Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Excessive Gap Technique in Nonsmooth Convex Minimization

In this paper we introduce a new primal-dual technique for convergence analysis of gradient schemes for nonsmooth convex optimization. As an example of its application, we derive a primal-dual gradient method for a special class of structured nonsmooth optimization problems, which ensures a rate of convergence of order O(1/k), where k is the iteration count. Another example is a gradient scheme, which minimizes a nonsmooth strongly convex function with known structure with rate of convergence O(1/k2). In both cases the efficiency of the methods is higher than the corresponding black-box lower complexity bounds by an order of magnitude.
Influence of compression hosiery on physiological responses to standing fatigue in women.

PURPOSE The purpose of this investigation was to examine the influence of various designs of commercial hosiery, which use graduated compression, on the physiological and performance responses to standing fatigue. METHODS Twelve healthy women (age = 23.0+/-2.1 yr, height = 165.7+/-5.0 cm, percent body fat = 22.6+/-4.2%, body mass = 60.0+/-8.9 kg) volunteered to participate in this investigation. All subjects completed four identical standing fatigue protocols with different garment conditions each separated by 7 d. The standing fatigue protocol involved a total of 8 h of standing on hard floors during which subjects participated in various tasks and experimental testing procedures. In addition, all activity and dietary profiles of the subjects were carefully controlled 48 h before each experimental session. Before the standing fatigue protocol, subjects completed a battery of tests to establish morning baseline values. Experimental tests included determination of lower leg venous cross-sectional area, blood pressure, heart rate, perceived discomfort ratings, circumferences measurements, total body water, variation in center of pressure during "quiet" standing, vertical jump performance, and specific regional patterns of foot pressures. RESULTS This investigation demonstrated that commercial hosiery with various forms of graduated compression and construction were effective in mediating a reduction in edema in the ankles and legs while reducing the amount of venous pooling and discomfort in the lower body. Different constructions of garments may mediate these overall effects via different physiological mechanisms related to fluid shifts and muscle tissue damage. CONCLUSION Wearing various types of graduated compression hose during the day as it relates to women in standing professions may minimize edema and muscle tissue disruption, thereby increasing comfort in the legs.
A comparison of PWM techniques for three-level five-phase voltage source inverters

Carrier-based PWM (CBPWM) and space vector PWM (SVPWM) are well-known PWM techniques that have been extensively studied in conjunction with multilevel three-phase inverters. Recently, PWM algorithms for multiphase multilevel inverters have started to appear in literature. One such SVPWM technique, developed for three-level five-phase voltage source inverters (VSIs), is considered in this paper. A slight modification of this method is further elaborated, and this is the second considered SVPWM. Next, two existing three-phase CBPWM techniques are adapted to five-phase systems in a simple manner. A comparative analysis of two CBPWM techniques and two SVPWM techniques in conjunction with three-level five-phase VSI is then performed. The comparison is based on detailed simulation studies and includes output phase voltage waveform and its spectrum, total harmonic distortion (THD) of the phase voltage and harmonic distortion (HD) of the phase voltage components in mutually perpendicular planes, and HD of the common mode voltage (CMV). The main conclusion is that the differences between the four considered PWM schemes are marginal, with one of the CBPWM techniques giving identical behaviour as one of the SVPWM methods.
On 2D photonic crystals and the shaping of radiation diagrams

Photonic band-gap materials have been widely used to mold the flow of light. The scaling property of crystals has allowed studying their behaviour at microwaves, where periodic structures have been profitably adopted to shape the radiation pattern of low-directivity antennas. In particular spatial filters can be achieved using two-dimensional periodicity in two different manners: the one relies on the excitation of a proper Bloch wave at the edge of the band-gap, whereas the other exploits the interference between standing waves in a crystal defect. Strengths and weaknesses of the two mechanisms are discussed comparing the radiative and electrical parameters of several optimized geometries. These are made by circular dielectric rods, arranged in either square or triangular lattices, and fed by a current wire radiating a TM-polarized cylindrical wave. The method using the forbidden band is shown to achieve the highest directivities for low profile structures, whereas the other mechanism, besides being more efficient, is more suitable when antennas consist of few cylinders per row. Suggestions for an experimental validation of drawn conclusions are given.
Treatment of Unstable Intertrochanteric Fractureswith Proximal Femoral Nail Antirotation II: Our Experience in Indian Patients§

