Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rectal Optical Markers for In Vivo Risk Stratification of Premalignant Colorectal Lesions

Purpose: Colorectal cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States despite being eminently preventable by colonoscopy via removal of premalignant adenomas. In order to more effectively reduce colorectal cancer mortality, improved screening paradigms are needed. Our group pioneered the use of low-coherence enhanced backscattering (LEBS) spectroscopy to detect the presence of adenomas throughout the colon via optical interrogation of the rectal mucosa. In a previous ex vivo biopsy study of 219 patients, LEBS demonstrated excellent diagnostic potential with 89.5% accuracy for advanced adenomas. The objective of the current cross-sectional study is to assess the viability of rectal LEBS in vivo. Experimental Design: Measurements from 619 patients were taken using a minimally invasive 3.4-mm diameter LEBS probe introduced into the rectum via anoscope or direct insertion, requiring approximately 1 minute from probe insertion to withdrawal. The diagnostic LEBS marker was formed as a logistic regression of the optical reduced scattering coefficient \mu_s^* and mass density distribution factor D. Results: The rectal LEBS marker was significantly altered in patients harboring advanced adenomas and multiple non-advanced adenomas throughout the colon. Blinded and cross-validated test performance characteristics showed 88% sensitivity to advanced adenomas, 71% sensitivity to multiple non-advanced adenomas, and 72% specificity in the validation set. Conclusions: We demonstrate the viability of in vivo LEBS measurement of histologically normal rectal mucosa to predict the presence of clinically relevant adenomas throughout the colon. The current work represents the next step in the development of rectal LEBS as a tool for colorectal cancer risk stratification. Clin Cancer Res; 21(19); 4347–55. ©2015 AACR.
Should I ski today? The economics of ski resort season passes

ABSTRACT A multistage decision process is involved when season ticket holders choose to go snow skiing. First, they decide whether to purchase the season ticket. After the ticket is purchased, each day of the season the skier decides whether to ‘hit the slopes’ that day. Empirical models are estimated to examine how prices affect the number of season tickets sold for different types of skiers and how snowfall, weekends and time of the season influence skier visits. The findings suggest that skiers will ski enough times to receive at least a 50% discount than the daily ticket price.
Evaluation of Culex pipiens larvae control by cyclopoid copepods in an urban cemetery of Montevideo, Uruguay

has caused particular concern (Willat et al. 2003) as dengue is still an endemic disease in neighboring Brazil and Argentina. Continued use of pesticides for mosquito control is a common practice but tends to generate chemical resistance in addition to seriously harming the environment (Schrieber and Jones 2000). Biological control is a promising alternative for keeping vector populations in check. Laboratory (Rey et al. 2004, Micieli et al. 2002, Marten 1989) and field studies (Brown et al. 1991, Cabral 1993, Marten 1990, 1993, Nam et al. 2005) indeed support that cyclopoid copepods (Crustacea) can be effective controllers for different mosquito species. Assessment of endemic copepod species is necessary in order to develop a biological control approach. In Uruguay, local strains of
Manganese Superoxide Dismutase and Breast Cancer Recurrence: A Danish Clinical Registry-Based Case-Control Study, and a Meta-Analysis

