Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multiple Optimality Guarantees in Statistical Learning

Author(s): Duchi, John C. | Advisor(s): Jordan, Michael I. ; Wainwright, Martin J. | Abstract: Classically, the performance of estimators in statistical learning problems is measured in terms of their predictive ability or estimation error as the sample size n grows. In modern statistical and machine learning applications, however, computer scientists, statisticians, and analysts have a variety of additional criteria they must balance: estimators must be efficiently computable, data providers may wish to maintain anonymity, large datasets must be stored and accessed. In this thesis, we consider the fundamental questions that arise when trading between multiple such criteria--computation, communication, privacy--while maintaining statistical performance. Can we develop lower bounds that show there must be tradeoffs? Can we develop new procedures that are both theoretically optimal and practically useful? To answer these questions, we explore examples from optimization, confidentiality preserving statistical inference, and distributed estimation under communication constraints. Viewing our examples through a general lens of constrained minimax theory, we prove fundamental lower bounds on the statistical performance of any algorithm subject to the constraints--computational, confidentiality, or communication--specified. These lower bounds allow us to guarantee the optimality of the new algorithms we develop addressing the additional criteria we consider, and additionally, we show some of the practical benefits that a focus on multiple optimality criteria brings.In somewhat more detail, the central contributions of this thesis include the following: we- develop several new stochastic optimization algorithms, applicable to general classes of stochastic convex optimization problems, including methods that are automatically adaptive to the structure of the underlying problem, parallelize naturally to attain linear speedup in the number of processors available, and may be used asynchronously,- prove lower bounds demonstrating the optimality of these methods,- provide a variety of information-theoretic tools--strong data processing inequalities--useful for proving lower bounds in privacy-preserving statistical inference, communication-constrained estimation, and optimization,- develop new algorithms for private learning and estimation, guaranteeing their optimality, and- give simple distributed estimation algorithms and prove fundamental limits showing that they (nearly) optimally trade off between communication (in terms of the number of bits distributed processors may send) and statistical risk.
Psychological Correlates of Entrepreneurial Performance among Women

This paper presents the results of an investigation into entrepreneurship among women by emphasising the psychological correlates, especially values and locus of control. The study has been conducted on a sample of 100 middle-class women entrepreneurs. The results clearly indicate that women take up business ventures for a variety of reasons. The more successful among them were found to score high on ability utilisation, achievement, advancement, economic rewards, personal development and prestige. However, no significant differences in locus of control were observed among women with varying degrees of success.
Ciprofibrate therapy improves endothelial function and reduces postprandial lipemia and oxidative stress in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND Exaggerated postprandial lipemia (PPL) is a factor in atherogenesis, involving endothelial dysfunction and enhanced oxidative stress. We examined the effect of ciprofibrate therapy on these parameters in type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS AND RESULTS Twenty patients entered a 3-month, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Each subject was studied fasting and after a fatty meal, at baseline, and after 3 months of treatment. Glucose and lipid profiles were measured over an 8-hour postprandial period. Endothelial function (flow-mediated endothelium-dependent vasodilatation [FMD]) and oxidative stress (electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy) were measured after fasting and 4 hours postprandially. At baseline, both groups exhibited similar PPL and deterioration in endothelial function. After ciprofibrate, fasting and postprandial FMD values were significantly higher (from 3.8+/-1. 8% and 1.8+/-1.3% to 4.8+/-1.1% and 3.4+/-1.1%; P<0.05). This was mirrored by a fall in fasting and postprandial triglycerides (3. 1+/-2.1 and 6.6+/-4.1 mmol/L to 1.5+/-0.8 and 2.8+/-1.3 mmol/L, P<0. 05). Fasting and postprandial HDL cholesterol was also elevated (0. 9+/-0.1 and 0.8+/-0.1 mmol/L and 1.2+/-0.2 and 1.2+/-0.1 mmol/L, P<0. 05). There were no changes in total or LDL cholesterol. Fasting and postprandial triglyceride enrichment of all lipoproteins was attenuated, with cholesterol depletion of VLDL and enrichment of HDL. There were similar postprandial increases in oxidative stress in both groups at baseline, which was significantly attenuated by ciprofibrate (0.3+/-0.6 versus 1.5+/-1.1 U, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that fibrate therapy improves fasting and postprandial endothelial function in type 2 diabetes. Attenuation of PPL and the associated oxidative stress, with increased HDL cholesterol levels, may be important.
TLR4 Expression Is Associated with Left Ventricular Dysfunction in Patients Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery

