Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nearby-Friend Discovery Protocol for Multiple Users

The Nearby-Friend Problem for a user in the context of location based services is to learn the location of a nearby-friend only if (s)he is actually nearby, while simultaneously maintaining the privacy of their respective locations. The existing works address the problem for two users only. In this paper, we present for the first time a solution which caters to multiple users. We use techniques from Euclidean plane geometry and graph theory to develop a secure multi-party computation approach towards solving the nearby-friend problem efficiently for many users. Our solution ensures users' location privacy by enforcing $k$-anonymity.
Cloud optical and microphysical properties derived from ground‐based and satellite sensors over a site in the Yangtze Delta region

Comprehensive surface‐based retrievals of cloud optical and microphysical properties were made at Taihu, a highly polluted site in the central Yangtze Delta region, during a research campaign from May 2008 to December 2009. Cloud optical depth (COD), effective radius (Re), and liquid water path (LWP) were retrieved from measurements made with a suite of ground‐based and spaceborne instruments, including an Analytical Spectral Devices spectroradiometer, a multifilter rotating shadowband radiometer, a multichannel microwave radiometer profiler, and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on Terra and Aqua satellites. Retrievals from zenith radiance measurements capture better the temporal variation of cloud properties than do retrievals from hemispherical fluxes. Annual mean LWP, COD, and Re are 115.8 ± 90.8 g/m2, 28.5 ± 19.2, and 6.9 ± 4.2 µm. Over 90% of LWP values are less than 250 g/m2. Most of the COD values (>90%) fall between 5 and 60, and ~80% of Re values are less than 10 µm. Maximum (minimum) values of LWP and Re occur in summer (winter); COD is highest in winter and spring. Raining and nonraining clouds have significant differences in LWP, COD, and Re. Rainfall frequency is best correlated with LWP, followed by COD and Re. Cloud properties retrieved from multiple ground‐based instruments are also compared with those from satellite retrievals. On average, relative to surface retrievals, mean differences of satellite retrievals in cloud LWP, COD, and Re were −33.6 g/m2 (−26.4%), −5.8 (−31.4%), and 2.9 µm (29.3%) for 11 MODIS‐Terra overpasses and −43.3 g/m2 (−22.3%), −3.0 (−10.0%), and −1.3 µm (−12.0%) for 8 MODIS‐Aqua overpasses, respectively. These discrepancies indicate that MODIS cloud products still suffer from large uncertainties in this region.
Application of fuzzy TOPSIS method for the selection of Warehouse Location: A Case Study

Warehouse location selection is a multi-criteria decision problem including both quantitative and qualitative criteria and has a strategic importance for many companies. The conventional approaches to warehouse location selection problem tend to be less effective in dealing with the imprecise or vague nature of the linguistic assessment. Under many situations, the values of the qualitative criteria are often imprecisely defined for the decision-makers. To overcome this difficulty, fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making methods are proposed. In this paper, we present a multi-criteria decision making approach for selecting warehouse location under partial or incomplete information (uncertainty). The proposed approach comprises of two steps. In step 1, we identify the criteria for warehouse location selection. In step 2, experts provide linguistic ratings to the potential alternatives against the selected criteria. Fuzzy TOPSIS is used to generate aggregate scores selection of best alternative. This paper shows a successful application of fuzzy TOPSIS to a real warehouse location selection problem of a big company in Iran.
Low‐frequency wave characteristics in the upstream and downstream regime of the terrestrial bow shock

