Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Geographical range and speciation in fossil and living molluscs

The notion of a positive relation between geographical range and speciation rate or speciation probability may go back to Darwin, but a negative relation between these parameters is equally plausible. Here, we test these alternatives in fossil and living molluscan taxa. Late Cretaceous gastropod genera exhibit a strong negative relation between the geographical ranges of constituent species and speciation rate per species per million years; this result is robust to sampling biases against small–bodied taxa and is not attributable to phylogenetic effects. They also exhibit weak inverse or non–significant relations between geographical range and (i) the total number of species produced over the 18 million year timeframe, and (ii) the number of species in a single timeplane. Sister–group comparisons using extant molluscan species also show a non–significant relation between median geographical range and species richness of genera. These results support the view that the factors promoting broad geographical ranges also tend to damp speciation rates. They also demonstrate that a strong inverse relation between per–species speciation rate and geographical range need not be reflected in analyses conducted within a single timeplane, underscoring the inadequacy of treating net speciation as a proxy for raw per–taxon rates.
Sampling node pairs over large graphs

Characterizing user pair relationships is important for applications such as friend recommendation and interest targeting in online social networks (OSNs). Due to the large scale nature of such networks, it is infeasible to enumerate all user pairs and so sampling is used. In this paper, we show that it is a great challenge even for OSN service providers to characterize user pair relationships even when they possess the complete graph topology. The reason is that when sampling techniques (i.e., uniform vertex sampling (UVS) and random walk (RW)) are naively applied, they can introduce large biases, in particular, for estimating similarity distribution of user pairs with constraints such as existence of mutual neighbors, which is important for applications such as identifying network homophily. Estimating statistics of user pairs is more challenging in the absence of the complete topology information, since an unbiased sampling technique such as UVS is usually not allowed, and exploring the OSN graph topology is expensive. To address these challenges, we present asymptotically unbiased sampling methods to characterize user pair properties based on UVS and RW techniques respectively. We carry out an evaluation of our methods to show their accuracy and efficiency. Finally, we apply our methods to two Chinese OSNs, Doudan and Xiami, and discover significant homophily is present in these two networks.
Object-based indexing of MPEG-4 compressed video

The MPEG-4 object-based coding standard, designed as a common platform for all multimedia applications, is inherently well-suited for video indexing applications. To fully exploit the advantages offered by MPEG-4, however, a reconsideration of existing indexing strategies is required. This paper proposes a new object-based framework for video indexing and retrieval that treats as the basic indexing unit the object itself, where changes in content are detected through observations made on the objects in the video sequence. We present a temporal segmentation algorithm that is designed to automatically extract key frames for each video object in an MPEG-4 compressed sequence based on the prediction model chosen by the encoder for individual macroblocks. An extension to the existing MPEG-4 syntax is presented for conducting and facilitating vast database searches. The data presented in the proposed 'indexing field' are: the birth and death frames of individual objects, global motion characteristics/camera operations observed in the scene, representative key frames that capture the major transformations each object undergoes, and the dominant motion characteristics of each object throughout its lifetime. We present the validity of the proposed scheme by results obtained on several MPEG-4 test sequences.
Patellar Component Resection Arthroplasty for the Severely Compromised Patella

