Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ten Years Evidence-based High-Tech Acupuncture–A Short Review of Centrally Measured Effects (Part II)

The assessment of acupuncture-induced effects on brain function is crucial. Ultrasound-assisted brain function monitoring and bioelectrical methods as well as near infrared spectroscopic procedures and functional magnetic resonance investigations form the basis for the latest scientific examination methods for acupuncture research. The laserneedle acupuncture, which was examined scientifically for the first time in Graz, represents a new painless and non-invasive acupuncture method. In this way, individual combinations of acupuncture points can be stimulated simultaneously according to traditional Chinese medicine. In the context of double-blind studies, effects in the brain could be demonstrated in a reproducible manner for the first time. This second part of the short review article summarizes some of the centrally measured effects of acupuncture obtained at the Medical University of Graz within the last 10 years.
HybQA: Hybrid Deep Relation Extraction for Question Answering on Freebase

Question Answering over knowledge-based data is one of the most important Natural Language Processing tasks. Despite numerous efforts that have been made in this field, it is not yet in the mainstream. Question Answering can be formulated as a Relation Extraction task between the question focus entity and the expected answer. Therefore, it requires high accuracy to solve a dual problem where the relation and answer are unknown. In this work, we propose a HybQA, a Hybrid Relation Extraction system to provide high accuracy for the Relation Extraction and the Question Answering tasks over Freebase. We propose a hybrid model that combines different types of state-of-the-art deep networks that capture the relation type between the question and the expected answer from different perspectives and combine their outputs to provide accurate relations. We then use a joint model to infer the possible relation and answer pairs simultaneously. However, since Relation Extraction might still be prone to errors due to the large size of the knowledge-base corpus (Freebase), we finally use evidence from Wikipedia as an unstructured knowledge base to select the best relation-answer pair. We evaluate the system on WebQuestions data and show that the system achieves a statistical significant improvement over the existing state-of-the-art models and provides the best accuracy which is 57%.
A network model of correlated growth of tissue stiffening in pulmonary fibrosis

During the progression of pulmonary fibrosis, initially isolated regions of high stiffness form and grow in the lung tissue due to collagen deposition by fibroblast cells. We have previously shown that ongoing collagen deposition may not lead to significant increases in the bulk modulus of the lung until these local remodeled regions have become sufficiently numerous and extensive to percolate in a continuous path across the entire tissue (Bates et al 2007 Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 176 617). This model, however, did not include the possibility of spatially correlated deposition of collagen. In the present study, we investigate whether spatial correlations influence the bulk modulus in a two-dimensional elastic network model of lung tissue. Random collagen deposition at a single site is modeled by increasing the elastic constant of the spring at that site by a factor of 100. By contrast, correlated collagen deposition is represented by stiffening the springs encountered along a random walk starting from some initial spring, the rationale being that excess collagen deposition is more likely in the vicinity of an already stiff region. A combination of random and correlated deposition is modeled by performing random walks of length N from randomly selected initial sites, the balance between the two processes being determined by N. We found that the dependence of bulk modulus, B ( N , c ) ? > , on both N and the fraction of stiff springs, c, can be described by a strikingly simple set of empirical equations. For c < 0.3 ? > , B ( N , c ) ? > exhibits exponential growth from its initial value according to B ( N , c ) ≈ B 0 exp ( 2 c ) 1 + c β ln N a I ? > , where β = 0.994 ± ? > 0.024 and a I = 0.54 ± 0.026 ? > . For intermediate concentrations of stiffening, 0.3 ⩽ c ⩽ 0.8 ? > , another exponential rule describes the bulk modulus as B ( N , c ) = 4 B 0 exp a II c − c c ? > , where a II ? > and c c ? > are parameters that depend on N. For 0.8$? > c > 0.8 ? > , B ( N , c ) ? > is linear in c and independent of N, such that B ( N , c ) = 100 B 0 − 100 a III ( 1 − c ) B 0 ? > , where a III = 2.857 ? > . For small concentrations, the physiologically most relevant regime, the forces in the network springs are distributed according to a power law. When c = 0.3, the exponent of this power law increases from −4.5, when N = 1, and saturates to about −2, as N increases above 40. These results suggest that the spatial correlation of collagen deposition in the fibrotic lung has a strong effect on the rate of lung function decline and on the mechanical environment in which the cells responsible for remodeling find themselves.
A phase modulation method for improving the scale factor stability of Fiber-Optic Gyroscope

