Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Learning to Minimise Regret in Route Choice

Reinforcement learning (RL) is a challenging task, especially in highly competitive multiagent scenarios. We consider the route choice problem, in which self-interested drivers aim at choosing routes that minimise their travel times. Employing RL here is challenging because agents must adapt to each others' decisions. In this paper, we investigate how agents can overcome such condition by minimising the regret associated with their decisions. Regret measures how much worse an agent performs on average compared to the best fixed action in hindsight. We present a simple yet effective regret-minimising algorithm to address this scenario. To this regard, we introduce the \textit{action regret}, which measures the performance of each route in comparison to the best one, and employ it as reinforcement signal. Given that agents do not know the cost of all routes (except for the currently taken ones) in advance, we also devise a method through which they can \textit{estimate} the action regret. We analyse the theoretical properties of our method and prove it minimises the agents' regret by means of the action regret. Furthermore, we provide formal guarantees on the agents' convergence to a $\lettereq$-approximate User Equilibrium, where $\lettereq$ is the bound on the agents' regret. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work in which RL-agents are formally proven to converge to an approximate UE, without further assumptions, in the context of route choice.
MULTILAYER HIGH-DENSITY 3D NANOWELL ARRAYS FOR DIGITAL BIOLOGY

Digital biology based droplets and micro/nanowells are useful as chemical and bio-chemical reactors discretizing reagents into picoliter to nanoliter sample volumes for individual analysis of cells, organisms, or molecules. Presented in this work is a multilayer microwell design to achieve three-dimensional, 3D, nanowell patterns for high-density imaging arrays. Using this technique, as much as a two-fold increase in reactor density is achieved with a focal depth of 70-100 µm’s. The imaging sensor’s area coverage is increased to as high as 98% and various patterning schemes are demonstrated to optimize density, area coverage, and manufacturability.
HOMSTRAD: recent developments of the Homologous Protein Structure Alignment Database

HOMSTRAD (http://www-cryst.bioc.cam.ac.uk/ homstrad/) is a collection of protein families, clustered on the basis of sequence and structural similarity. The database is unique in that the protein family sequence alignments have been specially annotated using the program, JOY, to highlight a wide range of structural features. Such data are useful for identifying key structurally conserved residues within the families. Superpositions of the structures within each family are also available and a sensitive structure-aided search engine, FUGUE, can be used to search the database for matches to a query protein sequence. Historically, HOMSTRAD families were generated using several key pieces of software, including COMPARER and MNYFIT, and held in a number of flat files and indexes. A new relational database version of HOMSTRAD, HOMSTRAD BETA (http://www-cryst.bioc.cam. ac.uk/homstradbeta/) is being developed using MySQL. This relational data structure provides more flexibility for future developments, reduces update times and makes data more easily accessible. Consequently it has been possible to add a number of new web features including a custom alignment facility. Altogether, this makes HOMSTRAD and its new BETA version, an excellent resource both for comparative modelling and for identifying distant sequence/structure similarities between proteins.
The Measurement and Analysis of Stock Market Risk Based on GARCH Model & David X.L1999 and VaR Method:The Empirical Evidence from Shanghai Stock Market

The VaR method based on GARCH model David X.L1999 is a newly-developed tool to measure the stock market risk.By adopting the daily yield list of Shanghai Stock Market,the author calculates the numerical value of VaR The result indicates that the VaR method based on the GARCH model David X.L1999 is more effective than traditional method to describe the stock market risk.
Intense Blue Fluorescence in a Leucine Zipper Assembly

