Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Relationship Between Generalized Davenport-Schinzel Sequences and Interval Chains

Let an $(r, s)$-formation be a concatenation of $s$ permutations of $r$ distinct letters, and let a block of a sequence be a subsequence of consecutive distinct letters. A $k$-chain on $[1, m]$ is a sequence of $k$ consecutive, disjoint, nonempty intervals of the form $[a_{0}, a_{1}] [a_{1}+1, a_{2}] \ldots [a_{k-1}+1, a_{k}]$ for integers $1 \leq a_{0} \leq a_{1} < \ldots < a_{k} \leq m$, and an $s$-tuple is a set of $s$ distinct integers. An $s$-tuple stabs an interval chain if each element of the $s$-tuple is in a different interval of the chain. Alon et al. (2008) observed similarities between bounds for interval chains and Davenport-Schinzel sequences, but did not identify the cause. We show for all $r \geq 1$ and $1 \leq s \leq k \leq m$ that the maximum number of distinct letters in any sequence $S$ on $m+1$ blocks avoiding every $(r, s+1)$-formation such that every letter in $S$ occurs at least $k+1$ times is the same as the maximum size of a collection $X$ of (not necessarily distinct) $k$-chains on $[1, m]$ so that there do not exist $r$ elements of $X$ all stabbed by the same $s$-tuple. Let $D_{s,k}(m)$ be the maximum number of distinct letters in any sequence which can be partitioned into $m$ blocks, has at least $k$ occurrences of every letter, and has no subsequence forming an alternation of length $s$. Nivasch (2010) proved that $D_{5, 2d+1}(m) = \Theta( m \alpha_{d}(m))$ for all fixed $d \geq 2$. We show that $D_{s+1, s}(m) = \binom{m- \lceil \frac{s}{2} \rceil}{\lfloor \frac{s}{2} \rfloor}$ for all $s \geq 2$. We also prove new lower bounds which imply that $D_{5, 6}(m) = \Theta(m \log \log m)$ and $D_{5, 2d+2}(m) = \Theta(m \alpha_{d}(m))$ for all fixed $d \geq 3$.
Using Principal Component Analysis to Identify Priority Neighbourhoods for Health Services Delivery by Ranking Socioeconomic Status

Objectives. Socioeconomic status (SES) is a comprehensive indicator of health status and is useful in area-level health research and informing public health resource allocation. Principal component analysis (PCA) is a useful tool for developing SES indices to identify area-level disparities in SES within communities. While SES research in Canada has relied on census data, the voluntary nature of the 2011 National Household Survey challenges the validity of its data, especially income variables. This study sought to determine the appropriateness of replacing census income information with tax filer data in neighbourhood SES index development. Methods. Census and taxfiler data for Guelph, Ontario were retrieved for the years 2005, 2006, and 2011. Data were extracted for eleven income and non-income SES variables. PCA was employed to identify significant principal components from each dataset and weights of each contributing variable. Variable-specific factor scores were applied to standardized census and taxfiler data values to produce SES scores. Results. The substitution of taxfiler income variables for census income variables yielded SES score distributions and neighbourhood SES classifications that were similar to SES scores calculated using entirely census variables. Combining taxfiler income variables with census non-income variables also produced clearer SES level distinctions. Internal validation procedures indicated that utilizing multiple principal components produced clearer SES level distinctions than using only the first principal component. Conclusion. Identifying socioeconomic disparities between neighbourhoods is an important step in assessing the level of disadvantage of communities. The ability to replace census income information with taxfiler data to develop SES indices expands the versatility of public health research and planning in Canada, as more data sources can be explored. The apparent usefulness of PCA also contributes to the improvement of SES measurement and calculation methods, and the freedom to input area-specific data allows the present method to be adapted to other locales.
Portal Vein Embolization before Extended Hepatectomy for Biliary Cancer: Current Technique and Review of 494 Consecutive Embolizations

