Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Employment effects of the Danish rehabilitation benefit

Aims: Social benefits aim to bring marginalised citizens back into the labour force. As benefits constitute a burden for tax payers, attention has been given to measure the effect. We used register data to assess the employment effect of rehabilitation benefit; the most liberal social benefit in Denmark. Methods: We used data on rehabilitation benefits paid during 1994–2004. In the study design, special care was given to overcome selection bias. We identified municipalities with most frequent (generous) and least frequent (stingy) use of rehabilitation benefit, controlling for confounders (step 1). From the generous municipalities, population subgroups where ≥10% received rehabilitation benefit (vulnerable group) were identified based on age, sex, education, cohabitation, children, and health (step 2). Outcome measure was employment rate in 2005 for vulnerable groups in generous municipalities compared with vulnerable groups in stingy municipalities, controlled for municipality employment rate, i.e. a ratio of ratios (step 3). Results: Use of rehabilitation benefit varied 10-fold across the 271 Danish municipalities. The employment rate in 2005 for vulnerable groups was lower in generous than in stingy municipalities. The ratio of ratios was 0.915 (95% CI 0.888–0.945) for men and 0.919 (95% CI 0.896–0.942) for women. Conclusions: No positive employment effect of generous use of rehabilitation benefit was found. Although residual confounding cannot be excluded, it is nevertheless remarkable that the possibly positive effect of rehabilitation benefit was not sufficiently large to become visible, even in a study particularly designed to eliminate selection biases and to control for confounding.
Stabilizing transmission intervals and delays for nonlinear Networked Control Systems: The large delay case

This paper proposes a methodology for computing Maximally Allowable Transfer Intervals (MATIs) that provably stabilize nonlinear Networked Control Systems (NCSs) in the presence of disturbances and signal delays. Accordingly, given a desired level of system performance (in terms of ℒp-gains), quantitative MATI vs. delay trade-offs are obtained. By combining impulsive delayed system modeling with Lyapunov-Razumikhin type of arguments, we are able to consider even the so-called large delays. Namely, the computed MATIs can be smaller than delays existent in NCSs. In addition, our stability results are provided for the class of Uniformly Globally Exponentially Stable (UGES) scheduling protocols. The well-known Round Robin (RR) and Transmit-Once-Discard (TOD) protocols are examples of UGES protocols. Apart from the inclusion of large delays, another salient feature of our methodology is the consideration of corrupted data. To that end, we propose the notion of ℒp-stability with bias. Furthermore, the Zeno-free property of our methodology is demonstrated. Finally, a comparison with the state-of-the-art work is provided utilizing the benchmark problem of batch reactor.
Persistence of Bronchial Dysplasia Is Associated with Development of Invasive Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Bronchial dysplasia (BD), a presumed precursor of pulmonary squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), rarely progresses to invasive cancer. A high-risk cohort at the University of Colorado provided an opportunity to directly sample airway epithelium at mapped sites on successive bronchoscopies. We have hypothesized that persistent dysplastic lesions showing a similar or higher level of dysplasia on follow-up biopsy, are associated with increased risk for the development of SCC. Endoscopic biopsies from 188 high-risk subjects were histologically classified according to the current WHO classification for BD using a numeric histology score ranging from 1 to 8 representing normal bronchial mucosa through invasive lung cancer. Differences in follow-up histology scores were compared between sites classified by clinical, histologic, and immunohistochemical variables. Subjects with a higher frequency of sites that persist or progress to high-grade dysplasia (≥37.5% persist/progress, N = 35 versus <37.5% persist/progress, N = 114) show a significant association with development of incident invasive SCC (adjusted HR, 7.84; 95% confidence interval, 1.56–39.39), and those with incident lung SCC have adjusted mean follow-up histology scores 1.55 U higher than in subjects without lung cancer. Current smoking, elevated Ki67 growth fraction, histologic features of angiogenic squamous dysplasia (ASD) and higher histology score in baseline biopsies are significantly associated with increased follow-up histology scores. These results show that persistent BD is associated with the development of invasive SCC. Furthermore, increased expression of Ki67, the presence of angiogenic change and degree of baseline atypia are associated with persistence of BD. Cancer Prev Res; 9(1); 96–104. ©2015 AACR.
A Survey of Current Management of Neuromuscular Block in the United States and Europe

