Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TCNSVD: A Temporal and Community-Aware Recommender Approach

Recommender systems support users in nding relevant items in overloaded information spaces. Researchers and practitioners have proposed many dierent collaborative ltering algorithms for different information scenarios, domains and contexts. One of the laer, are time-aware recommender methods that consider temporal dynamics in the users’ interests in certain items, topics, etc. While there is extensive research on time-aware recommender systems, surprisingly, researchers have paid lile aention to model temporal community structure dynamics (community dri). In consequence, recommender systems seldom exploit explicit and implicit community structures that are present in online systems, where one can see what others have been watching, sharing and or tagging. In this paper, we propose a recommender method that not only considers temporal interest dynamics in online communities, but also exploits the social structure by the means of community detection algorithms. We conducted oine experiments on the Netix dataset and the latest MovieLens dataset with tag information. Our method outperformed the current state-of-the-art in rating and item-ranking prediction. is work contributes to the connection of two separate recommender research directions, in which exploits community structure and temporal eects together in recommender systems.
Vliw processors: efficiently exploiting instruction level parallelism

This dissertation explores high-performance complexity-efficient processors foc u ing on VLIW processors. Complexity efficiency is a qualitative characteristi c that describes a system where performance has not reached the point of diminishing returns. Using the techniques described in this dissertation, simple statically-scheduled ve ry-long-instructionword (VLIW) processors can be efficient architectures for exploiting instruc tion-level parallelism and can effectively address the needs of general purpose computing. We studied the ability of dynamic execution to exploit instruction-level parall elism in dynamic VLIW processors. Unlike previous studies, this study explores the benefits of dynamic execution on an instruction stream with explicit instruction-level parallelism. Dynamic execution is thus applied to problems that compilers have difficulty solving rather than to those problems that compilers readily solve reducing the need for complex a nd costly hardware. In addition to presenting performance results, we also des cribe a general processor model and execution definition that improves upon the precise execution m odel used in traditional processors; we also describe the simulator that impleme nts this new execution model. In our simulations we varied a number of parameters allowing ext raction of the individual effects of each parameter on performance. These simulation r esults show that although a small amount of reordering is adequate to eliminate almost all pena lties associated with scheduling errors and latency variations, even a signific ant amount of reordering is inadequate to eliminate the penalty associated with branch mispr edictions and long memory latencies. As an alternative to dynamic VLIW processors, we developed Replay Buffers to xtend static VLIW processors to support efficient multi-threading. Replay Buffers provide zero switch-cycle thread switches as well as overhead-free exception handling (beyond the cost
A Silicon Platform With MEMS Active Alignment Function and Its Potential Application in Si-Photonics Packaging

A silicon (Si) platform, which consists of passive alignment structures (V-grooves), active microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) alignment components, mechanical locking mechanisms, and predeposited gold-tin soldering pads is developed to address the submicron accuracy assembly requirement of the discrete laser diode (LD) to a small core in-chip Si waveguide (WG). A 2-D in situ active alignment of a ball lens in LD-ball lens-Si-WG coupling system is presented here. The 1550-nm DFB LD and the passive Si-photonics chip are attached onto the platform, using flip-chip bonding process. The 2-D alignment of the ball lens is then achieved through the in-plane motion of the suspension arms and the specially designed V-groove. The position of the ball lens is subsequently fixed by the locking mechanism mechanically. MEMS electrothermal V-beam actuators, which can provide large force with a large displacement under a low driving voltage, i.e., >50 ¿m at 25 V are employed in this platform. The effectiveness and stability of the arm locking function have been tested with a shift of <0.1 ¿m after vibration testing (10g , 2 kHz). The integrated aligning and locking functions of the MEMS platform are also demonstrated through the LD-ball lens-Si-WG coupling system. These results show the potential of this MEMS platform in hybrid integrated Si photonics and applications that consist of LD-ball lens-Si-WG coupling system, e.g., the transmitter and transceiver.
The Prevention of Thromboembolism

