Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of assessment toolkits for improving the diagnosis of the Lewy body dementias: feasibility study within the DIAMOND Lewy study

The Lewy body dementias (LBD, dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson's disease dementia) are the second most common cause of neurodegenerative dementia but remain under‐recognised, with long delays from initial assessment to diagnosis. Whilst validated instruments have been developed for key symptoms, there is no brief instrument for overall diagnostic assessment suitable for routine practice. We here report the development of such assessment toolkits.
How Many Genetic Variants Remain to Be Discovered?

A great majority of genetic markers discovered in recent genome-wide association studies have small effect sizes, and they explain only a small fraction of the genetic contribution to the diseases. How many more variants can we expect to discover and what study sizes are needed? We derive the connection between the cumulative risk of the SNP variants to the latent genetic risk model and heritability of the disease. We determine the sample size required for case-control studies in order to achieve a certain expected number of discoveries in a collection of most significant SNPs. Assuming similar allele frequencies and effect sizes of the currently validated SNPs, complex phenotypes such as type-2 diabetes would need approximately 800 variants to explain its 40% heritability. Much smaller numbers of variants are needed if we assume rare-variants but higher penetrance models. We estimate that up to 50,000 cases and an equal number of controls are needed to discover 800 common low-penetrant variants among the top 5000 SNPs. Under common and rare low-penetrance models, the very large studies required to discover the numerous variants are probably at the limit of practical feasibility. Under rare-variant with medium- to high-penetrance models (odds-ratios between 1.6 and 4.0), studies comparable in size to many existing studies are adequate provided the genotyping technology can interrogate more and rarer variants.
Cross-language information retrieval based on parallel texts and automatic mining of parallel texts from the Web

This paper describes the use of a probabilistic translation model to cross-language IR (CLIR). The performance of this approach is compared with that using machine translation (MT). It is shown that using a probabilistic model, we are able to obtain performances close to those using an MT system. In addition, we also investigated the possibility of automatically gather parallel texts from the Web in an attempt to construct a reasonable training corpus. The result is very encouraging. We showed that in several tests, such a training corpus is as good as a manually constructed one for CLIR purposes.
Interactive editing and modeling of bidirectional texture functions

While measured Bidirectional Texture Functions (BTF) enable impressive realism in material appearance, they offer little control, which limits their use for content creation. In this work, we interactively manipulate BTFs and create new BTFs from flat textures. We present an out-of-core approach to manage the size of BTFs and introduce new editing operations that modify the appearance of a material. These tools achieve their full potential when selectively applied to subsets of the BTF through the use of new selection operators. We further analyze the use of our editing operators for the modification of important visual characteristics such as highlights, roughness, and fuzziness. Results compare favorably to the direct alteration of micro-geometry and reflectances of synthetic reference data.
Resolving Stakeholder Challenges in the Higher Education System

Purpose : The purpose of this paper is to study how to resolve conflicts among major the stakeholders using the Kano et al. (1984) model so as to improve the quality of higher education (HE). Design/Methodology/Approach : The study presented in this paper was part of an action research study. The empirical material was collected by various methods (interviews and survey) in private and public higher education institutions in Accra, Ghana. The respondents included academic leaders, administrators, teachers and students. Findings : The study shows that incorporating a view of major stakeholder expectations in a Kano et al. (1984) model could help resolve conflicts, and prioritize the stakeholder needs. Practical Implications: The outcome of this paper could aid higher education administrators (HEAs) improve the existing planning processes and help resolve needs (critical to quality-CTQ) of other major stakeholders with some social benefits. Originality/Value : This paper expounds on applying the Kano et al. (1984) model based on major stakeholder expectations in the higher education system to achieve quality. While a number of papers have been published on the applications of Kano et al. (1984) model, scarcely have one used the model to resolve conflicts among major the stakeholders in the HE system. This approach appears to overcome a gap, identified in an earlier research.
A New Joint Diagonalization Algorithm with Application to Blind Source Separation

In this paper, a novel iterative algorithm for the joint diagonalization of a set of real symmetric matrices is presented. The approximate joint diagonalization of a set of matrices is an important approach in many blind source separations (BSS) applications. By applying the least-squares criterion, a classical nonlinear least-squares cost-function of the BSS problem is obtained. An explicit method for optimizing the cost function is derived and compared with other techniques in the BSS context. Both simplicity and efficiency were achieved by applying the algorithm to BSS problems.
Random-Restart Reactive Tabu Search Algorithm for Detection in Large-MIMO Systems

