Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prognostic factors in resected pathological N1-stage II nonsmall cell lung cancer

Stage II nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been redefined in the seventh edition of tumour, node, metastasis (TNM) classification for lung cancer. Stages IIa and IIb both contain node-negative (N0) and node-positive (N1) subgroups. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic factors for overall survival in patients with resected N1-stage II NSCLC. Between January 1992 and December 2010, we retrospectively reviewed the clinicopathological characteristics of 163 N1-stage II (T1a-T2bN1M0) NSCLC in patients undergoing curative resection as primary treatment. Median follow-up time was 37.2 months. The 1-, 3- and 5-yr overall survival rates were 85.3%, 62.1% and 43.5%, respectively. Tumour involvement of the hilar/interlobar nodal zone and poorly differentiated histological grade were significant predictors for worse overall survival using multivariate analysis (p = 0.001 and p = 0.015, respectively). There were trends toward worse overall survival in older patients and those with larger tumour size (p = 0.063 and p = 0.075, respectively). In resected N1-stage II NSCLC, hilar/interlobar nodal involvement and poorly differentiated histological grade were significant predictors of worse overall survival. The differences in survival between these subgroups of patients may lead to the use of different adjuvant therapies or post-surgical follow-up strategies.
Source counting in speech mixtures using a variational EM approach for complex WATSON mixture models

In this contribution we derive a variational EM (VEM) algorithm for model selection in complex Watson mixture models, which have been recently proposed as a model of the distribution of normalized microphone array signals in the short-time Fourier transform domain. The VEM algorithm is applied to count the number of active sources in a speech mixture by iteratively estimating the mode vectors of the Watson distributions and suppressing the signals from the corresponding directions. A key theoretical contribution is the derivation of the MMSE estimate of a quadratic form involving the mode vector of the Watson distribution. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the source counting approach at moderately low SNR. It is further shown that the VEM algorithm is more robust with respect to used threshold values.
Fuzzy subsethood for Type-n fuzzy sets

Subsethood is the degree of containment of one fuzzy set in another, usually expressed as a value in the unit interval. We extend Kosko's definition of subsethood to Type-n fuzzy sets, for which subsethood is a Type-(n-l) fuzzy set on the unit interval. We then show how to compute subsethood for general Type-2 and interval Type-3 fuzzy sets.
Eeg Spectral Analysis in Schizophrenia

Summary Four channels of EEG (T4-T6, P4-02, T3-T5, P3-01) were recorded from several groups of control subjects and schizophrenia patients on analogue tape. They were later digitized and analysed by computer; power spectra were computed for 30 second epochs of EEG per channel; eyes closed, eyes open. No difference between normal controls and neurotic in-patients was apparent. An acute schizophrenic group had less alpha power, this change being confined largely to the temporal areas. A chronic outpatient sample showed less alpha and beta power, while chronic long-stay schizophrenic patients had an excess of delta power. The changes in both chronic patient groups were diffuse rather than local.
Methods for Estimating User State from Real-time fNIRS Data

Paste the appropriate copyright statement here. ACM now supports three different copyright statements: • ACM copyright: ACM holds the copyright on the work. This is the historical approach. • License: The author(s) retain copyright, but ACM receives an exclusive publication license. • Open Access: The author(s) wish to pay for the work to be open access. The additional fee must be paid to ACM. This text field is large enough to hold the appropriate release statement assuming it is single spaced in a sans-serif 7 point font. Every submission will be assigned their own unique DOI string to be included here. Abstract Implicit user interfaces depend on an accurate and realtime stream of predictions about the user’s state. This paper compares advantages and disadvantages of two overarching approaches for solving the challenge of converting live physiological data into plausible estimates of the user’s state in the context of fNIRS-based adaptive user interfaces.
4D Reconstruction of Blooming Flowers

Flower blooming is a beautiful phenomenon in nature as flowers open in an intricate and complex manner whereas petals bend, stretch and twist under various deformations. Flower petals are typically thin structures arranged in tight configurations with heavy self‐occlusions. Thus, capturing and reconstructing spatially and temporally coherent sequences of blooming flowers is highly challenging. Early in the process only exterior petals are visible and thus interior parts will be completely missing in the captured data. Utilizing commercially available 3D scanners, we capture the visible parts of blooming flowers into a sequence of 3D point clouds. We reconstruct the flower geometry and deformation over time using a template‐based dynamic tracking algorithm. To track and model interior petals hidden in early stages of the blooming process, we employ an adaptively constrained optimization. Flower characteristics are exploited to track petals both forward and backward in time. Our methods allow us to faithfully reconstruct the flower blooming process of different species. In addition, we provide comparisons with state‐of‐the‐art physical simulation‐based approaches and evaluate our approach by using photos of captured real flowers.
Retina Recognition Based on Fractal Dimension

