Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
LP Solvable Models for Portfolio Optimization : A Survey and Comparison-Part I

The Markowitz model of portfolio optimization quantifies the problem in a lucid form of only two criteria: the mean, representing the expected outcome, and the risk, a scalar measure of the variability of outcomes. The classical Markowitz model uses the variance as the risk measure, thus resulting in a quadratic optimization problem. Following Sharpe’s work on linear approximation to the mean–variance model, many attempts have been made to linearize the portfolio optimization problem. There were introduced several alternative risk measures which are computationally attractive as (for discrete random variables) they result in solving linear programming (LP) problems. The LP solvability is very important for applications to real-life financial decisions where the constructed portfolios have to meet numerous side constraints and take into account transaction costs. The variety of LP solvable portfolio optimization models presented in the literature generates a need for their classification and comparison. It is the main goal of our work. The first part provides a systematic overview of the LP solvable models with a wide discussion of their theoretical properties. The second part will present results of an experimental comparison of the models.
Adaptive Workload Management in Mixed-Criticality Systems

Due to the efficient resource usage of integrating tasks with different criticality onto a shared platform, the integration with mixed-criticality tasks is becoming an increasingly important trend in the design of real-time systems. One challenge in such a mixed-criticality system is to maximize the service for low-critical tasks, while meeting the timing constraints of high-critical tasks. In this article, we investigate how to adaptively manage the low-critical workload during runtime to meet both goals, that is, providing the service for low-critical tasks as much as possible and guaranteeing the hard real-time requirements for high-critical tasks. Unlike previous methods, which enforce an offline bound towards the low-critical workload, runtime adaptation approaches are proposed in which the incoming workload of low-critical tasks is adaptively regulated by considering the actual demand of high-critical tasks. This actual demand of the high-critical tasks, in turn, is adaptively updated using their historical arrival information. Based on this adaptation scheme, two scheduling policies—the priority-adjustment policy and the workload-shaping policy—are proposed to do the workload management. In order to reduce online management overhead, a lightweight scheme with O(n · log(n)) complexity is developed. Extensive simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed workload management approaches.
Description logic programs: combining logic programs with description logic

We show how to interoperate, semantically and inferentially, between the leading Semantic Web approaches to rules (RuleML Logic Programs) and ontologies (OWL/DAML+OIL Description Logic) via analyzing their expressive intersection. To do so, we define a new intermediate knowledge representation (KR) contained within this intersection: Description Logic Programs (DLP), and the closely related Description Horn Logic (DHL) which is an expressive fragment of first-order logic (FOL). DLP provides a significant degree of expressiveness, substantially greater than the RDF-Schema fragment of Description Logic. We show how to perform DLP-fusion: the bidirectional translation of premises and inferences (including typical kinds of queries) from the DLP fragment of DL to LP, and vice versa from the DLP fragment of LP to DL. In particular, this translation enables one to "build rules on top of ontologies": it enables the rule KR to have access to DL ontological definitions for vocabulary primitives (e.g., predicates and individual constants) used by the rules. Conversely, the DLP-fusion technique likewise enables one to "build ontologies on top of rules": it enables ontological definitions to be supplemented by rules, or imported into DL from rules. It also enables available efficient LP inferencing algorithms/implementations to be exploited for reasoning over large-scale DL ontologies.
OpenFlow Needs You! A Call for a Discussion about a Cleaner OpenFlow API

Software defined networks are poised to dramatically simplify deployment and management of networks. OpenFlow, in particular, is becoming popular and starts being deployed. While the definition of the "northbound" API that can be used by the new services to interact with an OpenFlow controller is receiving considerable attention, the traditional, "southbound", API that is used to program OpenFlow switches is far from perfect. In this paper, we analyze the current OpenFlow API and its usage in several controllers and show semantic differences between the intended and actual use. Thus, we argue for making the OpenFlow API clean and simple. In particular, we propose to mimic the process that exists in the Python community for deriving changes that result in a preferably only one, obvious way of performing a task. Toward this end, we propose three OpenFlow Enhancement Proposals: i) providing positive acknowledgment, ii) informing the controller about "silent" modifications, and iii) providing a partial order synchronization primitive.
Multiplexity and multireciprocity in directed multiplexes

