Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Online Code Layout Optimizations via OCOLOS

The processor front end has become an increasingly important bottleneck in recent years due to growing application code footprints, particularly in data centers. Profile-guided optimizations performed by compilers represent a promising approach, as they rearrange code to maximize instruction cache locality and branch prediction efficiency along a relatively small number of hot code paths. However, these optimizations require continuous profiling and rebuilding of applications to ensure that the code layout matches the collected profiles. In this article, we propose Online COde Layout OptimizationS (OCOLOS), the first online code layout optimization system for unmodified applications written in unmanaged languages. OCOLOS allows profile-guided optimization to be performed on a running process instead of being performed offline and requiring the application to be relaunched. Our experiments show that OCOLOS can accelerate MySQL by up to 41%.
A Matrix Pencil Formulation for Nonconservative Realization of Scaling-Based Controllers for Feedforward-Like Systems

We develop a general matrix pencil-based approach for efficient nonconservative realization of dual dynamic high-gain scaling-based control designs for a class of uncertain feedforward-like nonlinear systems. It is shown that the control design can be cast into a set of matrix pencil-based subproblems capturing the detailed system structure, state dependence structure of uncertain terms, and precise roles of design freedoms in the context of detailed structures of Lyapunov inequalities. The design freedoms in the dynamic high-gain scaling-based design are extracted in terms of eigenvalues of the formulated matrix pencil structures. It is seen that the proposed matrix pencil-based approach greatly reduces design conservatism and algebraic complexity compared with prior results on dynamic high-gain scaling-based control designs.
Multiparametric Dynamic Ultrasound Approach for Differential Diagnosis of Primary Liver Tumors

A correct differentiation between hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and intracellular cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is essential for clinical management and prognostic prediction. However, non-invasive differential diagnosis between HCC and ICC remains highly challenging. Dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound (D-CEUS) with standardized software is a valuable tool in the diagnostic approach to focal liver lesions and could improve accuracy in the evaluation of tumor perfusion. Moreover, the measurement of tissue stiffness could add more information concerning tumoral environment. To explore the diagnostic performance of multiparametric ultrasound (MP-US) in differentiating ICC from HCC. Our secondary aim was to develop an US score for distinguishing ICC and HCC. Between January 2021 and September 2022 consecutive patients with histologically confirmed HCC and ICC were enrolled in this prospective monocentric study. A complete US evaluation including B mode, D-CEUS and shear wave elastography (SWE) was performed in all patients and the corresponding features were compared between the tumor entities. For better inter-individual comparability, the blood volume-related D-CEUS parameters were analyzed as a ratio between lesions and surrounding liver parenchyma. Univariate and multivariate regression analysis was performed to select the most useful independent variables for the differential diagnosis between HCC and ICC and to establish an US score for non-invasive diagnosis. Finally, the diagnostic performance of the score was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. A total of 82 patients (mean age ± SD, 68 ± 11 years, 55 men) were enrolled, including 44 ICC and 38 HCC. No statistically significant differences in basal US features were found between HCC and ICC. Concerning D-CEUS, blood volume parameters (peak intensity, PE; area under the curve, AUC; and wash-in rate, WiR) showed significantly higher values in the HCC group, but PE was the only independent feature associated with HCC diagnosis at multivariate analysis (p = 0.02). The other two independent predictors of histological diagnosis were liver cirrhosis (p < 0.01) and SWE (p = 0.01). A score based on those variables was highly accurate for the differential diagnosis of primary liver tumors, with an area under the ROC curve of 0.836 and the optimal cut-off values of 0.81 and 0.20 to rule in or rule out ICC respectively. MP-US seems to be a useful tool for non-invasive discrimination between ICC and HCC and could prevent the need for liver biopsy at least in a subgroup of patients.
Success to Clear the Bar in Elite Pole Vaulters is Affected by Step Frequency Perturbation

