Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Algorithm for Global Maximization of Secrecy Rates in Gaussian MIMO Wiretap Channels

Optimal signaling for secrecy rate maximization in Gaussian MIMO wiretap channels is considered. While this channel has attracted a significant attention recently and a number of results have been obtained, including the proof of the optimality of Gaussian signalling, an optimal transmit covariance matrix is known for some special cases only and the general case remains an open problem. An iterative custom-made algorithm to find a globally-optimal transmit covariance matrix in the general case is developed in this paper, with guaranteed convergence to a global optimum. While the original optimization problem is not convex and hence difficult to solve, its minimax reformulation can be solved via the convex optimization tools, which is exploited here. The proposed algorithm is based on the barrier method extended to deal with a minimax problem at hand. Its convergence to a global optimum is proved for the general case (degraded or not) and a bound for the optimality gap is given for each step of the barrier method. The performance of the algorithm is demonstrated via numerical examples. In particular, 20 to 40 Newton steps are already sufficient to solve the sufficient optimality conditions with very high precision (up to the machine precision level), even for large systems. Even fewer steps are required if the secrecy capacity is the only quantity of interest. The algorithm can be significantly simplified for the degraded channel case and can also be adopted to include the per-antenna power constraints (instead or in addition to the total power constraint). It also solves the dual problem of minimizing the total power subject to the secrecy rate constraint.
Theory, analysis and applications of 2D global illumination

We investigate global illumination in 2D and show how this simplified problem domain leads to practical insights for 3D rendering. We first derive a full theory of 2D light transport by introducing 2D analogs to radiometric quantities such as flux and radiance, and deriving a 2D rendering equation. We use our theory to show how to implement algorithms such as Monte Carlo raytracing, path tracing, irradiance caching, and photon mapping in 2D, and demonstrate that these algorithms can be analyzed more easily in this domain while still providing insights for 3D rendering. We apply our theory to develop several practical improvements to the irradiance caching algorithm. We perform a full second-order analysis of diffuse indirect illumination, first in 2D, and then in 3D by deriving the irradiance Hessian, and show how this leads to increased accuracy and performance for irradiance caching. We propose second-order Taylor expansion from cache points, which results in more accurate irradiance reconstruction. We also introduce a novel error metric to guide cache point placement by analyzing the error produced by irradiance caching. Our error metric naturally supports anisotropic reconstruction and, in our preliminary study, resulted in an order of magnitude less error than the “split-sphere” heuristic when using the same number of cache points.
The effects of emotional icons on remote communication

As technology advances, we are shifting from direct face-to-face or voice to voice interactions to computer-mediated communication (CMC). As a result of this shift the nature of communication has changed; in particular the ability to convey emotion is less straight forward. Twenty three subjects participated in a simulated, remote-CMC, group-decision making session. Twelve subjects had emoticons available, although use of these icons was optional. The remaining eleven did not have emoticons available. Dependent measures included user satisfaction, user frustration, conformity, length and focus of message, satisfaction with CMC system, and recall of communication events. The results indicated that subjects with emoticons used them and were more satisfied with the system than those subjects without emoticons. Thus it appears that users respond to emoticons and interpret them as intended.
Sixty-four or four-and-sixty? The influence of language and working memory on children's number transcoding

Number transcoding (e.g., writing 64 when hearing “sixty-four”) is a basic numerical skill; rather faultlessly performed in adults, but difficult for children. In the present study, children speaking Dutch (an inversed number language) and French (a non-inversed number language) wrote Arabic digits to dictation. We also tested their IQ and their phonological, visuospatial, and executive working memory. Although the number of transcoding errors (e.g., hearing 46 but writing 56) was equal in both groups, the number of inversion errors (e.g., hearing 46 but writing 64) was significantly higher in Dutch-speaking than in French-speaking children. Regression analyses confirmed that language was the only significant predictor of inversion errors. Working-memory components, in contrast, were the only significant predictors of transcoding errors. Executive resources were important in all children. Less-skilled transcoders also differed from more-skilled transcoders in that they used semantic rather than asemantic transcoding routes. Given the observed relation between number transcoding and mathematics grades, current findings may provide useful information for educational and clinical settings.
The regulation of inflammation by interferons and their STATs