The recent advanced developments in the research have enabled the industries to find more complex methodologies for personal authentication. This led to the high development in the area of biometrics for the research of the retina recognition which is more complex and accurate for the authentication. The retinal circulation of the normal human is statistically selfsimilar and fractal. The survey study shows strong evidence that the fractal dimension of the blood vessels in the normal human retina is approximately 1.7. This paper contributes the methodology for the retina recognition for enhanced authentication biometric technique from the experimental results. The main objective of this study is to assess the accuracy of a commercially available retina biometric technology for personal identification on high security basis.
Probabilistic Theorem Proving : A Unifying Approach for Inference in Probabilistic Programming

Inference is the key bottleneck in probabilistic programming. Often, the main advantages of probabilistic programming – simplicity, modularity, ease-of-use, etc. – are dwarfed by the complexity and intractability of inference. In fact, one of the main reasons for the scarcity/absence of large applications and real-world systems that are based in large part on probabilistic programming languages (PPLs) (c.f. [6, 8]) is the lack of fast, scalable and accurate inference engines for them. Therefore, in this paper, we consider probabilistic theorem proving (PTP) [5], a recently proposed scalable, general-purpose algorithm for inference in probabilistic logic, and extend it to yield a general-purpose inference algorithm for PPLs.
Serum Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) and Bcl-2 Levels in Advanced Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

The characteristic changes in cancer process are assumed to be genetic alterations about the imbalance of cell proliferation and apoptotic cell death. This study was conducted to determine the value of the circulating vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and Bcl-2 in patients with advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). These serum factors were measured of 52 NSCLC patients pathologically verified on before and after chemotherapy in comparison with 16 healthy controls by using ELISA method. Both of the serum levels of VEGF (p = 0.015) and Bcl-2 (p < 0.001) were increased significantly in NSCLC patients compared with the healthy controls. No statistically significant relationships between investigated elevated serum parameters and various characteristics of patients and disease such as stage and tumor burden were determined. Likewise, we also found no correlation between serum VEGF and Bcl-2. Cytotoxic therapy of patients was accompanied by unchanged serum levels of serum factors. The median survival of all patients was 27 weeks and one-year survival rate was 22.4 percent. With the median serum levels as the cut-off value, patients were divided into high- and low-serum parameter groups. While we found that patients' performance status (p < 0.0001), serum LDH level (p = 0.0002), response to chemotherapy (p = 0.0023), and stage of the disease (p = 0.0085) were prognostic factors for survival, serum VEGF (p = 0.48) and Bcl-2 (p = 0.91) levels were determined as ineffective on survival in patients with advanced NSCLC. In conclusion, our data suggest that these serum factors, VEGF and Bcl-2, are useful diagnostic factors, not predictive and prognostic markers for overall survival in advanced NSCLC patients.
Investigation of Transformational and Transactional Leadership Styles of School Principals, and Evaluation of Them in Terms of Educational Administration.

The aim of this study is to investigate the transformational and transactional leadership styles of school principals, and to evaluate them in terms of educational administration. Descriptive survey model was used in the research. The data of the research were obtained from a total of 1,117 teachers working in public and private schools subjected to ministry of national education in Avcilar district of Istanbul province in 2014. In this study, data were obtained from the "personal information form" developed by the researcher and from the "leadership styles scale". Data entry that was obtained from the respondents was made by statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) version 17.0, and research data was resolved with "average", "standard deviation", “t-test” and “one-way analysis of variance”. According to research result; teachers had a high level of positive opinions with regard to transformational and transactional leadership characteristics of school principals. Teachers' perceptions about transformational and transactional leadership characteristics of school principals did not vary significantly according to gender, state of education and professional seniority. Key words: Transformational and transactional leadership styles, education management, school.
Metabolic syndrome variables at low levels in childhood are beneficially associated with adulthood cardiovascular risk: the Bogalusa Heart Study.

