Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nonlinear long memory models with applications in finance

The last decade has witnessed a great deal of research in modelling volatility of financial asset returns, expressed by time-varying variances and covariances. The importance of modelling volatility lies in the dependence of any financial investment decision on the expected risk and return as formalized in classical asset pricing theory. Precise evaluation of volatilities is a compulsory step in order to perform correct options pricing according to recent theories of the term structure of interest rates and for the construction of dynamic hedge portfolios. Models of time varying volatility represent an important ground for the development of new estimation and forecasting techniques for situations not reconcilable with the Gaussian or, more generally, a linear time series framework. This is particularly true for the statistical analysis of time series with long range dependence in a nonlinear framework. The aim of this thesis is to introduce parametric nonlinear time series models with long memory, with particular emphasis on volatility models, and to provide a methodology which yields asymptotically exact inference on the parameters of the models. The importance of these results stems from: (i) rigorous asymptotics was lacking from the stochastic volatility literature; (ii) the statistical literature does not cover the analysis of the asymptotic behaviour of quadratic forms in nonlinear non-Gaussian variates that characterizes our problem.
Bayesian Singing-Voice Separation

This paper presents a Bayesian nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) approach to extract singing voice from background music accompaniment. Using this approach, the likelihood function based on NMF is represented by a Poisson distribution and the NMF parameters, consisting of basis and weight matrices, are characterized by the exponential priors. A variational Bayesian expectationmaximization algorithm is developed to learn variational parameters and model parameters for monaural source separation. A clustering algorithm is performed to establish two groups of bases: one is for singing voice and the other is for background music. Model complexity is controlled by adaptively selecting the number of bases for different mixed signals according to the variational lower bound. Model regularization is tackled through the uncertainty modeling via variational inference based on marginal likelihood. The experimental results on MIR-1K database show that the proposed method performs better than various unsupervised separation algorithms in terms of the global normalized source to distortion ratio.
Ganoderma tsugae Hepatoprotection against Exhaustive Exercise-Induced Liver Injury in Rats

Several studies have been shown that accelerated apoptosis is involved in post-exercise lymphocytopenia and tissue damage after high-intensity exercise. Ganoderma tsugae (GT) is one of the well-known medicinal mushrooms that possess various pharmacological functions. This mushroom has traditionally been used for health promotion purposes. This study investigates the hepatoprotective effects of GT on exhaustive exercise-induced liver damage. Twenty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups and designated as exhaustive exercise only (E), exhaustive exercise with low dosage (EL), medium dosage (EM) and high dosage (EH) GT at 0, 0.1875, 0.9375 and 1.875 g/kg/day, respectively. After 30 days all rats were euthanized immediately after an exhaustive running challenge on a motorized treadmill. The rat livers were immediately harvested. Evidence of apoptotic liver cell death was revealed using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay and caspases mediated cascade events. DNA fragmentation, an apoptosis process, can be examined using TUNEL assay. A few TUNEL-positive hepatocytes, compared to the exercise only group, were observed in the livers from exhaustive animals supplemented with GT. Immunoblot analysis also showed that caspase-6-mediated specific cleavage of lamin A/C was increased significantly in the livers of group E, but was significantly decreased in the EM and EH groups. Our observations demonstrate that GT possesses anti-apoptotic and hepatoprotective potential after exhaustive exercise.
Development and selection of γδ T cells

Summary: Two main lineages of T cells develop in the thymus: those that express the αβ T‐cell receptor (TCR) and those that express the γδ TCR. Whereas the development, selection, and peripheral localization of newly differentiated αβ T cells are understood in some detail, these processes are less well characterized in γδ T cells. This review describes research carried out in this laboratory and others, which addresses several key aspects of γδ T‐cell development, including the decision of precursor cells to differentiate into the γδ versus αβ lineage, the ordered differentiation over the course of ontogeny of functional γδ T‐cell subsets expressing distinct TCR structures, programming of ordered Vγ gene rearrangement in the thymus, including a molecular switch that ensures appropriate Vγ rearrangements at the appropriate stage of development, positive selection in the thymus of γδ T cells destined for the epidermis, and the acquisition by developing γδ T cells of cues that determine their correct localization in the periphery. This research suggests a coordination of molecularly programmed events and cellular selection, which enables specialization of the thymus for production of distinct T‐cell subsets at different stages of development.
Does the structure of clinical questions affect the outcome of curbside consultations with specialty colleagues?

