Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mapping and scheduling for architecture exploration of networking SoCs

Describes two different approaches to optimize the performance of SoC architectures in the architecture exploration phase. Both solve the problem to map and schedule a task graph on a target architecture under special consideration of on-chip communications. A constructive algorithm is presented that extends previous work by taking into account potential data transfers in the future. The second approach is a recursive procedure that is based on local search techniques in a specially defined neighborhood of the critical path. Simulated annealing and tabu search are used as search algorithms. Both approaches find solutions with better performance than established methodologies. The recursive technique leads to superior results than the constructive approach, however, is limited to small and mid-sized problems, whereas the constructive algorithm is not limited by this issue.
Noninfectious Pulmonary Complications of HIV

Pulmonary complications of HIV infection increase as the disease progresses. Although the most common cause of pulmonary disease continues to be infection, a number of noninfectious entities should be considered when evaluating the HIV-infected individual with pulmonary symptoms. With the advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy, there have been significant changes in the epidemiology of these diseases. Improved understanding of pathogenesis has led to new therapies, especially for HIV-associated pulmonary hypertension. In those patients in whom a thorough microbiologic survey reveals no infection, one should consider noninfectious entities; these can be broadly categorized into 3 groups: malignant, inflammatory, or pulmonary vascular disease. Clinical history is critical in providing clues, but bronchoscopic visualization and tissue sampling are often required to confirm many of these diagnoses. As successful antiretroviral therapy continues to extend the lives of HIV-infected patients, the medical community should be able to recognize and diagnose these noninfectious pulmonary diseases.
Multi-Component Hydrogen-Bonding Assembly of a Pharmaceutical Agent Pamoic Acid with Piperazine or 4,4'-Bipyridyl : A Channel Hydrated Salt with Multiple-Helical Motifs vs a Bimolecular Cocrystal

Assembly of pamoic acid (H2PA) with piperazine (PIPO) or 4,4′-bipyridyl (BIPY) results in two distinct supramolecular complexes [(PA)·(H2PIPO)]·3H2O (1) and [(H2PA)·(BIPY)] (2). The former displays triple-helix host arrays via charge-assisted N+−H···O− interactions with the inclusion of helical water chains, whereas the latter represents the first cocrystal of pamoic acid sustaining by the familiar carboxyl-pyridyl H-bonding synthons. Notably, the structure of 1 can be dehydrated/rehydrated with retention of crystallinity.
Book review of Human Growth: Assessment and Interpretation. By Alex F. Roche and Shumei S. Sun. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2003). [pp. 311]. ISBN: 0 521 78245 7. US$95, £53.50.

event histories and ultimately of extended longevity neglects the significant recent literature on life-event studies in socio-demography. It ignores, for instance, the complex transformation of the life course in a context of the new meaning of the formation of couples, e.g. in Switzerland, marriage is delayed but the age of first cohabitation has remained stable. The new meaning taken on by parenthood (‘enfant du plaisir’) and new gender roles, characteristic of the second demographic transition, cannot just be a consequence of the longer lifespan. Finally, we cannot share the author’s point of view whereby biodemographic principles provide the scientific coherence missing in demographic texts (p. 199). More basically, one may well wonder if a future increase in longevity is really an aim in itself and if it can be considered a blessing to enter the ‘century of biology’ with the power to ‘unlock the deepest secret of life’. As the author himself mentions, increased longevity will ‘create new unpredictable societal dynamics’. The present-day challenge may rather be to give all humans the resources that will enable them to develop their potential. The extraordinary longevity of humans cannot be considered without mentioning the tremendous and increasing gaps between different social strata and different parts of the world, such as expressed by a range of life expectancy between 36.1 in Botswana and 81.5 in Japan, so one cannot but mention socalled poverty Malthusianism as the dark side of present fertility decline.
Impact of Yoga on Low Back Pain and Function: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

