Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of consumers' views on electronic data sharing for healthcare and research

UNLABELLED New models of healthcare delivery such as accountable care organizations and patient-centered medical homes seek to improve quality, access, and cost. They rely on a robust, secure technology infrastructure provided by health information exchanges (HIEs) and distributed research networks and the willingness of patients to share their data. There are few large, in-depth studies of US consumers' views on privacy, security, and consent in electronic data sharing for healthcare and research together. OBJECTIVE This paper addresses this gap, reporting on a survey which asks about California consumers' views of data sharing for healthcare and research together. MATERIALS AND METHODS The survey conducted was a representative, random-digit dial telephone survey of 800 Californians, performed in Spanish and English. RESULTS There is a great deal of concern that HIEs will worsen privacy (40.3%) and security (42.5%). Consumers are in favor of electronic data sharing but elements of transparency are important: individual control, who has access, and the purpose for use of data. Respondents were more likely to agree to share deidentified information for research than to share identified information for healthcare (76.2% vs 57.3%, p < .001). DISCUSSION While consumers show willingness to share health information electronically, they value individual control and privacy. Responsiveness to these needs, rather than mere reliance on Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), may improve support of data networks. CONCLUSION Responsiveness to the public's concerns regarding their health information is a pre-requisite for patient-centeredness. This is one of the first in-depth studies of attitudes about electronic data sharing that compares attitudes of the same individual towards healthcare and research.
BEHAVIOR OF HEAVY METALS IN FULL-SCALE SLUDGE INCINERATION BY SPRAY DRYING-ROTARY KILN PROCESS

EXTENDED ABSTRACT The full-scale spray drying-rotary kiln process has been applied to dispose the textile dying sludge almost for two years in China. Relatively few studies have reported on the behavior of heavy metals from the spray drying-rotary kiln process. Accordingly, in this work, the partitioning of eight target heavy metals in feed sludge, dried sludge, fly ash trapped from cyclone separator and bag filter, and slag was investigated. Due to the fly ashes conveyed to the rotary kiln in the process, the fixation rates of the elements in slag were assessed. The results showed that the maximum fixation rate was achieved for Cu at 97.5%. The fixation rates of these target elements are ranging 72.8% -84.1% except Hg, which is negatively correlated to their volatility. The high phosphate content in the sludge enhanced the fixation of metals, resulting in the lower bioavailability. The spray drying-rotary kiln combustion process was successfully avoiding the discharge of fly ash and could be considering as an environmentally friendly approach for sludge disposal.
Symptoms of depression in older adults with multiple sclerosis (MS): Comparison with a matched sample of younger adults

The study considered for the first time depression in older adults with multiple sclerosis (MS). Depression symptom scores of 27 persons aged over 65 years who were part of a large study of persons with MS (n = 529), were compared with those of a matched sample of younger adults from the same study. The association between cognitive (attitudinal) variables known to explain significant variance in depressive symptoms in younger adults with MS was then considered in the older adult sample. Consistent with findings from studies with general community samples, older adults with MS reported significantly fewer depressive symptoms than younger adults with MS. The relationship between cognitive variables and depressive symptoms found previously in younger adults was also evident for the older adults. Multiple sclerosis related helplessness was found to be significantly higher in older as opposed to younger adults with MS, the opposite of what was predicted given the differences between the groups in depression scores. Differences in the cognitive variables do not appear to explain the differences between older and younger adults with MS in terms of depressive symptoms. This finding offers support for the view that a decrease in emotional responsiveness may explain differences in depressive symptoms between younger and older adults with MS, rather than this being the result of differences in emotional control exerted via cognitive means.
POLG mutations associated with Alpers syndrome and mitochondrial DNA depletion

