Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Review of Land-use Regression Models for Characterizing Intraurban Air Pollution Exposure

Epidemiologic studies of air pollution require accurate exposure assessments at unmonitored locations in order to minimize exposure misclassification. One approach gaining considerable interest is the land-use regression (LUR) model. Generally, the LUR model has been utilized to characterize air pollution exposure and health effects for individuals residing within urban areas. The objective of this article is to briefly summarize the history and application of LUR models to date outlining similarities and differences of the variables included in the model, model development, and model validation. There were 6 studies available for a total of 12 LUR models. Our findings indicated that among these studies, the four primary classes of variables used were road type, traffic count, elevation, and land cover. Of these four, traffic count was generally the most important. The model R2 explaining the variability in the exposure estimates for these LUR models ranged from.54 to.81. The number of air sampling sites generating the exposure estimates, however, was not correlated with the model R2 suggesting that the locations of the sampling sites may be of greater importance than the total number of sites. The primary conclusion of this study is that LUR models are an important tool for integrating traffic and geographic information to characterize variability in exposures.
Towards fast and interactive prototypes of mobile apps

With the advent of modern mobile phones and tablet devices unprecedented opportunities arise to create rich user experiences that incorporate the context in which the interaction is situated. Sensors and other built-in technologies provide designers with a variety of possibilities for new and exciting applications. Since building such applications requires specialists there is an increasing demand for tools supporting people without programming skills to access, explore and design for the opportunities of mobile devices. In this paper we present a novel prototyping system named FamOz that combines the ease of paper prototyping with the efficiency of Wizard of Oz while exploiting the interactivity offered by new mobile devices. FamOz allows designers and researchers to evaluate mobile prototypes in situated real-world settings in an early stage of development.
Leptin Regulates Functional Capacities of Polymorphonuclear Neutrophils

Recent studies report that leptin may be able to modulate some functions of cells involved in non-specific immune response. We recently found that a functional leptin receptor is present on polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) and may be able to influence their oxidative capacities. We demonstrate here for the first time that leptin is also able to stimulate chemotaxis of PMNs and exerts by itself a chemoattractive effect comparable to that of well-known formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine, and a stimulating effect on intracellular hydrogen peroxide production, without modification of phagocytosis
DNA Libraries for the Construction of Phage Libraries: Statistical and Structural Requirements and Synthetic Methods

Peptide-based molecular probes identified by bacteriophage (phage) display technology expand the peptide repertoire for in vivo diagnosis and therapy of cancer. Numerous peptides that bind cancer-associated antigens have been discovered by panning phage libraries. However, until now only few of the peptides selected by phage display have entered clinical applications. The success of phage derived peptides essentially depends on the quality of the library screened. This review summarizes the methods to achieve highly homogenous libraries that cover a maximal sequence space. Biochemical and chemical strategies for the synthesis of DNA libraries and the techniques for their integration into the viral genome are discussed in detail. A focus is set on the methods that enable the exclusion of disturbing sequences. In addition, the parameters that define the variability, the minimal numbers of copies per library and the use of alternating panning cycles to avoid the loss of selected hits are evaluated.
RF-Rec: Fast and Accurate Computation of Recommendations Based on Rating Frequencies

The goal of recommender systems (RS) is to provide personalized recommendations of products or services to users facing the problem of information overload on the Web. The most popular approaches to retrieve the most relevant items for a user are collaborative filtering (CF) recommendation algorithms and in particular in recent years a number of sophisticated algorithms based, e.g., on matrix factorization or machine learning, have been proposed to improve the predictive accuracy of RS. In our recent work, we proposed a novel recommendation scheme called RF-Rec, which generates predictions simply by counting and combining the frequencies of the different rating values in the usual user-item rating matrix. The scheme has some key advantages when compared with more sophisticated techniques. It is trivial to implement, can generate predictions in constant time and has a high prediction coverage. In this paper we propose extensions to our method in order to further increase the predictive accuracy by introducing schemes to weight and parameterize the components of the predictor. An evaluation on three standard test data sets reveals that the accuracy of our new schemes is higher than traditional CF algorithms in particular on sparse data sets and on a par with a recent matrix factorization algorithm. At the same time, the key advantages of the basic scheme such as computational efficiency, scalability, simplicity and the support for incremental updates are still maintained.
Globalization, postcolonial Englishes, and the English language press in Kenya, Singapore, and Trinidad and Tobago

