Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mechanical ventilation in Ontario, 1992–2000: Incidence, survival, and hospital bed utilization of noncardiac surgery adult patients*

Objective:Mechanical ventilation is a common therapy used in caring for critically ill patients, but its epidemiology is poorly understood. We describe population-based, temporal trends in the incidence, survival, and hospital bed utilization of mechanically ventilated, noncardiac surgery adult patients. Design:Retrospective, observational cohort study using linked administrative databases. Setting:Province of Ontario, Canada. Patients:Subjects were 150,755 unique patients who received mechanical ventilation between 1992 and 2000. Interventions:None. Measurements:Annual measures of mechanical ventilation incidence, 30-day patient mortality rate, and number of mechanical ventilation days and inpatient days for mechanically ventilated patients as a proportion of total adult inpatient bed days. Main Results:From 1992 to 2000, the crude and age- and gender-adjusted incidence of mechanical ventilation increased 9% (p < .001) and 2% (p < .027), respectively, to 217 per 100,000 adults. Crude mortality rate 30 days after initiation of mechanical ventilation increased from 27% to 32% (p < .001). Significant predictors of 30-day mortality rate (adjusted hazard ratio, 95% confidence interval) were calendar year (1.03, 1.02–1.03), age >80 yrs (2.3, 2.2–2.3), Charlson score 3+ (2.0, 2.0–2.1), and specific diagnosis. From 1992 to 2000, the number of mechanical ventilation days and inpatient days for mechanically ventilated patients, as a proportion of total adult inpatient bed days, increased 69% and 30% (both p < .001), respectively, to 1.8% and 6.2%. Conclusions:There was a small, but important, increase in mechanical ventilation incidence and a substantial increase in the proportion of inpatient bed days used by mechanically ventilated patients in Ontario during the 1990s. These trends are important in planning for expansion of health care resources to meet the needs of the aging population. The increase, over time, in risk-adjusted mortality rate of mechanically ventilated patients is concerning and requires further investigation.
Awkwardly : A Response Suggester CS 224 N Final Project

Replying to emails can be a daunting task especially if users are bombarded with hundreds of emails per day, or if they struggle with constructing well-formed socially acceptable replies. We present Awkwardly, a novel response suggester that generates top replies shown to a user in real-time. These short responses can be selected as a reply in a chat or email context. In this paper, we introduce methods to generate candidate responses. First, we generate a large pool of responses using various seq2seq LSTM neural network architectures. Next, we group and rank the responses using semantic intent clustering. These top ranked responses are relevant and diverse, and they are the ones that are ultimately shown to the user.
An empirical study of fairness and satisfaction in franchise network: The mediate effect of relationship quality

The purpose of the study is to propose and test the franchisee perception of fairness in maintaining long term relationships between franchisor and franchisee. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews with 157 franchisees. A structural equation modeling was used to the proposed model. The fairness is characterized by the perceived distributive fairness, interactional fairness and procedural fairness while it also tests the effect on the franchise relationship. The findings indicate that there is no significant evidence of interaction fairness on trust and distributive fairness on commitment. However, the perceived procedural fairness has positive effects on trust and commitment. In addition, relationship quality namely trust and commitment, has a significant positive effect on franchisee's satisfaction. The study also supports that relationship quality plays an important mediating variable in the relationship of the franchisee's perception of fairness and satisfaction. Managerial and academic implications are delineated and directions for future research are offered.
Educational Outcomes for Students with Special Needs: The Impact of Support and Resources on Teachers' Perceptions.

This article defines a theoretical framework for reviewing factors that affect a teacher’s self-efficacy as they work to impact the educational outcomes for students with special needs. Bandura’s Social-Cognitive Theory is utilized on the basis that one’s belief in his ability to be effective has a direct impact on his effectiveness. This information will contribute greatly to the field of education and the work of administrators who seek answers for increasing teachers’ self-efficacy as society continues to move toward the inclusion of those with disabilities. Educational Outcomes for Students with Special Needs: The Impact of Support and Resources on Teachers’ Perceptions The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) of 2004 is the guiding legislation for the education of all students with disabilities in our great nation. One component of IDEIA is the Individualized Education Plan (IEP), which is the legal document that ensures each child with a disability has access to the general curriculum in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). This article will seek to explain how a teacher’s perception is impacted by the support and resources received. Furthermore, literature will be reviewed to establish a connection between teachers’ perceptions and educational outcomes for students with special needs. Because law has directed us to provide access to the general curriculum for all students, “the percentage of students with disabilities who are served in general education settings for 80% or more of the school day has increased from 45% to 52%” (NCES, 2007b). This shift in educational setting for students with disabilities is a great move forward; however, how are we to ensure that placement in the regular education setting will lead to increased student achievement? Based on research conducted by Sari, Clikoz and Secer in 2009, teachers’ attitudes toward inclusive education were affected by their self-efficacy perceptions in terms of their teaching. Interestingly, in the same study conducted by Sari et al. (2009), student teachers’ attitudes toward inclusive education were higher than teachers who are currently in the field. This difference in teachers’ attitudes may be due to the fact that student teachers have recently taken a course on special education (Sari et al., 2009); however, the varying attitudes may be due to the current teacher’s perception of the support received. “Early research stressed that successful inclusive efforts are associated with administrative support, adequate material and personnel resources,” (Gaad & Kahn, 2007, p.102). Notable, the majority of mainstream teachers stated that they need support
Search method for ordinances and rules in Japanese local governments based on distributed representation