An estimated 70% of people will experience low back pain at some point in their lives, and recurrence rates can be as high as 85%. Recent studies suggest that yoga – a widely practiced physical/mental discipline – may relieve back pain and reduce functional disability. The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the existing research on the effects of yoga on chronic low back pain and function. Our literature search began April 2011 and continued through October 2011. Cochrane, PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, Google Scholar, and Clinicaltrials.gov databases were searched electronically. The search terms used were: yoga AND back pain. A total of 58 relevant studies were originally identified through the database searches. Of those, 45 were excluded on the basis of the title and/or review of the abstract. The 13 remaining studies were fully evaluated via a careful review of the full text. On the basis of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 6 studies were excluded, leaving a total of 7 studies to be included in the meta-analyses of the impact of yoga on low back pain and function. Effect sizes were calculated as the standardized mean difference and meta-analyses were completed using a random-effects model. Overall, yoga was found to result in a medium, beneficial effect on chronic low back pain [overall effect size (ES) = 0.58, p<0.001], indicating that subjects practicing yoga reported significantly less pain than control subjects. Yoga subjects also reported significantly less functional disability after the intervention (overall ES = 0.53, p<0.001). Moreover, the improvements in pain and function for yoga subjects remained statistically significant 12-24 weeks after the end of the intervention (overall ES = 0.44-0.54, p≤0.002). In conclusion, yoga practice can significantly reduce pain and increase functional ability in chronic low back pain patients.
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia can be divided into three categories: those who are minimally affected by the problem, often never requiring therapy; those that initially follow an indolent course but subsequently progress and require therapy; and those that from the point of diagnosis exhibit an aggressive disease necessitating treatment. Likewise, such patients pass through three phases: development of the disease, diagnosis, and need for therapy. Finally, the leukemic clones of all patients appear to require continuous input from the exterior, most often through membrane receptors, to allow them to survive and grow. This review is presented according to the temporal course that the disease follows, focusing on those external influences from the tissue microenvironment (TME) that support the time lines as well as those internal influences that are inherited or develop as genetic and epigenetic changes occurring over the time line. Regarding the former, special emphasis is placed on the input provided via the B-cell receptor for antigen and the C-X-C-motif chemokine receptor-4 and the therapeutic agents that block these inputs. Regarding the latter, prominence is laid upon inherited susceptibility genes and the genetic and epigenetic abnormalities that lead to the developmental and progression of the disease.
An energy-efficient addressing mechanism for wake-up radio systems

Wake-up Radio receivers (WuRx) must be energy-efficient for their integration into Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). The most energy-hungry component is the address decoding hardware and it is generally powered by the node battery. In this paper, an addressing mechanism is proposed and the decoding process is explained in detail, on the contrary of previous works. This paper also shows the energy reduction of the address decoding stage while performed by a microcontroller, in comparison with one of the best correlator approach. The energy consumption and latency are also well investigated with real measurements, which is often omitted in previous works. Our approach is also flexible since a trade-off between energy consumption and wake-up latency is proposed. While decoding the address, the most energy-efficient mode consumes only 23.8 μA with a wake-up latency of 8.88 ms.
Driver body information analysis for distraction state detection

For this study, we defined a "concentration state" when a driver performs only driving tasks, and a "distraction state" when a driver performs a driving task and a mental arithmetic task simultaneously. From results of these driving tests, we elucidate the characteristics of safety confirmation behaviors by near-misses according to differences between two driving conditions when approaching an intersection. Specifically, we examine the time-series variation of eye-gaze movements and face orientations before and after encountering a collision near-miss. From analyses conducted by dividing watching behaviors at the intersection approach and safety confirmation behaviors after a temporary stop, we extract behavioral patterns characterizing a "distraction state," acquiring findings to support the construction of a model for predicting risky driving.
Cognitive-based resource allocation scheme in LTE-A networks with M2M/H2H coexistence

