Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lung function decline and outcomes in an elderly population

Objective: To determine the risk factors for and outcomes associated with the rapid decline in lung function in a cohort of elderly US adults. Methods: Data from 4923 adult participants aged 65 years and older at baseline in the Cardiovascular Health Study were analysed. Subjects were classified using a modification of the GOLD criteria for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and a “restricted” category (FEV1/FVC ⩾70% and FVC <80% predicted) was added. Cox proportional hazard models were used to determine the risk of lung function decline over 4 years on subsequent mortality and COPD hospital admissions after adjusting for age, race, sex, smoking status, and other factors. Results: Of the participants in the initial cohort, 3388 (68.8%) had spirometric tests at the year 4 visit. Participants with GOLD stages 3 or 4 COPD at baseline were less likely than normal subjects to have follow up spirometric tests (52.7% v 77.9%, p<0.01) and were more likely to be in the most rapidly declining quartile of FEV1 (28.2% v 21.3%, p<0.01) with an annual loss of FEV1 of at least 3.5%. Overall, being in the most rapidly declining quartile of FEV1 from baseline to year 4 was associated with an increased risk of admission to hospital for COPD (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 1.6, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3 to 2.0) and all-cause death (adjusted HR 1.5, 95% CI 1.2 to 1.7) over an additional 7 years of follow up. Conclusion: More rapid decline in lung function is independently associated with a modest increased risk of hospital admissions and deaths from COPD in an elderly cohort of US participants.
Efficient SIMD code generation for runtime alignment and length conversion

When generating codes for today's multimedia extensions, one of the major challenges is to deal with memory alignment issues. While hand programming still yields best performing SIMD codes, it is both time consuming and error prone. Compiler technology has greatly improved, including techniques that simdize loops with misaligned accesses by automatically rearranging misaligned memory streams in registers. Current techniques are applicable to runtime alignments, but they aggressively reduce the alignment overhead only when all alignments are known at compile time. This paper presents two major enhancements to the state of the art, improving both performance and coverage. First, we propose a novel technique to simdize loops with runtime alignment nearly as efficiently as those with compile-time misalignment. Runtime alignment is pervasive in real applications because it is either part of the algorithms, or it is an artifact of the compiler's inability to extract accurate alignment information from complex applications. Second, we incorporate length conversion operations, e.g., conversions between data of different sizes, into the alignment handling framework. Length conversions are pervasive in multimedia applications where mixed integer types are often used. Supporting length conversion can greatly improve the coverage of simdizable loops. Experimental results indicate that our runtime alignment technique achieves a 19% to 32% speedup increase over prior art for a benchmark stressing the impact of misaligned data. We also demonstrate speedup factors of up to 8.11 for real benchmarks over sequential execution.
TAB2 Is Essential for Prevention of Apoptosis in Fetal Liver but Not for Interleukin-1 Signaling

ABSTRACT The proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 (IL-1) transmits a signal via several critical cytoplasmic proteins such as MyD88, IRAKs and TRAF6. Recently, serine/threonine kinase TAK1 and TAK1 binding protein 1 and 2 (TAB1/2) have been identified as molecules involved in IL-1-induced TRAF6-mediated activation of AP-1 and NF-κB via mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases and IκB kinases, respectively. However, their physiological functions remain to be clarified. To elucidate their roles in vivo, we generated TAB2-deficient mice. The TAB2 deficiency was embryonic lethal due to liver degeneration and apoptosis. This phenotype was similar to that of NF-κB p65-, IKKβ-, and NEMO/IKKγ-deficient mice. However, the IL-1-induced activation of NF-κB and MAP kinases was not impaired in TAB2-deficient embryonic fibroblasts. These findings demonstrate that TAB2 is essential for embryonic development through prevention of liver apoptosis but not for the IL-1 receptor-mediated signaling pathway.
The Effect of Antenatal Depression and Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Treatment on Nerve Growth Factor Signaling in Human Placenta

