Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
APPROXIMATE MEASUREMENT OF VOTER PRIVACY LOSS IN AN ELECTION WITH PRECINCT REPORTS

The California election process publishes tallies for each precinct as part of each county’s Statement of Vote. We take a data set from two California counties in the November 2004 election and use it to measure an approximate voter privacy loss : how much information is leaked about a voter’s vote by publishing precinct tallies. Our starting point is the privacy measurement framework of Coney et al. [6]. We summarize the framework, then we discuss issues with attempting to use the framework directly. We introduce simplifying assumptions and argue that these assumptions still yield meaningful results. We then show how to measure approximate voter privacy loss given real election data. We also show how to incorporate the effect of preelection polls into measuring privacy loss.
Optimization of network clustering and hierarchy through simulated annealing

In recent years, there are several design issues in computer networks such as clustering and hierarchy, which have been in the spotlight. This is due to the desires to improve the network performance and scalability. The clustering problem is to partition the network's clients into a minimal set of clusters to maximize the local cluster traffic. The hierarchy problem is to connect all clients' clusters into a minimal network levels so that the network scalability and security are maximized. We have combined the two problems (clustering and hierarchy) into a single optimization problem, where we are seeking the minimal cost of network topology with the best possible clustering and hierarchy. The network cost depends heavily on the selection and placement of the network devices within the clusters. Because of the combinational nature of these problems, this combined optimization problem is suitable to be tackled with a meta-heuristic stochastic search method, such as Simulated Annealing (SA). Our experimental results have revealed that the efficiency of our proposed search method in finding good solutions within few minutes.
Contributions from the European Respiratory Monograph Series "lung Transplantation" Edited Post-transplant Bronchiolitis Obliterans

Over the last decade, improvements in surgical techniques, lung preservation, immunosuppression, and management of ischaemia/reperfusion injury and infections have made intermediate-term survival after lung transplantation an achievable goal. However, chronic allograft dysfunction in the form of bronchiolitis obliterans remains a major hurdle that threatens both the quality of life and long-term survival of the recipients. It affects up to 50–60% of patients who survive 5 yrs after surgery, and it accounts for w30% of all deaths occurring after the third postoperative year. This article discusses the alloimmune-dependent and-independent risk factors for bronchiolitis obliterans, the current understanding of the pathogenesis of bronchiolitis obliterans based on results of animal and human studies, the clinical staging of the complication, strategies that may contribute to the prevention and/or early detection of bronchiolitis obliterans, and suggestions for future research. Over the last decade, improvements in surgical techniques, lung preservation, immunosuppression, and management of ischaemia/reperfusion injury and infections have contributed to increase the 1-yr patient survival after lung transplanta-tion (LTx) to 70–80% [1]. After successful reduction of early complications, chronic allograft dysfunction has become the major obstacle to long-term survival. A shift in the nature of complications from early to late graft dysfunction has been similarly observed after transplantation of other solid organs [2]. Bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) after LTx was first described in heart-lung transplant recipients who showed a progressive decline in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) [3]. Lung biopsies from these patients showed intraluminal polyps comprised of fibromyxoid granulation tissue and plaques of dense submucosal eosinophilic scar. Obliteration of small airways by these lesions produces progressive airflow obstruction , often accompanied by recurrent lower respiratory tract infection. BO and its clinical correlate bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) affect up to 50–60% of patients who survive 5 yrs after surgery, irrespective of the type of transplant procedure [1, 4–6]. This incidence is high compared with that of chronic graft dysfunction in recipients of liver, heart or kidney transplants (table 1). The time between transplanta-tion and onset of BOS can range from a few months to several years, but in most series, the median time to diagnosis is 16–20 months. In most patients, BOS is a progressive process that responds poorly to augmented immunosuppression, and it accounts for w30% of all deaths occurring after the third postoperative year [1]. Survival at 5 yrs after the onset of BOS is only 30–40%, and survival at 5 yrs …
Culturally appropriate behaviour support for Australian Indigenous students: what does the literature show?

Teacher responses to Indigenous student behaviour, when couched in cultural mismatch and lack of cultural understanding, can lead to overrepresentation of Indigenous students in negative indicators associated with student behaviour. To better understand appropriate strategies to support the behaviour of Australian Indigenous students a review of the published peer reviewed and non-peer reviewed literature was undertaken. The review revealed a number of themes which underpin appropriate Indigenous student behavior support: an understanding of Self and the Other and power relations without a deficit paradigm; particular personal qualities of the teacher and the ability to create effective relationships with Indigenous students. In addition, for classroom behaviour support to be successful teachers should also know or be willing to learn: the culture and characteristics of students, their learning strengths, successful pedagogy for Indigenous students and proactive behaviour support strategies. Teachers should also use culturally based behaviour support and management strategies and create links with community. The review also revealed that while the literature offered numerous suggestions, Australian research evidence is lacking a quantum of empirically based evidence.
Retargeting R-Type Pyocins To Generate Novel Bactericidal Protein Complexes

