Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Generalization of the Averaging Procedure: The Use of Two-Time-Scale Algorithms

Ruppert [Handbook of Sequential Analysis, B. K. Ghosh and P. K. Sen, eds., Marcel Dekker, New York, 1991] and Polyak [Automat. Remote Control, 51 (1990), pp. 937–946] independently introduced the averaging principle for Robbins–Monro's algorithm in order to construct an algorithm that is asymptotically efficient, and that is quickly updated. Their averaging principle has been extended to other algorithms (including Kiefer–Wolfowitz's algorithm), leading to algorithms that are asymptotically efficient, but whose updatings are less straightforward. We introduce the use of two-time-scale stochastic approximation algorithms to construct a large class of asymptotically efficient algorithms. This method generalizes the averaging principle. Moreover, for the algorithms that do not behave as Robbins–Monro's algorithm, it allows one to provide algorithms whose updating is as straightforward as that of the averaged Robbins–Monro's algorithm.
The beta‐cell in type 1 diabetes: What have we learned from proteomic studies?

Pancreatic beta‐cells have a crucial role in the regulation of blood glucose homeostasis by the production and secretion of insulin. In type 1 diabetes (T1D), an autoimmune reaction against the beta‐cells together with the presence of inflammatory cytokines and ROS in the islets leads to beta‐cell dysfunction and death. This review gives an overview of proteomic studies that lead to better understanding of beta‐cell functioning in T1D. Protein profiling of isolated islets and beta‐cell lines in health and T1D contributed to the unraveling of pathways involved in cytokine‐induced cell death. In addition, by studying the serological proteome of T1D patients, new biomarkers and beta‐cell autoantigens were discovered, which may improve screening tests and follow‐up of T1D development. Interestingly, an important role for PTMs was demonstrated in the generation of beta‐cell autoantigens. To conclude, proteomic techniques are of indispensable value to improve the knowledge on beta‐cell function in T1D and the search toward therapeutic targets.
In vitro maturation of Drosophila melanogaster Spätzle protein with refolded Easter reveals a novel cleavage site within the prodomain

Abstract Dorsoventral patterning during Drosophila melanogaster embryogenesis is mediated by a well-defined gradient of the mature NGF-like ligand Spätzle. Easter, the ultimate protease of a ventrally-restricted serine protease cascade, plays a key role in the regulation of the morphogenic gradient, catalyzing the activation cleavage of proSpätzle. As a result of alternative splicing, proSpätzle exists in multiple isoforms, almost all of which differ only in their prodomain. Although this domain is unstructured in isolation, it has a stabilizing influence on the mature cystine knot domain and is involved in the binding to the Toll receptor. Here, we report the expression and refolding of Easter, and show that the renatured enzyme performs the activation cleavage of two Spätzle isoforms. We determine the affinity of the prodomain for the cystine knot domain, and show that Easter performs a previously unknown secondary cleavage in each prodomain.
A key-agreement protocol based on the stack-overflow software vulnerability

Exploiting software vulnerabilities, such as stack overflow, heap overflow, and format string exploits, enables attackers to break into victim machines. Moreover, attackers tend to use obfuscation techniques, such as encryption, to evade intrusion detection systems. In this paper, we show that a common stack-overflow attack, namely the return-to-libc attack, coupled with a common defense, namely the Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR), together allow for constructing a key-agreement protocol that allows two entities (e.g., a Trojan and a controller) to agree on a shared key, whereas the shared key can then be used to encrypt further communication. We have developed a prototype of our key-agreement protocol to evaluate its feasibility and performance. Our results show that both time and message overhead of our protocol are linear in key length. Although our key-agreement protocol can be used by attackers for malicious purposes, it has low computation overhead, making it a candidate for adoption in CPU-constrained platforms.
On the Sample Complexity of Learning Sparse Graphical Games

