Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Universal Portfolios

We exhibit an algorithm for portfolio selection that asymptotically outperforms the best stock in the market. Let x i = (x i1 ; x i2 ; : : : ; x im) t denote the performance of the stock market on day i ; where x ij is the factor by which the j-th stock increases on day i : Let b i = (b i1 ; b i2 ; : : : ; b im) t ; b ij 0; P j b ij = 1 ; denote the proportion b ij of wealth invested in the j-th stock on day i : Then S n = Q n i=1 b t i x i is the factor by which wealth is increased in n trading days. Consider as a goal the wealth S n = max b Q n i=1 b t x i that can be achieved by the best constant rebalanced portfolio chosen after the stock outcomes are revealed. It can be shown that S n exceeds the best stock, the Dow Jones average, and the value line index at time n: In fact, S n usually exceeds these quantities by an exponential factor.
Predictors of the quality of life of older people with heart failure recruited from primary care.

BACKGROUND Current understanding of quality of life in heart failure is largely derived from clinical trials. Older people, women and those with co-morbidities are underrepresented in these. Little is known about factors predictive of quality of life amongst older people with heart failure recruited from community settings. OBJECTIVE To identify factors predictive of quality of life amongst older people recruited from community settings. DESIGN prospective questionnaire survey. SETTING General practice surgeries located in four areas of the UK: Bradford, Barnsley, East Devon and West Hampshire. SUBJECTS A total of 542 people aged >60 years with heart failure. METHODS Participants completed a postal questionnaire, which included a disease-specific measure (Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire), a generic quality-of-life measure (SF-36) and sociodemographic information. RESULTS A multiple linear regression analysis identified the following factors as predictive of decreased quality of life: being female, being in New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class III or IV, showing evidence of depression, being in socioeconomic groups III-V and experiencing two or more co-morbidities. Older age was associated with decreased quality of life, as measured by a generic health-related quality-of-life tool (the SF-36 mental and physical health functioning scales) but not by a disease-specific tool (the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire). CONCLUSION Findings from the study suggest that quality of life for older people with heart failure can be described as challenging and difficult, particularly for women, those in a high NYHA class, patients showing evidence of depression, patients in socioeconomic groups III-V, those experiencing two or more co-morbidities and the 'oldest old'. Such information can help clinicians working with older people identify those at risk of reduced quality of life and target interventions appropriately.
Modeling and attributional effects on children's achievement: A self-efficacy analysis.

Children showing low arithmetic achievement received either modeling of division operations or didactic instruction, followed by a practice period. During practice, half of the children in each instructional treatment received effort attribution for success and difficulty. Both instructional treatments enhanced division persistence, accuracy, and perceived efficacy, but cognitive modeling produced greater gains in accuracy. In the context of competency development, effort attribution had no significant effect either on perceived efficacy or on arithmetic performance. Perceived efficacy was an accurate predictor of arithmetic performance across levels of task difficulty and modes of treatment. The treatment combining modeling with effort attribution produced the highest congruence between efficacy judgment and performance.
Polar Codes for Private and Quantum Communication Over Arbitrary Channels

We construct new polar coding schemes for the transmission of quantum or private classical information over arbitrary quantum channels. In the former case, our coding scheme achieves the symmetric coherent information, and in the latter, the symmetric private information. Both schemes are built from a polar coding construction capable of transmitting classical information over a quantum channel. Appropriately merging two such classical-quantum schemes, one for transmitting amplitude information and the other for transmitting phase, leads to the new private and quantum coding schemes, similar to the construction for Pauli and erasure channels of Renes et al. The encoding is entirely similar to the classical case, and thus efficient. The decoding can also be performed by successive cancellation, as in the classical case, but no efficient successive cancellation scheme is yet known for arbitrary quantum channels. An efficient code construction is unfortunately still unknown. Generally, our two coding schemes require entanglement or secret-key assistance, respectively, but we extend two known conditions under which the needed assistance rate vanishes. Finally, although our results are formulated for qubit channels, we show how the scheme can be extended to multiple qubits. This then demonstrates a near-explicit coding method for realizing one of the most striking phenomena in quantum information theory: the superactivation effect, whereby two quantum channels, which individually have zero quantum capacity can have a nonzero quantum capacity when used together.
Telehealth: Acceptability, clinical interventions and quality of life in peritoneal dialysis

