Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Log-multiplicative Association Models as Multidimensional Item Response Models for Polytomous Items

Log-multiplicative association models (LMA), which are special cases of log-linear models, have been derived as models for manifest probabilities based on multidimensional latent variables models for multi-category response data. Since discussion of between multiple derivations is lacking, we draw connections between multiple derivations with an emphasis on those pertaining to item response modeling. In particular, we extend Anderson and Yu (2007) who studied LMA models as uni-dimensional IRT models for dichotomous items to the case of multi-dimensional latent variables for polytomous items. This research also extends Hessen’s (2012) conditional multinomial partial credit models to more general IRT models. The empirical studies presented here demonstrate that LMA models perform extremely well compared to standard MIRT models in terms of model fit to data, parameter recovery, and estimation of values on the latent variables. Some example applications using data from a study on bullying (Espelage, Holt & Henkel, 2004) are presented.
Studies on intestinal digestion in the sheep

1. In seven experiments sheep were given diets ranging from all-hay to all-barley, and also a diet comprising one part hay to two parts flaked maize. Each sheep was equipped with a cannula into the rumen and a re-entrant cannula in the proximal duodenum; six of the ten also had a re-entrant cannula in the terminal ileum. Paper impregnated with chromic oxide (Cr2O3) was given twice daily by rumen fistula. 2. Amounts of α-linked glucose polymer entering and leaving the small intestine and excreted in the faeces were measured. Some values for a fraction designated non-glucose reducing polymer for cellulose and for gross energy were also obtained. The amounts passing the proximal duodenum and the terminal ileum were adjusted to give 100% recovery of Cr2O3 and the values were used to measure the extent of digestion in various parts of the alimentary tract. 3. When rolled or whole barley was given alone or was the major feed constituent the amount of α-linked glucose polymer entering the small intestine was 6.0±0.76% of that ingested (range 2.6–8.1%). The value was significantly lower than that found for the diet of hay and flaked maize (10.4±1.3%, range 8.0–13.6 %). The α-linked glucose polymer which entered the small intestine was almost completely digested there. 4. The digestibility of the non-glucose reducing polymer, which included much of the hemicelluloses present, ranged from 51 to 73% and almost all the digestible fraction (93–97%) was digested before the small intestine when hay or predominantly hay diets were given. On high-cereal diets only 71–85% of the digested fraction disappeared before the small intestine and appreciable amounts were digested in the large intestine. 5. On the all-hay diet 91% of the digestible cellulose and 67% of the digestible energy were lost before the small intestine, 0 and 21% in the small intestine and 9 and 12% in the large intestine. 6. Mean digestibility coefficients determined in sheep fed solely on either whole or rolled barley were: for dry matter 88.1 and 87.9%, for nitrogen 83.5 and 82.1%, for crude fibre 53.7 and 56.6% and for gross energy 87.7 and 88.0%.
An Autonomous Resource Block Assignment Scheme for OFDMA-Based Relay-Assisted Cellular Networks

Terminal relaying offers an effective means for improving the performance of OFDMA-based wireless networks. However, \revrr{with the increase in the number of relaying terminals (RTs), their coordination becomes a cumbersome task. } To address this drawback, in this paper an autonomous scheme is proposed whereby the RTs assign resource blocks (RBs) to incoming wireless terminals (WTs) in a way that minimizes the number of hit occurrences at which the same RB is assigned to multiple WTs. The proposed scheme uses cyclic group generators to determine the sequence of RBs to be assigned by each RT. This scheme is particularly beneficial in terminal relaying systems in which the distribution of the WTs is nonuniform and the channel quality indicators are not available. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme performs significantly better than currently available autonomous assignment schemes.
Optimizing van der Waals calculi using Cell-lists and MPI

