Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interactive Distributed Proofs

Interactive proof systems allow a resource-bounded verifier to decide an intractable language (or compute a hard function) by communicating with a powerful but untrusted prover. Such systems guarantee that the prover can only convince the verifier of true statements. In the context of centralized computation, a celebrated result shows that interactive proofs are extremely powerful, allowing polynomial-time verifiers to decide any language in PSPACE. In this work we initiate the study of interactive distributed proofs : a network of nodes interacts with a single untrusted prover, who sees the entire network graph, to decide whether the graph satisfies some property. We focus on the communication cost of the protocol --- the number of bits the nodes must exchange with the prover and each other. Our model can also be viewed as a generalization of the various models of "distributed NP'' (proof labeling schemes, etc.) which received significant attention recently: while these models only allow the prover to present each network node with a string of advice, our model allows for back-and-forth interaction. We prove both upper and lower bounds for the new model. We show that for some problems, interaction can exponentially decrease the communication cost compared to a non-interactive prover, but on the other hand, some problems retain non-trivial cost even with interaction.
Sensorless PV Power Forecasting in Grid-Connected Buildings through Deep Learning

Existing works in photovoltaic (PV) power generation focus on accurately predicting the PV power output on a forecast horizon. As the solar power generation is heavily influenced by meteorological conditions such as solar radiation, the weather forecast is a critical input in the prediction performance. However, the weather forecast is traditionally considered to have coarse granularity, so many are compelled to use on-site meteorological sensors to complement it. However, the approach involving on-site sensors has several issues. First, it incurs the cost in the installation, operation, and management of the sensors. Second, the physical model of the sensor dynamics itself can be a source of forecast errors. Third, it requires an accumulation of sensory data that represent all seasonal variations, which takes time to collect. In this paper, we take an alternative approach to use a relatively large deep neural network (DNN) instead of the on-site sensors to cope with the coarse-grained weather forecast. With historical PV output power data from our grid-connected building with a rooftop PV power generation facility and the publicly available weather forecast history data, we demonstrate that we can train a six-layer feedforward DNN for the day-ahead forecast. It achieves the average mean absolute error (MAE) of 2.9%, comparable to that of the conventional model, but without involing the on-site sensors.
Brief Announcement: Population Protocols Are Fast

A population protocol describes a set of state change rules for a population of n indistinguishable finite-state agents (automata), undergoing random pairwise interactions. Within this very basic framework, it is possible to resolve a number of fundamental tasks in distributed computing, including: leader election, aggregate and threshold functions on the population, such as majority computation, and plurality consensus. For the first time, we show that solutions to all of these problems can be obtained quickly using finite-state protocols. For any input, the designed finite-state protocols converge under a fair random scheduler to an output which is correct with high probability in expected O(polylog n) parallel time. We also show protocols which always reach a valid solution, in expected parallel time O(n^ε), where the number of states depends only on the choice of ε>0. The stated time bounds hold for any semi-linear predicate computable in the population protocol framework. The key ingredient of our result is the decentralized design of a hierarchy of phase-clocks, which tick at different rates, with the rates of adjacent clocks separated by a factor of Θ(log n). The construction of this clock hierarchy relies on a new protocol composition technique, combined with an adapted analysis of a self-organizing process of oscillatory dynamics. This clock hierarchy is used to provide nested synchronization primitives, which allow us to view the population in a global manner and design protocols using a high-level imperative programming language with a (limited) capacity for loops and branching instructions.
Diagnostic value of serum ICAM-1 for endometriosis

