Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimal Limit-Cycle Control recast as Bayesian Inference

Abstract We introduce an algorithm that generates an optimal controller for stochastic nonlinear problems with a periodic solution, e.g. locomotion. Uniquely, the quantity we approximate is neither the Value nor Policy functions, but rather the stationary state-distribution of the optimally-controlled process. We recast the control problem as Bayesian inference over a graphical model with a ring topology. The posterior approximates the controlled stationary distribution with local gaussians along the optimal limit-cycle. Linear-feedback gains and open-loop controls are extracted from the covariances and the means, respectively. Complexity scales linearly or quadratically with the state dimension, depending on the dynamics approximation. We demonstrate our algorithm on a toy 2-dimensional problem and then on a challenging 23-dimensional simulated walking robot.
SFinGe : an Approach to Synthetic Fingerprint Generation

This paper describes SFinGe, a method for generating synthetic fingerprints on the basis of some mathematical models that describe the main features of real fingerprints. The synthetic images are randomly generated according to few given parameters. SFinGe captures the variability which characterizes the acquisition of fingerprints through on-line sensors and uses a sequence of steps to derive a series of “impressions” of the same “artificial finger”. The approach is able to generate very realistic fingerprints, which can be useful for performance evaluation, training and testing of fingerprint-based systems.
Optimal Gaussian filtering for polynomial systems applied to association-free multi-target tracking

This paper is about tracking multiple targets with the so-called Symmetric Measurement Equation (SME) filter. The SME filter uses symmetric functions, e.g., symmetric polynomials, in order to remove the data association uncertainty from the measurement equation. By this means, the data association problem is converted to a nonlinear state estimation problem. In this work, an efficient optimal Gaussian filter based on analytic moment calculation for discrete-time multi-dimensional polynomial systems corrupted with Gaussian noise is derived, and then applied to the polynomial system resulting from the SME filter. The performance of the new method is compared to an UKF implementation by means of typcial multiple target tracking scenarios.
Decentralized dynamic resource management support for massively parallel processor arrays

This paper presents a hardware-supported resource management methodology for massively parallel processor arrays. It enables processing elements to autonomously explore resource availability in their neighborhood. To support resource exploration, we introduce specialized controllers, which can be attached to each of the processing elements. We propose different types of architectures for the exploration controller: fast FSM-based designs as well as flexible programmable controllers. These controllers allow to implement different distributed resource exploration strategies in order to enable parallel programs the exploration and reservation of available resources according to different application requirements. Hardware cost evaluations show that the cost of the simplest implementation of our programmable controller is comparable to our FSM-based implementations, while offering the flexibility for implementing different exploration strategies. We show that the proposed distributed approach can achieve a significant speedup in comparison with centralized resource exploration methods.
Evidence-based Anomaly Detection in Clinical Domains

Anomaly detection methods can be very useful in identifying interesting or concerning events. In this work, we develop and examine new probabilistic anomaly detection methods that let us evaluate management decisions for a specific patient and identify those decisions that are highly unusual with respect to patients with the same or similar condition. The statistics used in this detection are derived from probabilistic models such as Bayesian networks that are learned from a database of past patient cases. We evaluate our methods on the problem of detection of unusual hospitalization patterns for patients with community acquired pneumonia. The results show very encouraging detection performance with 0.5 precision at 0.53 recall and give us hope that these techniques may provide the basis of intelligent monitoring systems that alert clinicians to the occurrence of unusual events or decisions.
Peri-operative complications and hematologic improvement after first-line splenectomy for splenic marginal zone lymphoma

Giacomo Pata, Enrico Damiani, Michele Bartoli, Stefano Solari, Antonella Anastasia, Chiara Pagani, Alessandra Tucci & Fulvio Ragni Department of Medical & Surgical Sciences, 2nd Division of General Surgery, Brescia Civic Hospital, Brescia, Italy, Department of Medical & Surgical Sciences, 2nd Division of General Surgery, University of Brescia School of Medicine, Brescia, Italy, Division of Hematology, Brescia Civic Hospital, Brescia, Italy, and Division of Hematology, University of Brescia School of Medicine, Brescia, Italy
Increased activated memory B-cells in the peripheral blood of patients with erythema nodosum leprosum reactions

