Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distributionally Robust Relay Beamforming in Wireless Communications

We consider a wireless network with densely deployed user devices (e.g., a device-to-device or wireless sensor network) underlaying a cellular system, in which some user devices act as relays to facilitate data transmissions between a distant transceiver pair under imperfect channel information. Motivated by the observation that most of the channel distributions are unimodal, we formulate a novel distributionally robust beamforming problem, in which the random channel coefficient follows a class of unimodal distribution with known first- and second-order moments. Our design objective is to maximize the worst-case signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the dedicated user device while satisfying a probabilistic interference constraint at the cellular user equipment (CUE). Though such a unimodal distributionally robust (UDR) beamforming problem is non-convex, we show that an approximate solution can be computed efficiently using semidefinite programming. Our simulation results show that under mild conditions, the UDR model yields significant beamforming performance improvement over conventional robust models that merely rely on first- and second-order moments of the channel distribution.
Enronitis and the decline of trust in capitalist institutions.

This paper uses the lens of Anthony Giddens’ (1990; 1991) theories regarding the mechanisms which sustain late-modernist societies to analyse the 2001 and 2002 accounting and audit failures at Enron, WorldCom and Andersen. Assessments of risk and trust play a central role in Giddens’ model, and this paper traces an escalating withdrawal of trust in systems of audit and accounting, and related increased perceptions of risk in corporate investment instruments. It also analyses regulatory responses aimed at sustaining or regaining public trust, and argues that failure to sustain such trust risks compromising the continued momentum of late modernity and the interests of people who benefit from institutions of late modernity. 1 JEFFREY UNERMAN (corresponding author), King's College, University of London. Corresponding address: The Management Centre, King’s College University of London, Franklin-Wilkins Building, 150 Stamford Street, London SE1 9NN, U.K. Tel/fax: +44 (0)20 7848 4237, e-mail: jeffrey.unerman@kcl.ac. uk 2 BRENDAN O’DWYER, University College Dublin, Ireland Department of Accountancy, The Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business, University College Dublin, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland. Tel/fax: +353 (0)1 716 8038. e-mail: brendan.odwyer@ucd.ie
Induction of heat shock proteins in B-cell exosomes

Exosomes are nanometer-sized vesicles secreted by a diverse range of live cells that probably have physiological roles in modulating cellular immunity. The extracellular factors that regulate the quantity and phenotype of exosomes produced are poorly understood, and the properties of exosomes that dictate their immune functions are not yet clear. We investigated the effect of cellular stress on the exosomes produced by B-lymphoblastoid cell lines. Under steady-state conditions, the exosomes were positive for hsp27, hsc70, hsp70 and hsp90, and other recognised exosome markers such as MHC class I, CD81, and LAMP-2. Exposing cells to heat stress (42°C for up to 3 hours), resulted in a marked increase in these heat shock proteins (hsps), while the expression of other stress proteins such as hsp60 and gp96 remained negative, and other exosome markers remained unchanged. Stress also triggered a small increase in the quantity of exosomes produced [with a ratio of 1.245±0.07 to 1 (mean±s.e.m., n=20) of 3-hour-stress-exosomes to control-exosomes]. Flow-cytometric analysis of exosome-coated beads and immuno-precipitation of intact exosomes demonstrated that hsps were located within the exosome lumen, and not present at the exosome-surface, suggesting that such exosomes may not interact with target cells through cell-surface hsp-receptors. Functional studies further supported this finding, in that exosomes from control or heat-stressed B cells did not trigger dendritic cell maturation, assessed by analysis of dendritic-cell-surface phenotype, and cytokine secretion profile. Our findings demonstrate that specific alterations in exosome phenotype are a hitherto unknown component of the cellular response to environmental stress and their extracellular function does not involve the direct activation of dendritic cells.
Outline of a generally covariant quantum field theory and a quantum theory of gravity

We study a tentative generally covariant quantum field theory, denoted the T theory, as a tool to investigate the consistency of quantum general relativity. The theory describes the gravitational field and a minimally coupled scalar field; it is based on the loop representation, and on a certain number of quantization choices. Four‐dimensional diffeomorphism‐invariant quantum transition probabilities can be computed from the theory. We discuss the choices on which the T theory relies, and the possibilities of modifying them.
High-quality draft assemblies of mammalian genomes from massively parallel sequence data