Depressive symptoms during pregnancy are common and may have impact on the developing child. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the most prescribed antidepressant treatment, but unfortunately, these treatments can also negatively affect the behavioral development and health of a child during pregnancy. In addition, serotonin (5-HT) exerts neurotrophic actions with thus far not fully known effects in the offspring. The neurotrophic growth factor (NGF) is involved in neuronal cell survival and differentiation, and altered placenta levels have been found to increase the risk for pregnancy complications, similar to those found in women treated with SSRIs. We therefore investigated whether the NGF signaling pathway was altered in the placenta from women treated with SSRIs (n = 12) and compared them with placenta from depressed (n = 12) and healthy mothers (n = 12). Results from immunohistochemical stainings revealed that placental NGF protein levels of SSRI-treated women were increased in both trophoblasts and endothelial cells compared with depressed and control women. In addition, downstream of the NGF receptor TrkA, increased levels of the signaling proteins ROCK2 and phosphorylated Raf-1 were found in stromal cells and a tendency towards increased levels of ROCK2 in trophoblasts and endothelial cells in SSRI-treated women when compared to healthy controls. SSRI-treated women also displayed increased levels of phosphorylated ROCK2 in all placental cell types studied in comparison with depressed and control women. Interestingly, in placental endothelial cells from depressed women, NGF levels were significantly lower compared to control women, but ROCK2 levels were increased compared with control and SSRI-treated women. Taken together, these results show that the NGF signaling and downstream pathways in the placenta are affected by SSRI treatment and/or antenatal depression. This might lead to an altered placental function, although the clinical relevance of our findings still needs to be investigated.
An Improved AC-BM Algorithm for Monitoring Watch List

With the expanding of database of the watch list of anti-money laundering, improving the speed in matching between the watch list and the database of account holders and clients’ transaction is especially important. This paper proposes an improved AC-BM Algorithm, a matching algorithm of subsection, to improve the speed of matching. Experiment results show the time performance of the improved algorithm is better than traditional BM algorithm, AC algorithm and the AC-BM algorithm. It can improve the efficiency of on-line monitoring of anti-money laundering. DOI : http://dx.doi. org/10.11591/telkomnika.v12i1. 4141
Physical reconfiguration of an origami-inspired deployable microstrip patch antenna array

The physical reconfiguration and deployment of a 2×2 corporate-fed microstrip patch antenna array is investigated. The origami-inspired antenna array reconfigures structurally using a Miura-ori fold pattern to deploy to/from a compact folded state from/to a flat state. The impact of folding on the electromagnetic performance is evaluated across a range of physical states to study the impact of physical reconfiguration. In particular, the input impedance and beamforming capabilities are used to characterize the performance as a function of the primary folding parameter. These performance metrics are impacted by a feed network that extends across the folds and the beamforming capabilities that are impacted by the changing element spacing and orientation. Results from simulation and a fabricated structure are provided for a 2.4 GHz design.
SPA: Sparse Photorealistic Animation Using a Single RGB-D Camera

Photorealistic animation is a desirable technique for computer games and movie production. We propose a new method to synthesize plausible videos of human actors with new motions using a single cheap RGB-D camera. A small database is captured in a usual office environment, which happens only once for synthesizing different motions. We propose a marker-less performance capture method using sparse deformation to obtain the geometry and pose of the actor for each time instance in the database. Then, we synthesize an animation video of the actor performing the new motion that is defined by the user. An adaptive model-guided texture synthesis method based on weighted low-rank matrix completion is proposed to be less sensitive to noise and outliers, which enables us to easily create photorealistic animation videos with new motions that are different from the motions in the database. Experimental results on the public data set and our captured data set have verified the effectiveness of the proposed method.
A fully abstract semantics for a concurrent functional language with monadic types

This paper presents a typed higher-order concurrent functional programming language, based on Moggi's monadic metalanguage and Reppy's Concurrent ML. We present an operational semantics for the language, and show that a higher-order variant of the traces model is fully abstract for may-testing. This proof uses a program logic based on Hennessy-Milner logic and Abramsky's domain theory in logical form.
Relative Hyperglycemia, a Marker of Critical Illness: Introducing the Stress Hyperglycemia Ratio.

