Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Human migration: theory, models, and empirical studies.

A general review of studies on internal migration within the United States since 1970 is presented. The author first describes the changes that have occurred during the recent past in U.S. internal migration patterns. The state of knowledge concerning these changes is also assessed. A more abstract discussion of the determinants of migration, covering both the theoretical and empirical literature, is then presented. Next, the empirical findings associated with several new time-series migration data sets are reviewed, and the application of econometric methodologies to temporal models of migration is considered. The review concludes with a summary of recent research results and some pointers for future research.
MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses)

Journals and Blogs Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offer an online learning experience open to anyone who has access to the Internet. Courses are free for those not seeking credit or certification. According to Martin D. Snyder (Academe, Nov.Dec. 2012), “The goal was and is laudable: to offer free, world-class education to anyone and everyone with Internet access. ” These courses, often with massive, even worldwide, enrollments, are characterized by active learning, mainly peer-to-peer interactions, social communities, individualized learning, and new forms of assessment. Courses are proliferating. For an overview of what’s available, see three of the more popular MOOC platforms, each associated with top universities: Coursera https://www.coursera. org/ [1] Udacity https://www.udacity. com/ [2] Edx https://www.edx. org/ [3]
Identification of nuclear spliceosomal antigens targeted by NOD mouse antibodies following sodium iodide intake

The non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse spontaneously develops a range of autoreactive responses including an autoantibody response to nuclear antigens. As elevated dietary iodine has been shown to increase thyroid autoimmune pathology in NOD mice, the effect of sodium iodide (NaI) on the development of anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) was assessed. Interestingly, the NaI symporter is expressed in both thyroid and salivary glands. Elevated dietary iodine was found to increase the percentage of male NOD mice developing autoantibodies. Specifically, the nuclear autoantibodies that develop in NOD mice were shown to target specific spliceosomal components. The target specificity of the autoantibodies was determined using recombinant spliceosomal proteins and shown to include U1A, U170K, U2B″, U2A′, as well as the Sm proteins D1, D2, and B. The autoantibody isotypes most consistently represented were IgG2a and IgG2b.
Fish Habitat Attributes of Reference and Managed Watersheds with Special Reference to the Location of Bull Charr (Salvelinus confluentus) Spawning Sites in the Upper Spokane River Ecosystem, Northern Idaho

On the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, bull charr and westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki lewisi) are indicator species in the Forest Plan, listed as sensitive species by Region 1 of the USDA Forest Service and as species of special concern by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. To address the needs of these species, and especially the bull charr with the recent petition for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the Idaho Panhandle National Forests began habitat typing unentered and entered watersheds in the upper Spokane River ecosystem in 1991. A physical habitat typing protocol developed in Region 5 of the USDA Forest Service and modified for the waters of northern Idaho was used to monitor any changes in fish habitat which may have occurred due to land management prescription. Of the attributes described by the methodology, mean residual pool volume and residual pool depth from managed and reference watersheds have been emphasized in analysis because of the value of pools in the stream ecology of bull charr and westslope cutthroat trout for rearing and overwintering habitat. Changes in the quality (volume and depth) and frequency of pool habitat (as a percent of the total length of stream), as a result of channel destabilization has a negative influence on carrying capacity as demonstrated by distribution and abundance of the two species in the Coeur d’Alene and St. Joe rivers, and appears to influence the distribution of spawning bull charr. Fish habitat attribute data from stream reaches of unentered watersheds in the upper St. Joe basin provide a reasonable standard by which to judge deviations seen in stream reaches of basins of similar geology, channel type, elevation, and forest type where management activities have occurred. These data have been fundamental to facilitating the development of a strategy to maintain ecosystems capable of supporting viable assemblages of bull charr and other native fishes.
Prediction of Location of High Energy Shower Cores using Artificial Neural Networks

—Artiﬁcial Neural Network (ANN)s can be modeled for High Energy Particle analysis with special emphasis on shower core location. The work describes the use of an ANN based system which has been conﬁgured to predict locations of cores of showers in the range 10 10 . 5 to 10 20 . 5 eV. The system receives density values as inputs and generates coordinates of shower events recorded for values captured by 20 core positions and 80 detectors in an area of 100 meters. Twenty ANNs are trained for the purpose and the positions of shower events optimized by using cooperative ANN learning. The results derived with variations of input upto 50 % show success rates in the range of 90s.
ANALYSIS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF BIOLOGY PRACTICUM AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH STUDENT HIGHER ORDER THINKING SKILLS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

