Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
UNICON - A Universal Consensus for Responsive Computer Systems

The consensus problem is omnipresent and fundamental in multicomputer systems. Synchronization, communication, diagnosis, scheduling, reconfiguration and termination of a computation can all be solved by consensus. We propose a single, universal consensus protocol that is capable of solving all of these consensus problems in a single pass through a set of computers. The protocol''s capabilities may be tailored to fault models ranging from those used in system diagnosis to the Byzantine Generals Problem. We believe that the UNIversal CONsensus protocol (UNICON) will become a foundation for responsive (fault- tolerant, real-time) multicomputer systems.
Cardiac Innervation and Sudden Cardiac Death

The heart is extensively innervated and its performance is tightly controlled by the nervous system. Cardiac innervation density varies in diseased hearts leading to unbalanced neural activation and lethal arrhythmia. Diabetic sensory neuropathy causes silent myocardial ischemia, characterized by loss of pain perception during myocardial ischemia, which is a major cause of sudden cardiac death in diabetes mellitus (DM). Despite its clinical importance, the mechanisms underlying the control and regulation of cardiac innervation remain poorly understood. We found that cardiac innervation is determined by the balance between neural chemoattractants and chemorepellents within the heart. Nerve growth factor (NGF), a potent chemoattractant, is induced by endothelin-1 upregulation during development and is highly expressed in cardiomyocytes. By comparison, Sema3a, a neural chemorepellent, is highly expressed in the subendocardium of early stage embryos, and is suppressed during development. The balance of expression between NGF and Seme3a leads to epicardial-to-endocardial transmural sympathetic innervation patterning. We also found that downregulation of cardiac NGF leads to diabetic neuropathy, and that NGF supplementation rescues silent myocardial ischemia in DM. Cardiac innervation patterning is disrupted in Sema3a-deficient and Sema3a-overexpressing mice, leading to sudden death or lethal arrhythmias. The present review focuses on the regulatory mechanisms underlying cardiac innervation and the critical role of these processes in cardiac performance.
Tranexamic acid use and postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing total hip or knee arthroplasty in the United States: retrospective analysis of effectiveness and safety

Objective To determine the effectiveness and safety of perioperative tranexamic acid use in patients undergoing total hip or knee arthroplasty in the United States. Design Retrospective cohort study; multilevel multivariable logistic regression models measured the association between tranexamic acid use in the perioperative period and outcomes. Setting 510 US hospitals from the claims based Premier Perspective database for 2006-12. Participants 872 416 patients who had total hip or knee arthroplasty. Intervention Perioperative intravenous tranexamic acid use by dose categories (none, ≤1000 mg, 2000 mg, and ≥3000 mg). Main outcome measures Allogeneic or autologous transfusion, thromboembolic complications (pulmonary embolism, deep venous thrombosis), acute renal failure, and combined complications (thromboembolic complications, acute renal failure, cerebrovascular events, myocardial infarction, in-hospital mortality). Results While comparable regarding average age and comorbidity index, patients receiving tranexamic acid (versus those who did not) showed lower rates of allogeneic or autologous transfusion (7.7% v 20.1%), thromboembolic complications (0.6% v 0.8%), acute renal failure (1.2% v 1.6%), and combined complications (1.9% v 2.6%); all P<0.01. In the multilevel models, tranexamic acid dose categories (versus no tranexamic acid use) were associated with significantly (P<0.001) decreased odds for allogeneic or autologous blood transfusions (odds ratio 0.31 to 0.38 by dose category) and no significantly increased risk for complications: thromboembolic complications (odds ratio 0.85 to 1.02), acute renal failure (0.70 to 1.11), and combined complications (0.75 to 0.98). Conclusions Tranexamic acid was effective in reducing the need for blood transfusions while not increasing the risk of complications, including thromboembolic events and renal failure. Thus our data provide incremental evidence of the potential effectiveness and safety of tranexamic acid in patients requiring orthopedic surgery.
Mediterranean Diet: From a Healthy Diet to a Sustainable Dietary Pattern

