Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Area-Level Deprivation and Overall and Cause-Specific Mortality: 12 Years’ Observation on British Women and Systematic Review of Prospective Studies

Background Prospective studies have suggested a negative impact of area deprivation on overall mortality, but its effect on cause-specific mortality and the mechanisms that account for this association remain unclear. We investigate the association of area deprivation, using Index of Multiple deprivation (IMD), with overall and cause-specific mortality, contextualising findings within a systematic review. Methods And Findings We used data from 4,286 women from the British Women’s Heart Health Study (BWHHS) recruited at 1999-2001 to examine the association of IMD with overall and cause-specific mortality using Cox regression models. One standard deviation (SD) increase in the IMD score had a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.21 (95% CI: 1.13-1.30) for overall mortality after adjustment for age and lifecourse individual deprivation, which was attenuated to 1.15 (95% CI: 1.04-1.26) after further inclusion of mediators (health behaviours, biological factors and use of statins and blood pressure-lowering medications). A more pronounced association was observed for respiratory disease and vascular deaths. The meta-analysis, based on 20 published studies plus the BWHHS (n=21), yielded a summary relative risk (RR) of 1.15 (95% CI: 1.11-1.19) for area deprivation (top [least deprived; reference] vs. bottom tertile) with overall mortality in an age and sex adjusted model, which reduced to 1.06 (95% CI: 1.04-1.08) in a fully adjusted model. Conclusions Health behaviours mediate the association between area deprivation and cause-specific mortality. Efforts to modify health behaviours may be more successful if they are combined with measures that tackle area deprivation.
HANDLING COMPLEXITY IN THE DESIGN OF EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE TOOLS

Designers of educational software tools inevitably struggle with the issue of complexity. In general, a simple tool will minimize the time needed to learn it at the expense of range of applications. On the other hand, designing a tool to handle a wide range of applications risks overwhelming students. I contrast the decisions we made regarding complexity when we developed DataScope 15 years ago with those we recently made in designing TinkerPlots, and describe how our more recent tack has served to increase student engagement at the same time it helps them see critical connections among display types. More generally, I suggest that in the attempt to not overwhelm students, too many educational environments managed instead to under whelm them and thus serve to stifle rather than foster learning.
Barriers to evidence-based practice in primary care nursing--why viewing decision-making as context is helpful.

AIM This paper reports a study examining the barriers associated with research knowledge transfer amongst primary care nurses in the context of clinical decision-making. BACKGROUND The research literature on barriers to nurses' use of research knowledge is characterized by studies that rely primarily on self-report data, making them prone to reporting biases. Studies of the barriers to evidence-based practice often fail to examine information use and behaviour in the context of clinical decision-making. METHODS A multi-site, mixed method, case study was carried out in 2001. Data were collected in three primary care organizations by means of interviews with 82 primary care nurses, 270 hours of non-participant observation and 122 Q-sorts. Nurses were selected using a published theoretical sampling frame. Between-methods triangulation was employed and data analysed according to the principles of constant comparison. Multiple linear regression was used to explore relationships between a number of independent demographic variables (such as length of clinical experience) and the dependent variable of nurses' perspectives on the barriers to their use of research knowledge. RESULTS Three perspectives on barriers to research information use emerged: the need to bridge the skills and knowledge gap for successful knowledge transfer; information formats need to maximize limited opportunities for consumption; and limited access in the context of limited time for decision-making and information consumption. Demographic variables largely failed to predict allegiance to any of the perspectives identified. CONCLUSIONS Researchers should consider using decision-making as a contextual backdrop for exploring information use and behaviour, avoid relying solely on self-reported behaviour as data, and use a variety of research methods to provide a richer picture of information-related behaviour. Practice developers need to recognize that understanding the decisions to which research knowledge is to be applied should be a characteristic of any strategy to increase research uptake by nurses.
Design review oriented model simplification for collaborative process plant CAD

