Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
FIT IoT-LAB: A large scale open experimental IoT testbed

This paper introduces the FIT IoT-LAB testbed, an open testbed composed of 2728 low-power wireless nodes and 117 mobile robots available for experimenting with large-scale wireless IoT technologies, ranging from low-level protocols to advanced Internet services. IoT-LAB is built to accelerate the development of tomorrow's IoT technology by offering an accurate open-access and open-source multi-user scientific tool. The IoT-LAB testbed is deployed in 6 sites across France. Each site features different node and hardware capabilities, but all sites are interconnected and available through the same web portal, common REST interfaces and consistent CLI tools. The result is a heterogeneous testing environment, which covers a large spectrum of IoT use cases and applications. IoT-LAB is a one-of-a-kind facility, allowing anyone to test their solution at scale, experiment and fine-tune new networking concept.
Some Issues in the Automatic Classification of US Patents

Abstract : The classification of US patents poses some special problems due to the enormous size of the corpus, the size and complex hierarchical structure of the classification system, and the size and structure of patent documents. The representation of the complex structure of documents has not been a standard area of research in text categorization, but we have found it to be an important factor in our previous work on classifying patient medical records (Larkey and Croft, 1996) and in our current work on US patents. Our classification approach is to combine the results of k-nearest-neighbor classifiers with those of Bayesian classifiers. The k-nearest-neighbor classifier allows us to represent the document structure using the query operators in the Inquery information retrieval system. The Bayesian classifiers can use the hierarchical relations among patent subclasses to select closely related negative examples to train more discriminating classifiers.
Social Data Mining through Distributed Mobile Sensing

In this article, we present a distributed framework for collecting and analyzing environmental and location data recorded by human users (carriers) with the use of portable sensors. We demonstrate the data mining analysis potential among the recorded environmental and location variables, as well as the potential for classification analysis of human activities. We recognize that the success of such an experimental framework relies on the adoption rate by its candidate user network; thus, we have built our experimental prototype on top of hardware equipment already embedded within the potential users' everyday routine - i.e. hardware sensors installed on modern mobile phones. Finally, we present preliminary analysis results on our collected data sample, as well as potential further work directions and proposed use case scenarios.
Conjectured models for trends in financial prices, tests and forecasts

SUMMARY A new set of statistical models is defined for time series of the daily prices of financial assets, such as commodities, currencies and stocks. The models resemble a random walk, but include a price-trend term for which formal stochastic processes are conjectured. The price-trend term is interpreted as the response to changes in the anticipated supply and demand of the asset. The price-trend models possess a distinctive form of theoretical autocorrelation, which allows tests between the random walk hypothesis and a price-trend hypothesis to be performed. Tests applied to eight long series of London commodity prices, an American commodity series and a series of currency exchange rates, lead to the rejection of the random walk hypothesis for both commodities and currencies. It is argued that the pricetrend models describe the data better. Estimates of the model parameters are obtained and interpreted. Optimal linear forecasts are presented and assessed empirically and their applications are reviewed. The paper also covers the fluctuating-variance property of daily returns, the choice of a powerful statistic to test the random walk hypothesis and methods of testing some variants of the random walk proposed in the literature.
BUILDING ENFORCEMENT CAPACITY: EVIDENCE FROM THE MEXICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM

SUMMARY Building enforcement capacity, that is, attaining and sustaining control in order to implement changes, is crucial for the success of public management reforms. However, this aspect of public management reform does not receive much theoretical or empirical attention. This paper analyzes the process of building enforcement capacity for the case of the Mexican Professional Civil Service reform. Although this reform experienced several complications (e.g., limited support, resources, and credibility), important goals were attained and some control was achieved. We study how officials attained control over implementation through the adaptive management of combinations of different types of control strategies (regulatory, normative, and procedural). The case study, focused on the analysis of in‐depth interviews with the highest officials involved in the implementation of this reform, finds evidence for three combinations of strategies next to a general pattern characterized by a trade‐off between compliance and coordination. This trade‐off shows that the process of building enforcement capacity may affect the goals of the reform, deviating from lawmakers' original intentions Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Impact of High-Performance Computing Best Practice Applied to Next-Generation Sequencing Workflows

