Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bifurcated queueing for throughput enhancement in input-queued switches

We propose a bifurcated queueing approach to breaking the well-known 0.586 barrier for the throughput of input queued switches with head-of-line blocking. Each input line maintains a small number k of parallel queues, one for each of a set of k mutually exclusive subsets of the set of output-port addresses. We generalize the analysis of Karol et al. (1987) and show that the upper bound on throughput is (1+k)-/spl radic/1+k/sup 2/, k=1, 2, 3, . We point out that even for k=2, there is a significant improvement in throughput and that as k increases, the throughput approaches one.
Agricultural Pesticide Use in Developing Countries: Health Effects and Research Needs

Large worker populations in the Third World are exposed to increasing amounts of pesticides, including pesticides severely restricted and banned in industrialized countries. Studies on knowledge, attitudes, and practices indicate that unsafe use of pesticides is the rule in Third World countries. Surveys of acute poisonings show high rates in these countries, despite underregistration. The scarce studies on chronic health outcomes demonstrate neurotoxic, reproductive, and dermatologic effects. Exposure assessment consists mainly of Cholinesterase testing, and few studies have quantified dermal and respiratory exposure. The few intervention studies demonstrate the need for evaluation of the impact of preventive measures and policies. There is no evidence that widespread “safe-use” programs have greatly affected exposure and morbidity. It was concluded that research should focus on simple methods for surveillance of exposure and on surveillance of acute illness and its causes in order to develop and evaluate rapid local interventions. Studies on chronic effects should be carried out in selected countries, aiming at long-term and broader interventions. Policies that promote the use of pesticides should be critically evaluated. North–South and South–South research collaborations must be encouraged to address this global health problem.
Association of cannabis use with hospital admission and antipsychotic treatment failure in first episode psychosis: an observational study

Objective To investigate whether cannabis use is associated with increased risk of relapse, as indexed by number of hospital admissions, and whether antipsychotic treatment failure, as indexed by number of unique antipsychotics prescribed, may mediate this effect in a large data set of patients with first episode psychosis (FEP). Design Observational study with exploratory mediation analysis. Setting Anonymised electronic mental health record data from the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. Participants 2026 people presenting to early intervention services with FEP. Exposure Cannabis use at presentation, identified using natural language processing. Main outcome measures admission to psychiatric hospital and clozapine prescription up to 5 years following presentation. Mediator Number of unique antipsychotics prescribed. Results Cannabis use was present in 46.3% of the sample at first presentation and was particularly common in patients who were 16–25, male and single. It was associated with increased frequency of hospital admission (incidence rate ratio 1.50, 95% CI 1.25 to 1.80), increased likelihood of compulsory admission (OR 1.55, 1.16 to 2.08) and greater number of days spent in hospital (β coefficient 35.1 days, 12.1 to 58.1). The number of unique antipsychotics prescribed, mediated increased frequency of hospital admission (natural indirect effect 1.09, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.18; total effect 1.50, 1.21 to 1.87), increased likelihood of compulsory admission (natural indirect effect (NIE) 1.27, 1.03 to 1.58; total effect (TE) 1.76, 0.81 to 3.84) and greater number of days spent in hospital (NIE 17.9, 2.4 to 33.4; TE 34.8, 11.6 to 58.1). Conclusions Cannabis use in patients with FEP was associated with an increased likelihood of hospital admission. This was linked to the prescription of several different antipsychotic drugs, indicating clinical judgement of antipsychotic treatment failure. Together, this suggests that cannabis use might be associated with worse clinical outcomes in psychosis by contributing towards failure of antipsychotic treatment.
Mythology of the Blackfoot Indians

