Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Verification of Infinite State Mutual Exclusion Protocols

In this work we present formal verification of two infinite state mutual exclusion protocols. Infinite state systems cannot be verified by automatic algorithmic verification techniques such as model checking. On the other hand, deductive verification can be used in infinite state verification, but it is time consuming and requires considerable expertise. We combine algorithmic and deductive verification using the abstract interpretation framework. A methodology from that framework called predicate abstraction allows us to reduce infinite state systems to finite state using decision procedures. The obtained finite state system can be model checked against restricted class of temporal logic formulas. That restricted class is expressive enough for specification of the safety properties, and can be verified with NuSMV tool.
Defining and assessing professional competence.

CONTEXT Current assessment formats for physicians and trainees reliably test core knowledge and basic skills. However, they may underemphasize some important domains of professional medical practice, including interpersonal skills, lifelong learning, professionalism, and integration of core knowledge into clinical practice. OBJECTIVES To propose a definition of professional competence, to review current means for assessing it, and to suggest new approaches to assessment. DATA SOURCES We searched the MEDLINE database from 1966 to 2001 and reference lists of relevant articles for English-language studies of reliability or validity of measures of competence of physicians, medical students, and residents. STUDY SELECTION We excluded articles of a purely descriptive nature, duplicate reports, reviews, and opinions and position statements, which yielded 195 relevant citations. DATA EXTRACTION Data were abstracted by 1 of us (R.M.E.). Quality criteria for inclusion were broad, given the heterogeneity of interventions, complexity of outcome measures, and paucity of randomized or longitudinal study designs. DATA SYNTHESIS We generated an inclusive definition of competence: the habitual and judicious use of communication, knowledge, technical skills, clinical reasoning, emotions, values, and reflection in daily practice for the benefit of the individual and the community being served. Aside from protecting the public and limiting access to advanced training, assessments should foster habits of learning and self-reflection and drive institutional change. Subjective, multiple-choice, and standardized patient assessments, although reliable, underemphasize important domains of professional competence: integration of knowledge and skills, context of care, information management, teamwork, health systems, and patient-physician relationships. Few assessments observe trainees in real-life situations, incorporate the perspectives of peers and patients, or use measures that predict clinical outcomes. CONCLUSIONS In addition to assessments of basic skills, new formats that assess clinical reasoning, expert judgment, management of ambiguity, professionalism, time management, learning strategies, and teamwork promise a multidimensional assessment while maintaining adequate reliability and validity. Institutional support, reflection, and mentoring must accompany the development of assessment programs.
Bicistronic Woodchuck Hepatitis Virus Core and Gamma Interferon DNA Vaccine Can Protect from Hepatitis but Does Not Elicit Sterilizing Antiviral Immunity

ABSTRACT The immunity elicited against nucleocapsid of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and closely related woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV) has been shown to be important in resolution of hepatitis and protection from infection. Further, activity of gamma interferon (IFN-γ), which may directly inhibit hepadnavirus replication, promotes antiviral defense and favors T helper cell type 1 (Th1) response, which is seemingly a prerequisite of HBV clearance. In this study, to enhance induction of protective immunity against hepadnavirus, healthy woodchucks were immunized with a bicistronic DNA vaccine carrying WHV core (WHc) and woodchuck IFN-γ (wIFN-γ) gene sequences. Three groups, each group containing three animals, were injected once or twice with 0.5 mg, 0.9 mg, or 1.5 mg per dose of this vaccine. In addition, four animals received two injections of 0.6 mg or 1 mg WHc DNA alone. All animals were challenged with WHV. The results showed that four of nine animals injected with the bicistronic vaccine and one of four immunized with WHc DNA became protected from serologically evident infection and hepatitis. This protection was not linked to induction of WHc antigen-specific antibodies or T-cell proliferative response and was not associated with enhanced transcription of Th1 cytokines or 2′,5′-oligoadenylate synthetase. Strikingly, all animals protected from hepatitis became reactive for WHV DNA and carried low levels of replicating virus in hepatic and lymphoid tissues after challenge with WHV. This study shows that the bicistronic DNA vaccine encoding both hepadnavirus core antigen and IFN-γ was more effective in preventing hepatitis than that encoding virus core alone, but neither of them could mount sterile immunity against the virus or prevent establishment of occult infection.
Malware analysis in cloud computing: Network and system characteristics

The deployment of cloud computing environments is increasingly common, and we are implicitly reliant on them for many services. However, their dependence on virtualised computer and network infrastructures introduces risks related to system resilience. In particular, the virtualised nature of the cloud has not yet been thoroughly studied with respect to security issues including vulnerabilities and appropriate anomaly detection. This paper proposes an approach for the investigation and analysis of malware in virtualised environments. We carry out an analysis, on a system and network-wide scale, and further pinpoint some system and network features specifically by studying the example of the Kelihos malware.
The cricket compass for context-aware mobile applications

