Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Variability of within-breath reactance in COPD patients and its association with dyspnoea

The forced oscillation technique can identify expiratory flow limitation (EFL) when a large difference in inspiratory and expiratory reactance (ΔXrs) occurs. However, flow limitation can vary from breath to breath, and so we compared a multiple-breath ΔXrs approach to the traditional breath-by-breath assessment of EFL. We investigated the within- and between-day reproducibility and the factors that affect the size of ΔXrs when used as a continuous measurement over multiple breaths. In addition, we examined how multiple-breath ΔXrs relates to the sensation of breathlessness. 425 moderate to very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients and 229 controls were included. Spirometry and impedance measurements were performed on a MasterScope CT Impulse Oscillation System. Median ΔXrs approached zero in healthy controls with little variation between measurements. COPD patients generally had higher ΔXrs and higher variability. The COPD patients with ΔXrs >0.1 kPa·L−1·s−1 were prone to be more breathless and had a higher modified Medical Research Council dyspnoea scale score. In controls, the 95th percentile of ΔXrs was as low as 0.07 kPa·L−1·s−1. We describe a new method to assess EFL at a patient level and propose a cut-off, mean ΔXrs >0.1 kPa·L−1·s−1, as a way to identify COPD patients who are more likely to report dyspnoea. Within-breath reactance in COPD correlates with dyspnoea and adds information beyond that of spirometry alone http://ow.ly/CvYOT
submitter : Calibration of a Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer for the Measurement of Gaseous Sulfuric Acid

The accurate measurement of the gaseous sulfuric acid concentration is crucial within many fields of atmospheric science. Instruments utilizing chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS) measuring H(2)SO(4), therefore, require a careful calibration. We have set up a calibration source that can provide a stable and adjustable concentration of H(2)SO(4). The calibration system initiates the production of sulfuric acid through the oxidation of SO(2) by OH. The hydroxyl radical is produced by UV photolysis of water vapor. A numerical model calculates the H(2)SO(4) concentration provided at the outlet of the calibration source. From comparison of this concentration and the signals measured by CIMS, a calibration factor is derived. This factor is evaluated to be 1.1 × 10(10) cm(-3), which is in good agreement with values found in the literature for other CIMS instruments measuring H(2)SO(4). The calibration system is described in detail and the results are discussed. Because the setup is external to the CIMS instrument, it offers the possibility for future CIMS intercomparison measurements by providing defined and stable concentrations of sulfuric acid.
Exploring the nature and development of HRD as a domain of expertise: what can be learnt from the experiences of HR developers?

This working paper introduces an ongoing research project on the nature and development of expertise in human resource development (HRD). The aim of the project is to describe and understand the nature and development of HRD expertise as seen by practising HR developers in Finland. The project combines an analysis of what constitutes expertise in HRD, i.e. what comprises the activities and products of HRD work and the knowledge and skills it involves, and an analysis of HRD processes where expertise is applied and constructed (reports of the research have appeared so far in Valkeavaara 1997, 1998a, 1998b, 1998c). The purpose of this working paper is to outline the research tasks, design and main ndings of the project to date in order to discuss questions relating to HRD as a specic domain of expertise, and to the development of expertise in HRD in various learning contexts. The background to this research project can be found, first, in a recent discussion in which the expertise of HR developers has been mentioned as one of the key factors in the effectiveness of developmental processes and the promotion of continuous learning in work organizations. However, even though there is a tendency to increase the volume of HRD and to hire practitioners to work as HR developers in order to promote the aims of learning and change in enterprises, it seems that HR developers, as well as promoting ideas of continuous learning, are also under constant threat of outsourcing. This outsourcing is usually based on the short-term overall economic success of an enterprise, not on the evaluation of the long-term successfulness of the HRD function. In addition, the notable increase in the importance of HRD is largely based on the statistics describing the amount of formal training in enterprises. Thus, many other forms of learning in the workplace which are included in the HRD function and in HR developers’ work are still rather unknown to us. Furthermore, even though HRD in companies comprises an extensive and multi-faceted applied domain of expertise underpinned by a broad variety of theories of work and organizational psychology, as well as theories of learning and adult education
Efficient methods of non-myopic sensor management for multitarget tracking

