Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Aprender Arquitectura de Computadores con la herramienta Simula3MS

En este articulo se presenta la experiencia de uso de la herramienta Simula3MS en el laboratorio de las asignaturas de Arquitectura de Computadores en los estudios impartidos en la Facultad de Informatica de la Universidade da Coruna y la Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieria de la Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. El objetivo de las practicas es ilustrar, mediante un juego de ejercicios realizados sobre el simulador Simula3MS, como trabaja el procesador del computador. El simulador usa un subconjunto de instrucciones MIPS y varias configuraciones diferentes del procesador que se escogen segun el objetivo de los ejercicios practicos. En el articulo se describen los ejercicios que se proponen a los estudiantes en el laboratorio y se muestra un analisis sobre el impacto que ha tenido el uso del simulador en la actividad docente.
Branch retinal vein occlusion following cataract surgery

Cataract surgery is one of the most frequently performed surgical procedures in the world. Technological progress has increased the safety and efficacy of this surgery; however, as with any surgery, it is not devoid of possible complications, some of which are related to the anatomical features of the operated eye. Herein, we report a case of branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) following cataract surgery.
Effects of Deconjugated Bile Acids on Electrolyte and Nutrient Transport in the Rabbit Small Intestine In Vitro

To obtain new information on the poorly investigated mechanisms of the diarrheogenic effects of bile acids, we investigated the effects of the unconjugated bile acids chenodeoxycholate and ursodeoxycholate on the small intestine transport of electrolytes and nutrients in the rabbit jejunal and ileal mucosa mounted in vitro in Ussing or influx chambers. When added to the ileal mucosa at a concentration of 1 m M, both bile acids induced a secretory shift in ion transport; absorption of Na and Cl was abolished and secretion of bicarbonate was enhanced. No changes in short circuit current or electrolyte transport were observed when the bile acids were added to the jejunal mucosa. The addition of 1 m M chenodeoxycholate to the luminal side of the ileum induced a marked inhibition in the uptake of glucose, phenylala-nine, and glutamic acid. A similar inhibition, though of a lesser magnitude, was also induced by both bile acids on jejunal nutrient transport. Further studies on the inhibitory effect of chenodeoxycholate on glucose influx showed that the inhibition was dose-dependent; at 1 m M it was maximal and resulted in the complete abolition of the active component, with only the diffusional pathway still operative. We conclude that unconjugated bile acids act as secretagogues in the ileum and significantly blunt the active transport of nutrients in the small intestine. Both effects may well play a role in the diarrheogenic action of these bile acids.
Impact of the winding area of enameled wire on packaging performance of a closed loop Hall effect current sensor

Hall effect based current sensors have strong market demand in many monitoring devices. Enameled wire is the most important part of packaging of the Hall effect based current sensor, and the size of winding area of enameled wire changes the strength of the magnetic induction, which would affect the current sensor's performance. In this paper, we found an optimal area for closed loop Hall effect based current sensor through integrated simulation and experimental analysis. The relationship between the enameled wire and magnetic field was found when the size of bobbin was fixed. The test results showed that the accuracy of a closed loop Hall effect based current sensor can reach 0.5% to 1% and keep superduper linear with the help of our optimal method.
Technology and sexual Abuse: a Critical Review of an Internet Grooming Case

Online grooming is an activity that leads to sexual abuse of children. For this reason a number of pieces of legislation governing grooming have been created on international and national levels. The present paper discusses a specific case that has received a lot of public attention and been regarded as a high-profile grooming case in Sweden. This particular case is of special interest for the purpose of this paper since it caused the creation of the Swedish so called grooming offence that was implemented 2009. It discusses the English and Swedish legal interpretations of this case in order to then engage in a critical discussion of the legislation. Drawing on the concept of critical research, the paper builds on the ideas of ideology critique and boundary critique to show how such seemingly clear-cut issues as the prevention of sexual abuse of children still require careful attention to underlying assumptions and beliefs. The paper makes an important contribution to the understanding of information and communication technology as a means of behaving in unacceptable way. It makes theoretical and practical contributions to current debates surrounding use and governance of such technologies.
Impact of untreated bednets on prevalence of Wuchereria bancrofti transmitted by Anopheles farauti in Papua New Guinea

