Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Automatic Testing through Planning

We describe a strategy to automatically test software built using preand postconditions. The strategy searches for valid routine calls: calls for which the preconditions are satisfied. If such calls fail (because the postcondition or another check is violated), we have found a bug. The testing strategy automatically builds a model of the software under test. The model is an abstract version of the semantics given by the preand postconditions. We use planning and learning to find a sequence of instructions that constructs the arguments to a valid routine call. The strategy is fully automatic and can be used to find bugs without intervention of the user. The generated test cases complement the unit tests that a designer may write by hand. We also illustrate the use of our experimental implementation on a non-trivial example.
Pedicle clamping with ischemic preconditioning in liver resection

Hepatic pedicle clamping (HPC) is widely used to control intraoperative bleeding during hepatectomy; intermittent HPC is better tolerated but is associated with blood loss during each period of reperfusion. Recently, it has been shown that ischemic preconditioning (IP) reduces the ischemia‐reperfusion damage for up to 30 minutes of continuous clamping in healthy liver. We evaluated the safety of IP for more prolonged periods of continuous clamping in 42 consecutive patients with healthy liver submitted to hepatectomy. IP was used in 21 patients (group A); mean ± SD of liver ischemia was 54 ± 19 minutes (range, 27‐110; in 7 cases >60 minutes). In the other 21 patients, continuous clamping alone was used (Group B); liver ischemia lasted 36 ± 14minutes (range, 13‐70; in 2 cases >60 minutes). Two patients in Group A (9.5%) and 3 in Group B (14.2%) received blood transfusions. In spite of the longer duration of ischemia (P = .001), patients with IP had lower aspartate aminotransferase (AST; P = .03) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT; P = not significant) at postoperative day 1, with a similar trend at postoperative day 3. This was reconfirmed by multiple regression analysis, which showed that although postoperative transaminases increased with increasing duration of ischemia and of the operation in both groups, the increases were significantly smaller (P < .001) with the use of preconditioning. In conclusion, the present study confirms that IP is safe and effective for liver resection in healthy liver and is also better tolerated than continuous clamping alone for prolonged periods of ischemia. This technique should be preferred to continuous clamping alone in healthy liver. Additional studies are needed to assess the role of IP in cirrhotic liver and to compare IP with intermittent clamping. (Liver Transpl 2004;10:S53–S57.)
The Banach-Tarski Paradox

Author’s note: This paper was originally written for my Minor Thesis requirement of the Ph.D. program at Harvard University. The object of this requirement is to learn about a body of work that is generally not in one’s own field, in a short period of time (3 weeks), and write an article about it. I chose this topic because I thought it would be quite interesting to learn, and even more fun to tell others about. While I never published this expository article, I did make it available on my website: http://www.math.hmc.edu/ ̃su/papers.html. If you like it, do write me and let me know. I can be reached at: Department of Mathematics, Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA 91711, or by e-mail: su@math.hmc.edu.
TLR4 polymorphism and periodontitis susceptibility

Background:Many primary and secondary studies reported the association between Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) polymorphism and periodontitis susceptibility, which mainly focused on TLR4–299A>G or TLR4–399C>T of Caucasian, however, these studies had different conclusions. The aim of this study was to reassess relative studies about TLR4 polymorphism and periodontitis susceptibility, and update meta-analysis. Methods:We searched the electronic database including CNKI (Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure), PubMed, Embase, and hand searched relative studies until January 4, 2016. Two authors selected studies according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, assessed studies using Newcastle-Ottawa Scale case control study (NOS), and calculated the combined effect size using STATA software, version 12.0. Results:This meta-analysis included 18 studies, containing 2453 healthy participants and 2987 patients with chronic periodontitis (CP) and 462 patients with aggressive periodontitis (AP). There was a significance between TLR4C>G (rs7873784) allele and CP in Asian, and its recessive model was also significant (for C vs G: odds ratio [OR] = 0.72, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.54–0.95, I2 = 0%; for CC + CG vs GG: OR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.49–0.89, I2 = 0%). However, we did not detect any significant relevance between other TLR4 polymorphism and periodontitis susceptibility in overall and subgroup analyses. The sensitive analysis showed that dropping any single studies did not affect the pooled-analysis results. Publication bias was not detected. Conclusions:The meta-analysis found association between TLR4C>G (rs7873784) allele and CP in Asian and it may passed on to offsprings in the form of recessiveness. However, further studies about the association between TLR4C>G (rs7873784) and CP is warranted to confirm.
Synthesis, Structure, and Magnetic Properties of Mn(salpn)N(3,) a Helical Polymer, and Fe(salpn)N(3), a Ferromagnetically Coupled Dimer (salpnH(2) = N,N'-bis(Salicylidene)-1,3-diaminopropane).

