Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
LSM Management on Computational Storage

LSM-trees have emerged as the write-optimized index of choice for key-value stores and relational database systems. LSM-trees typically rely on a storage manager on top of a file system for storing data on Solid-State Drives (SSDs). The I/O path thus comprises four layers, each independently managing similar indirection, journaling, and garbage collection mechanisms. Such overhead is increasingly problematic. First, the advent of microsecond-scale SSDs makes it necessary to streamline the I/O software stack. Second, the increasing performance gap between storage and CPU makes it necessary to reduce CPU storage overhead. A solution is to collapse LSM, file system, and SSD management layers into a single software layer embedded on computational storage. Specific commercial solutions are already available. In this short paper, we describe the design space for LSM management on computational storage.
Can Duplicate Questions on Stack Overflow Benefit the Software Development Community?

Duplicate questions on Stack Overflow are questions that are flagged as being conceptually equivalent to a previously posted question. Stack Overflow suggests that duplicate questions should not be discussed by users, but rather that attention should be redirected to their previously posted counterparts. Roughly 53% of closed Stack Overflow posts are closed due to duplication. Despite their supposed overlapping content, user activity suggests duplicates may generate additional or superior answers. Approximately 9% of duplicates receive more views than their original counterparts despite being closed. In this paper, we analyze duplicate questions from two perspectives. First, we analyze the experience of those who post duplicates using activity and reputation-based heuristics. Second, we compare the content of duplicates both in terms of their questions and answers to determine the degree of similarity between each duplicate pair. Through analysis of the MSR challenge dataset, we find that although duplicate questions are more likely to be created by inexperienced users, they often receive dissimilar answers to their original counterparts. Indeed, supplementary textual analysis using Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques suggests duplicate questions provide additional information about the underlying concepts being discussed. We recommend that the Stack Overflow's duplication policy be revised to account for the benefits that leaving duplicate questions open may have for the developer community.
Noninvasive neuroimaging enhances continuous neural tracking for robotic device control

Noninvasive neuroimaging and increased user engagement improve EEG-based neural decoding and facilitate real-time 2D robotic device control. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) using signals acquired with intracortical implants have achieved successful high-dimensional robotic device control useful for completing daily tasks. However, the substantial amount of medical and surgical expertise required to correctly implant and operate these systems greatly limits their use beyond a few clinical cases. A noninvasive counterpart requiring less intervention that can provide high-quality control would profoundly improve the integration of BCIs into the clinical and home setting. Here, we present and validate a noninvasive framework using electroencephalography (EEG) to achieve the neural control of a robotic device for continuous random target tracking. This framework addresses and improves upon both the “brain” and “computer” components by increasing, respectively, user engagement through a continuous pursuit task and associated training paradigm and the spatial resolution of noninvasive neural data through EEG source imaging. In all, our unique framework enhanced BCI learning by nearly 60% for traditional center-out tasks and by more than 500% in the more realistic continuous pursuit task. We further demonstrated an additional enhancement in BCI control of almost 10% by using online noninvasive neuroimaging. Last, this framework was deployed in a physical task, demonstrating a near-seamless transition from the control of an unconstrained virtual cursor to the real-time control of a robotic arm. Such combined advances in the quality of neural decoding and the practical utility of noninvasive robotic arm control will have major implications for the eventual development and implementation of neurorobotics by means of noninvasive BCI.
Technical Note - In silico imaging tools from the VICTRE clinical trial.

PURPOSE In silico imaging clinical trials are emerging alternative sources of evidence for regulatory evaluation and are typically cheaper and faster than human trials. In this note, we describe the set of in silico imaging software tools used in the VICTRE (Virtual Clinical Trial for Regulatory Evaluation) which replicated a traditional trial using a computational pipeline. MATERIALS AND METHODS We describe a complete imaging clinical trial software package for comparing two breast imaging modalities (digital mammography and digital breast tomosynthesis). First, digital breast models were developed based on procedural generation techniques for normal anatomy. Second, lesions were inserted in a subset of breast models. The breasts were imaged using GPU-accelerated Monte Carlo transport methods and read using image interpretation models for the presence of lesions. All in silico components were assembled into a computational pipeline. The VICTRE images were made available in DICOM format for ease of use and visualization. RESULTS We describe an open-source collection of in silico tools for running imaging clinical trials. All tools and source codes have been made freely available. CONCLUSION The open-source tools distributed as part of the VICTRE project facilitate the design and execution of other in silico imaging clinical trials. The entire pipeline can be run as a complete imaging chain, modified to match needs of other trial designs, or used as independent components to build additional pipelines. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Studi Empiris Hubungan Metrik Kohesi dengan Kecenderungan Kesalahan pada Aplikasi Berorientasi Objek

