Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Software estimation: a fuzzy approach

Software projects are failing because of the poor project planning and due to this estimation have gained interest in recent times. Estimation process reduces the risk around schedule and cost. Effective software project estimation is one of the most challenging activities in software development that software industries are facing. Proper project planning and control is not possible without a reliable estimate. Top down and bottom up are traditionally the most commonly used techniques to estimate the effort of the software project. Studies suggest that the software companies should use Bottom up approach unless they have a vast experience from the similar projects. The goal of this research work is to extend the existing bottom up approach to achieve greater precision in the estimates. This work proposes the use and concepts of fuzzy set theory to extend the Bottom up approach to Fuzzy bottom up approach. With the productivity rate generated by fuzzy bottom up, derived values such as effort of development can be more precisely determined.
A study of level-of-detail in haptic rendering

This paper presents an initial study of an approach to reduce computational overhead in haptic rendering of physically based models. Haptic rendering refers to the notion of adding physical properties and behavior, specifically a sense of touch or force feedback, to models of objects. In this way, a user through a haptic feedback device can feel interaction forces while visually observing the objects. Physically based modeling is particularly important when representing deformable objects. In this paper, an approach based on a mass-spring damper system is used in modeling deformable objects. Deformation due to interaction forces is obtained by solving a set of differential equations, a process that is in general computationally demanding. To reduce this demand, the notion of level-of-detail in haptic rendering is introduced. Here the interplay between the graphical mesh and the haptic mesh as a function of various levels of subdivision is studied. The approach we describe is to adjust model parameters such that the user feels the same reaction force for a given deformation, regardless of the level of local subdivision.A preliminary user study with simple objects suggests there can be a local subdivision threshold such that the user cannot distinguish between global subdivision and the local subdivision introduced by the level-of-detail algorithm. This conclusion is beneficial for haptic rendering of deformable objects. Similar conclusions were obtained for haptic rendering of rigid objects. These results can be used as a guideline for other approaches to modeling deformable objects, such as finite element representations.
Effects of social and environmental determinants on overweight and obesity among Brazilian schoolchildren from a developing region.

OBJECTIVE To identify the social and environmental determinants most strongly associated with overweight and obesity in Brazilian schoolchildren from a developing region. METHODS Data were collected from a community-based survey of schoolchildren from the Valley of Jequitinhonha, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The sample was composed of 5 100 school children aged 6-18 years. Overweight and obesity were defined by body mass index based on the current method recommended by the World Health Organization in 2007. Social and environmental determinants were collected by using a structured questionnaire. RESULTS The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 11.1% and 2.7% in girls and 8.2% and 1.5% in boys, respectively. The chance of overweight was higher in schoolchildren who engaged in remunerated work (odds ratio [OR] = 2.19, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.30- 3.26), whose parents had higher education levels (OR = 1.52, 95% CI 1.12-2.07), who had two or fewer siblings (OR = 1.74, 95% CI 1.21-2.49), and who were in a high economic class (OR = 1.93, 95% CI 1.32-2.85). Schoolchildren who traveled by car to school (OR = 1.50, 95% CI 1.14-1.91), lived < 5 km from school (OR = 1.64, 95% CI 1.06-2.39), and consumed foods sold in the school cafeteria (OR = 1.56, 95% CI 1.19-2.16) presented high odds of being overweight. CONCLUSIONS The background from a particular region of a country should be considered when implementing preventive measures regarding overweight and obesity, especially for very poor, developing regions like the Valley of Jequitinhonha. Measures taken should consider a multilevel intervention that includes the family, school, and physical environment.
Hyaluronic acid vs corticosteroids in symptomatic knee osteoarthritis: a mini-review of the literature.

Introduction Although intra-articular injections of hyaluronic acid (HA) are common non-operative measures used in clinical practice in the management of symptomatic osteoarthritis, there is a great controversy on their efficacy and safety compared to corticosteroids (CSs). Efficacy Conflicting results have been reported in clinical trials and meta-analysis due to methodological differences in study design, along with collection, analysis, and interpretation of data. Even if some studies reported small or no differences of HA compared with CSs (or inferred that HA is not more effective than saline as a placebo), in general CSs have shown to be superior in the short term (especially on pain control), while better results have been reported with HA at subsequent evaluations, but with only a moderate effect after 26 weeks. Safety Mild or moderate adverse events have generally been reported after HA injections, the most common being injection site pain. HA is generally considered safe compared to CSs or saline. Furthermore, HA has shown to be safe also after a previous course of injections. Conclusions Conflicting results have been reported on the efficacy and safety of HA. Guidelines are controversial and in most of the cases "uncertain" recommendations are provided due to inconclusive evidence in literature. However, HA does not seem to have significantly higher side effects when compared to saline or CSs injections, and provides better medium-term control of symptoms in patients with mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis.
Spatial scale of chlorophyll-a concentration in Lake Taihu by using remote sensing images

