Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association of fatty pancreas and diabetes. A Case Control Study fromKathmandu Valley.

Objective of the present study is to determine the association of fatty pancreas and diabetes in Nepal. It is a hospital-based study carried out using data retrieved from the register maintained in the Kathmandu Valley Hospital between 1st December, 2012 and 31st May, 2013. The variables collected were age, gender, HbA1c, serum creatinine, fasting blood glucose. The fatty pancreas still remained positively associated with diabetes (OR, 1.344; 95% CI, 1.074–1.682) and prediabetes (OR, 1.132 95% CI, 0.960 – 1.337) in all the subjects. Similarly, triglycerides levels remained positively associated with diabetes (OR, 1.586; 95% CI, 1.269 – 1.981) and prediabetes (OR, 1.379;95% CI, 1.179 – 1.612) in all the subjects. The fatty pancreas is an important associated factor for newly diagnosed diabetes independent of age, gender, adiposity, and other cardiometabolic risk factors in Nepali population.
1 2 A ug 2 00 5 Asymptotic properties of mathematical models of excitability

We analyse small parameters in selected models of biological excitability, including Hodgkin-Huxley (1952) model of nerve axon, Noble (1962) model of heart Purkinje fibres, and Courtemanche et al. (1998) model of human atrial cells. Some of the small parameters are responsible for differences in the characteristic timescales of dynamic variables, as in the traditional singular perturbation approaches. Others appear in a way which makes the standard approaches inapplicable. We apply this analysis to study the behaviour of fronts of excitation waves in spatially-extended cardiac models. Suppressing the excitability of the tissue leads to a decrease in the propagation speed, but only to a certain limit; further suppression blocks active propagation and leads to a passive diffusive spread of voltage. Such a dissipation may happen if a front propagates into a tissue recovering after a previous wave, e.g. re-entry. A dissipated front does not recover even when the excitability restores. This has no analogy in FitzHugh-Nagumo model and its variants, where fronts can stop and then start again. In two spatial dimensions, dissipation accounts for breakups and self-termination of re-entrant waves in excitable media with Courtemanche et al. (1998) kinetics.
An Empirical Bayesian Approach to Item Banking

A procedure for the sequential optimization of the calibration of an item bank is given. The procedure is based on an empirical Bayesian approach to a refor mulation of the Rasch model as a model for paired comparisons between the difficulties of test items in which ties are allowed to occur. First, it is shown how a paired-comparisons design deals with the usual in completeness of calibration data and how the item pa rameters can be estimated using this design. Next, the procedure for a sequential optimization of the item pa rameter estimators is given, both for individuals re sponding to pairs of items and for item and examinee groups of any size. The paper concludes with a dis cussion of the choice of the first priors in the proce dure and the problems involved in its generalization to other item response models.
Integration of Low-Cost GNSS and Monocular Cameras for Simultaneous Localization and Mapping

Low-cost Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers and monocular cameras are widely used in daily activities. The complementary nature of these two devices is ideal for outdoor navigation. In this paper, we investigate the integration of GNSS and monocular camera measurements in a simultaneous localization and mapping system. The proposed system first aligns the coordinates between two sensors. Subsequently, the measurements are fused by an optimization-based scheme. Our system can function in real-time and obtain the absolute position, scale, and attitude of the vehicle. It achieves a high accuracy without a preset map and also has the capability to work with a preset map. The system can easily be extended to create other forms of maps or for other types of cameras. Experimental results on a popular public dataset are presented to validate the performance of the proposed system.
U . S . Patent Jan . 13 , 1998 sheet 1 of 17 5 , 707 , 632 Figure 1 A leiotin

Lerner, Nature 299: 592-596, Oct. 1982. Sevier et al., Clin. Chem. 27: 1797-1806, Nov. 1981. Baird, et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, vol. 85, pp. 2324-2328, 1988. Burrus, et al., J. of Biol. Chem, vol. 264, pp. 18647-18653, 1989. Clark-Lewis, et al., Science, vol. 231, pp. 134-139, 1986. Feige, et al., J. of Biol. Chem, vol. 263 No. 28, pp. 14023-14029, 1988. Gospodarowicz, et al., Endocrine Rev. vol. 8, pp. 95-114. 1987. Hunkapiller, et al., Meth. Enzymol, vol. 91, pp. 399–413. 1983.
A preliminary aboveground live biomass model for understory hardwoods from Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi

Hardwood understories can contribute significantly to total ecosystem biomass and fuel loads, but few models are available to directly quantify this component. In part, this is due to the small size of the hardwoods. Many understory trees simply do not reach the height required to determine diameter at breast height (d.b.h.), so conventional models (e.g., the National Biomass Estimators [NBE]) that rely on this predictor are unavailable. Further, understory hardwoods can be present in such numbers or have inconvenient growth forms such that biomass estimates based on diameters are impractical. However, a quick and easily measured attribute, stem length, can be used instead of diameter to facilitate understory hardwood biomass estimation. We destructively sampled 513 small hardwood shrubs and trees in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi and oven dried their aboveground live biomass (stems, branches, leaves) to a constant weight. The high degree of variability in plant form, branch patterning, and wood density among the 31 different taxa sampled suggested that a single hardwood grouping would be as effective as more specific equations. Nonlinear ordinary least squares regression was then used to predict aboveground live biomass with a modified version of the NBE (using stem length rather than d.b.h.). The coefficient of determination of the resulting model was reasonably high (R2 = 0.71), particularly for data comprising such varied individuals. Further confirmation of the utility of this understory biomass model followed a comparison of several species with varying wood density.
Robot Visual Mapper

Mapping is an essential component of autonomous robot path planning and navigation. The standard approach often employs laser range finders, however, they are expensive . Cameras can be used but it is difficult to extract accurate range information. For our project, we develop a simple method for local planar mapping of a robot’s surrounding environment using only monocular camera images. We utilize SURF to calculate the change in a robot’s orientation and implement a simple segmentation method to identify obstacles in an image. A local map of the robot’s surrounding can be built by applying a pin hole model to the segmented image and combining the result with the calculated orientation. In addition, using Singular Vector Machine, we implement a simple classifier that detect uniquely colored fluorescent objects. We test our method s in different indoor environments with a Rovio equipped with an on-board web camera. The results demonstrate that our mapping algorithm is able to produce a local map with a decent accuracy on the level of a sonar sensor and that our SVM target classifier performs well in detecting and locating bright color objects. We attempted to integrate both into a complete path planning algorithm but were not successful because of our inability to localize accurately.
Emotion regulation in substance use disorders.

Have you ever had coffee or rea? A glass of winp? S-olrrd even ) single: igare.re? Virrual ly.r l l . rc lulr ' reporr consumirg psychoacr ive.d-trgsr at sc me,poinr in r \err l i res, srg, gesnng rh.1r c.rsu<1r drug use l< qu te corot oo lslbsfance nl-use and Melt . t l Heahh scrvices Administrar ion ISAMHSAI, 2011). On rhe orhcend of dre drug r)e specr(un. subsr.rrce u,e di :orders SUDsj or addicr ionr) rre cornplex i lLnesses. encornpassing a hosr ot severe negrrrrc physic;1, e.ononrc, arrd so. ial cur sequerces. r1d Jorribur jrg ! o w o r l d w j d e d i s r b j ' r ) . w i , l , r l I . r i , , ( p r c ' u l€nce of 35.3% in the general popularion, rndividu. l1. rv irh SUDs.Jnsrjn re I .e rr ivcl) c m J I l p o p o " r ^ n o I c ' . u r l d r u g ' r . ^ s . l e r they also represent he most prevalent and co.r y o' pstchiarr i . d . order, rNauoral Insritute of M€nral I{ea1th [NIMH], 2007; SAMFTSAT 2011). D c t i n c d r . r o r n h l e r , " r r c p a r e r r o r d r l g u , e . l e r d : ' 1 g r o . l c . r l y , i g i f : c a n r i m f J ' r I r e n t o r d q r r e s s A m e r i c r l , ) . l , i d r r i . { . , o . i r r i o r . 2 0 l 1 . p . 4 a l ) . s u n s r r e b o r L p c r , o n . r l l y . r n d . o c i r ' r d e r a . t a r i r g i n r h r L r t r . o f r e n c l " o ' , j c a r d . n s e v e e l 1 i r p a r r F \ e h { . l i ' " r r , . , i ^ n i n s r n . F e t f t h d i t ioa o' Lhe Dra3,rosrrr a,d \ tal ist i . d l \ ,4naml of \4cnral Di"o'd"r" D(M-s , \UD. r-e characrerized by the presence ol symptoms including tolerance, withdrawal, continued u r p d e , o i r e r i . h e . ' o ' t o p . c o n r i n : e d r r . r despite known negrtive coDsequences, rnd i r p o r t . r l y ' ^ , , , ' F g r l ) r ^ , y , . n r o o ' p -
Satisfaction, Complaint, and the Stock Value Gap

