Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Varying Dispersion Parameter of Poisson–Gamma Models on Estimation of Confidence Intervals of Crash Prediction Models

In estimating safety performance, the most common probabilistic structures of the popular statistical models used by transportation safety analysts for modeling motor vehicle crashes are the traditional Poisson and Poisson–gamma (or negative binomial) distributions. Because crash data often exhibit overdispersion, Poisson–gamma models are usually the preferred model. The dispersion parameter of Poisson–gamma models had been assumed to be fixed, but recent research in highway safety has shown that the parameter can potentially be dependent on the covari-ates, especially for flow-only models. Given that the dispersion parameter is a key variable for computing confidence intervals, there is reason to believe that a varying dispersion parameter could affect the computation of confidence intervals compared with confidence intervals produced from Poisson–gamma models with a fixed dispersion parameter. This study evaluates whether the varying dispersion parameter affects the computation of the confidence intervals for the gamma mean (m) and predicted response (y) on sites that have not been used for estimating the predictive model. To accomplish that objective, predictive models with fixed and varying dispersion parameters were estimated by using data collected in California at 537 three-leg rural unsignalized intersections. The study shows that models developed with a varying dispersion parameter greatly influence the confidence intervals of the gamma mean and predictive response. More specifically, models with a varying dispersion parameter usually produce smaller confidence intervals, and hence more precise estimates, than models with a fixed dispersion parameter, both for the gamma mean and for the predicted response. Therefore, it is recommended to develop models with a varying dispersion whenever possible, especially if they are used for screening purposes.
Dental Fluorosis Developed in Post-secretory Enamel

The aim of this study was to test whether dental fluorosis can be produced by administration of chronic doses of fluoride during only the post-secretory stage of enamel mineralization. Eight control and eight experimental pigs matched by weight and litter were fed a low-fluoride diet (<0.05 mg F-/kg b.w. daily) from weaning to slaughter at 14 months. The test group received an oral dose of 2 mg F -/kg b.w. per day from 8 months of age. Lower fourth pre-molars were at the post-secretory stage at the start of fluoride administration (confirmed by tetracycline marker) and were just erupting at slaughter. All of the fourth pre-molar teeth from the test group developed diffuse enamel hypomineralization indistinguishable from human fluorosis. No such lesions were seen in any of the teeth from the control animals. It was concluded that enamel fluorosis may be caused by fluoride exposure in the maturation phase only. The pathogenic mechanism may be an effect either on the selective loss of protein or on the influx of mineral, both of which occur during the post-secretory or maturation stage of enamel formation.
The effect of adipose stem cell therapy on pulmonary fibrosis induced by repetitive intratracheal bleomycin in mice

ABSTRACT Adipose stem cells (ASCs) are detectable in the parenchyma and large airways of lungs after systemic administration, and ameliorate inflammatory infiltration and cell death in animal models of emphysema. We evaluated whether ASC treatment could attenuate lung fibrosis induced by repetitive intratracheal bleomycin administration. Male 8-week-old C57BL/6J mice (control group, bleomycin-only group, and bleomycin-plus-ASC group) were used. Eight biweekly doses of bleomycin were injected intratracheally via an intubation procedure at a dose of 0.04 units in a total volume of 100 μL of sterile saline. During the latter 2 months of the 4-month bleomycin exposure, human ASCs (3 × 105 cells) were administered repeatedly via intraperitoneal injection at the same time as bleomycin. Lung tissues were evaluated for histology, collagen content, TUNEL staining, and TGF-β levels. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was performed for cell counting. Administrations of ASCs ameliorated the deleterious effects of repetitive intratracheal instillation of bleomycin, namely hyperplasia of Club cells (Clara cells) and cuboidal alveolar epithelial cells, infiltration of the perialveolar ducts by inflammatory cells, septal thickening, enlarged alveoli, and extensive fibrosis. Addition of ASC led to suppression of bleomycin-induced epithelial cell apoptosis and expression of TGF-β. These results suggest a useful therapeutic effect of ASCs on pulmonary fibrosis induced by repetitive bleomycin administration. Further studies will be required to evaluate the efficacy of ASC therapy for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
[Screening and identification of ovarian carcinomas related genes].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death among gynecological malignancies. Up to now, little is known about specific tumor-suppressor genes or oncogenes involved in the ovarian cancer genesis. Thus isolation of new candidate genes and characterization of their role in ovarian cancer genesis will be helpful for understanding the molecular mechanisms and developing protocols for early diagnosis and therapy of ovarian carcinomas. This study was developed to screen and identify genes related to ovarian carcinomas. METHODS Modified mRNA differential display PCR and reverse Northern dot blot analysis were used to screen and identify different displayed genes between ovarian carcinoma tissue and normal ovarian tissue. The genes were sequenced and analyzed by bioinformatics software. With these gene fragments as probes, in situ hybridization was used to characterize specific gene expression difference between ovarian cancer tissues and normal ovarian tissues. RESULTS Of 12 differentially expressed genes, 5 were novel genes, 3 were chromosome genomic repeat sequences and the other 4 were known human genes. Furthermore, in situ hybridization analysis indicated that four genes, ZNF361, PSMA2, OCRC13 (a novel gene on chromosome 1) and OCRC4 (a novel gene on chromosome 9) were highly expressed in 36 samples of ovarian cancer tissues but not in 16 samples of normal ovarian tissues (P< 0.05). More interestingly, the gene OCRC4, with 99% sequence homology to mouse spindlin, a member of gene family specially expressed during gametogenesis, was highly expressed in 19 samples of ovarian cancer from total 36 cases (53%), but not expressed in control samples. CONCLUSION Our observations indicate that the four genes ZNF361, PSMA2, OCRC4, and OCRC13 may be ovarian cancer related genes. It is speculated that novel gene OCRC4 might also be a member of specific gene family, which plays roles during early period of embryo development and tumorigenesis.
Cool-SHARE: Offload Smartphone Data by Sharing

