Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Individual difference for HCI systems: Examining the probability of thinking style signature in online interaction

Researches on human thinking styles have received wide attention, especially in online education; an aspect of human computer interaction. However, the deciphering of specific thinking styles of an online user has suffered setbacks due to the limited exposition on the probability of online thinking style signature of users. This study explored this limitation with the assumption that human daily behavioral pattern can be translated into the electronic media of communication frequently used. To ascertain this assumption, server-side web data of 43-respondents were collected for 10-months as well as a self-report thinking style measurement instrument for each respondent. Cluster dichotomies from two thinking styles were extracted. Various supervised machine learning techniques were then applied to distinguish individuals on each dichotomy. The result showed that thinking styles of individuals on different dichotomies can be reliably distinguished on the internet using Logistic model tree with Bagging technique. The result demonstrates a high probability of the existence of digital thinking style. The findings from this study find relevance and application in human-centered graphical user interface design for recommender system as well as in e-commerce services. It also finds application in online profiling processes especially in e-learning systems.
Gaussian Process for Image Classification

Par rapport aux classifieurs connues dans l'etat de lart, le classifieur base sur les processus gaussien (GPC) offre plusieurs proprietes interessantes. Par exemple, leur nature bayesienne donne la possibilite d'integrer tout type d'information prealable dans le processus de classification. Ils permettent une estimation automatique complete des hyper-parametres. La selection des fonctionnalites peut faire partie du processus d'apprentissage a l'aide de noyaux appropries. Par ailleurs, en plus de l'estimation de la probabilite a posteriori de la classe utilisee pour executer la decision, ils donnent une estimation de la variance qui peut etre exploitee en tant que valeur de confiance de la decision fournie. Afin d'ameliorer les capacites de GPC, dans cette these, nous proposons de reformuler le modele d'apprentissage GPC afin d'integrer l'information contextuelle spatiale. Bien qu'il ait ete demontre que pour de nombreuses autres approches de classification que l'exploitation de ces informations peut etre potentiellement interessante pour augmenter la precision de la classification, peu d'attention a ete accordee a le faire pour GPC. Tous les developpements mathematiques menant a la GPC Spatial propose (SGPC) sont decrits. Les resultats experimentaux montrent que le SGPC peut aider a ameliorer la precision de la classification par rapport a la ligne de base GPC
An iPhone quiz system for learning foreign languages

As an information mobile device, a mobile phone is an essential tool for student's daily life, and it can be used even in a short period of free time and anywhere such as in a train or in a bus. We propose an iPhone quiz system for learning foreign languages. This paper presents the design and the implementation of this system.
Impingement and stability of total hip arthroplasty versus femoral head resurfacing using a cadaveric robotics model

We identified and compared the impingent‐free range of motion (ROM) and subluxation potential for native hip, femoral head resurfacing (FHR), and total hip arthroplasty (THA). These constructs were also compared both with and without soft tissue to elucidate the role of the soft tissue. Five fresh‐frozen bilateral hip specimens were mounted to a six‐degree of freedom robotic manipulator. Under load‐control parameters, in vivo mechanics were recreated to evaluate impingement free ROM, and the subluxation potential in two “at risk” positions for native hip, FHR, and THA. Impingement‐free ROM of the skeletonized THA was greater than FHR for the anterior subluxation position. For skeletonized posterior subluxations, stability for THA and FHR constructs were similar, while a different pattern was observed for specimens with soft tissues intact. FHR constructs were more stable than THA constructs for both anterior and posterior subluxations. When the femoral neck is intact the joint has an earlier impingement profile placing the hip at risk for subluxation. However, FHR design was shown to be more stable than THA only when soft tissues were intact. © 2013 Orthopaedic Research Society Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 31:1108–1115, 2013
Solving Systems of Nonlinear Equations on a Message-Passing Multiprocessor

We develop parallel algorithms for the solution of dense systems of nonlinear equations on a message-passing multiprocessor computer. Specifically, we propose a distributed finite-difference Newton method, a multiple secant method, and a rank-1 secant method. Experimental results, obtained on an Intel hypercube, indicate that our methods exhibit good parallelism.
Multiple-valued image-contour extraction method using a Laplacian– Gaussian filter

