Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using Genetic Algorithms to Evolve Artificial Neural Networks

This paper demonstrates that neuroevolution is an eﬀective method to determine an optimal neural network topology. I provide an overview of the NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies (NEAT) algorithm, and describe how unique characteristics of this algorithm solve various problem inherent to neuroevolution (namely the competing conventions problem and the challenges associated with protecting topological innovation). Parallelization is shown to greatly speed up ef-ﬁciency, further reinforcing neuroevolution as a potential alternative to traditional backpropagation. I also demonstrate that appropriate parameter selection is critical in order to eﬃciently converge to an optimal topology. Lastly, I produce an example solution to a medical classiﬁcation machine learning problem that further demonstrates some unique advantages of the NEAT algorithm.
Safety and acceptability of the RealityTM condom for anal sex among men who have sex with men

Objectives: To assess safety and acceptability of RealityTM condoms for anal sex among men who have sex with men. Methods: Crossover study among HIV-seroconcordant (33 HIV-negative and 5 HIV-positive) monogamous male couples, randomized to latex male and Reality condom use with anal sex. Results: Slippage with removal was reported more frequently with Reality than male latex condoms [odds ratio (OR), 2.7; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.2–5.8 for receptive partners and OR, 34.1; 95% CI, 13.8–84.1 for insertive partners]. Receptive partners more frequently reported pain or discomfort (OR, 5.0; 95% CI, 2.6–9.4) and rectal bleeding (OR, 1.9; 95% CI, 0.9–4.1) with Reality condoms than male condoms. Over 20% reported willingness to use the Reality condom in the future with a partner of unknown HIV status; willingness was associated with past problems with male condoms and no problems with Reality condoms among receptive partners, and with past use of Reality condoms and HIV seropositivity among insertive partners. Conclusions: Men reported more frequent problems with Reality condoms than male latex condoms used for anal intercourse, particularly slippage, discomfort, and rectal bleeding. Design modifications, training, and research on the clinical significance of safety outcomes are needed for use of Reality condoms with anal sex.
ANALYSIS OF COUPLED OR SINGLE NONUNIFORM TRANSMISSION LINES USING STEP-BY-STEP NUMERICAL INTEGRATION

A method is proposed for analysis of arbitrarily loaded lossy and dispersive nonuniform single or coupled transmission lines. In this method, the transmission lines are subdivided to several uniform sections, at first. Then the voltage and current distributions are obtained using second order step-by-step numerical integration (second order finite difference method). The accuracy of the method is studied using analysis of some special types of single and coupled transmission lines.
Use of diffracted Gaussian beams in position sensing

Authors present a novel method in position sensing based on the diffraction of Gaussian beams, their propagation properties and their spatial modulation . The idea is to focus two modulated and collimated Gaussian beams into a slit. The resulting diffracted beams at the slit illuminate a photodetector whose signal is demodulated by a lock-in amplifier. The response of the lock-in amplifier is a function of the slit position with respect to the two modulated Gaussian beams. Resolution of 25 pm can be achieved.
Budgeting and governing for deficit reduction in the UK public sector: act three ‘accountability and audit arrangements’

This paper explains how the UK central government has changed accountability and audit arrangements for local government in England, while retaining its approach to setting annual budgets within the context of multi-year spending reviews. It highlights how dismantling the institutions and processes that monitored outputs and outcomes for spending, such as public service agreements and comprehensive area assessment, meant that top-down accountability became focused overwhelmingly on financial conformance rather than organizational performance for local government. Supplementary reforms to increase the transparency or ‘visibility’ of public administration, and thereby enable greater bottom-up accountability, have resulted in a performance assessment system that is neither rigorous nor standardized. The overall result is a weakening of local accountability arrangements.
Pricing and the Newsvendor Problem: A Review with Extensions

In the newsvendor problem, a decision maker facing random demand for a perishable product decides how much of it to stock for a single selling period. This simple problem with its intuitively appealing solution is a crucial building block of stochastic inventory theory, which comprises a vast literature focusing on operational efficiency. Typically in this literature, market parameters such as demand and selling price are exogenous. However, incorporating these factors into the mode l can provide an excellent vehicle for examining how operational problems interact with marketing issues to influence decision making at the firm level. In this paper we examine an extension of the newsvendor problem in which stocking quantity and selling price are set simultaneously. We provide a comprehensive review that synthesizes existing results for the single period problem and develop additional results to enrich the existing knowledge base. We also review and develop insight into a dynamic inventory extension of this problem, and motivate the applicability of such models.
Atg16L2, a novel isoform of mammalian Atg16L that is not essential for canonical autophagy despite forming an Atg12–5-16L2 complex

