Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A packing lemma for polar codes

A packing lemma is proved using a setting where the channel is a binary-input discrete memoryless channel (X,w(y|x),Y ), the code is selected at random subject to parity-check constraints, and the decoder is a joint typicality decoder. The ensemble is characterized by (i) a pair of fixed parameters (H,q) where H is a parity-check matrix and q is a channel input distribution and (ii) a random parameter S representing the desired parity values. For a code of length n, the constraint is sampled from p<sub>S</sub>(s)=Σx<sup>n</sup>∈X<sup>n</sup> φ(s,x<sup>n</sup>)q<sup>n</sup>(x<sup>n</sup>) where φ(s,x<sup>n</sup>) is the indicator function of event {s = x<sup>n</sup>H<sup>T</sup>} and q<sup>n</sup>(x<sup>n</sup>) = Π<sub>i=1</sub><sup>n</sup> q(x<sub>i</sub>). Given S = s, the codewords are chosen conditionally independently from p<sub>Xn|S</sub>(x<sup>n</sup>|s) ∝ φ(s,x<sup>n</sup>)q<sup>n</sup>(x<sup>n</sup>). It is shown that the probability of error for this ensemble decreases exponentially in n provided the rate R is kept bounded away from I(X;Y )-1 over nI(S;Y<sup>n</sup>) with (X,Y ) ~ q(x)w(y|x) and (S,Y<sup>n</sup>) ~ p<sub>S</sub>(s)Σx<sup>n</sup> p<sub>Xn|S</sub>(x<sup>n</sup>|s)Π<sub>i=1</sub><sup>n</sup>=w(y<sub>i</sub>|x<sub>i</sub>). In the special case where H is the parity-check matrix of a standard polar code, it is shown that the rate penalty 1 over nI(S;Y<sup>n</sup>) vanishes as n increases. The paper also discusses the relation between ordinary polar codes and random codes based on polar parity-check matrices.
Enhancing Access to Online Education: Quality Machine Translation of MOOC Content

The present work is an overview of the TraMOOC (Translation for Massive Open Online Courses) research and innovation project, a machine translation approach for online educational content. More specifically, videolectures, assignments, and MOOC forum text is automatically translated from English into eleven European and BRIC languages. Unlike previous approaches to machine translation, the output quality in TraMOOC relies on a multimodal evaluation schema that involves crowdsourcing, error type markup, an error taxonomy for translation model comparison, and implicit evaluation via text mining, i.e. entity recognition and its performance comparison between the source and the translated text, and sentiment analysis on the students’ forum posts. Finally, the evaluation output will result in more and better quality in-domain parallel data that will be fed back to the translation engine for higher quality output. The translation service will be incorporated into the Iversity MOOC platform and into the VideoLectures.net digital library portal.
Management for Mountain Pine Beetle Outbreak Suppression: Does Relevant Science Support Current Policy?

While the use of timber harvests is generally accepted as an effective approach to controlling bark beetles during outbreaks, in reality there has been a dearth of monitoring to assess outcomes, and failures are often not reported. Additionally, few studies have focused on how these treatments affect forest structure and function over the long term, or our forests' ability to adapt to climate change. Despite this, there is a widespread belief in the policy arena that timber harvesting is an effective and necessary tool to address beetle infestations. That belief has led to numerous proposals for, and enactment of, significant changes in federal environmental laws to encourage more timber harvests for beetle control. In this review, we use mountain pine beetle as an exemplar to critically evaluate the state of science behind the use of timber harvest treatments for bark beetle suppression during outbreaks. It is our hope that this review will stimulate research to fill important gaps and to help guide the development of policy and management firmly based in science, and thus, more likely to aid in forest conservation, reduce financial waste, and bolster public trust in public agency decision-making and practice.
Differential expression of three T-type calcium channels in retinal bipolar cells in rats

