Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Performance and Energy Efficiency Metrics for Communication Systems of Cloud Computing Data Centers

Cloud computing has become a de facto approach for service provisioning over the Internet. It operates relying on a pool of shared computing resources available on demand and usually hosted in data centers. Assessing performance and energy efficiency of data centers becomes fundamental. Industries use a number of metrics to assess efficiency and energy consumption of cloud computing systems, focusing mainly on the efficiency of IT equipment, cooling and power distribution systems. However, none of the existing metrics is precise enough to distinguish and analyze the performance of data center communication systems from IT equipment. This paper proposes a framework of new metrics able to assess performance and energy efficiency of cloud computing communication systems, processes and protocols. The proposed metrics have been evaluated for the most common data center architectures including fat tree three-tier, BCube, DCell and Hypercube.
Modeling self-heating effects in advanced CMOS nodes

In this paper, we analyze the impact of the self-heating observed on Back End of Line (BEoL) structures and NMOS transistors in 28nm FDSOI technology. Metal characterization is required to calculate the thermal resistance (Rth). A given model relates the calculated thermal resistance to thermal conductivity (k). Rth and k are the input data used for the BEoL self-heating simulation.
Mitotic Regulation by NEK Kinase Networks

Genetic studies in yeast and Drosophila led to identification of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), Polo-like kinases (PLKs) and Aurora kinases as essential regulators of mitosis. These enzymes have since been found in the majority of eukaryotes and their cell cycle-related functions characterized in great detail. However, genetic studies in another fungal species, Aspergillus nidulans, identified a distinct family of protein kinases, the NEKs, that are also widely conserved and have key roles in the cell cycle, but which remain less well studied. Nevertheless, it is now clear that multiple NEK family members act in networks to regulate specific events of mitosis, including centrosome separation, spindle assembly and cytokinesis. Here, we describe our current understanding of how the NEK kinases contribute to these processes, particularly through targeted phosphorylation of proteins associated with the microtubule cytoskeleton. We also present the latest findings on molecular events that control the activation state of the NEKs and how these are revealing novel modes of enzymatic regulation relevant not only to other kinases but also to pathological mechanisms of disease.
Cell Identification based on Received Signal Strength Fingerprints: Concept and Application towards Energy Saving in Cellular Networks

The increasing deployment of small cells aimed at off-loading data traffic from macrocells in heterogeneous networks has resulted in a drastic increase in energy consumption in cellular networks. Energy consumption can be optimized in a self-organized way by adapting the number of active cells in response to the current traffic demand. In this paper we concentrate on the complex problem of how to identify small cells to be reactivated in situations where multiple cells are concurrently inactive. Solely based on the received signal strength, we present cell-specific patterns for the generation of unique cell fingerprints. The cell fingerprints of the deactivated cells are matched with measurements from a high data rate demanding mobile device to identify the most appropriate candidate. Our scheme results in a matching success rate of up to 100% to identify the best cell depending on the number of cells to be activated.
Administrative reinstatement interlock programs: Florida, a 10-year study.

BACKGROUND Interlocks reduce driving-under-the-influence (DUI) recidivism by 64%, but offenders resist installing them, preferring to risk driving while their driver's licenses are revoked. One method of motivating offenders to install an interlock is require it for reinstatement of their driver's license. This report updates an earlier evaluation of the administrative reinstatement interlock program (ARIP) procedure implemented in Florida in 2002. METHODS Driver records and interlock program records covering 120,000 DUI offenders were followed over 10 years. The flow through the sanction system--conviction, reinstatement, interlock program, and postinterlock period--is described. Logistical regression was used to identify the characteristics of offenders who installed interlocks, and survival analysis was used to evaluate the recidivism of offenders in the various stages in the ARIP. RESULTS At any given time, approximately one-third of the convicted offenders were serving their license-revocation periods. Half of the offenders who completed their revocation periods remain unqualified for reinstatement because they do not fulfill other requirements. ARIP offenders who do qualify for reinstatement and install interlocks have lower recidivism rates while the devices are on their vehicles. CONCLUSIONS After 10 years, Florida's ARIP is a mature system that succeeds in forcing all offenders in the program who qualify for reinstatement to install an interlock for at least 6 months. However, half of all offenders who complete their mandatory revocation period are either unable to or choose not to qualify for reinstatement.
On Divergence of Opinion and Imperfections in Capital Markets