Backgrounds: Portal vein embolization (PVE) has been widely applied before extended hepatectomy; however, its clinical utility for patients with biliary cancer has not been fully addressed. Methods: Between 1991 and 2010, 494 patients with cholangiocarcinoma (n = 353) or gallbladder cancer (n = 141) underwent PVE before extended hepatectomy. PVE was performed by a transhepatic ipsilateral approach using fibrin glue or absolute ethanol with steel coils. Surgical outcomes of this cohort were retrospectively reviewed. Results: PVE-related complications requiring interventions were found in 3 (0.6%) of the 494 patients; no patient died of these complications. Among the 494 patients, 122 (24.7%) did not undergo subsequent hepatectomy. The unresectability rate was significantly higher in patients with gallbladder cancer than in those with cholangiocarcinoma [43.2% (61/141) and 17.3% (61/353), respectively, p < 0.001]. The remaining 372 patients underwent hepatectomy, and 24 (6.5%) died of postoperative complications [13 of 80 (16.3%) with gallbladder cancer vs. 11 of 292 (3.8%) with cholangiocarcinoma, p < 0.05]. The overall survival for patients with cholangiocarcinoma was significantly better than that for patients with gallbladder cancer, where the 5-year survival rate was 39 and 23%, respectively (p < 0.001). Thirty-six patients with cholangiocarcinoma and 10 patients with gallbladder cancer survived more than 5 years after extended surgery. Conclusion: PVE can be performed safely in patients with cholestatic liver, and it has a potential benefit for patients with advanced biliary cancer who are to undergo extended, difficult hepatectomy.
Outcomes of Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy in Cases of Congenital Hydrocephalus Based on MRI CSF Flowmetry and Transcranial Doppler in Infants

Background: Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy (ETV) is considered an alternative to ventriculo-peritoneal (VP) shunt insertion to avoid the shunt complications. To improve the outcome of the infants with congenital hydrocephalus (HCP) through using adjuvant tools with endoscopic third ventriculostomy, which are transcranial Doppler and CSF flowmetry to assess the flow through the ventriculostomy. Objectives: Primary objective was to assess the clinical and radiological outcomes of endoscopic third ventriculostomy in cases of hydrocephalus below two years. Secondary objective was to assess the early and late complications associated with ETV during follow up study. Subjects and methods: This uncontrolled clinical trial included children with congenital HCP attended the Outpatient Neurosurgery Clinics, Suez Canal University Hospitals. Twenty patients, divided into 2 groups: Group I included congenital aqueductal stenosis patients and group II that included patients with Chiari II malformations, using Transcranial Duplex, CT brain and MRI CSF Flowmetry. Results: Patients of hydrocephalus with aqueductal stenosis, after ETV, had statistically higher stroke volume than those suffered from Chiari II pathology (p=0.008) and elicited a statistically reduction in peak systolic velocity (p=0.001), pulsatility index (p=0.001) and mean maximum velocity (p= 0.005). Patients with congenital hydrocephalus of Chiari II pathology had higher rate of complications than that of aqueductal stenosis (p=0.015). Success rate was higher among cases with aqueductal stenosis than in Chiari II pathology (p=0.007). Conclusion: ETV is a safe and effective technique for managing infants with congenital hydrocephalus due to aqueductal stenosis. MRI CSF flowmetry is a reliable method for evaluating the patency of a third ventriculostomy.
A Diversity-Based Approach for Communication Integrity in Critical Embedded Systems

We present, in this paper, a fault-tolerant approach to cope with accidental communication data corruption in critical embedded systems. One of the classical integrity approaches is the redundancy-based approach that consists particularly in replicating the message and sending all copies via the same communication channel consecutively or sending them via replicated communication channels. Yet, such approach is vulnerable to some cases of Common-Mode Failure. So, we propose to diversify the copies to be sent via two independent proposals: i) diversifying either the error detection function (which generate the check bits) or ii) the data payload. This paper focus on the first proposal by presenting experiments and results to validate its effectiveness. Besides, it describes basic theoretical concepts of the second proposal. Our case study is the Flight Control System (FCS). Yet, our approach could be deployed in other systems for which we describe the key properties.
ERA Strain rabies vaccine: oral vaccination of nonhuman primates.

