Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tiresias: Online Anomaly Detection for Hierarchical Operational Network Data

Operational network data, management data such as customer care call logs and equipment system logs, is a very important source of information for network operators to detect problems in their networks. Unfortunately, there is lack of efficient tools to automatically track and detect anomalous events on operational data, causing ISP operators to rely on manual inspection of this data. While anomaly detection has been widely studied in the context of network data, operational data presents several new challenges, including the volatility and sparseness of data, and the need to perform fast detection (complicating application of schemes that require offline processing or large/stable data sets to converge). To address these challenges, we propose Tiresias, an automated approach to locating anomalous events on hierarchical operational data. Tiresias leverages the hierarchical structure of operational data to identify high-impact aggregates (e.g., locations in the network, failure modes) likely to be associated with anomalous events. To accommodate different kinds of operational network data, Tiresias consists of an online detection algorithm with low time and space complexity, while preserving high detection accuracy. We present results from two case studies using operational data collected at a large commercial IP network operated by a Tier-1 ISP: customer care call logs and set-top box crash logs. By comparing with a reference set verified by the ISP's operational group, we validate that Tiresias can achieve >;94% accuracy in locating anomalies. Tiresias also discovered several previously unknown anomalies in the ISP's customer care cases, demonstrating its effectiveness.
Lipoic Acid Metabolism of Plasmodium - A Suitable Drug Target

α-Lipoic acid (6,8-thioctic acid; LA) is a vital co-factor of α-ketoacid dehydrogenase complexes and the glycine cleavage system. In recent years it was shown that biosynthesis and salvage of LA in Plasmodium are necessary for the parasites to complete their complex life cycle. LA salvage requires two lipoic acid protein ligases (LplA1 and LplA2). LplA1 is confined to the mitochondrion while LplA2 is located in both the mitochondrion and the apicoplast. LplA1 exclusively uses salvaged LA and lipoylates α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, branched chain α-ketoacid dehydrogenase and the H-protein of the glycine cleavage system. LplA2 cannot compensate for the loss of LplA1 function during blood stage development suggesting a specific function for LplA2 that has yet to be elucidated. LA salvage is essential for the intra-erythrocytic and liver stage development of Plasmodium and thus offers great potential for future drug or vaccine development. LA biosynthesis, comprising octanoyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) : protein N-octanoyltransferase (LipB) and lipoate synthase (LipA), is exclusively found in the apicoplast of Plasmodium where it generates LA de novo from octanoyl-ACP, provided by the type II fatty acid biosynthesis (FAS II) pathway also present in the organelle. LA is the co-factor of the acetyltransferase subunit of the apicoplast located pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH), which generates acetyl-CoA, feeding into FAS II. LA biosynthesis is not vital for intra-erythrocytic development of Plasmodium, but the deletion of several genes encoding components of FAS II or PDH was detrimental for liver stage development of the parasites indirectly suggesting that the same applies to LA biosynthesis. These data provide strong evidence that LA salvage and biosynthesis are vital for different stages of Plasmodium development and offer potential for drug and vaccine design against malaria.
Improvement of Electroacupuncture on APP/PS1 Transgenic Mice in Spatial Learning and Memory Probably due to Expression of Aβ and LRP1 in Hippocampus

Objectives. To explore the alterations of β-amyloid (Aβ) and low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein-1 (LRP1) in APP/PS1 mice after electroacupuncture (EA) treatment and further to explore the mechanism. Methods. Forty 6-month-old APP/PS1 mice were randomly divided into a model group and an EA group, with twenty wild-type mice used as a normal control group. Mice in the EA group were treated with EA at GV 20 (băi huì) and bilateral KI 1 (yŏng quán) acupoints for 6 weeks. The Morris water maze was applied to assess the spatial memory in behavior. Immunohistochemistry (IHC), ELISA, Western blotting, and so forth were used to observe the expression of LRP1 and Aβ. Results. The Morris water maze test showed that, compared with the normal control group, the model group's learning and memory capabilities were significantly decreased (P < 0.05; P < 0.01). The EA group was reversed (P < 0.05; P < 0.01). The hippocampal expression of Aβ in the EA group was significantly decreased compared to the model group (P < 0.01). The expression of LRP1 in the model group was significantly lower than that in the normal control group (P < 0.01); the expression in the EA group was significantly higher than that in the model group (P < 0.01). Conclusions. EA therapy can improve the learning and memory capabilities of APP/PS1 mice. The underlying mechanism may lie in the upregulation of an Aβ transport receptor and LRP1.
Computer Aided Diagnosis in Digital Mammograms: Detection of Microcalcifications by Meta Heuristic Algorithms