Abstract Retinal bipolar cells convey visual information from photoreceptors to retinal third-order neurons, amacrine and ganglion cells, with graded potentials through diversified cell types. To understand the possible role of voltage-dependent T-type Ca2+ currents in retinal bipolar cells, we investigated the pharmacological and biophysical properties of T-type Ca2+ currents in acutely dissociated retinal cone bipolar cells from rats using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings. We observed a broad group of cone bipolar cells with prominent T-type Ca2+ currents (T-rich) and another group with prominent L-type Ca2+ currents (L-rich). Based on the pharmacological and biophysical properties of the T-type Ca2+ currents, T-rich cone bipolar cells could be divided into three subgroups. Each subgroup appeared to express a single dominant T-type Ca2+ channel subunit. The T-type calcium currents could generate low-threshold regenerative potentials or spikes. Our results suggest that T-type Ca2+ channels may play an active and distinct signaling role in second-order neurons of the visual system, in contrast to the common signaling by L-rich bipolar cells.
Willingness to pay for dentin regeneration in a sample of dentate adults.

OBJECTIVES Measurement of individuals' valuation of dental treatments is important in the evaluation of new technologies. In this paper the value of dentin regeneration, a new treatment for teeth with reversible pulpitis, is measured based on what individuals say they would be willing to pay to receive the treatment. METHODS A total of 611 randomly selected dentate adults answered willingness to pay (WTP) and dental insurance questions. Detailed descriptions of the process and expected outcomes for dentin regeneration were presented to subjects as part of a larger study measuring preferences for different treatments. WTP was determined for two different levels of success for dentin regeneration. RESULTS At a success rate of 95%, the mean WTP for dentin regeneration was $262.70 (noninsured) and $11.00 per month (insured subjects). For success rate of 75%, the corresponding values were $210.90 and $9.20 per month. Multivariate analyses were used to identify any significant relationships between WTP and a range of variables covering socio-demographic, socio-economic, dental experience and oral health status variables. The findings indicate that individuals' valuations of treatments involve substantial unexplained variation. About half of the noninsured subjects would pay for dentin regeneration if it cost $200 per tooth. CONCLUSIONS The data on the WTP for dentin regeneration indicate that a substantial percentage of adults will pay for this new technology. This study provides for the first time an estimate of WTP for dentin regeneration among the population.
Lipoprotein Lipase Inhibits Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Infection by Blocking Virus Cell Entry

A distinctive feature of HCV is that its life cycle depends on lipoprotein metabolism. Viral morphogenesis and secretion follow the very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) biogenesis pathway and, consequently, infectious HCV in the serum is associated with triglyceride-rich lipoproteins (TRL). Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) hydrolyzes TRL within chylomicrons and VLDL but, independently of its catalytic activity, it has a bridging activity, mediating the hepatic uptake of chylomicrons and VLDL remnants. We previously showed that exogenously added LPL increases HCV binding to hepatoma cells by acting as a bridge between virus-associated lipoproteins and cell surface heparan sulfate, while simultaneously decreasing infection levels. We show here that LPL efficiently inhibits cell infection with two HCV strains produced in hepatoma cells or in primary human hepatocytes transplanted into uPA-SCID mice with fully functional human ApoB-lipoprotein profiles. Viruses produced in vitro or in vivo were separated on iodixanol gradients into low and higher density populations, and the infection of Huh 7.5 cells by both virus populations was inhibited by LPL. The effect of LPL depended on its enzymatic activity. However, the lipase inhibitor tetrahydrolipstatin restored only a minor part of HCV infectivity, suggesting an important role of the LPL bridging function in the inhibition of infection. We followed HCV cell entry by immunoelectron microscopy with anti-envelope and anti-core antibodies. These analyses demonstrated the internalization of virus particles into hepatoma cells and their presence in intracellular vesicles and associated with lipid droplets. In the presence of LPL, HCV was retained at the cell surface. We conclude that LPL efficiently inhibits HCV infection by acting on TRL associated with HCV particles through mechanisms involving its lipolytic function, but mostly its bridging function. These mechanisms lead to immobilization of the virus at the cell surface. HCV-associated lipoproteins may therefore be a promising target for the development of new therapeutic approaches.
Intrusion Detection based on K-Means Clustering and Ant Colony Optimization: A Survey

