Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CMAX: a Fortran translator for the connection machine system

The CMAX translator converts applications written in scalable Fortran 77 to parallel Connection Machine Fortran. The most obvious part of the translation problem, and one addressed by a number of previous translators as well as CMAX, is loop vectorization: the substitution of array syntax and intrinsics for Fortran 77 DO loops. A less obvious (but equally important) part of the translation problem is the conversion of constructs arising from Fortran 77's linear memory model into code which does not rely on storage or sequence association. Most such constructs can only be detected and repaired through interprocedural analysis and transformation; CMAX is the first translator to perform such repairs. This paper describes the CMAX translator and some of the more important transforms that we have distilled from our users' porting experiences.
PTSD Elderly War Veterans: A Clinical Controlled Pilot Study

Around 25,000 war veterans in Portugal suffer posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This clinically controlled study evaluates virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) as an alternative procedure to reduce PTSD symptoms. Ten patients were assigned to three groups: VRET, exposure in imagination (EI), and waiting list (WL). The patients were Portuguese veterans from a series of wars fought in former African colonies more than 30 years ago. While the EI group participated in traditional imagination therapy, the VRET group was exposed to a virtual reality (VR) war scenario. Cues such as ambush, mortar blasting, and waiting for rescue were used in the VR. Patients enrolled in the VRET group showed statistical reduction of PTSD-associated disorders like depression and anxiety. Far from being conclusive, this pilot study nonetheless presents some promising data on the use of VRET on old war veteran populations.
Biological pattern formation: fmm basic mechanisms ta complex structures

The reliable development of highly complex organisms is an intriguing and fascinating problem. The genetic material is, as a rule, the same in each cell of an organism. How then do cells, under the influence of their common genes, produce spatial patterns? Simple models are discussed that describe the generation of patterns out of an initially nearly homogeneous state. They are based on nonlinear interactions of at least two chemicals and on their diffusion. The concepts of local autocatalysis and of long-range inhibition play a fundamental role. Numerical simulations show that the models account for many basic biological observations such as the regeneration of a pattern after excision of tissue or the production of regular (or nearly regular) arrays of organs during (or after) completion of growth. Very complex patterns can be generated in a reproducible way by hierarchical coupling of several such elementary reactions. Applications to animal coats and to the generation of polygonally shaped patterns are provided. It is further shown how to generate a strictly periodic pattern of units that themselves exhibit a complex and polar fine structure. This is illustrated by two examples: the assembly of photoreceptor cells in the eye of Drosophila and the positioning of leaves and axillary buds in a growing shoot. In both cases, the substructures have to achieve an internal polarity under the influence of some primary pattern-forming system existing in the fly's eye or in the plant. The fact that similar models can describe essential steps in organisms as distantly related as animals and plants suggests that they reveal some universal mechanisms.
Differential Growth Responses of Soil Bacterial Taxa to Carbon Substrates of Varying Chemical Recalcitrance

Soils are immensely diverse microbial habitats with thousands of co-existing bacterial, archaeal, and fungal species. Across broad spatial scales, factors such as pH and soil moisture appear to determine the diversity and structure of soil bacterial communities. Within any one site however, bacterial taxon diversity is high and factors maintaining this diversity are poorly resolved. Candidate factors include organic substrate availability and chemical recalcitrance, and given that they appear to structure bacterial communities at the phylum level, we examine whether these factors might structure bacterial communities at finer levels of taxonomic resolution. Analyzing 16S rRNA gene composition of nucleotide analog-labeled DNA by PhyloChip microarrays, we compare relative growth rates on organic substrates of increasing chemical recalcitrance of >2,200 bacterial taxa across 43 divisions/phyla. Taxa that increase in relative abundance with labile organic substrates (i.e., glycine, sucrose) are numerous (>500), phylogenetically clustered, and occur predominantly in two phyla (Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria) including orders Actinomycetales, Enterobacteriales, Burkholderiales, Rhodocyclales, Alteromonadales, and Pseudomonadales. Taxa increasing in relative abundance with more chemically recalcitrant substrates (i.e., cellulose, lignin, or tannin–protein) are fewer (168) but more phylogenetically dispersed, occurring across eight phyla and including Clostridiales, Sphingomonadalaes, Desulfovibrionales. Just over 6% of detected taxa, including many Burkholderiales increase in relative abundance with both labile and chemically recalcitrant substrates. Estimates of median rRNA copy number per genome of responding taxa demonstrate that these patterns are broadly consistent with bacterial growth strategies. Taken together, these data suggest that changes in availability of intrinsically labile substrates may result in predictable shifts in soil bacterial composition.
New Evidence of Stock Split When Uncertain Event Window is Identified

