Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multi-Probe LSH: Efficient Indexing for High-Dimensional Similarity Search

Similarity indices for high-dimensional data are very desirable for building content-based search systems for feature-rich data such as audio, images, videos, and other sensor data. Recently, locality sensitive hashing (LSH) and its variations have been proposed as indexing techniques for approximate similarity search. A significant drawback of these approaches is the requirement for a large number of hash tables in order to achieve good search quality. This paper proposes a new indexing scheme called multi-probe LSH that overcomes this drawback. Multi-probe LSH is built on the well-known LSH technique, but it intelligently probes multiple buckets that are likely to contain query results in a hash table. Our method is inspired by and improves upon recent theoretical work on entropy-based LSH designed to reduce the space requirement of the basic LSH method. We have implemented the multi-probe LSH method and evaluated the implementation with two different high-dimensional datasets. Our evaluation shows that the multi-probe LSH method substantially improves upon previously proposed methods in both space and time efficiency. To achieve the same search quality, multi-probe LSH has a similar time-efficiency as the basic LSH method while reducing the number of hash tables by an order of magnitude. In comparison with the entropy-based LSH method, to achieve the same search quality, multi-probe LSH uses less query time and 5 to 8 times fewer number of hash tables.
Involvement of Schizosaccharomyces pombe Srs2 in cellular responses to DNA damage.

In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae the Srs2/RadH DNA helicase promotes survival after ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, and has been implicated in DNA repair, recombination and checkpoint signalling following DNA damage. A second helicase, Sgs1, is the S.cerevisiae homologue of the human BLM and WRN proteins, which are defective in cancer predisposition and/or premature ageing syndromes. Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells lacking both Srs2 and Sgs1 exhibit a severe growth defect. We have identified an Srs2 orthologue in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, and have investigated its role in responses to UV irradiation and inhibition of DNA replication. Deletion of fission yeast srs2 caused spontaneous hyper-recombination and UV sensitivity, and simultaneous deletion of the SGS1 homologue rqh1 caused a severe growth defect reminiscent of that seen in the equivalent S.cerevisiae mutant. However, unlike in budding yeast, inactivation of the homologous recombination pathway did not suppress this growth defect. Indeed, the homologous recombination pathway was required for maintenance of normal fission yeast viability in the absence of Srs2, and loss of homologous recombination and loss of Srs2 contributed additively to UV sensitivity. We conclude that Srs2 plays related, but not identical, roles in the two yeast species.
Impact of chronic kidney disease on health-related quality-of-life improvement after coronary artery bypass surgery.

BACKGROUND Little is known about the impact of chronic kidney disease (CKD) on health-related quality-of-life outcomes after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). METHODS Our objective was to examine the changes in physical function (PF) and mental health (MH) 6 months after CABG in 1055 patients with and without CKD. The primary end points were mean change in score and status of "improved" or "worsened" in both PF and MH subscales of the Medical Outcomes Trust Short Form 36-Item Health Survey from baseline to 6 months after CABG, stratified by CKD stage (0-5). RESULTS Absolute PF and MH scores at baseline and at 6 months varied by renal impairment level. Patients with severe CKD (stages 4-5) had a mean (SD) decrease in PF score at 6 months of 3 (3) compared with increases in the rest of the cohort (P<.001). After adjustment for baseline score, 21% of patients with advanced CKD experienced worsened PF scores, compared with 0% of patients with stages 0 to 2 and stage 3 CKD (P<.001). In contrast to PF scores, patients with and without CKD had similar improvements in mean MH scores at 6 months, and patients with stages 4 to 5 CKD had the highest frequency of those with improved MH scores (77%). After adjustment, no patients experienced worsened MH scores. CONCLUSIONS After 6 months, patients with severe CKD who underwent CABG had improvement in MH but not improvement in PF and may have had worsened PF compared with those without severe CKD. Comparable evidence regarding quality-of-life outcomes in the absence of CABG is needed to more fully inform decision making regarding patients with severe CKD and coronary artery disease.
Standing and Transient Eddies in the response of the Meridional Overturning to the Southern Annular Mode

