Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lifetime determination for delay tolerant communications in sparse vehicular networks

Classical ad-hoc network algorithms become impractical for Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks when density of vehicles is low in rural areas and during the periods when the vehicle traffic is low in cities (such as at night). End-to-end connectivity requirement of these algorithms causes deflection. Connections get broken when a suitable network element isn't available for data transfer. This problem which occurs in low dense partially connected Vehicular Ad hoc Networks can be solved by using delay tolerant approaches in routing algorithms. By using the store-carry-forward method, data is carried by network elements until a suitable network element is found. By this way, network connectivity is provided in a delayed manner between momentarily disconnected vehicles. In this paper, the impact of delayed transfer of data to an end-to-end transfer and the impact of data lifetime to the network performance are examined. Considering the speed of vehicles and the desired throughput, lifetime of data is determined according to the network connectivity. The results of this study contribute to the fulfilment of the Quality of Service (QoS) requirements in Vehicular Ad Hoc Network applications.
Conformant Probabilistic Planning via CSPs

We present a new algorithm for the conformant probabilistic planning problem. This is a planning problem in which we have probabilistic actions and we want to optimize the probability of achieving the goal, but we have no observations available to us during the course of the plan's execution. Our algorithm is based on a CSP encoding of the problem, and a new more efficient caching scheme. The result is a gain in performance of several orders of magnitude over previous AI planners that have addressed the same problem. We also compare our algorithm to algorithms for decision theoretic planning. There our algorithm is faster on small problems but does not scale as well. We identify the reasons for this, and show that the two types of algorithms are able to take advantage of distinct types of problem structure. Finding an algorithm that can lever both types of structure simultaneously is posed as an interesting open problem.
Exploiting CoDe modeling for the optimization of OLAP queries

The visualization of big-data represents a hard challenge due to the sheer amount of information contained in data warehouses. Thus, the accuracy on data relationships in a representation becomes one of the most crucial aspects to perform business knowledge discovery. A tool that allows to model and visualize information relationships between data is CoDe, which by processing several queries on a data-mart, generates a visualization of such data. However on a large data warehouse, the computation of these queries increases the response time by the query complexity. A common approach to speed up data warehousing is precompute a set of materialized views, store in the warehouse and use them to compute the workload queries. In this paper, we define a process exploiting the CoDe modeling to determine the minimal number of required OLAP queries and to mitigate the problem of view selection, i.e., select the optimal set of materialized views. The results of an experiment on a real data warehouse show an improvement in the range of 62–98% with respect the approach that does not consider materialized views, and 5% wrt. an approach that exploits them.
Notification of occupational skin diseases by dermatologists in The Netherlands.

BACKGROUND A voluntary surveillance scheme of occupational skin diseases (OSDs) in The Netherlands starting in 2001 aimed to improve insight in the incidence of OSD especially occupational contact dermatitis (OCD), risk professions and causal agents. This paper presents the results of this scheme during 2001-05. METHODS Reports of new cases of OSD received from the participating dermatologists on a monthly basis were analysed. Data evaluated included information on diagnosis, sex, age, sickness, absenteeism, profession and causal agents. Relative differences in incidence rates between industries or branches were estimated by calculating incidence rate ratios. RESULTS About 80% of the notifications concerned OCD. The highest number of notifications was recorded in the first year of the scheme. This was probably due to reporting of a mixture of incident and prevalent cases. During the following 5 years, the number of yearly notifications of OSD declined. Hairdressers, nurses, metalworkers, mechanics and cleaners were the most commonly affected professions. Wet work and irritating substances were the most frequently reported causal agents. Most patients with OCD were not absent from work. CONCLUSIONS A voluntary surveillance scheme with dermatologists provides valuable data about the distribution of OCD in risk professions and the causal agents. However, it has certain limitations in assessing trends in incidence. Active medical surveillance in populations at risk should be encouraged not only to improve secondary prevention but also to obtain more reliable information about the incidence of OCD.
Changing identities and practices: transitioning from the role of supervisor to placement tutor in initial teacher education in Ireland

