Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The MedITNet assessment framework: development and validation of a framework for improving risk management of medical IT networks

The use of networked medical devices can provide a number of benefits such as improved patient safety, a reduction in adverse events and reduced costs of care. Today, medical devices are increasingly designed for incorporation into a hospital's general IT network, which allows devices to exchange critical information. However, connecting devices in this way can introduce risks potentially negating the benefits to patients. While the IEC 80001‐1 standard has been developed to aid Healthcare Delivery Organisations (HDOs) in addressing these risks, HDOs often struggle to understand and implement the requirements. The MedITNet framework has been developed to allow HDOs to assess the capability of their risk management processes against the requirements of IEC 80001‐1. MedITNet provides a flexible assessment framework enabling HDOs to gain a greater understanding of the requirements of the standard and to improve risk management processes by determining their current state and highlighting areas for improvement. This paper examines the challenges faced by HDOs in the risk management of medical IT networks and briefly explains the components of the MedITNet framework and how the framework addresses these challenges. The use of Action Design Research (ADR) in the development and validation of MedITNet is also discussed focusing on a pilot implementation of the assessment method and expert review of the overall framework. The changes to the framework and its components as a result of the validation process are also discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Optical Performance Comparison of Six ACPCs for Concentrating Radiation on All-Glass Evacuated Solar Tubes

In this work, six asymmetric compound parabolic concentrators (ACPC) were designed for concentrating radiation on all-glass evacuated solar tubes (EST). The ACPCs are required to be horizontally oriented in the east-west direction and to collect direct sunlight for at least 6 hrs in any day of a year. The angular dependence of optical efficiency of six ACPCs, identical in the height of both reflectors after the higher reflector being truncated, was investigated by ray-tracing method, and the annual radiation on EST concentrated by ACPCs was estimated based on solar geometry and monthly horizontally radiation. Results shows that the ACPC designed based on “hat shaped” virtual absorber with a V-groove at the bottom of reflectors is the best in terms of the optical efficiency averaged over the acceptance angle, followed by the one designed based on “hat-shaped” absorber without a V-groove at the bottom, and the one designed based on the cover tube of EST is the worst. However, from the point of annual radiation on EST, the ACPC designed based on the cover tube is the best solution, followed by the one designed based on “ice-cream shaped” absorber and the one designed based on “hat shaped” absorber is the worst due to the smallest geometric concentration factor.
A Method of Text Block Division Based on Text Segmentation

In the paper, we proposed a method called text block division based on text segmentation. Through steps like discourse structure analysis, relevance score computation and features' significance estimate, we divide the entire text into several blocks, each block containing common topic events. Thus, we get well prepared for event type identification. Experiments prove that our method is effective and beneficial to domains like event extraction, entity type recognition, etc.
Early pregnancy reference intervals of thyroid hormone concentrations in a thyroid antibody-negative pregnant population.

BACKGROUND Thyroid dysfunction and antibodies are increasingly recognized as risk factors during pregnancy. Thyroid function changes during pregnancy and there is a need for gestational age-specific reference intervals for thyroid hormones. The aim of this study was to calculate gestational age-specific thyrotropin (TSH), free thyroxine (fT4), and free triiodothyronine (fT3) reference intervals in an iodine-sufficient thyroid antibody-negative population. METHODS The study population consisted of a large, prospective population-based cohort, the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (singleton births, n = 9362), with extensive data throughout gestation. The subjects underwent serum sampling in early pregnancy. Samples were assayed for TSH, fT4, fT3, thyroid-peroxidase, and thyroglobulin antibodies (n = 5805). All mothers with thyroid antibodies or previous thyroid diseases were excluded when calculating gestational age-specific percentile categories for TSH, fT4, and fT3. Also, associations between body mass index (BMI) and thyroid hormones were established. RESULTS The upper reference limit for TSH was 2.5 multiples of median (2.7-3.5 mU/L, depending on gestational week). The lower reference limit was as low as 0.07 mU/L. Reference intervals for fT4 rose during early pregnancy and decreased thereafter, ranging between 11-22 pmol/L. Reference intervals for fT3 were uniform throughout gestation, ranging between 3.4 and 7.0 pmol/L. BMI was associated positively with early pregnancy TSH and fT3 concentrations and negatively with fT4 concentrations. CONCLUSIONS These gestational age-specific reference intervals for thyroid hormones provide a framework for clinical decision making. Overweight and obesity are increasing problems among fertile women and they are associated with possibility of thyroid dysfunction during pregnancy.
Atomic Layer Deposition Coating of Carbon Nanotubes with Aluminum Oxide Alters Pro-Fibrogenic Cytokine Expression by Human Mononuclear Phagocytes In Vitro and Reduces Lung Fibrosis in Mice In Vivo

