Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On Computing Longest Paths in Small Graph Classes

The longest path problem is the one that finds a longest path in a given graph. While the graph classes in which the Hamiltonian path problem can be solved efficiently are widely investigated, few graph classes are known to be solved efficiently for the longest path problem. Among those, for trees, a simple linear time algorithm for the longest path problem is known. We first generalize the algorithm, and show that the longest path problem can be solved efficiently for some tree-like graph classes by this approach. We next propose two new graph classes that have natural interval representations, and show that the longest path problem can be solved efficiently on these classes.
The influence of breast self-examination on subsequent mammography participation.

OBJECTIVES We evaluated whether breast self-examination (BSE) influences subsequent mammography participation. METHODS We evaluated associations between BSE and subsequent mammography participation, adjusting for baseline screening behaviors and sociodemographic, health, and lifestyle characteristics, among women aged 40 years and older using data from the longitudinal Canadian National Population Health Survey. RESULTS Regular performance of BSE at baseline was not associated with receipt of a recent mammogram at follow-up among all women (adjusted odds ratio [OR]=1.01; 95% confidence interval [CI]= 0.75, 1.35) or with mammography uptake among the subgroup of women reporting never use at baseline (adjusted OR=0.78; 95% CI=0.50, 1.22). CONCLUSIONS The lack of association between performance of BSE and subsequent mammography participation suggests that not recommending BSE is unlikely to influence mammography participation.
Minimizing average coflow completion time with decentralized scheduling

In current data centers, an application (e.g. MapReduce) usually generates a collection of parallel flows sharing a common goal. These flows compose a coflow and only completing them all is meaningful. Accordingly, minimizing the average coflow completion time (CCT) becomes a critical objective for flow scheduling. In this topic, the state-of-the-art centralized method, Varys, achieves a good average CCT; but it has the scalability problem. Alternatively, the only existing decentralized method, Baraat, suffers from the head-of-line blocking problem. To solve these problems, we propose D-CAS, a preemptive, decentralized, coflow-aware scheduling system in this paper. D-CAS pursues coflow-level remaining-time-first (MRTF) principle by leveraging a simple negotiation mechanism between each coflow's data senders and receivers. As the MRTF principle is inherently preemptive and proven to be a near-optimal guideline to minimize average CCT, D-CAS avoids the head-of-line blocking problem and gets good performances. Through extensive simulations, we find that D-CAS achieves a performance close to Varys (gap <; 15%) and outperforms Baraat significantly (about 1.4-4×).
Hippocampus function modeling with neural network

The hippocampus and associative structures are the highest integrative centers in the brain and are known to play a critical role in memory function. To understand how the memory is formed, retrieved and how to reach conscious awareness requires the development of detailed models of hippocampus function and is helpful to study pathogenesis of some brain diseases relating with memory such as Alzheimer and Parkinson. In this paper, the detailed model of hippo-campus function is developed. This hippocampus functional model has a Hopfield-like neural network and is used 160 Izhikevich artificial neurons model as its spiking neurons. The simulation of this network under MATLAB platform shows that the network model can implement autoassociative and heteroassociative memory. The model is useful to understand two kinds of hippocampus memory functions.
Elevated Level of Wnt5a Protein in Localized Prostate Cancer Tissue Is Associated with Better Outcome

Background Wnt5a is a non-canonical secreted glycoprotein of the Wnt family that plays an important role in cancer development and progression. Previous studies report that Wnt5a is upregulated in prostate cancer and suggested that Wnt5a affects migration and invasion of prostate tumor cell. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of Wnt5a protein expression in prostate cancer tissue and its potential to predict outcome after radical prostatectomy in patients with localized prostate cancer. Methodology and Results Immunohistochemical analysis of a tissue microarray containing prostate specimens of 503 patients with localized prostate cancer showed significantly higher Wnt5a protein expression in cancer compared to benign cores from the same patients (p<0.0001). Patients with high expression of Wnt5a protein had significantly better outcome in terms of time to biochemical recurrence compared to patients with low expression levels (p = 0.001, 95%CI 1.361–3.570, Hazard's ratio 2.204). A combination of high Wnt5a expression with low levels of Ki-67 or androgen receptor expression had even better outcome compared to all other groups. Furthermore, we found that Wnt5a expression significantly correlated with VEGF and with Ki-67 and androgen receptor expression, although not highly significant. In vitro, we demonstrated that recombinant Wnt5a decreased invasion of 22Rv1 and DU145 cells and that siRNA knockdown of endogenous Wnt5a protein led to increased invasion of 22Rv1 and LNCaP cells. Conclusion We demonstrate that preserved overexpression of Wnt5a protein in patients with localized prostate cancer predicts a favorable outcome after surgery. This finding together with our in vitro data demonstrating the ability of Wnt5a to impair the invasive properties of prostate cancer cells, suggests a tumor suppressing effect of Wnt5a in localized prostate cancer. These results indicate that Wnt5a can be used as a predictive marker and that it also is a plausible therapeutic target for treatment of localized prostate cancer.
A unified framework for schedule and storage optimization