The usual scheme of fiber-optic gyroscope(FOG) is digital single closed-loop, but the scale factor stability is affected by the variation of half-wave voltage of LiNbO3 integrated optic phase modulator. The half-wave voltage changes with the variation of the integrated optic phase modulator performance dependence on temperature and the bias voltage applied to the phase modulator. In order to improve the scale factor stability, double closed-loop scheme FOG with square wave biasbias modulation is used to compensate the the variation of half-wave voltage, but it is inefficient at low rates. The double closed-loop scheme FOG with ldquofour-bias-staterdquo bias modulation is used to improve the compensation efficiency and SNR, and the bias modulation equations are presented here. The scale factor stability of the new scheme is improved about by one time than the usual scheme.
FLT3 mutations in a 10 year consecutive series of 177 childhood acute leukemias and their impact on global gene expression patterns

During 1995–2004, 209 children/adolescents were diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic or myeloid leukemia (ALL, AML) in Southern Sweden, of which 177 (85%), comprising 128 B‐lineage ALL, 34 AML, and 15 T‐cell ALL, could be analyzed for internal tandem duplications (ITD) and activating point mutations in the second tyrosine kinase domain (ATKD) of FLT3. Seventeen (10%) FLT3 mutations (6 ITD, 11 ATKD; mutually exclusive) were detected. None of the T‐cell ALL harbored any mutations. ITD and ATKD were found in 2% and 6% of the B‐lineage ALL and in 12% and 9% of the AML, being particularly common in high hyperdiploid ALL (14%), ALL (20%), and AML (23%) with 11q23/MLL rearrangements, and in AML with a normal karyotype (60%). All ATKD‐positive AML with MLL rearrangements harbored the t(9;11)(p21;q23). Global gene expression data were available for 76 of the B‐lineage ALL and 19 of the AML, of which 6 (8%) and 3 (16%) had FLT3 mutations, respectively. No distinct expression pattern associated with FLT3 mutations was identified. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Beyond Individualism-Collectivism and Conflict Style: Considering Acculturation and Media Use

Opportunities for individuals from varied cultural backgrounds to interact, and therefore conflict, are inherently greater because the technologies, economies, and livelihoods of people of many countries are increasingly interdependent. In light of globalization, it is ever more valuable to understand how culture influences the way people manage conflict. The purpose of this study was to examine factors influencing people's individualistic-collectivistic culture tendencies and conflict styles, and whether or not acculturation is a moderating factor between individualism-collectivism and conflict style among foreign nationals living within the United States. In addition to acculturation, researchers also measured media use. The data revealed statistically-significant relationships for media-use and acculturation on individualism-collectivism and conflict styles, and supported the idea that acculturation is a moderating factor between individualism-collectivism and conflict style, although this relationship was only significant among those who preferred the dominating conflict style.
GSTT1 Gene Deletion Is Associated with Lung Cancer in Mexican Patients

Glutathione S-transferase (GST) is a dimeric detoxifying isoenzyme, involved in the deactivation of carcinogens, several tobacco-derived carcinogens, and xenobiotics. It catalyzes the reduction of glutathione to its thioester; thus, deficiency in GST activity due to homozygous deletion of the GSTT1 gene (null genotype) may play a role in the induction of lung cancer by smoking. We studied the distribution of GSTT1 gene deletion in peripheral blood DNA samples from 178 healthy controls (41 nonsmokers, 63 passive smokers and 74 smokers) and 52 lung cancer patients. Comparisons between groups showed that there was an increased lung cancer risk for individuals with the GSTT1 null genotype. Cancer patients showed significant differences when compared with controls: nonsmokers, passive smokers, and smokers. Twenty-one percent of lung cancer patients carried the deletion versus 2% among nonsmokers not exposed to passive smoking, 6% among passive smokers, and 5% among smokers. Thus, there is a significant association between this genotype and the possibility to risk of developing lung cancer.
Orientation Effects in Ballistic High-Strained P-type Si Nanowire FETs

In order to design and optimize high-sensitivity silicon nanowire-field-effect transistor (SiNW FET) pressure sensors, this paper investigates the effects of channel orientations and the uniaxial stress on the ballistic hole transport properties of a strongly quantized SiNW FET placed near the high stress regions of the pressure sensors. A discrete stress-dependent six-band k.p method is used for subband structure calculation, coupled to a two-dimensional Poisson solver for electrostatics. A semi-classical ballistic FET model is then used to evaluate the ballistic current-voltage characteristics of SiNW FETs with and without strain. Our results presented here indicate that [110] is the optimum orientation for the p-type SiNW FETs and sensors. For the ultra-scaled 2.2 nm square SiNW, due to the limit of strong quantum confinement, the effect of the uniaxial stress on the magnitude of ballistic drive current is too small to be considered, except for the [100] orientation. However, for larger 5 nm square SiNW transistors with various transport orientations, the uniaxial tensile stress obviously alters the ballistic performance, while the uniaxial compressive stress slightly changes the ballistic hole current. Furthermore, the competition of injection velocity and carrier density related to the effective hole masses is found to play a critical role in determining the performance of the nanotransistors.
Dependency parsing with latent refinements of part-of-speech tags

