Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantifying Consumer Interest and Consumer Valuation from Buy-It-Now Offers

An item offered in the buy-it-now offer (BINO) format is sold to the first consumer who is willing to pay the asked price. The “lifetime” of a BINO, therefore, depends on how many consumers are interested in the item and on how much they value it. In this paper, we model this dependency by combining survival analysis and auction theory. Our model enables sellers to quantify consumer interest and consumer valuation for their items from observing BINO lifetimes only. Further, the influence of covariates (e.g., the item condition) can be investigated. To demonstrate this, we apply our model to a dataset that we have collected from eBay. The dataset consists of 1,821 BINOs of a single product, the iPhone 5S. For this example, we find a new item to attract, on average, 1.26 consumers per day, who have a mean valuation of 384.97 EUR.
A Semantic Web Service Discovery and Composition Prototype Framework Using Production Rules

The full realization of the semantic Web services demands efficient algorithms able to perform the procedures of service discovery, composition and invocation. In this paper, we present ProSeDisCo, our approach for developing a semantic Web service discovery and composition framework on top of the CLIPS rule-based system. More specifically, we describe our methodology of utilizing production rules over Web services semantic descriptions expressed in the OWL-S ontology. The purpose of these rules is to discover and create a Web service choreography that matches users’ input and output requirements by utilizing a rule-based OWL reasoning engine in order to match semantically the requirements imposed by the users and the advertisements of the Web services.
Immersive vehicle simulators for prototyping, training and ergonomics

In most vehicle simulators, complete physical mockups equipped with steering wheel, gearshift and pedals are required. These devices are essential in trying to simulate real conditions, but as a drawback the system becomes expensive, huge (non mobile), and limited to reflect changes on the vehicle type, dimensions, or interior design. We have implemented different configurations for an immersive vehicle simulator, ranging from the use of a real mockup equipped with force-feedback steering wheel, gearshift and pedals, to fully virtual control metaphors, which are based only on trackers and datagloves. We propose such fully virtual control metaphors as an alternative to minimize the use of physical devices in simulators.
Channel estimation of uplink for MC-CDMA systems

Multi-carrier code division multiple access system (MC-CDMA) is a flexible and adaptable radio interface to provide dynamically changing bit rates and a variety of services on radio channels. An accurate channel estimate allows the use of multi-user detection and power loading to improve system performance. In this paper, we propose a novel channel estimation method of uplink for MC-CDMA systems. In MC-CDMA systems, code-multiplexed pilot symbols are transmitted consecutively in both time and frequency domains. In the proposed method, weighted pilot symbols in both domains are coherently added to improve signal to noise ratio of pilot symbols in channel estimation. We propose a method to select the weighting factor for pilot symbols according to the changes of propagation by measuring the maximum Doppler shift and the maximum delay time. Also the channel estimation algorithm is simplified. The method is evaluated in the end. The results show that the method is simple and effective.
ARIMA Based Network Anomaly Detection

An early warning system on potential attacks from networks will enable network administrators or even automated network management software to take preventive measures. This is needed as we move towards maximizing the utilization of the network with new paradigms such as Web Services and Software As A Service. This paper introduces a novel approach through using Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) technique to detect potential attacks that may occur in the network. The solution is able to provide feedback through its predictive capabilities and hence provide an early warning system. With the affirmative results, this technique can serve beyond the detection of Denial of Service (DoS) and with sufficient development; an automated defensive solution can be achieved.
Feasibility of positive secrecy rate in wiretap interference channels

Interference usually is an adverse phenomenon in wireless networks. However, the interference can potentially be used to boost the secrecy rate in wireless interference channels. This work studies the secrecy rate in a two-user interference network where unintended user may overhear one of the users, namely user 1. User 1 tunes its transmission power in order to maximize its secrecy rate as well as to maintain the quality of service at the other user's destination, user 2, while both user's power limits are considered. It is demonstrated that achieving a positive secrecy rate for user 1 only depends on the channel conditions and user 2's transmission power. Consequently, depending on the channel conditions, the exact threshold for user 2's transmission power which leads to a positive secrecy rate for user 1 is derived.
Disease Combinations Associated with Physical Activity Identified: The SMILE Cohort Study

