Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cognitive test performance predicts change in functional status at the population level: The MYHAT Project

Abstract In the community at large, many older adults with minimal cognitive and functional impairment remain stable or improve over time, unlike patients in clinical research settings, who typically progress to dementia. Within a prospective population-based study, we identified neuropsychological tests predicting improvement or worsening over 1 year in cognitively driven everyday functioning as measured by Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR). Participants were 1682 adults aged 65+ and dementia-free at baseline. CDR change was modeled as a function of baseline test scores, adjusting for demographics. Among those with baseline CDR = 0.5, 29.8% improved to CDR = 0; they had significantly better baseline scores on most tests. In a stepwise multiple logistic regression model, tests which remained independently associated with subsequent CDR improvement were Category Fluency, a modified Token Test, and the sum of learning trials on Object Memory Evaluation. In contrast, only 7.1% with baseline CDR = 0 worsened to CDR = 0.5. They had significantly lower baseline scores on most tests. In multiple regression analyses, only the Mini-Mental State Examination, delayed memory for visual reproduction, and recall susceptible to proactive interference, were independently associated with CDR worsening. At the population level, changes in both directions are observable in functional status, with different neuropsychological measures predicting the direction of change. (JINS, 2010, 16, 761–770.)
Automated Generation of Independent Paths and Test Suite optimization Using Artificial Bee Colony

Software test suite optimization is one of the most important problems in software engineering research. This paper deals with the concept to find the Automatic Generation of Feasible Independent Paths and Software Test Suite Optimization using Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) based novel search technique and Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference system (ANFIS) . In this approach, ABC combines both global search methods done by scout bees and local search method done by employed bees and onlooker bees. The parallel behaviour of these three bees makes generation of feasible independent paths and software test suite optimization faster. Finally, this paper compares the efficiency of ABC based approach with various approaches.
Web API Recommendation for Mashup Development Using Matrix Factorization on Integrated Content and Network-Based Service Clustering

Finding appropriate web APIs to develop mashup services is becoming difficult because of increasing number of web APIs offered from different sources. If we can recommend relevant web APIs for a mashup service based on its requirements, it will help software developers to find suitable APIs easily instead of searching from thousands of web APIs. Although there are many existing methods to recommend web APIs for mashup services, their recommendation accuracies and diversities are still not high. We will present a novel approach in this paper to produce better web API recommendation results in terms of accuracy and diversity. It is a matrix factorization based API recommendation method for Mashup services. It uses a two-level topic model for clustering Mashup services. We used a dataset from programmableWeb to perform experiments and compared results of our method with other existing methods. Its evaluation results show that our matrix factorization based recommendation archives better API recommendation accuracy and diversity for Mashup services.
IPknot: fast and accurate prediction of RNA secondary structures with pseudoknots using integer programming

Motivation: Pseudoknots found in secondary structures of a number of functional RNAs play various roles in biological processes. Recent methods for predicting RNA secondary structures cover certain classes of pseudoknotted structures, but only a few of them achieve satisfying predictions in terms of both speed and accuracy. Results: We propose IPknot, a novel computational method for predicting RNA secondary structures with pseudoknots based on maximizing expected accuracy of a predicted structure. IPknot decomposes a pseudoknotted structure into a set of pseudoknot-free substructures and approximates a base-pairing probability distribution that considers pseudoknots, leading to the capability of modeling a wide class of pseudoknots and running quite fast. In addition, we propose a heuristic algorithm for refining base-paring probabilities to improve the prediction accuracy of IPknot. The problem of maximizing expected accuracy is solved by using integer programming with threshold cut. We also extend IPknot so that it can predict the consensus secondary structure with pseudoknots when a multiple sequence alignment is given. IPknot is validated through extensive experiments on various datasets, showing that IPknot achieves better prediction accuracy and faster running time as compared with several competitive prediction methods. Availability: The program of IPknot is available at http://www.ncrna. org/software/ipknot/. IPknot is also available as a web server at http://rna.naist. jp/ipknot/. Contact: satoken@k.u-tokyo.ac. jp; ykato@is.naist. jp Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Association of liver disease with postprandial large intestinal triglyceride-rich lipoprotein accumulation and pro/antioxidant imbalance in normolipidemic non-alcoholic steatohepatitis

