Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On Seemingly Unrelated Semiparametric Models

A seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) system proposed by Zellner (1962) comprises several individual relationships that are linked by the fact that their disturbances are correlated. Such models have found many applications. For example, demand functions can be estimated for different households (or household types) for a given commodity. The correlation among the equation disturbances could come from several sources such as correlated shocks to household income. Alternatively, one could model the demand of a household for different commodities, but adding-up constraints leads to restrictions on the parameters of different equations in this case. On the other hand, equations explaining some phenomenon in different cities, states, countries, firms or industries provide a natural application as these various entities are likely to be subject to spill overs from economy-wide or worldwide shocks. In fact the SUR model is a generalization of multivariate regression using a vectorized parameter model. There are two main motivations for use of SUR. The first one is to gain efficiency in estimation by combining information on different equations. The second motivation is to impose and/or test restrictions that involve parameters in different equations. In most of the empirical works people are often concerned about problems with the specification of the model or problems with the data. This problem arises in situations when the explanatory variables are highly inter-correlated. In this paper, we apply differencing method to remove the nonparametric parts in seemingly unrelated semiparametric (SUS) model and then estimate the linear parts to accelerate estimating the parametric parts (linear parts). At the second step, nonparametric technique is applied to estimate the nonparametric parts. In this regard we deal with SUS model applying differencing methodology, under multicollinearity setting. Thus we use ridge regression concept that was proposed in the 1970’s to combat the multicollinearity in regression problems.
Mirror Perspective-Taking with a Humanoid Robot

The ability to use a mirror as an instrument for spatial reasoning enables an agent to make meaningful inferences about the positions of objects in space based on the appearance of their reflections in mirrors. The model presented in this paper enables a robot to infer the perspective from which objects reflected in a mirror appear to be observed, allowing the robot to use this perspective as a virtual camera. Prior work by our group presented an architecture through which a robot learns the spatial relationship between its body and visual sense, mimicking an early form of self-knowledge in which infants learn about their bodies and senses through their interactions with each other. In this work, this self-knowledge is utilized in order to determine the mirror's perspective. Witnessing the position of its end-effector in a mirror in several distinct poses, the robot determines a perspective that is consistent with these observations. The system is evaluated by measuring how well the robot's predictions of its end-effector's position in 3D, relative to the robot's egocentric coordinate system, and in 2D, as projected onto it's cameras, match measurements of a marker tracked by its stereo vision system. Reconstructions of the 3D position end-effector, as computed from the perspective of the mirror, are found to agree with the forward kinematic model within a mean of 31.55mm. When observed directly by the robot's cameras, reconstructions agree within 5.12mm. Predictions of the 2D position of the end-effector in the visual field agree with visual measurements within a mean of 18.47 pixels, when observed in the mirror, or 5.66 pixels, when observed directly by the robot's cameras.
Complex prokaryotic genome structure: rapid evolution of chromosome II.

Although many bacteria with two chromosomes have been sequenced, the roles of such complex genome structuring are still unclear. To uncover levels of chromosome I (CI) and chromosome II (CII) sequence divergence, Mauve 2.2. 0 was used to align the CI- and CII-specific sequences of bacteria with complex genome structuring in two sets of comparisons: the first set was conducted among the CI and CII of bacterial strains of the same species, while the second set was conducted among the CI and CII of species in Alphaproteobacteria that possess two chromosomes. The analyses revealed a rapid evolution of CII-specific DNA sequences compared with CI-specific sequences in a majority of organisms. In addition, levels of protein divergence between CI-specific and CII-specific genes were determined using phylogenetic analyses and confirmed the DNA alignment findings. Analysis of synonymous and nonsynonymous substitutions revealed that the structural and functional constraints on CI and CII genes are not significantly different. Also, horizontal gene transfer estimates in selected organisms demonstrated that CII in many species has acquired higher levels of horizontally transferred segments than CI. In summary, rapid evolution of CII may perform particular roles for organisms such as aiding in adapting to specialized niches.
Fault tolerant control for multiple successive failures in an octorotor: Architecture and experiments

This paper presents a fault tolerant control strategy based on an offline control mixing for an octorotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) regarding several rotor failures. This strategy consists of a set of explicit laws, computed offline, each one dedicated to a fault situation. The corresponding law is selected according to the output of a fault detection and isolation (FDI) module. This module is designed with a non-linear sliding mode observer. The main advantage of this architecture is the deterministic character of the solution, its fast operation and the low computational load. The effectiveness of this approach is illustrated through real experimental application to a coaxial octorotor, where up to four motor failures are considered.
Voice Pathology Detection and Discrimination Based on Modulation Spectral Features

