Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Semi-supervised learning to rank with preference regularization

We propose a semi-supervised learning to rank algorithm. It learns from both labeled data (pairwise preferences or absolute labels) and unlabeled data. The data can consist of multiple groups of items (such as queries), some of which may contain only unlabeled items. We introduce a preference regularizer favoring that similar items are similar in preference to each other. The regularizer captures manifold structure in the data, and we also propose a rank-sensitive version designed for top-heavy retrieval metrics including NDCG and mean average precision. The regularizer is employed in SSLambdaRank, a semi-supervised version of LambdaRank. This algorithm directly optimizes popular retrieval metrics and improves retrieval accuracy over LambdaRank, a state-of-the-art ranker that was used as part of the winner of the Yahoo! Learning to Rank challenge 2010. The algorithm runs in linear time in the number of queries, and can work with huge datasets.
Endoscopic study of the morphology of Vieussens valve

Vieussens valve (Vv) is the ostial valve of the great cardiac vein located near the beginning of the coronary sinus. Knowledge of its anatomy is important for several trans‐sinus cardiologic procedures. The frequency of its presence is reported to vary from 65–87%. We documented the post mortem morphology of Vieussens valve in 50 unfixed, intact human coronary sinuses using endoscopy. We believe this is the first study of the anatomy of the coronary sinus and the adjacent venous ostia to employ this technique. Vieussens valve was observed in 78% of specimens. Special attention was given to the shape of the valve leaflets. Five morphological types of Vv were distinguished: single leaflet, flat (16%); single leaflet, concave (20%); double leaflet, flat (8%); double leaflet, concave (32%); and triple leaflet, concave (2%). We found post mortem endoscopy of the coronary sinus to be a good and reliable method of visualizing Vieussens valve. Clin. Anat. 17:318–321, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Comparing and evaluating mapping systems with STBenchmark

Schema mappings are fundamental building blocks in many information integration applications. Designing mappings is a time-consuming process and for that reason many mapping systems have been developed to assist in the task of designing mappings. However, to the best of our knowledge, a benchmark for comparing and evaluating these systems has not yet been developed. We demonstrate STBenchmark, a benchmark that we have developed for evaluating mapping systems. Our demonstration will showcase the different aspects of mapping systems that STBenchmark evaluates, highlight the results of our comparison and evaluation of four mapping systems, as well as make a case for the need for a standard specification input mechanism to mapping systems in order to make progress towards the development of a uniform testbed or repository for schema mappings and data exchange tasks.
Score tests for association of traits with haplotypes when linkage phase is ambiguous

A suite of S-PLUS routines, referred to as "haplo.score", can be used to compute score statistics to test associations between haplotypes and a wide variety of traits, including binary, ordinal, quantitative, and Poisson. These methods assume that all subjects are unrelated and that haplotypes are ambiguous (due to unknown linkage phase of the genetic markers). The methods provide several different global and haplotype-specific tests for association, as well as provide adjustment for non-genetic covariates and computation of simulation p-values (which may be needed for sparse data). Details on the background and theory of the score statistics can be found in the following reference:
Auditory-visual speech to infants and adults: signals and correlations

We investigated how the properties of Infant Directed Speech (IDS) and Adult Directed Speech (ADS) differed in acoustics and in speech-related articulation. Both the degree to which auditory and motion properties changed as a function of speech style (IDS vs. ADS) as well as how the correlation between properties was affected by this change were examined. The acoustic properties of 13 sentences uttered by six mothers either to their infant or to an adult and the corresponding 3D motion of face and head markers were measured. Mean speech duration was longer and mean pitch higher for IDS; the IDS vowel space was also expanded compared to ADS; and all face and head motions were greater in IDS. Moderate correlations were found between speech acoustics and face and head motion. These correlations were consistently larger for ADS compared to IDS.
Cross-Layer Scheduling for OFDMA Amplify-and-Forward Relay Networks