Identifying intrusions is the process called intrusion detection. In simple manner the act of comprising a system is called intrusion. An intrusion detection system (IDS) inspects all inbound and outbound activity and identifies suspicious patterns that may indicate a system attack from someone attempting to compromise a system. If we think of the current scenario then several new intrusion that cannot be prevented by the previous algorithm, IDS is introduced to detect possible violations of a security policy by monitoring system activities and response in all times for betterment. If we uncover the counterfeit marque in a circumspect bulletin climate, an affirmation seat is initiated to prophesy or lessen the damage to the system. As a result it is a keen intrigue. In this dissertation we survey several aspects with the traditional techniques of intrusion detection we elaborate our proposed work. We also come with some future suggestions, which can provide a better way in this direction. For the above survey we also discuss K-Means and Ant Colony optimization (ACO).
Earnings, unemployment, and housing in Britain

This paper models regional earnings and unemployment in the ten regions of Great Britain between 1972 and 1995, paying particular attention to their interaction and to the important influence of the housing market. In contrast to Blanchard and Katz (1992, 1997) for the United States, we find less persistence in British regional earnings differentials but greater persistence in regional unemployment rates. We find no evidence of a negative effect of the overall unemployment rate on the earnings of men in non-manual, or women in full-time, employment. However, for manual men, we find a significant elasticity of around −0.07, comparable with Blanchflower and Oswald (1994). Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric analysis for measurement of p-cresol and its conjugated metabolites in uremic and normal serum.

p -Cresol (4-methylphenol; 108 Da) is a protein-bound solute retained within the body in renal failure (1). p -Cresol is of interest because it has several toxic effects in vitro (2)(3)(4)(5)(6) and clinical correlates have been demonstrated (7)(8). In the absence of external exposure (9), p -cresol originates uniquely from bacterial tyrosine fermentation in the large intestine (10). During passage through the colonic mucosa and liver, it is detoxified by conjugation processes (sulfation and glucuronidation) (11)(12)(13). Thus, one might expect to find p -cresylsulfate and p -cresylglucuronide in the serum, but reports on conjugated p -cresol in renal failure patients are scarce (14)(15)(16). Most techniques to deproteinize serum samples (e.g., heat and acidification) may also partially hydrolyze sulfate esters and glucuronide bonds. Hence, the “total” (i.e., protein-bound and unbound) and “unbound” p -cresol reported in most studies probably reflect both unconjugated and (part of the) conjugated forms of the solute (17)(18)(19)(20)(21). We determined the extent of desulfation and deglucuronidation by deproteinization with heat and acid followed by gas chromatographic–mass spectrometric (GC-MS) analysis (19) with p -nitrophenylglucuronide and p -nitrophenylsulfate as model substrates. We also calculated exact amounts of unconjugated p -cresol, p -cresylsulfate, and p -cresylglucuronide in serum of hemodialysis patients and healthy controls. Percentage desulfation and deglucuronidation by different methods (see below) was determined for random serum samples. Further analyses were performed on 9 serum pools from hemodialysis patients [n = 86; 49 male; mean (SD) age, 69.8 (1.5) years] and 5 serum pools from healthy controls [n = 29; 10 male; 31.0 (1.4) years; creatinine clearance, 87.1 (1.4) mL · min−1 · (1.73 m2)−1]. Serum pools were …
Protease‐activated receptor‐1 protects rat astrocytes from apoptotic cell death via JNK‐mediated release of the chemokine GRO/CINC‐1