Van der Waals's energy models attraction and repulsion effects between pairs of atoms. This energy is used by ab initio methods to find the tertiary structure of a protein based only on its amino acid sequence and on a force field model. Several researches suggests Genetic Algorithms (GAs), are adequate for the development of ab initio approaches for protein structure prediction. A GA generates thousands of potential structures for a protein conformation, and evaluates the van der Waals' interaction in each generated structure. In practice, 99% of running time of the GA is used with the computation of van der Waals' energy. To compute the van der Waals energy for a given structure, we need to calculate effects of the interactions of all pairs of atoms in the structure. Using this cutoff, the complexity of the algorithm is O(n2) per conformation, where n is the number of atoms of the protein. For atoms separated by more than 8A˚ the van der Waals effect is relatively weak. Thus, we apply a Cell-lists method to the van der Waals function reducing the complexity of algorithm to O(n). Furthermore, we applied parallel programming to the Cell-lists method using MPI, reducing significatively the running time. The combination of the Cell-lists and MPI techniques resulted in a speedup of 1000 for a protein with 147,900 atoms.
New foundations for the geometry of interaction

A new formal embodiment of J.-Y. Girard's (1989) geometry of interaction program is given. The geometry of interaction interpretation considered is defined, and the computational interpretation is sketched in terms of dataflow nets. Some examples that illustrate the key ideas underlying the interpretation are given. The results, which include the semantic analogue of cut-elimination, stated in terms of a finite convergence property, are outlined. <<ETX>>
Do patients with sclerotic mastoids require aeration to improve success of tympanoplasty?

Abstract Conclusion: We could not find any significant difference in the results for graft success rate and functional hearing results between the myringoplasty and tympano-mastoidectomy groups. So mastoidectomy may not be necessary for successful tympanic membrane reconstruction and hearing improvement. Objective: To investigate the effect of aerating mastoidectomy on the surgical success rate of myringoplasty. Methods: This was a retrospective study. Data were analyzed from 92 patients who underwent surgical repair of tympanic membrane perforations due to chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) without cholesteatoma. Tympano-mastoidectomy was performed in 46 patients with a small sclerotic mastoid. The other 46 patients underwent myringoplasty without mastoidectomy. Patients were evaluated for success in tympanic membrane reconstruction and hearing levels after a minimum follow-up duration of 1 year. Results: Tympanic membrane perforation closure was successful in 76.1% (n = 35) of the 46 patients undergoing myringoplasty and in 78.3% (n = 36) of the 46 patients undergoing myringoplasty with mastoidectomy. The difference between the closure rates of the two groups was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). The difference between the two groups for hearing gain was also not statistically significant (p > 0.05).
New trends for the medical treatment of endometriosis

Introduction: Endometriosis is a benign sex hormone-dependent gynecological disease, characterized by the presence and growth of endometrial tissue outside the uterus; it affects 10% of women of reproductive age and is associated with infertility and pain. Treatment of endometriosis involves conservative or radical surgery, or medical therapies. The goals for endometriosis treatment may be the relief of pain and/or a successful pregnancy achievement in infertile patients. Treatment must be individualized with a multidisciplinary approach. The classical treatments carry adverse side effects and in some cases a negative impact on quality of life. New agents promise a distinct perspective in endometriosis treatment. Areas covered: The aim of this paper is to systematically review the literature evidence of new medical treatments for endometriosis, defined as pharmacological treatments not yet commonly available and currently under investigation. Expert opinion: These new medical therapies would be used associated with surgical treatment and, in the future, will render possible the association of hormone therapy with non-hormonal treatment for endometriosis.
Cannabinoid, melanocortin and opioid receptor expression on DRD1 and DRD2 subpopulations in rat striatum

