Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Active Names: flexible location and transport of wide-area resources

We explore flexible name resolution as a way of supporting extensibility for wide-area distributed services. Our approach, called Active Names, maps names to a chain of mobile programs that can customize how a service is located and how its results are transformed and transported back to the client. To illustrate the properties of our system, we implemented prototypes of server selection based on end-to-end performance measurements, location-independent data transformation, and caching of composable active objects and demonstrate up to a five-fold performance improvement to end users relative to protocols in widespread use. We show how these new services are developed, composed, and secured in our framework. Finally, we develop a set of algorithms to control how mobile Active Name programs are mapped onto available wide-area resources to optimize performance and availability.
Automated Experiments on Ad Privacy Settings

Abstract To partly address people’s concerns over web tracking, Google has created the Ad Settings webpage to provide information about and some choice over the profiles Google creates on users. We present AdFisher, an automated tool that explores how user behaviors, Google’s ads, and Ad Settings interact. AdFisher can run browser-based experiments and analyze data using machine learning and significance tests. Our tool uses a rigorous experimental design and statistical analysis to ensure the statistical soundness of our results. We use AdFisher to find that the Ad Settings was opaque about some features of a user’s profile, that it does provide some choice on ads, and that these choices can lead to seemingly discriminatory ads. In particular, we found that visiting webpages associated with substance abuse changed the ads shown but not the settings page. We also found that setting the gender to female resulted in getting fewer instances of an ad related to high paying jobs than setting it to male. We cannot determine who caused these findings due to our limited visibility into the ad ecosystem, which includes Google, advertisers, websites, and users. Nevertheless, these results can form the starting point for deeper investigations by either the companies themselves or by regulatory bodies.
A comprehensive review of lenalidomide in B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Lenalidomide, an immunomodulatory drug that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for the treatment of multiple myeloma, 5q- myelodysplasia and mantle-cell lymphoma (MCL), has encouraging efficacy in other B-cell malignancies. Its unique mechanism of action is in part due to altering the tumor microenvironment and potentiating the activity of T and natural-killer (NK) cells. Impressive clinical activity and excellent tolerability allows broad applicability. Lenalidomide has been used in a wide range of B-cell malignancies for years, but in 2013, the FDA marked its approval as a single agent only in relapsed/refractory mantle-cell lymphoma. Perhaps most impressive is the efficacy of lenalidomide when combined with monoclonal antibodies. Impressive efficacy and toxicity profiles with the combination of lenalidomide and rituximab in B-cell lymphomas in both the upfront and relapsed/refractory setting may allow a shift in our current treatment paradigm in both indolent and aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). This review will summarize the current data in the relapsed/refractory and front-line setting of NHL with single-agent lenalidomide as well as its use in combination with other agents.
Performance trades for Mars pinpoint landing

Previous Mars landers have been able to land only within tens to hundreds of km of a target site. Principal sources of uncertainty are approach navigation, atmospheric modeling, and vehicle aerodynamics; additional (lesser) uncertainty sources are map-tie error and wind drift. The Mars Science Laboratory mission scheduled for 2009 launch will use guidance during hypersonic entry to improve this to ~10 km. To achieve "pinpoint landing" (within 100m) for future missions, ways of addressing the remaining error sources (approach navigation, wind drift and map-tie error) must be found. This work defines a "reference system design" for guidance, navigation, and control in future pinpoint landing missions, and assesses uncertainties and performance penalties associated with pinpoint landing using this reference system design
IN PRESS: JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY: GENERAL A Combined Experimental and Individual-Differences Investigation into Mind Wandering During a Video Lecture