Mythology of the Blackfoot Indians, originally published in 1908 by the American Museum of Natural History, introduces such figures as Old Man, Scar-Face, Blood-Clot, and the Seven Brothers. Included are tales with ritualistic origins emphasizing the prototypical Beaver-Medicine and the roles played by Elk-Woman and Otter-Woman, and a presentation of Star Myths, which reveal the astronomical knowledge of the Blackfoot Indians. Narratives about Raven, Grasshopper, and Whirlwind-Boy account for conditions in humanity and nature. Many of the stories in the concluding group-like "The Lost Children" and "The Ghost-Woman"-were tales told to Blackfoot children. Clark Wissler notes that these narratives were collected very early in the twentieth century from the Piegans in Montana and from the North Piegans, Bloods, and Northern Blackfoot in Canada. Most were translated by D. C. Duvall and revised for Mythology of the Blackfoot Indians by Wissler. Clark Wissler (1870-1947) was curator at the American Museum of Natural History and chairman of the Department of Anthropology at Columbia University. Among his major works are North American Indians of the Plains and Man and Culture. Introducing this Bison Book edition is Alice B. Kehoe, a professor of sociology and anthropology at Marquette University and the author of North American Indians: A Comprehensive Account.
Diversity Transmission of M-Ary Orthogonal Signals in a Hostile Environment

This paper discusses some aspects of the problem of making good decisions when the signals are M-ary (M = 2K) orthogonal waveforms transmitted over a channel that may include intentional jamming. The diversity may be simple as with fast frequency hopping or more complex as with error correction coding. Optimal processing with constant wideband Gaussian noise is presented to give a reference. Performance of this processor is also evaluated with optimized partial band (or time) noise jamming. Departing from optimality, two techniques that operate on the k individual bits associated with an M-ary symbol are discussed and performance is evaluated for the jamming environments mentioned previously. A ratio-threshold quantization technique with a corresponding recombination rule is presented. Finally, an example application of 8-ary FSK modulation combined with rate 1/2, constraint length 7 convolutional coding is used to illustrate the utility of this sub-optimal processing technique.
Deliberate ambiguity in slogans

In slogans used in public information, politics, and advertising, and also in titles of books, documentaries, or articles, ambiguity is often employed to pique the interest of the reader in the message that is conveyed. According to several theories of text processing, this deliberate ambiguity may gain greater appreciation than slogans employing other rhetorical means. A special form of deliberate ambiguity is studied in this contribution: slogans that may be taken literally. The notion of salient meaning explains what happens when idiomatic meaning is reinterpreted into literal meaning, to fit the context. Instead of the esthetic experience often attributed to metaphorical expressions, this kind of ambiguity evokes humor. An experiment shows that deliberate ambiguity in slogans has a positive effect on appreciation. Recognition of the ambiguity is a strong factor in the appreciation of these slogans. Even nonambiguous slogans are appreciated more if they are recognized as ambiguous. Introduction
Variedades de "Bituminaria bituminosa" (L.) Stirton (Leguminosae) en el archipiélago canario

Bituminaria bituminosa (L.) Stirton es una especie que se usa tradicionalmente como planta forrajera en el archipielago canario, donde se la conoce con el nombre vulgar de «tedera». En este trabajo se describen dos variedades de dicha especie: la var. crassiuscula distribuida por las cumbres de la isla de Tenerife, entre los 1700 y 2.200 m.s.m. , y la var. albomarginata al norte de la isla de Lanzarote y los islotes de Alegranza y Montana Clara
Cat assay for the emetic action of digitalis and related glycosides (digitoxin, digoxin, lanatoside C, ouabain and calactin)

1 A titration assay with two end points is described for comparison of the emetic and lethal potencies of digitalis‐like drugs. 2 A drug was infused at constant rate to a conscious, unrestrained cat, through an indwelling venous cannula. At the moment of vomiting the cat was rapidly anaesthetized and infusion continued at the same rate until the moment of cardiac arrest. 3 With very slow and very fast infusions, the emetic and lethal doses tended to rise. In the range between these extremes (which varied from drug to drug) they were independent of time. 4 The observations could be accounted for by analogue computation, assuming that the drugs entered an initial pool and were distributed at finite rates to receptors in the CNS (vomiting centre) and heart. 5 Half times of metabolic loss derived from this computation for digitoxin, digoxin and ouabain (17, 9·9 and 1·8 h, respectively) were in the same ratio as the threefold longer half times reported for these drugs in man. 6 When measured with infusion rates in the time independent range, the ratio of lethal to emetic doses did not vary between the drugs studied. All caused vomiting at 40% of the lethal dose. 7 From a review of the literature, the emetic and cardiotoxic actions of digitalis‐like drugs appear inseparable and probably share a common biochemical mechanism. 8 It is concluded that foreseeable improvements in digitalis‐like drugs are small and would depend on the elimination of any local emetic effect on gut receptors which they may have.
EGTA induces the synthesis in Escherichia coli of three proteins that cross‐react with calmodulin antibodies

