Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Towards a distributed computation platform tailored for educational process discovery and analysis

Given the ever changing needs of the job markets, education and training centers are increasingly held accountable for student success. Therefore, education and training centers have to focus on ways to streamline their offers and educational processes in order to achieve the highest level of quality in curriculum contents and managerial decisions. Educational process mining is an emerging field in the educational data mining (EPM) discipline, concerned with developing methods to discover, analyze and provide a visual representation of complete educational processes. In this paper, we present our distributed computation platform, under construction, which allows different education centers and institutions to load their data and access to advanced data mining and process mining services. To achieve this, we present also a comparative study of the different clustering techniques developed in the context of process mining to partition efficiently educational traces. Our goal is to find the best strategy for distributing heavy analysis computations on many processing nodes of our platform.
Development of Drugs That Alter Ventricular Repolarization

Many drugs are found to alter ventricular repolarization, as manifest by T-wave and U-wave changes on the surface electrocardiogram. These changes have frequently been associated with malignant ventricular arrhythmias. There is no perfectly sensitive and specific way of anticipating such arrhythmias, but some clinical and preclinical screening methods are better than others. The author reviews some of these methods, commenting on some of the regulatory implications.
Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff Reports the Inflation–output Trade-off Revisited the Inflation–output Trade-off Revisited

paper presents preliminary findings and is being distributed to economists and other interested readers solely to stimulate discussion and elicit comments. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and are not necessarily reflective of views at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or the Federal Reserve System. Any errors or omissions are the responsibility of the authors. Abstract A rich literature from the 1970s shows that as inflation expectations become more and more ingrained, monetary policy loses its stimulative effect. In the extreme, with perfectly anticipated inflation, there is no trade-off between inflation and output. A recent literature on the interest-rate zero lower bound, however, suggests there may be some benefits from anticipated inflation when the economy is in a liquidity trap. In this paper, we reconcile these two views by showing that while it is true, at positive interest rates, that inflation loses its stimulative effects as it becomes better anticipated, the opposite holds true at the zero bound. Indeed, at the zero bound, the more accurately the public anticipates inflation, the greater is the expansionary effect of inflation on output. This leads us to revisit the trade-off between inflation and output and to show how radically it changes in the face of demand shocks large enough to bring the economy into a liquidity trap. Instead of vanishing once inflation becomes anticipated, the trade-off between inflation and output increases substantially and may become arbitrarily large. In such cases, raising the inflation target in a liquidity trap can be very stimulative. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or the Federal Reserve System.
Algorithms for Computing Topological Invariants in 2D and 3D Digital Spaces

Based on previous results of digital topology, this paper focuses on algorithms of topological invariants of objects in 2D and 3D Digital Spaces. We specifically interest in solving hole counting of 2D objects and genus of closed surface in 3D. We first prove a new formula for hole counting in 2D. The number of of holes is $h=1 + (|C_4|-|C_2|)/4$ where $C_4$ and $C_2$ are sets of inward and outward corner points, respectively. This paper mainly deals with algorithm design and implementation of practical computation of topological invariants in digital space. The algorithms relating to data structures, and pathological case detection and original data modification are main issues. This paper designed fast algorithms for topological invariants such as connected components, hole counting in 2D and boundary surface genus for 3D. For 2D images, we designed a linear time algorithm to solve hole counting problem. In 3D, we designed also O(n) time algorithm to get genus of the closed surface. These two algorithms are both in $O(\log n)$ space complexity.
The LSD tree: Spatial Access to Multidimensional Point and Nonpoint Objects

We propose the Local Split Decision tree (LSD tree, for short), a data structure supporting efficient spatial access to geometric objects. Its main advantages over other structures are that it performs well for all reasonable data distributions, cover quotients (which measure the overlapping of the data objects), and bucket capacities, and that it maintains multidimensional points as well as arbitrary geometric objects. These properties demonstrated by an extensive performance, evaluation make the LSD tree extremely suitable for the implementation of spatial access paths in geometric databases. The paging algorithm for the binary tree directory is interesting in its own right because a practical solution for the problem of how to page a (multidimensional) binary tree without access path degeneration is presented.
Hazardous drinking: prevalence and associations in the Finnish general population.

