Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
First International Quality Assurance Study on the Rapid Detection of Viral Agents of Bioterrorism

ABSTRACT We have conducted an international quality assurance study of filovirus, Lassa virus, and orthopox virus PCR with 24 participants. Of the participating laboratories, 45.8 and 66.7% detected virus in all plasma samples, which contained ≥5,000 and ≥100,000 copies per ml, respectively. Sensitivity levels were not significantly different between viruses. False-negative results were attributable to a lack of sensitivity.
Improving representation and classification of image and video data for surveillance applications

Due to global security issues, the use of surveillance cameras has increased dramatically over the last decade. However, security cameras have not been altogether successful for preventing crime, mainly because the security videos are monitored by human operators who can become tired and distracted. Automatic visual surveillance systems have great potential for overcoming the bottleneck caused by humans in the surveillance process. A typical surveillance system includes four modules: (i) foreground extraction, (ii) object detection, (iii) tracking, and (iv) scene analysis. The main aim of this thesis is to contribute towards automatic visual surveillance. We approach this by identifying potential areas of improvement in three of the above modules. First, for the foreground extraction module we recognise shadow removal as the best way of improving the results of current foreground extraction methods, which in turn helps with object detection and tracking. Second, in the case of object detection, as humans are the main objects of interest in surveillance applications, we focus our work on improved pedestrian detection (i.e., locating pedestrians within images). Third, in the scene analysis module, we focus on the action and gesture recognition task due to its broad range of applications in surveillance scenarios, such as detecting suspicious behaviour. Our work on shadow detection and removal includes a thorough review of shadow detection methods published during the last decade. We also propose a novel shadow detection and removal algorithm. The new method is tested with a detailed comparative evaluation against a selection of related state-ofthe-art approaches. We also contribute a dedicated dataset for the purpose of evaluating shadow detection performance. In the comparative evaluation the proposed method shows superior shadow detection performance. In the case of pedestrian detection, we identify the potential of covariance descriptors, a form of feature representation which has been proved to produce excellent detection results. As the descriptors are represented by covariance matrices, which do not lie in a Euclidean space, taking in to account the non-linear nature of the data may lead to improved detection results. A state-of-the-art method in the literature uses covariance descriptors
Sibling relationships in individuals with Angelman syndrome: A comparative study

Objective: Investigating the impact of Angelman syndrome on the sibling relationship. Methods: This study explored differences in sibling relationships between children with a typically-developing sibling (n = 55) and children with a sibling with Angelman syndrome (n = 44). Sibling relationships were compared on four factors and 16 sub-scales of the Sibling Relationship Questionnaire-Revised. Results: Results showed significant differences in mean scores on each of the four factors (i.e. Warmth/Closeness, Conflict, Rivalry and Dominance/Nurturance) and most of the sub-scales. ANCOVAs showed that demographic variables (number of siblings, living in a two-parent vs single parent household, gender, participant's age, place of residence) did not influence significant differences in sibling relationships between the two groups. Conclusion: Having a brother or sister with Angelman syndrome may influence the way in which the sibling perceives the sibling relationship. This may have important implications for family-centred intervention for this population.
(Re)negotiating the self : homeless women's constructions of home, homelessness and identity

This thesis addresses the oft-neglected experiences of ‘homeless’ women. It explores how homelessness impacts on women’s identities and how this is negotiated and/or resisted. An integrated theoretical framework links homelessness and identity literature with feminist insights surrounding marginalised women. By centring the experiences and identity-work of homeless women, this thesis contributes to bodies of work on homelessness, women and identity from a feminist perspective. The study advances knowledge of home and homelessness and the relationship between these supposedly binary concepts; and contributes to existing understandings of identity, in relation to marginalised women. Findings are based on a combination of in-depth qualitative interviews, participant-produced photographs, and follow-up photo-elicitation interviews with twelve women accessing homelessness support services – hostels, supported housing projects, day-centres, and women’s centres –in a range of homelessness situations. This research produced four significant findings. First, home and homelessness were experienced in broader senses than previously found. As home existed in a variety of states, women experienced homelessness in a myriad of ways: homelessness was thus expanded beyond the point of entry into homelessness services. Second, homelessness was felt as a comparative lack. Rather than feeling stigmatised because of their homelessness in and of itself, homelessness affected the women in that they saw housing as a measuring stick and came out lacking. Third, homelessness presented an opportunity for re-creation of self because of the challenges it raised. While previous literature states that the current homeless self is profaned, this study found women to praise the current self as reformed and wiser despite constraining social factors. Finally, this thesis emphasises the malleability of identity categories and argues that marginalisation is not an outright barrier to reflexivity and creativity. Homeless women performed other identities beyond their homelessness, and housing/home experiences are not fixed determinants of identity and self.
Haemoparasites of common shrews (Sorex araneus) in Northwest England

