Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluating machine learning for information extraction

Comparative evaluation of Machine Learning (ML) systems used for Information Extraction (IE) has suffered from various inconsistencies in experimental procedures. This paper reports on the results of the Pascal Challenge on Evaluating Machine Learning for Information Extraction, which provides a standardised corpus, set of tasks, and evaluation methodology. The challenge is described and the systems submitted by the ten participants are briefly introduced and their performance is analysed.
Discriminative Learning of Max-Sum Classifiers

The max-sum classifier predicts n-tuple of labels from n-tuple of observable variables by maximizing a sum of quality functions defined over neighbouring pairs of labels and observable variables. Predicting labels as MAP assignments of a Random Markov Field is a particular example of the max-sum classifier. Learning parameters of the max-sum classifier is a challenging problem because even computing the response of such classifier is NP-complete in general. Estimating parameters using the Maximum Likelihood approach is feasible only for a subclass of max-sum classifiers with an acyclic structure of neighbouring pairs. Recently, the discriminative methods represented by the perceptron and the Support Vector Machines, originally designed for binary linear classifiers, have been extended for learning some subclasses of the max-sum classifier. Besides the max-sum classifiers with the acyclic neighbouring structure, it has been shown that the discriminative learning is possible even with arbitrary neighbouring structure provided the quality functions fulfill some additional constraints. In this article, we extend the discriminative approach to other three classes of max-sum classifiers with an arbitrary neighbourhood structure. We derive learning algorithms for two subclasses of max-sum classifiers whose response can be computed in polynomial time: (i) the max-sum classifiers with supermodular quality functions and (ii) the max-sum classifiers whose response can be computed exactly by a linear programming relaxation. Moreover, we show that the learning problem can be approximately solved even for a general max-sum classifier.
FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY AND THERMAL ANALYSES OF KAOLINITIC CLAYS FROM SOUTH AFRICA AND CAMEROON

In this study, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetry (TGA) are used as complementary techniques to investigate structural order and phase transformation associated with thermal decomposition of selected kaolins from South Africa and Cameroon. The samples exhibit poorly resolved, weak intensity OH stretching and bending vibrations of structural water, characteristic kaolinite dehydroxylation temperatures (500 – 560 C), low to high mass loss (6.5 to 19.4 %) and asymmetrical DSC curves. The results infer poor to partially ordered structures associated with significant quartz and iron oxide contamination. Compared against other commercial kaolins, the studied samples show moderate to good potentials for use in structural ceramics and refractories. ARTICLE INFO
Team mental models and team performance: a field study of the effects of team mental model similarity and accuracy

Summary We conducted a field study of 71 action teams to examine the relationship between team mental model similarity and accuracy and the performance of real-world teams. We used Pathfinder to operationalize team members’ taskwork mental models (describing team procedures, tasks, and equipment) and teamwork mental models (describing team interaction processes) and examined team performance as evaluated by expert team assessment center raters. Both taskwork mental model and teamwork mental model similarity predicted team performance. Team mental model accuracy measures were also predictive of team performance. We discuss the implications of our findings and directions for future research. Copyright # 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Optimal Replica Distribution to Minimize the Search Size in the Unstructured Overlay

Replication is a widely used technique in unstructured overlays to improve the content availability or the system performance. Among the prior work on replication, a fundamental question is often addressed: how many replicas should be kept for each data item if given the fixed request rates and the limited storage capability? The Square-Root Replication, in which the replica number of an item is proportional to the square root of its global request rate and proportional to its item size, is usually considered to be optimal as far as the minimization of the search size is concerned. However, our work shows that this viewpoint is not always true, especially in the realistic environments. Firstly, we hold that the replica number should be inversely proportional to the square root of the item size in the optimal replication under the theoretical settings. Secondly, the Square-Root Replication is not optimal when TTL (Time to Live) is small or replica density is low in the practical applications. In this paper, we firstly formulate the questions and present the formal proofs, and finally provide some simulations to validate our conclusions.
Fertility of HIV-infected women: insights from Demographic and Health Surveys

