Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling Issues and the Use ofExperience in Record Linkage

The goal of record linkage is to link quickly and accurately records corresponding to the same person or entity. Fellegi and Sunter (1969) proposed a statistical model for record linkage that assumes pairs of entries, one from each of two files, either are matches corresponding to a single person or nonmatches arising from two different people. Certain patterns of agreements and disagreements on variables in the two files are more likely among matches than among nonmatches. The observed patterns can be viewed as arising from a mixture distribution. Mixture models, which for discrete data are generalizations of latent-class models, can be fit to comparison patterns in order to find matching and nonmatching pairs of records. Mixture models, when used with data from the U.S. Decennial Census — Post Enumeration Survey, quickly give accurate results. A critical issue in new record-linkage problems is determining when the mixture models consistently identify matches and nonmatches, rather than some other division of the pairs of records. A method that uses information based on experience, identifies records to review, and incorporates clerically-reviewed data is proposed.
The Effects of New High-Occupancy Vehicle Lanes on Travel and Emissions

-Many urban regions m the U S are planning to braid extens~xe netx~orks of ne-~ h~ghoccupancy vehicle (HOV) freeway lanes Past modelling efforts are reviewed and travel demand s~mulat~ons by the authors are used to demonstrate that new HOV lanes may increase travel (veh~cle-mfles) and mcrease emlssmns when compared to transit alternatwes Recommendations are made for better travel demand modelhng methods for such evaluations
Long-Term Outcomes of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma in 148 Children and Adolescents

AbstractThe aim of this study was to investigate the survival and long-term morbidities of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in children and adolescents.We retrospectively reviewed children and adolescents with NPC treated at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center from February 1991 to October 2010, where the prognostic factors and long-term effects of therapy were analyzed.A total of 148 patients were identified. The median age was 15 years old (range, 5–18 years) and the male to female ratio was 3.6:1. Most of the tumor histopathology was undifferentiated nonkeratinizing carcinoma (97.3%). The number of patients staged with IVa, IVb, IVc, III, and II were 45 (30.4%), 12 (8.1%), 5 (3.4%), 70 (47.3%), and 16 (10.8%), respectively. For the whole series with a median follow-up of 81 months (range, 6–282 months), the 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) ratios were 79.3% and 69.7%, respectively. We observed significant differences in the 5-year OS (81.1% vs 25.0%, P = 0.002) and the DFS rates (72.2% vs 0.0%, P = 0.000) between patients with stage II to IVb disease and stage IVc disease. For patients with stage II, III, IVa, and IVb disease, we found a high radiation dose (dose > 66 Gy to the primary lesion) would not significantly improve the survival compared to the sub-high radiation dose group (dose = 60–66 Gy to the primary lesion), even considering the type of radiation therapy technologies. However, the incidences of sequelae (grades I–IV) in patients with high radiation dose were apparently higher than those in patients with low radiation dose.Considering the late sequelae, a dose of 60 to 66 Gy to the primary lesions seems to be enough for children and adolescents with NPC.
Automatic multiview quadruple alignment of unordered range scans

This paper presents a new multiview alignment algorithm that performs both the coarse and fine alignment of unordered sets of range scans. Our algorithm selects quadruples of range scans, which have feature points of their 2D projections in common. These quadruples are then verified using an iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm. The accepted quadruples form incomplete models of an object that can be aligned using isometries of the principal component analysis (PCA) in combination with an ICP algorithm. The output of our method is a set of finely aligned meshes. Our method was applied to range scans of different clusters of objects varying in the type of acquisition system, the number of range scans, the scan resolution, and scan accuracy. Results show that our method is both effective and efficient for the alignment of meshes: it is capable of aligning object meshes with various properties, aligns the majority of meshes without a priori knowledge, and doesn't require a multiview ICP algorithm to improve the final alignment.
Tool Support for Fast Simulation Techniques