The importance of divergence of opinion in the functioning of capital markets was recognized by early economic writers. In the prevailing models of capital markets, however, differences of opinion either do not exist or do not matter. Thus, although heterogeneity of opinion is allowed in the models developed by Kenneth Arrow, Gerard Debreu, and Peter Diamond, nothing essential would change if all individuals were to hold identical, homogeneous-equivalent average expectations. In the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) of William Sharpe (1964) and John Lintner (1965), homogeneous expectations are assumed at the outset. When they considered the implications of heterogeneity of expectations in the model, both Lintner (1969) and Sharpe (1970) reached similar conclusions; as stated by Sharpe, "in a somewhat superficial sense the equilibrium relationships derived for a world of complete agreement can be said to apply to a world in which there is disagreement, if certain values are considered to be averages" (p. 291). Sharpe's conclusion was that "a model based on disagreement has little value in a positive role" (p. 113). The aim of this paper is to present a simple model of exchange in capital markets where divergence of opinion not only exists, but is essential. It is essential because of its association with endogenous limitations on the number of active market participants. It will be argued that in the models cited above, the significance of divergence of opinion was dismissed because of the failure to recognize the implications of the obvious fact that investors choose not only the size of their holdings in each asset, but also in which assets to invest. Correspondingly, they failed to recognize that in (imperfect) capital markets, equilibrium requires the simultaneous determination of asset prices and the identity of investors trading in each asset. As both Lintner (1969) and Sharpe (1970) recognized, the case of divergent opinions may differ from the case in which there is no such divergence, if only because it implies that investors may seek to sell short assets that they believe to be overrated. Lintner, who pursued the implications of the case in which short sales are not allowed, argued that, when not all investors trade in every asset, the price of an asset will reflect an average of the assessments of only those investors who actually hold the asset. Lintner, however, did not realize that, given that the set of active investors is endogenously determined, this is an incomplete characterization of how asset prices are determined. It leaves an integral question unanswered; namely, what distinguishes the active from the nonactive investor? Lintner was thus led to dismiss an alternative characterization of equilibrium asset prices-the marginal-investor theory-proposed by John Maynard Keynes and John Burr Williams thirty years earlier. ' Keynes characterized the determination of asset prices in a manner that attests to the importance that he attached to divergence of opinion among investors: "The prices of capital assets move until. they offer an
Laying order, hatching asynchrony and nestling body mass in Tree Swallows Tachycineta bicolor

We studied the reproductive biology of a box-nesting population of Tree Swallows Tachycineta bicolor in southeastern Wisconsin, USA. We were interested particularly in the relationship between laying order and hatching order and the extent to which each was a predictor of nestling body mass. We found that laying order was a significant predictor of hatching order. Laying and hatching order were related to nestling mass at 4 days of age and to a lesser extent at 12 days of age. In addition, we investigated the effects of natural variation in hatching asynchrony. Hatching asynchrony was positively related to the range of nestling body masses within a brood at days 4 and 12. The probability that brood reduction occurred was also positively related to the degree of hatching asynchrony, though this effect was significant only at day 4. Our results suggest that laying order and hatching order have their greatest effects on nestling Tree Swallows early in the nestling period.
Responses of whole body protein synthesis and degradation to plantain herb in sheep exposed to heat

