Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Computer assisted assessment and advice for “non-serious” 999 ambulance service callers: the potential impact on ambulance despatch

Objective: To investigate the potential impact for ambulance services of telephone assessment and triage for callers who present with non-serious problems (Category C calls) as classified by ambulance service call takers. Design: Pragmatic controlled trial. Calls identified using priority dispatch protocols as non-serious were allocated to intervention and control groups according to time of call. Ambulance dispatch occurred according to existing procedures. During intervention sessions, nurses or paramedics within the control room used a computerised decision support system to provide telephone assessment, triage and, if appropriate, offer advice to permit estimation of the potential impact on ambulance dispatch. Setting: Ambulance services in London and the West Midlands. Subjects: Patients for whom emergency calls were made to the ambulance services between April 1998 and May 1999 during four hour sessions sampled across all days of the week between 0700 and 2300. Main outcome measures: Triage decision, ambulance cancellation, attendance at an emergency department. Results: In total, there were 635 intervention calls and 611 controls. Of those in the intervention group, 330 (52.0%) were triaged as not requiring an emergency ambulance, and 119 (36.6%) of these did not attend an emergency department. This compares with 55 (18.1%) of those triaged by a nurse or paramedic as requiring an ambulance (odds ratio 2.62; 95% CI 1.78 to 3.85). Patients triaged as not requiring an emergency ambulance were less likely to be admitted to an inpatient bed (odds ratio 0.55; 95% CI 0.33 to 0.93), but even so 30 (9.2%) were admitted. Nurses were more likely than paramedics to triage calls into the groups classified as not requiring an ambulance. After controlling for age, case mix, time of day, day of week, season, and ambulance service, the results of a logistic regression analysis revealed that this difference was significant with an odds ratio for nurses:paramedics of 1.28 (95% CI 1.12 to 1.47). Conclusions: The findings indicate that telephone assessment of Category C calls identifies patients who are less likely to require emergency department care and that this could have a significant impact on emergency ambulance dispatch rates. Nurses were more likely than paramedics to assess calls as requiring an alternative response to emergency ambulance despatch, but the extent to which this relates to aspects of training and professional perspective is unclear. However, consideration should be given to the acceptability, reliability, and cost consequences of this intervention before it can be recommended for full evaluation.
Profiling driven computation reuse: an embedded software synthesis technique for energy and performance optimization

It has been observed that even highly optimized software programs perform "redundant" computations during their execution, due to the nature (statistics) of the values assumed by input or internal program variables. For embedded software running on battery-powered systems, such computations can be viewed as unnecessary energy overheads, and hence represent opportunities for improvement in energy efficiency. We present a systematic methodology to identify and eliminate redundancies in the computations performed by embedded software programs, by exploiting opportunities that dynamically arise for computation reuse. We report the results of experiments on two different embedded systems-a detailed simulation model of Fujitsu SPARClite based embedded system, and actual current measurements on al Compaq iPAQ PDA. Our results demonstrate that the proposed technique can reduce energy by up to 46.9% (average of 21.2% and 13.9% for the SPARClite based system and the iPAQ, respectively) while simultaneously improving performance by up to 45.8% (average of 20.7% and 16.8% for the SPARClite based system and the iPAQ, respectively), compared to well-optimized programs that do not employ such a technique.
Effect of pre-existing malnutrition on growth parameters in HIV-infected children commencing antiretroviral therapy

