Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
POLARMAP - Efficient Visualisation of High Dimensional Data

Multidimensional scaling provides low-dimensional visualisation of high-dimensional feature vectors. This is a very important step in data preprocessing because it helps the user to appraise which methods to use for further data analysis. But a well known problem with conventional MDS is the quadratic need of space and time. Beside this, a transformation of MDS must be completely recomputed if additional feature vectors have to be considered. The POLARMAP algorithm, presented in this paper, learns a function, similar to NeuroScale, but with lower computational costs, that maps high-dimensional feature vectors to a 2-dimensional feature space. With the obtained function even new feature vectors can be mapped to the target space
Feature binding in attentive tracking of distinct objects

To what degree can attentive tracking of objects’ motion benefit from increased distinctiveness in the objects’ surface features? To address this question, we asked observers to track four moving digits among a total of eight moving digits. By varying the distinctiveness of the digits’ colour and identity, we found that tracking performance improved when the eight objects were all distinct in colour, digit identity, or both, compared to when the eight objects were identical. However, when the eight objects were distinct in a combination of colour and digit but targets and nontargets shared colour or digit identity, performance enhancement was not observed. Four follow-up experiments extended the range of the feature dimensions generating the effect and ruled out alternative strategic accounts. We conclude that surface features can be used to enhance tracking performance. This enhancement is feature based, revealing a limited degree of feature binding in attentive tracking.
Fully Dynamic Maximal Matching in O (log n) Update Time

We present an algorithm for maintaining maximal matching in a graph under addition and deletion of edges. Our data structure is randomized that takes $O( \log n)$ expected amortized time for each edge update where $n$ is the number of vertices in the graph. While there is a trivial $O(n)$ algorithm for edge update, the previous best known result for this problem was due to Ivkovi\'c and Llyod\cite{llyod}. For a graph with $n$ vertices and $m$ edges, they give an $O( {(n+ m)}^{0.7072})$ update time algorithm which is sub linear only for a sparse graph. %To the best of our knowledge this %is the first polylog update time for maximal matching that implies an % exponential improvement from the previous results. For the related problem of maximum matching, Onak and Rubinfeld \cite{onak} designed a randomized data structure that achieves $O(\log^2 n)$ expected amortized time for each update for maintaining a $c$-approximate maximum matching for some large constant $c$. In contrast, we can maintain a factor two approximate maximum matching in $O(\log n )$ expected amortized time per update as a direct corollary of the maximal matching scheme. This in turn also implies a two approximate vertex cover maintenance scheme that takes $O(\log n )$expected amortized time per update.
The effect of the national demonstration project Healthy Respect on teenage sexual health behaviour.

BACKGROUND As part of the independent evaluation of Healthy Respect (a national demonstration project to improve teenage sexual health in Scotland) this study examined the effect of the school-based sexual health education intervention comprising multiprofessional classroom delivery and alongside drop-in clinics on teenage sexual behaviour outcomes. METHODS Before-and-after cross-sectional surveys of secondary school pupils (average age 14 years and 6 months) were used in 10 Healthy Respect intervention schools in Lothian region and 5 comparison schools without intervention in Grampian region (2001 and 2003). RESULTS By 2003, the proportion of pupils in Lothian feeling confident about getting condoms and using condoms properly significantly increased, more Lothian pupils (particularly boys) showed improved knowledge about condoms being protective against sexually transmitted infections. No further evidence of improved knowledge, attitudes, or intentions was evident after the intervention. Pupils in Lothian remained more likely to think using a condom would be embarrassing (especially girls), would reduce sexual enjoyment (especially boys), and intentions about condom use (as closer predictors of actual behaviour change) showed no significant improvement. More Lothian ( approximately 24%) than Grampian ( approximately 19%) pupils report having had sexual intercourse at age <16 years, both before and after the intervention, with no evidence of a significant reduction in Lothian by 2003. Overall differences in attitudes to condom use by gender were noted. Findings remain consistent in both unadjusted and adjusted comparisons. CONCLUSION These findings demonstrate limited impact on sexual health behaviour outcomes, and raise questions about the likely and achievable sexual health gains for teenagers from school-based interventions.
CYP 1 A 1 and GSTP 1 polymorphisms in an oral cancer case-control study