Introduction: Unstable intertrochanteric fractures are difficult to manage and the choice of implant is critical for fracture fixation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the functional and radiological outcome of proximal femoral nail antirotationII (PFNA II) in the treatment of unstable intertrochanteric fractures. Materials and Methods: We reviewed 45 patients of unstable intertrochanteric fractures, who were treated with the PFNA II between 2011 and 2013. Of which, 3 patients were died within 6 months of follow up. Hence, 42 patients were available for the study including 26 men and 16 women. The mean age was 61 years (range, 35 -90). Clinical evaluation was done using Harris hip score. The position of the blade in the femoral head was evaluated using Cleveland zones and tip apex distance. The fracture reduction was assessed using the Garden Alignment Index and postoperative fracture gap (mm) measurement. Results: The mean follow up period was 15.3 months (range, 9-27). Excellent to good results were accounted for 78% of cases according to Harris hip score. No cases of cut out or breakage of the implant noted. Implant removal was done in 2 patients due to persistent anterior thigh pain. Conclusion: We recommend PFNA II for fixation of unstable intertrochanteric fractures with less operative time and low complication rate. However, proper operative technique is important for achieving fracture stability and to avoid major complications.
Peptide-Based Anti-PCSK9 Vaccines - An Approach for Long-Term LDLc Management

Background Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) hypercholesterolemia, and its associated cardiovascular diseases, are some of the leading causes of death worldwide. The ability of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin 9 (PCSK9) to modulate circulating LDL cholesterol (LDLc) concentrations made it a very attractive target for LDLc management. To date, the most advanced approaches for PCSK9 inhibition are monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapies. Although shown to lower LDLc significantly, mAbs face functional limitations because of their relatively short in vivo half-lives necessitating frequent administration. Here, we evaluated the long-term efficacy and safety of PCSK9-specific active vaccines in different preclinical models. Methods and Finding PCSK9 peptide-based vaccines were successfully selected by our proprietary technology. To test their efficacy, wild-type (wt) mice, Ldlr +/− mice, and rats were immunized with highly immunogenic vaccine candidates. Vaccines induced generation of high-affine PCSK9-specific antibodies in all species. Group mean total cholesterol (TC) concentration was reduced by up to 30%, and LDLc up to 50% in treated animals. Moreover, the PCSK9 vaccine-induced humoral immune response persisted for up to one year in mice, and reduced cholesterol levels significantly throughout the study. Finally, the vaccines were well tolerated in all species tested. Conclusions Peptide-based anti-PCSK9 vaccines induce the generation of antibodies that are persistent, high-affine, and functional for up to one year. They are powerful and safe tools for long-term LDLc management, and thus may represent a novel therapeutic approach for the prevention and/or treatment of LDL hypercholesterolemia-related cardiovascular diseases in humans.
KURTOSIS AND CURVATURE MEASURES FOR NONLINEAR REGRESSION MODELS

An expression for the second-order approximation to the kurtosis asso- ciated with the least squares estimate of an individual parameter in a nonlinear regression model is derived, and connections between this and various other mea- sures of curvature are made. Furthermore a means of predicting the reliability of the commonly-used Wald confidence intervals for individual model parameters, based on measures of skewness and kurtosis, is developed. Numerous examples illustrating the theoretical results are provided. There has been considerable interest over the past twenty years in devel- oping measures of curvature for nonlinear regression models which in some way quantify the deviation of the model from linearity. Specifically, in a landmark paper in 1980, Bates and Watts built on the seminal work of Beale (1960) and in- troduced relative intrinsic and parameter-effects curvatures which provide global measures of the nonlinearity of the model. However these measures are not al- ways helpful when the individual parameters in the model are of interest (see e.g., Cook and Witmer (1985)) and as a consequence a number of researchers have developed measures of curvature which are specifically associated with the individual parameters. In particular Ratkowsky (1983) suggested examining the skewness and kurtosis of the least squares estimates of the parameters by means of simulation and Hougaard (1985) reinforced this idea by deriving a formula for the second-order approximation to skewness. Further Cook and Goldberg (1986) and Hamilton (1986) extended the ideas of Bates and Watts (1980) to accommo- date individual parameters, while Clarke (1987) introduced a marginal curvature measure derived from the second-order approximation to the profile likelihood. The list seems rather daunting and the curvature measures diverse and uncon- nected. In fact Clarke (1987), and more recently Kang and Rawlings (1998), have
BrgE is a regulator of Myxococcus xanthus development

