Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Motor vehicle accidents and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

The association between motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) has always been quantified as risk of MVAs for individual drivers with OSAS. We evaluated the expected injured patients per year attributable to OSAS-dependent MVAs in a general population. By combining OSAS prevalence and OSAS-dependent MVAs odds ratio, we assessed the population attributable fraction (PAF), an epidemiological tool that can be used to quantify the proportion of road traffic injuries (RTIs) attributable to OSAS. For an apnea hypopnea index >5, the weighed median and combined average of OSAS prevalence were 4.4 (95% confidence interval (CI): 3.7–7.5) and 4.7 (95% CI: 4.2–5.2), respectively; values of risk of OSAS-dependent MVAs were 2.83 (95% CI: 2.72–3.08) and 2.52 (95% CI: 2.07–3.08), respectively. The PAF showed weighed median and combined average values of 6.6 (95% CI: 4.3–9.8) and 7.3% (95% CI: 6.0–13.5), respectively. Our results show that about 7% of RTIs for a population of male drivers involved in MVAs are attributable to OSAS. This value can be used to assess the potential impact, on the reduction of incidence of the motor vehicle injuries, of prevention programs aimed at reducing the number of subjects with an undiagnosed and/or untreated OSAS.
Little Geodetic Evidence for Localized Indian Subduction in the Pamir‐Hindu Kush of Central Asia

Geodetically derived velocities from Central Asia show that Northern Afghanistan, the Tajik Pamir, and northwestern Pakistan all move northward with comparable large velocities toward Eurasia. Steep velocity gradients, hence high strain rates, occur only across the Main Pamir Fault zone and with lesser magnitude between the northernmost Hindu Kush and the south and southeast margins of the Tajik Depression. Localized shortening is not apparent on any active India‐Hindu Kush crustal boundary; hence, crustal convergence between India and Eurasia in Central Asia is absorbed primarily on the northern and western margins of the Pamir. This concentrated strain on the Pamir margins is consistent with one, geometrically complex, interface between subducting Asian lithosphere and the Pamir. That interface might curve westward such that the Hindu Kush seismic zone is a continuation of the Pamir seismic zone, or alternatively, Hindu Kush earthquakes might occur in convectively unstable mantle lithosphere mechanically detached from surface faults.
A DT 0–2 MASH ΣΔ modulator with VCO-based quantizer for enhanced linearity

This paper presents a new structure of the discrete time 0-2 MASH sigma-delta modulator implemented with VCO-based quantizer in the second stage. The proposed scheme enhances the linearity of the VCO based quantizer, meanwhile it takes advantage of the intrinsic DEM function and first order noise shaping in the second stage. Besides, the matching requirement is relaxed and the digital canceling filter is largely simplified. Moreover, no additional active adder in or between two stages is needed because of the 0-2 MASH structure, which can save a lot of power. The proposed DT 0-2 MASH sigma-delta (ΣΔ) modulator with 10MHz signal bandwidth for wideband applications is designed and simulated in Matlab. The performance of the modulator can reach 97dB SND Runder a sampling rate of 1.15GHz.
Potential utility of the new Sysmex XE 5000 red blood cell extended parameters in the study of disorders of iron metabolism

Abstract Background: New erythrocyte parameters are reported by the Sysmex XE 5000 analyzer. This instrument measures the hemoglobin (Hb) content of individual red cells, calculates the percentage of hypochromic red cells (%Hypo He) and the percentage of hyperchromic red cells (%Hyper He) and quantifies the proportion of marginally sized erythrocytes (%Micro R and %Macro R). The goals of the study were to establish the reference range for erythrocyte extended parameters, their value in different types of anemia and to investigate their reliability in the study of disorders of iron metabolism. Materials: Three hundred and ninety samples were analyzed. The Kolmogorov-Smirnoff test, independent samples t-test and Pearson correlation were calculated; receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to determine their diagnostic performance. Results: The values of the four parameters studied were normally distributed and statistically different (p<0.0001) in the different groups of patients; the only exception was %Hypo He in cases of iron deficiency and thalassemia (p=0.3758). Results of ROC curve analysis for %Hypo He in the diagnosis of restricted erythropoiesis reticulocyte Hb content (reticulocyte hemoglobin content, Ret He <29 pg) were: area under the curve 0.963; cut-off 1.8%; sensitivity 98.3%; specificity 91.1%. Conclusions: The new parameters appear to be sensitive for detecting small changes in the number of red cells with inadequate hemoglobinization and volume. Clin Chem Lab Med 2009;47:1411–6.
Different Antiplatelet Strategies in Patients With New Ischemic Stroke While Taking Aspirin