When severe bone loss precludes reimplantation of a new patellar component during revision knee arthroplasty, the treatment options include patellar bone grafting, patellar component resection arthroplasty, and patellectomy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical and functional results of patellar component resection arthroplasty for the severely compromised patella for which insertion of another patellar component was not possible. Thirty-five knees (31 patients) were treated with patellar component resection arthroplasty for aseptic patellar component failure associated with severely compromised patellar bone stock. Followup averaged 7.9 years (range, 2–18 years). There was a significant improvement in Knee Society pain and function scores. Pain relief was more dramatic than functional improvement. The range of motion also improved significantly and in particular preoperative extensor lag was resolved in the majority of patients. Patients treated with isolated patellar resection arthroplasty were more likely to have continuing pain and require reoperation compared with patients who had concomitant revision of the tibial and femoral components. Correct positioning and the stability of tibial and femoral components should be tested carefully at the time of patellar resection arthroplasty and considered for revision if malpositioned either axially or rotationally.
Effect of Combination Folic Acid, Vitamin B6, and Vitamin B12 Supplementation on Fracture Risk in Women: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated an association of elevated plasma homocysteine levels with greater bone resorption and fracture risk. Vitamins B12, B6, and folic acid are cofactors in homocysteine metabolism, and supplementation with B vitamins is effective in lowering homocysteine levels in humans. However, randomized trials of supplemental B vitamins for reduction of fracture risk have been limited. Therefore, we performed an ancillary study to the Women's Antioxidant and Folic Acid Cardiovascular Study (WAFACS), a large randomized trial of women with preexisting cardiovascular disease or three or more coronary risk factors, to test whether a daily B vitamin intervention including folic acid (2.5 mg/day), vitamin B6 (50 mg/day), and vitamin B12 (1 mg/day) reduces nonspine fracture risk over 7.3 years of treatment and follow‐up. Among 4810 women, we confirmed 349 nonspine fracture cases by centralized review of medical records. In a substudy of 300 women (150 in treatment group and 150 controls) with paired plasma samples at randomization and follow‐up (7.3 years later), we measured two bone turnover markers, including C‐terminal cross‐linking telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX) and intact type I procollagen N‐propeptide (P1NP). In Cox proportional hazards models based on intention‐to‐treat, we found no significant effects of B vitamin supplementation on nonspine fracture risk (relative hazard = 1.08; 95% confidence interval, 0.88 to 1.34). In a nested case‐cohort analysis, there were no significant effects of B vitamins on fracture risk among women with elevated plasma homocysteine levels, or low levels of vitamins B12 or B6, or folate at baseline. Furthermore, treatment with B vitamins had no effect on change in markers of bone turnover. We found no evidence that daily supplementation with B vitamins reduces fracture risk or rates of bone metabolism in middle‐aged and older women at high risk of cardiovascular disease. © 2017 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Alcohol consumption and risk of cutaneous basal cell carcinoma in women and men : 3 prospective cohort studies 1 , 2

Background: Alcohol consumption has been associated with an increased prevalence of sunburn, which is an established skin cancer risk factor. Objective: We investigated whether alcohol consumption is associated with risk of cutaneous basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Design: We conducted a prospective analysis on alcohol consumption and risk of BCC on the basis of data from 167,765 women in the NHS (Nurses’ Health Study) (1984–2010) and NHS II (1991– 2011) and 43,697 men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (1986–2010). Alcohol intake was repeatedly assessed every 2–4 y over the follow-up period. HRs and 95% CIs for BCC in association with alcohol intake were computed with the use of Cox proportional hazards models with adjustment for sun exposure and other skin cancer risk factors. Results: A total of 28,951 incident BCC cases were documented over 3.74 million person-years of follow-up. Increased alcohol intake was associated with increased BCC risk in both women and men (both P-trend , 0.0001). Pooled multivariable-adjusted HRs over increasing cumulative averaged alcohol intake categories were 1.00 (reference) for nondrinkers, 1.13 (95% CI: 1.06, 1.20) for 0.1– 9.9 g/d, 1.24 (95% CI: 1.14, 1.35) for 10.0–19.9 g/d, 1.27 (95% CI: 1.20, 1.35) for 20.0–29.9 g/d, and 1.22 (95% CI: 1.15, 1.30) for $30.0 g/d (P-trend , 0.0001, P-heterogeneity by study = 0.10 ). The association remained consistent when we used alcohol intakes over different latency periods (0–4, 4–8, 8–12, and 12–16 y) as exposures and over categories of sun exposure–related factors. In the individual alcoholic beverages, white wine and liquor were positively associated with BCC risk. Conclusion: Alcohol consumption is associated with increased risk of cutaneous BCC in both women and men. Am J Clin Nutr 2015;102:1158–66.
Knowledge Transfer on Hybrid Graph

