Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Resource Provisioning and Profit Maximization for Transcoding in Clouds: A Two-Timescale Approach

Transcoding is widely adopted for content adaptation; however, it may incur excessive resource consumption and processing delays. Taking advantage of cloud infrastructure, cloud-based transcoding can elastically allocate resources under time-varying workloads and perform multiple transcodings in parallel to reduce delays. To provide transcoding as a cloud service, cloud transcoding systems require some intelligent mechanisms to provision resources and schedule tasks to satisfy user requirements while maximizing financial profit. To this end, we propose a two-timescale stochastic optimization framework for maximizing service profit while achieving performance requirements by jointly provisioning resources and scheduling tasks under a hierarchical control architecture. Our method analytically integrates service revenue, processing delay, and resource consumption in one optimization framework. We derive the offline exact solution and design some approximate online solutions for task scheduling and resource provisioning. We implement an open source cloud transcoding system, called Morph, and evaluate the performance of our method in a real environment. Empirical studies verify that our method can reduce resource consumption and achieve a higher profit compared with baseline schemes.
Fungal endocarditis: evidence in the world literature, 1965-1995.

We analyzed 270 cases of fungal endocarditis (FE) that occurred over 30 years. Vascular lines, non-cardiac surgery, immunocompromise and injection drug abuse are increasing risk factors. Delayed or mistaken diagnosis (82% of patients), long duration of symptoms before hospitalization (mean +/- standard deviation, 32+/-39 days) and extracardiac manifestations were characteristic. From 1988 onwards, 72% of patients were diagnosed preoperatively, compared with 43% before 1988 (P=.0001). The fungi most commonly isolated were Candida albicans (24% of patients), non-albicans species of Candida (24%), Apergillus species (24%), and Histoplasma species (6%); recently-emerged fungi accounted for 25% of cases. The mortality rate was 72%. Survival rates were better among patients who received combined surgical-antifungal treatment, were infected with Candida, and had univalvular involvement. Improvement in the survival rate (from <20% before 1974 to 41% currently) coincided with the introduction of echocardiography and with improved diagnostic acumen. Fungal endocarditis recurs in 30% of survivors. It is recommended that fungal endocarditis be diagnosed early through heightened diagnostic acumen; that patients be treated with combined lipid-based amphotericin B and early surgery; and that patients be followed up for > or =4 years while on prophylactic antifungal therapy.
On-line randomized call control revisited

We consider the problem of on-line call admission and routing on trees and meshes. Previous work gave randomized on-line algorithms for these problems and proved that they have optimal (up to constant factors) competitive ratios. However, these algorithms can obtain very low profit with high probability. We investigate the question of devising for these problems on-line competitive algorithms that also guarantee a “good” solution with “good” probability. We give a new family of randomized algorithms with asymptotically optimal competitive ratios and “good” probability to get a profit close to the expectation. We complement these results by providing bounds on the probability of any optimally competitive randomized on-line algorithm for the problems we consider to get a profit close to the expectation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of the relationship between the tail distribution and the competitive ratio of randomized on-line benefit algorithms.
Two-Stage Fuzzy Fusion With Applications to Through-the-Wall Radar Imaging

A two-stage fuzzy image fusion approach, which combines multiple radar images of the same scene, is proposed to produce a more informative image. In this approach, two different image fusion methods are first applied. Then, a fuzzy logic fusion method is applied to the outputs of the first fusion stage. The performance of the proposed approach is evaluated on through-the-wall radar images obtained using different polarizations. Experimental results show that the proposed approach enhances image quality by producing outputs with high target intensity values and low clutter.
A Case-based Analytical Study on the Strategic Evaluation of Common Equity Performance of SIA in a Global Organic Environment

Singapore Airlines (SIA) is a member of Star Alliance. SIA's passenger route network is covering 35 countries in 65 destinations. The company and its subsidiaries have 98 destinations which are covering Asia, Europe, North America, Middle East, southwest Pacific and Africa. This case study addresses the key strategic issues through a set of analysis tools to evaluate the strategic management performance of SIA. The objective of this research is to better understand both business and financial performance of SIA as a case study. This would help undergraduate and postgraduate learners to better under- stand the organisation performance. To achieve this, a secondary research using quantitative analy- sis on financial and non-financial information, which we believe, is imperative for the analysis. We would also benchmark key performance from the leading competitor and other pertinent issues are considered in financial ratios. Several business models are used in the analysis of SIA's environment: PESTEL model, Por- ter's Five Forces model, and management strategies are put into perspective. These business models would enable understanding and behaviour of those ratios computed. Cathay Pacific Airways (CP) was being chosen as a benchmark by its historic accounting records. Recommendations are pro- posed on the current challenges as encountered.
A Novel In Vitro Model for Cancer Stem Cell Culture Using Ectopically Expressed Piwil2 Stable Cell Line

