Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Toward Learning and Mining from Uncertain Time-Series Data for Activity Prediction

Prediction of human activities is important in a wide variety of fields. However, developing activity predictors that work well with the uncertainties surrounding activity data is a challenging task. In this paper, we present activity prediction algorithms that are designed to form accurate predictions in this environment by analyzing the task in the context of time-series mining techniques. We explore factors that contribute to activity data uncertainty and discuss metrics that can be used to evaluate prediction performance. We evaluate our methods using activity data from 24 physical smart home testbeds and demonstrate that they can achieve reasonable accuracy. We also describe the results of a pilot study using our predictors in an activity prompting app and explore how data variations affect user experience.
Synchronization as adjustment of information rates: detection from bivariate time series.

An information-theoretic approach for studying synchronization phenomena in experimental bivariate time series is presented. "Coarse-grained" information rates are introduced and their ability to indicate generalized synchronization as well as to establish a "direction of information flow" between coupled systems, i.e., to discern the driving from the driven (response) system, is demonstrated using numerically generated time series from unidirectionally coupled chaotic systems. The method introduced is then applied in a case study of electroencephalogram recordings of an epileptic patient. Synchronization events leading to seizures have been found on two levels of organization of brain tissues and "directions of information flow" among brain areas have been identified. This allows localization of the primary epileptogenic areas, also confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging and pasitron emission tomography scans.
MicroRNA‐126 regulates EPCs function: Implications for a role of miR‐126 in preeclampsia

Preeclampsia is a specific vascular complication in pregnancy, which has a pathophysiology of altered endothelial homeostasis. There is extensive evidence that endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) dysfunction underlies the endothelial cells loss that occurs during preeclampsia. MicroRNA‐126 (miR‐126), an angiogenesis‐related miRNA, has been shown to have potential angiogenic effects both in cultured endothelial cells in vitro and ischemia‐induced angiogenesis in vivo. However, whether miR‐126 has therapeutic potential in placental vasculogenesis of preeclampsia remains unclear. In this report, we analyzed the EPCs number and expression of miR‐126 in patients with preeclampsia, then investigated the effects of miR‐126 on EPCs function and rat placenta by employing up‐regulation and down‐regulation strategies. We confirmed that miR‐126 enhanced EPCs proliferation, differentiation and migration. However, a strong reduction in EPCs function was observed in vitro after miR‐126 inhibitor transfection. MiR‐126 exerts pro‐angiogenic functions by suppressing the synthetize of antiangiogenic factors PIK3R2. Similar to miR‐126 overexpression, PIK3R2 downregulation promoted EPCs function. In pregnant rats, we also found that miR‐126 increased vascular sprouting, placenta and fetus weights. These findings suggest that miR‐126 is essential for angiogenic properties of EPCs in vitro and placental vasculogenesis in vivo, providing basis for an alternative therapeutic approach in patients with preeclampsia. J. Cell. Biochem. 114: 2148–2159, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Intelligent controllers as hierarchical stochastic automata

This paper introduces a design methodology for intelligent controllers, based on a hierarchical linguistic model of command translation by tasks-primitive tasks-primitive actions, and on a two-stage hierarchical learning stochastic automaton that models the translation interfaces of a three-level hierarchical intelligent controller. The methodology relies on the designer's a priori knowledge on how to implement by primitive actions the different primitive tasks which define the intelligent controller. A cost function applicable to any primitive task is introduced and used to learn on-line the optimal choices from the corresponding predesigned sets of primitive actions. The same concept applies to the optimal tasks for each command, whose choice is based on conflict sets of stochastic grammar productions. Optional designs can be compared using this performance measure. A particular design evolves towards the command translation (by tasks-primitive tasks-primitive actions) that minimizes the cost function.
A linkage disequilibrium study of bipolar disorder and microsatellite markers on 22q13

