Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Practice-Based Evidence Study Design for Comparative Effectiveness Research

Objectives:To describe a new, rigorous, comprehensive practice-based evidence for clinical practice improvement (PBE-CPI) study methodology, and compare its features, advantages, and disadvantages to those of randomized controlled trials and sophisticated statistical methods for comparative effectiveness research. Research Design:PBE-CPI incorporates natural variation within data from routine clinical practice to determine what works, for whom, when, and at what cost. It uses the knowledge of front-line caregivers, who develop study questions and define variables as part of a transdisciplinary team. Its comprehensive measurement framework provides a basis for analyses of significant bivariate and multivariate associations between treatments and outcomes, controlling for patient differences, such as severity of illness. Results:PBE-CPI studies can uncover better practices more quickly than randomized controlled trials or sophisticated statistical methods, while achieving many of the same advantages. We present examples of actionable findings from PBE-CPI studies in postacute care settings related to comparative effectiveness of medications, nutritional support approaches, incontinence products, physical therapy activities, and other services. Conclusions:Outcomes improved when practices associated with better outcomes in PBE-CPI analyses were adopted in practice.
Output feedback control of a class of nonlinear systems: a nonseparation principle paradigm

Considers the problem of global stabilization by output feedback, for a family of nonlinear systems that are dominated by a triangular system satisfying a linear growth condition. The problem has remained unsolved due to the violation of the commonly assumed conditions in the literature. Using a feedback domination design method which is not based on the separation principle, we explicitly construct a linear output compensator making the closed-loop system globally exponentially stable.
Verification of Embedded Real-Time Systems Using Hardware/Software Cosimulation

This paper presents hardware/software co-simulation and discusses its suitability in the development of real-time systems. Due to the facts that time-to-market challenge has increased the need for shortening the development process, new techniques and methodologies are introduced. A fashionable technique is to use co-simulation environments in the verification phase of a design process. As this technique is being adopted, and the fact that companies from a wide industry area are using it, real-time issues are becoming relevant. This paper discusses the use of a co-simulation tool for verification of embedded real-time systems.
A consistent log-linear relationship between tuberculosis incidence and body mass index.

BACKGROUND Low weight for height is an established risk factor for tuberculosis (TB), and recent studies suggest that overweight is a protective factor. No previous systematic review has been done to explore the consistency and establish the gradient of this apparent 'dose-response' relationship. METHODS A systematic literature review was carried out to identify cohort studies that collected data on weight and height at baseline and that used a diagnosis of active TB as the study outcome. Weight-for-height measures used in the original studies were transformed into body mass index (BMI). Exponential trend lines were fitted to each data set. RESULTS Six studies were included. In all of them, there was a log-linear inverse relationship between TB incidence and BMI, within the BMI range 18.5-30 kg/m(2). The average slope gave a reduction in TB incidence of 13.8% [95% confidence interval 13.4-14.2] per unit increase in BMI. The dose-response relationship was less certain at BMI <18.5 and >30 kg/m(2). CONCLUSION There is a strong and consistent log-linear relationship between TB incidence and BMI across a variety of settings with different levels of TB burden. More research is required to test the relationship at very low and very high BMI levels, to establish the biological mechanism linking BMI with risk of TB and to establish the potential impact on the global TB epidemic of changing nutritional status of populations.
Rethinking HIV prevention to prepare for oral PrEP implementation for young African women

HIV incidence remains high among young women in sub‐Saharan Africa in spite of scale‐up of HIV testing, behavioural interventions, antiretroviral treatment and medical male circumcision. There is a critical need to critique past approaches and learn about the most effective implementation of evidence‐based HIV prevention strategies, particularly emerging interventions such as pre‐exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
Multiview image and video interpolation using weighted vector median filters

In Depth Image-Based Rendering (DIBR), interpolated views generated using one or two cameras usually present artifacts and holes due to occlusions and/or inconsistencies in the input disparity maps. In this paper we propose a multiple (3 or more) camera view interpolation technique that is able to combine redundant projections in a single interpolated view by using Weighted Vector Median Filters (WVMFs). By expressing the weights of the WVMF using both the distance from each reference view to the synthetic view and a measure of consonance of each projection to the others, we achieve a high quality view interpolation without holes and common visual artifacts, such as cracks and ghost effects. Additionally, we present an extension to multiview video sequences by imposing temporal coherence in the estimated disparity maps.
Performance of Multistage Detectors in Synchronous CDMA Mobile Communication System. (Dept. E)

