rooting, infiltration, water storage, aeration, drainage, and crop growth. Soil compaction has been studied intensively for more than a century, and yet we still struggle with the effect that soil compaction has on crop production and the environment. In this article, we attempt to present the primary causes of soil compaction including trafficking weak soil, excessive loads, and soils that are somewhat predisposed to soil compaction. We also offer suggestions on methods of alleviating soil compaction, which vary from gradual improvement using conservation tillage systems to the immediate improvement offered by subsoiling. Additionally, we cover methods that producers can use to avoid compacting their soil, including reducing their axle load, using radial tires and maintaining proper inflation pressure, duals, tracks, and controlling their traffic. Unfortunately, few if any of our suggestions could be used to cure soil compaction because as long as vehicles are used to plant and harvest crops on the same soil that is used to produce crops, there will continue to be soil compaction and an endless battle to reduce its ill effects.
Is computed tomography scan the ultimate modality for airway evaluation?

586 Journal of Anaesthesiology Clinical Pharmacology | October-December 2014 | Vol 30 | Issue 4 7. Ozer S, Benumof JL. Oro-and nasogastric tube passage in intubated patients: Fiberoptic description of where they go at the laryngeal level and how to make them enter the esophagus. Anesthesiology 1999;91:137-43. 8. Lind LJ, Wallace DH. Submucosal passage of a nasogastric tube complicating attempted intubation during anesthesia. Anesthesiology 1978;49:145-7. 9. Young MJ, Ehrenfeld JM. Knotting of an orogastric tube around an endotracheal tube. J Clin Anesth 2012;24:254-5.
A critical investigation into the effectiveness of soil and water remediation efforts in Steel Valley, Vanderbijlpark

ii DECLARATION . iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS . v TABLE OF CONTENTS . vii LIST OF FIGURES . x LIST OF TABLES . xi LIST OF APPENDICES . xii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. 1 1.
A technique for the selection of kernel-function parameters in RBF neural networks for classification of remote-sensing images

A supervised technique for training radial basis function (RBF) neural network classifiers is proposed. Such a technique, unlike traditional ones, considers the class memberships of training samples to select the centers and widths of the kernel functions associated with the hidden neurons of an RBF network. The result is twofold: a significant reduction in the overall classification error made by the classifier and a more stable behavior of the classification error versus variations in both the number of hidden units and the initial parameters of the training process.
Cholinergic and behavioral neurotoxicity of carbaryl and cadmium to larval rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

Pesticides and heavy metals are common environmental contaminants that can cause neurotoxicity to aquatic organisms, impairing reproduction and survival. Neurotoxic effects of cadmium and carbaryl exposures were estimated in larval rainbow trout (RBT; Oncorhynchus mykiss) using changes in physiological endpoints and correlations with behavioral responses. Following exposures, RBT were videotaped to assess swimming speed. Brain tissue was used to measure cholinesterase (ChE) activity, muscarinic cholinergic receptor (MChR) number, and MChR affinity. ChE activity decreased with increasing concentrations of carbaryl but not of cadmium. MChR were not affected by exposure to either carbaryl or cadmium. Swimming speed correlated with ChE activity in carbaryl-exposed RBT, but no correlation occurred in cadmium-exposed fish. Thus, carbaryl exposure resulted in neurotoxicity reflected by changes in physiological and behavioral parameters measured, while cadmium exposure did not. Correlations between behavior and physiology provide a useful assessment of neurotoxicity.
A quantitative analysis of bleeding symptoms in type 1 von Willebrand disease: results from a multicenter European study (MCMDM‐1 VWD)

Summary. Background: A quantitative description of bleeding symptoms in type 1 von Willebrand disease (VWD) has never been reported. Objectives: The aim was to quantitatively evaluate the severity of bleeding symptoms in type 1 VWD and its correlation with clinical and laboratory features. Patients and methods: Bleeding symptoms were retrospectively recorded in a European cohort of VWD type 1 families, and for each subject a quantitative bleeding score (BS) was obtained together with phenotypic tests. Results: A total of 712 subjects belonging to 144 families and 195 controls were available for analysis. The BS was higher in index cases than in affected family members (BS 9 vs. 5, P < 0.0001) and in unaffected family members than in controls (BS 0 vs. −1, P < 0.0001). There was no effect of ABO blood group. BS showed a strong significant inverse relation with either von Willebrand ristocetin cofactor (VWF:RCo), von Willebrand antigen (VWF:Ag) or factor VIII procoagulant activity (FVIII:C) measured at time of enrollment, even after adjustment for age, sex and blood group (P < 0.001 for all the four upper quintiles of BS vs. the first quintile, for either VWF:RCo, VWF:Ag or FVIII:C). Higher BS was related with increasing likelihood of VWD, and a mucocutaneous BS (computed from spontaneous, mucocutaneous symptoms) was strongly associated with bleeding after surgery or tooth extraction. Conclusions: Quantitative analysis of bleeding symptoms is potentially useful for a more accurate diagnosis of type 1 VWD and to develop guidelines for its optimal treatment.
Institute for Mathematical Physics the Ablowitz–ladik Hierarchy Revisited the Ablowitz–ladik Hierarchy Revisited

