Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comprehensive Decision Tree Models in Bioinformatics

Purpose Classification is an important and widely used machine learning technique in bioinformatics. Researchers and other end-users of machine learning software often prefer to work with comprehensible models where knowledge extraction and explanation of reasoning behind the classification model are possible. Methods This paper presents an extension to an existing machine learning environment and a study on visual tuning of decision tree classifiers. The motivation for this research comes from the need to build effective and easily interpretable decision tree models by so called one-button data mining approach where no parameter tuning is needed. To avoid bias in classification, no classification performance measure is used during the tuning of the model that is constrained exclusively by the dimensions of the produced decision tree. Results The proposed visual tuning of decision trees was evaluated on 40 datasets containing classical machine learning problems and 31 datasets from the field of bioinformatics. Although we did not expected significant differences in classification performance, the results demonstrate a significant increase of accuracy in less complex visually tuned decision trees. In contrast to classical machine learning benchmarking datasets, we observe higher accuracy gains in bioinformatics datasets. Additionally, a user study was carried out to confirm the assumption that the tree tuning times are significantly lower for the proposed method in comparison to manual tuning of the decision tree. Conclusions The empirical results demonstrate that by building simple models constrained by predefined visual boundaries, one not only achieves good comprehensibility, but also very good classification performance that does not differ from usually more complex models built using default settings of the classical decision tree algorithm. In addition, our study demonstrates the suitability of visually tuned decision trees for datasets with binary class attributes and a high number of possibly redundant attributes that are very common in bioinformatics.
Herbicide-Resistant Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri S. Wats.) in the United States — Mechanisms of Resistance, Impact, and Management

Palmer amaranth, a dioecious summer annual species, is one of the most trouble‐ some weeds in the agronomic crop production systems in the United States. In the last two decades, continuous reliance on herbicide(s) with the same mode of action as the sole weed management strategy has resulted in the evolution of herbicide-resistant (HR) weeds, including Palmer amaranth. By 2015, Palmer amaranth bio‐ types had been confirmed resistant to acetolactate synthase (ALS)-inhibitors, dinitroanilines, glyphosate, hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD)-inhibi‐ tors, and triazine herbicides in some parts of the United States along with multiple HR biotypes. Mechanisms of herbicide-resistance in Palmer amaranth are discussed in this chapter. Preplant herbicide options including glufosinate, 2,4-D, and dicam‐ ba provide excellent Palmer amaranth control; however, their application is limited before planting crops, which is often not possible due to unfavorable weather con‐ ditions. Agricultural biotechnology companies are developing new multiple HR crops that will allow the post-emergence application of respective herbicides for management of HR weeds, including Palmer amaranth. For the effective in-crop management of Palmer amaranth, and to reduce the potential for the evolution of other HR weeds, growers should apply herbicides with different modes of action in tank-mixture and should also incorporate cultural practices including inversion till‐ age and cover crops along with herbicide programs.
The Role of Invasive Therapies in Elderly Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction

INTRODUCTION: In elderly patients with acute myocardial infarction, very little is known about the role of surgical myocardial revascularization and percutaneous coronary intervention (invasive therapies - IT), especially in the context of long-term outcomes after hospital discharge. METHODS: We analyzed 1588 patients with MI who had been included prospectively in a databank and followed for up to 7.5 years. In this population, 548 patients were ≥70 years old (elderly group - EG), and 1040 were <70 years of age (younger group - YG); 1088 underwent IT during hospitalization, and the remaining 500 were treated medically (conservative therapy - CT). Patients were monitored either by visit or by phone at least once a year. A standard questionnaire was administered to all patients. The impact of IT was analyzed with both non-adjusted and adjusted models. RESULTS: By the end of the follow-up period, the survival rates for the IT and CT groups were, respectively, 71.9% versus 47.2% in the global population (hazard ratio=0.55, P<0.001), 81.5% versus 66.6% in the YG (hazard ratio=0.68, P=0.018) and 48.8% versus 20.3% in the EG (hazard ratio=0.58, P<0.001). In the adjusted models, the hazard ratios were 0.62 (P<0.001) in the global population, 0.74 in the YG (P=0.073) and 0.64 (P=0.001) in the EG. CONCLUSION: Long-term follow-up of patients with myocardial infarction revealed that IT during the in-hospital phase was at least as effective in elderly patients as in younger patients.
Push-out bond strength of quartz fibre posts to root canal dentin using total-etch and self-adhesive resin cements

