Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Psychological Behaviour of People in the Selection of Islamic Banks

Accepted 11th February, 2019 Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this study is to estimate the acceptance level of people regarding the Islamic banking system in Pakistan. Secondly it is also important to evaluate that up to what level and what factors significantly affect the decision of Pakistani people while choosing to business with Islamic banks. The relation of total five independent variables (religiosity, cost factor, service quality, bank reputation and social influence) was checked with the dependent variable (bank selection criteria). The social cognitive theory was used as the base theory in this study. Methodology: The quantitative methodology was used to collect the data through a selfadministrated questionnaire. A total sample of 400 people was taken who were dealing with different conventional as well as with the Islamic banks currently in the branches of Lahore region. The correlation was applied to find the relationship between the independent and dependent variable. The multiple regressions were applied to check the impact of these factors on the bank selection criteria. Findings: The findings indicate that there is a significant relationship between the dependent and the independent variables used in this study. The service quality is considered the most important factor by the people if they want to deal with the Islamic banks along with the bank reputation and the cost factor. While religiosity and the social influence has not a indigenous impact on the people while selecting the Islamic banks for business. Recommendations: The Islamic banks need to create awareness among the people regarding its products and services. There must be clarity regarding the Shariah compliant principles which they follow during their working. So that those customers can also be attracted who want to follow the Islamic principles in their business and investment.
Abstract only: An approach for scalability-bottleneck solution: identification and elimination of scalability bottlenecks in a DBMS

ACID-compliant DBMSs are said to be difficult to scale their performance by using many more processors, which means that they are difficult to enjoy the benefits of recent many-core systems that widespread use of multi-core processors has made practicable. Since DBMSs are indispensable in most of IT systems, scalability issues should be addressed to fulfill the demand of handling large quantity of data. This paper proposes a viable approach for solving scalability issue, in which lock-related bottleneck will be identified from event trace based measurements and scalability will be improved by replacing the bottleneck-lock with fine-grained locks. This paper also describes a case study on the application of the proposed method, in which the scalability of a many-core system in executing DBT-1 transactions with MySQL adopting the InnoDB storage engine has been successfully improved. Since applying the proposed method produced the increase in maximum throughput of the 16-CPU system by 1.6 times, the method is promising, as long as lock-related bottlenecks are of concern.
Patient perspectives on Parkinson’s disease therapy in Japan and the United States: results of two patient surveys

Background Despite evidence suggesting that patient attitudes towards therapy may influence treatment outcomes, the impact of these factors on treatment for Parkinson’s disease is poorly understood. These two surveys, based in Japan and the US, investigated the attitudes of patients towards antiparkinsonian medications, the complications of these therapies, and how these differ across geographies. Methods The US PRELUDE survey collected data from May 13 to May 20, 2003, from 300 interviews with patients with Parkinson’s disease from the National Parkinson Foundation. The Japanese survey was carried out from June to December 2008 in a stepwise manner using questionnaires (n = 3548) followed by interviews with those who had consented to participate in the questionnaire (n = 407). Both surveys assessed the attitudes of patients towards therapies for Parkinson’s disease and associated complications. Results Dyskinesia was not a major challenge of therapy for Parkinson’s disease, and wearing-off caused greater concern in the US, while hallucinations had a greater emphasis in Japan. Patients who had previously experienced dyskinesia were less concerned about this side effect than those who had not. Although pill burden was thought to be a concern in the US, Japanese patients did not indicate that pill burden would limit their drug intake. There were also discrepancies between the perspectives and concerns of patients and those of their treating physicians. Conclusion Recognizing patient perspectives regarding therapies for Parkinson’s disease and associated complications, as well as certain cultural influences, is important in the management of parkinsonian symptoms. Acknowledging these concerns may improve the standard of care in patients with Parkinson’s disease. In addition, improved patient education and effective patient–physician communication in both countries may improve compliance and treatment outcomes in patients with the disease.
Privacy-Preserving Universal Authentication Protocol using Hierarchical Key and Group Signature

A novel protocol to achieve privacy-preserving universal authentication protocol for wireless communications called Priauth. Verifier-Local Revocation Group Signature with Backward Unlinkability (VLR-GS-BU), it can satisfy all requirements.Priauth belongs to the class of Universal Authentication Protocols in which same protocol and signaling flows are used regardless of the domain (home or foreign) a roaming user is visiting. Allowing people to get connected seamlessly using their devices without being limited by the geographical coverage of their own home networks roaming service should be deployed. The key is used to encrypt data transmitted to the servers or users. The efficient distribution of the new key for multiple membership changes is a critical problem in secure group communication. The goal of the enhancement is to evaluate trade-off between storage and revocation cost. Storage is computed in terms of keys that each user (respectively, VA) maintains and revocation cost is computed in terms of the encryptions performed, and the number of messages transmitted by the VA.
Bounds for Vector-Valued Function Estimation