With the volume of mobile data traffic almost doubling each year, the mobile data offloading challenge has become ever relevant. This paper takes on a practical approach to offload the cellular network. A solution called Cool-SHARE is proposed and implemented on Android. It is an app for seamlessly sharing apps over short-range links with limited cellular control and can be extended for multimedia data sharing. Two types of sharing scenarios are defined, i.e., social sharing and opportunistic sharing. The challenges of sharing are identified and analysed. The discovery, connection, and data transfer delays are measured and analysed on a Samsung Galaxy S III using Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Direct. The challenges including seamless discovery and connection, authenticity and payment are solved. Furthermore, suggestions for reducing delays of the low-level Wi-Fi Direct implementation are proposed.
As low birth weight babies grow, can well-educated parents buffer this adverse factor? A research note

This research note combines two national Taiwanese data sets to investigate the relationships among low birth weight (LBW) babies, their parents’ educational levels, and their future academic outcomes. We find that LBW is negatively correlated with the probability of such children attending college at age 18; however, when both parents are college or high school graduates, such negative effects may be partially offset. We also show that discrimination against daughters occurs, but only for daughters who were LBW babies. Moreover, high parental education can buffer the LBW shock only among moderately LBW children (as compared with very LBW children) and full-term LBW children (as compared with preterm LBW children).
Whitened Résumés

Using interviews, a laboratory experiment, and a résumé audit study, we examine racial minorities’ attempts to avoid anticipated discrimination in labor markets by concealing or downplaying racial cues in job applications, a practice known as “résumé whitening. ” Interviews with racial minority university students reveal that while some minority job seekers reject this practice, others view it as essential and use a variety of whitening techniques. Building on the qualitative findings, we conduct a lab study to examine how racial minority job seekers change their résumés in response to different job postings. Results show that when targeting an employer that presents itself as valuing diversity, minority job applicants engage in relatively little résumé whitening and thus submit more racially transparent résumés. Yet our audit study of how employers respond to whitened and unwhitened résumés shows that organizational diversity statements are not actually associated with reduced discrimination against unwhitened résumés. Taken together, these findings suggest a paradox: minorities may be particularly likely to experience disadvantage when they apply to ostensibly pro-diversity employers. These findings illuminate the role of racial concealment and transparency in modern labor markets and point to an important interplay between the self-presentation of employers and the self-presentation of job seekers in shaping economic inequality.
Newborn screening for sickle cell disease.

Vichinsky and colleagues in their recent article concerning the effect on mortality of newborn screening for sickle cell disease claim that "the data indicate that newborn screening, when coupled with extensive follow-up and education, will significantly decrease patient mortality. " Critical review of their data, however, does not support this conclusion. Of the 89 patients with sickle cell disease identified in their screening program, one individual died of septicemia for a cumulative mortality of 1.1% (not 1.8% that was quoted).
Neurological Syndromes Associated with Antiphospholipid Antibodies

With the discovery of antiphospholipid antibodies and their relationship to certain pathologic states, investigators soon recognized the presence of these antibodies in the sera of patients with various neurological disorders. The strongest association appears to exist in the case of ischemic cerebrovascular disease, an observation in keeping with the prevailing opinion that antiphospholipid antibodies often produce a hypercoagulable state. However, many reports have called attention to a possible relationship between the antibodies and a variety of other neurological conditions, including migraine, Behçet's syndrome, Guillain-Barré syndrome, Sneddons syndrome, Degos' disease, chorea, transverse myelitis, and seizures. Although many published case reports exist, only a few carefully designed prospective studies are available for us to evaluate the nature of the association of antiphospholipid antibodies with these neurological disorders. In some instances, the evidence suggests a causal relationship, whereas in others the antibodies may be an epiphenomenon or even fortuitous. This article examines the occurrence of antiphospholipid antibodies in neurological disease and attempts to summarize current understanding of their pathogenetic role in this setting.
Men’s and Women’s Experiences With HIV and Stigma in Swaziland

