Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Refractive Error, Visual Acuity and Causes of Vision Loss in Children in Shandong, China. The Shandong Children Eye Study

Purpose To examine the prevalence of refractive errors and prevalence and causes of vision loss among preschool and school children in East China. Methods Using a random cluster sampling in a cross-sectional school-based study design, children with an age of 4–18 years were selected from kindergartens, primary schools, and junior and senior high schools in the rural Guanxian County and the city of Weihai. All children underwent a complete ocular examination including measurement of uncorrected (UCVA) and best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and auto-refractometry under cycloplegia. Myopia was defined as refractive error of ≤−0.5 diopters (D), high myopia as ≤−6.0D, and amblyopia as BCVA ≤20/32 without any obvious reason for vision reduction and with strabismus or refractive errors as potential reasons. Results Out of 6364 eligible children, 6026 (94.7%) children participated. Prevalence of myopia (overall: 36.9±0.6%;95% confidence interval (CI):36.0,38.0) increased (P<0.001) from 1.7±1.2% (95%CI:0.0,4.0) in the 4-years olds to 84.6±3.2% (95%CI:78.0,91.0) in 17-years olds. Myopia was associated with older age (OR:1.56;95%CI:1.52,1.60;P<0.001), female gender (OR:1.22;95%CI:1.08,1.39;P = 0.002) and urban region (OR:2.88;95%CI:2.53,3.29;P<0.001). Prevalence of high myopia (2.0±0.2%) increased from 0.7±0.3% (95%CI:0.1,1.3) in 10-years olds to 13.9±3.0 (95%CI:7.8,19.9) in 17-years olds. It was associated with older age (OR:1.50;95%CI:1.41,1.60;P<0.001) and urban region (OR:3.11;95%CI:2.08,4.66);P<0.001). Astigmatism (≥0.75D) (36.3±0.6%;95%CI:35.0,38.0) was associated with older age (P<0.001;OR:1.06;95%CI:1.04,1.09), more myopic refractive error (P<0.001;OR:0.94;95%CI:0.91,0.97) and urban region (P<0.001;OR:1.47;95%CI:1.31,1.64). BCVA was ≤20/40 in the better eye in 19 (0.32%) children. UCVA ≤20/40 in at least one eye was found in 2046 (34.05%) children, with undercorrected refractive error as cause in 1975 (32.9%) children. Amblyopia (BCVA ≤20/32) was detected in 44 (0.7%) children (11 children with bilateral amblyopia). Conclusions In coastal East China, about 14% of the 17-years olds were highly myopic, and 80% were myopic. Prevalence of myopia increased with older age, female gender and urban region. About 0.7% of pre-school children and school children were amblyopic.
LDPC Codes for Two-Dimensional Arrays

Binary codes over two-dimensional arrays are very useful in data storage, where each array column represents a storage device or unit that may suffer failure. In this paper we propose a new framework for probabilistic construction of codes on two-dimensional arrays. Instead of a pure combinatorial erasure model used in traditional array codes, we propose a mixed combinatorial-probabilistic model of limiting the number of column failures, and assuming a binary erasure channel in each failing column. For this model we give code constructions and detailed analysis that allow sustaining a large number of column failures with graceful degradation in the fraction of erasures correctable in failing columns. Another advantage of the new framework is that it uses low complexity iterative decoding. The key component in the analysis of the new codes is to analyze the decoding graphs induced by the failed columns, and infer the decoding performance as a function of the code design parameters, as well as the array size and failure parameters. A particularly interesting class of codes, called probabilistically MDS array codes, gives fault-tolerance that is equivalent to traditional MDS array codes. The results also include a proof that the two-dimensional codes outperform standard one-dimensional LDPC codes.
Data-driven state-space modeling of indoor thermal sensation using occupant feedback

Current thermal comfort models (Fanger's model or adaptive thermal comfort model) predict thermal sensation in a steady state environment. There has been increasing interests in developing models of dynamic thermal sensation (DTS) due to transient environment conditions, e.g., sudden ambient temperature changes. In this paper, we develop a data-driven Hammerstein-Wiener (HW) model to characterize the dynamic relation between ambient temperature changes and the resulting occupant thermal sensation. In the proposed HW state-space model, thermal sensation is defined as the state variable, and the output measurement corresponds to occupant actual mean votes (AMV), which could be corrupted by sensor noise including psychological habituation or expectation and other non-thermal factors. We have conducted a chamber experiment and the collected thermal data and occupants' thermal sensation votes are used to estimate the model coefficients of the Hammerstein-Wiener model. We evaluate the performance of the proposed HW model and also compared it to other thermal sensation models in the literature.
A new adaptive beamformer for optimal acoustic echo and noise cancellation with less computational load

