Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Charging policies and practice in corporate information units in the UK 1: To charge or not to charge?

The advantages and disadvantages of charging for information services, particularly in corporate internal units. are reviewed. Current charging practice was surveyed. mainly in information units in product-based industries in the UK, but supplemented by units in service-based companies in Greater London This indicated that 43% of services in product-based companies charge, although there is some variation between different sectors of industry, and 58% of service-based compa mes charge. Although some people were very enthusiastic, the majority of respondents were not in favour of charging. On balance, units that do charge were slightly larger, but all units seemed to have similar categories of users. It did become clear that respondents have different interpretations of the term "charging".
Free-viewpoint image synthesis using superpixel segmentation

A free-viewpoint image can be synthesized using color and depth maps of reference viewpoints, via depth-image-based rendering (DIBR). In this process, three-dimensional (3D) warping is generally used. A 3D warped image consists of disocclusion holes with missing pixels that correspond to occluded regions in the reference images, and non-disocclusion holes due to limited sampling density of the reference images. The non-disocclusion holes are those among scattered pixels of a same region or object. These holes are larger when the reference viewpoints and the free viewpoint images have a larger physical distance. Filling these holes has a crucial impact on the quality of free-viewpoint image. In this paper, we focus on free-viewpoint image synthesis that is precisely capable of filling the non-disocclusion holes caused by limited sampling density, using superpixel segmentation. In this approach, we proposed two criteria for segmenting depth and color data of each reference viewpoint. By these criteria, we can detect which neighboring pixels should be connected or kept isolated in each references image, before being warped. Polygons enclosed by the connected pixels, i.e. superpixel, are inpainted by k-means interpolation. Our superpixel approach has a high accuracy since we use both color and depth data to detect superpixels at the location of the reference viewpoint. Therefore, once a reference image that consists of superpixels is 3D warped to a virtual viewpoint, the non-disocclusion holes are significantly reduced. Experimental results verify the advantage of our approach and demonstrate high quality of synthesized image when the virtual viewpoint is physically far from the reference viewpoints.
A site-specific recombination function in Staphylococcus aureus plasmids

All known small staphylococcal plasmids possess one or two recombination sites at which site-specific cointegrate formation occurs. One of these sites, RSA, is present on two small multicopy plasmids, pT181 and pE194; it consists of 24 base pairs of identity in the two plasmids, the "core," flanked by some 50 base pairs of decreasing homology. Here we show that recombination at RSA is recA independent and is mediated by a plasmid-encoded, trans-acting protein, Pre (plasmid recombination). Pre-mediated recombination is site specific in that it occurs within the core sequence of RSA in a recA1 host. Recombination also occurs between two intramolecular RSA sites. Unlike site-specific recombination systems encoded by other plasmids, Pre-RSA is not involved in plasmid maintenance.
The utility of the short version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) in elderly patients with persistent pain: does age make a difference?

OBJECTIVE This study examined the assessment of the negative emotional constructs of depression, anxiety and stress with the short version (21 items) of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) in elderly patients (age > 60 years) with persistent pain. DESIGN A convenience sample of 2,045 patients attending a tertiary referral pain centre were categorized by age and included a group aged 60 years and under (n=1,245) for assessment of age differences. Elderly patients (n=800) were divided into 3 groups: 61-70 years (n=366), 71-80 years (n=308) and 81 years and over (n=126). Patients completed the DASS-21 as part of an initial clinical assessment process. RESULTS The failure rate for scale completion increased across age groups and was significantly higher in the oldest group compared to the youngest group. All scales demonstrated reasonable convergent and divergent validity. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a three-factor structure and is consistent with previous studies. Age differences in depression, anxiety and stress scores were also assessed. Interestingly, patients aged 60 years and under had significantly higher Depression and Stress scores compared to all other age groups. This group also had significantly higher Anxiety scores compared to patients aged 61-70 years. CONCLUSIONS Overall, the DASS-21 is a reliable and valid measure of depression, anxiety and stress in elderly patients with persistent pain. There are some age differences in the normative values for the reporting of mood symptoms and these need to be taken into account when assessing pain-related mood disturbance in older populations.
Effects of applied relaxation on vasomotor symptoms in postmenopausal women: a randomized controlled trial