We present a low-complexity algorithm based on reactive tabu search (RTS) for near maximum likelihood (ML) detection in large-MIMO systems. The conventional RTS algorithm achieves near-ML performance for 4-QAM in large-MIMO systems. But its performance for higher-order QAM is far from ML performance. Here, we propose a random-restart RTS (R3TS) algorithm which achieves significantly better bit error rate (BER) performance compared to that of the conventional RTS algorithm in higher-order QAM. The key idea is to run multiple tabu searches, each search starting with a random initial vector and choosing the best among the resulting solution vectors. A criterion to limit the number of searches is also proposed. Computer simulations show that the R3TS algorithm achieves almost the ML performance in 16 × 16 V-BLAST MIMO system with 16-QAM and 64-QAM at significantly less complexities than the sphere decoder. Also, in a 32 × 32 V-BLAST MIMO system, the R3TS performs close to ML lower bound within 1.6 dB for 16-QAM (128 bps/Hz), and within 2.4 dB for 64-QAM (192 bps/Hz) at 10-3 BER.
Does Investor Misvaluation Drive the Takeover Market?

This paper tests the hypothesis that irrational market misvaluation affects firms' takeover behavior. We employ two contemporaneous proxies for market misvaluation, pre-takeover book/price ratios and pre-takeover ratios of residual income model value to price. Misvaluation of bidders and targets influences the means of payment chosen, the mode of acquisition, the premia paid, target hostility to the offer, the likelihood of offer success, and bidder and target announcement period stock returns. The evidence is broadly supportive of the misvaluation hypothesis.
AMBIT-SE: Towards a User-aware Semantic Enterprise Search Engine

Search engines represent one of the most exploited tools both in our everyday life and in our work. In this paper we propose a user-aware semantic enterprise search engine called AMBIT-SE. It is “enterprise” in the sense that it is focused on the search in enterprise websites; the “semantic” aspect is related to the fact that it exploits not an exact word match, but relies also on the meaning of the words by means of synonyms and related terms; finally, to produce query results it takes into account also the user information, which turns out to be very useful to improve the search. We explain how our system works and report the results of experiments on different websites.
Blood pressure inversely correlates with thrombin-evoked calcium rise in platelets.

Earlier investigations showed a positive correlation between basal cytosolic free calcium in human platelets and blood pressure; however, recent studies have failed to show this relation. We undertook the present work to examine which platelet cytosolic calcium parameters (namely, cytosolic calcium in resting or stimulated states in calcium-containing and calcium-free media) present the least variability and best correlation with blood pressure. We studied 17 healthy white men on three different occasions separated by 1- and 4-week intervals. Their manual and ambulatory automated 24-hour blood pressure measurements were correlated with cytosolic calcium in resting and stimulated (thrombin-treated) fura 2-loaded platelets. The following cytosolic calcium parameters were measured in 1 mmol/L calcium and calcium-free media: basal cytosolic calcium, peak thrombin-evoked cytosolic calcium, and post-transient cytosolic calcium 5 minutes after thrombin treatment. The highest and lowest coefficients of variation were respectively shown by the basal cytosolic calcium (22.8%) and peak thrombin-evoked cytosolic calcium (10.1%) in calcium medium. Basal cytosolic calcium did not correlate with any of the blood pressure parameters. Of the cytosolic calcium parameters, peak thrombin-evoked cytosolic calcium in calcium medium demonstrated consistent (negative) correlations with blood pressure, with better correlations shown with diastolic than systolic blood pressure of both automated and manual blood pressure readings. Peak thrombin-evoked cytosolic calcium in calcium medium showed similar correlations with nighttime and daytime automated blood pressure measurements. There were no correlations between peak thrombin-evoked cytosolic calcium in calcium-free medium and blood pressure. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Energy Storage and Power Management for Typical 4Q-Load

Diesel generators in small electricity grids are mostly not used in a very efficient way. The reason for this is twofold. First of all, the efficiency of a diesel generator is dependent on the ratio determined by the average power divided by the peak power of the generator. The smaller this ratio is, the lower the efficiency. Furthermore, some loads can regenerate energy. In small grids, this energy is mostly not needed elsewhere and should be dissipated. A solution solving both problems previously mentioned is using an energy storage device in the system. This storage can be used for peak shaving and storing regenerated energy. This paper focuses on a generator-set with energy storage. Six different power management strategies are discussed. Calculation of the costs shows that adding an energy storage device lowers the cost for all methods. Verification with simulation and experiments has been carried out.
Detection and localization of persons behind obstacles using M-sequence through-the-wall radar

We describe the architecture and design of a through-the-wall radar. The radar is applied for the detection and localization of people hidden behind obstacles. It implements a new adaptive processing technique for people detection, which is introduced in this article. This processing technique is based on exponential averaging with adopted weighting coefficients. Through-the-wall detection and localization of a moving person is demonstrated by a measurement example. The localization relies on the time-of-flight approach.
Developmental stage-specific metabolic and transcriptional activity of Chlamydia trachomatis in an axenic medium

