Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Applying the Waek Learning Framework to Understand and Improve C4.5

There has long been a chasm between theoretical models of machine learning and practical machine learning algorithms. For instance, empirically successful algorithms such as C4:5 and backpropagation have not met the criteria of the PAC model and its variants. Conversely, the algorithms suggested by computational learning theory are usually too limited in various ways to nd wide application. The theoretical status of decision tree learning algorithms is a case in point: while it has been proven that C4:5 (and all reasonable variants of it) fails to meet the PAC model criteria [2], other recently proposed decision tree algorithms that do have non-trivial performance guarantees unfortunately require membership queries [6, 13]. Two recent developments have narrowed this gap between theory and practice|not for the PAC model, but for the related model known as weak learning or boosting . First, an algorithm called Adaboost was proposed that meets the formal criteria of the boosting model and is also competitive in practice [10]. Second, the basic algorithms underlying the popular C4:5 and CART programs have also very recently been shown to meet the formal criteria of the boosting model [12]. Thus, it seems plausible that the weak learning framework may provide a setting for interaction between formal analysis and machine learning practice that is lacking in other theoretical models. Our aim in this paper is to push this interaction further in light of these recent developments. In particular, we perform experiments suggested by the formal results for Adaboost and C4:5 within the weak learning framework. We concentrate on two particularly intriguing issues. First, the theoretical boosting results for top-down decision tree algorithms such as C4:5 [12] suggest that a new splitting criterion may result in trees that are smaller and more accurate than those obtained using the usual information gain. We con rm this suggestion experimentally. Second, a super cial interpretation of the theoretical results suggests that Adaboost should vastly outperform C4:5. This is not the case in practice, and we argue through experimental results that the theory must be understood in terms of a measure of a boosting algorithm's behavior called its advantage sequence. We compare the advantage sequences for C4:5 and Adaboost in a number of experiments. We nd that these sequences have qualitatively different behavior that explains in large part the discrepancies between empirical performance and the theoretical results. Brie y, we nd that although C4:5 and Adaboost are both boosting algorithms, Adaboost creates successively \harder" ltered distributions, while C4:5 creates successively \easier" ones, in a sense that will be made precise.
Axon–glia synapses are highly vulnerable to white matter injury in the developing brain

The biology of cerebral white matter injury has been woefully understudied, in part because of the difficulty of reliably modeling this type of injury in rodents. Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) is the predominant form of brain injury and the most common cause of cerebral palsy in premature infants. PVL is characterized by predominant white matter injury. No specific therapy for PVL is presently available, because the pathogenesis is not well understood. Here we report that two types of mouse PVL models have been created by hypoxia‐ischemia with or without systemic coadministration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). LPS coadministration exacerbated hypoxic‐ischemic white matter injury and led to enhanced microglial activation and astrogliosis. Drug trials with the antiinflammatory agent minocycline, the antiexcitotoxic agent NBQX, and the antioxidant agent edaravone showed various degrees of protection in the two models, indicating that excitotoxic, oxidative, and inflammatory forms of injury are involved in the pathogenesis of injury to immature white matter. We then applied immunoelectron microscopy to reveal fine structural changes in the injured white matter and found that synapses between axons and oligodendroglial precursor cells (OPCs) are quickly and profoundly damaged. Hypoxia‐ischemia caused a drastic decrease in the number of postsynaptic densities associated with the glutamatergic axon–OPC synapses defined by the expression of vesicular glutamate transporters, vGluT1 and vGluT2, on axon terminals that formed contacts with OPCs in the periventricular white matter, resulted in selective shrinkage of the postsynaptic OPCs contacted by vGluT2 labeled synapses, and led to excitotoxicity mediated by GluR2‐lacking, Ca2+‐permeable AMPA receptors. Overall, the present study provides novel mechanistic insights into the pathogenesis of PVL and reveals that axon–glia synapses are highly vulnerable to white matter injury in the developing brain. More broadly, the study of white matter development and injury has general implications for a variety of neurological diseases, including PVL, stroke, spinal cord injury, and multiple sclerosis. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Developing a Conceptual Model to Evaluate Green Suppliers: Decision Making Method Using Dematel

