Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ratios and regressions in body size and function: a commentary.

RECENTLY, Toth et al.J4) found that the ratio of peak oxygen consumption (VO,) to fat-free mass (FFM) was greater in a group of men than in a group of women. They suggested that the ratio approach was inherently misleading in assessing cardiorespiratory fitness and recommended that regression-based approaches [e.g., analysis of covariance (ANCOVA)] should be used to compare any and all size-related variables in different groups of subjects. We believe that the spurious results suggested by Toth et al. have little to do with ratios per se; rather, problems may result from the inappropriate use of ratios, or any other analytic tool, used to compare physiological values in populations that differ in size or gender. Ratios of physiological function to body size have proven to be a convenient, often revealing, and useful first step in analyzing the underlying biology of size and function. An overzealous interpretation of Toth et al. could inhibit investigators from using these approaches that are effectively and widely used in physiology and clinical medicine. Toth et al. studied the relationship between peak vo2 and FFM in groups of men and of women. They calculated the linear regression of peak VO, vs. FFM in both groups and found that the regression slopes were positive, significantly greater than 0, and not different between the men and the women. In addition, the y-intercepts of the regression equation were negative and differed significantly from 0. They found, as expected, that men had greater values of FFM and absolute peak VO,. Finally, when the peak VO, was normalized to FFM, the values of this ratio were greater in men than in women. In Fig. 3 of the article by Toth et al., the peak VO, and the peak VoJkg are presented and, as noted, were greater in men than in women. However, in Fig. 3 (middle), the authors presented the covariance data showing that the ANCOVA “adjusted” mean peak vo2 was the same in men and women. They concluded that by using the regression method, “no difference [in peak VO,] between males and females was noted. ” The authors suggested that the contradictory results of the ratio analysis and the regression (ANCOVA) analysis resulted from inherent inaccuracies of ratios. We believe there is no contradiction in these results; rather, both ratios and regression methods are valid but designed to answer different questions. Ratios are helpful in providing information about size-function relationships in a given individual, whereas the regression analysis can help one to understand the mechanisms responsible for different mean ratios that occur between specific study samples or population groups. It is first useful to examine the mathematical relationship between the ratio of two variables (peak VO, and FFM) for a given subject and the regression between peak VO, and FFM in a group of subjects (Fig. 1). Linear regression analysis of peak VO, as a function of FFM leads to
The effect of deprivation, age and sex on NHS Direct call rates.

BACKGROUND The use of primary care services in the UK is traditionally high in deprived areas. There has been little research into the effect of deprivation on the uptake of NHS Direct, a national nurse-led health helpline. AIM To explore the impact of deprivation, age and sex on call rates to two NHS Direct sites. DESIGN OF STUDY Ecological study. SETTING West Yorkshire and West Midlands NHS Direct sites. METHOD Details of NHS Direct calls between July 2001 and January 2002 were linked to electoral wards and the Indices of Multiple Deprivation for 2000. Age-standardised call rates were calculated for five deprivation levels. Using a negative binomial regression model, West Yorkshire call rates were analysed by age group, sex, deprivation level and geographical location. Rates were mapped by ward for West Yorkshire NHS Direct. RESULTS Six-monthly call rates were highest for children under 5 years of age (130 per 1000 population). The ratio of female to male calls (all ages) was 1.30 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.27 to 1.33), this ratio being highest for the 15-44 year age group (P < 0.001). For both West Yorkshire and West Midlands NHS Direct, call rates (all ages combined) were highest in areas within the middle of the range of deprivation. West Yorkshire call rates about those under 5 years of age were lower in the most deprived areas than in the least deprived areas (< 1 year, P = 0.06; 1-4 years, P = 0.03). For adults aged 15-64 years, call rates were significantly higher in the most deprived areas (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION This work supports previous research and shows that overall demand for NHS Direct is highest in areas where deprivation is at or just above the national average. Additionally, this study suggests that the effect of extreme deprivation appears to raise adult call rates but reduce rates of calls about children.
Multi-depth Probe Transcranial Electrical Stimulation Modeling in 2-D using Finite Element Method Analysis

Multi-depth probe transcranial electrical stimulation yields varying electrical potentials and electrical field values at different probe depths in the head. The purpose of this research was to determine whether a stimulating probe would increase or decrease the voltages required to achieve muscle stimulation via the motor cortex. A finite element model was constructed to analyze the theoretical effects of multi-depth probe transcranial electrical stimulation on a 2-D circular volume conduction model. Laplace's equation was used to model the electrostatic effects of the system, and boundary conditions were set to reflect realistic tissue, fluid, and bone parameters. A mapping of the electric potentials has been developed to identify changes in electric potential through the various layers of the head and the intracranial region.
Input-output framework for actuated boundary layers

