Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Information Retrieval Applications in Software Maintenance and Evolution

There is a growing interest in creating tools that can assist engineers in all phases of the software life cycle. This assistance requires techniques that go beyond traditional static and dynamic analysis. An example of such a technique applies information retrieval (IR), which exploits information found in a project’s natural language. Such information can be extracted from the source code’s identifiers and comments and in artifacts associated with the project, such as the requirements. The techniques described pertain to the maintenance and evolution phase of the software life cycle and focus on such problems as feature location and impact analysis. These techniques highlight the bright future that IR brings to addressing software engineering problems.
Expert Working Group report on nutrition in adult patients with renal insufficiency (part 1 of 2).

The second part of the report deals with the nutritional therapy of 1) patients with chronic renal failure on haemodialytic treatment or peritoneal dialysis, 2) patients with nephrotic syndrome, 3) patients with acute renal failure and 4) kidney transplanted patients. Each of these situations is unique as to the aetiology of malnutrition and nutritional treatment. Haemodialytic treatment or peritoneal dialysis are in themselves additional catabolic stimuli. Preventing protein-energy malnutrition in hemodialysis patients is important because of its prognostic relevance. Peritoneal dialysis patients pose a special problem because the energy intake can be in excess, while the nitrogen balance is often negative, and they are at risk of developing a kwashiorkor-like syndrome. The nutritional risk of patients with acute renal failure and the diAculty in nourishing them adequately is outlined. Specific recommendations are given for the pre-transplant, early posttransplant and late post-transplant phases.
Levels of beta-microseminoprotein in blood and risk of prostate cancer in multiple populations.

BACKGROUND A common genetic variant (rs10993994) in the 5' region of the gene encoding β-microseminoprotein (MSP) is associated with circulating levels of MSP and prostate cancer risk. Whether MSP levels are predictive of prostate cancer risk has not been evaluated. METHODS We investigated the prospective relationship between circulating plasma levels of MSP and prostate cancer risk in a nested case-control study of 1503 case subjects and 1503 control subjects among black, Latino, Japanese, Native Hawaiian, and white men from the Multiethnic Cohort study. We also examined the ability of MSP to serve as a biomarker for discriminating prostate cancer case subjects from control subjects. All statistical tests are two-sided. RESULTS In all racial and ethnic groups, men with lower MSP levels were at greater risk of developing prostate cancer (odds ratio = 1.02 per one unit decrease in MSP, P < .001 in the prostate-specific antigen [PSA]-adjusted analysis). Compared with men in the highest decile of MSP, the multivariable PSA-adjusted odds ratio was 3.64 (95% confidence interval = 2.41 to 5.49) for men in the lowest decile. The positive association with lower MSP levels was observed consistently across racial and ethnic populations, by disease stage and Gleason score, for men with both high and low levels of PSA and across all genotype classes of rs10993994. However, we did not detect strong evidence of MSP levels in improving prostate cancer prediction beyond that of PSA. CONCLUSIONS Regardless of race and ethnicity or rs10993994 genotype, men with low blood levels of MSP have increased risk of prostate cancer.
Artificial bandwidth extension without side information for ITU-t g.729.1

This paper discusses a potential extension of the ITU-T G.729. 1 speech and audio codec. The G.729. 1 coder is hierarchically organized, i.e., the obtained quality increases with the amount of bits that is received for each frame. In particular, the bit rates of 8 and 12 kbit/s offer narrowband (50 Hz – 4 kHz) speech transmission. With a received bit rate of at least 14 kbit/s, the output bandwidth is increased to the wideband frequency range (50 Hz – 7 kHz). Here, we investigate efficient methods to provide the full wideband frequency bandwidth already for the lower bit rates of 8 and 12 kbit/s while maintaining interoperability with the standard implementation of G.729. 1. These techniques are not necessarily limited to G.729. 1 and thus may serve in other applications as well.
Sequence Stratigraphy

