Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mining Allocating Patterns in Investment Portfolios

An association rule (AR) is a common type of mined knowledge in data mining that describes an implicative co-occurring relationship between two sets of binary-valued transaction-database attributes, expressed in the form of an 〈antecedent〉 ⇒ 〈consequent〉 rule. A variation of ARs is the (WARs), which addresses the weighting issue in ARs. In this chapter, the authors introduce the concept of “one-sum” WAR and name such WARs as allocating patterns (ALPs). An algorithm is proposed to extract hidden and interesting ALPs from data. The authors further indicate that ALPs can be applied in portfolio management. Firstly by modelling a collection of investment portfolios as a one-sum weighted transaction-database that contains hidden ALPs. Secondly the authors show that ALPs, mined from the given portfolio-data, can be applied to guide future investment activities. The experimental results show good performance that demonstrates the effectiveness of using ALPs in the proposed application.
Successful single-dose teicoplanin prophylaxis against experimental streptococcal, enterococcal, and staphylococcal aortic valve endocarditis

Teicoplanin is a glycopeptide antibiotic that is administered both intramuscularly and intravenously. It has a prolonged half-life and a less toxic profile in comparison to those of vancomycin. The efficacy of a single dose of teicoplanin (18 mg/kg of body weight given intramuscularly) for the prevention of endocarditis due to Streptococcus oralis, Enterococcus faecium, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was evaluated after applying the rabbit model. Vancomycin at a single dose of 30 mg/kg given intravenously was used as the comparative agent for the prevention of endocarditis due to MRSA and E. faecium, while ampicillin at a single dose of 40 mg/kg given intravenously was used as the comparative agent for the prevention of endocarditis due to S. oralis. Rabbits in the teicoplanin group were infected at 1 h postdosing with approximately 10(7) CFU of each strain. Rabbits in the other groups were infected at 0.5 h postdosing with approximately 10(7) CFU of S. oralis (ampicillin group) or E. faecium and MRSA (vancomycin group). All rabbits were sacrificed 5 days later. Teicoplanin and vancomycin protected the animals challenged with E. faecium by 87.5 and 50%, respectively, and protected the animals challenged with MRSA by 100 and 92%, respectively. Teicoplanin and ampicillin protected the animals challenged with S. oralis by 100 and 77%, respectively. Prevention of endocarditis by teicoplanin was likely to be due to a prolonged inhibition of bacterial growth by the sustained supra-MICs. It is concluded that teicoplanin is very effective in preventing experimental streptococcal, enterococcal, and staphylococcal endocarditis and may be an attractive alternative antibiotic in patients allergic to beta-lactams, especially in the outpatient setting.
Electrochemical treatment of tannery effluent using a battery integrated DC-DC converter and solar PV power supply—An approach towards environment and energy management

Electrochemical oxidation of tannery effluent was carried out in batch, batch recirculation and continuous reactor configurations under different conditions using a battery-integrated DC-DC converter and solar PV power supply. The effect of current density, electrolysis time and fluid flow rate on chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal and energy consumption has been evaluated. The results of batch reactor show that a COD reduction of 80.85% to 96.67% could be obtained. The results showed that after 7 h of operation at a current density of 2.5 A dm−2 and flow rate of 100 L h−1 in batch recirculation reactor, the removal of COD is 82.14% and the specific energy consumption was found to be 5.871 kWh (kg COD)−1 for tannery effluent. In addition, the performance of single pass flow reactors (single and multiple reactors) system of various configurations are analyzed.
Partial Strake Coverage Vortex-Induced Vibration Benchmarking Using SHEAR7v4.5

A VIV benchmarking study was undertaken using SHEAR7v4.5 against NDP high mode VIV response laboratory data. The purpose of which was to derive an improved set of modeling parameters for partial strake coverage cases whilst not comprising previous accuracy of shear flow bare riser response predictions. Fifty percent (50%) partial strake coverage experimental data was utilized from both uniform and shear flow conditions while bare data was also included in the activity for reference purposes. The results showed that such an activity can derive an improved set of modeling parameters that significantly improve the ability to match experimental results and also highlight where future improvement efforts can be targeted.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
Popularity, Interoperability, and Impact of Programming Languages in 100,000 Open Source Projects

Programming languages have been proposed even before the era of the modern computer. As years have gone, computer resources have increased and application domains have expanded, leading to the proliferation of hundreds of programming languages, each attempting to improve over others or to address new programming paradigms. These languages range from procedural languages like C, object-oriented languages like Java, and functional languages such as ML and Haskell. Unfortunately, there is a lack of large scale and comprehensive studies that examine the "popularity", "interoperability", and "impact" of various programming languages. To fill this gap, this study investigates a hundred thousands of open source software projects from GitHub to answer various research questions on the "popularity", "interoperability" and "impact" of various languages measured in different ways (e.g., in terms of lines of code, development teams, issues, etc.).
STUDIES OF MOLECULAR INTERACTION IN ISOIONIC PROTEIN SOLUTIONS BY LIGHT-SCATTERING.

