Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
When do data mining results violate privacy?

Privacy-preserving data mining has concentrated on obtaining valid results when the input data is private. An extreme example is Secure Multiparty Computation-based methods, where only the results are revealed. However, this still leaves a potential privacy breach: Do the results themselves violate privacy? This paper explores this issue, developing a framework under which this question can be addressed. Metrics are proposed, along with analysis that those metrics are consistent in the face of apparent problems.
Fluorescent labeling of nascent RNA reveals transcription by RNA polymerase II in domains scattered throughout the nucleus

Several nuclear activities and components are concentrated in discrete nuclear compartments. To understand the functional significance of nuclear compartmentalization, knowledge on the spatial distribution of transcriptionally active chromatin is essential. We have examined the distribution of sites of transcription by RNA polymerase II (RPII) by labeling nascent RNA with 5-bromouridine 5'-triphosphate, in vitro and in vivo. Nascent RPII transcripts were found in over 100 defined areas, scattered throughout the nucleoplasm. No preferential localization was observed in either the nuclear interior or the periphery. Each transcription site may represent the activity of a single gene or, considering the number of active pre-mRNA genes in a cell, of a cluster of active genes. The relation between the distribution of nascent RPII transcripts and that of the essential splicing factor SC-35 was investigated in double labeling experiments. Antibodies against SC-35 recognize a number of well-defined, intensely labeled nuclear domains, in addition to labeling of more diffuse areas between these domains (Spector, D. L., X. -D. Fu, and T. Maniatis. 1991. EMBO (Eur. Mol. Biol. Organ.) J. 10:3467-3481). We observe no correlation between intensely labeled SC-35 domains and sites of pre-mRNA synthesis. However, many sites of RPII synthesis colocalize with weakly stained areas. This implies that contranscriptional splicing takes place in these weakly stained areas. These areas may also be sites where splicing is completed posttranscriptionally. Intensely labeled SC-35 domains may function as sites for assembly, storage, or regeneration of splicing components, or as compartments for degradation of introns.
Statistical Inference for Assessing Functional Connectivity of Neuronal Ensembles With Sparse Spiking Data

The ability to accurately infer functional connectivity between ensemble neurons using experimentally acquired spike train data is currently an important research objective in computational neuroscience. Point process generalized linear models and maximum likelihood estimation have been proposed as effective methods for the identification of spiking dependency between neurons. However, unfavorable experimental conditions occasionally results in insufficient data collection due to factors such as low neuronal firing rates or brief recording periods, and in these cases, the standard maximum likelihood estimate becomes unreliable. The present studies compares the performance of different statistical inference procedures when applied to the estimation of functional connectivity in neuronal assemblies with sparse spiking data. Four inference methods were compared: maximum likelihood estimation, penalized maximum likelihood estimation, using either l2 or l1 regularization, and hierarchical Bayesian estimation based on a variational Bayes algorithm. Algorithmic performances were compared using well-established goodness-of-fit measures in benchmark simulation studies, and the hierarchical Bayesian approach performed favorably when compared with the other algorithms, and this approach was then successfully applied to real spiking data recorded from the cat motor cortex. The identification of spiking dependencies in physiologically acquired data was encouraging, since their sparse nature would have previously precluded them from successful analysis using traditional methods.
Dissociation between skin test reactivity and anti-aeroallergen IgE: Determinants among urban Brazilian children

Background The dissociation between specific IgE and skin prick test reactivity to aeroallergens, a common finding in populations living in low and middle-income countries, has important implications for the diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases. Few studies have investigated the determinants of this dissociation. In the present study, we explored potential factors explaining this dissociation in children living in an urban area of Northeast Brazil, focusing in particular on factors associated with poor hygiene. Methods Of 1445 children from low income communities, investigated for risk factors of allergies, we studied 481 with specific IgE antibodies to any of Blomia tropicalis, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, Periplaneta americana and Blatella germanica allergens. Data on demographic, environmental and social exposures were collected by questionnaire; serum IgG and stool examinations were done to detect current or past infections with viral, bacterial, protozoan and intestinal helminth pathogens. We measured atopy by skin prick testing (SPT) and specific IgE (sIgE) to aerollergens in serum (by ImmunoCAP). SIgE reactivity to B. tropicalis extract depleted of carbohydrates was measured by an in-house ELISA. Total IgE was measured by in house capture ELISA. SNPs were typed using Illumina Omni 2.5. Results Negative skin prick tests in the presence of specific IgE antibodies were frequent. Factors independently associated with a reduced frequency of positive skin prick tests were large number of siblings, the presence of IgG to herpes simplex virus, Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura infections, living in neighborhoods with infrequent garbage collection, presence of rodents and cats in the household and sIgE reactivity to glycosylated B. tropicalis allergens. Also, SNP on IGHE (rs61737468) was negatively associated with SPT reactivity. Conclusions A variety of factors were found to be associated with decreased frequency of SPT such as unhygienic living conditions, infections, total IgE, IgE response to glycosylated allergens and genetic polymorphisms, indicating that multiple mechanisms may be involved. Our data, showing that exposures to an unhygienic environment and childhood infections modulate immediate allergen skin test reactivity, provide support for the “hygiene hypothesis”.
Digital ecosystems For Knowledge Management in Systems Engineering

