Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An active learning method based on SVM classifier for hyperspectral images classification

Support vector machine (SVM) classifiers have been one of the most popularly used classifier for hyperspectral image classification. However, the amount of labeled samples available in practice is often few and the collection of the labeled set is time-consuming. To collect the most informative training set and train an effective classifier, we proposed a new active learning (AL) method with SVM classifier. The proposed AL method was based on the one-against-one multiclass strategy. In addition, to alleviate the computational burden during the AL steps, an incremental strategy for the model updating process was introduced. Experimental results on the AVIRIS Indian Pines data set demonstrated the competitive performance and better stability of the proposed AL approach with respect to the state-of-the-art AL technique, as well as the efficiency of the proposed incremental strategy during the AL process.
Analysis of Spiral Ganglion Cell Populations in Children with Normal and Pathological Ears

This study analyzed features of total and segmental spiral ganglion cell populations in children with normal ears and those with various pathological conditions. Sixty-three human temporal bone specimens, obtained from 43 children 4 days to 9 years of age, were studied histopathologically. These specimens were divided into 5 diagnostic groups: group 1, normal ears (13 ears); group 2, congenital infectious diseases (13 ears); group 3, chromosomal aberrations (11 ears); group 4, multiple craniofacial anomalies with hereditary or genetic causes (21 ears); and group 5, perinatal and postnatal asphyxia (5 ears). Eighteen of the 63 ears had documented profound deafness. In either normal ears (group 1) or those with various pathological conditions (groups 2 through 5), the total number of ganglion cells did not change as a function of age during the first 10 years. The total number of ganglion cells was significantly larger in group 1 (33,702) than in each of groups 2, 3, 4, and 5 (p < .01), and the number was significantly larger in group 2 than in each of groups 4 and 5 (p < .01 and p < .05, respectively). The ratio of basal to apical ganglion cell populations remained constant in both normal and pathological ears. Each ratio of the number of basal and apical ganglion cells in groups 2, 3, 4, and 5 to the mean number in group 1 (basal and apical survival ratios) was at least approximately 40%. There was no statistical difference between these Two ratios in groups 2, 3, 4, and 5. The mean (±SD) total number of ganglion cells in ears with documented profound deafness was 15,417 ± 5,944, which is approximately 40% of those present in normal ears. Our results suggest that normally, cochlear neurons are completely present at birth and minimally regress during the first decade of life. In addition, although intergroup differences among various pathological groups were present, the majority of pathological ears had more than 10,000 spiral ganglion cells present. Cochlear implantation has gradually been recognized as an effective and reliable tool for rehabilitation of children who have profound deafness, even congenitally or prelingually deafened children. On the basis of the results obtained in this study, we discuss the implications for cochlear implantation in children.
Preoperative Management of the Older Patient — A Surgeon ’ s Perspective : Part I

Clinical Geriatrics Volume 14, Number 6 June 2006 From the Department of Surgery, The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville, NC. cation. Postoperative renal and pulmonary complications have been found to have the greatest impact on survival.3 In addition, another study reported that quality of life and functional status were worse among the elderly patients who suffered postoperative complications.4 These studies reinforce the need for optimal perioperative care to avoid complications in this at-risk population. The physiologic impact of surgery and implications of postoperative complications differ among procedures. They also vary depending on whether the procedure is performed as an emergency or as an elective operation. Many elderly patients tolerate elective operations quite well, with postoperative complication and death rates of 6.8% and 1.9%, respectively.5 In contrast, the morbidity and mortality rates associated with emergency operations are much higher, at 31% and 20%, respectively. For elective operations, the focus of this review, preoperative evaluation is aimed at identifying and reducing factors that lead to postoperative complications. In certain instances, factors can be identified but cannot be modified. Age, in and of itself, is not a risk factor for postoperative complications. The underlying comorbidities that develop as part of the aging process are risk factors. This two-part article outlines current strategies to identify and modify these factors, and highlights important points in the preparation of elderly patients for surgery. Part I discusses factors, includINTRODUCTION Similar to most other health care providers, surgeons are seeing an ever-increasing proportion of elderly patients in their practices. Furthermore, this patient population is more likely to require operations. Patients age 65 and older currently account for approximately 60% of the average general surgeon’s work.1 The growth in general surgery over the next decade is expected to outpace the population growth due to a large increase in the number of older Americans. In specialties that care for a greater proportion of elderly patients, such as ophthalmology, urology, and cardiothoracic surgery, this growth is projected to increase 35-47%. This growth is driven by the post-war “baby boom” coupled with greater longevity. Given this increase, it is important for surgeons and practitioners who refer to surgeons to understand the appropriate perioperative evaluation and management of older patients. In a study by Manku and Bacchetti,2 21% of patients age 70 and older undergoing noncardiac surgery experienced postoperative complications. Elderly patients suffering postoperative complications had greater than twice the risk of death in the first 3 months when compared with elderly patients undergoing an operation but not suffering a compliPreoperative Management of the Older Patient— A Surgeon’s Perspective: Part I
How federal? The organizational dimension of integration in the EU (and elsewhere)

