Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
MULTIARMED BANDITS IN THE WORST CASE

Abstract We present a survey of results on a recently formulated variant of the classical (stochastic) multiarmed bandit problem in which no assumption is made on the mechanism generating the rewards. We describe randomized allocation policies for this variant and prove bounds on their regret as a function of the time horizon and the number of arms. These bounds hold for any assignment of rewards to the arms and are tight to within logarithmic factors.
Activation of recombinant NR1/NR2C NMDA receptors

The N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate (NMDA) subtype of ionotropic glutamate receptors comprises both NR1 and NR2 subunits, and plays numerous roles in both physiological and pathophysiological processes in the central nervous system (CNS). NR2C‐containing NMDA receptors are most abundant in cerebellum, thalamus and olfactory bulb, and are also expressed in oligodendrocytes and hippocampal interneurons. We have used patch clamp recording to explore the activation properties of recombinant NR1/NR2C receptors expressed in HEK293 cells. NR1/NR2C receptors activated by a maximally effective concentration of glutamate and glycine had two main conductance levels of 45 pS and 28 pS when the extracellular Ca2+ concentration was 0.5 mm and the holding potential was −80 mV. The occurrence of the lower subconductance state was reduced in the absence of extracellular Ca2+. The distribution of closed durations recorded from patches with a high probability of containing only one active channel were best fitted by five exponential functions; the apparent open duration histogram could be fitted by two exponential functions (n= 10 patches). The apparent mean open time of NR1/NR2C receptors was brief (0.52 ± 0.04 ms), suggesting that the stability of the open state of the NR1/NR2C receptors is lower than other NR2‐containing receptors. NR1/NR2C open probability was exceptionally low, being 0.011 ± 0.002 in patches containing a single active receptor (n= 8). Fast agonist concentration jumps were performed on outside out patches with multiple NR1/NR2C channels, which activated with a 10–90% rise time of 3.9 ± 0.4 ms, faster than other NR2‐containing receptors. The deactivation time constant after a brief (5–8 ms) application of a maximally effective concentration of agonists was 319 ± 34 ms. The majority of the patches also showed a modest level of desensitization that could be described by either a single or a double exponential time course with the fastest time constant between 15 and 47 ms. Conceptual models of activation were fitted using the maximum interval likelihood (MIL) method to the sequence of open and closed durations recorded from outside‐out patches that contained one active NR1/NR2C channel. NR1/NR2C receptor properties including modest desensitization and low open probability could be described by gating schemes similar to those previously proposed for other NMDA receptor subunit combinations.
Role of the transient outward current (Ito) in shaping canine ventricular action potential – a dynamic clamp study

Transmural electrical dispersion determines the repolarization sequence across the ventricular wall, and plays an important role in the development of arrhythmias under pathological conditions. While it is clear that the transmural gradient of the transient outward current (Ito) underlies the dramatic difference in phase 1 repolarization across the ventricle, its contribution to the transmural action potential duration (APD) dispersion is not clear. We investigated this problem using the dynamic clamp technique in canine ventricular myocytes. The dynamic clamp allows quantitative ‘insertion’ of simulated conductances in real, biological cells, bridging pure computer modelling and experimental electrophysiology. ‘Insertion’ of an epicardial level of Ito in endocardial cells produced a prominent phase 1 repolarization and a ‘spike‐and‐dome’ action potential morphology, but did not significantly affect the APD. Increasingly larger Ito densities prolonged, and then dramatically shortened the endocardial APD. We also used the dynamic clamp to subtract, or ‘block’ the native Ito in epicardial cells. Such ‘blockade’ eliminated the epicardial action potential notch, but had no significant effect on the APD. We conclude that Ito, while being a key regulator of phase 1 repolarization, does not significantly affect the APD of canine ventricular myocytes, and that the Ito gradient is not a significant contributor to the transmural APD dispersion in the canine ventricle. By allowing computer simulation on a biological background, the dynamic clamp is a new and effective tool to study the ionic basis of the electrical properties of cardiac cells.
Merging and Splitting for Power Indices in Weighted Voting Games and Network Flow Games on Hypergraphs