BACKGROUND: Postoperative residual neuromuscular block is a frequent occurrence. Recent surveys of clinical practice in Europe suggest that neuromuscular blocking drugs are often administered without appropriate monitoring. No comparable survey has been undertaken in the United States (US). From this survey, we compared current clinical neuromuscular practice and attitudes between anesthesia practitioners in the US and Europe. METHODS: We conducted an Internet-based survey among anesthesia practitioners in the US and Europe. The Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation and the European Society of Anaesthesiology e-mailed all of their active members, inviting them to anonymously answer a series of questions on a dedicated Internet Protocol address–sensitive website. The survey was available online for 60 days. The &khgr;2 test and Fisher's exact test were used to compare clinical survey items between the 2 cohorts. RESULTS: A total of 2636 completed surveys were received. Most respondents from the US (64.1%) and Europe (52.2%) estimated the incidence of clinically significant postoperative residual neuromuscular weakness to be <1% (P < 0.0001). Routine pharmacologic reversal was less common in Europe than in the US (18% vs 34.2%, respectively; P < 0.0001), and quantitative monitors were available to fewer clinicians in the US (22.7%) than in Europe (70.2%) (P < 0.0001). However, 19.3% of Europeans and 9.4% of Americans never use neuromuscular monitors. Most respondents reported that neither conventional nerve stimulators nor quantitative train-of-four monitors should be part of minimum monitoring standards. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest a lack of agreement among anesthesia providers about the best way to monitor neuromuscular function. Efforts to improve awareness by developing formal training programs and/or publishing official guidelines on best practices to reduce the incidence of postoperative neuromuscular weakness and patient morbidity are warranted.
Estimates of magnetotail reconnection rate based on IMAGE FUV and EISCAT measurements

Dayside merging between the interplanetary and terrestrial magnetic fields couples the solar wind electric field to the Earth's magnetosphere, increases the magnetospheric convection and results in efficient transport of solar wind en- ergy into the magnetosphere. Subsequent reconnection of the lobe magnetic field in the magnetotail transports energy into the closed magnetic field region. Combining global imag- ing and ground-based radar measurements, we estimate the reconnection rate in the magnetotail during two days of an EISCAT campaign in November-December 2000. Global images from the IMAGE FUV system guide us to identify ionospheric signatures of the open-closed field line bound- ary observed by the two EISCAT radars in Tromso (VHF) and on Svalbard (ESR). Continuous radar and optical mon- itoring of the open-closed field line boundary is used to de- termine the location, orientation and velocity of the open- closed boundary and the ion flow velocity perpendicular to this boundary. The magnetotail reconnection electric field is found to be a bursty process that oscillates between 0 mV/m and 1 mV/m with 10-15 min periods. These ULF oscilla- tions are mainly due to the motion of the open-closed bound- ary. In situ measurements earthward of the reconnection site in the magnetotail by Geotail show similar oscillations in the duskward electric field. We also find that bursts of increased magnetotail reconnection do not necessarily have any asso- ciated auroral signatures. Finally, we find that the reconnec- tion rate correlates poorly with the solar wind electric field. This indicates that the magnetotail reconnection is not di- rectly driven, but is an internal magnetospheric process. Es- timates of a coupling efficiency between the solar wind elec- tric field and magnetotail reconnection only seem to be rel- evant as averages over long time intervals. The oscillation mode at 1 mHz corresponds to the internal cavity mode with additional lower frequencies, 0.5 and 0.8 mHz, that might be modulated by solar wind pressure variations.
Predicting maintenance effort with function points

Function point analysis (FPA) is a well-known method to measure the functionality of a system, from the user's point of view. Both Albrecht's (1979) original model and a local variant we studied assume that effort is primarily related to the size of a change. Analysis of data gathered on a major system over a period of 18 months does not confirm this relation. Rather our data suggests that the size of the component to be changed has a much larger impact on effort than the size of the change itself. Furthermore, the various corrective factors of the function point model do not help to improve effort estimates in the environment we studied. Finally, we found that expert estimates outperform the function point estimates, while analogy-based estimates slightly outperform the expert estimates
Acclimation potential of Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) from the rapidly warming Arctic Ocean