In this paper, we investigates positive synergies of the combination of acoustic echo canceller with new adaptive beamformer (NABF) for acoustic echo and background noise cancellation. The NABF uses multichannel linear prediction error filters (LPEFs) in the sidelobe canceling path and adaptive noise estimation filters (ANEFs) in the multi-channel noise canceller. Since the AEC module is located behind the fixed beamformer of the NABF only one AEC module is required and the AEC does not feel any repercussions from the NABF. In order to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed integrated scheme (AECNABF), it is compared to the multi-channel acoustic echo canceller (AEC-first) which provide good performance but at the expense of very high computational complexity. Simulation results show that the performance of the proposed scheme is comparable to that of AEC-first scheme with very less computational complexity.
‘I would be a completely different teacher if I had been with a different mentor’: Ways in which educative mentoring matters as novices learn to teach

ABSTRACT This study investigates the role of educative mentors as two novices learn to teach, following them from their yearlong student teaching (2015–2016) through their first-year teaching (2016–2017). During student teaching, each novice was paired with a mentor teacher who received preparation and support to engage in educative mentoring practices. This study analyzes evidence from multiple data sources collected over 2 years to understand what novices take up from their student-teaching mentors and take with them into their first-year teaching. Findings illustrate that the activities of mentoring matter in the learning to teach process of novices, particularly related to the way novices are able to focus their planning, instruction, and reflection around pupil thinking and understanding.
Cross-sectional study of the association of cognitive function and hippocampal volume among healthy elderly adults

Background Cognitive impairment and dementia among elderly adults is a pressing public health issue in China but research on biomarkers of cognitive decline has been limited. Aim Explore the relationship between multiple domains of cognitive functioning and the volume of the left and right hippocampus in healthy elderly adults. Methods Structural MRI scanning was performed on 65 community-dwelling healthy participants 65 to 75 years of age using the Siemens 3.0 T Trio Tim with the MPRAGE sequence. The volumes of the left and right hippocampus were determined using Freesurfer software. Cognitive functioning was evaluated using the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS). Both unadjusted and adjusted associations between the hippocampal volumes and cognitive functioning were estimated. Results Within this relatively narrow age range, age was significantly associated with most of the cognitive measures assessed in women but was not significantly associated with any of the cognitive measures in men. In both men and women right hippocampal volume was positively associated with delayed memory and left hippocampal volume was positively associated with both immediate memory and delayed memory (though the relationship with delayed memory in women was only at a trend level). After adjustment for age, gender, and years of formal education (the variable that was most strongly associated with all of the cognitive measures), both left hippocampal volume and right hippocampal volume were positively associated with delayed memory, but not with immediate memory. Interestingly, the difference in the volumes of the left and right hippocampi was negatively associated with the score of the RBANS attention subscale, a relationship that was stronger in women than in men. Conclusions This study confirms previous work about the relationship of hippocampal volume and memory, identifies a possible relationship between attention and the difference in size of the two hippocampi, and suggests that there may be some differences in these relationships by gender.
Securing Routing in Open Networks Using Secure Traceroute

We consider the threat imposed on network routing in “open” networks such as community wireless networks. The key characteristic of such networks is that it is relatively easy for users (and attackers) to add routers, establish (possibly wireless) links, and advertise routes. We argue that the traditional focus on securing the routing protocol is insufficient to address the threats arising in this environment. It is also important to secure packet forwarding. To this end, we apply a secure traceroute protocol to detect and localize faulty packet forwarding, which can aid problem resolution either via automatic rerouting or via human action. We present a security analysis of the protocol, discuss our implementation of it in a community wireless network testbed, and show that secure traceroute imposes a negligible overhead on performance.
Unhealthy Eating as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Stress and Anxiety: A Longitudinal Study of College Students Moderated by Depression

Stress has been shown to be a risk factor for anxiety especially among college-aged individuals. Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent psychiatric problem among college students. This study looked at the relationship between stress, unhealthy eating and anxiety, moderated by depression. Further, we hoped to determine whether this relationship differed between the two types of anxiety: anxious arousal and anxious apprehension. We hypothesized that (1) both subtypes of anxiety would increase as stress increases; (2) unhealthy eating would mediate the relationship between stress and both subtypes of anxiety; and (3) depression would moderate the relationship between unhealthy eating and both subtypes of anxiety. Methods: We used self-report questionnaires that asked participants (ages 18-23, N=103) to rate the frequency of stress, unhealthy eating, anxiety and depression longitudinally across the span of a semester. Total effect, mediation and moderated mediation models were tested in Mplus with separate models predicting anxious arousal and anxious apprehension. Results: When controlling for baseline anxiety, unhealthy eating did not mediate the relationship between stress and end of semester anxiety. However, unhealthy eating did predict an increase in anxious arousal over time. Discussion: These results highlight the possible role of unhealthy eating as a risk factor for anxious arousal based on the evidence that unhealthy eating predicted longitudinal increases in anxious arousal but not anxious apprehension
Localization of virtual sources in multichannel audio reproduction

