Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Complexity of Optimal Mechanism Design

Myerson's seminal work provides a computationally efficient revenue-optimal auction for selling one item to multiple bidders [18]. Generalizing this work to selling multiple items at once has been a central question in economics and algorithmic game theory, but its complexity has remained poorly understood. We answer this question by showing that a revenue-optimal auction in multi-item settings cannot be found and implemented computationally efficiently, unless ZPP ⊇ P#P. This is true even for a single additive bidder whose values for the items are independently distributed on two rational numbers with rational probabilities. Our result is very general: we show that it is hard to compute any encoding of an optimal auction of any format (direct or indirect, truthful or non-truthful) that can be implemented in expected polynomial time. In particular, under well-believed complexity-theoretic assumptions, revenue-optimization in very simple multi-item settings can only be tractably approximated. We note that our hardness result applies to randomized mechanisms in a very simple setting, and is not an artifact of introducing combinatorial structure to the problem by allowing correlation among item values, introducing combinatorial valuations, or requiring the mechanism to be deterministic (whose structure is readily combinatorial). Our proof is enabled by a flow-interpretation of the solutions of an exponential-size linear program for revenue maximization with an additional supermodularity constraint.
Information-theoretic inference of common ancestors

A directed acyclic graph (DAG) partially represents the conditional independence structure among observations of a system if the local Markov condition holds, that is if every variable is independent of its non-descendants given its parents. In general, there is a whole class of DAGs that represents a given set of conditional independence relations. We are interested in properties of this class that can be derived from observations of a subsystem only. To this end, we prove an information-theoretic inequality that allows for the inference of common ancestors of observed parts in any DAG representing some unknown larger system. More explicitly, we show that a large amount of dependence in terms of mutual information among the observations implies the existence of a common ancestor that distributes this information. Within the causal interpretation of DAGs, our result can be seen as a quantitative extension of Reichenbach’s principle of common cause to more than two variables. Our conclusions are valid also for non-probabilistic observations, such as binary strings, since we state the proof for an axiomatized notion of “mutual information” that includes the stochastic as well as the algorithmic version.
How Do Infants Become Experts at Native-Speech Perception?

Infants begin life ready to learn any of the world’s languages, but they quickly become speech-perception experts in their native language. Although this phenomenon has been well described, the mechanisms leading to native-language-listening expertise have not. In this article, we provide an in-depth review of one learning mechanism: distributional learning (DL), which has been shown to be important in phonetic category learning. DL is a domain-general statistical learning mechanism that involves tracking the relative frequency of phonetic tokens in speech input. Although DL is powerful, recent research has identified limitations to it as well. We conclude with a discussion of possible supplementary phonetic-learning mechanisms, which focuses on the surrounding context in which infants hear phonetic tokens and how it can augment DL and highlight important linguistic differences between perceptually similar stimuli.
On Causal Mediation Analysis with a Survival Outcome

Suppose that having established a marginal total effect of a point exposure on a time-to-event outcome, an investigator wishes to decompose this effect into its direct and indirect pathways, also known as natural direct and indirect effects, mediated by a variable known to occur after the exposure and prior to the outcome. This paper proposes a theory of estimation of natural direct and indirect effects in two important semiparametric models for a failure time outcome. The underlying survival model for the marginal total effect and thus for the direct and indirect effects, can either be a marginal structural Cox proportional hazards model, or a marginal structural additive hazards model. The proposed theory delivers new estimators for mediation analysis in each of these models, with appealing robustness properties. Specifically, in order to guarantee ignorability with respect to the exposure and mediator variables, the approach, which is multiply robust, allows the investigator to use several flexible working models to adjust for confounding by a large number of pre-exposure variables. Multiple robustness is appealing because it only requires a subset of working models to be correct for consistency; furthermore, the analyst need not know which subset of working models is in fact correct to report valid inferences. Finally, a novel semiparametric sensitivity analysis technique is developed for each of these models, to assess the impact on inference, of a violation of the assumption of ignorability of the mediator.
Cryptography in the bounded quantum-storage model

We initiate the study of two-party cryptographic primitives with unconditional security, assuming that the adversary's quantum memory is of bounded size. We show that oblivious transfer and bit commitment can be implemented in this model using protocols where honest parties need no quantum memory, whereas an adversarial player needs quantum memory of size at least n/2 in order to break the protocol, where n is the number of qubits transmitted. This is in sharp contrast to the classical bounded-memory model, where we can only tolerate adversaries with memory of size quadratic in honest players' memory size. Our protocols are efficient, non-interactive and can be implemented using today's technology. On the technical side, a new uncertainty relation is established
Simulation analysis of jiujiang river basin runoff based on swat model

