Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Playing Anonymous Games using Simple Strategies

We investigate the complexity of computing approximate Nash equilibria in anonymous games. Our main algorithmic result is the following: For any $n$-player anonymous game with a bounded number of strategies and any constant $\delta>0$, an $O(1/n^{1-\delta})$-approximate Nash equilibrium can be computed in polynomial time. Complementing this positive result, we show that if there exists any constant $\delta>0$ such that an $O(1/n^{1+\delta})$-approximate equilibrium can be computed in polynomial time, then there is a fully polynomial-time approximation scheme for this problem. We also present a faster algorithm that, for any $n$-player $k$-strategy anonymous game, runs in time $\tilde O((n+k) k n^k)$ and computes an $\tilde O(n^{-1/3} k^{11/3})$-approximate equilibrium. This algorithm follows from the existence of simple approximate equilibria of anonymous games, where each player plays one strategy with probability $1-\delta$, for some small $\delta$, and plays uniformly at random with probability $\delta$. Our approach exploits the connection between Nash equilibria in anonymous games and Poisson multinomial distributions (PMDs). Specifically, we prove a new probabilistic lemma establishing the following: Two PMDs, with large variance in each direction, whose first few moments are approximately matching are close in total variation distance. Our structural result strengthens previous work by providing a smooth tradeoff between the variance bound and the number of matching moments.
Experiments with Small-size Corpora in CBMT

There is no doubt that in the last couple of years corpus-based machine translation (CBMT) approaches have been in focus. Each of the approaches has its advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, hybrid approaches have been developed. This paper presents a comparative study of CBMT approaches, using three types of systems: a statistical MT (SMT) system, an example-based MT (EBMT) system and a hybrid (EBMT-SMT) system. We considered for our experiments three languages, from different language families: Romanian, German and English. Two different types of corpora have been used: while the first is manually created, the latter is automatically built.
Efficient proper 2-coloring of almost disjoint hypergraphs

Let <i>A</i> be an <i>n</i>-uniform hypergraph. Assume that the maximum degree of <i>A</i> is <i>D</i> = <i>D</i>(<i>A</i>) (local condition), and |<i>A</i>| = <i>N</i> = <i>N</i>(<i>A</i>) (global condition). By the Lovász Local Lemma (L.L.L.), if <i>D</i> < 2<sup>n</sup>/8<i>n</i>, then <i>A</i> has a <i>proper</i> 2-coloring (<i>i.e.</i> there is no monochromatic edge) <i>independently</i> of the value of <i>N</i> (<i>N</i> can be infinite). Unfortunately L.L.L. is a pure existence argument which does not give any clue of how to <i>find</i> a proper 2-coloring. A hypergraph with the property that any two edges have at most one point in common is called <i>almost disjoint</i> (<i>e.g.</i> a family of lines). Assume that <i>A</i> is an <i>n</i>-uniform almost disjoint hypergraph. In this special case, we provide a polynomial time (in terms of <i>N</i>) algorithm to find a proper 2-coloring under the slightly weaker condition that <i>D</i> < (2 - Δ)<sup><i>n</i></sup> and <i>N</i> is less than a doubly exponential function of <i>n. </i>
Cost-effectiveness of bedaquiline in MDR and XDR tuberculosis in Italy

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of bedaquiline plus background drug regimens (BR) for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) in Italy. Methods: A Markov model was adapted to the Italian setting to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of bedaquiline plus BR (BBR) versus BR in the treatment of MDR-TB and XDR-TB over 10 years, from both the National Health Service (NHS) and societal perspective. Cost-effectiveness was evaluated in terms of life-years gained (LYG). Clinical data were sourced from trials; resource consumption for compared treatments was modelled according to advice from an expert clinicians panel. NHS tariffs for inpatient and outpatient resource consumption were retrieved from published Italian sources. Drug costs were provided by reference centres for disease treatment in Italy. A 3% annual discount was applied to both cost and effectiveness. Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were conducted. Results: Over 10 years, BBR vs. BR alone is cost-effective, with ICERs of €16,639/LYG and €4081/LYG for the NHS and society, respectively. The sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of the results from both considered perspectives. Conclusion: In Italy, BBR vs. BR alone has proven to be cost-effective in the treatment of MDR-TB and XDR-TB under a range of scenarios.
Influence of different walking speeds and surfaces on accelerometer-based biometric gait recognition

