Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Practical and theoretical improvements for bipartite matching using the pseudoflow algorithm

We show that the pseudoflow algorithm for maximum flow is particularly efficient for the bipartite matching problem both in theory and in practice. We develop several implementations of the pseudoflow algorithm for bipartite matching, and compare them over a wide set of benchmark instances to state-of-the-art implementations of push-relabel and augmenting path algorithms that are specifically designed to solve these problems. The experiments show that the pseudoflow variants are in most cases faster than the other algorithms. We also show that one particular implementation---the matching pseudoflow algorithm---is theoretically efficient. For a graph with $n$ nodes, $m$ arcs, $n_1$ the size of the smaller set in the bipartition, and the maximum matching value $\kappa \leq n_1$, the algorithm's complexity given input in the form of adjacency lists is $O(\min{n_1\kappa,m} + \sqrt{\kappa}\min{\kappa^2,m})$. Similar algorithmic ideas are shown to work for an adaptation of Hopcroft and Karp's bipartite matching algorithm with the same complexity. Using boolean operations on words of size $\lambda$, the complexity of the pseudoflow algorithm is further improved to $O(\min{n_1\kappa, \frac{n_1n_2}{\lambda}, m} + \kappa^2 + \frac{\kappa^{2.5}}{\lambda})$. This run time is faster than for previous algorithms such as Cheriyan and Mehlhorn's algorithm of complexity $O(\frac{n^{2.5}}{\lambda})$.
Recognizing Instantiated Goals using Statistical Methods

We present our work on using statistical, corpus-based machine learning techniques to perform in-stantiated goal recognition — recognition of a goal schema and its parameter values. The recognizer is fast (linear in the number of goal schemas and observed actions) and is able to make partial predictions by optionally predicting individual parameter values for a goal schema. This allows it to make more accurate predictions after observing fewer actions than all-or-nothing prediction.
Temporal Logic Made Practical

In the late seventies, Pnueli suggested that functional properties of reactive systems be formally expressed in temporal logic. In order that model checking such a logic be possible, it must have sufficient expressive power, its semantics must be formally defined in a rigorous way, and the complexity of model checking it must be well understood and reasonable. In order to allow widespread adoption in the industry, there is an additional requirement: functional specification must be made easy, allowing common properties to be expressed intuitively and succinctly. But while adding syntax is simple, defining semantics without breaking properties of the existing semantics is a different story. This chapter is about the various extensions to temporal logic included in the IEEE standards PSL and SVA, their motivation, and the subtle semantic issues encountered in their definition.
Common Mutations of the Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (MTHFR) Gene in Non-Syndromic Cleft Lips and Palates Children in North-West of Iran

Introduction: Cleft lips and cleft palates are common congenital abnormalities in children. Various chromosomal loci have been suggested to be responsible the development of these abnormalities. The present study was carried out to investigate the association between the suspected genes (methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase [MTHFR] A1298C and C677T) that might contribute into the etiology of these disorders through application of molecular methods. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional and explanatory study was carried out on a study population of 65 affected children, 130 respective parents and 50 healthy individuals between 2009 and 2012 at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, IR Iran. After DNA extraction, amplification refractory mutation system–polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP)-PCR were used respectively to investigate the C677T and A1298C mutations for the MTHFR gene. Results: There was a significant difference in the rates of the C677T mutation when affected patients and their fathers were compared with the control group (odds ratio [OR]=0.44) (OR=0.64). However, there was no significant difference observed in the rate of this mutation between the patients’ mothers and the control group (OR=1.35). In addition, the abnormality rate was higher in patients with the A1298C mutation and their parents, when compared with the control group. This abnormality rate was higher for the affected children and their fathers in comparison with their mothers (Fathers, OR=0.26; Mothers, OR=0.65; Children, OR=0.55). No significant difference was seen in the rate of the polymorphism C677T in its CC, when the affected children and their parents were compared with the control group. However, there was a significant difference in the A1298C mutation. Conclusion: An association was seen between the A1298C mutation and cleft lip and cleft palate abnormalities in Iran. However, there seems to be a stronger relationship between the C67TT mutation and these abnormalities in other countries, which could be explained by racial differences. Moreover, this association was more notable between the affected children and their fathers than their mothers. The findings in this study may be helpful in future studies and screening programs.
Monetary Policy with Heterogeneous Agents and Credit Constraints

