Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Load Balancing in MapReduce Based on Scalable Cardinality Estimates

MapReduce has emerged as a popular tool for distributed and scalable processing of massive data sets and is being used increasingly in e-science applications. Unfortunately, the performance of MapReduce systems strongly depends on an even data distribution while scientific data sets are often highly skewed. The resulting load imbalance, which raises the processing time, is even amplified by high runtime complexity of the reducer tasks. An adaptive load balancing strategy is required for appropriate skew handling. In this paper, we address the problem of estimating the cost of the tasks that are distributed to the reducers based on a given cost model. An accurate cost estimation is the basis for adaptive load balancing algorithms and requires to gather statistics from the mappers. This is challenging: (a) Since the statistics from all mappers must be integrated, the mapper statistics must be small. (b) Although each mapper sees only a small fraction of the data, the integrated statistics must capture the global data distribution. (c) The mappers terminate after sending the statistics to the controller, and no second round is possible. Our solution to these challenges consists of two components. First, a monitoring component executed on every mapper captures the local data distribution and identifies its most relevant subset for cost estimation. Second, an integration component aggregates these subsets approximating the global data distribution.
Select Bibliography of Higher Education in Canada/ Bibliographie choisie de l'enseignement supérieur au Canada

This bibliography follows the one published in Stoa, Vol. Ill, no 2, 1973, pp. 175-82. All references are shown as in Robin S. Harris, A Bibliography of Higher Education in Canada, Supplement 1971, University of Toronto Press, Les Presses de l'Universite Laval, 1971. Cette bibliographie continue celle qui a paru dans Stoa, Vol. III, no 2, 1973, pp. 175-82. Les references sont donnees comme dans Robin S. Harris, Bibliographie de l'enseignement superieur au Canada, Supplement 1971, University of Toronto Press, Les Presses de l'Universite Laval, 1971.
Social differences in health: life-cycle effects between ages 23 and 33 in the 1958 British birth cohort.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to determine whether social differences in health persist or widen during early adulthood. METHODS A longitudinal follow-up of the 1958 British birth cohort was investigated, using social class at birth and six health measures at ages 23 and 33. A slope of inequality was estimated to represent social differences in health. RESULTS Social gradients in health were evident by age 23: the prevalence of poor health increased with decreasing social position. This was observed for several but not all health indicators. Social gradients persisted to age 33. The slope of inequality was greatest for malaise (odds ratio [OR] = 3.37 for men, 3.21 for women) and obesity (OR = 4.80 for men and 2.84 for women), both at age 23, and for self-rated health in women at age 23 (OR = 2.94) and age 33 (OR = 3.22). Inequality increased significantly between ages 23 and 33 for limiting illness in men, and lessened, although not significantly, for malaise, overweight, and obesity; social gradients remained constant for self-rated health, respiratory symptoms, and asthma or wheezing. CONCLUSIONS Social gradients in health evident in this sample by age 23 persisted to age 33. Inequalities did not appear to widen consistently, but variable findings for several health measures suggest that inequalities reproduce through different pathways.
Production of fungal chitosan in liquid cultivation using apple pomace as substrate

In this work, we propose the reuse of apple pomace as a substrate for fungal chitosan production by liquid cultivation of Gongronella butleri CCT4274. Different concentrations of reducing sugars and sodium nitrate were added to the aqueous extract of apple pomace and the best result was obtained with 40 g/L of reducing sugars and 2.5 g/L of sodium nitrate. The results indicate the possibility of producing 1.19 g/L of chitosan per liter of culture medium after 72.5 hours of cultivation, representing around 21% of the biomass content.
Organisation of pain in human somatosensory cortex

Converging evidence from experimental, clinical, and neuroimaging data suggests that a number of cortical areas are involved in human pain processing [1, 2, 3]. Among those are the primary (SI) and secondary (SII) somatosensory cortex. With regard to the representation of pain in SI and SII two issues have not been investigated so far: 1. The temporal characteristics of nociceptive processing in these cortices have remained largely unexplored. Especially, it is unknown whether SI and SII are activated in a serial or a parallel mode. 2. SI is not a homogeneous area but consists of four cytoarchitectonically distinct fields arranged from rostral to caudal and referred to as areas 3a, 3b, 1, and 2 [4, 5]. Whereas the parietal representations of tactile stimuli have been extensively investigated the representation of nociceptive stimuli within SI is unclear. We, therefore, used whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) to investigate the time course of cortical responses in SI and SII to selective nociceptive cutaneous laser stimuli [6], and to study in detail the activations within SI to nociceptive as compared to tactile stimuli [7].
Theta vacua and boundary conditions of the Schwinger-Dyson equations