CYP1A1 and GSTP1 polymorphisms have been associated with a higher risk to develop several cancers, including oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), which is closely related to tobacco and alcohol consumption. Both genes code for enzymes that have an important role in activating or detoxifying carcinogenic elements found in tobacco and other compounds, and polymorphic variants of these genes may result in alterations of the enzymatic activity. The CYP1A1 gene codes for the enzyme aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase, which is responsible for the metabolism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The investigated polymorphism, Ile/Val, seems to increase the activity of the enzyme in homozygous individuals, leading to an accumulation of carcinogens. The Ile/Val polymorphism occurs because of an A→G transition at exon 7, resulting in the CYP1A1*2B allele. The GSTP1*B variant shows an A→G transition at exon 5, changing the amino acid Ile to Val, with a reduced catalytic activity of the enzyme. Due to this reduction, the carriers of mutant alleles lost the capability to metabolize carcinogens, which could be responsible for a higher susceptibility to cancer. We conducted a case-control study in a group of 72 cases with newly diagnosed OSCC and 60 healthy controls matched for age, gender, smoking habits, and ethnicity. We used PCR methods to identify the allelic variants CYP1A1*2B and GSTP1*B. The data obtained showed no statistically significant association of allelic or genotypic variants of CYP1A1*2B (OR = 1.06; 95% CI = 0.49-2.29) and GSTP1*B (OR = 1.40; 95% CI = 0.70-2.79) with OSCC. Correspondence
Platelet function defects

Summary. Inherited defects of platelet function are a heterogeneous group of disorders that can result in bleeding symptoms ranging from mild bruising to severe mucocutaneous haemorrhage. These defects may be classified according to their effect on the various steps of platelet microthrombi formation including initiation, extension and cohesion, or based on their particular structural or functional deficiency. Platelet membrane receptor deficiencies result in the rare, but well‐characterized syndromes of defective clot initiation, such as Bernard–Soulier Syndrome. Platelet storage pool defects are the most common disorders affecting the extension phase of clot formation. Glanzmann thrombasthenia, with absent or dysfunctional αIIbβ3 receptor is the prototypical defect of the cohesion/aggregation phase of microthrombi formation. Many of these disorders share common treatments although some therapies will have greater efficacy for one patient than another and should be individualized so as to provide optimal control of symptoms. Currently much effort is being put into methods to more rapidly and accurately diagnose patients with platelet disorders and to initiate appropriate therapy and prevent life threatening bleeding.
Performance of stationary and portable passive transponder detection systems for monitoring of fish movements

