Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Patient prognosis from vital sign time series: Combining convolutional neural networks with a dynamical systems approach

In this work, we propose a stacked switching vector-autoregressive (SVAR)-CNN architecture to model the changing dynamics in physiological time series for patient prognosis. The SVAR-layer extracts dynamical features (or modes) from the time-series, which are then fed into the CNN-layer to extract higher-level features representative of transition patterns among the dynamical modes. We evaluate our approach using 8-hours of minute-by-minute mean arterial blood pressure (BP) from over 450 patients in the MIMIC-II database. We modeled the time-series using a third-order SVAR process with 20 modes, resulting in first-level dynamical features of size 20×480 per patient. A fully connected CNN is then used to learn hierarchical features from these inputs, and to predict hospital mortality. The combined CNN/SVAR approach using BP time-series achieved a median and interquartile-range AUC of 0.74 [0.69, 0.75], significantly outperforming CNN-alone (0.54 [0.46, 0.59]), and SVAR-alone with logistic regression (0.69 [0.65, 0.72]). Our results indicate that including an SVAR layer improves the ability of CNNs to classify nonlinear and nonstationary time-series.
The accelerator store: A shared memory framework for accelerator-based systems

This paper presents the many-accelerator architecture, a design approach combining the scalability of homogeneous multi-core architectures and system-on-chip's high performance and power-efficient hardware accelerators. In preparation for systems containing tens or hundreds of accelerators, we characterize a diverse pool of accelerators and find each contains significant amounts of SRAM memory (up to 90% of their area). We take advantage of this discovery and introduce the accelerator store, a scalable architectural component to minimize accelerator area by sharing its memories between accelerators. We evaluate the accelerator store for two applications and find significant system area reductions (30%) in exchange for small overheads (2% performance, 0%--8% energy). The paper also identifies new research directions enabled by the accelerator store and the many-accelerator architecture.
The formal theory of Hopf algebras Part II: The case of Hopf algebras

Abstract The category HopfR of Hopf algebras over a commutative unital ring R is analyzed with respect to its categorical properties. The main results are: (1) For every ring R the category HopfR is locally presentable, it is coreflective in the category of bialgebras over R, over every R-algebra there exists a cofree Hopf algebra. (2) If, in addition, R is absoluty flat, then HopfR is reflective in the category of bialgebras as well, and there exists a free Hopf algebra over every R-coalgebra. Similar results are obtained for relevant subcategories of HopfR. Moreover it is shown that, for every commutative unital ring R, the so-called “dual algebra functor” has a left adjoint and that, more generally, universal measuring coalgebras exist.
Upper limb movements can be decoded from the time-domain of low-frequency EEG

How neural correlates of movements are represented in the human brain is of ongoing interest and has been researched with invasive and non-invasive methods. In this study, we analyzed the encoding of single upper limb movements in the time-domain of low-frequency electroencephalography (EEG) signals. Fifteen healthy subjects executed and imagined six different sustained upper limb movements. We classified these six movements and a rest class and obtained significant average classification accuracies of 55% (movement vs movement) and 87% (movement vs rest) for executed movements, and 27% and 73%, respectively, for imagined movements. Furthermore, we analyzed the classifier patterns in the source space and located the brain areas conveying discriminative movement information. The classifier patterns indicate that mainly premotor areas, primary motor cortex, somatosensory cortex and posterior parietal cortex convey discriminative movement information. The decoding of single upper limb movements is specially interesting in the context of a more natural non-invasive control of e.g., a motor neuroprosthesis or a robotic arm in highly motor disabled persons.
Keyed Side-Channel Based Hashing for IP Protection using Wavelets

The protection of intelligent property (IP) is a challenging task, especially in secured embedded systems where program code that is supposed to be a plagiarism cannot be simply read-out for further inspection. This is even more aggravated if the original source code was modified to prevent comparisons of any kind. For instance, watermarks that are actually hidden in the code are at risk to be rendered useless if the attacker has full access to the original code and some knowledge about the watermark. The unlicensed use of patented algorithms is a further problem that belongs to IP plagiarism as well. A Recent work presented a framework based on perceptual hashing to detect intelligent property in hardware and software designs. In this work we consequently extend this framework to detect IP plagiarism in embedded systems that can reliably match contents even in the presence of attacks. Therefore, we propose an adapted signal feature extraction method, the wavelet transform, to form a keyed side-channel hash function.
Prevalence and Correlates of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Adults From a French Community Sample