Interferons (IFN) are subdivided into type I IFN (IFN-I, here synonymous with IFN-α/β), type II (IFN-γ) and type III IFN (IFN-III/IFN-λ) that reprogram nuclear gene expression through STATs 1 and 2 by forming STAT1 dimers (mainly IFN-γ) or the ISGF3 complex, a STAT1-STAT2-IRF9 heterotrimer (IFN-I and IFN-III). Dominant IFN activities in the immune system are to protect cells from viral replication and to activate macrophages for enhanced effector function. However, the impact of IFN and their STATs on the immune system stretches far beyond these activities and includes the control of inflammation. The goal of this review is to give an overview of the different facets of the inflammatory process that show regulatory input by IFN/STAT.
Limited predictive value of blastomere angle of division in trophectoderm and inner cell mass specification

The formation of trophectoderm (TE) and pluripotent inner cell mass (ICM) is one of the earliest events during mammalian embryogenesis. It is believed that the orientation of division of polarised blastomeres in the 8- and 16-cell stage embryo determines the fate of daughter cells, based on how asymmetrically distributed lineage determinants are segregated. To investigate the relationship between angle of division and subsequent fate in unperturbed embryos, we constructed cellular resolution digital representations of the development of mouse embryos from the morula to early blastocyst stage, based on 4D confocal image volumes. We find that at the 16-cell stage, very few inside cells are initially produced as a result of cell division, but that the number increases due to cell movement. Contrary to expectations, outside cells at the 16-cell stage represent a heterogeneous population, with some fated to contributing exclusively to the TE and others capable of contributing to both the TE and ICM. Our data support the view that factors other than the angle of division, such as the position of a blastomere, play a major role in the specification of TE and ICM.
Ethnicisation de l’entreprise et culturalisation du marché : impasses

Cet article examine en premier lieu les evolutions recentes de la notion de « culture » appliquee a l’entreprise et au marche par un ensemble flou de conceptions qui empruntent le concept d’« ethnographie » et sont majoritairement issues des sciences de la gestion. La precarite de ces conceptions qui culturalisent le monde globalise ressort des dernieres fluctuations economiques. Dans un second temps, l’auteur illustre le mode d’analyse anthropologique d’une entreprise a travers l’interpretation complexe d’un interdit syndical de recrutement de femmes au Bangladesh, dans l’annee qui suit la guerre de liberation du pays (1971).
Family preservation and reintegration for offenders

“You know they say my crime is victimless crime, okay? Because it’s conspiracy to commit, it’s nothing that I overly did. It was not an action that I committed. But you know what? There are victims, my parents, my father-in-law, my mother-in-law, and my four children. There are victims because I’m not there to help them through any education. I’m not there to give them their loving, nurturing that children deserve at tender ages. Even at 21, 22 they will still need mom’s guidance. And you know my parents depended on me to do a lot of things. ” (Mary, female prisoner aged 40 in Mauruna and Immarigeon, p. 272, 2004)
Detection of summative global predicates

In distributed programs, we usually keep some global predicates from being satisfied to make it easy to run the programs correctly. A common type of global predicates are: the total number of certain tokens in the whole distributed system is always the same or in specific ranges. In this paper, we call this summative predicates, classified into the following four: (1) at some global state of the system, N/spl ne/K, (2) NK (or N/spl ges/K), and (4) N=K, where N is the total number of tokens and K is a constant. This paper investigates the methods of detecting various summative global predicates. The first class of summative predicates are trivial to detect by simply checking each message. For the second class of summative predicates, B. Groselj (1993) and V.K. Garg (1995) solved the problem by reducing the problem to a maximum network flow problem. In this paper, we propose an elegant technique, called normalization, to allow the second and third classes of summative predicates to be solved by also reducing the problem to a maximum network flow problem. For the fourth class of summative predicates, we prove that it is an NP-complete problem.
Is Bone Tissue Really Affected by Swimming? A Systematic Review

