Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Novel Bayes Model: Hidden Naive Bayes

Because learning an optimal Bayesian network classifier is an NP-hard problem, learning-improved naive Bayes has attracted much attention from researchers. In this paper, we summarize the existing improved algorithms and propose a novel Bayes model: hidden naive Bayes (HNB). In HNB, a hidden parent is created for each attribute which combines the influences from all other attributes. We experimentally test HNB in terms of classification accuracy, using the 36 UCI data sets selected by Weka, and compare it to naive Bayes (NB), selective Bayesian classifiers (SBC), naive Bayes tree (NBTree), tree-augmented naive Bayes (TAN), and averaged one-dependence estimators (AODE). The experimental results show that HNB significantly outperforms NB, SBC, NBTree, TAN, and AODE. In many data mining applications, an accurate class probability estimation and ranking are also desirable. We study the class probability estimation and ranking performance, measured by conditional log likelihood (CLL) and the area under the ROC curve (AUC), respectively, of naive Bayes and its improved models, such as SBC, NBTree, TAN, and AODE, and then compare HNB to them in terms of CLL and AUC. Our experiments show that HNB also significantly outperforms all of them.
Long noncoding RNA-mediated maintenance of DNA methylation and transcriptional gene silencing

Establishment of silencing by noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) via targeting of chromatin remodelers is relatively well investigated; however, their role in the maintenance of silencing is poorly understood. Here, we explored the functional role of the long ncRNA Kcnq1ot1 in the maintenance of transcriptional gene silencing in the one mega-base Kcnq1 imprinted domain in a transgenic mouse model. By conditionally deleting the Kcnq1ot1 ncRNA at different stages of mouse development, we suggest that Kcnq1ot1 ncRNA is required for the maintenance of the silencing of ubiquitously imprinted genes (UIGs) at all developmental stages. In addition, Kcnq1ot1 ncRNA is also involved in guiding and maintaining the CpG methylation at somatic differentially methylated regions flanking the UIGs, which is a hitherto unknown role for a long ncRNA. On the other hand, silencing of some of the placental-specific imprinted genes (PIGs) is maintained independently of Kcnq1ot1 ncRNA. Interestingly, the non-imprinted genes (NIGs) that escape RNA-mediated silencing are enriched with enhancer-specific modifications. Taken together, this study illustrates the gene-specific maintenance mechanisms operational at the Kcnq1 locus for tissue-specific transcriptional gene silencing and activation.
Hypermobility and autonomic hyperactivity : relevance for the expression of psychiatric symptoms

The aim of this programme of work is to characterize the relevance of joint hypermobility and autonomic symptoms, particularly orthostatic intolerance, to clinical psychopathology. Joint hypermobility is a widespread, poorly recognized, connective tissue condition. Affected individuals are reportedly overrepresented among panic or anxiety disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue. Dysfunction or dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system, typically postural tachycardia syndrome is often found. Structural differences in amygdala have been reported in association with joint hypermobility. The relevance of hypermobility and autonomic dysfunction to general psychiatric conditions is currently poorly understood.
Trait Correlates of Success at Work

Identifying and developing high potential individuals is fundamental to successful companies and organizations. The present study focuses on the personality traits of high potential individuals. The High Potential Traits Inventory (HPTI) was used to investigate associations between personality traits and measures of career success, in a sample of 383 employed individuals. Results indicate HPTI personality traits relate to subjective and objective measures of success with Conscientiousness being the strongest predictor. The findings of the current study are consistent with previous research on High Flyers. Implications of the current study are discussed, suggesting a clearer operationalization of success is crucial for understanding the underlying mechanisms which lead from personality to potential.
Equivalent-Circuit Models for the Design of Metamaterials Based on Artificial Magnetic Inclusions