This paper gives an insight about the influence of different walking speeds (slow, normal and fast) and surfaces (flat carpeted, grass, gravel and inclined) on gait recognition. Gait recognition is a type of biometric authentication that operates on behavioral characteristics of human beings. This research utilizes wearable sensors, and we have used a commercially available mobile device. Gait data is collected from 48 subjects for six different walk settings in two sessions on different days to measure same-day and cross-day performance. Gait cycles are extracted and compared using dynamic time warping as distance metric. Different parameter settings are evaluated to optimize the cycle extraction process.
Bologna: block-based 802.11 transmission recovery

In this paper, we describe the design, implementation, and evaluation of Bologna, a practical block-based IEEE 802.11 data transmission recovery protocol. Bologna is built on a well-known recovery scheme that identifies corrupted bit blocks by performing per-block checksums and then requests the retransmission of only the error blocks. The two key challenges for Bologna design are (1) to find a proper checksum which is strong enough for error detection and meanwhile lightweight in computation and communication overhead, and (2) to modify the IEEE 802.11 standard as little as possible and make the implementation compatible with existing 802.11 devices. We have chosen Fletcher-16 as the checksum scheme and implemented Bologna using an open source firmware. We also deployed Bologna in our testbed and compared its performance to 802.11.
A NOISE-TOLERANT ADAPTIVE ADC

Substrate noise is considered a critical parasitic in mixed-signal integrated circuits. Power supply noise is the dominant source of substrate noise. Various attempts have been made at both the circuit level and software level to estimate this noise. Software level noise estimation is especially important as software is becoming an increasingly integral part of future systems on a chip. In this paper, we propose a new model for estimating the di/dt noise and incorporate it into a publicly available power simulator (SimplePower[8]) for an embedded processor core. Next, we investigate how an ADC can be designed to adapt its resolution in the presence of the substrate noise generated when the SimplePower processor core is embedded on the same chip. The proposed strategies prevent unexpected performance degradation of the ADC.
Peer-review under Responsibility of Daaam International Vienna the Representation of Database Content and Structure Using the Nok Method

This paper presents research results on transformation of database structure and its content into new representation by using the Node of knowledge method (NOK method). It describes the way an Entity-relationship model and its relational database can be transformed into a NOK model. The rules that enable this transformation of entity-relationship concepts into NOK concepts are defined. Research results are important for future development of an intelligent information system.
Quantum Oblivious Transfer

Abstract In a one-out-of-two oblivious transfer, a party Alice has two messages m 0, m 1 that she sends to another party Bob in such a way that he can decide to obtain either of them at his choosing, but not both. Alice never finds out which message Bob received. First introduced by Wiesner as ‘conjugate coding’, this cryptographic tool was later introduced to the world of public-key cryptography, first by Rabin (in a slightly different form) and then by Even, Goldreich and Lempel who named it after Rabin's primitive, called oblivious transfer. The one-out-of-two oblivious transfer was later shown to be extremely powerful in designing general cryptographic tools. The current paper presents a new design for a one-out-of-two oblivious transfer based on the transmission of polarized light, improving the work of Wiesner and Bennett, Brassard, Breidbart and Wiesner, and shows that the scheme is robust to general attacks.
Immortalized Parkinson's disease lymphocytes have enhanced mitochondrial respiratory activity

