Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
InSight : A Framework for Application Diagnosis using Virtual Machine Record and

Non-deterministic execution poses several challenges toward diagnosis—debugging, profiling and execution state mining, of software systems (user-level applications and operating systems). While several techniques using modified libraries, library wrappers, binary instrumentation and memory shadowing techniques exist, we aim to exploit the record and replay technique enabled by virtualization to provide a generalized diagnosis framework. Our solution, is motivated by the requirements of reproducibility of execution, no application source code modification and no or minimal binary instrumentation overheads—all of which are seldom provided by existing techniques. InSight , our diagnosis framework, consists of two stages—the first which records execution state of applications and the virtual machine and the second that replays and analyses the recorded execution. We implement InSight on the Linux kernel-based virtual machine (KVM) platform and as contributions implement an efficient record and replay substrate for KVM and a diagnosis framework using this substrate. This paper describes the design and implementation of these components and develops a set of diagnosis tools—potential deadlock detection, lock usage profiling and function profiling. We also present experiments to demonstrate correctness, the low overheads of InSight and the related diagnosis outcomes.
A Novel Label-Free Optical Biosensor Using Synthetic Oligonucleotides from E. coli O157:H7: Elementary Sensitivity Tests

SiO2-TiO2 thin films for use as fiber optic guiding layers of optical DNA biosensors were fabricated by the sol-gel dip coating technique. The chemical structure and the surface morphology of the films were characterized before immobilization. Single probe DNA strands were immobilized on the surface and the porosity of the films before the hybridization process was measured. Refractive index values of the films were measured using a Metricon 2010 prism coupler. On the surface of each film, 12 different spots were taken for measurement and calculation of the mean refractive index values with their standard deviations. The increased refractive index values after the immobilization of single DNA strands indicated that immobilization was successfully achieved. A further refractive index increase after the hybridization with target single DNA strands showed the possibility of detection of the E. coli O157:H7 EDL933 species using strands of 20-mers (5′-TAATATCGGTTGCGGAGGTG -3′) sequence.
Detecting Atomicity Errors in Message Passing Programs

A distributed application can be viewed as a collection of processes that execute a number of atomic actions. Atomicity is the basis for reasoning about the correctness of a program. Atomicity errors in a run typically indicate the presence of program errors. This paper formalizes the notion of atomicity of an action in a message passing program based on a weak-order relation among atoms. An atom can be a single statement or a sequence of statements in a program. Knowing the atoms, the atomicity of a run can be monitored and checked. Serialization of conflicting atoms is another generic correctness requirement. When atoms affect a common property, such as in sharing resources or maintaining a common constraint, they must be serialized in a run. This paper presents two efficient algorithms for dynamically detecting atomicity and serialization errors, accompanied with their proof of correctness.
The Spectrum projection package: improvements in estimating mortality, ART needs, PMTCT impact and uncertainty bounds

Background: The approach to national and global estimates of HIV/AIDS used by UNAIDS starts with estimates of adult HIV prevalence prepared from surveillance data using either the Estimation and Projection Package (EPP) or the Workbook. Time trends of prevalence are transferred to Spectrum to estimate the consequences of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, including the number of people living with HIV, new infections, AIDS deaths, AIDS orphans, treatment needs and the impact of treatment on survival. Methods: The UNAIDS Reference Group on Estimates, Modelling and Projections regularly reviews new data and information needs and recommends updates to the methodology and assumptions used in Spectrum. The latest update to Spectrum was used in the 2007 round of global estimates. Results: Several new features have been added to Spectrum in the past two years. The structure of the population was reorganised to track populations by HIV status and treatment status. Mortality estimates were improved by the adoption of new approaches to estimating non-AIDS mortality by single age, and the use of new information on survival with HIV in non-treated cohorts and on the survival of patients on antiretroviral treatment (ART). A more detailed treatment of mother-to-child transmission of HIV now provides more prophylaxis and infant feeding options. New procedures were implemented to estimate the uncertainty around each of the key outputs. Conclusions: The latest update to the Spectrum program is intended to incorporate the latest research findings and provide new outputs needed by national and international planners.
The control of ionized calcium in squid axons