The preparation, crystal structures, and variable temperature magnetic susceptibility data are presented for two azido-bridged Schiff base complexes of Mn(III) and Fe(III). Mn(salpn)N(3) (1), where salpn is the dianion of N,N'-bis(salicylidene)-1,3-diaminopropane, crystallizes in the orthorhombic system, space group Pna2(1), with a = 11.947(2) Å, b = 11.818(2) Å, c = 11.227(5) Å, and Z = 4. Fe(salpn)N(3) (2) crystallizes in the monoclinic system, space group P2(1)/c, with a = 10.199(7) Å, b = 14.081(6) Å, c = 12.017(3) Å, beta = 105.19(3) degrees, and Z = 4. In 1, salpn coordinates in the equatorial mode, with two azide ions coordinating in axial positions. The azide ions act as "end-to-end" (&mgr;-(1,3)) bridges, leading to an infinite helical chain propagating along the crystallographic c axis. In striking contrast, 2 has a dimeric structure in which the Schiff base adopts a cis-octahedral coordination mode. The dimer is held together by two "head-on" (&mgr;-(1,1)) bridging azide ions. The polymeric compound, 1, is weakly antiferromagnetic (J = -4.03 cm(-)(1), H(ex) = -2J summation operatorS(i)()S(i)()(+1)), while 2 is weakly ferromagnetic (J = 0.76 cm(-)(1), H(ex) = -2JS(1)S(2)).
Designing for Social Awareness of Cooperative Activities

Mechanisms supporting a shared representation of activities—or awareness—within a group of people are an important prerequisite for successful computer supported cooperative activities. This article highlights the design of awareness mechanisms from a social psychological viewpoint of human behaviour in and within groups. Based on this, design guidelines for awareness functions supporting cooperative activities— with an emphasis on promoting social awareness—are proposed and evaluated empirically. Results show that users’ awareness was influenced positively as predicted by the design guidelines.
Evolution of Mammals and Their Gut Microbes

Mammals are metagenomic in that they are composed of not only their own gene complements but also those of all of their associated microbes. To understand the coevolution of the mammals and their indigenous microbial communities, we conducted a network-based analysis of bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences from the fecal microbiota of humans and 59 other mammalian species living in two zoos and in the wild. The results indicate that host diet and phylogeny both influence bacterial diversity, which increases from carnivory to omnivory to herbivory; that bacterial communities codiversified with their hosts; and that the gut microbiota of humans living a modern life-style is typical of omnivorous primates.
Association of Pulse Wave Velocity and Pulse Pressure With Decline in Kidney Function

