Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Statistical Analysis and Parameter Selection for Mapper

In this article, we study the question of the statistical convergence of the 1-dimensional Mapper to its continuous analogue, the Reeb graph. We show that the Mapper is an optimal estimator of the Reeb graph, which gives, as a byproduct, a method to automatically tune its parameters and compute confidence regions on its topological features, such as its loops and flares. This allows to circumvent the issue of testing a large grid of parameters and keeping the most stable ones in the brute-force setting, which is widely used in visualization, clustering and feature selection with the Mapper.
1 Modularity and Artificial Grammar Learning

People have an impressive capacity for storing information about particular events. This "episodic" memory allows us to recall the context of specific experiences, such as what we did on our last holiday, and is now fairly well understood both psychologically (Tulving, 1983) and at the neural level (McClelland, McNaughton, & O'Reilly, 1995). We also have an ability, however, to acquire knowledge about generalities, that is, properties of classes of objects or events. We can judge the grammaticality of a novel sentence, read a word in an unfamiliar script, perform arithmetic operations, and so on. These seem to require representations of abstract, general properties such as the rules of a grammar that transcend and are separate from knowledge of specific objects or events. Cognitive psychology has traditionally dealt with this distinction by assuming separate processes for acquiring specific and general knowledge. Under various terms (e.g., episodic, explicit, declarative), knowledge of specific events is assumed to be distinct from knowledge about general properties (e.g., semantic, implicit, procedural, nondeclarative). A puzzle, however, is to explain how we acquire general knowledge as abstract properties themselves are never directly observed (see Whittlesea, 1997a, b). Instead, such properties must be induced from multiple experiences with specific objects or events. Hence, the separate-systems account assumes that there exists a mechanism for creating abstractions across specific experiences. Moreover, as we are not normally deliberately intending to perform such abstraction, it must be largely an incidental and unconscious process. The aim of this chapter is to evaluate this modular, separate-systems account in one particular branch of implicit learning research. Undoubtedly, there is a wealth of evidence consistent with the separate-systems account with a good deal of that evidence coming from artificial grammar learning (AGL) research (see Meulemans and Van der Linden, this volume, for a review). For example, Shanks et al. 3 Knowlton, Ramus, and Squire (1992) trained normal participants and amnesic patients by asking them to memorise strings of letters generated from a finite-state grammar. One of the two grammars Knowlton et al. used is shown in Figure 1. This grammar specifies rules, similar to those that exist in natural languages, for ordering string elements. Grammatical strings are generated by entering the diagram at the leftmost node and moving along legal pathways, as indicated by the arrows, collecting letters, until an exit point is reached on the right-hand side. The letter string XXVXJJ is grammatical as it can …
The Genetics of Diabetic Nephropathy

Up to 40% of patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes will develop diabetic nephropathy (DN), resulting in chronic kidney disease and potential organ failure. There is evidence for a heritable genetic susceptibility to DN, but despite intensive research efforts the causative genes remain elusive. Recently, genome-wide association studies have discovered several novel genetic variants associated with DN. The identification of such variants may potentially allow for early identification of at risk patients. Here we review the current understanding of the key molecular mechanisms and genetic architecture of DN, and discuss the merits of employing an integrative approach to incorporate datasets from multiple sources (genetics, transcriptomics, epigenetic, proteomic) in order to fully elucidate the genetic elements contributing to this serious complication of diabetes.
Crystal structure of 2-(3-fluorophenyl)-5-iodo-3-methylsulfinyl-1-benzofuran

In the title compound, C15H10FIO2S, the dihedral angle between the planes of the benzofuran ring system [r.m.s. deviation = 0.015 (2) Å] and the 3-fluorophenyl ring is 29.63 (7)°. In the crystal, molecules are linked into inversion dimers along the b-axis direction by two different pairs of C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds and I⋯O [3.228 (1) Å] contacts.
Performance of the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration Equation to Estimate Glomerular Filtration Rate in Diabetic Patients

OBJECTIVE The best method to estimate glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in diabetic patients is still largely debated. We compared the performance of creatinine-based formulas in a European diabetic population. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We compared the performance of Cockcroft and Gault, simplified Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD), and Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology (CKD-EPI) Collaboration equations in 246 diabetic patients by calculating the mean bias and the interquartile range (IQR) of the bias, 10% (P10) and 30% (P30) accuracies, and Bland-Altman plots. GFR was measured by inulin clearance. RESULTS For the whole population, the IQR was slightly lower for CKD-EPI, but the mean bias was lower and P10 and P30 were higher for MDRD. Similar results were observed in specific subgroups, including patients with mild renal insufficiency, obese patients, or type 2 diabetic patients. CONCLUSIONS In our population, the CKD-EPI formula does not exhibit better performance than the simplified MDRD formula for estimating GFR.
A novel sustained release drug–resin complex-based microbeads of ciprofloxacin HCl

