Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Extension of the Fourier-Budan theorem to one-variable signomials

Let f(x) = a0x r0 + a1x r1 + · · · + akx rk , where each ai ∈ R, each rk ∈ N := {0, 1, . }, and r0 < r1 · · · < rk. Suppose u < v. Let z(f, u, v) = the number of roots of f in (u, v], counted with multiplicity. For any w ∈ R and n ∈ N, let s(f, w, n) = the number of sign-changes in the sequence f(w), f ′(w), f ′′(w), . , f (w) (skipping over zeros). Then the Fourier-Budan Theorem says that z(f, u, v) ≤ s(f, u, rk) − s(f, v, rk) and z(f, u, v) ≡ s(f, u, rk) − s(f, v, rk) (mod 2). In this paper we weaken the hypothesis of this theorem by allowing the exponents of f to be arbitrary real numbers; but we must then restrict u and v to be positive, to avoid non-real values of f(x). Our conclusion is then that there exists an N ∈ N such that for all n ≥ N , z(f, u, v) ≤ s(f, u, n) − s(f, v, n) and z(f, u, v) ≡ s(f, u, n) − s(f, v, n) (mod 2).
Role of the Contralesional Hemisphere in Post-Stroke Recovery of Upper Extremity Motor Function

Identification of optimal treatment strategies to improve recovery is limited by the incomplete understanding of the neurobiological principles of recovery. Motor cortex (M1) reorganization of the lesioned hemisphere (ipsilesional M1) plays a major role in post-stroke motor recovery and is a primary target for rehabilitation therapy. Reorganization of M1 in the hemisphere contralateral to the stroke (contralesional M1) may, however, serve as an additional source of cortical reorganization and related recovery. The extent and outcome of such reorganization depends on many factors, including lesion size and time since stroke. In the chronic phase post-stroke, contralesional M1 seems to interfere with motor function of the paretic limb in a subset of patients, possibly through abnormally increased inhibition of lesioned M1 by the contralesional M1. In such patients, decreasing contralesional M1 excitability by cortical stimulation results in improved performance of the paretic limb. However, emerging evidence suggests a potentially supportive role of contralesional M1. After infarction of M1 or its corticospinal projections, there is abnormally increased excitatory neural activity and activation in contralesional M1 that correlates with favorable motor recovery. Decreasing contralesional M1 excitability in these patients may result in deterioration of paretic limb performance. In animal stroke models, reorganizational changes in contralesional M1 depend on the lesion size and rehabilitation treatment and include long-term changes in neurotransmitter systems, dendritic growth, and synapse formation. While there is, therefore, some evidence that activity in contralesional M1 will impact the extent of motor function of the paretic limb in the subacute and chronic phase post-stroke and may serve as a new target for rehabilitation treatment strategies, the precise factors that specifically influence its role in the recovery process remain to be defined.
Endothelial Dysfunction Induced by Hyperhomocyst(e)inemia: Role of Asymmetric Dimethylarginine

Background—Endothelial function is impaired by hyperhomocyst(e)inemia. We have previously shown that homocyst(e)ine (Hcy) inhibits NO production by cultured endothelial cells by causing the accumulation of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA). The present study was designed to determine if the same mechanism is operative in humans. Methods and Results—We studied 9 patients with documented peripheral arterial disease (6 men; 3 women; age, 64±3 years), 9 age-matched individuals at risk for atherosclerosis (older adults; 9 men; age, 65±1 years), and 5 young control subjects (younger adults; 5 men; age, 31±1 years) without evidence of or risk factors for atherosclerosis. Endothelial function was measured by flow-mediated vasodilatation of the brachial artery before and 4 hours after a methionine-loading test (100 mg/kg body weight, administered orally). In addition, blood was drawn at both time points for measurements of Hcy and ADMA concentrations. Plasma Hcy increased after the methionine-loading test in each group (all, P <0.001). Plasma ADMA levels rose in all subjects, from 0.9±0.2 to 1.6±0.2 &mgr;mol/L in younger adults, from 1.5±0.2 to 3.0±0.4 &mgr;mol/L in older adults, and from 1.8±0.1 to 3.9±0.3 &mgr;mol/L in peripheral arterial disease patients (all, P <0.001). Flow-mediated vasodilatation was reduced from 13±2% to 10±1% in younger adults, from 6±1% to 5±1% in older adults, and from 7±1% to 3±1% in peripheral arterial disease patients (all, P <0.001). Furthermore, we found positive correlations between plasma Hcy and ADMA concentrations (P =0.03, r =0.450), as well as ADMA and flow-mediated vasodilatation (P =0.002, r =0.623). Conclusions—Our results suggest that experimental hyperhomocyst(e)inemia leads to accumulation of the endogenous NO synthase inhibitor ADMA, accompanied by varying degrees of endothelial dysfunction according to the preexisting state of cardiovascular health.
Virtualization gate