Background Manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) inhibits oxidative damage and cancer therapy effectiveness. A polymorphism in its encoding gene (SOD2: Val16Ala rs4880) may confer poorer breast cancer survival, but data are inconsistent. We examined the association of SOD2 genotype and breast cancer recurrence (BCR) among patients treated with cyclophosphamide-based chemotherapy (Cyclo). We compared our findings with published studies using meta-analyses. Methods We conducted a population-based case-control study of BCR among women in Jutland, Denmark. Subjects were diagnosed with non-metastatic breast cancer from 1990–2001, received adjuvant Cyclo, and were registered in the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group. We identified 118 patients with BCR and 213 matched breast cancer controls. We genotyped SOD2 and used conditional logistic regression to compute the odds ratio (OR) and associated 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) of BCR. We used random-effects meta-analytic models to evaluate the association of SOD2 polymorphisms and BCR. Results The frequency of the SOD2-Ala allele was 70% in cases versus 71% in controls; 40% versus 44% were heterozygotes, and 30% versus 25% were homozygotes, respectively. Heterozygote and homozygote carriers of the Ala allele had no increased rate of BCR (OR = 1.1, 95%CI = 0.65, 2.0, and OR = 0.87, 95%CI = 0.47, 1.6, respectively). Five studies informed the meta-analytic models; summary estimates associating BCR for homozygote, or any inheritance of the variant Ala allele were 1.18 (95%CI = 0.74, 1.88), and 1.18, (95%CI = 0.91, 1.54), respectively. Conclusion Our findings do not suggest that MnSOD enzymatic activity, as measured by SOD2 genotype, affects rates of BCR among patients treated with Cyclo.
Konrad-zuse-zentrum F ¨ Ur Informationstechnik Berlin Randomized Online Algorithms for Dynamic Multi-period Routing Problems Randomized Online Algorithms for Dynamic Multi-period Routing Problems

The Dynamic Multi-Period Routing Problem (Dmprp) introduced by Angelelli et al. [1] gives a model for a two-stage online-offline routing problem. At the beginning of each time period a set of customers becomes known. The customers need to be served either in the current time period or in the following. Postponed customers have to be served in the next time period. The decision whether to postpone a customer has to be done online. At the end of each time period, an optimal tour for the customers assigned to this period has to be computed and this computation can be done offline. The objective of the problem is to minimize the distance traveled over all planning periods assuming optimal routes for the customers selected in each period. We provide the first randomized online algorithms for the Dmprp which beat the known lower bounds for deterministic algorithms. For the special case of two planning periods we provide lower bounds on the competitive ratio of any randomized online algorithm against the oblivious adversary. We identify a randomized algorithm that achieves the optimal competitive ratio of 1+ √ 2 2 for two time periods on the real line. For three time periods, we give a randomized algorithm that is strictly better than any deterministic algorithm.
The application of personality traits model on the freight forwarding service industry

Purpose The purpose of this study aims to investigate the relationship between employees’ personality traits and their job performances (including task performance and contextual performance) of Taiwanese freight forwarders by using responses from a NEO Personality Inventory-Revised Form (NEO-PI-R) questionnaire survey. Design/methodology/approach One of the most popular personality trait model is the five-factor model (FFM), which includes the big five domains, namely, openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism (OCEAN). Each of these five domains includes six facets. Previous researchers have used OCEAN factors to describe the relationship between human personality and job performance. NEO Personality Inventory is a professional psychological assessment instrument published by psychological assessment resources. Multivariate analysis technique and regression technique are used to analyze surveyees’ responses. Findings Research results reveal the following four issues. The seniority of employees in a company has a positive relationship with their conscientiousness. Employees with higher score on the facets of the neuroticism domain have a negative correlation with their task performance and contextual performance. The relationship between employees’ openness to experience and job performance (both task performance and contextual performance) is not significant. Employees’ seniority has a positive correlation with both their task performance and contextual performance. In a nutshell, freight forwarding industry in Taiwan can use the facets in the neuroticism domain to screen and recruit appropriate job applicants. In addition, retaining senior employees could increase a forwarder’s task performance and contextual performance by their high degree of conscientiousness. Originality/value FFM model is a psychological theory dealing with the personality traits and human behavior. Freight forwarding is a labor-intensive business and is one of the most important sectors in the logistics industry. According the authors’ knowledge, the application of FFM on the logistics industry is simply not existed.
Three dimensions of the public sphere on Facebook