Salah satu faktor penting dari suatu perangkat lunak adalah kualitas. Kualitas perangkat lunak yang baik ditunjukkan dengan minimalnya kesalahan-kesalahan yang ditemukan pada saat implementasi. Kesalahan yang ditemukan di awal pengembangan dapat mengurangi biaya, usaha dan waktu untuk perbaikan. Pada penelitian ini, akan diuji pengaruh antara salah satu metrik kualitas internal yaitu kohesi dan kecenderungan kesalahan pada perangkat lunak berorientasi objek. Data yang digunakan dalam penelitian berupa perangkat lunak berkode bebas yang dikembangkan dengan bahasa pemrograman Java. Pengukuran metrik kohesi dilakukan pada tahap desain dan implementasi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan adanya korelasi positif antara metrik kualitas kohesi terutama pada kode sumber dengan kecenderungan kesalahan perangkat lunak berorientasi objek.
Supplemental Instruction In Introductory Economics: An Evaluation Of The University Of New England’s Peer Assisted Study Scheme (Pass)

Peer teaching, a process in which students perform one or more of the functions normally undertaken by a teacher, has recently received some attention as an alternative to traditional university teaching. Whilst the techniques and tenets of peer teaching are neither new nor novel, attempts to institutionalise the peer teaching process are. Usually such approaches are ensconced within the attempts of Australian universities to move towards a more responsive and accountable stance within a total quality management framework. More particularly, where subjects such as introductory economics are characterised by low levels of student satisfaction, retention rates and participation, formalised peer teaching would appear to offer discernible benefits at a comparatively low cost. The present study analyses the impact of peer teaching, notably the Peer Assisted Study Scheme (PASS) at the University of New England. Section II provides a brief review of the context, types and processes of peer teaching within higher education, and the particular characteristics of introductory economics that make it amenable to this form of instruction. Models and hypotheses for the evaluation of the program are discussed in Section III, followed by the analysis of the results in Section IV. The paper ends with some brief concluding remarks in Section V.
Performance of a bandlimited trellis decoding receiver for MSK class modulations in adjacent channel interference

The performance of a bandlimited trellis decoding receiver (BTR) is investigated for MSK class modulations in adjacent channel interference (ACI). The receiver consists of a front-end bandlimiting filter, a Nyquist sampler, and Viterbi algorithm (VA) decoding of the trellis matched to the sampled truncated impulse response of the channel. As there is no known optimum detector in non-gaussian ACI, this receiver is a candidate for superior performance in ACI compared to the matched filter (MF) receiver. Analysis as well as simulation results show that the BTR has indistinguishable performance compared to the MF in no ACI for OQPSK, MSK and SFSK. In ACT, however, the BTR demonstrates considerable more robustness than the MF. For a channel spacing of 2/bit time (T/sub b/) for the ACT, the BTR is shown to tolerate from 5 dB to 10 dB depending on the modulation more ACI than the MF before either suffers any serious degradation in performance.
Within-litter variation in birth weight: impact of nutritional status in the sow

