Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
DNS Support for Load Balancing

This RFC is meant to first chronicle a foray into the IETF DNS Working Group, discuss other possible alternatives to provide/simulate load balancing support for DNS, and to provide an ultimate, flexible solution for providing DNS support for balancing loads of many types. This memo provides information for the Internet community. This memo does not specify an Internet standard of any kind.
A New Approximation Guarantee for Monotone Submodular Function Maximization via Discrete Convexity

In monotone submodular function maximization, approximation guarantees based on the curvature of the objective function have been extensively studied in the literature. However, the notion of curvature is often pessimistic, and we rarely obtain improved approximation guarantees, even for very simple objective functions. In this paper, we provide a novel approximation guarantee by extracting an M$^\natural$-concave function $h:2^E \to \mathbb R_+$, a notion in discrete convex analysis, from the objective function $f:2^E \to \mathbb R_+$. We introduce the notion of $h$-curvature, which measures how much $f$ deviates from $h$, and show that we can obtain a $(1-\gamma/e-\epsilon)$-approximation to the problem of maximizing $f$ under a cardinality constraint in polynomial time for any constant $\epsilon > 0$. Then, we show that we can obtain nontrivial approximation guarantees for various problems by applying the proposed algorithm.
An Inverse Problem in American Options as a Mathematical Program with Equilibrium Constraints: C-Stationarity and an Active-Set-Newton Solver

An inverse problem in the pricing of American options is considered. The problem is formulated as an output least-squares problem governed by a parabolic variational inequality in non-divergence form. The existence of an optimal solution is proved, and first-order optimality conditions of C-stationarity-type are derived by using a relaxation-penalization technique. Numerically, the discrete optimality system is solved by an active-set-Newton solver with feasibility restoration.
A chicken red cell inhibitor of transcription associated with the terminally differentiated state

When a red cell nuclear extract (RCE) from adult chickens was injected into Xenopus oocytes along with the chicken beta globin gene, transcript levels were dramatically reduced compared to injection of DNA alone. The inhibitory action of the RCE was not specific to the beta globin gene since the Herpes thymidine kinase and Xenopus 5S RNA gene transcript levels were similarly reduced. Transcriptional repression was observed even after passage of the RCE through oocyte cytoplasm to the nucleus. The inhibitory activity binds to DNA cellulose, which suggests that the inhibitor either binds to DNA or associates with DNA-binding proteins. Nuclease digestion of the chromatin assembled on injected beta globin DNA revealed that inhibition was not associated with local changes in chromatin structure. Extracts from 9-d chicken embryonic erythroid cells, in which the endogenous beta globin gene is actively expressed, did not inhibit transcription. The inhibitory activity is, therefore, restricted to transcriptionally quiescent, adult erythrocytes. Since the inhibitory effects were seen with both polymerase II and III directed genes, we speculate that the activity may be part of the extreme transcriptional repression which occurs in the terminally differentiated erythrocyte.
Mutational analysis of the transcription activation domain of RelA: identification of a highly synergistic minimal acidic activation module

The potent C-terminal activation domain of the RelA (p65) subunit of the cellular transcription factor NF-kappa B is shown to contain several discrete acidic activation modules. These short, approximately 11-amino-acid modules were able to give rise to only a low level of transcription activation when fused to the GAL4 DNA-binding domain as monomers. However, dimers and higher-order multimers activated the transcription of minimal promoter elements as effectively as the full-length RelA or VP16 activation domain. Therefore, this 11-amino-acid RelA-derived acidic module appears to contain all of the sequence information required to fully activate a target promoter element as long as it is presented in a form that permits functional synergy. Critical primary sequence requirements for acidic activation module function included a core phenylalanine residue and flanking bulky hydrophobic residues. Overall negative charge was necessary but not sufficient for function. While dimeric forms of the 11-amino-acid acidic activation module bound to either TFIIB or TATA-binding protein efficiently in vitro, a similarly charged peptide lacking the core phenylalanine residue failed to interact. Overall, these data demonstrate that the biological activity of the RelA activation domain is dependent on acidic activator sequences that are closely comparable to those detected in the activation domain of the viral VP16 regulatory protein. We hypothesize that the ability of these acidic activators to specifically interact with multiple components of the transcription initiation complex likely underlies the dramatic functional synergy exhibited by this class of activation domains in vivo.
Measuring Students' Scientific Content and Inquiry Reasoning

Recently, several important documents have promoted inquiry-based science as the main way for science to be taught and learned. In addition, there have been advancements made in the measurement sciences that allow for sophisticated and complex ways to score and interpret student responses on assessment tasks. However, while many studies have shown the benefits of scientific inquiry in the classroom and others have described new types of psychometric models available for scoring analysis, few have combined the two to develop a better understanding of how students "know" science. This paper briefly describes an assessment system used to create items that systematically measure both students' content knowledge as well as two complex inquiry-reasoning skills. Then, using student responses to an assessment made using this system we employ multidimensional psychometric models to allow us to explain the nature of the types of knowledge students draw on when encountering scientific scenarios.
Social acknowledegments for children with disabilities: effects of service dogs.