Abstract Recent structural and conceptual changes to initial teacher education (ITE) in Ireland have impacted on the professional roles of many teacher educators. This study explores the perspectives and identity of seven placement tutors on the Professional Master of Education (PME) course in Maynooth University in relation to their role, past and present. The research explores the impact of the change in role title and specification from ‘supervisor’ to ‘placement tutor’ and the impact of this change on the professional role and identity of those undertaking this work. Situated within an interpretive paradigm, the research is exploratory in nature and captures the perspectives of placement tutors as they transition between roles. While the findings indicate much continuity in the role and identity of placement tutors, six distinct tensions emerged from the data. The change in role title and specification impacted on placement tutors in different ways, often depending on their career stage within the role. The community of practice, where shared understandings were nurtured and negotiated, proved instrumental in the shaping of role identity. This group discourse resulted in a situation where their practice had evolved ahead of policy and indeed, informed policy development in the area.
Sensitivity of H-reflexes and stretch reflexes to presynaptic inhibition in humans.

The sensitivity of soleus H-reflexes, T-reflexes, and short-latency stretch reflexes (M1) to presynaptic inhibition evoked by a weak tap applied to the biceps femoris tendon or stimulation of the common peroneal nerve (CPN) was compared in 17 healthy human subjects. The H-reflex was strongly depressed for a period lasting up to 300-400 ms (depression to 48 +/- 23%, mean +/- SD, of control at a conditioning test interval of 70 ms) by the biceps femoris tendon tap. In contrast, the short-latency soleus stretch reflex elicited by a quick passive dorsiflexion of the ankle joint was not depressed. The soleus T-reflex elicited by an Achilles tendon tap was only weakly depressed (92 +/- 8%). The H-reflex was also significantly more depressed than the T-reflex at long intervals (>15 ms) after stimulation of CPN (H-reflex 63 +/- 14%, T-reflex 91 +/- 13%; P < 0. 01). However, the short-latency (2 ms) disynaptic reciprocal Ia inhibition evoked by stimulation of CPN was equally strong for H- and T-reflexes (H-reflex 72 +/- 10%, T-reflex 67 +/- 13%; P = 0.07). Peaks in the poststimulus time histogram (PSTH) of the discharge probability of single soleus motor units (n = 53) elicited by an Achilles tendon tap had a longer duration than peaks evoked by electrical stimulation of the tibial nerve (on average 5.0 ms as compared with 2.7 ms). All parts of the electrically evoked peaks were depressed by the conditioning biceps femoris tendon tap (average depression to 55 +/- 27% of control; P < 0.001). A similar depression was observed for the initial 2 ms of the peaks evoked by the Achilles tendon tap (69 +/- 48%; P < 0.001), but the last 2 ms were not depressed. Conditioning stimulation of the CPN at long intervals (>15 ms) also depressed all parts of the electrically evoked PSTH peaks (n = 34; average 65%; P < 0.001) but had only a significant effect on the initial 2 ms of the peaks evoked by the Achilles tendon tap (85%; P < 0.001). We suggest that the different sensitivity of mechanically and electrically evoked reflexes to presynaptic inhibition is caused by a difference in the shape and composition of the excitatory postsynaptic potentials underlying the two reflexes. This difference may be explained by a different composition and/or temporal dispersion of the afferent volleys evoked by electrical and mechanical stimuli. We conclude that it is not straightforward to predict the modulation of stretch reflexes based on observations of H-reflex modulation.
Sensitivity of the loading margin to voltage collapse with respect to arbitrary parameters

