Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Epidemiological classification of acute myocardial infarction: time for a change?

AIMS The classification of an acute ischaemic cardiac event is traditionally based on cardiac enzymes, electrocardiography (ECG) and clinical symptoms. The impact of new specific cardiac markers on the diagnostic classification of suspected acute myocardial infarction remains poorly studied. We therefore set out to compare the diagnostic and prognostic information provided by the MONICA code and a patient classification based on the maximal level of creatine kinase MB isoenzyme. The significance of typical pain and various ECG algorithms were separately analysed. METHODS AND RESULTS The study population consisted of 311 consecutive patients who were evaluated for suspected acute myocardial infarction in a regional referral hospital. Patients were retrospectively classified according to the MONICA criteria, by a simplified code combining symptoms and creatine kinase MB, and solely using the maximal creatine kinase MB concentration. Total mortality was followed for 1 and 5 years. The creatine kinase MB based classification was shown to be the strongest predictor of mortality (OR=2.8-3.7, p<0.001) for outcome both at 1 and 5 years. Typical pain and a positive Minnesota ECG had no prognostic relevance. However, an analysis algorithm of the admission ECG was predictive of 1- and 5-year survival. CONCLUSIONS The epidemiological classification of suspected acute myocardial infarction could be based solely on a specific cardiac marker, such as creatine kinase MB mass. This approach contains prognostic information and is accurate enough for the structured diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. Other outcome predictors could be used to identify patient subgroups and assess therapy.
Controlling the New Media: Hybrid Responses to New Forms of Power

The development of new media industries, stimulated by the technology of digitalisation, has thrown up an important literature on mechanisms for regulation and control. In this article we elaborate on and develop Lawrence Lessig's 'modalities of regulation' analysis. As we reconceive them the four basic control forms are premised upon hierarchy, competition, community and design and can be deployed in fifteen pure and hybrid forms. This analysis is enriched through elaborating on the essential elements of control systems (standard–setting, monitoring and behaviour modification) to demonstrate the importance and variety of hybrid forms that real–world control systems take in the new media domains. Although the article does not provide any universal prescriptions as to which control forms are likely to be most appropriate in particular domains, it does provide a richer analytical base both for understanding existing control mechanisms and the potential for using greater variety. The development of regulatory regimes which are both legitimate and effective in any given domain is likely to require sensitivity to the particular context and culture of both the domain and the jurisdiction within which it is located.
Self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism: Risk factors within an integrative model for bulimic symptomatology.

Two prominent lines of research have investigated the relationships of several risk factors and bulimic pathology (Stice, 2001; Vohs et al., 2001). This research examined the relationships among multidimensional perfectionism, self–esteem, thin ideal internalization, body dissatisfaction and bulimic symptomatology using a model which integrates these two lines of research. Female undergraduate volunteers (N = 277) completed several self–report questionnaires, including a demographic form, Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, Rosenberg Self–Esteem Scale, Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire, Eating Disorder Inventory, and Body Image Avoidance Questionnaire. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses and structural equation modeling revealed no support for the proposed moderational influence of self–esteem on the relationships between dimensions of perfectionism and thin ideal internalization. However, results partially supported the proposed mediational influence of thin–ideal internaliz.
Sheffield Submission to the CHiC Interactive Task: Exploring Digital Cultural Heritage

The Cultural Heritage in CLEF 2013 (CHiC) interactive task focused on acquiring and analysing interactive information retrieval (IIR) behaviour in a Digital Cultural Heritage collection. The University of Sheeld contributed 120 on-line and 20 in-lab participants to this task. The results of both the on-line and in-lab experiments strongly indicate that when faced with a new, unfamiliar collection and an open-ended task, participants will spend more time using the category hierarchy for exploration, than the search box. However, analysis of the the number of items the on-line participants view in detail and then saved to their workspace indicates that the two access methods full dierent func- tions. From this we conclude that the categories are seemingly there to support the development of an initial overview over the collection, while the search is used to locate things in a more focused manner.
High power density and low cost Photovoltaic Power Conditioning System with energy storage system

A new high power density and low cost Photovoltaic Power Conditioning System (PV PCS) with energy storage system is proposed. Its high power density and cost effectiveness can be achieved through the unification of the maximum power point tracker and battery charger/discharger. Despite of the reduced power stage, the proposed system can achieve the same performances of maximum power point tracking and battery charging/discharging as the conventional system. Especially, when the utility power failure happens, both photovoltaic and battery energies can be supplied to the load with only one power stage. Therefore, it features a simpler structure, less mass, lower cost, and fewer devices. Finally, to confirm the operation, validity, and features of the proposed system, theoretical analysis and experimental results from a single phase AC 220Vrms/1.5kW prototype are presented.
A particle filtering method for wireless sensor network localization with an aerial robot beacon