Objective To analyse the data from Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) linking HIV serological data and fertility, and to recommend new age-specific fertility rate (ASFR) ratios of HIV-positive women to HIV-negative women to be used in the WHO/UNAIDS HIV estimates. Methods The authors obtained ASFRs and ASFR ratios from HIV-infected women and HIV-uninfected women from 20 DHS surveys collected between 2003 and 2007. The authors then computed mean and median ASFR ratios, and performed general linear modelling to estimate the overall ASFR ratio for each age group, and finally performed an analysis to identify determinants to national ASFR ratio for women aged 15–19 years old. Results The overall ASFR ratio estimated by regression was highest among women aged 15–19 years old (ASFR ratio of 1.20), and decreased with age (ASFR ratio of 0.76, 0.71, 0.65, 0.59 and 0.53, respectively for every 5-year bracket of 20–44 years old). The mean and median of ASFR ratios among 20 countries were similar to the results above. The analysis suggested that country-specific proportion of sexually active women aged 15–19 years old could be a determinant of the ASFR ratio for this group. The higher proportion of sexually active women in this group suggested a lower ASFR ratio in young women. Conclusion This study confirmed previous findings of a high ASFR ratio among women younger than 20 years old, and of decreasing ASFR ratios with age among those aged 20 years or older, based on nationally representative data from a large number of countries. The study updated the assumptions used in the annual WHO/UNAIDS HIV epidemic estimates. Countries should compute their own ASFR ratio of 15–19-year-old women accounting for the sexually active rate among young females.
DRISEE overestimates errors in metagenomic sequencing data

The extremely high error rates reported by Keegan et al. in ‘A platform-independent method for detecting errors in metagenomic sequencing data: DRISEE’ (PLoS Comput Biol 2012;8:e1002541) for many next-generation sequencing datasets prompted us to re-examine their results. Our analysis reveals that the presence of conserved artificial sequences, e.g. Illumina adapters, and other naturally occurring sequence motifs accounts for most of the reported errors. We conclude that DRISEE reports inflated levels of sequencing error, particularly for Illumina data. Tools offered for evaluating large datasets need scrupulous review before they are implemented.
Travelling through wormholes: a new look at distributed systems models

The evolution of distributed computing and applications has put new challenges on models, architectures and systems. To name just one, 'reconciling uncertainty with predictability' is required by today's simultaneous pressure on increasing the quality of service of applications, and on degrading the assurance given by the infrastructure.This challenge can be mapped onto more than one facet, such as time or security or others. In this paper we explore the time facet, reviewing past and present of distributed systems models, and making the case for the use of hybrid (vs. homogeneous) models, as a key to overcoming some of the difficulties faced when asynchronous models (uncertainty) meet timing specifications (predictability). The Wormholes paradigm is described as the first experiment with hybrid distributed systems models.
Classification of Vitamin D Status Based on Vitamin D Metabolism: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Hypertensive Patients

Circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) is the generally accepted indicator of vitamin D status. Since hydroxylation of 25(OH)D to 24-25-dihydroxyvitamin D (24,25(OH)2D) is the first step of its catabolism, it has been suggested that a low 24,25(OH)D level and a low vitamin D metabolite ratio (VMR), i.e., 24,25(OH)2D divided by 25(OH)D, may indicate high vitamin D requirements and provide additional diagnostic information beyond serum 25(OH)D. We, therefore, evaluated whether the classification of “functional vitamin D deficiency”, i.e., 25(OH)D below 50 nmol/L, 24,25(OH)2D below 3 nmol/L and a VMR of less than 4%, identifies individuals who benefit from vitamin D supplementation. In participants of the Styrian Vitamin D Hypertension trial, a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in 200 hypertensive patients with serum 25(OH)D below 75 nmol/L, who received either 2.800 international units of vitamin D per day or placebo over 8 weeks, 51 participants had functional vitamin D deficiency. In these individuals, there was no treatment effect of vitamin D supplementation on various parameters of bone metabolism and cardiovascular risk except for a significant effect on parathyroid hormone (PTH) and expected changes in vitamin D metabolites. In conclusion, a low vitamin D metabolite profile did not identify individuals who significantly benefit from vitamin D supplementation with regard to bone markers and cardiovascular risk factors. The clinical significance of functional vitamin D deficiency requires further evaluation in large vitamin D RCTs.
Information Rigidity and the Expectations Formation Process: A Simple Framework and New Facts

We propose a new approach to test of the null of full-information rational expectations which is informative about whether rejections of the null reflect departures from rationality or full-information. This approach can also quantify the economic significance of departures from the null by mapping them into the underlying degree of information rigidity faced by economic agents. Applying this approach to both U.S. and cross-country data of professional forecasters and other economic agents yields pervasive evidence of informational rigidities that can be explained by models of imperfect information. Furthermore, the proposed approach sheds new light on the implications of policies such as inflation-targeting and those leading to the Great Moderation on expectations. Finally, we document evidence of state-dependence in the expectations formation process.
The protease inhibitor, N-acetyl-L-leucyl-L-leucyl-leucyl-L- norleucinal, decreases the pool of major histocompatibility complex class I-binding peptides and inhibits peptide trimming in the endoplasmic reticulum

