Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Towards Freshman Retention Prediction : A Comparative Study

—The objective of this research is to employ data mining tools and techniques on student enrollment data to predict student retention among freshman student populations. In particular, the goal is to identify freshman students who are more likely to drop out of school so that preemptive actions can be taken by the university. These models have been compared and evaluated extensively. Our findings show that each model has its advantages and disadvantages and among all the input variables, students' GPA and their financial status have bigger impact on students' retention than other variables.
Biphosphonates in Advanced Prostate and Renal Cell Cancer – Current Status and Potential Applications

Objective:This review summarizes recent findings on the therapeutic benefits of biphosphonates in patients with advanced prostate or renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The role of biphosphonates in ADT-induced osteoporosis and delay of skeletal-related events (SREs) in metastatic bone disease is discussed. A brief overview on the proposed modes of action is given. Methods: Literature search of PubMed documented publications and abstracts from meetings. Results: Among the biphosphonates currently available, zoledronic acid is the only one known to be capable of delaying SREs in RCC and prostate cancer patients. Zoledronic acid counteracts cancer treatment-induced osteoporosis in men with prostate malignancies. The antitumor activity of biphosphonates found in vitro and in vivo is intriguing and has to be further assessed in clinical studies. Conclusion: Due to its unique properties, zoledronic acid is a breakthrough in the management of metastatic bone disease in patients with advanced prostate cancer and RCC. It significantly improves the patients’ quality of life, drastically prolongs time to first SRE, and showed a positive but not significant effect on survival.
REFLECTIONS ON REFERENCE GROUPS

With characteristic modesty Herbert Hyman has described his presidential address as "reflections. " Opinion researchers have learned to listen intently when he reflects out loud, for he has few equals in the range and profundity of his intellectual explorations. He delivered his address to the members of the American Association for Public Opinion Research and their guests at the Fifteenth Annual Conference on May 7, i960, in the Traymore Hotel in Atlantic City. The Proceedings of the Conference over which he presided appear elsewhere in this issue. Herbert H. Hyman served as President of the American Association for Public Opinion Research during the 1959-1960 term. He is the noted author of books on interviewing, survey design and analysis, political socialization, and a distinguished series of articles. He is Professor of Sociology at Columbia University. In 1956 he received the Julian L. Woodward Memorial Award.
Actively Exploring Creation of Face Space(s) for Improved Face Recognition

We propose a learning framework that actively explores creation of face space(s) by selecting images that are complementary to the images already represented in the face space. We also construct ensembles of classifiers learned from such actively sampled image sets, which further provides improvement in the recognition rates. We not only signicantly reduce the number of images required in the training set but also improve the accuracy over learning from all the images. We also show that the single face space or ensemble of face spaces, thus constructed, has a higher generalization performance across different illumination and expression conditions.
Tenon Recession: A Novel Adjunct to Improve Outcome in the Treatment of Large-Angle Strabismus in Thyroid Eye Disease

Purpose: Treatment of large-angle strabismus in thyroid eye disease has historically suffered from low success rates. The authors report a novel technique that adds Tenon recession without conjunctival recession to standard extraocular muscle surgery. Methods: Twenty-six patients with thyroid eye disease-associated strabismus with preoperative deviations of ≥25 prism diopters in horizontal or vertical deviations underwent strabismus surgery. The amount of recession for a given muscle was determined by a combined analysis of the preoperative versions, deviation in primary gaze and in gaze opposite the restricted muscle, and intraoperative forced duction testing. Before conjunctival closure, the underlying Tenon layer and associated orbital tissues were recessed and allowed to retract posteriorally. The overlying conjunctiva was subsequently reapproximated to its anatomic position without tension. Results: The average preoperative measurements for horizontal and vertical deviations were 39.2 ± 13.4 and 45.0 ± 18.9 prism diopters, respectively. Average postoperative measurements for horizontal and vertical deviations were 3.2 ± 6.0 and 11.1 ± 11.9 prism diopters, respectively. Overall, 22 of 26 patients (84.6%) were within 10 prism diopters of intended correction postoperatively and achieved binocular fusion with or without the use of prisms for both distance and near vision. Four had residual deviations that required reoperation, all of which successfully produced binocular vision without the use of prisms. Conclusions: In the authors' experience, Tenon recession improves outcomes in surgery for large-angle strabismus in thyroid eye disease.
Large Deviations for Diffusions Interacting Through Their Ranks

