Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hybrid Information Hiding Technique Using Parametric Spline and DFT

Information hiding i s a me ans to conical and transmittin g information using apparently innocent carrier without depiction any suspicions. This paper presents a new means for information hiding based images by using Hybrid of P arametric Spline and DFT. A set of control points, which represents sec ret key, are selects ra ndomly f rom the carrier , and a curve pass by the selecte d control points is implement usi ng B-Spline. A hiding pro cess for the secret message bits tacks place on the spectral rea l part of the intensi ty pixels w here the B-Spline curve passes by using LSB technique, followed by the IDFT. The paper also presents the information hidi ng features, an d techniques for images, a nd Interpolation techniques. The Objective fideli ty criteria are depicts the improvements in algorithm with an application example.
A review of 2,517 childhood injuries seen in a Singapore emergency department in 1999--mechanisms and injury prevention suggestions.

BACKGROUND Childhood injuries cause significant mortality and morbidity in Singapore. With injury surveillance, patterns of repeated injury can be identified and injury prevention strategies devised. METHODS We conducted a retrospective study of all children aged 12 and below seen for trauma in an Emergency Department over one year. Data captured in the real-time computer system was studied with regards to patient profile, mechanism of injury and patient disposition. Clinical summaries were extracted with follow-up telephone interviews done. RESULTS Two thousand five hundred and seventeen children aged 12 and below were seen for accidental trauma in 1999, accounting for 37.1% of the total attendance for that age. Mean age was 7.7 years with males making up 62.7%. Home injuries (56.4%) were the most common, followed by road-related (14.4%), sports (8.2%) and playground injuries (7.4%). 48.5% sustained head and face injuries. Pre-school children (age <5) were more likely to sustain home injuries (p<0.0001), a higher proportion of head injuries (p<0.0001), foreign bodies, burns and poisoning compared to school-going children (age 6-12), who were more likely to sustain injuries in road accidents, sports, at playgrounds or schools, with more limb, trunk and multi-trauma. We highlight drownings, falls from height, rollover falls from beds, slamming door injuries, the low use of child car restraints, bicycle injuries and playground falls as areas of concern. CONCLUSION Several injury prevention strategies have been suggested and it is hoped these may contribute to addressing preventable childhood injuries in Singapore. We also advocate the establishment of a national childhood injury surveillance database.
Shockable Rhythm Diagnosis for Automated External Defibrillators Using a Modified Variational Mode Decomposition Technique

Sudden cardiac arrests are mainly caused by ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia, which are known as shockable (SH) rhythms and properly curable by electronic defibrillators. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm to decide whether an electrocardiogram (ECG) signal is SH or nonshockable (NSH). The algorithm selects 20 features from both the preprocessed ECG and its NSH signal using a modified variational mode decomposition technique, and uses the support vector machine for the binary SH/NSH classification. The 20 features are identified as an efficient set of the most informative, among 54 candidate features, by comparing the balanced error rate of each combination, based on two layers of feature selection. This feature set is validated with the evaluation data in the public database using a fivefolds cross validation procedure. The proposed algorithm results in accuracy of 99.00%, sensitivity of 97.36%, and specificity of 99.16%.
Digital orthopantomograms in osteoporosis detection: mandibular density and mandibular radiographic indices as skeletal BMD predictors.

OBJECTIVES To determine the correlation of skeletal bone mineral density (BMD) with mandibular density and mandibular radiographic indices estimated on digital panoramic radiographs. METHODS Study comprised 112 female subjects older than 45 years. Digital panoramic radiographs were taken, and patients were referred to densitometric measuring (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry) of BMD in the hip bones and lumbar spine regions (L1-L4). On the radiographs, mandibular bone density was estimated and the following indices were measured by the DIGORA(®) software (Soredex, Tuusula, Finland): mental index (MI), gonial index (GI), antegonial index (AI), panoramic mandibular index (PMI) and alveolar crest resorption degree (M/M). Mandibular cortical index (MCI) was visually estimated. RESULTS Mandibular density and visual index MCI are significant predictors of hip and spine BMD. Mandibular density was marked by a significant square trend: it decreased until the age of 54 years and remained constant until the age of 64 years when it started to increase. Significant correlations were found between MI, AI and PMI values and BMD in the hip but not in the lumbar spine region. The GI and M/M values did not show statistically significant correlations with BMD of either region. CONCLUSIONS Mandibular bone density and mandibular radiographic indices are useful in detecting patients with decreased BMD. The applicability of orthopantomograms in diagnosing osteoporosis/osteopenia should be recognized as the potential greatest benefit of this everyday diagnostic method in dental practice.
When Weather Matters: IoT-Based Electrical Load Forecasting for Smart Grid