CONTEXT Hyperglycemia in hospitalized patients is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. OBJECTIVE We examined whether critical illness is more strongly associated with relative or absolute hyperglycemia. DESIGN The study was an observational cohort study. PATIENTS AND SETTING A total of 2290 patients acutely admitted to a tertiary hospital. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE The relative hyperglycemia (stress hyperglycemia ratio [SHR]) was defined as admission glucose divided by estimated average glucose derived from glycosylated hemoglobin. The relationships between glucose and SHR with critical illness (in-hospital death or critical care) were examined. RESULTS In univariable analyses, SHR (odds ratio, 1.23 per 0.1 increment [95% confidence interval, 1.18-1.28]; P < .001) and glucose (odds ratio, 1.18 per mmol/L [1.13-1.23]; P < .001) were associated with critical illness. In multivariable analysis, the association was maintained for SHR (odds ratio, 1.20 per 0.1 increment [1.13-1.28]; P < .001), but not glucose (odds ratio, 1.03 per mmol/L [0.97-1.11]; P = .31). Background hyperglycemia affected the relationship between glucose (P = .002) and critical illness, but not SHR (P = .35) and critical illness. In patients with admission glucose ≤ 10 mmol/L, the odds ratio for critical illness was higher in the fourth (2.4 [1.4-4.2]; P = .001) and fifth (3.9 [2.3-6.8]; P < .001) SHR quintiles than in the lowest SHR quintile. CONCLUSIONS SHR controls for background glycemia and is a better biomarker of critical illness than absolute hyperglycemia. SHR identifies patients with relative hyperglycemia at risk of critical illness. Future studies should explore whether basing glucose-lowering therapy on relative, rather than absolute, hyperglycemia improves outcomes in hospitalized patients.
Online Planning in Continuous POMDPs with Open-Loop Information-Gathering Plans

This paper studies the convergence properties of a receding-horizon information-gathering strategy used in the recently presented RBSR planner for continuous POMDPs. The planner uses a combination of randomized exploration, particle filtering, and goal-seeking heuristic policies to achieve scalability to high-dimensional continuous spaces. We show that convergence is ensured in a subclass of problems where information gain rate exceeds the rate of information loss through process noise. Because these rates are not defined myopically RBSR is able to perform long open-loop information-gathering plans. The technique is demonstrated on a variety of discrete planning benchmarks as well as target-finding and localization problems in up to 7D continuous state spaces.
An Effective Firewall Framework with optimized cost in Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is a new flexible approach for providing higher computational power in shared medium. It is made up of client, application, platform, servers and infrastructures. To provide security a decentralized cloud firewall framework is used. The cloud firewall is offered by Cloud Service Providers (CSP) and placed at access points between cloud data center and the Internet. Concretely, cloud platform is under numerous attacks. As a result, it is definitely expected to establish a firewall to protect cloud from these attacks. However, setting up a centralized firewall for a whole cloud data center is infeasible from both performance and financial aspects. In this paper, we propose a decentralized cloud firewall framework for individual cloud customers. We investigate how to dynamically allocate resources to optimize resources provisioning cost, while satisfying QoS requirement specified by individual customers simultaneously. A pricing model for the cloud firewall, which helps to achieve a financial balance between provider and customer.
A tale of three labels: translating the JUPITER trial data into regulatory claims