Fluorescent probes are valuable molecular tools in chemical biology, and various fluorescent probes for the detection of small biological components have been developed and used for fluorescence imaging in cells. Ratiometric fluorescent probes and fluorogenic probes are particularly useful because they can suppress noise associated with background emission. Tag/probe pairs for the fluorescence imaging of proteins have recently been developed, but the number of fluorogenically active tag/probe pairs is still limited. Green fluorescent protein (GFP) is a widely used biological tool for the imaging of proteins in live cells. Its fluorescence is well controlled because the fluorophore unit is located in a unique microenvironment inside a b-barrel structure. We have previously developed a new tag/probe pair with fluorogenic activity—based on the unique characteristics of GFP—by use of the leucine zipper assembly, the ZIP tag/probe. The environment surrounding the 4-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (NBD) component of the probe peptide changes drastically from a hydrophilic state to a hydrophobic state through the formation of a 3a-helical leucine zipper structure between the tag and the probe peptides, as a result of which the bright green fluorescence of the NBD dye is induced. Use of other solvatochromic fluorophores should enable us to develop fluorogenic ZIP tag/probe pairs with other fluorescence colors. Here we describe the use of 7-diethylaminocoumarin-3-carboxylic acid (DEAC) in the development of another ZIP tag/probe pair with switchable blue fluorescence. ZIP tag/probe pairs containing the DEAC dye were designed as described in our previous report (Scheme 1). In a probe ahelical peptide, a DEAC moiety was attached to the side chain of l-a-2,3-diaminopropionic acid [Dap(DEAC)]. A Dap(DEAC) residue is situated at the X-position in the probe peptide to locate the DEAC dye in the hydrophobic region of the 3a-helical leucine zipper structure. In tag antiparallel 2a-helical peptides, two Leu residues at the Z-positions in the L2 peptide are residues complementary to the Dap(DEAC) residue of the probe peptide, and these residues are replaced by alanine (A2 peptide) or glycine (G2 peptide) so that hydrophobic spaces can be formed when the tag peptides bind to the probe peptide. The fluorescence spectra of the DEAC probe peptide showed a remarkable change as the concentration of the A2 peptide was increased. The emission maximum due to the DEAC dye shifted from 482 to 470 nm as the emission intensity increased (Figure 1 B). A DEAC-b-alanine methyl ester (7) showed emission maxima at 483 nm in HEPES buffer solution and at 470 nm in MeOH (see the Supporting Information). These results clearly suggest that through the formation of the DEAC probe/A2 peptide complex, the DEAC moiety of the probe peptide is moved from a hydrophilic environment in bulk water to a hydrophobic environment inside the 3a-helical bundle structure. The fluorescence intensity of the DEAC probe peptide at 470 nm increased up to 10.5 times on addition of A2 in a typical saturation manner (Figure 2 A, Table 1).
Sensor Fusion to Infer Locations of Standing and Reaching Within the Home in Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury

Objective The objective of rehabilitation after spinal cord injury is to enable successful function in everyday life and independence at home. Clinical tests can assess whether patients are able to execute functional movements but are limited in assessing such information at home. A prototype system is developed that detects stand-to-reach activities, a movement with important functional implications, at multiple locations within a mock kitchen. Design Ten individuals with incomplete spinal cord injuries performed a sequence of standing and reaching tasks. The system monitored their movements by combining two sources of information: a triaxial accelerometer, placed on the subject's thigh, detected sitting or standing, and a network of radio frequency tags, wirelessly connected to a wrist-worn device, detected reaching at three locations. A threshold-based algorithm detected execution of the combined tasks and accuracy was measured by the number of correctly identified events. Results The system was shown to have an average accuracy of 98% for inferring when individuals performed stand-to-reach activities at each tag location within the same room. Conclusions The combination of accelerometry and tags yielded accurate assessments of functional stand-to-reach activities within a home environment. Optimization of this technology could simplify patient compliance and allow clinicians to assess functional home activities.
The effects of resistance training on well-being and memory in elderly volunteers.

