Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
‘Initial Clinical Experience’ articles are poorly cited and negatively affect the impact factor of the publishing journal: a review

Objectives The phrase ‘Initial Clinical Experience’ in a manuscript's title implies that the described technique offers promise of future clinical relevance. We assessed, using rates of subsequent citations, the actual academic relevance of such articles in comparison to articles not containing the phrase. Design We searched ISI database for articles that included the studied phrase in their titles between 1975 and 2009 and grouped the results by the related medical specialty. We excluded articles from journals with no available impact factor. For each identified article, we extracted number of included patients, citations/year, the average impact factor of the publishing journal over the last five years and the proportion of articles published in the same journal that garnered zero subsequent citations. Setting Retrospective review of a scientific database. Participants None Main outcome measures Citation rate Results Among a total of 982,127 articles published in 186 journals representing eight major publishing medical specialties, 531 (0.05%) were Initial Clinical Experience articles. Thirty percent of Initial Clinical Experience articles were never cited compared with 7% of the overall article volume (p < 0.0001). Citations/year for Initial Clinical Experience articles were significantly lower than the median impact factor (p < 0.0001). There was no correlation between citations and number of patients described in the Initial Clinical Experience articles (p = 0.61). Conclusions Initial Clinical Experience articles are cited less frequently than the average, especially in Cardiovascular, Radiology and Ophthalmology journals.
The perception of a robot partner’s effort elicits a sense of commitment to human-robot interaction

Previous research has shown that the perception that one’s partner is investing effort in a joint action can generate a sense of commitment, leading participants to persist longer despite increasing boredom. The current research extends this finding to human-robot interaction. We implemented a 2-player version of the classic snake game which became increasingly boring over the course of each round, and operationalized commitment in terms of how long participants persisted before pressing a ‘finish’ button to conclude each round. Participants were informed that they would be linked via internet with their partner, a humanoid robot. Our results reveal that participants persisted longer when they perceived what they believed to be cues of their robot partner’s effortful contribution to the joint action. This provides evidence that the perception of a robot partner’s effort can elicit a sense of commitment to human-robot interaction.
A clonal analysis of segment development in Oncopeltus (Hemiptera).

X-irradiation of eggs and larvae of Oncopeltus fasciatus results in the development of clonal patches of epidermal cells of unusual pigmentation. The frequency, size and distribution of these patches is dependent on the dose and timing of irradiation. Analysis of these clones in the abdomen has shown that the presumptive epidermis becomes effectively segmented during blastoderm formation and thereafter the clones are restricted to within a segment quadrant (dorsal or ventral, left or right). There are approximately 10 presumptive epidermal cells per segment quadrant. The shape of the clones and the orientation of mitoses in larvae suggest that both early and late cells of the anterior margin of the segments divide with a preferred orientation (cleavage plane parallel to the antero-posterior axis). Elsewhere in the larval segment the mitoses are randomly oriented, and the segment grows evenly all over. The number of mitoses/cell/moult cycle is not precisely determined, but the amount of cell division is perhaps under a general probabilistic control. It is suggested that the segmental gradient may be involved in this control.
Apoptotic Cell Recognition Acts as a Multiligand-Bridging Molecule in C1q Binds Phosphatidylserine and Likely

Efﬁcient apoptotic cell clearance is critical for maintenance of tissue homeostasis, and to control the immune responses mediated by phagocytes. Little is known about the molecules that contribute “eat me” signals on the apoptotic cell surface. C1q, the recognition unit of the C1 complex of complement, also senses altered structures from self and is a major actor of immune tolerance. HeLa cells were rendered apoptotic by UV-B treatment and a variety of cellular and molecular approaches were used to investigate the nature of the target(s) recognized by C1q. Using surface plasmon resonance, C1q binding was shown to occur at early stages of apoptosis and to involve recognition of a cell membrane component. C1q binding and phosphatidylserine (PS) exposure, as measured by annexin V labeling, proceeded concomitantly, and annexin V inhibited C1q binding in a dose-dependent manner. As shown by cosedimentation, surface plasmon resonance, and x-ray crystallographic analyses, C1q recognized PS speciﬁcally and avidly ( K D (cid:1) 3.7–7 (cid:2) 10 (cid:3) 8 M), through multiple interactions between its globular domain and the phosphoserine group of PS. Confocal microscopy revealed that the majority of the C1q molecules were distributed in membrane patches where they colocalized with PS. In summary, PS is one of the C1q ligands on apoptotic cells, and C1q-PS interaction takes place at early stages of apoptosis, in newly organized membrane patches. Given its versatile recognition properties, these data suggest that C1q has the unique ability to sense different markers which collectively would provide strong eat me signals, thereby allowing efﬁcient apoptotic cell removal. The
Mine spoil prairies expand critical habitat for endangered and threatened amphibian and reptile species.

