Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lexical Choice Criteria in Language Generation

In natural language generation (NLG), a semantic representation of some k i n d possibly enriched with pragmatic attributes is successively transformed into one or more linguistic utterances. No matter what particular architecture is chosen to organize this process, one of the crucial decisions to be made is lexicalization: selecting words that adequately express the content that is to be communicated and, if represented, the intentions and attitudes of the speaker. Nirenburg and Nirenburg [1988] give this example to illustrate the lexical choice problem: If we want to express the meaning "a person whose sex is male and whose age is between 13 and 15 years", then candidate realizations include: boy, kid, teenager, youth, child, young man, schoolboy, adolescent, man. The criteria influencing such choices remain largely in the dark, however. As it happens, the problem of lexical choice has not been a particularly popular one in NLG. For instance, Marcus [1987] complained that most generators don't really choose words at all; McDonald [1991], amongst others, lamented that lexical choice has attracted only very little attention in the research community. Implemented generators tend to provide a one-to-one mapping from semantic units to lexical items, and their producers occasionally acknowledge this as a shortcoming (e.g., [Novak, 1991, p. 666]); thereby the task of lexical choice becomes a nonissue. For many applications, this is indeed a feasible scheme, because the sub-language under consideration can be sufficiently restricted such that a direct mapping from content to words does not present a drawback the generator is implicitly tailored towards the type of situation (or register) in which it operates. But in general, with an eye on more expressive and versatile generators, this state of affairs calls for improvement. Why is lexical choice difficult? Unlike many other decisions in generation (e.g., whether to express an attribute of an object as a relative clause or an adjective) the choice of a word very often carries implicatures that can change the overall message significantly if in some sentence the word boy is replaced with one of the alternatives above, the meaning shifts considerably. Also, often there are quite a few similar lexical options available to a speaker, whereas the number of possible syntactic sentence constructions is more limited. To solve the choice problem, first of all the differences between similar words have to be represented in the lexicon, and the criteria for choosing among them have to be established. In the following, I give a tentative list of choice criteria, classify them into constraints and preferences, and outline a (partly implemented) model of lexicalization that can be incorporated into language generators.
Improvement of resolution for brain coupled metabolites by optimized 1H MRS at 7 T

Resolution enhancement for glutamate (Glu), glutamine (Gln) and glutathione (GSH) in the human brain by TE‐optimized point‐resolved spectroscopy (PRESS) at 7 T is reported. Sub‐TE dependences of the multiplets of Glu, Gln, GSH, γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) and N‐acetylaspartate (NAA) at 2.2–2.6 ppm were investigated with density matrix simulations, incorporating three‐dimensional volume localization. The numerical simulations indicated that the C4‐proton multiplets can be completely separated with (TE1, TE2) = (37, 63) ms, as a result of a narrowing of the multiplets and suppression of the NAA 2.5 ppm signal. Phantom experiments reproduced the signal yield and lineshape from simulations within experimental errors. In vivo tests of optimized PRESS were conducted on the prefrontal cortex of six healthy volunteers. In spectral fitting by LCModel, Cramér–Rao lower bounds (CRLBs) of Glu, Gln and GSH were 2 ± 1, 5 ± 1 and 6 ± 2 (mean ± SD), respectively. To evaluate the performance of the optimized PRESS method under identical experimental conditions, stimulated‐echo spectra were acquired with (TE, TM) = (14, 37) and (74, 68) ms. The CRLB of Glu was similar between PRESS and short‐TE stimulated‐echo acquisition mode (STEAM), but the CRLBs of Gln and GSH were lower in PRESS than in both STEAM acquisitions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Retrospective Evaluation of Home Medicines Review by Pharmacists in Older Australian Patients Using the Medication Appropriateness Index