The purpose of the study was to identify the interaction of step characteristics, along with the direction and magnitude of their asymmetry of elite male and female pole vaulters between successful and failed attempts. It was hypothesized that step characteristics and the magnitude of asymmetry between the two legs would interact with the outcome of the attempt. The approach runs of 12 pole vaulters (7 males, 5 females) were recorded during an indoor international competition. The leg used by the athlete for taking-off was defined as the non-pole-carrying leg, while the other was the pole-carrying leg. Using spatiotemporal information obtained from recordings with a panning camera (300 fps), the last steps of each athlete's approach run were analyzed for length, frequency, average velocity, and inter-limb asymmetry. There was no inter-limb difference (p > 0.05) in the absolute values of step length or step velocity between successful and failed attempts. However, the pole-carrying leg presented significantly (p < 0.05) higher step frequency values at the failed attempts. There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in asymmetry values for step length, frequency, and average velocity between successful and failed attempts. Although step velocity remained unaffected, failed attempts were characterized by a perturbation in the interaction of step frequency and step length. The present findings suggest that although high velocity at the final phase of the approach is essential, it is not the sole determining factor for a successful attempt.
The Bayesian Abel Bound on the Mean Square Error

This paper deals with lower bound on the Mean Square Error (MSE). In the Bayesian framework, we present a new bound which is derived from a constrained optimization problem. This bound is found to be tighter than the Bayesian Bhattacharyya bound, the Reuven-Messer bound, the Bobrovsky-Zaka? bound, and the Bayesian Cram? r-Rao bound.
Supporting HIV self-management in adolescents to be resilient and thrive: an intervention development study

ABSTRACT Self-management programs or interventions focus on self-empowerment to improve skills, abilities and behaviors needed to control a chronic condition and may be of great value for adolescents living with HIV (ALWH). The aim of this study was to develop a self-management intervention called Self-Management in Adolescents to be Resilient and Thrive (S-SMART), for ALWH aged 15 to 19 years using the principles of intervention mapping (IM). We conducted a needs assessment and developed a logic model for change based on factors influencing self-management amongst ALWH on the level of the individual and environment. Program outcomes and objectives were identified based on formative qualitative and quantitative research, a systematic review and theory. We then selected theory-based models and practical strategies and developed a 12-week program consisting of individual activities completed in a workbook or smartphone application, five peer-group sessions and three individual coaching sessions. Content validity was determined by consulting nine local and international experts and 18 key stakeholders (11 ALWH and seven healthcare workers) through four focus groups in the Cape Metropole of the Western Cape, South Africa. The intervention will now be pilot tested for feasibility and acceptability.
Assessing Risk of Family Violence by Young People: Identifying Recidivism Base Rates and the Validity of the VP-SAFvR for Youth

Police-reported incidents of youth family violence have been increasing in frequency yet limited research exists about how best to risk assess this cohort. The present study examined the validity of the Victoria Police Screening Assessment for Family Violence Risk (VP-SAFvR) for Australian youth aged 10 to 24 years (n = 4,999) reported to police for using family violence. The 6-month base rate of family violence recidivism was 24.24% for same-dyad recidivism and 35.31% for any-dyad recidivism. The VP-SAFvR demonstrated moderate discriminative validity (area under the curve [AUC] = .65) for the total sample and comparable discriminative validity across age (AUCs = .64-.67), gender (AUCs = .63-.65), and relationship (i.e., child-to-parent abuse, sibling abuse, intimate partner abuse; AUCs = .62-.65). Predictive validity was adequate at a threshold score of four for 10- to 24-year olds and most subgroups. Results demonstrate the utility of a structured risk triage tool for youth family violence.
Comprehensive Analysis Identifies the PPAR-Targeted Genes Associated with Ovarian Cancer Prognosis and Tumor Microenvironment

