Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors That Can Affect the External Validity of Randomised Controlled Trials

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) must be internally valid (i.e., design and conduct must eliminate the possibility of bias), but to be clinically useful, the result must also be relevant to a definable group of patients in a particular clinical setting (i.e., they must be externally valid). Lack of external validity is the most frequent criticism by clinicians of RCTs, systematic reviews, and guidelines, and is one explanation for the widespread underuse in routine practice of many treatments that have been shown to be beneficial in trials and are recommended in guidelines [1]. Yet medical journals, funding agencies, ethics committees, the pharmaceutical industry, and governmental regulators seem to give external validity a low priority. Admittedly, whereas the determinants of internal validity are intuitive and can generally be worked out from first principles, understanding of the determinants of the external validity of an RCT requires clinical rather than statistical expertise, and often depends on a detailed understanding of the particular clinical condition under study and its management in routine clinical practice. However, reliable judgments about the external validity of RCTs are essential if treatments are to be used correctly in as many patients as possible in routine clinical practice. The results of RCTs or systematic reviews will never be relevant to all patients and all settings, but they should be designed and reported in a way that allows clinicians to judge to whom the results can reasonably be applied. Table 1 lists some of the important potential determinants of external validity, each of which is reviewed briefly below. Many of the considerations will only be relevant in certain types of trials, for certain interventions, or in certain clinical settings, but they can each sometimes undermine external validity. Moreover, the list is not exhaustive and requires more detailed annotation and explanation than is possible in this short review. Table 1 Main Issues That Can Affect External Validity and Should Be Addressed in Reports of the Results of Randomised Controlled Trials or Systematic Reviews and Considered by Clinicians Some of the issues that determine external validity are relevant to the distinction between pragmatic trials and explanatory trials [2], but it would be wrong to assume that pragmatic trials necessarily have greater external validity than explanatory trials. For example, broad eligibility criteria, limited collection of baseline data, and inclusion of centres with a range of expertise and differing patient populations have many advantages, but they can also make it very difficult to generalise the overall average effect of treatment to a particular clinical setting.
POSSIBLE RESONANCES IN THE 12C + 12C FUSION RATE AND SUPERBURST IGNITION

Observationally inferred superburst ignition depths are shallower than models predict. We address this discrepancy by reexamining the superburst trigger mechanism. We first explore the hypothesis of Kuulkers et al. that exothermic electron captures trigger superbursts. We find that all electron capture reactions are thermally stable in accreting neutron star oceans and thus are not a viable trigger mechanism. Fusion reactions other than 12C + 12C are infeasible as well since the possible reactants either deplete at much shallower depths or have prohibitively large Coulomb barriers. Thus, we confirm the proposal of Cumming & Bildsten and Strohmayer & Brown that 12C + 12C triggers superbursts. We then examine the 12C + 12C fusion rate. The reaction cross section is experimentally unknown at astrophysically relevant energies, but resonances exist in the 12C + 12C system throughout the entire measured energy range. Thus it is likely, and in fact has been predicted, that a resonance exists near the Gamow peak energy Epk ≈ 1.5 MeV. For such a hypothetical 1.5 MeV resonance, we derive both a fiducial value and upper limit to the resonance strength (ωγ)R and find that such a resonance could decrease the theoretically predicted superburst ignition depth by up to a factor of 4; in this case, observationally inferred superburst ignition depths would accord with model predictions for a range of plausible neutron star parameters. Said differently, such a resonance would decrease the temperature required for unstable 12C ignition at a column depth 1012 g cm−2 from 6 × 108 K to 5 × 108 K. A resonance at 1.5 MeV would not strongly affect the ignition density of Type Ia supernovae, but it would lower the temperature at which 12C ignites in massive post-main-sequence stars. Determining the existence of a strong resonance in the Gamow window requires measurements of the 12C + 12C cross section down to a center-of-mass energy near 1.5 MeV, which is within reach of the proposed DUSEL facility.
Versus: A Web Repository