This paper proposes a new search method that supports legislative duties in Japanese local governments where both expert and non-experts draft local ordinances. Since such legislation requires comparison with the ordinances of other local governments, our purpose is to introduce a neural model and show how it effectively performs similarity search tasks for ordinances. Our experimental results show that our method outperforms the previous scheme for similarity search with a F-measure of 0.977. An additional experiment shows that our method is useful for analyzing the legislation of local governments.
Rituximab in the treatment of follicular lymphoma: the future of biosimilars in the evolving therapeutic landscape

Follicular lymphoma (FL) is the second most common type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. FL is an incurable disease with treatment options ranging from a “watch-and-wait” approach to localized therapy with radiation or systemic therapy with rituximab in combination with chemotherapy regimens. This review summarizes the role of rituximab across the spectrum of FL treatment and the evolving therapeutic landscape with the emergence of novel agents currently in clinical development. Despite the prospect of new agents on the horizon, it is widely accepted that rituximab will remain as the cornerstone of therapy because of its established long-term efficacy. Many biologics, including rituximab, have lost exclusivity of composition-of-matter patent or will do so in the next few years, which is a concern for patients and physicians alike. Moreover, access to rituximab is challenging, particularly in countries with restricted resources. Together, these concerns have fueled the development of safe and effective biosimilars. The term “biosimilar” refers to a biologic product that is highly similar to an approved reference (or originator) product, notwithstanding minor differences in clinically inactive components, and for which there are no clinically meaningful differences in purity, potency, or safety. Biosimilars are developed to treat the same condition(s) using the same treatment regimens as an approved reference biologic, and have the potential to increase access to more affordable treatment of FL. Herein, we also discuss the potential benefits of eagerly awaited rituximab biosimilars, which may mitigate the impact of the lack of access to rituximab.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Committee Inside the Board

Type: Empirical.Research Question/Issue: This study examines whether the existence of a sustainability committee with independent directors facilitates the requirements of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index to include the company with the leading sustainability companies in the world.Research Findings/Insights: We use firm-level data for 469 European firms from EUROSTOXX500 for 2010. We find that the existence of a sustainability committee increases the likelihood that a large European firm could be included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), which serves as a way to measure the quality of a firm’s CSR strategy and to identify leading CSR companies. Theoretical/Academic Implications: This study develops and tests notions related to how the CSR policies are driven adequately by the board. This study provides empirical support for the necessary role of the sustainability committee formed by independent directors with CSR knowledge to orientate the corporate governance to the interest of all stakeholders. Practitioner/Policy Implications: This study offers a tool for the boards of firms to adopt CSR policies. Furthermore, our study helps stakeholders to direct their efforts to increase the independence of board to pursue the objective of the firm according to CSR perception. It also provides a perspective for executives and investment managers of multinational firms to follow the recommendations of good practices in corporate governance with the goal of becoming a member of the select club of DJSI, which includes the leading sustainability companies in the world.
Harmonic Minimization in Multilevel Inverters Using Modified Species-Based Particle Swarm Optimization

Harmonic minimization in multilevel inverters is a complex optimization problem that involves nonlinear transcendental equations having multiple local minima. In this paper, a solution to the harmonic minimization problem using a novel particle swarm optimization (PSO) approach based on species-based PSO (SPSO) is presented. The original SPSO is modified, which increased the robustness of algorithm to find global optimum of the search space. The proposed method is able to find the optimum switching angles when their number is increased, while it is not possible to determine them using either conventional iterative techniques or resultant theory method. Theoretical results are verified by experiments and simulations for an 11-level H-bridge inverter. Results show that the proposed method effectively minimizes a large number of specific harmonics, and the output voltage results in very low total harmonic distortion and switching frequency.
Quantitative Proteome Analysis Reveals Increased Content of Basement Membrane Proteins in Arteries From Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Lower Levels Among Metformin Users