The virtual reality community developed solutions for immersion based on advanced display technologies, mainly head-mounted displays (HMDs) and immersive multi-projector environments like Caves. Though these environments provide an impressive sense of immersion, users are usually limited in the way they can interact with virtual objects. Their influence on the 3D world, including users appearance, is very limited, impairing the immersion experience. Limitations come from the ability to perceive data from the users. Usually in 3D environments, interactions rely on a 3D tracker providing the position, velocity and identification of a limited set of markers the user is equipped with. Avatars can be used to enforce the sense of presence, but they lack to provide detailed information about the actual user body position or visual appearance.
Conference management decision support system: A hybrid method for combining the reviewers' votes

The paper review process is a highly important sensitive task for every scientific conference and journal. This task is done by professional jury and expert evaluators. After collecting the opinions of reviewers, the final decision is made usually by the related track chair. The difference among the reviewers in terms of their proficiency level, strictness and their relevance to the paper subject makes the final decision difficult. In this paper, a hybrid method is presented for combining the reviewers' votes based on their previous records at past conferences. This system can act as a decision support system for technical chairs of conferences and journals.
Hedging and Coordinated Risk Management: Evidence from Thrift Conversions

We provide an explanation for hedging as a means of allocating rather than reducing risk. We argue that when increases in total risk are costly, firms optimally allocate risk by reducing (increasing) exposure to risks that provide zero (positive) economic rents. Our evidence shows that mutual thrifts that convert to stock institutions increase total risk following conversion, consistent with their increased abilities and incentives for risk taking. They achieve this increase by hedging interest-rate risk and increasing credit risk. We provide some evidence that risk-management activities are related to growth capacity and management compensation structure attained at conversion. Copyright The American Finance Association 1998.
Antioxidant Tempol Enhances Hypothermic Cerebral Preservation during Prolonged Cardiac Arrest in Dogs

The authors are systematically exploring pharmacologic preservation for temporarily unresuscitable exsanguination cardiac arrest in dogs. They hypothesized that the antioxidant Tempol improves cerebral outcome when added to aortic saline flush at the start of cardiac arrest. In study A, no drug (n = 8), Tempol 150 mg/kg (n = 4), or Tempol 300 mg/kg (n = 4) was added to 25 mL/kg saline flush at 24°C (achieving mild cerebral hypothermia) at the start of 20-minute cardiac arrest. In study B, no drug (n = 8) or Tempol 300 mg/kg (n = 7) was added to 50 mL/kg saline flush at 2°C (achieving moderate cerebral hypothermia) at the start of 40-minute cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest was reversed with cardiopulmonary bypass. Mild hypothermia lasted for 12 hours, controlled ventilation was sustained to 24 hours, and intensive care was provided for up to 72 hours. In study A, overall performance category 1 or 2 (good outcome) was achieved in all eight dogs treated with Tempol compared with three of eight dogs in the control group (P = 0.03). In study B, good outcome was achieved in all seven dogs treated with Tempol versus only two of 8 dogs in the control group (P = 0.007). In both studies, neurologic deficit scores were significantly better in the Tempol group, but not total histologic damage scores. At 72 hours, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy of Tempol revealed direct evidence for its presence in the brain. Single- and double-strand DNA damage, nitrotyrosine immunostaining, total antioxidant reserve, and ascorbate acid levels were similar between groups, and thiol levels were decreased after Tempol in study B. The authors conclude that when added to aortic saline flush at the start of prolonged cardiac arrest, the antioxidant Tempol can enhance mild or moderate hypothermic cerebral preservation in terms of improved functional outcome. The mechanisms involved in this beneficial effect need further clarification.
Sensorless speed control of induction motors using Adaptive Neural-Fuzzy inference system