Objectives: Several adhesive systems are available for cementation of fibre posts into the root canal. The aim of the present study was to investigate the push-out bond strengths of quartz fibre posts to root dentin with the use of different total-etch and self-adhesive resin cements. Study Design: Ninety single-rooted human premolars were endodontically treated and standardized post-spaces were prepared. Fibre posts were cemented with different luting agents: total-etch (Nexus NX3, Duo-Link, and RelyX ARC) and self-adhesive resin cements (Maxcem Elite, BisCem, and RelyX Unicem). Three post/dentin sections (coronal, middle and apical) were obtained from each specimen, and push-out bond strength test was performed in each section at a cross-head speed of 0.5 mm/min. Data was analyzed with two-factor and one-way analysis of variance and a post-hoc Tukey test at a significance level of p < 0.05. Results: Cement type, canal region, and their interaction significantly influenced bond strength. Significantly higher bond strength values were observed in the apical region of self-adhesive cements. Only Duo-Link and RelyX ARC cements resulted in homogeneous bond strengths. Conclusions: Cementation of quartz fibre posts using self-adhesive cements provided higher push-out bond strengths especially in the apical region, while total-etch cements resulted in more uniform bond strengths in different regions of the root canal. Key words: Push-out bond strength; quartz fibre post; total-etch resin cement; self-adhesive resin cement.
The role of cooperative societies in rural finance: Evidence from Ogun State, Nigeria

This paper examines how loans made by co-operative societies in rural areas meet the financial needs of their members and, by extension, the role of the co-operative lending in rural finance. The study makes use of primary data from nine focus group discussions comprising seventy two members selected randomly from twelve co-operatives in six local government areas. Data was analysed using tables of numbers and percentages, content analysis and quotations from participants. The study found that the financial needs of the members were met through loan granting at reduced interest rates without the pledging of fixed and financial assets as collateral. The low interest rate on loans reduces the likelihood of members patronising money lenders and of possible loan defaults. The personal guarantor arrangement greatly enhanced the inter-personal relationship among members enabling them to provide support to members in trouble and reducing their individual poverty level. However, there may be need for emergency loans that can be repaid over a longer period of time to ease the financial burden of the members and enhance social and financial capital.
Bird communities and vegetation on Swedish wet meadows

Wet meadows in Sweden currently depend on management by grazing to maintain habitats for various breeding and migrating birds. However, due to ceased cattle farming management by mowing could be an option for restoration and conservation of wet meadows. The general aim of this thesis is to analyse effects of different management regimes (mowing and grazing), landscape composition and flooding on inland wet meadow bird fauna and flora. Five wet meadow areas in southern Sweden were used for a four-year survey of breeding birds and environmental variables. Habitat openness was the most important factor for bird community composition. Species preferring open meadows decreased strongly in abundance at small amounts of forest, suggesting that clearing of woodlands could be important. The bird community was also strongly related to the amount of flooding. Effects of management were weaker, but several species showed positive associations with swards of intermediate height (5-30 cm), which are correlated to mowing with late season grazing. In addition, measures for restoring water table variation also need to be considered. Conservation of species dependent on continuous management (yearly grazing, mowing and late season grazing) and short swards should be targeted to large open meadows. Corncrakes preferred unmanaged meadows with tall vegetation, suggesting that mowing at intervals of a few years could be appropriate. Yellow Wagtails are likely to have higher breeding success in mowed than in grazed sites due to lack of nest destruction by livestock. The main gradients affecting distribution of vascular plants correlated to soil fertility and moist. Bird species associated with weak or no management correlated positively to nutrient levels, soil reaction, sward height and litter depth. In contrast, the assembly of bird species associated with continuous management, showed fewer associations to the sward variables, although their abundance was positively associated with abundance of forbs. Different mowing regimes may be a useful tool for management of meadow sward heterogeneity.
A novel sexual adaptive genetic algorithm based on two-step evolutionary scenario of baldwin effect and analysis of global convergence

This work presents a novel sexual adaptive genetic algorithm (NSAGA) based on two-step evolutionary scenario of Baldwin effect to overcome the shortcomings of traditional genetic algorithms, such as premature convergence, stochastic roaming, and poor capabilities in local exploring. NSAGA simulates sexual reproduction in nature and utilizes an effective gender determination method to divide the evolutionary population into two different gender subgroups. Based on the competition, cooperation, and innate differences between two gender subgroups, NSAGA adaptively adjusts the sexual genetic operators. To guide the individuals' evolution, NSAGA adopts a two-step evolutionary scenario: NSAGA guides individuals in niche to forward or reverse evolutionary learning inspired by the acquired reinforcement learning theory based on Baldwin effect, and enables the transmission of fitness information between parents and offspring to supervise the offspring's evolution. Then, the global convergence analysis of NSAGA is presented in detail. It is theoretically proved that NSAGA can converge to the global optimum and the epsilon-optimal solution with probability one. Moreover, numerical simulations are conducted for a set of benchmark test functions, and the performance of NSAGA is compared with that of some evolutionary algorithms published recently. Experiments results show that the proposed algorithm is effective and advantageous.
Rationing by Waiting Lists: An Implication