Background Swimming, a sport practiced in hypogravity, has sometimes been associated with decreased bone mass. Aim This systematic review aims to summarize and update present knowledge about the effects of swimming on bone mass, structure and metabolism in order to ascertain the effects of this sport on bone tissue. Methods A literature search was conducted up to April 2013. A total of 64 studies focusing on swimmers bone mass, structure and metabolism met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Results It has been generally observed that swimmers present lower bone mineral density than athletes who practise high impact sports and similar values when compared to sedentary controls. However, swimmers have a higher bone turnover than controls resulting in a different structure which in turn results in higher resistance to fracture indexes. Nevertheless, swimming may become highly beneficial regarding bone mass in later stages of life. Conclusion Swimming does not seem to negatively affect bone mass, although it may not be one of the best sports to be practised in order to increase this parameter, due to the hypogravity and lack of impact characteristic of this sport. Most of the studies included in this review showed similar bone mineral density values in swimmers and sedentary controls. However, swimmers present a higher bone turnover than sedentary controls that may result in a stronger structure and consequently in a stronger bone.
Human Cytomegalovirus Antigens in Malignant Gliomas as Targets for Adoptive Cellular Therapy

Malignant gliomas are the most common primary brain tumor in adults, with over 12,000 new cases diagnosed in the United States each year. Over the last decade, investigators have reliably identified human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) proteins, nucleic acids, and virions in most high-grade gliomas, including glioblastoma (GBM). This discovery is significant because HCMV gene products can be targeted by immune-based therapies. In this review, we describe the current level of understanding regarding the presence and role in pathogenesis of HCMV in GBM. We describe our success detecting and expanding HCMV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes to kill GBM cells and explain how these cells can be used as a platform for enhanced cellular therapies. We discuss alternative approaches that capitalize on HCMV infection to treat patients with HCMV-positive tumors. Adoptive cellular therapy for HCMV-positive GBM has been tried in a small number of patients with some benefit, but we reason why, to date, these approaches generally fail to generate long-term remission or cure. We conjecture how cellular therapy for GBM can be improved and describe the barriers that must be overcome to cure these patients.
Quanto: Tracking Energy in Networked Embedded Systems

We present Quanto, a network-wide time and energy profiler for embedded network devices. By combining well-defined interfaces for hardware power states, fast high-resolution energy metering, and causal tracking of programmer-defined activities, Quanto can map how energy and time are spent on nodes and across a network. Implementing Quanto on the TinyOS operating system required modifying under 350 lines of code and adding 1275 new lines. We show that being able to take fine-grained energy consumption measurements as fast as reading a counter allows developers to precisely quantify the effects of low-level system implementation decisions, such as using DMA versus direct bus operations, or the effect of external interference on the power draw of a low duty-cycle radio. Finally, Quanto is lightweight enough that it has a minimal effect on system behavior: each sample takes 100 CPU cycles and 12 bytes of RAM.
Multiple Metabolic Syndrome Is Associated With Lower Heart Rate Variability: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

