Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Studying Language Change Using Price Equation and Pólya-urn Dynamics

Language change takes place primarily via diffusion of linguistic variants in a population of individuals. Identifying selective pressures on this process is important not only to construe and predict changes, but also to inform theories of evolutionary dynamics of socio-cultural factors. In this paper, we advocate the Price equation from evolutionary biology and the Pólya-urn dynamics from contagion studies as efficient ways to discover selective pressures. Using the Price equation to process the simulation results of a computer model that follows the Pólya-urn dynamics, we analyze theoretically a variety of factors that could affect language change, including variant prestige, transmission error, individual influence and preference, and social structure. Among these factors, variant prestige is identified as the sole selective pressure, whereas others help modulate the degree of diffusion only if variant prestige is involved. This multidisciplinary study discerns the primary and complementary roles of linguistic, individual learning, and socio-cultural factors in language change, and offers insight into empirical studies of language change.
Predictive value of GGN and CAG repeat polymorphisms of androgen receptors in testicular cancer: a meta-analysis

The risk of testicular cancer (TC) is markedly increased in subjects with androgen insensitivity, and previous studies have proposed that GGN and CAG repeats in androgen receptors (AR) could be related to the risk of TC. To evaluate the association between the length of GGN and CAG repeats in AR and TC, a meta-analysis involving 3255 TC cases and 2804 controls was performed. The results suggested that long GGN repeats are associated with an increased risk of TC compared with those < 23 [odds ratio (OR) = 1.22, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.05–1.41]; similarly, a subgroup analysis revealed that this association occurred in studies with case sizes > 200, and in the mid-latitude, and seminoma subgroups. The subgroup analysis based on populations, high-latitude, and seminomas/non-seminomas suggested that AR CAG repeat polymorphisms with > 25 and < 21 + > 25 repeats might confer a protective effect to the patients with TC (in the high-latitude subgroup analysis, for > 25 vs. 21–25: OR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.41–0.70). In contrast, an increased risk of TC was observed for AR CAG repeat polymorphisms with > 25 and < 21 + > 25 repeats in the mid-latitude subgroup (for > 25 vs. 21–25: OR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.09–2.50). In addition, no associations between the remaining subgroups and male infertility were observed. In short, this meta-analysis suggested that AR GGN and CAG repeat polymorphisms may be involved in the etiology of TC.
Charge-density-based analysis of the current–voltage response of polythiophene/fullerene photovoltaic devices

A key challenge for organic electronics research is to develop device models that correctly account for the structural and energetic disorder typically present in such materials. In this paper we report an approach to analyze the electrical performance of an organic electronic device based upon charge extraction measurements of charge densities and transient optoelectronic measurements of charge carrier dynamics. This approach is applied to a poly(3-hexyl thiophene) (P3HT)/6,6 phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) blend photovoltaic device. These measurements are employed to determine the empirical rate law for bimolecular recombination losses, with the energetic disorder present in the materials being accounted for by a charge-density-dependent recombination coefficient. This rate law is then employed to simulate the current/voltage curve. This simulation assumes the only mechanism for the loss of photogenerated charges is bimolecular recombination and employs no fitting parameters. Remarkably the simulation is in good agreement with the experimental current/voltage data over a wide range of operating conditions of the solar cell. We thus demonstrate that the primary determinant of both the open-circuit voltage and fill factor of P3HT∶PCBM devices is bimolecular recombination. We go on to discuss the applicability of this analysis approach to other materials systems, and particularly to emphasize the effectiveness of this approach where the presence of disorder complicates the implementation of more conventional, voltage-based analyses such as the Shockley diode equation.
Pseudorabies Virus Expressing Bovine Herpesvirus 1 Glycoprotein B Exhibits Altered Neurotropism and Increased Neurovirulence