Abstract Despite the growing evidence that insecticide‐treated mosquito nets reduce malaria morbidity and mortality in a variety of epidemiological conditions, their value against lymphatic filariasis infection and disease is yet to be established. The impact of untreated bednets on the prevalence of Wuchereria bancrofti (Cobbold) (Nematoda: Filarioidea) infection and disease was investigated on Bagabag island in Papua New Guinea, where both malaria and filariasis are transmitted by the same vector mosquitoes of the Anopheles punctulatus Dönitz group (Diptera: Culicidae). Community‐wide surveys were conducted recording demographic characteristics including bednet usage. Physical examinations for hydrocoele and lymphoedema were performed and blood samples assessed for filarial and malaria parasites. Mosquitoes were sampled using the all‐night landing catch method and individually dissected to determine W. bancrofti infection and infective rates. Bednet usage among residents was 61% and the mean age of users (25.6 years) was similar to non‐users (22.5 years). Anopheles farauti Laveran was the only species were found to contain filarial larvae: 2.7% infected (all stages), 0.5% infective (L3). The overall W. bancrofti microfilaraemia and antigenaemia rates were 28.5% and 53.1%, respectively. Bednet users had lower prevalence of W. bancrofti microfilaraemia, antigenaemia and hydrocoele rates than non‐users. In comparison, untreated bednets had no effect on the prevalence and intensity of Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax infections. The impact of bednet usage on rates of microfilaraemia and antigenaemia remained significant even when confounding factors such as age, location and sex were taken into account, suggesting that untreated bednets protect against W. bancrofti infection.
Building Smart Spaces on the Home Manager platform

Smart Spaces refer to application scenarios where people are immersed in time and space in an augmented environment, exploiting ubiquitous computing technologies, space and time awareness, and pervasive intelligence. This paper focuses on Home Manager, an agent-based platform for the implementation of Smart Spaces in Smart Home contexts, rooted in the Butlers for Smart Spaces framework – the specialisation to Smart Spaces of the Butlers vision, aimed at supporting smart services to users immersed and interacting with their surrounding environment. The goal is to anticipate the users’ needs whenever possible, reasoning on potentially any kind of relevant data grabbed from a plurality of sources, as well as from the users’s preferences. Taking the case of a Smart Kitchen as our running example, we first discuss how the Butlers for Smart Spaces framework can be specialised to the Home Manager case and exploited to define smart appliances, then present the Home Manager technology in full, and show by a case study how a smart space can be deployed on its top. Home Manager’s support to intelligence is provided both by the TuCSoN coordination infrastructure, which enables intelligence to be spread on agents and on coordination artifacts, and by the tuProlog technology, which not only powers TuCSoN artifacts but also – being light-weight and Java-based – effectively supports the development of declarative (Prolog), imperative (Java,C#), and hybrid agents.
Microbial Fuel Cells: Recent Advances, Bacterial Communities and Application Beyond Electricity Generation

The increasing demand for energy in the near future has created strong motivation for environmentally clean alternative energy resources. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have opened up new ways of utilizing renewable energy sources. MFCs are devices that convert the chemical energy in the organic compounds to electrical energy through microbial catalysis at the anode under anaerobic conditions, and the reduction of a terminal electron acceptor, most preferentially oxygen, at the cathode. Due to the rapid advances in MFC-based technology over the last decade, the currently achievable MFC power production has increased by several orders of magnitude, and niche applications have been extended into a variety of areas. Newly emerging concepts with alternative materials for electrodes and catalysts as well as innovative designs have made MFCs promising technologies. Aerobic bacteria can also be used as cathode catalysts. This is an encouraging finding because not only biofouling on the cathode is unavoidable in the prolonged-run MFCs but also noble catalysts can be substituted with aerobic bacteria. This article discusses some of the recent advances in MFCs with an emphasis on the performance, materials, microbial community structures and applications beyond electricity generation.
Refractory Migraine and Chronic Migraine: Pathophysiological Mechanisms