An experiment including a [1-13C]leucine isotope dilution and a nitrogen balance were carried out to determine the effect of feeding plantain herb (Plantago lanceolata L.) on whole body protein synthesis (WBPS) and degradation in sheep kept at thermoneutral temperature (20°C) or exposed to heat (30°C). The animals were fed either mixed hay of orchardgrass and reed canarygrass (Hay-diet) or Hay-diet and plantain (9:1) (PL-diet) at maintenance level using a crossover design. Nitrogen intake was higher (p < 0.0001) for the Hay-diet than for the PL-diet, but N balance remained similar between diets and was higher (p = 0.003) during heat exposure than at thermoneutral temperature. The WBPS was numerically lower (p = 0.10) for the PL-diet than for the Hay-diet. The direction of the response to heat exposure differed (p = 0.04) between diets: after feeding the PL-diet the WBPS increased from 15.2–16.9 g · kgW−0.75 · d−1, whereas it decreased after feeding the Hay-diet from 17.5–16.6 g · kgW−0.75 · d−1. The present results suggest that the PL-diet may have a positive impact for WBPS during heat exposure, and could be used for rearing sheep as an alternative to the Hay-diet.
Cross-Reactive Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1-Neutralizing Human Monoclonal Antibody That Recognizes a Novel Conformational Epitope on gp41 and Lacks Reactivity against Self-Antigens

ABSTRACT Broadly cross-reactive human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-neutralizing antibodies are infrequently elicited in infected humans. The two best-characterized gp41-specific cross-reactive neutralizing human monoclonal antibodies, 4E10 and 2F5, target linear epitopes in the membrane-proximal external region (MPER) and bind to cardiolipin and several other autoantigens. It has been hypothesized that, because of such reactivity to self-antigens, elicitation of 2F5 and 4E10 and similar antibodies by vaccine immunogens based on the MPER could be affected by tolerance mechanisms. Here, we report the identification and characterization of a novel anti-gp41 monoclonal antibody, designated m44, which neutralized most of the 22 HIV type 1 (HIV-1) primary isolates from different clades tested in assays based on infection of peripheral blood mononuclear cells by replication-competent virus but did not bind to cardiolipin and phosphatidylserine in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and a Biacore assay nor to any protein or DNA autoantigens tested in Luminex assays. m44 bound to membrane-associated HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins (Envs), to recombinant Envs lacking the transmembrane domain and cytoplasmic tail (gp140s), and to gp41 structures containing five-helix bundles and six-helix bundles, but not to N-heptad repeat trimers, suggesting that the C-heptad repeat is involved in m44 binding. In contrast to 2F5, 4E10, and Z13, m44 did not bind to any significant degree to denatured gp140 and linear peptides derived from gp41, suggesting a conformational nature of the epitope. This is the first report of a gp41-specific cross-reactive HIV-1-neutralizing human antibody that does not have detectable reactivity to autoantigens. Its novel conserved conformational epitope on gp41 could be helpful in the design of vaccine immunogens and as a target for therapeutics.
The DDX6–4E-T interaction mediates translational repression and P-body assembly

4E-Transporter binds eIF4E via its consensus sequence YXXXXLΦ, shared with eIF4G, and is a nucleocytoplasmic shuttling protein found enriched in P-(rocessing) bodies. 4E-T inhibits general protein synthesis by reducing available eIF4E levels. Recently, we showed that 4E-T bound to mRNA however represses its translation in an eIF4E-independent manner, and contributes to silencing of mRNAs targeted by miRNAs. Here, we address further the mechanism of translational repression by 4E-T by first identifying and delineating the interacting sites of its major partners by mass spectrometry and western blotting, including DDX6, UNR, unrip, PAT1B, LSM14A and CNOT4. Furthermore, we document novel binding between 4E-T partners including UNR-CNOT4 and unrip-LSM14A, altogether suggesting 4E-T nucleates a complex network of RNA-binding protein interactions. In functional assays, we demonstrate that joint deletion of two short conserved motifs that bind UNR and DDX6 relieves repression of 4E-T-bound mRNA, in part reliant on the 4E-T-DDX6-CNOT1 axis. We also show that the DDX6-4E-T interaction mediates miRNA-dependent translational repression and de novo P-body assembly, implying that translational repression and formation of new P-bodies are coupled processes. Altogether these findings considerably extend our understanding of the role of 4E-T in gene regulation, important in development and neurogenesis.
Filtering Equity Risk Premia From Derivative Prices