Over the last 10 to 15 years there has been an increased interest in (and need for) the use of fast simulation techniques for the evaluation of the dependability and performance of computer communication systems [1]. Indeed, impressive simulation speed-ups of several orders of magnitude have been attained in the derivation of estimates for failure probabilities and unavailability measures (depen dability area) as well as for blocking probabilities (perfor mance area) as small as 10 4 to 10 12, in case the employed models belong to a well-studied class. Although the number of classes of models that can be marked “wellstudied” increases at reasonable pace, there still remain simulation models that cannot be easily accelerated. Irrespective of the fast simulation technique employed, be it importance sampling, the RESTART method or any other variance reduction technique, its application gener ally requires intimate knowledge of both the technique itself and the system (or model) being evaluated. Unfortunately, this is too much asked for most performance engineers working at real dimensioning problems in a (tightly scheduled) design trajectory of a complex computer communication system. What is needed to satisfy performance engineers is a set of tools and techniques that can be applied with relative ease (black box approach) for a wide variety of models. This implies that the performance engineer should be able to specify, in a user-friendly way, both the model and the measure of interest, and that the tool should give support in the selection of an appropriate fast simulation technique to determine the specified measure. Once a particular fast simulation technique has been chosen, e.g., importance sampling, the tool should allow for the experimentation with biasing schemes and support the selection process, i.e., the tool should support the use r in the construction of an efficient simulation. As a first example in this direction, the governorcomponent in the tool UltraSAN allows the user to change at a high level of abstraction the sampling strategy (the failure biasing o r forcing scheme) in the importance sampling-based simulation of dependability measures, without having to bother about the necessary changes of likelihood ratios in the estimators; these are automatically handled by the tool [4]. For the RESTART method, the automatic computation of thresholds based on a pre-simulation and structural model information in the Petri net tool TimeNETas proposed by Kelling [2] can be seen as another good example.
Functional Reinnervation of the Rat Lower Urinary Tract after Cauda Equina Injury and Repair

Conus medullaris and/or cauda equina forms of spinal cord injury commonly result in a permanent loss of bladder function. Here, we developed a cauda equina injury and repair rodent model to investigate whether surgical implantation of avulsed lumbosacral ventral roots into the spinal cord can promote functional recovery of the lower urinary tract. Adult female rats underwent sham surgery (n = 6), bilateral L5–S2 ventral root avulsion (VRA) injury (n = 5), or bilateral L5–S2 VRA followed by an acute implantation of the avulsed L6 and S1 ventral roots into the conus medullaris (n = 6). At 12 weeks after operation, the avulsed group demonstrated urinary retention, absence of bladder contractions and external urethral sphincter (EUS) electromyographic (EMG) activation during urodynamic recordings, increased bladder size, and retrograde death of autonomic and motoneurons in the spinal cord. In contrast, the implanted group showed reduced urinary retention, return of reflexive bladder voiding contractions coincident with EUS EMG activation, anatomical reinnervation of the EUS demonstrated by retrograde neuronal labeling, normalization of bladder size, and a significant neuroprotection of both autonomic and motoneurons. In addition, a positive correlation between motoneuronal survival and voiding efficiency was observed in the implanted group. Our results show that implantation of avulsed lumbosacral ventral roots into the spinal cord promotes reinnervation of the urinary tract and return of functional micturition reflexes, suggesting that this surgical repair strategy may also be of clinical interest after conus medullaris and cauda equina injuries.
Interface issues and interaction strategies for information retrieval systems

The need for effective information retrieval systems becomes increasingly important as computer-based information repositories grow larger and more diverse. In this tutorial, we present the key issues involved in the use and design of effective interfaces to information retrieval systems. The process of satisfying information needs is analyzed as a problem solving activity in which users learn and refine their needs as they interact with a repository. Current systems are analyzed in terms of key interface and interaction techniques such as querying, browsing, and relevance feedback. We discuss the impact of information seeking strategies on the search process and what is needed to more effectively support the search process. Retrieval system evaluation techniques is discussed in terms of its implications for users. We close by outlining some user-centered design strategies for retrieval systems.
Frequency Analysis of Healthy & Epileptic Seizure in EEG using Fast Fourier Transform

Analysis of EEG signals shows that the range of frequency for epileptic seizure in a neurological disorder which needs to be detected at an early stage to know their specific needs and to help them survive with the problem. In reference to the India population 0.6 to 0.8% is affected by seizure, which is the common neurological disease just after the knock, of which 3o% have not been able to gain any control over their seizure using current pharmacological treatment measure (1-2). KNN and Linear discriminate analysis are used to detect the discrete emotions (surprise, happy, fear, neutral and disgust) of human through EEG signals. We measure EEG signals frequency range relating to seizure, divide them into five different domain such as α, β, γ, δ and θ related to the total range, and eliminate frequency distribution through FFT of EEG signals to compare the difference between seizure and healthy subject. The resulting calculations are based on the selected frequency range.
Parallel Processing of Discrete Optimization Problems

Discrete optimization problems (DOPs) arise in various applications such as planning, scheduling, computer aided design, robotics, game playing and constraint directed reasoning. Often, a DOP is formulated in terms of nding a (minimum cost) solution path in a graph from an initial node to a goal node and solved by graph/tree search methods such as branch-and-bound and dynamic programming. Availability of parallel computers has created substantial interest in exploring the use of parallel processing for solving discrete optimization problems. This article provides an overview of parallel search algorithms for solving discrete optimization problems.
Dense distribution of macrophages in flexor aspects of the hand and foot of mid-term human fetuses