SUMMARY The presence of haemoparasites belonging to the taxa Anaplasma, Bartonella and Trypanosoma was determined among 76 common shrews (Sorex araneus) from Northwest England. Anaplasma phagocytophilum DNA was recovered from the blood of 1 shrew (1·3%), with the amplified 16S rRNA sequence identical to one previously reported from a bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus). Trypanosoma spp. DNA was detected in 9 shrews (11·8%), the amplified 18S rDNA fragments being indistinguishable from one another, and distinct from previously published data. This represents the first report of trypanosome infection in S. araneus and suggests they are susceptible to an uncharacterized Trypanosoma species. Blood from 11 shrews (14·5%) yielded Bartonella spp. , with characterization of isolates using comparative sequence analysis of partial gltA and 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer regions revealing 2 different genotypes. Phylogenetic inference from alignment of partial gltA sequences found that both UK S. araneus types formed a well-supported cluster with Bartonella sp. isolated from S. araneus in Sweden. No significant effect of host age, sex, or year of collection was found on prevalence of Bartonella or trypanosome infections. The results of this survey demonstrate that common shrews in the UK are susceptible to haemoparasitic infections, at prevalences similar to those reported from sympatric rodents.
Consistent Directions of Effect for Established Type 2 Diabetes Risk Variants Across Populations

Common genetic risk variants for type 2 diabetes (T2D) have primarily been identified in populations of European and Asian ancestry. We tested whether the direction of association with 20 T2D risk variants generalizes across six major racial/ethnic groups in the U.S. as part of the Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology Consortium (16,235 diabetes case and 46,122 control subjects of European American, African American, Hispanic, East Asian, American Indian, and Native Hawaiian ancestry). The percentage of positive (odds ratio [OR] >1 for putative risk allele) associations ranged from 69% in American Indians to 100% in European Americans. Of the nine variants where we observed significant heterogeneity of effect by racial/ethnic group (Pheterogeneity < 0.05), eight were positively associated with risk (OR >1) in at least five groups. The marked directional consistency of association observed for most genetic variants across populations implies a shared functional common variant in each region. Fine-mapping of all loci will be required to reveal markers of risk that are important within and across populations.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Version 2 (HTTP/2)

This specification describes an optimized expression of the semantics of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), referred to as HTTP version 2 (HTTP/2). HTTP/2 enables a more efficient use of network resources and a reduced perception of latency by introducing header field compression and allowing multiple concurrent exchanges on the same connection. It also introduces unsolicited push of representations from servers to clients. This specification is an alternative to, but does not obsolete, the HTTP/1.1 message syntax. HTTP's existing semantics remain unchanged.
Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Mutations Associated with Resistance to Lamivudine in Patients Coinfected with HBV and Human Immunodeficiency Virus

ABSTRACT Mutations associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) resistance to lamivudine have not been extensively addressed in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-HBV coinfection. We have studied the HBV polymerase sequences from nine coinfected patients who experienced HBV recurrence while under lamivudine treatment. In seven of these nine patients, Met550, belonging to the highly conserved YMDD motif, was mutated to Val and was associated with a substitution of Met for Leu526 in each case. In the two remaining patients, we found a Met550-to-Ile change that was associated in only one case with a Leu526-to-Met mutation. No mutation was observed in three control patients not receiving lamivudine. This study demonstrates the emergence of particular genetic profiles in HBV-HIV-coinfected patients experiencing a loss of control of HBV infection despite high doses of lamivudine.
Field ecology of toxic Pfiesteria complex species and a conservative analysis of their role in estuarine fish kills.

