Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hospital quality of care: Does information technology matter? The relationship between information technology adoption and quality of care

Background: Hospitals have been slow to adopt information technology (IT) largely because of a lack of generalizable evidence of the value associated with such adoption. Purpose: To explore the relationship between IT adoption and quality of care in acute-care hospitals. Methods: Primary data on hospital IT adoption were combined with secondary hospital discharge data. Regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between various measures of IT adoption and several quality indicators after controlling for confounders. Adoption of IT was measured using a previously validated method that considers clinical, administrative, and strategic IT capabilities of acute-care hospitals. Quality measures included the Inpatient Quality Indicators developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Results: Data from 98 hospitals were available for analyses. Hospitals adopted an average of 11.3 (45.2%) clinical IT applications, 15.7 (74.8%) administrative IT applications, and 5 (50%) strategic IT applications. In multivariate regression analyses, hospitals that adopted a greater number of IT applications were significantly more likely to have desirable quality outcomes on seven Inpatient Quality Indicator measures, including risk-adjusted mortality from percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, and acute myocardial infarction. An increase in clinical IT applications was also inversely correlated with utilization of incidental appendectomy, and an increase in the adoption of strategic IT applications was inversely correlated with risk-adjusted mortality from craniotomy and laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Practice Implications: Hospital adoption of IT is associated with desirable quality outcomes across hospitals in Florida. These findings will assist hospital leaders interested in understanding better the effect of costly IT adoption on quality of care in their institutions.
Efficient Query Answering Through Approximation

Fluid transferring apparatus, more commonly referred to as a marine loading arm, comprising rigid, pivotally-interconnected inboard and outboard arm members pivotally mounted on an upstanding riser, and a system for maintaining the outboard member in a substantially horizontal attitude during the fluid transfer process. A first hydraulic ram, connected between the riser and the inboard member, and a second hydraulic ram, connected between the inboard member and the outboard member, are functionally coupled to a hydraulic system with an outboard arm member attitude sensing means, so that if the outboard arm member pivots more than a pre-selected distance above a horizontal attitude the first hydraulic ram provides pressurized fluid to the second hydraulic ram to return the outboard member to its horizontal attitude.
Invertible motion blur in video

We show that motion blur in successive video frames is invertible even if the point-spread function (PSF) due to motion smear in a single photo is non-invertible. Blurred photos exhibit nulls (zeros) in the frequency transform of the PSF, leading to an ill-posed deconvolution. Hardware solutions to avoid this require specialized devices such as the coded exposure camera or accelerating sensor motion. We employ ordinary video cameras and introduce the notion of null-filling along with joint-invertibility of multiple blur-functions. The key idea is to record the same object with varying PSFs, so that the nulls in the frequency component of one frame can be filled by other frames. The combined frequency transform becomes null-free, making deblurring well-posed. We achieve jointly-invertible blur simply by changing the exposure time of successive frames. We address the problem of automatic deblurring of objects moving with constant velocity by solving the four critical components: preservation of all spatial frequencies, segmentation of moving parts, motion estimation of moving parts, and non-degradation of the static parts of the scene. We demonstrate several challenging cases of object motion blur including textured backgrounds and partial occluders.
Host Associations of Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) in Residential and Natural Settings in a Lyme Disease-Endemic Area in New Jersey

Abstract We live-trapped small mammals and flagged vegetation within wooded natural and residential landscapes to examine how any observed differences in small mammal species composition may influence Ixodes scapularis Say burdens and the abundance of host-seeking ticks. Two years of live trapping showed that Eastern chipmunks, Tamias striatus, were captured with significantly greater frequency in some residential areas than white-footed mice, Peromyscus leucopus, whereas the proportion of white-footed mouse captures was higher or similar to chipmunk captures in the undeveloped natural areas. Both mice and chipmunks seemed to adapt well to managed residential landscapes, with residential sites yielding similar or significantly greater numbers of captures compared with undeveloped sites. In areas where chipmunk captures outnumbered mice, larval tick burdens on mice were either higher or no different than in areas where few or no chipmunks were captured, in contrast to previous studies suggesting that alternate hosts should reduce larval burdens on mice. Chipmunks apparently play an important role in the Lyme disease transmission cycle in these residential settings.
Geographic routing made practical

Geographic routing has been widely hailed as the most promising approach to generally scalable wireless routing. However, the correctness of all currently proposed geographic routing algorithms relies on idealized assumptions about radios and their resulting connectivity graphs. We use testbed measurements to show that these idealized assumptions are grossly violated by real radios, and that these violations cause persistent failures in geographic routing, even on static topologies. Having identified this problem, we then fix it by proposing the Cross-Link Detection Protocol (CLDP), which enables provably correct geographic routing on arbitrary connectivity graphs. We confirm in simulation and further testbed measurements that CLDP is not only correct but practical: it incurs low overhead, exhibits low path stretch, always succeeds in real, static wireless networks, and converges quickly after topology changes.
Quantitation of protein kinase C by immunoblot—expression in different cell lines and response to phorbol esters

