Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A 60fps 496mW multi-object recognition processor with workload-aware dynamic power management

An energy efficient object recognition processor is proposed for real-time visual applications. Its energy efficiency is improved by lowering average power consumption while sustaining high frame rate. To this end, the proposed processor features from all levels of chip design. In architecture level, it performs 3-stage task pipelining for high frame rate operation and workload-aware dynamic power management for low power consumption. In block level, energy efficient special purposed engines are employed while software controlled clock gating is exploited for fine-grained clock control. In circuit level, analog-digital mixed design is used to reduce power with the same performance. As a result, the 49mm2 chip in a 0.13mm technology achieves 60fps object recognition for VGA (640x480) input with 496mW power at the supply of 1.2V. It means only 8.2mJ is dissipated per frame, which is 3.2X more energy efficient than the state of the art.
Hormonal regulation of caveolae internalization

Caveolae undergo a cyclic transition from a flat segment of membrane to a vesicle that then returns to the cell surface. Here we present evidence that this cycle depends on a population of protein kinase C- alpha (PKC-alpha) molecules that reside in the caveolae membrane where they phosphorylate a 90-kD protein. This cycle can be interrupted by treatment of the cells with phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate or agents that raise the concentration of diacylglycerol in the cell. Each of these conditions displaces PKC-alpha from caveolae, inhibits the phosphorylation of the 90-kD protein, and prevents internalization. Caveolae also contain a protein phosphatase that dephosphorylates the 90-kD once PKC-alpha is gone. A similar dissociation of PKC-alpha from caveolae and inhibition of invagination was observed when cells were treated with histamine. This effect was blocked by pyrilamine but not cimetidine, indicating the involvement of histamine H1 receptors. These findings suggest that the caveolae internalization cycle is hormonally regulated.
For a Few Dollars More: Reserves and Growth in Times of Crises

Based on a dataset of 112 emerging economies and developing countries, this paper addresses the question whether the accumulation of international reserves has effectively protected countries during the 2008-09 financial crisis. More specifically, the paper investigates the relation between international reserves and the existence of capital controls. We find that the level of reserves matters: countries with high reserves relative to short-term debt suffered less from the crisis, particularly when associated with a less open capital account. This suggests some degree of complementarity between reserve accumulation and capital controls.
Preparation and Properties of Optically Transparent Chitin Nanofibers Sheet by Different Simple Mechanical Methods

Chitin nanofibers were prepared from commercially available dried chitin powders by different simple mechanical methods under acid conditions after removal of minerals and proteins. The fibrillated chitin samples were observed by FE-SEM and there was a fine network structure formed by chitin nanofibes with a width of approximately 10-50 nm and high aspect ratio. The mechanical treatment under acid conditions was crucial to facilitate the fibrillation of chitin fibers into nanofibers. The high pressure homogenization in combination with grinding was used to obtain the most transparent chitin nanofibers sheet with a transmittance of 88.5% and tensile strength of 82.34MPa, and the sheet even had a Young’s modulus of 6.17GPa. Thus, chitin nanofibers provide excellent potential as reinforcement of transparent flexible composites to improve the properties of nanocomposites.
Fast Reinforcement Learning under Uncertainties with Self-Organizing Neural Networks

Using feedback signals from the environment, a reinforcement learning (RL) system typically discovers action policies that recommend actions effective to the states based on a Q-value function. However, uncertainties over the estimation of the Q-values can delay the convergence of RL. For fast RL convergence by accounting for such uncertainties, this paper proposes several enhancements to the estimation and learning of the Q-value using a self-organizing neural network. Specifically, a temporal difference method known as Q-learning is complemented by a Q-value Polarization procedure, which contrasts the Q-values using feedback signals on the effect of the recommended actions. The polarized Q-values are then learned by the self-organizing neural network using a Bi-directional Template Learning procedure. Furthermore, the polarized Q-values are in turn used to adapt the reward vigilance of the ART-based self-organizing neural network using a Bi-directional Adaptation procedure. The efficacy of the resultant system called Fast Learning (FL) FALCON is illustrated using two single-task problem domains with large MDPs. The experiment results from these problem domains unanimously show FL-FALCON converging faster than the compared approaches.
Whole-Cell Screening-Based Identification of Inhibitors against the Intraphagosomal Survival of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

ABSTRACT We describe here an efficient strategy that employs whole-cell-based screening and further short listing of the compounds by cytotoxicity- and fluorescence-based intracellular assays, resulting in potential bactericidal hits against the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in broth culture as well as in phagosomes. These compounds also inhibited multidrug-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis but showed no or poor inhibition of nonpathogenic mycobacteria or other bacterial species such as Escherichia coli.
Knowledge Media Institute Integration of Information Extraction with an Ontolog

