Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predictors and Spatial Variation of Radon Testing in Illinois, 2005-2012

Context: Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer, but exposure can be reduced through testing one's home and mitigating if levels are high. Objective: To determine what factors predict radon testing and to identify, through spatial analysis, areas in Illinois with lower or higher than expected testing rates. Design, Setting, Participants, and Main Outcomes: An ecological study design was used to evaluate data on radon tests performed in Illinois by a licensed professional or a home radon test kit analyzed by a state-approved laboratory between 2005 and 2012. Zip code–level rates of testing per 1000 occupied residences were calculated for all testing methods combined and for licensed professional testing and home kit testing separately. The following zip code–level factors associated with radon testing were considered: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) radon zones (ie, categorization of areas by predicted radon risk), socioeconomic characteristics, homeowner occupancy, and rurality. Univariate and multivariable incidence rate ratios were calculated to examine what factors were associated with each testing type. Hotspot analysis was performed to identify zip codes with lower than expected and higher than expected testing rates (ie, “coldspots” and “hotspots,” respectively). Results: Radon testing rates varied across EPA zone, socioeconomic characteristics, and level of rurality. In multivariable analysis, EPA zone, education, and median household income positively predicted all testing types combined. Median home value was associated with licensed testing, whereas rurality was negatively associated with licensed testing. Owner occupancy positively predicted home kit testing. Between 19.6% and 31.1% of zip codes were coldspots for radon testing rates, dependent upon testing type. Coldspots of all testing method rates were concentrated in the southern part of the state. Conclusion: Public health professionals can benefit from understanding what area-level factors predict radon testing and what geographic areas may under-utilize testing. Such information can aid the development of geographically targeted, cost-effective interventions that increase radon testing and subsequently reduce lung cancer risk.
Trefftz type approximation and the generalized finite element method — history and development

This paper shows the essential unity between the known approximation procedures to differential equations. The boundary type approximations associated with Trefftz are shown to be a particular form of the weighted residual approximation and can provide a very useful basis for generating hybrid 'finite elements'. These can be used in combination with other finite element approaches.
RAPID-Cache-A Reliable and Inexpensive Write Cache for High Performance Storage Systems

Modern high performance disk systems make extensive use of nonvolatile RAM (NVRAM) write caches. A single-copy NVRAM cache creates a single point of failure while a dual-copy NVRAM cache is very expensive because of the high cost of NVRAM. This paper presents a new cache architecture called RAPID-Cache for Redundant, Asymmetrically Parallel, and Inexpensive Disk Cache. A typical RAPID-Cache consists of two redundant write buffers on top of a disk system. One of the buffers is a primary cache made of RAM or NVRAM and the other is a backup cache containing a two-level hierarchy: a small NVRAM buffer on top of a log disk. The small NVRAM buffer combines small write data and writes them into the log disk in large sizes. By exploiting the locality property of I/O accesses and taking advantage of well-known Log-structured File Systems, the backup cache has nearly equivalent write performance as the primary RAM cache. The read performance of the backup cache is not as critical because normal read operations are performed through the primary RAM cache and reads from the backup cache happen only during error recovery periods. The RAPID-Cache presents an asymmetric architecture with a fast-write-fast-read RAM being a primary cache and a fast-write-slow-read NVRAM-disk hierarchy being a backup cache. The asymmetrically parallel architecture and an algorithm that separates actively accessed data from inactive data in the cache virtually eliminate the garbage collection overhead, which are the major problems associated with previous solutions such as Log-structured File Systems and Disk Caching Disk. The asymmetric cache allows cost-effective designs for very large write caches for high-end parallel disk systems that would otherwise have to use dual-copy, costly NVRAM caches. It also makes it possible to implement reliable write caching for low-end disk I/O systems since the RAPID-Cache makes use of inexpensive disks to perform reliable caching. Our analysis and trace-driven simulation results show that the RAPID-Cache has significant reliability/cost advantages over conventional single NVRAM write caches and has great cost advantages over dual-copy NVRAM caches. The RAPID-Cache architecture opens a new dimension for disk system designers to exercise trade-offs among performance, reliability, and cost.
Don't Demotivate, Discriminate