In this paper, we consider cross-layer scheduling for the downlink of amplify-and-forward (AF) relay-assisted orthogonal frequency-division multiple-access (OFDMA) networks. The proposed cross-layer design takes into account the effects of imperfect channel-state information (CSI) at the transmitter (CSIT) in slow fading. The rate, power, and subcarrier allocation policies are optimized to maximize the system goodput (in bits per second per hertz successfully received by the users). The optimization problem is solved by using dual decomposition, resulting in a highly scalable distributed iterative resource-allocation algorithm. We also investigate the asymptotic performance of the proposed scheduler with respect to (w.r.t.) the numbers of users and relays. We find that the number of relays should grow faster than the number of users to fully exploit the multiuser diversity (MUD) gain. On the other hand, diversity from multiple relays can be exploited to enhance system performance when the MUD gain is saturated due to noise amplification at the AF relays. Furthermore, we introduce a feedback-reduction scheme to reduce the computational burden and the required amount of CSI feedback from the users to the relays. Simulation results confirm the derived analytical results for the growth of the system goodput and illustrate that the proposed distributed cross-layer scheduler only requires a small number of iterations to achieve practically the same performance as the optimal centralized scheduler, even if the information exchanged between the base station (BS) and the relays in each iteration is quantized, and the proposed CSI feedback reduction scheme is employed.
Optimal Project Rejection and New Firm Start-Ups

We study the decision of an established firm to commercialize innovations. An innovation can be exploited by the established firm as an internal venture, pursued by a new firm start-up as an external venture, or not commercialized at all. The limited commercialization capacity of the established firm in the short run results in an option value of waiting. In this setup, start-up firms emerge when the established firm is generating many innovations or is selective because the option value of waiting is high, or both. The model predicts that innovations commercialized through internal ventures are characterized by a higher fit with the internal resources of the established firm, a higher cannibalization of the established firm's existing businesses, and a lower profitability than innovations commercialized through external ventures. The model furthermore generates predictions on the relation between firm performance and spin-off performance.
SNP2TFBS – a database of regulatory SNPs affecting predicted transcription factor binding site affinity

SNP2TFBS is a computational resource intended to support researchers investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying regulatory variation in the human genome. The database essentially consists of a collection of text files providing specific annotations for human single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), namely whether they are predicted to abolish, create or change the affinity of one or several transcription factor (TF) binding sites. A SNP's effect on TF binding is estimated based on a position weight matrix (PWM) model for the binding specificity of the corresponding factor. These data files are regenerated at regular intervals by an automatic procedure that takes as input a reference genome, a comprehensive SNP catalogue and a collection of PWMs. SNP2TFBS is also accessible over a web interface, enabling users to view the information provided for an individual SNP, to extract SNPs based on various search criteria, to annotate uploaded sets of SNPs or to display statistics about the frequencies of binding sites affected by selected SNPs. Homepage: http://ccg.vital-it.ch/snp2tfbs/.
Shift Work, Jet Lag, and Female Reproduction

Circadian rhythms and “clock gene” expression are involved in successful reproductive cycles, mating, and pregnancy. Alterations or disruptions of biological rhythms, as commonly occurs in shift work, jet lag, sleep deprivation, or clock gene knock out models, are linked to significant disruptions in reproductive function. These impairments include altered hormonal secretion patterns, reduced conception rates, increased miscarriage rates and an increased risk of breast cancer. Female health may be particularly susceptible to the impact of desynchronizing work schedules as perturbed hormonal rhythms can further influence the expression patterns of clock genes. Estrogen modifies clock gene expression in the uterus, ovaries, and suprachiasmatic nucleus, the site of the primary circadian clock mechanism. Further work investigating clock genes, light exposure, ovarian hormones, and reproductive function will be critical for indentifying how these factors interact to impact health and susceptibility to disease.
Greek adolescents, fitness, fatness, fat intake, activity, and coronary heart disease risk.