The localization of virtual sources generated with different two-dimensional (2-D) multichannel reproduction systems has been studied by means of auditory model simulations and listening tests. The reproduction was implemented with typical five- and eight-channel loudspeaker setups. The microphone systems used were first- and second-order Ambisonics as well as a spaced microphone technique. Pair-wise panning was also studied. The results show that the auditory model can be used in the prediction of perceived direction in multichannel sound reproduction near the median plane. Some systematic deviations between the model predictions and the listening test results were found farther from the median plane. The frequency-dependent capability to produce narrow-band virtual sources to targeted directions is reported for the studied systems.
Whole-genome sequencing to understand the genetic architecture of common gene expression and biomarker phenotypes

Initial results from sequencing studies suggest that there are relatively few low-frequency (<5%) variants associated with large effects on common phenotypes. We performed low-pass whole-genome sequencing in 680 individuals from the InCHIANTI study to test two primary hypotheses: (i) that sequencing would detect single low-frequency–large effect variants that explained similar amounts of phenotypic variance as single common variants, and (ii) that some common variant associations could be explained by low-frequency variants. We tested two sets of disease-related common phenotypes for which we had statistical power to detect large numbers of common variant–common phenotype associations—11 132 cis-gene expression traits in 450 individuals and 93 circulating biomarkers in all 680 individuals. From a total of 11 657 229 high-quality variants of which 6 129 221 and 5 528 008 were common and low frequency (<5%), respectively, low frequency–large effect associations comprised 7% of detectable cis-gene expression traits [89 of 1314 cis-eQTLs at P < 1 × 10−06 (false discovery rate ∼5%)] and one of eight biomarker associations at P < 8 × 10−10. Very few (30 of 1232; 2%) common variant associations were fully explained by low-frequency variants. Our data show that whole-genome sequencing can identify low-frequency variants undetected by genotyping based approaches when sample sizes are sufficiently large to detect substantial numbers of common variant associations, and that common variant associations are rarely explained by single low-frequency variants of large effect.
Variations in Nursing Practice Environments: Relation to Staffing and Hospital Characteristics

Background: While improvements in nursing practice environments are considered essential to address the nursing shortage, relatively little is known about the nursing practice environments in most hospitals. Objectives: The objectives of this study are to describe variations in nursing practice environments across hospitals and to examine their associations to hospital bed size, community size, teaching intensity, and nurse staffing levels. Methods: The research design was cross-sectional analyses of nurse survey and administrative data for 156 Pennsylvania hospitals from 1999. For comparative reference, nurse survey data from earlier years from two small samples of nursing magnet hospitals were analyzed. The nursing practice environment was measured by the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI). Results: Nursing practice environments varied greatly among the hospitals studied. The nursing practice environments of the small samples of magnet hospitals were superior to those of the Pennsylvania sample. About 17% of the hospitals in the Pennsylvania sample had favorable practice environments. Pennsylvania hospitals with better practice environments had higher RN-to-bed ratios. Practice environment differences were not associated with hospital bed size or community size. Hospitals with a modest teaching level had less favorable environments. Discussion: Considerable variation exists in the quality of hospital nursing practice environments. Five out of six hospitals are targets for improvement. Favorable nursing practice environments can be achieved in a wide variety of hospital settings.
Developmental ossification sequences of the appendicular and axial skeleton in Kuttanad duck embryos (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus)

The processes of ossification sequences are poorly investigated for birds in general, even for domestic and experimental species and when it comes to the waterfowl it is almost negligible. Such sequences constitute a rich source of data on character evolution, and may even provide phylogenetic information. A pre-hatch developmental study on ossification sequences of axial and appendicular skeletal system in Kuttanad duck embryos was undertaken using 78 viable embryos. From day 3 to day 7 of incubation no ossification densities were seen both by alizarin red staining and computerized radiography. The first indication of ossification as small ossification centers in skull bones, clavicle, scapula, humerus, radius and ulna in forelimb and ilium, pubis femur and fibula in hind limb were observed on the 9th day of incubation. The ossification of the body of the ribs started at the 11th day of incubation towards the proximal extremity. On day 13th the ossification process of vertebrae was started from cervical end. The variation in appearance of the ossification centers in different bones at different stages of incubation period suggests relative importance of phylogeny to the sequences.
Global Expression of Cell Surface Proteins in Embryonic Stem Cells