THERE HAS BEEN A GREAT DEAL of interest during the past few years in the vaccination of animals against rabies, using the oral route of administration (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 11). These publications have dealt primarily with the immunization of wildlife. Wiktor and others (6, 9, 10) have shown that primates can be successfully immunized against rabies by various vaccines when inoculated by the parenteral route. This paper reports on the susceptibility of the rhesus monkey to street rabies virus and the immunization of this species against rabies using a modified live virus vaccine ERA Strain® administered by the oral route.
A multiparameter moment-matching model-reduction approach for generating geometrically parameterized interconnect performance models

In this paper, we describe an approach for generating accurate geometrically parameterized integrated circuit interconnect models that are efficient enough for use in interconnect synthesis. The model-generation approach presented is automatic, and is based on a multiparameter moment matching model-reduction algorithm. A moment-matching theorem proof for the algorithm is derived, as well as a complexity analysis for the model-order growth. The effectiveness of the technique is tested using a capacitance extraction example, where the plate spacing is considered as the geometric parameter, and a multiline bus example, where both wire spacing and wire width are considered as geometric parameters. Experimental results demonstrate that the generated models accurately predict capacitance values for the capacitor example, and both delay and cross-talk effects over a reasonably wide range of spacing and width variation for the multiline bus example.
Survival of patients with KRAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer is identical after sequential treatment with cetuximab and bevacizumab regardless of the sequence – A retrospective single-center study

Objective: To investigate the overall survival of patients with KRAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) after sequentially receiving both bevacizumab and cetuximab during the course of treatment. Methods: Twenty-six mCRC patients who received both bevacizumab and cetuximab at the Sun Yat-sen University Gastrointestinal Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Group A (n = 8) comprised patients who received bevacizumab first, and group B (n = 18) comprised those who received cetuximab first. The objective response rate, progression-free survival, and overall survival were compared. Results: Baseline characteristics between the two groups were statistically similar. The objective response in groups A and B patients was 62.5% and 66.6%, respectively (P = 0.132). The median progression-free survival for groups A and B patients was 13 and 10 months, respectively (P = 0.798). The median overall survival for the entire cohort was 42 months, 44 months for group A and 39 months for group p B (P = 0.862) patients, respectively. Patients aged <40 years had worse survival than those aged ≥40 years (22 vs 44 months; P = 0.029). Patients with synchronous metastasis had worse survival than those with metachronous metastasis (unreached and 36 months, respectively). In multivariate analyses, synchronous metastasis and age remained statistically significant. The hazard ratio for synchronous metastasis was 4.548, and the HR for patients aged ≥40 years was 0.237. Conclusion: A longer median survival time was observed in patients regardless of the targeted therapy sequence, which warrants further investigation.
SCALES FOR EXPERIENCING EMOTIONS: AWARENESS, APPRAISAL AND REGULATION OF ONE'S OWN EMOTIONS

Experiencing, appraising and dealing with emotions reinforce mental health and interpersonal skills. The study (N =772) reports the development of a multidimensional test for the experience, evaluation and regulation of emotions. Based on the person-centred theory of personality and on concepts of emotional intelligence, seven construct-related factors of a preliminary study were replicated: bodily experience, overwhelming emotions, imagination, self-control, congruence, lack of emotions, and regulation of emotions. The seven scales, with a total of 42 items, show a satisfactory reliability and validity. Psychotherapy patients are emotionally more unbalanced than the random sample and women are more emotional than men. Overwhelming emotions and the regulation of one's own emotions proved to be more related to disorders than the theory suggests. The test could be useful for clinical and social psychological research, in practice during the initial phase of counselling and psychotherapy, and for outcome verification.
Virtual Communities of Practice for Regional Small Businesses: Bringing Informal Networks Online