In this paper, we explore the information provided by a joint acoustic and modulation frequency representation, referred to as modulation spectrum, for detection and discrimination of voice disorders. The initial representation is first transformed to a lower dimensional domain using higher order singular value decomposition (HOSVD). From this dimension-reduced representation a feature selection process is suggested using an information-theoretic criterion based on the mutual information between voice classes (i.e., normophonic/dysphonic) and features. To evaluate the suggested approach and representation, we conducted cross-validation experiments on a database of sustained vowel recordings from healthy and pathological voices, using support vector machines (SVMs) for classification. For voice pathology detection, the suggested approach achieved a classification accuracy of 94.1±0.28% (95% confidence interval), which is comparable to the accuracy achieved using cepstral-based features. However, for voice pathology classification the suggested approach significantly outperformed the performance of cepstral-based features.
Rhythmic Diel Pattern of Gene Expression in Juvenile Maize Leaf

Background Numerous biochemical and physiological parameters of living organisms follow a circadian rhythm. Although such rhythmic behavior is particularly pronounced in plants, which are strictly dependent on the daily photoperiod, data on the molecular aspects of the diurnal cycle in plants is scarce and mostly concerns the model species Arabidopsis thaliana. Here we studied the leaf transcriptome in seedlings of maize, an important C4 crop only distantly related to A. thaliana, throughout a cycle of 10 h darkness and 14 h light to look for rhythmic patterns of gene expression. Results Using DNA microarrays comprising ca. 43,000 maize-specific probes we found that ca. 12% of all genes showed clear-cut diel rhythms of expression. Cluster analysis identified 35 groups containing from four to ca. 1,000 genes, each comprising genes of similar expression patterns. Perhaps unexpectedly, the most pronounced and most common (concerning the highest number of genes) expression maxima were observed towards and during the dark phase. Using Gene Ontology classification several meaningful functional associations were found among genes showing similar diel expression patterns, including massive induction of expression of genes related to gene expression, translation, protein modification and folding at dusk and night. Additionally, we found a clear-cut tendency among genes belonging to individual clusters to share defined transcription factor-binding sequences. Conclusions Co-expressed genes belonging to individual clusters are likely to be regulated by common mechanisms. The nocturnal phase of the diurnal cycle involves gross induction of fundamental biochemical processes and should be studied more thoroughly than was appreciated in most earlier physiological studies. Although some general mechanisms responsible for the diel regulation of gene expression might be shared among plants, details of the diurnal regulation of gene expression seem to differ between taxa.
Combined single-grain (U-Th)/He and U/Pb dating of detrital zircons from the Navajo Sandstone, Utah

Radioisotopic dating of detrital minerals in sedimentary rocks can constrain sediment sources (provenance), elucidate episodes and rates of ancient orogenesis, and give information on paleogeography and sediment-dispersal patterns. Previous approaches have been restricted to the application of a single technique, such as U/Pb or fission-track dating, to detrital grains. These methods provide crystallization and cooling ages, respectively, of sediment sources (terranes). However, evidence for source regions from a single technique can be ambiguous because candidate source terranes often have similar ages for a given radioisotopic system. This ambiguity can be avoided by applying multiple radioisotopic systems to individual detrital grains. Here we present a method for measuring both (U-Th)/He and U/Pb ages of single crystals of detrital zircon, providing both formation and cooling ages (through ∼180 °C). We applied this technique to zircons from the Lower Jurassic Navajo Sandstone, which represents one of the largest erg deposits in the geologic record. A large fraction of these zircons was derived from crust that formed between 1200 and 950 Ma, but cooled below ∼180 °C ca. 500–250 Ma. This history is characteristic of Grenvillian-age crust involved in Appalachian orogenesis (and subsequent rifting) in eastern North America. Our finding requires the existence of a transcontinental sediment-dispersal system capable of moving a large volume of detritus westward (modern coordinates) throughout the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic.
Early Childhood Educational Settings and School Absenteeism for Children With Disabilities

Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011 were used to examine the implications of preschool and full-day kindergarten enrollment for the subsequent school absences of 2,056 children with disabilities. Results suggest that children with disabilities who went to preschool were absent less frequently in kindergarten, but these benefits did not persist through the end of first grade. Conversely, children with disabilities who attended full-day kindergarten programs were absent more frequently during the kindergarten year as compared with children in part-day programs, but these children experienced a sharper drop in absenteeism throughout the following school year resulting in no differences in school absences in first grade. No multiplicative benefits emerged for attending both preschool and full-day kindergarten. And even though these aforementioned benefits of preschool diminished rapidly, there were lingering academic benefits through the end of first grade because of improvements in earlier school attendance.
COMPARISON OF THE REGENERATION PATTERNS OF WOODY SPECIES BETWEEN NORWAY SPRUCE PLANTATIONS AND DECIDUOUS FORESTS ON ALLUVIAL SOILS

