Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Renvlp : An R Package for Efficient Estimation in Multivariate Analysis Using Envelope Models

The envelope models can achieve substantial efficiency gains in multivariate analysis. The only software the implements envelope models so far is the matlab toolbox envlp (Cook, Su, and Yang 2015b). Estimation in envlp requires optimization over a Grassmann manifold, which is slow in sizable problems. This article introduces the R package Renvlp which uses a non-Grassmann algorithm for envelope estimation. This algorithm is much faster and more accurate than the estimation algorithms that involve manifold optimization. Besides the envelope models in the matlab toolbox envlp, Renvlp also implements the latest developments in envelope methodology. The models supported by Renvlp include response envelope model, partial envelopes model, predictor envelope model, simultaneous envelope model, heteroscedastic envelope model, groupwise envelope model, scaled response envelope model, scaled predictor envelope, envelope model in logistic regression, envelope model in poisson regression, weighted response envelope estimation, weighted partial envelope estimation, and weighted predictor envelope estimation. For each model, Renvlp provides model fitting and inference functions for bootstrapping, cross validation, prediction and hypothesis testing. Examples are provided for illustration.
A pragmatic proposal for permissible limits in external quality assessment schemes with a compromise between biological variation and the state of the art

Abstract Permissible limits for internal and external quality assurance are either based on biological variation or on the state of the art (technical feasibility). The former approach has a scientific basis, but, in some cases, leads to limits which are either not achievable under the present technology, or which are not stringent enough. If proficiency testing is mandatory, stringent limits which cannot be fulfilled by the majority of laboratories could lead to juristic consequences. Therefore, most national guidelines were based on the state of the art, however, without providing the underlying reasoning. A simple algorithm for permissible limits in external quality assessment schemes (EQAS) is proposed based on biological variation, technical feasibility and correlated to the rate of false positive results. The proposed limits are compared with some limits from several EQAS (RiliBÄK, SEKK, RCPA, CLIA, PROLARIT). The suggested limits are slightly more stringent than the German RiliBÄK, less stringent than the Australasian guidelines and agreed best with the Czech SEKK and the Italian PROLARIT scheme. The graphical presentation of permissible limits strictly derived of biological variation with the proposed limits led to straight lines with different slopes and a cross-over at the limits for quantities with a medium biological variation (e.g., trijodthyronine). The greatest discordance between the various recommendations was observed for calcium, chloride, hemoglobin A1cand sodium.
Leveraging Subsequence-orders for Univariate and Multivariate Time-series Classification

Highly discriminative short time-series subsequences, known as shapelets, are used to classify a time-series. The existing shapeletbased methods for time-series classification assume that shapelets are independent of each other. However, they neglect temporal dependencies among pairs of shapelets, which are informative features that exist in many applications. Within this new framework, we explore a scheme to extract informative orders among shapelets by considering the time gap between two shapelets. In addition, we propose a novel model, Pairwise Shapelet-Orders Discovery, which extracts both informative shapelets and shapelet-orders and incorporates the shapelet-transformed space with shapelet-order space for time-series classification. The hypothesis of the study is that the extracted orders could increase the confidence of the prediction and further improves the classification performance. The results of extensive experiments conducted on 75 univariate and 6 multivariate real-world datasets provide evidence that the proposed model could significantly improve accuracy on average over baseline methods.
In vitro antifungal susceptibility patterns of planktonic and sessile Candida kefyr clinical isolates