In this paper, we derive quasi-static equivalent-circuit models for the analysis and design of different types of artificial magnetic resonators-i.e., the multiple split-ring resonator, spiral resonator, and labyrinth resonator-which represent popular inclusions to synthesize artificial materials and metamaterials with anomalous values of the permeability in the microwave and millimeter-wave frequency ranges. The proposed models, derived in terms of equivalent circuits, represent an extension of the models presented in a recent publication. In particular, the extended models take into account the presence of a dielectric substrate hosting the metallic inclusions and the losses due to the finite conductivity of the conductors and the finite resistivity of the dielectrics. Exploiting these circuit models, it is possible to accurately predict not only the resonant frequency of the individual inclusions, but also their quality factor and the relative permeability of metamaterial samples made by given arrangements of such inclusions. Finally, the three models have been tested against full-wave simulations and measurements, showing a good accuracy. This result opens the door to a quick and accurate design of the artificial magnetic inclusions to fabricate real-life metamaterial samples with anomalous values of the permeability.
Investigation of caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus in Sudan using competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

Aim: This seroprevalence study was carried out to detect anti Caprine Arthritis-Encephalitis Virus (CAEV) antibodies in goat sera in five States in Sudan during 2009 and 2010. Materials and Methods: In this study, 432 sera samples collected from five States in Sudan were screened for anti-CAEV antibodies using a commercially available competitive ELISA (cELISA) kit. Results: Out of 432 samples, 25 (5.8%) tested positive using ELISA. The highest prevalence was recorded in El-Gazira State (19%), whereas the prevalence was 10.7% in Kassala State, 0.92% in Khartoum State and no samples tested positive from Northern and River Nile States. Conclusion: Our findings revealed that the disease had spread to other states, apart from its previously known prevalence in Khartoum, in Sudan. Our results call for better control and quarantine measures on imports of live animals into Sudan for genetic improvement programs. Further epizootiological investigations on CAEV in goats and Maedi Visna Virus in sheep at a national level are also needed to carefully monitor and prevent its spread and also to determine its impact on the economy of Sudan.
Interferon-g and atherosclerosis : Pro-or anti-atherogenic ?

Atherosclerosis is considered to be a form of chronic inflammation governed by a complex network of interand intra-cellular signaling pathways. The pleiotropic cytokine interferon-g (IFN-g) is a key pro-inflammatory mediator that is expressed at high levels in atherosclerotic lesions. IFN-g regulates the function and properties of all the cell types in the vessel wall. The precise role of IFN-g in atherogenesis is complex, with both proand anti-atherogenic actions being identified. This review will discuss these actions of the cytokine along with recent findings that have emerged from mouse models of atherosclerosis that are deficient in IFN-g signaling. D 2005 European Society of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. rn at en al.org/
Resistant to change? The transition to parenthood among married adults in China

Using retrospective life history data from the 2008 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) and discrete time event history analysis, this study investigates the transition to parenthood of adult males and females for the 1965 to 2004 marriage cohorts. We find that Chinese people generally prefer to become parents soon after marriage. We also find that more recent marriage cohorts are less likely to become parents compared to earlier cohort for males, but this is not the case for women. This indicates that economic or role incompatibility in general does not prevent women from becoming mothers, which in general supports the idea that there are alternative resources available for women to balance the role incompatibility in China’s context. The extended family is an important resource for married couples to rely upon to raise young children. This study sheds light on China’s family therapy practice, which should take into consideration the demographic trends and cultural factors in understanding the role conflict within the family, such as intergenerational relations and gender ideology.
Estimating the Probability of Youth Unemployment An Extended Essay for a BSocSc in Economics and Statistics

This paper investigates the personal, regional, and family background characteristics of the unemployed youth using data from the General Household Survey. The main result noted is the different labour market experiences of males and females which may reflect the traditional genderspecific division of entry-level jobs. The variables which are found to be significant for both sexes include no qualifications, parental unemployment, and rented accommodation. Factor analysis and correlation analysis further highlight the importance of ‘good’ family background for a successful labour market entrance
Profile-driven pretenuring for Java (poster session)