Bipolar disorder is a major psychiatric disorder characterized by extreme mood states that alternate between mania and depression. Family, twin, and adoption studies indicate a genetic component to the disease, but the etiology is suspected to be complex, with multiple genes contributing to an increased susceptibility to the disorder. We have previously reported a genome scan in which a genome-wide maximum LOD score indicated evidence of linkage at the marker D22S278 at 22q13. This area is of particular interest since it is also implicated in schizophrenia, and thus may harbor a susceptibility gene common to both disorders. In our further efforts to fine map this region, we examined 10 microsatellite markers spanning an interval of 2.3 MB in a set of 142 parent–proband triads. Linkage disequilibrium to illness was tested using the Transmission Disequilibrium Test. Haplotypes were determined and marker-to-marker linkage disequilibrium across the region was examined. D22S281 and D22S685 yielded suggestive evidence of linkage disequilibrium to bipolar disorder (empirical P values of 0.023 and 0.036, respectively), but a marker-to-marker analysis indicates that a higher density screen is needed to adequately analyze this region.
Investor Education and Portfolio Diversification on the Stock Market

This study analyses how the educational characteristics affect investorsâ€™ portfolio diversification on the stock market. I use a unique dataset from the Tallinn stock exchange, covering stock market transactions of a full business cycle from 2004 to 2012, with an official educational dataset. Having controlled for gender, age, wealth and investor trading behaviour, I provide empirical evidence that investors with higher academic education and top results in national high school exams in mathematics, mother tongue and geography hold more diversified portfolios. In addition, investors holding a degree in natural sciences, mathematics or statistics hold more diversified portfolios compared to investors with no such educational characteristics. Furthermore, investors with poor results in their mathematics and mother tongue exams and investors with no academic university degree hold less diversified portfolios. Analysing investorsâ€™ risk-adjusted performance reveals that higher portfolio diversification is significant factor contributing to higher returns on the stock market.
Black-box modelling of conducted electromagnetic immunity by support vector machines

A concept of modelling electromagnetic immunity (EMI) of integrated circuits (IC) by using support vector machines (SVM) is presented. The problem of detecting, modelling and predicting failure of the integrated circuit operation due to the conducted electromagnetic interferences according to IEC 62132-4 standard is transformed into the classification problem solved by SVM. As a electronic circuit test case, the conducted EMI model of local interconnect network (LIN) interface circuit is presented.
Analysis of Gene Ontology Features in Microarray Data Using the Proteome BioKnowledge® Library

Microarray technology has resulted in an explosion of complex, valuable data. Integrating data analysis tools with a comprehensive underlying database would allow efficient identification of common properties among differentially regulated genes. In this study we sought to compare the utility of various databases in microarray analysis. The Proteome BioKnowledge Library (BKL), a manually curated, proteome-wide compilation of the scientific literature, was used to generate a list of Gene Ontology (GO) Biological Process (BP) terms enriched among proteins involved in cardiovascular disease. Analysis of DNA microarray data generated in a study of rat vascular smooth muscle cell responses revealed significant enrichment in a number of GO BPs that were also enriched among cardiovascular disease-related proteins. Using annotation from LocusLink and chip annotation from the Gene Expression Omnibus yielded fewer enriched cardiovascular disease-associated GO BP terms. Data sets of orthologous genes from mouse and human were generated using the BKL Retriever. Analysis of these sets focusing on BKL Disease annotation, revealed a significant association of these genes with cardiovascular disease. These results and the extensive presence of experimental evidence for BKL GO and Disease features, underscore the benefits of using this database for microarray analysis.
Impact of Free Cash Flow on Profitability of Firms Listed in Karachi Stock Exchange