BACKGROUND A dramatic increase in adult mortality rates from coronary heart disease (CHD) in Greece, accompanied by increased prevalence of CHD risk factors in children, has been documented. However, there is controversy about the independent effects of certain lifestyle parameters on primary CHD risk factors. AIMS AND METHODS To examine the association between CHD risk factors (HDL-C, LDL-C, HDL-C/TC, triglycerides, systolic and diastolic blood pressure) and lifestyle parameters (fitness, fatness, fat intake, and physical activity) in 210 12-year old Greek pupils. RESULTS Correcting for the fixed factors of gender and maturation, analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) with backward elimination of the lifestyle covariates revealed significant associations between three CHD risk factors (HDL-C, HDL-C/TC, systolic blood pressure) and physical activity levels. In contrast, the covariates aerobic fitness, fatness and fat intake failed to reach significance with any of the CHD risk factors. CONCLUSIONS In Greek schoolchildren, primary CHD risk factors are mainly associated with physical activity levels, independently of fitness, fatness, and/or fat intake. Prevention strategies should concentrate on enhancing physical activity early in life, if the increased prevalence of Greek adult CHD mortality is to be diminished.
A Novel and Conserved Protein-Protein Interaction Domain of Mammalian Lin-2/CASK Binds and Recruits SAP97 to the Lateral Surface of Epithelia

ABSTRACT Mammalian Lin-2 (mLin-2)/CASK is a membrane-associated guanylate kinase (MAGUK) and contains multidomain modules that mediate protein-protein interactions important for the establishment and maintenance of neuronal and epithelial cell polarization. The importance of mLin-2/CASK in mammalian development is demonstrated by the fact that mutations in mLin-2/CASK or SAP97, another MAGUK protein, lead to cleft palate in mice. We recently identified a new protein-protein interaction domain, called the L27 domain, which is present twice in mLin-2/CASK. In this report, we further define the binding of the L27C domain of mLin-2/CASK to the L27 domain of mLin-7 and identify the binding partner for L27N of mLin-2/CASK. Biochemical analysis reveals that this L27N domain binds to the N terminus of SAP97, a region that was previously reported to be essential for the lateral membrane recruitment of SAP97 in epithelia. Our colocalization studies, using dominant-negative mLin-2/CASK, show that the association with mLin-2/CASK is crucial for lateral localization of SAP97 in MDCK cells. We also report the identification of a novel isoform of Discs Large, a Drosophila melanogaster orthologue of SAP97, which contains a region highly related to the SAP97 N terminus and which binds Camguk, a Drosophila orthologue of mLin-2/CASK. Our data identify evolutionarily conserved protein-protein interaction domains that link mLin-2/CASK to SAP97 and account for their common phenotype when mutated in mice.
EEG Recordings in the Course of Recovery From Stroke

This study was designed to assess the value of quantified electroencephalography (EEG) in the follow-up of stroke and its possible correlation with other measures of recovery. Methods EEGs were recorded over a period of 6 months in 34 patients with ischemic stroke in the middle cerebral artery territory who underwent spectral analysis. Two groups were formed: (1) 28 patients with a Barthel Index score of less than 60 at admission and (2) 6 patients with a Barthel score of over 60 and therefore with a much better prognosis. Ten recordings were made in each patient in the first group and at least three in the second group. Motor functions and activities of daily living (ADL) were assessed three times, on admission to the study and after 3 and 6 months. Results Quantified EEG was significantly abnormal in the affected hemisphere of the first group. Side and site were not relevant. Longitudinal recordings showed a significant improvement of the power spectrum in the first 3 months. Alpha mean weighted frequency of the injured hemisphere was always slower than that of the contralateral side. All patients improved in motor performance and ADL, with the greatest gain in the first 3 months. However, no correlation between quantified EEG and clinical testing was found. By looking at individual profiles, a frequent and unpredictable instability was seen in the "unaffected" hemisphere. In those who made the best recovery, the EEG spectrum became more symmetrical over the left and right hemispheres, an aspect that continued beyond the point of a good motor and ADL recovery. Conclusions Quantified EEG undergoes early and subtle changes in the follow-up of stroke that can outlast clinical recovery. Routine evaluation for prognosis is not recommended because motor and ADL scales provide earlier and more accurate indicators. In contrast, quantified EEG can be useful for individual patients undergoing rehabilitation to monitor mechanisms of local repair and also to detect changes in the so-called normal hemisphere. It may reveal focal abnormalities that are undetected by coarse clinical evaluation and that call for appropriate neuropsychological testing.
Inferior outcome after allogeneic transplant in first remission in high‐risk AML patients who required more than two cycles of induction therapy

