Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Scales to assess psychosis in Parkinson's disease: Critique and recommendations

Psychotic symptoms are a frequent occurrence in Parkinson's disease (PD), affecting up to 50% of patients. The Movement Disorder Society established a Task Force on Rating Scales in PD, and this critique applies to published, peer‐reviewed rating psychosis scales used in PD psychosis studies. Twelve psychosis scales/questionnaires were reviewed. None of the reviewed scales adequately captured the entire phenomenology of PD psychosis. While the Task Force has labeled some scales as “recommended” or “suggested” based on the fulfilling‐defined criteria, none of the current scales contained all the basic content, mechanistic and psychometric properties needed to capture PD psychotic phenomena and to measure clinical response over time. Different scales may be better for some settings versus others. Since one scale may not be able to serve all needs, a scale used to measure clinical response and change over time [such as the Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGIS)] may need to be combined with another scale better at cataloging specific features [such as the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) or Schedule for Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS)]. At the present time, for clinical trials on PD psychosis assessing new treatments, the following are recommended primary outcome scales: NPI (for the cognitively impaired PD population or when a caregiver is required), SAPS, Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), or Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) (for the cognitively intact PD population or when the patient is the sole informant). The CGIS is suggested as a secondary outcome scale to measure change and response to treatment over time. © 2007 Movement Disorder Society
Assessment of a Novel Corneal-Shaping Device With Simultaneous Corneal Collagen Cross-Linking Using a Porcine Eye Model

Purpose: Corneal collagen cross-linking (CXL) alone cannot substantially improve refractive errors. We designed a novel corneal-shaping device, showing that a prototype applied during CXL can alter corneal curvature to a greater extent than CXL alone in a porcine eye model. Methods: The device prototype was made with flat, UV-transmissible material. Enucleated porcine eyes were deepithelialized and perfused. Preexperimental and postexperimental corneal curvature (K) measurements and Anterior Segment Optical Coherence Tomography imaging were performed. A conventional CXL protocol was followed. Six experiments of 6 treatment groups in duplicate were performed (n = 12/group): (A) no CXL + no device, (B) no CXL + 30 minutes device, (C) 10 minutes, CXL + no device, (D) 10 minutes, CXL + device, (E) 30 minutes, CXL + no device, and (F) 30 minutes, CXL + device. Results: There was a significant decrease (P < 0.001) in corneal curvature after 30 minutes. CXL between group F (−1.54 ± 0.90 D) and groups E (+0.34 ± 0.53 D), B (+0.69 ± 1.02 D), or A (+0.22 ± 1.24 D). The demarcation line depth was greater in group F (34% ± 4%) than group D (30% ± 4%, P < 0.05). Groups D (−2.3% ± 21%) and F (0.24% ± 15%) had less change in corneal thickness than in control groups A (15% ± 12%, P < 0.05) and E (12% ± 11%, P < 0.05). Conclusions: Application of our corneal-shaping device during CXL significantly decreased corneal curvature compared with controls. Anterior Segment Optical Coherence Tomography imaging showed comparable extent of cross-linking in eyes treated ± device. This demonstrates that our novel device used during CXL may further promote corneal strengthening and refractive correction in patients.
(Re)evaluating the Implications of the Autoregressive Latent Trajectory Model Through Likelihood Ratio Tests of Its Initial Conditions

ABSTRACT The autoregressive latent trajectory (ALT) model synthesizes the autoregressive model and the latent growth curve model. The ALT model is flexible enough to produce a variety of discrepant model-implied change trajectories. While some researchers consider this a virtue, others have cautioned that this may confound interpretations of the model's parameters. In this article, we show that some—but not all—of these interpretational difficulties may be clarified mathematically and tested explicitly via likelihood ratio tests (LRTs) imposed on the initial conditions of the model. We show analytically the nested relations among three variants of the ALT model and the constraints needed to establish equivalences. A Monte Carlo simulation study indicated that LRTs, particularly when used in combination with information criterion measures, can allow researchers to test targeted hypotheses about the functional forms of the change process under study. We further demonstrate when and how such tests may justifiably be used to facilitate our understanding of the underlying process of change using a subsample (N = 3,995) of longitudinal family income data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth.
Parallel chip-firing on the complete graph: Devil’s staircase and Poincaré rotation number

Abstract We study how parallel chip-firing on the complete graph Kn changes behavior as we vary the total number of chips. Surprisingly, the activity of the system, defined as the average number of firings per time step, does not increase smoothly in the number of chips; instead it remains constant over long intervals, punctuated by sudden jumps. In the large n limit we find a ‘devil’s staircase’ dependence of activity on the number of chips. The proof proceeds by reducing the chip-firing dynamics to iteration of a self-map of the circle S1, in such a way that the activity of the chip-firing state equals the Poincaré rotation number of the circle map. The stairs of the devil’s staircase correspond to periodic chip-firing states of small period.
BFT Protocols Under Fire

