Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Flexible Abstraction Heuristics for Optimal Sequential Planning

We describe an approach to deriving consistent heuristics for automated planning, based on explicit search in abstract state spaces. The key to managing complexity is interleaving composition of abstractions over different sets of state variables with abstraction of the partial composites. The approach is very general and can be instantiated in many different ways by following different abstraction strategies. In particular, the technique subsumes planning with pattern databases as a special case. Moreover, with suitable abstraction strategies it is possible to derive perfect heuristics in a number of classical benchmark domains, thus allowing their optimal solution in polynomial time. To evaluate the practical usefulness of the approach, we perform empirical experiments with one particular abstraction strategy. Our results show that the approach is competitive with the state of the art.
Clinical Ophthalmology Dovepress Evaluation of Corneal Changes after Myopic Lasik Using the Pentacam ®

Background: In this study, we used a Pentacam ® device to evaluate the corneal changes that occur after laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK). Methods: Our study included 60 eyes of 32 patients. All patients were treated for myopia and myopic astigmatism using LASIK. The eyes were examined preoperatively and 3 months postoperatively using a Pentacam to assess corneal changes with regard to curvature, elevation, and asphericity of the cornea. Results: A statistically significant decrease in mean keratometric power of the anterior corneal surface (P = 0.001) compared with its pre-LASIK value was detected after 3 months, but there was no significant change in keratometric power of the posterior surface (P = 0.836). Asphericity (Q-value) of the anterior and posterior surfaces increased significantly after LASIK (P = 0.001). A significant forward bulge of the anterior corneal surface 4 mm and 7 mm from the central zone was detected 3 months post-LASIK (P = 0.001 for both), but there was no significant increase in posterior elevation at 4 mm and 7 mm from the center (P = 0.637 and P = 0.26, respectively). No cases of post-LASIK ectasia were detected. Correlation between different parameters of the corneal surface revealed an indirect relation between changes in pachymetry and anterior corneal elevation at 4 mm and 7 mm from the central zone (r = −0.27, P = 0.13, and r = −0.37, P = 0.04, respectively), and a direct proportion between changes in pachymetry and mean keratometric power of the anterior and posterior corneal surfaces (r = 0.7, P = 0.001 and r = 0.4, P = 0.028, respectively). Conclusion: LASIK causes significant changes at the anterior corneal surface but the effect is subtle and insignificant at the posterior surface.
Hidden Markov Model for Speech Recognition Using Modified Forward-Backward Re-estimation Algorithm

There are various kinds of practical implementation issues for the HMM. The use of scaling factor is the main issue in HMM implementation. The scaling factor is used for obtaining smoothened probabilities. The proposed technique called Modified Forward-Backward Re-estimation algorithm used to recognize speech patterns. The proposed algorithm has shown very good recognition accuracy as compared to the conventional Forward-Backward Re-estimation algorithm.
An interleaved high step-up DC-DC converter with cumulative voltage unit

A new interleaved high step-up dc-dc converter with the circuit of cumulative voltage unit (CVU) is proposed in this paper. The proposed converter is suitable to the application of requiring high ratio of the output voltage to input voltage. Only two switches are required to form the double boosting path and the interleaved topology. The new technique of the cumulative voltage unit forms the post part of the high step-up converter. Each CVU module can share common diodes to reduce the number of the components, step up the voltage gain and clamp the voltage effectively. The interleaved structure in the input end can reduce the power loss in each current-flowing component and the input current ripple. The CVU modules can be arranged with different manners to extend the circuit topology. The proposed CVU circuit will be verified by the simulation and experiments finally. The theoretical analyses and circuit design about this kind of converter will also be given to complete the illustration of the interleaved high step-up CVU converter.
Making polynomials robust to noise