Chlorophyll-a concentration is one of the most important indexes of Lake Eutrophication. Fine temporal and spatial resolution remote sensing images provide an effective way to monitor blue-green algae in Lake Taihu by studying the spatial distribution regularities of chla concentration. However, both low spatial resolution remote sensing images (e.g. MODIS) due to their heterogeneity and high or moderate spatial resolution remote sensing images (e.g. TM/ETM+) due to their low temporal resolution give rise to unsatisfactory estimate of chla concentration. Therefore, in this study, an effective method for estimating chla concentration using remote sensing images at different scales was developed. Chla concentration was inferred from Hyperion images at 30m resolution and MODIS images at 250m resolution. The spatial variability of Chla concentration was analyzed and Taihu Lake was divided into area with low variability and area with high variability. The quadratic polynomial (R2=0.8709) and linear (R2=0.7387) correlation was established. Finally, the obtained relationship between chla concentration estimate at different spatial scales were applied to correct the estimate from MODIS data.
The role of binocular disparity in rapid scene and pattern recognition

We investigated the contribution of binocular disparity to the rapid recognition of scenes and simpler spatial patterns using a paradigm combining backward masked stimulus presentation and short-term match-to-sample recognition. First, we showed that binocular disparity did not contribute significantly to the recognition of briefly presented natural and artificial scenes, even when the availability of monocular cues was reduced. Subsequently, using dense random dot stereograms as stimuli, we showed that observers were in principle able to extract spatial patterns defined only by disparity under brief, masked presentations. Comparing our results with the predictions from a cue-summation model, we showed that combining disparity with luminance did not per se disrupt the processing of disparity. Our results suggest that the rapid recognition of scenes is mediated mostly by a monocular comparison of the images, although we can rely on stereo in fast pattern recognition.
Binding Rather Than Metabolism May Explain the Interaction of Two Food-Grade Lactobacillus Strains with Zearalenone and Its Derivative ɑ́-Zearalenol

ABSTRACT The interaction between two Fusarium mycotoxins, zearalenone (ZEN) and its derivative ά-zearalenol (ά-ZOL), with two food-grade strains of Lactobacillus was investigated. The mycotoxins (2 μg ml−1) were incubated with either Lactobacillus rhamnosus strain GG or L. rhamnosus strain LC705. A considerable proportion (38 to 46%) of both toxins was recovered from the bacterial pellet, and no degradation products of ZEN and ά-ZOL were detected in the high-performance liquid chromatograms of the supernatant of the culturing media and the methanol extract of the pellet. Both heat-treated and acid-treated bacteria were capable of removing the toxins, indicating that binding, not metabolism, is the mechanism by which the toxins are removed from the media. Binding of ZEN or ά-ZOL by lyophilized L. rhamnosus GG and L. rhamnosus LC705 was a rapid reaction: approximately 55% of the toxins were bound instantly after mixing with the bacteria. Binding was dependent on the bacterial concentration, and coincubation of ZEN with ά-ZOL significantly affected the percentage of the toxin bound, indicating that these toxins may share the same binding site on the bacterial surface. These results can be exploited in developing a new approach for detoxification of mycotoxins from foods and feeds.
Making a Difference: Responsibility, Causality and Counterfactuals

In this thesis, I develop a general framework of how people attribute responsibility. In this framework, people's responsibility attributions are modelled in terms of counterfactuals defined over a causal representation of the situation. A person is predicted to be held responsible to the extent that their action made a difference to the outcome. Accordingly, when attributing responsibility we compare what actually happened with the outcome in a simulated counterfactual world in which the person's action had been different. However, a person can still be held responsible for an outcome even if their action made no difference in the actual situation. Responsibility attributions are sensitive to whether a person's action would have made a difference in similar counterfactual situations. Generally, responsibility decreases with the number of events that would have needed to change from the actual situation in order to generate a counterfactual situation in which the person's action would have been pivotal. In addition to how close a person was to being pivotal, responsibility attributions are influenced by how critical a person's action was perceived prior to the outcome. The predictions derived from this general framework are tested in a series of experiments that manipulate a person's criticality and pivotality by varying the causal structure of the situation and the person's mental states. The results show that responsibility between the members of a group diffuses according to the causal structure which determines how individual contributions combine to yield a joint outcome. Differences in the group members' mental states, such as their knowledge about the situation, their expectations about each other's performance as well as their intentions, also affect attributions. Finally, I demonstrate how this general framework can be extended to model attributions for domains in which people have rich, intuitive theories that go beyond what can be expressed with simple causal models.
Palatal Fistulas: Rare with the Two‐Flap Palatoplasty Repair