Abstract Background: Growth in HIV-infected children generally improves with antiretroviral therapy (ART). Little is known about the effect of pre-existing malnutrition on response to treatment. Aim: To evaluate prospectively the effect of pre-existing malnutrition on growth of HIV-infected children commenced on ART compared with those without pre-existing malnutrition. Methods: Inclusion criteria were children (2 months to 8.5 years) who were commenced on ART. Exclusion criteria were pre-treatment with ART, virological non-responders and co-existing tuberculous infection. Weight-for-age (WAZ) and height-for-age Z scores (HAZ) ≤−2 at the initiation of treatment were the criteria for malnutrition. Monthly height and weight measurements were made for 18 months (2007–2008) after initiation of ART. Z scores were used to express changes in standard deviation (SD) units for each of the children at 0 and 18 months of the study using WHO height and weight reference curves for age and gender. The changes in Z score were compared within the groups by paired t-test and in both groups by the Mann–Whitney U test. Results: The subjects were grouped as malnourished (G1) and not malnourished (G2) before initiation of treatment. There was a significant increase in HAZ score (mean −0.15, p=0.006) and WAZ score (mean −0.09, p=0.034) in G1 and also HAZ score (mean −0.29, p<0.001) and WAZ score (mean −0.30, p=0.001) in G2. There was a trend toward a significantly greater Z-score change in G2 than in G1 for height (p=0.027) and weight (p=0.046). Conclusion: In HIV-infected children, pre-existing malnutrition may impair nutritional response to ART.
Interest of Urinary [TIMP-2] × [IGFBP-7] for Predicting the Occurrence of Acute Kidney Injury After Cardiac Surgery: A Gray Zone Approach

BACKGROUND: This study assessed the ability of 3-hour postoperative urinary tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2 × insulin-like growth factor binding protein-7 ([TIMP-2] × [IGFBP-7]) to predict postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass during cardiac surgery. METHODS: Patients undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass were eligible for this study. Patients with initial chronic renal insufficiency requiring renal replacement therapy, patients <18 years of age, and parturients were not included. Anesthesia and hemodynamic management followed current practices. Urinary [TIMP2] × [IGFBP-7] was measured in 3-hour postoperative period. The primary objective was the occurrence of AKI (Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcome [KDIGO] stage >0) within the first 48 hours postoperatively. The ability of urinary [TIMP-2] × [IGFBP-7] to predict postoperative AKI was assessed by building a receiver operating characteristic curve (with 95% confidence interval [CI] and by a gray zone approach that allowed either the prediction or the exclusion of postoperative AKI with a sensitivity >0.90 and a specificity >0.90). RESULTS: AKI occurred in 34 of 93 patients included (37%). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of urinary [TIMP-2] × [IGFBP-7] was 0.73 (95% CI, 0.62–0.83). The best cutoff value for urinary [TIMP-2] × [IGFBP-7] in predicting AKI was 0.3 ng/mL2/1000 [0.09–1.40] (sensitivity = 76%; 95% CI, 73–97, specificity = 64%; 95% CI, 42–69). Urinary [TIMP-2] × [IGFBP-7] of <0.09 ng/mL2/1000 and >1.40 ng/mL2/1000 had a sensitivity and specificity >90% in predicting postoperative AKI. Fifty-nine patients (63%) were within the gray zone. CONCLUSIONS: In patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass during cardiac surgery, urinary [TIMP-2] × [IGFBP-7] could not accurately predict the occurrence of postoperative AKI.
Evaluation and characterization of a high-resolution melting analysis kit for rapid carrier-screening test of spinal muscular atrophy

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a common autosomal recessive disorder in humans, caused by the homozygous absence of the survival motor neuron gene 1 (SMN1). SMN2, a copy gene, influences the severity of SMA. Several assays have been described for molecular diagnosis or carrier screening of SMA. A newly developed tool based on a high-resolution melting analysis (HRMA) that enables high-throughput screening without sophisticated protocols but low costs reveals itself to be powerful. We evaluate the performance of an HRMA-based kit for a carrier-screening test of SMA that was designed to detect the substitution of a single nucleotide in SMN1 exon 7. Carriers were identified in 453 participants by quantifying the SMN1 gene and compared with denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) assay. An HRMA-based kit had a higher sensitivity (100%) for carrier testing than the DHPLC assay (93%), with the added advantage that some homozygous sequence alterations could be identified. The HRMA kit is a new, fast, and highly reliable quantitative test for the SMA molecular carrier test.
Measuring Distributional Similarity in Context

