LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Redescending M-estimators in regression analysis, cluster analysis and image analysis

We give a review on the properties and applications of M-estimators with redescending score function. For regression analysis, some of these redescending M-estimators can attain the maximum breakdown point which is possible in this setup. Moreover, some of them are the solutions of the problem of maximizing the efficiency under bounded influence function when the regression coefficient and the scale parameter are estimated simultaneously. Hence redescending M-estimators satisfy several outlier robustness properties. However, there is a problem in calculating the redescending M-estimators in regression. While in the location-scale case, for example, the Cauchy estimator has only one local extremum this is not the case in regression. In regression there are several local minima reflecting several substructures in the data. This is the reason that the redescending M-estimators can be used to detect substructures in data, i.e. they can be used in cluster analysis. If the starting point of the iteration to calculate the estimator is coming from the substructure then the closest minimum corresponds to this substructure. This property can be used to construct an edge and corner preserving smoother for noisy images so that there are applications in image analysis as well.
Clinical Use of Probiotics in Pediatric Allergy (cuppa): A World Allergy Organization Position Paper

BACKGROUND
: Probiotic administration has been proposed for the prevention and treatment of specific allergic manifestations such as eczema, rhinitis, gastrointestinal allergy, food allergy, and asthma. However, published statements and scientific opinions disagree about the clinical usefulness.


OBJECTIVE
: A World Allergy Organization Special Committee on Food Allergy and Nutrition review of the evidence regarding the use of probiotics for the prevention and treatment of allergy.


METHODS
: A qualitative and narrative review of the literature on probiotic treatment of allergic disease was carried out to address the diversity and variable quality of relevant studies. This variability precluded systematization, and an expert panel group discussion method was used to evaluate the literature. In the absence of systematic reviews of treatment, meta-analyses of prevention studies were used to provide data in support of probiotic applications.


RESULTS
: Despite the plethora of literature, probiotic research is still in its infancy. There is a need for basic microbiology research on the resident human microbiota. Mechanistic studies from biology, immunology, and genetics are needed before we can claim to harness the potential of immune modulatory effects of microbiota. Meanwhile, clinicians must take a step back and try to link disease state with alterations of the microbiota through well-controlled long-term studies to identify clinical indications.


CONCLUSIONS
: Probiotics do not have an established role in the prevention or treatment of allergy. No single probiotic supplement or class of supplements has been demonstrated to efficiently influence the course of any allergic manifestation or long-term disease or to be sufficient to do so. Further epidemiologic, immunologic, microbiologic, genetic, and clinical studies are necessary to determine whether probiotic supplements will be useful in preventing allergy. Until then, supplementation with probiotics remains empirical in allergy medicine. In the future, basic research should focus on homoeostatic studies, and clinical research should focus on preventive medicine applications, not only in allergy. Collaborations between allergo-immunologists and microbiologists in basic research and a multidisciplinary approach in clinical research are likely to be the most fruitful.
Clifford and Graßmann Hopf algebras via the BIGEBRA package for Maple

Abstract Hopf algebraic structures will replace groups and group representations as the leading paradigm in forthcoming times. K -theory, co-homology, entanglement, statistics, representation categories, quantized or twisted structures as well as more geometric topics of invariant theory, e.g., the Grasmann–Cayley bracket algebra, are all covered by the Hopf algebraic framework. The new branch of experimental mathematics allows one to easily enter these fields through direct calculations using symbolic manipulation and computer algebra system (CAS). We discuss problems which were solved when building the BIGEBRA package for Maple and CLIFFORD to handle tensor products, Grasmann and Clifford algebras, coalgebras and Hopf algebras. Recent results showing the usefulness of CAS for investigating new and involved mathematics provide us with examples. An outlook on further developments is given.
Tangents and Subtangents Used to Calculate Areas