To figure out what kind of polity the EU is developing into, contending approaches to European integration apply quite different criteria. This article argues that the new institutional perspective could be strengthened considerably by specifying the organizational principles embodied in a given institutional structure. If the task is to integrate sub-territories, a highly integrated system is, in organizational terms, a system in which non-territorial organizational components have taken precedence over territorial ones at the centre. Thus, sub-territories as such are only marginally reflected in the organizational set-up at the centre. This organizational conceptualization provides a frame of reference within which reform efforts and actual changes in the EU over time are interpreted. By examining the behavioural consequences of different organizing principles, it becomes relatively clear that the extent to which decision-makers might be resocialized at the EU level is highly contingent upon an institution's organizational characteristics.
Strategic roles of foreign multinational subsidiaries in Malaysia

The paper investigates the strategic roles of foreign Multinational Corporations (MNCs) subsidiaries in Malaysia. Specifically, the study aims to explore the differences of the strategic roles in terms of local responsiveness, integration and technological capabilities of subsidiaries. The strategic roles of subsidiaries are tested with respect to the firms' and industry's characteristics and level of performance. Seventy-one subsidiaries participated in the study. The study discovered five strategic roles of foreign MNC subsidiaries in Malaysia. The strategic roles are found to be dependent upon firm and industry characteristics. Performance is not found to be significantly different across the strategic roles. The implications of the study are discussed.
THE EXTENT OF EARNINGS MANAGEMENT IN THE U.S. AND GERMANY

This paper compares the extent to which U.S. and German companies manage their earnings in order to exceed earnings thresholds. Following Burgstahler and Dichev (1997), we analyze the distribution of earnings to discover whether U.S. and German firms have managed reported earnings in order to avoid losses, decreases in earnings, or earnings below the forecasts of analysts. The data for our tests have been taken from the Worldscope and the Osiris databases. The sample comprises 38,714 firm‐year observations for U.S. companies and 3,524 firm‐year observations for German companies for the years 1991 to 2000. Given the pronounced differences between the institutional environments of U.S. and German firms, we expect the extent of thresholdoriented earnings management to differ between the two countries. However, differences between the extent of earnings management to avoid losses and earnings decreases in the U.S. and in Germany are not statistically significant. By contrast, earnings management in order to a.
PCR Classification of CTX-M-Type β-Lactamase Genes Identified in Clinically Isolated Gram-Negative Bacilli in Japan

ABSTRACT Of 1,456 strains isolated from 2001 to 2003 demonstrating resistance to either oxyimino-cephalosporin, 317 strains, isolated in 57 of 132 clinical facilities, were found to harbor blaCTX-M genes by PCR. Fifty-seven, 161, and 99 strains harbored blaCTX-M genes belonging to the blaCTX-M-1, blaCTX-M-2, and blaCTX-M-9 clusters, respectively.
Comparison of aspirin plus heparin with heparin alone on asymptomatic perioperative deep vein thrombosis in candidates for elective off-pump coronary artery bypass graft: a randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND Symptomatic or asymptomatic deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a common complication following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), in which less than 1% of these patients suffer from clinically evident pulmonary embolism (PE). DVT and PE can increase other morbidities of coronary revascularization from short to long period, but no clear consensus still exists regarding proper thromboprophylaxis strategy in the literatures. This study was designed to compare the anti-platelet prophylaxis of aspirin plus heparin with heparin alone on asymptomatic perioperative DVT in patients that are candidates for elective off-pump CABG. METHODS One hundred and twenty patients, who are candidates for elective off-pump CABG, were randomly assigned to two groups: the aspirin plus heparin group (Group 1, n = 60) that received 80 mg daily aspirin orally and 5000 U unfractionated heparin per 8 h subcutaneously from admission to discharge time, and the heparin group (group 2, n = 60) that received same dose of heparin alone. All patients underwent right and left leg venous ultrasound examination during hospitalization, after which post-operative off-pump CABG complications such as deep vein thrombosis, bleeding and pulmonary embolism were evaluated in this study cases. RESULTS The mean age of the patients was 62.10 ± 10.71 years with a male to female ratio of 2.24. Asymptomatic DVT occurred in 12 (10%) patients who underwent elective off-pump CABG. DVT was found more in Group 2 (16.6%) as compared to Group 1 (3.3%) with statistical significant difference (p = 0.015). Bleeding was detected in 5 (4.1%) cases in the patients sampled in this study (p = 0.34), 4 cases of which are from Group 1 and 1 case from Group 2. However, PE was shown in none of this study cases. CONCLUSIONS The incidence of DVT decreased more with aspirin plus heparin as compared to heparin alone in patients who underwent elective off-pump CABG. As regards the results obtained in this study, more studies need to be conducted to establish this strategy for prophylaxis of DVT in CABG.
Phosphorylation of Dynamin I on Ser-795 by Protein Kinase C Blocks Its Association with Phospholipids*

