Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Non-malignant asbestos-related diseases in Brazilian asbestos-cement workers.

BACKGROUND Production of asbestos-cement products in Brazil started in the 1940s, peaked in the 60-70s and is still an active industry. This study was designed to assess the non-malignant effects of asbestos exposure in the asbestos-cement industry in Brazil. METHODS A group of 828 former asbestos-cement workers enrolled in a cross-sectional and cohort study of respiratory morbidity, submitted to a detailed occupational history, respiratory symptoms questionnaire, spirometry, PA chest x-ray, and high resolution computed chest tomography (HRCT). Asbestos exposure was assessed by years of exposure, cumulative exposure (a semi-quantitative method), and latency time from first exposure. Asbestosis and pleural thickening were assessed according to HRCT criteria. RESULTS Asbestosis was present in 74 (8.9%) and pleural thickening in 246 (29.7%). Using the HRCT as the "best available evidence", it was shown that were more false negatives than false positives in the x-ray readings for parenchymal (21.6% false negatives, 4.2% false positives) and pleural (26.0% false negatives, 14.4% false positives) diseases due to asbestos. Latency time from first exposure was the best predictor for both asbestosis and pleural thickening. Subjects in the higher exposure groups presented lower levels of lung function. Obstructive defects were significantly related to smoking, shortness of breath, body mass index, and age, whereas restrictive defects were related to asbestosis, shortness of breath, and latency time. Chronic bronchitis increased with latency time in the three smoking groups and was significantly related to pleural thickening (OR 1.56 (1.00-2.42)). Shortness of breath was significantly associated with body mass index and pleural thickening (OR 1.30 (1.24-2.09)). CONCLUSIONS Pleural thickening and asbestosis showed a significant association with latency time and exposure. FVC and FEV(1) decreased across increasing profusion with an added effect of pleural thickening. There was a significant and independent effect of exposure on lower levels of FVC and FEV(1). Obstructive defects were mainly related to smoking and restriction to asbestosis. Dust exposure and smoking were synergistic in increasing chronic bronchitis and shortness of breath report. Shortness of breath report was also related to pleural thickening and higher body mass index.
Directional Bias of TAO Daily Buoy Wind Vectors in the Central Equatorial Pacific Ocean from November 2008 to January 2010

This article documents a systematic bias in surface wind directions between the TAO buoy measurements at 0°, 170°W and the ECMWF analysis and forecasts. This bias was of the order 10° and persisted from November 2008 to January 2010, which was consistent with a post-recovery calibration drift in the anemometer vane. Unfortunately, the calibration drift was too time-variant to be used to correct the data so the quality flag for this deployment was adjusted to reflect low data quality. The primary purpose of this paper is to inform users in the modelling and remote-sensing community about this systematic, persistent wind directional bias, which will allow users to make an educated decision on using the data and be aware of its potential impact to their downstream product quality. The uncovering of this bias and its source demonstrates the importance of continuous scientific oversight and effective user-data provider communication in stewarding scientific data. It also suggests the need for improvement in the ability of buoy data quality control procedures of the TAO and ECMWF systems to detect future wind directional systematic biases such as the one described here.
Induced Gamma Oscillations Differentiate Familiar and Novel Voices in Children With MECP2 Duplication and Rett Syndromes

Normal levels of the methyl CpG–binding protein 2 (MeCP2) are critical to neurologic functioning, and slight alterations result in intellectual disability and autistic features. It was hypothesized that children with MECP2 duplication (overexpression of MeCP2) and Rett syndrome (underexpression of MeCP2) would exhibit distinct electroencephalographic (EEG) indices of auditory stimulus discrimination. In this study, gamma-band oscillatory responses to familiar and novel voices were examined and related to social functioning in 17 children (3-11 years old) with MECP2 duplication (n = 12) and Rett syndrome (n = 5). Relative to the stranger’s voice, gamma activity in response to the mother’s voice was increased in MECP2 duplication but decreased in Rett syndrome. In MECP2 duplication, greater mother versus stranger differences in gamma activity were associated with higher social functioning. For the first time, brain responses in a passive voice discrimination paradigm show that overexpression and underexpression of MeCP2 have differential effects on cortical information processing.
Compact serialization of Prolog terms (with catalan skeletons, cantor tupling and Gödel numberings)

Abstract We describe a compact serialization algorithm mapping Prolog terms to natural numbers of bit-sizes proportional to the memory representation of the terms. The algorithm is a ‘no bit lost’ bijection, as it associates to each Prolog term a unique natural number and each natural number corresponds to a unique syntactically well-formed term. To avoid an exponential explosion resulting from bijections mapping term trees to natural numbers, we separate the symbol content and the syntactic skeleton of a term that we serialize compactly using a ranking algorithm for Catalan families. A novel algorithm for the generalized Cantor bijection between ${\mathbb{N}$ and ${\mathbb{N}$k is used in the process of assigning polynomially bounded Gödel numberings to various data objects involved in the translation.
Health care-associated Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia.