We present a unified mathematical framework for analyzing the tradeoffs between parallelism and storage allocation within a parallelizing compiler. Using this framework, we show how to find a good storage mapping for a given schedule, a good schedule for a given storage mapping, and a good storage mapping that is valid for all legal schedules. We consider storage mappings that collapse one dimension of a multi-dimensional array, and programs that are in a single assignment form with a one-dimensional schedule. Our technique combines affine scheduling techniques with occupancy vector analysis and incorporates general affine dependences across statements and loop nests. We formulate the constraints imposed by the data dependences and storage mappings as a set of linear inequalities, and apply numerical programming techniques to efficiently solve for the shortest occupancy vector. We consider our method to be a first step towards automating a procedure that finds the optimal tradeoff between parallelism and storage space.
In Vitro Oocyte Maturation and Preantral Follicle Culture from the Luteal-Phase Baboon Ovary Produce Mature Oocytes1

Female cancer patients who seek fertility preservation but cannot undergo ovarian stimulation and embryo preservation may consider 1) retrieval of immature oocytes followed by in vitro maturation (IVM) or 2) ovarian tissue cryopreservation followed by transplantation or in vitro follicle culture. Conventional IVM is carried out during the follicular phase of menstrual cycle. There is limited evidence demonstrating that immature oocyte retrieved during the luteal phase can mature in vitro and be fertilized to produce viable embryos. While in vitro follicle culture is successful in rodents, its application in nonhuman primates has made limited progress. The objective of this study was to investigate the competence of immature luteal-phase oocytes from baboon and to determine the effect of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) on baboon preantral follicle culture and oocyte maturation in vitro. Oocytes from small antral follicle cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) with multiple cumulus layers (42%) were more likely to resume meiosis and progress to metaphase II (MII) than oocytes with a single layer of cumulus cells or less (23% vs. 3%, respectively). Twenty-four percent of mature oocytes were successfully fertilized by intracytoplasmic sperm injection, and 25% of these developed to morula-stage embryos. Preantral follicles were encapsulated in fibrin-alginate-matrigel matrices and cultured to small antral stage in an FSH-independent manner. FSH negatively impacted follicle health by disrupting the integrity of oocyte and cumulus cells contact. Follicles grown in the absence of FSH produced MII oocytes with normal spindle structure. In conclusion, baboon luteal-phase COCs and oocytes from cultured preantral follicles can be matured in vitro. Oocyte meiotic competence correlated positively with the number of cumulus cell layers. This study clarifies the parameters of the follicle culture system in nonhuman primates and provides foundational data for future clinical development as a fertility preservation option for women with cancer.
Normal-appearing brain t1 relaxation time predicts disability in early primary progressive multiple sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether patients with early primary progressive multiple sclerosis show changes in T1 relaxation time (T1-RT) in normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) and normal-appearing gray matter (NAGM) during 2 years and whether T1-RT at baseline predicts disability. METHODS Twenty-one patients and 12 control subjects were studied at baseline and after 2 years. Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) and Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite (MSFC) scores were assessed. T1 relaxation time histograms of NAWM and NAGM were obtained in all subjects, and mean, peak height, and peak location of the histograms were measured. Paired t tests were used to compare baseline and 2-year histogram values in patients and control subjects. To investigate whether T1-RT predicted clinical changes, multiple linear regression analysis was used. RESULTS Patients showed increases in NAWM and NAGM T1-RT mean and peak location during follow-up, and significant decreases in NAWM and NAGM peak height. Baseline NAWM T1-RT mean values and peak height predicted disability at 2 years, as measured with the Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite score. CONCLUSION T1 relaxometry is a good marker of disease progression and has prognostic potential in primary progressive multiple sclerosis.
Multilingual Multiword Expressions