Background. Dietary fat excess and antioxidant deficiency, altered lipid metabolism, and increased lipoperoxidation have been associated with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), but the relative importance of each of these factors is unclear. Aims. To assess acute intestinal and hepatic very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) subfraction metabolism, lipid peroxidation, and pro/antioxidant imbalance after a fat load in NASH. Methods. Dietary habits, circulating adipokines, fasting and postprandial lipids, intestinal and hepatic VLDL, oxidized low-density lipoproteins (oxLDL), and total antioxidant status (TAS) were correlated to postprandial liver enzymes and to liver histology in 28 non-obese non-diabetic normolipidemic patients with NASH and 28 healthy controls. Results. Despite similar fasting profiles, NASH had more pronounced intestinal and hepatic VLDL1 accumulation, LDL lipid peroxidation and TAS fall postprandially. Postprandial intestinal VLDL1 independently predicted oxLDL and TAS responses in NASH. In NASH, hepatic steatosis was independently associated with postprandial intestinal VLDL1 and TAS; necroinflammation with postprandial serum gamma-glutamyltransferase, oxLDL and TAS responses; and fibrosis with adiponectin and postprandial TAS and oxLDL responses. Conclusions. Postprandial intestinal VLDL1 accumulation is associated with a pro-oxidant imbalance in normolipidemic non-diabetic NASH, and both correlate with the severity of liver disease. Modulating postprandial lipoprotein metabolism may be beneficial in NASH, even if normolipidemic.
Improvement in oil resistance of room temperature-vulcanized polysiloxane rubber via blending with self-synthetic fluorosilicone

In this work, different contents of vinyl-terminated fluorosilicone oil (VFS oil) were blended with room temperature-vulcanized (RTV) polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Via rheological detection, the addition of VFS oil could increase the viscosities of VFS/PDMS/silicon dioxide (SiO2) blends, probably due to the interaction between incorporated fluorine atom and silanol on the surfaces of SiO2. The additional “structuring effect” was reduced by enhancing the shearing rate of the mixed gums containing VFS oil and the obvious shear-thinning property was helpful for enhancing the processability. The curing process and cross-linking degree test of VFS/PDMS/SiO2 blends suggested that the VFS oil could reduce the curing time and the induction time, but did not play a positive role in the cure depth using a platinum catalyst. Mechanical property tests showed that the VFS oil did not increase the tensile strength and elongation at break, and the hardness slightly decreased with increasing VFS oil content. The oil resistance property test showed that the oil resistance of the polysiloxane rubber was well improved by the incorporation of the VFS oil containing the functional group –CH2CH2CF3.
Speed-Sensorless Induction Machine Control in the Field-Weakening Region Using Discrete Speed-Adaptive Full-Order Observer

This paper presents a novel field-weakening strategy combined with a modified discrete speed-adaptive full-order observer to improve the performance of speed-sensorless induction machine drives in the field-weakening region. The robust field-weakening controller regulates the field current and the clamp of torque current according to the machine operating mode. Compared with the conventional inverse proportion to speed method and optimal flux level calculation method, the proposed controller shows the superiorities over maximum torque selection and parameter robustness. Moreover, a discrete speed-adaptive full-order observer is designed to estimate the rotor speed. However, when the machine operates at high speed, two poles of the conventional forward Euler approximation-based observer are outside the unit circle, which leads to system instability. To solve the conflict between stability, accuracy, and computational burden, a modified Euler approximation is used to discretize the observer. A comparative study of different approximations substantiates the presented approximation. The effectiveness of the proposed solution is demonstrated experimentally on an industrial induction machine drive.
Brief report: “Where do we teach what?”