Restoration of floodplain forests has become a primary aim of sustainable forestry in Europe. Although several studies have investigated the conversion of coniferous stands outside of their biogeographical area and on unsuitable sites, none focused specifically on alluvial areas. We surveyed 208 riverine stands, distributed homogeneously throughout the Grand-duch? de Luxembourg (western-central Europe) for the abundance of woody forest species (trees, saplings, seedlings and shrubs). The influence of both the canopy natpre (Norway spruce or deciduous) and the biogeographical region (Oesling or Gutland) on the understorey regeneration were tested. The mean species richness was 10.5 woody plants per stand. Correspondence analyses showed that canopy tree regeneration was not different between the two forest types. Following an analysis of variance, we found that functional species group distribution (regarding mode of dispersal, type of seed bank and establishment strategy) was more determined by the biogeographical variable than by the canopy variable. Most woody species were significantly more abundant in deciduous forests and in the Gutland area. Only Rubus idaeus, Sambucus racemosa and Sorbus aucuparia were strongly associated with Norway spruce stands or the Oesling region. The differences between deciduous forests and coniferous stands are mainly due to shrub abundance and not to the canopy tree regenera tion. In conclusion, Norway spruce plantations act as nurseries for late-successional riverine species like Fraxinus excelsior, Acer pseudoplatanus and Quercus robur.
Predicting potential gene ontology from cellular response data

Ontologies have proven to be useful for capturing and organizing knowledge as a hierarchical set of terms and their relationships. However, curating gene ontology data by hand requires specialized knowledge of certain field, which is inefficient. Thus inferring gene ontology from the exponentially increased biological data is getting hot. Based on the Library of Integrated Network-Based Cellular Signatures (LINCS) data we came up with the hypothesis that genes participate in analogous biological processes might affect cells accordantly. By assessing cellular response after genes were knock out we built a similarity matrix with the Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) and clustered the genes with affinity propagation algorithm. Next we mapped the cluster result to gene ontology biological process data for annotation and enrichment analysis, which confirmed our hypothesis and made it possible to predict biological processes for unannotated genes from cellular response data after genes are knock out for the first time. We further validated the rationality from the gene ontology molecular function data.1
The structure of DdrB from Deinococcus: a new fold for single-stranded DNA binding proteins

Deinococcus spp. are renowned for their amazing ability to recover rapidly from severe genomic fragmentation as a result of exposure to extreme levels of ionizing radiation or desiccation. Despite having been originally characterized over 50 years ago, the mechanism underlying this remarkable repair process is still poorly understood. Here, we report the 2.8 Å structure of DdrB, a single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) binding protein unique to Deinococcus spp. that is crucial for recovery following DNA damage. DdrB forms a pentameric ring capable of binding single-stranded but not double-stranded DNA. Unexpectedly, the crystal structure reveals that DdrB comprises a novel fold that is structurally and topologically distinct from all other single-stranded binding (SSB) proteins characterized to date. The need for a unique ssDNA binding function in response to severe damage, suggests a distinct role for DdrB which may encompass not only standard SSB protein function in protection of ssDNA, but also more specialized roles in protein recruitment or DNA architecture maintenance. Possible mechanisms of DdrB action in damage recovery are discussed.
Performing new identities: the community language of post-crisis Italian migrants in London

ABSTRACT After the 2008 global crisis, Italy has experienced a relevant resumption of emigration. Tens of thousands of young Italians have chosen London as their favourite destination, giving rise to a new Italian community in the city. This article focuses on the transformation of migrants’ national identity and on a distinctive device of identity expression: language. Sample cases, extracted from a dataset collected for an original doctoral project, are used to explain how the insertion of English elements in speakers’ native language become the expression of the loss of pure national identity and of the renegotiation of transnational and migratory identities.
Association between tumor necrosis factor-alpha G-308A polymorphism and dental peri-implant disease risk