In the search of predictors of inadequate physical activity, an investigation was conducted into the association between multimorbidity and physical activity (PA). So far the sum of diseases used as a measure of multimorbidity reveals an inverse association. How specific combinations of chronic diseases are associated with PA remains unclear. The objective of this study is to identify clusters of multimorbidity that are associated with PA. Cross-sectional data of 3,386 patients from the 2003 wave of the Dutch cohort study SMILE were used. Ward's agglomerative hierarchical clustering was executed to establish multimorbidity clusters. Chi-square statistics were used to assess the association between clusters of chronic diseases and PA, measured in compliance with the Dutch PA guideline. The highest rate of PA guideline compliance was found in patients the majority of whom suffer from liver disease, back problems, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and inflammatory joint disease (62.4%). The lowest rate of PA guideline compliance was reported in patients with heart disease, respiratory disease, and diabetes mellitus (55.8%). Within the group of people with multimorbidity, those suffering from heart disease, respiratory disease, and/or diabetes mellitus may constitute a priority population as PA has proven to be effective in the prevention and cure of all three disorders.
Book Review: Not Exactly: In Praise of Vagueness by Kees van Deemter

Let’s start off by setting the scene for this book. A term is generally regarded as vague if it admits borderline cases, that is, cases where speakers are reluctant to say either that the term definitely applies or definitely does not apply. An example is the expression bright, say applied to lights. Although some lights are definitely bright, and others are definitely dim, there are in-between cases which seem to be neither bright nor dim. Borderline vagueness is often associated with the notion of tolerance, in the sense that small changes in objects don’t affect the applicability of a vague term. Thus, suppose my sitting room light is definitely bright and I turn down the dimmer a very tiny fraction; then the light will still be regarded as bright. This principle of tolerance gives rise to a puzzling situation: If I keep on turning down the dimmer, small step by small step, the diminution in brightness will be imperceptible at each step. Thus, if the light is bright at step n, then tolerance dictates that it will also be bright at step n + 1. Yet inevitably at some stage in this process the light will no longer be bright—indeed, it might be entirely extinguished. Situations like this are often discussed under the heading of the sorites paradox. van Deemter, Kees. 2011. Not exactly: In praise of vagueness. Computational Linguistics, uncorrected proof.
Preserving Privacy of Cloud Data Using Homomorphic Encryption in MapReduce

In recent years, outsourcing large amount of data in cloud and how to manage the data raises many challenges with respect to privacy. The concerns of privacy can be addressed if cloud users encrypt the data deployed in the cloud. Among the various cryptographic encryption schemes, homomorphic scheme allow to perform meaningful computations on encrypted data. In this context, the research deals with homomorphic encryption scheme for maintaining privacy and security in cloud by detecting the error incurred while transferring data using RSA cryptosystem. Three types omomorphic error detection schemes proved that preserving privacy seems to be efficient using Map-Reduce Model.
Multiperiod Optimal Investment-Consumption Strategies with Mortality Risk and Environment Uncertainty

Abstract In this article we investigate three related investment-consumption problems for a risk-averse investor: (1) an investment-only problem that involves utility from only terminal wealth, (2) an investment-consumption problem that involves utility from only consumption, and (3) an extended investment-consumption problem that involves utility from both consumption and terminal wealth. Although these problems have been studied quite extensively in continuous-time frameworks, we focus on discrete time. Our contributions are (1) to model these investmentconsumption problems using a discrete model that incorporates the environment risk and mortality risk, in addition to the market risk that is typically considered, and (2) to derive explicit expressions of the optimal investment-consumption strategies to these modeled problems. Furthermore, economic implications of our results are presented. It is reassuring that many of our findings are consistent with the well-known results from the continuous-time models, even though our models have the additional features of modeling the environment uncertainty and the uncertain exit time.
The permeability of the sodium channel in Myxicola to the alkali cations

Relative permeabilities to the alkali cations were determined, from the reversal potential (VRev), for the Na channel of internally perfused voltage-clamped Myxicola giant axons. PLi/PNa and PK/PNa are 0.94 and 0.076, respectively. Rb and Cs are not measurably permeant. VRev vs. the internal Na activity was well described by the constant field equation over a 300-fold range of internal Na concentrations. In agreement with findings on squid axons, the PK/PNa was found to increase when the K content of the internal perfusate was reduced (equivalent per equivalent substitution with TMA). Internal Rb and Cs also decreased the PK/PNa. The order of effectiveness of internal K, Rb, and Cs in increasing the Na selectivity of the Na channel was Cs greater than Rb greater than or equal to K. External Li increases the PK/PNa but this may be due to the formation of LiF internally. It may be that substances do not have to traverse the channel in order to affect the selectivity filter. Evidence is presented which suggests that the selectivity of the Na channel may be higher for Na in intact as compared to perfused giant axons. It was concluded that the channel selectivity properities do not reflect only some fixed structural features of the channel, but the selectivity filter has a labile organization.
Analysis of Cross-Institutional Medication Information Annotations in Clinical Notes

