Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Applying Data Visualization and Mining Techniques to Improvise Luxury Goods Promotion through E-Retail

Data mining has been used by researchers and key organizations for variety of purpose to improve the business intelligence processes. The research paper explains the use of data mining to promote selling of luxury goods with in e-retailing value chain in order to facilitate process of data analysis and decision making. We have analyzed how launching a product in e-retail domain requires sufficient detailed results taken from effective data mining technique. In order to determine the regions with closed and heavily populated wealth clusters, clustering technique was applied. To achieve the desired objective first we have obtained the database of most affluent people across the globe and further applied clustering and data visualization technique to do some predictive analysis which can further help in focusing product marketing in e-retailing. The result achieved describes region fragmentation on basis of wealth and accordingly the e-retail concept can be implemented for those specific regions. This paper illustrates cutting edge advantages of product selling through e-retail and the challenges encountered to implement data mining to achieve the desired objective.
A fast decoupling capacitor budgeting algorithm for robust on-chip power delivery

We present an efficient method to budget on-chip decoupling capacitors (decaps) to optimize power delivery networks in an area efficient way. Our algorithm is based on an efficient gradient-based nonlinear programming method for searching the solution. Our contributions are an efficient gradient computation method (time-domain merged adjoint network) and a novel equivalent circuit modelling technique to speed up the optimization process. Experimental results demonstrate that the algorithm is capable of efficiently optimizing very large scale P/G networks.
Specific and nonspecific thalamocortical connectivity in the auditory and somatosensory thalamocortical slices

Two classes of thalamic nuclei project to either middle layers or upper layers, including layer 1, of the neocortex, and are referred to as ‘specific’ and ‘nonspecific’ nuclei, respectively. The electrophysiological properties of the nonspecific nuclei have not been investigated, largely because of the paucity of in vitro slice preparations containing intact nonspecific pathways. In this study, we used flavoprotein autofluorescence imaging to show intact thalamocortical connectivity of nonspecific nuclei in slice preparations of the somatosensory and auditory systems. These preparations will enable the elucidation of electrophysiological properties of nonspecific pathways.
Essential thrombocythemia beyond the first decade: life expectancy, long-term complication rates, and prognostic factors.

OBJECTIVE To describe the long-term natural history of essential thrombocythemia (ET) in terms of life expectancy, risk of disease transformation Into a more aggressive myeloid disorder, and prognostic factors for both survival and disease complications. PATIENTS AND METHODS The study population consisted of a consecutive cohort of patients seen at the Mayo Clinic In Rochester, Minn, in whom a diagnosis of ET was established before 1992, thus allowing a minimum of 10 years of potential follow-up. The conventional criteria-based diagnosis was confirmed by bone marrow biopsy in all Instances. RESULTS A total of 322 patients were studied (median age, 54 years; median follow-up, 13.6 years). With a median survival time of 18.9 years, survival in the first decade of disease was similar to that of the control population (risk ratio, 0.72; 95% confidence interval, 0.50-0.99) but became significantly worse thereafter (risk ratio, 2.21; 95% confidence Interval, 1.74-2.76). Multivariable analysis identified age at diagnosis of 60 years or older, leukocytosis, tobacco use, and diabetes mellitus as Independent predictors of poor survival. A 2-variable model based on an age cutoff of 60 years and leukocyte count of 15 x 10(9)/L resulted in 3 risk groups with significant difference in survival. In addition, age at diagnosis of 60 years or older, leukocytosis, and history of thrombosis were independent predictors of major thrombotic events. The risk of leukemic or any myeloid disease transformation was low in the first 10 years (1.4% and 9.1%, respectively) but increased substantially in the second (8.1% and 28.3%, respectively) and third (24.0% and 58.5%, respectively) decades of the disease. CONCLUSION Life expectancy in patients with ET is significantly worse than that of the control population. Leukocytosis is identified as a novel independent risk factor for both inferior survival and thrombotic events.
Improving performance in near-threshold circuits using 3D IC technology

Near-threshold computing (NTC) circuits have been shown to offer significant energy efficiency and power benefits, but with a huge performance penalty. In this paper, we demonstrate that 3D IC technology can overcome this limitation. We present a detailed case study with a 28nm commercial-grade core at 0.6V operation optimized with various 3D IC physical design methods. Our study shows that 3D IC NTC design outperforms 2D IC NTC by 29.5% in terms of performance at comparable energy. We also achieve almost 4X energy saving compared with the nominal voltage designs.
Mucosal calcium uptake by rat cecum: identity with transcellular calcium absorption.

