Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adapting Content Delivery to Limited Resources and Inferred User Interest

This paper discusses adaptation policies for information systems that are subject to dynamic and stochastic contexts such as mobile access to multimedia web sites. In our approach, adaptation agents apply sequential decisional policies under uncertainty. We focus on the modeling of such decisional processes depending on whether the context is fully or partially observable. Our case study is a movie browsing service in a mobile environment that we model by using Markov decision processes (MDPs) and partially observable MDP (POMDP). We derive adaptation policies for this service, that take into account the limited resources such as the network bandwidth. We further refine these policies according to the partially observable users' interest level estimated from implicit feedback. Our theoretical models are validated through numerous simulations.
Verified Compilers for a Multi-Language World

Though there has been remarkable progress on formally verified compilers in recent years, most of these compilers suffer from a serious limitation: they are proved correct under the assumption that they will only be used to compile whole programs. This is an unrealistic assumption since most software systems today are comprised of components written in different languages - both typed and untyped - compiled by different compilers to a common target, as well as low-level libraries that may be handwritten in the target language. We are pursuing a new methodology for building verified compilers for today's world of multi-language software. The project has two central themes, both of which stem from a view of compiler correctness as a language interoperability problem. First, to specify correctness of component compilation, we require that if a source component s compiles to target component t, then t linked with some arbitrary target code t' should behave the same as s interoperating with t'. The latter demands a formal semantics of interoperability between the source and target languages. Second, to enable safe interoperability between components compiled from languages as different as ML, Rust, Python, and C, we plan to design a gradually type-safe target language based on LLVM that supports safe interoperability between more precisely typed, less precisely typed, and type-unsafe components. Our approach opens up a new avenue for exploring sensible language interoperability while also tackling compiler correctness.
A Server Cache Size Aware Cache Replacement Algorithm for Block Level Network Storage

Storage management cost is one of the most important issues in the current computer system. Network storage is deployed in many companies to decrease this cost. In the network storage system, both the server computer and network storage have cache memory for the same storage. In most cache implementation, LRU replacement algorithm, which is suitable for accesses with temporal locality of reference, is adopted. However, accesses to network storage do not have usual temporal locality but have negative temporal locality. Consequently, caches in network storages do not work effectively. In this paper, we propose a new cache replacement algorithm, which is suitable for negative temporal locality of reference. Our simulation evaluation demonstrated that the proposed algorithm provides better cache hit ratio than other existing algorithms.
Conserving Capital by Adjusting Deltas for Gamma in the Presence of Skewness

An argument for adjusting Black Scholes implied call deltas downwards for a gamma exposure in a left skewed market is presented. It is shown that when the objective for the hedge is the conservation of capital ignoring the gamma for the delta position is expensive. The gamma adjustment factor in the static case is just a function of the risk neutral distribution. In the dynamic case one may precompute at the date of trade initiation a matrix of delta levels as a function of the underlying for the life of the trade and subsequently one just has to look up the matrix for the hedge. Also constructed are matrices for the capital reserve, the pro¯t, leverage and rate of return remaining in the trade as a function of the spot at a future date in the life of the trade. The concepts of pro¯t, capital, leverage and return are as described in Carr, Madan and Vicente Alvarez (2010). The dynamic computations constitute an application of the theory of nonlinear expectations as described in Cohen and Elliott (2010).
“Condition-based” dummy fill insertion method based on ECP and CMP predictive models

Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP)-aware design has become important for reliability and yield. Recent work on predictive models for wafer surface planarity of Cu CMP has proven that the variation of wafer surface planarity is impacted by the metal perimeter in addition to the pattern density. Dummy fill insertion has been widely adopted to improve the CMP planarity in industrial design flows. However, conventional dummy fill insertion has been derived mainly to optimize the pattern density uniformity, which may worsen the CMP planarity because of missing impacts due to metal perimeter. In this paper, we propose; 1) a design of experiment (DOE) based method of evaluating the quality of fill insertion by using a CMP simulator which considers the impacts due to both pattern density and metal perimeter, and 2) a condition-based dummy fill insertion using the results of the proposed DOE method. Compared to the conventional pattern density driven rule-based fill insertion, the proposed method reduces the post-CMP Cu surface height variation by 24.3%. The metric of the metal perimeter may be applied to the model-based fill insertion methods, which will improve the planarity in the practical fill insertion flow.
Migration Analysis: An Alternative Approach for Analyzing Learning Performance