Migraine is a complex disorder of the brain whose mechanisms are only now being unravelled. It is common, disabling, and economically costly. Brain imaging has suggested a role for the brainstem. While the disorder is almost certainly inherited, the degree to which this contributes to a treatment refractory state is not clear. Indeed, no specific structural or pharmacological explanation can be seen from the data as they have been generated. It is clear that patients with more frequent headache are very likely to go on to even more frequent headache, but again these data are complex. A challenge going forward is to establish the biology of these very challenging patients who undoubtedly have substantial disability.
T–S Fuzzy Bilinear Model and Fuzzy Controller Design for a Class of Nonlinear Systems

This paper proposes a fuzzy bilinear model for a class of nonlinear systems and a fuzzy controller to stabilize such systems. By examination of a modeling problem, we describe how to transform a nonlinear system into a bilinear one via Taylor's series expansion and then we adopt the Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy modeling technique to construct a fuzzy bilinear model. For controller design, the parallel distributed compensation (PDC) method is utilized to stabilize the fuzzy bilinear system (FBS), and some sufficient conditions are derived to guarantee the stability of the overall fuzzy control system via linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Moreover, we propound some sufficient conditions for robust stabilization of the FBS with parametric uncertainties. Finally, a numerical example and the Van de Vusse model are utilized to demonstrate the validity and effectiveness of the proposed FBS.
A sensitivity analysis of the MUSIC algorithm

A first-order analysis of the sensitivity of the MUSIC algorithm to differences between the true and assumed array manifolds is presented. A formula is derived for computing the amount of phase error that will cause the algorithm to fail to resolve two sources, as a function of source separation and other system parameters. The failure threshold is shown to be proportional to the square of the source separation. <<ETX>>
Nongenomic Androgen Activation of Phosphatidylinositol 3‐Kinase/Akt Signaling Pathway in MC3T3‐E1 Osteoblasts

Androgens have important effects on the bone metabolism. However, the effect and mechanism of androgen action on the osteoblasts remains unknown. Here we showed that androgens increase phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of Akt. siRNA‐AR prevented androgen‐induced Akt activation in MC3T3‐E1 cells. This suggests that nongenomic androgen activation of Akt is mediated by androgen receptor in osteoblasts.
Minimization of Damping in the Electrooptic Frequency Response of High-Speed Zn-Diffusion Single-Mode Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers

We utilize the Zn-diffusion technique to fabricate a single-mode high-speed 850-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser. With this technique, we are able to minimize the thermal effect without greatly scaling down the diameter of the oxide-confined aperture. The demonstrated device has a 9-mum active diameter with which we can attain a bandwidth of 8 GHz, a small differential resistance (~47 Omega), and a maximum output power of 3 mW. The single-mode characteristics can be sustained under dynamic operation for the whole bias current range. The dynamic measurement results indicate that with this single-mode device the damping-limited bandwidth of our multimode control can be eliminated without a Zn-diffusion aperture. A larger intrinsic bandwidth (32 versus 21 GHz) is also obtained due to the minimization of damping. The narrower divergence angle (8deg versus 20deg) means that the device exhibits a larger alignment tolerance and much lower coupling loss (9 dB) when used with the standard multimode fiber than those of the control sample.
Enhanced dispersion of atrial refractoriness as an electrophysiological substrate for vulnerability to atrial fibrillation in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.