BACKGROUND Hazardous drinking, defined as consuming alcohol on a risky level and not meeting the diagnostic criteria of alcohol use disorders (AUDs), has been suggested for a new complementary nondependence diagnosis. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and associations of hazardous drinking in comparison to AUDs, moderate drinking, and abstinence. METHODS A national representative sample of Finns was examined in the Health 2000 Survey. For 4477 subjects aged 30 to 64 years (76%, 2341 females), both the quantity frequency data about alcohol consumption and Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) data concerning AUD diagnoses were available. The nationally recommended limits for hazardous dinking were used (males: 24 drinks, females: 16 drinks/wk). Logistic regression models were used to analyze associations. RESULTS The prevalence of hazardous drinking was 5.8%. Hazardous drinking was more prevalent among males than females (8.5% vs. 3.1%). It was most prevalent among the subjects aged 40 to 49 years (7.3%), divorced or separated (8.3%), unemployed (8.2%) and subjects living in the southern (Helsinki) region (7.5%). AUDs versus hazardous drinking were more likely to be in males versus females and in the unemployed versus employed. Subjects aged 40 and over had higher odds for hazardous drinking versus AUDs. The odds for hazardous versus moderate drinking were higher for males versus females (adjusted odds ratio = 3.24), for subjects aged over 40 years, unemployed versus employed and cohabiting, divorced/separated or unmarried subjects versus married subjects. CONCLUSION The high prevalence of hazardous drinking makes it an important public health concern. Hazardous drinkers have different sociodemographic characteristics as compared to people in other alcohol use categories.
An optimal channel pin assignment with multiple intervals for building block layout

The authors present a linear time optimal algorithm to determine positions of the pins of nets on the top and the bottom sides of a channel, which is partitioned into several intervals. The pins are permutable within their associated intervals. The proposed algorithm is optimal in the sense that it can minimize both the density and the total wire length of the channel. Experimental results show that sufficient reduction of the channel density and the total wire length is, in fact, obtained by the use of the algorithm. <<ETX>>
Plant Cell-Based Intimin Vaccine Given Orally to Mice Primed with Intimin Reduces Time of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Shedding in Feces

ABSTRACT Intimin is the primary adhesin of Escherichia coli O157:H7, the most common infectious cause of bloody diarrhea in the United States and the leading cause of acute kidney failure in children who develop hemolytic uremic syndrome. Cattle are the primary reservoir of E. coli O157:H7. Indeed, most cases of E. coli O157:H7 infection in the United States occur after ingestion of contaminated undercooked hamburger or produce that had contact with bovine manure. Because intimin is required for persistent colonization of neonatal calves and adult cattle, we hypothesized that an intimin-based vaccination strategy in calves would reduce colonization of cattle with E. coli O157:H7. To test this concept in a small-animal model, we developed transgenic tobacco plant cells that express the carboxy-terminal host cell-binding domain of E. coli O157:H7 intimin. Mice were either immunized intraperitoneally with intimin expressed from the plant cells, fed transgenic plant cells, or both. Here we show that these mice generated an intimin-specific mucosal immune response when primed parenterally and then boosted orally and also exhibited a reduced duration of E. coli O157:H7 fecal shedding after challenge.
Optimal Configuration of Microgrid for Green Data Centres: A Radial Movement Optimization Approach

With the dramatic worldwide growth of information technology sectors, the traffic of data centres is projected to experience an increase of about 80% by 2020. Green data centres are proposed as a solution towards sustainable platform providing IT services. This paper presents an optimal microgrid configuration for a green data centre. The mathematical models for the costs and the green gas emissions associated with all components of the microgrid system as well as their interactions are taken into consideration in the optimisation model. The capital, operational, and degradation costs during a life-time of 20 years of the system are also considered. The optimum microgrid configuration is composed of 38% renewable energy generation that reduces the total cost by 37% and greenhouse gas emissions by 16%.
General-to-Specific Model Selection for Subcategorization Preference

This paper proposes a novel method for learning probability models of subcategorization preference of verbs. We consider the issues of case dependencies and noun class generalization in a uniform way by employing the maximum entropy modeling method. We also propose a new model selection algorithm which starts from the most general model and gradually examines more specific models. In the experimental evaluation, it is shown that both of the case dependencies and specific sense restriction selected by the proposed method contribute to improving the performance in subcategorization preference resolution.
Surgical treatment of canine nasal aspergillosis by rhinotomy combined with enilconazole infusion and oral itraconazole.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the effectiveness of rhinotomy and surgical debridement associated with topical administration of 2 per cent enilconazole and oral itraconazole in dogs with severe or recurrent sinonasal aspergillosis. METHODS A standard rhinotomy was performed on seven dogs. In the initial study, the bone flap was left attached cranially and replaced at the end of the procedure. In the main study group, the bone flap was discarded. Nasal passages were debrided and irrigated with enilconazole solution for one hour. Oral itraconazole was administered to four dogs for one month postoperatively. Follow-up rhinoscopy was performed in all dogs. RESULTS All three dogs in the initial study had recurrence of the disease and two dogs had a second surgery to remove the flap. The main study group included four dogs in which the flap was initially removed, and the two dogs from the initial study that required a second surgery. At follow-up rhinoscopy, five dogs were free of aspergillus but had bacterial or inflammatory rhinitis and one dog had a small aspergilloma but was subsequently asymptomatic. Telephone follow-up revealed that four dogs were asymptomatic, one dog had intermittent sneezing and serous nasal discharge, and one dog had intermittent epistaxis. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE Rhinotomy with removal of the flap combined with one-hour infusion of 2 per cent enilconazole and oral itraconazole resulted in satisfactory outcome in dogs with severe or recurrent aspergillosis.
Supporting sets of arbitrary connections on iWarp through communication context switches