The association between arterial stiffness and decline in kidney function in patients with mild to moderate chronic kidney disease (CKD) is not well established. This study investigated whether pulse wave velocity (PWV) and pulse pressure (PP) are independently associated with glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and rapid decline in kidney function in early CKD. Carotid femoral PWV (cfPWV), brachial‐ankle PWV (baPWV), and PP were measured in a cohort of 913 patients (mean age, 63±10 years; baseline estimated GFR, 84±18 mL/min/1.73 m2). Estimated GFR was measured at baseline and at follow‐up. The renal outcome examined was rapid decline in kidney function (estimated GFR loss, >3 mL/min/1.73 m2 per year). The median follow‐up duration was 3.2 years. Multivariable adjusted linear regression model indicated that arterial PWV (both cfPWV and baPWV) and PP increased as estimated GFR declined, but neither was associated with kidney function after adjustment for various covariates. Multivariable logistic regression analysis found that cfPWV and baPWV were not associated with rapid decline in kidney function (odds ratio [OR], 1.39, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.41–4.65; OR, 2.51, 95% CI, 0.66–9.46, respectively), but PP was (OR, 1.22, 95% CI, 1.01–1.48; P=.045). Arterial stiffness assessed using cfPWV and baPWV was not correlated with lower estimated GFR and rapid decline in kidney function after adjustment for various confounders. Thus, PP is an independent risk factor for rapid decline in kidney function in populations with relatively preserved kidney function (estimated GFR ≥30 mL/min/1.73 m2).
Elastic mesh braided worm robot for locomotive endoscopy

This paper presents a new design of worm robot whose body is constructed using a novel crimped elastic mesh braid inspired by the earthworm. The proposed worm robot is intended for inspection within the human body via natural orifices. The design and fabrication procedure of the worm robot are given in the paper. The imitation of peristalsis, used by natural worms, is used to control the worm robot for the purpose of producing motion while causing minimal trauma to biological tissue. The forward locomotive function of the worm robot has been tested on both a flat surface and in a rubber tube. It is shown that the worm robot is capable of propagating forwards for both test conditions in a form similar to the earthworm. The test results indicate the proposed worm robot design has promising application for natural tube inspection, like the colon and the esophagus.
A Network-Aware Encoding Rate Control Algorithm for Real-Time Up-Streaming Video Services

Real-time personal broadcasting and video social network services on which a user’s mobile device serves as the content provider have received a considerable amount of attention. This letter presents an up-streaming video service in which a mobile device records and encodes video streams on the spot and transmits them to a receiver through an uplink interface. Unlike existing streaming services, the receiver in this service receives and plays video streams in real time without buffering them. Considering the requirements of real-time characteristics and frequent network state changes, this letter proposes a new encoding rate control algorithm for an up-streaming video service based on the estimated network condition. The sender estimates the network status based on the average inter-arrival time of video frames periodically measured and transmitted by the receiver. The network-aware encoding rate control algorithm was implemented on a mobile device running the Android OS. The effectiveness of the algorithm was proved through experiments performed on a commercial LTE network and in an ordinary office WiFi environment.
Whole-genome array-CGH for detection of submicroscopic chromosomal imbalances in children with mental retardation

Chromosomal imbalances are the major cause of mental retardation (MR). Many of these imbalances are caused by submicroscopic deletions or duplications not detected by conventional cytogenetic methods. Microarray-based comparative genomic hybridization (array-CGH) is considered to be superior for the investigation of chromosomal aberrations in children with MR, and has been demonstrated to improve the diagnostic detection rate of these small chromosomal abnormalities. In this study we used 1 Mb genome-wide array-CGH to screen 48 children with MR and congenital malformations for submicroscopic chromosomal imbalances, where the underlying cause was unknown. All children were clinically investigated and subtelomere FISH analysis had been performed in all cases. Suspected microdeletion syndromes such as deletion 22q11.2, Williams-Beuren and Angelman syndromes were excluded before array-CGH analysis was performed. We identified de novo interstitial chromosomal imbalances in two patients (4%), and an interstitial deletion inherited from an affected mother in one patient (2%). In another two of the children (4%), suspected imbalances were detected but were also found in one of the non-affected parents. The yield of identified de novo alterations detected in this study is somewhat less than previously described, and might reflect the importance of which selection criterion of patients to be used before array-CGH analysis is performed. However, array-CGH proved to be a high-quality and reliable tool for genome-wide screening of MR patients of unknown etiology.
Rain Removal via Shrinkage-Based Sparse Coding and Learned Rain Dictionary

