Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improved dominating set indices for mobile peer-to-peer networks

According to 2-hop neighborhood information, dynamic dominant index set (DDIS) (W. Shi and S. Li, 2005) is constructed to cache metadata of shared resources in mobile ad hoc network (MANET). However, DDIS presents poor performance on system overhead and user satisfaction. To adapt network mobility, peers in DDIS have to periodically advertise their shared resources over the entire network, which consumes more bandwidth. In this paper, an improved dominating set indexing mechanism (IDSIM) for mobile peer-to-peer networks is proposed. In IDSIM, partial dominating sets automatically adjust themselves to the change of network topology in a distributed fashion. Metadata of identical resources belonged to deferent peers is clustered in one dominating set. This potentially increases in amount of query results with short latency to achieve considerable high user satisfaction. Based on random walk (C. Gkantsidis et al., 2004), query message roams in the network to maximize the number of results. Experiments indicate that besides greatly reducing the system overhead, IDSIM simplifies search process and, at the same time, improves user satisfaction without sacrifice of user response time.
Are Women Sensitive to the Acute Anxiolytic Effect of Diazepam

Objective: Several studies have shown the influence of ovarian hormones on the GABAergic system. As women are naturally exposed to monthly fluctuation of these hormones, it is possible that their response to benzodiazepines also change over the ovarian cycle. Bearing this in mind, this study aimed to evaluate the possible influence of the ovarian cycle of healthy women on the acute effect of diazepam. Methods: Forty subjectively healthy women were selected and randomly allocated to two different groups, according to their ovarian cycle phase, follicular (6 to 10 days from the first day of the cycle) or luteal (5 to 10 days after detection of urinary LH peak). Both groups completed the Video-Monitored Stroop Color-Word Test (VMSCWT), an experimental model of anxiety, under the influence of diazepam (10 mg) or placebo. Psychological parameters (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Self-evaluation of Tension Level, Visual Analogue Mood Scale) and physiological parameters (heart rate and gastrocnemius electromyogram activity) were evaluated throughout the test. All the data obtained were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey’s test for post hoc comparisons, both at the 5% significance level. Results: The results showed that, in the follicular phase, women did not respond to the anxiolytic action of diazepam, although a sedative effect was observed; while in the luteal phase, there was no response to either sedative or anxiolytic actions. As a control for the experimental conditions, a group of 18 men was also administered to the VMSCWT. The results confirmed that both the anxiogenic test and the administered drug were working as expected, since diazepam managed to prevent the anxiety induced by the test. Conclusion: Therefore, the present findings indicate that the ovarian cycle can alter the effects of the acute administration of diazepam, which can vary from no effect to sedation, without going through anxiolysis.
Bayesian Approach to Photo Time-Stamp Recognition

Time-stamps and URLs overlaid artificially on images add useful meta information which can be used for automatic indexing of images and videos. In this paper, we propose a method based on an attention-based model of visual saliency to extract overlaid text and time-stamps that are rendered on images. Our model of visual saliency is based on a Bayesian framework and works very well for the task of time-stamp detection and segmentation as is evident by overall object recall of 80% and precision of 70%. Our method produces a clean text segmented binarized image, which can be used for recognition directly by an OCR system. Furthermore, our technique is robust against variation of font styles and color of time-stamp and overlaid text.
Nontuberculous mycobacterial immune reconstitution syndrome in HIV-infected patients: spectrum of disease and long-term follow-up.

BACKGROUND The long-term outcome and spectrum of disease of nontuberculous mycobacterial immune reconstitution syndrome have not been described. METHODS We report the findings of an observational study. RESULTS Among 51 patients (43 with Mycobacterium avium complex [MAC] infection, 2 with Mycobacterium genavense infection, and 6 whose samples were smear positive but culture negative) from 1993-2004, the median follow-up period was 29 months. The incidence of nontuberculous mycobacterial immune reconstitution syndrome was 3.5% among patients initiating highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) with a baseline CD4+ cell count of <100 cells/microL. Three main clinical presentations were peripheral lymphadenitis (in 17 patients), pulmonary-thoracic disease (in 15 patients), and intra-abdominal disease (in 13 patients). Six other patients had cases that involved joint, spine, prostate, skin, soft tissue, and spontaneously resolving MAC bacteremia. Disease was usually localized. Median CD4+ cell counts before initiation of HAART and at diagnosis were 20 and 120 cells/microL, respectively, and the median reduction in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) RNA load was 2.5 log10 copies/mL. Intra-abdominal disease was frequently preceded by disseminated MAC infection (in 62% of cases, compared with 6%-33% of cases for other groups; P=.003) and accounted for 16 (43%) of 36 hospitalizations (compared with 5%-35% for other groups; P=.008). The relapse rate was not higher among 10 patients who received no MAC therapy or received MAC therapy for < or =2 weeks. Prednisone was associated with clinical responses in 8 (89%) of 9 patients with evaluable cases. In total, 7 patients (14%) had 13 subsequent culture-positive MAC events (6 of which were cases of immune reconstitution syndrome, and 7 of which were cases of disseminated MAC infection). Ten patients (20%) died (2 of disseminated MAC infection, 5 of other opportunistic infections, and 3 of HIV-unrelated causes). CONCLUSIONS Nontuberculous mycobacterial immune reconstitution syndrome has a wide range of clinical presentations and severity. The long-term prognosis is favorable for HAART-adherent patients. Intra-abdominal disease is associated with greater morbidity than is peripheral lymphadenitis. The role of antimycobacterial therapy is uncertain, given the self-limited course of most nonabdominal cases.
Using feedback control to manage QoS for clusters of servers providing service differentiation

