Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Analysis of the Effectiveness of Tagging in Blogs

Tags have recently become popular as a means of annotating and organizing Web pages and blog entries. Advocates of tagging argue that the use of tags produces a ’folksonomy’, a system in which the meaning of a tag is determined by its use among the community as a whole. We analyze the effectiveness of tags for classifying blog entries by gathering the top 350 tags from Technorati and measuring the similarity of all articles that share a tag. We find that tags are useful for grouping articles into broad categories, but less effective in indicating the particular content of an article. We then show that automatically extracting words deemed to be highly relevant can produce more focused categorization of articles. We also provide anecdotal evidence of some of tagging’s weaknesses, and discuss future directions that could make tagging more effective as a tool for information organization and re-
On reinsertions in M-tree

In this paper we introduce a new M-tree building method, utilizing the classic idea of forced reinsertions. In case a leaf is about to split, some distant objects are removed from the leaf (reducing the covering radius), and then again inserted into the M-tree in a usual way. A regular leaf split is performed only after a series of unsuccessful reinsertion attempts. We expect the forced reinsertions will result in more compact M- tree hierarchies (i.e., more efficient query processing), while the index construction costs should be kept as low as possible. Considering both low construction costs and low querying costs, we examine several combinations of construction policies with reinsertions. The experiments show that forced reinsertions could significantly decrease the number of distance computations, thus speeding up indexing as well as querying.
Evaluation of the Choroid, Fovea, and Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

ABSTRACT Purpose: To evaluate the effect of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on choroid, retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), and foveal thickness using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT). Methods: Fifty patients with RA and forty-one healthy volunteers were enrolled in this study. The subfoveal, perifoveal choroidal, RNFL, and foveal thicknesses were measured by spectral domain OCT. Results: The mean subfoveal, nasal, and temporal choroidal thicknesses in RA individuals were significantly higher than those in the control group (p ˂ 0.05). However, there was no significant difference between the RA and healthy group regarding RNFL and foveal thickness (p ˃ 0.05). A significant correlation was found between rheumatoid factor (RF) and the subfoveal temporal choroidal thickness. Conclusion: Choroidal thickness in RA patients was higher than that in healthy participants. Choroidal thickening showed a positive correlation with RF, which may be an indicator for systemic vasculitis.
Monoclonal antibody analysis of neutralization and antibody-dependent enhancement of feline infectious peritonitis virus

Fifty-four monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV) were characterized according to protein specificity, immunoglobulin subclass, virus neutralization, reactivity with different coronaviruses, and ability to induce antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) of FIPV infection in vitro. The MAbs were found to be specific for one of three structural proteins of FIPV. A total of 47 MAbs were specific for the 205-kDa spike protein (S), 3 MAbs were specific for the 45-kDa nucleocapsid protein (N), and 4 MAbs were specific for the 26- to 28-kDa membrane protein (M). The S-specific MAbs showed various degrees of cross-reactivity with strains of FIPV, feline enteric coronavirus, canine coronavirus, and porcine transmissible gastroenteritis virus. Nineteen S-specific MAbs neutralized FIPV. A total of 15 of the neutralizing MAbs induced ADE, and all but 1 were of the immunoglobulin G2a subclass. The remaining four neutralizing MAbs that did not induce ADE were of the immunoglobulin G1 subclass. Two S-specific MAbs induced ADE but were nonneutralizing. None of the N- or M-specific MAbs was neutralizing or induced ADE. On the basis of the reactivity patterns of the MAbs with FIPV and related coronaviruses, it was concluded that there is a minimum of five neutralizing sites on S. In most instances, neutralizing MAbs were able to induce ADE, demonstrating a direct relationship between neutralization and enhancement. The difference in immunoglobulin subclass between neutralizing MAbs that induced ADE and those that did not induce ADE suggests that there may be a restriction in the immunoglobulin subclasses capable of mediating ADE.
Bottom-up computation of sparse and Iceberg CUBE