A basic question in any computational model is how to reliably compute a given function when the inputs or intermediate computations are subject to noise at a constant rate. Ideally, one would like to use at most a constant factor more resources compared to the noise-free case. This question has been studied for decision trees, circuits, automata, data structures, broadcast networks, communication protocols, and other models. Buhrman et al. (2003) posed the noisy computation problem for real polynomials. We give a complete solution to this problem. For any polynomial p:{0,1}n->[-1,1], we construct a polynomial probust:Rn->R of degree O(deg p+log(1/ε)) that epsilon-approximates p and is robust to noise in the inputs: |p(x)-probust(x+δ)|n and all delta∈[-1/3,1/3]n. This result is optimal with respect to all parameters. We construct probust explicitly for each p. Previously, it was open to give such a construction even for p=x1 ⊕ x2 ⊕ . ⊕ xn (Buhrman et al., 2003). The proof contributes a technique of independent interest, which allows one to force partial cancellation of error terms in a polynomial.
Identification of the RNA polymerase II subunit hsRPB7 as a novel target of the von Hippel—Lindau protein

Inactivation of the von Hippel—Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor gene is linked to the hereditary VHL disease and sporadic clear cell renal cell carcinomas (CCRCC). VHL‐associated tumors are highly vascularized, a characteristic associated with overproduction of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The VHL protein (pVHL) is a component of the ubiquitin ligase E3 complex, targeting substrate proteins for ubiquitylation and subsequent proteasomic degradation. Here, we report that the pVHL can directly bind to the human RNA polymerase II seventh subunit (hsRPB7) through its β‐domain, and naturally occurring β‐domain mutations can decrease the binding of pVHL to hsRPB7. Introducing wild‐type pVHL into human kidney tumor cell lines carrying endogenous mutant non‐functional pVHL facilitates ubiquityl ation and proteasomal degradation of hsRPB7, and decreases its nuclear accumulation. pVHL can also suppress hsRPB7‐induced VEGF promoter transactivation, mRNA expression and VEGF protein secretion. Together, our results suggest that hsRPB7 is a downstream target of the VHL ubiquitylating complex and pVHL may regulate angiogenesis by targeting hsRPB7 for degradation via the ubiquitylation pathway and preventing VEGF expression.
The Past, Present, and Future of Ferrites

Ferrites—ceramic ferromagnetic materials—have been considered as highly important electronic materials for more than half a century. During this time, the characteristics of commercial ferrite materials, both soft and hard ferrites, have come to approach theoretical values. The quality of commercial ferrites has been improved through accumulated scientific knowledge and advanced technology. This article provides a comprehensive survey of the historical development of the science and technology of ferrite materials as well as applications of the ferrites. The article also offers a forecast of the future of ferrites in terms of their chemistry.
Platelet hyperactivity in type 2 diabetes: role of antiplatelet agents

Type 2 diabetes mellitus increases atherothrombotic risk. Platelets in individuals with diabetes show increased activity at baseline and in response to agonists, ultimately leading to increased aggregation. Increased expression of platelet surface adhesion molecules and receptors, enhanced production of thromboxane and thrombin and disturbances in platelet calcium homeostasis are well documented. As intra-arterial thrombi are initiated by platelets, strategies to limit acute thrombotic events have largely focused on antiplatelet agents. Aspirin remains the cornerstone of antiplatelet therapy but appears to have limited benefit in diabetes. Use of thienopyridines and platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor inhibitors has been shown to benefit high-risk patient populations. This review summarises the different platelet abnormalities characterised in diabetes and the role of currently used antiplatelet agents.
The Innovative Medicines Initiative: a Public Private Partnership Model to Foster Drug Discovery

The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) is a large-scale public–private partnership between the European Commission and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). IMI aims to boost the development of new medicines across Europe by implementing new collaborative endeavours between large pharmaceutical companies and other key actors in the health-care ecosystem, i.e., academic institutions, small and medium enterprises, patients, and regulatory authorities. Currently there are more than 40 IMI projects covering the whole value chain of pharmaceutical R&D, but with a strong focus on drug discovery, as an ideal arena where the PPP concept of pre-competitive collaboration can rapidly deliver results. This article review recent achievements of the IMI consortia of relevance to drug discovery, providing proof-of-concept evidence for the efficiency of this new model of collaboration.
Forthcoming in Economic Development and Cultural Change When Does Community Conservatism Constrain Village Organizations ?

