Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of family history, obesity and exercise on breast cancer risk among postmenopausal women

We examined effects of obesity and lifetime exercise patterns on postmenopausal breast cancer risk according to family history in a large population‐based case control study conducted in Los Angeles County, California, because we hypothesized that both factors would affect risk through similar mechanistic pathways, and that their effects would be stronger among women with a family history. We studied 1,883 postmenopausal breast cancer case subjects and 1,628 postmenopausal control subjects ranging in age from 55–72 years. Cases were diagnosed with incident breast cancer in the late 1980s and 1990s. Controls were individually matched to case subjects on age, ethnic origin and neighborhood. In‐person interviews determined known breast cancer risk factors including: height, weight, lifetime exercise, and family history of breast and other cancers. Breast cancer risk was raised among women who had at least 1 first‐degree relative with breast cancer (odds ratio [OR] = 1.68; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.36–2.08). Risk increased with increasing levels of body‐mass index (wt‐kg/ht‐m2) (p‐trend = 0.005). Breast cancer risk was reduced among women who maintained, on average, 17.6 metabolic equivalent of energy expenditure (MET)‐hr of activity/week from menarche onward (OR = 0.66; 95% CI = 0.48–0.90). Body‐mass index, adjusted for lifetime exercise, was strongly associated with breast cancer risk among women with a positive family history of breast cancer (p‐trend < 0.0001), but only weakly associated among women with no family history (p‐trend = 0.08; homogeneity of trends p = 0.0005). In contrast, the risk reduction associated with exercise activity, adjusting for body‐mass index, was limited to women without a family history of breast cancer (p‐trend = 0.001; homogeneity of trends p = 0.005). Body‐mass index and exercise activity, both modifiable risk factors for breast cancer, seem to have differential effects depending on a woman's family history of breast cancer, and may impact risk through different biological mechanisms. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A neural network approach to visual tracking

Fully Convolution Networks (FCNs) have been shown to be effective in semantic segmentation through fine-tuning classification networks on segmentation data. In this paper, we present that FCNs can be further fine-tuned on target-background images in order to solve visual tracking problems. Pixel level models (FCNs) trained on segmentation data are superior to class level models (e.g. VGG net and GoogLeNet) in visual tracking tasks due to their powerful ability in discriminating between objects and background. Our work is based on a FCN network structure. The result is achieved by first fine-tuning the first image of a sequence and then the tracking and updating processes are conducted through classical forward and backward processes of neural networks. The proposed model achieves high precision and tracking success rates in online object tracking benchmark (OTB) data. It indicates our approach is competitive to state-of-the-art approaches as well.
The transition of older Australian workers to full and partial retirement

Older workers exiting the labour force follow diverse pathways to retirement. This paper examines the incidence and determinants of partial retirement in Australia using data from the first four waves of the HILDA Survey. Partial retirement is defined as working parttime (less than 30 hours a week), after having left full-time employment (30 hours or more a week). A multinomial logit model is used to examine a sample of older workers who were employed full-time in 2001. Their labour force status in 2004 is modelled against personal characteristics to identify the factors affecting retirement transitions. The results indicate that most factors have a similar directional impact on the likelihood of both partial and full retirement. However, many factors affect men and women differently and women are more likely to experience partial retirement than men. Overall, between one third and one half of individuals who left full-time employment experienced partial retirement. * I would like to thank John Creedy for his extensive advice and support. In addition I would like to thank Bill Griffiths and Chris Skeels for their assistance. This work was also supported by a University of Melbourne Faculty of Economics and Commerce Kinsman Scholarship. This article uses confidentialised unit record files from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. The HILDA Project was initiated and is funded by the Commonwealth Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaCSIA) and is managed by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research. The findings and views reported in this article are those of the authors and should not be attributed to either FaCSIA or the Melbourne Institute.
Present and future of influenza prevention in pediatrics

Introduction: Pediatric influenza not only leads to significant rates of morbidity and an increased risk of hospitalisation, it can also have a substantial socio-economic impact because children shed larger amounts of viruses over longer periods than adults. This makes adequate prevention desirable, and the best means of reducing the incidence and risks of infection in children is influenza vaccination. Areas covered: The main aim of this review is to analyse the characteristics of new means of influenza prevention and identify which may be important in pediatrics. An updated overview of influenza vaccines is provided, concentrating on strategies of inducing immunogenicity and facilitating the administration of both old and new vaccines. Expert opinion: The currently available data clearly indicate that influenza in children is much less optimally prevented than other vaccine-preventable diseases. A number of different approaches seem to be promising in adults, but there is an urgent need for new strategies when using old vaccines in children or testing new vaccines in pediatric trials.
Kalman filtering for state delay systems with multiplicative noises and random one-step sensor delay