Unidirectional intestinal calcium uptake (JCame) at the mucosal surface of rat cecum was investigated in vitro with intact tissue. Uptake is linear for 2-3 min with no indication of rapid calcium binding. Kinetic parameters reveal a maximal velocity of 333 nmol . cm-2 . h-1 with a half-maximal concentration of 0.98 mM. High-calcium diet decreased JCame by more than 60% with respect to both control and low-calcium diets; 1 mM N-ethylmaleimide caused a similar reduction. The activation energy of JCame is significantly less than that of transepithelial mucosal-to-serosal calcium absorption. Mucosal uptake was compared with transepithelial calcium fluxes in rat cecum and revealed a 1:1 correlation over a wide range of transport rates. These results are interpreted to implicate a feedback control system between basolateral calcium efflux and brush-border calcium influx.
TECHNICALREPORTS:METHODS An explicit, parsimonious, and accurate estimate for ponded infiltration into soils using the Green and Ampt approach

The Green and Ampt solution for vertical ponded inﬁltration is implicit in time, which makes the result often cumbersome to apply. Here we present a simple explicit solution for the position of the wetting front in time based on approximating the term describing early time behavior by means of the sum of gravitational ﬂow and the exact solution for capillary imbibition. The result is within 1% of the exact implicit solution of vertical Green and Ampt inﬁltration. We also check the overall accuracy of the Green and Ampt approach, and ﬁnd it to be within 15% of numerical simulation results for the same soils obtained with the Richards equation. Hence, the proposed approximation adds essentially no error to the Green and Ampt approach, but greatly simpliﬁes computation of inﬁltration. The approximation also makes explicit the role of the representation of capillarity, which can be adjusted in ways not possible with the implicit result. We ﬁnd that predictions can be markedly improved by adjusting capillary versus gravitational drivers per soil texture, revealing both a limitation of the Green and Ampt approach, but also providing a potential reﬁne-ment of Green and Ampt predictions per soil type (demonstrated for sandy and clayey soils). Further, the new approximation allows for simple computation of useful quantities such as ﬂux and cumulative inﬁltration.
Vibration induced nystagmus in normal subjects and in patients with dizziness. A videonystagmography study.

OBJECTIVE To analyze the incidence and characteristics of vibration-induced nystagmus in normal subjects and in patients with vertigo. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING This is a prospective analysis of the effect of vibration on several points of the skull in 38 normal subjects, 10 patients who had undergone labyrinthectomy and 125 consecutive patients with dizziness referred to a tertiary care center. Nystagmus was documented and its corresponding slow phase velocity measured with a videonystagmography system. RESULTS In 81.6% of normal subjects and 80.8% of all patients, nystagmus could be provoked by stimulation of at least one of the points on the skull to which the vibrator was applied. In normals, however, no subject had nystagmus greater than 2.8 degrees s-1 whereas 35.2% of patients did. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE The value of the slow-phase velocity of vibration-induced nystagmus can be used to identify a sizeable proportion of patients with a vestibular disorders. Vibration-induced nystagmus is a frequent sign in patients with dizziness and can provide complimentary information about vestibular system function.
Model Minimization in Markov Decision

We use the notion of stochastic bisimulation hornogene&y to analyze planning problems represented as Markov decision processes (MDPs). Informally, a partition of the state space for an MDP is said to be homogeneous if for each action, states in the same block have the same probability of being carried to each other block. We provide an algorithm for finding the coarsest homogeneous reflnement of any partition of the state space of an MDP. The resulting partition can be used to construct a reduced MDP which is minimal in a well defined sense and can be used to solve the original MDP. Our algorithm is an adaptation of known automata minimization algorithms, and is designed to operate naturally on factored or implicit representations in which the full state space is never explicitly enumerated. We show that simple variations on this algorithm are equivalent or closely similar to several different recently published algorithms for fmding optimal solutions to (partially or fully observable) factored Markov decision processes, thereby providing alternative descriptions of the methods and results regarding those algorithms.
Superpixel-driven level set tracking

In this paper, we propose a superpixel-driven method for level set tracking. In particular, by taking a superpixel-based speed function, the level set evolution is accelerated greatly. We define a mutual information based speed function using a superpixel-unit as the underlying representation, which captures the correlation of a superpixel with object/background. In order to enhance the robustness of our method, a shape prior is incorporated to constrain the contour evolution. Experimental results on a number of challenging sequences demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of our method.
Integrated Dataset of Screening Hits against Multiple Neglected Disease Pathogens

New chemical entities are desperately needed that overcome the limitations of existing drugs for neglected diseases. Screening a diverse library of 10,000 drug-like compounds against 7 neglected disease pathogens resulted in an integrated dataset of 744 hits. We discuss the prioritization of these hits for each pathogen and the strong correlation observed between compounds active against more than two pathogens and mammalian cell toxicity. Our work suggests that the efficiency of early drug discovery for neglected diseases can be enhanced through a collaborative, multi-pathogen approach.
Diameter and k-Center in Sliding Windows

