Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Linesearch Procedure in Barrier Methods for Some Convex Programming Problems

A method is proposed for the linesearch procedure in barrier function methods for convex quadratically constrained quadratic programming problems, which includes linear and quadratic programming as special cases. The same linesearch problem appears in barrier methods for minimization over the cone of positive semidefinite matrices and a similar problem is also obtained when computing the eigenvalues of a matrix perturbed by the addition of a matrix of rank one. The method brackets the minimum of the function obtained in this linesearch by using the roots of successive rational bounds on its derivative and then uses these bounds to generate an approximation to the root. It is globally convergent with a robustness similar to that of the bisection method and it exhibits a superlinear order of convergence. A convergence analysis is presented together with numerical results illustrating the methods.
An Ensemble Approach to Learning to Rank

In recent years, 'learning to rank' is a focused approach for information retrieval, which can learn the ranking order given by experts and construct a uniform model to rank for new query. But in practice user queries vary in large diversity, it makes a single learned ranker not representative. Therefore, we propose an ensemble approach to 'learning to rank,' in which a lower generalization error can be gotten by generating a set of rankers and leveraging these rankers for the final prediction. Moreover, two strategies of creating multiple base rankers are proposed to make the ensemble more effective for information retrieval. The experiment results on two real world datasets indicate that the proposed approach can outperform the original 'learning to rank' methods significantly.
A Microfeature-based Scheme for Modelling Semantics

One fundamental problem of natural language processing is word sense disambiguation. Solving this problem involves the integration of multiple knowledge sources: syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic. Recent work has shown how this problem can be modelled as a constraint satisfaction process between competing syntactic and semantic structures. We have defined and implemented a "locally-distributed" microfeature based model called MIBS, that uses a distributed short-term memory (STM) composed of microfeatures to represent the underlying sentence semantics. This work represents an improvement over previous work, as it provides a natural language understanding system a means to dynamically determine the current context and adjust its relationship with the sentences that follow. Here, the meaning of a word is represented not as a symbol in some semantic net, but as a collection of smaller features. The values of the microfeatures in STM vary dynamically as the sentence is processed, reflecting the system's "settling" in on the sentence's meaning. In addition they represent an automatic context mechanism that helps the system to disambiguate the sentences that follow.
Asynchronous secure computation

We initiate a study of security in asynchronous networks. We consider a completely asynchronous network where every two parties are connected via a private channel, and some of the parties may be faulty. We start by defining secure computation in this model. Our definition adapts the underlying principles of defining security (i.e., comparing the computation to a computation in the presence of a trusted party) to the asynchronous model. In particular, our definition takes into account the fact that the computation must be completed even if we never hear from the faulty parties. Next, we show that whatever can be securely computed in an asynchronous network in the presence of a trusted party, can be securely computed in a network in which no such trusted party exists. We distinguish two types of faults. In case of Fail-Stop faults, our construction is valid as long as the faulty parties constitute less than a thzr-d of the parties in the network. In case of general (i.e., Byzantine) faults, our construction requires that the faulty parties are less than a fourth fraction. In both cases, the resilience of our construction is optimal. Our construction generalizes known synchronous constructions by Ben-Or, Goldwasser and Wigderson. In addition, we introduce and implement several new asynchronous primitives. Among these, we note an errorless asynchronous verifiable secret sharing scheme, an asynchronous agreement on a large set that is contained in the dynamical y growing inputs of all non-faulty parties, and an on-line error-correcting procedure. * email: benor@cs.huji. ac.il t ~~ail. canetti@tx . technion.ac.il %email: odedrfiks.technion. ac.il. Supported by grant no. 8900312 from the United States — Israel Binational Science Foundation, Jerusalem, Israel Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material ia granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial advantage, the ACM copyright notice and the title of the publication and its date appaar, and notice is given that copying is by permission of the Association for Computing Machinery. To copy otherwiee, or to republish, requiree a fee and/or specific permission. 25th ACM STOC ‘93-5 /93/CA, USA G 1993 ACM 0-89791 -591 -7/93 /0005 [0052 . $1 . 50 Computer Science Dept. of Computer Science
Simulation of Nematic Liquid Crystals: Shear Flow, Driven-Cavity and 2-Phase (Isotropic-Nematic) Step Flow