Overview Pretenuring is a technique for reducing copying costs in garbage collectors. When pretenuring, the allocator places long-lived objects into regions that the garbage collector will rarely, if ever, collect. We extend previous work on profiling-driven pretenuring as follows. (1) We develop a collector-neutral approach to obtaining object lifetime profile information. We show that our collection of Java programs exhibits a very high degree of homogeneity of object lifetimes at each allocation site. This result is robust with respect to different inputs, and is similar to previous work on ML, but is in contrast to C programs, which require dynamic call chain context information to extract homogeneous lifetimes. Call-site homo-geneity considerably simplifies the implementation of pretenuring and makes it more efficient. (2) Our pretenuring advice is neutral with respect to the collector algorithm, and we use it to improve two quite different garbage collectors: a traditional generational collector and an older-first collector. The system is also novel because it classifies and allocates objects into 3 categories: we allocate immortal objects into a permanent region that the collector will never consider, long-lived objects into a region in which the collector placed survivors of the most recent collection, and short-lived objects into the nursery, i.e., the default region. (3) We evaluate pretenuring on Java programs. Our simulation results show that pretenuring significantly reduces collector copying for generational and older-first collectors. Generational copying garbage collection partitions the heap into age-based generations of objects, where age is measured in the amount of allocation (the accepted practice in the garbage collection literature). Collection consists of three phases: (1) identifying roots for collection; (2) identifying and copying into a new space any objects identified as 'live' through transitive reachability from those roots; and (3) reclaiming the space vacated by the live objects. Rather than collecting the entire heap and incurring the cost of copying all live objects upon each invocation, generational collectors collect the youngest objects in the heap, the nursery, and include successively older generations only if necessary. This basic approach has two problems. First, the collector may Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. copy long lived objects multiple times (into …
Optimal Transmit Strategy for MISO Channels With Joint Sum and Per-Antenna Power Constraints

In this paper, we study an optimal transmit strategy for multiple-input single-output (MISO) Gaussian channels with joint sum and per-antenna power constraints. We study in detail the interesting case where the sum of the per-antenna power constraints is larger than sum power constraint. A closed-form characterization of an optimal beamforming strategy is derived. It is shown that we can always find an optimal beamforming transmit strategy that allocates the maximal sum power with phases matched to the complex channel coefficients. The main result is a simple recursive algorithm to compute the optimal power allocation. Whenever the optimal power allocation of the corresponding problem with sum power constraint only exceeds per-antenna power constraints, it is optimal to allocate maximal per-antenna power to those antennas to satisfy the per-antenna power constraints. The remaining power is divided amongst the other antennas whose optimal allocation follows from a reduced joint sum and per-antenna power constraints problem of smaller channel coefficient dimension and reduced sum power constraint. Finally, the theoretical results are illustrated by numerical examples.
Open-shell (turkish) Pistachio Nuts Using Double Tree Un-decimated Wavelet Transform

Due to low consumer acceptance and possibility of having immature kernels, closed-shell pistachio nuts have to be separated from open-shell pistachio nuts. The feasibility of a system using non-contact impact acoustics as a means for classifying closed-shell nuts from open-shell nuts has already been shown with better discrimination performance than a mechanical system. The accuracy of an impact acoustics based system is determined by the signal processing and feature extraction procedures. In this paper a new time-frequency plane feature extraction and classification algorithm was developed to discriminate between open and closed-shell Turkish pistachio nuts. The proposed approach relies on the analysis of impact acoustics signal of a pistachio nut which is emitted by dropping it from a certain height onto a metal plate. Features are extracted by decomposing the acoustic signals into time and frequency components using Dual-Tree un-decimated wavelet transform. The most discriminative features from the dual tree nodes are selected by a greedy search algorithm that combines a structural pruning and classifier feedback. This approach requires no prior knowledge of the relevant time or frequency content of the acoustic signals. The proposed algorithm used a small number of features and achieved a classification accuracy of 91.5% on the validation data set. A previously implemented algorithm, which uses maximum signal amplitude, absolute integration and gradient features, achieved an 82% classification accuracy on the same dataset. The results obtained show that the time-frequency features extracted from impact acoustics can be successfully used in open and closed shell Turkish pistachio classification.
The Importance of Exclusion of Obstructive Sleep Apnea During Screening for Adrenal Adenoma and Diagnosis of Pheochromocytoma