The technique of light-scattering has been extensively employed in recent years in physicochemical investigations of proteins in solution. ', 2 It is useful not only for the determination of molecular weights of macromolecules but also for the measurement of their thermodynamic interaction. The excess turbidity r, arising from composition fluctuations, in a solution of two components1 is related to the chemical potential 12 and molecular weight M2 of the solute in the following manner:
Removal of Ni (II) and Cu (II) from their Solutions and Waste Water by Nonliving Biomass of Pseudomonas oleovorans

The nonliving biomass of Pseudomonas oleovorans was used for the removal of Nickel and Copper from their single and binary solutions. The optimum conditions such as pH, initial metal ion concentration, contact time and biomass dose were determined experimentally. q max and ‘b’ values for Ni(II) were 95.6 mg/g and 0.010 and for Cu(II) 137.5 mg/g and 0.008 respectively. The removal of the metals was studied in binary metal systems also. The developed method was applied for the removal of the metals from the wastewater samples. The investigations on the speciation of the metals revealed that both Ni and Cu exist as hydrated Ni (II) and Cu (II) ions and precipitates of Ni(OH) 2 and Cu(OH) 2 at different pH ranges.
Identity-Based Determinants for Virtual Community Participation: Moderating Role of Gender Composition

Gender composition of VCs shapes the members’ communication style and content, and has a potential in influencing the anticipated benefits from VC participation. Extending prior research on VC participation and group composition, this study examines the moderating effect of gender composition in influencing the linkage between two important identity-based determinants, i.e., identification and identity confirmation, and VC participation. The research model was validated with an online survey involving 3 male dominant VCs and 1 female dominant VC. The results show that identification is a significant and stable determinant for members’ VC participation regardless of gender composition, but the effect of identity confirmation on VC participation is only significant for those in a female dominant VC. The theoretical and practical implications of the research are discussed.
Multimodal feedback fusion of laser, image and temporal information

In the present paper, we propose a highly accurate and robust people detector, which works well under highly variant and uncertain conditions, such as occlusions, false positives and false detections. These adverse conditions, which initially motivated this research, occur when a robotic platform navigates in an urban environment, and although the scope is originally within the robotics field, the authors believe that our contributions can be extended to other fields. To this end, we propose a multimodal information fusion consisting of laser and monocular camera information. Laser information is modelled using a set of weak classifiers (Adaboost) to detect people. Camera information is processed by using HOG descriptors to classify person/non person based on a linear SVM. A multi-hypothesis tracker trails the position and velocity of each of the targets, providing temporal information to the fusion, allowing recovery of detections even when the laser segmentation fails. Experimental results show that our feedback-based system outperforms previous state-of-the-art methods in performance and accuracy, and that near real-time detection performance can be achieved.
Exploring Self-training and Co-training for Dependency Parsing

We explore the effect of self-training and co-training on Hindi dependency parsing. We use Malt parser, which is a state-of-the-art Hindi dependency parser, and apply self-training using a large unannotated corpus. For co-training, we use MST parser with comparable accuracy to the Malt parser. Experiments are performed using two types of raw corpora— one from the same domain as the test data and another, which is out-of-domain from the test data. Through these experiments, we compare the impact of self-training and co-training on Hindi dependency parsing.
A spectrum auction strategy for multimedia stream in cognitive radio network

Research about multimedia streaming in cognitive radio network has become a hot issue recently. In order to enhance the throughput of real-time multimedia streaming and maximize the utility, we proposes a dynamic spectrum allocation strategy based on Qos-layering and auction theory (QLAS). In this strategy, we classify the secondary users according to the feature of data stream, and choose the optimal channel for every user. When the primary base station receives the access request, it chooses the winner based on auction theory and allocate spectrum to winners. Analysis and simulation result show that, this strategy can guarantee the heterogeneous requirements of heterogeneous SUs and improve the spectrum utilization.
Occupational exposure to magnetic fields and electric shocks and risk of ALS: The Swiss National Cohort