Background: Previous studies have evaluated the diagnostic value of serum intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in patients with endometriosis, but the results remained inconsistent. This meta-analysis aimed to clarify the overall diagnostic accuracy of serum ICAM-1 for endometriosis. Methods: A systematic search was performed of the Cochrane clinical trials database, PubMed, and Embase prior to December 2017. Sensitivity, specificity, and other measures were pooled and determined to evaluate the accuracy of serum ICAM-1 in the diagnosis of endometriosis. Summary receiver operating characteristic curve (SROC) analysis with calculation of the area under curve (AUC) was performed to summarize the overall test performance. Results: Nine studies including 878 patients were eligible for inclusion in the analysis. The summary estimates of sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio (95% confidence interval) were 0.65 (0.52–0.75), 0.78 (0.62–0.89), 3.0 (1.7–5.2), 0.45 (0.34–0.60), and 7 (3–13), respectively, and the AUC of the overall analysis was 0.76 (0.72–0.80). Subgroup analysis showed that the summary sensitivity and specificity for patients of Asian ethnicity was increased compared with those of Caucasian ethnicity. The summary specificity was increased in studies with a high ICAM-1 cut-off value compared to those with a low cut-off value. No publication bias was found across the studies. Conclusions: Our results suggest that serum ICAM-1 has moderate diagnostic accuracy for endometriosis, while the diagnostic accuracy is higher in patients of Asian ethnicity compared with those of Caucasian ethnicity.
Brief Announcement: Performance Prediction for Coarse-Grained Locking

A standard design pattern found in many concurrent data structures, such as hash tables or ordered containers, is an alternation of parallelizable sections that incur no data conflicts and critical sections that must run sequentially and are protected with locks. A lock can be viewed as a queue that arbitrates the order in which the critical sections are executed, and a natural question is whether we can use stochastic analysis to predict the resulting throughput. As a preliminary evidence to the affirmative, we describe a simple model that can be used to predict the throughput of coarse-grained lock-based algorithms. We show that our model works well for CLH lock, and we expect it to work for other popular lock designs such as TTAS, MCS, etc.
Erector spinae plane block in abdominal surgery: Case series

The aim of this study is to report 11 cases of erector spinae plane (ESP) block used for unilateral or bilateral abdominal surgery, adding to the overall limited experience with abdominal ESP block. The procedures were carried out at a teaching hospital in 11 patients (eight males, three females, ages 36–80 years) requiring abdominal surgery, including laparoscopic surgery. Each patient required surgery under different physical circumstances and likely different conceptions of what constituted pain. Two of the eleven patients were administered the ESP block and did not require general anaesthesia. Most of the patients with the ESP block maintained a numerical rating scale (NRS) for pain of 0–2/10 postoperatively. An occasional patient required paracetamol analgesia. There were no cases of opiate rescue. Obesity in a 46-year-old woman was believed to cause unclear ultrasonographic visualisation, interfering with entry of the ESP catheter. She, however, had no post-operative pain. She was given the usual intravenous metamizole 2 g for 10 h and required only analgesics at 16 h. ESP block, which produces analgesia by blocking trunk nerves, is an appropriate approach to patients requiring abdominal surgery, whether laparoscopic or open.
Selective NaV1.1 activation rescues Dravet syndrome mice from seizures and premature death

Significance Spider venom is a rich source of peptides, many targeting ion channels. We assessed a venom peptide, Hm1a, as a potential targeted therapy for Dravet syndrome, the genetic epilepsy linked to a mutation in the gene encoding the sodium channel alpha subunit NaV1.1. Cell-based assays showed Hm1a was selective for hNaV1.1 over other sodium and potassium channels. Utilizing a mouse model of Dravet syndrome, Hm1a restored inhibitory neuron function and significantly reduced seizures and mortality in heterozygote mice. Evidence from the structure of Hm1a and modeling suggest Hm1a interacts with NaV1.1 inactivation domains, providing a structural correlate of the functional mechanisms. This proof-of-concept study provides a promising strategy for future drug development in genetic epilepsy and other neurogenetic disorders. Dravet syndrome is a catastrophic, pharmacoresistant epileptic encephalopathy. Disease onset occurs in the first year of life, followed by developmental delay with cognitive and behavioral dysfunction and substantially elevated risk of premature death. The majority of affected individuals harbor a loss-of-function mutation in one allele of SCN1A, which encodes the voltage-gated sodium channel NaV1.1. Brain NaV1.1 is primarily localized to fast-spiking inhibitory interneurons; thus the mechanism of epileptogenesis in Dravet syndrome is hypothesized to be reduced inhibitory neurotransmission leading to brain hyperexcitability. We show that selective activation of NaV1.1 by venom peptide Hm1a restores the function of inhibitory interneurons from Dravet syndrome mice without affecting the firing of excitatory neurons. Intracerebroventricular infusion of Hm1a rescues Dravet syndrome mice from seizures and premature death. This precision medicine approach, which specifically targets the molecular deficit in Dravet syndrome, presents an opportunity for treatment of this intractable epilepsy.
Effects of Bifidobacterium probiotic on the treatment of chronic periodontitis: A randomized clinical trial

