Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence and Epidemiological Characteristics of Endoscopically Proven Reflux Esophagitis in Children in Korea

Purpose The prevalence of reflux esophagitis (RE) has increased recently in Korea. Little is known concerning the prevalence and characteristics of RE in pediatric patients. This study investigated the prevalence and influence of risk factors in endoscopically proven RE in Korea in pediatric patients over a period of 14 years. Methods A retrospective chart review of all patients between the ages of 1 month and 20 years who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy at Samsung Medical Center between 2001 and 2014 was carried out. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to identify independent risk factors for RE. Results The prevalence rate of endoscopically proven RE in this study was 28.7% (978/3,413). The prevalence of RE increased from 11.8% from 2001 to 2007 to 37.7% from 2008 to 2014. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that residency in the Greater Gangnam area (odds ratio [OR], 1.21; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-1.44) and age (OR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.11-1.15) were significant predictive factors for the presence of RE. Conclusion The prevalence rate of endoscopically proven pediatric RE has increased over the past 14 years. Residency and older age are more important independent risk factors for pediatric RE in Korea.
Relationship between Heat-Labile Enterotoxin Secretion Capacity and Virulence in Wild Type Porcine-Origin Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli Strains

Heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) is an important virulence factor secreted by some strains of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC). The prototypic human-origin strain H10407 secretes LT via a type II secretion system (T2SS). We sought to determine the relationship between the capacity to secrete LT and virulence in porcine-origin wild type (WT) ETEC strains. Sixteen WT ETEC strains isolated from cases of severe diarrheal disease were analyzed by GM1ganglioside enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to measure LT concentrations in culture supernatants. All strains had detectable LT in supernatants by 2 h of culture and 1 strain, which was particularly virulent in gnotobiotic piglets (3030-2), had the highest LT secretion level all porcine-origin WT strains tested (P<0.05). The level of LT secretion (concentration in supernatants at 6-h culture) explained 92% of the variation in time-to-a-moribund-condition (R2 = 0.92, P<0.0001) in gnotobiotic piglets inoculated with either strain 3030-2, or an ETEC strain of lesser virulence (2534-86), or a non-enterotoxigenic WT strain (G58-1). All 16 porcine ETEC strains were positive by PCR analysis for the T2SS genes, gspD and gspK, and bioinformatic analysis of 4 porcine-origin strains for which complete genomic sequences were available revealed a T2SS with a high degree of homology to that of H10407. Maximum Likelihood phylogenetic trees constructed using T2SS genes gspC, gspD, gspE and homologs showed that strains 2534-86 and 3030-2 clustered together in the same clade with other porcine-origin ETEC strains in the database, UMNK88 and UMN18. Protein modeling of the ATPase gene (gspE) further revealed a direct relationship between the predicted ATP-binding capacities and LT secretion levels as follows: H10407, -8.8 kcal/mol and 199 ng/ml; 3030-2, -8.6 kcal/mol and 133 ng/ml; and 2534-86, -8.5 kcal/mol and 80 ng/ml. This study demonstrated a direct relationship between predicted ATP-binding capacity of GspE and LT secretion, and between the latter and virulence.
Low relative error in consumer-grade GPS units make them ideal for measuring small-scale animal movement patterns

Consumer-grade GPS units are a staple of modern field ecology, but the relatively large error radii reported by manufacturers (up to 10 m) ostensibly precludes their utility in measuring fine-scale movement of small animals such as insects. Here we demonstrate that for data collected at fine spatio-temporal scales, these devices can produce exceptionally accurate data on step-length and movement patterns of small animals. With an understanding of the properties of GPS error and how it arises, it is possible, using a simple field protocol, to use consumer grade GPS units to collect step-length data for the movement of small animals that introduces a median error as small as 11 cm. These small error rates were measured in controlled observations of real butterfly movement. Similar conclusions were reached using a ground-truth test track prepared with a field tape and compass and subsequently measured 20 times using the same methodology as the butterfly tracking. Median error in the ground-truth track was slightly higher than the field data, mostly between 20 and 30 cm, but even for the smallest ground-truth step (70 cm), this is still a signal-to-noise ratio of 3:1, and for steps of 3 m or more, the ratio is greater than 10:1. Such small errors relative to the movements being measured make these inexpensive units useful for measuring insect and other small animal movements on small to intermediate scales with budgets orders of magnitude lower than survey-grade units used in past studies. As an additional advantage, these units are simpler to operate, and insect or other small animal trackways can be collected more quickly than either survey-grade units or more traditional ruler/gird approaches.
Relativistic blast waves and synchrotron emission