B-cells, in addition to antibody secretion, have emerged increasingly as effector and immunoregulatory cells in several chronic inflammatory diseases. Although Erythema Nodosum Leprosum (ENL) is an inflammatory complication of leprosy, the role of B- cell subsets has never been studied in this patient group. Therefore, it would be interesting to examine the contribution of B-cells in the pathogenesis of ENL. A case-control study design was used to recruit 30 untreated patients with ENL and 30 non-reactional lepromatous leprosy (LL) patient controls at ALERT Hospital, Ethiopia. Peripheral blood samples were obtained before, during and after treatment from each patient. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated and used for immunophenotyping of B- cell subsets by flow cytometry. The kinetics of B-cells in patients with ENL before, during and after Prednisolone treatment of ENL was compared with LL patient controls as well as within ENL group. Total B-cells, mature B-cells and resting memory B-cells were not significantly different between patients with ENL reactions and LL controls before treatment. Interestingly, while the percentage of naive B-cells was significantly lower in untreated ENL patients than in LL patient controls, the percentage of activated memory B-cells was significantly higher in these untreated ENL patients than in LL controls. On the other hand, the percentage of tissue-like memory B-cells was considerably low in untreated ENL patients compared to LL controls. It appears that the lower frequency of tissue-like memory B-cells in untreated ENL could promote the B-cell/T-cell interaction in these patients through downregulation of inhibitory molecules unlike in LL patients. Conversely, the increased production of activated memory B-cells in ENL patients could imply the scale up of immune activation through antigen presentation to T-cells. However, the generation and differential function of these memory B-cells need further investigation. The finding of increased percentage of activated memory B-cells in untreated patients with ENL reactions suggests the association of these cells with the ENL pathology. The mechanism by which inflammatory reactions like ENL affecting these memory cells and contributing to the disease pathology is an interesting area to be explored for and could lead to the development of novel and highly efficacious drug for ENL treatment.
Causality in a hierarchical group

In this paper we discuss a hierarchical group of processes to support hundreds of processes. Each subgroup has gateway processes which communicate with other subgroups. Processes and gateway processes in each subgroup are locally supported with causally ordered delivery of messages by some mechanism like vector clock. Even if messages are locally causally ordered in a subgroup, the messages may not be globally causally ordered in the group. We discuss how global causality of messages among a pair of processes is related with local causalities of the messages in subgroups. In addition, we present a protocol to causally deliver messages through subgroups that are hierarchically structured.
Temporal data mining and process mining techniques to identify cardiovascular risk-associated clinical pathways in Type 2 diabetes patients

In this work we present the results of a workflow mining approach to analyze complex temporal datasets of Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) patients. The research has been performed within the EU project MOSAIC, which gathers T2D patients' data coming from three European hospitals and a local health care agency. The main idea underlying our approach is to use a suite of temporal data mining methods in order to derive healthcare pathways. The approach starts by processing raw data, derived from heterogeneous data sources, and create event logs, which contain meaningful healthcare activities. Once event logs have been obtained and tasks and transitions defined, it is possible to explore how state-of-art process mining techniques can be used to gain insights into T2D patients care. In the experimental section of this paper we illustrate the results of this approach applied to an integrated data repository containing clinical and administrative data of 1,020 T2D patients.
Isolation and properties of auxotrophic mutants of Mycobacterium smegmatis requiring either salicylic acid or mycobactin.

SUMMARY: A mutant of Mycobacterium smegmatis required 3 to 4 μg salicylate, or certain other phenolic acids/ml to restore optimal growth. Iron-deficient growth did not increase the requirement for salicylate. Salicylate, but not a salicylate-substitute was incorporated solely into mycobactin S. Mycobactin S was absorbed by growing bacteria but it did not substitute or spare the requirement for salicylate. Another mutant has been produced which required about 0.2 μg desferrimycobactin S/ml to restore growth under iron-deficient conditions. Salicylate, citrate, cobactin S with mycobactic acid S or Tween 80 did not substitute for mycobactin, but iron at 2 or more μg/ml permitted growth without mycobactin. Under these growth conditions the mycobactin requirement would be minute and some synthesis or carry-over during inoculation cannot be eliminated as a source of mycobactin. Salicylate and mycobactin were thus both required for growth.
Missing Values in Hierarchical Nonlinear Factor Analysis

The properties of hierarchical nonlinear factor analysis (HNFA) recently introduced by Valpola and others [3] are studied by reconstructing values. The variational Bayesian learning algorithm for HNFA has linear computational complexity and is able to infer the structure of the model in addition to estimating the parameters. To compare HNFA with other methods, we continued the experiments with speech spectrograms in [1] comparing nonlinear factor analysis (NFA) with linear factor analysis (FA) and with the self-organising map. Experiments suggest that HNFA lies between FA and NFA in handling nonlinear problems. Furthermore, HNFA gives better reconstructions than FA and it is more reliable than NFA. Introduction •Assume data X to be a set of real valued vectors •Missing values are components of the data that are not observed –Example: supervised learning can be seen as reconstructing missing values Training data data Test Supervised learning Desired outputs Data Unsupervised learning with missing values
An innovative approach for identifying boundaries of a basin of attraction for a dynamical system using Monte Carlo techniques and Lyapunov exponents

