Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Topic Models over Text Streams: A Study of Batch and Online Unsupervised Learning

Automated unsupervised learning of topic-based clusters is used in various text data mining applications, e.g., document organization in content management, information retrieval and filtering in news aggregation services. Typically batch models are used for this purpose, which perform clustering on the document collection in aggregate. In this paper, we first analyze three batch topic models that have been recently proposed in the machine learning and data mining community – Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), Dirichlet Compound Multinomial (DCM) mixtures and von-Mises Fisher (vMF) mixture models. Our discussion uses a common framework based on the particular assumptions made regarding the conditional distributions corresponding to each component and the topic priors. Our experiments on large real-world document collections demonstrate that though LDA is a good model for finding word-level topics, vMF finds better document-level topic clusters more efficiently, which is often important in text mining applications. In cases where offline clustering on complete document collections is infeasible due to resource constraints, online unsupervised clustering methods that process incoming data incrementally are necessary. To this end, we propose online variants of vMF, EDCM and LDA. Experiments on real-world streaming text illustrate the speed and performance benefits of online vMF. Finally, we propose a practical heuristic for hybrid topic modeling, which learns online topic models on streaming text data and intermittently runs batch topic models on aggregated documents offline. Such a hybrid model is useful for applications (e.g., dynamic topic-based aggregation of consumer-generated content in social networking sites) that need a good tradeoff between the performance of batch offline algorithms and efficiency of incremental online algorithms.
Sequence clustering and labeling for unsupervised query intent discovery

One popular form of semantic search observed in several modern search engines is to recognize query patterns that trigger instant answers or domain-specific search, producing semantically enriched search results. This often requires understanding the query intent in addition to the meaning of the query terms in order to access structured data sources. A major challenge in intent understanding is to construct a domain-dependent schema and to annotate search queries based on such a schema, a process that to date has required much manual annotation effort. We present an unsupervised method for clustering queries with similar intent and for producing a pattern consisting of a sequence of semantic concepts and/or lexical items for each intent. Furthermore, we leverage the discovered intent patterns to automatically annotate a large number of queries beyond those used in clustering. We evaluated our method on 10 selected domains, discovering over 1400 intent patterns and automatically annotating 125K (and potentially many more) queries. We found that over 90% of patterns and 80% of instance annotations tested are judged to be correct by a majority of annotators.
Usable presentation of secure pseudonyms

Privacy-Enhancing Identity Management (PIM) enables us-ers to control which personal information they provide to their communication partner(s) by partitioning their personal information into partial identities for themselves. Since partial identities must not be linkable, they cannot share a global name. Therefore, pseudonyms are used as identifiers.We discuss in this paper that besides the frequency of their use also the (re)presentation of pseudonyms influences the achievable privacy. Particularly, we point out that conflicting requirements on privacy and usability cannot be sufficiently considered by a single type of representation of pseudonyms. Hence, a PIM system should generate digital pseudonyms which are used for communication, while users assign local mnemonics to these pseudonyms in order to simplify their use. We discuss possible solutions for the support of mnemonics and, thereby, propose some improvements to privacy-enhancing identity management tools.
Influence of Power Changes in Single Cut Rigid Contact Lenses on Tear Pump Efficiency

Differences between corneal oxygen uptake rates measured after 5 min of static (without blinking) and 5 min of dynamic (with blinking once every 5 s) non-gas permeable (polymethyl methacrylate) contact lens wear, referenced to the oxygen uptake rates of the normal open eye, were used as indications of tear pump efficiencies associated with each of seven contact lens back vertex powers (–9.00 to +9.00 D, in 3.00 D steps). Measurements were made in vivo on six human corneas showing with-the-rule (0.25 to 0.87 D) toricity. Lens overall diameter was 8.8 mm, optic zone diameter was 7.4 mm, and base curve radius was fitted “on K. ” Lens center thickness was 0.14 mm for all minus-powered lenses, and 0.19,0.26, 0.34, and 0.41 mm for the piano, +3.00, +6.00, and +9.00 D lenses, respectively, maintaining an edge thickness of 0.11 mm. Under both static and dynamic wearing conditions, no significant differences were found among the corneal oxygen uptake rates associated with the various contact lens back vertex powers; however, the difference between the static and dynamic condition data, an indication of tear pump efficiency, was greatest for the –3.00 D lens. The difference values associated with the +9.00 and +6.00 D lenses were significantly lower than those associated with the minus power lenses
Minimally invasive surgery

