Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Feasibility of a Novel Blood Noise Reduction Algorithm to Enhance Reproducibility of Ultra–High-Frequency Intravascular Ultrasound Images

BackgroundUltra–high-frequency (40- to 50-MHz) intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) improves image quality compared with conventional 20- to 30-MHz IVUS. However, as the frequency of IVUS increases, high-intensity backscatter from blood components may cause visual difficulties in discrimination between the lumen and arterial wall structure. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a novel blood noise reduction algorithm (BNR) on quantitative coronary ultrasound measurements. Methods and ResultsIVUS studies using a 40-MHz transducer were performed in 35 patients with coronary artery disease. A total of 620 gray-scale images (310 pairs) were processed with and without the BNR, and lumen cross-sectional area (CSA) was determined by 2 independent observers. With the BNR, the intraobserver and interobserver correlation coefficients for lumen CSA were significantly improved (0.85 to 0.99 and 0.80 to 0.98, respectively). In the 270 images (135 pairs) in which vessel wall measurements were possible, the BNR significantly improved the intraobserver and interobserver correlation coefficients for plaque plus media CSA (0.83 to 0.99 and 0.76 to 0.97, respectively), whereas no influence was observed for external elastic membrane CSA (1.00 to 1.00 and 0.99 to 0.99, respectively). ConclusionsThis study demonstrates the feasibility of this novel algorithm to reduce blood noise, thereby enabling accurate lumen border delineation and providing reproducible measurements of both the lumen and plaque plus media CSAs. Incorporating a digital BNR may serve as an important adjunct to ultra–high-frequency IVUS imaging for improving accurate quantitative evaluation of vessel dimensions.
Ethnic Inequality and the Ethnification of Political Parties: Evidence from India

Why does ethnicity become a salient element of electoral politics in some places but not others? The authors argue that in majoritarian systems, ethnic identity is most salient to electoral behavior when there are high levels of inequality between ethnic groups. They test this argument in the Indian states and find that state-level party system ethnification is strongly correlated with economic inequality between groups, a pattern they also find in cross-national data. They also show that in India, when income differences between groups increase, the groups tend to support different parties. The analysis reveals a strong class component to ethnic politics in India, underscoring the possibility that what scholars often view as identity politics can have an element of class politics in disguise.
Human Papilloma Virus Association with vulvovaginitis and genital intraepithelial neoplasia

In many women with gynecological complaints such as itching, burning, dis­ charge, and fissures causing dyspareunia, examination of the vulvovaginal mucosa reveals hyperkeratotic and papillomatous changes. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technique revealed 64% of such lesions to harbour Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)-DNA, whereas Southern blot (SB) tech­ nique showed 50% to be positive for HPV-DNA. Women with papillomatous lesions were more often HPV-DNA positi­ ve than those with flat hyperkeratotic lesions. The virus-induced vulvova­ ginitis described was sometimes the sole cause of atypical Pap-smears. How­ ever, papilloma virus infections in vulva and vagina were often accompanied by neoplasia. In women with an atypical Pap-smear, signs of HPV were observed by colposcopy in 58% of cases, by cytology in 21%, by histopathology in 53% and by HPV-DNA hybridization techniques in 46%. Colposcopy, cytology and histopathology were more sensitive than SB and Filter In Situ Hybri­ dization (FISH) in detecting HPV in benign epithelium and in mild to mode­ rate dysplasia. The FISH technique, when applied to cell samples and the SB technique for biopsy material proved equally sensitive when benign tis­ sue and mild to moderate dysplasia were analysed. However, in women with severe dysplastic lesions, use of the SB technique on biopsy material prov­ ed more sensitive than FISH. In lesions with severe dysplasia, HPV-DNA was very often present (67% of CIN III lesions). HPV 16, which is capable of oncogenic transformation, was found in 54% of such tissue. At follow-up after laser treatment of genital intra-epithelial neoplasia, HPV could be detected in 38% of cases. This indicates that HPV may affect the entire mucosa of the lower genital tract, even when not clinically detec­ table. Thus, to eradicate the virus, systemic therapy would appear to be required. Vulvovaginal HPV infection is an entity with characteristic symptoms, morphological changes and oncogenic potential. Certain HPV-types are associated with the development of genital intra-epithelial neoplasia. The diagnostic methods presently available are not, however, sensitive enough for detection of HPV-infection and there is no effective treatment current­ ly available. It would therefore be premature to suggest the introduction of a screening program for certain oncogenic HPV-types. Further study of the natural history of the virus is needed before any step can be taken toward using HPV screening in efforts to prevent cervical cancer.
Implementation and Evaluation of A QoS-Capable Cluster-Based IP Router