Background There is a significant role for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) in the development of cancer. Nevertheless, the role of PPARs-related genes in ovarian cancer (OC) remains unclear. Methods The open-accessed data used for analysis were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas database, which was analyzed using the R software. Results In our study, we comprehensively investigated the PPAR target genes in OC, including their biological role. Meanwhile, a prognosis signature consisting of eight PPAR target genes was established, including apolipoprotein A-V, UDP glucuronosyltransferase 2 family, polypeptide B4, TSC22 domain family, member 1, growth hormone inducible transmembrane protein, renin, dedicator of cytokinesis 4, enoyl CoA hydratase 1, peroxisomal (ECH1), and angiopoietin-like 4, which showed a good prediction efficiency. A nomogram was constructed by combining the clinical feature and risk score. Immune infiltration and biological enrichment analysis were applied to investigate the difference between high- and low-risk patients. Immunotherapy analysis indicated that low-risk patients might respond better to immunotherapy. Drug sensitivity analysis indicated that high-risk patients might respond better to bleomycin, nilotinib, pazopanib, pyrimethamine, and vinorelbine, yet worse to cisplatin and gefitinib. Furthermore, the gene ECH1 was selected for further analysis. Conclusions Our study identified a prognosis signature that could effectively indicates patients survival. Meanwhile, our study can provide the direction for future studies focused on the PPARs in OC.
Behavior of Concrete Under Biaxial Stresses

The results of an extensive series of tests of three types of concrete under biaxial loadings are used to develop stress-strain relations for concrete subjected to biaxial stress states. By means of a decomposition of the stresses and strains into their hydrostatic and deviatoric portions, it was possible to express the relations between octahedral normal stresses and strains, and octahedral shear stresses and strain through use of bulk and shear moduli. These moduli can be expressed as functions of the octahedral shear stress only; formulas and coefficients are given for the values of the tangent and secant, bulk and shear moduli for the three types of concrete. The deformational behavior is described as the material reaches its failure stage. The application of these nonlinear stress-strain relations to stress analysis is indicated; a material stiffness matrix for use in finite element analysis is presented, and a partial differential equation with variable coefficients for analysis of plane-stress problems is shown.
Live Commerce Platforms: A New Paradigm for E-Commerce Platform Economy

Live commerce is creating a new paradigm for e-commerce platform economy. This study aims to provide effective strategies that can be used for live commerce platform operation and management by analysing factors that influence consumer intentions to purchase. As a combination of e-commerce and live streaming, live commerce allows businesses to demonstrate products, answer customer questions, and provide personalized recommendations in a way that replicates the in-store experience. Thus, this study aims to provide effective strategies that can be used for the new e-commerce platform economy and market competition that live commerce platforms build by analysing factors that influence consumer intentions to purchase. This study was conducted using structural equation modeling (SEM) based on a survey of 237 live commerce users. The results of this study lend platform-providers a more comprehensive understanding of the functional and social factors that influence consumers’ decisions to make purchases on such platforms. The outcomes can further serve as a basis for improving platforms, providing consumers with a better consumption experience, and offering theoretical support for consumers to use related services rationally and efficiently.
Implementation of a Bio-Inspired Neural Architecture for Autonomous Vehicles on a Multi-FPGA Platform

Autonomous vehicles require efficient self-localisation mechanisms and cameras are the most common sensors due to their low cost and rich input. However, the computational intensity of visual localisation varies depending on the environment and requires real-time processing and energy-efficient decision-making. FPGAs provide a solution for prototyping and estimating such energy savings. We propose a distributed solution for implementing a large bio-inspired visual localisation model. The workflow includes (1) an image processing IP that provides pixel information for each visual landmark detected in each captured image, (2) an implementation of N-LOC, a bio-inspired neural architecture, on an FPGA board and (3) a distributed version of N-LOC with evaluation on a single FPGA and a design for use on a multi-FPGA platform. Comparisons with a pure software solution demonstrate that our hardware-based IP implementation yields up to 9× lower latency and 7× higher throughput (frames/second) while maintaining energy efficiency. Our system has a power footprint as low as 2.741 W for the whole system, which is up to 5.5–6× less than what Nvidia Jetson TX2 consumes on average. Our proposed solution offers a promising approach for implementing energy-efficient visual localisation models on FPGA platforms.
Joint Response to Exercise Is Affected by Knee Osteoarthritis: An Infrared Thermography Analysis