In this paper we propose a method to increase dependency parser performance without using additional labeled or unlabeled data by refining the layer of predicted part-of-speech (POS) tags. We perform experiments on English and German and show significant improvements for both languages. The refinement is based on generative split-merge training for Hidden Markov models (HMMs).
Efficient on-line computation of constrained optimal control

For discrete-time linear time-invariant systems with constraints on inputs and outputs, the constrained finite-time optimal controller can be obtained explicitly as a piecewise-affine function of the initial state via multi-parametric programming. By exploiting the properties of the value function, we present two algorithms that efficiently perform the online evaluation of the explicit optimal control law both in terms of storage demands and computational complexity. The algorithms are particularly effective when used for model-predictive control (MPC) where an open-loop constrained finite-time optimal control problem has to be solved at each sampling time.
A flexible QoS fortified distributed key-value storage system for the cloud

In the era of big data and cloud, distributed key-value stores are increasingly used as building blocks of large-scale applications. Comparing to traditional relational databases, key-value stores are particularly compelling due to their low latency and excellent scalability. Many big companies, such as Facebook and Amazon, run multiple different applications and services on top of a single key-value store deployment to reduce the deployment and maintenance complexity as well as economic cost. However, every application has its performance requirement but most current key-value store systems are designed to serve every application request equally. This design works well when a single application accesses the key-value store, but it is not as good for the emerging concurrent multi-application scenario. In this paper, we present ZHT/Q, a flexible QoS (Quality of Service) fortified distributed key-value storage system for clouds and data centers. It improves the overall throughput by an order of magnitude and still satisfies different applications' latency requirements with QoS using dynamic and adaptive request batching mechanisms. The experiment results show that our new system delivers up to 28 times higher throughput than the base solution while more than 99% of requests' latency requirements are satisfied.
A hierarchical, multi-resolutional moving object prediction approach for autonomous on-road driving

In this paper, we present a hierarchical multi-resolutional approach for moving object prediction via estimation-theoretic and situation-based probabilistic techniques. The results of the prediction are made available to a planner to allow it to make accurate plans in the presence of a dynamic environment. We have applied this approach to an on-road driving control hierarchy being developed as part of the DARPA Mobile Autonomous Robotic Systems (MARS) effort. Experimental results are shown in two simulation environments.
Predicting Premarital Relationship Stability: A Methodological Refinement.

Predicting premarital relationship stability has been done in a variety of empirical investigations. To date, none of these studies have attempted to controlfor the length of the relationship at initial contact. Thus, such studies may have confounded measures of involvement or commitment with the length of the relationship. The purpose of this study was to predict relationship satisfaction while statistically controlling for the length of the relationship. One hundred thirty-one participants completed assessments of involvement, reward level, comparison levelfor alternatives, satisfaction, and chance of marriage. Relationship stability was assessed three months and seven months later. Through the use of analysis of covariance, the variance due to the length of the relationship at the initial contact was removed from each of the predictor variables before the main effect (relationship status) was assessed. After controlling for length, results indicated that involvement, reward level, and chance of marriage were all significant predictors of stability both at the three-month follow-up and at the seven-month follow-up.
A(N-1) conformal Toda field theory correlation functions from conformal N = 2 SU(N) quiver gauge theories

We propose a relation between correlation functions in the 2d A(N-1) conformal Toda theories and the Nekrasov instanton partition functions in certain conformal N = 2 SU(N) 4d quiver gauge theories. Our proposal generalises the recently uncovered relation between the Liouville theory and SU(2) quivers [1]. New features appear in the analysis that have no counterparts in the Liouville case.
Education Through Official Publicity

The extra-curricular influence of schools is far wider than their extra-curricular activities. The influence of every strong teacher upon his pupil when teacher and child are separated is more important than the influence of direct contact with the child. It is the same with the school's official publicity. Its indirect effects are of wider range and deeper import than its direct effect. School publicity affects for good or ill all other official publicity. If it is lifeless, insincere, boastful, unconvincing, slovenly edited, it is a low-water mark with which every other city department will tend to find level. If, on the other hand, it is alive, informative, direct, frank-educative-other departments will tend to compete in these respects. A school superintendent told me recently that his report had been so different from the reports of other town officers that it was necessary for other official reporters to notice the difference. He had used blocked headings in effective black face type, interesting diagrams and photographs, the short paragraph method of listing achievements and recommendations, and the square facing of taxpayer doubt with school fact. Other reporters could not laugh him out of town meeting if they would. They decided to imitate instead.
Systemic activation of antigen-presenting cells via RNA-loaded nanoparticles

