Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distributed Threshold Querying of General Functions by a Difference of Monotonic Representation

The goal of a threshold query is to detect all objects whose score exceeds a given threshold. This type of query is used in many settings, such as data mining, event triggering, and top-k selection. Often, threshold queries are performed over distributed data. Given database relations that are distributed over many nodes, an object's score is computed by aggregating the value of each attribute, applying a given scoring function over the aggregation, and thresholding the function's value. However, joining all the distributed relations to a central database might incur prohibitive overheads in bandwidth, CPU, and storage accesses. Efficient algorithms required to reduce these costs exist only for monotonic aggregation threshold queries and certain specific scoring functions. We present a novel approach for efficiently performing general distributed threshold queries. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first solution to the problem of performing such queries with general scoring functions. We first present a solution for monotonic functions, and then introduce a technique to solve for other functions by representing them as a difference of monotonic functions. Experiments with real-world data demonstrate the method's effectiveness in achieving low communication and access costs.
Learning Spaces: an ICT‐enabled model of future learning in the Knowledge‐based Society

This article presents elements of a future vision of learning in the knowledge-based society which is enabled by ICT. It is not only based on extrapolations from trends and drivers that are shaping learning in Europe but also consists of a holistic attempt to envisage and anticipate future learning needs and requirements in the KBS. The ‘learning spaces’ vision puts learners at the centre of learning, but, at the same time, conceives learning as a social process. The potential of ICT-enabled learning spaces can only be realised, however, if it is embedded in a social and institutional context that is open to innovation and supported by a favourable policy environment.
Individual differences of visual imagery ability in the benefit of a survival judgment task

This study investigated whether or not visual imagery ability affected the benefit of a survival judgment task. Based on the median split of their VVIQ score, 92 undergraduate students were classified as either high imagers (n = 46) or low imagers (n = 46). In the survival task, participants were requested to judge whether an item presented in the form of two Chinese characters was necessary or not in a survival situation. In the image judgment task, participants were requested to judge whether an item presented in the form of two Chinese characters arouses mental images or not. Participants were presented 18 concrete nouns at 4 s intervals in each condition. In both the survival judgment and the image judgment tasks, high imagers recalled more words than low imagers did. This result showed that imagery ability influenced the benefit of the survival judgment task. These results were discussed from the functional perspective of memory. Finally, we proposed the combination hypothesis, which combined elaboration and functional perspectives to explain the benefit of the survival judgment task.
An efficient image-based rendering method

Given a set of images of the same scene, we propose an efficient method for realistically synthesizing a new image seen from a new viewpoint. Compared with some existing techniques which explicitly reconstruct the 3D geometry of the scene, we directly reconstruct the colour of each pixel in the new image by utilizing a weighted photoconsistency constraint. Global photoconsistency constraint of one pixel is firstly utilized to generate a list of plausible colours for each rendered pixel in the new image. Considering the existing of partial occlusion or the deficiencies in the image-formation model, we iteratively update the colour for each rendered pixel based on local texture statistics similar to the input images. Experimental results on the generation of a new image from a new viewing position from a set of input images show that our proposed method is promising and satisfactory.
Nation‐building in contemporary Germany: the strange conversion of Hitler's ‘word made of stone’

This article examines the contending redefinitions of national identity in contemporary Germany's memorial culture, focusing particularly on the ensemble of monuments and parade fields known as the former Nazi Party rally grounds in Nuremberg. In a detailed case study, I analyse the recent conversion of one of the physical remnants of National Socialism – Albert Speer's transformer station – into a fast-food restaurant and interpret this conversion as a novel contribution to the discourse on German nationhood. I argue that the provocative commercial reutilisation of the former Nazi monument gives expression to a renewed self-confidence that Germany has gained from displaying a willingness to face up to its past as perpetrator nation. While the intervention thus deviates from the self-indicting spirit that had been characteristic for Germany's memorial culture after World War II, an ironic note is conspicuous in this act of commemorative politics that indicates a way of dealing with the fascist legacy that is, surprisingly in some respects, superior to more conventional memory strategies.
Substance Abuse and Slow-Motion Disasters: The Case of Detroit