Stability analysis of nonlinear dynamical systems involves identifying the basins of attraction (BoA) of attractors which is a challenging task. The research on this topic can be categorized into three groups: Non-Lyapunov-based, Lyapunov-function-based, and Lyapunov-exponents-based methods. Non-Lyapunov-based methods have low computational load, but their predictability is low. Lyapunov-function-based methods have strong mathematical background, but not only are not exclusive about the BoA, but also are not feasible for most of the real world applications. Lyapunov-exponents-based methods are capable of performing the task for highly complex systems. However, their computational load is high. In this paper a novel approach is introduced which employs Lyapunov exponents, to benefit from its advantages, and Monte Carlo techniques to reduce the load of computations. The method is demonstrated by two illustrative examples.
A Text Mining Approach for Automatic Classification Of Web Pages

Today the web contains a huge amount of information provided as html and xml pages and their number is growing rapidly with expansion of the web. In Web text mining, the text extraction and filtering of extracted content is the foundation of text mining. Automatic Classification of text is a semi-supervised machine learning task that automatically classify a given document to a set of pre-defined categories based on its features and text content. This paper explains a generic strategy for automatic classification of web pages that deals with unstructured and semi-structured text. This work classified the datasets into different labeled classes using kNN and Naive Bayesian classification techniques. The experimental evaluation concluded that kNN has better accuracy, precision and recall value as compared to Naive Bayesian classification. This paper presents a unified approach that is able to provide robust classification and validation of web pages to different categories.
A strategy to manage time sensitive traffic in infiniband

The InfiniBand Architecture (IBA) is becoming an industry standard both for communication between processing nodes and I/O devices and for interprocessor communication. It replaces the traditional I/O bus with a switch-based interconnect for connecting processing nodes and I/O devices. It is being developed by the InfiniBandSM Trade Association (IBTA) to provide the levels of reliability, availability, performance, scalability, and quality of service (QoS) necessary for present and future server systems. For this, IBA provides a series of mechanisms that are able to guarantee QoS to the applications.In [1, 2], we proposed a strategy to compute the Infini-Band arbitration tables. We only evaluated our proposal for traffic with bandwidth requirements. In this paper, we propose and evaluate a strategy to compute the InfiniBand arbitration tables for traffic with bandwidth and delay requirements, which is a more complex task. Performance results show that, with a correct treatment of each traffic class in the arbitration of the output port, both traffic classes (with just bandwidth requirements and with bandwidth and delay requirements) meet their QoS requirements.
Detoxification of Formaldehyde by the Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum L.) and by Soybean (Glycine max L.) Cell-Suspension Cultures

The phytotoxicity of formaldehyde for spider plants (Chlorophytum comosum L.), tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv Bel B and Bel W3), and soybean (Glycine max L.) cell-suspension cultures was found to be low enough to allow metabolic studies. Spider plant shoots were exposed to 7.1 [mu]L L-1 (8.5 mg m-3) gaseous [14C]-formaldehyde over 24 h. Approximately 88% of the recovered radioactivity was plant associated and was found to be incorporated into organic acids, amino acids, free sugars, and lipids as well as cell-wall components. Similar results were obtained upon feeding [14C]formaldehyde from aqueous solution to aseptic soybean cell-suspension cultures. Serine and phosphatidylcholine were identified as major metabolic products. Spider plant enzyme extracts contained two NAS+-dependent formaldehyde dehydrogenase activities with molecular mass values of about 129 and 79 kD. Only the latter enzyme activity required glutathione as an obligatory second cofactor. It had an apparent Km value of 30 [mu]M for formaldehyde and an isoelectric point at pH 5.4. Total cell-free dehydrogenase activity corresponded to 13 [mu]g formaldehyde oxidized h-1 g-1 leaf fresh weight. Glutathione-dependent formaldehyde dehydrogenases were also isolated from shoots and leaves of Equisetum telmateia and from cell-suspension cultures of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and maize (Zea mays L.). The results obtained are consistent with the concept of indoor air decontamination with common room plants such as the spider plant. Formaldehyde appears to be efficiently detoxified by oxidation and subsequent C1 metabolism.
Loss of RasGAP Tumor Suppressors Underlies the Aggressive Nature of Luminal B Breast Cancers.