Thus, the subtangent determines f (x) up to a constant factor. Therefore it is not surprising that information about f (x) can be extracted from a knowledge of s(x). For example, if b is a nonzero constant, then s(x) = b if and only if f (x) = f (0)ex/b; and s(x) = bx if and only if f (x) = f (1)x1/b. In particular, the parabola f (x) = x2 has subtangent s(x) = x/2, and the hyperbola f (x) = 1/x has subtangent s(x) = −x . In fact, if r = 0 the function f (x) = xr can be defined as that function with f (1) = 1 whose subtangent is s(x) = x/r . In [1] we used subtangents as an aid to draw tangent lines. Here we use them to calculate areas in a natural and intuitive geometric fashion rather than analytically.
A 10-MHz resonant gate driver design for LLC resonant DC-DC converters using GaN devices

In this paper, an new configurable low-side resonant gate driver circuit based on 5V CMOS process is presented. This gate driver is designed for current Gallium Nitride (GaN) power transistor working up to 10 MHz switching frequency. By updating driving signals and removing off-chip resonant inductors, this gate driver can be working as a conventional non-resonant gate driver. Under resonant gate driving mode, partial of the gate driving power can be recovered to gate driver power supply. Simulation shows up to 30% of gate driving power dissipation reduction can be achieved while driving a single device compared with conventional push-pull gate drivers. We also try to implement a resonant gate driver in a resonant converter. Simulation also shows a similar gate driver power saving is also achieved in a 48-12V LLC resonant DC-DC converter.
Non-HDL-C is a Better Predictor for the Severity of Coronary Atherosclerosis Compared with LDL-C.

BACKGROUND
Recent guidelines recommended both low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) are the primary target of lipid modulating therapy. However, which lipid measure is most closely related to the severity of coronary atherosclerosis has not yet been assessed.


METHODS
We studied 1757 consecutive subjects undergoing coronary angiography who were not receiving any lipid-lowering therapy. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was measured directly, and non-HDL-C was calculated. The severity of coronary stenosis was determined using the Gensini Score (GS) system.


RESULTS
In the overall population, LDL-C and non-HDL-C were all dramatically increased according to the quartiles of GS (p<0.001, both). In patients with coronary atherosclerosis (n=1097), non-HDL-C (r=0.138, p<0.001) was more closely related to GS than LDL-C (r=0.113, p<0.001) tested by Spearman correlation analysis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that non-HDL-C (OR=1.326, 95% CI 1.165-1.508, p<0.001) was slightly superior to LDL-C (OR=1.286, 95% CI 1.130-1.463, p<0.001) in predicting high GS after adjusting for potential confounders. Among patients with LDL-C less than the median, discordant non-HDL-C could not provide extra value in predicting high GS (OR=0.759, 95% CI 0.480-1.201). However, among patients with LDL-C greater than or equal to the median, the cardiovascular risk was overestimated for patients with discordant non-HDL-C (OR=0.458, 95% CI 0.285-0.736).


CONCLUSIONS
Our data support the use of non-HDL-C ahead of LDL-C in predicting the severity of coronary atherosclerosis, especially among patients with LDL-C greater than or equal to the median.
The role of site features, user attributes, and information verification behaviors on the perceived credibility of web-based information

Data from 574 participants were used to assess perceptions of message, site, and sponsor credibility across four genres of websites; to explore the extent and effects of verifying web-based information; and to measure the relative influence of sponsor familiarity and site attributes on perceived credibility.The results show that perceptions of credibility differed, such that news organization websites were rated highest and personal websites lowest, in terms of message, sponsor, and overall site credibility, with e-commerce and special interest sites rated between these, for the most part.The results also indicated that credibility assessments appear to be primarily due to website attributes (e.g. design features, depth of content, site complexity) rather than to familiarity with website sponsors. Finally, there was a negative relationship between self-reported and observed information verification behavior and a positive relationship between self-reported verification and internet/web experience. The findings are used to inform the theoretical development of perceived web credibility. 319 new media & society Copyright © 2007 SAGE Publications Los Angeles, London, New Delhi and Singapore Vol9(2):319–342 [DOI: 10.1177/1461444807075015] ARTICLE 319-342 NMS-075015.qxd 9/3/07 11:54 AM Page 319 © 2007 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. at Universiteit van Amsterdam SAGE on April 25, 2007 http://nms.sagepub.com Downloaded from
An Efficient Gate Library for Ambipolar CNTFET Logic