In the developing human musculoskeletal system, cell death with macrophage accumulation occurs in the thigh muscle and interdigital area. To comprehensively clarify the distribution of macrophages, we immunohistochemically examined 16 pairs of upper and lower extremities without the hip joint (left and right sides) obtained from 8 human fetuses at approximately 10-15 weeks of gestation. Rather than in muscles, CD68-positive macrophages were densely distributed in loose connective tissues of the flexor aspects of the extremities, especially in the wrist, hand and foot. In contrast, no or fewer macrophages were evident in the shoulder and the extensor aspects of the extremities. The macrophages were not concentrated at the enthesis of the tendon and ligament, but tended to be arranged along other connective tissue fibers. Deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end-labeling revealed apoptosis in the hand lumbricalis muscles, but not in the area of macrophage accumulation. Likewise, podoplanin-positive lymphatic vessels were not localized to areas of macrophage accumulation. Re-organization of the connective tissue along and around the flexor tendons of the hand and foot, such as development of the bursa or tendon sheath at 10-15 weeks, might require the phagocytotic function of macrophages, although details of the mechanism remain unknown.
A QoS demands evaluation based classified admission control algorithm

The rapid increment of application flows on the Internet needs an admission control algorithm which can efficiently make use of limited network resource; QoS demands put on application flows by users involve factors in many fields, and because normal Admission Control Algorithms only research on one factor, such as fairness, time delay and so on. They usually can't take these factors into account as a whole. Therefore, this paper puts forward a QoS demands evaluation based classified admission control algorithm. After computer simulations, it shows that the algorithm can completely meet the QoS demands of users as well as it can enhance the global admission rate, and improve the utilization rate of network resource.
Specificity and plasticity of retinotectal connections: a computational model

A computational model is presented which simulates the development and regeneration of orderly connections between retinal fibers and tectal cells in frogs and goldfish. The model distinguishes two aspects of retinotectal connectivity: (1) the contact adhesion between retinal fibers and tectal cells as mediated by fixed chemospecific markers and (2) the formation of modifiable synapses between them. Chemospecificity is assumed to be an intrinsic property of both the retina and tectum and is modeled as a graded distribution of a binding determinant or marker. Synapse formation depends upon the timing of neural activity as well as on the intinsic chemospecificity of retinotectal contacts. In addition to the normal development and regeneration of the retinotectal map, the model simulates the compressed, expanded, translocated, and rotated maps that have been found in surgically manipulated contexts. There examples of plasticity in the retinotectal map can be simulated without assuming any changes in the marker distributions. Moreover, the model demonstrates that a very shallow gradient of a single marker suffices to organize retinotectal connections in a variety of contexts.
Reducing perceived social loafing in virtual teams: The effect of team feedback with guided reflexivity

The aim of this study was twofold. The first aim was to study the effect of an intervention combining team feedback and guided reflexivity on virtual teams' affective outcomes. The second was to examine the mediating role of perceived social loafing in this relationship. An experimental laboratory study was carried out with 54 teams randomly assigned to an experimental condition or a control condition. Results showed that this intervention had an effect on satisfaction with the result, but not on group cohesion and satisfaction with the team. Moreover, perceived social loafing fully mediated the effect of this intervention on group cohesion and partially mediated its effect on satisfaction with the team and the result.
An Exploration of High Level Language Comprehension Deficits and the Factors Influencing Them Following Blast Exposure in Afghanistan and Iraq War Veterans

Our servicemen and women are facing challenges with reintegration into civilian life as noted by the high levels of homelessness, unemployment, and suicide. Behavioral aspects and PTSD have been the focus of these problems. There may be additional factors that negatively impact successful reintegration. There may be weaknesses in communication skills such as auditory processing deficits and higher-level language deficits secondary to blast exposure. Twelve veterans with history of blast exposure and six veteran controls were compared in areas of auditory processing, higher-level language skills (inferencing, ambiguity, figurative language), and attention, memory, and visual processing speed. Correlations with auditory processing and higher-level language and cognitive skills were also explored. Results demonstrated significance with attention (p = 0.001), time compressed sentences (p = 0.02), and for the veterans who wear not wearing their helmets at the time of blast exposure demonstrated additional significance with inferencing (p = 0.04), and auditory figure ground (p = 0.05). Weaknesses were noted with competing words (p = 0.08) and multiple meanings (p = 0.08). Strong and moderate correlations were observed with veterans who were not wearing their upgraded helmet at the time of blast exposure. Results suggest a need to include speech pathologists as part of the diagnostic team for our returning servicemen that were exposed to blasts,
Different subsets of newborn granule cells: a possible role in epileptogenesis?