Background—The increased risk of cardiovascular diseases in type 2 diabetes mellitus has been extensively documented, but the origins of the association remain largely unknown. We sought to determine changes in protein expressions in arterial tissue from patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and moreover hypothesized that metformin intake influences the protein composition. Methods and Results—We analyzed nonatherosclerotic repair arteries gathered at coronary bypass operations from 30 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and from 30 age- and sex-matched nondiabetic individuals. Quantitative proteome analysis was performed by isobaric tag for relative and absolute quantitation-labeling and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, tandem mass spectrometry analysis on individual arterial samples. The amounts of the basement membrane components, &agr;1-type IV collagen and &agr;2-type IV collagen, &ggr;1-laminin and &bgr;2-laminin, were significantly increased in patients with diabetes mellitus. Moreover, the expressions of basement membrane components and other vascular proteins were significantly lower among metformin users when compared with nonusers. Patients treated with or without metformin had similar levels of hemoglobin A1c, cholesterol, and blood pressure. In addition, quantitative histomorphometry showed increased area fractions of collagen-stainable material in tunica intima and media among patients with diabetes mellitus. Conclusions—The distinct accumulation of arterial basement membrane proteins in type 2 diabetes mellitus discloses a similarity between the diabetic macroangiopathy and microangiopathy and suggests a molecular explanation behind the alterations in vascular remodeling, biomechanical properties, and aneurysm formation described in diabetes mellitus. The lower amounts of basement membrane components in metformin-treated individuals are compatible with the hypothesis of direct beneficial drug effects on the matrix composition in the vasculature.
Microbial petroleum degradation: application of computerized mass spectrometry.

An analytical procedure is presented for obtaining detailed characterization of petroleum hydrocarbons which undergo microbial degradation. The procedure includes column chromatographic separation and characterization of the resulting fractions by mass spectrometry and gas chromatography. The use of computerized low-resolution mass spectrometry is offered as a method for assessing microbial degradation of petroleum. This method provides information which cannot, at the present time, be obtained by other available analytical methods. Use of this method to evaluate degradation of a South Louisiana crude oil by a mixed culture of estuarine bacteria revealed that asphaltenes and resins increased by 28% after degradation, while saturates and aromatics decreased by 83.4% and 70.5%, respectively. Most of the normal and branched-chain alkanes were degraded (96.4%), but an increase in long-chain alkanes (C28-C32) after degradation was observed by gas-liquid chromatography. Susceptibility of cycloalkanes to degradation was less as the structure varied, i.e., 6-ring greater than 1-ring greater than 2-ring greater than 3-ring greater than 5-ring greater than 4-ring. Susceptibility of aromatic components to degradation decreased with increase in the number of rings, viz., monoaromatics greater than diaromatics greater than triaromatics greater than tetraaromatics greater than pentaaromatics. Aromatic nuclei containing sulfur were twice as refractory as non-sulfur analogs.
Correlation between lignin physicochemical properties and inhibition to enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose

Using isolated organosolv lignins from hardwood poplar and softwood lodgepole pine with varied physicochemical properties (molecular weight, aliphatic hydroxyl, phenolic hydroxyl, and hydrophobicity), the inhibitory effect of the lignins on enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose was investigated and the relationship between lignin properties and the inhibitory effect was elucidated. The results indicated that the lignin inhibition to enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose was closely related to the hydrophobicity and the phenolic hydroxyl groups of the lignin. The overall hydrophobicity of the lignin quantified by contact angle could serve as a predictor of the inhibitory effect of lignin. Hydrophilic modification of the lignin by carboxylation and sulfonation reduced the hydrophobicity by 22–30% and thereby removed the lignin inhibition by 76–96%. Phenolic hydroxyl group was a crucial factor affecting the inhibitory effect of lignin. Blocking free phenolic hydroxyl group by chemical reaction such as hydroxypropylation significantly (65–91%) reduced the inhibitory effect of lignin. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2016;113: 1213–1224. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A System for Distributed Context Reasoning

Context aware systems use context information toadapt their behaviour accordingly. In order to derive highlevel context information from low level context, such as sensorvalues, context reasoning methods that correlate observablecontext information, are necessary. Several context reasoningmechanisms have been proposed in the literature. Usually thesemechanisms are centralized, leading to suboptimal utilization ofnetwork resources and poor system performance in case of largescalescenarios. Therefore to increase the scalability of contextreasoning systems the development of methods that distribute thereasoning process is necessary. Existing distributed approachesare method specific and do not provide a generic formalizationfor distributed reasoning. In this paper we introduce a novelsystem which enables distributed context reasoning in a genericway that is independent of the reasoning algorithm.
Importance of the environment for patient acquisition of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in the intensive care unit: A baseline study

