Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sublinear and Linear Convergence of Modified ADMM for Distributed Nonconvex Optimization

In this article, we consider distributed nonconvex optimization over an undirected connected network. Each agent can only access to its own local nonconvex cost function and all agents collaborate to minimize the sum of these functions by using local information exchange. We first propose a modified alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) algorithm. We show that the proposed algorithm converges to a stationary point with the sublinear rate $\mathcal {O}(1/T)$ if each local cost function is smooth and the algorithm parameters are chosen appropriately. We also show that the proposed algorithm linearly converges to a global optimum under an additional condition that the global cost function satisfies the Polyak–Łojasiewicz condition, which is weaker than the commonly used conditions for showing linear convergence rates including strong convexity. We then propose a distributed linearized ADMM (L-ADMM) algorithm, derived from the modified ADMM algorithm, by linearizing the local cost function at each iteration. We show that the L-ADMM algorithm has the same convergence properties as the modified ADMM algorithm under the same conditions. Numerical simulations are included to verify the correctness and efficiency of the proposed algorithms.
Some theoretical results for surface wave launchers

The design of surface wave launchers is examined and it is shown that the efficiency of a launcher of finite size can approach arbitrarily near to 100 per cent. For a given size of launcher, there is however a limit to the efficiency above which an increase is obtained only at the expense of frequency bandwidth. Launchers with efficiencies above this limit are classed as "super-efficient" by analogy with "super-gain" aerials. A general solution for an end-fire launcher is also given.
DIFFEOMORPHIC APPROXIMATION OF CONTINUOUS ALMOST EVERYWHERE INJECTIVE SOBOLEV DEFORMATIONS IN THE PLANE

In this note we prove that given a continuous Sobolev W 1,p deformation f , with 1 < p < ∞, from a planar domain to R which is injective almost everywhere, we can find a sequence fk of diffeomorphisms with fk − f ∈W 1,p 0 such that fk → f uniformly and in the Sobolev norm.
TP2-Orderings and the IFR Property with Applications

In this paper, TP2 orderings of distributions and of survival functions are considered. It is shown that the first passage time of a Markov process with TP2- ordered transition distributions has an increasing failure rate (IFR). Conditions are also given for which mixtures of IFR distributions are IFR. A formula is obtained for the failure rate when the strength distribution is a function of both load and strength. This formula, in conjunction with the TP2-ordering on the strength survival functions and log-concavity of the strength and load variables, leads to an increasing failure rate for the strength distribution. Finally, two models based on this theory are presented which explain the IFR character of the strength distribution of fibrous composite materials.
Running head: AFFECTIVE COMMITMENT AS A MODERATOR OF THE ADVERSE 1

Recent research has focused on the day-specific adverse effects of stressors at work. Thus, in the present study, we examine the relationships between day-specific work-related self-control demands (SCDs) as a stressor and day-specific indicators of psychological well-being (ego depletion, need for recovery, and work engagement). On the basis of the limited strength model of self-control, we predict that SCDs deplete limited regulatory resources and impair psychological well-being. Furthermore, we propose affective commitment as a buffering moderator of this relationship. Consistent with the broaden and build theory of positive emotions and the self-determination theory, we suggest that affective commitment satisfies employees basic psychological needs and provides positive emotions, which, in turn, help restore limited regulatory resources. Thus, affective commitment should buffer the negative relationships between day-specific SCDs and day-specific psychological well-being. To examine our hypotheses, we conducted a diary study with N=60 employees over 10 working days and used multi-level models to test our predictions. Our results demonstrated that day-specific SCDs indeed impaired indicators of psychological well-being. Furthermore, affective commitment buffered these adverse relationships; thus, on days with high SCDs, highly committed employees reported higher levels of psychological well-being than did less committed employees.
Wide-band, wide-angle microstrip stacked-patch-element phased arrays