ObjectiveThis work aimed to study the efficacy of group therapy with applied relaxation on vasomotor symptoms and health-related quality of life in postmenopausal women. MethodsIn this open, randomized controlled trial, 60 healthy postmenopausal women with at least seven moderate to severe hot flashes per 24 hours were randomized to either group therapy with applied relaxation (n = 33) or untreated control group (n = 27) for 12 weeks. A follow-up visit was scheduled 3 months after the end of therapy or participation in the control group. Salivary cortisol was measured three times during a 6-month period. Hot flashes were recorded in self-registered diaries, and health-related quality of life was assessed with the Women’s Health Questionnaire. ResultsThe number of hot flashes decreased by 5.0 per 24 hours in the applied relaxation group compared with 1.9 in the control group on the 12th week (P < 0.001) and still remained at the same level at the 3-month follow-up (P < 0.001). Health-related quality of life for vasomotor symptoms, sleep, and memory improved significantly on the 12th week measurement in the applied relaxation group compared with the control group. Salivary cortisol concentration was lowered markedly in the applied relaxation group on a single measurement but was otherwise mainly stable in both groups. ConclusionsApplied relaxation can be used to treat vasomotor symptoms in healthy postmenopausal women.
Inhibition of pilus-mediated adhesion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to human buccal epithelial cells by monoclonal antibodies directed against pili

The Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAK pilus is capable of mediating the binding of this strain to human respiratory epithelial cells. We have produced monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to the PAK pilus in order to elucidate the location of the binding domain of the pilus for human buccal epithelial cells (BECs). Four MAbs are described. MAbs PK41C and PK34C were found to react with P. aeruginosa pilins produced by a large number of strains. The epitope recognized by PK41C was determined to lie within the N-terminal region of the pilin and is likely constituted by amino acid residues 22 through 33. The epitope for PK34C was located in the C-terminal region of the pilin and was partially dependent on an intact intrachain disulfide bridge between cysteine residues 129 and 142. PK99H and PK3B were found to react specifically with PAK pilin. The epitope for PK99H was also localized in the C-terminal region of the pilin protein and appears to reside between amino acid residues 130 and 138. The epitope for PK3B was not localized by using the methods of this study, but it is likely dependent on the three-dimensional structure of the pilin. Fab fragments of PK99H inhibited adhesion of strains PAK and 492c to BECs, but the adherence of five other strains was not affected. Fab fragments of PK34C inhibited adhesion of all piliated strains examined. Fab fragments from both of these antibodies inhibited PAK pilus binding to BECs. Fab fragments of PK41C and PK3B had no effect on P. aeruginosa binding to BECs. These results confirm that the C-terminal region of the pilin has adhesin qualities and that a conserved epitope lies within this region.
Output Stages for Integrated DC-DC Converters and Power ICs

Integrated switched mode power supplies and incorporate large amount of complex mixed-signal control circuits as well as the power transistors on the same die. CMOS compatibility is a very important consideration when designing monolithic DC-DC converters. This paper examines the different power output stage designs and identifies the key device characteristics such as on-resistance, gate capacitance, switching speed that ensure optimized power conversion efficiencies. An integrated 1W, 4MHz multi-mode DC-DC converter with Segmented Output Stage and a peak power conversion efficiency of 88% is used to illustrate various design trade-offs.
Development of the Cognitive Therapy Adherence and Competence Scale

The authors present basic psychometric data for a new 21-item Cognitive Therapy Adherence and Competence Scale (CTACS; Liese, Barber, & Beck, 1995), which is based on the widely used Cognitive Therapy Scale (CTS; Young & Beck, 1980). The CTACS attempts to provide a wider coverage of cognitive therapists' activities than the CTS. Two expert cognitive therapists rated randomly chosen audiotaped therapy sessions from cocaine-dependent patients randomized to receive cognitive therapy, supportive-expressive dynamic therapy, or individual counseling as part of the training phase and the clinical phase (n = 60 and n = 69, respectively) of the National Institute on Drug Abuse Cocaine Collaborative Treatment Study. Results indicate that the CTACS has acceptable levels of interjudge reliability and criterion validity.
Uma abordagem de classificação automática para Tipo de Pergunta e Tipo de Resposta (An Automatic Approach for Classification of Question Type and Answer Type) [in Portuguese]