Background and Purpose— Selecting among different antiplatelet strategies when patients experience a new ischemic stroke while taking aspirin is a common clinical challenge, currently addressed by a paucity of data. Methods— This study is an analysis of a prospective multicenter stroke registry database from 14 hospitals in South Korea. Patients with acute noncardioembolic stroke, who were taking aspirin for prevention of ischemic events at the time of onset of stroke, were enrolled. Study subjects were divided into 3 groups according to the subsequent antiplatelet therapy strategy pursued; maintaining aspirin monotherapy (MA group), switching aspirin to nonaspirin antiplatelet agents (SA group), and adding another antiplatelet agent to aspirin (AA group). The primary study end point was the composite of stroke (ischemic and hemorrhagic), myocardial infarction, and vascular death up to 1 year after stroke onset. Results— A total of 1172 patients were analyzed for this study. Antiplatelet strategies pursued in study patients were MA group in 212 (18.1%), SA group in 246 (21.0%), and AA group in 714 (60.9%). The Cox proportional hazards regression analysis showed that, compared with the MA group, there was a reduction in the composite vascular event primary end point in the SA group (hazard ratio, 0.50; 95% confidence interval, 0.27–0.92; P=0.03) and in the AA group (hazard ratio, 0.40; 95% confidence interval, 0.24–0.66; P<0.001). Conclusions— This study showed that, compared with maintaining aspirin, switching to or adding alternative antiplatelet agents may be better in preventing subsequent vascular events in patients who experienced a new ischemic stroke while taking aspirin.
On the optimality of nonunitary filter banks in subband coders

This paper investigates the energy compaction capabilities of nonunitary filter banks in subband coding. It is shown that nonunitary filter banks have larger coding gain than unitary filter banks because of the possibility of doing half-whitening in each channel. For long filter unit pulse responses, optimization of subband coding gain for stationary input signals results in a filter bank decomposition, where each channel works as an optimal open-loop DPCM system. We derive a formula giving the optimal filter response for each channel as a function of the input psd. For shorter filter bank responses, good gain is obtained by suboptimal half-whitening responses, but the impact on the theoretical coding gain is still highly significant. Image coding examples demonstrate that better performance is achieved using nonunitary filter banks when the input images are in correspondence with the signal model.
Anesthetic management of a 2-day-old with complete congenital heart block

Maternal connective tissue disorders such as Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (most common), Sjogren's syndrome, mixed connective tissue disorders may lead to the rare condition of complete congenital heart block in the neonate. Rare fetal syndromes such as myocarditis, 18p syndrome, mucopolysaccharidoses and mitochondrial diseases are other causes. The mortality rate of this condition is inversely propotional to the age of presentation being 6 % in the neonatal age group. As the cardiac output in the neonate is heart rate dependent, it is crucial to maintain the heart rate in these patients. Pharamacological interventions with dopamine, isoprenaline, epinephrine and atropine are known for their variable response. Although permanent pacing is the most reliable mode of management, the access to it is often not readily available, especially in the developing countries. In such cases temporary pacing methods become lifesaving. Of all the modalities of temporary pacing (transcutaneous, transesophageal and transvenous) transcutaneous pacing is the most readily available and immediate mode. In this case report we present a two day old neonate with isolated complete congenital heart block and a resting heart rate of 50-55/min in immediate need of palliative surgery for trachea-esophageal fistula (TEF). With pharmacological intervention the heart rate could only be raised to 75-80/min. The surgery was successfully carried out using transcutaneous pacing to maintain a heart rate of 100/min.
[Intracerebral tuberculomas in a pregnant Somalian woman].

: A pregnant Somalian woman aged 28 years, in the Netherlands for the last five years, suffered from a progressive hemiparesis, epilepsia, behavioural problems and low fever. Brain MRI showed multiple lesions with contrast enhancement. Extensive serologic and parasitologic tests on serum and cerebrospinal fluid did not disclose any cause. A brain biopsy revealed only necrosis, but bacterial culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) supplied the diagnosis of 'tuberculosis'. PCR on the cerebrospinal fluid remained negative. In the meantime the chest X-ray showed miliary tuberculosis and a spine MRI thoracic spondylodiscitis and a large paravertebral abscess. Subsequently the patient was treated successfully with tuberculostatic agents. Her healthy child which was born by caesarean section was treated with the tuberculostatic agents as well.
The Parallel Transfer of Task Knowledge Using Dynamic Learning Rates Based on a Measure of Relatedness

With a distinction made between two forms of task knowledge transfer, 'representational' and 'functional', eta MTL, a modified version of the multiple task learning (MTL) method of functional (parallel) transfer, is introduced. The eta MTL method employs a separate learning rate, etak, for each task output node k. etak varies as a function of a measure of relatedness, Rk, between the kth task and the primary task of interest. Results of experiments demonstrate the ability of eta MTL to dynamically select the most related source task(s) for the functional transfer of prior domain knowledge. The eta MTL method of learning is nearly equivalent to standard MTL when all parallel tasks are sufficiently related to the primary task, and is similar to single task learning when none of the parallel tasks are related to the primary task.
Diversity in Shallow Water Environments Using Blind Time-Frequency Separation Techniques