of “ Simulations of Nematic Liquid Crystals: Shear Flow, Driven-Cavity and 2-Phase (Isotropic-Nematic) Step Flow ” by Pengyu Liu, Ph.D., Brown University, May 2012 The physics of liquid crystals is an exciting field of research for their practical application, especially in display devices. In this dissertation, we present the results of simulation studies of nematic liquid crystals using the Lattice Boltzmann (LB) Method. In the first step of our project, we built our own simulation codes for nematic liquid crystals (LC) from the ground up after reproducing the derivation of LB solvers for two coupling governing equations, one for the evolution of the momentum and one for the evolution of the Q-tensor (order parameter). Then, we performed the Lattice Boltzmann simulation of shear flow, to validate our LB code in comparison with analytical solutions for this relatively simple structure. In this particular geometry, taking the gradient flow field into account caused the interesting distortion pattern of the molecular alignment which was gradually bent from the homeotropic perpendicular direction at the boundary towards the fluid (parallel) direction inside the bulk. Our work focused on two macroscopic physical quantities, the value of the tilt angle and the thickness of the alignment layer. According to this numerical test, we gained a sense of the efficiency of the LB method with the adjustment of spatial and temporal parameters to produce results for different physical properties. In the second step, we simulated a nematic liquid crystal in a relatively complex geometric structure namely lid-driven cavity flow. This structure brought problems for the application of the LB method because of the complex ’physical’ boundary conditions. We started the simulation from a static state (2D) and studied the pattern variation for different geometric parameters (aspect ratios). To make the structure analysis complete, we moved on to extend our simulation to a 3D static state to gain more knowledge of the impact of boundary anchoring. One more important issue needing to be fully understood and tested was the large difference of relaxation times between the two governing equations of LB nematodynamics. Based on these
Epstein-Barr Virus Protein Kinase BGLF4 Targets the Nucleus through Interaction with Nucleoporins

ABSTRACT BGLF4 of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) encodes a serine/threonine protein kinase that phosphorylates multiple viral and cellular substrates to optimize the cellular environment for viral DNA replication and the nuclear egress of viral nucleocapsids. BGLF4 is expressed predominantly in the nucleus at early and late stages of virus replication, while a small portion of BGLF4 is distributed in the cytoplasm at the late stage of virus replication and packaged into the virion. Here, we analyzed systematically the functional domains crucial for nuclear localization of BGLF4 and found that both the N and C termini play important modulating roles. Analysis of amino acid substitution mutants revealed that the C terminus of BGLF4 does not contain a conventional nuclear localization signal (NLS). Additionally, deletion of the C-terminal putative helical regions at amino acids 386 to 393 and 410 to 419 diminished the nuclear translocation of BGLF4, indicating that the secondary structure of the C terminus is important for the localization of BGLF4. The green fluorescent protein-fused wild-type or C-terminal helical regions of BGLF4 associate with phenylalanine/glycine repeat-containing nucleoporins (Nups) in nuclear envelope fractionation. Both coimmunoprecipitation and in vitro pull-down assays further demonstrated that BGLF4 binds to Nup62 and Nup153. Remarkably, nuclear import assay with permeabilized HeLa cells demonstrated that BGLF4 translocated into nucleus independent of cytosolic factors. Data presented here suggest that BGLF4 employs a novel mechanism through direct interactions with nucleoporins for its nuclear targeting.
Visual attention computation in video of driving environment

