Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Long‐Term Changes in Aortic Stiffness: The Whitehall II Study

Background Physical activity is associated with reduced cardiovascular disease risk, mainly through effects on atherosclerosis. Aortic stiffness may be an alternative mechanism. We examined whether patterns of physical activity and sedentary behavior are associated with rate of aortic stiffening. Methods and Results Carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) was measured twice using applanation tonometry at mean ages 65 (in 2008/2009) and 70 (in 2012/2013) years in the Whitehall‐II study (N=5196). Physical activity was self‐reported at PWV baseline (2008/2009) and twice before (in 1997/1999 and 2002/2003). Sedentary time was defined as sitting time watching television or at work/commute. Linear mixed models adjusted for metabolic and lifestyle risk factors were used to analyze PWV change. Mean (SD) PWV (m/s) was 8.4 (2.4) at baseline and 9.2 (2.7) at follow‐up, representing a 5‐year increase of 0.76 m/s (95% CI 0.69, 0.83). A smaller 5‐year increase in PWV was observed for each additional hour/week spent in sports activity (−0.02 m/s [95% CI −0.03, −0.001]) or cycling (−0.02 m/s [−0.03, −0.008]). Walking, housework, gardening, or do‐it‐yourself activities were not significantly associated with aortic stiffening. Each additional hour/week spent sitting was associated with faster PWV progression in models adjusted for physical activity (0.007 m/s [95% CI 0.001, 0.013]). Increasing physical activity over time was associated with a smaller subsequent increase in PWV (−0.16 m/s [−0.32, −0.002]) compared with not changing activity levels. Conclusions Higher levels of moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity and avoidance of sedentary behavior were each associated with a slower age‐related progression of aortic stiffness independent of conventional vascular risk factors.
Catching potential customers: an example of Web-mining-aided e-commerce decision-making

This study aims at, for an e-business Web site, how to use data mining technology in its management analysis, i.e. holding customer behavior patterns and digging potential customers. The connection between Web mining and e-commerce was analyzed. Based on a case of consumer behavior pattern digging, explanation of data gathering, filtering and formatting shows different data mining algorithms, like decision tree, neural network, genetic algorithms and case-based reasoning, should be selectively taken according to different application backgrounds.
Novel synchronization conditions for a class of coupled chaotic systems

The linear coupling method is applied to achieve chaos synchronization for a class of chaotic systems, in which the nonlinear functions satisfy the Lipschitz condition. Some new sufficient conditions are developed based on Lyapunov stability theory. By using Gerschgorin theorem in matrix theory, the conditions are then transformed into the forms of algebraic inequalities. The proposed method and conditions are applied to the chaotic Chua's circuits for demonstration.
Analysis and study of electrical characteristics of through silicon via in 3D integration

Since through silicon vias (TSVs) emerges as the key technology and essential components to enable 3D integration, it is of great importance to explore and investigate its electrical characteristics. In this paper, a 2-tier signal-ground TSV is studied in frequency domain using 3D full wave field solver. The impact of physical configurations and materials on TSV electrical performance is evaluated and analyzed in details.
Sexual balkanization: gender and sexuality as the new ethnicities

Etude du processus d'identite politique dans l'ex-URSS de la part des groupes ethniques, en particulier sur le plan du comportement sexuel et du genre. Constat de l'A. selon lequel le genre et la sexualite induisent des types de comportements sociaux qui varient selon les cultures ; notre comprehension de la sexualite est determinee historiquement et culturellement
Using Ant Colony Optimization for Infrastructure Maintenance Scheduling