As a preparation for image recognition and character recognition in image processing, it is often necessary to separate the target region from other regions. To extract the edges of an object, binarization with a Laplacian filter or a Laplacian– Gaussian filter has been widely used. Such a method has problems, however: for example, the extraction of noise rather than the real edges of an object; failure to extract parts of a visually noticeable edge; and difficulty in setting thresholds for edge extraction. To solve these problems, this paper proposes a multiple-valued image-contour extraction method using a 3-valued L-G filter or a 5-valued full-color extraction method. The effectiveness of the proposed method and the realization of a multiple-valued logic circuit are examined. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Comp Jpn, 38(8): 61– 71, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (). DOI 10.1002sscj. 10467
Vision-based deep execution monitoring

Execution monitor of high-level robot actions can be effectively improved by visual monitoring the state of the world in terms of preconditions and postconditions that hold before and after the execution of an action. Furthermore a policy for searching where to look at, either for verifying the relations that specify the pre and postconditions or to refocus in case of a failure, can tremendously improve the robot execution in an uncharted environment. It is now possible to strongly rely on visual perception in order to make the assumption that the environment is observable, by the amazing results of deep learning. In this work we present visual execution monitoring for a robot executing tasks in an uncharted Lab environment. The execution monitor interacts with the environment via a visual stream that uses two DCNN for recognizing the objects the robot has to deal with and manipulate, and a non-parametric Bayes estimation to discover the relations out of the DCNN features. To recover from lack of focus and failures due to missed objects we resort to visual search policies via deep reinforcement learning.
Comparison of Gram stain with DNA probe for detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in urethras of symptomatic males

The comparison of Gram-stained urethral smears with Gen-Probe for the detection of Neisseria Gonorrhoeae in the urethras of males with symptomatic urethritis revealed a 99.6% correlation between the two methods. A simple Gram stain would appear to be the method of choice for the detection of gonorrhea in symptomatic males, because it is much less expensive and much more rapid than the Gen-Probe method.
Robustness of data-driven CVaR optimization using smoothing technique

Conditional value at risk (CVaR) is an attractive alternative risk measure to value at risk (VaR) because of its coherence property and ability to capture tail risk. In datadriven CVaR optimization where only a small number of scenarios are available, the optimal solutions are prone to estimation errors which make them unreliable. Smoothing technique is a method to approximate the loss exceeding a target function and when used in the CVaR optimization it speeds up the computation dramatically, with a small relative difference. In this paper, we compare the results from the original CVaR optimization with the smoothed version and investigate whether the results from the latter are also prone to estimation errors and become unreliable solutions.
Customized recommendation based on the analysis of passengers' mobility profiles

Nos ultimos anos a utilizacao dos transportes publicos tem diminuido gradualmente. Isto e algo preocupante dado o impacte ambiental e logistico de utilizar o automovel em vez de transportes coletivos. Desta forma e necessario procurar formas que deem resposta a este problema.Projetos previos demonstram que um metodo eficaz de promocao de algo e dar aos seus utilizadores algo por ansiar, uma recompensa pela sua preferencia. Uma forma de recompensa promissora consiste em estabelecer parcerias entre as entidades de transporte e servicos comerciais publicos e com isto premiar os utilizadores que optam pelos transportes publicos com ofertas.Na linha de recompensar os utilizadores de transportes com ofertas, este projecto baseia-se na implementacao de um sistema de recomendacao. O sistema e capaz de recomendar servicos comerciais de acordo com o perfil pessoal do utilizador e mobilidade, ficando o grande objetivo do projeto conseguir medir a precisao do sistema na recomendacao e qual a melhor forma de o fazer.O modelo de sistema de recomendacao MARS (Mobility Aware Recommendation System) e projetos anteriores como o Voyager servem de base para o projeto. Com a integracao de servicos de redes sociais, nomeadamente o Facebook e o Foursquare, pretende-se desenvolver perfis de utilizadores e servicos comerciais mais complexos e especificos. Esta integracao permite estabelecer um perfil de base, aumentando a precisao do sistema logo a partida (sem Cold Start), unido a uma abordagem hibrida de avaliacao, em contraste com o Voyager que apenas utiliza uma abordagem content-based. A combinacao de perfis sociais com a informacoes de mobilidade, poderemos entao recomendar novos estabelecimentos e ofertas/recompensas adequadas para cada utilizador. O sistema melhora com as escolhas de ofertas, com a mobilidade e com a diversidade de utilizadores.Com esta solucao, temos um metodo de recompensar os tres partidos, as entidades de transportes aumentam o seu numero de utilizadores, os servicos comerciais tem uma forma simples de dispersao atendendo ao publico alvo e por ultimo os utilizadores dos transportes sao recompensados pelo sistema, elaborado a sua medida.Para alem do âmbito deste projeto, ainda existem muitas areas por onde explorar. Em redes sociais, uma possibilidade sera integrar a partilha de conquistas/feitos a partir da aplicacao, tal como integrar novos servicos como o Twitter e LinkedIn. Outra vertente e aumentar a recomendacao para abrangir destinos nao comerciais, i.e. sugerir locais turisticos, cidades, viagens. Em ultimo ponto, seria interessante conseguir expandir o sistema para integrar a recomendacao de eventos. Todos este processos teriam recompensas associadas e incluir localmente recomendacao de estabelecimentos comerciais.
A prospective cohort study of practice guidelines in inflammatory bowel disease