The Banzhaf power index is a prominent measure of a player's influence for coalition formation in weighted voting games, an important class of simple coalitional games that are fully expressive but compactly representable. For the normalized Banzhaf index, Aziz and Paterson [1] show that it is NP-hard to decide whether merging any coalition of players is beneficial, and that in unanimity games, merging is always disadvantageous, whereas splitting is always advantageous. We show that for the probabilistic Banzhaf index (which is considered more natural than the normalized Banzhaf index), the merging problem is in P for coalitions of size two, and is NP-hard for coalitions of size at least three. We also prove a corresponding result for the splitting problem. In unanimity games and for the probabilistic Banzhaf index (in strong contrast with the results for the normalized Banzhaf index), we show that splitting is always disadvantageous or neutral, whereas merging is neutral for size-two coalitions, yet advantageous for coalitions of size at least three. In addition, we study the merging and splitting problems for threshold network flow games [3,4] on hypergraphs.
Effect of Placing a Clear Sealant on the Validity and Reproducibility of Occlusal Caries Detection by a Laser Fluorescence Device: An in vitro Study

The principal aim of this in vitro study was to assess the validity and reproducibility of the detection of occlusal caries using laser fluorescence (LF), prior to and following the placement of a clear fissure sealant. It also aimed to compare the manufacturer’s standard cut-off recommendations with those published for in vitro studies and to compare the validity and reproducibility of LF with clinical visual examination (CVE) for the detection of occlusal caries under sealants. Three clinicians independently examined visually and with LF 37 extracted teeth (25 molars, 12 premolars), with a range of clinical caries from apparently sound to cavitated dentinal caries. Examinations were conducted under dental surgery conditions. Subsequently, the teeth were serially sectioned to provide the validating criterion. Following placement of the sealant, the specificity generally increased but there was an associated loss of sensitivity, at both the D1 (enamel and dentine) and D3 (dentine) diagnostic thresholds. The LF readings were significantly lower after placement of the sealant (p < 0.05). The manufacturer’s recommended cut-offs appear to be the most appropriate to use. The CVE had superior validity and reproducibility when compared to LF. Overall, the placement of a clear sealant does influence the detection of caries by LF but does not prevent the detection of caries by this method.
The Effects of Privileging Moral or Performance Character Development in Urban Adolescents

This study compared the effects of emphasizing moral character development or performance character development at three high-performing, high-poverty urban middle schools. Performance character consists of the qualities that allow individuals to regulate their thoughts and actions in ways that support achievement in a particular endeavor. Moral character consists of the qualities relevant to striving for ethical behavior in one’s relationships with other individuals and communities. Using a quasi-experimental research design, the authors found that early adolescents attending a school emphasizing moral character development through ethical philosophy programming demonstrated significantly higher levels of integrity over the course of the 2010 to 2011 academic year than their peers at two matched comparison schools (N = 544). However, the early adolescents attending the comparison schools—which emphasized performance character development through advisory programming—demonstrated significantly higher levels of perseverance and community connectedness over the course of the academic year. These divergent outcomes across the three schools offer useful implications to educators, researchers, and policy-makers about the different effects of privileging a particular dimension of character education.
3D structural prediction with docking for five stages of lymphoma