We provide a detailed recursive construction of the Ablowitz– Ladik (AL) hierarchy and its zero-curvature formalism. The two-coefficient AL hierarchy under investigation can be considered a complexified version of the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation and its hierarchy of nonlinear evolution equations. Specifically, we discuss in detail the stationary Ablowitz–Ladik formalism in connection with the underlying hyperelliptic curve and the stationary Baker– Akhiezer function and separately the corresponding time-dependent Ablowitz– Ladik formalism.
Effects of environmental conditions on boreal forest classification and biomass estimates with SAR

During both SIR-C/X-SAR missions (April and October of 1991), periods of freezing and above freezing temperatures were experienced within the southern study area (SSA) of the boreal ecosystem-atmosphere study (BOREAS). This paper discusses the observed effects of different environmental conditions on forest classification and biomass estimates derived from the SAR data of a portion of this Canadian boreal forest test site. The SIR-C backscatter was found to be lowest when the trees and background were frozen, in agreement with other studies. Simple linear regression models relating measured above-ground woody biomass to SIR-C backscatter were not the same for each date, but statistical tests showed that the slopes were not significantly different, suggesting that a simple correction by an offset is possible. The classification results indicated that forest type classifications are more variable than the biomass estimates due to temperature conditions.
Cerebral Palsy in the 21st Century: Is There Anything Left To Say?

In April 2009 I was honoured to be asked to present the Emil Becker Lecture at the 35 (th) annual meeting of the German-Swiss-Austrian Society for Neuropaediatrics (Gesellschaft für Neuropädiatrie). Focusing on my interest and involvement as a clinician and researcher in cerebral palsy, I took the opportunity to look both back at the past 35 years and forward to what I believe are some of the important clinical challenges that are still to be addressed and solved in the 21 (st) century. This paper is therefore a personal reflection rather than a comprehensive review of the literature in cerebral palsy. It is my hope that these reflections will be of interest to others.
Exploiting causes and effects of wireless link correlation for better performance

Contradicting the widely believed assumption of link independence, recently the phenomenon of reception correlation among nearby receivers has been revealed and exploited for varieties of protocols [3], [8], [17], [21], [23], [24]. However, despite the diversified correlation-aware designs proposed up to date, they commonly suffer from a shortcoming where link correlation is inaccurately measured, which leads them to sub-optimal performance. In this work we propose a general framework for accurate capturing of link correlation, enabling better utilization of the phenomenon for protocols lying on top of it. Our framework uses SINR (Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio) to detect correlations, followed by modeling the correlations for in-network use. We show that our design is light-weight, both computation and storage-wise. We apply our model to opportunistic routing and network coding on a physical 802.15. 4 test-bed for energy savings of 25% and 15%.
Using an OCL Impact Analysis Algorithm for View-Based Textual Modelling

The Object Constraint Language (OCL) has become a vital part of many frameworks, tools and languages within model-driven engineering. One such application of OCL is the use for describing rules in concrete syntax definitions. Within the textual modeling framework FURCAS, OCL is extensively used for the definition of lookup and attribution rules. Based on these rules the model which is described by such a textual representation is created and updated accordingly. Changes on models over which such an expression is specified require the expression to be re-evaluated to keep the constructed model up-to-date. However, the effort for re-evaluating OCL expressions over a set of model elements grows with the number of elements, the complexity of the expressions, and the number of model changes. Thus, having large models and/or complex expressions places considerable performance costs on OCL evaluation. Techniques to reduce this effort have been presented in previous work but do not cover the full range of OCL expressions, in particular calls to operations defined in OCL, including recursive operations. In this paper, we present an approach that is applicable to the full range of OCL expressions. We validated our approach based on a large set of models and complex expressions to evaluate the performance impact of our newly introduced techniques.
LaboRem: open lab for remote work

The advances in communication networks together with the improvement of device interconnectivity and web technology make it possible nowadays to develop distant e-learning applications that encompass the entire learning process: not only lectures, tutorials and simulations, but also practical labwork on real or virtual instruments. Pros and cons of e-labs are listed in the literature, based on comparative studies between the three types of laboratories: hands-on, virtual and remote.
Detecting image symmetry based on phase information

Traditional methods for detecting symmetry in image suffered from the contrast of image and noise, and they all needed some preprocessing; for images including many objects, they must segment them to detect the symmetry of each object. This paper presents a new method of image symmetry detection. Instead of gradient information, it used phase information of original image. Phase information is stable and significant, so the method is robust; it is invariant to contrast, rotation and illumination conditions. It can detect mirror symmetry, rotating symmetry and curve symmetry at one time and does not need any preprocessing, such as segmentation. Results of experiment has shown that compared with pivotal element algorithm based on intensity information, this method is more accurate and robust. This method can be used in pattern recognition and image processing; it is also very useful in location and recognition of object and rebuild of 3D objects.
Government Cash Management : Relationship between the Treasury and the Central Bank