This paper introduces the rationale for positioning our research in Knowledge Management, specifically Knowledge Reuse and Learning in Systems Engineering, in the context of broader ‘collective intelligence’ scenarios and emerging knowledge ecosystems. It presents observations from the exploratory phase of our work, discusses motivating questions, and justifies the choice of the proposed future direction for this research.
Delay-Dependent Generalized H2 Resilient Control for Discrete-Time Fuzzy Systems with both State and Input Delays

The Generalized H2 stability analysis and piecewise resilient controller design problems are studied for discrete-time Takigi-sugeno(T-S) Fuzzy systems with both state and input delays. Based on standard Lyapunov stability theory, Delay-dependent Generalized H2 sufficient stability conditions are derived via constructing an appropriate discrete time-delay piecewise quadratic Lyapunov function. On the basis of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), the design scheme for piecewise resilient controller is provided by the introduction of new slack variables. The control laws can be obtained by solving a set of LMIs. Since only a set of LMIs is involved, the controller design is quite simple and numerically tractable. Numerical example is given to illustrate the proposed results.
Evidence of Significant Central Fatigue in Patients with Cancer-Related Fatigue during Repetitive Elbow Flexions till Perceived Exhaustion

Objective To investigate whether fatigue induced by an intermittent motor task in patients with cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is more central or peripheral. Methods Ten patients with CRF who were off chemo and radiation therapies and 14 age-matched healthy controls were enrolled. Participants completed a Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) and performed a fatigue task consisting of intermittent elbow-flexion contractions at submaximal (40% maximal voluntary contraction) intensity till self-perceived exhaustion. Twitch force was elicited by an electrical stimulation applied to the biceps brachii muscle. The relative degree of peripheral (muscle) vs. central contribution to fatigue induced by the intermittent motor task (IMT) was assessed using twitch force ratio (TFratio) defined as post IMT twitch force to pre IMT twitch force. The total number of trials (intermittent contractions) and total duration of all trials performed by each subject were also quantified. Results BFI scores were higher (p<0.001) in CRF than controls, indicating greater feeling of fatigue in CRF patients than controls. A significantly smaller number of trials and shorter total duration of the trials (p<0.05) were observed in CRF than control participants. The TFratio (0.81±0.05) in CRF was higher (p<0.05) compared with that of controls (0.62±0.05), suggesting CRF patients experienced a significantly lower degree of muscle (peripheral) fatigue at the time of perceived exhaustion. Conclusion Consistent with prior findings for fatigue under submaximal sustained contraction, our results indicate that motor fatigue in CRF is more of central than peripheral origin during IMT. Significant central fatigue in CRF patients limits their ability to prolong motor performance.
An anonymous bonus point system for mobile commerce based on word-of-mouth recommendation

Next generation mobile devices will allow users to share and pass information within anonymous groups of people in an ad hoc manner. This will smooth the path for many kinds of new mobile commerce applications. In this paper we present a mobile commerce application that is part of the iClouds research project. It allows the dissemination of digital advertisements among interested mobile users. To create an incentive, an anonymous bonus point system rewards users who help to carry an advertisement from a merchant to a customer. This work includes a formal description of our bonus point model, a thorough discussion of the security goals, their realization and some first results about crypto-operation runtime behavior on a state-of-the-art PDA.
Automatic Update Method of WiFi Indoor Positioning Model using Pedestrian Dead-Reckoning Technique

WiFi technology is very popular and has been implemented in public areas such as hospitals and train stations. So, many researchers have attempted to construct indoor positioning systems by utilizing WiFi access points (APs) with small deployment costs. WiFi based indoor positioning systems rely on a public infrastructure that is not controlled by the user or the developer of the systems. So, when one WiFi AP is removed or moved, or layout changes, recalibration of the positioning systems is required. To reduce the cost, this paper proposes a new method for maintaining the positioning system. In our proposed method, we firstly track the user, who spends a lot of time in a given environment, with pedestrian dead reckoning techniques. At the same time we obtain WiFi scan data from a mobile device possessed by the user. With the scan data and the estimated coordinates, we can automatically create a pair consisting of a scan and its corresponding indoor coordinates during the user’s daily life. Then, we periodically update signal strength fingerprints by using the information to cope with the instability of WiFi based positioning methods caused by changing environmental dynamics.
SmartRotuaari - Context-Aware Mobile Multimedia Services