We introduce the Iceberg-CUBE problem as a reformulation of the datacube (CUBE) problem. The Iceberg-CUBE problem is to compute only those group-by partitions with an aggregate value (e.g., count) above some minimum support threshold. The result of Iceberg-CUBE can be used (1) to answer group-by queries with a clause such as HAVING COUNT(*) >= X, where X is greater than the threshold, (2) for mining multidimensional association rules, and (3) to complement existing strategies for identifying interesting subsets of the CUBE for precomputation. We present a new algorithm (BUC) for Iceberg-CUBE computation. BUC builds the CUBE bottom-up; i.e., it builds the CUBE by starting from a group-by on a single attribute, then a group-by on a pair of attributes, then a group-by on three attributes, and so on. This is the opposite of all techniques proposed earlier for computing the CUBE, and has an important practical advantage: BUC avoids computing the larger group-bys that do not meet minimum support. The pruning in BUC is similar to the pruning in the Apriori algorithm for association rules, except that BUC trades some pruning for locality of reference and reduced memory requirements. BUC uses the same pruning strategy when computing sparse, complete CUBEs. We present a thorough performance evaluation over a broad range of workloads. Our evaluation demonstrates that (in contrast to earlier assumptions) minimizing the aggregations or the number of sorts is not the most important aspect of the sparse CUBE problem. The pruning in BUC, combined with an efficient sort method, enables BUC to outperform all previous algorithms for sparse CUBEs, even for computing entire CUBEs, and to dramatically improve Iceberg-CUBE computation.
Effect of leading and trailing torch configuration on mixing and fluid behavior of laser-gas metal arc hybrid welding

The paper introduces the results of mixing and fluid flow studies for full penetration laser-gas metal arc (GMA) hybrid welding with GMA leading and trailing torch configuration. The material used was austenitic stainless steel with the thickness of 10 mm. The joint configuration was butt joint without gap. It was found that the molten pool at the root side is a longer time in the molten state than the pool at the weld surface. Compared to autogeneous laser welding, the addition of GMA makes the upper bead wider. This effect is more prominent in the case of GMA trailing compared to the case of GMA leading. The simulation results also show a similar trend of bead shape change in the case of GMA leading and trailing configuration compared to the experimental ones. Mixing behavior of filler and base metal is also evaluated and compared by both experimental studies and simulations. In GMA leading configuration, the mixing is more pronounced in the upper part of the weld cross section, while in GMA trailing, t.
Phase congruency features for palm-print verification

The existing palm-print verification schemes have demonstrated good verification performance when identity claims have to be verified based on palm-print images of adequate quality (e.g. acquired in controlled illumination conditions, free from distortions caused by the pressure applied to the surface of the scanner etc.). However, most of these schemes struggle with their verification performance when features have to be extracted from palm-print images of a poorer quality. In this study the authors present a novel palm-print feature extraction approach which deals with the presented problem by employing the two-dimensional phase congruency model for line-feature extraction. The proposed approach first computes a set of phase congruency features from a palm-print image and subsequently performs linear discriminant analysis on the computed features to represent them in a more compact manner. The approach was tested on two contrasting databases, namely, on the FE-LUKS and on the PolyU database. Encouraging results were achieved on both databases.
Hardware implementation of a memory allocator

It is generally felt that the complexity of system-on-chip (SOC) can only be addressed by intellectual-property (IP) based design. While IPs such as processor cores, memories, and bus controllers are being offered by many vendors, IP cores for dynamic memory management, an important task for any complex application, have been close to non-existent. This paper describes the implementation of a buddy system based soft IP core after a review of common memory allocation algorithms. The study also investigates the impact of different IP configuration and different synthesis strategies on the synthesis quality.
Quadratic Risk Minimization in a Regime-Switching Model with Portfolio Constraints

We study a problem of stochastic control in mathematical finance, for which the asset prices are modeled by Ito processes. The market parameters exhibit “regime-switching” in the sense of being adapted to the joint filtration of the Brownian motion in the asset price models and a given finite-state Markov chain which models “regimes” of the market. The goal is to minimize a general quadratic loss function of the wealth at close of trade subject to the constraint that the vector of dollar amounts in each stock remains within a given closed convex set. We apply a conjugate duality approach, the essence of which is to establish existence of a solution to an associated dual problem and then use optimality relations to construct an optimal portfolio in terms of this solution. The optimality relations are also used to compute explicit optimal portfolios for various convex cone constraints when the market parameters are adapted specifically to the Markov chain.
Cardboard people: a parameterized model of articulated image motion

We extend the work of Black and Yacoob (1995) on the tracking and recognition of human facial expressions using parametrized models of optical flow to deal with the articulated motion of human limbs. We define a "card-board person model" in which a person's limbs are represented by a set of connected planar patches. The parametrized image motion of these patches in constrained to enforce articulated motion and is solved for directly using a robust estimation technique. The recovered motion parameters provide a rich and concise description of the activity that can be used for recognition. We propose a method for performing view-based recognition of human activities from the optical flow parameters that extends previous methods to cope with the cyclical nature of human motion. We illustrate the method with examples of tracking human legs of long image sequences.
Knowledge representations for sensemaking