While service dogs are known to perform important tasks for people using wheelchairs, such as retrieving dropped items or pulling a wheelchair, they may also serve as an antidote for social ostracism. Adults in wheelchairs have been found to receive many more social acknowledgements when a service dog is present than when not. This study examined whether disabled children in wheelchairs with service dogs receive more frequent social acknowledgment than when no dog is present. Behaviors of passersby in response to children in wheelchairs were recorded in shopping malls and on school playgrounds. In both settings, social acknowledegments (e.g., friendly glances, smiles, and conversations) were substantially more frequent when a service dog was present. Social effects of the dog were more pronounced in shopping malls, typical of unfamiliar settings where the child would be likely to experience being ignored or overlooked. Service dogs may assist in normalizing the social interactions for children with disabilities producing social isolation.
A Reactive Power Compensation Scheme for Unbalanced Four-Wire System Using Virtual Y-TCR Model

A modified scheme for reactive power compensation using static VAr compensators (SVCs) has been proposed in this paper for unbalanced four-wire system. The conventional SVC-based scheme requires both delta (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Delta $</tex-math></inline-formula> <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$)$ </tex-math></inline-formula>- and star (Y)-connected SVCs for the same purpose. The proposed scheme uses a single-equivalent delta-connected thyristor controlled reactor (TCR) along with a combination of Y- and <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Delta $</tex-math></inline-formula>- connected thyristor switched capacitors for this purpose. The single-equivalent <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Delta $</tex-math> </inline-formula>-TCR in the present scheme is the result of a virtual Y-TCR and the conventional <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Delta $</tex-math></inline-formula>-TCR. This can reduces effective number of switching devices, cost, complexity, and space requirement compared to the conventional SVC-based schemes. Moreover, the proposed scheme can have various advantageous features compared to newly used DSTATCOM. The proposed scheme can also prevent injection of triplen harmonics in to the line, which is injected by Y-TCR in the conventional scheme. An optimized switching function is adopted in the proposed scheme for reduction of additional injected harmonics by TCR. The optimized switching angles are computed offline using gravitational search algorithm and stored in the processor memory for online application. The viability of the proposed scheme is simulated using MATLAB/Simulink and verified by suitable experimental results on a practical system.
Latin America| Account Planning in the Mexican Advertising Industry: A Snapshot of a Discipline in Growth

During the 1980s, the advertising industry experienced a series of changes worldwide. As multinational corporations entered new markets, their advertising partners followed suit by either merging with or purchasing local agencies. Many of these changes were a direct consequence of the early stages of globalization, manifested in a surge in neoliberal policies around the world (Leslie, 1995). For advertising practitioners, this has had important consequences that academics are just now exploring. In many instances, it is too early to comprehend the ramifications of the concentration of marketing communication agencies into global conglomerates. However, as advertising agencies work in tandem with their large corporate clients in multiple nations, there appears to be a push toward the standardization of business practices (De Mooij, 1994; Leslie, 1995).
Deep Reinforcement Learning for Robotic Manipulation - The state of the art

The focus of this work is to enumerate the various approaches and algorithms that center around application of reinforcement learning in robotic ma- ]]nipulation tasks. Earlier methods utilized specialized policy representations and human demonstrations to constrict the policy. Such methods worked well with continuous state and policy space of robots but failed to come up with generalized policies. Subsequently, high dimensional non-linear function approximators like neural networks have been used to learn policies from scratch. Several novel and recent approaches have also embedded control policy with efficient perceptual representation using deep learning. This has led to the emergence of a new branch of dynamic robot control system called deep r inforcement learning(DRL). This work embodies a survey of the most recent algorithms, architectures and their implementations in simulations and real world robotic platforms. The gamut of DRL architectures are partitioned into two different branches namely, discrete action space algorithms(DAS) and continuous action space algorithms(CAS). Further, the CAS algorithms are divided into stochastic continuous action space(SCAS) and deterministic continuous action space(DCAS) algorithms. Along with elucidating an organ- isation of the DRL algorithms this work also manifests some of the state of the art applications of these approaches in robotic manipulation tasks.
Acoustic Counting Method of Upstream Juvenile Ayu Plecoglossus altivelis by Using DIDSON

