Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Early Stopping is Nonparametric Variational Inference

We show that unconverged stochastic gradient descent can be interpreted as a procedure that samples from a nonparametric variational approximate posterior distribution. This distribution is implicitly defined as the transformation of an initial distribution by a sequence of optimization updates. By tracking the change in entropy over this sequence of transformations during optimization, we form a scalable, unbiased estimate of the variational lower bound on the log marginal likelihood. We can use this bound to optimize hyperparameters instead of using cross-validation. This Bayesian interpretation of SGD suggests improved, overfitting-resistant optimization procedures, and gives a theoretical foundation for popular tricks such as early stopping and ensembling. We investigate the properties of this marginal likelihood estimator on neural network models.
FEMALE EXECUTIVES AND THE GLASS CEILING: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF STUBBORN, SYSTEMIC BARRIERS TO CAREER ADVANCEMENT

FEMALE EXECUTIVES AND THE GLASS CEILING: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF STUBBORN, SYSTEMIC BARRIERS TO CAREER ADVANCEMENT Sherryl Stalinski Saybrook University The gender gap issue is a complex, systemic problem emerging from the interrelation of multiple variables. This study sought to identify the primary, interrelated, and mutually influential variables that contribute to the C-suite gender gap phenomenon using Moustakas’ transcendental phenomenological research methodology. Seven female vice president level executives who work in a male-dominated private sector industries in a major metropolitan area were interviewed. Common themes emerged around the significant impact of culture and upbringing and experiences with subtle or overt secondgeneration gender bias. Five women had some experience of the double bind, although not all of them seemed to perceive the experience that way. All participants discounted the concept of the “glass ceiling. ” All except one credited strong mentors who provided advice, guidance, and support and who also acted as advocates in helping to advance their careers. All participants demonstrated strong self-confidence, although two noted their confidence was low during their early career and grew through positive, reinforcing experiences. All participants discussed work-life balance and many tempered their career ambition with a similarly strong value for creating and maintaining work-life balance. Only one experienced career limitations by downgrading her work schedule to
Six post‐implantation lethal knockouts of genes for lipophilic MAPK pathway proteins are expressed in preimplantation mouse embryos and trophoblast stem cells

Mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways play an important role in controlling embryonic proliferation and differentiation. It has been demonstrated that sequential lipophilic signal transduction mediators that participate in the MAPK pathway are null post‐implantation lethal. It is not clear why the lethality of these null mutants arises after implantation and not before. One hypothesis is that the gene product of these post‐implantation lethal null mutants are not present before implantation in normal embryos and do not have function until after implantation. To test this hypothesis, we selected a set of lipophilic genes mediating MAPK signal transduction pathways whose null mutants result in early peri‐implantation or placental lethality. These included FRS2α, GAB1, GRB2, SOS1, Raf‐B, and Raf1. Products of these selected genes were detected and their locations and functions indicated by indirect immunocytochemistry and Western blotting for proteins and RT‐polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for mRNA transcription. We report here that all six signal mediators are detected at the protein level in preimplantation mouse embryo, placental trophoblasts, and in cultured trophoblast stem cells (TSC). Proteins are all detected in E3.5 embryos at a time when the first known mitogenic intercellular communication has been documented. mRNA transcripts of two post‐implantation null mutant genes are expressed in mouse preimplantation embryos and unfertilized eggs. These mRNA transcripts were detected as maternal mRNA in unfertilized eggs that could delay the lethality of null mutants. All of the proteins were detected in the cytoplasm or in the cell membrane. This study of spatial and temporal expression revealed that all of these six null mutants post‐implantation genes in MAPK pathway are expressed and, where tested, phosphorylated/activated proteins are detected in the blastocyst. Studies on RNA expression using RT‐PCR suggest that maternal RNA could play an important role in delaying the presence of the lethal phenotype of null mutations. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 71: 1–11, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Chlamydia trachomatis Among Young Norwegian Men: Sexual Behavior and Genitourinary Symptoms