In this article, I focus on problem substance use as one outcome of an underlying, “slow-motion disaster” caused by the long-term collision between corrosive structural processes, counterproductive social policies, and vulnerable populations. Using the city of Detroit as an illustration, I offer an original conceptual model for linking the causes and cascading consequences of slow-motion disasters. This model highlights the embedded connections between structural factors, such as racial segregation and systemic unemployment, and multiple destructive outcomes, including health and crime disparities, as well as problem substance use. Finally, I conclude that sociological researchers must engage with broader publics and diverse coalitions if they are to contribute to an alternative social policy—a holistic, regional “disaster response”—that takes multiple layers of causality into account, and addresses the core of vulnerabilities that make such disasters possible.
Autologous bone marrow stromal cells transplantation for the treatment of secondary arm lymphedema: a prospective controlled study in patients with breast cancer related lymphedema.

OBJECTIVE To determine the short- and long-term effect of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) transplantation as a treatment for breast cancer-related lymphedema. To contrast it with complex decongestive physiotherapy (CDT). METHODS Fifteen women with lymphedema, who had undergone breast cancer surgery and/no radiotherapy 5 years before, served as the experimental group and received BMSC transplantation; 35 patients were measured as the control group treated with CDT. They were kept on follow-up for 1 year. RESULTS Two patients in the CDT Group failed to keep follow-up. Before treatment, patients had average volume of edema in the affected arm of 1166.2 ml in BMSC Group and 1091.0 ml in the CDT Group. With therapy, there was an average decrease in lymphedema volume of 730.7, 887.9 and 958.6 ml in the BMSC Group and 714.8, 657.9 and 571.3 ml in the CDT Group after 1, 3 and 12 months, respectively. Before treatment, the percentage of lymphedema was 28.6% in the BMSC Group and 26.8% in the CDT Group. After treatment, there was a decrease of 64.6, 78.5 and 81.0% in the BMSC Group and 67.2, 60.4 and 54.5% in the CDT Group after 1, 3 and 12 months, respectively. When asked to quantify subjectively their pain on a numeric scale from 0 to 5, the average score of these patients was 3.4 in the BMSC group and 4.0 in the CDT Group. The average score was reduced to 1.6, 0.8 and 0.6 in the BMSC Group and to 1.2, 1.7 and 1.6 in CDT Group after 1, 3 and 12 months, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Autologous BMSCs transplantation for the treatment of breast cancer related lymphedema is effective and feasible.
Liquid computing on and off the edge of chaos with a striatal microcircuit

In reinforcement learning theories of the basal ganglia, there is a need for the expected rewards corresponding to relevant environmental states to be maintained and modified during the learning process. However, the representation of these states that allows them to be associated with reward expectations remains unclear. Previous studies have tended to rely on pre-defined partitioning of states encoded by disjunct neuronal groups or sparse topological drives. A more likely scenario is that striatal neurons are involved in the encoding of multiple different states through their spike patterns, and that an appropriate partitioning of an environment is learned on the basis of task constraints, thus minimizing the number of states involved in solving a particular task. Here we show that striatal activity is sufficient to implement a liquid state, an important prerequisite for such a computation, whereby transient patterns of striatal activity are mapped onto the relevant states. We develop a simple small scale model of the striatum which can reproduce key features of the experimentally observed activity of the major cell types of the striatum. We then use the activity of this network as input for the supervised training of four simple linear readouts to learn three different functions on a plane, where the network is stimulated with the spike coded position of the agent. We discover that the network configuration that best reproduces striatal activity statistics lies on the edge of chaos and has good performance on all three tasks, but that in general, the edge of chaos is a poor predictor of network performance.
Determination of Ammonium Ion Using a Reagentless Amperometric Biosensor Based on Immobilized Alanine Dehydrogenase