Background: Home Medicines Review (HMR), a community-based collaborative service provided by general practitioners (GPs) and accredited pharmacists in Australia, has demonstrated effectiveness in preventing, detecting, and resolving medication-related problems. The Medication Appropriateness Index (MAI) has been found to be a reliable, valid, standardized instrument for assessment of multiple elements of drug therapy prescribing. Objective: To retrospectively evaluate the impact of HMRs on the appropriateness of prescribing, using the MAI as a tool to categorize pharmacists' recommendations. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on a sample of 270 HMR cases pertaining to community-dwelling older people (≥65 years) in New South Wales, Australia. The HMRs were collected from 7 accredited pharmacists using purposive sampling. All HMRs were conducted between February 2006 and October 2009. MAI scores were retrospectively calculated at baseline, after the HMR service based on the pharmacist's recommendations to the GP, and following uptake of the pharmacist's recommendations by the GP. Results: The mean ± SD age of the patients was 75.3 ± 7.4 years and 55% were female. Overall, almost all (99%; n = 267) patients had at least 1 inappropriate rating at baseline and more than 50% (n = 154) of the patients had a cumulative MAI score >15. The mean MAI score at baseline was 18.6 ± 11.3, which decreased to 9.3 ± 7.5 after HMR. The number of patients with a cumulative MAI score ≥15 increased to 216 after the HMR service, compared to 116 at baseline. Pharmacists' recommendations documented in the HMR reports and uptake of these recommendations by the GP resulted in a statistically significant decrease in the MAI scores (both p < 0.001). Conclusions: The study demonstrates that the provision of medication reviews by accredited pharmacists can improve the appropriateness of prescribing as demonstrated by the change in MAI score and, hence, has the potential to improve patient outcomes. Pharmacists who perform medication reviews could also consider including the systematic approach of applying the MAI to assist in optimizing prescribing in older people.
A Unique Role for Fyn in CNS Myelination

We analyzed the role of Fyn tyrosine kinase in CNS myelination by using fyn−/− null mutant mice, which express no Fyn protein. We found a severe myelin deficit in forebrain at all ages from 14 d to 1 year. The deficit was maximal at 1 month of age and was similar regardless of mouse strain background or whether it was determined by bulk isolation of myelin or by quantitation of myelin basic protein. To determine the cellular basis of the myelin deficit, we counted oligodendrocytes in tissue sections of mice expressing oligodendrocyte-targeted β-galactosidase, and we used light and electron microscopy to examine the number and morphology of myelinated fibers and size of myelinated CNS structures. All of these parameters were reduced infyn−/− mice. Unexpectedly, there were regional differences in the myelin deficit; in contrast to forebrain, fyn−/− cervical spinal cord exhibited no reduction in myelin content, number of oligodendrocytes, or number of myelinated fibers, nor was myelination delayed developmentally. We found that oligodendrocytes express Src, but there was no significant reduction of myelin content in null mutants lacking the Fyn-related kinases Src, Yes, or Lyn. Finally, we investigated the molecular features of Fyn that are required for myelination and found that a single amino acid substitution, which abolishes the tyrosine kinase activity of Fyn, resulted in a myelin deficit as great as that observed in the complete absence of Fyn protein. These results demonstrate that Fyn plays a unique role in myelination, one that requires its kinase activity.
Suomi NPP VIIRS Reflective Solar Bands Operational Calibration Reprocessing

Radiometric calibration coefficients for the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) reflective solar bands have been reprocessed from the beginning of the Suomi NPP (National Polar-orbiting Partnership) mission until present. An automated calibration procedure, implemented in the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) JPSS (Joint Polar Satellite System) operational data production system, was applied to reprocess onboard solar calibration data and solar diffuser degradation measurements. The latest processing parameters from the operational system were used to include corrected solar vectors, optimized directional dependence of attenuation screens transmittance and solar diffuser reflectance, updated prelaunch calibration coefficients without an offset term, and optimized Robust Holt-Winters filter parameters. The parameters were consistently used to generate a complete set of the radiometric calibration coefficients for the entire duration of the Suomi NPP mission. The reprocessing has demonstrated that the automated calibration procedure can be successfully applied to all solar measurements acquired from the beginning of the mission until the full deployment of the automated procedure in the operational processing system. The reprocessed calibration coefficients can be further used to reprocess VIIRS SDR (Sensor Data Record) and other data products. The reprocessing has also demonstrated how the automated calibration procedure can be used during activation of the VIIRS instruments on the future JPSS satellites.
Sparsity-cognizant overlapping co-clustering for behavior inference in social networks