In a recent article, Cotton Lindsay and Bernard Feigenbaum (1984) present and test a model of rationing by waiting lists. Its novel feature is the recognition that being on some types of waiting list involves no opportunity cost and that consumers' surplus cannot be dissipated by waiters undertaking costly activities that will help secure the good or service in question. In this sense, time does not act as a price although it imposes costs. Although Lindsay's earlier version (1980) of this model has already been misinterpreted by some commentators,1 its heart is a waiting list that is equilibrated by attacking the assumption that the demand curve remains unchanged throughout the wait. Waiting time matters because the value of the good or service decays the longer it is delivered after order day. While not wishing to take issue with this insight, there are a number of points that need to be borne in mind when assessing the significance of the model, especially in relation to the authors' application to Britain's National Health Service (NHS).
Explaining the Loss of Community: Competing Logics and Institutional Change in the us Banking Industry

This chapter examines the transition in the US banking industry from a community to a national logic, developing a general model to explain how and when shifts in institutional logics occur. Based on qualitative historical evidence and discrete-time event history analysis predicting the introduction of legislation favoring the national logic, this chapter proposes that dramatic exogenous events such as the Great Depression or more gradual processes such as modernization favored the industry's transition to the national logic, but that such exogenous events had a greater influence in areas where strategic actors could capitalize on them. The qualitative evidence presented here suggests that struggles involving organizational identity and “legitimacy politics” played an important role in the shift in logics. Our theorizing focuses on how, when the environment changes in an incremental fashion, actors are primed with new possibilities, which may shift their collective identities, but when environmental changes are discontinuous, they provide actors strategic opportunities to alter the balance of logics in the environment.
Simulation Based Analysis of Queueing Property for Continuous Self-Similar Traffic

The research for self-similar traffic is classified into four categories; measurement-based traffic modeling, physical modeling, queueing analysis and traffic control. These works for queueing analysis are important in the establishment of basic performance boundaries by investigating queueing behavior with long-range dependent input. The purpose of this research is to explore queueing properties for self-similar traffic using the network simulator with different conditions, and clarify the causes of different features focusing on the bottleneck link. We generated two typical traffics with Pareto distribution on ns-2 simulator and observed queue size, then following properties were extracted. When the On/Off traffic transmissions obeys the Pareto distribution, self-similar traffic consumes more queue resources than short-range dependent traffic. On the other hand, when the transmitted file size obeys the Pareto distribution, self-similar traffic consumes less queue resources than short-range dependent traffic.
Disc outflows and the accretion rate gap

We argue that the observed ‘accretion rate gap’– between black holes in radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) accreting at close to the Eddington limit and those accreting at considerably lower rates – can be explained in terms of the adiabatic inflow–outflow scenario (ADIOS) for radiatively inefficient accretion. Whenever the accretion rate falls below a threshold value (corresponding to a luminosity Lcrit) that depends on the viscosity parameter, α, the inner region of the accretion disc – extending from the marginally stable orbit to ∼1000 Schwarzschild radii – is susceptible to becoming hot and radiatively inefficient. If this happens, the disc luminosity decreases by a factor of ∼100, as most of the matter originally destined to be swallowed is instead expelled in a wind. According to our conjecture, accretion flows on to black holes never radiate steadily in the range ∼0.01 Lcrit < L < Lcrit, hence the inferred accretion rate gap. We expect the gap to exist also for black holes in X-ray binaries, where it may be responsible for state transitions and the luminosity fluctuations associated with X-ray nova outbursts.
Blastomyces dermatitidis Antigen Detection by Quantitative Enzyme Immunoassay

ABSTRACT The second-generation MVista Blastomyces antigen enzyme immunoassay was not quantitative; therefore, specimens obtained previously were tested in the same assay as new specimens to assess the change in antigen levels. Furthermore, the sensitivity in serum had not been fully evaluated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a quantitative Blastomyces antigen assay and detection of antigen in serum. Calibrators containing known concentrations of Blastomyces galactomannan were used to quantify antigen in urine and serum from patients with proven blastomycosis and from controls. Paired current and previously obtained urine specimens were tested to determine if quantification eliminated the need for concurrent testing to assess change in antigen. Pretreatment of serum with EDTA at 104°C was evaluated to determine if dissociation of immune complexes improved detection of antigenemia. Antigenuria was detected in 89.9% of patients with culture- or histopathology-proven blastomycosis. Specificity was 99.0% in patients with nonfungal infections and healthy subjects, but cross-reactions occurred in 95.6% of patients with histoplasmosis. Change in antigen level categorized as increase, no change, or decrease based on antigen units determined in the same assay agreed closely with the category of change in ng/ml determined from different assays. Pretreatment increased the sensitivity of detection of antigenemia from 35.7% to 57.1%. Quantification eliminated the need for concurrent testing of current and previously obtained specimens for assessment of changes in antigen concentration. Pretreatment increased the sensitivity for detection of antigenemia. Differentiation of histoplasmosis and blastomycosis is not possible by antigen detection.
Earthquake related tsunami hazard along the western coast of Thailand