AbstractBACKGROUND: Often, medical educators and students do not know where important concepts are taught and learned in medical shcool. Manual efforts to identify and track concepts covered across the curriculum are inaccurate and resource intensive. OBJECTIVE: To test the ability of a web-based application called KnowledgeMap (KM) to automatically locate where broad biomedical concepts are covered in lecture documents in the Vanderbilt School of Medicine. METHODS: In 2003, the authors derived a gold standard set of curriculum documents by ranking 383 lecture documents as high, medium, or low relevance in their coverage of 4 broad biomedical concepts: genetics, women’s health, dermatology, and radiology. We compared the gold standard rankings to KM, an automated tool that generates a variable number of subconcepts for each broad concept to calculate a relevance score for each document. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and area-under-the-curve were derived for each ranking using varying relevance score cutoffs. RESULTS: Receiver operating characteristic curve areas were acceptably high for each broad concept (range 0.74 to 0.98). At relevance scores that optimized sensitivity and specificity, 78% to 100% of highly relevant documents were identified. The best results were obtained with the application of 63 to 1437 subconcepts for a given broad concept. The search time was fast. CONCLUSIONS: The KM tool capably and automatically locates the detailed coverage of broad concepts across medical school documents in real time. Use of KM or similar tools may prove useful for other medical schools to identify broad concepts in their curricula.
Creatinine metabolism in humans with decreased renal function: creatinine deficit.

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that, in a patient with decreased renal function and an increased plasma creatinine concentration, a significant quantity of creatinine is excreted into the gut, as is true of urea and uric acid, and is metabolized by gut flora. [ Methyl -14C] creatinine was given intravenously to five patients and [ methyl -14C] creatinine or [ carbonyl -14C] creatinine was given orally to five patients. Extracts of excreta, plasma, and urine were subjected to ion-exchange chromatography, with monitoring for 14C and for ninhydrin-positive material. Respiratory gases, collected in acid and base, were assayed for radioactivity. Blood specimens were obtained at intervals to furnish data on decay of labeled creatinine in the body pool. The data show that there is a true creatinine deficit (15.9 to 65.7% of the creatinine formed is metabolized or excreted via extrarenal routes) in patients with decreased renal function. In these patients, creatinine is metabolized to CO2 and methylamine, presumably by the microflora of the gut. A significant portion of the carbonyllabeled creatinine appeared in plasma in an unidentified compound.
Near-field scattering from red pigment particles : Absorption and spectral dependence

When film coatings are made of pigment particles embedded in a transparent resin, the optical characteristics of the resulting film are determined not only by the bulk optical properties of the constituent materials, but also by the spatial distribution of the light scattered from small particles. If the particles are separated by distances comparable to their diameter, as is the case for high particle concentrations or agglomerated systems, the near-field interactions between the radiation fields of the particles can strongly influence the resulting far-field intensity distribution. In this work we have used full-field finite-element solutions of Maxwell’s equations to calculate the nearand far-field scattering patterns for single 500 nm quinacridone spheres and for pairs of particles. We find that the scattered intensity forms a forward-directed plume that extends far beyond the particle surface, especially at short wavelengths and where the absorption is large. This results in near-field interactions between pairs of particles that can either increase or decrease the scattering ~both the total scattering and the fraction of the scattered light that is directed into the backward hemisphere ! , depending on the orientation of the particle pair relative to the direction of the incident light. In some cases, particularly if the particles are aligned along the incident direction, the two spheres can produce a far-field scattering distribution that is approximately that of a single, larger ~sometimes much larger ! sphere. If the particles are aligned perpendicular to the incident direction, the strength of the scattering per particle volume is roughly the same as for a single particle, but the scattering is more forward directed. These interaction effects occur even though the surface-to-surface separation of the particles is larger than the distance for which a single particle shows significant scattered intensity. These near-field and far-field phenomena are beyond the limitations of single-scattering and independent multiple-scattering approaches, and the near-field interactions can have a significant effect on the scattering of light from films containing such particles, especially if they tend to form oriented clusters. ©2001 American Institute of Physics. @DOI: 10.1063/1.1336564 #
Development and characterisation of flame retardant nanoparticulate bio-based polymer composites