We prove a large deviations principle (LDP) for systems of diffusions (particles) interacting through their ranks when the number of particles tends to infinity. We show that the limiting particle density is given by the unique solution of the appropriate McKean‐Vlasov equation and that the corresponding cumulative distribution function evolves according to a nondegenerate generalized porous medium equation with convection. The large deviations rate function is provided in explicit form. This is the first instance of an LDP for interacting diffusions where the interaction occurs both through the drift and the diffusion coefficients and where the rate function can be given explicitly. In the course of the proof, we obtain new regularity results for tilted versions of such a generalized porous medium equation. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Formulation and Evaluation of Self-Nanoemulsifying Powder of Ezetimibe

Ezetimibe (EZT) is the selective cholesterol absorption inhibitor. It is indicated for the treatment of primary hypercholesterolemia. The current investigation was aimed to formulation and evaluation of self nanoemulsifying powder (SNEP) for EZT to enhance solubility and dissolution rate and this will leads to minimize the variability in absorption. Solubility of drug was determined in different vehicles. Pseudo ternary phase diagram generated using Acrysol EL 135, Tween 80 and Trancutol P. The SNEP was prepared by adsorbing the optimized liquid SNEDDS on to Fujicalin as carrier. The SNEP characterized by micromeritic properties, differential scanning studies, percentage transmittance, emulsification time and zeta potential. The optimized formulation had shown the smallest particle size, less emulsification time, good %transmittance and good in vitro release. The in vitro dissolution rate and ex vivo permeation rate of the drug from the SNEP was significantly higher than that of the plain drug and its suspension respectively.
FAIL*: An Open and Versatile Fault-Injection Framework for the Assessment of Software-Implemented Hardware Fault Tolerance

Due to voltage and structure shrinking, the influence of radiation on a circuit's operation increases, resulting in future hardware designs exhibiting much higher rates of soft errors. Software developers have to cope with these effects to ensure functional safety. However, software-based hardware fault tolerance is a holistic property that is tricky to achieve in practice, potentially impaired by every single design decision. We present FAIL*, an open and versatile architecture-level fault-injection (FI) framework for the continuous assessment and quantification of fault tolerance in an iterative software development process. FAIL* supplies the developer with reusable and composable FI campaigns, advanced pre-and post-processing analyses to easily identify sensitive spots in the software, well-abstracted back-end implementations for several hardware and simulator platforms, and scalability of FI campaigns by providing massive parallelization. We describe FAIL*, its application to the development process of safety-critical software, and the lessons learned from a real-world example.
Labor Market Frictions, Firm Growth, and International Trade

I study the aggregate effects of labor market frictions in a small open economy where firms grow slowly and make fixed export investments. The model features interactions between dynamic investments in exporting and search frictions with job-to-job mobility. A calibration to Argentina's economy matching data on firm growth, worker transitions between firms, and export dynamics suggests that the real income gains from lowering frictions in job-to-job transitions are about 7 times larger than comparable reductions in frictions from unemployment. Barriers to worker mobility across firms matter for the real income gains of trade-cost reductions.
Insomnia severity, combat exposure and mental health outcomes

Few studies have examined insomnia severity as a moderator of the impact of combat experiences on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol problems, such that combat exposure is expected to have more negative consequences for soldiers who report insomnia. In this study, a sample of 522 military personnel completed measures of PTSD and alcohol problems prior to a 12-month deployment to Iraq, and then completed measures assessing insomnia severity, combat exposure, PTSD, alcohol problems and overall distress 3 months post-deployment. Results of a moderated multiple regression indicated that insomnia severity interacted with combat exposure to predict PTSD and alcohol problems after controlling for pre-deployment baseline measures of these outcomes, such that the relationship between combat exposure and the mental health symptoms was stronger when insomnia severity was greater. Results are discussed from the perspective of the role of insomnia in the development of PTSD and alcohol problems, as well as from an occupational health perspective where insomnia may deprive individuals of the resources they need to recover from the effects of severe occupational stressors found in high risk occupations. Published in 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Complex-valued symmetric radial basis function network for beamforming

The complex-valued radial basis function (RBF) network proposed by Chen et al. (1994) has found many applications for processing complex-valued signals, in particular, for communication channel equalisation and signal detection. This complex-valued RBF network, like many other existing RBF modelling methods, constitutes a black-box approach that seeks typically a sparse model representation extracted from the training data. Adopting black-box modelling is appropriate, if no a priori information exists regarding the underlying data generating mechanism. However, a fundamental principle in practical data modelling is that if there exists a priori information concerning the system to be modelled it should be incorporated in the modelling process. Many complex-valued signal processing problems, particularly those encountered in communication signal detection, have some inherent symmetric properties. This contribution adopts a grey-box approach to complex-valued RBF modelling and develops a complex-valued symmetric RBF (SRBF) network model. The application of this SRBF network is demonstrated using nonlinear beamforming assisted detection for multiple-antenna aided wireless systems that employ complex-valued modulation schemes. Two training algorithms for this complex-valued SRBF network are proposed. The first method is based on a modified version of the cluster-variation enhanced clustering algorithm, while the second method is derived by modifying the orthogonal-forward-selection procedure based on Fisher ratio of class separability measure. The effectiveness of the proposed complex-valued SRBF network and the efficiency of the two training algorithms are demonstrated in nonlinear beamforming application.
The Effect of Ratio and Interval Training on Pavlovian-Instrumental Transfer in Mice