In this paper we develop streaming algorithms for the diameter problem and the k-center clustering problem in the sliding window model. In this model we are interested in maintaining a solution for the N most recent points of the stream. In the diameter problem we would like to maintain two points whose distance approximates the diameter of the point set in the window. Our algorithm computes a (3 + epsilon)-approximation and uses O(1/epsilon*ln(alpha)) memory cells, where alpha is the ratio of the largest and smallest distance and is assumed to be known in advance. We also prove that under reasonable assumptions obtaining a (3 - epsilon)-approximation requires Omega(N1/3) space. For the k-center problem, where the goal is to find k centers that minimize the maximum distance of a point to its nearest center, we obtain a (6 + epsilon)-approximation using O(k/epsilon*ln(alpha)) memory cells and a (4 + epsilon)-approximation for the special case k = 2. We also prove that any algorithm for the 2-center problem that achieves an approximation ratio of less than 4 requires Omega(N^{1/3}) space.
The Effect of Ongoing Vitamin D and Low-Fat Milk Intake on Bone Metabolism in Female High-School Endurance Runners

Background Vitamin D and calcium are essential nutrients for bone health. In addition, vitamin D suppresses inflammatory cytokines and increases bone resorption. Therefore, improvements in bone health by calcium and vitamin D supplementation have the potential to not only improve calcium metabolism but also suppress inflammation associated with exercise training. The purpose of this study was to determine whether ongoing vitamin D supplementation and low-fat milk intake by female high-school endurance runners would improve bone metabolism by suppressing inflammatory cytokines and the parathyroid hormone (PTH). Methods Twenty female high-school runners were assigned to a vitamin D supplement and low-fat milk intake group (MKD) or a control group (CON). Participants in the MKD group consumed a vitamin D supplement (1,000 IU/day) and low-fat milk (Ca 315 mg/day) for 6 months. Bone mineral density measurements, blood samples, and questionnaires (regarding menses and diet) were carried out. The UMIN Clinical Trials Registry number is UMIN000027854. Results The 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration in MKD was sustained and PTH concentration was decreased regardless of the state of menses. The correlation coefficients of 25(OH)D or PTH concentrations and bone metabolism markers were analyzed by partial correlation coefficient via adjusting the model for frequency of menses. CTX and 25(OH)D concentration were significantly and inversely correlated at baseline (r = -0.61, P < 0.01), 3 months (r = -0.54, P = 0.02), and 6 months (r = -0.53, P = 0.02). CTX and PTH were significantly and positively correlated at 3 months (r = 0.63, P < 0.01) and 6 months (r = 0.52, P = 0.02). The bone alkaline phosphatase (BAP)/CTX ratio and 25(OH)D concentration were significantly and positively correlated at 3 months (r = 0.59, P = 0.01) and 6 months (r = 0.56, P = 0.01). The BAP/CTX ratio and PTH were significantly and inversely correlated at 3 months (r = -0.59, P = 0.01) and 6 months (r = -0.58, P < 0.01). Conclusions This study suggested that vitamin D and low-fat milk supplementation improves bone metabolism by sustaining the 25(OH)D concentration and decreasing the PTH concentration in female high-school endurance runners regardless of the state of menses.
Structured education programme for women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a randomised controlled trial

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of a structured education programmes in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Methods Single-centre, randomised controlled trial, testing a single exposure to a group-based, face-to-face, structured education programme. Inclusion criteria were women with PCOS, aged 18–49 years inclusive and body mass index ≥23 kg/m2 for black and minority ethnicities or ≥25 kg/m2 for white Europeans. Primary outcome was step-count/day at 12 months. Secondary outcomes included indices of physical activity, cardiovascular risk factors, quality of life (QoL) and illness perception (IP). Results 161 women were included (78 control, 83 intervention); 69% white; mean age 33.4 (s.d. 7.6) years, of whom 100 (48 intervention; 52 control) attended their 12-month visit (38% attrition). 77% of the intervention arm attended the education programme. No significant change in step-count was observed at 12 months (mean difference: +351 steps/day (95% confidence interval −481, +1183); P = 0.40). No differences were found in biochemical or anthropometric outcomes. The education programme improved participants’ IP in 2 dimensions: understanding their PCOS (P < 0.001) and sense of control (P < 0.01) and improved QoL in 3 dimensions: emotions (P < 0.05), fertility (P < 0.05), weight (P < 0.01) and general mental well-being (P < 0.01). Discussion A single exposure to structured education programme did not increase physical activity or improve biochemical markers in overweight and obese women with PCOS. However, providing a structured education in parallel to routine medical treatment can be beneficial for participants’ understanding of their condition, reducing their anxiety and improving their QoL.
Quality of life and breast cancer: relationship to psychosocial variables.