The striatum harbors two neuronal populations that enable action selection. One population represents the striatonigral pathway, expresses the dopamine receptor D1 (DRD1) and promotes the execution of motor programs, while the other population represents the striatopallidal pathway, expresses the dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) and suppresses voluntary activity. The two populations integrate distinct sensorimotor, cognitive, and emotional information streams and their combined activity enables the selection of adaptive behaviors. Characterization of these populations is critical to the understanding of their role in action selection, because it aids the identification of the molecular mechanisms that separate them. To that end, we used fluorescent in situ hybridization to quantify the percentage of striatal cells that (co)express dopaminergic receptors and receptors of the cannabinoid, melanocortin or opioid neurotransmitters systems. Our main findings are that the cannabinoid 1 receptor is equally expressed on both populations with a gradient from dorsal to ventral striatum, that the opioid receptors have a preference for expression with either the DRD1 or DRD2 and that the melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) is predominantly expressed in ventral parts of the striatum. In addition, we find that the level of MC4R expression determines its localization to either the DRD1 or the DRD2 population. Thereby, we provide insight into the sensitivity of the two dopaminoceptive populations to these neurotransmitters and progress the understanding of the mechanisms that enable action selection.
Analysis of apoptotic and antiapoptotic signalling pathways induced by Helicobacter pylori

Background and aims: Although it is reported that Helicobacter pylori induces apoptosis on gastric epithelial cells, the mechanism remains unknown. Antiapoptotic effects generated by H pylori have not yet been evaluated. Methods: (1) H pylori strains (type 1 wild, TN2-ΔcagE, TN2-ΔvacA) were cocultured with MKN45, TMK1, and HeLa cells, and cell viability and apoptosis were assessed by trypan blue exclusion and DNA laddering, respectively. (2) Activation of caspases-3, 7, and 8, cytochrome c release from the mitochondria, and Fas, Fas associated death domain protein (FADD), Bax, Bak, and Bcl-X expression were evaluated by immunoblot analysis. (3) To investigate whether nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB) activation induced by cag pathogenicity island (PAI) positive H pylori affects antiapoptosis, MKN45 cells stably expressing super-repressor IκBα were cocultured with H pylori, and cell viability and caspase activation were evaluated. NFκB regulated gene expression was also evaluated by ribonuclease protection assay. Results: (1) Wild-type and ΔvacA mutant H pylori induced apoptosis more potently than the ΔcagE mutant. Inhibition of cell contact between H pylori and cancer cells and heat killing H pylori diminished cell death. (2) Caspases-3, 7, and 8 were activated time dependently by H pylori as well as by the agonist anti-Fas. Cytochrome c release from mitochondria was observed and was not inhibited by caspase-8 inhibitor. Although protein expression of Fas, FADD, Bax, Bak, and Bcl-X in the whole cell lysates was not changed by H pylori, Bax was decreased from mitochondria free cytosol suggesting that Bax was translocated into mitochondria. (3) Cell death and the activities of caspases-3 and 8 were promoted in MKN45 cells stably expressing super-repressor IκBα that inhibits NFκB activation. Antiapoptotic proteins c-IAP1 and c-IAP2 were upregulated by the wild-type strains. Conclusion:cag PAI positive H pylori is capable of inducing apoptotic effects mainly through the mitochondrial pathway. Antiapoptotic effects mediated by NFκB activation were also observed.
47 46 v 2 [ he pph ] 1 6 Se p 20 09 Nonabelian dark matter : models and constraints