BACKGROUND Clinical questions frequently arise during the practice of medicine, and primary care physicians frequently use curbside consultations with specialty physicians to answer these questions. It is hypothesized that well-formulated clinical questions are more likely to be answered and less likely to receive a recommendation for formal consultation. OBJECTIVE To assess the relationship between the structure of clinical questions asked by family physicians and the response of specialty physicians engaged in curbside consultations. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS A case series of clinical questions asked during informal consultations between 60 primary care and 33 specialty physicians using an e-mail service. Curbside consultation questions were sent, using e-mail, to academic specialty physicians by primary care physicians (faculty, residents, and community practitioners) in eastern Iowa. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Questions were analyzed to determine the clinical task and to identify 3 components: an intervention, a comparison, and an outcome. Consultants' responses were analyzed to identify whether questions were answered and whether consultants recommended formal consultation. RESULTS There were 708 questions in this analysis: 278 (39.3%) were diagnosis questions, 334 (47.2%) were management questions, 57 (8.0%) were prognosis questions, and 39 (5.5%) were requests for direction. Clinical questions were less likely to go unanswered or receive a recommendation for formal consultation when the question identified the proposed intervention (odds ratio, 0.54; 95% confidence interval, 0.34-0.86; P = .006) and desired outcome (odds ratio, 0.46; 95% confidence interval, 0.29-0.69; P < .001). Only 271 (38.3%) of 708 curbside consult questions identified both of these components. CONCLUSION Medical specialists' responses to curbside consultation questions seem to be affected by the structure of these clinical questions.
Single-Cell Expression Profiling Reveals a Dynamic State of Cardiac Precursor Cells in the Early Mouse Embryo

In the early vertebrate embryo, cardiac progenitor/precursor cells (CPs) give rise to cardiac structures. Better understanding their biological character is critical to understand the heart development and to apply CPs for the clinical arena. However, our knowledge remains incomplete. With the use of single-cell expression profiling, we have now revealed rapid and dynamic changes in gene expression profiles of the embryonic CPs during the early phase after their segregation from the cardiac mesoderm. Progressively, the nascent mesodermal gene Mesp1 terminated, and Nkx2-5 +/Tbx5 + population rapidly replaced the Tbx5 low+ population as the expression of the cardiac genes Tbx5 and Nkx2-5 increased. At the Early Headfold stage, Tbx5-expressing CPs gradually showed a unique molecular signature with signs of cardiomyocyte differentiation. Lineage-tracing revealed a developmentally distinct characteristic of this population. They underwent progressive differentiation only towards the cardiomyocyte lineage corresponding to the first heart field rather than being maintained as a progenitor pool. More importantly, Tbx5 likely plays an important role in a transcriptional network to regulate the distinct character of the FHF via a positive feedback loop to activate the robust expression of Tbx5 in CPs. These data expands our knowledge on the behavior of CPs during the early phase of cardiac development, subsequently providing a platform for further study.
Where are We in the Economics of Gender?: The Gender Pay Gap

Empirical research on gender pay gaps has traditionally focused on the role of gender-specific factors, particularly gender differences in qualifications and differences in the treatment of otherwise equally qualified male and female workers (i.e., labor market discrimination). This paper explores the determinants of the gender pay gap and argues for the importance of an additional factor, wage structure, the array of prices set for labor market skills and the rewards received for employment in favored sectors. Drawing on joint work with Lawrence Kahn, I illustrate the impact of wage structure by presenting empirical results analyzing its effect on international differences in the gender gap and trends over time in the gender differential in the U.S.
A data securing approach for face images in biometric database

: Biometrics refers to statistically analyzing biological characteristics of a person for authentication as well as identification and is of prime importance because of the eminent role security plays in different areas in day to day life. Application of such system includes terrorist determination, passport control, banking etc. All in all, biometrics is not a secure approach unless; suitable countermeasures are employed to make the enrolled data inaccessible to intruder. This work introduces a technique for providing biometric face data secure by using Grey level Extended Visual Cryptography (GEVCS), Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Euclidian distance approach. The performance is analyzed using Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR). The results show that the reconstructed image as well as the share images is similar in appearance to the original target image and the host images respectively.
Bacterial Adaptor Membrane Fusion Proteins and the Structurally Dissimilar Outer Membrane Auxiliary Proteins Have Exchanged Central Domains in α-Proteobacteria

Transport systems frequently include auxiliary proteins that perform subfunctions within the transporter protein complex. Two such proteins found in Gram-negative bacteria are the Membrane Fusion Proteins (MFPs) and the Outer Membrane Auxiliary (OMA) proteins. We here demonstrate that OMAs present in α-proteobacteria (but not in other bacterial types) contain a long α-helical region that is homologous to corresponding regions in the MFPs. The results suggest that during their evolution, OMAs, specifically from α-proteobacteria, exchanged their own α-helical domain for one derived from an MFP. The structural and functional implications of these findings are discussed.
History Rhyme: Searching Historic Events by Multimedia Knowledge