INTRODUCTION While Staphylococcus aureus is an uncommon but serious cause of traditional community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), it is a predominant cause of nosocomial pneumonia in addition to the unique clinical entity of health care-associated pneumonia (HCAP). A cohort of bacteremic S aureus pneumonia cases was reviewed to determine the role of HCAP among the cohort, and to assess for differences between CAP and HCAP. PATIENTS AND METHODS Bacteremic S aureus pneumonia cases were identified from a prospective study of all patients diagnosed with CAP who presented to hospitals in Edmonton, Alberta, between November 2000 and November 2002. These cases were subsequently reviewed retrospectively. Demographic, clinical and microbiological data were obtained, and patients were classified as having CAP or HCAP. Relatedness of isolates was determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis in conjunction with epidemiological information. RESULTS There were 28 cases of bacteremic S aureus pneumonia identified. Fifty-seven per cent were reclassified as having HCAP, and 43% remained classified as having CAP. The CAP cohort was significantly younger than the HCAP cohort (mean age 49.0+/-23.7 years versus 67.8+/-18.6 years; P=0.035) with higher rates of intravenous drug use (50% versus 0%; P=0.002). Long-term care facility residence (44%) was common in the HCAP cohort. The HCAP cohort presented with more severe illness, having a higher mean pneumonia severity index score (143.1+/-41.1 versus 98.2+/-54.6; P=0.028), and despite fewer embolic complications, there was a trend toward a significantly higher mortality rate (31% versus 0%; P=0.052). Two community-acquired isolates cultured in the setting of intravenous drug use were methicillin-resistant, and no isolates were positive for Panton-Valentine leukocidin. There was evidence of relatedness involving 44% of the HCAP isolates by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis. CONCLUSION HCAP accounts for a significant number of cases that, when using traditional definitions, would be classified as CAP. Severity of illness and mortality was excessive within the HCAP group. There was evidence of relatedness and spread of common strains in the HCAP cohort. The present study supports recommendations for treatment guidelines directed toward the entity of HCAP and the empirical coverage of S aureus among certain high-risk groups.
HEMODYNAMIC AND CARDIAC EFFECTS OF OBESITY AND THE METABOLIC SYNDROME

The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is defined as the concurrence of obesity-associated cardiovascular risk factors including abdominal obesity, impaired glucose tolerance, hypertriglyceridemia, decreased HDL cholesterol, and/or hypertension. Earlier conceptualizations of the MetS focused on insulin resistance as a core feature, and it is clearly coincident with the above list of features. Each component of the MetS is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease and the combination of these risk factors elevates rates and severity of cardiovascular disease, related to a spectrum of cardiovascular conditions including microvascular dysfunction, coronary atherosclerosis and calcification, cardiac dysfunction, myocardial infarction, and heart failure. While advances in understanding the etiology and consequences of this complex disorder have been made, the underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms remain incompletely understood, and it is unclear how these concurrent risk factors conspire to produce the variety of obesity-associated adverse cardiovascular diseases. In this review we highlight current knowledge regarding the pathophysiologic consequences of obesity and the MetS on cardiovascular function and disease, including considerations of potential physiologic and molecular mechanisms that may contribute to these adverse outcomes.
Learning the Parameters of Possibilistic Networks from Data: Empirical Comparison

Possibilistic networks are belief graphical models based on possibility theory. A possibilistic network either represents experts' epistemic uncertainty or models uncertain information from poor, scarce or imprecise data. Learning possibilistic networks from data in general and from imperfect or scarce datasets in particular, has not received enough attention. This work focuses on parameter learning of possibilistic networks. The main contributions of the paper are i) a study of an extension of the information affinity measure to assess the similarity of possibilistic networks and ii) a comparative empirical evaluation of two approaches for learning the parameters of a possibilistic network from empirical data.
A framework for Quality improvement in Healthcare Information Systems

