Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The controversial nature of victim participation : Therapeutic benefits in victim impact statements

Over the past thirty years the position of victims of crime in the criminal justice system has shown vast improvement. Many victims’ rights are relatively uncontroversial. That victims should be treated with respect and recognition, that they should receive comprehensible information, should be able to receive support and assistance and be reimbursed for their expenses and compensated for their damages, are recognized. Participation in the criminal justice system is a more complicated matter. The topic of this paper, the victim impact statements, is criticised on the grounds of the pressure it may place on the rights of suspects and the impartial nature of the trial. Moreover it is argued that the therapeutic focus of these reforms is in essence alien to the criminal justice process. Finally the effectiveness of victim impact statements is called into question. In this paper it will be argued that specifying therapeutic benefits and closer inspection of the therapeutic literature will simultaneously reduce the tension with established criminal justice principles and provide a more fruitful base for conducting research into the effectiveness of victim impact statements.
Seminar : Techniques for implementing main memory data bases Text analysis : TF-IDF

One of the state-of-the-art methods in information retrieval is the BM25 model, which has its roots in probabilistic modeling and has been proven to be a reliable means. Robertson outlined in 2004 that the mechanism behind the BM25 concept actually can be expressed as a TF-IDF weighting scheme, proving its subtle relevance in the field [4]. In 1972, Jones first introduced a new heuristic for weighing terms in information retrieval. As of then, term frequency was already known as a term weighing scheme. Jones outlined how the growing size of a document collection also reduced the specificity of a term. Hence, the inverse document frequency was conceived to diminish the weight of terms that occur in many documents throughout the collection. The term frequency and the inverse document frequency were combined to create a back then new weighing term heuristic [1]. Using the base TF-IDF model, other adjustments were introduced in more recent models in order to counter effects which appear through the difference between document collections, one of them, by Jiaul H. Paik, viewed in detail in this paper [2]. The same model also shows a way to apply TF-IDF to information retrieval by proposing a document ranking formula. Tata et al. [3] additionally demonstrate an algorithm to use TF-IDF and cosine similarity to determine selectivity of a full-text search. Finally, this work will deal with a new approach to TF-IDF, which does not introduce a modification to the algorithm itself but rather the target document
SGR 1806-20 distance and dust properties in molecular clouds by analysis of flare X-ray echoes

The soft gamma repeater SGR 1806−20 is most famous for its giant flare from 2004, which yielded the highest gamma-ray flux ever observed on Earth. The flare emphasized the importance of determining the distance to the SGR, thus revealing the flare’s energy output, with implications on SGRs energy budget and giant flare rates. We analyse X-ray scattering echoes observed by Swift/X-Ray Telescope (XRT) following the 2006 August 6 intermediate burst of SGR 1806−20. Assuming positions and opacities of the molecular clouds along the line of sight from previous works, we derive direct constraints on the distance to SGR 1806−20, setting a lower limit of 9.4 kpc and an upper limit of 18.6 kpc (90 per cent confidence), compared with a 6–15 kpc distance range by previous works. This distance range matches an energy output of ≈10^(46) erg for the 2004 giant flare. We further use, for the first time, the X-ray echoes in order to study the dust properties in molecular clouds. Analysing the temporal evolution of the observed flux using a dust-scattering model, which assumes a power-law size distribution of the dust grains, we obtain a power-law index of −3.3^(+0.6)_(−0.7) (1σ) and a lower limit of 0.1. µm (2σ) on the dust maximal grain size, both conforming to measured dust properties in the diffused interstellar medium (ISM). We advocate future burst follow-up observations with Swift, Chandra and the planned NuSTAR telescopes, as means of obtaining much superior results from such an analysis.
Hip fracture incidence and mortality in an English Region: a study using routine National Health Service data.

