Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Low-Complexity Robust Data-Adaptive Dimensionality Reduction Based on Joint Iterative Optimization of Parameters

This paper presents a low-complexity robust data-dependent dimensionality reduction based on a modified joint iterative optimization (MJIO) algorithm for reduced-rank beamforming and steering vector estimation. The proposed robust optimization procedure jointly adjusts the parameters of a rank-reduction matrix and an adaptive beamformer. The optimized rank-reduction matrix projects the received signal vector onto a subspace with lower dimension. The beamformer/steering vector optimization is then performed in a reduced-dimension subspace. We devise efficient stochastic gradient and recursive least-squares algorithms for implementing the proposed robust MJIO design. The proposed robust MJIO beamforming algorithms result in a faster convergence speed and an improved performance. Simulation results show that the proposed MJIO algorithms outperform some existing full-rank and reduced-rank algorithms with a comparable complexity.
A Software Package for the Numerical Integration of ODEs by Means of High-Order Taylor Methods

This paper revisits the Taylor method for the numerical integration of initial value problems of Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs). The main goal is to present a computer program that outputs a specific numerical integrator for a given set of ODEs. The generated code includes a function to compute the jet of derivatives of the solution up to a given order plus adaptive selection of order and step size at run time. The package provides support for several extended precision arithmetics, including user-defined types. The paper discusses the performance of the resulting integrator in some examples, showing that it is very competitive in many situations. This is especially true for integrations that require extended precision arithmetic. The main drawback is that the Taylor method is an explicit method, so it has all the limitations of these kind of schemes. For instance, it is not suitable for stiff systems.
Modeling Snowmelt Over an Area: Modeling Subgrid Scale Heterogeneity in Distributed Model Elements

We analyze the parameterization of sub-grid scale variability in snow accumulation and melt models from a physical perspective considering the causes of the variability and the effect on snowpack energy exchange. The source of temporal changes in spatial variance of snow water equivalent is the covariance between snow water equivalent and the accumulation or melt rate at each point. Variability caused by drifting and differential solar radiation can be effectively parameterized with areal depletion curves relating snow covered area to basin average snow water equivalent. As a first approximation, depletion curves may be estimated from the distribution of snow at peak accumulation. Improvements can be made to the depletion curve by using the joint distribution of solar radiation and snow water equivalent at peak accumulation. Consideration of how distributions may change as the model element size increases provides insight into how this conceptualization may be applied to scaling up snowmelt models.
Effi cient Inferencing for the Description Logic Underlying OWL EL

The recent OWL 2 W3C recommendation includes the lightweight ontology language OWL EL which is semantically based on an extension of the EL ++ description logic (DL). It is widely assumed that inferenci ng in OWL EL is possible in polynomial time, but it is not obvious how to extend existing rea- soning procedures forEL ++ accordingly. We set out to close this gap by devel- oping inferencing methods forSROEL(u;� ) - a DL that subsumes the main features of OWL EL. We present a framework for studying materialisation cal- culi based on datalog, and we use it to investigate the resource requirements for inferencing. We can show that certainSROEL(u;� ) feature combinations must lead to increased space upper bounds in any materialisation calculus, suggesting that effi cient implementations are easier to obtain for suitably chosen fragments ofSROEL(u;� ).
Antitumor activity of dichloroacetate on C6 glioma cell: in vitro and in vivo evaluation

Dichloroacetate (DCA), a small molecule mitochondria-targeting agent, can penetrate the blood–brain barrier, showing potential therapeutic effects on brain tumors. Considering the effects of DCA on tumor cellular metabolism, penetrating across the blood–brain barrier, as well as having potential antitumor activity on brain tumors, the purpose of this study is to investigate the antitumor activity of DCA on C6 glioma cells in vitro and in vivo. DCA inhibited C6 glioma cell proliferation, induced C6 cell apoptosis, and arrested C6 cells in S phase. DCA can inhibit the expression of heat shock proteins 70 (Hsp70) in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner (P < 0.01). Our in vivo antitumor effect results indicated that DCA markedly inhibited the growth of C6 glioma tumors in both C6 brain tumor-bearing rats and C6 tumor-bearing nude mice (P < 0.01). DCA significantly induced the ROS production and decreased the mitochondrial membrane potential in tumor tissues. Our in vivo antitumor effect results also indicated that DCA has potential antiangiogenic effects. In conclusion, DCA may be a viable therapeutic agent in the treatment of gliomas.
WordNet based Cross-Language Text Categorization