The project aims to provide a semi-supervised approach to identify Multiword Expressions in a multilingual context consisting of English and most of the major Indian languages. Multiword expressions are a group of words which refers to some conventional or regional way of saying things. If they are literally translated from one language to another the expression will lose its inherent meaning. To automatically extract multiword expressions from a corpus, an extraction pipeline have been constructed which consist of a combination of rule based and statistical approaches. There are several types of multiword expressions which differ from each other widely by construction. We employ different methods to detect different types of multiword expressions. Given a POS tagged corpus in English or any Indian language the system initially applies some regular expression filters to narrow down the search space to certain patterns (like, reduplication, partial reduplication, compound nouns, compound verbs, conjunct verbs etc.). The word sequences matching the required pattern are subjected to a series of linguistic tests which include verb filtering, named entity filtering and hyphenation filtering test to exclude false positives. The candidates are then checked for semantic relationships among themselves (using Wordnet). In order to detect partial reduplication we make use of Wordnet as a lexical database as well as a tool for lemmatising. We detect complex predicates by investigating the features of the constituent words. Statistical methods are applied to detect collocations. Finally, lexicographers examine the list of automatically extracted candidates to validate whether they are true multiword expressions or not and add them to the multiword dictionary accordingly.
Objektdetektion und -verfolgung durch nichtlineare Filterung und Fusion von Lidar- und PositionsdatenObject Detection and Tracking through Non-Linear Filtering and Fusion of Lidar and Position Data

Zusammenfassung In diesem Beitrag wird eine neue Methode erarbeitet, um Objekte im Kontext von Fahrerassistenzsystemen und autonomen Automobilen zu erkennen und robust zu verfolgen. Als umweltabbildende Sensoren dienen zwei Lidarscanner, welche das Fahrzeugumfeld zyklisch abtasten. Zusätzlich werden diese Daten mit den eigenen Positionsdaten fusioniert, um sie in ein weltfestes Koordinatensystem zu überführen. Diese Lidardaten werden anschließend einem Partikelfilter zugeführt. Innerhalb des Filterzyklus dienen die Lidarpunkte zur Speisung der Beobachtungsfunktion und bewerten somit die einzelnen Partikel. Eine darauf folgende Ballungsanalyse extrahiert die geschätzten Systemzustände der verfolgten Objekte.
Software integrity protection using timed executable agents

We present a software scheme for protecting the integrity of computing platforms using Timed Executable Agent Systems (TEAS). A trusted challenger issues an authenticated challenge to a perhaps corrupt responder. New is that the issued challenge is an executable program that can potentially compute any function on the responder. The responder must compute not only the correct value implied by the agent, but also must complete this computation within time bounds prescribed by the challenger. Software-based attestation schemes have been proposed before---new capabilities introduced in TEAS provide means to mitigate the existing shortcomings of such proposed techniques. TEAS are general and can be adapted to many applications for which system integrity is to be tested.
Optimal doubly constant weight codes

A doubly constant weight code is a binary code of length n1 + n2, with constant weight w1 + w2, such that the weight of a codeword in the first n1 coordinates is w1. Such codes have applications in obtaining bounds on the sizes of constant weight codes with given minimum distance. Lower and upper bounds on the sizes of such codes are derived. In particular, we show tight connections between optimal codes and some known designs such as Howell designs, Kirkman squares, orthogonal arrays, Steiner systems, and large sets of Steiner systems. These optimal codes are natural generalization of Steiner systems and they are also called doubly Steiner systems. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 16: 137–151, 2008
Universities as Innovators : The Effects of Academic Incubators on Patent Quality

Despite a wealth of research on university incubators, science parks, and other attempts at commercialization, there is little consensus on the effectiveness of university-sponsored commercial innovation. We analyze the impact of incubators and other types of facilitators on the quality of innovations produced by US research-intensive academic institutions from 1969 to 2012. Using forward patent citations to measure the quality of innovation we show that establishing a university-affiliated incubator is followed by a reduction in innovation on campus, controlling for patent-, university-, and time-specific characteristics. The results hold when we control for the endogeneity of the decision to establish an incubator using the presence of incubators at peer institutions as an instrument. The results suggest that university incubators compete for resources with technology transfer offices and other campus programs and activities, such that the useful and commercializable outputs they generate can be partially offset by reductions in innovation elsewhere on campus. JEL: C23, C26, L26, O31, O32
Keypoint Recognition Using Two-Stage Randomized Trees

This paper proposes a high-precision, high-speed keypoint matching method using a two-stage Randomized Trees. The keypoint classiﬁcation method uses the conventional Randomized Trees to enable high-precision, real-time keypoint matching. But the wide variety of view transformations for templates expressed by Randomized Trees make high-precision keypoint classiﬁcation for all transformations diﬃcult with a single Randomized Trees. To resolve this problem, proposed method classiﬁes the template view transformations during the ﬁrst stage. Then during the second stage, it classiﬁes the keypoints using the Randomized Trees corresponding to each of the view transformations classiﬁed during the ﬁrst stage. For images in which the viewpoint of the object is rotated by 70 degree, evaluation testing demonstrated that proposed method is 88.4% more precise than SIFT, and 63.4% more precise than the conventional Randomized Trees. We have also shown that the proposed method supports real-time keypoint matching at a speed of 12 fps.
Identifying Coordination Problems in Software Development: Finding Mismatches between Software and Project Team Structures

