Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Underrepresentation of non-White children in trials of statins in children with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia.

BACKGROUND The elimination of disparities in cardiovascular health is a major focus of the Healthy People 2010 national public health agenda. However, identifying and addressing such disparities within the realm of pediatrics in general, and preventive cardiology in particular, has not received recent attention. In published pediatric clinical trials of statins in heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia that report race, minority children are underrepresented. OBJECTIVES The purpose of this analysis was 3-fold: 1) to obtain and report on the racial composition of statin trials in children with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia; 2) to explore the hypothesis that founder effects among populations of White children may have facilitated or favored their inclusion in statin trials; and 3) to determine whether the selective lipid screening guidelines based on family history may inadvertently identify fewer minority children who would otherwise qualify for investigative trials. DESIGN We conducted a Medline search to identify all pediatric familial hypercholesterolemia statin trials. We contacted the corresponding authors to obtain race/ethnicity data and to obtain information about the presence of founder effects in the populations studied. We conducted a second literature search for evidence that selective, family medical history-based screening of children for hypercholesterolemia, as proposed by the National Cholesterol Education Program, might fail to identify minority children who would otherwise qualify for inclusion in these studies. RESULTS Ninety-two percent of the 885 children enrolled in statin trials were White. A predominance of White children was found even in studies from countries with a sizable population of nonWhite children and where founder effects have not been described. Strong but indirect evidence from both the adult literature and the pediatric literature suggests that the family history-based selective screening engenders healthcare disparities for minority and disadvantaged children. CONCLUSIONS Non-White children are underrepresented in international clinical trials of statins. Both ethical and pharmacogenomic arguments exist to justify efforts to correct this. Our findings suggest that intensive efforts will be required to arrive at a fair representation of minority children in studies of pediatric heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia.
Identifying mentors’ observations for providing feedback

Mentors’ feedback can assist preservice teachers’ development; yet feedback tends to be variable from one mentor to the next. What do mentors observe for providing feedback? In this study, 24 mentors observed a final-year preservice teacher through a professionally video-recorded lesson and provided written notes for feedback. They observed the lesson for a second time and focused their feedback on the preservice teacher’s questioning only. Findings showed that the mentors’ written feedback varied considerably when open observations occurred. However, there were fewer items when they focused on one teaching practice (i.e. questioning), which also provided a deeper analysis of this specific practice. Research is required around the dimensions of observations (i.e. visual, auditory and conceptual), observations of specific practices, and methodological approaches for observing and collecting data about a preservice teacher’s practice.
Hardware-assisted simulation and evaluation of IP cores using FPGA-based rapid prototyping boards

This paper presents a methodology for incorporating intellectual property (IP) cores that are implemented with SRAM-based FPGA logic into an existing hardware simulation environment for functional simulation and evaluation purposes, using a simple serial communication interface based on the IEEE 1149.1 standard (also known as JTAG) with minimal hardware requirements. We also describe a prototype software/hardware implementation of the proposed approach and present a case study to demonstrate the feasibility of our approach.
Port-of-Entry Inspection: Sensor Deployment Policy Optimization

This paper considers the problem of container inspection at a port-of-entry. Containers are inspected through a specific sequence to detect the presence of nuclear materials, biological and chemical agents, and other illegal shipments. The threshold levels of sensors at inspection stations of the port-of-entry affect the probabilities of incorrectly accepting or rejecting a container. In this paper, we present several optimization approaches for determining the optimum sensor threshold levels, while considering misclassification errors, total cost of inspection, and budget constraints. In contrast to previous work which determines threshold levels and sequence separately, we consider an integrated system and determine them simultaneously. Examples applying the approaches in different sensor arrangements are demonstrated.
Somniloquy: Augmenting Network Interfaces to Reduce PC Energy Usage

Reducing the energy consumption of PCs is becoming increasingly important with rising energy costs and environmental concerns. Sleep states such as S3 (suspend to RAM) save energy, but are often not appropriate because ongoing networking tasks, such as accepting remote desktop logins or performing background file transfers, must be supported. In this paper we present Somniloquy, an architecture that augments network interfaces to allow PCs in S3 to be responsive to network traffic. We show that many applications, such as remote desktop and VoIP, can be supported without application-specific code in the augmented network interface by using application-level wakeup triggers. A further class of applications, such as instant messaging and peer-to-peer file sharing, can be supported with modest processing and memory resources in the network interface. Experiments using our prototype Somniloquy implementation, a USB-based network interface, demonstrates energy savings of 60% to 80% in most commonly occuring scenarios. This translates to significant cost savings for PC users.
Continued Practice and Consolidation of a Learning Task