UNLABELLED Atrial electrical remodeling plays a part in recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF). It has been related to an increase in heterogeneity of atrial refractoriness that facilitates the occurrence of multiple reentry wavelets and vulnerability to AF. AIM To examine the relationship between dispersion of atrial refractoriness (Disp_A) and vulnerability to AF induction (A_Vuln) in patients with clinical paroxysmal AF (PAF). METHODS Thirty-six patients (22 male; age 55+/-13 years) with > or =1 year of history of PAF (no underlying structural heart disease--n=20, systemic hypertension--n=14, mitral valve prolapse--n=1, surgically corrected pulmonary stenosis--n=1), underwent electrophysiological study (EPS) while off medication. The atrial effective refractory period (AERP) was assessed at five different sites--high (HRA) and low (LRA) lateral right atrium, high interatrial septum (IAS), proximal (pCS) and distal (dCS) coronary sinus--during a cycle length of 600 ms. AERP was taken as the longest S1-S2 interval that failed to initiate a propagation response. Disp_A was calculated as the difference between the longest and shortest AERP. A_Vuln was defined as the ability to induce AF with 1-2 extrastimuli or with incremental atrial pacing (600-300 ms) from the HRA or dCS. The EPS included analysis of focal electrical activity based on the presence of supraventricular ectopic beats (spontaneous or with provocative maneuvers). The patients were divided into group A--AF inducible (n=25) and group B--AF not inducible (n=11). Disp_A was analyzed to determine any association with A_Vuln. Disp_A and A_Vuln were also examined in those patients with documented repetitive focal activity. Logistic regression was used to determine any association of the following variables with A_Vuln: age, systemic hypertension, left ventricular hypertrophy, left atrial size, left ventricular function, duration of PAF, documented atrial flutter/tachycardia and Disp_A. RESULTS There were no significant differences between the groups with regard to clinical characteristics and echocardiographic data. AF was inducible in 71% of the patients and noninducible in 29%. Group A had greater Disp_A compared to group B (105+/-78 ms vs. 49+/-20 ms; p=0.01). Disp_A was >40 ms in 50% of the patients without A_Vuln and in 91% of those with A_Vuln (p=0.05). Focal activity was demonstrated in 14 cases (39%), 57% of them with A_Vuln. Disp_A was 56+/-23 ms in this group and 92+/-78 ms in the others (p=0.07). Using logistic regression, the only predictor of A_Vuln was Disp_A (p=0.05). CONCLUSION In patients with paroxysmal AF, Disp_A is a major determinant of A_Vuln. Nevertheless, the degree of nonuniformity of AERP appears to be less important as an electrophysiological substrate for AF due to focal activation.
Protective Roles of the Incretin Hormones Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 and Glucose-Dependent Insolinotropic Polypeptide Hormones in Neurodegeneration

Alzheimer's disease is a sporadic disease with very few risk gene links associated with it. Therefore, it is very difficult to assess what the underlying causes of this diseases are, and what the initial triggering mechanisms may be. As the disease can only be diagnosed when it has already developed, very little is known what those early phase processes are that initiate the sequence of events that evenutally lead to neurodegeneration. Another approach to investigate the contributing factors is the correlation with other conditions that increase the risk of developing AD. Several such risk factors have been identified, and interestingly, type 2 diabetes is one of these. In type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), insulin is no longer able to reduce the levels of blood sugar after a meal. In fact, ensulin levels may even be increased as an attempt by the body to overcome the reduced effectiveness of insulin in the periphery, which may be caused by insulin receptor desensitisation. Due to the change of lifelstyle in the industrialised nations, an unhealthy diet in combination with lack of exercise, levels of T2DM are on the rise. This may increase the rate of AD cases in the future. A lot of research is currently conducted in developing novel treatments of T2DM (Dailey 2008, Frias & Edelman 2007, Pi-Sunyer 2008, Scheen 2008). Since insulin effectiveness is reduced in diabetes, research into other signalling pathways that support insulin actions or that reduce blood glucose independently is ongoing. One of these strategies focus on the use of the incretins, a class of peptide hormones that helps to normalise insulin signaling and also improves blood sugar levels. Incretins increase the release of insulin during high blood sugar levels, the so-called ‘incretin effect’. They have little effect on normal blood sugar levels and therefore are suitable for treating non-diabetics. In addition, incretins have a range of other effects that help regulate physiological lipid and glucose levels, eg. they increase the uptake of lipids and glucose in cells that express the receptor (Baggio & Drucker 2007, Drucker & Nauck 2006, D. E. Green 2007). T2DM has been identified as a risk factor for AD, indicating that insulin signaling impairment may be a factor in initiating or accelerating the development of AD. Epidemiological studies found a clear correlation between T2DM and the risk of developing AD or other neurodegenerative disorders at a later stage (Haan 2006, Luchsinger, Tang, Shea, & Mayeux 2004, Ristow 2004, Strachan 2005). For example, a study of patient databases of the Mayo clinic showed a clear correlation between T2DM and AD. In this study, 85% of AD patients also had T2DM or
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Multilocus Genetic Models of Handedness Closely Resemble Single-locus Models in Explaining Family Data and Are Compatible with Genome-wide Association Studies Single-locus Models