ABSTRACT In combination with studies of post-mortem Parkinson's disease (PD) brains, pharmacological and genetic models of PD have suggested that two fundamental interacting cellular processes are impaired – proteostasis and mitochondrial respiration. We have re-examined the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in lymphoblasts isolated from individuals with idiopathic PD and an age-matched control group. As previously reported for various PD cell types, the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by PD lymphoblasts was significantly elevated. However, this was not due to an impairment of mitochondrial respiration, as is often assumed. Instead, basal mitochondrial respiration and ATP synthesis are dramatically elevated in PD lymphoblasts. The mitochondrial mass, genome copy number and membrane potential were unaltered, but the expression of indicative respiratory complex proteins was also elevated. This explains the increased oxygen consumption rates by each of the respiratory complexes in experimentally uncoupled mitochondria of iPD cells. However, it was not attributable to increased activity of the stress- and energy-sensing protein kinase AMPK, a regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis and activity. The respiratory differences between iPD and control cells were sufficiently dramatic as to provide a potentially sensitive and reliable biomarker of the disease state, unaffected by disease duration (time since diagnosis) or clinical severity. Lymphoblasts from control and PD individuals thus occupy two distinct, quasi-stable steady states; a ‘normal’ and a ‘hyperactive’ state characterized by two different metabolic rates. The apparent stability of the ‘hyperactive’ state in patient-derived lymphoblasts in the face of patient ageing, ongoing disease and mounting disease severity suggests an early, permanent switch to an alternative metabolic steady state. With its associated, elevated ROS production, the ‘hyperactive’ state might not cause pathology to cells that are rapidly turned over, but brain cells might accumulate long-term damage leading ultimately to neurodegeneration and the loss of mitochondrial function observed post-mortem. Whether the ‘hyperactive’ state in lymphoblasts is a biomarker specifically of PD or more generally of neurodegenerative disease remains to be determined. Editors' choice: Cultured Parkinson's disease lymphocytes are metabolically hyperactive, suggesting a new understanding of the underlying cytopathology and biomarkers for this and potentially other neurodegenerative diseases.
Enzymatic Shaving of the Tegument Surface of Live Schistosomes for Proteomic Analysis: A Rational Approach to Select Vaccine Candidates

Background The membrane-associated and membrane-spanning constituents of the Schistosoma mansoni tegument surface, the parasite's principal interface with the host bloodstream, have recently been characterized using proteomic techniques. Biotinylation of live worms using membrane-impermeant probes revealed that only a small subset of the proteins was accessible to the reagents. Their position within the multilayered architecture of the surface has not been ascertained. Methodology/Principal Findings An enzymatic shaving approach on live worms has now been used to release the most accessible components, for analysis by MS/MS. Treatment with trypsin, or phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PiPLC), only minimally impaired membrane integrity. PiPLC-enriched proteins were distinguished from those released in parasite vomitus or by handling damage, using isobaric tagging. Trypsin released five membrane proteins, Sm200, Sm25 and three annexins, plus host CD44 and the complement factors C3 and C4. Nutrient transporters and ion channels were absent from the trypsin fraction, suggesting a deeper location in the surface complex; surprisingly, two BAR-domain containing proteins were released. Seven parasite and two host proteins were enriched by PiPLC treatment, the vaccine candidate Sm29 being the most prominent along with two orthologues of human CD59, potentially inhibitors of complement fixation. The enzymes carbonic anhydrase and APD-ribosyl cyclase were also enriched, plus Sm200 and alkaline phosphatase. Host GPI-anchored proteins CD48 and CD90, suggest ‘surface painting’ during worm peregrination in the portal system. Conclusions/Significance Our findings suggest that the membranocalyx secreted over the tegument surface is not the inert barrier previously proposed, some tegument proteins being externally accessible to enzymes and thus potentially located within it. Furthermore, the detection of C3 and C4 indicates that the complement cascade is initiated, while two CD59 orthologues suggest a potential mechanism for its inhibition. The detection of several host proteins is a testimonial to the acquisitive properties of the tegument surface. The exposed parasite proteins could represent novel vaccine candidates for combating this neglected disease.
Random eigenvalue problems for bendingvibrations of beamsS