High Performance Computing (HPC) Best Practice offers opportunities to implement lessons learned in areas such as computational chemistry and physics in genomics workflows, specifically Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) workflows. In this study we will briefly describe how distributed-memory parallelism can be an important enhancement to the performance and resource utilization of NGS workflows. We will illustrate this point by showing results on the parallelization of the Inchworm module of the Trinity RNA-Seq pipeline for de novo transcriptome assembly. We show that these types of applications can scale to thousands of cores. Time scaling as well as memory scaling will be discussed at length using two RNA-Seq datasets, targeting the Mus musculus (mouse) and the Axolotl (Mexican salamander). Details about the efficient MPI communication and the impact on performance will also be shown. We hope to demonstrate that this type of parallelization approach can be extended to most types of bioinformatics workflows, with substantial benefits. The efficient, distributed-memory parallel implementation eliminates memory bottlenecks and dramatically accelerates NGS analysis. We further include a summary of programming paradigms available to the bioinformatics community, such as C++/MPI.
The Role of Capital Accumulation, Adjustment and Structural Change for Economic Take-Off: Empirical Evidence from African Growth Episodes

In this study, we analyse extended periods of growth in Africa based on panel estimations from 27 African countries during the 1960-1996 period. Only a dozen of such rapid growth episodes are observable in Africa since 1960, and several of them eventually came to an end. We use all existing information on macroeconomic performance in Africa in a comparative manner, in order to assess the sustainability of current growth episodes. Our main conclusion is that sustainable growth needs to be based on a balanced mix of capital accumulation, macroeconomic adjustment and structural change. In addition to more commonly used determinants of Total Factor Productivity, we construct a measure for the effect of labour reallocation as well as an index of economic diversification and estimate the impact of the latter on long-term growth. We also build an analysis of investment behaviour, which is influenced by Total Factor Productivity gains, while influencing economic growth directly through . Dans ce document, nous analysons des periodes de croissance prolongees en Afrique sur la base d’estimations en donnees de panel pour 27 pays sur la periode 1960-1996. Il n’y a eu qu’une douzaine de tels episodes de croissance « rapide » en Afrique depuis 1960 et beaucoup d’entre eux se sont soldes par des echecs. Nous utilisons a titre comparatif l’ensemble des informations disponibles sur les performances macroeconomiques en Afrique, afin d’evaluer le caractere soutenable des episodes de croissance en cours. Notre principale conclusion est que pour etre soutenable, la croissance doit reposer sur une combinaison equilibree d’accumulation du capital, d’ajustement macroeconomique et de changement structurel. En complement des determinants usuels de la productivite globale des facteurs, nous construisons un indicateur de l’effet de la reallocation du travail ainsi qu’un indicateur de diversification economique, dont nous testons l’impact sur la croissance a long terme. Nous proposons .
An adenoviral vector expressing functional heterogeneous proteins herpes simplex viral thymidine kinase and human interleukin-2 has enhanced in vivo antitumor activity against medullary thyroid carcinoma.

To explore a more efficient multi-gene antitumor treatment, we developed an adenoviral vector expressing both herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSVtk) and human interleukin-2 (hIL-2) (AdCMVTKhIL2). Production of hIL-2 is expected to augment antitumor T cell and natural killer cell activity. Two separate cassettes expressing HSVtk and hIL-2, each under the control of the human cytomegalovirus (CMV) immediate early gene promoter, were inserted into the early 1 region of adenovirus type 5. This vector showed similar direct cytotoxicity towards infected rat medullary thyroid carcinoma (rMTC) cells as did the single gene vector, AdCMVtk. rMTC cells infected with the virus in vitro showed high sensitivity to ganciclovir. After infection with AdCMVTKhIL2 at 100 m.o. i. for 1 h, more than 20 000 U hIL-2 were produced during 24 h by 1 × 10(6) rMTC cells on day 2 and day 3. hIL-2 was also detected in the supernatants of primary cultures from tumors treated in vivo by the AdCMVTKhIL2 vector. Infected cells lost their tumorigenicity when transplanted subcutaneously into syngeneic rats, whereas all control animals developed tumors. More than 63% of tumors (19 out of 30 treated tumors) were destroyed when AdCMVTKhIL2 was injected intratumorally, compared with 38% when tumors were treated with AdCMVIL2, and 12% when treated with AdCMVtk, indicating an antitumor effect superior to that of each single vector given alone at the same dosage. These results indicate that the AdCMVTKhIL2 vector efficiently produces both HSVtk and hIL-2, and provides an enhanced antitumor activity.
Decentralization, incentives, and asset ownership

This paper develops a model to explain why mass privatization can become troublesome when taking into account asymmetry of information and economies of scale. It also shows that, in early stages of reforms, organizational form is irrelevant, but cooperation among the contractual parties is necessary for efficiency. We then incorporates repeated-game framework into the model to study how property rights are gradually formed in China and how informal social mechanisms work to promote cooperation. One distinct feature of China’s reforms is the contingent devolution of power: local firms and agencies are offered a high degree of autonomy for achieving cooperation and high investment. Such a contingent delegation combined with capital mobility creates market booms within the old regime. Later, this regime is gradually replaced by a new ownership structure.
Driver eye feature extraction based on infrared illuminator