Introduction: Telehealth technologies are being widely adopted across the globe for management of long-term conditions. There are limited data on its use, effectiveness and patient experience in end-stage renal disease. The aim of this pilot project was to explore patient acceptability of technology and evaluate its effect on clinical interventions and quality of life in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis. Methods: Peritoneal dialysis patients were provided with computer tablets (PODs). PODs contained a knowledge database with treatment- and symptom-based questionnaires that generated alerts for the clinical team. Alerts were reviewed daily and followed up by a telephone call or clinic visit. Interventions were at the discretion of clinicians. Data were recorded prospectively and quality of life and Quebec User Evaluation of Satisfaction with assistive Technology questionnaires evaluated at the start and end of the programme. Results: In all, 22 patients have participated over 15 months. The mean age was 61.6 years and PODs were utilised for an average of 341.9 days with 59.1% choosing to continue beyond the study period. We received a total of 1195 alerts with an average of 2.6 alerts per day. A total of 36 admissions were avoided and patients supported to self-manage on 154 occasions. Quebec User Evaluation of Satisfaction with assistive Technology scores remained high throughout the programme although no improvement in quality of life was seen. Discussion: Telehealth is useful to monitor patients with renal failure on peritoneal dialysis. It is acceptable across age groups and provides an additional resource for patients to self-manage. Satisfaction scores and retention rates suggest a high level of acceptability.
Finite element prediction of cartilage contact stresses in normal human hips

Our objectives were to determine cartilage contact stress during walking, stair climbing, and descending stairs in a well‐defined group of normal volunteers and to assess variations in contact stress and area among subjects and across loading scenarios. Ten volunteers without history of hip pain or disease with normal lateral center‐edge angle and acetabular index were selected. Computed tomography imaging with contrast was performed on one hip. Bone and cartilage surfaces were segmented from volumetric image data, and subject‐specific finite element models were constructed and analyzed using a validated protocol. Acetabular contact stress and area were determined for seven activities. Peak stress ranged from 7.52 ± 2.11 MPa for heel‐strike during walking (233% BW) to 8.66 ± 3.01 MPa for heel‐strike during descending stairs (261% BW). Average contact area across all activities was 34% of the surface area of the acetabular cartilage. The distribution of contact stress was highly non‐uniform, and more variability occurred among subjects for a given activity than among activities for a single subject. The magnitude and area of contact stress were consistent between activities, although inter‐activity shifts in contact pattern were found as the direction of loading changed. Relatively small incongruencies between the femoral and acetabular cartilage had a large effect on the contact stresses. These effects tended to persist across all simulated activities. These results demonstrate the diversity and trends in cartilage contact stress in healthy hips during activities of daily living and provide a basis for future comparisons between normal and pathologic hips. © 2012 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 30:1133–1139, 2012
Nash Equilibrium and Welfare Optimality

If A is a set of social alternatives, a social choice rule (SCR) assigns a subset of A to each potential profile of individuals' preferences over A, where the subset is interpreted as the set of "welfare optima. " A game form (or "mechanism") implements the social choice rule if, for any potential profile of preferences, (i) any welfare optimum can arise as Nash equilibrium of the game form (implying, in particular, that a Nash equilibrium exists) and, (ii) all Nash equilibria are welfare optimal. The main result of this paper establishes that any SCR that satisfies two properties - monotonicity and no veto power - can be implemented by a game form if there are three or more individuals. The proof is constructive.
Towards a Theory of Decision-Making without Paradoxes

