Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Deep Vein Thrombosis among Intensive Care Unit Patients; an Epidemiologic Study

Introduction: Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in intensive care unit (ICU) patients despite use of prophylactic anticoagulant therapy. The aim of the present study was to determine the incidence of DVT among medical and surgical ICU patients. Methods: In this cross sectional study, patients older than 18 years who were hospitalized in the ICU of Imam Hossein educational Hospital, Tehran, Iran, for ≥ 2 days, during August 2008 to July 2011 were evaluated regarding DVT incidence. Demographic data, comorbidities, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) II scores, ICU length of stay, type of DVT prophylaxis, and patient outcomes were analyzed using SPSS 19. Results: Out of the 1387 reviewed patient files, 500 (36.04%) patients had been classified as potential DVT cases. DVT occurred in 3.5% of them with the mean age of 60 ± 18 years (62.5% male) and mortality rate of 27.1%. Significant independent risk factors of DVT incidence were age (p = 0.02) and length of ICU stay (p = 0.01). Conclusion: The results of this study showed the 3.5% incidence of DVT in ICU admitted patients. Longer ICU stay and older age were independent risk factors of DVT development.
Semi-supervised maximum mutual information training of deep neural network acoustic models

Maximum Mutual Information (MMI) is a popular discriminative criterion that has been used in supervised training of acoustic models for automatic speech recognition. However, standard discriminative training is very sensitive to the accuracy of the transcription and hence its implementation in a semisupervised setting requires extensive filtering of data. We will show that if the supervision transcripts are not known, the natural analogue of MMI is to minimize the conditional entropy of the lattice of possible transcripts of the data. This is equivalent to the weighted average of MMI criterion over different reference transcripts, taking those reference transcripts and their weighting from the lattice itself. In this paper we describe experiments where we applied this method to the semi-supervised training of Deep Neural Network acoustic models. In our experimental setup, the proposed method gives up to 0.5% absolute WER improvement over a DNN trained with sMBR only on the transcribed part of the data. This is 37% of the improvement that we would get from doing sMBR training if we had the transcripts for the untranscribed part of the data.
The African ethic of Ubuntu/Botho: implications for research on morality

In this article we provide a theoretical reconstruction of sub‐Saharan ethics that we argue is a strong competitor to typical Western approaches to morality. According to our African moral theory, actions are right roughly insofar as they are a matter of living harmoniously with others or honouring communal relationships. After spelling out this ethic, we apply it to several issues in both normative and empirical research into morality. With regard to normative research, we compare and contrast this African moral theory with utilitarianism and Kantianism in the context of several practical issues. With regard to empirical research, we compare and contrast our sub‐Saharan ethic with several of Lawrence Kohlberg’s views on the nature of morality. Our aim is to highlight respects in which the African approach provides a unitary foundation for a variety of normative and empirical conclusions that are serious alternatives to dominant Western views.
Crime and amnesia: A review

The present article reviews amnesia for criminal offenses. It discusses the organic disorders most likely to be implicated, and the nature and differentiation of psychogenic amnesia. With the exception of alcohol and drug intoxication, organic dysfunction is a rare (though important) cause of amnesia for crime. Likewise, fugue states may occasionally be triggered by an offence, but are a very rare cause of the amnesia claimed by offenders. Amnesia is most commonly seen in homicide cases, in which it is claimed by 25% to 45% of offenders, but it occurs also in other types of violent crime, and occasionally in nonviolent crime. It arises in states of extreme emotional arousal, in alcoholic intoxication, and in states of florid psychosis; and it is also associated with depressed mood. Various methods have been advocated for the differentiation of genuine amnesia from deliberate simulation: this distinction can be difficult, but it is noticeable that many amnesic subjects either have reported the crime themselves or have made no attempt to conceal it. The nature of the deficit in this type of amnesia, and its implications for assessment, are also discussed.
The embodied dynamics of perceptual causality: a slippery slope?