Multiuser detection (MUD) is central to the fulfillment of the capabilities of code-division-multiple access (CDMA), which is becoming the ubiquitous air-interface in future generation communication systems. The problem of multiple access interference (MAI) is vital for a CDMA system. A variety of MUD has been proposed to mitigate the MAI. The simplest one is the single-user matched filter approach, which totally ignores the existence of MAI. Its performance is not very satisfactory and is particularly limited by the near-far problem. This paper presents the performance of different types of detectors as well as a solution for the near-far-problem using the decorrelator detector type. Key wordsMUD, MAI, decorrelator, near-far-problem
Managing Qualitative Spatial Information to Support Query-by-Sketch

In this paper, we propose an extension of existing geographic information systems to support querying-by-sketch, focusing particularly on data management and querying performance. Our aim is to support a particular class of queries, called qualitative spatial configuration queries, used to match sketch-maps against spatial datasets. After analyzing several possible approaches, we identify the development of a dedicated layer for managing qualitative information as the most promising solution. To cope with the quadratic growth in the number of qualitative relations between the objects in a GIS, we introduce three different strategies to systematically reduce the information to manage. We provide a prototypical implementation of the first strategy and present empirical results showing the gain in performance when applying the implemented reduction strategy compared to the case when no reduction is performed.
A Fast and Fault-Tolerant Distributed Algorithm for Near-Optimal TDMA Scheduling in WSNs

The time division multiple access (TDMA) based channel access mechanisms perform better than the contention based channel access mechanisms, in terms of channel utilization, reliability and power consumption, specially for high data rate applications in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Most of the existing distributed TDMA scheduling techniques can be classified as either static or dynamic. The primary purpose of static TDMA scheduling algorithms is to improve the channel utilization by generating a schedule of smaller length. But, they usually take longer time to schedule, and hence, are not suitable for WSNs, in which the network topology changes dynamically. On the other hand, dynamic TDMA scheduling algorithms generate a schedule quickly, but they are not efficient in terms of generated schedule length. In this paper, we propose a novel scheme for TDMA scheduling in WSNs, which can generate a compact schedule similar to static scheduling algorithms, while its runtime performance can be matched with those of dynamic scheduling algorithms. Furthermore, the proposed distributed TDMA scheduling algorithm has the capability to trade-off schedule length with the time required to generate the schedule. This would allow the developers of WSNs, to tune the performance, as per the requirement of prevalent WSN applications, and the requirement to perform re-scheduling. Finally, the proposed TDMA scheduling is fault-tolerant to packet loss due to erroneous wireless channel. The algorithm has been simulated using the Castalia simulator to compare its performance with those of others in terms of generated schedule length and the time required to generate the TDMA schedule. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm generates a compact schedule in a very less time.
Safety and efficacy assessment of carotid artery stenting in a high-risk population in a single-centre registry

Introduction Ischaemic stroke is the primary cause of long-term disability and the third most common cause of death. Internal carotid artery stenosis is an important risk factor for stroke and transient ischaemic attack (TIA). European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines allow carotid artery stenting (CAS) as an alternative to endarterectomy in centres with low rates of death or stroke. Aim To assess the safety and efficacy of CAS in a single-centre observation. Material and methods We performed a retrospective analysis of all patients treated with CAS between March 2008 and July 2012. Clinical data and outcomes in both asymptomatic and symptomatic patients were analysed. Results A total of 214 consecutive patients were included in the registry. Symptomatic patients accounted for 57% of the study group and were more likely to have a history of stroke and/or TIA that occurred more than 6 months before the procedure (50% vs. 8%, p < 0.001). Asymptomatic patients were more likely to have a history of coronary artery disease (88% vs. 61%, p < 0.001), and the rates of previous acute coronary syndrome and revascularisation were also higher in this group (58% vs. 41% and 71% vs. 52%, respectively, both p < 0.05). The symptomatic group had higher incidence of stroke in periprocedural and 30-day observation (4% vs. 0%, p < 0.05). There was no difference in incidence of adverse events in long-term observation. Conclusions Carotid artery stenting is a safe and efficacious procedure. Every centre performing CAS should monitor the rate of periprocedural complications.
Applications of alignment-free methods in epigenomics