The computation of meaning similarity as operationalized by vector-based models has found widespread use in many tasks ranging from the acquisition of synonyms and paraphrases to word sense disambiguation and textual entailment. Vector-based models are typically directed at representing words in isolation and thus best suited for measuring similarity out of context. In his paper we propose a probabilistic framework for measuring similarity in context. Central to our approach is the intuition that word meaning is represented as a probability distribution over a set of latent senses and is modulated by context. Experimental results on lexical substitution and word similarity show that our algorithm outperforms previously proposed models.
Simple Universal Kelvin Equation Valid in the Critical Point Vicinity, External-Internal State Correction, and their Application to Nitrogen Capillary Condensation in Mesoporous Silica SBA-15

A new simple universal form of the Kelvin equation, which can be used near the gas-liquid critical point and the correction of the pressure for vapor outside the porous medium are used for the N2 meniscus effective curvature radius calculation at the phase equilibrium in mesoporous silica SBA-15, on the basis of the capillary condensation experimental data.
Student performance prediction using Support Vector Machine and K-Nearest Neighbor

This work presented two prediction models for the estimation of student's performance in final examination. The work made use of the popular dataset provided by the University of Minho in Portugal, which relate to the performance in math subject and it consists of 395 data samples. Forecasting the performance of students can be useful in taking early precautions, instant actions, or selecting a student that is fit for a certain task. The need to explore better models to achieve better performance cannot be overemphasized. Most of earlier work on the same dataset used K-Nearest Neighbor algorithm and achieved low results, while Support Vector Machine algorithm was rarely used, which happens to be a very popular and powerful prediction technique. To ensure better comparison, we applied both Support Vector Machine algorithm and K-Nearest Neighbor algorithm on the dataset to predict the student's grade and then compared their accuracy. Empirical studies outcome indicated that Support Vector Machine achieved slightly better results with correlation coefficient of 0.96, while the K-Nearest Neighbor achieved correlation coefficient of 0.95.
Structural and Optical Properties of ZnO Nanowires Doped with Magnesium

ZnO nanowires doped with Mg have been successfully prepared on Au-coated Si (111) substrates using chemical vapor deposition method with a mixture of ZnO, Mg, and activated carbon powders as reactants at 850 degrees C. The structural, compositional, morphological and optical properties of the samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The nanowires are single crystalline in nature and preferentially grow up along [0001] direction with the average diameter and length of about 60 nm and several hundred micrometers, respectively, thinner and longer than the results of literature using the similar method. Room temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy shows a blueshift from the bulk band gap emission, which can be attributed to Mg doping that were detected by energy dispersive X-ray analysis EDX in the nanowires. Finally, the possible growth mechanism of crystalline ZnO nanowires is discussed briefly.
BDI Agents: From Theory to Practice

The study of computational agents capable of rational behaviour has received a great deal of attention in recent years. Theoretical formalizations of such agents and their implementations have proceeded in parallel with little or no connection between them. Tkis paper explores a particular type of rational agent, a BeliefDesire-Intention (BDI) agent. The primary aim of this paper is to integrate (a) the theoretical foundations of BDI agents from both a quantitative decision-theoretic perspective and a symbolic reasoning perspective; (b) the implementations of BDI agents from an ideal theoretical perspective and a more practical perspective; and (c) the building of large-scale applications based on BDI agents. In particular, an air-trafflc management application will be described from both a theoretical and an implementation perspective.
Dosimetry protocol for the preclinical trials in white-beam minibeam radiation therapy.