Driver fatigue and decentralization of spirit at night is a major factor causing the night-time traffic accident. Eye location is the precondition to monitor driver's fatigue state with image processing technique. Based on Otsu threshold segmentation algorithm, with the help of horizontal projection and vertical projection in binary image, the paper locates the driver face region accurately, and establishes eye location based on the region labeling algorithm. The paper also locates driver pupils efficiently and accurately by using the method of Harris corner detection. Experiments have proved good reliability and validity of the algorithms.
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with Funding from Department of Economics Quasi-hyperbolic Discounting and Retirement

There is overwhelming psychological evidence that some people run into self-control problems regularly, yet the effect of these findings on major life-cycle decisions hasn't been studied in detail. This paper extends Laibson's quasi-hyperbolic discounting savings model, in which each intertemporal self realizes that her time discount structure will lead to preference changes, and thus plays a game with her future selves. By making retirement endogenous, savings affect both consumption and work in the future. Prom earlier selves' points of view, the deciding self tends to retire too early, so it is possible that the self before saves less to induce her to work. However, still earlier selves think the pre-retirement self may do this too much, leading to possible higher saving on their part and eventual early retirement. Thus, the consumption path exhibits observational nonequivalence with exponential discounting. Observational non-equivalence also obtains on a number of comparative statics questions. For example, a self could have a negative marginal propensity to consume out of changes in future income. The outcome with naive agents, who fail to realize their self-control problem, is also briefly discussed. In that case, the deciding self's potential decision to retire despite earlier selves' plans results in a downward updating of available lifetime resources, and an empirically observed downward jump in the consumption path.
Calibration method of robot base frame using procrustes analysis

A novel effective robot base frame calibration method using Procrustes Analysis is presented. The errors from the design, manufacture and assembly of robot in the mechanism cause the deviation of nominal base frame used by the robot controller and the actual mechanical base frame. The actual mechanical base frame can be established by external precision measurement. The theory of Procrustes Analysis is introduced into the analysis of the relation of the two base frames. In order to make sure the rotation matrix is orthonormal and normalized, an optimal estimation of the relative rotation between the two base frames is solved out under the criterion of optimal Frobenius norm approximation. Meanwhile, by the Lagrange Multiplier method and Singular Value Decomposition (SVD), an orthonormal rotation matrix can be reached. Finally, experiments on a 6-DOF industrial robot researched and developed independently are performed with FARO ARM to demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method. Using this method, the relation of the two base frames is obtained, and it makes the motion planning possible. The calibration method is useful to other problem that formulated in the same mathematical form, such as multirobot coordination and robot hand-eye system calibration.
Microglia of Prefrontal White Matter in Suicide

Abstract Immune functions in the brain are associated with psychiatric illness and temporary alteration of mental state. Microglia, the principal brain immunologic cells, respond to changes in the internal brain milieu through a sequence of activated states, each with characteristic function and morphology. To assess a possible association of frontal white matter pathology with suicide, we stained autopsy brain tissue samples from 11 suicide and 25 nonsuicide subjects for ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1, cluster of differentiation 68, and myelin. Groups were matched by age, sex, and psychiatric diagnosis. We classified ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1–immunoreactive cells based on shape, immunoreactivity to cluster of differentiation 68, and association with blood vessels to obtain stereologic estimates of densities of resting microglia, activated phagocytes, and perivascular cells. We found no effect of psychiatric diagnosis but 2 statistically significant effects of suicide: 1) The dorsal-ventral difference in activated microglial density was reversed such that, with suicide, the density was greater in ventral prefrontal white matter than in dorsal prefrontal white matter, whereas in the absence of suicide, the opposite was true; and 2) with suicide, there was a greater density of ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1–immunoreactive cells within or in contact with blood vessel walls in dorsal prefrontal white matter. These observations could reflect a mechanism for the stress/diathesis (state/trait) model of suicide, whereby an acute stress activates a reactive process in the brain, either directly or by compromising the blood-brain barrier, and creates a suicidal state in an individual at risk. They also indicate the theoretical potential of imaging studies in living vulnerable individuals for the assessment of suicide risk. Further studies are needed to investigate specific phenotypes of perivascular cells and blood-brain barrier changes associated with suicide.
A classifier-based text mining approach for evaluating semantic relatedness using support vector machines