Estimated generalization error is the main index that indicates learning performance, but it is inadequate for further analysis. Bias-variance theory tries to overcome the limitation of analyzing learning performance, but the concept of bias-variance is still controversial when applied to the classification problem. In this paper, we propose a new alternative, simple and practical, analytical method called `migration analysis' to analyze the learning results. We compare the properties of migration analysis to bias-variance framework, and use it to analyze two so-called ensemble learners: bagging and AdaBoost. The results not only explain these ensemble learners in different ways, but also shed light to the new promising learning algorithm
Educational data mining and data analysis for optimal learning content management: Applied in moodle for undergraduate engineering studies

Educational data mining applies data mining methods and tools to education-related data, typically collected through the use of an e-learning platform. Data stored in an e-learning platform database include user-platform interaction events (counts of scrolls, mouse clicks or page loads), platform access times per session or in total, times between events and various assessment scores such as grades per quiz or per session test, final grades, etc. In the present paper we focus on the time between actions (TBA) taken by the learner while he/she interacts with the platform. TBA values relay information on the mode of interaction of an individual learner with the platform. The two major questions addressed are (i) whether TBA values follow any probability density function (PDF) and if so, which is the PDF that optimally fits the data, and (ii) whether the parameters of such optimally fitted PDFs might serve as features for the clustering of the learning content modules or sessions into clusters of similar characteristics or functionalities. Results verify that skewed (asymmetric) PDFs can be fitted on the TBA value histograms with adequate accuracy. Furthermore, the parameters of few optimally fitted PDFs, used as a feature vector, result in a meaningful clustering of learning content parts into clusters of similar “character”. Clustering results may then be used as a recommendation to the course designer / instructor, to improve content structure or to optimally distribute/sequence parts of the course material.
In vivo antioxidant effect of green and black tea in man.

OBJECTIVE Evaluation of the vitro antioxidant activity of green and black tea, their in vivo effect on plasma antioxidant potential in man and the effect of milk addition. DESIGN The antioxidant activity of the tea, with and without milk, was tested in vitro by measuring the length of the peroxyl radical induced lag-phase. The in vivo activity was tested on two groups of five healthy adults. Each group ingested 300 ml of either black or green tea, after overnight fast. The experiment was repeated on a separate day, adding 100 ml whole milk to the tea (ratio 1:4 ). Five subjects acted as controls. The human plasma antioxidant capacity (TRAP) was measured before and 30, 50 and 80 min from the ingestion of tea. RESULTS Both teas inhibited the in vitro peroxidation in a dose-dependent manner. Green tea was sixfold more potent than black tea. The addition of milk to either tea did not appreciably modify their in vitro antioxidant potential. In vivo, the ingestion of tea produced a significant increase of TRAP (P <0.05), similar in both teas, which peaked at 30-50 min. When tea was consumed with milk, their in vivo activity was totally inhibited. CONCLUSIONS The paper shows that tea possesses a strong antioxidant activity in vitro which is believed to be exerted by its polyphenols moiety. It also provides compelling evidence that tea has also a potent in vivo activity in man. The promptness of the in vivo response suggests that the absorption of the bioactive components of tea takes place in the upper part of the gastrointestinal system. The inhibition of this effect by milk is thought to be due to the complexation of tea polyphenols by milk proteins. These findings might help to clarify the putative role of dietary poly- phenols in modulating oxidative stress in vivo.
Managing the Unemployed No More: Renewing Union Adjustment Through Pedagogy of Resistance

The anguish of the unemployed is palpable. Their pain and fear is impossible to conceal. Not just in utterances but by their slumped shoulders, grim facial expressions, forced smiles, and self-deprecating laughter. These embodied responses signify not only ruptured identities and the loss of a sense of purpose but also the stripping of economic and social security once assumed to be permanent. Their devastation is corporeal. It is a blow to the gut that is deeply felt but can never adequately be explained and an experience that becomes internalized and requires them to reframe their practices in the most essential ways. They must come to understand that the social compact governing their working life is now gone for good. They must lower their expectations and become more realistic, flexible, and open to change. They must transform themselves. They must adjust to a life of risk (Bauman 2004, 2007; Beck 2000; Giroux 2008). In the decades spent coordinating union adjustment programs, I struggled to construct a vocabulary to express my outrage and discover a theoretical framework capable of explaining the complex transformation of worker identity from one of security to one of risk. I colloquially described workers displaced from tens of thousands of well paying jobs as a generation that had been ‘‘junked,’’ ‘‘victims’’ of economic and social policies ruthlessly enacted by the state and leading to deregulated labor markets and a tattered social safety net. I searched for a way to link this ‘‘external’’ junking of workers with the transformation of their ‘‘internal’’ identities and expectations. I searched for an explanation that extended beyond meta-theories of labor market restructuring and the consolidation of class power (McBride 1992) and unified the objective and subjective bases of human experience (Swartz 1996). Lastly, I needed a way to confront my own growing unease about participating in this project of ‘‘adjusting’’ workers to their new life chances. However well intentioned, was it possible that programs to help the unemployed were also part of a broader ideological and cultural project to remake the subjectivities of unemployed workers—indeed all workers—in ways that not only rendered them ‘‘docile bodies’’ but also fully complicit in their own self-management (Miller and Rose 1988; Henman 2004; McDonald and Marston 2005; Nealon 2008)? By The Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, 35:217–229, 2013 Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1071-4413 print=1556-3022 online DOI: 10.1080/10714413.2013. 799365
Aerosolized Gamma Interferon (IFN-γ) Induces Expression of the Genes Encoding the IFN-γ-Inducible 10-Kilodalton Protein but Not Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase in the Lung during Tuberculosis