Formal village organizations (VO) can be classified into market-oriented (MO) and communityoriented (CO) organizations, with the former aimed at raising members’ incomes and the latter at the provision of local public goods. This paper investigates the role of community conservatism in opposing economic differentiation and, thereby, constraining the emergence, configuration, and activities of MOs in West Africa. To do this, we develop a model where we show that, if these conservative forces are important, MOs need to be larger than would otherwise be optimal in order to gain acceptability and emerge. This, in turn, has an impact on their governance structure, as the needed extra members demand a more participatory decision-making process in order to secure the delivery of club goods, constraining the exercise of leadership. With very high resistance to economic differentiation, no MO can emerge. Using a dataset of 646 VOs in Burkina Faso, we identify a sharp contrast in initial size and governance structure between the first MO to emerge in a village and subsequent MOs. This is consistent with the results of the model assuming that first MOs encounter strong opposition to their emergence, while the social environment is more tolerant for subsequent MOs. * International Food Policy Research Institute; t.bernard@cgiar.org. ** University of California at Berkeley; alain@are.berkeley. edu; sadoulet@are.berkeley. edu. The authors are grateful to Marie-Hélène Collion, Pierre Rondot, and Adama Touré from the World Bank and to Jean-Louis Arcand and Maguelonne Chanron from CERDI for their collaboration on this project, as well as to Gershon Feder and the Norwegian Trust Fund at the World Bank for financial support. We also thank Jean-Philippe Platteau, Marcel Fafchamps, John Gibson, Nancy Mc Carthy, Jordan Chamberlain, and Maribel Elias for valuable comments.
Assessment of gross malnutrition among primary school children using body mass index as an assessment tool in abakaliki metropolis of Ebonyi State, South-East Nigeria

Background: Obesity and overweight are emerging major health problems in developing countries in the background of undernutrition. These have been linked to a substantial increase in mortality and morbidity. Objectives: This cross-sectional survey was aimed at determining the prevalence of underweight, overweight, and obesity using body mass index (BMI) in primary school pupils in Abakaliki metropolis of Ebonyi State, south-east Nigeria. Method: Eight hundred and four participants aged 6–12 years, from four public and four private primary schools had their weights and heights measured using standard methods. BMI value was calculated for each subject and compared with BMI for age and sex from World Health Organisation (WHO 2007) reference standard. Socioeconomic status was determined using method proposed by Oyedeji. Results: Out of 804 subjects, 426 (53.0%) were from public schools, whereas 378 (47%) were from private schools (P ≤ 0.01). Four hundred and fifteen (51.6%) were males and 389 (48.4%) were female (P = 0.88). The prevalence of underweight, overweight, and obesity using BMI were 4.5% and 1.2%, 0% in public schools and 1.1%, 5.0%, and 3.0% in private schools, (P < 0.001). The socioeconomic class significantly affected the prevalence of underweight, overweight, and obesity as more subjects with overweight and obesity belonged to upper social class, whereas more underweight subjects belonged to lower social class. Conclusion: Overweight and obesity are emerging in a background of undernutrition, showing ''double burden'' of nutritional disorder.
Sex and electroencephalographic synchronization after photic stimulation predict signal changes in the visual cortex on functional MR images.

PURPOSE We evaluated factors that influence MR signal changes during photic stimulation of the visual cortex. We also tested the hypothesis that functional MR imaging response corresponds to electroencephalographic (EEG) synchronization after photic stimulation. METHODS Thirty-eight healthy subjects, 20 men and 18 women, underwent photic stimulation of the visual cortex. They were studied with a 1.5-T MR unit, and photic stimulation was induced via 8-Hz LED goggles. Seven subjects with and seven without detectable functional MR imaging response to photic stimulation underwent further studies with 16-channel EEG after 2- to 30-Hz stroboscopic stimulation. RESULTS Thirteen men and 18 women had a significant increase in MR signal in the visual cortex; seven men showed no visual cortex activation during more than two repeated studies. Six of seven volunteers with increased functional MR imaging signal after photic stimulation also showed signs of EEG synchronization when an 8-Hz stroboscopic flash was used; six of seven subjects with no functional MR imaging lacked EEG synchronization at 8-Hz stimulation. CONCLUSIONS Men were more likely than women to have undetectable MR signal changes after photic stimulation. This finding should be considered when interpreting results of functional MR imaging studies. EEG with stroboscopic examination is a good predictor of functional MR imaging sensitivity to changes in regional cerebral blood flow induced by sensory stimulation.
Sketching hairstyles