The feasibility of a probe-fed, microstrip-stacked-patch element for wideband phased arrays scanned from broadside to about 45 degrees in two planes is established through computer simulation. The implementation of a systematic interactive design procedure of such phased array elements is described. The authors describe the array model, present the main steps in the analysis of scan and frequency gain performance, and consider various aspects of convergence acceleration. An iterative stacked-phased-array-element design procedure is developed. The method is facilitated by identification of the individual uncoupled resonant configurations of the stagger-tuned patch system. The authors present samples of numerical results for active resistance and reflection coefficient for single probe excitation, and some useful transmission line relations. >
Alexa Skills: Security Vulnerabilities and Countermeasures

The home voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa have become increasingly popular due to many interesting voice-activated services provided through special applications called skills. These skills, though useful, have also introduced new security, safety and privacy challenges. Prior work has verified that Alexa is vulnerable to multiple types of voice attacks, but the security and privacy risk of using skills has not been fully investigated. In this work, we study an adversary model that covers three security vulnerabilities, namely, over-privileged resource access, hidden code-manipulation and hidden content-manipulation. By exploiting these vulnerabilities, malicious skills can not only bypass the security tests in the vetting process, but also surreptitiously change their original functions in an attempt to steal users' personal information, obtain safety-sensitive information, or disseminate arbitrary information. We systematically study the security issues from the feasibility of the attacks, a large-scale survey measurement of 33,744 skills in Alexa Skills Store, to the design of countermeasures.
Post-Newtonian Equations of Motion in the Flat Universe

Using the (3+1) formalism, we derive the post-Newtonian (PN) equations of motion in a flat universe. To derive the equations of motion, we must carefully consider two points, one being the choice of the density in the Newtonian order (pN) and the other the choice of the gauge condition. In choosing PN, we require that the density fluctuation PNPo agrees with a gauge invariant quantity in the linear approximation theory. As a gauge condition, we propose the cosmological postNewtonian (CPN) slice condition with the pseudo transverse-traceless gauge condition, by which the evolution of the geometric variables derived in the PN approximation in the early stage of universe agrees with that of the gauge invariant quantities in the linear approximation. In the derived equations of motion, the force is calculated from six potentials which satisfy the Poisson equations. Hence, our formalism can be easily applied to numerical simulations in which the standard technique (e.g., particle-mesh method) is used. We apply the PN formula to the one-dimensional (lD) Zel'dovich solution to demonstrate that our strategy works well, and also to determine the effect of the PN forces on the evolution of the large-scale structure. It is found that the behavior of the density fluctuation and metric quantities in the early stage obtained by the present formalism agrees with that of the gauge invariant quantities in the linear approximation, although they do not always agree within the previous formalism due to the appearance of spurious gauge modes. We also discuss the evolution of the non-linear density fluctuation with very large scale, which may be affected by the PN correction in the last stage of the evolution.
Disturbance Detection in Mobile Instant Messaging Apps using Deep Learning

This paper demonstrates the design of a Mobile Instant Messaging application with a feature to filter distracting content, thereby increasing productivity at work. Handling a hugeinflux of incoming texts is a frustrating task for one already burdened with work. Therefore, an option can be provided for filtering content, as shown in this paper. From the literatures, it was observed that there is no existing technology to solve the aforementioned problem. It has been addressed in this paper by means of a deep learning architecture capable of classifying text and images into important and distracting categories. Google BERT model was used for classification of text and Resnet-34 was used for image classification; accuracies of 98.065% and 99.34%were obtained for these models respectively.
A novel rumor diffusion model considering the effect of truth in online social media