OBJECTIVE To test at the population level whether people with multiple metabolic syndrome (MMS) disorders have reduced cardiac autonomic activity (CAA). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We examined the association between the level of CAA and MMS disorders, at the degree of clustering and the segregate combination levels, using a random sample of 2,359 men and women aged 45–64 years from the biracial, population-based Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (AR1C) Study. Supine resting 2-min beat-to-beat heart rate data were collected. High-frequency (HF) (0.15–0.35 Hz) and low-frequency (LF) (0.025–0.15 Hz) spectral powers, the ratio of LF to HF, and the SD of all normal R-R intervals (SDNN) were used as the conventional indices of heart rate variability (HRV) to measure CAA. The MMS disorders included hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and dyslipidemia. RESULTS HRV indices were significantly lower in individuals with MMS disorders. The multivariable adjusted mean HF was 0.85 (beat/min)2 in subjects with all three MMS disorders, in contrast to 1.31 beat/min)2 in subjects without any MMS disorder. At the segregated combination level, the multivariable adjusted means ± SEM of HF were 1.34 ± 0.05, 1.16 ± 0.05, 1.01 ± 0.17, and 1.34 ± 0.05 (beat/min)2, respectively, for subjects without any MMS disorder, with hypertension only, with diabetes only, and with dyslipidemia only, and the means ± SEM of HF were 0.93 ± 0.04,0.70 ± 0.15, and 1.20 ± 0.05 eat/min)2, respectively, for subjects with diabetes and hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia, and hypertension and dyslipidemia. An increase in fasting insulin of 1 SD was associated with 88% higher odds of having a lower HF The pattern of associations was similar for LF and SDNN. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that MMS disorders adversely affect cardiac autonomic control and a reduced cardiac autonomic control may contribute to the increased risk of subsequent cardiovascular events in individuals who exhibit MMS disorders.
The Social Outcast : Ostracism, Social Exclusion, Rejection, and Bullying

The Social Outcast: Introduction, Kipling D. Williams, Joseph P. Forgas, William von Hippel & Lisa Zadro. Part I. Theoretical Foundations. Ostracism: The Indiscriminate Early Detection System, Kipling D. Williams & Lisa Zadro. Varieties of Interpersonal Rejection. Mark R. Leary. The Inner Dimension of Social Exclusion: Intelligent Thought and Self-Regulation Among Rejected Persons, Roy F. Baumeister and C. Nathan DeWall. Part II. Deep Roots of Exclusion: Neuropsychological substrates of Isolation and Exclusion. Adding Insult to Injury: Social Pain Theory and Response to Social Exclusion, Geoff MacDonald, Rachell Kingsbury, and Stephanie Shaw. People Thinking about People: The Vicious Cycle of Being a Social Outcast in One's Own Mind, John T. Cacioppo and Louise C. Hawkley. Why it Hurts to Be Left Out: The Neurocognitive Overlap between Physical and Social Pain, Naomi I. Eisenberger & Matthew D. Lieberman. Part III: Individual and Population Differences and the Impact of Social Exclusion and Bullying. Rejection Sensitivity as a Predictor of Affective and Behavioral Responses to Interpersonal Stress: A Defensive Motivational System, Rainer Romero-Canyas and Geraldine Downey. The Rejected and the Bullied: Lessons about Social Misfits from Developmental Psychology, Jaana Juvonen and Elisheva F. Gross. Role of Social Expectancies in Cognitive and Behavioral Responses to Social Rejection, Kristin L. Sommer and Yonata Rubin. Coping with Rejection: Core Social Motives, across Cultures, Susan T. Fiske and Mariko Yamamoto. Part IV: Influences of Rejection on Emotion, Perception, and Cognition. When Does Social Rejection Lead to Aggression? Jean M. Twenge. The Social Monitoring System: Enhanced Sensitivity to Social Cues and Information as an Adaptive Response to Social Exclusion and Belonging Need, Cynthia L. Pickett & Wendi L. Gardner. Social Snacking and Shielding: Using Social Symbols, Selves, and Surrogates in the Service of Belonging Needs, Wendi L. Gardner, Cynthia L. Pickett, and Megan Knowles. All Animals are Equal but some Animals are more Equal than Others: Social Identity and Marginal Membership, Michael A. Hogg. Bye Bye, Black Sheep: The Causes and Consequences of Rejection in Family Relationships, Julie Fitness. Part V: Effects of Social Exclusion on Pro- and Anti-Social Behavior. Exclusion and Nonconscious Behavioral Mimicry, Jessica L. Lakin and Tanya L. Chartrand. The Effect of Rejection on Anti-Social Behaviors: Social Exclusion Produces Aggressive Behaviors, Kathleen R. Catanese and Dianne M. Tice. Rejection and Entitativity: A Synergistic Model of Mass Violence, Lowell Gaertner and Jonathan Iuzzini. Avoiding the Social Death Penalty: Ostracism and Cooperation in Social Dilemmas, Jaap W. Ouwerkerk, Norbert L. Kerr, Marcello Gallucci, and Paul A. M. Van Lange.
Transcriptional Activation by NF-κB Requires Multiple Coactivators