Measurements of the Ca content, [Ca](T), of freshly isolated squid axons show a value of 60 μmol/kg axoplasm. Axons in 3 mM Ca(Na) seawater show little change in Ca content over 4 h, while axons in 3 mM Ca(Na) seawater show little change in Ca content over 4 h, while axons in 10 mM Ca(Na) seawater show gains of 18 μmol/Ca/kgxh. In 10 Ca (Choline) seawater the gain is 2,400 μmol/kgxh. Using aequorin confined to a dialysis capillary in the center of an axon, one finds that [Ca](i) is in a steady state with 3 Ca (Na) seawater, and that both 10 Ca (Na) and 3 Ca (choline) seawater cause increases in [Ca](i). In 3 Ca (Na) seawater-3 Ca (choline) seawater mixtures, 180 mM [Na](0) (40 perecent Na) is as effective as 450 mM [Na](0) (100 percent Na) in maintaining a normal [Ca](1); lower [Na] causes an increase in [Ca](i). If axons are injected with the ATP-splitting enzyme apyrase, the resulting [Ca](1) is not loading with high [Ca](0) or low [Na](0) solutions. Depolarization of an axon with 100 mM K (Na) seawater leads to an increase in the steady-state level of [Ca](1) that is reversed upon returning the axon to normal seawater. Freshly isolated axons treated with either CN or FCCP to inhibit mitochondrial Ca buffering can still maintain a normal [Ca](i) in 1 Ca (Na) seawater.
Contrast invariant features for human detection in far infrared images

In this paper a new contrast invariant descriptor for human detection in long-wave infrared images is proposed. It exploits local information histogram of orientations of phase coherence. Contrast in infrared images depends on the temperature of the object and the background, which makes gradient based descriptors less robust, especially in daylight conditions. The objective is to obtain a scale, brightness and contrast invariant descriptor that can successfully detect pedestrians in images taken with a cheap, temperature-sensitive, uncooled microbolometer. The descriptor, packed into grids is feed to a Support Vector Machine classifier. The algorithm has been tested in night and day sequences and its performance is compared with a day only descriptor: the histogram of oriented features (HOG).
Transactions on the multiversion B+-tree

The multiversion B+-tree (MVBT) by Becker et al. assumes a single-data-item update model in which each new version created for a data item is given a timestamp that is unique across the entire MVBT. In this paper, we extend the MVBT model with multi-action transactions such that all (final) data-item versions created by a transaction are given the same timestamp. We show that the MVBT algorithms can be modified to work in a setting in which multiple readonly transactions and a single updating transaction operate concurrently in snapshot isolation on the MVBT, without compromising the asymptotically optimal time complexity of key inserts, key deletes, and key-range scans on any version. The structural consistency and balance of the MVBT is guaranteed by short-duration latching of pages, redo-only logging of structure modifications (version splits, key splits and page merges), and redo-undo logging of key insertions and deletions. The redo pass of our ARIES-based restart-recovery algorithm always produces a structurally consistent and balanced MVBT on which any undo action by a backward-rolling updating transaction can be performed logically if a physical undo is not possible. The standard steal-and-no-force buffering policy is assumed.
Intraovarian control of selective follicular growth and induction of oocyte maturation in mammals

In newborn mammals, most of the germ cell population rests in a pool of quiescent small follicles in the ovaries. Regularly throughout adulthood, a small percentage of these oocytes and follicles grows to a certain stage of development and then either degenerates or matures and ovulates. This entire process is under both exogenous and endogenous control. Recent work, including my laboratory’s, has clarified that cytokines and glycosaminoglycans are involved as exogenous and endogenous factors in ovarian follicular development, atresia, and maturation in mammals. The present article describes our contribution regarding the cytokines and ovarian glycosaminoglycans that act as intraovarian regulators of follicular development and oogenesis, including oocyte maturation, in mammals.
SCRIP: Successive Convex Optimization Methods for Risk Parity Portfolio Design

The traditional Markowitz portfolio optimization proposed in the 1950s has not been embraced by practitioners despite its theoretical elegance. Recently, an alternative risk parity portfolio design has been receiving significant attention from both the theoretical and practical sides due to its advantage in diversification of (ex-ante) risk contributions among assets. Such risk contributions can be deemed good predictors for the (ex-post) loss contributions, especially when there exist huge losses. Most of the existing specific problem formulations on risk parity portfolios are highly nonconvex and are solved via standard off-the-shelf numerical optimization methods, e.g., sequential quadratic programming and interior point methods. However, for nonconvex risk parity formulations, such standard numerical approaches may be highly inefficient and may not provide satisfactory solutions. In this paper, we first propose a general risk parity portfolio problem formulation that can fit most of the existing specific risk parity formulations, and then propose a family of simple and efficient successive convex optimization methods for the general formulation. The numerical results show that our proposed methods significantly outperform the existing ones.
Recent improvements to the McErlang model checker

In this paper we describe a number of recent improvements to the McErlang model checker, including a new source to source translation to enable more Erlang programs to work under McErlang, a methodology for writing properties that can be verified by McErlang, and a combination of simulation and model checking. The latter two features are illustrated by means of the messenger example found in the documentation of the Erlang/OTP distribution.
Pathological Gambling and Civil Actions for Unconscionability: Lessons from the Kakavas Litigation