ABSTRACT The article provides an empirical analysis of the online public sphere in the three dimensions introduced by Dahlgren (2005): structural, representational and interactional. The main subject of analysis is the largest social networking site – Facebook – and Polish users’ activity on the Facebook Pages of political parties and politicians. The researchers analysed data about all users active on those Pages during two 4-month periods in 2013 and 2015. The results of the study show that only a small fraction of Facebook users are active in public political discussions that take place on political Facebook Pages (structural dimension). However, the level of engagement depends on the current political events taking place within the public sphere offline, and users are more active during electoral campaigns. Moreover, Facebook does not provide an alternative public sphere for political actors that are less present in mainstream media. Parties and politicians that are visible in traditional media are also attracting active fans in social media (representational dimension). Nonetheless, non-parliamentary groups have more active fans than would result only from their popularity in mainstream media. Finally, the online public on Facebook is fragmented and clustered into homogenous political groups (interactional dimension), thus supporting the hypothesis on ‘echo chambers’ presented by Sunstein (2001). The divisions are smaller when there are significantly more users involved. However, most of these cross-cutting links are the result of the electoral campaign.
HEDGING WITH STOCK INDEX FUTURES CONTRACTS IN THE ATHENS DERIVATIVES EXCHANGE

This paper examines the hedging effectiveness of the FTSE/ATHEX-20 and FTSE/ATHEX Mid-40 stock index futures contracts in the relatively new and fairly unresearched futures market of Greece. Both in-sample and out-of-sample hedging performances using weekly and daily data are examined, considering both constant and time-varying hedge ratios. Results indicate that time-varying hedging strategies provide minimal incremental risk-reduction benefits in-sample, but under-perform simple constant hedging strategies out-of-sample. Moreover, futures contracts serve effectively their risk management role and compare favourably with results in other international stock index futures markets. Estimation of investor utility functions and corresponding optimal utility maximising hedge ratios yields similar results, in terms of model selection. For the FTSE/ATHEX Mid-40 contracts we identify the existence of speculative components, which lead to utility maximising hedge ratios, which are lower than minimum variance hedge ratios.
Relationship between Circulating BAFF Serum Levels with Proliferating Markers in Patients with Multiple Myeloma

In multiple myeloma, there are many factors influencing the growth of the malignant clone in direct and indirect manners. BAFF is a growth factor for myeloma cells. The aim of the study was to measure its circulating levels in 54 pretreatment patients, along with serum levels of other proliferation markers, such as interleukins-6, -10, and -15, CRP, and beta-2 microglobulin, as well as bone marrow plasma cell infiltration and expression of Ki-67 PI, in various stages of the disease and after effective treatment in 28 of them. Serum levels of the previously mentioned factors were measured by ELISA, whereas bone marrow plasma cell infiltration and Ki-67 expression were estimated immunohistochemically. All measured parameters were higher in pretreated myeloma patients compared to healthy population and were also increasing with the progression of the disease. They all also decreased after effective therapy. Furthermore, all pretreatment values correlated to each other. BAFF seems to be an important growth factor for myeloma plasma cells. Measuring its serum levels, along with the previously mentioned cytokines, may provide important information regarding the degree of myeloma cells' proliferation. Therefore, they all could be used as markers of proliferation and disease activity.
Performance analysis of New Time Varying LMS (NTVLMS) adaptive filtering algorithm in noise cancellation system for speech enhancement

This paper compares the performance analysis of our proposed New Time Varying LMS (NTVLMS) algorithm with other well-known adaptive algorithms such as LMS, NLMS, RVSSLMS and TVLMS algorithm. These algorithms have been tested for their adaptive noise cancellation capabilities in the context of Speech signals corrupted by four variants of noise signals viz White Gaussian noise, Conference noise, Engine noise and Traffic noise. Performance of these algorithms is analyzed based on output SNR. The computer simulation results show that the performance of proposed algorithm is better compared to other algorithms in White Gaussian noise Environment. For the other three noise environments, NLMS algorithm performs well.
An 18-Gene Signature for Vascular Invasion Is Associated with Aggressive Features and Reduced Survival in Breast Cancer