The use of the enzyme alanine dehydrogenase (AlaDH) for the determination of ammonium ion (NH4+) usually requires the addition of pyruvate substrate and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) simultaneously to effect the reaction. This addition of reagents is inconvenient when an enzyme biosensor based on AlaDH is used. To resolve the problem, a novel reagentless amperometric biosensor using a stacked methacrylic membrane system coated onto a screen-printed carbon paste electrode (SPE) for NH4+ ion determination is described. A mixture of pyruvate and NADH was immobilized in low molecular weight poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA) membrane, which was then deposited over a photocured pHEMA membrane (photoHEMA) containing alanine dehydrogenase (AlaDH) enzyme. Due to the enzymatic reaction of AlaDH and the pyruvate substrate, NH4+ was consumed in the process and thus the signal from the electrocatalytic oxidation of NADH at an applied potential of +0.55 V was proportional to the NH4+ ion concentration under optimal conditions. The stacked methacrylate membranes responded rapidly and linearly to changes in NH4+ ion concentrations between 10–100 mM, with a detection limit of 0.18 mM NH4+ ion. The reproducibility of the amperometrical NH4+ biosensor yielded low relative standard deviations between 1.4–4.9%. The stacked membrane biosensor has been successfully applied to the determination of NH4+ ion in spiked river water samples without pretreatment. A good correlation was found between the analytical results for NH4+ obtained from the biosensor and the Nessler spectrophotometric method.
Neo-Liberalism, Markets and Accountability: Transforming Education and Undermining Democracy in the United States and England

Education in both England and the United States has undergone a profound change over the last two decades as part of neo-liberal and neoconservative political reforms. The reforms have been characterized by efforts to standardize the curriculum, to implement standardized tests in order to hold students, teachers, and schools accountable, to increase school choice, and to privatize education provision. While the reforms in both countries have similarities, differences in the structures of schooling and in the relative political strength of neoconservatives and neo-liberals help to account for policy divergence.
Morphological and Genetic Diversity of the Wood-Boring Xylophaga (Mollusca, Bivalvia): New Species and Records from Deep-Sea Iberian Canyons

Deep-sea bivalves of the Xylophagaidae, a poorly known group, are obligate wood-borers. Deployment of wood in three submarine canyons off the Iberian coast, the Blanes and La Fonera Canyons (Mediterranean Sea) and the Avilés Canyon (Cantabric Sea, Bay of Biscay), lead to the discovery of four xylophagaid species in our samples. Xylophaga dorsalis (the dominant species), X. atlantica, X. cf. anselli and the new species X. brava, were identified on the basis of morphological data, and supported by a phylogenetic reconstruction based on the nuclear genes 18S rDNA and 28S rDNA and including several genus of Xylophagaidae. Genetic divergence between species of Xylophaga varied between genes, ranging from 0.5 to 4.0% for the 18SrDNA and from 4.1 to 16.6% for the 28SrDNA. Xylophaga brava sp. nov. appeared to be restricted to the Mediterranean and morphologically resembled the closely related X. cf. anselli from the Cantabrian Sea. However, they clearly diverged in two well-supported clades. Low levels of intraspecific variability and higher interspecific divergence between species also supported the existence of these two different species. Morphologically they differ in the number of cirri at the siphon openings, in the shape of the posterior shell and in the size of prodissoconch II. The new species is characterized by having weak, poorly mineralized mesoplax and siphons united throughout, covered by a periostracal, non-calcified tube; distinct proximal and distal siphons, the former translucent and soft, the latter muscular, with concentric rings. Xylophaga atlantica, previously known only from the western Atlantic, is reported for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea. Whether its presence in the Mediterranean indicates its natural distribution or reflects its recent introduction is unknown. Although xylophagaids have been previously reported to recruit heavily to wood deposited on the seabed, these four species colonized wood suspended 30 m above the seafloor.
Novel preparation of transdermal drug-delivery patches and functional wound healing materials

