Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Hybrid Support Vector Regression for Time Series Prediction

Due to time series forecasting involves a rather complex data pattern, there are lots of novel forecasting approaches to improve the forecasting accuracy. Unlike most conventional neural network models, which are based on the empirical risk minimization principle, SVM applies the structural risk minimization principle to minimize an upper bound of the generalization error, rather than minimizing the training error. It has been successfully used to solve nonlinear regression and times series problems. One particular model can not capture all data patterns easily. This article presents a hybrid SVM model with mixed kernel function to exploit the unique strength of the linear and nonlinear SVM models to deal with this problem. Furthermore, parameters of both the linear and nonlinear SVM models are determined by Immune Algorithm (IA). A numerical example is employed to compare the performance of the proposed model. Experiment results reveal that the proposed model promising alternative for forecasting time series problems.
Subunits of the Drosophila Actin-Capping Protein Heterodimer Regulate Each Other at Multiple Levels

The actin-Capping Protein heterodimer, composed of the α and β subunits, is a master F-actin regulator. In addition to its role in many cellular processes, Capping Protein acts as a main tumor suppressor module in Drosophila and in humans, in part, by restricting the activity of Yorkie/YAP/TAZ oncogenes. We aimed in this report to understand how both subunits regulate each other in vivo. We show that the levels and capping activities of both subunits must be tightly regulated to control F-actin levels and consequently growth of the Drosophila wing. Overexpressing capping protein α and β decreases both F-actin levels and tissue growth, while expressing forms of Capping Protein that have dominant negative effects on F-actin promote tissue growth. Both subunits regulate each other's protein levels. In addition, overexpressing one of the subunit in tissues knocked-down for the other increases the mRNA and protein levels of the subunit knocked-down and compensates for its loss. We propose that the ability of the α and β subunits to control each other's levels assures that a pool of functional heterodimer is produced in sufficient quantities to restrict the development of tumor but not in excess to sustain normal tissue growth.
Robust cell tracking in epithelial tissues through identification of maximum common subgraphs

Tracking of cells in live-imaging microscopy videos of epithelial sheets is a powerful tool for investigating fundamental processes in embryonic development. Characterising cell growth, proliferation, intercalation and apoptosis in epithelia helps us to understand how morphogenetic processes such as tissue invagination and extension are locally regulated and controlled. Accurate cell tracking requires correctly resolving cells entering or leaving the field of view between frames, cell neighbour exchanges, cell removals and cell divisions. However, current tracking methods for epithelial sheets are not robust to large morphogenetic deformations and require significant manual interventions. Here, we present a novel algorithm for epithelial cell tracking, exploiting the graph-theoretic concept of a ‘maximum common subgraph’ to track cells between frames of a video. Our algorithm does not require the adjustment of tissue-specific parameters, and scales in sub-quadratic time with tissue size. It does not rely on precise positional information, permitting large cell movements between frames and enabling tracking in datasets acquired at low temporal resolution due to experimental constraints such as photoxicity. To demonstrate the method, we perform tracking on the Drosophila embryonic epidermis and compare cell-cell rearrangements to previous studies in other tissues. Our implementation is open source and generally applicable to epithelial tissues.
CCH-MAC: Evading hidden terminal in ad-hoc network

Hidden terminal and collisions are well-known problems due to broadcasting nature of wireless network. In this paper, we address an efficient MAC protocol to evade the potential collisions caused by hidden terminals, where advanced phycical layer technique, full-duplex, is exploited to coordinate channel contention among nodes within two-hops range. Furhter-more, cooperative channel hopping(CCH) MAC is developed to improve the frequency efficiency by limiting the interference of hidden terminals and enabling a collision-free channel for further transmission. Basically, a fined channel hopping mechanism is proposed to avoid the continually interference and cooperative coordination is subjoined by the transmission of cyclic prefix. To the best of our knowledge, CCH-MAC validates the detection of subchannel contention on NI USRPs and evaluation via simulations shows that CCH-MAC achieves at least 35% throughput gain over FICA with a slightly loss in fairness.
Multi-task Learning for one-class classification