The activity of fluconazole, amphotericin B, caspofungin and micafungin was determined using XTT-based fungal damage assays against planktonic cells, early and mature biofilms of Candida kefyr. Median MICs of planktonic cells were 0.25 mg/l, 0.25 mg/l, 0.5 mg/l, and 0.06 mg/l for fluconazole, amphotericin B, caspofungin, and micafungin, respectively. Fluconazole showed at least 50% fungal damage at ≥4 mg/l (51.5% ± 6.63% to 78.38% ± 1.44%) and at ≥128 mg/l (57.88% ± 9.2% to 67.25% ± 9.59%), while amphotericin B produced an even higher anti-biofilm effect at ≥0.5 mg/l (64.63% ± 6.79% to 79.5% ± 5.9%) and at ≥0.12 mg/l (77.63% ± 8.43% to 92.75% ± 1.89%) against early and mature biofilms, respectively. In case of micafungin, 50% fungal damage was observed at ≥0.06 mg/l (66.88% ± 10.16% to 98.63% ± 1.24%) and ≥0.25 mg/l (74.13% ± 10.77% to 99.38% ± 0.38%) for early and mature biofilms, respectively. Caspofungin-exposed cells showed an unexpected susceptibility pattern, that is, planktonic cells showed significantly decreased susceptibility at concentrations ranging from 0.015 mg/l to 1 mg/l compared to biofilms (P < .05-.01). The damage in planktonic cells and biofilms was comparable at higher concentrations. For planktonic cells and biofilms, 50% fungal damage was observed first at 0.5 mg/l (59.75% ± 3.16%) and at 0.06 mg/l (70.25% ± 10.95%), respectively. This unexpected pattern was confirmed using scanning electron microscopy. The unusual susceptibility pattern observed at lower caspofungin concentrations may explain the poorer outcome of caspofungin-treated C. kefyr infections documented in certain patient populations. As this phenomenon was markedly less apparent in case of micafungin, these data suggest that micafungin may be a more reliable option than caspofungin for the treatment of C. kefyr infections.
Effects of probiotics consumption on lowering lipids and CVD risk factors: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

This meta-analysis examined the effect of probiotics on the reduction of lipid components and coexisting risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease. All randomized controlled trials published in English on PubMed and Scopus from 2000 to 2014 were systematically searched. Using the PEDro scale to assess the quality of studies, a total of 15 studies with 788 subjects were selected for inclusion in the analysis. The mean difference and effect size with a 95% confidence interval (CI) were extracted from individual studies. Statistically significant pooled effects of probiotics were found on reduction of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and inflammatory markers. Subgroup analysis revealed statistically significant effects of probiotics on total cholesterol and LDL when the medium was fermented milk or yogurt (P < 0.001) compared to capsule form, consumption was at least 8 weeks in duration (P < 0.001), and the probiotics consisted of multiple strains (P < 0.001) rather than a single strain. A significant reduction was found in LDL in trials which contained Lactobacillus Acidophilus strain (P < 0.001) compared to other types of strains. Our findings suggest that probiotic supplementation use is effective in lowering the lipid level and coexisting factors associated with cardiovascular disease.
A fast direct elliptic solver via interconnected hierarchical structures

We propose a fast direct solver for discretized elliptic problems via interconnected hierarchical rank structures with a minimum amount of low-rank compression operations. The interconnected structures within two hierarchical layers are exploited: the hierarchical partitioning of a large problem into subproblems that are local Schur complements on smaller subdomains, and the interconnected hierarchical structured approximations of the subproblems. The interconnected structures make it feasible to extensively reuse off-diagonal basis matrices produced in the rank-structured factorization of smaller local Schur complements. Such basis matrices are produced only once and then reused across multiple hierarchical levels of the sparse factorization. Unlike many existing rank-structured direct solvers where explicit low-rank compression is often the major computation, our new solver can then avoid most of the compression operations. This helps to both reduce the cost and preserves the rank structures. The interconnected structures are further extended to accelerate factorization update problems where many local coefficient updates are involved. Numerical tests on Poisson’s equation and the Helmholtz equation are used to demonstrate the efficiency and speedup. In particular, certain reuse factors in our tests indicate dramatic reduction in the number of low-rank compression operations.
THE ABSENCE OF CIRCADIAN CUES DURING RECOVERY FROM SEPSIS MODIFIES PITUITARY-ADRENOCORTICAL FUNCTION AND IMPAIRS SURVIVAL

