Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of Information Diffusion with Irrational Users: A Graphical Evolutionary Game Approach

Modeling and analysis of information diffusion over networks is of crucial importance to better understand the avalanche of information flow over social networks and to investigate its impact on economy and our social life. Different from prior works that study rational behavior in information diffusion, we focus on "irrational users e.g., those who always intentionally forward fake news even when they know it contains false information. We extend the graphical evolutionary game model for information diffusion, and analyze the impact of such irrational behavior on information propagation. Our simulation results on synthetic networks are consistent with our analytical results, and they show that even a few irrational users can significantly increase the number of users who adopt the forwarding strategy.
AirQMAS : A Collaborative Multi-agent System for Air Quality Analysis

The paper presents a multi-agent system, AirQMAS, developed for air quality analysis at different stations from the Romanian national air quality monitoring network. The multi-agent system includes collaborative agents that work together in order to improve the overall efficiency of the system. Two types of agents are used: environmental agents and meteorological agents. The learning capability is provided to the environmental agents, that use rules generated by the C5.0 data mining algorithm for the analysis of air quality index. A first version of the system was implemented in Zeus, and was tested as a simulation for a local network of 6 stations from the Ploiesti town, analyzing the concentrations of some air pollutants.
Wearable and Skin‐Mountable Fiber‐Optic Strain Sensors Interrogated by a Free‐Running, Dual‐Comb Fiber Laser

Wearable and skin‐mountable strain sensors are highly demanding for monitoring skin deformations induced by human activities. Realization of such sensor devices based on fiber‐optic approaches offers attractive advantages such as electromagnetic immunity and inherent electric safety in comparison to their electronic counterparts. However, fiber‐optic sensors, conventionally made of stiff silica fibers, are not mechanically compliant with the soft human skins and have limited strain range (<1%) for measuring large deformations. Here, a stretchable fiber Bragg grating (FBG)‐based optical (SFO) strain sensor with skin‐like compliance for human activity monitoring is presented. The SFO sensor is fabricated by a sinuous‐shaped FBG incorporated with a stretchable substrate that responds to strain deformations by shifting of the Bragg wavelength. This structural design enables measurement of various dynamic strains associated with tension, bending and torsion in a large sensing range up to 50%. To facilitate wearable integrations, a novel free‐running fiber laser with coherent dual‐comb output is developed to interrogate the SFO sensors by dual‐comb spectroscopy, which enables fast spectral acquisition with a single photodiode. It is shown that the SFO strain sensors can be used for wearable and skin‐mountable detection of diverse human activities including breathing, phonation, facial expression, and joint movements in real time.
Optimal Algorithms for Computing Average Temperatures

Abstract A numerical algorithm is presented for computing average global temperature (or other quantities of interest such as average precipitation) from measurements taken at speci_ed locations and times. The algorithm is proven to be in a certain sense optimal. The analysis of the optimal algorithm provides a sharp a priori bound on the error between the computed value and the true average global temperature. This a priori bound involves a computable compatibility constant which assesses the quality of the measurements for the chosen model. The optimal algorithm is constructed by solving a convex minimization problem and involves a set of functions selected a priori in relation to the model. It is shown that the solution promotes sparsity and hence utilizes a smaller number of well-chosen data sites than those provided. The algorithm is then applied to canonical data sets and mathematically generic models for the computation of average temperature and average precipitation over given regions and given time intervals. A comparison is provided between the proposed algorithms and existing methods.
Iron needles in supernova remnants

It has been suggested by Dwek that iron needles could explain the submillimetre emission from the Cas A supernova remnant (SNR) with only a very small total mass. We investigate whether a similar model holds for the Kepler SNR, and find that its emission could indeed be explained by a dust mass of less than 10? 2 M? , dependent on the axial ratio l/a of the needles – which we constrain to be less than 700. But the implied needle model for Kepler is inconsistent with that suggested for Cas A since either the needles would have to have a resistivity one or two orders of magnitude greater than those in Cas A or the electron density in Kepler's shocked plasma must be 40 times greater than suggested by X-ray observations. An additional problem with the needle model is that the implied thickness of the needles seems to be implausibly small, if the emission properties are calculated under the usual approximations.
Detection and Reinforcement of Celiac Communities on Twitter Argentina.