Aims Vascular invasion by tumor cells is known to be important for cancer progression. By microarray and qPCR analyses, we earlier identified an 18-gene signature associated with vascular involvement in endometrial cancer. Here, we explored the significance of this vascular invasion signature in multiple series of breast cancer patients. Methods and Results The study includes 11 open access gene expression data sets which collectively provide information on 2423 breast cancer patients. The 18-gene signature showed consistent associations with aggressive features of breast cancer, like high tumor grade, hormone receptor negativity, HER2 positivity, a basal-like phenotype, reduced patient survival, and response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Also, the vascular invasion signature was associated with several other gene expression profiles related to vascular biology and tumor progression, including the Oncotype DX breast cancer recurrence signature. Conclusions The 18-gene vascular invasion signature showed strong and consistent associations with aggressive features of breast cancer and reduced survival.
Analysis of watermark detection using SPOMF

An important aspect of almost every watermarking system is the performance of the method by which watermark patterns are correlated with (derived features of) the suspect content. In the JAWS video watermarking system, developed at Philips Research, correlation is realized by symmetrical phase-only matched filtering. SPOMF detection has experimentally been shown to be an excellent correlation method. In this paper we address the problem of building a theoretical understanding of its performance. Being a non-linear correlation method, analysis of SPOMF detection performance is difficult. This paper is a first attempt to tackle the problem of deriving an analytical relationship between the energy of the embedded watermark and the reliability of detection. The theoretical results are compared with experimental results, and are found to be in good agreement.
ANALISIS MISKONSEPSI KONSEP GAYA MENGGUNAKAN CERTAINTY OF RESPON INDEX (CRI)

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis miskonsepsi konsep gaya pada calon guru fisika. Sebanyak 24 calon guru fisika diberikan tes standar mengenai konsep gaya yaitu force concept inventory (FCI). Metode penelitian yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini merupakan metode penelitian deskriptif. Hasil data yang diperoleh kemudian di analisis menggunakan Certainty of Respond Index (CRI), dimana analisis terhadap data dibedakan kedalam tiga kategori yaitu tahu konsep, tidak tahu konsep, dan miskonsepsi. Hasil analisis data diperoleh bahwa rataan miskonsepsi 53%, tidak tahu konsep 24%, dan tahu konsep 23%. Analisis lebih lanjut terhadap beberapa butir soal diperoleh beberapa miskonspesi dengan tingkat miskonsepsi lebih dari 40%, yaitu: 1). kecepatan yang besar menimbulkan percepatan yang besar pula, 2). penjumlahan kecepatan dijumlahkan sama seperti penjumlahan biasa tanpa melibatkan arah, 3). kelajuan benda meningkat secara kontinu setelah menerima gaya sesaat, 4). kelajuan benda meningkat kemudian setelahnya menurun pada sistem yang dikenai gaya tetap, 5). gaya gravitasi berkurang dan meningkat pada sistem gerak yang dilempar dan jatuh kembali, 6). Resultan dua gaya yang membentuk sudut satu sama lain akan mempunyai resultan dengan arah berada tepat ditengah kedua gaya asal.
‘I just seem to be a C sort of person’: Self-theory and academic achievement

Abstract This article explores the higher education learning experience of Kat, a mature female student. As part of a longitudinal case study spanning two years, data were collected through interviews and journal entries. The data were used to construct an account of Kat's higher education experience, focusing particularly upon her self-theory in relation to academic ability and achievement. Kat's account contained recurring themes related to self-doubt and academic inadequacy and yet she completed her course and progressed to further study. This article explores the factors that enabled Kat to succeed in her studies, suggesting that significant factors could be related both to her shift in self-theory concerning ability and to her tutor's beliefs regarding ability. The case study aimed to understand a particular learner's experience and as such is unique to Kat. However, the study provides depth of insight into certain issues faced by mature learners on entry to high education and as such contributes to our understanding of learning and teaching in higher education.
Actigraphic Assessment of Motor Activity in Acutely Admitted Inpatients with Bipolar Disorder

