Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Description and validation of a noninvasive placebo acupuncture procedure.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate a simulated acupuncture technique for use in randomized controlled trials assessing the efficacy of acupuncture for low-back pain. SETTING The clinic of an accredited acupuncture college in Seattle, Washington. SUBJECTS Acupuncture-naïve enrollees of Group Health Cooperative who had visited their primary care provider with a complaint of back pain that persisted for at least 3 months. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN In the first experiment, subjects received six insertions of real needles and six pokes with a toothpick in a guidetube in a two-period crossover design. In the second experiment, subjects were randomly assigned to receive either a complete treatment with real acupuncture needles or a simulated treatment using a toothpick in a guidetube. OUTCOMES In the first experiment, we compared subjects' perceptions about which implement was used for each "insertion" while in the second, we compared the perceptions (e.g., acupuncturist's warmth and caring, the reasonableness of acupuncture as a treatment) and pain relief of those who received an acupuncture treatment using needles to those receiving simulated acupuncture. RESULTS In the first experiment, the toothpick insertions were perceived as slightly more like real needling than the real needling (mean ratings of 2.8 and 2.1, respectively; p = 0.08). In the second experiment, 52% percent of those receiving the simulated needling versus 65% of those receiving real acupuncture believed they were "definitely" or "probably" receiving real acupuncture (p = 0.33). Perceptions of acupuncture, as measured by a credibility questionnaire, were similar in the two groups. Those receiving real acupuncture were more likely to report immediate pain relief, and this was the factor most predictive of the subject's belief about which treatment they had received (p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS The simulated acupuncture procedure evaluated in this study represents a reasonable control treatment for acupuncture-naïve individuals in randomized controlled trials assessing the efficacy of acupuncture for low-back pain.
Decomposition of Gender or Racial Inequality with Endogenous Intervening Covariates

This paper begins by clarifying that propensity-score weighting in the DiNardo-Fortin-Lemieux (DFL) decomposition analysis—unlike propensity-score weighting in Rubin’s causal model, in which confounding covariates can be endogenous—may generate biased estimates for the decomposition of inequality into “direct” and “indirect” components when intervening variables are endogenous. The paper also clarifies that the Blinder-Oaxaca method confounds the modeling of two distinct counterfactual situations: one in which the covariate effects of the first group become equal to those of the second group and the other in which the covariate distribution of the second group becomes equal to that of the first group. The paper shows that the DFL method requires a distinct condition to provide an unbiased decomposition of inequality that remains under each counterfactual situation. The paper then introduces a combination of the DFL method with Heckman’s two-step method as a way of testing and eliminating bias in the DFL estimate when some intervening covariates are endogenous. The paper also intends to bring gender and race back to the center of statistical causal analysis. An application focuses on the decomposition of gender inequality in earned income among white-collar regular employees in Japan.
Second malignancies following conventional or combined 252Cf neutron brachytherapy with external beam radiotherapy for breast cancer

We retrospectively evaluated the risk of second malignancies among 832 patients with inner or central breast cancer treated with conventional external beam schedule (CRT group), or neutron brachytherapy using Californium-252 (252Cf) sources and hypofractionated external beam radiotherapy (HRTC group), between 1987 and 1996 at the Institute of Oncology, Vilnius University. Patients were observed until the occurrences of death or development of a second malignancy, or until 31 December 2009, whichever was earlier. Median follow-up time was 10.4 years (range, 1.2–24.1 years). Risk of second primary cancers was quantified using standardized incidence ratios (SIRs). Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs). There was a significant increase in the risk of second primary cancers compared with the general population (SIR 1.3, 95% CI 1.1–1.5). The observed number of second primary cancers was also higher than expected for breast (SIR 1.8, 95% CI 1.3–2.4) and lung cancer (SIR 3.8, 95% CI 2.0–6.7). For second breast cancer, no raised relative risk was observed during the period ≥10 or more years after radiotherapy. Compared with the CRT group, HRTC patients had a not statistically significant higher risk of breast cancer. Increased relative risks were observed specifically for age at initial diagnosis of <50 years (HR 2.9, 95% CI 1.6–5.2) and for obesity (HR 2.8, 95% CI 1.1–7.2).
An Exploratory Study of Facebook Integration into Classroom Management / Istraživačka studija integracije Facebook-a u upravljanje razredom