Social Networks have shown great growth relating the number of their users and generated content. For example, Twitter is used as a means to gather support, express ideas and opinions on various topics or interact with users with similar interests. In the latter case, the idea of community formation appears, that is, groups of users that are moreclosely related to each other than the rest of the nodes in the network. In this work we propose the detection of the community of users of Argentina interested in the celiac disease. We apply a series of techniques to detect and characterize them. In addition, we propose and use a methodology for the detection of more influential and active nodes(users), showing how the community can be reinforced by the recommendation of some particular links. The results show that with only a low percentage of accepted recommendation the network becomes denser and average distance between two users decreases quickly, thus improving the spread of information.
Algorithm Level Fault Tolerance: A Technique to Cope with Long Duration Transient Faults in Matrix Multiplication Algorithms

For technologies beyond the 45 nm node, radiation induced transients will last longer than one clock cycle. In this scenario, temporal redundancy techniques will no longer be able to cope with radiation induced soft errors, while spatial redundancy techniques still impose high power and area overheads. The solution to this impasse is the use of algorithm level techniques, able to detect and correct errors with low cost. In this paper, a new approach to deal with this problem is proposed, and applied to matrix multiplication algorithm. The proposed technique is compared to previously published fault tolerance techniques, and the costs of detection and recomputation for both approaches are compared and discussed.
Software Architecture Design

Software architecture design is a matter of generate and test. That is, generate a candidate design (a hypothesis), test it to see whether it satisfies its requirements. If it does not, then generate a new hypothesis and repeat the process. Clearly, the hypothesis generation, whether for the initial hypothesis or the subsequent hypotheses is not random. If it were, then the process would never end. This session will discuss where the initial hypothesis comes from, how to test to determine the shortcomings of the current hypothesis and what techniques are available to generate a new hypothesis. Biography Len Bass is one of the leading figures in the area of software architecture. He has co-authored two of the best selling software architecture books and has been responsible for a number of innovations in the areas of software architecture evaluation, software architecture design, and how to support usability through software architecture. His position at the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University places him at the intersection of academia and practice. He has worked with multiple industrial partners in projects ranging from financial systems to automotive driver information systems to the Mars Exploration Rover. He has lectured widely and has been a distinguished lecturer or keynoter at events on six continents.
Multivariate Beta Mixture Model for Automatic Identification of Topical Authoritative Users in Community Question Answering Sites

Community question answering (CQA) site is an online community to provide valuable information in wide variety of topics in question-answer form to users'. The major problem with CQA lies in identifying the authoritative users in the domain of the question so as to route the question to right experts and selecting the best answer etc. The existing work suffers from one or more limitations such as: 1) lack of automatic mechanism to distinguish between authoritative and non-authoritative users in specified topics; 2) the high dependence on its training data in supervised learning which is too time-consuming process to obtain labeled samples of data manually; and 3) some approaches rely on using some cutoff parameters to estimate an authority score. In this paper, a parameterless mixture model approach is proposed to identify topical authoritative users to overcome the above-mentioned limitations. The statistical framework based on multivariate beta mixtures is utilized on feature vector of users' which is composed of information related to user activities on CQA site. The probability density function is therefore devised and the beta mixture component that corresponds to the most authoritative user is identified. The suitability of the proposed approach is illustrated on real data of two CQA sites: StackOverflow and AskUbuntu. The result shows that the proposed model is remarkable in identifying the authoritative users in comparison with conventional classifiers and Gaussian mixture model.
Agent Support for Mission Planning Under Policy Constraints

Mission-critical scenarios, such as military or disaster response missions, often call for the formation of coalitions, made up of people from different countries or organizations and required to adhere to certain policies. These policies define the explicit obligations, permissions and prohibitions governing members of the coalition. While planning for joint action in these scenarios is already a complex problem for human planners, it is made more difficult or even impossible under such policy constraints, especially if policy conflicts exist between them. In this paper we propose that agents could be used to support human planners in coalitions, and present our work in the area of agent support for coalition mission planning under such policy constraints. We define a taxonomy of policies and outline the different types of support that agents can provide to human planners. We describe an experimental framework within which different types of agent support can be empirically evaluated within the context of a human planning problem.
Generation of multiciliated cells in functional airway epithelia from human induced pluripotent stem cells