Coal extraction has been occurring in the Midwestern United States for over a century. Despite the pre-mining history of the landscape as woodlands, spent surface coalfields are often reclaimed to grasslands. We assessed amphibian and reptile species on a large tract of coal spoil prairie and found 13 species of amphibians (nine frog and four salamander species) and 19 species of reptiles (one lizard, five turtle, and 13 snake species). Two state-endangered and three state species of special concern were documented. The amphibian diversity at our study site was comparable to the diversity found at a large restored prairie situated 175 km north, within the historic prairie peninsula.
Pitch contour model for Chinese text-to-speech using CART and statistical model

This paper describes an approach to generating prosody parameters for Mandarin Chinese text-to-speech system. The Chinese fundamental frequency contour is decomposed into two parts, a global intonation contour and a syllable level tone contour. The global intonation contour is converted to pitch target labels in corpus. It is predicted by first predicting pitch target labels using statistical model and classification tree, and then the labels are converted into real pitch values. The local syllable level tone contour is classified into a definite number of contour types using clustering approach. The prediction of local syllable pitch contour is done by classification tree approach. Experiment shows that this approach achieves an accurate prediction result.
A spectral clustering search algorithm for predicting shallow landslide size and location

The potential hazard and geomorphic significance of shallow landslides depend on their location and size. Commonly applied one‐dimensional stability models do not include lateral resistances and cannot predict landslide size. Multidimensional models must be applied to specific geometries, which are not known a priori, and testing all possible geometries is computationally prohibitive. We present an efficient deterministic search algorithm based on spectral graph theory and couple it with a multidimensional stability model to predict discrete landslides in applications at scales broader than a single hillslope using gridded spatial data. The algorithm is general, assuming only that instability results when driving forces acting on a cluster of cells exceed the resisting forces on its margins and that clusters behave as rigid blocks with a failure plane at the soil‐bedrock interface. This algorithm recovers predefined clusters of unstable cells of varying shape and size on a synthetic landscape, predicts the size, location, and shape of an observed shallow landslide using field‐measured physical parameters, and is robust to modest changes in input parameters. The search algorithm identifies patches of potential instability within large areas of stable landscape. Within these patches will be many different combinations of cells with a Factor of Safety less than one, suggesting that subtle variations in local conditions (e.g., pore pressure and root strength) may determine the ultimate form and exact location at a specific site. Nonetheless, the tests presented here suggest that the search algorithm enables the prediction of shallow landslide size as well as location across landscapes.
Use of the LRU stack depth distribution for simulation of paging behavior

Two families of probability distributions were needed for use by a virtual memory simulation model: headway between page fault distributions, and working set size distributions. All members of both families can be derived from the LRU stack depth distribution. Simple expressions for the computation of both kinds of distributions are given. Finally, examples are given of both families of distributions as computed from a published stack depth distribution.
Climbing Fiber Regulation of Spontaneous Purkinje Cell Activity and Cerebellum-Dependent Blink Responses1,2,3

Abstract It has been known for a long time that GABAergic Purkinje cells in the cerebellar cortex, as well as their target neurons in the cerebellar nuclei, are spontaneously active. The cerebellar output will, therefore, depend on how input is integrated into this spontaneous activity. It has been shown that input from climbing fibers originating in the inferior olive controls the spontaneous activity in Purkinje cells. While blocking climbing fiber input to the Purkinje cells causes a dramatic increase in the firing rate, increased climbing fiber activity results in reduced Purkinje cell activity. However, the exact calibration of this regulation has not been examined systematically. Here we examine the relation between climbing fiber stimulation frequency and Purkinje cell activity in unanesthetized decerebrated ferrets. The results revealed a gradual suppression of Purkinje cell activity, starting at climbing fiber stimulation frequencies as low as 0.5 Hz. At 4 Hz, Purkinje cells were completely silenced. This effect lasted an average of 2 min after the stimulation rate was reduced to a lower level. We also examined the effect of sustained climbing fiber stimulation on overt behavior. Specifically, we analyzed conditioned blink responses, which are known to be dependent on the cerebellum, while stimulating the climbing fibers at different frequencies. In accordance with the neurophysiological data, the conditioned blink responses were suppressed at stimulation frequencies of ≥4 Hz.
The Distress Factor Effect in Equity Returns: Market Mispricing or Omitted Variable?