This paper presents a new method for the 3D localization of an outdoor wireless sensor network (WSN) by using a single flying beacon-node on-board an autonomous helicopter, which is aware of its position thanks to a GPS device. The technique is based on particle filtering and does not require any prior information about the position of the nodes to be estimated. Its structure and stochastic nature allows a distributed computation of the position of the nodes. The paper shows how the method is very suitable for outdoor applications with robotic data-mule systems. The paper includes a section with experiments.
Repurposing the antimycotic drug flucytosine for suppression of Pseudomonas aeruginosa pathogenicity

Although antibiotic resistance represents a public health emergency, the pipeline of new antibiotics is running dry. Repurposing of old drugs for new clinical applications is an attractive strategy for drug development. We used the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa as a target for the screening of antivirulence activity among marketed drugs. We found that the antimycotic agent flucytosine inhibits the expression of the iron-starvation σ-factor PvdS, thereby repressing the production of major P. aeruginosa virulence factors, namely pyoverdine, PrpL protease, and exotoxin A. Flucytosine administration at clinically meaningful dosing regimens suppressed P. aeruginosa pathogenicity in a mouse model of lung infection. The in vitro and in vivo activity of flucytosine against P. aeruginosa, combined with its desirable pharmacological properties, paves the way for clinical trials on the anti-P. aeruginosa efficacy of flucytosine in humans.
Stochastic simulation of settlement prediction of shallow foundations based on a deterministic artificial neural network model

The problem of estimating the settlement of shallow foundations on granular soils is complex and not yet entirely understood. In the past, many empirical and theoretical methods have been developed for predicting the settlement of shallow foundations on granular soils; however, these methods are far from accurate and consistent. In recent times, artificial neural networks (ANNs) have been used for settlement prediction of shallow foundations on granular soils and have shown to outperform the most commonly used traditional methods. However, despite the relative advantage of the ANN based approach, it is like most traditional methods in the sense that it is based on a deterministic approach that does not take into account the considerable level of uncertainty that may affect the magnitude of the predicted settlement. Thus, it provides single values of settlement with no indication of the level of risk associated with these values. In this paper, an alternative stochastic approach that considers the uncertainty associated with the predicted settlement from a deterministic ANN model is provided. The proposed stochastic approach is based on combining Monte Carlo simulation with the deterministic ANN model from which a set of stochastic design charts for settlement prediction of shallow foundations on granular soils is developed. The charts will enable the designer to make informed decisions regarding the level of risk associated with predicted settlements and consequently provide a more realistic indication of what the actual settlement might be.
CloudXplor: a tool for configuration planning in clouds based on empirical data

Configuration planning for modern information systems is a highly challenging task due to the implications of various factors such as the cloud paradigm, multi-bottleneck workloads, and Green IT efforts. Nonetheless, there is currently little or no support to help decision makers find sustainable configurations that are systematically designed according to economic principles (e.g., profit maximization). This paper explicitly addresses this shortcoming and presents a novel approach to configuration planning in clouds based on empirical data. The main contribution of this paper is our unique approach to configuration planning based on an iterative and interactive data refinement process. More concretely, our methodology correlates economic goals with sound technical data to derive intuitive domain insights. We have implemented our methodology as the CloudXplor Tool to provide a proof of concept and exemplify a concrete use case. CloudXplor, which can be modularly embedded in generic resource management frameworks, illustrates the benefits of empirical configuration planning. In general, this paper is a working example on how to navigate large quantities of technical data to provide a solid foundation for economical decisions.
A high-performance parallel algorithm for nonnegative matrix factorization

Non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) is the problem of determining two non-negative low rank factors W and H, for the given input matrix A, such that A ≈ WH. NMF is a useful tool for many applications in different domains such as topic modeling in text mining, background separation in video analysis, and community detection in social networks. Despite its popularity in the data mining community, there is a lack of efficient distributed algorithms to solve the problem for big data sets. We propose a high-performance distributed-memory parallel algorithm that computes the factorization by iteratively solving alternating non-negative least squares (NLS) subproblems for W and H. It maintains the data and factor matrices in memory (distributed across processors), uses MPI for interprocessor communication, and, in the dense case, provably minimizes communication costs (under mild assumptions). As opposed to previous implementations, our algorithm is also flexible: (1) it performs well for both dense and sparse matrices, and (2) it allows the user to choose any one of the multiple algorithms for solving the updates to low rank factors W and H within the alternating iterations. We demonstrate the scalability of our algorithm and compare it with baseline implementations, showing significant performance improvements.
Dietary antioxidants and flight exercise in female birds affect allocation of nutrients to eggs: how carry-over effects work

