Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Proinflammatory Cytokines Stimulate the Expression of Nerve Growth Factor by Human Intervertebral Disc Cells

Study Design. In vitro studies of the effects of proinflammatory cytokines on the production of nerve growth factor (NGF) by human intervertebral disc (IVD) cells. Objective. To determine the constitutive expression and production of NGF and the effect of cytokines on the expression of NGF by human IVD cells. Summary of the Background Data. NGF may play a role in the collateral sprouting of sensory axons, neural survival, and regulation of nociceptive sensory neurons. NGF is known to be up-regulated by proinflammatory cytokines. Methods. The presence of NGF protein was analyzed by immunohistochemistry using human IVD cells obtained from cadaveric human spines with no known disc disease (MRI Thompson grades 2–4). The effects of interleukin-1&bgr; (IL-1&bgr;) and tumor necrosis factor-&agr; (TNF-&agr;) on NGF production and mRNA expression of NGF by IVD cells were examined. The expression of NGF receptors, trkA and p75NGFR, was also assessed immunohistochemically. Results. Cadaveric anulus fibrosus (AF) and nucleus pulposus (NP) cells cultured in vitro in monolayer and in alginate beads positively stained with an anti-NGF antibody. The constitutive production of NGF protein in IVD cells was low (NP) or not detectable (AF). The expression of NGF mRNA was detectable in both cell types. IL-1&bgr; and TNF-&agr; up-regulated the NGF mRNA expression and the secretion of NGF protein into the media. TrkA was immunolocalized in AF and NP cells. Conclusion. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, that human AF and NP cells constitutively express NGF protein and mRNA, and that the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1&bgr; and TNF-&agr; stimulate the production of NGF. The precise role of NGF produced by IVD cells in the generation of discogenic pain or on the metabolism of IVD cells, especially under certain physiologic conditions in which cytokines are up-regulated, needs to be clarified in future experimentation.
An Eigenvalue-Based Measure for Word-Sense Disambiguation

Current approaches for word-sense disambiguation (WSD) try to relate the senses of the target words by optimizing a score for each sense in the context of all other words’ senses. However, by scoring each sense separately, they often fail to optimize the relations between the resulting senses. We address this problem by proposing a HITS-inspired method that attempts to optimize the score for the entire sense combination rather than one-word-at-a-time. We also exploit wordsense disambiguation via topic-models, when retrieving senses from heterogeneous sense inventories. Although this entails the relaxation of several assumptions behind current WSD algorithms, we show that our proposed method E-WSD achieves better results than current state-of-the-art approaches, without the need for additional background knowledge.
Energy Saving Exploiting the Limited Preemption Task Model

Limited preemptive scheduling has been shown to dominate both non-preemptive and fully preemptive scheduling under fixed priority systems, as far as schedulability is con cerned. This paper suggests the use of DVFS and DPM techniques under limited preemptive scheduling to further reduce energy con- sumption with respect to a fully preemptive or non-preemptive approach. I. I NTRODUCTION
A panoramic Hα imaging survey of the z= 0.4 cluster Cl 0024.0+1652 with Subaru

We employ panoramic, multicolour (BRz') and narrow-band Ha imaging of the cluster Cl0024.0+1652 (z = 0.39) from Subaru covering a ∼30-arcmin field, to determine cluster membership and star formation rates for a large sample of galaxies across a wide field in the cluster, ∼10 Mpc. We use photometric redshifts to identify cluster members, and statistically correct for the residual field contamination using similar data from the Subaru Deep Field. We detect over 500 galaxies in narrow-band emission, with broad-band colours consistent with them lying at z ∼ 0.39. Using this sample we determine the Ha luminosity function within the cluster and find that its form is approximately independent of local density, and is consistent with that seen in the intermediate redshift field population. This suggests that any density-dependent physical mechanisms which alter the star formation rate must leave the Ha luminosity function unchanged; this is possible if the time-scale for star formation to cease completely is short compared with a Hubble time. Such short time-scale transformations are also supported by the presence of a population with late-type morphologies but no detectable Ha emission. The fraction of blue galaxies, and the fraction of galaxies detected in Ha, decreases strongly with increasing galaxy density in a manner which is qualitatively similar to that seen at lower redshifts. This trend is significantly steeper than the trend with galaxy morphology observed from a panoramic Hubble Space Telescope image of this cluster; this suggests that the physical mechanisms responsible for transformations in morphology and star formation rates may be partially independent. Finally, we compare our data with similar data on clusters spanning a range of redshifts, 0.2 ≤ z ≤ 0.8, and find little evidence for a trend in the total amount of star formation in clusters with redshift. Although the data can accommodate strong evolution, the scatter from cluster to cluster at fixed redshift is of a comparable magnitude.
2 An oracle for policies or an aid to forecasters ?