This demo shows a novel system "History Rhyme" which searches historic events by multimedia knowledge. Different from existing historic events related works, we focus on the retrieval of historic events by semantic related multimedia knowledge. Our system can not only search historic events based on keyword queries, but also retrieve similar historic events to a given event based on chosen facets. In both cases, the system returns top retrieval results and shows the image profiles of each historic event. To build such functions, we automatically mine knowledge from multimedia data and index each historic event. Our online demo is available at http://222.29. 193.164/HistoryRhyme.
Automated Dynamic Slicing based UML Modeling for Phylogenetic Classification

paper presents an efficient classification algorithm for categorizing evolutionary organisms using slicing techniques. Dynamic slicing excels in tracing out dependencies between executable statements. The nature of these dependencies aids in the determination of control statements in a program. Dynamic slicing technique imbibes the run time execution trace based on a slicing criterion. Dynamic slicing algorithms can trace both the backward and forward dependencies. The UML model is automatically generated from the source code to validate the forward and backward dynamic slicing algorithm. This paper shows the algorithmic implementation in NetBeans IDE 7.4. It provides a new platform for automated software engineering. The algorithm efficiently discovers the evolutionary relationship between organisms . Forward dynamic slicing algorithm helps in identifying the successors of the organisms and the backward dynamic slicing algorithm finds out the predecessors of the evolutionary organisms. Both the algorithms are based on dynamic slicing criterion at the run time execution trace. The integration of these phylogenetic algorithms deciphers the building complexity of the evolutionary organisms. It proves to have an advantageous classification encasement for jeopardized species.
Energy optimization for current-mode signaling in high-speed on-chip interconnects

This paper studies the energy-optimization design methodology for current-mode (CM) signaling in high-speed on-chip interconnects, using the modified clamped bit-line sense amplifier circuit (MCBLSA) as a case study. Optimization for the CM circuits for on-chip interconnects requires a completely different treatment than the voltage-mode circuits, due to the problems such as different effective driver resistance and termination resistance modeling. The methodology was validated using SPICE simulations. It is shown that when dealing with receiver termination sizing, the optimal size is determined by the required voltage swing at the receiver end to guarantee valid operation under the effect of crosstalk noise. However, sizing the driver and receiver transistors should be done simultaneously as their resistive values which affect the performance are dependent on each other.
Time variability of X-ray sources in the M 31 centre field ,

Aims. We present an extension to our XMM-Newton X-ray source catalogue of M 31 containing 39 newly found sources. In order to classify and identify more of the sources we search for X-ray time variability in XMM-Newton archival data of the M 31 centre field. Methods. As a source list we used our extended catalogue based on observations covering the time span from June 2000 to July 2004. We then determined the flux or at least an upper limit at the source positions for each observation. Deriving the flux ratios for the different observations and searching for the maximum flux difference we determined variability factors. We also calculated the significance of the flux ratios. Results. Using hardness ratios, X-ray variability and cross correlations with catalogues in the X-ray, optical, infrared and radio regimes, we detected three super soft source candidates, one supernova remnant and six supernova remnant candidates, one globular cluster candidate, three X-ray binaries and four X-ray binary candidates. Additionally we identified one foreground star candidate and classified fifteen sources with hard spectra, which may either be X-ray binaries or Crab-like supernova remnants in M 31 or background active galactic nuclei. The remaining five sources stay unidentified or without classification. Based on the time variability results we suggest six sources, which were formerly classified as “hard”, to be X-ray binary candidates. The classification of one other source (XMMM31 J004236.7+411349) as a supernova remnant, has to be rejected due to the distinct time variability we found. We now classify this source as a foreground star.
Synthesis of Bimetallic Platinum Nanoparticles for Biosensors

The use of magnetic nanomaterials in biosensing applications is growing as a consequence of their remarkable properties; but controlling the composition and shape of metallic nanoalloys is problematic when more than one precursor is required for wet chemistry synthesis. We have developed a successful simultaneous reduction method for preparation of near-spherical platinum-based nanoalloys containing magnetic solutes. We avoided particular difficulties in preparing platinum nanoalloys containing Ni, Co and Fe by the identification of appropriate synthesis temperatures and chemistry. We used transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to show that our particles have a narrow size distribution, uniform size and morphology, and good crystallinity in the as-synthesized condition. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirms the coexistence of Pt with the magnetic solute in a face-centered cubic (FCC) solid solution.
Backtracking deterministic annealing for constraint satisfaction problems

