Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Feature Selection using Partial Least Squares regression and optimal experiment design

We propose a supervised feature selection technique called the Optimal Loadings, that is based on applying the theory of Optimal Experiment Design (OED) to Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression. We apply the OED criterions to PLS with the goal of selecting an optimal feature subset that minimizes the variance of the regression model and hence minimize its prediction error. We show that the variance of the PLS model can be minimized by employing the OED criterions on the loadings covariance matrix obtained from PLS. We also provide an intuitive viewpoint to the technique by deriving the Aoptimality version of the Optimal Loadings criterion using the properties of maximum relevance and minimum redundancy for PLS models. In our experiments we use the D-optimality version of the criterion which maximizes the determinant of the loadings covariance matrix. To overcome the computational challenges in this criterion, we provide an approximate D-optimality criterion along with the theoretical justification.
Astrocytic Mitochondrial Membrane Hyperpolarization following Extended Oxygen and Glucose Deprivation

Astrocytes can tolerate longer periods of oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD) as compared to neurons. The reasons for this reduced vulnerability are not well understood. Particularly, changes in mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm) in astrocytes, an indicator of the cellular redox state, have not been investigated during reperfusion after extended OGD exposure. Here, we subjected primary mouse astrocytes to glucose deprivation (GD), OGD and combinations of both conditions varying in duration and sequence. Changes in Δψm, visualized by change in the fluorescence of JC-1, were investigated within one hour after reconstitution of oxygen and glucose supply, intended to model in vivo reperfusion. In all experiments, astrocytes showed resilience to extended periods of OGD, which had little effect on Δψm during reperfusion, whereas GD caused a robust Δψm negativation. In case no Δψm negativation was observed after OGD, subsequent chemical oxygen deprivation (OD) induced by sodium azide caused depolarization, which, however, was significantly delayed as compared to normoxic group. When GD preceded OD for 12 h, Δψm hyperpolarization was induced by both GD and subsequent OD, but significant interaction between these conditions was not detected. However, when GD was extended to 48 h preceding OGD, hyperpolarization enhanced during reperfusion. This implicates synergistic effects of both conditions in that sequence. These findings provide novel information regarding the role of the two main substrates of electron transport chain (glucose and oxygen) and their hyperpolarizing effect on Δψm during substrate deprivation, thus shedding new light on mechanisms of astrocyte resilience to prolonged ischemic injury.
A zero-one law for Boolean privacy

A Boolean function ƒ: A<subscrpt>1</subscrpt> X A<subscrpt>2</subscrpt> X … X A<subscrpt><italic>n</italic></subscrpt> → {0,1} is <italic>t</italic> - private if there exists a protocol for computing ƒ so that no coalition of size ≤ <italic>t</italic> can infer any additional information from the execution, other than the value of the function. We show that ƒ is ⌈<italic>n</italic>/2⌉ - private if and only if it can be represented as ƒ (<italic>x</italic><subscrpt>1</subscrpt>, <italic>x</italic><subscrpt>2</subscrpt>, …, <italic>x</italic><subscrpt><italic>n</italic></subscrpt>) = ƒ (<italic>x</italic><subscrpt>1</subscrpt>) ⊕ ƒ<subscrpt>2</subscrpt>(<italic>x</italic><subscrpt>2</subscrpt>) ⊕ … ⊕ ƒ<subscrpt><italic>n</italic></subscrpt> (<italic>x</italic><subscrpt><italic>n</italic></subscrpt>, where the ƒ<subscrpt><italic>i</italic></subscrpt> are arbitrary Boolean functions. It follows that if ƒ is ⌈<italic>n</italic>/2⌉ - private, then it is also <italic>n</italic> - private. Combining this with a result of Ben-Or, Goldwasser, and Wigderson, we derive an interesting “zero-one” law for private distributed computation of Boolean functions: Every Boolean function defined over a finite domain is either <italic>n</italic> - private, or it is ⌈<italic>n</italic>-1/2⌉ - private but not ⌈<italic>n</italic>/2⌉ - private. We also investigate a weaker notion of privacy, where (a) coalitions are allowed to infer a limited amount of additional information, and (b) there is a probability of error in the final output of the protocol. We show that the same characterization of ⌈<italic>n</italic>/2⌉ - private Boolean functions holds, even under these weaker requirements. In particular, this implies that for Boolean functions, the strong and the weak notions of privacy are equivalent.
Pedagogical and Innovative Practice : Using technologies to support Assessment and Assessment Feedback in real-time

