Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Data-Driven Parameterized Corner Synthesis for Efficient Validation of Perception Systems for Autonomous Driving

Today's automotive cyber-physical systems for autonomous driving aim to enhance driving safety by replacing the uncertainties posed by human drivers with standard procedures of automated systems. However, the accuracy of in-vehicle perception systems may significantly vary under different operational conditions (e.g., fog density, light condition, etc.) and consequently degrade the reliability of autonomous driving. A perception system for autonomous driving must be carefully validated with an extremely large dataset collected under all possible operational conditions in order to ensure its robustness. The aforementioned dataset required for validation, however, is expensive or even impossible to acquire in practice, since most operational corners rarely occur in a real-world environment. In this paper, we propose to generate synthetic datasets at a variety of operational corners by using a parameterized cycle-consistent generative adversarial network (PCGAN). The proposed PCGAN is able to learn from an image dataset recorded at real-world operational conditions with only a few samples at corners and synthesize a large dataset at a given operational corner. By taking STOP sign detection as an example, our numerical experiments demonstrate that the proposed approach is able to generate high-quality synthetic datasets to facilitate accurate validation.
Parameter analysis and optimization of a heat sink for cooling intelligent power modules（IPM）based on Taguchi method

The stability of the intelligent power module has a very significant impact on the operation of the air conditioner. In this paper, a prototype experimental platform is built to verify the feasibility of the simulation results. Next, the thermal performance and flow characteristics of the heat sink are analyzed, including single-factor analysis and analysis of interactive effects. The results show that a smaller pipe diameter can reduce the maximum temperature of IPM (Timp), but it will increase the pressure drop (? P) and entropy generation. The thickness of the heat sink plate and the height of the protruding table have an interactive effect on the Timp. Then the sensitivity of the Timp and pressure drop to different parameters was analyzed, and the contribution ratio of the pipe diameter to both the Timp and pressure drop was the largest. Finally, the optimal combination of parameters was obtained to minimize both the Timp and pressure drop. Compared with the original structure, the Timp decreased by 3.98 K.
A Triple Burst Error Correction Based on Region Selection Code

The evolution of microelectronics boosts more scalable and complex circuit designs, providing high processing speed and greater storage capacity. However, reliability issues have grown significantly as electronic devices scale down, increasing the fault rate, mainly in critical applications exposed to radiation. Memories are sensitive to charged particles, which can corrupt data due to the transient effects. Error correction codes (ECCs) are highly applied to mitigate data failures, increasing memory reliability. The matrix region selection code (MRSC) is an ECC designed to correct a high rate of adjacent errors in memory but less effectively for nonadjacent errors. However, MRSC has a 2-D structure that makes it challenging to implement in memory where one address is accessed at a time. This article introduces the triple burst error correction based on region selection code (TBEC-RSC), an ECC that uses MRSC concepts, converting the MRSC format to a 1-D structure. TBEC-RSC was implemented and evaluated in a 16-bit data version; however, the code is easily extensible to the higher base-2 data words (e.g., 64 bits). Experimental results showed that TBEC-RSC corrects 100% of triple burst errors and more than 40% of 8-bit burst errors.
In-vivo evaluation of silk fibroin small-diameter vascular grafts: state of art of preclinical studies and animal models

Autologous vein and artery remains the first choice for vascular grafting procedures in small-diameter vessels such as coronary and lower limb districts. Unfortunately, these vessels are often found to be unsuitable in atherosclerotic patients due to the presence of calcifications or to insufficient size. Synthetic grafts composed of materials such as expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) are frequently employed as second choice, because of their widespread availability and success in the reconstruction of larger arteries. However, ePTFE grafts with small diameter are plagued by poor patency rates due to surface thrombogenicity and intimal hyperplasia, caused by the bioinertness of the synthetic material and aggravated by low flow conditions. Several bioresorbable and biodegradable polymers have been developed and tested to exploit such issues for their potential stimulation to endothelialization and cell infiltration. Among these, silk fibroin (SF) has shown promising pre-clinical results as material for small-diameter vascular grafts (SDVGs) because of its favorable mechanical and biological properties. A putative advantage in graft infection in comparison with synthetic materials is plausible, although it remains to be demonstrated. Our literature review will focus on the performance of SF-SDVGs in vivo, as evaluated by studies performing vascular anastomosis and interposition procedures, within small and large animal models and different arterial districts. Efficiency under conditions that more accurately mime the human body will provide encouraging evidence towards future clinical applications.
Stellar encounters involving massive stars in young clusters