A large protein complex consisting of Atg5, Atg12 and Atg16L1 has recently been shown to be essential for the elongation of isolation membranes (also called phagophores) during mammalian autophagy. However, the precise function and regulation of the Atg12–5-16L1 complex has largely remained unknown. In this study we identified a novel isoform of mammalian Atg16L, termed Atg16L2, that consists of the same domain structures as Atg16L1. Biochemical analysis revealed that Atg16L2 interacts with Atg5 and self-oligomerizes to form an ~800-kDa complex, the same as Atg16L1 does. A subcellular distribution analysis indicated that, despite forming the Atg12–5-16L2 complex, Atg16L2 is not recruited to phagophores and is mostly present in the cytosol. The results also showed that Atg16L2 is unable to compensate for the function of Atg16L1 in autophagosome formation, and knockdown of endogenous Atg16L2 did not affect autophagosome formation, indicating that Atg16L2 does not possess the ability to mediate canonical autophagy. Moreover, a chimeric analysis between Atg16L1 and Atg16L2 revealed that their difference in function in regard to autophagy is entirely attributable to the difference between their middle regions that contain a coiled-coil domain. Based on the above findings, we propose that formation of the Atg12–5-16L complex is necessary but insufficient to mediate mammalian autophagy and that an additional function of the middle region (especially around amino acid residues 229–242) of Atg16L1 (e.g., interaction with an unidentified binding partner on phagophores) is required for autophagosome formation.
Word and Nonword Repetition Within- and Across-Modality: An Event-Related Potential Study

The effects on event-related potentials (ERPs) of within- and across-modality repetition of words and nonwords were investigated. In Experiment 1, subjects detected occasional animal names embedded in a series of words. AU items were equally likely to be presented auditorily or visually. Some words were repetitions, either within- or across-modality, of words presented six items previously. Visual-visual repetition evoked a sustained positive shift, which onset around 250 msec and comprised two topographically and temporally distinct components. Auditory-visual repetition modulated only the later of these two components. For auditory EMS, within- and across-modality repetition evoked effects with similar onset latencies. The within-modality effect was initially the larger, but only at posterior sites. In Experiment 2, critical items were auditory and visual nonwords, and target items were auditory words and visual pseudohomophones. Visual-visual nonword repetition effects onset around 450 msec, and demonstrated a more anterior scalp distribution than those evoked by auditory-visual repetition. Visual-auditory repetition evoked only a small, late-onsetting effect, whereas auditory-auditory repetition evoked an effect that, at parietal sites only, was almost equivalent to that from the analogous condition of Experiment 1. These findings indicate that, as indexed by ERF's, repetition effects both within- and across-modality are influenced by lexical status. Possible parallels with the effects of word and nonword repetition on behavioral variables are discussed.
Inverse Distance Weighting Method Based on a Dynamic Voronoi Diagram for Thermal Reconstruction with Limited Sensor Data on Multiprocessors

With exponentially increasing power densities due to technology scaling and ever increasing demand for performance, chip temperature has become an important issue that limits the performance of computer systems. Typically, it is essential to use a set of on-chip thermal sensors to monitor temperatures during the runtime. The runtime thermal measurements are then employed by dynamic thermal management techniques to manage chip performance appropriately. In this paper, we propose an inverse distance weighting method based on a dynamic Voronoi diagram for the reconstruction of full thermal characterization of integrated circuits with non-uniform thermal sensor placements. Firstly we utilize the proposed method to transform the non-uniformly spaced samples to virtual uniformly spaced data. Then we apply three classical interpolation algorithms to reconstruct the full thermal signals in the uniformly spaced samples mode. To evaluate the effectiveness of our method, we develop an experiment for reconstructing full thermal status of a 16-core processor. Experimental results show that the proposed method significantly outperforms spectral analysis techniques, and can obtain full thermal characterization with an average absolute error of 1.72% using 9 thermal sensors per core.
A 5-Year Longitudinal Study of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Primary Care Patients

Little is known about the clinical course of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the clinical predictors of its recovery in primary care patients. We examined 5 years of follow-up of PTSD symptoms using rates of recovery and recurrence, and the predictive value of comorbid mental disorders, treatment participation and psychosocial functioning, on PTSD recovery. We examined 199 participants with PTSD diagnoses, from the Primary Care Anxiety Disorder Project. We found that the course of PTSD in a sample of primary care patients is chronic. Survival analysis revealed that the likelihood of PTSD recovery was 38.0% and of recurrence it was 29.5%. Cox regression analyses indicated that baseline clinical variables did not have a significant relationship with probability of PTSD recovery. However, time-varying models showed that the course of psychosocial impairment was a significant predictor of the likelihood of recovery from PTSD. Findings provide initial empirical support for treatment approaches that focus on psychosocial functioning to reduce PTSD symptoms.
A Noninjury, Diet-Induced Swine Model of Atherosclerosis for Cardiovascular-Interventional Research