In this paper we introduce the ConSet communication model for distributed memory parallel computers. The communication needs of an application program can be satisfied by somearbitrary set of connectionswhich are partitioned into discrete phases. A communication context switchis used to select the active phase. We present an implementation of the ConSet model on the iWarp and describe its performance characteristics, contrasting it to a message passingimplementation on the same machine. Our implementation demonstrates how one existing parallel computer can function as a “reconfigurable network” without needing a new processor interconnect technology. The ConSet model works best when communication patterns can be optimized at compile time. We examine the interactions of the target architecture with the algorithmic problems encountered designing a communication compilerto effectively partition, route, and schedule connections. We built a prototype communication compiler for our iWarp implementation, and are using it to generate iWarp code. Looking at basic communication patterns as well as patterns generated by an iterative finite element PDE solver, we compare ConSet’s performance (using the compiler’s schedules) to that of message passing. Our experiments suggest that ConSet communication offers a performance advantage over message passing in applications where the communication pattern is known at compile time.
Dynamic test input generation for web applications

Web applications routinely handle sensitive data, and many people rely on them to support various daily activities, so errors can have severe and broad-reaching consequences. Unlike most desktop applications, many web applications are written in scripting languages, such as PHP. The dynamic features commonly supported by these languages significantly inhibit static analysis and existing static analysis of these languages can fail to produce meaningful results on realworld web applications. Automated test input generation using the concolic testing framework has proven useful for finding bugs and improving test coverage on C and Java programs, which generally emphasize numeric values and pointer-based data structures. However, scripting languages, such as PHP, promote a style of programming for developing web applications that emphasizes string values, objects, and arrays. In this paper, we propose an automated input test generation algorithm that uses runtime values to analyze dynamic code, models the semantics of string operations, and handles operations whose argument and return values may not share a common type. As in the standard concolic testing framework, our algorithm gathers constraints during symbolic execution. Our algorithm resolves constraints over multiple types by considering each variable instance individually, so that it only needs to invert each operation. By recording constraints selectively, our implementation successfully finds bugs in real-world web applications which state-of-the-art static analysis tools fail to analyze.
An Open Architecture for Affective Traits in a BDI Agent

Recently an increasing amount of research focuses on improving agents believability by adding affective features to the traditional agent-based modeling. This is probably due to the demand of reaching ever more realistic behaviors on agent-based simulations which extends to several and diverse application fields. The present work proposes O3A: an Open Affective Agent Architecture, which extends a traditional BDI agent architecture improving a practical reasoning with more “human” characteristics. This architecture tries to address disperse definitions combining the main elements of supporting psychological and neurological theories.
Hierarchical movie affective content analysis based on arousal and valence features

Emotional factors directly reflect audiences' attention, evaluation and memory. Affective contents analysis not only create an index for users to access their interested movie segments, but also provide feasible entry for video highlights. Most of the work focus on emotion type detection. Besides emotion type, emotion intensity is also a significant clue for users to find their interested content. For some film genres (Horror, Action, etc), the segments with high emotion intensity have the most possibilities to be video highlights. In this paper, we propose a hierarchical structure for emotion categories and analyze emotion intensity and emotion type by using arousal and valence related features hierarchically. Firstly, High, Medium and Low are detected as emotion intensity levels by using fuzzy c-mean clustering on arousal features. Fuzzy clustering provides a mathematical model to represent vagueness, which is close to human perception. After that, valence related features are used to detect emotion types (Anger, Sad, Fear, Happy and Neutral). Considering video is continuous time series data and the occurrence of a certain emotion is affected by recent emotional history, Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) are used to capture the context information. Experimental results shows the movie segments with high emotion intensity cover over 80% of the movie highlights in Horror and Action movies and the hierarchical method outperforms the one-step method on emotion type detection. Meanwhile, it is flexible for user to pick up their favorite affective content by choosing both emotion intensity levels and emotion types.
Cochlear implantation in adults with unilateral deafness: A review of the assessment/evaluation protocols