This paperdescribesthe integrationof an ontologywith an informationextraction (IE) tool. Our main goal is extract knowledge from text to populatethe ontology, and so alleviate the problem of ontologymaintenance.The IE tool extractsinformationusing partial parsingandmachinelearningtechniques.Our domainof studyis “KMi Planet”,aWeb-basednewsserver thathelpsto communicaterelevant informationbetweenmembersin our institute. Currentlyour systemfinds instancesof classesor subclasses. Althoughin thefutureweexpectto createnew classesandsubclasses from new conceptsappearingin text.
OCCF: A Framework for Developing Test Coverage Measurement Tools Supporting Multiple Programming Languages

Although many programming languages and test coverage criteria currently exist, most coverage measurement tools only support select programming languages and coverage criteria. Consequently, multiple measurement tools must be combined to measure coverage for software which uses multiple programming languages such as web applications. However, such combination leads to inconsistent and inaccurate measurement results. In this paper, we describe a consistent and flexible framework for measuring coverage supporting multiple programming languages, called Open Code Coverage Framework (OCCF). OCCF allows users to add new extensions for supporting programming languages and coverage criteria with low development costs. To evaluate the effectiveness of OCCF, sample implementation to support statement coverage and decision coverage for eight programming languages (C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Python, Ruby and Lua) are demonstrated. Additionally, applications of OCCF for localizing faults and minimizing tests are shown.
Design of photonic structures for the enhancement of the light guiding efficiency of fluorescent concentrators

Photonic structures can be used to eliminate the main loss mechanism in fluorescent concentrators. Simulation routines have been established to investigate the optical characteristic of different photonic crystals. Especially two kinds of structures with an appropriate characteristic have been examined closely. The first is the rugate filter, a one-dimensional photonic structure. In the rugate filter the refractive index is varied sinusoidally over the thickness of the filter. The second is the opal, a three-dimensional photonic crystals made of spheres that are arranged in a self organization process. Filters from these structures have been designed and optimized for the application and fluorescent concentrators and have been optimized. Additional aspects of the structures like angular effects have been examined.
The impact of atypical antipsychotic medications on the use of health care by patients with schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE Using data in real-world clinical practice, this study aims to compare the health-care use patterns of patients with schizophrenia who use oral antipsychotics. METHODS A total of 219,504 episodes of antipsychotic drug therapy initiated during the period from 2000 to 2002 were identified using data from the California Medicaid program. Four types of episodes were analyzed based on the patient's drug use history as far back as 1994: restarting therapy after a break in therapy using the same drug used in the preceding episode; switching therapy after a break in treatment using a different medication; switching therapy without a break in therapy; and augmentation. Health-care use patterns over a 1-year post-treatment period were analyzed using ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions, Cox proportional hazards models, and logistic regression. RESULTS The impact of atypical antipsychotics on health-care use in the first post-treatment year varies by episode type. Patients switching to atypical medications generally cost significantly more than similar patients switching to a conventional antipsychotic. Olanzapine and risperidone, however, were associated with reductions in total costs relative to conventional antipsychotics when used in restart and augmentation episodes. Differences across all three second-generation antipsychotics were relatively small. CONCLUSIONS Small differences across the atypical antipsychotics suggest that these drugs are interchangeable, raising the question of whether drug costs could be reduced through selectively contracting for a preferred drug. Potential savings may be limited by several factors. First, most episodes of treatment are restart episodes. Switching these patients to a preferred drug may have clinical risk. Second, patients with schizophrenia switch and augment therapies frequently, thus quickly reducing the population of patients who could be effectively treated with a single preferred drug.
Capillary channel polymer fiber-based scaffolds for neural regeneration

Over 50 million Americans are affected by ailments to the central nervous system (CNS) and it impacts the American economy over $400 billion a year. The number of people in the United States who have spinal cord injury (SCI) has been estimated to be approximately 276,000 persons as of 2014 with a range from 240,000 to 337,000 persons. The annual incidence of SCI, not including those who die at the scene of the accident is approximately 12,500 new cases each year. Due to the limited regenerative capacity of the adult CNS and lack of clinically effective therapies, these conditions commonly result in permanent functional deficits. SCI damages both ascending sensory and descending motor axonal pathways interrupting the transmission of synaptic signals between the brain and peripheral tissues. Although damaged axons attempt an initial regenerative response, this is rapidly aborted due to the presence of growth inhibitory molecules in CNS myelin and the glial scar and intrinsic limitations of adult CNS neuronal biochemistry such as the ability to maintain cAMP levels and upregulate the expression of ‘regeneration-associated genes’. On the other hand, TBI, stroke, and Parkinson’s disease result in neuronal cell death. The CNS has limited capacity to replace lost neurons because the neurons themselves are terminally differentiated and post-mitotic. Although neural stem cells (NSCs) have been identified in specialized regions of the adult brain such as the subventricular zone (SVZ) and the sub-granular zones (SGZ), their number is insufficient and the pathological environment inadequate to support an effective regenerative response. The end goal of this project is to develop a biomimetic scaffold using grooved fibers for neural regeneration. This goal was met with a two-pronged approach. In the first approach, grooved fibers immobilized with bioactive adhesive molecule were developed to topographically guide regenerating axons. In the second approach, grooved fiber
Association of p56lck with the cytoplasmic domain of CD4 modulates HIV‐1 expression.