Abstract Aim This randomized placebo‐controlled clinical trial evaluated the effect of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis (B. lactis) HN019‐containing probiotic lozenges as adjuvant to scaling and root planing (SRP) in patients with generalized chronic periodontitis. Materials and Methods Forty‐one chronic periodontitis patients were recruited and monitored clinically, immunologically, and microbiologically at baseline (before SRP) and 30 and 90 days after SRP. All patients were randomly assigned to a Test (SRP + Probiotic, n = 20) or Control (SRP + Placebo, n = 21) group. The probiotic lozenges were used twice a day for 30 days. The data were statistically analysed. Results The Test group presented a decrease in probing pocket depth and a clinical attachment gain significantly higher than those of the Control group at 90 days. The Test group also demonstrated significantly fewer periodontal pathogens of red and orange complexes, as well as lower proinflammatory cytokine levels when compared to the Control group. Only the Test group showed an increase in the number of B. lactis HN019 DNA copies on subgingival biofilm at 30 and 90 days. Conclusion The use of B. lactis HN019 as an adjunct to SRP promotes additional clinical, microbiological, and immunological benefits in the treatment of chronic periodontitis (NCT03408548).
Multiplexed oscillations and phase rate coding in the basal forebrain

Basal forebrain transforms multiplexed oscillatory inputs into a phase rate–coded output of task phase during complex behavior. Complex behaviors demand temporal coordination among functionally distinct brain regions. The basal forebrain’s afferent and efferent structure suggests a capacity for mediating this coordination at a large scale. During performance of a spatial orientation task, synaptic activity in this region was dominated by four amplitude-independent oscillations temporally organized by the phase of the slowest, a theta-frequency rhythm. Oscillation amplitudes were also organized by task epoch and positively correlated to the task-related modulation of individual neuron firing rates. For many neurons, spiking was temporally organized through phase precession against theta band field potential oscillations. Theta phase precession advanced in parallel to task progression, rather than absolute spatial location or time. Together, the findings reveal a process by which associative brain regions can integrate independent oscillatory inputs and transform them into sequence-specific, rate-coded outputs that are adaptive to the pace with which organisms interact with their environment.
Reliability of a consensus-based ultrasound definition and scoring for enthesitis in spondyloarthritis and psoriatic arthritis: an OMERACT US initiative

Objectives To evaluate the reliability of consensus-based ultrasound (US) definitions of elementary components of enthesitis in spondyloarthritis (SpA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and to evaluate which of them had the highest contribution to defining and scoring enthesitis. Methods Eleven sonographers evaluated 40 entheses from five patients with SpA/PsA at four bilateral sites. Nine US elementary lesions were binary-scored: hypoechogenicity, thickened insertion, enthesophytes, calcifications, erosions, bone irregularities, bursitis and Doppler signal inside and around enthesis. Kappa statistics were used to evaluate reliability. Sonographers were also asked to state which lesions can be considered as inflammatory or structural and should be included in the final definition of enthesitis. Only the lesions, scored as present in at least 75% of the entheses considered as having an enthesitis, were included in the final definition. Results The prevalence of detected lesions was quite low except for enthesophytes (55%) and bone irregularities (54%). Reliability ranged from poor to good (the lowest for thickened enthesis (kappa 0.1 (95% CI 0 to 0.7)) and the highest for enthesophytes (kappa 0.6 (95% CI 0.5 to 0.7)). When adjusted for low prevalence, kappa values increased for all lesions, with the best result observed for detecting Doppler signal at insertion (0.9) and for bursitis (0.8). The US components included in the final definition were hypoechogenicity, increased thickness at enthesis, erosions and calcifications/enthesophytes and Doppler signal at insertion. Conclusion By using a consensus-based stepwise approach, a final reliable US score and definition of enthesitis in SpA/PsA were produced. Further studies are sought for implementing this score in clinical trials and practice.
OpenSearch

