Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Maximum Margin Principal Components

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is a very successful dimensionality reduction technique, widely used in predictive modeling. A key factor in its widespread use in this domain is the fact that the projection of a dataset onto its first $K$ principal components minimizes the sum of squared errors between the original data and the projected data over all possible rank $K$ projections. Thus, PCA provides optimal low-rank representations of data for least-squares linear regression under standard modeling assumptions. On the other hand, when the loss function for a prediction problem is not the least-squares error, PCA is typically a heuristic choice of dimensionality reduction -- in particular for classification problems under the zero-one loss. In this paper we target classification problems by proposing a straightforward alternative to PCA that aims to minimize the difference in margin distribution between the original and the projected data. Extensive experiments show that our simple approach typically outperforms PCA on any particular dataset, in terms of classification error, though this difference is not always statistically significant, and despite being a filter method is frequently competitive with Partial Least Squares (PLS) and Lasso on a wide range of datasets.
Transforming Practice: Using Collective Argumentation to bring about Teacher Change in a Year 7 Mathematics Classroom

Providing assistance to teachers in the design of efficacious learning environments is an essential element in promoting teacher change in the teaching of mathematics. The process of teacher change, however, may be demonstrated in quite different ways by different teachers. This paper provides insights into the process of change as perceived by one teacher as she went about employing Collective Argumentation to reconstitute her pedagogy so as to better promote the learning of mathematics in her Year 7 classroom.
Supply Response of Sugarcane in India: Results from All-India and State-Level Data

The past few years have seen wild fluctuations in sugar prices. Sugar, being a basic component of the food basket of all strata of the society, such fluctuations have attracted attention of the policy makers as well as academicians. To design policy measures to manage these fluctuations the policymakers need to look at both demand and supply of sugar. The supply of sugar depends to a great extent on the production of sugarcane. Therefore, reducing fluctuations in sugarcane production would be one way to stabilise sugar prices. It is in this context that a thorough analysis of the factors responsible for the variations in the sugarcane output is needed. This study, therefore, attempts to estimate the supply response function for sugarcane. It has been done for All India as well as for Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, the two largest producers of sugarcane in India. This is done in the framework of partial adjustment model of Nerlove (1958). We estimate partial adjustment models separately for area and yield, the latter capturing responsiveness of factors other than area. We find that while area is affected by sugar prices primarily, the yield is affected mainly by rainfall. In fact, in Maharashtra rainfall affects area also. Finally, we find that addition of sugarcane price arrears as an explanatory variable improves the explanatory power of the models significantly showing the important role of this variable in determination of sugarcane production. The rest of the paper is organised as follows. The next section discusses the econometric model used in the study and the related methodological issues. Section III reviews some recent studies in this direction. This is followed by a discussion of the data and methodology of this paper in Section IV. Section V contains discussion of results, followed by conclusions in Section VI.
Linkage of regulators of TGF‐β activity in the fetal ovary to polycystic ovary syndrome

Although not often discussed, the ovaries of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) show all the hallmarks of increased TGF‐β activity, with increased amounts of fibrous tissue and collagen in the ovarian capsule or tunica albuginea and ovarian stroma. Recent studies suggest that PCOS could have fetal origins. Genetic studies of PCOS have also found linkage with a microsatellite located in intron 55 of the extracellular matrix protein fibrillin 3. Fibrillins regulate TGF‐β bioactivity in tissues by binding latent TGF‐β binding proteins. We therefore examined expression of fibrillins 1‐3, latent TGF‐β binding proteins 1‐4, and TGF‐β 1‐3 in bovine and human fetal ovaries at different stages of gestation and in adult ovaries. We also immunolocalized fibrillins 1 and 3. The results indicate that TGF‐β pathways operate during ovarian fetal development, but most important, we show fibrillin 3 is present in the stromal compartments of fetal ovaries and is highly expressed at a critical stage early in developing human and bovine fetal ovaries when stroma is expanding and follicles are forming. These changes in expression of fibrillin 3 in the fetal ovary could lead to a predisposition to develop PCOS in later life. —Hatzirodos, N. , Bayne, R. A. , Irving‐Rodgers, H. F. , Hummitzsch, K. , Sabatier, L. , Lee, S. , Bonner, W. , Gibson, M. A. , Rainey, W. E. , Carr, B. R. , Mason, H. D. , Reinhardt, D. P., Anderson, R. A. , Rodgers, R. J. Linkage of regulators of TGF‐β activity in the fetal ovary to polycystic ovary syndrome. FASEB J. 25, 2256‐2265 (2011). www.fasebj. org
A quantitative study of gamma‐band activity in human intracranial recordings triggered by visual stimuli