Minimally invasive surgery is replacing the traditional open surgical approach for many abdominal procedures. The benefits of reduced pain, quicker return of oral intake, shorter hospitalizations, and improved cosmetic results all support the increasing use of the laparoscopic approach. This review identifies important articles published in the literature on minimally invasive surgery from June 2002 to August 2003, with the objective of identifying future trends and directions in laparoscopic surgery. The topics of articles reviewed in detail include minimally invasive techniques applied to esophageal tumors, morbid obesity, malignant liver tumors, gallbladder disease, pancreatic pathology, colon cancer, and robotic prostatectomy.
Speech and Language Results in Children with a Cochlear Implant

At the House Ear Institute, speech and language assessments are a regular part of the evaluation protocol for the cochlear implant clinical trials in children. The assessments are conducted preimplant and at specific postimplant intervals. Paired comparisons of the children's performance at pre-and post-implant intervals reveal significant improvements in both imitative and spontaneous speech production abilities. However, some differences between groups are noted. Children implanted at an early age demonstrate a greater number of significant improvements in speech production, while children using oral communication have better skills at all test intervals. In addition, significant improvements on three of the four receptive language measures and one of the four expressive language measures are demonstrated at the 6-mo postimplant test interval. A significant decrease in performance is noted for one receptive language measure. In a second study, the speech scores of control groups and postimplant groups of the same age (3, 4, or 5 yr) are compared. Implanted children score higher in all but one of 24 contrasts, and these differences are statistically significant in five of the comparisons.
Black hole attacks analysis for AODV and AOMDV routing performance in VANETs

VANETs is a wireless technology where vehicles act as mobile nodes to perform a communication network. All mobile nodes in the VANETs can communicate directly each other. As a wireless network, VANETs is vulnerable to some attacks include black hole attack. This kind of attack causes the VANETs service to be out of order. This attack absorbs and drops all of the data packets in the network. The data packets will not reach their destination because interfered by malicious nodes that perform black hole attack. This research will investigate and analyze the impact of the black hole attack on the performance of AODV and AOMDV routing protocols in VANETs. This study uses simulation software to mimic VANETs with multiple nodes. In the simulation scenario, one node acts as a malicious node that performs black hole attack. The result shows that the performance of both routing protocols decreases during the attack. The throughput of both routing protocols reduced while the packet loss increased. Although both routing protocols are vulnerable to black hole attacks, AOMDV has a better performance compared to AODV.
NFV based gateways for virtualized wireless sensor networks: A case study

Virtualization enables the sharing of a same wireless sensor network (WSN) by multiple applications. However, in heterogeneous environments, virtualized wireless sensor networks (VWSN) raise new challenges such as the need for on-the-fly, dynamic, elastic, and scalable provisioning of gateways. Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) is an emerging paradigm that can certainly aid in tackling these new challenges. It leverages standard virtualization technology to consolidate special-purpose network elements on top of commodity hardware. This article presents a case study on NFV based gateways for VWSNs. In the study, a VWSN gateway provider operates and manages an NFV based infrastructure. We use two different brands of wireless sensors. The NFV infrastructure makes possible the dynamic, elastic, and scalable deployment of gateway modules in this heterogeneous VWSN environment. The prototype built with Openstack as platform is described.
Electron Spin Resonance and Chemiluminescence Analyses to Elucidate the Vasodilating Mechanism of Sodium Nitroprusside