This research applies the meta-heuristic methods such as Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) and Genetic Algorithm (GA) for identification of suspicious region in mammograms. The proposed method uses the asymmetry principle (bilateral subtraction): Strong structural asymmetries between corresponding regions in the left and right breast are taken as evidence for the possible presence of microcalcification in that region. Bilateral subtraction is achieved in two steps. First, the mammogram images are enhanced using median filter, pectoral muscle region is removed and the border of the mammogram is detected for both left and right images from the binary image. The enhancement technique is evaluated by signal to noise ratios. Further GA is applied to enhance the detected border. The figure of merit is calculated to identify whether the detected border is exact or not. And the nipple position is identified for both left and right images using GA and ACO, and their performance is studied. Second, using the border points and nipple position as the reference the mammogram images are aligned and subtracted to extract the suspicious region. Results obtained with a set of mammograms indicate that this method can improve the sensitivity and reliability of the systems for automated detection of breast tumors i.e. microcalcification. The algorithms are tested on 161 pairs of digitized mammograms from Mammographic Image Analysis Society (MIAS) database. A Free-Response Receiver Operating Characteristic (FROC) curve is generated for the mean value of the detection rate for all the 161 pairs of mammograms in MIAS database, to evaluate the performance of the proposed method.
Smoothed Analysis of the k-Means Method

The k-means method is one of the most widely used clustering algorithms, drawing its popularity from its speed in practice. Recently, however, it was shown to have exponential worst-case running time. In order to close the gap between practical performance and theoretical analysis, the k-means method has been studied in the model of smoothed analysis. But even the smoothed analyses so far are unsatisfactory as the bounds are still super-polynomial in the number n of data points. In this article, we settle the smoothed running time of the k-means method. We show that the smoothed number of iterations is bounded by a polynomial in n and 1/σ, where σ is the standard deviation of the Gaussian perturbations. This means that if an arbitrary input data set is randomly perturbed, then the k-means method will run in expected polynomial time on that input set.
Delay-dependent passivity analysis for Markov jump neural networks with time-varying delays

This paper addresses the passivity analysis problem for Markov jump neural networks with time-varying delays. The aim is focus on establishing the passivity condition of the considered neural networks. To reduce the conservatism of the proposed passivity condition, based on an extended Wirtinger inequality, a reciprocally convex approach is used. A numerical example is presented to show effectiveness of our proposed condition.
Genome-wide association study for birth, weaning and yearling weight in Colombian Brahman cattle

Abstract Genotypic and phenotypic data of 1,562 animals were analyzed to find genomic regions that potentially influence the birth weight (BW), weaning weight at seven months of age (WW) and yearling weight (YW) of Colombian Brahman cattle, with genotyping conducted using Illumina Bead chip array with 74,669 SNPs. A Single Step Genomic BLUP (ssGBLP), approach was used to estimate the proportion of variance explained by each marker. Multiple regions scattered across the genome were found to influence weights at different ages, also dependent on the trait component (direct or maternal). The most interesting regions were connected to previously identified QTLs and genes, such as ADAMTSL3, CAPN2, CAPN2, FABP6, ZEB2 influencing growth and weight traits. The identified regions will contribute to the development and refinement of genomic selection programs for Zebu Brahman cattle in Colombia.
An evaluation of data-parallel compiler support for line-sweep applications