Infrared thermography can be used to evaluate the inflammation characterizing the joint environment of OA knees, but there is limited evidence on the response to physical exercise. Identifying the response to exercise of OA knees and the influencing variables could provide important information to better profile patients with different knee OA patterns. Sixty consecutive patients (38 men/22 women, 61.4 ± 9.2 years) with symptomatic knee OA were enrolled. Patients were evaluated with a standardized protocol using a thermographic camera (FLIR-T1020) positioned at 1 m with image acquisition of an anterior view at baseline, immediately after, and at 5 min after a 2-min knee flexion–extension exercise with a 2 kg anklet. Patients’ demographic and clinical characteristics were documented and correlated with the thermographic changes. This study demonstrated that the temperature response to exercise in symptomatic knee OA was affected by some demographic and clinical characteristics of the assessed patients. Patients with a poor clinical knee status presented with a lower response to exercise, and women showed a greater temperature decrease than men. Not all evaluated ROIs showed the same trend, which underlines the need to specifically study the different joint subareas to identify the inflammatory component and joint response while investigating knee OA patterns.
Particles–Matrix Bond in ZnCoO:H and ZnCoAlO:H Films: Issues of Magnetism and Spin Injection

ZnCoO:H and ZnCoAlO:H films were synthesized by radio frequency magnetron sputtering in a (1 − x)Ar + xH2 mixed atmosphere with x = 0.2–0.5. The films contain different amounts of metallic Co particles (from 7.6% and higher) ~4–7 nm in size. The magnetic and magneto-optical (MO) behavior of the films was analyzed in combination with their structural data. The samples exhibit high values of magnetization (up to 377 emu/cm3) and MO response at room temperature. Two situations are considered: (1) the film magnetism is associated only with isolated metal particles and (2) magnetism is present both in the oxide matrix and in metal inclusions. It has been established that the formation mechanism of the magnetic structure of ZnO:Co2+ is due to the spin-polarized conduction electrons of metal particles and zinc vacancies. It was also found that in the presence of two magnetic components in the films, these components are exchange-coupled. In this case, the exchange coupling generates a high spin polarization of the films. The spin-dependent transport properties of the samples have been studied. A high value of the negative magnetoresistance of the films at room temperature (~4%) was found. This behavior was explained in terms of the giant magnetoresistance model. Thus, the ZnCoO:H and ZnCoAlO:H films with high spin polarization can be considered as sources of spin injection.
Phenolic screening and anticancer potential of various wild savory extracts

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in our age. In addition to the treatments used in cancer, plants are frequently used in complementary or alternative approaches. Plants of the genus Satureja are used world wide for various purposes, primarily as complementary therapies. For this purpose, in this study, the antioxidant potential and phenolic content of the Satureja cuneifolia plant, which is frequently consumed as a spice and tea among the public, and its cytotoxic and apoptosis-inducing effects on cancer cells were tried to be revealed. The cytotoxic effect of the extracts prepared with three different solvents (methanol, ethanol and water) was determined by the MTT test in colorectal cancer (DLD1) and promyelocytic leukaemia cell lines (HL60). Then the expression levels of five apoptotic gene regions (apaf-1, bax, bcl2, card4, casp3 and tp53) were evaluated with Real-Time PCR. The antioxidant potential was determined via the DPPH test, and HPLC was used to screen for phenolic substances. As a result, it was determined that the extracts have cytotoxic effects and have a variable but positive effect on pro-apoptotic gene expressions. When the antioxidant potential was evaluated, it was determined that the methanolic extract had a more radical scavenging effect (IC50: 105.02±0.034 µg/ml). In conclusion, the cytotoxic and apoptosis-inducing potentials of the extracts obtained from the S. cuneifolia plant were revealed for the first time upon DLD1 and HL60 cell lines in this study. This study is a pioneer for future studies in cancer therapy. Keywords: Apoptosis; qRT-PCR; Spice; Turkey; Wild savory
X-RAY AND IMAGE ANALYSES OF SEEDS OF Passiflora cincinnata AND Passiflora morifolia