ABSTRACT Herpesvirus glycoproteins play dominant roles in the initiation of infection of target cells in culture and thus may also influence viral tropism in vivo. Whereas the relative contribution of several nonessential glycoproteins to neurovirulence and neurotropism ofPseudorabies virus (PrV), an alphaherpesvirus which causes Aujeszky's disease in pigs, has recently been uncovered in studies using viral deletion mutants, the importance of essential glycoproteins is more difficult to assess. We isolated an infectious PrV mutant, PrV-9112C2, which lacks the gene encoding the essential PrV glycoprotein B (gB) but stably carries in its genome and expresses the homologous gene of bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV-1) (A. Kopp and T. C. Mettenleiter, J. Virol. 66:2754–2762, 1992). Apart from exhibiting a slight delay in penetration kinetics, PrV-9112C2 was similar in its growth characteristics in cell culture to wild-type PrV. To analyze the effect of the exchange of these homologous glycoproteins in PrV's natural host, swine, 4-week-old piglets were intranasally infected with 106 PFU of either wild-type PrV strain Kaplan (PrV-Ka), PrV-9112C2, or PrV-9112C2R, in which the PrV gB gene was reinserted instead of the BHV-1 gB gene. Animals infected with PrV-Ka and PrV-9112C2R showed a similar course of disease, i.e., high fever, marked respiratory symptoms but minimal neurological disorders, and excretion of high amounts of virus. All animals survived the infection. In contrast, animals infected with PrV-9112C2 showed no respiratory symptoms and developed only mild fever. However, on day 5 after infection, all piglets developed severe central nervous system (CNS) symptoms leading to death within 48 to 72 h. Detailed histological analyses showed that PrV-9112C2R infected all regions of the nasal mucosa and subsequently spread to the CNS preferentially by the trigeminal route. In contrast, PrV-9112C2 primarily infected the olfactory epithelium and spread via the olfactory route. In the CNS, more viral antigen and significantly more pronounced histological changes resulting in more severe encephalitis were found after PrV-9112C2 infection. Thus, our results demonstrate that replacement of PrV gB by the homologous BHV-1 glycoprotein resulted in a dramatic increase in neurovirulence combined with an alteration in the route of neuroinvasion, indicating that the essential gB is involved in determining neurotropism and neurovirulence of PrV.
High voltage pulse speed study for high voltage DC-DC power supply based on voltage multipliers

The high voltage (HV) pulse speed is investigated for voltage multiplier based HV power supply. The key factors which influence the HV pulse rise and decay response time for HV power supply such as switching frequency, load resistance, and voltage multiplier capacitance are studied. When the stage number of voltage multiplier is determined, the switching frequency is the key influence factor for the HV pulse rise time. High switching frequency will lead to short HV pulse rise time. From the voltage multiplier HV pulse rise time simulation results, assuming sufficient power supply power rating, the load resistance and filter capacitor have little influence for the HV pulse rise time. The high voltage pulse decay time is proportional to load resistance and multiplier capacitance. Though switching frequency has indirect relation to decay time, multiplier capacitance can be decreased with higher switching frequency. So higher switching frequency can effectively decrease the both high voltage pulse rise and decay time. The experimental results of a 2kV output HV power supply switching at 300 kHz with 2-stage half-wave series voltage multiplier prototype verify the analysis and simulation results. The practical design guidelines for achieving desired HV pulse rise & decay time is provided finally.
The Inanimate Environment of an Intensive Care Unit as a Potential Source of Nosocomial Bacteria: Evidence for Long Survival of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus

Abstract Environmental surface and personnel hand impression cultures were obtained during 13 sampling periods in the University of Virginia Pediatric Intensive Care Unit to document potential reservoirs of nosocomial pathogens. In 78 environmental cultures Staphylococcus aureus was found eight times and gram-negative bacilli ten times. The patient chart cover was the most commonly contaminated surface. Acinetobacter calcoaceticus was found in five of ten cultures positive for gram-negative bacilli. Thirty of 59 hand cultures were positive for S aureus and gram-negative bacilli; nurses and residents had both, respiratory therapists only gram-negative bacilli, and A calcoaceticus was the most commonly isolated bacterium of potentially nosocomial significance (14/30). Laboratory investigation of bacterial survival revealed that gramnegative bacilli survived on a dry formica surface from a few hours up to three days but Acinetobacter survived up to 13 days. Since A calcoaceticus has been implicated in many nosocomial infections, its long survival on a dry surface may be an additional factor in its transmission in hospitals and suggests that more attention be paid to environmental surfaces as a source of significant nosocomial pathogens.
Tight bounds for symmetric divergence measures and a new inequality relating f-divergences

Tight bounds for several symmetric divergence measures are introduced, given in terms of the total variation distance. Each of these bounds is attained by a pair of 2 or 3-element probability distributions. An application of these bounds for lossless source coding is provided, refining and improving a certain bound by Csiszár. A new inequality relating f-divergences is derived, and its use is exemplified. The last section of this conference paper is not included in the recent journal paper [16], as well as some new remarks that are linked to new references.
Subwavelength waveguides composed of dielectric nanoparticles

Roman S. Savelev,1 Alexey P. Slobozhanyuk,1 Andrey E. Miroshnichenko,2 Yuri S. Kivshar,1,2 and Pavel A. Belov1 1National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics (ITMO), St. Petersburg 197101, Russia 2Nonlinear Physics Centre, Research School of Physics and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia (Received 28 October 2013; revised manuscript received 23 December 2013; published 30 January 2014)
Identification of the Slynar gene (AY070435) and related brain expressed sequences as a candidate gene for susceptibility to affective disorders through allelic and haplotypic association with bipolar disorder on chromosome 12q24.

