Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of carbon-based nanofillers on the electrical and dielectric properties of ethylene vinyl acetate nanocomposites

A comparative study of ethylene vinyl acetate nanocomposites based on expanded graphite, multiwalled carbon nanotubes, and carbon nanofibers has been carried out to investigate the effect of different carbon nanofillers on the electrical properties of the corresponding composites. The composites were prepared by ultrasonic dispersion of fillers in ethylene vinyl acetate solution, followed by casting and compression molding. The dependence of AC conductivity and dielectric constant on the frequency and filler concentration was investigated. Carbon nanofibers provided maximum conductivity as well as lowest percolation threshold (8.2 vol%) compared to expanded graphite and multiwalled carbon nanotubes filled composites. The improvement in both electrical conductivity and dielectric constant was attributed to the high filler aspect ratio and the formation of conducting networks. The relationship of dielectric constant with filler volume fraction for all the composite systems is estimated using a power law. The pressure sensing capability of the composites at respective percolation thresholds was also compared. POLYM. COMPOS. , 2010. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers
Agency Problems , Product Market Competition and Dividend Policy in Japan

This study investigates whether product market competition reduces agency problems between controlling shareholders and minority shareholders in Japan. We study Japan because of its salient weakness in investor protection and the severity of agency conflicts. In a large sample of Japanese firms we find that Japanese firms in more competitive industries pay more dividends than firms in less competitive industries. Furthermore, the impact of firm-level agency problems on dividend payouts is weaker in highly competitive industries. The results suggest that product market competition is an effective industry-level governance mechanism that can force managers to disgorge cash to outside investors in Japan. The findings have implications for investors in markets with weak investor protection and severe agency problems.
On sampling-based approximate spectral decomposition

This paper addresses the problem of approximate singular value decomposition of large dense matrices that arises naturally in many machine learning applications. We discuss two recently introduced sampling-based spectral decomposition techniques: the Nyström and the Column-sampling methods. We present a theoretical comparison between the two methods and provide novel insights regarding their suitability for various applications. We then provide experimental results motivated by this theory. Finally, we propose an efficient adaptive sampling technique to select informative columns from the original matrix. This novel technique outperforms standard sampling methods on a variety of datasets.
The NYU System for the CoNLL–SIGMORPHON 2018 Shared Task on Universal Morphological Reinflection

This paper describes the NYU submission to the CoNLL–SIGMORPHON 2018 shared task on universal morphological reinﬂection. Our system participates in the low-resource setting of Task 2, track 2, i.e., it predicts morphologically inﬂected forms in context: given a lemma and a context sentence, it produces a form of the lemma which might be used at an indicated position in the sentence. It is based on the standard attention-based LSTM encoder-decoder model, but makes use of multiple encoders to process all parts of the context as well as the lemma. In the ofﬁcial shared task evaluation, our system obtains the second best results out of 5 submissions for the competition it entered and strongly outperforms the ofﬁcial baseline.
An enhanced localisation system for indoor environment using clustering technique

Recently, indoor localisation techniques that use wireless local area network WLAN be a-con signals have gained much attention by the research communities. Many localisations methods are used to estimate the user of mobile device in indoor environments. However, the accuracy of these methods is affected by the nature of the test-bed environment. In this paper, we introduce an experimental test-bed in a typical indoor environment. We used a finger printing-based localisation algorithm to estimate the user location. The fingerprinting technique consists of two phases: offline phase and online phase. In the offline phase, calibration points are collected at certain places in floor to build a radio map. In the online phase, deterministic and probabilistic approaches are applied in order to get the correct estimated position of a mobile device. In deterministic approach, the position of mobile device estimated by K-nearest neighbour KNN. In probabilistic approach, the position of mobile device estimated by Bayesian network BN. Clustering technique is proposed to improve the system's accuracy and reduce the radio map size in the offline phase. We present experimental results that improved the system accuracy and reduce the size of radio map by using the proposed clustering technique.
Normative Spleen Size in Tall Healthy Athletes: Implications for Safe Return to Contact Sports After Infectious Mononucleosis