To refine understanding of how Southern Ocean dynamics respond to recent intensification of the Southern Annular Mode (SAM), a regional ocean model at two eddying resolutions was forced with two synthetic interannual forcings. The first forcing corresponds to homogeneously intensified winds, while the second concerns their poleward intensification, consistent with positive phases of the SAM. Resulting wind-driven responses differ greatly between the nearly insensitive Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and the more sensitive Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC). As expected, eddies mitigate the response of the ACC and MOC to poleward intensified winds. However, transient eddies do not necessarily play an increasing role in meridional transport with increasing winds and resolution. As winds increase, meridional transport from standing eddies becomes more efficient at balancing wind-enhanced overturning. These results question the current paradigms on the role of eddies and present new challenges for eddy flux parameterization. Results also indicate that spatial patterns of wind anomalies are at least as important as the overall change in intensity in influencing the Southern Ocean's dynamic response to wind events. Poleward intensified wind anomalies from the positive trend in the SAM, are far more efficient in accelerating the ACC than homogeneous wind anomalies.
Classification of Text Documents Based on Minimum System Entropy

In this paper, we describe a new approach to classification of text documents based on the minimization of system entropy, i.e., the overall uncertainty associated with the joint distribution of words and labels in the collection. The classification algorithm assigns a class label to a new document in such a way that its insertion into the system results in the maximum decrease (or least increase) system entropy. We provide insights into the minimum system entropy criterion, and establish connections to traditional naive Bayes approaches. Experimental results indicate that the algorithm performs well in terms of classification accuracy. It is less sensitive to feature selection and more scalable when compared with SVM.
LOW-INTENSITY/HIGH-DENSITY SUBTHRESHOLD DIODE MICROPULSE LASER FOR CENTRAL SEROUS CHORIORETINOPATHY

Purpose: To review the results of low-intensity/high-density subthreshold micropulse laser (SDM) for treatment of central serous chorioretinopathy. Method: The records of all patients treated in a retinal subspecialty practice with SDM for central serous chorioretinopathy were reviewed. Results: Eleven consecutive eyes of 11 patients treated between October 2011 and April 2014 were identified for study, 9 men and 2 women, aged 30 to 55 (mean = 46). Symptom duration before treatment ranged 1 month to 7 months (mean = 3.6 months) and after treatment with SDM laser, follow-up ranged 1 month to 45 months (mean = 14). Preoperative visual acuities ranged 20/20 to 20/100 (mean = 20/37) and postoperative visual acuities were 20/15 to 20/40 (mean = 20/24) (P = 0.01, paired t-test). Maximum retinal thickness ranged 314 &mgr;m to 893 &mgr;m (mean = 508) preoperatively and 222 &mgr;m to 365 &mgr;m (mean = 250) postoperatively for an average 258 &mgr;m reduction in retinal thickness (P = 0.002, paired t-test). Subretinal fluid was eliminated in all eyes by 3 months after treatment (mean = 1.3 months). The number of SDM laser spot applications ranged 295 to 1431 per treatment session (mean = 772). One eye required retreatment, but for a new leakage locus 4 months after initial treatment. There were no adverse treatment effects. Conclusion: An SDM laser seems to be safe and effective for the treatment of central serous chorioretinopathy. As advocated in the literature, a higher treatment density and larger treatment area, as reported in this article, may improve clinical results.
Large-eddy simulation of turbulent combustion for gas turbines with reduced chemistry

An LES computation has been performed for the complete burner of a partiallypremixed gas turbine, for both non-reacting and reacting cases. The flame is described using a twostep chemical scheme combined with the thickened-flame (TF) model. Results show that the inlet boundary conditions (especially the swirl level) have a very large effect on flow topology. With the correct inlet conditions, the overall agreement with experiment is very good, for both cold flow and reacting flows.
The roles of acquired and innate immunity in human T-cell leukemia virus type 1-mediated diseases

Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) causes adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) and HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis in small subsets of HTLV-1 carriers. HTLV-1-specific T-cell responses play critical roles in anti-viral and anti-tumor host defense during HTLV-1 infections. Some HTLV-1 carriers exhibit selective loss or anergy of HTLV-1-specific T-cells at an asymptomatic stage. This is also observed in ATL patients and may therefore be an underlying risk factor of ATL in combination with elevated proviral loads. HTLV-1-specific T-cells often recognize the viral oncoprotein Tax, indicating expression of Tax protein in vivo, although levels of HTLV-1 gene expression are known to be very low. A type-I interferon (IFN) response can be induced by HTLV-1-infected cells and suppresses HTLV-1 expression in vitro, suggesting a role of type-I IFN response in viral suppression and pathogenesis in vivo. Both acquired and innate immune responses control the status of HTLV-1-infected cells and could be the important determinants in the development of HTLV-1-mediated malignant and inflammatory diseases.
Software Quality Estimation using Machine Learning: Case-based Reasoning Technique

Software quality estimation is one of the most interesting research areas in the domain of software engineering for last few decades. Large numbers of techniques and models have already been worked out in the area of error estimation. The aim of software quality estimation is to identify error prone tasks as the cost can be minimized with advance knowledge about the errors and this early treatment of error will enhance the software quality. In this paper we have explored a set of data in university setting. This paper advocates the use of case-based reasoning (i.e., CBR) to make a software quality estimation system by the help of human experts. CBR relies on historical information from similar past projects, whereby similarities are determined by comparing the projects, and key attributes. We have used different similarity measures to find the best method which increases estimation accuracy & reliability. This paper presents a work in which we have expanded our previous work [24]. The software is a console based application and thus does not use the GUI functions of the Operating System, which makes it very fast in execution. In order to obtain results we have used an indigenous tool for software quality estimation, run in c++ compiler. General Terms Software Engineering: Quality
A Cross-Country Study of Electronic Business Adoption Using the Technology-Organization-Environment Framework

In this study, we developed a conceptual model for electronic business (e-business or EB) adoption incorporating six adoption facilitators and inhibitors, based on the technology-organization-environment framework. Survey data from 3,100 businesses and 7,500 consumers in eight European countries were used to test the model. We conducted confirmatory factor analysis to assess the reliability and validity of constructs. To examine whether adoption behaviors differ across different e-business environments, we divided the full sample into high EB-intensity and low EB-intensity countries. The fitted logit models demonstrated four findings: (1) Technology competence, firm scope and size, consumer readiness, and competitive pressure are significant adoption drivers, while lack of trading partner readiness is a significant adoption inhibitor. (2) As EB-intensity increases, two environmental factors—consumer readiness and lack of trading partner readiness—become less important. (3) In high EB-intensity countries, e-business is no longer a phenomenon dominated by large firms; as more and more firms engage in e-business, network effect works to the advantage of small firms. (4) Firms are more cautious into adopting e-business in high EB-intensity countries, which seems to suggest that the more informed firms are less aggressive into adopting e-business.
PHYSICO-CHEMICAL EFFECTS OF SAND HARVESTING ON WATER QUALITY IN RIVER THWAKE MACHAKOS COUNTY, KENYA