-viTraditional methods to improve the flame retardancy of polymeric material involve the use of the micron sized inorganic fillers like ammonium polyphosphate (APP) or aluminium trihydroxide (ATH). Imparting flame retardancy with these inorganic fillers is possible but only with relatively high loadings of more than 50 wt. %. This causes detrimental effects to the mechanical properties of the composite and embrittlement. Applying nanofillers can achieve similar if not better flame retarding performances to their micron sized counterparts but at much lower loading levels (<10 wt.%), thus preserving better the characteristics of the unfilled polymer such as good flow, toughness, surface finish and low density. This is the main focus of this study and it will be achieved by using various experimental techniques including the cone calorimeter and the newly developed microcalorimeter. After a comprehensive literature survey (Chapter 2), the experimental part of the thesis starts with a feasibility study of a flame retardant natural reinforced fibre sheet moulding compound (SMC) (Chapter 3). This work demonstrated that with a suitable flame retardant the peak heat release rate can be reduced. Chapter 4 deals with further improving the flame retardancy of the previously used unsaturated polyester resin. The aim is to study any synergistic behaviour by using aluminium trihydroxide in conjunction with ammonium polyphosphate whilst testing in the cone calorimeter. In Chapter 5, nanofillers are used to replace traditional micron sized fillers. In unsaturated polyester, multi-walled carbon nanotubes and sepiolite nanoclay are used together to create a ternary polymer nanocomposite. The microcalorimeter was employed for screening of the heat release rate. This work showed that the ternary nanocomposite showed synergistic behaviour with regards to significantly reducing the peak heat release rate.
Ab initio calculations of hydrogen adsorption on (100) surfaces of palladium and rhodium.

We report an all-electron density-functional-theory study of the interaction of hydrogen with Pd(100) and Rh(100) surfaces. We use the local-density approximation for the exchange-correlation energy functional and the full-potential linear-muffin-tin-orbital method. Various coverages, between \ensuremath{\Theta}=0.25 and \ensuremath{\Theta}=2 are considered. In particular, we discuss the adsorption energies, stable adsorption sites, adsorption-induced surface relaxations, and the work-function changes. The results show that for coverages \ensuremath{\Theta}\ensuremath{\le}1 at Pd(100) the fourfold hollow site is energetically favorable. For higher coverages it is predicted that the additional hydrogen goes subsurface. The work function is found to increase with coverage up to \ensuremath{\Theta}=1 and for higher coverages (i.e., when the subsurface sites get occupied) it remains roughly at the \ensuremath{\Theta}=1 level. Hydrogen adsorption at Rh(100) is found to be very similar to Pd(100) up to \ensuremath{\Theta}=1. The results are compared to available experimental data as well as to other calculations.
Quasi-cyclic low density parity check (LDPC) codes for dedicated short range communication (DSRC) systems

In this paper, we consider the performance of a dedicated short range communication (DSRC) system for inter-vehicle communications (IVC). The DSRC standard employs convo-lutional codes for forward error correction (FEC). The performance of the DSRC system is evaluated in three different channels with convolutional codes, regular low density parity check (LDPC) codes and quasi-cyclic (QC) LDPC codes. The effects of interleaving are considered. In addition, we compare the complexity of these codes. It is shown that LDPC and QC-LDPC codes provide a significant improvement in performance compared to convolutional codes.
Automatic T-S fuzzy model with application to designing predictive controller

