Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stock Price Prediction Using Prior Knowledge and Neural Networks

In this paper we investigate ways to use prior knowledge and neural networks to improve multivariate prediction ability. Daily stock prices are predicted as a complicated real-world problem, taking non-numerical factors such as political and international events are into account. We have studied types of prior knowledge which are difficult to insert into initial network structures or to represent in the form of error measurements. We make use of prior knowledge of stock price predictions and newspaper information on domestic and foreign events. Event-knowledge is extracted from newspaper headlines according to prior knowledge. We choose several economic indicators, also according to prior knowledge, and input them together with event-knowledge into neural networks. The use of event-knowledge and neural networks is shown to be effective experimentally: the prediction error of our approach is smaller than that of multiple regression analysis on the 5% level of significance. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
NUS Unmanned Surface Vehicle : Sharky 2014

This article presents the system architecture of the Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) that is developed by the Team Sharky, National University of Singapore (NUS). The primary design of this platform is to participate in Maritime RobotX Challenge (MRC) 2014 that is organized by Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) and Office of Naval Research (ONR). A standard USV platform is provided by ONR. Therefore, this article primarily focuses on the process of equipping this USV with various sensors and development of its control architecture. This includes incorporation of the machine vision, 3D LIDAR scans, GPS, and IMU to provide Sharky with a robust capability of detecting the location of objects (e.g., obstacles) and navigation. Moreover, the modular software architecture developed in ROS, provides a reliable state scheduler for mission control and management.
Security of the quantum direct communication based on pairs of completely entangled qudits

Quantum secure direct communication protocols offer confidential transmission of classic information over the quantum channel without a prior key agreement. The ping-pong based protocols provide asymptotic security and detailed analysis of the security level provided by each variant of the protocol is required. The paper presents a general method of calculation of the eavesdropped information as a function of the attack detection probability. The method is applied to the ping-pong protocol based on completely entangled pairs of qudits. The lower and upper bound on the amount of the leaked information is provided.
Small heat shock protein Hsp27 is required for proper heart tube formation

The small heat shock protein Hsp27 has been shown to be involved in a diverse array of cellular processes, including cellular stress response, protein chaperone activity, regulation of cellular glutathione levels, apoptotic signaling, and regulation of actin polymerization and stability. Furthermore, mutation within Hsp27 has been associated with the human congenital neuropathy Charcot‐Marie Tooth (CMT) disease. Hsp27 is known to be expressed in developing embryonic tissues; however, little has been done to determine the endogenous requirement for Hsp27 in developing embryos. In this study, we show that depletion of XHSP27 protein results in a failure of cardiac progenitor fusion resulting in cardia bifida. Furthermore, we demonstrate a concomitant disorganization of actin filament organization and defects in myofibril assembly. Moreover, these defects are not associated with alterations in specification or differentiation. We have thus demonstrated a critical requirement for XHSP27 in developing cardiac and skeletal muscle tissues. genesis 45:667–678, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Effects of Bush Clearance on African Ungulates in a Semi-Arid Nature Reserve.

Bush encroachment has contributed to the diminishing availability of open grassland areas and possibly caused the decline of the local wildebeest and zebra populations in a semi-arid nature reserve in South Africa. Bush was subsequently cleared to convert dense woodland to parkland savanna. Based on an ecological gradient of habitat utilization previously described for African ungulates, it was assumed that wildebeest and zebra would favor cleared areas, whereas impala and kudu would prefer naturally dense woodland vegetation. Measurements of forage production showed that dry matter yield of grasses was greater in cleared areas. Proportion similarity indices and confidence intervals, representing the monthly occurrence of ungulates in different habitats, suggested that wildebeest and zebra were selecting for cleared areas, whereas impala and kudu occurred randomly in cleared and natural habitats. Results suggested that moderate modifications of woodland savanna habitats by means of bush clearance could be advantageous to ungulates that are common in grassland habitats, while not being detrimental to resident dwellers of dense woodland. Managers, however, should consider carefully the application of bush clearance. The response of ungulates was weak, and therefore clearance might not be justified if done for the purpose of propagating grazers.
Forgiveness and health-related quality of life in older people: Adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies as mediators

This study examined whether adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies mediate the relationship between forgiveness and health-related quality of life in a sample of 350 Spanish people aged 55 years and older. Positive refocusing and positive reappraisal strategies partially mediated the relation between forgiveness and mental health. Thus, focusing on planning partially mediated the relation between forgiveness and physical health. Our findings contribute to an emerging understanding of the underlying coping process between forgiveness and health outcomes and might provide preliminary insight for potential intervention for increasing quality of life via the promotion of forgiveness and adaptive coping in the elderly.
Work-in-progress: integrating low-power IoT devices to a blockchain-based infrastructure