Background Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) pose a possible human health risk for lung disease as a result of inhalation exposure. Mice exposed to MWCNTs develop pulmonary fibrosis. Lung macrophages engulf MWCNTs and produce pro-fibrogenic cytokines including interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and osteopontin (OPN). Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a novel process used to enhance functional properties of MWCNTs, yet the consequence of ALD-modified MWCNTs on macrophage biology and fibrosis is unknown. Methods The purpose of this study was to determine whether ALD coating with aluminum oxide (Al2O3) would alter the fibrogenic response to MWCNTs and whether cytokine expression in human macrophage/monocytes exposed to MWCNTs in vitro would predict the severity of lung fibrosis in mice. Uncoated (U)-MWCNTs or ALD-coated (A)-MWCNTs were incubated with THP-1 macrophages or human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and cell supernatants assayed for cytokines by ELISA. C57BL6 mice were exposed to a single dose of A- or U-MWCNTs by oropharyngeal aspiration (4 mg/kg) followed by evaluation of histopathology, lung inflammatory cell counts, and cytokine levels at day 1 and 28 post-exposure. Results ALD coating of MWCNTs with Al2O3 enhanced IL-1β secretion by THP-1 and PBMC in vitro, yet reduced protein levels of IL-6, TNF-α, and OPN production by THP-1 cells. Moreover, Al2O3 nanoparticles, but not carbon black NPs, increased IL-1β but decreased OPN and IL-6 in THP-1 and PBMC. Mice exposed to U-MWCNT had increased levels of all four cytokines assayed and developed pulmonary fibrosis by 28 days, whereas ALD-coating significantly reduced fibrosis and cytokine levels at the mRNA or protein level. Conclusion These findings indicate that ALD thin film coating of MWCNTs with Al2O3 reduces fibrosis in mice and that in vitro phagocyte expression of IL-6, TNF-α, and OPN, but not IL-1β, predict MWCNT-induced fibrosis in the lungs of mice in vivo.
ThinAV: truly lightweight mobile cloud-based anti-malware

This paper introduces ThinAV, an anti-malware system for Android that uses pre-existing web-based file scanning services for malware detection. The goal in developing ThinAV was to assess the feasibility of providing real-time anti-malware scanning over a wide area network where resource limitation is a factor. As a result, our research provides a necessary counterpoint to many of the big-budget, resource-intensive idealized solutions that have been suggested in the area of cloud-based security. The evaluation of ThinAV shows that it functions well over a wide area network, resulting in a system which is highly practical for providing anti-malware security on smartphones.
Methylation and Immunoexpression of p16INK4a Tumor Suppressor Gene in Primary Breast Cancer Tissue and Their Quantitative p16INK4a Hypermethylation in Plasma by Real-Time PCR