Introduction Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is an innate immune receptor expressed in immune cells and the heart. Activation of the immune system following myocardial ischemia causes the release of proinflammatory mediators that may negatively influence heart function. Aim The aim of this study is to determine whether TLR4 is activated in peripheral monocytes and heart tissue taken from patients with varying degrees of myocardial dysfunction caused by coronary artery diseases and scheduled for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery before 12 months following operation. Methods and Results Patients (n = 44) undergoing CABG surgery having left ventricular ejection fraction ≤ 45% (‘reduced EF’, n = 20) were compared to patients with preserved EF >45% (‘preserved EF’ group, n = 24). ‘Reduced EF’ patients exhibited increased TLR4 expression in monocytes (2.78±0.49 vs. 1.76±0.07 rMFI, p = 0.03). Plasma levels of C-reactive protein, microRNA miR-320a, brain natriuretic peptide (pro BNP) and NADPH oxidase (NOX4) were also significantly different between the ‘preserved EF’ and ‘reduced EF’groups. Elevated TLR4 gene expression levels in the right auricle correlated with those of EF (p<0.008), NOX4 (p<0.008) and miR320, (p<0.04). In contrast, no differences were observed in peripheral monocyte TLR2 expression. After CABG surgery, monocyte TLR4 expression decreased in all patients, reaching statistical significance in the ‘reduced EF’ group. Conclusion TLR4 is activated in peripheral monocytes and heart tissue obtained from patients with ischemic heart disease and reduced left ventricular function. Coronary revascularization decreases TLR4 expression. We therefore propose that TLR4 plays a pathogenic role and may serve as an additional marker of ischemic myocardial dysfunction.
An econometric study of CO2 emissions, energy consumption and economic growth in China

This paper investigates the long run Granger causality relationship between economic growth, energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions in China during the period 1952–2007, controlling for gross fixed capital formation, human capital and labor. To supplement the findings of cointegrating analysis, we test the causal relationships of these three variables by using the relatively new times series technique known as the Toda-Yamamoto (TY) procedure in the long run and dyanmic interaction by using generalized impluse respnose. Empirical results suggest that there exist reciprocal causation between energy consumption, income, and CO2 emissions in China in the long run. Hence, in order to reduce carbon emission, some policies like reducing energy consmption would confine ecomomic growth for energy-depended country like China.
Is My Teaching Disturbing You? Strategies for Addressing Disruptive Behaviors in the College Classroom

JOPERD • Volume 81 No. 6 • August 2010 F aculty in higher education are experiencing a new generation of college students referred to as Generation X (Gen-Xers) and Millennials. Gen-Xers encompass those who were born between 1965 and 1980 (Stephey, 2008; Thielfoldt & Scheef, 2004). They have been called “latchkey kids” and have been characterized as being individualistic, self-reliant, and pragmatic. They reject rules, readily accept diversity, use technology, and multitask (Stephey; Thielfoldt & Scheef). On the other hand, Millennials are those who were born between 1977 and 1998, and they have been described as realistic, self-inventive, and nurtured. They rely on technology, multitask, and like to rewrite the rules (Thielfoldt & Scheef, 2004). The mix of characteristics of Gen-Xers and Millennials has created a more challenging classroom learning environment. Taylor (2005) and Nathan (2005) described these cohorts of students as intellectually disengaged and needing instant gratification. Nathan also described them as career oriented and more interested in situation-specific information than in long-term application of learning. This has translated into an increase in disruptive behaviors in and outside of the classroom and has caused faculty in higher education to adapt to and implement new management strategies to address situations that they may not have experienced in the past. In a study conducted by the author concerning disruptive behaviors, the following were listed as common behaviors witnessed by educators and have been substantiated in the literature: challenging grades angrily; text messaging and using beepers in class; being unprepared to engage in discussions; making disruptive noises or yawning openly; slamming doors while leaving class; working on other assignments during class; being argumentative, disrespectful, and uncooperative; exhibiting negative body language such as rolling eyes and shifting noisily; monopolizing discussions; asking personal questions; dressing inappropriately; missing assignment deadlines; talking and laughing over the instructor; and barging into meetings or offices (Boice, 1996; Heinemann, 1996; Henninger & Coleman, 2008; Mishra, 1992; Nathan, 2005; Sacks, 1996; Taylor, 2005). Some educators may ignore these behaviors because they are fearful that confronting them will result in student retaliation, escalation of the behavior, negative comments on faculty evaluations, or complaints to authority figures (Sacks, 1996). Others may rationalize that such behaviors are the norm and that no positive outcome can be expected from addressing them. More often, however, faculty do not know how to handle these situations or what will work and what will backfire. Negative student behaviors need to be confronted, rather than ignored. Is My Teaching Disturbing You? Strategies for Addressing Disruptive Behaviors in the College Classroom
An Exploratory Study

