Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fast <it>k</it>-selection algorithms for graphics processing units

Finding the <it>k</it>th-largest value in a list of <it>n</it> values is a well-studied problem for which many algorithms have been proposed. A naïve approach is to sort the list and then simply select the <it>k</it>th term in the sorted list. However, when the sorted list is not needed, this method does quite a bit of unnecessary work. Although sorting can be accomplished efficiently when working with a graphics processing unit (GPU), this article proposes two GPU algorithms, <tt>radixSelect</tt> and <tt>bucketSelect</tt>, which are several times faster than sorting the vector. As the problem size grows so does the time savings of these algorithms with a sixfold speed-up over GPU sorting for float vectors larger than 224 and for double vectors larger than 220, ultimately reaching a 19.1 times speed-up for double vectors of length 228.
Worries and Concerns among Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients Followed Prospectively over One Year

Disease-related worries are frequently reported in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but longitudinal assessments of these worries are scarce. In the present study, patients completed the rating form of IBD patient concerns (RFIPC) at three occasions during one year. One-way analysis of variance (ANO VA), t-tests, bivariate correlation, and linear regression analyses were used to analyse data. The validity and reliability of the Norwegian RFIPC was tested. A total of 140 patients were included (V1), ulcerative colitis (UC) n = 92, Crohn's disease (CD) n = 48, mean age 46.9 and 40.0-year old, respectively. The highest rated worries included having an ostomy bag, loss of bowel control, and reduced energy levels. Symptoms were positively associated with more worries. A pattern of IBD-related worries was consistent over a period of one year. Worries about undergoing surgery or having an ostomy bag seemed to persist even when symptoms improved. The Norwegian RFIPC is valid and reliable.
High dimensional classification when useful information comes from many , perhaps all features

In the analysis of high-dimensional data it is common to reduce dimension from thousands or tens of thousands to a much smaller number, often between 5 and 20. One reason for such a substantial reduction is to reduce the conceptual difficulty of the problem. This difficulty highlights the need for models that permit a small number of features to provide the majority of information available for classification, but allow a much larger number, indeed potentially all features, to supply the remaining information that is needed for a higher level of performance. Inference in such cases is almost bound to involve significantly nonlinear aspects. In this paper we suggest approaches of this type, based on empirical approximations to Bayes rule classifiers and involving adaptive feature selection to optimise performance. This intrinsically nonlinear approach enables the methodology to exploit any interactions among features that might enhance classifier accuracy. The methodology is sequential, and involves steadily building a model of increasing complexity, stopping when an empirical measure of error indicates that further complexity would only degrade performance.
On the Generalization Power of Face and Gait in Gender Recognition

Human face/gait-based gender recognition has been intensively studied in the previous literatures, yet most of them are based on the same database. Although nearly perfect gender recognition rates can be achieved in the same face/gait dataset, they assume a closed-world and neglect the problems caused by dataset bias. Real-world human gender recognition system should be dataset-independent, i.e., it can be trained on one face/gait dataset and tested on another. In this paper, the authors test several popular face/gait-based gender recognition algorithms in a cross-dataset manner. The recognition rates decrease significantly and some of them are only slightly better than random guess. These observations suggest that the generalization power of conventional algorithms is less satisfied, and highlight the need for further research on face/gait-based gender recognition for real-world applications.
Using Brightness Histogram to perform Optimum Auto Exposure

The dynamic range of natural scenes usually exceeds the dynamic range of imaging sensors by several orders of magnitude. An automatic exposure control (AE) is therefore commonly used in order to shift the dynamic range of the sensor to the section of interest of the dynamic range of the scene. We present a new approach for choosing the section by defining a criteria of optimality. The presented exposure control algorithm is optimal in terms of recorded information of the scene. The advantage over AE based on image mean values will be shown and evaluated by simulation and experiments. We show that our method can easyly be extended for AE control of multiple-slope cameras. The recorded information of the scene is maximized by controlling exposure as well as the transition curve parameters. The controllable dynamic range of mutliple-slope cameras as well as corse quantization in bright image regions is considered. Finally we propose some possible extensions to the criteria of optimality. Key–Words: Optimum Auto Exposure, High Dynamic Range (HDR), multiple-slope camera January 26, 2007
Vehicle Positioning in Underground Mines