The ability to determine the orientation of a device is of fundamental importance in context aware and location-dependent mobile computing. By analogy to a traditional compass, knowledge of orientation through the Cricket compass attached to a mobile device enhances various applications, including efficient way-finding and navigation, directional service discovery, and “augmented-reality” displays. Our compass infrastructure enhances the spatial inference capability of the Cric ketindoor location system [20], and enables new pervasive computing applications. Using fixed active beacons and carefully placed passive ultrasonic sensors, we show how to estimate the orientation of a mobile device to within a few degrees, using precise, sub-centimeter differences in distance estimates from a beacon to each sensor on the compass. Then, given a set of fixed, active position beacons whose locations are known, we describe an algorithm that combines several carrier arrival times to produce a robust estimate of the rigid orientation of the mobile compass. The hardware of the Cricket compass is small enough to be integrated with a handheld mobile device. It includes five passive ultrasonic receivers, each 0.8cm in diameter, arrayed in a “V” shape a few centimeters across. Cricket beacons deployed throughout a building broadcast coupled 418MHz RF packet data and a 40KHz ultrasound carrier, which are processed by the compass software to obtain differential distance and position estimates. Our experimental results show that our prototype implementation can determine compass orientation to within 3 degrees when the true angle lies between ±30 degrees, and to within 5 degrees when the true angle lies between ±40 degrees, with respect to a fixed beacon.
Optimal doses of EGF and GDNF act as biological response modifiers to improve porcine oocyte maturation and quality

Summary It is well documented that both epidermal growth factor (EGF) and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) are critical for porcine oocyte maturation, however, little information is known about their mechanism of action in vitro. To gain insight into the mechanisms of action of the optimum doses of EGF and GDNF on porcine oocyte maturation, porcine cumulus–oocyte complexes (COCs) were matured in defined porcine oocyte medium supplemented with EGF, GDNF or a combination of both at varying concentrations (0–100 ng/ml) for 44 h. Nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation were determined in terms of nuclear stage after DNA staining with Hoechst and cortical granule distribution after lectin labeling, respectively. Mature oocytes were subsequently collected for gene expression analysis or subjected to in vitro fertilization and cultured for 7 days. The results showed that EGF and/or GDNF, when administered in a certain dose (50 ng/μl) to the maturation medium, not only effectively improved the synchronization of nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation processes within the oocyte, but enhanced expression of their corresponding receptors in mature oocytes (P < 0.05). Moreover, supplementation with an optimal combination of EGF + GDNF resulted in elevation of TFAM transcripts as well as a decrease of caspase-3 transcripts compared with the other studied groups (P < 0.05). Collectively, our results indicate that treatment of porcine oocytes with specific-dose combinations of EGF and GDNF stimulates oocyte quality and competence by transcriptional modulation of genes involved in oocyte survival and competence.
Perspectives on novel therapeutic strategies for right heart failure in pulmonary arterial hypertension: lessons from the left heart

Right heart function is the main determinant of prognosis in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). At present, no treatments are currently available that directly target the right ventricle, as we will demonstrate in this article. Meta-analysis of clinical trials in PAH revealed that current PAH medication seems to have limited cardiac-specific effects when analysed by the pump-function graph. Driven by the hypothesis that “left” and right heart failure might share important underlying pathophysiological mechanisms, we evaluated the clinical potential of left heart failure (LHF) therapies for PAH, based on currently available literature. As in LHF, the sympathetic nervous system and the renin–angiotension–aldosterone system are highly activated in PAH. From LHF we know that intervening in this process, e.g. by angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition or β-blockade, is beneficial in the long run. Therefore, these medications could be also beneficial in PAH. Furthermore, the incidence of sudden cardiac death in PAH could be reduced by implantable cardioverter-defibrillators. Finally, pilot studies have demonstrated that interventricular dyssynchrony, present at end-stage PAH, responded favourably to cardiac resynchronisation therapy as well. In conclusion, therapies for LHF might be relevant for PAH. However, before they can be implemented in PAH management, safety and efficacy should be evaluated first in well-designed clinical trials.
History question classification and representation for Chinese Gaokao

In this paper, we propose a question representation based on entity labeling and question classification for a automatic question answering system of Chinese Gaokao history question. A CRF model is used for the entity labeling and SVM/ CNN/LSTM models are tested for question classification. Our experiments show that CRF model provides a high performance when used to label informative entities out while neural networks has a promising performance for the question classification task. With both entity labeling and question classification models of high performance, we can provide the KB-based question answering system with a question representation of high reliability. Then the question answering system can do more good work depending on the key information our models provide.
Application of abnormal sound recognition system for indoor environment