Design review plays an important role in verifying design standards and ensuring or shortening the design cycle of the project in collaborative process plant CAD. Visualization of 3D process plant models is an essential feature to support design review in distributed design environment. To improve rendering performance, model simplification algorithms, such as levels of detail (LODs) and hierarchical levels of detail (HLODs), can be applied to process plant models. However, it is difficult to use available general model simplification algorithms to support reviewing complex models in process plant CAD. These algorithms always need unbearable time for preprocessing and are not designed to handle process plant models. They do not take the specific requirements of design review into account and may distort design feature and make them unrecognizable to the reviewer. To efficiently transmit models, various compression technologies can be applied to shrink the data size. However, transmitting the geometric model over the network during visualization is still a bottleneck of rendering performance. In this paper, a new, faster model simplification algorithm is proposed to simplify process plant models. Only the geometric parameters and topology information are transmitted. We compute LODs and HLODs according to the model's geometric parameters and design feature. We demonstrate its performance on complex process plant models composed of tens of millions of triangles. Overall, our approach is able to greatly shorten the preprocessing time and achieve considerable speedups in frame rate with little loss in image quality.
ON THE REJECTION ABILITY REQUIRED IN MULTIPLE HYPOTHESIS TECHNIQUES

The so­called multiple hypothesis technique is applied to solve a recognition problem that can be divided into at least two sub­problems. The principle of the technique is to solve the sub­problems by recognisers, a pre­recogniser and a post­recogniser, and to allow the pre­recogniser to leave several possible solutions to the post­recogniser. The pre­recogniser uses several hypotheses based on information or a priori knowledge. The post­recogniser tries to solve its assigned sub­problem by using the solutions from the pre­recogniser and different a priori knowledge. Therefore, there must be co­operation between the recognisers in order to achieve better total performance in solving the recognition problem. In this study, required abilities of the pre­ and the post­recognisers are analysed in order to attain better recognition performance. This analysis gives guidelines for two special factors: number of outputs of the pre­recogniser and required recognition rate of each recogniser. These guidelines are applied to an actual mail­address reading system using a multiple hypothesis technique
Geometric Motion Segmentation and ModelSelectionBy

Motion segmentation involves clustering features together that belong to independently moving objects. The image features on each of these objects conform to one of several putative motion models, but the number and type of motion is unknown a priori. In order to cluster these features, the problems of model selection, robust estimation and clustering must all be addressed simultaneously. Within this paper we place the three problems into a common statistical framework ; investigating the use of information criteria and robust mixture models as a principled way for motion segmentation of images. The nal result is a general fully automatic algorithm for clustering that works in the presence of noise and outliers.
Functional polymorphisms in the NPAS2 gene are associated with overall survival in transcatheter arterial chemoembolization-treated hepatocellular carcinoma patients

The functional abnormality of circadian regulation genes is involved in the development and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the association between functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in circadian gene NPAS2 and the overall survival of HCC patients treated with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) has never been investigated. Six functional SNPs in the NPAS2 gene were genotyped using the Sequenom iPLEX genotyping system in a cohort of 448 unresectable Chinese patients with HCC treated with TACE. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards model and Kaplan–Meier curves were used for the prognosis analysis. We found that two SNPs, rs1053096 and rs2305160, in the NPAS2 gene showed significant associations with overall death risk in HCC patients in the recessive model (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.48; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.13–1.94; P = 0.004) and in the dominant model (HR = 1.63; 95% CI, 1.29–2.07; P < 0.001), respectively. Moreover, we observed a cumulative effect of these two SNPs on HCC overall survival, indicating a significant trend of increasing death risk with increasing number of unfavorable genotypes (P for trend < 0.001). Compared with the patients without any unfavorable genotypes, the HRs for patients with one and two unfavorable genotypes were 1.41 (95% CI, 1.10–1.82; P = 0.007) and 2.09 (95% CI, 1.46–2.97, P < 0.001), respectively. The haplotype and diplotype analyses further characterized the association between NPAS2 genotype and survival of HCC patients. Our results for the first time suggest that NPAS2 gene polymorphisms may serve as an independent prognostic marker for HCC patients treated with TACE.
The Process of Information Propagation Along a Traffic Stream Through Intervehicle Communication

This paper proposes a model to calculate the average speed of transmission of intervehicle communication (IVC) messages in a general traffic stream on highways in the early stage of deploying distributed traffic information systems (DTIS). The model helps explain the relationship between average IVC message speed and traffic parameters such as equipped vehicle density, traffic flow speed, and traffic direction. Simulation results are used to verify the correctness of the model. This model needs a much shorter calculation time than a simulation. Moreover, the theoretical analysis helps provide more insightful explanations of the phenomenon for IVC performance analysis. The results of this paper would help people better understand the design criteria for DTIS.
Functional genes to assess nitrogen cycling and aromatic hydrocarbon degradation: primers and processing matter