ABSTRACT Nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) plays a role in the transcriptional regulation of genes involved in inflammation and cell survival. In this report we demonstrate that NF-κB recruits a coactivator complex that has striking similarities to that recruited by nuclear receptors. Inactivation of either cyclic AMP response element binding protein (CREB)-binding protein (CBP), members of the p160 family of coactivators, or the CBP-associated factor (p/CAF) by nuclear antibody microinjection prevents NF-κB-dependent transactivation. Like nuclear receptor-dependent gene expression, NF-κB-dependent gene expression requires specific LXXLL motifs in one of the p160 family members, and enhancement of NF-κB activity requires the histone acetyltransferase (HAT) activity of p/CAF but not that of CBP. This coactivator complex is differentially recruited by members of the Rel family. The p50 homodimer fails to recruit coactivators, although the p50-p65 heterodimeric form of the transcription factor assembles the integrator complex. These findings provide new mechanistic insights into how this family of dimeric transcription factors has a differential effect on gene expression.
Novel Origin of the 1918 Pandemic Influenza Virus Nucleoprotein Gene

ABSTRACT The nucleoprotein (NP) gene of the 1918 pandemic influenza A virus has been amplified and sequenced from archival material. The NP gene is known to be involved in many aspects of viral function and to interact with host proteins, thereby playing a role in host specificity. The 1918 NP amino acid sequence differs at only six amino acids from avian consensus sequences, consistent with reassortment from an avian source shortly before 1918. However, the nucleotide sequence of the 1918 NP gene has more than 170 differences from avian strain consensus sequences, suggesting substantial evolutionary distance from known avian strain sequences. Both the gene and protein sequences of the 1918 NP fall within the mammalian clade upon phylogenetic analysis. The evolutionary distance of the 1918 NP sequences from avian and mammalian strain sequences is examined, using several different parameters. The results suggest that the 1918 strain did not retain the previously circulating human NP. Nor is it likely to have obtained its NP by reassortment with an avian strain similar to those now characterized. The results are consistent with the existence of a currently unknown host for influenza, with an NP similar to current avian strain NPs at the amino acid level but with many synonymous nucleotide differences, suggesting evolutionary isolation from the currently characterized avian influenza virus gene pool.
The Empirical Mode Decomposition: a new formulation based on Constrained Optimization

The empirical mode decomposition (EMD) is a relatively recent method introduced by Huang et al, whose purpose is to adaptively decompose any signal into zero-mean components, called Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMF). These IMF depend on the signal (EMD is a data-driven technique) and are in practice computed by a geometric and iterative procedure whose study is particularly complicated. From the mathematical point of view, the definition of the IMFs is somewhat unclear. Moreover, the condition of "zero local mean" suggested by Huang et al should not be fulfilled in many instances, and was leading to the introduction of weak-IMF by Sharpley and Vatchev. In this talk, we present another approach for the definition of weak-IMF based on the direct construction of the mean envelope of the signal. The definition of the mean envelope is achieved through the resolution of a quadratic programming problem with equality and inequality constraints. Some numerical experiments illustrate the validity of the approach and comparisons are carried out with the classical EMD.