LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
The Pascal Visual Object Classes Challenge: A Retrospective

The Pascal Visual Object Classes (VOC) challenge consists of two components: (i) a publicly available dataset of images together with ground truth annotation and standardised evaluation software; and (ii) an annual competition and workshop. There are five challenges: classification, detection, segmentation, action classification, and person layout. In this paper we provide a review of the challenge from 2008–2012. The paper is intended for two audiences: algorithm designers, researchers who want to see what the state of the art is, as measured by performance on the VOC datasets, along with the limitations and weak points of the current generation of algorithms; and, challenge designers, who want to see what we as organisers have learnt from the process and our recommendations for the organisation of future challenges. To analyse the performance of submitted algorithms on the VOC datasets we introduce a number of novel evaluation methods: a bootstrapping method for determining whether differences in the performance of two algorithms are significant or not; a normalised average precision so that performance can be compared across classes with different proportions of positive instances; a clustering method for visualising the performance across multiple algorithms so that the hard and easy images can be identified; and the use of a joint classifier over the submitted algorithms in order to measure their complementarity and combined performance. We also analyse the community’s progress through time using the methods of Hoiem et al. (Proceedings of European Conference on Computer Vision, 2012) to identify the types of occurring errors. We conclude the paper with an appraisal of the aspects of the challenge that worked well, and those that could be improved in future challenges.
Stressful life events in older bipolar patients.

OBJECTIVE
Theories about the impact of stressful life events (SLE) in bipolar disorder have focused on their role early in the disease. Few studies have examined SLE in older bipolar patients. We wanted to assess the impact of SLE in late life bipolar disorder


METHODS
We evaluated negative SLE experienced by older bipolar subjects compared with younger bipolar subjects and older controls for number, type, and their association with phase of illness, age of onset, and previous episodes.


RESULTS
Both younger and older bipolar subjects have more SLE than similarly aged controls. There was no significant difference in the number of stressors that younger and older bipolar subjects experienced, based on mood state, previous episodes, or age-of-onset. Both older and younger depressed bipolar subjects reported more SLE in the previous 12 months compared with those in a manic state.


CONCLUSIONS
Negative SLE are much more prevalent in bipolar patients compared with age-matched controls, and continue to be frequent in later life.
ORTHONORMAL BASES OF COMPACTLY SUPPORTED WAVELETS

We construct orthonormal bases of compactly supported wavelets, with arbitrarily high regularity. The order of regularity increases linearly with the support width. We start by reviewing the concept of multiresolution analysis as well as several algorithms in vision decomposition and reconstruction. The construction then follows from a synthesis of these different approaches.
Posterior and anterior fixation of the urethra during robotic prostatectomy improves early continence rates.

OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether posterior and anterior fixation of the vesicourethral anastomosis during robotic radical prostatectomy (RRP) helps to establish continence earlier.


MATERIAL AND METHODS
Forty-seven consecutive patients undergoing RRP were randomized into two groups. The first group received a typical Van Velthoven vesicourethral anastomosis and the second group a modified anastomosis with posterior and anterior fixation. In this group the posterior fibrous tissues of the sphincter were sutured to the residual Denonvilliers' fascia. The anastomosis with two running sutures started at the 6 o'clock position on the bladder neck and continued upwards. Two-step stitching was done on the upper half of the anastomosis to ensure good stabilization of the bladder: a small portion of urethral stump followed by a deep haemostatic stitch on the plexus. Continence, as measured by patient self-reporting of the number of pads used per 24 h, was assessed 7 weeks after catheter removal, by telephone interview. The use of no pads or one pad was defined as "continent", two pads as "moderate incontinence" and more than two pads as "severe incontinence".


RESULTS
At catheter removal, more patients in the fixation group were continent than in the Van Velthoven group [9/23 (39%) vs 3/24 (12.5%), p = 0.036]. At 7 weeks, continence was even better in the fixation group [15/23 (65%) vs 8/24 (33%), p = 0. 029]. The mean pad usage was less in the fixation group (1.43 vs 2.25, p = 0.032).