The Web is a great personal enhancement tool, but the amount of data available is so vast that its true potential can only be harnessed with applications specialized in aiding users to find, sort, filter, summarize and mine this data. With today’s limitations, applications wouldn’t be able to solve user queries based on a vast part of the Web in useful time, because it would take them too long to download data. Pre-fetching the information and storing it, would be a reasonable solution. Getting a copy of all the needed information is very expensive (both on time and bandwidth usage), but saved data can be processed for several applications and users, allowing for reuse. Our work is focused on the development of a Web repository named Versus, that supports version management, extensible object meta-data, parallel operation and load balancing. Version management allows applications to save the time dimension of data, as well as to save storage space. Extensible object meta-data allows applications to take full advantage of the information stored in Versus. Parallel processing and load balancing allow Web applications to increase their processing capabilities over massive amounts of data. Versus is being developed as a repository for a Web search engine [12], but it is designed as a reusable software component, that could be useful to many modern Web applications in domains such as a data warehousing or GRID computing [4].
AMPA and kainate receptors mediate mutually exclusive effects on GABAA receptor expression in cultured mouse cerebellar granule neurones

Studies on animal models of epilepsy and cerebellar ataxia, e.g., stargazer mice (stg) have identified changes in the GABAergic properties of neurones associated with the affected brain loci. Whether these changes contribute to or constitute homeostatic adaptations to a state of altered neuronal excitability is as yet unknown. Using cultured cerebellar granule neurones from control [+/+; α‐amino‐3‐hydroxyl‐5‐methyl‐4‐isoxazolepropionate receptor (AMPAR)‐competent, Kainate receptor (KAR)‐competent] and stg (AMPAR‐incompetent, KAR‐competent), we investigated whether non‐NMDA receptor (NMDAR) activity regulates GABAA receptor (GABAR) expression. Neurones were maintained in 5 mmol/L KCl‐containing basal media or depolarizing media containing either 25 mmol/L KCl or the non‐NMDAR agonist kainic acid (KA) (100 μmol/L). KCl‐ and KA‐mediated depolarization down‐regulated GABAR α1, α6 and β2, but up‐regulated α4, β3 and δ subunits in +/+ neurones. The KCl‐evoked but not KA‐evoked effects were reciprocated in stg neurones compatible with AMPAR‐regulation of GABAR expression. Conversely, GABAR γ2 expression was insensitive to KCl‐mediated depolarization, but was down‐regulated by KA‐treatment in a 6‐cyano‐7‐nitroquinoxaline‐2,3‐dione (CNQX)‐reversible manner in +/+ and stg neurones compatible with a KAR–mediated response. KA‐mediated up‐regulation of GABAR α4, β3 and δ was inhibited by L‐type voltage‐gated calcium channel (L‐VGCC) blockers and the Ca2+/calmodulin‐dependent protein kinase inhibitor, 4‐[(2S)‐2‐[(5‐isoquinolinylsulfonyl)methylamino]‐3‐oxo‐3‐(4‐phenyl‐1‐piperazinyl)propyl] phenyl isoquinoline sulfonic acid ester (KN‐62). Up‐regulation of GABAR α4 and β3 was also prevented by calcineurin (CaN) inhibitors, FK506 and cyclosporin A. Down‐regulation of GABAR α1, α6 and β2 was independent of L‐VGCC activity, but was prevented by inhibitors of CaN. Thus, we provide evidence that a KAR‐mediated and at least three mutually exclusive AMPAR‐mediated signalling mechanisms regulate neuronal GABAR expression.
The Implementation of Fast Channel Switching in IPTV