This paper analyzes online English-language newspapers from the former British colonies of Kenya, Singapore, and Trinidad and Tobago with respect to Americanisms in spelling and vocabulary. The guiding question is whether the degree of Americanization can be related to the different degrees to which these countries participate in globalization. It is shown that the influence of American English is least pronounced in Kenya and most in Trinidad and Tobago, with Singapore in between, and that globalization is indeed a factor, but that other factors including official language attitudes play a role as well. The role of international news agencies in disseminating Americanisms is also considered and is found to be prominent mainly in the case of Singapore.
Detection of embB306 Mutations in Ethambutol-Susceptible Clinical Isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from Northwestern Russia: Implications for Genotypic Resistance Testing

ABSTRACT A total of 183 epidemiologically unlinked Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates collected in the St. Petersburg area of Russia from 1996 to 2001 were screened for alterations in codon 306 of the embB gene; mutations in this codon are reported to confer resistance to ethambutol (EMB). The embB306 mutations were detected in 14 (48.3%) of 29 EMB-resistant strains and, quite surprisingly, in 48 (31.2%) of 154 EMB-susceptible strains. A discrepancy between the results of phenotypic and genotypic EMB resistance tests was restricted to the strains already resistant to other antitubercular (anti-TB) drugs. In particular, 40 (60%) of the 69 EMB-susceptible strains resistant to rifampin, isoniazid, and streptomycin but none of the 43 pansusceptible strains harbored an embB306 mutation. We hypothesize that the phenomenon observed could reflect the presence of a target other than EmbB for the drug in tubercle bacilli; this unknown target could be sensitized and affected, sensu lato, by EMB during treatment with other first-line anti-TB drugs. Comparison with DNA fingerprinting data showed that, irrespectively of the phenotypic susceptibility profiles, 46 (50.6%) of 91 Beijing family strains and 16 (17.4%) of 92 strains of other genotypes had a mutation in embB306.
Workaholism Determinant Variables of Social Workers and Care Workers in Senior Welfare Centers in Korea

South Korea has an organizational culture that stresses the value of labor and performance. This has increased the possibility that employees of senior welfare centers will become workaholics and that working hours will increase to boost performance outputs. Until now, however, there are hardly any studies that deal with the problems caused by the workaholism of employees of senior welfare centers. This study was conducted to measure the level of workaholism of employees of senior welfare centers and to determine the factors that affect such workaholism. A quantitative research was conducted using a questionnaire for 646 social workers and care workers in senior welfare centers in Seoul. The results of the study showed that one-third of the subjects had experienced workaholism; 25.5% were mild workaholics; and 9.4% were severe workaholics. The statistically significant variables that included approval motivation, the average wage per month, the average number of working hours per week, family cohesion, and achievement motivation were found to have affected the workaholism of the subjects. To prevent or ease the workaholism of employees of senior welfare centers, some suggestions were given that included the improvement of working conditions, benefit packages, and the organizational culture and personnel management of senior welfare centers, and efforts to change family culture. Received July 3,2012 Accepted September 20,2012 Published October 31,2012 Asian Journal of Human Services , VOL.3 87-104 Human Services 88 Workaholism, senior welfare center, social worker, approval motivation, family cohesion Asian J Human Services, 2012, 3:87-104. © 2012 Asian Society of Human Services
Mycosis fungoides: a dermatological masquerader

Mycosis fungoides (MF), a low‐grade lymphoproliferative disorder, is the most common type of cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma. Typically, neoplastic T cells localize to the skin and produce patches, plaques, tumours or erythroderma. Diagnosis of MF can be difficult due to highly variable presentations and the sometimes nonspecific nature of histological findings. Molecular biology has improved the diagnostic accuracy. Nevertheless, clinical experience is of substantial importance as MF can resemble a wide variety of skin diseases. We performed a literature review and found that MF can mimic >50 different clinical entities. We present a structured framework of clinical variations of classical, unusual and distinct forms of MF. Distinct subforms such as ichthyotic MF, adnexotropic (including syringotropic and folliculotropic) MF, MF with follicular mucinosis, granulomatous MF with granulomatous slack skin and papuloerythroderma of Ofuji are delineated in more detail.
Parameter optimisation for vision guided terrestrial locomotion: Multi-frame

During locomotion, Autonomous Ground Vehicles (AGV) need to map the surface of the ground ahead in order to plan a safe route of passage. Algorithms that achieve this are all derived from a basic requirement to track pixels between successive frames. This paper establishes the effect of tracking error on depth estimation with different image-plane geometries and presents an argument for tight control of the camera orientation. It is found that the effect of tracking error is invariant with camera angle for a concave image-plane but varies non-linearly with angle for both flat and inverse-flat image-planes. Pairs of frames are produced by each camera from a simulated scene and a selection of algorithms are used to compute the optical flow. It is shown that current state-of-the-art optical flow algorithms can successfully track pixels across concave and inverse-flat image-planes. This results in comparable depth estimation accuracy to a flat image-plane but allows for improved object tracking.
Community Development in an Uncertain World: Vision, Analysis and Practice