Data parallel compilers have long aimed to equal the performance of carefully hand-optimized parallel codes. For tightly coupled applications based on line sweeps, this goal has been particularly elusive. In the Rice dHPF compiler, we have developed a wide spectrum of optimizations that enable us to closely approach hand-coded performance for tightly-coupled line sweep applications including the NAS SP and BT benchmark codes. From lightly modified copies of standard serial versions of these benchmarks, dHPF generates MPI-based parallel code that is within 4% of the performance of the hand-crafted MPI implementations of these codes for a 102/sup 3/ problem size (Class B) on 64 processors. We describe and quantitatively evaluate the impact of partitioning, communication and memory hierarchy optimizations implemented by dHPF that enable us to approach hand-coded performance with compiler-generated parallel code.
α- to β Transformation on PVDF Films Obtained by Uniaxial Stretch

The α to β phase transformation of PVDF through the stretching process at different temperatures was investigated. The optimum stretching conditions were studied and characterised by infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. The maximum β−phase content was achieved at 80°C and a stretch ratio of 5. Accompanying the phase transformation, a orientation of the polymer chains and a packing of the crystalline structure is observed. The stretch ratio does not significantly affect the degree of crystallinity.
Application of Aspect-Oriented Programming to Calculation of Program Slice

Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP) is a new technology for separation of concerns in program development. Using AOP, it is possible to modularize crosscutting aspects of a system. Common examples of crosscutting aspects are design or architectural constraints, systemic properties or behaviors (e.g., logging and error recovery), and features. Since such crosscutting aspects are usually distributed among objects in Object-Oriented Programming, it is difficult to maintain them consistently. In AOP, they can be written in a single aspect and thus easy to maintain. One useful application of AOP is to modularize collecting program’s dynamic information for program analysis. Since collection of dynamic information affects over all target program, this functionality becomes typical crosscutting concerns. In this paper, we intend to evaluate the usefulness of AOP in the area of program analysis. At first, we examine the application of AOP to collecting dynamic information from program execution and calculating program slice. Then, we develop a program slicing system using AspectJ, and describe benefits, usability, cost effectiveness of the module of dynamic analysis based on AOP.
Minimal Parameterization of Multiple View Geometry

Motivation: Fast and inexpensive processors, cameras, and storage are making feasible a variety of applications involving image sequences and collections, ranging from visually intelligent automobiles to enhanced sports viewing to home video manipulation. A prerequisite for many of these applications is knowledge of the physical positions of the cameras that captured the original images, whether it be a collection of stationary cameras placed around a common scene, or a single video camera capturing frames as it moves through an environment. Accurate estimation of the geometry of multiple views is the bedrock of such applications.
Immunoregulation in human malaria: the challenge of understanding asymptomatic infection

Asymptomatic Plasmodium infection carriers represent a major threat to malaria control worldwide as they are silent natural reservoirs and do not seek medical care. There are no standard criteria for asymptomaticPlasmodium infection; therefore, its diagnosis relies on the presence of the parasite during a specific period of symptomless infection. The antiparasitic immune response can result in reducedPlasmodium sp. load with control of disease manifestations, which leads to asymptomatic infection. Both the innate and adaptive immune responses seem to play major roles in asymptomatic Plasmodiuminfection; T regulatory cell activity (through the production of interleukin-10 and transforming growth factor-β) and B-cells (with a broad antibody response) both play prominent roles. Furthermore, molecules involved in the haem detoxification pathway (such as haptoglobin and haeme oxygenase-1) and iron metabolism (ferritin and activated c-Jun N-terminal kinase) have emerged in recent years as potential biomarkers and thus are helping to unravel the immune response underlying asymptomatic Plasmodium infection. The acquisition of large data sets and the use of robust statistical tools, including network analysis, associated with well-designed malaria studies will likely help elucidate the immune mechanisms responsible for asymptomatic infection.
A 0.22 ps rms Integrated Noise 15 MHz Bandwidth Fourth-Order ΔΣ Time-to-Digital Converter Using Time-Domain Error-Feedback Filter