From the Departments of Medicine and Surgery and the Thromboembolic Disease Research Unit, The Jewish Hospital of Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. This communication is intended to discuss the problems of thromboembolic disease in general; to review, critically, the various measures now employed in dealing with the disease and to recount our experience with a comprehensive prophylactic program. This will serve to emphasize the importance of a prophylactic approach rather than a purely therapeutic one and will demonstrate that a large scale prophylactic effort is both fruitful and feasible. The treatment of clinically evident venous thromboembolic disease by the judicious use of anticoagulants is certainly consistently effective. It is significant, however, that despite the acknowledged progress in the diagnosis and therapy of venous thromboembolic disease, there is still, at post-mortem, a considerable incidence of death from pulmonary embolization. As judged by necropsy dissections (1), simply confining middle-aged and elderly persons to bed for more than a brief period of time gives rise to venous thrombosis in 52.7% of these individuals (table 1). Of the patients with venous thrombosis, about 17% embolize and about one-third of these are fatal (4.5%). The incidence of thrombosis is about equally divided between medical and surgical patients; men and women being affected in about the same ratio. These thrombi develop in the deep veins of the leg, bilaterally more often than unilaterally, right sided more than left, and involve the calf veins more often than
Applying Web Services Clustering for Service Composition in B 2 C Electronic Commerce

Nowadays, there are often too many Web services on the internet, existing discreetly in and operated independently by different organizations, making it difficult and inconvenient for the service requester to browse. To make it easy for the requester to make use of various services offered, we can pack all the services into a single service platform, using the techniques of Clustering Web services for Dynamic Business Process Integration as developed by this study to integrate the services, thus dispensing the need to pre-define all the static process templates of all the Web services. This article applies a novel approach developed by us to facilitate dynamic web service composition using the traveling industry as a B2C e-Commerce model. By making use of the dynamic web service composition mechanism developed by this study, one can obtain a new integrated B2C e-commerce service system.
Base station design for sector coverage using a genetic algorithm with the method of moments

Base station antennas for sector coverage must frequently maintain tight control of the azimuth pattern shape, with elevation null fill and electrical downtilt capability often required as well. This is typically accomplished with one or more linear array elevation columns, using the minimum number necessary to produce the desired sector coverage. The azimuth pattern, then, is a function of the elevation column weighting and the elevation column patterns. Genetic algorithms are well suited to cross-section optimization for a desired azimuth pattern, either for a conventional chassis or a more complex shaped reflector surface. The key requirement is availability of an efficient scattering solution, provided in this work by 2D method of moments (MoM).
Antibiotic use and cost indicators at a rural hospital: a pilot project.

BACKGROUND Recently, simple antibiotic use and cost indicators were developed for use in long-term care facilities. It was hypothesized that these indicators also may be applicable to the acute hospital setting. METHODS For a 24-month period, data were collected quarterly on antibiotic use and cost indicators for 11 primary care physicians in a 40-bed rural hospital. Indicators included antimicrobial use ratio (AUR, ratio of the number of antibiotic days to the number of patient care days), cost per antibiotic day, and cost of antibiotics per patient care day. One-way analysis of variance and simple linear regression were used to analyze data. RESULTS Quinolones (oral plus parenteral) accounted for 26% of the total antibiotic days (N = 6020) followed by ceftriaxone (19%) and cefuroxime (11.8%; oral plus parenteral). Overall trends in antibiotic use and cost included a significant increase in quarterly AUR (R(2) = 0.78, P =. 004) and cost per patient care day (R(2) = 0. 82, P =. 002) but no significant change in quarterly total antibiotic costs or cost per antibiotic day. Among physicians there was a significant difference in mean quarterly AUR (P <.001) and mean quarterly cost per patient care day (P <.001) but no significant difference in mean quarterly cost per antibiotic day. Variation in physician-specific cost per patient care day was best explained by variation in AUR (R(2) = 0.75, P <. 001). CONCLUSIONS Significant variation in simple antibiotic use and cost indicators was identified at a rural hospital from both the facility and physician perspective. Standardized methods for antibiotic use and cost monitoring, like the one described in this article, are required before the relationship between antibiotic use and resistance can be fully understood.
Infection of Immunosuppressed C57BL/6N Adult Mice with a Single Oocyst of Cryptosporidium parvum