In this paper, we propose a model to investigate how truth affects rumor diffusion in online social media. Our model reveals a relation between rumor and truth — namely, when a rumor is diffusing, the truth about the rumor also diffuses with it. Two patterns of the agents used to identify rumor, self-identification and passive learning are taken into account. Combining theoretical proof and simulation analysis, we find that the threshold value of rumor diffusion is negatively correlated to the connectivity between nodes in the network and the probability β of agents knowing truth. Increasing β can reduce the maximum density of the rumor spreaders and slow down the generation speed of new rumor spreaders. On the other hand, we conclude that the best rumor diffusion strategy must balance the probability of forwarding rumor and the probability of agents losing interest in the rumor. High spread rate λ of rumor would lead to a surge in truth dissemination which will greatly limit the diffusion of rumor. Furthermore, in the case of unknown λ, increasing β can effectively reduce the maximum proportion of agents who do not know the truth, but cannot narrow the rumor diffusion range in a certain interval of β.
THE OPTICAL COMPANIONS OF THE LONG-PERIOD CEPHEID WZ SAGITTARII - REMAINS OF AN OPEN CLUSTER ?

Photoelectric UBV photometry is presented for twelve 12th- to 15th-magnitude stars lying within 2 arcmin of the 22-day Cepheid WZ Sgr. Eight of these stars are identified as probable B stars of similar reddening (0.56 plus or minus 0.02, relative to a B0 star), and it is argued from star counts and photometric distance estimates that seven of these objects belong to a newly discovered, sparsely populated open cluster that is 1.71 plus or minus 0.06 kpc distant and centered only 3.6 arcmin northwest of WZ Sgr. WZ Sgr is demonstrated to be an excellent candidate for membership in this sparse cluster, based upon its similarity in reddening and age to cluster stars and upon its inferred luminosity of -4.88 plus or minus 0.10 as a cluster member.
Fully nonlinear solitary waves in a layered stratified fluid

Fully nonlinear solitary waves in a layered stratified fluid, each layer with a constant Brunt–Väisälä frequency, are investigated. The stream function satisfies the Helmholtz equation in each layer and is expressed in terms of singularity distributions. As the Green function, a combination of Bessel functions of order zero, of the second and first kind is advocated. Computations performed for two- and three-layer cases show that the wave speed increases with increasing stratification of the top layer. The thickness of the pycnocline increases with wave amplitude when the top layer is homogeneous but decreases when the top layer is stratified. The wave width depends little on the pycnocline thickness. The fluid velocity may exceed the wave speed in the upper part of the water column when the top layer is stratified, but is always smaller than the wave velocity if the top layer is homogeneous. A large vertical excursion of the individual isopycnals contributes to a small Richardson number $Ri$. The smallest value of $Ri$ is observed in the main body of the fluid. Solitary waves of increasing strength are investigated until the wave-induced fluid velocity equals the wave speed, or the minimal $Ri$ becomes smaller than one quarter. The results may support experimental studies of breaking internal solitary waves.
Management of pain in patients with bone metastases

Cancer-induced bone pain (CIBP) has a considerable impact on patients’ quality of life as well as physical and mental health. At present, patients with CIBP are managed according to the three-step analgesic therapy algorithm proposed by the World Health Organization. Opioids are commonly used as the first-line treatment for moderate-to-severe cancer pain but are limited due to addiction, nausea, vomiting and other gastrointestinal side effects. Moreover, opioids have a limited analgesic effect in some patients. In order to optimize the management of CIBP, we must first identify the underlying mechanisms. In some patients, surgery, or surgery combined with radiotherapy or radiofrequency ablation is the first step in the management of CIBP. Various clinical studies have shown that anti-nerve growth factor (NGF) antibodies, bisphosphonates, or RANKL inhibitors can reduce the incidence and improve the management of cancer pain. Herein, we review the mechanisms of cancer pain and potential therapeutic strategies to provide insights for optimizing the management of CIBP.
Federated learning for performance prediction in multi-operator environments