Numerous experimental anomalies hint at the existence of a dark matter (DM) multiplet χi with small mass splittings. We survey the simplest such models which arise from DM in the low representations of a new SU(2) gauge symmetry, whose gauge bosons have a small mass μ < ∼ 1 GeV. We identify preferred parameters Mχ ∼= 1 TeV, μ ∼ 100 MeV, αg ∼ 0.04 and the χχ → 4e annihilation channel, for explaining PAMELA, Fermi, and INTEGRAL/SPI lepton excesses, while remaining consistent with constraints from relic density, diffuse gamma rays and the CMB. This consistency is strengthened if DM annihilations occur mainly in subhalos, while excitations (relevant to the excited DM proposal to explain the 511 keV excess) occur in the galactic center (GC), due to higher velocity dispersions in the GC, induced by baryons. We derive new constraints and predictions which are generic to these models. Notably, decays of excited DM states χ → χγ arise at one loop and could provide a new signal for INTEGRAL/SPI; big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) constraints on the density of dark SU(2) gauge bosons imply a lower bound on the mixing parameter ǫ between the SU(2) gauge bosons and photon. These considerations rule out the possibility of the gauge bosons that decay into ee being long-lived. We study in detail models of doublet, triplet and quintuplet DM, showing that both normal and inverted mass hierarchies can occur, with mass splittings that can be parametrically smaller (e.g., O(100) keV) than the generic MeV scale of splittings. A systematic treatment of Z2 symmetry which insures the stability of the intermediate DM state is given for cases with inverted mass hierarchy, of interest for boosting the 511 keV signal from the excited dark matter mechanism.
Intraindividual coupling of daily stressors and cognitive interference in old age.

OBJECTIVES The current study examined emotional and cognitive reactions to daily stress. We examined the psychometric properties of a short cognitive interference measure and how cognitive interference was associated with measures of daily stress and negative affect (NA) between persons and within persons over time. METHODS A sample of 87 older adults (M(age) = 83, range = 70-97, 28% male) completed measures of daily stress, cognitive interference, and NA on 6 days within a 14-day period. RESULTS The measure yielded a single-factor solution with good reliability both between and within persons. At the between-person level, NA accounted for the effects of daily stress on individual differences in cognitive interference. At the within-person level, NA and daily stress were unique predictors of cognitive interference. Furthermore, the within-person effect of daily stress on cognitive interference decreased significantly with age. DISCUSSION These results support theoretical work regarding associations among stress, NA, and cognitive interference, both across persons and within persons over time.
Anterior capsular plaque in congenital cataract: occurrence, morphology, immunofluorescence, and ultrastructure.

PURPOSE To study occurrence, morphology, immunofluorescence, and ultrastructural features of congenital anterior capsular plaque (ACP) obtained from pediatric eyes undergoing cataract surgery. METHODS Two hundred sixty consecutive pediatric eyes undergoing congenital cataract surgery were enrolled in the present study. Anterior lens epithelium from cataract without ACP and with ACP was collected. Wholemounts of lens epithelium were stained with hematoxylin-eosin. Five-micrometer-thick sections of large ACPs were subjected to immunofluorescence localization of collagen type I, collagen type IV, alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha SMA), and alpha A-crystallin. Ultrathin sections were studied by transmission electron microscope. RESULTS The overall occurrence of ACP in pediatric eyes undergoing congenital cataract surgery was 11.5%. The occurrence of ACP was highest in mature cataract followed by nuclear, lamellar, and mixed cataract. The wholemount of anterior lens epithelium revealed nonplaque and plaque region or ACP. Depending on the area, ACPs can be classified as small, medium, and large. The extracellular matrix of ACP was fibrous and amorphous. It was rich in collagen type I. The cells of the ACP were surrounded by a network of collagen type IV and were positive for alpha SMA and alpha A-crystallin. The cells of the ACP were rich in rough endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria. CONCLUSIONS The occurrence of ACP in pediatric eyes undergoing cataract surgery for congenital cataract was 11.5%. ACP was more associated with mature cataract. Epithelial mesenchymal transdifferentiation of lens epithelial cells may be involved in the development of congenital ACP.
Cube-4-a scalable architecture for real-time volume rendering

We present Cube-4, a special-purpose volume rendering architecture that is capable of rendering high-resolution (e.g., 1024/sup 3/) datasets at 30 frames per second. The underlying algorithm, called slice-parallel ray-casting, uses tri-linear interpolation of samples between data slices for parallel and perspective projections. The architecture uses a distributed interleaved memory, several parallel processing pipelines, and an innovative parallel data flow scheme that requires no global communication, except at the pixel level. This leads to local, fixed bandwidth interconnections and has the benefits of high memory bandwidth, real-time data input, modularity, and scalability. We have simulated the architecture and have implemented a working prototype of the complete hardware on a configurable custom hardware machine. Our results indicate true real-time performance for high-resolution datasets and linear scalability of performance with the number of processing pipelines.
Gathering Bearing Data for Target Localization

