Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Framework of Whole Heart Extracellular Volume Fraction Estimation for Low-Dose Cardiac CT Images

Cardiac CT (CCT) is widely available and has been validated for the detection of focal myocardial scar using a delayed enhancement technique in this paper. CCT, however, has not been previously evaluated for quantification of diffuse myocardial fibrosis. In our investigation, we sought to evaluate the potential of low-dose CCT for the measurement of myocardial whole heart extracellular volume (ECV) fraction. ECV is altered under conditions of increased myocardial fibrosis. A framework consisting of three main steps was proposed for CCT whole heart ECV estimation. First, a shape-constrained graph cut (GC) method was proposed for myocardium and blood pool segmentation on postcontrast image. Second, the symmetric demons deformable registration method was applied to register precontrast to postcontrast images. So the correspondences between the voxels from precontrast to postcontrast images were established. Finally, the whole heart ECV value was computed. The proposed method was tested on 20 clinical low-dose CCT datasets with precontrast and postcontrast images. The preliminary results demonstrated the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed method.
Bichromatic Reverse Nearest-Neighbor Search in Mobile Systems

In traditional reverse nearest-neighbor (RNN) search, the goal is to find the set of interest objects taking the query object as the nearest neighbor given that the interest objects and the query object have the same type. However, when the interest objects and the query object are of different types, this problem is called bichromatic reverse nearest neighbor (BRNN) search. The BRNN query has an increasing number of mobile applications and requires efficient algorithms for processing. In this paper, we present a novel approach for the BRNN search in the context of spatial network databases (SNDB). The main idea behind our approaches is to use Euclidean-based range search to prune the search space and use Euclidean distance in addition to network distance to minimize processing time. Finally, the experimental results confirm that our proposed algorithm have good performance on different network densities.
Service-based Integration of IT-Innovations in Customer-Bank-Interaction

Numerous information technology (IT)-based innovations from automated teller machines to electronic banking have already changed the customer-bank-interaction. Banks learned that these innovations require close integration with the existing channels, processes and systems in the front as well as in the backend. In view of a still dynamic pace of technological evolution, this research provides an overview of existing innovations in banking which have more recently spread especially in Germany and Switzerland. Based on these examples a framework is developed for vertically and horizontally integrating these innovations in existing architectures in banking
Simulating biped behaviors from human motion data

Physically based simulation of human motions is an important issue in the context of computer animation, robotics and biomechanics. We present a new technique for allowing our physically-simulated planar biped characters to imitate human behaviors. Our contribution is twofold. We developed an optimization method that transforms any (either motion-captured or kinematically synthesized) biped motion into a physically-feasible, balance-maintaining simulated motion. Our optimization method allows us to collect a rich set of training data that contains stylistic, personality-rich human behaviors. Our controller learning algorithm facilitates the creation and composition of robust dynamic controllers that are learned from training data. We demonstrate a planar articulated character that is dynamically simulated in real time, equipped with an integrated repertoire of motor skills, and controlled interactively to perform desired motions.
Streaming Dynamic Coarse-Grained CPU/GPU Workloads with Heterogeneous Pipelines in FastFlow

Software pipelines permit the decomposition of a repetitive sequential process into a succession of distinguishable sub-processes called stages, each of which can be concurrently executed on a distinct processing element. This paper presents a heterogeneous streaming pipeline implementation using the FastFlow skeletal library for a numerical linear algebra code. By introducing minimal memory management, we implement a large-scale streaming application which allocates the different pipeline stages to multi-core CPU and multi-GPU resources in a cluster environment, demonstrating the suitability of the algorithmic skeleton approach to efficiently coordinate the pipeline operation. Our implementation shows that long- running heterogeneous pipelines can be effectively implemented in FastFlow.
The Shock Effect of China's Economic Growth on Main Energy's Carbon Dioxide Emissions

In order to examine the shock effect of China's economic growth on main energy's (consist of raw coal and crude oil in this paper) carbon dioxide emissions. The impulse response functions (IRF) derived from a factor-augmented vector auto regression (FAVAR) model are used in this paper. By intruducing model's operation steps and conducting 153 macroeconomic time series in quarterly frequency over the period 2000:1 to 2009:3, The two-stage approach is put to use. Empirical results indicate that, in general, two kinds of energy's carbon dioxide emissions respond positively to GDP, but with regards to the size and length of the impact, the responses are heterogeneous. Following the increase in GDP, the growth rate of CO2 emissions from raw coal is found to respond much more than the growth rate of CO2 emissions from crude oil. Energy conservation and emission reduction as to raw coal should be given first priority to other energy resource in China.
Extracting structures of HTML documents

