Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of combination endocrine treatment on normal prostate, prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, and prostatic adenocarcinoma.

AIMS--To investigate the effect of combination endocrine treatment (CET) or luteinising hormone releasing hormone agonist and flutamide on non-neoplastic prostate, prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, and prostatic adenocarcinoma. METHODS--The morphology, including the mitotic activity, of 12 radical prostatectomies from patients with prostatic adenocarcinoma pretreated for three months with CET was evaluated in haematoxylin and eosin stained sections and compared with an untreated age and stage matched control group. RESULTS--A differential effect on the non-neoplastic prostate was observed. In fact, the transition zone of the treated prostate showed simplification of the glandular lobules: the ducts and acini were small without undulations of the epithelial border and with a prominent basal cell layer. Within the peripheral zone there was inconspicuous branching of the ducts and acini which looked dilatated and lined by flattened atrophic epithelium. Prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia occurred in scattered ducts and acini in the peripheral zone of 10 of the 12 patients. The epithelial cell lining showed a prominent basal cell layer. A certain degree of secretory cell type stratification was always present. However, crowding was less evident than in the untreated prostate because of cytoplasmic clearing and enlargement as a result of coalescence of vacuoles. The treated adenocarcinomas had neoplastic acini which looked small and shrunken, and areas of individual infiltrating tumour cells separated by abundant interglandular connective tissue. The secretory cells of the nonneoplastic, prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, and prostatic adenocarcinoma lesions had inconspicuous nucleoli, nuclear shrinkage, chromatin condensation, and cytoplasmic clearing. Apoptotic bodies were easily identifiable in all the cell layers. The lumina were rich in macrophages, sloughed secretory cells with degenerative features, and apoptotic bodies. Mitoses were not observed in any of the treated non-neoplastic prostate, prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, or prostatic adenocarcinomas, whereas the mitotic frequency increased from non-neoplastic prostate through prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia up to prostatic adenocarcinomas in the untreated specimens. CONCLUSIONS--CET before radical prostatectomy causes regressive epithelial changes together with enhanced apoptosis and blocked mitotic activity.
Learning to Prune in Metric and Non-Metric Spaces

Our focus is on approximate nearest neighbor retrieval in metric and non-metric spaces. We employ a VP-tree and explore two simple yet effective learning-to-prune approaches: density estimation through sampling and "stretching" of the triangle inequality. Both methods are evaluated using data sets with metric (Euclidean) and non-metric (KL-divergence and Itakura-Saito) distance functions. Conditions on spaces where the VP-tree is applicable are discussed. The VP-tree with a learned pruner is compared against the recently proposed state-of-the-art approaches: the bbtree, the multi-probe locality sensitive hashing (LSH), and permutation methods. Our method was competitive against state-of-the-art methods and, in most cases, was more efficient for the same rank approximation quality.
Performance of a long-text-input keystroke biometric authentication system using an improved k-nearest-neighbor classification method

Over the last six years Pace University has been developing a long-text-input keystroke biométrie system. The system consists of three components: a java applet that collects raw keystroke data over the Internet, a feature extractor, and a pattern classifier. This paper presents two significant system improvements. The first achieves high performance with a closed system of known users and shows how performance changes as the system is opened (diluted) by additional users. The second is the extension of the k-nearest-neighbor classification method to directly derive Receiver Operating Characteristic curves from the classification data. Performance results on 120 participants are presented.
ESTIMATING SITE OCCUPANCY RATES WHEN DETECTION PROBABILITIES ARE LESS THAN ONE

Nondetection of a species at a site does not imply that the species is absent unless the probability of detection is 1. We propose a model and likelihood-based method for estimating site occupancy rates when detection probabilities are 0.3). We estimated site occupancy rates for two anuran species at 32 wetland sites in Maryland, USA, from data collected during 2000 as part of an amphibian monitoring program, Frogwatch USA. Site occupancy rates were estimated as 0.49 for American toads (Bufo americanus), a 44% increase over the proportion of sites at which they were actually observed, and as 0.85 for spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer), slightly above the observed proportion of 0.83.
Effects of Autumn and Spring Heat Waves on Seed Germination of High Mountain Plants