We present a framework to derive risk bounds for vector-valued learning with a broad class of feature maps and loss functions. Multi-task learning and one-vs-all multi-category learning are treated as examples. We discuss in detail vector-valued functions with one hidden layer, and demonstrate that the conditions under which shared representations are beneficial for multi- task learning are equally applicable to multi-category learning.
Using simulation to reduce length of stay in emergency departments

A growing number of hospitals are using healthcare-specific simulation technology to help identify process improvements, particularly when there are a number of alternatives under consideration. New software is now available which specifically meets the unique needs of healthcare. This article describes how a team at one Emergency Services department in a SunHealth Alliance hospital used simulation technology to test alternatives and choose a solution to significantly reduce the length of stay for patients in the Emergency department.
Spike-timing neuronal modelling of forgetting in immediate serial recall

Three major and often contradicting hypotheses regarding forgetting in instant sequential recall include the Time-based decay, Temporal distinctiveness and Interference. Here we will explore these hypotheses using the Spike-timing theory of working memory. We represent memory traces as spatio-temporal patterns of spikes called polychronous groups which behave according to short-term and long-term synaptic dynamics. In spite of their contradictions, we show that all three forgetting hypotheses can co-exist - yet each one can have a different degree of influence in the process of forgetting with interference having an immediate impact.
Ossification of the Ligamentum Flavum

Ossification of the ligamentum flavum is a rare cause of thoracic myelopathy. It develops in East Asians more frequently than in people from other areas. The exact pathophysiology has not been elucidated yet; however, it largely depends on biomechanical alterations, especially changes in the tensile force. Because the spinal cord is compressed from the posterior side, the first and most common clinical manifestation is usually loss of functional gait and spastic paralysis, which develop as the spinal cord compression progresses. The choice of diagnostic imaging is T2 sagittal magnetic resonance imaging scanning. Whole spine scanning is mandatory to identify multiple areas of compression and any associated distal lumbar diseases. Fine computed tomography imaging is necessary to make a differential diagnosis and set up a precise surgical plan. Conservative treatment does not work in this disorder. Decompression surgery is the only option and prognosis after surgical treatment is better with this disorder than with other causes of thoracic myelopathy. The severity of preoperative symptoms and the time interval before surgical treatment are the most important prognostic factors.
THE BRIGHTEST ASYMPTOTIC GIANT BRANCH STARS IN THE INNER BULGE OF M31

JHK images with angular resolutions approaching the diffraction limit of the 3.6 m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope are used to investigate the bright asymptotic giant branch (AGB) content of the M31 bulge. The AGB tip in a field 2. ′6 from the galaxy center occurs at K = 15.6, which is significantly fainter than measured in previous ground-based studies that sampled similar projected distances from the center of M31 but were affected by crowding. Within 2. ′6 of the center of M31, the number density of bright AGB stars scales with r-band surface brightness and the K brightness of the AGB tip does not vary measurably with radius. It is concluded that the infrared bright AGB stars (1) belong to the bulge and not the disk and (2) are well mixed throughout the inner bulge, suggesting that they formed at a time when the overall structural properties of the M31 bulge were imprinted. The bolometric luminosity functions (LFs) of the M31 bulge and Baade's window are in excellent agreement, while the brightest AGB stars in the M31 bulge, the Galactic bulge, and M32 have similar MK. Barring a fortuitous tuning of age and metallicity to produce AGB tips with similar brightnesses, it is suggested that the brightest stars in M32 and the bulges of M31 and the Milky Way belong to an old, metal-rich population; these stars are bright not because they have a young or intermediate age, but because they have a high metallicity.
Building democracy in quicksand: America, altruism and empire

The new era of American empire commenced with decisive military victories in Afghanistan and Iraq. But the aftermath of war has proved surprisingly difficult and violent. Explanations of America’s failure to win the peace have largely overlooked the inherent difficulty of planting democracy in so inhospitable a social environment as Iraq’s. This paper examines the prospects for American empire, focusing on the problem of nation-building, and in particular the role of a well-functioning civil society in making democracy work.
A comparison of the BISAP score and serum procalcitonin for predicting the severity of acute pancreatitis