Information on the Web, which are conglomeration of heterogeneous data, such as texts, images and audio clips, are often accessed through documents written according to the HTML specification. According to the HTML specification, HTML documents are semistructured in nature. We propose a high-level stack machine (HSM) which accesses an HTML document through its URL and constructs a semistructured data graph (SDG) of the document. The SDG of an HTML document H precisely captures the structure of the semistructured data embedded in H based on the dependency relationship among the data objects in H. HSM is configurable to accommodate a user's interest with respect to the HTML elements in H to be considered during the construction process of the SDG of H.
A controlled field trial of group versus individual cognitive-behavioural training for relapse prevention.

Results are presented of a randomized field trial comparing two aftercare regimes, namely individual versus group delivery of a structured relapse prevention approach. Two addictions treatment programs (one a 12-Step 26-day residential program, the other an evening group counselling program) implemented structured relapse prevention in either group or individual format as part of the first three months of aftercare. Process measures (e.g. attendance, client satisfaction) indicated that both group and individual formats were delivered very successfully at both sites. Follow-up rate at 12 months across both programs was 74%, and drinking and drug use at the 12-month follow-up was substantially less than use at entry into treatment. However, there were no significant differences in outcomes between individual and group delivery on any of the alcohol or drug use measures. Only one psychosocial outcome measure (social support from friends at 12-month follow-up) showed a significant difference for format and it favored the group format. These findings suggest some important directions for future research.
Quantifying semantic animacy: How much are words alive?

The main goal of this study, which comprised two experimental tasks and three normative studies, was to describe the underlying distribution of semantic animacy, with the focus on Serbian and English. Animacy was measured using three normative techniques. The cognitive effects of obtained measures were tested in two experiments conducted in both Serbian and English: a visual lexical decision task and a semantic categorization task. Results suggest that semantic animacy is a graded property. A high correlation between Serbian and English measures suggests that semantic animacy might be language independent, most likely because of its biological grounding. As for its behavioral correlates, animacy does not affect lexical decision times but it does codetermine the categorization speed: the category decision gradually slows as a function of the degree of animacy. These results were consistent across two languages under research scrutiny. We thus conclude that animacy is a continuous aspect of meaning.
Redundant State Detection for Dynamic Symbolic Execution

Many recent tools use dynamic symbolic execution to perform tasks ranging from automatic test generation, finding security flaws, equivalence verification, and exploit generation. However, while symbolic execution is promising, it perennially struggles with the fact that the number of paths in a program increases roughly exponentially with both code and input size. This paper presents a technique that attacks this problem by eliminating paths that cannot reach new code before they are executed and evaluates it on 66 system intensive, complicated, and widely-used programs. Our experiments demonstrate that the analysis speeds up dynamic symbolic execution by an average of 50.5×, with a median of 10×, and increases coverage by an average of 3.8%.
The influence of ADHD and experimental context on components of attention in children.

An abundance of literature in both clinical and cognitive psychology suggests that children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) show improved attentiveness and decreased hyperactivity in situations wherein positive behaviours are immediately rewarded. An application of the optimal stimulation theory further suggests that children with ADHD need higher levels of stimulation and excitement, relative to controls, in order to function well in their environments. Little research, however, has focused on the specific influence of rewards and excitement on the different components of attention in children. The current study did so by comparing task performance on a computerized attention battery in each of two conditions (traditional/boring and video game/exciting) for 45 children (19 ADHD, 26 control) aged 7 through 11 years. The five tasks used in the battery---Simon, flanker, stop-signal, blink, and continuous performance---provided measures of the following components of attention: expectancy, encoding capacity, sustained attention, focusing, filtering, and interference control. The traditional attention battery employed plain-color computer screens with no non-task related stimuli whereas the video game battery employed a storyline and prizes. An initial study completed with 60 university students demonstrated the expected task effects. Task reliability was also established among the sample of control children. Neither the ADHD nor the control group's attentional abilities were consistently facilitated by the enhanced video game context, perhaps because the increased stimulation and related memory demands unintentionally overloaded the children's cognitive capacities.
The use of occupational therapists in independent living programs.