OBJECTIVE Three linkage studies of bipolar disorder have implicated chromosome 12q24.3, with significant lod scores of over 3.00. Several other linkage studies have found lod scores between 2.00 and 3.00. In order to identify which gene on this chromosome is responsible, the authors carried out tests of allelic association with bipolar disorder in order to fine map an affective disorder susceptibility gene. METHOD DNA samples from 681 bipolar disorder patients and 570 comparison subjects from Denmark and the United Kingdom were genotyped with markers close to the region at which the authors had found maximum linkage in previous studies. RESULTS Single marker allelic association was found with four markers in the Danish cohort. Seven markers in exactly the same region were then found to show significant allelic association in the U.K. cohort. Tests of haplotypic association were also significant, confirming the single marker allelic associations. CONCLUSIONS These positive fine mapping results validate earlier linkage studies and implicate a 278-kilobase region of chromosome 12 that contributes to the etiology of bipolar disorder. Several brain transcripts are transcribed from sequences in the region. The main candidate gene has no known function but is found in human brain cDNA and is homologous to a Macaque brain cDNA. Sequencing of expressed sequences and control regions in the area should identify etiological base pair changes that increase susceptibility to bipolar disorder.
Determining the Clinical Utility of the Merrill-Palmer-Revised Scales of Development in a Sample of Children with Autistic Disorder

The aim of this study was to determine aspects of the clinical usefulness of the MerrillPalmer-Revised Scales of Development (M-P-R) in children diagnosed with Autistic Disorder (AD). The revised developmental measure reports strong levels of reliability and validity in a standardization sample. While some clinical subsamples were included to help establish the test’s validity, the group of children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) was limited to a sample size of 14. The present study recruited 50 children with Autistic Disorder (41 male, 9 female) ranging in age from 40 months to 78-months, along with a matched non-clinical sample that was obtained from the M-P-R standardization data. Each group’s performance was obtained from the Cognitive Battery, Gross Motor Battery, and supplemental language and parent rating forms. Observations were also made to the special groups outlined in the M-P-R Manual. The results suggested that the M-P-R is a tool sensitive in identifying developmental delay, but not specific in differentiating among children diagnosed with AD and other common early childhood Determining the Clinical Utility of M-P-R Scales iv disorders. In part, the large variability in test performance across the AD sample contributed to this diagnostic weakness. Determining the Clinical Utility of M-P-R Scales v
Effects of subthalamic nucleus stimulation and levodopa on freezing of gait in Parkinson disease

Objective: We studied the effects of subthalamic nucleus (STN) stimulation vs levodopa on freezing of gait (FOG) and gait impairments in a large consecutive series of patients with Parkinson disease with bilateral STN stimulation. Methods: One hundred twenty-three patients performed the Stand Walk Sit Test before and 1 year after surgery both off and on levodopa and off and on stimulation. Results: Before surgery, 25 patients displayed FOG episodes and 48 were unable to complete the Stand Walk Sit Test when off levodopa. Both symptoms were alleviated by levodopa. After surgery, STN stimulation reproduced the improvement induced by levodopa before surgery in all but two patients with FOG and five others unable to walk. In 11 patients, FOG or inability to perform the test first occurred after surgery. In all patients but those experiencing FOG during the Stand Walk Sit Test before surgery, the benefit of STN stimulation did not reach that of levodopa before surgery. In patients with FOG before surgery, the effect of STN stimulation did not differ from that of levodopa either before or after surgery. Conclusions: Overall, subthalamic nucleus stimulation improved levodopa-responsive freezing of gait in most patients, although it was not always as effective as levodopa to improve gait impairments. In addition, surgery can induce gait problems in some patients. GLOSSARY: FOG = freezing of gait; PD = Parkinson disease; STN = subthalamic nucleus; SWST = Stand Walk Sit Test; UPDRS = Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale.
Systemic Immune-Inflammation Index Predicts Prognosis of Patients after Curative Resection for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Purpose: We developed a novel systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) based on lymphocyte, neutrophil, and platelet counts and explored its prognostic value in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Experimental Design: The SII was developed based on a retrospective study of 133 patients with HCC undergoing resection between 2005 and 2006, and validated in a prospective study of 123 patients enrolled from 2010 to 2011. The circulating tumor cell (CTC) level in the validation cohort was measured using the CellSearch system. Prediction accuracy was evaluated with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Results: An optimal cutoff point for the SII of 330 × 109 stratified the patients with HCC into high (≥330) and low SII (<330) groups in the training cohort. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed the SII was an independent predictor for overall survival and relapse-free survival, and prognostic for patients with negative α-fetoprotein and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage 0+A. The AUCs of the SII for survival and recurrence were higher than other conventional clinical indices. An SII ≥ 330 was significantly associated with vascular invasion, large tumors, and early recurrence. CTC levels were significantly higher in the SII ≥ 330 group (1.71 ± 0.34 vs. 4.37 ± 1.04, P = 0.029). In patients with detectable CTCs, those with SII ≥ 330 had higher recurrence rates and shorter survival time than patients with SII < 330. Conclusion: The SII was a powerful prognostic indicator of poor outcome in patients with HCC and is a promising tool for HCC treatment strategy decisions. The dismal outcome in patients with high SII scores might be related to higher CTC levels. Clin Cancer Res; 20(23); 6212–22. ©2014 AACR.
Efficient Splitting-based Method for Global Image Smoothing