Escherichia coli mutants, (verA, dilA) specifically resistant to the Ca2+ channel inhibitors verapamil and diltiazem, respectively, are hypersensitive to EGTA and BAPTA. We have shown, using 1‐D and 2‐D gel electrophoresis, that the synthesis of at least 25 polypeptides in the mutants was enhanced by treatment with Ca2+ chelators and the synthesis of at least 11 polypeptides was repressed. This pattern of induction was not observed in heat‐ or SDS‐treated cells and therefore does not appear to be a general stress response. The majority of the induced proteins are low molecular weight, extremely heat stable and acidic, characteristic properties of calmodulin. Moreover, of the major induced species, three with apparent molecular masses of 12, 18, and 34kDa all cross‐reacted with polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies to eukaryote calmodulins or calerythrin, a heat‐resistant Ca2+‐binding protein from Saccharo‐polyspora erythraea. The verA, dilA mutants. In being hypersensitive to EGTA and to the Ca2+ ionophore A23187 + Ca2+, may be defective in the regulation of the level of free intracellular Ca2+.
Transient Water Vapor at Europa’s South Pole

Europa's Plumes Jupiter's moon Europa has a subsurface ocean and a relatively young icy surface. Roth et al. (p. 171, published online 12 December 2013; see the Perspective by Spencer) analyzed spectral images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope that show ultraviolet emissions from the moon's atmosphere, and report a statistically significant emission signal extending above the satellite's southern hemisphere. This emission is consistent with two 200-km-high plumes of water vapor. Tidal stresses likely play a role in opening and closing fractures at the surface. Hubble Space Telescope images of Jupiter’s moon Europa reveal emission consistent with transient water vapor plumes. [Also see Perspective by Spencer] In November and December 2012, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaged Europa’s ultraviolet emissions in the search for vapor plume activity. We report statistically significant coincident surpluses of hydrogen Lyman-α and oxygen OI 130.4-nanometer emissions above the southern hemisphere in December 2012. These emissions were persistently found in the same area over the 7 hours of the observation, suggesting atmospheric inhomogeneity; they are consistent with two 200-km-high plumes of water vapor with line-of-sight column densities of about 1020 per square meter. Nondetection in November 2012 and in previous HST images from 1999 suggests varying plume activity that might depend on changing surface stresses based on Europa’s orbital phases. The plume was present when Europa was near apocenter and was not detected close to its pericenter, in agreement with tidal modeling predictions.
A core-promoter region functions bi-directionally for human opioid-receptor-like gene ORL1 and its 5'-adjacent gene GAIP.

We report the genomic structure and functional activities of the promoter regions of the human opioid-receptor-like gene ORL1 and its 5'-adjacent gene GAIP (G alpha interacting protein). The transcription and alternative splicing of human ORL1 are controlled by two alternate promoters, located approximately 10 kb apart. The two promoter regions lack a TATA-box and are GC rich. Promoter 1A initiates, from a single transcription start point (TSP), two transcripts: one consisting of exons 1A, 1B, 2, etc., the other without exon 1B. A potential ATG codon upstream of the initiation codon of ORL1 starts a new open-reading frame encoding a theoretical polypeptide of 205 amino acid residues. The promoter 1B transcribes, from multiple TSPs, only one mRNA starting with exon 1B. Two different repeat sequence polymorphisms are found in the ORL1 promoter regions. Luciferase reporter gene assays with promoter regions and a series of deletion mutants have mapped the core-promoter 1A and 1B within two short fragments. DNA sequencing and a database search reveal that the human GAIP gene is located upstream of ORL1 and is oriented in the opposite direction. The transcription and alternative splicing of GAIP are also under the control of alternate promoters. The first exons of ORL1 and GAIP are separated by only 83 bp. This 83 bp fragment, together with short surrounding sequences from both first exons, functions bi-directionally as a core-promoter for both genes. The transcription and alternative splicing of human ORL1 and GAIP are cell-type specific. While GAIP is expressed in both NT2 precursor cells and differentiated NT2 neuronal cells, ORL1 is only expressed in differentiated NT2 neurons. Since ORL1 is a G protein-coupled receptor and GAIP interacts with G protein alpha subunits, their physical linkage in the genome and co-operative transcriptional regulation may play a significant role in ORL1 receptor signal transduction.
ATP-sensitive and inwardly rectifying potassium channels in smooth muscle.