To investigate whether atherosclerotic vascular disease in the microswine model can be induced by atherogenic diet alone and does not require balloon injury or endothelial denudation as widely stated in the literature, 28 female Yucatan microswine were fed a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet, including 2% sodium cholate, for an average of 310 ± 13 days. Four control swine were placed on a regular diet for an average of 287.2 ± 7.8 days. Selective coronary arteriography and morphologic and histologic studies were performed at the end of this period. Coronary arteries were fixed in vivo by pressure perfusion of formalin. Angiograms and sequential histologic sections were reviewed by a double-blind team. The angiography did not show apparent disease in all vessels but generally revealed mild irregularity. Quantitatively, there was a 30.5 ± 3.5% stenosis (mean ± standard error, P < 0.05 vs. control) in left anterior descending (LAD), 40.7 ± 4.5% of stenosis in right coronary artery (RCA) (P < 0.01 vs. control), and 24.8 ± 3.7% of stenosis in left circumflex artery (LCX). The lesions were eccentric in 95% of LCA, 95.8% of RCA, and 75% of LCX, and the remainder were concentric lesions. Typical lesions were characterized by significant intimal proliferation, cholesterol clefts, necrotic cores, heavy extracellular fat deposition, and calcification. Control animals had only occasional, minimal intimal lipid deposition in coronary arteries. These findings suggest that the Yucatan microswine is an ideal coronary atherosclerosis animal model for vascular research. Lesions can be induced by atherogenic diet alone. Cholesterol uptake is increased by adding sodium cholate to the feed. Moreover, balloon injury of the intima or media is not required to induce significant atherosclerotic lesions in coronary arteries.
Adaptive dynamic surface control of stochastic pure-feedback nonlinear systems including dynamic uncertainties

A more general class of stochastic nonlinear systems with unmodeled dynamics and dynamic disturbances are considered in this paper. Utilizing the approximation capability of neural networks and Young's inequality, an adaptive dynamic surface control scheme is proposed, which extends the approach of dynamic surface control to the stochastic systems. By theoretical analysis, it is shown that all signals in the closed-loop systems are bounded in probability. A simulation example further demonstrates the effectiveness of the control scheme.
Average Power Handling Capability of Microstrip Passive Circuits Considering Metal Housing and Environment Conditions

In this paper, the average power handling capability (APHC) of microstrip passive circuits considering the metal housing and environment conditions is investigated in detail. A systematic method is proposed for the computation of the APHC of microstrip circuits in open and enclosed metal housing configurations, typically used in microwave components. The method also yields an estimate of the maximum temperature in a microstrip circuit for a given input power. Closed-form equations accounting for external conditions, such as convection or radiation heat transfer are given to evaluate the APHC. For validation, two microstrip bandstop filters centered at 10 GHz are analyzed following the proposed model, and the results are compared with those simulated showing a good agreement. In addition, both circuits are fabricated and characterized. Thermal profile measurements are provided, confirming the predicted results. The effect of the topology layout and the electromagnetic performance on the APHC are also discussed.
A Method for Cancer Classification Using Ensemble Neural Networks with Gene Expression Profile

Gene expression profiles are becoming a powerful tool for clinical diagnosis, as they have the potential to discover gene expression patterns that are characteristic for a particular disease. This has received most attention in tumor classification. In this paper we attempt to introduce a method combined neural networks with two feature selection mechanisms for tumor classification. Also we proposed a voting weight method to combine the classification results of two individual neural networks. Then we validate our method on two publicly available datasets. Compared with other current methods, our method greatly improves the accuracy and robustness of such classification. We hopefully expect that the biomarker genes analyzed by the method would give more instruction in biological experiments and clinical diagnosis reference.
Análise de componentes independentes aplicada à separação de sinais de áudio.

This work studies Independent Component Analysis (ICA) for instantaneous mixtures, applied to audio signal (source) separation. Three instantaneous mixture separation algorithms are considered: FastICA, PP (Projection Pursuit) and PearsonICA, presenting two common basic principles: sources must be statistically independent and non-Gaussian. In order to analyze each algorithm separation capability, two groups of experiments were carried out. In the first group, instantaneous mixtures were generated synthetically from predefined audio signals. Moreover, instantaneous mixtures were generated from specific signal generated with special features, synthetically, enabling the behavior analysis of the algorithms. In the second group, convolutive mixtures were probed in the acoustics laboratory of LPS at EPUSP. The PP algorithm is proposed, based on the Projection Pursuit technique usually applied in exploratory and clustering environments, for separation of multiple sources as an alternative to conventional ICA. Although the PP algorithm proposed could be applied to separate sources, it couldn’t be considered an ICA method, and source extraction isn’t guaranteed. Finally, experiments validate the studied algorithms.
Sub-mitochondrial localization of the genetic-tagged mitochondrial intermembrane space-bridging components Mic19, Mic60 and Sam50