The notion of the Mediterranean diet has undergone a progressive evolution over the past 60 years, from a healthy dietary pattern to a sustainable dietary pattern, in which nutrition, food, cultures, people, environment, and sustainability all interact into a new model of a sustainable diet. An overview of the historical antecedents and recent increased interest in the Mediterranean diet is presented and challenges related to how to improve the sustainability of the Mediterranean diet are identified. Despite its increasing popularity worldwide, adherence to the Mediterranean diet model is decreasing for multifactorial influences – life styles changes, food globalization, economic, and socio-cultural factors. These changes pose serious threats to the preservation and transmission of the Mediterranean diet heritage to present and future generations. Today’s challenge is to reverse such trends. A greater focus on the Mediterranean diet’s potential as a sustainable dietary pattern, instead than just on its well-documented healthy benefits, can contribute to its enhancement. More cross-disciplinary studies on environmental, economic and socio-cultural, and sustainability dimensions of the Mediterranean diet are foreseen as a critical need.
On coding for Faster-Than-Nyquist signaling

In this paper, we study the design of sparse graph based codes for Faster-Than-Nyquist (FTN) signaling. Using an asymptotic approach based on EXIT charts, we show that good low-density parity check codes can be designed that perform well under iterative detection and decoding and that have better performance than a FTN scheme using a code optimized for the additive white Gaussian noise channel.
Enabling Source Channel Separation for Communication Networks : The Uplink Case

This paper looks at the problem of enabling source-channel separation for communication networks. Source-channel separation is of critical important as it provides a great extent of modularity to system design without suffering a penalty in the process. Indeed, source coding and channel coding at the two opposite ends of the protocol stack is the prevailing approach today, and it is desirable that systems are designed in a manner that allows for such architectures not only to be elegant and simple, but also optimal from a performance perspective. In particular, the paper focuses on the Gaussian uplink network for the case when two transmitters transmit correlated messages. The paper shows that feedback can lead to source-channel separation in such a system. In doing so, the paper also derives the capacity region for such a network
Transfer data optimization in parallel computing

Parallel computing is still evolving. Although there are great improvements in the field, still remains to be improved. The major research trend of parallel computing is now shifting to software technology from hardware architecture. We proposed a parallel technique to reduce network latency based on data's behavior of change, implemented it to real application GEOS-Chem, and made it faster
MEASUREMENT OF DIELECTRIC CONSTANT AND LOSS FACTOR OF THE DIELECTRIC MATERIAL AT MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES

A new technique to evaluate the dielectric constant and loss factor of a homogeneous dielectric material using rectangular shaped perturb cavity has been developed. The values of S-parameters are measured experimentally by placing the sample in the center of the cavity resonator. Sample under test is fabricated in the form of a cylinder. The real and imaginary part of the permittivity can be then calculated from the shift in the resonance frequency and Q-factor. The results of a Teflon sample are also tabulated.
UFIMT: an uncertain frequent itemset mining toolbox

In recent years, mining frequent itemsets over uncertain data has attracted much attention in the data mining community. Unlike the corresponding problem in deterministic data, the frequent itemset under uncertain data has two different definitions: the expected support-based frequent itemset and the probabilistic frequent itemset. Most existing works only focus on one of the definitions and no comprehensive study is conducted to compare the two different definitions. Moreover, due to lacking the uniform implementation platform, existing solutions for the same definition even generate inconsistent results. In this demo, we present a demonstration called as UFIMT (underline Uncertain Frequent Itemset Mining Toolbox) which not only discovers frequent itemsets over uncertain data but also compares the performance of different algorithms and demonstrates the relationship between different definitions. In this demo, we firstly present important techniques and implementation skills of the mining problem, secondly, we show the system architecture of UFIMT, thirdly, we report an empirical analysis on extensive both real and synthetic benchmark data sets, which are used to compare different algorithms and to show the close relationship between two different frequent itemset definitions, and finally we discuss some existing challenges and new findings.
A Survey of Applications of Wireless Sensors and Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensors and wireless sensor networks have come to the forefront of the scientific community recently. This is the consequence of engineering increasingly smaller sized devices, which enable many applications. The use of these sensors and the possibility of organizing them into networks have revealed many research issues and have highlighted new ways to cope with certain problems. In this paper, different applications areas where the use of such sensor networks has been proposed are surveyed
Parallel Magnetic Resonance Imaging