The purpose of this study was to examine the palatal fistula rate after repair with the two‐flap palatoplasty technique. This is a retrospective review of 119 consecutive cleft‐palate repairs performed over a 5‐year interval by a single surgeon. The two‐flap palatoplasty technique was used to provide tension‐free, multilayer repairs. The age of these children at the time of repair ranged from 7 to 84 months (mode, 9 months). The initial follow‐up visit occurred 2 to 12 weeks after the repair operation (mean, 4 weeks). The postoperative follow‐up duration ranged from 7 to 48 months. This review of 119 cleft‐palate repairs revealed a fistula rate of 3.4 percent (four fistulas in 119 repairs). This experience demonstrates the lowest reported palatal fistula complication rate with use of the two‐flap palatoplasty technique. (Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 107: 315, 2001.)
A comparison of seven geostatistically based inverse approaches to estimate transmissivities for modeling advective transport by groundwater flow

This paper describes the first major attempt to compare seven different inverse approaches for identifying aquifer transmissivity. The ultimate objective was to determine which of several geostatistical inverse techniques is better suited for making probabilistic forecasts of the potential transport of solutes in an aquifer where spatial variability and uncertainty in hydrogeologic properties are significant. Seven geostatistical methods (fast Fourier transform (FF), fractal simulation (FS), linearized cokriging (LC), linearized semianalytical )LS), maximum likelihood (ML), pilot point (PP), and sequential self‐calibration (SS)) were compared on four synthetic data sets. Each data set had specific features meeting (or not) classical assumptions about stationarity, amenability to a geostatistical description, etc. The comparison of the outcome of the methods is based on the prediction of travel times and travel paths taken by conservative solutes migrating in the aquifer for a distance of 5 km. Four of the methods, LS, ML, PP, and SS, were identified as being approximately equivalent for the specific problems considered. The magnitude of the variance of the transmissivity fields, which went as high as 10 times the generally accepted range for linearized approaches, was not a problem for the linearized methods when applied to stationary fields; that is, their inverse solutions and travel time predictions were as accurate as those of the nonlinear methods. Nonstationarity of the “true” transmissivity field, or the presence of “anomalies” such as high‐permeability fracture zones was, however, more of a problem for the linearized methods. The importance of the proper selection of the semivariogram of the log10 (T) field (or the ability of the method to optimize this variogram iteratively) was found to have a significant impact on the accuracy and precision of the travel time predictions. Use of additional transient information from pumping tests did not result in major changes in the outcome. While the methods differ in their underlying theory, and the codes developed to implement the theories were limited to varying degrees, the most important factor for achieving a successful solution was the time and experience devoted by the user of the method.
Monoamines and neurosteroids in sexual function during induced hypogonadism in healthy men.

CONTEXT Although the behavioral effects of high-dose androgen administration may involve alterations in serotonergic activity, few studies have investigated the impact of androgen withdrawal on the central nervous system in humans. OBJECTIVE To examine the effects of pharmacologically induced hypogonadism on several cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) systems that could mediate the behavioral concomitants of hypogonadism. DESIGN Double-blind assessment of the effects of the short-term induction of hypogonadism and subsequent replacement with testosterone and placebo in a crossover design. SETTING National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md. PARTICIPANTS Twelve healthy male volunteers. INTERVENTIONS We administered the gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist leuprolide acetate (7.5 mg intramuscularly every 4 weeks) to the healthy male volunteers, creating a hypogonadal state, and then either replaced testosterone (200 mg intramuscularly) or administered a placebo every 2 weeks for 1 month. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Mood and behavioral symptoms were monitored with daily self-ratings, and lumbar punctures were performed during both hypogonadal (placebo) and testosterone-replaced conditions for CSF levels of steroids and monoamine metabolites. RESULTS The CSF testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, and androsterone levels were significantly lower during hypogonadism (P=.002, .04, and .046, respectively), but no significant changes were observed in CSF measures of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, homovanillic acid, dehydroepiandrosterone, or pregnenolone. Decreased sexual interest was observed during the hypogonadal state compared with both baseline and testosterone replacement (P=.009) and correlated significantly with CSF measures of androsterone during both hypogonadism and testosterone replacement (r = -0.76 and -0.81, respectively; P<.01). Moreover, the change in severity of decreased sexual interest correlated significantly with the change in CSF androsterone levels between testosterone replacement and hypogonadism (r = -0.68; P<.05). The CSF 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid and homovanillic acid levels did not correlate significantly with any behavioral or CSF measure. CONCLUSION These data suggest that the neurosteroid androsterone contributes to the regulation of sexual function in men.
PREDICTING STUDENT SATISFACTION IN DISTANCE EDUCATION AND LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