This paper considers the measurement of the equity risk premium in financial markets. While there exists a vast amount of research into its behaviour, particularly in US markets, this is largely based on regression based techniques which do not capture well the dynamic and forward looking nature of the risk premium. In this paper the time variation of the unobserved risk premium is modelled by a system of stochastic differential equations connected by arbitrage arguments between the spot equity market, the index futures and options on index futures. Although various processes for the dynamics of the risk premium may be considered, we motivate and analyse a mean-reverting form. Since the risk premium is not directly observable, information on it is extracted using an unobserved component state space formulation of the system and Kalman filtering methodology. In order to cater for the time variation of volatility we use the option implied volatility in the dynamic equations for the index and its derivatives. This quantity is in a sense treated as a signal that impounds the market's forward looking view on the equity risk premium. The results using monthly Australian and U.S. market data over a period of five years are presented. The model fit is found to be statistically significant for both markets. The time series of the mean and standard deviation of the risk premia generated by the Kalman filter are compared with premia computed from ex-post returns. It is found that the ex-post risk premia have a general tendency to lie within a two standard deviations band around the filteredmean. However there are frequent movements outside the band, particularly on the downside, indicating that the ex-post measure may be understating the risk premium.
First cases of European bat lyssavirus type 1 in Iberian serotine bats: Implications for the molecular epidemiology of bat rabies in Europe

Previous studies have shown that EBLV-1 strains exclusively hosted by Eptesicus isabellinus bats in the Iberian Peninsula cluster in a specific monophyletic group that is related to the EBLV-1b lineage found in the rest of Europe. More recently, enhanced passive surveillance has allowed the detection of the first EBLV-1 strains associated to Eptesicus serotinus south of the Pyrenees. The aim of this study is the reconstruction of the EBLV-1 phylogeny and phylodynamics in the Iberian Peninsula in the context of the European continent. We have sequenced 23 EBLV-1 strains detected on nine E. serotinus and 14 E. isabellinus. Phylogenetic analyses were performed on the first 400-bp-5’ fragment of the Nucleoprotein (N) gene together with other 162 sequences from Europe. Besides, fragments of the variable region of the phosphoprotein (P) gene and the glycoprotein-polymerase (G-L) intergenic region were studied on Spanish samples. Phylogenies show that two of the new EBLV-1a strains from Iberian E. serotinus clustered together with French strains from the North of the Pyrenees, suggesting a recent expansion southwards of this subtype. The remaining seven Iberian strains from E. serotinus grouped, instead, within the cluster linked, so far, to E. isabellinus, indicating that spatial distribution prevails over species specificity in explaining rabies distribution and supporting interspecific transmission. The structure found within the Iberian Peninsula for EBLV-1b is in concordance with that described previously for E. isabellinus. Finally, we have found that the current EBLV-1 European strains could have emerged only 175 years ago according to our evolutionary dynamics analyses.
Late outcome after severe traumatic brain injury in children and adolescents.