Electrical load forecasting is still a challenging open problem due to the complex and variable influences (e.g., weather and time). Although, with the recent development of IoT and smart meter technology, people have obtained the ability to record relevant information on a large scale, traditional methods struggle in analyzing such complicated relationships for their limited abilities in handling nonlinear data. In the article, we introduce an IoTbased deep learning system to automatically extract features from the captured data, and ultimately, give an accurate estimation of future load value. One significant advantage of our method is the specially designed two-step forecasting scheme, which significantly improves the forecasting precision. Also, the proposed method is able to quantitatively analyze the influences of some major factors, which is of great guiding significance to select attribute combination and deploy onboard sensors for smart grids with vast areas, variable climates, and social conventions. Simulations demonstrate that our method outperforms some existing approaches, and can be well applied in various situations.
Glycosylation: impact, control and improvement during therapeutic protein production

Abstract The emergence of the biopharmaceutical industry represented a major revolution for modern medicine, through the development of recombinant therapeutic proteins that brought new hope for many patients with previously untreatable diseases. There is a ever-growing demand for these therapeutics that forces a constant technological evolution to increase product yields while simultaneously reducing costs. However, the process changes made for this purpose may also affect the quality of the product, a factor that was initially overlooked but which is now a major focus of concern. Of the many properties determining product quality, glycosylation is regarded as one of the most important, influencing, for example, the biological activity, serum half-life and immunogenicity of the protein. Consequently, monitoring and control of glycosylation is now critical in biopharmaceutical manufacturing and a requirement of regulatory agencies. A rapid evolution is being observed in this context, concerning the influence of glycosylation in the efficacy of different therapeutic proteins, the impact on glycosylation of a diversity of parameters/processes involved in therapeutic protein production, the analytical methodologies employed for glycosylation monitoring and control, as well as strategies that are being explored to use this property to improve therapeutic protein efficacy (glycoengineering). This work reviews the main findings on these subjects, providing an up-to-date source of information to support further studies.
Semiparametric Methods for Mapping Quantitative Trait Loci with Censored Data

Summary Statistical methods for the detection of genes influencing quantitative traits with the aid of genetic markers are well developed for normally distributed, fully observed phenotypes. Many experiments are concerned with failure‐time phenotypes, which have skewed distributions and which are usually subject to censoring because of random loss to follow‐up, failures from competing causes, or limited duration of the experiment. In this article, we develop semiparametric statistical methods for mapping quantitative trait loci (QTLs) based on censored failure‐time phenotypes. We formulate the effects of the QTL genotype on the failure time through the Cox (1972, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series B34, 187–220) proportional hazards model and derive efficient likelihood‐based inference procedures. In addition, we show how to assess statistical significance when searching several regions or the entire genome for QTLs. Extensive simulation studies demonstrate that the proposed methods perform well in practical situations. Applications to two animal studies are provided.
Insights from animal models of bladder cancer: recent advances, challenges, and opportunities

Bladder cancer (urothelial cancer of the bladder) is the most common malignancy affecting the urinary system with increasing incidence and mortality. Treatment of bladder cancer has not advanced in the past 30 years. Therefore, there is a crucial unmet need for novel therapies, especially for high grade/stage disease that can only be achieved by preclinical model systems that faithfully recapitulate the human disease. Animal models are essential elements in bladder cancer research to comprehensively study the multistep cascades of carcinogenesis, progression and metastasis. They allow for the investigation of premalignant phases of the disease that are not clinically encountered. They can be useful for identification of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for disease progression and for preclinical identification and validation of therapeutic targets/candidates, advancing translation of basic research to clinic. This review summarizes the latest advances in the currently available bladder cancer animal models, their translational potential, merits and demerits, and the prevalent tumor evaluation modalities. Thereby, findings from these model systems would provide valuable information that can help researchers and clinicians utilize the model that best answers their research questions.
A compact dual-wideband monopole antenna with parasitic patch for 2G/3G/LTE/WLAN/WiMAX applications

A broadband T-shaped monopole antenna is presented with small size. The printed antenna is composed of a T-shaped monopole, which is supplied by a 50 ohm microstrip at the top of the substrate, a ground plane, an inverted L-shaped strip, which is stretched out from the ground plane, a rectangular patch at the bottom of the substrate. The new antenna is made and tested. In lower operating band, the tested bandwidths for −10dB RL of the antenna are from1.7 to 3.8 GHz, while in upper operating band, the tested bandwidths are from 5.0 to 6.01 GHz, which can cover all the 2G/3G/LTE/WLAN/ WiMAX frequency bands. The design details of the antenna are shown.
PARENTAL CHOICE IN THE NETHERLANDS: GROWING CONCERNS ABOUT SEGREGATION