Massively parallel DNA sequencing technologies are revolutionizing genomics by making it possible to generate billions of relatively short (~100-base) sequence reads at very low cost. Whereas such data can be readily used for a wide range of biomedical applications, it has proven difficult to use them to generate high-quality de novo genome assemblies of large, repeat-rich vertebrate genomes. To date, the genome assemblies generated from such data have fallen far short of those obtained with the older (but much more expensive) capillary-based sequencing approach. Here, we report the development of an algorithm for genome assembly, ALLPATHS-LG, and its application to massively parallel DNA sequence data from the human and mouse genomes, generated on the Illumina platform. The resulting draft genome assemblies have good accuracy, short-range contiguity, long-range connectivity, and coverage of the genome. In particular, the base accuracy is high (≥99.95%) and the scaffold sizes (N50 size = 11.5 Mb for human and 7.2 Mb for mouse) approach those obtained with capillary-based sequencing. The combination of improved sequencing technology and improved computational methods should now make it possible to increase dramatically the de novo sequencing of large genomes. The ALLPATHS-LG program is available at http://www.broadinstitute. org/science/programs/genome-biology/crd.
Interval and dynamic time warping-based decision trees

This work presents decision trees adequate for the classification of series data. There are several methods for this task, but most of them focus on accuracy. One of the requirements of data mining is to produce comprehensible models. Decision trees are one of the most comprehensible classifiers. The use of these methods directly on this kind of data is, generally, not adequate, because complex and inaccurate classifiers are obtained. Hence, instead of using the raw features, new ones are constructed.This work presents two types of trees. In interval-based trees, the decision nodes evaluate a function (e.g., the average) in an interval and the result is compared to a threshold. For DTW-based trees each decision node has a reference example. The distance from the example to classify to the reference example is calculated and then it is compared to a threshold.The method for obtaining these trees it is based on 1) to develop a method that obtains for a 2-class data set a classifier formed by a new feature (a function in an interval or the distance to a reference example) and a threshold, 2) to use the boosting method to obtain an ensemble of these classifiers, and 3) to use a method for constructing decision trees using as data set the features selected by boosting.
Proposed routing for IEEE 802.11s WLAN mesh networks

This paper describes the proposed routing for IEEE 802.11s WLAN mesh networks based on the current draft standard D0.01 from March 2006. IEEE 802.11s defines a new mesh data frame format and an extensibility framework for routing. The default routing protocol HWMP is described. HWMP is based on AODV and has a configurable extension for proactive routing towards so-called mesh portals. It uses MAC addresses (layer 2 routing) and uses a radio-aware routing metric for the calculation of paths. Furthermore, the optional routing protocol RA-OLSR is described. Note, that the standardization of WLAN Mesh Networking in IEEE 802.11s is work in progress during the time of writing. While the general concepts of the proposed routing protocols seem to be quite fixed, the details are likely to change.
HLA Based Third Party Auditing For Secure Cloud Storage

Using Cloud Storage, users can remotely store their data and enjoy high quality applications and services from a shared pool of resources. However, users, when they don’t have the physical possession of the data, chances of raising data integrity issue are possible. Thus, verification of data integrity is the at most important for a user, who has outsourced data to the cloud. To make the integrity check, a public auditing must be made possible. For it, we resort to a Third Party Auditor (TPA). Also, the auditing process should not bring in further more burdens to the user. In this paper, we propose a secure cloud storage for which we integrate the technique of Homomorphic linear authenticator with random masking. Thereby, we can assure integrity of the user’s outsourced data in the cloud.
A Versatile Orthotopic Nude Mouse Model for Study of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Increasing evidence indicates tumor-stromal interactions play a crucial role in cancer. An in vivo esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) orthotopic animal model was developed with bioluminescence imaging established with a real-time monitoring platform for functional and signaling investigation of tumor-stromal interactions. The model was produced by injection of luciferase-labelled ESCC cells into the intraesophageal wall of nude mice. Histological examination indicates this orthotopic model is highly reproducible with 100% tumorigenesis among the four ESCC cell lines tested. This new model recapitulates many clinical and pathological properties of human ESCC, including esophageal luminal stricture by squamous cell carcinoma with nodular tumor growth, adventitia invasion, lymphovascular invasion, and perineural infiltration. It was tested using an AKT shRNA knockdown of ESCC cell lines and the in vivo tumor suppressive effects of AKT knockdown were observed. In conclusion, this ESCC orthotopic mouse model allows investigation of gene functions of cancer cells in a more natural tumor microenvironment and has advantages over previous established models. It provides a versatile platform with potential application for metastasis and therapeutic regimen testing.
A Place to Trust: Black Protestant Affiliation and Trust in Personal Physicians