Abstract Objective A novel multiparticulate system for the gastro-mucoadhesive delivery of ciprofloxacin HCl (CFN) was developed with the help of ion-exchange resin to deal with urinary tract (UT) infections effectively. Materials and methods An optimized complex (resinate) of CFN with sodium polystyrene sulfonate USP resin was prepared and entrapped within microbeads of sodium alginate and pectin. The developed systems were evaluated for drug entrapment efficiency, percentage of mucoadhesion and in vitro release patterns in simulated gastric fluid (pH 1.2). Results and discussion The interaction of the resin complex and polycation via alginate was consequently supported the formation of polyelectrolyte complex membrane. The in vitro drug release studies demonstrate that formulation without drug–resin complex (NRB) released the drug more swiftly than formulation containing drug–resin complex (DRC). This controlled release pattern of drug, resin complex containing microbeads was owed to complexation between drug and resin. Conclusion Preliminary results from the study suggested that this drug–resin complex-entrapped microbeads can be used to incorporate other antibiotic drugs and could be effective against UT infection. Such developed formulation could be subjected to in vivo studies in future in order to prove their efficacy for such type of infections.
Functional analysis of the human vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 promoter

The vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) is a 110-kD member of the immunoglobulin gene superfamily expressed on the surface of interleukin 1 beta- or tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF)-stimulated endothelial cells. The cell surface protein functions as an inducible adhesion receptor for circulating mononuclear leukocytes and some tumor cells. We have previously characterized the genomic organization of the VCAM1 gene and described its chromosomal localization. In this report, the promoter of the VCAM1 gene is characterized. New transcription of the VCAM1 gene occurred when endothelial cells were treated with TNF. Fusion plasmids containing the 5' flanking sequence of the VCAM1 gene and the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene were used to identify cis-acting sequences that direct the cytokine-induced transcription. When transfected into bovine aortic endothelial cells, constructs containing 755 bp of the 5' flanking sequence were induced by TNF. Within the cytokine-responsive region of the core promoter were functional NF-kappa B and GATA elements. Upstream of the core promoter, the VCAM1 5' flanking sequence contained a negative regulatory activity. NF-kappa B-mediated activation of VCAM1 gene expression may lead to endothelial expression of a mononuclear leukocyte adhesion molecule associated with initial events in the development of an atherosclerotic lesion.
Ieee Transactions on Communications, Accepted for Publication 1 Selective Relay-activation for Conditional Df Relaying

—This paper considers a conditional decode-and-forward (DF) based cooperative system where a source (S) with multiple (M) antennas transmits information to a single-antenna destination (D) with the help of multiple (L ≤ M − 1) single-antenna relays ({Ri}). The optimal transmit weighting vector at the source is not available in the literature due to the non-linear conditional DF operation, which renders the problem non-convex. To solve this problem, we first show that the optimal transmit vector for the single-relay system can be determined by comparing the S-D beamformer (maximum-ratio-transmit beamforming vector for the S-D link) with the one that utilizes " just sufficient " energy to activate the relay-link. However, it is difficult to directly apply the above idea to the multi-relay system, due to the fact that the S-R and S-D links are normally not orthogonal. To tackle this issue, we propose to utilize basis functions that are orthogonal to the S-D and S-R links, respectively, which enables the activating of one S-R link without considering the S-D link and the other S-R links. We then apply the new basis functions to the multi-relay system and propose a selective relay-activation algorithm, where the optimal solution is obtained by comparing the S-D beamformer with schemes that selectively activate different combinations of the relay-links. The selective relay-activation algorithm is different from the conventional water-filling in the sense that the energy is filled to discrete levels to activate the S-R links, a unique feature arising from the conditional DF operation.
Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor improved exercise capacity and mitochondrial biogenesis in mice with heart failure via activation of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor signalling.