We report on our experience with TREC OpenSearch, an online evaluation campaign that enabled researchers to evaluate their experimental retrieval methods using real users of a live website. Specifically, we focus on the task of ad hoc document retrieval within the academic search domain, and work with two search engines, CiteSeerX and SSOAR, that provide us with traffic. We describe our experimental platform, which is based on the living labs methodology, and report on the experimental results obtained. We also share our experiences, challenges, and the lessons learned from running this track in 2016 and 2017.
Simulation of Semicompeting Risk Survival Data and Estimation Based on Multistate Frailty Model

We develop a simulation procedure to simulate the semicompeting risk survival data. In addition, we introduce an EM algorithm and a B–spline based estimation procedure to evaluate and implement Xu et al. (2010)’s nonparametric likelihood estimation approach. The simulation procedure provides a route to simulate samples from the likelihood introduced in Xu et al. (2010)’s. Further, the EM algorithm and the B–spline methods stabilize the estimation and gives accurate estimation results. We illustrate the simulation and the estimation procedure with simluation examples and real data analysis. Simulation of Semicompeting Risk Survival Data and Estimation Based on Multistate Frailty Model Fei Jiang, Sebastien Haneuse Department of Biostatistics Harvard University Boston, MA 02115, U.S.A. Abstract We develop a simulation procedure to simulate the semicompeting risk survival data. In addition, we introduce an EM algorithm and a B–spline based estimation procedure to evaluate and implement Xu et al. (2010)’s nonparametric likelihood estimation approach. The simulation procedure provides a route to simulate samples from the likelihood introduced in Xu et al. (2010)’s. Further, the EM algorithm and the B–spline methods stabilize the estimation and gives accurate estimation results. We illustrate the simulation and the estimation procedure with simluation examples and real data analysis.We develop a simulation procedure to simulate the semicompeting risk survival data. In addition, we introduce an EM algorithm and a B–spline based estimation procedure to evaluate and implement Xu et al. (2010)’s nonparametric likelihood estimation approach. The simulation procedure provides a route to simulate samples from the likelihood introduced in Xu et al. (2010)’s. Further, the EM algorithm and the B–spline methods stabilize the estimation and gives accurate estimation results. We illustrate the simulation and the estimation procedure with simluation examples and real data analysis.
Automated parameter selection in the L 1 ‐ L 2 -TV model for removing Gaussian plus impulse noise

The minimization of a functional consisting of a combined L1/L2-data-fidelity term and a total variation term, named L1-L2-TV model, is considered to remove a mixture of Gaussian and impulse noise in images, which are possibly additionally deformed by some convolution operator. We investigate analytically the stability of this model with respect to its parameters and link it to a constrained minimization problem. Based on these investigations and a statistical characterization of the mixed Gaussian-impulse noise a fully automated parameter selection algorithm for the L1-L2-TV model is presented. It is shown by numerical experiments that the proposed method finds parameters with which noise is removed considerably while features are preserved in images.
MORPHOLOGICAL AND GENETIC VARIATION IN THREE POPULATIONS OF Hoplobatrachus tigerinus FROM BANGLADESH