Co-clustering can be viewed as a two-way (bilinear) factorization of a large data matrix into dense/uniform and possibly overlapping sub-matrix factors (co-clusters). This combinatorially complex problem emerges in several applications, including behavior inference tasks encountered with social networks. Existing co-clustering schemes do not exploit the fact that overlapping factors are often sparse, meaning that their dimension is considerably smaller than that of the data matrix. Based on plaid models which allow for overlapping submatrices, the present paper develops a sparsity-cognizant overlapping co-clustering (SOC) approach. Numerical tests demonstrate the ability of the novel SOC scheme to globally detect multiple overlapping co-clusters, outperforming the original plaid model algorithms which rely on greedy search and ignore sparsity.
Journey to Data Quality

All organizations today confront data quality problems, both systemic and structural. Neither ad hoc approaches nor fixes at the systems levelinstalling the latest software or developing an expensive data warehousesolve the basic problem of bad data quality practices. Journey to Data Quality offers a roadmap that can be used by practitioners, executives, and students for planning and implementing a viable data and information quality management program. This practical guide, based on rigorous research and informed by real-world examples, describes the challenges of data management and provides the principles, strategies, tools, and techniques necessary to meet them. The authors, all leaders in the data quality field for many years, discuss how to make the economic case for data quality and the importance of getting an organization's leaders on board. They outline different approaches for assessing data, both subjectively (by users) and objectively (using sampling and other techniques). They describe real problems and solutions, including efforts to find the root causes of data quality problems at a healthcare organization and data quality initiatives taken by a large teaching hospital. They address setting company policy on data quality and, finally, they consider future challenges on the journey to data quality.
Psychiatric Correlates of Medical Care Costs Among Veterans Receiving Mental Health Care

Research on increased medical care costs associated with posttraumatic sequelae has focused on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, the provisional diagnosis of Disorders of Extreme Stress Not Otherwise Specified (DESNOS) encompasses broader trauma-related difficulties and may be uniquely related to medical costs. We investigated whether DESNOS severity was associated with greater nonmental health medical care costs in veterans receiving mental health care. Participants were 106 men and 105 women receiving VA outpatient mental health treatment. A standardized interview assessed DESNOS severity. The dependent variables consisted of primary and specialty medical treatment costs. Sequential zero-inflated negative binomial regression was used to evaluate the variance in medical costs accounted for by DESNOS severity, controlling for PTSD severity and established predisposing, enabling, and need-based health care factors. Contrary to our hypothesis, in fully adjusted models, DESNOS severity independently added a significant amount of variance to lower specialty medical care costs, whereas PTSD did not consistently account for significant variance in medical care costs. Greater DESNOS severity appears to be associated with lower specialty medical care costs but not primary care costs. These findings may indicate that patients with DESNOS symptoms are at risk for being underreferred for specialty care.
TRPM4 non‐selective cation channels influence action potentials in rabbit Purkinje fibres

The transient receptor potential melastatin 4 (TRPM4) inhibitor 9‐phenanthrol reduces action potential duration in rabbit Purkinje fibres but not in ventricle. TRPM4‐like single channel activity is observed in isolated rabbit Purkinje cells but not in ventricular cells. The TRPM4‐like current develops during the notch and early repolarization phases of the action potential in Purkinje cells.
Hemisphere Preference Test: Psychometric properties and relations with academic performance among adolescents