We model collisions between pre-main-sequence stars using a smoothed particle hydrodynamics method. Assuming that all collisions lead to simple mergers, we use derived merger cross-sections to calculate the time-scale to make a 50-M-circle dot star by collisions within the core of a stellar cluster as a function of stellar number density. We show that a 50-M-circle dot star may be produced in this manner within 106 yr beginning with a cluster core of 200 1-M-circle dot stars within a radius of 0.0025 pc. Encounters between one high-mass star and one low-mass star tend to result in the tidal shredding of the latter, producing a massive disc around the former. This disc spreads viscously and provided a much larger target than any star for subsequent collisions. If a star strikes the disc, it is likely to be captured, and so forms a binary with the other star. Subsequent encounters between the binary and single stars lead either to exchanges or to the formation of merged objects. The inclusion of this effect leads to a significant reduction in the time taken to produce a 50-M-circle dot star. We also consider the role played by primordial binaries. We show that the time-scale required to produce a 50-M-circle dot star decreases with increasing binary fraction. We find that the number of primordial binaries is reduced by encounters. The core of a cluster must therefore contain a very high binary fraction initially if a large fraction of the massive stars are to be contained within binaries when the 50-M-circle dot star is produced.
Optimal approximation for functions prescribed at equally spaced points

Expl icit upper a nd lo\\"er bounds for the valuc F (1,) of a linear func t ional F applied Lo a funct ion u(x) defined on the in terval 0 ::;1; ::; 1 arc given when u is prescribed at the N + l points i fN , i = O, . ,N, a nd a bound for the integral of U[k]2 is known. These bounds a re optimal in the sense that they a re attained for functions satisfying the prescri bed condit ion s. Their computation invol ves the in version of a matrix of s ize kl ra ther t han N , \\"hieh means that N is permi tted Lo be large.
Accelerating Recommendation System Training by Leveraging Popular Choices A SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

Recommendation systems have been deployed in e-commerce and online advertising to expose desired items from the user’s perspective. To meet this end, various deep learning-based recommendation models have been employed such as the Deep learning recommendation model or DLRM at Facebook. The input of such a model can be categorized as dense and sparse representations. The former demonstrates the numerical representation of items and users with discrete parameters. On the other hand, the latter refers to continuous input such as time or age. Such models are comprised of two main components: computation-intensive components like multilayer perceptron or MLP and memory-intensive like embedding tables which save the numerical representation of sparse. Training these large-scale recommendation models is evolving to require increasing data and compute resources. The highly parallel neural networks portion of these models can beneﬁt from GPU acceleration, however, large embedding tables often cannot ﬁt in the limited-capacity GPU device memory. Hence, this thesis deep dives into the semantics of training data and feature access, transfer, and usage patterns of these models. We observe that, due to the popularity of certain inputs, the accesses to the embeddings are highly skewed. Only a few embedding entries are accessed up to 10000× more. In this thesis, we focus on improving the end-to-end training performance using this insight and offer a framework, called Frequently Accessed Embeddings or FAE. we propose a hot-embedding-aware data layout for training recommender models. This layout utilizes the scarce GPU memory for storing the highly accessed embeddings, thus reducing the data transfers from CPU to GPU. We choose DLRM [41] and XDL [30] as the baseline. Both of these models have been com-iii
Regulation of the key molecules of glomerular ultrafiltration in proteinuric models

