Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Learning Near-Optimal Cost-Sensitive Decision Policy for Object Detection

Many popular object detectors, such as AdaBoost, SVM and deformable part-based models (DPM), compute additive scoring functions at a large number of windows in an image pyramid, thus computational efficiency is an important consideration in real time applications besides accuracy. In this paper, a decision policy refers to a sequence of two-sided thresholds to execute early reject and early accept based on the cumulative scores at each step. We formulate an empirical risk function as the weighted sum of the cost of computation and the loss of false alarm and missing detection. Then a policy is said to be cost-sensitive and optimal if it minimizes the risk function. While the risk function is complex due to high-order correlations among the two-sided thresholds, we find that its upper bound can be optimized by dynamic programming efficiently. We show that the upper bound is very tight empirically and thus the resulting policy is said to be near-optimal. In experiments, we show that the decision policy outperforms state-of-the-art cascade methods significantly, in several popular detection tasks and benchmarks, in terms of computational efficiency with similar accuracy of detection.
Local autonomy, bond–rating agencies and neoliberal urbanism in the United States

The influence of bond-rating agencies on local autonomy is explored in light of recent research which views autonomy not as the degree of separation from the global economy, but rather as the nature of the interaction that places have with the wider politico-economic sphere. Based on the recent experience of American cities, it appears that the activities of rating agencies influence local autonomy more so now than during the immediate postwar period for three interrelated reasons. First, the governing turn away from federally-organized Keynesianism has transferred certain responsibilities to localities that are often funded with debt. Localities are thus more reliant on capital markets and the decisions that determine their access to such markets. Second, an increased presence of institutional investors in the municipal bond market has strengthened the investment-grade threshold because such investors are legally prohibited from holding a high percentage of speculative securities. Localities with speculative-grade debt are less able to sell their bonds than before. Third, commercial banks and locally-based lenders, which used to lend more frequently to cities (based on their own market research), are less involved in municipal debt markets than before. The knowledge vacuum created by their exit has been filled by the only other reputable sources on municipal credit: bond-rating agencies. Copyright Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishers Ltd 2002.
Low-Positive Histoplasma Antigen Results in the MVista Assay Should Not Be Assumed To Be False Positive

We read with interest the paper by Theel and Ramanan in the September issue of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology on the clinical significance of low-positive Histoplasma urine antigen results ([1][1]). The authors report that Histoplasma antigen below the limit for quantification (BLQ) in the
Primacy in the Effects of Face Exposure: Perception Is Influenced More by Faces That Are Seen First

Exposure to faces biases perceptions of subsequently viewed faces. In literature on memory, there are prominent effects of primacy in which people remember things better if they are at the beginning of a list. Here, we tested for primacy in face exposure by exposing people to faces that had been transformed in opposite directions twice. For example, in one condition, we exposed people to “plus” faces and measured how much they thought plus faces appeared normal and then exposed them to “anti” faces and again measured how much they thought plus faces appeared normal. A primacy effect would be seen if, after the second measurement, judgments of plus faces were unchanged from the first measurement whereas no primacy effect would be seen if, after the second exposure, judgments of plus faces were different from the first measurement. We found no change in normality judgment between the first and second judgments, supporting a primacy effect. Our results indicated a primacy effect in adaptation in which faces seen first affected perception more than faces seen later. This primacy effect could lead to long-lasting effects of exposure to faces.
Harnessing T cells to fight cancer with BiTE® antibody constructs – past developments and future directions