Medicine guidelines (http://www.eanm.org). F-FDG PET data were normalized to total global counts, scaled proportionally, mapped into Talairach space, and compared with neurologically healthy individuals (n 20). Both patients showed a significantly reduced F-FDG signal in the putamen (greater than two standard deviations). One patient showed reduced glucose metabolism (greater than two standard deviations) also in cerebellum and caudate nucleus, with the other also in inferior and superior parietal cortex (Fig). I-FP-CIT uptake was reduced bilaterally in the basal ganglia in both patients, pronounced in the putamen (see Fig). Similar results have been reported in SCA2 patients using I-FP-CIT-SPECT and in SCA2 and SCA3 patients using C-MP-PET. Thus, at least three different SCAs show prominent involvement of the dopaminergic system. Apparently, many ways lead to dopaminergic dysfunction and it remains to be determined whether the molecular mechanisms involved in SCA 2, 3, and 17 may also play a role in sporadic Parkinson’s disease (PD). The other remarkable finding is the severe reduction of glucose metabolism in the putamen of SCA17 patients which resembles Huntington’s disease. Chorea has been described as a frequent clinical feature in SCA17 but was not (yet) present in our patients. Although initial pathoanatomical examinations classified SCA17 as cerebello-olivary form of ataxia, our findings support the concept of a widespread pathology resulting from TBP dysfunction.
(E)-2-Methoxy-4-(3-oxobut-1-enyl)phenyl acetate

The title compound, C13H14O4, belongs to the class of α,β-unsaturated ketones, which have potential bactericidal, fungicidal, antitumor and anti-inflammatory properties. The C atoms and attached H atoms of the ethenyl part of the title molecule are disordered over two orientations with refined occupancies of 0.583 (7) and 0.417 (3). Molecules are connected by two intermolecular C—H⋯O interactions, forming a dimer with symmetry.
Image Annotation in a Progressive Way

Automatic image annotation is crucial for keyword-based image retrieval because it can be used to improve the textual description of images efficiently. For this purpose, many methods have been developed. Due to the restrictions of computational complexity and small training set, the image annotation methods are usually based on the probability of individual word, instead of the joint probability of a set of words. Therefore the correlation between words is omitted. In this paper, we propose a method to approximate the joint probability of words in a progressive way. Given an image, the word with highest probability is first annotated. Then, the successive words are annotated by incorporating the information of previously annotated words. It can be seen as a "greedy" algorithm to calculate the joint probability of multiple words. The experiments show that the proposed progressive annotation method can effectively improve the annotation performance.
The Human Endogenous Retrovirus Envelope Glycoprotein, Syncytin-1, Regulates Neuroinflammation and Its Receptor Expression in Multiple Sclerosis: A Role for Endoplasmic Reticulum Chaperones in Astrocytes1

Retroviral envelopes are pathogenic glycoproteins which cause neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration, and endoplasmic reticulum stress responses. The human endogenous retrovirus (HERV-W) envelope protein, Syncytin-1, is highly expressed in CNS glia of individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). In this study, we investigated the mechanisms by which Syncytin-1 mediated neuroimmune activation and oligodendrocytes damage. In brain tissue from individuals with MS, ASCT1, a receptor for Syncytin-1 and a neutral amino acid transporter, was selectively suppressed in astrocytes (p < 0.05). Syncytin-1 induced the expression of the endoplasmic reticulum stress sensor, old astrocyte specifically induced substance (OASIS), in cultured astrocytes, similar to findings in MS brains. Overexpression of OASIS in astrocytes increased inducible NO synthase expression but concurrently down-regulated ASCT1 (p < 0.01). Treatment of astrocytes with a NO donor enhanced expression of early growth response 1, with an ensuing reduction in ASCT1 expression (p < 0.05). Small-interfering RNA molecules targeting Syncytin-1 selectively down-regulated its expression, preventing the suppression of ASCT1 and the release of oligodendrocyte cytotoxins by astrocytes. A Syncytin-1-transgenic mouse expressing Syncytin-1 under the glial fibrillary acidic protein promoter demonstrated neuroinflammation, ASCT1 suppression, and diminished levels of myelin proteins in the corpus callosum, consistent with observations in CNS tissues from MS patients together with neurobehavioral abnormalities compared with wild-type littermates (p < 0.05). Thus, Syncytin-1 initiated an OASIS-mediated suppression of ASCT1 in astrocytes through the induction of inducible NO synthase with ensuing oligodendrocyte injury. These studies provide new insights into the role of HERV-mediated neuroinflammation and its contribution to an autoimmune disease.
A study of dog-coyote hybrids and implications concerning hybridization in canis.