To investigate the role played by the cytoplasmic domain of the CD4 glycoprotein in the process of HIV infection, we have transfected two CD4‐negative human T cell lines with cDNAs encoding the full‐length CD4 and a truncated form of the molecule, lacking most of the cytoplasmic domain. Levels of viral replication were significantly higher in cells carrying the truncated version of CD4, in comparison with cells expressing the full‐length CD4, as measured by the percentage of cells expressing viral p24 protein and the number of infectious particles released into culture supernatants. The extent of viral entry and reverse transcription was similar in each case, as monitored by an enzymatic test and quantitative PCR. Quantitative differences at RNA and protein levels were responsible for changes in viral production. To further characterize the mechanisms responsible for decreased rates of HIV replication in CD4‐expressing cells we have treated the different cell lines, very early after HIV infection, with azidothymidine and soluble CD4, two antiviral agents that inhibit replication of HIV at different stages in the virus replicative cycle. Results from these experiments indicate that a cellular signal is mediated by the CD4 molecule, which negatively regulates the expression of viral DNA already present in such cells. This signal would be initiated following oligomerization of the CD4 molecule by the virus itself. Results from experiments with a CD4 construct containing mutations of the cysteine residues which are responsible for association of CD4 with p56lck demonstrate that p56lck is implicated in the transduction of the signal negatively regulating HIV replication.
On the verbalization patterns of part-whole relations in isiZulu

In the highly multilingual setting in South Africa, developing computational tools to support the 11 ofﬁcial languages will facilitate effective communication. The exigency to develop these tools for healthcare applications and doctor-patient interaction is there. An important component in this set-up is generating sentences in the language isiZulu, which involves part-whole relations to communicate, for instance, which part of one’s body hurts. From a NLG viewpoint, the main challenge is the ﬂuid use of terminology and the consequent complex agreement system inherent in the language, which is further complicated by phonological conditioning in the linguistic realisation stage. Through using a combined approach of examples and various literature, we devised verbalisation patterns for both meronymic and mereological relations, being structural/general parthood, involvement, containment, membership, subquantities, participation, and constitution. All patterns were then converted into algorithms and have been implemented as a proof-of-concept.
Low-temperature capacitive sensor based on perovskite oxides

Energy, environmental and social issues drive towards the green political economy and the development of advanced technologies, promoting renewable energy sources, improving energy conversion efficiency and reducing exhaust gas emissions. The development of sustainable technologies requires strategic research in the area of gas sensors for monitoring air quality, controlling gas emissions and optimizing combustion processes. Solid state sensors are the most attractive one because of their simplicity in function, small size and low cost. The aim of this work is to synthetize and characterize strontium titanate and test its sensing performance. The prepared sensor device shows significant sensitivity and response rate at room-temperature. However, because of the low recovery rate, the regeneration of the sensor has to be made at high temperature for promoting the decomposition of the carbonates formed on the perovkite surface.
Distributed design for fair coexistence in TVWS

Very recently, regulatory bodies worldwide started to approve the opportunistic access of unlicensed networks to the TVWS spectrum. Hence, in the near future, multiple heterogeneous and independently-operated unlicensed networks will coexist within the same geographical area over shared TVWS. Nevertheless, the coexistence among heterogeneous unlicensed networks over TVWS represents an open problem, and innovative solutions for handling the coexistence interference are needed to fully unleash the TVWS potentials. Hence, in this paper, we design a coexistence strategy for TVWS scenarios with the following attractive features: i) fully distributed, i.e., it avoids the need of centralized interference management; ii) over-the-air communications free, i.e., it avoids the need of direct communications among the heterogeneous networks; iii) adaptive to the time- and space-dynamics of the coexistence interference; iv) selfless, i.e., it allows a fair TVWS spectrum sharing by accounting for the communication demands of each unlicensed network. These attractive features are obtained by designing a coexistence strategy based on a system of multi-dimensional ordinary differential equations, and by incorporating the tradeoff between selfish bandwidth maximization and fair spectrum allocation within the system dynamics. Performance evaluation is conducted through numerical simulations, and the results confirm the attractive features of the proposed coexistence strategy.
Cooperation between Apoptotic and Viable Metacyclics Enhances the Pathogenesis of Leishmaniasis