The ever-increasing number of IoT devices necessitates a secure and scalable infrastructure to store and process generated data. Blockchain is an ideal choice with its decentralized, trustless architecture. However, low-power IoT end-devices do not possess enough horsepower to run a software client for intensive blockchain calculations. The purpose of this paper is to create a proof of concept to enable low-power, resource-constrained IoT end-devices accessing a blockchain-based infrastructure. To achieve this aim, an IoT gateway is configured as a blockchain node and an event-based messaging mechanism for low-power IoT end-devices is proposed. A demonstration of such a system is realized using LoRa nodes and gateway in a private Ethereum network.
Diverse learners, diverse courses, diverse projects: learning from challenges in new directions

Several changes and reforms in teaching computer science have been proposed and championed as part of the CS10K initiative [1-4]. The CS Principles (CSP) project and the overarching CS10K initiative include a public/private partnership offering curricula, curricular frameworks, professional development, online support, and a community of practice to support individual and systemic reforms at scale. In this special session, we hear from those leading large CSP projects and from the teachers participating in these large projects. The session is designed to inform the education community of these efforts and to situate them in the context of understanding how a diversity of approaches to implementing the CSP framework is necessary to succeed with different and diverse student populations, schools, districts, and teachers. Knowledge of these approaches will help those teaching these students as they move from high school to college, bringing related but diverse experiences because of how each student is learning the material that is based on the same curricular framework. This framework is part of the CS Principles project, but the efforts we report on in this session realize the framework at different scales, in different populations, and with different pedagogical approaches.
An "optical channel": a technique for the evaluation of biological cell elasticity.

The development of an optical channel, a new analytical technique for evaluating the elasticity of biological cells, is described in this study. Two types of erythrocyte cells, i.e., young and old cells, were examined via their introduction into a flowing medium, to which a laser beam was focused in the opposite direction. An erythrocyte cell is trapped in a laser beam by a gradient force, moves in the downstream direction, and is then elongated at the beam waist. The change in shape was measured directly using a microscope equipped with a charge-coupled-device camera. It is probable the main driving force for the cell deformation is a shear stress generated by a medium flow, since an estimate of the gradient force suggests that it is too small to change the shape of an erythrocyte. The average values of the elongation of young and old cells were 2.4+/-0.6 and 2.1+/-0.5, respectively. These values are in reasonably good agreement with values obtained using a rheoscope method. The deformation was measured without any physical contact to the solid surface, and therefore, damage to cells such as these are minimal.
Object-oriented Neural Programming (OONP) for Document Understanding

We propose Object-oriented Neural Programming (OONP), a framework for semantically parsing documents in specific domains. Basically, OONP reads a document and parses it into a predesigned object-oriented data structure that reflects the domain-specific semantics of the document. An OONP parser models semantic parsing as a decision process: a neural net-based Reader sequentially goes through the document, and builds and updates an intermediate ontology during the process to summarize its partial understanding of the text. OONP supports a big variety of forms (both symbolic and differentiable) for representing the state and the document, and a rich family of operations to compose the representation. An OONP parser can be trained with supervision of different forms and strength, including supervised learning (SL), reinforcement learning (RL) and hybrid of the two. Our experiments on both synthetic and real-world document parsing tasks have shown that OONP can learn to handle fairly complicated ontology with training data of modest sizes.
Tunable Filter With Varied-Line-Spacing Grating Fabricated Using Holographic Recording

In this letter, we experimentally demonstrate a compact and tunable guided-mode resonance (GMR) filter incorporates a varied-line-spacing (VLS) grating layer that is fabricated using holographic interference lithography. The reflectance wavelength varies as a function of the spatial position on the structure. In an interference exposure system, a cylindrical lens is placed between the collimating mirror and the sample to achieve a VLS grating at different positions on the photo-resist film. The grating period increment is approximately 108 nm over a length of 22 mm, which results in a primary reflectance peak that spans 762.1–908.3 nm. The device is designed using the rigorous coupled-wave analysis method, and the proposed device is directed toward the practical application of GMR tunable filters.
Kalman filter based distributed state estimation with communication systems

The internet of things (IoT) has been a prevalent research topic in recent years in both academia and industry. The main idea of this framework is the integration of physical objects into a global information network. The vision of the IoT is to integrate and connect anything at any time and any place. For this reason, it is being applied in various areas such as power system monitoring, environment monitoring, network control system, smart health care, military, smart cities management and industry revolution. To achieve the goals, the fifth generation (5G) technology will be the potential infrastructure that will assist the visions of the IoT. This paper proposes a distributed approach for microgrid state estimation. First of all, the modelling of a microgrid is presented. The microgrid state-space model is linearized around the operating point, so that the proposed distributed state estimation using the IoT with 5G networks can be applied. Moreover, we peropose a wireless sensor network based communication network to sense, transmit and estimate the microgrid states. Furthermore, this technical note proposes a novel distributed state estimation method. At the end, the simulation results show that the proposed method can successfully estimate the DER states using the IoT with 5G networks.
Efficacy of temporary positive expiratory pressure (TPEP) in patients with lung diseases and chronic mucus hypersecretion. The UNIKO® project: a multicentre randomized controlled trial