Fama & French (1993, 1995) argue that size and B/M represent a distress factor. Dichev (1998) suggests that bankruptcy risk is idiosyncratic and provides a market mispricing explanation. This study explicitly tests the distress factor hypothesis and provides evidence on the systematic nature of bankruptcy risk using a UK based z-score measure of financial distress. Similar to Dichev (1998), we find that unconditionally, distressed stocks earn significantly lower returns than non-distressed stocks in a multifactorial asset pricing framework and that size and B/M effects are unrelated to bankruptcy risk. These results are robust to alternative trading rules. Of crucial importance in testing for rational market pricing, however, is a consideration of the time varying behavior of bankruptcy risk premia. Extant studies do not address this issue. In this paper we consider explicitly the impact of changes in GDP growth rate and the impact of stock market movements on the pricing of distressed firms and find risk of bankruptcy is, in fact, being appropriately priced by the market. As such, in contrast to Dichev (1998), we are able to demonstrate empirically a rational pricing explanation for high bankruptcy risk firm return underperformance.
The Value of Software Documentation Quality

This paper presents the results of a study on software documentation quality in practice. Goal of this study is identifying the current state of software documentation quality and used analysis techniques for determining software documentation quality. Moreover, we aim at finding out, whether there is a demand for a tool-based software documentation quality analysis approach. This approach consists of a documentation quality model and a document checking tool, as proposed in previous work. We developed an online survey and asked about 300 experts to answer it. The survey was completed by 88 experts and the overall results confirm the importance of software documentation quality as well as the need for better tool support. The survey shows that the most important quality attributes with regard to documentation quality are accuracy, clarity, consistency, readability, structuredness, and understand ability. Most of these quality attributes are currently covered by our software documentation quality analysis approach, some of them (e.g., accuracy, structuredness) still need more attention, i.e. better support in our quality model and tool.
Context-specific role of SOX9 in NF-Y mediated gene regulation in colorectal cancer cells

Roles for SOX9 have been extensively studied in development and particular emphasis has been placed on SOX9 roles in cell lineage determination in a number of discrete tissues. Aberrant expression of SOX9 in many cancers, including colorectal cancer, suggests roles in these diseases as well and recent studies have suggested tissue- and context-specific roles of SOX9. Our genome wide approach by chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) in human colorectal cancer cells identified a number of physiological targets of SOX9, including ubiquitously expressed cell cycle regulatory genes, such as CCNB1 and CCNB2, CDK1, and TOP2A. These novel high affinity-SOX9 binding peaks precisely overlapped with binding sites for histone-fold NF-Y transcription factor. Furthermore, our data showed that SOX9 is recruited by NF-Y to these promoters of cell cycle regulatory genes and that SOX9 is critical for the full function of NF-Y in activation of the cell cycle genes. Mutagenesis analysis and in vitro binding assays provided additional evidence to show that SOX9 affinity is through NF-Y and that SOX9 DNA binding domain is not necessary for SOX9 affinity to those target genes. Collectively, our results reveal possibly a context-dependent, non-classical regulatory role for SOX9.
Characterisation of the Discriminative Properties of the Radial Tchebichef Moments for Hand-written Digits

Feature extraction using simple formulations such as moments have found different applications in the field of image processing and computer vision. In the last few years, new moments based on orthogonal functions have been proposed. More specifically, the Radial Tchebichef Moments yield features that are numerically stable, and allow for a relatively accurate reconstruction of the image, even when using a limited number of moments. Although the reconstruction of images using Tchebichef moments, as well as their computational complexity and robustness against noise have been well studied, their discriminative characteristics have not been fully explored. This paper explores this gap, comparing the performance of classifiers trained with Tchebichef moments against other features, namely Haar-like features and raw pixels (the pixels themselves being used as features). To isolate the discriminative characteristics, we used two datasets of hand-written digits, the MNIST and the ICDAR 2013, and trained classifiers with AdaBoost.MH. Classifiers using Tchebichef moments as features achieved a significantly lower accuracy rate after 100000 rounds of boosting. However, with a more practical number of boosting iterations of 1000, the results showed that in some cases the Tchebichef moments can outperform raw pixels. Classifiers trained with Haar-like features always outperformed classifiers with Tchebichef moments.
Critical Role for Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription Factor 6 in Mediating Intestinal Muscle Hypercontractility and Worm Expulsion in Trichinella spiralis-Infected Mice

ABSTRACT Intestinal nematode infections in rats or mice are accompanied by intestinal muscle hyper contractility that may contribute to parasite expulsion from the gut. Previous studies demonstrated that both the expulsion of nematode parasites and the associated muscle hyper contractility are dependent on CD4+ T helper cells. Nevertheless, the precise immunological mechanism underlying changes in intestinal muscle function remains to be determined. In this study, we investigated the role of interleukin 4 (IL-4) and signal transducer and activator of transcription factor 6 (STAT6) in the development of intestinal muscle hypercontractility and worm expulsion by infecting IL-4 and STAT6-deficient mice with Trichinella spiralis. Worm expulsion was almost normal in IL-4-deficient mice but substantially delayed in STAT6-deficient mice. Consistent with delayed worm expulsion, we also observed a marked attenuation of carbachol-induced muscle contraction in STAT6-deficient mice but only a moderate decrease in muscle hypercontractility in IL-4-deficient mice. In addition, we also observed severe impairment of T helper type 2 cytokine responses and intestinal mucosal mastocytosis in STAT6-deficient mice, although some degree of intestinal tissue eosinophilia was evident in these animals. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that STAT6-dependent changes in intestinal muscle function contribute to host protection in nematode infection.
Diagnostic Delay among Adults with Pulmonary Tuberculosis in a High Gross Domestic Product Per Capita Country: Reasons and Magnitude of the Problem