In this paper, we address the problem of one-class classification. Taking into account the fact that in some applications, the given training samples are rather limited, we attempt to utilize the advantages of Multi-task Learning (MTL), where the data of related tasks may share similar structure and helpful information. We then propose an MTL framework for one-class classification. The framework derives from the one-class v-SVM and makes use of related tasks by constraining them to have similar solutions. This formulation can be cast into a second-order cone program, which achieves a global solution and is solved efficiently. Further, the framework also maintains the favorable property of the v parameter in the v-SVM, which can control the fraction of outliers and support vectors, in one-class classification. This framework also connects with several existing models. Experimental results on both synthetic and real-world datasets demonstrate the properties and advantages of our proposed model.
Use of Di(2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate–Containing Medical Products and Urinary Levels of Mono(2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Infants

Objective: Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is a plasticizer used in medical products made with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic and may be toxic to humans. DEHP is lipophilic and binds non-covalently to PVC, allowing it to leach from these products. Medical devices containing DEHP are used extensively in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Among neonates in NICUs, we studied exposure to DEHP-containing medical devices in relation to urinary levels of mono(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP), a metabolite of DEHP. Design: We used a cross-sectional design for this study. Participants: We studied 54 neonates admitted to either of two level III hospital NICUs for at least 3 days between 1 March and 30 April 2003. Measurements: A priori, we classified the infants’ exposures to DEHP based on medical products used: The low-DEHP exposure group included infants receiving primarily bottle and/or gavage feedings; the medium exposure group included infants receiving enteral feedings, intravenous hyperalimentation, and/or nasal continuous positive airway pressure; and the high exposure group included infants receiving umbilical vessel catheterization, endotracheal intubation, intravenous hyperalimentation, and indwelling gavage tube. We measured MEHP in the infants’ urine using automated solid-phase extraction/isotope dilution/high-performance liquid chromatography/ tandem mass spectrometry. Results: Urinary MEHP levels increased monotonically with DEHP exposure. For the low-, medium-, and high-DEHP exposure groups, median (interquartile range) MEHP levels were 4 (18), 28 (58), and 86 ng/mL (150), respectively (p = 0.004). After adjustment for institution and sex, urinary MEHP levels among infants in the high exposure group were 5.1 times those among infants in the low exposure group (p = 0.03). Conclusion: Intensive use of DEHP-containing medical devices in NICU infants results in higher exposure to DEHP as reflected by elevated urinary levels of MEHP.
I Heard That Coming: Event-Related Potential Evidence for Stimulus-Driven Prediction in the Auditory System

The auditory system has been shown to detect predictability in a tone sequence, but does it use the extracted regularities for actually predicting the continuation of the sequence? The present study sought to find evidence for the generation of such predictions. Predictability was manipulated in an isochronous series of tones in which every other tone was a repetition of its predecessor. The existence of predictions was probed by occasionally omitting either the first (unpredictable) or the second (predictable) tone of a same-frequency tone pair. Event-related electrical brain activity elicited by the omission of an unpredictable tone differed from the response to the actual tone right from the tone onset. In contrast, early electrical brain activity elicited by the omission of a predictable tone was quite similar to the response to the actual tone. This suggests that the auditory system preactivates the neural circuits for expected input, using sequential predictions to specifically prepare for future acoustic events.
Out-of-order vector architectures