ABSTRACT Physiological challenges during one part of the annual cycle can carry over and affect performance at a subsequent phase, and antioxidants could be one mediator of trade-offs between phases. We performed a controlled experiment with zebra finches to examine how songbirds use nutrition to manage trade-offs in antioxidant allocation between endurance flight and subsequent reproduction. Our treatment groups included (1) a non-supplemented, non-exercised group (control group) fed a standard diet with no exercise beyond that experienced during normal activity in an aviary; (2) a supplemented non-exercised group fed a water- and lipid-soluble antioxidant-supplemented diet with no exercise; (3) a non-supplemented exercised group fed a standard diet and trained to perform daily endurance flight for 6 weeks; and (4) a supplemented exercised group fed an antioxidant-supplemented diet and trained to perform daily flight for 6 weeks. After flight training, birds were paired within treatment groups for breeding. We analyzed eggs for lutein and vitamin E concentrations and the plasma of parents throughout the experiment for non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity and oxidative damage. Exercised birds had higher oxidative damage levels than non-exercised birds after flight training, despite supplementation with dietary antioxidants. Supplementation with water-soluble antioxidants decreased the deposition of lipid-soluble antioxidants into eggs and decreased yolk size. Flight exercise also lowered deposition of lutein, but not vitamin E, to eggs. These findings have important implications for future studies of wild birds during migration and other oxidative challenges. Highlighted Article: Endurance flight and supplementation with water-soluble antioxidants both affect the composition of zebra finch eggs; such carry-over effects have implications for wild migratory birds.
FLUORESCENCE POLARIZATION ASSAY FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF BRUCELLOSIS: A REVIEW

Fluorescence polarization assay (FPA) is based on the rotational differences between a small soluble antigen molecule in solution (labelled with a fluorochrome) and the antigen molecule complexed with its antibody. A small molecule will rotate randomly at a rapid rate, resulting in rapid depolarization of light, while a larger complex molecule will rotate slower and depolarize light at a reduced rate. The rate change in depolarization can be measured. The FPA is a homogeneous assay which does not require removal of unreacted reagents and can, therefore, be performed very quickly and, given portable equipment, in the laboratory and in the field. The latter obviates the need for shipping samples and eliminates waiting for results, as well as reducing test costs. The FPA technology has been developed and validated for the serological diagnosis of brucellosis in cattle, swine, sheep, goats, bison, and cervids. Sufficient cross reactivity of the common epitopes of Brucella abortus, B. melitensis and B. suis O-polysaccharide (OPS) allowed for the use of a single antigen for all species of smooth Brucella and animals. The OPS prepared from B. abortus S1119.3 was conjugated with fluorscein isothiocyanate (FITC). The FPA was initially developed for testing serum; however, the technology has been extended to testing whole blood and milk from individual animals or bulk tank samples pooled from 2000 or fewer animals. The accuracy of the FPA equalled or exceeded those obtained using other serological tests such as the buffered antigen plate agglutination test (BPAT), the milk ring test (MRT), the complement fixation test (CFT), the indirect enzyme immunoassay (IELISA), and the competitive enzyme immunoassay (CELISA).
Adjustments for High School Characteristics in the Prediction of College Achievement

ALTHOUGH attempts to deal with the relationship between high school characteristics and college achievement have been reported periodically, not until recently have major efforts been made to improve the prediction of college success by adjusting for high school characteristics. The more recent studies appear to have been stimulated by Bloom and Peters’ (1961) method for adjusting both high school and college grades to improve predictive efficiency. Linn (1966) critically reviewed and compared many of the subsequent adjustment methods and concluded that the gains in predictive efficiency from these methods had been discouragingly small. *
”2/H∞ based sliding mode control: A partial eigenstructure assignment method