This paper discussed the feasibility of application the Soil and Water Assessment Tools (SWAT) model in the Yangtze River Basin of Jiujiang. Two statistical indicators were used for model evaluation; i) coefficient of determination (R2) and ii) Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency index (Ens). The software of SWAT-CUP was used to calibrate and validate the model based on the measured data from 2000 to 2015 in JiuJiang hydrological station, which could assist in determining the applicability of the model to the basin. Results indicated R2 being 0.82 and 0.76; Ens being 0.78 and 0.72 in terms of the calibration and verification periods, both of which meeting the requirements, It suggested that the SWAT model could be able to well simulate the Yangtze River Basin of Jiujiang watershed.
Power Dependence of the Pink Afterglow in Flowing Postdischarge in Pure Nitrogen

The nitrogen short-lived postdischarge, also known as nitrogen pink afterglow, was studied in the flowing regime as a function of the applied power. The maximal emission intensity of this afterglow shifts to shorter times proportionally to the applied power. The images demonstrate that the pink afterglow creation is due to kinetic processes in volume, although heterogeneous surface reactions may contribute significantly to the overall kinetics.
Comparison of sedimentation and flotation techniques for identification of Cryptosporidium sp. oocysts in a large outbreak of human diarrhea

Cryptosporidiosis, previously seen mostly among immunocompromised patients, is now recognized among immunocompetent patients. During a large outbreak of cryptosporidiosis in two day-care centers, we compared two procedures for the demonstration of the organism in preserved stool specimens. Of 703 stool specimens tested by both techniques, Sheather sucrose flotation (SSF) identified 127 (18.1%) as positive for Cryptosporidium sp. oocysts. Ritchie Formalin-ethyl acetate sedimentation (F/EA) plus a modified cold Kinyoun acid-fast stain (MCK) of the sediment identified 129 (18.4%) as positive for Cryptosporidium sp. oocysts. The degree of agreement between the two tests was statistically highly significant (P less than 0.0001). A total of 161 (22.9%) were positive by one technique or the other; 95 (13.5%) were positive by both techniques. A total of 32 specimens were positive by SSF but negative by F/EA plus MCK, and 34 specimens were positive by F/EA plus MCK but negative by SSF. The discrepancies between the two techniques occurred in stool specimens that contained rare to a few oocysts. Other parasitic forms were found by both techniques. F/EA plus trichrome staining recovered 126 (17.9%) specimens with Giardia lamblia, whereas SSF recovered only 42 (6.0%) specimens with G. lamblia. No association (chi 2 = 0.02, P = 0.89) was observed between the presence of G. lamblia and Cryptosporidium sp. in these stool specimens. We concluded that F/EA plus MCK of the sediment was as effective in the concentration and identification of Cryptosporidium sp. oocysts as SSF. F/EA plus MCK may be advantageous as a single concentration method for general parasitology when Cryptosporidium sp. is also being sought.
Antimicrobial activity of traditional medicinal plants from Ankober District, North Shewa Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia

Abstract Context: Traditional medicinal plants have long been used in Ethiopia to treat human and livestock ailments. Despite a well-documented rich tradition of medicinal plant use in the country, their direct antimicrobial effects are still poorly known. Objective: To investigate the antimicrobial activity of 19 medicinal plant species that were selected based on the ethnobotanical information on their traditional use to treat infectious diseases in Ankober District. Methods: About 23 different ethanol extracts of plants obtained by maceration of various parts of 19 medicinal plant species were studied for potential antimicrobial activity using a broth microdilution method against Bacillus cereus, Bacteroides fragilis, Candida albicans, Clostridium perfringens, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella enteritidis, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Streptococcus pyogenes. Results: Plant extracts from Embelia schimperi Vatke (Myrsinaceae) showed the strongest antibacterial activity with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 64 µg/ml against B. cereus, L. monocytogenes, and S. pyogenes. Growth inhibitory activities were also observed for extracts of Ocimum lamiifolium Hochst. (Lamiaceae) against S. pyogenes, and those of Rubus steudneri Schweinf. (Rosaceae) against S. epidermidis at an MIC value of 128 µg/ml. Generally, 74% of ethanol extracts (17 extracts) showed antimicrobial activity against one or more of the microbial strains tested at an MIC value of 512 µg/ml or below. Discussion and conclusions: Results confirm the antimicrobial role of traditional medicinal plants of Ankober and warrant further investigations on promising medicinal plant species so as to isolate and characterise chemicals responsible for the observed strong antimicrobial activities.
SNP analysis by allele-specific extension in a micromachined filter chamber.