Objective:To establish normative parameters of the spleen by ultrasonography in tall athletes. Design:Prospective cohort observational study. Setting:University of Buffalo, Erie County Community College, University of Texas at Tyler, and Austin College. Participants:Sixty-six athletes enrolled and finished the study. Height requirements were at least 6 feet 2 inches for men and at least 5 feet 7 inches in women. Interventions:Measurement of spleen size in tall athletes. Main Outcome Measures:Ultrasound measurements of spleen size in tall athletes were compared with “normal-sized” controls from the literature. Mean, SD, and variance determined the sample distribution, and a one sample t test compared measurements in tall athletes with historical measurements in the average height population. Statistical significance was defined as P < 0.05. Results:Mean height was 192.26 cm (SD, ±6.52) for men and 176.54 cm (SD, ±5.19) for women. Mean splenic measurements for all subjects were 12.19 cm (SD, ±1.45) for spleen length, 8.88 cm (SD, ±0.96) for spleen width, and 5.55 cm (SD, ±0.76) for spleen thickness. The study mean for spleen length was 12.192 cm (95% confidence interval, 11.835-12.549) and population mean was 8.94 cm (2 tailed t test, P < 0.01). In this population of tall athletes, normal spleen size was significantly larger than the normal spleen size of an average individual. Conclusions:In the clinical arena, it can be difficult to know when the tall athletes with splenomegaly from infectious mononucleosis can safely return to contact sports. Previously, there has not been a sufficient “norm” for this population, but this study helps to establish baseline values.
Activities of daily living studied longitudinally between 70 and 76 years of age.

Functional performance, i.e. personal and instrumental activities of daily living (P-ADL, I-ADL), was studied in a population of 70-year-old persons followed to the age of 76, and with an intervention period included between the ages of 70 and 73. At age 70 (n = 617), 83% were independent, 13% were dependent in I-ADL and 4% dependent in I+P-ADL. Among the independent subjects, the 6-year outcome in mortality was 13%. Dependence at 70 predicted mortality as well as institutionalization, and the risk was higher for those dependent in P+I-ADL than for persons dependent in I-ADL only. Of participant survivors the incidence of disability was 30% (8% between 70 and 73, 26% between 73 and 76 years of age) and was dominated by dependence in I-ADLs. The intervention did not lead to less dependence in ADL at age 76. Gender differences were found at age 76 in cooking, bathing and dressing, males being more dependent in such activities. At 70, 73 and 76 years of age, assistance given by relatives dominated.
Outcome Polarity Identification of Medical Papers

A medical publication may or may not present an outcome. When an outcome is present, its polarity may be positive, negative or neutral. Information about the polarity of an outcome is a vital one, particularly for practitioners who use the outcome information for decision making. We model the problem of automatic outcome polarity identification as a three-way document classification problem and attempt to solve it via supervised machine learning. We combine domain knowledge and linguistic features of medical text, and apply natural language processing to extract features for the chosen classifiers. We introduce two novel features — Relative Average Negation Count and Sentence Signature — and show that they are effective in improving classification accuracy. We also include features, such as n-grams and semantic orientation of terms, that have been used for similar text classification problems in other domains. Using these features, we obtain a maximum accuracy of 74.9% for the classification problem. Our experiments suggest that through careful feature selection, machine learning can be used to solve this problem.
[Three-dimensional finite element analysis of calcaneal fractures].