Context. As catecholamine elevation is a key element in the diagnosis of pheochromocytoma, more commonplace causes of sympathetic excess, such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), should be excluded as standard practice prior to diagnosis. This is essential to avoid misdiagnosis of adrenal incidentalomas identified in the estimated 42 million Americans with OSA, with greater than 4 million projected to undergo a computed tomography study annually. Case Description. A 56-year-old woman presented with a several year history of paroxysmal hypertension, palpitations, and diaphoresis. Abdominal/pelvic computed tomography performed during an unrelated hospitalization revealed a 2-cm left-sided adrenal nodule initially quantified at 37 Hounsfield units. Posthospitalization, 24-hour urine normetanephrine level was markedly elevated. Reassessment 2 weeks later revealed continued normetanephrine excess. Following normal thyroid function tests, morning cortisol, aldosterone, and plasma renin activity, laparoscopic adrenalectomy was performed. Surgical pathology identified an adrenal cortical adenoma. As paroxysms continued postoperatively, repeat 24-hour urine metanephrines were measured, demonstrating essentially unchanged normetanephrine elevation. Search for an alternate cause ensued, revealing OSA with progressive continuous positive airway pressure noncompliance over the preceding year. Regular continuous positive airway pressure therapy was resumed, and at the end of 7 weeks, 24-hour urine normetanephrine levels had declined. Conclusion. Pheochromocytomas are rare and sleep apnea is common. However, the overlap of clinical symptoms between these disorders is substantial, as is their ability to produce catecholamine excess. Thus, excluding uncontrolled or undiagnosed OSA in high-risk patients should be standard practice before diagnosing pheochromocytoma.
Sprouty2 and Spred1-2 Proteins Inhibit the Activation of the ERK Pathway Elicited by Cyclopentenone Prostanoids

Sprouty and Spred proteins have been widely implicated in the negative regulation of the fibroblast growth factor receptor-extracellular regulated kinase (ERK) pathway. In considering the functional role of these proteins, we explored their effects on ERK activation induced by cyclopentenone prostanoids, which bind to and activate Ras proteins. We therefore found that ectopic overexpression in HeLa cells of human Sprouty2, or human Spred1 or 2, inhibits ERK1/2 and Elk-1 activation triggered by the cyclopentenone prostanoids PGA1 and 15d-PGJ2. Furthermore, we found that in HT cells that do not express Sprouty2 due to hypermethylation of its gene-promoter, PGA1-provoked ERK activation was more intense and sustained compared to other hematopoietic cell lines with unaltered Sprouty2 expression. Cyclopentenone prostanoids did not induce Sprouty2 tyrosine phosphorylation, in agreement with its incapability to activate tyrosine-kinase receptors. However, Sprouty2 Y55F, which acts as a defective mutant upon tyrosine-kinase receptor stimulation, did not inhibit cyclopentenone prostanoids-elicited ERK pathway activation. In addition, Sprouty2 did not affect the Ras-GTP levels promoted by cyclopentenone prostanoids. These results unveil both common and differential features in the activation of Ras-dependent pathways by cyclopentenone prostanoids and growth factors. Moreover, they provide the first evidence that Sprouty and Spred proteins are negative regulators of the ERK/Elk-1 pathway activation induced not only by growth-factors, but also by reactive lipidic mediators.
The power of teacher-assigned grades in outcome-based education