We report here the identification and characterization of a member of the Myxococcus xanthus SdeK signal transduction pathway, BrgE. This protein was identified as an SdeK‐interacting component using a yeast two‐hybrid screen, and we further confirmed this interaction by the glutathione S‐transferase (GST) pulldown assay. Additional yeast two‐hybrid analyses revealed that BrgE preferentially interacts with the putative amino‐terminal sensor domain of SdeK, but not with the carboxy‐terminal kinase domain. A brgE insertion strain was shown to be blocked in development between aggregation and mound formation, and decreased by 50‐fold in viable spore production compared with the parental wild type. These phenotypes are similar to those of sdeK mutants. The brgE mutation also altered expression of a sample of Tn5 lac developmental markers that are also SdeK regulated. Finally, we demonstrated that a brgE sdeK double mutant has a more severe sporulation defect than either of the two single mutants, suggesting that BrgE and SdeK act synergistically to regulate wild‐type levels of sporulation. In sum, these data suggest that BrgE operates as an auxiliary factor to stimulate the SdeK signal transduction pathway by directly binding to the amino‐terminal sensor domain of SdeK.
Refining object recognition using scene specific object appearance frequencies

This paper presents an automatic annotation method for multimedia data. Different object and scene recognition methods are analyzed from the literature. The best components of current methods are used to design and implement an original solution. A novel approach for refining results based on scene specific object appearance frequencies is exposed which improves annotation performance. Experimental results indicate the performance of the proposed solution which successfully competes with currently best methods.
A Novel Variable Step Size Adjustment Method Based on Autocorrelation of Error Signal for the Constant Modulus Blind Equalization Algorithm

Blind equalization is a technique for adaptive equalization of a communication channel without the use of training sequence. Although the constant modulus algo- rithm (CMA) is one of the most popular adaptive blind equalization algorithms, because of using fixed step size it suffers from slow convergence rate. A novel enhanced variable step size CMA algorithm (VSS-CMA) based on autocorrelation of error signal has been proposed to improve the weakness of CMA for application to blind equalization in this paper. The new algorithm resolves the conflict between the convergence rate and precision of the fixed step-size conventional CMA algorithm. Computer simulations have been performed to illustrate the perform- ance of the proposed method in simulated frequency selec- tive Rayleigh fading channels and experimental real com- munication channels. The obtained simulation results using single carrier (SC) IEEE 802.16-2004 protocol have demonstrated that the proposed VSS-CMA algorithm has considerably better performance than conventional CMA, normalized CMA (N-CMA) and the other VSS-CMA algorithms.
"Modeling memristive biosensors"

In the present work, a computational study is carried out investigating the relationship between the biosensing and the electrical characteristics of two-terminal Schottky-barrier silicon nanowire devices. The model suggested successfully reproduces computationally the experimentally obtained electrical behavior of the devices prior to and after the surface bio-modification. Throughout modeling and simulations, it is confirmed that the nanofabricated devices present electrical behavior fully equivalent to that of a memristor device, according to literature. Furthermore, the model introduced successfully reproduces computationally the voltage gap appearing in the current to voltage characteristics for nanowire devices with bio-modified surface. Overall, the present study confirms the implication of the memristive effect for bio sensing applications, therefore demonstrating the Memristive Biosensors.
Study on Hydroxyurea Response in Hemoglobinopathies Patients Using Genetic Markers and Liquid Erythroid Cultures

Increased expression of fetal hemoglobin (HbF) may ameliorate the clinical course of hemoglobinopathies. Hydroxyurea (HU) is the only inducer approved for the treatment of these diseases able to stimulate HbF production but patients’ response is highly variable indicating the utility of the identification of pharmacogenomic biomarkers in order to predict pharmacological treatment efficacy. To date few studies to evaluate the role of genetic determinants in HU response have been conducted showing contradictory results. In this study we analyzed BCL11A, GATA-1, KLF-1 genes and γ-globin promoter in 60 alleles from 30 hemoglobinopathies patients under HU treatment to assess the role of these markers in HU response. We did not find any association between these genetic determinants and HU response. Before treatment started, the same patients were analyzed in vitro using liquid erythroid cultures in a test able to predict their response to HU. The results of our analysis confirm the absence of pharmacogenomic biomarker associated to HU response indicating that, the quantification of γ-globin mRNA fold increase remains the only method able to predict in vivo patients response to the drug.
P.78: A Polarization Independent Microlens using Two Blue‐Phase Liquid Crystal Layers with Different Kerr Constant

