Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of the ground surface on polarimetric features of broadband radar scattering from subsurface metallic objects

Throughout the world, the problem of buried unexploded ordnance (UXO) poses an enormous, persistent, and expensive problem. While UXO generally consists of sizable bodies of ferrous metal and can therefore be detected, with current technology it is extremely difficult to distinguish them reliably from typically widespread pieces of clutter. Thus the problem is one of subsurface discrimination. The authors previous modeling work on scattering of ground penetrating radar (GPR) from metallic objects surrounded by an infinite soil-like medium has suggested the utility of a number of key discriminants in broadband fully polarimetric sensing. In particular, resonance structure, induced field rotation and ellipticity, and bistatic observation of scattered signals were shown to offer key information about target shape and size. The authors investigate the effects on signature features of the proximity of a ground surface to the target, for the common case of shallow burial (<1 m). Overall, their analyses suggest that the key discriminants seen in scattering in an infinite medium survive the complex interactions with the ground surface. In some instances, these revealing signatures appear to be strengthened by the presence of a nearby surface. Multiposition backscatter also allows fundamental inferences about target elongation and symmetry when those cannot be obtained from single position viewing.
Emergence, involution, and progression to carcinoma of mutant clones in normal endometrial tissues.

Sporadic somatic inactivation of genes such as PTEN within histologically normal endometrium (latent precancers) is an early step in endometrial carcinogenesis. We have used clone-specific mutations of PTEN to determine the fate of latent precancers over time in women who do (high risk) and do not (low risk) develop endometrial neoplasia. PTEN immunohistochemistry was performed on 45 occurrences of endometrial neoplasia and their paired antecedent benign biopsies, along with age matched sample pairs from 167 patients who did not develop a neoplasm. When PTEN-deficient cells were present at both time points, DNA sequencing was performed to determine whether they were single or multiple independent events. Loss of PTEN protein in isolated glands was common in the initial normal biopsies of high- and low-risk groups (42% and 27%, respectively, P = 0.066). Protein-deficient glands have a tendency to disappear over time in low-risk women (P = 0.047) and, even when "persistent," are infrequently (19%, 3/16) confirmed to be the same clone. Similarly, only a small proportion (6.7%, 1/15) of latent precancers seen in high-risk women are the direct progenitors of subsequent neoplasia. There is a high rate of latent precancer turnover in both low- and high-risk patients, with rare long-term persistence of unique clones, which may or may not progress to a histologic lesion. The temporal dynamics of clonal emergence, persistence, and involution are sufficiently complex that in the individual patient, the presence of a latent precancer has an unknown contribution to long-term cancer risk.
The Chaotic Behavior of the Black Hole System GRS 1915+105

A modified nonlinear time series analysis technique, which computes the correlation dimension D2, is used to analyze the X-ray light curves of the black hole system GRS 1915+105 in all 12 temporal classes. For four of these temporal classes, D2 saturates to ≈4-5, which indicates that the underlying dynamical mechanism is a low-dimensional chaotic system. Of the other eight classes, three show stochastic behavior, while five show deviation from randomness. The light curves for four classes that depict chaotic behavior have the smallest ratios of the expected Poisson noise to the variability (<0.05), while those for the three classes that depict stochastic behavior are the highest (>0.2). This suggests that the temporal behavior of the black hole system is governed by a low-dimensional chaotic system whose nature is detectable only when the Poisson fluctuations are much smaller than the variability.
To Broadcast Push or Not and What?

A major problem in mobile web applications as well as the wireless Internet is the scalable delivery of data. The most popular solution for this problem is a hybrid system that uses broadcast push to scalably deliver the most popular data, and reserves broadcast pull for delivery of less popular data. Such a hybrid scheme introduces a variety of data management problems at the broadcast server. In this paper, we examine three of these problems: the push popularity problem, the document classification problem, and the bandwidth division problem. The push popularity problem is to estimate the popularity of the documents in the web site. The document classification problem is to determine which documents should be pushed and which documents must be pulled. The bandwidth division problem is to determine how much of the server bandwidth to devote to pushed documents and how much of the server bandwidth should be reserved for pulled documents. We propose simple and elegant solutions for these problems. We report on experiments with our system that validate our algorithms.
Prolonged HCG action affects angiogenic substances and improves follicular maturation, oocyte quality and fertilization competence in patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to determine whether, in polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) patients, HCG action prolonged for 4 h improves the action of angiogenic substances [ovarian renin angiotensin system and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)], and consequently follicular maturation, oocyte quality and oocyte fertilization competence. METHODS In this prospective study 20 patients with PCOS undergoing IVF were included. Oocyte retrieval was carried out either 34 or 38 h after HCG administration. Each follicle was analysed for prorenin, active renin, VEGF and estradiol. Oocytes were evaluated for quality (mature, immature, degenerated oocytes), as were the embryos (low or high). RESULTS In the HCG +38 h group there were 245 follicles, and in the HCG +34 h group 240 follicles. In the HCG +38 h group, log active renin was lower (2.78 +/- 0.20 versus 2.91 +/- 0.25; P < 0.001) and VEGF higher (2276.0 +/- 790.1 versus 1946.6 +/- 954.5 pg/ml; P < 0.001). The odds ratio for obtaining oocytes from follicles was 1.6 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1-2.6; P = 0.02], and for developing high quality embryos 7.6 (95% CI 2.8-20.9; P < 0.001) in favour of the HCG +38 h group. CONCLUSIONS Follicular maturation and oocyte quality are related to the intrafollicular influences of active renin and VEGF in a time-dependent manner after HCG administration, whereas fertilization competence is related to VEGF only.
Adaptive Language Modeling Using Minimum Discriminant Estimation