Haavelmo was the first to recognize the capacity of economic models to guide policies. This paper describes some of the barriers that Haavelmo’s ideas have had (and still have) to overcome, and lays out a logical framework that has evolved from Haavelmo’s insight and matured into a coherent and comprehensive account of the relationships between theory, data and policy questions. The mathematical tools that emerge from this framework now enable investigators to answer complex policy and counterfactual questions using simple routines, some by mere inspection of the model’s structure. Several such problems are illustrated by examples, including misspecification tests, nonparametric identification, mediation analysis, and introspection. Finally, we observe that economists are largely unaware of the benefits that Haavelmo’s ideas bestow upon them and, to close this gap, we identify concrete recent advances in causal analysis that economists can utilize in research and education.
Left Ventricular Early Inflow–Outflow Index: A Novel Echocardiographic Indicator of Mitral Regurgitation Severity

Background No gold standard currently exists for quantification of mitral regurgitation (MR) severity. Classification by echocardiography is based on integrative criteria using color and spectral Doppler and anatomic measurements. We hypothesized that a simple Doppler left ventricular early inflow–outflow index (LVEIO), based on flow velocity into the left ventricle (LV) in diastole and ejected from the LV in systole, would add incrementally to current diagnostic criteria. LVEIO was calculated by dividing the mitral E-wave velocity by the LV outflow velocity time integral. Methods and Results Transthoracic echocardiography reports from Montefiore Medical Center and its referring clinics from July 1, 2011, to December 31, 2011 (n=11 235) were reviewed. The MR severity reported by a cardiologist certified by the National Board of Echocardiography was used as a reference standard. Studies reporting moderate or severe MR (n=550) were reanalyzed to measure effective regurgitant orifice area by the proximal isovelocity surface area method, vena contracta width, MR jet area, and left-sided chamber volumes. LVEIO was 9.3±3.9, 7.0±3.2, and 4.2±1.7 among those with severe, moderate, and insignificant MR, respectively (ANOVA P<0.001). By receiver operating characteristic analysis, area under the curve for LVEIO was 0.92 for severe MR. Those with LVEIO ≥8 were likely to have severe MR (likelihood ratio 26.5), whereas those with LVEIO ≤4 were unlikely to have severe MR (likelihood ratio 0.11). LVEIO performed better in those with normal LV ejection fraction (≥50%) compared with those with reduced LV ejection fraction (<50%) (area under the curve 0.92 versus 0.80, P<0.001). By multivariate logistic regression analysis, LVEIO was independently associated with severe MR when compared with vena contracta width, MR jet area, and effective regurgitant orifice area measured by the proximal isovelocity surface area method. Conclusion LVEIO is a simple-to-use echocardiographic parameter that accurately identifies severe MR, particularly in patients with normal LV ejection fraction.
High performance loop filter for HEVC

In this paper, an efficient loop filter is proposed to restore the decoded frame for HEVC. The loop filtering problem is modeled as an inverse problem and solved by maximum a posteriori estimation. By modeling non-local block similarity into the MRF prior, the proposed filter can be efficiently derived by solving an optimization problem. Both temporal and spatial adaptivity of the filter are considered during the implementation. Experimental results show that up to 5.6% bit rate reduction can be achieved by the proposed loop filter when compared with HEVC reference software HM13.0.
Efficient Algorithm for Training Interpolation RBF Networks With Equally Spaced Nodes

