Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Probabilistic Visual Cryptography Schemes

Visual cryptography schemes allow the encoding of a secret image, consisting of black or white pixels, into n shares which are distributed to the participants. The shares are such that only qualified subsets of participants can 'visually' recover the secret image. The secret pixels are shared with techniques that subdivide each secret pixel into a certain number m, m ≥ 2 of subpixels. Such a parameter m is called pixel expansion. Recently Yang introduced a probabilistic model. In such a model the pixel expansion m is 1, that is, there is no pixel expansion. The reconstruction of the image however is probabilistic, meaning that a secret pixel will be correctly reconstructed only with a certain probability. In this paper we propose a generalization of the model proposed by Yang. In our model we fix the pixel expansion m ≥ 1 that can be tolerated and we consider probabilistic schemes attaining such a pixel expansion. For m = 1 our model reduces to the one of Yang. For big enough values of m, for which a deterministic scheme exists, our model reduces to the classical deterministic model. We show that between these two extremes one can trade the probability factor of the scheme with the pixel expansion. Moreover, we prove that there is a one-to-one mapping between deterministic schemes and probabilistic schemes with no pixel expansion, where contrast is traded for the probability factor.
Absent data generating classifier for imbalanced class sizes

We propose an algorithm for two-class classification problems when the training data are imbalanced. This means the number of training instances in one of the classes is so low that the conventional classification algorithms become ineffective in detecting the minority class. We present a modification of the kernel Fisher discriminant analysis such that the imbalanced nature of the problem is explicitly addressed in the new algorithm formulation. The new algorithm exploits the properties of the existing minority points to learn the effects of other minority data points, had they actually existed. The algorithm proceeds iteratively by employing the learned properties and conditional sampling in such a way that it generates sufficient artificial data points for the minority set, thus enhancing the detection probability of the minority class. Implementing the proposed method on a number of simulated and real data sets, we show that our proposed method performs competitively compared to a set of alternative state-of-the-art imbalanced classification algorithms.
Lysosomal Membrane Permeabilization Induces Cell Death in a Mitochondrion-dependent Fashion

A number of diseases are due to lysosomal destabilization, which results in damaging cell loss. To investigate the mechanisms of lysosomal cell death, we characterized the cytotoxic action of two widely used quinolone antibiotics: ciprofloxacin (CPX) or norfloxacin (NFX). CPX or NFX plus UV light (NFX*) induce lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP), as detected by the release of cathepsins from lysosomes. Inhibition of the lysosomal accumulation of CPX or NFX suppresses their capacity to induce LMP and to kill cells. CPX- or NFX-triggered LMP results in caspase-independent cell death, with hallmarks of apoptosis such as chromatin condensation and phosphatidylserine exposure on the plasma membrane. LMP triggers mitochondrial membrane permeabilization (MMP), as detected by the release of cytochrome c. Both CPX and NFX* cause Bax and Bak to adopt their apoptotic conformation and to insert into mitochondrial membranes. Bax−/− Bak−/− double knockout cells fail to undergo MMP and cell death in response to CPX- or NFX-induced LMP. The single knockout of Bax or Bak (but not Bid) or the transfection-enforced expression of mitochondrion-targeted (but not endoplasmic reticulum–targeted) Bcl-2 conferred protection against CPX (but not NFX*)-induced MMP and death. Altogether, our data indicate that mitochondria are indispensable for cell death initiated by lysosomal destabilization.
Post-IPO Actions and Firm Survival: More than Signaling?