Telecom vendors and operators deliver services with strict requirements on performance, over complex and sometimes partly shared network infrastructures. A key enabler for network and service management in such environments is knowledge sharing, and the use of data-driven models for performance prediction, forecasting, and troubleshooting. In this paper, we outline a multi-operator service metrics prediction framework using federated learning that allows privacy-preserved knowledge-sharing across operators for improved model performance, and also reduced requirements on data transfer within an operator network. Federated learning is compared against local and central learning strategies for multi-operator performance prediction, and it is shown to balance the requirements on data privacy, model performance, and the network overhead. Further, the paper provides insights on how data heterogeneity affects model performance, where the conclusion is that standard federated learning has certain robustness to data heterogeneity. Finally, we discuss the challenges related to training a federated learning model with a limited budget on the communication rounds. The evaluation is performed using a set of realistic publicly available data traces, that are adapted specifically for the purpose of studying multi-operator service performance prediction.
Optimal polishing methods for high-energy optical fibers

Direct Optical Initiation (DOI), uses a moderate energy Q-switched Nd:YAG laser to shock initiate secondary explosives, via either a flyer plate or exploding metal foil. DOI offers significant performance and safety advantages over conventional electrical initiation. Optical fibers are used to transport the optical energy from the laser to the explosive device. Energy densities in the region of 35 J cm-2 are required for initiation, significantly above the damage threshold of typical optical fibers. Laser-induced damage is typically caused by laser absorption at the input face due to imperfections in the surface polishing. To successfully transmit energy densities for DOI, a high quality fiber end face finish is required. Fiber assemblies were prepared by C Technologies Inc, NJ, USA, with Innovaquartz FG365UEC optical fiber, using a variety of polishing methods, with both steel and zirconia ferrules. The quality of the fiber end faces was assessed using non-contact optical profilometry. The damage threshold for each polishing method was then determined using a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser and the optimal polishing method determined for each ferrule material. Significant performance differences between zirconia and steel ferrules were observed, and a physical cause of this difference is proposed.
Analysis of the external signals driving the transcriptional regulation of the main genes involved in denitrification in Haloferax mediterranei

Haloferax mediterranei is the model microorganism for the study of the nitrogen cycle in haloarchaea. This archaeon not only assimilate N-species such as nitrate, nitrite, or ammonia, but also it can perform denitrification under low oxygen conditions, using nitrate or nitrite as alternative electron acceptors. However, the information currently available on the regulation of this alternative respiration in this kind of microorganism is scarce. Therefore, in this research, the study of haloarchaeal denitrification using H. mediterranei has been addressed by analyzing the promoter regions of the four main genes of denitrification (narGH, nirK, nor, and nosZ) through bioinformatics, reporter gene assays under oxic and anoxic conditions and by site-directed mutagenesis of the promoter regions. The results have shown that these four promoter regions share a common semi-palindromic motif that plays a role in the control of the expression levels of nor and nosZ (and probably nirK) genes. Regarding the regulation of the genes under study, it has been concluded that nirK, nor, and nosZ genes share some expression patterns, and therefore their transcription could be under the control of the same regulator whereas nar operon expression displays differences, such as the activation by dimethyl sulfoxide with respect to the expression in the absence of an electron acceptor, which is almost null under anoxic conditions. Finally, the study with different electron acceptors demonstrated that this haloarchaea does not need complete anoxia to perform denitrification. Oxygen concentrations around 100 μM trigger the activation of the four promoters. However, a low oxygen concentration per se is not a strong signal to activate the promoters of the main genes involved in this pathway; high activation also requires the presence of nitrate or nitrite as final electron acceptors.
Proton order-disorder in KH2PO4-type ferroelectrics: Slater theory and ising model in a transverse tunneling field

Abstract Recent developments in the theory of phase transitions in KH2PO4-type crystals are reviewed together with some relevant experiments. The nature of the isotope effect in the static and dynamic properties of these systems on replacing hydrogen by deuterium is discussed. Expressions for the static and dynamic properties derived by four-cluster analysis are compared with those found from a mean field treatment of the Ising model.
Structural and oxidative investigation of a recombinant high-yielding fetal hemoglobin mutant