The shallow water environment can be characterized as a time-dispersive system whose time-varying impulse response can be expressed as a superposition of time-frequency components with dispersive structures. In this paper, a blind time- frequency processing technique is employed to separate these components without knowledge of environmental parameters. This technique is based on first approximating the time-frequency structures of the received signal, and then designing separation filters based on time-frequency warping techniques. Based on this method, a receiver is developed to exploit the diversity of the channel and to improve communications performance.
Paleoenvironmental Distribution Patterns of Sequence Stratigraphy in the Paleocene-Eocene Deposits of Sekonj Trough Event (Central Iran)

The Paleocene-Eocene successions were studied in Sekonj and Abaregh sections and located in South of Kerman in order to determine the microfacies, depositional environment and sequence stratigraphy. The deposits in the studied area are mainly composed of limestone, sandstone, conglomerate and shale. The obtained data from the field and laboratory observations led to identification of 11 microfacies which represent the coastal, tidal flat, lagoon, barrier and proximal open marine which were deposited in a carbonate-siliciclastic ramp environment. The sedimentology evidences, vertical analysis of microfacies, facies and relative sea level changes represent that the Paleocene-Eocene succession deposits have two 3rd depositional sequences in the studied area. The sequence 2 cannot be recognized completely due to the lack of outcrop. Sequence stratigraphic studies show an upward shallowing trend corresponding to the global sea level changes from the base to the upward of the succession.
Variations in Cascadia Low‐Frequency Earthquake Behavior With Downdip Distance

We identify and characterize four different low‐frequency earthquake (LFE) families (LFEs 1–4, ordered updip to downdip) that span the width of the transition zone in the Cascadia Subduction Zone beneath western Washington State. We find that LFE swarm duration, recurrence interval, and event size decrease systematically with increasing depth. LFE moments are observed to follow an exponential distribution rather than a power law distribution, allowing us to determine a characteristic event size for each family. Absolute locations of these LFE families place them very near the inferred Juan de Fuca‐North America plate interface. Relative relocation of individual LFEs within each family reveal elongation parallel to the plate convergence direction and narrow depth distributions with dips corresponding to plate interface models. We interpret the behavior of our LFE families as indicative of slow slip at those locations on the plate interface. The tidal response of LFE activity at LFEs 1, 2, and 3 during a large episodic tremor and slip (ETS) event follows a previously observed evolution, in which tidal response during the initial 1 to 2 days of slip at an LFE patch is much weaker than that during the next few days of slip. The brief bursts of activity at LFE4, although little affected by large episodic tremor and slip events, respond strongly to tidal stresses. Our observed along‐dip contrasts in recurrence behavior and tidal response provide evidence for stress transfer and increased frictional strength with position updip through the tremor zone.
Comparative genomics and evolution of regulons of the LacI-family transcription factors

DNA-binding transcription factors (TFs) are essential components of transcriptional regulatory networks in bacteria. LacI-family TFs (LacI-TFs) are broadly distributed among certain lineages of bacteria. The majority of characterized LacI-TFs sense sugar effectors and regulate carbohydrate utilization genes. The comparative genomics approaches enable in silico identification of TF-binding sites and regulon reconstruction. To study the function and evolution of LacI-TFs, we performed genomics-based reconstruction and comparative analysis of their regulons. For over 1300 LacI-TFs from over 270 bacterial genomes, we predicted their cognate DNA-binding motifs and identified target genes. Using the genome context and metabolic subsystem analyses of reconstructed regulons, we tentatively assigned functional roles and predicted candidate effectors for 78 and 67% of the analyzed LacI-TFs, respectively. Nearly 90% of the studied LacI-TFs are local regulators of sugar utilization pathways, whereas the remaining 125 global regulators control large and diverse sets of metabolic genes. The global LacI-TFs include the previously known regulators CcpA in Firmicutes, FruR in Enterobacteria, and PurR in Gammaproteobacteria, as well as the three novel regulators—GluR, GapR, and PckR—that are predicted to control the central carbohydrate metabolism in three lineages of Alphaproteobacteria. Phylogenetic analysis of regulators combined with the reconstructed regulons provides a model of evolutionary diversification of the LacI protein family. The obtained genomic collection of in silico reconstructed LacI-TF regulons in bacteria is available in the RegPrecise database (http://regprecise.lbl.gov). It provides a framework for future structural and functional classification of the LacI protein family and identification of molecular determinants of the DNA and ligand specificity. The inferred regulons can be also used for functional gene annotation and reconstruction of sugar catabolic networks in diverse bacterial lineages.
Mesoscopic Analysis of Self-Evolution in an Arti cial