The stock split is a popular practice in many markets despite the fact that it does not fundamentally change the value of the firm. Many past evidences supported the liquidity hypothesis and found positive abnormal return around stock split date. However, all studies employed traditional event studies methodology and defined the event date as either the announcement date or effective date. Drawback of the traditional method is the incapability to detect the impact when the event date is uncertain. This paper uses the new approach called EVARCH that can uncover the event window from the data. In addition, it takes the possible impact of stock split on stock's systematic risk and variance into account. New evidence from the Stock Exchange of Thailand during 2001-2005 reveals that there is no significant positive abnormal return. However, the study finds that the corporate might use stock split as a 'signal' of future capital increase to alleviate negative impact.
Stratiform and Convective Classification of Rainfall Using SSM/I 85-GHz Brightness Temperature Observations

Abstract A better understanding of global climate calls for more accurate estimates of liquid and ice water content profiles of precipitating clouds and their associated latent heating profiles. Convective and stratiform precipitation regimes have different latent heating and therefore impact the earth’s climate differently. Classification of clouds over oceans has traditionally been part of more general rainfall retrieval schemes. These schemes are based on individual or combined visible and infrared, and microwave satellite observations. However, none of these schemes report validations of their cloud classification with independent ground observations. The objective of this study is to develop a scheme to classify convective and stratiform precipitating clouds using satellite brightness temperature observations. The proposed scheme probabilistically relates a quantity called variability index (VI) to the stratiform fractional precipitation coverage over the satellite field of view (FOV). The VI for a s.
A 1.8 mW 2 MHz signal bandwidth continuous-time sigma-delta modulator

A fully differential feedback third-order continuous-time sigma-delta modulator suitable for Mega Hertz wireless communication is presented. Some design optimizations mainly regarding power consumption are demonstrated. The proposed single-bit modulator clocked at 128 MHz achieves 2 MHz signal bandwidth, 11 bits of resolution, 68 dB signal-to-noise ratio and 66 dB dynamic range. Designed in 0.18 µm CMOS process, the sigma-delta modulator consumes 1.8 mW from a 1.8 V single supply, occupying a 0.16 mm2 chip area.
Case-control studies for rare diseases: improved estimation of several risks and of feature dependences

To capture the dependences of a disease on several risk factors, a challenge is to combine model-based estimation with evidence-based arguments. Standard case-control methods allow estimation of the dependences of a rare disease on several regressors via logistic regressions. For case-control studies, the sampling design leads to samples from two different populations and for the set of regressors in every logistic regression, these samples are then mixed and taken as given observations. But, it is the differences in independence structures of regressors for cases and for controls that can improve logistic regression estimates and guide us to the important feature dependences that are specific to the diseased. A case-control study on laryngeal cancer is used as illustration.
Renewable energy distributed electricity generation and microgrid implementation in rural villages: A review

There is a growing concern over the unprecedented increase in the demand for electrical energy to elicit all sort of development in any part of the world. Beside the electricity needs for industrial development, much is also desired to satisfy domestic energy consumption. Presently, as much as 2 billion of human populations around the world live without access to modern energy (electricity) and approximately 98% of them dwelling in developing countries. More to this ugly pervasiveness is that rural and remote areas in developing countries are the major victims. This condition of energy deficiency vehemently justifies the socio-economic disparity between industrialized and developing countries on wider geographical range as well as urban and rural areas on a local scale. By analysis of documented evidence, there is need to swiftly change the current pattern of energy exploitation in developing countries to counteract the poor energy access scenarios. This paper previews renewable energy (RE) distributed generation (DG) and microgrid (MG) for rural electrification purposes. It also highlighted some important issues regarding effective DG implementation which could be applicable in rural energy design and planning procedures. Finally, some conceptual discussions related to RE distributed generation and integration in MG is outlined.
A simple model for the evolution of molecular codes driven by the interplay of accuracy, diversity and cost

Molecular codes translate information written in one type of molecule into another molecular language. We introduce a simple model that treats molecular codes as noisy information channels. An optimal code is a channel that conveys information accurately and efficiently while keeping down the impact of errors. The equipoise of the three conflicting needs, for minimal error load, minimal cost of resources and maximal diversity of vocabulary, defines the fitness of the code. The model suggests a mechanism for the emergence of a code when evolution varies the parameters that control this equipoise and the mapping between the two molecular languages becomes non-random. This mechanism is demonstrated by a simple toy model that is formally equivalent to a mean-field Ising magnet.
The Adenosine A1 Receptor Agonist Adenosine Amine Congener Exerts a Neuroprotective Effect against the Development of Striatal Lesions and Motor Impairments in the 3-Nitropropionic Acid Model of Neurotoxicity