Targeting sequencing to genes involved in key environmental processes, i.e., ecofunctional genes, provides an opportunity to sample nature's gene guilds to greater depth and help link community structure to process-level outcomes. Vastly different approaches have been implemented for sequence processing and, ultimately, for taxonomic placement of these gene reads. The overall quality of next generation sequence analysis of functional genes is dependent on multiple steps and assumptions of unknown diversity. To illustrate current issues surrounding amplicon read processing we provide examples for three ecofunctional gene groups. A combination of in silico, environmental and cultured strain sequences was used to test new primers targeting the dioxin and dibenzofuran degrading genes dxnA1, dbfA1, and carAa. The majority of obtained environmental sequences were classified into novel sequence clusters, illustrating the discovery value of the approach. For the nitrite reductase step in denitrification, the well-known nirK primers exhibited deficiencies in reference database coverage, illustrating the need to refine primer-binding sites and/or to design multiple primers, while nirS primers exhibited bias against five phyla. Amino acid-based OTU clustering of these two N-cycle genes from soil samples yielded only 114 unique nirK and 45 unique nirS genus-level groupings, likely a reflection of constricted primer coverage. Finally, supervised and non-supervised OTU analysis methods were compared using the nifH gene of nitrogen fixation, with generally similar outcomes, but the clustering (non-supervised) method yielded higher diversity estimates and stronger site-based differences. High throughput amplicon sequencing can provide inexpensive and rapid access to nature's related sequences by circumventing the culturing barrier, but each unique gene requires individual considerations in terms of primer design and sequence processing and classification.
Argument from Expert Opinion as Legal Evidence: Critical Questions and Admissibility Criteria of Expert Testimony in the American Legal System

While courts depend on expert opinions in reaching sound judgments, the role of the expert witness in legal proceedings is associated with a litany of problems. Perhaps most prevalent is the question of under what circumstances should testimony be admitted as expert opinion. We review the changing policies adopted by American courts in an attempt to ensure the reliability and usefulness of the scientific and technical information admitted as evidence. We argue that these admissibility criteria are best seen in a dialectical context as a set of critical questions of the kind commonly used in models of argumentation.
Prototyping a Globally Asynchronous Locally Synchronous Network-On-Chip on a Conventional FPGA Device Using Synchronous Design Tools

An FPGA prototype of a four-node globally-asynchronous locally-synchronous network-on-chip is described. The network for global communication operates asynchronously at the link level and synchronously within a node. Two C-element control pipelines constitute the control logic for the asynchronous part. C-element and asynchronous arbiter realizations on FPGA using standard synchronous design tools are presented
RNA Expression Levels Human Mammary Epithelial Cells with Limiting Telomerase Amplification of Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase Gene in Updated

Activation of telomerase is a crucial step during cellular immortalization, and in some tumors this results from amplification of the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) gene. Immortalization of normal human cells has been achieved by transduction with hTERT cDNA under the control of a strong heterologous enhancer/promoter, but this is sometimes an inefficient process, with periods of poor growth or even crisis occurring before immortalization. Here, we showed that normal human mammary epithelial cells expressing exogenous hTERT amplified the transgene extensively and expressed high levels of hTERT mRNA and protein. Paradoxically, the cells had low levels of telomerase activity and very short telomeres, indicating that telomerase activity did not correlate with hTERT expression. These cells contained only f20 human telomerase RNA (hTR) molecules/cell (compared with f120 hTR molecules per 293 cell). Expression of exogenous hTR caused increased telomerase activity and telomere lengthening. These data indicate that some hTERTtransduced normal cells may express high levels of the transgene but fail to up-regulate endogenous hTR expression sufficiently to enable expression of robust levels of telomerase activity. [Cancer Res 2008;68(9):3115–23]
Edinburgh Research Explorer The PI3K p110alpha isoform regulates endothelial adherens junctions via Pyk2 and Rac1

junction protein vascular endothelial cadherin (VE-cadherin), and leukocyte TEM. p110  selectively mediates activation of the Tyr kinase Pyk2 and GTPase Rac1 to regulate barrier function. Additionally, p110  mediates the association of VE-cadherin with Pyk2, the Rac guanine nucleotide exchange factor Tiam-1 and the p85 regulatory subunit of PI3K. We propose that p110  regulates endothelial barrier function by inducing the forma-tion of a VE-cadherin–associated protein
Hybrid Numeric/Rank Similarity Metrics for Musical Performance Analysis