Entrepreneurial firms, at their birth, have a high probability of failure due to the “liability of newness. ” Even firms that surmount the initial challenges and get to the stage of issuing an initial pubic offering (IPO) still face a significant hazard rate. In this paper, we examine whether, in the post-IPO stage, strategic choice matters. We examine whether management actions following an IPO enhance the firm’s survival and, second, if they do, which actions really make a difference. We analyzed a sample of 104 internet-related firms that issued IPOs between 1995 and 1999, and find that management action in three areas - market expansion, entry into alliances, and expansion or reconfiguration of the top management team and/or board of directors - significantly enhance firm survival.
Clinical value of circulating endothelial cells and circulating tumor cells in metastatic breast cancer patients treated first line with bevacizumab and chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND We investigated whether circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and circulating endothelial cells (CECs) predict clinical outcome of first-line chemotherapy combined with bevacizumab in metastatic breast cancer patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS In a French substudy of the MO19391 trial, CTC and CEC counts (CellSearch system) at baseline and changes after two cycles of treatment were correlated with time to progression (TtP). RESULTS CTC and CEC levels were not correlated in the 67 patients included. At baseline, CTC positivity was a significant prognostic marker for TtP at a threshold of 3 CTC/7.5 ml (P < 0.05) but not at 5 CTC/7.5 ml (P = 0.09). Baseline CEC levels (median 17 CEC/4 ml, range 1-769) were associated with age > or =45 years (P = 0.01), elevated lactate dehydrogenase (P < 0.01) and not with TtP at any threshold. Changes of CTC count during treatment were not a surrogate of TtP, with any of the model tested (threshold based or relative decrease in percent). However, increase in CEC count was associated with improved TtP, at the threshold of 20 CEC/4 ml (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION Bevacizumab combined with first-line chemotherapy may modify the predictive value of CTC during treatment possibly due to impaired tumor cells intravasation through vessels endothelium. Variations in CEC levels appear to be a promising early surrogate marker of TtP under antiangiogenic treatment.
Learning social network embeddings for predicting information diffusion

Analyzing and modeling the temporal diffusion of information on social media has mainly been treated as a diffusion process on known graphs or proximity structures. The underlying phenomenon results however from the interactions of several actors and media and is more complex than what these models can account for and cannot be explained using such limiting assumptions. We introduce here a new approach to this problem whose goal is to learn a mapping of the observed temporal dynamic onto a continuous space. Nodes participating to diffusion cascades are projected in a latent representation space in such a way that information diffusion can be modeled efficiently using a heat diffusion process. This amounts to learning a diffusion kernel for which the proximity of nodes in the projection space reflects the proximity of their infection time in cascades. The proposed approach possesses several unique characteristics compared to existing ones. Since its parameters are directly learned from cascade samples without requiring any additional information, it does not rely on any pre-existing diffusion structure. Because the solution to the diffusion equation can be expressed in a closed form in the projection space, the inference time for predicting the diffusion of a new piece of information is greatly reduced compared to discrete models. Experiments and comparisons with baselines and alternative models have been performed on both synthetic networks and real datasets. They show the effectiveness of the proposed method both in terms of prediction quality and of inference speed.
Role of suPAR and Lactic Acid in Diagnosing Sepsis and Predicting Mortality in Elderly Patients

This study investigated the diagnostic value of soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) and serum lactate in elderly patients with sepsis and evaluated their capacity to predict mortality and their correlation to Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score. The study included 80 participants, divided into two groups: 40 cases (mean age, 68.9 ± 5.9) admitted to the intensive care unit and 40 healthy controls (mean age, 67.1 ± 6.2). Elderly patients with sepsis had significantly higher levels of serum suPAR and lactic acid compared to healthy controls. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that suPAR (cutoff value, ≥4.37 ng/ml) has higher area under the curve (AUC) than lactic acid (cutoff value, ≥1.95 mmol/l) for diagnosing sepsis. Serum lactate has superior prognostic value compared to suPAR with AUC of 0.82 (cutoff value, 2.2 mmol/l) and 0.72 (cutoff value, 6.3 ng/ml), respectively. The diagnostic power of combined usage of suPAR and lactate serum concentrations showed AUC of 0.988 (95% confidence interval 0.934 to 1.0). The combination of both biomarkers either together or with SOFA score may serve as a useful guide to patients who need more intensive resuscitation.
Complex Processing Patterns of mRNAs of the Large ATP Synthase Operon in Arabidopsis Chloroplasts