Recently, several emerging technologies have been reported as potential candidates for controllable ambipolar devices. Controllable ambipolarity is a desirable property that enables the on-line configurability of n-type and p-type device polarity. In this paper, we introduce a new design methodology for logic gates based on controllable ambipolar devices, with an emphasis on carbon nanotubes as the candidate technology. Our technique results in ambipolar gates with a higher expressive power than conventional complementary metal-oxidesemiconductor (CMOS) libraries. We propose a library of static ambipolar carbon nanotube field effect transistor (CNTFET) gates based on generalized NOR-NAND-AOI-OAI primitives, which efficiently implements XOR-based functions. Technology mapping of several multi-level logic benchmarks that extensively use the XOR function, including multipliers, adders, and linear circuits, with ambipolar CNTFET logic gates indicates that on average, it is possible to reduce the number of logic levels by 42%, the delay by 26%, and the power consumption by 32%, resulting in a energy-delay-product (EDP) reduction of 59 % over the same circuits mapped with unipolar CNTFET logic gates. Based on the projections in [1], where it is stated that defectfree CNTFETs will provide a 5x performance improvement over metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors, the ambipolar library provides a performance improvement of 7x, a 57% reduction in power consumption, and a 20x improvement in EDP over the CMOS library.
Efficacy and Safety of Alirocumab 150 mg Every 4 Weeks in Patients With Hypercholesterolemia Not on Statin Therapy: The ODYSSEY CHOICE II Study

BACKGROUND
The PCSK9 antibody alirocumab (75 mg every 2 weeks; Q2W) as monotherapy reduced low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels by 47%. Because the option of a monthly dosing regimen is convenient, ODYSSEY CHOICE II evaluated alirocumab 150 mg Q4W in patients with inadequately controlled hypercholesterolemia and not on statin (majority with statin-associated muscle symptoms), receiving treatment with fenofibrate, ezetimibe, or diet alone.


METHODS AND RESULTS
Patients were randomly assigned to placebo, alirocumab 150 mg Q4W or 75 mg Q2W (calibrator arm), with dose adjustment to 150 mg Q2W at week (W) 12 if W8 predefined LDL-C target levels were not met. The primary efficacy endpoint was LDL-C percentage change from baseline to W24. Mean baseline LDL-C levels were 163.9 mg/dL (alirocumab 150 mg Q4W, n=59), 154.5 mg/dL (alirocumab 75 mg Q2W, n=116), and 158.5 mg/dL (placebo, n=58). In the alirocumab 150 mg Q4W and 75 mg Q2W groups (49.1% and 36.0% of patients received dose adjustment, respectively), least-squares mean LDL-C changes from baseline to W24 were -51.7% and -53.5%, respectively (placebo [+4.7%]; both groups P<0.0001 versus placebo). In total, 63.9% and 70.3% of alirocumab-treated patients achieved their LDL-C targets at W24. Treatment-emergent adverse events occurred in 77.6% (alirocumab 150 mg Q4W), 73.0% (alirocumab 75 mg Q2W), and 63.8% (placebo) of patients, with injection-site reactions among the most common treatment-emergent adverse events.


CONCLUSIONS
Alirocumab 150 mg Q4W can be considered in patients not on statin with inadequately controlled hypercholesterolemia as a convenient option for lowering LDL-C.


CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION
URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT02023879.
Demonstration of MOS capacitor measurement for wafer manufacturing using a Direct Charge Measurement

Direct Charge Measurement (DCM) has a capability to improve the capacitance measurement time in parametric test. Through an actual wafer measurement, we have successfully verified that DCM can measure MOS capacitor much faster than an LCR meter while keeping good correlations for wafer manufacturing.
The RWTH / UPB / FORTH System Combination for the 4 th CHiME Challenge Evaluation