A major challenge in Internet edge router design is to support both high packet forwarding performance and versatile and efficient packet processing capabilities. The thesis of this research project is that a cluster of PCs connected by a high-speed system area network provides an effective hardware platform for building routers to be used at the edges of the Internet. This paper describes a scalable and extensible edge router architecture called Panama, which supports a novel aggregate route caching scheme, a real-time link scheduling algorithm whose performance overhead is independent of the number of real-time flows, a highly efficient kernel extension mechanism to safely load networking software extensions dynamically, and an integrated resource scheduler which ensures that real-time flows with additional packet processing requirements still meet their end-to-end performance requirements. This paper describes the implementation and evaluation of the first Panama prototype based on a cluster of PCs and Myrinet.
HLA Genes in Afro-American Colombians (San Basilio de Palenque): The First Free Africans in America

An Afro-American semi-isolated Colombian population is studied for its HLA genes: San Basilio de Palenque community in Colombia northern mountains. This community represents the first free Africans in America earning recog- nition by the Spanish Crown in 1691 AD. Nowadays, they also speak the only extant Bantu-Spanish Creole language over the World; these people have been apart from there neighbours and claim a direct African descent. Their HLA genes were compared with African, Afro-American, Amerindian and worldwide populations by using genetic distances (DA), Neigh- bour-Joining dendograms and correspondences analyses. Arlequin, DISPAN and VISTA softwares were used for the completion of these computerised calculations. San Basilio de Palenque, a relatively ethnic isolate, is genetically close to other North and South Afro-Americans and to West Africa-Bantu speaking groups (Senegalese; Bubi, Guinea Gulf). Five HLA extended haplotypes are found only in this population: A*02-B*07-DRB1*0801-DQB1*0301, A*02-B*35- DRB1*1304-DQB1*0301, A*02-B*15-DRB1*0302-DQB1*0402, A*01-B*51-DRB1*0301-DQB1*0201, A*68-B*15- DRB1*0102-DQB1*0501. Only very limited gene flow is found from either Amerindians or Europeans, as expected by historical records. Our HLA data may also prove useful for future regional transplant programs and genetic epidemiology of HLA-linked diseases.
Maximum Mean Discrepancy for Class Ratio Estimation: Convergence Bounds and Kernel Selection

In recent times, many real world applications have emerged that require estimates of class ratios in an unlabeled instance collection as opposed to labels of individual instances in the collection. In this paper we investigate the use of maximum mean discrepancy (MMD) in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) for estimating such ratios. First, we theoretically analyze the MMD-based estimates. Our analysis establishes that, under some mild conditions, the estimate is statistically consistent. More importantly, it provides an upper bound on the error in the estimate in terms of intuitive geometric quantities like class separation and data spread. Next, we use the insights obtained from the theoretical analysis, to propose a novel convex formulation that automatically learns the kernel to be employed in the MMD-based estimation. We design an efficient cutting plane algorithm for solving this formulation. Finally, we empirically compare our estimator with several existing methods, and show significantly improved performance under varying datasets, class ratios, and training sizes.
220-GHz Quaternary Barrier InAlGaN/AlN/GaN HEMTs