Objective: To evaluate whether temporary positive expiratory pressure provides benefit in patients with lung diseases and chronic hypersecretion. Design: Single blind multicentre randomized trial. Setting: Five Italian rehabilitation centres. Participants: Ninety-eight patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and/or chronic bronchitis (n=78), or bronchiectasis (n=20), with a peak cough expiratory flow >150 l/min and sputum production >30 ml/day, randomly included into two treatment groups. Interventions: For 10 consecutive days, the active group performed twice a day 20-minute cycles of manually assisted breathing techniques in sequence with the addition of 15 minutes of temporary positive expiratory pressure, while the control group was treated by manually assisted breathing techniques alone. Measures: Within and between group changes of arterial oxygenation index, lung volumes and respiratory muscles strength were recorded at enrolment and after 3 and 10 treatment sessions. Pre-to-post treatment change of sputum volume and bronchial encumbrance (Δ-visual analog scale), sputum density and purulence were compared daily within the study period. Results: No significant changes were recorded for the oxygenation index, while dynamic lung volumes and respiratory muscle strength significantly (P <0.05) improved in the active group. The group comparison analysis of the pre-to-post change showed that inspiratory capacity was significantly higher in the active than in the control group (+19.5% and +2.2%, P=0.044) at day 10. A greater improvement in Δ-visual analog scale was recorded in the active group at day 3 and 8. Conclusions: These preliminary data suggest that temporary positive expiratory pressure improves lung volumes and speeds up the improvement of bronchial encumbrance in patients with lung diseases and hypersecretion.
Corticosteroid suppression of VEGF-A in infantile hemangioma-derived stem cells.

BACKGROUND Corticosteroids are commonly used to treat infantile hemangioma, but the mechanism of action of this therapy is unknown. We investigated the effect of corticosteroids in a previously described in vivo model of infantile hemangioma and in cultured hemangioma-derived cells. METHODS We tested hemangioma-derived stem cells for vasculogenic activity in vivo after implantation into immune-deficient (nude) mice. We studied dexamethasone treatment of both the cells before implantation and the mice after implantation. We also tested hemangioma-derived stem cells for expression of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) in vitro and studied the inhibition of VEGF-A expression, using short hairpin RNA (shRNA) in vivo and in vitro. RESULTS Systemic treatment with dexamethasone led to dose-dependent inhibition of tumor vasculogenesis in the murine model. Pretreatment of hemangioma-derived stem cells in vitro before implantation also inhibited vasculogenesis. Dexamethasone suppressed VEGF-A production by hemangioma-derived stem cells in vitro but not by hemangioma-derived endothelial cells or human umbilical-vein endothelial cells. Silencing VEGF-A in hemangioma-derived stem cells reduced vasculogenesis in vivo. VEGF-A was detected in hemangioma specimens in the proliferating phase but not in the involuting phase and was shown by immunostaining to reside outside of vessels. Corticosteroid treatment suppressed other proangiogenic factors in hemangioma-derived stem cells, including urokinase plasminogen activator receptor, interleukin-6, monocyte chemoattractant protein 1, and matrix metalloproteinase 1. CONCLUSIONS In a murine model, dexamethasone inhibited the vasculogenic potential of stem cells derived from human infantile hemangioma. The corticosteroid also inhibited the expression of VEGF-A by hemangioma-derived stem cells, and silencing of VEGF-A expression in these cells inhibited vasculogenesis in vivo.
Adaptive task allocation for multiprocessor SoCs

This paper proposes an adaptive energy efficient task allocation scheme for a multiprocessor system-on-a-chip (SoC) in real-time energy harvesting systems. The proposed scheme generates an energy efficient offline task schedule for a multiprocessor SoC energy harvesting system by balancing application workload among multiple processing elements and pushing real-time application towards their deadlines. The off-line task schedule is dynamically extended to adapt to the energy availability in the runtime to improve the probability of a task to be feasibly scheduled. Simulation experiments show that the proposed scheme achieves energy savings of up to 24%, and reduces task deadline miss ratio of up to 10%.
Swelling-collapse transition of self-attracting walks