For the optimal planning of maintenance schedules for infrastructural buildings (bridges, tunnels, etc) in urban road systems not only the budget has to be considered but also the impact on traffic to avoid unnecessary traffic jams. In a current research project we develop an optimization tool for this multiobjective problem based on ant colony optimization. In each iteration, the ants produce several different schedules for the maintenance over the next few years. Each of these schedules is formed by several scenarios of simultaneously closed roads. A parallel maintenance on different buildings can be modeled be introducing teams of ants. The scenarios are evaluated by an external traffic simulator. The quality of the different schedules, assessed by the waiting time created in the system, influences the amount of pheromone deposited on each schedule and therefore the probability that this or a similar schedule is chosen by the ants in the next iteration step. The building condition also has influence on the probability of choosing a certain schedule: Buildings in bad condition are getting more attractive to be chosen - thus avoiding that only buildings in good condition and therefore with low repair costs are scheduled for maintenance while buildings in bad condition are left to further deterioration. Additional constraints, e.g. budget constraints, can be introduced by applying a modification of the Elitist Ant strategy that guides the ants away from infeasible schedules.
DTI and impulsivity in schizophrenia: a first voxelwise correlational analysis

Compromised white matter (WM) integrity in inferior frontal WM has been related to impulsivity in men with schizophrenia. However, these relationships may be more widespread. Fractional anisotropy (FA) derived from diffusion tensor imaging of 25 men with schizophrenia was transformed into Talairach space. Correlations between FA and impulsiveness were examined on a voxelwise basis. We found negative correlations between FA and impulsivity in inferior frontal WM, anterior cingulate, caudate, insula, and inferior parietal lobule. Positive correlations were obtained in the left postcentral gyrus, right superior/middle temporal gyrus, and bilateral fusiform gyrus. These areas may comprise a fronto-temporo-limbic circuit that modulates impulsivity. The voxelwise correlation method can serve as a hypothesis-generation method for relating target behaviors to their underlying neural networks.
The Origin of Lyα Absorption Systems at z > 1: Implications from the Hubble Deep Field

The Hubble Deep Field images have provided us with a unique chance to relate statistical properties of high-redshift galaxies to statistical properties of Lyα absorption systems. Combining an empirical measure of the galaxy surface density versus redshift with an empirical measure of the gaseous extent of galaxies, we predict the number density of Lyα absorption systems that originate in extended gaseous envelopes of galaxies versus redshift. We show that at least 50% and as much as 100% of observed Lyα absorption systems of W ≳ 0.32 Å can be explained by extended gaseous envelopes of galaxies. Therefore, we conclude that known galaxies of known gaseous extent must produce a significant fraction and perhaps all of Lyα absorption systems over a large redshift range.
The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey : higher-order galaxy correlation functions

We measure moments of the galaxy count probability distribution function in the Two-degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS). The survey is divided into volume-limited subsamples in order to examine the dependence of the higher-order clustering on galaxy luminosity. We demonstrate the hierarchical scaling of the averaged p-point galaxy correlation functions, ξ p , up to p = 6. The hierarchical amplitudes, Sp = ξ p /ξ p-1 2, are approximately independent of the cell radius used to smooth the galaxy distribution on small to medium scales. On larger scales we find that the higher-order moments can be strongly affected by the presence of rare, massive superstructures in the galaxy distribution. The skewness S 3 has a weak dependence on luminosity, approximated by a linear dependence on log luminosity. We discuss the implications of our results for simple models of linear and non-linear bias that relate the galaxy distribution to the underlying mass.
Tetraspanin (TSP-17) Protects Dopaminergic Neurons against 6-OHDA-Induced Neurodegeneration in C. elegans