The present study explored, in adolescents, the dimensionality (factorial structure), reliability (internal consistency and test–retest stability) and predictive validity (in relation with academic grades) of the Hemispheric Preference Test (HPT), a widely used self-report index of thinking styles among adults. A sample of 990 Spanish adolescents aged 10–14 completed HPT and reported their academic grades. Results indicated a two-factor structure for HPT that can be interpreted in terms of left- and right-Hemisphere Preference (HP). The two-factor structure was clearer in boys compared to girls. The internal consistency and test–retest at 6 and 12 months were satisfactory. Left-HP scores decreased with age whereas girls obtained a higher mean score on right-HP sub-scale. Finally, Left-HP accounted for a significant variance percentage on academic grades after controlling for age and sex. Results suggested that Spanish version of the HPT was effective and reliable among adolescents.
Gene Therapy in a Patient with Sickle Cell Disease: Brief Report

Abstract Sickle cell disease results from a homozygous missense mutation in the β‐globin gene that causes polymerization of hemoglobin S. Gene therapy for patients with this disorder is complicated by the complex cellular abnormalities and challenges in achieving effective, persistent inhibition of polymerization of hemoglobin S. We describe our first patient treated with lentiviral vector–mediated addition of an antisickling β‐globin gene into autologous hematopoietic stem cells. Adverse events were consistent with busulfan conditioning. Fifteen months after treatment, the level of therapeutic antisickling β‐globin remained high (approximately 50% of β‐like–globin chains) without recurrence of sickle crises and with correction of the biologic hallmarks of the disease. (Funded by Bluebird Bio and others; HGB‐205 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02151526.)
Polymorphisms of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase are associated with a high risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in a smoking population from southern China

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) plays a central role in converting folate to a compound which serves as a methyl donor for DNA methylation, an epigenetic modification known to be dysregulated in carcinogenesis. This case–control study assessed the contribution of MTHFR polymorphisms to the risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). MTHFR genotypes C677T and A1298C in 529 NPC patients and 577 frequency‐matched controls were determined by PCR‐based restriction fragment length polymorphism. We found a 1.57‐fold increased risk of NPC in subjects with the MTHFR 1298AC genotype compared to subjects with the MTHFR 1298AA genotype. In addition, an elevated NPC risk was also found in subjects with both the MTHFR 677CT and 1298AC genotypes [odds ratio (OR) = 2.15, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.37–3.39] compared to subjects with the 677CC/1298AA genotypes. Furthermore, we observed an additive interaction between MTHFR polymorphisms and smoking status on the increased risk of NPC. The OR was 6.72 (95% CI = 1.85–24.48) among heavy smokers (pack‐years ≥15) carrying 677TT compared with nonsmokers carrying the 677CC genotype. The OR was 7.23 (95% CI = 4.22–12.38) or 12.75 (95% CI = 2.74–59.3) among subjects carrying the 1298AC or 1298CC genotype in heavy smokers (pack‐years ≥15) compared with 1298AA in nonsmokers. Our results provide the first molecular epidemiological evidence that MTHFR polymorphisms associate with the risk of NPC and this association is especially noteworthy in heavy smokers. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Structure specific models of electrical function in the right atrial appendage

Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia. It is prevalent in the elderly and contributes to mortality in congestive heart failure. Computer models of atrial electrical activation that incorporate realistic structure provide a means of investigating the mechanisms that initiate and maintain reentrant atrial arrhythmia. We are extending computational and experimental techniques that are well established in our laboratory to develop a detailed structure-based model of atrial electrical function. The 3D geometry of the atria and veno-atrial junctions is reconstructed from magnetic resonance images and detailed structure from specific regions of the atria is acquired using a semi-automated extended-volume imaging system. As an example of our approach, we present a reconstruction of the pig right atrial appendage (RAA), including the pectinate muscles (PM) and crista terminalis (CT). The RAA was embedded in wax and the block surface was serially etched, stained and imaged, then removed using an ultramiller to produce a uniformly-spaced image stack. Tissue was segmented and connected voxels were selected using a 3D region-growing algorithm to construct RAA geometry. Electrical activity has been modeled on this structure using the Courtemanche atrial cell activation model. A bidomain formulation was used employing a grid-based finite element solver. The RAA was activated by applying a stimulus (150 μA/mm3, 5 ms) to the 27 grid points at the top of the CT. Despite the complex structure of the PM, RAA activation was relatively uniform.
Evaluating surrogate endpoints, prognostic markers, and predictive markers: Some simple themes