We study the structural properties of self-attracting walks in d dimensions using scaling arguments and Monte Carlo simulations. We find evidence of a transition analogous to the Theta transition of polymers. Above a critical attractive interaction u(c), the walk collapses and the exponents nu and k, characterizing the scaling with time t of the mean square end-to-end distance approximately t(2nu) and the average number of visited sites approximately t(k), are universal and given by nu=1/(d+1) and k=d/(d+1). Below u(c), the walk swells and the exponents are as with no interaction, i.e., nu=1/2 for all d, k=1/2 for d=1 and k=1 for d>/=2. At u(c), the exponents are found to be in a different universality class.
INFLUENCE OF LATERAL RECTANGULAR EMBAYMENTS ON THE TRANSPORT OF SUSPENDED SEDIMENTS IN A FLUME

Systematic experimental investigations have been performed under uniform flow conditions in a channel whose banks are equipped with large scale rectangular roughness elements. The practical motivation of this project is to see how restoration of banks, such as lateral cavities, has an influence on the transport of fine sediments. The implementation of lateral cavities may affect the sediment and morphological equilibrium of the river since these may trap sediments. This work aims to study the influence of the lateral cavities on the transport of fine sediments in the main channel. A set of laboratory experiments are done which covers a wide range of rectangular cavity configurations and includes aspect ratios (lateral cavity depth divided by cavity length) between 0.2 and 0.8. Key parameters such as the flow discharge and the initial sediment concentration are tested. Surface PIV, sediment samples and turbidity temporal records are collected during the experiments. The trapping efficiency of the cavities and the associated flow patterns are calculated and discussed. The resulting conclusions provide useful information for the future design of river restoration projects.
Diversificación, precios y calidad de las exportaciones españolas: una comparación a nivel europeo

En este trabajo se trata de indagar en los factores que subyacen a la evolucion de las cuotas de exportacion de bienes de Espana en los anos recientes, empleando la informacion de comercio exterior a un nivel muy elevado de desagregacion. En particular, a partir de la informacion disponible en la base de datos COMTRADE de Naciones Unidas y siguiendo la metodologia desarrollada por Hummels y Klenow (2005). Se trata de analizar el papel que ha jugado la diversificacion por productos y mercados en los resultados comerciales de Espana (margen extensivo), la evolucion de la intensidad exportadora (margen intensivo) y la importancia que tienen las estrategias de diferenciacion en segmentos de calidad de las exportaciones (margen cualitativo). Los resultados se comparan con los observados en Alemania, Francia e Italia.
“A importância do desenvolvimento regional na localização de equipas de futebol profissionais: o caso português 1970-1999”

Este trabalho procura testar a hipotese se "O nivel de desenvolvimento economico da regiao condiciona a presenca das colectividades de futebol profissional, ai sedeadas, no escalao principal da competicao". Partindo de um modelo de escolha racional, e trabalhando com dados Binary Time-Series Cross-Section (BTSCS), debruca-se sobre o caso portugues, observado entre 1970 e 1999. Os resultados confirmam a importância de tres factores que aumentam a probabilidade de que determinado espaco acolha a sede de determinado clube desportivo a militar na divisao principal: o rendimento per capita, o nivel de infra-estruturas e a dimensao populacional.
No correlation between multi‐locus heterozygosity and fitness in the common buzzard despite heterozygote advantage for plumage colour

Correlations between heterozygosity and fitness are frequently found but rarely well understood. Fitness can be affected by single loci of large effect which correlate with neutral markers via linkage disequilibrium, or as a result of variation in genome‐wide heterozygosity following inbreeding. We explored these alternatives in the common buzzard, a raptor species in which three colour morphs differ in their lifetime reproductive success. Using 18 polymorphic microsatellite loci, we evaluated potential genetic differences among the morphs which may lead to subpopulation structuring and tested for correlations between three fitness‐related traits and heterozygosity, both genome wide and at each locus separately. Despite their assortative mating pattern, the buzzard morphs were found to be genetically undifferentiated. Multilocus heterozygosity was only found to be correlated with a single fitness‐related trait, infection with the blood parasite, Leucocytozoon buteonis, and this was via interactions with vole abundance and age. One locus also showed a significant relationship with blood parasite infection and ectoparasite infestation. The vicinity of this locus contains two genes, one of which is potentially implicated in the immune system of birds. We conclude that genome‐wide heterozygosity is unlikely to be a major determinant of parasite burden and body condition in the polymorphic common buzzard.
Soft Interval –Valued Neutrosophic Rough Sets

In this paper, we first defined soft interval- valued neutrosophic rough sets(SIVN- rough sets for short) which combines interval valued neutrosophic soft set and rough sets and studied some of its basic properties. This concept is an extension of soft interval valued intuitionistic fuzzy rough sets( SIVIF- rough sets). Finally an illustartive example is given to verfy the developped algorithm and to demonstrate its practicality and effectiveness.