Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical aspects of autoimmune pancreatitis in Sjogren's syndrome.

Over the past two decades, the quality of diagnostic imaging in the pancreas has been improved by technical and instrumental progress made in ultrasonography (US), computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The examination using ultrasound is inexpensive, non-invasive, and can be rapidly performed. It is often the test of choice in the evaluation of suspected pancreatic lesions. However, both the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis at an early stage and the differential diagnosis between chronic pancreatitis and small pancreatic cancers are still difficult to make. Ultrasonography of the abdomen has become a routine imaging test when patients have abdominal pain that may be of pancreatobiliary origin or when they have a periodical checkup. Therefore, an incidental finding of diffuse or focal swelling of the pancreas is one of the frequent diagnostic clues used to detect autoimmune pancreatitis and small pancreatic cancers. Such a focal pancreatic mass is often mistaken for a small localized pancreatic cancer even after extensive efforts are made to differentiate chronic pancreatitis from pancreatic cancer by using elaborate imaging modalities including fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB). Knowledge of autoimmune pancreatitis or chronic pancreatitis with irregular narrowing of the main pancreatic duct has become important for clinicians, because most patients respond to oral steroid therapy and it saves patients from unnecessary laparotomy and pancreas resection. Over half the cases of autoimmune pancreatitis that have been reported are from Japan. We would like to discuss the clinical features and the course of autoimmune pancreatitis associated with autoimmune diseases in Japan, especially Sjogren’s syndrome (SjS), and also review the diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of the disease.
Experiences of Gay Women Across Generations: Have Times Really Changed?

Society’s awareness of homosexuality has greatly increased over the past several decades. The current study sought to examine the experiences of lesbians in different age cohorts / generational groups utilizing an independent-measure research design. Survey data was used from 129 anonymous self identified adult lesbians who belonged in the Silent Generation, Baby Boomer, Generation X, or Millennial group. Significant generational differences (p < .05) were found regarding researched sexual minority milestones in relation to ages of self-identification, first same-sex sexual act, and self disclosure / coming out. Results showed that 50% of the women had tried to ignore or change their sexual orientation. Forty-one percent reported that they had felt discriminated against due to their sexual orientation and several women endorsed mental health and relational concerns related to their sexuality. As society’s position continues to evolve, it is important that research in this area reflects these changes. Experiences of Gay Women v
Information retrieval using a hypertext-based help system

Hypertext offers users a simple, flexible way to navigate through electronic information systems but at the potential risk of becoming lost in the network of interconnected pieces of information. A study was conducted on information retrieval using a commercial hypertext based help system. It was found that the predominant search strategy was “browsing” (characterized by scanning tables of contents and paging through topics), rather than employing the indexes (“analytical search”). Although subjects did not become lost, individuals with better spatial visualization ability, as measured by a standardized test, were faster at retrieving information and returned to the top of the information hierarchy less often than those with poorer spatial visualization ability. These results support previous studies that have found a strong preference by users to browse in hypertext systems and extend those findings to a new domain (help), a different type of user interface, and a different information architecture. In addition, the results demonstrate the importance of spatial visualization ability for efficient navigation and information retrieval in a hierarchical hypertext system.
On the approximation of nonbandlimited signals by nonuniform sampling series

The classical WKS sampling theorem is a central result in signal processing, but it applies to band-limited signals only. For many purposes, this class of signals is too narrow. For example, the signals that occur in practice are invariably of finite duration, or time-limited, and often have discontinuities. Clearly, such signals cannot be band-limited. We consider the problem of approximating such signals, or other signals not necessarily band-limited, using sampling series. We do not assume that the sampling instants are regularly distributed, in order to account for errors due to jitter. To the best of our knowledge, the problem of obtaining nonuniform sampling approximations for signals not necessarily band-limited, despite its practical interest, has not been addressed in the literature. In this work we introduce a method that leads to sampling approximations with the required properties. It is shown that the sampling sums considered are capable of approximating a wide class of signals, with arbitrarily small L2 and L∞ errors.
Research Use of Patented Knowledge: A Review

This Working Paper reviews issues related to research access to patented inventions, with a particular focus on the role of research exemptions (or experimental use exemptions) in protecting such access. It outlines factors that may affect the ability of researchers to access patented inventions for legitimate research purposes, it reviews evidence of current and anticipated limitations on access, and explores different options for the formulation of research exemptions that balance research use and patent holder’s rights. Le present document du travail passe en revue les questions concernant l’acces des chercheurs aux inventions brevetees, en examinant notamment le role que les exemptions de recherche (ou les exemptions pour utilisation experimentale) jouent dans la protection de cet acces. Le document souligne les facteurs pouvant affecter la capacite des chercheurs s’acceder aux inventions brevetees a des fins de recherche legitimes, examine les indices concernant les limites actuelles ou prevues imposees a l’acces et etudie les differents options permettant de formuler des exemptions de recherche qui maintiennent un juste equilibre entre l’utilisation des inventions a des fins de recherche et les droits des titulaires des brevets.
Identifying General Factors of Intelligence: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Ball Aptitude Battery