OBJECTIVE Most epidemiologic studies have focused on the adverse impact of the metabolic syndrome on cardiovascular (CV) disease. However, information on the relationship between the clustering of metabolic syndrome variables at favorable levels in childhood and the measures of CV risk in adulthood is not known. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The study cohort included 1,474 individuals (552 blacks and 922 whites) who were examined for CV risk factors in childhood (aged 4-17 years) and again in adulthood (aged 19-41 years) in Bogalusa, Louisiana, during 1982-2003, with an average follow-up period of 15.8 years. RESULTS In childhood, 9.0% of the cohort displayed clustering of three- or four-criterion risk variables at the bottom quartiles of BMI, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, systolic blood pressure, and total-to-HDL cholesterol ratio. The clustering was significantly higher than expected by chance alone (P < 0.01). These children, compared with those having clustering of less than three risk variables at the bottom quartiles, had a lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome in adulthood (clustering at top quartiles) (3.8 vs. 14.6%, P < 0.001). A higher prevalence of clustering of risk variables at low levels in childhood was associated with negative parental histories of coronary heart disease (9.4 vs. 5.0%, P = 0.024) and hypertension (10.5 vs. 6.6%, P = 0.012). Mean values of carotid intima-media thickness in adulthood decreased with an increasing number of risk variables clustering at the bottom quartiles in childhood (P for trend = 0.013). CONCLUSIONS The constellation of metabolic syndrome variables at low levels in childhood is associated with lower measures of CV risk in adulthood.
Thrills, chills, frissons, and skin orgasms: toward an integrative model of transcendent psychophysiological experiences in music

Music has a unique power to elicit moments of intense emotional and psychophysiological response. These moments – termed “chills,” “thrills”, “frissons,” etc. – are subjects of introspection and philosophical debate, as well as scientific study in music perception and cognition. The present article integrates the existing multidisciplinary literature in an attempt to define a comprehensive, testable, and ecologically valid model of transcendent psychophysiological moments in music.
Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Angiography: Technical Considerations for Optimized Clinical Implementation

Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE MR angiography) has benefited from advancements in MR imaging speed, pulse sequence design, and dedicated equipment and algorithms for its performance. These improvements have greatly expanded the number of options available to the operator and enabled the application of CE MR angiography to a broader range of clinical applications. In this article, the various timing options, pulse sequence innovations, and contrast administration concerns related to clinical CE MR angiography are reviewed. Pertinent issues related to multiphase and multistation bolus chase CE MR angiography also will be discussed.
NGL02-1: Multi-Stage Investment Decision under Contingent Demand for Networking Planning

Telecommunication companies, such as Internet and cellular service providers, are seeing rapid and uncertain growth of amount of traffic routed through their networks. It has become a challenge for these companies to make optimal decisions for equipment purchase that simultaneously satisfy the uncertain future demand while minimizing investment cost. This paper presents a decision-making framework for installing the required equipment into the networks while in the uncertain environment. The framework is based on new multi-stage stochastic programming mathematical models that capture the complexity of the individual Central Office (CO) decision-making process. The models are solved using the online NEOS server. Two examples are presented to illustrate the procedure. The optimization model also addresses the equipment pricing problem, i.e., what premium is worth paying for shorter installation times.
A Risk-Factor Model Foundation for Ratings-Based Bank Capital Rules

When economic capital is calculated using a portfolio model of credit value-at-risk, the marginal capital requirement for an instrument depends, in general, on the properties of the portfolio in which it is held. By contrast, ratings-based capital rules, including both the current Basel Accord and its proposed revision, assign a capital charge to an instrument based only on its own characteristics. I demonstrate that ratings-based capital rules can be reconciled with the general class of credit VaR models. Contributions to VaR are portfolio-invariant only if (a) there is only a single systematic risk factor driving correlations across obligors, and (b) no exposure in a portfolio accounts for more than an arbitrarily small share of total exposure. Analysis of rates of convergence to asymptotic VaR leads to a simple and accurate portfolio-level add-on charge for undiversified idiosyncratic risk. There is no similarly simple way to address violation of the single factor assumption.
The lived experiences of adolescents with barriers to learning who participate in an alternative assessment programme

South Africa has adopted the international trend towards inclusive education. The result is an increasing number of learners with barriers to learning accommodated in mainstream schools. Alternative assessment programmes make provision to address the barriers to learning of these learners during formal assessments. Alternative assessment programmes are a good start to afford learners with barriers to learning a fair chance to impart their knowledge. However, the programmes are adult driven and, as the users of these programmes, we need to consider the learners’ views also. Knowledge of their experience will increase understanding of their needs, which in turn will help to refine the programmes and adjust the programmes to these needs. General aim of the study: to explore the lived experience of learners with barriers to learning, who participated in an alternative assessment programme in a mainstream high school in the Western Cape, in a qualitative way, through a phenomenological design. The phenomenological design provided a deeper understanding of the learners’ experience of the alternative assessment programme from the learners’ viewpoint. We held unstructured, individual interviews with the eight participants who consented to participate in the study. As requested, the participants made collages of their experiences of the alternative assessment programme in a group setting, prior to the interviews. Section B presents the findings of this qualitative study and relates the learners’ experience of the alternative assessment programme during testand formal examination series. The findings highlight the importance of considering the opinions of learners with barriers, participating in an alternative assessment programme. Key terms: adolescence, alternative assessment, barriers to learning, lived experience
Quality control of the blood pressure phenotype in the European Project on Genes in Hypertension