This paper develops two efficient methods of long-term sensor management and investigates the benefit in the setting of multitarget tracking. The underlying tracking methodology is based on recursive estimation of a joint multitarget probability density (JMPD), implemented via particle filtering methods. The myopic sensor management scheme is based on maximizing the expected Renyi divergence between the JMPD and the JMPD after a new measurement is made. Since a full non-myopic solution is computationally intractable when looking more than a small number of time steps ahead, two approximate strategies are investigated. First, we develop an information-directed search which focuses Monte Carlo evaluations on action sequences that are most informative. Second, we give an approximate method of solving Bellman's equation which replaces the value-to-go with an easily computed function that approximates the long term value of the action. The performance of these methods is compared in terms of tracking performance and computational requirements.
Non-Arbitrage up to Random Horizon and after Honest Times for Semimartingale Models

This paper addresses the question of how an arbitrage-free semimartingale model is affected when stopped at a random horizon or when an honest time is incorporated. Precisely, we focus on No-Unbounded-Profit-withBounded-Risk (called NUPBR hereafter) concept, which is also known in the literature as the first kind of non-arbitrage. Herein, we prove that any quasileft-continuous process satisfying NUPBR, will preserve the NUPBR when one stops it at any random horizon or when one incorporates a specific honest time. For the general case of semimartingale, we provide necessary and sufficient conditions for the NUPBR to be preserved. Precisely, we elaborate two types of results. For a fixed semimartingale and a random time, we provide necessary and sufficient conditions on the process and the random time for which the non-arbitrage concept remains valid. The second type of results consists of giving necessary and sufficient conditions on the random time for which the non-arbitrage is preserved for any process. Our class of honest times —that we consider in the paper— is much larger than the class of all stopping times, and plays an important rôle in classifying random times. The crucial stochastic tool that drives our analysis lies in the optional stochastic integral (or compensated stochastic integral) that was introduced in early eighties.
A Software Checking Framework Using Distributed Model Checking and Checkpoint/Resume of Virtualized PrOcess Domains

Complexity and heterogeneity of the deployed software applications often result in a wide range of dynamic states at runtime. The corner cases of software failure during execution often slip through the traditional software checking. If the software checking infrastructure supports the transparent checkpoint and resume of the live application states, the checking system can preserve and replay the live states in which the software failures occur. We introduce a novel software checking framework that enables application states including program behaviors and execution contexts to be cloned and resumed on a computing cloud. It employs (1) EXPLODE’s model checking engine for a lightweight and general purpose software checking (2) ZAP system for faster, low overhead and transparent checkpoint and resume mechanism through virtualized PODs (PrOcess Domains), which is a collection of host-independent processes, and (3) scalable and distributed checking infrastructure based on Distributed EXPLODE. Efficient and portable checkpoint/resume and replay mechanism employed in this framework enables scalable software checking in order to improve the reliability of software products. The evaluation we conducted showed its feasibility, efficiency and applica-
Evidence That Atriopeptin Is Not a Physiological Regulator of Sodium Excretion

Although much experimental evidence is consistent with the concept that atrial natriuretic factor (atriopeptin) is an important physiological regulator of renal sodium excretion, this hypothesis remains unproven. Indeed, a rapidly expanding collection of experimental data appears to be more compatible with the opposite conclusion, namely that circulating atriopeptin exerts only a trivial effect on renal sodium excretion during normal day-to-day living conditions. In this review, the substantial evidence demonstrating that elevations of plasma atriopeptin from threefold to 13-fold produce only a slowly developing and relatively modest natriuresis is reassessed in light of recently published data indicating that the acute intake of food (the pathway by which essentially all sodium enters the body under normal living conditions) does not increase circulating atriopeptin. These considerations imply that atriopeptin does not contribute to the process that elicits a postprandial natriuresis, a process that presumably is of primary importance in the physiological regulation of sodium balance. In addition, consideration is given to a number of common physiological, experimental, and pathophysiological conditions in which circulating atriopeptin does not correlate with renal sodium excretion. This lack of correlation implies that atriopeptin is not an important regulator of sodium excretion in these situations.
An Unexpected Means of Embedding Ethics in Organizations: Preliminary Findings from Values-Based Evaluations