This paper analyzes the effect of monetary policy in economies with financial market imperfections. This analysis is carried on in a heterogeneous agents framework in which infinitely lived agents face credit constraints and can partially self-insure against income risks by using both financial assets and real balances. First, we show that credit constraints yield a new theoretical channel through which monetary policy affects the real economy, because of the heterogeneity in money demand. Secondly, we quantify this new channel and we show that inflation has a sizeable positive impact on output and consumption in economies which closely match the wealth distribution of the United States. Thirdly, the average welfare cost of inflation turns out to be similar across complete and incomplete market economies. But wealth-rich and wealth-poor agents are unevenly affected by monetary policy, the latter one benefiting from inflation.
NDRG2-mediated Modulation of SOCS3 and STAT3 Activity Inhibits IL-10 Production

Background N-myc downstream regulated gene 2 (NDRG2) is a member of the NDRG gene family. Our previous report indicated a possible role for NDRG2 in regulating the cytokine, interleukin-10 (IL-10), which is an important immunosuppressive cytokine. Several pathways, including p38-MAPK, NF-κB, and JAK/STAT, are used for IL-10 production, and the JAK/STAT pathway can be inhibited in a negative feedback loop by the inducible protein, SOCS3. In the present study, we investigated the effect of NDRG2 gene expression on IL-10 signaling pathway that is modulated via SOCS3 and STAT3. Methods We generated NDRG2-overexpressing U937 cell line (U937-NDRG2) and treated the cells with PMA to investigate the role of NDRG2 in IL-10 production. U937 cells were also transfected with SOCS3- or NDRG2-specific siRNAs to examine whether the knockdown of SOCS3 or NDRG2 influenced IL-10 expression. Lastly, STAT3 and SOCS3 induction was measured to identify the signaling pathway that was associated with IL-10 production. Results RT-PCR and ELISA assays showed that IL-10 was increased in U937-mock cells upon stimulation with PMA, but IL-10 was inhibited by overexpression NDRG2. After PMA treatment, STAT3 phosphorylation was decreased in a time-dependent manner in U937-mock cells, whereas it was maintained in U937-NDRG2 cells. SOCS3 was markedly reduced in U937-NDRG2 cells compared with U937-mock cells. IL-10 production after PMA stimulation was reduced in U937 cells when SOCS3 was inhibited, but this effect was less severe when NDRG2 was inhibited. Conclusion NDRG2 expression modulates SOCS3 and STAT3 activity, eventually leading to the inhibition of IL-10 production.
Romantic Red: Red Enhances Men’s Attraction to Women

In many nonhuman primates, the color red enhances males’ attraction to females. In 5 experiments, the authors demonstrate a parallel effect in humans: Red, relative to other achromatic and chromatic colors, leads men to view women as more attractive and more sexually desirable. Men seem unaware of this red effect, and red does not influence women’s perceptions of the attractiveness of other women, nor men’s perceptions of women’s overall likeability, kindness, or intelligence. The findings have clear practical implications for men and women in the mating game and, perhaps, for fashion consultants, product designers, and marketers. Furthermore, the findings document the value of extending research on signal coloration to humans and of considering color as something of a common language, both within and across species.
Vitamin D status and incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis, opportunistic infections, and wasting among HIV-infected Tanzanian adults initiating antiretroviral therapy.

BACKGROUND Maintaining vitamin D sufficiency may decrease the incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. We present the first prospective study of vitamin D among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected adults receiving antiretrovirals in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) level was assessed at antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation for 1103 HIV-infected adults enrolled in a trial of multivitamins (not including vitamin D) in Tanzania. Participants were prospectively followed at monthly visits at which trained physicians performed a clinical examination and nurses took anthropometric measurements and assessed self-reported symptoms. Cox proportional hazards models estimated hazard ratios (HRs) of morbidity outcomes. RESULTS After multivariate adjustment, vitamin D deficiency (defined as a concentration of <20 ng/mL) had a significantly greater association with incident pulmonary tuberculosis, compared with vitamin D sufficiency (HR, 2.89; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.31-7.41; P = .027), but no association was found for vitamin D insufficiency (defined as a concentration of 20-30 ng/mL; P = .687). Deficiency was also significantly associated with incident oral thrush (HR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.01-3.81; P = .046), wasting (HR, 3.10; 95% CI, 1.33-7.24; P = .009), and >10% weight loss (HR, 2.10; 95% CI, 1.13-3.91; P = .019). Wasting results were robust to exclusion of individuals experiencing pulmonary tuberculosis. Vitamin D status was not associated with incident malaria, pneumonia, or anemia. CONCLUSIONS Vitamin D supplementation trials for adults receiving ART appear to be warranted.
Real-time dynamic texture recognition using random sampling and dimension reduction

In this paper, we propose a real-time dynamic texture recognition method using projections onto random hyperplanes and deep neural network filters. We divide dynamic texture videos into spatio-temporal blocks and extract features using local binary patterns (LBP). We reduce the computational cost of the exhaustive LBP method by using randomly sampled subset of pixels in a given spatio-temporal block. We use random hyperplanes and deep neural network filters to reduce the dimensionality of the final feature vectors. We test the performance of the proposed method in a dynamic texture database. We also propose an application of the proposed method to real-time detection of flames in infrared videos. We observe that the approach based on random hyperplanes produces the best results.
The effects of schooling incentive programs on household resource allocation in Bangladesh