In order to investigate the morphological and genetic variation of Indian bullfrog Hoplobatrachus tigerinus , live samples were collected from three populations located in Khulna (southern part), Char Nilokhia and Netrokona (central part) in Bangladesh. The proportions of head length and head width (HL : HW), eye length and tympanum diameter (EL:TD), head length and snout length (HL : SL), internarial space and interorbital distance (IN:IOD) and internarial space and distance from nostril to tip of snout (IN:NS) of the Khulna population were significantly higher (p<0.05) than those of the other two populations. For allozyme study, 4 enzymes were screened, where 5 presumptive scorable loci were identified. The highest values of mean proportion of polymorphic loci (<0.95), mean number of alleles per locus and mean number of heterozygous loci per individual were observed in the Khulna population (60%, 1.60 and 14.0% respectively). The pairwise genetic differentiation (F ST and Nei’s D) was the highest (0.279 and 0.157, respectively) between the Khulna and Netrokona populations. The UPGMA dendrogram showed two clusters i.e. the Char Nilokhia and Netrokona populations formed one cluster, whereas the Khulna population alone made another cluster. These results suggested that the Khulna population diverged morphologically and genetically from the other two populations probably due to its geographical distance. Further extensive study will be necessary for elucidating the whole aspects of differentiation in H. tigerinus from Bangladesh. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3329/pa.v19i2. 16954 Progress. Agric. 19(2): 139 - 149, 2008
Creating a Havannah Playing Agent B

This paper delves into the complexities of Havannah, which is a 2-person zero-sum perfectinformation board game. After determining these complexities an appropriate technique for creating a Havannah agent is introduced viz. Monte-Carlo Tree Search (MCTS). The Nearest Neighbour preference enhancement to the MCTS’ simulation strategy does not lead to a major increase of performance. The MCTS agent does however have a 76% win rate against a greedy Monte-Carlo based player.
Gyaltshen 1 A Comparative Study on the Nutrient Acquisition Strategies of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal and Ectomycorrhizal-dominated Tree Stands at Harvard Forest, Petersham MA

Mycorrhizal associations exist among 90% of all plant species. Different mycorrhizal associations are predicted to have dissimilar impacts on carbon-nutrient couplings in forests. Some species are predicted to rely on organic forms of nitrogen, while others rely on inorganic forms like nitrate and ammonium. I conducted basic analyses of soil properties including pH, soil moisture and CHN elemental analysis in red maple and oak-dominated plots at Harvard forest. In addition, I evaluated nutrient concentrations and rates of mineralization in the soils of these forest stands. Accompanying these analyses was enzyme assays looking at potential phosphatase, B-1,4-glucosidase and N-acetyl-B-D-glucosaminidase activity in the same soils. I observed higher phosphatase activity in AM-dominated plots but elevated B-1,4-glucosidase activity in ECM-dominated plots. There were greater rates of nitrification in AM plots than in ECMdominated plots and a higher OrganicN:InorganicN ratio in ECM plots. Some aspects of Phillips framework for carbon-nutrient couplings could be applied to our results at Harvard Forest but other results did not fit in with his predictions.
Heterogeneous Diffusion in Highly Supercooled Liquids

The diffusivity of tagged particles is demonstrated to be heterogeneous on time scales comparable to or less than the stress relaxation time $\ensuremath{\cong}{\ensuremath{\tau}}_{\ensuremath{\alpha}}$ in a highly supercooled model liquid. The particle motions in the relatively active regions dominantly contribute to the mean square displacement, giving rise to a diffusion constant larger than the Stokes-Einstein value. The van Hove self-correlation function ${G}_{s}(r,t)$ is shown to have a large $r$ tail which can be scaled in terms of ${r/t}^{1/2}$ for $t\ensuremath{\lesssim}3{\ensuremath{\tau}}_{\ensuremath{\alpha}}$. Its presence indicates heterogeneous diffusion in the active regions. However, the diffusion process becomes homogeneous on time scales longer than the life time of the heterogeneity structure $(\ensuremath{\sim}3{\ensuremath{\tau}}_{\ensuremath{\alpha}})$.