This study aims to find out whether the implementation of biology practicum has a relationship with higher-order thinking skills and learning outcomes of class XI IPA students of SMA Negeri 3 Tanjung Balai in the academic year 2021/2022. All students of class XI IPA, totaling 137 students, were used as research samples. The research instrumentswere consisted of a questionnaire (for practicum implementation), an essay test(for higher- order thinking skills), and a multiple choice test(for student learning outcomes). The data were analyzed in a quantitative descriptive manner by presenting the answers of the respondents regarding the research on implementing practices, higher order thinking skills, and student learning outcomes. The results of this study indicate that the implementation of biology practicum is included in the good category with a percentage of 77%. Students' high-order thinking skills in biology learning are included in the good category with a percentage of 78%, and student learning outcomes in biology learning are included in the good category with a percentage of 76%. This also meets the KKM standard (Minimum Completeness Criteria).
Seismic signal denoising using thresholded variational mode decomposition

Noise reduction is important for signal analysis. In this paper, we propose a hybrid denoising method based on thresholding and data-driven signal decomposition. The principle of this method is to reconstruct the signal with previously thresholded intrinsic mode functions (IMFs). Empirical mode decomposition (EMD) based methods decompose a signal into a sum of oscillatory components, while variational mode decomposition (VMD) generates an ensemble of modes with their respective centre frequencies, which enables VMD to further decrease redundant modes and keep less residual noise in the modes. To illustrate its superiority, we compare VMD with EMD as well as its derivations, such as ensemble EMD (EEMD), complete EEMD (CEEMD), improved CEEMD (ICEEMD) using synthetic signals and field seismic traces. Compared with EMD and its derivations, VMD has a solid mathematical foundation and is less sensitive to noise, while both make it more suitable for non-stationary seismic signal decomposition. The determination of mode number is key for successful denoising. We develop an empirical equation, which is based on the detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA), to adaptively determine the number of IMFs for signal reconstruction. Then, a scaling exponent obtained by DFA is used as a threshold to distinguish random noise and signal between IMFs and the reconstruction residual. The proposed thresholded VMD denoising method shows excellent performance on both synthetic and field data applications. In this paper, we propose an adaptive denoising method based on data-driven signal mode decomposition, where the noise is represented by the residual/last mode. The proposed approach adaptively extracts the noise component depending on the data statistics rather than defining a fixed priori threshold.
Frequency dependent site response inferred from microtremors accompanied by ambient noise

Estimation of spatial variation of site response is one of the prime objectives of microzonation studies. Several literatures outlined the paramount significance of site dependent factor which largely impact the extent of damage in certain pocket areas pertaining to local geology.1–7 Even the shaking of man–made structures also gets affected by the spatial variation of site effects. The site effects can be parameterized by factors like resonance frequency, amplification factor which have direct impact on semi–resonance or resonance of certain building types, and thereby causing distortions or failures of constructions. In order to compute site response, there are adoptions of various methodologies.8–11 HVSR or receiver function technique has been widely regarded as one of the most powerful methods available to seismologist for acquiring a reliable estimate of site response.
Outcome of an education and home-based exercise programme for patients with ankylosing spondylitis: a nationwide randomized study.

OBJECTIVES This study aims to assess the impact of a structured education and home exercise programme in daily practice patients with ankylosing spondylitis. METHODS A total of 756 patients with ankylosing spondylitis (72% males, mean age 45 years) participated in a 6-month prospective multicentre controlled study, 381 of whom were randomised to an education intervention (a 2-hour informative session about the disease and the implementation of a non-supervised physical activity programme at home) and 375 to standard care (controls). Main outcome measures included Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity and Functional Index (BASDAI, BASFI). Secondary outcome measures were 0-10 cm visual analog scale (VAS) for total pain, nocturnal pain and global disease activity and quality of life (ASQoL), knowledge of disease (self-evaluation ordinal scale) and daily exercise (diary card). RESULTS At 6 months, the adjusted mean difference between control and educational groups for BASDAI was 0.32, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.10-0.54, p=0.005, and for BASFI 0.31, 95%CI 0.12-0.51, p=0.002. Significant differences were found also in VAS for total pain, patient´s global assessment and in ASQoL. Patients in the education group increased their knowledge about the disease and its treatments significantly (p<0.001) and practised more regular exercise than controls (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS A structured education and home exercise programme for patients with ankylosing spondylitis in daily practice was feasible and helped to increase knowledge and exercise. Although statistically significant, the magnitudes of the clinical benefits in terms of disease activity and physical function were poor.
Microbial Population Changes during Bioremediation of an Experimental Oil Spill