Abstract Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has been associated with exposures in so-called ‘electrical occupations’. It is unclear if this possible link may be explained by exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) or by electrical shocks. We evaluated ALS mortality in 2000–2008 and exposure to ELF-MF and electrical shocks in the Swiss National Cohort, using job exposure matrices for occupations at censuses 1990 and 2000. We compared 2.2 million workers with high or medium vs. low exposure to ELF-MF and electrical shocks using Cox proportional hazard models. Results showed that mortality from ALS was higher in people who had medium or high ELF-MF exposure in both censuses (HR 1.55 (95% CI 1.11–2.15)), but closer to unity for electrical shocks (HR 1.17 (95% CI 0.83–1.65)). When both exposures were included in the same model, the HR for ELF-MF changed little (HR 1.56), but the HR for electric shocks was attenuated to 0.97. In conclusion, there was an association between exposure to ELF-MF and mortality from ALS among workers with a higher likelihood of long-term exposure.
STUDIES OF THE CIRCULATION IN THE PRESENCE OF ABNORMAL CARDIAC RHYTHMS. OBSERVATIONS RELATING TO (PART I) RHYTHMS ASSOCIATED WITH RAPID VEN-TRICULAR RATE AND TO (PART II) RHYTHMS ASSOCIATED WITH SLOW VENTRICULAR RATE.

Since the function of the heart is that of a pump it is of interest both to physiologists as well as to those working in the clinic to know how it manages not only when it is beating regularly in a normal fashion but also how it performs this function when it is the subject of abnormalities in its rhythm. Stewart and his coworkers (1 to 6 inclusive) have reported the effects of artificially induced regular and irregular tachycardia on the blood flow and cardiac output of the heart of dogs. It appeared from these observations that the heart was less effective as a pump during these abnormal rhythms, since its minute volume output of blood was diminished. Dilatation of the heart was also observed. There has been no systematic study of the effect of cardiac irregularity on the volume output of blood from the heart in human beings. Observations relating to several of the irregularities are included in cases recorded by Starr and his associates (7, 8). Kerkof and Baumann (9, 10) have made observations on 4 patients suffering from mitral stenosis, first when they exhibited auricular fibrillation and later again after restoration of normal sinus rhythm. It was to contribute to our knowledge of the effects of abnormal rhythms on the circulation that studies were undertaken in patients exhibiting the irregularities of the heart that are most frequently encountered. Measurements were made
Effect of chemical treatment of fibers on the mechanical properties of polyethylene-wood fiber composites

—Linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) was reinforced with chemithermomechanical (CTMP) aspen fiber, wood flour, and cellulose flour. Wood fibers were treated with isocyanate or a vinylsilane coupling agent to improve the adhesion between the fiber and polymer. Composites were made at different weight percentages of the fiber. Improvement in the tensile strength was achieved when vinylsilane- or isocyanate-treated fibers were incorporated in the polymer. The tensile modulus remained relatively unaffected by the fiber treatment. The Izod-impact strength (un-notched) decreased at higher concentrations of the wood fiber in the composite. The tensile properties of the LLDPE-wood fiber composites compared favorably with mica and glass fiber reinforcement.
EVALUATING GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMMES : THE CASE OF MANUFACTURING EXTENSION

In 1994, federal and state governments in the United States spent approximately US$2 848 million on programmes designed to encourage businesses to discover, develop and adopt improved technologies and business practices, and this sum is growing. It is important to taxpayers and policy makers to see if these technology programmes have the desired impact and that this money is well spent. Unfortunately, very few programmes are ever credibly evaluated. This paper discusses the issues involved in evaluating such programmes in the context of reviewing recent efforts to evaluate a particular programme: Manufacturing Extension. While differences exist between this and other technology programmes, we believe that many of the lessons learned in evaluating manufacturing extension can be applied elsewhere.
Smart Grid Last-Mile Communications Model and Its Application to the Study of Leased Broadband Wired-Access

This paper addresses the modeling of specific Smart Grid (SG) communication requirements from a data networking research perspective, as a general approach to the study of different access technologies suitable for the last mile (LM). SGLM networks serve customers' Energy Services Interfaces. From functional descriptions of SG, a traffic model is developed. It is then applied to the study of an access architecture based on leased lines from local broadband access providers. This permits consideration of the potential starvation of domestic traffic, which is avoided by applying well-known traffic management techniques. From previous results obtained for a purpose-built WiMAX SGLM network, the intuition that a leased broadband access yields lower latencies is verified. In general, the proposed traffic model simplifies the design of benchmarks for the comparison of candidate access technologies.
Monis Akhlaq , M Noman Jafri , Muzammil A Khan

The Ad Hoc on demand distance vector (AODV) routing protocol is designed for mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). AODV offers quick adaptation to dynamic link conditions; it is characterized by low memory overhead and low network utilization. The security issues related to the protocol remain challenging for the wireless network designers. Numerous schemes have been proposed for establishing secure communication between end users, these schemes identify that the secure operation of AODV is a bi tier task (routing and secure exchange of information at separate levels). Our endeavor in this paper would focus on achieving the routing and secure data exchange in a single step. This will facilitate the user nodes to perform routing, mutual authentications, generation and secure exchange of session key in one step thus ensuring confidentiality, integrity and authentication of data exchange in a more suitable way. Keywords—AODV, key management, security, wireless networks.
Anti-GITR Agonist Therapy Intrinsically Enhances CD8 T Cell Responses to Chronic Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus (LCMV), Thereby Circumventing LCMV-Induced Downregulation of Costimulatory GITR Ligand on APC