The Productivity Commission's 2010 report confirmed that gambling is a fundamental aspect of contemporary Australian culture. This is likely to become even more entrenched with the increasingly prominent association between gambling and professional sport. In addition, since the liberalisation of gambling in Australia during the 1990s, governments have become heavily dependent upon gambling revenue. The role of the law as a regulator of the excesses of gambling is complex, both in respect of criminal matters and recourse sought by gamblers against gambling houses where they have lost significant sums of money. The decision of the High Court in Kakavas v Crown Melbourne Limited [2013] HCA 25 confines the potential for gamblers to sue casinos and bookmakers in equity for unconscionably exploiting their vulnerabilities. However, it leaves open a door for such actions to be brought by some categories of persons whose inability to exercise rational judgment in respect of their DSM-5 gambling disorder, or some other form of vulnerability, can be proved to have been known by casinos and bookmakers. This will be relatively rare but such actions remain feasible.
Relation of visfatin and polycystic ovarian syndrome in women

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrinopathies in women of the reproductive age group. Objective: The study aimed to assess the relation of serum visfatin level in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in Kirkuk city from January 10, 2018, to June 15, 2018. The number of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) women under study was 60 women whose ages were between 15 and 45 years old. These patients admitted to obstetrics and gynecology unit at Azadi teaching hospital. The control group who were matched to the patients studied included 30 individuals. Results: The study showed that there is the significant difference between PCOS women and the control group concerning visfatin level and the highest mean of visfatin was occurred in PCOS women (13.60 ± 7.98 vs. 7.73 ± 1.22). There was significant relation between body mass index and visfatin level among PCOS women in this study. The highest rate of PCOS women had irregular menstrual cycle. The study showed that most PCOS women included in the study had hirsutism. The high rate of acne recorded among PCOS women. Conclusion: It was concluded that there was a highly significant relation of visfatin with PCOS.
Endothelin antagonists for chronic heart failure: do they have a role?

Over the last two decades, the vascular endothelium has been shown to produce a variety of vasoactive substances that are crucial for the regulation of vascular tone, both in health and disease. This concept emerged in 1980, with the discovery of endothelium-derived relaxing factor, later characterized as nitric oxide. In 1985 Hickey et al. reported the existence of a vasoconstricting factor derived from cultured bovine endothelial cells. Yanagisawa et al. were, however, the first to purify, sequence and clone the 21 amino acid structure of endothelin (ET) and its mRNA from the culture supernatant of porcine aortic endothelial cells in 1988. The authors stated that ‘endothelin, having a potent, strong and characteristically long-lasting vasoconstrictor activity, may be important in systemic blood pressure and/or local blood flow: disturbances in the control of endothelin production could contribute to the pathogenesis of hypertension and that of pathological vascular spasm’. Since that original report remarkable advances have been made in our understanding of the molecular basis of ET biosynthesis and action. ET has been implicated as playing an important physiological role in cardiovascular regulation and a putative pathophysiological role in a wide range of disease states, including chronic heart failure. The aim of this review article is to focus on the role of endothelin in chronic heart failure and in particular, the potential therapeutic benefits of ET receptor antagonists for patients with chronic heart failure.
Agile Computer Control of a Complex Experiment

Scientists are skilled with computers, and main of them understand the intricacy of numerical computing. Yet, designing the sophisticated software architecture that controls an experiment requires different skills, and small- and mid-sized experimental labs often lack a software engineering culture. Bad design choices plague experimental labs even though the real experimental difficulty seldom lies in the software itself. In this article, I give some guidelines for designing an experiment's control software based on my experience in various Bose-Einstein condensation labs. I explore the tools and patterns that lead to successful projects - in particular, a flexible and reliable code base that lets scientists cope with a research lab's ever-changing goals and resources.
A Language-Theoretic Approach to Specifying and Verifying Multiprocessor Cache Coherence Protocols

Computer architects have often used trace-driven simulations to evaluate the performance of new architectural features. However, the verification of these features often proves to be more difficult than their specification and implementation. This paper proposes a novel approach for extending the basic idea of trace-driven simulation to automatically verify a complex cache coherence protocol for large-scale multiprocessor systems. A formal model of the coherence protocol is specified as several human-readable text files which are automatically verified using the Mur ' formal verfication tool. A formal execution trace is extracted during the verification process and re-encoded to provide the input stimulus for a simulation of the actual implementation model, which is typically specified in a standard hardware description language. This approach provides a rigorous connection between the architectural specification and the verification of the low-level implementation. The feasibility of this approach is demonstrated by using it to verify the coherence protocol of the Cray SV2.
Performance Analysis of Cooperative Communication System with a SISO system in Flat Fading Rayleigh channel