In machine learning problems, labeled data are often in short supply. One of the feasible solution for this problem is transfer learning. It can make use of the labeled data from other domain to discriminate those unlabeled data in the target domain. In this paper, we propose a transfer learning framework based on similarity matrix approximation to tackle such problems. Two practical algorithms are proposed, which are the label propagation and the similarity propagation. In these methods, we build a hybrid graph based on all available data. Then the information is transferred cross domains through alternatively constructing the similarity matrix for different part of the graph. Among all related methods, similarity propagation approach can make maximum use of all available similarity information across domains. This leads to more efficient transfer and better learning result. The experiment on real world text mining applications demonstrates the promise and effectiveness of our algorithms.
Attachment Style with Mother and Relationship Context as Predictors of Late Adolescents’ Conflict Behaviours with a Romantic Partner or Close Friend: A Multi-Method Study

The roots of adolescent management of peer interaction and its associated emotions are important for understanding adolescents’ socio-emotional functioning, yet there is a lack of observational studies with multiple informants. The current thesis examined late adolescents’ attachment style with mother and self-reported, partner-reported and observed conflict behaviours with a close peer. Forty-four adolescents (30 females; Mean age = 17.9 years, SD = .63) rated their attachment to their mother (anxious and avoidant attachment) at two different time points a year apart, scores were averaged. Target adolescents were videotaped with a romantic partner or same-sex friend discussing two problems in their relationship. As hypothesized, friend dyads were more harmonious and less conflictual than romantic dyads on self-rated collaboration, observer-rated disagreements, and observed negative and positive emotions. Attachment findings pertained primarily to romantic dyads as observed by partners and/or independent observers. Adolescents avoidantly attached to their mother displayed more disagreements in shorter romantic relationships whereas those in longer relationships who were more avoidantly attached showed both less disagreement and negative emotions with their partners. Adolescents more anxiously attached to mother, surprisingly however, exhibited less disagreement and negative emotion, and more positive emotion, opposite to hypothesis. As well, adolescents more anxiously attached demonstrated less negative emotion during the discussion with friends. These findings support the continued role of attachment with mother in late adolescents’ emotion regulation behaviors with close peers, especially romantic partners. Future research directions and implications for clinical interventions for both parents and adolescents are discussed.
Performance comparison of smoothing and gamma priors for transmission tomography

The authors introduced (T. Hsiao et al., "Joint-MAP Reconstruction/Segmentation for Transmission Tomography Using Mixture-Models as Priors", Proc. IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference, II, p. 1689-93, 1998) a Bayesian method for transmission tomography that used a novel pointwise prior in the form of a mixture of gamma distributions. Here, the authors compare the performance their pointwise prior with that of a smoothing prior in the context of a weak tumor detection task for emission PET. The reprojected attenuation maps from each method are used for attenuation correction of 2D PET emission data. The authors' focus is on the problem of low counts in the transmission scan.
Use of Bacillus brevis for Synthesis and Secretion of Des-B30 Single-Chain Human Insulin Precursor

A synthetic gene encoding a single chain human insulin precursor [B-chain (1-29)-A-chain] linked to the C-terminal lysine of human epidermal growth factor (1-28) (EGF-SCI) was constructed. This gene was expressed using Bacillus brevis. EGF-SCI was isolated from the supernatant of the culture broth. Treatment of EGF-SCI with lysyl endopeptidase resulted in the formation of des-B30 human insulin. The identification of the formed des-B30 human insulin was made by the measurement of molecular weight and amino acid analysis. The binding coefficient to anti-human insulin antibody was comparable to that of human insulin.
Color Image Segmentation Based on Different Color Space Models Using Automatic GrabCut