The Netherlands has a long history of parental choice and school autonomy. This paper examines why segregation by educational disadvantage has only recently emerged as a policy issue in the Netherlands. In addition, we document the levels and trends of school segregation in Dutch cities. We find segregation levels that are high both absolutely and relative to those in the U.S. cities. Current efforts to limit segregation in Dutch cities inevitably confront the deeply held Dutch value of freedom of education.
Growth and Decay of Random FibonacciSequencesBy

For 0 < < 0:70258, solutions to the random recurrence x n+1 = x n x n? 1 decay exponentially as n ! 1 with probability one, whereas for > , they grow exponentially. By formulating the problem as a Markov chain involving random matrix products and computing its invariant measure|a fractal|the Lya-punov constant () = lim n! 1 jx n j 1=n is determined numerically for a wide range of values , and its dependence on is observed to be non-smooth. (The limit is deened in the almost sure sense.) This generalizes recent work of Viswanath, who proved (1) = 1:13198824 : : : : By a simple rescaling, these results also apply to the more general random recurrence x n+1 = x n x n? 1 for xed and. These random recurrence relations have links with many elds, including ergodic theory, dynamical systems, heavy-tailed statistics, spectral theory, continued fractions, and condensed matter physics.
Cluster Network Model for Inter-SME Diffusion of Innovation

Since Rogers (1995) first gave a typology of innovation diffusion, there have been many studies on the role of networks in the topic of innovation diffusion and adoption. Bradley (1995) defined technology diffusion as the spread of a new technology from one SME to another; whereas DiMaggio and Powell (1991) emphasized that under conditions of uncertainty, inter-organizational diffusion of innovation occurs through imitation (adaptation). Other authors have investigated rate of innovation where importance was given to the number of firm linkages and geographical proximity (Florida 1995, Van Oort 2004). Although the role of ties has been studied with regard to innovation diffusion and knowledge sharing, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no published research concerning efficient innovation diffusion and adoption within SME cluster networks, where efficient innovation diffusion with cluster is defined when most SMEs within each cluster could adopt innovation. Here, we present a cluster network model for inter-SME diffusion of innovation where SMEs represent nodes, and innovation adoption and adaptation between any two SMEs represent ties. In such a model, we differentiate between SMEs as either sources or beneficiaries of innovation, and discuss creation of ties among those SMEs and among cluster of SMEs. This study presents a conceptual piece, where we provide three propositions a) The network model contains both source and beneficiary of innovation, where the beneficiary adopts an innovation from source, or adapts to the innovation of another beneficiary, b) The more efficient diffusion of innovation from one SME cluster to another is when two clusters interconnect strongly rather than loosely, c) The rate of innovation adoption among SMEs depends on their network dependency.
Ambiguous Nucleotide Calls From Population-based Sequencing of HIV-1 are a Marker for Viral Diversity and the Age of Infection

The fraction of ambiguous nucleotide calls in bulk sequencing of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) carries important information on viral diversity and the age of infection. In particular, a fraction of ambiguous nucleotides of >. 5% provides evidence against a recent infection event <1 year ago.
In Vivo DNA-Protein Cross-Linking by cis-and trans-Diamminedichloroplatinuin ( II ) 1 ' 2

When NovikofT hepatoma-bearing rats were given injections of a therapeutic dose of cM-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (rÃ2-DDP) (7 mg/ kg), DNA-protein cross-links could be detected by using antisera to dehistonized chromatin, nuclear matrix, or Novikoff hepatoma i->(Â»skel etal preparation. The extent of cross-linking increased in time up to 24 h after the injection, after which time the DNA-protein cross-links were gradually repaired, with no cross-links detectable at 72 h. trans-OOP in equitoxic (40 mg/kg) dose was very efficient in forming DNA-protein cross-links. Although formed more rapidly, these rraiw-DDP-mediated cross-links were repaired faster, within 48 h after the injection. The repair of cross-links at equimolar trans-OOP dose (7 mg/kg) was even more rapid. The principal proteins cross-linked to the DNA by both cisor trans-OOP were Novikoff hepatoma cytokeratins (M, 39,000, 49,000, 56,000, and an additional protein band reacting with the antiserum to Novikoff hepatoma cytoskeletal preparation at M, -68,000).
Enhanced Catalytic Action of HLA-DM on the Exchange of Peptides Lacking Backbone Hydrogen Bonds between their N-Terminal Region and the MHC Class II α-Chain1