In recent years cooperative communication has emerged as a promising technique to enhance system capacity, reliability and performances in resource-limited wireless environment. This paper presents performance analysis and comparison of a three node cooperative communication system with a single input single output (SISO) system in a flat fading Rayleigh channel with negative SNR. The simulations' results show that the system performance can be improved by using cooperative communication techniques even when the inter-user channel is not good. The performance metric used for analysis is BER at a particular direct link SNR.
The Internet and Changes in the Media Industry: A 5-Year Cross-National Examination of Media Industries for 51 Countries

This study explores the effects of the Internet on changes in traditional media industries. Previous studies addressing the Internet’s effects on media industries have largely been conducted in a piecemeal fashion, with most tackling narrowly defined topics limited to individual media in specific countries. By taking a broader perspective on the Internet’s effects, this study examines changes in the aggregate revenue of all major media industries. Employing country-level, panel-data analysis of 51 countries from 2009 to 2013, the study shows that the Internet has led to a shift in the balance of revenue away from advertising and toward direct payments.
Bicriterion shortest hyperpaths in random time‐dependent networks

In relevant application areas, such as transportation and telecommunications, there has recently been a growing focus on dynamic networks, where arc lengths are represented by time-dependent discrete random variables. In such networks, an optimal routing policy does not necessarily correspond to a path, but rather to an adaptive strategy. Finding an optimal strategy reduces to a shortest hyperpath problem that can be solved quite efficiently. Bicriterion shortest path problems have been extensively studied for many years. Recently, extensions to dynamic networks have been investigated. However, no attempt has been made to study bicriterion strategies. This is the aim of this paper. Here we model bicriterion strategy problems in terms of bicriterion shortest hyperpaths. For several problems arising in this context, optimal solutions can be found quite efficiently. Moreover, the general problem of listing efficient strategies can be successfully dealt with by means of heuristic methods. A computational experience is reported, where we consider several variants of the above problems. Finally, the relevant features of the bicriterion hyperpath model are discussed and compared to the classical bicriterion path approach.
PlaceSense: A Tool for Sensing Communities

One challenge in the context-aware environment is to detect users' presence in a natural way and to process such information in order to provide suitable services for users. This paper introduces PlaceSense, an application using bluetooth technology, building on top of the Place-based Virtual Community architecture that can detect users presence for triggering services automatically. The paper also discusses the different use-cases of bluetooth technology for community sensing.
Enhancement of magneto-optic images

Magneto-optic (MO) imaging produces images of magnetic flux leakage from surface and sub-surface defects. The presence of domain boundaries in the MO sensor produces a characteristic artefact in the images that renders detection of cracks difficult. This paper presents two different approaches for the removal of domain boundaries in MO images. The first approach uses static methods that rely on various 2D filtering and image processing algorithms to filter out the noise. The second approach is a dynamic method, and uses successive frames from the MO imager to segment out signals from objects of interest in the data. Results of applying the two approaches to several experimentally acquired MO images are presented and compared.
Experimental Investigation of Damping Coefficient for Compressor Reed Valves

Reed valve dynamics has a major role on the performance and reliability of compressors and has been the subject of many studies over the years. In terms of mathematical modeling, most of these studies describe valve dynamics through a mass-spring-damper system in which a damping coefficient has to be empirically adjusted. This is a consequence of little knowledge about the effect of different parameters on valve damping. For instance, in spite of great effort to understand viscous effects on the pressure distribution acting on the valve surface, very few works have addressed such effects on valve damping, especially for valve geometries found in compressors. The present study aims to experimentally quantify valve damping under controlled conditions considering the effects of clamping geometry, clamping force, gasket thickness and the presence of fluid around the valve. Finally, experimental data of damping coefficients are used to predict valve dynamics and compressor efficiency. We found that the damping coefficients of typical valves adopted in small reciprocating compressors have negligible effect on compressor efficiency and valve bending stress, but can change by up to 17% the valve impact velocity against the seat.
Noise compliant macromodel synthesis for RF and Mixed-Signal applications

This paper proposes a compact synthesis approach for reduced-order behavioral macromodels of linear circuit blocks for RF and Mixed-Signal design. The proposed approach revitalizes the classical synthesis of lumped linear and timeinvariant multiport networks by reactance extraction, which is here exploited to obtain reduced-order equivalent SPICE netlists that can be used in any type of system-level simulations, including transient and noise analysis. The effectiveness of proposed approach is demonstrated on a real design application.
The implication of Sir2 in replicative aging and senescence in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The target of rapamycin (TOR) pathway regulates cell growth and aging in various organisms. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, silent information regulator 2 (Sir2) modulates cellular senescence. Moreover, Sir2 plays a crucial role in promoting ribosomal DNA (rDNA) stability and longevity under TOR inhibition. Here we review the implication of rDNA stabilizers in longevity, discuss how Sir2 stabilizes rDNA under TOR inhibition and speculate on the link between sumoylation and Sir2-related pro-aging pathways.