Introduction Mania is associated with increased activity, whereas psychomotor retardation is often found in bipolar depression. Actigraphy is a promising tool for monitoring phase shifts and changes following treatment in bipolar disorder. The aim of this study was to compare recordings of motor activity in mania, bipolar depression and healthy controls, using linear and nonlinear analytical methods. Materials and Methods Recordings from 18 acutely hospitalized inpatients with mania were compared to 12 recordings from bipolar depression inpatients and 28 healthy controls. 24-hour actigraphy recordings and 64-minute periods of continuous motor activity in the morning and evening were analyzed. Mean activity and several measures of variability and complexity were calculated. Results Patients with depression had a lower mean activity level compared to controls, but higher variability shown by increased standard deviation (SD) and root mean square successive difference (RMSSD) over 24 hours and in the active morning period. The patients with mania had lower first lag autocorrelation compared to controls, and Fourier analysis showed higher variance in the high frequency part of the spectrum corresponding to the period from 2–8 minutes. Both patient groups had a higher RMSSD/SD ratio compared to controls. In patients with mania we found an increased complexity of time series in the active morning period, compared to patients with depression. The findings in the patients with mania are similar to previous findings in patients with schizophrenia and healthy individuals treated with a glutamatergic antagonist. Conclusion We have found distinctly different activity patterns in hospitalized patients with bipolar disorder in episodes of mania and depression, assessed by actigraphy and analyzed with linear and nonlinear mathematical methods, as well as clear differences between the patients and healthy comparison subjects.
Resilience and race, or climate change and the uninsurable migrant: towards an anthroporacial reading of ‘race’

Abstract Migration is now often conceived as a legitimate adaptive response to climate change. Numerous critiques have been made of this so-called ‘migration-as-adaptation’ discourse, arguing that the discourse is consistent with the political rationality of neoliberalism. This paper argues that by neglecting to account for ‘race’, these critiques obscure the imbrications of race found in Michel Foucault’s original characterisation of biopower. One effect of this neglect is that the biopolitical critique of migration-as-adaptation distances the entire debate about climate change and migration from any meaningful consideration of its racial underpinnings. The paper offers a different perspective, arguing that within the migration-as-adaptation discourse, a new racial vocabulary is beginning to take shape, one that distinguishes would-be MIGRANTS on the basis of their adaptive and maladaptive capacities. This logic is based on insurantial reasoning in which the raced body and the uninsurable body are often made to overlap. The paper suggests that this new racial vocabulary might be understood as ‘topological’ as opposed to dialectical racism.
An Efficient Adaptive Decoding for Block Turbo Codes

A novel adaptive threshold-decoding algorithm for block turbo codes (BTCs) was proposed. Simulations for a few combinations of BCH codes were carried out with the proposed algorithm and Chase algorithm for the purpose of comparison. The error correction performance with the suggested algorithm was negligibly degraded comparing with that using the Chase algorithm while it gained 1 dB at BER=10-4 against Fragiacomo et al.'s results. Furthermore, the suggested algorithm reduced the number of codewords to be searched and speeded up the decoding process
Slicing Convolutional Neural Network for Crowd Video Understanding

Learning and capturing both appearance and dynamic representations are pivotal for crowd video understanding. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have shown its remarkable potential in learning appearance representations from images. However, the learning of dynamic representation, and how it can be effectively combined with appearance features for video analysis, remains an open problem. In this study, we propose a novel spatio-temporal CNN, named Slicing CNN (S-CNN), based on the decomposition of 3D feature maps into 2D spatio-and 2D temporal-slices representations. The decomposition brings unique advantages: (1) the model is capable of capturing dynamics of different semantic units such as groups and objects, (2) it learns separated appearance and dynamic representations while keeping proper interactions between them, and (3) it exploits the selectiveness of spatial filters to discard irrelevant background clutter for crowd understanding. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed S-CNN model on the WWW crowd video dataset for attribute recognition and observe significant performance improvements to the state-of-the-art methods (62.55% from 51.84% [21]).