Thrombin at low doses is an endogenous mediator of protection in ischaemic and haemorrhagic models of stroke. However, the mechanism of thrombin‐induced protection remains unclear. Recently accumulating evidence has shown that astrocytes play an important role in the brain after injury. We report that thrombin and thrombin receptor agonist peptide (TRag) up‐regulated secretion of the chemokine growth‐regulated oncogene/cytokine‐induced neutrophil chemoattractant‐1 (GRO/CINC‐1) in primary rat astrocytes in a concentration‐dependent manner. However, we found no increase of interleukin (IL)‐6, IL‐1β and tumour necrosis factor‐α secretion. Protease‐activated receptor 1 (PAR‐1)‐induced GRO/CINC‐1 release was mainly mediated by c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase (JNK) activation. Extracellular signal‐regulated kinase 1/2 might be partially involved, but not p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase. Further studies demonstrated that PAR‐1 activation, as well as application of recombinant GRO/CINC‐1, protected astrocytes from C2‐ceramide‐induced cell death. Protection occurred with suppression of cytochrome c release from mitochondria. The inhibition of cytochrome c release was largely reduced by the antagonist of chemokine receptor CXCR2, SB‐332235. Importantly, a specific JNK inhibitor significantly abolished the protective action of PAR‐1. These results demonstrate for the first time that PAR‐1 plays an important role in anti‐apoptosis in the brain by regulating the release of chemokine GRO/CINC‐1, which gives a feedback through its receptor CXCR2 to preserve astrocytes from toxic insults.
Sparse Inverse Covariance Selection via Alternating Linearization Methods

Gaussian graphical models are of great interest in statistical learning. Because the conditional independencies between different nodes correspond to zero entries in the inverse covariance matrix of the Gaussian distribution, one can learn the structure of the graph by estimating a sparse inverse covariance matrix from sample data, by solving a convex maximum likelihood problem with an $\ell_1$-regularization term. In this paper, we propose a first-order method based on an alternating linearization technique that exploits the problem's special structure; in particular, the subproblems solved in each iteration have closed-form solutions. Moreover, our algorithm obtains an $\epsilon$-optimal solution in $O(1/\epsilon)$ iterations. Numerical experiments on both synthetic and real data from gene association networks show that a practical version of this algorithm outperforms other competitive algorithms.
Estimation of net ruminal protein synthesis from urinary allantoin excretion by bulls given tropical feeds

An experiment was carried out to determine net microbial protein supply to ruminants from 15 tropical feeds. The study was done at Lyamungo research institute, on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania in 1993. Twenty Bos Taurus Bos Indicus bulls were used in three periods in a completely randomised design. The initial 19 days of each period were for adaptation by the bulls to their new environment and diets, followed by 2, 7 and 7 days for total urine collection, spot urine sampling and digestibility, respectively. The feeds included urea treated and untreated maize stover (3 feeds), green maize stover (3 feeds), bean straw (2 varieties), cultivated forage (5) and banana plant residues (2). Both total and spot urine collections were made for estimation of allantoin. Daily excretion of allantoin ranged from 5.63 to 48.89 mmol/day for banana leaves and 5% urea treated maize stover, respectively. Excretion of allantoin increased with level of dry matter intake (DMI) for all the feeds. Microbial N supply (MNS) and efficiency of microbial N supply (EMNS) followed the same trend (4.1±35.5 g N/day and 5.5±17.4 g of N/kg DOMR (digestible organic matter in the rumen) for banana leaves and 5% urea treated maize stover, respectively. Correlation coefficients between allantoin excreted (Ae), DMI and BW were r = 0.79 and r = 0.54, respectively. That between MNS, DMI and BWwere r = 0.80 and r = 0.52, respectively, while that between EMNS, DMI and BWwere r = 0.78 and r = 0.54, respectively. It was concluded that all the tropical feeds tested were poor sources of MNS and EMNS # 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Role of Body Composition in the Glycaemic Response to Foods Fed to Three Different Ethnic Groups: A Pilot Study

Aim: To examine the role of overweight and obesity on the glycaemic response to foods across the whole population. Design: Randomised, repeated measures design. Setting: Oxford, UK. Subjects and Methods: Twenty-seven healthy volunteers, 9 Caucasian, 9 Asian, and 9 African, voluntarily participated in the study. The glycaemic response to two breakfast cereals and two bread types was determined in obese and overweight subjects. Results: The current study shows that a very strong correlation exists between fasting blood glucose, peak change in glucose and the IAUC for glucose with each of BMI and WC (r = 0.88, 0.92; 0.82, 0.82; 0.91, 0.81; p = 0.01, respectively) for the Caucasian group. In addition, there was a strong significant negative association between the mean GI values of the four foods and the BMI for the Caucasian subjects (r = 0.61, p < 0.05). Furthermore, there was a strong positive significant association between the mean GI values of the four foods and the percentage body fat mass for the Asian subjects (r = 0.67, p < 0.05). Conclusions: This study has shown that the GI values of foods are affected by body composition in Asian and Caucasian subjects.
Default settings of computerized physician order entry system order sets drive ordering habits