Conditional stimuli (CS) that are paired with reward can be used to motivate instrumental responses. This process is called Pavlovian-instrumental transfer (PIT). A recent study in rats suggested that habitual responses are particularly sensitive to the motivational effects of reward cues. The current experiments examined this idea using ratio and interval training in mice. Two groups of animals were trained to lever press for food pellets that were delivered on random ratio or random interval schedules. Devaluation tests revealed that interval training led to habitual responding while ratio training produced goal-directed actions. The presentation of CSs paired with reward led to positive transfer in both groups, however, the size of this effect was much larger in mice that were trained on interval schedules. This result suggests that habitual responses are more sensitive to the motivational influence of reward cues than goal-directed actions. The implications for neurobiological models of motivation and drug seeking behaviors are discussed.
The Pleckstrin Homology (PH) Domain-Interacting Protein Couples the Insulin Receptor Substrate 1 PH Domain to Insulin Signaling Pathways Leading to Mitogenesis and GLUT4 Translocation

ABSTRACT Receptor-mediated tyrosine phosphorylation of the insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1) is required for the propagation of many of insulin's biological effects. The amino-terminal pleckstrin homology (PH) domain of IRS-1 plays a pivotal role in promoting insulin receptor (IR)-IRS-1 protein interactions. We have recently reported the isolation of a PH domain-interacting protein, PHIP, which selectively binds to the IRS-1 PH domain and is stably associated with IRS-1 in mammalian cells. Here we demonstrate that overexpression of PHIP in fibroblasts enhances insulin-induced transcriptional responses in a mitogen-activated protein kinase-dependent manner. In contrast, a dominant-negative mutant of PHIP (DN-PHIP) was shown to specifically block transcriptional and mitogenic signals elicited by insulin and not serum. In order to examine whether PHIP/IRS-1 complexes participate in the signal transduction pathway linking the IR to GLUT4 traffic in muscle cells, L6 myoblasts stably expressing a myc-tagged GLUT4 construct (L6GLUT4myc) were transfected with either wild-type or dominant-interfering forms of PHIP. Whereas insulin-dependent GLUT4myc membrane translocation was not affected by overexpression of PHIP, DN-PHIP caused a nearly complete inhibition of GLUT4 translocation, in a manner identical to that observed with a dominant-negative mutant of the p85 subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (Δp85). Furthermore, DN-PHIP markedly inhibited insulin-stimulated actin cytoskeletal reorganization, a process required for the productive incorporation of GLUT4 vesicles at the cell surface in L6 cells. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that PHIP represents a physiological protein ligand of the IRS-1 PH domain, which plays an important role in insulin receptor-mediated mitogenic and metabolic signal transduction.
Interventions to improve patient education regarding multifactorial genetic conditions: A systematic review

The careful education of patients with complex genetic disease is essential. However, healthcare providers often have limited time to spend providing thorough genetic education. Furthermore, the number of healthcare professionals possessing strong genetics training may be inadequate to meet increasing patient demands. Due to such constraints, several interventions have been investigated over the past decade to identify potential resources for the facilitation of this specific type of patient education. This systematic literature review of these interventions for patient education attempts to elucidate the answer to the question: is there sufficient evidence for best practice for delivering genetic information to patients with multifactorial conditions? The various interventions (CD‐ROM, group counseling, video/decision aid, and miscellaneous) were analyzed in terms of quality criteria and achievement of specific outcomes and were rated according to the Stetler model for evidence‐based practice. Seven main outcomes were evaluated: (1) objective and subjective knowledge assessment, (2) psychological measures (general anxiety, depression, stress, cancer worry), (3) satisfaction/effectiveness of intervention, (4) time spent in counseling (time spent on basic genetic information vs. specific concerns), (5) decision‐making/intent to undergo genetic testing, (6) treatment choice and value of that choice, and, finally (7) risk perception. Overall, the computer interventions resulted in more significant findings that were beneficial than any other category followed by the video category, although the group and miscellaneous categories did not measure all of the outcomes reported by the other two categories. Nevertheless, while these groups had neutral or negative findings in some of the outcomes, the computer intervention group showed significant improvement in genetics knowledge, psychological measures, satisfaction/effectiveness, time spent with counselor, and decision/intent to undergo testing. Published 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Synthetic Efforts for Stereo Structure Determination of Cytotoxic Marine Natural Product Pericosines as Metabolites of Periconia sp. from Sea Hare