CONCLUSIONS
The posterior and anterior fixation of the vesicourethral anastomosis during RRP results in an intact sphincteric mechanism, because no stretch is applied to the urethra, resulting in earlier continence.
Homocysteine, small-vessel disease, and atherosclerosis: an MRI study of 825 stroke patients.

OBJECTIVE
We evaluated the relationship between hyperhomocysteinemia and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphism and small-vessel disease (SVD) and atherosclerotic large-vessel disease (LVD) in stroke patients.


METHODS
A total of 825 noncardioembolic ischemic stroke patients whose plasma concentrations of total homocysteine were measured and whose MTHFR C677T polymorphism status was identified were included in this retrospective study. MRI of the brain and magnetic resonance angiography of the intracranial and extracranial cerebral arteries had been performed. SVD and LVD were assessed by the Scheltens scale (the SVD score) and by the number of atherosclerotic steno-occlusive arteries (the LVD score), respectively.


RESULTS
The TT genotype of the MTHFR C677T polymorphism was associated with hyperhomocysteinemia (p < 0.001), but not with SVD (p = 0.182) or LVD (p = 0.988) scores. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that hyperhomocysteinemia was associated with SVD (odds ratio [OR] 1.04; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.07; p = 0.005) and LVD (OR 1.02; 95% CI 1.00-1.05; p = 0.041) scores. Hyperhomocysteinemia was related to the LVD score of extracranial arteries (p = 0.008), but not to the LVD score of intracranial arteries (p = 0.730). In multiple logistic regression analysis, however, hyperhomocysteinemia was not related to the LVD score of extracranial arteries (p = 0.255).


CONCLUSIONS
Hyperhomocysteinemia was associated with SVD of the brain and LVD of cerebral arteries. The MTHFR C677T polymorphism was not related to SVD and LVD, although the TT genotype was an important determinant of hyperhomocysteinemia.
Risks of third-party data

R ecent reports of personal information theft are coming in torrents. Criminals are known to have downloaded the personal credit information of over 145,000 individuals from ChoicePoint's network. Hackers took over one of the LexisNexis databases, gaining access to personal files of 32,000 people. Bank of America Corp. lost computer data tapes that contained personal information on 1.2 million federal employees, including members of the U.S. Senate. A hacker downloaded the names, Social Security numbers, voice mail, SMS messages, and digital photos of 400 T-Mobile customers, and probably had access to all of T-Mobile's 16.3 million U.S. customers. In a separate incident, Paris Hilton's phone book and SMS messages were hacked and distributed on the Internet. The risks of third-party data—personal data being held by others—are twofold: the privacy risk and impersonation leading to fraud (popularly called identity theft). Identity theft is the fastest-growing crime in the U.S. A criminal collects enough personal data on someone to impersonate him to banks, credit card companies, and other financial institutions, then racks up debt in the person's name, collects the cash, and disappears. The victim often must spend years clearing his name. Total losses in 2003: $53 billion. People have been told to be careful: not to give out personal financial information, to shred their trash, to be cautious when doing business online. But criminal tactics have evolved, and many of these precautions are useless. Why steal identities one at a time, when they can be stolen by the tens of thousands? The problem is that security of much of our data is no longer under our control. This is new. A dozen years ago, if someone wanted to look through your mail, he had to break into your house. Now he can just break into your ISP. Ten years ago, your voice mail was on an answering machine in your house; now it's on a computer owned by a telephone company. Your financial accounts are on Web sites protected only by passwords; your credit history is stored—and sold—by companies you don't even know exist. Lists of books you buy, and the books you browse, are stored in the computers of online booksellers. Your affinity card allows your supermarket to know what foods you like. Others now control data that was once under your direct control. We have no choice but to trust these companies with our security and privacy, even though …
An overview of continuous improvement : from the past to the present