Register renaming and out-of-order instruction issue are now commonly used in superscalar processors. These techniques can also be used to significant advantage in vector processors, as this paper shows. Performance is improved and available memory bandwidth is used more effectively. Using a trace driven simulation we compare a conventional vector implementation, based on the Convex C3400, with an out-of-order, register renaming, vector implementation. When the number of physical registers is above 12, out-of-order execution coupled with register renaming provides a speedup of 1.24-1.72 for realistic memory latencies. Out-of-order techniques also tolerate main memory latencies of 100 cycles with a performance degradation less than 6%. The mechanisms used for register renaming and out-of-order issue can be used to support precise interrupts-generally a difficult problem in vector machines. When precise interrupts are implemented, there is typically less than a 10% degradation in performance. A new technique based on register renaming is targeted at dynamically eliminating spill code; this technique is shown to provide an extra speedup ranging between 1.10 and 1.20 while reducing total memory traffic by an average of 15-20%.
Trophic and contact conditions modulate synapse formation between identified neurons.

We tested the ability of an identified interneuron from the mollusk, Lymnaea stagnalis, to reestablish appropriate synapses in vitro. In the CNS, the giant dopaminergic neuron, designated as right pedal dorsal one (RPeD1), makes an excitatory, chemical synapse with a pair of essentially identical postsynaptic cells known as visceral dorsal two and three (VD2/3). When the somata of the pre- and postsynaptic neurons were juxtaposed and cultured in vitro in defined medium, i.e. , a soma-soma synapse, only an inappropriate electrical synapse was observed. The postsynaptic cell still responded to applied dopamine, the presynaptic transmitter, indicating that the lack of chemical synapse formation was not due to lack of dopamine receptors. When the somata were cultured apart in conditioned medium (medium previously incubated with Lymnaea CNS, thereby deriving trophic factors), the cells exhibited overlapping neurite outgrowth that resulted in an appropriate excitatory, chemical synapse from RPeD1 to VD2/3. On the other hand, when the cell pair was cultured in a soma-soma configuration, but in conditioned medium, a mixed chemical-electrical synapse was observed. Because conditioned medium could partially overcome the limitations of the soma-soma configuration and initiate chemical synapse formation, this data suggests that conditioned medium contains a factor(s) that supports synaptogenesis.
Effect of vascular normalization by antiangiogenic therapy on interstitial hypertension, peritumor edema, and lymphatic metastasis: insights from a mathematical model.

Preclinical and clinical evidence shows that antiangiogenic agents can decrease tumor vessel permeability and interstitial fluid pressure (IFP) in a process of vessel "normalization. " The resulting normalized vasculature has more efficient perfusion, but little is known about how tumor IFP and interstitial fluid velocity (IFV) are affected by changes in transport properties of the vessels and interstitium that are associated with antiangiogenic therapy. By using a mathematical model to simulate IFP and IFV profiles in tumors, we show here that antiangiogenic therapy can decrease IFP by decreasing the tumor size, vascular hydraulic permeability, and/or the surface area per unit tissue volume of tumor vessels. Within a certain window of antiangiogenic effects, interstitial convection within the tumor can increase dramatically, whereas fluid convection out of the tumor margin decreases. This would result in increased drug convection within the tumor and decreased convection of drugs, growth factors, or metastatic cancer cells from the tumor margin into the peritumor fluid or tissue. Decreased convection of growth factors, such as vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C), would limit peritumor hyperplasia, and decreased VEGF-A would limit angiogenesis in sentinel lymph nodes. Both of these effects would reduce the probability of lymphatic metastasis. Finally, decreased fluid convection into the peritumor tissue would decrease peritumor edema associated with brain tumors and ascites accumulation in the peritoneal or pleural cavity, a major complication with a number of malignancies.
Fructans and other water soluble carbohydrates in vegetative organs and fruits of different Musa spp. accessions