ABSTRACT Gamma interferon (IFN-γ) is critical in the immune response against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In an ongoing trial of aerosol IFN-γ in conjunction with standard drug therapy, we have observed activation of IFN signaling in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells from tuberculosis (TB) patients. We hypothesized that aerosol IFN-γ treatment of pulmonary TB would increase expression of genes important for the control of TB. We investigated the expression of downstream genes by measuring inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and the chemokine IFN-inducible 10-kDa protein (IP-10) by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR. In vitro, M. tuberculosis induced IP-10, and IFN-γ stimulated this further, with no effect on iNOS expression. We studied 21 patients with pulmonary TB and 7 healthy subjects. Similar to the in vitro model, IP-10 mRNA was increased in BAL cells from TB patients and was augmented after treatment with aerosolized IFN-γ. TB was also associated with elevated iNOS mRNA, but aerosolized IFN-γ did not further enhance expression. Genomic analysis identified 1,300 of 4,058 genes expressed in BAL cells from six TB patients before and after 1 month of therapy, including aerosolized IFN-γ. However, only 15 genes were differentially regulated by IFN-γ. We conclude that iNOS and IP-10 mRNA expression is increased in TB but that aerosol IFN-γ treatment increases expression of few genes in the human lung.
Should Uncertain Monetary Policy-Makers Do Less?

This paper examines the empirical importance of parameter uncertainty for monetary policy-making in the United Kingdom, using a method pioneered by Brian Sack of the US Federal Reserve. Using a VAR model of the UK economy and an assumed quadratic loss function for the policy-maker, an optimal interest rate rule is calculated first ignoring parameter uncertainty, then assuming that the parameter uncertainty is given by the estimated standard errors on the VAR coefficients. These rules are compared with the estimated interest rate equation from the VAR. The optimal rule accounting for parameter uncertainty results in a less aggressive path for official interest rates than when parameter uncertainty is ignored. However, the estimates of parameter uncertainty are not so large that the optimal rule matches all the characteristics of the actual path of official rates.
Adherence, Reports of Benefits, and Depression Among Patients Treated With Continuous Positive Airway Pressure

Objectives: To examine if reported obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) symptom improvement, baseline depressive symptoms, or polysomnographically measured sleep parameters are associated with adherence to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). CPAP is a highly effective treatment for OSA. Low adherence to CPAP therapy is common and poorly understood. Depression and lack of perceived benefits from CPAP are possible reasons for low adherence. Methods: Seventy-eight patients evaluated for OSA at a sleep medicine center agreed to participate in the study; 54 patients completed all study assessments. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the functional outcomes of sleep questionnaire (FOSQ) were administered before polysomnographic evaluation. A card embedded in the CPAP device electronically recorded adherence. The BDI and FOSQ were administered 1 to 2 months after the baseline measurements were obtained. Results: Baseline depressive symptoms were not correlated with mean duration of CPAP use per night. Reported improvements in OSA symptoms were correlated positively with CPAP adherence. There were significant positive correlations between improvement in depressive symptoms and OSA symptoms after initiation of CPAP therapy. The polysomnographic variables measured did not predict improvement in daytime OSA symptoms or CPAP adherence. Post hoc analyses suggested that those individuals with baseline Apnea Hypopnea Index (AHI) between 40 and 80 experienced more symptom improvement than those with AHI <40 or >80. Conclusions: Patients with the greatest level of CPAP adherence also reported the greatest improvement in OSA symptoms. Patients who continued to experience OSA symptoms after CPAP treatment also tended to have more depressive symptoms after CPAP treatment. AHI = Apnea Hypopnea Index; BDI = Beck Depression Inventory; CPAP = continuous positive airway pressure; FOSQ = functional outcomes of sleep questionnaire; OSA = obstructive sleep apnea.
Audio-Visual Processing in Meetings : Seven Questions and Some AMI Answers