ABSTRACT In arguing for alternatives to test-based accountability, researchers have suggested that teacher-assigned student grades could be used for high-stakes purposes. In this study, Sweden serves as an example of a school system in which teacher-assigned grades have a major role in performance management and accountability. We study how politicians view and legitimise the strengths of grading in an outcome-based accountability system. Based on two-part analysis, we show how grades, through complex processes of legitimation, have acquired and retained a central position in governing the overall quality of the educational system in Sweden. We argue that in the Swedish system, grades used in an administrative rather than a pedagogical way function as a quick language that effectively reduces the complexity of communication between various actors with regard to what students learn and accomplish in education. As such, grades are legitimate in terms of their communicative rationality. However, their use in communicating student learning has not been sufficient to meet the needs of government. We conclude that in order to turn grading into an instrument that can moderate some of the downsides of testing regimes, a broader view of what constitute outcomes in education needs to follow.
Progeroid syndrome patients with ZMPSTE24 deficiency could benefit when treated with rapamycin and dimethylsulfoxide

Patients with progeroid syndromes such as mandibuloacral dysplasia, type B (MADB) and restrictive dermopathy (RD) harbor mutations in zinc metalloproteinase (ZMPSTE24), an enzyme essential for posttranslational proteolysis of prelamin A to form mature lamin A. Dermal fibroblasts from these patients show increased nuclear dysmorphology and reduced proliferation; however, the efficacy of various pharmacological agents in reversing these cellular phenotypes remains unknown. In this study, fibroblasts from MADB patients exhibited marked nuclear abnormalities and reduced proliferation that improved upon treatment with rapamycin and dimethylsulfoxide but not with other agents, including farnesyl transferase inhibitors. Surprisingly, fibroblasts from an RD patient with a homozygous null mutation in ZMPSTE24, resulting in exclusive accumulation of prelamin A with no lamin A on immunoblotting of cellular lysate, exhibited few nuclear abnormalities and near-normal cellular proliferation. An unbiased proteomic analysis of the cellular lysate from RD fibroblasts revealed a lack of processing of vimentin, a cytoskeletal protein. Interestingly, the assembly of the vimentin microfibrils in MADB fibroblasts improved with rapamycin and dimethylsulfoxide. We conclude that rapamycin and dimethylsulfoxide are beneficial for improving nuclear morphology and cell proliferation of MADB fibroblasts. Data from a single RD patient's fibroblasts also suggest that prelamin A accumulation by itself might not be detrimental and requires additional alterations at the cellular level to manifest the phenotype.
Association of serum fetuin-A levels with heart valve calcification and other biomarkers of inflammation among persons with acute coronary syndrome.

PURPOSE Fetuin-A is a multifunctional hepatic secretory protein that inhibits dystrophic vascular and valvular calcification. Our aim was to evaluate the relationship among fetuin-A levels, heart valve calcification and other biomarkers of inflammation in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). METHODS The associations among serum fetuin-A concentrations, mitral annular (MAC) and aortic valve calcification and other biomarkers of inflammation (hs-CRP, ferritin, fibrinogen, white blood cell count (WBC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), albumin levels) were evaluated in ACS patients and healthy controls. The study included 95 patients (mean age 61.8 ± 12.10 years) and 81 healthy controls (mean age 48.33 ± 9.19 years). RESULTS Fetuin-A levels were significantly lower in patients with ACS than in healthy controls (0.76 ± 0.23 and 1.10 ± 0.45 g/L, respectively; p < 0.001). Fetuin-A was lower in patients with mitral annular calcification (p = 0.007) and aortic (p = 0.001) valve calcification. In patients with ACS, there was a negative correlation among serum urea (r = -0.377; p < 0.001) and creatinine (r = -0.232; p = 0.024) levels and fetuin-A, and a negative correlation among WBC (r = -0.156; p = 0,132), ESR (r = -0.214; p = 0.037), hs-CRP (r = -0.220; p = 0.032) levels and fetuin-A. A positive correlation was seen between albumin and fetuin-A (r = 0.362; p < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that fetuin-A was the variable that had a significant effect on ACS (p = 0.020 OR = .015; (95% CI)(0.000-0.520). CONCLUSION Fetuin-A levels decrease in patients with acute coronary syndromes, independent of heart valve calcification. Fetuin-A may therefore act as a negative acute phase protein after myocardial infarction.