The water soluble carbohydrates (WSC) glucose, fructose, and sucrose are well-known to the great public, but fructans represent another type of WSC that deserves more attention given their prebiotic and immunomodulatory properties in the food context. Although the occurrence of inulin-type fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) was proposed in the fruit of some banana accessions, little or no information is available neither on the exact identity of the fructan species, nor on the fructan content in different parts of banana plants and among a broader array of banana cultivars. Here, we investigated the WSC composition in leaves, pulp of ripe fruits and rhizomes from mature banana plants of 11 accessions (I to XI), including both cultivated varieties and wild Musa species. High performance anion exchange chromatography with integrated pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-IPAD) showed the presence of 1-kestotriose [GF2], inulobiose [F2], inulotriose [F3], 6-kestotriose and 6G-kestotriose (neokestose) fructan species in the pulp of mature fruits of different accessions, but the absence of 1,1-nystose and 1,1,1 kestopentaose and higher degree of polymerization (DP) inulin-type fructans. This fructan fingerprint points at the presence of one or more invertases that are able to use fructose and sucrose as alternative acceptor substrates. Quantification of glucose, fructose, sucrose and 1-kestotriose and principal component analysis (PCA) identified related banana groups, based on their specific WSC profiles. These data provide new insights in the biochemical diversity of wild and cultivated bananas, and shed light on potential roles that fructans may fulfill across species, during plant development and adaptation to changing environments. Furthermore, the promiscuous behavior of banana fruit invertases (sucrose and fructose as acceptor substrates besides water) provides a new avenue to boost future work on structure-function relationships on these enzymes, potentially leading to the development of genuine banana fructosyltransferases that are able to increase fructan content in banana fruits.
A Method of Constructing Vertebral 3D Statistical Model Based on Gaussian Curvature

Aiming at the difficult problem of inaccurate model of medical spine 3D statistical model library, this paper studies a method of constructing medical spine 3D statistical model based on the feature points of Gaussian curvature flow localization model. In this method, the human lumbar vertebrae model is physically positioned based on the feature points of the Gaussian curvature flow to generate the sample matrix of feature points of each spine sample model. Then the sample matrix of the feature point is aligned and registered by the ICP iterative algorithm. Finally, PCA analysis is used to train and study the spine model samples after registration, and finally a more accurate vertebral 3D statistical model library is obtained. By comparing the performance parameters of the experimental results, the model constructed by this method is more accurate than before.
Estimation error minimization in sensor networks with mobile agents

In a SEnsor Network with Mobile Agents (SENMA) is an architecture proposed for large scale sensor networks. In sensor networks, a fraction of the packets generated by only part of the sensors is sufficient to provide a good estimation of all network information. SENMA uses this inherent redundancy. However, the performance of such system is limited by estimation errors and packet errors due to collision. Estimation error is a major problem in applications such as habitat monitoring in which information is a function of node position. In this paper, we first derive the equations of distortion in a general scenario and use this model to compare the estimation error for regular networks. Then by obtaining four best node positions for estimation error reduction, minmax distortion for estimation in a square area is achieved. In addition, an opportunistic MAC is proposed that considers both collision effects and estimation error based on Channel State Information (CSI). As the simulation results show the proposed scheme achieves an optimum estimation with minimum collision and energy consumption.
Characterizing and optimizing the performance of multithreaded programs under interference

As virtualization becomes ubiquitous in datacenters, there is a growing interest in characterizing application performance in multi-tenant environments to improve datacenter resource management. The performance of parallel programs is notoriously difficult to reason about in virtualized environments. Although performance degradations caused by virtualization and interferences have been extensively studied, there still lacks a comprehensive understanding why parallel programs have unpredictable slowdowns when co-located with different types of workloads. This paper presents a systematic and quantitative study of multithreaded performance under interference. We design synthetic workloads to emulate different types of interference and study the behavior of parallel programs under such interferences. We find that unpredictable performance is the result of complex interplays between the design of the program, the memory hierarchy of the host system, and the CPU scheduling at the hypervisor. To understand the intricate relationships between multiple factors, we decompose parallel runtime into compute, synchronization and steal time, and use the runtime breakdown to measure program progress and identify execution inefficiency under interference. Based on these findings, we develop an online approach to predicting performance slowdown without requiring parallel programs to be completed, and devise two scheduling optimizations at the hypervisor to reduce slowdowns. Experimental results with Xen and representative parallel workloads show that the online performance prediction achieves on average less than 4.5% error and the optimizations reduce runtime slowdown by as much as 38% compared to stock Xen.
Novel gate-recessed vertical InAs/GaSb TFETs with record high ION of 180 μA/μm at VDS = 0.5 V