Lighting and other environmental cues in the intensive care unit rarely adhere to a consistent daily pattern. To determine the influence of the daily light/dark (LD) cycle on recovery from sepsis, male Sprague Dawley rats were acclimated to lights-on condition at 6 AM and lights-off condition at 6 PM for 6 to 14 days. Catheter placement and cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) were performed under ketamine and xylazine. Rats were returned to the established LD cycle, to constant light (LL), or to constant dark (DD) at 6 PM. One-week survival was 83.33% during LD (n = 24), 62.5% during LL (n = 16), and 31.25% during DD (n = 16; P < 0.01 for difference from the LD group). Both plasma adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and corticosterone levels in the morning of the first day after CLP were greater during DD than during LD (P < 0.05 in each case). The early elevation in ACTH was independent of survival. However, the greater frequency of nonsurviving DD rats accounted for the elevation of corticosterone in the DD group. Overall, most nonsurviors had a unique response pattern composed of an early elevation of corticosterone in relation to plasma ACTH that then declined to a value above the normal circadian peak despite a late increase in endogenous ACTH when death was imminent. We conclude that the circadian cues provided by the LD cycle improve survival after CLP. Removal of these cues by DD increases the early appearance and incidence of a hormonal response pattern that is associated with a lethal outcome.
Fetal Development

N ISSUE on abortion would be complete without a chapter on the fetus. He or she (in the absence of knowledge of the sex, we shall use the neutral "it") is, after all, one of the subjects in the debate. Frequently in the discussions on abortion, the physician is asked when life begins. Some seem to imply that there would be no problem of abortion if only a definitive statement could be made about the beginning of human life. This, however, is far from so, for the presence of human life has never precluded our taking it if we felt justified in doing so. In this issue on abortion the question (when life begins) is therefore asked not to endorse or prohibit abortion, but rather because the layman is baffled by the fetus, since he cannot see it. Since society has imagery and definitions of its own, which it has inherited from the past, it may be well in the description which follows to highlight those stages of development to which, for one reason or another, men have attached importance in the past.
A pilot study of folic acid supplementation for improving homocysteine levels, cognitive and depressive status in eating disorders.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Several authors have reported low folate intake in patients with eating disorders (ED). This vitamin plays an essential role in synthesis reactions for neurotransmitters and structural elements of neurons, and therefore its deficiency has been associated with the presence of different disorders linked to mental function. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of folic acid supplementation on homocysteine levels and the cognitive and depressive status of a group of patients with eating disorders with low folate intake. SUBJECTS/METHODS The study was designed as a randomised, prospective clinical trial, which included 24 participants assigned to two treatment groups for six months: supplemented group (SG) (10 mg/day of folic acid [ACFOL]) and a placebo group (PG). Both groups maintained their medical, dietary and psychological treatment. At baseline and end of the intervention, anthropometric, dietary and biochemical parameters (plasma homocysteine [Hcy], serum and red blood cell folate) were recorded. Cognitive and depressive status questionnaires were administered (Stroop Test, Trail Making Test and Beck Depression Inventory). RESULTS Twenty-two patients completed the study (SG: 12, PG: 10, mean age: 24.2 ± 8.8 years, BMI 18.9 ± 3.5 kg/m2). The SG significantly increased their serum and red blood cell folate levels and lowered Hcy levels (9.4 ± 2.4 μmol/l vs. 7.5 ± 1.7 μmol/l, P < 0.01). The SG also significantly improved most of their test scores for cognitive and depressive status. The PG showed no significant changes in any of the evaluated variables. CONCLUSIONS The results show that folic acid supplementation may be used as another tool within the comprehensive and multidisciplinary treatment applied to patients with ED.
Improving Boids Algorithm in GPU using Estimated Self Occlusion

Behavioral models are used in games and computer graphics for realistic simulation of massive crowds. In this paper, we present a GPU based implementation of Reynolds [1987] algorithm for simulating flocks of birds and propose an extension to consider environment self occlusion. We performed several experiments and the results showed that the proposed approach runs up to three times faster than the original algorithm when simulating high density crowds, without compromising significantly the original crowd behavior.
Early development of primary biliary cirrhosis in female C57BL/6 mice because of poly I:C administration