Wild species of passion fruit present characteristics such as resistance to diseases and pests, longevity, and adaptability to adverse climatic conditions. Morphological analyses of seeds of wild species are frequently performed to investigate reproductive aspects of plants used in genetic improvement programs. The present study evaluated the quality of seeds of Passiflora cincinnata and Passiflora morifolia at different stages of fruit development, through X-ray and GroundEye® software image analyses. Four repetitions of 50 seeds and four stages of fruit maturation were used. X-ray-exposed seeds were classified as "full" or "empty". The computerized image analysis evaluated 10 descriptors related to color dominance and 7 descriptors related to geometry. A germination test was subsequently performed. In X-rayed samples, a higher percentage of empty seeds was detected in the green phase of maturation (6% for P. cincinnata and 11% for P. morifolia). GroundEye software® findings indicated that differences in coloration may indicate differences in the physiological quality of seeds. The collective results indicate that fruits of P. cincinnata and P. morifolia can be collected at the "on time", mature, and senescent maturation stages without compromising the physiological quality.
Observation of mini-band formation in the ground and high-energy electronic states of super-lattice solar cells

Multiple Quantum wells (MQWs) have been studied as one promising material for high-efficiency nextgeneration solar cells. However, a portion of photo-excited carriers recombine in MQWs, resulting in the degradation of cell performance. Super-lattice (SL) structures, where quantum states in neighboring quantum wells strongly couple with each other, have been proposed for the carrier collection improvement via the tunneling transport through mini-bands. Therefore, it is important to characterize mini-band formation in various types of SL structures. We examined p-i-n GaAs-based solar cells whose i layers contain 20 stacks of InGaAs/GaAsP MQW structures with 2.1-nm GaAsP barriers (thin-barrier cell), with 2.1-nm barriers and 3-nm GaAs interlayers in between GaAsP barriers and InGaAs wells (stepbarrier cell), and with 7.8-nm barriers (thick-barrier cell). We investigated the optical absorption spectra of the SL solar cells using piezoelectric photo-thermal (PPT) spectroscopy. In the thick-barrier cell, one exciton peak was observed near the absorption edge of MQWs. On the other hand, we confirmed a split of the exciton peak for the thin-barrier SL, suggesting the formation of mini-band. Moreover, in the step-barrier cell, the mini-band at the ground state disappears since thick GaAs interlayers isolate each quantum-well ground state and, instead, the mini-band formation of highenergy states could be observed. By estimating from the energy-level calculation, this is attributed to the mini-band formation of light-hole states. This can well explain the improvement of carrier collection efficiency (CCE) of the thinbarrier and the step-barrier cells compared with the thick-barrier cell.
Bayesian learning of network structures from interventional experimental data

Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs) provide an effective framework for learning causal relationships among variables given multivariate observations. Under pure observational data, DAGs encoding the same conditional independencies cannot be distinguished and are collected into Markov equivalence classes. In many contexts however, observational measurements are supplemented by interventional data that improve DAG identifiability and enhance causal effect estimation. We propose a Bayesian framework for multivariate data partially generated after stochastic interventions. To this end, we introduce an effective prior elicitation procedure leading to a closed-form expression for the DAG marginal likelihood and guaranteeing score equivalence among DAGs that are Markov equivalent post intervention. Under the Gaussian setting we show, in terms of posterior ratio consistency, that the true network will be asymptotically recovered, regardless of the specific distribution of the intervened variables and of the relative asymptotic dominance between observational and interventional measurements. We validate our theoretical results in simulation and we implement on both synthetic and biological protein expression data a Markov chain Monte Carlo sampler for posterior inference on the space of DAGs.