Virtual communities of practice (VCoPs) are online business networks which are increasingly used by large organisations as a key strategy for creating value in the knowledge-based economy of the 21st Century.This paper examines the applicability of VCoPs to cross-industry regionally clustered small business networks. Interviews conducted with government and industry informants in two regional areas of Australia indicate that these strategies used for establishing VCoPs are applicable to such small business networks. Both regions had regional networks with active member involvement displaying CoP characteristics. Significant social capital existed on which VCoPs could be built, and there were viable alternatives to satisfy the roles of sponsors and leaders. There were, however, significant impediments that will have to be addressed before VCoPs can be implemented such as the apparent reluctance of many SME owners to use the Internet and ICT generally, and the preference for informal networking. Funding to ensure that VCoPs are sustainable was also an issue. VCoPs appear to be extremely useful in linking small businesses in regional areas and in the development of viable regional clusters.
Transductive Zero-Shot Learning with Reliability-Based Pseudo-Label Integration

Zero-shot Learning (ZSL) involves classifying samples from unseen classes using semantic similarities with seen classes. However, ZSL models are often subject to bias toward seen classes, especially in a generalized setting where test samples could be part of either seen or unseen classes. Although sample labels are not available during the training phase, applying transductive learning, which fine-tunes the classifier using unlabeled data, can enhance ZSL model performance in the absence of training labels for unseen classes. The transductive approach can mitigate bias by integrating pseudo-labeled unseen samples during the training phase. Two reliability criteria are proposed in this study for selecting unseen samples to be integrated into the training set with associated pseudo-labels: raw score and margin score. Utilizing a standard ZSL base model, we evaluate both reliability measures across various sample selection strategies, including balanced and unbalanced selections, with differing integration ratios. Our results demonstrate that reliability-based sample selection significantly improves model performance.
Semantic Abstraction for generalization of tweet classification: An evaluation of incident-related tweets

Social media is a rich source of up-to-date information about events such as incidents. The sheer amount of available information makes machine learning approaches a necessity to process this information further. This learning problem is often concerned with regionally restricted datasets such as data from only one city. Because social media data such as tweets varies considerably across different cities, the training of efficient models requires labeling data from each city of interest, which is costly and time consuming. To avoid such an expensive labeling procedure, a generalizable model can be trained on data from one city and then applied to data from different cities. In this paper, we present Semantic Abstraction to improve the generalization of tweet classification. In particular, we derive features from Linked Open Data and include location and temporal mentions. A comprehensive evaluation on twenty datasets from ten different cities shows that Semantic Abstraction is indeed a valuable means for improving general- ization. We show that this not only holds for a two-class problem where incident-related tweets are separated from non-related ones but also for a four-class problem where three different incident types and a neutral class are distinguished. To get a thorough understanding of the generalization problem itself, we closely examined rule-based models from our evalu- ation. We conclude that on the one hand, the quality of the model strongly depends on the class distribution. On the other hand, the rules learned on cities with an equal class distribution are in most cases much more intuitive than those induced from skewed distributions. We also found that most of the learned rules rely on the novel semantically abstracted features.
Acrylamide Exposure and Risks in Most Frequently Consumed Foods in a Total Diet Study

The neurotoxic and carcinogenic nature of acrylamide, coupled with the recent emphasis of the “probable carcinogenic” status of acrylamide is a cause for concern requiring further studies. The objective of this study was to determine the carcinogenic and neurotoxic risks associated with the consumption of frequently consumed foods in a Total Diet Study (TDS). From a selection of 80 frequently consumed foods, the acrylamide concentrations in the foods were purified by the QuEChERS method of extraction and purification, and the concentrations of acrylamide were determined using the HPLC. Acrylamide was detected in 82% of all the foods analyzed, and the levels ranged from 1.33×10-3 ± 1.89 to 14.39×10-3 ± 6.33 mg/g. The probabilistic approach was used to model the chronic exposures using the Monte Carlo simulation of the Palisade @Risk software. The mean, 50th and 95th percentile values for acrylamide exposures were in the range of 1.56×10-3 to 1.88×10-2, 3.21×10-4 to 5.85×10-3 and 6.16×10-3 to 8.32×10-2 mg/kg bw/day respectively. The mean and 95th percentile values for the margins of exposure (MOE) for the risk of tumorigenesis and neurotoxicity were below the thresholds, hence posing significant public health concern. Generally, the lifetime cancer risks of male consumers were higher compared to that of the female consumers. The median and 95th percentile consumers presented unacceptable risk, since their lifetime cancer risks were greater than the de minimus (10-6). The elements that imparted the most on the overall lifetime cancer risk of the consumers were the exposure duration and the concentration of acrylamide in the foods. To lower these lifetime cancer risks, mitigation studies can thus, be mounted in order to help lower the concentrations of acrylamide in the foods.
The chemical composition of the peculiar companion to the millisecond pulsar in NGC 6397