An approach to the continued practice of tasks is proposed in the context of previous work on lifelong machine learning us-ing a system of back-propagation neural networks. The method compensates for small numbers of training examples per practice session and the concurrent practice of unrelated tasks. Knowledge from each new practice session is integrated with past sessions in a long-term consolidation network using task rehearsal . Practice occurs in a short-term working network where the selective transfer of related consolidated knowledge is used to provide positive inductive bias. The experimentation reveals that consolidation and selective transfer of past practice knowledge promotes an increase in hypothesis accuracy over multiple practice sessions.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead: Its History and Controversial Aspects of its Contents

Abstract: In recent decades, the Tibetan Book of the Dead (TBD) has attracted much attention from Westerners interested in Eastern spirituality and has been discussed in the literature on dying and near-death experiences. However, the history of the TBD has practically been ignored in that literature up to now. This history has been elaborated in detail by Tibetologist Bryan Cuevas (2003). To bring this history to the attention of scholars in the field of near-death studies, I present in this paper a summary of the TBD's development based primarily on the work of Cuevas (2003). The summary shows that the TBD was gradually elaborated within a specific Tibetan Buddhist context, the Dzokchen tradition. In comparing features of first-hand reports of the death and dying process as reported in the TBD with those reported in four other categories -- Tibetan delok, near-death experiencers, mediums, and children who remember previous lives -- I find that some features are consistent but that other key features are not. Because it seems likely that inconsistent features of the TBD reflect idiosyncratic dying and afterlife concepts of the Dzokchen tradition, scholars in the field of near-death studies and others should be careful about adopting the contents of the TBD without question.
A Preliminar Analysis of CO 2 RBFN in Imbalanced Problems

In many real classification problems the data are imbalanced, i.e., the number of instances for some classes are much higher than that of the other classes. Solving a classification task using such an imbalanced data-set is difficult due to the bias of the training towards the majority classes. The aim of this contribution is to analyse the performance of CORBFN, a cooperative-competitive evolutionary model for the design of RBFNs applied to classification problems on imbalanced domains and to study the cooperation of a well known preprocessing method, the “Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique” (SMOTE) with our algorithm. The good performance of CORBFN is shown through an experimental study carried out over a large collection of imbalanced data-sets.
SAINT: Self-Adaptive Interactive Navigation Tool for Cloud-Based Vehicular Traffic Optimization

This paper proposes a self-adaptive interactive navigation tool (SAINT), which is tailored for cloud-based vehicular traffic optimization in road networks. The legacy navigation systems make vehicles navigate toward their destination less effectively with individually optimal navigation paths rather than network-wide optimal navigation paths, particularly during rush hours. To the best of our knowledge, SAINT is the first attempt to investigate a self-adaptive interactive navigation approach through the interaction between vehicles and vehicular cloud. The vehicles report their navigation experiences and travel paths to the vehicular cloud so that the vehicular cloud can know real-time road traffic conditions and vehicle trajectories for better navigation guidance for other vehicles. With these traffic conditions and vehicle trajectories, the vehicular cloud uses a mathematical model to calculate road segment congestion estimation for global traffic optimization. This model provides each vehicle with a navigation path that has minimum traffic congestion in the target road network. Using the simulation with a realistic road network, it is shown that our SAINT outperforms the legacy navigation scheme, which is based on Dijkstra's algorithm with a real-time road traffic snapshot. On a road map of Manhattan in New York City, our SAINT can significantly reduce the travel delay during rush hours by 19%.
Case of Superficial Cancer Located at the Pharyngoesophageal Junction Which Was Dissected by Endoscopic Laryngopharyngeal Surgery Combined with Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection

Aims. In order to determine the indications of transoral surgery for a tumor located at the pharyngoesophageal junction, the trumpet maneuver with transnasal endoscopy was used. Its efficacy is reported here. Material and Methods. An 88-year-old woman complaining of dysphagia, diagnosed with cervical esophageal cancer, and hoping to preserve her voice and swallowing function was admitted to our hospital. Conventional endoscopy showed that the tumor had invaded the hypopharynx. When inspecting the hypopharynx and the orifice of the esophagus, we asked the patient to blow hard and puff her cheeks with her mouth closed (trumpet maneuver). After the trumpet maneuver, the pharyngeal mucosa was stretched out. The pedicle of the tumor arose from the left-anterior wall of the pharyngoesophageal junction, so we decided to perform endoscopic resection. Result. Under general anesthesia, the curved laryngoscope made it possible to view the whole hypopharynx, including the apex of the piriform sinus and the orifice of the esophagus. The cervical esophageal cancer was pulled up to the hypopharynx. Under collaboration between a head and neck surgeon and an endoscopist, the tumor was resected en bloc by endoscopic laryngopharyngeal surgery combined with endoscopic submucosal dissection. Conclusion. Transnasal endoscopy using the trumpet maneuver is useful for a precise diagnosis of the pharyngoesophageal junction. Close collaboration between head and neck surgeons and endoscopists can provide good results in treating tumors of the pharyngoesophageal junction.
Neuropsychological alterations after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate neuropsychological dysfunction in patients following elective coronary artery bypass graft surgery at Siriraj Hospital. PATIENTS AND METHOD One hundred and ten patients who were scheduled for elective coronary artery bypass graft surgery were included in this study. We used the Thai Mental State Examination (TMSE) in order to detectthe presence of cognitive impairment aftercoronary artery bypass graft surgery. The examinations were conducted on two consecutive occasions; first preoperatively, the day before surgery, secondly on the third - fifth postoperative day. The patients' clinical characteristics were assessed perioperatively. RESULTS The overall occurrence of neuropsychological deficit was 18.18 per cent. Predictors of neuropsychological dysfunction were older age and preexisting disease such as hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and renal insufficiency. Other risk factors such as gender, history of congestive heart failure, myocardial infarction, diabetes mellitus, dysrhythmia, cardiopulmonary bypass time, hemoglobin during cardiopulmonary bypass <7 g/dl, hemoglobin on admission to surgical cardiac care unit <10 g/dl, and atrial fibrillation arising after surgery were not significant. CONCLUSION Neuropsychological impairments after coronary artery bypass graft surgery are relatively common. This study did not find an increased incidence with respect to gender as other studies have done. However, long-term follow-up of these patients would be very valuable.
Feedback Modeling in Internet Congestion Control

This paper examines the impact of feedback modeling on analytical conclusions about Internet congestion control. In particular, we focus on the problem of convergence of binary adjustment algorithms to fairness. First, we review results for the traditional model that assumes uniform feedback to all users. Then, we demonstrate that under a more realistic feedback model, a larger family of binary adjustment algorithms converges to fairness. We also discuss practical implications of our analytical ndings for enhancing Internet congestion control.
Challenging the paradigm of nitrogen cycling: no evidence of in situ resource partitioning by coexisting plant species in grasslands of contrasting fertility

In monoculture, certain plant species are able to preferentially utilize different nitrogen (N) forms, both inorganic and organic, including amino acids and peptides, thus forming fundamental niches based on the chemical form of N. Results from field studies, however, are inconsistent: Some showing that coexisting plant species predominantly utilize inorganic N, while others reveal distinct interspecies preferences for different N forms. As a result, the extent to which hypothetical niches are realized in nature remains unclear. Here, we used in situ stable isotope tracer techniques to test the idea, in temperate grassland, that niche partitioning of N based on chemical form is related to plant productivity and the relative availability of organic and inorganic N. We also tested in situ whether grassland plants vary in their ability to compete for, and utilize peptides, which have recently been shown to act as an N source for plants in strongly N-limited ecosystems. We hypothesized that plants would preferentially use NO3−-N and NH4+-N over dissolved organic N in high-productivity grassland where inorganic N availability is high. On the other hand, in low-productivity grasslands, where the availability of dissolved inorganic N is low, and soil availability of dissolved organic N is greater, we predicted that plants would preferentially use N from amino acids and peptides, prior to microbial mineralization. Turves from two well-characterized grasslands of contrasting productivity and soil N availability were injected, in situ, with mixtures of 15N-labeled inorganic N (NO3− and NH4+) and 13C15N labeled amino acid (l-alanine) and peptide (l-tri-alanine). In order to measure rapid assimilation of these N forms by soil microbes and plants, the uptake of these substrates was traced within 2.5 hours into the shoots of the most abundant plant species, as well as roots and the soil microbial biomass. We found that, contrary to our hypothesis, the majority of plant species across both grasslands took up most N in the form of NH4+, suggesting that inorganic N is their predominant N source. However, we did find that organic N was a source of N which could be utilized by plant species at both sites, and in the low-productivity grassland, plants were able to capture some tri-alanine-N directly. Although our findings did not support the hypothesis that differences in the availability of inorganic and organic N facilitate resource partitioning in grassland, they do support the emerging view that peptides represent a significant, but until now neglected, component of the terrestrial N cycle.
Design Trade-Offs and Deadlock Prevention in Transient Fault-Tolerant SMT Processors