Relativistic shocks can accelerate particles by the first-order Fermi mechanism; the particles then emit synchrotron emission in the post-shock gas. This process is of particular interest in the models used for the afterglow of gamma-ray bursts. In this paper we use recent results in the theory of particle acceleration at highly relativistic shocks to model the synchrotron emission in an evolving, inhomogeneous and highly relativistic flow. We have developed a numerical code that integrates the relativistic Euler equations for fluid dynamics with a general equation of state, together with a simple transport equation for the accelerated particles. We present tests of this code and, in addition, we use it to study the gamma-ray burst afterglow predicted by the fireball model, along with the hydrodynamics of a spherically-symmetric relativistic blast wave. We find that, while broadly speaking the behaviour of the emission is similar to that already predicted with semi-analytic approaches, the detailed behaviour is somewhat different. The ‘breaks’ in the synchrotron spectrum behave differently with time, and the spectrum above the final break is harder than had previously been expected. These effects are due to the incorporation of the geometry of the (spherical) blast wave, along with relativistic beaming and adiabatic cooling of the energetic particles leading to a mix, in the observed spectrum, between recently injected ‘uncooled’ particles and the older ‘cooled’ population in different parts of the evolving, inhomogeneous flow.
Role of inflammatory cytokines and eNOS gene polymorphism in pathophysiology of pre-eclampsia.

PROBLEM Pre-eclampsia involves endothelial vascular dysfunction. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that (i) endothelial nitric oxide (NO) synthase Glu298Asp gene polymorphism limits constitutive NO production causing endothelial dysfunction and (ii) inflammatory cytokines impairs endothelium dependent relaxation in pre-eclampsia. METHOD OF STUDY This cross-sectional study included 50 women with pre-eclampsia and 50 healthy pregnant women. Their blood samples were analyzed for NO, inflammatory cytokines and endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) gene polymorphism. RESULT Decreased NO levels whereas increased tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin (IL)-6 and interleukin-2 were found in pre-eclampsia (P < 0.001). No significant differences were found in genotype/allele distribution between two groups. Significant negative correlation was observed between NO and IL-6 in pre-eclamptic group (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION An IL-6-mediated endothelium dependent NO-cyclic guanine monophosphate-mediated relaxation pathway may be inhibited in systemic vessels in pre-eclampsia. As observed in this study Glu298Asp eNOS gene polymorphism did not showed significant association with pre-eclampsia.
20.453j / 2.771j / Hst.958j Biomedical Information Technology Relational Databases for Querying Xml Documents: Limitations and Opportunities

XML is fast emerging as the dominant standard for representing data in the World Wide Web. Sophisticated query engines that allow users to effectively tap the data stored in XML documents will be crucial to exploiting the full power of XML. While there has been a great deal of activity recently proposing new semi-structured data models and query languages for this purpose, this paper explores the more conservative approach of using traditional relational database engines for processing XML documents conforming to Document Type Descriptors (DTDs). To this end, we have developed algorithms and implemented a prototype system that converts XML documents to relational tuples, translates semi-structured queries over XML documents to SQL queries over tables, and converts the results to XML. We have qualitatively evaluated this approach using several real DTDs drawn from diverse domains. It turns out that the relational approach can handle most (but not all) of the semantics of semi-structured queries over XML data, but is likely to be effective only in some cases. We identify the causes for these limitations and propose certain extensions to the relational Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial advantage, the VLDB copyright notice and the title of the publication and its date appear, and notice is given that copying is by permission of the Very Large Data Base Endowment. To copy otherwise, or to republish, requires a fee and/or special permission from the Endowment model that would make it more appropriate for processing queries over XML documents.
Incremental Online Learning in High Dimensions

Abstract Locally weighted projection regression (LWPR) is a new algorithm for incremental nonlinear function approximation in high-dimensional spaces with redundant and irrelevant input dimensions. At its core, it employs nonparametric regression with locally linear models. In order to stay computationally efficient and numerically robust, each local model performs the regression analysis with a small number of univariate regressions in selected directions in input space in the spirit of partial least squares regression. We discuss when and how local learning techniques can successfully work in high-dimensional spaces and review the various techniques for local dimensionality reduction before finally deriving the LWPR algorithm. The properties of LWPR are that it (1) learns rapidly with second-order learning methods based on incremental training, (2) uses statistically sound stochastic leave-one-out cross validation for learning without the need to memorize training data, (3) adjusts its weighting kernels based on only local information in order to minimize the danger of negative interference of incremental learning, (4) has a computational complexity that is linear in the number of inputs, and (5) can deal with a large number of—possibly redundant—inputs, as shown in various empirical evaluations with up to 90 dimensional data sets. For a probabilistic interpretation, predictive variance and confidence intervals are derived. To our knowledge, LWPR is the first truly incremental spatially localized learning method that can successfully and efficiently operate in very high-dimensional spaces.
Health concerns and somatic symptoms explain perceived disability and idiopathic hand and arm pain in an orthopedics surgical practice: a path-analysis model.