This paper describes automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems developed jointly by RWTH, UPB and FORTH for the 1ch, 2ch and 6ch track of the 4th CHiME Challenge. In the 2ch and 6ch tracks the final system output is obtained by a Confusion Network Combination (CNC) of multiple systems. The Acoustic Model (AM) is a deep neural network based on Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BLSTM) units. The systems differ by front ends and training sets used for the acoustic training. The model for the 1ch track is trained without any preprocessing. For each front end we trained and evaluated individual acoustic models. We compare the ASR performance of different beamforming approaches: a conventional superdirective beamformer [1] and an MVDR beamformer as in [2], where the steering vector is estimated based on [3]. Furthermore we evaluated a BLSTM supported Generalized Eigenvalue beamformer using NN-GEV [4]. The back end is implemented using RWTH’s open-source toolkits RASR [5], RETURNN [6] and rwthlm [7]. We rescore lattices with a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) based language model. The overall best results are obtained by a system combination that includes the lattices from the system of UPB’s submission [8]. Our final submission scored second in each of the three tracks of the 4th CHiME Challenge.
Management for scientists

Management for Scientists explores the core theories and practices in management studies today in a context applicable to those working in the scientific industries. Chapters feature a range of real-world examples presented by experienced scientists with strategic and economic business expertise.
Gender, Myth and Reality

﻿Gender, Myth and Reality From Myths to Markets: Essays on Gender edited by Kumkum Sangari and Uma Chakravarty; Manohar and Indian Institute of Advanced Study, 1999; pp xxx + 395,
VoIP Capacity—Analysis, Improvements, and Limits in IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN

Wireless voice over internet protocol (VoIP) is an important emerging service in telecommunication due to its potential for replacing cell phone communication wherever a wireless local area network (WLAN) is installed. Recent studies, however, suggest that the number of voice calls that can be supported in the widely deployed IEEE 802.11 WLAN is limited. In this paper, we utilize a so-called transmission opportunity (TXOP) parameter of a medium access control (MAC) protocol as a simple solution to improve the VoIP capacity. We provide a detailed analytical model to show that the capacity can significantly be improved and discuss the implications of the TXOP parameter in terms of the maximum number of calls the IEEE 802.11 network can support. The analytical results are validated by simulations for a wide range of parameters. Furthermore, we investigate the impact of the buffer at the access point (AP) on the number of obtainable voice calls. We show that there exists an optimal buffer size where the maximum voice capacity is achieved, but further increasing the buffer beyond this value will not result in an increased voice capacity. Based on this finding, a closed-form expression for the maximum number of voice calls is developed as a function of the TXOP value. Finally, we propose a simple yet accurate approximation for voice-capacity estimation and provide some insights gained from the approximation.
The effect of donor diabetes history on graft failure and endothelial cell density 10 years after penetrating keratoplasty.

OBJECTIVE
To examine the long-term effect of donor diabetes history on graft failure and endothelial cell density (ECD) after penetrating keratoplasty (PK) in the Cornea Donor Study.


DESIGN
Multicenter, prospective, double-masked, controlled clinical trial.


PARTICIPANTS
One thousand ninety subjects undergoing PK for a moderate risk condition, principally Fuchs' dystrophy or pseudophakic or aphakic corneal edema, were enrolled by 105 surgeons from 80 clinical sites in the United States.


METHODS
Corneas from donors 12 to 75 years of age were assigned by 43 eye banks to participants without respect to recipient factors. Donor and recipient diabetes status was determined from existing medical records. Images of the central endothelium were obtained before surgery (baseline) and at intervals for 10 years after surgery and were analyzed by a central image analysis reading center to determine ECD.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Time to graft failure (regraft or cloudy cornea for 3 consecutive months) and ECD.


RESULTS
There was no statistically significant association of donor diabetes history with 10-year graft failure, baseline ECD, 10-year ECD, or ECD values longitudinally over time in unadjusted analyses, nor after adjusting for donor age and other significant covariates. The 10-year graft failure rate was 23% in the 199 patients receiving a cornea from a donor with diabetes versus 26% in the 891 patients receiving a cornea from a donor without diabetes (95% confidence interval for the difference, -10% to 6%; unadjusted P=0.60). Baseline ECD (P=0.71), 10-year ECD (P>0.99), and changes in ECD over 10 years (P=0.86) were similar comparing donor groups with and without diabetes.