BACKGROUND We investigated the validity of routine hospital and mortality hip fracture data in one English Region and estimated trends in hip fracture between 1978-1981 and 1993-1995. METHODS We identified from Hospital Episode System (HES) data for 1993-1995 all hip fracture episodes relating to individual patients aged over 65 years resident in Wessex. We determined from the discharge method code whether an individual had died during that admission. The number of individual regional and district admissions and deaths were compared with those presented in the Public Health Common Data Set. We compared regional admission rates with data for 1978-1981 from a previous study. RESULTS National comparative indicators for hip fracture overestimated individual admissions in Wessex by 17 per cent (in health authorities by 1-56 per cent). National comparative indicators for hip fracture mortality underestimated individual deaths in Wessex by 48 per cent. Between 1978-1981 and 1993-1995 the age-sex-standardized hip fracture rates rose from 1.90 to 2.63 per 1000 per year for men and from 5.70 to 7.70 per 1000 per year for women. Rates increased in all age groups except those aged 65-69 years. There was also a small fall in absolute mean annual numbers in this age group. The rates also fell in females aged 70-74. CONCLUSIONS It is possible to adjust routine national HES data to take account of multiple episodes within a single admission. These methods should be applied to national comparative indicators for hip fracture admission and deaths. Hip fracture rates continue to rise in those aged over 70 years. There may be a cohort effect with those born after 1925 showing stable rates which needs further investigation.
Ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer incidence rates are highest and stable in white populations; in Asia previously low incidence rates may be increasing. Most cases present with disseminated disease, and mortality rates remain high despite the use of aggressive polychemotherapy. Mortality among younger women has decreased, which has been attributed to widespread use of oral contraceptives. Studies consistently show a protective effect of oral contraceptives that increases with duration of use; no dose effect has been identified to date. Risk decreases substantially with increasing numbers of pregnancies; periods of lactation are relatively less protective. Periods of oral contraceptive use are less protective than equal periods of pregnancy. These factors may protect against ovarian cancer due to inhibition of ovulation or due to suppression of another aspect of ovarian function. Hysterectomy and tubal ligation are both protective, perhaps by preventing the ascent of environmental carcinogens that are as yet unidentified. A positive family history substantially increases risk; mutations in the BRCA1 gene may be responsible for about 5% of cases. No other exposures have been consistently associated with disease risk. Whether risk is modified by ovarian damage mediated by dietary galactose is being evaluated; studies to date have conflicting results. The effect of infertility and its treatments on ovarian cancer risk is controversial; two studies suggest that infertility treatments increase risk.
Studying dynamics of the HIV epidemic: population‐based data compared with sentinel surveillance in Zambia

Objectives:To establish population-based HIV survey data in selected populations, and to assess the validity of extrapolation from HIV sentinel surveillance amongst antenatal clinic attenders (ANC) to the general population. Methods:In a population survey, adults aged ≥ 15 years were selected by stratified random cluster sampling (n = 4195). The survey was carried out in catchment populations of clinics used for national HIV surveillance. The methodology allows detailed comparisons of HIV infection patterns to be made in two areas (urban and rural). Whereas the sentinel surveillance used serum-based HIV testing, the population survey used saliva (93.5% consented to provide a saliva sample). Results:Surveillance of ANC tended to underestimate the overall HIV prevalence of the general population, but differences were not statistically significant. In the urban area, the adjusted overall HIV prevalence rate of ANC (aged 15–39 years) was 24.4% [95% confidence interval (CI), 20.9–28.0] compared with 26.0% (95% CI, 23.4–28.6) in the general population. The respective rural estimates were 12.5% (95% CI, 9.3–15.6) versus 16.4% (95% CI, 12.1–20.6). Age-specific prevalence rates showed ANC to overestimate infection in teenagers (aged 15–19 years), whereas in the reverse direction of those aged ≥ 30 years. Teenagers analysed by single year of age revealed both ANC and women in the general population with about the same steep increase in prevalence by age, but the former at consistently higher rates. Extrapolations might be biased substantially due to the higher pregnancy rates amongst uninfected individuals. Conclusions:ANC-based data might draw a rather distorted picture of current dynamics of the HIV epidemic. Even though representing an obvious oversimplification, extrapolations of overall prevalence rates may correlate with that of the general population.
SELF-ORGANIZING DATA MINING USING ENHANCED GROUP METHOD DATA HANDLING APPROACH