The main disadvantage of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) are its long scan times and, in consequence, its sensitivity to motion. Exploiting the complementary information from multiple receive coils, parallel imaging is able to recover images from under-sampled k-space data and to accelerate the measurement. Because parallel magnetic resonance imaging can be used to accelerate basically any imaging sequence it has many important applications. Parallel imaging brought a fundamental shift in image reconstruction: Image reconstruction changed from a simple direct Fourier transform to the solution of an ill-conditioned inverse problem. This work gives an overview of image reconstruction from the perspective of inverse problems. After introducing basic concepts such as regularization, discretization, and iterative reconstruction, advanced topics are discussed including algorithms for auto-calibration, the connection to approximation theory, and the combination with compressed sensing.
Modeling Parallel Real-time Tasks with Di-Graphs

Multiframe, generalised multiframe and di-graph task models have been proposed to cope with the increasing complexity of real-time applications. However, these models have been designed for single processor systems and cannot express the potential intra-task parallelism of many modern real-time applications. In this paper, we extend the di-graph model to support parallel tasks. We propose a sufficient feasibility test for partitioned scheduling of a set of di-graph tasks on an identical core platform. Based on this test, we also propose a set of heuristics for parallelising and partitioning a set of di-graph tasks and for assigning the core frequency. Thus, our frequency selection algorithm can be used to reduce the energy consumption of a system. A set of synthetic experiments are presented that emphasise the effectiveness of our model against other less expressive models proposed in the literature.
The Probability of the Alabama Paradox

Hamilton's method is a natural and common method to distribute seats proportionally between states (or parties) in a parliament. In the USA it has been abandoned due to some drawbacks, in particular the possibility of the Alabama paradox, but it is still in use in many other countries. In this paper we give, under certain assumptions, a closed formula for the asymptotic probability, as the number of seats tends to infinity, that the Alabama paradox occurs given the vector p 1,…, p m of relative sizes of the states. From the formula we deduce a number of consequences. For example, the expected number of states that will suffer from the Alabama paradox is asymptotically bounded above by 1 / e and on average approximately 0.123.
Improving outcomes in adults with diabetes through an interprofessional collaborative practice program

ABSTRACT In 2014, the Midwest Interprofessional Practice, Education and Research Center partnered with a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) to implement an interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) education program to improve the health of adult patients with diabetes and to improve practice efficiency. This partnership included integrating an interprofessional team of students with the practice team. Twenty-five students and 20 staff engaged in the IPCP program, which included completion of educational modules on IPCP and implementation of daily huddles, focus patient visits, phone calls, team-based case presentations, medication reconciliation, and student-led group diabetes education classes. This study used a sequential mixed methods design. Tools used for collecting data from staff and students included demographic forms, the Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (IEPS), the Entry-level Interprofessional Questionnaire, the Collaborative Practice Assessment Tool, and pre/post module knowledge tests completed at baseline and at one-year post implementation. Patient clinical indicators included HgbA1c, glucose, lipid panel laboratory assessments, body mass index, blood pressure, and documentation of annual dental, foot, and eye examinations. Practice efficiency was measured by the average number of patients seen per provider per hour. Both students and staff showed significant knowledge gains in IPCP on Team Dynamics and Tips for Behavioural Changes knowledge tests (p < .05). Patients who had an HgbA1c of ≥ 7% significantly decreased their HgbA1c (p < .05) and glucose (p < .01). However, BMI and annual dental and eye examinations did not improve. Providers demonstrated an increase in the number of patients seen per hour. This IPCP intervention showed improvement in practice efficiencies and select patient outcomes in a family practice clinic.
Factors Affecting the Accuracy of Bisphenol A and Bisphenol A-Monoglucuronide Estimates in Mammalian Tissues and Urine Samples