An efficient radio access strategies are necessary and critical to manage an LTE network system where machine-to-machine (M2M) devices and human-to-human (H2H) users coexist. In this paper, we propose a cognitive-based access strategy with a priority-based queuing model that is designed for LTE with M2M/H2H coexistence, where the M2M communications have real time (M2M-RT) and non-real time (M2M-NRT) traffic. Radio access gives the highest priority to H2H, while M2M-RT has higher priority than M2M-NRT. A continuous-time Markov chain model is developed to evaluate the system performance in terms of service completion rate, blocking and forced termination probabilities and mean queuing delay of the M2M traffic. In addition, resource utilization by the M2M traffic is also evaluated. Analytical results reveal that, while protecting the H2H services, the proposed queuing model could increase the capacity of the M2M traffic network while decreasing the blocking probability. Additionally, allowing an interrupted M2M-NRT to be inserted back into its queue can further decrease the forced termination rate. For these reasons, it can be concluded that the proposed model can be used to improve the system performance of multi-channel M2M communication networks.
Lymphopenia as a predictor of sarcoidosis in patients with uveitis

Aims To investigate the hypothesis that lymphopenia is an independent predictor of sarcoidosis in new patients presenting with uveitis. Patients and methods Retrospective case–control study of 112 patients with sarcoidosis-associated uveitis (SAU) against 398 controls with other forms of uveitis. Results Of the patients with SAU, 30/112 (26.8%) had significant lymphopenia (<1.0×109/L), compared with 24/398 (6.0%) for other uveitis (p≤0.0001, OR 5.7 (95% CI 3.2 to 10.3)). The mean lymphocyte count for patients with SAU was 1.43 vs 2.04 for other uveitis (p≤0.0001). Logistic regression modelling using diagnosis of SAU as the independent variable identified age, ACE levels and lymphocyte count as independent predictors of SAU. A new patient with uveitis with significant lymphopenia has a risk of sarcoidosis (from this parameter alone) of 31.6%. Conclusions Significant lymphopenia (<1.0×109/L) is an independent predictor of sarcoidosis in new patients presenting with uveitis. We recommend that diagnostic criteria for SAU should be modified to include this phenomenon.
Services Science: Services Innovation Research and Education

In a two-day session in May of 2004, starting with the theme of “The Architecture of On Demand Business”, over 60 researchers from universities and IBM discussed a bold undertaking: develop and introduce a new academic discipline. A 120-page report was titled “SERVICES SCIENCE: A NEW ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE? ”, organized along a business model involving business strategy, people/workforce, business process, and underlying technology. The core message of the white paper is “Services has matured as a business as software once did, and there is a science underlying services that must be explored”. The key challenge for academia and industry is to determine how to define and measure innovation. The government and companies need to invest in the research and development needed to “move services out of the realm of art and into the realm of science”.
Real number vertex invariants: Regressive distance sums and related topological indexes

A new type of layer matrix, called R matrix, was constructed on the basis of distance sums of vertices. This matrix was operated with two classes of operators: one of "centricity" ("c") type and the other of "centrocomplexity" ("x") type, the last one taking into account the "more important" vertices in molecular graphs. The matrix invariants are computed with a TURBO PASCAL, TOPIND 10 program for various examples, and finally an intercorrelating matrix is given for the proposed topological indices in the set of heptane isomers.
Conserved main‐chain peptide distortions: A proposed role for Ile203 in catalysis by dihydrodipicolinate synthase