Accompanying the beneficial improvement in litter size from genetic selection for high-prolificacy sows, within-litter variation in birth weight has increased with detrimental effects on post-natal growth and survival due to an increase in the proportion of piglets with low birth-weight. Causes of within-litter variation in birth weight include breed characteristics that affect uterine space, ovulation rate, degree of maturation of oocytes, duration of time required for ovulation, interval between ovulation and fertilization, uterine capacity for implantation and placentation, size and efficiency of placental transport of nutrients, communication between conceptus/fetus and maternal systems, as well as nutritional status and environmental influences during gestation. Because these factors contribute to within-litter variation in birth weight, nutritional status of the sow to improve fetal-placental development must focus on the following three important stages in the reproductive cycle: pre-mating or weaning to estrus, early gestation and late gestation. The goal is to increase the homogeneity of development of oocytes and conceptuses, decrease variations in conceptus development during implantation and placentation, and improve birth weights of newborn piglets. Though some progress has been made in nutritional regulation of within-litter variation in the birth weight of piglets, additional studies, with a focus on and insights into molecular mechanisms of reproductive physiology from the aspects of maternal growth and offspring development, as well as their regulation by nutrients provided to the sow, are urgently needed. 概要本综述旨在总结仔猪初生重窝内变异对仔猪健康、生长及生产管理造成的不利影响、形成因素、以及改善窝内变异的措施。 在现代化高产母猪养殖中, 仔猪初生重窝内变异程度及低初生重猪的比例大幅增加, 导致新生期存活率、生长性能大大降低。 初生重窝内变异的影响因素包括母猪排卵率、卵子质量、排卵持续时间、胚胎附植能力、子宫容积、胎盘体积和效率等; 品种差异对仔猪初生重的均匀度也有很大影响。 在妊娠的三个关键阶段 (断奶-配种间隔期、妊娠早期和妊娠后期) 进行针对性的营养调控有望一定程度上提高窝内初生重均匀度。 目前已被报道的包括: 在配种前母猪日粮中添加葡萄糖或者维生素A, 妊娠后期添加谷氨酰胺均可改善仔猪初生重均匀度, 精氨酸以及支链氨基酸也有提高仔猪初生重一致性的潜能。 但总体而言, 目前相关研究相对较少、潜在的分子机制仍不明确, 需要大量深入的研究来加深对妊娠期母体与胎儿发育过程相关生物学事件、营养素作用机制的理解, 为制定出更加科学有效的母猪饲喂措施提供理论基础。
Effects of alfalfa saponin extract on mRNA expression of Ldlr, LXRα, and FXR in BRL cells

We studied the effects of alfalfa saponin extract (ASE) on low density lipoprotein receptor (Ldlr), liver X receptor a (LXRα), and farnesoid X receptor (FXR) in normal and hyperlipidemic Buffalo rat liver (BRL) cells. Normal and hyperlipidemic BRL cells were divided into eight groups: normal, or normal cells treated with 50, 100, and 150 mg/L ASE, hyperlipidemic, or hyperlipidemic cells treated with 50, 100, and 150 mg/L ASE. After treatment for 24 h, Ldlr, LXRα, and FXR mRNA expression levels were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Data showed that mRNA expression of Ldlr in normal BRL cells was significantly up-regulated by ASE treatment and mRNA expressions of LXRα and FXR were significantly down-regulated both in normal and hyperlipidemic BRL cells after ASE treatment. Thus, ASE might ameliorate hepatic steatosis by regulating genes involved in cholesterol metabolism, including up-regulation of Ldlr as well as down-regulation of LXRα and FXR.
Cross-talk between bile acids and intestinal microbiota in host metabolism and health

Bile acid (BA) is de novo synthesized exclusively in the liver and has direct or indirect antimicrobial effects. On the other hand, the composition and size of the BA pool can be altered by intestinal microbiota via the biotransformation of primary BAs to secondary BAs, and subsequently regulate the nuclear farnesoid X receptor (FXR; NR1H4). The BA-activated FXR plays important roles in BA synthesis and metabolism, glucose and lipid metabolism, and even hepatic autophagy. BAs can also play a role in the interplays among intestinal microbes. In this review, we mainly discuss the interactions between BAs and intestinal microbiota and their roles in regulating host metabolism, and probably the autophagic signaling pathway. 概要胆汁酸只在肝脏中合成, 并通过直接作用或间接作用抑杀肠道微生物。 而肠道微生物又可以促进初级胆汁酸转化为次级胆汁酸, 从而改变机体内胆汁酸的组成。 初级胆汁酸和次级胆汁酸均可调控法尼酯X 核受体 (FXR) 的表达, 已有研究发现, FXR在胆汁酸的合成与代谢、葡萄糖代谢、脂质代谢和肝脏自噬中发挥着重要作用。 此外, 胆汁酸在肠道微生物的互作中起到了重要作用。 本文主要综述了胆汁酸与肠道微生物之间的互作及其在宿主代谢调控中的作用, 首次探讨了胆汁酸与肠道微生物的互作可能调节自噬相关信号通路。
Bacterial community in sediment from the Western Pacific “Warm Pool” and its relationship to environment