OBJECTIVES:Practice guidelines should improve care, but they are not routinely followed, in part because of lack of proven benefit. We evaluated the effect of introducing guidelines for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on practice variation and the IBD Quality of Life (IBDQ) score.METHODS:This was a prospective, controlled, cohort study. A total of 65 patients were matched according to month of visit, diagnosis, and disease activity with control subjects seen 1 yr earlier. Physicians were educated throughout the study regarding the guidelines. Variation was measured by the Mayo Practice Guideline Score (MPGS), a 15-point assessment of documentation of diagnosis, nutrition, social support, education, functional status, and treatment. The IBDQ was measured at baseline and at 1 yr in the intervention group and after 1 yr in the control group.RESULTS:The MPGS was significantly higher in the intervention group compared to the controls (p = 0.002), with median values of 12 versus 11. The IBDQ median score increased significantly in the intervention group (p < 0.001), baseline median of 133 versus 15-month median of 184. However, the final IBDQ was not significantly higher in the intervention group than in the controls (p = 0.33). CONCLUSIONS:Practice guidelines for IBD reduce practice variation. The quality of life improved significantly compared to baseline with practice guidelines, but not compared to controls, perhaps because of the small sample size and homogenous practice setting. The MPGS is a tool that can be used in day-to-day management of IBD patients.
MicroRNA‐181a, a potential diagnosis marker, alleviates acute graft versus host disease by regulating IFN‐γ production

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo‐HSCT) is a valuable therapeutic strategy for a wide variety of diseases. Acute graft‐versus‐host disease (aGVHD) is a major complication in up to 75% of allo‐HSCT. The absence of a reliable predicative marker for aGVHD onset prevents preemptive treatment and impedes widespread and successful application of this therapy. In this study we found that after allo‐HSCT, the levels of miR‐181a were reduced significantly prior to the onset of aGVHD. More importantly, the degree of its reduction correlated with the severity of aGVHD. Mechanistically, miR‐181a affects the function of T lymphocytes by down‐regulating IFN‐γ in a dose‐dependent manner. Meanwhile, we confirmed that miR‐181a can effectively preserve the anti‐leukemic effect in vitro. Using a murine allo‐HSCT model, we demonstrated that murine miR‐181b, the human miR‐181a homolog, served as an effective predictor of aGVHD. Moreover, expression of this microRNA ameliorated the severity of aGVHD. Collectively, these results show that the level of miR‐181a may serve as a reliable marker for the diagnosis and prognosis the onset of aGVHD. Am. J. Hematol. 90:998–1007, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
PREVENTION OF ALLOANTIBODY FORMATION AFTER SKIN GRAFTING WITHOUT PROLONGATION OF GRAFT SURVIVAL