While some patients with high‐risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML) require one or two cycles of induction chemotherapy to achieve a complete remission (CR), others require more than two cycles. We examined the outcomes of patients with high‐risk AML who received allogeneic HPC transplant in CR1. Forty five consecutive high‐risk AML patients in CR1 were included. All 45 patients had adverse cytogenetics, FLT 3 mutations, or secondary AML. Group A patients (n = 33) received one or two cycles, and Group B (n = 12) three or more cycles of induction chemotherapy. The patients were comparable in age, sex, white cell count at presentation, and time from diagnosis and from last chemotherapy to transplant. The 100‐day mortality rate was higher in Group B patients (50% vs. 9%, P = 0.006). They had a higher non‐relapse mortality (33% vs. 6%, P = 0.035) and a longer length of hospital stay from the day of stem cell infusion (median 21 vs. 20, P = 0.02; third quartile 22 vs. 28, P = 0.02). There was also a trend toward inferior event‐free survival and overall survival. High‐risk AML patients undergoing allogeneic transplant in CR1 after three or more cycles of induction chemotherapy have an inferior outcome and higher mortality when compared to those who only needed one or two cycles of induction chemotherapy. Novel strategies are needed to reduce the transplant‐related mortality in high‐risk AML patients needing more than two cycles of induction chemotherapy prior to allogeneic transplant in CR1. Am. J. Hematol. 90:715–718, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Skeletal scintigraphy in acquired adult Fanconi syndrome.

Tc-99m dicarboxypropane diphosphonate (DPD) bone scintigraphy in a 74-year-old patient with a 1-year history of generalized bone pain revealed multiple foci of increased tracer accumulation. Laboratory tests showed hypophosphatemia and an elevated alkaline phosphatase level. Fanconi syndrome was diagnosed with combined tubular reabsorption defects for phosphate, glucose, amino acids, and bicarbonate. Immuno-electrophoresis and bone marrow aspiration revealed monoclonal gammopathy of the immunoglobulin G kappa type and Bence-Jones proteinuria. Iliac crest biopsy revealed severe osteomalacia. Based on these findings, the diagnosis of monoclonal gammopathy and secondary Fanconi syndrome with subsequent hypophosphatemic osteomalacia was established. Clinical signs and symptoms improved gradually with phosphate substitution. Finally, overt multiple myeloma developed.
Lock-Free Algorithms under Stochastic Schedulers

In this work, we consider the following random process, motivated by the analysis of lock-free concurrent algorithms under high memory contention. In each round, a new scheduling step is allocated to one of n threads, according to a distribution p = (p1, p2, ., pn), where thread i is scheduled with probability pi. When some thread first reaches a set threshold of executed steps, it registers a win, completing its current operation, and resets its step count to 1. At the same time, threads whose step count was close to the threshold also get reset because of the win, but to 0 steps, being penalized for almost winning. We are interested in two questions: how often does some thread complete an operation (system latency), and how often does a specific thread complete an operation (individual latency)? We provide asymptotically tight bounds for the system and individual latency of this general concurrency pattern, for arbitrary scheduling distributions p. Surprisingly, a simple characterization exists: in expectation, the system will complete a new operation every Θ(1 / |p|2) steps, while thread i will complete a new operation every Θ(|p|2 / pi2) steps. The proof is interesting in its own right, as it requires a careful analysis of how the higher norms of the vector p influence the thread step counts and latencies in this random process. Our result offers a simple connection between the scheduling distribution and the average performance of concurrent algorithms, which has several applications.
Estimation From Relative Measurements: Electrical Analogy and Large Graphs