Total DNAs were extracted from different sections of deep sea sediment core sample collected from the Western Pacific “Warm Pool”. The bacterial 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) clone libraries were constructed and analyzed by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and DNA sequencing. The bacterial communities in these samples and their relationship to environment were analyzed consequently. The results indicated that among eight main bacterial groups found in these sediments, members of the γ-Proteobacteria were most abundant in each section of sediment core sample and the genus Colwellia belonging to γ-Proteobacteria was dominant in this area. Members of the α-Proteobacteria were found commonly existing in these samples, while members belonging to β-Proteobacteria were seldom detected. The diversity of bacterial communities from different sections of sediment core sample was δ- and ε-Proteobacteria and the bacterial group including generaCytopahga, Flexibacteria andBacteroides (CFB group). These bacteria all were inversely proportional to the depth of sediment. Phylogenetic analysis showed that there were 18%–30% and 15%–25% of total bacterial communities related to methane and sulfur metabolism respectively in each section of core sample, implicating that the metabolism of sulfur and methane played an important role in the substance and energy cycles of the Western Pacific “Warm Pool”.
Conductive Chat : Instant messaging with a skin conductivity channel

Conductive Chat is an instant messaging interface which incorporates users’ fluctuating skin conductivity levels into the dialogue interface. By including an indication of users’ arousal within a text chat interaction, Conductive Chat augments the written communication with situated affective content. We hypothesize that this additional contextual channel increases the quality and effectiveness of the computer-mediated communication.
The RAND Metadata Management System (RMMS). A Metadata Storage Facility to Support Data Interoperability, Reuse, and Sharing,

Abstract : The RAND Metadata Management System (RMMS) is a system that manages "metadata. " Metadata denotes definitional and descriptional information about databases, simulation models, and procedures. Databases, such as those maintained in the INGRES database management system (DBMS) by the Military Operations Simulation Facility (MOSF), are prevalent throughout RAND. Similarly, many prominent simulation models are exercised regularly in the MOSF and require input data extracted from INGRES databases. However, most of these databases have little documentation or other descriptional information to go along with them. The absence of such information leaves users at a loss for understanding the definitions, abbreviations, acronyms, and descriptions of the pieces of data stored and maintained in a DBMS. This report presents the design of the RMMS, a metadata management system for relational databases. Our goal was to produce a design document that could be used both by the users of MOSF relational databases (who may be future users of RMMS) and by users of other relational databases who would like to develop a similar RMMS metadata repository for their own set of databases. This work was motivated by the proliferation of databases stored and used in the MOSF and by a realization by the MOSF database management staff that such metadata is at least as important as, if not more important than, the actual data values. Although a "management system" typically includes facilities for user interaction and maintenance, in this document we focus primarily on the metadata storage structures within RMMS. Detailed discussion of user interface and maintenance designs is beyond the scope of this report.
Erratum to: Thermal and hydrostatic structure of the protoplanetary nebula exposed to stellar radiation and stellar wind from the central star

A model for a nebula exposed to the radiation and stellar wind from the central star has been examined. T Tauri stars commonly have disks and stellar wind, though we have no theoretical model on nebular thermal structure under the wind. The aims of this paper are to propose a theoretical nebula model, and to perform mathematical analysis on the geometrical structure and temperature distribution of a passive nebula. Its geometrical surface is determined by the dynamical pressure of the stellar wind. The nebular surface is assumed to be a black body surface, heated by the incident stellar photon flux. We obtain temperature from the equation of energy balance between the stellar radiation upon this nebular surface and the black body radiation from it. The temperature distribution in passive disks is insensitive to the wind strength and is almost identical even if the wind strength changes by five orders of magnitude. The nebula temperature is not expressed by a simple power law function of the distance from the central star. This is an important difference between our results and those of previous works. Since the nebula surrounding a T Tauri star is influenced by stellar wind, our model may be more appropriate than any other simple single power law temperature for passive protoplanetary nebulae.
Forward-looking radar navigation system for 1997 AHS demonstration