A novel methodology is proposed to automatically extract T-S fuzzy model with enhanced performance using VABC-FCM algorithm, a novel Variable string length Artificial Bee Colony algorithm (VABC) based Fuzzy C-Mean clustering technique. Such automatic methodology not requires a priori specification of the rule number and has low approximation error and high prediction accuracy with appreciate rule number. Afterward, a new predictive controller is then proposed by using the automatic T-S fuzzy model as the dynamic predictive model and VABC as the rolling optimizer. Some experiments were conducted on the superheated steam temperature in power plant to validate the performance of the proposed predictive controller. It suggests that the proposed controller has powerful performance and outperforms some other popular controllers.
Application of quantitative data-based fault detection methods on a drum-type boiler

In this paper we present methods of selecting the optimum number of principal component analysis (PCA). The optimal number of PCs can be selected via the most valuable singular value or PRESS method and the performance of fault detection can be improved. These methods are applied to data of a power plant drum-type boiler. The m-file results demonstrate its good performance.
Modeling the Evolution of Beliefs Using an Attentional Focus Mechanism

For making decisions in everyday life we often have first to infer the set of environmental features that are relevant for the current task. Here we investigated the computational mechanisms underlying the evolution of beliefs about the relevance of environmental features in a dynamical and noisy environment. For this purpose we designed a probabilistic Wisconsin card sorting task (WCST) with belief solicitation, in which subjects were presented with stimuli composed of multiple visual features. At each moment in time a particular feature was relevant for obtaining reward, and participants had to infer which feature was relevant and report their beliefs accordingly. To test the hypothesis that attentional focus modulates the belief update process, we derived and fitted several probabilistic and non-probabilistic behavioral models, which either incorporate a dynamical model of attentional focus, in the form of a hierarchical winner-take-all neuronal network, or a diffusive model, without attention-like features. We used Bayesian model selection to identify the most likely generative model of subjects’ behavior and found that attention-like features in the behavioral model are essential for explaining subjects’ responses. Furthermore, we demonstrate a method for integrating both connectionist and Bayesian models of decision making within a single framework that allowed us to infer hidden belief processes of human subjects.
Differential adherence of hydrophobic and hydrophilic Candida albicans yeast cells to mouse tissues

Using an ex vivo binding assay, we previously demonstrated that yeast cells grown at 37 degrees C display binding specificity in mouse spleen, lymph node, and kidney tissues. In spleen and lymph node tissues, binding was predominantly in regions rich in macrophages. Here, we tested the possibility that hydrophobic and hydrophilic cells bind differentially to host tissues. Hydrophobic and hydrophilic yeast cells of four Candida albicans strains were incubated for 15 min at 4 degrees C with cryostat sections of organs that had been rapidly frozen after removal from BALB/cByJ mice. Unattached cells were removed by washing, and the sections were examined. Hydrophobic cells bound diffusely and abundantly to all tissues, while hydrophilic cell attachment was restricted to specific sites. For example, hydrophobic cells bound to the white and red pulp and the marginal zones in spleens, whereas hydrophilic cells attached primarily to the marginal zones. Hydrophobic yeast cells attached throughout lymph node tissue including paracortical areas, but hydrophilic cell attachment occurred primarily at the subcapsular and trabecular sinuses, EDTA inhibited the adherence of hydrophilic cells but not hydrophobic cells to mouse tissues. Hydrophobic C. albicans strains displaying similar levels of hydrophobicity differed quantitatively in their levels of attachment to kidney and spleen tissues, confirming our earlier observation that surface hydrophobicity is not the sole determinant in adherence to host cells. Other studies have shown that hydrophobic and hydrophilic cells display different virulence characteristics related to their surface properties and that hydrophobic cells are more virulent than hydrophilic cells. Taken together, the present results suggest that the enhanced virulence of hydrophobic cells over hydrophilic cells may be due, in part, to the potential of hydrophobic cells to bind throughout various organs following clearance from the bloodstream.