LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
A Stochastic Quasi-Newton Method for Large-Scale Optimization

The question of how to incorporate curvature information in stochastic approximation methods is challenging. The direct application of classical quasiNewton updating techniques for deterministic optimization leads to noisy curvature estimates that have harmful effects on the robustness of the iteration. In this paper, we propose a stochastic quasi-Newton method that is efficient, robust and scalable. It employs the classical BFGS update formula in its limited memory form, and is based on the observation that it is beneficial to collect curvature information pointwise, and at regular intervals, through (sub-sampled) Hessian-vector products. This technique differs from the classical approach that would compute differences of gradients at every iteration, and where controlling the quality of the curvature estimates can be difficult. We present numerical results on problems arising in machine learning that suggest that the proposed method shows much promise. ∗Department of Computer Science, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA. This author was supported by National Science Foundation grant DMS-1216554 and Department of Energy grant DE-SC0001774. †Department of Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. This author was supported by National Science Foundation grant DMS-0810213. ‡Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Applied Mathematics program under Award Number FG02-87ER25047. This author was also supported by the Office of Naval Research award N000141410313. §Google Research
Past, present and future implications of human supervisory control in space missions

Achieving the United States’ Vision for future Space Exploration will necessitate far greater collaboration between humans and automated technology than previous space initiatives. However, the development of methodologies to optimize this collaboration currently lags behind development of the technologies themselves, thus potentially decreasing mission safety, efficiency and probability of success. This paper discusses the human supervisory control (HSC) implications for use in space, and outlines several areas of current automated space technology in which the function allocation between humans and machines/automation is sub-optimal or under dispute, including automated spacecraft landings, Mission Control, and wearable extra-vehicular activity computers. Based on these case studies, we show that a more robust HSC research program will be crucial to achieving the Vision for Space Exploration, especially given the limited resources under which it must be accomplished. © 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
A scalable intelligent non-content-based spam-filtering framework

Designing a spam-filtering system that can run efficiently on heavily burdened servers is particularly important to the widely used email service providers (ESPs) (e.g., Hotmail, Yahoo, and Gmail) who have to deal with millions of emails everyday. Two primary challenges these companies face in spam filtering are efficiency and scalability. This study is undertaken to develop an efficient and scalable spam-filtering framework for heavily burdened email servers. We propose an Intelligent Hybrid Spam-Filtering Framework (IHSFF) to detect spam by analyzing only email headers. This framework is especially suitable for giant email servers because of its efficiency and scalability. The proposed filtering system may be deployed alone or in conjunction with other filters. We extract five features from the email header, namely ‘‘originator field”, ‘‘destination field”, ‘‘X-Mailer field”, ‘‘sender server IP address” and ‘‘mail subject”. Email subjects are digitalized using an algorithm based on n-grams for better performance. Moreover, using real-world data from a well-known ESP in China, we employ various machine-learning algorithms to test the model. Experimental results show that the framework using the Random Forest algorithm achieves good accuracy, recall, precision, and F-measure. With the addition of MetaCost framework, the model works stably well and incurs small costs in various cost-sensitive scenarios. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Cognitive Complexity, Maternal Child Rearing, and Acquiescence.

A study of 48 undergraduates indicated that participants low in cognitive complexity tend to be acquiescent and to have mothers whose childrearing attitudes indicated their rejection of the mothering role. Measures of the students’ perceptions of their mothers’ child-rearing practices did not increase the variance accounted for in cognitive complexity.
Cardiovascular disease risk reduction in rural China: a clustered randomized controlled trial in Zhejiang

BACKGROUND
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of death in China. Despite government efforts, the majority of hypertensive and diabetic patients in China do not receive proper treatment. Reducing CVD events requires long-term care that is proactive, patient-centred, community-based, and sustainable. We have designed a package of interventions for patients at high risk of CVD to be implemented by family doctors based in township hospitals (providers of primary care) in rural Zhejiang, China. This trial aims to determine whether the systematic CVD risk reduction package results in reduced CVD events among patients at risk of CVD compared with usual care, and whether the package is cost-effective and suitable for routine implementation and scale-up.


METHODS/DESIGN
This is a prospective, open-label, cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) with blinded data analysis. The trial will randomize 67 township hospitals with 31,708 participants in three counties in Zhejiang Province. Participants will be identified from existing health records and will comprise adults aged 50 to 74 years, with a calculated 10-year CVD risk of 20% or higher, or diabetes. In the intervention arm, participants will receive a package of interventions including: 1) healthy lifestyle counseling (smoking cessation, and salt, oil, and alcohol reduction); 2) prescription of a combination of drugs (antihypertensives, aspirin, and statin); and 3) adherence support for drug compliance and healthy lifestyle change. In the control arm, participants will receive usual care for hypertension and diabetes management at individual clinicians' discretion. The primary outcome is the incidence of severe CVD events over 24 months of follow-up. All CVD events will be defined according to the World Health Organization (WHO) monitoring of trends and determinants in cardiovascular disease (MONICA) definitions, diagnosed at the county hospital or higher level, and reported by the Zhejiang surveillance system. Secondary outcomes include: mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure, blood glucose, serum total cholesterol (TC), and adherence to appointments, and drugs and lifestyle changes.