To explore how gender differentially affects the stigma experiences of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Swaziland, the extent and dimensions of HIV-related felt and enacted stigma and social support were analyzed. Thirty-seven semistructured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with PLHIV in Swaziland between 2004 and 2006. Through the process of conceptual analysis, themes, including felt stigma, information management, enacted stigma, and social support, were explored, coded, and analyzed in the contexts of partner and familial relationships, and workplace and neighborhood settings. Findings revealed that there were high levels of felt stigma in all contexts, yet fewer than anticipated accounts of enacted stigma in family, work, and neighborhood contexts compared to their expressions of felt stigma. The amount and characteristics of felt and enacted stigma and social support differed based on gender, as women often experienced more felt and enacted stigma than men, and had less definite financial or emotional support.
Radiofrequency Lesioning Using Two Different Time Modalities for the Treatment of Lumbar Discogenic Pain: A Randomized Trial

Study Design. A prospective randomized trial. Objective. To evaluate the efficacy of percutaneous intradiscal radiofrequency thermocoagulation by modifying the duration of heating, using two different time methods, for relieving pain and improving functional disability. Summary of Background Data. Lumbar discogenic pain is the major problem in lumbar degenerative disc disease that percutaneous intradiscal radiofrequency thermocoagulation has been suggested for as a nonsurgical invasive treatment technique for lumbar discogenic pain. In a previous controlled study, this method was found to be ineffective with 8 weeks of follow-up. Materials and Methods. Sixty patients with chronic low back pain were selected for provocative discography to diagnose the discogenic pain and to locate the discs to be treated. From this group, 39 patients were randomly selected and divided into two groups. In the first group, treatment was performed for 120 seconds, and in the second group for 360 seconds, both at 80C. Patients were assessed with a visual analogue scale for pain relief and functional improvement. Evaluations were performed before, immediately after treatment, at 1 and 2 weeks, and at 1, 3, and 6 months after the procedure. Results. A total of 39 patients with positive provocative discographies were found to eligible for the study. There were no statistical differences in pain relief and functional improvement between two groups (P > 0.05). The immediate, 1-week and 2-week, and 1-month visual analogue scale (VAS) scores were decreased significantly in both groups when comparing them with the pretreatment scores (P < 0.05). However, the final values after 6 months were similar to those measured at the beginning of the study (P > 0.05). Conclusion. Percutaneous intradiscal radiofrequency thermocoagulation has been suggested and performed to relieve discogenic pain. In the previous controlled study, no effective pain relief has been obtained. In this study, the authors increased the duration of radiofrequency thermocoagulation to improve the effectiveness of this method. Yet, the authors have not found any significant differences between the application of lesioning at two different times in percutaneous intradiscal radiofrequency thermocoagulation.
CO excitation in the Seyfert galaxy NGC 7130

We present a coherent multiband modelling of the carbon monoxide (CO) spectral energy distribution of the local Seyfert galaxy NGC 7130 to assess the impact of the active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity on the molecular gas. We take advantage of all the available data from X-ray to the submillimetre, including ALMA data. The high-resolution (∼0.2 arcsec) ALMA CO(6–5) data constrain the spatial extension of the CO emission down to an ∼70 pc scale. From the analysis of the archival Chandra and NuSTAR data, we infer the presence of a buried, Compton-thick AGN of moderate luminosity, L_(2–10 keV) ∼ 1.6 × 10^(43) erg s^(−1). We explore photodissociation and X-ray-dominated-region (PDR and XDR) models to reproduce the CO emission. We find that PDRs can reproduce the CO lines up to J ∼ 6; however, the higher rotational ladder requires the presence of a separate source of excitation. We consider X-ray heating by the AGNs as a source of excitation, and find that it can reproduce the observed CO spectral energy distribution. By adopting a composite PDR+XDR model, we derive molecular cloud properties. Our study clearly indicates the capabilities offered by the current generation of instruments to shed light on the properties of nearby galaxies by adopting state-of-the-art physical modelling.
Comparison of two apheresis systems during hematopoietic progenitor stem cell collections at a tertiary medical center

The Spectra Optia is a newer apheresis system developed based on the COBE Spectra platform. COBE Spectra requires more manual control, while Spectra Optia offers greater automation. The purpose of this study was to compare the two systems during hematopoietic progenitor stem cell (HPSC) collections.
Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics Do independent director departures predict future bad events?