Abstract Validated tools are lacking in languages such as French to diagnose attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults. The Adult ADHD Symptoms Self-Report (ASRS) was filled out by 1171 parents of 900 school-aged youths in the context of the Children and Parents With ADHD and Related Disorders study. Prevalence estimates based on three scoring methods are compared (6-item screener, all 18 items, or the screener followed by the 12 remaining items). On the basis of the recommended and more conservative scoring method, the overall prevalence of ADHD symptoms is estimated to be 2.99%, without significant group differences between sexes or between younger and older adults. Potential correlates of ADHD symptoms were also examined in their relatives (children, brothers/sisters, uncles/aunts, and parents) as follows: birth order, level of education, body mass index categories, enuresis, suicide attempts, depression, and learning disabilities. Adults can be screened for ADHD symptoms using the ASRS; negative long-term outcomes should be assessed in patients’ relatives too.
A Combined Technique for Detecting Objects in Multimodal Images of Paintings

A combined technique for detecting objects in multimodal images based on specific object detectors and image difference measure is presented. The information-theoretical measures of image difference are proposed. The conditions of applicability of these measures for detecting artefacts in multimodal images are formulated. The technique based on the proposed measures is successfully used for detecting repainting and retouching areas in the images of fine-art paintings. It requires segmentation of only one of the analyzed images.
Beam Selection Strategies for Orthogonal Random Beamforming in Sparse Networks

Orthogonal random beamforming (ORB) constitutes a mean to exploit spatial multiplexing and multi-user diversity (MUD) gains in multi-antenna broadcast channels. To do so, as many random beamformers as transmit antennas (M) are generated and on each beam the user experiencing the most favorable channel conditions is scheduled. Whereas for a large number of users the sum-rate of ORB exhibits an identical growth rate as that of dirty paper coding, performance in sparse networks (or in networks with an uneven spatial distribution of users) is known to be severely impaired. To circumvent that, in this paper we modify the scheduling process in ORB in order to select a subset out of the M available beams. We propose several beam selection algorithms and assess their performance in terms of sum-rate and aggregated throughput (i.e., rate achieved with practical modulation and coding schemes), along with an analysis of their computational complexity. Since ORB schemes require partial channel state information (CSI) to be fed back to the transmitter, we finally investigate the impact of CSI quantization on system performance. More specifically, we prove that most of the MUD can be still exploited with very few quantization bits and we derive a beam selection approach trading-off system performance vs. feedback channel requirements.
Direct Demonstration of the Activation of UDP‐N‐Acetylgalactosamine: [GM3]N‐Acetylgalactosaminyltransferase by Cyclic AMP

Abstract: Treatment of NG 108–15 cells in culture with the opiate peptide [D‐Ala2,D‐Leu5]enkephalin produces maximal inhibition of cyclic AMP synthesis in < 15 min. The activity of [GM3]:N‐acetylgalactosaminyltransferase is similarly inhibited, but maximal inhibition is not observed for at least 30 min following the addition of [D‐Ala2,D‐Leu5]enkephalin. Conversely, the phosphodiesterase inhibitor 3‐isobutyl‐1‐methylxanthine rapidly potentiates the intracellular accumulation of cyclic AMP and, in a more gradual fashion, increases [GM3]:N‐acetyl‐galactosaminyltransferase activity. The reductions in the activity of [GM3]:N‐acetylgalactosaminyltransferase that occur following treatment of NG108‐15 cells with indomethacin argues for a direct role of cyclic AMP in the observed changed in [GM3]:N‐acetylgalactosaminyltransferase activity. By adding low concentrations of cyclic AMP (but not cyclic GMP) to microsomes derived from neonatal rat brain, we were able to demonstrate a dose‐dependent phosphorylation of membrane protein and subsequent doubling of [GM3]:N‐acetylgalactosaminyl‐transferase activity.
Tyrosine Phosphorylation of VE-cadherin Prevents Binding of p120- and β-Catenin and Maintains the Cellular Mesenchymal State*