Real-world multilayer networks feature nontrivial dependencies among links of different layers. Here we argue that if links are directed, then dependencies are twofold. Besides the ordinary tendency of links of different layers to align as the result of "multiplexity," there is also a tendency to antialign as a result of what we call "multireciprocity," i.e., the fact that links in one layer can be reciprocated by opposite links in a different layer. Multireciprocity generalizes the scalar definition of single-layer reciprocity to that of a square matrix involving all pairs of layers. We introduce multiplexity and multireciprocity matrices for both binary and weighted multiplexes and validate their statistical significance against maximum-entropy null models that filter out the effects of node heterogeneity. We then perform a detailed empirical analysis of the world trade multiplex (WTM), representing the import-export relationships between world countries in different commodities. We show that the WTM exhibits strong multiplexity and multireciprocity, an effect which is, however, largely encoded into the degree or strength sequences of individual layers. The residual effects are still significant and allow us to classify pairs of commodities according to their tendency to be traded together in the same direction and/or in opposite ones. We also find that the multireciprocity of the WTM is significantly lower than the usual reciprocity measured on the aggregate network. Moreover, layers with low (high) internal reciprocity are embedded within sets of layers with comparably low (high) mutual multireciprocity. This suggests that, in the WTM, reciprocity is inherent to groups of related commodities rather than to individual commodities. We discuss the implications for international trade research focusing on product taxonomies, the product space, and fitness and complexity metrics.
An application of the theory of semi–Markov processes in simulation

Importance Sampling (IS) is a well-known Monte Carlo method which is used in order to estimate expectations with respect to a target distribution π, using a sample from another distribution g and weighting properly the output. Here, we consider IS from a different point of view. By considering the weights as sojourn times until the next jump, we associate a jump process with the weighted sample. Under certain conditions, the associated jump process is an ergodic semiMarkov process with stationary distribution π. Besides its theoretical interest, the proposed point of view has also interesting applications. Working along the lines of the above approach, we are allowed to run more convenient Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithms. This can prove to be very useful when applied in conjunction with a discretization of the state space.
Prognosis in relation to blood pressure variability: con side of the argument.

Blood pressure variability includes short-term, circadian, and long-term components. Assessment of blood pressure variability requires multiple readings obtained within a single or several visits, by home or 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, or by beat-to-beat recordings. Factors that affect visit-to-visit and diurnal blood pressure variability, as reviewed elsewhere1–6 include ethnicity,1 sex,2,3 age,2,3 hypertension,3 body mass index,2,3 use of β-blockers,3,4 a history of cardiovascular disease,2,5 renal dysfunction,5 diabetes mellitus,2 a sedentary lifestyle,5 and socioeconomic position.6 The prognostic significance of blood pressure variability remains controversial. Some studies reported association of end-organ damage,7–9 cardiovascular events,4,10–15 or mortality5 with blood pressure variability, whereas others failed to do so or found variability to be inferior to the level of blood pressure.3,16,17 Several publications proposing that the magnitude of the morning blood pressure surge predicted stroke,18 in particular cerebral hemorrhage,19 or cardiovascular endpoints20 remained unconfirmed in recently published large-scale observational studies.21–23 This review will address the current controversy on the morning blood pressure surge, highlight the methodological problems in capturing blood pressure variability, and illustrate how large international population studies and a clinical trial do not support blood pressure variability as target in the management of hypertension. Current indexes of blood pressure variability raise methodological issues related to their poor reproducibility, their interdependence, and their association with the level of blood pressure. We will use the morning surge in blood pressure as a showcase to highlight how inconsistent definitions and poor reproducibility limit the clinical applicability of indexes of blood pressure variability. In 2003, Kario et al18 introduced 2 definitions of …
Biological treatments for moderate‐to‐severe psoriasis: indirect comparison

Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease for which there is an increasing range of treatment options. Biological agents (ustekinumab, adalimumab, infliximab and etanercept) are indicated for moderate‐to‐severe plaque‐type psoriasis in adults who fail to respond to, have a contraindication to, or are intolerant to other systemic therapies including cyclosporine, methotrexate and PUVA Unfortunately, with new drugs, the pivotal trials leading to their licensing are often placebo‐controlled trials rather than comparative trials vs. established therapies. Therefore, inference on comparative effectiveness of the newer agents must be derived indirectly, through estimation of effects of the new agents vs. a common comparator. The objective of this study is to compare the relative efficacy of the biological agents through a systematic review of the indirect clinical trial evidence.
Hydrodynamic stress induces monoterpenoid oxindole alkaloid accumulation by Uncaria tomentosa (Willd) D. C. cell suspension cultures via oxidative burst

Uncaria tomentosa cell suspension cultures were grown in a 2‐L stirred tank bioreactor operating at a shear rate $\dot \gamma _{\rm avg} = 86\,{\rm s}^{ - 1} $. The cultures showed an early monophasic oxidative burst measured as H2O2 production (2.15 µmol H2O2 g−1 dw). This response was followed by a transient production of monoterpenoid oxindole alkaloids (178 ± 40 µg L−1 at 24 h). At the stationary phase (144 h), the increase of the shear rate $\dot \gamma _{{\rm avg}} $ up to 150 s−1 and/or oxygen tension up to 85% generated H2O2, restoring oxindole alkaloid production. U. tomentosa cells cultured in Erlenmeyer flasks also exhibited the monophasic oxidative burst but the H2O2 production was 16‐fold lower and the alkaloids were not detected. These cells exposed to H2O2 generated in situ produced oxindole alkaloids reaching a maximum of 234 ± 40 µg L−1. A positive correlation was observed between the oxindole alkaloid production and the endogenous H2O2 level. On the other hand, addition of 1 µM diphenyleneiodonium (NAD(P)H oxidase inhibitor) or 10 µM sodium azide (peroxidases inhibitor) reduced both H2O2 production and oxindole alkaloids build up, suggesting that these enzymes might play a role in the oxidative burst induced by the hydrodynamic stress. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2007; 98: 230–238. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The selection index--then, now, and for the future.

When improvement is desired for several traits that may differ in variability, heritability, economic importance, and in the correlation among their phenotypes and genotypes, simultaneous multiple-trait index selection was more effective than independent culling levels or sequential selection. Such comparisons required definition of aggregate breeding value determined jointly by breeding values and economic importance of the component traits. The economic weight should approximate the partial regression of cost per unit of enterprise output value on breeding value for each trait. These can vary with production and marketing system, with performance of traits, and with breed role (i.e., paternal, maternal, or general) in crossbreeding systems. Genetic gains desired to maintain competitive ranking also may define the relative importance of traits. Because information available to estimate breeding values varies among the ages and categories of individuals under selection and because means are unknown, regressed (BLUP) predictions of trait breeding values are useful. They allow appropriate economic weights to be applied as the last step for predicting aggregate breeding values for individuals of different age classes, and they simplify choosing the proportions of selected breeders from each age class that maximize rate of change in aggregate breeding values. Inappropriate economic weights or errors in the parameters used to predict trait breeding values overestimate realized response in true aggregate breeding value.
Human L1 Retrotransposition: cisPreference versus trans Complementation