N-acetyl-L-leucyl-L-leucyl-L-norleucinal, (LLnL), which inhibits proteasomes in addition to other proteases, was found to prolong the association of major histocompatibility complex class I molecules with the transporters associated with antigen processing (TAP), and to slow their transport out of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). LLnL induced a reversible accumulation of ubiquitinated proteins and changed the spectrum of peptides bound by class I molecules. These effects can probably be attributed to proteasome inhibition. Unexpectedly, in the TAP-deficient cell line . 174, the rate of intracellular transport of human histocompatibility leukocyte antigen (HLA) A2 was also reduced by LLnL, and the generation of most HLA-A2-associated signal sequence peptides was inhibited. The inhibition of HLA-A2 transport in . 174 cells was found to be less sensitive to LLnL than in wild-type cells, and a similar difference was found for a second protease inhibitor, benzyloxycarbonyl-L-leucyl-L-leucyl-L-phenylalanilal. These data suggest that under some conditions such inhibitors can block trimming of peptides by an ER peptidase in addition to inhibiting cytosolic peptide generation.
Query reformulation by leveraging crowd wisdom for scenario-based software search

The Internet-scale open source software (OSS) production in various communities are generating abundant reusable resources for software developers. However, how to retrieve and reuse the desired and mature software from huge amounts of candidates is a great challenge: there are usually big gaps between the user application contexts (that often used as queries) and the OSS key words (that often used to match the queries). In this paper, we define the scenario-based query problem for OSS retrieval, and then we propose a novel approach to reformulate the raw query by leveraging the crowd wisdom from millions of developers to improve the retrieval results. We build a software-specific domain lexical database based on the knowledge in open source communities, by which we can expand and optimize the input queries. The experiment results show that, our approach can reformulate the initial query effectively and outperforms other existing search engines significantly at finding mature software.
Shortest path versus multi-hub routing in networks with uncertain demand

We study a class of robust network design problems motivated by the need to scale core networks to meet increasingly dynamic capacity demands. Past work has focused on designing the network to support all hose matrices (all matrices not exceeding marginal bounds at the nodes). This model may be too conservative if additional information on traffic patterns is available. Another extreme is the fixed demand model, where one designs the network to support peak point-to-point demands. We introduce a capped hose model to explore a broader range of traffic matrices which includes the above two as special cases. It is known that optimal designs for the hose model are always determined by single-hub routing, and for the fixed-demand model are based on shortest-path routing. We shed light on the wider space of capped hose matrices in order to see which traffic models are more shortest path-like as opposed to hub-like. To address the space in between, we use hierarchical multi-hub routing templates, a generalization of hub and tree routing. In particular, we show that by adding peak capacities into the hose model, the single-hub tree-routing template is no longer cost-effective. This initiates the study of a class of robust network design (RND) problems restricted to these templates. Our empirical analysis is based on a heuristic for this new hierarchical RND problem. We also propose that it is possible to define a routing indicator that accounts for the strengths of the marginals and peak demands and use this information to choose the appropriate routing template. We benchmark our approach against other well-known routing templates, using representative carrier networks and a variety of different capped hose traffic demands, parameterized by the relative importance of their marginals as opposed to their point-to-point peak demands. This study also reveals conditions under which multi-hub routing gives improvements over single-hub and shortest-path routings.
The Collaterals of the Coronary Arteries in Normal and Pathologic Hearts

The collateral vessels of normal and pathologic hearts were studied by making plastic casts of the coronary vessels. The normal heart possesses conspicuous coronary anastomoses. The localization, the development and to a certain extent, the incidence was studied. The maximum increase in collateral vessels was observed in cases of coronary narrowing; a less pronounced increase was found in conditions of chronic hypoxemia.
Cancer Therapy : Preclinical Targeting Small Cell Lung Cancer Harboring PIK 3 CA Mutation with a Selective Oral PI 3 K Inhibitor PF-4989216

Purpose:Constitutive activation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) occurs frequently inmany human tumors via either gene mutation in the p110a catalytic subunit of PI3K or functional loss of tumor suppressor PTEN. Patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) have very poor prognosis and survival rates such that an effective targeted therapy is in strong demand for these patients. In this study, we characterized the highly selective oral PI3K inhibitor, PF-4989216, in preclinical SCLC models to investigate whether targeting the PI3K pathway is an effective targeted therapy option for SCLCs that harbor a PIK3CAmutation. Experimental Design: A panel of SCLC cell lines with PIK3CAmutation or PTEN loss were treated with PF-4989216 in several in vitro assays, including PI3K pathway signaling, cell viability, apoptosis, cell-cycle progression, and cell transformation. SCLC cell lines that were sensitive in vitro to PF-4989216 were further evaluated by in vivo animal studies to determine the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic relationship and tumor growth inhibition (TGI) by PF-4989216 treatment. Results: PF-4989216 inhibited PI3K downstream signaling and subsequently led to apoptosis induction, and inhibition in cell viability, transformation, and xenograft tumor growth in SCLCs harboring PIK3CA mutation. In SCLCs with PTEN loss, PF-4989216 also inhibited PI3K signaling but did not induce BCL2interacting mediator (BIM)-mediated apoptosis nor was there any effect on cell viability or transformation. These results implicate differential tumorigenesis and apoptosis mechanisms in SCLCs harboring PIK3CA mutation versus PTEN loss. Conclusions:Our results suggest that PF-4989216 is a potential cancer drug candidate for patients with SCLC with PIK3CA mutation but not PTEN loss. Clin Cancer Res; 20(3); 631–43. 2013 AACR.
Enhanced oral bioavailability of valsartan using a polymer-based supersaturable self-microemulsifying drug delivery system