This paper presents the SmartRotuaari service system, which motivated by business and customer surveys provides a diverse set of consumer applications ranging from rapid and highly personalized mobile direct marketing to information, communication and payment services. We present results from the first field trial to show that SmartRotuaari provides a functional framework for large-scale field trials for the purpose of empirical evaluation of technology, new services, customer behavior and business models in real end user environment. Our work is based on a seamless cooperation between the various players in the R&D and business networks. To stimulate this cooperation we also extend our work to management research of value creating networks.
A Pattern Discovery-Based Method for Detecting Multi-Locus Genetic Association

Methods to effectively detect multi-locus genetic association are becoming increasingly relevant in the genetic dissection of complex trait in humans. Current approaches typically consider a limited number of hypotheses, most of which are related to the effect of a single locus or of a relatively small number of neighboring loci on a chromosomal region. We have developed a novel method that is specifically designed to detect genetic association involving multiple disease-susceptibility loci, possibly on different chromosomes. Our approach relies on the efficient discovery of patterns comprising spatially unrestricted polymorphic markers and on the use of appropriate test statistics to evaluate pattern-trait association. Power calculations using multi-locus disease models demonstrate significant gain of power by using this method in detecting multi-locus genetic association when compared to a standard single marker analysis method. When analyzing a Schizophrenia dataset, we confirmed a previously identified gene-gene interaction. In addition, a less conspicuous association involving different markers on the same two genes was also identified, implicating genetic heterogeneity.
Meaningful experiences in PE for all students: an activist research approach

ABSTRACT Background and purpose: The research literature in physical education (PE) is placing a growing focus on the need for research that can illuminate not only the challenges PE faces but also how we can develop PE to meet the needs of all students. The activist approach aims to study future possibilities in PE, and the goal is for all young people to learn to value a physically active life. The purpose of this article is to study how the activist research approach to PE can influence students’ meaningful PE experiences. The study: The project was conducted in co-ed PE among 15-year-old students (10th graders) in Norway in collaboration with teachers and students at their high school. The research group followed one class of 27 students during one semester of PE. The researchers planned, taught and evaluated the process according to the critical elements of activist research in PE. Data from diverse sources (observations, interviews, student logs, reports, etc.) were collected before, during and after the project. Findings: The study demonstrates that students’ sense of meaningfulness can be developed by the activist approach. Female students in all groups found PE to be more meaningful during the project than previously. The students who disliked PE prior to the teaching period displayed the greatest improvement in terms of meaningfulness. The study shows how different aspects of the activist approach influence students’ sense of meaningfulness in PE. Creating a safer class environment had an impact on students’ feelings of social inclusion in PE. Broadening students’ perspectives about what is possible for them by introducing new activities had a great impact on students’ mastery, and co-creating the curriculum was important for their feelings of personal relevant learning. Conclusions: It is our conclusion that involving students in the curriculum-making process is of great importance to their experiences of meaningfulness in PE. Our study shows that to listen to students and broaden students’ understanding of what PE can be has the potential to empower students, and to contribute to meaningful experiences in PE. In contrast to the majority of activist research, our study was conducted in co-ed PE. The need to co-construct the learning environment and question male dominance in PE is urgent in co-ed settings. We believe that co-ed PE can be an important arena for working with gender equality in schools. However, it should not be underestimated how important PE teachers’ roles are. If the teachers are passive, co-ed PE can seriously undermine girls’ experiences of meaningfulness in PE.
Load Behavior Changes after Holidays on Thursdays

This article shows that the effect of holiday on Thursday affects significantly the load behavior on the next Friday due to the Brazilian culture of joining the holiday with the weekend. A statistic test shows that there are differences between the Friday following the holidays and other Fridays. Also, using a legacy forecast system with usual MAPE (mean absolute percentage error) rates at 2.5%, forecasting tests for these special Fridays that follows the holiday reach about 10% MAPE. This error rate shows that this fact should be considered while performing load forecasting. Preliminary forecasting tests using an artificial neural network to adjust the legacy forecast result output for these special Fridays reduce the 10% MAPE to the same 2.5% MAPE level obtained by the legacy system on common days. It demonstrates that this is a possible solution that can be also applied to this specific forecast problem or to similarones.
Color image restoration by quaternion diffusion based on a discrete version of the topological derivative