This brief paper proposes a new algorithm to train interpolation Gaussian radial basis function (RBF) networks in order to solve the problem of interpolating multivariate functions with equally spaced nodes. Based on an efficient two-phase algorithm recently proposed by the authors, Euclidean norm associated to Gaussian RBF is now replaced by a conveniently chosen Mahalanobis norm, that allows for directly computing the width parameters of Gaussian radial basis functions. The weighting parameters are then determined by a simple iterative method. The original two-phase algorithm becomes a one-phase one. Simulation results show that the generality of networks trained by this new algorithm is sensibly improved and the running time significantly reduced, especially when the number of nodes is large.
Impact Analysis of Missing Values on the Prediction Accuracy of Analogy-based Software Effort Estimation Method AQUA

Effort estimation by analogy (EBA) is often confronted with missing values. Our former analogy- based method AUQA is able to tolerate missing values in the data set, but it is unclear how the percentage of missing values impacts the prediction accuracy and if there is an upper bound for how big this percentage might become in order to guarantee the applicability of AQUA. This paper investigates these questions through an impact analysis. The impact analysis is conducted for seven data sets being of different size and having different initial percentages of missing values. The major results are that (i) we confirm the intuition that the more missing values, the poorer the prediction accuracy of AQUA; (ii) there is a quadratic dependency between the prediction accuracy and the percentage of missing values; and (Hi) the upper limit of missing values for the applicability of AQUA is determined as 40%. These results are obtained in the context of AQUA. Further analysis is necessary for other ways of applying EBA, such as using different similarity measures or analogy adaptation methods from those used in AQUA. For that purpose, the experimental design in this study can be adapted.
Adaptive Virtual Relaying MIMO Decode and Forward

Multi-antenna wireless communication systems exploit channel diversity otherwise not available in Single Input Single Output (SISO) channels. Implementation of wireless Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) systems is problematic due to the large sized operational wavelengths over the small dimensionality of the mobile devices. An Adaptive Virtual Relaying MIMO (AV-RMIMO) technique shown in this paper that increases the channel capacity between two single-antenna equipped communication nodes. A Decode-and-Forward (DF) relaying scheme is used. AV-RMIMO-DF, benefits from the increased diversity of the Relaying MIMO channels and is applicable to mobile environments with no fundamental changes to the network topology. MMSE estimation via Adaptive MUD is used for node selection and recruitment to transform multiple single-antenna nodes into a single multi-antenna node. It is shown that AV-RMIMO-DF is capable of a theoretical spectral efficiency up to 16.7bits/s/Hz at an SNR of 30dB and BER up to 10-5 at an SNR of about 11.5dB.
An epistemology of patient safety research: a framework for study design and interpretation. Part 1. Conceptualising and developing interventions

This is the first of a four-part series of articles examining the epistemology of patient safety research. Parts 2 and 3 will describe different study designs and methods of measuring outcomes in the evaluation of patient safety interventions, before Part 4 suggests that “one size does not fit all”. Part 1 sets the scene by defining patient safety research as a challenging form of service delivery and organisational research that has to deal (although not exclusively) with some very rare events. It then considers two inter-related ideas: a causal chain that can be used to identify where in an organisation’s structure and/or processes an intervention may impact; and the need for preimplementation evaluation of proposed interventions. Finally, the paper outlines the authors’ pragmatist ontological stance to patient safety research, which sets the philosophical basis for the remaining three articles.
Behavioral and molecular processing of visceral pain in the brain of mice: impact of colitis and psychological stress

