Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Negative Binomial Additive Models

Summary. The generalized additive model is extended to handle negative binomial responses. The extension is complicated by the fact that the negative binomial distribution has two parameters and is not in the exponential family. The methodology is applied to data involving DNA adduct counts and smoking variables among ex‐smokers with lung cancer. A more detailed investigation is made of the parametric relationship between the number of adducts and years since quitting while retaining a smooth relationship between adducts and the other covariates.
RFID as an Enabler of the Internet of Things: Issues of Security and Privacy

RFID is one of the enabling technologies of the Internet of Things. RFID has the potential to enable machines to identify objects, understand their status, and communicate and take action if necessary, to create "real time awareness. " The pervasiveness of RFID technology has given rise to a number of serious issues including security and privacy concerns. This paper will discuss current RFID usage issues and conduct a threat analysis of the RFID system components then identify issues/risks and elucidate how these issues can be resolved or risks can be mitigated.
FACL Based 3D Grasping Controller for a Snake Robot During Locomotion

In this paper, we develop a distributed intelligent fuzzy learning controller for serpentine locomotion while doing lasso-type grasping in 3D environments. The novelty of our approach is not only in the control modularity but on a lasso type grasping having as a moving base the remaining snake links undergoing serpentine gait. Dynamical constraints due to environmental conditions are considered online by a genetic algorithm based evaluator, which evaluates the feasibility of behaviors suggested by the high level controller and modify them. Our approach is demonstrated on the simulation of our modular 12 link snake robot
Efficacy of Lefamulin Against Staphylococcus aureus-Induced Bacteremia in a Neutropenic and Immunocompetent Murine Model

Abstract Background S. aureus (SA) is a major human pathogen that causes invasive, clinical infections including bacteremia. Lefamulin (LEF) is the first semi-synthetic, pleuromutilin antibiotic for IV and oral use in humans. LEF is currently in Phase 3 trials for the treatment of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP). LEF specifically inhibits bacterial protein synthesis by binding to the peptidyl transferase center (PTC) via four H-bonds and other interactions at the A- and P-site resulting in an “induced fit. ” LEF has been shown to be highly active against bacterial pathogens causing bacteremia, including SA. This study investigated the efficacy of LEF and comparators against SA in a neutropenic and immunocompetent murine bacteremia model. Methods Experimentally induced MSSA bacteremia (inoculum ~2 × 107 CFU/mouse) was established in immunocompromised and immunocompetent mice. Infected mice received a single subcutaneous dose of either LEF or comparator (Table 1) 1 hours post-inoculation, mimicking human therapeutic exposures. A control group of infected mice were sacrificed directly before treatment to establish a baseline CFU count and comparison with the bacterial load of treated animals 24 hours post drug administration. Results Irrespective of the immune status, LEF showed superior efficacy to linezolid (LZD) and tigecycline (TGC) against MSSA, reducing the bacterial burden more than 4 log10 CFU/mL within 24 hours (Table 1). A comparable reduction of bacterial burden was observed between LEF and daptomycin (DAP) or vancomycin (VAN) treatment. Conclusion LEF showed comparable therapeutic outcome to DAP or VAN in this acute experimental infection model, while showing superior killing as compared with LZD or TGC. The efficacy of LEF was maintained under neutropenic conditions with >4log10 ΔCFU/mL at clinically relevant exposures. This study supports continued evaluation of LEF for as a potential treatment of staphylococcal bacteremia. Disclosures E. Fischer, Nabriva Therapeutics AG: Employee and Shareholder, Salary; B. C. Kappes, Nabriva Therapeutics AG: Employee and Shareholder, Salary; W. W. Wicha, Nabriva Therapeutics AG: Employee and Shareholder, Salary
MUC Expression in Gallbladder Epithelial Tissues in Cholesterol-Associated Gallbladder Disease

Background/Aims Gallstone pathogenesis is linked to mucin hypersecretion and bacterial infection. Several mucin genes have been identified in gallbladder epithelial cells (GBECs). We investigated MUC expression in cholesterol-associated gallbladder disease and evaluated the relationship between mucin and bacterial infection. Methods The present study involved 20 patients with cholesterol stones with cholecystitis, five with cholesterol stones with cholesterolosis, six with cholesterol polyps, two with gallbladder cancer, and six controls. Canine GBECs treated with lipopolysaccharide were also studied. MUC3, MUC5AC, MUC5B, and MUC6 antibodies were used for dot/slot immunoblotting and immunohistochemical studies of the gallbladder epithelial tissues, canine GBECs, and bile. Reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction was performed to evaluate MUC3 and MUC5B expression. Results MUC3, MUC5AC, MUC5B, and MUC6 were expressed in the normal gallbladder epithelium, and of those, MUC3 and MUC5B exhibited the highest expression levels. Greatly increased levels of MUC3 and MUC5B expression were observed in the cholesterol stone group, and slightly increased levels were observed in the cholesterol polyp group; MUC3 and MUC5B mRNA was also upregulated in those groups. Canine GBECs treated with lipopolysaccharide also showed upregulation of MUC3 and MUC5B. Conclusions The mucin genes with the highest expression levels in gallbladder tissue in cholesterol-associated diseases were MUC3 and MUC5B. Cholesterol stones and gallbladder infections were associated with increased MUC3 and MUC5B expression.
Dynamic load balancing through coordinated scheduling in packet data systems