The present study was designed to determine the minimum number of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts capable of producing patent infections in immunosuppressed C57BL/6N adult mice. Sixty-four female mice were divided into 6 groups of 8 mice each, except group 1 that contained 24 mice. Mice in groups 1–3 were immunosuppressed with dexamethasone and inoculated with 1, 5, and 10 oocysts per mouse, respectively. The accuracy of the inoculum size was microscopically confirmed. Mice in groups 4–6 served as controls: they received either only oocyst inoculation (group 4), or immunosuppression (group 5), or no treatments (group 6). Fecal oocyst shedding was monitored daily for each mouse using an indirect immunofluorescent assay. Parasite colonization in the terminal ileum of each mouse was evaluated histologically. Four of 24 mice in group 1 developed patent infections, with a prepatent period of approximately 6 days. All mice in groups 2 and 3 developed patent infections, with prepatent periods ranging from 4 to 7 days. Mice in groups 4–6 remained uninfected. Parasite colonization was observed in the terminal ilea of all mice in groups 1–3 that shed fecal oocysts. The present study experimentally demonstrates that a single viable oocyst can induce patent C. parvum infections in immunosuppressed C57BL/6N adult mice and indicates that this mouse model could be used for the parasite genotype or isolate cloning.
Comparative studies on the dissimilation of reserve carbohydrate in four strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

It has been shown that a brewing strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae accumulated large quanti-ties of reserve carbohydrate during anaerobic growth (Chester, 1963a). During harvesting, con-tact with oxygen initiated the breakdown of a large proportion of these reserves. Evidence was also presented that the yeast reserves provided a sufficient energy source for the synthesis of respiratory enzymes during the aeration of anaerobically grown resting cells. Chester (1961) compared baking and brewing strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and reported that in anaerobically grown baking yeast the carbohydrate breakdown after harvesting was relatively much less than in the brewing yeast grown under the same conditions, and that the breakdown was not stimulated by oxygen. The present paper compares the ability of a number of strains of yeast to accumulate reserve carbohydrate during anaerobic growth and de- scribes the effect of partial pressure of oxygen on the breakdown of these reserves in washed-cell suspensions. The yeasts are also compared with respect to respiratory adaptation and the effect of partial pressure of oxygen on this adaptation.
Mining Frequent Closed Itemsets with One Database Scanning

Frequent closed itemsets mining has become an important alternative of association rule mining recently. CloSET+ is an efficient algorithm to find frequent closed itemsets without candidate generation. However, CloSET+ must scan database two times. In order to enhance the efficiency of CloSET+ algorithms and reduce the I/O cost of database scanning in frequent closed itemsets mining, propose a novel algorithm called QCloSET+ which can mining frequent closed itemsets with one database scanning
Rapid CD4+ Cell Decrease After Transient cART Initiated During Primary HIV Infection (ANRS PRIMO and SEROCO Cohorts)

