Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical and Epidemiological Research

▶ Additional tables are published online only. To view these fi les please visit the journal online ABSTRACT Objectives Stratifi ed management for low back pain according to patients' prognosis and matched care pathways has been shown to be an effective treatment approach in primary care. The aim of this within-trial study was to determine the economic implications of providing such an intervention, compared with non-stratifi ed current best practice, within specifi c risk-defi ned subgroups (low-risk, medium-risk and high-risk). Methods Within a cost–utility framework, the base-case analysis estimated the incremental healthcare cost per additional quality-adjusted life year (QALY), using the EQ-5D to generate QALYs, for each risk-defi ned subgroup. Uncertainty was explored with cost–utility planes and acceptability curves. Sensitivity analyses were performed to consider alternative costing methodologies, including the assessment of societal loss relating to work absence and the incorporation of generic (ie, non-back pain) healthcare utilisation. Results The stratifi ed management approach was a cost-effective treatment strategy compared with current best practice within each risk-defi ned subgroup, exhibiting dominance (greater benefi t and lower costs) for medium-risk patients and acceptable incremental cost to utility ratios for low-risk and high-risk patients. The likelihood that stratifi ed care provides a cost-effective use of resources exceeds 90% at willingness-to-pay thresholds of £4000 (≈ 4500; $6500) per additional QALY for the medium-risk and high-risk groups. Patients receiving stratifi ed care also reported fewer back pain-related days off work in all three subgroups. Conclusions Compared with current best practice, stratifi ed primary care management for low back pain provides a highly cost-effective use of resources across all risk-defi ned subgroups.
Robust Fault-Tolerant Flight Control using a New Failure Parameterization

Most available approaches for adaptive accommodation of failures in flight control actuators result in a large number of parameters that need to be adjusted on-line. In this paper we propose a new failure parameterization that models a large class of failures in terms of a single parameter. The class of failures includes lock-in-place (LIP), float, hard- over and loss of effectiveness (LOE). It is shown that th; new parameterization accurately models this class of failures, and that the resulting model can be used for observer design to estimate the uncertain parameters on-line. The use of the resulting estimates in the adaptive reconfigurable control law at every instant is shown to result in a stable closed-loop system. The estimation and control algorithms are integrated within the thetas-FLARE (thetas-parameterized Fast on-Line Actuator Reconfiguration Enhancement) architecture. Properties of thetas- FLARE and convergence properties of the failure parameter estimates are illustrated through simulations of F/A-18 aircraft dynamics under multiple flight-critical failures.
The relation of breastfeeding and body mass index to asthma and atopy in children: a prospective cohort study to age 6 years.

OBJECTIVES We investigated the relationship between breastfeeding, asthma and atopy, and child body mass index (BMI). METHODS From a prospective birth cohort (n = 2860) in Perth, Western Australia, 2195 children were followed up to age 6 years. Asthma was defined as doctor-diagnosed asthma and wheeze in the last year, and atopy was determined by skin prick test of 1596 children. Breastfeeding, BMI, asthma, and atopy were regressed allowing for confounders and the propensity score for overweight. RESULTS Using fractional polynomials, we found no association between breastfeeding and overweight. Less exclusive breastfeeding was associated with increased asthma and atopy, and BMI increased with asthma. CONCLUSIONS Less exclusive breastfeeding leads to increases in child asthma and atopy and a higher BMI is a risk factor for asthma.
Easy Function Points -- 'Smart' Approximation Technique for the IFPUG and COSMIC Methods

Functional Size Measurement (FSM) is a relevant approach for software management and estimation since decades. Despite the efforts to refine the measurement definitions and practices FSM methods, real-world practitioners' needs led to a variety of proposals for approximation techniques aimed to provide (Function Point) figures in early phases of software projects and lifecycles, based on 'fuzzy' requirements (e.g. 'Size Classes', Estimated and Indicative, Quick & Early, Light and Early & Quick, Fast or Simple Function Points). This paper summarizes most common approximate sizing approaches, it provides an up-to-date comparison of their generic features, confidence levels and applicability, it shows how most approaches are basically variations or instances of a generic unique scheme (that can be derived from so-called Smart Function Points); it introduces the latest evolution of such approximation techniques -- for both IFPUG and COSMIC methods -- named 'EASY (Early & Speedy) Function Points'.
Estimating frequency of occurrence.