Luminal breast cancers are typically estrogen receptor-positive and generally have the best prognosis. However, a subset of luminal tumors, namely luminal B cancers, frequently metastasize and recur. Unfortunately, the causal events that drive their progression are unknown, and therefore it is difficult to identify individuals who are likely to relapse and should receive escalated treatment. Here, we identify a bifunctional RasGAP tumor suppressor whose expression is lost in almost 50% of luminal B tumors. Moreover, we show that two RasGAP genes are concomitantly suppressed in the most aggressive luminal malignancies. Importantly, these genes cooperatively regulate two major oncogenic pathways, RAS and NF-κB, through distinct domains, and when inactivated drive the metastasis of luminal tumors in vivo Finally, although the cooperative effects on RAS drive invasion, NF-κB activation triggers epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and is required for metastasis. Collectively, these studies reveal important mechanistic insight into the pathogenesis of luminal B tumors and provide functionally relevant prognostic biomarkers that may guide treatment decisions. SIGNIFICANCE The lack of insight into mechanisms that underlie the aggressive behavior of luminal B breast cancers impairs treatment decisions and therapeutic advances. Here, we show that two RasGAP tumor suppressors are concomitantly suppressed in aggressive luminal B tumors and demonstrate that they drive metastasis by activating RAS and NF-κB. Cancer Discov; 7(2); 202-17. ©2016 AACR.See related commentary by Sears and Gray, p. 131This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 115.
Hierarchical structure in phonographic market

I find a topological arrangement of assets traded in a phonographic market which has associated a meaningful economic taxonomy. I continue using the Minimal Spanning Tree and the Life-time Of Correlations between assets, but now outside the stock markets. This is the first attempt to use these methods on phonographic market where we have artists instead of stocks. The value of an artist is defined by record sales. The graph is obtained starting from the matrix of correlations coefficient computed between the world's most popular 30 artists by considering the synchronous time evolution of the difference of the logarithm of weekly record sales. This method provides the hierarchical structure of phonographic market and information on which music genre is meaningful according to customers.
Human adenovirus type 9-induced rat mammary tumors

Following subcutaneous inoculation of newborn Wistar-Furth rats with human adenovirus type 9 (Ad9), 16 of 16 female and 0 of 11 male rats developed mammary tumors. Tumor-positive animals usually developed tumors in multiple glands. Histopathological analyses indicated that three general categories of tumor could be identified. Mammary fibroadenomas were the most common tumor type encountered, but phyllodeslike tumors and solid sarcomas were also frequently found. In situ hybridization and immunohistochemical techniques established that benign fibroadenomas were derived from mammary fibroblasts (collagen type I- and vimentin-positive cells) and that malignant tumors were derived from myoepithelial cells (collagen type IV-, vimentin-, and muscle-specific actin-positive cells). The fact that mammary tumors were limited to female rats suggested that female hormones are essential for tumor growth and development. In this regard, ovariectomy of Ad9-infected female rats prevented tumor development, while subsequent diethylstilbestrol (DES) treatment elicited tumor formation. In addition, Ad9-infected and castrated male rats which received DES also developed mammary tumors. Established male mammary tumors regressed when DES treatment was stopped and reappeared after DES treatment was resumed. Together, these results indicate that estrogen is required for both initiation and maintenance of Ad9-induced mammary tumors. Southern blot analysis of high-molecular-weight tumor DNA showed that mammary tumor cells contained single or multiple integrated copies of the entire Ad9 genome. RNase protection experiments established that estrogen receptor as well as Ad9 E1a and E4 mRNAs were expressed in mammary tumors, but Ad9 E3 and, surprisingly, E1b mRNAs were not expressed at detectable levels.
Three‐dimensional analysis of intracycle velocity fluctuations in frontcrawl swimming

The purpose of this study was to determine accurately the magnitude and changes of intra‐cycle velocity fluctuation (Vfluc), maximum (Vmax) and minimum velocity (Vmin) of the center of mass during a maximum 200 m frontcrawl swim, and to examine whether they are associated with performance. Performance was indicated by the mean velocity (Vmean) of the stroke cycle (SC) in the swimming direction. The relative Vfluc, Vmax and Vmin were also calculated as a percentage of Vmean, while Vfluc was calculated for all three directions. Eleven male swimmers of national/international level participated in this study and their performance was recorded with four below‐ and two above‐water‐synchronized cameras. Four SCs were analyzed for the 200 m swim (one for each 50 m). Anthropometric data were calculated by the elliptical zone method. Vmean generally decreased throughout the test. Vmax and Vmin were positively correlated to performance and were significantly higher in SC1 than in the other SCs. However, the relative Vmax and Vmin values were remarkably consistent during the 200 m and not associated with performance. Despite the noteworthy magnitude of Vfluc in all directions, they were in general not correlated with performance and there were no significant changes during the test.