Third generation code-division multiple access (CDMA) systems propose to provide packet data service through a high speed shared channel with intelligent and fast scheduling at the base-stations. In the current approach base-stations schedule independently of other base-stations. We consider scheduling schemes in which scheduling decisions are made jointly for a cluster of cells thereby enhancing performance through interference avoidance and dynamic load balancing. We consider algorithms that assume complete knowledge of the channel quality information from each of the base-stations to the terminals at the centralized scheduler as well as a two-tier scheduling strategy that assumes only the knowledge of the long term channel conditions at the centralized scheduler. We demonstrate that in the case of asymmetric traffic distribution, where load imbalance is most pronounced, significant throughput gains can be obtained while the gains in the symmetric case are modest. Since the load balancing is achieved through centralized scheduling, our scheme can adapt to time-varying traffic patterns dynamically.
Spatial Context based Angular Information Preserving Projection for Hyperspectral Image Classification

Dimensionality reduction is a crucial preprocessing for hyperspectral data analysis - finding an appropriate subspace is often required for subsequent image classification. In recent work, we proposed supervised angular information based dimensionality reduction methods to find effective subspaces. Since unlabeled data are often more readily available compared to labeled data, we propose an unsupervised projection that finds a lower dimensional subspace where local angular information is preserved. To exploit spatial information from the hyperspectral images, we further extend our unsupervised projection to incorporate spatial contextual information around each pixel in the image. Additionally, we also propose a sparse representation based classifier which is optimized to exploit spatial information during classification - we hence assert that our proposed projection is particularly suitable for classifiers where local similarity and spatial context are both important. Experimental results with two real-world hyperspectral datasets demonstrate that our proposed methods provide a robust classification performance.
Iterative Learning Control for Milling with Industrial Robots in Advanced Manufacturing

The demand of today for advanced manufactured parts with high precision is due to the increasing complexity of technologies. The parts are typically made by CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machines, which are expensive and comparably big. By using industrial robots that are significantly cheaper, reduced costs can be achieved, which is particularly beneficial for small and medium enterprises. Robots are, however, less stiff and strong and are less accurate compared to the CNC machines. In this thesis, the idea was that by designing a controller, this could be compensated for so that the robot could perform machining with high precision. The research made in this thesis was part of the EU co-funded research project COMET. The robot task was to repeatedly mill parts with improved results. Iterative Learning Control (ILC) was therefore chosen as a suitable control strategy for this task. It uses the position error from previous iterations and adds it to the control signal to converge the output to successful results. Results showed that when using ILC for tracking paths, the position error could be reduced with approximately 11-20% in x, y, and z directions after one iteration.
Generating Robust Schedules through Temporal Flexibility

This paper considers the problem of generating partial order schedules (POS), that is, schedules which retain temporal flexibility and thus provide some degree of robustness in the face of unpredictable execution circumstances. We begin by proposing a set of measures for assessing and comparing the robustness properties of alternative POSs. Then, using a common solving framework, we develop two orthogonal procedures for constructing a POS. The first, which we call the resource envelope based approach, uses computed bounds on cumulative resource usage (i.e., a resource envelope) to identify potential resource conflicts, and progressively winnows the total set of temporally feasible solutions into a smaller set of resource feasible solutions by resolving detected conflicts. The second, referred to as the earliest start time approach, instead uses conflict analysis of a specific (i.e., earliest start time) solution to generate an initial fixed-time schedule, and then expands this solution to a set of resource feasible solutions in a post-processing step. We evaluate the relative effectiveness of these two procedures on a set of project scheduling benchmark problems. As might be expected, the second approach, by virtue of its more focused analysis, is found to be a more efficient POS generator. Somewhat counterintuitively, however, it is also found to produce POSs that are more robust.
Safety and efficacy of tranexamic acid in bleeding paediatric trauma patients: a systematic review protocol