This paper studies gamma‐band responses from two implanted epileptic patients during a simple visual discrimination task. Our main aim was to ascertain, in a reliable manner, whether evoked (stimulus‐locked) and induced (triggered by, but not locked to, stimuli) responses are present in intracranial recordings. For this purpose, we introduce new methods adapted to detect the presence of gamma responses at this level of recording, intermediary between EEG‐scalp and unicellular responses. The analysis relies on a trial‐by‐trial time–frequency analysis and on the use of surrogate data for statistical testing. We report that visual stimulation reliably elicits evoked and induced responses in human intracranial recordings. Induced intracranial gamma activity is significantly present in short oscillatory bursts (a few cycles) following visual stimulation. These responses are highly variable from trial to trial, beginning after 200 ms and lasting up to 500 ms. In contrast, intracranial‐evoked gamma responses concentrate around 100 ms latencies corresponding to evoked responses observed on the scalp. We discuss our results in relation to scalp gamma response in a similar protocol [Tallon‐Baudry et al. (1996) J. Neurosci. , 16, 4240–4249] and draw some conclusions for bridging the gap between gamma oscillations observed on the scalp surface and their possible cortical sources.
The Management of Atrophic Acne Scars: Overview and New Tools

Acne is a common disorder with a high prevalence among adolescents. Acne can cause atrophic scars that are a very unpleasant marker and it may have a negative psychological impact on social life and relationships. The distress generated by acne scars is sometimes very strong among adolescents. General dermatologists have, often, the key role to evaluate atrophic scars and to suggest different treatments. The aim of this paper is to review the different therapeutic options for atrophic scars such as chemical peels, tretinoin-iontophoresis, dermabrasion/microdermabrasion, tissue augmentation, laser treatment, punch excision techniques, subcision, and percutaneous collagen induction by skin needling.
Drug related hospital admissions: the role of definitions and intensity of data collection, and the possibility of prevention

Abstract. Three hundred and thirty‐three consecutive patients in a medical ward were evaluated in a high‐intensity monitoring scheme for drug events as a cause of hospitalization. Taking into consideration only ‘definite’ and ‘probable’ drug events, we found 36 cases (10.8%) of all admissions to be drug‐related hospitalizations (DRH). Of these, 8.1% were adverse drug reactions and 2.7% were therapeutic failures due to ineffective dosage. In 8 cases (2.4%) the drug event could definitely have been avoided, and a further 13 cases (3.9%) were considered to have been potentially avoidable if appropriate measures had been taken by the health service. In 19 cases (53%) the referring physician was unaware of the drug‐related problem. Those patients admitted because of a drug event were taking significantly more drugs than other individuals. The avoidable drug events pointed to the primary health care physicians as the appropriate targets for preventive measures in terms of intensified drug education.
Precarious Workers' Unions in Greece and Italy

vii Disclaimer ix Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1. A dual purpose 1 1.2. The post-industrial labor market and welfare state in Greece and Italy 4 1.3. “Burning questions of our movement” 12 1.4. A roadmap to the thesis 12 Chapter 2: Defining precarity and the precarious worker 17 2.
OWL-S based Service Composition of Three-dimensional Geometry Modeling

T his paper proposes an OWL-S framework for distributed CAD system based on the combination of semantic web service and CAD technology . S ervice ontology mapping mechanism is analyzed in detail and semantic model is built with the study of the correlation across the geometry modeling service . On the purpose of accommodat ing the design pattern of network modeling, this framework supports the service composition of three-dimensional geometry modeling and achieves further integration of service information. At last , a case study from the developed prototype system shows the feasibility and flexibility of this method under distributed CAD environment.
Mathematical models of the generation of radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks

The double-strand break (dsb) is one of the most critical lesions leading to a variety of radiobiological effects. In this paper, we reconsider the previously constructed and generally accepted mathematical models for dsb generation, and give a concrete mathematical basis for the generation of dsbs and the calculation of the number of induced dsbs, under the assumption of randomness in the break location in DNA and in the number of breaks. Using these models based on the Poisson distribution and the binomial distribution, we calculate the dose dependence of dsb generation. We deduced from our models that the dose dependence of the number of dsbs is described approximately as a quadratic form in both distribution models where dsb generation is accounted for by two ssbs. Previously reported experimental data on the dsb generation in phage DNA was found to be in good agreement with our models. Though the widely used model, the linear quadratic (LQ) model or the molecular theory of dsb formation based on the Poisson distribution, also gives the quadratic term, in spite of rough estimates or some mathematical incompleteness, a marked feature of our formulation is the absence of a parameter like the β in the quadratic term that requires experimental data to determine. Thus in this study we provide mathematical validity to the generally accepted models of the number of dsb.
Increased Susceptibility to Tumor Initiation and Metastasis in TNF-Related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand-Deficient Mice1