This article is essentially dedicated to the problem of cross-language text categorization, that consists in classifying documents in different languages according to the same classification tree. The proposed approach is based on the idea to spread the utilization of WordNet in text categorization towards cross-language text categorization. Experimental results of the bi-lingual classification of the ILO corpus (with the documents in English and Spanish) show that the idea we describe are promising and deserve further investigation.
Sethos: the UPC speech understanding system

In EuroSpeech'95, the authors presented the first version of Sethos, the speech understanding system which has been developed at the UPC. In this paper some improvements are incorporated at different levels of Sethos: language model, models of the semantic units and acoustic models. These improvements increase the percentage of correctly decoded sentences from 60% to 80%. Some experiments are presented to evaluate the influence of each information source on the final performance. Furthermore, the computational cost is analyzed arriving to an important conclusion: the configuration which gives the best performance is also the less expensive. The reason is that as better is the modeling, narrower is the beam of the search.
Feedback from research participants: are member checks useful in qualitative research?

ABSTRACT It is often assumed that use of so-called “member checks” improves the credibility of qualitative research. Published literature mentioning member checks was reviewed to identify the purposes and procedures for seeking feedback from research participants as well as outcomes reported from member checks. Four themes reflecting underlying assumptions about the purposes of research that have implications for member checks were identified: theory generalisation, representation, participation, and change. Member checks are unlikely to be relevant to research focussed on theory development and generalisation. For other types of research, member checks might be justifiable, but there was little evidence that member checks improved research findings. Member checks can be useful for obtaining participant approval for using quotations or case studies and where anonymity cannot be guaranteed. In evaluation, stakeholder reviews of draft reports can be seen as good research practice. In participatory or collaborative research, ongoing contact might include member checks.
Hydrodynamic interactions of spherical particles in Poiseuille flow between two parallel walls

We study hydrodynamic interactions of spherical particles in incident Poiseuille flow in a channel with infinite planar walls. The particles are suspended in a Newtonian fluid, and creeping-flow conditions are assumed. Numerical results, obtained using our highly accurate Cartesian-representation algorithm [Physica A 356, 294 (2005)] are presented for a single sphere, two spheres, and arrays of many spheres. We consider the motion of freely suspended particles as well as the forces and torques acting on particles adsorbed at a wall. We find that the pair hydrodynamic interactions in this wall-bounded system have a complex dependence on the lateral interparticle distance due to the combined effects of the dissipation in the gap between the particle surfaces and the backflow associated with the presence of the walls. For immobile particle pairs we have examined the crossover between several far-field asymptotic regimes corresponding to different relations between the particle separation and the distances of.
FDA-Approved Drugs that Protect Mammalian Neurons from Glucose Toxicity Slow Aging Dependent on Cbp and Protect Against Proteotoxicity

Screening a library of drugs with known safety profiles in humans yielded 30 drugs that reliably protected mammalian neurons against glucose toxicity. Subsequent screening demonstrated that 6 of these 30 drugs increase lifespan in C. elegans: caffeine, ciclopirox olamine, tannic acid, acetaminophen, bacitracin, and baicalein. Every drug significantly reduced the age-dependent acceleration of mortality rate. These protective effects were blocked by RNAi inhibition of cbp-1 in adults only, which also blocks protective effects of dietary restriction. Only 2 drugs, caffeine and tannic acid, exhibited a similar dependency on DAF-16. Caffeine, tannic acid, and bacitracin also reduced pathology in a transgenic model of proteotoxicity associated with Alzheimer's disease. These results further support a key role for glucose toxicity in driving age-related pathologies and for CBP-1 in protection against age-related pathologies. These results also provide novel lead compounds with known safety profiles in human for treatment of age-related diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and diabetic complications.
Vagus nerve activity based prediction of epileptic seizures in rats

Continuous open loop vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is an option for the treatment of refractory epilepsy. Animal studies have shown that VNS is able to shorten or even abolish ongoing seizures and that stimulation prior to a pending seizure may prevent the seizure from occurring. VNS therapy might therefore be improved by close loop stimulation, but seizures must then be predicted or detected. The current work investigated the possibility of predicting seizures based on vagus nerve (VN) activity. The envelope of the VN ENG power was synchronized averaged to the R peaks of the ECG and a feature was extracted from this average. Using this feature it was possible to predict onset of pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) induced tonic seizures in 4 out of 5 rats, 97 ± 59 s prior to the onset of tonic seizures. The current work indicates that it is possible to predict seizures based on VN recordings. However, further work is needed to evaluate the specificity and the sensitivity to noise of this method.
Medical Hypothesis, Discovery &innovation the Peg-pcl-peg Hydrogel as an Implanted Ophthalmic Delivery System after Glaucoma Filtration Surgery; a Pilot Study

