LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Growth-differentiation factor-15 for early risk stratification in patients with acute chest pain

AIMS
Growth-differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) has emerged as a biomarker of increased mortality and recurrent myocardial infarction (MI) in patients diagnosed with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome. We explored the usefulness of GDF-15 for early risk stratification in 479 unselected patients with acute chest pain.


METHODS AND RESULTS
Sixty-nine per cent of the patients presented with GDF-15 levels above the previously defined upper reference limit (1200 ng/L). The risks of the composite endpoint of death or (recurrent) MI after 6 months were 1.3, 5.1, and 12.6% in patients with normal (<1200 ng/L), moderately elevated (1200-1800 ng/L), or markedly elevated (>1800 ng/L) levels of GDF-15 on admission, respectively (P < 0.001). By multivariable analysis that included clinical characteristics, ECG findings, peak cardiac troponin I levels within 2 h (cTnI(0-2 h)), N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide, C-reactive protein, and cystatin C, GDF-15 remained an independent predictor of the composite endpoint. The ability of the ECG combined with peak cTnI(0-2 h) to predict the composite endpoint was markedly improved by addition of GDF-15 (c-statistic, 0.74 vs. 0.83; P < 0.001).


CONCLUSION
GDF-15 improves risk stratification in unselected patients with acute chest pain and provides prognostic information beyond clinical characteristics, the ECG, and cTnI.
Expectation-maximization algorithm for direct position determination

Transmitter localization is used extensively in civilian and military applications. In this paper, we focus on the Direct Position Determination (DPD) approach, based on Time of Arrival (TOA) measurements, in which the transmitter location is obtained directly, in one step, from the signals intercepted by all sensors. The DPD objective function is often non-convex and therefore finding the maximum usually require s exhaustive search, since gradient based methods usually converge to local maxima. In this paper we present an efficient technique for finding the extremum of the objective function that corresponds to the transmitter location. The proposed method is based on the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm. The EM algorithm is designed to find the Maximum Likelihood (ML) estimate when the available data can be viewed as “incomplete data”, while the “complete data” is hidden in the model. By choosing the appropriate “incomplete data” we replace the high dimensional search, associated with the ML algorithm, with several sub-problems that require only one dimensional search. We demonstrate that although the EM algorithm does not guarantee a convergence to the global maximum, it does so with high probability and therefore it outperforms the common gradient-based methods.
The structure of dynamic correlations in multivariate stochastic volatility models

This paper proposes two types of stochastic correlation structures for Multivariate Stochastic Volatility (MSV) models, namely the constant correlation (CC) MSV and dynamic correlation (DC) MSV models, from which the stochastic covariance structures could be obtained easily. Both structures can be used for purposes of optimal portfolio and risk management, and for calculating Value-at-Risk (VaR) forecasts and optimal capital charges under the Basel Accord. The choice between the CC MSV and DC MSV models can be made using a deviance information criterion. A technique is developed to estimate the DC MSV model using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) procedure.
Prevalence of electrocardiographic abnormalities in a middle-aged, biracial population: Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study.

BACKGROUND
Few studies to date have described the prevalence of electrocardiographic (ECG) abnormalities in a biracial middle-aged cohort.


METHODS AND RESULTS
Participants underwent measurement of traditional risk factors and 12-lead ECGs coded using both Minnesota Code and Novacode criteria. Among 2585 participants, of whom 57% were women and 44% were black (mean age 45 years), the prevalence of major and minor abnormalities was significantly higher (all P < .001) among black men and women compared to whites. These differences were primarily due to higher QRS voltage and ST/T-wave abnormalities among blacks. There was also a higher prevalence of Q waves (Minnesota Code 1-1, 1-2, 1-3) than described by previous studies. These racial differences remained after multivariate adjustment for traditional cardiovascular (CV) risk factors.


CONCLUSIONS
Black men and women have a significantly higher prevalence of ECG abnormalities, independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors, than whites in a contemporary cohort of middle-aged participants.
Networks with Advance Reservations: Applications, Architecture, and Performance

In general, two types of resource reservations in computer networks can be distinguished: immediate reservations which are made in a just-in-time manner and advance reservations, i.e., the reservation of resources a long time before they are actually used. Advance reservations are essential for Grid computing but can also be useful for a variety of other applications that require network quality-of-service (QoS), such as content distribution networks with large amounts of content that must be distributed among the servers in a timely fashion. With the emerged MPLS standard and its explicit routing features, it is possible to overcome the unpredictable routing behavior which has so far prevented the implementation of advance reservation services. In this paper, additional opportunities are described that arise for network operators and customers with the implementation of advance reservations in computer networks. This includes the search for suitable transmission intervals or transmission rates. Furthermore, network operators can use the additional knowledge about future network status in order to improve the performance of the network. This paper discusses these issues and describes the software architecture of a management system that implements the previously mentioned services and optimization mechanisms. The paper is complemented with a performance evaluation of the management architecture, focused on the benefit for clients and operators.
Minimum requirements for accurate and efficient real-time on-chip spike sorting