The Pedagogical and Innovative Practice (PIP) project is funded by the Centre of Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. The project was carried out across a community of practice at the School of Computer Science, with six members of academic staff teaching in teams on a variety of subjects such as data visualisation, and strategic information and planning management. The intention was to address assessment issues highlighted by students as captured on the National Student Survey in the UK; and related to students need for more informative and timely feedback on assessment With this in mind, assessment practices comprised of learning design and activities intended to support student learning within and beyond the classroom individually and by group learning. These practices were grounded in instructive and social constructivist theories in learning, teaching and assessment practice. Their design was intended to provide learners with timely feedback on their assessment. Initial lessons learnt as presented in this paper include: planning and preparation by tutors for technology use, different academic experiences, and conceptual perspectives, student and staff engagement, use of different types of assessment methods and practice, and the different types of feedback.
A Care Pathway Analysis of Tuberculosis Patients in Benin: Highlights on Direct Costs and Critical Stages for an Evidence-Based Decision-Making

Background Free tuberculosis control fail to protect patients from substantial medical and non-medical expenditure, thus a greater degree of disaggregation of patient cost is needed to fully capture their context and inform policymaking. Methods A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on a convenience sample of six health districts of Southern Benin. From August 2008 to February 2009, we recruited all smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients treated under the national strategy in the selected districts. Direct out-of-pocket costs associated with tuberculosis, time delays, and care-seeking pattern were collected from symptom onset to end of treatment. Results Population description and outcome data were reported for 245 patients of whom 153 completed their care pathway. For them, the median overall direct cost was USD 183 per patient. Payments to traditional healers, self-medication drugs, travel, and food expenditures contributed largely to this cost burden. Patient, provider, and treatment delays were also reported. Pre-diagnosis and intensive treatment stages were the most critical stages, with median expenditure of USD 43 per patient and accounting for 38% and 29% of the overall direct cost, respectively. However, financial barriers differed depending on whether the patient lived in urban or rural areas. Conclusions This study delivers new evidence about bottlenecks encountered during the TB care pathway. Financial barriers to accessing the free-of-charge tuberculosis control strategy in Benin remain substantial for low-income households. Irregular time delays and hidden costs, often generated by multiple visits to various care providers, impair appropriate patient pathways. Particular attention should be paid to pre-diagnosis and intensive treatment. Cost assessment and combined targeted interventions embodied by a patient-centered approach on the specific critical stages would likely deliver better program outcomes.
Slow and steady is the key to β-cell replication

• Diabetes is a chronic disease of failed glucose homeostasis • Structure and function of the adult pancreas • Diabetes is an attractive target for cellular replacement therapy • In vitro differentiation of β‐cells from embryonic stem cells • β‐cell maintenance and expansion • Strong evidence that new β‐cells come from old β‐cells • All β‐cells contribute equally to islet growth and maintenance • Putative pancreatic stem cells • Reported evidence for bone marrow stem cells giving rise to β‐cells • Reported evidence for spleen stem cells giving rise to β‐cells • Reported evidence for ductal stem cells giving rise to β‐cells • Reported evidence for acini stem cells giving rise to β‐cells • Reported evidence for islet and/or pancreatic stem cells giving rise to β‐cells • β‐cell turnover • β‐cell mass is dynamic • β‐cell replication changes with age • β‐cell replication increases during pregnancy • β‐cell replication increases in cases of increased blood glucose and/or insulin resistance • β‐cell replication is regulated by cell cycle genes • The elusive circulating β‐cell growth factor • Increasing β‐cell replication in vivo • In vitro culture of β‐cells • Summary
A novel loose coupling interworking scheme between UMTS and WLAN systems for multihomed mobile stations