Sequence stratigraphy is the study of sediments and sedimentary ocks in terms of repetitively arranged facies and associated stratal geometry (Vail 1987; Van Wagoner t al 1988, 1990; Christie-Blick 1991). It is a technique that can be traced back to the work of Sloss et al (1949), Sloss (1950, 1963), and Wheeler (1958) on interregional unconformities of the North American craton, but it became systematized only after the advent of seismic stratigraphy, the stratigraphic interpretation of seismic reflection profiles (Vail et al 1977, 1984, 1991; Berg & Woolverton 1985; Cross & Lessenger 1988; Sloss 1988; Christie-Blick et al 1990; Van Wagoner t al 1990; Vail 1992). Sequence stratigraphy makes use of the fact that sedimentary successions are pervaded by physical discontinuities. These are present at a great range of scales and they arise in a number of quite different ways: for example, by fluvial incision and subaerial erosion (above sea level); submergence of nonmarine or shallow-marine sediments during transgression (flooding surfaces and drowning unconformities), in some cases with shoreface erosion (ravinement); shoreface rosion during regression; erosion in the marine environment as a result of storms, currents, or mass-wasting; and through condensation under conditions of diminished sediment supply (intervals of sediment starvation). The main attribute shared by virtually all of these discontinuities, independent of origin and scale, is that to a first approximation they separate older deposits from younger ones. The recognition of discontinuities is therefore useful because they allow sedimentary successions to be divided into geometrical units that have time-stratigraphic and hence genetic significance. Precise correlation has of course long been a goal in sedimentary geology, and the emergence of sequence stratigraphy does not imply that existing techniques or data ought o be discarded. Instead, sequence stratigraphy provides a
Performance and genetic parameters of economically important traits of Black Bengal goat

A nucleus-breeding flock of selected Black Bengal goat was established in the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI) with the objective of conservation and improvement of the breed. A total of 120 does of different generations (70=foundation stock, 45=First generation and 5=Second generation) and 20 bucks (15=Foundation stock and 5=First generation) were used to study the genetic parameters of Black Bengal goat on productive and reproductive traits. Animals were bred naturally. Goats were reared under intensive and semi-intensive management to compare performance. Birth weights of kids were 1.49±0.13 and 1.28±0.11 kg, respectively for intensive and semiintensive rearing system. Number of services required for each successful conception was 1.16±0.019 with an average gestation length of 143.33±0.68 days. Litter size increased (P 0.05) the post partum estrous interval. Young females attained puberty at an age and weight of 186.02±10.52 days and 9.4±0.52 kg, respectively. In case of intensive rearing system it took 139 days to show 1st heat compared to 198 days in semi-intensive rearing system. Intensive system reduced the age at 1st kidding to 284±31.2 days from 370±25.5 days in semi-intensive system. The effects of parity, generation, and generation × parity interaction on kidding interval were not significant (P>0.05). The average daily milk yield and lactation length was 1.088 kg (750g suckled milk + 338g from hand milking) and 68.07±2.83 days respectively. The effect of parity and generation on doe weight after kidding was significant (P 0.05). Heritability estimates from sire and dam component for birth weight, weight at 3, 6, 9, 12 months of age and litter size were 0.92, 0.48, 0.34, 0.45, 0.88 and 0.17, respectively. Heritability estimates only from sire component for birth weight, weight at 3, 6, 9, 12 months of age and litter size were 0.05, 0.28, 0.77, 0.29, 0.18 and 0.15, respectively. Repeatability estimates for birth weight, litter size, kidding interval and daily milk yield were 0.47, 0.15, 0.02 and 0.49, respectively. Keywords: Black Bengal goat; Performance traits; Heritability; Repeatability DOI: 10.3329/jbau.v8i1. 6401 J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ. 8(1): 67-78, 2010
Age of First Suicide Attempt in Men and Women: An Admixture Analysis