Parkinson's disease (PD), the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease, is linked to the gradual loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Disease loci causing hereditary forms of PD are known, but most cases are attributable to a combination of genetic and environmental risk factors. Increased incidence of PD is associated with rural living and pesticide exposure, and dopaminergic neurodegeneration can be triggered by neurotoxins such as 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). In C. elegans, this drug is taken up by the presynaptic dopamine reuptake transporter (DAT-1) and causes selective death of the eight dopaminergic neurons of the adult hermaphrodite. Using a forward genetic approach to find genes that protect against 6-OHDA-mediated neurodegeneration, we identified tsp-17, which encodes a member of the tetraspanin family of membrane proteins. We show that TSP-17 is expressed in dopaminergic neurons and provide genetic, pharmacological and biochemical evidence that it inhibits DAT-1, thus leading to increased 6-OHDA uptake in tsp-17 loss-of-function mutants. TSP-17 also protects against toxicity conferred by excessive intracellular dopamine. We provide genetic and biochemical evidence that TSP-17 acts partly via the DOP-2 dopamine receptor to negatively regulate DAT-1. tsp-17 mutants also have subtle behavioral phenotypes, some of which are conferred by aberrant dopamine signaling. Incubating mutant worms in liquid medium leads to swimming-induced paralysis. In the L1 larval stage, this phenotype is linked to lethality and cannot be rescued by a dop-3 null mutant. In contrast, mild paralysis occurring in the L4 larval stage is suppressed by dop-3, suggesting defects in dopaminergic signaling. In summary, we show that TSP-17 protects against neurodegeneration and has a role in modulating behaviors linked to dopamine signaling.
An Effective Background Subtraction under the Mixture of Multiple Varying Illuminations

Background subtraction is an effective method in detecting moving objects in a static scene, which requires a fixed camera, and a static background. Illumination changing is a challenging problem which causes failure of background subtraction. Most background subtract algorithms require the illumination changing slowly, so the object can be tracked accurately and the background is easy to update. If the illumination changes rapidly and nonmonotonously, many algorithms fail. In this paper, we do some research on the condition when there are multiple lights which simulate continuously and rapidly varying illuminations. This kind of condition has many applicable scenes in daily life. This scene can be seen not only in doors or in the dark or in underground architecture but also out doors or in the light. We propose a new algorithm based on the illumination factor which can be applied to not only the indoor environment but also outdoors with natural illumination. In our algorithm, illumination factor is computed through the comparison of background and the current frame. The background is estimated and updated based on this factor, which tracks the change of background accurately and reduces the chance of failure. Experiments have proven the effectiveness of our method.
Atad2 is a generalist facilitator of chromatin dynamics in embryonic stem cells

Although the conserved AAA ATPase and bromodomain factor, ATAD2, has been described as a transcriptional co-activator upregulated in many cancers, its function remains poorly understood. Here, using a combination of ChIP-seq, ChIP-proteomics, and RNA-seq experiments in embryonic stem cells where Atad2 is normally highly expressed, we found that Atad2 is an abundant nucleosome-bound protein present on active genes, associated with chromatin remodelling, DNA replication, and DNA repair factors. A structural analysis of its bromodomain and subsequent investigations demonstrate that histone acetylation guides ATAD2 to chromatin, resulting in an overall increase of chromatin accessibility and histone dynamics, which is required for the proper activity of the highly expressed gene fraction of the genome. While in exponentially growing cells Atad2 appears dispensable for cell growth, in differentiating ES cells Atad2 becomes critical in sustaining specific gene expression programmes, controlling proliferation and differentiation. Altogether, this work defines Atad2 as a facilitator of general chromatin-templated activities such as transcription.
3D feature based mapping towards mobile robots' enhanced performance in rescue missions

This paper presents a feature based 3D mapping approach with regard to obtaining compact models of semi-structured environments such as partially destroyed buildings where mobile robots are to carry out rescue activities. To gather the 3D data, we use a laser scanner, employing a nodding data acquisition system mounted on both real and simulated robots. Our segmentation algorithm comes up from the integration of computer vision techniques, allowing for a fast separation of points corresponding to different, not necessarily planar, surfaces. The subsequent extraction of geometrical features out of each region's points is done by means of least-squares fitting. A Maximum Incremental Probability algorithm formulated upon the Extended Kalman Filter provides 6D localization and produces a map of planar patches with a convex-hull based representation. Scenarios from the Unified System for Automation and Robot Simulation (USARSim), including world models from past RoboCup Rescue editions' arenas, have been utilized to conduct some of our experiments.
Good Times Bad Times: A Study on Recency Effects in Collaborative Filtering for Social Tagging