Research supports a hierarchical factor structure of intelligence that is consistent with the second-order factor model proposed by Gustafsson in which five first-order factors yield a single second-order factor of General Intelligence (g). Gustafsson’s model was tested with structural equation modeling via the Ball Aptitude Battery (BAB), a measure of aptitudes and vocational interests. This study focuses on the tests from the BAB that are believed to measure various aspects of intelligence: Numerical Computation, Numerical Reasoning, Inductive Reasoning, Analytical Reasoning, Paper Folding, Idea Fluency, Idea Generation, Vocabulary, Associative Memory, Auditory Memory, Clerical, and Writing Speed. Results indicate that the factor structure of the BAB is consistent with Gustafsson’s second-order factor model of intelligence. Implications of this finding are discussed.
Transition-based Spinal Parsing

We present a transition-based arc-eager model to parse spinal trees, a dependencybased representation that includes phrasestructure information in the form of constituent spines assigned to tokens. As a main advantage, the arc-eager model can use a rich set of features combining dependency and constituent information, while parsing in linear time. We describe a set of conditions for the arc-eager system to produce valid spinal structures. In experiments using beam search we show that the model obtains a good trade-off between speed and accuracy, and yields state of the art performance for both dependency and constituent parsing measures.
Player Motivations in Massively Multiplayer Online Games

In this paper we explore the motivations of players for engagement in Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs). We employ a mixed method research (qualitative and quantitative approach) and identify aspects of MMOGs that motivate players, such as the sociability, the achievement, the challenges, the competition, and elements increasing immersion. We situate the findings within a learning context and discuss how these aspects further increase the effectiveness of a learning environment.
A STUDY OF THE ANTIGENS INVOLVED IN ADENOVIRUS 12 TUMORIGENESIS BY IMMUNODIFFUSION TECHNIQUES

The use of the agar gel diffusion technique has established the presence of three distinct antigenic reactions in the sera of Ad. 12 tumor-bearing hamsters. Only one of these antigens is directly demonstrable in the tumor. This "tumor" antigen is also formed during early stages of the infectious cycle in tissue culture cells. Other antigens present in the tumor, but only demonstrable indirectly with the use of antibody-containing serum of tumored hamsters, are the classical type-specific C antigen, and a new antigen, termed D. Of ninety-eight Ad. 12 tumored hamster sera, six reacted in gel diffusion with virus and tumor preparations, and thirty-one with tumor only. Sera which reacted in gel diffusion with viral antigen uniformly bad neutralizing antibody and high titers of CF antibody against viral and tumor antigens; however, many sera with comparable antibody titers did not react with the virus in gel diffusion. Sera which reacted in gel diffusion only with tumor antigen also had high CF antibody titers, but there was no correlation with neutralizing antibody.
IEEE 802.11n MAC frame aggregation mechanisms for next-generation high-throughput WLANs

IEEE 802.11n is an ongoing next-generation wireless LAN standard that supports a very highspeed connection with more than 100 Mb/s data throughput measured at the medium access control layer. This article investigates the key MAC enhancements that help 802.11n achieve high throughput and high efficiency. A detailed description is given for various frame aggregation mechanisms proposed in the latest 802.11n draft standard. Our simulation results confirm that A-MSDU, A-MPDU, and a combination of these methods improve extensively the channel efficiency and data throughput. We analyze the performance of each frame aggregation scheme in distinct scenarios, and we conclude that overall, the two-level aggregation is the most efficacious.
Issues of e-business implementation from enterprise architecture viewpoint

Although Japanese companies are reconstructing their enterprise system by using enterprise resource planning (ERP) packages and are implementing e-business system, from management level and overall viewpoints these implementations are not done well. They lack enterprise architecture approach. Recently, Japanese companies are needed to innovate their business models to break through the Japanese deflation economies. To be realistic, this approach is imperative for them. The purpose of this paper is to clarify issues when they confront e-business system implementation from enterprise architecture viewpoint and to propose directions for their problem solving.
Action learning for middle manager development: the case of an Australian state-based large organisation