Objective: The study objective was to assess Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) prevalence, risk factors, and genitourinary symptoms among young men. Methods: Sexually active men 18 to 30 years old were recruited during April through October 2005 at the student health services and through field work at university campuses in 2 Norwegian cities. A total of 1,032 participants completed a questionnaire on sexual behavior and provided first-void urine for CT testing. Results: The overall CT prevalence was 7.8% (81 of 1,032). In multivariable analysis, ≥5 lifetime sexual partners (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 2.7, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.4–5.2), a burning sensation on urination (aOR: 5.7, 95% CI: 3.1–10.5), and penile discharge (aOR: 2.6, 95% CI: 1.1–6.3) were significant risk factors for a positive CT test, whereas condom use (last intercourse) was preventive (aOR: 0.4, 95% CI: 0.2–0.8). Conclusions: A CT prevalence of 7.8% was found among male students. Promotion of increased testing among men is important to prevent CT transmission.
IDE-integrated Support for Schema Evolution in Object-Oriented Applications

When an application retrieves serialized objects for which the class has changed, it may have to cope with modifications of the semantics. While there are numerous ways to handle the resulting mismatch at runtime, the developer is typically required to provide some code to reestablish the intended semantics of the new class. The present article shows how to instruct an IDE with class version information, in a way that it can provide the developer with help and guidance for a semantically correct schema evolution.
Selective angiographic embolization of blunt splenic traumatic injuries in adults decreases failure rate of nonoperative management

BACKGROUND: To determine whether angioembolization (AE) in hemodynamically stable adult patients with blunt splenic trauma (BST) at high risk for failure of nonoperative management (NOM) (contrast blush [CB] on computed tomography, high-grade IV–V injuries, or decreasing hemoglobin) results in lower failure rates than reported. METHODS: The records of patients with BST from July 2000 to December 2010 at a Level I trauma center were retrospectively reviewed using National Trauma Registry of the American College of Surgeons. Failure of NOM (FNOM) occurred if splenic surgery was required after attempted NOM. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with FNOM. RESULTS: A total of 1,039 patients with BST were found. Pediatric patients (age <17 years), those who died in the emergency department, and those requiring immediate surgery for hemodynamic instability were excluded. Of the 539 (64% of all BST) hemodynamically stable patients who underwent NOM, 104 (19%) underwent AE and 435 (81%) were observed without AE (NO-AE). FNOM for the various groups were as follows: overall NOM (4%), NO-AE (4%), and AE (4%). There was no significant difference in FNOM for NO-AE versus AE for grades I to III: grade I (1% vs. 0%, p = 1), grade II (2% vs. 0%, p = 0.318), and grade III (5% vs. 0%, p = 0.562); however, a significant decrease in FNOM was noted with the addition of AE for grades IV to V: grade IV (23% vs. 3%, p = 0.04) and grade V (63% vs. 9%, p = 0.03). Statistically significant independent risk factors for FNOM were grade IV to V injuries and CB. CONCLUSION: Application of strictly defined selection criteria for NOM and AE in patients with BST resulted in one of the lowest overall FNOM rates (4%). Hemodynamically stable BST patients are candidates for NOM with selective AE for high-risk patients with grade IV to V injuries, CB on initial computed tomography, and/or decreasing hemoglobin levels. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III, therapeutic study.
Evaluating Ecological Restoration Success: A Review of the Literature