Ethical principles constitute a crucial area of debate and discussion in the global conversation around transitions to sustainability, and of particular relevance to the contribution of businesses and other organizations. Scholars in business ethics have recently identified several challenges in this area, such as problems of measurement, rigor, and meaningfulness to practitioners; corporate social responsibility; and institutionalization of ethics in businesses. In this paper, the impacts of a pragmatic values-based evaluation approach originally developed in another field—education for sustainable development—are shown to strongly contribute to many of these challenges. Impacts found across eight organizations include (i) deep values conceptualization; (ii) increased esteem (iii) building capacity for assessment of values-based achievements; (iv) values mainstreaming; and (v) effective external values communications. It seems that the in-situ development and use of values-based indicators helped to conceptualize locally shared values that underpin decisions, thus embedding the application of (local) ethics. Although this study is exploratory, it is clear that the values-based approach shows promise for meeting key challenges in business ethics and wider sustainability, and for new directions for future cross-disciplinary research.
A note on price adjustment with menu cost for multi-product firms

We study the stylized problem of a multi-product firm that can revise prices only after paying a fixed “menu” cost. The key assumption, introduced by Lach and Tsiddon (1996, 2007) and Midrigan (2007, 2009), is that once the menu cost is paid the firm can adjust the price of all its products. The firm’s problem is to minimize the deviations of the profits incurred relative to the flexible price case, i.e. the case with no menu cost. We completely characterize the solution of a simple symmetric problem in terms of the structural parameters: the variability of the flexible prices, the curvature of the profit function, the size of the menu cost, and the number of products sold by the firm. We also provide analytical expressions for the frequency of adjustment, the hazard rate of price adjustments, and the distribution of price changes in terms of the structural parameters.
Design patterns for parsing

We provide a systematic transformation of an LL(1) grammar to an object model that consists of an object structure representing the non-terminal symbols and their corresponding grammar production rules, a union of classes representing the terminal symbols (tokens). We present a variant form of the visitor pattern and apply it to the above union of token classes to model a predictive recursive descent parser on the given grammar. Parsing a non-terminal is represented by a visitor to the tokens. For non-terminals that have more than one production rule, the corresponding visitors are chained together according to the chain of responsibility pattern in order to be processed correctly by a valid token. The abstract factory pattern, where each concrete factory corresponds to a non-terminal symbol, is used to manufacture appropriate parsing visitors.Our object-oriented formulation for predictive recursive descent parsing eliminates the traditional construction of the predictive parsing table and yields a parser that is declarative and has minimal conditionals. It not only serves to teach standard techniques in parsing but also as a non-trivial exercise of object modeling for objects-first introductory courses.
Book Reviews : Transactional Analysis for Trainers Julie Hay

BRYMAN, A. (Ed.) (1988), Dotng Research in Organisations, Routledge, London BURGESS, R. (Ed.) (1982), Field Research: A Sourcebook and Field Manual, George Allen and Unwin, London BURGESS, R (1984), In the Field, George Allen and Unwin, London CLIFFORD, J. and MARCUS, G. (Eds.) (1986), Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography, University of California Press, London FROST, P., MOORE, L. , LOUIS, M. R. , LUNDBERG, C. C. and MARTIN, J. (Eds.) (1991), Reframing Organisational Culture, Sage, London GADAMER, H-G. (1975), Truth and Method, Sheed Ward, London GAGLIARDI, P. (Ed.) (1990), Symbols and Artifacts: Views of the Corporate Landscape, De Gruyter, Berlin GARRATT, R. (1989), The Learning Organisation, Pan, London MARCUS, G. and FISCHER, M. (1986), Anthropology as Cultural Critique, University of Chicago Press, London MORGAN, G. (Ed.) (1983), Beyond Method, Sage, London PEDLER, M. , BURGOYNE, J. and BOYDELL, T. (1991), Creating the Learning Organisation, McGraw-Hill, London PHILLIPS, D. (1973), Abandoning Method, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco TURNER, B. A. (Ed.) (1990), Organssational Symbolism, De Gruyter, Berlin
RISK FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ENCAPSULATING PERITONEAL SCLEROSIS IN DUTCH EPS STUDY