Since the very concept of simultaneous multi-threading (SMT) entails inherent redundancy, some proposals have been made to run two copies of the same thread on top of SMT platforms in order to detect and correct soft errors. This allows, upon detection of an error, for the rolling back of the processor state to a known safe point, and then a retry of the instructions, thereby resulting in a completely error-free execution. This paper focuses on two crucial implementation issues introduced by this concept: (i) the design trade-off between the fault detection coverage versus the design costs; (ii) the possible occurrence of deadlock situations. To achieve the largest possible fault detection coverage, we replicate the instructions fetched in order to generate the redundant thread copies. Further, we apply the SMT thread scheduling at the instruction dispatch stage so as to lower the performance overhead. As a result, when compared to the baseline processor, our simulation results show that by using our two new schemes, the performance overhead can be reduced down to as little as 34% on the average, down from 42%. Finally, in the fault-tolerant execution mode, since the two copied threads are cooperating with one another, deadlock situations could be quite common. We thus present a detailed deadlock analysis and then conclude that allocating some entries of ROB, LQ, and SQ for the trailing thread is sufficient to prevent such deadlocks
The nuclear envelope lamina network has elasticity and a compressibility limit suggestive of a molecular shock absorber

Mechanical properties of the nuclear envelope have implications for cell and nuclear architecture as well as gene regulation. Using isolated Xenopus oocyte nuclei, we have established swelling conditions that separate the intact nuclear envelope (membranes, pore complexes and underlying lamin filament network) from nucleoplasm and the majority of chromatin. Swelling proves reversible with addition of high molecular mass dextrans. Micropipette aspiration of swollen and unswollen nuclear envelopes is also reversible and yields a network elastic modulus, unaffected by nucleoplasm, that averages 25 mN/m. Compared to plasma membranes of cells, the nuclear envelope is much stiffer and more resilient. Our results suggest that the nuclear lamina forms a compressed network shell of interconnected rods that is extensible but limited in compressibility from the native state, thus acting as a `molecular shock absorber'. In light of the conservation of B-type lamins in metazoan evolution, the mechanical properties determined in this investigation suggest physical mechanisms by which mutated lamins can either destabilize nuclear architecture or influence nuclear responses to mechanical signals in Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy, cardiomyopathy, progeria syndromes (premature `aging') and other laminopathies.
Automated benchmarking of peptide-MHC class I binding predictions

MOTIVATION Numerous in silico methods predicting peptide binding to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules have been developed over the last decades. However, the multitude of available prediction tools makes it non-trivial for the end-user to select which tool to use for a given task. To provide a solid basis on which to compare different prediction tools, we here describe a framework for the automated benchmarking of peptide-MHC class I binding prediction tools. The framework runs weekly benchmarks on data that are newly entered into the Immune Epitope Database (IEDB), giving the public access to frequent, up-to-date performance evaluations of all participating tools. To overcome potential selection bias in the data included in the IEDB, a strategy was implemented that suggests a set of peptides for which different prediction methods give divergent predictions as to their binding capability. Upon experimental binding validation, these peptides entered the benchmark study. RESULTS The benchmark has run for 15 weeks and includes evaluation of 44 datasets covering 17 MHC alleles and more than 4000 peptide-MHC binding measurements. Inspection of the results allows the end-user to make educated selections between participating tools. Of the four participating servers, NetMHCpan performed the best, followed by ANN, SMM and finally ARB. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION Up-to-date performance evaluations of each server can be found online at http://tools.iedb. org/auto_bench/mhci/weekly. All prediction tool developers are invited to participate in the benchmark. Sign-up instructions are available at http://tools.iedb. org/auto_bench/mhci/join. CONTACT mniel@cbs.dtu. dk or bpeters@liai.org SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Electrophysiological findings in a porcine model of selective retinal capillary closure.

PURPOSE To determine the effects on the electroretinogram (ERG) of retinal capillary closure induced in the pig by embolization with microspheres. METHODS Fourteen Yorkshine Landrace pigs of 25- to 45-kg body weight were used. With a customized cannula introduced into the external carotid artery, 10-μm diameter microspheres were delivered to the origin of the vessel that supplies blood to the eye in the pig. Fundus fluorescein angiography and electroretinography were performed between days 7 and 28 post injection. The ERG responses of embolized eyes were compared with those of the contralateral nonembolized eyes. RESULTS The amplitudes of the scotopic b-wave (P = 0.002), the maximal b-wave (P < 0.010), the photopic a-wave (P < 0.001) and b-wave (P < 0.001), and the scotopic oscillatory potentials (OPs) (P = 0.025) and photopic OPs (P = 0.036) were significantly reduced in embolized eyes. The reduction of these ERG amplitudes was significantly correlated with the number of microspheres in the retina. There was no significant difference in the combined rod-cone bright flash (maximal) ERG a-wave amplitude between eyes with and without microspheres. Implicit times, however, were similar in embolized and control eyes. CONCLUSIONS In eyes embolized with microspheres, the amplitudes of most ERG components were significantly reduced without alteration of their implicit times. The magnitude of ERG amplitude reduction correlated with the number of microspheres in the retina.