Vertical tunnel field-effect transistors (TFETs) in which the gate field is aligned with the tunneling direction have been fabricated using a novel gate-recess process, resulting in record on-current. The tunnel junction consists of InAs/GaSb with a broken band alignment. The gate-recess process results in low drain contact and access resistances; together with the favorable broken gap heterojunction, this leads to a record high I<sub>ON</sub> of 180 μA/μm at V<sub>DS</sub> = V<sub>GS</sub> = 0.5 V with an I<sub>ON</sub>/I<sub>OFF</sub> ratio of 6 ×10<sup>3</sup>. Both SiN<sub>x</sub> passivation and forming gas anneal (FGA) were found to improve the device subthreshold swing (SS), resulting in a SS<sub>MIN</sub> of 200 mV/dec at 300 K and 50 mV/dec at 77 K. Capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements indicate that the device SS performance is limited by interfacial trap density (D<sub>it</sub>).
Participation of Actin on Giardia lamblia Growth and Encystation

Background Microfilaments play a determinant role in different cell processes such as: motility, cell division, phagocytosis and intracellular transport; however, these structures are poorly understood in the parasite Giardia lamblia. Methodology and Principal Findings By confocal microscopy using TRITC-phalloidin, we found structured actin distributed in the entire trophozoite, the label stand out at the ventral disc, median body, flagella and around the nuclei. During Giardia encystation, a sequence of morphological changes concurrent to modifications on the distribution of structured actin and in the expression of actin mRNA were observed. To elucidate whether actin participates actively on growth and encystation, cells were treated with Cytochalasin D, Latrunculin A and Jasplakinolide and analyzed by confocal and scanning electron microscopy. All drugs caused a growth reduction (27 to 45%) and changes on the distribution of actin. Besides, 60 to 80% of trophozoites treated with the drugs, exhibited damage at the caudal region, alterations in the flagella and wrinkles-like on the plasma membrane. The drugs also altered the cyst-yield and the morphology, scanning electron microscopy revealed diminished cytokinesis, cysts with damages in the wall and alterations in the size and on the intermembranal space. Furthermore, the drugs caused a significant reduction of the intensity of flourescence-labeled CWP1 on ESV and on cyst wall, this was coincident with a reduction of CWP1 gene expression (34%). Conclusions and Significance All our results, indicated an important role of actin in the morphology, growth and encystation and indirectly suggested an actin role in gene expression.
Assessing Review Recommendation Techniques under a Ranking Perspective

Reading online reviews before a purchase is a customary action nowadays. Nevertheless, the increasing volume of reviews works as a barrier to their effectiveness so that many approaches try to predict reviews' quality, which is not standardized to all users due to different backgrounds and preferences. Thus, recommending reviews in a personalized fashion is probably more accurate. Here, we analyze methods for recommending reviews that have not been compared against each other yet. Our experiments consider parameter tuning and comparison through statistical tests. Such study allows to understand the state-of-the-art and to evidence potential improvement directions. Our results show that assessing under a ranking perspective, model simplicity and observed features are important traits for this problem, being Support Vector Regression the best solution.
The Case for a Consistent Cyberscam Classification Framework (CCCF)

Cyberscam classification schemes developed by international statistical reporting bodies, including the Bureau of Statistics (Australia), the Internet Crime Complaint Center (US), and the Environics Research Group (Canada), are diverse and largely incompatible. This makes comparisons of cyberscam incidence across jurisdictions very difficult. This paper argues that the critical first step towards the development of an inter-jurisdictional and global approach to identify and intercept cyberscams - and prosecute scammers - is a uniform classification system.