Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Medical Consequences of Childhood Obesity: A Hong Kong Perspective

Childhood obesity is a global epidemic and is associated with medical consequences. These consequences of childhood obesity include its association with cardiovascular risk factors, notably impaired glucose tolerance, hypertension, atherogenic dyslipidemia, micro inflammation, and comorbidities including nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), sleep apnoea, and early atherosclerosis. This article aims to demonstrate and review the local clinical evidences in Hong Kong Chinese children and adolescents in exploring the epidemiology and medical consequences associated with obesity in the youth population and highlighting the research direction in searching the etiology of these associations.
Fluctuating charge normal modes: An algorithm for implementing molecular dynamics simulations with polarizable potentials

A new method for performing molecular dynamics simulations with fluctuating charge polarizable potentials is introduced. In fluctuating charge models, polarizability is treated by allowing the partial charges to be variables, with values that are coupled to charges on the same molecule as well as those on other molecules. The charges can be efficiently propagated in a molecular dynamics simulation using extended Lagrangian dynamics. By making a coordinate change from the charge variables to a set of normal mode charge coordinates for each molecule, a new method is constructed in which the normal mode charge variables uncouple from those on the same molecule. The method is applied to the TIP4P‐FQ model of water and compared to other methods for implementing the dynamics. The methods are compared using different molecular dynamics time steps. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 26: 699–707, 2005
A General Theory of Syntax with Bindings

In this thesis we give a general theory of syntax with bindings. We address the problem from a mathematical point of view and at the same time we give a formalization, in the Isabelle/HOL proof assistant. Our theory uses explicit names for variables, and then deals with alpha-equivalence classes, remaining intuitive and close to informal mathematics, although being fully formalized and sound in classical high-order logic. In this sense it can be regarded as a generalization of nominal logic. Our end product can be used to construct complex binding patterns and binding-aware datatypes, including non-well-founded and infinitely branching types, in a modular fashion. We provide definitions of the fundamental operators on terms (free variables, alpha-equivalence, and capture-avoiding substitution) and reasoning and definition principles, obeying Barendregt’s convention. We present our work as a thinking process that starts from some desiderata, and then evolves in different formalization stages for the general theory. We start by taking a “universal algebra” approach, modelling syntaxes via algebraic-style binding signatures, which we employ in a substantial case study on formal reasoning: Church-Rosser and standardization theorems for lamda-calculus. This solution proves itself too restrictive, so we refine it into a more flexible one, which constitutes the main original contribution of this thesis: We construct a universe of functors on sets that handle bindings on a general, flexible and modular level. Our functors do not commit to any a priori syntactic format, cater for codatatypes in addition to datatypes, and are supported by powerful definition and reasoning principles. They generalize the bounded natural functors (BNFs), which have been previously implemented in Isabelle/HOL to support (co)datatypes.
Morbidity/Mortality and Economics of Hospital‐Acquired Blood Stream Infections: A Controlled Study

A controlled study of mortality, length of hospital stay, and cost of hospitalization in 40 patients with hospital-acquired blood stream infections and 40 similarly ill patients without blood stream infections was done. Patients with septicemia were identified by ongoing routine surveillance, while controls were selected from computer surveys of similarly aged patients matched for primary diagnosis or operatior, or both. Bacteremic cases for which no matched controls could be obtained and 109 additional cases of blood stream infection occurring after the study period were also characterized to determine any gross bias in the process of case selection. Mortality in bacteremic patients was 38% compared to 10% in controls; median hospital stay was 33 days for bacteremic patients and cost was $6,692, compared to 14 days' hospitalizationa nd $2,322 cost for controls. Mortality among the unmatched cases as well as the 109 additional cases was 34%. The excess morbidity, mortality, and hospitalization costs offer a better estimate of the direct effects of the hospital-acquired blood stream infection.
ROSBOT: A low-cost autonomous social robot

We present a low-cost social robot system composed of a mobile base (a robotic cleaner, $150), an Intel RealSense RGB-D camera ($100), a touch screen powerful laptop ($800), the ROS(Robot Operating System) ($0) and the Intel RealSense SDK ($0). This social robot has the capability of autonomously navigating in an unstructured and dynamic environment, avoiding collisions with stationary or dynamic obstacles and generating rich social behaviors (such as face detection, hand tracking, take pictures, interact with social networks, etc.). Taking advantage of plenty of open source packages in the ROS and Intel cutting edge perceptual computing software, this social robot system allows researchers and school students to rapidly reproduce an affordable and ideal hardware/software platform for their robotics-related research and education. Such a low-cost robot is expected to lead to faster progress in robotics-related application development and research, such as robot-human interaction, social communication, networking robots and even other non-robotic fields.
Translating Names and Technical Terms in Arabic Text