I discuss the lessons learned during the design and implementation of three knowledge representations systems for sensemaking. The focus is on the tension that exists between a knowledge representation's role as a surrogate for the world and its role as a facilitator of computational reasoning. Each system accepts natural language inputs and implements a bidirectional model of sensemaking. One system emphasizes inference while the other two systems emphasize their role as a representation for the world. I discuss the differences between these systems and what gives rise to these differences. Thesis Supervisor: Boris Katz Title: Principal Research Scientist
Atraumatic versus traumatic lumbar puncture needles: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

Introduction Lumbar puncture is one of the oldest and most commonly performed procedures in medicine, used to diagnose and treat disease. Headache following lumbar puncture remains a frequent complication, causing significant patient discomfort and often requiring narcotic analgesia or invasive therapy. Needle tip design has been proposed to affect the incidence of headache postlumbar puncture, with pencil-point ‘atraumatic’ needles thought to reduce its incidence in comparison to bevelled ‘traumatic’ needles. Despite this, the use of atraumatic needles and knowledge of their existence remains significantly limited among clinicians. This study will systematically review the evidence on atraumatic lumbar puncture needles and compare them with traumatic needles across a variety of clinical outcomes. Methods and analyses We will include published randomised controlled trials (RCTs), observational studies and abstracts, with no publication type or language restrictions. Search strategies will be designed to peruse the MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, ClinicalTrials.gov, CINAHL, WHO Clinical Trials Database and Cochrane Library databases. We will also implement strategies to search the grey literature. 3 reviewers will thoroughly and independently examine the search results, complete data abstraction and conduct quality assessment. Included RCTs will be assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool and eligible observational studies will be examined using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. We will examine the outcomes of: headache and its type, intensity, duration and treatment; backache; success rate; hearing disturbance and nerve root irritation. The primary outcome will be the incidence of postdural puncture headache. We will calculate pooled estimates, relative risks for dichotomous outcomes and weighted mean differences for continuous outcomes, with corresponding 95% CIs. Statistical heterogeneity will be measured using Cochran's Q test and quantified using the I2 statistic. We will also conduct prespecified subgroup and sensitivity analyses to examine if covariates exist and to explore potential heterogeneity. Ethics and dissemination Research ethics board approval is not required for this study as it draws from published data and raises no concerns related to patient privacy. This review will provide a comprehensive assessment of the evidence on atraumatic needles for lumbar puncture and is directed to a wide audience. Results from the review will be disseminated extensively through conferences and submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication. Trial registration number CRD42016047546.
Physiological Response of Adipocytes to Weight Loss and Maintenance

Background Metabolic processes in adipose tissue are dysregulated in obese subjects and, in response to weight loss, either normalize or change in favor of weight regain. Objective To determine changes in adipocyte glucose and fatty acid metabolism in relation to changes in adipocyte size during weight loss and maintenance. Methods Twenty-eight healthy subjects (12 males), age 20–50 y, and BMI 28–35 kg/m2, followed a very low energy diet for 2 months, followed by a 10-month period of weight maintenance. Body weight, body composition (deuterium dilution and BodPod), protein levels (Western blot) and adipocyte size were assessed prior to and after weight loss and after the 10-month follow-up. Results A 10% weight loss resulted in a 16% decrease in adipocyte size. A marker for glycolysis decreased (AldoC) during weight loss in association with adipocyte shrinking, and remained decreased during follow-up in association with weight maintenance. A marker for fatty acid transport increased (FABP4) during weight loss and remained increased during follow-up. Markers for mitochondrial beta-oxidation (HADHsc) and lipolysis (ATGL) were only increased after the 10-month follow-up. During weight loss HADHsc and ATGL were coordinately regulated, which became weaker during follow-up due to adipocyte size-related changes in HADHsc expression. AldoC was the major denominator of adipocyte size and body weight, whereas changes in ATGL during weight loss contributed to body weight during follow-up. Upregulation of ATGL and HADHsc occured in the absence of a negative energy balance and was triggered by adipocyte shrinkage or indicated preadipocyte differentiation. Conclusion Markers for adipocyte glucose and fatty acid metabolism are changed in response to weight loss in line with normalization from a dysregulated obese status to an improved metabolic status. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01015508
The S.T.O.N.E. Score: a new assessment tool to predict stone free rates in ureteroscopy from pre-operative radiological features.