Background The p16INK4a gene methylation has been reported to be a major tumorigenic mechanism. Methods We evaluated the methylation status of the p16INK4a genes in 231 invasive breast cancer and 90 intraductal carcinoma specimens using a methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction and p16 protein expression using immunohistochemistry. The quantity of cell-free methylated p16INK4a DNA in the plasma samples of 200 patients with invasive breast cancer was also examined using a fluorescence-based real-time polymerase chain reaction assay. Results The frequencies of p16INK4a methylation in invasive and intraductal tumors were 52.8% (122/231) and 57.8% (52/90), respectively. The p16 protein was overexpressed in 145 of the 231 invasive carcinomas (62.8%) and 63 of the 90 intraductal carcinomas (70%). High p16 expression in invasive carcinomas correlated significantly with a high histologic grade, a negative estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor status, p53 immunoreactivity and high Ki-67 expression with immunohistochemistry. In addition, the methylation index of p16INK4a was significantly higher in the cancer patients than the normal controls (p<0.001). Conclusions High p16 immunoreactivity correlated with a loss of differentiation in breast carcinomas and high frequency of p16INK4a promoter methylation in both invasive and intraductal carcinomas, suggesting it may be involved in the pathogenesis of breast cancer.
Shadow Removal Scheme of the Traffic Scenes Using Illumination Analysis and Outer-Region Deleted Strategy

Shadows of objects can really decrease the recognition ratio of the object recognition system and cause the distortion in the collection data. This paper presents an illumination analysis algorithm that can efficiently estimate the directions of the shadows in the traffic scenes image. Meanwhile, the author combine the edge information and the modify SLCCA skill to design a region-based segmentation and edge check (RSEC) method that can exactly distinguish the shadow region and others. Furthermore, the author adopt an outer region deleted on shadow direction (ORDSD) strategy to find the shadow region and delete it. Comparing with other papers, the prposed scheme has two advantages: One is the RSEC method that it can solve the based segmentation problem of multiple threshold values on multiple gray-scale regions and exactly separate the shadow region from others in a cars scene. The other is the ORDSD strategy that can remove the shadow of car image precisely. Keyword: region-based segmentation (RS), traffic monitoring (TM), cast-shadows (CS), significance-linked connected component analysis (SLCCA).
An Iterative Hybrid Transceiver Design Algorithm for Millimeter Wave MIMO Systems

In this letter, a new algorithm for millimeter wave multiple-input-multiple-output hybrid (mixed RF and baseband) transceiver design is proposed. The proposed algorithm iteratively updates the phases of the phase-shifters in the RF precoder (or RF combiner) to minimize the weighted sum of squared residuals between the optimal full-baseband design and the hybrid design, and is guaranteed to converge to at least a local optimal solution. Simulation results show that the proposed iterative design can achieve almost the same performance as the optimal full-baseband design, in spite of using a much smaller number of RF chains.
Automatic Registration for Articulated Shapes

We present an unsupervised algorithm for aligning a pair of shapes in the presence of significant articulated motion and missing data, while assuming no knowledge of a template, user‐placed markers, segmentation, or the skeletal structure of the shape. We explicitly sample the motion, which gives a priori the set of possible rigid transformations between parts of the shapes. This transforms the problem into a discrete labeling problem, where the goal is to find an optimal assignment of transformations for aligning the shapes. We then apply graph cuts to optimize a novel cost function, which encodes a preference for a consistent motion assignment from both source to target and target to source. We demonstrate the robustness of our method by aligning several synthetic and real‐world datasets.
Construction of Polyethyleneimine‐β‐cyclodextrin/pDNA Multilayer Structure for Improved In Situ Gene Transfection

This study reports in situ gene delivery from gene‐functionalized poly(D,L‐lactic acid) (PDLLA, Mw of around 2.0 × 105 g mol−1) films, which were constructed via layer‐by‐layer (LbL) assembly technique with low molecular weight polyethylenimine‐β‐cyclodextrin (PEI‐CD) conjugate and plasmid DNA (pDNA). PEI‐CD was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), respectively. The buildup of multilayered PEI‐CD/pDNA pairs onto PDLLA films was monitored with contact angle measurements and UV–Vis spectrometer, respectively. A sustained release of pDNA from multilayered films was observed for 28 h. The mechanism of in situ gene delivery on PDLLA film was investigated in this study as well. Spherical PEI‐CD/pDNA complexes were formed and released following the deconstruction of multilayered films, which was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and gel electrophoresis, respectively. Surface mediated in situ gene transfection was achieved when culturing hepatoma G2 (HepG2) and human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) onto PEI‐CD/pDNA multilayered films. Furthermore, PEI‐CD improved the gene transfection efficiency when compared with that of PEI. Such gene‐functionalized biomaterial reported here has potential application in tissue engineering and implant technology.
Radiological properties of MAGIC normoxic polymer gel dosimetry