This paper offers a new theory of discrimination in the workplace. We consider a manager who has to assign two tasks to two employees. The manager has superior information about the employees' abilities. We show that besides an equilibrium where the manager does not discriminate, equilibria exist where the manager discriminates in favor of the employee whom the employees expect to be favored. The manager, who has no taste for discrimination, discriminates in order to avoid demotivating the 'favorite'. We show that the non-discriminatory equilibrium is unstable. Yet the manager would prefer to commit not to discriminate.
Increased Expression of Histone Proteins during Estrogen-Mediated Cell Proliferation

Background There is concern about the potential risk posed by compounds with estrogen-like activity present in the environment. As previous studies have shown that combined exposure to such compounds results in dose additivity, it should be possible to assess estrogen exposure with suitable biomarkers of effect. Objectives Our goal was to identify candidate protein biomarkers of effect for estrogenic compounds. Methods In the search for biomarkers, we assessed the effect of several estrogenic compounds on the expression profile of proteins in breast-derived cell lines varying in their estrogen receptor (ER) phenotype using surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. We identified responsive proteins, after separating them by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and analyzing the trypsin-digested proteins by tandem mass spectrometry. Results The estrogenic compounds 17β-estradiol, genistein, bisphenol A, and endosulfan produced similar protein profile changes in MCF-7 cells (phenotype: ERα+/ERβ+), but had no effect on MDA-MB-231 (ERα−/ERβ+), MCF-10F (ERα−/ERβ+), or MCF-10A (ERα−/ERβ−) cells. The most responsive proteins in MCF-7 cells were identified as histones H2A, H2B, H3, and H4. Histone levels were not increased in cell lines that showed no proliferative response to estrogens despite their rapid intrinsic growth rate in culture. Conclusion Our results indicate that ER-mediated cell proliferation results in up-regulation of core histone proteins.
Predicting Suicidal Behavior in Veterans With Traumatic Brain Injury: The Utility of the Personality Assessment Inventory

In this study, we investigated the Personality Assessment Inventory's (PAI; Morey, 1991, 2007) Suicide Potential Index (SPI) and Suicide Ideation scale (SUI) as predictors of suicidal behavior (SB) in military Veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI; N = 154). We analyzed electronic medical records were searched for SB in the 2 years post-PAI administration and data via logistic regressions. We obtained statistical support for the SPI and SUI as predictors of SB. Analyses we performed using receiver operating characteristics suggested an optimal SPI cutoff of ≥15 for this sample. Findings suggest that SPI and SUI scores may assist in assessing suicide risk in those with TBI, particularly when population-based cutoffs are considered.
Coronary Artery Anomalies: The Prevalence of Origination, Course, and Termination Anomalies of Coronary Arteries Detected by 64-Detector Computed Tomography Coronary Angiography

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of origination, course, and termination anomalies of coronary arteries, all of which were detected by 64-detector coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA). Methods: Images of 2096 patients who underwent CTA were evaluated retrospectively to determine coronary artery anomalies (CAAs). Results: Anomalies in origin and course were detected in 1.96% of the cases. The prevalence rates of the right coronary artery (RCA) branching from the left coronary sinus, the circumflex artery from the right coronary sinus (RCS) or from the RCA, absence of the left main coronary artery, and high takeoff coronary arteries were similar and seen in 0.43% of the cases. The left main coronary artery originating from the RCS, a single coronary ostium from the RCS, the circumflex artery from the distal RCA, and the RCA from the pulmonary artery were observed in 0.1%, 0.05%, 0.05%, and 0.05% of the cases, respectively. A coronary artery fistula, which is a termination anomaly, was detected in 0.33% of the patients. The presence of coronary atherosclerosis with CAAs was less than the study group that was statistically not significant (64.6% vs 72.5%, P = 0.213). Conclusions: Computed tomography angiography provides essential information about CAAs to interventional cardiologists and surgeons that helps to prevent incorrect procedures by showing the exact origin, complex anatomy, course, and termination of the coronary arteries.
The GBAR source model for VBR videoconferences