Epigenetic mechanisms play an important role in the regulation of cell type-specific gene activities, yet how epigenetic patterns are established and maintained remains poorly understood. Recent studies have supported a role of DNA sequences in recruitment of epigenetic regulators. Alignment-free methods have been applied to identify distinct sequence features that are associated with epigenetic patterns and to predict epigenomic profiles. Here, we review recent advances in such applications, including the methods to map DNA sequence to feature space, sequence comparison and prediction models. Computational studies using these methods have provided important insights into the epigenetic regulatory mechanisms.
A Generic Model for Along-track Stereo Sensors Using Rigorous Orbit Mechanics

In this paper a generic, rigorous sensor model for highresolution optical satellite sensors with along-track stereoscopic capabilities is introduced. The idea is to determine the orbit of the satellite platform covering the time acquisition of all images, using satellite photogrammetry in combination with astrodynamics, trying to find common exterior orientation parameters for all images directly or indirectly. As a result, the number of unknown parameters is reduced and also the correlation between them, thus giving a more stable solution. Great effort is made in order to define the essential forces which are involved in the acquisition of the pushbroom images, according to the needed accuracy and the data provided. The fundamental assumption is that Keplerian motion is maintained along the acquisition time of all the along-track images. Various versions of the model are developed based on different orbit determinationpropagation methods. An accuracy assessment is made of the above different orbit determination-propagation methods. It is possible to extract the exterior orientation of all images together directly, without ground control points and using the metadata information, with acceptable accuracy. The model is evaluated using SPOT5-HRS imagery with precision close to pixel size. Moreover, the accuracy of the along-track model is compared with the accuracy of single image sensor model.
Simultaneous learning of several Bayesian and Mahalanobis discriminant functions by a neural network with additional nodes

We construct a neural network which can simultaneously approximate several Bayesian and Mahalanobis discriminant functions. The main part of the network is an ordinary one-hidden-layer neural network with a nonlinear output unit, but it has several additional nodes. Since the network has a task to approximate Mahalanobis discriminant functions, the state-conditional probability distributions are supposed to be normal distributions. The method is useful when the Bayesian discriminant functions can be decomposed into sums of a common main part and individual linear additional parts. The main part of the network approximates the quadratic part of the discriminant functions.
MfrDB: Database of Annotated On-Line Mathematical Formulae

This paper announces a ground truthed database of on-line handwritten mathematical formulae. It have recently been collected in our group in connection with the research on methods for structural pattern recognition. Unlike the availability of handwritten characters or texts, collections of structural objects are rather scarce, thus we would like to provide them to the community. We also present the methodology and tools used for data acquisition. Finally, we report on our experiment with the automatic generation of additional samples. The process utilizes the dataset to extract statistical descriptions of symbols alignments and relative sizes.
A systematic analysis of human disease-associated gene sequences in Drosophila melanogaster.

We performed a systematic analysis of 929 human disease gene entries associated with at least one mutant allele in the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database against the recently completed genome sequence of Drosophila melanogaster. The results of this search have been formatted as an updateable and searchable on-line database called Homophila. Our analysis identified 714 distinct human disease genes (77% of disease genes searched) matching 548 unique Drosophila sequences, which we have summarized by disease category. This breakdown into disease classes creates a picture of disease genes that are amenable to study using Drosophila as the model organism. Of the 548 Drosophila genes related to human disease genes, 153 are associated with known mutant alleles and 56 more are tagged by P-element insertions in or near the gene. Examples of how to use the database to identify Drosophila genes related to human disease genes are presented. We anticipate that cross-genomic analysis of human disease genes using the power of Drosophila second-site modifier screens will promote interaction between human and Drosophila research groups, accelerating the understanding of the pathogenesis of human genetic disease. The Homophila database is available at http://homophila.sdsc. edu.
Automating the Determination of 3d Protein Structure 3.2 Databases 3.3 New Method of Determining Structural Similarity 4 Integrating a Database: Dbemp