Much recent work on Byzantine state machine replication focuses on protocols with improved performance under benign conditions (LANs, homogeneous replicas, limited crash faults), with relatively little evaluation under typical, practical conditions (WAN delays, packet loss, transient disconnection, shared resources). This makes it difficult for system designers to choose the appropriate protocol for a real target deployment. Moreover, most protocol implementations differ in their choice of runtime environment, crypto library, and transport, hindering direct protocol comparisons even under similar conditions. We present a simulation environment for such protocols that combines a declarative networking system with a robust network simulator. Protocols can be rapidly implemented from pseudocode in the high-level declarative language of the former, while network conditions and (measured) costs of communication packages and crypto primitives can be plugged into the latter. We show that the resulting simulator faithfully predicts the performance of native protocol implementations, both as published and as measured in our local network. We use the simulator to compare representative protocols under identical conditions and rapidly explore the effects of changes in the costs of crypto operations, workloads, network conditions and faults. For example, we show that Zyzzyva outperforms protocols like PBFT and Q/U undermost but not all conditions, indicating that one-size-fits-all protocols may be hard if not impossible to design in practice.
MeLos: Analysis and Modelling of Speech Prosody and Speaking Style

This thesis addresses the issue of modelling speech prosody for speech synthesis and presents MeLos: a complete system for the analysis and modelling of speech prosody, "the music of speech". The objective of this thesis is to model the strategy, alternatives, and speaking style of a speaker for natural, expressive, and varied speech synthesis. The present study presents original contributions with special attention paid to the combination of theoretical linguistic and statistical modelling to provide a complete speech prosody system. A unified discrete/continuous context-dependent HMM is presented to model the symbolic and the acoustic characteristics of speech prosody: 1) A rich description of the text characteristics based on a linguistic processing chain that includes surface and deep syntactic parsing is proposed to refine the modelling of the speech prosody in context. 2) Segmental HMMs and Dempster-Shafer fusion are used to balance linguistic and metric constrains in the production of a pause. 3) A trajectory model is proposed based on the stylization and the simultaneous modelling of short and long-term F0 variations over various temporal domains. The proposed system is used to model the strategies, alternatives and speaking style of a speaker, and is extended to model the speaking style of any arbitrary number of speakers using shared-context-dependent modelling and speaker normalization techniques.
Exploring Impacts of Taxes and Hospitality Bans on Cigarette Prices and Smoking Prevalence Using a Large Dataset of Cigarette Prices at Stores 2001–2011, USA

In the USA, little is known about local variation in retail cigarette prices; price variation explained by taxes, bans, and area-level socio-demographics, and whether taxes and hospitality bans have synergistic effects on smoking prevalence. Cigarette prices 2001–2011 from chain supermarkets and drug stores (n = 2973) were linked to state taxes (n = 41), state and county bar/restaurant smoking bans, and census block group socio-demographics. Hierarchical models explored effects of taxes and bans on retail cigarette prices as well as county smoking prevalence (daily, non-daily). There was wide variation in store-level cigarette prices in part due to differences in state excise taxes. Excise taxes were only partially passed onto consumers (after adjustment, $1 tax associated with $0.90 increase in price, p < 0.0001) and the pass-through was slightly higher in areas that had bans but did not differ by area-level socio-demographics. Bans were associated with a slight increase in cigarette price (after adjustment, $0.09 per-pack, p < 0.0001). Taxes and bans were associated with reduction in smoking prevalence and taxes had a stronger association when combined with bans, suggesting a synergistic effect. Given wide variation in store-level prices, and uneven state/county implementation of taxes and bans, more federal policies should be considered.
An exponential filter model predicts lightness illusions

Lightness, or perceived reflectance of a surface, is influenced by surrounding context. This is demonstrated by the Simultaneous Contrast Illusion (SCI), where a gray patch is perceived lighter against a black background and vice versa. Conversely, assimilation is where the lightness of the target patch moves toward that of the bounding areas and can be demonstrated in White's effect. Blakeslee and McCourt (1999) introduced an oriented difference-of-Gaussian (ODOG) model that is able to account for both contrast and assimilation in a number of lightness illusions and that has been subsequently improved using localized normalization techniques. We introduce a model inspired by image statistics that is based on a family of exponential filters, with kernels spanning across multiple sizes and shapes. We include an optional second stage of normalization based on contrast gain control. Our model was tested on a well-known set of lightness illusions that have previously been used to evaluate ODOG and its variants, and model lightness values were compared with typical human data. We investigate whether predictive success depends on filters of a particular size or shape and whether pooling information across filters can improve performance. The best single filter correctly predicted the direction of lightness effects for 21 out of 27 illusions. Combining two filters together increased the best performance to 23, with asymptotic performance at 24 for an arbitrarily large combination of filter outputs. While normalization improved prediction magnitudes, it only slightly improved overall scores in direction predictions. The prediction performance of 24 out of 27 illusions equals that of the best performing ODOG variant, with greater parsimony. Our model shows that V1-style orientation-selectivity is not necessary to account for lightness illusions and that a low-level model based on image statistics is able to account for a wide range of both contrast and assimilation effects.
Collaboration practices in global inter-organizational software development projects