This paper describes a numerical method for examining similarities among tempo and loudness features extracted from recordings of the same musical work and evaluates its effectiveness compared to Pearson correlation. Starting with correlation at multiple timescales, other concepts such as a performance “noise-floor” are used to generate measurements which are more refined than correlation alone. The measurements are evaluated and compared to plain correlation in their ability to identify performances of the same Chopin mazurka played by the same pianist out of a collection of recordings by various pianists. As part of the Mazurka Project at the AHRC Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music (CHARM), almost 3,000 recordings of Chopin mazurkas were collected to analyze the stylistic evolution of piano playing over the past 100 years of recording history, which equates to about 60 performances of each mazurka. The earliest collected performance was recorded on wax cylinders in 1902 and the most recent posted as homemade videos on YouTube. Table 1 lists 300 performances of five mazurkas which will be used for evaluation later in this paper since they include a substantial number of recordings with extracted tempo and loudness features.
“Zwei languages zusammenputten”1: Bilingual ways of expressing bicultural identities

The availability of linguistic resources plays a crucial role when sociocultural identities are constructed in interpersonal interaction. When looking at ways of how language is used to fulfil this purpose, the behaviour of bilinguals is particularly revealing because the structure of the bilingual linguistic repertoire is often more transparent than that of a “monolingual” repertoire. In our research project on contact phenomena between German and English, we investigate bilingual speech patterns of first generation German immigrants to the USA2. In our presentation we focus on the analysis of a tape-recorded free interaction which took place among five bilingual speakers aged 59-82, and we are concentrating on two of the speakers, both of them women. These speakers, we will call them Laura and Toni3, immigrated to the USA as young adults with hardly any prior knowledge of English.
Wireless open service networks

We describe a networking infrastructure, called wireless open service networks, that allows service providers such as content providers to compete in open marketplaces. Using this open infrastructure, customers are empowered with dynamic choice of a variety of services at various levels, beyond just their traditional choices in network access services. In the meantime, service providers are given the opportunity to bundle services at multiple levels to maximize the performance of service delivery to end users. For the implementation of these wireless open service networks, we present a service address resolution protocol (SARP). Using SARP requests, customers can discover available services over a local wireless network. Using SARP replies, service providers can make their services known to customers. SARP resides at the link-layer and is light-weight, to allow easy and ubiquitous deployment. SARP can be viewed as a natural extension of the widely used address resolution protocol (ARP) which discovers link-layer addresses such as Ethernet MAC addresses. We give application examples to illustrate these concepts. In addition, we discuss the design of SARP and our implementation experience.
A Flexible Framework for Quality Assurance of Software Artefacts with Applications to Java, UML, and TTCN-3 Test Specifications

Manual reviews and inspections of software artefacts are time consuming and thus, automated analysis tools have been developed to support the quality assurance of software artefacts. Usually, software analysis tools are implemented for analysing only one specific language as target and for performing only one class of analyses. Furthermore, most software analysis tools support only common programming languages, but not those domain-specific languages that are used in a test process. As a solution, a framework for software analysis is presented that is based on a flexible, yet high-level facade layer that mediates between analysis rules and the underlying target software artefact; the analysis rules are specified using high-level XQuery expressions. Hence, further rules can be quickly added and new types of software artefacts can be analysed without needing to adapt the existing analysis rules. The applicability of this approach is demonstrated by examples from using this framework to calculate metrics and detect bad smells in Java source code, in UML models, and in test specifications written using the Testing and Test Control Notations (TTCN-3).
A Study of Workload Balancing Techniqueson Parallel Join AlgorithmsA

When parallel join strategies are considered , good workload balancing methods are important in order to achieve reasonable performances. We study here parallel join algorithms that comprise some kind of load balancing activity. By taking into account diierent skew handling techniques, we discuss pros and cons of well known existing strategies and deene a new taxonomy for this class of algorithms, according to the moment the load balancing technique is applied. The choice of a speciic step of the algorithm to balance the load is closely related to the eecacy in handling the effects of diierent types of skew. Based on this idea, we introduce an alternate approach for parallel join processing, which tries to handle all skew situations by dynamically determining and assigning variable-sized tasks to be executed at each processor node.