Abstract Purpose Past research indicates that blacks are less trusting of physicians than are whites; yet, researchers have not examined within group differences in physician trust by religious denomination – an effort that is complicated by the high correlated nature of race and religion. To better understand black-white differences in physician trust, this chapter examines heterogeneity in trust levels among blacks associated with religious designations that distinguish Black Protestants from other ethnoreligious groups. Methodology/approach Using data from the 2002 and 2006 General Social Surveys, this study adopts an intersectional (i.e., race x religion) typology of religious denomination to understand the black-white gap in physician trust. Weighted multivariate linear regression is employed. Findings Black-white differences in physician trust are identified only when religious affiliation is considered but not when religious affiliation is omitted. Blacks who are affiliated with Black Protestant churches are more trusting than other religious groups, including Evangelical Protestants, Mainline Protestants, and blacks who are affiliated with other faiths. Originality/value This chapter indicates that there is more heterogeneity in trust levels among blacks than between blacks and whites. Moreover, the findings suggest that religion can play an important role in bridging the trust gap between blacks and the medical sciences.
Statistical Approach to Shape from Shading: Reconstruction of Three-Dimensional Face Surfaces from Single Two-Dimensional Images

The human visual system is proficient in perceiving three-dimensional shape from the shading patterns in a two-dimensional image. How it does this is not well understood and continues to be a question of fundamental and practical interest. In this paper we present a new quantitative approach to shape-from-shading that may provide some answers. We suggest that the brain, through evolution or prior experience, has discovered that objects can be classified into lower-dimensional object-classes as to their shape. Extraction of shape from shading is then equivalent to the much simpler problem of parameter estimation in a low-dimensional space. We carry out this proposal for an important class of three-dimensional (3D) objects: human heads. From an ensemble of several hundred laser-scanned 3D heads, we use principal component analysis to derive a low-dimensional parameterization of head shape space. An algorithm for solving shape-from-shading using this representation is presented. It works well even on real images where it is able to recover the 3D surface for a given person, maintaining facial detail and identity, from a single 2D image of his face. This algorithm has applications in face recognition and animation.
Improving compression based dissimilarity measure for music score analysis

In this paper, we propose a way to improve the compression based dissimilarity measure, CDM. We propose to use a modified value of the file size, where the original CDM uses an unmodified file size. Our application is a music score analysis. We have chosen piano pieces from five different composers. We have selected 75 famous pieces (15 pieces for each composer). We computed the distances among all pieces by using the modified CDM. We use the K-nearest neighbor method when we estimate the composer of each piece of music. The modified CDM shows improved accuracy. The difference is statistically significant.
Toric morphisms and fibrations of toric Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces

Special fibrations of toric varieties have been used by physicists, e.g. the school of Candelas, to construct dual pairs in the study of Het/F-theory duality. Motivated by this, we investigate in this paper the details of toric morphisms between toric varieties. In particular, a complete toric description of fibers - both generic and non-generic -, image, and the flattening stratification of a toric morphism are given. Two examples are provided to illustrate the discussions. We then turn to the study of the restriction of a toric morphism to a toric hypersurface. The details of this can be understood by the various restrictions of a line bundle with a section that defines the hypersurface. These general toric geometry discussions give rise to a computational scheme for the details of a toric morphism and the induced fibration of toric hypersurfaces therein. We apply this scheme to study the family of 4-dimensional elliptic Calabi-Yau toric hypersurfaces that appear in a recent work of Braun-Candelas-dlOssa-Grassi. The Maple codes that are employed for the computation are provided. Some directions for future work are listed in the end.
Binding characteristics of brain-derived neurotrophic factor to its receptors on neurons from the chick embryo

