Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A market-based approach to recommender systems

Recommender systems have been widely advocated as a way of coping with the problem of information overload for knowledge workers. Given this, multiple recommendation methods have been developed. However, it has been shown that no one technique is best for all users in all situations. Thus we believe that effective recommender systems should incorporate a wide variety of such techniques and that some form of overarching framework should be put in place to coordinate the various recommendations so that only the best of them (from whatever source) are presented to the user. To this end, we show that a marketplace, in which the various recommendation methods compete to offer their recommendations to the user, can be used in this role. Specifically, this article presents the principled design of such a marketplace (including the auction protocol, the reward mechanism, and the bidding strategies of the individual recommendation agents) and evaluates the market's capability to effectively coordinate multiple methods. Through analysis and simulation, we show that our market is capable of shortlisting recommendations in decreasing order of user perceived quality and of correlating the individual agent's internal quality rating to the user's perceived quality.
Microarrays for microbiologists.

We are witnessing a remarkable change in the scale of molecular microbiological research and we are entering an era of ‘big science’. In the past decade we have moved from a time when entire research papers were based on the sequencing of a single gene or operon to a single paper describing the sequence of a whole genome. The completion of microbial genomes is continuing apace, with 37 genome sequences completed, and 142 in progress worldwide (http: www.tigr.org tdb mdb mdbcomplete.html). The availability of this level of genetic information has spawned the terms ‘functional genomics ’, ‘ transcriptomics ’ (Velculescu et al., 1997) and ‘proteomics ’ (Wasinger et al., 1995), which describe the large-scale application of mass mutagenesis, gene expression profiling and global protein analysis. In this review we assess the role that gene expression profiling has begun to play in microbiology, discuss the potential for ‘genomotyping’ and consider future applications.
Hierarchical Clustering via Spreading Metrics

We study the cost function for hierarchical clusterings introduced by [Dasgupta, 2015] where hierarchies are treated as first-class objects rather than deriving their cost from projections into flat clusters. It was also shown in [Dasgupta, 2015] that a top-down algorithm returns a hierarchical clustering of cost at most \(O\left(\alpha_n \log n\right)\) times the cost of the optimal hierarchical clustering, where \(\alpha_n\) is the approximation ratio of the Sparsest Cut subroutine used. Thus using the best known approximation algorithm for Sparsest Cut due to Arora-Rao-Vazirani, the top down algorithm returns a hierarchical clustering of cost at most \(O\left(\log^{3/2} n\right)\) times the cost of the optimal solution. We improve this by giving an \(O(\log{n})\)-approximation algorithm for this problem. Our main technical ingredients are a combinatorial characterization of ultrametrics induced by this cost function, deriving an Integer Linear Programming (ILP) formulation for this family of ultrametrics, and showing how to iteratively round an LP relaxation of this formulation by using the idea of \emph{sphere growing} which has been extensively used in the context of graph partitioning. We also prove that our algorithm returns an \(O(\log{n})\)-approximate hierarchical clustering for a generalization of this cost function also studied in [Dasgupta, 2015]. Experiments show that the hierarchies found by using the ILP formulation as well as our rounding algorithm often have better projections into flat clusters than the standard linkage based algorithms. We conclude with an inapproximability result for this problem, namely that no polynomial sized LP or SDP can be used to obtain a constant factor approximation for this problem.
ON THE INVERTED PENDULUM ON A CART MOVING ALONG AN ARBITRARY PATH

Abstract This article discusses a problem of stabilization for an inverted pendulum on a cart. In this work the cart does not travel along an horizontal line, which is the case commonly considered in the literature, but along an arbitrary path in the horizontal-vertical plane. The main obstacle encountered lies in the fact that the feedback controlled system becomes unstable in some “critical regions” along the cart path curve (close to the points where the path is vertical). The overall closed loop system is characterized by an alternation of periods of stability and instability and its state is proved to be stable under some conditions, which involve the geometry of the path. Simulations results are provided for the case in which the path is a circle.
Development of ground penetrating radar using 48 channel impulse radar array

This paper describes the development and test of Ground Penetrating Radar using 48 channel UWB impulse radar array for landmine detection. For getting high-resolution landmine images, a monocycle waveform having 600ps pulse width is applied. In order to analyze performances, we use representative soils of Korea and training landmines similar to landmines buried in the Korea's DMZ. The developed GPR system finds the estimation points with having a high possibility as landmines and provides top-view and down-track landmine images at these points. The test result of this system shows the clear differences between clutter images and landmine images. Therefore, we expect that this system can be applied for effectively removing landmines buried in Korea.
Nomination of the National Toxicology Program Rodent Bioassay for Iccvam Review and Validation