Background Recent studies have shown that embryonic stem (ES) cells globally express most genes in the genome at the mRNA level; however, it is unclear whether this global expression is propagated to the protein level. Cell surface proteins could perform critical functions in ES cells, so determining whether ES cells globally express cell surface proteins would have significant implications for ES cell biology. Methods and Principal Findings The surface proteins of mouse ES cells were purified by biotin labeling and subjected to proteomics analysis. About 1000 transmembrane or secreted cell surface proteins were identified. These proteins covered a large variety if functional categories including signal transduction, adhesion and transporting. More over, mES cells promiscuously expressed a wide variety of tissue specific surface proteins. And many surface proteins were expressed heterogeneously on mES cells. We also find that human ES cells express a wide variety of tissue specific surface proteins. Conclusions/Significance Our results indicate that global gene expression is not simply a result of leaky gene expression, which could be attributed to the loose chromatin structure of ES cells; it is also propagated to the functional level. ES cells may use diverse surface proteins to receive signals from the diverse extracellular stimuli that initiate differentiation. Moreover, the promiscuous expression of tissue specific surface proteins illuminate new insights into the strategies of cell surface marker screening.
Albedo Recovery Using a Photometric Stereo Method

This paper describes a method for the calculation of surface reflectance values via photometric stereo. Experimental results show that surfaces rendered with reflectance values calculated by the proposed method have more realistic appearances than those with constant albedo. 1 Center for Image Technology and Robotics Tamaki Campus, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. 2 Agilent Technologies Laboratories, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA You are granted permission for the non-commercial reproduction, distribution, display, and performance of this technical report in any format, BUT this permission is only for a period of 45 (forty-five) days from the most recent time that you verified that this technical report is still available from the CITR Tamaki web site under terms that include this permission. All other rights are reserved by the author(s). Albedo Recovery Using a Photometric Stereo Method Chia-Yen Chen, Reinhard Klette CITR, Tamaki Campus The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand and Ramakrishna Kakarala Agilent Technologies Laboratories, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA
Modeling OPC complexity for design for manufacturability

Increasing design complexity in sub-90nm designs results in increased mask complexity and cost. Resolution enhancement techniques (RET) such as assist feature addition, phase shifting (attenuated PSM) and aggressive optical proximity correction (OPC) help in preserving feature fidelity in silicon but increase mask complexity and cost. Data volume increase with rise in mask complexity is becoming prohibitive for manufacturing. Mask cost is determined by mask write time and mask inspection time, which are directly related to the complexity of features printed on the mask. Aggressive RET increase complexity by adding assist features and by modifying existing features. Passing design intent to OPC has been identified as a solution for reducing mask complexity and cost in several recent works. The goal of design-aware OPC is to relax OPC tolerances of layout features to minimize mask cost, without sacrificing parametric yield. To convey optimal OPC tolerances for manufacturing, design optimization should drive OPC tolerance optimization using models of mask cost for devices and wires. Design optimization should be aware of impact of OPC correction levels on mask cost and performance of the design. This work introduces mask cost characterization (MCC) that quantifies OPC complexity, measured in terms of fracture count of the mask, for different OPC tolerances. MCC with different OPC tolerances is a critical step in linking design and manufacturing. In this paper, we present a MCC methodology that provides models of fracture count of standard cells and wire patterns for use in design optimization. MCC cannot be performed by designers as they do not have access to foundry OPC recipes and RET tools. To build a fracture count model, we perform OPC and fracturing on a limited set of standard cells and wire configurations with all tolerance combinations. Separately, we identify the characteristics of the layout that impact fracture count. Based on the fracture count (FC) data from OPC and mask data preparation runs, we build models of FC as function of OPC tolerances and layout parameters.
A scoping review on the current and potential use of social network analysis for evaluation purposes

The pervasiveness and importance of relationships and networks has fueled the development of the social network analysis approach, which considers structural relationships to be primary causes of societal outcomes. While the potential of social network analysis has been demonstrated and discussed extensively in social science research, relatively little is known about the current and potential use of social network analysis for evaluation purposes. This scoping review of journal articles reveals that evaluators use social network analysis because of its ability to identify key stakeholders, assess network structures and relationships quantitatively, reveal informal relations and visualize even complex networks. However, challenges arise when interpreting findings, determining causation between network structures and outcomes and disseminating evaluation results in an ethically responsible manner. The review concludes that the evaluation field―especially in the development sector―would benefit greatly from increased use of social network analysis, but that this would first require improved use of alternative sources of network data, qualitative methods and inferential statistics that will enable evaluators to move beyond descriptive network analysis.