Assessing the success of ecological restoration projects is critical to justify the use of restoration in natural resource management and to improve best practice. Although there are extensive discussions surrounding the characteristics that define and measure successful restoration, monitoring or evaluation of projects in practice is widely thought to have lagged behind. We conducted a literature review to determine trends in evaluations of restoration projects and identify key knowledge gaps that need to be addressed. We searched the Web of Knowledge plus two additional restoration journals not found in the database for empirical papers that assessed restoration projects post‐implementation. We quantified the extent that key attributes of success, including ecological (vegetation structure, species diversity and abundance, and ecosystem functioning) and socioeconomic, were addressed by these papers along with trends in publication and restoration characteristics. Encouragingly, we found the number of empirical evaluations has grown substantially in recent years. The increased age of restoration projects and number of papers that assessed ecological functions since previous reviews of the literature is also a positive development. Research is still heavily skewed toward United States and Australia, however, and identifying an appropriate reference site needs further investigation. Of particular concern is the dearth of papers identified in the literature search that included any measure of socioeconomic attributes. Focusing future empirical research on quantifying ecosystem services and other socioeconomic outcomes is essential for understanding the full benefits and costs of ecological restoration and to support its use in natural resource management.
The Role Of Operational Business Intelligence In Customer Centric Service Provision

Service organizations need to consider regularly changing customer requirements in order to continuously adapt the design and control of their services. This enforces an integration of different customer information into a service process. However, the existing conceptual approaches do not provide adequate decision making capabilities to organize knowledge intensive processes by straightforward management approaches. The paper presents therefore a case study about the application of Operational Business Intelligence (OpBI) in an insurance company to give practical insights for the management of service operations. The results demonstrate that OpBI supports the configuration of a customer tailored service provision in favor of an increased service quality and higher process efficiency. The insights confirm benefits and advantages regarding to OpBI and knowledge intensive service processes.
Voltage quality analysis of a three-level flying capacitor inverter with model based predictive control

Model based predictive control is an interesting control method for power electronics as it offers many advantages. A known disadvantage compared to optimal pulse-width modulation control is the deteriorated voltage quality, which results in extra losses in the load. In this paper two ways of analyzing the output voltage quality are presented and applied on the model based predictive control of a three-level flying capacitor inverter. The influence of the weight factor and the system model are analyzed. The voltage quality is shown to be good in the same weight factor range as those resulting in good current and capacitor voltage control. No compromises have to be made in this area. A more accurate system model results in improved voltage (and overall control) quality.
Robust Transient Dynamics and Brain Functions

In the last few decades several concepts of dynamical systems theory (DST) have guided psychologists, cognitive scientists, and neuroscientists to rethink about sensory motor behavior and embodied cognition. A critical step in the progress of DST application to the brain (supported by modern methods of brain imaging and multi-electrode recording techniques) has been the transfer of its initial success in motor behavior to mental function, i.e., perception, emotion, and cognition. Open questions from research in genetics, ecology, brain sciences, etc., have changed DST itself and lead to the discovery of a new dynamical phenomenon, i.e., reproducible and robust transients that are at the same time sensitive to informational signals. The goal of this review is to describe a new mathematical framework – heteroclinic sequential dynamics – to understand self-organized activity in the brain that can explain certain aspects of robust itinerant behavior. Specifically, we discuss a hierarchy of coarse-grain models of mental dynamics in the form of kinetic equations of modes. These modes compete for resources at three levels: (i) within the same modality, (ii) among different modalities from the same family (like perception), and (iii) among modalities from different families (like emotion and cognition). The analysis of the conditions for robustness, i.e., the structural stability of transient (sequential) dynamics, give us the possibility to explain phenomena like the finite capacity of our sequential working memory – a vital cognitive function –, and to find specific dynamical signatures – different kinds of instabilities – of several brain functions and mental diseases.
L1 Cell Adhesion Molecule Promotes Tumorigenicity and Metastatic Potential in Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer

Purpose: Non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a highly metastatic cancer with limited treatment options, thus requiring development of novel targeted therapies. Our group previously identified L1 cell adhesion molecule (L1CAM) expression as a member of a prognostic multigene expression signature for NSCLC patients. However, there is little information on the biologic function of L1CAM in lung cancer cells. This study investigates the functional and prognostic role of L1CAM in NSCLC. Experimental Design: Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was done on four independent published mRNA expression datasets of primary NSCLCs. L1CAM expression was suppressed by short-hairpin RNA (shRNA)–mediated silencing in human NSCLC cell lines. Effects were assessed by examining in vitro migration and invasion, in vivo tumorigenicity in mice, and metastatic potential using an orthotopic xenograft rat model of lung cancer. Results: L1CAM is an independent prognostic marker in resected NSCLC patients, with overexpression strongly associated with worse prognosis. L1CAM downregulation significantly decreased cell motility and invasiveness in lung cancer cells and reduced tumor formation and growth in mice. Cells with L1CAM downregulation were deficient in constitutive extracellular signal–regulated kinase (Erk) activation. Orthotopic studies showed that L1CAM suppression in highly metastatic lung cancer cells significantly decreases spread to distant organs, including bone and kidney. Conclusion: L1CAM is a novel prometastatic gene in NSCLC, and its downregulation may effectively suppress NSCLC tumor growth and metastasis. Targeted inhibition of L1CAM may be a novel therapy for NSCLC. Clin Cancer Res; 18(7); 1914–24. ©2012 AACR.
Positive Psychology: Historical, Philosophical, and Epistemological Perspectives

Ingvild Jørgensen heter nå Ingvild Svenkerud Aasen. This article originally appeared as Jørgensen, I. , & Nafstad, H. E. (2004). Positive psychology: Historical, philosophical, and epistemological perspectives. In P. A. Linley & S. Joseph (Eds.), Positive psychology in practice (pp. 15–34). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Copyright © John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2004. Reprinted with permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Modal Decoupled Dynamics Feed-Forward Active Force Control of Spatial Multi-DOF Parallel Robotic Manipulator

According to the parallel mechanism theory, this paper proposes a novel intelligent robotic spine brace for the treatment of scoliosis. Nevertheless, this type of parallel mechanism has the following disadvantages: strong dynamic coupling in task space or joint space, adverse effect of system’s gravity, and lower response frequency in roll and pitch orientations, which seriously affect the performance of the system. In order to solve those boring problems, this paper presents a novel active force control structure, modal space dynamic feed-forward (MSDF) force control strategy. Besides, this paper expresses the intelligent robotic brace system model including the dynamic and kinematic models and the electric actuator model with Kane strategy. The stability of the intelligent system with the novel control strategy is proved. In order to evaluate the performance of the presented MSDF force control method, this paper builds the parallel mechanism experimental platform. It can be seen from experimental results that the proposed motion control method solves these boring problems well.
Improving the performance of text-independent short duration SVM- and GMM-based speaker verification

In the task of automatic speaker verification (ASV) it is well known that the duration of the speech signals is an important factor in the ultimate accuracy of the system. This paper deals with some of the aspects of adapting systems to work with limited amounts of data. First we highlight the importance of a well-tuned speech detection front-end when working with short durations. We consider a well-established technique (GMM) as well as a recent development (SVM on GMM mean supervectors), showing their limitations and alternatives. In particular the benefit of eigenvoice modelling in the context of short duration tasks is highlighted. Finally experiments on standard NIST databases demonstrate fusion potential between the presented techniques and significant gains when compared to a single GMM.
Ending Disability Discrimination: Strategies for Social Workers

Preface. I. DISABILITY PERSPECTIVES. 1. Academic Debates and Political Advocacy: The U.S. Disability Movement (Harlan Hahn). 2. The Conceptualization of Disability (David Pfeiffer). 3. The Environment of Disability Today: A Nursing Home is Not a Home (Reiko Hayashi). 4. Rethinking Disability in Social Work: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Vanmala Hirananandi). II. THE DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION MODEL. 5. Changing the Future of Disability: The Disability Discrimination Model (Gary May). 6. The Disability Discrimination Model in Social Work Practice (Martha Raske). 7. The Disability Discrimination Model in Social Policy Practice (Gary May). 8. The Evolution of a New Paradigm for Disability Research (Harlan Hahn and Martha Raske). Epilogue: The Challenges for Social Work (Gary May).
Combining Parasite Lactate Dehydrogenase-Based and Histidine-Rich Protein 2-Based Rapid Tests To Improve Specificity for Diagnosis of Malaria Due to Plasmodium knowlesi and Other Plasmodium Species in Sabah, Malaysia