A female, mongrel, black and white, 25-pound terrier dog bred to a captive male Kansas coyote gave birth on 20 April 1954 to six F1 hybrid “coy-dogs” From 1956 through 1961 these produced four litters of F2 hybrids. Five of the F1 generation resembled melanistic, short-legged coyotes; the sixth was similarly colored but shaggy like the mother. The F2 generation was more varied, dog-like to somewhat coyote-like animals. Behavior varied, but all of the animals were intermediate, with some coyote-like traits, including howling. They were aggressive among themselves and had a dominance hierarchy in males and probably in females, with males dominating females. They displayed no submissive behavior adequate to inhibit a dominant individual from attacking an inferior. No trace of male parental care (which is strong in coyotes and absent in dogs) was noted in the coy-dogs. The generally small size of the F2 litters (mean 2.25, range 1 to 3) and their small number in relation to the possible number, suggests some decrease in fecundity but might also have resulted from crowding or other suboptimal conditions inducing prenatal mortality. There was a rather high incidence of dental anomaly among the hybrids. Both sexes of the hybrids, as in the comparatively few comparable studies, displayed a late autumnal, annual mating season (in this case in December), differing from that of coyotes, which breed in late winter (mainly February). The literature of dog-coyote hybridism is summarized and the implications of the peculiar reproductive timing of hybrids are discussed with respect to the possibility of hybridization in the wild leading (a) to the establishment of hybridswarms of coy-dogs and intermediate individuals; (b) to the introgression of dog genes into coyote populations; and (c) to the probable source of the extremely large size and remarkably great variation of a population of wild, coyote-like animals recently established in New England. It is concluded that the phase shift in the breeding season of F1 hybrids, requiring the young of animals presumably less fit than coyotes to be reared in midwinter and in the absence of male parental care should form an effective, if not absolute, block to the development of hybrid swarms and to the introgression of dog genes into the coyote gene pool. Application of discriminant functions analysis—here applied also to various hybrids—to a series of wild Kansas coyotes (which are as much exposed to dogs as any coyotes) shows that these specimens have none of the unusual variability characterizing the New England population. It is therefore concluded that the variability and large size of the New England canids result from the introgression of wolf genes, probably in Ontario, into coyote stock. Recent proof that these species can in fact hybridize is cited. Also, two captive-reared coyote-wolf hybrids, long ago reported but later widely over-looked, seem likely in fact to represent this cross if judged by discriminant functions analysis and by their small size.
Sedentary life style of Neotropical sedge wrens promotes song imitation

To what extent has the style of song development among songbirds coevolved with other life history strategies? Among Cistothorus wrens in North America, it seems that sedentary or site-faithful habits of marsh wrens, C. palustris, favour song imitation, but seminomadic habits of sedge wrens, C. platensis, favour song improvisation, whereby each male generates a large but unique song repertoire. In this study, we tested whether more sedentary populations of sedge wrens in the Neotropics would imitate songs. At our primary study site near Cartago, Costa Rica, breeding birds were colour-banded during 1995 and 1996, and follow-up surveys revealed that the birds remained at this site the year round. Extensive tape recording and analysis of songs showed that males had large song repertoires (200-300+ songs), and that many songs were shared among neighbouring males. In addition, males only 27 km distant, at La Pastora, used different songs. Furthermore, matched countersinging, in which two males answer each other with identical song types, was recorded near Brasilia, in Brazil. The sharing of songs among permanent neighbours, microgeographical variation in song, and matched countersinging can be achieved only through song imitation, thus revealing a striking difference in the style of song development among different populations of the sedge wren. In the Neotropics, having predictable neighbours throughout life appears to have favoured song imitation, so that individuals can interact using a common, learned code typical of the local population; among more mobile populations in North America, however, individuals improvise large repertoires of species-typical songs, thereby enabling singing males to communicate with any individual, no matter what the population of origin. Strategies of song development must correlate with life history features, and further surveys are needed to make sense of the great diversity of singing behaviours among songbirds. Copyright 1999 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.
The Computational Case against Computational Literary Studies