Dynamin I is phosphorylated in nerve terminals exclusively in the cytosolic compartment and in vitro by protein kinase C (PKC). Dephosphorylation is required for synaptic vesicle retrieval, suggesting that its phosphorylation affects its subcellular localization. An in vitro phospholipid binding assay was established that prevents lipid vesiculation and dynamin lipid insertion into the lipid. Dynamin I bound the phospholipid in a concentration-dependent and saturable manner, with an apparent affinity of 230 ± 51 nm. Optimal binding occurred with mixtures of phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylcholine of 1:3 with little binding to phosphatidylcholine or phosphatidylserine alone. Phospholipid binding was abolished after dynamin I phosphorylation by PKC and was restored after dephosphorylation by calcineurin. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry revealed the phosphorylation site in PKCα-phosphorylated dynamin I as a single site at Ser-795, located near a binding site for the SH3 domain of p85, the regulatory subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase. However, phosphorylation had no effect on dynamin binding to a bacterially expressed p85-SH3 domain. Thus, phosphorylation of dynamin I on Ser-795 prevents its association with phospholipid, providing a basis for the cytosolic localization of the minor pool of phospho-dynamin I that mediates synaptic vesicle retrieval in nerve terminals.
ESX‐1‐mediated translocation to the cytosol controls virulence of mycobacteria

Mycobacterium species, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae, are among the most potent human bacterial pathogens. The discovery of cytosolic mycobacteria challenged the paradigm that these pathogens exclusively localize within the phagosome of host cells. As yet the biological relevance of mycobacterial translocation to the cytosol remained unclear. In this current study we used electron microscopy techniques to establish a clear link between translocation and mycobacterial virulence. Pathogenic, patient‐derived mycobacteria species were found to translocate to the cytosol, while non‐pathogenic species did not. We were further able to link cytosolic translocation with pathogenicity by introducing the ESX‐1 (type VII) secretion system into the non‐virulent, exclusively phagolysosomal Mycobacterium bovis BCG. Furthermore, we show that translocation is dependent on the C‐terminus of the early‐secreted antigen ESAT‐6. The C‐terminal truncation of ESAT‐6 was shown to result in attenuation in mice, again linking translocation to virulence. Together, these data demonstrate the molecular mechanism facilitating translocation of mycobacteria. The ability to translocate from the phagolysosome to the cytosol is with this study proven to be biologically significant as it determines mycobacterial virulence.
The Political Attitudes of Senior Civil Servants in Western Europe: a Preliminary Report

Can there really be much doubt who governs our complex modern societies? Public bureaucracies, staffed largely by permanent civil servants, are responsible for the vast majority of policy initiatives taken by governments. Discretion, not merely for deciding individual cases, but for crafting the content of most legislation has passed from the legislature to the executive. Bureaucrats, monopolizing as they do much of the available information about the shortcomings of existing policies, as well as much of the technical expertise necessary to design practical alternatives, have gained a predominant influence over the evolution of the agenda for decision. Elected executives everywhere are outnumbered and outlasted by career civil servants. 1 In a literal sense, the modern political system is essentially ‘bureaucratic’ – characterized by ‘the rule of officials’.
The effect of board structure and process disclosure on corporate performance in the emerging African markets

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the board structure and process disclosure (henceforth BSPD) level on corporate performance, depending on the Anglophone vs Francophone business culture prevailing in African emerging markets.Design/methodology/approach – The BSPD score is measured by searching 220 annual reports (year ended 2006) for information of 35 items provided by S&P's template in 11 emerging markets in Africa. The empirical model builds on multiple regressions and assumes interaction between the Anglophone/Francophone business culture and BSPD level to affect corporate performance.Findings – African companies from countries having historical links with Great Britain exhibit substantially higher BSPD scores than those from countries having historical links with France. The influence of BSPD level on corporate performance is more pronounced for financial Anglophone African companies than non‐financial Anglophone African companies.Practical implications – Providing BSPD .
How States Utilize Foreign Evidence