A new method for color image denoising is presented. This work considers three color channels as a whole by using quaternion diffusion. We use concept of topological sensitivity analysis. The diffusion coefficients are computed by a proposed cost function of the Topological Derivative. Finally, the effectiveness of this method for color image restoration is verified by several numerical experiments. This method is also suitable for gray image denoising by complex diffusion.
Pre-Existing Anti-Ad5 Immunity Serotype 35 Vaccine in the Presence of Immunogenicity of Recombinant Adenovirus

The high prevalence of pre-existing immunity to adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5) in human populations may substantially limit the immunogenicity and clinical utility of recombinant Ad5 vector-based vaccines for HIV-1 and other pathogens. A potential solution to this problem is to use vaccine vectors derived from adenovirus (Ad) serotypes that are rare in humans, such as Ad35. However, cross-reactive immune responses between heterologous Ad serotypes have been described and could prove a major limitation of this strategy. In particular, the extent of immunologic cross-reactivity between Ad5 and Ad35 has not previously been determined. In this study we investigate the impact of pre-existing anti-Ad5 immunity on the immunogenicity of candidate rAd5 and rAd35 vaccines expressing SIV Gag in mice. Anti-Ad5 immunity at levels typically found in humans dramatically blunted the immunogenicity of rAd5-Gag. In contrast, even high levels of anti-Ad5 immunity did not substantially suppress Gag-speciﬁc cellular immune responses elicited by rAd35-Gag. Low levels of cross-reactive Ad5/Ad35-speciﬁc CD4 (cid:1) T lymphocyte responses were observed, but were insufﬁcient to suppress vaccine immunogenicity. These data demonstrate the potential utility of Ad35 as a candidate vaccine vector that is minimally suppressed by anti-Ad5 immunity. Moreover, these
Multi-Voxel Decoding and the Topography of Maintained Information During Visual Working Memory

The ability to maintain representations in the absence of external sensory stimulation, such as in working memory, is critical for guiding human behavior. Human functional brain imaging studies suggest that visual working memory can recruit a network of brain regions from visual to parietal to prefrontal cortex. In this review, we focus on the maintenance of representations during visual working memory and discuss factors determining the topography of those representations. In particular, we review recent studies employing multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) that demonstrate decoding of the maintained content in visual cortex, providing support for a “sensory recruitment” model of visual working memory. However, there is some evidence that maintained content can also be decoded in areas outside of visual cortex, including parietal and frontal cortex. We suggest that the ability to maintain representations during working memory is a general property of cortex, not restricted to specific areas, and argue that it is important to consider the nature of the information that must be maintained. Such information-content is critically determined by the task and the recruitment of specific regions during visual working memory will be both task- and stimulus-dependent. Thus, the common finding of maintained information in visual, but not parietal or prefrontal, cortex may be more of a reflection of the need to maintain specific types of visual information and not of a privileged role of visual cortex in maintenance.
LOLA: runtime monitoring of synchronous systems

We present a specification language and algorithms for the online and offline monitoring of synchronous systems including circuits and embedded systems. Such monitoring is useful not only for testing, but also under actual deployment. The specification language is simple and expressive; it can describe both correctness/failure assertions along with interesting statistical measures that are useful for system profiling and coverage analysis. The algorithm for online monitoring of queries in this language follows a partial evaluation strategy: it incrementally constructs output streams from input streams, while maintaining a store of partially evaluated expressions for forward references. We identify a class of specifications, characterized syntactically, for which the algorithm's memory requirement is independent of the length of the input streams. Being able to bound memory requirements is especially important in online monitoring of large input streams. We extend the concepts used in the online algorithm to construct an efficient offline monitoring algorithm for large traces. We have implemented our algorithm and applied it to two industrial systems, the PCI bus protocol and a memory controller. The results demonstrate that our algorithms are practical and that our specification language is sufficiently expressive to handle specifications of interest to industry.
GENERAL AND SPECIAL-PURPOSE METHODOLOGIES FOR AGENT ORIENTED SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

This paper provides a summary of software engineering process and its importance in open system industry. It describes the agent oriented software engineering development lifecycle. It also focuses on orientation of multi agent systems and on some representative agent oriented software engineering methodologies such as Gaia, ROADMAP, Tropos, and MaSE which are general purpose methodologies. Then it describes some special purpose methodologies such as ADELFE and SADDE. It also presents the phases for each methodology with its strengths and weaknesses. Finally it proposes the development of a new model that combines the features of two of the existing methodologies which are Gaia and Tropos by concentrating on their strengths and avoiding their weaknesses.