Quality of user’s Experience (QoE) is critical to the success of an IPTV service. While there are many factors affecting IPTV service quality, a key QoE factor is the channel switching time. This paper analyzes the main reasons that cause the channel switching delay. In order to reduce the delay caused by data buffering and media Random Access Point (RAP) acquisition in UE, a method is proposed which distributes an additional media stream with the RAP beginning by unicast transport mode. For improving the unicast streaming distribution efficiency, media server caches the last RTP stream which begins with RAP for each channel and updates in real-time. In order to reduce the comparing complexity between two streams-the unicast and multicast in client-side, the RTP sequence number field has been used for identifying the play order and the RTP marker bit has been used for identifying the beginning of RAP. The method depicted in the paper has been verified in the IMS-based IPTV prototype. We use the HD samples encoded by H.264 and transported by MPEG-2 TS format as the testing media.
The Impact of Pyroglutamate: Sulfolobus acidocaldarius Has a Growth Advantage over Saccharolobus solfataricus in Glutamate-Containing Media

Microorganisms are well adapted to their habitat but are partially sensitive to toxic metabolites or abiotic compounds secreted by other organisms or chemically formed under the respective environmental conditions. Thermoacidophiles are challenged by pyroglutamate, a lactam that is spontaneously formed by cyclization of glutamate under aerobic thermoacidophilic conditions. It is known that growth of the thermoacidophilic crenarchaeon Saccharolobus solfataricus (formerly Sulfolobus solfataricus) is completely inhibited by pyroglutamate. In the present study, we investigated the effect of pyroglutamate on the growth of S. solfataricus and the closely related crenarchaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius. In contrast to S. solfataricus, S. acidocaldarius was successfully cultivated with pyroglutamate as a sole carbon source. Bioinformatical analyses showed that both members of the Sulfolobaceae have at least one candidate for a 5-oxoprolinase, which catalyses the ATP-dependent conversion of pyroglutamate to glutamate. In S. solfataricus, we observed the intracellular accumulation of pyroglutamate and crude cell extract assays showed a less effective degradation of pyroglutamate. Apparently, S. acidocaldarius seems to be less versatile regarding carbohydrates and prefers peptidolytic growth compared to S. solfataricus. Concludingly, S. acidocaldarius exhibits a more efficient utilization of pyroglutamate and is not inhibited by this compound, making it a better candidate for applications with glutamate-containing media at high temperatures.
Inertial reproduction: is the two-child psychology the rule in Costa Rica?

This paper uses data from National Surveys on Sexual and Reproductive Health to test whether variables related to identity, sexuality and contraceptive knowledge are associated with the preference and demand for children in Costa Rica. Both the preferred and actual number of children are estimated with a double hurdle model. The findings indicate that preferences for children seem to be quite fixed around two children and are mainly associated with religious beliefs and the person’s gender, but they are not found to be associated with human capital. In contrast, the probability of having a child and the number of children are related to investment in human capital and sex education. Hence, human capital might be relevant in bringing a child into the world, but not in the initial preference.
Flexible Frameworks for Actionable Knowledge Discovery

Most data mining algorithms and tools stop at the mining and delivery of patterns satisfying expected technical interestingness. There are often many patterns mined but business people either are not interested in them or do not know what follow-up actions to take to support their business decisions. This issue has seriously affected the widespread employment of advanced data mining techniques in greatly promoting enterprise operational quality and productivity. In this paper, we present a formal view of actionable knowledge discovery (AKD) from the system and decision-making perspectives. AKD is a closed optimization problem-solving process from problem definition, framework/model design to actionable pattern discovery, and is designed to deliver operable business rules that can be seamlessly associated or integrated with business processes and systems. To support such processes, we correspondingly propose, formalize, and illustrate four types of generic AKD frameworks: Postanalysis-based AKD, Unified-Interestingness-based AKD, Combined-Mining-based AKD, and Multisource Combined-Mining-based AKD (MSCM-AKD). A real-life case study of MSCM-based AKD is demonstrated to extract debt prevention patterns from social security data. Substantial experiments show that the proposed frameworks are sufficiently general, flexible, and practical to tackle many complex problems and applications by extracting actionable deliverables for instant decision making.
Pattern Matching with Flexible Wildcards and Recurring Characters