Alpine plants are considered to be particularly vulnerable to climate change and related extreme episodes, such as heat waves. Despite growing interest in the impact of heat waves on alpine plants, knowledge about their effects on regeneration is still fragmentary. Recruitment from seeds will be crucial for the successful migration and survival of these species and will play a key role in their future adaptation to climate change. In this study, we assessed the impacts of heat waves on the seed germination of 53 high mountain plants from the Northern Apennines (Italy). The seeds were exposed to laboratory simulations of three seasonal temperature treatments, derived from real data recorded at a meteorological station near the species growing site, which included two heat wave episodes that occurred both in spring 2003 and in autumn 2011. Moreover, to consider the effect of increasing drought conditions related to heat waves, seed germination was also investigated under four different water potentials. In the absence of heat waves, seed germination mainly occurred in spring, after seeds had experienced autumn and winter seasons. However, heat waves resulted in a significant increase of spring germination in c. 30% of the species and elicited autumn germination in 50%. When heat waves were coupled with drought, seed germination decreased in all species, but did not stop completely. Our results suggest that in the future, heat waves will affect the germination phenology of alpine plants, especially conditionally dormant and strictly cold-adapted chorotypes, by shifting the emergence time from spring to autumn and by increasing the proportion of emerged seedlings. The detrimental effects of heat waves on recruitment success is less likely to be due to the inhibition of seed germination per se, but rather due to seedling survival in seasons, and temperature and water conditions that they are not used to experiencing. Changes in the proportion and timing of emergence suggest that there may be major implications for future plant population size and structure.
Speech Data Analysis for Diphone Construction of a Maori Online Text-to-speech Synthesizer

One of the main types of speech processing technologies today is text-to-speech (TTS) synthesis. A well established speech synthesizer technique called ‘diphone concatenation’ uses a speakers processed speech examples to apply a more human-like response to the TTS synthesis system. This methodology has been used to construct many diphone databases for various languages, and was the basis for building the first Mäori diphone database. The database was then tested using a number of TTS tools. Integrating the TTS system with an existing internet based English-Mäori Word Translator has advantages for language learners [1]. The goal to assist people to hear the proper pronunciation of translated Mäori words is the prime motivation. Utilizing internet technology as the means to widely distribute the written and spoken language forms reflects the multi-disciplinary cross purpose nature of this research. Propagation of the Mäori language via the internet can assist in it’s long term survival through greater external exposure, awareness and usage. This paper brings together various theoretical contributions in publications and practical applications from research projects to help construct and test a working model for synthesizing Mäori speech.
Factor Structure of the Internet Addiction Test in Online Gamers and Poker Players

Background The Internet Addiction Test (IAT) is the most widely used questionnaire to screen for problematic Internet use. Nevertheless, its factorial structure is still debated, which complicates comparisons among existing studies. Most previous studies were performed with students or community samples despite the probability of there being more problematic Internet use among users of specific applications, such as online gaming or gambling. Objective To assess the factorial structure of a modified version of the IAT that addresses specific applications, such as video games and online poker. Methods Two adult samples—one sample of Internet gamers (n=920) and one sample of online poker players (n=214)—were recruited and completed an online version of the modified IAT. Both samples were split into two subsamples. Two principal component analyses (PCAs) followed by two confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were run separately. Results The results of principal component analysis indicated that a one-factor model fit the data well across both samples. In consideration of the weakness of some IAT items, a 17-item modified version of the IAT was proposed. Conclusions This study assessed, for the first time, the factorial structure of a modified version of an Internet-administered IAT on a sample of Internet gamers and a sample of online poker players. The scale seems appropriate for the assessment of such online behaviors. Further studies on the modified 17-item IAT version are needed.
Efficient Traffic Splitting on SDN Switches

Networks often need to balance load over multiple backend servers—or other components like links, paths, or middleboxes—offering the same service. For example, a large cloud provider could easily host tens of thousands of services, each with dozens or hundreds of backend servers. Hash-based approaches like Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) can achieve a roughly uniform split, or even a weighted split by repeating the same “next-hop” multiple times. However, ECMP has low accuracy for approximating arbitrary weights, scales poorly with many “next-hops,” and experiences significant churn when weights change. Instead, a Software-Defined Network (SDN) could split traffic more flexibly by crafting a set of wildcard rules to install in OpenFlow switches. However, existing SDN-based loadbalancers either send data packets to the controller, or generate too many rules to approximate the weights. In this paper, we propose Niagara, an SDN-based load-balancing scheme where the controller computes an efficient approximation of the weights for each service, and optimizes the division of the rule-table space across multiple services. Our experiments demonstrate that Niagara improves traffic-splitting accuracy by 77% compared to ECMP, while requiring only 19% of the rules used by Weighted-Cost Multi-Path. Niagara requires 63% fewer rules than previous SDN approaches.
Dielectrics Covered Metal Nanowires and Nanotubes for Low-Loss Guiding of Subwavelength Plasmonic Modes

Two types of surface plasmon polariton waveguides consisting of square metal nanowires or nanotubes covered by low-high index dielectric layers are presented and their guiding characteristics are investigated numerically at the telecom wavelength of 1550 nm. Numerical analysis reveals that depending on the sizes of the covered low-high index dielectric layers, the nanowire based waveguides can be tuned to provide subwavelength confinement of the plasmonic modes with low propagation loss. Even enhanced optical confinement could be achieved by further increasing the nanowire size or replacing the metal nanowires by nanotubes. Consideration of directional coupling between two identical such plasmonic waveguides reveal ultra-low-crosstalk can be realized with relatively small separation distances. These waveguiding structures, compatible with modern fabrication methods, potentially enable the realization of numerous ultra-compact integrated photonic components.
Glycemic status and development of kidney disease: the Framingham Heart Study.