The costimulatory TNFR family member GITR can provide important survival signals for CD8 T cells. However, little is known about the regulation of this pathway during a chronic infection. In this study, we show that GITR ligand (GITRL) is maximally induced on APCs at day 2 post–lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) clone 13 infection, but is downregulated to below baseline levels by day 8 postinfection (p.i.), and remains so at the chronic stage of infection. At its peak, GITRL expression is highest on macrophages, with lower expression on conventional and plasmacytoid dendritic cells. GITR expression was highest on T regulatory cells but was also detected on Th1 and LCMV-specific CD8 T cells at day 8 p.i. and was maintained at low, but above baseline levels at the chronic stage of LCMV infection. As GITRL was limiting at the chronic stage of infection, we investigated the potential of therapeutic stimulation of GITR at this stage using agonistic anti-GITR Ab. Anti-GITR treatment at day 21 p.i. increased the frequency and number of LCMV-specific CD8 T cells, resulting in increased in vivo CTL activity and a concomitant decrease in viral load, despite the persistence of PD-1 expression. These effects of anti-GITR were CD8 T cell intrinsic, with no detectable effects on Th1 or T regulatory cells. In contrast to other TNFR agonists, such as anti–4-1BB, which can cause immune pathology, a single therapeutic dose of anti-GITR did not induce splenomegaly or increase serum alanine transaminase. These studies identify GITR as a promising therapeutic target for chronic infection.
Social support from family and friends as a buffer of low spousal support among mothers of critically ill children: A multilevel modeling approach.

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether social support from family and friends (family/friend support) attenuated ("buffered") adverse effects of having low spouse support (spousal support) among mothers of children undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). DESIGN One hundred sixty-three married mothers who were their child's primary caregiver during treatment completed assessments during the child's hospitalization for HSCT and 3-, 6-, and 12-months post-HSCT. MEASURES Family/friend support and spousal support were assessed during hospitalization. Maternal physical and mental health-related functioning (the main outcome measures) were assessed at all timepoints. RESULTS Multilevel modeling was used to analyze trajectories of maternal functioning. Findings indicated that mothers with low spousal support and low family/friend support demonstrated the worst functioning across all timepoints. Mothers with low spousal support and high family/friend support demonstrated significantly better functioning, supporting the hypothesized buffering effect. Their functioning compared to the functioning of mothers with high spousal support. Moreover, mothers with high family/friend support demonstrated trajectories of physical health-related functioning that were more stable than the trajectories of mothers with low family/friend support. CONCLUSION These findings have clinical implications in addition to advancing knowledge of social support processes among couples coping with the shared stressor of a child's life-threatening illness and treatment.
Hierarchical Bayesian classifiers optimized towards handwritten digit recognition

Pattern recognition using statistical models such as Dynamic Bayesian Networks (DBNs) is currently a growing area of study. The classification performances typically greatly rely on the adequation between the data and a DBN model, the latter having to best describe the dependencies in each class of data. In this paper, we present a new approach based on optimising the sequences and layout of observations of DBN models in a hierarchical Bayesian framework, applied to the classification of handwritten digit. Classification results are presented for the described models, and compared with previously published results from probabilistic models. The new approach was found to improve the recognition rate compared to previous results, and is more suitable for applications were a high speed in the recognition phase is important.
Expressiveness of XSDs: from practice to theory, there and back again

On an abstract level, XML Schema increases the limited expressive power of Document Type Definitions (DTDs) by extending them with a recursive typing mechanism. However, an investigation of the XML Schema Definitions (XSDs) occurring in practice reveals that the vast majority of them are structurally equivalent to DTDs. This might be due to the complexity of the XML Schema specification and the difficulty to understand the effect of constraints on typing and validation of schemas. To shed some light on the actual expressive power of XSDs this paper studies the impact of the Element Declarations Consistent (EDC) and the Unique Particle Attribution (UPA) rule. An equivalent formalism based on contextual patterns rather than on recursive types is proposed which might serve as a light-weight front end for XML Schema. Finally, the effect of EDC and UPA on the way XML documents can be typed is discussed. It is argued that a cleaner, more robust, stronger but equally efficient class is obtained by replacing EDC and UPA with the notion of 1-pass preorder typing: schemas that allow to determine the type of an element of a streaming document when its opening tag is met. This notion can be defined in terms of restrained competition regular expressions and there is again an equivalent syntactical formalism based on contextual patterns.