For a polymer gel dosimeter to be of use in radiation dosimetry, it should display water-equivalent radiological properties. In this study, the radiological properties of the MAGIC (Methacrylic and Ascorbic acid in Gelatin Initiated by Copper) normoxic polymer gels were investigated. The mass density (ρ) was determined based on Archimedes' principle. The weight fraction of elemental composition and the effective atomic number (Zeff) were calculated. The electron density was also measured with 90° scattering angle at room temperature. The linear attenuation coefficient (μ) of unirradiated gel, irradiated gel, and water were determined using Am-241 based on narrow beam geometry. Monte Carlo simulation was used to calculate the depth doses response of MAGIC gel and water for 6MV photon beam. The weight fractions of elements composition of MAGIC gel were close to that for water. The mass density was found to be 1027 ± 2 kg m−3, which is also very close to mass density of muscle tissue (1030 kg m−3) and 2.7% higher than that of water. The electron density (ρe) and atomic number (Zeff) were found to be 3.43 × 1029 e m−3 and 7.105, respectively. The electron density measured was 2.6% greater than that for water. The atomic number was very close to that for water. The prepared MAGIC gel was found to be water equivalent based on the study of element composition, mass density, electron density and atomic number. The linear attenuation coefficient of unirradiated gel was very close to that of water. The μ of irradiated gel was found to be linear with dose 2-40 Gy. The depth dose response for MAGIC gel from a 6 MV photon beam had a percentage dose difference to water of less than 1%. Therefore it satisfies the criteria to be a good polymer gel dosimeter for radiotherapy.
Packet Allocation for Efficient Use of Multiple Wireless Links in Cognitive Radio Networks

Recently, the use of wireless systems as cellular phones, PHS, Wi-Fi, and WiMAX has been expanding. Meanwhile the resources of wireless radio systems are finite. Therefore, there is concern about exhausting these resources due to their expanded growth. The cognitive radio networks have been proposed to resolve this problem. We previously proposed cognitive radio network system architecture, which includes a novel intermediate communication layer, the Cognitive Convergence Layer (CCL). To efficiently use the capability of each wireless interface, CCL must opportunely allocate input traffic to wireless interfaces. In this paper, we propose the Resource Time Sharing Algorithm (RTSA), which is a new packet allocation algorithm for high performance bandwidth aggregation. We have conducted extensive simulations to evaluate the RTSA performance in two different scenarios. As a result of comparisons with other traditional methods, we can show that RTSA achieves higher aggregated throughput and packet delay performance.
Latent growth curve analyses of parent influences on drinking progression among early adolescents.

OBJECTIVE The nature of parent influences on early adolescent substance use was examined. METHOD Latent growth curve analyses were used to examine data on a sample of 2,453 adolescents from seven middle schools who were randomized to a problem behavior prevention program or a control condition and were assessed a total of five times during sixth to ninth grade. RESULTS Whereas the growth in the number of friends who drink was positively associated with adolescent drinking, parental involvement, monitoring and expectations over time provided direct protective effects against drinking progression and indirect effects by limiting increases in the number of friends who drink. CONCLUSIONS The results provide evidence in a sample of early adolescents that parenting behavior--including involvement, monitoring and expectations--protected against progression in drinking directly as well as indirectly by limiting growth in the number of friends who drink.
Glossary extraction and utilization in the information search and delivery system for IBM Technical Support