In several pathological conditions, epithelial cells demonstrate a breakdown of barrier function and acquire an invasive phenotype. Endothelial cells in particular are maintained in a mesenchymal state during the cell invasion phase of angiogenesis. We show here that tyrosine phosphorylation of the adherens junction protein VE-cadherin at two critical tyrosines, Tyr-658 and Tyr-731, via tyrosine kinase activation or phosphatase inactivation was sufficient to prevent the binding of p120- and β-catenin, respectively, to the cytoplasmic tail of VE-cadherin. In fact, phosphorylation at either site led to the inhibition of cell barrier function. Cells expressing wild-type VE-cadherin showed decreased cell migration compared with cells lacking VE-cadherin, whereas expression of VE-cadherin with a simple phosphomimetic tyrosine-to-glutamic acid mutation of Y658E or Y731E was sufficient to restore the migratory response. These findings demonstrate that a single phosphorylation event within the VE-cadherin cytoplasmic tail is sufficient to maintain cells in a mesenchymal state.
SHORT-SS 4 : Error-Free Transformation of Matrix Multiplication by A Posteriori Verification

This paper is concerned with accurate computations for matrix multiplication. An error-free transformation of matrix multiplication is developed by the authors. It transforms a product of two floatingpoint matrices to a sum of several floating-point matrices by using only floating-point arithmetic. This transformation is useful not only for accurate matrix multiplication but also for interval enclosures of matrix products. The key technique is an error-free splitting of floating-point numbers. We improve known error-free splitting and develop an a posteriori validation method for the error-free transformation.
The Na+/H+ Exchanger NHE6 in the Endosomal Recycling System Is Involved in the Development of Apical Bile Canalicular Surface Domains in HepG2 Cells

This study underscores the emerging role of NHE6 as a novel regulatory protein in the apical surface development of human hepatoma HepG2 cells. A limited range of endosomal pH facilitated by NHE6.1 is suggested to be important for securing the polarized distribution of membrane lipids and proteins and maintenance of apical bile canaliculi.
Mechanism and kinetics of zinc oxidation by sub- and supercritical water

Bulk solid (Zn)<sub>S</sub> and liquid zinc (Zn)<sub>L</sub> samples are oxidized by water with the formation of nanodimensional ZnO. The rate of this process, called chemical recondensation (CR) by water, increases with temperature and water density rise. The CR process begins with the formation of (ZnO)<sub>n</sub> clusters via the reaction (Zn)<sub>S,L</sub> + nH<sub>2</sub>O = [(Zn)<sub>S,L</sub>middot(ZnO)<sub>n</sub>] + nH<sub>2</sub>, followed by their growth at n > 4. The CR of solid Zn leads predominantly to the formation of nanowires and nanorods, while the CR of liquid Zn practically always proceeds with the formation of nanoparticles. The complete CR of solid Zn cylinders results in the formation of highly porous nanostructural ceramics.
When Cells Suffocate: Autophagy in Cancer and Immune Cells under Low Oxygen

Hypoxia is a signature feature of growing tumors. This cellular state creates an inhospitable condition that impedes the growth and function of all cells within the immediate and surrounding tumor microenvironment. To adapt to hypoxia, cells activate autophagy and undergo a metabolic shift increasing the cellular dependency on anaerobic metabolism. Autophagy upregulation in cancer cells liberates nutrients, decreases the buildup of reactive oxygen species, and aids in the clearance of misfolded proteins. Together, these features impart a survival advantage for cancer cells in the tumor microenvironment. This observation has led to intense research efforts focused on developing autophagy-modulating drugs for cancer patient treatment. However, other cells that infiltrate the tumor environment such as immune cells also encounter hypoxia likely resulting in hypoxia-induced autophagy. In light of the fact that autophagy is crucial for immune cell proliferation as well as their effector functions such as antigen presentation and T cell-mediated killing of tumor cells, anticancer treatment strategies based on autophagy modulation will need to consider the impact of autophagy on the immune system.
DNA-based method for identification of species origin of honey and edible bird’s nest