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed at present address: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Abernathy Fish Technology Center, 1440 Abernathy Creek Road, Longview, WA 98632, U.S.A. Tel. : +360-425-6072; fax: +360-636-1855; email: gayle zydlewski@fws.gov There is growing use of Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) technology for monitoring individual fish movement and migration (Prentice et al., 1990, Armstrong et al., 1996; Greenberg & Giller, 2000). Thus far most PIT systems use 12 mm PIT tags. These systems restrict fish movement detection with small tubular coil antennae or through shallow water depths (18 cm), since the range for reading tags is short. Due to these range restrictions, these PIT systems have been restricted largely to laboratory applications (Jenkins & Smith, 1990; Prentice et al., 1990; Fängstam, 1993; Brännäs et al., 1994; Muir et al., 1994; Alanärä & Brännäs, 1997) and limited field applications (Armstrong et al., 1996, 1997; Greenberg & Giller, 2000). Two new systems have been developed for long-range monitoring of fish movements. These systems use Texas Instruments (TIRIS) PIT tags and data-logging transponder readers. One system is stationary and the other is portable. Both systems were tested in the laboratory and field by monitoring movements of parr and smolt Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. For both systems fish had to be tagged internally with 23 mm long, 3·4 mm diameter, 0·6 g (in air) PIT tags (Texas Instruments model RI-TRP-RRHP; available from Texas Instruments, Dallas, TX 75243). These tags should not be used in fish <8·5 cm LF without a suture (G. P. Barbin & S. D. McCormick, unpubl. data); sutures are suggested for fish between 6·4 and 8·4 cm LF (Roussel et al., 2000). A stationary system was used to record the movements of marked fish past a single point, and a portable system to detect individuals in upstream reaches. Analyses of these systems were completed in Smith Brook, Vermont, a small tributary (8 m wide at the stationary site) of the West River, U.S.A. The stationary system detected tagged fish continuously using two 4 m wide by 1·2 m high coil antennae built to encompass the 8 m width of Smith Brook. The antennae interrogated tags every 100 ms. The entire flow volume was scanned at all discharge levels without obstructing the path of the fish [Fig. 1(a)]. The antennae were constructed as open coil inductor loops with PVC-coated 12-gauge multistrand wire strung through 2·5 cm PVC pipe. Each antenna was connected to a TIRIS S-2000 reader (for details see Castros-Santos et al., 1996) powered by two 12 V deep cycle marine batteries (60 A h)
GPS/INS/optic flow data fusion for position and Velocity estimation

This paper presents a simple and easy to implement sensor data fusion algorithm, using a Kalman filter (KF) in a loosely coupled scheme, for estimation of the velocity and position of an object evolving in a three dimensional space. A global positioning system (GPS) provides the position measurement while the velocity measurement is taken from the optical flow sensor, finally, the inertial navigation system (INS) gives the acceleration, which is considered as the input of the system. Real time experimental results are shown to validate the proposed algorithm.
The response of the coupled tropical ocean–atmosphere to westerly wind bursts

Two different perspectives on El Niño are dominant in the literature: it is viewed either as one phase of a continual southern oscillation (SO), or alternatively as the transient response to the sudden onset of westerly wind bursts (WWBs). Occasionally those bursts do indeed have a substantial effect on the SO—the unusual strength of El Niño of 1997/98 appears to be related to a sequence of bursts—but frequently the bursts have little or no impact. What processes cause some bursts to be important, while others remain insignificant? The question is addressed by using a simple coupled tropical ocean–atmosphere model that simulates a continual, possibly attenuating, oscillation to study the response to WWBs. The results show that the impact of WWBs depends crucially on two factors: (i) the background state of the system as described by the mean depth of the thermocline and intensity of the mean winds, and (ii) the timing of the bursts with respect to the phase of the SO. Changes in the background conditions alter the sensitivity of the system, so that the impact of the bursts on El Niño may be larger during some decades than others. Changes in the timing of WWBs affect the magnitude and other characteristics of the SO by modifying the energetics of the ocean–atmosphere interactions. A reasonable analogy is a swinging pendulum subject to modest blows at random times—those blows can either magnify or diminish the amplitude, depending on their timing. It is demonstrated that a WWB can increase the strength of El Niño significantly, if it occurs 6 to 10 months before the peak of warming, or can reduce the intensity of the subsequent El Niño, if it occurs during the cold phase of the continual SO. Copyright © 2002 Royal Meteorological Society.
Draft Genome Sequences of Seven Multidrug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Strains, Isolated from Respiratory Samples in Spain

ABSTRACT The draft genome sequences of seven multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii clinical strains belonging to sequence types ST-208 and ST-218 are reported in this study. They were isolated from tracheobronchial aspirate of mechanically ventilated adult patients admitted to the intensive care unit of a Spanish tertiary hospital during 2010 to 2011.
Metal electrode-free perovskite solar cells with transfer-laminated conducting polymer electrode.