The aim of this article is to shed more light on the relationship between quality of life and aspects of the psychosocial experience for women with breast cancer. The literature is briefly reviewed, including highlights of the psychosocial consequences of cancer, an exploration of the relationship of psychosocial variables to cancer, and a brief review of psychosocial interventions for cancer. Further, preliminary findings of an on-going NCI study are introduced. Finally, clinical implications are discussed. The purpose of this article is to provide a context and foundation on which future researchers and clinicians can build. Ultimately, we suggest that the biomedical model of disease, though crucial, does not take into account all of the complex factors involved in cancer. The current literature lends support to the argument that a broader, more integrative framework, which includes psychosocial factors, is needed.
Negotiating over small bundles of resources

When rational but myopic agents negotiate over the exchange of indivisible resources, any restriction to the negotiation protocol may prevent the system from converging to a socially optimal allocation in the general case. This paper addresses this issue by analysing how the confinement to certain classes of utility functions can enable agents to move to an optimal allocation by negotiating over small bundles of items at a time. In particular, we consider so-called k-separable domains, where the full set of resources can be divided into several preferentially independent bundles of limited cardinality.
Face Recognition by Exploiting Local Gabor Features With Multitask Adaptive Sparse Representation

For a human face, the Gabor transform can extract its multiple scale and orientation features that are very useful for the recognition. In this paper, the Gabor-feature-based face recognition is formulated as a multitask sparse representation model, in which the sparse coding of each Gabor feature is regarded as a task. To effectively exploit the complementary yet correlated information among different tasks, a flexible representation algorithm termed multitask adaptive sparse representation (MASR) is proposed. The MASR algorithm not only restricts Gabor features of one test sample to be jointly represented by training atoms from the same class but also promotes the selected atoms for these features to be varied within each class, thus allowing better representation. In addition, to use the local information, we operate the MASR on local regions of Gabor features. Then, by considering the structural characteristics of the face and the effects of the external interferences, a structural-residual weighting strategy is proposed to adaptively fuse the decision of each region. Experiments on various datasets verify the effectiveness of the proposed method in dealing with face occlusion, corruption, small number of training samples, as well as variations of lighting and expression.
Joint Beamforming and Resource Allocation for Wireless-Powered Device-to-Device Communications in Cellular Networks

In this paper, we develop wireless-powered device-to-device (D2D) communications underlaying a time-division duplex cellular network, where D2D users (DUs) coexist with cellular users (CUs) and harvest energy from a base station during the downlink time for sustaining communications during the uplink time. Two spectrum access modes, coexistence and hybrid, are considered for the DUs. Our goal is to maximize the sum rate of the DUs by jointly designing beamforming and time allocation as well as DU transmit power, while maintaining the quality-of-service for the CUs. In a single DU scenario, the joint design problems in the downlink and uplink are decoupled and solved in sequence. By doing so, the optimal downlink beamforming is found via a semi-definite relaxation (SDR) approach. From a DU power control perspective, a scheme is proposed for obtaining the optimal solution of the remaining uplink design in the coexistence and hybrid modes. For a scenario with multiple DUs, a converted SDR problem is considered to attain the optimal solution of the original problem when the uplink receive beamforming is appropriately predetermined to null out the DU interference. We present simulation results to quantify the impact of various network parameters on the performance of the proposed schemes.
Neurotrophic Factors Prevent Ceramide‐Induced Apoptosis Downstream of c‐Jun N‐Terminal Kinase Activation in PC12 Cells

Abstract: Neurotrophic factors prevent apoptosis of PC12 cells in serum‐free medium. The present study determines whether neurotrophic factors can prevent ceramide‐induced apoptosis in PC12 cells and investigates the role that c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase (JNK) activation may play in this system. Ceramide‐induced apoptosis was inhibited by nerve growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor, pituitary adenylyl cyclase‐activating peptide, 4‐(8‐chlorophenylthio)cyclic AMP, and the caspase inhibitor benzyloxycarbonyl‐Val‐Ala‐dl‐Asp fluoromethyl ketone (zVAD‐FMK). It was surprising that inhibition of extracellular signal‐regulated kinase and/or phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase did not markedly block the protective effects exerted by neurotrophic factors against ceramide‐induced apoptosis, suggesting that neurotrophic factors can promote survival independently of these signaling pathways. Treatment of PC12 cells with ceramide resulted in a time‐dependent increase in JNK activity. However, neither neurotrophic factors nor zVAD‐FMK attenuated ceramide‐stimulated JNK activation. Further experiments indicated that ceramide‐induced apoptosis in PC12 cells requires new protein synthesis, and that nerve growth factor and zVAD‐FMK can prevent apoptosis after JNK activity has been detected. These results indicate that ceramide‐induced JNK activation is an early event and may be required for the expression of essential components of the apoptotic machinery. It is anticipated that neurotrophic factors inhibit ceramide‐induced apoptosis by affecting signaling events downstream of JNK activation.