Significance Pulmonary disease is the third highest cause for morbidity and mortality worldwide. Studies of human lung disease in vivo or in vitro are currently limited. Using induced pluripotent stem cells, we developed a step-wise differentiation protocol ending in an air–liquid interface to generate a pseudostratified polarized layer of endodermal-derived epithelial cells (forkhead box protein A2+ and NK2 homeobox 1+). This layer includes Clara cells with Clara cell 10 kD-positive vesicles, mucin 5A/C-positive goblet cells, multiciliated cells, and isolated cells that have forskolin-induced chloride currents sensitive to cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator inhibitor 172. The development of this model will enable the future study of many lung diseases (especially those where defective cilia are involved, such as primary ciliary dyskinesia) that have been difficult to study in human models from a developmental perspective. Despite therapeutic advancement, pulmonary disease still remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality around the world. Opportunities to study human lung disease either in vivo or in vitro are currently limited. Using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), we generated mature multiciliated cells in a functional airway epithelium. Robust multiciliogenesis occurred when notch signaling was inhibited and was confirmed by (i) the assembly of multiple pericentrin-stained centrioles at the apical surface, (ii) expression of transcription factor forkhead box protein J1, and (iii) presence of multiple acetylated tubulin-labeled cilia projections in individual cells. Clara, goblet, and basal cells were all present, confirming the generation of a complete polarized epithelial-cell layer. Additionally, cAMP-activated and cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator inhibitor 172-sensitive cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator currents were recorded in isolated epithelial cells. Our report demonstrating the generation of mature multiciliated cells in respiratory epithelium from iPSCs is a significant advance toward modeling a number of human respiratory diseases in vitro.
A Novel Role for the GTPase-Activating Protein Bud2 in the Spindle Position Checkpoint

The spindle position checkpoint (SPC) ensures correct mitotic spindle position before allowing mitotic exit in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In a candidate screen for checkpoint genes, we identified bud2Δ as deficient for the SPC. Bud2 is a GTPase activating protein (GAP), and the only known substrate of Bud2 was Rsr1/Bud1, a Ras-like GTPase and a central component of the bud-site-selection pathway. Mutants lacking Rsr1/Bud1 had no checkpoint defect, as did strains lacking and overexpressing Bud5, a guanine-nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) for Rsr1/Bud1. Thus, the checkpoint function of Bud2 is distinct from its role in bud site selection. The catalytic activity of the Bud2 GAP domain was required for the checkpoint, based on the failure of the known catalytic point mutant Bud2R682A to function in the checkpoint. Based on assays of heterozygous diploids, bud2R682A, was dominant for loss of checkpoint but recessive for bud-site-selection failure, further indicating a separation of function. Tem1 is a Ras-like protein and is the critical regulator of mitotic exit, sitting atop the mitotic exit network (MEN). Tem1 is a likely target for Bud2, supported by genetic analyses that exclude other Ras-like proteins.
Feature instability as a criterion for selecting potential style markers

We introduce a new measure on linguistic features, called stability, which captures the extent to which a language element such as a word or a syntactic construct is replaceable by semantically equivalent elements. This measure may be perceived as quantifying the degree of available "synonymy" for a language item. We show that frequent, but unstable, features are especially useful as discriminators of an author's writing style.
The Effects of Pyridaben Pesticide on the Histomorphometric, Hormonal Alternations and Reproductive Functions of BALB/c Mice

Objective(s): The adverse effects of pyridaben on reproductive system in male animals are not well established. This study was designed to elucidate how pyridaben can effects the histomorphometric, hormonal alternations and reproductive functions of BALB/c mice. Materials and Methods: For this study, 80 adult and apparently healthy male BALB/c mice were divided into three groups Viz, control, test group 1 and test group 2. Test groups 1 and 2 were received the toxin at doses of 53 mg/kg. BW, and 212 mg/kg. BW, respectively. The experiment period for both groups was 10, 25 and 45 days. Results: The levels of FSH, LH and testosterone were significantly (P<0.05) decreased on the dose and time dependant means. The levels of the ROS and NOS were significantly (P<0.05) increased in all test groups. The percent body weight gains significantly (P<0.05) reduced, whereas weights significantly (P<0.05) increased in test groups in a dose and time dependant manner. The histomorphometric and stereologic findings, including diameters of somniferous tubules, thickness of somniferous tubules epithelium, the leydig's cell distribution, TDI, SI, RI revealed that, all these parameters are also significantly (P<0.05) reduces in test groups in a dose and time dependant manner. Conclusion: Pyridaben causes histomorphometric and stereologic changes in testis, as well as hormonal and reproductive functional alternations in BALB/c mice.
Motion Compensated Fan-Beam Reconstruction for Nonrigid Transformation

We develop an approximate fan-beam algorithm to reconstruct an object with time-dependent nonrigid transformation such as the heart. The method is in the form of derivative back- projection filtering with compensation of affine transformations on a local basis. Computer simulations showed the proposed method significantly reduces image artifact due to nonrigid motion. Therefore, with very little motion artifact, the proposed method allowed us to reconstruct images from projections over about one motion cycle, resulting in reduced image noise level down to 40% of the current level.
Survey of Filtering System For OSN ( Online Social Networks )

