Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Learning Kernels for Structured Prediction using Polynomial Kernel Transformations

Learning the kernel functions used in kernel methods has been a vastly explored area in machine learning. It is now widely accepted that to obtain 'good' performance, learning a kernel function is the key challenge. In this work we focus on learning kernel representations for structured regression. We propose use of polynomials expansion of kernels, referred to as Schoenberg transforms and Gegenbaur transforms, which arise from the seminal result of Schoenberg (1938). These kernels can be thought of as polynomial combination of input features in a high dimensional reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS). We learn kernels over input and output for structured data, such that, dependency between kernel features is maximized. We use Hilbert-Schmidt Independence Criterion (HSIC) to measure this. We also give an efficient, matrix decomposition-based algorithm to learn these kernel transformations, and demonstrate state-of-the-art results on several real-world datasets.
Titanium dioxide nanoparticles enhance production of superoxide anion and alter the antioxidant system in human osteoblast cells

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (NPs) are manufactured worldwide for a variety of engineering and bioengineering applications. TiO2NPs are frequently used as a material for orthopedic implants. However, to the best of our knowledge, the biocompatibility of TiO2NPs and their effects on osteoblast cells, which are responsible for the growth and remodeling of the human skeleton, have not been thoroughly investigated. In the research reported here, we studied the effects of exposing hFOB 1.19 human osteoblast cells to TiO2NPs (5–15 nm) for 24 and 48 hours. Cell viability, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, cellular uptake of NPs, cell morphology, superoxide anion (O2•−2) generation, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and protein level, sirtuin 3 (SIR3) protein level, correlation between manganese (Mn) SOD and SIR, total antioxidant capacity, and malondialdehyde were measured following exposure of hFOB 1.19 cells to TiO2NPs. Exposure of hFOB 1.19 cells to TiO2NPs resulted in: (1) cellular uptake of NPs; (2) increased cytotoxicity and cell death in a time- and concentration-dependent manner; (3) ultrastructure changes; (4) decreased SOD and ALP activity; (5) decreased protein levels of SOD1, SOD2, and SIR3; (6) decreased total antioxidant capacity; (7) increased O2•− generation; and (8) enhanced lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde level). The linear relationship between the protein level of MnSOD and SIR3 and between O2•− content and SIR3 protein level was observed. Importantly, the cytotoxic effects of TiO2NPs were attenuated by the pretreatment of hFOB 1.19 cells with SOD, indicating the significant role of O2•− in the cell damage and death observed. Thus, decreased expression of SOD leading to increased oxidizing stress may underlie the nanotoxic effects of TiO2NPs on human osteoblasts.
Deterministic identity testing for multivariate polynomials

In this paper we present a simple deterministic algorithm for testing whether a multivariate polynomial <i>f</i>(<i>x</i><inf>1</inf>, ., <i>x<inf>n</inf></i>) is identically zero, in time polynomial in <i>m</i>, <i>n</i>, log(<i>d</i> + 1) and <i>H</i>. Here <i>m</i> is the number of monomials in <i>f</i>, <i>d</i> is the maximum degree of a variable in <i>f</i> and 2<sup><i>H</i></sup> is the least upper bound on the magnitude of the largest coefficient in <i>f</i>. We assume that <i>f</i> has integer coefficients.The main feature of our algorithm is its conceptual simplicity. The proof uses Linnik's Theorem which is a deep fact about distribution of primes in an arithmetic progression.
Geospatial visualization using hardware accelerated real-time volume rendering

We present a visualization framework using direct volume rendering techniques that achieves real-time performance and high image quality. The visualization program runs on a desktop as well as in an immersive environment. The application is named HurricaneVis, and it uses OpenGL, GLSL and VTK For immersive visualization VRJuggler is added. To achieve real-time rendering rates for 4D scalar data we use the programmability of the GPU and in particular store the transfer functions as well as the 3D volume of scalar data on the GPU in texture memory. The initial use was visualization of scalar data from numerical weather model simulations of tropical cyclones, namely Hurricanes Isabelle and Lili. We are expanding that to include visualization of other types of data sets. We conducted a user study to compare the implemented volume rendering technique with state-of-the-art isosurface rendering. The subjects were students in the Dynamic Meteorology Π and Physical Meteorology classes in the Department of Geosciences at Mississippi State University. The results establish that both volume rendering and isosurface visualizations are effective in examining data from computer simulations of hurricanes. Because of the higher image quality and the higher frame rates, direct volume rendering using ray-casting or view-aligned texture slicing was preferred.
FILA, a Holistic Approach to Massive Online Gaming: Algorithm Comparison and Performance Analysis

The popularity of multiplayer online games has nowadays reached millions across the globe capturing the attention of both researchers and practitioners. Unfortunately, this kind of applications has still to deal with the limitations imposed by some unresolved issues. Interactivity, consistency, fairness, and scalability are the major requirements that need to be efficiently addressed in order to provide an appealing product to a huge number of potential customers all over the world. Answering to this demand, we propose holistic approach able to exploit the semantics of the game to satisfy the aforementioned requirements. In particular, we here compare different versions of this mechanism with the traditional local lag scheme. We provide extensive results also demonstrating how our scheme efficiently copes with elevated game traffic level.
Metronidazole and anaerobic sepsis.