Chlamydia trachomatis is among the most clinically significant human pathogens, yet their obligate intracellular nature places severe restrictions upon research. Chlamydiae undergo a biphasic developmental cycle characterized by an infectious cell type known as an elementary body (EB) and an intracellular replicative form called a reticulate body (RB). EBs have historically been described as metabolically dormant. A cell-free (axenic) culture system was developed, which showed high levels of metabolic and biosynthetic activity from both EBs and RBs, although the requirements differed for each. EBs preferentially used glucose-6-phosphate as an energy source, whereas RBs required ATP. Both developmental forms showed increased activity when incubated under microaerobic conditions. Incorporation of isotopically labeled amino acids into proteins from both developmental forms indicated unique expression profiles, which were confirmed by genome-wide transcriptional analysis. The described axenic culture system will greatly enhance biochemical and physiological analyses of chlamydiae.
Enhanced resolution in SAR/ISAR imaging using iterative sidelobe apodization

Resolution enhancement techniques in radar imaging have attracted considerable interest in recent years. In this work, we develop an iterative sidelobe apodization technique and investigate its applications to synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and inverse SAR (ISAR) image processing. A modified noninteger Nyquist spatially variant apodization (SVA) formulation is proposed, which is applicable to direct iterative image sidelobe apodization without using computationally intensive upsampling interpolation. A refined iterative sidelobe apodization procedure is then developed for image-resolution enhancement. Examples using this technique demonstrate enhanced image resolution in various applications, including airborne SAR imaging, image processing for three-dimensional interferometric ISAR imaging, and foliage-penetration ultrawideband SAR image processing.
Robotic Dance in Social Robotics—A Taxonomy

Robotic dance is an important topic in the field of social robotics. Its research has a vital significance to both humans and robotics. This paper presents a review of the state of the art in robotic dance. Robotic dance is classified into four categories: cooperative human-robot dance, imitation of human dance motions, synchronization for music, and creation of robotic choreography. The research methods in each category are discussed. Future research areas are highlighted.
mZig: Enabling Multi-Packet Reception in ZigBee

This paper presents mZig, a novel physical layer design that enables a receiver to simultaneously decode multiple packets from different transmitters in ZigBee. As a low-power and low-cost wireless protocol, the promising ZigBee has been widely used in sensor networks, cyber-physical systems, and smart buildings. Since ZigBee based networks usually adopt tree or cluster topology, the convergecast scenarios are common in which multiple transmitters need to send packets to one receiver. For example, in a smart home, all appliances report data to one control plane via ZigBee. However, concurrent transmissions in convergecast lead to the severe collision problem. The conventional ZigBee avoids collisions using backoff time, which introduces additional time overhead. Advanced methods resolve collisions instead of avoidance, in which the state-of-the-art ZigZag resolves one m-packet collision requiring m retransmissions. We propose mZig to resolve one m-packet collision by this collision itself, so the theoretical throughput is improved m-fold. Leveraging the unique features in ZigBee's physical layer including its chip rate, half-sine pulse shaping and O-QPSK modulation, mZig subtly decomposes multiple packets from one collision in baseband signal processing. The practical factors of noise, multipath, and frequency offset are taken into account in mZig design. We implement mZig on USRPs and establish a seven-node testbed. Experiment results demonstrate that mZig can receive up to four concurrent packets in our testbed. The throughput of mZig is 4.5x of the conventional ZigBee and 3.2x of ZigZag in the convergecast with four or more transmitters.
Rethinking Roles: Reflexive Role Ascription and Performativity in International Relations

This article argues for a practice of reflexive role ascription in International Relations (IR) to prevent actor normalization. Roles are useful and often applied in narratives to facilitate our understanding of particular actors or subject positions. Yet, recurrent and non-reflexive ascriptions give rise to normalization, shaping how actors become understood. Awareness of performativity, over-generalization, and over-determining roles would thus contribute to more nuanced understandings of actors and prevent limited yet insightful role ascriptions from becoming the norm. The article builds on two largely compatible turns in IR—the reflexive and narrative turns—with a view to enlarging the concept of role beyond the domain of interaction and drama. It thus reviews the manner in which roles have been conceptualized in IR and extends their definition. Then, by focusing on the notions of attribution, predication, and Judith Butler's performativity, the article propounds a two-level approach to reflexive role ascription–derived from Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutics—that deters narratives and their roles from normalizing subject positions in IR.
Lie-algebraic averaging for globally consistent motion estimation

While motion estimation has been extensively studied in the computer vision literature, the inherent information redundancy in an image sequence has not been well utilised. In particular as many as N(N-1)/2 pairwise relative motions can be estimated efficiently from a sequence of N images. This highly redundant set of observations can be efficiently averaged resulting in fast motion estimation algorithms that are globally consistent. In this paper we demonstrate this using the underlying Lie-group structure of motion representations. The Lie-algebras of the Special Orthogonal and Special Euclidean groups are used to define averages on the Lie-group which in turn gives statistically meaningful, efficient and accurate algorithms for fusing motion information. Using multiple constraints also controls the drift in the solution due to accumulating error. The performance of the method in estimating camera motion is demonstrated on image sequences.
Quasi-experimental retrospective study: Effects of formal math study skills instruction on remedial college math achievement