Pattern matching is an important task, which is widely used in many fields, such as information retrieval and bioinformatics. Recently, a much more flexible pattern matching problem with wildcards has been proposed. Chen et al. introduced local constraints, global constraints and the one-off condition into the task of pattern matching, and the most representative algorithm SAIL was designed. However, the performance of SAIL is not analyzed well, which affects its application. Therefore, this paper analyzes the performance of SAIL in-depth, and discovers that the matching result is closely related to the features of patterns. Meanwhile, the completeness of SAIL in the pattern matching with no-recurring characters is proved, and an improved algorithm, named RSAIL, is proposed for pattern matching with recurring tail characters. Extensive experiments demonstrate that RSAIL improves the number of matches by 2.2% compared to SAIL.
Development of intelligent McKibben actuator

The aim of this study is to develop an intelligent McKibben actuator with an integrated soft displacement sensor inside, so that displacement of this actuator can be controlled without having any extra devices attached. In addition, the high compliance which is a positive feature of the McKibben actuator is still conserved. This paper consists of four main parts. First of all, different types of soft displacement sensors made out of rubber were composed, and tested for their functional characteristics. Secondly, the intelligent McKibben actuator was developed with the soft displacement sensor incorporated within. Then, experiments of the position servo control with a single intelligent McKibben actuator were carried out. At last a robot arm mechanism was designed with two intelligent McKibben actuators, and those experimental results showed a great potential for its future applications.
Frugivore-generated seed shadows: a landscape view of demographic and genetic effects.

A seed shadow is the spatial pattern of seed distribution relative to parent trees and other conspecifics; it results from the process of seed dispersal and represents the starting template for plant regeneration. Janzen (1970) and Connell (1971) consider it the population recruitment surface. For animal-dispersed, endozoochorous species the seed shadow results primarily from movement patterns of frugivores. Presumably, frugivores can dramatically affect both the demography and genetic make-up of animal-dispersed plant species. These effects, however, have rarely been documented in an integrated way. In this chapter we focus on how frugivores influence the number and spatial pattern of propagules that reach the soil, and their simultaneous influence on gene flow via seed dispersal. We advocate an integrated view of both demographic and genetic effects to understand the role of frugivores on plant recruitment (Alvarez-Buylla et al., 1996). Given that multiple influences sequentially alter after this initial effect of frugivores (i.e. post-dispersal seed predation, germination, seedling mortality), we need to quantitatively assess the relative importance of dispersal by frugivores for plant population biology. Seed dispersal by frugivores is the link in the demographic transition between the ripe fruit crop on the trees and, after delivery, the subsequent stages of establishment of germinated seeds, seedlings, saplings and established adults, i.e. the whole recruitment cycle. Thus, seed dispersal may play a pivotal role in the demography of plant populations (Harper, 1977) by simultaneously influencing not only the numerical dynamics of recruitment from dispersal to establishment, but also the genetic make-up of the seed shadow. The difficulty of tracking the origin of frugivore-dispersed seeds has precluded a robust analysis of vertebrate seed dispersal (Levey and Sargent, 2000). Indeed, the difficulties in measuring and analysing the dispersal of seeds in natural communities has been considered an unavoidable limitation of the field (Wheelwright and Orians, 1982). Recent developments in molecular biology (Carvalho, 1998), however, have resulted in a series of molecular tools based on DNA analysis that allow analysis of gene-flow patterns via seed dispersal (Ouborg et al., 1999) and the statistical analysis of the resulting patterns of genetic structure (Schnabel et al., 1998a; Luikart and England, 1999). More specifically, for animal-dispersed species, gene flow via seeds can be estimated
Higher-order programming in an OR-intensive style