ABSTRACT Plasmodium knowlesi causes severe and fatal malaria in Malaysia. Microscopic misdiagnosis is common and may delay appropriate treatment. P. knowlesi can cross-react with “species-specific” parasite lactate dehydrogenase (pLDH) monoclonal antibodies used in rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) to detect P. falciparum and P. vivax. At one tertiary-care hospital and two district hospitals in Sabah, we prospectively evaluated two combination RDTs for malaria diagnosis by using both a pan-Plasmodium-pLDH (pan-pLDH)/P. falciparum-specific-pLDH (Pf-pLDH) RDT (OptiMAL-IT) and a non-P. falciparum VOM-pLDH/Pf-HRP2 RDT (CareStart). Differential cross-reactivity among these combinations was hypothesized to differentiate P. knowlesi from other Plasmodium monoinfections. Among 323 patients with PCR-confirmed P. knowlesi (n = 193), P. falciparum (n = 93), and P. vivax (n = 37) monoinfections, the VOM-pLDH individual component had the highest sensitivity for nonsevere (35%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 27 to 43%) and severe (92%; CI, 81 to 100%) P. knowlesi malaria. CareStart demonstrated a P. knowlesi sensitivity of 42% (CI, 34 to 49%) and specificity of 74% (CI, 65 to 82%), a P. vivax sensitivity of 83% (CI, 66 to 93%) and specificity of 71% (CI, 65 to 76%), and a P. falciparum sensitivity of 97% (CI, 90 to 99%) and specificity of 99% (CI, 97 to 100%). OptiMAL-IT demonstrated a P. knowlesi sensitivity of 32% (CI, 25 to 39%) and specificity of 21% (CI, 15 to 29%), a P. vivax sensitivity of 60% (CI, 42 to 75%) and specificity of 97% (CI, 94 to 99%), and a P. falciparum sensitivity of 82% (CI, 72 to 89%) and specificity of 39% (CI, 33 to 46%). The combination of CareStart plus OptiMAL-IT for P. knowlesi using predefined criteria gave a sensitivity of 25% (CI, 19 to 32%) and specificity of 97% (CI, 92 to 99%). Combining two RDT combinations was highly specific for P. knowlesi malaria diagnosis; however, sensitivity was poor. The specificity of pLDH RDTs was decreased for P. vivax and P. falciparum because of P. knowlesi cross-reactivity and cautions against their use alone in areas where P. knowlesi malaria is endemic. Sensitive P. knowlesi-specific RDTs and/or alternative molecular diagnostic tools are needed in areas where P. knowlesi malaria is endemic.
Embedded multicore architectures for LDPC decoding

Recently, the development of Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) decoding solutions has been proposed for a vast set of architectures, ranging from dedicated hardware to fully programmable ones (e.g. Cell/B.E. and graphics processing units). In this paper we propose efficient embedded programmable multicore architectures for achieving real-time LDPC decoding. The proposed multicore architectures allow to exploit data parallelism by decoding in parallel multiple codewords on the provided cores, with enough local memory capacity to store all data corresponding to the Tanner graph. Therefore, with this distributed memory and local computing approach, only a single shared bus is required to communicate the codewords. The proposed class of architectures can be prototyped on field programmable gate arrays or implemented on application specific integrated circuits, and it is validated by using the popular Cell processor, which relates very closely with the one here proposed. Finally, we discuss the related art of dedicated and programmable LDPC decoders, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages regarding the proposed solution.