We propose a new microlens device structure using two polymer‐stabilized blue phase liquid crystal layers whose Kerr constant is largely different. Such a polarization independent microlens has a simple structure and desired parabolic phase profile. Its applications for 2D/3D switchable displays and other photonic devices are emphasized.
How To Compare the Security Quality Requirements Engineering (SQUARE) Method with Other Methods

Abstract : The Security Quality Requirements Engineering (SQUARE) method, developed at the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute, provides a systematic way to identify security requirements in a software development project. This report describes SQUARE and then describes other methods used for identifying security requirements, such as the Comprehensive, Lightweight Application Security Process, the Security Requirements Engineering Process, and Tropos, and compares them with SQUARE. The report concludes with some guidelines for selecting a method and a look at some related trends in requirements engineering.
Attitudinal meaning and social struggle in heavy metal song lyrics: a corpus-based analysis

ABSTRACT Heavy metal as a music culture has immense social influence across the world. In recent years scholars have started to scrutinise metal music from a sociocultural perspective; yet many studies lack quantifiable supporting evidence. For a thorough understanding of band members’ self-constructed identity, this paper analyses a corpus of lyrics from 1,152 heavy metal songs. It identifies 11 lexical words which have a significantly higher frequency in metal lyrics than in popular lyrics, and a total of 1,386 concordances of the 11 words are analysed using the attitude system (Martin and White, 2005. The Language of Evaluation: Appraisal in English. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.). Analysis shows that heavy metal lyrics are characterised by insecurity, loneliness, sadness and desire in terms of affect, by fearlessness, freedom, and condemnation of social injustice in terms of judgement, and by the representation of unpleasant or even disgusting objects, and the valuation of death as solutions in terms of appreciation. We further argue that these attitudes are reactions to various types of social oppression, such as marginalisation by mainstream ideologies and religions, and are discursive strategies to resist and counter the oppression. At the same time, the attitudes build a distinctive heavy metal identity to reinforce in-group solidarity and to promote the music culture through catharsis.
Consensus Statement on Screening Mammography

Mammographic screening guidelines have remained a high profile medical topic with increased scrutiny since the 2009 guidelines were released by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). These guidelines recommended biennial screening for women age 50-74, a shared decision making process for screening women age 40-49 and insufficient evidence to support screening women over the age of 75. [1] Recently the American Cancer Society (ACS) has published their new guidelines for mammographic screening and several changes from the USPSTF and prior ACS recommendations are notable. The 2015 ACS guidelines recommend annual screening for women age 45-54, a shared decision making process for women to elect screening in ages 40-44 and biennial screening for women over the age of 55. Women are advised in the new ACS recommendations to continue screening as long as they have an estimated 10 year life expectancy. [2]
A business-driven IT services improvement model

Under current approaches, service performance is generally evaluated using technical metrics, for the following two basic reasons: 1) They are easily understood by technical people and 2) They are typically easy to measure directly. The actual impact on the business of low value and quality are not apparent. Service metrics are objectively measured, however, subjective criteria - those that depend on the subject (person) being polled - are not easily brought into the picture. Uncertainty is not typically considered in the measurement process. Service metrics are gathered strictly on an operational level without any effective information available at a strategic level. Within this scope of work, we propose a model in order to quantify an IT service aggregated value and a hierarchical quality indicator within a time snapshot, which can be used to help managers in activities relating to continual service improvement. We carried out a case-study in a real environment of a Brazilian Bank whereby the results indicate that our non-intrusive model is useful and can be adopted by corporations in addition to their actual continual service improvement rules.
The Relation between Credit Growth and the Expected Returns of Bank Stocks

I find that a 1% increase in aggregate bank credit growth implies that the excess returns of bank stocks over the next one year are lower by nearly 3%. Unlike most other forecasting relationships, credit growth tracks bank stock returns over the business cycle and explains nearly 14% of the variation in bank stock returns over a 1-year horizon. This effect is robust to the exclusion of data from the crisis years and to the inclusion of several popular forecasting variables used in the literature. Credit growth also predicts returns of investment banks and of bank-dependent firms but does not predict returns for any other asset class. I show that this predictive variation in returns reflects the representative agent’s rational response to a small time-varying probability of a tail event that impacts banks and bank-dependent firms. Consistent with this hypothesis I show that the predictive power, as measured by the absolute magnitude of the coefficient on credit growth and the adjusted-R2 at the the 1-year horizon, depends systematically on variables that regulate exposure to tail risk. Historically, the probability of a tail event increases in a recession, therefore this mechanism also explains the observed correlation between variation in aggregate bank credit level and business conditions.