Because implementations tend to favour a recursive deterministic AND-intensive programming style, it seems counter intuitive that a backtracking findall-based paradigm can be more eecient. This is explained by a source level technique which is called goal precomputation, by a heap-based copy-once ndall and optimized meta predicates. A precomputed goal containing a future (reusable) computation is backtracked over instead of being constructed repeatedly. These techniques are enough, in terms of eeciency, to rehabilitate a generator based OR-intensive programming style. On the other side, we will try to nd out how to improve the traditional AND-intensive implementation of higher-order primitives and study the impact of meta-programming constructs like call/N. We introduce a newùniversal' higher-order predicate implemented also with goal precomputation which combines on the y selected answers from a generator. By using it for the executable speciication of key higher-order Prolog constructs, we point out the (unsuspected) expressive power of a pure OR-intensive programming style. Keywords: design and implementation of language facilities for higher-order programming, optimization of logic programming engines, WAM, continuation passing binary logic programs.
Efficient mining of textual associations

We describe an efficient implementation for mining textual associations from text corpora. In order to tackle real world applications, efficient algorithms and data structures are needed to manage, in reasonable time and space, the overgrowing volume of text data. For that purpose, we introduce a global architecture based on masks, suffix arrays and multidimensional arrays to implement the SENTA extractor (Dias, 2002). In particular, SENTA has shown great flexibility and accuracy for mining textual associations such as collocations, cognates, morphemes and chunks. Our solution shows O(h(F) N log N) time complexity and O(N) space complexity where N is the size of the corpus and h(F) is a function of the context window size.
The Digital Ecosystems Research Vision : 2010 and Beyond July

This paper suggests a set of research problems to be undertaken in the coming Framework Programmes (ICT in CIP, ICT in FP7, …) and their operationalisation. The intent of the paper is to contribute to the definition of the ICT research priorities needed to arrive at a European concept of digital ecosystems that support SMEs and regional development. Recent studies converge towards a research framework that will integrate social science and natural science questions and concerns within an advanced programme of research in computer science and software engineering. The objective of the advanced research programme outlined is to develop an integrated ICT development and ICT adoption strategy that will find its natural expression in the different regions of Europe, advancing them toward the Lisbon Strategy on the Information Society and the Knowledge Economy. The objective of this paper is to support planning of the Information Society Technologies (IST) Programme within the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) of research of the European Commission (EC) by proposing a vision for how research in software technologies can contribute to the attainment of the " Lisbon objectives ". 1 This vision grows out of the experience of ongoing FP6 projects in the " Technologies for Digital Ecosystems " cluster of the " ICT for Enterprise Networking " unit, such as the Digital Business Ecosystem (DBE) Integrated Project (IP), as well as four public workshops organised by the EC and held between October 2002 and May 2005. 2 The research vision presented in this document thus is representative of the four principal groups of stakeholders in the European Knowledge Economy: small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represented by their associations, the European software and knowledge-based service industry, the research community participating in currently funded FP6 projects, and regional/local decision makers represented by their catalysts and agencies. The intended audience are the research communities in e-Business, software engineering, computer science, and social science; regional policy makers; and EC staff. The paper covers a lot of ground in order to develop the many related ideas and lines of argument that converge toward the digital ecosystem vision. The first section proposes certain priorities and principles of intervention and funding, in particular it stresses the importance of SMEs for the European economy. It also defines the concept of digital ecosystem as a useful metaphor for understanding the dynamics of business networks at the regional and sectoral level and their interaction with …
A Cross-Layer Method to Improve Mobile Database Synchronization Performance

In mobile database systems, the communication between clients and servers is weak connectivity, which is disadvantageous to synchronization and prone to bring about synchronization rollback. In order to solve the weak connectivity problem, researchers have put forward many solutions and their focuses are on application layer of network, however, the application layer does not know the real network conditions and can not adjust itself accordingly. This paper resolves this problem at transport layer. The paper adopts the TCP Westwood protocol as transport protocol, which adapts to wireless network better. Further, we use cross-layer method, allowing synchronization program to make use of the bandwidth estimated by TCP Westwood, to reduce the waste of communication resources induced by rollback of synchronization transactions in wireless network. Then we use Sybase SQL Anywhere to do experiments. The experimental results show that the cross-layer method can improve the synchronization performance of mobile database remarkably.