The discourse objective of this research was to determine the impact of free cash flows on the profitability of firms listed at the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE). The population consisted of 580 companies listed in KSE as on March 7 th , 2015. A stratified sampling method was used to pick a sample of 30 companies listed at KSE. Data were collected from financial statements and published accounts. The amount of free cash flows that was available per year was used. Secondary data were extracted from audited annual reports and financial statements of firms sourced from KSE for a period of five years (2010 – 2014). Data were sorted, cleaned and coded, and then entered into statistical package for social science (SPSS). Data was of quantitative nature. So, data analysis was done by using correlation and regression model. The results revealed that free cash flow and size of firm influence firms’ profitability while capital liquidity does not influence much on dependent variable profitability. This research will be useful since it will add more knowledge on the influence of excess cash on profitability of those firms which are listed at the KSE. Foreign and local investors would be able to get deep insights on the effect of free cash flow on investment while considering investment decisions and diversification for portfolios to increase profitability.
adenoid and tonsils hypertrophy − symptoms and treatment

Introduction. Adenoid and tonsil hypertrophy is widespread in the pediatric population, affecting primarily younger children, aged 3 to 6 years. in 1884, a German pathologist, von Waldeyer-hartz, first described clusters of lymphoid tissue in mucosa of the throat, which he named facial lymphatic ring, known today as Waldeyer’s tonsillar ring. Waldeyer’s ring plays a significant role in the development of immune response by allowing the contact of the immune system with multiple antigens and thus, enabling the development of the specific immunological response. the main points of contact of the body with the external environment are the mucous membranes of the digestive and respiratory systems. Waldeyer’s ring, being at the opening of both systems, has a particular role in the development of immune response, especially during the first years of life. Aim. the aim of the study was to analyze the symptoms presented by children hospitalized in the Clinic of pediatric otolaryngology of the medical University of Warsaw that had been qualified for the surgical removal of the adenoid and/or tonsils. Material and methods. All the patients underwent physical examination, and filled in a survey. the study included 59 hospitalized patients, 2 of which refused to disclose the symptoms associated with adenoid and tonsil hypertrophy that was diagnosed in them. Results. the study involved 59 children aged from 2 to 13 years old. the mean age was 6.2 years. the patients were qualified for adenoidectomy or adenotonsillotomy. in 26 cases, at least one of the parents of the patient smoked in the presence of the child. 28 patients reported nasal obstruction, and 29 denied such symptoms. As many as 41 patients (71.9%) reported snoring during sleep. 45 patients (78.9%) breathed through the mouth. Based on the medical history collected from the parents, 22 patients (37.3%) had upper respiratory tract infection at least once a month, 7 patients – every two weeks, 9 – every two months, 15 – every three months, 5 – every 6 months, and one – once a year. Conclusions. 1. the most common symptom in pediatric patients with adenoid and tonsil hypertrophy is snoring. 2. 1/3 of the children with enlarged tonsils is diagnosed with allergies. 3. Almost 45% of children with hypertrophy of the tonsils are exposed to tobacco smoke. 4. Children with enlarged tonsils have upper respiratory tract infections on average once a month.
Research on the Influence of Government Subsidy and R&D Investment on Enterprise Innovation Performance: Based on the Empirical Evidence of New Energy Automotive Industry Listed Companies in China

This paper empirically explores relationships of the government subsidy, R&D investment and innovation performance in new energy vehicle industries. Surrounding a series of problems took place at present, such as cheating of subsidy, and influence of subsidy between R&D and innovation performance. This paper takes the listed companies of new energy automobile stocks as the research object, and analyzes the impact of government subsidies and R&D investment on enterprise innovation performance. The results show that the phenomenon of cheating is obvious in private enterprises, the impact of government subsidy on innovation performance is inverted "U", and different subsidies have different impacts on innovation performance.
Strategic Media Venturing: Corporate Venture Capital Approaches of TIME Incumbents