ABSTRACT Long interspersed nuclear elements (LINEs or L1s) comprise approximately 17% of human DNA; however, only about 60 of the ∼400,000 L1s are mobile. Using a retrotransposition assay in cultured human cells, we demonstrate that L1-encoded proteins predominantly mobilize the RNA that encodes them. At much lower levels, L1-encoded proteins can act in trans to promote retrotransposition of mutant L1s and other cellular mRNAs, creating processed pseudogenes. Mutant L1 RNAs are mobilized at 0.2 to 0.9% of the retrotransposition frequency of wild-type L1s, whereas cellular RNAs are mobilized at much lower frequencies (ca. 0.01 to 0.05% of wild-type levels). Thus, we conclude that L1-encoded proteins demonstrate a profoundcis preference for their encoding RNA. This mechanism could enable L1 to remain retrotransposition competent in the presence of the overwhelming number of nonfunctional L1s present in human DNA.
State of stress in central and eastern North American seismic zones

We use a Bayesian analysis to determine the state of stress from focal mechanisms in ten seismic zones in central and eastern North America and compare it with regional stress inferred from borehole measurements. Comparisons of the seismologically determined azimuth of the maximum horizontal compressive stress (S HS ) with that determined from boreholes (S HB ) exhibit a bimodal pattern: In four zones, the S HS and regional S HB orientations are closely parallel, whereas in the Charlevoix, Lower St. Lawrence, and Central Virginia zones, the S HS azimuth shows a statistically significant 30°-50° clockwise rotation relative to the regional S HB azimuth. This pattern is exemplified by the northwest and southeast seismicity clusters in Charlevoix, which yield S HS orientations strictly parallel and strongly oblique, respectively, to the regional S HB trend. Similar ~30° clockwise rotations are found for the North Appalachian zone and for the 2003 Bardwell earthquake sequence north of the New Madrid zone. The S HB /S HS rotations occur over 20-100 km in each seismic zone, but they are observed in zones separated by distances of up to 1500 km. A possible mechanism for the stress rotations may be the interaction between a long-wavelength stress perturbation source, such as postglacial rebound, and local stress concentrators, such as low-friction faults. The latter would allow low-magnitude (<10 MPa) postglacial rebound stresses to locally perturb the preexisting stress field in some seismic zones, whereas postglacial rebound stresses have little effect on the intraplate state of stress in general. © 2010 Geological Society of America.
STABILITY OF OPEN MULTICLASS QUEUEING NETWORKS VIA FLUID MODELS

This paper surveys recent work on the stability of open multiclass queueing networks via fluid models. We recapitulate the stability result of Dai [8]. To facilitate study of the converse of the stability result, we distinguish between the notion of fluid limit and that of fluid solution. We define the stability region of a service discipline and the global stability region of a network. Examples show that piecewise linear Lyapunov functions are powerful tools in determining stability regions. Stability, queueing networks, fluid models, scheduling, performance analysis, Harris recurrence, heavy traffic, Brownian models.
Correlation between colonic motility and defecatory disorders after anterior resection of the rectum in canine models

Abstract The objective of this study was to describe the correlation between changes in colonic motility and defecatory disorders in four experimental canine models, with an emphasis on denervation. Therefore, we constructed a model by dividing 20 healthy mongrel dogs into four groups, i.e. control, denervation, transection and anterior resection of the rectum (AR) (denervation plus transection), and focused on the correlation between colonic motility and defecatory disorders by counting the colonic migrating motor complexes (CMMCs) and colonic non‐migrating motor complexes (CNMCs). Gastrointestinal and colonic contractile activities were continuously recorded on a computer with strain gauge force transducers. The dogs’ feces were checked daily, and their consistency was recorded as normal, semisolid, or watery. Compared with the control group, the transection group showed elongation of the propagation time (P < 0.05), and the mean motility index of colonic contractile activity at C4 and C5 in the denervation group was greater than that in the control group (P < 0.05). The AR group showed three features of colonic motility: (i) elongation of the mean CMMC cycle (P < 0.05); (ii) shortening of the propagation time (P < 0.05); and (iii) increment of the number of CNMCs. Concerning fecal consistency, the AR group only showed watery diarrhoea. In conclusion, we revealed the existence of a correlation between defecatory disorders and changes in colonic motility. Increased knowledge among colorectal surgeons of the changes in colonic motility that occur following colorectal surgery is very important and could lead to the curtailment of defecatory disorders among patients.
Joint Transmit/Receive Antenna Selection for MIMO Systems: A Real-Valued Genetic Approach