Quantum field theories and Matrix models have a far richer solution set than is normally considered, due to the many boundary conditions which must be set to specify a solution of the Schwinger-Dyson equations. The complete set of solutions of these equations is obtained by generalizing the path integral to include sums over various inequivalent contours of integration in the complex plane. We discuss the importance of these exotic solutions. While naively the complex contours seem perverse, they are relevant to the study of theta vacua and critical phenomena. Furthermore, it can be shown that within certain phases of many theories, the physical vacuum does not correspond to an integration over a real contour. We discuss the solution set for the special case of one component zero dimensional scalar field theories, and make remarks about matrix models and higher dimensional field theories that will be developed in more detail elsewhere. Even the zero dimensional examples have much structure, and show some analogues of phenomena which are usually attributed to the effects of taking a thermodynamic limit.
Two-Photon Autofluorescence Imaging Reveals Cellular Structures Throughout the Retina of the Living Primate Eye

Purpose Although extrinsic fluorophores can be introduced to label specific cell types in the retina, endogenous fluorophores, such as NAD(P)H, FAD, collagen, and others, are present in all retinal layers. These molecules are a potential source of optical contrast and can enable noninvasive visualization of all cellular layers. We used a two-photon fluorescence adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscope (TPF-AOSLO) to explore the native autofluorescence of various cell classes spanning several layers in the unlabeled retina of a living primate eye. Methods Three macaques were imaged on separate occasions using a custom TPF-AOSLO. Two-photon fluorescence was evoked by pulsed light at 730 and 920 nm excitation wavelengths, while fluorescence emission was collected in the visible range from several retinal layers and different locations. Backscattered light was recorded simultaneously in confocal modality and images were postprocessed to remove eye motion. Results All retinal layers yielded two-photon signals and the heterogeneous distribution of fluorophores provided optical contrast. Several structural features were observed, such as autofluorescence from vessel walls, Müller cell processes in the nerve fibers, mosaics of cells in the ganglion cell and other nuclear layers of the inner retina, as well as photoreceptor and RPE layers in the outer retina. Conclusions This in vivo survey of two-photon autofluorescence throughout the primate retina demonstrates a wider variety of structural detail in the living eye than is available through conventional imaging methods, and broadens the use of two-photon imaging of normal and diseased eyes.
Learning to Partition using Score Based Compatibilities

We study the problem of learning to partition users into groups, where one must learn the compatibilities between the users to achieve optimal groupings. We define four natural objectives that optimize for average and worst case compatibilities and propose new algorithms for adaptively learning optimal groupings. When we do not impose any structure on the compatibilities, we show that the group formation objectives considered are NP hard to solve and we either give approximation guarantees or prove inapproximability results. We then introduce an elegant structure, namely that of intrinsic scores, that makes many of these problems polynomial time solvable. We explicitly characterize the optimal groupings under this structure and show that the optimal solutions are related to homophilous and heterophilous partitions, well-studied in the psychology literature. For one of the four objectives, we show NP hardness under the score structure and give a 1/2} approximation algorithm for which no constant approximation was known thus far. Finally, under the score structure, we propose an online low sample complexity PAC algorithm for learning the optimal partition. We demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed algorithm on synthetic and real world datasets.
Local facility hazard risk controversy and non-local hazard risk perception

Facility siting disputes are as much about the socio-politics in a place as they are about the risks posed by the facility; yet not much is known about how localized controversy about one hazard effects the perception of other, non-local, hazard risks. Our exploratory study tests the idea that a local facility risk controversy (landfill expansion) is tied to an overall sensitivity to risks from a wider range of potentially hazardous facilities. We use logistic regression models of questionnaire survey responses from 205 residents living near two landfills that were recently expanded or proposed to be expanded. Psychometric risk variables, cultural theory of risk variables, and sociodemographic variables are used as controls to see if risk-in-place/context variables related to threat and governance (e.g. fairness and fiduciary equity) predict not only risk from the landfill but also risk from three other potentially hazardous facilities (incinerator, chemical, and nuclear). The risk-in-place/context variables are predictive across all hazards but there is little consistency in the mix of predictors across models. The results suggest that facility controversy is linked to how residents view risks from non-local facility hazards and that this effect varies by place. This points to the need for more research in this area, and is suggestive that risk-hazard controversy may foster localized risk-averse places or wider risk-averse communities.
DNA damage induced by the anticodon nuclease from a Pichia acaciae killer strain is linked to ribonucleotide reductase depletion