Heyman (1992) examined three sequences giving the number of cells per frame of a VBR encoding of videoconferences (talking heads); these sequences were produced by hardware encoders using different coding algorithms. Each sequence had a gamma marginal distribution, and the autocorrelation function was geometric up to lags of at least 3 s, which includes all autocorrelation values larger than 0.1. We present an easy to simulate autoregressive process that has these properties. The model is tested by comparing the cell-loss rate produced when the data trace was used as the sole source in a simulation of an ATM switch to the cell-loss rates produced when traces generated by the model were used as the source.
High Performance Binarized Neural Networks trained on the ImageNet Classification Task

We trained Binarized Neural Networks (BNNs) on the high resolution ImageNet LSVRC-2102 dataset classification task and achieved a good performance. With a moderate size network of 10 layers, we obtained top-5 classification accuracy rate of 81 percent on validation set which is much better than previous published results. We expect training networks of a much better performance through increase network depth would be straight forward by following our current strategies. A detailed discussion on strategies used in the network training is included as well as preliminary analysis.
A molecular epidemiology study investigating familial clustering of hepatitis B virus infection in families with unfavorable prognoses in Northwest China

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections and adverse outcome have been demonstrated to show characteristics of familial clustering. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of different HBV genotypes, HBV sub‐genotypes, and Pre‐S mutations associated with familial HBV infection clusters with unfavorable prognoses. Families presenting with clustered HBV infections and unfavorable prognoses were enrolled in this study. Non‐clustered HBV‐infected individuals were used as the control group. DNA extracted from patient serum samples was used to facilitate characterization of the HBV genotypes, HBV sub‐genotypes, and Pre‐S mutations by phylogenetic analysis. The Pre‐S/S gene was successfully amplified in 83 patients from the clustering group and 105 patients from the sporadic group. The prevalence of genotype C in the clustering group (71/83, 85.54%) was significantly higher than in the sporadic group (77/105, 73.33%) (P = 0.042). The prevalence of sub‐genotype C2 in the clustering group (33/83, 39.76%) was also higher than in the sporadic group (21/105, 20%) (P = 0.003). Analyses of functional mapping of pre‐S sequences showed that the prevalence of the mutation in the S promoter site (nt 3045‐3189 of pre‐S1 domain) was significantly increased in the clustering group compared with the sporadic group (15.7% vs. 3.8%) (P = 0.009). This study suggests that genotype C, especially sub‐genotype C2, may be associated with the progression of HBV infection in familial clustering infection cohorts with unfavorable prognoses. We also observed that the natural occurrence of S promoter mutations in the clustering group was significantly prevalent.
Loss and Delay Accountability for the Internet

The Internet provides no information on the fate of transmitted packets, and end systems cannot determine who is responsible for dropping or delaying their traffic. As a result, they cannot verify that their ISPs are honoring their service level agreements, nor can they react to adverse network conditions appropriately. While current probing tools provide some assistance in this regard, they only give feedback on probes, not actual traffic. Moreover, service providers could, at any time, render their network opaque to such tools. We propose Audit, an explicit accountability interface, through which ISPs can pro-actively supply feedback to traffic sources on loss and delay, at administrative-domain granularity. Notably, our interface is resistant to ISP lies and can be implemented with a modest NetFlow modification. On our Click-based prototype, playback of real traces from a Tier-1 ISP reveals less than 2% bandwidth overhead. Finally, our proposal benefits not only end systems, but also ISPs, who can now control the amount and quality of information revealed about their internals.
Perioperative Management of Antithrombotic Therapy in Common Otolaryngologic Surgical Procedures