The creation of an automated method for determining 3D protein structure would be invaluable to the eld of biology and presents an interesting challenge to computer science. Unfortunately , given the current level of protein knowledge, a completely automated solution method is not yet feasible; therefore, our group has decided to integrate existing databases and theories to create a software system that assists X-ray crystallographers in specifying a particular protein structure. By breaking the problem of determining overall protein structure into small subproblems, we hope to come closer to solving a novel structure by solving each component. By generating necessary information for structure determination, this method provides the rst step toward designing a program to determine protein conformation automatically. The properties of a protein are largely determined by its three-dimensional structure Voet and Voet 1990]. This statement would seem to simplify the process of understanding proteins and their functions. Actually, it exposes the major reason that so little is really understood about speciic proteins or even proteins in general. For many proteins, certain properties of their function can be described, but no explanation of how they function can be given. The result is a gaping hole in our understanding of the fundamental processes of life. Nothing in the cell remains unaaected or unprocessed by proteins in some way. Many of the structural components of the cell are proteins; and, perhaps more important, proteins lie at the heart of the biological reactions that occur within the cell. Most objects known to have catalytic activity contain proteins, whether the protein is an enzyme and responsible itself for the catalysis or is the structural component of ribozymes. An understanding of proteins would unravel most, if not all, the processes necessary to regulate and sustain life. Such an understanding would open new doors in medicine, industry, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and many other areas. The determination of protein structure is a nontrivial problem. Much of the necessary information about which structure a protein will fold into is contained in the linear sequence of amino acids; therefore, it may be possible to determine the 3D structure of a protein from its amino acid sequence. Many scientists are currently working toward such an understanding, but to date, the mechanisms and rules by which a protein folds remain elusive. Key to current research are crystallographic techniques , which provide electron density maps that provide incomplete, but highly informative, data …
Extensions of Superscaling from Relativistic Mean Field Theory: the SuSAv2 Model

We present a systematic analysis of the quasielastic scaling functions computed within the relativistic mean field (RMF) theory and we propose an extension of the superscaling approach (SuSA) model based on these results. The main aim of this work is to develop a realistic and accurate phenomenological model (SuSAv2), which incorporates the different RMF effects in the longitudinal and transverse nuclear responses, as well as in the isovector and isoscalar channels. This provides a complete set of reference scaling functions to describe in a consistent way both (e,e � ) processes and the neutrino/antineutrino-nucleus reactions in the quasielastic region. A comparison of the model predictions with electron and neutrino scattering data is presented.
Interleaved coded modulation for non-binary codes: a factor graph approach

This contribution deals with the problem of combining (non-binary) error-correcting codes with higher-order modulation schemes on AWGN and flat fading channels through interleaved coded modulation. We extend the idea of bit-interleaved coded modulation (BICM) to a more general form. With the aid of factor graph representations, we show how higher-order modulation can be combined with non-binary codes so that noniterative detection becomes optimal. This is in contrast with conventional BICM, for which non-iterative detection can be far from optimal. Through computer simulations, we compare an optimal non-iterative scheme with conventional BICM. It turns out that the gain due to optimal detection is outweighed by the loss in time-diversity as compared to BICM-ID.
Investigation of Approaches for the Localizationof Anatomical Landmarks in 3 D Medical

We investigate the extraction of corresponding anatomical point landmarks in MR and CT images of the human head using 3D diierential operators for the extraction of isocon-tour curvature extrema. We carried out experiments measuring the sensitivity to noise, the localization accuracy, the false detection rate and the registration accuracy. Based on the experimental results we compare the performance of six diierent approaches.
Data Types as Lattices

The meaning of many kinds of expressions in programming languages can be taken as elements of certain spaces of “partial” objects. In this report these spaces are modeled in one universal domain ${\bf P} \omega $, the set of all subsets of the integers. This domain renders the connection of this semantic theory with the ordinary theory of number theoretic (especially general recursive) functions clear and straightforward.
An antibody raised against a pathogenic serpin variant induces mutant-like behaviour in the wild-type protein

A monoclonal antibody (mAb) that binds to a transient intermediate may act as a catalyst for the corresponding reaction; here we show this principle can extend on a macro molecular scale to the induction of mutant-like oligomerization in a wild-type protein. Using the common pathogenic E342K (Z) variant of α1-antitrypsin as antigen–whose native state is susceptible to the formation of a proto-oligomeric intermediate–we have produced a mAb (5E3) that increases the rate of oligomerization of the wild-type (M) variant. Employing ELISA, gel shift, thermal stability and FRET time-course experiments, we show that mAb5E3 does not bind to the native state of α1-antitrypsin, but recognizes a cryptic epitope in the vicinity of the post-helix A loop and strand 4C that is revealed upon transition to the polymerization intermediate, and which persists in the ensuing oligomer. This epitope is not shared by loop-inserted monomeric conformations. We show the increased amenity to polymerization by either the pathogenic E342K mutation or the binding of mAb5E3 occurs without affecting the energetic barrier to polymerization. As mAb5E3 also does not alter the relative stability of the monomer to intermediate, it acts in a manner similar to the E342K mutant, by facilitating the conformational interchange between these two states.