We examine the problem of estimating vector-valued variables from noisy measurements of the difference between certain pairs of them. This problem, which is naturally posed in terms of a measurement graph, arises in applications such as sensor network localization, time synchronization, and motion consensus. We obtain a characterization on the minimum possible covariance of the estimation error when an arbitrarily large number of measurements are available. This covariance is shown to be equal to a matrix-valued effective resistance in an infinite electrical network. Covariance in large finite graphs converges to this effective resistance as the size of the graphs increases. This convergence result provides the formal justification for regarding large finite graphs as infinite graphs, which can be exploited to determine scaling laws for the estimation error in large finite graphs. Furthermore, these results indicate that in large networks, estimation algorithms that use small subsets of all the available measurements can still obtain accurate estimates.
Creativity and the Management of Change

1. The Basic MBA and Beyond. 2. Creativity: The Slumbering Giant of Organizational Studies. 3. Innovation Revised. 4. Marketing and Strategy Revisited. 5. Decision-Making Revisited. 6. Culture and Climate Issues. 7. Leadership and Managerialism. 8. The Management of Change. 9. Postmodernism: A Jolt to the System? 10. Economics and Beyond.
Optimal search procedures

This paper sets up a restricted class of search procedures for a satellite lost in a region of the sky. The satellite must be found by a radar search. The procedures under consideration allow the use of a preliminary search, which may be done with a wider beam than is required for the final search. The purpose of the preliminary search is to obtain a ranking of the various portions of the sky, so that the final search can examine the more likely regions of the sky first. It is shown that a preliminary search can reduce the expected search time, with no matter how wide a beam it is carried out. It is also shown that the preliminary search with the narrowest possible beam is best.
Phonological awareness and types of sound errors in preschoolers with speech sound disorders.

PURPOSE Some children with speech sound disorders (SSD) have difficulty with literacy-related skills, particularly phonological awareness (PA). This study investigates the PA skills of preschoolers with SSD by using a regression model to evaluate the degree to which PA can be concurrently predicted by types of speech sound errors. METHOD Preschoolers with SSD (n = 43) participated in PA and speech sound production assessment. Errors from a 125-item picture naming task were coded in 2 ways: (a) considering all consonant errors equally (percentage of consonants correct [PCC]) and (b) using a 3-category system that captures component features of sound errors (typical sound changes, atypical sound changes, and distortions). PA tasks included rhyme matching, onset matching, onset segmentation and matching, and blending. RESULTS Variance in a PA composite score could be predicted partly by vocabulary and age (33%). Atypical sound changes accounted for an additional 6% of variance in PA, but distortions and typical errors did not account for significant variance. When the same consonant errors were analyzed using PCC, speech errors did not predict significant variance in PA. CONCLUSIONS Poorer PA is associated with lower receptive vocabularies and more atypical sound errors. Results are interpreted in the context of the accuracy of phonological representations.
ZnO nanorod heterojunctions and LEDs

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods are of great interest due to their potential use in optoelectronic devices. Hydrothermal synthesis and electrodeposition are two very promising techniques for ZnO growth as they are simple and inexpensive and also involve low fabrication temperature, favoring the use of large area and/or flexible substrates. In this work, we investigated the influence of the seed layer on the morphology and optical properties of ZnO nanorods, as well as the influence of post-fabrication treatments, such as annealing under different conditions. To further demonstrate the potential use of ZnO nanorods in optoelectronic devices, light emitting diodes (LEDs) were also studied in this paper. We have focused on heterojunction devices with ZnO as an n-type layer, since heterojunction ZnO LEDs typically exhibit better performance compared to homojunctions. We have investigated devices using GaN and NiO as a p-type material, and in addition hybrid organic/inorganic devices were also prepared.