It is challenging to translate names and technical terms from English into Arabic. Translation is usually done phonetically: different alphabets and sound inventories force various compromises. For example, Peter Streams may come out as [Abstract contained text which could not be captured. ] bytr strymz. This process is called transliteration. We address here the reverse problem: given a foreign name or loanword in Arabic text, we want to recover the original in Roman script. For example, an input like [Abstract contained text which could not be captured. ] bytr strymz should yield an output like Peter Streams. Arabic presents special challenges due to unwritten vowels and phonetic-context effects. We present results and examples of use in an Arabic-to-English machine translator.
A Homozygous Deletion of the DPY19l2 Gene is a Cause of Globozoospermia in Men from the Republic of Macedonia

Abstract Globozoospermia is a rare but severe teratozoospermia, characterized by ejaculates consisting completely of round-headed spermatozoa that lack an acrosome or, in partial globozoospermia, containing a variable proportion (20.0-90.0%) of acrosomeless spermatozoa. Men that are affected with total globozoospermia are infertile, and even the application of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has met with disappointingly low success rates. In humans, several case reports of globozoospermia have demonstrated that two or more siblings were affected in each family, which suggested a genetic component to this disease. Currently, three genes are known to be associated with total globozoospermia in humans, SPATA16, PICK1 and DPY19L2 genes. Mutations in SPATA16 and PICK1 are rare causes of globozoospermia, found in only one patient each. Several studies have suggested that DPY19L2 mutations are the major cause of globozoospermia in patients from different ethnic origins and different geographic regions. The most common DPY19L2 mutation is the 200 kb deletion arising from a nonallelic homologous recombination (NAHR) between the flanking low copy repeats (LCRs). Here we describe the presence of a homozygous deletion of the DPY19L2 gene in two infertile Macedonian patients with 100.0% round headed spermatozoa, thus suggesting that this deletion represents a major cause of globozoospermia among Macedonian men.
A Convex Max-Flow Approach to Distribution-Based Figure-Ground Separation

This study investigates a convex relaxation approach to figure-ground separation with a global distribution matching prior evaluated by the Bhattacharyya measure. The problem amounts to finding a region that most closely matches a known model distribution. It has been previously addressed by curve evolution, which leads to suboptimal and computationally intensive algorithms, or by graph cuts, which result in metrication errors. Solving a sequence of convex subproblems, the proposed relaxation is based on a novel bound of the Bhattacharyya measure which yields an algorithm robust to initial conditions. Furthermore, we propose a novel flow configuration that accounts for labeling-function variations, unlike existing configurations. This leads to a new max-flow formulation which is dual to the convex relaxed subproblems we obtained. We further prove that such a formulation yields exact and global solutions to the original, nonconvex subproblems. A comprehensive experimental evaluation on the Microsoft GrabCu.
INFLUENCE OF SMOKING CESSATION ON PERIODONTAL HEALTH: A STRATEGIC REVIEW

Smoking is one of the major risk factor in the development and progression of periodontal disease. Recent evidences supports that smoking may also interact with other factors including genetics and diabetes potentiating periodontal breakdown. Hence quitting smoking is absolutely essential for the prevention of diseases, health enhancement and improving the healing potential before beginning treatments of diseases, including periodontitis. This literature review aims to give an insight about the influence of smoking cessation on oral micro flora, gingival blood flow, gingival crevicular fluid, plasma constituents, enzyme activity, immunologic function, bone loss and healing potential. Periodontal disease progression and its response to periodontal therapy and the success rate involved in implant placement subsequent to quitting the habit of smoking is also discussed in this review
A link between the accumulation of DNA damage and loss of multi-potency of human mesenchymal stromal cells

Human mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSCs) represent an attractive cell source for clinic applications. Besides being multi‐potent, recent clinical trials suggest that they secrete both trophic and immunomodulatory factors, allowing allogenic MSCs to be used in a wider variety of clinical situations. The yield of prospective isolation is however very low, making expansion a required step toward clinical applications. Unfortunately, this leads to a significant decrease in their stemness. To identify the mechanism behind loss of multi‐potency, hMSCs were expanded until replicative senescence and the concomitant molecular changes were characterized at regular intervals. We observed that, with time of culture, loss of multi‐potency was associated with both the accumulation of DNA damage and the respective activation of the DNA damage response pathway, suggesting a correlation between both phenomena. Indeed, exposing hMSCs to DNA damage agents led to a significant decrease in the differentiation potential. We also showed that hMSCs are susceptible to accumulate DNA damage upon in vitro expansion, and that although hMSCs maintained an effective nucleotide excision repair activity, there was a progressive accumulation of DNA damage. We propose a model in which DNA damage accumulation contributes to the loss of differentiation potential of hMSCs, which might not only compromise their potential for clinical applications but also contribute to the characteristics of tissue ageing.
Influence of gate offset spacer width on SOI MOSFETs HF properties