Objective The perioperative management of patients undergoing otolaryngologic procedures is increasingly complicated by the use of newer antithrombotic agents. Furthermore, with advances in anesthesia and surgical technique, otolaryngologists are presented with the challenge of operating on patients with advanced comorbid diseases. The objective of this review is to provide evidence-based recommendations on perioperative antithrombotic management for common otolaryngologic procedures. Data Sources PubMed/MEDLINE. Review Methods Selected literature on patient-specific thromboembolic risk, rate of bleeding complications in otolaryngologic procedures, and the interruption of antithrombotic therapy is reviewed and interpreted by expert opinion. Conclusions By stratifying patients into either low thromboembolic risk (≤5%) or high thromboembolic risk (>5%) and interpreting this in the context of procedural bleed risk and potential clinical consequences in the event of a bleed, otolaryngologists can make evidence-based decisions to determine the appropriate perioperative management of antithrombotic therapy. Implications for Practice When the perioperative management of antithrombotic therapy is being decided, 3 critical factors must be considered systematically: the patient’s inherent thromboembolic risk, the risk and potential consequences of bleeding related to the procedure, and the timing of interruption of thromboembolic therapy.
Fatigue crack behavior of RC beams strengthened with CFL under cylic bending loads

A mechanical model of cracked reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened with carbon fiber laminate (CFL) is proposed to establish the theoretical relationship among the crack height (a), the number of fatigue loading cycles (n), and the fatigue life (N), and the main crack growth behavior is discussed. Moreover, some fatigue tests of the RC beams strengthened with CFL were carried out on material testing system (MTS) to investigate the crack growth rate (da/dn). The analysis results show that the crack growth behavior of RC beams strengthened with CFL may be divided into three stages: 1) initiation and rapid growth, 2) steady growth and arrest, 3) unstable growth. At the stage of crack steady growth and arrest, the relationship among, da/dn, n, and N could be expressed as: da/dn=C/(nlnN), where the constant coefficient, C, is determined from the fatigue tests.
Provider-initiated symptom screening for tuberculosis in Zimbabwe: diagnostic value and the effect of HIV status.

OBJECTIVE To assess the diagnostic value of provider-initiated symptom screening for tuberculosis (TB) and how HIV status affects it. METHODS We performed a secondary analysis of randomly selected participants in a community-based TB-HIV prevalence survey in Harare, Zimbabwe. All completed a five-symptom questionnaire and underwent sputum TB culture and HIV testing. We calculated the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of various symptoms and used regression analysis to investigate the relationship between symptoms and TB disease. FINDINGS We found one or more symptoms of TB in 21.2% of 1858 HIV-positive (HIV+) and 9.9% of 7121 HIV-negative (HIV-) participants (P < 0.001). TB was subsequently diagnosed in 48 HIV+ and 31 HIV- participants. TB was asymptomatic in 18 culture-positive individuals, 8 of whom (4 in each HIV status group) had positive sputum smears. Cough of any duration, weight loss and, for HIV+ participants only, drenching night sweats were independent predictors of TB. In HIV+ participants, cough of > or = 2 weeks' duration, any symptom and a positive sputum culture had sensitivities of 48%, 81% and 65%, respectively; in HIV- participants, the sensitivities were 45%, 71% and 74%, respectively. Symptoms had a similar sensitivity and specificity in HIV+ and HIV- participants, but in HIV+ participants they had a higher positive and a lower negative predictive value. CONCLUSION Even smear-positive TB may be missed by provider-initiated symptom screening, especially in HIV+ individuals. Symptom screening is useful for ruling out TB, but better TB diagnostics are urgently needed for resource-poor settings.
Visually Induced Dizziness in Children and Validation of the Pediatric Visually Induced Dizziness Questionnaire