Data Mining (DM) is a relatively recent technology that is employed in inferring useful knowledge that can be put to use from a vast amount of data. This paper presents the data mining processes applied to the seemingly chaotic behavior of stock markets which could be well represented using the enhance GMDH, and we compared its results with published results using neural network, TS fuzzy system and hierarchical TS fuzzy techniques. To demonstrate the capabilities of the different techniques, we considered Nasdaq-100 index of Nasdaq Stock Market SM and the S&P CNX NIFTY stock index. We analyzed 7 year's Nasdaq 100 main index values and 4 year's NIFTY index values. This paper investigates the development of novel reliable and efficient techniques to model the seemingly chaotic behavior of stock markets. Experimental results reveal that all the models considered could represent the stock indices behavior very accurately and that the proposed e-GMDH approach is a useful for data mining technique for forecasting and modeling stock indices.
Prevalence of SDHB, SDHC, and SDHD germline mutations in clinic patients with head and neck paragangliomas

Background: Paragangliomas are rare and highly heritable tumours of neuroectodermal origin that often develop in the head and neck region. Germline mutations in the mitochondrial complex II genes, SDHB, SDHC, and SDHD, cause hereditary paraganglioma (PGL). Methods: We assessed the frequency of SDHB, SDHC, and SDHD gene mutations by PCR amplification and sequencing in a set of head and neck paraganglioma patients who were previously managed in two otolaryngology clinics in the USA. Results: Fifty-five subjects were grouped into 10 families and 37 non-familial cases. Five of the non-familial cases had multiple tumours. Germline SDHD mutations were identified in five of 10 (50%) familial and two of 37 (∼5%) non-familial cases. R38X, P81L, H102L, Q109X, and L128fsX134 mutations were identified in the familial cases and P81L was identified in the non-familial cases. Both non-familial cases had multiple tumours. P81L and R38X mutations have previously been reported in other PGL families and P81L was suggested as a founder mutation. Allelic analyses of different chromosomes carrying these mutations did not show common disease haplotypes, strongly suggesting that R38X and P81L are potentially recurrent mutations. Germline SDHB mutations were identified in two of 10 (20%) familial and one of 33 (∼3%) non-familial cases. P131R and M71fsX80 were identified in the familial cases and Q59X was identified in the one non-familial case. The non-familial case had a solitary tumour. No mutations could be identified in the SDHC gene in the remaining four families and 20 sporadic cases. Conclusions: Mutations in SDHD are the leading cause of head and neck paragangliomas in this clinic patient series. SDHD and SDHB mutations account for 70% of familial cases and ∼8% of non-familial cases. These results also suggest that the commonness of the SDHD P81L mutation in North America is the result of both a founder effect and recurrent mutations.
Resistance Measurements of BGA Contacts During Reliability Tests

For mechanical fatigue tests were designed special test models of BGA package and test board, for measurements of solder joints and ball contact resistance by four-point method, with elimination of paths resistance. This solution allows the early and partial failures detection. The mechanical fatigue test was performed on developed mechanical test stand. The resistance was measured before, during and after reliability test. The preliminary results showed that evaluated test method can be applied for accelerated verification of soldering process especially during implementation of lead-free technology.
Use of tanning beds and incidence of skin cancer.