[1] Collisionless shocks in space are accompanied by the low-frequency waves of the magnetic field both upstream and downstream of the shock. However, characteristics of these waves in the plasma rest frame are poorly understood, since spatial scale such as wavelength is hardly determined using single or at best two spacecraft observations. Taking advantage of multipoint measurements of the Cluster spacecraft, we present a statistical study to reveal the rest frame properties of the waves in the terrestrial bow shock environment such as frequencies, wave numbers, phase velocities, propagation directions, polarization and transport ratios for the quasi-parallel and the quasi-perpendicular shock regimes and in the upstream region, the outer, the middle, and the inner magnetosheath. We find that the quasi-parallel shock upstream waves (or the foreshock waves) exhibit properties of the fast mode wave excited by the ion beam instability. Upstream of the quasi-perpendicular shock the waves also exhibit similar properties to the foreshock waves, but the wave mode identification needs further investigations. In the magnetosheath the waves exhibit properties which are persistent from the outer to the inner magnetosheath. They can be interpreted as the mirror mode coupled to the plasma inhomogeneity or as the slow mode. We also find an organization in the wave propagation pattern that the upstream waves propagate toward upstream, while the magnetosheath waves propagate toward the flank region and toward the magnetopause. It is concluded that wave properties are different between the upstream and the downstream regions, but they are similar between the quasi-parallel and the quasi-perpendicular shock regimes, suggesting that the upstream waves are not transmitted to the downstream region across the shock and that the downstream waves do not depend on the shock angle (between the upstream magnetic field and the shock normal direction).
Climatic change and CaCO3 preservation: An 800,000 year bathymetric Reconstruction from the central equatorial Pacific Ocean

Sixteen deep-sea cores from the central equatorial Pacific are used to reconstruct a continuous 800,000-year (800-kyr) record of bathymetric variations in carbonate preservation as measured by calcium carbonate (CaCO3) content. The depth of the sedimentary lysocline has fluctuated markedly in conjunction with late Pleistocene climate cycles while the carbonate critical depth (CCrD), which is the water depth where the sediments contain 10% CaCO3, has remained relatively constant. As a result, the depth of the lysocline controls the bathymetric position and thickness of the CaCO3 transition zone, defined as the depth from the lysocline to the CCrD. Modern and interglacial-aged sediments show poor CaCO3 preservation and thick CaCO3 transition zones. Glacial-aged sediments show good preservation and deep, thin zones due to the deepening of the lysocline. Detailed comparison of the CaCO3 preservation and oxygen isotope records from the central equatorial Pacific confirms the observation that preservation maxima and minima tend to occur during the latter half of glacial and interglacial stages and on climate transitions rather than during the middle of climatic stages. During the nine major glacial stages of the last 800 kyr, the lysocline deepened by at least 400 to 800 m. This deepening indicates an increase in the abyssal carbonate ion concentration ([CO3=]) and a depression of the calcite saturation horizon best explained by the deeper presence of a more carbonate-saturated water mass. The bottom of the transition zone has remained at a relatively constant depth during the Brunhes Chron, indicating a balance between CaCO3 sedimentation and dissolution in the deepest waters of the central equatorial Pacific.
Untouched GMP-Ready Purified Engineered Immune Cells to Treat Cancer

Purpose: Engineering T cells with receptors to redirect the immune system against cancer has most recently been described as a scientific breakthrough. However, a main challenge remains the GMP-grade purification of immune cells selectively expressing the introduced receptor in order to reduce potential side effects due to poorly or nonengineered cells. Experimental Design: In order to test a novel purification strategy, we took advantage of a model γδT cell receptor (TCR), naturally interfering with endogenous TCR expression and designed the optimal retroviral expression cassette to achieve maximal interference with endogenous TCR chains. Following retroviral transduction, nonengineered and poorly engineered immune cells characterized by a high endogenous αβTCR expression were efficiently depleted with GMP-grade anti-αβTCR beads. Next, the engineered immune cells were validated for TCR expression, function against a panel of tumor cell lines and primary tumors and potential allo-reactivity. Engineered immune cells were further validated in two humanized mouse tumor models. Results: The untouched enrichment of engineered immune cells translated into highly purified receptor-engineered cells with strong antitumor reactivity both in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, this approach eliminated residual allo-reactivity of engineered immune cells. Our data demonstrate that even with long-term suboptimal interference with endogenous TCR chains such as in resting cells, allo-reactivity remained absent and tumor control preserved. Conclusions: We present a novel enrichment method for the production of untouched engineered immune cells, ready to be translated into a GMP-grade method and potentially applicable to all receptor-modified cells even if interference with endogenous TCR chains is far from complete. Clin Cancer Res; 21(17); 3957–68. ©2015 AACR.
Automatic Generation of Polynomial Loop Invariants: Algebraic Foundations