Background: To determine the mean and median delays in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) diagnosis among adults in one of the world's highest gross domestic product per capita countries and identify patient and health system-related reasons for these delays. Methods: This is a cross-sectional, face-to-face, prospective study of 100 subjects with confirmed PTB, conducted at main tuberculosis (TB) admitting facilities in Qatar. The mean and median diagnostic delays were measured. The Chi-square test with two-sided P < 0.05 was considered to determine the association between factors and diagnostic delay. Results: The mean and median total diagnostic delays of PTB were 53 (95% confidence interval [CI] 42.61–63.59) and 30 (interquartile range; Q1–Q3, 15–60) days, respectively. The mean patient factor delay was 45.7 (95% CI 28.1–63.4) days, and the median was 30 (interquartile range; Q1–Q3, 15–60) days. The mean health system factor delay was 46.3 (95% CI 35.46–57.06) days, and the median was 30 (interquartile range; Q1–Q3, 18–60) days. The most common cause of patient factor delay was neglect of TB symptoms by patients (in 39% of cases), and for health-care system factor delay was a failure (mostly at general and private care levels) to suspect PTB by doctors (in 57% of cases). There were no significant associations between the presence of language barrier, patient occupation or nationality, and diagnostic delay. Conclusions: Despite a favorable comparison to other countries, there is a substantial delay in the diagnosis of PTB in Qatar. Relevant actions including health education on TB are required to minimize this delay.
A Survey of Augmented Reality Technologies, Applications and Limitations

We are on the verge of ubiquitously adopting Augmented Reality (AR) technologies to enhance our percep- tion and help us see, hear, and feel our environments in new and enriched ways. AR will support us in fields such as education, maintenance, design and reconnaissance, to name but a few. This paper describes the field of AR, including a brief definition and development history, the enabling technologies and their characteristics. It surveys the state of the art by reviewing some recent applications of AR technology as well as some known limitations regarding human factors in the use of AR systems that developers will need to overcome.
On the origin of the 511-keV emission in the Galactic Centre

Diffuse 511 keV line emission, from the annihilation of cold positrons, has been observed in the direction of the Galactic Centre for more than 30 years. The latest high-resolution maps of this emission produced by the SPI instrument on INTEGRAL suggest at least one component of the emission is spatially coincident with the distribution of �70 luminous, low-mass X-ray binaries detected in the soft gamma-ray band. The X-ray band, however, is generally a more sensitive probe of X-ray binary populations. Recent X-ray surveys of the Galactic Centre have discovered a much larger population (>4000) of faint, hard X-ray point sources. We investigate the possibility that the positrons observed in the direction of the Galactic Centre originate in pair-dominated jets generated by this population of fainter accretion-powered X-ray binaries. We also consider briefly whether such sources could account for unexplained diffuse emission associated with the Galactic Centre in the microwave (the WMAP ‘haze’) and at other wavelengths. Finally, we point out several unresolved problems in associating Galactic Centre 511 keV emission with the brightest X-ray binaries.
El Nino effects in the Palmyra Atoll region : oceanographic changes and bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) catch rate variability

A generalized additive model (GAM) was constructed to separate and quantify the effects of fishery-based (operational) and oceanographic parameters on the bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) catch rates at Palmyra Atoll in the central Tropical Pacific. Bigeye catch, the number of hooks per set, and set location from 4884 longline sets spanning January 1994 to December 2003 were used with a temporally corresponding El Nino- Southern Oscillation (ENSO) indicator built from sea surface height (SSH) data. Observations of environ- mental data combined with the results from the GAM indicated that there is an increase in bigeye catch rates corresponding to an increase in eastward advection during the winter months of El Nino events. A sea- sonal pattern with higher bigeye catch rates from December to April and a spatial pattern with higher rates to the northeast and northwest of the atoll were observed during this study period. It is hypothesized that the combination of the eastward advection of the warm pool coupled with vertical changes in tempera- ture during the winter months of El Nino events in- creases the availability of bigeye tuna in this region. This increase in availability may be due to a change in exploitable population size, location, or both.
Race and Sentencing: A Study in the Crown Court

The need for research approach and method some basic comparisons of sentencing practices did case characteristics vary according to race? comparing custody rates race and varying court practices variations between judges length and severity of sentences the range of sentences and the use of non-custodial alternatives pre-sentence factors race, gender and sentencing discrimination in the courts?