Antisera have been raised against human protein kinase C and also against a synthetic peptide based on the sequence of the bovine brain enzyme (LLNQEE‐GEYYNVPIPE). These antibodies react with protein kinase C from a number of species (human, murine, rat, rabbit, bovine), indicating substantial conservation of epitopes. These antisera have been used to quantitate directly protein kinase C by immunoblot analysis. We show here that there is a strict correlation between the leveis of immunoreactive polypeptide and extractable calcium‐ and phospholipid‐dependent kinase activity for various cell lines. Treatment of murine, rat, and human cells with phorbol dibutyrate was found to deplete levels of immunoreactive protein kinase C severely. A detailed study of the time course of this depletion in Swiss 3T3 cells shows that it follows precisely the loss of extractable activity. On exposure to 400 nM phorbol 12,13‐dibutyrate protein kinase C was essentially undetectable by 40 hours; the half‐life of this down‐regulation was 6.7 hours. This data thus demonstrate that the loss of immunoreactive protein kinase C and of extractable calcium‐ and phospholipid‐dependent kinase activity precisely parallels the phorbol ester induced down‐regulation of binding and responsiveness in Swiss 3T3 cells.
Double Shrinking Sparse Dimension Reduction

Learning tasks such as classification and clustering usually perform better and cost less (time and space) on compressed representations than on the original data. Previous works mainly compress data via dimension reduction. In this paper, we propose “double shrinking” to compress image data on both dimensionality and cardinality via building either sparse low-dimensional representations or a sparse projection matrix for dimension reduction. We formulate a double shrinking model (DSM) as an l1 regularized variance maximization with constraint ||x||2=1, and develop a double shrinking algorithm (DSA) to optimize DSM. DSA is a path-following algorithm that can build the whole solution path of locally optimal solutions of different sparse levels. Each solution on the path is a “warm start” for searching the next sparser one. In each iteration of DSA, the direction, the step size, and the Lagrangian multiplier are deduced from the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions. The magnitudes of trivial variables are shrunk and the importances of critical variables are simultaneously augmented along the selected direction with the determined step length. Double shrinking can be applied to manifold learning and feature selections for better interpretation of features, and can be combined with classification and clustering to boost their performance. The experimental results suggest that double shrinking produces efficient and effective data compression.
GIMC Structure Considering Communication Delay and Its Application to Mechatronic System

This paper deals with a new GIMC structure considering a communication delay by using the Smith Predictor and its application to a mechatronic system. First, we stabilize the unstable mechatronic system by a PD controller and define the stabilized system as a new augmented plant. We design the proposed GIMC structure using the Smith Predictor based on Hscrinfin controllers for the new stabilized augmented plant. Finally, the proposed structure is evaluated experimentally and the effectiveness of the proposed approach is proven. In addition, we apply the proposed structure to a virtual networked control mechatronic system.
A Computational Model of Children's Semantic Memory

A computational model of children's semantic memory is built from the Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) of a multisource child corpus. Three tests of the model are described, simulating a vocabulary test, an association test and a recall task. For each one, results from experiments with children are presented and compared to the model data. Adequacy is correct, which means that this simulation of children's semantic memory can be used to simulate a variety of children's cognitive processes.
Exponential Stability for Impulsive BAM Neural Networks with Time-Varying Delays and Reaction-Diffusion Terms

Impulsive bidirectional associative memory neural network model with time-varying delays and reaction-diffusion terms is considered. Several sufficient conditions ensuring the existence, uniqueness, and global exponential stability of equilibrium point for the addressed neural network are derived by M-matrix theory, analytic methods, and inequality techniques. Moreover, the exponential convergence rate index is estimated, which depends on the system parameters. The obtained results in this paper are less restrictive than previously known criteria. Two examples are given to show the effectiveness of the obtained results.
New Registration Method for Two-Dimensional Gel Electrophoresis Images

Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DGE) images are extremely useful support for proteins analysis in the field of proteomics. The registration of 2DGE images is an important element for protein identification in biological research while it is a complex and difficult problem. This paper proposes a new non-linear registration approach for 2DGE images, which is based on the exploitation of both spot distance measure and spot intensity. The method consists of three steps: multi-resolution affine registration, spot pairing, and thin-plate spline interpolation. The results on both simulated and real gel images show that the proposed method significantly improves registration accuracy in comparison with traditional registration techniques and has promising use in practical gel image analysis systems in proteomics.
A novel calcium aluminate‐melatonin scaffold enhances bone regeneration within a calvarial defect