Background: Computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems are quickly becoming ubiquitous, and groups of orders ("order sets") to allow for easy order input are a common feature. This provides a streamlined mechanism to view, modify, and place groups of related orders. This often serves as an electronic equivalent of a specialty requisition. A characteristic, of these order sets is that specific orders can be predetermined to be "preselected" or "defaulted-on" whenever the order set is used while others are "optional" or "defaulted-off" (though there is typically the option is to "deselect" defaulted-on tests in a given situation). While it seems intuitive that the defaults in an order set are often accepted, additional study is required to understand the impact of these "default" settings in an order set on ordering habits. This study set out to quantify the effect of changing the default settings of an order set. Methods: For quality improvement purposes, order sets dealing with transfusions were recently reviewed and modified to improve monitoring of outcome. Initially, the order for posttransfusion hematocrits and platelet count had the default setting changed from "optional" to "preselected. " The default settings for platelet count was later changed back to "optional," allowing for a natural experiment to study the effect of the default selections of an order set on clinician ordering habits. Results: Posttransfusion hematocrit values were ordered for 8.3% of red cell transfusions when the default order set selection was "off" and for 57.4% of transfusions when the default selection was "preselected" (P < 0.0001). Posttransfusion platelet counts were ordered for 7.0% of platelet transfusions when the initial default order set selection was "optional," increased to 59.4% when the default was changed to "preselected" (P < 0.0001), and then decreased to 7.5% when the default selection was returned to "optional. " The posttransfusion platelet count rates during the two "optional" periods: 7.0% versus 7.5% - were not statistically different (P = 0.620). Discussion: Default settings in CPOE order sets can significantly influence physician selection of laboratory tests. Careful consideration by all stakeholders, including clinicians and pathologists, should be obtained when establishing default settings in order sets.
Neutralizing antibodies against the preactive form of respiratory syncytial virus fusion protein offer unique possibilities for clinical intervention

Human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV) is the most important viral agent of pediatric respiratory infections worldwide. The only specific treatment available today is a humanized monoclonal antibody (Palivizumab) directed against the F glycoprotein, administered prophylactically to children at very high risk of severe hRSV infections. Palivizumab, as most anti-F antibodies so far described, recognizes an epitope that is shared by the two conformations in which hRSV_F can fold, the metastable prefusion form and the highly stable postfusion conformation. We now describe a unique class of antibodies specific for the prefusion form of this protein that account for most of the neutralizing activity of either a rabbit serum raised against a vaccinia virus recombinant expressing hRSV_F or a human Ig preparation (Respigam), which was used for prophylaxis before Palivizumab. These antibodies therefore offer unique possibilities for immune intervention against hRSV, and their production should be assessed in trials of hRSV vaccines.
How Lasting is Voter Gratitude? An Analysis of the Short- and Long-Term Electoral Returns to Beneficial Policy

Dominant theories of electoral behavior emphasize that voters myopically evaluate policy performance and that this shortsightedness may obstruct the welfare-improving effect of democratic accountability. However, we know little about how long governments receive electoral credit for beneficial policies. We exploit the massive policy response to a major natural disaster, the 2002 Elbe flooding in Germany, to provide an upper bound for the short- and long-term electoral returns to targeted policy benefits. We estimate that the flood response increased vote shares for the incumbent party by 7 percentage points in affected areas in the 2002 election. Twenty-five percent of this short-term reward carried over to the 2005 election before the gains vanished in the 2009 election. We conclude that, given favorable circumstances, policy makers can generate voter gratitude that persists longer than scholarship has acknowledged so far, and elaborate on the implications for theories of electoral behavior, democratic accountability, and public policy.