Power system loading margin is a fundamental measure of a system's proximity to voltage collapse. Linear and quadratic estimates to the variation of the loading margin with respect to any power system parameter or control are derived. Tests with a 118-bus system indicate that the estimates accurately predict the quantitative effect on the loading margin of altering the system loading, reactive power support, wheeling, load model parameters, line susceptance and generator dispatch. The accuracy of the estimates over a useful range and the ease of obtaining the linear estimate suggest that this method will be of practical value in avoiding power system voltage collapse.
KRAS, NRAS and BRAF mutations in Greek and Romanian patients with colorectal cancer: a cohort study

Objectives Treatment decision-making in colorectal cancer is often guided by tumour tissue molecular analysis. The aim of this study was the development and validation of a high-resolution melting (HRM) method for the detection of KRAS, NRAS and BRAF mutations in Greek and Romanian patients with colorectal cancer and determination of the frequency of these mutations in the respective populations. Setting Diagnostic molecular laboratory located in Athens, Greece. Participants 2425 patients with colorectal cancer participated in the study. Primary and secondary outcome measures 2071 patients with colorectal cancer (1699 of Greek and 372 of Romanian origin) were analysed for KRAS exon 2 mutations. In addition, 354 tumours from consecutive patients (196 Greek and 161 Romanian) were subjected to full KRAS (exons 2, 3 and 4), NRAS (exons 2, 3 and 4) and BRAF (exon 15) analysis. KRAS, NRAS and BRAF mutation detection was performed by a newly designed HRM analysis protocol, followed by Sanger sequencing. Results KRAS exon 2 mutations (codons 12/13) were detected in 702 of the 1699 Greek patients with colorectal carcinoma analysed (41.3%) and in 39.2% (146/372) of the Romanian patients. Among the 354 patients who were subjected to full KRAS, NRAS and BRAF analysis, 40.96% had KRAS exon 2 mutations (codons 12/13). Among the KRAS exon 2 wild-type patients 15.31% harboured additional RAS mutations and 12.44% BRAF mutations. The newly designed HRM method used showed a higher sensitivity compared with the sequencing method. Conclusions The HRM method developed was shown to be a reliable method for KRAS, NRAS and BRAF mutation detection. Furthermore, no difference in the mutation frequency of KRAS, NRAS and BRAF was observed between Greek and Romanian patients with colorectal cancer.
FISS: application of fuzzy technologies to an internet metasearcher

In this work a concept representation model (FIS-CPU) has been developed, which is based on two types of fuzzy interrelations between words, synonymy and generality, obtained from a fuzzy dictionary of synonyms [1] and a fuzzy ontology respectively. The model has been put into the metasearcher FISS (Fuzzy Interrelations and Synonymy based Searcher) which is able to retrieve groups of web pages conceptually related among them, improving in this way the quality of the search results.
A branch-and-bound algorithm for globally optimal hand-eye calibration

This paper introduces a novel solution to hand-eye calibration problem. It is the first method that uses camera measurements directly and at the same time requires neither prior knowledge of the external camera calibrations nor a known calibration device. Our algorithm uses branch-and-bound approach to minimize an objective function based on the epipolar constraint. Further, it employs Linear Programming to decide the bounding step of the algorithm. The presented technique is able to recover both the unknown rotation and translation simultaneously and the solution is guaranteed to be globally optimal with respect to the L∞-norm.
New Imported Inputs, New Domestic Products

We study the effects of new imported inputs on the entry of new domestic products and their characteristics. To this purpose, we construct a novel, comprehensive and extremely detailed dataset, which contains product-level information on foreign trade and domestic production for 25 EU countries over 1995-2007. Using these data, we identify new domestic goods and new imported inputs, controlling for all changes in commodity classifications over time. We then show that new imported inputs substantially boost the introduction of new domestic products. We also show that this effect is directly proportional to the quality of new imported inputs and inversely related to their price (conditional on quality). Finally, we document that new products are characterized by higher prices and higher quality relative to existing goods, and that such premia are larger the greater is the use of new imported inputs in production.
Adverse events in British hospitals: preliminary retrospective record review