Various models have been proposed that attribute judgments of frequency of occurrence either to the direct coding of frequency information or to the estimation of frequency from characteristics of memory traces that are not direct frequency codes. We present three experiments that replicate and further explore a phenomenon that is significant in the distinction between direct and indirect models of frequency coding. The phenomenon is that deeper processing of stimulus material results in superior judgments of frequency for that material than does shallower processing. This effect is at least partly attributable to the number of associations that are generated by deep analysis. The results of the present experiments thereby implicate an indirect coding mechanism underlying frequency judgments. However, we also show that there is ample reason to suppose a contribution of a direct coding mechanism as well. The most reasonable view, therefore, is that multiple mechanisms are involved in the registration of frequency of occurrence.
Relationship Between Coffee Consumption and Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome Among Japanese Civil Servants

Background Metabolic syndrome has become a major worldwide public health problem. We examined the relationship between coffee consumption and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among Japanese civil servants. Methods The study participants were 3284 employees (2335 men and 948 women) aged 20 to 65 years. Using data from their 2008 health checkup records, we analyzed the relationship between coffee consumption and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the Japanese criteria. Results Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed in 374 of the 2335 men (16.0%) and 32 of the 948 women (3.4%). In univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses, the odds ratios (ORs) among men for the presence of metabolic syndrome were 0.79 (95% CI: 0.56–1.03) and 0.61 (0.39–0.95), respectively, among moderate (≥4 cups of coffee per day) coffee drinkers as compared with non-coffee drinkers. Among all components of metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure and high triglyceride level were inversely associated with moderate coffee consumption in men, after adjusting for age, body mass index, smoking status, drinking status, and exercise. However, in women, moderate coffee consumption was not significantly associated with the prevalence of metabolic syndrome or its components. Conclusions Moderate coffee consumption was significantly associated with lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Japanese male civil servants.
Differential Predation by Age and Sex Classes in Blue Wildebeest in Serengeti: Study of a Modern Carnivore Den in Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania)

Age and sex selection of prey is an aspect of predator ecology which has been extensively studied in both temperate and African ecosystems. This dimension, along with fecundity, survival rates of prey and mortality factors other than predation are important in laying down the population dynamics of prey and have important implications in the management of species. A carnivore den located in the short-grassland ecological unit of the Serengeti was studied. Sex- and age- class (using five age categories) of the wildebeest remains recovered were analyzed through horn morphology, biometrics of the bones and tooth wear patterns. We compared our results with previous studies from lion and hyaena kills through multivariate analyses. Seasonality of the accumulation was analyzed through tooth histology. PCA and CVA results show that age class selection by predators depends on season, habitat-type, and growth rate of the wildebeest population. Female-biased predation was found to contradict classical hypotheses based on territorial male behaviour. The lion and spotted hyaena showed strong selection on age classes, contrary to previous studies. Migratory wildebeest sex ratio is regulated through differential predation by seasons and female deaths in the wet season are a trade-off for population stability. These data are crucial for an effective management of the species and the new method created may be useful for different carnivore species and their prey.
Updating Preferences with Multiple Priors

We propose and axiomatically characterize dynamically consistent update rules for decision making under ambiguity. These rules apply to the preferences with multiple priors of Gilboa and Schmeidler (1989), and are the first, for any model of preferences over acts, to be able to reconcile typical behavior in the face of ambiguity (as exemplified by Ellsberg’s paradox) with dynamic consistency for all non-null events. Updating takes the form of applying Bayes’ rule to subsets of the set of priors, where the specific subset depends on the preferences, the conditioning event, and the choice problem (i.e., a feasible set of acts together with an act chosen from that set).
Identifying books in library using line segment detector and contour clustering

In this paper, a new method is presented to automatically identify books based on recognition of call number label on the book spine captured by a smartphone in library. In previous methods for book spine segmentation, Canny edge detector results in curved or broken lines instead of detecting straight lines formed by book spine boundary. Moreover, line detection by Hough transform is prone to interference of texts on the book spine. We address these issues by employing color segmentation with line segment detector to separate every individual book. For call number extraction, characters on the label cannot be easily distinguished from texts like the title and author's name of the book. To solve this problem, we adopt contour clustering to group connected components of characters on the edge map according to their geometrical features. The experimental results demonstrate that our method is effective for the exaction and recognition of books used by existing automated library robotic systems or mobile devices.
Modelling usage of medical care services: the medical expenditure panel survey data, 1996–2000