Abstract From a classroom management perspective, this study aims to analyze the interaction between students and mentors on the Facebook class websites and students’ social networking via Facebook by using Facebook provided functions. The research focuses on the students’ perceptions of Facebook as a class website. The survey results indicate that most students express positive attitudes towards their Facebook class websites in terms of system interface, feeling exchange, and information communication. The qualitative analysis yielded five themes: the role of the class leader, knowledge sharing, system interface, the role of the mentor, and the value of the class website. Key words: class website; positive attitude; social networking. *****SažetakOvo istraživanje zauzima gledište upravljanja razredom, a cilj mu je analizirati interakciju između studenata i mentora na razrednim Facebook stranicama i društveno umrežavanje studenata putem Facebook-a, a s pomoću funkcija koje Facebook pruža. Istraživanje se usredotočuje na mišljenje studenata o Facebook-u kao razrednoj internetskoj stranici. Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da većina studenata ima pozitivan stav prema svojim razrednim Facebook mrežnim stranicama u smislu sučelja sustava, razmjenjivanja osjećaja i komunikacije informacija. Kvalitativna analiza iznjedrila je pet tema: ulogu razrednog vođe, dijeljenje znanja, sučelje sustava, ulogu mentora i vrijednost razredne mrežne stranice. Ključne riječi: razredna mrežna stranica; pozitivan stav; društveno umrežavanje
Plurilingual posters in a multilingual city: reader positioning and power negotiation

ABSTRACT Through the study of plurilingual posters for pop concerts, musical performances, sports events and other cultural and entertainment events, this paper investigates language status and functions, motivations of linguistic choices, discourse practice and social practice in three distinct institutional contexts, and takes the multilingual Chinese society of Macao as a case study. The distribution and representation of languages in posters show the shifting power relations and display the reader positioning in situations of language contact between Traditional Chinese characters, Simplified Chinese characters, Portuguese, English, and written Cantonese. This paper draws on critical discourse analysis to study the realization of commercial, governmental and civic power through a diverse and plurilingual discourse genre. It shows that although governmental authority is still invested in the colonial language of Portuguese, it is not immune from the marketization associated with the language of commercial capital, English. The analysis also indicates that the plurilingualism evoked by governmental authority situates monolingual readers in formal and respectful positions with respect to other languages, commercial ventures seek to earn money by entertaining readers less formally, and civic associations cultivate their readership in flexible ways in accordance with the target sector of the community.
Carbon biofixation and lipid composition of an acidophilic microalga cultivated on treated wastewater supplied with different CO2 levels

ABSTRACT This study evaluated productivity, CO2 biofixation, and lipid content in biomass of the acidophilic microalga Chlamydomonas acidophila LAFIC-004 cultivated with five different carbon dioxide concentrations. The influence of carbon dioxide concentration on nutrient removal and pH was also investigated. Treated wastewater (secondary effluent) was used as culture medium. Five experimental setups were tested: T-0% – injection of atmospheric air (0.038% CO2), T-5% (5% CO2), T-10% (10% CO2), T-15% (15% CO2) and T-20% (20% CO2). The T-5% and T-10% experiments showed the highest values of productivity and CO2 biofixation, and maximum biomass dry weight was 0.48 ± 0.02 and 0.51 ± 0.03 g L−1, respectively. This acidophilic microalga proved to be suitable for carbon biofixation and removal of nutrients from secondary effluent of wastewater treatment plants with high CO2 concentration. All assays were performed without pH control. This microalga species presented high lipid content. However, fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) are not suitable for biodiesel use. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
The Use of SCRUM in Global Software Development: An Exploratory Study

Context: The trend for Global Software Development (GSD) is increasing day by day. Some major benefits that attract organizations to develop software globally are reduced cost, reduced time to develop, improved quality, and improved resource allotment, well defined processes and improved documentation. However, there are also several challenges reported for GSD. Some of these problems have thought to be overcome by using agile practices. SCRUM is an agile methodology used to manage and control work during the project development. Aims and Objectives: In the scope of this thesis study we investigate on several project management challenges being faced and several SCRUM practices being used by organizations in GSD projects. We also investigate the benefits achieved and challenges faced by the software organizations in implementing SCRUM practices for addressing the managerial challenges of GSD projects. Methods: We first conducted a literature review to understand the management challenges in GSD and how SCRUM practices are being used to overcome the challenges. To further explore the current practices in industry, we conducted semi-structured interviews with six managers from six different software organizations and an online survey with 24 participants. Results: As a result of this study, several management challenges in GSD projects, SCRUM practices being practiced, benefits and challenges being faced by the organizations in implementing SCRUM are identified by conducting interviews and surveys with experienced people who work on GSD projects which were elaborated in this paper. The maximum number of project management challenges that were not reported in the literature but were found during interviews fall under Integration management and Human Resources management. The maximum challenges that were not reported in the literature but were found during interviews fall under time management and communication management category. All the interviewees have mentioned that they are satisfied in implementing SCRUM in GSD projects. Conclusions: From this study, we have found several new project management challenges in GSD and SCRUM practices which were not discussed in the literature. We have also found benefits and challenges of implementing SCRUM in GSD projects. All the interviewees and survey respondents have mentioned that they are satisfied and benefited by implementing SCRUM in GSD projects. It is reported that SCRUM provides better control, very adaptable and innovative. It is also reported that organizations may not benefit by implementing SCRUM in GSD projects without team commitment, customer's involvement and not having well defined goals. There are few factors that …
ANN approach for the document clustering by using evolutionary computation