Global interorganizational software development projects are becoming common, but their management and the creation of practices and processes to support collaboration seem to be harder than what the companies expect. In this article, we present successful collaboration practices collected in an interview study of eight globally distributed interorganizational software development projects. On the basis of 34 semistructured interviews, we were able to identify several practices that the interviewees subjectively deemed successful. The identified collaboration practices include: milestone synchronization, frequent deliveries, and the establishment of peer-to-peer links. The need to plan for problem-solving communication was often neglected in the beginning of the project, despite its paramount importance. We identified several ways to ease related problems, such as having a dedicated person solve problems, using bulletin boards and e-mail lists or dedicated mailboxes. Successful projects had learned the value of two-way communication regarding project progress monitoring. Finally, practices helping in building and maintaining a working relationship included face-to-face meetings, distribution of organization charts, and having people travel to give all sites faces. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Dynamics of Adaptation in Spatially Heterogeneous Metapopulations

The selection pressure experienced by organisms often varies across the species range. It is hence crucial to characterise the link between environmental spatial heterogeneity and the adaptive dynamics of species or populations. We address this issue by studying the phenotypic evolution of a spatial metapopulation using an adaptive dynamics approach. The singular strategy is found to be the mean of the optimal phenotypes in each habitat with larger weights for habitats present in large and well connected patches. The presence of spatial clusters of habitats in the metapopulation is found to facilitate specialisation and to increase both the level of adaptation and the evolutionary speed of the population when dispersal is limited. By showing that spatial structures are crucial in determining the specialisation level and the evolutionary speed of a population, our results give insight into the influence of spatial heterogeneity on the niche breadth of species.
A Space-Vector Discrete Fourier Transform for Unbalanced and Distorted Three-Phase Signals

In this paper, a space-vector discrete-time Fourier transform is proposed for fast and precise detection of the fundamental-frequency and harmonic positive- and negative-sequence vector components of three-phase input signals. The discrete Fourier transform is applied to the three-phase signals represented by Clarke's αβ vector. It is shown that the complex numbers output from the Fourier transform are the instantaneous values of the positive- and negative-sequence harmonic component vectors of the input three-phase signals. The method allows the computation of any desired positive- or negative-sequence fundamental-frequency or harmonic vector component of the input signal. A recursive algorithm for low-effort online implementation is also presented. The detection performance for variable-frequency and interharmonic input signals is discussed. The proposed and other usual method performances are compared through simulations and experiments.
The Role of Push-Pull Technology in Privacy Calculus: The Case of Location-Based Services

Location-based services (LBS) use positioning technologies to provide individual users with reachability and accessibility that would otherwise not be available in the conventional commercial realm. While LBS confer greater connectivity and personalization on consumers, they also threaten users' information privacy through granular tracking of their preferences, behaviors, and identity. To address privacy concerns in the LBS context, this study extends the privacy calculus model to explore the role of information delivery mechanisms (pull and push) in the efficacy of three privacy intervention approaches (compensation, industry self-regulation, and government regulation) in influencing individual privacy decision making. The research model was tested using data gathered from 528 respondents through a quasi-experimental survey method. Structural equations modeling using partial least squares validated the instrument and the proposed model. Results suggest that the effects of the three privacy intervention approaches on an individual's privacy calculus vary based on the type of information delivery mechanism (pull and push). Results suggest that providing financial compensation for push-based LBS is more important than it is for pull-based LBS. Moreover, this study shows that privacy advocates and government legislators should not treat all types of LBS as undifferentiated but could instead specifically target certain types of services.
Complexity Control Based on a Fast Coding Unit Decision Method in the HEVC Video Coding Standard