This paper considers the use of feedback to improve the performance of computing systems that offer differentiated services. The motivation of the work is based on the increasing demand on application servers. It is not always sufficient to buy high-performance software for the server. Multiple servers may be needed. To guarantee that QoS requirements are satisfied, it is possible to statically assign resources for a specific class. This often results in underutilization of resources. This paper describes a novel technique that is based on control theory principles applied to a server cluster that provides differentiated service. The paper shows that feedback can be used to adjust the number of client requests concurrently being processed based on dynamic information such as CPU utilization. The paper also compares the use of the proposed technique with a dynamic non control-theoretic approach that is not based on control theory principles. Results show a dramatic increase in the number of served users using the control theory principles compared with a non control-theoretic approach during the same experiment duration. The improvement provided by the proposed technique exceeded 20%.
Long‐term, deep‐mantle support of the Ethiopia‐Yemen Plateau

Ethiopia is a key site to investigate the interactions between mantle dynamics and surface processes because of the presence of the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER), Cenozoic continental flood basalt volcanism, and plateau uplift. The role of mantle plumes in causing Ethiopia's flood basalts and tectonics has been commonly accepted. However, the location and number of plumes and their impact on surface uplift are still uncertain. Here we present new constraints on the geological and topographic evolution of the Ethiopian Plateau (NW Ethiopia) prior to and after the emplacement of the large flood basalts (40–20 Ma). Using geological information and topographic reconstructions, we show that the large topographic dome that we see today is a long‐term feature, already present prior to the emplacement of the flood basalts. We also infer that large‐scale doming operated even after the emplacement of the flood basalts. Using a comparison with the present‐day topographic setting, we show that an important component of the topography has been and is presently represented by a residual, nonisostatic, dynamic contribution. We conclude that the growth of the Ethiopian Plateau is a long‐term, probably still active, dynamically supported process. Our arguments provide constraints on the processes leading to the formation of one of the largest igneous plateaus on Earth.
Social Feedback: Social Learning from Interaction History to Support Information Seeking on the Web

iii LIST OF FIGURES . xi LIST OF TABLES . xvi LIST OF VIDEO FIGURES. xvii PUBLICATIONS OF THE AUTHOR . xviii Publications with Content from this Dissertation . xviii Publications Related to this Dissertation . xviii Other Publications (selected – during the dissertation) . xix CHAPTER
Margaret Atwood's Fairy-Tale Sexual Politics

This is an investigation of the fairy-tale images in Atwood's fiction, poetry and art. Her writing and art braid together fairy-tale themes from Grimm and Andersen with the feminist concerns for which she is renowned - "The Handmaid's Tale", for example, is her version of "Little Red Riding Hood" facing patriarchy's wolf. In relating Atwood's art to her fiction, Wilson shows how such fairy-tale images, along with myths, Bible stories, history, film, art and popular literature, reveal archetypes in Atwood's work. Wilson also challenges feminist assumptions that fairy tales limit gender roles, and argues that Atwood uses the fairy tale to transform the constricting images of women and men.
Horizon-penetrating transonic accretion discs around rotating black holes

The stationary hydrodynamic equations for the transonic accretion discs and flows around rotating black holes are presented by using the Kerr-Schild coordinate where there is no coordinate singularity at the event horizon. We use two types of the causal viscosity prescription, and the boundary conditions for the transonic accretion flows are given at the sonic point. For one type of the causal viscosity prescription we also add the boundary conditions at the viscous point where the accreting radial velocity is nearly equal to the viscous diffusion velocity. Based on the formalism for the transonic accretion discs, after we present the calculation method of the transonic solutions, the horizon-penetrating transonic solutions which smoothly pass the event horizon are calculated for several types of the accretion flow models: the ideal isothermal flows, the ideal and the viscous polytropic flows, the advection-dominated accretion flows with the relativistic equation of state, the adiabatic accretion discs, the standard accretion discs, the supercritical accretion discs. These solutions are obtained for both non-rotating and rotating black holes. The calculated accretion flows plunge into black hole with finite three-velocity smaller than the speed of light even at the event horizon or inside the horizon, and the angular velocities of the accretion flow at the horizon are generally different from the angular velocity of the frame dragging due to the black hole's rotation. These features contrast to the results obtained by using the Boyer-Lindquist coordinate with the coordinate singularity at the horizon.
Phonological grouping is specifically affected in cerebellar patients: a verbal fluency study