The application of an electric field to a flowing medium can result in the formation of microscale and nanoscale structures suitable for drug delivery applications. We show that the design of the drug carrier can be varied and the release mechanism can be controlled by changing the physical state of the component containing the active agent. The structures formed include loaded micrometer-scale tubes and microcapsules and nanocapsules, which can also be utilized together to fabricate patches and wound healing materials. The aim of this study was to demonstrate novel processing of such patches and wound dressings. The processing used to generate these structures is carried out at the ambient temperature and is a versatile one-step operation suitable for a range of materials with low running costs and set-up costs without the degradation of the active drug component. The process can be multiplexed and requires no solvent extraction. It also offers pharmaceutical applications outside the remit of the potential uses presented.
Immune mechanism–targeted treatment of experimental epidermolysis bullosa acquisita

Epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA) is an autoimmune bullous dermatosis characterized by chronic mucocutaneous blistering caused by autoantibodies directed against type VII collagen. EBA causes a high morbidity and is difficult to treat. Model systems have significantly broadened our understanding of EBA pathogenesis, leading to the identification of numerous therapeutic targets. Of these, so far, a few have been evaluated for their therapeutic potential in preclinical models. In mice, EBA can be induced by transfer of anti-type VII collagen antibodies or by immunization with the protein. The latter model, immunization-induced EBA, is ideal to test drugs for their therapeutic efficacy. Here, mice with already established disease can be treated for prolonged periods. Albeit time consuming, results from immunization-induced EBA will pave the way for clinical application in patients. As the key pathogenic principle, that is, autoantibody-induced, leukocyte-mediated tissue injury and inflammation, is shared by other diseases, these findings may have translational applications beyond EBA.
Restricted ROC curves are useful tools to evaluate the performance of tumour markers

In Clinical Epidemiology, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis is a standard approach for the evaluation of the performance of diagnostic tests for binary classification based on a tumour marker distribution. The area under a ROC curve is a popular indicator of test accuracy, but its use has been questioned when the curve is asymmetric. This situation often happens when the marker concentrations overlap in the two groups under study in the range of low specificity, corresponding to a subset of values useless for classification purposes (non-informative values). The partial area under the curve at a high specificity threshold has been proposed as an alternative, but a method to identify an optimal cut-off that separates informative from non-informative values is not yet available. In this study, a new statistical approach is proposed to perform this task. Furthermore, a statistical test associated with the area under a ROC curve corresponding to informative values only (restricted ROC curve) is provided and its properties are explored by extensive simulations. Finally, the proposed method is applied to a real data set containing peripheral blood levels of six tumour markers proposed for the diagnosis of neuroblastoma. A new approach to combine couples of markers for classification purposes is also illustrated.
La motivation de service public et la performance au travail des agents du secteur public aux Pays-Bas