This paper presents an intuitive sketching interface for interactive hairstyle design, made possible by an efficient numerical updating scheme. The user portrays the global shape of a desired hairstyle through a few 3D style curves which are manipulated by interactively sketching freeform strokes. Our approach is based on a vector field representation which is obtained by solving a sparse linear system with the style curves acting as boundary constraints. The key observation is that the specific sparseness pattern of the linear system enables an efficient incremental numerical updating scheme. This gives rise to a sketching interface that provides interactive visual feedback to the user. Interesting hairstyles can be easily created in minutes.
Experimental Determination of the Deposition of Aerosol Particles in the Human Respiratory Tract

BACKGROUND: Aerosol particles have, since the antiquity, been linked to adverse effects on human health. It is estimated that the particles in urban air pollution cause at least 100,000 deaths in Europe each year, whereof 5,000 in Sweden. These figures do not include the outcomes of indoor sources or smoking, which shortens the lives of millions of people worldwide. During recent years especially the ultrafine particles (<0.1 µm), typically originating from combustion sources, have been a major concern. The deposition in the respiratory tract of these particles is one important factor determining their health effects. Limited data is available, especially for real-world aerosols. The objective of this thesis was to experimentally study the respiratory tract deposition of submicrometer aerosol particles. METHODS: A novel method (RESPI) was developed for investigation of fine and ultrafine particle deposition in the respiratory tract. It was designed to be used for human subjects in exposure studies and in typical ambient and indoor environments. RESPI was used in measurements of respiratory tract deposition for in total 50 subjects inhaling five aerosols (particles from NaCl, DEHS oil, two types of biomass combustion and from a busy street) during rest and exercise. RESULTS: It was shown that the probability of aerosol particles to deposit in the respiratory tract is altered by a factor 2-8 depending on particle size, particle solubility and individual breathing patterns. For particles in the studied size interval (10-600 nm), deposition probability was not, or only marginally, influenced by gender, level of exercise, particle shape and particle density. However, these factors altered the total amount of particles deposited. For example male and exercising subjects inhaled larger volumes of air, which increased the total number of deposited particles. Measurements of biomass combustion and street particles illustrated that the combined effects of physical and chemical properties of aerosols (particle size, density and solubility) may result in substantial differences in deposition. At the same mass exposure, the dose of traffic exhaust particles deposited in the respiratory tract was 16 times higher by number and 3 times higher by surface compared to those for biomass combustion particles. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that parts of the variations in toxicity of different aerosols could be explained by the amount of particles deposited in the respiratory tract. Furthermore, some individuals may be more susceptible to effects from air pollution due to a higher dose to the lungs. (Less)
Different Classes of Coactivators Recognize Distinct but Overlapping Binding Sites on the Estrogen Receptor Ligand Binding Domain*