ABSTRACT Bisphenol A (BPA) (CAS Number 80–05-7; EINECS Number 201–245-8) is used in the production of plastics having food contact applications. Some biomonitoring studies have reported free BPA in blood or urine of humans. Since complete first-pass metabolism of orally administered BPA to BPA-monoglucuronide (BPA-G) occurs in humans, the presence of free BPA in human specimens raises questions as to the origin and/or possible sources of the free BPA. We hypothesized that BPA-G instability during specimen collection and analysis contributes to the presence of free BPA in the biological samples. Investigation of the in vitro hydrolysis of BPA-G in blood plasma, tissue homogenates, and diluted urine from laboratory rats and in aqueous/organic solutions commonly used for extraction in BPA analyses lent support to the hypothesis of BPA-G instability as a possible source of free BPA determinations in the biological specimens. Hydrolysis of BPA-G occurred at neutral pH and room temperature in diluted urine and in rat placental or fetal tissue homogenates at room temperature. Hydrolysis of BPA-G in aqueous/organic solutions began within minutes at pH 2 and 80°C. BPA-G was degraded to an unidentified compound in a urine/water mixture or when stored in a 25/75 mixture of urine/acetonitrile at pH 9 at either 22 or 80°C. Based upon these experiments, it was concluded that methods demonstrating BPA-G stability or accounting for its instability during analysis are warranted in studies designed to measure free BPA in biological specimens.
On Optimal Relay Placement and Sleep Control to Improve Energy Efficiency in Cellular Networks

We consider the joint optimization of relay station (RS) placement and RS sleep/active probability to enhance the energy efficiency of a one-dimensional cellular network. When the RSs are always active, conditions for optimal RS placement that minimizes transmission power are derived, based on which closed-form solution is obtained with path-loss exponent being two, and a simple numerical method for general values of path-loss exponent is proposed. When the circuit power consumption of active RSs is considered, RSs should enter sleep mode appropriately to save power. An algorithm based on projected Newton method is proposed to jointly optimize the RS placement and sleep/active probability. It is shown via numerical examples that the benefit of implementing RSs and optimizing RS placement is substantial and increases with the path-loss exponent. We also justify the interaction between RS placement and RS sleep control, which is effectively tackled by the proposed algorithm to minimize the total power consumption.
GaussStones: shielded magnetic tangibles for multi-token interactions on portable displays

This work presents GaussStones, a system of shielded magnetic tangibles design for supporting multi-token interactions on portable displays. Unlike prior works in sensing magnetic tangibles on portable displays, the proposed tangible design applies magnetic shielding by using an inexpensive galvanized steel case, which eliminates interference between magnetic tangibles. An analog Hall-sensor grid can recognize the identity of each shielded magnetic unit since each unit generates a magnetic field with a specific intensity distribution and/or polarization. Combining multiple units as a knob further allows for resolving additional identities and their orientations. Enabling these features improves support for applications involving multiple tokens. Thus, using prevalent portable displays provides generic platforms for tangible interaction design.
An Ant-like Task Allocation Model for a Swarm of Heterogeneous Robots