Purpose – To provide an overview of the history, evolution, and existing research on continuous improvement. Design/methodology/approach – Extensive review of the literature. Findings – This paper provides an overview of continuous improvement, its inception, how it evolved into sophisticated methodologies used in organizations today, and existing research in this field in the literature. Research limitations/implications – It does not provide an exhaustive review of the existing literature, or an exhaustive list of all continuous improvement programs, only the most well known. Originality/value – This paper traces how organizations have used various tools and techniques to address the need for improvement on various levels. The paper also presents research conducted in this field. It should be of value to practitioners of continuous improvement programs and to academics who are interested in how continuous improvement has evolved, and where it is today. To the authors’ knowledge, no recent papers have provided an historical perspective of continuous improvement. Furthermore, our paper also discusses the existing research in this field.
Neonatal and infant outcome in boys and girls born very prematurely

Introduction:Although important new strategies have improved outcomes for very preterm infants, males have greater mortality/morbidity than females. We investigated whether the excess of adverse later effects in males operated through poorer neonatal profile or if there was an intrinsic male effect.Results:Male sex was significantly associated with higher birth weight, death or oxygen dependency (72% vs. 61%, boys vs. girls), hospital stay (97 vs. 86 days), pulmonary hemorrhage (15% vs. 10%), postnatal steroids (37% vs. 21%), and major cranial ultrasound abnormality (20% vs. 12%). Differences remained significant after adjusting for birth weight and gestation. At follow-up, disability, cognitive delay, and use of inhalers remained significant after further adjustment.Discussion:We conclude that in very preterm infants, male sex is an important risk factor for poor neonatal outcome and poor neurological and respiratory outcome at follow-up. The increased risks at follow-up are not explained by neonatal factors and lend support to the concept of male vulnerability following preterm birth.Methods:Data came from the United Kingdom Oscillation Study, with 797 infants (428 boys) born at 23–28 wk gestational age. Thirteen maternal factors, 8 infant factors, 11 acute outcomes, and neurological and respiratory outcomes at follow-up were analyzed. Follow-up outcomes were adjusted for birth and neonatal factors sequentially to explore mechanisms for differences by sex.
Value of allogeneic versus autologous stem cell transplantation and chemotherapy in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes and secondary acute myeloid leukemia. Final results of a prospective randomized European Intergroup Trial.

BACKGROUND
Allogeneic stem cell transplantation is usually considered the only curative treatment option for patients with advanced or transformed myelodysplastic syndromes in complete remission, but post-remission chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation are potential alternatives, especially in patients over 45 years old.


DESIGN AND METHODS
We evaluated, after intensive anti-leukemic remission-induction chemotherapy, the impact of the availability of an HLA-identical sibling donor on an intention-to treat basis. Additionally, all patients without a sibling donor in complete remission after the first consolidation course were randomized to either autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation or a second consolidation course consisting of high-dose cytarabine.


RESULTS
The 4-year survival of the 341 evaluable patients was 28%. After achieving complete remission, the 4-year survival rates of patients under 55 years old with or without a donor were 54% and 41%, respectively, with an adjusted hazard ratio of 0.81 (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.49-1.35) for survival and of 0.67 (95% CI, 0.42-1.06) for disease-free survival. In patients with intermediate/high risk cytogenetic abnormalities the hazard ratio in multivariate analysis was 0.58 (99% CI, 0.22-1.50) (P=0.14) for survival and 0.46 (99% CI, 0.22-1.50) for disease-free survival (P=0.03). In contrast, in patients with low risk cytogenetic characteristics the hazard ratio for survival was 1.17 (99% CI, 0.40-3.42) and that for disease-free survival was 1.02 (99% CI, 0.40-2.56). The 4-year survival of the 65 patients randomized to autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation or a second consolidation course of high-dose cytarabine was 37% and 27%, respectively. The hazard ratio in multivariate analysis was 1.22 (95% CI, 0.65-2.27) for survival and 1.02 (95% CI, 0.56-1.85) for disease-free survival.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with a donor and candidates for allogeneic stem cell transplantation in first complete remission may have a better disease-free survival than those without a donor in case of myelodysplastic syndromes with intermediate/high-risk cytogenetics. Autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation does not provide longer survival than intensive chemotherapy.
Miniscrew-assisted rapid palatal expansion for managing arch perimeter in an adult patient