Background Whether a pivotal randomized trial will be interpreted in a similar and consistent manner by different regulatory agencies is uncertain as policy perspectives may play a role in data interpretation and the translation of trial results into clinical practice. Purpose Using a contemporary example, to compare and contrast regulatory claims in the United States, Europe, and Canada that derive from a pivotal clinical trial. Methods The recently completed JUPITER trial of rosuvastatin as compared to placebo conducted among 17,802 men and women with LDL-C <130 mg/dL and hsCRP ≥2 mg/L, provides the only available data on rosuvastatin for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Thus, the JUPITER trial provides an opportunity to compare and contrast how regulatory agencies in the United States, Canada, and Europe chose to interpret an identical database. Labeling indications based on earlier statin trials of primary and secondary prevention were also reviewed. Results JUPITER demonstrated a 44% reduction (p < 0.000001) in the trial pre-specified primary endpoint (nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, hospitalization for unstable angina, coronary revascularization, or cardiovascular death) with no evidence of heterogeneity across geographic regions. In response to these data, the US Food and Drug Administration label for rosuvastatin in primary prevention came closest to the actual JUPITER trial population by stipulating that those eligible for treatment should be older men and women with hsCRP >2 mg/L, plus one additional risk factor for heart disease. The Canadian label is silent on age and hsCRP (the major trial inclusion criterion), stipulating instead that treatment can be considered for those with ‘at least two conventional risk factors for cardiovascular disease,’ a group more inclusive than that studied. In contrast, the European Medicines Agency label limits treatment only to ‘high risk individuals' ignoring hsCRP and using instead a post hoc definition of ‘high risk’ that comprised a subgroup of less than 10% of the study population who contributed but 67 events to the study total and did not show statistical significance when compared to placebo. None of the regulatory labels included the trial primary endpoint; instead, each focused on separate and different components of the primary endpoint. Similar discrepancies were found between European and North American regulatory agencies with regard to earlier pivotal trials of statins for primary prevention, but not for secondary prevention. Limitations The JUPITER experience represents a case study and is not a systematic review of the regulatory decision process. Conclusions Labeling indications can vary widely in different regulatory environments even when based on the same trial data.
Author Manuscript, Published in "8th International Symposium on Software Engineering for Adaptive and Self-managing Systems Improving Context-awareness in Self-adaptation Using the Dynamico Reference Model

—Self-adaptation mechanisms modify target systems dynamically to address adaptation goals, which may evolve continuously due to changes in system requirements. These changes affect values and thresholds of observed context variables and monitoring logic, or imply the addition and/or deletion of context variables, thus compromising self-adaptivity effectiveness under static monitoring infrastructures. Nevertheless, self-adaptation approaches often focus on adapting target systems only rather than monitoring infrastructures. Previously, we proposed DY-NAMICO, a reference model for self-adaptive systems where adaptation goals and monitoring requirements change dynamically. This paper presents an implementation of DYNAMICO comprising our SMARTERCONTEXT monitoring infrastructure and QOS-CARE adaptation framework in a self-adaptation solution that maintains its context-awareness relevance. To evaluate our reference model we use self-adaptive system properties and the Znn.com exemplar to compare the Rainbow system with our DYNAMICO implementation. The results of the evaluation demonstrate the applicability, feasibility, and effectiveness of DYNAMICO, especially for self-adaptive systems with context-awareness requirements.
A simple algorithmic explanation for the concentration of measure phenomenon

We give an elementary algorithmic argument that sheds light on the concentration of measure phenomenon observed in the sum of independent random variables. Roughly speaking, we observe that without concentration of measure, it would be possible to predict the outcome of a fair coin toss with probability greater than 1/2. We use this idea to derive an alternative proof for a particular case of the ChernoffHoeffding bound.
Transparent concurrent execution of mutually exclusive alternatives

The task of concurrently computing alternative solutions to a problem where only one of the solutions is needed is examined. In this case the rule for selecting between the solutions is faster first, where the first successful alternative is selected. For problems where the required execution time is unpredictable, this method shows substantial execution time performance increases over other methods. In order to test the utility of the design, it is used for two application areas: distributed execution of recovery blocks and OR-parallelism in Prolog. The authors present: (1) a model for selection of alternatives in a sequential setting: (2) a transformation that allows alternatives to execute concurrently; (3) a description of the semantics-preservation mechanism; and (4) parameterization of where the performance improvements can be expected. Additionally, examples of application areas for the method are given. <<ETX>>
Enhancing the Multivariate Signal of [15O] water PET Studies with a New Non-Linear Neuroanatomical Registration Algorithm