♦ Objective: Encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) is a serious complication of peritoneal dialysis (PD) with a multifactorial pathophysiology and possible increasing incidence. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the independent associations of PD duration, age, dialysis fluids, and kidney transplantation with EPS. ♦ Methods: A multicenter case–control study was performed in the Netherlands from 1 January 1996 until 1 July 2007. The population comprised 63 patients with EPS and 126 control patients. Control patients were selected from the national registry and were matched for date of PD start. Associations were analyzed using a log linear regression model. Primary outcome was appearance of EPS. ♦ Results: Compared with control patients, patients with EPS were younger at the start of PD (34.7 ± 15.4 years vs. 51.5 ± 14.7 years, p < 0.0001). The cumulative period on PD was longer in EPS patients than in control patients (78.7 ± 37.8 months vs. 32.8 ± 24 months, p < 0.0001), and the cumulative period on icodextrin was also longer in EPS patients (32.7 ± 23.3 months vs. 18.1 ± 15.7 months, p = 0.006). Compared with control patients, more EPS patients underwent kidney transplantation (47 vs. 59, p < 0.0001). With regard to the period after transplantation, the yearly probability of EPS increased in the year after transplantation to 7.5% from 1.75%. In multivariate regression analysis, cumulative PD duration, age at PD start, transplantation, time from last transplantation to EPS, calendar time, time on icodextrin, and ultrafiltration failure were independently associated with EPS. Transfer from PD to hemodialysis for reasons other than suspected EPS could not be identified as a risk factor for EPS. ♦ Conclusions: Duration of PD, age at PD start, kidney transplantation, time since last transplantation, ultrafiltration failure, and time on icodextrin were associated with a higher risk of EPS.
New RSA vulnerabilities using lattice reduction methods

Die vorliegende Dissertationsschrift beschäftigt sich mit dem heutzutage bekanntesten und meistverwendeten Public-Key Kryptosystem; dem 1978 von Rivest, Shamir und Adleman vorgeschlagenen RSA-Kryptosystem. Es wird gezeigt, dass spezielle Parameterwahlen bei diesem Kryptosystem zu Polynomialzeit-Angriffen führen. Betrachten wir dazu die Generierung der RSA-Parameter genauer: Man wählt zwei große Primzahlen p und q und berechnet deren Produkt N = pq. Der sogenannte RSAModul N ist öffentlich, wohingegen die Faktorisierung von N in p und q geheim ist. Weiterhin wählt man ein Schlüsselpaar (e, d) mit der Eigenschaft ed = 1 mod (p − 1)(q − 1). Hierbei ist der Parameter e bei RSA öffentlich bekannt, und der Parameter d ist geheim. Der geheime Schlüssel d kann leicht aus (N, e) berechnet werden, falls man die Faktorisierung von N kennt. Daher kann ein Angreifer versuchen, die Faktorisierung von N zu bestimmen. Es ist aber bisher kein Algorithmus bekannt, der die Faktorisierung von N in polynomieller Zeit in der Bitlänge von N berechnet. Die vorliegende Arbeit zeigt, dass ein Angreifer die Faktorisierung in polynomieller Zeit finden kann, falls e eine spezielle Form hat oder der Angreifer in den Besitz eines Bruchteils der Bits des geheimen Schlüssels d gelangt. Als Methode wird in der Arbeit ein von Coppersmith 1996 vorgestellter Algorithmus zum Bestimmen kleiner Nullstellen modularer Polynomgleichungen verwendet und weiterentwickelt. Die Dissertationsschrift umfasst unter anderem die folgenden Resultate:
Trough Concentrations of Vancomycin: Adult Therapeutic Targets Are Not Appropriate for Children