BACKGROUND
Extracellular recordings are performed by inserting electrodes in the brain, relaying the signals to external power-demanding devices, where spikes are detected and sorted in order to identify the firing activity of different putative neurons. A main caveat of these recordings is the necessity of wires passing through the scalp and skin in order to connect intracortical electrodes to external amplifiers. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the feasibility of an implantable platform (i.e., a chip) with the capability to wirelessly transmit the neural signals and perform real-time on-site spike sorting.


NEW METHOD
We computationally modelled a two-stage implementation for online, robust, and efficient spike sorting. In the first stage, spikes are detected on-chip and streamed to an external computer where mean templates are created and sent back to the chip. In the second stage, spikes are sorted in real-time through template matching.


RESULTS
We evaluated this procedure using realistic simulations of extracellular recordings and describe a set of specifications that optimise performance while keeping to a minimum the signal requirements and the complexity of the calculations.


COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHODS
A key bottleneck for the development of long-term BMIs is to find an inexpensive method for real-time spike sorting. Here, we simulated a solution to this problem that uses both offline and online processing of the data.


CONCLUSIONS
Hardware implementations of this method therefore enable low-power long-term wireless transmission of multiple site extracellular recordings, with application to wireless BMIs or closed-loop stimulation designs.
False Perceptions of False Memories

Rice University We argue that the preceeding comment by J. J. Freyd and D. H. Gleaves (1996) on H. L. Roediger and K. B. McDermott's (1995) article contests claims that we never made. In this reply, we consider and rebut their arguments, defend our use of the term
A modified Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm for constrained optimization problems

Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm was firstly proposed for unconstrained optimization problems on where that ABC algorithm showed superior performance. This paper describes a modified ABC algorithm for constrained optimization problems and compares the performance of the modified ABC algorithm against those of state-of-the-art algorithms for a set of constrained test problems. For constraint hanvailable online 17 December 2010
Safety data of injectable nonanimal stabilized hyaluronic acid gel for soft tissue augmentation.

BACKGROUND
Nonanimal hyaluronic acid gel was recently developed for soft tissue augmentation and volume expansion and has been shown to offer several advantages in comparison to other augmentation materials. There are rare reports of adverse events believed to be secondary to trace amounts of proteins in the hyaluronic acid raw material.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the safety profile of nonanimal stabilized hyaluronic acid gel (Restylane, Perlane, Restylane Fine Lines, Q-Med AB, Uppsala, Sweden) for soft tissue augmentation using a retrospective review of all adverse events data from Europe, Canada, Australia, South American, and Asia from 1999 and 2000.


RESULTS
Data from an estimated 144,000 patients treated in 1999 indicated the major reaction to injectable hyaluronic acid was localized hypersensitivity reactions, occurring in approximately 1 of every 1400 patients treated. In 1999 there was an adverse event reported for 1 of every 650 patients (0.15%) treated. These were temporary events that included redness, swelling, localized granulomatous reactions, bacterial infection, as well as acneiform and cystic lesions. For 2000 there was an estimated 262,000 patients treated with hyaluronic acid gel. The total number of adverse events was 144, corresponding to one adverse event for every 1800 patients (0.06%) treated. The major adverse event was again hypersensitivity, occurring in 1 of every 5000 patients treated.


CONCLUSION
According to the reported worldwide adverse events data, hypersensitivity to nonanimal hyaluronic acid gel is the major adverse event and is most likely secondary to impurities of bacterial fermentation. According to data from 2000, the incidence of hypersensitivity appears to be declining after the introduction of a more purified hyaluronic acid raw material.
Elite long jumpers with below the knee prostheses approach the board slower, but take-off more effectively than non-amputee athletes