 Abstract — Bringing improvements to the quality in healthcare industries is a major concern of the health institutions. The healthcare information systems are adapted to improve number of healthcare complex processes such as complex patient flows, management of several healthcare units, and numerous human resources. Due to the high complexity in healthcare workflows and information processing, system analysis phase has become the most difficult and complex phase in the SDLC. This research responds to the question of how healthcare information systems could be improved by studying and enhancing the products, processes, services and resources. The suggested framework of HIS improvement contributes in providing a structured problem solving approach that helps software engineers to analysis the current problem, and in providing an improvement-approach that helps software engineers to convert the existing system‘s workflow to an efficient one and improve its performance. Therefore, a framework for improving the health information systems through studying the workflow factors (Process, Product, Service, and Resource) is presented. This framework has been applied in King Fahad Medical City (KFMC) in the outpatient department to improve the outpatient appointment workflow and to suggest a solutions for late in date appointments and did not attend (DNA) situations. The framework has been validated through simulation to examine the effectiveness of the framework results.
Multiple drivers of apparent competition reduce re-establishment of a native plant in invaded habitats

Although rarely examined, apparent competition, whereby exotic plants increase consumer pressure on native plants, could play a significant role in affecting native plant establishment in invaded habitats. Moreover, although terrestrial consumer communities often contain many consumer species, little is known about which consumers may generate apparent competition, and whether the strength or mechanism of apparent competition differs among different members of the consumer community. Using consumer-specific experimental exclosures and seed additions in the invaded grasslands of California, we demonstrate that multiple mechanisms of apparent competition are capable of limiting the re-establishment of the native grass Nassella pulchra in the absence of direct competition with exotic plants. The effect of small mammalian consumers (mice and voles) and larger consumers (e.g. rabbits, squirrels, deer) decreased with distance to the exotic forb Brassica nigra, which varied from 033 meters from focal N. pulchra. The effect of larger consumers also depended upon characteristics of the plant community directly adjacent (i.e. approx. 1 m) from focal N. pulchra. The effect of large consumers also increased with the richness of the exotic plant community and the degree to which the exotic plant community was dominated by exotic grasses as opposed to exotic forbs. Our finding that apparent competition can be driven by different mechanisms, that the importance of each mechanism depends upon which consumers have access, and that each mechanism has a different spatial extent, suggests that the composition of both the consumer community and the exotic plant community may shape the spatial dynamics of reestablishment, the potential for restoration, and the need for conservation.
Introducing Electronic Music in Undergraduate Music Theory : Pedagogy and Theory

Undergraduate students may briefly encounter electronic music in their music history courses, but the most popular music theory textbooks fail even to recognize this developing field. Theory books generally provide no insightful discussion because there is little practical and efficient pedagogical material of a sufficiently theoretical nature. At the 1999 ICMC conference in Bejing, Bonnie Miksch and I proposed a quick analytical system that could be presented within two class periods. That paper contains a basic vocabulary, a procedure for notation, and brief suggestions for interpretation. This pedagogical procedure and especially our tripartite division of interpretative approaches implies a theoretical framework of perception which I will explore using the Schoenbergian concepts of coherence and the musical idea. All these ideas naturally lead to the realms of aesthetics and music pedagogy in general. This presentation will summarize the previous Couch/Miksch paper, provide an example analysis, discuss the theoretical and aesthetic implications of the analytical system, and suggest areas for future research and development of pedagogical materials.
Nonlinear Parabolic PDE-based Image Filtering

A second-order nonlinear parabolic PDE-based restoration model is provided in this article. The proposed anisotropic diffusion-based denoising approach is based on some robust versions of the edge-stopping function and the conductance parameter. Two stable and consistent approximation schemes are then developed for this differential model. Our PDEbased filtering technique achieves an efficient noise removal while preserving the edges and other image features. It outperforms both the conventional filters and also many PDEbased denoising approaches, as it results from our successfully experiments and method comparison.
Versioning in Main-Memory Database Systems: From MusaeusDB to TardisDB

As relational database systems do not support collaborative dataset editing, online lexicons---such as Wikipedia's Media Wiki---build their own version control above the database system to allow constraint-preserving version checkouts or commits involving multiple tables. To eliminate the need for purpose-specific solutions, we propose adding version control as a layer on top of the database system or integrating versioning in the database system's core. This paper presents the first two architectures for versioning an entire state of a database system with respect to references among multiple relations. We design the prototype MusaeusDB as a solution for existing database systems, either as an external tool or as an extended SQL interface. The prototype TardisDB---an extended main-memory database system---reuses multi-version concurrency control for in-place updates while keeping older versions accessible. For performance tests on different storage layouts, we create---based on Wikipedia's page history---the TardisBenchmark. Our results show that it is indeed feasible to reduce wasted space while still ensuring constant retrieval time. Also, extending a main-memory database system's multi-version concurrency control has no negative impact on the transactional throughput. For further research on database versioning, we offer a flexibly sized benchmark with time evolving, text-based datasets and compression techniques.
Evaluation of Differential – Linear Cryptanalysis Combined Attack on Cryptographic Security System