DISCUSSION
This trial focuses on risk reduction of CVD rather than specific diseases. It is not designed to compare therapeutic and healthy lifestyle interventions, but rather their combined effects in primary care settings. Through the trial, we intend to understand the effectiveness of the comprehensive CVD reduction package in routine practice. We also intend to understand the barriers and facilitators to implementing the package, and thus to advise on policy and practice change.


TRIAL REGISTRATION
Current Controlled Trials: ISRCTN58988083.
Consensus recommendations on the aesthetic usage of botulinum toxin type A in Asians.

BACKGROUND
The use of botulinum toxin has rapidly expanded into various aesthetic applications. Any guideline representing a consensus for aesthetic treatments using botulinum toxin type A (BTA) in Asians has not been published.


OBJECTIVES
To provide consensus recommendations on common aesthetic problems which are treated by neurotoxin in Asians.


METHODS
A panel of experienced Korean dermatologists was convened to develop a clinical consensus on common aesthetic problems involving the face, neck, and calves in Asians, based on their own extensive experience.


RESULTS
The consensus recommendations address general questions regarding treatment and provide specific guidelines on each common aesthetic indication. The recommended final concentration of BTA was 50 U/mL after reconstitution with physiologic saline. For horizontal forehead lines, the members recommended nine injections in two rows into the frontalis with 1 U/point. For glabellar lines, the members recommended three injection points (a total of 8 U). For crow's feet, the members recommended three injections per side (7 U/side) at the lateral part of the orbicularis oculi. For infraorbital wrinkles, one to two points per side in the superficial subcutaneous space approximately 1 cm below the lash line were recommended (1-2 U/side). For nasal flare, one injection point in the middle of each ala nasi was recommended (a total of 2 U). For depressed nasal tip, a single injection deep within the columella was recommended, with a dose of 3 U. For benign masseter hypertrophy, the members recommended a six-point injection to the masseter (three points per side for a total of 50-60 U). For the treatment of calf hypertrophy, the members recommended a total dose of 100 to 120 U (50-60 U/side), divided between six injection points (approximately 8-10 U/point).


CONCLUSION
This guideline provides a framework for physicians who wish to perform safe and efficacious injections of BTA in Asians.
Optimizing robotic renal surgery: the lateral camera port placement technique and current results.

PURPOSE
The successful completion of robot-assisted renal surgery requires optimal port placement in order to minimize arm collisions due to the bulky nature of the robotic system. We describe a novel technique of port placement to maximize range of motion during robotic renal surgery that has been used successfully in over 50 procedures and report on our results.


METHODS
Five primary ports are placed utilizing a 30 degrees lens facing upward. The camera is in the most laterally placed port between the anterior axillary line and the midclavicular line, 3 to 4 cm below the costal margin. Two 8-mm robotic ports are placed 10 to 11 cm away from the camera port, triangulated towards the kidney. Assistant ports, if desired, are located medially and placed supra- (12 mm) and infraumbilically (5 mm).


RESULTS
This technique resulted in the camera arm residing in an upward position, moving in a completely separate plane from the working robotic arms. We had no incidents of arm-camera collision in this position. We have used this port placement technique successfully in over 50 cases performed entirely robotically. We have had no need to change port location, redock the robotic system, or add additional ports during a procedure.


CONCLUSION
We report on a port placement technique for robotic renal surgery that optimizes motion of the robotic arms, while eliminating external collisions. Placement of the camera port laterally and robotic ports anteromedially results in considerable flexibility of robotic arm movement.
The Power of Interpolation: Understanding the Effectiveness of SGD in Modern Over-parametrized Learning