Pericosines are unique C7 cyclohexenoid metabolites of Periconia byssoides OUPS-N133 fungus that was originally isolated from the sea hare, Aplysia kurodai. Pericosines show significant in vitro cytotoxicity against P388 lymphocytic leukemia cells. Pericosine A, in particular, shows the most potent activity and significant in vivo antitumor activity against P388 cells. Thus, pericosines are promising candidates for seed compounds of anticancer drugs. However, before the total syntheses of pericosines were accomplished, their stereo structures could not be determined by spectral analyses because they have multi-functionalized cyclohexenoid structures with torsional strain. In this review, synthetic efforts for pericosines in this decade are surveyed.
Comparison of Perceived Exercise Intensity and Objective Exercise Intensity During A Freestyle Wrestling Match

ABSTRACT This study compared perceived exercise intensity and objective exercise intensity during a freestyle wrestling match. Twelve elite collegiate male wrestlers performed freestyle wrestling matches with three 2-min periods. Perceived exercise intensity and objective exercise intensity were evaluated by the 6–20 point Borg rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale and heart rate (HR), respectively. To compare these values directly, three methods were used: (1) comparison of RPE increased by 10 times and HR (method-1); (2) classification of five exercise intensities (very light, 1; near-maximal to maximal, 5) (method-2); and (3) classification of seven exercise intensities (very light, 1; near-maximal to maximal, 7) by subdividing scales in method-2 (method-3). Perceived exercise intensity was significantly lower than objective exercise intensity in each period (all P < 0.05, method-1), in the first period (P = 0.007, method-2), or in the first and second periods (all P < 0.01, method-3). Perceived exercise intensity of the winners was significantly lower than that of the losers (P = 0.04, method-1; P = 0.03, method-2), but objective exercise intensity was not significantly different between them. These results suggest that wrestlers, especially winners, feel lower exercise intensity compared with actual exercise intensity during a wrestling match.
Evolutionary Filter for Mobile Robot Global Localization

Mobile robot global localization aims to determine the robot's pose in a known environment in absence of initial robot's pose information. This article presents an evolutive localization algorithm known as Evolutive Localization filter (ELF). Based on evolutionary computation concepts, the proposed algorithm search stochastically along the state space the best robot's pose estimate. The set of pose solutions (the population) represents the most likely areas according the perception and motion information received. The population evolves by using the observation and motion errors derived from the comparison between observed and predicted data obtained from the probabilistic perception and motion model. The resulting global localization module has been tested in a mobile robot equipped with a laser range finder. Experiments demonstrate the effectiveness, robustness and computational efficiency of the proposed approach.
Adaptive collaborating filtering: The low noise regime

In this paper, we study collaborative filters that adapt future recommendations based on feedback from users. We consider discrete time and at each time a random user seeks a recommendation. The collaborative filter uses all past data available to make a recommendation, the user then provides binary feedback indicating whether he liked the item (rating 1) or not (rating 0), and this feedback is used by the collaborative filter for future decisions. In this setting, ideally the goal is to maximize the long run time average of the ratings, but practical considerations lead us to a moving horizon approximation. Our main result identifies a collaborative filter that optimizes a moving horizon cost in the limit as the noise in the ratings vanishes.
Factor structure of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale among Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic Whites.

Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess whether Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) scores represent the same underlying construct in randomly selected non-Hispanic White (n=1,149), U.S.-born Mexican-American (n=538), and Mexico-born Mexican-American (n=706) community residents
A New Method for Parallel Planning via Heuristic Search

Due to the need of solving the problem of exponential branching factor, parallel planning through heuristic state space search is a challenging problem. A new method based on heuristic state search is introduced. The method generates parallel plan by parallelism of one action (center action) and other independent actions applicable in one state, thereby, avoids the problem mentioned above. Furthermore, the method considers the negative interaction between actions and uses two time-step partial plan that adds more goals to be substitute of one action during the process of choosing the center action. PPFF (parallel planning FF) is designed based on FF (Fast-forward) planning system and the method introduced above. Primary analysis indicates that the running time of PPFF is faster than existing parallel planning systems.