This paper describes the problem of locating a vehicle relative to a digital map of an underground mine. The mines of interest produce potash, and they are at a depth of approximately 1000 meters, being relatively large, covering an area greater than 10 kilometers by 10 kilometers. A major application of vehicle positioning is in tracking ground penetrating radar. Ground penetrating radar is used to ascertain the current condition of the mine ceiling and evaluate its risk of delamination (i.e. collapse). A ground penetrating radar system is driven along a tunnel and measurements are logged. It is necessary to record position information along with the radar signal, and this can be an expensive task without a positioning system, since there are many kilometers of mine tunnels. Two possible problem solutions are proposed each using different absolute measurements. For the first case the distance to the mine walls is used. In the second case an existing wireless ethernet network furnishes the positioning system with distances from local access points. The system model is the same for both formulations and uses a state space representation. Both formulations also make use of inertial measurements such as acceleration. A particle filter, which is a recursive Bayesian technique using sequential Monte Carlo sampling, is used to estimate the state and, therefore, the position of the vehicle.
A Tiny and Light-Weight Autonomic Element for Wireless Sensor Networks

Autonomic networks are able to monitor and control themselves without direct human intervention. The smallest unit of an autonomic network is the autonomic element (AE). This work presents the model and evaluation of a specific wireless sensor network (WSNs) AE, called autonomic sensor element (ASE). The ASE has been proposed considering WSNs hardware, software, communication and energy restrictions.
Double blind randomised controlled trial of two different breathing techniques in the management of asthma

Background: Previous studies have shown that breathing techniques reduce short acting β2 agonist use and improve quality of life (QoL) in asthma. The primary aim of this double blind study was to compare the effects of breathing exercises focusing on shallow nasal breathing with those of non-specific upper body exercises on asthma symptoms, QoL, other measures of disease control, and inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) dose. This study also assessed the effect of peak flow monitoring on outcomes in patients using breathing techniques. Methods: After a 2 week run in period, 57 subjects were randomised to one of two breathing techniques learned from instructional videos. During the following 30 weeks subjects practised their exercises twice daily and as needed for relief of symptoms. After week 16, two successive ICS downtitration steps were attempted. The primary outcome variables were QoL score and daily symptom score at week 12. Results: Overall there were no clinically important differences between the groups in primary or secondary outcomes at weeks 12 or 28. The QoL score remained unchanged (0.7 at baseline v 0.5 at week 28, p = 0.11 both groups combined), as did lung function and airway responsiveness. However, across both groups, reliever use decreased by 86% (p<0.0001) and ICS dose was reduced by 50% (p<0.0001; p>0.10 between groups). Peak flow monitoring did not have a detrimental effect on asthma outcomes. Conclusion: Breathing techniques may be useful in the management of patients with mild asthma symptoms who use a reliever frequently, but there is no evidence to favour shallow nasal breathing over non-specific upper body exercises.
L-WMxD: Lexical based Webmail XSS Discoverer

XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) is a major security threat for web applications. Due to lack of source code of web application, fuzz technique has become a popular approach to discover XSS in web application except Webmail. This paper proposes a Webmail XSS fuzzer called L-WMxD (Lexical based Webmail XSS Discoverer). L-WMxD , which works on a lexical based mutation engine, is an active defense system to discover XSS before the Webmail application is online for service. The engine is initialized by normal JavaScript code called seed. Then, rules are applied to the sensitive strings in the seed which are picked out through a lexical parser. After that, the mutation engine issues multiple test cases. Newly-generated test cases are used for XSS test. Two prototype tools are realized by us to send the newly-generated test cases to various Webmail servers to discover XSS vulnerability. Experimental results of L-WMxD are quite encouraging. We have run L-WMxD over 26 real-world Webmail applications and found vulnerabilities in 21 Webmail services, including some of the most widely used Yahoo! Mail, Mirapoint Webmail and ORACLE' Collaboration Suite Mail.
Effects of immobilized immune complexes on Fc- and complement-receptor function in resident and thioglycollate-elicited mouse peritoneal macrophages

We have examined the Fc- and complement-receptor function of resident and thioglycollate-elicited mouse peritoneal macrophages plated on surfaces coated with rabbit antibody-antigen complexes and with complement. We derive four major conclusions from these studies. (a) The trypsin-resistant Fc receptors of resident and thioglycollate- elicited macrophages are completely modulated when these cells are plated on rabbit antibody-antigen complexes. Residual Fc receptor activity is a result of the incomplete modulation of trypsin-sensitive IgG2a receptors. (b) The complement receptors of thioglycollate- elicited macrophages, but not of resident macrophages, are modulated when these cells are plated on complement-coated surfaces. The capacity of the two cell types to modulate their complement receptors is correlated with their ability to ingest complement-coated erythrocytes. (c) The complement and Fc receptors of both types of macrophages move independently of one another. (d) Complement masks the Fc segments of IgG in immune complexes thereby rendering them ineffective as ligands for macrophage Fc receptors.
1WGA J1216.9+3743: Chandra Finds an Extremely Steep Ultraluminous X-Ray Source

We report the discovery of a new ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) in the nearby galaxy NGC 4244 from Chandra archival data. The source, 1WGA J1216.9+3743, is one of the least luminous and softest ULXs discovered so far. Its X-ray spectrum is the best available for a representative of the soft ULXs, a class of sources recently discovered by Chandra and XMM-Newton. 1WGA J1216.9+3743 appears pointlike in the Chandra image and has a complex spectral shape; a multicolor disk model, suitable for brighter ULXs, is inadequate for this source. The 1WGA J1216.9+3743 spectrum is heavily absorbed (NH ~ 1-4 × 1021 cm-2) and very soft. The best-fit power-law model gives Γ ~ 5 and implies a luminosity L(0.5-10 keV) ~ 1039 ergs s-1. A comparison with previous detections shows that, despite the variability displayed by the source during the Chandra observation, the 1WGA J1216.9+3743 count rate, spectral shape, and absorption are practically unchanged over a 9 yr period. We also performed deep optical imaging of the field containing the X-ray source and found a possible R ~ 23.7 counterpart.
Exercise Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Breast Cancer Survivors

Thanks to increasingly effective treatment, breast cancer mortality rates have significantly declined over the past few decades. Following the increase in life expectancy of women diagnosed with breast cancer, it has been recognized that these women are at an elevated risk for cardiovascular disease due in part to the cardiotoxic side effects of treatment. This paper reviews evidence for the role of exercise in prevention of cardiovascular toxicity associated with chemotherapy used in breast cancer, and in modifying cardiovascular risk factors in breast cancer survivors. There is growing evidence indicating that the primary mechanism for this protective effect appears to be improved antioxidant capacity in the heart and vasculature and subsequent reduction of treatment-related oxidative stress in these structures. Further clinical research is needed to determine whether exercise is a feasible and effective nonpharmacological treatment to reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in breast cancer survivors, to identify the cancer therapies for which it is effective, and to determine the optimal exercise dose. Safe and noninvasive measures that are sensitive to changes in cardiovascular function are required to answer these questions in patient populations. Cardiac strain, endothelial function, and cardiac biomarkers are suggested outcome measures for clinical research in this field.
Asymptotic Rate versus Design Rate