Objective: Piwil2, a member of Ago/Piwi gene family containing Piwi and PAZ domains, has been shown to be ectopically expressed in different cancer cells, especially its remarkable expression in cancer stem cells (CSCs), and is also known to be essential for germ line stem cell self-renewal in various organisms. The hypothesis that CSC may hold the key to the central problem of clinical oncology and tumor relapse leads to more anticancer treatment studies. Due to emerging controversies and extreme difficulties in studying of CSC, like the cells using in vivo models, more attempts have expended to establish different in vitro models. However, the progress was slow owing to the problems associated with establishing proper CSC cultures in vitro. To overcome these difficulties, we prompted to establish a novel stable cell line over-expressing Piwil2 to develop a potential proper in vitro CSC model. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) were isolated and electroporated with a construct containing Piwil2 cDNA under the control of the cytomegalovirus promoter (CMV). Stable transfectants were selected, and the established MEF-Piwil2 cell line was characterized and designated as CSC-like cells using molecular markers. Functional assays, including proliferation, migration, and invasion assays were performed using characterized CSC like cells in serum-free medium. Additionally, MEF-Piwil2 cell density and viability were measured by direct and indirect methods in normoxic and hypoxic conditions. Results: The results of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), western blot, and immunocytochemistry revealed an overexpression for Piwil2 in the transfected Piwil2 cells both in the RNA and protein levels. Furthermore, analysis of the kinetic and stoichiometric parameters demonstrated that the specific growth rate and the yield of lactate per glucose were significantly higher in the MEF-Piwil2 group compared to the MEF cells (ANOVA, p< 0.05). Also, analysis of functional assays including migration and invasion assays demonstrated a significantly higher number of migrated and invaded cells in the MEF-Piwil2 compared to that of the MEF cells (ANOVA, p< 0.05). The MEF-Piwil2 cells tolerated hypoxia mimetic conditions (CoCl2 ) with more than 95% viability. Conclusion: According to the molecular and functional studies, it has been realized that Piwil2 plays a key role(s) in tumor initiation, progression and metastasis. Therefore, Piwil2 can be used not only as a common biomarker for tumor, but also as a target for the development of new anticancer drug. Finally, the main outcome of our study was the establishment of a novel CSC-like in vitro model which is expected to be utilized in understanding the complex roles played by CSC in tumor maintenance, metastasis, therapy resistance or cancer relapse.
Self-developed Three Wheels Omni-Directional for Autonomous Mobile Robots

The proposed system presents the method to self-developed three wheels Omni-directional for autonomous mobile robots. The implementation system including 60W Planet DC motor for three wheels, three encoders for speed feedback, one encoder for distance feedback, one digital compass sensor for angle feedback. The hardware system includes two section, the first one is the main system it received the signal from sensor compass and encoder and then it controls three subsystems to adjust steering speed each wheel. The second one is the sub-system with the mission control only one DC motor from the control signal of the main system. The main system is developed based STM32F407 and the sub-system is an STM32F103 microcontroller. Furthermore, The PID algorithm is applied to control speed DC motor and the trajectory generation algorithms have been built for Omni-directional. From the implementation results, the proposed system yields good quality trajectories and implementable real-time. The error of positional is 1.33% and the angle is 1.75%.
Polysomnography findings in spinocerebellar ataxia type 6

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (SCA6) is usually described as a pure ataxia syndrome. However, SCA6 patients may have sleep complaints. In this paper, sleep disorders were investigated in patients with SCA6. Twelve SCA6 patients and 12 subjects matched by gender, age and body mass index (control group) underwent polysomnography and clinical investigation for sleep disorders. SCA6 had a higher frequency of snoring (P = 0.01), a higher index of awakening due to respiratory events (P = 0.003) and central apnea events during sleep (P = 0.024), a longer sleep Stage N1 (P = 0.02) and a lower sleep Stage N3 (P = 0.05) in SCA6 patients than in control subjects. SCA6 patients had a reduction in slow wave sleep and a higher frequency of snoring and respiratory disorders during sleep when compared to the control group.
Involvement of RhoA/Rho Kinase Signaling in VEGF-Induced Endothelial Cell Migration and Angiogenesis In Vitro