Depletion-mode high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) based on a quaternary barrier In<sub>0.13</sub>Al<sub>0.83</sub>Ga<sub>0.04</sub> N/AlN/GaN heterostructure on SiC substrate were fabricated. The 66-nm-long gate device shows a dc drain current density of 2.1 A/mm, a peak extrinsic transconductance of 548 mS/mm, and a record current gain cutoff frequency f<sub>T</sub> of 220 GHz for quaternary barrier GaN-based HEMTs, which is also among the highest <i>f</i><sub>T</sub> for all GaN-based HEMTs. The large <i>L</i><sub>g</sub> ·<i>f</i><sub>T</sub> product of 14.5 GHz ·μm with a gate-length-to-barrier-thickness aspect ratio of 5.8 indicates a high effective electron velocity of 0.9 ×10<sup>7</sup> cm/s, attributed to a high electron Hall mobility (1790 cm<sup>2</sup>/V ·s at an <i>n</i><sub>s</sub> of 1.8 ×10<sup>13-2</sup>)-the highest reported in GaN-channel HEMTs with In-containing barriers. An intrinsic electron velocity of 1.7 ×10<sup>7</sup> cm/s, extracted from conventional Moll delay-time analysis, is comparable to that reported in the state-of-art AlGaN/GaN HEMTs.
The Relationship Between Mental Health, Stress And Academic Performance Among College Student

Academic performance problems among students are reportedly increasing from time to time. Various factors can affect the academic performance problems, mainly mental health factors and stress factors. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between student's academic performance, stress factors and mental health factors. The study uses quantitative methods to obtain the results of the study. Data were collected using a survey form distributed to 489 students of University Tenaga Nasional Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah campus. This study uses the demographic background to determine students’ CGPA, General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) instrument to assess the psychological stress of the student, and Mental Health Inventory (MHI) to determine the students' mental health level. The results showed that majority of students' academic performance were moderate (CGPA 2.50 – 2.99) while students’ stress levels were high and the students' mental health was also high. The results also show that there is no significant correlation between academic performance and mental health, while there is significant correlation found between stress factors and academic performance. In conclusion, the main focus of the student in campus is academic performance and stress control will assist the student's positive thinking to remain durable and thus, students will be able to meet their target in academic. Meanwhile, out of many factors studied in order to understand their interactional effects to academic performance, this study identified that there is no significant relationship between mental health and academic performance.
The effect of primary graft dysfunction after lung transplantation on parenchymal remodeling detected by quantitative computed tomography.

Background Regional analysis by computed tomography (CT) is an attractive technique to interpret lung patterns after transplantation (LTx). We evaluated the application of CT functional mask derived parameters to determine whether development of primary graft dysfunction (PGD) is associated with short and/or long-term postoperative evidences of pulmonary function alterations. Methods A total of 38 patients who underwent bilateral LTx were evaluated at 24, 48 and 72 hours after the end of surgery to establish PGD occurrence and grading. CT scans at 3 and 12 months after LTx were analyzed to measure specific gas volume (SVg) changes normalized on expiratory SVgEXP of the whole lung (ΔSVg/SVgEXP) and to obtain functional masks of density variation, namely maps of low ventilation (LV), consolidation (C), air trapping (AT) and healthy parenchyma (H). Results Our main result was the evidence of a marked decrease in ΔSVg/SVgEXP in all subjects, irrespectively on PGD, at each time point after LTx, indicating a high degree of ventilation defects versus healthy. High percentages of LV were found in all subjects while percentages of AT and C were negligible. Conclusions We demonstrate that quantification of ventilation defects by CT functional mask offers insights into the correlation between PGD and pulmonary function after LTx at short and mid-term.
A Simple Extreme Subsets Algorithm for Submodular and Posi-modular Set Functions