In this paper we aim to formally explain the phenomenon of fast convergence of Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) observed in modern machine learning. The key observation is that most modern learning architectures are over-parametrized and are trained to interpolate the data by driving the empirical loss (classification and regression) close to zero. While it is still unclear why these interpolated solutions perform well on test data, we show that these regimes allow for fast convergence of SGD, comparable in number of iterations to full gradient descent. For convex loss functions we obtain an exponential convergence bound for mini-batch SGD parallel to that for full gradient descent. We show that there is a critical batch size m∗ such that: (a) SGD iteration with mini-batch sizem ≤ m∗ is nearly equivalent to m iterations of mini-batch size 1 (linear scaling regime). (b) SGD iteration with mini-batch m > m∗ is nearly equivalent to a full gradient descent iteration (saturation regime). Moreover, for the quadratic loss, we derive explicit expressions for the optimal mini-batch and step size and explicitly characterize the two regimes above. The critical mini-batch size can be viewed as the limit for effective mini-batch parallelization. It is also nearly independent of the data size, implying O(n) acceleration over GD per unit of computation. We give experimental evidence on real data which closely follows our theoretical analyses. Finally, we show how our results fit in the recent developments in training deep neural networks and discuss connections to adaptive rates for SGD and variance reduction. † See full version of this paper at arxiv.org/abs/1712.06559. Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA. Correspondence to: Siyuan Ma <masi@cse.ohio-state.edu>, Raef Bassily <bassily.1@osu.edu>, Mikhail Belkin <mbelkin@cse.ohio-state.edu>. Proceedings of the 35 th International Conference on Machine Learning, Stockholm, Sweden, PMLR 80, 2018. Copyright 2018 by the author(s).
Case-control study on analgesics and nephropathy (SAN): protocol

BACKGROUND
The association between intake of non-phenacetin-containing analgesics and the occurrence of chronic renal failure is still controversially discussed. A new epidemiologic study was planned and conducted in Germany and Austria.


METHODS/DESIGN
The objective of the international, multicenter case-control study was to evaluate the association between end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and use of non-phenacetin-containing analgesics with particular emphasis on combined formulations. A targeted sample of 1000 new (incident) dialysis patients, aged less than 50 years, was planned to recruit between January 1, 2001 and December 31, 2004. The age limit was chosen to avoid contamination of the study population with phenacetin-containing analgesics to the extent possible. Four control subjects per ESRD case, matched by age, sex, and region were selected from the population living in the region the case came from. Lifetime exposure to analgesics and potential renal risk factors were recorded in a single face-to-face interview. A set of aids was introduced to reinforce the memory of study participants. A standardized, pre-tested interview questionnaire (participants), a medical documentation sheet (physicians in dialysis centres), a logbook for all activities (dialysis centres) were used to collect the necessary data. Quality management consisted of the standardized procedures, (re-) training and supervision of interviewers, regular checks of all incoming data for completeness and plausibility. The study is scientifically independent and governed by a international Scientific Advisory Committee that bridged the gap between the sponsoring companies and the investigators. Also other advisory groups assisted the managing committee of the study. All relevant German and Austrian nephrological associations supported the study, and the study design was carefully reviewed and approved by the Kidney Foundation of Germany.


DISCUSSION
The study is expected to answer the main research question by end 2005. There is however a high potential for various biases that we tried to address with adequate measure. One limitation however cannot be overcome: The methodologically needed age-limitation of the study will make it not easy to generalize the results to age groups over 50 years. It might be suggested to repeat the study for persons over 50 years in 10 years when contamination with phenacetin use early in life is likely to be outgrown.
Surgical techniques, open versus minimally invasive gastrectomy after chemotherapy (STOMACH trial): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND
Laparoscopic surgery has been shown to provide important advantages in comparison with open procedures in the treatment of several malignant diseases, such as less perioperative blood loss and faster patient recovery. It also maintains similar results with regard to tumor resection margins and oncological long-term survival. In gastric cancer the role of laparoscopic surgery remains unclear. Current recommended treatment for gastric cancer consists of radical resection of the stomach, with a free margin of 5 to 6 cm from the tumor, combined with a lymphadenectomy. The extent of the lymphadenectomy is considered a marker for radicality of surgery and quality of care. Therefore, it is imperative that a novel surgical technique, such as minimally invasive total gastrectomy, should be non-inferior with regard to radicality of surgery and lymph node yield.


METHODS/DESIGN
The Surgical Techniques, Open versus Minimally invasive gastrectomy After CHemotherapy (STOMACH) study is a randomized, clinical multicenter trial. All adult patients with primary carcinoma of the stomach, in which the tumor is considered surgically resectable (T1-3, N0-1, M0) after neo-adjuvant chemotherapy, are eligible for inclusion and randomization. The primary endpoint is quality of oncological resection, measured by radicality of surgery and number of retrieved lymph nodes. The pathologist is blinded towards patient allocation. Secondary outcomes include patient-reported outcomes measures (PROMs) regarding quality of life, postoperative complications and cost-effectiveness. Based on a non-inferiority model for lymph node yield, with an average lymph node yield of 20, a non-inferiority margin of -4 and a 90% power to detect non-inferiority, a total of 168 patients are to be included.


DISCUSSION
The STOMACH trial is a prospective, multicenter, parallel randomized study to define the optimal surgical strategy in patients with proximal or central gastric cancer after neo-adjuvant therapy: the conventional 'open' approach or minimally invasive total gastrectomy.