OBJECTIVE Diabetes is a major risk factor for the development of kidney disease and is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease in the U.S. Whether pre-diabetes is associated with the development of kidney disease is unclear. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Subjects free of chronic kidney disease (CKD) were drawn from the Framingham Heart Study offspring cohort (1991-1995), given an oral glucose tolerance test, and followed for an average of 7 years for development of CKD (glomerular filtration rate [GFR] of <59 ml/min per 1.73 m2 in women and <64 ml/min per 1.73 m2 in men). Multivariable logistic regression models, adjusted for cardiovascular disease risk factors including age, sex, hypertension, smoking, BMI, total and HDL cholesterol levels, and prevalent myocardial infarction or congestive heart failure, were used to estimate the odds of patients developing kidney disease among glycemic categories. RESULTS Of 2,398 subjects (53% women; mean age 54 years), 63% were normoglycemic, 29% had impaired fasting glucose (IFG) or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), 3.4% were newly diabetic, and 4.6% had known diabetes. By glycemic category, mean GFR at follow-up was 87, 85, 82, and 78 ml/min per 1.73 m2, respectively. The fully adjusted odds of developing CKD were 0.98 (95% CI 0.67-1.45), 1.71 (95% CI 0.83-3.55), and 1.93 (95% CI 1.06-3.49) among those with IFG or IGT, newly diagnosed diabetes, or known diabetes, respectively, compared with those who were normoglycemic at baseline. Among participants without diabetes, metabolic syndrome was not associated with kidney disease at follow-up (odds ratio 1.46, P = 0.06). CONCLUSIONS Cardiovascular disease risk factors explain much of the relationship between prediabetes and the development of chronic kidney disease. Clinical trials are warranted to determine whether vascular risk factor modification can slow the decline of kidney function among those with pre-diabetes.
Residential distribution in the city - Reexamined

The recent boom in high-resolution GIS makes possible the investigation of urban residential distributions at the resolution of individual buildings and families. Availability of these data has inspired reexamination of the Schelling model of residential segregation and its application for simulating population patterns in real cities. The current paper argues that the Schelling model satisfies this criterion and consequently applies it to explain real-world residential pattern dynamic in nine Israeli cities. The study is based on data obtained from a unique Israeli census database in which individual and family records are geo-referenced to the layer of buildings. Analysis of the income-based residential patterns reveals their high heterogeneity – a mix of homoand heterogeneous areas is typical for eight of the nine cities investigated. We explain this heterogeneity by the presence of a low fraction of wealthier householders who are highly tolerant of their poorer neighbors and can thus reside in their proximity. Extension of the model in this direction results in a qualitative correspondence between the model’s outcomes and the residential patterns observed in Israeli cities.
Biology by design: reduction and synthesis of cellular components and behaviour

Biological research is experiencing an increasing focus on the application of knowledge rather than on its generation. Thanks to the increased understanding of cellular systems and technological advances, biologists are more frequently asking not only ‘how can I understand the structure and behaviour of this biological system? ’, but also ‘how can I apply that knowledge to generate novel functions in different biological systems or in other contexts? ’ Active pursuit of the latter has nurtured the emergence of synthetic biology. Here, we discuss the motivation behind, and foundational technologies enabling, the development of this nascent field. We examine some early successes and applications while highlighting the challenges involved. Finally, we consider future directions and mention non-scientific considerations that can influence the field's growth.
The clinical management of patients with a small volume of prostatic cancer on biopsy: What are the risks of progression?

Clinically localized prostate cancer is associated with a wide variation in biologic behavior, and men with the less aggressive form of the disease may never develop symptoms. There has been a rise in prostate cancer incidence in countries in which the blood test for prostatic‐specific antigen (PSA) is common, and concerns have been expressed that this may be because of the increased detection of indolent disease, subjecting these men to unnecessary treatment and associated side effects. For the current review, the authors conducted a systematic evaluation of the literature regarding the outcomes of men who were diagnosed on the basis of a small volume of cancer in prostatic biopsies. The results indicated that, despite differences in study design and reporting, a significant proportion of patients with microfocal cancer, regardless of how it was defined, had adverse pathologic findings and a significant risk of PSA recurrence after undergoing radical prostatectomy. Biochemical and clinical recurrences also were observed after radiotherapy or watchful waiting. The authors concluded that patients with microfocal carcinoma on biopsy should be advised that their disease is not necessarily “insignificant” and should be counseled accordingly. Cancer 2008. © 2008 American Cancer Society.
Raman spectrum of superconducting oxides.