This paper describes an action learning approach designed to assist a group of middle managers in an Australian public sector environment by enhancing their performance in the area of managing staff. The programme is described as an embedded action learning approach, where, in addition to a specific action learning project, the programme provided action learning skills development, mentoring support and ongoing evaluation of participants learning. The action learning process serves as a model for a management development programme, based around the action learning model of 'plan, act, reflect and re-act'. Learning primarily occurred through engagement in the form of action-by-doing as well as self and collaborative reflection. The learnings captured were largely spontaneous in nature occurring through role play and feedback loops. Learnings about the organisational context and requirements are discussed, with particular reference to the management development, HRM and the HRD relationship to an action learning methodology.
A Study on Skin Optics

Despite the notable progress in physically-based rendering, there is still a long way to go before we can automatically generate predictable images of biological materials. In this report, we address an open problem in this area, namely the spectral simulation of light interaction with human skin. Initially, we present an overview of fundamental skin optics concepts which is followed by the description of a novel biophysically-based model that accounts for all components of light propagation in skin tissues, namely surface reflectance, subsurface reflectance and transmittance, and the biological mechanisms of light absorption by pigments in these tissues. The model is controlled by biologically meaningful parameters, and its formulation, based on standard Monte Carlo techniques, enables its straightforward incorporation into realistic image synthesis frameworks. Besides its biophysically-based nature, the key difference between the proposed model and the existing skin models is its comprehensiveness, i.e., it computes both spectral (reflectance and transmittance) and scattering (bidirectional surface-scattering distribution function) quantities for skin specimens. In order to assess the predictability of our simulations, we evaluate their accuracy by comparing results from the model with actual skin measured data. We also present computer generated images to illustrate the flexibility of the proposed model with respect to variations in the biological input data, and its applicability not only in the predictive image synthesis of different skin tones, but also in the spectral simulation of medical conditions.
Monetary Incentives in Mail Surveys

Eighteen empirical studies from fourteen different researchers provide evidence that prepaid monetary incentives have a strong positive impact on the response rate in mail surveys. One of these studies is described here and an attempt is made to generalize from all eighteen about the relationship between size of incentives and reduction in nonresponse. These generalizations should be of value for the design of mail survey studies.
Reinforcement Learning for Spoken Dialogue Systems: Comparing Strengths and Weaknesses for Practical Deployment

In a spoken dialogue system, the function of a dialogue manager is to select actions based on observed events and inferred beliefs. To formalize and optimize the action selection process, researchers have turned to reinforcement learning methods which represent the dynamics of a spoken dialogue as a fully or partially observable Markov Decision Process. Once represented as such, optimal policies prescribing what actions the system should take in order to maximize a reward function can be learned from data. Formerly, this task was assigned to the application developer, who typically hand-crafted rules or heuristics. In this position paper, we assess to what extent the action selection process can be automated by current state-of-the-art reinforcement learning methods for dialogue management. In examining the strengths and weaknesses of these methods with respect to practical deployment, we discuss the challenges that need to be overcome before these methods can become commonplace in deployed systems.
Computation of the maximal corank of a covariance matrix by radial search methods

This paper proposes a new algorithm to evaluate the maximal corank of a covariance matrix in the context of the Frisch scheme, i.e. the maximal number of linear relations that can be associated with a set of noise-corrupted data under the assumptions of this scheme. This algorithm is simpler than the previously available sliding gradient and exhibits a better efficiency.
Treatment of Osteochondritis Dissecans of the Talus in Skeletally Immature Population

Juvenile osteochondritis dissecans of the talus (JOCDT) is a subchondral bone alteration and a partially or completely detached osteochondral fragment, affecting skeletally immature patients. A review of the English literature on PubMed was conducted. Conservative treatment was applied in patients up to Berndt-Harty stage III. Surgical indications were conservative management failure and loose bodies. The most performed procedures were drilling, subchondral bone grafting, fragment fixation, or excision. High rate of clinical success were achieved, whereas radiographic results were much lower. None of the surgical options demonstrated to be superior. Future long-term qualitative studies focusing on chondral tissue restoration are needed. Levels of Evidence: Therapeutic, Level IV
Nouvelles approches de l’innovation et gestion des connaissances: quelle articulation ? quels enjeux ? quels changements ?