Objective—Growth factor-induced angiogenesis involves migration of endothelial cells (ECs) into perivascular areas and requires active remodeling of the endothelial F-actin cytoskeleton. The small GTPase RhoA previously has been implicated in vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-induced signaling pathways, but its role has not been clarified. Methods and Results—VEGF induced the activation of RhoA and recruited RhoA to the cell membrane of human ECs. This increase in RhoA activity is necessary for the VEGF-induced reorganization of the F-actin cytoskeleton, as demonstrated by adenoviral transfection of dominant-negative RhoA. Rho kinase mediated this effect of RhoA, as was demonstrated by the use of Y-27632, a specific inhibitor of Rho kinase. Inhibition of Rho kinase prevented the VEGF-enhanced EC migration in response to mechanical wounding but had no effect on basal EC migration. Furthermore, in an in vitro model for angiogenesis, inhibition of either RhoA or Rho kinase attenuated the VEGF-mediated ingrowth of ECs in a 3-dimensional fibrin matrix. Conclusions—VEGF-induced cytoskeletal changes in ECs require RhoA and Rho kinase, and activation of RhoA/Rho kinase signaling is involved in the VEGF-induced in vitro EC migration and angiogenesis.
Enhancing the Visualization of Characteristic Structures in Dynamical Systems

We present a thread of streamlets as a new technique to visualize dynamical systems in three-dimensional space. A trade-off is made between solely visualizing a mathematical abstraction through lower- dimensional manifolds, i.e., characteristic structures such as fixed points, separatrices, etc., and directly encoding the flow through stream lines or stream surfaces. Bundles of streamlets are selectively placed near characteristic trajectories. An over-population of phase space with occlusion problems as a consequence is omitted. On the other hand, information loss is minimized since characteristic structures of the flow are still illustrated in the visualization.
Beyond Behavior: The Coach's Perspective on Technology in Health Coaching

Rapid innovations in electronic healthcare and behavior tracking systems are challenging health coaches (dietitians, personal trainers, etc.) to rethink their traditional roles and healthcare practices. At the same time, many current e-coaching systems have been developed without explicitly incorporating the healthcare professionals' perspective into the design process. In the current paper, we present three consecutive qualitative studies, starting from the health coach's perspective on successful coaching, progressively zooming in on the potential role and impact of technology as part of the coaching process. Our main finding is that coaches are concerned that introducing technology in the coaching process puts too much emphasis on behavioral information, lowering the attention for the client's lived experience, while understanding those experiences is key for successful coaching. We summarize our insights in a multi-channel communication model and draw implications for the design of supporting technology in health coaching.
On-the-fly elimination of dynamic irregularities for GPU computing

The power-efficient massively parallel Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) have become increasingly influential for general-purpose computing over the past few years. However, their efficiency is sensitive to dynamic irregular memory references and control flows in an application. Experiments have shown great performance gains when these irregularities are removed. But it remains an open question how to achieve those gains through software approaches on modern GPUs. This paper presents a systematic exploration to tackle dynamic irregularities in both control flows and memory references. It reveals some properties of dynamic irregularities in both control flows and memory references, their interactions, and their relations with program data and threads. It describes several heuristics-based algorithms and runtime adaptation techniques for effectively removing dynamic irregularities through data reordering and job swapping. It presents a framework, G-Streamline, as a unified software solution to dynamic irregularities in GPU computing. G-Streamline has several distinctive properties. It is a pure software solution and works on the fly, requiring no hardware extensions or offline profiling. It treats both types of irregularities at the same time in a holistic fashion, maximizing the whole-program performance by resolving conflicts among optimizations. Its optimization overhead is largely transparent to GPU kernel executions, jeopardizing no basic efficiency of the GPU application. Finally, it is robust to the presence of various complexities in GPU applications. Experiments show that G-Streamline is effective in reducing dynamic irregularities in GPU computing, producing speedups between 1.07 and 2.5 for a variety of applications.
Three‐dimensional study of the musculotendinous architecture of supraspinatus and its functional correlations

The supraspinatus is most frequently involved in shoulder pathology. However, the musculotendinous architecture of the supraspinatus has not been well documented. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the detailed three‐dimensional architecture of the supraspinatus throughout its volume. Ten male formalin embalmed cadaveric specimens (mean age 61.9 ± 16 years) without any evidence of rotator cuff pathology were used. Three‐dimensional coordinates (x, y, and z) of the tendon and muscle fiber bundles were collected in situ, using serial dissection and digitization. The data was reconstructed into a three‐dimensional model using Maya™. Fiber bundle lengths, pennation angles (PA), muscle volumes, and tendon dimensions for each architecturally distinct area were computed and then analyzed using paired t‐tests and ANOVA (P < 0.05). The supraspinatus was found to consist of anterior and posterior regions, which were each further subdivided into superficial, middle, and deep parts. Mean PA were found to be significantly different between the distinct parts of the anterior region of the muscle. Medial PA was also found be significantly different between the superficial and middle, and superficial and deep parts of the posterior region. These results provide insight into the normal function of the muscle and its possible contribution to the initiation and progression of supraspinatus tendon tears. Clin. Anat. 20:648–655, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Tc-99m Depreotide Detecting Malignant Pulmonary Nodules: Histopathologic Correlation with Semiquantitative Tumor-to-Normal Lung Ratio