A large amount of medication information resides in unstructured text in electronic medical records, which requires advanced techniques to be properly mined. In clinical notes, medication information follows certain semantic patterns (e.g., medication, dosage, frequency, mode, etc.). Some medication descriptions contain additional word(s) between medication attributes. Therefore, it is essential to understand the semantic patterns as well as the patterns of the context interspersed among them (i.e., context patterns) to effectively extract comprehensive medication information. In this paper we examined both semantic and context patterns and compared those found in Mayo Clinic and i2b2 challenge data. We found that some variations exist between the institutions but the dominant patterns are common.
Material comparison and design of low cost modular tactile surface sensors for industrial manipulators

Physical human robot interaction (pHRI) in industrial manufacturing environments requires reliable environment perception capabilities usually employing multiple sensor modalities and particularly tactile sensor matrices to facilitate the management of human robot contacts. However, their high cost still impedes the large-scale integration of pHRI in manufacturing environments. To enable the development of low-cost tactile sensor matrices for pHRI applications, we examine five cost-effective piezoresistive materials w.r. t. their suitability for tactile sensor matrices. Since hysteresis and drift can severely deteriorate the performance of a tactile sensor, particular attention is paid to these properties. For the apparently best material and a very low-cost alternative, the input-output behavior is modeled using a machine learning approach. The differences in the input-output behavior of the individual taxels are comparatively low - thus significantly simplifying parameter identification and calibration.
High-Sensitivity C Reactive Protein: Associations with Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Tracking in Female Adolescents and Young Adults

Objective. We assessed adolescent anthropometry, lipids, insulin, glucose, and blood pressures to identify factors associated with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and its tracking in young adults. Methods. Ten-year prospective study of 589 schoolgirls, 321 black, 268 white. Results. HsCRP did not differ (P > .08) by race or oral contraceptive use. HsCRP tracked from age 16 to 25 (r = 0.77), 16 to 26 (r = 0.50), 24 to 26 (r = 0.66), and 25 to 26 (r = 0.71), all P ≤ . 02. By stepwise regression, at age 16, waist circumference accounted for 44.8% of hsCRP variance; BMI accounted for 33.1%, 34.4%, and 31.1% at ages 24, 25, and 26, P < . 0001 for all. Changes in cholesterol and BMI were associated with change in hsCRP from age 24–26 (partial R 2 = 12.3% P < .0001, 6.6% P = .0012). Changes in BMI and triglyceride (partial R 2 = 8.5% P = .0001, 3.3%, P = .0045) were associated with change in hsCRP from age 25 to 26. Conclusions. HsCRP tracks from age 16 to 26, with BMI, waist circumference, and cholesterol as major determinants.
Formal Methods for Early Analysis of Functional Reliability in Component-Based Embedded Applications

We present formal methods for determining whether a set of components with given reliability certificates for specific functional properties are adequate to guarantee desired end-to-end properties with specified reliability requirements. We introduce a formal notion for the reliability gap in component-based designs and demonstrate the proposed approach for analyzing this gap using a case study developed around an Elevator Control System.
Using Weighted Bipartite Matching to Solve the General 3-D Rigid Motion Problem

This paper presents a solution to recovering the rigid transformation (rotation and translation) that brings two 3-D point sets into alignment, when the correspondences between the points are not known and there exist missing data. This is called the general 3-D rigid body motion problem (also known as absolute orientation problem). For ideal cases with no missing points, a closed-form solution based on eigenstructure decomposition is proposed to recover the correspondences of the two point sets and their motion. For general cases where missing points occur, this paper proves that the correspondence problem could be reduced to a weighted bipartite matching problem. Using a heuristic measure of point pair aanity derived from the eigenstructure decomposition, an eecient weighted bipartite matching algorithm is used to determine the correspondences. Outlier issue is explored. A fast outlier removal algorithm is combined with the weighted bipartite matching algorithm to improve the the correspondence recovery. The robustness of the algorithm to both noise and outliers is shown in simulations and experiments on data from real images.
Experimental Verification for Motion Control of a Powered Wheelchair using a Gazing Feature in an Environment

This paper describes the motion control system for a powered wheelchair using a gaze in an unknown environment. Recently, new Human-Computer Interfaces (HCIs) that have replaced joysticks have been developed for a person with a disability of the upper body. In this paper, movement of the eyes is used as an HCI. The wheelchair control system proposed in this study aims to achieve an operation such that a passenger gazes towards the direction he or she wants to move in the unknown environment. The gazing feature of the passenger in the 3D environment is acquired in real time and the wheelchair is subsequently controlled. The features include the entrance of the area of the passage and the gazing feature is acquired by obtaining the features and the gazing point of the passenger. The acquired information about the direction in which the passenger wants to move becomes operation input to the wheelchair. The wheelchair is controlled by obtaining this operation input and the information of the environment. The conventional motion control system can perform safe and smooth movement by avoiding obstacles. The effectiveness of the proposed system is demonstrated through experiments in a real environment with three participants.
Cognitive control and semantics in schizophrenia: an integrated approach.