ABSTRACT Three crude oil bioremediation techniques were applied in a randomized block field experiment simulating a coastal oil spill. Four treatments (no oil control, oil alone, oil plus nutrients, and oil plus nutrients plus an indigenous inoculum) were applied. In situ microbial community structures were monitored by phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis and 16S rDNA PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) to (i) identify the bacterial community members responsible for the decontamination of the site and (ii) define an end point for the removal of the hydrocarbon substrate. The results of PLFA analysis demonstrated a community shift in all plots from primarily eukaryotic biomass to gram-negative bacterial biomass with time. PLFA profiles from the oiled plots suggested increased gram-negative biomass and adaptation to metabolic stress compared to unoiled controls. DGGE analysis of untreated control plots revealed a simple, dynamic dominant population structure throughout the experiment. This banding pattern disappeared in all oiled plots, indicating that the structure and diversity of the dominant bacterial community changed substantially. No consistent differences were detected between nutrient-amended and indigenous inoculum-treated plots, but both differed from the oil-only plots. Prominent bands were excised for sequence analysis and indicated that oil treatment encouraged the growth of gram-negative microorganisms within the α-proteobacteria andFlexibacter-Cytophaga-Bacteroides phylum. α-Proteobacteria were never detected in unoiled controls. PLFA analysis indicated that by week 14 the microbial community structures of the oiled plots were becoming similar to those of the unoiled controls from the same time point, but DGGE analysis suggested that major differences in the bacterial communities remained.
Eye tracking indices of attentional bias in children of depressed mothers: Polygenic influences help to clarify previous mixed findings

Abstract Information-processing biases may contribute to the intergenerational transmission of depression. There is growing evidence that children of depressed mothers exhibit attentional biases for sad faces. However, findings are mixed as to whether this bias reflects preferential attention toward, versus attentional avoidance of, sad faces, suggesting the presence of unmeasured moderators. To address these mixed findings, we focused on the potential moderating role of genes associated with hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis reactivity. Participants included children (8–14 years old) of mothers with (n = 81) and without (n = 81) a history of depression. Eye movements were recorded while children passively viewed arrays of angry, happy, sad, and neutral faces. DNA was obtained from buccal cells. Children of depressed mothers exhibited more sustained attention to sad faces than did children of nondepressed mothers. However, it is important that this relation was moderated by children's genotype. Specifically, children of depressed mothers who carried reactive genotypes across the corticotropin-releasing hormone type 1 receptor (CHRH1) TAT haplotype and FK506 binding protein 5 (FKBP5) rs1360780 (but not the solute carrier family C6 member 4 [SLC6A4] of the serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region [5-HTTLPR]) exhibited less sustained attention to sad faces and more sustained attention to happy faces. These findings highlight the role played by specific genetic influences and suggest that previous mixed findings may have been due to genetic heterogeneity across the samples.
MagPairing: Pairing Smartphones in Close Proximity Using Magnetometers

With the prevalence of mobile computing, lots of wireless devices need to establish secure communication on the fly without pre-shared secrets. Device pairing is critical for bootstrapping secure communication between two previously unassociated devices over the wireless channel. Using auxiliary out-of-band channels involving visual, acoustic, tactile, or vibrational sensors has been proposed as a feasible option to facilitate device pairing. However, these methods usually require users to perform additional tasks, such as copying, comparing, and shaking. It is preferable to have a natural and intuitive pairing method with minimal user tasks. In this paper, we introduce a new method, called MagPairing, for pairing smartphones in close proximity by exploiting correlated magnetometer readings. In MagPairing, users only need to naturally tap the smartphones together for a few seconds without performing any additional operations in authentication and key establishment. Our method exploits the fact that smartphones are equipped with tiny magnets. Highly correlated magnetic field patterns are produced when two smartphones are close to each other. We design MagPairing protocol and implement it on Android smartphones. We conduct extensive simulations and real-world experiments to evaluate MagPairing. Experiments verify that the captured sensor data on which MagPairing is based has high entropy and sufficient length, and is nondisclosure to attackers more than few centimeters away. Usability tests on various kinds of smartphones by totally untrained users show that the whole pairing process needs only 4.5 s on average with more than 90% success rate.
Selling Reserved Instances in Cloud Computing