Background: Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is one of the organ‐specific autoimmune diseases characterized by destruction of the biliary epithelial cells, cholestasis, liver cirrhosis, and liver failure. With the postulation that induction of the autoimmune process might induce PBC‐like cholangitis, here we used polyinosinic polycytidylic acid (poly I:C), an inducer of type‐1 interferon (IFN), to generate an autoimmune cholangitis animal model.
TUNING PARAMETER SELECTION FOR PENALIZED LIKELIHOOD ESTIMATION OF GAUSSIAN GRAPHICAL MODEL

In a Gaussian graphical model, the conditional independence between two variables are characterized by the corresponding zero entries in the inverse covariance matrix. Maximum likelihood method using the smoothly clipped absolute deviation (SCAD) penalty (Fan and Li (2001)) has been proposed in the literature. In this article, we establish the result that when p is fixed, using the Bayesian information criterion (BIC) to select the tuning parameter in penalized likelihood estimation with the SCAD penalty can lead to consistent graphical model selection. When p increases with the sample size, a modified BIC with an extra penalty term is proposed. It can consistently select the true graphical model under the condition that p tends to infinity and all the true edges are included in a bounded subset. We compare the empirical performance of BIC with the cross validation method and demonstrate the advantageous performance of BIC criterion for sparse graphical models through simulation studies.
Metochlorpramide versus Midazolam in Avoiding Perioperative Nausea and Vomiting In Pregnant Women : A Clinical Comparative Study

Original Research Article Nausea and vomiting are common side effects in parturients undergoing caesarean delivery performed underspinal anaesthesia can be very unpleasant to the patients. The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy and safety using intravenous metoclopramide and midazolam for the prevention of nausea vomiting in parturient undergoing cesarean section under spinal anesthesia. This prospective and randomized double blind study was conducted in 100 parturient aged between 21 and 40 years, ASA physical status É, scheduled to undergo elective cesarean section under spinal anesthesia. Parturient presenting for cesarean section with standardized 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine 2 ml spinal anesthesia were randomized to intravenous metoclopramide 10 mg (group I) or intrathecal midazolam 2mg ( group II). The nausea, retching and vomiting were observed in 12%, 10%&4% patients in midazolam group, 52%, 20%& 2% patients of metoclopromide groups. Hypotension was observed in both groups, but respiratory failure was observed in 38% patients of midazlam group, but not found in metaclopromide group. Both drugs were effective in controlling the peri operative nausea and vomiting in this study.
Antibacterial , Cytotoxic and Antioxidant activities of Madhuca indica Israt

The research work was conducted on the evaluation ofantibacterial, cytotoxic and antioxidant activities of the methanolic extracts of leaf and bark of Madhuca indica (FamilySapotaceae). Disc diffusion technique was used for in vitroantibacterial screening using kanamycin as standard. Zone of inhibition was observed in disc diffusion against four grampositive and eight gram-negative pathogenic bacteria. The leaf and bark extracts showed average zone of inhibition ranged from 7-10 mm. Maximum zone of inhibition was observed 10 mm against Bacillus megaterium, Salmonella paratyphi,Vibrio parahemolyticus for barks and Vibrio mimicus for leaves. The cytotoxic activities of crude extracts were determined using Brine shrimp lethality using Vincristine sulfate as standard with LC50 of 8. 84μg/ml hence the crude extracts of leaves and barks showed significant cytotoxicity with LC50 of 17. 09μg/ml and 45.96 μg/ml respectively. Antioxidant activity test of the crude extracts was assessed by means of DPPH free radical scavenging method where ascorbic acid was used as standard with IC50 value 45. 738μg/ml. Leaves and barks of Madhuca indica showed significant antioxidant activity with IC50 value 61.832 μg/ml & 66.342 μg/ml respectively. The phenolic content was found in leaf 62.43mg of GAE / gm of extractives and the amount of phenolic content was 61.08mg of GAE / gm of extractives for bark which correlated with good antioxidant potentiality. IndexTerms—Madhuca indica, Anibacterial, Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant Activity.
Mononuclear cell metallothionein mRNA levels in human subjects with poor zinc nutrition