PURPOSE In the quest of a curative radiotherapy treatment for gliomas, new delivery modes are being explored. At the Biomedical Beamline of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, a new spatially fractionated technique, called minibeam radiation therapy (MBRT), is under development. The aims of this work were to assess different dosimetric aspects and to establish a dosimetry protocol to be applied in the forthcoming animal (rat) studies in order to evaluate the therapeutic index of this new radiotherapy approach. METHODS Absolute dosimetry was performed with a thimble ionization chamber (PTW semiflex 31010) whose center was positioned at 2 g cm(-2) depth. To translate the dose measured in broad beam configuration to the dose deposited with a minibeam, the scatter factors were used. Those were assessed by using the Monte Carlo simulations and verified experimentally with Gafchromic films and a Bragg Peak chamber. The comparison of the theoretical and experimental data were used to benchmark the calculations. Finally, the dose distributions in a rat phantom were evaluated by using the validated Monte Carlo calculations. RESULTS The absolute dosimetry in broad beam configuration was measured in reference conditions. The dose rate was in the range between 168 and 224 Gy∕min, depending on the storage ring current. A scatter factor of 0.80 ± 0.04 was obtained. Percentage depth dose and lateral profiles were evaluated both in homogenous and heterogeneous slab phantoms. The general good agreement between Monte Carlo simulations and experimental data permitted the benchmark of the calculations. Finally, the peak doses in the rat head phantom were assessed from the measurements in reference conditions. In addition, the peak-to-valley dose ratio values as a function of depth in the rat head were evaluated. CONCLUSIONS A new promising radiotherapy approach is being explored at the ESRF: Minibeam Radiation Therapy. To assess the therapeutic index of this new modality, in vivo experiments are being planned, for which an accurate knowledge of the dosimetry is essential. For that purpose, a complete set of measurements and Monte Carlo simulations was performed. The first dosimetry protocol for preclinical trials in minibeam radiation therapy was established. This protocol allows to have reproducibility in terms of dose for the different biological studies.
Weakened Center-Surround Interactions in Visual Motion Processing in Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is often accompanied by a range of visual perception deficits, with many involving impairments in motion perception. The presence of perceptual abnormalities may impair neural processes that depend on normal visual analysis, which in turn may affect overall functioning in dynamic visual environments. Here, we examine the integrity of suppressive center-surround mechanisms in motion perception of schizophrenic patients. Center-surround suppression has been implicated in a range of visual functions, including figure–ground segregation and pursuit eye movements, visual functions that are impaired in schizophrenia. In control subjects, evidence of center-surround suppression is found in a reduced ability to perceive motion of a high-contrast stimulus as its size increases. This counterintuitive finding is likely a perceptual correlate of center-surround mechanisms in cortical area MT. We now show that schizophrenic patients exhibit abnormally weak center-surround suppression in motion, an abnormality that is most pronounced in patients with severe negative symptoms. Interestingly, patients with the weakest surround suppression outperformed control subjects in motion discriminations of large high-contrast stimuli. This enhanced motion perception of large high-contrast stimuli is consistent with an MT abnormality in schizophrenia and has a potential to disrupt smooth pursuit eye movements and other visual functions that depend on unimpaired center-surround interactions in motion.
Automated Metrics That Agree With Human Judgements On Generated Output for an Embodied Conversational Agent

When evaluating a generation system, if a corpus of target outputs is available, a common and simple strategy is to compare the system output against the corpus contents. However, cross-validation metrics that test whether the system makes exactly the same choices as the corpus on each item have recently been shown not to correlate well with human judgements of quality. An alternative evaluation strategy is to compute intrinsic, task-specific properties of the generated output; this requires more domain-specific metrics, but can often produce a better assessment of the output. In this paper, a range of metrics using both of these techniques are used to evaluate three methods for selecting the facial displays of an embodied conversational agent, and the predictions of the metrics are compared with human judgements of the same generated output. The corpus-reproduction metrics show no relationship with the human judgements, while the intrinsic metrics that capture the number and variety of facial displays show a significant correlation with the preferences of the human users.
Advanced CD-SEM imaging methodology for EPE measurements