Chloroplasts are photosynthetic cell organelles which have evolved from endosymbiosis of the cyanobacterial ancestor. In chloroplasts, genes are still organized into transcriptional units as in bacteria but the corresponding poly-cistronic mRNAs undergo complex processing events, including inter-genic cleavage and 5′ and 3′ end-definition. The current model for processing proposes that the 3′ end of the upstream cistron transcripts and the 5′ end of the downstream cistron transcripts are defined by the same RNA-binding protein and overlap at the level of the protein-binding site. We have investigated the processing mechanisms that operate within the large ATP synthase (atp) operon, in Arabidopsis thaliana chloroplasts. This operon is transcribed by the plastid-encoded RNA polymerase starting from two promoters, which are upstream and within the operon, respectively, and harbors four potential sites for RNA-binding proteins. In order to study the functional significance of the promoters and the protein-binding sites for the maturation processes, we have performed a detailed mapping of the atp transcript ends. Our data indicate that in contrast to maize, atpI and atpH transcripts with overlapping ends are very rare in Arabidopsis. In addition, atpA mRNAs, which overlap with atpF mRNAs, are even truncated at the 3′ end, thus representing degradation products. We observe, instead, that the 5′ ends of nascent poly-cistronic atp transcripts are defined at the first protein-binding site which follows either one of the two transcription initiation sites, while the 3′ ends are defined at the subsequent protein-binding sites or at hairpin structures that are encountered by the progressing RNA polymerase. We conclude that the overlapping mechanisms of mRNA protection have only a limited role in obtaining stable processed atp mRNAs in Arabidopsis. Our findings suggest that during evolution of different plant species as maize and Arabidopsis, chloroplasts have evolved multiple strategies to produce mature transcripts suitable for translation.
Can civil society add value to budget decision-making? A description of civil society budget work

Since the 1990s, civil society organizations have begun to play a larger role in the budget process in some developing countries. This growth has been particularly rapid in the past few years and corresponds with the political trend towards democratization. The first international meeting of civil society budget groups, convened by the International Budget Project in 1997, was attended by 50 people representing budget organizations in fourteen developing countries. By the third conference, there were 100 participants from organizations in 25 countries. Most of the core groups from the first conference had deepened their work, while promising new efforts were represented from Ghana, Kenya, Russia, Croatia, Uganda, Peru and Indonesia.
Wavelet and Fourier Methods for Solving the Sideways Heat Equation

We consider an inverse heat conduction problem, the sideways heat equation, which is a model of a problem, where one wants to determine the temperature on both sides of a thick wall, but where one side is inaccessible to measurements. Mathematically it is formulated as a Cauchy problem for the heat equation in a quarter plane, with data given along the line x=1, where the solution is wanted for $0 \leq x < 1$. The problem is ill-posed, in the sense that the solution (if it exists) does not depend continuously on the data. We consider stabilizations based on replacing the time derivative in the heat equation by wavelet-based approximations or a Fourier-based approximation. The resulting problem is an initial value problem for an ordinary differential equation, which can be solved by standard numerical methods, e.g., a Runge--Kutta method. We discuss the numerical implementation of Fourier and wavelet methods for solving the sideways heat equation. Theory predicts that the Fourier method and a method based on Meyer wavelets will give equally good results. Our numerical experiments indicate that also a method based on Daubechies wavelets gives comparable accuracy. As test problems we take model equations with constant and variable coefficients. We also solve a problem from an industrial application with actual measured data.
The effect of selection from old populations in genetic algorithms