Background: A surrogate endpoint is an endpoint observed earlier than the true endpoint (a health outcome) that is used to draw conclusions about the effect of treatment on the unobserved true endpoint. A prognostic marker is a marker for predicting the risk of an event given a control treatment; it informs treatment decisions when there is information on anticipated benefits and harms of a new treatment applied to persons at high risk. A predictive marker is a marker for predicting the effect of treatment on outcome in a subgroup of patients or study participants; it provides more rigorous information for treatment selection than a prognostic marker when it is based on estimated treatment effects in a randomized trial. Methods: We organized our discussion around a different theme for each topic. Results: “Fundamentally an extrapolation” refers to the non-statistical considerations and assumptions needed when using surrogate endpoints to evaluate a new treatment. “Decision analysis to the rescue” refers to use the use of decision analysis to evaluate an additional prognostic marker because it is not possible to choose between purely statistical measures of marker performance. “The appeal of simplicity” refers to a straightforward and efficient use of a single randomized trial to evaluate overall treatment effect and treatment effect within subgroups using predictive markers. Conclusion: The simple themes provide a general guideline for evaluation of surrogate endpoints, prognostic markers, and predictive markers.
Echocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy: implications for clinicians.

H ypertensive patients may develop a variety of cardiac structural and functional changes, including an increased left ventricular mass, left ventricular systolic and diastolic dysfunction, impairment of coronary reserve, arrhythmias and enlargement of left atrial and aortic root [1]. Of the several adverse changes in cardiovascular morphology and function that occur in association with hypertension, most attention has been focused on left ventricular hypertrophy for its detrimental contribution to survival and cardiovascular events [1]. There is a wealth of literature that links left ventricular hypertrophy to increased cardiovascular risk: in longterm epidemiological studies, the presence of left ventricular hypertrophy detected by electrocardiography or echocardiography has been shown to be an independent and robust prognostic factor for intermediate endpoints and clinical outcomes such as major cardiovascular events and mortality, total mortality and sudden death [2–7]. With the advent of echocardiography, it has also been recognized that electrocardiography may be relatively insensitive for detecting prognostically important increases in left ventricular mass [8,9]. In particular, milder increases in left ventricular mass could be easily detected, and additional epidemiological data have demonstrated that a strong gradient exists between increased echocardiographic left ventricular mass and increased cardiovascular risk [3,10,11]. Levy et al. [3] demonstrated a progressive increase in risk associated with left ventricular mass, even at levels not considered as ‘hypertrophic’; more recently, in a subset of 1925 Italian hypertensive patients [12], cardiovascular disease increased monotonically with more than a
PROPRIETY OF POSTERIORS WITH IMPROPER PRIORS IN HIERARCHICAL LINEAR MIXED MODELS

This paper examines necessary and sufficient conditions for the propriety of the posterior distribution in hierarchical linear mixed effects models for a col- lection of improper prior distributions. In addition to the flat prior for the fixed effects, the collection includes various limiting forms of the invariant gamma distri- bution for the variance components, including cases considered previously by Datta and Ghosh (1991), and Hobert and Casella (1996). Previous work is extended by considering a family of correlated random effects which include as special cases the intrinsic autoregressive models of Besag, York and Mollie (1991), the Autoregressive (AR) Model of Ord (1975), and the Conditional Autoregressive (CAR) Models of Clayton and Kaldor (1987), which have been found useful in the analysis of spatial effects. Conditions are then presented for the propriety of the posterior distribution for a generalized linear mixed model, where the first stage distribution belongs to an exponential family.