This work focuses on the influence of the gate spacer offset width (L<sub>offset</sub>) on SOI MOSFET high frequency (HF) properties. For this purpose, the DC simulated results were calibrated on experimental data of a 130 nm SOI partially depleted technology. Variations of L<sub>offset</sub> were subsequently applied to study its impact on different HF figures of merit (f<sub>t</sub>, f<sub>max</sub>)
Different competing risks models applied to data from the Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry

Purpose Here we describe some available statistical models and illustrate their use for analysis of arthroplasty registry data in the presence of the competing risk of death, when the influence of covariates on the revision rate may be different to the influence on the probability (that is, risk) of the occurrence of revision. Patients and methods Records of 12,525 patients aged 75–84 years who had received hemiarthroplasty for fractured neck of femur were obtained from the Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry. The covariates whose effects we investigated were: age, sex, type of prosthesis, and type of fixation (cementless or cemented). Extensions of competing risk regression models were implemented, allowing the effects of some covariates to vary with time. Results The revision rate was significantly higher for patients with unipolar than bipolar prostheses (HR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.01–1.89) or with monoblock than bipolar prostheses (HR = 1.45, 95% CI: 1.08–1.94). It was significantly higher for the younger age group (75–79 years) than for the older one (80–84 years) (HR = 1.28, 95% CI: 1.05–1.56) and higher for males than for females (HR = 1.37, 95% CI: 1.09–1.71). The probability of revision, after correction for the competing risk of death, was only significantly higher for unipolar prostheses than for bipolar prostheses, and higher for the younger age group. The effect of fixation type varied with time; initially, there was a higher probability of revision for cementless prostheses than for cemented prostheses, which disappeared after approximately 1.5 years. Interpretation When accounting for the competing risk of death, the covariates type of prosthesis and sex influenced the rate of revision differently to the probability of revision. We advocate the use of appropriate analysis tools in the presence of competing risks and when covariates have time-dependent effects.
A General Framework for Fault Diagnosis Based on Statistical Hypothesis Testing

A framework for fault diagnosis, called structured hypothesis tests , is presented. It has earlier been developed within the area of automatic control, but is in fact very much inspired by the ideas developed in the AI area. The motivation was originally to handle dynamic systems with noise. However, it is here shown that also the noise-free case can be perfectly handled. The system to be diagnosed, and also the different faults, are described by differential equations, algebraic equations, and probability distribution functions. By using the framework, it is in the isolation possible to utilize all such modeled knowledge about the faults. The diagnosis system is constructed by combining a set of different hypothesis tests. In this way, the task of diagnosis is transferred to the task of validating a set of different models with respect to the measured data.
The use of the Oxford classification of IgA nephropathy to predict renal survival.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES A new classification for IgA nephropathy was recently proposed, namely the Oxford classification. It established specific pathologic features that predict the risk of progression of renal disease. This classification needs validation in different patient populations. We propose a retrospective study to evaluate the predictive value of the Oxford classification on renal survival defined by doubling creatinine or end-stage renal disease in patients with IgA nephropathy. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS We included 183 patients with primary IgA nephropathy diagnosed between 1994 and 2005. Mean follow-up time was 77 months. Doubling creatinine occurred in 20% of the patients, and end-stage renal disease occurred in 16%. The biopsies were revisited to apply the Oxford classification. The influence of pathologic features on renal survival was analyzed in univariate and multivariate models. RESULTS In univariate time-dependent analyses, tubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis, segmental glomerulosclerosis, and endocapillary hypercellularity strongly impacted doubling creatinine or end-stage renal disease. On the contrary, mesangial hypercellularity was not associated with renal outcome. In the multivariate model, only estimated GFR at baseline was a risk factor, pathologic lesions having no independent influence. CONCLUSIONS We confirm the usefulness of the Oxford classification to establish the renal prognosis of patients with IgA nephropathy, although renal function at baseline seems to be of a greater importance than pathologic lesions.
Prothrombin time in liver failure: Time, ratio, activity percentage, or international normalized ratio

Prothrombin time (PT) is a universal indicator of liver disease severity. However, variability in thromboplastin reagents leads to large interlaboratory differences in PT results. The aim of this study was to determine whether the use of the international normalized ratio (INR) or other modes of expression might achieve PT standardization in patients with liver failure. PT was measured with seven thromboplastin reagents with different sensitivities in plasmas from 27 patients with miscellaneous chronic and acute liver failure and, as a control population, 29 patients on oral anticoagulation therapy. PT was expressed in seconds, ratio, activity percentage, and INR. In patients with liver failure, only activity percentage expression eliminated variability in PT results obtained with the seven thromboplastins while INR, seconds, and ratio values remained significantly different (P < .01). In patients on oral anticoagulant therapy, only INR normalized PT results. We conclude that, in patients with liver failure, INR fails to yield a PT expression independent of the thromboplastin used and only activity percentage expression may provide a common international scale of PT reporting.
A multi‐module microfluidic platform for continuous pre‐concentration of water‐soluble ions and separation of oil droplets from oil‐in‐water (O/W) emulsions using a DC‐biased AC electrokinetic technique