The project Augmented Multi-party Interaction (AMI) is concerned with the development of meeting browsers and remote meeting assistants for instrumented meeting rooms – and the required component technologies R&D themes: group dynamics, audio, visual, and multimodal processing, content abstraction, and human-computer interaction. The audio-visual processing workpackage within AMI addresses the automatic recognition from audio, video, and combined audio-video streams, that have been recorded during meetings. In this article we describe the progress that has been made in the first two years of the project. We show how the large problem of audio-visual processing in meetings can be split into seven questions, like “Who is acting during the meeting? ”. We then show which algorithms and methods have been developed and evaluated for the automatic answering of these questions.
A novel approach to generating DSM from high-resolution UAV images

In the past few years, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) demonstrated their great potential for photogrammetric measurements in a lot of application fields because its less expensive, safer and higher resolution images. Nevertheless, their images are often affected by large rotation, big view-point change and small overlaps. In this paper, we present a novel approach for reliable Digital Surface Models (DSM) generation, which is designed to operate on high-resolution, wide-baseline UAV image sets and compute dense 3D point clouds efficiently. It is implemented as a procedure including the four steps of match, expand, filter and reconstruction, starting from a sparse set of matched difference-of-Gaussian (DoG) keypoints, forming a triangulation on it, then expanding per-pixel under local parallax continuity, using visibility constraints to filter false matches, finally generating the DSM. Experiments are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of our approach and to show that state-of-the-art performance can be achieved with significant acceleration.
Wide Field-of-View Imaging With Wavefront Coded Diffractive Photon Sieves

We report a demonstration of a wide field-of-view (FOV) imaging with a wavefront coded diffractive photon sieves. In conventional diffractive photon sieves (or other diffractive optical elements), clear imaging can only be achieved within near-zero FOV due to the strict interference conditions imposed by diffraction imaging. It is found that a wide FOV imaging with diffractive elements can be achieved by using a wavefront coded diffractive pattern that generates equal focusing power for light rays coming from a wide incident FOV. Experimental validation was performed using an ultraviolet (UV)-lithography fabricated wavefront coded photon sieves of a focal length of 500 mm and a diameter of 50 mm at a design wavelength of 632.8 nm. Results show that a wide half-FOV of 4° can be obtained with the wavefront coded photon sieves, compared to that of 0.5° with the conventional one.
Evidence for the involvement of DNA-dependent protein kinase in the phenomena of low dose hyper-radiosensitivity and increased radioresistance

Purpose : To investigate the role of DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) in the phenomena of low dose hyper-radiosensitivity (HRS) and increased radioresistance (IRR) using the genetically related M059 cell lines of disparate PRKDC status. Materials and methods : Clonogenic survival was measured for the three cell lines following low doses of X-irradiation using a flow-activated cell sorting (FACS) plating technique. The presence of PRKDC, G22p1 and Xrcc5 proteins was determined by Western blotting and a kinase assay used to measure DNA-PK complex activity. Results : The survival responses for the three cell lines over the 0-0.3Gy dose range were comparable, but differences in radiosensitivity were evident at doses >0.4Gy. M059K and M059J/Fus1 cells (both PRKDC competent) exhibited marked HRS/IRR responses, albeit to different extents. M059J cells (PRKDC incompetent) were extremely radiosensitive exhibiting a linear survival curve with no evidence of IRR. The presence of IRR was coincident with the presence of PRKDC protein and functional DNA-PK activity. Conclusions : HRS is a response that is independent of DNA-PK activity. In contrast, IRR showed a dependence on the presence of PRKDC protein and functional DNA-PK activity. These data support a role for DNA-PK activity in the IRR response.
Altered Urinary Release of Inositol Phosphoglycan A-Type in Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

Background/Aims: The mechanisms underlying overgrowth of adipose tissue in fetuses of women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) are generally unknown. Inositol phosphoglycan A-type (A-IPG), a putative second messenger of insulin, was reported to regulate lipogenesis in adipose tissue. IPGs have recently been shown to increase during normal pregnancy, in maternal and fetal compartments. Methods: 48 women with GDM and 23 healthy pregnant women were recruited for this cross-sectional study. Levels of A-IPG were assessed enzymatically in urinary specimens and correlated with clinical parameters. Results: A-IPG urinary release was lower in GDM patients (p < 0.01) and correlated positively with BMI (p < 0.01) and negatively with glycaemic control in the diabetic group (postprandial glycaemia and glycated haemoglobin, p < 0.01) in addition to a nearly significant correlation with birth weight (p = 0.08). Furthermore, a lower A-IPG urinary release was found in diabetic subjects with normal fasting glycaemia compared with those with poor fasting glycaemic control (p < 0.05). Conclusions: An altered A-IPG urinary excretion occurs in GDM with a negative correlation with poor glycaemic control. Our data suggest an interesting potential role of this molecule in maternal metabolic control during pregnancy and, possibly, in fetal growth.