We have previously implicated TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) in innate immune surveillance against tumor development. In this study, we describe the use of TRAIL gene-targeted mice to demonstrate the key role of TRAIL in suppressing tumor initiation and metastasis. Liver and spleen mononuclear cells from TRAIL gene-targeted mice were devoid of TRAIL expression and TRAIL-mediated cytotoxicity. TRAIL gene-targeted mice were more susceptible to experimental and spontaneous tumor metastasis, and the immunotherapeutic value of α-galactosylceramide was diminished in TRAIL gene-targeted mice. TRAIL gene-targeted mice were also more sensitive to the chemical carcinogen methylcholanthrene. These results substantiated TRAIL as an important natural effector molecule used in the host defense against transformed cells.
Institutions and Ephemera in Urban Reform: The Municipal Expenditure Effects of Council-Manager Government

Scholarly treatments of the relationship between urban reform and municipal expenditures have arrived at wildly different estimates of council-manager government’s effects on spending behavior [23, 27]. While a failure to use proper econometric estimation techniques is partially responsible for these divergent findings [35], a more fundamental analytic oversight has confounded this research agenda. These treatments of councilmanager government have ignored the commitment problem. I employ game-theoretic tools to illustrate how the strength of commitment technology mediates the relationship between the adoption of council-manager government and municipal expenditures. The predicted implications of the formal model are largely borne out in an empirical analysis of a new panel data set that covers 307 U.S. cities over the period 1946-1966. Cities where available commitment technology is strong experience significantly larger
Phytolacca acinosa Roxb. with Arthrobacter echigonensis MN1405 enhances heavy metal phytoremediation

ABSTRACT The growth and metal-extraction efficiency of plants when exposed to toxic metals can be enhanced by inoculating with certain bacteria, but the mechanisms of this process remain unclear. We report results from glasshouse experiments on the effect of Arthrobacter echigonensis MN1405 in promoting Phytolacca acinosa Roxb. growth when exposed to 100 mg/L Mn solution. Mn removal efficiency in solution was significantly enhanced by bacterial inoculation; Mn was accumulated in the root of P. acinosa Roxb. plant. The bacteria oxidized the Mn on root surface, which formed a Mn plaque to serve as a barrier or a containment to prevent metal toxicity. In this process, pH condition was an important factor on the effects of microbial-assisted heavy metal phytoremediation. Our finding suggests that A. echigonensis MN1405 assisted P. acinosa to achieve high remediation efficiency of Mn removal and accumulation in Mn contamination area.
A model for distributed data aggregation in edge and cloud environments

The Internet of Things generates each time larger amounts of data through devices that range from personal smartphones sensors to large scale smart cities sensor deployments. Edge Computing and Fog Computing hardware resources nowadays have processing power that in the past was only found on Cloud Computing resources. These capabilities enable the possibility of aggregating data directly on the edge of the network, avoiding network traffic that was previously necessary to transfer data to the cloud. However, the ability to leverage each time more powerful edge nodes to decentralize data processing and aggregation is still a significant challenge for both industry and academia. Although large scale sensor deployments and powerful edge nodes are now available, the proper frameworks and processing patterns for these profiles of data are still under active research. In this work, it is analyzed the impact of a model for data aggregation in a large scale smart grid application dataset. The results obtained show that the implemented testbed application, through the usage of edge node aggregation and messaging windows, was able to achieve data aggregation rates of above 400 million measurements per second. These results were obtained using machines on 15 distinct geographic regions on the Microsoft Azure platform, for a total of 1366 machines in the largest evaluation scenario.
Collocated and Distributed STBCs with Partial Interference Cancellation Decoding, Part I: Full-Diversity Criterion

Low complexity decoders called Partial Interference Cancellation (PIC) and PIC with Successive Interference Cancellation (PIC-SIC), which include the Zero Forcing (ZF) and ZF-SIC receivers as special cases, were given by Guo and Xia along with sufficient conditions for a Space-Time Block Code (STBC) to achieve full diversity with PIC/PIC-SIC decoding for point-to-point MIMO channels. In Part-I of this two part series of papers, we give new conditions for an STBC to achieve full diversity with PIC and PIC-SIC decoders, which are equivalent to Guo and Xia's conditions, but are much easier to check. We then show that PIC and PIC-SIC decoders are capable of achieving the full cooperative diversity available in wireless relay networks and give sufficient conditions for a Distributed Space-Time Block Code (DSTBC) to achieve full diversity with PIC and PIC-SIC decoders. In Part-II, we construct new low complexity full-diversity PIC/PIC-SIC decodable STBCs and DSTBCs that achieve higher rates than the known full-diversity low complexity ML decodable STBCs and DSTBCs.
Data-Based Radiation Oncology: Design of Clinical Trials in the Toxicity Biomarkers Era