OBJECTIVE To determine the short- and long-term effects of resistance training on muscle strength, psychological well-being, control-beliefs, cognitive speed and memory in normally active elderly people. METHODS 46 elderly people (mean age 73.2 years; 18 women and 28 men), were randomly assigned to training and control groups (n=23 each). Pre- and post-tests were administered 1 week before and 1 week after the 8-week training intervention. The training sessions, performed once a week, consisted of a 10 min warm-up phase and eight resistance exercises on machines. RESULTS There was a significant increase in maximum dynamic strength in the training group. This training effect was associated with a significant decrease in self-attentiveness, which is known to enhance psychological well-being. No significant changes could be observed in control-beliefs. Modest effects on cognitive functioning occurred with the training procedure: although there were no changes in cognitive speed, significant pre/post-changes could be shown in free recall and recognition in the experimental group. A post-test comparison between the experimental group and control group showed a weak effect for recognition but no significant differences in free recall. Significant long-term effects were found in the training group for muscular strength and memory performance (free recall) 1 year later. CONCLUSION An 8-week programme of resistance training lessens anxiety and self-attentiveness and improves muscle strength.
SMAP, an Smg GDS-associating Protein Having Arm Repeats and Phosphorylated by Src Tyrosine Kinase*

Smg GDS is a regulator having two activities on a group of small G proteins including the Rho and Rap1 family members and Ki-Ras; one is to stimulate their GDP/GTP exchange reactions, and the other is to inhibit their interactions with membranes. Structurally, it has 11 Arm repeats, a protein interaction motif, found in the Drosophila Armadillo protein, a homolog of mammalian β-catenin. We have isolated here an Smg GDS-interacting protein from a human brain cDNA library by use of the yeast two-hybrid method and named it SMAP (Smg GDS-associated protein). SMAP was a protein with a Mr of 91,189 and 792 amino acids. SMAP had 9 Arm repeats. Recombinant SMAP interacted with recombinant Smg GDS but did not affect the two activities of Smg GDS on RhoA. SMAP was tyrosine phosphorylated by v-Src, and this phosphorylation reduced the affinity of SMAP for Smg GDS. Tissue and subcellular distribution analyses indicated that SMAP was ubiquitously expressed and highly concentrated at the endoplasmic reticulum area. Searches for sequence homology to SMAP revealed that SMAP was significantly homologous to sea urchin SpKAP115, suggesting that SMAP is a mammalian counterpart of SpKAP115 or its related protein. SpKAP115 is an accessory subunit of sea urchin kinesin II, an ATPase motor that transports vesicles along microtubules. These results suggest that SMAP serves as an adaptor for both Smg GDS and kinesin II or its related protein and links them with both the Smg GDS-regulated small G protein and Src tyrosine kinase signalings.
Public Goods and Minimum Provision Levels: Does the Institutional Formation Affect Cooperation?

We investigate the role of institutional formation on the implementation of a binding minimum contribution level in a linear public goods game. Groups either face the minimum level exogenously imposed by a central authority or are allowed to decide for themselves by means of a group vote whether or not a minimum level should be implemented. We find a binding minimum contribution level to have a positive and substantially significant effect on cooperation. The main impact is on the extensive margin, meaning that it is possible to force free riders to increase their contribution without crowding out others’ voluntary contributions. This result is robust to the mode of implementation and thus when the minimum level is enforceable, it is a simple policy that will increase provision of the public good.
Exploratory factor analyses of the CAHPS Hospital Pilot Survey responses across and within medical, surgical, and obstetric services.