Nowadays stakeholder pressure and public awareness have been raised against companies‟ environmental impacts, so green supply chain management (GSCM) seems vital for companies‟ environmental compliance and business growth. Companies continuously seek novel ideas and methods enabling them to obtain and/or maintain the environmental sustainability. Greening the supply chain is one of such innovative idea involving all of the business value-adding operations, comprising purchasing and inbound logistics, production and manufacturing, distribution, out-bound logistics and collaboration with patrons and suppliers in a way that has the least negative environmental effect. The main objective of the present study is finding interrelationship between green supplier criteria. For this to happen, we investigated experts‟ opinions through nominal group technique (NGT) to find out the interrelationship and causal preferences of the green supplier evaluation aspects using Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method. A numerical example demonstrates the application of the proposed model.
Assessing the Relative Importance of Local and Regional Processes on the Survival of a Threatened Salmon Population

Research on regulatory mechanisms in biological populations often focuses on environmental covariates. An integrated approach that combines environmental indices with organismal-level information can provide additional insight on regulatory mechanisms. Survival of spring/summer Snake River Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) is consistently low whereas some adjacent populations with similar life histories experience greater survival. It is not known if populations with differential survival respond similarly during early marine residence, a critical period in the life history. Ocean collections, genetic stock identification, and otolith analyses were combined to evaluate the growth-mortality and match-mismatch hypotheses during early marine residence of spring/summer Snake River Chinook salmon. Interannual variation in juvenile attributes, including size at marine entry and marine growth rate, was compared with estimates of survival and physical and biological metrics. Multiple linear regression and multi-model inference were used to evaluate the relative importance of biological and physical metrics in explaining interannual variation in survival. There was relatively weak support for the match-mismatch hypothesis and stronger evidence for the growth-mortality hypothesis. Marine growth and size at capture were strongly, positively related to survival, a finding similar to spring Chinook salmon from the Mid-Upper Columbia River. In hindcast models, basin-scale indices (Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NPGO)) and biological indices (juvenile salmon catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) and a copepod community index (CCI)) accounted for substantial and similar portions of variation in survival for juvenile emigration years 1998–2008 (R2>0.70). However, in forecast models for emigration years 2009–2011, there was an increasing discrepancy between predictions based on the PDO (50–448% of observed value) compared with those based on the NPGO (68–212%) or biological indices (CPUE and CCI: 83–172%). Overall, the PDO index was remarkably informative in earlier years but other basin-scale and biological indices provided more accurate indications of survival in recent years.
Disrupted functional connectivity between perirhinal and parahippocampal cortices with hippocampal subfields in patients with mild cognitive impairment and alzheimer's disease.

Most patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease can initially present memory loss. The medial temporal lobes are the brain regions most associated with declarative memory function. As sub-components of the MTL, the perirhinal cortex, parahippocampal cortex and hippocampus have also been identified as playing important roles in memory. The functional connectivity between hippocampus subfields and perirhnial cortices as well as parahippocampal cortices among normal cognition controls (NC group, n=33), mild cognitive impairment (MCI group, n=31) and Alzheimer's disease (AD group, n=27) was investigated in this study. The result shows significant differences of functional connectivity in 3 pairs of regions among NC group, MCI group and AD group: right perirhinal cortex with right hippocampus tail, left perirhinal cortex with right hippocampus tail, and right parahippocampal cortex with right hippocampus head. Clustering methods were used to classify NC group, MCI group and AD group (accuracy=100%) as well as different subtypes of mild cognitive impairment patients based on functional alterations. Functional connectivity disrupted between perirhinal and parahippocampal cortex with hippocampal subfields, which may provide a better understanding of the neurodegenerative progress of MCI and AD.
Electoral Competition, Political Uncertainty, and Policy Insulation