A study was conducted to assess the physicochemical effects of sand harvesting in River Thwake, Machakos CountyKenya. A total of 8 water samples from a sand harvesting site (point A) and no-sand harvesting site (point B) were collected and analyzed for; temperature, Hydrogen Potential, turbidity, color, electrical conductivity, Lead, Copper, Zinc, Iron, Biological Oxygen Demand and Chemical Oxygen Demand. There were significant differences in the means of point A and B water samples as regards to; color (p=0.001), turbidity (p=0.001), Iron (p=0.001) Chemical Oxygen Demand (p=0.001) and Zinc (p=0.02) which was associated with sand harvesting activities at point A. However, Copper (p=0.54), conductivity (p=0.17), temperature (p=0.93), Hydrogen Potential (p=0.09), Lead (p=0.85), Biological Oxygen Demand (p=0.63) mean scores were not significantly different despite sand harvesting activities. The results were compared with WHO guidelines, 2009 and Kenya Bureau of Standards 2006 water guidelines to ascertain its suitability for domestic use.
Randomised comparison of a bioresorbable everolimus-eluting scaffold with a metallic everolimus-eluting stent for ischaemic heart disease caused by de novo native coronary artery lesions: the 2-year clinical outcomes of the ABSORB II trial.

AIMS The one-year randomised data of the ABSORB II trial showed that the everolimus-eluting bioresorbable scaffold and the everolimus-eluting metallic stent were comparable for the composite secondary clinical outcomes of patient-oriented composite endpoint (PoCE) and device-oriented composite endpoint (DoCE)/target lesion failure (TLF), MACE and TVF. This report describes the two-year clinical outcomes of the ABSORB II trial. METHODS AND RESULTS Patients were randomly assigned in a 2:1 ratio to receive treatment with an everolimus-eluting bioresorbable scaffold (Absorb; Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, CA, USA) or treatment with an everolimus-eluting metallic stent (XIENCE; Abbott Vascular). The trial enrolled 501 patients. Clinical follow-up at two years was available in 320 patients in the Absorb BVS arm and 160 patients in the XIENCE arm. At two years, the PoCE for the Absorb and XIENCE arms was 11.6% and 12.8% (p=0.70) and the DoCE/TLF was 7.0% and 3.0% (p=0.07), respectively. The hierarchical ID-MACE rate was 7.6% vs. 4.3% (p=0.16) and the rate of TVF was 8.5% vs. 6.7% (p=0.48). The definite/probable thrombosis rate was 1.5% in the Absorb arm vs. 0% in the XIENCE arm (p=0.17). Thirty-six percent and 34% of patients remained on DAPT at two years, respectively. Ninety-two percent of patients in both arms remained on aspirin. CONCLUSIONS Two-year clinical results demonstrate sustained low rates of PoCE, MACE, DoCE and TVF with the Absorb BVS as compared to the XIENCE stent.
Prior stimulant treatment in adolescents with bipolar disorder: association with age at onset.

OBJECTIVES To compare demographic and clinical characteristics between bipolar adolescents with and without a history of stimulant treatment, we hypothesized that adolescents treated with stimulants would have an earlier age at onset of bipolar disorder, independent of co-occurring attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). METHOD Thirty-four adolescents hospitalized with mania were assessed using the Washington University at St Louis Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (WASH-U-KSADS). We systematically evaluated age at onset of bipolar disorder and pharmacological treatment history. RESULTS Bipolar adolescents with a history of stimulant exposure prior to the onset of bipolar disorder had an earlier age at onset of bipolar disorder than those without prior stimulant exposure. Additionally, bipolar adolescents treated with at least two stimulant medications had a younger age at onset compared with those who were treated with one stimulant. There was no difference in age at onset of bipolar disorder between bipolar adolescents with and without ADHD. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that stimulant treatment, independent of ADHD, is associated with younger age at onset of bipolar disorder. A behavioral sensitization model is proposed to explain our findings. There are several limitations to our study including the small sample size, the retrospective assessment of stimulant exposure and age at onset of bipolar disorder, and the inclusion of only hospitalized patients, who may be more likely to present with a severe illness. Nonetheless, future prospective longitudinal investigations that systematically assess the effects of stimulant medications in children with or at genetic risk for bipolar disorder are warranted.
Investigation of impact melt in allochthonous crater‐fill deposits of the Steen River impact structure, Alberta, Canada