Introduction Trauma is the leading cause of death among children aged 1–18. Studies indicate that better control of bleeding could potentially prevent 10–20% of trauma-related deaths. The antifibrinolytic agent tranexamic acid (TxA) has shown promise in haemorrhage control in adult trauma patients. However, information on the potential benefits of TxA in children remains sparse. This review proposes to evaluate the current uses, benefits and adverse effects of TxA in the bleeding paediatric trauma population. Methods and analysis A structured search of bibliographic databases (eg, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane CENTRAL) has been undertaken to retrieve randomised controlled trials and cohort studies that describe the use of TxA in paediatric trauma patients. To ensure that all relevant data were captured, the search did not contain any restrictions on language or publication time. After deduplication, citations will be screened independently by 2 authors, and selected for inclusion based on prespecified criteria. Data extraction and risk of bias assessment will be performed independently and in duplicate. Meta-analytic methods will be employed wherever appropriate. Ethics and dissemination This study will not involve primary data collection, and formal ethical approval will therefore not be required. The findings of this study will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication and at relevant conference meetings. Trial registration number CRD42016038023.
Optimizing Document Indexing and Search Term Weighting Based on Probabilistic Models

We describe the application of probabilistic indexing and retrieval methods to the TREC material. For document indexing, we apply a description-oriented approach which uses relevance feedback information from previous queries run on the same collection. In our experiments, we consider single words and phrases and use polynomial functions for mapping the statistical parameters of these terms onto probabilistic indexing weights
Efficacy of Grass Pollen Allergen Sublingual Immunotherapy Tablets for Seasonal Allergic Rhinoconjunctivitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

IMPORTANCE Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and meta-analyses of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) for the treatment of seasonal allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (SARC) have shown a modest clinical benefit compared with placebo. Furthermore, indirect comparison by meta-analyses showed that subcutaneous immunotherapy is more effective than SLIT. Despite these data, SLIT has become the most prescribed treatment of SARC in Europe in recent years, and it was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of SARC to grass pollen in the United States on April 1, 2014. OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy and safety of the grass pollen sublingual tablets licensed as drugs in the treatment of patients with SARC to grass pollen. DATA SOURCES Computerized bibliographic searches of MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov (from inception to April 30, 2014) were supplemented with a manual search of reference lists. STUDY SELECTION Randomized clinical trials were included if they compared the grass pollen SLIT tablets approved by regulatory authorities in the European Union and the United States for SARC with placebo. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS Data on populations, interventions, and outcomes were extracted from each RCT according to the intent-to-treat method by 2 independent observers and were combined using the method by DerSimonian and Laird. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary end point was the difference in the symptom score and medication score between SLIT and placebo. We pooled data using random-effects meta-analysis, with standardized mean differences (SMDs) and 95% CIs reported. RESULTS Data were available in 13 RCTs for the symptom score (4659 patients) and in 12 RCTs for the medication score (4558 patients). We found a small treatment benefit in the symptom score (SMD, -0.28; 95% CI, -0.37 to -0.19; P < .001) and in the medication score (SMD, -0.24; 95% CI, -0.31 to -0.17; P < .001). Adverse events were reported in 1384 of 2259 patients (61.3%) receiving SLIT and in 477 of 2279 patients (20.9%) receiving placebo. Seven patients in the SLIT group reported treatment-related adverse events requiring epinephrine. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Findings show a small benefit of the grass pollen sublingual tablets in reducing symptoms and in decreasing the use of symptomatic medication (antihistamines and corticosteroids) in patients with SARC. Considering the low magnitude of the benefit, the convenience and easy administration do not seem to be sufficient reasons for the choice of SLIT.
An Ontology-Based Information Extraction System for bridging the configuration gap in hybrid SDN environments

Hybrid Software-Defined Networks (SDNs) are growing at a remarkable speed, so network administrators need to deal with the configuration of a plethora of devices including OpenFlow elements, traditional equipment, and nodes supporting both OpenFlow and traditional features. The OpenFlow Management and Configuration Protocol (OF-CONFIG) is positioned as a solid candidate for the remote configuration of OpenFlow devices, but the fact that OF-CONFIG relies on NETCONF for its transport constrains its potential considerably. Indeed, the lack of comprehensive and standardized data models has hindered the utilization of NETCONF itself in traditional networks, and will likely confine OF-CONFIG to an elementary set of configurations until the expected data models arrive. In this paper, we present a semantic-based approach that eases and automates the configuration of network devices while complementing the capabilities of OF-CONFIG and NETCONF. Our main contributions can be summarized as follows. First, we have formalized the semantics of the switch/router configuration domain using the Web Ontology Language (OWL). Second, we have developed an Ontology-Based Information Extraction (OBIE) system from the Command-Line Interface (CLI) of network devices. Third, we have defined a learning algorithm that enables automated interpretation of CLIs' configuration capabilities in heterogeneous (multi-vendor) network scenarios. The potential of our approach is demonstrated through experiments carried out on different network elements.
The economics of crime control