PURPOSE We sought to evaluate the risk effect of tanning bed use on skin cancers among teenage and young adults. We also expected to determine whether a dose-response relationship was evident. PATIENTS AND METHODS We observed 73,494 female nurses for 20 years (from 1989 to 2009) in a large and well-characterized cohort in the United States and investigated whether frequency of tanning bed use during high school/college and at ages 25 to 35 years were associated with a risk of basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and melanoma. We used Cox proportional hazards models and carefully adjusted for host risk factors, ultraviolet index of residence, and sun exposure behaviors at a young age. RESULTS During follow-up, 5,506 nurses were diagnosed with BCC, 403 with SCC, and 349 with melanoma. The multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of skin cancer for an incremental increase in use of tanning beds of four times per year during both periods was 1.15 (95% CI, 1.11 to 1.19; P < .001) for BCC, 1.15 (95% CI, 1.01 to 1.31; P = .03) for SCC, and 1.11 (95% CI, 0.97 to 1.27; P = .13) for melanoma. Compared with tanning bed use at ages 25 to 35 years, we found a significantly higher risk of BCC for use during high school/college (multivariable-adjusted HR for use more than six times per year compared with no use was 1.73 during high school/college v 1.28 at ages 25 to 35 years; P for heterogeneity < .001). CONCLUSION Our data provide evidence for a dose-response relationship between tanning bed use and the risk of skin cancers, especially BCC, and the association is stronger for patients with a younger age at exposure.
The Brain-Culture Connection

A feedback loop is evidenced in human evolution by the acceleration in both biological and cultural change. The nature of the feedback loop, however, remains poorly understood. This paper presents the hypothesis that the brain-culture connection generating the feedback lies in the nature of cultural values. Values are behavioral guidelines that are built upon various forms of survival motivation. Most commonly, they consist of two distinct and independent forms of survival motivation that explain or justify each other. Values function to promote the survival of individuals in the context of the group and, consequently, natural selection in human evolution tends to favor individuals whose brains best enable them to function productively in their groups. Understanding values depends on understanding the possible forms of human survival motivation. These forms are given to us by the work of George De Vos who, on the basis of a worldwide study of cultural narratives, determined that most, if not all, human behavior can be understood by 12 forms of motivation. Building upon biological evidence of a brain-culture connection that points to the importance of the anterior cingulate cortex, data from brain imaging experiments is searched for confirmation of a correlation between particular forms of motivation and specific activation in the anterior cingulate. Although the data are not conclusive, such a correlation appears to exist. Further brain imaging research may therefore be fruitful in understanding the feedback loop, the nature of values and the manner in which humans use motivation productively in their cultures. Acknowledgements: The author is currently a visiting scholar in Anthropology at the University of California at Berkeley. He can be reached at rfmanlove@gmail.com.
The O Antigen Enables Bordetella parapertussis To Avoid Bordetella pertussis-Induced Immunity

ABSTRACT Bordetella pertussis and Bordetella parapertussis are closely related endemic human pathogens which cause whooping cough, a disease that is reemerging in human populations. Despite how closely related these pathogens are, their coexistence and the limited efficacy of B. pertussis vaccines against B. parapertussis suggest a lack of cross-protective immunity between the two. We sought to address the ability of infection-induced immunity against one of these pathogens to protect against subsequent infection by the other using a mouse model of infection. Immunity induced by B. parapertussis infection protected against subsequent infections by either species. However, immunity induced by B. pertussis infection prevented subsequent B. pertussis infections but did not protect against B. parapertussis infections. The O antigen of B. parapertussis inhibited binding of antibodies to the bacterial surface and was required for B. parapertussis to colonize mice convalescent from B. pertussis infection. Thus, the O antigen of B. parapertussis confers asymmetrical cross-immunity between the causative agents of whooping cough. We propose that these findings warrant investigation of the relative role of B. parapertussis in the resurgence of whooping cough.
MPC Implementation of a Quasi-Time-Optimal Speed Control for a PMSM Drive, With Inner Modulated-FS-MPC Torque Control

In this paper, model-predictive control is used as a framework for implementing a quasi-time-optimal speed controller for a permanent-magnet synchronous motor. The scheme consists of an inner predictive torque control, which makes use of the full actuation range provided by a two-level voltage source inverter, although with the use of pulsewidth modulation. An outer speed controller, based on classical results for the time-optimal control of the double integrator, constitutes a good example application of the proposed torque controller. The overall scheme achieves both fast transient dynamics (as fast as the physics of the system and the control constraints allow) and acceptable steady-state performance.
Towards Ultra-Low-Bitrate Video Conferencing Using Facial Landmarks