A standard Mobile IP can not be directly used with multihomed mobile stations. Accordingly, this paper presents an immediate solution to integrate UMTS and WLAN systems based on a loose coupling interworking architecture. This interworking scheme resolves the problems with dual-interfaced nodes through only configuring the Mobile IP on the WLAN foreign network. In addition, the proposed scheme uses simple filter mechanisms to realize the benefits of a multihomed configuration. The proposed loose-coupling interworking architecture and design principles are validated using the OPNET simulator.
FEM Modeling of Flow Curves for Ferrite/Pearlite Two-Phase Steels

Flow curves of ferrite/pearlite two-phase steels were simulated using finite element method (FEM) with regression equations for flow curves of each ferrite and pearlite phase proposed by Hiramatsu et al. and Furukawa et al. The calculated flow strength of ferrite/pearlite two-phase steel was lower than the experimentally measured one mainly due to the underestimation of flow strength of ferrite phase according to the yield elongation. To improve the simulation, the flow curves in homogeneous deformation range were considered. Microscopic observations revealed that most deformation was accumulated in the ferrite phase during yield elongation. Flow curves of ferrite phase were re-evaluated based on this observation and flow curves of ferrite/pearlite steels were also re-calculated. Re-calculated yield strength of ferrite/pearlite steels showed good agreement with measured ones, however the work hardening rate of re-calculated flow curves is still lower than that of measured one. The simplicity of pearlite morphology for FEM analysis is thought to be responsible for lower work hardening behavior of calculated flow curve by FEM than that of measured one.
Solar UVB Dosimetry by Amplification of Short and Long Segments in Phage LD DNA

Abstract— DNA UVB dosimeters, consisting of minidots of dried bacteriophage DNA placed on a UV‐transparent polymer film, were analyzed by polymerase chain reactions (PCR). Ultraviolet‐B dosimetry obtained with amplification of phage LD DNA of segments of 1.08 kilobase pairs (kbp) and 2.24 kbp was compared with that obtained with amplification of a 0.5 kbp segment (H. Yoshida and J. D. Regan, 66, 82‐88, Photochem. Photobiol 1997). The number of lesions in each segment induced by UV radiation is proportional to the size of the amplified segments; thus, the average lesion frequency per unit dose was greatest in the 2.24 kbp and least in the 0.5 kbp segment. The average lesion frequency per unit dose was 3.5 times 10‐2 and 11.9 times 10‐2 m2 kJ‐1 for 1.08 kbp and 2.24 kpb, respectively, compared to that for 0.5 kbp of 1.7 times 10‐2 m2 kJ‐1 at 50 ng DNA. Dependability of DNA dosimeters, containing 50 ng and 100 ng, was tested by placing the DNA dosimeters for a time period of either 1 or 2 days outdoors on 8‐12 January at Melbourne, FL. The daily dose was obtained directly with amplification of the 2.24 kbp segment and the 2 day continuous dose was obtained with amplification of the 1.08 kbp segment. Although the average lesion frequencies were different, both 50 ng and 100 ng DNA dosimeters provided about the same UVB dose, equivalent to the dose applied with a solar UVB simulator. The total UVB dose for 4 days obtained by amplification of the 1.08 and 2.24 kbp segments was 19.4‐20.8 kJ m‐2, which is within experimental error with the 4 day continuous dose obtained with 0.5 kbp segments. The average daily dose obtained by 0.5 kbp and 1.08 kbp agreed with the average daily dose directly obtained with 2.24 kbp.
Kinematically optimal hyper-redundant manipulator configurations

Hyper-redundant robots have a very large or infinite degree of kinematic redundancy. The authors develop methods for determining the optimal configurations which satisfy task constraints while minimizing a weighted measure of mechanism bending and extension. These methods are based on a continuous backbone curve which captures the robot's essential macroscopic geometric features. The calculus of variations is used to develop differential equations whose solution is the optimal backbone curve shape. The optimal distribution of frames along the backbone curve is also considered. <<ETX>>
Global Asymptotic Stabilization for a Class of Bilinear Systems by Hybrid Output Feedback