This article introduces the concept of a stock value gap—the shortfall of a firm's actual market value from its optimal market value, as measured by a best-performing benchmark. Using a large-scale, real-world database, the authors test the effects of both customer satisfaction and customer complaint on the stock value gap of firms. The results show that customer complaint has a stronger effect than customer satisfaction on the value gap. Furthermore, there is some support for the moderating influences of working capital and firm specialization. The results provide actionable guidelines to build a more complete customer equity dashboard and encourage managers to provide a supportive organizational environment to create shareholder value.
Genetic differentiation of Escherichia coli O 157 : H 7 clades associated 6 with human disease by real-time PCR 7 8 9

26 Rapid and accurate identification of E. coli O157:H7 strains is central to reducing the 27 impact of outbreaks. Here a real-time PCR based approach is described to differentiating 28 major outbreak lineages of O157 using novel single nucleotide polymorphisms. The 29 utility of this method in the diagnosis of hypervirulent strains is rapid and accurate. 30 31
OLICIES FOR S TAR C RAFT M ICROMANAGEMENT

We consider scenarios from the real-time strategy game StarCraft as benchmarks for reinforcement learning algorithms. We focus on micromanagement, that is, the short-term, low-level control of team members during a battle. We propose several scenarios that are challenging for reinforcement learning algorithms because the stateaction space is very large, and there is no obvious feature representation for the value functions. We describe our approach to tackle the micromanagement scenarios with deep neural network controllers from raw state features given by the game engine. We also present a heuristic reinforcement learning algorithm which combines direct exploration in the policy space and backpropagation. This algorithm collects traces for learning using deterministic policies, which appears much more efficient than, e.g., -greedy exploration. Experiments show that this algorithm allows to successfully learn non-trivial strategies for scenarios with armies of up to 15 agents, where both Q-learning and REINFORCE struggle.
ADAPTIVE VOXEL SUBDIVISION FOR RAY TRACING

Although regular subdivision has been shown to be efficient at ray tracing scenes where objects are evenly distributed, such algorithms perform poorly when objects are concentrated in a small number of voxels. In this paper, a method is presented where voxels in a regular grid are examined and recursively subdivided depending on object density. This inte gration of regular and adaptive spatial subdivision methods allows images consisting of large regularly distributed objects and small dense objects to be ray traced efficiently. The parameters controlling the coarseness of the voxel grid, depth of adaptive subdi· vision trees, and maximum number of polygons per voxel are varied and their effects on execution time, subdivision time, and memory use are measured.
Machine Learning Winter 2018 Lecture 17 : Reinforcement Learning , Finite Markov Decision Processes

Finite Markov decision processes (MDPs) [1] [2], are an extension of multi-armed bandit problems. In MDPs, just like bandit problems, we aim at maximizing the total rewards, or equivalently minimizing the regret, by deciding the action every time step. Unlike multi-armed bandit, however, MDPs have states. You can think of MDPs as a set of multi-armed bandit problems, where you are forced to change the bandit machine after every play based on the probabilities that corresponds to each arm. What makes MDPs interesting is that the number of arms and the payout settings are different for each machine. It implies that you should stay at the machine which pays out better to receive better return. Therefore, our basic goal is to estimate the value of each state in terms of the total future reward and identify the actions that get you there. In this section, we formulate finite MDPs and introduce several solutions based on dynamic programming. Here we assume all the necessary information about the problem is provided, however, as we’ll see in later sections, it is not the case in general reinforcement learning problems. We present approaches for these incompletely characterized MDPs in the section 2.
Collusion and price dispersion