Objective:To assess the degree of environmental contamination with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in critical care and the likelihood of subsequent new patient acquisition if carriers were or were not moved to single rooms. Design:Randomized sequential sampling of bed areas. Setting:Intensive care units of two teaching hospitals. Patients:Medical and surgical patients requiring critical care. Interventions:Six environmental sites around randomly selected patients plus two communal sites were sampled using contact plates during periods when patients with MRSA were physically isolated or not. Admission, weekly, and discharge screening patient swabs were taken to identify patients admitted with, or newly acquiring, MRSA. Measurements and Main Results:A total of 2,436 samples were taken from environments around 114 patients, plus a further 349 samples from doctors’ hands and telephones. Of the 47 bed areas where MRSA strains were identified that were not found initially on patients, only one patient subsequently acquired the same strain. Five other patients became colonized with new MRSA strains, but these were not found in their environment beforehand. Of 52 patients colonized with MRSA, 34 had a similar strain found subsequently in their environment. Conclusions:Whereas the MRSA-colonized patient frequently contaminates his or her local environment, transmission of MRSA from the environment to the patient was not commonly identified. Studies elucidating possible routes of MRSA transmission are urgently needed to inform infection control policies.
Real-time position and pose tracking method of moving object using visual servo system

This paper proposes a real-time position and pose tracking method of a moving object. The conventional methods need a three-dimensional (3D) model data of the target object. By the proposed method, the 3D position and pose tracking can be achieved without the 3D model data. We set some landmarks to estimate the 3D position and pose of the object by a single camera. In addition, the trajectory of moving landmarks is estimated by a Kalman filter. The experimental results show that a stick with a diameter of 5.0 mm can be inserted in a moving pipe with a diameter of 30.0 mm in real-time.
Gender differences in heritability of depressive symptoms in the elderly

Background. The present study aimed to investigate the relative importance of genetic and environmental influences on depressive symptoms in the elderly. Methods. Depressive symptoms were assessed through the Center for Epidemiological Studies – Depression (CES-D) scale. The CES-D scale was administered to 959 twin pairs (123 female MZs, 90 male MZs, 207 same-sex female DZs, 109 same-sex male DZs and 430 opposite-sex DZs) aged 50 years or older (mean age 72 years). A dichotomous depressed state variable was constructed based on CES-D cut-offs and self-reported use of antidepressant medication. Structural equation models were fitted to the data to dissect genetic and environmental variance components. Results. The sex-specific heritability estimates for depressive symptoms were 14% for males and 29% for females and 23% when constrained to be equal for men and women. The prevalence of clinically significant depressive symptoms was 16% for men and 24% for women. Heritability estimates for the dichotomous depressed state measure were 7% for males and 49% for females in the full model and 33% when constrained to be equal. Conclusion. Our results suggest that depressive symptoms in the elderly are moderately heritable, with a higher heritability for women than men, although differences in heritability estimates were not statistically significant.
The Regional Effects of Monetary Policy: A Survey of the Empirical Literature

This survey provides an updated review of the empirical literature on the regional effects of monetary policy in economic activity by means of undertaking a threefold perspective. First, the main methodological dimensions of this literature are examined while pinpointing those modelling or methodological traits that constitute a source of diverging estimates and thereby produce inconclusive evidence. Secondly, the estimates yielded by the literature are summarized by carrying out a cross‐study analysis of the results for each monetary union. By drawing on empirical regularities that are robust across studies, the conclusiveness of the results is assessed, while those monetary unions for which conclusive evidence is still lacking are also identified. Lastly, the sources of regional heterogeneity identified by these studies are reviewed in order to shed some light on the linkage between monetary policy and territorial heterogeneity. As a result of this threefold perspective, this survey delivers overall structured conclusions and updated policy‐relevant lessons. Moreover, various research gaps and emerging topics in the literature are also identified.
A new power stage architecture and control scheme to optimize maximum power point tracking for photovoltaic systems

This paper proposes a new approach to efficiently track the desired maximum power point for photovoltaic systems under partial shading conditions. The power stage architecture achieves fast input current change rate by combining a current-adjustable converter with a few converters operating at a constant input current. By taking advantage of fast current change, the control scheme effectively combines perturb-and-observe (P&O) tracking and periodic global maximum power point (MPP) searching, and fulfills fast tracking as well as maintaining ease of implementation.