ABSTRACT R-type pyocins are high-molecular-weight bacteriocins that resemble bacteriophage tail structures and are produced by some Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. R-type pyocins kill by dissipating the bacterial membrane potential after binding. The high-potency, single-hit bactericidal kinetics of R-type pyocins suggest that they could be effective antimicrobials. However, the limited antibacterial spectra of natural R-type pyocins would ultimately compromise their clinical utility. The spectra of these protein complexes are determined in large part by their tail fibers. By replacing the pyocin tail fibers with tail fibers of Pseudomonas phage PS17, we changed the bactericidal specificity of R2 pyocin particles to a different subset of P. aeruginosa strains, including some resistant to PS17 phage. We further extended this idea by fusing parts of R2 tail fibers with parts of tail fibers from phages that infect other bacteria, including Escherichia coli and Yersinia pestis, changing the killing spectrum of pyocins from P. aeruginosa to the bacterial genus, species, or strain that serves as a host for the donor phage. The assembly of active R-type pyocins requires chaperones specific for the C-terminal portion of the tail fiber. Natural and retargeted R-type pyocins exhibit narrow bactericidal spectra and thus can be expected to cause little collateral damage to the healthy microbiotae and not to promote the horizontal spread of multidrug resistance among bacteria. Engineered R-type pyocins may offer a novel alternative to traditional antibiotics in some infections.
Gene Polymorphisms in Chronic Periodontitis

We aimed to conduct a review of the literature for gene polymorphisms associated with chronic periodontitis (CP) susceptibility. A comprehensive search of the literature in English was performed using the keywords: periodontitis, periodontal disease, combined with the words genes, mutation, or polymorphism. Candidate gene polymorphism studies with a case-control design and reported genotype frequencies in CP patients were searched and reviewed. There is growing evidence that polymorphisms in the IL1, IL6, IL10, vitamin D receptor, and CD14 genes may be associated with CP in certain populations. However, carriage rates of the rare (R)-allele of any polymorphism varied considerably among studies and most of the studies appeared under-powered and did not correct for other risk factors. Larger cohorts, well-defined phenotypes, control for other risk factors, and analysis of multiple genes and polymorphisms within the same pathway are needed to get a more comprehensive insight into the contribution of gene polymorphisms in CP.
802 . 11 a Modeling and MAC Enhancements for High Speed Rate Adaptive Networks

In this study, we model the IEEE 802.11a protocol in our network simulator, QualNet. By implementing and modeling characteristics of the physical 802.11a layer, we aim to understand the underlying OFDM modem and its interactions with the 802.11 PHY and MAC layers. With an accurate 802.11a model in place, we propose a solution to improve the efficiency of the 802.11a MAC layer. It is widely known that as physical radio bit rate increases, current wireless distributed medium access control techniques suffer from throughput inefficiency. This drawback is of increasing importance as typical ad hoc networks are now often equipped with high-speed auto rate adjusting radios. Through an in-depth understanding of 802.11a OFDM training and synchronization sequences, we propose a protocol to alleviate MAC and PHY inefficiencies. We show that physical layer preamble and medium access control mechanisms account for significant unnecessary overhead. After justifying our enhancements, simulation results in MANETs show that our scheme improves overall throughput significantly. Our future direction would be to integrate an OFDM simulator into QualNet to more accurately simulate the physical modem and to model the time varying and frequency selected shifting characteristics of the wireless channel in additions to the channel models currently in placed.
Bayesian foreground segmentation and tracking using pixel-wise background model and region based foreground model

In this paper we present a segmentation system for monocular video sequences with static camera that aims at foreground/background separation and tracking. We propose to combine a simple pixel-wise model for the background with a general purpose region based model for the foreground. The background is modeled using one Gaussian per pixel, thus achieving a precise and easy to update model. The foreground is modeled using a Gaussian mixture model with feature vectors consisting of the spatial (x, y) and colour (r, g, b) components. The spatial components of this model are updated using the expectation maximization algorithm after the classification of each frame. The background model is formulated in the 5 dimensional feature space in order to be able to apply a maximum a posteriori framework for the classification. The classification is done using a graph cut algorithm that allows taking into account neighborhood information. The results presented in the paper show the improvement of the system in situations where the foreground objects have similar colors to those of the background.
Relationships between Dietary Intake and Cognitive Function in Healthy Korean Children and Adolescents