Tc-99m depreotide is a synthetic somatostatin analog with a low molecular weight of 1358 and binding domains for somatostatin receptors (SSTRs) subtypes 2, 3, and 5. This agent has been used for imaging pulmonary nodules in an effort to differentiate malignancies from infectious processes. To investigate whether there is significant ratio variability predicting a specific lung cancer type, we undertook this study. We analyzed the semiquantitative tumor-to-normal lung ratios among 23 patients with histopathologically proven lung carcinoma. Eleven patients with squamous cell carcinoma had 14 nodular lesions (n = 14); the ratios ranged from 6.0 to 1.4; the mean was 3.500. Nine patients with adenocarcinoma had 9 nodular lesions (n = 9); the ratios ranged from 3.2 to 1.0; mean was 1.89. Three patients with large cell carcinoma had 3 nodular lesions (n = 3); mean was 1.2. There were significantly different ratio values between squamous cell carcinoma and nonsquamous cell carcinoma. On a statistical analysis by t test, this difference proved to have a statistically significant value of P <0.038. For patients with lung cancer, we could predict the tumor most likely to be squamous cell carcinoma if the uptake ratio was greater than 3.5. Otherwise, the lower ratio appeared to be either the result of large cell carcinoma or adenocarcinoma. High tumor uptake of Tc-99m depreotide reflecting abundant SSTRs of a tumor and/or peritumoral neovasculature such as squamous cell carcinoma could be potentially useful in diagnostic and therapeutic guidance.
PILATES FOR PARKINSON ’ S DISEASE AND MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS 4 Pilates Adapted for Parkinson ’ s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis

Parkinson's disease (PD) and multiple sclerosis (MS) result in disruptive physical, cognitive, and sensory complications that progress with time. These symptoms can alter muscle tone and disturb movement, which can negatively impact a person's ability to complete activities of daily living (ADL) and participation in community activities alternative and supplemental treatments, including exercise, are also being used (National Significant improvements in walking speed and upper extremity endurance were seen in people with MS when they engaged in aerobic exercise (Romberg et al., 2004). A study by O'Brien, Dodd, and Bilney (2008), found that a successful exercise program for PD specifically addressed postural muscles, strength training and breathing exercises. It is suggested that treatment of PD should include the use of medication as well as regular exercise to manage the motor and psychosocial issues of coping with a chronic disease (Ziemssen, 2011). One possible exercise that should be considered is Pilates, which has been found to improve muscle endurance, flexibility, balance, and posture in people without neurological conditions (Kloubec, 2010). The Pilates method can be adapted for individuals, thus allowing compensation for restrictions in movement (Owsley, 2005). It is able to meet the needs of diverse populations because the specialized equipment has features that allow an exercise routine to be adapted to individual body types. However, there is a lack of knowledge in the Pilates community about cognitive or sensory disturbances associated with PD or MS is outside the basic knowledge required to become a certified Pilates instructor. This project addresses an unmet need by giving Pilates instructors the knowledge and skills to provide an accessible service that addresses some of the health and wellness needs of people with PD or MS.
Method and apparatus for providing channel state information

A method an apparatus for providing channel state information in a receiver are described. In the method, direct channel state information may be generated based on a calculated error signal, and indirect channel state information may be generated based on a magnitude of a channel frequency response. A channel state selection control signal is generated based on the calculated error signal and magnitude of the channel frequency response. One of the direct channel state information and indirect channel state information may be output based on a logic state of the channel state selection control signal.
Fast Mining of Large-Scale Logs for Botnet Detection: A Field Study

Botnets are considered one of the most dangerous species of network-based attack today because they involve the use of very large coordinated groups of hosts simultaneously. The behavioral analysis of computer networks is at the basis of the modern botnet detection methods, in order to intercept traffic generated by malwares for which signatures do not exist yet. Defining a pattern of features to be placed at the basis of behavioral analysis, puts the emphasis on the quantity and quality of information to be caught and used to mark data streams as normal or abnormal. The problem is even more evident if we consider extensive computer networks or clouds. With the present paper we intend to show how heuristics applied to large-scale proxy logs, considering a typical phase of the life cycle of botnets such as the search for C&C Servers through AGDs (Algorithmically Generated Domains), may provide effective and extremely rapid results. The present work will introduce some novel paradigms. The first is that some of the elements of the supply chain of botnets could be completed without any interaction with the Internet, mostly in presence of wide computer networks and/or clouds. The second is that behind a large number of workstations there are usually "human beings" and it is unlikely that their behaviors will cause marked changes in the interaction with the Internet in a fairly narrow time frame. Finally, AGDs can highlight, at the moment, common lexical features, detectable quickly and without using any black/white list.