A combined experimental–correlational study with a diverse sample (N = 182) from two research sites tested a set of five a priori hypotheses about mind wandering and learning, using a realistic video lecture on introductory statistics. Specifically, the study examined whether students’ vulnerability to mind wandering during the lecture would predict learning from, and situational interest in, the video, and also whether longhand note-taking would help reduce mind wandering, at least for some students. Half the subjects took notes during the video, and all were subsequently tested on lecture content without notes. Regression and mediation analyses indicated that: (a) several individual-differences variables (e.g., pretest score, prior math interest, classroom media multitasking habits) uniquely predicted in-lecture mind wandering frequency; (b) although the note-taking manipulation did not reduce mind wandering at the group level, note-taking still reduced mind wandering for some individuals (i.e., those with lower prior knowledge and those who took notes of high quality and quantity); (c) mind wandering uniquely predicted both learning (posttest) and situational interest outcomes above and beyond all other individual-differences variables; (d) moreover, mind wandering significantly mediated the effects of several individual differences; and, finally, (e) not all types of mind wandering were problematic—in fact, off-task reflections about lecture-related topics positively predicted learning. These results, which were generally robust across the two sites, suggest that educationally focused cognitive research may benefit from considering attentional processes during learning as well as cognitive and noncognitive individual differences that affect attention and learning.
Diagnosis and operatory treatment of the patients with failed back surgery caused by herniated disk relapse

UNLABELLED THE OBJECT OF STUDY: Analysis of surgical treatment results in patients with recurrent lumbar disc herniation by transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) and repeated laminotomy and discectomy for the improvement of pain and disability. MATERIAL AND METHODS Data analysis was performed on a complex diagnosis and treatment of 56 patients with recurrent lumbar disc herniation who had previously underwent 1-3 lumbar disc surgeries. An MRI investigation with paramagnetic contrast agent (gadolinium) was used for the diagnosis and differentiation of epidural fibrosis, and a dynamic lateral X-ray investigation was carried out for the identification of segmental instability. The evolution period after the previous surgery was between 1 and 3 years after the index surgery. Pain expression degree and dynamics were assessed with the pain visual analog scale (VAS) in early and late postoperative periods. Postoperative success was assessed by using a modified MacNab scale. The follow-up recording period after the last operation was of at least 1 year, ranging from 1 to 4 years. RESULTS The surgical treatment was effective in most cases, recording a reduction in pain expression level from 7.2-7.7 points on the VAS scale to 1.7-2.1 in the early period and 2.2-2.6 in the late period (1 year). Repeated surgery was effective in 21 of 30 (70%) cases who underwent decompression surgery without fusion and in 20 of 26 (76.9%) cases who underwent repeated surgery with transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF). Overall, postoperative success was assessed by using a modified MacNab scale. CONCLUSION Repeated surgery is a viable option for patients who have clinical manifestations of recurrent disc herniation. Investigation with contrast agent by MRI allows differentiating disk herniation recurrences from epidural fibrosis. Supplementing repeated discectomies and decompression with intervertebral transforaminal fusion provide superior clinical outcomes, especially in patients with clinical and radiological signs of lumbar segment instability.
Analysis of Hepatitis C Virus Decline during Treatment with the Protease Inhibitor Danoprevir Using a Multiscale Model

The current paradigm for studying hepatitis C virus (HCV) dynamics in patients utilizes a standard viral dynamic model that keeps track of uninfected (target) cells, infected cells, and virus. The model does not account for the dynamics of intracellular viral replication, which is the major target of direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs). Here we describe and study a recently developed multiscale age-structured model that explicitly considers the potential effects of DAAs on intracellular viral RNA production, degradation, and secretion as virus into the circulation. We show that when therapy significantly blocks both intracellular viral RNA production and virus secretion, the serum viral load decline has three phases, with slopes reflecting the rate of serum viral clearance, the rate of loss of intracellular viral RNA, and the rate of loss of intracellular replication templates and infected cells, respectively. We also derive analytical approximations of the multiscale model and use one of them to analyze data from patients treated for 14 days with the HCV protease inhibitor danoprevir. Analysis suggests that danoprevir significantly blocks intracellular viral production (with mean effectiveness 99.2%), enhances intracellular viral RNA degradation about 5-fold, and moderately inhibits viral secretion (with mean effectiveness 56%). The multiscale model can be used to study viral dynamics in patients treated with other DAAs and explore their mechanisms of action in treatment of hepatitis C.
Durational Effects in Final Lengthening, Gapping, and Contrastive Stress