Virus like element (VLE) encoded killer toxins of Pichia acaciae and Kluyveromyces lactis kill target cells through anticodon nuclease (ACNase) activity directed against tRNAGln and tRNAGlu respectively. Not only does tRNA cleavage disable translation, it also affects DNA integrity as well. Consistent with DNA damage, which is involved in toxicity, target cells' mutation frequencies are elevated upon ACNase exposure, suggesting a link between translational integrity and genome surveillance. Here, we analysed whether ACNase action impedes the periodically and highly expressed S‐phase specific ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) and proved that RNR expression is severely affected by PaT. Because RNR catalyses the rate‐limiting step in dNTP synthesis, mutants affected in dNTP synthesis were scrutinized with respect to ACNase action. Mutations elevating cellular dNTPs antagonized the action of both the above ACNases, whereas mutations lowering dNTPs aggravated toxicity. Consistently, prevention of tRNA cleavage in elp3 or trm9 mutants, which both affect the wobble uridine modification of the target tRNA, suppressed the toxin hypersensitivity of a dNTP synthesis mutant. Moreover, dNTP synthesis defects exacerbated the PaT ACNase sensitivity of cells defective in homologous recombination, proving that dNTP depletion is responsible for subsequent DNA damage.
Th0 Cells in the Thymus: The Question of T‐Helper Lineages

Although peripheral naive cells only secrete IL-2 upon primary stimulation, their presumptive immediate precursors, HSAlow CD4+8- thymocytes, can produce a large amount of the set of lymphokines usually associated with preactivated or memory CD4+ lymphocytes: IL-4, IL-5, IL-10 and gamma-IFN. This phenotype can be attributed to true virgin thymocytes and not only to recirculating lymphocytes, because it is found in newborn thymuses and in fetal thymic organ culture. This mature stage of CD4+8- thymocytes is itself preceded by an immature stage (HSAhigh) where only IL-2 and small amounts of gamma-IFN can be elicited by the combination of calcium ionophore and phorbol ester, but not by TCR cross-linking. CD8+4- thymocytes pass through a similar immature HSAhigh stage, where their pattern of lymphokine secretion is not yet differentiated from that of CD4+8- HSA high thymocytes. The subsets acquire their specific profiles at the HSAlow stage. We propose that recent thymic CD4+8- emigrant cells include a significant proportion of Th0 type cells, and that their role is critical to prime the immune system for IL-4 production, as well as to explain the longstanding observations of synergy between helper cell subpopulations in the periphery.
Optimal Testing Resource Allocation Problems in Software System using Heuristic Algorithm

ISSN 2277 5099 | © 2012 Bonfring Abstract---Software Testing is the process of implementing a program with the definite intent of finding errors former to delivery to the end user. Due to the increase and the complexity of the software system the problem is how to optimally assign the narrow testing resource during the testing phase has become more important and difficult. Traditional Optimal Testing Resource Allocation Problems (OTRAPs) includesin afinest allocation of a limited amount of testing resources with respect to reliability, cost etc. To solve the OTRAPs with Multi-Objective Algorithms called as Hierarchy Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm (HPSO) is suggested. Especially, organize OTRAPs for two types of multi-objective problems. First one is reliability of the system and the testing cost of the system as two objectives. Second, the total testing resource consumed is also taken into account as the third objective, sensitivity is the fourth objective. The existing algorithms require more time and the both the evolutionary and the NSGA algorithm having more drawbacks. To overcome the drawbacks of the existing algorithm, the proposed HPSO algorithm which is used in this paper, satisfy allthe four objective of this research. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is more efficient than the existing algorithms.
Bioinspired algorithm for autonomous sensor-driven guidance in turbulent chemical plumes

We designed and implemented a control algorithm for sensor-mediated chemical plume tracking in a turbulent flow environment. In our design, we focused on development of a signal processing strategy capable of replicating behavioral responses of actively tracking blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) to chemical stimuli. The control algorithm is evaluated in a hardware platform that allows motion in two directions (i.e. forward–back and left–right). The geometric arrangement of the sensor array is inspired by the location of blue crab sensor populations. Upstream motion is induced by a binary response to supra-threshold spikes of concentration, and cross-stream steering is controlled by contrast between bilaterally-separated sensors. Like animal strategies, the developed control algorithm is dynamic. This property allows the algorithm to function effectively in the highly irregular turbulent environment and produces adaptive adjustments of motion to minimize the distance to the source of a plume. Tracking trials indicate that roughly 80% of the tracks successfully stop near the plume source location. Both success rate and movement patterns of the tracker compare favorably to that of blue crabs searching for odorant plume sources, thus suggesting that our sensory-mediated behavior hypothesis are generally accurate and that the associated tracking mechanisms may be successfully implemented in hardware.
Principles of Brain Functioning: A Synergetic Approach to Brain Activity, Behavior and Cognition

This book presents a new understanding of brain activity. Based on the general results of synergetics, the brain is conceived as a complex self-organizing system with emergent properties. This approach is elaborated upon by numerous explicit models that are based on and checked by detailed experiments on movement control, on various results on vision and on EEG and MEG analysis. The book provides newcomers to brain research with an introductory chapter on the experimental exploration of the brain and provides newcomers to synergetics with detailed and easy-to-read chapters on the basic concepts and theoretical tools of this field.
A KV2.1 gating modifier binding assay suitable for high throughput screening