In this paper a method to increase the optimization ability of genetic algorithms (GAs) is proposed. To promote population diversity, a fraction of the worst individuals of the current population is replaced by individuals from an older population. To experimentally validate the approach we have used a set of well-known benchmark problems of tunable difficulty for GAs, including trap functions and NK landscapes. The obtained results show that the proposed method performs better than standard GAs without elitism for all the studied test problems and better than GAs with elitism for the majority of them.
Identifying Early Markers of Alzheimer's Disease using Quantitative Multiplex Proteomic Immunoassay Panels

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a debilitating neurodegenerative disorder with incidence expected to increase four‐fold over the next decade. Extensive research efforts are focused upon identifying new treatments, and early diagnosis is considered key to successful intervention. Although imaging and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers have shown promise in identifying patients in very early stages of the disease, more noninvasive cost‐effective tools have remained elusive. Recent studies have reported that an 18‐analyte multiplexed plasma panel can differentiate AD from controls suggesting plasma‐based screening tools for early AD diagnosis exists. The current study tested the reproducibility of a subset of the original 18‐analyte panel using a bead‐based multiplex technology. Preliminary results suggest diagnostic accuracy using the subset was 61%. Multivariate analysis of an 89‐analyte multivariate panel yielded a diagnostic accuracy of 70% suggesting a plasma‐based AD signature that may be a useful screening tool.
Neuroprotective Mechanisms of Lithium in Murine Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 Encephalitis

Lithium (Li) has garnered considerable interest as a neuroprotective drug for a broad range of nervous system disorders. Its neuroprotective activities occur as a consequence of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) inhibition leading to downstream blockade of β-catenin and Tau phosphorylation. In the present study, we investigated Li-mediated neuroprotective mechanisms in laboratory and murine human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) encephalitis (HIVE) models. In laboratory tests, Li protected neurons from neurotoxic secretions of HIV-1-infected monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs). This neuroprotection was mediated, in part, through the phosphatidyl inositol 3-kinase/Akt and GSK-3β pathways. To examine the effects of Li treatment in vivo, MDMs were injected into the basal ganglia of severe combined immunodeficient mice and then Li was administered (60 mg/kg/d). Seven days after MDM injection, mice were killed and CNS tissue was collected and subjected to immunocytochemical and Western blot assays for leukocyte and neural antigens, GSK-3β, and key kinase substrates such asβ-catenin and Tau. Numbers of HIV-1 p24 antigen-positive MDMs were unaltered by Li treatment of HIVE mice. Similarly, the greatly increased extent of astrocyte and microglia activation in HIVE mice (10-fold and 16-fold, respectively, compared with unmanipulated controls) was also unaltered by Li. In contrast, Li restored HIVE-associated loss of microtubule-associated protein-2-positive neurites and synaptic density while reducing levels or activity of phospho-Tau Ser202, phospho-β-catenin, and GSK-3β. Electrophysiological recordings showed diminished long-term potentiation in hippocampal slices of HIVE mice that were restored by Li. Based on these data, the use of Li as an adjuvant for HIV-1-associated dementia is now being pursued.
Positive Invariance Lemmas for Control Problems with Convergence to Lyapunov-unstable Sets

We provide Lyapunov-like characterizations of positive invariance, boundedness and convergence of non-trivial solutions for a class of systems with unstable invariant sets. The systems of this class comprise of a stable part coupled with a one-dimensional unstable or critically stable subsystem. Examples of these systems appear in the problems of nonlinear output regulation, parameter estimation and adaptive control. We demonstrate that, for a large class of systems with unstable equilibria and solutions that might escape to infinity in finite time, it is always possible to determine simple criteria for positive invariance and boundedness of the system’s nontrivial solutions. Conversely, it is possible to characterize domains of initial conditions that lead to solutions escaping from the origin. In contrast to other works addressing convergence issues in unstable systems, our results do not rely on the availability of input-output gains or contraction rates that are usually required for the stable compartment.
Entropy-Rate Clustering: Cluster Analysis via Maximizing a Submodular Function Subject to a Matroid Constraint