This technical note deals with the global asymptotic stabilization problem for a class of bilinear systems. A state feedback controller solving this problem is obtained uniting a local controller, having an interesting behavior in a neighborhood of the origin, and a constant controller valid outside this neighborhood. The approach developed is based on the use of a hybrid loop, and more precisely a hybrid state feedback. This result is extended to the case where the state of the plant is not fully available and only the measured output can be used for control purposes. In this case, a dynamical controller constituted by an observer and a state feedback is built by means of hybrid output feedback framework. In both cases, the conditions are expressed by a set of linear matrix inequalities.
Development of Industrial‐Medium‐Required Elimination of the 2,3‐Butanediol Fermentation Pathway To Maintain Ethanol Yield in an Ethanologenic Strain of Klebsiellaoxytoca

Fermentation efficiency and nutrient costs are both significant factors in process economics for the microbial conversion of cellulosic biomass to commodity chemicals such as ethanol. In this study, we have developed a more industrial medium (OUM1) composed of 0.5% corn steep liquor (dry weight basis) supplemented with mineral salts (0.2%), urea (0.06%), and glucose (9%). Although the growth of strain P2 was vigorous in this medium, approximately 14% of substrate carbon was diverted into 2,3‐butanediol and acetoin under the low pH conditions needed for optimal cellulase activity during simultaneous saccharification. Deleting the central region of the budAB genes encoding α‐acetolactate synthase and α‐acetolactate decarboxylase eliminated the butanediol and acetoin coproducts and increased ethanol yields by 12%. In OUM1 medium at pH 5.2, strain BW21 produced over 4% ethanol in 48 h (0.47 g ethanol per g glucose). Average productivity (48 h), ethanol titer, and ethanol yield for BW21 in OUM1 medium (pH 5.2) exceeded that of the parent (strain P2) in rich laboratory medium (Luria broth).
The problem of ontology alignment on the Web: A first report

This paper presents a general architecture and four algorithms that use Natural Language Processing for automatic ontology matching. The proposed approach is purely instance based, i.e., only the instance documents associated with the nodes of ontologies are taken into account. The four algorithms have been evaluated using real world test data, taken from the Google and LookSmart online directories. The results show that NLP techniques applied to instance documents help the system achieve higher performance.
Self-Adapted Multi-Task Clustering

Multi-task clustering improves the clustering performance of each task by transferring knowledge across related tasks. Most existing multi-task clustering methods are based on the ideal assumption that the tasks are completely related. However, in many real applications, the tasks are usually partially related, and brute-force transfer may cause negative effect which degrades the clustering performance. In this paper, we propose a self-adapted multi-task clustering (SAMTC) method which can automatically identify and transfer reusable instances among the tasks, thus avoiding negative transfer. SAMTC begins with an initialization by performing single-task clustering on each task, then executes the following three steps: first, it finds the reusable instances by measuring related clusters with Jensen-Shannon divergence between each pair of tasks, and obtains a pair of possibly related subtasks; second, it estimates the relatedness between each pair of subtasks with kernel mean matching; third, it constructs the similarity matrix for each task by exploiting useful information from the other tasks through instance transfer, and adopts spectral clustering to get the final clustering result. Experimental results on several real data sets show the superiority of the proposed algorithm over traditional single-task clustering methods and existing multitask clustering methods.
Reactive hyperemia vs treadmill exercise testing in arterial disease.

We compared the ankle pressure response during reactive hyperemia to the response to treadmill exercise in 28 limbs of 14 normal individuals and 26 legs of 15 patients with arterial occlusive disease. The mean percent maximum drop in ankle blood pressure during reactive hyperemia in normal limbs, 17% +/- 11% (+/- 1 SD) was significantly less than that of legs with arterial disease, 54% +/- 15% (P less than .001). Abnormal values were recorded in all but three diseased limbs. There was good correlation between the ankle pressure responses to reactive hyperemia and treadmill exercise (r = 0.71, P less than .001). This study suggests that measurement of ankle pressure during reactive hyperemia may be a useful substitute for treadmill testing to determine the functional capacity of the circulation during stress in patients with arterial occlusive disease. Reactive hyperemia testing requires less time and equipment and may be performed in patients who might be at risk or unable to carry out treadmill exercise.
Strategies for optimal MAC parameter setting in IEEE 802.15.4 wireless sensor networks: A performance comparison