Human subjects often violate the rational decision-making theory, which is based on the notion of expected utility and axioms of choice (Neuman & Morgenstern, 1944; Savage, 1954). The counterexamples, suggested by Allais (1953) and Ellsberg (1961), deserve special attention because they point at our lack of understanding of how humans make decisions. The paradoxes of decision-making are particularly important for the ACT-R theory which currently relies on expected utility. The paper presents two alternative methods: a random prediction method that uses subsymbolic computations and a method that uses symbolic reasoning for qualitative decision-making. Both methods are tested on ACT-R models of the paradoxes, and the advantages of each method are discussed.
UV Dust Attenuation in Star-forming Galaxies: II Calibrating the A(UV) vs. L_TIR/L_UV relation

We investigate the dependence of the total-infrared (TIR) to UV luminosity ratio method for calculating the UV dust attenuation A(UV) from the age of the underlying stellar populations by using a library of spectral energy distributions for galaxies with different star formation histories. Our analysis confirms that the TIR/UV vs. A(UV) relation varies significantly with the age of the underlying stellar population: i.e. for the same TIR/UV ratio, systems with low specific star formation rate (SSFR) suffer a lower UV attenuation than starbursts. Using a sample of nearby field and cluster spiral galaxies we show that the use of a standard (i.e. age independent) TIR/UV vs. A(UV) relation leads to a systematic overestimate up to 2 magnitudes of the amount of UV dust attenuation suffered by objects with low SSFR and in particular HI-deficient star forming cluster galaxies. This result points out that the age independent $TIR/UV$ vs. $A(UV)$ relation cannot be used to study the UV properties of large samples of galaxies including low star-forming systems and passive spirals. Therefore we give some simple empirical relations from which the UV attenuation can be estimated taking into account its dependence on the age of the stellar populations, providing a less biased view of UV properties of galaxies.
On the Empirics of Foreign Aid and Growth

This paper takes a fresh look at three issues in the aid effectiveness debate. First, we assess the theoretical case for foreign aid. Using an endogenous growth version of the standard overlapping generations model, we show that aid can be an effective policy tool in spurring growth in poor countries. This model also furnishes a theoretical foundation for the approach taken in many empirical studies. Second, we demonstrate that cross-country data, which underpin traditional cross-section based conclusions about the aid-growth link, are fully consistent with the positive evidence on aid effectiveness that emerge from recent panel-based regressions. Third, we reexamine the case for policy-based conditionality. Our empirical analysis suggests that aid is generally effective, even in “bad” environments. However, the degree to which aid enhances growth depends on climate-related circumstances.
Thymocyte Differentiation is Regulated by a Change in Estradiol Levels during the Estrous Cycle in Mouse

Recent study showed that T cells in the immune organs and peripheral blood are influenced by estradiol, leading to a dysfunction of the immune system. However, little is known about the thymic-gonadal relationship during the estrous cycle in mouse. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to elucidate the mechanism by which a change in estradiol levels during the estrous cycle regulates the development of T cells in the mouse thymus. Six-week-old ICR mice were used and divided into four groups, including diestrous, proestrous, estrous, and metestrous. We first confirmed that ER-α and - β estrogen receptors were expressed in thymic epithelial cells, showing that their expression was not different during the estrous cycle. There was also no significant difference in thymic weight and total number of thymocytes during the estrous cycle. To determine the degree of thymocyte differentiation during the estrous cycle, we analyzed thymocytes by flow cytometry. As a result, the percentage of CD4+CD8+ double-positive (DP) T cells was significantly decreased in the proestrous phase compared to the diestrous phase. However, CD4+CD8- or CD4-CD8+ (SP) T cells were significantly increased in the proestrous phase compared to the diestrous phase. In addition, the percentage of CD44+CD25- (DN1) T cells was significantly decreased in the estrous phase compared to other phases, whereas the percentages of CD44+CD25+ (DN2), CD44-CD25+ (DN3), and CD44-CD25- (DN4) were not changed during the estrous cycle. These results indicate that the development of thymocytes may arrest in the DP to SP transition stage in the proestrous phase displaying the highest serum level of estradiol. This study suggests that a change in estradiol levels during the estrous cycle may be involved in the regulation of thymocyte differentiation in the mouse thymus.
Weak lensing mass reconstructions of the ESO distant cluster survey