The authors present an algorithm to adapt a n-gram language model to a document as it is dictated. The observed partial document is used to estimate a unigram distribution for the words that already occurred. Then, they find the closest n-gram distribution to the static n-gram distribution (using the discrimination information distance measure) that satisfies the marginal constraints derived from the document. The resulting minimum discrimination information model results in a perplexity of 208 instead of 290 for the static trigram model on a document of 321 words. <<ETX>>
An Architecture for Opportunistic Text Generation

We describe the architecture of the ILEX system, • which supports opportunistic text generation. In • web-based text generation, the SYstem cannot plan the entire multi-page discourse because the user's browsing path is unpredictable. For this reason, • the system must be ready opportunistically to take • advantage of whatever path the user chooses. We describe both the nature of opportunism in ILEX's museum domain, and then show how ILEX has been designed to function in this environment. The architecture presented addresses opportunism in both content determination and sentenceplanning. 1 E x p l o i t i n g o p p o r t u n i t i e s in t e x t g e n e r a t i o n • Many models of text generation make use of standard patterns (whether expressed as schemas (e.g. [McKeown 85]) or plan operators (e.g. [Moore and Paris 93])) to break down communicative goals in such a way as to produce extended texts. Such models are making two basic assumptions: 1. Text generation is goal directed, in the sense that spans and subspans of text are designed to achieve unitary communicative goals [Grosz and Sidner 86]. 2. Although the details Of the structUre of a text may have to be tuned to particulars of the communicative situation, generally the structure is determined by the goals and their decomposition. That is, a generator •needs strategies for decomposing the achievement of complex • goals into sequences of utterances, rather than ways of combining sequences of utterances into more complex structures. Generation is "top-down", rather than"bottom-up" [Marcu 97]. Our belief is that there is an important class of NLG problems for which these basic assumptions• are not helpful. These problems all involve situations where semi-fixed explanation strategies are less useful than the ability to exploit opportunities. WordNet gives the following definition of 0pportunity': O p p o r t u n i t y : "A possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances" Because • opportunities involve •combinations of circumstances, they are often unexpected and hard to predict. It may be too expensive or impossible to have complete knowledge about them. Topdown generation strategies may not be able •to exploit opportunities (except at the cost of looking for all opportunities at all• points) because it is difficult to associate classes of opportunities with fixed stages in the explanation •process. We are investigating opportunistic text generation in the Intelligent Labelling Explorer (ILEX) project, which seeks automatically to generate a sequence of commentaries for items in an electronic 180 South Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1HN, Email: {chrism,miCko}@dai.ecl. ac.uk. 2 Buccleuch Place, Edinburgh EH8 9LW, Email: {alik, jon}@cogsci.ed, ac.uk
Theory of Mind Is Impaired in Mild to Moderate Huntington’s Disease Independently from Global Cognitive Functioning