Objectives: Cochlear implantation is becoming widely used outside the tertiary research centers for treatment of unilateral deafness (UD). No consensus exists, however, on the most suitable assessment/evaluation protocols for this group of adult patients. This paper aims to review the assessment and evaluation protocols used by various research groups and to propose a protocol for the use in the clinical setting. Methods: The PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases were searched with the keywords ‘cochlear’, ‘implant’, ‘single-sided’, ‘deafness’, ‘adults’, ‘unilateral’, and ‘deafness’. The words were either used individually, combined in pairs, or in groups of 5. All articles reporting on prospective studies, retrospective studies, or case studies were included. Results: Sixteen published studies met the inclusion criteria. Measures of hearing performance, tinnitus, subjective quality of hearing, and quality of life varied greatly among studies. Discussion: Adaptive speech in noise testing, localization, tinnitus measurement questionnaires, and self-rated hearing improvement are widely used among the research groups. These tools in conjunction assess and evaluate the main issues associated with UD. Conclusion: The test battery most commonly used to assess and evaluate adult cochlea implant users with UD consists of (a) a subjective self-rating of hearing performance, (b) localization testing, and (c) the adaptive speech in noise testing conducted in at least the following three spatial configurations: speech and noise presented from the front (S0/N0), speech presented from the front and noise presented to the good hearing ear (S0/Nhe), and speech presented to the implanted ear and noise presented to the hearing ear (Sci/Nhe).
Managing Visual Clutter: A Generalized Technique for Label Segregation using Stereoscopic Disparity

We present a new technique for managing visual clutter caused by overlapping labels in complex information displays. This technique, "label layering", utilizes stereoscopic disparity as a means to segregate labels in depth for increased legibility and clarity. By distributing overlapping labels in depth, we have found that selection time during a visual search task in situations with high levels of overlap is reduced by four seconds or 24%. Our data show that the depth order of the labels must be correlated with the distance order of their corresponding objects. Since a random distribution of stereoscopic disparity in contrast impairs performance, the benefit is not solely due to the disparity-based image segregation. An algorithm using our label layering technique accordingly could be an alternative to traditional label placement algorithms that avoid label overlap at the cost of distracting motion, symbology dimming or label size reduction.
Hygroscopic properties of different aerosol types over the Atlantic and Indian Oceans

Abstract. Hygroscopic properties of atmospheric particles were studied in the marine tropospheric boundary layer over the Atlantic and Indian Oceans during two consecutive field studies: the Aerosols99 cruise (Atlantic Ocean) from 15 January to 20 February 1999, and the INDOEX cruise (Indian Ocean Experiment) from 23 February to 30 March 1999. The hygroscopic properties were compared to optical and chemical properties, such as absorption, chemical inorganic composition, and mass concentration of organic and elemental carbon, to identify the influence of these parameters on hygroscopicity. During the two field studies, four types of aerosol-sampling instruments were used on board the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Research Vessel Ronald H. Brown: Hygroscopicity Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer (HTDMA), seven-stage cascade impactor, two-stage cascade impactor, and Particle Soot Absorption Photometer (PSAP). The HTDMA was used to determine the hygroscopic properties of atmospheric particles at initial dry sizes ( Dp ) of 50, 150, and 250 nm and at relative humidities ( RH ) of 30, 55, 75, and 90%. Simultaneously, a seven-stage cascade impactor of which 3 stages were in the sub- m m size range was used to determine the molar composition of the major inorganic ions such as ammonium and sulfate ions. A two-stage cascade impactor (1 in the sub- m m size range, 1 in the sup- m m size range) was used to determine the mass concentration of organic and elemental carbon. The PSAP was used (at a wavelength of 565 nm) to measure the light absorption coefficient of the aerosol. During the two field studies, air masses of several different origins passed the ship's cruise path. The occurrence of different air masses was classified into special time periods signifying the origin of the observed aerosol. All time periods showed a group of particles with high hygroscopic growth. The measured average hygroscopic growth factors defined by the ratio of dry and wet particle diameter at 90% RH ranged from 1.6 to 2.0, depending on the dry particle size and on the type of air mass. Particles with low hygroscopic growth occurred only when continentally influenced air masses arrived at the ship's position. Distinctions in hygroscopic growth of particles of different air masses were more significant for small relative humidities (30% or 55% RH ). High concentrations of elemental carbon corresponded with high light absorption coefficients and with the occurrence of less-hygroscopic and nearly hydrophobic particle fractions in the hygroscopic growth distributions. A key finding is that clean marine air masses that had no land contact for five to six days could clearly be distinguished from polluted air masses that had passed over a continent several days before reaching the ship.