OBJECTIVES Recent clinical and functional neuroimaging evidence points towards a cerebellar role in verbal production. At present it is not clear how the cerebellum participates in language production. The aim was to investigate the influence of cerebellar lesions on verbal fluency abilities with specific focus on the verbal searching strategies employed by patients with cerebellar damage. METHODS Twenty five patients with focal or degenerative cerebellar disease and 14 control subjects were tested in a timed verbal fluency task requiring word production under forced (phonemic or semantic) conditions. To analyse the verbal searching strategy employed, semantic and phonemic cluster analyses were also performed. RESULTS Performances of cerebellar patients were comparable with those of controls in the semantic task; conversely their performances were significantly impaired when tested in the letter task. Cluster analysis results showed that the verbal fluency impairment is linked to specific damage of phonemically related retrieval strategies. CONCLUSION Cerebellar damage impairs verbal fluency by specifically affecting phonemic rule performances while sparing semantic rule ones. These findings underline the importance of the cerebellar computing properties in strategy development in the linguistic domain.
Travel Time Prediction Using a Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average Time Series Model

Travel time estimation and prediction form an integral part of any advanced traveler information system. This paper presents a univariate time series based approach to predicting future travel times using historical travel time data. This model relies strictly on point detection data. Empirical testing of the model is performed using ITS data obtained from video detection systems in Atlanta, Georgia. The results of the model choice, validation and testing are reported and conclusions interpreting the findings in the model development process are provided
Fractal traffic: measurements, modelling and performance evaluation

Observations of both Ethernet traffic and variable bit rate (VBR) video traffic have demonstrated that these traffics exhibit "self-similarity" and/or infinite asymptotic index of dispersion for counts (IDC). We report here on measurements of traffic in a commercial public broadband network where similar characteristics have been observed. For the purpose of analysis and dimensioning of the central links of an ATM network we analyse in this paper the performance of a single server queue fed by Gaussian traffic with infinite IDC. The analysis lends to an approximation for the performance of a queue in which the arriving traffic is "fractal" Gaussian and consequently where there does not exist a dominant negative-exponential tail. The term "fractal" is used here in the sense that the autocovariance of the traffic exhibits self-similarity, that is to say, where the autocovariance of an aggregate of the traffic is the same, or asymptotically the same for large time lags, as the original traffic. We are not concerned with proving or exploiting this self-similarity property as such, but only with performance analysis techniques which are effective for such processes. In order to be able to test the performance analysis formulae, we show that traffic with the same autocovariance as measured in a real network over a wide range of lags (sufficiently wide a range for the traffic to be equivalent from the point of view of queueing performance) can be generated as a mixture of two Gaussian AR(1) processes. In this way we demonstrate that the analytic performance formulae are accurate.
New and contemporary markers of prognosis in nonmuscle invasive urothelial cancer

Nonmuscle invasive (NMI) urothelial cancer (UC) is associated with varied biological potential. It is characterized by frequent recurrence and progression, which thus worsens the oncological outcome. Nearly three-quarters of NMI UCs recur within 5 years, whereas half can progress during follow-up. Progression is particularly seen in T1 and carcinoma in situ (CIS). Undoubtedly, NMI UC is one of the most expensive cancers to manage. The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) risk calculator is a commonly used tool for assessing the recurrence and progression potential of a newly diagnosed cancer. The parameters used in the assessment are tumor size and number, pathological stage and grade of the cancer, presence of CIS, and prior recurrence rate. The main advantages of the EORTC tool are its ease of use and the lack of need to run expensive molecular tests. However, reproducibility of pathologic stage and grade is modest, which is a concern to clinicians. Molecular markers have potential for predicting the clinical outcome of NMI UC, given that clinico-pathologic variables are not sufficient for prediction of prognosis in an individual. Significant work has been done in the past 2 decades in understanding the molecular biology of bladder cancer; however, the translational value of this knowledge remains poor. The role for molecular markers in predicting recurrence seems limited because multifocal disease and incomplete treatment are probably more important for recurrence than the molecular features of a resected tumor. Urinary markers have very limited value in prognostication of bladder cancer and are used (mainly as an adjunct to cytology) for detection and surveillance of urothelial cell cancer recurrence. Prediction of progression with molecular markers holds considerable promise. Nevertheless, the contemporary value of molecular markers over clinico-pathologic indexes is limited.
WorkChoices, ImageChoices and the marketing of new industrial relations legislation