OBJECTIVES Eighteen surviving adolescents with severe traumatic brain injury were re-examined a mean period of 7.1 years after their trauma in order to determine their life situation, motor, cognitive functions and pattern of handicap. METHODS A structured interview, the EB test of motor function, Ravens's progressive matrices, Peabody's neuropsychological test, SPIQ and the WHO classification of handicap were used. RESULTS The group had a mean WHO Classification of Handicap score of 1.61 (SD 1.60) revealing mild handicap, and performed as a group significantly subnormal (p < 0.0001) in gross motor, fine motor, sensibility and perception sub-tests. The EB test revealed a mean value of 2.23 (SD 0.89) corresponding to mild disability. The mean non-verbal IQ score of 93.1 (SD 13.9) and the verbal score of 93.4 (SD 14.8) were within normal limits. CONCLUSIONS Only 28% of the group of surviving adolescent TBI victims functioned within normal limits. The most crucial disabling component was poor social integration, which was clearly demonstrated in the WHO score.
Influence of preferred foodstuffs on the antinociceptive effects of orally administered buprenorphine in laboratory rats

Oral administration of buprenorphine is becoming a popular method of providing analgesia for laboratory rodents. The mixing of buprenorphine with flavoured jello, which rodents find palatable, is becoming a commonly used method as it is thought to improve the efficacy of oral buprenorphine by increasing the time available for it to be absorbed via the oral mucosa. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of various methods of buprenorphine administration (subcutaneous saline, subcutaneous buprenorphine [0.05 mg/kg], buprenorphine gavage [0.5 mg/kg], buprenorphine in jello [0.5 mg/kg] and buprenorphine in golden syrup [0.5 mg/kg]) on thermal antinociceptive thresholds in laboratory rats. Buprenorphine administered subcutaneously, by gavage, in jello and in syrup induced significant increases in thermal antinociceptive thresholds compared with saline. This effect was observed up to 5 h postadministration for buprenorphine administered subcutaneously and by gavage, but only for one hour postadministration for buprenorphine administered in jello and in syrup.
Sulfur oxides, particulates, and human mortality: synopsis of statistical correlations.

Technical report:Studies conducted that link human mortality with sulfur oxide and particulate air pollution are reviewed. Major air pollution incidents in Belgium, London, Pennsylvania, and New York City are analyzed. While there is no reliable statistical evidence to link SOx with increased mortality, in some cases particulates can be associated with excess mortality. (26 references, 3 tables)
The Effect of College Quality on Earnings: Results from the N B E R-Thorndike Data

Using Gourman's academic rating of colleges, we attempt to determine the extent to which returns to higher education (for a sample of 5,000) are due to quality of institution, after standardizing for various sociodemographic, background, and mental ability characteristics. Earnings of individuals in the top fifth of the undergraduate school quality distribution and in the top two fifths of the graduate distribution are significantly and substantially higher than earnings of others. However, it is unclear to what extent the quality variable is reflecting educational quality as opposed to individual scholastic abilities (by measuring selection of entrance to college).
Lower Versus Higher Oxygen Concentrations Titrated to Target Oxygen Saturations During Resuscitation of Preterm Infants at Birth

(%fat or FM). When PMA was accounted for, energy, protein and carbohydrate intakes from birth to 32 weeks were negatively associated with FM. Energy intake on day 1-14 was also negatively associated with FM. There were no other nutritional predictors of adiposity. Conclusions: In this cohort of VPT infants, a higher intake of energy, protein and carbohydrate was associated with a lower fat mass at 34-37 weeks post menstrual age. We speculate that fat accumulation is triggered by birth to protect against reduced nutrient availability.
Classification of low resolution astronomical images using convolutional neural networks

Currently deep machine learningtechniques are widely adopted by computer vision and signal processing communities. Deep learning, in particular, the Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), are the most impressive classifiers widely used for image classification in recent years. CNN model allows the machine to learn automatically about the complex image features from its representation, minimizing the need of human experts in feature extraction. Such a hierarchical representation learning of the images makes CNN a more promising model for classification of different kinds of images as compared to the traditional machine learning models. In this paper, one such successful implementation of CNN is performed for classifying low resolution radio astronomical images containing objects like ‘Radio Halos and Relics’, and several other ‘Point Radio Sources’. For such images, low resolution makes feature extraction a difficult task. Hence, a CNN based classification model proved more efficient in this casegiving a classification accuracy of 88%.