Providing high-quality video conferencing experience over the best-effort Internet and wireless networks is challenging, because 2D videos are bulky. In this paper, we exploit the common structure of conferencing videos for an ultra-low-bitrate video conferencing system. In particular, we design, implement, optimize, and evaluate a video conferencing system, which: (i) extracts facial landmarks, (ii) transmits the selected facial landmarks and 2D images, and (iii) warps the untransmitted 2D images at the receiver. Several optimization techniques are adopted for minimizing the running time and maximizing the video quality, e.g., the image and warping frames are optimally determined based on network conditions and video content. The experiment results from real conferencing videos reveal that our proposed system: (i) outperforms the state-of-the-art x265 by up to 11.05 dB in PSNR (Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio), (ii) adapts to different video content and network conditions, and (iii) runs in real-time at about 12 frame-per-second.
An over-sampling method for analogy-based software effort estimation

This paper proposes a novel method to generate synthetic projectcases and add them to a fit dataset for the purpose of improving the performance of analogy-based software effort estimation. The proposed method extends conventional over-sampling method, which is a preprocessing procedure for n-group classification problems, which makes it suitable for any imbalanced dataset to be used in analogy-based system. We experimentally evaluated the effect of the over-sampling method to improve the performance of the analogy-based software effort estimation by using the Desharnais dataset. Results show significant improvement to the estimation accuracy by using our approach.
Improving Availability of RAID-Structured Storage Systems by Workload Outsourcing

Due to the contention for the shared disk bandwidth, the user I/O intensity can significantly impact the performance of the online low-priority background tasks, thus reducing the reliability and availability of RAID-structured storage systems. In this paper, we propose a novel and practical scheme, called WorkOut (I/O Workload Outsourcing), to significantly boost the performance of those low-priority background tasks. WorkOut effectively outsources all write requests and popular read requests originally targeted at the degraded RAID set that is performing the low-priority background tasks to a surrogate RAID set. The lightweight prototype implementation of WorkOut and extensive trace-driven and benchmark-driven experiments on two case studies demonstrate that, compared with existing approaches, WorkOut effectively improves the performance of the low-priority background tasks, such as RAID reconstruction and RAID resynchronization. Importantly, WorkOut is portable and can be easily incorporated into any existing optimizing algorithms for RAID-structured storage systems.
Using Economic Games to Investigate the Neural Substrates of Cognitive Processes

Our study has shown that changes can be induced in human decision-making and emotions by using the PD and PDAS games. This suggests that economic games may provide a way to study cognitive functions in detail by analyzing the structure of the economic games using game theory. In addition, the combined use of economic games and neuroimaging techniques such as fNIRS, fMRI, and MEG may capture and quantify neural the substrates of various cognitive processes in a clinical setting. They might be effective in extracting human emotional ups and downs in the process of the decision-making. Further studies of economic games for patients with mental illness or brain damage are needed to explore this approach further.
Circadian Disruption, Per3, and Human Cytokine Secretion

Circadian disruption has been linked with inflammation, an established cancer risk factor. Per3 clock gene polymorphisms have also been associated with circadian disruption and with increased cancer risk. Patients completed a questionnaire and provided a blood sample prior to undergoing a colonoscopy (n = 70). Adjusted mean serum cytokine concentrations (IL-6, TNF-alpha, gamma-INF, IL-1ra, IL-1-beta, VEGF) were compared among patients with high and low scores for fatigue (Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory), depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory II), or sleep disruption (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), or among patients with different Per3 clock gene variants. Poor sleep was associated with elevated VEGF, and fatigue-related reduced activity was associated with elevated TNF-alpha concentrations. Participants with the 4/5 or 5/5 Per3 variable tandem repeat sequence had elevated IL-6 concentrations compared to those with the 4/4 genotype. Biological processes linking circadian disruption with cancer remain to be elucidated. Increased inflammatory cytokine secretion may play a role.