We analyze the sample complexity of learning sparse graphical games from purely behavioral data. That is, we assume that we can only observe the players' joint actions and not their payoffs. We analyze the sufficient and necessary number of samples for the correct recovery of the set of pure-strategy Nash equilibria (PSNE) of the true game. Our analysis focuses on sparse directed graphs with $n$ nodes and at most $k$ parents per node. By using VC dimension arguments, we show that if the number of samples is greater than ${O(k n \log^2{n})}$, then maximum likelihood estimation correctly recovers the PSNE with high probability. By using information-theoretic arguments, we show that if the number of samples is less than ${\Omega(k n \log^2{n})}$, then any conceivable method fails to recover the PSNE with arbitrary probability.
A phosphatase threshold sets the level of Cdk1 activity in early mitosis in budding yeast

The Wee1 kinase inhibits cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (Cdk1) during early mitosis. A low level of Cdk1 activity must escape Wee1 inhibition to initiate early mitotic events, but the underlying mechanisms have remained unknown. In this paper, we show that a specific form of protein phosphatase 2A opposes activation of Wee1, which allows low-level activation of Cdk1 in early mitosis.
Concept formation by robots using an infinite mixture of models

We propose a method for a robot to form various concepts. The robot uses its embodiment to obtain visual, auditory, and haptic information by grasping, shaking, and observing objects. At the same time, a user teaches the robot object features through speech. From these kinds of information, the robot can form object concepts. The information obtained by the robot is converted into Bag-of-Words representations, which are classified into categories. The proposed method is based on a stochastic model, and objects can be classified by estimating their parameters. We introduce the Chinese restaurant process into the multimodal hierarchical Dirichlet process. This model is an infinite mixture of models and enables the robot to form various concepts such as object type, color, and so on. Therefore, the robot can form not only object concepts but also various concepts that are not represented by object concepts (e.g., color). Also, because the proposed method is based on a stochastic model, it makes it possible for the robot to estimate category and unobserved information of unseen objects. We implement the proposed method on a robot and show that it can form various concepts and perform various estimations for unseen objects.
Algorithms for allocating wavelength converters in all-optical networks

In an all-optical wide area network, some network nodes may handle heavier volumes of traffic. It is desirable to allocate more full-range wavelength converters (FWCs) to these nodes, so that the FWCs can be fully utilized to resolve wavelength conflict. We propose a set of algorithms for allocating FWCs in all-optical networks. We adopt the simulation-based optimization approach, in which we collect utilization statistics of FWCs from computer simulations and then perform optimization to allocate the FWCs. Therefore, our algorithms are widely applicable and they are not restricted to any particular model or assumption. We have conducted extensive computer simulations on regular and irregular networks under both uniform and nonuniform traffic. Compared with the best existing allocation, the results show that our algorithms can significantly reduce: (1) the overall blocking probability (i.e., better mean quality of service) and (2) the maximum of the blocking probabilities experienced at all the source nodes (i.e., better fairness). Equivalently, for a given performance requirement on blocking probability, our algorithms can significantly reduce the number of FWCs required.
Deletion of the gabra2 Gene Results in Hypersensitivity to the Acute Effects of Ethanol but Does Not Alter Ethanol Self Administration

Human genetic studies have suggested that polymorphisms of the GABRA2 gene encoding the GABAA α2-subunit are associated with ethanol dependence. Variations in this gene also convey sensitivity to the subjective effects of ethanol, indicating a role in mediating ethanol-related behaviours. We therefore investigated the consequences of deleting the α2-subunit on the ataxic and rewarding properties of ethanol in mice. Ataxic and sedative effects of ethanol were explored in GABAA α2-subunit wildtype (WT) and knockout (KO) mice using a Rotarod apparatus, wire hang and the duration of loss of righting reflex. Following training, KO mice showed shorter latencies to fall than WT littermates under ethanol (2 g/kg i.p.) in both Rotarod and wire hang tests. After administration of ethanol (3.5 g/kg i.p.), KO mice took longer to regain the righting reflex than WT mice. To ensure the acute effects are not due to the gabra2 deletion affecting pharmacokinetics, blood ethanol concentrations were measured at 20 minute intervals after acute administration (2 g/kg i.p.), and did not differ between genotypes. To investigate ethanol’s rewarding properties, WT and KO mice were trained to lever press to receive increasing concentrations of ethanol on an FR4 schedule of reinforcement. Both WT and KO mice self-administered ethanol at similar rates, with no differences in the numbers of reinforcers earned. These data indicate a protective role for α2-subunits, against the acute sedative and ataxic effects of ethanol. However, no change was observed in ethanol self administration, suggesting the rewarding effects of ethanol remain unchanged.
Detection of respiratory syncytial virus in nasopharyngeal secretions by shell vial technique