Background It has long been theorized that a relatively robust dietary intake impacts cognitive function. The aim of the study was to explore dietary intake and cognitive function in healthy Korean children and adolescents. Methods Three hundred and seventeen healthy children with no previous diagnosis of neurologic or psychiatric disorders were evaluated (167 girls and 150 boys with a mean age of 11.8 ± 3.3 years). Analysis indicators including food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) consisting of 76 items and neurocognitive tests including symbol digit modalities (SDMT), verbal memory, visual memory, shift attention, reasoning, and digit span (forward and backward) tests were observed and recorded. Results The standard deviation in reaction time was significantly shorter in girls than in boys (p < 0.05). Verbal memory and SDMT percentile results were significantly higher in girls than in boys (p < 0.05). Vitamin C and potassium intake showed positive correlation with SDMT results (p < 0.05). Vitamin B1 intake showed positive correlation with the results of digit span forward tasks and SDMT (p < 0.01). Vitamin B6 intake showed positive correlation with the results of digit span forward tasks (p < 0.01). The consumption of noodles showed negative correlation with verbal memory, SDMT, shift attention, and reasoning test results (p < 0.05). The consumption of fast food showed negative correlation with SDMT and reasoning test results (p < 0.05). The consumption of Coca-Cola showed negative correlation with the results of verbal memory tests (p < 0.05). The consumption of mushrooms showed positive correlation with visual memory and reasoning test results (p < 0.05). The consumption of nuts showed positive correlation with SDMT results (p < 0.01). Omission errors were negatively correlated with the intake of protein, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, niacin, and vitamin B6 (p < 0.05), as well as with vitamin D and zinc intake (p < 0.01). Reaction time showed positive correlation with caffeine intake (p < 0.05). Omission errors were positively correlated with the consumption of rice and ramyeon (p < 0.01). Reaction time showed positive correlation with the consumption of snacks (p < 0.05). Standard deviations in reaction times showed positive correlation with the consumption of rice (p < 0.01), snacks, and chocolate (p < 0.05). Omission errors were negatively correlated with the consumption of rice with mixed grains (p < 0.01) and eggs (p < 0.05). Conclusion The relationship between dietary intake and cognitive function is generally better observed in girls than in boys. The consumption of healthy foods is correlated with good cognitive function. These results suggest that diet is closely related to cognitive function, even in healthy children and adolescents.
Extended and unscented Kalman filters for the identification of uncertainties in a process

This paper describes the application of extended and unscented Kalman filters for the identification of uncertainties in a process. The extended Kalman filter (EKF) is an optimal linear recursive algorithm that offers a solution to the filtering problem. The EKF is based on a first-order Taylor expansion to approximate the measurement and process models. This approach may cause the estimation process to diverge. Consequently, alternatives (e.g., the unscented Kalman filter, UKF) based on a fixed number of points to represent a Gaussian distribution have been introduced. The EKF and UKF have been applied for the identification of uncertainty in the attitude determination process for small satellites based on noisy measurements collected from Sun sensors and three-axis magnetometers. Simulation results indicate that the EKF and UKF perform equally well when small initial errors are present. However, when large errors are introduced, the UKF leads to a faster convergence and achieves a higher more accurate estimate of the state of the system.
Including landmarks in routing instructions

This article addresses the problem of incorporating cognitively salient landmarks in computer-generated navigation instructions. On the basis of a review of the existing literature in the domain of navigation with landmarks, the article develops algorithms for generating routing instructions that include references to landmarks. The most basic algorithm uses a new weighting model to annotate simple routes with references to landmarks. A key novel feature of this algorithm is that it depends only on commonly available data and generic capabilities of existing web mapping environments. A suite of extensions are also proposed for improving the cognitive ergonomics of the basic landmark instructions. A case study, implemented within a national online routing system, demonstrates practicality of the approach. The article then concludes by reviewing a range of further issues for future work.
The Effects of Practice Schedule and Self-Controlled Feedback Manipulations on the Acquisition and Retention of Motor Skills

In their challenge-point framework (CPF) Guadagnoli and Lee‟s (2004) argue that learning is maximized when a person faces an optimal level of challenge during practice. It is suggested that challenge level can be manipulated through the combination of different practice variables. The purpose of this study was to investigate how practice schedule and self-controlled feedback frequency manipulations affect performance and learning of motor skills. Participants (n=96) attempted to learn three versions of a key-pressing task. The task consisted of pressing five computer keys in specified sequences in a goal criterion time. Participants were assigned to either a blocked practice schedule with self-controlled feedback (BLK-SC), a random practice schedule with selfcontrolled feedback (RND-SC), a blocked practice schedule with yoked feedback (BLK-YK), a random practice schedule with yoked feedback (RND-YK), a blocked practice schedule and 100 percent feedback (BLK-100), or a random practice schedule with 100 percent feedback (RND-100). Participants in the blocked conditions practiced 30 trials of each task according to a blocked practice schedule. Participants in the random conditions practiced 30 trial of each task according to a random practice schedule. Participants in the selfcontrolled feedback condition were allowed to choose whether or not to receive feedback on each trial. Yoked participants had their feedback schedule matched to a participant with similar characteristics in the self-control condition. Participants in the 100% feedback condition received feedback after every trial.
This advert makes me cry: Disclosure of emotional response to advertisement on Facebook

