Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Aerosol delivery from spacers in wheezy infants: a daily life study.

The aims of this study were to assess and compare dose delivery and dose variability of pressurized metered dose inhalers (pMDI)/spacers in wheezy infants in daily life and to investigate factors influencing aerosol delivery. In an open randomized crossover study in 25 wheezy infants aged 5-26 months, a metal spacer (Nebuchamber), a detergent coated (DC) and a non-detergent coated (nonDC) plastic spacer (Babyhaler) were tested at home for 7 days each. Budesonide (200 microg b.i.d) was administered via a Nebuchamber or fluticasone (125 microg b.i.d) via a Babyhaler. Aerosol was trapped in filters, positioned between the spacer and face mask. Cooperation was scored on diary cards. Electrostatic charge (ESC) of the spacers was measured. Evaluations of the administration technique were made from video recordings. Median (range) dose delivery of the filters expressed as per cent (%) of nominal dose, was 34% (3-59), 23% (1-49), and 41% (12-55) for the Nebuchamber, nonDC-Babyhaler, and DC-Babyhaler respectively. Considerable dose variability was found, median (range) within-subject dose variability, expressed as coefficient of variation, for the Nebuchamber (49% (15-249)) was significantly higher when compared with both nonDC- (36% (12-325)) and DC-Babyhalers (27% (10-122)), for which dose variabilities were similar. Detergent coating was effective to reduce electrostatic charge, and to increase dose delivery, but had no effect on dose variability. Bad cooperation was an important cause for high dose variability for all spacers (r=0.5-0.6, p<0.02). Many mistakes were made during the administration procedure.
Generalized quasilinearization method and higher order of convergence for second-order boundary value problems

The method of generalized quasilinearization for second-order boundary value problems has been extended when the forcing function is the sum of-hyperconvex and-hyperconcave functions. We develop two sequences under suitable conditions which converge to the unique solution of the boundary value problem. Furthermore, the convergence is of order. Finally, we provide numerical examples to show the application of the generalized quasilinearization method developed here for second-order boundary value problems.
Alemtuzumab in the treatment of multiple sclerosis

Alemtuzumab (formerly known as Campath-1H) has recently been approved by the European Medicines Agency for highly-active, relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). The molecule targets the CD52 surface glycoprotein on certain T cells and B cells and is thought to exert its effect in MS through a “resetting” of the lymphocyte population. Approval was granted on the strength of two pivotal studies, Comparison of Alemtuzumab and Rebif® Efficacy in Multiple Sclerosis (CARE-MS)-1 in the first-line setting and CARE-MS-2 in patients who had failed first-line therapy. In both studies, alemtuzumab significantly reduced the relapse rate compared to the comparator, interferon beta-1a (44 μg) given subcutaneously three-times per week (Rebif®). In the first-line study, alemtuzumab was also found to significantly reduce the number of patients with sustained progression compared to interferon beta-1a therapy. Autoimmune disorders represent the major side effect of alemtuzumab therapy although they can be managed by careful monitoring and early treatment. Overall, alemtuzumab is likely to be a valuable addition to the neurologist’s armamentarium for the treatment of relapsing-remitting MS.
Social impact measurement: constructing an institution within third sector housing organisations

This thesis is a study of why and how social impact measurement (SIM) is being adopted within the social housing sector. Driven by the need to demonstrate accountability, it is seen as a problematic undertaking. An original contribution is made by extending components within the concept of institutional work whilst working with an original nested theoretical framework with agency and institutions at its core. The exploratory, interpretivist and reflexive way in which this research was undertaken allowed issues of importance to the interviewees to emerge inductively. This approach was wholly necessary due to the embryonic nature of the agenda and the underlying contested concept of social value. A question arose as to whether the SIM output was an appropriate mechanism to provide such accountability. The research revealed macro level support for SIM through the analysis of institutional logics. Below this, within the organisational field, lies weak and contested logics at the meso level and a lack of informing logics at the micro level. A more specific understanding of SIM as a concept and the methodological choices may increase utilisation of SIM outputs and aid in clarifying the concept of social value, its creation and measurement.
The Regeneration of Syntax in Short Term Memory