A shell vial technique was used to recover respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) from frozen nasopharyngeal specimens previously tested by rapid diagnostic methods. With specimens determined to be positive by direct fluorescence assay (DFA), the shell vial technique was at least as sensitive as conventional tissue culture (92 versus 90%). The majority of RSV isolates were detected within 16 h postinoculation, versus an average of 4.5 days by conventional techniques. Also, the shell vial method recovered RSV from 16 of 17 specimens (94%) which had previously tested positive by enzyme immunoassay (EIA). In addition, the shell vial method detected RSV in 4 and 11% of specimens previously determined to be negative by DFA and EIA, respectively. Therefore, we recommend the use of the shell vial technique for specimens testing negative by the rapid methods of DFA or EIA.
Cyclic Tensile Stress Exerts a Protective Effect on Intervertebral Disc Cells

Sowa G, Agarwal S: Cyclic tensile stress exerts a protective effect on intervertebral disc cells. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2008;87:537–544. Objective:To examine the mechanisms behind the beneficial effects of motion-based therapies, the hypothesis that physiologic levels of tensile stress have a beneficial effect on annulus fibrosus cells was tested. Design:To examine the roles of mechanical forces and inflammation in the intervertebral disc, changes in gene expression in response to inflammatory stimulus (IL-1&bgr;) and tensile stress (6% stress at 0.05 Hz) were examined in fibrochondrocytes isolated from the annulus fibrosus of Sprague-Dawley rats. Results:Cells exposed to an inflammatory stimulus demonstrated an increase in catabolic gene expression, which decreased approximately 50% after exposure to both inflammatory stimulus and tensile stress. After exposure of cells to tensile stress alone, only matrix metalloprotease-13 showed a 50% decrease in expression. Collagen II showed a modest decrease in expression in response to tensile stress in the inflammatory environment. The expression of collagen I and aggrecan did not show a significant change under any of the conditions tested. Conclusions:In this in vitro model, our data demonstrate that moderate levels of tensile stress act as a protective signal by decreasing the expression of catabolic mediators under conditions of inflammation. These data suggest that motion-based therapies that create tensile stress on the annulus may exert their beneficial effects through antiinflammatory actions.
Total Haemoglobin Mass, Maximal and Submaximal Power in Elite Rowers

Abstract Elite rowers are highly endurance trained and present with a large lean body mass (LBM), which is closely related to total haemoglobin mass (tHbmass), a major determinant of blood O2-transport. This study aims to determine the magnitude of tHbmass in elite rowers and its relation to performance parameters that are common in rowing worldwide. 13 rowers (3 lightweight) performed a 2 000 m test to evaluate maximal performance on the rowing ergometer (P2k) and an incremental test to evaluate power output at lactate 2 and 4 mmol/l (N=15). tHbmass was measured by CO-rebreathing. tHbmass amounted to 1 285±123 g (open weight) and 1 059±48 g (lightweight). Coefficients of correlation between tHbmass and power output increased with intensity, being highest for P2k (r=0.80). An increase of 100 g tHbmass is associated with an increase of 24 W in P2k between subjects. The ratio between tHbmass/LBM amounted to approximately 16 g/kg. Absolute tHbmass in elite rowers of open weight class is very high. In relation to body mass or LBM, data is similar to other endurance athletes. The relation between P2k performance and tHbmass is very large. However, it is partly mediated by body composition.
DS/CDMA prototype system transmitting low bit-rate voice and high bit-rate ISDN signals