Background:Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-&agr;) is a potent immune-inflammatory mediator involved in the regulation of bone resorption. The single nucleotide polymorphism G-308A in the TNF-&agr; gene increases the level of this cytokine. This phenomenon is also related to several diseases. Although the association between TNF-&agr; (G-308A) polymorphism and dental peri-implant disease has been investigated, results have remained controversial. Hence, we performed this meta-analysis to provide a comprehensive and systematic conclusion on this topic. Methods:We performed a systematic literature search in PubMed, Embase, ISI Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure until July 2015. A fixed-effect model was established to calculate pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The calculated values were then used to assess the strength of the association between the TNF-&agr; (G-308A) polymorphism and the dental peri-implant disease risk. The heterogeneity between included studies was evaluated with Cochran Q and I2 statistics. Interstudy publication bias was investigated with a funnel plot. Results:Six eligible studies were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled ORs did not reveal a significant relationship between the TNF-&agr; (G-308A) polymorphism and the disease susceptibility. Subgroup analyses in terms of ethnicity and disease type yielded similar results. Conclusion:Our meta-analysis revealed that TNF-&agr; (G-308A) polymorphism was not significantly associated with the risk of dental peri-implant disease. However, further studies with large sample sizes should be performed to verify these results.
A Genetic Clustering Technique Using a New Line Symmetry Based Distance Measure

In this paper, an evolutionary clustering technique is described that uses a new line symmetry based distance measure. Kd-tree based nearest neighbor search is used to reduce the complexity of finding the closest symmetric point. Adaptive mutation and crossover probabilities are used. The proposed GA with line symmetry distance based (GALSD) clustering technique is able to detect any type of clusters, irrespective of their geometrical shape and overlapping nature, as long as they possess the characteristic of line symmetry. GALSD is compared with existing well-known K-means algorithm. Five artificially generated and two real-life data sets are used to demonstrate its superiority.
An Ontology-Based Digital Library System for E-Learning

This paper presents an ontology-based digital library system, whose capability goes far beyond simple key word based query. There are two important components in our system: query expansion and ontology extraction. In the proposed system, we integrate ldquoWorldNetrdquo as the query expansion module to broaden the query scope, which leads to better recall rate for retrieval. A novel ontology inference algorithm was also proposed. The proposed ontology inference algorithm automatically constructs the ontology of the knowledge base for specific query domain. With this domain specific ontology based knowledge representation, our query system is capable of human-like general semantic reasoning to disambiguate the ambiguous words and improve the precision of retrieval. We evaluate the proposed system on a large set of documents from 10 different subject domains. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed system. Our system achieves on average 5% improvement compared with the traditional key word based search method.
Tracking with estimate-conditioned debiased 3-D converted measurements

This paper describes a new algorithm for the 3-D converted-measurement Kalman filter (CMKF) which estimates a target's Cartesian state given spherical position measurements. At each processing index, the new algorithm chooses the more accurate of (1) the sensor's spherical position measurement and (2) the CMKF's Cartesian position prediction. The new algorithm then computes the raw converted measurement's error bias and the corresponding debiased converted measurement's error covariance conditioned on the chosen position estimate. The paper derives explicit expressions for the spherical-measurement-conditioned bias and covariance and shows the resulting spherical-measurement-conditioned CMKF's mathematical equivalence with the 3-D modified unbiased CMKF (MUCMKF). The paper also describes a method, based upon the unscented transformation, for approximating the raw converted measurement's error bias and the debiased converted measurement's error covariance conditioned on the CMKF's Cartesian position prediction. Simulation results demonstrate the new CMKF's improved tracking performance and statistical credibility as compared to those of the 3-D MUCMKF.1 2
Deep Hedging: Hedging Derivatives Under Generic Market Frictions Using Reinforcement Learning

This article discusses a new application of reinforcement learning: to the problem of hedging a portfolio of “over-the-counter” derivatives under under market frictions such as trading costs and liquidity constraints. It is an extended version of our recent work https://www.ssrn. com/abstract=3120710, here using notation more common in the machine learning literature. The objective is to maximize a non-linear risk-adjusted return function by trading in liquid hedging instruments such as equities or listed options. The approach presented here is the first efficient and model-independent algorithm which can be used for such problems at scale.
A Framework for the Correction of Multi-Bit Errors in Multi-Core Processors

With the development of the scaling technologies, it's more susceptible to the transient faults for the modern microprocessors, so the error-correcting codes are used to detect and correct the errors in caches. In this paper, an enhanced architecture is proposed for the selective use of strong multi-bit ECC, where the main character is the extended L2 core, protected by Hamming distance to detect errors, and carried some redundancy-based schemes to correct errors. To the detailed design of the cache, these schemes includes the L1/L2 cache redundancy, fine grain dirtiness, reliability-centric replacement and the methods to exploit small data value size.