A forward-looking chirp monopulse radar has been developed for road-vehicle guidance and collision avoidance. The radar chirps between 10 and 11 GHz and operates in conjunction with a frequency selective surface stripe laid in the middle of the highway lane. The monopulse guidance concept derives lateral position data from two receive antennas, one left and one right of the transmitter. The radar system is described in detail, and measured performance data are presented. This radar has been successfully demonstrated at the 1997 National Automated Highway System Consortium Technical Feasibility Demonstration on I-15 in San Diego, California.
Accelerating large-scale simulation of seismic wave propagation by multi-GPUs and three-dimensional domain decomposition

We adopted the GPU (graphics processing unit) to accelerate the large-scale finite-difference simulation of seismic wave propagation. The simulation can benefit from the high-memory bandwidth of GPU because it is a “memory intensive” problem. In a single-GPU case we achieved a performance of about 56 GFlops, which was about 45-fold faster than that achieved by a single core of the host central processing unit (CPU). We confirmed that the optimized use of fast shared memory and registers were essential for performance. In the multi-GPU case with three-dimensional domain decomposition, the non-contiguous memory alignment in the ghost zones was found to impose quite long time in data transfer between GPU and the host node. This problem was solved by using contiguous memory buffers for ghost zones. We achieved a performance of about 2.2 TFlops by using 120 GPUs and 330 GB of total memory: nearly (or more than) 2200 cores of host CPUs would be required to achieve the same performance. The weak scaling was nearly proportional to the number of GPUs. We therefore conclude that GPU computing for large-scale simulation of seismic wave propagation is a promising approach as a faster simulation is possible with reduced computational resources compared to CPUs.
Creating and destroying vacancies in solids and nonequilibrium grain boundary segregation

How the vacancies in excess of equilibrium concentration are created and destroyed in solids is crucial for understanding many of their physical characteristics and processes. Grain boundaries are known as sources and sinks for bulk vacancies, but what exchange will occur between the grain boundary and the bulk under a stress is still obscure. In the present paper, we show that grain boundaries will work as sources to emit vacancies when a compressive stress is exerted on them and as sinks to absorb vacancies when a tensile stress is exerted. This is the sixth method of introducing and annihilating vacancies in solids in addition to the five methods mentioned in literature. At the same time, this, physical process will produce solute none quilibrium grain-boundary segregation/dilution. A set of kinetic equations is established to describe such a physical process. Additionally an attempt has been made to simulate Misra’s experimental data with the kinetic equations to justify the physical process.
Atmospheric thickness and vertical structure properties in wintertime precipitation events from microwave radiometer, radiosonde and wind profiler observations

With a focus on the properties of atmospheric thickness, temporal variations of various atmospheric quantities at isobaric levels measured and retrieved from microwave radiometer (MWR) and radiosonde soundings were investigated for precipitation events during the winter of 2011 near Seoul, Korea. Wind profiler analyses were performed additionally for examining the returned radar power signal and Doppler velocity characteristics of the vertical structure. It was found that there exists a lead period of 9 to 12 h that shows little change (almost no increase) in the 1000–850 hPa thickness before precipitation. Between snow and rain events, thermodynamic characteristics were similar at lower levels but were noticeably different at upper levels, showing their dependence on the cloud‐top height and updraft intensity. Higher correlation in thickness and temperature between the MWR and radiosonde data was found at lower levels than upper, suggesting that the lead period of the 1000–850 hPa thickness as shown by the MWR is reliable in this study. The vertical structure and precipitation properties analysed from wind profiler observations showed close agreement with MWR retrievals of precipitable water vapour and liquid water content, indicating the effectiveness of the wind profiler as a complementary tool in MWR studies.