The DS/CDMA prototype system described can transmit low bit-rate voice and high bit-rate ISDN signals in the ISM band. The robust error correction scheme uses interleaving, convolutional coding, and Reed-Solomon coding; it ensures high quality voice and ISDN signals. The relationship between the SNR and and the number of quantizing bits output by the ADC of SS signals has been evaluated, and it has been shown that an ADC with few-bits has minimal SNR degradation in CDMA systems. The received and despread signals are quasi-coherently detected in the forward link by referring to the phase of the pilot signal, whereas in the reverse link, non-coherent or differential detection is used. The proposed DS/CDMA prototype system has shown to achieve good performance in various experiments using a wireless TV-phone, developed as a potential ISDN application. <<ETX>>
Colloidal Synthesis of Uniform‐Sized Molybdenum Disulfide Nanosheets for Wafer‐Scale Flexible Nonvolatile Memory

Large-scale colloidal synthesis and integration of uniform-sized molybdenum disulfide (MoS2 ) nanosheets for a flexible resistive random access memory (RRAM) array are presented. RRAM using MoS2 nanosheets shows a ≈10 000 times higher on/off ratio than that based on exfoliated MoS2 . The good uniformity of the MoS2 nanosheets allows wafer-scale system integration of the RRAM array with pressure sensors and quantum-dot light-emitting diodes.
Sound in the interface to a mobile computer

Mobile telephones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and handheld computers are one of the fastest growth areas of computing. One problem with these devices is that they have a limited amount of screen space: the screen cannot be large as the device must be able to fit into the hand or pocket to be easily carried. As the screen is small it can become cluttered with information as designers try to cram on as much as possible. In many cases desktop widgets (buttons, menus, windows, etc.) have been taken straight from standard graphical interfaces (where screen space is not a problem) and applied directly to mobile devices. This has resulted in devices that are hard to use, with small text that is hard to read, cramped graphics and little contextual information.
Global well-posedness and scattering for the higher-dimensional energy-critical non-linear Schrodinger equation for radial data

In any dimension $n \geq 3$, we show that spherically symmetric bounded energy solutions of the defocusing energy-critical non-linear Schrodinger equation $i u_t + \Delta u = |u|^{\frac{4}{n-2}} u$ in $\R \times \R^n$ exist globally and scatter to free solutions; this generalizes the three and four dimensional results of Bourgain and Grillakis. Furthermore we have bounds on various spacetime norms of the solution which are of exponential type in the energy, which improves on the tower-type bounds of Bourgain. In higher dimensions $n \geq 6$ some new technical difficulties arise because of the very low power of the non-linearity.
Bimane Fluorescence Scanning Suggests Secondary Structure near the S3-S4 Linker of BK Channels*

Gating of large conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channels (BK or maxi-K channels) is controlled by a Ca2+-sensor, formed by the channel cytoplasmic C-terminal domain, and a voltage sensor, formed by its S0-S4 transmembrane helices. Here we analyze structural properties of a portion of the BK channel voltage sensing domain, the S3-S4 linker, using fluorescence lifetime spectroscopy. Single residues in the S3-S4 linker region were substituted with cysteine, and the cysteine-substituted mutants were expressed in CHO cells and covalently labeled with the sulfhydryl-reactive fluorophore monobromo-trimethylammonio-bimane (qBBr). qBBr fluorescence is quenched by tryptophan and, to a lesser extent, tyrosine side chains. We found that qBBr fluorescence in several of the labeled cysteine-substituted channels shows position-specific quenching, as indicated by increase of the brief lifetime component of the qBBr fluorescence decay. Quenching was reduced with the mutation W203F (in the S4 segment), suggesting that Trp-203 acts as a quenching group. Our results suggest a working hypothesis for the secondary structure of the BK channel S3-S4 region, and places residues Leu-204, Gly-205, and Leu-206 within the extracellular end of the S4 helix.
3D facial expression recognition using swarm intelligence

In this paper, we present a novel approach for 3D facial expression recognition which is inspired by the advances of ant colony and particle swarm optimization (ACO and PSO respectively) in the field of data mining. Anatomical correspondence between faces is first established using a generic 3D face model which is deformed elastically to match the facial surfaces. Surface points are then used as a basis for classification according to a set of classification rules, which are discovered by an ACO/PSO-based rule discovery algorithm. The performance of the proposed algorithm has been evaluated on the BU-3DFEDB facial expression database where a total recognition rate of 92.3% was achieved.
Performance Analysis of Multicast Routing Protocols MAODV, ODMRP and ADMR for MANETs

A Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) is a collection of wireless mobile terminals that are able to dynamically form a temporary network without any aid from fixed infrastructure or centralized administration. In recent years, MANETs are continuing to attract the attention for their potential use in several fields such as military activities, rescue operations and time-critical applications. A very important and necessary issue for mobile ad hoc networks is to finding the root between source and destination that is a major technical challenge due to the dynamic topology of the network. Routing protocols for MANETs could be differ depending on the application and network architecture. The efficiency of the wireless link can be increased by multicasting through sending single copy of messages to all group members. Multicast transmission is a more effective mechanism when compared to unicasting in supporting group communication applications and hence is an important aspect of future network development. This paper evaluates the performance of three multicast routing protocols for MANETs, notably MAODV, ODMRP and ADMR. Different performance aspects are investigated including, throughput, link delay, transmission and control overhead.
A Collective Intelligence Based Approach for Satisfying the Actors Requirements in Web Services Composition

Service-Oriented Computing (SOC) is a new computing paradigm that utilizes service to support the development of rapid, low-cost and easy composition. SOC promotes creation of new services by composition. In the composition process, requirements are described by requestor and Web service offered by the provider, a provider is the owner of service his role is to create service and publish it to make it available to customers and partners. A number of Web services compositions approaches have been presented to satisfy the end user's requirements. Interactive Web services compositions (IWSC) creates new value by adapting the end-user's requirements, the end-user corresponds to the person requesting the service and who will search and invoke the service. With the emergence of collective intelligence (CI), IWSC allows a better end-user's satisfaction. In this paper, we propose a new approach that supports Collective intelligence for satisfying the actor's requirements that suggests a model to help the web services composition. Our approach uses the beneficial roles of collaboration as a key for future services composition. It uses also the interactivity between the actors, user interaction during a service composition will contribute in the satisfaction degree of the actors.
Positive solutions to second order semi-linear elliptic equations

Here G ⊆ R (N ≥ 2) is an unbounded domain, and L is a second-order elliptic operator. We mainly confine ourselves to the cases F (x, u) = W (x)u with real p and W (x) a real valued function on G, and F (x, u) = g(u) with g : R→ R continuous and g(0) = 0. The operator L = H − V is of Schrödinger type, namely V = V (x) is a real potential and H = −∆ or more generally H = −∇ · a · ∇ is a second order elliptic operator in the divergence form, with a symmetric measurable uniformly elliptic matrix a = a(x). Also of interest are general classes of non-linear operators H, as well as the case when H is in non-divergence form. Nonlinear equations of the types (1) are ubiquitous in natural sciences. They arise in a variety of important phenomena in quantum mechanics (Euclidean scalar field equations), physics (nonlinear optics, laser propagation), astrophysics (stellar structure), population ecology and population genetics (logistic type equations), etc. The phenomena of existence/nonexistence and qualitative properties of positive solutions to nonlinear elliptic and parabolic equations has been an important topic of the theory of modern PDE’s since the pioneering papers by Fujita (60’s), Serrin (70’s), Gidas and Spruck (80’s). Since the late 80’s positive solutions of semilinear equations were intensively studied using two major techniques. The first one is a reduction to an ODE’s technique (Gidas and Spruck, Ni, Serrin). The second one relies on testfunction methods (Brezis, Nirenberg, Pohozaev). While there were major successes in both approaches, they have some limitations, the main one being severe restrictions on the classes of coefficients and domains under consideration, as well as the lack of a cogent explanation of the phenomena involved. The research will focus upon the study of existence and nonexistence of positive solutions for elliptic equations (1), on general domains and under general assumptions on the coefficients, with general nonlinearities, expanding the ideas of [15, 16]. The goal is to obtain a complete characterization of the relation between the existence of positive solutions to equation (1) and the geometry of the domain and the behaviour of coefficients at infinity.