Dans un environnement economique turbulent, marque par l’extension geographique des marches et l’intensification de la concurrence, les firmes ont peu a peu adapte leurs modeles d’organisation des activites d’innovation. Ces adaptations se traduisent par l’emergence de nouvelles formes organisationnelles facilitant la collaboration entre parties prenantes du processus d’innovation. Pour rendre compte de ces changements, les chercheurs ont renouvele les cadres d’analyse du management strategique de l’innovation. Innovation collaborative, innovation ouverte, communautes d’innovation, living labs … autant de concepts developpes par la recherche pour etudier les changements operes par les entreprises pour gerer leurs activites innovantes. Ce renouvellement des cadres theoriques ne concerne pas uniquement les modes d’organisation de l’innovation. Les dispositifs de gestion des connaissances deployes par les firmes pour innover changent egalement de nature. Le changement concerne l’ensemble des processus cognitifs impliques lors des differentes phases du processus d’innovation, de l’invention a la commercialisation de nouveaux produits, services, technologies, procedes et organisations. Sont particulierement concernes les processus de creation, de partage, et d’integration des connaissances mobilisees pour innover, mais egalement de protection de la propriete intellectuelle, de financement des projets innovants, de gestion des asymetries cognitives et informationnelles, et de partage des risques associes. Cette evolution conjointe des modeles d’organisation de l’innovation et des processus de gestion des connaissances represente un defi majeur pour les entreprises, ainsi qu’un objet de recherche naissant que cet article se propose d’explorer.
E-commerce product search: personalization, diversification, and beyond

The focus of this tutorial will is e-commerce product search. Several challenges appear in this context, both from a research standpoint as well as an application standpoint. We present various approaches adopted in the industry, review well-known research techniques developed over the last decade, draw parallels to traditional web search highlighting the new challenges in this setting, and dig deep into some of the algorithmic and technical approaches developed. A specific approach that advances theoretical techniques and illustrates practical impact considered here is of identifying most suited results quickly from a large database. Settings span cold start users and advanced users for whom personalization is possible. In this context, top-$k$ and skylines are discussed as they form a key approach that spans the web, data mining, and database communities. These present powerful tools for search across multi-dimensional items with clear preferences within each attribute, like product search as opposed to regular web search.
RNA Regulatory Elements and Polyadenylation in Plants

Alternative poly(A) site choice (also known as alternative polyadenylation, or APA) has the potential to affect gene expression in qualitative and quantitative ways. APA may affect as many as 82% of all expressed genes in a plant. The consequences of APA include the generation of transcripts with differing 3′-UTRs (and thus differing regulatory potential) and of transcripts with differing protein-coding potential. Genome-wide studies of possible APA suggest a linkage with pre-mRNA splicing, and indicate a coincidence of and perhaps cooperation between RNA regulatory elements that affect splicing efficiency and the recognition of novel intronic poly(A) sites. These studies also raise the possibility of the existence of a novel class of polyadenylation-related cis elements that are distinct from the well-characterized plant polyadenylation signal. Many potential APA events, however, have not been associated with identifiable cis elements. The present state of the field reveals a broad scope of APA, and also numerous opportunities for research into mechanisms that govern both choice and regulation of poly(A) sites in plants.
Adaptive robust contour tracking of machine tool feed drive systems-a task coordinate frame approach

We show that contouring performance can be viewed as a regulation problem in a curvilinear task coordinate frame that is attached to the desired contour. By transforming the machine tool feed drive dynamics to this task coordinate frame, an adaptive robust control (ARC) law is derived to improve the contouring performance under system parameter variation and bounded disturbances. The resulting control law is in essence a time varying PID control law with built in integral anti-windup. The effectiveness of the proposed control law is demonstrated through the simulated control of an industrial CNC machine tool feed drive system.
The Use of Fully Homomorphic Encryption in Data Mining with Privacy Preserving A .

Data mining is a computational tool widely used today which aims to extract useful information from various databases. Nowadays with the large volume of information that is produced, stored in a remote database (using cloud computing), concerns about confidentiality and privacy of information are arising due to lack of guaranteed security by storage service and the mining algorithm. A new approach of modern cryptography, defined as the Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE), allows for the encrypted data to be arbitrarily computed which is a solution that aims to preserve the security, confidentiality and data privacy. This article aims to present a study of the literature to identify research that proposes methods that ensure the confidentiality and privacy in the mining of databases based on fully homomorphic encryption.
Emotion-based impressionism slideshow with automatic music accompaniment

In this paper, we propose the emotion-based Impressionism slideshow system with automatic music accompaniment. While conventional image slideshow systems accompany images with music manually, our proposed approach explores the affective content of painting to automatically recommend music based on emotions. This is achieved by association discovery between painting features and emotions, and between emotions and music features respectively. To generate more harmonic Impressionism presentation, a linear arrangement method is proposed based on modified traveling salesman algorithm. Moreover, some animation effects and synchronization issues for affective content of Impressionism fine arts are considered. Experimental result shows our emotion-based accompaniment brings better browsing experience of aesthetics.