OBJECTIVE To develop a user friendly system (S.T.O.N.E. Score) to quantify and describe stone characteristics provided by computed axial tomography scan to predict ureteroscopy outcomes and to evaluate the characteristics that are thought to affect stone free rates. MATERIALS AND METHODS The S.T. O.N. E. score consists of 5 stone characteristics: (S) ize, (T)opography (location of stone), (O)bstruction, (N)umber of stones present, and (E)valuation of Hounsfield Units. Each component is scored on a 1-3 point scale. The S.T. O.N. E. Score was applied to 200 rigid and flexible ureteroscopies performed at our institution. A logistic model was applied to evaluate our data for stone free rates (SFR). RESULTS SFR were found to be correlated to S.T. O.N. E. Score. As S.T. O.N. E. Score increased, the SFR decreased with a logical regression trend (p < 0.001). The logistic model found was SFR=1/(1+e^(-z)), where z=7.02-0.57•Score with an area under the curve of 0.764. A S.T. O.N. E. Score ≤ 9 points obtains stone free rates > 90% and typically falls off by 10% per point thereafter. CONCLUSIONS The S.T. O.N. E. Score is a novel assessment tool to predict SFR in patients who require URS for the surgical therapy of ureteral and renal stone disease. The features of S.T. O.N. E. are relevant in predicting SFR with URS. Size, location, and degree of hydronephrosis were statistically significant factors in multivariate analysis. The S.T. O.N. E. Score establishes the framework for future analysis of the treatment of urolithiasis.
FLUSH+RELOAD: A High Resolution, Low Noise, L3 Cache Side-Channel Attack

Sharing memory pages between non-trusting processes is a common method of reducing the memory footprint of multi-tenanted systems. In this paper we demonstrate that, due to a weakness in the Intel X86 processors, page sharing exposes processes to information leaks. We present FLUSH+RELOAD, a cache side-channel attack technique that exploits this weakness to monitor access to memory lines in shared pages. Unlike previous cache side-channel attacks, FLUSH+RELOAD targets the Last-Level Cache (i.e. L3 on processors with three cache levels). Consequently, the attack program and the victim do not need to share the execution core. We demonstrate the efficacy of the FLUSH+RELOAD attack by using it to extract the private encryption keys from a victim program running GnuPG 1.4. 13. We tested the attack both between two unrelated processes in a single operating system and between processes running in separate virtual machines. On average, the attack is able to recover 96.7% of the bits of the secret key by observing a single signature or decryption round.
The distributed information search component (Disco) and the World Wide Web

The Distributed Information Search COmponent (DISCO) is a prototype heterogeneous distributed database that accesses underlying data sources. The DISCO prototype currently focuses on three central research problems in the context of these systems. First, since the capabilities of each data source is different, transforming queries into subqueries on data source is difficult. We call this problem the weak data source problem. Second, since each data source performs operations in a generally unique way, the cost for performing an operation may vary radically from one wrapper to another. We call this problem the radical cost problem. Finally, existing systems behave rudely when attempting to access an unavailable data source. We call this problem the ungraceful failure problem. DISCO copes with these problems. For the weak data source problem, the database implementor defines precisely the capabilities of each data source. For the radical cost problem, the database implementor (optionally) defines cost information for some of the operations of a data source. The mediator uses this cost information to improve its cost model. To deal with ungraceful failures, queries return partial answers. A partial answer contains the part of the final answer to the query that was produced by the available data sources. The current working prototype of DISCO contains implementations of these solutions and operations over a collection of wrappers that access information both in files and on the World Wide Web.
Pushing the EL Envelope

Recently, it has been shown that the small DL EL, which allows for conjunction and existential restrictions, has better algorithmic properties than its counterpart FL₀, which allows for conjunction and value restrictions. Whereas the subsumption problem in FL₀ becomes already intractable in the presence of aclyc TBoxes, it remains tractable in EL even w.r. t. general concept inclusion axioms (GCIs). On the one hand, we will extend the positive result for EL by identifying a set of expressive means that can be added to EL without sacrificing tractability. On the other hand, we will show that basically all other additions of typical DL constructors to EL with GCIs make subsumption intractable, and in most cases even EXPTIME-complete. In addition, we will show that subsumption in FL₀ with GCIs is EXPTIME-complete.
Decoupled circular‐polarized dual‐head volume coil pair for studying two interacting human brains with dyadic fMRI

A major function of the human brain is to mediate interactions with other people. Until recently, studying social interactions as they occur within the brain was not possible due to the lack of measurable methods to observe two interacting minds simultaneously. We have developed a novel MRI dual‐head volume coil pair that can scan two subjects' brains simultaneously while the subjects are socially interacting in one MRI scanner. The feasibility of using this coil for dyadic functional MRI (fMRI) study has been successfully demonstrated for the first time. Meanwhile, an innovative robust scheme for decoupling two circular‐polarized coils (not surface coils) is introduced in theory and validated in practice in the coil technology development. Magn Reson Med, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.