This paper is devoted to the problem of designing a sliding surface for an underlying system, while H2/H∞ performance specifications of the closed-loop system are under control. This scheme is different from a large number of the existing methods in the literature for the sliding surface design, in the sense that it will penalize the required level of control effort to maintain sliding. This novel scheme consists of two stages. First, exploiting a certain partial eigenstructure assignment method, a state feedback gain is selected that ensures precise locations for some of the closed-loop system poles while minimizing the H∞-norm (H2-norm) of a specific closed-loop transfer function and satisfying an H2-norm (H∞-norm) constraint on the same or another closed-loop transfer function. Following this, the second stage derives the sliding surface and thereby the control law associated with the particular state feedback designed in the first stage by using one of an approach developed for this purpose. We present a numerical example to demonstrate the remarkable performance of the proposed scheme.
On the Latent Variable Interpretation in Sum-Product Networks

One of the central themes in Sum-Product networks (SPNs) is the interpretation of sum nodes as marginalized latent variables (LVs). This interpretation yields an increased syntactic or semantic structure, allows the application of the EM algorithm and to efficiently perform MPE inference. In literature, the LV interpretation was justified by explicitly introducing the indicator variables corresponding to the LVs’ states. However, as pointed out in this paper, this approach is in conflict with the completeness condition in SPNs and does not fully specify the probabilistic model. We propose a remedy for this problem by modifying the original approach for introducing the LVs, which we call SPN augmentation. We discuss conditional independencies in augmented SPNs, formally establish the probabilistic interpretation of the sum-weights and give an interpretation of augmented SPNs as Bayesian networks. Based on these results, we find a sound derivation of the EM algorithm for SPNs. Furthermore, the Viterbi-style algorithm for MPE proposed in literature was never proven to be correct. We show that this is indeed a correct algorithm, when applied to selective SPNs, and in particular when applied to augmented SPNs. Our theoretical results are confirmed in experiments on synthetic data and 103 real-world datasets.
The Consistency of Virtual Organizations Enabling Capabilities and Improvements in Knowledge Management Performance

The success of a virtual organization VO largely depends on the effective collaboration of its members in orchestrating their knowledge, skills, core competences and resources. It enables the VOs to enhance competitive capabilities and respond better to business opportunities. Most previous studies have focused on the influence of some contingent factors on Knowledge Management KM process/ outcome and neglect the interacting relationships among these contingent factors. The objective of this study is to explore the interacting patterns among a VO enabling capabilities from a covariation perspective on Knowledge Management Performance KMP. The authors introduce the concept of "consistency" which helps them investigate the impact of the VO enabling capabilities on KMP. The results from a field survey of 95 Iranian IT/ engineering firms which implement KM processes show that the "consistency" among these enabling capabilities has a significant positive impact on KMP. The novel point in this paper is to consider the following factors in a virtual context simultaneously: focus on core competence, network cooperation, integration, trust in the network, and ICT usage. The results of this study have provided a very useful reference for scholars and managers to identify the relevant issues of KM projects in VOs.
Dihydrotestosterone and Testosterone, but not DHEA or Estradiol, Differentially Modulate IGF-I, IGFBP - 2 and IGFBP-3 Gene and Protein Expression in Primary Cultures of Human Prostatic Stromal Cells

Prostate cancer is one of the four most common cancers in the U.S., affecting one of six men. Increased serum levels of androgens and IGF-I are associated with an augmented risk of prostate cancer. Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and testosterone (T) stimulate prostate cancer cell growth, development, and function, whereas the effects of DHT and T in prostate stromal cells, and of DHEA in prostate cancer or stromal cells, are uncertain. We investigated the actions of DHT, T, DHEA, and E 2 on IGF-I, IGF-II, IGF-IR, IGFBP-2, IGFBP-3 and IGFBP-5 in primary cultures of human prostatic stromal cells by assessing cell proliferation, mRNA expression, and protein secretion by MTT growth assay, quantitative real time PCR, and ELISA, respectively. DHT and T each increased IGF-I (7-fold) and decreased IGFBP-3 (2-fold) mRNA expression and protein secretion in a dose and time dependent manner, and increased IGFBP-2 (2-fold) mRNA in a dose and time dependent manner. DHEA and E 2 did not significantly alter these measures. Flutamide abolished the DHT-modulated increases in IGF-I and IGFBP-2, suggesting that the influences of DHT and T on these measures were androgen receptor mediated. None of the four steroids significantly affected IGF-I receptor, IGF-II or IGFBP-5 mRNA levels or stromal cell proliferation. The effects of DHT on IGF-I, IGFBP-2 and IGFBP-3 were more pronounced in stromal cultures that did not express desmin. These data suggest that DHT and T promote prostate growth partly via modulation of the stromal cell IGF axis, with potential paracrine effects on prostate epithelial cells.