In this paper, we present work-in-progress of a recently started project that aims at studying the effect of time in recommender systems in the context of social tagging. Despite the existence of previous work in this area, no research has yet made an extensive evaluation and comparison of time-aware recommendation methods. With this motivation, this paper presents results of a study where we focused on understanding (i) "when" to use the temporal information into traditional collaborative filtering (CF) algorithms, and (ii) "how" to weight the similarity between users and items by exploring the effect of different time-decay functions. As the results of our extensive evaluation conducted over five social tagging systems (Delicious, BibSonomy, CiteULike, MovieLens, and Last.fm) suggest, the step (when) in which time is incorporated in the CF algorithm has substantial effect on accuracy, and the type of time-decay function (how) plays a role on accuracy and coverage mostly under pre-filtering on user-based CF, while item-based shows stronger stability over the experimental conditions.
Metode Improved CHAID (chi-squared automatic interaction detection) Pada Analisis Kredit Macet BMT (Baitul Mal wa Tamwil)

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menetukan segmentasi nasabah berdasarkan karakteristik status kreditnya pada BMT El Bummi 372. Segmentasi ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi segmen nasabah potensial dengan harapan resiko kredit macet yang dapat diminimumkan. Penelitian ini menggunakan data sekunder, yang terdiri dari 945 nasabah yang terdiri dari 94 macet dan 851 tidak macet. Salah satu metode riset segmentasi yaitu Improved CHAID ( Chi-Squared Automatic Interaction Detection analysis ) yang merupakan perbaikan dari metode CHAID dengan mengelaborasi tabel kontingensinya dengan Tschuprow’s T . Improved CHAID akan menghasilkan diagram yang mirip dengan diagram pohon keputusan yang menyediakan informasi tentang derajat hubungan antara variabel dependen terhadap variabel independen serta informasi mengenasi karakteristik segmen. Pada kasus BMT El Bummi 372,didapatkan enam segmen. Segmen nasabah dengan karakteristik pendidikan (Diploma/S1/Profesi, S2/S3), usia ≤ 50 tahun, ukuran keluarga ≤ 3 orang dan penghasilan >Rp. 1.500. 000,00 adalah segmen yang memiliki rasio kredit macet yang paling rendah.
EXPLOITING F-STRUCTURE INPUT FOR SENTENCE CONDENSATION

In this paper, we describe the types of sentence condensation rules used in the sentence condensation of Riezler et al. 2003 in detail. We show how the distinctions made in LFG f-structures as to grammatical functions and features make it possible to state simple but accurate rules to create smaller, well-formed f-structures from which the condensed sentence can be generated.
On the Computation of EXIT Characteristics for Symbol-Based Iterative Decoding

In this paper we propose an efficient method for computing index-based extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) charts, which are useful for estimating the convergence properties of non-binary iterative decoding. A standard method is to apply a priori reliability information to the a posteriori probability (APP) constituent decoder and compute the resulting average extrinsic information at the decoder output via multidimensional histogram measurements. However, this technique is only reasonable for very small index lengths as the complexity of this approach grows exponentially with the index length. We show that by averaging over a function of the extrinsic APPs for a long block the extrinsic information can be estimated with very low complexity. In contrast to using histogram measurements this method allows to generate EXIT charts even for larger index alphabets. Examples for a non-binary serial concatenated code and for turbo trellis-coded modulation, resp. , demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed approach.
Using a Smartphone to Detect the Standing-to-Kneeling and Kneeling-to-Standing Postural Transitions