This paper examines the impact of programs that provide incentives for school attendance in rural Bangladesh—a food-for-education program for poor primary-school children and a secondary-school scholarship scheme for girls. Detailed time-use data were available from a 1991–92 village study conducted prior to the pro-grams' implementation as well as for two points in time in 1995 and 1996 when the programs were in place. The time children spent in school increased dramatically, especially for adolescent girls. Families were able to take advantage of the school programs because of the short school days required and because of the compatibility of household work with schooling. Data from 1992 and 1995 show that a sudden increase occurred in marriage postponement for adolescent girls, because the secondary school scholarship program required parents to sign a bond assuring that their daughters would not be married before age 18. The effects of the incentives varied by gender. Adolescent boys were less likely to remain in school and more likely to leave to do wage work. Parents may have decided to send adolescent girls to school and adolescent boys to work in response to the incentives. In Bangladesh, the transition to mass education for girls began recently and the current generation of girls is the first to attend school in significant numbers. As recently as 1996, the literacy rate for women aged 15 and older in Bangladesh was only 26 percent (UNDP 1998). Historically, enrollment rates have been higher for boys than for girls. Donors and nongovernmental organizations have recently emphasized the importance of women's education for development, and a number of programs have been implemented to increase girls' school attendance. The programs provide financial incentives that are targeted to the poor and to girls. As a result of the incentives, school enrollment has increased dramatically. To give one example, a village study by Amin and Sedgh (1998) found that enrollment rates for girls aged six to 19 increased from 48 The incentive schemes were motivated by the assumption that financial constraints are the major impediment to schooling: The direct costs of schooling such as fees and books are prohibitive for poor parents, and children's labor contribution is crucial for families' sustenance. The schooling incentive programs minimize the direct costs of schooling by eliminating fees and providing free books. The programs also compensate parents for the indirect costs of schooling, specifically, their children's forgone labor. Children contribute to …
Leonardo Electronic Journal of Practices and Technologies Extraction of Polyphenols from Cashew Nut Shell Extraction of Polyphenols from Cashew Nut Shell

Cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) was extracted from cashew nut shell by indirect leaching process using soxhlet extraction equipment. Normal hexane (n-hexane) was used as solvent. The operating conditions for the extraction were 680C and 1 atmosphere in every 100g of cashew nut shell used for the extraction, 35gCNSL was obtained. The CNSL was further separated into cardol, cardanol and anacardic acid (polyphenol) using an amine extractant (alanine) with the aid of shake-out separation equipment. Subsequently, the polyphenol was further separated into dihydric phenols (resorcinol) and monohydric phenol (phenol). The physical separation of the CNSL showed that it consisted of about 10% cardol (dicarboxy-pentadica-dienylbenzene), 50% cardanol and 30% anacardic acid (carbopenta-dica dienylphenol) (with the remainder being made up of other substances) whose boiling points and specific gravities were 900C and 0.9g/m3 1750C and 1.1g/m3 and 1790C and 1.2g/m3.
Ambiguity in Timber Trade Regarding Efforts to Combat Illegal Logging: Potential Impacts on Trade between South-East Asia and Europe

Raised public concern in the European Union (EU) about the legality of its timber imports has pushed the European Commission to raise its standards and legality demands for wood imports. Combining literature reviews, structured interviews and trade data analyses, this study assesses the potential influence from Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) (with its Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPA) system and new legislation EU Timber Regulation (EUTR)), and third party verification schemes on the timber trade between tropical countries and Europe. These instruments have the potential to reduce the amount of illegally sourced timber being placed on the market, and they seem to have resulted in both increasing support of legality verification and certification uptake. However, there are signs of increased ambiguity in trade that could originate as a side effect of the transition towards a stricter regulation for tropical timber. Such ambiguity is explicitly taken into account here. Possible consequences from increased ambiguity are substitution of oak lumber for tropical hardwood lumber, and a diversion of exports of tropical timber to destinations with a less stringent regulatory framework than the EU. Evidence of these trade patterns in the literature reviews, interviews, and trade data analyses seems to confirm that ambiguity in international trade markets has actually increased since the introduction of these instruments.
Ergodic seminorms for commuting transformations and applications

Recently, T. Tao gave a finitary proof a convergence theorem for multiple averages with several commuting transformations and soon later, T. Austin gave an ergodic proof of the same result. Although we give here one more proof of the same theorem, this is not the main goal of this paper. Our main concern is to provide some tools for the case of several commuting transformations, similar to the tools successfully used in the case of a single transformation, with the idea that they will be useful in the solution of other problems.
Estimating Face orientation from Robust Detection of Salient Facial Structures