With the completion of the human genome sequencing project, attention is currently shifting toward understanding how genetic variation, such as single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), leads to disease. To identify, understand, and control biological mechanisms of living organisms, the enormous amounts of accumulated sequence information must be coupled to faster, cheaper, and more powerful technologies for DNA, RNA, and protein analysis. One approach is the miniaturization of analytical methods through the application of microfluidics, which involves the manipulation of fluids in micrometer-sized channels. Advances in microfluidic chip technology are expected to play a major role in the development of cost-effective and rapid DNA analysis methods. This thesis presents microfluidic approaches for different DNA genotyping assays. The overall goal is to combine the potential of the microfluidic lab-on-a-chip concept with biochemistry to develop and improve current methods for SNP genotyping. Three genotyping assays using miniaturized microfluidic approaches are addressed. The first two assays are based on primer extension by DNA polymerase. A microfluidic device consisting of a flow-through filter chamber for handling beads with nanoliter liquid volumes was used in these studies. The first assay involved an allelespecific extension strategy. The microfluidic approach took advantage of the different reaction kinetics of matched and mismatched configurations at the 3’-ends of a primer/template complex. The second assay consisted of adapting pyrosequencing technology, a bioluminometric DNA sequencing assay based on sequencing-bysynthesis, to a microfluidic flow-through platform. Base-by-base sequencing was performed in a microfluidic device to obtain accurate SNP scoring data on nanoliter volumes. This thesis also presents the applications of monolayer of beads immobilized by microcontact printing for chip-based DNA analysis. Single-base incorporation could be detected with pyrosequencing chemistry on these monolayers. The third assay developed is based on a hybridization technology termed Dynamic Allele-Specific Hybridization (DASH). In this approach, monolayered beads containing DNA duplexes were randomly immobilized on the surface of a microheater chip. DNA melting-curve analysis was performed by dynamically heating the chip while simultaneously monitoring the DNA denaturation profile to determine the genotype. Multiplexing based on single-bead analysis was achieved at heating rates more than 20 times faster than conventional DASH provides.
Strong Association of De Novo Copy Number Mutations with Autism

We tested the hypothesis that de novo copy number variation (CNV) is associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). We performed comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) on the genomic DNA of patients and unaffected subjects to detect copy number variants not present in their respective parents. Candidate genomic regions were validated by higher-resolution CGH, paternity testing, cytogenetics, fluorescence in situ hybridization, and microsatellite genotyping. Confirmed de novo CNVs were significantly associated with autism (P = 0.0005). Such CNVs were identified in 12 out of 118 (10%) of patients with sporadic autism, in 2 out of 77 (3%) of patients with an affected first-degree relative, and in 2 out of 196 (1%) of controls. Most de novo CNVs were smaller than microscopic resolution. Affected genomic regions were highly heterogeneous and included mutations of single genes. These findings establish de novo germline mutation as a more significant risk factor for ASD than previously recognized.
Low DICER1 expression is associated with poor clinical outcome in adrenocortical carcinoma

Low DICER1 expression was associated with poor outcome in several cancers. Recently, hot-spot DICER1 mutations were found in ovarian tumors, and TARBP2 truncating mutations in tumor cell lines with microsatellite instability. In this study, we assessed DICER1 e TRBP protein expression in 154 adult adrenocortical tumors (75 adenomas and 79 carcinomas). Expression of DICER1 and TARBP2 gene was assessed in a subgroup of 61 tumors. Additionally, we investigated mutations in metal biding sites located at the RNase IIIb domain of DICER1 and in the exon 5 of TARBP2 in 61 tumors. A strong DICER1 expression was demonstrated in 32% of adenomas and in 51% of carcinomas (p = 0.028). Similarly, DICER1 gene overexpression was more frequent in carcinomas (60%) than in adenomas (23%, p = 0.006). But, among adrenocortical carcinomas, a weak DICER1 expression was significantly more frequent in metastatic than in non-metastatic adrenocortical carcinomas (66% vs. 31%; p = 0.002). Additionally, a weak DICER1 expression was significantly correlated with a reduced overall (p = 0.004) and disease-free (p = 0.005) survival. In the multivariate analysis, a weak DICER1 expression (p = 0.048) remained as independent predictor of recurrence. Regarding TARBP2 gene, its protein and gene expression did not correlate with histopathological and clinical parameters. No variant was identified in hot spot areas of DICER1 and TARBP2. In conclusion, a weak DICER1 protein expression was associated with reduced disease-free and overall survival and was a predictor of recurrence in adrenocortical carcinomas.
Piano training in youths with hand motor impairments after damage to the developing brain