Many clustering techniques have been widely developed in order to retrieve, filter, and categorize documents available in the database or even on the Web. The issue to appropriately organize and store the information in terms of documents clustering becomes very crucial for the purpose of knowledge discovery and management. In this research, a hybrid intelligent approach has been proposed to automate the clustering process based on the characteristics of each document represented by the fuzzy concept networks. Through the proposed approach, the useful knowledge can be clustered and then utilized effectively and efficiently. In literature, artificial neural network have been widely applied for the document-clustering applications. However, the number of documents is huge so that it is hard to find the most appropriate ANN parameters in order to get the most appropriate clustering results. Traditionally, these parameters are adjusted manually by the way of trial and error so that it is time consuming and doesn't guarantee an optimum result. Therefore, a hybrid approach incorporating an evolutionary computation (EC) approach and a Fuzzy Adaptive Resonance Theory (Fuzzy-ART) neural network has been proposed to adjust the Fuzzy-ART parameters automatically so that the best results of the document clustering can be obtained. The proposed approach is tested by using ninety articles in three different fields. The experimental results show that the proposed hybrid approach could generate the most appropriate parameters of Fuzzy-ART for getting the most desired clusters as expected.
Robust design and optimization of retroaldol enzymes

Enzyme catalysts of a retroaldol reaction have been generated by computational design using a motif that combines a lysine in a nonpolar environment with water‐mediated stabilization of the carbinolamine hydroxyl and β‐hydroxyl groups. Here, we show that the design process is robust and repeatable, with 33 new active designs constructed on 13 different protein scaffold backbones. The initial activities are not high but are increased through site‐directed mutagenesis and laboratory evolution. Mutational data highlight areas for improvement in design. Different designed catalysts give different borohydride‐reduced reaction intermediates, suggesting a distribution of properties of the designed enzymes that may be further explored and exploited.
Technological study on distributed fiber sensor monitoring of high voltage power cable in seafloor

The purpose of the paper is to find feasible technologies and approaches for seafloor cable fault detection. Examples of such faults include submarine power cable short circuit and cut faults that have happened several times in the Bohai sea of China. In this paper, we use distributed Brillouin scattering optical fiber sensing technology to detect inner temperature and outside strain damage of submarine power cables. Temperature field and strain field from outside compression of three-cored seafloor power cable cross section are mathematically simulated by finite element method. Different temperature testing fields and strain testing fields in submarine power cable specimen are shown by distributed simultaneous temperature and strain sensor devices. The field monitoring data from optical fiber sensor systems, together with traditional leveling observation, are comparatively presented. Our experimental results show that distributed Brillouin scattering optical fiber sensing technology is effective and reliable for submarine monitoring.
Differentiation with drift: a spatio-temporal genetic analysis of Galápagos mockingbird populations (Mimus spp.)

Small and isolated island populations provide ideal systems to study the effects of limited population size, genetic drift and gene flow on genetic diversity. We assessed genetic diversity within and differentiation among 19 mockingbird populations on 15 Galápagos islands, covering all four endemic species, using 16 microsatellite loci. We tested for signs of drift and gene flow, and used historic specimens to assess genetic change over the last century and to estimate effective population sizes. Within-population genetic diversity and effective population sizes varied substantially among island populations and correlated strongly with island size, suggesting that island size serves as a good predictor for effective population size. Genetic differentiation among populations was pronounced and increased with geographical distance. A century of genetic drift did not change genetic diversity on an archipelago-wide scale, but genetic drift led to loss of genetic diversity in small populations, especially in one of the two remaining populations of the endangered Floreana mockingbird. Unlike in other Galápagos bird species such as the Darwin's finches, gene flow among mockingbird populations was low. The clear pattern of genetically distinct populations reflects the effects of genetic drift and suggests that Galápagos mockingbirds are evolving in relative isolation.
Edge effects in game-theoretic dynamics of spatially structured tumours