OBJECTIVE To establish the three-dimensional finite element model of calcaneus, and to discuss mechanism of calcaneal fracture. METHODS The calcaneus of normal person was scanned with spinal CT, and the finite element model was established with the Sap 93 software. The node and element number of this model was 1 959 and 1 496 respectively. After establishing the finite element model of the calcaneus, the axial load of 500 N was applied on the model in neutral position and back stretches 20 degree position. The stress distribution and the displacement of the models were observed. RESULTS The fracture line passed through the lateral articular facet of talocalcaneal joint when the ankle joint was in neutral position, and the stress distribution was maximal at calcaneus from posteromedial to anterolateral aspect. In addition, the stress distribution was maximal from calcaneus to position between posterior talar articular surface and calcaneal tendon when the ankle joint was in back stretch position of 20 degree. CONCLUSION When falling down, the fracture line will pass through the facet of talocalcaneal joint from lateral to posteromedial side if the ankle joint was in neutral position; and the line will through pass the calcaneus body to post spinula joint, as well as avulsion fracture of calcaneal tendon occurred if the ankle joint was in back stretch position of 20 degree.
Properties of Polymers: Their Correlation with Chemical Structure; their Numerical Estimation and Prediction from Additive Group Contributions

This authoritative, widely cited book has been used all over the world. The fourth edition incorporates the latest developments in the field while maintaining the core objectives of previous editions: to correlate properties with chemical structure and to describe methods that permit the estimation and prediction of numerical properties from chemical structure, i.e. nearly all properties of the solid, liquid, and dissolved states of polymers. This title extends coverage of critical topics such as electrical and magnetic properties, rheological properties of polymer melts, and environmental behavior and failure. It discusses liquid crystalline polymers across chapters 6, 15, and 16 for greater breadth and depth of coverage. It increases the number of supporting illustrations from approximately 250 (in the previous edition) to more than 400 to further aid in visual understanding.
Free radicals, atherosclerosis, ageing and related dysmetabolic pathologies: biochemical and molecular aspects

In human ageing and with many pathologies correlated to the senile functional decay of cells, membrane damage often occurs in some organ or tissue, which provokes lipid peroxidation in the membrane and accelerates the disorder in structure and function of the membrane. When lipid peroxides accumulate sufficiently, they leak from the organ or tissue into the bloodstream and increase the lipid peroxide level in blood lipoproteins. The increased lipid peroxides in the blood attack the blood vessel and promote atherogenesis. This paper describes the possible involvement of free radicals in this damage, both to tissues and to blood vessels, which contributes to the senile functional decay of the tissues.
Americas Conference on Information Systems ( AMCIS ) 1-1-2009 A Conceptual Framework for Investigating Suppliers ’ Participation in Business-to-Government ( B 2 G ) Electronic Auction Markets in the Thai Context

Business-to-government (B2G) electronic auction (e-auction) markets are increasingly being used to create opportunities for suppliers to expand their market as well as trading activities. However, little has been done to understand the behaviour of suppliers participating in these markets. In this paper, we propose a framework to explain suppliers’ intention to participate, and the level of participation in B2G e-auction markets, which will be tested in the Thai B2G e-auction markets. Low supplier participation has been a major problem in the Thai e-auction markets. We posit that suppliers’ participation depends on organisational motivation, environmental uncertainty, and their capabilities. The conceptual framework draws from the Motivation-Ability Framework, Transaction Cost Theory, Institutional Theory, and Resource-Based Theory. It proposes that four key constructs efficiency motive, legitimacy motive, environmental uncertainty, and organisational capabilities influence suppliers’ intention to participate as well as their participation level in B2G e-auction markets.
Ionic Remodeling of Sinoatrial Node Cells by Heart Failure