Bispecific T‐cell engager (BiTE®) antibody constructs represent a novel immunotherapy that bridges cytotoxic T cells to tumor cells, thereby inducing target cell‐dependent polyclonal T‐cell activation and proliferation, and leading to apoptosis of bound tumor cells. Anti‐CD19 BiTE® blinatumomab has demonstrated clinical activity in Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)‐negative relapsed or refractory (r/r) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) eventually resulting in conditional approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2014. This drug is currently further developed in pediatric and Ph+ r/r, as well as in minimal residual disease‐positive ALL, and might also offer clinical benefit for patients with non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma, especially for those with aggressive forms like diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma. Another BiTE® antibody construct in hemato‐oncology designated AMG 330 targets CD33 on acute myeloid leukemia blast cells. After showing promising ex vivo activity, this drug candidate has recently entered phase 1 clinical development, and has further indicated potential for combination with checkpoint inhibitors. In solid tumor indications, three BiTE® antibody constructs have been tested in phase 1 studies so far: anti‐EpCAM BiTE® AMG 110, anti‐CEA BiTE® MEDI‐565/AMG 211, and anti‐PSMA BiTE® BAY2010112/AMG 212. Pertinent questions comprise how to maximize BiTE® penetration and T‐cell infiltration of the tumor while simultaneously minimizing any adverse events, which is currently explored by a continuous intravenous infusion approach. Thus, BiTE® antibody constructs will hopefully provide new treatment options for patients in several indications with high unmet medical need.
Power Affects Performance When the Pressure Is On

The current research examines how power affects performance in pressure-filled contexts. We present low-power-threat and high-power-lift effects, whereby performance in high-stakes situations suffers or is enhanced depending on one’s power; that is, the power inherent to a situational role can produce effects similar to stereotype threat and lift. Three negotiations experiments demonstrate that role-based power affects outcomes but only when the negotiation is diagnostic of ability and, therefore, pressure-filled. We link these outcomes conceptually to threat and lift effects by showing that (a) role power affects performance more strongly when the negotiation is diagnostic of ability and (b) underperformance disappears when the low-power negotiator has an opportunity to self-affirm. These results suggest that stereotype threat and lift effects may represent a more general phenomenon: When the stakes are raised high, relative power can act as either a toxic brew (stereotype/low-power threat) or a beneficial elixir (stereotype/high-power lift) for performance.
Reinterpreting loanword adaptations: the role of perception

Standard phonological accounts of loanword adaptations state that the inputs to the adaptations are constituted by the surface forms of the words in the source language and that the adaptations are computed by the phonological grammar of the borrowing language. In processing terms, this means that in perception, the phonetic form of the source words is faithfully copied onto an abstract underlying form, and that adaptations are produced by the standard phonological processes in production. We argue that this is at odds with speech perception models and propose that loanword adaptations take place in perception and are defined as phonetically minimal transformations.
A Joint Model for Topic-Sentiment Evolution over Time

Most existing topic models focus either on extracting static topic-sentiment conjunctions or topic-wise evolution over time leaving out topic-sentiment dynamics and missing the opportunity to provide a more in-depth analysis of textual data. In this paper, we propose an LDA-based topic model for analyzing topic-sentiment evolution over time by modeling time jointly with topics and sentiments. We derive inference algorithm based on Gibbs Sampling process. Finally, we present results on reviews and news datasets showing interpretable trends and strong correlation with ground truth in particular for topic-sentiment evolution over time.
Occupational risk factors for relapse-free survival in bladder cancer patients

ABSTRACT The influence of occupational risk factors on bladder cancer development is well investigated. However, studies on the influence on bladder cancer prognosis are rare. Therefore, it was of interest to investigate the time to first relapse in the follow-ups of three case-control series from Dortmund, Neuss, and Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Germany. Relapse-free survival of in total 794 urinary bladder cancer patients (Dortmund 174, Neuss 407, Lutherstadt Wittenberg 213) was derived from medical records. Cox regression models were used to determine the impact of profession and exposure to bladder carcinogens if the risk factor was present in at least four cases. One or several relapses were observed in 416 cases (52%). Median time to first relapse was 0.94 yr. Ten professions were observed in at least 4 patients. No significant associations were found. However, workers in the leather industry (n = 4), printing industry (n = 4), transportation (n = 43), and chemical industry (n = 40) and locksmiths/mechanics (n = 44) showed shorter relapse-free times. No trend to shorter relapse-free time was observed for miners (n = 42), agriculturists (n = 18), painters/lacquerers (n = 21), colorant production and processing workers (n = 7), foundry workers (n = 5), and persons exposed to aromatic amines (n = 45). Although the follow-up comprised nearly 800 cases, data on occupations and exposures of interest were not sufficient to obtain significant results. However, first results indicated potential associations that are worth further investigations.
Manipulation and dynamic mechanical testing of microscopic objects using a tele-micro-robot system