BACKGROUND Upper-limb pain disorders are relatively common, and often result in disability, lost time from work, and significant use of healthcare services. OBJECTIVE The authors adapted and tested a cognitive-behavioral model of health anxiety in 100 patients with hand and arm pain in an orthopedics surgical practice, hypothesizing that increased health concerns would relate to increased perceived disability, and investigating whether patients' pain is related to other increased somatic symptoms. METHOD Patients with (non-traumatic) hand and arm pain received the Health Anxiety Inventory, the Whitley Index, and the Somatic Symptoms Inventory. Primary analyses were conducted via structural-equation modeling. RESULTS There was a strong, positive, and direct relationship between health concerns and perceived disability. Health concerns were significantly and positively related to somatic symptoms, which, in turn, were significantly positively related to perceived disability and to having idiopathic versus discrete pain. CONCLUSION The health-anxiety model is relevant to the development of nonspecific, vague, and diffuse (idiopathic) hand and arm pain.
Characterizing Rational Versus Exponential learning Curves

We consider the standard problem of learning a concept from random examples. Here a learning curve can be defined to be the expected error of a learner's hypotheses as a function of training sample size. Haussler, Littlestone and Warmuth have shown that, in the distribution free setting, the smallest expected error a learner can achieve in the worst case over a concept class C converges rationally to zero error (i.e., Θ(l/t) for training sample size t). However, recently Cohn and Tesauro have demonstrated how exponential convergence can often be observed in experimental settings (i.e., average error decreasing as e Θ(−t) ). By addressing a simple non-uniformity in the original analysis, this paper shows how the dichotomy between rational and exponential worst case learning curves can be recovered in the distribution free theory. These results support the experimental findings of Cohn and Tesauro: for finite concept classes, any consistent learner achieves exponential convergence, even in the worst case; but for continuous concept classes, no learner can exhibit sub-rational convergence for every target concept and domain distribution. A precise boundary between rational and exponential convergence is drawn for simple concept Chains. Here we show that somewhere dense chains always force rational convergence in the worst case, but exponential convergence can always be achieved for nowhere dense chains.
Cryptic female preference for genetically unrelated males is mediated by ovarian fluid in the guppy

As inbreeding is costly, it has been suggested that polyandry may evolve as a means to reduce the negative fitness consequences of mating with genetically related males. While several studies provide support for this hypothesis, evidence of pure post-copulatory mechanisms capable of biasing paternity towards genetically unrelated males is still lacking; yet these are necessary to support inbreeding avoidance models of polyandry evolution. Here we showed, by artificially inseminating a group of female guppies with an equal number of sperm from related (full-sib) and unrelated males, that sperm competition success of the former was 10 per cent lower, on average, than that of the unrelated male. The paternity bias towards unrelated males was not due to differential embryo survival, as the size of the brood produced by control females, which were artificially inseminated with the sperm of a single male, was not influenced by their relatedness with the male. Finally, we collected ovarian fluid (OF) from virgin females. Using computer-assisted sperm analysis, we found that sperm velocity, a predictor of sperm competition success in the guppy, was significantly lower when measured in a solution containing the OF from a sister as compared with that from an unrelated female. Our results suggest that sperm–OF interaction mediates sperm competition bias towards unrelated mates and highlight the role of post-copulatory mechanisms in reducing the cost of mating with relatives in polyandrous females.
Marriage Immigration and Gender in South Korea: Accounting for Gender Disparities in International Marriages

Recent studies on immigration in East Asia are focusing on female marriage immigration, the migration of large numbers of women from developing countries to marry men from industrialized countries like South Korea. Typically lost in the discourse however, are international marriages involving foreign grooms, once the more dominant trend in South Korea before the mid-1990s. This article explains how trends in international marriages in South Korea reversed in the mid-1990s and how marriages involving the two genders differ in their drivers and characteristics.Both phenomena are examined in the context of neo-classical economics and push-pull theories of migration, hypergamy, homogamy, demographic transition, changing social norms, and state policies. The large scale migration of foreign brides to South Korea, or marriage immigration, is driven by demographic factors, institutionalized support, and the rise of a commercial marriage industry.Marriages involving foreign men do not share the characteristics of marriage migration, its drivers are less clear, nor is it supportedby the state and Korean society.
Government Old-Age Support and Labor Supply: Evidence from the Old Age Assistance Program

Many government programs transfer resources to older people and implicitly or explicitly tax their labor. We shed new light on the labor supply and welfare effects of such programs by investigating the Old Age Assistance Program (OAA). Exploiting the large differences in OAA programs across states and Census data on the entire US population in 1940, we find that OAA reduced the labor force participation rate among men aged 65–74 by 8.5 percentage points, more than one-half of its 1930–1940 decline, but that OAA’s implicit taxation of earnings imposed only small welfare costs on recipients. (JEL H24, H55, H75, J14, J22)
13C and H2 breath tests to study extent and site of starch digestion in children with cystic fibrosis.