Abstract Objectives: To examine the feasibility of detecting adverse events through record review in British hospitals and to make preliminary estimates of the incidence and costs of adverse events. Design: Retrospective review of 1014 medical and nursing records. Setting: Two acute hospitals in Greater London area. Main outcome measure: Number of adverse events. Results: 110 (10.8%) patients experienced an adverse event, with an overall rate of adverse events of 11.7% when multiple adverse events were included. About half of these events were judged preventable with ordinary standards of care. A third of adverse events led to moderate or greater disability or death. Conclusions: These results suggest that adverse events are a serious source of harm to patients and a large drain on NHS resources. Some are major events; others are frequent, minor events that go unnoticed in routine clinical care but together have massive economic consequences
The Dispersion of Build Maintenance Activity across Maven Lifecycle Phases

Build systems describe how source code is translated into deliverables. Developers use build management tools like Maven to specify their build systems. Past work has shown that while Maven provides invaluable features (e.g., incremental building), it introduces an overhead on software development. Indeed, Maven build systems require maintenance. However, Maven build systems follow the build lifecycle, which is comprised of validate, compile, test, packaging, install, and deploy phases. Little is known about how build maintenance activity is dispersed among these lifecycle phases. To bridge this gap, in this paper, we analyze the dispersion of build maintenance activity across build lifecycle phases. Through analysis of 1,181 GitHub repositories that use Maven, we find that: (1) the compile phase accounts for 24% more of the build maintenance activity than the other phases; and (2) while the compile phase generates a consistent amount of maintenance activity over time, the other phases tend to generate peaks and valleys of maintenance activity. Software teams that use Maven should plan for these shifts in the characteristics of build maintenance activity.
Formulation and in vitro evaluation of floating tablets of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose and polyethylene oxide using ranitidine hydrochloride as a model drug

The present study was carried out with an objective of preparation and in vitro evaluation of floating tablets of hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) and polyethylene oxide (PEO) using ranitidine hydrochloride as a model drug. The floating tablets were based on effervescent approach using sodium bicarbonate a gas generating agent. The tablets were prepared by dry granulation method. The effect of polymers concentration and viscosity grades of HPMC on drug release profile was evaluated. The effect of sodium bicarbonate and stearic acid on drug release profile and floating properties were also investigated. The result of in vitro dissolution study showed that the drug release profile could be sustained by increasing the concentration of HPMC K15MCR and Polyox WSR303. The formulation containing HPMC K15MCR and Polyox WSR303 at the concentration of 13.88% showed 91.2% drug release at the end of 24 hours. Changing the viscosity grade of HPMC from K15MCR to K100MCR had no significant effect on drug release profile. Sodium bicarbonate and stearic acid in combination showed no significant effect on drug release profile. The formulations containing sodium bicarbonate 20 mg per tablet showed desired buoyancy (floating lag time of about 2 minutes and total floating time of >24 hours). The present study shows that polymers like HPMC K15MCR and Polyox WSR303 in combination with sodium bicarbonate as a gas generating agent can be used to develop sustained release floating tablets of ranitidine hydrochloride.
Circulant Matrices and Differential Privacy

This paper resolves an open problem raised by Blocki {\it et al.} (FOCS 2012), i.e., whether other variants of the Johnson-Lindenstrauss transform preserves differential privacy or not? We prove that a general class of random projection matrices that satisfies the Johnson-Lindenstrauss lemma also preserves differential privacy. This class of random projection matrices requires only $n$ Gaussian samples and $n$ Bernoulli trials and allows matrix-vector multiplication in $O(n \log n)$ time. In this respect, this work unconditionally improves the run time of Blocki {\it et al.} (FOCS 2012) without using the graph sparsification trick of Upadhyay (ASIACRYPT 2013). For the metric of measuring randomness, we stick to the norm used by earlier researchers who studied variants of the Johnson-Lindenstrauss transform and its applications, i.e., count the number of random samples made. In concise, we improve the sampling complexity by quadratic factor, and the run time of cut queries by an $O(n^{o(1)})$ factor and that of covariance queries by an $O(n^{0.38})$ factor.
Integral Solutions of Linear Complementarity Problems