SIR,-In my experience it is not only general practitioners' surgeries where trivial complaints could well be reduced by education of the public (leading article, 1 December, p 1408). Accident and emergency departments today are besieged with persons whose bruises and sprains show a very low threshold of selfreliance and self-help and one which has become noticeably lower over the past few years-so much so that any little bump is another excuse to visit "mother's knee" in the shape of the local casualty department. The demand for an x-ray is made on the assumption that clinical examination is always fallible. Fear of litigation, though not yet as crippling in its effect on clinical morale here as in the USA, twists the casualty officer's arm to accede where even a lay person should be able to withstand such unnecessary pressure. The GP faced with trivia has at least the compensation of "pastoral" contact with his own patient. The casualty officer who, as kindly as possible, tells the patient that there is nothing that time will not rapidly ameliorate is hard put to it to derive anything but frustration from the interview. Much more could be done to educate the public (a) as to which injuries merit hospital attendance and (b) as to the real function of the accident department, whose ability to deal with serious cases is constantly being sapped by time and energy spent on trivia. S L HENDERSON SMITH
Modeling and predicting performance of high performance computing applications on hardware accelerators

Hybrid-core systems speedup applications by offloading certain compute operations that can run faster on hardware accelerators. However, such systems require significant programming and porting effort to gain a performance benefit from the accelerators. Therefore, prior to porting it is prudent to investigate the predicted performance benefit of accelerators for a given workload. To address this problem we present a performance-modeling framework that predicts the application performance rapidly and accurately for hybrid-core systems. We present predictions for two full-scale HPC applications—HYCOM and Milc. Our results for two accelerators (GPU and FPGA) show that gather/scatter and stream operations can speedup by as much as a factor of 15 and overall compute time of Milc and HYCOM improve by 3.4% and 20%, respectively. We also show that in order to benefit from the accelerators, 70% of the latency of data transfer time between the CPU and the accelerators needs to be overcome.
Interactive Inference of Join Queries

We investigate the problem of inferring join queries from user interactions. The user is presented with a set of candidate tuples and is asked to label them as positive or negative depending on whether or not she would like the tuples as part of the join result. The goal is to quickly infer an arbitrary n-ary join predicate across two relations by keeping the number of user interactions as minimal as possible. We assume no prior knowledge of the integrity constraints between the involved relations. This kind of scenario occurs in several application settings, such as data integration, reverse engineering of database queries, and constraint inference. In such scenarios, the database instances may be too big to be skimmed. We explore the search space by using a set of strategies that let us prune what we call \uninformative" tuples, and directly present to the user the informative ones i.e., those that allow to quickly nd the goal query that the user has in mind. In this paper, we focus on the inference of joins with equality predicates and we show that for such joins deciding whether a tuple is uninformative can be done in polynomial time. Next, we propose several strategies for presenting tuples to the user in a given order that lets minimize the number of interactions. We show the eciency and scalability of our approach through an experimental study on both benchmark and synthetic datasets. Finally, we prove that adding projection to our queries makes the problem intractable.
Life Expectancy after Curative-intent Treatment of Breast Cancer: Impact on Long-term Follow-up Care

Long-term survival rates after treatment for breast cancer are directly influenced by early deaths resulting from disease. For longer-term breast cancer survivors, survival rates appear deceptively low. We hypothesize that the actual survival curve for long-term survivors approaches the overall survival of the general population. The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database (1988 to 2002) was used to identify patients with nonmetastatic breast cancer who underwent definitive surgical treatment. The survival of the general population was constructed by using national life tables with an age-matched population. Comparisons of survivals were made for 3-, 5-, and 7-year breast cancer survivor cohorts. Of 237,180 patients, 92.4 per cent survived three years, 82.1 per cent five years, and 58.1 per cent seven years. Stage I patients have equivalent or better survivals compared with the age-matched general population in all three cohorts. Stage II patients reached equivalent conditional survival between eight and nine years after diagnosis regardless of cohort. Stage III patients required achieving nine to 10 years after diagnosis to achieve equivalent survival probability, except in 7-year survivors, in whom 10 to 11 years was required. In all stages, once equivalence was reached, survival exceeded the general population over the remaining years. Initial cancer stage influences overall survival for many years after diagnosis. Patients with Stage I cancer return to the general population risk as early as three years after diagnosis, whereas higher stages can require up to nine years to achieve parity with a more generalized population. These findings should be factored into general health screening issues for long-term breast cancer survivors.
Examination of Age Variations in the Predictive Validity of Self-Rated Health.

