Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On "risk-adjusting acute myocardial infarction mortality: are APR-DRGs the right tool?".

Although we disagree with Dr. Romano's decision to exclude all conditions diagnosed after admission, we view his article as providing the reader with an excellent springboard for further discussion of issues pertaining to risk adjustment and complications. In this response to the article, we will both directly respond to its main points and summarize the broader policy issues that the article raises. This is a vital discussion because the need for comparative information concerning the performance ofhealthcare providers has greatly increased. The publication of comparative provider profiles-already complete or under way by more than 20 states-identifies "winners" as well as "losers. " Since the comparisons are often publicly available, the consequences of being a "loser" can be significant: reputations, careers, and even financial viability can be at stake. Hospitals should be given every reasonable doubt in the methodology used in the provider profiles because, in the final analysis, it is far more acceptable to fail to identify a hospital as a winner than it is to falsely identify it as a loser. In terms ofoutcome measures, inpatient mortality is the outcome measure most commonly considered for inclusion in provider profiles. Reliable identification of complications is a key to the development of a valid risk-adjustment methodology for mortality. The purpose of this
Rishi: Identify Bot Contaminated Hosts by IRC Nickname Evaluation

In this paper, we describe a simple, yet effective method to detect bot-infected machines within a given network that relies on detection of the communication channel between bot and Command & Control server (C&C server). The presented techniques are mainly based on passively monitoring network traffic for unusual or suspicious IRC nicknames, IRC servers, and uncommon server ports. By using n-gram analysis and a scoring system, we are able to detect bots that use uncommon communication channels, which are commonly not detected by classical intrusion detection systems. Upon detection, it is possible to determine the IP address of the C&C server, as well as, the channels a bot joined and the additional parameters which were set. The software Rishi implements the mentioned features and is able to automatically generate warning emails to report infected machines to an administrator. Within the 10 GBit network of RWTH Aachen university, we detected 82 bot-infected machines within two weeks, some of them using communication channels not picked up by other intrusion detection systems.
Modeling and Caching of Peer-to-Peer Traffic

Peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing systems generate a major portion of the Internet traffic, and this portion is expected to increase in the future. We explore the potential of deploying proxy caches in different autonomous systems (ASes) with the goal of reducing the cost incurred by Internet service providers and alleviating the load on the Internet backbone. We conduct a measurement study to model the popularity of P2P objects in different ASes. Our study shows that the popularity of P2P objects can be modeled by a Mandelbrot-Zipf distribution, regardless of the AS. Guided by our findings, we develop a novel caching algorithm for P2P traffic that is based on object segmentation, and partial admission and eviction of objects. Our trace-based simulations show that with a relatively small cache size, less than 10% of the total traffic, a byte hit rate of up to 35% can be achieved by our algorithm, which is close to the byte hit rate achieved by an off-line optimal algorithm with complete knowledge of future requests. Our results also show that our algorithm achieves a byte hit rate that is at least 40% more, and at most triple, the byte hit rate of the common Web caching algorithms. Furthermore, our algorithm is robust in face of aborted downloads, which is a common case in P2P systems.
Cardiorespiratory response to exercise in patients with exercise-induced bronchial obstruction.

OBJECTIVE To document the characteristics of the ventilatory response to exercise in patients with exercise-induced bronchial obstruction (EIB). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Comparative study during the period between December 1993 and March 1994. SETTING Ambulatory care in Ohgaki Municipal Hospital. SUBJECTS AND METHOD We evaluated 11 children with EIB. Each subject under went symptom-limited cardiopulmonary treadmill exercise testing (Bruce protocol). RESULTS Patients with EIB showed a significantly lower peak oxygen consumption (peak VO2) than the control subjects. Three patients with EIB developed relative hypoventilation during incremental exercise: an increase in end-tidal carbon dioxide partial pressure (PETCO2) and a decrease in VE/VCO2 were observed at the end-stage of exercise testing. CONCLUSIONS These findings demonstrate that some patients with EIB develop bronchoconstriction during exercise.
Multi Stage Underwater Sensor Localization Using Mobile Beacons