of ed ral a. it e ve process and thus include waiting in their overall assessment of service quality. On the other hand, service providers often consider waiting as being external to their core business and to some extent out of their control and consequently as an area of reduced commitment. Some empirical studies are devoted to waiting time with experimental settings, either natural or laboratory (Carmon and Kahnemann 1997; Chebat and Venkatesan 1991; Hui and Tse 1996; Taylor 1994). This research deals with the customer waiting in real life conditions. It at tempts to define the link between personality traits related to time (time styles, Valette-Florence, Usunier, and Falcy In this exploratory research, the authors try to relate th actual duration of waiting and consumers’“time styles” to the way they experience waiting, especially in terms passive and active impatience. These variables are link to waiting acceptability and to satisfaction with the ser vice. The resulting model has been tested with a structu equations method based on public transportation dat Significant relationships have appeared, especially a d rect link between actual waiting time and waiting accep ability, whereas time styles (mostly economic tim orientation) influence perceived time pressure and acti impatience but not waiting acceptability.
Classifier loss and frozen tone in spoken Beijing Mandarin: the yi+ge phono-syntactic conspiracy

Abstract A phono-syntactic conspiracy is proposed to account for a recent language change in spoken Beijing Mandarin Chinese, which involves the loss of the general classifier through sound erosion caused by frequency of usage in discourse. The result of the change is a classifier-free numeral NP yi35+N ‘one+noun’, in which the tone of the numeral is frozen because it no longer follows Mandarin tone sandhi rules. Further, the frozen tone on the numeral has assumed a syntactic function as an indicator of a specific NP pattern in the language. Results of an experimental study demonstrate that the newly developed syntactic tone has its impact on native Mandarin speakers in their processing of written discourse as well. The study promotes the view that language changes may not always be conditioned by cognitive pressure. Instead, it can be triggered by everyday language usage. The study proposes to take discourse analysis as an important or even fundamental means for the study of human language.
GnuViz – Mapping the Gnutella Network to its Geographical Locations

ABSTRACT Gnutella is a classical Peer-to-Peer network designed for filesharing. The absence of pure servers is one of its main properties, given that every Gnutella host is client and host in one. It uses the resources of the participants to distribute content, e.g. mp3 compressed audio files, and shares the processing capacity to provide the routing and searching capabilities for the network. In this work we present GnuViz, a tool to visualize the geographical context of the virtual overlay network established by the Gnutella Protocol. Therefore a Gnutella Network Crawler is used, so that real life measurements of the Gnutella Network can be performed. With the additional aid of a geographical database the acquired IP address of each logged participant can be assigned to its geographical coordinates. A Java based script finally displays the network structure on arbitrary world maps. By using GnuViz we are able to substantiate the shortcomings of Gnutella, and propose protocol modifications to improve the network behavior of Gnutella.
Assessment of SLX4 Mutations in Hereditary Breast Cancers

Background SLX4 encodes a DNA repair protein that regulates three structure-specific endonucleases and is necessary for resistance to DNA crosslinking agents, topoisomerase I and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. Recent studies have reported mutations in SLX4 in a new subtype of Fanconi anemia (FA), FA-P. Monoallelic defects in several FA genes are known to confer susceptibility to breast and ovarian cancers. Methods and Results To determine if SLX4 is involved in breast cancer susceptibility, we sequenced the entire SLX4 coding region in 738 (270 Jewish and 468 non-Jewish) breast cancer patients with 2 or more family members affected by breast cancer and no known BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations. We found a novel nonsense (c.2469G>A, p.W823*) mutation in one patient. In addition, we also found 51 missense variants [13 novel, 23 rare (MAF<0.1%), and 15 common (MAF>1%)], of which 22 (5 novel and 17 rare) were predicted to be damaging by Polyphen2 (score = 0.65–1). We performed functional complementation studies using p.W823* and 5 SLX4 variants (4 novel and 1 rare) cDNAs in a human SLX4-null fibroblast cell line, RA3331. While wild type SLX4 and all the other variants fully rescued the sensitivity to mitomycin C (MMC), campthothecin (CPT), and PARP inhibitor (Olaparib) the p.W823* SLX4 mutant failed to do so. Conclusion Loss-of-function mutations in SLX4 may contribute to the development of breast cancer in very rare cases.
Peer observation: a tool for staff development or compliance?