This nomination is made in accordance with Public Law 106–545 SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON THE VALIDATION OF ALTERNATIVE METHODS. (b) PURPOSES. —The purposes of the ICCVAM shall be to— (1) increase the efficiency and effectiveness of Federal agency test method review; (2) eliminate unnecessary duplicative efforts and share experiences between Federal regulatory agencies; and (e) DUTIES. —The ICCVAM shall, consistent with the purposes described in subsection (b), carry out the following functions: (1) Review and evaluate new or revised or alternative test methods, including batteries of tests and test screens, that may be acceptable for specific regulatory uses, including the coordination of technical reviews of proposed new or revised or alternative test methods of interagency interest, (5) Consider for review and evaluation, petitions received from the public that—(A) identify a specific regulation, recommendation, or guideline regarding a regulatory mandate; and (B) recommend new or revised or alternative test methods and provide valid scientific evidence of the potential of the test method;. And others as may apply. Purpose of this Nomination This nomination asks ICCVAM to review and validate the National Toxicology Program Rodent Bioassay (NTPRB) as a method for accurately predicting human carcinogens and noncarcinogens. Secondly, this nomination asks ICCVAM to evaluate the suitability of results obtained from the NTPRB as a standard against which the predictive performance of alternative short and medium term in vivo and in vitro tests can be objectively measured. Thirdly, if after reviewing existing data and in the event that ICCVAM is unable to validate the NTPRB, this nomination asks ICCVAM to describe what new data and approaches would be needed in order for ICCVAM to conduct a proper validation in the future. To date, neither ICVAAM/NICEATM nor any other organization, has conducted an independent technical evaluation of the NTPRB as a method for predicting rodent/human carcinogens and noncarcinogens or as a standard for evaluating the performance of alternative short and medium term tests. This document provides representative citations in support statements made and does not claim to include all relevant references that ICVAAM might want to consider. Others have also called attention to the need for validation of long term rodent bioassays as conducted by the NTP (e. Justification and Background Epidemiological studies are generally regarded as the best source for evidence of carcinogenicity in humans, but unfortunately evidence is found only after the damage has been done (e.g., Cogliano 2004; EPA 2005). The …
Spiral antenna above a composite HIS reflector

A spiral antenna radiates a circularly polarized (CP) wave in the two directions normal to the spiral plane (bidirectional radiation) [1]. For more effective utilization of the input power, this bidirectional radiation is transformed into unidirectional radiation using a conducting plane reflector [2]. Usually, the antenna height above the conducting plane is set to be one-quarter wavelength of the design frequency, to obtain an in-phase condition between the wave directly radiated into free space from the spiral and the wave reflected from the conducting plane.
Na+/K+ pump interacts with the h-current to control bursting activity in central pattern generator neurons of leeches

The dynamics of different ionic currents shape the bursting activity of neurons and networks that control motor output. Despite being ubiquitous in all animal cells, the contribution of the Na+/K+ pump current to such bursting activity has not been well studied. We used monensin, a Na+/H+ antiporter, to examine the role of the pump on the bursting activity of oscillator heart interneurons in leeches. When we stimulated the pump with monensin, the period of these neurons decreased significantly, an effect that was prevented or reversed when the h-current was blocked by Cs+. The decreased period could also occur if the pump was inhibited with strophanthidin or K+-free saline. Our monensin results were reproduced in model, which explains the pump’s contributions to bursting activity based on Na+ dynamics. Our results indicate that a dynamically oscillating pump current that interacts with the h-current can regulate the bursting activity of neurons and networks. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.19322. 001
A 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS 900 MHz receiver front-end using RF Q-enhanced filters

A digitally controlled RF front-end receiver is presented that employs Q-enhanced filtering of the RF signal and uses sub-sampling to a digital IF. The receiver consumes 2.94 mA while providing a sensitivity of -106 dBm. The SFDR at 4 MHz offset is greater than 45 dB and the receiver is suitable for use in a 802.15. 4 transceiver. The receiver is implemented in standard 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS.
The Scaling of Animal Space Use

Space used by animals increases with increasing body size. Energy requirements alone can explain how population density decreases, but not the steep rate at which home range area increases. We present a general mechanistic model that predicts the frequency of interaction, spatial overlap, and loss of resources to neighbors. Extensive empirical evidence supports the model, demonstrating that spatial constraints on defense cause exclusivity of home range use to decrease with increasing body size. In large mammals, over 90% of available resources may be lost to neighbors. Our model offers a general framework to understand animal space use and sociality.
Efficient Computation of Mean Truncated Hitting Times on Very Large Graphs