While there are suggestions in applied cartel studies that price dispersion changes when cartelization of a market occurs, there are few theoretical or empirical analyses of this effect. This article surveys the thin economic literature on the link between overt collusion and price dispersion. Formal theories and observation of cartel behaviour suggest that during successfully collusive periods prices become less variable and more negatively skewed compared to relatively competitive periods. Four empirical studies of cartels verify these predictions.
Kulturelle Aspekte der Übersetzung. Anwendung des ethnopsycholinguistischen Lakunen-Modells auf die Analyse und Übersetzung literarischer Texte

zierungen, unterschiedliche Sprachsensibilität bei Mädchen und Jungen, Schnittstellen zwischen regionalsprachlichen Varietäten und Jugendsprache und anderes. Ferner präsentiert die Autorin empirisch belegbare Erkenntnisse zur inneren und äußeren Mehrsprachigkeit der Jugendlichen. Erstere zeichne sich vor allem durch Bricolagen von Zitaten aus den Medien, aus der Werbung und anderen Textsorten sowie durch Code-Switching und CodeShifting zwischen diversen Registern aus, letztere durch gemischtes Sprechen, auch »Languaging« genannt, als spielerischer Umgang mit fremdsprachigen Elementen aus dem Englischen und/oder dem Türkischen und anderen Migrantensprachen. Ein kürzeres abschließendes Kapitel rundet die Einführung mit einigen Einlassungen zum Thema Jugendsprache im schulischen Kontext und zu Möglichkeiten ihres didaktischen Einsatzes ab. Dabei bespricht die Verfasserin Aspekte der Konfliktualität zwischen (institutionssprachlicher) Hauptund (jugendsprachlicher) Nebenkommunikation im Schulunterricht. Ferner geht es um die außerschulische, normungebundene Sprachverwendung als Freiraum für kreative, innovative Sprachentwicklung und schließlich um Jugendsprache als wichtiges Thema in der Didaktik sowohl für Deutsch als Muttersprache als auch als Zweitoder Fremdsprache. Die Jugendsprache sei hier für die Förderung sprachanalytischer, sprachreflexiver wie auch sprachproduktiver Kompetenzen unabdingbar. Die dem Band angefügte ausführliche Bibliographie bietet einen ausgezeichneten Überblick über die wichtigsten älteren Forschungen sowie die einschlägige aktuelle Literatur zur Jugendsprachforschung. Insgesamt ist Eva Neulands reichhaltig mit Grafiken, Textbeispielen und Illustrationen ausgestattete Einführung als äußerst gelungenes, adressatenadäquates Studienbuch zu begrüßen, zumal die linguistische Subdisziplin der Jugendsprache mit dem Erscheinen des UTB-Taschenbuches somit erstmalig in einer der renommierten Studienreihen vertreten ist. Die Tatsache, dass die aktuelle »Ent-Distanzierung ehemals getrennter Bereiche des privaten und öffentlichen Lebens« (82), wie Eva Neuland formuliert, die Standardsprache zunehmend prägt und damit jugendsprachliches Sprechen und auch Schreiben (Chat, SMS, E-Mail etc.) einen größer werdenden Anteil am Sprachgeschehen einnimmt, lässt der Thematik auch für die DaF-Didaktik eine zunehmende Relevanz zukommen; dies um so mehr, als der Unterricht des Deutschen als Fremdoder Zweitsprache im Zuge von Globalisierung und internationaler Mobilität zwangsläufig auch an Erfordernissen der Alltagsund Umgangskommunikation ausgerichtet sein muss.
Decomposing Malmquist Productivity Indexes into Explanatory Factors September 16 , 2013

Caves, Christensen, Diewert introduced Malmquist output, input and productivity indexes into production theory in a systematic way. These indexes use distance functions to represent the technology. In recent years, there have been many attempts to decompose Malmquist productivity indexes into explanatory components. This paper revisits this debate of how to decompose a Malmquist productivity index into explanatory factors, with a focus on extracting technical progress, technical efficiency change, and returns to scale components. In order to define these components, a reference technology is required. The paper does not make any convexity assumptions on the reference technology but instead follows the example of Tulkens and his coauthors in assuming that the reference technology satisfies free disposability assumptions. Journal of Economic Literature Numbers
infection rates for some Plasmodium falciparum spp . from Guinea-Bissau , West Africa