Introduction 1. The crisis in human services and the need for community 2. Foundations of community development: an ecological perspective in a time of crisis 3. Foundations of community development: a social justice perspective 4. Foundations of community development: beyond enlightenment modernity 5. A vision for community development 6. Change from below 7. The process of community development 8. The global and the local 9. Colonialism, colonialist practice and working internationally 10. Community development: social, economic and political 11. Community development: cultural, environmental, spiritual, personal and survival 12. Principles of community development 13. Roles and skills 1: facilitative and educational 14. Roles and skills 2: representational and technical 15. The organisational context 16. Practice issues.
Surgical correction of astigmatism during cataract surgery

High levels of corneal astigmatism are prevalent in a significant proportion of the population. During cataract surgery pre‐existing astigmatism can be corrected using single or paired incisions on the steep axis of the cornea, using relaxing incisions or with the use of a toric intraocular lens. This review provides an overview of the conventional methods of astigmatic correction during cataract surgery and in particular, discusses the various types of toric lenses presently available and the techniques used in determining the correct axis for the placement of such lenses. Furthermore, the potential causes of rotation in toric lenses are identified, along with techniques for assessing and quantifying the amount of rotation and subsequent management options for addressing post‐operative rotation.
Processing of contour information by human infants evidenced by pattern-dependent evoked potentials.

KARMEL, BERNARD Z. ; HOFFMANN, ROBERT F. ; and FEGY, MARTIN J. Processing of Contour Information by Human Infants Evidenced by Pattern-dependent Evoked Potentials. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1974, 45, 39-48. Visually evoked potentials (VEPs) elicited by checkerboard stimuli varying in check size (from 20' to 50) or arrangement (redundant or random) were recorded from the occipital pole of 55-107-day-old infants, using 2 techniques of pattern presentation. Patterns were illuminated with either brief light flashes (tachistoscopic presentation, N = 33) or a light with intensity varying sinusoidally (modulated presentation, N = 7). Both techniques yielded similar results in that an inverted U-shaped function related contour density (as measured by the square root of the total of all lengths of black-white transitions in the pattern) to variations in the amplitude of the positive component peak (P2) which occurred 100 msec after light onset; p < . 001, r = . 88. The maximum P2 amplitude was found to shift toward stimuli with greater contour densities as chronological (CA) and neurological (NA) age increased where NA was based on the latency from stimulus onset of P2. This shift did not appear to be related to increases in gestational age (GA) where GA was based on reported due date. The inverted U-shaped function of VEP component amplitudes and shifts in function maximum toward increases in contour density as CA increases was identical with that reported by Karmel (1969a) for total time spent fixating comparable stimuli.
An analytical study of cooperative data dissemination in push-based mobile environments

Caching is an important technique for improving the data retrieval performance of mobile clients who store frequently needed data items in their local cache, often of a limited size. With the concept of cooperative data dissemination (CDD), the mobile clients not only retrieve data items from mobile support stations, but also from the cache in their peers. This paper describes a CDD framework in a push-based mobile environment and proposes a generic analytical model for evaluating the performance of the CDD framework in terms of the access latency and the tune-in time. Analytical results show that CDD effectively reduces the data access latency and tune-in time in the push-based mobile environment. The results of this work provide requisite knowledge and insights for designing new CDD frameworks in the push-based mobile environment.
The Expression of MicroRNA-155 in Plasma and Tissue Is Matched in Human Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Purpose Tumor-associated microRNAs have been detected in cancer, though whether plasma microRNA-155 (miR-155) could be a potential biomarker for laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) prognosis is unclear. We aimed to determine how miR-155 can be used to predict the clinical characteristics of patients with LSCC and correctly diagnose them. Materials and Methods We collected tissue samples and peripheral blood samples before and after treatment from 280 LSCC cases and 560 controls. Real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR was employed in this study to compare the relative expression of miR-155. Results A total of 280 LSCC patients and 560 age- and sex-matched controls were included in the study. The miR-155 level was more up-regulated in LSCC tissue than in the non-tumor tissues (13.6±2.4 vs. 3.1±0.80, p<0.001). Additionally, a significantly higher miR-155 level in plasma samples from LSCC patients than in those of the controls (8.9±1.25 vs. 1.8±0.8, p<0.001) was reported. Tissue miR-155 showed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.933, with a sensitivity of 82.6% and a specificity of 89.2%. The AUC for plasma miR-155 was 0.757, with a sensitivity of 58.4% and a specificity of 69.5%. When early LSCC in TNM I stage was considered, tissue miR-155 showed an area under the curve of 0.804, with a sensitivity of 85.2% and a specificity of 87.3%. Conclusion The expression of tissue and plasma miR-155 were significantly up-regulated in patients with LSCC. Our work will serve as a basis for further investigation, preferably large-scale validation in clinical trials.
A Distinctive Approach To Psychological Research : The Influence of Stanley Schachter