Lymphoma is a type of cancer that originates in resistant framework during infection in battling cells called lymphocytes. Lymphoma is mainly classified into two i.e. Hodgkin's Lymphoma and Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. In Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma there are four stages. In the first stage, cancer will spread to one extra −lymphatic organ or site and in remaining stages it will spread to another part of the human body. In this work, we develop a computational tool for predicting the appropriate drug at accurate dosage for each stage of Lymphoma. We are going to apply ten to twenty Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma drugs which are taken from drug bank. Using alignment method we are predicting the stages of lymphoma, once the sequence is aligned high matches and less number of mismatches, gap, deletion and insertion can be considered as stage 1. According to the result obtained, we consider the people affected by four stages of Lymphoma and then predict the protein structural changes in each person. Simultaneously, multiple drug interact and the result is analyzed. If the obtained result has high binding affinity in docking, then the drug is adaptable for that stage. Our optimized algorithm can perform multiple drug interaction and docking prediction in 3-D structure affinity in each person.
Mini-Batch Stochastic ADMMs for Nonconvex Nonsmooth Optimization

With the large rising of complex data, the nonconvex models such as nonconvex loss function and nonconvex regularizer are widely used in machine learning and pattern recognition. In this paper, we propose a class of mini-batch stochastic ADMMs (alternating direction method of multipliers) for solving large-scale nonconvex nonsmooth problems. We prove that, given an appropriate mini-batch size, the mini-batch stochastic ADMM without variance reduction (VR) technique is convergent and reaches a convergence rate of $O(1/T)$ to obtain a stationary point of the nonconvex optimization, where $T$ denotes the number of iterations. Moreover, we extend the mini-batch stochastic gradient method to both the nonconvex SVRG-ADMM and SAGA-ADMM proposed in our initial manuscript \cite{huang2016stochastic}, and prove these mini-batch stochastic ADMMs also reaches the convergence rate of $O(1/T)$ without condition on the mini-batch size. In particular, we provide a specific parameter selection for step size $\eta$ of stochastic gradients and penalty parameter $\rho$ of augmented Lagrangian function. Finally, extensive experimental results on both simulated and real-world data demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.
A comparison between clinical and pathologic staging in patients with bladder cancer.

PURPOSE To determine the accuracy of clinical staging methods of bladder cancer and TURBT results in estimating the pathologic stage of tumor. MATERIALS AND METHODS Thirty two patients who had undergone radical cystectomy were studied in this retrospective survey. The results of bimanual examination, cystoscopy, TURBT pathology report and the tumor contour in CT scan, (size, infiltrative deepness, pelvic lymph nodes involvement and hydronephrosis) were recorded. The type of surgery and pathologic report of cystectomy sample were analyzed as well. Then the results of bimanual examination, tumor size, hydronephrosis and CT scan findings including tumor infiltrative deepness, pelvic lymph adenopathy and TURBT findings were compared to pathologic results of cystectomy sample. RESULTS Seven patients were females and 25 were males. Their mean age was 62 (range 36 to 80) years. Gross hematuria and irritative urinary symptoms were the most common complaints. The duration between symptom manifestation and patient's referral was 5 days to 72 months (mean 12 months). Bimanual examination in estimating the extravesical involvement of tumor had a specificity of 82%, sensitivity of 46%, positive predictive value of 70% and negative predictive value of 63%. The size of tumor in determining extravesical involvement had a specificity of 41%, sensitivity of 93%, and positive predictive value of 58% and negative predictive value of 87%. Hydronephrosis was present in 15 patients of whom, 14(93%) had bladder muscle involvement. CT scan specificity was 70%, and sensitivity was 46% regarding pelvic lymph adenopathy and perivesical fat involvement. In TURBT report no muscle sample was observed in 11 cases, so that the interpretations of results were impossible. The reported grade of tumor was lower than pathologic sample of cystectomy in 4 patients. CONCLUSION Clinical staging in invasive bladder cancers has not high accuracy regarding the involvement of bladder surrounding fats and pelvic adenopathies. A tumor sized more than 5 cm could be sensitive in estimating extravesical involvement. Positive predictive value of hydronephrosis is considerable regarding bladder muscle involvement. Tumor understaging by TURBT is happened in high percentage of patients with invasive bladder cancer.
Establishment of B‐lymphoblastoid cell lines from Marek's disease virus‐induced tumors in turkeys