We consider the problem of gathering bearing data to localize targets. We start with a commonly used notion of uncertainty based on geometric dilution of precision (GDOP) and study the following bicriteria problem. Given a set of potential target areas and an uncertainty level U, compute an ordered set of measurement locations for a single robot which 1) minimizes the total cost given by the travel time plus the time spent in taking measurements and 2) ensures that the uncertainty in estimating the target's location is at most U regardless of the targets' locations. We present an approximation algorithm and prove that its cost is at most 28.9 times the optimal cost while guaranteeing that the uncertainty is at most 5.5U. In addition to theoretical analysis, we validate the results in simulation and experiments performed with a directional antenna used for tracking invasive fish.
Measurement of gastric emptying by standardized real‐time ultrasonography in healthy subjects and diabetic patients.

The aim of this study was to simplify and standardize a reproducible, well‐tolerated and clinically applicable method for the assessment of gastric emptying rate by real‐time ultrasonography. A total of 33 subjects were examined, including 19 healthy subjects and 14 patients with insulin‐dependent diabetes mellitus and clinically suspected delayed gastric emptying. Measurements of the gastric antrum were taken in the supine position and in relation to internal landmarks to obtain a standardized cross‐sectional image producing the area of a selected slice of the antrum. Diabetic patients were examined on the condition that the fasting blood glucose level was 3.5 to 9.0 mmol/l. Gastric emptying rate was estimated and expressed as the percentage reduction in antral cross‐sectional area from 15 to 90 min after the ingestion of a standardized semisolid breakfast meal (300 g rice pudding, 330 kcal). Interobserver and intraobserver measurement errors were assessed, as was the significance of age and sex on gastric emptying. In comparison to healthy subjects, diabetic patients showed significantly wider median values of the 90 min postprandial antral area, but only a mild tendency toward greater dilation of the gastric antrum prior to and 15 min after meal ingestion. The median value of gastric emptying rate in these diabetic patients was estimated at 29%, which was less than half of that in the healthy subjects (63%). Statistically the difference was highly significant. Interpersonal variability of gastric emptying rate and antral areas was large for both groups. Measurements of gastric emptying rate gave highly reproducible results on separate days and from different observers (interobserver systematic measurement error 0.3% and random measurement error 10.9%; intraobserver systematic measurement error 3.6% and random measurement error 9.5%). No difference in gastric emptying rate was found related to age or sex. We conclude that the use of standardized real‐time ultrasonography to determine gastric antral cross‐sectional area in a single section of the stomach is a valid method for estimating gastric emptying rate.
Objective Structured Clinical Interview Training using a Virtual Human Patient

Effective interview skills are a core competency for psychiatry residents and developing psychotherapists. Although schools commonly make use of standardized patients to teach interview skills, the diversity of the scenarios standardized patients can characterize is limited by availability of human actors. Further, there is the economic concern related to the time and money needed to train standardized patients. Perhaps most damaging is the "standardization" of standardized patients -- will they in fact consistently proffer psychometrically reliable and valid interactions with the training clinicians. Virtual Human Agent (VHA) technology has evolved to a point where researchers may begin developing mental health applications that make use of virtual reality patients. The work presented here is a preliminary attempt at what we believe to be a large application area. Herein we describe an ongoing study of our virtual patients (VP). We present an approach that allows novice mental health clinicians to conduct an interview with a virtual character that emulates an adolescent male with conduct disorder. This study illustrates the ways in which a variety of core research components developed at the University of Southern California facilitates the rapid development of mental health applications.