Immediate recall of a sentence is normally highly accurate. Previous work (Potter & Lombardi, 1990) has suggested that this accuracy is not due to a surface ("verbatim") representation of the string of words, but to regeneration of the sentence from a conceptual representation, using activated lexical entries. The present study tests an extension ofthat hypothesis: that the surface syntax ofthe to-be-recalled sentence is not directly represented in memory, but is regenerated using normal mechanisms of sentence production. In Experiments I and 2, induced intrusions of verbs were not prevented by incompatibility between the surface syntax of the original sentence and the subcategorization requirements of the intruded verb. In Experiments 3 and 4 subjectsjudged whether a probe verb could replace a verb in the to-be-recalled sentence; again, subjects had difficulty rejecting verbs on the basis of surface syntactic incompatibilities. In all four experiments subjects who recalled a sentence with a syntactically mismatched verb usually made syntactic changes that restored grammaticality. The results support an extension of the regeneration hypothesis: In regenerating a sentence from its conceptual representation the selection of the verb determines the syntactic structure of the sentence. When more than one structure is compatible with the conceptual representation and with the chosen verb, a structure that has been recently activated is likely to be reused. o 1992 Academic Press, tnc.
A linear-quadratic-integral regulator for local ramp metering in the case of distant downstream bottlenecks

ABSTRACT This work develops and investigates the performance of a new control law, specifically a Linear-Quadratic Regulator augmented with integral action (LQI), for the local ramp metering control problem when bottlenecks are located many kilometers (up to 5 km) downstream of the metered on-ramp. LQI makes use of measurements all along the stretch extending from the controllable on-ramp to the bottleneck location, being therefore capable to improve the stability and robustness properties of the control loop, compared to alternative approaches (PI regulators) that employ measurements only from the bottleneck location. Simulation results reveal that: i) the proposed methodology handles efficiently the local ramp metering task in case of very distant downstream bottlenecks; and, ii) LQI is much less sensitive compared to other previously proposed control strategies.
An expansion of the Jones representation of genus 2 and the Torelli group

We study the algebraic property of the representation of the mapping class group of a closed oriented surface of genus 2 constructed by V F R Jones (9). It arises from the Iwahori{Hecke algebra representations of Artin's braid group of 6 strings, and is dened over integral Laurent polynomials Z(t;t 1 ). We substitute the parameter t with e h ,a nd then expand the powers e h in their Taylor series. This expansion naturally induces a ltration on the Torelli group which is coarser than its lower central series. We present some results on the structure of the associated graded quotients, which include that the second Johnson homomorphism factors through the representation. As an application, we also discuss the relation with the Casson invariant of homology 3{spheres. AMS Classication 57N05; 20F38, 20C08, 20F40
Evolution of creative imitation under the TRIPS compliant patent regime: Development of biosimilar capabilities in the Indian pharmaceutical sector

The impact of The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) on the growth and technological capabilities of the Indian pharmaceutical industry and indeed the pharmaceutical industry of other emerging countries has emerged as a critical issue in the quest for affordable healthcare for poor populations. Evidence suggests that the initial response of the Indian pharmaceutical industry to the TRIPS challenge was based on exploiting superior process R&D capabilities and targeting small molecules generic markets in advanced countries. However, in the last decade the decline in traditional generics markets, aggressive acquisitions by multinational corporations (MNCs), regulatory hurdles in advanced country markets and failures in managing new drug development has made the existing business model redundant, creating significant challenges for the growth and survival of Indian firms. The research presented in this paper suggests that in this new environment some leading Indian firms are now targeting a new set of opportunities presented by the emergent biosimilar segment in the global generics market as a new source of growth. Some Indian firms have made a gradual transition towards the development of biosimilar capabilities and using case studies of three Indian firms, this paper argues that this transition represents a next phase of creative evolution for the Indian pharmaceutical industry. The different set of capabilities required for biosimilar product development and market entry have forced Indian firms to employ innovative technologies and marketing strategies, revealing clear differences between the strategies adopted by firms to develop and target small molecule generics markets and biosimilar markets. This research further highlights the underlying learning processes dominating this transition and the influence of path dependencies in shaping them. This paper concludes with a discussion on the implications of these findings to the evolution of business models of pharmaceutical firms based in emerging and developing countries.
A Unified Model for Solving the OOV Problem of Chinese Word Segmentation

This article proposes a unified, character-based, generative model to incorporate additional resources for solving the out-of-vocabulary (OOV) problem of Chinese word segmentation, within which different types of additional information can be utilized independently in corresponding submodels. This article mainly addresses the following three types of OOV: unseen dictionary words, named entities, and suffix-derived words, none of which are handled well by current approaches. The results show that our approach can effectively improve the performance of the first two types with positive interaction in F-score. Additionally, we also analyze reason that suffix information is not helpful. After integrating the proposed generative model with the corresponding discriminative approach, our evaluation on various corpora---including SIGHAN-2005, CIPS-SIGHAN-2010, and the Chinese Treebank (CTB)---shows that our integrated approach achieves the best performance reported in the literature on all testing sets when additional information and resources are allowed.
Competitive Algorithms for Coevolving Both Game Content and AI. A Case Study: Planet Wars