Within the past decade, toxic Pfiesteria outbreaks have been documented in poorly flushed, eutrophic areas of the largest and second largest estuaries on the U.S. mainland. Here we summarize a decadal field effort in fish kill assessment, encompassing kills related to Pfiesteria (49 major kills in North Carolina estuaries since 1991 and 4 in Maryland estuaries in 1997) and to other factors such as low oxygen stress (79 major fish kills in North Carolina estuaries). The laboratory and field data considered in developing our protocols are described, including toxic Pfiesteria behavior, environmental conditions conducive to toxic Pfiesteria activity, and impacts of toxic clonal Pfiesteria on fish health. We outline the steps of the standardized fish bioassay procedure that has been used since 1991 to diagnose whether actively toxic Pfiesteria was present during estuarine fish kills. Detailed data are given for a 1998 toxic Pfiesteria outbreak in the Neuse Estuary in North Carolina to illustrate of the full suite of diagnostic steps completed. We demonstrate that our conservative approach in implicating toxic Pfiesteria involvement in fish kills has biased in favor of causes other than Pfiesteria. Data are summarized from experiments that have shown stimulation of toxic Pfiesteria strains by nutrient (N, P) enrichment, supporting field observations of highest abundance of toxic strains in eutrophic estuaries. On the basis of a decade of research on toxic Pfiesteria, we present a conceptual model of the seasonal dynamics of toxic strains as affected by changing food resources and weather patterns. We also recommend protocols and research approaches that will strengthen the science of fish kill assessment related to Pfiesteria and/or other causative factors.
On analytical derivations of the condition number distributions of dual non-central Wishart matrices

In this paper, we explore the statistical characterization of Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) channel correlation matrices with the main focus being on their condition number statistics. More specifically, novel expressions are derived for the probability density function (PDF) and cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the MIMO condition number. Contrary to the majority of related studies, where only the common case of Rayleigh fading was considered, our investigation is extended to account for the generalized case of Ricean fading where a deterministic Line-Of-Sight (LoS) component exists in the communication link. The overall analysis is based on the principles of random matrix theory and particularly of dual complex non-central Wishart matrices; the latter represent a practical class of MIMO systems, namely dual-branch systems which are equipped with two transmit and receive antenna elements. All the derived formulae are validated through extensive simulations with the attained accuracy being remarkably good.
Capability Traps and Self-Confirming Attribution Errors in the Dynamics of Process Improvement

To better understand the factors that support or inhibit internally focused change, we conducted an inductive study of one firm's attempt to improve two of its core business processes. Our data suggest that the critical determinants of success in efforts to learn and improve are the interactions between managers' attributions about the cause of poor organizational performance and the physical structure of the workplace, particularly delays between investing in improvement and recognizing the rewards. Building on this observation, we propose a dynamic model capturing the mutual evolution of those attributions, managers' and workers' actions, and the production technology. We use the model to show how managers' beliefs about those who work for them, workers' beliefs about those who manage them, and the physical structure of the environment can coevolve to yield an organization characterized by conflict, mistrust, and control structures that prevent useful change of any type.
An Efficient Resampling Method for Assessing Genome-Wide Statistical Significance in Mapping Quantitative Trait Loci

Assessing genome-wide statistical significance is an important and difficult problem in multipoint linkage analysis. Due to multiple tests on the same genome, the usual pointwise significance level based on the chi-square approximation is inappropriate. Permutation is widely used to determine genome-wide significance. Theoretical approximations are available for simple experimental crosses. In this article, we propose a resampling procedure to assess the significance of genome-wide QTL mapping for experimental crosses. The proposed method is computationally much less intensive than the permutation procedure (in the order of 102 or higher) and is applicable to complex breeding designs and sophisticated genetic models that cannot be handled by the permutation and theoretical methods. The usefulness of the proposed method is demonstrated through simulation studies and an application to a Drosophila backcross.
Relationship between bone mineral density and alcohol intake: A nationwide health survey analysis of postmenopausal women

Objectives Among a variety of relevant factors of osteoporosis, the association between alcohol intake and postmenopausal women’s bone mineral density (BMD) by using data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey was evaluated in this study. Materials and methods Among a total of 31,596 subjects, males, premenopausal women, participants without BMD data were excluded. Finally, a total number of subjects in the study was 3,312. The frequency and amount of alcohol intake were determined by self-reported questionnaires, and BMD was measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Results Mean femoral BMD for light drinkers was statistically significantly greater than that for heavy drinkers and non-drinkers. We observed the characteristic trends for BMD by drinking frequency; the mean BMD gradually increased from non-drinkers to the participants who drank 2–3 times per week; these participants exhibited the highest BMD. Participants who drank alcohol greater than 4 times per week showed a lower BMD. In the risk factor analysis, the adjusted odds ratio for osteoporosis (at femoral neck) was 1.68 in non-drinkers and 1.70 in heavy drinkers compared with light drinkers. Conclusions Light alcohol intake (2–3 times per week and 1–2 or 5–6 glasses per occasion) in South Korean postmenopausal women was related to high femoral BMD. Non-drinkers and heavy drinkers had approximately a 1.7-times greater risk for osteoporosis than light drinkers.
An Experimental Investigation of the Joint Effects of Advertising and Peers on Adolescents' Beliefs and Intentions about Cigarette Consumption