Food traceability is increasingly important and identification of food source and its origin will give both consumers and industry players a better sense of security. The species origins of honey and edible bird's nest were identified using DNA-based method through procedures of DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and DNA sequencing, and finally construction of phylogenetic tree. The results showed that honeys and edible bird's nests were successfully clustered to their bee and swiftlet species origins, respectively. This approach suggests that DNA-based method is used as an identification method for food such as honey and edible bird's nest.
[Determination of diniconazole residue in grape by gas chromatography].

An efficient method was developed for the determination of diniconazole in grape by gas chromatography. The diniconazole residue in the sample was extracted by acetone. The extract was cleaned-up by liquid-liquid extraction and then solid phase extraction. The diniconazole residue was separated completely from other impurities in the sample through SPB -1701 capillary column (30 m x 0.53 mm i.d. x 1.0 micron) and determined by an electron capture detector. The recoveries ranged from 85.8% to 94.7% when the added levels were from 0.01 mg/kg to 1.00 mg/kg. The RSD was within 5% and the limit of detection was 0.01 mg/kg.
Optimal wavelets for electrogastrography

Matching a wavelet to class of signals can be of interest in feature detection and classification based on wavelet representation. The aim of this work is to provide a quantitative approach to the problem of matching a wavelet to electrogastrographic (EGG) signals. Visually inspected EGG recordings from sixteen dogs and six volunteers were submitted to wavelet analysis. Approximated wavelet-based versions of EGG signals were calculated using Pollen parameterization of 6-tap wavelet filters and wavelet compression techniques. Wavelet parameterization values that minimize the approximation error of compressed EGG signals were sought and considered optimal. The wavelets generated from the optimal parameterization values were remarkably similar to the standard Daubechies-3 wavelet.
Merit-infonomics Research Memorandum Series Snow Removal Auctions in Montreal: Costs, Informational Rents, and Procurement Management Snow Removal Auctions in Montreal: Costs, Informational Rents, and Procurement Management

Using semiparametric and nonparametric estimation techniques we infer cost distributions and informational rents from 457 snow removal contracts o¤ered for tender by the City of Montreal. Our results are compatible with standard received theory of competitive auctions: there is a positive correlation between costs and bids, and rents increase with the variance of costs. Bids and costs have decreased over the sample period while rents remained relatively constant. The City deserves credit for these results, as it has succeeded in exploiting economies of scale and triggering innovations while maintaining competition. Further, it has been successful in adjusting its reserve prices to keep up with the decreasing cost of snow removal.
The excitoprotective effect of N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate receptors is mediated by a brain‐derived neurotrophic factor autocrine loop in cultured hippocampal neurons

The neuroprotective effect and molecular mechanisms underlying preconditioning with N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) in cultured hippocampal neurons have not been described. Pre‐incubation with subtoxic concentrations of the endogenous neurotransmitter glutamate protects vulnerable neurons against NMDA receptor‐mediated excitotoxicity. As a result of physiological preconditioning, NMDA significantly antagonizes the neurotoxicity resulting from subsequent exposure to an excitotoxic concentration of glutamate. The protective effect of glutamate or NMDA is time‐ and concentration‐dependent, suggesting that sufficient agonist and time are required to establish an intracellular neuroprotective state. In these cells, the TrkB ligand, brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) attenuates glutamate toxicity. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that NMDA protects neurons via a BDNF‐dependent mechanism. Exposure of hippocampal cultures to a neuroprotective concentration of NMDA (50 μm) evoked the release of BDNF within 2 min without attendant changes in BDNF protein or gene expression. The accumulated increase of BDNF in the medium is followed by an increase in the phosphorylation (activation) of TrkB receptors and a later increase in exon 4‐specific BDNF mRNA. The neuroprotective effect of NMDA was attenuated by pre‐incubation with a BDNF‐blocking antibody and TrkB‐IgG, a fusion protein known to inhibit the activity of extracellular BDNF, suggesting that BDNF plays a major role in NMDA‐mediated survival. These results demonstrate that low level stimulation of NMDA receptors protect neurons against glutamate excitotoxicity via a BDNF autocrine loop in hippocampal neurons and suggest that activation of neurotrophin signaling pathways plays a key role in the neuroprotection of NMDA.
Beyond static and dynamic scope