OBJECTIVES To estimate the associations among hospital-level scores from the Consumer Assessments of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Hospital pilot survey within and across different services (surgery, obstetrics, medical), and to evaluate differences between hospital- and patient-level analyses. DATA SOURCE CAHPS Hospital pilot survey data provided by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. STUDY DESIGN Responses to 33 questionnaire items were analyzed using patient- and hospital-level exploratory factor analytic (EFA) methods to identify both a patient-level and hospital-level composite structures for the CAHPS Hospital survey. The latter EFA was corrected for patient-level sampling variability using a hierarchical model. We compared results of these analyses with each other and to separate EFAs conducted at the service level. To quantify the similarity of assessments across services, we compared correlations of different composites within the same service with those of the same composite across different services. DATA COLLECTION Cross-sectional data were collected during the summer of 2003 via mail and telephone from 19,720 patients discharged from November 2002 through January 2003 from 132 hospitals in three states. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Six factors provided the best description of inter-item covariation at the patient level. Analyses that assessed variability across both services and hospitals suggested that three dimensions provide a parsimonious summary of inter-item covariation at the hospital level. Hospital-level factor structures also differed across services; as much variation in quality reports was explained by service as by composite. CONCLUSIONS Variability of CAHPS scores across hospitals can be reported parsimoniously using a limited number of composites. There is at least as much distinct information in composite scores from different services as in different composite scores within each service. Because items cluster slightly differently in the different services, service-specific composites may be more informative when comparing patients in a given service across hospitals. When studying individual-level variability, a more differentiated structure is probably more appropriate.
COLOR PATTERN POLYMORPHISM IN THE LAKE ERIE WATER SNAKE, NERODIA SIPEDON INSULARUM

Populations of the water snake, Nerodia sipedon, on islands in western Lake Erie are polymorphic for color pattern. These populations include banded, intermediate, and unbanded morphs while surrounding mainland populations consist solely of the banded morph. The hypothesis that this polymorphism is maintained by strong selection and migration pressures is widely accepted. Unbanded morphs are apparently more cryptic along island shorelines while banded morphs are more cryptic on the mainland. Migration of banded morphs from the mainland explains their persistence in island populations.
MicroRNAs control hepatocyte proliferation during liver regeneration

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) constitute a new class of regulators of gene expression. Among other actions, miRNAs have been shown to control cell proliferation in development and cancer. However, whether miRNAs regulate hepatocyte proliferation during liver regeneration is unknown. We addressed this question by performing 2/3 partial hepatectomy (2/3 PH) on mice with hepatocyte‐specific inactivation of DiGeorge syndrome critical region gene 8 (DGCR8), an essential component of the miRNA processing pathway. Hepatocytes of these mice were miRNA‐deficient and exhibited a delay in cell cycle progression involving the G1 to S phase transition. Examination of livers of wildtype mice after 2/3 PH revealed differential expression of a subset of miRNAs, notably an induction of miR‐21 and repression of miR‐378. We further discovered that miR‐21 directly inhibits Btg2, a cell cycle inhibitor that prevents activation of forkhead box M1 (FoxM1), which is essential for DNA synthesis in hepatocytes after 2/3 PH. In addition, we found that miR‐378 directly inhibits ornithine decarboxylase (Odc1), which is known to promote DNA synthesis in hepatocytes after 2/3 PH. Conclusion: Our results show that miRNAs are critical regulators of hepatocyte proliferation during liver regeneration. Because these miRNAs and target gene interactions are conserved, our findings may also be relevant to human liver regeneration. (HEPATOLOGY 2010)
Effect of Ubiquinol Therapy on Sperm Parameters and Serum Testosterone Levels in Oligoasthenozoospermic Infertile Men.

INTRODUCTION The male sperm counts decline due to environmental factors, such as pesticides, heavy metals and exogenous estrogens causing negative impact on spermatogenesis. The low testosterone levels are associated with lower levels of antioxidants that protect against free radical damage to glands that produce testosterone. The earlier studies showed that the supplementation of vitamins and antioxidants including 10mg Ubiquinol per-day increases in sperm count and motility. MATERIALS AND METHODS The Ubiquinol is strong antioxidant, hence in view of the above study 150 mg/day Ubiquinol was supplemented to 60 men with age group of 20-40 years. The patients were supplemented for six months, the testosterone level and sperm parameters were analysed before and after supplementation of Ubiquinol every month up to six months. The total sperm count increased by 53% (p<0.05). RESULTS The total sperm motility was observed 26% (p<0.05) high after supplementations. Out of total motility, the quantity of rapidly motile sperm increased 41% (p<0.05). The number of sluggish motile sperm was decreased approximate 29% (p<0.05). The non motile sperm count was also decreased up to 55% (p<0.05). CONCLUSION The testosterone level is maintained during the study and morphology of flagella of sperm has improved. The finding suggests that the supplementation of Ubiquinol may be beneficial for oligospermic patients.
Lowland river water quality: a new UK data resource for process and environmental management analysis