9 INTRODUCTION . 11 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE. 12 1. Glomerulus as a unique structure for filtration of blood. 12 1.1 Development of the glomerular structures. 12 1.2 Endothelial cell layer . 15 1.3 Glomerular basement membrane (GBM) . 15 1.4 Epithelial cell layer and slit diaphragm (SD) . 15 1.5 Mesangial cells . 16 2. Proteinuria. 17 2.1 Causes of proteinuria . 18 2.2 Congenital nephrotic syndromes. 19 2.3 Congenital Nephrotic Syndrome of the Finnish type. 19 2.3.1 Clinical aspects . 20 2.3.2 Pathology of CNF.20 2.3.3 Diagnosis and treatment . 21 2.3. 4 Genetics of CNF . 22 2.4 Minimal change nephropathy. 22 3. Experimental models of proteinuria. 23 3.1 Puromycin aminonucleoside nephrosis. 23 3.1.1 Morphological changes in PAN.24 3.1.2 Pathogenesis and molecular changes in PAN . 24 3.2 Mercuric chloride (HgCl2) induction . 25 3.3 Heymann nephritis. 26 4. Molecular composition of the podocytes. 27 4.1 Nephrin. 27 4.2 CD2AP. 28 4.3 Podocin. 29 4.4 Alpha-actinin-4 . 29 4.5 Integrins . 30 4.6 Dystroglycans . 30 5. RNA processing. 32 5.1 Origin and processing of RNA splicing. 32 5.2 Alternative splicing. 34 AIMS OF THE STUDY . 39 MATERIALS AND METHODS . 40 1. Animals . 40 2. Antibodies . 40 3. Primers . 41 4. Methods. 42 4.1 Animal experiments. 42 4.1.1 PAN with modification with HgCl2 and probucol (I-V) . 42 4.1.2 Induction of Heymann nephritis (II, V) . 42 4.2 Quantitation of urinary albumin (I-V) . 42 4.3 Isolation of glomeruli of rat kidneys (I, IV, V) . 43 4.4 RNA extraction (I-V). 43 4.5 Cloning of rat nephrin cDNA (I). 43 4.6 DNase treatment (II, III, IV) . 43 4.7 Semiquantitative RT-PCR (I-V) . 43 4.8 Real-time PCR (III) . 44 4.9 Immunofluorescence microscopy (I, II, IV, V) . 45
Monetary and Nonmonetary Punishment in the Voluntary Contributions Mechanism

A demand for behavioral norms arises when members of a group have individual incentives to take actions that reduce the group’s overall welfare (James S. Coleman, 1990). Norms require enforcement with a system of sanctions that penalize deviations from acceptable behavior (George C. Homans, 1961). Formal sanctions include  nes or restrictions implemented by a legal system or private individuals that impose costs of money and time on the offender. However, informal sanctions such as peer pressure, gossip, or social ostracism might in some cases also be effective deterrents, and expressions of social acceptance might be effective in encouraging group-oriented behavior (Peter M. Blau, 1964). Indeed, the fact that expressions of approval and disapproval are commonly observed in human interaction suggests that they must in uence the behavior of at least some individuals. In recognition of the importance of informal sanctions, economists have integrated phenomena such as peer pressure (Eugene Kandel and Edward P. Lazear, 1992; John M. Barron and Kathy PaulsonGjerde, 1997), and the avoidance of social disapproval (George A. Akerlof, 1980; Heinz Hollander, 1990; Assar Lindbeck et al., 1999) into theoretical models. Social pressures are thought to be a major factor behind high voter participation (Carol-Jean Uhlaner, 1989; Stephen Knack, 1992) and compliance with the law (Tom R. Tyler, 1990). In this study, we use experimental methods to study the power of informal sanctions. The context is a simple game called the Voluntary Contributions Mechanism (VCM). The VCM is appealing because it starkly isolates the con ict between self-interest and group interest and allows a simple measure of the extent of groupinterested behavior. It has also been widely studied in the laboratory, facilitating the interpretation of our results within a large literature. In the version of the game that we consider, each player receives an identical initial endowment of money. Players simultaneously select a fraction of the endowment to contribute to a group account, while keeping the remainder. All funds in the group account pay a positive return to each member of the group. The parameters are chosen so that each agent has a dominant strategy to contribute zero to the group account, but at the group optimum, every agent contributes all of his endowment to the group account. Experiments have documented that there is initially a positive level of contribution to the group account. The level of contribution de-
Current Aspects of the Planning and Operating Corporate Info-Communication and CRM Systems