In this paper, a fourth-order ΔΣ time-to-digital converter (TDC) is proposed to achieve high resolution and wide signal bandwidth. The proposed TDC is based on a 1-3 multi-stage-noise-shaping (MASH) architecture, where the first-stage is a gated-ring oscillator based TDC (GRO-TDC) and the second-stage is a single-loop third-order ΔΣ TDC based on a time-domain error-feedback filter using time registers, time adders and time amplifiers. Implemented in 65 nm CMOS process, the prototype TDC achieves 0.22 psrms of integrated noise within 15 MHz signal bandwidth at 300 MS/s while consuming lower than 6.24 mW. The proposed TDC occupies an active die area of only 0.03 mm2.
Throughput Maximization in Cognitive Radio Under Peak Interference Constraints With Limited Feedback

A spectrum-sharing scenario in a cognitive radio (CR) network where a secondary user (SU) shares a narrowband channel with N primary users (PUs) is considered. We investigate the SU ergodic capacity maximization problem under an average transmit power constraint on the SU and N individual peak interference power constraints at each primary-user receiver (PU-Rx) with various forms of imperfect channel-state information (CSI) available at the secondary-user transmitter (SU-Tx). For easy exposition, we first look at the case when the SU-Tx can obtain perfect knowledge of the CSI from the SU-Tx to the secondary-user receiver link, which is denoted as g1, but can only access quantized CSI of the SU-Tx to PU-Rx links, which is denoted as goi, i = 1,. , N, through a limited-feed back link of B = log2 L b. For this scenario, a locally optimum quantized power allocation (codebook) is obtained with quantized g0i, i = 1,. , N information by using the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) necessary optimality conditions to numerically solve the nonconvex SU capacity maximization problem. We derive asymptotic approximations for the SU ergodic capacity performance for the case when the number of feedback bits grows large (B → ∞) and/or there is a large number of PUs (N → ∞) that operate. For the interference-limited regime, where the average transmit power constraint is inactive, an alternative locally optimum scheme, called the quantized-rate allocation strategy, based on the quantized-ratio g1/maxigoi information, is proposed. Subsequently, we relax the strong assumption of full-CSI knowledge of g1 at the SU-Tx to imperfect g1 knowledge that is also available at the SU-Tx. Depending on the way the SU-Tx obtains the g1 information, the following two different suboptimal quantized power codebooks are derived for the SU ergodic capacity maximization problem: 1) the power codebook with noisy g1 estimates and quantized goi, i = 1,. , N knowledge and 2) another power codebook with both quantized g1 and goi, i = 1,. , N information. We emphasize the fact that, although the proposed algorithms result in locally optimum or strictly suboptimal solutions, numerical results demonstrate that they are extremely efficient. The efficacy of the proposed asymptotic approximations is also illustrated through numerical simulation results.
A novel point-of-care system for high-speed real-time polymerase chain reaction testing for epidermal growth factor receptor mutations in bronchial lavage fluids after transbronchial biopsy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutation testing is essential for choosing appropriate treatment options in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, a time delay occurs between histological diagnosis and molecular diagnosis in clinical situations. To minimize this delay, we developed a novel point-of-care test for EGFR mutations, based on a high-speed real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system designated here as ultrarapid PCR combined with highly accurate bronchoscopic sampling. We investigated whether our system for detecting EGFR mutations was valid by comparing test results with those obtained using a commercialized EGFR mutation test. We obtained small amounts of bronchial lavage fluids after transbronchial biopsies (TBBs) were performed on enrolled patients (n=168) who underwent endobronchial ultrasonography using a guide sheath (EBUS-GS). EGFR mutation analysis was performed by ultrarapid PCR immediately after EBUS-GS-TBBs were obtained (on the same day). After pathological diagnoses of NSCLC, EGFR mutation status in formalin-fixed, paraffin- embedded samples was confirmed by the PCR-invader method, and the concordance rates between the PCR methods were compared. The total diagnostic yield of EBUS-GS-TBB was 91.0%. The positive concordance rates for detecting 19del and L858R with the ultrarapid PCR and PCR-invader methods were both 100%. Negative concordance rates were 97.2 and 98.1%, respectively. We also demonstrated a dramatic effect of early erlotinib administration, based on ultrarapid PCR results, for a 52-year-old woman suffering from respiratory failure due to severe intrapulmonary metastases with poor performance status. In conclusion, ultrarapid PCR combined with EBUS-GS-TBB enabled rapid and reliable point-of-care testing for EGFR mutations.
Invasive and non-invasive investigations for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis: The benefit of histology