This article takes a critical discourse approach to one aspect of the Australian WorkChoices industrial relations legislation: the government's major advertisement published in national newspapers in late 2005 and released simultaneously as a 16-page booklet.This strategic move was the initial stage of one of the largest `information' campaigns ever mounted by an Australian government, costing more than $AUD137 million. This article analyse the semiotic (visual and graphic) elements of the advertisement to uncover what these elements contribute to the message, particularly through their construction of both an image of the legislation and a portrayal of the Australian worker.We argue for the need to fuse approaches from critical discourse studies and social semiotics to deepen understanding of industrial relations phenomena such as the `hard sell' to win the hearts and minds of citizens regarding unpopular new legislation.
Iterative Multiuser Decoding with Maximal Ratio Combining

In this paper we apply the concept of recursive maximal combining over iterations in an iterative multiuser. The principle can be applied to any multiuser estimator that does not exploit information across iterations. Here, we have applied the concept to a previously suggested iterative linear minimum mean squared error ﬁlter, improving the load in terms of number of users at single-user-performance by 20%, making this structure a strong linear alternative.
Production planning in manufacturing/remanufacturing environment using genetic algorithm

1. Production Planning in Mfg. /Rmfg. environment Because of increasing consumptions, finite resources, and disposal capacities, remanufacturing is receiving more attention [2]. Remanufacturing is the most important process in recovery: is an environmentally and economically sound way to achieve many of the goals of sustainable development; closes the material-use cycle and forms an essentially closed-loop manufacturing system; focuses on value-added recovery, rather than just materials recovery, i.e., recycling. Production planning and scheduling of remanufacturing should be handled differently from that of manufacturing because of high uncertainty of that.
Do Participants Increase Their Earnings After Enrolling in the Medicaid Buy-In Program? Washington, DC: Mathematica Policy Research

The fourth brief in a series on the Medicaid Buy-In program, a key component of the federal effort to help people with disabilities return to work without losing health insurance coverage, examines earnings after enrollment. The brief notes that nearly 40 percent of participants increase their earnings after enrolling, with substantial differences in rate of earnings growth based on participant characteristics and across states. Sixty-five percent of participants under age 21 increased their earnings after enrollment, with a steady decline to 47, 33, and 30 percent for those ages 21 to 44, 45 to 64, and 65 and older, respectively. For those whose earnings rose, the median increase was $2,582.
Glauber Gluons in Soft Collinear Effective Theory and Factorization of Drell-Yan Processes

Glauber gluons in Drell-Yan processes are soft gluons with the transverse momenta much larger than their momentum components along the directions of initial hadrons. Their existence has been a serious challenge in proving the factorization of Drell-Yan processes. The recently proposed soft collinear effect theory of QCD can provide a transparent way to show factorizations for a class of processes, but it does not address the effect of glauber gluons. In this letter we first confirm the existence of glauber gluons through an example. We then add glauber gluons into the effective theory and study their interaction with other particles. In the framework of the effective theory with glauber gluons we are able to show that the effects of glauber gluons in Drell-Yan processes are canceled and the factorization holds in the existence of glauber gluons. Our work completes the proof or argument of factorization of Drell-Yan process in the framework of the soft collinear effective theory.
Probabilistic model-based approach for heart beat detection

Nowadays, hospitals are ubiquitous and integral to modern society. Patients flow in and out of a veritable whirlwind of paperwork, consultations, and potential inpatient admissions, through an abstracted system that is not without flaws. One of the biggest flaws in the medical system is perhaps an unexpected one: the patient alarm system. One longitudinal study reported an 88.8% rate of false alarms, with other studies reporting numbers of similar magnitudes. These false alarm rates lead to deleterious effects that manifest in a lower standard of care across clinics. This paper discusses a model-based probabilistic inference approach to estimate physiological variables at a detection level. We design a generative model that complies with a layman’s understanding of human physiology and perform approximate Bayesian inference. One primary goal of this paper is to justify a Bayesian modeling approach to increasing robustness in a physiological domain. In order to evaluate our algorithm we look at the application of heart beat detection using four datasets provided by PhysioNet, a research resource for complex physiological signals, in the form of the PhysioNet 2014 Challenge set-p1 and set-p2, the MIT-BIH Polysomnographic Database, and the MGH/MF Waveform Database. On these data sets our algorithm performs on par with the other top six submissions to the PhysioNet 2014 challenge. The overall evaluation scores in terms of sensitivity and positive predictivity values obtained were as follows: set-p1 (99.72%), set-p2 (93.51%), MIT-BIH (99.66%), and MGH/MF (95.53%). These scores are based on the averaging of gross sensitivity, gross positive predictivity, average sensitivity, and average positive predictivity.