The rate of a code is one of its most important parameters. We consider sparse graph codes and ask whether the rate of a random element of an ensemble is typically close to the design rate of the ensemble. For regular LDPC ensembles this question was answered in the affirmative in (Miller and Cohen, 2003). We start by giving an alternative proof of this statement. We then show that essentially the same type of argument applies not only to regular ensembles but also to ensembles that are derived from regular ensembles in the sense that their degree distribution is the result of applying the peeling decoder to a regular code. As an immediate consequence we prove that for regular ensembles the asymptotic MAP EXIT value coincides with the asymptotic BP EXIT value. We then give a systematic construction of ensembles for which rate and design rate differ. To accomplish this, we first show that the duality theorem (Ashikhminet al., 2004) implies that the asymptotic BP EXIT and the MAP EXIT functions are identical for any channel parameter for which the density evolution (DE) equations have a unique fixed point.
DNA Methylation Variation Trends during the Embryonic Development of Chicken

The embryogenesis period is critical for epigenetic reprogramming and is thus of great significance in the research field of poultry epigenetics for elucidation of the trends in DNA methylation variations during the embryonic development of birds, particularly due to differences in embryogenesis between birds and mammals. Here, we first examined the variations in genomic DNA methylation during chicken embryogenesis through high-performance liquid chromatography using broilers as the model organism. We then identified the degree of DNA methylation of the promoters and gene bodies involved in two specific genes (IGF2 and TNF-α) using the bisulfite sequencing polymerase chain reaction method. In addition, we measured the expression levels of IGF2, TNF-α and DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) 1, 3a and 3b. Our results showed that the genomic DNA methylation levels in the liver, heart and muscle increased during embryonic development and that the methylation level of the liver was significantly higher in mid-anaphase. In both the muscle and liver, the promoter methylation levels of TNF-α first increased and then decreased, whereas the gene body methylation levels remained lower at embryonic ages E8, 11 and 14 before increasing notably at E17. The promoter methylation level of IGF2 decreased persistently, whereas the methylation levels in the gene body showed a continuous increase. No differences in the expression of TNF-α were found among E8, 11 and 14, whereas a significant increase was observed at E17. IGF2 showed increasing expression level during the examined embryonic stages. In addition, the mRNA and protein levels of DNMTs increased with increasing embryonic ages. These results suggest that chicken shows increasing genomic DNA methylation patterns during the embryonic period. Furthermore, the genomic DNA methylation levels in tissues are closely related to the genes expression levels, and gene expression may be simultaneously regulated by promoter hypomethylation and gene body hypermethylation.
A hybrid approach for chinese pronunciation-translated person names recognition

Pronunciation-translated person names (PPN) bring ambiguities to Chinese word segmentation. In this paper, we regard PPN recognition as a binary classification problem. We propose a hybrid approach that combines conditional random fields (CRF) model and support vector machines (SVM) model for the task of recognizing PPN. The experiments show that the performance of the hybrid model is better than either the CRF model or the SVM model. With regard to the analyses of the results individually generated by the CRF model and the SVM model, we also apply some appropriate rules to the hybrid model in order to prune errors. According to our overall experiments, the hybrid method with rules achieves a high precision in the final results, which demonstrates that our hybrid model is effective.
Differential gene expression in patients with subsyndromal symptomatic depression and major depressive disorder