Four lymphoblastoid cell lines were established from tumors of turkeys inoculated with high doses of the GA strain of Marek's disease virus (MDV). Unlike other MD lymphoblastoid cell lines of chicken origin, these MDV transformed turkey lines appear to be B lymphocytes and produce immunoglobulin. Growth characteristics of these cell lines are slightly different; however, they all produce low levels of MDV‐specific antigen and carry the complete genome of the virus as determined by virus rescue in the chicken or in duck embryo fibroblast cultures. These cell lines are pathogenic for chickens and produce virus‐induced MD lesions. All four lines are free of the herpesvirus of turkeys, reticuloendotheliosis virus, and three lines are also free of avian leukosis virus. They all have typical normal turkey chromosomes and are positive for Marek's disease tumor‐associated surface antigen.
Comparison Between Exact and Quasi-Static Methods for HF Analysis of Horizontal Buried Wires

The validity domain of the quasi-static method for computation of high frequency and transient characteristics of horizontal buried wires can be established by comparison with an exact analytical method. Usually, limitations of the quasi-static method are derived for practical characteristics, but these are strongly dependent on the specific case and computed quantities. This paper presents an analysis of the differences in the application of the exact and quasi-static Green's function in a method of moments approach for two important cases: distribution of currents in directly fed wires and induced currents in passive wires. It is concluded that the validity domains of the quasi-static method in these two cases are very different.
Security approach for LSB steganography based FPGA implementation

Secrecy in communication is critical for people that have sensitive information. Steganography is a field that secures sensitive information by hiding it inside media files (such as images). What makes the concept of steganography powerful is that the secret message is hidden cleverly within the media file and thus carried around invisibly. Our paper proposed an automated method to secure a message using two levels of security. In the first level, the data is encrypted by our encryption method developed in Java and named Character Bit Shuffler (CBS). Then in the second level, the encrypted data is hidden inside an image using the Least Significant Bit (LSB) technique that changes only the last bits of the image pixels. The advantage of the LSB method is that it is simple as well as it maintains the quality of the image. A 1-1-0 LSB scheme will be used on 32-bit images in this paper. Experimental results that measure the image quality of our proposed approach are presented at the end of the paper.
Conservationof type III secretion systemgenes in Bradyrhizobium isolated fromsoybean

The distribution of rhcRST genes encoding the type III secretion system (T3SS) in a collection of Bradyrhizobium strains was characterized by PCR and Southern blot hybridization. The polymorphism of the corresponding sequences amplified by PCR was characterized by RFLP and sequencing together with those available in the databank. Genomic group I is characterized by the presence of Bradyrhizobium elkanii strains and group II by the presence of B. japonicum and B. liaoningense strains. Highly conserved T3SS-like genes were detected by PCR in all Bradyrhizobium strains isolated from soybean belonging to genomic group II, and in none of the strains belonging to genomic group I. These data were confirmed by Southern blot hybridization that further indicated the presence of sequences showing similarity to the rhcRST sequence in B. elkanii strains. The high level of conservation of rhcRST among Bradyrhizobia of genomic group II and sharing the same host-plant suggests that T3SS-like genes might have undergone horizontal genetic transfer within this genomic group. When considering the three Rhizobiaceae genera, a clear congruence was recorded between the rhcRST, rRNA gene and ITS sequences in bacteria harbouring sequences encoding T3SS, suggesting a relatively ancient emergence of the T3SS in these genera.
More Than a Feeling: Learning to Grasp and Regrasp Using Vision and Touch