Background—In animal models of heart failure (HF), heart rate decreases as the result of an increase in intrinsic cycle length of the sinoatrial node (SAN). In this study, we evaluate the HF-induced remodeling of membrane potentials and currents in SAN cells. Methods and Results—SAN cells were isolated from control rabbits and rabbits with volume and pressure overload–induced HF and patch-clamped to measure their electrophysiological properties. HF cells were not hypertrophied (capacitance, mean±SEM, 52±3 versus 50±4 pF in control). HF increased intrinsic cycle length by 15% and decreased diastolic depolarization rate by 30%, whereas other action potential parameters were unaltered. In HF, the hyperpolarization-activated “pacemaker” current (If) and slow component of the delayed rectifier current (IKs) were reduced by 40% and 20%, respectively, without changes in voltage dependence or kinetics. T-type and L-type calcium current, rapid and ultrarapid delayed rectifier current, transient outward currents, and sodium-calcium exchange current were unaltered. Conclusions—In single SAN cells of rabbits with HF, intrinsic cycle length is increased as the result of a decreased diastolic depolarization rate rather than a change in action potential duration. HF reduced both If and IKs density. Since IKs plays a limited role in pacemaker activity, the HF-induced decrease in heart rate is attributable to remodeling of If.
Low Complexity Selection Cooperation Techniques Using Information Accumulation in Dual-Hop Relaying Networks

Three low complexity, single-parameter, selection cooperation protocols, called P-n, P-γ, and P-t, are introduced for dual-hop relaying networks. The protocols are based on information accumulation, and can potentially be implemented using rateless codes. The expected transmission time is analyzed for the three protocols for block fading channels. As a baseline for performance comparison, a rate optimal protocol, called P-o, is proposed. In the single-relay case, all the protocols, if used with their optimized parameter which is trivially obtained, coincide with P-o. Large signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) approximations to the optimal parameters in the multirelay case, which have good accuracy in large SNR regimes, and satisfactory accuracy for smaller values of SNR, are derived. The dependence of the optimal parameters on the network parameters is numerically studied for Rayleigh fading. The average rate and average source transmission time (ASTT) of the schemes are compared with one another and other comparable previous relaying schemes through numerical examples. It is observed that the suboptimal schemes exhibit near-optimal rate and ASTT performances. As a general rule, P-o and P-γ have the best performances. The P-n scheme has a larger rate, but a larger or smaller ASTT, compared to P-t. Increasing the number of relays ultimately causes diminishing returns in the average rate and ASTT.
Therapeutic hypothermia in the prevention of hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy: new categories to be enrolled

Therapeutic hypothermia is now the standard of care for brain injury control in term infants with perinatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). Accumulated evidence shows a reduction in mortality and long-term neurodevelopmental disability at 12–24 months of age, with more favourable effects in the less severe forms of HIE. Only few trials recruited newborns <36 weeks gestational age, or mild-to-moderate encephalopathy with base deficit (BD) <16. The new categories of patients to be enrolled should include (late) preterm infants, neonates with unexpected postnatal collapse, and newborns with stroke. Preterm HIE: Therapeutic hypothermia shows a good safety profile in clinical studies, and no adverse effects were noted in the preterm fetal animal model. Recently, it has been shown that mild hypothermia in preterm newborns with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) does not increase mortality, bleeding, infection, or need for inotropes in cooled newborns. A pilot study (NCT00620711) is currently recruiting newborns of > 32 but < 36 weeks gestation with standard criteria for HIE. Postnatal Collapse: The postnatal collapse (PNC) is a rare (0.03–0.5/1000 live births) but life-threatening hypoxic-ischemic event. No clinical trials of therapeutic hypothermia have specifically addressed to PNC. Nevertheless, a beneficial effect of brain cooling is expectable, and it has been proposed to include in brain hypothermia trials the infants with PNC fulfilling the entry criteria for HIE. Stroke: Perinatal arterial ischemic stroke is the most common cause of cerebral palsy (CP) in term and near-term newborn. In a systematic review and meta-analysis of animal studies of focal cerebral ischemia, hypothermia reduced the infarct size by 44%. No specific neuroprotective interventions are available for the management of acute perinatal stroke. Hypothermia may decrease seizures in newborns with encephalopathy and a focal infarct, potentially improving the long-term outcome for these infants. Concluding remarks: Future studies of therapeutic hypothermia should include the categories of newborns excluded from the published clinical trials, that is infants <36 weeks gestation, PNC or stroke, or admitted outside of the established 6-hour window, and with encephalopathy not imputable to HIE. New entry criteria will allow significant number of newborns to benefit from the treatment.
Electronic Gating for Particle/Cell Counting and Sizing, DSP-operated