Following surprise independent director departures, affected firms have worse stock and operating performance, are more likely to restate earnings, face shareholder litigation, suffer from an extreme negative return event, and make worse mergers and acquisitions. The announcement returns to surprise director departures are negative, suggesting that the market infers bad news from surprise departures. We use exogenous variation in independent director departures triggered by director deaths to test whether surprise independent director departures cause these negative outcomes or whether an anticipation of negative outcomes is responsible for the surprise director departure. Our evidence is more consistent with the latter.
Enhancing person annotation for personal photo management using content and context based technologies

Rapid technological growth and the decreasing cost of photo capture means that we are all taking more digital photographs than ever before. However, lack of technology for automatically organising personal photo archives has resulted in many users left with poorly annotated photos, causing them great frustration when such photo collections are to be browsed or searched at a later time. As a result, there has recently been significant research interest in technologies for supporting effective annotation. This thesis addresses an important sub-problem of the broad annotation problem, namely "person annotation" associated with personal digital photo management. Solutions to this problem are provided using content analysis tools in combination with context data within the experimental photo management framework, called “MediAssist”. Readily available image metadata, such as location and date/time, are captured from digital cameras with in-built GPS functionality, and thus provide knowledge about when and where the photos were taken. Such information is then used to identify the "real-world" events corresponding to certain activities in the photo capture process. The problem of enabling effective person annotation is formulated in such a way that both "within-event" and "cross-event" relationships of persons' appearances are captured. The research reported in the thesis is built upon a firm foundation of content-based analysis technologies, namely face detection, face recognition, and body-patch matching together with data fusion. Two annotation models are investigated in this thesis, namely progressive and non-progressive. The effectiveness of each model is evaluated against varying proportions of initial annotation, and the type of initial annotation based on individual and combined face, body-patch and person-context information sources. The results reported in the thesis strongly validate the use of multiple information sources for person annotation whilst emphasising the advantage of event-based photo analysis in real-life photo management systems.
Long-term effects of repealing the national maximum speed limit in the United States.

OBJECTIVES We examined the long-term effects of the 1995 repeal of federal speed limit controls on road fatalities and injuries in fatal crashes. METHODS We used a Poisson mixed-regression model to assess changes in the number of fatalities and injuries in fatal crashes between 1995 and 2005 on rural interstates, where all US states have raised speed limits since the repeal, as well as on urban interstates and noninterstate roads, where many states have raised speed limits. RESULTS We found a 3.2% increase in road fatalities attributable to the raised speed limits on all road types in the United States. The highest increases were on rural interstates (9.1%) and urban interstates (4.0%). We estimated that 12 545 deaths (95% confidence interval [CI] = 8739, 16 352) and 36 583 injuries in fatal crashes (95% CI = 29 322, 43 844) were attributable to increases in speed limits across the United States. CONCLUSIONS Reduced speed limits and improved enforcement with speed camera networks could immediately reduce speeds and save lives, in addition to reducing gas consumption, cutting emissions of air pollutants, saving valuable years of productivity, and reducing the cost of motor vehicle crashes.
Denitrification Enzyme Activity in Swine Wastewater Effluent of a Nitrification/Denitrification Treatment System

Intensification of swine production in the U.S. and around the world requires advanced manure management. For swine manure management in the state of North Carolina, one system met all of the required advanced management criteria, and it was qualified as an environmentally superior technology. This investigation was part of the testing for this superior technology. The objectives of this investigation were to assess: (1) the denitrification enzyme activity (DEA) in the treatment system’s homogenization tank and denitrification tank, and (2) the impact of the wastewater characteristics on this DEA. The DEA was measured by the acetylene inhibition method. Wastewater in the homogenization tank was fresh-flushed directly from the swine houses. Consequently, it was more concentrated than wastewaters in either the denitrification tank or typical swine wastewater lagoons; it had soluble biochemical oxygen demand (sBOD) of 676 mg L-1 and an electrical conductivity (EC) of 8.9 mS cm-1. However, the DEA in the homogenization tank was significantly limited by the low level of NO3-N, which was 0.1 mg L-1. Conversely, the DEA of the denitrification tank was limited by its lower level of carbon; it had only 53 mg L-1 sBOD. However, it had a NO3-N concentration of 150 mg L-1. When non-limiting glucose-C and NO3-N were added to the wastewaters of the homogenization and denitrification tanks, the homogenization tank had a significantly higher level of potential DEA: 17,943 vs. 10,055 mg N2O-N m-3 d-1, respectively. The DEA was generally well correlated by stepwise regression to the measured physiochemical characteristics. The findings of this investigation document that the DEA within this treated swine wastewater can be altered by manageable constituents of the processed swine wastewater, in particular soluble carbon and oxidized nitrogen.