The use of technological aids to improve sport performance (‘techno doping’) and inclusion of Paralympic athletes in Olympic events are matters of ongoing debate. Recently, a long jumper with a below the knee amputation (BKA) achieved jump distances similar to world-class athletes without amputations, using a carbon fibre running-specific prosthesis (RSP). We show that athletes with BKA utilize a different, more effective take-off technique in the long jump, which provided the best athlete with BKA a performance advantage of at least 0.13 m compared to non-amputee athletes. A maximum speed constraint imposed by the use of RSPs would indicate a performance disadvantage for the long jump. We found slower maximum sprinting speeds in athletes with BKA, but did not find a difference in the overall vertical force from both legs of athletes with BKA compared to non-amputees. Slower speeds might originate from intrinsically lower sprinting abilities of athletes with BKA or from more complex adaptions in sprinting mechanics due to the biomechanical and morphological differences induced by RSPs. Our results suggest that due to different movement strategies, athletes with and without BKA should likely compete in separate categories for the long jump.
NIPS 2016 Tutorial: Generative Adversarial Networks

This report summarizes the tutorial presented by the author at NIPS 2016 on generative adversarial networks (GANs). The tutorial describes: (1) Why generative modeling is a topic worth studying, (2) how generative models work, and how GANs compare to other generative models, (3) the details of how GANs work, (4) research frontiers in GANs, and (5) state-of-the-art image models that combine GANs with other methods. Finally, the tutorial contains three exercises for readers to complete, and the solutions to these exercises. Introduction This report summarizes the content of the NIPS 2016 tutorial on generative adversarial networks (GANs) (Goodfellow et al., 2014b). The tutorial was designed primarily to ensure that it answered most of the questions asked by audience members ahead of time, in order to make sure that the tutorial would be as useful as possible to the audience. This tutorial is not intended to be a comprehensive review of the field of GANs; many excellent papers are not described here, simply because they were not relevant to answering the most frequent questions, and because the tutorial was delivered as a two hour oral presentation and did not have unlimited time cover all subjects. The tutorial describes: (1) Why generative modeling is a topic worth studying, (2) how generative models work, and how GANs compare to other generative models, (3) the details of how GANs work, (4) research frontiers in GANs, and (5) state-of-the-art image models that combine GANs with other methods. Finally, the tutorial contains three exercises for readers to complete, and the solutions to these exercises. The slides for the tutorial are available in PDF and Keynote format at the following URLs: http://www.iangoodfellow.com/slides/2016-12-04-NIPS.pdf 1This is the arxiv.org version of this tutorial. Some graphics have been compressed to respect arxiv.org’s 10MB limit on paper size, and do not reflect the full image quality. 1 ar X iv :1 70 1. 00 16 0v 4 [ cs .L G ] 3 A pr 2 01 7
Quick Detection of Stealthy SIP Flooding Attacks in VoIP Networks

Denial of Service (DoS) attacks such as the SIP flooding pose great threats to normal operations of VoIP networks, and can bear various forms to elude detection. In this paper, we address the stealthy SIP flooding attack, where intelligent attackers deliberately increase the flooding rates in a slow pace. As the attack only gradually influences the traffic, it can effectively be disguised from previous SIP flooding detection methods. In order to identify the stealthy attack in its early stage for timely response, we propose a detection scheme based on the signal processing technique wavelet, which is able to quickly expose the changes induced by the attack. In particular, we monitor the percentage of energy corresponding to the detail signal obtained from the wavelet analysis as an indication of the attack. Also, considering the scalability of the proposed scheme, we resort to the sketch technique, which can summarize the traffic observations to a fixed-size hash table to provide raw traffic signals for the wavelet analysis regardless how many users exist in the VoIP network. We validate the performance of the proposed scheme through computer simulation and demonstrate its ability to quickly and accurately detect the attacks.
Implicit body representations and tactile spatial remapping.

To perceive the location of a tactile stimulus in external space (external tactile localisation), information about the location of the stimulus on the skin surface (tactile localisation on the skin) must be combined with proprioceptive information about the spatial location of body parts (position sense)--a process often referred to as 'tactile spatial remapping'. Recent research has revealed that both of these component processes rely on highly distorted implicit body representations. For example, on the dorsal hand surface position sense relies on a squat, wide hand representation. In contrast, tactile localisation on the same skin surface shows large biases towards the knuckles. These distortions can be seen as behavioural 'signatures' of these respective perceptual processes. Here, we investigated the role of implicit body representation in tactile spatial remapping by investigating whether the distortions of each of the two component processes (tactile localisation and position sense) also appear when participants localise the external spatial location of touch. Our study reveals strong distortions characteristic of position sense (i.e., overestimation of distances across vs along the hand) in tactile spatial remapping. In contrast, distortions characteristic of tactile localisation on the skin (i.e., biases towards the knuckles) were not apparent in tactile spatial remapping. These results demonstrate that a common implicit hand representation underlies position sense and external tactile localisation. Furthermore, the present findings imply that tactile spatial remapping does not require mapping the same signals in a frame of reference centred on a specific body part.
A Survey on Infrastructure-Based Vehicular Networks