We have analyzed interaction of coactivators with the wild-type estrogen receptor α (ER), HEG0, and a mutant, L536P-HEG0, which is constitutively active in several transiently transfected cells and a HeLa line that stably propagates an estrogen-sensitive reporter gene. Different classes of coactivators do not recognize the ER ligand binding domain (LBD) in the same manner. Steroid receptor coactivator-1 (SRC-1), amplified in breast cancer-1 (AIB-1), transcriptional intermediary factor-1 (TIF-1), transcriptional intermediary factor-2 (TIF-2), and receptor interacting protein 140 (RIP140) interacted with HEG0 and L536P-HEG0 in the presence of estradiol, but generally not in the presence of anti-estrogens. However, ICI164,384 stimulated some interaction of RIP140 with LBDs. SRC-1, AIB-1, and RIP140 interacted constitutively with the L536P ER, whereas TIF-1 and TIF-2 interacted only weakly in the absence of hormone. Reciprocal competition for binding to the ER LBD was observed between different classes of coactivators. Moreover, coexpression of RIP140 blocked enhanced transactivation by HEG0 observed in the presence of TIF-2, suggesting that RIP140 may play a negative role in ER signaling. We conclude that constitutive activity of L536P-HEG0 is manifested to similar degrees in different cell types and likely arises from constitutive coactivator binding; different classes of coactivators recognize distinct but overlapping binding sites on the ER LBD. Finally, the observation that L536P-HEG0 interacted constitutively with AIB-1, a coactivator that has been implicated in ER signaling in breast and ovarian cancer, suggests that similar mutations in the ER may contribute to hormone-independent proliferation of breast and ovarian cells.
Acceptability of an “on-demand” pre-exposure HIV prophylaxis trial among men who have sex with men living in France

Abstract Although predictors of willingness to take daily, self-administered pre-exposure HIV prophylaxis (PrEP) for men who have sex with men (MSM) have been studied in the context of several PrEP trials internationally, little is known about MSM interested in participating in a trial on the use of PrEP on an “on -demand” basis, i.e., taking a first dose of combined tenofovir/emtricitabine a few hours before possible HIV sexual exposure and a second dose a few hours afterwards. A double-blind placebo randomized PrEP trial will soon begin in France to evaluate the effectiveness of PrEP in terms of reducing HIV infection rates, among MSM self-administering “on-demand” PrEP. To assess potential participants’ characteristics associated with willingness to participate in the trial and identify barriers and facilitators to implementation, MSM completed a self-administered questionnaire, distributed via gay venues and community websites. Among the 443 respondents who reported being HIV-negative, 40% reported being interested in participating. Factors independently associated with interest included: reporting lower educational level, more than 20 male sexual partners in the previous year, reporting unprotected anal sex with casual partners and preferring PrEP follow-up visits in a devoted area within a hospital. There is great interest in participating in a future “on-demand” PrEP trial among HIV-negative MSM and particularly in those at potentially high risk of HIV exposure. Providing confidentiality and tailored counseling during PrEP follow-up are important issues.
Taxonomy of Pathways to Dangerous AI

In order to properly handle a dangerous Artificially Intelligent (AI) system it is important to understand how the system came to be in such a state. In popular culture (science fiction movies/books) AIs/Robots became self-aware and as a result rebel against humanity and decide to destroy it. While it is one possible scenario, it is probably the least likely path to appearance of dangerous AI. In this work, we survey, classify and analyze a number of circumstances, which might lead to arrival of malicious AI. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to systematically classify types of pathways leading to malevolent AI. Previous relevant work either surveyed specific goals/meta-rules which might lead to malevolent behavior in AIs (\"Ozkural, 2014) or reviewed specific undesirable behaviors AGIs can exhibit at different stages of its development (Alexey Turchin, July 10 2015, July 10, 2015).
Detecting anomalies in IaaS environments through virtual machine host system call analysis

Providers and consumers of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) virtual machine resources may be the subject of a number of attacks, particularly in public cloud environments. Detecting anomalies is hence critical both to protect against misuse and attacks, but is subject to constraints. These include primarily efficiency, but also legal and contractual restrictions limiting the depth of intrusiveness, which can be achieved by an intrusion detection system. In many cases, the IaaS provider will also have very limited insights into the actual workloads used by clients. In this paper we therefore propose to monitor system calls at the VM host level without requiring any instrumentation within VMs and argue that this level of granularity is sufficient to capture a number of relevant attack classes. This, together with the efficiency and efficacy of the approach is shown through experiments and statistical analysis in a Linux KVM-based reference scenario. The proposed system, unlike other systems such as VM Introspection (VMI), does not require any knowledge about VMs from inside nor requiring any OS or hypervisor modifications.