Lengthening in utterance-final position and in contrastive stress was examined in Hebrew, focusing on the distribution of the durational effect across syllables and within the final syllable. Initially-stressed and finally-stressed bisyllabic key words were read in sentence-final versus nonfinal position, and in contrastive stress versus nonstressed constructions. The results were compared with data from an earlier study of verb gapping. Contrastive stress showed a smaller effect than final lengthening and verb gapping, consistent with the claim that other acoustic parameters are more prominently involved in this process. Utterance-final lengthening and verb gapping principally affected the final syllable regardless of stress, whereas contrastive stress primarily lengthened the stressed syllable. The pattern of progressively greater lengthening within the utterance-final syllable, previously found for stressed syllables, applied to unstressed syllables as well. The finding that target syllables in sentence-final position are characterized by progressive lengthening, unlike those in contrastive stress and gapping, supports the suggestion that utterance-final lengthening is a reflection of deceleration at the end of motor activity. Durational measures of individual syllables within the key word, and of segments in addition to the vocalic portion of the final syllable, reveal differences in the acoustic implementation of different lengthening processes.
Dlx1, Dlx2, Pax6, Brn3b, and Chx10 homeobox gene expression defines the retinal ganglion and inner nuclear layers of the developing and adult mouse retina

Distal‐less homeobox genes are expressed in the developing forebrain. We assessed Dlx gene expression in the developing and adult mouse retina. Dlx1 and Dlx2 are detected in retinal neuroprogenitors by embryonic day (E) 12.5 (Eisenstat et al. [1999] J. Comp. Neurol. 217–237). At E13.5, the expression of four homeodomain proteins, DLX2, BRN3b, PAX6, and CHX10, define distinct yet overlapping domains in the retinal neuroepithelium. By postnatal day (P) 0, DLX2 is expressed in the neuroblastic layer and the ganglion cell layer (GCL) consisting of ganglion and displaced amacrine cells. DLX1 expression resembles DLX2 to P0 but decreases postnatally. In the adult, DLX2 is localized to ganglion, amacrine, and horizontal cells as determined by coexpression with retinal cell‐specific markers. There is coincident expression of DLX2 with γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD)65, and GAD67 in the inner nuclear layer (INL) and GCL. In the adult, DLX2 is coexpressed with BRN3b in ganglion cells; PAX6 in amacrine, horizontal, and ganglion cells; and Chx10 in some bipolar cells. We predict that a combinatorial code of these homeobox genes and others specify retinal cell fate. Our results support a possible role for Dlx1 and Dlx2 in inner retinal development and in the terminal differentiation and/or maintenance of INL interneurons and ganglion cells in the adult. The correlation of DLX2 with GABA expression in the mouse retina closely mirrors the relationship of DLX2 to GABAergic neuronal differentiation in the embryonic forebrain, including neocortex, olfactory bulb and hippocampus, signifying a conservation of function of Dlx genes in the developing central nervous system. J. Comp. Neurol. 461:187–204, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Cutting Edge: Lectin-Like Transcript-1 Is a Ligand for the Inhibitory Human NKR-P1A Receptor1