Gastrointestinal disorders with abdominal pain are associated with central sensitization and psychopathologies that are often exacerbated by stress. Here we investigated the impact of colitis induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) and repeated water avoidance stress (WAS) on spontaneous and nociception-related behavior and molecular signaling in the mouse brain. DSS increased the mechanical pain sensitivity of the abdominal skin while both WAS and DSS enhanced the mechanical and thermal pain sensitivity of the plantar skin. These manifestations of central sensitization were associated with augmented c-Fos expression in spinal cord, thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala and prefrontal cortex. While WAS stimulated phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) p42/44, DSS activated another signaling pathway, both of which converged on c-Fos. The DSS- and WAS-induced hyperalgesia in the abdominal and plantar skin and c-Fos expression in the brain disappeared when the mice were subjected to WAS+DSS treatment. Intrarectal allyl isothiocyanate (AITC) evoked aversive behavior (freezing, reduction of locomotion and exploration) in association with p42/44 MAPK and c-Fos activation in spinal cord and brain. These effects were inhibited by morphine, which attests to their relationship with nociception. DSS and WAS exerted opposite effects on AITC-evoked p42/44 MAPK and c-Fos activation, which indicates that these transduction pathways subserve different aspects of visceral pain processing in the brain. In summary, behavioral perturbations caused by colitis and psychological stress are associated with distinct alterations in cerebral signaling. These findings provide novel perspectives on central sensitization and the sensory and emotional processing of visceral pain stimuli in the brain.
Feature Reduction Using Formal Concept Analysis for Web Page Classification

Web page classification is one way to encourage users to conveniently find accurate information. However, if the number of web pages was large then the number of input data would be very large also. As a result, web page classification is complex with time-consuming. This paper proposed feature reduction using formal concept analysis for web page classification. The study used the benchmark web page data sets from CMU. The feature selection performance is comparing between the proposed method and the Information Gain. The result demonstrated that the proposed method could reduce more features while F-measure was still very high.
Multi-dimensional correlation steganalysis

Multi-dimensional spatial analysis of image pixels have not been much investigated for the steganalysis of the LSB Steganographic methods. Pixel distribution based steganalysis methods could be thwarted by intelligently compensating statistical characteristics of image pixels, as reported in several papers. Simple LSB replacement methods have been improved by introducing smarter LSB embedding approaches, e.g. LSB matching and LSB+ methods, but they are basically the same in the sense of the LSB alteration. A new analytical method to detect LSB stego images is proposed in this paper. Our approach is based on the relative locations of image pixels that are essentially changed in an LSB embedding system. Furthermore, we introduce some new statistical features including “local entropies sum” and “clouds min sum” to achieve a higher performance. Simulation results show that our proposed approach outperforms some well-known LSB steganalysis methods, in terms of detection accuracy and the embedding rate estimation.
Estimating the e ect of unemployment insurance compensation on the labor market histories of displaced workers % St % ep ' an Jurajda

In this paper US data on labor market histories of displaced workers are used to quantify the e ect of unemployment insurance compensation (UIC) on both unemployment and employment durations. This results in the 5rst available assessment of the e ect that UIC has on the fraction of time spent employed. The estimation procedure simultaneously allows for unobserved heterogeneity, defective risks and sample selection into future spells, and uses alternative assumptions about agents’ knowledge of the UIC eligibility rules. Being entitled to UIC shortens workers’ employment durations. This negative e ect on the fraction of time spent employed could be o set by suspending an extended bene5ts program in order to shorten unemployment durations. c © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. JEL classi%cation: C41; J63; J65
The effect of hyperglycemia on blood coagulation: In vitro, observational healthy-volunteer study using rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM)