The authors, pioneers in economic research on the criminal justice system, apply their innovative economic paradigm and monetary measures to the seriousness of crime generation and crime control. The Economics of Crime Control will be essential for the library of every criminologist, economist, policy maker, university professor, and student concerned with the economics of crime and the newest approaches to understanding the criminal justice system. 'This book has pedagogical as well as reference value. It would be most appropriate as a supplementary text for a graduate course on criminal justice policy. ' -- Policy Sciences No 14, 1982 'This is an excellent book directed primarily to the nonspecialist.I particularly liked the methodical, careful approach the authors follow in using the tools of economic analysis to tackle complex social policy questions. ' -- Journal of Economic Literature, Vol 21, June 1983 '. a desirable and "must" reading for any student of criminology. It provides a solid base to make further refinements to the theory and the empirical analysis. It could be used as a text for a graduate course as well as a source book for researchers in criminology. ' -- Annals of Regional Science, November 1983
The development of an instrument for assessing the quality of life of people with diabetes. Diabetes-39.

OBJECTIVES The aim of this 2-year research project was to develop an instrument specifically designed to assess the quality of life of people with diabetes. METHODS The project was divided into two phases. In the first phase, information from a detailed literature review, from existing quality-of-life instruments, and from interviews with health professionals and people with diabetes was used to develop an initial instrument of 92 items considered to address important aspects of patients' lives. This questionnaire was mailed to 1,000 people with diabetes, and data from the 516 respondents were used to select the most important and useful items. Fifty items were excluded, leaving 42 items that constituted the pilot instrument. During phase 2, the pilot instrument was used to assess the quality of life of 427 diabetic patients who completed the revised questionnaire. After analyzing this data, three additional items were dropped. The final instrument consists of 39 items and covers five dimensions of patients' lives: Energy and Mobility, Diabetes Control, Anxiety and Worry, Social Burden, and Sexual Functioning. RESULTS The results of validity and reliability tests conducted to date testify to the relevance of the 39-item questionnaire (Diabetes-39) as a valid discriminative instrument, one which shows significant correlations with an overall quality-of-life assessment, the pattern of diabetes severity, and comorbidity. Further, the results from Diabetes-39 correlate well with the results from the established generic quality-of-life instrument, the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey. CONCLUSIONS Validation of a quality-of-life instrument, however, is an ongoing process. Further research is required to corroborate these early findings and to ensure that this is an instrument that can capture data of greatest relevance to the diabetic patient and that is responsive to change in quality of life.
PDR with a Foot-Mounted IMU and Ramp Detection

The localization of persons in indoor environments is nowadays an open problem. There are partial solutions based on the deployment of a network of sensors (Local Positioning Systems or LPS). Other solutions only require the installation of an inertial sensor on the person’s body (Pedestrian Dead-Reckoning or PDR). PDR solutions integrate the signals coming from an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), which usually contains 3 accelerometers and 3 gyroscopes. The main problem of PDR is the accumulation of positioning errors due to the drift caused by the noise in the sensors. This paper presents a PDR solution that incorporates a drift correction method based on detecting the access ramps usually found in buildings. The ramp correction method is implemented over a PDR framework that uses an Inertial Navigation algorithm (INS) and an IMU attached to the person’s foot. Unlike other approaches that use external sensors to correct the drift error, we only use one IMU on the foot. To detect a ramp, the slope of the terrain on which the user is walking, and the change in height sensed when moving forward, are estimated from the IMU. After detection, the ramp is checked for association with one of the existing in a database. For each associated ramp, a position correction is fed into the Kalman Filter in order to refine the INS-PDR solution. Drift-free localization is achieved with positioning errors below 2 meters for 1,000-meter-long routes in a building with a few ramps.
Statistics of visual representation

The experience of retinex image processing has prompted us to reconsider fundamental aspects of imaging and image processing. Foremost is the idea that a good visual representation requires a non-linear transformation of the recorded (approximately linear) image data. Further, this transformation appears to converge on a specific distribution. Here we investigate the connection between numerical and visual phenomena. Specifically the questions explored are: (1) Is there a well-defined consistent statistical character associated with good visual representations? (2) Does there exist an ideal visual image? And (3) what are its statistical properties?