This paper presents a new approach to the sensorless speed control of induction motors (IM). The new technique uses an Adaptive Neural Fuzzy Inference Systems (ANFIS) as a rotor speed estimator to avoid using mechanical sensor. This makes the reference model free of pure integration and less sensitive to stator resistance variations. The ANFIS has been trained offline to estimate the rotor speed in wide range of operation and has been implemented online to perform filed-oriented control of IM. The data for training the ANFIS are obtained from experimental measurements based on the current model, avoiding voltage and flux sensors. This has the advantage of considering all drive nonlinearities. Control loops of rotor speed and stator currents employ Fuzzy-PI (FPI) controller. The input-output scale factors of all FPI systems are tuned using Genetic Algorithms (GA) to achieve better results. Experimental results prove that the proposed method has high precision and good dynamic quality in speed estimation and control.
Real-time LED Music Visualizer

FlexPRET [9] is a processor platform for mixedcriticality systems, which can provide accurate timing control guarantees at the architecture level. In this course project, we utilize FlexPRET as a Real-time Unit (RTU) and build a realtime LED music visualizer that can drive seven LED strips and output audio signal synchronously.
Book Values, Earnings, and Market Valuations

This article develops a family of stock valuation models that are based on book values and earnings. The modeling approach can be consistent with a large class of allowable dividend policies and does not require an explicit forecast of future book values. Reconciling empirical evidence, the model determined expected rate of return is related to book-to-market and earnings yield. Model implementation using S&P 500 stocks yields several empirical results. First, the performance yardsticks indicate that the models show promise in explaining market valuations. Second, both book and earnings considerations are crucial in stock valuation. Finally, zero-dividend and negative earnings stocks present no particular valuation hurdles with reasonable goodness-of-fit statistics.
Mechanically-Tunable Photonic Devices with On-Chip Integrated MEMS/NEMS Actuators

This article reviews mechanically-tunable photonic devices with on-chip integrated MEMS/NEMS actuators. With related reports mostly published within the last decade, this review focuses on the tuning mechanisms of various passive silicon photonic devices, including tunable waveguides, couplers, ring/disk resonators, and photonic crystal cavities, and their results are selectively elaborated upon and compared. Applications of the mechanisms are also discussed. Future development of mechanically-tunable photonics is considered and one possible approach is based on plasmonics, which can confine light energy in the nano-scale space. Optomechanics is another innovation, derived from the strong coupling of optical and mechanical degrees of freedom. State-of-the-art studies of mechanically-tunable plasmonics and on-chip optomechanics are also selectively reviewed.
Register file exploration for a multi-standard wireless forward error correction ASIP

Given the increase in the number of wireless standards, software defined radio has emerged as a cost effective way of supporting multiple standards on the same platform architecture. Embedded systems with such platforms need to power efficient and meet the real time constraints of these wireless standards. Register Files are known to be power and performance bottlenecks in high performance low power embedded processors. Given the strict power constraints and real-time performance constraints of these applications a comprehensive study of the register file architecture is needed to reach the most optimal architecture. In this paper we perform an in depth analysis on different register file architectures and their configurations for wireless forward error correction algorithms of different wireless standards like 802.11n and 802.16e. We analyze the traditional clustered register file, hierarchical register file, stream register file as well as asymmetrical register files and show that there are various trade-offs between power and performance across these different architectures.
Molecular techniques for the study and diagnosis of parasite infection