This essay works at the empirical level to isolate a series of technical problems, logical fallacies, and conceptual ﬂ aws in an increasingly popular sub ﬁ eld in literary studies variously known as cultural analytics, literary data mining, quantitative formalism, literary text mining, computational textual analysis, computational criticism, algorithmic literary studies, social computing for literary studies
Modeling the Impact of Reset Depth on Vacancy-Induced Filament Perturbations in ${\rm HfO}_{2}$ RRAM

Random telegraph noise in resistive switching memory devices is governed by two distinct mechanisms—oxygen vacancy perturbations in the filament as well as the electron trapping–detrapping phenomenon. In this letter, we focus on the dominant role of vacancies in governing the stability of the filament in the high resistance state and characterize the dependence of the read disturb voltage $(V_{\rm DIST})$ on the depth of the reset level during switching. Our slow voltage ramp read disturb tests at different reset levels indicate the possibility of filamentary instability even for read voltages lower than the standard value of 0.10 V. These experimental trends can be well explained using the quantum point contact model for conduction in the filament, as deeper reset levels induce very steep potential gradients at the two ends of the constriction that make the filaments highly unstable and susceptible to structural modifications due to vacancy generation and/or transport during memory read operation.
Training sequence design for data-aided synchronization of burst-mode CPM

In this paper, we study the Cramér-Rao bound (CRB) for continuous phase modulation (CPM) signals. Based on the CRB computations, we propose the optimum training sequence for joint estimation of carrier phase, frequency offset and symbol timing. Our proposed training sequence is optimum in the sense that it minimizes the CRBs for all three estimation parameters simultaneously. The results are useful in the design of training sequences attached to data packets in burst-mode transmissions where data-aided (DA) synchronization is employed.
Effect of long-term treatment of hyperactive children with methylphenidate.

SUMMARY Three groups of hyperactive children were compared by various measures of outcome 5 years after initial evaluation: 24 who were treated with methylphenidate for 3 to 5 years during the follow-up period, 22 treated with chlorpromazine for 18 months to 5 years, and 20 who had received no medication during the follow-up period. The three groups were matched with respect to age, IQ, socioeconomic class and sex. No statistically significant differences were found between the three groups on the following measures of outcome: emotional adjustment, delinquency, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Bender Gestalt visual-motor test and academic performance (as measured by number of grades failed). Initially there was a significant difference between the three groups on ratings of hyperactivity and family diagnosis. Hyperactivity scores decreased significantly over the 5 years; family diagnosis ratings changed little. Analysis of covariance for these two measures showed no difference in degree of improvement between the three groups. Our impression was that methylphenidate was helpful in making hyperactive children more manageable at home and at school, but did not significantly affect their outcome after 5 years of treatment.
Tropical rainfall measuring mission (TRMM)

By measuring rainfall in the tropics, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) will make possible the understanding of the heat engine that drives the global weather. The TRMM mission parameters are given, and the spacecraft is described. The instruments are examined, including the precipitation radar, TRMM microwave radiometer, and Advanced Very High Frequency Radiometer. The mission life is addressed, including atmospheric data, fuel consumption, and life extension methods. The spacecraft interfaces, payload configuration, and deployment sequence are considered. The subsystems are described, including propulsion, power, command, data handling, and tracking. A Japanese Experimental Data Relay Tracking Satellite experimental package working with TRMM is briefly addressed.
Linear Programming for the design of IIR filters