Treatment of mice in vivo with monoclonal antibodies against the L3T4 antigen (CD4 in human beings) has been shown to suppress the humoral response to several foreign antigens and to prolong the survival of allografts in some cases. Experiments were therefore performed to test whether anti-L3T4 antibody treatment would suppress alloantibody production after skin transplantation. Monoclonal anti-L3T4 antibody (GK1.5) was administered to C57BL/6 (B6) mice prior to BALB/c skin grafting. The production of B6 anti-BALB/c alloantibody was then tested after graft rejection. The results showed that: (1) graft survival of BALB/c skin on B6 mice was not substantially prolonged by anti-L3T4 treatment; (2) graft survival was significantly prolonged if mice were treated with both anti-L3T4 and anti-Lyt2 antibody; (3) the production of alloantibody following grafting was decreased by anti-L3T4 treatment and was completely eliminated if thymectomy was also performed; (4) thymectomy prolonged the effectiveness of the anti-L3T4 treatment; (5) tolerance to alloantigens presented at the time of anti-L3T4 treatment was not achieved; and (6) well-established cytotoxic antibody titers rose to higher levels after secondary grafting even with concurrent anti-L3T4 treatment, while weak antibody titers remained stable or decreased. These results indicate that L3T4+ cells are essential in providing the “help” necessary for generating humoral responses to alloantigens but that elimination of these L3T4+ cells still allows the generation of help for cell-mediated immunity. The data also suggest that class I antigens must be presented on class II molecules in order to elicit an antibody response.
New trends in peptide-based anti-biofilm strategies: a review of recent achievements and bioinformatic approaches

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have a broad spectrum of activity and unspecific mechanisms of action. Therefore, they are seen as valid alternatives to overcome clinically relevant biofilms and reduce the chance of acquired resistance. This paper reviews AMPs and anti-biofilm AMP-based strategies and discusses ongoing and future work. Recent studies report successful AMP-based prophylactic and therapeutic strategies, several databases catalogue AMP information and analysis tools, and novel bioinformatics tools are supporting AMP discovery and design. However, most AMP studies are performed with planktonic cultures, and most studies on sessile cells test AMPs on growing rather than mature biofilms. Promising preliminary synergistic studies have to be consubstantiated and the study of functionalized coatings with AMPs must be further explored. Standardized operating protocols, to enforce the repeatability and reproducibility of AMP anti-biofilm tests, and automated means of screening and processing the ever-expanding literature are still missing.
Potentiating interactions between morphogenetic protein and neurotrophic factors in developing neurons

mRNA for bone morphogenetic protein receptor type II (BMPR‐II) was mapped to different neurons in peripheral ganglia and spinal cord of the chicken embryo. The expression of this serine/threonine kinase receptor partially overlaps with that of tyrosine kinase receptors Trk and Ret. Biological activities of osteogenic protein‐1 (OP‐1), a documented ligand for BMPR‐II, were tested in explanted embryonic chicken ganglia and dissociated ganglionic neurons. OP‐1 had only a limited stimulatory effect on neuronal survival. However, OP‐1 combined with either neurotrophin‐3 (NT‐3, a relative of nerve growth factor) or glial cell line–derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) potentiated neuronal survival three‐ to fourfold. We also show that OP‐1 strongly potentiates nerve fiber outgrowth from ganglia stimulated with NT‐3 or GDNF. Signaling by BMPR‐II in neurons may potentiate the tyrosine kinase pathway activated by NT‐3 and GDNF. The data suggest that morphogenetic proteins may modulate neurotrophic activities during neuronal development and plasticity. J. Neurosci. Res. 53:559–568, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
TLR2 and TLR4 Gene Polymorphisms and Atopic Dermatitis in Italian Children: A Multicenter Study