The establishment of an up-to-date, modern corporate info-communication system means the development of an integrated system in which information is transmitted practically within a single network. The main advantage of this is less information loss and communication noise, and the system is also more cost-effective. If the information communication technologies used by companies are incomplete or outdated, there is a greater chance that so-called communication noise will occur, i.e. communication, the delivery of messages, and understanding between the communicating parties will become more difficult and complicated.By the end of the nineties, a so-called network society has emerged that was active in virtual space. They have the ability to form smaller groups relatively easily and quickly, among which there is a continuous exchange of information. The members of this network society mostly belong to the so-called Generation Z (those born after the mid-1990s). Among other things, it is typical of this generation that they spend most of their time keeping contact online, therefore their communication, relationship-building and cognitive style also develops accordingly.The technique of the written text, which has been used for centuries, has now been mostly replaced by networked communication, which creates a new kind of collectivity. Due to the linear organization of written and spoken language, it only allows for personal contact with a small group, thus resulting in a certain degree of isolation. The network-like structuring of multimedia seems to be a much more natural form of organization for the human brain, it allows people to keep in touch with a larger number of people. However, these relationships are role-based and less personal: these are the "weak" social ties that we like to rely on when looking for work and making deals. It can therefore be expected that technological changes will result in rapid transformations in our relationship management communication patterns, enabling the creation of a wider network of relationships.
Reliability Analysis of Architectural Safeguards for AI-enabled Systems

Although enormous progress has been made in Artificial Intelligence (AI), it entails new challenges. The growing complexity of learning tasks requires more complex AI models, which increasingly exhibit unreliable behaviour. This is of particular concern in safety-critical systems where AI is commonly used. Therefore, well-known architectural approaches have been adopted such as N-Version Programming or Simplex Architectures (denoted as Architectural Safeguards) to deal with the unreliable nature of AI. At design-time, however, it is difficult to identify an architectural safeguard that satisfies the reliability (or other quality) requirements of the system. In this paper, we present a model-based reliability analysis of AI-enabled systems to assess architectural safeguards at design-time taking into account the predictive uncertainty of AI components. We have validated our approach in a case study from the field of autonomous driving. Our results show that our approach not only enables the analysis of the impact of architectural safeguards on the overall reliability of an AI system but supports software engineers in decision-making.
Bmc Evolutionary Biology the Evolution of Body Size under Environmental Gradients in Ectotherms: Why Should Bergmann's Rule Apply to Lizards?

Background: The impact of environmental gradients on the evolution of life history traits is a central issue in macroecology and evolutionary biology. A number of hypotheses have been formulated to explain factors shaping patterns of variation in animal mass. One such example is Bergmann's rule, which predicts that body size will be positively correlated with latitude and elevation, and hence, with decreasing environmental temperatures. A generally accepted explanation for this phenotypic response is that as body mass increases, body surface area gets proportionally smaller, which contributes to reduced rates of heat-loss. Phylogenetic and non-phylogenetic evidence reveals that endotherms follow Bergmann's rule. In contrast, while previous non-phylogenetic studies supported this prediction in up to 75% of ectotherms, recent phylogenetic comparative analyses suggest that its validity for these organisms is controversial and less understood. Moreover, little attention has been paid to why some ectotherms conform to this rule, while others do not. Here, we investigate Bergmann's rule in the six main clades forming the Liolaemus genus, one of the largest and most environmentally diverse genera of terrestrial vertebrates. A recent study conducted on some species belonging to four of these six clades concluded that Liolaemus species follow Bergmann's rule, representing the only known phylogenetic support for this model in lizards. However, a later reassessment of this evidence, performed on one of the four analysed clades, produced contrasting conclusions.
Investigation into the immuno-therapeutic potential of melanocortin peptides on activated chondrocytes