A personal memory / Leon Festinger -- The role of the mentor / Jerome E. Sing -- The jury on trial / Lawrence S. Wrightsman -- Social comparison, behavior contagion, and the naturalistic study of social interaction / Ladd Wheeler - From student to colleague / Bibb Latane -- Lay personality theory / Richard Nisbett -- The problem of construal in social inference and social psycholog Lee Ross -- Social psychological risk and protective factors in health and illness / Judith Rodin -- Internal andexternal control of behavior / C. Pete Herman -- Observations, demonstrations, and applciations : research on cigarettes, walking, and sense-of-direction / Lynn T. Kozlowski -- Cigarette smoking and money / Neil E. Grunberg.
Correlation of Cerebrovascular Symptoms and Microembolic Signals With the Stratified Gray-Scale Median Analysis and Color Mapping of the Carotid Plaque

Background and Purpose— To determine whether a stratified gray-scale median (GSM) analysis of the carotid plaque combined with color mapping correlated better with the presence of neurological symptoms and microembolic signals (MES) than a whole plaque measurement. Methods— A total of 131 patients presenting 167 carotid stenoses between 30% and 99% were analyzed by ultrasound. Emboli detection was performed by transcranial Doppler. For each plaque, the GSM values at depth 0 mm (surface) and at one third (30) and one half (50) of the plaque thickness were compared with the values obtained for the whole plaque. The plaque pixels were mapped into 3 colors: red, yellow and green, depending on their GSM value. Results— Mean GSM values were lower among symptomatic plaques, but a statistically significant difference between values of the whole plaque and those of the surface was obtained only for MES+ stenoses (P<0.01). In a proportional odds logistic regression model based on 4 subgroups with an increasing clinical risk (MES−/symptoms−; MES−/symptoms+; MES+/symptoms−; +; MES+/symptoms+), low mean GSM values and the predominant red color at the surface were independent factors associated with the presence of symptoms or MES (P<0.0005). Furthermore, compared with a whole plaque measurement, analysis of the surface values predicted systematically with a greater sensitivity and specificity (receiver operating characteristic curves) each one of these 4 subgroups. Conclusions— Low mean GSM values and predominance of the red color at the surface correlated with most of the symptomatic or MES+ stenoses. This combined approach should be further investigated in a longitudinal study.
Nucleotide sequence of rat renin cDNA.

We have isolated cDNA clones for renin from a Sprague-Dawley rat kidney cDNA library containing a large amount of renin poly(A)+RNA induced by treatment of captopril and low sodium diet as described( 1 ) . A recombinant xongC library was screened with the mouse cDNA as a probe (2). A nucleotide sequence of the isolated cDNA was completely consistent with that deduced from the rat renin gene (3), and almost with that of the previous report(4), except for the followings: seven nucleotides in the coding and 3'-noncoding region including a polyadenylation site. Three of these seven nucleotide changes did alter two of the deduced amino acid sequences (indicated by boxes). M
Treating Components and Connectors Explicitly during Software Design An Approach Based on Software Architecture

Software Architecture(SA) is considered a critical factor in software design. The adoption of an approach that treats architecture explicitly, emphasizing the separation between “computation” and “communication”, is considered an important aspect in obtaining certain benefits (e.g., reuse in high levels of abstraction). However, explicit treatment of SA has not been the focus of the most used software processes, due to some reasons: SA use specific terminology (components, connectors and configuration); the fact that SA is an emerging discipline; and little support from available tools. In this paper, we present ArcADe (software Architecture-based Analysis and Design process), a process that integrates concepts and patterns largely used in SA. This process has been influenced by the RUP (Rational Unified Process) and deals with relationships between requirements and architectural abstractions, elaboration, representation and materialization of software architecture.
Sociological Theories Relating to Mental Disabilities in Racial and Ethnic Minority Populations

Research has demonstrated that mental disorders are one of the leading causes of disability in the United States. The level of mental health need is particularly high for members of racial and ethnic minority groups who, despite similar to higher mental disorder and disability prevalence rates, use fewer mental health services in comparison to whites and tend to receive poorer quality care when they do use services. Though the existence of mental health disparities is well established, solid explanations for their causes are less so. This literature review examines major theories in the discipline of sociology with the aim of elucidating reasons for the preponderance of differential mental health impacts across racial lines. Specifically, it discusses the theories of social causation or fundamental causes, social stress theory, social capital theory, political economy of health, and ecosocial theory. The relevance of each of these general sociological theories to the specific topics of mental health, disorder, and disability is emphasized, and a special lens is turned toward the differential disability exposures and impacts of minority individuals within their social systems.