ABSTRACT As a consequence of the growing concern about warming of the Arctic Ocean, this study quantified the thermal acclimation responses of Boreogadus saida, a key Arctic food web fish. Physiological rates for cardio-respiratory functions as well as critical maximum temperature (Tc,max) for loss of equilibrium (LOE) were measured. The transition temperatures for these events (LOE, the rate of oxygen uptake and maximum heart rate) during acute warming were used to gauge phenotypic plasticity after thermal acclimation from 0.5°C up to 6.5°C for 1 month (respiratory and Tc,max measurements) and 6 months (cardiac measurements). Tc,max increased significantly by 2.3°C from 14.9°C to 17.1°C with thermal acclimation, while the optimum temperature for absolute aerobic scope increased by 4.5°C over the same range of thermal acclimation. Warm acclimation reset the maximum heart rate to a statistically lower rate, but the first Arrhenius breakpoint temperature during acute warming was unchanged. The hierarchy of transition temperatures was quantified at three acclimation temperatures and was fitted inside a Fry temperature tolerance polygon to better define ecologically relevant thermal limits to performance of B. saida. We conclude that B. saida can acclimate to 6.5°C water temperatures in the laboratory. However, at this acclimation temperature 50% of the fish were unable to recover from maximum swimming at the 8.5°C test temperature and their cardio-respiratory performance started to decline at water temperatures greater than 5.4°C. Such costs in performance may limit the ecological significance of B. saida acclimation potential. Summary: The Arctic fish species Boreogadus saida may be migrating northwards with ocean warming, but can clearly physiologically tolerate temperatures above those of its current habitat.
Diaphragmatic herniation after penetrating trauma

A study was made of 45 patients with diaphragmatic herniation after penetrating trauma. In 29 the diagnosis was established during the first admission (early presentation) and in 16 during a subsequent admission (delayed presentation). The mortality rate in the early presentation group was 3 per cent compared with 25 per cent in the delayed presentation group. The presence of gangrenous or perforated abdominal viscus in the chest cavity was the single most common and severe aggravating factor. The need for diagnosis of diaphragmatic herniation during the initial admission is emphasized. As isolated diaphragmatic injuries provide few helpful clinical features to aid diagnosis, appropriate investigations and good follow‐up are of paramount importance in preventing late herniation of intra‐abdominal viscera through a penetrating diaphragmatic injury.
How Knowledge Map and Personalization Affect Effectiveness of KMS in High-Tech Firms

The shift from a product-based to a knowledge-based economy has resulted in an increasing demand for organizations to implement knowledge management systems (KMS) at an accelerating pace. However, factors influencing the employee satisfaction with KMS, i.e. one surrogate measure of information system (IS) success/effectiveness, have seldom empirically examined by prior research, particularly how knowledge map and personalization influencing employee satisfaction with KMS. Results from a sample of 139 employees mostly from four international semiconductor manufacturing companies in the Hsin-Chu Science-based Industrial Parks in Taiwan strongly support a more comprehensive understanding in explaining employee satisfaction with KMS. The result shows KMS with a higher level of knowledge map and personalization will satisfy employees through increasing perceptions of ease of use and usefulness with KMS. Our findings could be possibly applied for investigating the related issues regarding the successful implementation of KMS for researchers and practitioners.
Combining Motor Imagery With Selective Sensation Toward a Hybrid-Modality BCI

A hybrid modality brain-computer interface (BCI) is proposed in this paper, which combines motor imagery with selective sensation to enhance the discrimination between left and right mental tasks, e.g., the classification between left/ right stimulation sensation and right/ left motor imagery. In this paradigm, wearable vibrotactile rings are used to stimulate both the skin on both wrists. Subjects are required to perform the mental tasks according to the randomly presented cues (i.e., left hand motor imagery, right hand motor imagery, left stimulation sensation or right stimulation sensation). Two-way ANOVA statistical analysis showed a significant group effect (F (2,20) = 7.17, p = 0.0045), and the Benferroni-corrected multiple comparison test (with α = 0.05) showed that the hybrid modality group is 11.13% higher on average than the motor imagery group, and 10.45% higher than the selective sensation group. The hybrid modality experiment exhibits potentially wider spread usage within ten subjects crossed 70% accuracy, followed by four subjects in motor imagery and five subjects in selective sensation. Six subjects showed statistically significant improvement ( Benferroni-corrected) in hybrid modality in comparison with both motor imagery and selective sensation. Furthermore, among subjects having difficulties in both motor imagery and selective sensation, the hybrid modality improves their performance to 90% accuracy. The proposed hybrid modality BCI has demonstrated clear benefits for those poorly performing BCI users. Not only does the requirement of motor and sensory anticipation in this hybrid modality provide basic function of BCI for communication and control, it also has the potential for enhancing the rehabilitation during motor recovery.
Electron cloud buildup in the ISIS Proton Synchrotron and related machines

Electron cloud formation and the associated effects of beam loss and instabilities have been observed in high intensity proton machines such as the LANL PSR and the CERN SPS. A program has recently been launched at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (UK) to understand the lack of electron cloud induced instabilities in the operations of the 160 kW 70-800 MeV ISIS synchrotron. Simulations have been carried out using a newly developed version of the CERN ECLOUD code [1, 2] to model the main features of the electron cloud build-up in a representative field-free region of the ISIS ring. A comparative study has also been undertaken to gauge electron-proton (e-p) related problems/limitations in possible future proton machines for spallation neutron sources (ESS) or neutrino factories (ISIS MW upgrade).
Electron spin resonance measurement of radical scavenging activity of Aronia melanocarpa fruit juice