In the present research work a novel model has been proposed for evaluation of Differential-Linear cryptanalysis on complex cryptographic security system. The differential and linear methods of whale optimization algorithm have been used as combined attack. A combination of Blowfish and DES algorithm has been used for design of complex cryptographic security system. This proposed work has been implemented in Java programming language with JDK 1.7. 0. The comparison of computed key optimization time for several data sets of different sizes for the present proposed cryptosystem and other cryptosystems indicates the significance of combined attacks in cryptanalysis.
Digitally Transforming Organisations: a Review of Change Models of Industry 4.0

Managers understand the digital transformation, but do not always know how to apply it in their organisation, and how to manage the changes it introduces. Moreover, publications on the subject of the digital transformation often focus on the assessment of the current position of an organisation, or on technological aspects. The question of “how” to support managers in the organisational change remains open. This paper aims at analysing this gap by reviewing publications suggesting change models, including models mentioning steps or stages of transformation. Results show no publication has studied a business-wide transformation; most focus on a few subjects such as business model and processes. Furthermore, structured approaches to change management are suggested, which is little appropriate in a constantly changing environment. Finally, a few authors suggest the development of dynamic capabilities could provide basis for a successful transformation. We suggest that both structured methods and developing capabilities are necessary, but flexibility is required in the change management approach due to the uncertainty of the environment.
BERYLLIUM AND INDIUM ACTIVATION MEASUREMENTS OF TOTAL NEUTRON YIELD FROM A PULSED PHOTONEUTRON SOURCE

A pulsed photoneutron source consisting of a beryllium sphere and a 5 MeV endpoint 30 ns bremsstrahlung beam emanating from the Mercury pulsed-power source was assembled and tested in October 2017 at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, D.C. [1]. The objective of this experiment was to verify the feasibility of using a pulsed power source to create a large number of photoneutrons in a short period of time, leveraging the low photoneutron production threshold of Be to maximize neutron production. Several diagnostics were deployed to characterize the source and target, including indium and beryllium activation detectors that measured the total neutron yield in each pulse. The indium activation detectors were calibrated in December 2017, measuring detector response to a known neutron flux using the F-factor method [2,3]. The total photoneutron yield from the beryllium source was measured to be 3.8±1.6 × 10 neutrons per shot including the scatter background and 1.8±1.6 × 10 neutrons per shot with energy above 667 keV, in good agreement with the other diagnostics on this experiment. The shot-to-shot variation of the source was estimated to be 20%. These detectors were sensitive to signal variations arising from different photoneutron
Nanoparticles Complexed with Gene Vectors to Promote Proliferation of Human Vascular Endothelial Cells

Amphiphilic block copolymers containing biodegradable hydrophobic segments of depsipeptide based copolymers have been synthesized and explored as gene carriers for enhancing proliferation of endothelial cells in vitro. These polymers form nanoparticles (NPs) with positive charges on their surface, which could condense recombinant plasmids of enhanced green fluorescent protein plasmid and ZNF580 gene (pEGFP‐ZNF580) and protect them against DNase I. ZNF580 gene is efficiently transported into EA.hy926 cells to promote their proliferation, whereby the transfection efficiency of NPs/pEGFP‐ZNF580 is approximately similar to that of Lipofectamine 2000. These results indicate that the NPs might have potential as a carrier for pEGFP‐ZNF580, which could support endothelialization of cardiovascular implants.
A Adjustment of Metropolis acceptance probability in WHMC with vector field

In this supplementary document, we provide details of our proposed Wormhole Hamiltonian Monte Carlo (WHMC) algorithm and prove its convergence to the stationary distribution. For simplicity, we assume that G(θ) ≡ I. Our results can be extended to more general Riemannian metrics. In what follows, we first prove the convergence of our method when an external vector field is added to the dynamics. Next, we prove the convergence for our final algorithm, where besides an external vector field, we include an auxiliary dimension along which the network of wormholes are constructed. Finally, we provide our algorithm to identify regeneration times.