Cancer dynamics are an evolutionary game between cellular phenotypes. A typical assumption in this modelling paradigm is that the probability of a given phenotypic strategy interacting with another depends exclusively on the abundance of those strategies without regard for local neighbourhood structure. We address this limitation by using the Ohtsuki–Nowak transform to introduce spatial structure to the go versus grow game. We show that spatial structure can promote the invasive (go) strategy. By considering the change in neighbourhood size at a static boundary—such as a blood vessel, organ capsule or basement membrane—we show an edge effect that allows a tumour without invasive phenotypes in the bulk to have a polyclonal boundary with invasive cells. We present an example of this promotion of invasive (epithelial–mesenchymal transition-positive) cells in a metastatic colony of prostate adenocarcinoma in bone marrow. Our results caution that pathologic analyses that do not distinguish between cells in the bulk and cells at a static edge of a tumour can underestimate the number of invasive cells. Although we concentrate on applications in mathematical oncology, we expect our approach to extend to other evolutionary game models where interaction neighbourhoods change at fixed system boundaries.
Path Planning Based on Grid-Potential Fields

We present a path planning model of crowd based on Grid-Potential fields. We represent terrain space as a potential field and discretize it into a regular grid. A voltage variable is defined at the center of each grid cell. The moving of crowd is view as the flow from high voltage to low voltage. Our approach unifies global path planning and local collision avoidance into a single framework in our model. Individuals need not to interact on others but perform global path planning to avoid both obstacles and other individuals. In response to emergencies, we also consider the real-time path planning in our model.
Multi-processor architectural support for protecting virtual machine privacy in untrusted cloud environment

Virtualization is fundamental to cloud computing because it allows multiple operating systems to run simultaneously on a physical machine. However, it also brings a range of security/privacy problems. One particularly challenging and important problem is: how can we protect the Virtual Machines (VMs) from being attacked by Virtual Machine Monitors (VMMs) and/or by the cloud vendors when they are not trusted? In this paper, we propose an architectural solution to the above problem in multi-processor cloud environments. Our key idea is to exploit hardware mechanisms to enforce access control over the shared resources (e.g., memory spaces), while protecting VM memory integrity as well as inter-processor communications and data sharing. We evaluate the solution using full-system emulation and cycle-based architecture models. Experiments based on 20 benchmark applications show that the performance overhead is 1.5%--10% when access control is enforced, and 9%--19% when VM memory is encrypted.
Developing a database using Meteosat data for the delivery of solar radiation assessments at ground level

An information system, called HelioClim, is offered for answering the needs for long-term time-series of solar radiation data. These data originate from the processing of spaceborne observations made in the visible range by geostationary satellites to derive solar radiation available at ground level. The recent method Heliosat 2 is used. It offers several improvements in operation and accuracy with respect to previous methods. Typical bias for irradiance for a month is 3 W m(-2). A database is being produced, covering the Eastern Atlantic Ocean, Europe and Africa from 1985 onwards and for each day. This database is accessible through the SoDa service on a free basis (http://www.soda-is.com).
Nonlinear Image Processing and Filtering: A Unified Approach Based on Vertically Weighted Regression

Nonlinear Image Processing and Filtering: A Unified Approach Based on Vertically Weighted Regression A class of nonparametric smoothing kernel methods for image processing and filtering that possess edge-preserving properties is examined. The proposed approach is a nonlinearly modified version of the classical nonparametric regression estimates utilizing the concept of vertical weighting. The method unifies a number of known nonlinear image filtering and denoising algorithms such as bilateral and steering kernel filters. It is shown that vertically weighted filters can be realized by a structure of three interconnected radial basis function (RBF) networks. We also assess the performance of the algorithm by studying industrial images.
Learning Methods for CDF Scheduling in Multiuser Heterogeneous Systems

In modern heterogeneous wireless networks, the task of supporting fairness along with user priorities and concurrently achieving the highest possible system throughput is desirable and challenging. In this work, two classes of practical cumulative distribution function (CDF) based scheduling algorithms are developed to achieve these goals. These algorithms are shown to frequently outperform, and are potential alternatives to, the well known Proportional Fair (PF) scheduling method. The first class of algorithms, Nonparametric CDF based scheduling (NPCS) algorithms, are used when the channel fading model is unknown. Herein, the mapping from channel quality information (CQI) to the real CDF is unknown but is constructed exploiting the order statistics of the CQI sequence. The constructed CDF mapping methods are shown to converge to the actual CDF. When the channel model is known, a class of Parametric CDF based scheduling (PCS) algorithms are developed which learn parameters of the channel statistics for the scheduler to use. In our experiments, this Bayesian learning approach results in better system throughput than the NPCS approach. We also show collecting a moderate number of CQI data is enough to achieve nearly the performance of CDF based scheduling with known channel distribution. Throughout the work, CDF based scheduling algorithms are supported by simulations which show that they can effectively support not only fairness but also user priorities and often outperform PF in terms of system throughput.