The ability to stratify patients using a set of biomarkers, which predict that toxicity risk would allow for radiotherapy (RT) modulation and serve as a valuable tool for precision medicine and personalized RT. For patients presenting with tumors with a low risk of recurrence, modifying RT schedules to avoid toxicity would be clinically advantageous. Indeed, for the patient at low risk of developing radiation-associated toxicity, use of a hypofractionated protocol could be proposed leading to treatment time reduction and a cost–utility advantage. Conversely, for patients predicted to be at high risk for toxicity, either a more conformal form or a new technique of RT, or a multidisciplinary approach employing surgery could be included in the trial design to avoid or mitigate RT when the potential toxicity risk may be higher than the risk of disease recurrence. In addition, for patients at high risk of recurrence and low risk of toxicity, dose escalation, such as a greater boost dose, or irradiation field extensions could be considered to improve local control without severe toxicities, providing enhanced clinical benefit. In cases of high risk of toxicity, tumor control should be prioritized. In this review, toxicity biomarkers with sufficient evidence for clinical testing are presented. In addition, clinical trial designs and predictive models are described for different clinical situations.
Prevalence and Outcomes of Left‐Sided Valvular Heart Disease Associated With Chronic Kidney Disease

Background Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an adverse prognostic marker for valve intervention patients; however, the prevalence and related outcomes of valvular heart disease in CKD patients is unknown. Methods and Results Included patients underwent echocardiography (1999–2013), had serum creatinine values within 6 months before index echocardiogram, and had no history of valve surgery. CKD was defined as diagnosis based on the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision or an estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min per 1.73 m2. Qualitative assessment determined left heart stenotic and regurgitant valve lesions. Cox models assessed CKD and aortic stenosis (AS) interaction for subsequent mortality; analyses were repeated for mitral regurgitation (MR). Among 78 059 patients, 23 727 (30%) had CKD; of these, 1326 were on hemodialysis. CKD patients were older; female; had a higher prevalence of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, history of coronary artery bypass grafting/percutaneous coronary intervention, atrial fibrillation, and heart failure ≥mild AS; and ≥mild MR (all P<0.001). Five‐year survival estimates of mild, moderate, and severe AS for CKD patients were 40%, 34%, and 42%, respectively, and 69%, 54%, and 67% for non‐CKD patients. Five‐year survival estimates of mild, moderate, and severe MR for CKD patients were 51%, 38%, and 37%, respectively, and 75%, 66%, and 65% for non‐CKD patients. Significant interaction occurred among CKD, AS/MR severity, and mortality in adjusted analyses; the CKD hazard ratio increased from 1.8 (non‐AS patients) to 2.0 (severe AS) and from 1.7 (non‐MR patients) to 2.6 (severe MR). Conclusions Prevalence of at least mild AS and MR is substantially higher and is associated with significantly lower survival among patients with versus without CKD. There is significant interaction among CKD, AS/MR severity, and mortality, with increasingly worse outcomes for CKD patients with increasing AS/MR severity.
Carotenogenesis Is Regulated by 5′UTR-Mediated Translation of Phytoene Synthase Splice Variants1[OPEN]

A splice variant of Arabidopsis phytoene synthase is subjected to a feedback-mediated, translational control via its 5′UTR to coordinate biosynthetic pathway flux with carotenoid requirements. Phytoene synthase (PSY) catalyzes the highly regulated, frequently rate-limiting synthesis of the first biosynthetically formed carotene. While PSY constitutes a small gene family in most plant taxa, the Brassicaceae, including Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), predominantly possess a single PSY gene. This monogenic situation is compensated by the differential expression of two alternative splice variants (ASV), which differ in length and in the exon/intron retention of their 5′UTRs. ASV1 contains a long 5′UTR (untranslated region) and is involved in developmentally regulated carotenoid formation, such as during deetiolation. ASV2 contains a short 5′UTR and is preferentially induced when an immediate increase in the carotenoid pathway flux is required, such as under salt stress or upon sudden light intensity changes. We show that the long 5′UTR of ASV1 is capable of attenuating the translational activity in response to high carotenoid pathway fluxes. This function resides in a defined 5′UTR stretch with two predicted interconvertible RNA conformations, as known from riboswitches, which might act as a flux sensor. The translation-inhibitory structure is absent from the short 5′UTR of ASV2 allowing to bypass translational inhibition under conditions requiring rapidly increased pathway fluxes. The mechanism is not found in the rice (Oryza sativa) PSY1 5′UTR, consistent with the prevalence of transcriptional control mechanisms in taxa with multiple PSY genes. The translational control mechanism identified is interpreted in terms of flux adjustments needed in response to retrograde signals stemming from intermediates of the plastid-localized carotenoid biosynthesis pathway.