Plecoglossus altivelis, often called ayu in Japan, is one of the important inland aquatic resources. Ayu is a typical amphidromous fish migrating between coastal waters and rivers. In order to assess the abundance of ayu, the direct visual count has mainly been taken so far. Unfortunately, this kind of counting method is not only labor-intensive, but also is affected by weather conditions and turbidity. Recently, an ultrasonic instrument called DIDSON (Dual-frequency IDcntification SONar), which can provide almost-video-quality images to identify objects even in turbid water, has been found applicable for fish counting. This instrument is useful for counting big fish which is several dozen centimeters large. However, as for the small fish whose length is only 8 centimeters or less, the counting becomes technically difficult because its echo image is too weak and too unstable to identify fish from images and to track it. In this paper we present a method for counting juvenile small size ayu that migrates upriver using a DIDSON. We first subtract the stationary background from the acoustic image and remove noises. Then we track the remaining targets. After the removal of the garbage going downstream, we reached the correct counting of the upstream fishes. The above acoustic method for counting young small size ayu has been proven to be useful and effective by the experiment conducted on May 31st, 2006.
Simultaneous imaging of tumor oxygenation and microvascular permeability using Overhauser enhanced MRI

Architectural and functional abnormalities of blood vessels are a common feature in tumors. A consequence of increased vascular permeability and concomitant aberrant blood flow is poor delivery of oxygen and drugs, which is associated with treatment resistance. In the present study, we describe a strategy to simultaneously visualize tissue oxygen concentration and microvascular permeability by using a hyperpolarized 1H-MRI, known as Overhauser enhanced MRI (OMRI), and an oxygen-sensitive contrast agent OX63. Substantial MRI signal enhancement was induced by dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP). The DNP achieved up to a 7,000% increase in MRI signal at an OX63 concentration of 1.5 mM compared with that under thermal equilibrium state. The extent of hyperpolarization is influenced mainly by the local concentration of OX63 and inversely by the tissue oxygen level. By collecting dynamic OMRI images at different hyperpolarization levels, local oxygen concentration and microvascular permeability of OX63 can be simultaneously determined. Application of this modality to murine tumors revealed that tumor regions with high vascular permeability were spatio-temporally coincident with hypoxia. Quantitative analysis of image data from individual animals showed an inverse correlation between tumor vascular leakage and median oxygen concentration. Immunohistochemical analyses of tumor tissues obtained from the same animals after OMRI experiments demonstrated that lack of integrity in tumor blood vessels was associated with increased tumor microvascular permeability. This dual imaging technique may be useful for the longitudinal assessment of changes in tumor vascular function and oxygenation in response to chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or antiangiogenic treatment.
Modelling rainfall interception by a lowland tropical rain forest in northeastern Puerto Rico

Recent surveys of tropical forest water use suggest that rainfall interception by the canopy is largest in wet maritime locations. To investigate the underlying processes at one such location—the Luquillo Experimental Forest in eastern Puerto Rico—66 days of detailed throughfall and above-canopy climatic data were collected in 1996 and analysed using the Rutter and Gash models of rainfall interception. Throughfall occurred on 80% of the days distributed over 80 rainfall events. Measured interception loss was 50% of gross precipitation. When Penman–Monteith based estimates for the wet canopy evaporation rate (0.11 mm h on average) and a canopy storage of 1.15 mm were used, both models severely underestimated measured interception loss. A detailed analysis of four storms using the Rutter model showed that optimizing the model for the wet canopy evaporation component yielded much better results than increasing the canopy storage capacity. However, the Rutter model failed to properly estimate throughfall amounts during an exceptionally large event. The analytical model, on the other hand, was capable of representing interception during the extreme event, but once again optimizing wet canopy evaporation rates produced a much better fit than optimizing the canopy storage capacity. As such, the present results support the idea that it is primarily a high rate of evaporation from a wet canopy that is responsible for the observed high interception losses. q 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
UPPAAL-based software-defined network verification

A lot of efforts were made in the last few years in the area of software-defined networks (SDN) - a special kind of computer networks in which the switching device control is fully centralized. This paper investigates the problems of formal description and verification of SDN as a real-time system. We provide a UML-based description of SDN, using the UML diagram editor Dia. To verify real-time properties of SDN, we use a well-known model-checking tool UPPAAL. The main result of the research is an approach for SDN verification, based on translation of SDN description into network of timed automata. Translation correctness is formalized and proved. A number of experiments were done to show that the approach can be used to verify real-time properties of SDN specified as TCTL formulae.
Helicobacter pylori infection detection from multiple x-ray images based on combination use of support vector machine and multiple kernel learning