In parasitology, routine laboratory diagnosis involves conventional methods, such as optical microscopy, used for the morphological identification of parasites. Currently, molecular biology techniques are increasingly used to diagnose parasite structures in order to enhance the identification and characterization of parasites. The objective of the present study was to review the main current and new diagnostic techniques for confirmation of parasite infections, namely: polymerase chain reaction (PCR), real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), Luminex xMAP, random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), in addition to microsatellites. Molecular assays have comprehensively assisted in the diagnosis, treatment and epidemiological studies of parasitic diseases that affect people worldwide, helping to control parasitic disease mortality.
Is it Real, or is it Randomized?: A Financial Turing Test

We construct a financial "Turing test" to determine whether human subjects can differentiate between actual vs. randomized financial returns. The experiment consists of an online video-game (http://arora.ccs.neu.edu) where players are challenged to distinguish actual financial market returns from random temporal permutations of those returns. We find overwhelming statistical evidence (p-values no greater than 0.5%) that subjects can consistently distinguish between the two types of time series, thereby refuting the widespread belief that financial markets "look random. " A key feature of the experiment is that subjects are given immediate feedback regarding the validity of their choices, allowing them to learn and adapt. We suggest that such novel interfaces can harness human capabilities to process and extract information from financial data in ways that computers cannot.
An efficient energy-aware mechanism for virtual machine migration

A major concern for cloud infrastructure providers is to decrease both their carbon footprint and their energy consumption. In this paper, we propose an elastic and energy-aware virtual machine migration mechanism that decreases power consumption by turning off physical machines and turns them on according to the demand. We develop heuristics that reallocate virtual machines in a smaller number of physical machines, turns off the idle physical machines and, consequently, saves energy. When the demand increases, the proposal turns on physical machines to supply the required resources. The contributions of the paper are four-fold: i) an efficient and elastic mechanism for energy saving on data centers; ii) a simple formal model for minimization of idle physical machines; iii) an implementation in a real environment, and iv) a simulation of the optimization algorithm for larger scenarios. The mechanism was developed and tested in Future Internet Testbed with Security (FITS). The results show the effectiveness of the mechanism on reallocating virtual machines to decrease power consumption.
On some stochastic mirror descent methods for constrained online optimization problems

Задача выпуклой онлайн-оптимизации естественно возникают в случаях, когда имеет место обновления статистической информации. Для задач негладкой оптимизации хорошо известен метод зеркального спуска. Зеркальный спуск — это расширение субградиентного метода для решения негладких выпуклых задач оптимизации на случай неевкидова расстояния. Работа посвящена стохастическим аналогам недавно предложенных методов зеркального спуска для задач выпуклой онлайн-оптимизации с выпуклыми липшицевыми (вообще говоря, негладкими) функциональными ограничениями. Это означает, что вместо (суб)градиента целевого функционала и функционального ограничения мы используем их стохастические (суб)градиенты. Точнее говоря, допустим, что на замкнутом подмножестве n-мерного векторного пространства задано N выпуклых липшицевых негладких функционалов. Рассматривается задача минимизации среднего арифметического этих функционалов с выпуклым липшицевым ограничением. Предложены два метода для решения этой задачи с использованием стохастических (суб)градиентов: адаптивный (не требует знания констант Липшица ни для целевого функционала, ни для ограничения), а также неадаптивный (требует знания константы Липшица для целевого функционала и ограничения). Отметим, что разрешено вычислять стохастический (суб)градиент каждого целевого функционала только один раз. В случае неотрицательного регрета мы находим, что количество непродуктивных шагов равно O(N), что указывает на оптимальность предложенных методов. Мы рассматриваем произвольную прокс-структуру, что существенно для задач принятия решений. Приведены результаты численных экспериментов, позволяющие сравнить работу адаптивного и неадаптивного методов для некоторых примеров. Показано, что адаптивный метод может позволить существенно улучшить количество найденного решения.
A zero-knowledge authentication for Wireless Sensor Networks based on congruence