The problem is that over 50% of entering college students must take remedial courses before qualifying for college-level courses (Hodges & Kennedy, 2004). With a quantitative, quasi-experimental, retrospective research design, it was determined whether math study skills instruction had a significant effect on remedial math student achievement. Posttest scores were significantly different among the control group with no math study skills and the experimental group with math study skills intervention. Formal math study skills instruction did not increase remedial math student achievement. In order to determine whether a formal study skills intervention significantly improves remedial math study achievement, an experimental design study with random assignment and a control group is recommended for future research, specifically examining various student demographic groups.
Reasoning About Approximate Match Query Results

Join techniques deploying approximate match predicates are fundamental data cleaning operations. A variety of predicates have been utilized to quantify approximate match in such operations and some have been embedded in a declarative data cleaning framework. These techniques return pairs of tuples from both relations, tagged with a score, signifying the degree of similarity between the tuples in the pair according to the specific approximate match predicate. In this paper, we consider the problem of estimating various parameters on the output of declarative approximate join algorithms for planning purposes. Such algorithms are highly time consuming, so precise knowledge of the result size as well as its score distribution is a pressing concern. This knowledge aids decisions as to which operations are more promising for identifying highly similar tuples, which is a key operation for data cleaning. We propose solution strategies that fully comply with a declarative framework and analytically reason about the quality of the estimates we obtain as well as the performance of our strategies. We present the results of a detailed performance evaluation of all strategies proposed. Our experimental results validate our analytical expectations and shed additional light on the quality and performance of our estimation framework. Our study offers a set of simple, fully declarative techniques for this problem, which can be readily deployed in data cleaning systems.
Association Between BMI Measured Within a Year After Diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes and Mortality

OBJECTIVE To describe the association of BMI with mortality in patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Using records of 106,640 patients in Scotland, we investigated the association between BMI recorded around the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and mortality using Cox proportional hazards regression adjusted for age and smoking status, with BMI 25 to <30 kg/m2 as a referent group. Deaths within 2 years of BMI determination were excluded. Mean follow-up to death or the end of 2007 was 4.7 years. RESULTS A total of 9,631 deaths occurred between 2001 and 2007. Compared with the reference group, mortality risk was higher in patients with BMI 20 to <25 kg/m2 (hazard ratio 1.22 [95% CI 1.13–1.32] in men, 1.32 [1.22–1.44] in women) and patients with BMI ≥35 kg/m2 (for example, 1.70 [1.24–2.34] in men and 1.81 [1.46–2.24] in women for BMI 45 to <50 kg/m2). Vascular mortality was higher for each 5-kg/m2 increase in BMI >30 kg/m2 by 24% (15–35%) in men and 23% (14–32%) in women, but was lower below this threshold. The results were similar after further adjustment for HbA1c, year of diagnosis, lipids, blood pressure, and socioeconomic status. CONCLUSIONS Patients categorized as normal weight or obese with T2DM within a year of diagnosis of T2DM exhibit variably higher mortality outcomes compared with the overweight group, confirming a U-shaped association of BMI with mortality. Whether weight loss interventions reduce mortality in all T2DM patients requires study.
Targeting chronic inflammation in cerebral aneurysms: focusing on NF-κB as a putative target of medical therapy

Importance of the field: Cerebral aneurysms (CAs) are the main cause of life-threatening subarachnoid hemorrhage. Given its prevalence and endpoint, CA treatment is a public health issue. Effective medical treatment of CAs is lacking because the detailed mechanisms of CA formation are incompletely understood. Areas covered in this review: The aim of this contribution is to review recent articles about CA formation, to suggest the underlying mechanisms of CA formation, and to discuss potential therapeutic targets for treatment. Articles were collected by an internet search of PubMed using the keywords ‘intracranial’ or ‘cerebral aneurysm’. What the readers will gain: A review of articles about the pathogenesis of CA formation focusing on inflammation. Recent articles demonstrate that inflammation-related-molecule induction and inflammatory cell infiltration in CA walls and the close relationship between inflammatory responses and CA formation. From studies in experimental models, chronic inflammation triggered primarily by NF-κB activation in endothelial cells and subsequent macrophage infiltration have critical roles in CA formation. Inhibition of inflammation-related molecules in CA walls results in the decreased incidence of CA formation. Take-home message: Agents with anti-inflammatory activity (particularly anti- NF-κB effects) have potential as therapeutic drugs for CAs.