Peer observation has become a feature of university practice over the last decade, the primary impetus for its introduction being the political drive to raise teaching quality via the development and sharing of ‘good practice’. Peer observation within higher education (HE) involves observing colleagues in the classroom and has the further aim of supporting continuing professional development (CPD) through peer learning. This article is based upon a research study of a typical observation scheme as introduced within a new university prior to a quality review. It is underpinned by the deconstruction of the university's observation documentation and focuses upon the experience of a teaching observation trio taking part in this formal peer observation process over a 2‐year period, before and after a Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) subject review. The deconstruction of the university's documentation, combined with the actual experience of the observation trio studied, reveals issues of politics, power and pragmatics. A managerial discourse emerges with emphasis on compliance by lecturing staff and with an economic underpinning not actually supported by resources. Pre‐QAA, the observation trio complied with the management's requirements for record keeping but the process of peer observation opened up learning and development opportunities for them as individuals. Post‐QAA the trio members became focused primarily on their own objectives. Although management had sought control, the individuals involved developed and pursued their own, shared agenda of professional development.
Online data-driven fuzzy clustering with applications to real-time robotic tracking

Robotic target tracking has been used in a variety of applications. Due to limited sampling rate, sensory characteristics and processing delays, an important issue in such systems is to extrapolate ahead the trajectory (position, orientation, velocity, and/or acceleration) of moving targets from past observations. This paper introduces a novel online data-driven fuzzy clustering algorithm that is based on the Maximum Entropy Principle for this particular task. In this algorithm, the fuzzy inference mechanism is extracted automatically from observed data without human help, which thus eliminates the necessity of expert's knowledge and a priori information on moving targets, as required by most traditional techniques. This algorithm does not require training, which enables it to work in a completely online fashion. Another important and distinct advantage of the algorithm exists in the fact that it is very fast and efficient in terms of computational cost and thus can be implemented in real time. In the meantime, the introduced algorithm is able to adapt quickly to the dynamics of moving targets. All these desired features make it especially suitable for the task to predict the trajectory of moving targets in robotic tracking. Simulation results show the effectiveness and efficiency of the presented algorithm.
Working memory function in attention deficit hyperactivity disordered and reading disabled children

The aim of the current study was to examine the nature of executive processing in working memory as a core deficit in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as distinct from deficits associated with reading disability (RD). This involved examination of the working memory processes of the phonological loop and central executive (Baddeley, 1986) as a potential means of differentiating ADHD from RD. The participants were 16 ADHD/RD, 16 RD and 16 normal control children, matched for sex, age and IQ, who performed tasks tapping phonological loop function, a combination of phonological loop and central executive functioning, and tasks relying on central executive functioning. Analysis revealed that as the involvement of the central executive in tasks increased, ADHD/RD children performed worse than the other groups. This was on measures of controlled information processing, modifying and accommodating new input and supervisory capacity. These findings reflect the potential utility of the central executive in working memory in understanding the nature of executive processing deficits in ADHD. They also support the efficacy of these tasks in discriminating ADHD from RD.
Social Regulation of Affective Experience of Humor

The element of surprise, a necessary condition for the experience of humor, often derives from the fact that the alternative interpretation/resolution offered by the punch line of a joke is physically or socially forbidden. Children's humor typifies violation of physical norms, whereas adult humor typically pushes the boundaries of social norms. Excess norm violation, to the point of offending, can attenuate the experience of humor/mirth. To examine the neural basis of regulation of affective experience of humor by social norms, we scanned 16 normal subjects while they viewed a series of cartoons that varied in funniness and social acceptability. Behavioral results indicated two separate groups of subjects, those who found the cartoons less offensive and those who found them more offensive. In the group that found the jokes more offensive, there was a negative correlation between funniness and social inappropriateness. In this group, the corresponding Humor by Social inappropriateness interaction during functional magnetic resonance imaging revealed enhanced activation in the right hippocampus along with relative deactivation in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC). By contrast, the Funniness by Social appropriateness interaction resulted in activation in the VMPFC and relative deactivation in the right hippocampus. These results suggest that the regulation of humor by social norms involves reciprocal response patterns between VMPFC and hippocampus regions implicated in contextual regulation of behavior and memory, respectively.
RESEARCH Integrative Cardiovascular Physiology and Pathophysiology Signiﬁcant role of the cardiopostural interaction in blood pressure regulation during standing

role of the cardiopostural interaction in blood pressure regulation during standing. Physiol 2017. and postural control systems have been studied independently despite the increasing evidence showing the importance of cardiopostural interaction in blood pressure regulation. In this study, we aimed to assess the role of the cardiopostural interaction in relation to cardiac baroreﬂex in blood pressure regulation under orthostatic stress before and after mild exercise. Physiological variables representing cardiovascular control (heart rate and systolic blood pressure), lower limb muscle activation (electromyography), and postural sway (center of pressure derived from force and moment data during sway) were measured from 17 healthy participants (25 (cid:2) 2 yr, 9 men and 8 women) during a sit-to-stand test before and after submaximal exercise. The cardiopostural control (characterized by baroreﬂex-mediated muscle-pump effect in response to blood pressure changes, i.e., muscle-pump baroreﬂex) was assessed using wavelet transform coherence and causality analyses in relation to the number of participants, P (cid:3) 0.1 is reported to reveal possible trends. Results are means (cid:2)