We here study the problem of visual attention computation in video of driving environment via the learning from eye movements. We collect a large-scale database of eye movements from 28 subjects on 30 videos of road scenes, which simulate the driving environment. The analysis on this eye movement database reveals that visual attention in driving environment is directed by high-level cognitive factors such as objects. We then present a new high-level representation called Traffic Object Bank (TOB), which is comprised of many individual road object detectors trained comprehensively in semantic space as well as viewpoint space. TOB provides semantically rich object-level features. Finally, we develop a computational model to predict where drivers look via the mapping from TOB-based representation and to gaze data. Experimental results on our traffic scene video benchmark indicate high accordance with human eye movement and show great promise for further applications.
Limits on the power of concurrent-write parallel machines

The computation of specific functions using the most general form of concurrentread-concurrent-write parallel RAM is considered. It is shown that such a machine can compute any function of Boolean inputs in time log n log log n + 0( 1) given a polynomial number of processors and memory cells and that this bound is tight for integer addition. Despite this evidence of the power of the model we show that a very simple function, namely parity, requires time Q (Jiogn) to compute given a polynomial bound on the number of processors, independent of the number of memory cells. 13” 1988 Academic Press, Inc
Nanoparticle Induced Cell Magneto-Rotation for the Multiplexed Monitoring of Morphology, Stress and Drug Sensitivity of Suspended Single Cancer Cells.

Single cell analysis has allowed critical discoveries in drug testing, immunobiology and stem cell research [2–5]. In addition, a change from two to three dimensional growth conditions radically affects cell behavior. This already resulted in new observations on gene expression and communication networks and in better predictions of cell responses to their environment [6–8]. However, it is still difficult to study the size and shape of single cells that are freely suspended, where morphological changes are highly significant [9]. Described here is a new method for quantitative real time monitoring of cell size and morphology, on single live suspended cancer cells, unconfined in three dimensions. The precision is comparable to that of the best optical microscopes, but, in contrast, there is no need for confining the cell to the imaging plane. The here first introduced cell magnetorotation (CM) method is made possible by nanoparticle induced cell magnetization. By using a rotating magnetic field, the magnetically labeled cell is actively rotated, and the rotational period is measured in real-time. A change in morphology induces a change in the rotational period of the suspended cell (e.g. when the cell gets bigger it rotates slower). The ability to monitor, in real time, cell swelling ordeath, at the single cell level, is demonstrated. This method could thus be used for multiplexed real time single cell morphology analysis, with implications for drug testing, drug discovery, genomics and three-dimensional culturing.
Nonstationary Brand Variables in Category Management: A Cointegration Perspective

Category-management models serve to assist in the development of plans for pricing and promotions of individual brands. Techniques to solve the models can have problems of accuracy and interpretability because they are susceptible to spurious regression problems due to nonstationary time-series data. Improperly stated nonstationary systems can reduce the accuracy of the forecasts and undermine the interpretation of the results. This is problematic because recent studies indicate that sales are often a nonstationary time-series. Newly developed correction techniques can account for nonstationarity by incorporating error-correction terms into the model when using a Bayesian Vector Error-Correction Model. The benefit of using such a technique is that shocks to control variates can be separated into permanent and temporary effects and allow cointegration of series for analysis purposes. Analysis of a brand data set indicates that this is important even at the brand level. Thus, additional information is generated that allows a decision maker to examine controllable variables in terms of whether they influence sales over a short or long duration. Only products that are nonstationary in sales volume can be manipulated for long-term profit gain, and promotions must be cointegrated with brand sales volume. The brand data set is used to explore the capabilities and interpretation of cointegration.
REM sleep behavior disorder in patients with guadeloupean parkinsonism, a tauopathy.