UNLABELLED We report perovskite solar cells with a new device structure that employ highly conductive polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) ( PEDOT PSS) as the top electrode replacing commonly used metal electrodes. The PEDOT PSS top electrode is prepared from its aqueous solution through a transfer-lamination technique rather than direct spin-coating, which converts the CH(3)NH(3)PbI(3) into PbI(2). Perovskite solar cells with the structure of glass/FTO/c-TiO(2)/m-TiO(2)/CH(3)NH(3)PbI(3)/spiro-OMeTAD/PEDOT:PSS yield a maximum open-circuit voltage (V(OC)) of 1.02 V, and a maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 11.29% under AM1.5 100 mW/cm(2) illumination. The whole device was fabricated in air without high-vacuum deposition which simplifies the processing and lowers the threshold of both scientific research and industrial production of perovskite solar cells.
An fMRI investigation of the effects of attempted naming on word retrieval in aphasia

In healthy controls, picture naming performance can be facilitated by a single prior exposure to the same picture (“priming”). This priming phenomenon is utilized in the treatment of aphasia, which often includes repeated picture naming as part of a therapeutic task. The current study sought to determine whether single and/or multiple exposures facilitate subsequent naming in aphasia and whether such facilitatory effects act through normal priming mechanisms. A functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigm was employed to explore the beneficial effects of attempted naming in two individuals with aphasia and a control group. The timing and number of prior exposures was manipulated, with investigation of both short-term effects (single prior exposure over a period of minutes) and long-term effects (multiple presentations over a period of days). Following attempted naming, both short-term and long-term facilitated items showed improvement for controls, while only the long-term condition showed benefits at a behavioral level for the participants with aphasia. At a neural level, effects of long-term facilitation were noted in the left precuneus for one participant with aphasia, a result also identified for the equivalent contrast in controls. It appears that multiple attempts are required to improve naming performance in the presence of anomia and that for some individuals with aphasia the source of facilitation may be similar to unimpaired mechanisms engaged outside the language network.
Secure communication using remote procedure calls

Research on encryption-based secure communication protocols has reached a stage where it is feasible to construct end-to-end secure protocols. The design of such a protocol, built as part of a remote procedure call package, is described. The security abstraction presented to users of the package, the authentication mechanisms, and the protocol for encrypting and verifying remote calls are also described.
A Subjective Evaluation of a Nasal Dilator on Sleep & Snoring

A noninvasive external nasal dilator device was used by 20 subjects with a history of mild snoring in a 2 week open label study. The baseline assessments were obtained during the first week. Treatment effects were evaluated during the second week. Subjects were evaluated using: pre- and post-sleep questionnaires; Stanford Sleepiness Scales completed at breakfast, lunch and dinner; and post-sleep bed partner questionnnaires. All twenty subjects completed the study. A significant number of subjects’ scores improved for sleepiness. Mean scores for the subjective assessment for ease of breathing during sleep improved compared to baseline by 25.6%, snoring loudness improved by 34%, sleep quality improved by 21.8%, and the Stanford Sleepiness Scale revealed a 26% reduction in daytime sleepiness.
Simpleweb/University of Twente Traffic Traces Data Repository

The computer networks research community lacks of shared measurement information. As a consequence, most researchers need to expend a considerable part of their time planning and executing measurements before being able to perform their studies. The lack of shared data also makes it hard to compare and validate results. This report describes our efforts to distribute a portion of our network data through the Simpleweb/University of Twente Traffic Traces Data Repository.
First Among Equals: Hybridization of Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment and Evidence-Centered Game Design

The objective of the present article is to explore differences and similarities between cognitive diagnostic assessment (CDA) and evidence-centered game design (ECgD) in the service of intentional hybridization. Although some testing specialists might argue that both are essentially the same given their origins in principled assessment design and equivalency of measurement models, this view misses differences in their focus and operationalization. Given the strengths of both CDA and ECgD, there is motivation to consider ways in which each can deliberately inform the other. The intentional hybridization of CDA and ECgD has, at least in principle, significant advantages to produce a stronger offspring than either parent alone. The article includes four sections: (1) conceptual differences between CDA and ECgD, (2) conceptual similarities between CDA and ECgD, (3) challenges with CDA and ECgD, including narrowness of cognitive models, fidelity with learning, ocean of data, sensitivity to diverse learners, reliance on multidimensional psychometric models, and how hybridization may help, and (4) implications for educational assessment in the twenty-first century around the globe.
Chronic Airway Infection/Inflammation Induces a Ca2+i-dependent Hyperinflammatory Response in Human Cystic Fibrosis Airway Epithelia*