Huntington's disease is a genetic neurodegenerative disorder characterized clinically by both motor and cognitive impairments and striatal lesions. At present, there are no pharmacological treatments able to prevent or slow its development. In the present study, we report the neuroprotective effect of adenosine amine congener (ADAC), a specific A1 receptor agonist known to be devoid of any of the side effects that usually impair the clinical use of such compounds. Remarkably, in a rat model of Huntington's disease generated by subcutaneous infusion of the mitochondrial inhibitor 3-nitropropionic acid (3NP), we have observed that an acute treatment with ADAC (100 μg · kg−1 · d−1) not only strongly reduces the size of the striatal lesion (−40%) and the remaining ongoing striatal degeneration (−30%), but also prevents the development of severe dystonia of hindlimbs. Electrophysiological recording on corticostriatal brain slices demonstrated that ADAC strongly decreases the field EPSP amplitude by 70%, whereas it has no protective effect up to 1 μm against the 3NP-induced neuronal death in primary striatal cultures. This suggests that ADAC protective effects may be mediated presynaptically by the modulation of the energetic impairment-induced striatal excitotoxicity. Altogether, our results indicate that A1 receptor agonists deserve further experimental evaluation in animal models of Huntington's disease.
A Computational Predictor of Human Episodic Memory Based on a Theta Phase Precession Network

In the rodent hippocampus, a phase precession phenomena of place cell firing with the local field potential (LFP) theta is called “theta phase precession” and is considered to contribute to memory formation with spike time dependent plasticity (STDP). On the other hand, in the primate hippocampus, the existence of theta phase precession is unclear. Our computational studies have demonstrated that theta phase precession dynamics could contribute to primate–hippocampal dependent memory formation, such as object–place association memory. In this paper, we evaluate human theta phase precession by using a theory–experiment combined analysis. Human memory recall of object–place associations was analyzed by an individual hippocampal network simulated by theta phase precession dynamics of human eye movement and EEG data during memory encoding. It was found that the computational recall of the resultant network is significantly correlated with human memory recall performance, while other computational predictors without theta phase precession are not significantly correlated with subsequent memory recall. Moreover the correlation is larger than the correlation between human recall and traditional experimental predictors. These results indicate that theta phase precession dynamics are necessary for the better prediction of human recall performance with eye movement and EEG data. In this analysis, theta phase precession dynamics appear useful for the extraction of memory-dependent components from the spatio–temporal pattern of eye movement and EEG data as an associative network. Theta phase precession may be a common neural dynamic between rodents and humans for the formation of environmental memories.
Variations of Facial Actions While Playing Games with Inducing Boredom and Stress

This paper presents an experiment aimed at empirically exploring the variations of facial actions (FA) during gaming sessions with induced boredom and stress. Twenty adults with different ages and gaming experiences played three games while being recorded by a video camera and monitored by a heart rate sensor. The games were carefully designed to have a linear progression from a boring to a stressful state. Self-reported answers indicate participants perceived the games as being boring at the beginning and stressful at the end. The 6 hours of recordings of all subjects were manually analyzed and FA were annotated. We annotated FA that appeared in the recordings at least twice; annotations were categorized by the period when they happened (boring/stressful part of the games) and analysed on a group and on an individual level. Group level analysis revealed that FA patterns were related to no more than 25% of the subjects. The individual level analysis revealed particular patterns for 50% of the subjects. More FA annotations were made during the stressful part of the games. We conclude that, for the context of our experiment, FA provide an unclear foundation for detection of boredom/stressful states when observed from a group level perspective, while the individual level perspective might produce more information.
CpG oligodeoxynucleotide augments the antileishmanial activity of miltefosine against experimental visceral leishmaniasis.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the combination of CpG oligodeoxynucleotide (CpG ODN) and miltefosine for the treatment of experimental visceral leishmaniasis (VL). METHODS The experiments were carried out using BALB/c mice and hamsters, infected with Leishmania donovani. CpG ODN was administered at various doses by the intraperitoneal (ip) route. The dose of CpG ODN (1 nM/single dose) showing best antileishmanial activity was given as free and liposomal forms with a subcurative dose of miltefosine, namely 2.5 and 5 mg/kg x 5 days in mice and hamsters, respectively. RESULTS Among the various groups of mice, co-administered liposomal CpG ODN and miltefosine showed the best inhibitory effect (85% inhibition) compared with free CpG ODN and miltefosine, and miltefosine, free CpG ODN and liposomal CpG ODN separately. Production of Th1 cytokines, nitric oxide (NO), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and H(2)O(2) was enhanced. A remarkable increase in the phagocytosis index was also observed, indicating overall immunological support to antileishmanial activity of miltefosine by CpG ODN. Similar responses were observed in hamsters. CONCLUSIONS Promising antileishmanial efficacy was observed in animals treated with liposomal CpG ODN and miltefosine, strongly supported by enhancement of Th1 cytokines as well as NO, ROS and H(2)O(2) levels. The correlation of experimental findings in both the models (mouse and hamster) strengthens the potential of CpG ODN as an immunomodulator in combination with miltefosine against VL.
Running Recession: A Trend Analysis of Running Involvement and Runner Characteristics to Understand Declining Participation