Recent studies have shown that the IEEE 802.15. 4 MAC protocol may suffer from severe limitations in terms of reliability and energy efficiency if a non appropriate parameter setting is used. Hence, a number of solutions have been proposed to select the optimal parameter setting to provide reliability with minimum energy consumption. In this paper we compare, by simulation, three different algorithms that take different approaches to the problem, namely offline computation, model-based adaptation, and measurement-based adaptation. We show that adaptive algorithms perform well, however the model-based adaptive approach has some limitations that make it unsuitable in practical scenarios, where operating conditions may vary over time and transmission errors cannot be neglected. Instead, the measurement-based adaptive approach is flexible and effective.
A comparative study on low-power and high speed Carry Select Adder

Adders are the basic building blocks of any processor or data path application. In adder design carry generation is the critical path. To reduce the power consumption of data path we need to reduce Area and number of transistors of the adder. Carry Select Adder is one of the fast adder used in many data path applications. In this paper Power consumption, area and delay of different carry select adders for 8bit, 16bit, 32bit, 64bit have been examined. A detailed comparative analysis has been done in Area, delay and power to all the Carry select adders. A new design based on D latch has reduced area, power And delay as compared with the regular SQRT CSLA. Power, delay and area have been calculated by using SYNOPSYS Design Vision tool. The results analysis shows that the new D latch based carry save adder CSLA structure is better than the regular SQRT CSLA.
Managing Digital Rights using Linear Logic

Digital music players protect songs by enforcing licenses that convey specific rights for individual songs or groups of songs. For licenses specified in industry, we show that deciding whether a license authorizes a sequence of actions is NP-complete, with a restricted version of the problem solvable efficiently using a reduction to maximum network flow. The authorization algorithm used in industry is online, deciding which rights to exercise as actions occur, but we show that all online algorithms are necessarily non-monotonic: each allows actions under one license that it does not allow under a more flexible license. In one approach to achieving monotonicity, we exhibit the unique maximal set of licenses on which there exists a monotonic online algorithm. This set of well-behaved licenses induces an approximation algorithm by replacing each license with a well-behaved license. In a second approach, we consider allowing the player to revise its past decisions about which rights to exercise while still ensuring compliance with the license. We propose an efficient algorithm based on linear logic, with linear negation used to revise past decisions. We prove our algorithm monotonic, live, and sound with respect to the semantics of licenses
Study of shoplifting prevention using image analysis and ERP check

In this paper, we propose a SaaS service which prevents shoplifting using image analysis and ERP. In Japan, total damage of shoplifting reaches 450 billion yen and more than 1000 small shops gave up their businesses because of shoplifting. Based on recent cloud technology and data analysis technology, we propose a shoplifting prevention service with image analysis of security camera and ERP data check for small shops. We evaluated stream analysis of security camera movie using online machine learining framework Jubatus.
Elastic regularization in restricted Boltzmann machines: Dealing with $p\gg N$

Restricted Boltzmann machines (RBMs) are endowed with the universal power of modeling (binary) joint distributions. Meanwhile, as a result of their confining network structure, training RBMs confronts less difficulties (compared with more complicated models, e.g., Boltzmann machines) when dealing with approximation and inference issues. However, in certain computational biology scenarios, such as the cancer data analysis, employing RBMs to model data features may lose its efficacy due to the "$p\gg N$" problem, in which the number of features/predictors is much larger than the sample size. The "$p\gg N$" problem puts the bias-variance trade-off in a more crucial place when designing statistical learning methods. In this manuscript, we try to address this problem by proposing a novel RBM model, called elastic restricted Boltzmann machine (eRBM), which incorporates the elastic regularization term into the likelihood/cost function. We provide several theoretical analysis on the superiority of our model. Furthermore, attributed to the classic contrastive divergence (CD) algorithm, eRBMs can be trained efficiently. Our novel model is a promising method for future cancer data analysis.