This paper introduces a new rain removal model based on the shrinkage of the sparse codes for a single image. Recently, dictionary learning and sparse coding have been widely used for image restoration problems. These methods can also be applied to the rain removal by learning two types of rain and non-rain dictionaries and forcing the sparse codes of the rain dictionary to be zero vectors. However, this approach can generate unwanted edge artifacts and detail loss in the non-rain regions. Based on this observation, a new approach for shrinking the sparse codes is presented in this paper. To effectively shrink the sparse codes in the rain and non-rain regions, an error map between the input rain image and the reconstructed rain image is generated by using the learned rain dictionary. Based on this error map, both the sparse codes of rain and non-rain dictionaries are used jointly to represent the image structures of objects and avoid the edge artifacts in the non-rain regions. In the rain regions, the correlation matrix between the rain and non-rain dictionaries is calculated. Then, the sparse codes corresponding to the highly correlated signal-atoms in the rain and non-rain dictionaries are shrunk jointly to improve the removal of the rain structures. The experimental results show that the proposed shrinkage-based sparse coding can preserve image structures and avoid the edge artifacts in the non-rain regions, and it can remove the rain structures in the rain regions. Also, visual quality evaluation confirms that the proposed method outperforms the conventional texture and rain removal methods.
Predictable Fine-Grained Cache Behavior for Enhanced Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT) Scheduling

By converting thread-level parallelism to instruction level parallelism, Simultaneous Multithreaded (SMT) processors are emerging as effective ways to utilize the resources of modern superscalar architectures. However, the full potential of SMT has not yet been reached as most modern operating systems use existing single-thread or multiprocessor algorithms to schedule threads, neglecting contention for resources between threads. To date, even the best SMT scheduling algorithms simply try to group threads for coresidency based on each thread’s expected resource utilization but do not take into account variance in thread behavior over time. As such, we introduce architectural support that enables new thread scheduling algorithms to group threads for co-residency based on fine-grain memory system activity information. The proposed memory monitoring framework centers on the concept of an activity vector, which allows an operating system scheduler to estimate and dynamically predict cache utilization and inter-thread contention. This technique accurately and dynamically tracks program phase behavior and is highly predictable with very little information and a simple autoregressive model, making it ideal for scheduling decisions.
A low-voltage latch-adder based tree multiplier

For achieving low power and high performance simultaneously, we propose a new low-voltage latch-adder based Wallace-tree multiplier. By choosing the best circuit-structure of the latch-adder for low voltage, while optimizing the number and positions of latch-adders, the proposed 0.18-mum 0.9V 32 x 32 2's complement multiplier can operate above 60 MHz. As compared to the tree multiplier implementing the traditional latch-adder technique, the new tree multiplier with all the proposed techniques achieves a 22.3~23.7% delay improvement with a 5.5~3.3% power reduction. All best latch-adder based tree multipliers have a smaller power-delay-product than the tree multipliers without using the latch-adder technique.
Las fallas en el gobierno corporativo. Un tema clave en la crisis económica mundial

El mundo esta inmerso en la mayor crisis economica de los ultimos 80 anos. La crisis iniciada en Wall Street comenzo siendo financiera, se transformo luego en economica y ahora es humanitaria. Las personas con hambre subieron en 100 millones en el ano 2009, y se estima en 400.000 las muertes adicionales de ninos por efectos de la crisis. La economia americana duplico su tasa de desocupacion de fines de 2007 a 2009, es de 9,9%, y ello significa mas de 15 millones de desocupados. La tasa de desocupacion europea supera el 10%, y mas del 25% de los jovenes en diversos paises de dicha region estan sin trabajo. Latinoamerica tambien fue afectada ascendiendo el numero de pobres en 9 millones en el ano 2009, para llegar a 190 millones (35%), y tiene 7 millones de jovenes desocupados. Entre las causas principales de la crisis, junto a la desregulacion “salvaje” en EE.UU. en el periodo anterior y los errores ampliamente cuestionados de lo que el Nobel Joseph Stiglitz llama “el fundamentalismo de mercado”, se coincide en senalar las deficiencias en el gobierno de las grandes corporaciones. La vision de Milton Friedman que sostenia que las empresas solo debian rendir cuenta a sus propietarios, ha sido superada por la idea de responsabilidad social empresarial (RSE). Deben rendir cuenta a todos los involucrados en los resultados de sus acciones (stakeholders), trabajadores, consumidores, opinion publica, la comunidad en general, y deben, junto a sus objetivos especificos, contribuir a planos fundamentales como el social y el ecologico. Estan los actuales Consejos de Gobierno Corporativo en condiciones de llevar adelante la compleja tarea de liderazgo que se les pide? Diversos estudios senalan deficiencias que deberian ser encaradas en planos de competencia de dichos Consejos como sus fallas en relacionar las remuneraciones de los altos ejecutivos y el desempeno de la empresa, la transparencia, la participacion de accionis
Temporal compression mediated by short-term synaptic plasticity