Background: The fruits of Aronia melanocarpa (Michx.) Elliot contain large amounts of phenolic substances, mainly procyanidins, anthocyanins and other flavonoids, and phenolic acids. The ability of phenolic substances to act as antioxidants has been well established. Objective: In this study, we investigated the radical scavenging activity of A. melanocarpa fruit juice (AMFJ). Materials and Methods: The method used was electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. The galvinoxyl free radical was used as a scavenging object. AMFJ was added to the galvinoxyl free radical solution. The measure of the radical scavenging activity was the decrease of signal intensity. Results: AMFJ showed a potent antiradical activity causing a strong and rapid decrease of signal intensity as a function of time and juice concentration. This effect of AMFJ was probably due to the activity of its phenolic constituents. Conclusion: The ESR measurements in this study showed a pronounced radical scavenging effect of AMFJ, an important mechanism of its antioxidant activity.
Cardiovascular Risk Markers and Mechanisms in Targeting the COX Pathway for Colorectal Cancer Prevention

COX-2 inhibition reduces the incidence of colorectal neoplasia. The increased risk of thrombotic cardiovascular events produced by selective or nonselective COX-2 inhibitors, however, has confounded the consideration of employing them in cancer prevention. Developing a strategy for preventing colorectal cancer by inhibiting COX-2 depends on research advances in several key areas, including predictive biomarkers to identify people at the lowest risk for cardiovascular events, the molecular mechanisms whereby interdicting the COX-2 pathway produces thrombotic events, and the pharmacology of the widely divergent agents that act on COX-2 and its downstream pathway. Cancer Prev Res; 4(8); 1145–8. ©2011 AACR.
Interpretation of laboratory examination results and their simple representation

Knowledge about the causal relationship between diseases and their laboratory findings is a key component for clinical decision support systems. For efficient acquisition of such knowledge, this paper attempted to represent the interpretation of laboratory results in a guidebook for laboratory examinations. A preliminary survey revealed the structure of the knowledge compiled in the guidebook, and found essential patterns in the cause-effect relationship. We then attempted to code the knowledge, utilizing a simple cause-effect relationship between exam results and their possible causes, expressed in a disease master table. For coding of the knowledge, a two-step approach was used: first the causing disease was looked up automatically in the disease master table, and then, manually. In the study, 84.5% of the knowledge in the guidebook was identified as a candidate for the coding in the simple cause-effect relationship, and 69.1% of the knowledge was successfully coded. Failure analysis suggested that further expressive power in the representation is gained only at the cost of considerable human intervention in the knowledge acquisition, and the cost for the utilization of the resulting data. Accordingly, for a certain type of application, which might prefer simplicity over accuracy or completeness of the information, the minimalist representation could be a reasonable choice.
Statistical downscaling of daily precipitation and temperatures in southern La Plata Basin

La Plata Basin has a considerable socio‐economic value, being one of the most important agricultural and hydropower‐producing regions in the world. In this region, there is increasing evidence of a changing climate with more frequent and more intense extreme events. Despite the importance of empirical statistical downscaling for regional climate impact studies, few studies have addressed this issue for southern South American regions. In this work, the analogue method was calibrated and validated for simulating local daily precipitation and maximum and minimum temperatures in southern La Plata Basin. The model was trained for the 1979–2000 period and validated for the independent period 2001–2014. Daily fields from NCEP‐NCAR Reanalysis 2 were used as predictors and daily observed data from 25 meteorological stations were used as predictands. A variety of potential predictors (including circulation, temperature and humidity variables) and combinations of them over different domain sizes were tested, revealing that the method was more skilful when combined predictors were considered. However, depending on the local predictand and the season of the year different predictor sets may be more appropriate. The method was comprehensively evaluated by means of several skill measures concerning different properties such as mean values, day‐to‐day variance, daily correspondence, persistence, inter‐annual variability, probability distributions and extreme percentiles. The method showed an overall good performance. It tended to overestimate (underestimate) temperature values, especially during winter (summer); however, the day‐to‐day variance during these seasons was fairly well represented. The method was able to reproduce extreme percentiles and their spatial distributions for the three predictand variables as well as the probability of compound temperature and precipitation extreme events. The performance of the method was very good at estimating seasonal cycles of the different aspects explored. It showed some difficulties in representing the persistence in daily temperatures and the inter‐annual variability of seasonal precipitation.