This study proposes a new antenna selection (AS) method using the real-valued genetic algorithm (RVGA) to improve the channel capacity of multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO) systems. By defining a score function based on channel capacity, AS can be formulated as an optimization problem over a multidimensional real space, and solved by implementing the RVGA method. The simulation results show that the performance of the proposed RVGA AS provides approximately the same achievable rates as the optimal exhaustive search (ES) AS, while maintaining a moderate computational load.
Donor‐Directed MHC Class I Antibody Is Preferentially Cleared from Sensitized Recipients of Combined Liver/Kidney Transplants

For patients with chronic renal and liver diseases, simultaneous liver and kidney transplantation (SLKT) is the best therapeutic option. The role of a pretransplant donor‐specific antibody (DSA) in SLKT is unclear. We report the results of a retrospective review from 7/08 to 10/09 of SLKT at our institution. Monitoring of DSA was performed using single antigen bead assay. Between 7/08 and 10/09, there were six SLKT who had preformed DSA and positive XM (four class I and II DSA, one class I DSA only, one class II only). One‐year patient and renal graft survival was 83%. Death‐censored liver allograft survival was 100%. Acute humoral rejection (AHR) of the kidney occurred in 66% (three with both class I and II DSA and one with only class II DSA) of patients. In those with AHR, class I antibodies were rapidly cleared (p < 0.01) while class II antibodies persisted (p = 0.25). All patients who had humoral rejection of their kidney had preformed anticlass II antibodies. Liver allografts may not be fully protective of the renal allograft, especially with pre‐existing MHC class II DSA. Long‐term and careful follow‐up will be critical to determine the impact of DSA on both allografts.
Convection-enhanced delivery of boronated epidermal growth factor for molecular targeting of EGF receptor-positive gliomas.

Convection enhanced delivery (CED) is potentially a powerful method to improvethe targeting of macromolecules to the central nervous system by applying a pressure gradient to establish bulk flow through the brain interstitium during infusion. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate CED as a means to improve the intracerebral and intratumoral (i.t.) uptake of a heavily boronated macromolecule (dendrimer; BD) linked to epidermal growth factor (EGF) for neutron capture therapy in rats bearing a syngeneic epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) + glioma. Boronated EGF was radiolabeled with 125I and administered by CED at a rate of 0.33 micro l/min for 15, 30, and 60 min [infusion volumes (V(I)) of 5, 10, and 20 micro l, respectively], using a syringe pump connected to an indwelling cannula implanted into the right caudate nucleus of normal rats or i.t. in rats bearing either F98(EGFR) or F98 wild-type (F98(WT)) gliomas. After infusion, rats were euthanized, and their brains were removed and serially sectioned. The uptake and biodistribution of (125)I-boronated EGF in tumor or brain was studied by quantitative autoradiography and gamma-scintillation counting. The volume of distribution (V(d)) in brain was assessed using a computer interfaced image analysis system. After CED, the V(d) increased from 34.4 to 123.5 micro l with corresponding V(i) ranging from 5 to 20 micro l. The V(d) of BD-EGF in the brain was 64.8 +/- 13.4 micro l with CED (V(i) 10 micro ), and the V(d):V(i) ratio was 6.5 compared with a V(d) of 9.4 +/- 1.6 micro l and a V(d):V(i) ratio of 0.9 after direct intracerebral injection. As determined by quantitative autoradiography and gamma-scintillation counting at 24 h after CED, 47.4% of the injected dose per gram tissue (%ID/g) was localized in F98(EGFR) gliomas compared with 33.2%ID/g after direct i.t. injection and 12.3%ID/g in F98(WT) gliomas. On the basis of these observations, we have concluded that CED is more effective than i.t. injection as a way to deliver boronated EGF to EGFR (+) gliomas for boron neutron capture therapy.