This paper addresses the problem of estimating face orientation from automatic detection of salient facial structures using learned robust features. Face imagettes are detected using color and described using a weighted sum of locally normalized Gaussian receptive ﬁelds. Robust face features are learned by clustering the Gaussian derivative responses within a training set face imagettes. The most reliable clusters are identiﬁed and used as features for detecting salient facial structures. We have found that a single cluster is sufﬁcient to provide a detector for salient facial structures that is robust to face orientation, illumination and identity. We describe how clusters are learned and which facial structures are detected
An Information-Based Neural Approach to Constraint Satisfaction

A novel artificial neural network approach to constraint satisfaction problems is presented. Based on information-theoretical considerations, it differs from a conventional mean-field approach in the form of the resulting free energy. The method, implemented as an annealing algorithm, is numerically explored on a testbed of K-SAT problems. The performance shows a dramatic improvement over that of a conventional mean-field approach and is comparable to that of a state-of-the-art dedicated heuristic (GSAT+walk). The real strength of the method, however, lies in its generality. With minor modifications, it is applicable to arbitrary types of discrete constraint satisfaction problems.
Aspirin Is Associated With Reduced Cardiovascular and All-Cause Mortality in Type 2 Diabetes in a Primary Prevention Setting

OBJECTIVE To determine whether regular aspirin use (≥75 mg/day) is independently associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality in community-based patients with type 2 diabetes and no history of CVD. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Of the type 2 diabetic patients recruited to the longitudinal observational Fremantle Diabetes Study, 651 (50.3%) with no prior CVD history at entry between 1993 and 1996 were followed until death or the end of June 2007, representing a total of 7,537 patient-years (mean ± SD 11.6 ± 2.9 years). Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to determine independent baseline predictors of CVD and all-cause mortality including regular aspirin use. RESULTS There were 160 deaths (24.6%) during follow-up, with 70 (43.8%) due to CVD. In Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, there was no difference in either CVD or all-cause mortality in aspirin users versus nonusers (P = 0.52 and 0.94, respectively, by log-rank test). After adjustment for significant variables in the most parsimonious Cox models, regular aspirin use at baseline independently predicted reduced CVD and all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 0.30 [95% CI 0.09–0.95] and 0.53 [0.28–0.98[, respectively; P ≤ 0.044). In subgroup analyses, aspirin use was independently associated with reduced all-cause mortality in those aged ≥65 years and men. CONCLUSIONS Regular low-dose aspirin may reduce all-cause and CVD mortality in a primary prevention setting in type 2 diabetes. All-cause mortality reductions are greatest in men and in those aged ≥65 years. The present observational data support recommendations that aspirin should be used in primary CVD prevention in all but the lowest risk patients.
A Self-adaptive Framework for Modular Robots in a Dynamic Environment: Theory and Applications

Biological systems achieve amazing adaptive behavior with local agents that perform simple sensing and actions. This has recently inspired the control strategies and design principles of modular robots. In this paper, we introduce a distributed control framework through which modular robots can achieve various self-adaptive tasks. By self-adaptive tasks, we imply tasks where the modular robot uses its distributed sensors to solve tasks and cope with environment changes. We show that modular robot self-adaptive tasks can be formulated as distributed constraint maintenance on a networked multi-agent system such that performing collective self-adaption can be simplified as satisfying local constraints. This formulation allows us to propose a control framework based on a class of multi-agent algorithms called distributed consensus. We further generalize this framework to capture a wide range of sensor—actuator networks in different distributed robotic systems. We prove various theoretical properties of the framework, including its scalability to network diameter and the number of modules. Based on our theoretical understanding, we demonstrate this framework with various tasks, including (1) self-adaptive structures that maintain their shapes in changing environments, (2) an adaptive column that can adapt to external force, and (3) a modular gripper that can manipulate fragile objects. This work provides a deep understanding of the theoretical properties of distributed consensus-type control and its applications to modular robots.
How Cosmopolitan Are Emojis?: Exploring Emojis Usage and Meaning over Different Languages with Distributional Semantics

Choosing the right emoji to visually complement or condense the meaning of a message has become part of our daily life. Emojis are pictures, which are naturally combined with plain text, thus creating a new form of language. These pictures are the same independently of where we live, but they can be interpreted and used in different ways. In this paper we compare the meaning and the usage of emojis across different languages. Our results suggest that the overall semantics of the subset of the emojis we studied is preserved across all the languages we analysed. However, some emojis are interpreted in a different way from language to language, and this could be related to socio-geographical differences.