AbstractWe performed a study to investigate whether contamination of hemostasis samples with a glucose-containing solution might generate spurious results in rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM) tests.Venous blood was taken from 12 healthy volunteers and divided into 4 specimen bottles, which were contaminated with different concentrations (0%, 5%, 10%, and 20%) of glucose solution.Significant lengthening of INTEMCT was observed in the 10% and 20% groups compared with baseline values (7.7% and 9%, P = 0.041 and P = 0.037, respectively). INTEMCFT increased by 20.1% in the 20% group (P = 0.005). INTEM&agr;-angle and INTEMMCF decreased by 3.9% and 2.7%, respectively, in the 20% group (P = 0.010 and P = 0.049, respectively). EXTEMCFT was prolonged significantly, by 10.2%, 15.5%, and 25.6%, in the 5%, 10%, and 20% groups, respectively (P = 0.004, P < 0.001, and P < 0.001, respectively). EXTEM&agr;-angle decreased significantly by 1.9%, 3.2%, and 4.0% in the 5%, 10%, and 20% groups, respectively (P = 0.014, P = 0.001, and P = 0.005, respectively). EXTEMMCF decreased by 3.4% in the 20% group (P = 0.023). FIBTEMMCF decreased by 9.2% and 17.5% in the 10% and 20% groups, respectively (P = 0.019 and P = 0.021, respectively). A significant correlation was observed between standard glucose solution contamination in the specimens and percentage variation of EXTEMCFT, EXTEMMCF, and FIBTEMMCF.To obtain accurate data from the ROTEM test regarding the hemostatic status of patients, specimens with suspected or known contamination should not be analyzed.
Measurement of the Top Quark Mass in the e μ Channel Using the Matrix Weighting Method

We present a preliminary measurement of the top quark mass in the eμ channel based on about 835 pb−1 of data collected by the DØ experiment during Run II of the Fermilab Tevatron collider. We show that the method used obtains consistent results using ensemble tests of events generated with the DØ Monte Carlo simulation. We apply our technique to the eμ events from the collider data to obtain mt = 177.7± 8.8(stat) −4.5(syst) GeV.
A method for sensing spatial spectrum holes based on interference temperature

Cognitive radio is a key technique to effectively solve the spectrum underutilization problem. Spectrum sensing, as the very task upon which the entire operation of cognitive radio rests, has attracting overwhelming attention. Nevertheless, detecting the spatiotemporal spectrum holes accurately, effectively, robustly in a computationally manner is still a challenge for spectrum sensing. A novel approach that utilizes information of the interfering sources to estimate the spatial spectrum holes characteristic is proposed in the paper. Information of interfering sources is derived by means of the array signal processing technique. Then, spatial interference temperature in a free space propagation model can be figured out with the geographical features in the area. Also, the distribution of the interference temperature contour (ITC) can be plotted according to the data computed formerly. Both of the theoretical analysis and the simulation demonstrate that the approach presented in the paper improves the precision in detecting spatial spectrum holes.
Joint estimation of real squeezing and displacement

We study the problem of joint estimation of real squeezing and amplitude of the radiation field, deriving the measurement that maximizes the probability density of detecting the true value of the unknown parameters. More generally, we provide a solution for the problem of estimating the unknown unitary action of a nonunimodular group in the maximum likelihood approach. Remarkably, in this case the optimal measurements do not coincide with the so-called square-root measurements. In the case of squeezing and displacement we analyse in detail the sensitivity of estimation for coherent states and displaced squeezed states, deriving the asymptotic relation between the uncertainties in the joint estimation and the corresponding uncertainties in the optimal separate measurements of squeezing and displacement. A two-mode set-up is also analysed, showing how entanglement between optical modes can be used to approximate perfect estimation.
Increasing Relevance of Smoking Cessation Messages in an Online Software Agent Environment

An online software agent that helps smokers quit was designed and tested. We created a library of categorized smoking cessation messages using meta-data corresponding to the Stages of Change Theory. A feedback process was developed that used individual participant’s relevance ratings and a message similarity search algorithm. A pilot study of university students who smoke or had recently quit was performed. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: one received generic, non-tailored messages; another received tailored messages based on their answers to questions about their smoking and quitting behavior; and another received messages selected through tailoring and feedback. In the feedback-driven group, participants reported relevance of the messages received averaged higher than the other two groups. There was also a highly significant correlation in this group between relevance and social presence, which indicates the "feeling" of interacting in an interpersonal manner.
Turbo code application to image transmission

This paper explores the application of the error resilient coding scheme. Absolutely addressed Picture ELement (APEL) coding, to image transmission over noisy radio channels. To improve the performance of APEL at low signal-to-noise ratios, turbo coding is introduced into the system. Demonstrated through Gaussian and Rayleigh fading channel simulations, this novel combination will be shown to correct and restrict the propagation of the majority of errors incurred during transmission. (6 pages)