This paper presents a comparative study using different color spaces to evaluate the performance of color image segmentation using the automatic GrabCut technique. GrabCut is considered as one of the semiautomatic image segmentation techniques, since it requires user interaction for the initialization of the segmentation process. The automation of the GrabCut technique is proposed as a modification of the original semiautomatic one in order to eliminate the user interaction. The automatic GrabCut utilizes the unsupervised Orchard and Bouman clustering technique for the initialization phase. Comparisons with the original GrabCut show the efficiency of the proposed automatic technique in terms of segmentation, quality, and accuracy. As no explicit color space is recommended for every segmentation problem, automatic GrabCut is applied with RGB, HSV, CMY, XYZ, and YUV color spaces. The comparative study and experimental results using different color images show that RGB color space is the best color space representation for the set of the images used.
Hardware in the loop simulation of arbitrary magnitude shaped correlated radar clutter

This paper describes a simple process for the generation of arbitrary probability distributions of complex data with correlation from sample to sample, optimized for hardware in the loop radar environment simulation. Measured radar clutter is used to evaluate the accuracy of the method, as well as the degradation in accuracy for both the clutter magnitude probability distribution and Doppler spectrum due to the quantization effects encountered when implementing statistical clutter generation algorithms on a hardware platform.
The SUPPORT prognostic model. Objective estimates of survival for seriously ill hospitalized adults. Study to understand prognoses and preferences for outcomes and risks of treatments.

OBJECTIVE To develop and validate a prognostic model that estimates survival over a 180-day period for seriously ill hospitalized adults (phase I of SUPPORT [Study to Understand Prognoses and Preferences for Outcomes and Risks of Treatments]) and to compare this model's predictions with those of an existing prognostic system and with physicians' independent estimates (SUPPORT phase II). DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING 5 tertiary care academic centers in the United States. PARTICIPANTS 4301 hospitalized adults were selected for phase I according to diagnosis and severity of illness; 4028 patients were evaluated from phase II. MEASUREMENTS A survival model was developed using the following predictor variables: diagnosis, age, number of days in the hospital before study entry, presence of cancer, neurologic function, and 11 physiologic measures recorded on day 3 after study entry. Physicians were interviewed on day 3. Patients were followed for survival for 180 days after study entry. RESULTS The area under the receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) curve for prediction of surviving 180 days was 0.79 in phase I, 0.78 in the phase II independent validation, and 0.78 when the acute physiology score from the APACHE (Acute Physiology, Age, Chronic Health Evaluation) III prognostic scoring system was substituted for the SUPPORT physiology score. For phase II patients, the SUPPORT model had equal discrimination and slightly improved calibration compared with physician's estimates. Combining the SUPPORT model with physician's estimates improved both predictive accuracy (ROC curve area = 0.82) and the ability to identify patients with high probabilities of survival or death. CONCLUSIONS A limited amount of readily available clinical information can provide a foundation for long-term survival estimates that are as accurate as physicians' estimates. The best survival estimates combine an objective prognosis with a physician's clinical estimate.
Map-Side Merge Joins for Scalable SPARQL BGP Processing

In recent times, it has been widely recognized that, due to their inherent scalability, frameworks based on MapReduce are indispensable for so-called "Big Data" applications. However, for Semantic Web applications using SPARQL, there is still a demand for sophisticated MapReduce join techniques for processing basic graph patterns, which are at the core of SPARQL. Renowned for their stable and efficient performance, sort-merge joins have become widely used in DBMSs. In this paper, we demonstrate the adaptation of merge joins for SPARQL BGP processing with MapReduce. Our technique supports both n-way joins and sequences of join operations by applying merge joins within the map phase of MapReduce while the reduce phase is only used to fulfill the preconditions of a subsequent join iteration. Our experiments with the LUBM benchmark show an average performance benefit between 15% and 48% compared to other MapReduce based approaches while at the same time scaling linearly with the RDF dataset size.
Sliding mode control of a permanent magnets synchronous machine