The paper deals with the determination of statistical characteristics of eigen-values for a class of ordinary diierential operators with random coeecients. This problem arises from the computation of eigenfrequencies for the bending vibrations of beams possessing random geometry and material properties. Representations of eigenvalues are found by applying the Ritz method and perturbation results for matrix eigenvalue problems. Approximations of the probability density function and the moments of the random eigenvalues are given by means of expansions in powers of the correlation length of weakly correlated random functions which are used for modelling the random terms. The eigenvalue statistics determined analytically are compared favourably with Monte-Carlo simulations.
Global Interior Robot Localisation by a Colour Content Image Retrieval System

We propose a new global localisation approach to determine a coarse position of a mobile robot in structured indoor space using colour-based image retrieval techniques. We use an original method of colour quantisation based on the baker's transformation to extract a two-dimensional colour pallet combining as well space and vicinity-related information as colourimetric aspect of the original image. We conceive several retrieving approaches bringing to a specific similarity measure integrating the space organisation of colours in the pallet. The baker's transformation provides a quantisation of the image into a space where colours that are nearby in the original space are also nearby in the output space, thereby providing dimensionality reduction and invariance to minor changes in the image. Whereas the distance provides for partial invariance to translation, sight point small changes, and scale factor. In addition to this study, we developed a hierarchical search module based on the logic classification of images following rooms. This hierarchical module reduces the searching indoor space and ensures an improvement of our system performances. Results are then compared with those brought by colour histograms provided with several similarity measures. In this paper, we focus on colour-based features to describe indoor images. A finalised system must obviously integrate other type of signature like shape and texture.
High suspended solids as a factor in reproductive failure of a freshwater mussel

Abstract. Elevated suspended solids are a widespread stressor of aquatic ecosystems, but their effects on growth and reproduction in freshwater mussels are largely unknown. We fertilized experimental ponds to create a gradient in total suspended solids (TSS) and examined the effects of TSS on growth, nutritional status, reproduction, and clearance rate in Ligumia subrostrata. The number of females that became gravid declined sharply with increasing TSS, and no gravid females were found in the highest TSS treatments. The proportion of gravid females was not related to the TSS organic∶inorganic ratio. Fertilization was an all-or-nothing phenomenon. In all females that did become gravid, 98 to 99% of eggs were fertilized regardless of TSS, and total fecundity was unrelated to TSS. Clearance rates declined sharply as TSS increased but showed a threshold relationship in which clearance was uniformly low at TSS > ∼8 mg/L. Reproductive failure probably was not caused by poor body condition or nutritional status because growth (length and mass) and energetic status (measured as caloric density) were not related to TSS. We propose 2 mechanisms that implicate interference of TSS with fertilization as the cause of reproductive failure. Reduced clearance rate could decrease the chance of females encountering suspended sperm during filter feeding, or an increase in pseudofeces production could bind sperm in mucus and lead to its egestion before fertilization. Interruption of fertilization coincident with high TSS is a potential mechanism to explain the lack of mussel recruitment in many locations. Monitoring and reduction of TSS, especially during the spawning season, may help create conditions necessary for maintenance and recovery of mussel populations. More research is needed to explore the generality of this pattern across a broad range of mussel species including those adapted to lotic environments or that use different brooding strategies.
27 How Understanding Trust Benefits E-Commerce KABIR SEHGAL

“Trust signalling is always undermined by the hi-jacking of the signalling systems by untrustworthy operators,” says Professor Kieron O’Hara. Signals of trustworthiness can be conveyed by a uniform, professional qualification, or a ritzy business card, for example (O’Hara, 2006). A police officer wears a uniform in order to be identified; so too can a criminal wear a police uniform to be misidentified as an officer. Trust may always be undermined, but the benefits of taking risks can outweigh the costs. O’Hara is describing how trust can be circumvented, but he is also describing perhaps the most salient characteristic of trust, risk. Risk is the possibility of suffering harm and losing something that is valued: “Trust implies uncertainty – and therefore risk,” (O’Hara, 2006). In order to trust, one must recognize the possibility of risk. I trust my friend to submit my paper for me, but I risk the possibility that he will forget to do so: “the antidote to perceived risk is trust,” (Boyd, 2003). More specifically, “Trust is not taking risk per se, but rather it is a willingness to take a risk,” (Mayer, et al., 1995).
Melatonin Promotes Oligodendroglial Maturation of Injured White Matter in Neonatal Rats