This paper presents the algebraic foundation for an approach for generating polynomial loop invariants in imperative programs. It is first shown that the set of polynomials serving as loop invariants has the algebraic structure of an ideal. Using this connection, a procedure for finding loop invariants is given in terms of operations on ideals, for which Grobner basis constructions can be employed. Most importantly, it is proved that if the assignment statements in a loop are solvable (in particular, affine) mappings with positive eigenvalues, then the procedure terminates in at most 2m+1 iterations, where m is the number of variables in the loop. The proof is done by showing that the irreducible subvarieties of the variety associated with the polynomial ideal approximating the invariant polynomial ideal of the loop either stay the same or increase their dimension in every iteration. This yields a correct and complete algorithm for inferring conjunctions of polynomial equations as invariants. The method has been implemented in Maple using the Groebner package. The implementation has been used to automatically discover nontrivial invariants for several examples to illustrate the power of the techniques.
Race and Urbanity Alter the Protective Effect of Education but not Income on Mortality

Background Although the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) on mortality are well established, these effects may vary based on contextual factors such as race and place. Using 25-year follow-up data of a nationally representative sample of adults in the U.S., this study had two aims: (1) to explore separate, additive, and multiplicative effects of race and place (urbanity) on mortality and (2) to test the effects of education and income on all-cause mortality based on race and place. Methods The Americans’ Changing Lives (ACL) Study followed Whites and Blacks 25 years and older from 1986 until 2011. The focal predictors were baseline SES (education and income) collected in 1986. The main outcome was time until death due to all causes from 1986 until 2011. Age, gender, behaviors (smoking and exercise), and health (chronic medical conditions, self-rated health, and depressive symptoms) at baseline were potential confounders. A series of survey Cox proportional hazard models were used to test protective effects of education and income on mortality based on race and urbanity. Results Race and place had separate but not additive or multiplicative effects on mortality. Higher education and income were protective against all-cause mortality in the pooled sample. Race and urbanity significantly interacted with baseline education but not income on all-cause mortality, suggesting that the protective effect of education but not income depend on race and place. While the protective effect of education were fully explained by baseline health status, the effect of income remained significant beyond health. Conclusion In the U.S., the health return associated with education depends on race and place. This finding suggests that populations differently benefit from SES resources, particularly education. Differential effect of education on employment and health care may explain the different protective effect of education based on race and place. Findings support the “diminishing returns” hypothesis for Blacks.
A Linearization of Connes' Embedding Problem

We show that Connes' embedding problem for II_1-factors is equivalent to a statement about distributions of sums of self-adjoint operators with matrix coefficients. This is an application of a linearization result for finite von Neumann algebras, which is proved using asymptotic second order freeness of Gaussian random matrices.
Structure and function revealed with submolecular resolution at the liquid–solid interface

The liquid–solid interface is a unique medium to support the self-assembly of molecules into surface-confined networks. Non-covalent interactions are key in forming these two-dimensional (2D) architectures, and a deep understanding is crucial for successful 2D crystal engineering. Scanning tunnelling microscopy is the tool of choice to reveal the structure and function of these patterns with subnanometre resolution. A recent success is the formation of 2D nanoporous molecular patterns and their host–guest chemistry. However, this is not the only functionality addressed by this review. Surface-confined molecular architectures at the liquid–solid interface are also relevant in the field of molecular electronics. Furthermore, inducing and probing chemical reactivity at the single-molecule level at the liquid–solid interface might turn out to be one of the most exciting developments.
The c-myc Locus Is a Common Integration Site in Type B Retrovirus-Induced T-Cell Lymphomas