This technical note and manual (TNM) addresses the following main issues: Interaction between treasury cash management and monetary policy operations within the wider context of the respective economic responsibilities of the ministry of finance and the central bank; Institutional arrangements for an effective relationship between the treasury and the central bank; Contractual arrangements between the treasury and the central bank for the provision of banking and other services. This document will be particularly relevant to developing countries that are reforming cash management operations or contemplating more active cash management; or where there are operational policy differences between the treasury and the central bank.
Impact of near-surface fault geometry on secular slip rate assessment derived from uplifted river terraces: implications for convergence accommodation across the frontal thrust in southern Central Bhutan

Vertical velocities obtained from uplifted river terrace dating near mountain fronts are commonly converted into overthrusting slip rates assuming simple geometry of the fault at depth. However, the lack of information on the dip angle of these shallow structures can lead to misinterpretation in the accommodation of convergence, and thus to erroneous conclusions on the transfer of shortening to the emergent thrust faults. Here, to assess the impact of fault geometry, we focus on the eastern Himalayan region in the south Central Bhutan, where the topographic frontal thrust (TFT) has been already documented by GPS, paleoseismic, geomorphic and geological studies. This study is based on high-resolution near-surface geophysical investigations, including electrical resistivity, seismic and gravity measurements. Using a similar stochastic inversion approach for all data sets, new quantitative constraints on both fault geometry and petrophysical parameters are obtained to image shallow depths, in the upper ca. 80 m. The combined results from both surface observations and geophysical measurement provide a TFT geometry that is dipping northwards with a shallow angle at the top (0–5 m), steeply dipping in the middle (5–40 m) and flattening at deeper depths (>40 m). Together, our new constraints on the fault geometry allow us to estimate a minimum overthrusting slip rate of 10 ± 2 mm yr−1, which is only a part of the ca. 17 mm yr−1 GPS convergence. This suggests that, in the study area, significant deformation partitioning on several faults including TFT and the Main Boundary Thrust cannot be ruled out. More importantly, assuming constant slip rate, the obtained dip angle variations lead to uplift rate changes with distance to the TFT. This underlines that taking into account uplift rate from terrace dating only at the front location and assuming a constant dip angle fault geometry based on surface observations may significantly bias the slip rate estimates.
A Survey on the Privacy Preserving Algorithm and techniques of Association Rule Mining

In recent years, data mining is a popular analysis tool to extract knowledge from collection of large amount of data. One of the great challenges of data mining is finding hidden patterns without revealing sensitive information. Privacy preservation data mining (PPDM) is answer to such challenges. It is a major research area for protecting sensitive data or knowledge while data mining techniques can still be applied efficiently. Association rule hiding is one of the techniques of PPDM to protect the association rules generated by association rule mining. In this paper, we provide a survey of association rule hiding methods for privacy preservation. Various algorithms have been designed for it in recent years. In this paper, we summarize them and survey current existing techniques for association rule hiding.
Beneficial effects of long-term enalapril treatment and low-salt intake on survival rate of dahl salt-sensitive rats with established hypertension.

We investigated the effects of long-term treatment with the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor enalapril and low-salt intake on the survival rate of Dahl salt-sensitive rats fed a high-salt (6.0% NaCl) diet. The systolic blood pressure of the rats increased gradually from 5 weeks of age and reached >240 mm Hg at 12 weeks of age. At this point, a low-salt diet group received a placebo (group 1, n = 10), and the high-salt diet group was divided into three groups: those given a placebo with the high-salt diet (group 2, n = 15), those given a chow change from a high- to a low-salt diet with a placebo (group 3, n = 14) and those given enalapril (30 mg/kg/day p.o., group 4, n = 14). At 19 weeks of age, all rats in group 1 were alive, and the survival rate of group 2 was only 40% (P < .001 vs. group 1). The survival rates of both groups 3 and 4 were significantly better: 86% (P < .01 vs. group 2) and 93% (P < .01), respectively. This beneficial effect on mortality was accompanied by an amelioration of the elevated plasma creatinine and urea nitrogen levels and a decrease in the glomerular sclerosis lesion scores in both groups. These results suggested that a high-salt content diet and the renin-angiotensin system are deterioration factors in lethal renal damage and the limitation of the diet salt content and inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system are important to improve the survival rate in high-salt-loaded hypertensive Dahl salt-sensitive rats.
Contraceptive choice in an urban clinic in nigeria

Summary Contraceptive choice in the first 1075 acceptors at an urban clinic in Lagos has been studied. An IUD was the most popular choice followed by the injectable contraceptive and the pill. Interval tubal ligation was chosen by some patients. Acceptors of injectables were older women of high parity and lower educational standard while pill acceptors were of lower parity and higher educational level. The IUD was acceptable to all ages and parities except those with only one child or none. Loss to follow-up and the wish to plan another pregnancy were the commonest reasons for discontinuing contraception. Medical reasons for discontinuing the IUD were pain, menstrual disorder, accidental pregnancy and expulsion/perforation, and for discontinuing injectables the reasons were menstrual disorder, accidental pregnancy and raised blood pressure.