Time scales of cortical neuronal dynamics range from few milliseconds to hundreds of milliseconds. In contrast, behavior occurs on the time scale of seconds or longer. How can behavioral time then be neuronally represented in cortical networks? Here, using electrophysiology and modeling, we offer a hypothesis on how to bridge the gap between behavioral and cellular time scales. The core idea is to use a long time constant of decay of synaptic facilitation to translate slow behaviorally induced temporal correlations into a distribution of synaptic response amplitudes. These amplitudes can then be transferred to a sequence of action potentials in a population of neurons. These sequences provide temporal correlations on a millisecond time scale that are able to induce persistent synaptic changes. As a proof of concept, we provide simulations of a neuron that learns to discriminate temporal patterns on a time scale of seconds by synaptic learning rules with a millisecond memory buffer. We find that the conversion from synaptic amplitudes to millisecond correlations can be strongly facilitated by subthreshold oscillations both in terms of information transmission and success of learning.
Avoidance of obstacles in the absence of visual awareness

The spatial character of our reaching movements is extremely sensitive to potential obstacles in the workspace. We recently found that this sensitivity was retained by most patients with left visual neglect when reaching between two objects, despite the fact that they tended to ignore the leftward object when asked to bisect the space between them. This raises the possibility that obstacle avoidance does not require a conscious awareness of the obstacle avoided. We have now tested this hypothesis in a patient with visual extinction following right temporoparietal damage. Extinction is an attentional disorder in which patients fail to report stimuli on the side of space opposite a brain lesion under conditions of bilateral stimulation. Our patient avoided obstacles during reaching, to exactly the same degree, regardless of whether he was able to report their presence. This implicit processing of object location, which may depend on spared superior parietal‐lobe pathways, demonstrates that conscious awareness is not necessary for normal obstacle avoidance.
Ketamine-induced Changes in Blood Pressure and Heart Rate in Pre-hospital Intubated Patients

When a patient experiences trauma, pre-hospital rapid sequence intubation (RSI) is often the course of action. While RSI is associated with favorable neurological outcomes among traumatic brain injury patients, it also carries the risk of increased hypotension and bradycardia. Ketamine is a fast-acting anesthetic agent used in RSI, attractive due to its ability to raise heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) and thus potentially lessening the severity of RSI-related hypotension and bradycardia. However, research in support of its use is inconclusive, with different studies reporting increases or decreases in BP and HR after ketamine administration. To study the effect of ketamine on HR and BP during RSI, we analyzed the data obtained from 1,516 patients who received trauma and non-trauma medical care including RSI from first responders and emergency personnel using two different statistical methods. We determined if there was any association between the vital signs prior to administration of ketamine and outcomes such as bradycardia and/or hypotension post-ketamine administration in patients undergoing RSI. We found that the vital signs prior to administration of ketamine (i.e. BP and HR) predict the development of bradycardia and/or hypotension in patients undergoing RSI and the relationship between baseline vital signs and the development of bradycardia and/or hypotension is moderated by the dose of ketamine. Results obtained from this study may help responders and emergency care personnel to identify the patients that are likely to benefit from ketamine as an anesthetic agent.