Currently, filtration surgery has been considered as the most effective therapy for glaucoma; however, the scar formation in the surgical area may often lead to failure to the procedure. An implanted drug delivery system may provide localized and sustained release of a drug over an extended period. Poly (ethylene glycol)-poly (ε-caprolactone)-poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG-PCL-PEG, PECE) hydrogel has been successfully synthesized and determined as thermosensitive and biocompatible. In order to overcome the limitations of common local ophthalmic medications, we investigated the function of a self-assembled PECE hydrogel as an intracameral injection-implanted drug carrier to inhibit the formation of postoperative scarring. Following bevacizumal-loaded hydrogel intracameral injection into rabbit eyes, the status of the bleb and filtration fistula formed following the filtering surgery were examined through pathologic evaluation. Due to the sustained release of bevacizumab from the hydrogel, neovascularization and scar formation were inhibited; moreover, there were no corneal abnormalities and other ocular tissue damage found in the rabbits. This suggests that the PECE hydrogel may be considered as the novel biomaterial with potential as a sustained release system in glaucoma filtering surgery. Further studies require in shedding the light on the subject.
Successful brain aging: plasticity, environmental enrichment, and lifestyle

Aging is a physiological process that can develop without the appearance of concurrent diseases. However, very frequently, older people suffer from memory loss and an accelerated cognitive decline. Studies of the neurobiology of aging are beginning to decipher the mechanisms underlying not only the physiology of aging of the brain but also the mechanisms that make people more vulnerable to cognitive dysfunction and neurodegenerative diseases. Today we know that the aging brain retains a considerable functional plasticity, and that this plasticity is positively promoted by genes activated by different lifestyle factors. In this article some of these lifestyle factors and their mechanisms of action are reviewed, including environmental enrichment and the importance of food intake and some nutrients. Aerobic physical exercise and reduction of chronic stress are also briefly reviewed. It is proposed that lifestyle factors are powerful instruments to promote healthy and successful aging of the brain and delay the appearance of age-related cognitive deficits in elderly people.
Product Recommendation System

In this paper, we are going to study about recommendation systems. Recommendation systems are typically used by companies, especially e-commerce companies like Amazon.com, to help users discover items they might not have found by themselves and promote sales to potential customers. A good recommendation system can provide customers with the most relevant products. This is a highly-targeted approach which can generate high conversion rate and make it very effective and smooth to do advertisements. So the problem we are trying to study here is that, how to build effective recommendation systems that can predict products that customers like the most and have the most potential to buy.
Middle range theorizing about information technology impact: a study of 3d cad impact on construction work practices

A challenge in theory building is how to balance the tradeoffs among general, accurate, and simple explanations. From this perspective, the study of information technology (IT) impact tends to emanate from two positions: one that emphasizes sweeping generalizability and another that sets priorities on highly detailed, accurate accounts. Both paradigms have struggled in making conceptual leaps, either from detailed ethnographies to grand theory or from general causal claims to specific contexts. Is it possible that such leaps mask the possibility of other ways of studying IT impact related phenomenon? A similar line of thinking can be followed from the sociologist, Robert Merton, who argued that social scientists ought to focus in the middle range conceptual space between grand theories and empirical generalizations. I apply the logic of middle range theorizing to IT impact research and in particular the study of 3D CAD in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. Middle range logic is used to formulate a theoretical accounting of both the objective features and subjective interpretations of 3D CAD. Middle range thinking also shapes the conceptualization of work practice by framing it in various dimensions of relational activities that map to the 8 core objectives of AEC professionals. The use of these dimensions helps to resolve previous views of 3D CAD as both a source of disruption and beneficial coordination among AEC firms. Further the use of work practice dimensions supports future middle range theory development by linking detailed work practice accounts into the core aspects of AEC work practice. The empirical data illustrate how 3D CAD is entangled with building practices of shaping, laying out, and assembling the materials. Normatively, this work implies that practitioners involved in rolling out new technologies consider both a process and a practice-based view which includes the intersection of subjective-contextual and objective-technological elements. Value from middle range thinking in scholarship comes from being able to justify and shape novel views that accommodate a theoretically integrative view of IT impact. Further, the development of middle range theorizing for IT impact provides an approach for linking and extending the findings to similar contexts and domains.
Presence production in live television: experiments in interaction and mediation in a digital environment