A novel continuous flow microfluidic platform specifically designed for environmental monitoring of O/W emulsions during an aftermath of oil spills is reported herein. Ionized polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which are toxic are readily released from crude oil to the surrounding water phase through the smaller oil droplets with enhanced surface area. Hence, a multi‐module microfluidic device is fabricated to form ion enrichment zones in the water phase of O/W emulsions for the ease of detection and to separate micron‐sized oil droplets from the O/W emulsions. Fluorescein ions in the water phase are used to simulate the presence of these toxic ions in the O/W emulsion. A DC‐biased AC electric field is employed in both modules. In the first module, a nanoporous Nafion membrane is used for activating the concentration polarization effect on the fluorescein ions, resulting in the formation of stable ion enrichment zones in the water phase of the emulsion. A 35.6% amplification of the fluorescent signal is achieved in the ion enrichment zone; corresponding to 100% enrichment of the fluorescent dye concentration. In this module, the main inlet is split into two channels by using a Y‐junction so that there are two outlets for the oil droplets. The second module located downstream of the first module consists of two oil droplet entrapment zones at two outlets. By switching on the appropriate electrodes, either one of the two oil droplet entrapment zones can be activated and the droplets can be blocked in the corresponding outlet.
Enacted Capabilities on Adoption of Information Systems: A Study of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises

An increasing number of studies into the adoption behaviour of Information systems (IS) have focused on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These past studies provide an understanding of the contextual factors offering a simple dichotomous measure such as adopters and non-adopters rather than the manner of usage (from adoption to utilisation). This study introduces the construct of enacted capabilities and examines the enacted capabilities that activate and stimulate SMEs to use an IS to it fullest potential. The construct is derived from the resource-based view of the firm and allows the integration of the technology acceptance model with diffusion of innovation theory. A model of how enacted capabilities affect IS adoption behaviour through perceived net benefits is developed. Results indicate that enacted capabilities possessed by SMEs play a prominent role in determining the adoption behaviour by these enterprises (i.e. active adopters and non-active adopters).
Plane rectification in real time on an Android device Final report

The development of reliable keypoint detectors, like the Harris point detector or the difference of gaussians, compact descriptors, as well as techniques based on scale-space theory, like SIFT [1], made it possible to do image-based search on a large scale. The latter method, which combines detector and descriptor, became very popular in many image retrieval applications. Its scale-invariance, rotationinvariance, and even its robustness to slightly different light intensities due to the use of gradients, give it many assets which justify its popularity. However, it is to be noted that the SIFT descriptor is not viewpoint invariant. Taking the picture of a same building façade from two very different viewpoints can seriously decrease the performance of the SIFT method and in that case only very few matches will be found. See figure 1 for an illustration of this phenomenon. This can be a problem if we want to recognize a building in an image taken from a very different viewpoint than the image present in the database.
Supporting CRUD model operations from EOL to SQL

Model-based software development promises improvements in terms of quality and cost by raising the abstraction level of the development from code to models, but also requires mature techniques and tools. Although Eclipse Modelling Framework (EMF) introduces a default persistence mechanism for models, namely XMI, its usage is often limited as model size increases. To overcome this limitation, during the last years alternative persistence mechanisms have been proposed in order to store models in RDBMS and NoSQL databases. Under this new paradigm, model operations can be performed at model-level and persistence-level, e.g., mapping EOL model operations into SQL statements. In this paper, we extend our framework (called MQT) to support CRUD (Create, Read, Update and Delete) operations from model-(EOL) to persistence-level (SQL), using a streaming execution of queries at run-time. Through comparable evaluation metrics, we evaluate the performance and memory footprint of the framework using the GraBaTs scenario.
Evaluation of a Long-Term Transformational Leadership Development Program

This study represents a multi-method, multi-source, and longitudinal evaluation of a leadership development program in Germany. For the development of transformational leadership, the methods of leadership feedback, training, and coaching were combined into a program. The effects of this program were evaluated at three, six, nine, and twelve months after training. Altogether, 25 leaders participated in the program. The results revealed that transformational leadership (subordinate assessment) improved six months after training and later on. Also, leaders' performance (leaders' supervisor ratings) and Organizational Citizenship Behavior (subordinate assessment) improved over time.