Human fetal hemoglobin (HbF) is an attractive starting protein for developing an effective agent for oxygen therapeutics applications. This requires that HbF can be produced in heterologous systems at high levels and in a homogeneous form. The introduction of negative charges on the surface of the α-chain in HbF can enhance the recombinant production yield of a functional protein in Escherichia coli. In this study, we characterized the structural, biophysical, and biological properties of an HbF mutant carrying four additional negative charges on each α-chain (rHbFα4). The 3D structure of the rHbFα4 mutant was solved with X-ray crystallography at 1.6 Å resolution. Apart from enabling a higher yield in recombinant protein production in E. coli, we observed that the normal DNA cleavage activity of the HbF was significantly lowered, with a four-time reduced rate constant for the rHbFα4 mutant. The oxygen-binding properties of the rHbFα4 mutant were identical to the wild-type protein. No significant difference between the wild-type and rHbFα4 was observed for the investigated oxidation rates (autoxidation and H2O2-mediated ferryl formation). However, the ferryl reduction reaction indicated some differences, which appear to be related to the reaction rates linked to the α-chain.
Somatic mutation detection and KRAS amplification in testicular germ cell tumors

Background Testicular Germ Cell Tumors (TGCT) are the most common cancer among young adult men. The TGCT histopathology is diverse, and the frequency of genomic alterations, along with their prognostic role, remains largely unexplored. Herein, we evaluate the mutation profile of a 15-driver gene panel and copy number variation of KRAS in a large series of TGCT from a single reference cancer center. Materials and methods A cohort of 97 patients with TGCT, diagnosed at the Barretos Cancer Hospital, was evaluated. Real-time PCR was used to assess copy number variation (CNV) of the KRAS gene in 51 cases, and the mutation analysis was performed using the TruSight Tumor 15 (Illumina) panel (TST15) in 65 patients. Univariate analysis was used to compare sample categories in relation to mutational frequencies. Survival analysis was conducted by the Kaplan–Meier method and log-rank test. Results KRAS copy number gain was a very frequent event (80.4%) in TGCT and presented a worse prognosis compared with the group with no KRAS copy gain (10y-OS, 90% vs. 81.5%, p = 0.048). Among the 65 TGCT cases, different variants were identified in 11 of 15 genes of the panel, and the TP53 gene was the most recurrently mutated driver gene (27.7%). Variants were also detected in genes such as KIT, KRAS, PDGFRA, EGFR, BRAF, RET, NRAS, PIK3CA, MET, and ERBB2, with some of them potentially targetable. Conclusion Although larger studies incorporating collaborative networks may shed the light on the molecular landscape of TGCT, our findings unveal the potential of actionable variants in clinical management for applying targeted therapies.
The dependence of electroglow on the solar flux

A comparison is made of the observed properties of electroglow on Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. It is found that the subsolar electroglow intensity measured by the Voyager Ultraviolet Spectrometer in the spectral region below 1110 A scales as the inverse square of heliocentric distance to within 10%. There are large differences between the spectra from Uranus and the Jovian and Saturnian spectra at longer wavelengths, but this is a consequence of the different scattering properties of the Uranian atmosphere and is not related to electroglow. Excellent fits are obtained between model calculations of the spectrum of Rayleigh-Raman scattered sunlight and the observed spectra from Uranus. Our interpretation differs from previous analyses where the differences between the Uranian and Saturnian spectra were interpreted to be a consequence of different electron temperatures. It is also found that the local time variations of electroglow on all three planets are consistent with an excitation rate proportional to the solar flux. These correlations with solar flux suggest that electroglow is a direct consequence of the absorption of solar radiation in the upper atmospheres of the outer planets. The most promising production mechanism for electroglow appears to be fluorescence of solar radiation in the H2 Lyman and Werner bands. We calculate that fluorescence of solar ultraviolet radiation in the Lyman and Werner band systems of H2 may be responsible for a large fraction of the observed intensity on Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus; however, it is not clear why this source should scale as the inverse square of heliocentric distance. We also suggest that chemical reactions related to H− photolysis may be important in the upper atmospheres of the outer planets. Both fluorescence and H− photolysis merit further investigation.