ABSTRACT While RNA-pulsed dendritic cell (DC) vaccines have shown promise, the advancement of cellular therapeutics is fraught with developmental challenges. To circumvent the challenges of cellular immunotherapeutics, we developed clinically translatable nanoliposomes that can be combined with tumor-derived RNA to generate personalized tumor RNA-nanoparticles (NPs) with considerable scale-up capacity. RNA-NPs bypass MHC restriction, are amenable to central distribution, and can provide near immediate immune induction. We screened commercially available nanoliposomal preparations and identified the cationic lipid 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DOTAP) as an efficient mRNA courier to antigen-presenting cells (APCs). When administered intravenously, RNA-NPs mediate systemic activation of APCs in reticuloendothelial organs such as the spleen, liver, and bone marrow. RNA-NPs increase percent expression of MHC class I/II, B7 co-stimulatory molecules, and maturation markers on APCs (all vital for T-cell activation). RNA-NPs also increase activation markers on tumor APCs and elicit potent expansion of antigen-specific T-cells superior to peptide vaccines formulated in complete Freund's adjuvant. We demonstrate that both model antigen-encoding and physiologically-relevant tumor-derived RNA-NPs expand potent antitumor T-cell immunity. RNA-NPs were shown to induce antitumor efficacy in a vaccine model and functioned as a suitable alternative to DCs in a stringent cellular immunotherapy model for a radiation/temozolomide resistant invasive murine high-grade glioma. Although cancer vaccines have suffered from weak immunogenicity, we have advanced a RNA-NP formulation that systemically activates host APCs precipitating activated T-cell frequencies necessary to engender antitumor efficacy. RNA-NPs can thus be harnessed as a more feasible and effective immunotherapy to re-program host-immunity.
Clustering Web sessions by sequence alignment

In the context of Web mining, clustering could be used to cluster similar click-streams to determine learning behaviours in the case of e-learning, or general site access behaviours in e-commerce. Most of the algorithms presented in the literature to deal with clustering Web sessions treat sessions as sets of visited pages within a time period and don't consider the sequence of the click-stream visitation. This has a significant consequence when comparing similarities between Web sessions. We propose in this paper a new algorithm based on sequence alignment to measure similarities between Web sessions where sessions are chronologically ordered sequences of page accesses.
More Misgivings About the Matching Familiar Figures Test As a Measure of Reflection-Impulsivity: Absence of Construct Validity in Preadolescence

The Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT) continues to enjoy considerable research popularity as a measure of conceptual tempo or "reflection-impulsivity" despite continuing doubts about its construct validity. As part of an ongoing longitudinal study, MFFT performance was assessed at age 11 and related to California Child Q-sort evaluations obtained both concurrently and at age 14. Using hierarchical multiple regression, we compared the relative influence of MFFT latency and error scores in the personality domain. MFFT latency, by itself, accounted for almost no incremental variance in personality evaluations after error had been partialed out. However, the contribution of MFFT error was appreciable and unique—it was significantly related in many ways to behavior, even after its shared variance with latency had been partialed out. Only for girls were significant MFFT latency-by-error interaction effects observed. The results, consistent with those obtained for the same sample of children when assessed seven years earlier and consistent also with the results of many other investigators, are incompatible with the original interpretation of the MFFT. The results are also incompatible with the subsequent Kagan and Messer conjecture that developmental changes occur in the meaning of MFFT performance. Evidence is offered for a "competence" interpretation rather than a "conceptual tempo" interpretation of the MFFT. The propriety, at this stage of accumulated knowledge, of continuing to use the MFFT as an index of "reflection-impulsivity" is strongly questioned.
Denial of service attacks targeting a SIP VoIP infrastructure: attack scenarios and prevention mechanisms

In this article we address the issue of denial of service attacks targeting the hardware and software of voice over IP servers or by misusing specific signaling protocol features. As a signaling protocol we investigate here the session initiation protocol. In this context we mainly identify attacks based on exhaustion of the memory of VoIP servers, or attacks that incur high CPU load. We deliver an overview of different attack possibilities and explain some attacks in more detail, including attacks utilizing the DNS system and those targeting the parser. A major conclusion of the work is the knowledge that SIP provides a wide range of features that can be used to mount DoS attacks. Discovering these attacks is inherently difficult, as is the case with DoS attacks on other IP components. However, with adequate server design, efficient implementation, and appropriate hardware, the effects of a large portion of attacks can be reduced