Market trends indicate the distance running event industry is facing a running recession. Since 2013, consumer demand has declined annually while supply increased. The current research provides insight into why running as a recreational activity is declining and implications for organized events’ utility. Based on seven years of participants’ postevent surveys from a long-distance running event, the value placed on hedonic, symbolic, and lifestyle features of running (i.e., running involvement) is gradually declining, which corresponds to a decline in annual event participation. Results are based on analyses of both a time series of cross-sections (N = 23,790) and a panel of multiyear respondents (n = 461). Also, there are gender differences in the rates at which running involvement declined. These results shed light onto a sociopsychographic explanation for the declining levels of running event participation and general interest in running.
Locomotion and elastodynamics model of an underwater shell-like soft robot

This paper reports on the development and validation of the elastodynamics model of an innovative underwater soft-bodied robot inspired by cephalopods. The vehicle, for which the model is devised, is propelled by a discontinuous activation routine which entails the collapse of an elastic shell via cable transmission and its following passive re-inflation under the action of the elastic energy stored in the shell walls. Activation routine and thrust characterization have been determined to depend massively on the capability of the shell to elastically return to its unstrained state, hence an accurate description of the dynamics of the shell during all stages of actuation and at various degrees of deformation is essential. The model, based on a geometrically exact Cosserat theory, is validated against measurement achieved from an ad-hoc experimental apparatus, bringing evidence of its aptness at capturing the key parameters of the system. Eventually the model is employed for simulating a proper propulsion routine in water demonstrating that, upon suitable parametrization of the internal and external hydrodynamics, it can reliably be employed for the realistic quantitative characterization of the cephalopod-inspired robot.
On model-independent pricing/hedging using shortfall risk and quantiles

We consider the pricing and hedging of exotic options in a model-independent set-up using \emph{shortfall risk and quantiles}. We assume that the marginal distributions at certain times are given. This is tantamount to calibrating the model to call options with discrete set of maturities but a continuum of strikes. In the case of pricing with shortfall risk, we prove that the minimum initial amount is equal to the super-hedging price plus the inverse of the utility at the given shortfall level. In the second result, we show that the quantile hedging problem is equivalent to super-hedging problems for knockout options. These results generalize the duality results of [5,6] to the model independent setting of [1].
Metric Diophantine approximation and ‘ absolutely friendly ’ measures

Let W (ψ) denote the set of ψ-well approximable points in Rd and let K be a compact subset of Rd which supports a measure μ. In this short note, we show that if μ is an ‘absolutely friendly’ measure and a certain μ–volume sum converges then μ(W (ψ) ∩K) = 0. The result obtained is in some sense analogous to the convergence part of Khintchines classical theorem in the theory of metric Diophantine approximation. The class of absolutely friendly measures is a subclass of the friendly measures introduced in [2] and includes measures supported on self similar sets satisfying the open set condition. We also obtain an upper bound result for the Hausdorff dimension of W (ψ) ∩K.
Fast exact parallel map overlay using a two-level uniform grid

We present EPUG-Overlay (Exact Parallel Uniform Grid Overlay), an algorithm to overlay two maps that is fast and parallel, has no roundoff errors, and is freely available. EPUG-Overlay combines several novel aspects. It represents coordinates with rational numbers, thereby ensuring exact computations with no roundoff errors and the ensuing sliver problems and topological impossibilities. For efficiency, EPUG-Overlay performs the map overlay in parallel, thereby utilizing the ubiquitous multicore architecture. Our application goes beyond merely using existing packages, which are inefficient when used in parallel on large problems. Indeed, overlaying two maps with 53,000,000 edges and 730,000 faces took only 322 elapsed seconds (plus 116 seconds for I/O) on a dual 8-core 3.1 GHz Intel Xeon E5-2687 workstation. In contrast, GRASS, executing sequentially and generating roundoff errors, takes 5300 seconds. The overlay operation combines two input maps (planar graphs) containing faces (polygons) separated by polyline edges (chains), into a new map, each of whose faces is the intersection of one face from each input map. Floating point roundoff errors can cause an edge intersection to be missed or the computed intersection point be in a wrong face, leading to a topological inconsistency. Thus, a program might fail to compute a valid output map at all, using any amount of time. This gets worse when the inputs are bigger or have slivers. Heuristics can ameliorate this problem, but only to an extent. By representing each coordinate as a vulgar fraction, with multiprecision numerator and denominator, the computation is exact. EPUG-Overlay also executes various useful subproblems very quickly, such as locating a set of points in a planar graph and finding all the intersections among a large set of small edges. EPUG-Overlay is built on our earlier sequential floating-point algorithm that found the areas of the overlay polygons, without finding the polygons themselves.