Accurate EPE (edge placement error) characterization is important for the process control of high-volume manufacturing at N5 BEOL and beyond. In a CD-SEM metrology, the accurate edge-to-edge measurements among multiple layers and/or SEM-Contour extraction are required for the accurate EPE characterization. One of the technical challenges in CD-SEM metrology is to control charging effects caused by EB-irradiation during SEM image acquisition. In this paper, the effects of new charge control methods (Special Scan and Faster Scan), which are implemented in the latest Hitachi CD-SEM (CG6300), were examined with EUV resist hole-patterns. It was confirmed that Special Scan showed a profound effect on the suppression of the charge-induced errors. We also demonstrated the effects of the Special Scan for CD measurements and Contour Extraction for the EPE characterization of block on SAQP (SAQP lines + EUV block) pattern at imec iN7platform. Consequently, Special Scan is expected to be the solution for the accurate EPE measurements by CD-SEM.
Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in depression

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) is a unique technique that can directly assess the concentration of various biochemical metabolites in the brain. Thus, it is used in the study of molecular pathophysiology of different neuropsychiatric disorders, such as, the major depressive disorder and has been an area of active research. We conducted a computer-based literature search using the Pubmed database with ‘magnetic resonance spectroscopy’, ‘MRS’, ‘depression’, and ‘major depressive disorder’ as the key words, supplemented by a manual search of bibliographic cross-referencing. Studies in depression report abnormalities in the frontal cortex, basal ganglia, hippocampus, anterior cingulate cortex, and the occipital cortex. These abnormalities improve after treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, electroconvulsive therapy, and yoga, and thus, are possibly state-dependent. The findings are consistent with other morphometric and clinical studies and support the proposed pathophysiological theory of dysfunction in the neuronal circuits involving the frontal cortex, limbic cortex, and basal ganglia. Spectroscopy also has potential implications in predicting the response to treatment and formulating individualized pharmacotherapy.
Determination of the Critical Stress Associated with Dynamic Phase Transformation in Steels by Means of Free Energy Method

The double differentiation method overestimates the critical stress associated with the initiation of dynamic transformation (DT) because significant amounts of the dynamic phase must be present in order for its effect on the work hardening rate to be detectable. In this work, an alternative method (referred to here as the free energy method) is presented based on the thermodynamic condition that the driving force is equal to the total energy obstacle during the exact moment of transformation. The driving force is defined as the difference between the DT critical stress (measured in the single-phase austenite region) and the yield stress of the fresh ferrite that takes its place. On the other hand, the energy obstacle consists of the free energy difference between austenite and ferrite, and the work of shear accommodation and dilatation associated with the phase transformation. Here, the DT critical stresses in a C-Mn steel were calculated using the free energy method at temperatures ranging from 870 °C to 1070 °C. The results show that the calculated critical stress using the present approach appears to be more accurate than the values measured by the double differentiation method.
Group Hysteria and the MMPI

Following a labeled case of a group conversion reaction, the authors attempted to re-investigate the plausibility of an hysterical personality. 96 students, including those who manifested the symptoms, were administered 100 items from the MMPI, including the Hysteria scale (No. 3). Chi square analysis showed significactly more females manifested hysterical physical symptoms than males, while the over-all analysis of variance, although in the expected direction for females, indicated no significant sources. Results supported the traditional view of hysteria being a “female syndrome” but were equivocal concerning “personality view” that a particular personality leads to a specific set of symptoms.
LEFT VENTRICULAR ANEURYSM IN THE AFRICAN

Left ventricular aneurysm is a very rare finding in the African and it is the purpose of this paper to describe four such cases, including one following coronary thrombosis. Sternberg (1914) has shown that 85 per cent of cardiac aneurysms in white patients follow on myocardial infarction. A different picture is presented in the African. In a series of fifteen African patients with left ventricular aneurysm, Jacobs (1952) found that none were due to coronary thrombosis, whereas his 65 cases of aneurysm in white patients were all due to this cause. The low incidence of coronary thrombosis (and consequently of left ventricular aneurysm) in the African appears to be due to the notable absence of severe coronary atherosclerosis (Wainwright, 1958). This last observation has also been the experience of workers at other centres in Africa (Becker, 1946; Higginson and Pepler, 1954; and Gelfand, 1948).