OBJECTIVES Occupational therapy literature describes various independent living programs developed by occupational therapists and at times documents their effectiveness, yet none of the literature reviewed examined the involvement of occupational therapists in independent living programs. METHOD Directors of independent living programs in the United States were surveyed to ascertain their use of occupational therapists, to discover which disciplines were providing traditional occupational therapy services (e.g., daily living skills, assistive device provision, etc.) in these programs, and to identify which types of independent living programs were more likely to use occupational therapy services. RESULTS Less than half of the 96 responding independent living programs (46%) reported using occupational therapy services, and those programs that did provide occupational therapy services did so at a minimal rate. The programs that employed occupational therapists offered traditional occupational therapy services more often than those with no occupational therapists, but frequently, occupational therapists were not the providers of these traditional occupational therapy services. Chi-square analyses indicated that an independent living program's use of occupational therapy services was significantly affected by the type of facility (p = 0.05), the primary funding source (p = 0.04), and the program's practices regarding the hiring of professionals without disabilities (p = 0.04). CONCLUSION Possible reasons why occupational therapists are not employed more by independent living centers are discussed and recommendations for change are provided.
Principals' Transformational Leadership and Teachers' Collective Efficacy

The study was designed to test the relationship of principals' transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership with teachers' collective efficacy. Bandura's theory of efficacy applied to the group and Bass's transformational leadership theory were used as the theoretical framework. Participants included 487 French Canadian teachers from 40 public high schools. As expected, there were positive and significant correlations between principals' transformational and transactional leadership and teachers' collective efficacy. Also, there was a negative and significant correlation between laissez-faire leadership and teachers' collective efficacy. Moreover, regression analysis showed transformational leadership significantly enhanced the predictive capabilities of transactional leadership on teachers' collective efficacy. These results confirm the importance of leadership to predict collective efficacy and, by doing so, strengthen Bass's theory of leadership.
Nameling Discovery Challenge-Collaborative Neighborhoods

This paper describes a series of experiments designed to solve the “Nameling” challenge. In this task, a recommender should provide suggestions for interesting first names, based on a set of names in which a user has shown interest. An approach based on dyadic factors is proposed where side-information about names and users were incorporated. Furthermore, factors based on User-based Collaborative Filtering play a central role. The performance considering the neighborhood and binary similarity measures was assessed.
Inflammatory and Repair Pathways Induced in Human Bronchoalveolar Lavage Cells with Ozone Inhalation

Background Inhalation of ambient levels of ozone causes airway inflammation and epithelial injury. Methods To examine the responses of airway cells to ozone-induced oxidative injury, 19 subjects (7 with asthma) were exposed to clean air (0ppb), medium (100ppb), and high (200ppb) ambient levels of ozone for 4h on three separate occasions in a climate-controlled chamber followed by bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) 24h later. BAL cell mRNA expression was examined using Affymetrix GeneChip Microarray. The role of a differentially expressed gene (DEG) in epithelial injury was evaluated in an in vitro model of injury [16HBE14o- cell line scratch assay]. Results Ozone exposure caused a dose-dependent up-regulation of several biologic pathways involved in inflammation and repair including chemokine and cytokine secretion, activity, and receptor binding; metalloproteinase and endopeptidase activity; adhesion, locomotion, and migration; and cell growth and tumorigenesis regulation. Asthmatic subjects had 1.7- to 3.8-fold higher expression of many DEGs suggestive of increased proinflammatory and matrix degradation and remodeling signals. The most highly up-regulated gene was osteopontin, the protein level of which in BAL fluid increased in a dose-dependent manner after ozone exposure. Asthmatic subjects had a disproportionate increase in non-polymerized osteopontin with increasing exposure to ozone. Treatment with polymeric, but not monomeric, osteopontin enhanced the migration of epithelial cells and wound closure in an α9β1 integrin-dependent manner. Conclusions Expression profiling of BAL cells after ozone exposure reveals potential regulatory genes and pathways activated by oxidative stress. One DEG, osteopontin, promotes epithelial wound healing in an in vitro model of injury.
A modified method by differential adhesion for enrichment of bladder cancer stem cells