Melanocortin peptides are endogenously produced peptides originating from the posttranslational processing of the pro-opiomelanocortin hormone (POMC), exerting their effect by binding to class A G-protein-coupled 7 transmembrane domain receptors, positively coupled to adenylate cyclase. To date five melanocortin receptors have been identified and termed MC1 to MC5. MC1 and MC3 have previously been proposed to exert anti-inflammatory effects by modulating the host inflammatory response. The expression and the functional activity of both receptors was identified and confirmed in the C-20/A4 chondrocyte cell-line, isolated primary bovine and in situ bovine articular chondrocytes. Pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL-1? , IL-6, IL-8, TNF-? , produced by activated articular chondrocytes significantly up-regulate matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) gene expression, and inhibit the chondrocyte’s compensatory synthesis pathways required to restore the integrity of the degraded extracellular matrix (ECM). Human C-20/A4 and primary bovine articular chondrocytes were found to produce CC and CXC chemokines, which induced the release of matrix degrading enzymes and activated cell apoptotic pathways. TNF-? significantly up-regulated the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines IL-1? , IL-6, IL-8, MCP-1 and MMP1 and 13 from C-20/A4 cell line and freshly isolated primary bovine articular chondrocytes. An effect attenuated in the presence of ? -MSH and D[TRP]8-? -MSH. The MC3/4 antagonist SHU9119 blocked the effects of D[TRP]8-? -MSH but not ? -MSH. TNF-? (60.0 pg/ml) stimulation caused ~30% cell death and was partially, but significantly inhibited by treatment of the cells with the melanocortin peptides. The antiinflammatory and chondroprotective effect of melanocortin peptides were then tested on in situ bovine articular chondrocytes, injured by a single blunt impact delivered by a drop tower. The mechanical injury caused significant cell death and up-regulation of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-8, which were significantly reduced on pre-treatment of cartilage explants with melanocortin peptides. Modulation of pro-inflammatory pathways and inflammation-modulated cartilage destruction with subsequent chondrocyte apoptosis appears to be logical development in the potential medical therapy of OA. The small molecular weight of melanocortin peptides should facilitate the absorption from the GI tract and the movement to the cartilage matrix, which together with creative drug delivery methods might potentially prove to be potent therapeutic agents in the future.
The Role of Mitochondrial DNA Damage and Repair in the Resistance of BCR/ABL-Expressing Cells to Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a hematological malignancy that arises from the transformation of stem hematopoietic cells by the fusion oncogene BCR/ABL and subsequent clonal expansion of BCR/ABL-positive progenitor leukemic cells. The BCR/ABL protein displays a constitutively increased tyrosine kinase activity that alters many regulatory pathways, leading to uncontrolled growth, impaired differentiation and increased resistance to apoptosis featured by leukemic cells. Current CML therapy is based on tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), primarily imatinib, which induce apoptosis in leukemic cells. However, some patients show primary resistance to TKIs while others develop it in the course of therapy. In both cases, resistance may be underlined by perturbations in apoptotic signaling in leukemic cells. As mitochondria may play an important role in such signaling, alteration in mitochondrial metabolism may change resistance to pro-apoptotic action of TKIs in BCR/ABL-positive cells. Because BCR/ABL may induce reactive oxygen species and unfaithful DNA repair, it may affect the stability of mitochondrial DNA, influencing mitochondrial apoptotic signaling and in this way change the sensitivity of CML cells to TKIs. Moreover, cancer cells, including BCR/ABL-positive cells, show an increased level of glucose metabolism, resulting from the shift from oxidative phosphorylation to glycolysis to supply ATP for extensive proliferation. Enhanced level of glycolysis may be associated with TKI resistance and requires change in the expression of several genes regulated mostly by hypoxia-inducible factor-1α, HIF-1α. Such regulation may be associated with the impaired mitochondrial respiratory system in CML cells. In summary, mitochondria and mitochondria-associated molecules and pathways may be attractive targets to overcome TKI resistance in CML.