The emerging high-efficiency video coding standard achieves higher coding efficiency than previous standards by virtue of a set of new coding tools such as the quadtree coding structure. In this novel structure, the pixels are organized into coding units (CU), prediction units, and transform units, the sizes of which can be optimized at every level following a tree configuration. These tools allow highly flexible data representation; however, they incur a very high computational complexity. In this paper, we propose an effective complexity control (CC) algorithm based on a hierarchical approach. An early termination condition is defined at every CU size to determine whether subsequent CU sizes should be explored. The actual encoding times are also considered to satisfy the target complexity in real time. Moreover, all parameters of the algorithm are estimated on the fly to adapt its behavior to the video content, the encoding configuration, and the target complexity over time. The experimental results prove that our proposal is able to achieve a target complexity reduction of up to 60% with respect to full exploration, with notable accuracy and limited losses in coding performance. It was compared with a state-of-the-art CC method and shown to achieve a significantly better trade-off between coding complexity and efficiency as well as higher accuracy in reaching the target complexity. Furthermore, a comparison with a state-of-the-art complexity reduction method highlights the advantages of our CC framework. Finally, we show that the proposed method performs well when the target complexity varies over time.
mir-34b/c and mir-449a/b/c are required for spermatogenesis, but not for the first cleavage division in mice

ABSTRACT Mammalian sperm are carriers of not only the paternal genome, but also the paternal epigenome in the forms of DNA methylation, retained histones and noncoding RNAs. Although paternal DNA methylation and histone retention sites have been correlated with protein-coding genes that are critical for preimplantation embryonic development, physiological evidence of an essential role of these epigenetic marks in fertilization and early development remains lacking. Two miRNA clusters consisting of five miRNAs (miR-34b/c and miR-449a/b/c) are present in sperm, but absent in oocytes, and miR-34c has been reported to be essential for the first cleavage division in vitro. Here, we show that both miR-34b/c- and miR-449-null male mice displayed normal fertility, and that intracytoplasmic injection of either miR-34b/c- or miR-449-null sperm led to normal fertilization, normal preimplantation development and normal birth rate. However, miR-34b/c and miR-449 double knockout (miR-dKO) males were infertile due to severe spermatogenic disruptions and oligo-astheno-teratozoospermia. Injection of miR-dKO sperm into wild-type oocytes led to a block at the two-pronucleus to zygote transition, whereas normal preimplantation development and healthy pups were obtained through injection of miR-dKO round spermatids. Our data demonstrate that miR-34b/c and miR-449a/b/c are essential for normal spermatogenesis and male fertility, but their presence in sperm is dispensable for fertilization and preimplantation development.
Outbreak of Human Infection with Sarcocystis nesbitti, Malaysia, 2012

An outbreak of fever associated with myalgia and myositis occurred in 2012 among 89 of 92 college students and teachers who visited Pangkor Island, Malaysia. The Sarcocystis nesbitti 18S rRNA gene and sarcocysts were obtained from muscle tissues of 2 students. Our findings indicate emergence of S. nesbitti infections in humans in Malaysia.
Dose-finding study of tropisetron in cisplatin-induced nausea and vomiting.

BACKGROUND The purpose of these two studies was to define the optimal therapeutic dose of the 5-HT3 receptor antagonist tropisetron (Navoban, ICS 205-930) in cisplatin-induced nausea and vomiting. PATIENTS AND METHODS In two multicentre, dose-finding studies of tropisetron in the prevention of cisplatin-induced emesis, cancer patients naïve to chemotherapy or who had not vomited previously were randomly assigned to tropisetron 5, 10, 20 or 40 mg (study I, 143 patients) or 2 or 5 mg (study II, 74 patients), administered as a single intravenous dose over 15 minutes just before the start of chemotherapy. RESULTS In study I total control of acute symptoms (no nausea and no vomiting) was achieved in, respectively, 66%, 50%, 64% and 50% in the 5-, 10-, 20- and 40-mg groups of patients. A total absence of vomiting alone was seen in, respectively, 71%, 51%, 61% or 58% of patients. None of the differences were statistically significant. In study II there was total acute control in 57% of patients in the 2-mg group and 63% in the 5-mg group (p = NS). Total or major control of vomiting (< or = 2 emetic episodes) was the primary endpoint in study II and was seen in 68% of patients for the 2-mg and 86% for the 5-mg group (p = 0.055). In this study failures ( > 3 vomiting) were rescued with a second infusion of tropisetron (5-mg fixed dose). Three of 8 rescue infusions administered in the 2-mg group prevented further vomiting whereas none of 5 were successful in the 5-mg group during course 1 of chemotherapy. The most frequently reported adverse effects (over all three courses) were headache (6.0% of 217 patients) hypertension (3.7%) and diarrhoea (2.8%). None of the 25 deaths which occurred during the two studies were attributable to tropisetron. CONCLUSIONS Thus, a single dose of tropisetron provides 24-hour protection against cisplatin-induced nausea and vomiting and is well tolerated. These studies do not allow a firm conclusion but suggest that 2 mg may be subtherapeutic and that 5 mg is as effective as higher doses.