STUDY OBJECTIVE To describe sleep characteristics and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder in patients with Guadeloupean atypical parkinsonism (Gd-PSP), a tauopathy resembling progressive supranuclear palsy that mainly affects the midbrain. It is possibly caused by the ingestion of sour sop (corossol), a tropical fruit containing acetogenins, which are mitochondrial poisons. DESIGN Sleep interview, motor and cognitive tests, and overnight videopolysomnography. PATIENTS Thirty-six age-, sex-, disease-duration- and disability-matched patients with Gd-PSP (n = 9), progressive supranuclear palsy (a tauopathy, n = 9), Parkinson disease (a synucleinopathy, n = 9) and controls (n = 9). SETTINGS Tertiary-care academic hospital. RESULTS REM sleep behavior disorder was found in 78% patients with Gd-PSP (43% of patients reported having this disorder several years before the onset of parkinsonism), 44% of patients with idiopathic Parkinson disease, 33% of patients with progressive supranuclear palsy, and no controls. The percentage of muscle activity during REM sleep was greater in patients with Gd-PSP than in controls (limb muscle activity, 8.3%+/-8.7% vs 0.1%+/- 0.2%; chin muscle activity, 24.3%+/- 23.7% vs 0.7%+/-2.0%) but similar to that of other patient groups. The latency and percentage of REM sleep were similar in patients with Gd-PSP, patients with Parkinson disease, and controls, whereas patients with progressive supranuclear palsy had delayed and shortened REM sleep. CONCLUSION Although Gd-PSP is a tauopathy, most patients experience REM sleep behavior disorder. This suggests that the location of neuronal loss or dysfunction in the midbrain, rather than the protein comprising the histologic lesions (synuclein versus tau aggregation), is responsible for suppressing muscle atonia during REM sleep. Subjects with idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder should avoid eating sour sop.
Learning to predict combinatorial structures

The major challenge in designing a discriminative learning algorithm for predicting structured data is to address the computational issues arising from the exponential size of the output space. Existing algorithms make different assumptions to ensure efficient, polynomial time estimation of model parameters. For several combinatorial structures, including cycles, partially ordered sets, permutations and other graph classes, these assumptions do not hold. In this thesis, we address the problem of designing learning algorithms for predicting combinatorial structures by introducing two new assumptions: (i) The first assumption is that a particular counting problem can be solved efficiently. The consequence is a generalisation of the classical ridge regression for structured prediction. (ii) The second assumption is that a particular sampling problem can be solved efficiently. The consequence is a new technique for designing and analysing probabilistic structured prediction models. These results can be applied to solve several complex learning problems including but not limited to multi-label classification, multi-category hierarchical classification, and label ranking.
SSSPM J1102-3431 brown dwarf characterization from accurate proper motion and trigonometric parallax

Context. In 2005, Scholz and collaborators discovered, in a proper motion survey, a young brown dwarf SSSPM J1102-3431 (SSSPM J1102) of spectral type M8.5, probable member of the TW Hydrae Association and possible companion of the T Tauri star TWHya. The physical characterization of SSSPM J1102 was based on the hypothesis that it forms a binary system with TWHya. The recent discovery of a probable giant planet with a very short-period inside the TW Hya protoplanetary disk, as well as a disk around SSSPM J1102, make it especially interesting and important to measure well the physical parameters of SSSPM J1102. Aims. Trigonometric parallax and proper motion measurements of SSSPM J1102 are necessary to test for TWA membership and, thus, to determine the mass and age of this young brown dwarf and the possibility that it forms a wide binary system with TW Hya. Methods. Two years of regular observations at the ESO NTT/SUSI2 telescope have enabled us to determine the trigonometric parallax and proper motion of SSSPM J1102. Results. With our accurate distance determination of 55.2+^1.6−1.4 pc and proper motions of (−67.2, −14.0) ± 0.6 mas/yr, we could confirm SSSPM J1102 as a very probable member of TWA. Assuming the TWHydrae association age of 5−10 Myr, the evolutionary models compared to the photometry of this young brown dwarf indicate a mass of M = 25 ± 5 MJup and an effective temperature Teff = 2550 ± 100 K. Conclusions. Our parallax and proper motion determination allow us to precisely describe the physical properties of this low mass object and to confirm its TWA membership. Our results indicate that SSSPMJ1102 may be a very wide separation companion of the star TW Hya.
An image-based tracking algorithm for hybrid Wireless Sensor Networks using epipolar geometry