Why are government bureaus not necessarily organized to implement policy effectively? One view holds that a main culprit is political uncertainty. Elected officials know that they will not hold office forever, so they use “insulating” structures that constrain bureaucratic discretion, making bureaus less subject to sabotage but also less effective. I revise this theory by modeling how public officials choose administrative structures. I show that in systems with few veto points, groups will be most likely to act cooperatively on policy when political uncertainty is greatest. In contrast, in systems with many veto points, only electorally weak groups will insulate policies from future interference, therefore shifting focus from uncertainty to electoral strength. Because the conditions that lead to policy insulation are rare, electoral competition should not be thought of as a primary cause of bureaucratic inefficiency.
Evaluation of biofilm production, gelatinase activity, and mannose-resistant hemagglutination in Acinetobacter baumannii strains.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Acinetobacter baumannii is an important nosocomial pathogen, but its pathogenic characteristics are not well defined. The purpose of this study was to evaluate biofilm production, mannose-resistant hemagglutination, and gelatinase production in A. baumannii strains isolated from various clinical specimens. METHODS Eighty six strains of A. baumannii isolated from 86 hospital inpatients were studied for biofilm formation, gelatinase activity, and mannose-resistant hemagglutination. The isolates were identified using conventional techniques and/or the API 2ONE system. Comparisons of biofilm production, gelatinase activity, and mannose-resistant hemagglutination were made by chi-squared analysis. RESULTS Twenty two and 61 of the isolates agglutinated human group O and AB erythrocytes in the presence of mannose, respectively. Gelatinase activity was detected in 12 isolates (14%), while 64 isolates formed biofilms. CONCLUSIONS Several parameters may play important roles in causing infection in colonized patients. Identifying the factors that influence virulence may help to separate the colonizing strains into those with high or low potential virulence.
Automatic EEG Artifact Removal: A Weighted Support Vector Machine Approach With Error Correction

An automatic electroencephalogram (EEG) artifact removal method is presented in this paper. Compared to past methods, it has two unique features: 1) a weighted version of support vector machine formulation that handles the inherent unbalanced nature of component classification and 2) the ability to accommodate structural information typically found in component classification. The advantages of the proposed method are demonstrated on real-life EEG recordings with comparisons made to several benchmark methods. Results show that the proposed method is preferable to the other methods in the context of artifact removal by achieving a better tradeoff between removing artifacts and preserving inherent brain activities. Qualitative evaluation of the reconstructed EEG epochs also demonstrates that after artifact removal inherent brain activities are largely preserved.
A nurse managed smoking cessation and relapse prevention programme did not reduce smoking rates at 12 months beyond rates achieved by usual care in women with cardiovascular disease