Increasingly, roles are emerging for C-type lectin receptors in immune regulation. One receptor whose function has remained largely enigmatic is human NKR-P1A (CD161), present on NK cells and subsets of T cells. In this study, we demonstrate that the lectin-like transcript-1 (LLT1) is a physiologic ligand for NKR-P1A. LLT1-containing liposomes bind to NKR-P1A+ cells, and binding is inhibited by anti-NKR-P1A mAb. Additionally, LLT1 activates NFAT-GFP reporter cells expressing a CD3ζ-NKR-P1A chimeric receptor; reciprocally, reporter cells with a CD3ζ-LLT1 chimeric receptor are stimulated by NKR-P1A. Moreover, LLT1 on target cells can inhibit NK cytotoxicity via interactions with NKR-P1A.
The correlation of anxiety and depression with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a common sleep disorder characterized by repeated upper airway obstruction during sleep. While respiratory pauses followed by loud snoring and daytime sleepiness are the main symptoms of OSAS, the patients may complain from sleep disruption, headache, mood disturbance, irritability, and memory impairment. However, the association of sleep apnea with anxiety and depression is not completely understood. Adherence to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), the treatment of choice for OSAS, may be influenced by psychological conditions, especially claustrophobia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of OSAS with anxiety and depression symptoms. This study also investigated the association of anxiety with body mass index (BMI) and the severity of OSAS. Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study on 178 adult individuals diagnosed with OSAS at the sleep laboratory between September 2008 and May 2012. The participants were interviewed according to a checklist regarding both their chief complaints and other associated symptoms. The psychological status was assessed according to Beck anxiety inventory (BAI) and Beck depression inventory (BDI) scoring. The severity of breathing disorder was classified as mild, moderate, and severe based on apnea–hypopnea index (AHI) which was ascertained by overnight polysomnography. Daytime sleepiness was assessed by Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS). Results: The mean (SD) age of participants was 50.33 years. In terms of sex, 85.5% of the study population were males and14.4% were females. We found no relation between sex and the symptoms of OSAS. Regarding the frequency of anxiety and depression symptoms, 53.9% of the individuals had some degree of anxiety, while 46.1% demonstrated depressive symptoms. In terms of OSAS severity, this study showed that OSAS severity was associated with the frequency of anxiety, chocking, and sleepiness (P : 0.001). According to polysomnographic results, we found that the majority of patients suffering from anxiety and chocking (66.7% and 71.4%, respectively) had severe OSAS, while only 23.1% of patients with sleepiness had severe OSAS. Conclusion: Our study showed that the frequency of anxiety in OSAS patients is higher than in the general population regardless of the gender. Furthermore, it is more likely that OSAS patients present with anxiety and depression than the typical symptoms.
Double exposure and the climate gap: changing demographics and extreme heat in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico

Scholars have recognised a climate gap, wherein poor communities face disproportionate impacts of climate change. Others have noted that climate change and economic globalisation may mutually affect a region or social group, leading to double exposure. This paper investigates how current and changing patterns of neighbourhood demographics are associated with extreme heat in the border city of Juárez, Mexico. Many Juárez neighbourhoods are at-risk to triple exposures, in which residents suffer due to the conjoined effects of the global recession, drug war violence, and extreme heat. Due to impacts of the recession on maquiladora employment and the explosion of drug violence (2008–2012), over 75% of neighbourhoods experienced decreasing population density between 2000 and 2010 and the average neighbourhood saw a 40% increase in the proportion of older adults. Neighbourhoods with greater drops in population density and increases in the proportion of older residents over the decade are at significantly higher risk to extreme heat, as are neighbourhoods with lower population density and lower levels of education. In this context, triple exposures are associated with a climate gap that most endangers lower socio-economic status and increasingly older-aged populations remaining in neighbourhoods from which high proportions of residents have departed.
Trial and error: cross-trial comparisons of antiretroviral regimens

In symposia highlighting results from randomized trials of antiretroviral drugs, and in discussion sections of papers presenting such findings, a statement along the following lines is often encountered: ‘there is no randomized trial comparing regimens A and B but regimen A, in one trial, produced 75% with viral load , 50 copies/ml at 48 weeks while regimen B, in a different trial, produced 85% with , 50 copies/ml’. Although caution is usually expressed about making such cross-trial comparisons (for examples [1–5]), the implicit message is that we have at least some evidence that regimen B is more effective than regimen A. Many of us are, at times, tempted to draw this conclusion, so it is helpful to remind ourselves of why such inferences will often be misleading.
A Study of The Effect of Demand Uncertainty for Low-Carbon Products Using a Newsvendor Model