This paper presents a detection method of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection from multiple gastric X-ray images based on combination use of Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Multiple Kernel Learning (MKL). The proposed method firstly computes some types of visual features from multiple gastric X-ray images taken in several specific directions in order to represent the characteristics of X-ray images with H. pylori infection. Second, based on the minimal-Redundancy-Maximal-Relevance algorithm, we select the effective features for H. pylori infection detection from each type of visual feature and all visual features. The selected features are used to train the SVM classifier and the MKL classifier for each direction of gastric X-ray images. Finally, the proposed method integrates multiple detection results based on a late fusion scheme considering the detection performance of each classifier. Experimental results obtained by applying the proposed method to real X-ray images prove its effectiveness.
Impact of Feeding on Contaminated Prey on the Life Parameters of Nesidiocoris Tenuis (Hemiptera: Miridae) Adults

Insecticide selectivity to natural enemies is an important concern in integrated pest management programs. Although there is a wide range of information concerning pesticide lethal and sublethal effects on contaminated surfaces, little is known when the route of exposure occurs at a trophic level. This study evaluates this route of pesticide intake on the omnivorous predator Nesidiocoris tenuis (Reuter) (Hemiptera: Miridae) for the first time. Under laboratory conditions, prey treated with six insecticides (flubendiamide, spirotetramat, deltamethrin, flonicamid, metaflumizone, and sulfoxaflor) were offered to N. tenuis adults for 3 days. Mortality (24, 48, and 72 h after treatment), offspring production (third until eighth day) and longevity were documented. Metaflumizone and sulfoxaflor were classified as moderately harmful products because although the percentage of mortality was only 28 and 36%, respectively, both products caused a severe decrease in offspring production and longevity. Flonicamid and flubendiamide were classified as slightly harmful products; although they did not have a lethal effect, sublethal impact was important on the parameters studied. Spirotetramat and deltamethrin were insecticides categorized as harmless. This information could be useful for selecting the most appropriate insecticides to control pests in tomato crops in which N. tenuis is a relevant biological control agent.
Synthesis and Mechanistic Studies of a Novel Homoisoflavanone Inhibitor of Endothelial Cell Growth

Preventing pathological ocular angiogenesis is key to treating retinopathy of prematurity, diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration. At present there is no small molecule drug on the market to target this process and hence there is a pressing need for developing novel small molecules that can replace or complement the present surgical and biologic therapies for these neovascular eye diseases. Previously, an antiangiogenic homoisoflavanone was isolated from the bulb of a medicinal orchid, Cremastra appendiculata. In this study, we present the synthesis of a novel homoisoflavanone isomer of this compound. Our compound, SH-11052, has antiproliferative activity against human umbilical vein endothelial cells, and also against more ocular disease-relevant human retinal microvascular endothelial cells (HRECs). Tube formation and cell cycle progression of HRECs were inhibited by SH-11052, but the compound did not induce apoptosis at effective concentrations. SH-11052 also decreased TNF-α induced p38 MAPK phosphorylation in these cells. Intriguingly, SH-11052 blocked TNF-α induced IκB-α degradation, and therefore decreased NF-κB nuclear translocation. It decreased the expression of NF-κB target genes and the pro-angiogenic or pro-inflammatory markers VCAM-1, CCL2, IL8, and PTGS2. In addition SH-11052 inhibited VEGF induced activation of Akt but not VEGF receptor autophosphorylation. Based on these results we propose that SH-11052 inhibits inflammation induced angiogenesis by blocking both TNF-α and VEGF mediated pathways, two major pathways involved in pathological angiogenesis. Synthesis of this novel homoisoflavanone opens the door to structure-activity relationship studies of this class of compound and further evaluation of its mechanism and potential to complement existing antiangiogenic drugs.
Brief alcohol screening and intervention for college students (BASICS): A German pilot study

Pilotstudie zur Ubertragbarkeit des alkoholbezogenen Screenings und Kurzintervention bei Studenten (BASICS) Fragestellung: Die deutsche Adaption der »Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students« (BASICS) und eine erste Machbarkeitsstudie werden vorgestellt. Methode: BASICS wurde ins Deutsche ubersetzt und angepasst. 21 Studenten, die im letzten Monat funf oder mehr alkoholische Getranke getrunken hatten (binge drinking), wurden zu einem einstundigen Gesprach eingeladen, das auf der Technik der Motivationalen Interviews basierte. Ergebnisse: BASICS wurde auf eine Sitzung gekurzt und deutschsprachige Screening-Instrumente integriert. Die Studenten beurteilten das Feedbackgesprach positiv. Es zeigten sich hinsichtlich des durchschnittlichen taglichen Alkoholkonsums signifikante Reduzierungen acht Wochen nach Ende der Intervention von 31,5 auf 9,6 Gramm reinen Alkohols. Binge drinking trat weiterhin auf. Schlussfolgerungen: Es scheint, dass.