A microrobot having two high-performance parallel drive limbs which has been developed for manipulation, surgery, and dynamic mechanical testing of very small objects such as single living cells is described. The end points of each limb move in overlapping spherical workspaces of 1-mm diameter with minimum open- and closed-loop movements of 1 nm and 10 nm, respectively. The displacement bandwidth of all six microrobot axes exceeds 1 kHz for small displacements. A three-dimensional laser vision system with a resolution of 50 to 100 nm has been developed to provide the microrobot with volume images containing magnitude, phase, polarization, and spectral information. A macro version of the microrobot has been built to permit force-reflecting teleoperation of the microrobot. The telemicrorobot system permits both microscopic objects and continuum models to be felt. A high-performance parallel computer has been designed, and partially constructed, to meet the substantial computational and control requirements of the telemicrorobot system. <<ETX>>
Common Language Effect Size for Multiple Treatment Comparisons

Researchers who need to explain treatment effects to laypeople can translate Cohen’s effect size (standardized mean difference) to a common language effect size—a probability of a random observation from one population being larger than a random observation from the other population. This common language effect size can be extended to represent the effect size in a p-group analysis of variance design. An example is provided to demonstrate its use in evaluation research.
Making Government Work

The first dimension of social accounting has frequently gone under the names &dquo;social indicator construction,&dquo; &dquo;social monitoring,&dquo; and &dquo;social forecasting. &dquo; This dimension includes (a) assessing the parameters of well-being of the American people, and (b) assessing the underlying trends of, and future dynamic conditions affecting, the distribution of well-being. The second dimension of social accounting is the planning and evaluation of government programs that affect the distribution of well-being.
OFFENDER–VICTIM INTERACTION AND CRIME EVENT OUTCOMES: MODUS OPERANDI AND VICTIM EFFECTS ON THE RISK OF INTRUSIVE SEXUAL OFFENSES AGAINST CHILDREN*

Criminological research has shown the relevance of examining offender–victim interaction and related factors to understand crime event outcomes. In sexual offenses against children, an obvious lack of knowledge exists regarding this issue. From a criminological perspective, we seek to improve our understanding of the offender–victim interaction in sexual offenses against children and, in particular, what factors might increase the risk of a more intrusive offense. We argue that modus operandi strategies play a central role in crime event outcomes and examine this hypothesis with data obtained from a semistructured interview conducted with offenders. As expected, modus operandi was found to have a strong effect on crime event outcomes, especially victim participation during sexual episodes. Victim effects also emerged from the analyses. Specifically, a strong interaction effect between age and gender of the victim was found for victim participation, which suggests that as the victim gets older, offenders are more likely to make their victim participate in sexual episodes when abusing a male victim but are less likely to do so when abusing a female victim.
Outcome Results of the Fosinopril Versus Amlodipine Cardiovascular Events Randomized Trial (FACET) in Patients With Hypertension and NIDDM