In recent years, dihydrodipicolinate synthase (DHDPS, E.C. 4.2.1.52) has received considerable attention from a mechanistic and structural viewpoint. DHDPS catalyzes the reaction of (S)‐aspartate‐β‐semialdehyde with pyruvate, which is bound via a Schiff base to a conserved active‐site lysine (Lys161 in the enzyme from Escherichia coli). To probe the mechanism of DHDPS, we have studied the inhibition of E. coli DHDPS by the substrate analog, β‐hydroxypyruvate. The K i was determined to be 0.21 (±0.02) mM, similar to that of the allosteric inhibitor, (S)‐lysine, and β‐hydroxypyruvate was observed to cause time‐dependent inhibition. The inhibitory reaction with β‐hydroxypyruvate could be qualitatively followed by mass spectrometry, which showed initial noncovalent adduct formation, followed by the slow formation of the covalent adduct. It is unclear whether β‐hydroxypyruvate plays a role in regulating the biosynthesis of meso‐diaminopimelate and (S)‐lysine in E. coli, although we note that it is present in vivo. The crystal structure of DHDPS complexed with β‐hydroxypyruvate was solved. The active site clearly showed the presence of the inhibitor covalently bound to the Lys161. Interestingly, the hydroxyl group of β‐hydroxypyruvate was hydrogen‐bonded to the main‐chain carbonyl of Ile203. This provides insight into the possible catalytic role played by this peptide unit, which has a highly strained torsion angle (ω ∼201°). A survey of the known DHDPS structures from other organisms shows this distortion to be a highly conserved feature of the DHDPS active site, and we propose that this peptide unit plays a critical role in catalysis.
Structure–function analyses involving palindromic analogs of tritrypticin suggest autonomy of anti‐endotoxin and antibacterial activities

Neutralization of invading pathogens by gene‐encoded peptide antibiotics has been suggested to manifest in a variety of different modes. Some of these modes require internalization of the peptide through a pathway that involves LPS‐mediated uptake of the peptide antibiotics. Many proline/tryptophan‐rich cationic peptides for which this mode has been invoked do, indeed, show LPS (endotoxin) binding. If the mechanism of antibiotic action involves the LPS‐mediated pathway, a positive correlation ought to manifest between the binding to LPS, its neutralization, and the bacterial killing. No such correlation was evident based on our studies involving minimal active analogs of tritrypticin. The anti‐endotoxin activities of these analogs appear not to relate directly to their antibiotic potential. The two palindromic analogs of tritrypticin, NT7 (RRFPWWW) and CT7 (WWWPFRR), showed comparable antibacterial activities. However, while NT7 exhibited anti‐endotoxin activity, CT7 did not. The LPS binding of two tritrypticin analogs correlated with their corresponding structures, but the antibacterial activities did not. Further structure–function analysis indicated specific structural implications of the antibacterial activity at the molecular level. Studies involving designed analogs of NT7 incorporating either rigid or flexible linkers between the specifically distanced hydrophobic and cationic clusters modulate the LPS binding. On the other hand, not knowing the target receptor for antibacterial activity is a drawback since the precise epitope for antibacterial activity is not definable. It is apparent that the anti‐endotoxin and antibacterial activities represent two independent functions of tritrypticin, consistent with the emerging multifunctionality in the nature of cathelicidins.
Conclusions from a Questionnaire on STEC/VTEC Diagnostics in the Federal Republic of Germany

Out of 400 questionnaires on STEC/VTEC (Shiga toxin E. coli/Verotoxin E. coli) diagnostics, that were sent out at the beginning of June 1998 in the Federal Republic of Germany, 41 were returned by December 31 1998. Among 400 addresses, we reached private laboratories and universities as well as federal and state authorities and reference centers. Of these 41 responses, 30 are laboratories examining clinical specimens (stool samples) and 11 are laboratories testing food and veterinary specimens. The aim of this study was to elucidate whether clinical and veterinary laboratories perform the STEC/VTEC diagnostics according to the recommendations of the DGHM (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hygiene und Mirkobiologie), the RKI (Robert Koch-Institut) and the BgVV (Bundesinstitut für gesundheitlichen Verbraucherschutz und Veterinärmedizin). The results of the questionnaire are presented and discussed.
Unsafe sexual practices are common, say US studies