In this paper we describe the practical aspects of extracting and using a glossary for a selected technical domain. We first describe the existing glossary extraction process, as applied to general corpora, and examine its shortcomings in the technical support domain. Then we propose a number of enhancements to it, including focusing the glossary on a selected domain context, providing support for multidomain glossaries, and importing domain-specific dictionaries. We apply our focused-glossary approach to the IBM Technical Support corpus and incorporate resulting glossaries within the information search and delivery system used by IBM Technical Support. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach by evaluating the quality of keywords and terms extracted from sample documents with the help of these glossaries.
Designing LDPC Codes with Gated Noise Model for Terrestrial Mobile DTV Channels

This paper investigates the design of LDPC codes over mobile DTV multipath channels. Most of the existing LDPC codes are optimized for additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel, and not feasible to encounter the long burst error occurring in mobile DTV channel. Accordingly, we study the error propagation statistics of decision feedback equalizer (DFE) and formulate it into a gated noise model. To achieve good error correction in burst error channel, we proposed a class of dual-degree IRA codes to balance the metrics of decoding threshold and robustness. Extensive simulation results are presented in this paper to justify the performance of dual-degree IRA codes over gated noise model.
The NLPR_TAC Entity Linking System at TAC 2011

In this paper, our system in the KBP Entity Linking task of TAC 2011 is described. Our system mainly contains three components. 1) Entity Candidate Detector, in this component, out system identifies all the possible entities for an entity mention through a variety of knowledge sources, such as the Wikipedia Anchor Dictionary, the Web, etc. Specially, for acronym mentions, we detect their entities by expanding acronym in the source documents. 2) Entity Linker, in which the similarity between an entity mention and an entity candidate in KB is computed. The entity candidate with higher scores than a threshold will be extracted as the real entity of the mention. 3) In the final component, our system clusters all the NIL entity mentions which refer to the same entity using Hierarchical Agglomerative Clustering algorithm.
Dyslipidemias in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients in Nnewi South-East Nigeria.

BACKGROUND Dyslipidemia has been noted to play an integral role in the pathogenesis and progression of micro and macrovascular complications in diabetes mellitus patients. The complications exemplified by renal vascular and cardiovascular disease cause the most morbidity and mortality in this group of patients. OBJECTIVE This study is aimed at understanding the pattern of dyslipidemia among type 2 diabetic patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 108 consenting adult type 2 diabetic patients seen in the medical unit of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi were evaluated in this crosssectional study. Their fasting lipid profile, fasting blood glucose, weight, height and blood pressure were evaluated. RESULT The prevalence of dyslipidemia (at least one abnormal lipid profile) was 90.7%. The 24.1% had single dyslipidemia while 66.6% had combined dyslipidemia. Reduced HDL constituted the highest single abnormality (62%) followed by hypertriglyceridemia (56.5%), hypercholesterolemia (53.7%) and high LDL in (44.4%). The duration of DM was not significantly associated with dyslipidemia (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION Dyslipidemia is highly prevalent among type 2 diabetic patients in Nigeria with the majority of the patients having combined dyslipidemia. We recommend that aggressive treatment of lipidemia and hyperglycemia can be instituted to reduce the risk of macro and microvascular complications.
Collaboration in the square : an architecture for collaborative ubicomp

This paper presents an architecture and software infrastructure for collaborative ubiquitous systems based around the EQUIP data sharing system. A peer-to-peer approach is used between mobile systems, such that peers are discovered and messages are passed between different system components without the need for a central server. Each peer system has a common component-based architecture which supports ‘probes’ which produce sensor data, ‘gizmos’ which consume and display that sensor data, and ‘services’ which compute and transform that data, loosely connected via a local (peer-specific) data-space. This architecture naturally supports multiple users and devices, allows user-facing components to automatically share sensor data, with distributed history and data processing services. These features have aided the development of systems that go beyond the presentation of information to an individual user based on location, toward collaborative information access based on patterns of use of places and information, demonstrated in the ‘George Square’ collaborative visiting system.