Background/Aims The bedside index of severity in acute pancreatitis (BISAP) is a new, convenient, prognostic multifactorial scoring system. As more data are needed before clinical application, we compared BISAP, the serum procalcitonin (PCT), and other multifactorial scoring systems simultaneously. Methods Fifty consecutive acute pancreatitis patients were enrolled prospectively. Blood samples were obtained at admission and after 48 hours and imaging studies were performed within 48 hours of admission. The BISAP score was compared with the serum PCT, Ranson's score, and the acute physiology and chronic health examination (APACHE)-II, Glasgow, and Balthazar computed tomography severity index (BCTSI) scores. Acute pancreatitis was graded using the Atlanta criteria. The predictive accuracy of the scoring systems was measured using the area under the receiver-operating curve (AUC). Results The accuracy of BISAP (≥ 2) at predicting severe acute pancreatitis was 84% and was superior to the serum PCT (≥ 3.29 ng/mL, 76%) which was similar to the APACHE-II score. The best cutoff value of BISAP was 2 (AUC, 0.873; 95% confidence interval, 0.770 to 0.976; p < 0.001). In logistic regression analysis, BISAP had greater statistical significance than serum PCT. Conclusions BISAP is more accurate for predicting the severity of acute pancreatitis than the serum PCT, APACHE-II, Glasgow, and BCTSI scores.
Quality of Public Hospitals Websites: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study in Iran

Introduction: Nowadays, hospitals have turned increasingly towards the Internet and develop their own web presence. Hospital Websites could be operating as effective web resources of information and interactive communication mediums to enhance hospital services to the public. Aim: Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the quality of websites in Tehran’s public hospitals. Material and methods: This cross-sectional analysis involved all public hospitals in Iran’s capital city, Tehran, with a working website or subsites between April and June, 2014 (N=59). The websites were evaluated using three validated instruments: a localized checklist, Google page rank, and the Alexa traffic ranking. The mentioned checklist consisted of 112 items divided into five sections: technical characteristics, hospital information and facilities, medical services, interactive on-line services and external activities. Data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics. Results: The mean website evaluation score was 45.7 out of 224 for selected public hospitals. All the studied websites were in the weak category based on the earned quality scores. There was no statistically significant association between the website evaluation score with Google page rank (P=0.092), Alexa global traffic rank and Alexa traffic rank in Iran (P>0.05). The hospital websites had a lower quality score in the interactive online services and external activities criteria in comparing to other criteria. Due to the low quality level of the studied websites and the importance of hospital portals in providing information and services on the Internet, the authorities should do precise planning for the appreciable improvement in the quality of hospital websites.
Modeling diffusion-weighted MRI as a spatially variant gaussian mixture: application to image denoising.

PURPOSE This work describes a spatially variant mixture model constrained by a Markov random field to model high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) data. Mixture models suit HARDI well because the attenuation by diffusion is inherently a mixture. The goal is to create a general model that can be used in different applications. This study focuses on image denoising and segmentation (primarily the former). METHODS HARDI signal attenuation data are used to train a Gaussian mixture model in which the mean vectors and covariance matrices are assumed to be independent of spatial locations, whereas the mixture weights are allowed to vary at different lattice positions. Spatial smoothness of the data is ensured by imposing a Markov random field prior on the mixture weights. The model is trained in an unsupervised fashion using the expectation maximization algorithm. The number of mixture components is determined using the minimum message length criterion from information theory. Once the model has been trained, it can be fitted to a noisy diffusion MRI volume by maximizing the posterior probability of the underlying noiseless data in a Bayesian framework, recovering a denoised version of the image. Moreover, the fitted probability maps of the mixture components can be used as features for posterior image segmentation. RESULTS The model-based denoising algorithm proposed here was compared on real data with three other approaches that are commonly used in the literature: Gaussian filtering, anisotropic diffusion, and Rician-adapted nonlocal means. The comparison shows that, at low signal-to-noise ratio, when these methods falter, our algorithm considerably outperforms them. When tractography is performed on the model-fitted data rather than on the noisy measurements, the quality of the output improves substantially. Finally, ventricle and caudate nucleus segmentation experiments also show the potential usefulness of the mixture probability maps for classification tasks. CONCLUSIONS The presented spatially variant mixture model for diffusion MRI provides excellent denoising results at low signal-to-noise ratios. This makes it possible to restore data acquired with a fast (i.e., noisy) pulse sequence to acceptable noise levels. This is the case in diffusion MRI, where a large number of diffusion-weighted volumes have to be acquired under clinical time constraints.
A Uniformly Accurate Multiscale Time Integrator Pseudospectral Method for the Klein-Gordon Equation in the Nonrelativistic Limit Regime