Abstract. The primary background for the present study was a project to assist the authorities in Thailand with development of plans for how to deal with the future tsunami risk in both short and long term perspectives, in the wake of the devastating 26 December 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and tsunami. The study is focussed on defining and analyzing a number of possible future earthquake scenarios (magnitudes 8.5, 8.0 and 7.5) with associated return periods, each one accompanied by specific tsunami modelling. Along the most affected part of the western coast of Thailand, the 2004 tsunami wave caused a maximum water level ranging from 5 to 15 m above mean sea level. These levels and their spatial distributions have been confirmed by detailed numerical simulations. The applied earthquake source is developed based on available seismological and geodetic inversions, and the simulation using the source as initial condition agree well with sea level records and run-up observations. A conclusion from the study is that another megathrust earthquake generating a tsunami affecting the coastline of western Thailand is not likely to occur again for several hundred years. This is in part based on the assumption that the Southern Andaman Microplate Boundary near the Simeulue Islands constitutes a geologic barrier that will prohibit significant rupture across it, and in part on the decreasing subduction rates north of the Banda Ache region. It is also concluded that the largest credible earthquake to be prepared for along the part of the Sunda-Andaman arc that could affect Thailand, is within the next 50–100 years an earthquake of magnitude 8.5, which is expected to occur with more spatial and temporal irregularity than the megathrust events. Numerical simulations have shown such earthquakes to cause tsunamis with maximum water levels up to 1.5–2.0 m along the western coast of Thailand, possibly 2.5–3.0 m on a high tide. However, in a longer time perspective (say more than 50–100 years) the potentials for earthquakes of similar magnitude and consequences as the 2004 event will become gradually larger and eventually posing an unacceptable societal risk. These conclusions apply only to Thailand, since the effects of an M 8.5 earthquake in the same region could be worse for north-western Sumatra, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, maybe even for Sri Lanka and parts of the Indian coastline. Moreover, further south along the Sunda arc the potentials for large ruptures are now much higher than for the region that ruptured on 26 December 2004.
‘Some People It's Very Difficult to Trust’: Attributions of Agency and Accountability in Practitioners' Talk About Integration

The concept of 'integration' plays an important role in policy and practice regarding the settlement of migrants, yet the term is used in a variety of ways. This article examines how practitioners who support the integration of refugees in Scotland construct 'integration' at the community level to justify or challenge particular policies and sets of social relations. Analysis shows that integration can be worked up in contexts involving (i) descriptions of 'us' and 'them' in relation to a single community, (ii) social inclusion of those in multiple communities, or (iii) group level intercultural contact. Each version of integration is bound up with different attributions of agency for advancing integration and attributions of blame for current problems. Instead of relying upon a concept that is so open to multiple uses, local organizations might usefully specify outcomes in terms of social actors and interactions. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Potentially inappropriate prescribing in older residents in Irish nursing homes.

BACKGROUND STOPP/START was formulated to identify potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP) and potential prescribing omissions (PPOs) in older people. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of PIP and PPO in older Irish patients in residential care using STOPP/START. METHODS data were collected prospectively from seven publicly funded nursing homes within the Munster Region of Ireland over 3 weeks. Data recorded included: current medication, current medical conditions, previous medical conditions, biochemistry, sex and age. STOPP/START was applied to each patient record. RESULTS of the 313 patients recruited, 74.4% (233) were female, mean age (± SD) 84.4 (± 7.5) years. The total number of medicines prescribed was 2,555 [range: 1-16; median: 8 (IQR 6-10 )]. STOPP identified 329 instances of PIP in 187 (59.8%) patients and START identified 199 PPOs in 132 (42.2%) patients. The number of medicines prescribed was positively associated with PIP identified by STOPP (rs = 0.303, P < 0.01). Age, sex and the number of medicines prescribed were not associated with prescribing omissions using START. CONCLUSIONS a high proportion of patients recruited were prescribed at least one potentially inappropriate medicine, or had an omission of a clinically indicated medicine. Incorporating these tools into every-day practice could play a pivotal role in improving prescribing in this cohort.