OBJECTIVE ACE inhibitors and calcium antagonists may favorably affect serum lipids and glucose metabolism. The primary aim of the Fosinopril Versus Amlodipine Cardiovascular Events Randomized Trial (FACET) was to compare the effects of fosinopril and amlodipine on serum lipids and diabetes control in NIDDM patients with hypertension. Prospectively defined cardiovascular events were assessed as secondary outcomes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Inclusion criteria included a diagnosis of NIDDM and hypertension (systolic blood pressure of >140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure of >90 mmHg). Exclusion criteria included a history of coronary heart disease or stroke, serum creatinine >1.5 mg/dl, albuminuria >40 μg/min, and use of lipid-lowering drugs, aspirin, or antihypertensive agents other than beta-blockers or diuretics. A total of 380 hypertensive diabetics were randomly assigned to open-label fosinopril (20 mg/day) or amlodipine (10 mg/day) and followed for up to 3.5 years. If blood pressure was not controlled, the other study drug was added. RESULTS Both treatments were effective in lowering blood pressure. At the end of followup, between the two groups there was no significant difference in total serum cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, HbA1c, fasting serum glucose, or plasma insulin. The patients receiving fosinopril had a significantly lower risk of the combined outcome of acute myocardial infarction, stroke, or hospitalized angina than those receiving amlodipine (14/189 vs. 27/191; hazards ratio = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.26–0.95). CONCLUSIONS Fosinopril and amlodipine had similar effects on biochemical measures, but the patients randomized to fosinopril had a significantly lower risk of major vascular events, compared with the patients randomized to amlodipine.
A study on adaptation of speaking rate-dependent hierarchical prosodic model for Chinese dialect TTS

This paper presents a new approach to developing a speaking rate (SR)-dependent hierarchical prosodic model (SR-HPM) to be utilized in a SR-controlled TTS for Taiwanese (Min-Nan) language, a resource-limited Chinese dialect. The main issue is to conquer the difficulty of building the SR-HPM directly from a Taiwanese database with sparse coverage of linguistic context, prosody and SR. By using the property that Taiwanese and Mandarin Chinese share the same linguistic characteristics, we propose an adaptation approach to constructing Taiwanese SR-HPM from a small Taiwanese corpus of fast SR with the help of an existing Mandarin SRHPM which is well-trained from a large Mandarin corpus with utterances covering a wide range of SR. The proposed method includes two parts: adaptation of normalization functions (NFs) and adaptive prosody labeling and modeling algorithm (PLM). Both of these two parts are formulated based on MAP estimations with the existing Mandarin SR-HPM serving as an informative prior. Effectiveness of the proposed approach was evaluated by an experiment of prosody generation for Taiwanese TTS using a small corpus of fast speech with SR in 4.5-6.8 syllables/sec. Experimental results showed that the generated prosody sounded quite natural for SR in a wide range of 3.4-6.8 syllables/sec.
The relationship between temperament and character features, and social problem solving in psychiatric patients who attempted suicide with drugs: Preliminary results

Objective: The aims of this preliminary study were: 1) to identify psychiatric diagnoses and any history of suicidal thoughts and attempts in people who attempt suicide with drugs, 2) to evaluate the temperament and character features, social problem solving skills of these patients in relation to socio-demographic data. Methods: Sixty patients between 16 and 49 years old participated in this study. A Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I), a Socio-demographic data form, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and Social Problem Solving Inventory (SPSI) were administered to the participants. Results: According to the SCID-I, 23 (38.3%) of the participants had a major depressive disorder, and 39 (65%) of the participants had a history of previous suicide attempts before this admission. There were significant (negative) correlations between the harm avoidance, reward dependence, self-directedness and cooperativeness dimensions of the TCI and the Problem Orientation and Problem Solving skills subscales of the SPSI. Conclusion: Psychiatric disorders are common in individuals who attempt suicide with drugs. These individuals may have a history of one or more suicide attempts before admission. In addition to differences in temperament and character features, this study found significant disorders of cognition and behavior in individuals that had attempted suicide. This result may indicate that dimensions of temperament and character can provide significant indications for cognitive and behavioral disorders.
Ontology evolution: a process-centric survey