Objective To investigate the effects of melatonin treatment in a rat model of white matter damage (WMD) in the developing brain. Additionally, we aim to delineate the cellular mechanisms of melatonin effect on the oligodendroglial cell lineage. Methods A unilateral ligation of the uterine artery in pregnant rat at the embryonic day 17 induces fetal hypoxia and subsequent growth restriction (GR) in neonatal pups. GR and control pups received a daily intra-peritoneal injection of melatonin from birth to post-natal day (P) 3. Results Melatonin administration was associated with a dramatic decrease in microglial activation and astroglial reaction compared to untreated GR pups. At P14, melatonin prevented white matter myelination defects with an increased number of mature oligodendrocytes (APC-immunoreactive) in treated GR pups. Conversely, melatonin was not found to be associated with an increased density of total oligodendrocytes (Olig2-immunoreactive), suggesting that melatonin is able to promote oligodendrocyte maturation but not proliferation. These effects appear to be melatonin-receptor dependent and were reproduced in vitro. Interpretation These data suggest that melatonin has a strong protective effect on developing damaged white matter through decreased microglial activation and oligodendroglial maturation leading to a normalization of the myelination process. Consequently, melatonin should be a considered as an effective neuroprotective candidate not only in perinatal brain damage but also in inflammatory and demyelinating diseases observed in adults.
Improved Strongly Adaptive Online Learning using Coin Betting

This paper describes a new parameter-free online learning algorithm for changing environments. In comparing against algorithms with the same time complexity as ours, we obtain a strongly adaptive regret bound that is a factor of at least $\sqrt{\log(T)}$ better, where $T$ is the time horizon. Empirical results show that our algorithm outperforms state-of-the-art methods in learning with expert advice and metric learning scenarios.
Metrics in process discovery

The field of process mining aims at extracting knowledge from event logs. It has caught the attention of many developers, scientists, researchers and organizations that conform an active and growing community. This has lead to an increasing number of techniques being developed. However, it is hard to evaluate the results of these techniques because there is a recognized lack of frameworks and benchmarks for comparison and evaluation. Process discovery is a subfield of process mining whose focus is on the extraction of real process models (as-is). This survey gives a background on the field and groups the metrics that have been proposed to measure the results of different techniques w.r. t process discovery techniques. Moreover, it presents the range of values of these metrics reported in the literature and their implication in the resulting models extracted with process discovery techniques.
Searching for Communities in Bipartite Networks

Bipartite networks are a useful tool for representing and investigating interaction networks. We consider methods for identifying communities in bipartite networks. Intuitive notions of network community groups are made explicit using Newman's modularity measure. A specialized version of the modularity, adapted to be appropriate for bipartite networks, is presented; a corresponding algorithm is described for identifying community groups through maximizing this measure. The algorithm is applied to networks derived from the EU Framework Programs on Research and Technological Development. Community groups identified are compared using information‐theoretic methods.
Evolving 50–50% bilingual pedagogy in Alberta: what does the research say?

This paper outlines the provincial frameworks that define the Spanish bilingual program in Alberta, Canada, provides an historical overview of its pedagogic constraints and evolution, and proposes a framework for bilingual pedagogy. The framework is conceptualized from the research evidence of three local case studies, and is based on the centrality of cross-linguistic transfer, in relation to linguistic interdependence and bilingual learning.
Flow-induced shape of linear micelles

Nous calculons la distribution de la longueur micellaire vermiculaires d'un modele mesoscopique dans le modele classique 'bead-spring chain'. Pour la case de la modele de Rouse nous montrons la dependance de la distribution et du rheolgie en function des concentration micellaire, energie du cassure-recombinaison, et vitesse d'ecoulement.