In Michotte's launching displays, while the launcher (object A) seems to move autonomously, the target (object B) seems to be displaced passively. However, the impression of A actively launching B does not persist beyond a certain distance identified as the “radius of action” of A over B. If the target keeps moving beyond the radius of action, it loses its passivity and seems to move autonomously. Here, we manipulated implied friction by drawing (or not) a surface upon which A and B are traveling, and by varying the inclination of this surface in screen- and earth-centered reference frames. Among 72 participants (n = 52 in Experiment 1; n = 20 in Experiment 2), we show that both physical embodiment of the event (looking straight ahead at a screen displaying the event on a vertical plane vs. looking downwards at the event displayed on a horizontal plane) and contextual information (objects moving along a depicted surface or in isolation) affect interpretation of the event and modulate the radius of action of the launcher. Using classical mechanics equations, we show that representational consistency of friction from radius of action responses emphasizes the embodied nature of frictional force in our cognitive architecture.
The Business of Leisure, the Leisure of Business: Rethinking Hegemonic Masculinity through Gendered Service in Tokyo Hostess Clubs

Abstract The representation of salarymen as hegemonic masculinity still dominates discourse about masculinity and power in Japan despite 20 years of recession and neoliberal economic reforms. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in hostess clubs, where salarymen seemingly perpetuate hegemonic models of masculinity vis-à-vis female hostesses, this article reexamines the gender dynamics of these clubs. Hostess clubs are often thought of as places where women are objectified and rendered subservient to men. Instead, my research reveals a more subtle dance of power relations taking place; men are investing the most emotional work whereas women are more often concerned with intra-gender tensions and power relations among themselves. I describe how complex intra-gender exchanges deflect and mitigate inter-gender exchanges by disrupting the simple ideological link between gender and power operating in this space.
Developing trust with peers and leaders: Impacts on organizational identification and performance during entry

This study extends existing research about how peers and leaders influence newcomers' adjustment to an organization or profession by examining how specific trust perceptions evolve over time. We test a model of how affect-based trust in a leader and work unit peers develops from a basis of cognition-based trust and later influences organizational identification and role-related performance. U.S. Army soldiers were examined at the beginning, middle, and end of an intensive, 14-week residential entry program of training and collective socialization. Cross-lagged structural equation analyses supported a causal relationship of individuals' cognition-based trust with affect-based trust directed toward their unit peers and, separately, their leaders. Individuals with high levels of chronic relational identity exhibited a stronger time-lagged relationship between cognition-based trust and affect-based trust for trust in peers but not for trust in a leader. Affect-based trust in the leader had lagged influences on organizational identification and role-related performance at time 3. Affect-based trust in peers was related over time to organizational identification but not to role-related performance. We discuss the implications of these findings for understanding the separate influences of social exchange and social identity processes on newcomer adjustment, with distinct roles played by peers and leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Effect of resumption of second line drugs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis that flared up after treatment discontinuation

OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of resumption of second line drugs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) that flared after treatment discontinuation. METHODS RA patients were studied whose RA flared up after discontinuation of second line treatment while being in remission and who received a second course of the drug. Disease activity parameters were prospectively assessed at the time of treatment discontinuation, during the period when the disease flared up, and three months thereafter. Furthermore the medical charts were reviewed at 12 months after treatment resumption. RESULTS There were 51 patients included in the study: 25 patients treated with antimalarial drugs, 10 with parenteral gold, four with d-penicillamine, eight with sulphasalazine, two with azathioprine, and two with methotrexate. Disease activity parameters showed significant improvement within three months of treatment resumption, but remained significantly worse when compared with that measured before treatment discontinuation. Within three months 47% of the patients fulfilled 20% response criteria. Disease activity 12 months after treatment resumption was considered to be absent in 35%, mild in 43%, and moderate or active in 22% of the patients. In four (8%) patients the resumed treatment was stopped because of lack of efficacy. Side effects were recorded in four patients, which did not result in treatment discontinuation. CONCLUSIONS Resumption of second line drugs in RA patients whose disease flared up after discontinuation of treatment is effective and safe in most patients. Half of the patients responded within three months after resumption of the second line drug.
MDS Codes with Progressive Engagement Property for Cloud Storage Systems

Author(s): Hajiaghayi, Mahdi; Jafarkhani, Hamid | Abstract: Fast and efficient failure recovery is a new challenge for cloud storage systems with a large number of storage nodes. A pivotal recovery metric upon the failure of a storage node is repair bandwidth cost which refers to the amount of data that must be downloaded for regenerating the lost data. Since all the surviving nodes are not always accessible, we intend to introduce a class of maximum distance separable (MDS) codes that can be re-used when the number of selected nodes varies yet yields close to optimal repair bandwidth. Such codes provide flexibility in engaging more surviving nodes in favor of reducing the repair bandwidth without redesigning the code structure and changing the content of the existing nodes. We call this property of MDS codes progressive engagement. This name comes from the fact that if a failure occurs, it is shown that the best strategy is to incrementally engage the surviving nodes according to their accessing cost (delay, number of hops, traffic load or availability in general) until the repair-bandwidth or accessing cost constraints are met. We argue that the existing MDS codes fail to satisfy the progressive engagement property. We subsequently present a search algorithm to find a new set of codes named rotation codes that has both progressive engagement and MDS properties. Furthermore, we illustrate how the existing permutation codes can provide progressive engagement by modifying the original recovery scheme. Simulation results are presented to compare the repair bandwidth performance of such codes when the number of participating nodes varies as well as their speed of single failure recovery.
Patterns of Selection of Human Movements I: Movement Utility, Metabolic Energy, and Normal Walking Gaits