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein known to support the survival of embryonic sensory neurons and retinal ganglion cells, was derivatized with 125I-Bolton-Hunter reagent and obtained in a biologically active, radioactive form (125I-BDNF). Using dorsal root ganglion neurons from chick embryos at 9 d of development, the basic physicochemical parameters of the binding of 125I-BDNF with its receptors were established. Two different classes of receptors were found, with dissociation constants of 1.7 x 10(-11) M (high-affinity receptors) and 1.3 x 10(-9) M (low-affinity receptors). Unlabeled BDNF competed with 125I-BDNF for binding to the high-affinity receptors with an inhibition constant essentially identical to the dissociation constant of the labeled protein: 1.2 x 10(-11) M. The association and dissociation rates from both types of receptors were also determined, and the dissociation constants calculated from these kinetic experiments were found to correspond to the results obtained from steady-state binding. The number of high-affinity receptors (a few hundred per cell soma) was 15 times lower than that of low-affinity receptors. No high-affinity receptors were found on sympathetic neurons, known not to respond to BDNF, although specific binding of 125I-BDNF to these cells was detected at a high concentration of the radioligand. These results are discussed and compared with those obtained with nerve growth factor on the same neuronal populations.
Synovial Fluid Lubricant Properties Are Transiently Deficient After Arthroscopic Articular Cartilage Defect Repair With Platelet-Enriched Fibrin Alone and With Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Background: Following various types of naturally occurring traumatic injury to an articular joint, the lubricating ability of synovial fluid is impaired, with a correlated alteration in the concentration and/or structure of lubricant molecules, hyaluronan, and proteoglycan-4 (PRG4). However, the effect of arthroscopic cartilage repair surgery on synovial fluid lubricant function and composition is unknown. Hypothesis: Arthroscopic treatment of full-thickness chondral defects in horses with (1) platelet-enriched fibrin or (2) platelet-enriched fibrin + mesenchymal stem cells leads to equine synovial fluid with impaired lubricant function and hyaluronan and PRG4 composition. Study Design: Controlled laboratory study. Methods: Equine synovial fluid was aspirated from normal joints at a preinjury state (0 days) and at 10 days and 3 months following fibrin or fibrin + mesenchymal stem cell repair of full-thickness chondral defects. Equine synovial fluid samples were analyzed for friction-lowering boundary lubrication of normal articular cartilage (static and kinetic friction coefficients) and concentrations of hyaluronan and PRG4, as well as molecular weight distribution of hyaluronan. Experimental groups deficient in lubrication function were also tested for the ability of exogenous high–molecular weight hyaluronan to restore lubrication function. Results: Lubrication and biochemical data varied with time after surgery but generally not between repair groups. Relative to preinjury, kinetic friction was higher (+94%) at 10 days but returned to baseline levels at 3 months, while static friction was not altered. Correspondingly, hyaluronan concentration was transiently lower (−64%) and shifted toward lower molecular weight forms, while PRG4 concentration was increased (+210%) in 10-day samples relative to preinjury levels. Regression analysis revealed that kinetic friction decreased with increasing total and high–molecular weight hyaluronan. Addition of high–molecular weight hyaluronan to bring 10-day hyaluronan levels to 2.0 mg/mL restored kinetic friction to preinjury levels. Conclusion: Following arthroscopic surgery for cartilage defect repair, synovial fluid lubrication function is transiently impaired, in association with decreased hyaluronan concentration. This functional deficiency in synovial fluid lubrication can be counteracted in vitro by addition of high–molecular weight hyaluronan. Clinical Relevance: Synovial fluid lubrication is deficient shortly after arthroscopic cartilage repair surgery, and supplementation with high–molecular weight hyaluronan may be beneficial.
The Methodological Challenges of Measuring Student Learning, Degree Attainment, and Early Labor Market Outcomes in Higher Education

ABSTRACT The main objective of this study is to empirically test a number of theory-based models (i.e., fixed effects [FE], random effects [RE], and aggregated residuals [AR]) to measure the generic knowledge as well as the degree attainment rates and early labor outcomes gained by students in different programs and institutions in higher education. Our results show the importance of addressing the issue of student selection into programs and institutions in order to reduce selection bias, and they provide suggestive evidence in favor of using FE models. Our findings also confirm our hypotheses that rankings of specific college-program combinations change depending on the different educational and labor outcome measures considered. This finding emphasizes the need to use complementary indicators related to the mission of the specific postsecondary institutions that are being ranked. Given the sensitivity of the models to different model specifications, it is not clear whether they should be used to make any high-stakes decisions in higher education. They could, however, serve as part of a broader set of indicators to support programs and colleges as part of a formative evaluation.
Resveratrol Attenuates Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Neonatal Cardiomyocytes and Its Underlying Mechanism

This study was designed to investigate whether Resveratrol (Res) could be a prophylactic factor in the prevention of I/R injury and to shed light on its underlying mechanism. Primary culture of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were randomly distributed into three groups: the normal group (cultured cardiomyocytes were in normal conditions), the I/R group (cultured cardiomyocytes were subjected to 2 h simulated ischemia followed by 4 h reperfusion), and the Res+I/R group (100 µmol/L Res was administered before cardiomyocytes were subjected to 2 h simulated ischemia followed by 4 h reperfusion). To test the extent of cardiomyocyte injury, several indices were detected including cell viability, LDH activity, Na+-K+-ATPase and Ca2+-ATPase activity. To test apoptotic cell death, caspase-3 activity and the expression of Bcl-2/Bax were detected. To explore the underlying mechanism, several inhibitors, intracellular calcium, SOD activity and MDA content were used to identify some key molecules involved. Res increased cell viability, Na+-K+-ATPase and Ca2+-ATPase activity, Bcl-2 expression, and SOD level. While LDH activity, capase-3 activity, Bax expression, intracellular calcium and MDA content were decreased by Res. And the effect of Res was blocked completely by either L-NAME (an eNOS inhibitor) or MB (a cGMP inhibitor), and partly by either DS (a PKC inhibitor) or Glybenclamide (a KATP inhibitor). Our results suggest that Res attenuates I/R injury in cardiomyocytes by preventing cell apoptosis, decreasing LDH release and increasing ATPase activity. NO, cGMP, PKC and KATP may play an important role in the protective role of Res. Moreover, Res enhances the capacity of anti-oxygen free radical and alleviates intracellular calcium overload in cardiomyocytes.