We characterize the class of integral square matrices M having the property that for every integral vector q the linear complementarity problem with data M, q has only integral basic solutions. These matrices, called principally unimodular matrices? , are those for which every principal nonsingular submatrix is unimodular. As a consequence, we show that if M is rank-symmetric and principally unimodular, and q is integral, then the problem has an integral solution if it has a solution. Principal unimodularity can be regarded as an extension of total unimodularity, and our results can be regarded as extensions of well-known results on integral solutions to linear programs. We summarize what is known about principally unimodular symmetric and skew-symmetric matrices.
Evaluating Land Subsidence Rates and Their Implications for Land Loss in the Lower Mississippi River Basin

High subsidence rates, along with eustatic sea-level change, sediment accumulation and shoreline erosion have led to widespread land loss and the deterioration of ecosystem health around the Lower Mississippi River Basin (LMRB). A proper evaluation of the spatial pattern of subsidence rates in the LMRB is the key to understanding the mechanisms of the submergence, estimating its potential impacts on land loss and the long-term sustainability of the region. Based on the subsidence rate data derived from benchmark surveys from 1922 to 1995, this paper constructed a subsidence rate surface for the region through the empirical Bayesian kriging (EBK) interpolation method. The results show that the subsidence rates in the region ranged from 1.7 to 29 mm/year, with an average rate of 9.4 mm/year. Subsidence rates increased from north to south as the outcome of both regional geophysical conditions and anthropogenic activities. Four areas of high subsidence rates were found, and they are located in Orleans, Jefferson, Terrebonne and Plaquemines parishes. A projection of future landscape loss using the interpolated subsidence rates reveals that areas below zero elevation in the LMRB will increase from 3.86% in 2004 to 19.79% in 2030 and 30.88% in 2050. This translates to a growing increase of areas that are vulnerable to land loss from 44.3 km2/year to 240.7 km2/year from 2011 to 2050. Under the same scenario, Lafourche, Plaquemines and Terrebonne parishes will experience serious loss of wetlands, whereas Orleans and Jefferson parishes will lose significant developed land, and Lafourche parish will endure severe loss of agriculture land.
Development of a Modified Naturalistic Action Test for Korean Patients With Impaired Cognition

Objective To develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a modified Naturalistic Action Test (m-NAT) for Korean patients with impaired cognition. The NAT was originally designed to assess everyday action impairment associated with higher cortical dysfunction. Methods We developed the m-NAT by adapting the NAT for the Korean cultural background. The m-NAT was modeled as closely as possible on the original version in terms of rules and scoring. Thirty patients receiving neurorehabilitation (twenty-three stroke patients, five traumatic brain injury patients, and two dementia patients) and twenty healthy matched controls were included. Inter-rater reliability was assessed between two raters. Validity was evaluated by comparing the m-NAT score with various measures of attention, executive functions, and daily life. Results Performance on the m-NAT in terms of the total score was significantly different between patients and controls (p<0.01). Patients made significantly more total errors than controls (p<0.01). Omissions error was the most frequent type of error in patient group. Intraclass correlation coefficients for total m-NAT score was 0.95 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.92 to 0.97; p<0.001); total error was 0.91 (95% CI, 0.89 to 0.92; p<0.001). Total m-NAT score showed moderate to strong correlations with Stroop test interference score & index, Trail Making Test parts A and B, Sustained Attention to Response Task commission error, Functional Independence Measure, Korean instrumental activities of daily living, Korean version of the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire, and Executive Behavior Scale (p<0.05). Conclusion The m-NAT showed very good inter-rater reliability and adequate validity. The m-NAT adjusted to Korean cultural background can be useful in performance-based assessment of naturalistic action for clinical and research purposes.