We propose and analyze a multiscale time integrator Fourier pseudospectral (MTIFP) method for solving the Klein-Gordon (KG) equation with a dimensionless parameter 0 < ε ≤ 1 which is inversely proportional to the speed of light. In the nonrelativistic limit regime, i.e. 0 < ε ≪ 1, the solution to the KG equation propagates waves with amplitude at O(1) and wavelength at O(ε) in time and O(1) in space, which causes significantly numerical burdens due to the high oscillation in time. The MTI-FP method is designed by adapting a multiscale decomposition by frequency (MDF) to the solution at each time step and applying an exponential wave integrator to the nonlinear Schrödinger equation with wave operator under well-prepared initial data for ε-frequency and O(1)amplitude waves and a KG-type equation with small initial data for the reminder waves in the MDF. We rigorously establish two independent error bounds in H-norm to the MTI-FP method at O(hm0 + τ + ε) and O(hm0 + τ/ε) with h mesh size, τ time step and m0 ≥ 2 an integer depending on the regularity of the solution, which immediately imply that the MTI-FP converges uniformly and optimally in space with exponential convergence rate if the solution is smooth, and uniformly in time with linear convergence rate at O(τ) for all ε ∈ (0, 1] and optimally with quadratic convergence rate at O(τ) in the regimes when either ε = O(1) or 0 < ε ≤ τ . Numerical results are reported to confirm the error bounds and demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the MTI-FP method for the KG equation, especially in the nonrelativistic limit regime.
Antibody Responses to Acinetobacterspp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Multiple Sclerosis: Prospects for Diagnosis Using the Myelin-Acinetobacter-Neurofilament Antibody Index

ABSTRACT Antibody responses to Acinetobacter (five strains),Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, myelin basic protein (MBP), and neurofilaments were measured in sera from 26 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, 20 patients with cerebrovascular accidents (CVA), 10 patients with viral encephalitis, and 25 healthy blood donors. In MS patients, elevated levels of antibodies against all strains of Acinetobacter tested were present, as well as antibodies against P. aeruginosa, MBP, and neurofilaments, but not antibodies toE. coli, compared to the CVA group and controls. The myelin-Acinetobacter-neurofilament antibody index appears to distinguish MS patients from patients with CVAs or healthy controls. The relevance of such antibodies to the neuropathology of MS requires further evaluation.
Tettigettalna josei (Boulard, 1982) (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea): first record in Spain, with notes on the distribution, genetic variation and behaviour of the species

Abstract The small cicada Tettigettalna josei (Boulard, 1982) was until recently only known from southern Portugal and was considered endemic to this country. Fieldwork in 2013 led to the first record of the species in Spain, expanding its known eastern range to Andalusia. The northern limits remain poorly defined but it appears that the distribution of Tettigettalna josei is restricted to the south Atlantic coastline in the Iberian Peninsula, with the highest densities found in Algarve. Some notes on behaviour and genetic variation of Tettigettalna josei are also given.
Optogenetic dissection of medial prefrontal cortex circuitry

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is critically involved in numerous cognitive functions, including attention, inhibitory control, habit formation, working memory and long-term memory. Moreover, through its dense interconnectivity with subcortical regions (e.g., thalamus, striatum, amygdala and hippocampus), the mPFC is thought to exert top-down executive control over the processing of aversive and appetitive stimuli. Because the mPFC has been implicated in the processing of a wide range of cognitive and emotional stimuli, it is thought to function as a central hub in the brain circuitry mediating symptoms of psychiatric disorders. New optogenetics technology enables anatomical and functional dissection of mPFC circuitry with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. This provides important novel insights in the contribution of specific neuronal subpopulations and their connectivity to mPFC function in health and disease states. In this review, we present the current knowledge obtained with optogenetic methods concerning mPFC function and dysfunction and integrate this with findings from traditional intervention approaches used to investigate the mPFC circuitry in animal models of cognitive processing and psychiatric disorders.
Analysis of Error in Depth Perception with Vergence and Spatially Varying Sensing

In stereo vision the depth of a 3-D point is estimated based on the position of its projections on the left and right images. The image plane of cameras that produces the images consists of discrete pixels. This discretization of images generates uncertainty in estimation of the depth at each 3-D point. In this paper, we investigate the effect of vergence and spatially varying resolution on the depth estimation error. First, vergence is studied when pairs of stereo images with uniform resolution are used. Then the problem is studied for a stereo system similar to that of humans, in which cameras have high resolution in the center and nonlinearly decreasing resolution toward the periphery. In this paper we are only concerned with error in depth perception, assuming that stereo matching is already done.
An active anycast RTT-based server selection technique

Localized Web clusters and geographically dispersed replicated server/cluster architectures are two common architectures employed to improve the performance of an Internet service for the global users of the service. One method of server selection proposed for these architectures is the network-layer anycast method. In this method, a single anycast address is used to represent the collection of replicated servers and a routing protocol is used to route packets to the nearest server. This method has been found to be efficient but performs poorly in heavy load conditions due to its lack of support for quality of service requirements. However, the network-layer anycast method can be effectively implemented to provide quality of service in an active network - a new generation network that deploys programmable 'active routers' to make routing decisions based on information collected and processed within the network. In this paper, we simulate two round-trip-time-based (RTT-based) methods of server selection using the network-layer anycast technique on an active network and compare the performance of this method with the static round-robin server selection technique in a specific network scenario.