The aim of this study was to elucidate the vasodilating mechanism of sodium nitroprusside (SNP). To do this, SNP was intravenously infused in pigs (1.67 μmol/kg), and the following paramagnetic metabolites were identified by electron spin resonance: 1) nitrosylhemoglobin [HbFe(II)NO] as an index of the bioconservative pathway; 2) transferrin; 3) [Fe(II)(CN)5 NO]3- and [Fe(II)(CN)4 NO]2-, the reduced penta- and tetracoordinated intermediates of SNP, respectively; and 4) methemoglobin (met-Hb). The results indicate the following: 1) ≈17% of the dose is converted to HbFe(II)NO at the end of infusion; 2) NO administered as SNP does not undergo bioinactivation (oxidative metabolism), because no significant increase of met-Hb was observed; 3) the equilibrium involving the paramagnetic species of SNP is shifted toward HbFe(II)NO, because a significant increase of transferrin but no detection of the reduced paramagnetic intermediates of SNP was observed. The results obtained indicate that the hemodynamic effect induced by SNP is not mediated by HbFe(II)NO, at least under physiological conditions; hence, a direct release of NO from SNP in the vascular target should be considered. To demonstrate this mechanism, endothelial cells were incubated with SNP, and the release of NO was determined by a novel chemiluminescence method. The results indicate that the endothelium is able to metabolize SNP, with the formation of stoichiometric amounts of NO. In conclusion, SNP is rapidly metabolized to HbFe(II)NO, but the pharmacological response is mediated by a direct mechanism of NO release of the parent compound at the cellular target.
ON THE DSM VERSION OF NEWTON’S METHOD

The DSM (dynamical systems method) version of the Newton’s method for solving operator equation F (u) = f in Banach spaces is discussed. If F is a global homeomorphism of a Banach space X onto X, that is continuously Frechet differentiable, and the DSM version of the Newton’s method is u = −[F ′(u)]−1(F (u)− f), u(0) = u0, then it is proved that u(t) exists for all t ≥ 0 and is unique, that there exists u(∞) := limt→∞ u(t), and that F (u(∞)) = f . These results are obtained for an arbitrary initial approximation u0. This means that convergence of the DSM version of the Newton’s method is global. The proof is simple, short, and is based on a new idea. If F is not a global homeomorphism, then a similar result is obtained for u0 sufficiently close to y, where F (y) = f and F is a local homeomorphism of a neighborhood of y onto a neighborhood of f . These neighborhoods are specified.
Effect of channel impairments on radiometric fingerprinting

To increase network security and mitigate identity theft attacks, much of the research is focused on traditional bit-level algorithmic. In conventional wireless networks, security issues are primarily considered above the physical layer and are usually based on bit-level algorithms to establish the identity of a legitimate wireless device. Physical layer security is a new paradigm in which features extracted from an analog signal can be used to establish the unique identity of a transmitter. Our previous research work into Radiometric fingerprinting has shown that every transmitter has a unique fingerprint owing to imperfections in the analog components present in the RF front end. However, to the best of the author's knowledge, no such example is available in the literature in which the effect of radio channel on Radiometric fingerprint is evaluated. This paper presents the simulation and experimental results for radiometric fingerprinting under an indoor varying radio channel. Contrary to popular assumption, it was found that the fingerprinting accuracy is little affected in an indoor channel environment.
Advanced Homogenization Strategies in Material Modeling of Thermally Sprayed TBCs