AIMS Exercise capacity is reduced in heart failure (HF) patients, due mostly to skeletal muscle abnormalities including impaired energy metabolism, mitochondrial dysfunction, fibre type transition, and atrophy. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) has been shown to improve exercise capacity in HF patients. We investigated the effects of the administration of a dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP)-4 inhibitor on the exercise capacity and skeletal muscle abnormalities in an HF mouse model after myocardial infarction (MI). METHODS AND RESULTS MI was created in male C57BL/6J mice by ligating the left coronary artery, and a sham operation was performed in other mice. The mice were then divided into two groups according to the treatment with or without a DPP-4 inhibitor, MK-0626 [1 mg/kg body weight (BW)/day] provided in the diet. Four weeks later, the exercise capacity evaluated by treadmill test was revealed to be limited in the MI mice, and it was ameliorated in the MI + MK-0626 group without affecting the infarct size or cardiac function. The citrate synthase activity, mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation capacity, supercomplex formation, and their quantity were reduced in the skeletal muscle from the MI mice, and these decreases were normalized in the MI + MK-0626 group, in association with the improvement of mitochondrial biogenesis. Immunohistochemical staining also revealed that a shift toward the fast-twitch fibre type in the MI mice was also reversed by MK-0626. Favourable effects of MK-0626 were significantly inhibited by treatment of GLP-1 antagonist, Exendin-(9-39) (150 pmol/kg BW/min, subcutaneous osmotic pumps) in MI + MK-0626 mice. Similarly, exercise capacity and mitochondrial function were significantly improved by treatment of GLP-1 agonist, Exendin-4 (1 nmol/kg/BW/h, subcutaneous osmotic pumps). CONCLUSIONS A DPP-4 inhibitor may be a novel therapeutic agent against the exercise intolerance seen in HF patients by improving the mitochondrial biogenesis in their skeletal muscle.
Detection of Packet Length Based Network Steganography

Network Steganography which uses length of the packets for hiding the secret data are getting more importance day by day. Various steganographic algorithms have been proposed which embeds the data length modulating sequence of packet lengths with secret data stream. In this paper, a network steganalysis scheme has been proposed which can detect the presence of steganographic embedding by modifying the length of the UDP datagrams. Experimental results show that proposed detection scheme can detect packet length based network steganography with considerable accuracy.
Positive Influence Dominating Set Games

Motivated by applications in social networks, a new type of dominating set named Positive Influence Dominating Set (PIDS) has been studied in the literature. In this paper, we investigate cooperative cost games arising from PIDS problem on social network graphs. We propose two new game models, Rigid PIDS Game and Relaxed PIDS Game, and focus on their cores. First, a relationship between the cores of both games is obtained. Next, we also prove that the core of the relaxed PIDS game is nonempty if and only if there is no integrality gap for the relaxation linear programming of the PIDS problem on graph G.
A Competent Method for Personal Authentication based on Intra-Knuckle Parameters

Biometric based personal authentication system has been receiving widespread interest in the area of research. In that, Identification of a person based on hand based biometrics has become a significant part in both research and real time application of personal authentication system. This paper proposes a new approach for personal authentication system based on Finger Back Knuckle Surface (FBKS). The existing works on biometric authentication system based on finger knuckle print is implemented using texture analysis method which is computationally costlier. This paper presents a competent method for personal authentication that extracts the feature information based on the Intraknuckle parameters of Finger Back Knuckle surface (FBKS). In this, the FBKS is captured using automated low cost, contact less method. The feature points like Knuckle mid points, Knuckle Edge points in both Primary Knuckle and Core knuckle were identified. The extraction of feature information is done based on geometrical examination. The experiments were conducted with newly created database of 120 samples with 60 male and 60 female. The performance of the proposed method is experimentally certified for possessing high recognition accuracy and also proved to be computationally economic.
Bioinformatics: Essential Infrastructure for Global Biology

Bioinformatics2 (the application of computers to biological information management) is part of the i r ation infrastructure that supports biological investigations. However, bioinformatics is not just another infrastructure component, no more deserving of special consideration than, say, biomicroscopy (the application of magnification to biological investigations). Instead, bioinformatics is a special case, requiring coordinated attention by members of the research community, by representatives of professional societies, and by funding agencies. With the spread of global networking, biological information resources, such as community databases, must be capable at some level of working together, of interoperating, so that users may interact with them collectively as a federated information infrastructure. In contrast, enabling infrastructure for other science, such as particle accelerators or orbiting telescopes, may operate usefully as essentially standalone facilities. Researchers interact with them, carry out work, and take the results back to their desks (or computers). This requirement of interoperability means that mere excellence as a stand-alone facility is not good enough—bioinformatics projects must also be excellent components in a larger, integrated system. This can be achieved only as a result of coordination among those who develop the systems, among the professional societies and other advisory bodies that help guide the projects, and among the agencies that support the work. The required level of coordination in maintaining these facilities is much greater than that seen in most other sponsored research or research infrastructure activities. This article presents a brief overview3 of bioinformatics activities, calling attention to those aspects that would most benefit from coordinated international attention. Issues presented are drawn more from
Inert Anode/Cathode Program: Fiscal Year 1986 annual report. [For Hall-Heroult cells]