Several factors, including epileptic seizures, can strongly stimulate ongoing neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus. Although adult‐born granule cells generated after seizure activity have different physiological properties from their normal counterparts, they integrate into the existing, mature network of the adult hippocampal dentate gyrus. However, the exact role of the neurogenic response during epilepsy and its possible involvement in epileptogenesis have remained elusive. Here, we discuss recent studies shedding new light on the interplay between epilepsy and neurogenesis, and try to explain discrepancies in this literature by proposing seizure severity‐dependent induction of two subsets of newborn cells with different properties. We hypothesise that a low seizure intensity would stimulate neurogenesis to a ‘physiological plasticity’ level and have few pathological consequences. In contrast, a high initial seizure intensity may induce a specific subset of altered and/or ectopically located new granule cells with different electrophysiological properties that could initiate hyperexcitatory recurrent networks that could, in turn, contribute to chronic epilepsy. This hypothesis may clarify previously contradictory data in the literature, and could thereby aid in our understanding of the role of neurogenesis in epileptogenesis, and open up promising avenues for therapeutic intervention.
Poor recovery of mitochondrial redox state in CA1 after transient forebrain ischemia in gerbils.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Several investigations have detected evidence of apoptosis in delayed neuronal death, but controversy prevails regarding this point. Recent studies have implicated mitochondria in apoptotic events. To explore relationships between delayed neuronal death and dysfunction of the respiratory chain, we analyzed mitochondrial redox changes in the gerbil hippocampus. METHODS We assessed the mitochondrial redox state in gerbil hippocampus before, during, and at various time points after 5 minutes of forebrain ischemia. The redox state was examined with a low-temperature fluorometer. Fluorescence signals of flavoprotein and NADH were measured, and their fluorescence ratio was calculated as a mitochondrial redox ratio (MRR) equal to flavoprotein/(flavoprotein+NADH). RESULTS Ischemia increased NADH and decreased flavoprotein signals in all hippocampal areas, but reduction in MRR was greater in CA1 than in other areas of the hippocampus. Immediately after recirculation, MRR recovery was delayed in the CA1 and the dentate gyrus, and the reduction in MRR persisted in CA1. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that during ischemia CA1 experiences more pronounced hypoxia (state V) than less vulnerable regions. Persistent MRR reduction in CA1 is attributed to dysfunction of the electron transport system, and this phenomenon may be importantly involved in apoptosis.
Struktura czynnikowa oraz walidacja polskiej wersji Szpitalnej Skali Lęku i Depresji HADS dla młodzieży

Aim. The present study aimed to explore the factorial structure, validity and stability of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) in chronically ill and healthy Polish adolescents. Methods. 146 chronically ill (girls: 57.6%) and 309 healthy (girls: 45.9%) adolescents aged between 12 and 16 years (M = 14.03; SD = 1.3) filled in an adapted version of HADS (HADS-Teen) in hospital or school settings. The one-week test-retest reliability and construct validity was analyzed in two sub-samples of healthy adolescents. Results. HADS-Teen showed a two-factor structure in the chronically ill sample and a three-factor structure in the healthy sample. The Anxiety scale had high internal reliability and stability and adequate correlation with another measure for generalized anxiety. Still, the Depression scale had good stability, but poor internal reliability in both samples. In the healthy sample, the Depression items split into two factors: depressed mood together with psychomotor retardation/agitation and anhedonia. Conclusions. The issues concerned with the factorial structure of HADS are replicated in Polish adolescents as well. HADS-Teen shows different structures in chronically ill versus healthy adolescents. Results indicate that a special attention must be paid when assessing depression symptoms in healthy adolescents using this instrument
Expression Profiling of Single Mammalian Cells – Small is Beautiful

Increasingly mRNA expression patterns established using a variety of molecular technologies such as cDNA microarrays, SAGE and cDNA display are being used to identify potential regulatory genes and as a means of providing valuable insights into the biological status of the starting sample. Until recently, the application of these techniques has been limited to mRNA isolated from millions or, at very best, several thousand cells thereby restricting the study of small samples and complex tissues. To overcome this limitation a variety of amplification approaches have been developed which are capable of broadly evaluating mRNA expression patterns in single cells. This review will describe approaches that have been employed to examine global gene expression patterns either in small numbers of cells or, wherever possible, in actual isolated single cells. The first half of the review will summarize the technical aspects of methods developed for single‐cell analysis and the latter half of the review will describe the areas of biological research that have benefited from single‐cell expression analysis. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.