The properties and roles of ATP-sensitive (KATP) and inwardly rectifying (KIR) potassium channels are reviewed. Potassium channels regulate the membrane potential of smooth muscle, which controls calcium entry through voltage-dependent calcium channels, and thereby contractility through changes in intracellular calcium. The KATP channel is likely to be composed of members of the inward rectifier channel gene family (Kir6) and sulfonylurea receptor proteins. The KIR channels do not appear to be as widely distributed as KATP channels in smooth muscle and may provide a mechanism by which changes in extracellular K+ can alter smooth muscle membrane potential, and thereby arterial diameter. The KATP channels contribute to the resting membrane conductance of some types of smooth muscle and can open under situations of metabolic compromise. The KATP channels are targets of a wide variety of vasodilators and constrictors, which act, respectively, through adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate/protein kinase A and protein kinase C. The KATP channels are also activated by a number of synthetic vasodilators (e.g., diazoxide and pinacidil) and are inhibited by the oral hypoglycemic sulfonylurea drugs (e.g., glibenclamide). Together, KATP and KIR channels are important regulators of smooth muscle function and represent important therapeutic targets.
An Efficient Approach for Solving TSP: The Rapidly Convergent Ant Colony Algorithm

Although many significant achievements have been made on using ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm to solve traveling salesman problem (TSP) and similar large-scale computational problems, the long convergent time required in the large-scale optimization still remains a computing bottle neck of ACO algorithm. In this paper, we present a rapidly convergent ant colony optimization (rcACO) algorithm to solve the TSP. In this algorithm, adaptive pheromone update is carried out according to the distance ants have moved, meanwhile, the inversion operator is used to enhance local search, etc. Our huge numerical experimental results demonstrate that the convergence speed of rcACO is tens to hundreds times faster than the recently improved ACO algorithms, meanwhile the global optimal solution can be achieved.
VESTIBULAR REHABILITATION

Current standards of practice in the management of patients with vestibular hypofunction include the use of specific vestibular exercises. Numerous randomized clinical trials have demonstrated the effectiveness of these exercises in reducing symptoms, improving postural and gaze stability, and in enhancing the patient's quality of life. However, as with all treatments, vestibular rehabilitation is beneficial only when appropriately used. This chapter will identify key factors to be considered in order to obtain optimal rehabilitation outcomes in these patients.
A Review of the Design Challenges for the 3-D on Chip Network Paradigms

As feature sizes continue to shrink and integration densities continue to increase, interconnect delays have become a critical bottleneck in 2D NoC performance. The upcoming decades will require a change from mere transistor scaling to novel packaging architectures such as the vertical integration of chips referred as 3D integration. 3D silicon integration technologies have provided new opportunities for NoC architecture design in SoCs enabling the design of complex and highly interconnected systems in reduced space providing higher efficiency compared to 2D integration. The next challenge in front of researchers in the domain of NoC is to use NoC architecture as the backbone of the upcoming generation of 3D chips. Multiple design issues have to be addressed in this respect such as high chip temperature due to increasing power density leading to large interconnect-delays, lack of design methodologies, large area covered by vertical interconnects, problems related to optimally determining tier assignments and the placement of switches in 3D circuits. In this paper, we tried to exhibit and summarize the prevalent generic 3D NoC design issues highlighted by various recent research publications in the domain of NoC.
Síndrome metabólico: percepción de enfermedad y falta de adherencia a la prescripción médica