This paper presents a speed sliding mode controller for a vector controlled (FOC) of the permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) fed by a pulse width modulation voltage source inverter. The sliding mode control (SMC) is used to achieve robust performance against parameter variations and external disturbances. The problem with this conventional controller is that it has large chattering on the torque and the drive is very noisy. In order to reduce a torque ripple, the sign function is used. The proposed algorithm was simulated by Matlab/Simulink software and simulation results show that the performance of the control scheme is robust and the chattering problem is solved.
The RenTg Mice: A Powerful Tool to Study Renin-Dependent Chronic Kidney Disease

Background Several studies have shown that activation of the renin-angiotensin system may lead to hypertension, a major risk factor for the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD). The existing hypertension-induced CDK mouse models are quite fast and consequently away from the human pathology. Thus, there is an urgent need for a mouse model that can be used to delineate the pathogenic process leading to progressive renal disease. The objective of this study was dual: to investigate whether mice overexpressing renin could mimic the kinetics and the physiopathological characteristics of hypertension-induced renal disease and to identify cellular and/or molecular events characterizing the different steps of the progression of CKD. Methodology/Principal Findings We used a novel transgenic strain, the RenTg mice harboring a genetically clamped renin transgene. At 3 months, heterozygous mice are hypertensive and slightly albuminuric. The expression of adhesion markers such as vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 and platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 are increased in the renal vasculature indicating initiation of endothelial dysfunction. At 5 months, perivascular and periglomerular infiltrations of macrophages are observed. These early renal vascular events are followed at 8 months by leukocyte invasion, decreased expression of nephrin, increased expression of KIM-1, a typical protein of tubular cell stress, and of several pro-fibrotic agents of the TGFβ family. At 12 months, mice display characteristic structural alterations of hypertensive renal disease such as glomerular ischemia, glomerulo- and nephroangio-sclerosis, mesangial expansion and tubular dilation. Conclusions/Significance The RenTg strain develops CKD progressively. In this model, endothelial dysfunction is an early event preceding the structural and fibrotic alterations which ultimately lead to the development of CKD. This model can provide new insights into the mechanisms of chronic renal failure and help to identify new targets for arresting and/or reversing the development of the disease.
A Planar Polarization-Reconfigurable Antenna

This paper reports a planar polarization-reconfigurable antenna with a simple switching topology. A dual-mode substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) cavity is adopted for the element antenna having two input ports. Four radiation slots are etched on the top surface of the SIW cavity for generating the circularly polarized radiation, whose radiation phases can be adjusted by switching the input port. The left-hand circular polarization, right-hand circular polarization, and linear polarization can be realized by properly choosing the state of the excitation. A $2 \times 2$ array antenna is designed for the demonstration of the array application, and experiments are carried out to validate the design. Good agreement among the simulated and measured results is obtained. Different to the reported antenna architectures in the studies, which usually require complicated switching networks and more switching elements when designing an array for obtaining a high radiation gain, the proposed array antenna does not need additional switching elements for the large array applications. It has a low cost and a simple structure, and can be used for the polarization diverse applications of the wireless system.
An Effective Drill-Down Paths Pruning Method in OLAP

The complexity of multi-dimensional data structure affects the efficiency of OLAP, because there are too many drill-down paths to be chosen from when analysis. While most methods in the literature are associated to some specific analysis tasks, so they cannot get reasonable effect. In this paper, we proposed a new method that is irrelevant to analysis task that we try to prune the invalid drill-down operations. The vectorial angle method is employed to evaluate the validness of every drill-down operation. We give the corresponding path pruning algorithm, and it is effective that it takes the fact table as the input in only one pass scanning. The experiments show that our method is feasible, effective, sparsity-proof and skewness-proof