Purpose of the program is to develop long-lasting, energy-efficient anodes, cathodes, and ancillary equipment for Hall-Heroult cells used by the aluminum industry. The program is divided into four tasks: Inert Anode Development, Cathode Materials Evaluation, Cathode Bonding Development, and Sensor Development. To devise sensors to control the chemistry of Hall-Heroult cells using stable anodes and cathodes. This report highlights the major FY86 technical accomplishments, which are presented in the following sections: Management, Materials Development, Materials Evaluation, Thermodynamic Evaluation, Laboratory Cell Tests, Large-Scale Tests, Cathode Materials Evaluation, Cathode Bonding Development, and Sensor Development.
Model-based virtual visual servoing with point cloud data

In this paper, we address an issue on non-existence of a CAD model of an object in a model-based virtual visual servoing system. The approach for reconstructing a 3D model with fewer faces from point cloud data is presented. Because of a number of faces on the model surface, this reconstructed model required less rendering time than a CAD model, consequently, high speed and high accuracy model-based visual servoing can be achieved. We present the experimental results to demonstrate the effectiveness in terms of rendering time, convergence speed, and tracking speed measurements. The comparison of performances of a model-based visual servoing using different models, i.e.- CAD, Coarse mesh, Fine mesh, and Propose models, is also presented.
Learning with Augmented Multi-Instance View

In this paper, we propose the Augmented Multi-Instance View (AMIV) framework to construct a better model by exploiting augmented information. For example, abstract screening tasks may be difficult because only abstract information is available, whereas the performance can be improved when the abstracts of references listed in the document can be exploited as augmented information. If each abstract is represented as an instance (i.e., a feature vector) x, then with the augmented information, it can be represented as an instance-bag pair (x;B), where B is a bag of instances (i.e., the abstracts of references). Note that ifx has a labely, then we assume that there must exist at least one instance in the bag B having the label y. We regard x and B as two views, i.e., a single-instance view augmented with a multi-instance view, and propose the AMIV-lss approach by establishing a latent semantic subspace between the two views. The AMIV framework can be applied when the augmented information is presented as multi-instance bags and to the best of our knowledge, such a learning with augmented multi-instance view problem has not been touched before. Experimental results on twelve TechPaper datasets, five PubMed data sets and a WebPage data set validate the effectiveness of our AMIV-lss approach.
Debugging sequential circuits using Boolean satisfiability

Logic debugging of today's complex sequential circuits is an important problem. In this paper, a logic debugging methodology for multiple errors in sequential circuits with no state equivalence is developed. The proposed approach reduces the problem of debugging to an instance of Boolean satisfiability. This formulation takes advantage of modern Boolean satisfiability solvers that handle large circuits in a computationally efficient manner. An extensive suite of experiments with large sequential circuits confirm the robustness and efficiency of the proposed approach. The results further suggest that Boolean satisfiability provides an effective platform for sequential logic debugging.
The Electro-Optical Effect of LC Cells by the Processing Parameter of PI Alignment Layer

The electro-optic characteristics of Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) are deeply affected by those parameters including the kinds of liquid crystals and alignment layer materials, the forming conditions of alignment layer, the substrates alignment mode and the processing conditions of rubbing alignment in the interface treatment. In this study, differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), thermal gravity analysis (TGA) and moisture analyzer are utilized to examine the properties of liquid crystals and PI alignment layer materials. The interface treatment between liquid crystals and PI alignment layers were executed via the alignment technology of unidirectional mechanical rubbing with a rayon velvet cloth. Those LC cell specimens were fabricated using Merck MJ99159 NP liquid crystal and PI alignment layer material (JSR-AL 21000) with various process conditions. Under those parameters influence of curing, rubbing and alignment direction, cell specimens display various electric-optical effects.
Profiling the mobile‐only population in Australia: insights from the Australian National Health Survey

Background: The Australian population that relies on mobile phones exclusively has increased from 5% in 2005 to 29% in 2014. Failing to include this mobile‐only population leads to a potential bias in estimates from landline‐based telephone surveys. This paper considers the impacts on selected health prevalence estimates with and without the mobile‐only population.
Adaptive error protection for energy efficiency

With dramatic scaling in feature sizes, noise resilience is becoming one of the most important design parameters, similar to performance and energy efficiency. Noise resilience is particularly problematic in long on-chip buses of complex single chip systems such as on-chip multiprocessors. While one might opt to employ a very powerful error protection scheme, this may not be very energy efficient as noise behavior typically varies over time. In this paper, we propose an adaptive error protection scheme for energy efficiency, where the type of the coding scheme is modulated dynamically. The idea behind this strategy is to monitor the dynamic variations in noise behavior and use the least powerful (and hence the most energy efficient) error protection scheme required to maintain the error rates below a pre-set threshold. Our detailed experimental results obtained through simulation show that this adaptive strategy achieves the same level of error protection as the most powerful strategy experimented, without experiencing the latter's energy inefficiency. Based on our results, we recommend system designers to adopt adaptive protection schemes in environments where both energy and reliability are important.