Abstract Ontology evolution aims at maintaining an ontology up to date with respect to changes in the domain that it models or novel requirements of information systems that it enables. The recent industrial adoption of Semantic Web techniques, which rely on ontologies, has led to the increased importance of the ontology evolution research. Typical approaches to ontology evolution are designed as multiple-stage processes combining techniques from a variety of fields (e.g., natural language processing and reasoning). However, the few existing surveys on this topic lack an in-depth analysis of the various stages of the ontology evolution process. This survey extends the literature by adopting a process-centric view of ontology evolution. Accordingly, we first provide an overall process model synthesized from an overview of the existing models in the literature. Then we survey the major approaches to each of the steps in this process and conclude on future challenges for techniques aiming to solve that particular stage.
Diferencias de género en los hábitos de actividad física de la población adulta en la Comunidad de Madrid Gender differences in the habits of physical activity of the adult population in the Community of Madrid

La investigacion persigue contrastar la hipotesis de la existencia de dos diferentes culturas deportivas en las personas adultas, la femenina y la masculina, a traves del analisis de los niveles de practica (tipo de demanda), tipo de actividad practicada y sus caracteristicas (frecuencia semanal, gasto mensual, espacio de practica y modo de organizacion). La metodologia cuantitativa empleada ha consistido en la aplicacion de un cuestionario estructurado a una muestra aleatoria de las mujeres y varones mayores adultos entre 30 y 64 anos (n=340; 50.3% mujeres, 49.7% hombres) en la Comunidad de Madrid. Las conclusiones obtenidas revelan que un 45.3% de hombres y un 34.5% de mujeres practica deporte; ademas otro 15.5% de mujeres y 11.7% de hombres camina para hacer ejercicio. Aparecen diferencias de genero en las actividades practicadas (x2(10)=46.83; p<. 001; CC=. 442), en el numero de horas de practica (t191=2.29; p<.05; d=.33), en el gasto mensual (t148=3.16; p<.001; d=.69) y en el modo de desplazamiento a la actividad (x2(7)=27.44; p<0.001; CC=0.359) aunque la practica de actividades auto-organizadas es mayoritaria en ambos sexos (80.3% hombres, 63.7% mujeres), principalmente en solitario (62.7% hombres, 50.5% mujeres) y en espacios al aire libre (60.4% hombres, 46.6% mujeres). Palabras clave: habitos; actividad fisica; genero, adultos. R e s u m e n
Dielectric-Loaded Compact WLAN/WCDMA Antenna With Shorted Loop and Monopole Elements

A compact, planar, dielectric-loaded, and multiple-band antenna for 2.45/5-GHz WLAN and 2.1-GHz wideband code-division multiple access (WCDMA) applications is presented in this letter. The antenna has a planar loop element with a shorting pin and a planar monopole element that are printed on the same substrate and driven by a microstrip line. The loop and monopole elements are covered by a thin FR4 layer on top to achieve good impedance matching at both bands. Analysis of the antenna has been realized using extensive 3-D full-wave electromagnetic simulations. Antenna measurements have also been presented, and it is shown that measurements and simulations are in good agreement.
Stem cells in clinical trials for treatment of retinal degeneration

Introduction: After decades of basic science research involving the testing of regenerative strategies in animal models of retinal degenerative diseases, a number of clinical trials are now underway, with additional trials set to begin shortly. These efforts will evaluate the safety and preliminary efficacy of cell-based products in the eyes of patients with a number of retinal conditions, notably including age-related macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa and Stargardt’s disease. Areas covered: This review considers the scientific work and early trials with fetal cells and tissues that set the stage for the current clinical investigatory work, as well the trials themselves, specifically those either now completed, underway or close to initiation. The cells of interest include retinal pigment epithelial cells derived from embryonic stem or induced pluripotent stem cells, undifferentiated neural or retinal progenitors or cells from the vascular/bone marrow compartment or umbilical cord tissue. Expert opinion: Degenerative diseases of the retina represent a popular target for emerging cell-based therapeutics and initial data from early stage clinical trials suggest that short-term safety objectives can be met in at least some cases. The question of efficacy will require additional time and testing to be adequately resolved.