The classical approach of competitive coevolution (CC) applied in games tries to exploit an arms race between coevolving populations that belong to the same species (or at least to the same biotic niche), namely strategies, rules, tracks for racing, or any other. This paper proposes the coevolution of entities belonging to different realms (namely biotic and abiotic) via a competitive approach. More precisely, we aim to coevolutionarily optimize both virtual players and game content. From a general perspective, our proposal can be viewed as a method of procedural content generation combined with a technique for generating game AI. This approach can not only help game designers in game creation but also generate content personalized to both specific players' profiles and game designer's objectives (e.g., create content that favors novice players over skillful players). As a case study we use Planet Wars, the real-time strategy (RTS) game associated with the 2010 Google AI Challenge contest, and demonstrate (via an empirical study) the validity of our approach.
Dependent Forms of Self-Employment in the UK: Identifying Workers on the Border between Employment and Self-Employment

We analyse the characteristics of workers who provide work on the basis of a civil or commercial contract, but who are dependent on or integrated into the firm for which they work. We argue that these dependent self-employed lose their rights under labour law, receive less favourable benefits from social security protection and are often beyond trade union representation and collective bargaining. Using data from the British Labour Force Survey we test two hypotheses: (1) Dependent self-employed workers are significantly different from both employees and (independent) self-employed individuals, thus forming a distinct group. (2) Dependent self-employed workers have lower labour market skills, less labour market attachment and, thus, less autonomy than self-employed workers. The data support our hypothesis that dependent self-employed workers are a distinct labour market group which differs from both employees and independent self-employed individuals. Men, older workers, those with low education and a low job tenure have greater odds of working in dependent self-employment than their counterparts. Our results suggest that dependent forms of self-employment are used by firms to increase labour flexibility.
Holistic spatial semantics of Thai

A (generic) spatial utterance is an utterance which helps the listener determine the location of a given entity – if the described situation is static – or else the trajectory of its motion. Hence, it can be seen as an explicit or implicit answer to a where-question. The following are thus examples of prototypical English spatial utterances: The toothpaste is on the shelf. He is going to school. She comes from the South. The train will pass through the tunnel. An approach to spatial semantics that has the utterance (itself embedded in discourse and a background of practices) as its main unit of analysis, rather than the isolated word, may be characterized as dialogical (cf. Wold 1992) and more importantly for the present context – holistic. Such an approach aims to determine the semantic contribution of each and every element of the spatial utterance in relation to the meaning of the whole utterance – a desideratum for semantics that can be traced back to Frege’s (1953 [1884]) “context principle”. One major advantage of such an approach to more traditional (cognitive) spatial semantic theories is that by taking its point of departure from the whole, rather than from the parts, it does not limit the analysis to a particular linguistic form (e.g over, cf. Lakoff 1987), form class (e.g. prepositions, cf. Cuyckens 1991), or theoretically biased grammatical notion (e.g. “closed-class elements” cf. Talmy 1988). The conceptual framework of situated embodiment (Zlatev 1997) implies such a dialogical, holistic approach to spatial meaning, resulting in the theory of holistic spatial semantics (HSS), which has been applied to a diverse set of languages. In this paper, after a summary of the theoretical framework in Section 2, I will use this theory to analyze the structure and semantics of spatial utterances in Thai. I will try to show that HSS allows a perspicacious analysis of the complicated semantic and syntactic interdependencies between the members of a number of distinct form classes, exemplified in (1).
Artificial Intelligence Approach to the Determination of Physical Properties of Eclipsing Binaries. I. The EBAI Project

Achieving maximum scientific results from the overwhelming volume of astronomical data to be acquired over the next few decades demands novel, fully automatic methods of data analysis. Here we concentrate on eclipsing binary (EB) stars, a prime source of astrophysical information, of which only some hundreds have been rigorously analyzed, but whose numbers will reach millions in a decade. We describe the artificial neural network (ANN) approach which is able to surmount the human bottleneck and permit EB-based scientific yield to keep pace with future data rates. The ANN, following training on a sample of 33,235 model light curves, outputs a set of approximate model parameters [T2/T1, (R1 + R2)/a, esin ω , ecos ω , and sin i] for each input light curve data set. The obtained parameters can then be readily passed to sophisticated modeling engines. We also describe a novel method polyfit for preprocessing observational light curves before inputting their data to the ANN and present the results and analysis of testing the approach on synthetic data and on real data including 50 binaries from the Catalog and Atlas of Eclipsing Binaries (CALEB) database and 2580 light curves from OGLE survey data. The success rate, defined by less than a 10% error in the network output parameter values, is approximately 90% for the OGLE sample and close to 100% for the CALEB sample—sufficient for a reliable statistical analysis. The code is made available to the public. Our approach is applicable to EB light curves of all classes; this first paper in the eclipsing binaries via artificial intelligence (EBAI) series focuses on detached EBs, which is the class most challenging for this approach.
Extending the Managerial Power Theory of Executive Pay: A Cross National Test