This paper addresses the issue of applying decentralised task allocation and task switching mechanisms in heterogeneous groups of robots in order to increase their ability to respond to task demand effectively. Our work is strongly inspired by the behaviour of eusocial insects (typically ants) and their behaviour of switching tasks in order to meet the changing demand. The objective of this paper is threefold: 1) identification of task allocation and task switching mechanisms in robots inspired by ants like red harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex barbatas, 2) developing a simple model of these mechanisms for use with a heterogeneous group of simulated robots and 3) implementing a decentralised and adaptive mechanism of updating thresholds for heterogeneous groups of simulated robots. The paper extends the use of threshold based mechanisms in homogeneous robots into the realms of heterogeneous groups of robots. Experimental results show that the incorporation of task switching mechanisms in specialised groups of robots improves the foraging efficiency and swarm energy significantly.
Bisimulation for Quantum Processes

Quantum cryptographic systems have been commercially available, with a striking advantage over classical systems that their security and ability to detect the presence of eavesdropping are provable based on the principles of quantum mechanics. On the other hand, quantum protocol designers may commit more faults than classical protocol designers since human intuition is poorly adapted to the quantum world. To offer formal techniques for modeling and verification of quantum protocols, several quantum extensions of process algebra have been proposed. An important issue in quantum process algebra is to discover a quantum generalization of bisimulation preserved by various process constructs, in particular, parallel composition, where one of the major differences between classical and quantum systems, namely quantum entanglement, is present. Quite a few versions of bisimulation have been defined for quantum processes in the literature, but in the best case they are only proved to be preserved by parallel composition of purely quantum processes where no classical communication is involved. Many quantum cryptographic protocols, however, employ the LOCC (Local Operations and Classical Communication) scheme, where classical communication must be explicitly specified. So, a notion of bisimulation preserved by parallel composition in the circumstance of both classical and quantum communication is crucial for process algebra approach to verification of quantum cryptographic protocols. In this article we introduce novel notions of strong bisimulation and weak bisimulation for quantum processes, and prove that they are congruent with respect to various process algebra combinators including parallel composition even when both classical and quantum communication are present. We also establish some basic algebraic laws for these bisimulations. In particular, we show the uniqueness of the solutions to recursive equations of quantum processes, which proves useful in verifying complex quantum protocols. To capture the idea that a quantum process approximately implements its specification, and provide techniques and tools for approximate reasoning, a quantified version of strong bisimulation, which defines for each pair of quantum processes a bisimulation-based distance characterizing the extent to which they are strongly bisimilar, is also introduced.
Linkage Analysis and Disease Models in Benign Familial Infantile Seizures: A Study of 16 Families

Summary: Purpose: Benign familial infantile seizures (BFIS) is a genetically heterogeneous condition characterized by partial seizures, onset age from 3 to 9 months, and favorable outcome. BFIS loci were identified on chromosomes 19q12‐13.1 and 16p12‐q12, allelic to infantile convulsions and choreathetosis. The identification of SCN2A mutations in families with only infantile seizures indicated that BFNIS and BFIS may show overlapping clinical features. Infantile seizures also were in a family with familial hemiplegic migraine and mutations in the ATP1A2 gene. We have examined the heterogeneous genetics of BFIS by means of linkage analysis.
Community integration of formerly homeless men and women with severe mental illness after hospital discharge.

OBJECTIVE This exploratory study examined the impact of critical time intervention (CTI), a time-limited care coordination model, on community integration among formerly homeless adults with severe mental illness after discharge from inpatient psychiatric treatment. METHODS Data were from a randomized trial that enrolled 150 participants, 95 of whom completed 18-month outcome measures. Relationships between two components of community integration (social and physical) and demographic characteristics, symptom ratings, housing status, and treatment condition were examined. RESULTS Neither assignment to CTI nor housing stability was associated with integration outcomes. General and negative symptoms were inversely associated with both physical and social integration. CONCLUSIONS Although CTI and similar community support models may improve housing stability and reduce rehospitalization, they may not, by themselves, improve community integration. Future studies should focus on improving measurement of community integration so that it can be effectively studied as an important outcome of mental health interventions for this population.