This work extends the input-output approach to study actuated wall-bounded flows. In particular, we develop an analytical tool to investigate the flow response to specified geometric actuation patterns/intensities imparted through a range of temporal input signals. A superposition of point source inputs of varying intensity are used to represent the effect of given control devices on the flow field. We then take advantage of the linearity of the transfer function to build the actuated flow field as a weighted superposition of the point source responses. We validate the method through comparisons with numerical and experimental studies of transitional boundary layers subjected to a spanwise array of symmetric dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators and a DBD plasma actuator operating in constricted discharge mode. We focus on the steady-state (time-averaged) flow response, which corresponds to a step response in our modeling framework. The method is shown to reproduce the streamwise velocity field, including the structural features obtained through the spanwise array of symmetric DBD actuation as well as the vortical structures observed downstream of the DBD actuator operated in constricted discharge mode. These results indicate the utility of this extension to the widely used input-output framework in analyzing the effects of particular actuation modalities used in flow manipulation. This analysis tool provides a cost-effective alternative to performing parametric studies to evaluate the relative promise of different actuator geometries and signal combinations using extensive experimental or high-fidelity simulation studies.
A Provably Convergent and Practical Algorithm for Min-max Optimization with Applications to GANs

We present a new algorithm for optimizing min-max loss functions that arise in training GANs. We prove that our algorithm converges to an equilibrium point in time polynomial in the dimension, and smoothness parameters of the loss function. The point our algorithm converges to is stable when the maximizing player can respond using any sequence of steps which increase the loss at each step, and the minimizing player is empowered to simulate the maximizing player's response for arbitrarily many steps but is restricted to move according to updates sampled from a stochastic gradient oracle. We apply our algorithm to train GANs on Gaussian mixtures, MNIST and CIFAR-10. We observe that our algorithm trains stably and avoids mode collapse, while achieving a training time per iteration and memory requirement similar to gradient descent-ascent.
The subclonal structure and genomic evolution of oral squamous cell carcinoma revealed by ultra-deep sequencing

Recent studies suggest that head and neck squamous cell carcinomas are very heterogeneous between patients; however the subclonal structure remains unexplored mainly due to studies using only a single biopsy per patient. To deconvolute the clonal structure and describe the genomic cancer evolution, we applied whole-exome sequencing combined with ultra-deep targeted sequencing on oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC). From each patient, a set of biopsies was sampled from distinct geographical sites in primary tumor and lymph node metastasis. We demonstrate that the included OSCCs show a high degree of inter-patient heterogeneity but a low degree of intra-tumor heterogeneity. However, some OSCC cancers contain complex subclonal architectures comprising distinct subclones only found in geographically distinct regions of the primary tumors. In several cases we find mutations in the primary tumor that are not present in the lymph node metastasis. We conclude that metastatic potential in our population is acquired early in tumor evolution as evident by the ongoing parallel evolution in several primary tumors.
Datagram Transport Layer Security

This document specifies Version 1.0 of the Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) protocol. The DTLS protocol provides communications privacy for datagram protocols. The protocol allows client/server applications to communicate in a way that is designed to prevent eavesdropping, tampering, or message forgery. The DTLS protocol is based on the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol and provides equivalent security guarantees. Datagram semantics of the underlying transport are preserved by the DTLS protocol. [STANDARDS-TRACK]
Collective Action Clauses in International Sovereign Bond Contracts and Their Effect on Spreads at Issuance

This paper analyzes the impact of collective action clauses on the cost of borrowing for sovereigns. Specifically, the thesis focuses on majority restructuring provisions, which define the qualifying majority of bondholders that can modify the financial terms of the bonds. The 2012 Greek restructuring and the ruling in U.S. courts against Argentina’s appeal to avoid paying holdout creditors have reignited the interest over the use and design of these clauses. I find that countries perceived to be less corrupt and countries more exposed to exogenous shocks, such as countries with high dependency on commodity exports, are more likely to have lower voting thresholds. I then document that voting requirements have, on average, a statistically significant positive effect on spreads at issuance. However, this effect is not uniform across different categories of borrowers, with lower-rated sovereigns benefiting the most. Additionally, I show that these lower rated issuers benefit incrementally more after 2003. From a policy perspective, the results imply that market participants favor these contractual changes and that the current push for further contractual reforms will likely be beneficial. JEL Classification: F34, G15, G12, H63, K12
Omnidirectional stereovision system for occupancy grid