The Kalman filtering problem is studied for a class of discrete state delay stochastic systems with multiplicative noises and random one-step sensor delay. A Bernoulli distributed random variable with known conditional probability is employed to characterize the phenomena of random one-step sensor delay. Based on the innovative analysis approach and recursive projection formula, a new linear optimal filter is designed such that, for the state delay, multiplicative noises and random one-step sensor delay, the estimation error is minimized. Finally, a simulation example is given to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed filtering scheme.
Performance variation measurement on commercial FPGAs under various operating conditions

In this paper, we present experimental evaluations of operating speed, power consumption and chip temperature with load fluctuation on commercial FPGAs. The measurement results show that operating speed is decreasing 16% with 142 ring oscillators as load circuits. Furthermore, operating speed depends on the mapped location in an FPGA chip, and the speed variation range is 1.8% to 7.1%. We also evaluate die-to-die operation speed variations using another FPGA board. The measurement results indicated that there exists indispensable speed variation of 11.9%.
Assessing the Influence of Property Tax Delinquency and Foreclosures on Residential Property Sales

We examine the influence of property tax delinquency on the sale price of nearby homes from 2002 to 2013 using more than 46,000 residential property sales in a representative midwestern central city—Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After controlling for a number of property and neighborhood characteristics including nearby foreclosures, we find property tax delinquency has a significant influence on nearby home sales. The relationship is negative; one additional tax delinquent property within 250 m of a home sale is associated with a discounted sale price of 0.79% or approximately $1,085 on average. In addition, the influence of tax delinquent properties on home sale prices diminishes with distance, suggesting blight is the source of the discount. Based on these findings, the negative influence of tax delinquency is likely to be exacerbated in central cities where housing density is greater and delinquency is higher and more persistent than the surrounding suburbs, which has the potential to lead to fiscal distress as property taxes are the primary revenue source for cities. As such, we suggest a two-tiered approach for cities to mitigate the negative consequences of tax delinquency: a combination of policies to eliminate delinquency and also to help homeowners become financially stable.
Treating Depression After Initial Treatment Failure: Directly Comparing Switch and Augmenting Strategies in STAR*D

Objective Augmenting and switching antidepressant medications are the 2 most common next-step strategies for depressed patients failing initial medication treatment. These approaches have not been directly compared; thus, our objectives are to compare outcomes for medication augmentation versus switching for patients with major depressive disorder in the Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) clinical trial. Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of participants aged 18 to 75 years with DSM-IV nonpsychotic depression who failed to remit with initial treatment in the STAR*D clinical trial (N = 1292). We compared depressive symptom remission, response, and quality of life among participants in each study arm using propensity score matching to minimize selection bias. Results The propensity-score-matched augment (N = 269) and switch (N = 269) groups were well balanced on measured characteristics. Neither the likelihood of remission (risk ratio, 1.14; 95% confidence level, 0.82–1.58) or response (risk ratio, 1.14; 95% confidence level, 0.82–1.58), nor the time to remission (log-rank test, P = 0.946) or response (log-rank test, P = 0.243) differed by treatment strategy. Similarly, quality of life did not differ. Post hoc analyses suggested that augmentation improved outcomes for patients tolerating 12 or more weeks of initial treatment and those with partial initial treatment response. Conclusions For patients receiving and tolerating aggressive initial antidepressant trials, there is no clear preference for next-step augmentation versus switching. Findings tentatively suggest that those who complete an initial treatment of 12 weeks or more and have a partial response with residual mild depressive severity may benefit more from augmentation relative to switching.
Dictionary of recurrent domains in protein structures