Abstract: Over 500,000 bone graft or bio‐implant procedures are performed annually in the United States. It has been reported that osseous autograft procurement may result in donor site complications and bio‐implant allografts have been associated with disease transmission. Ceramic scaffolds are only osteoconductive, limiting their clinical use. The objective of this study was to create a bone filler substitute with regenerating properties similar to natural bone. Therefore, melatonin and platelet‐rich plasma (PRP) were utilized for their known osteoinductive properties. It was hypothesized that melatonin and/or PRP would enhance the osteoinductive and osteoconductive properties of calcium aluminate (CA) scaffolds to promote bone regeneration in a model of calvarial defects. The biocompatibility of CA and CA‐Mel scaffolds was tested in vitro and in vivo. Data show that CA‐Mel scaffolds, in comparison with CA scaffolds, enhanced the adhesion, viability, and proliferation of normal human osteoblasts cells but not that of NIH3T3 fibroblasts. Data also showed that human adult mesenchymal stem cells grown on CA or CA‐Mel scaffolds showed a time‐dependent induction into osteoblasts over 14 days revealed through scanning electron microscopy and by alkaline phosphatase analyses. Implantation of CA‐Mel scaffolds into critical size calvarial defects in female, ovariectomized rats showed that the CA‐Mel scaffolds were biocompatible, allowed for tissue infiltration, and showed evidence of scaffold biodegradation by 3 and 6 months. Bone regeneration, assessed using fluorochrome labeling at 3 and 6 months, was greatest in animals implanted with the CA‐Mel scaffold. Overall, results from this study show that CA‐Mel scaffolds were osteoconductive and osteoinductive.
Response to chemotherapy in patients with lung metastases: how many nodules should be measured?

Objective: With the introduction of cross-sectional imaging methods the number of lesions per patient that can be evaluated is frequently large and most oncologists and study protocols use only one lesion or a few ‘representative’ lesions to evaluate chemotherapy response. Intra-patient response variability can therefore affect evaluation reproducibility. This study evaluates intra-individual variation in response to chemotherapy in patients with multiple lung metastases. Methods: We prospectively studied chest CT images of patients with solid tumors and pulmonary metastases under systemic chemotherapy being evaluated for tumor response. The response of 566 pulmonary nodules in 41 evaluations was determined by both WHO and RECIST criteria in order to determine intra-individual tumor response variation. Results: There was almost perfect agreement between the WHO and the RECIST criteria for the evaluation of tumor response. High intra-individual variability of tumor response was observed in a significant proportion of the evaluations. A new nodule was the main criterion for determination of disease progression. A mean of 35% of the total number of nodules of a patient have a response evaluation different from that calculated with all the nodules together. Conclusions: Intra-individual variation in tumor response of pulmonary metastases is elevated in some patients. Selecting any or some nodules for response evaluation could significantly influence therapeutic response perception.
From Bandits to Experts: A Tale of Domination and Independence

We consider the partial observability model for multi-armed bandits, introduced by Mannor and Shamir [14]. Our main result is a characterization of regret in the directed observability model in terms of the dominating and independence numbers of the observability graph (which must be accessible before selecting an action). In the undirected case, we show that the learner can achieve optimal regret without even accessing the observability graph before selecting an action. Both results are shown using variants of the Exp3 algorithm operating on the observability graph in a time-efficient manner.
Improving Neighborhood-Based Collaborative Filtering by Reducing Hubness

For recommending multimedia items, collaborative filtering (CF) denotes the technique of automatically predicting a user's rating or preference for an item by exploiting item preferences of a (large) group of other users. In traditional memory-based (or neighborhood-based) recommenders, this is accomplished by, first, selecting a number of similar users (or items) and, second, combining their ratings into a single user's predicted rating for an item. Strategies for both defining similarity (i.e., to identify nearest neighbors) and for combining ratings (i.e., to weight their impact) have been extensively studied and even resulted in inconsistent findings. In this paper, we investigate the effects of the high dimensionality of userxitem matrices on the quality of memory-based movie rating prediction. By examining several publicly available real-world CF data sets, we show that the step of nearest neighbor selection is affected by the phenomena of similarity concentration and hub occurrence due to high-dimensional data spaces and the class of similarity measures used. To mitigate this, we adapt a normalization technique called mutual proximity that has been shown to reduce these effects in classification tasks. Finally, we show that removing hubs and incorporating normalized similarity values into the neighbor weighting step leads to increased rating prediction accuracy, observable on all examined data sets in terms of lowered error measure (RMSE).
Necrotizing Pneumonia Caused by Panton-Valentine Leucocidin-Producing Staphylococcus aureus Originating from a Bartholin's Abscess