The biomechanics of the human body allow humans a range of possible ways of executing movements to attain specific goals. Nevertheless, humans exhibit significant patterns in how they execute movements. We propose that the observed patterns of human movement arise because subjects select those ways to execute movements that are, in a rigorous sense, optimal. In this project, we show how this proposition can guide the development of computational models of movement selection and thereby account for human movement patterns. We proceed by first developing a movement utility formalism that operationalizes the concept of a best or optimal way of executing a movement using a utility function so that the problem of movement selection becomes the problem of finding the movement that maximizes the utility function. Since the movement utility formalism includes a contribution of the metabolic energy of the movement (maximum utility movements try to minimize metabolic energy), we also develop a metabolic energy formalism that we can use to construct estimators of the metabolic energies of particular movements. We then show how we can construct an estimator for the metabolic energies of normal walking gaits and we use that estimator to construct a movement utility model of the selection of normal walking gaits and show that the relationship between avg. walking speed and avg. step length predicted by this model agrees with observation. We conclude by proposing a physical mechanism that a subject might use to estimate the metabolic energy of a movement in practice.
Developing and Validating the Scale of Economic Self-Efficacy

Experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) and financial hardship are often intertwined. The dynamics of an abusive relationship may include economic abuse tactics that compromise a survivor’s ability to work, pursue education, have access to financial resources, and establish financial skills, knowledge, and security. An increasingly common goal among programs serving IPV survivors is increasing financial empowerment through financial literacy. However, providing financial education alone may not be enough to improve financial behaviors. Psychological factors also play a role when individuals make financial choices. Economic self-efficacy focuses on the individual’s perceived ability to perform economic or financial tasks, and may be considered a primary influence on one’s ability to improve financial decisions and behaviors. The current study tests the reliability and validity of a Scale of Economic Self-Efficacy with a sample of female survivors of IPV. This study uses a calibration and validation analysis model including full and split-sample exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, assesses for internal consistency, and examines correlation coefficients between economic self-efficacy, economic self-sufficiency, financial strain, and difficulty living with income. Findings indicate that the 10-item, unidimensional Scale of Economic Self-Efficacy demonstrates strong reliability and validity among this sample of IPV survivors. An ability to understand economic self-efficacy could facilitate individualized service approaches and allow practitioners to better support IPV survivors on their journey toward financial empowerment. Given the increase in programs focused on assets, financial empowerment, and economic well-being, the Scale of Economic Self-Efficacy has potential as a very timely and relevant tool in the design, implementation, and evaluation of such programs, and specifically for programs created for IPV survivors.
The Language Situation in Luxembourg1

This monograph describes the overall language situation in Luxembourg, a highly multilingual country in Western Europe, from a language policy and planning perspective. The first part discusses the social and historical contexts, including major societal changes and uncertainties about the future, which are bound up with Europeanisation and the accelerated processes of globalisation. It also deconstructs the notions of Luxembourgish as a ‘minority language’ and French as the ‘language of prestige’, and describes a two-pronged language ideology that allows for either monolingual identification with Luxembourgish or trilingual identification with the languages recognised by the language law of 1984 (Luxembourgish/ German/ French). The second part discusses the trilingual school-system, a system in which large numbers of romanophone students are forced to go through a German-language literacy programme. The third part provides an overview of language spread in the areas of the media and literary writing. The fourth part examines language purism and tensions concerning the standardisation of Luxembourgish, as well as the debates about language requirements for citizenship. The discussion shows how language policy scholarship needs to be approached from a multidimensional perspective, that is, by taking into account dynamics on the global, regional and local levels in addition to those at the state level.
Super-Resolution in Respiratory Synchronized Positron Emission Tomography