The rapid growth in the number of experimentally determined three‐dimensional protein structures has sharpened the need for comprehensive and up‐to‐date surveys of known structures. Classic work on protein structure classification has made it clear that a structural survey is best carried out at the level of domains, i.e., substructures that recur in evolution as functional units in different protein contexts. We present a method for automated domain identification from protein structure atomic coordinates based on quantitative measures of compactness and, as the new element, recurrence. Compactness criteria are used to recursively divide a protein into a series of successively smaller and smaller substructures. Recurrence criteria are used to select an optimal size level of these substructures, so that many of the chosen substructures are common to different proteins at a high level of statistical significance. The joint application of these criteria automatically yields consistent domain definitions between remote homologs, a result difficult to achieve using compactness criteria alone. The method is applied to a representative set of 1,137 sequence‐unique protein families covering 6,500 known structures. Clustering of the resulting set of domains (substructures) yields 594 distinct fold classes (types of substructures). The Dali Domain Dictionary (http://www.embl‐ebi.ac.uk/dali) not only provides a global structural classification, but also a comprehensive description of families of protein sequences grouped around representative proteins of known structure. The classification will be continuously updated and can serve as a basis for improving our understanding of protein evolution and function and for evolving optimal strategies to complete the map of all natural protein structures. Proteins 33:88–96, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Embedded Marker Code for Channels Corrupted by Insertions, Deletions, and AWGN

In this paper, we present a new error-correction scheme, referred to as embedded marker code scheme (EMCS), for channels corrupted by insertions, deletions and additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN). The EMCS uses the pinning bits, which have the potential to lower the error floors of the outer low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes, for both resynchronization and improving error-correction performance. Furthermore, the soft-input synchronization for the inner decoder and the joint iterative decoding between the inner decoder and the outer decoder is employed to further improve the overall performance of the new scheme. Simulations show that the proposed EMCS reduces the code rate loss as compared with the conventional marker code scheme and achieves a better tradeoff between the error performance and the decoding complexity. Therefore, the new scheme can reduce code rate loss and improve storage efficiency when it is used in bit-patterned media recording (BPMR) systems.
Using the NAG Library to solve a General Equilibrium Model with Endogenous Stock Market Non-participation

A significant fraction of the population in any country with a liquid stock market do not hold stocks, despite the international evidence on a historically high equity risk premium. Whereas the phenomenon of Limited Stock Market Participation has been used to explain several other asset pricing puzzles, only a few studies address the equilibrium foundation for non-participation. Yet, to understand the sources of non-participation is of great importance for portfolio managers, regulators and academics. We develop a consumption based asset pricing model, in the spirit of Lucas (1978) , with incomplete financial markets. The model incorporates heterogeneous endowments, heterogeneous labour income processes, and heterogeneous preferences with external additive habit formation, also known as “Catching up with the Joneses,” that is: investors maximize life-time utility over surplus consumption. One investor serves as the representative stand-in for all stockholders, whereas the second would-be investor represents potential non-participants.
A study on the performance of the pharmacy information system within the Moroccan hospital sector

In Morocco, the number of hospitals implementing a Hospital Information System (HIS) remains very low. Some of the information systems existing actually within hospitals meet operational and corporate excellence, but contribute rarely or not to support the governmental decision making. However, the exploitation of data provided by hospitals may be very useful in healthcare decision's orientation. This research paper summarizes limits and waste generated by the pharmacy information system and proposes solutions allowing a better exploitation of data provided by pharmacies and its integration into the strategic decision making process. A questionnaire is conducted with health care professionals that are interacting with the information system to evaluate its performance and determine its limits. Moreover, this paper determines some of the necessary items that have to be included in every Moroccan HIS in order to improve its performance and avoid information and time waste.
Associative encoding of pictures activates the medial temporal lobes

It remains unresolved whether the medial temporal lobe activations found in recent neuroimaging studies are mediated by novelty detection alone, by specific kinds of encoding or consolidation operations, or both. This study attempted to see whether associative encoding or consolidation is sufficient to cause such activation by matching for novelty across conditions. Using single‐photon emission computer tomography (SPECT) (with Tc99mHMPAO), we compared the activation patterns produced by the associative encoding and the perceptual matching of novel complex scenes in 10 normal subjects using both statistical parametric mapping (SPM) and a regions‐of‐interest (ROI) approach. During the encoding condition, significant activations were detected in the left hippocampal/parahippocampal region, the left cingulate cortex, and the right prefrontal cortex, using both statistical techniques. Additionally, activation was found in the right cingulate cortex, and a trend towards activation was found in the right hippocampal/parahippocampal region using the ROI approach. In contrast, no medial temporal activations were found during the matching condition, which produced bilateral occipito‐parietal and right posterior inferior parietal (supramarginal gyrus) activations. These results not only confirm that the associative encoding and/or consolidation of complex scenes is partially mediated by medial temporal lobe structures, but also demonstrate, for the first time, that associative encoding/consolidation is sufficient to produce such an activation. The implications of the high degree of consistency revealed by the results of the SPM and ROI comparison are discussed. Hum. Brain Mapping 6:85–104, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Influence of repeated isometric contractions on muscle deoxygenation and pulmonary oxygen uptake kinetics in humans