Let f be a set function on a finite set V.A pair{u, v }⊆ V is called flat in f if f (X) ≥ minx∈X f ({x}) holds for all subsets X ⊆ V with |X ∩{ u, v}| =1 . A subset X ⊆ V is called an extreme subset of f if f (Y ) >f (X) holds for all nonempty and proper subsets Y of X. In this paper, we first define a minimum degree ordering (MD ordering) of V , and show that the last two elements in an MD ordering give a flat pair of f if f is symmetric and crossing submodular. Based on this, we then give a simple O(|V | 3 )-oracle time algorithm for computing all extreme subsets of a set function g if g is symmetric and crossing submodular or intersecting submodular and posi-modular.
Factors associated with institutional delivery service utilization in Ethiopia

Background Most obstetric complications occur unpredictably during the time of delivery, but they can be prevented with proper medical care in the health facilities. Despite the Ethiopian government’s efforts to expand health service facilities and promote health institution-based delivery service in the country, an estimated 85% of births still take place at home. Objective The review was conducted with the aim of generating the best evidence on the determinants of institutional delivery service utilization in Ethiopia. Methods The reviewed studies were accessed through electronic web-based search strategy from PubMed, HINARI, Mendeley reference manager, Cochrane Library for Systematic Reviews, and Google Scholar. Review Manager V5.3 software was used for meta-analysis. Mantel–Haenszel odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Heterogeneity of the study was assessed using I2 test. Results People living in urban areas (OR =13.16, CI =1.24, 3.68), with primary and above educational level of the mother and husband (OR =4.95, CI =2.3, 4. 8, and OR =4.43, CI =1.14, 3.36, respectively), who encountered problems during pregnancy (OR =2.83, CI =4.54, 7.39), and living at a distance <5 km from nearby health facility (OR =2.6, CI =3.33, 6.57) showed significant association with institutional delivery service utilization. Women’s autonomy was not significantly associated with institutional delivery service utilization. Conclusion and recommendation Distance to health facility and problems during pregnancy were factors positively and significantly associated with institutional delivery service utilization. Promoting couples education beyond primary education regarding the danger signs of pregnancy and benefits of institutional delivery through available communication networks such as health development army and promotion of antenatal care visits and completion of four standard visits by pregnant women were recommended.
Architectural Effects of Symmetric Multiprocessors on TPC-C Commercial Workload

Commercial transaction processing applications are an important workload running on symmetric multiprocessor systems (SMPs). They differ dramatically from scientific, numeric-intensive, and engineering applications because they are I/O bound, and they contain more system software activities. Most SMP servers available in the market have been designed and optimized for scientific and engineering workloads. A major challenge of studying architectural effects on the performance of a commercial workload is the lack of easy access to large-scale and complex database engines running on a multiprocessor system with powerful I/O facilities. Experiments involving case studies have been shown to be highly time-consuming and expensive. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of using queuing network models with the support of simulation to study the SMP architectural impacts on the performance of commercial workloads. We use the commercial benchmark TPC-C as the workload. A bus-based SMP machine is used as the target platform. Queueing network modeling is employed to characterize the TPC-C workload on the SMP. The system components such as processors, memory, the memory bus, I/O buses, and disks are modeled as service centers, and their effects on performance are analyzed. Simulations are conducted as well to collect the workload-specific parameters (model parameterization) and to verify the accuracy of the model. Our studies find that among disk-related parameters, the disk rotation latency affects the performance of TPC-C most significantly. Among I/O buses and number of disks, the number of I/O buses has the deepest impact on performance. This study also demonstrates that our modeling approach is feasible, cost-effective, and accurate for evaluating the performance of commercial workloads on SMPs, and it is complementary to the measurement-based experimental approaches.
A Distributed Authorization Server ( DAS ) Architecture for Sensor Networks