Sivarajan Froelicher ES, Miller NH, Christopherson DJ, et al . High rates of sustained smoking cessation in women hospitalized with cardiovascular disease: the Women’s Initiative for Nonsmoking (WINS). Circulation 2004;109:587–93. [OpenUrl][1][Abstract/FREE Full Text][2] Q Is a nurse managed, cognitive behavioural, smoking cessation and relapse prevention programme effective for women admitted to hospital with cardiovascular disease (CVD)? ### ! [Graphic][3] Design: randomised controlled trial. ### ! [Graphic][4] Allocation: {concealed}*. ### ! [Graphic][5] Blinding: blinded (data collectors and outcome assessors). ### ! [Graphic][6] Follow up period: 30 months. ### ! [Graphic][7] Setting: 10 hospitals in the San Francisco Bay area, California, USA. ### ! [Graphic][8] Patients: 277 women ⩾18 years of age (mean age 61 y) who were admitted to hospital with CVD or peripheral vascular disease, had smoked cigarettes in the month before admission, and were willing to make a serious attempt to quit smoking after discharge. Exclusion criteria included medical instability, alcohol or substance abuse, dementia, and schizophrenia. ### ! [Graphic][9] Intervention: smoking cessation and relapse prevention intervention (brief physician counselling and usual care plus nurse managed, cognitive behavioural, relapse prevention intervention given before discharge, ⩽5 structured telephone contacts 2–90 days after discharge, and relapse management counselling as needed) (n = 142) … [1]: {openurl}? query=rft.jtitle%253DCirculation%26rft.stitle%253DCirculation%26rft.issn%253D0009-7322%26rft.aulast%253DSivarajan%2BFroelicher%26rft.auinit1%253DE. %2BS. %26rft.volume%253D109%26rft.issue%253D5%26rft.spage%253D587%26rft.epage%253D593%26rft.atitle%253DHigh%2BRates%2Bof%2BSustained%2BSmoking%2BCessation%2Bin%2BWomen%2BHospitalized%2BWith%2BCardiovascular%2BDisease%253A%2BThe%2BWomen%2527s%2BInitiative%2Bfor%2BNonsmoking%2B%2528WINS%2529%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1161%252F01.CIR. 0000115310.36419. 9E%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F14769679%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [2]: /lookup/ijlink? linkType=ABST&journalCode=circulationaha&resid=109/5/587&atom=%2Febnurs%2F7%2F3%2F83.atom [3]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif [4]: /embed/inline-graphic-2.gif [5]: /embed/inline-graphic-3.gif [6]: /embed/inline-graphic-4.gif [7]: /embed/inline-graphic-5.gif [8]: /embed/inline-graphic-6.gif [9]: /embed/inline-graphic-7.gif
A study on EEG quality in physical movements with Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials

In this paper, we investigated the quality of ElectroEncephaloGraphic (EEG) signals during performing physical movements. By using a portable EEG device, the Steady-State Visual Evoked Potential (SSVEP) was recorded on parietal and occipital locations. The SSVEP induced by flickering stimuli was successfully observed in the self-paced mimic walking conditions as well as in the sitting conditions. To see the dependence of temporal and spatial filters on the potential performance of Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) we applied the signal processing of Principal Component Analysis and Linear Discriminant Analysis. The pattern recognition performances in inferring the subject's eye gaze directions from the EEG signals could be perfect even in the self-paced mimic walking conditions. It was found that three electrodes on parieto-occipital and occipital locations were essential in order to have perfect performances. From these results, we conclude that the applications using SSVEP-based BCI can be realized even in the physically moving context.
Physical Layer Aware Optical Networks

This thesis describes novel contributions in the field of physical layer aware optical networks. IP traffic increase and revenue compression in the Telecom industry is putting a lot of pressure on the optical community to develop novel solutions that must both increase total capacity while being cost effective. This requirement is pushing operators towards network disaggregation, where optical network infrastructure is built by mix and match different physical layer technologies from different vendors. In such a novel context, every equipment and transmission technique at the physical layer impacts the overall network behavior. Hence, methods giving quantitative evaluations of individual merit of physical layer equipment at network level are a firm request during network design phases as well as during network lifetime. Therefore, physical layer awareness in network design and operation is fundamental to fairly assess the potentialities, and exploit the capabilities of different technologies. From this perspective, propagation impairments modeling is essential. In this work propagation impairments in transparent optical networks are summarized, with a special focus on nonlinear effects. The Gaussian Noise model is reviewed, then extended for wideband scenarios. To do so, the impact of polarization mode dispersion on nonlinear interference (NLI) generation is assessed for the first time through simulation, showing its negligible impact on NLI generation. Thanks to this result, the Gaussian Noise model is generalized to assess the impact of space and frequency amplitude variations along the fiber, mainly due to stimulated Raman scattering, on NLI generation. The proposed Generalized GN (GGN) model is experimentally validated on a setup with commercial linecards, compared with other modeling options, and an example of application is shown.
Comparative pharmacokinetics of ceftazidime in fibrin clots and cardiac vegetations in rabbits with Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis

The penetration of ceftazidime, administered in a dose of 100 mg/kg intramuscularly, into cardiac vegetations and subcutaneously implanted fibrin clots was compared in rabbits with experimental Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis. Significant pharmacokinetic differences between the time-concentration curves for the two compartments were observed. Concentrations of ceftazidime in vegetations peaked at 30 min after dosing at a level slightly lower than that in plasma and thereafter declined in parallel with concentrations in plasma throughout the 8-h sampling period. Concentrations in fibrin clots increased more slowly than those in plasma and vegetations, reaching a maximum at 120 min. This was followed by a slow elimination phase yielding concentrations in excess of concurrent plasma and vegetation levels and a greater area under the curve. These features were observed for both large (2-ml volume) and small (0.1-ml volume) clots. Contrary to previous reports, these observations suggest that fibrin clots do not provide an accurate model for predicting antibiotic concentrations in cardiac vegetations produced in endocarditis and that concentrations of antimicrobial agents in vegetations can be predicted more accurately from concomitant plasma levels.
MEK inhibition reduces glial scar formation and promotes the recovery of sensorimotor function in rats following spinal cord injury

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of U0126 on the formation of glial scars following spinal cord injury (SCI) in a rat model. Ninety adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided randomly into sham injury (group I), SCI (group II) and U0126 treatment (group III) groups, and functional outcome was observed during the 4 weeks following the injury. The P1 and N1 latencies and P1-N1 amplitudes of somatosensory-evoked potentials (SEPs) were collected one day prior to surgery, on the day of surgery and 14 and 28 days postoperatively. The expression levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and vimentin (Vim) were assessed 14 and 28 days post-injury. Treatment with U0126 significantly increased locomotor function from the second week until 4 weeks post-SCI. At 14 and 28 days subsequent to the injury, the number of cells that were positive for GFAP expression in the U0126-treated group was significantly reduced and the GFAP-positive cells were observed to be smaller, with a reduced prominence and pale staining. Moreover, the area of glial scarring was smaller compared with that of the SCI controls. Inhibitors of MEK may reduce glial scar formation by suppressing the proliferation of astrocytes, and may improve hindlimb motor function.
Computability, noncomputability and undecidability of maximal intervals of IVPs

Let (α,β) C R denote the maximal interval of existence of solutions for the initial-value problem {dx dt = f(t,x), x(t 0 ) = x 0 , where E is an open subset of R m+1 , f is continuous in E and (t 0 ,x 0 ) ∈ E. We show that, under the natural definition of computability from the point of view of applications, there exist initial-value problems with computable f and (t 0 ,x 0 ) whose maximal interval of existence (α,β) is noncomputable. The fact that f may be taken to be analytic shows that this is not a lack of the regularity phenomenon. Moreover, we get upper bounds for the "degree of noncomputability" by showing that (α,β) is r.e. (recursively enumerable) open under very mild hypotheses. We also show that the problem of determining whether the maximal interval is bounded or unbounded is in general undecidable.
TMEM16F-Mediated Platelet Membrane Phospholipid Scrambling Is Critical for Hemostasis and Thrombosis but not Thromboinflammation in Mice—Brief Report

Objective—It is known that both platelets and coagulation strongly influence infarct progression after ischemic stroke, but the mechanisms and their interplay are unknown. Our aim was to assess the contribution of the procoagulant platelet surface, and thus platelet-driven thrombin generation, to the progression of thromboinflammation in the ischemic brain. Approach and Results—We present the characterization of a novel platelet and megakaryocyte-specific TMEM16F (anoctamin 6) knockout mouse. Reflecting Scott syndrome, platelets from the knockout mouse had a significant reduction in procoagulant characteristics that altered thrombin and fibrin generation kinetics. In addition, knockout mice showed significant defects in hemostasis and arterial thrombus formation. However, infarct volumes in a model of ischemic stroke were comparable with wild-type mice. Conclusions—Platelet TMEM16F activity contributes significantly to hemostasis and thrombosis but not cerebral thromboinflammation. These results highlight another key difference between the roles of platelets and coagulation in these processes.