Aims To develop and validate the Pediatric Visually Induced Dizziness Questionnaire (PVID) and quantify the presence and severity of visually induced dizziness (ViD), i.e., symptoms induced by visual motion stimuli including crowds and scrolling computer screens in children. Methods 169 healthy (female n = 89; recruited from mainstream schools, London, UK) and 114 children with a primary migraine, concussion, or vestibular disorder diagnosis (female n = 62), aged 6–17 years, were included. Children with primary migraine were recruited from mainstream schools while children with concussion or vestibular disorder were recruited from tertiary balance centers in London, UK, and Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Children completed the PVID, which assesses the frequency of dizziness and unsteadiness experienced in specific environmental situations, and Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), a brief behavioral screening instrument. Results The PVID showed high internal consistency (11 items; α = 0.90). A significant between-group difference was noted with higher (i.e., worse) PVID scores for patients vs. healthy participants (U = 2,436.5, z = −10.719, p < 0.001); a significant difference was noted between individual patient groups [χ2(2) = 11.014, p = 0.004] but post hoc analysis showed no significant pairwise comparisons. The optimal cut-off score for discriminating between individuals with and without abnormal ViD levels was 0.45 out of 3 (sensitivity 83%, specificity 75%). Self-rated emotional (U = 2,730.0, z = −6.169) and hyperactivity (U = 3,445.0, z = −4.506) SDQ subscale as well as informant (U = 188.5, z = −3.916) and self-rated (U = 3,178.5, z = −5.083) total scores were significantly worse for patients compared to healthy participants (p < 0.001). Conclusion ViD is common in children with a primary concussion, migraine, or vestibular diagnosis. The PVID is a valid measure for identifying the presence of ViD in children and should be used to identify and quantify these symptoms, which require specific management incorporating exposure to optokinetic stimuli.
Prevalence of stroke symptoms among stroke-free residents: first national data from Lebanon

Background Stroke symptoms are common among people without a history of stroke or transient ischemic attack. Reported stroke symptoms may represent stroke episodes that failed to reach the threshold for clinical diagnosis. Aims This study aimed to assess in the Lebanese population the prevalence of self-reported stroke symptoms in a stroke-and transient ischemic attack-free population, and the association of these symptoms with major risk factors for stroke. Methods We carried out a cross-sectional study using a multistage cluster sample across Lebanon. We interviewed residents aged 40 years and more. Stroke symptoms were assessed using the Questionnaire for Verifying Stroke-Free Status. Results We included 1515 individuals (mean age was 57.2 ± 12.4 years, 783 women, 51.7%). Among 1460 participants stroke- and transient ischemic attack-free, 175 had experienced at least one stroke symptom (12.1%, 95% CI 9.9%-14.3%). Arterial hypertension (adjOR 4.37, 95% CI 2.68-7.12), history of heart disease (adjOR 3.34, 95% CI 2.00-5.56), current waterpipe smoking (adjOR 3.88, 95% CI 2.33-6.48), current and former cigarette smoking (adjOR 1.84, 95% CI 1.18-2.87 and adjOR 2.01, 95% CI 1.13-3.5, respectively), psychological distress (adjOR 1.04, 95% CI 1.02-1.05), the Mediterranean diet score (adjOR 0.87, 95% CI 0.76-0.99), and regular physical activity (adjOR 0.45, 95% CI 0.26-0.77) were independently associated with stroke symptoms. Conclusions This is the first study conducted in the Middle East, assessing self-reported stroke symptoms among stroke-free residents. Our study showed that almost one in eight residents without a history of stroke or transient ischemic attack has had stroke symptoms. Major vascular risk factors are associated with these symptoms, thus allowing for prevention strategies.
New guarantees for Blind Compressed Sensing

Blind Compressed Sensing (BCS) is an extension of Compressed Sensing (CS) where the optimal sparsifying dictionary is assumed to be unknown and subject to estimation (in addition to the CS sparse coefficients). Since the emergence of BCS, dictionary learning, a.k. a. sparse coding, has been studied as a matrix factorization problem where its sample complexity, uniqueness and identifiability have been addressed thoroughly. However, in spite of the strong connections between BCS and sparse coding, recent results from the sparse coding problem area have not been exploited within the context of BCS. In particular, prior BCS efforts have focused on learning constrained and complete dictionaries that limit the scope and utility of these efforts. In this paper, we develop new theoretical bounds for perfect recovery for the general unconstrained BCS problem. These unconstrained BCS bounds cover the case of overcomplete dictionaries, and hence, they go well beyond the existing BCS theory. Our perfect recovery results integrate the combinatorial theories of sparse coding with some of the recent results from low-rank matrix recovery. In particular, we propose an efficient CS measurement scheme that results in practical recovery bounds for BCS. Moreover, we discuss the performance of BCS under polynomial-time sparse coding algorithms.