The three critical resources in any cluster based Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are Sensor Nodes (SN), Cluster Head (CH) and Base Station (BS). The main job of Cluster Head is to send all the aggregated data collected from multiple sensor Nodes to the Base Station. But before sending the data, the Cluster Head must be perfectly sure about the actual identity of Base Station. If any intruder acts as Base Station and receives the aggregated data the entire security of the network is spoiled. To avoid this, the authenticity of the base station needs to be checked by cluster head before sending any data. Many asymmetric authentication techniques like digital signatures are difficult to implement in resource constraint sensor Nodes. A zero-knowledge proof protocol is a powerful cryptographic system that can be applied in many cryptographic applications and operations such as identification, authentication, key exchange and others, but many of the existing zero knowledge proof of identity involves exponential calculations which are not suitable for WSN. To overcome the limitations of the existing techniques, the proposed protocol provides Zero knowledge proof identity using congruence equations. Here, Triplet simultaneous linear congruence equations are used to subdivide a whole secret into three shares. A part of a secret is used as identity of the base station and stored in it. The Base Station won't reveal the part of secret stored in it to the Cluster Head but the Cluster Head confirms the true identity without getting the actual secret from Base Station. In this scheme, the Cluster Heads need to solve only congruence equations which need only limited computation and memory. When the proposed protocol is compared with existing protocols it shows that it provide instant authentication, with minimum memory utilization and withstand many attacks.
Das Potenzial von Virtual Reality für den schulischen Unterricht - Eine konstruktivistische Sicht

Aufgabe von Schule muss es sein, Heranwachsende auf die sich stetig wandelnden Anforderungen einer digitalisierten und medialisierten Arbeits- und Lebenswelt vorzubereiten. Hierzu ist es einerseits erforderlich solche Medien in das Lehr-Lern-Geschehen einzubeziehen, die nicht nur eine Gegenwarts-, sondern insbesondere auch eine Zukunftsbedeutung für die Heranwachsenden haben. Durch die stetige Neu- und Weiterentwicklung von Lern- und Unterrichtsmedien stehen Schulen darüber hinaus vor der Herausforderung, eine Balance zwischen einer didaktisch sinnvollen Medienvielfalt, technischer Funktionalität der verfügbaren Medien und den Grenzen des vorhandenen Budgets immer wieder neu auszutarieren.Im Zuge des technologischen Wandels wird insbesondere VR-Medien (Virtual-Reality-Medien) das Potenzial zugesprochen, den Lernerfolg von Schülerinnen und Schülern zu steigern und ein konstruktivistisches Lernen zu fördern. Da VR-Medien jedoch in der schulischen Praxis bislang ein Schattendasein führen, soll der vorliegende Beitrag Impulse setzen, insbesondere im Hinblick auf das didaktische Potenzial zum Einsatz von Virtual Reality im schulischen Unterricht. Zudem werden Rahmenbedingungen und Erfordernisse benannt, die für einen erfolgreichen Einsatz moderner Medientechnologien im Unterricht Berücksichtigung finden sollten, denn wie bei anderen Medien auch, führt der blosse Einsatz dieser Technologie nicht per se zu einem gesteigerten Lernerfolg.
Collaborative policy-based autonomic management: In a hierarchical model

In this paper we address some of the main challenges in collaboration between different autonomic managers in a policy-based management environment. We focus on three main questions: how should managers collaborate with each other, when do they need to collaborate and what information do they need to exchange in communication. In our initial investigation, we explore a hierarchical model for organizing the autonomic managers. We evaluate the approach via a prototype inspired by cloud providers' virtualized infrastructure and show how collaboration between managers in a hierarchy can improve the response time of a web server and avoid SLA violations.
Catasetum sophiae, a new species of Orchidaceae (Catasetinae) from northern Brazil

A new taxon, native to the shores of the Curiquidi pond, in the State of Amazonas, is described and illustrated. In the shape of the labellum, it is similar to Catasetum callosum and to C. transversicallosum. However, as far as the antennae are considered, C. sophiae is more similar to C. yavitaense. Placed in the section Isoceras with convergent antennae, C. sophiae can be distinguished to all the members of this group by its labellum mainly characterised by its saccate portion with margin entire or sparsely ciliated, and particularly by its glabrous frontal lobe furnished with a laterally compressed table-shaped callus projected forward. Besides, the frontal lobe is elongated in C. yavitaense and short and truncate in C. sophiae.