We explore the determinants of usage of six different types of health care services, using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data, years 1996–2000. We apply a number of models for univariate count data, including semiparametric, semi-nonparametric and finite mixture models. We find that the complexity of the model that is required to fit the data well depends upon the way in which the data is pooled across sexes and over time, and upon the characteristics of the usage measure. Pooling across time and sexes is almost always favoured, but when more heterogeneous data is pooled it is often the case that a more complex statistical model is required.
Nutrient water quality of the Wye catchment, UK: exploring patterns and fluxes using the Environment Agency data archives

Abstract. Water quality data, collected by the Environment Agency in England and Wales over 10 years (1991 – 2000) were used to examine the spatial distribution of nutrient pollution risk and for assessing broad-scale spatial and temporal variability in nutrient fluxes across the Wye catchment. Nutrient water quality across the upper and middle Wye catchment, and along the main River Wye, is generally very good. However, the main areas of concern lie in the small tributaries in the south and east of the catchment, which have lower dilution capacity and high agricultural and effluent inputs, and where mean Total Reactive Phosphorus (TRP) in some cases exceed 1 mg-P l-1. Indeed, mass load calculations have demonstrated that the lowland south and east portion of the catchment contributes more than 85% of the whole-catchment TRP and more than 78% of nitrate (NO3‾) loads. Ratios of NO3‾:Ca were used to fingerprint different water-types across the catchment, linked to weathering and agricultural activity. The Wye catchment has been subject to two major sets of perturbations during the study period: (i) climatic fluctuations, with a drought during 1995-6, followed by a subsequent drought-break in 1997/8, and extreme high river flows in the autumn/winter of 2000/2001, and (ii) introduction of tertiary P-treatment at major sewage treatment works in the catchment. The implications of these perturbations for the nutrient water quality of the Wye catchment are discussed. Recommendations are made for more targeted monitoring to directly assess diffuse source nutrient contributions. Keywords: nutrients, phosphate, phosphorus, nitrate, nitrogen, river, Wye, PSYCHIC, Defra
N400-like Potentials and Reaction Times Index Semantic Relations between Highly Repeated Individual Words

The N400 ERP is an electrophysiological index of semantic processing. Its amplitude varies with the semantic category of words, their concreteness, or whether their meaning matches that of a preceding context. The results of a number of studies suggest that these effects could be markedly reduced or suppressed for stimuli that are repeated. Nevertheless, we have recently shown that significant effects of semantic matching and category could be obtained on N400-like potentials elicited by massively repeated target words in a prime–target semantic categorization task. If such effects could be obtained when primes also are repeated, it would then be possible to study the semantic associations between individual words. The present study thus aimed to test this hypothesis while (1) controlling for a potential contribution of physical matching to the processing of repeated targets and (2) testing if the N400-like effects obtained in these conditions are modulated by task instruction, as are classic N400 effects. Two category words were used as primes and two exemplars as targets. In one block of trials, subjects had to respond according to the semantic relation between prime and target (semantic instruction) and, in another block, they had to report changes in letter case (physical instruction). Results showed that the amplitude of the N400-like ERP obtained was modulated by semantic matching and category but not by letter case. The effect of semantic matching was observed only in the semantic instruction block. Interestingly, the effect of category was not modulated by task instruction. An independent component analysis showed that the component that made the greatest contribution to the effect of semantic matching in the time window of the N400-like potential had a scalp distribution similar to that reported for the N400 and was best fit as a bilateral generator in the superior temporal gyrus. The use of repetition could thus allow, at least in explicit semantic tasks, a drastic simplification of N400 protocols. Highly repeated individual words could be used to study semantic relations between individual concepts.
Joint Dependency Parsing and Multiword Expression Tokenization

Complex conjunctions and determiners are often considered as pretokenized units in parsing. This is not always realistic, since they can be ambiguous. We propose a model for joint dependency parsing and multiword expressions identification, in which complex function words are represented as individual tokens linked with morphological dependencies. Our graph-based parser includes standard second-order features and verbal subcategoriza-tion features derived from a syntactic lexicon . We train it on a modified version of the French Treebank enriched with morphological dependencies. It recognizes 81.79% of ADV+que conjunctions with 91.57% precision, and 82.74% of de+DET determiners with 86.70% precision.
Cascade-Form Multiplierless FIR Filter Design Using Orthogonal Genetic Algorithm