In an algorithmic artiicial chemistry the objects (molecules) are data and the interactions (reactions) among them are deened by an algorithm. The same object can appear in two forms: (1) as a machine (operator) or (2) as data (operand). Thus, the same object can, on the one hand, process other objects or, on the other hand, it can be processed. This dual-ism enables to implicitly deene a constructive artiicial chemistry which exhibits quite complex behavior. Remarkably , even evolutionary behavior emerged in our experiments, without deening any explicit variation operators or tness-function. In addition to microscopic methods (e.g., monitoring the actions of single molecules) and macroscopic measures (e.g., diversity or complexity) we developed a stepwise mesoscopic analysis method based on classiication and dynamic clustering. Knowledge about the system is accumulated by an iterative process in which measuring tools (classiicators) extract information which in turn is used to create new classiicators.
Detecting events by clustering videos from large media databases

As the number of user-generated videos rises in the Internet, there is a growing need for more efficient search tools that enable the users to find the desired content. Moreover, the associated video metadata for the content is often incomplete or even misleading. This paper addresses the problem of finding events by utilizing the video metadata from a video database by proposing two novel methods that are used in parallel. The first one is missing data compensation, which harvests missing data values from the textual descriptions in the video metadata. The second one is a layered clustering method that divides the videos in the database into clusters, each of which is considered as an event. The methods are tested with manually selected data from YouTube. The results show that missing data compensation yields better results in terms of accuracy than using ram data, and that the clustering method provides acceptable results and is a promising approach for further research.
UvA @ Home Team Description paper 2017

This team description paper describes the approaches that will be taken by the UvA@Home team to compete in Standard Platform League with the Softbank Robotics Pepper. The research challenges concern person recognition, object recognition, natural language processing and navigation. Modules implemented so far include face recognition, speech recognition and natural language processing. The remaining challenges will be solved using the previous research and achievements of the UvA teams in the RoboCup.
Dynamic updating for sparse time varying signals

Many signal processing applications revolve around finding a sparse solution to a (often underdetermined) system of linear equations. Recent results in compressive sensing (CS) have shown that when the signal we are trying to acquire is sparse and the measurements are incoherent, the signal can be reconstructed reliably from an incomplete set of measurements. However, the signal recovery is an involved process, usually requiring the solution of an ℓ1 minimization program. In this paper we discuss the problem of estimating a time-varying sparse signal from a series of linear measurements. We propose an efficient way to dynamically update the solution to two types of ℓ1 problems when the underlying signal changes. The proposed dynamic update scheme is based on homotopy continuation, which systematically breaks down the solution update into a small number of linear steps. The computational cost for each step is just a few matrix-vector multiplications.
Methodology for Memory Analysis and Optimization in Embedded Systems

This paper describes a methodology for memory analysis and optimization of embedded system design with the goal of reducing memory usage. It acts as a guide to optimize the memory module of the embedded systems in an efficiently way, by which the design-time optimization can be achieve. Two typical embedded signal-processing applications are implemented using the proposed method, gaining 67% and 31% reduction of system memory requirement, respectively.
Physiological responses to weight-loss intervention in inactive obese African-American and Caucasian women.

BACKGROUND The physiological responses of inactive obese premenopausal African-American and Caucasian women to the identical exercise training and behavior modification program were compared. METHODS Inactive obese (96.1+/- 2.9 kg, BMI=34.8 +/- 0.7 kg/m2, % body fat=46.0 +/- 0.8; mean +/- SEM) premenopausal (36 +/- 2 yrs) African-American (n=10) and Caucasian (n=19) women were included. Resting metabolic rate (RMR), respiratory exchange ratio (RER), and maximal aerobic power (VO2max) were measured by indirect calorimetry, and body composition by plethysmography. Resting and maximal heart rates, blood glucose and lipids, and blood pressure were also measured. Treatment consisted of a 13-week diet and exercise behavior modification program. Group mean comparisons were made with a Student's "t"-test or an ANCOVA, which controlled for individual differences in body mass and lean body mass (LBM). Significance was set at p<0.05. RESULTS Initially, the groups were not significantly different in height, mass, BMI, age, % body fat, fat mass, LBM, girth measurements, RMR, RER, VO2max, blood pressure, or cholesterol profile. The number of weeks completed, number of exercise sessions completed, total minutes of exercise for the entire intervention, average minutes of daily exercise, and total estimated exercise energy expenditure were all similar between groups. Furthermore, both groups reported similar dietary compliance. Both groups reduced body mass, BMI, LBM, girth measurements, and increased VO2max (mlO2 x kg-1 x min-1) significantly and similarly. CONCLUSIONS African-American and Caucasian women respond the same physiologically to weight loss intervention. The higher prevalence in obesity for African-American women is not due to a different physiological response to diet and exercise.