ObjectivesIn the European Project on Genes in Hypertension (EPOGH) standardized epidemiological methods were used to determine complex phenotypes consisting of blood pressure (BP) in combination with other traits. In this report, we present the quality control of one of the BP phenotypes. MethodsIn seven European countries eight different research groups recruited random samples of nuclear families. Trained observers measured the BP five times consecutively with the participants in the seated position at each of two separate home visits, 1 to 3 weeks apart, according to the guidelines of the British Hypertension Society. Quality assurance and quality control of this BP phenotype were implemented according to detailed instructions defined in the protocol of the EPOGH study. ResultsOn 31 August 2001, BP measurements of 2476 subjects were available for analysis. Fewer BP readings than the five planned per visit occurred in one of the eight centres, but only in 0.4% of the home visits. Across centres the relative frequency of identical consecutive readings for systolic or diastolic blood pressure varied from 0 to 6%. The occurrence of odd readings ranged from 0 to 0.1%. Of the 49 488 systolic and diastolic BP readings, 24.0% ended on a zero (expected 20%). In most EPOGH centres there was a progressive decline in the BP from the first to the second home visit. Overall, these decreases averaged 2.36 mmHg [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.98–2.74, P < 0.001] for systolic BP and 1.74 mmHg (95% CI: 1.46–2.02, P < 0.001) for diastolic BP. ConclusionsQuality assurance and control should be planned at the design stage of a project involving BP measurement and implemented from its very beginnings until the end. The procedures of quality assurance set up in the EPOGH study for the BP measurements resulted in a well-defined BP phenotype, which was consistent across centres.
The normal range of body mass index with high body fat percentage among male residents of Lucknow city in north India

Background & objectives: Several studies have raised the suspicion that the body mass index (BMI) cut-off for overweight as defined by the WHO may not adequately reflect the actual overweight status. The present study looked at the relationship between BMI and body fat per cent (BF %) / health risks (hypertension and type 2 diabetes) in male residents of Lucknow city, north India to evaluate the validity of BMI cut-off points for overweight. Methods: One thousand one hundred and eleven male volunteer subjects (18-69 yr) who participated in different programmes organized by the Institute during 2005 to 2008 were included in the study. BF% was measured using commercially available digital weight scale incorporating bioelectrical impedance (BI) analyzer. The proposed cut-off for BMI based on BF % was calculated using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis. Results: Forty four per cent subjects showed higher BF % (>25%) with BMI range (24-24.99 kg/m2). Sensitivity and specificity at BMI cut-off at 24.5 kg/m3 were 83.2 and 77.5, respectively. Sensitivity at BMI cut-off >25 kg/m2 was reduced by 5 per cent and specificity increased by 4.6 per cent when compared to 24.5 cut-off. Interpretation & conclusions: The study subjects showed higher body fat percentage and risk factors like hypertension and type 2 diabetes at normal BMI range proposed by the WHO. The cut-off for BMI was proposed to be 24.5 kg/m2 for our study population. If overweight is regarded as an excess of body fat and not as an excess of weight (increased BMI), the cut-off points for overweight based on BMI would need to be lowered. However, the confidence of estimate of the BMI cut-off in the present study may be considered with the limitations of BI analysis studies.
Embedding information within dynamic visual patterns

There exist many scenarios in which the automatic distinction between human and machines is desirable. This paper describes a texture-image based approach to encode text information in such a way that machine vision algorithms will experience difficulties while humans can extract the embedded text effortlessly. We exploit both static and dynamic visual patterns to diversify the image content and discourage automatic processing. Examples of the resulting patterns are presented and their properties are discussed
Mobile Robot Based Online Chinese Chess Game

We present the game tree search techniques based on Chinese chess game, and use mobile robots to present the scenario. We design a mobile robot to be applied in many fields, such as entertainment, education and security. The mobile robot has the shape of cylinder and its diameter, height and weight is 8cm, 15cm and 1.5kg. The power of the mobile robot is three Li batteries, and connects with parallel arrangement. It has three IR sensors to detect obstacle. The controller of the mobile robot is MCS-51 chip, and can acquire the detection signal from sensors through I/O pins, and receives the command from the supervised computer and the remote controller via wireless RF interface. The controller of the mobile robot can transmits the detection result to the supervised computer via wireless RF interface. The mobile robot can speak Chinese language using voice driver module. We develop the user interface of mobile robots according to the basic rules of Chinese chess game, and program the motion trajectories for the mobile robot to play the Chinese chess game. In the experimental results, mobile robots can receive the command from the supervised computer, and move the next position according to the attribute of the chess piece.