Despite the need for effective vancomycin therapy, there are few data guiding vancomycin monitoring in children. We reviewed retrospectively vancomycin use in children 1 month to 12 years of age. Initial and adjusted target trough vancomycin concentrations in serum were infrequently achieved regardless of the dosing schedule. Currently recommended trough concentrations need to be re-examined with a more detailed pharmacokinetic study in children.
Recognizing Famous Faces: Exploring the Benefits of Facial Motion

We report on two experiments that investigated the role of facial motion in the recognition of degraded famous face images. The results of these experiments suggest that seeing a face move is advantageous for the correct recognition of identity. This effect is not solely due to the extra static-based information contained in a moving sequence but is also due to additional dynamic information available from a moving face. Furthermore, famous faces were recognized more accurately when the original dynamic characteristics of the motion were maintained (Experiment 1), compared to when either the tempo or the direction of motion were altered (Experiment 2). It is suggested that there may be general benefit for viewing naturally moving faces, not specific benefit to any particular face identity. Alternatively, individual faces may have associated characteristic motion signatures.
Efficient Retrieval and Ranking of Undesired Package Cycles in Large Software Systems

Many design guidelines state that a software system architecture should avoid cycles between its packages. Yet such cycles appear again and again in many programs. We believe that the existing approaches for cycle detection are too coarse to assist the developers to remove cycles from their programs. In this paper, we describe an efficient algorithm that performs a fine-grained analysis of the cycles among the packages of an application. In addition, we define a metric to rank cycles by their level of undesirability, prioritizing the cycles that seems the more undesired by the developers. Our approach is validated on two large and mature software systems in Java and Smalltalk.
Downregulation of endotoxin-induced uveitis by intravitreal injection of vasoactive intestinal Peptide encapsulated in liposomes.

PURPOSE To reestablish the immunosuppressive microenvironment of the eye, disrupted by ocular inflammation during endotoxin-induced uveitis (EIU), by means of intravitreal injection of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) in saline or encapsulated in liposomes, to increase its bioavailability and efficiency. METHODS EIU was induced in Lewis rats by subcutaneous injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Simultaneously, animals were intravitreally injected with saline, saline/VIP, VIP-loaded liposomes (VIP-Lip), or unloaded liposomes. EIU severity and cellular infiltration were assessed by clinical examination and specific immunostaining. VIP concentration was determined in ocular fluids by ELISA. Ocular expression of inflammatory cytokine and chemokine mRNAs was detected by semiquantitative RT-PCR. Biodistribution of rhodamine-conjugated liposomes (Rh-Lip) was analyzed by immunohistochemistry in eyes and regional cervical lymph nodes (LNs). RESULTS Twenty-four hours after intravitreal injection of VIP-Lip, VIP concentration in ocular fluids was 15 times higher than after saline/VIP injection. At that time, EIU clinical severity, ocular infiltrating polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs), and, to a lesser extent, ED1(+) macrophages, as well as inflammatory cytokine and chemokine mRNA expression, were significantly reduced in VIP-Lip-injected rats compared with rats injected with saline/VIP, unloaded liposomes, or saline. Rh-Lip was distributed in vitreous, ciliary body, conjunctiva, retina, and sclera. It was internalized by macrophages and PMNs, and VIP colocalized with liposomes at least up to 14 days after injection. In cervical LNs, resident macrophages internalized VIP-Rh-Lip, and some adjacent lymphocytes showed VIP expression. CONCLUSIONS VIP was efficient at reducing EIU only when formulated in liposomes, which enhanced its immunosuppressive effect and controlled its delivery to all tissues affected by or involved in ocular inflammation.