This article describes experiments that combined presence technology with multi-camera television production. This technique can unite two people in different spaces in a single visual reality space and provide eye contact; it can also depict them as being in a single room. This study is based on the participants' experiences with this kind of television production. In addition a group of viewers was asked to give their views on the realism of the recordings.
Information theoretic capacity of long on-chip interconnects in the presence of crosstalk

This paper presents a framework for calculating the data capacity of long on chip interconnects. This framework is based on the Shannon's capacity theorem. The extension of this theorem into binary symmetric channels (BSC) is studied and applied to the VLSI interconnects. This paper presents a simulation study that shows the variation of capacity with a variety physical and operating conditions of long wires. The results show that the operating frequency, that was arrived at using a worst case delay analysis, can be vastly increased through use of error correction coding. This capacity can also be used as a benchmark for evaluation of coding schemes on interconnects
Autecology of an Arsenite Chemolithotroph: Sulfide Constraints on Function and Distribution in a Geothermal Spring

ABSTRACT Previous studies in an acid-sulfate-chloride spring in Yellowstone National Park found that microbial arsenite [As(III)] oxidation is absent in regions of the spring outflow channel where H2S exceeds ∼5 μM and served as a backdrop for continued efforts in the present study. Ex situ assays with microbial mat samples demonstrated immediate As(III) oxidation activity when H2S was absent or at low concentrations, suggesting the presence of As(III) oxidase enzymes that could be reactivated if H2S is removed. Cultivation experiments initiated with mat samples taken from along the H2S gradient in the outflow channel resulted in the isolation of an As(III)-oxidizing chemolithotroph from the low-H2S region of the gradient. The isolate was phylogenetically related to Acidicaldus and was characterized in vitro for spring-relevant properties, which were then compared to its distribution pattern in the spring as determined by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and quantitative PCR. While neither temperature nor oxygen requirements appeared to be related to the occurrence of this organism within the outflow channel, H2S concentration appeared to be an important constraint. This was verified by in vitro pure-culture modeling and kinetic experiments, which suggested that H2S inhibition of As(III) oxidation is uncompetitive in nature. In summary, the studies reported herein illustrate that H2S is a potent inhibitor of As(III) oxidation and will influence the niche opportunities and population distribution of As(III) chemolithotrophs.
The Capacity and the Sensitivity of Color Histogram Indexing

Color histogram matching has been shown to be a promising way of quickly indexing into a large image database. Yet, few experiments have been done to test the method on truly large databases, and even if they were performed, they would give little guidance to a user wondering if the technique would be useful with his or her database. In this paper we de ne and analyze measures relevant to extending color histogram indexing to large databases: capacity (how many distinguishable histograms can be stored) and sensitivity (how the average number of retrieved images depends on the retrieval threshold). The theoretical results lead to a practical test procedure which enables a user to determine the performance of color histogram indexing on a large database by looking at a small, randomly-chosen subset of the images. We suggest how our analysis can be extended to other feature-based indexing techniques. Capacity and Sensitivity of Color Histogram Indexing 1
Calculating vertical motion using Richardson's equation

This work is part of a project to improve the assimilation of moisture in the Met Office’s variational data assimilation scheme (VAR). The aim is to couple moisture and vertical motion through the product of the vertical gradient of the background moisture field, an increment to vertical velocity, and an advective timescale. In this paper we describe how we calculate suitably balanced increments to vertical motion. The vertical component of velocity, w, is very difficult to observe with any accuracy. It is therefore common practice, given both the lack of observations and the assumption that an initial state will be close to hydrostatic balance, to ignore vertical motion in data assimilation schemes. In the Met Office’s Unified Model (UM), which has a non-hydrostatic dynamical core, vertical velocity increments are not added to the background field at the start of a forecast and therefore the analysed vertical motion is simply the first guess field. The forecast model is updated with increments from the hydrostatic 3D-VAR data assimilation scheme, and vertical motion consistent with the new state is then generated by an explicit adjustment, or ‘spin-up’, of the model. However, it is possible that benefits are to be gained from explicitly calculating vertical motion within an assimilation routine:
Structured Prediction with Output Embeddings for Semantic Image Annotation

We address the task of annotating images with semantic tuples. Solving this problem requires an algorithm which is able to deal with hundreds of classes for each argument of the tuple. In such contexts, data sparsity becomes a key challenge, as there will be a large number of classes for which only a few examples are available. We propose handling this by incorporating feature representations of both the inputs (images) and outputs (argument classes) into a factorized log-linear model, and exploiting the flexibility of scoring functions based on bilinear forms. Experiments show that integrating feature representations of the outputs in the structured prediction model leads to better overall predictions. We also conclude that the best output representation is specific for each type of argument.