Objectives. To define different subgroups of suicide attempters according to age at onset of suicide attempts. Methods. Participants were 229 suicide attempters (147 females; 82 males) admitted to a general hospital in Madrid, Spain. We used admixture analysis to determine the best-fitting model for the age at onset of suicide attempts separated by sex. Results. The best fitted model for the age at onset of suicide attempts was a mixture of two gaussian distributions. Females showed an earlier age at onset of suicide attempts in both Gaussian distributions (mean ± S.D.) (26.98 ± 5.69 and 47.98 ± 14.13) than males (32.77 ± 8.11 and 61.31 ± 14.61). Early-onset female attempters were more likely to show borderline personality disorder than late-onset female attempters (OR = 11.11; 95% CI = 2.43–50.0). Conclusions. Age at onset of suicide attempts characterizes different subpopulations of suicide attempters.
A prospective open-label pilot study of fluvastatin on proinflammatory and prothrombotic biomarkers in antiphospholipid antibody positive patients

Objective To determine if proinflammatory and prothrombotic biomarkers are differentially upregulated in persistently antiphospholipid antibody (aPL)-positive patients, and to examine the effects of fluvastatin on these biomarkers. Methods Four groups of patients (age 18–65) were recruited: (a) primary antiphospholipid syndrome; (b) systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) (SLE/APS); (c) persistent aPL positivity without SLE or APS (Primary aPL); and (d) persistent aPL positivity with SLE but no APS (SLE/aPL). The frequency-matched control group, used for baseline data comparison, was identified from a databank of healthy persons. Patients received fluvastatin 40 mg daily for 3 months. At 3 months, patients stopped the study medication and they were followed for another 3 months. Blood samples for 12 proinflammatory and prothrombotic biomarkers were collected monthly for 6 months. Results Based on the comparison of the baseline samples of 41 aPL-positive patients with 30 healthy controls, 9/12 (75%) biomarkers (interleukin (IL)-6, IL1β, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interferon (IFN)-α, inducible protein-10 (IP10), soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L), soluble tissue factor (sTF) and intracellular cellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1) were significantly elevated. Twenty-four patients completed the study; fluvastatin significantly and reversibly reduced the levels of 6/12 (50%) biomarkers (IL1β, VEGF, TNFα, IP10, sCD40L and sTF). Conclusions Our prospective mechanistic study demonstrates that proinflammatory and prothrombotic biomarkers, which are differentially upregulated in persistently aPL-positive patients, can be reversibly reduced by fluvastatin. Thus, statin-induced modulation of the aPL effects on target cells can be a valuable future approach in the management of aPL-positive patients.
Involvement of Chemokines and a CD4-Positive T Cell Subset in the Development of Conjunctival Secondary Lymphoid Follicles in an Atopic Keratoconjunctivitis Mouse Model

Background: Massive B cell lymphoid hyperplasia and its associated factors may play a role in exacerbating inflammation in allergic disorders. We here investigated the chemokines and CD4-positive T cell subset involved in the development of secondary lymphoid follicles (iCALT) in conjunctival tissues in an atopic keratoconjunctivitis mouse model (AKC mouse). Methods: NC/Nga mice were divided into three groups: AKC (percutaneous sensitization and instillation of crude house dust mite antigen), AD (percutaneous sensitization only) and C (untreated control). Pathological changes in the conjunctival tissues of each group were investigated using histological and immunohistochemical detection of CD4 and CD20. Furthermore, tissue sections of iCALT (AKC-iCALT subgroup) and conjunctiva without iCALT (AKC-conjunctiva subgroup) were obtained from AKC mice using laser-assisted microdissection. mRNA expression of chemokine and T cell subset-related transcription factors were compared between the AKC-iCALT and AKC-conjunctiva subgroups using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) array and real-time reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) methods. Results: iCALT with central aggregation of CD20-positive B cells and CD4-positive T cell infiltration surrounding B cells was observed in the palpebral conjunctival tissue of the AKC group, but not in that of the AD and C groups. Chemokine and T cell subset-related transcription factor expression was confirmed using real-time RT-PCR, with significant increases in Ccl5, Ccl17, Cxl20, Cxcl3, Ccr7, Foxp3 and T-bet mRNA expression in the AKC-iCALT subgroup compared with those in the AKC-conjunctiva subgroup. Conclusions: We concluded that CCL5, CCL17 and CCL20, as well as T-bet- and Foxp3-positive lymphocytes may be iCALT-related factors and that iCALT-related chemokines are worth evaluating as biomarkers.
Change in Coronary Blood Flow After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Relation to Baseline Lesion Physiology: Results of the JUSTIFY-PCI Study