Contextual factors are typically neglected in both theorizing and empirical tests on executive pay. The fast majority of empirical investigations use data from U.S. based firms. Theoretical implications are typically developed, understood and tested on the basis of the U.S. context. However, the U.S. case is not the world wide standard. Pay in other countries is on average considerably lower and have a different pay mix. The puzzle that from the typical use of agency theory can’t be explained is the variance of pay practices that exist not only within countries but also across countries. This paper extends scholars renewed attention to managerial power theory on executive pay. It sets out how and why institutional theory must be included in explanations of executive pay. On the basis of a sample of executive pay packages from 17 different countries we test the theoretical extensions. Results indicate that institutions interact with firm level determinants of executive pay. Explanations for executive pay should therefore account for the variance of pay practices within and across countries. Highlighting that the institutional embeddedness of pay practices play an important role in finding conclusive explanations of current pay practices.
Six Predictions about the Decision Making of Animal and Human Groups

We review and extend theoretical and empirical studies of how groups make decisions using combinations of private information and preference copying. We give six tested or testable predictions arising from models: (i) group decisions involve both true and false cascades; (ii) a small number of leaders can heavily influence a decision; (iii) individuals in groups make accurate and fast decisions; (iv) irrelevant alternatives change preferences; (v) optimal group size depends on the number of options; and (vi) pairs of higher quality options are more difficult to distinguish than lower quality options. We discuss our approach in the context of human organisations. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Variable supply-voltage scheme for low-power high-speed CMOS digital design

This paper describes a variable supply-voltage (VS) scheme. From an external supply, the VS scheme automatically generates minimum internal supply voltages by feedback control of a buck converter, a speed detector, and a timing controller so that they meet the demand on its operation frequency. A 32-b RISC core processor is developed in a 0.4-/spl mu/m CMOS technology which optimally controls the internal supple voltages with the VS scheme and the threshold voltages through substrate bias control. Performance in MIPS/W is improved by a factor of more than two compared with its conventional CMOS design.
Prospects for dark matter detection with IceCube in the context of the CMSSM

We study in detail the ability of the nominal configuration of the IceCube neutrino telescope (with 80 strings) to probe the parameter space of the Constrained MSSM (CMSSM) favoured by current collider and cosmological data. Adopting conservative assumptions about the galactic halo model and the expected experiment performance, we find that IceCube has a probability between 2% and 12% of achieving a 5σ detection of dark matter annihilation in the Sun, depending on the choice of priors for the scalar and gaugino masses and on the astrophysical assumptions. We identify the most important annihilation channels in the CMSSM parameter space favoured by current constraints, and we demonstrate that assuming that the signal is dominated by a single annihilation channel can lead to large systematic errors in the inferred WIMP annihilation cross section. We demonstrate that ~ 66% of the CMSSM parameter space violates the equilibrium condition between capture and annihilation in the center of the Sun. By cross-correlating our predictions with direct detection methods, we conclude that if IceCube does detect a neutrino flux from the Sun at high significance while direct detection experiments do not find a signal above a spin-independent cross section σpSI 7 × 10−9 pb, the CMSSM will be strongly disfavoured, given standard astrophysical assumptions for the WIMP distribution. This result is robust with respect to a change of priors. We argue that the proposed low-energy DeepCore extension of IceCube will be an ideal instrument to focus on relevant CMSSM areas of parameter space.
Associative Hierarchical Random Fields

This paper makes two contributions: the first is the proposal of a new model-The associative hierarchical random field (AHRF), and a novel algorithm for its optimization; the second is the application of this model to the problem of semantic segmentation. Most methods for semantic segmentation are formulated as a labeling problem for variables that might correspond to either pixels or segments such as super-pixels. It is well known that the generation of super pixel segmentations is not unique. This has motivated many researchers to use multiple super pixel segmentations for problems such as semantic segmentation or single view reconstruction. These super-pixels have not yet been combined in a principled manner, this is a difficult problem, as they may overlap, or be nested in such a way that the segmentations form a segmentation tree. Our new hierarchical random field model allows information from all of the multiple segmentations to contribute to a global energy. MAP inference in this model can be performed efficiently using powerful graph cut based move making algorithms. Our framework generalizes much of the previous work based on pixels or segments, and the resulting labelings can be viewed both as a detailed segmentation at the pixel level, or at the other extreme, as a segment selector that pieces together a solution like a jigsaw, selecting the best segments from different segmentations as pieces. We evaluate its performance on some of the most challenging data sets for object class segmentation, and show that this ability to perform inference using multiple overlapping segmentations leads to state-of-the-art results.