Vision systems provide large amount of data to robots about its environment. Particularly, an omnidirectional vision system provides information in all directions in just one image. By processing a pair of omnidirectional images it is possible to obtain distances between the robot and the objects in its working environment. Using only an omnidirectional stereovision system as source of information to create a stochastic representation of the environment, known as occupancy grids, a robot can determine the probability of occupation of the space and navigate autonomously. This article shows a stereo algorithm with a matching restricted by geometrical properties of the vision system using directly the omnidirectional image and a model of that sensor to update an occupancy grid
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1 and Its Receptor Act Synergistically to Increase the Risk of Carotid Atherosclerosis

Background: Monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), acting in concert with its receptor chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2), promotes recruitment of macrophages into atherosclerotic plaque. We examined whether single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) variants in the MCP-1 or CCR2 genes independently or in combination are associated with carotid artery atherosclerosis in an African American population at increased risk of vascular disease. Methods: Four SNPs in MCP-1 and 1 in CCR2 were genotyped. Carotid artery duplex ultrasonography was used to identify the presence or absence of carotid plaque >1 mm. The study population included 325 apparently healthy 30- to 59-year-old black siblings of 185 probands with premature coronary artery disease (<60 years old). Associations between each independent SNP and the presence of carotid plaque were examined using multivariate logistic regression models adjusted for age, sex, educational level, diabetes, smoking, hypertension, obesity, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and non-independence within families. Interactions between SNPs in the MCP-1 gene and the SNP in the CCR2 gene were examined by multivariate analysis. Results: Siblings were 32% males, with a mean age of 46 ± 7 years, and 77 (24%) demonstrated carotid plaque. In multivariate analyses, the CC genotype of MCP-1 SNP rs2857656 was independently associated with plaque (p = 0.05). Subjects who had both the MCP-1 CC genotype and were heterozygotic or homozygotic for the CCR2 V64I genotype (rs1799864; n = 12) had an even higher risk of carotid atherosclerosis (odds ratio 6.14, 95% confidence interval 1.82–20.73; p = 0.0037). Conclusion: The MCP-1 rs2857656 CC genotype is independently associated with carotid artery plaque in African American from families with premature coronary artery disease. The combination of the MCP-1 CC homozygous genotype and the homozygotic or heterozygote CCR2 V64I genotype is associated with a particularly high prevalence of carotid artery plaque.
Opportunities and constraints: the current struggle with BPMN

Purpose – The business process modeling notation (BPMN) is an increasingly important standard for process modeling and has enjoyed high levels of attention in business practice. In this paper, experiences are shared from several research projects investigating the uptake and user acceptance of BPMN by analysts world‐wide. This personal viewpoint aims to offer a number of implications for business process management (BPM) practice and seeks to stimulate and guide further research and other developments in this area.Design/methodology/approach – This paper offers a personal viewpoint based on the experiences and findings gathered from survey research and interviews on the use of BPMN. While details on research execution are mostly omitted, references are provided to guide the interested reader to the methodology used in the original studies.Findings – First, statistics are provided on the usage of BPMN by process modelers world‐wide. Amongst others, it is shown that the high interest in BPMN has created a m.
Word pair index structure for information retrieval using Terrier3.5

With the evolution of internet, users are looking for documents that are accessible on demand. The growth in volume of stored information affects the performance of retrieval systems. In any information retrieval system, two main factors to be considered are document representation termed as indexing and retrieval. Most of the queries to an information retrieval system are casual, ordinary, bag of words that consists of two or three terms. In this paper, we implemented an index structure for fast phrase querying namely Word pair index using Terrier 3.5, a well-known open source for information retrieval. In our experiments, we used FIRE 2011 English data set. As we increased the size of corpus, time to create index structure has also increased linearly. When the word pair index structure is used for retrieval, the time to retrieve relevant results from the corpus reduced by 94.73%, when compared to traditional inverted index structure.
Information Theoretic Regret Bounds for Online Nonlinear Control

This work studies the problem of sequential control in an unknown, nonlinear dynamical system, where we model the underlying system dynamics as an unknown function in a known Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Space. This framework yields a general setting that permits discrete and continuous control inputs as well as non-smooth, non-differentiable dynamics. Our main result, the Lower Confidence-based Continuous Control ($LC^3$) algorithm, enjoys a near-optimal $O(\sqrt{T})$ regret bound against the optimal controller in episodic settings, where $T$ is the number of episodes. The bound has no explicit dependence on dimension of the system dynamics, which could be infinite, but instead only depends on information theoretic quantities. We empirically show its application to a number of nonlinear control tasks and demonstrate the benefit of exploration for learning model dynamics.
The acidic C‐terminal domain of protein disulfide isomerase is not critical for the enzyme subunit function or for the chaperone or disulfide isomerase activities of the polypeptide

Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) is a multifunctional polypeptide that acts as a subunit in the animal prolyl 4‐hydroxylases and the microsomal triglyceride transfer protein, and as a chaperone that binds various peptides and assists their folding. We report here that deletion of PDI sequences corresponding to the entire C‐terminal domain c, previously thought to be critical for chaperone activity, had no inhibitory effect on the assembly of recombinant prolyl 4‐hydroxylase in insect cells or on the in vitro chaperone activity or disulfide isomerase activity of purified PDI. However, partially overlapping critical regions for all these functions were identified at the C‐terminal end of the preceding thioredoxin‐like domain a′. Point mutations introduced into this region identified several residues as critical for prolyl 4‐hydroxylase assembly. Circular dichroism spectra of three mutants suggested that two of these mutations may have caused only local alterations, whereas one of them may have led to more extensive structural changes. The critical region identified here corresponds to the C‐terminal α helix of domain a′, but this is not the only critical region for any of these functions.
Reproducibility of objectively measured physical activity and sedentary time over two seasons in children; Comparing a day-by-day and a week-by-week approach

Introduction Knowledge of reproducibility of accelerometer-determined physical activity (PA) and sedentary time (SED) estimates are a prerequisite to conduct high-quality epidemiological studies. Yet, estimates of reproducibility might differ depending on the approach used to analyze the data. The aim of the present study was to determine the reproducibility of objectively measured PA and SED in children by directly comparing a day-by-day and a week-by-week approach to data collected over two weeks during two different seasons 3–4 months apart. Methods 676 11-year-old children from the Active Smarter Kids study conducted in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway, performed 7 days of accelerometer monitoring (ActiGraph GT3X+) during January-February and April-May 2015. Reproducibility was calculated using a day-by-day and a week-by-week approach applying mixed effect modelling and the Spearman Brown prophecy formula, and reported using intra-class correlation (ICC), Bland Altman plots and 95% limits of agreement (LoA). Results Applying a week-by-week approach, no variables provided ICC estimates ≥ 0.70 for one week of measurement in any model (ICC = 0.29–0.66 not controlling for season; ICC = 0.49–0.67 when controlling for season). LoA for these models approximated a factor of 1.3–1.7 of the sample PA level standard deviations. Compared to the week-by-week approach, the day-by-day approach resulted in too optimistic reliability estimates (ICC = 0.62–0.77 not controlling for season; ICC = 0.64–0.77 when controlling for season). Conclusions Reliability is lower when analyzed over different seasons and when using a week-by-week approach, than when applying a day-by-day approach and the Spearman Brown prophecy formula to estimate reliability over a short monitoring period. We suggest a day-by-day approach and the Spearman Brown prophecy formula to determine reliability be used with caution. Trial Registration The study is registered in Clinicaltrials.gov 7th April 2014 with identification number NCT02132494.
An Adaptive MMC Synchronous Stability Control Method Based on Local PMU measurements

Reducing the current is a common method to ensure the synchronous stability of a modular multilevel converter (MMC) when there is a short-circuit fault at its AC side. However, the uncertainty of the fault location of the AC system leads to a significant difference in the maximum allowable stable operating current during the fault. This paper proposes an adaptive MMC fault-current control method using local phasor measurement unit (PMU) measurements. Based on the estimated Thevenin equivalent (TE) parameters of the system, the current can be directly calculated to ensure the maximum output power of the MMC during the fault. This control method does not rely on off-line simulation and adapts itself to various fault conditions. The effective measurements are firstly selected by the voltage threshold and parameter constraints, which allow us to handle the error due to the change on the system-side. The proposed TE estimation method can fast track the change of the system impedance without depending on the initial value and can deal with the TE potential changes after a large disturbance. The simulation shows that the TE estimation can accurately track the TE parameters after the fault, and the current control instruction during an MMC fault can ensure the maximum output power of the MMC.
Carbon Mitigation Strategies in the Electricity Distribution Sector in Australia

This paper looks at strategic responses to climate change mitigation of electricity distribution companies in the National Electricity Market in Australia. The work uses institutional theory, resource dependence theory and aspects of stakeholder management theories and dynamic capabilities theory to describe and analyse current strategies of distribution companies in response to climate change mitigation. An analysis of the electricity market, policies in place and the external environment provides insights into barriers and drivers of climate change mitigation activities for the sector. This information in combination with stakeholder interviews reveals potential future business opportunities in relation to carbon mitigation and indicates actors already moving into this emerging market. It also highlights some constraints on their implementation. To analyse the actual responses to change a survey amongst distribution companies provides information on the current activities and strategic elements. Those findings are described and analysed through the lens of the theoretical framework developed for this research. The information from those different parts is finally used to provide insights into approaches and recommendations on how distribution companies could adapt their activities and business models to move towards a lower carbon electricity provision while at the same time maintain organisational efficiency and profitability.