Human zinc deficiency is thought to be prevalent worldwide, particularly in populations with diets low in zinc and animal protein and high in inhibitors of zinc absorption, such as phytic acid. Confirmation of zinc deficiency is, however, difficult in the absence of a reliable and sensitive marker of zinc status. Under controlled conditions, T-lymphocyte metallothionein-2A (MT-2A) mRNA levels change in relation to zinc status and the objective of the present study was to investigate whether these transcript levels could be related to dietary zinc intake, plasma zinc or other biochemical parameters influenced by, or influencing, zinc metabolism in human subjects likely to be zinc deficient. Rural Koreans (n 110, age 50–80 years) with a range of zinc and phytic acid dietary intake were recruited for the study and blood samples were analysed for plasma zinc, HDL, LDL, α-tocopherol and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, mononuclear cell (MNC) MT-2A mRNA, serum protein and albumin, and blood haematocrit, Hb and glucose. Multiple correlation and principal component analysis showed a significant negative correlation between plasma zinc and MNC MT-2A mRNA levels. Female subjects had higher MT-2A transcript levels than males and MT-2A mRNA levels tended to increase with age. There was no significant association between dietary zinc intake or any index of zinc intake relating to dietary inhibitors of zinc absorption. It is concluded that MNC MT-2A mRNA levels cannot be used to predict poor zinc nutrition.
Obsessive-compulsive characteristics: from symptoms to syndrome.

OBJECTIVE To assess the distribution and severity of obsessions and compulsions in a nonclinical adolescent population. METHOD During preinduction military screening, 861 sixteen-year-old Israelis completed a questionnaire regarding the lifetime presence of eight obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms and three severity measures. The presence or absence of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or subclinical OCD was ascertained by an independent interview. RESULTS Although only 8.0% and 6.3% of respondents reported disturbing and intrusive thoughts, respectively, 27% to 72% of subjects endorsed the six remaining OCD symptoms. Twenty percent of subjects regarded the symptoms they endorsed as senseless and 3.5% found them disturbing; 8% reported spending more than an hour daily on symptoms. OCD and subclinical OCD cases differed significantly from non-OCD cases, but not from each other, in distress and mean number of symptoms. Although the distribution of nine of the items differed for noncases, compared with OCD and subclinical OCD cases, the distributions for all items overlapped markedly across the three groups. CONCLUSIONS OC phenomena appear to be on a continuum with few symptoms and minimal severity at one end and many symptoms and severe impairment on the other. Defining optimal cutoff points for distinguishing between psychiatric disorder and OC phenomena that are common in the general population remains an open question.
Title Real-time detection and sorting of news on microbloggingplatforms

Due to the increasing popularity of microblogging platforms (e.g., Twitter), detecting realtime news from microblogs (e.g., tweets) has recently drawn a lot of attention. Most of the previous work on this subject detect news by analyzing propagation patterns of microblogs. This approach has two limitations: (i) many non-news microblogs (e.g. marketing activities) have propagation patterns similar to news microblogs and therefore they can be falsely reported as news; (ii) using propagation patterns to identify news involves a time delay until the pattern is formed, therefore news are not detected in real time. We propose an alternative approach, which, motivated by the necessity of real-time detection of news, does not rely on propagation of posts. Moreover, we propose a real-time sorting strategy that orders the detected news microblogs using a translational approach. An experimental evaluation on a large-scale microblogging dataset demonstrates the effectiveness of our approach.
Towards a Maturity Model in Software Testing Automation

The practice of testing software is one of the ways to produce software with quality for demanding clients in the software market. The automation of Software testing may be seen as a solution for how to test the greatest amount of software within a project, due to the fact that the more the software is built, the larger the scope of testing is. Therefore, organizations that seek to guarantee that their software projects are being built according to the demands of their clients should follow an automation approach to testing. Thus, this paper puts forward a description of work in progress on the development of a maturity model for automating software testing that is being developed as part of a doctoral thesis. Besides presenting the overall expected structure of the maturity model, the plan for validating it is also set out. Keywords-software testing; automation; maturity models.