Damage to the developing brain may lead to impairment of the hand motor function and negatively impact on patients’ quality of life. Development of manual dexterity and finger and hand motor function may be promoted by learning to play the piano. The latter brings together music with the intensive training of hand coordination and fine finger mobility. We investigated if learning to play the piano helped to improve hand motor skills in 18 youths with hand motor disorders resulting from damage during early brain development. Participants trained 35–40 minutes twice a week for 18 months with a professional piano teacher. With the use of a Musical Instrument Digital Interface piano, the uniformity of finger strokes could be objectively assessed from the timing of keystrokes. The analysis showed a significant improvement in the uniformity of keystrokes during the training. Furthermore, the youths showed strong motivation and engagement during the study. This is nevertheless an open study, and further studies remain needed to exclude effects of growth and concomitant therapies on the improvements observed and clarify which patients will more likely benefit from learning to play the piano.
Second Workshop on Supporting Complex Search Tasks

There is broad consensus in the field of IR that search is complex in many use cases and applications, both on the Web and in domain specific collections, and both professionally and in our daily life. Yet our understanding of complex search tasks, in comparison to simple look up tasks, is fragmented at best. The workshop addresses many open research questions: What are the obvious use cases and applications of complex search? What are essential features of work tasks and search tasks to take into account? And how do these evolve over time--With a multitude of information, varying from introductory to specialized, and from authoritative to speculative or opinionated, when to show what sources of information? How does the information seeking process evolve and what are relevant differences between different stages? With complex task and search process management, blending searching, browsing, and recommendations, and supporting exploratory search to sensemaking and analytics, UI and UX design pose an overconstrained challenge. How do we evaluate and compare approaches? Which measures should be taken into account? Supporting complex search tasks requires new collaborations across the fields of CHI and IR, and the proposed workshop will bring together a diverse group of researchers to work together on one of the greatest challenges of our field.
Exploring the role of cultivar, year and plot age in the incidence of grapevine trunk diseases: insights from 20 years of regional surveys in France

Grapevine trunk diseases cause yield losses and vine mortality in vineyards worldwide. However, there have been few quantitative studies evaluating grapevine dieback on a large spatial and temporal scale. Here, we consolidated and standardised databases from the 13 main wine regions of France, compiling records of foliar symptoms associated with esca and Eutypa dieback from 2082 plots and 36 cultivars over a 20-year period. This large dataset was used (1) for quantitative analysis of the prevalence (number of plots with at least one symptomatic plant) and incidence (percentage of symptomatic plants) of esca and Eutypa dieback; (2) to decipher the effects of cultivar, year and plot age on both the prevalence and incidence of esca leaf symptoms by temporal Bayesian modelling. Esca was present on a mean of 74 ± 2% plots annually, with an incidence of 3.1 ± 0.1%. Eutypa dieback occurred in 41 ± 3% of the plots, with an incidence of 1.4 ± 0.1%. Our modelling approach revealed that the cultivar had a significant impact on the prevalence of esca, but not on its incidence when prevalence is greater than zero. Esca prevalence remained stable, whereas esca incidence was higher than the mean value in six of the years after 2012. We also found a significant non-linear effect of plot age, 10-to 30-year-old plots significantly more susceptible, depending on the cultivar. This study clearly illustrates the importance of considering extensive and continuous monitoring to improve our understanding of the impact and evolution of crop diseases.
Parallel Encoding of Speech in Human Frontal and Temporal Lobes

Models of speech perception are centered around a hierarchy in which auditory representations in the thalamus propagate to primary auditory cortex, then to the lateral temporal cortex, and finally through dorsal and ventral pathways to sites in the frontal lobe. However, evidence for short latency speech responses and low-level spectrotemporal representations in frontal cortex raises the question of whether speech-evoked activity in frontal cortex strictly reflects downstream processing from lateral temporal cortex or whether there are direct parallel pathways from the thalamus or primary auditory cortex to the frontal lobe that supplement the traditional hierarchical architecture. Here, we used high-density direct cortical recordings, high-resolution diffusion tractography, and hemodynamic functional connectivity to evaluate for evidence of direct parallel inputs to frontal cortex from low-level areas. We found that neural populations in the frontal lobe show speech-evoked responses that are synchronous or occur earlier than responses in the lateral temporal cortex. These short latency frontal lobe neural populations encode spectrotemporal speech content indistinguishable from spectrotemporal encoding patterns observed in the lateral temporal lobe, suggesting parallel auditory speech representations reaching temporal and frontal cortex simultaneously. This is further supported by white matter tractography and functional connectivity patterns that connect the auditory nucleus of the thalamus (medial geniculate body) and the primary auditory cortex to the frontal lobe. Together, these results support the existence of a robust pathway of parallel inputs from low-level auditory areas to frontal lobe targets and illustrate long-range parallel architecture that works alongside the classical hierarchical speech network model.