In this paper, we study the problem of designing new mechanisms for selling reserved instances (also referred to as virtual machines) in cloud computing. Unlike the practice in today's clouds in which users only have a few predefined options to reserve instances (i.e., either 1-year reservation or 3-year reservation), we allow users to reserve resources for any length and from any time point in the future. Our goal is to maximize the social welfare. We propose two mechanisms, one for the case where all the jobs are tight (their lengths are exactly their reservation time intervals), and the other for the more general case where jobs are delayable and have some flexibility on their reservations. Both of the mechanisms are prompt in the sense that the acceptance and the payment for a job is determined at the very moment of its arrival. We use competitive analysis to evaluate the performance of our mechanisms, and show that both of the mechanisms have a competitive ratio of O(ln(kT)) under some mild assumption, where k (res. T) is the maximum ratio between per-instance-hour valuation (res. length) of any two jobs. We then prove that no algorithm can achieve a competitive ratio better than ln(2kT) under the same assumption. Therefore, our mechanisms are optimal within a constant factor.
Systemic Mastocytosis

Mastocytosis is a disease characterized by an abnormal increase in mast cells. Rare in occurrence, protean in its manifestations, it is a disease which is very seldom thought of and hence, possibly even overlooked. The last few decades have witnessed an upsurge in the understanding of the physiology and pathobiology of mast cells. Better means for diagnosis and follow-up have become available. Once a diagnosis is established histamine antagonists remain the mainstay of treatment. Most patients live and die with the disease rather than of it. The objective of this review is to discuss this entity with a special focus on diagnosis and treatment.
Abstractive Sentence Summarization with Attentive Recurrent Neural Networks

Abstractive Sentence Summarization generates a shorter version of a given sentence while attempting to preserve its meaning. We introduce a conditional recurrent neural network (RNN) which generates a summary of an input sentence. The conditioning is provided by a novel convolutional attention-based encoder which ensures that the decoder focuses on the appropriate input words at each step of generation. Our model relies only on learned features and is easy to train in an end-to-end fashion on large data sets. Our experiments show that the model signiﬁcantly outperforms the recently proposed state-of-the-art method on the Giga-word corpus while performing competitively on the DUC-2004 shared task.
The role of CABG in the era of drug-eluting stents: a surgeon's viewpoint

Advances in transcatheter technologies, from balloon angioplasty to bare metal stents to drug-eluting stents, have resulted in improved outcomes following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). As a consequence, the differences in outcomes between coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) and PCI have become less significant over short-term follow-up. In addition, the number of patients undergoing coronary revascularisation with PCI has increased and far exceeds that of CABG, which has declined, the ratio stabilising in recent years. With the advent of drug-eluting stents and the increasing off-label use of these stents—and in the setting of questionable public awareness of the relative risks and benefits of the therapeutic options of optimal medical treatment and revascularisation by PCI or CABG—the role of CABG requires clarification and reaffirmation. Recent clinical trials have helped to better define the relative benefits of each treatment modality. The mid- and long-term results of these studies remain to be seen, however, while the evidence for the role of PCI in left main stem disease remains inconclusive at the present time. In this context of continually emerging clinical evidence, this review seeks to provide a balanced opinion regarding the role of CABG in the era of drug-eluting stents.
Association between Electronic Health Records and Health Care Utilization

Summary Background: The federal government is investing approximately $20 billion in electronic health records (EHRs), in part to address escalating health care costs. However, empirical evidence that provider use of EHRs decreases health care costs is limited. Objective: To determine any association between EHRs and health care utilization. Methods: We conducted a cohort study (2008–2009) in the Hudson Valley, a multi-payer, multi-provider community in New York State. We included 328 primary care physicians in predominantly small practices (median practice size four primary care physicians), who were caring for 223,772 patients. Data from an independent practice association was used to determine adoption of EHRs. Claims data aggregated across five commercial health plans was used to characterize seven types of health care utilization: primary care visits, specialist visits, radiology tests, laboratory tests, emergency department visits, hospital admissions, and readmissions. We used negative binomial regression to determine associations between EHR adoption and each utilization outcome, adjusting for ten physician characteristics. Results: Approximately half (48%) of the physicians were using paper records and half (52%) were using EHRs. For every 100 patients seen by physicians using EHRs, there were 14 fewer specialist visits (adjusted p < 0.01) and 9 fewer radiology tests (adjusted p = 0.01). There were no significant differences in rates of primary care visits, laboratory tests, emergency department visits, hospitalizations or readmissions. Conclusions: Patients of primary care providers who used EHRs were less likely to have specialist visits and radiology tests than patients of primary care providers who did not use EHRs. Citation: Kaushal R, Edwards A, Kern LM, with the HITEC Investigators. Association between electronic health records and health care utilization. Appl Clin Inf 2015; 6: 42–55 http://dx.doi. org/10.4338/ACI-2014-10-RA-0089