Se presenta el caso de una mujer de 52 años sedentaria y con sobrepeso (índice de masa corporal = 28.3), que tiene, según ATP-III, las 5 características del síndrome metabólico: diabetes tipo 2 (glicemia en ayunas = 294 mg/dL), triacilglicerol = 162 mg/dL, HDL-colesterol = 44 mg/dL y obesidad central (perímetro de la cintura = 90 cm). La diabetes tipo 2 le fue diagnosticada hace 17 años, recibe medicamento para la hipertensión desde hace 7 años y presenta hipercolesterolemia (colesterol total = 283 mg/dL), para lo que no recibe tratamiento farmacológico. A pesar de su condición, la paciente se considera saludable lo cual le impide modificar su estilo de vida y mejorar la calidad de vida lo que aumenta el costo de su tratamiento médico para el sistema de seguridad social.
Preliminary heuristics for the design and evaluation of online communities of practice systems

Online communities.communities of practice.knowledge management.human capital. For some time now, companies have believed that they can be more effective— and more profitable—if they could only get their people to talk to each other and share what they know. Globalization, acquisitions, and diversification have led to workforces that are more spread out and more varied. In addition to creating the need for a flexible, agile workforce, the evolving and sometime volatile business climate has reduced the ability of companies to rely on stable groups of people who slowly grow their expertise over many years.
Neuronal Intranuclear and Neuropil Inclusions for Pathological Assessment of Huntington’s Disease

To evaluate the usefulness of neuronal intranuclear inclusions and neuropil inclusions for the pathological assessment of Huntington’s disease (HD), their presence in neocortex was assessed by ubiquitin and N‐terminal huntingtin immunohistochemistry in a consecutive series of 195 autopsy brains of individuals with a positive or tentative clinical diagnosis of, or at risk for, HD. The findings were correlated with striatal pathology (n = 190), CAG repeat length (n = 85) and original pathological diagnosis (n = 186). The antibodies detected both these inclusions in 181 patients with HD pathology ≥ Vonsattel et al’s grade I, five patients lacking striatal tissue for review, and two at‐risk individuals with grade 0 and grade I HD pathology, respectively. One patient with HD‐like pathology and two patients and four at‐risk individuals without HD pathology lacked HD inclusions. In the genetically analyzed cases, the inclusions were exclusively and consistently observed in association with repeat expansion [(CAG)n ≥ 39, n = 81]. Thirteen inclusion‐positive cases, including the grade 0 at‐risk individual, had a false negative original pathological diagnosis of HD and four had an unjustly questionable diagnosis. A false positive diagnosis was made in the inclusion‐negative case with HD‐like pathology. These results indicate that immunohistochemical analysis for HD inclusions facilitates the pathological evaluation of HD and enhances its accuracy.
The role of endothelin in the pathophysiology of glaucoma

Importance of the field: Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide. To date, treatment of glaucoma has focused on lowering intraocular pressure (IOP) though there are other mechanisms that might damage the optic nerve, leading to characteristic visual field loss. Endothelin, a potent vasoconstrictor, is believed to play a role in the pathogenesis of glaucomatous optic neuropathy. Areas covered in this review: We review the evidence from the last 20 years exploring the action of endothelin in the eye, its association with the pathophysiology of glaucoma, as well as the potential therapeutic role of targeting the endothelin pathway to affect disease progression in glaucomatous eyes. What the reader will gain: The goal of this paper is to inform readers about endothelin structure, actions, and role in ocular pathology, pharmacology, and potential areas of future research. Take home message: Overall, we believe that the body of evidence supports the following conclusions; i) endothelin is a potent vasoconstrictor that plays a role in ocular physiology, ii) endothelin may play a role in the pathophysiology of glaucoma and iii) modulation of the endothelin system with newly discovered potent antagonists holds promise in treating glaucoma through both pressure-dependent and pressure-independent pathways.