Affective “Theory of Mind” (ToM) is the specific ability to represent own and others’ emotional states and feelings. Previous studies examined affective ToM ability in patients with Huntington’s disease (HD), using the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes test” (RMET). Results were consistent in showing difficulties in inferring complex mental states from photographs of people even in the early stage of HD. However, there has been no agreement as to whether or not cognitive impairments in HD population might have contributed to poor performance on the RMET test. The aim of the present study was to assess whether the affective ToM ability was impaired in the mild to moderate stages of HD, and whether there was an association between compromised ToM ability and the presence of cognitive impairment. We evaluated ToM by means of RMET and global cognitive functioning by means of the MoCA questionnaire in 15 HD patients and 15 healthy subjects (HS). Both groups were matched for age and level of education. Our study showed that the ability to judge a person’s mental states from a picture of their eyes was impaired in HD patients compared to normal population. Indeed, HD subjects gave the 34% of correct responses on RMET, whereas healthy control subjects’ percentage of correct responses was 71%. Furthermore, this impairment was not correlated with global cognitive functioning except for the visuospatial task. These results show that RMET might represent a valid instrument to assess affective ToM ability in HD patients in the mild to moderate stages of the disease, independently from their cognitive status. Since it is known that HD patients, in addition to motor symptoms, suffer from cognitive deficits, including memory and executive impairments, it is important to have an instrument, which is not influenced by cognitive abilities. It is possible therefore to use RMET to assess important aspects of HD patients such as their ability to recognize others’ emotions and feelings even when patients suffer from cognitive decline.
Multiproduct retailers and the sale phenomenon

Two common features of retailing are that each retailer sells many different products, and that pricing strategies differ across products. This paper extends previous work on single-product retailer competition to a multiproduct setting. Specifically, we derive equilibrium pricing strategies for perishable and nonperishable goods. We find the intuition used to explain pricing dynamics for nonperishable items in single-product models generalizes to the multiproduct setting. Moreover, because goods are substitute means of attracting customers within the multiproduct setting, price changes for the nonperishable good will affect the perishable good price. In addition, the multiproduct setting generates a rich set of implications, some of which we empirically examine. For example, we find that, consistent with the theory, perishable and nonperishable price changes are negatively correlated. This and other evidence suggests that pricing dynamics are related in predictable ways to product characteristics, such as consumers' storage costs. lJEL Numbers: L81, L11, D21r. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The impact of commitment and climate strength on the relationship between trust and performance in cross-functional project teams: A moderated mediation analysis

Purpose The purpose of this study is to shed more light on the complex relationship between trust and performance in the context of cross-functional project teams. This study presents a moderated mediation model that investigates the impact of team trust on team performance mediated by project commitment and moderated by climate strength (the consensus among team members on the level of trust). Design/methodology/approach To test the proposed model, data were collected from 179 project team members in 31 Norwegian construction project teams. Findings Results indicated that project commitment fully mediates the relationship between propensity and trustworthiness and team performance, while it partially mediates the relationship between cooperation and team performance. For monitoring, there results showed no mediation. The results yielded no support for the moderation effects of climate strength, suggesting that the mean-level approach to studying trust at the team level still is important. Research limitations/implications Cross-sectional survey data suffer from being unable to test causality and samples are relatively small. Future research should test the models on other samples and in combination with data other than self-report. Longitudinal and multilevel studies are also warranted. Practical implications The results suggest that trust has an impact on project commitment and both directly and indirectly on team performance. Interventions to develop a high trust climate in project teams can thus contribute to improved project performance. Originality/value This study offers new insight into the complex relationship between trust and performance and improves our understanding of trust in cross-functional project teams.
Analog Digital Belief Propagation and its application to multi stage decoding systems

Next generation wireless systems will need to have higher spectral efficiency as the expected traffic volumes per unit bandwidth and dimension will inevitably grow. As a consequence, it is necessary to design coding schemes with performances close to the theoretical limits, having at the same time high flexibility and low complexity requirements at the receiver. In this paper we start by pointing out some of the main drawbacks of the Bit Interleaved Code Modulation (BICM) technique which is the state of the art adopted in several standards and then propose some lower complexity alternatives. These low complexity alternatives are obtained by applying the recently introduced Analog Digital Belief Propagation (ADBP) algorithm to a two stage encoding scheme. First we show that the loss in performance can be kept quite small by using a hard decoder in all stages of a multistage decoder (MSD) except the two lowest levels with a reasonable flexibility of choosing the code rates. Then we apply the ADBP algorithm to further reduce the decoding complexity of the soft decoded stages.
Intramyocardial Transplantation of Autologous Endothelial Progenitor Cells for Therapeutic Neovascularization of Myocardial Ischemia