This paper introduces a novel procedure for the design of IIR discrete-time filters. The solution is obtained in the minimax sense through an optimization procedure termed Sequential Linear Programming (SLP). The method is based on pole-zero mapping, and the stability constraints are easily incorporated to the optimization procedure. Whereas the methodology is formulated for the design of filters that satisfy magnitude specifications, the procedure can be readily modified to suit other criteria, such as phase/group delay deviation, maximally flatness, time response, coefficient spread, or a combination of these. Efficiency of the technique is evaluated through illustrative examples and comparisons with other approaches.
Efficacy of isolated home blood pressure monitoring for blood pressure control: randomized controlled trial with ambulatory blood pressure monitoring – MONITOR study

Background Rates of control of hypertension remain unsatisfactory worldwide and simple methods to encourage patients to adhere to treatments are still necessary. In this randomized controlled trial, we evaluated the efficacy of a protocol of home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM), without medication titration, to improve BP assessed by ambulatory BPM (ABPM). Methods Patients with hypertension under drug treatment and with uncontrolled BP at office and by 24-h ABPM were randomly assigned to HBPM or usual care. The treatment was not modified during the trial. Follow-up visits were conducted at 7 and 30 days after randomization, and at 60 days to assess the outcome. Deltas between baseline and final ABPM measurements were calculated for 24-h, nightly and daily ambulatory SBP and DBP. Results Of 558 patients screened, 136 fulfilled the eligibility criteria and were randomized, and 121 (89%) completed the trial. The between groups deltas (95% confidence interval) of variation of 24 h, nightly and daily SBP were 5.4 (0.9–9.8) (P = 0.018), 10.9 (2.9–18.9) (P = 0.012) and 4.4 mmHg (−0.1 to 8.8) (P = 0.055), respectively; the corresponding deltas for DBP were 4.5 (1.6–7.4) (P = 0.003), 3.4 (0.4–6.3) (P = 0.025) and 5.8 mmHg (2.5–9.0) (P = 0.001), respectively. At the end of the trial, 32.4% of patients of the HBPM groups and 16.2% of the control group had 24-h SBP less than 130/80 mmHg (P = 0.03). Conclusion A protocol of HBPM without medication titration enhances the control of BP assessed by ABPM.
Markov reward models for analyzing group interaction

In this work we introduce a novel application of Markov Reward models for studying group interaction. We describe a sample state representation for social sequences in meetings, and give examples of how particular states can be associated with immediate positive or negative rewards, based on outcomes of interest. We then present a Value Iteration algorithm for estimating the values of states. While we focus on two specific applications of Markov Reward models to small group interaction in meetings, there are many ways in which such a model can be used to study different facets of group dynamics and interaction. To encourage such research, we are making the Value Iteration software freely available.
The Next Frontier of Corporate Social Responsibility: Discovering Consumer Expectations

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a broad area of management study and practice that has become increasingly important for business practitioners and academics alike. While the majority of authors who have written on the subject, including ourselves, are proponents of CSR in general, there is an emerging viewpoint that it is simply not enough for corporations to singlehandedly address CSR thus it is important that others, such has NGOs and Consumers, play a defined role in CSR as well. Simply stated, demanding that corporations practice CSR is not the magic solution that will address the myriad of social issues that affect the world’s diverse population. In this thesis we will look at CSR from both the corporate and consumer perspective (which will specifically be referred to as CNSR once that term is introduced) and present the argument and implications of what it means that these two entities may have very different perspectives of what CSR actually is. To do this we conduct a case study of Starbucks Corporation, a multinational coffee retailer with a global coffee brand, and closely compare its broadcasted CSR initiatives with the voice of individual consumers who have taken the time and effort to publicly state their expectations. We hope that by shedding light on a new aspect of CSR, corporations and academics will further investigate and utilize the insights we have gained from our research to benefit society at large.