The question type classification and answer type classification are very important tasks for Question Answer Systems. This paper presents an automatic approach using machine learning for these tasks. We used decision trees as machine learning algorithm and 14 features developed using a tagger and a named entity systems. Resumo. A classificação de tipos de pergunta e tipo de resposta são tarefas importantes para Sistemas de Respostas a Perguntas. Este artigo apresenta uma abordagem automática utilizando aprendizado de máquina para estas tarefas. O algoritmo utilizado foi árvores de decisão e foram usados 14 atributos criados através das informações fornecidas por um tagger e um sistema de reconhecimento de entidades mencionadas.
Compressive Sensing in Electromagnetics - A Review

Several problems arising in electromagnetics can be directly formulated or suitably recast for an effective solution within the compressive sensing (CS) framework. This has motivated a great interest in developing and applying CS methodologies to several conventional and innovative electromagnetic scenarios. This work is aimed at presenting, to the best of the authors' knowledge, a review of the state-of-the-art and most recent advances of CS formulations and related methods as applied to electromagnetics. Toward this end, a wide set of applicative scenarios comprising the diagnosis and synthesis of antenna arrays, the estimation of directions of arrival, and the solution of inverse scattering and radar imaging problems are reviewed. Current challenges and trends in the application of CS to the solution of traditional and new electromagnetic problems are also discussed.
Trends and Correlates of Hookah Use Among High School Students in North Carolina

OBJECTIVES Although youth cigarette smoking has declined in the United States, use of alternative tobacco products, such as hookah, has increased. This study assesses changes in prevalence of use from 2011 to 2013, and examines factors associated with current hookah use among North Carolina high school students in 2013. METHODS Data came from the North Carolina Youth Tobacco Survey in 2011 (n = 4,791) and 2013 (n = 4,092). STATA (StataCorp LLC) logistic regression survey procedures account for the complex survey design and sampling weights. RESULTS Prevalence of reported current hookah use significantly increased from 3.6% (95% CI: 2.8-4.5) in 2011 to 6.1% (95% CI: 4.9-7.5) in 2013 while reported lifetime hookah use increased from 9.8% (95% CI: 8.0-12.0) in 2011 to 12.6% (95% CI: 11.0-14.4) in 2013. Correlates of current hookah use included having a weekly disposable income over $50 (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 2.05, 95% CI: 1.25-3.35), currently smoking cigarettes (AOR = 4.57, 95% CI: 1.80-11.62), and living with hookah users (AOR = 6.45, 95% CI: 3.21-12.93). Participant self-reports of “liking” or positively commenting on tobacco products on social media were associated with current hookah use (AOR = 1.83, 95% CI: 1.84-4.52). Frequent exposure to online tobacco advertisements (AOR = 1.61, 95% CI: 1.13-2.28) were also associated with current hookah use. CONCLUSIONS Comprehensive product specific communication and policy interventions are needed to educate youth about the dangers of hookah use and reduce social acceptability among youth. To decrease hookah use in North Carolina, policymakers should consider restoring funding for comprehensive tobacco prevention and control programs, and equalizing tobacco tax rates for all tobacco product types.
Rearrangement of a Large Novel Pseudomonas aeruginosa Gene Island in Strains Isolated from a Patient Developing Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia

ABSTRACT Bacterial gene islands add to the genetic repertoire of opportunistic pathogens. Here, we perform comparative analyses of three Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains isolated sequentially over a 3-week period from a patient with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) who received clindamycin and piperacillin-tazobactam as part of their treatment regime. While all three strains appeared to be clonal by standard pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, whole-genome sequencing revealed subtle alterations in the chromosomal organization of the last two strains; specifically, an inversion event within a novel 124-kb gene island (PAGI 12) composed of 137 open reading frames [ORFs]. Predicted ORFs in the island included metabolism and virulence genes. Overexpression of a gene island-borne putative β-lactamase gene was observed following piperacillin-tazobactam exposure and only in those strains that had undergone the inversion event, indicating altered gene regulation following genomic remodeling. Examination of a separate cohort of 76 patients with VAP for integration at this tRNAlys recombination site demonstrated that patients exhibiting evidence of integration at this site had significantly higher 28-day mortality. These findings provide evidence that P. aeruginosa can integrate, rapidly remodel, and express exogenous genes, which likely contributes to its fitness in a clinical setting.
Fast Boolean matching for field-programmable gate arrays

A key step in technology mapping for non-lookup-table (such as multiplexer) based FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays) is to determine whether a given function can be implemented by the logic module. A new algorithm is presented for solving this problem. The algorithm is based on a character string representation of binary decision diagrams. Such representation leads to a matching algorithm which requires only a few string comparisons for each matching operation. When compared to the matching algorithm by searching for isomorphism on all different BDDs (binary decision diagrams), the new algorithm is much faster with a modest increase of memory requirement. For example, the experimental results showed that in matching all three-input Boolean function against Actel's ACT1 logic module, the new algorithm is 634 times faster by using 19.9% more memory. <<ETX>>
Design of a Low-Voltage Low-Dropout Regulator

A low-voltage low-dropout (LDO) regulator that converts an input of 1 V to an output of 0.85-0.5 V, with 90-nm CMOS technology is proposed. A simple symmetric operational transconductance amplifier is used as the error amplifier (EA), with a current splitting technique adopted to boost the gain. This also enhances the closed-loop bandwidth of the LDO regulator. In the rail-to-rail output stage of the EA, a power noise cancellation mechanism is formed, minimizing the size of the power MOS transistor. Furthermore, a fast responding transient accelerator is designed through the reuse of parts of the EA. These advantages allow the proposed LDO regulator to operate over a wide range of operating conditions while achieving 99.94% current efficiency, a 28-mV output variation for a 0-100 mA load transient, and a power supply rejection of roughly 50 dB over 0-100 kHz. The area of the proposed LDO regulator is only 0.0041 mm2, because of the compact architecture.
Enhancement of mesenteric artery contraction to 5‐HT depends on Rho kinase and Src kinase pathways in the ob/ob mouse model of type 2 diabetes

Background and purpose: Arteries from hypertensive subjects are reportedly hyperresponsive to 5‐hydroxytryptamine (5‐HT), but it remains unclear whether this is true in chronic type 2 diabetes. We have assessed responses to 5‐HT shown by mesenteric arteries from type 2 diabetic ob/ob mice (27–32 weeks old) and have identified the molecular mechanisms involved.
Human gesture recognition performance evaluation for service robots

Intelligent service robots use gesture recognition technology that utilizes the MS Kinect sensor to facilitate natural interactions between humans and robots. To evaluate gesture recognition performance in a real-life environment, we constructed a new gesture database that takes into account cluttered backgrounds, various distances and poses, and movement of robots, and then we evaluated the gesture recognition performance of commercial robots. In this paper, we seek to help consumers, robot manufacturers, and gesture recognition engine developers provide comparable results for the gesture recognition capabilities of service robots.
CMOS image sensor with programmable compressed sensing

The concept of compressed sensing CMOS image sensor is to compress data while sampling and prior to storage. This is our main idea to accomplish high speed imaging. In this paper, a CMOS image sensor with compressed sensing sampling mode is presented, which is composed of 256x256 pixel array. In order to reduce the complexity of the pseudo-random sequence generating circuits and reconstruction algorithm, the whole system is divided into 256 sub blocks. Each block consists of 16x16 pixel array with a single sigma-delta ADC, which is used to achieve the linear transformation. Similar to the conventional column ADC, the sigma-delta ADC is also used to quantize the transformed results. We have made a simulation for the proposed imaging architecture based on a 256x256 lena image. The simulation results show that the PSNR of the recovery image reaches 31.58 dB, 29.86 dB, and 29.52 dB, while the compressed ratio is 1/2, 1/4, and 1/6 respectively. Thus the corresponding frame rate can be increased by 2, 4, and 6 folds.
Prevalence of Lithuanian mutation among St. Petersburg Jews with familial hypercholesterolemia