ABSTRACT Type B leukemogenic virus (TBLV) induces rapidly appearing T-cell leukemias. TBLV insertions near the c-myc gene were detectable in 2 of 30 tumors tested, whereas 80% of the tumors showed c-myc overexpression. TBLV insertions on chromosome 15 (including a newly identified locus, Pad7) may cause c-myc overexpression by cis-acting effects at a distance.
Asymptotic distribution of the MUSIC null spectrum

The asymptotic distribution of the MUSIC null spectrum at the source location is derived. It is shown that the asymptotic distribution of the MUSIC null spectrum has a x/sup 2/ distribution: the asymptotic mean and variance of the MUSIC null spectrum depend on the degree of freedom that is two times the difference between the number of sensors and that of signals. From this result, explicit expressions for the asymptotic variance of the MUSIC null spectrum are obtained. The result is a simpler alternative to and a special case of the result obtained independently by H. Lee and M. Wengrovitz (see ibid., vol.39, no.6, p.1333, 1991). >
Toward an operational 3 dimensional simulation of the tropical Atlantic Ocean

Simulations obtained with a three dimensional primitive equation model in the tropical Atlantic ocean are compared with observations made during the FOCAL and SEQUAL experiments in 1984. In many respects the results are encouraging; notably, the most characteristic aspects of the 1984 warm event are correctly represented by the simulations. As part of the TOGA program, it is planned to run such a model operationally in the tropical Atlantic ocean. An improvement in the simulation is expected from a regular reinitialization of the model using observations. The quality of the forcing functions, especially the wind stress, will be improved by using a high frequency wind field provided operationally by the European Center for Medium range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF).
Reclaiming public space: The economic, environmental, and social impacts of Bogotá's transformation

Over the course of a few short years, the city of Bogota (Colombia) has dramatically transformed the quality of its public space. This session presents primary and secondary data documenting the economic, environmental, and social benefits of improved public space and urban mobility. Bogota has benefited from a series of political leaders with a highly progressive view on the importance of urban space. This high degree of political will contributed to dramatic changes in several areas, including: 1. Reclamation of public space; 2. Improvement of public transport; 3. Promotion of non-motorised transport; and, 4. Implementation of auto restriction measures. The near simultaneous application of these policies has produced quantifiable benefits to the quality of life of city residents. The research shows that property values in areas with urban upgrades have appreciated considerably when compared to a control group of similar properties. Additionally, the research shows employment benefits from the city’s Sunday “ciclovia” (closing of streets to motorised vehicles) is significantly greater than week-day auto-related employment along the same corridors. Air quality monitoring shows emission reductions by as much as 40 per cent for some pollutants. Social indicators related to accidents, crime levels, and equity are also quite positive. Traffic deaths have been reduced from over 1,300 in 1995 to less than 700 in 2002. Bogota’s transformation has attracted visits by city officials from over 50 nations. The replicability of Bogota’s successes will depend upon local circumstances, and especially upon levels of local political will. Further documentation of the economic, environmental, and social benefits stemming from Bogota’s efforts will help instil the confidence of city officials to move ahead with urban transformations of their own.
Reanalyzing variable directionality of gene expression in transgenerational epigenetic inheritance

A previous report claimed no evidence of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in a mouse model of in utero environmental exposure, based on the observation that gene expression changes observed in the germ cells of G1 and G2 male fetus were not in the same direction. A subsequent data reanalysis however showed a statistically significant overlap between G1 and G2 genes irrespective of direction, leading to the suggestion that, as phenotypic variability in epigenetic transmission has been observed in several other examples also, the above report provided evidence in favor of, not against, transgenerational inheritance. This criticism has recently been questioned. Here, it is shown that the questions raised are based not only on incorrect statistical calculations but also on wrong premise that gene expression changes do not constitute a phenotype.
Genetic variation at the 22q11 PRODH2/DGCR6 locus presents an unusual pattern and increases susceptibility to schizophrenia