In our living environment, there are various types of sounds. According to the uniqueness of sounds, people can further comprehend the surrounding by the sense of hearing. Nowadays, voice recognition had been widely applied in various applications. In this paper, we proposed an abnormal sound recognition system for monitoring indoor sounds. Twenty-four features were extracted from each sound frame. The sequential floating forward selection (SFFS) was then adopted to select high discriminative features. The support vector machine (SVM) was finally used to classify the sounds into six categories (screaming, infants' crying, coughing, glass breaking, laughing and doorbell ringing). From the experiment results, the proposed system can effectively recognize different kinds of abnormal sounds with a high recognition rate.
In the Passenger Seat: Investigating Ride Comfort Measures in Autonomous Cars

The prospect of driverless cars wide-scale deployment is imminent owing to the advances in robotics, computational power, communications, and sensor technologies. This promises highway fatality reductions and improvements in traffic and fuel efficiency. Our understanding of the effects arising from commuting in autonomous cars is still limited. The novel concept of the loss of driver controllability is introduced here. It requires a reassessment of vehicle's comfort criteria. In this review paper, traditional comfort measures are examined and autonomous passenger awareness factors are proposed. We categorize path-planning methods in light of the offered factors. The objective of the review presented in this article is to highlight the gap in path planning from a passenger comfort perspective and propose some research solutions. It is expected that this investigation will generate more research interest and bring innovative solutions into this field.
Capacitorless DC-DC converter

Linear-assisted DC/DC converters (or linear-switching hybrid DC/DC converters) consist of a voltage linear regulator (classic NPN or nMOS topologies and LDO) connected in parallel with a switching DC/DC converter. In order to control these hybrid structures, different strategies exist, allowing to fix the switching frequency as a function of some parameters of the linear regulator. This article compares two control strategies that, although can be applied to the same circuital structure of linear-assisted converter, are sensibly different. The first one, reported in previous literature, cancels completely the average current through the linear regulator in steady state to achieve a reduction of the losses. Thus the efficiency of the whole system increases and almost equals the one of the standalone switching converter. The proposed approach, in spite of a slightly increment of linear regulator's losses, reduces the output ripple due to the crossover distortion of linear regulator output stage.
High-pressure polymorphs of anatase TiO 2

The equation of state of anatase TiO 2 has been determined experimentally—using polycrystalline as well as single-crystal material—and compared with theoretical calculations using the ab initio perturbed ion model. The results are highly consistent, the zero-pressure bulk modulus being 179 ~ 2 ! GPa from experiment and 189 GPa from theory. Single-crystal tetragonal anatase transforms to the orthorhombic a -PbO 2 structure at about 4.5 GPa. This transition is suppressed in the polycrystalline material at room temperature, probably due to the presence of grain boundaries and other crystal defects. Polycrystalline anatase is found to transform to the monoclinic baddeleyite structure at about 13 GPa. Upon decompression, the baddeleyite phase transforms to the a -PbO 2 phase at about 7 GPa. The experimental zero-pressure bulk moduli are 258 ~ 8 ! GPa for the a -PbO 2 phase and 290 ~ 10 ! GPa for the baddeleyite phase.
Metagenomic Analysis of Fever, Thrombocytopenia and Leukopenia Syndrome (FTLS) in Henan Province, China: Discovery of a New Bunyavirus

Since 2007, many cases of fever, thrombocytopenia and leukopenia syndrome (FTLS) have emerged in Henan Province, China. Patient reports of tick bites suggested that infection could contribute to FTLS. Many tick-transmitted microbial pathogens were tested for by PCR/RT-PCR and/or indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA). However, only 8% (24/285) of samples collected from 2007 to 2010 tested positive for human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA), suggesting that other pathogens could be involved. Here, we used an unbiased metagenomic approach to screen and survey for microbes possibly associated with FTLS. BLASTx analysis of deduced protein sequences revealed that a novel bunyavirus (36% identity to Tehran virus, accession: HQ412604) was present only in sera from FTLS patients. A phylogenetic analysis further showed that, although closely related to Uukuniemi virus of the Phlebovirus genus, this virus was distinct. The candidate virus was examined for association with FTLS among samples collected from Henan province during 2007–2010. RT-PCR, viral cultures, and a seroepidemiologic survey were undertaken. RT-PCR results showed that 223 of 285 (78.24%) acute-phase serum samples contained viral RNA. Of 95 patients for whom paired acute and convalescent sera were available, 73 had serologic evidence of infection, with 52 seroconversions and 21 exhibiting a 4-fold increase in antibody titer to the virus. The new virus was isolated from patient acute-phase serum samples and named Henan Fever Virus (HNF virus). Whole-genome sequencing confirmed that the virus was a novel bunyavirus with genetic similarity to known bunyaviruses, and was most closely related to the Uukuniemi virus (34%, 24%, and 29% of maximum identity, respectively, for segment L, M, S at maximum query coverage). After the release of the GenBank sequences of SFTSV, we found that they were nearly identical (>99% identity). These results show that the novel bunyavirus (HNF virus) is strongly correlated with FTLS.
A digital compensation method for piezoresistive pressure sensor