A novel, supersaturable self-microemulsifying drug delivery system (S-SMEDDS) was successfully formulated to enhance the dissolution and oral absorption of valsartan (VST), a poorly water-soluble drug, while reducing the total quantity for administration. Poloxamer 407 is a selectable, supersaturating agent for VST-containing SMEDDS composed of 10% Capmul® MCM, 45% Tween® 20, and 45% Transcutol® P. The amounts of SMEDDS and Poloxamer 407 were chosen as formulation variables for a 3-level factorial design. Further optimization was established by weighting different levels of importance on response variables for dissolution and total quantity, resulting in an optimal S-SMEDDS in large quantity (S-SMEDDS_LQ; 352 mg in total) and S-SMEDDS in reduced quantity (S-SMEDDS_RQ; 144.6 mg in total). Good agreement was observed between predicted and experimental values for response variables. Consequently, compared with VST powder or suspension and SMEDDS, both S-SMEDDS_LQ and S-SMEDDS_RQ showed excellent in vitro dissolution and in vivo oral bioavailability in rats. The magnitude of dissolution and absorption-enhancing capacities using quantity-based comparisons was in the order S-SMEDDS_RQ > S-SMEDDS_LQ > SMEDDS > VST powder or suspension. Thus, we concluded that, in terms of developing an effective SMEDDS preparation with minimal total quantity, S-SMEDDS_RQ is a promising candidate.
"...better to use a lock screen than to worry about saving a few seconds of time": Effect of Fear Appeal in the Context of Smartphone Locking Behavior

Using a secure screen lock mechanism is important to prevent unauthorized access and compromise of valuable data stored on smartphones. However, many users still choose not to use any such mechanism and often state inconvenience as the main reason. In this paper, we argue that lack of risk awareness plays an important role behind many users’ insecure behavior rather than inconvenience, which can be addressed by communicating risks more effectively. To test this hypothesis, we designed an informational video explaining the risks of unauthorized access to smartphones with no screen lock. We compared a control group (n = 114) to a treatment group that viewed the video (n = 114) in terms of risk perceptions, concerns, and attitudes towards secure screen lock methods. Subsequently, a follow-up study was conducted to see whether the video was effective in changing participants’ behavior or not (i.e., enabling a secure screen lock). We found statistically significant differences between treatment and control group participants in terms of perceived severity, risk awareness, response cost, and privacy and security concerns. Furthermore, the follow-up study revealed that significantly more participants in the treatment group enabled a secure screen lock than those in the control group (48/96 (50%) vs. 21/98 (21%), respectively). Finally, we present our analysis of qualitative data to further explain participants’ behavior.
Percutaneous radiological gastrostomy: a safe and effective method of nutritional tube placement in advanced ALS

Background: Enteral nutrition may be required in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and is usually achieved by percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG). As PEG is not indicated in patients with severe respiratory impairment, an alternative is percutaneous radiological gastrostomy (PRG), involving air insufflation into the stomach under fluoroscopic guidance for tube insertion. Objective: To evaluate the safety of PRG and its effect on survival and respiratory function in ALS patients with respiratory failure. Methods: 25 consecutive ALS patients with severe dysphagia and forced vital capacity (FVC) <50% underwent PRG after October 2000. They were compared with 25 consecutive ALS patients with FVC <50% who underwent PEG before October 2000. Respiratory function was evaluated before and after the procedure. Results: The two groups were similar for all relevant characteristics. PRG was successful in all cases, PEG in 23/25. One patient in each group died after the procedure. The mean survival time after the procedure was 204 days in the PRG group and 85 days in the PEG group (p<0.004). Respiratory function decreased more in the PEG group than in the PRG group (p<0.02). Conclusions: PRG appears to be safer than PEG in ALS patients with moderate or severe respiratory impairment, and is followed by a longer survival.
Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health Epidemiological and Clinical Use of Gmhat-pc (global Mental Health Assessment Tool – Primary Care) in Cardiac Patients

Background: A computer assisted interview, the GMHAT/PC has been developed to assist General Practitioners and other Health Professionals to make a quick, convenient and comprehensive standardised mental health assessment. It has proved to be a reliable and valid tool in our previous studies involving General Practitioners and Nurses. Little is known about its use in cardiac rehabilitation settings.