BACKGROUND Starch is an important source of energy for children with cystic fibrosis, but little is known about their capacity to digest it. METHODS A 13C breath test was used to measure starch digestion and oxidation in 16 children with cystic fibrosis (median [range] age, 7.9 [4-15] years; 7 girls, 9 boys) and 5 normal healthy control subjects (median age, 8.3 [7-13] years; 3 girls, 2 boys). A test meal of 13C flour and lactulose was consumed and breath samples were obtained half-hourly thereafter for 6 hours to measure 13C enrichment by isotope ratio mass spectrometry and H2 by electrochemistry. The test was repeated on 10 children with cystic fibrosis when they were taking pancreatic supplements. RESULTS The median (range) cumulative percentage 13C dose recovery (cPDR), was 35% (18-52%) in control subjects, 18% (9-33%) in children with cystic fibrosis without enzymes, and 29% (22-51%) in those with pancreatic supplements. cPDR differed significantly between healthy control subjects and children with cystic fibrosis without enzymes (p = 0.01) and between children with cystic fibrosis with and without enzymes (p < 0.0001), but there was no difference between control subjects and children with cystic fibrosis taking enzymes (p = 0.5). Eight children with cystic fibrosis had a cPDR within control range, and in six there was a second peak in 13CO2 enrichment coincident with an increase in H2. CONCLUSIONS Starch digestion and oxidation are diminished in children with cystic fibrosis, but pancreatic enzymes restored them to near normal levels. A second peak in 13CO2 enrichment, suggestive of colonic starch fermentation was absent in healthy children, but present in some children with cystic fibrosis and abolished by pancreatic enzymes.
An empirical analysis of the optimization of deep network loss surfaces

The success of deep neural networks hinges on our ability to accurately and efficiently optimize high-dimensional, non-convex functions. In this paper, we empirically investigate the loss functions of state-of-the-art networks, and how commonly-used stochastic gradient descent variants optimize these loss functions. To do this, we visualize the loss function by projecting them down to low-dimensional spaces chosen based on the convergence points of different optimization algorithms. Our observations suggest that optimization algorithms encounter and choose different descent directions at many saddle points to find different final weights. Based on consistency we observe across re-runs of the same stochastic optimization algorithm, we hypothesize that each optimization algorithm makes characteristic choices at these saddle points.
Cognitive Biases in Software Quality and Testing

Humans are an integral entity for performing software quality and testing activities. The quality is compromised when human- thought process deviates from the laws of rational thinking, referred to as cognitive biases. The work carried out so far from this perspective in software quality and testing is very scarce and is limited to one cognitive bias only. This work aims to explore the phenomenon of cognitive biases in software quality and testing in more detail. Furthermore, investigating the factors that exist in an organisational context and that trigger the biases, which in turn deteriorate the quality of software, is also the focus of this work. Acquiring the knowledge of cognitive biases and the triggering factors will help in circumventing them, thus improving software quality.
The Social Effect of “Being Imitated” in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

There is evidence that “being imitated” has social effects, and that the imitation of the child's actions may be used as a strategy to promote social engagement in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The observation of someone that imitates us recruits, indeed, neural areas involved in social cognition. We reviewed studies exploring the behavioral consequences of “being imitated” in children with ASD. We aimed at assessing what are the social skills targeted by this strategy, and the factors that may improve the response. The “being imitated” strategy improves social gazes, proximal social behaviors, and play skills, particularly in children with low developmental level, and also when the strategy is implemented by children's mothers. The “being imitated” may be used as a tool in early intervention to improve social skills, helping to assess the effects of intervention at both behavioral and neural level.
A Convolutional Encoder Model for Neural Machine Translation

The prevalent approach to neural machine translation relies on bi-directional LSTMs to encode the source sentence. We present a faster and simpler architecture based on a succession of convolutional layers. This allows to encode the source sentence simultaneously compared to recurrent networks for which computation is constrained by temporal dependencies. On WMT’16 English-Romanian translation we achieve competitive accuracy to the state-of-the-art and on WMT’15 English-German we outperform several recently published results. Our models obtain almost the same accuracy as a very deep LSTM setup on WMT’14 English-French translation. We speed up CPU decoding by more than two times at the same or higher accuracy as a strong bi-directional LSTM.