Partially yttria stabilized zirconia (PYSZ) thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) are applied in aircraft engines and gas turbines. Especially PYSZ coatings on turbine blades fulfill a heat and corrosion functionality during the operational use of the gas turbines. The PYSZ-layers lead to an increase of the life time of the turbine blades due to a decrease of the thermal and mechanical loading of the Ni-alloy components during gas turbine operation. For this reason, PYSZ-TBCs can also limit the costs of the turbine engine’s maintenance. There are different technological methods to produce PYSZ thermal barrier coatings. The most applied methods in practice are the thermal spraying technologies, especially atmospheric plasma spraying (APS), and electron beam physical vapour deposition (EB-PVD). The chosen process technology and the set of process parameters directly affect the microstructure of the PYSZ-TBC. The coatings show a specific physical behavior in combination with the Ni-base alloy blade due to this specific micro-structure. It is known, that APS PYSZ-TBCs have a lower thermal conductivity than EB-PVD-PYSZ-TBCs. Therefore, the thermal insulation of the first coatings is better than of the second ones. But the lateral strain tolerance of EB-PVD coatings is higher due to the columnar structure. This makes the EB-PVD-coatings more resistant against thermal cycling loading. But if a specific process is looked at, then the microstructure of the PYSZ-TBCs can be influenced highly by the process control, the adjustable process parameters. This can be investigated by experimental studies. Process simulations have been becoming an alternative technique since years and the quality
Derived equivalences for symmetric groups and sl2-categorification

We define and study sl2-categorifications on abelian categories. We show in particular that there is a self-derived (even homotopy) equivalence categorifying the adjoint action of the simple reflection. We construct categorifications for blocks of symmetric groups and deduce that two blocks are splendidly Rickard equivalent whenever they have isomorphic defect groups and we show
Changes in Bile Acid Composition and Effect on Cytolytic Activity of Fecal Water by Ursodeoxycholic Acid Administration: a Placebo-Controlled Cross-over Intervention Trial in Healthy Volunteers

Background: Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) has been shown to affect membrane-damaging effects of bile acids in vitro and fecal bile acid composition in rats. This study evaluates the effect of UDCA on fecal bile acid composition and on cytolytic activity of fecal water in man to clarify the potential chemopreventive role of UDCA for colorectal cancer. Methods: In this placebo-controlled crossover intervention trial, the effect of 900 mg/day UDCA orally in 15 healthy volunteers was studied. At the end of each 4-week period, 72 h feces were collected. Total and individual bile acids in feces were determined by gas chromatography and soluble bile acids were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Cytolytic activity of fecal water was measured using an erythrocyte lysis assay. Results: In feces, the percentages of primary bile acids--cholic acid (CA) and chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA)--and of secondary bile acid--deoxycholic acid (DCA)--decreased after supplementation with UDCA, whereas those of UDCA and LCA increased from 2.7 ± 0.4% to 23.7 ± 2.6%, P < 0.0001 and from 26.2 ± 1.2% to 49.4 ± 1.8%, P < 0.0001 respectively. The concentrations of these two bile acids in fecal water also increased after UDCA administration from 7.8 ± 1.9 μmol/l to 47.0 ± 6.7 μmol/l (UDCA), P < 0.0001 and from 2.5 ± 0.6 μmol/l to 18.3 ± 4.1 μmol/l (LCA), P < 0.002, respectively. Cytolytic activity of fecal water was not affected by UDCA. Conclusion: These results do not support a protective effect of UDCA supplementation against colorectal cancer in man.
Spike generation estimated from stationary spike trains in a variety of neurons in vivo

To any model of brain function, the variability of neuronal spike firing is a problem that needs to be taken into account. Whereas the synaptic integration can be described in terms of the original Hodgkin-Huxley (H-H) formulations of conductance-based electrical signaling, the transformation of the resulting membrane potential into patterns of spike output is subjected to stochasticity that may not be captured with standard single neuron H-H models. The dynamics of the spike output is dependent on the normal background synaptic noise present in vivo, but the neuronal spike firing variability in vivo is not well studied. In the present study, we made long-term whole cell patch clamp recordings of stationary spike firing states across a range of membrane potentials from a variety of subcortical neurons in the non-anesthetized, decerebrated state in vivo. Based on the data, we formulated a simple, phenomenological model of the properties of the spike generation in each neuron that accurately captured the stationary spike firing statistics across all membrane potentials. The model consists of a parametric relationship between the mean and standard deviation of the inter-spike intervals, where the parameter is linearly related to the injected current over the membrane. This enabled it to generate accurate approximations of spike firing also under inhomogeneous conditions with input that varies over time. The parameters describing the spike firing statistics for different neuron types overlapped extensively, suggesting that the spike generation had similar properties across neurons.
Co-Channel Interference Mitigation for 3G LTE MIMO-OFDM Systems