OBJECTIVE The authors tested whether decisions about incongruencies in the representation and processing of semantic knowledge, thought to be related to cognitive control, are selectively impaired in schizophrenia. METHOD Twenty-four patients with schizophrenia and 24 healthy comparison subjects determined the relative size of paired stimuli as they are in the real world. Stimuli were words or images. Real-world "distance" (size difference between stimuli) was manipulated within pairs, as was "congruency" between real-world and presentation size. RESULTS Although patients were slower overall, both groups exhibited similar effects of "distance" and "congruency"; the task was easier when the real-world size difference between stimuli was greater and when stimuli were congruent in presentation and real-world size. CONCLUSIONS Some aspects of the representation of semantic knowledge are preserved in schizophrenia, and patients use this information to control cognition in the same manner as healthy individuals.
Impaired mitochondrial Fe-S cluster biogenesis activates the DNA damage response through different signaling mediators

ABSTRACT Fe-S cluster biogenesis machinery is required for multiple DNA metabolism processes. In this work, we show that, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, defects at different stages of the mitochondrial Fe-S cluster assembly machinery (ISC) result in increased spontaneous mutation rate and hyper-recombination, accompanied by an increment in Rad52-associated DNA repair foci and a higher phosphorylated state of γH2A histone, altogether supporting the presence of constitutive DNA lesions. Furthermore, ISC assembly machinery deficiency elicits a DNA damage response that upregulates ribonucleotide reductase activity by promoting the reduction of Sml1 levels and the cytosolic redistribution of Rnr2 and Rnr4 enzyme subunits. Depending on the impaired stage of the ISC machinery, different signaling pathway mediators contribute to such a response, converging on Dun1. Thus, cells lacking the glutaredoxin Grx5, which are compromised at the core ISC system, show Mec1- and Rad53-independent Dun1 activation, whereas both Mec1 and Chk1 are required when the non-core ISC member Iba57 is absent. Grx5-null cells exhibit a strong dependence on the error-free post-replication repair and the homologous recombination pathways, demonstrating that a DNA damage response needs to be activated upon ISC impairment to preserve cell viability. Summary: A characterization of the defects at different stages of the iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis that result in nuclear DNA damage and constitutively activate a non-canonical checkpoint pathway in S. cerevisiae.
Perceptions of African American and Caucasian Partners in two-person work groups : Does Race Matter ?

As racism remains a persistent problem in society, this study examined affective and behavioral expectations of minorities and non-minorities in hypothetical two-person work groups. It was hypothesized that participants rating African American partners would be less likely to report positive affective and behavioral expectations regarding the work relationship. The sample consisted of 185 undergraduate students who imagined being paired with another student for a class project. Race and gender were manipulated via the partner’s name. Results indicated that participants’ attitudes towards racism and diversity in teams had a greater influence on affective expectations than the partner’s race or gender.
Fluorescent Duplex Allele-Specific PCR and Amplicon Melting for Rapid Homogeneous mtDNA Haplogroup H Screening and Sensitive Mixture Detection

Background For large scale studies aiming at a better understanding of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), sequence variation in particular mt haplogroups (hgs) and population structure, reliable low-cost high-throughput genotyping assays are needed. Furthermore, methods facilitating sensitive mixture detection and relative quantification of allele proportions are indispensable for the study of heteroplasmy, mitochondrial sequence evolution, and mitochondrial disorders. Here the properties of a homogeneous competitive duplex allele specific PCR (ARMS) assay were scrutinized in the light of these requirements. Methodology/Principal Findings A duplex ARMS assay amplifying either the ancestral mtDNA 2706G allele (non-hg H samples) or the derived 7028C allele (hg H samples) in the presence of SYBR Green fluorescent reporter dye was developed and characterized. Product detection, allele calling, and hg inference were based on the amplicon-characteristic melting-point temperatures obtained with on-line post-PCR fluorescent dissociation curve analysis (DCA). The analytical window of the assay covered at least 5 orders of magnitude of template DNA input with a detection limit in the low picogram range of genomic DNA. A set of forensically relevant test specimens was analyzed successfully. The presence of mtDNA mixtures was detected over a broad range of input DNA amounts and mixture ratios, and the estimation of allele proportions in samples with known total mtDNA content was feasible with limitations. A qualified DNA analyst successfully analyzed ∼2,200 DNA extracts within three regular working days, without using robotic lab-equipment. By performing the amplification on-line, the assay also facilitated absolute mtDNA quantification. Conclusions Although this assay was developed just for a particular purpose, the approach is general in that it is potentially suitable in a broad variety of assay-layouts for many other applications, including the analysis of mixtures. Homogeneous ARMS-DCA is a valuable tool for large-volume studies targeting small numbers of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).