The purpose of the present study was to compare simultaneously vastus lateralis (VL) deoxygenation and pulmonary O2 uptake (O2) kinetics during fatiguing knee extension exercise with minimal cardiac load. Eight healthy subjects realized an intermittent bilateral knee‐extension exercise (3‐s contraction/3‐s relaxation) at 40% of maximum voluntary contraction for 10 min. VL deoxygenation was recorded by near infrared spectroscopy at 2 Hz (NIRO‐300, Hamamatsu Photonics, Japan) and O2 was determined breath‐by‐breath (K4b2, Cosmed, Italy). After a time delay of 16 ± 5 s, deoxygenation kinetics at the onset of exercise followed an exponential time course at a significant faster rate than O2 (time constant of 5·4 ± 4·0 s vs. 31·6 ± 10·4 s, P<0·01) reflecting a mismatch between local O2 consumption and perfusion. Thereafter, a rise in O2 of 223 ± 123 ml min−1 (consistent with the mathematical model, 259 ± 126 ml min−1) was observed between minutes 2 and 10. During the same exercise time, changes in tissue oxygenation index decreased significantly and were individually correlated with the corresponding increased O2 (P<0·05), suggesting that the majority of the slow rise of O2 arose from the exercising limbs. Averaged heart rate increased from 67 ± 11 to 116 ± 20 beats min−1 during exercise. Knee extension exercise may be relevant to estimate the cardiopulmonary and deoxygenation of working skeletal muscle responses for assessment of exercise limiting factors in clinical settings or in the exercise physiology.
Designing a Reflective Teacher Education Course and its Contribution to ELT Teachers’ Reflectivity

Researchers in the present study planned a reflective teacher education course and documented the contribution of such a course to improving teachers’ reflectivity. Five English teachers took part in the reflective teacher education course designed by the researchers. To record how the course could help improve reflective teaching, researchers asked participants to take part in stimulated recall prior to and after the course and to write reflective journals. Thematic analysis of the stimulated recall interviews and journals showed improvements in teachers’ reflective teaching as a result of attending the reflective course.
Gene-gene interaction in the RAS system in the predisposition to myocardial infarction in elder population of St. Petersburg (Russia).

The aim of this study was to estimate the frequencies of some DNA polymorphisms of two genes of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), M235T angiotensinogen gene and insertion-deletion polymorphism in angiotensin-converting enzyme gene, in older (>55 years old) myocardial infarction survival and control groups. For this purpose 198 myocardial infarction (MI) patients and 152 randomly selected healthy persons have been analyzed. We have not found any differences in allele and genotype distribution in the above-mentioned genes for either group. However, statistical research showed a significant increase of double homozygotes IITT in the group of MI patients as compared with those in the control group. In this respect we suggested that gene-gene interaction in the RAS system may be considered to be a predisposing factor for MI development.
A Fuzzy Interactive Method for Multiobjective Engineering Design Problems

Engineering design is a process of formulating a plan for the satisfaction of human needs through a cycle of steps that include problem definition, conceptualization, embodiment, and detailing. Conflicts always exist in engineering design process. Generally these problems are multiobjective and non-linear in nature. To solve these multiobjective problems, which are conflicting and non-linear, a fuzzy interactive method is introduced. In this method, firstly each objective is represented as a fuzzy goal using triangular or trapezoidal fuzzy number, and then product operator is used to aggregate these fuzzy goals. Moreover, to direct the search at each interactive phase, the decision maker gives his/her minimum reservation level for each objective which is used as additional constraint in the problem. Finally, a real coded genetic algorithm, MI-LXPM, is used to find the solution of the resultant fuzzy optimization problem. Gear box design and simply supported beam design problems are solved using proposed interactive method.