Respiratory motion is a major source of reduced quality in positron emission tomography (PET). In order to minimize its effects, the use of respiratory synchronized acquisitions, leading to gated frames, has been suggested. Such frames, however, are of low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) as they contain reduced statistics. Super-resolution (SR) techniques make use of the motion in a sequence of images in order to improve their quality. They aim at enhancing a low-resolution image belonging to a sequence of images representing different views of the same scene. In this work, a maximum a posteriori (MAP) super-resolution algorithm has been implemented and applied to respiratory gated PET images for motion compensation. An edge preserving Huber regularization term was used to ensure convergence. Motion fields were recovered using a B-spline based elastic registration algorithm. The performance of the SR algorithm was evaluated through the use of both simulated and clinical datasets by assessing image SNR, as well as the contrast, position and extent of the different lesions. Results were compared to summing the registered synchronized frames on both simulated and clinical datasets. The super-resolution image had higher SNR (by a factor of over 4 on average) and lesion contrast (by a factor of 2) than the single respiratory synchronized frame using the same reconstruction matrix size. In comparison to the motion corrected or the motion free images a similar SNR was obtained, while improvements of up to 20% in the recovered lesion size and contrast were measured. Finally, the recovered lesion locations on the SR images were systematically closer to the true simulated lesion positions. These observations concerning the SNR, lesion contrast and size were confirmed on two clinical datasets included in the study. In conclusion, the use of SR techniques applied to respiratory motion synchronized images lead to motion compensation combined with improved image SNR and contrast, without any increase in the overall acquisition times.
Designing interruptive behaviors of a public environmental monitoring robot

This paper reports ongoing research to inform the design of a social robot to monitor levels of pollutant gasses in the air. Next to licensed environmental agents and immobile chemical sensors, mobile technologies such as robotic agents are needed to collect complaints and smell descriptions from humans in urban industrial areas. These robots will interact with members of the public and ensure responsiveness and accuracy of responses. For robots to be accepted as representative environmental monitoring agents and for people to comply with robot instructions in the case of a calamity, social skills will be important. In this paper we will describe the intelligent environment the environmental robot is part of and discuss preliminary work to understand in what way robot interruptions can be mitigated with help of social robot behaviors.
A novel class of microbial phosphocholine‐specific phospholipases C

In this report we describe the 1500‐fold purification and characterization of the haemolytic phospholipase C (PLC) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the paradigm member of a novel PLC/phosphatase superfamily. Members include proteins from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Bordetella spp. , Francisella tularensis and Burkholderia pseudomallei. Purification involved overexpression of the plcHR1,2 operon, ion exchange chromatography and native preparative polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Matrix‐assisted laser desorption ionization time‐of‐flight (MALDI‐TOF) mass spectrometry confirmed the presence of two proteins in the purified sample with sizes of 17 117.2 Da (PlcR2) and 78 417 Da (PlcH). Additionally, liquid chromatography electrospray mass spectrometry (LCMS) revealed that PlcH and PlcR2 are at a stoichiometry of 1 : 1. Western blot analysis demonstrated that the enzyme purifies as a heterodimeric complex, PlcHR2. PlcHR2 is only active on choline‐containing phospholipids. It is equally active on phosphatidylcholine (PC) and sphingomyelin (SM) and is able to hydrolyse plasmenylcholine phospholipids (plasmalogens). Neither PlcHR2 nor the M. tuberculosis homologues are inhibited by D609 a widely used, competitive inhibitor of the Bacillus cereus PLC. PlcH, PlcR2, and the PlcHR2 complex bind calcium. While calcium has no detectable effect on enzymatic activity, it inhibits the haemolytic activity of PlcHR2. In addition to being required for the secretion of PlcH, the chaperone PlcR2 affects both the enzymatic and haemolytic properties of PlcH. Inclusive in these data is the con‐clusion that the members of this PC‐PLC and phosphatase family possess a novel mechanism for the recognition and hydrolysis of their respective substrates.
The blur effect: perception and estimation with a new no-reference perceptual blur metric

To achieve the best image quality, noise and artifacts are generally removed at the cost of a loss of details generating the blur effect. To control and quantify the emergence of the blur effect, blur metrics have already been proposed in the literature. By associating the blur effect with the edge spreading, these metrics are sensitive not only to the threshold choice to classify the edge, but also to the presence of noise which can mislead the edge detection. Based on the observation that we have difficulties to perceive differences between a blurred image and the same reblurred image, we propose a new approach which is not based on transient characteristics but on the discrimination between different levels of blur perceptible on the same picture. Using subjective tests and psychophysics functions, we validate our blur perception theory for a set of pictures which are naturally unsharp or more or less blurred through one or two-dimensional low-pass filters. Those tests show the robustness and the ability of the metric to evaluate not only the blur introduced by a restoration processing but also focal blur or motion blur. Requiring no reference and a low cost implementation, this new perceptual blur metric is applicable in a large domain from a simple metric to a means to fine-tune artifacts corrections.