The class II MHC homolog HLA-DM catalyzes exchange of peptides bound to class II MHC proteins, and is an important component of the Ag presentation machinery. The mechanism of HLA-DM-mediated catalysis is largely obscure. HLA-DM catalyzes exchange of peptides of varying sequence, suggesting that a peptide sequence-independent component of the MHC-peptide interaction could be involved in the catalytic process. Twelve conserved hydrogen bonds between the peptide backbone and the MHC are a prominent sequence-independent feature of the MHC-peptide interaction. To evaluate the relative importance of these hydrogen bonds toward HLA-DM action, we prepared peptide variants that lacked the ability to form one or more of the hydrogen bonds as a result of backbone amide N-methylation or truncation, and tested their ability to be exchanged by HLA-DM. We found that disruption of hydrogen bonds involving HLA-DR1 residues α51–53, a short extended segment at the N terminus of the α subunit helical region, led to heightened HLA-DM catalytic efficacy. We propose that those bonds are disrupted in the MHC conformation recognized by HLA-DM to allow structural transitions in that area during DM-assisted peptide release. These results suggest that peptides or compounds that bind MHC but cannot form these interactions would be preferentially edited out by HLA-DM.
The Effect of Stochasticity on the Lac Operon: An Evolutionary Perspective

The role of stochasticity on gene expression is widely discussed. Both potential advantages and disadvantages have been revealed. In some systems, noise in gene expression has been quantified, in among others the lac operon of Escherichia coli. Whether stochastic gene expression in this system is detrimental or beneficial for the cells is, however, still unclear. We are interested in the effects of stochasticity from an evolutionary point of view. We study this question in the lac operon, taking a computational approach: using a detailed, quantitative, spatial model, we evolve through a mutation–selection process the shape of the promoter function and therewith the effective amount of stochasticity. We find that noise values for lactose, the natural inducer, are much lower than for artificial, nonmetabolizable inducers, because these artificial inducers experience a stronger positive feedback. In the evolved promoter functions, noise due to stochasticity in gene expression, when induced by lactose, only plays a very minor role in short-term physiological adaptation, because other sources of population heterogeneity dominate. Finally, promoter functions evolved in the stochastic model evolve to higher repressed transcription rates than those evolved in a deterministic version of the model. This causes these promoter functions to experience less stochasticity in gene expression. We show that a high repression rate and hence high stochasticity increases the delay in lactose uptake in a variable environment. We conclude that the lac operon evolved such that the impact of stochastic gene expression is minor in its natural environment, but happens to respond with much stronger stochasticity when confronted with artificial inducers. In this particular system, we have shown that stochasticity is detrimental. Moreover, we demonstrate that in silico evolution in a quantitative model, by mutating the parameters of interest, is a promising way to unravel the functional properties of biological systems.
Critical Rationalism (Gomory’s Blurry Theory) or Positivism (Thyer’s Theoretical Myopia)

This article is the last of four in a debate between a critical rationalist (falsificationist) and a positivist (justificationist) about the value and utility of theory in social work. The critical rationalist position and its criticism of the positivist approach to theory and the pursuit of science in social work are reviewed and explained in seven theses and a little commentary. Some criticisms about how critical rationalists choose among theories and interventions are answered. Finally, the use and misuse of quasi-experimental research in social work are addressed briefly.
Serie research memoranda Norker turnover at the firm level and crowding out of lower educated workers

In The Netherlands, as in many countries: unemployment rates of lower educated workers are higher and more cyclical than unemployment rates of higher educated workers. In this paper we test whether this is caused by the fact that more highly educated individuals occupy simple jobs in cyclical downturns. We use a unique firm-worker dataset to investigate this hypothesis. In addition, we examine to what extent workers with more years of schooling earn higher wages than their less educated colleagues at the same job level in the same firm. We find that at one of the lower job complexity levels, the difference between schooling of the inflow and the outflow increases in cyclical downturns. At the same time, workers with surplus schooling earn somewhat lower wages at this job level. For the other job complexity levels we find no evidence for crowding out.
A New Paradigm of Cardiovascular Risk Factor Modification

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death and disability in the United States. While multiple studies have demonstrated that modification of atherosclerotic cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) significantly reduces morbidity and mortality rates, clinical control of CVDs and CVRFs remains poor. By 2010, the American Heart Association seeks to reduce coronary heart disease, stroke, and risk by 25%. To meet this goal, clinical practitioners must establish new treatment paradigms for CVDs and CVRFs. This paper discusses one such treatment model – a comprehensive atherosclerosis program run by physician extenders (under physician supervision), which incorporates evidence-based CVD and CVRF interventions to achieve treatment goals.
Mappings on Decomposable Combinatorial Structures: Analytic Approach

On the class of labelled combinatorial structures called assemblies we define complex-valued multiplicative functions and examine their asymptotic mean values. The problem reduces to the investigation of quotients of the Taylor coefficients of exponential generating series having Euler products. Our approach, originating in probabilistic number theory, requires information on the generating functions only in the convergence disc and rather weak smoothness on the circumference. The results could be applied to studying the asymptotic value distribution of decomposable mappings defined on assemblies.