In this report we investigate how well a smartphone can be used to detect the standing-to-kneeling and kneeling-to-standing postural transitions. Possible applications include measuring time spent kneeling in certain groups of workers prone to knee-straining work. Accelerometer and gyroscope data was recorded from a group of 10 volunteers while performing a set of postural transitions according to an experimental script. The set of postural transitions included the standing-to-kneeling and kneeling-to-standing transitions, in addition to a selection of transitions common in knee-straining occupations. Using recorded video, the recorded data was labeled and segmented into a data set consisting of 3-second sensor data segments in 9 different classes. The classification performance of a number of different LSTM-networks were evaluated on the data set. When evaluated in a user-specific setting, the best network achieved an overall classification accuracy of 89.4 %. The network achieved precision 0.982 and recall 0.917 for the standing-to-kneeling transitions, and precision 0.900 and recall 0.900 for the kneeling-to-standing transitions. When the same network was evaluated in a user-independent setting it achieved an overall accuracy of 66.3 %, with precision 0.720 and recall 0.746 for the standing-to-kneeling transitions, and precision 0.707 and recall 0.604 for the kneeling-to-standing transitions. The network was also evaluated in a setting where only accelerometer data was used. The achieved performance was similar to that achieved when using data from both the accelerometer and gyroscope. The classification speed of the network was evaluated on a smartphone. On a Samsung Galaxy S7 the average time needed to perform one classification was 38.5 milliseconds. The classification can therefore be done in real time.
AntispamLab - A Tool for Realistic Evaluation of Email Spam Filters

The existing tools for testing spam filters evaluate a filter instance by simply feeding it with a stream of emails, possibly also providing a feedback to the filter about the correctness of the detection. In such a scenario the evaluated filter is disconnected from the network of email servers, filters, and users, which makes the approach inappropriate for testing many of the filters that exploit some of the information about spam bulkiness, users' actions and social relations among the users. Corresponding evaluation results might be wrong, because the information that is normally used by the filter is missing, incomplete or inappropriate. In this paper we present a tool for testing spam filters in a very realistic scenario. Our tool consists of a set of Python scripts for unix/linux environment. The tool takes as inputs the filter to be tested and an affordable set of interconnected machines (e.g., PlanetLab machines, or locally created virtual machines). When started from a central place, the tool uses the provided machines to build a network of real email servers, installs instances of the filter, deploys and runs simulated email users and spammers, and computes the detection results statistic. Email servers are implemented using Postfix, a standard linux email server. Only per-email-server filters are currently supported, whereas per-email-client filters testing would require additional tool development. The size of the created emailing network is constrained only by the number of available PlanetLab or virtual machines. The run time is much shorter then the simulated system time, due to a time scaling mechanism. Testing a new filter is as simple as installing one copy of it in a real emailing network, which unifies the jobs of a new filter development, testing and prototyping. As a usage example, we test the SpamAssassin filter.
Rapid Dendritic Cell Mobilization to the Large Intestinal Epithelium Is Associated with Resistance to Trichuris muris Infection1

The large intestine is a major site of infection and disease, yet little is known about how immunity is initiated within this site and the role of dendritic cells (DCs) in this process. We used the well-established model of Trichuris muris infection to investigate the innate response of colonic DCs in mice that are inherently resistant or susceptible to infection. One day postinfection, there was a significant increase in the number of immature colonic DCs in resistant but not susceptible mice. This increase was sustained at day 7 postinfection in resistant mice when the majority of the DCs were mature. There was no increase in DC numbers in susceptible mice until day 13 postinfection. In resistant mice, most colonic DCs were located in or adjacent to the epithelium postinfection. There were also marked differences in the expression of colonic epithelial chemokines in resistant mice and susceptible mice. Resistant mice had significantly increased levels of epithelium-derived CCL2, CCL3, CCL5, and CCL20 compared with susceptible mice. Furthermore, administering neutralizing CCL5 and CCL20 Abs to resistant mice prevented DC recruitment. This study provides clear evidence of differences in the kinetics of DC responses in hosts inherently resistant and susceptible to infection. DC responses in the colon correlate with resistance to infection. Differences in the production of DC chemotactic chemokines by colonic epithelial cells in response to infection in resistant vs susceptible mice may explain the different kinetics of the DC response.