Background—Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) aims to increase coronary blood flow by relieving epicardial obstruction. However, no study has objectively confirmed this and assessed changes in flow over different phases of the cardiac cycle. We quantified the change in resting and hyperemic flow velocity after PCI in stenoses defined physiologically by fractional flow reserve and other parameters. Methods and Results—Seventy-five stenoses (67 patients) underwent paired flow velocity assessment before and after PCI. Flow velocity was measured over the whole cardiac cycle and the wave-free period. Mean fractional flow reserve was 0.68±0.02. Pre-PCI, hyperemic flow velocity is diminished in stenoses classed as physiologically significant compared with those classed nonsignificant (P<0.001). In significant stenoses, flow velocity over the resting wave-free period and hyperemic flow velocity did not differ statistically. After PCI, resting flow velocity over the wave-free period increased little (5.6±1.6 cm/s) and significantly less than hyperemic flow velocity (21.2±3 cm/s; P<0.01). The greatest increase in hyperemic flow velocity was observed when treating stenoses below physiological cut points; treating stenoses with fractional flow reserve ⩽0.80 gained &Dgr;28.5±3.8 cm/s, whereas those fractional flow reserve >0.80 had a significantly smaller gain (&Dgr;4.6±2.3 cm/s; P<0.001). The change in pressure-only physiological indices demonstrated a curvilinear relationship to the change in hyperemic flow velocity but was flat for resting flow velocity. Conclusions—Pre-PCI physiology is strongly associated with post-PCI increase in hyperemic coronary flow velocity. Hyperemic flow velocity increases 6-fold more when stenoses classed as physiologically significant undergo PCI than when nonsignificant stenoses are treated. Resting flow velocity measured over the wave-free period changes at least 4-fold less than hyperemic flow velocity after PCI.
The Role of the Primary Motor Cortex During Skill Acquisition on a Two-Degrees-of-Freedom Movement Task

One can partially eliminate motor skills acquired through practice in the hours immediately following practice by applying repetitive transcranial stimulation (rTMS) over the primary motor cortex. The disruption of acquired levels of performance has been demonstrated on tasks that are ballistic in nature. The authors investigated whether motor recall on a discrete aiming task is degraded following a disruption of the primary motor cortex induced via rTMS. Participants (N = 16) maintained acquired performance levels and patterns of muscle activity following the application of rTMS, despite a reduction in corticospinal excitability. Disruption of the primary motor cortex during a consolidation period did not influence the retention of acquired skill in this type of discrete visuomotor task.
A primary care-based needs assessment of people with multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a common cause of chronic progressive neurological disability where reduction in quality of life is an important feature. Many GPs have MS patients with a range of disabilities. Little is known about the supply of medical and community services and how this compares with demand. AIM We aim to describe a community based sample of MS patients and investigate how disease characteristics, benefits, services accessed and perceived needs relate to sense of wellbeing. DESIGN Cross-sectional survey. SETTING Participants were recruited from a representative network of 30 GP practices across Northern Ireland. METHOD MS patients answered a professionally administered questionnaire and agreed to their medical records being examined. Information was collected about their medical condition, sociodemographic characteristics, receipt of benefits and services, perceived needs and sense of wellbeing. RESULTS Of the 149 participants, 23% were mildly affected (Kurtzke's Expanded Disability Status Scale [EDSS] 0-4.5), 41% were moderately disabled (EDSS 5.0-6.5) and 36% were severely disabled (EDSS 7.0-9.5). Disability was related to employment, receipt of benefits and services. Physiotherapy was a commonly perceived need. Other perceived needs differed between the moderately and severely disabled groups. Scores relating to wellbeing were related to disability and perceived needs. CONCLUSIONS The relationship between use of medical and community services and disability is important for planning service provision. We have shown that perceived needs are related to wellbeing. In a progressive illness these developing needs could be anticipated.
Obtaining Well Calibrated Probabilities Using Bayesian Binning