Objective:To modelize the rate of CD4+ cell count decline and its determinants after cessation of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) started during primary HIV infection (PHI) and compare it with never-treated patients. Methods:Kinetics of CD4+ counts were analyzed on the square root scale by using a mixed-effects model in 170 patients who received cART during PHI from the Primary Infection (PRIMO) cohort and 123 never-treated patients from the Seroconverters (SEROCO) cohort. Results:After cART interruption in the PRIMO cohort, the CD4+ cell count fell rapidly during the first 5 months and more slowly thereafter. The timing of treatment initiation had no influence on the rate of CD4+ cell decline. In contrast, a larger increase in CD4+ cell counts during cART was associated with a steeper decline and a larger loss of CD4+ cells after treatment interruption. The mean CD4+ cell loss 3 years postinterruption was 383 cells per microliter. In the SEROCO cohort, the CD4+ T-cell decline was less steep (3-year CD4+ loss 239 cells/μL). As a result, the mean CD4+ cell counts were similar (416 cells/μL) 3 years after cART interruption (PRIMO) or after infection (SEROCO). Conclusions:These data question the benefit of a limited course of cART even when initiated within 3 months after PHI diagnosis.
A High Frequency-Link Secondary-Side Phase-Shifted Full-Range Soft-Switching PWM DC–DC Converter With ZCS Active Rectifier for EV Battery Chargers

A new prototype of a secondary-side phase shift soft-switching PWM dc-dc converter suitable for electric vehicle battery charging systems is presented in this paper. Wide range soft-switching operations are achievable from full load to no load by effectively utilizing the parasitic inductances of the high frequency transformer in the proposed dc-dc converter. In addition, no circulating current occurs in both of the primary and secondary side full-bridge circuits; thereby, the related idling power can be minimized. As a result, high efficiency power conversion can be maintained owing to the full range soft-switching operation and wide range output power and voltage regulations. Its operating principle is presented on the basis of theoretical analysis and simulation results, and the design procedure of the circuit parameters of the proposed dc-dc converter is described. The essential performance and its effectiveness of the proposed dc-dc converter are originally demonstrated from a practical point of view in an experiment using a 1 kW-50 kHz laboratory prototype.
Contextual postprocessing of a Korean OCR system by linguistic constraints

The approach in this paper focuses on the contextual postprocessing by selecting the most feasible word from multiple output strings of an OCR system. The correction is applied only when the selection fails. The selected word is confirmed by the collocation between the word and the adjacent words. The five functions applied in the system are (1) to select a word from candidate words, (2) to correct candidate words using a confusion matrix of syllables, (3) to combine two substrings to a word that spans two lines, (4) to guess unknown nouns, and (5) to confirm a selected word by the contextual information of adjacent words. To improve speed, we use syllable di-grams and viable-prefixes of Korean words. The experimental result shows that the two heuristics speed up the system more than 1,000 times in worst case. Our system improves the word recognition rate of the OCR system from 90.50% to 94.72%.
Bone formation around rhBMP-2-coated implants in rabbit sinuses with or without absorbable collagen sponge grafting

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate bone formation around recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein (rhBMP-2)-coated implants placed with or without absorbable collagen sponge (ACS) in rabbit maxillary sinuses. Methods The Schneiderian membrane was elevated and an implant was placed in 24 sinuses in 12 rabbits. The space created beneath the elevated membrane was filled with either blood (n=6) or ACS (n=6). In the rabbits in which this space was filled with blood, rhBMP-2-coated and non-coated implants were alternately placed on different sides. The resulting groups were referred to as the BC and BN groups, respectively. The AC and AN groups were produced in ACS-grafted rabbits in the same manner. Radiographic and histomorphometric analyses were performed after eight weeks of healing. Results In micro-computed tomography analysis, the total augmented volume and new bone volume were significantly greater in the ACS-grafted sinuses than in the blood-filled sinuses (P<0.05). The histometric analysis showed that the areas of new bone and bone-to-implant contact were significantly larger in the AC group than in the AN group (P<0.05). In contrast, none of the parameters differed significantly between the BC and BN groups. Conclusions The results of this pilot study indicate that the insertion of ACS after elevating the Schneiderian membrane, simultaneously with implant placement, can significantly increase the volume of the augmentation. However, in the present study, the rhBMP-2 coating exhibited limited effectiveness in enhancing the quantity and quality of regenerated bone.
Stochastic Maximum Likelihood (SML) parametric estimation of overlapped Doppler echoes