TO THE EDITOR: Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), caused by obesity and insulin resistance, is a new threat to global health. Recently, the increase or decrease in alanine aminotransferase (ALAT) was used as marker to diagnose or monitor treatment of NASH [1,2]. However the level of serum aminotransferase can be misleading in assessing treatment efficacy and in predicting the outcome of NASH. Previously, treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid, vitamin E and vitamin C decreased serum aminotransferase, but failed to show parallel improvement in histology [3,4]. Treatment with vitamin E in obese and non-obese children for 3 /6 months normalized serum aminotransferase without significant improvement in the histological features of NASH [5]. At present, the evidence suggests that histology is the only reliable tool for diagnosis of NASH and for following the course of the disease [6]. Histology helps to distinguish hepatic steatosis from NASH, identifies features of fibrosis and facilitates estimation of longterm prognosis [7]. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is another quantitative, non-invasive method to measure hepatic triglyceride content, intrahepatocellular lipids and intramyocellular lipids [8]. However, MRS will not detect inflammation. Liver biopsy should therefore be the gold standard for clinical trials assessing the therapeutic efficacy of interventions. The standardized scoring system for the study of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has still to be completed.
Hormone influence on the spatial regulation of IRT1 expression in iron-deficient Arabidopsis thaliana roots

The IRON-REGULATED TRANSPORTER1 (IRT1) is the principal importer of soil iron in Arabidopsis thaliana. It has a complex intracellular trafficking behavior, including continuous cycling between plasma membrane and endosomes. SORTING NEXIN1 is required for the recycling of endosome-localized IRT1. In its absence, IRT1 is mistargeted for degradation, resulting in reduced plant iron-uptake efficiency. Consequently, IRT1 promoter activity gets limited to a specific portion of the root. We tested the influence of two hormones known to positively affect iron uptake on IRT1 spatial regulation. We found that ethylene treatment in wild-type background mimics the effects of the SNX-loss-of-function situation. Conversely, auxin splits the IRT1 expression zone and forces it toward the two extremities of the root. This shows that IRT1 expression along the root is modulated by ethylene-auxin interplay.
Hydroxyethyl starch or saline for fluid resuscitation in intensive care.

BACKGROUND The safety and efficacy of hydroxyethyl starch (HES) for fluid resuscitation have not been fully evaluated, and adverse effects of HES on survival and renal function have been reported. METHODS We randomly assigned 7000 patients who had been admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) in a 1:1 ratio to receive either 6% HES with a molecular weight of 130 kD and a molar substitution ratio of 0.4 (130/0.4, Voluven) in 0.9% sodium chloride or 0.9% sodium chloride (saline) for all fluid resuscitation until ICU discharge, death, or 90 days after randomization. The primary outcome was death within 90 days. Secondary outcomes included acute kidney injury and failure and treatment with renal-replacement therapy. RESULTS A total of 597 of 3315 patients (18.0%) in the HES group and 566 of 3336 (17.0%) in the saline group died (relative risk in the HES group, 1.06; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.96 to 1.18; P=0.26). There was no significant difference in mortality in six predefined subgroups. Renal-replacement therapy was used in 235 of 3352 patients (7.0%) in the HES group and 196 of 3375 (5.8%) in the saline group (relative risk, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.45; P=0.04). In the HES and saline groups, renal injury occurred in 34.6% and 38.0% of patients, respectively (P=0.005), and renal failure occurred in 10.4% and 9.2% of patients, respectively (P=0.12). HES was associated with significantly more adverse events (5.3% vs. 2.8%, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS In patients in the ICU, there was no significant difference in 90-day mortality between patients resuscitated with 6% HES (130/0.4) or saline. However, more patients who received resuscitation with HES were treated with renal-replacement therapy. (Funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and others; CHEST ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00935168.).