Today’s dynamic and iterative development environment brings significant challenges for software project management. In distributed project settings, “management by walking around” is no longer an option and project managers may miss out on key project insights. The TESNA (TEchnical Social Network Analysis) method and tool aims to provide project managers both a method and a tool for gaining insights and taking corrective action. TESNA achieves this by analysing a project’s evolving social and technical network structures using data from multiple sources, including CVS, email and chat repositories. Using pattern theory, TESNA helps to identify areas where the current state of the project’s social and technical networks conflicts with what patterns suggest. We refer to such a conflict as a Socio-Technical Structure Clash (STSC). In this paper we report on our experience of using TESNA to identify STSCs in a corporate environment through the mining of software repositories. We find multiple instances of three STSCs (Conway’s Law, Code Ownership and Project Coordination) in many of the on-going development projects, thereby validating the method and tool that we have developed.
Two-Dimensional N-Glycan Distribution Mapping of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Tissues by MALDI-Imaging Mass Spectrometry

A new mass spectrometry imaging approach to simultaneously map the two-dimensional distribution of N-glycans in tissues has been recently developed. The method uses Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Imaging Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-IMS) to spatially profile the location and distribution of multiple N-linked glycan species released by peptide N-glycosidase F in frozen or formalin-fixed tissues. Multiple formalin-fixed human hepatocellular carcinoma tissues were evaluated with this method, resulting in a panel of over 30 N-glycans detected. An ethylation reaction of extracted N-glycans released from adjacent slides was done to stabilize sialic acid containing glycans, and these structures were compared to N-glycans detected directly from tissue profiling. In addition, the distribution of singly fucosylated N-glycans detected in tumor tissue microarray cores were compared to the histochemistry staining pattern of a core fucose binding lectin. As this MALDI-IMS workflow has the potential to be applied to any formalin-fixed tissue block or tissue microarray, the advantages and limitations of the technique in context with other glycomic methods are also summarized.
Design, analysis, and testing of a motor-driven capsule robot based on a sliding clamper

SUMMARY We propose a motor-driven capsule robot based on a sliding clamper (MCRSC), a device to explore the partially collapsed and winding intestinal tract. The MCRSC is powered by wireless power transmission based on near-field inductive coupling. It comprises a novel locomotion unit, a camera, and a three-dimensional receiving coil, all installed at both ends of the locomotion unit. The novel locomotion unit comprises a linear motion mechanism and a sliding clamper. The former adopts a pair of lead-screw and nut to obtain linear motion, whereas the latter anchors the MCRSC to a specific point of the intestinal tract by expanding its arc-shaped legs. The MCRSC is capable of two-way locomotion, which is activated by alternately executing linear motion and anchoring action. Ex vivo experiments have shown that the MCRSC is able to inspect the colon within a time frame of standard colonoscopy.
Mismatch negativity in subjects at high risk for alcoholism.

BACKGROUND Evidence from P300 studies in both alcohol-dependent and high-risk (HR) individuals suggests that the reduced P300 amplitudes that often characterize these individuals may reflect a deficit in inhibition (hyperexcitability) in the central nervous system. In this context, the mismatch negativity (MMN) was investigated in the male and female HR offspring of alcohol-dependent fathers and a mixed-sex, low-risk (LR) control group. METHODS As subjects read popular materials, they received a random sequence of 500 binaurally presented tones of 600 Hz and 1600 Hz. The designation of the rare stimulus (n = 60 trials) and frequent stimulus (n = 440 trials) was alternated across subjects. Recordings of MMN were made from 61 electrodes; risk group comparisons were restricted to the five frontal midline electrodes: Fpz, Afz, Fz, Fcz, and Cz. The MMN was obtained by calculating the integral of the area under the curve for both the frequent and rare waveforms over an interval from 100 to 190 msec and then subtracting the former from the latter. RESULTS The primary observation was that MMN responses in the HR group were significantly larger than those in the LR group. In addition, both LR and HR individuals manifested differential responses to the rare and frequent stimuli, and MMN responses in both groups were largest at Fcz and smallest at Fpz. DISCUSSION The results indicate that individuals at high risk for alcoholism differ electrophysiologically from LR controls. These differences were manifested as larger magnitudes of the MMN. The findings suggest the possibility that as measured by the MMN, individuals at high risk for alcoholism may be characterized by a deficit in inhibition (excessive neural excitation). The presence of these preexisting central nervous system states may lead to ethanol use for self-medication, which then may facilitate the development of both tolerance to and dependence on ethanol.