We propose an algorithm to reject co-channel interference in 3GPP long term evolution (LTE) multiple input multiple output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) systems. An improved channel estimation method and interference rejection algorithm are discussed. The interference information is measured on the pilot sub-carriers which are sent regularly in time and frequency. An improved model averaged interference mitigation method parameterizes the interference and noise spatial-covariance-matrix on each carrier as a combination of several low-rank models, each associated with probability soft information. A reduced complexity a posteriori receiver is derived based on the low-rank spatial covariance model. Parameterizing the interference and noise covariance matrix helps in adapting receiver for different interference scenarios. Simulation results are provided to demonstrate the efficacy of the model averaged interference rejection method applied to MIMO-OFDM system.
Estrogen Upregulates T-Type Calcium Channels in the Hypothalamus and Pituitary

Low voltage-activated (T-type) Ca2+ channels are responsible for generating low-threshold spikes (LTS) that facilitate burst firing and transmitter release in neurons. The T-type Ca2+ channels contain a regulatory α1 subunit, and several isoforms of the α1 subunit (Cav3.1, 3.2, 3.3) have been cloned. The Cav 3.1 α1 subunit is abundantly expressed in the hypothalamus. Previously, we found that 17 β-estradiol (E2) increased the number of arcuate neurons expressing LTS. Therefore, we used an ovariectomized female guinea pig model to measure the distribution and regulation of Cav3.1 mRNA expression by E2. Guinea pig Cav3.1 α1 subunit sequences, which were cloned by PCR, were used in ribonuclease protection (RPA) and in situ hybridization assays to evaluate mRNA expression. Based on a RPA, E2 significantly increased the mRNA expression of Cav3.1 α1 subunit in the mediobasal hypothalamus and the pituitary. In situ hybridization analysis revealed that E2 significantly increased Cav 3.1 mRNA expression in medial preoptic nuclei, bed nuclei stria terminalis, and the arcuate nucleus. Whole-cell patch recordings in arcuate neurons revealed that E2 treatment significantly increased the peak T-type Ca2+ current density by twofold without affecting the activation/inactivation characteristics and augmented the rebound excitation by threefold to fourfold. These results suggest that estrogen regulates the mRNA expression of T-type calcium channels, which leads to increased functional expression of the channel. Increased expression of T-type channels could be one mechanism by which estrogen augments burst firing and transmitter release in hypothalamic neurons.
Neutron Reflectivity as Method to Study in‐Situ Adsorption of Phospholipid Layers to Solid‐Liquid Interfaces

The design and structure of biomimetic films along a planar surface is of tremendous interest for the development of biocompatible interfaces, the construction of biosensors based on membrane receptors, and as biophysical model systems for studying the interaction of biomolecules with membrane surfaces. A basic step in the design of such systems is the preparation of phospholipid molecules in the form of planar bilayers along adequate interfaces to mimic the interface of a biological membrane.
Querying across languages: a dictionary-based approach to multilingual information retrieval

The multilingual information retrieval system of the future will need to be able to retrieve documents across language boundaries. This extension of the classical IR problem is particularly challenging, ax significant resources are required to perform query translation. At Xerox, we are working to build a multilingual IR system and conducting a series of experiments to understand what factors are most important in making the system work. Using translated queries and a bilingual transfer dictionary, we have learned that crosslartguage multilingual IR is feasible, although performance lags considerably behind the monolingual standard. The experiments suggest that correct identification and translation of multi-word terminology is the single most important source of error in the system, although amblguit y in translation also contributes to poor performance.