Edge-preserving smoothing (EPS) can be formulated as minimizing an objective function that consists of data and prior terms. This global EPS approach shows better smoothing performance than a local one that typically has a form of weighted averaging, at the price of high computational cost. In this paper, we introduce a highly efficient splitting-based method for global EPS that minimizes the objective function of ${l_2}$ data and prior terms (possibly non-smooth and non-convex) in linear time. Different from previous splitting-based methods that require solving a large linear system, our approach solves an equivalent constrained optimization problem, resulting in a sequence of 1D sub-problems. This enables linear time solvers for weighted-least squares and -total variation problems. Our solver converges quickly, and its runtime is even comparable to state-of-the-art local EPS approaches. We also propose a family of fast iteratively re-weighted algorithms using a non-convex prior term. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and flexibility of our approach in a range of computer vision and image processing tasks.
Unbundling Transaction Services in the Cloud

The traditional architecture for a DBMS engine has the recovery, concurrency control and access method code tightly bound together in a storage engine for records. We propose a different approach, where the storage engine is factored into two layers (each of which might have multiple heterogeneous instances). A Transactional Component (TC) works at a logical level only: it knows about transactions and their ―logical‖ concurrency control and undo/redo recovery, but it does not know about page layout, B-trees etc. A Data Component (DC) knows about the physical storage structure. It supports a record oriented interface that provides atomic operations, but it does not know about transactions. Providing atomic record operations may itself involve DC-local concurrency control and recovery, which can be implemented using system transactions. The interaction of the mechanisms in TC and DC leads to multi-level redo (unlike the repeat history paradigm for redo in integrated engines). This refactoring of the system architecture could allow easier deployment of application-specific physical structures and may also be helpful to exploit multi-core hardware. Particularly promising is its potential to enable flexible transactions in cloud database deployments. We describe the necessary principles for unbundled recovery, and discuss implementation issues.
The Student Learning Imperative: Implications for Student Affairs.

Higher education is in the throes of a major transformation. Forcing the transformation are economic conditions, eroding public confidence, accountability demands, and demographic shifts resulting in increased numbers of people from historically underrepresented groups going to college. More people are participating in higher education than ever before, yet the resources supporting the enterprise are not keeping pace with the demand. Because of these and other factors, legislators, parents, governing boards, and students want colleges and universities to reemphasize student learning and personal development as the primary goals of undergraduate education. In short, people want to know that higher education is preparing students to lead productive lives after college including the ability to deal effectively with such major societal challenges as poverty, illiteracy, crime, and environmental exploitation.
RDF data processing system based on Tensor Decomposition

This thesis targets research in the area of relational data processing. In particular, a new system based on tensor decomposition is presented, namely, RDF-TD – RDF data processing system based on Tensor Decomposition. The system can be utilized to process large sets of RDF data to produce a compressed version of the data. The compressed representation can be then used to reconstruct the initial data with high accuracy or (after applying learning methods) to find latent relations in the data. The main goal of the thesis is to present RDF-TD. Special attention has been paid to the systems model, implementation and optimization methods. Moreover, related tensor decomposition and Random Indexing methods have been presented. RDF-TD has been validated in the scenario of semantic Web service matchmaking. The required validation methodology and tools were provided by the international Semantic Service Selection (S3) contest. The experiments presented in the thesis confirmed RDF-TD’s capability to reconstruct information with high accuracy and marked it as a viable direction for further research. The work presented in this thesis is complemented by a summary of the key results, conclusions and directions for future work.