Presence of circumsporozoite protein (CSP) was Plasmodium falciparum detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in a sample of s.s. , and collected in Anopheles gambiae A. melas A. pharoensis Guinea-Bissau during October and November 2009. The percentage of P. infected samples (10.2% overall; confidence interval (CI): falciparum 7.45-13.6%) was comparable to earlier studies from other sites in Guinea-Bissau (9.6-12.4%). The majority of the specimens collected were identified as . which had an individual infection rate of 12.6 % (CI: A gambiae 8.88-17.6) across collection sites. A small number of specimens of A. coluzzii, x hybrids, . and . were collected A. coluzzii A. gambiae A melas A pharoensis and had infection rates of 4.3% (CI:0.98-12.4), 4.1% (CI:0.35-14.5), 11.1% (CI:1.86-34.1) and 33.3% (CI:9.25-70.4) respectively. Despite being present in low numbers in indoor collections, the exophilic feeding behaviors of . A melas (N=18) and . (N=6) and high infection rates observed in this A pharoensis survey suggest -malaria transmission potential outside of the falciparum protection of bed nets. 1,4 1,3 1 2
Closed-End Fund Discounts with Informed Ownership Differential

We develop a theoretical model to examine the closed-end fund discount. Our model identifies three causes for this phenomenon: (i) a self-fulfilling prophecy, (ii) a risk premium for the fund price risk, and (iii) a risk premium for informed ownership differential between the fund and its underlying assets. The model highlights the important role of asymmetric information between institutional and individual investors in explaining the discount and predicts a positive relationship between the discount and the quality of private information in the underlying assets. Using a sample of US equity closed-end funds, we test this prediction and find consistent evidence.
Lamé Parameter Estimation from Static Displacement Field Measurements in the Framework of Nonlinear Inverse Problems

We consider a problem of quantitative static elastography, the estimation of the Lame parameters from internal displacement field data. This problem is formulated as a nonlinear operator equation. To solve this equation, we investigate the Landweber iteration both analytically and numerically. The main result of this paper is the verification of a nonlinearity condition in an infinite dimensional Hilbert space context. This condition guarantees convergence of iterative regularization methods. Furthermore, numerical examples for recovery of the Lame parameters from displacement data simulating a static elastography experiment are presented.
Non-linear digital control of a McKibben muscle system

NON-LINEAR DIGITAL CONTROL OF A MCKIBBEN MUSCLE SYSTEM by Surinkumar Patel McKibben muscles are pneumatic actuators that have potential application in the rehabilitation of persons with physical impairments. These actuators have been known to exhibit similarities in human musculoskeletal systems. In order to better understand and improve the closed — loop control of these pneumatic muscles, a physical joint model was constructed with an agonist and an antagonist muscle operating under non-linear control. With the use of LabVIEW software, compliant McKibben air muscles and Flock-of-Birds sensor, the author was able to implement and compare a standard bang-bang controller and experimental non-linear digital Proportional (P) controller. The feedback mechanism is based on the input given from Flock-of-Birds sensor to achieve a desired position. The results show the expected instability of the bang-bang controller, and confirm the superiority of the non-linear proportional method in achieving rapid and smooth movement of the joint from one target position to the next. NON-LINEAR DIGITAL CONTROL OF A MCKIBBEN MUSCLE SYSTEM
Association among Various Seed Quality Parameters in Coriander

In the present investigation, three seed lots (L1 Freshly harvested seed, L2 One year stored seed , L3 Two year stored seed) of fifteen varieties/genotypes of coriander viz., DH-333-1, DH336, DH-337, DH-338, DH-339, DH-340, DH-341, DH-343, DH344, DH-345, DH-352-1 and Hisar Anand, Hisar Sugandh, Hisar Bhoomit and Hisar Surbhi were subjected to study the effect of natural ageing on different seed quality parameters. Correlation coefficient analysis was employed to find out the association among various seed viability and vigour parameter viz., Test weight, Standard germination, seedling length, seedling fresh weight, seedling dry weigth, seedling vigour index-I, seedling vigour indexII, accelerated ageing test, Tetrazolium test, dehydrogenase activity test, electrical conductivity test, pH exudates test and field emergence (%). Test weight was found non significant with field emergence and standard germination. Field emergence (%) was positively and significantly correlated with seedling length (0.765), standard germination (0.853), seedling fresh weight (0.525), seedling dry weight (0.531), vigour index-I (0.826), vigour index-II (0.743), tetrazolium test (0.866), accelerated ageing test (0.693), dehydrogenase activity test (0.817), pH exudates test (0.808) while negatively and significant correlation with electrical conductivity (0.757). Among all the seed quality parameters standard germination and tetrazolium test were found highly correlated with field emergence for all the seed lots hence they can be used as reliable predictors of field emergence (%).