CONCLUSIONS
The study results do not suggest an association between donor diabetes and PK outcome. However, the assessment of donor diabetes was imprecise and based on historical data only. The increasing frequency of diabetes in the aging population in the United States affects the donor pool. Thus, the impact of donor diabetes on long-term endothelial health after PK or endothelial keratoplasty, or both, warrants further study with more precise measures of diabetes and its complications.
Evolutionary reinforcement learning of artificial neural networks

In this article we describe EANT2, Evolutionary Acquisition of Neural Topologies, Version 2 , a method that creates neural networks by evolutionary reinforcement learning. The structure of the networks is developed using mutation operators, starting from a minimal structure. Their parameters are optimised using CMA-ES, Covariance Matrix Adaptation Evolution Strategy , a derandomised variant of evolution strategies. EANT2 can create neural networks that are very specialised; they achieve a very good performance while being relatively small. This can be seen in experiments where our method competes with a different one, called NEAT, NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies , to create networks that control a robot in a visual servoing scenario.
Data-driven serverless functions for object storage

Traditionally, active storage techniques have been proposed to move computation tasks to storage nodes in order to exploit data locality. However, we argue in this paper that active storage is ill-suited for cloud storage for two reasons: 1. Lack of elasticity: Computing can only scale out with the number of storage nodes; and 2. Resource Contention: Sharing compute resources can produce interferences in the storage system. Serverless computing is now emerging as a promising alternative for ensuring painless scalability, and also, for simplifying the development of disaggregated computing tasks.
 Here we present an innovative data-driven serverless computing middleware for object storage. It is a lightweight compute solution that allows users to create small, stateless functions that intercept and operate on data flows in a scalable manner without the need to manage a server or a runtime environment. We demonstrate through different use cases how our solution scales with minimal overhead, while getting rid of the resource contention problems incurred by active storage tasks.
International Diversification from a UK Perspective Exploring the Risk-Reduction Effects of Diversification for UK Investors April 2009

Executive Summary The market turmoil of 2008 highlighted the importance of risk management to investors in the UK and worldwide. Realized risk levels and risk forecasts from the Barra Europe Equity Model (EUE2L) are both currently at the highest level for the last two decades. According to portfolio theory, institutional investors can gain significant risk-reduction and return-enhancement benefits from venturing out of their domestic markets. These effects from international diversification are due to imperfect correlations among markets. In this paper, we explore the historical diversification effects of an international allocation for UK investors. We illustrate that investing only in the UK market can be considered an active deviation from a global benchmark. Although a domestic allocation to UK large-cap stocks has significant international exposure when revenue sources are taken into account, as an active deviation from a global benchmark a UK domestic strategy has high concentration, leading to high asset-specific risk, and significant style and industry tilts. We show that an international allocation resulted in higher returns and lower risk for a UK investor in the last one, three, five, and ten years. In GBP terms, the MSCI All Country World Investable Market Index (ACWI IMI) — a global index that could be viewed as a proxy for a global portfolio — achieved higher return and lower risk compared to the MSCI UK Index during these periods. A developed market minimum-variance portfolio, represented by the MSCI World Minimum Volatility Index, 1 The market turmoil of 2008 highlighted the importance of risk management to investors in the UK and worldwide. Figure 1 illustrates that the historical standard deviation of the MSCI UK Index is now near the highest level in recent history. The risk forecast for the index, obtained using the Barra Europe Equity Model, typically showed still better risk and return performance during these periods. The decreases in risk represented by allocations to MSCI ACWI IMI and the MSCI World Minimum Volatility Index were robust based on four different measures of portfolio risk. We also consider a stepwise approach to international diversification, sequentially adding small cap and international assets to a large cap UK portfolio. We show that this approach also reduced risk during the observed period, but we did not find evidence that it was more efficient for risk reduction than a passive allocation to MSCI ACWI IMI.