For humans, the process of grasping an object relies heavily on rich tactile feedback. Most recent robotic grasping work, however, has been based only on visual input, and thus cannot easily benefit from feedback after initiating contact. In this letter, we investigate how a robot can learn to use tactile information to iteratively and efficiently adjust its grasp. To this end, we propose an end-to-end action-conditional model that learns regrasping policies from raw visuo-tactile data. This model—a deep, multimodal convolutional network—predicts the outcome of a candidate grasp adjustment, and then executes a grasp by iteratively selecting the most promising actions. Our approach requires neither calibration of the tactile sensors nor any analytical modeling of contact forces, thus reducing the engineering effort required to obtain efficient grasping policies. We train our model with data from about 6450 grasping trials on a two-finger gripper equipped with GelSight high-resolution tactile sensors on each finger. Across extensive experiments, our approach outperforms a variety of baselines at 1) estimating grasp adjustment outcomes, 2) selecting efficient grasp adjustments for quick grasping, and 3) reducing the amount of force applied at the fingers, while maintaining competitive performance. Finally, we study the choices made by our model and show that it has successfully acquired useful and interpretable grasping behaviors.
Supercells and mesocyclones in outer rainbands of Hurricane Katrina (2005)

This study documents and describes supercells embedded within the outer rainbands of Hurricane Katrina (2005). Radar reflectivity and velocity data collected on 29 August 2005 by Weather Surveillance Radar 1988 Doppler radars were used to track the supercells. Radar analysis indicates that the supercells were characterized by heavy precipitation collocated with band‐relative mesocylonic circulations containing strong vorticity and a wind speed enhancement to their northeast. Atmospheric soundings and dual‐Doppler derived shear suggest that environmental conditions were comparable to those in previous hurricane‐spawned supercell studies. Twenty‐three storms from 0300–0900 UTC were tracked, and single‐ and dual‐Doppler radar analyses were used to examine characteristics such as shear and rotational velocity. Remarkably, the majority of the supercells formed over the Gulf of Mexico rather than over land, which contrasts with previous studies. Furthermore, the ground‐relative wind speeds of these potentially tornadic mesocyclones in the outer rainbands could have been Category 4 intensity despite sustained winds in Katrina's eyewall only reaching Category 3 at landfall.
Neural correlates of response inhibition in patients with bipolar disorder during acute versus remitted phase

Abstract Objectives: Elevated behavioural impulsivity has been shown to be a core feature of bipolar disorder. However, no study has so far investigated impulsivity-related brain activation in patients with BD during acute versus remitted phase. To address the question whether elevated behavioural impulsivity and its differential neural pathways is a state or trait marker of BD, we employed a combined stop signal-go/no-go task in 30 controls, and 37 depressed and 15 remitted patients who were retested. Methods: Frontal brain activation was recorded using near-infrared spectroscopy. Results: Behaviourally, we found increased impulsivity as indexed by higher stop signal reaction time for patients in their depressed phase while remitted patients did not differ from controls in any measure. In contrast, brain activation measurements revealed an opposite pattern: compared to controls, depressed patients did not show significant differences, while the remitted group displayed significantly decreased activation in bilateral prefrontal cortex during successful inhibition. Analysis of the remaining conditions (go, no-go, unsuccessful inhibition) did not reveal significant differences. Conclusions: Therefore, behavioural impulsivity and prefrontal hypoactivation do not seem to be a trait marker of BD. As only successful inhibition differentiated between groups, a specific dysfunction of this inhibitory process and its neural pathway may be postulated in BD.
The relationship between offspring size and performance in the wolf spider Hogna helluo (Araneae: Lycosidae)

Life-history theory predicts a trade-off between number of offspring and investment (size) per offspring. An important component of this trade-off is how offspring size influences performance and survival. In this study, we examined the relationships between maternal size, offspring size and clutch size, as well as the relationship between offspring size and performance, in the wolf spider, Hogna helluo. Offspring dispersing from field-collected female Hogna helluo with egg sacs were counted and their carapace width was measured. The relationships between feeding performance (number of prey captured), starvation tolerance and offspring size were examined to determine if offspring size was correlated with offspring performance. Clutch size increased with female size, but there was little evidence for a trade-off between offspring size and number. Starvation tolerance and feeding performance were positively related to offspring size. Our results show that offspring performance increases with offspring size and are consistent with the hypothesis that parental fitness is maximized by producing as many offspring as possible given constraints on a minimum viable offspring size.