A genetic-algorithm (GA) based optimization approach for the design of multiplierless FIR filters is presented. The approach exploits a recently-introduced GA, called orthogonal GA (OGA), based on the so-called experimental design technique to obtain fixed-point implementations of linear-phase FIR filters. In the proposed approach, the filter coefficients are treated as chromosomes to be optimized and the effects of finite word length are minimized by considering the filter as a cascade of two sections. The OGA employs an integer encoding scheme for chromosome construction whereby the filter coefficients are expressed in terms of sums of powers of two to obtain the multiplierless design. The optimization is carried out by minimizing an objective function based on the amplitude response error. Experimental results show that the OGA approach leads to improved amplitude response relative to that of an equivalent direct-form cascade filter obtained using the Remez exchange algorithm
On the Use of Properties in Java Applications

When building software systems, developers have to weigh the benefits of using one specific solution approach against the risks and costs of using another one. This process is not random. Certain preferences, architectural styles, and solution domain pressures create systematic biases that we can measure in order to assess their impact on the system being built and the underlying development process itself. In this paper we explore, whether the getter and setter methods in Java give rise to a bias also. Getter and setter methods, called "properties", are perceived commonplace and considered by some as a threat to data encapsulation. However, little empirical evidence exists that can reliably inform us about the real impact of the use of properties in Java. For this reason, we examined 102 open-source Java systems and discovered that properties are employed much more carefully than one might expect. Contrary to some folklore, developers use properties not just to gain access to an object's private state, but in a systematic and responsible manner and, in general, consistent with the domain requirements of the developed software system.
Human capital diversity and product innovation: A micro-level analysis

The paper investigates the relationship between human capital diversity measured in terms of occupational diversity and a firm's likelihood to innovate. The empirical analysis is based on a linked employer-employee panel dataset of German firms over the period 1998 to 2007. Despite notable differences between service and manufacturing firms, our results clearly indicate a positive relationship between occupational diversity and the propensity to innovate.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Benefit Cycles and Student Disciplinary Infractions

Does the timing and frequency of program benefits influence student school outcomes? The poor may be especially vulnerable to income scarcity at the end of welfare program benefit cycles. Such scarcity may strain other aspects of family life and exacerbate children’s behavior problems. We use data from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and school disciplinary records to compare the incidence of disciplinary infractions at the beginning and end of months among Chicago Public School students in grades 5–8 whose families did and did not receive SNAP. Controlling for student and school characteristics, our estimates show that student disciplinary infractions generally spike at the end of the month irrespective of SNAP receipt status. However, spikes are exacerbated among students who receive SNAP benefits. The within-month difference in disciplinary infractions for students in SNAP recipient families is 7 percentage points larger than for nonrecipients. These differences are particularly pronounced for males.
Comparative analysis between Inception-v3 and other learning systems using facial expressions detection

In the last five years or so, Machine Learning has taken the world by storm. From predictive web browsing, to E-mail classification, to autonomous cars; machine learning is at the heart of every intelligent applications that’s in service today. Image Classification and Facial Expression Recognition is another field that has benefited immensely from the emergence of this technology. In particular, an branch of Machine Learning called Deep Learning, has shown tremendous results in this regard even outperforming more conventional methods such as Image Processing. Inspired by neurons in the human brain, Artificial Neural Networks, allow us to map complex functions by stacking layers upon layers of these networks. Our goal in this paper, is to analyze Inception v-3, the best performing high resolution image classifier based on Convolutional Neural Network out there today, with other methods including one of our own to see how it performs on low resolution images detect Facial Expressions.
Thuja occidentalis (Arbor vitae): A Review of its Pharmaceutical, Pharmacological and Clinical Properties

Arbor vitae (Thuja occidentalis L.) is a native European tree widely used in homeopathy and evidence-based phytotherapy. Many reviews and monographs have been published on the herbal substance's description, mode of action and clinical use. However, no comprehensive evidence-based review is available. Therefore, our aim was to search MEDLINE databases and survey manufacturers for further details or unpublished data. This review presents the botany, ethnobotany and phytochemistry, especially the different contents of essential oil (Thujone) in relation to different extraction procedures of this medicinal plant. Thuja's antiviral action and immunopharmacological potential, such as stimulatory and co-stimulatory effects on cytokine and antibody production and activation of macrophages and other immunocompetent cells, have been evaluated in numerous in vitro and in vivo investigations. Although no controlled trials have been conducted on Thuja occ alone, many clinical studies have been performed with a herbal medicinal product containing a special extract of Thuja occ and other immunostimulants, demonstrating its therapeutic efficacy and safety in respiratory tract infections.