We present weak lensing mass reconstructions for the 20 high-redshift clusters in the ESO Distant Cluster Survey. The weak lensing analysis was performed on deep, 3-color optical images taken with VLT/FORS2, using a composite galaxy catalog with separate shape estimators measured in each passband. We find that the EDisCS sample is composed primarily of clusters that are less massive than those in current X-ray selected samples at similar redshifts, but that all of the fields are likely to contain massive clusters rather than superpositions of low mass groups. We find that 7 of the 20 fields have additional massive structures which are not associated with the clusters and which can affect the weak lensing mass determination. We compare the mass measurements of the remaining 13 clusters with luminosity measurements from cluster galaxies selected using photometric redshifts and find evidence of a dependence of the cluster mass-to-light ratio with redshift. Finally we determine the noise level in the shear measurements for the fields as a function of exposure time and seeing and demonstrate that future ground-based surveys which plan to perform deep optical imaging for use in weak lensing measurements must achieve point-spread functions smaller than a median of 0. �� 6 FWHM.
The Common Origins of Language and Action

The motor system organization shows some interesting parallels with the language organization. Here we draw the possible communalities between Action and Language, basing our claims on neurophysiological, neuroanatomical and neuroimaging data. Furthermore, we speculate that the motor system may have furnished the basic computational capabilities for the emergence of both semantics and syntax.
A Topology-Based Model for Estimating the Diagnostic Efficiency of Statistics-Based Approaches

Spectrum-based fault localization (SFL) and dynamic code coverage (DCC) are two statistics-based fault localization techniques used in software fault diagnosis. Due to their nature (statistical analysis of the coverage information), the best technique of the two depends greatly on the system under test code structure and size. We propose a lightweight, topology-based analysis to quickly estimate the project under test coverage matrix when executed, based on the source code structure. This analysis will choose which fault localization technique to use by creating an hierarchical model of the system. To validate our proposed approach, an empirical evaluation was performed, injecting faults in six real-world software projects. We have demonstrated that using the topology-based analysis to choose the best fault localization technique provides a better execution time performance on average (23%) than using DCC (9%), when comparing to SFL.
CD105 is important for angiogenesis: evidence and potential applications

Angiogenesis is the propelling force for tumor growth and metastasis, and antiangiogenic therapy represents one of the most promising modalities for cancer treatment. CD105 (endoglin) is a proliferation‐associated and hypoxia‐inducible protein abundantly expressed in angiogenic endothelial cells (EC). It is a receptor for transforming growth factor (TGF) ‐β1 and ‐β3 and modulates TGF‐β signaling by interacting with TGF‐β receptors I and/or II. Immunohistochemistry studies have revealed that CD105 is strongly expressed in blood vessels of tumor tissues. Intratumoral microvessel density (MVD) determined using antibodies to CD105 has been found to be an independent prognostic indicator, wherein increased MVD correlates with shorter survival. CD105 is able to be shed into the circulation, with elevated levels detected in patients with various types of cancer and positively correlated with tumor metastasis. Tangible evidence of its proangiogenic role comes from knockout studies in which CD105 null mice die in utero as a result of impaired angiogenesis in the yolk sac and heart defects. The potential usefulness of CD105 for tumor imaging has been evaluated in tumor‐bearing mice and dogs that have shown the rapid accumulation of radiolabeled anti‐CD105 monoclonal antibody in the tumors with a high tumor‐to‐background ratio. The anti‐CD105 antibody conjugated with immunotoxins and immunoradioisotopes efficiently suppressed/abrogated tumor growth in murine models bearing breast and colon carcinoma without any significant systemic side effects. Immunoscintigraphy in patients with renal cell carcinomas has shown specific localization of 99Tcm‐labeled CD105 mab in tumor endothelial cells. Thus, CD105 is a promising vascular target that can be used for tumor imaging, prognosis, and bears therapeutic potential in patients with solid tumors and other angiogenic diseases. —Duff, S. E. , Li, C. , Garland, J. M. , Kumar, S. CD105 is important for angiogenesis: evidence and potential applications. FASEB J. 17, 984–992 (2003)
Morphological and vocal variation across a contact zone between the chickadees Parus atricapillus and P. carolinensis