OBJECTIVES The high predictive validity of self-rated health (SRH) is a major strength of this widely used population health measure. Recent studies, however, noted that the predictive validity varies across population subgroups. The aim of this study is to examine respondents' age as a moderator of SRH predictive validity with respect to subsequent mortality risk. METHOD Using data from the National Health Interview Survey-Linked Mortality Files (NHIS-LMF) 1986-2006, we estimate Cox proportional hazard models of all-cause and cause-specific mortality for adults aged 45-84 years as a function of their health ratings (N = 574,008). RESULTS The data show significant age moderation of the predictive validity of SRH across all levels of ratings: the hazard ratios for mortality decline by about a half between the ages of 50 and 80 years. This attenuation appears primarily among earlier birth cohorts; there is no significant age attenuation in more recent cohorts-however, this may be in part attributed to the earlier ages when the respondents are observed. DISCUSSION The findings of declining predictive validity of SRH across age imply that individuals may evaluate their health differently as they age. The results also suggest caution in using SRH to capture age-related health changes in the older population.
Equatorward shift of the subarctic boundary in the northwestern Pacific during the last deglaciation

We have generated a high‐resolution record of alkenone sea surface temperature (SST) between 10–24 ka from Core MD01‐2421 off central Japan, in the northwestern Pacific. The cooling by 5°C from 21 ka to 12.8 ka implies the equatorward shift of the subarctic boundary in the northwestern Pacific by ∼2.8° in latitude. This shift was a result of the stronger summer Okhotsk High. The Okhotsk High was likely enhanced by the combined effects of El Niño‐like conditions in the tropical Pacific and the heating of the land surface of northeastern Siberia.
Two Transcription Factors, DREB1 and DREB2, with an EREBP/AP2 DNA Binding Domain Separate Two Cellular Signal Transduction Pathways in Drought- and Low-Temperature-Responsive Gene Expression, Respectively, in Arabidopsis

Plant growth is greatly affected by drought and low temperature. Expression of a number of genes is induced by both drought and low temperature, although these stresses are quite different. Previous experiments have established that a cis-acting element named DRE (for dehydration-responsive element) plays an important role in both dehydration- and low-temperature-induced gene expression in Arabidopsis. Two cDNA clones that encode DRE binding proteins, DREB1A and DREB2A, were isolated by using the yeast one-hybrid screening technique. The two cDNA libraries were prepared from dehydrated and cold-treated rosette plants, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequences of DREB1A and DREB2A showed no significant sequence similarity, except in the conserved DNA binding domains found in the EREBP and APETALA2 proteins that function in ethylene-responsive expression and floral morphogenesis, respectively. Both the DREB1A and DREB2A proteins specifically bound to the DRE sequence in vitro and activated the transcription of the β-glucuronidase reporter gene driven by the DRE sequence in Arabidopsis leaf protoplasts. Expression of the DREB1A gene and its two homologs was induced by low-temperature stress, whereas expression of the DREB2A gene and its single homolog was induced by dehydration. Overexpression of the DREB1A cDNA in transgenic Arabidopsis plants not only induced strong expression of the target genes under unstressed conditions but also caused dwarfed phenotypes in the transgenic plants. These transgenic plants also revealed freezing and dehydration tolerance. In contrast, overexpression of the DREB2A cDNA induced weak expression of the target genes under unstressed conditions and caused growth retardation of the transgenic plants. These results indicate that two independent families of DREB proteins, DREB1 and DREB2, function as trans-acting factors in two separate signal transduction pathways under low-temperature and dehydration conditions, respectively.
Measurement of the left‐lateral displacement of Ms 8.1 Kunlun earthquake on 14 November 2001 using Landsat‐7 ETM+ imagery

An imageodesy study has been carried out, using pre‐ and post‐event Landsat‐7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) images, to reveal regional co‐seismic displacement caused by the Ms 8.1 Kunlun earthquake in November 2001. The two Landsat scenes, Kusai Lake and Buka Daban, cover an area of some 57 600 km2 (320 km W–E and about 180 km N–S), which includes most of the fault rupture zone. The co‐seismic displacement measured in the Kusai Lake scene shows that the average left‐lateral shift along the Kunlun fault is 4.8 m (ranging from 1.5 to 8.1 m) and the maximum shift appears west of the Kusai Lake. The splayed nature of the fault to the west of Buka Daban, where the fault splits into three branches, causes the displacement pattern to become complicated. Here the average left‐lateral shift, between the south side of the southern branch and the north side of the northern branch, is 4.6 m (ranging from 1.0 to 8.2 m). Our results also illustrate that the south side of the fault is the ‘active’ block, moving significantly in an east–south‐easterly direction, relative to the largely ‘stable’ northern block.
Extending metal-to-polyoxometalate charge transfer lifetimes: the effect of heterometal location.