Introduction:
Etiology of dental crowding may be related to arch constriction in diverse dimensions, and an appropriate manipulation of arch perimeter by intervening in basal bone discrepancies cases, may be a key for crowding relief, especially when incisors movement is limited due to underlying pathology, periodontal issues or restrictions related to soft tissue profile.


Objectives: 
This case report illustrates a 24-year old woman, with maxillary transverse deficiency, upper and lower arches crowding, Class II, division 1, subdivision right relationship, previous upper incisors traumatic episode and straight profile. A non-surgical and non-extraction treatment approach was feasible due to the miniscrew-assisted rapid palatal expansion technique (MARPE).


Methods: 
The MARPE appliance consisted of a conventional Hyrax expander supported by four orthodontic miniscrews. A slow expansion protocol was adopted, with an overall of 40 days of activation and a 3-month retention period. Intrusive traction miniscrew-anchored mechanics were used for correcting the Class II subdivision relationship, managing lower arch perimeter and midline deviation before including the upper central incisors.


Results: 
Post-treatment records show an intermolar width increase of 5 mm, bilateral Class I molar and canine relationships, upper and lower crowding resolution, coincident dental midlines and proper intercuspation.


Conclusions: 
The MARPE is an effective treatment approach for managing arch-perimeter deficiencies related to maxillary transverse discrepancies in adult patients.
A Topological View of Some Problems in Complexity Theory

We present a new, combinatorial proof of the classical theorem that the analytic sets are not closed under complement. Possible connections with questions in complexity theory are discussed.
Categories for the Practising Physicist

In this chapter we survey some particular topics in category theory in a somewhat unconventional manner. Our main focus will be on monoidal ca tegories, mostly symmetric ones, for which we propose a physical interpretation. Speci al attention is given to the category which has finite dimensional Hilbert spaces as objects, line ar maps as morphisms, and the tensor product as its monoidal structure ( FdHilb). We also provide a detailed discussion of the category which has sets as objects, relations as morphis ms, and the cartesian product as its monoidal structure ( Rel), and thirdly, categories with manifolds as objects and cob ordisms between these as morphisms ( 2Cob). While sets, Hilbert spaces and manifolds do not share any non-trivial common structure, these three categories a in fact structurally very similar. Shared features are diagrammatic calculus, compact closed structure and particular kinds of internal comonoids which play an important role in each of th em. The categories FdHilb and Rel moreover admit a categorical matrix calculus. Together the se f atures guide us towards topological quantum field theories. We also discuss posetal categories, how group representations are in fact categorical constructs, and what strict ifica ion and coherence of monoidal categories is all about. In our attempt to complement the exi sting literature we omitted some very basic topics. For these we refer the reader to other avai lable sources.
Power Factor Correction of Direct Torque Controlled Brushless DC Motor Drive

In this paper, an algorithm for power factor correction (PFC) of direct torque control (DTC) brushless dc motor drive in the constant torque region is presented. The proposed DTC approach introduces a two-phase conduction mode as opposed to the conventional three-phase DTC drives. Unlike conventional six-step PWM current control, by properly selecting the inverter voltage space vectors of the two-phase conduction mode from a simple look-up table at a predefined sampling time, the desired quasi-square wave current is obtained. Therefore, a much faster torque response is achieved compared to conventional current control. Furthermore, to eliminate the low-frequency torque oscillations caused by the non-ideal trapezoidal shape of the actual back-EMF waveform of the BLDC motor, a pre-stored back-EMF versus position look-up table is designed. The duty cycle of the boost converter is determined by a control algorithm. This control algorithm is based on the input voltage, output voltage which is the dc-link of the BLDC motor drive, and the inductor current using the average current control method with input voltage feed-forward compensation during each sampling period of the drive system. A theoretical concept is developed and the validity and effectiveness of the proposed DTC of BLDC motor drive scheme with PFC are verified through the experimental results. The test results verify that the proposed PFC for DTC of BLDC motor drive improves the power factor from 0.77 to about 0.9997 irrespective of the load.
Efficiency Optimization Control of Single-Phase Induction Motor Drives