Background. Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL-)producing Staphylococcus aureus is emerging as a serious problem worldwide. There has been an increase in the incidence of necrotizing lung infections in otherwise healthy young people with a very high mortality associated with these strains. Sporadic severe infectious complications after incision of Bartholin's abcesses have been described but involvement of S. aureus is rare. Case report. We present a 23-year-old apparently healthy female patient without any typical predisposing findings who developed severe sepsis with necrotizing pneumonia and multiple abscesses following incision of a Bartholin's abscess. Methicillin-sensitive S. aureus harbouring Panton-Valentine leucocidin genes were cultured from the abscess fluid, multiple blood cultures and a postoperative wound swab. Aggressive antibiotic therapy with flucloxacillin, rifampicin and clindamycin, drainage and intensive supportive care lead finally to recovery. Conclusions. S. aureus, in particular PVL-positive strains, should be considered when a young, immunocompetent person develops a fulminant necrotizing pneumonia. Minor infections—such as Bartholin's abscess—can precede this life-threating syndrome. Bactericidal antistaphylococcal antibiotics are recommended for treatment, and surgical procedures may become necessary.
Assessment of Glycosylated Hemoglobin Measurement With Sample Collection Papers

It would be advantageous to be able to measure glycosylated hemoglobin (GHb) from a sample of blood dried on paper and sent to the physician by the patient. Indeed, such a technique has been introduced by Isolab (Akron, OH). We tested the validity of the method to determine whether 1) applying the blood to paper and immediately assaying it correlates with the same sample assayed by the usual wholeblood technique, 2) the size of sample applied to paper affects apparent GHb results, 3) time and temperature of storage of the sample paper affect apparent GHb resu ts, and 4) plasma glucose concentration of the sample affects GHb results. The GHb of samples assayed immediately after application to sample paper versus those assayed as whole blood showed very good correlation (r = .93, P < .001). Volume of the drop of blood applied to paper (25–100 μl) did not affect results. However, there was a dramatic, temperature-dependent increase in apparent GHb when samples were stored on sample paper, averaging 12.5, 16.3, and 19.5% when stored at room temperature for 3, 6, and 9 days, respectively. Overall, apparent GHb rose from 1.3-fold in 3 days at 4°C to 3.8-fold in 9 days at 37°C. The rate of GHb formation was proportional to plasma glucose concentration, but removal of free glucose by ethanol or glucose oxidase did not yield consistent results for this method. We conclude that these sample papers are not useful as an approach to collecting blood samples for GHb measurement.
Law as Evolution, Evolution as Social Order: Common Law Method Reconsidered

Building on systems theory and the economics of law, this paper argues that evolutionary models can explain certain features of common law reasoning, in particular the way that the doctrine of precedent operates to combine stability with change. The common law can be modeled as an adaptive system which coevolves with its environment, which in this context consists of the political and economic systems of a given society. The common law responds to signals from the economy and from politics (‘cognitive openness’), while retaining its distinct mode of operation (‘operative closure’). A version of the variation, selection, retention algorithm operates at the level of legal decision-making. Theories of legal evolution which stress selection and variation at the expense of inheritance describe only part of the process of legal change and are prone to teleological accounts of evolution to efficiency. Focusing on inheritance or retention helps us to see that the common law can only be qualifiedly adaptive, at best, and that many inefficient rules will persist and survive even in the face of selective pressures. The relevance of this approach is illustrated by an examination of the leading decision in the English (and Scottish) law of tort (or delict), Donoghue v. Stevenson, and its implications for some influential accounts of legal evolution, including legal origin theory, are explored.
Prenatal alcohol exposure alters the development of sympathetic synaptic components and of nerve growth factor receptor expression selectivity in lymphoid organs

Exposure to alcohol in utero has been associated with long‐term immune deficits. In addition, adult mice exposed to alcohol prenatally display altered noradrenergic synaptic transmission selectively in lymphoid organs. This is consistent with the hypothesis that sympathetic neurons play an important role in immunomodulation. The development and maintenance of sympathetic neurons are critically dependent on nerve growth factor (NGF). Furthermore, NGF has been shown to modulate immune responses and NGF receptor expression has been localized to lymphoid organs. The present work examined the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on the development and maturation of pre‐and postsynaptic sympathetic components, including norepinephrine and β‐adrenoceptors, respectively, as well as the early expression of NGF receptors in lymphoid and other organs of the C57BL/6 mouse.
A Text Encryption Algorithm Based on Self-Synchronizing Stream Cipher and Chaotic Maps

A new text encryption algorithm which is based upon a combination between Self-Synchronizing Stream Cipher and chaotic map has been proposed in this paper. The new algorithm encrypts and decrypts text files of different sizes. First of all, the corresponding ASCII values of the plain text are served as input to the permutation operation which diffuses the positions of these values by using hyper-chaotic map. Secondly, the result values are input to substitution operation via1D Bernoulli map. Finally, the resultant vales are XOR feedback with the key.The proposed algorithm has been analyzed using a number of tests and the results show that it has large key space, a uniform histogram, low correlation and it is very sensitive to any change in the plain text or key.