Background Subsyndromal symptomatic depression (SSD) is a subtype of subthreshold depressive and can lead to significant psychosocial functional impairment. Although the pathogenesis of major depressive disorder (MDD) and SSD still remains poorly understood, a set of studies have found that many same genetic factors play important roles in the etiology of these two disorders. Nowadays, the differential gene expression between MDD and SSD is still unknown. In our previous study, we compared the expression profile and made the classification with the leukocytes by using whole-genome cRNA microarrays among drug-free first-episode subjects with SSD, MDD and matched healthy controls (8 subjects in each group), and finally determined 48 gene expression signatures. Based on these findings, we further clarify whether these genes mRNA was different expressed in peripheral blood in patients with SSD, MDD and healthy controls (60 subjects respectively) Method With the help of the quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), we gained gene relative expression levels among the three groups. Results We found that there are three of the forty eight co-regulated genes had differential expression in peripheral blood among the three groups, which are CD84, STRN, CTNS gene (F = 3.528, p = 0.034; F = 3.382, p = 0.039; F = 3.801, p = 0.026, respectively) while there were no significant differences for other genes. Conclusion CD84, STRN, CTNS gene may have significant value for performing diagnostic functions and classifying SSD, MDD and healthy controls.
Employing Symmetry Features for Automatic Misalignment Correction in Neuroimages

A novel method to automatically compute the symmetry plane and to correct the 3D orientation of neuro‐images is presented. In acquisition of neuroimaging scans, the lack of perfect alignment of a patient's head makes it challenging to evaluate brain images. By deploying a shape‐based criterion, the symmetry plane is defined as a plane that best matches external surface points on one side of the head, with their counterparts on the other side. In our method, the head volume is represented as a re‐parameterized surface point cloud, where each location is parameterized by its elevation (latitude), azimuth (longitude), and radius. The search for the best matching surfaces is implemented in a multi‐resolution paradigm, and the computation time is significantly decreased. The algorithm was quantitatively evaluated using in both simulated data and in real T1, T2, Flair magnetic resonance patient images. This algorithm is found to be fast (<10s per MR volume), robust and accurate (<.6 degree of Mean Angular Error), invariant to the acquisition noise, slice thickness, bias field, and pathological asymmetries.
Human β-defensin 3 contains an oncolytic motif that binds PI(4,5)P2 to mediate tumour cell permeabilisation

Cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAPs), including taxonomically diverse defensins, are innate defense molecules that display potent antimicrobial and immunomodulatory activities. Specific CAPs have also been shown to possess anticancer activities; however, their mechanisms of action are not well defined. Recently, the plant defensin NaD1 was shown to induce tumour cell lysis by directly binding to the plasma membrane phosphoinositide, phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PI(4,5)P2). The NaD1–lipid interaction was structurally defined by X-ray crystallography, with the defensin forming a dimer that binds PI(4,5)P2 via its cationic β2-β3 loops in a ‘cationic grip’ conformation. In this study, we show that human β-defensin 3 (HBD-3) contains a homologous β2-β3 loop that binds phosphoinositides. The binding of HBD-3 to PI(4,5)P2 was shown to be critical for mediating cytolysis of tumour cells, suggesting a conserved mechanism of action for defensins across diverse species. These data not only identify an evolutionary conservation of CAP structure and function for lipid binding, but also suggest that PIP-binding CAPs could be exploited for novel multifunction therapeutics.
Quality of life among U.S. Army spouses during the Iraq war

ABSTRACT During the course of previous military conflicts, attention has been focused on separations experienced by service members and their loved ones. This study utilized the ABC-X model of Family Stress and Resiliency Theory to provide information about specific family and parental stressors, family coping, appraisal of stress and coping abilities, and quality of life for spouses at various stages of a recent military deployment. Three groups of spouses differed primarily for levels of family stress and quality of life. In addition to comparative analysis, path analyses were conducted for each group to determine the influence of stressors, coping, wellbeing, and sense of coherence on quality of life. The model for the group of spouses with service members deployed longest accounted for the greatest amount of variability in quality of life. Implications for family counseling, social work practice, and community policy have been provided.
systematic review on the functional testing of semantic web services

Semantic web services are gaining more attention as an important element of the emerging semantic web. Therefore, testing semantic web services is becoming a key concern as an essential quality assurance measure. The objective of this systematic literature review is to summarize the current state of the art of functional testing of semantic web services by providing answers to a set of research questions. The review follows a predefined procedure that involves automatically searching 5 well-known digital