ABSTRACT Each mitochondrial compartment contains varying protein compositions that underlie a diversity of localized functions. Insights into the localization of mitochondrial intermembrane space-bridging (MIB) components will have an impact on our understanding of mitochondrial architecture, dynamics and function. By using the novel visualizable genetic tags miniSOG and APEX2 in cultured mouse cardiac and human astrocyte cell lines and performing electron tomography, we have mapped at nanoscale resolution three key MIB components, Mic19, Mic60 and Sam50 (also known as CHCHD3, IMMT and SAMM50, respectively), in the environment of structural landmarks such as cristae and crista junctions (CJs). Tagged Mic19 and Mic60 were located at CJs, distributed in a network pattern along the mitochondrial periphery and also enriched inside cristae. We discovered an association of Mic19 with cytochrome c oxidase subunit IV. It was also found that tagged Sam50 is not uniformly distributed in the outer mitochondrial membrane and appears to incompletely overlap with Mic19- or Mic60-positive domains, most notably at the CJs. Highlighted Article: By using the novel genetic labels miniSOG and APEX2 combined with electron tomography, the sub-compartmental locations of Mic19, Mic60 and Sam50 were deciphered, which helps determine their physiological function and interaction partners.
An Intelligent Infrared LED-Based Prosthesis Training System

In the past, the utilization of limb prostheses has improved the daily life of both amputees and patients with movement disorders. However, prior to achieving this improvement, a leg amputee must undertake a series of training sessions while wearing a limb prosthesis whereby the training results determine whether a patient will be able to use the limb prosthesis correctly in her/his daily life. Limb prostheses vendors therefore desire to offer the leg amputee a complete and well-organized training procedure, but they often fail to do so owing to factors related to limited human resource support and the financial constraints of the amputee. This work proposes a prosthesis training system that amputees can borrow or buy from the limb prostheses vendors to enable independent training at home. In this prosthesis training system, 3D positioning information is obtained via infrared LEDs. Four features are extracted and fed into a classifier to determine the actual conditions for the leg-amputee during training. Experimental results exhibited the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed prosthesis training system.
Genetic evidence for interaction of sigma A with two promoters in Bacillus subtilis

The specificity of promoter binding by RNA polymerase is governed by the sigma subunit. Recent studies, in which single-amino-acid substitutions in sigma factors have been found to suppress the effects of specific base pair substitutions in promoters, support the model that these sigma factors make sequence-specific contacts with nucleotides at the -10 and -35 regions of promoters. We found that single-amino-acid substitutions in the putative -35 region and -10 region recognition domains of sigma A specifically suppressed the effects of mutations in the -35 and -10 regions, respectively, of two promoters that are expressed in exponentially growing Bacillus subtilis. These mutations change the specificity of sigma A, the primary sigma factor in growing B. subtilis, and demonstrate that this sigma factor interacts with promoters in a manner similar to that of its homolog in Escherichia coli, sigma 70. These mutant derivatives of sigma A also provide a tool that may be useful for determining whether sigma A uses specific promoters in vivo.
Endothelial biomarker soluble CD146 suggests that angiogenesis plays an important role in progression of fibrosis in liver disease

CD146, an element of the endothelial junction- has been evaluated in several pathological conditions with altered endothelial function but never before in patients with liver disease. As angiogenesis and inflammation were implicated in the development of liver fibrosis, we have explored this suggestion by evaluating levels of sCD146 in a group of patients with chronic liver diseases (CLD) and in cirrhotic patients. The results indicated that there is a clear connection between sCD146 levels and the progression of liver disease. They can differentiate noncirrhotic patients with CLD from cirrhotics, supporting the usefulness of CD146 in the noninvasive diagnosis of liver cirrhosis. Furthermore, our findings provided evidence of sCD146 upregulation in decompensated compared to compensated cirrhosis and sCD146 values were clearly associated with Model for End Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score. Thus, by using an easy to perform ELISA method, we demonstrated that sCD146 can accurately distinguish advanced fibrosis and prognosticate decompensation in cirrhosis.
Complex Networks term project paper

Based on data downloaded from Twitter we present a study of complex networks. We use tweets about the movie ”Captain Phillips” to build a word network. We show that the network is scale-free for each period of time. Using Naive Bayes classifier for sentiment analysis we predict movie rating as a fraction of tweets which were positive. We introduce the notion of community sentiments and show how they can be used to get a better insight of the network dynamics. We conclude the paper with experiments.