The Steen River impact structure (SRIS) formed in mixed target rocks, with Devonian carbonates, shales, and evaporites overlying granitic basement rocks of the Canadian Shield. A detailed study of impact melt phases within a continuous sequence of polymict impact breccia, as intersected by drill core, evaluated the relationship of impact melt to the breccia, identified the target rocks that contributed to the melt, and calculated the amount of melt within the breccia. Impact melt in the SRIS breccia occurs in three main forms (1) as individual matrix‐supported clasts, (2) as rims enveloping granitic clasts, and (3) as layers of agglomerated melt. Major and minor element abundances of large impact melt clasts (>1 mm) are similar to granitic basement, aside from elevated CaO and K2O wt% oxides in these melt clasts from incorporation of carbonates and calcareous shales. In contrast, submillimeter‐sized impact melt clasts have a composition derived almost exclusively from melting of shales. The small size of the shale‐derived melt clasts is attributed to increased fragmentation and a wider dispersion due to the volatile‐rich nature of the shale protolith. The wide compositional range of impact‐melted target lithologies documented at the SRIS contradicts breccia clast formation by impact melts that merged into larger bodies but were subsequently disrupted. Our observations are consistent with disruption of impact melt early in its formation history, and the volatile‐rich nature of the target materials likely contributed to this disruption. Bimodal thin section scans provide an estimate of the proportion of impact melt phases in the SRIS breccias (~19 vol%). When compared to similarly sized, mixed‐target impact structures, our results are consistent with the estimated volume of impact melt clasts from Ries, Germany (21 vol%), but are roughly twice that observed at Haughton, Canada (<10 vol%).
Development of Frailty Indicators for the Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Background: Faster than anticipated increases in population, aging is making the issue of frailty among the elderly increasingly important. Despite general agreement that a frailty assessment is important for planning care for the older adults, a lack of consensus remains regarding the best methodology to use for frailty assessments. Purpose: The aim of this study was first to cross-examine results between perception of frailty and physical assessment outcomes then try to establish frailty indicators for elderly people in Taiwan. Methods: This study used both qualitative and quantitative methods. From August to September 2010, researchers recruited a convenience sample of 10 community older adults from six different elderly centers in northern Taiwan. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted in Mandarin or Taiwanese and audiotaped. After the in-depth interview, researchers conducted a series of physical assessments on the participants. Results: Ten elderly women were interviewed and assessed. The three themes identified by this study related to frailty perception included overall physical function performance, psychological health, and physiological health. These reflected the concept of successful aging. Participant frailty was compared with subjective perceptions to identify and/or check for consistency between qualitative and quantitative results. Although quantitative results revealed that participants were in fairly good health, there were many complaints about frailty during the qualitative interview. Better sensitive measures reflecting frailty changes are thus needed. Conclusions: These indicators can be considered as an integration of all maintained functions. We hope that results will provide better insights into understanding the process of frailty among the older adults.
Choice of South Asian Summer Monsoon Indices

Abstract In the south Asian region, two of the major precipitation maxima associated with areas of intensive convective activity are located near the Bay of Bengal and in the vicinity of the Philippines. The variations of monthly mean outgoing longwave radiation in the two regions are poorly correlated, particularly in the decade of 1980s. The enhanced convection over the Bay of Bengal and Indian subcontinents is coupled with reinforced monsoon circulation west of 80°E over India, the western Indian Ocean, and the tropical northern Africa. In contrast, the enhanced convection in the vicinity of the Philippines corresponds to intensified monsoon circulation primarily east of 80°E over southeast Asia including the Indochina peninsula, South China Sea, Philippine Sea, and the Maritime Continent. To better reflect regional monsoon characteristics, two convection indices (or associated circulation indices that are dynamically coherent with the convection indices) are suggested to measure the variability of the.