The location of a schizophrenia susceptibility locus at chromosome 22q11 has been suggested by genome-wide linkage studies. Additional support was provided by the observation of a higher-than-expected frequency of 22q11 microdeletions in patients with schizophrenia and the demonstration that ≈20–30% of individuals with 22q11 microdeletions develop schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder in adolescence and adulthood. Analysis of the extent of these microdeletions by using polymorphic markers afforded further refinement of this locus to a region of ≈1.5 Mb. Recently, a high rate of 22q11 microdeletions was also reported for a cohort of 47 patients with Childhood Onset Schizophrenia, a rare and severe form of schizophrenia with onset by age 13. It is therefore likely that this 1.5-Mb region contains one or more genes that predispose to schizophrenia. In three independent samples, we provide evidence for a contribution of the PRODH2/DGCR6 locus in 22q11-associated schizophrenia. We also uncover an unusual pattern of PRODH2 gene variation that mimics the sequence of a linked pseudogene. Several of the pseudogene-like variants we identified result in missense changes at conserved residues and may prevent synthesis of a fully functional enzyme. Our results have implications for understanding the genetic basis of the 22q11-associated psychiatric phenotypes and provide further insights into the genomic instability of this region.
EDGE: enhanced data rates for GSM and TDMA/136 evolution

Two of the major second-generation standards, GSM and TDMA/136, have built the foundation to offer a common global radio access for data services. Through use of a common physical layer, EDGE, both standards will have the same evolutionary path toward providing third-generation services. EDGE is currently subject to standardization in TIA TR45.3 and ETSI SMG, a process which will be finalized at the end of 1999. Compared to the existing data services in GSM and TDMA/136, EDGE will provide significantly higher user bit rates and spectral efficiency. EDGE can be introduced in these systems in a smooth way, using existing frequency plans of already deployed networks. This article gives the rationale behind the development of the EDGE concept, presents the EDGE technology, and addresses performance by means of system simulations.
LONG TERM MONITORING OF HYDRARGYRUM POLLUTED SOIL USING PROJECTED IMAGE RECONSTRUCTION IN ELECTRICAL IMPEDANCE TOMOGRAPHY

In this paper we consider a novel reconstruction method in electrical impedance tomography (EIT) and its application for monitoring and detecting a hydrargyrum (mercury) polluted soil near to the surface of underground. We use electrodes placed on the surface of land to collect the data which provides the relations of voltage and current map and to produce a projected image of interior conductivity distribution onto the surface of land. Here the projected image reconstruction method is used to monitor the pollution in soil underneath the ground without any destruction and any digging into a land.
The Open University ’ s repository of research publications and other research outputs Mining Java Class Naming Conventions Conference Item

Class names represent the concepts implemented in object-oriented source code and are key elements in program comprehension and, thus, software maintenance. Programming conventions often state that class names should be noun-phrases, but there is little further guidance for developers on the composition of class names. Other researchers have observed that the majority of Java class identifier names are composed of one or more nouns preceded, optionally, by one or more adjectives. However, no detailed analysis of class identifier name structure has been undertaken that could be leveraged to support program comprehension activities. We investigate the lexical and syntactic composition of Java class identifier names in two ways. Firstly, as others have done for C function and Java method names, we identify conventional patterns found in the use of parts of speech. Secondly, we identify the origin of words used in class names within the name of any super class and implemented interfaces to identify patterns of class name construction related to inheritance. Through the analysis of 120,000 unique class names found in 60 open source projects we identify both common and project specific class naming conventions. We apply this knowledge in a case study of the mind-mapping tool Freemind to investigate whether class names that follow unconventional naming schemes are candidates for refactoring – either a name refactoring that conforms to established naming conventions within the code base, or refactoring of the class that results in conventionally named classes. Keywords-Java class naming; identifier names;