Right-and left-handedness run in families, show greater concordance in monozygotic than dizygotic twins, and are well described by single-locus Mendelian models. Here we summarize a large genome-wide association study (GWAS) that finds no significant associations with handedness and is consistent with a meta-analysis of GWASs. The GWAS had 99% power to detect a single locus using the conventional criterion of P < 5 × 10 −8 for the single locus models of McManus and Annett. The strong conclusion is that handedness is not controlled by a single genetic locus. A consideration of the genetic architecture of height, primary ciliary dyskinesia, and intelligence suggests that handedness inheritance can be explained by a multilocus variant of the McManus DC model, classical effects on family and twins being barely distinguishable from the single locus model. Based on the ENGAGE meta-analysis of GWASs, we estimate at least 40 loci are involved in determining handedness. The genetics of handedness Right-and left-handedness show many features that suggest that they are under genetic control. For example, left-handedness runs in families, 1, 2 and monozygotic (MZ) twins are more concordant than those that are dizygotic (DZ); 2 there is also little compelling evidence of environmental factors, and the scarce data from adoption studies are compatible with genetic effects. Most models of the inheritance of handedness, from the early model of Ramaley 4 through to the models of McManus, 5 Annett, 6 and Klar, 7 describe a single locus with two or more alleles; fewer models specify two loci. 8 For simplicity, this paper mainly considers the McManus DC model, which describes [The copyright line for this article was changed on July 18, 2014 after original online publication. ] additive expression at a single locus with two al-leles, D (Dextral) and C (Chance), and the three genotypes being DD, DC, and CC, although most of the conclusions broadly and similarly apply to other genetic models. In the DC model, the probabilities of left-handedness given the three genotypes , P(L|DD), P(L|DC), and P(L|CC), are 0%, 25%, and 50%. For a typical population rate of left-handedness, P(L) = 10%, and for the frequency of the C allele, P(C) = 20%. The McManus model, as well as the Annett model, is successful in its predictions because the C allele (or Annett's RS-allele) produces randomness in the phenotypes. The phenotype of the CC genotype with its 50:50 mixture of right-and left-handedness does not indicate …
Università degli Studi di Milano Facoltà di Scienze Matematiche , Fisiche e Naturali Laurea Triennale in Fisica Solitonic mechanisms of dissipation in adsorbed atomic monolayers

In this work we investigate the possibility of a dissipation topography sensitive to local bonding defects (solitons or kinks) of adatoms monolayers. We carry out this study in a very idealized scheme: the standard Frenkel-Kontorova model, with a harmonic chain representing the layer of atoms adsorbed on a crystalline surface, interacting with a periodic potential representing the solid substrate. In experiments dissipation is mapped through the tip of an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), which we simulate by means of a Gaussian-shaped oscillating potential. We find evidence of two distinct dissipative regimes, low and a high tip frequency, both showing a pronounced dissipation contrast for the kinks with respect to in-register adatoms. The high visibility of the kinks is explained by the resonant behavior of the power dissipated by the tip as a function of the local atomic vibration frequency, which is strongly sensitive to the rigidity of the local bonding. For weak adatom-adatom interaction, kinks are strongly localized and pinned to the substrate; under these conditions we obtain stationary reproducible dissipation maps. In contrast, when the adatom-adatom interaction exceeds the corrugation of the adatom-substrate interaction, kinks become extended weakly pinned objects which can be dragged along by the tip: correspondingly the dissipation maps acquire a history-dependent quality. Advisor: Dr. Nicola Manini Co-Advisor: Prof. Giuseppe Santoro