The infrastructure of vehicular networks plays a major role in realizing the full potential of vehicular communications. More and more vehicles are connected to the Internet and to each other, driving new technological transformations in a multidisciplinary way. Researchers in automotive/telecom industries and academia are joining their effort to provide their visions and solutions to increasingly complex transportation systems, also envisioning a myriad of applications to improve the driving experience and the mobility. These trends pose significant challenges to the communication systems: low latency, higher throughput, and increased reliability have to be granted by the wireless access technologies and by a suitable (possibly dedicated) infrastructure. This paper presents an in-depth survey of more than ten years of research on infrastructures, wireless access technologies and techniques, and deployment that make vehicular connectivity available. In addition, we identify the limitations of present technologies and infrastructures and the challenges associated with such infrastructure-based vehicular communications, also highlighting potential solutions.
Understanding sources of sea lice for salmon farms in Chile.

The decline of fisheries over recent decades and a growing human population has coincided with an increase in aquaculture production. As farmed fish densities increase, so have their rates of infectious diseases, as predicted by the theory of density-dependent disease transmission. One of the pathogen that has increased with the growth of salmon farming is sea lice. Effective management of this pathogen requires an understanding of the spatial scale of transmission. We used a two-part multi-scale model to account for the zero-inflated data observed in weekly sea lice abundance levels on rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon farms in Chile, and to assess internal (farm) and external (regional) sources of sea lice infection. We observed that the level of juvenile sea lice was higher on farms that were closer to processing plants with fish holding facilities. Further, evidence for sea lice exposure from the surrounding area was supported by a strong positive correlation between the level of juvenile sea lice on a farm and the number of gravid females on neighboring farms within 30 km two weeks prior. The relationship between external sources of sea lice from neighboring farms and juvenile sea lice on a farm was one of the strongest detected in our multivariable model. Our findings suggest that the management of sea lice should be coordinated between farms and should include all farms and processing plants with holding facilities within a relatively large geographic area. Understanding the contribution of pathogens on a farm from different sources is an important step in developing effective control strategies.
Relevance of Foxp3⁺ regulatory T cells for early and late phases of murine sepsis.

The role of Foxp3(+) regulatory T (Treg) cells in the course of the early hyper-inflammatory and subsequent hypo-inflammatory phases of sepsis is ambiguous. Whereas Nrp1 expression has been reported to discriminate natural Treg cells from induced Treg cells, the Treg cell stability depends on the methylation status of foxp3-TSDR. To specifically evaluate the role of Foxp3(+) Treg cells in the early and late phases of sepsis, we induced sepsis by caecal ligation and puncture and subsequent Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infection in a DEREG (DEpletion of REGulatory T cells) mouse model. We found an increase of Foxp3(+) Treg cells to all CD4(+) T cells during murine sepsis. Using a new methylation-sensitive quantitative RT-PCR method and deep amplicon sequencing, we demonstrated that natural (Nrp1(+) Foxp3(+) ) Treg cells and most induced (Nrp1(-) Foxp3(+) ) Treg cells are stable and exhibit unmethylated foxp3-TSDR, and that both Treg populations are functionally suppressive in healthy and septic mice. DEREG mice depleted of Foxp3(+) Treg cells exhibit higher disease scores, mortality rates and interleukin-6 expression levels than do non-depleted DEREG mice in early-phase sepsis, a finding indicating that Foxp3(+) Treg cells limit the hyper-inflammatory response and accelerate recovery. Treg cell depletion before secondary infection with P. aeruginosa 1 week after caecal ligation and puncture does not influence cytokine levels or the course of secondary infection. However, a moderate Treg cell recurrence, which we observed in DEREG mice during secondary infection, may interfere with these results. In summary, Treg cells contribute to a positive outcome after early-phase sepsis, but the data do not support a significant role of Treg cells in immune paralysis during late-phase sepsis.
Predicting workplace aggression: a meta-analysis.

The authors conducted a meta-analysis of 57 empirical studies (59 samples) concerning enacted workplace aggression to answer 3 research questions. First, what are the individual and situational predictors of interpersonal and organizational aggression? Second, within interpersonal aggression, are there different predictors of supervisor- and coworker-targeted aggression? Third, what are the relative contributions of individual (i.e., trait anger, negative affectivity, and biological sex) and situational (i.e., injustice, job dissatisfaction, interpersonal conflict, situational constraints, and poor leadership) factors in explaining interpersonal and organizational aggression? Results show that both individual and situational factors predict aggression and that the pattern of predictors is target specific. Implications for future research are discussed.