Colin Neal, Michael Bowes,* Helen P. Jarvie, Paul Scholefield, Graham Leeks, Margaret Neal, Philip Rowland, Heather Wickham, Sarah Harman, Linda Armstrong, Darren Sleep, Alan Lawlor and Cynthia E Davies 1 Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, OX10 8BB, UK 2 Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Lancaster Environment Centre, Library Avenue, Bailrigg, Lancaster LA1 4AP, UK
Scope of electrical distribution system architecture considering the integration of renewable energy in large and small scale

Although numerous proposals for electrical and communication topologies for distribution automation had been presented, not all of them are suitable for the use of renewable energy as a source of electricity. Selecting the most appropriate topology requires good knowledge of the particular characteristics and requirements. This paper presents the analysis of the basic characteristics, topologies and the main functions of the distribution network and evaluates the communication architecture suitable for a sustainable energy resources integration. Finally, recommendations for a new architecture are presented as well as for the communication to use.
Interference-aware resource allocation in co-channel deployment of OFDMA femtocells

Macrocells may suffer serious uplink interference introduced by the deployment of co-channel femtocells. In this paper, an interference-aware pricing-based resource allocation algorithm for co-channel femtocells is proposed to alleviate their interference to macrocells without degrading the femtocell's capacity. The subchannel and power allocation problem is modeled as a non-cooperative game. A suboptimal subchannel allocation algorithm and an optimal power allocation algorithm are proposed to implement the resource allocation game. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm not only improves the capacity of the macrocell but also the total capacity of the two-tier network, as compared with the unpriced subchannel allocation and Modified Iterative Water Filling (MIWF) power allocation algorithm.
The Latin American “Structuralists” and the Institutionalists: Convergence in Development Theory

Rauil Prebisch, prime mover among the economists loosely designated as the "structuralists," asserts that from the fluid, often confused state of economic thinking in Latin America a distinct and recognizable body of ideas is emerging. "In the midst of the depression," he observes, "we did not know the true nature of Latin America's difficulties; the dominant idea was simply to return to the past. Fifteen years ago we were already able to attempt to define the set of problems in question and to point with deep conviction to certain basic solutions. And today sufficient progress has been made to work out a system of ideas, a dynamic view of economic and social development leading to practical action. What has to be done is to overcome the ideological poverty that prevails in our countries in this field, the traditional propensity to introduce from abroad nostrums that are largely alien to the real requirements of Latin America's situation. "' Some economists doubt that Latin America's problems are so unique that they require a new system of ideas and consider Prebisch's assessment defensive and tinged with regional parochialism. Others share his feeling that while economic doctrine formulated in the more developed countries has not adequately explained current processes nor provided effective fonmulas for policy, exponents of conventional theory nevertheless assume an attitude of expert knowledge and moral rectitude that is more than irksome to those confronted with the actualities. It becomes coercive when linked to the financial power of outside lending agencies and local interests, all insistent on applying prescriptive remedies where they will not serve. Roberto Campos, while Brazilian ambassador to the United States, criticized the Anglo-Saxon inclination to regard Latin America's problems from "a moralistic and not a sociological view," adding that "there is little justification for a self-righteous attitude on the part of the lending countries, as if inflation and balance of payment troubles in Latin America were plain lack of guts or love of vice, and not the symptoms of difficult travail in face of adverse winds of trade, impatience of consumers and confused aspirations for the fruits of progress before the tree has matured to yield. "2