Traditional treatment of scoping in programming languages considers two opposite semantics: static scoping, where the scope of a binding is a block of program text, and dynamic scoping, where a binding is in effect during the whole reduction of an expression to a value. Static scoping and dynamic scoping are however but two points in the design space of scoping mechanisms. As a result, most proposed language mechanisms that rely on some notion of scoping, such as variable bindings of course, but also more exotic ones like aspects and mixin layers, adopt either one or the other semantics. As it turns out, these two semantics are sometimes too extreme, and a mixture of both is needed. To achieve this, language designers and/or programmers have to resort to ad hoc solutions. We present a general scoping model that simply expresses static and dynamic scoping, and that goes further by allowing fine-grained exploration of the design space of scoping. The model, called scoping strategies, gives precise control over propagation and activation of language mechanisms. While we have already studied it for aspects, we hereby show that the model is not restricted to aspects, by treating in depth its application to the most standard kind of adaptation: variable bindings. We also briefly discuss its application to mixin layers, and program monitoring. We believe that research in programming language constructs can benefit from a more flexible notion of scoping that goes beyond the static/dynamic dichotomy.
Bioactive Constituents and Antioxidant Activity of Some Carpathian Basin Honeys

Unifloral honeys have a high commercial value and should undergo a strict quality control before marketing. This study aimed at determining floral origin, polyphenolic compounds and antioxidant activity in 7 samples marketed as lavender and thyme honeys. The samples were subjected to pollen analysis to confirm their botanical origin. Coupled chromatographic techniques (HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS) were optimized for the separation and identification of polyphenolic compounds. The antioxidant properties of the samples were determined by spectrophotometric methods. Pollen profile analysis revealed that only 3 out of 5 alleged lavender honeys contained a low percentage (0.6-1.5) of lavender pollen; and there were only traces (0.1–0.6%) of thyme pollen in the alleged thyme honeys. Polyphenolic constituents did not allow for the clear separation of honey samples, revealing no marker compounds previously associated with lavender and thyme honeys. All samples contained large amounts of chlorogenic acid, chrysin, hesperetin, kaempferol and p-coumaric acid; as well as abscisic acid, a plant hormone known to be present in floral nectar and honey. Our results suggest that only one of five alleged lavender honeys and neither of the two alleged thyme honeys are true unifloral honeys. However, they can still provide various health benefits, such as being good sources of antioxidants. There was no relationship between the antioxidant activity and the uni- or multifloral character of the honey samples. Total phenolic content and antioxidant activity was the lowest in the honey sample with lavender and the highest in one of the alleged lavender honeys. Our findings highlight the importance of microscopical and phytochemical analyses of honeys before marketing, to ensure satisfactory quality for customers.
Dragonfly+: Low Cost Topology for Scaling Datacenters

Dragonfly topology was introduced by Kim et al. [1] aiming to decrease the cost and diameter of the network. The topology divides routers into groups connected by longlinks. Each group strives to implement high-radix virtual router, connected by a completely-connected topology. In this paper, we propose an extended Dragonfly+ networkin which routers inside the group are connected in Clos-liketopology. Dragonfly+ is superior to conventional Dragonfly due to the significantly larger number of hosts which it is able to support. In addition, Dragonfly+ supports similar or better bi-sectional bandwidth for various traffic patterns, and requires smaller number of buffers to avoid credit loop deadlocks in lossless networks. Moreover, we introduce a novel Fully Progressive Adaptive Routing algorithm with remote congestion notifications. To support our proposal we present analytical analysis and simulations.