This paper investigates the area of overlapped echo data processing. In such cases, classical methods, such as Fourier-like techniques or pulse pair methods, fail to esti- mate the first three spectral moments of the echoes because of their lack of resolution. A promising method, based on a modelization of the covariance matrix of the time series and on a Stochastic Maximum Likelihood (SML) estimation of the parameters of interest, has been recently introduced in literature. This method has been tested on simulations and on few spectra from actual data but no exhaustive investigation of the SML algorithm has been conducted on actual data: this paper fills this gap. The radar data came from the thunder- storm campaign that took place at the National Astronomy and Ionospheric Center (NAIC) in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, in 1998.
Release of content through mechano-sensitive gates in pressurized liposomes

Mechano-sensitive channels are ubiquitous membrane proteins that activate in response to increasing tension in the lipid membrane. They facilitate a sudden, nonselective release of solutes and water that safeguards the integrity of the cell in hypo- or hyper-osmotic shock conditions. We have simulated the rapid release of content from a pressurized liposome through a particular mechano-sensitive protein channel, MscL, embedded in the liposomal membrane. We show that a single channel is able to relax the liposome, stressed to the point of bursting, in a matter of microseconds. We map the full activation–deactivation cycle of MscL in near-atomic detail and are able to quantify the rapid decrease in liposomal stress as a result of channel activation. This provides a computational tool that opens the way to contribute to the rational design of functional nano-containers.
H2-EB1 Molecule Alleviates Allergic Rhinitis Symptoms of H2-Eb1 Knockout Mice.

BACKGROUND H2-EB1 molecule which is the homolog of Human HLA-DRB1 is proposed to be associated with allergic rhinitis (AR). Construction of H2-Eb1 knockout animal models provides a tool to elucidate the role of H2-EB1 and AR pathogenesis. OBJECTIVE To establish the H2-Eb1 knockout model and investigate the H2-EB1 functions in H2-Eb1 knockout mice as a model of AR. METHODS The Cre/LoxP system and ES gene knockout technology were applied to create heterozygous H2-Eb1 (+/-) knockout mice and their offspring of knockout homozygous(-/-), heterozygous (+/-) and wild type (+/+) H2-Eb1 mice. After identification, offspring of heterozygous (+/-) and homozygous (-/-) H2-Eb1 knockout mice were randomly selected to establish AR models to demonstrate the role of H2-Eb1 in AR pathogenesis. RESULTS The H2-Eb1 knockout mice model was successfully established. The reproduction and feeding of the homozygous (-/-) H2-Eb1 knockout mice were successful. Compared with the control group, the serum OVA-IgE and IL-4 levels significantly increased, while IFN-γ levels significantly dropped (p<0.05) in the experimental groups. For the two experimental groups, the homozygous (-/-) mice group had lower serum OVA-IgE and IL-4 levels, and higher IFN-γ levels than their heterozygous (+/-) counterparts (p<0.05), concomitant with slighter allergic symptoms (gentle behavior and less eosinophils in nasal mucosa). CONCLUSION Our study demonstrated that knockout of H2-Eb1 gene could alleviate mouse AR Symptoms, indicating H2-Eb1 may play an important role in regulating Th1/Th2 balance during the pathogenesis of AR.
Social differences in health in an affluent Danish county

The aim of the present study was to examine whether selected health indicators were related to the level of social conditions in the municipalities in an affluent Danish county with a tax system aiming at narrowing income differences and with the same free health facilities for all. The 18 municipalities were separated into three groups by a sum score calculated on the basis of 10 social status variables. For each of the three groups average mortality, hospital discharge rates, cancer incidence and health services use were calculated with data from National Registers. There was a distinct gradient in all-cause, infant and cause-specific mortality, cancer incidence and use of health services related to level of social conditions. Apart from the incidence of breast cancer and melanoma, and use of general practice, all the analysed health indicators were most frequent in the group of the least affluent municipalities. It is concluded that even in an affluent county, the variation in the socioeconomic characteristics of neighbouring municipalities could be related to differences in health.