The purpose of this study was to analyze characteristics of online learning environments. Data collected using the Distance Education Learning Environments Survey (DELES) were used to explore the relationship between student satisfaction and the following predictor variables: instructor support, student interaction and collaboration, personal relevance, authentic learning, active learning, and student autonomy. The participants of this study were 917 undergraduate students at an Anatolian university in Turkey. Results of the regression analysis show that four of the six DELES scales, namely, personal relevance, instructor support, active learning, and authentic learning, were significantly and positively related to student satisfaction. These results provide valuable feedback to institutions offering online classes and to educators evaluating satisfaction of their students.
Complete Topographical Distribution of Both the in Vivo and in Vitro Phosphorylation Sites of Bone Sialoprotein and Their Biological Implications*

Bone sialoprotein (BSP) is a multifunctional, highly phosphorylated, and glycosylated protein with key roles in biomineralization and tissue remodeling. This work identifies the complete topographical distribution and precise location of both the in vitro and in vivo phosphorylation sites of bovine BSP by a combination of state-of-the-art techniques and approaches. In vitro phosphorylation of native and deglycosylated BSPs by casein kinase II identified seven phosphorylation sites by solid-phase N-terminal peptide sequencing that were within peptides 12–22 (LEDS(P)EENGVFK), 42–62 (FAVQSSSDSS(P)EENGNGDS(P)S(P)EE), 80–91 (EDS(P)DENEDEES(P)E), and 135–145 (EDES(P)DEEEEEE). The in vivo phosphorylation regions and sites were identified by use of a novel thiol reagent, 1-S-mono[14C]carboxymethyldithiothreitol. This approach identified all of the phosphopeptides defined by in vitro phosphorylation, but two additional phosphopeptides were defined at residues, 250–264 (DNGYEIYES(P)ENGDPR), and 282–289 (GYDS(P)YDGQ). Furthermore, use of native BSP and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry identified several of the above peptides, including an additional phosphopeptide at residues 125–130 (AGAT(P)GK) that was not defined in either of the in vitro and in vivo studies described above. Overall, 7 in vitro and 11 in vivo phosphorylation sites were identified unequivocally, with natural variation in the quantitative extent of phosphorylation at each in vivo phosphorylation site.
Immunotherapeutic targeting of shared melanoma-associated antigens in a murine glioma model.

Immune-based treatments for central nervous system gliomas have traditionally lagged behind those of more immunogenic tumors such as melanoma. The relative paucity of defined glioma-associated antigens that can be targeted by the immune system may partially account for this situation. Antigens present on melanomas have been extensively characterized, both in humans and in murine preclinical models. Melanocytes and astrocytes are both derived embryologically from the neural ectoderm. Their neoplastic counterparts, malignant melanomas and gliomas, have been shown in humans to share common antigens at the RNA level. However, little is known concerning whether gliomas can be targeted by immune-based strategies that prime T cells to epitopes from melanoma-associated antigens (MAAs). In this study, we provide evidence that two common murine glioma cell lines (GL26 and GL261) express the melanoma antigens gp100 and tyrosinase-related protein 2 (TRP-2). To understand the immunogenicity of murine gliomas to CD8(+) T cells, we examined the ability of a MAA-specific CTL cell line to lyse the glioma cells, as well as the in vivo expansion of MAA-specific CD8(+) T cells in animals harboring gliomas. Both glioma cell lines were lysed by a human gp100-specific CTL cell line in vitro. Mice harboring s.c. GL26 gliomas possessed TRP-2-specific CD8(+) T cells, providing further evidence that these gliomas express the protein products in the context of MHC class I. Furthermore, MAA peptide-pulsed dendritic cells could prime T cells that specifically recognize GL26 glioma cells in vitro. Lastly, mice that were prevaccinated with human gp100 and TRP-2 peptide-pulsed dendritic cells had significantly extended survival when challenged with tumor cells in the brain, resulting in >50% long-term survival. These results suggest that shared MAAs on gliomas can be targeted immunotherapeutically, pointing the way to a new potential treatment option for patients with malignant gliomas.
Challenges in Data Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing refers to solving large problems by involving human workers that solve component sub-problems or tasks. In data crowdsourcing, the problem involves data acquisition, management, and analysis. In this paper, we provide an overview of data crowdsourcing, giving examples of problems that the authors have tackled, and presenting the key design steps involved in implementing a crowdsourced solution. We also discuss some of the open challenges that remain to be solved.