We propose a new objective function for clustering. This objective function consists of two components: the entropy rate of a random walk on a graph and a balancing term. The entropy rate favors formation of compact and homogeneous clusters, while the balancing function encourages clusters with similar sizes and penalizes larger clusters that aggressively group samples. We present a novel graph construction for the graph associated with the data and show that this construction induces a matroid--a combinatorial structure that generalizes the concept of linear independence in vector spaces. The clustering result is given by the graph topology that maximizes the objective function under the matroid constraint. By exploiting the submodular and monotonic properties of the objective function, we develop an efficient greedy algorithm. Furthermore, we prove an approximation bound of 1/2 for the optimality of the greedy solution. We validate the proposed algorithm on various benchmarks and show its competitive performances with respect to popular clustering algorithms. We further apply it for the task of superpixel segmentation. Experiments on the Berkeley segmentation data set reveal its superior performances over the state-of-the-art superpixel segmentation algorithms in all the standard evaluation metrics.
Second to fourth digit ratio, testosterone and perceived male dominance

Previous studies have shown that male faces with extreme features associated with testosterone are perceived as dominant and masculine. Women have been reported to prefer more masculinized male faces as they may consider testosterone markers to be an ‘honest’ indication of good health, and such considerations may underlie their aesthetic preferences. However, pronounced testosterone facial markers are also associated with dominance, and several negative personality traits. This suggests that female aesthetic preferences may be an adaptive compromise between positive attributes associated with higher than average testosterone, and negative attributes associated with more extreme masculinization. This current study attempts to clarify the role of hormone markers in female perceptions of dominance, masculinity and attractiveness, in male facial images. Recent evidence suggests that the relative length of the 2nd to 4th finger (2D : 4D ratio) is a pointer to prenatal testosterone levels and may thus serve as a window to the prenatal hormonal environment. We measured 2D : 4D in a sample of male college students and took salivary samples to analyse circulating levels of testosterone. Women rated facial images of these males for dominance, masculinity and attractiveness. Our results show that male 2D : 4D was significantly negatively related to perceived dominance and masculinity but not attractiveness. Circulating testosterone levels were not related to dominance, masculinity or attractiveness. These findings suggest that: (i) high prenatal levels of testosterone serve to ‘organize’ male facial features to subsequently reflect dominance and masculine characteristics presumably activated during puberty; and (ii) attractiveness is not directly related to testosterone levels. We conclude that facial dominance and masculinity reflect a male's perceived status rather than his physical attraction to women.
Identification of a Novel Picornavirus in Healthy Piglets and Seroepidemiological Evidence of Its Presence in Humans

In this study, we describe a novel porcine parechovirus-like virus (tentatively named PLV-CHN) from healthy piglets in China using 454 high-throughput sequencing. The complete genome of the virus comprises 6832 bp, encoding a predicted polyprotein of 2132 amino acids that is most similar to Ljungan virus (32% identity). A similar virus that belongs to a novel Picornaviridae genus, named swine pasivirus 1 (SPaV-1), was reported during the preparation of this paper. Sequence analysis revealed that PLV-CHN and SPaV1 shared 82% nucleotide identity and 89% amino acid identity. Further genomic and phylogenetic analyses suggested that both SPaV1 and PLV-CHN shared similar genomic characteristics and belong to the same novel Picornaviridae genus. A total of 36 (20.0%) fecal samples from 180 healthy piglets were positive for PLV-CHN by RT-PCR, while no fecal samples from 100 healthy children and 100 children with diarrhea, and no cerebrospinal fluid samples from 196 children with suspected viral encephalitis, was positive for the virus. However, Western blot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays using recombinant PLV-CHN VP1 polypeptide as an antigen showed a high seroprevalence of 63.5% in the healthy population. When grouped by age, the antibody-positivity rates showed that the majority of children under 12 years of age have been infected by the virus. It was suggested that PLV-CHN, SPaV1, or an as-yet-uncharacterized virus can infect humans early in life. Thus, investigation of the role of this novel virus is vital.