Target tracking based restrictively on acoustic and electromagnetic (EM) sensors may not provide adequate information regarding the mobile target. Hence, imaging sensors can be used to provide visual information. This paper develops an image-based tracking approach based on epipolar geometry and Kalman filtering. A corner detection technique is used to identify the prominent features in the frame sequence. By applying epipolar transforms, the trajectory of the target can be reconstructed along the image sequence. A recursive Kalman filter is then developed to enhance the robustness of the approach with regard to noise. Experimental results show that the proposed approach outperforms the existing image-based tracking approaches, especially for multi-target tracking.
A resurging boom in new drugs for epilepsy and brain disorders

ABSTRACT Introduction: Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases affecting approximately 50 million people worldwide. Despite many advances in epilepsy research, nearly a third of patients with epilepsy have refractory or pharmacoresistant epilepsy. Despite the approval of a dozen antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) over the past decade, there are no agents that halt the development of epilepsy. Thus, newer and better AEDs that can prevent refractory seizures and modify the disease are needed for curing epilepsy. Areas covered: In this article, we highlight the recent advances and emerging trends in new and innovative drugs for epilepsy and seizure disorders. We review in detail top new drugs that are currently in clinical trials or agents that are under development and have novel mechanisms of action. Expert commentary: Among the new agents under clinical investigation, the majority were originally developed for treating other neurological diseases (everolimus, fenfluramine, nalutozan, bumetanide, and valnoctamide); several have mechanisms of action similar to those of conventional AEDs (AP, ganaxolone, and YKP3089); and some new agents represent novel mechanisms of actions (huperzine-A, cannabidiol, tonabersat, and VX-765).
Synthesizing concurrent schedulers for irregular algorithms

Scheduling is the assignment of tasks or activities to processors for execution, and it is an important concern in parallel programming. Most prior work on scheduling has focused either on static scheduling of applications in which the dependence graph is known at compile-time or on dynamic scheduling of independent loop iterations such as in OpenMP. In irregular algorithms, dependences between activities are complex functions of runtime values so these algorithms are not amenable to compile-time analysis nor do they consist of independent activities. Moreover, the amount of work can vary dramatically with the scheduling policy. To handle these complexities, implementations of irregular algorithms employ carefully handcrafted, algorithm-specific schedulers but these schedulers are themselves parallel programs, complicating the parallel programming problem further. In this paper, we present a flexible and efficient approach for specifying and synthesizing scheduling policies for irregular algorithms. We develop a simple compositional specification language and show how it can concisely encode scheduling policies in the literature. Then, we show how to synthesize efficient parallel schedulers from these specifications. We evaluate our approach for five irregular algorithms on three multicore architectures and show that (1) the performance of some algorithms can improve by orders of magnitude with the right scheduling policy, and (2) for the same policy, the overheads of our synthesized schedulers are comparable to those of fixed-function schedulers.
FoodBoard: surface contact imaging for food recognition

We describe FoodBoard, an instrumented chopping board that uses optical fibers and embedded camera imaging to identify unpackaged ingredients during food preparation on its surface. By embedding the sensing directly, and robustly, in the surface of a chopping board we also demonstrate how surface contact optical sensing can be used to realize the portability and privacy required of technology used in a setting such as a domestic kitchen. FoodBoard was subjected to a close to real-world evaluation in which 12 users prepared actual meals. FoodBoard compared favourably with existing unpackaged food recognition systems, classifying a larger number of distinct food ingredients (12 incl. meat, fruit, vegetables) with an average accuracy of 82.8%.