Unsafe sexual practices are common in people infected with HIV and in those at high risk of infection, warned two US epidemiological studies published this week in the American Journal of Public Health . Results suggest that new preventive, educational, and public health strategies are needed to prevent HIV transmission and reduce the risk of a new AIDS epidemic. More than half (55%) of the men taking part in a survey of sexual behaviour reported having unprotected, insertive anal sex over …
Structure–function studies on the active site of the coelenterazine‐dependent luciferase from Renilla

Renilla luciferase (RLUC) is a versatile tool for gene expression assays and in vivo biosensor applications, but its catalytic mechanism remains to be elucidated. RLUC is evolutionarily related to the α/β hydrolase family. Its closest known homologs are bacterial dehalogenases, raising the question of how a protein with a hydrolase fold can function as a decarboxylating oxygenase. Molecular docking simulations with the coelenterazine substrate against an RLUC homology model as well as a recently determined RLUC crystal structure were used to build hypotheses to identify functionally important residues, which were subsequently tested by site‐directed mutagenesis, heterologous expression, and bioluminescence emission spectroscopy. The data highlighted two triads of residues that are critical for catalysis. The putative catalytic triad residues D120, E144, and H285 bear only limited resemblance to those found in the active site of aequorin, a coelenterazine‐utilizing photoprotein, suggesting that the reaction scheme employed by RLUC differs substantially from the one established for aequorin. The role of H285 in catalysis was further supported by inhibition using diethylpyrocarbonate. Multiple substitutions of N53, W121, and P220—three other residues implicated in product binding in the homologous dehalogenase Sphingomonas LinB—also supported their involvement in catalysis. Together with luminescence spectra, our data lead us to propose that the conserved catalytic triad of RLUC is directly involved in the decarboxylation reaction of coelenterazine to produce bioluminescence, while the other active‐site residues are used for binding of the substrate.
SIEM approach for a higher level of IT security in enterprise networks

The threat of cyber-attacks grows up, as one can see by several negative security-news from companies and private persons. [7] Especially small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SME) are in focus of external attackers because they have not implemented sufficient security strategies and components for their networks yet. Additionally, tablets, smartphones, and netbooks changed the requirements of IT security rapidly. Today, there are several security components (e.g. anti-virus-system, firewall, and intrusion detection system) available to protect enterprise networks; unfortunately, they work independently from each other - isolated. But many attacks can only be recognized if logs and events of different security components are combined and correlated with each other. This possibility is offered by a security information and event management (SIEM) system. But nowadays these systems are very complex and expensive in deployment and maintenance ([12]). The SIMU project, funded by the BMBF [6] and presented in this paper, offers several features of a SIEM system with better handling and more efficient use in the SME environment.
Functional analysis and associated factors of the peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer in former preterm and full-term infants

Purpose The aim of the study was to investigate peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer thickness (RNFLT) in former preterm infants and full-term neonates using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Methods The prospective, controlled, cross-sectional, hospital-based study in a tertiary centre with maximum care examined 503 infants with a former gestational age (GA) of ≥37 and ≤32 weeks now aged between 4 and 10 years. In total, we analysed 432 participants with successful circular peripapillary RNFLT OCT measurements. Main outcome measures were RNFLT correlations to GA, birth weight, occurrence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), perinatal adverse events as well as functional correlation. Results Global RNFLT was thinner in infants with GA ≤28 weeks compared with infants with GA between 29 and 32 weeks (p=0.024), and to full-term neonates (p=0.007) independent of the occurrence of ROP. Multivariable analysis revealed that RNFLT was positively associated with higher birth weight and GA. Furthermore, a decrease of RNFLT was related to reduced visual function in all peripapillary sectors. Conclusions The main factors for retinal nerve fibre layer thinning are low birth weight and low GA. In addition, decreased RNFLT was associated with reduced visual function. This demonstrates that preterm infants are at high risk for peripapillary RNFL damage associated with reduced visual function.