Le present article contribue de trois manieres a nous aider a mieux comprendre la motivation de service public (MSP) et ses effets. Premierement, il applique une version abregee de l’echelle de mesure de Perry dans le secteur public neerlandais. Meme si les resultats de l’analyse indiquent que la MSP est un concept valide dans ce contexte, des doutes apparaissent quant a la question de savoir si l’on doit utiliser les quatre dimensions utilisees aux Etats-Unis. Deuxiemement, l’analyse revele que, contre toute attente, la MSP a une importance egale dans les segments du secteur public neerlandais que nous avons examines. Troisiemement, nous avons analyse les effets de la MSP sur trois variables de resultats comportementales liees a la performance (l’engagement, la disposition a faire des efforts et la performance professionnelle percue). A cote de la MSP, nous avons inclus une mesure de l’adequation de la MSP. L’hypothese selon laquelle l’adequation de la MSP mediatise la relation entre la MSP et les variables de resultats est rejetee. Dans la pratique, il apparait que la MSP et l’adequation de la MSP ont des effets independants sur ces variables de resultats.Remarques a l’intention des praticiensLes organisations publiques doivent attirer des personnes motivees pour travailler pour ce secteur. Aux Pays-Bas, le ministere de l’Interieur organise en ce moment une campagne de recrutement pour y parvenir. Le present article presente l’utilite de cette strategie, etant donne que les travailleurs dotes de cette motivation (la « motivation de service public », ou MSP) sont davantage attaches a l’organisation, davantage disposes a faire des efforts et ont une meilleure perception de leur travail. Cette strategie va probablement se traduire par une amelioration de la prestation de service public. Notre article revele cependant aussi qu’il ne suffit pas d’engager des travailleurs axes sur la MSP. Il faut aussi que ces travailleurs soient en mesure d’« utiliser » reellement leur MSP dans leur travail, sans quoi ils vont etre contraries, ce qui aura, au final, des consequences negatives sur la qualite de la prestation de service public.
Visual prognosis and vitreous molecules after vitrectomy for macular edema with branch retinal vein occlusion

This study investigated whether vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), and pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) influence the visual prognosis of patients with macular edema and branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). In 47 consecutive patients (47 eyes) undergoing vitrectomy, retinal thickness was examined by optical coherence tomography. Best-corrected visual acuity and the vitreous fluid levels of VEGF, sICAM-1, and PEDF were also determined. Patients were followed for at least 6 months after surgery. Vitreous fluid levels of VEGF and sICAM-1 were significantly lower in the patients with more marked improvement of visual acuity after vitrectomy, while PEDF was significantly higher. VEGF and sICAM-1 levels were significantly higher in patients with greater postoperative improvement of macular edema, while PEDF was significantly lower. In BRVO patients, vitreous fluid levels of VEGF, sICAM-1, and PEDF may influence both the response of macular edema to vitrectomy and the visual prognosis.
Soft Confidence-Weighted Learning

Online learning plays an important role in many big data mining problems because of its high efficiency and scalability. In the literature, many online learning algorithms using gradient information have been applied to solve online classification problems. Recently, more effective second-order algorithms have been proposed, where the correlation between the features is utilized to improve the learning efficiency. Among them, Confidence-Weighted (CW) learning algorithms are very effective, which assume that the classification model is drawn from a Gaussian distribution, which enables the model to be effectively updated with the second-order information of the data stream. Despite being studied actively, these CW algorithms cannot handle nonseparable datasets and noisy datasets very well. In this article, we propose a family of Soft Confidence-Weighted (SCW) learning algorithms for both binary classification and multiclass classification tasks, which is the first family of online classification algorithms that enjoys four salient properties simultaneously: (1) large margin training, (2) confidence weighting, (3) capability to handle nonseparable data, and (4) adaptive margin. Our experimental results show that the proposed SCW algorithms significantly outperform the original CW algorithm. When comparing with a variety of state-of-the-art algorithms (including AROW, NAROW, and NHERD), we found that SCW in general achieves better or at least comparable predictive performance, but enjoys considerably better efficiency advantage (i.e., using a smaller number of updates and lower time cost). To facilitate future research, we release all the datasets and source code to the public at http://libol.stevenhoi. org/.
Sub-1V capacitor-free low-power-consumption LDO with digital controlled loop

A CMOS sub-1 V capacitor-free low-power-consumption low-dropout voltage regulator (LDO) with digital controlled loop is presented in this paper. This technique can make power consumption lower than other LDOs with traditional controlled Loop. Especially, the performance of power consumption of proposed LDO without off-chip capacitors is excellent. The LDO can also be stable even without the output capacitor. With 0.9 V power supply voltage, the output voltage is designed as 0.6 V. The maximum output current of the LDO is 120 mA at an output of 0.6 V. The prototype of the LDO is fabricated with TSMC 0.35-mum CMOS processes. The chip area (including I/O pad) is only 927 mum times 969 mum.