MARK B. ROBBINS,"14 MICHAEL J. BRAUN,2'5 AND EMILY A. TOBEY3 'Museum of Zoology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70893 USA, 2Department of Biochemistry, Louisiana State University Medical Center, 1901 Perdido Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112 USA, and 3Departments of Communications Disorders and Otorhinolaryngology, Kresge Hearing Research Laboratory of the South, Louisiana State University Medical Center, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112 USA
Spiroacetals in the Colonization Behaviour of the Coffee Berry Borer: A ‘Push-Pull’ System

Coffee berries are known to release several volatile organic compounds, among which is the spiroacetal, conophthorin, an attractant for the coffee berry borer Hypothenemus hampei. Elucidating the effects of other spiroacetals released by coffee berries is critical to understanding their chemo-ecological roles in the host discrimination and colonization process of the coffee berry borer, and also for their potential use in the management of this pest. Here, we show that the coffee berry spiroacetals frontalin and 1,6-dioxaspiro [4.5] decane (referred thereafter as brocain), are also used as semiochemicals by the coffee berry borer for host colonization. Bioassays and chemical analyses showed that crowding coffee berry borers from 2 to 6 females per berry, reduced borer fecundity, which appeared to correlate with a decrease in the emission rates of conophthorin and frontalin over time. In contrast, the level of brocain did not vary significantly between borer- uninfested and infested berries. Brocain was attractive at lower doses, but repellent at higher doses while frontalin alone or in a blend was critical for avoidance. Field assays with a commercial attractant comprising a mixture of ethanol and methanol (1∶1), combined with frontalin, confirmed the repellent effect of this compound by disrupting capture rates of H. hampei females by 77% in a coffee plantation. Overall, our results suggest that the levels of frontalin and conophthorin released by coffee berries determine the host colonization behaviour of H. hampei, possibly through a ‘push-pull’ system, whereby frontalin acts as the ‘push’ (repellent) and conophthorin acting as the ‘pull’ (attractant). Furthermore, our results reveal the potential use of frontalin as a repellent for management of this coffee pest.
Re-organising farm businesses to improve environmental outcomes - the case of native vegetation on hill country across south- eastern Australia

Profitable grazing systems used widely since European settlement has been associated with a decline in the extent and quality of native vegetation. In this paper it is shown that, for one farming system, making profit and preserving biodiversity are compatible objectives. Dynamic solutions are available that improve the quality of native vegetation while maintaining or increasing profitability, despite the effects of the continuing cost-price squeeze on grazing businesses. The method used is based on economic theory of the farm firm. The whole farm approach is apt. Risk and uncertainty are rife; goals are multi-faceted, including growth, survival, entrepreneurship and profit; a range of optimal plans exist; dynamics rule and static equilibrium analyses are insufficient; and the case study approach is valid. Results are reported for 17 sheep-beef farms in Victorian hill country. Findings are extrapolated to similar hill country across south-eastern Australia. Case study methods were used. Case studies allow generalisation of findings if correctly applied. Analysis of data collected from each farm about vegetation, agronomic potential and farm business situation was used to develop four management strategies that could potentially improve farm environmental outcomes. The strategies were: (1) correcting nutrient deficiencies; (2) intensive rotational grazing; (3) deferred grazing of hill country; and (4) establishing shelter trees by managing for natural regeneration. The first two strategies also involved managing 15% of the farm primarily for biodiversity conservation.