Background—We investigated whether catheter-based, intramyocardial transplantation of autologous endothelial progenitor cells can enhance neovascularization in myocardial ischemia. Methods and Results—Myocardial ischemia was induced by placement of an ameroid constrictor around swine left circumflex artery. Four weeks after constrictor placement, CD31+ mononuclear cells (MNCs) were freshly isolated from the peripheral blood of each animal. After overnight incubation of CD31+ MNCs in noncoated plates, nonadhesive cells (NA/CD31+ MNCs) were harvested as the endothelial progenitor cell–enriched fraction. Nonadhesive CD31− cells (NA/CD31− MNCs) were also prepared. Autologous transplantation of 107 NA/CD31+ MNCs, 107 NA/CD31− MNCs, or PBS was performed with a NOGA mapping injection catheter to target ischemic myocardium. In a parallel study, 105 human CD34+ MNCs, 105 human CD34− MNCs, or PBS was transplanted into ischemic myocardium of nude rats 10 minutes after ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery. In the swine study, ischemic area by NOGA mapping, Rentrop grade angiographic collateral development, and echocardiographic left ventricular ejection fraction improved significantly 4 weeks after transplantation of NA/CD31+ MNCs but not after injection of NA/CD31− MNCs or PBS. Capillary density in ischemic myocardium 4 weeks after transplantation was significantly greater in the NA/CD31+ MNC group than the control groups. In the rat study, echocardiographic left ventricular systolic function and capillary density were significantly better preserved in the CD34+ MNC group than in the control groups 4 weeks after myocardial ischemia. Conclusions—These favorable outcomes encourage future clinical trials of catheter-based, intramyocardial transplantation of autologous CD34+ MNCs in the setting of chronic myocardial ischemia.
Persisting decline in depression treatment after FDA warnings.

CONTEXT In October 2003 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Public Health Advisory about the risk of suicidality for pediatric patients taking antidepressants; a boxed warning, package insert, and medication guide were implemented in February 2005. The warning was extended to young adults aged 18 to 24 years in May 2007. Immediately following the 2003 advisory, unintended declines in case finding and non-selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor substitute treatment were shown for pediatric patients, and spillover effects were seen in adult patients, who were not targeted by the warnings. OBJECTIVE To determine whether the unintended declines in depression care persisted for pediatric, young adult, and adult patients. DESIGN Time series analyses. SETTING Ambulatory care settings nationally. Patients Pediatric, young adult, and adult cohorts of patients with new episodes of depression (n = 91 748, 70 311, and 630 748 episodes, respectively). INTERVENTIONS Post-FDA advisory trends were compared with expected trends based on preadvisory patterns using a national integrated managed care claims database from July 1999 through June 2007. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Depression diagnosis; antidepressant, antipsychotic, and anxiolytic prescriptions; and psychotherapy visits. RESULTS Changes in pediatric depression care were similar to changes for adults. National diagnosis rates of depression returned to 1999 levels for pediatric patients and below 2004 levels for adults. Primary care providers continued significant reductions in new diagnoses of depression (44% lower for pediatric, 37% lower for young adults, 29% for adults); diagnoses by mental health providers who were not psychiatrists increased. Numbers of prescriptions of anxiolytic and atypical antipsychotic medications did not significantly change from preadvisory trends. Psychotherapy increased significantly for adult, though not pediatric, cases. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor use decreased in all cohorts; serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor increased for adults. CONCLUSIONS Diagnosing decreases persist. Substitute care did not compensate in pediatric and young adult groups, and spillover to adults continued, suggesting that unintended effects are nontransitory, substantial, and diffuse in a large national population. Policy actions are required to counter the unintended consequences of reduced depression treatment.
QFilter: fine-grained run-time XML access control via NFA-based query rewriting

At present, most of the state-of-the-art solutions for XML access controls are either (1) document-level access control techniques that are too limited to support fine-grained security enforcement; (2) view-based approaches that are often expensive to create and maintain; or (3) impractical proposals that require substantial security-related support from underlying XML databases. In this paper, we take a different approach that assumes no security support from underlying XML databases and examine three alternative fine-grained XML access control solutions, namely <i>primitive, pre-processing</i> and <i>post-processing</i> approaches. In particular, we advocate a pre-processing method called <i>QFilter</i> that uses Non-deterministic Finite Automata (NFA) to rewrite user's query such that any parts violating access control rules are pruned. We show the construction and execution of a QFilter and demonstrate its superiority to other competing methods.
Catching the chameleon: understanding the elusive term "knowledge"

Purpose – To examine the various discourses on “knowledge” and to understand what knowledge means – is it a process of leveraging resources, is it a resource, or is it both – a process and a resource? Further, the purpose of the paper is to propose a framework for knowledge management.Design/methodology/approach – The literature on “knowledge” is reviewed and “knowledge” is analyzed along the epistemological dimensions. The synthesis seeks to integrate the disparate ways in which “knowledge” has been conceptualized in the management literature.Findings – The framework on knowledge management recognizes and establishes linkages between both attributes of knowledge – knowledge as a process and as a resource. It recognizes knowledge as an input resource (“knowledge of”), knowledge as an output resource (“knowledge from”), and knowledge as a process linking the “knowledge of” to the “knowledge from”. Practical implications – A very useful source for practitioners and students interested in the field of knowled.