Abstract As social media is transforming how consumers interact with brands and how brand-related content is consumed, this paper aims to investigate if and how Facebook users express their emotions towards advertisements of brand share on the site. Seven hundred and three comments about the Lloyds 250th Anniversary advertisement on Facebook were analysed as positive, negative or neutral attitude towards the advert. Facebook users found the advertisement emotionally appealing and voluntarily report their emotion of love, pride and in some cases anger. The presence of an iconic image like the black horse and the cover music was found to be emotionally appealing. The background music as well aroused positive emotions and engaging. This study introduces the possibility of analysing Facebook comments on brand content to understand consumers’ emotional responses and attitudes to the brand. Managers can explore these opportunities to identify what consumers find interesting in advertisements and how best to develop their creative strategies. It also offers the opportunity to allocate resources better to engage consumers with creative advertisement. Unlike interviews or surveys, this is a pioneering study on measuring emotional responses to advertisement through users’ self-report on social media.
Awareness of Age-related Macular Degeneration and Its Risk Factors among Beijing Residents in China

Background: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of irreversible blindness, and awareness of this disease is important in the prevention of blindness. However, lack of public awareness of AMD was shown in previous studies, and there was no report of AMD awareness in the Mainland of China. Therefore, the aim of our study was to assess the awareness of AMD and its risk factors among Beijing residents in China. Methods: A cross-sectional, computer-assisted, telephone investigation was conducted to measure the awareness of AMD among Beijing residents. All the contacts of potential respondents were randomly generated by computer. Only those above 18 years of age and willing to participate in the study were included. The questionnaire for the study was modified from the AMD Alliance International Global Report. Pearson's Chi-square test and binary logistic regression analysis were used to identify the factors that affected the knowledge of AMD. Results: Among 385 Beijing residents who agreed to participate, the awareness of AMD was 6.8%, far below than that of cataract and glaucoma. Participants who were above 30 years of age (odds ratio [OR] 6.17, confidence interval [CI] 1.44–26.57), with experience of health-related work (OR 8.11, CI 3.25–20.27), and whose relatives/friends or themselves suffering from AMD (OR 32.18, CI 11.29–91.68) had better AMD awareness. Among those familiar with AMD, only 35% of them identified smoking as a risk factor, and only 23.1% of the residents believed that smoking could lead to blindness. Conclusions: The sample of Chinese population had limited knowledge of AMD. Educational programs need to be carried out to raise public awareness of AMD.
EXPANDERS WITH CUTOFF PHENOMENA

The cutoff phenomenon describes a sharp transition in the convergence of an ergodic finite Markov chain to equilibrium. Of particular interest is understanding this convergence for the simple random walk on a bounded-degree expander graph. The first example of a family of bounded-degree graphs where the random walk exhibits cutoff in total-variation was provided only very recently, when the authors showed this for a typical random regular graph. However, no example was known for an explicit (deterministic) family of expanders with this phenomenon. Here we construct a family of cubic expanders where the random walk from a worst case initial position exhibits total-variation cutoff. Variants of this construction give cubic expanders without cutoff, as well as cubic graphs with cutoff at any prescribed time-point.
Tailored photon pair preparation relying on full group velocity matching in fiber-based spontaneous four-wave mixing

We study photon pair generation through scalar spontaneous four-wave mixing in single-mode fiber and for frequency-degenerate pumps; we concentrate on source geometries which fulfil full group velocity matching (GVM), i.e. where the pump, signal and idler propagate at identical group velocities. We discuss two experimental techniques which permit the attainment of full GVM, and discuss the resulting two-photon state properties. In particular, we show that full GVM can lead to sources which approach phase-matching unconstrained by dispersion and therefore with a remarkably large bandwidth. We also discuss the generation of nearly-factorable states as an application of full GVM.
Large scale star formation in galaxies. II. The spirals NGC 3377A, NGC 3507 and NGC 4394

The identification of young star groupings (YSG) in the three spiral galaxies NGC 3377A, NGC 3507, NGC 4394 is obtained by mean of the statistical method described in Paper I. We find 83, 90, 185 YSGs, respectively. An identification map of YSGs, as well as their size distribution, their B-luminosity function, their surface luminosity density radial behaviour, are presented and comparatively discussed. These data, in addition to those in Paper I, constitute a first sample suitable for seeking correlations among properties of galaxies and their YSG, which we briefly discuss here.