The recent rising of oil prices and global warming crises increasingly support the ongoing practice of loss minimization control of electric motors including single-phase induction ones as the most used motors. Therefore, the tendency toward using variable-speed drives (VSDs) to save energy by adjusting motor speed is seen, but on account of increasing motor loss in nonrated conditions, an efficiency control system can improve energy saving even more. In this paper, after carrying out a detailed motor efficiency analysis, an appropriate method for motor efficiency maximization control, combined with a VSD, is presented and implemented. Experimental results of the implemented system validate the proposed method.
Serotonin Transporter Polymorphism Modulates N-Back Task Performance and fMRI BOLD Signal Intensity in Healthy Women

CONTEXT
Exploring intermediate phenotypes within the human brain's functional and structural circuitry is a promising approach to explain the relative contributions of genetics, complex behaviors and neural mechanisms in the development of major depressive disorder (MDD). The polymorphic region 5-HTTLPR in the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) has been shown to modulate MDD risk, but the neural underpinnings are incompletely understood.


OBJECTIVE
37 right handed healthy women between 21 and 61 years of age were invited to participate in an fMRI modified n-back study. The functional polymorphism 5-HTTLPR located in the promoter region of the SLC6A4 gene was genotyped using polymerase chain reaction (PCR).


RESULTS
Short 5-HTTLPR allele carriers showed more blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) bilateral prefrontal cortex activation in the right [F(2, 30) = 4.8, η(2) = .25, p = .026] and left [F(2, 30) = 4.1, η(2) = .22, p = .015] inferior frontal gyrus pars triangularis with increasing n-back task difficulty relative to long 5-HTTLPR allele carriers. Short 5-HTTLPR allele carriers had inferior task performance on the most difficult n-back condition [F(2, 30) = 4.9, η(2) = .26, p = .014].


CONCLUSIONS
This activation pattern found in healthy at risk individuals resembles an activation pattern that is typically found in patients suffering from acute MDD. Altered function in these areas may reflect intermediate phenotypes and may help explain the increased risk of depression in short 5-HTTLPR allele carriers.
Is there still a glass ceiling for women in academic surgery?

Despite the dramatically increased entry of women into general surgery and surgical subspecialties, traditionally male-dominated fields, there remains a gross under-representation of women in the leadership positions of these departments. Women begin their careers with fewer academic resources and tend to progress through the ranks slower than men. Female surgeons also receive significantly lower salaries than their male counterparts and are more vulnerable to discrimination, both obvious and covert. Although some argue that female surgeons tend to choose their families over careers, studies have actually shown that women are as eager as men to assume leadership positions, are equally qualified for these positions as men, and are as good as men at leadership tasks.Three major constraints contribute to the glass-ceiling phenomenon: traditional gender roles, manifestations of sexism in the medical environment, and lack of effective mentors. Gender roles contribute to unconscious assumptions that have little to do with actual knowledge and abilities of an individuals and they negatively influence decision-making when it comes to promotions. Sexism has many forms, from subtle to explicit forms, and some studies show that far more women report being discriminately against than do men. There is a lack of same-sex mentors and role models for women in academic surgery, thereby isolating female academicians further. This review summarizes the manifestation of the glass-ceiling phenomenon, identifies some causes of these inequalities, and proposes different strategies for continuing the advancement of women in academic surgery and to shatter the glass ceiling.