Learning probabilistic predictive models that are well calibrated is critical for many prediction and decision-making tasks in artificial intelligence. In this paper we present a new non-parametric calibration method called Bayesian Binning into Quantiles (BBQ) which addresses key limitations of existing calibration methods. The method post processes the output of a binary classification algorithm; thus, it can be readily combined with many existing classification algorithms. The method is computationally tractable, and empirically accurate, as evidenced by the set of experiments reported here on both real and simulated datasets.
The Impact of Constraints on Motivation, Activity Attachment, and Skier Intentions to Continue

Abstract The present study examines the impact of constraints on motivation, activity attachment, and future behavior of recreational skiers. Two hundred and ninety four (N=294) recreational skiers participated in the study and completed questionnaires measuring leisure constraints, strength of motivation, activity attachment and behavioural intentions. A confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the nine-factor measurement model. The SEM analysis indicated negative relationships between constraints and motivation, and between constraints and activity attachment. Positive relationships were observed between motivation and activity attachment, as well as between motivation and future behavioural intentions. These results provide empirical support for the interaction of activity attachment with constraints and motivation. The theoretical implications of the results are discussed with reference to the negotiation of leisure constraints proposition.
Corruption and Firms

We estimate the causal real economic effects of a randomized anti-corruption crackdown on local governments in Brazil using rich micro-data on corruption and firms. After anti-corruption audits, municipalities experience an increase in the number of firms concentrated in sectors most dependent on government relationships. Through the estimation of geographic spillovers and additional tests, we show that audits operate via both a direct detection effect as well as through indirect deterrence channels. Politically connected firms suffer after the audits. Our estimates indicate the anti-corruption program generates significant local multipliers which are consistent with the presence of a large corruption tax on government-dependent firms.
Shape memory alloys for earthquake building protection

Use of Shape Memory Alloys (SMA) is more and more frequent in engineering because of their unique properties of completely recovering the imposed deformations after heating, or automatically returning to the unloaded configuration via a super-elastic process after very large strains (till around 10%). The process is regulated by a phase change in the material, shifting between martensite and austenite. Along this transformation, some SMA change their elastic properties by a factor three and damping coefficient by a magnitude. Super-elastic materials exhibit stable hysteresis loops under cyclic loading and dissipate energy without residual deformation thus providing in perspective self-centering capability for use in buildings earthquake protection. The present study investigates the performance of SMA-based devices for seismic protection of reinforced concrete structures. In countries with high seismic hazard, vulnerability assessment of existing constructions and seismic retrofit implementation is a major challenge for both scientific community and public administration. This paper illustrates seismic retrofit of an existing school building in Italy, using dissipating steel braces. Both SMA-wire dampers and mixed devices combining SMA elements and classical buckling-restrained axial dampers are considered for seismic upgrading. Adopted technique effectiveness and reliability are investigated by comprehensive nonlinear static and dynamic analyses. Numerical results show that super-elastic SMA dampers are effective for mitigating building response to strong earthquakes and providing systems self-centering capability with negligible residual strains.
Efficient, Compositional, Order-sensitive n-gram Embeddings

We propose ECO: a new way to generate embeddings for phrases that is Efficient, Compositional, and Order-sensitive. Our method creates decompositional embeddings for words offline and combines them to create new embeddings for phrases in real time. Unlike other approaches, ECO can create embeddings for phrases not seen during training. We evaluate ECO on supervised and unsupervised tasks and demonstrate that creating phrase embeddings that are sensitive to word order can help downstream tasks.