Mimicking mammalian apoptotic cells by exposing phosphatidylserine (PS) is a strategy used by virus and parasitic protozoa to escape host protective inflammatory responses. With Leishmania amazonensis (La), apoptotic mimicry is a prerogative of the intramacrophagic amastigote form of the parasite and is modulated by the host. Now we show that differently from what happens with amastigotes, promastigotes exposing PS are non-viable, non-infective cells, undergoing apoptotic death. As part of the normal metacyclogenic process occurring in axenic cultures and in the gut of sand fly vectors, a sub-population of metacyclic promastigotes exposes PS. Apoptotic death of the purified PS-positive (PSPOS) sub-population was confirmed by TUNEL staining and DNA laddering. Transmission electron microscopy revealed morphological alterations in PSPOS metacyclics such as DNA condensation, cytoplasm degradation and mitochondrion and kinetoplast destruction, both in in vitro cultures and in sand fly guts. TUNELPOS promastigotes were detected only in the anterior midgut to foregut boundary of infected sand flies. Interestingly, caspase inhibitors modulated parasite death and PS exposure, when added to parasite cultures in a specific time window. Efficient in vitro macrophage infections and in vivo lesions only occur when PSPOS and PS-negative (PSNEG) parasites were simultaneously added to the cell culture or inoculated in the mammalian host. The viable PSNEG promastigote was the infective form, as shown by following the fate of fluorescently labeled parasites, while the PSPOS apoptotic sub-population inhibited host macrophage inflammatory response. PS exposure and macrophage inhibition by a subpopulation of promastigotes is a different mechanism than the one previously described with amastigotes, where the entire population exposes PS. Both mechanisms co-exist and play a role in the transmission and development of the disease in case of infection by La. Since both processes confer selective advantages to the infective microorganism they justify the occurrence of apoptotic features in a unicellular pathogen.
Applications of bipolar electrochemistry : from materials science to biological systems

Bipolar electrochemistry deals with the exposure of an isolated conducting substrate that has no direct connection with a power supply except via an electric field. Therefore it can be considered as a “wireless technique”. The polarization of the substrate with respect to the surrounding medium generates a potential difference between its opposite ends which can support localized electrochemical oxidation reduction reactions and break the surface symmetry of the substrate. The method was applied in the present thesis to materials science and biological systems. In the frame of designing asymmetric particles, also called “Janus” particles, bipolar electrochemistry was adapted for the bulk preparation of these objects. Conductive substrates with different nature, sizes and shapes have been modified with various materials such as metals, ionic and inorganic compounds using this approach. Moreover, a control over the deposit topology could be achieved for substrates at different length scales. Bipolar electrodeposition is also a good tool for investigating the generation of different metal morphologies. Further developments in the bipolar setup allowed us to use the technology for microstructuration of conductive objects. Furthermore the concept has shown to be very useful in the field of the induced motion of particles. The asymmetric objects that have been prepared by bipolar electrodeposition were employed as microswimmers which could show both translational and rotational motion. The application of electric fields in the bipolar setup can be used for the direct generation of motion of isotropic objects through bubble generation. A levitation motion of objects combined with light emission was possible using this concept. Finally, bipolar electrochemistry was also used for studying the intrinsic conductivity of biological molecules (DNA), which is of great importance in the nanotechnology.
Competitive Location Models: A Framework and Bibliography

This paper presents a taxonomy for competitive location models based on the following five components: the space, the number of players, the pricing policy, the rules of the game, and the behavior of the customers. The components are briefly discussed and based on these, an annotated bibliography comprising more than 100 selected titles follows.
Review of Torrefaction Reactor Technology

A dominant torrefaction concept has emerged out of a large variety of biomass treatment technologies. The torrefaction product, mechanism, reactor technology and supplier of torrefaction reactor are described in this paper. It can’t get the conclusion that which torrefaction technology is better, because every reactor has itself characteristics. In the future, many commercial torrefaction plants will be built.
60 GHz MAC standardization: Progress and way forward

Communication at mmWave frequencies has been the focus in the recent years. In this paper, we discuss standardization efforts in 60 GHz short range communication and the progress therein. We compare the available standards in terms of network architecture, medium access control mechanisms, physical layer techniques and several other features. Comparative analysis indicates that IEEE 802.11ad is likely to lead the short-range indoor communication at 60 GHz. We bring to the fore resolved and unresolved issues pertaining to robust WLAN connectivity at 60 GHz. Further, we discuss the role of mmWave bands in 5G communication scenarios and highlight the further efforts required in terms of research and standardization.