Underwater sensor networks (USN) are used for harsh oceanographic missions where human operation is dangerous or impossible. Localization is essential for USNs. It is required for data tagging, node tracking and position-based routing algorithms. Localization is challenging because Global Positioning System(GPS) is not available in underwater; at the same time, existing GPS-less schemes based on fixed landmarks have high communication cost. Such cost is critical in mobile underwater sensor networks (MUSN), since sensor nodes drift with the ocean currents, thus requiring continuous refresh. In this paper, we propose a multi-stage localization scheme using mobile beacons. The beacons periodically ascent and descent in the water column. When they resurface, they receive new GPS coordinates. Then, they dive to the level of the underwater sensors to advertise these coordinates. In turn, localized sensors become proxy beacons and propagate their own coordinates, etc. This iterative, multi-stage localization is the major innovation of this paper. The goal is to localize the nodes with the smallest number of beacons using proxies instead, yet achieving an adequate accuracy. The major benefit is the reduction in operating costs. Mobility is a critical factor in determining performance. In this paper, performance (i.e., the percentage of localized nodes during a cycle, accuracy, delay and communication cost) is tested in a simulation scenario based on a realistic mobility model. The "meandering current mobility with surface effect" (MCM-SE) model - a composite model combining surface and subsurface currents.
Context-specific intention awareness through web query in robotic caregiving

To provide the elderly with appropriate and timely caregiving in activities of daily life (ADL), it is desired for robots to have the capability of intention awareness (IA). Different from existing context-specific intention awareness (CSIA) approaches which are based on a limited and passive knowledge database, our approach, named `WebIA', adopts a novel web query approach to establish a vast and active knowledge database for robots to perform CSIA. In our method, robots are endowed with comprehensive commonsense knowledge towards the correlations of the surrounding environment and human intentions. WebIA enables robots to effectively infer intentions in both trained familiar and untrained new situations. By performing several experiments, we evaluated two aspects of the WebIA approach: the effectiveness of IA in familiar situations and the self-learning ability in new situations.
Isolated Retrograde Amnesia

A patient with isolated autobiographical episodic memory is presented. The patient (male; 64 years old) was admitted to hospital suffering from double images and headache. CT examination revealed an arachnoid cyst at the anterior part of the left temporal lobe. In neuropsychological examination, a clear dissociation between subnormal autobiographical episodic memory and intact anterograde memory as well as unimpaired remote memory for personal and public facts was found. Regarding limited lesion sites in this patient, it is hypothesized that left anterior temporal lobe regions may play a critical role in effortful processing of episodic autobiographical memories.
Mutations within the hepatitis B virus genome among chronic hepatitis B patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Chronic hepatitis B infection is a major cause of hepatocellular cancer (HCC). The pathogenesis of the carcinogenesis is not fully understood. Viral proteins such as the X protein and the truncated middle S protein have been implicated to be transactivators. In order to investigate whether any mutations within relevant parts of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome could be associated with the development of HCC, the genomes of 16 HBV strains from chronic HBV carriers with HCC were studied. Serum samples were subjected to PCR and the HBV DNA sequenced subsequently. Genotypes A–D were represented. The sequence analysis showed that an especially high proportion, 50% (CI 95%, 25–75%), of the patients with HCC carried HBV mutants with deletions or insertions in the N‐terminal half of the pre‐S2 region or had a point mutation in the start codon of pre‐S2 compared with controls with chronic HBV infection, 21% (CI 95%, 3–39%). A high proportion (69%) also had mutations at position 1762 (A → T) and/or 1764 (G → A) in the core promoter region, but the proportion of core promoter mutations was no different from what was found in a control group of HBV carriers without HCC (68%). The pre‐S2 variants, which involve deletions of immunogenic regions, may have a survival advantage as they are mostly found in long‐standing HBV infection. There were no other mutations found frequently within the region coding for the X protein. J. Med. Virol. 71:18–23, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A Kalman filter with individual control factors for echo cancellation

In echo cancellation, the main goal is to recover the near-end signal from the error signal of the adaptive filter, which identifies the echo path. In this context, the Kalman filter represents a very appealing choice, since its basic criterion follows the minimization of the system misalignment (instead of the usual error-based cost function). In this paper, we propose a Kalman filter with individual control factors, in terms of using a different level of uncertainty for each coefficient of the filter. As compared to the basic Kalman filter (which imposes the same uncertainty for all the coefficients of the impulse response), the proposed algorithm achieves better performance, especially in terms of the steady-state misalignment.
Traces of Human Migrations in Helicobacter pylori Populations