The anomalous electronic Raman scattering in the normal state of various cuprates extends smoothly to an energy of 1 eV. This behavior is shown to be in accord with the frequency-dependent damping caused by electron-electron scattering between nearly parallel (i.e., nested'') sections of the Fermi surface. Intermediate on-site Coulomb repulsion is found to be compatible with the data, whereas the long-range Coulomb coupling is ineffective in the small-momentum-transfer limit. The matrix element for the scattering process is attributed to energy-density fluctuations for anisotropic Fermi surfaces. By contrast, conventional density-fluctuation processes for parabolic energy bands are several orders of magnitude smaller and restricted to a narrow frequency range because of charge conservation and the Pauli exclusion principle. A surprising proportionality between the Raman line shape and the optical conductivity is derived in the nesting approximation. Evidence for such behavior is established by fits to the Raman spectra of YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} and Bi{sub 2}Sr{sub 2}CaCu{sub 2}O{sub 8} using electron-electron coupling and energy-cutoff values previously obtained from our analysis of the optical conductivity and reflectance data. Similar electronic spectra should appear in other metals with nested Fermi surfaces, such as chromium and various rare-earth metals.
Cryptic invasion in Southern Europe: The case of Ferrissia fragilis (Pulmonata: Ancylidae) Mediterranean populations

Four populations of the North American ancylid gastropod Ferrissia fragilis have been found in Southern Italy, thus expanding the known Eurasian distribution range of this invasive gastropod to the Mediterranean area. Both mitochondrial markers used for the molecular identification of the sampled specimens (16S and COI) showed a modest to absent haplotypic diversity in the studied Ferrissia populations from Europe and Asia, and their perfect identity with some of the haplotypes observed in North American F. fragilis populations. In the light of the scarce molecular diversity observed in the whole Palaearctic area and of the growing evidences for the ongoing spreading of the species in Europe, the occurrence of a single invasion event from North America possibly linked with aquarium plant trade followed by a rapid spreading of the species in Eurasia is suggested. The record of F. fragilis in Southern Italy caused some doubts on the presence of autochthonous Ferrissia populations in Europe and on the actual existence of Ferrissia wautieri. A molecular analysis of Ferrissia specimens from the loci typici of F. wautieri (Northern Italy) and F. clessiniana (Egypt) is definitely opportune.
Isolating Operating System Components with Intel SGX

In this paper, we present a novel approach on isolating operating system components with Intel SGX. Although SGX has not been designed to work in kernel mode, we found a way of wrapping Linux kernel functionality within SGX enclaves by moving parts of it to user space. Kernel components are strictly isolated from each other such that a vulnerability in one kernel module cannot escalate into compromising the entire kernel. We provide a proof-of-concept implementation which protects an exemplary kernel function, namely full disk encryption, using an Intel SGX enclave. Besides integrity of the disk encryption, our implementation ensures that the confidentiality of the disk encryption key is protected against all software level attacks as well as physical attacks. In addition to the user password, we use a second authentication factor for deriving the encryption key which is stored sealed and bound to the platform. Thus, stealing the hard drive and sniffing the user password is insufficient for an attacker to break disk encryption. Instead, the two factor authentication scheme requires an attacker to additionally obtain the actual machine to be able to break encryption.
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Globalization and Monetary Policy Institute Tractable Latent State Filtering for Non-linear Dsge Models Using a Second-order Approximation

This paper develops a novel approach for estimating latent state variables of Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) models that are solved using a second-order accurate approximation. I apply the Kalman filter to a state-space representation of the second-order solution based on the 'pruning' scheme of Kim, Kim, Schaumburg and Sims (2008). By contrast to particle filters, no stochastic simulations are needed for the filter here-the present method is thus much faster. In Monte Carlo experiments, the filter here generates more accurate estimates of latent state variables than the standard particle filter. The present filter is also more accurate than a conventional Kalman filter that treats the linearized model as the true data generating process. Due to its high speed, the filter presented here is suited for the estimation of model parameters; a quasi-maximum likelihood procedure can be used for that purpose. thank Raf Wouters for useful discussions. Financial support from the National Bank of Belgium and from 'Action de recherche concertée' ARC-AUWB/2010-15/ULB-11 is gratefully acknowledged. The views in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas or the Federal Reserve System.
Making 3D printed objects interactive using wireless accelerometers

We present an approach that allows designers and others to quickly and easily make 3D printed objects interactive, without the need for hardware or software expertise and with little modification to an object's physical design. With our approach, a designer simply attaches or embeds small three-axis wireless accelerometer modules into the moving parts of a 3D printed object. A simple graphical user interface is then used to configure the system to interpret the movements of these accelerometers as if they were common physical controls such as buttons or dials. The designer can then associate events generated by these controls with a range of interactive behavior, including web browser and media player control.