Background Genetic factors have an important role in atopic dermatitis (AD) predisposition. Toll like receptor (TLR) are important mediators between environment and immune system. There are incosnsitent studies about TLSR polymorphisms in AD. Objective This study examined whether single nucleotide polimorphisms (SNPs) in the genes for TLR2 and TLR4 could be associated with the AD phenotypes and with its clinical severity in a large group of Italian children. Methods 187 children with Ad and 150 healthy children were recruited. AD severity was assessed by SCORAD. TLR2 (A-16934T and R753Q polymorphisms) and TLR4 (D299G and T399I SNPs) were genotyped by PCR-RFLP. Results The frequency of the R753Q was significantly higher in AD children (16.0%) compared with controls (6.0%, P=0.004; OR2.99,95%CI 1.39–6.41; RR 1.46,95%CI 1.14–1.69). AD patients a significantly different frequency of the D299G SNP (14.9%) in comparison with the controls (6.6%, P = 0.01; OR 2.46, 95%CI 1.17–5.17; RR 2.24; 95%CI 1.15–4.45). Conclusion Children with AD may have a distinct genotype and the TLR-2 R753Q SNP was prevalent in a subset of patients with AD characterized by a more severe clinical picture.
Molecular basis of myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms

The World Health Organization classification of tumors of hematopoietic and lymphoid tissues includes within myeloid neoplasms the category myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms. In this perspective article Drs. Reiter, Invernizzi, Cross and Cazzola discuss our present knowledge of the molecular basis of these disorders. See related paper on page 1676.
What Does the PIN Model Identify as Private Information

Some recent papers suggest that the Easley and O’Hara (1987) probability of informed trade (PIN) model fails to capture private information. We investigate this issue by comparing the PIN model with the Duarte and Young (2009) (DY) and Odders-White and Ready (2008) (OWR) models of private information arrival. We find that the PIN and DY models fail to capture private information because they mistakenly associate variations in turnover with the arrival of private information. On the other hand, the OWR model, which uses returns along with order flow imbalance, seems to plausibly identify the arrival of private information.
TITLE: Molecular Engineering of Vector-based Oncolytic and Imaging Approaches for Advanced Prostate Cancer

s: 1) Burton J.B. , Brakenhielm E. , Priceman S.J., Chavarria N. , Alitalo K, and Wu L. Lymphatic And Systemic Metastasis Of Prostate Cancer Induce By VEGF-C. InterProstate SPORE Meeting, Houston, Texas, Feb 4-6, 2006, invited speaker. 2) Figueiredo M.L. *, Sato M *, Chen M.N. , Powell R, and Wu L. The Optimal Placement And Orientation Of The Bipartite Two-Step Transcription Amplification (TSTA) Expression System In Adenoviral Vectors For Prostate Cancer Gene Therapy. American Society of Gene Therapy (ASGT) annual meeting at Baltimore, MD. 6/2006 3) Sato M, Huyn S, Carey M, Gambhir SS, Wu L. Prostate targeted TSTA oncolytic adenovirus. American Society of Gene Therapy (ASGT) annual meeting at Baltimore, MD. 6/2006
Intelligent decision support tool for priorotizing equipement repairs in critical/disaster situations

This paper presents an intelligent decision support system for Incidents Contingency Management based on fuzzy logic. The main objective of the Contingency Management Tool (CMT) is to support the decision-making process when critical/disaster events occur. The CMT model uses a hybrid approach of operational conditions (top/down) and technological conditions (bottom/up). The CMT contemplates both severity level and possibility of occurrence of events and suggests repair priorities for the assets (equipments). The mathematical approach of CMT is formalized with fuzzy (and crisp) relations and by using a multi-criteria inference mechanism, which provides a flexible but consistent way to handle the type of problem addressed.
Optimal linear estimation fusion .I. Unified fusion rules

This paper deals with data (or information) fusion for the purpose of estimation. Three estimation fusion architectures are considered: centralized, distributed, and hybrid. A unified linear model and a general framework for these three architectures are established. Optimal fusion rules based on the best linear unbiased estimation (BLUE), the weighted least squares (WLS), and their generalized versions are presented for cases with complete, incomplete, or no prior information. These rules are more general and flexible, and have wider applicability than previous results. For example, they are in a unified form that is optimal for all of the three fusion architectures with arbitrary correlation of local estimates or observation errors across sensors or across time. They are also in explicit forms convenient for implementation. The optimal fusion rules presented are not limited to linear data models. Illustrative numerical results are provided to verify the fusion rules and demonstrate how these fusion rules can be used in cases with complete, incomplete, or no prior information.