In recent years, Online Social Networks (OSNs) have become an important part of daily life. Users build explicit networks to represent their social relationships. Users can upload and share information related to their personal lives. The potential privacy risks of such behaviour are often ignored. And the fundamental issue in today On-line Social Networks is to give users the ability to control the messages posted on their own private space to avoid that unwanted content is displayed. Today OSNs provide very little support to prevent unwanted messages on user walls. For that purpose, we proposed a new system allowing OSN users to have a direct control on the messages posted on their walls. This is achieved through a flexible rule-based system, that allows users to customize the filtering criteria to be applied to their walls, and a Machine Learning (ML) based soft classifier automatically labelling messages in support of content-based filtering. The system exploits a ML soft classifier to enforce customizable content-dependent Filtering Rules. And the flexibility of the system in terms of filtering options is enhanced through the management of Blacklists. The proposed system gives security to the On-line Social Networks.
Variation in relapse frequency and the transmission potential of Plasmodium vivax malaria

There is substantial variation in the relapse frequency of Plasmodium vivax malaria, with fast-relapsing strains in tropical areas, and slow-relapsing strains in temperate areas with seasonal transmission. We hypothesize that much of the phenotypic diversity in P. vivax relapses arises from selection of relapse frequency to optimize transmission potential in a given environment, in a process similar to the virulence trade-off hypothesis. We develop mathematical models of P. vivax transmission and calculate the basic reproduction number R0 to investigate how transmission potential varies with relapse frequency and seasonality. In tropical zones with year-round transmission, transmission potential is optimized at intermediate relapse frequencies of two to three months: slower-relapsing strains increase the opportunity for onward transmission to mosquitoes, but also increase the risk of being outcompeted by faster-relapsing strains. Seasonality is an important driver of relapse frequency for temperate strains, with the time to first relapse predicted to be six to nine months, coinciding with the duration between seasonal transmission peaks. We predict that there is a threshold degree of seasonality, below which fast-relapsing tropical strains are selected for, and above which slow-relapsing temperate strains dominate, providing an explanation for the observed global distribution of relapse phenotypes.
Ensuring Data Storage Security in Cloud Computing through Two-Way Handshake Based on Token Management

Cloud computing technology is enabling IT to do more with the infrastructure that already exists, as well as adding new ways to expand capacity quickly and economically by using external cloud computing resources. This technology is enabling IT managers to treat infrastructure as a common substrate on which they can provide services to users faster, in a much more flexible way and in cost-effective way –without having to re-design or add to the underlying infrastructure. Given the benefits of cloud computing, its broad appeal is not surprising. However, this new approach does raise some concerns. Chief among them is securing stored data in the cloud. In this paper, we focus on cloud data storage security, which has always been an important aspect of quality of service. To ensure the correctness of users’ data in the cloud, we propose a method by utilizing the homomorphic token with distributed verification of erasure-coded data. Our scheme achieves the integration of storage correctness insurance and data error localization, i.e., the identification of misbehaving server(s).
Response of fibroblast growth factor 23 to volume interventions in arterial hypertension and diabetic nephropathy

AbstractFibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) rises progressively in chronic kidney disease and is associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes. FGF-23 putatively induces volume retention by upregulating the sodium-chloride cotransporter (NCC). We studied whether, conversely, interventions in volume status affect FGF-23 concentrations.We performed a post hoc analysis of 1) a prospective saline infusion study with 12 patients with arterial hypertension who received 2 L of isotonic saline over 4 hours, and 2) a randomized controlled trial with 45 diabetic nephropathy (DN) patients on background angiotensin-converting enzyme -inhibition (ACEi), who underwent 4 6-week treatment periods with add-on hydrochlorothiazide (HCT) or placebo, combined with regular sodium (RS) or low sodium (LS) diet in a cross-over design. Plasma C-terminal FGF-23 was measured by ELISA (Immutopics) after each treatment period in DN and before and after saline infusion in hypertensives.The patients with arterial hypertension were 45 ± 13 (mean ± SD) years old with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of 101 ± 18 mL/min/1.73 m2. Isotonic saline infusion did not affect FGF-23 (before infusion: 68 median [first to third quartile: 58–97] relative unit (RU)/mL, after infusion: 67 [57–77] RU/mL, P = 0.37). DN patients were 65 ± 9 years old. During ACEi + RS treatment, eGFR was 65 ± 25 mL/min/1.73 m2 and albuminuria 649 mg/d (230–2008 mg/d). FGF23 level was 94 (73–141) RU/mL during ACEi therapy. FGF-23 did not change significantly by add-on HCT (99 [74–148] RU/mL), LS diet (99 [75–135] RU/mL), or their combination (111 [81–160] RU/mL, P = 0.15). Acute and chronic changes in volume status did not materially change FGF-23 in hypertensive patients and DN, respectively. Our data do not support a direct feedback loop between volume status and FGF-23 in hypertension or DN.