Gating modifier peptides alter gating of voltage-gated potassium (KV) channels by binding to the voltage sensor paddle and changing the energetics of channel opening. Since the voltage sensor paddle is a modular motif with low sequence similarity across families, targeting of this region should yield highly specific channel modifiers. To test this idea, we developed a binding assay with the KV2.1 gating modifier, GxTX-1E. Monoiodotyrosine-GxTX-1E (125I-GxTX-1E) binds with high affinity (IC50 = 4 nM) to CHO cells stably expressing hKV2.1 channels, but not to CHO cells expressing Maxi-K channels. Binding of 125I-GxTX-1E to KV2.1 channels is inhibited by another KV2.1 gating modifier, stromatoxin (IC50 = 30 nM), but is not affected by iberiotoxin or charybdotoxin, pore blocking peptides of other types of potassium channels, or by ProTx-II, a selective gating modifier peptide of the voltage-gated sodium channel NaV1.7. Specific 125I-GxTX-1E binding is not detectable when CHO-KV2.1 cells are placed in high external potassium, suggesting that depolarization favors dissociation of the peptide. The binding assay was adapted to a 384-well format, allowing high throughput screening of large compound libraries. Interestingly, we discovered that compounds related to PAC, a di-substituted cyclohexyl KV channel blocker, displayed inhibitory binding activity. These data establish the feasibility of screening large libraries of compounds in an assay that monitors the displacement of a gating modifier from the channel's voltage sensor. Future screens using this approach will ultimately test whether the voltage sensor of KV channels can be selectively targeted by small molecules to modify channel function.
Commentary on Collaboration in School-Based Practice: Positives and Pitfalls

Occupational therapists working in school-based practice provide intervention using a variety of approaches, including hands-on services for students (individual or small groups), team supports, and system supports. This commentary highlights the benefits and challenges of collaborating with education team members within classrooms and other contexts in school settings. The lessons learned provide an understanding of the need for collaboration versus consultation with the occupational therapist as the expert.
STRING SCANNING WITH BLOOM FILTERS CAN SCAN ENTIRE PACKET PAYLOADS FOR PREDEFINED SIGNATURES AT MULTI-GIGABIT-PER-SECOND LINE SPEEDS . DEEP PACKET INSPECTION USING PARALLEL BLOOM FILTERS

There is a class of packet processing applications that inspect packets deeper than the protocol headers to analyze content. For instance, network security applications must drop packets containing certain malicious Internet worms or computer viruses carried in a packet payload. Content-based billing systems analyze media files and bill the receiver based on the material transferred over the network. Content forwarding applications look at the hypertext transport protocol headers and distribute the requests among the servers for load balancing. Most payload scanning applications have a common requirement for string matching. For example, the presence of a string of bytes (or a signature) can identify the presence of a media file. Well-known Internet worms such as Nimda, Code Red, and Slammer propagate by sending malicious executable programs identifiable by certain byte sequences in packet payloads. Because the location (or offset) of such strings in the packet payload and their length is unknown, such applications must be able to detect strings of different lengths starting at arbitrary locations in the packet payload. Packet inspection applications, when deployed at router ports, must operate at wire speeds. With networking speeds doubling every year, it is becoming increasingly difficult for software-based packet monitors to keep up with the line rates. These changes have underscored the need for specialized hardware-based solutions that are portable and operate at wire speeds. We describe a hardware-based technique using Bloom filters, which can detect strings in streaming data without degrading network throughput. A Bloom filter is a data structure that stores a set of signatures compactly by computing multiple hash functions on each member of the set. This technique queries a database of strings to check for the membership of a particular string. The answer to this query can be false positive but never a false negative. An important property of this data structure is that the computation time involved in performing the query is independent of the number of strings in the database provided the memory used by the data structure scales linearly with the number of strings stored in it. Furthermore, the amount of storage required by the Bloom filter for each string is independent of its length. Our hardware implementation groups signatures according to their length (in bytes) Sarang Dharmapurikar
Fingerprinting Traffic Log

As malwares such as worms, viruses, spy wares, and bots keep being large threats in Internet security, a number of projects suggest monitoring their macroscopic network activities by globally distributed sensors. These sensors are deployed in various pertinent organizations and keep collecting traffic logs. Eventually these logs are shared among entities who analyze them. As such activities rise, more and more traffic logs are shared among the organizations and their traceability becomes an important issue. In this paper, we propose a fingerprinting method to embed an id into traffic logs. Particularly, we consider fingerprinting darknet traffic logs, which are common in network monitoring. By focusing on the nature of darknet traffic, our method enhances traceability while introducing minor degradation to them. Experiments using real darknet traffic show the robustness of the proposed scheme against several typical randomized attacks.