ABSTRACT Media firms act in rapidly changing and converging environments characterized by new entrants and increasing competition from related industries. As a reaction to this, the incumbents of the telecommunication, information technology, consumer electronics, media, and entertainment industry have increased their corporate venture capital activities. Corporate venture capital activities are a popular approach for gaining access to new innovative ideas and opportunities. Despite this practical relevance, the theoretical underpinning of corporate venture capital and the corporate venturing activities of media firms are poorly understood. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to close this gap by defining corporate venture capital as a bundle of dynamic capabilities (“organizational drivetrain”) and revealing the differences and commonalities of telecommunication, information technology, consumer electronics, media, and entertainment incumbents’ corporate venture capital approaches as response to the ongoing convergence of a technology-driven business environment. To do so, we conducted an exploratory study of 3,145 transactions by 68 telecommunication, information technology, consumer electronics, media, and entertainment incumbents in 2,163 start-up companies between 2002 and 2015, detecting, describing, and comparing their corporate venture capital approaches. The findings reveal a taxonomy of three different types of corporate investors, namely “aggressive,” “attentive,” and “dispersive. ” While the aggressive approach covers the most active investors of the sample, who invest primarily in early-stage ventures, attentive investors show a more conservative investment behavior, focusing on their core business within their local proximity. In contrast, dispersive investors disproportionately fund established businesses in a broad array of industries. Hence, the study highlights a sector-dependent usage with incumbents of each telecommunication, information technology, consumer electronics, media, and entertainment sector preferring a different investment approach indicating the influence of previous path, positions, and processes.
Capital Structure Policy in Central Europe and BRIC: Interaction of Internal Determinants and Macroeconomic Factors

Capital Structure policy puzzles researchers in developed and emerging markets. We contribute to the literature by examining capital structure policy in emerging markets. Our sample consists of 372 firms from BRIC, Central and Eastern European countries for 2002-2009 years. The dynamic model we develop enables to incorporate traditional fundamental determinants of capital structure, speed of adjustment and pecking order and market-timing hypotheses. The results obtained allowed to conclude that the macroeconomic factors, internal financial deficit and cost of debt influence the adjustment speed. The crisis played a crucial role in debt-to-equity choice by weakening the significance of target adjustment motive. JEL: G 32
Research on Classification of Wood Surface Texture based on Feature Level Data Fusion

In order to enhance the precision of wood texture recognition, a kind of wood surface texture recognition method based on feature level data fusion is proposed, which uses GLCM, GMRF and wavelet multi-resolution fractal dimension. First, feature parameters of 3 sorts of wood textures were selected by Simulated Annealing Algorithm, and extracted features which were fatal to image recognition to classify. Next, 3 sorts of texture features were fused on the feature level. With the fused features, the recognition rate of BP neural network to the wood textural samples reached to 98.5%. The result indicates that to recognize wood with the fused features is quite effective.
Specificity of initial synaptic contacts made on guinea‐pig superior cervical ganglion cells during regeneration of the cervical sympathetic trunk.

1. Largely appropriate synaptic connexions are formed with neurones in the superior cervical ganglion at long intervals after interruption of the preganglionic nerve. In the present study we have assessed the accuracy of connexions during the early stages of re‐innervation by observing end‐organ responses to ventral root stimulation in vivo, and by recording intracellularly from ganglion cells during ventral root stimulation in isolated preparations. 2. Appropriate, but weak, end‐organ responses were elicited by stimulation of the first and fourth thoracic ventral roots (T1 and T4) 15‐‐30 days after freezing the cervical sympathetic trunk. 3. Intracellular recordings from ganglion cells during stimulation of the ventral roots C8‐‐T7 in vitro showed that synaptic contacts are first re‐established 8‐‐11 days after freezing the preganglionic nerve. The proportion of re‐innervated cells, and the strength of innervation of individual neurones, increased rapidly for up to about 3 months after nerve injury, but showed little change thereafter. Innervation remained weaker than normal even after 6 months. 4. Patterns of segmental innervation recorded intracellularly during the early stages of regeneration were similar to, but more restricted than normal. Even 13‐‐19 days after interruption of the preganglionic nerve, neurones re‐innervated by more than one spinal cord segment tended to be innervated by a contiguous subset of the spinal segments which contribute innervation to the ganglion. The incidence of neurones receiving innervation from a discontinuous segmental subset was about the same at early and late stages or re‐innervation. 5. Throughout the course of nerve regeneration, re‐innervated neurones tended to receive dominant synaptic input from axons arising at a particular spinal level, as do normal cells, with adjacent segments contributing a synaptic influence that diminished as a function of distance from the dominant segment. 6. The results of these experiments argue against the initial formation of imprecise connexions with subsequent retention of appropriate contacts and a loss of inappropriate ones. Rather our findings suggest that the re‐innervation of ganglion cells proceeds by a gradual accumulation of synaptic connexions which are, from the outset, appropriate.
A GP64-Null Baculovirus Pseudotyped with Vesicular Stomatitis Virus G Protein