We present a deterministic annealing approach to the solution of quadratic constraint satisfaction problems with complex interlocking constraints, such as exemplified in polyomino tiling puzzles. We first analyze the dynamical properties of the solution strategies implemented by deterministic annealing (DA) in the analog neural representation of Potts-mean-field (PMF) and penalty-function-based competitive layer model (CLM) neural networks, revealing a similar mechanism. The key idea of our extension of these plain DA approaches is motivated by classical backtracking algorithms. We show that their ability for iterative local pruning of the search space can be implemented within the framework of DA by introducing local temperature parameters which are "reheated" when locally unresolved conflicts occur. To achieve the pruning of the search space, reheating is accompanied by a modification of the constraint-implementing weight matrix to reduce the chance of reentering the same local configuration. The weight changes provide a learning mechanism that facilitates the generation of a solution for subsequent runs. We demonstrate the benefits of the resulting "backtracking deterministic annealing" algorithm (BDA) by applying it to a pentomino tiling problem. We show that the method reliably finds perfect solutions to the task, while the plain DA approach for both PMF and CLM is unable to solve the task in a comparable or even considerably larger number of iterations.
Effect of Erythropoietin, Iron Deficiency and Iron Overload on Liver Matriptase-2 (TMPRSS6) Protein Content in Mice and Rats

Matriptase-2 (TMPRSS6) is an important negative regulator of hepcidin expression; however, the effects of iron overload or accelerated erythropoiesis on liver TMPRSS6 protein content in vivo are largely unknown. We determined TMPRSS6 protein content in plasma membrane-enriched fractions of liver homogenates by immunoblotting, using a commercial antibody raised against the catalytic domain of TMPRSS6. Plasma membrane-enriched fractions were obtained by centrifugation at 3000 g and washing. TMPRSS6 was detected in the 3000 g fraction as a 120 kDa full-length protein in both mice and rats. Feeding of iron-deficient diet as well as erythropoietin treatment increased TMPRSS6 protein content in rats and mice by a posttranscriptional mechanism; the increase in TMPRSS6 protein by erythropoietin was also observed in Bmp6-mutant mice. Administration of high doses of iron to mice (200, 350 and 700 mg/kg) decreased TMPRSS6 protein content. Hemojuvelin was detected in the plasma membrane-enriched fractions of control animals as a full length protein of approximately 52 kDa; in iron deficient animals, the full length protein was partially cleaved at the N-terminus, resulting in an additional weak band of approximately 47 kDa. In livers from hemojuvelin-mutant mice, TMPRSS6 protein content was strongly decreased, suggesting that intact hemojuvelin is necessary for stable TMPRSS6 expression in the membrane. Overall, the results demonstrate posttranscriptional regulation of liver TMPRSS6 protein by iron status and erythropoietin administration, and provide support for the interaction of TMPRSS6 and hemojuvelin proteins in vivo.
The COMRADE System for Multi-Robot Autonomous Landmine Detection in Post-Conflict Regions

We consider the problem of autonomous landmine detection using a team of mobile robots. Previous research on robotic landmine detection mostly employs a single robot equipped with a landmine detection sensor to detect landmines. We envisage that the quality of landmine detection can be significantly improved if multiple robots are coordinated to detect landmines in a cooperative manner by incrementally fusing the landmine-related sensor information they collect and to then use that information to visit locations of potential landmines. Towards this objective, we describe a multi-robot system called COMRADES to address different aspects of the autonomous landmine detection problem including distributed area coverage to detect and locate landmines, information aggregation to fuse the sensor information obtained by different robots, and, multi-robot task allocation (MRTA) to enable different robots determine a suitable sequence to visit locations of potential landmines while reducing the time required and battery expended. We have used commercially available all-terrain robots called Coroware Explorer that are customized with a metal detector to detect metallic objects including landmines, as well as indoor Corobot robots, both in simulation and in physical experiments, to test the different techniques in COMRADES.
Effect of Eye Patching in Rehabilitation of Hemispatial Neglect

Eye patching (EP; monocular or right hemifield) has been proposed to improve visuospatial attention to the ignored field in patients with hemispatial neglect. The aim of this paper is to review the literature on the effects of EP in hemispatial neglect after stroke in order to convey evidence-based recommendations to clinicians in stroke rehabilitation. Thirteen intervention studies were selected from the Medline, EMBASE, Scopus, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, PsychINFO, EBRSR, and Health Star databases. Methodological quality was defined according to the Physiotherapy Evidence Database. Overall, seven studies used monocular EP, five used right hemifield patching, and one compared right monocular with right hemifield patching. Seven studies compared normal viewing to monocular or hemifield patching conditions. Six studies included a period of treatment. As to the monocular EP, four studies reported positive effects of right monocular patching. One study showed an improvement in hemispatial neglect with left monocular patching. Two studies found no superiority of right vs. left monocular patching. One study found no effects of right monocular patching. As to the right hemifield EP, one study showed improvements in neglect after right hemifield patching. Three studies found that right hemifield patching combined with another rehabilitation technique was more effective than that treatment alone. One study found no differences between right hemifield patching combined with another treatment and that treatment alone. One study found the same effect between right hemifield patching alone and another rehabilitation technique. Our results globally tend to support the usefulness of right hemifield EP in clinical practice. In order to define a level of evidence with the standard rehabilitation evidence rating tools, further properly powered randomized controlled trials or meta-analysis are needed.