ABSTRACT This article examines how evidence about Program A in Country A may be utilized in Country B, and thus how utilization may explain the adoption of the same program. Elites and activists have a number of interests in using policy evidence from another country: to put an issue to a systemic or institutional agenda, mollify political pressure, provide an exemplar, indicate the range of options or reinforce conclusions already reached. The interests of the importer dictate the nature, timing and origins of the evidence injected into policy debate. This framework is applied to the case of freedom of information policy. An analysis of how and why evidence about the United States Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was utilized in Canada and Britain reveals that FOIA was used as an exemplar in Canada and the reverse in Britain.
Generating Recommendations Based on Robust Term Extraction from Users' Reviews

In this paper, we propose a technique to automatically describe items based on users' reviews in order to be used by recommender systems. For that, we extract items' features using a robust term extraction method that applies transductive semi-supervised learning to automatically identify aspects that represent the different subjects of the reviews. Then, we apply sentiment analysis in a sentence level to indicate the polarities, yielding a consensus of users regarding the features of items. Our approach is evaluated using a collaborative filtering method, and comparisons using structured metadata as baselines show promising results.
An integrated concept of financing hallmark sport events.

This paper examines the financial aspect of hallmark sport events. It describes the financial requirements and the sources of income. Thereby an integrated concept of financing hallmark sport events has been developed which allows to compare those events independently to situational differentiation. On the basis of literature research the first part shows the mechanisms of action of the event management, the financial requirements and the sources of income. The second part points out the three dimensions of the classification model and the third part illustrates the implications of the model through the case study of the Engadin Ski Marathon 2001 and the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in St. Moritz 2003. The paper concludes with the three major influences on an integrated model and some points for further research.
Efferent inhibition of auditory-nerve responses: dependence on acoustic-stimulus parameters.

Electrical stimulation of the crossed olivocochlear bundle in anesthetized cats reduces auditory‐nerve responses (N1) if the acoustic stimuli are at low sound‐pressure levels but does not produce detectable changes in neural responses for click stimuli more than 60 to 70 dB above visual‐detection level for N1. When the sound‐pressure levels of high‐frequency (10 000‐Hz) and low frequency (400‐Hz) transient acoustic stimuli were matched according to a physiological criterion, the neural response to the high‐ frequency stimulus was reduced more by olivocochlear bundle stimulation than the response to the low‐frequency stimulus. These result, suggest certain characteristics for the mechanisms which influence the activity of single auditory‐nerve fibers.
Vulnerability in a Stochastic Dynamic Model

Most measures of vulnerability are a-theoretic and essentially static. In this paper we use a stochastic Ramsey model to find a household's optimal welfare and we measure vulnerability as the shortfall from the welfare attained if the household consumed permanently at the poverty line. The results indicate that vulnerability is very sensitive to the time horizon considered. We find that the accuracy of existing regression-based vulnerability measures can be greatly improved by including asset measures in the regression.
The Population Dimension in the Intergenerational Reports

The demographic assumptions and outcomes in the three successive Intergenerational Reports have differed enormously. This has brought a degree of derision upon the production of these reports in the serious press. Furthermore, the Intergenerational Reports’ projections of labour force participation rates have proven to be very wrong in the short term. The fourth Intergenerational Report will need to address this credibility gap. This article analyses the reasons that the Intergenerational Reports’ projections have been wide of the mark and makes suggestions about future approaches.
Indigenous wealth and development: micro–credit schemes in Tonga

‘Women in Development’ aid–funded credit schemes in the Kingdom of Tonga were designated as ‘failures’ by the funders because the recipient groups of textile producers, who were meant to be engaging in commercial handicraft production as development, were instead making and seemingly ‘retaining’ textile koloa (indigenous wealth). It is my contention that rather than making low–valued, low–priced textiles for tourist consumption the women made koloa textiles for the Tongan ceremonial economy where a greater range of ideological, spiritual and material gains including cash were available to them. Even though the default rate on the loans was low, and the women were engaged in a Tongan notion of development known as fakalakalaka, the funders and the critics of the schemes were either unable to or would not recognise development taking place, so driven by macroeconomic indices were their criteria and assessment. This paper looks at the implications of this disjuncture and the funders’ lack of understanding (and/or rejection) of indigenous global economic systems and hybrid notions of development inherent in the women textile producers’ actions. It explores a contemporary reality where indigenous wealth is thriving in the global economy, contributes to the literature on hybrid economic systems and challenges macroeconomically driven development policy in the Pacific.