ABSTRACT The Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) GP64 protein is an essential virion protein that is involved in both receptor binding and membrane fusion during viral entry. Genetic studies have shown that GP64-null viruses are unable to move from cell to cell and this results from a defect in the assembly and production of budded virions (BV). To further examine requirements for virion budding, we asked whether a GP64-null baculovirus, vAc64−, could be pseudotyped by introducing a heterologous viral envelope protein (vesicular stomatitis virus G protein [VSV-G]) into its membrane and whether the resulting virus was infectious. To address this question, we generated a stably transfected insect Sf9 cell line (Sf9VSV-G) that inducibly expresses the VSV-G protein upon infection with AcMNPV Sf9VSV-G and Sf9 cells were infected with vAc64−, and cells were monitored for infection and for movement of infection from cell to cell. vAc64− formed plaques on Sf9VSV-G cells but not on Sf9 cells, and plaques formed on Sf9VSV-G cells were observed only after prolonged intervals. Passage and amplification of vAc64− on Sf9VSV-G cells resulted in pseudotyped virus particles that contained the VSV-G protein. Cell-to-cell propagation of vAc64− in the G-expressing cells was delayed in comparison to wild-type (wt) AcMNPV, and growth curves showed that pseudotyped vAc64− was generated at titers of approximately 106 to 107 infectious units (IU)/ml, compared with titers of approximately 108 IU/ml for wt AcMNPV. Propagation and amplification of pseudotyped vAc64− virions in Sf9VSV-G cells suggests that the VSV-G protein may either possess the signals necessary for baculovirus BV assembly and budding at the cell surface or may otherwise facilitate production of infectious baculovirus virions. The functional complementation of GP64-null viruses by VSV-G protein was further demonstrated by identification of a vAc64−-derived virus that had acquired the G gene through recombination with Sf9VSV-G cellular DNA. GP64-null viruses expressing the VSV-G gene were capable of productive infection, replication, and propagation in Sf9 cells.
Diffusion Strategy-Based Distributed Operation of Microgrids Using Multiagent System

In distributed operation, each unit is operated by its local controller instead of using a centralized controller, which allows the action to be based on local information rather than global information. Most of the distributed solutions have implemented the consensus method, however, convergence time of the consensus method is quite long, while diffusion strategy includes a stochastic gradient term and can reach convergence much faster compared with consensus method. Therefore, in this paper, a diffusion strategy-based distributed operation of microgrids (MGs) is proposed using multiagent system for both normal and emergency operation modes. In normal operation, the MG system is operated by a central controller instead of the distributed controller to minimize the operation cost. If any event (fault) occurs in the system, MG system can be divided into two parts to isolate the faulty region. In this case, the MG system is changed to emergency operation mode. The normal part is rescheduled by the central controller while the isolated part schedules its resources in a distributed manner. The isolated part carries out distributed communication using diffusion between neighboring agents for optimal operation of this part. The proposed method enables peer-to-peer communication among the agents without the necessity of a centralized controller, and simultaneously performs resource optimization. Simulation results show that the system can be operated in an economic way in both normal operation and emergency operation modes.