The pressure sensor currently used in domestic rail transport industry has a poor compatibility with its media, causing a large temperature drift. Such a sensor usually fails to meet the application requirements of diesel locomotive measuring environment with multiple media and small volume. In order to meet the requirements of the diesel locomotive, this paper conducts a deep analysis on the piezoresistive effect, piezoresistive coefficients, and operating principle of the pressure sensor based on the structural property of conventional silicon piezoresistive pressure sensor. With the analysis, a signal conditioning circuit based on programmable chip ZSC31010 is designed and a method to achieve the temperature compensation and nonlinear compensation is proposed based on the temperature characteristic of the pressure-sensitive element.
The association between head injuries and psychiatric disorders: findings from the New Haven NIMH Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study

Primary objective : To determine the association of report of any history of head injury with loss of consciousness or confusion and a lifetime diagnosis of psychiatric disorder in a general population. Research design : A probability sample of adults from the New Haven portion of the NIMH Epidemiologic Catchment Area programme were administered standardized and validated structured interviews. The main outcome measureswere lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorders and suicide attempt in individuals with and without a history of traumatic brain injury. Main outcomes and results : Among 5034 individuals interviewed, 361 admitted to a history of severe brain trauma with loss of consciousness or confusion (weighted rate of 8.5/100). When controlling for sociodemographic factors, quality of life indicators and alcohol use, risk was increased for major depression, dysthymia, panic disorder, OCD, phobic disorder and drug abuse/dependence. In addition, lifetime risk of suicide attempt was greater in those who had suffered head injury. Conclusion : Individuals with a history of traumatic brain injury have significantly higher occurrence for psychiatric disorders and suicide attempts in comparison with those without head injury and have a poorer quality of life. Future studies should examine the nature of this relationship, focusing on the severity of the brain injury and the temporal contiguity of the brain injury and psychiatric disorder.
The road to embryologically based dose-response models.

The goal of researchers working in the area of developmental toxicology is to prevent adverse reproductive outcomes (early pregnancy loss, birth defects, reduced birth weight, and altered functional development) in humans due to exposures to environmental contaminants, therapeutic drugs, and other factors. To best achieve that goal, it is important that relevant information be gathered and assimilated in the risk assessment process. One of the major challenges of improved risk assessment is to better use all pertinent biological and mechanistic information. This may be done qualitatively (e.g., demonstrating that the experimental model is not appropriate for extrapolation purposes); semiquantitatively (using information to reduce the degree of uncertainty present under default extrapolation procedures), or quantitatively (formally describing the relationships between exposure and adverse outcome in mathematical forms, including components that directly reflect individual steps in the overall progression of toxicity). In this paper we review the recent advances in the risk assessment process for developmental toxicants and hypothesize on future directions that may revolutionize our thinking in this area. The road to these changes sometimes appears to be a well-mapped course on a relatively smooth surface; at other times the path is bumpy and obscure, while at still other times it is only a wish in the eye of the engineer to cross an uncharted and rugged environment. ImagesFigure 11. AFigure 11. B
Apresentação do Número Temático

Saude e Bem Estar Individual, Familiar e Social de pessoas LGBT E com muito gosto que damos as boas-vindas aos leitores da Revista Psicologia a este numero tematico que reune um conjunt de trabalhos teoricos e empiricos sobre a saude e bem-estar de pessoas Lesbicas, Gays, Bissexuais e Transgenero (LGBT), no âmbito do seu ciclo de vida desde a infância/adolescencia a vida adulta, do ponto de vista individual, familiar e/ou social.
Visual correlates of prosodic contrastive focus in French: description and inter-speaker variability

This study is a follow-up of previous studies we conducted on the visible articulatory correlates of French prosodic contrastive focus. A two speaker analysis using an automatic lip-tracking device had shown that these correlates existed and were used in visual perception. However the articulatory strategies depended on the speaker. The purpose of this study was thus to extend the analysis to other speakers, examine the similarities and variabilities and try to identify global tendencies. We recorded five speakers of French with a 3D optical tracker using a 13 sentence (subject-verb-object) corpus and four focus conditions (S, V, O or neutral). An articulatory analysis confirmed that visible articulatory correlates exist for all the speakers. The strategies used are mainly of two types: absolute and differential. An analysis of other facial movements showed that an eyebrow raising and/or a head nod can signal focus. This association is however highly inter- and intra-speaker dependent.