This paper addresses the problem of neuro-anatomical registration across individuals for functional [15O] water PET activation studies. A new algorithm for three-dimensional (3-D) nonlinear structural registration (warping) of MR scans is presented. The method performs a hierarchically scaled search for a displacement field, maximizing one of several voxel similarity measures derived from the two-dimensional (2-D) histogram of matched image intensities, subject to a regularizer that ensures smoothness of the displacement field. The effect of the nonlinear structural registration is studied when it is computed on anatomical MR scans and applied to coregistered [15O] water PET scans from the same subjects: in this experiment, a study of visually guided saccadic eye movements. The performance of the nonlinear warp is evaluated using multivariate functional signal and noise measures. These measures prove to be useful for comparing different intersubject registration approaches, e.g., affine versus nonlinear. A comparison of 12-parameter affine registration versus non-linear registration demonstrates that the proposed nonlinear method increases the number of voxels retained in the cross-subject mask. We demonstrate that improved structural registration may result in an improved multivariate functional signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Furthermore, registration of PET scans using the 12-parameter affine transformations that align the coregistered MR images does not improve registration, compared to 12-parameter affine alignment of the PET images directly.
Hyperspectral Image Restoration Using Low-Rank Matrix Recovery

Hyperspectral images (HSIs) are often degraded by a mixture of various kinds of noise in the acquisition process, which can include Gaussian noise, impulse noise, dead lines, stripes, and so on. This paper introduces a new HSI restoration method based on low-rank matrix recovery (LRMR), which can simultaneously remove the Gaussian noise, impulse noise, dead lines, and stripes. By lexicographically ordering a patch of the HSI into a 2-D matrix, the low-rank property of the hyperspectral imagery is explored, which suggests that a clean HSI patch can be regarded as a low-rank matrix. We then formulate the HSI restoration problem into an LRMR framework. To further remove the mixed noise, the “Go Decomposition” algorithm is applied to solve the LRMR problem. Several experiments were conducted in both simulated and real data conditions to verify the performance of the proposed LRMR-based HSI restoration method.
Tibial tuberosity advancement for stabilization of the canine cranial cruciate ligament-deficient stifle joint: surgical technique, early results, and complications in 101 dogs.

OBJECTIVE To describe the surgical technique, early results and complications of tibial tuberosity advancement (TTA) for treatment for cranial cruciate ligament (CrCL)-deficient stifle joints in dogs. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective clinical study. ANIMALS Dogs (n=101) with CrCL-deficient stifles (114). METHODS Medical records of 101 dogs that had TTA were reviewed. Complications were recorded and separated into either major or minor complications based on the need for additional surgery. In-hospital re-evaluation of limb function and time to radiographic healing were reviewed. Further follow-up was obtained by telephone interview of owners. RESULTS Complications occurred in 31.5% of the dogs (12.3% major, 19.3% minor). Major complications included subsequent meniscal tear, tibial fracture, implant failure, infection, lick granuloma, incisional trauma, and medial patellar luxation; all major complications were treated with successful outcomes. All but 2 minor complications resolved. The mean time to documented radiographic healing was 11.3 weeks. Final in-hospital re-evaluation of limb function (mean, 13.5 weeks), was recorded for 93 dogs with lameness categorized as none (74.5%), mild (23.5%), moderate (2%), and severe (1%). All but 2 owners interviewed were satisfied with outcome and 83.1% reported a marked improvement or a return to pre-injury status. CONCLUSIONS TTA is a procedure comparable with alternate methods of CrCL repair with expected good to excellent functional outcome. CLINICAL RELEVANCE TTA procedure can be successfully used to obtain the dynamic stability of a CrCL-deficient stifle joint in dogs.