Helicobacter pylori, a chronic gastric pathogen of human beings, can be divided into seven populations and subpopulations with distinct geographical distributions. These modern populations derive their gene pools from ancestral populations that arose in Africa, Central Asia, and East Asia. Subsequent spread can be attributed to human migratory fluxes such as the prehistoric colonization of Polynesia and the Americas, the neolithic introduction of farming to Europe, the Bantu expansion within Africa, and the slave trade.
Integrating microarray data by consensus clustering

With the exploding volume of microarray experiments comes increasing interest in mining repositories of such data. Meaningfully combining results from varied experiments on an equal basis is a challenging task. In this paper we propose a general method for integrating heterogeneous data sets based on the consensus clustering formalism. Our method analyzes source-specific clusterings and identifies a consensus set-partition which is as close as possible to all of them. We develop a general criterion to assess the potential benefit of integrating multiple heterogeneous data sets, i.e. whether the integrated data is more informative than the individual data sets. We apply our methods on two popular sets of microarray data yielding gene classifications of potentially greater interest than could be derived from the analysis of each individual data set.
User-satisfaction-based weighted SLNR beamforming in TD-LTE-A system

In TD-LTE-A system, the objective of conventional non-codebook beamforming algorithms is to maximize sum capacity to accommodate more users. However, fairness among users is not considered by these algorithms, and the performance of users with poor channel quality will always be bad. To relax the fairness requirement in resource allocation, this paper first introduces two parameters of user satisfaction into TD-LTE-A system for Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) and Non-GBR traffics, respectively. Then a user-satisfaction-based beamforming algorithm is proposed. This algorithm employs user satisfaction parameter to adjust the weights for weighted Signal-to-Leakage-plus-Noise Ratio (SLNR) algorithm. Finally, the weights of different traffics are also considered in the proposed beamforming algorithm so that average user satisfaction across different types of traffics can be modified according to the requirement of telecommunication operators. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can improve user satisfaction and user fairness, and average user satisfaction of GBR and Non-GBR traffics can be adjusted by changing of GBR priority parameter.
Reactive ranking for cooperative databases

A cooperative database allows the user to specify approximate or vague query conditions. A vague query requires the database system to rank the retrieved answers according to their similarity to that query. In this paper we discuss a reactive ranking strategy for cooperative databases. The reactiveness in our approach is provided by an interactive mechanism which allows the user to select the answers of his preference and then uses these answers to tune the original user query. The ranking formula we propose is derived from a parallel with the AutoClass II system-a Bayesian probabilistic classification engine. The reactive mechanism we propose is derived from a parallel with the technique of relevance feedback widely used in the area of information retrieval. We implemented our cooperative and reactive ranking approach in a Web browser interface and did some experimentation. Our experiments provide initial evidence that our approach might help the user to solve query tasks more precisely and in shorter time.
A Stochastic Model to Investigate Data Center Performance and QoS in IaaS Cloud Computing Systems

Cloud data center management is a key problem due to the numerous and heterogeneous strategies that can be applied, ranging from the VM placement to the federation with other clouds. Performance evaluation of cloud computing infrastructures is required to predict and quantify the cost-benefit of a strategy portfolio and the corresponding quality of service (QoS) experienced by users. Such analyses are not feasible by simulation or on-the-field experimentation, due to the great number of parameters that have to be investigated. In this paper, we present an analytical model, based on stochastic reward nets (SRNs), that is both scalable to model systems composed of thousands of resources and flexible to represent different policies and cloud-specific strategies. Several performance metrics are defined and evaluated to analyze the behavior of a cloud data center: utilization, availability, waiting time, and responsiveness. A resiliency analysis is also provided to take into account load bursts. Finally, a general approach is presented that, starting from the concept of system capacity, can help system managers to opportunely set the data center parameters under different working conditions.
Reunification: keeping families together in crisis.

BACKGROUND In reviewing the literature, there has not been a family reunification plan that has worked consistently during disasters. During Hurricane Katrina, there were children who were sent to a shelter in a different state than their patients. When children are involved, the issues become even more difficult, because some children who are preverbal cannot tell their names or their parents names. Tracking systems have been developed but are not interoperable. No central repository has been developed. There are also issues related to transporting patients, psychosocial issues as well as safety issues that are different when children will be unaccompanied by an adult. METHODS Two national meetings were held with experts from all over the country who have an expertise in the care of children. Six focused groups were identified: patient movement/transportation; technology/tracking; clinical issues, nonmedical issues; communication/regulatory issues; and pediatric psychosocial support. The second meeting was a consensus conference. RESULTS Recommendations from each subgroup were presented and voted on. All recommendations were accepted. CONCLUSIONS The issue of reunification of families in disaster is still a problem. Further work needs to be done on tracking systems that are interoperable before another large disaster strike, pediatric psychological issues after a disaster, transporting patients, and care of the pediatric patient who is not accompanied by an adult. Once a system has been developed, the system needs to be tested by large scale drills that practice moving children across state lines and from one area to another.
Prosodic characteristics of read speech before and after treadmill running