The quantification of evaluating semantic relatedness among texts has been a challenging issue that pervades much of machine learning and natural language processing. This paper presents a hybrid approach of a text-mining technique for measuring semantic relatedness among texts. In this work we develop several text classifiers using support vector machines (SVM) method to supporting acquisition of relatedness among texts. First, we utilized our developed text mining algorithms, including text mining techniques based on classification of texts in several text collections. After that, we employ various SVM classifiers to deal with evaluation of relatedness of the target documents. The results indicate that this approach can also be fitted to other research work, such as information filtering, and recategorizing resulting documents of search engine queries.
The Spatial Economy: Cities, Regions, and International Trade

Since 1990 there has been a renaissance of theoretical and empirical work on the spatial aspects of the economy--that is, where economic activity occurs and why. Using new tools--in particular, modeling techniques developed to analyze industrial organization, international trade, and economic growth--this "new economic geography" has emerged as one of the most exciting areas of contemporary economics. The authors show how seemingly disparate models reflect a few basic themes, and in so doing they develop a common "grammar" for discussing a variety of issues. They show how a common approach that emphasizes the three-way interaction among increasing returns, transportation costs, and the movement of productive factors can be applied to a wide range of issues in urban, regional, and international economics. This book is the first to provide a sound and unified explanation of the existence of large economic agglomerations at various spatial scales.
FDIO: A Feedback Driven Controller for Minimizing Energy in I/O-Intensive Applications

The relatively low utilization of servers in data-center environments when running I/O-intensive applications is a key concern for efficiency. Energy optimization, by throttling power consumption, is an essential operational goal. Since processors are the most demanding of the components constituting a server, energy optimization has focused on regulating processor consumption. However, more recently memory and storage are increasingly becoming more demanding, collectively accounting for more than 40% of the overall energy consumption in typical system configurations. We argue that this trend necessitates tracking overall energy consumption rather than focusing on any single component. Although currently only processors expose energy-related controls at a fine granularity, we demonstrate that with a more holistic approach we can obtain significant efficiency benefits. Specifically, our feedback-based controller for Linux detects I/O-intensive phases in workloads, and adjusts processor operating frequencies accordingly, in a more effective manner than the standard CPU governors.
Costs and Benefits of 'Friendly' Boards during Mergers and Acquisitions

Finance theory predicts that board independence is not always in the shareholders׳ interest. in situations in which board advice is more important than monitoring, independence can decrease firm value. I test this prediction by examining the connection between takeover returns and board friendliness, using social ties between the CEO and board members as a proxy for less independent boards. I find that social ties are associated with higher bidder announcement returns when the potential value of board advice is high, but with lower returns when monitoring needs are high. The evidence suggests that friendly boards can have both costs and benefits, depending on the company׳s specific needs.
Trimethylamine N‐Oxide and Mortality Risk in Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease

Background Production of the proatherogenic metabolite, trimethylamine N‐oxide (TMAO), from dietary nutrients by intestinal microbiota enhances atherosclerosis development in animal models and is associated with atherosclerotic coronary artery disease in humans. The utility of studying plasma levels of TMAO to risk stratify in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) has not been reported. Methods and Results We examined the relationship between fasting plasma TMAO and all‐cause mortality (5‐year), stratified by subtypes of PAD and presence of coronary artery disease in 935 patients with PAD who underwent elective angiography for cardiac evaluation at a tertiary care hospital. Median plasma TMAO was 4.8 μmol/L (interquartile range, 2.9–8.0 μmol/L). Elevated TMAO levels were associated with 2.7‐fold increased mortality risk (fourth versus first quartiles, hazard ratio 2.86, 95% CI 1.82–3.97, P<0.001). Following adjustments for traditional risk factors, inflammatory biomarkers, and history of coronary artery disease, the highest TMAO quartile remained predictive of 5‐year mortality (adjusted hazard ratio 2.06, 95% CI 1.36–3.11, P<0.001). Similar prognostic value for elevated TMAO was seen for subjects with carotid artery, non–carotid artery, or lower extremity PAD. TMAO provided incremental prognostic value for all‐cause mortality (net reclassification index, 40.22%; P<0.001) and improvement in area under receiver operator characteristic curve (65.7% versus 69.4%; P=0.013). Conclusions TMAO, a pro‐atherogenic metabolite formed by gut microbes, predicts long‐term adverse event risk and incremental prognostic value in patients with PAD. These findings point to the potential for TMAO to help improve selection of high‐risk PAD patients with or without significant coronary artery disease, who likely need more aggressive and specific dietary and pharmacologic therapy.