Hardware and software solutions are proposed for development of a cell/particle counting and sizing system, DSP operated. Labview, a graphical programming language from National Instruments, was adopted as the DSP programming platform. The system makes use of an electronic gate detector and a current source for resistance-to-voltage conversion. Special attention was paid to data reduction, noise elimination and baseline restoration. The accuracy was verified on a basis of externally generated test signals, and by using particle size calibration standards. The proposed hardware and signal handling software with minor modifications is also suited as a detection system for cell chromatography and flow cytometry.
Development of primary malignant melanoma during treatment with a TNF-α antagonist for severe Crohn’s disease: a case report and review of the hypothetical association between TNF-α blockers and cancer

It is recognized that immunosuppression may lead to reduced immune surveillance and tumor formation. Because of the immunosuppressive properties of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha (TNF-α) antagonists, it is plausible that these biologics may increase the risk of the occurrence of malignancies or the reactivation of latent malignancies. TNF-α antagonists have gained momentum in the field of dermatology for treating rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, and they have revolutionized the treatment of other inflammatory autoimmune diseases such as refractory Crohn’s disease. However, there is accumulating evidence that TNF-α inhibitors slightly increase the risk of cancer, including malignant melanoma (MM). The authors herein report the case of a 54-year-old female patient who developed a primary MM during treatment with adalimumab for severe Crohn’s disease resistant to successive medical therapies. The patient had been receiving this TNF-α blocker therapy for 3 years before the occurrence of MM. After wide surgical excision of the lesion and staging (based on Breslow thickness and Clark level), evaluation with a whole-body computed tomography scan was negative for metastatic disease. The long duration of the adalimumab therapy and the patient’s lack of a predisposition to skin cancer suggest an association between anti-TNF-α drugs and melanocytic proliferation. The authors also review the literature on the potential association between anti-TNF regimens and the occurrence of malignancies such as melanocytic proliferations. There is a substantial hypothetical link between anti-TNF-α regimens such as adalimumab and the potential for cancers such as melanoma. However, the risk of malignancy with biological therapy remains to be established, and most of the relevant studies have lacked the statistical power and randomization required for large clinical trials. Further long-term controlled clinical trials and registries are required to investigate this potentially serious association.
HaploReg: a resource for exploring chromatin states, conservation, and regulatory motif alterations within sets of genetically linked variants

The resolution of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) is limited by the linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure of the population being studied. Selecting the most likely causal variants within an LD block is relatively straightforward within coding sequence, but is more difficult when all variants are intergenic. Predicting functional non-coding sequence has been recently facilitated by the availability of conservation and epigenomic information. We present HaploReg, a tool for exploring annotations of the non-coding genome among the results of published GWAS or novel sets of variants. Using LD information from the 1000 Genomes Project, linked SNPs and small indels can be visualized along with their predicted chromatin state in nine cell types, conservation across mammals and their effect on regulatory motifs. Sets of SNPs, such as those resulting from GWAS, are analyzed for an enrichment of cell type-specific enhancers. HaploReg will be useful to researchers developing mechanistic hypotheses of the impact of non-coding variants on clinical phenotypes and normal variation. The HaploReg database is available at http://compbio.mit. edu/HaploReg.
Chloroquine retinopathy: evaluation by fluorescein fundus angiography.

The maculas of patients with chloroquine retinopathy exhibit a dramatic fluorescence when studied by intravenous fluorescein angiography. This fluorescence is interpreted as being due to a dysplasia of the macular pigment epithelium, which allows the underlying choroidal fluorescence to show through. We think that fluorescein fundus angiography is a new and valuable adjunct in the diagnosis and evaluation of chloroquine retinopathy.