This paper studies the effect of uncertain demand on a low-carbon product by using a newsvendor model. With two different kinds of market scales, we examine a game whereby a manufacturer produces and delivers a single new low-carbon product to a single retailer. The retailer observes the demand information and gives an order before the selling season. We find in the game that if the retailer shares truthful (or in contrast unreal or even does not share) forecast information with the manufacturer, the manufacturer will give a low (high) wholesale price through the sequence of events. In addition, as a policy-maker, the government posts a subsidy by selling the low-carbon product per unit. The manufacturer creates a new contract with a rebate for the retailer. We also take the consumer aversion coefficient and truth coefficient as qualitative variables into our model to study the order, pricing, and expected profit for the members of supply chain. The research shows that uncertain demand causes a the major effect on the new low-carbon product. Thereby, we suggest the retailer should share more truthful information with the manufacturer.
Structured contact force optimization for kino-dynamic motion generation

Optimal control approaches in combination with trajectory optimization have recently proven to be a promising control strategy for legged robots. Computationally efficient and robust algorithms were derived using simplified models of the contact interaction between robot and environment such as the linear inverted pendulum model (LIPM). However, as humanoid robots enter more complex environments, less restrictive models become increasingly important. As we leave the regime of linear models, we need to build dedicated solvers that can compute interaction forces together with consistent kinematic plans for the whole-body. In this paper, we address the problem of planning robot motion and interaction forces for legged robots given predefined contact surfaces. The motion generation process is decomposed into two alternating parts computing force and motion plans in coherence. We focus on the properties of the momentum computation leading to sparse optimal control formulations to be exploited by a dedicated solver. In our experiments, we demonstrate that our motion generation algorithm computes consistent contact forces and joint trajectories for our humanoid robot. We also demonstrate the favorable time complexity due to our formulation and composition of the momentum equations.
Left ventricular mechanics assessed by two-dimensional echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging: comparison of high-resolution speckle tracking and feature tracking.

AIMS Assessment of left ventricular (LV) systolic function plays a central role in cardiac imaging. Calculation of ejection fraction (EF) is the current method of choice; however, its limited intermodal comparability represents a major drawback. The assessment of myocardial mechanics by strain imaging may better reflect the complex myocardial contractility. We aimed to evaluate different methods for quantification of LV strain on global and regional levels with a focus on the new non-proprietary feature tracking (FT) algorithm. METHODS AND RESULTS Measurements of LV deformation were performed by means of high-resolution two-dimensional (2D) speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) and compared with values obtained by 2D feature tracking echocardiography (FT-E) and feature tracking cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (FT-CMR). Assessments with echocardiography started within 30 min after CMR examination to minimize time-dependent variations in myocardial function. Forty-seven patients were included. Assessments by STE were -15.7 ± 5.0% for global longitudinal strain (GLS), -14.6 ± 4.5% for global circumferential strain (GCS), and 21.6 ± 13.3% for global radial strain (GRS), while values obtained with FT-E were -13.1 ± 4.0, -13.6 ± 4.0, 20.3 ± 9.5, and with FT-CMR -15.0 ± 4.0, -16.9 ± 5.4, and 35.0 ± 10.8, respectively. Linear regression and the Bland-Altman analysis showed the best intramodal association for STE GLS and FT-E GLS (r = 0.88, bias = -2.7%, LOA = ±4.7%). The correlation for GCS and GRS was weaker, and for regional strain was poor. In contrast to EF, GLS showed a better intermodal correlation between echocardiography and CMR (r = 0.81 by speckle tracking, r = 0.8 by FT, and r = 0.78 by EF). CONCLUSION In our study, measurement of global longitudinal LV strain using the new FT algorithm with CMR and echocardiography was comparable with measurements obtained by high-resolution STE. Compared with echocardiographic EF determination, FT-E GLS shows a better reproducibility and a better intermodal agreement with CMR, representing a fair non-proprietary solution for this assessment. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01275963.