ABSTRACT Purpose: In a previous study the vaccine was effective against bladder cancer in a mouse model. However, a small portion of tumors regrew because the vaccine could not eliminate bladder cancer stem cells (CSCs). In this study, we showed a modified method for the isolation of bladder CSCs using a combination of differential adhesion method and serum-free culture medium (SFM) method. Materials and Methods: Trypsin-resistant cells and trypsin-sensitive cells were isolated from MB49, EJ and 5637 cells by a combination of differential adhesion method and SFM method. The CSCs characterizations of trypsin-resistant cells were verified by the flow cytometry, the western blotting, the quantitative polymerase chain reaction, the resistance to chemotherapy assay, the transwell assay, and the tumor xenograft formation assay. Results: Trypsin-resistant cells were isolated and identified in CSCs characters, with high expression of CSCs markers, higher resistance to chemotherapy, greater migration in vitro, and stronger tumorigenicity in vivo. Conclusion: Trypsin-resistant cells displayed specific CSCs properties. Our study showed trypsin-resistant cells were isolated successfully with a modified method using a combination of differential adhesion method and SFM method.
The Optimal Time of Elective Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Stable Patients After ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Objective: To find the optimal time (early: ≤3 days; late: >3 days) for revascularization in ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients in the subacute phase. Methods: Ninety-nine STEMI patients who were admitted to Gazi University Faculty of Medicine between 2000 and 2004 were enrolled into this study. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to time from the beginning of symptoms to the percutaneous coronary intervention. Coronary angiograms before and after the revascularization were evaluated using the quantitative coronary angiogram technique. Results: 45 early (group I) and 54 late (group II) revascularized patients were evaluated. There were no significant differences between the 2 groups regarding demographic properties, thrombus score, success of the procedure, quantitative angiographic parameters, and clinical results of the procedure. Conclusions: Waiting for the development of stable phase in STEMI to apply PCI has no obvious benefit for angiographic and clinical results.
A video coder for low bitrate mobile video streaming

Achieving very low bitrates for video applications in a mobile environment is essential. Video codecs standards evolution had a tremendous impact in the development of digital video, making possible today widespread usage of video data. At the same time it had an impact on the direction of research, biasing most of the efforts towards block based video. Alternative approaches may though lead towards different architectures able to provide higher compression efficiency. In this paper we propose a Matching Pursuit (MP) based video coder that adopts a generalized sub-pixel motion compensation and arithmetic coding. We introduce a new dictionary, and an adaptive grid for atom coding combined with an arithmetic coder. Comparison with H.264 show an improvement of up to 20% in compression efficiency for the same PSNR
Cultural Transmission, Disproportionate Prior Exposure, and the Evolution of Cooperation

Why is human cooperation so prevalent? This paper identifies one potential reason for the prevalence of cooperation in human populations. People acquire social behaviors—cooperative or exploitative—from other people through cultural transmission. There is a previously unrecognized characteristic of cultural transmission—disproportionate prior exposure—that creates an evolutionary force toward cooperation: individuals who have acquired a cooperative or exploitative behavior through cultural transmission tend disproportionately to have been targets of that behavior prior to acquiring it. Thus, individuals who have acquired cooperative behavior through cultural transmission have disproportionately benefited from the cooperative behavior of others, while individuals who have acquired exploitative behavior through cultural transmission have disproportionately been hurt by the exploitative behavior of others. Because the benefits of being a target of cooperative behavior tend to make a person more influential as a behavioral model (i.e., tend to increase that person's cultural fitness), the disproportionate prior exposure inherent in cultural transmission creates an evolutionary force toward cooperation. A simple formal analysis reveals an evolutionary force toward cooperation under a minimal set of conditions previously believed to make the evolution of cooperation impossible—one-shot prisoner's dilemmas with no option to exit played between strangers in a large, randomly mixing population. Attention to this evolutionary force is likely to advance our understanding of the prevalence of cooperation.
Building stakeholder partnerships for an on‐site HIV testing programme

Because of the large number of individuals at risk for HIV infection who visit gay saunas and sex clubs, these venues are useful settings in which to offer HIV outreach programmes for voluntary counselling and testing (VCT). Nevertheless, establishing a successful VCT programme in such a setting can be a daunting challenge, in large part because there are many barriers to managing the various components likely to be involved. Using qualitative data from a process evaluation of a new VCT programme at a gay sauna in California, USA, we describe how the various stakeholders overcame barriers of disparate interests and responsibilities to work together to successfully facilitate a regular and frequent on‐site VCT programme that was fully utilized by patrons.
Part of Image Tagging Statistical NLP Final Project , Spring ’ 08

In this project we undertake the task of semantic labeling of images. An input image is broken into blocks each of which is assigned one of k categories. Inspired by the part-ofspeech tagging techniques used in language processing, we design an discriminative HMM/CRF based tagger to tag the blocks. We learn subcategories for each tag category in an unsupervised manner, and obtain improved performances for some categories. The HMM/CRF tagger also is slightly better compared to a classifier which tags each block independently. To classify the image we describe it as multiscale spatial distribution of the tags. This representation leads to about 2.3% improvement using the ground truth tags and about 1% improvement using the tagger, compared to a recent result of Vogel et.al [1].