Previous work has shown the effectiveness of random walk hitting times as a measure of dissimilarity in a variety of graph-based learning problems such as collaborative filtering, query suggestion or finding paraphrases. However, application of hitting times has been limited to small datasets because of computational restrictions. This paper develops a new approximation algorithm with which hitting times can be computed on very large, disk-resident graphs, making their application possible to problems which were previously out of reach. This will potentially benefit a range of large-scale problems.
Structural Pattern Analysis for Texture Synthesis

Sample based texture synthesis allows the generation of arbitrarily sized textures based on a small sample image. One main drawback of the technique is that a new pixel or patch is selected only considering local information in the generated texture. Thus structural error can't assure to be avoided for structural textures. To accelerate texture synthesis process and to avoid structural mismatch in the output picture, we present in this paper a structural pattern analysis (SPA) algorithm and a texture synthesis method using the algorithm. The pattern analysis tool also quantizes the texture randomness in macro scope view. It can be used in other applications such as automatic texture classification and quality evaluation of synthesized texture. We illustrate our result with some examples
Hereditary influences on vocational preferences as shown by scores of twins on the Minnesota Vocational Interest Inventory.

The Minnesota Vocational Interest Inventory (MVU) scores of 53 fraternal pairs of twins showed greater within-pair variances than did the scores of 71 identical pairs. For 9 of the scores and 4 of the area keys the F test showed a statistically significant increase in within-pair variance for the fraternal twins. This is interpreted as evidence for a hereditary component in interests in occupations requiring no scientific ability. The hereditan influence operates probably through personality variables.
Polo-Like Kinase-1 Controls Aurora A Destruction by Activating APC/C-Cdh1

Polo-like kinase-1 (Plk1) is activated before mitosis by Aurora A and its cofactor Bora. In mitosis, Bora is degraded in a manner dependent on Plk1 kinase activity and the E3 ubiquitin ligase SCF-βTrCP. Here, we show that Plk1 is also required for the timely destruction of its activator Aurora A in late anaphase. It has been shown that Aurora A destruction is controlled by the auxiliary subunit Cdh1 of the Anaphase-Promoting Complex/Cyclosome (APC/C). Remarkably, we found that Plk1-depletion prevented the efficient dephosphorylation of Cdh1 during mitotic exit. Plk1 mediated its effect on Cdh1, at least in part, through direct phosphorylation of the human phosphatase Cdc14A, controlling the phosphorylation state of Cdh1. We conclude that Plk1 facilitates efficient Aurora A degradation through APC/C-Cdh1 activation after mitosis, with a potential role for hCdc14A.
Isobornyl and Isocamphyl Photostabilizers in Poly(lactic acid)-Based Electrospun Fibers

In this work, electrospun polylactide fibers with new photostabilizing additives, 4-methyl-2,6-diisobornylphenol (DIBP) and N-isocamphylaniline (NICA), have been tested under the influence of UV-C radiation (254 nm). The changes in the polymers’ chemical structure under UV-C radiation were revealed through the increase in absorption in the 3600–3100 cm−1 region in regard to the FTIR spectra. In the samples that were irradiated for 1 h, the stabilizing effect of the photoprotectors became most noticeable as the difference in the content of the hydroxyl groups in stabilized and the pure PLA reached a maximum. The TG–DSC method revealed that the most sensitive indicator of the irradiation effect was the glass transition temperature (Tg), which persisted after 2 h of irradiation when using photostabilizers and their combinations. The PLA/DIBP(1) and PLA/NICA(1) samples showed the best results in protecting PLA from UV-C radiation based on the Tg values; although, the mixture of DIBP and NICA was not as effective. The chemical structure of the photostabilized PLA samples was studied using NMR, GPC, and Py–GC/MS analysis. The electrospun polylactide fibers were mechanically tested and the effects of the electrospun samples on cell viability were studied.
Functional analysis of the contents of maternal speech to infants of 5 and 13 months in four cultures: Argentina, France, Japan, and the United States.

Maternal speech to infants of 2 ages in 4 cultures was examined to probe how infant age and cultural variation influence the contents of that speech. Argentine, French, Japanese, and U.S. American mothers were individually videotaped in naturalistic free-play interactions at home with their 5- and 13-month-old infants, maternal speech was transcribed, and the contents classified as affect salient or information salient
Extended Kalman Filter for Multichannel InSAR Height Reconstruction

One of the main challenges in Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is the accurate height reconstruction of the observed scene. Recently, approaches based on Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) have been proposed. Most of them are based on the hypothesis of height profile continuity. Such condition greatly reduces their applicability, being only valid for particular scenarios. Within this paper, we present a novel Kalman-based height reconstruction approach, specifically designed to work with multichannel data related to any type of scenario, both smooth or sharp. The novelty of the technique consists in its ability in detecting and correctly handling sharp height discontinuities while regularizing smooth areas. The approach is able to maintain the high computational efficiency typical of EKF and to work in an almost unsupervised way. The methodology has been tested and validated on both simulated and real X-band (TerraSAR-X and COSMO-SkyMed) high-resolution data sets. Reported results are encouraging and interesting, showing the correctness and the validity of the proposed approach.
A Macroscopic View of Demand-Side Grid Regulation Through Fluid Queueing Models and $ \mathcal {H}_{2}$ Control