Hyperinflammatory responses to infection have been postulated as a component of cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease. Studies have linked intracellular calcium (Ca2+i) mobilization with inflammatory responses in several systems. We have reported that the pro-inflammatory mediator bradykinin (BK) promotes larger Ca2+i signals in CF compared with normal bronchial epithelia, a response that reflects endoplasmic reticulum (ER)/Ca2+ store expansion induced by chronic luminal airway infection/inflammation. The present study investigated whether CF airway epithelia were hyperinflammatory and, if so, whether the hyperinflammatory CF phenotype was linked to larger Ca2+ stores in the ER. We found that ΔF508 CF bronchial epithelia were hyperinflammatory as defined by an increased basal and mucosal BK-induced interleukin (IL)-8 secretion. However, the CF hyperinflammation expressed in short-term (6–11-day-old) primary cultures of ΔF508 bronchial epithelia was lost in long-term (30–40-day-old) primary cultures of ΔF508 bronchial epithelia, indicating this response was independent of mutant cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator. Exposure of 30–40-day-old cultures of normal airway epithelia to supernatant from mucopurulent material (SMM) from CF airways reproduced the increased basal and mucosal BK-stimulated IL-8 secretion of short-term CF cultures. The BK-triggered increased IL-8 secretion in SMM-treated cultures was mediated by an increased Ca2+i mobilization consequent to an ER expansion associated with increases in protein synthesis (total, cytokines, and antimicrobial factors). The increased ER-dependent, Ca2+i-mediated hyperinflammatory epithelial response may represent a general beneficial airway epithelial adaptation to transient luminal infection. However, in CF airways, the Ca2+i-mediated hyperinflammation may be ineffective in promoting the eradication of infection in thickened mucus and, consequently, may have adverse effects in the lung.
Enhancing Disjunctive Datalog by Constraints

This paper presents an extension of Disjunctive Datalog (DATALOG/sup V,/spl sim//) by integrity constraints. These are of two types: strong, that is, classical integrity constraints and weak, that is, constraints that are satisfied if possible. While strong constraints must be satisfied, weak constraints express desiderata, that is, they may be violated-actually, their semantics tends to minimize the number of violated instances of weak constraints. Weak constraints may be ordered according to their importance to express different priority levels. As a result, the proposed language (call it, DATALOG/sup V,/spl sim/,c/) is well-suited to represent common sense reasoning and knowledge-based problems arising in different areas of computer science such as planning, graph theory optimizations, and abductive reasoning. The formal definition of the language is first given. The declarative semantics of DATALOG/sup V,/spl sim/,c/ is defined in a general way that allows us to put constraints on top of any existing (model-theoretic) semantics for DATALOG/sup V,/spl sim// programs. Knowledge representation issues are then addressed and the complexity of reasoning on DATALOG/sup V,/spl sim/,c/ programs is carefully determined. An in-depth discussion on complexity and expressiveness of DATALOG/sup V,/spl sim/,c/ is finally reported. The discussion contrasts DATALOG/sup V,/spl sim/,c/ to DATALOG/sup V,/spl sim// and highlights the significant increase in knowledge modeling ability carried out by constraints.
SWM : a class of convex contrasts for source separation

We derive a class of contrasts for blind source separation (BSS) to separate bounded sources (or more generally, finite sources), based on support width measures (SWM) of the marginal output distributions. These contrasts are shown to have no spurious local maxima, i.e., all the local maxima are relevant from the source separation point of view; they all correspond to non-mixing BSS solutions so that a gradient-ascent method can be used.