We present the chemical composition of the bright companion to the millisecond pulsar J1740−5340 in NGC 6397, based on high resolution spectra. Though the large rotation velocity of the star broadens the lines and complicates the analysis, the derived abundances are found fully compatible with those of normal unperturbed stars in NGC 6397, with the exception of a few elements (Li, Ca, and C). The lack of C suggests that the star has been peeled down to regions where incomplete CNO burn- ing occurs, favouring a scenario where the companion is a turn-off star which has lost most of its mass. In addition we found an unexpected large Li abundance, which suggests that fresh 7 Li has been produced on the stellar surface.
Motivation for contemporary tattoo removal: a shift in identity.

OBJECTIVE To compare the results of a 1996 study of tattoo possession and motivation for tattoo removal with those of a 2006 study, in light of today's current strong mainstream tattoo procurement and societal support within the young adult population. DESIGN Descriptive, exploratory study. SETTING Four dermatology clinics in Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, and Texas. PARTICIPANTS The 2006 study included 196 tattooed patients (66 men and 130 women). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Incidence of purchase and possession risk, as measured by a 127-item survey and factor analysis. RESULTS In contrast to the 1996 study, more women (69%) than men (31%) presented for tattoo removal in 2006. Women in the 2006 study were white, single, college educated, and between the ages of 24 and 39 years; they reported being risk takers, having stable family relationships, and moderate to strong religious beliefs (prayer and closeness to God). Commonly, tattoos were obtained at approximately 20 years of age, providing internal expectations of uniqueness and self-identity. Tattoo possession risks were significant, cited when the quest for uniqueness turned into stigmata (P < .001), negative comments (P < .003), and clothes problems (P < .004). CONCLUSIONS In both the 1996 and the 2006 studies, a shift in identity occurred, and removal centered around dissociating from the past. However, in the 2006 study, more women than men were notably affected by possession risks. Societal support for women with tattoos may not be as strong as for men. Rather than having visible tattoos, women may still want to choose self-controlled body site placement, even in our contemporary society.
Logarithmic regret in communicating MDPs Leveraging known dynamics with bandits

We study regret minimization in an average-reward and communicating Markov Decision Process (MDP) with known dynamics, but unknown reward function. Although learning in such MDPs is a priori easier than in fully unknown ones, they are still largely challenging as they include as special cases large classes of problems such as combinatorial semi-bandits. Leveraging the knowledge on transition function in regret minimization, in a statistically efficient way, appears largely unexplored. As it is conjectured that achieving exact optimality in generic MDPs is NP-hard, even with known transitions, we focus on a computationally efficient relaxation, at the cost of achieving order-optimal logarithmic regret instead of exact optimality. We contribute to filling this gap by introducing a novel algorithm based on the popular Indexed Minimum Empirical Divergence strategy for bandits. A key component of the proposed algorithm is a carefully designed stopping criterion leveraging the recurrent classes induced by stationary policies. We derive a non-asymptotic, problem-dependent, and logarithmic regret bound for this algorithm, which relies on a novel regret decomposition leveraging the structure. We further provide an efficient implementation and experiments illustrating its promising empirical performance.