In an effort to develop robust molecular sensitizers for solar fuel production, the electronic structure and photodynamics of transition-metal-substituted polyoxometalates (POMs), a novel class of compound in this context, was examined. Experimental and computational techniques including femtosecond (fs) transient absorption spectroscopy have been used to study the cobalt-containing Keggin POMs, [Co(II) W12 O40 ](6-) (1 a), [Co(III) W12 O40 ](5-) (2 a), [SiCo(II) (H2 O)W11 O39 ](6-) (3 a), and [SiCo(III) (H2 O)W11 O39 ](5-) (4 a), finding the longest lived charge transfer excited state so far observed in a POM and elucidating the electronic structures and excited-state dynamics of these compounds at an unprecedented level. All species exhibit a bi-exponential decay in which early dynamic processes with time constants in the fs domain yield longer lived excited states which decay with time constants in the ps to ns domain. The initially formed states of 1 a and 3 a are considered to result from metal-to-polyoxometalate charge transfer (MPCT) from Co(II) to W, while the longer-lived excited state of 1 a is tentatively assigned to a localized intermediate MPCT state. The excited state formed by the tetrahedral cobalt(II) centered heteropolyanion (1 a) is far longer-lived (τ=420 ps in H2 O; τ=1700 ps in MeCN) than that of 3 a (τ=1.3 ps), in which the single Co(II) atom is located in a pseudo-octahedral addendum site. Short-lived states are observed for the two Co(III) -containing heteropolyanions 2 a (τ=4.4 ps) and 4 a (τ=6.3 ps) and assigned solely to O→Co(III) charge transfer. The dramatically extended lifetime for 1 a versus 3 a is ascribed to a structural change permitted by the coordinatively flexible central site, weak orbital overlap of the central Co with the polytungstate framework, and putative transient valence trapping of the excited electron on a single W atom, a phenomenon not noted previously in POMs.
Modelling of a novel rotary pneumatic muscle

This paper describes a mathematical model for a novel rotary pneumatic rotary actuator with potential applications in revolute direct robotic mechanisms. The analytical model describes the behaviour of the rotary pneumatic actuator and simulated results using this model are generated. Potential applications of this model are discussed in the context of soft model based controllers used in prosthetic devices.
Fast Exclusion of Errant Devices from Vehicular Networks

Vehicular networks, in which cars communicate wirelessly to exchange information on traffic conditions, offer a promising way to improve road safety. Yet ensuring the correct functioning of such a system is essential: malicious or faulty devices transmitting inaccurate messages could trigger accidents. Therefore, any errant device, along with the messages it generates, must be identified and ignored as quickly as possible. This task is especially challenging because traditional approaches to revoking credentials use a central authority, causing long delays during which the network is vulnerable. To eliminate this window of vulnerability, we propose that vehicles locally decide whether to exclude errant devices. We describe two ways of doing so: first, LEAVE, an existing protocol which allows devices to vote by exchanging signed claims of impropriety, and second, Stinger, a new protocol where a device unilaterally removes a misbehaving neighbor by agreeing to limit its own participation. We provide detailed simulations that offer insight into the protocols' operations in the context of vehicular networks and enable a powerful comparison between the strategies. We compare the security and performance properties of LEAVE and Stinger while varying attacker capabilities, traffic conditions, and the accuracy of the misbehavior detection mechanisms. We identify several interesting trade-offs: Stinger is significantly faster than LEAVE at removing errant devices, but LEAVE excludes fewer good devices when the attacker has compromised several devices simultaneously; LEAVE is better at handling false positives, but Stinger scales better when the traffic density increases. As a result, we conclude by outlining a combined protocol that balances the security and performance characteristics of both strategies.
A Global Oceanic Data Assimilation System

Abstract A global oceanic four-dimensional data assimilation system has been developed for use in initializing coupled ocean–atmosphere general circulation models and many other applications. The data assimilation system uses a high resolution global ocean model to extrapolate the information forward in time. The data inserted into the model currently consists only of conventional sea surface temperature observations and vertical temperature profiles. The data are inserted continuously into the model by updating the model's temperature solution every timestep. This update is created using a statistical interpolation routine applied to all data in a 30-day window centered on the present timestep. Large scale features in the sea surface temperature analyses are consistent with those from independent analyses. Subsurface fields created from the assimilation are much more realistic than those produced without the insertion of data. Furthermore, information contained in the assimilation field is shown to be re.