Ninth graders were randomly exposed to one of eight slice-of-life videotapes showing stimulus advertising (cigarette, antismoking, both, neither) and unfamiliar peers who either did or did not smoke cigarettes. The findings indicate that the cigarette advertising primed positive smoker stereotypes, which caused subjects to seek out favorable information about the peers shown smoking. Subjects' beliefs and intentions about cigarette consumption were thereby enhanced by the joint effects of advertising and peers. However, an antismoking advertisement shown in conjunction with cigarette advertising made salient negative smoker stereotypes, evoked unfavorable thoughts about peers shown smoking, and prevented cigarette advertising from promoting smoking.
Securities Transaction Taxes and Financial Markets

We consider the impact of transaction taxes on financial markets in the context of four questions. How important is trading? What causes price volatility? How are prices formed? How valuable is the volume of transactions? Drawing on the literature on market microstructure, asset pricing, rational expectations, and international finance, we argue that securities transaction taxes “throw sand” not in the wheels, but into the engine of financial markets. We conclude that transaction taxes can have negative effects on price discovery, volatility, and liquidity and lead to a reduction in the informational efficiency of markets.
On the Margin Explanation of Boosting Algorithms

Much attention has been paid to the theoretical explanation of the empirical success of AdaBoost. The most influential work is the margin theory, which is essentially an upper bound for the generalization error of any voting classifier in terms of the margin distribution over the training data. However, Breiman raised important questions about the margin explanation by developing a boosting algorithm arc-gv that provably generates a larger minimum margin than AdaBoost. He also gave a sharper bound in terms of the minimum margin, and argued that the minimum margin governs the generalization. In experiments however, arc-gv usually performs worse than AdaBoost, putting the margin explanation into serious doubts. In this paper, we try to give a complete answer to Breiman’s critique by proving a bound in terms of a new margin measure called Equilibrium margin (Emargin). The Emargin bound is uniformly sharper than Breiman’s minimum margin bound. This result suggests that the minimum margin is not crucial for the generalization error. We also show that a large Emargin implies good generalization. Experimental results on benchmark datasets demonstrate that AdaBoost usually has a larger Emargin and a smaller test error than arc-gv, which agrees well with our theory.
Learning Compliant Movement Primitives Through Demonstration and Statistical Generalization

In this paper, we address the problem of simultaneously achieving low trajectory tracking errors and compliant control without using explicit mathematical models of task dynamics. To achieve this goal, we propose a new movement representation called compliant movement primitives (CMPs), which encodes position trajectory and associated torque profiles and can be learned from a single user demonstration. With the proposed control framework, the robot can remain compliant and consequently safe for humans sharing its workspace, even if high trajectory tracking accuracy is required. We developed a statistical learning approach that can use a database of existing CMPs and compute new ones, adapted for novel task variations. The proposed approach was evaluated on a Kuka LWR-4 robot performing 1) a discrete pick-and-place task with objects of varying weight and 2) a periodic handle turning operation. The evaluation of the discrete task showed a 15-fold decrease of the tracking error while exhibiting compliant behavior compared to the standard feedback control approach. It also indicated no significant rise in the tracking error while using generalized primitives computed by the statistical learning method. With respect to unforeseen collisions, the proposed approach resulted in a 75% drop of contact forces compared to standard feedback control. The periodic task demonstrated on-line use of the proposed approach to accomplish a task of handle turning.
A bit of progress in language modeling

In the past several years, a number of different language modeling improvements over simple trigram models have been found, including caching, higher-order n -grams, skipping, interpolated Kneser? Ney smoothing, and clustering. We present explorations of variations on, or of the limits of, each of these techniques, including showing that sentence mixture models may have more potential. While all of these techniques have been studied separately, they have rarely been studied in combination. We compare a combination of all techniques together to a Katz smoothed trigram model with no count cutoffs. We achieve perplexity reductions between 38 and 50% (1 bit of entropy), depending on training data size, as well as a word error rate reduction of 8.9%. Our perplexity reductions are perhaps the highest reported compared to a fair baseline.