We consider a demand aggregator handling a large number of deferrable loads through a simple interface, who must align their overall consumption with an operator-provided reference. A macroscopic model of the load aggregate is developed as a two-state stochastic differential equation, with a scalar input controlling deferred service, and where deadlines are enforced. Through linearization the feedback control design is cast within the framework of ${\mathcal {H}_{2}}$ control, with an objective that embeds frequency domain characteristics of the tracked reference. The solution yields a distributed implementation with mild communication requirements. We tested it in a simulation environment using real-world grid frequency regulation signals, achieving high performance with the relevant industry metric.
Breaking Collaboration Barriers through Communication Practices in Software Crowdsourcing

Software Crowdsourcing (SW CS) is an emerging area in Software Engineering (SE). It has a dynamic nature in which problems are opened up to crowds of people through an open call to solve problems with the incentive of prizes for the best solutions. Although SW CS has been increasingly adopted in the software industry, many open issues are still to be elucidated. For instance, collaboration aspects are one of those issues. They impact communication and coordination practices. This study aims to identify barriers to collaboration in SW CS and communication practices that might help overcome these barriers. We identified the barriers and practices from a qualitative data analysis study considering an available literature review report. Our study contributes to the SE area by providing insights for researchers, tool designers, and managers that might help them to better understand collaboration issues and proposed solutions to solve them.
Experimental study on polarimetric-HoloSAR

: This paper pursuits a possibility of fully polarimetric and three-dimensional (3-D) imaging by Holographic Synthetic Aperture Radar Tomography (HoloSAR). HoloSAR is 3-D extension of Circular Synthetic Aperture Radar (CSAR) along the vertical direction whose trajectory is a circle in a horizontal plane. By adding fully polarimetric capability to HoloSAR, it becomes a perfect 3-D imaging radar system which reveals scattering mechanisms from object through scattering power decomposition. This paper attempts to achieve such a prototype system in an anechoic chamber. The experimental result successfully yielded a 3-D image reconstruction of objects with exhibiting polarimetric scattering mechanism.
Mechanisms underlying rhythmic locomotion: body–fluid interaction in undulatory swimming

SUMMARY Swimming of fish and other animals results from interactions of rhythmic body movements with the surrounding fluid. This paper develops a model for the body–fluid interaction in undulatory swimming of leeches, where the body is represented by a chain of rigid links and the hydrodynamic force model is based on resistive and reactive force theories. The drag and added-mass coefficients for the fluid force model were determined from experimental data of kinematic variables during intact swimming, measured through video recording and image processing. Parameter optimizations to minimize errors in simulated model behaviors revealed that the resistive force is dominant, and a simple static function of relative velocity captures the essence of hydrodynamic forces acting on the body. The model thus developed, together with the experimental kinematic data, allows us to investigate temporal and spatial (along the body) distributions of muscle actuation, body curvature, hydrodynamic thrust and drag, muscle power supply and energy dissipation into the fluid. We have found that: (1) thrust is generated continuously along the body with increasing magnitude toward the tail, (2) drag is nearly constant along the body, (3) muscle actuation waves travel two or three times faster than the body curvature waves and (4) energy for swimming is supplied primarily by the mid-body muscles, transmitted through the body in the form of elastic energy, and dissipated into the water near the tail.
A novel approach for incremental uncertainty rule generation from databases with missing values handling: Application to dynamic medical databases

Current approaches for mining association rules usually assume that the mining is performed in a static database, where the problem of missing attribute values does not practically exist. However, these assumptions are not preserved in some medical databases, like in a home care system. In this paper, a novel uncertainty rule algorithm is illustrated, namely URG-2 (Uncertainty Rule Generator), which addresses the problem of mining dynamic databases containing missing values. This algorithm requires only one pass from the initial dataset in order to generate the item set, while new metrics corresponding to the notion of Support and Confidence are used. URG-2 was evaluated over two medical databases, introducing randomly multiple missing values for each record's attribute (rate: 5 – 20% by 5% increments) in the initial dataset. Compared with the classical approach (records with missing values are ignored), the proposed algorithm was more robust in mining rules from datasets containing missing values. In all cases, the difference in preserving the initial rules ranged between 30% and 60% in favour of URG-2. Moreover, due to its incremental nature, URG-2 saved over 90% of the time required for thorough re-mining. Thus, the proposed algorithm can offer a preferable solution for mining in dynamic relational databases.