Sensor networks are resource constrained environments. Further, sensor networks are not physically secured, i.e., sensor nodes may be physically captured and reverse engineered by the attacker. The goal of our research is to design energy-efficient Distributed Authorization Servers (DAS) resilient to logical attack (hacking) and physical attack. We propose to organize our DAS as a layered directed acyclic graph (DAG). Any request to a sensor must be routed through and authorized by every layer of the DAG. Similar concepts have been investigated by other researchers. Our research adds a structural component to the existing research. A common method for achieving longer life for a sensor network is to deploy redundant nodes and activate only a subset of nodes at one point of time. To the best of our knowledge, nobody addressed the problem of choosing the nodes to be activated. In this paper we designed a set of algorithms to choose the set of nodes for forming the DAS between the command and control centers (CCCs) and sensors collecting data. Our algorithms maximize the time required to compromise the security as well reduces the energy requirement for authorization and communication.
Computation of the Fourier parameters of RR Lyrae stars by template fitting

Aims. Due to the importance of accurate Fourier parameters, we devise a method that is more appropriate for deriving these parameters on low-quality data than the traditional Fourier fitting. Methods. Based on the accurate light curves of 248 fundamental mode RR Lyrae stars, we test the power of a full-fetched implementation of the template method in the computation of the Fourier decomposition. The applicability of the method is demonstrated also on datasets of filter passbands different from that of the template set. Results. We examine in more detail the question of the estimation of Fourier-based iron abundance [Fe/H] and average brightness. We get, for example, for light curves sampled randomly in 30 data points with � = 0.03 mag observational noise that optimized direct Fourier fit s yield �([Fe/H]) = 0.33, whereas the template fits result in �([Fe/H]) = 0.18. Tests made on the RR Lyrae database of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) of the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) support the applicability of the method on real photometric time series. These tests also show that the dominant part of error in estimating the average brightness comes from other sources, most probably from crowding effects, even for under-sampled light curves.
The psychotherapist as the crucial factor in fostering the relationships in the triangle supporting the child: second audit and evaluation of the child psychotherapy service at the Randolph Beresford early years centre

ABSTRACT Therapeutic programmes that offer early intervention may decrease the risk of developing emotional and behavioural difficulties in childhood and adulthood. This paper describes the Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) Child Psychotherapy Service (CPS) that was established at Randolph Beresford Early Year Centre (RBEYC) in 2008. It presents the results of an audit and evaluation of the CPS. We used a Goal Based Outcome (GBO) measure to evaluate service-users’ (parents’ and caregivers’) perceptions of progress toward treatment goals, and structured interviews with eight caregivers and ten staff members to explore their views of the CPS. Thematic analysis was used to summarise these views. GBO ratings indicated that all caregivers felt they had made progress towards reaching treatment goals by the end of the intervention. Interview responses suggest that all caregivers and staff perceived the CPS positively and thought that the RBEYC was successful in nurturing the child’s overall development. The quality of relationships between staff, service-users and the CPS was perceived as central to the facilitative environment of the RBEYC. In particular, the psychotherapist was viewed as playing a critical role in facilitating this triangle of relationships supporting the child.
2016 Ieee International Conference on Big Data (big Data) Analytics-driven Data Ingestion and Derivation in the Awesome Polystore

—Polystores, i.e., data management systems that use multiple stores for different data models, are gaining popularity. We are developing a polystore-based system called AWESOME to support social data analytics. The AWESOME polystore can support relational, semistructured, graph and text data and houses a Spark computation engine to produce derived data during ingestion. ADIL, the data ingestion language of AWESOME allows a user to flexibly specify the placement of original and derived data into and across component stores and the computation engine. The paper also outlines a number of optimization strategies for managing data placement in AWESOME .
treatment plant A software platform for real-time control and monitoring of a wastewater

This paper reports on the design, implementation and real-time operation of advanced process control and monitoring techniques for wastewater treatment plants. The paper presents the development of a software platform and its implementation in a full-scale wastewater treatment plant. The software platform allows the real-time execution of advanced process control techniques as model predictive control, subspace identification, and statistical process analysis using principal component analysis methods. Results obtained by the real-time execution of such algorithms are also presented.