TRIAL REGISTRATION
This trial was registered on 28 April 2014 at Clinicaltrials.gov with the identifier NCT02130726 .
Is coronary computed tomography angiography a resource sparing strategy in the risk stratification and evaluation of acute chest pain? Results of a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES
Annually, almost 6 million U.S. citizens are evaluated for acute chest pain syndromes (ACPSs), and billions of dollars in resources are utilized. A large part of the resource utilization results from precautionary hospitalizations that occur because care providers are unable to exclude the presence of coronary artery disease (CAD) as the underlying cause of ACPSs. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the addition of coronary computerized tomography angiography (CCTA) to the concurrent standard care (SC) during an index emergency department (ED) visit could lower resource utilization when evaluating for the presence of CAD.


METHODS
Sixty participants were assigned randomly to SC or SC + CCTA groups. Participants were interviewed at the index ED visit and at 90 days. Data collected included demographics, perceptions of the value of accessing health care, and clinical outcomes. Resource utilization included services received from both the primary in-network and the primary out-of-network providers. The prospectively defined primary endpoint was the total amount of resources utilized over a 90-day follow-up period when adding CCTA to the SC risk stratification in ACPSs.


RESULTS
The mean (± standard deviation [SD]) for total resources utilized at 90 days for in-network plus out-of-network services was less for the participants in the SC + CCTA group ($10,134; SD ±$14,239) versus the SC-only group ($16,579; SD ±$19,148; p = 0.144), as was the median for the SC + CCTA ($4,288) versus SC only ($12,148; p = 0.652; median difference = -$1,291; 95% confidence interval [CI] = -$12,219 to $1,100; p = 0.652). Among the 60 total study patients, only 19 had an established diagnosis of CAD at 90 days. However, 18 (95%) of these diagnosed participants were in the SC + CCTA group. In addition, there were fewer hospital readmissions in the SC + CCTA group (6 of 30 [20%] vs. 16 of 30 [53%]; difference in proportions = -33%; 95% CI = -56% to -10%; p = 0.007).


CONCLUSIONS
Adding CCTA to the current ED risk stratification of ACPSs resulted in no difference in the quantity of resources utilized, but an increased diagnosis of CAD, and significantly less recidivism and rehospitalization over a 90-day follow-up period.
Mechanical and Barrier Properties of Edible Corn and Wheat Protein Films

Published methods for production of homogeneous edible films from com and wheat proteins were adapted. Barrier and mechanical properties of the edible films were evaluated with procedures commonly used on polymeric films. Mechanical property data included thickness, elongation, tensile strength, tear strength, and burst strength measurements. Barrier property data included water vapor, oxygen, and carbon dioxide gas transmission rate measurements. Homogeneous com and wheat protein films were found to have low tensile strengths, far less than cellophane. Com films were brittle while wheat films were elastic in comparison to cellophane. All three types of film had low permeabilities for dry gases but relatively high water vapor permeabilities.
Quality Inspection of Size, Shape and Arrangement of Sweet Corn Seeds by Image Processing

This article proposes the techniques for inspecting the quality of sweet corn using image processing. The size, shape and arrangement of sweet corn kernels were considered in quality inspection. The measurement of the size of sweet corn was done by measuring the distance between the two endpoints of the sweet corn image. The shape of the sweet corn was examined by the symmetry of the sweet corn. In order to determine the arrangement of the kernels, the edges of the image were figured out by Laplacian of Gaussian which was then used to calculate the uniformity of the distance between lines. The experimental results showed that, the size of sweet corn, the average error was 0.18 cm and the shape and the symmetry of corn cob and the arrangement of the corn kernels were correct.
Curriculum Knowledge Representation and Manipulation in Knowledge-Based Tutoring Systems

A Knowledge-Based Tutoring System (KBTS) is a computer-based instructional system that uses artificial intelligence techniques to help people learn some subjects. We found that the knowledge communication process involving a KBTS and a human student can be decomposed into a series of communication cycles, where each cycle concentrates on one topic and contains four major phases: planning, discussing, evaluating and remedying. The major contributions of this work are the development of a generic architecture for supporting the knowledge communication between a KBTS and a student, and a graphical notation and schema for supporting the curriculum knowledge representation and manipulation during the planning phase of a tutoring process. The curriculum knowledge about a course can help a tutoring system determine the sequences in which the topics will be discussed with the students effectively and diagnose the students’ mistakes. The curriculclm knowledge base contains the goal structure of the course, prerequisite relations, and multiple ways of organizing topics, among others. As an example, we have focused on developing SQL-TUTOR, a KBTS for the domain of SQL programming. This system has features such as efficient control mechanism, explicit curriculum knowledge representation, and individualized private tutoring. For allowing the students relative freedom to decide how to study the domain knowledge about a subject, the system provides the students with a group of operators to hand-tailor the learning schedules according to their special backgrounds, requests, and interests. Index Terms4omputer in education, intelligent tutoring, knowledge representation and manipulation, topic association graph, learning graph, curriculum management.