We used polymerase chain reaction‐single‐strand conformation polymorphism (PCR‐SSCP) analysis to detect LDL receptor gene defects in the St. Petersburg population. We have found a deltaG197 mutation in several patients of Jewish origin. The mutation named is shown to be responsible for one‐third (7/23) of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) cases in St. Petersburg Jews and absent in patients of Russian descent. The prevalence of a deltaG197 mutation in St. Petersburg Jews is consistent with its origin in Lithuania or Poland. The deltaG197 mutation can be easily detected in polyacrylamide minigels because of formation of specific heteroduplexes during PCR with DNA of heterozygous patients. Taken together with high prevalence of the mutation in St. Petersburg Jews, this observation provides an opportunity for DNA diagnostics of FH in this ethnic group. Hum Mutat 12:255–258, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Internet-wide study of DNS cache injections

DNS caches are an extremely important tool, providing services for DNS as well as for a multitude of applications, systems and security mechanisms, such as anti-spam defences, routing security (e.g., RPKI), firewalls. Subverting the security of DNS is detrimental to the stability and security of the clients and services, and can facilitate attacks, circumventing even cryptographic mechanisms. We study the caching component of DNS resolution platforms in diverse networks in the Internet, and evaluate injection vulnerabilities allowing cache poisoning attacks. Our evaluation includes networks of leading Internet Service Providers and enterprises, and professionally managed open DNS resolvers. We test injection vulnerabilities against known payloads as well as a new class of indirect attacks that we define in this work. Our Internet evaluation indicates that more than 92% of the Internet's DNS resolution platforms are vulnerable to records injection and can be persistently poisoned.
High energy neutron treatment for pelvic cancers: study stopped because of increased mortality.

OBJECTIVE--To compare high energy fast neutron treatment with conventional megavoltage x ray treatment in the management of locally advanced pelvic carcinomas (of the cervix, bladder, prostate, and rectum). DESIGN--Randomised study from February 1986; randomisation to neutron treatment or photon treatment was unstratified and in the ratio of 3 to 1 until January 1988, when randomisation was in the ratio 1 to 1 and stratified by site of tumour. SETTING--Mersey regional radiotherapy centre at Clatterbridge Hospital, Wirral. PATIENTS--151 patients with locally advanced, non-metastatic pelvic cancer (27 cervical, 69 of the bladder, seven prostatic, and 48 of the rectum). INTERVENTION--Randomisation to neutron treatment was stopped in February 1990. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Patient survival and causes of death in relation to the development of metastatic disease and treatment related morbidity. RESULTS--In the first phase of the trial 42 patients were randomised to neutron treatment and 14 to photon treatment, and in the second phase 48 to neutron treatment and 47 to photon treatment. The relative risk of mortality for photons compared with neutrons was 0.66 (95% confidence interval 0.40 to 1.10) after adjustment for site of tumour and other important prognostic factors. Short term and long term complications were similar in both groups. CONCLUSIONS--The trial was stopped because of the increased mortality in patients with cancer of the cervix, bladder, or rectum treated with neutrons.
Inline capacitive and DC-contact MEMS shunt switches

This paper presents inline capacitive MEMS shunt switches suitable for X/K-band and Ka/V-band applications. The inline switch allows for a low- or high-inductance connection to the ground plane without changing the mechanical characteristics of the MEMS bridge. Excellent isolation and loss are achieved with this design, and the performance is very similar to the standard capacitive MEMS shunt switch. Also, a new metal-to-metal contact MEMS shunt switch is presented. A novel pull-down electrode is used which applies the electrostatic force at the same location as the metal-to-metal contact area. A contact resistance of 0.15-0.35 /spl Omega/ is repeatable, and results in an isolation of -40 dB at 0.1-3 GHz. The measured isolation is still better than -20 dB at 40 GHz. The application areas are in high-isolation/low-loss switches for telecommunication and radar systems.