Physical activity leads to a respiratory behaviour that is very different to a resting state and that influences speech production. How speech parameters are exactly affected by physical activity remains largely unknown. Hence, we investigated how several prosodic parameters change under influence of physical activity and focused on temporal and breathing characteristics which have not been addressed in detail before. Speech from subjects reading aloud a text before and after a treadmill running exercise was analysed for prosodic differences between before and after running. The most important findings include a higher articulation rate, longer averaged pause and breath durations, a higher in-breath intensity, a higher out-breath rate, and a higher mean F0 for speech recorded immediately after vigorous treadmill running. These findings provide fundamental insights into how speech characteristics are affected by physical effort, and may help advance automatic classification of physical stress in speech.
Independent Component Analysis of Parameterized Electrocardiogram Signals

Independent component analysis (ICA) of measured signals yields the independent sources, given certain fulfilled requirements. Properly parameterized signals may provide a better view to the considered system aspects, while reducing the amount of data. It is little acknowledged that appropriately parameterized signals may be subjected to ICA, yielding independent components displaying more clearly the investigated properties of the sources. In this paper, we propose ICA of parameterized signals, and demonstrate the concept with a set of electrocardiogram (ECG) measurements and their selected parameterizations
Modelling the interactions between Pseudomonas putida and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in fish‐burgers: use of the lag‐exponential model and of a combined interaction index

Aims: The objective of the current study was to examine the interactions between Pseudomonas putida and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in coculture studies on fish‐burgers packed in air and under different modified atmospheres (30 : 40 : 30 O2 : CO2 : N2, 5 : 95 O2 : CO2 and 50 : 50 O2 : CO2), throughout the storage at 8°C.
A Mobile and Low-Cost System for Environmental Monitoring: A Case Study

Northern Italy has one of the highest air pollution levels in the European Union. This paper describes a mobile wireless sensor network system intended to complement the already existing official air quality monitoring systems of the metropolitan town of Torino. The system is characterized by a high portability and low cost, in both acquisition and maintenance. The high portability of the system aims to improve the spatial distribution and resolution of the measurements from the official static monitoring stations. Commercial PM10 and O3 sensors were incorporated into the system and were subsequently tested in a controlled environment and in the field. The test in the field, performed in collaboration with the local environmental agency, revealed that the sensors can provide accurate data if properly calibrated and maintained. Further tests were carried out by mounting the system on bicycles in order to increase their mobility.
Mining Textual Data in Croatian

Business intelligence systems find textual data a very useful source of information. Text processing algorithms and systems in English and other world languages are well developed, which is not the case with Croatian language. This paper explores the applicability of existing systems and examines optimal parameters for Croatian. The quality of input data strongly influences clustering and classification results. Experiments are significantly better run after reducing noise. The impact of input learning set size and dimensionality are also considered. Special preprocessing for Croatian language consists of morphological normalisation, a useful step towards better results. Non-croatian specialised text mining tools are also applicable.
Experimental Study of a Compact Nanosecond Plasma Gun

The paper presents a new discharge plasma setup, called plasma gun, allowing the generation of nanosecond duration plasma bullets from a pulsed dielectric barrier discharge reactor. These bullets propagate at very high velocity, up to 5 x 10 8 cm · s -1 , in flexible dielectric capillaries flushed with neon or helium flow rates as low as 100 mL · min -1 , over distances of a few tens of centimetres, before inducing plasma plume formation in ambient air. Time resolved nanosecond ICCD imaging show evidence for the channelled structure of the bullets which propagate along the inner surface of the dielectric guide. A few centimetres from the DBD reactor where they are generated, the plasma bullets expand with no connection to the high voltage power source. Non-thermal air plasma plume production is described by spectroscopic measurements. The plasma gun is likely to be developed for remote high voltage fast commutation or in plasma medicine applications or for the decontamination of small diameter catheters.