Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The value of a statistical life

This paper on the value of a statistical life (VSL) has been prepared for the Handbook in Transport Economics, edited by Andre de Palma, Robin Lindsey, Emile Quinet and Roger Vickerman. The paper's first objective is to survey some classical theoretical and empirical findings in the VSL literature; but it also attempts to clarify some of these issues often raised by the application of the WTP approach to study of mortality risks.
A Multifactor Winner-Take-All Dynamics

Perceptual systems often have to disentangle different factors from mixed observations. If each factor is represented by a set of variables, each standing for a discrete value of the factor, the factor values underlying an observation can be extracted by a winner-take-all (WTA) mechanism over the direct product of the factors. Search in the product space, however, is expensive. It is computationally attractive to work on the marginal factors. In this letter we study the dynamics of a multifactor system modeled by a number of interacting WTA dynamics, one for each factor. We give theoretical results on the stable fixed points of this system and show experimental results on invariant object recognition.
Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Cholera during the First Year of the Epidemic in Haiti

Background In October 2010, cholera importation in Haiti triggered an epidemic that rapidly proved to be the world's largest epidemic of the seventh cholera pandemic. To establish effective control and elimination policies, strategies rely on the analysis of cholera dynamics. In this report, we describe the spatio-temporal dynamics of cholera and the associated environmental factors. Methodology/Principal findings Cholera-associated morbidity and mortality data were prospectively collected at the commune level according to the World Health Organization standard definition. Attack and mortality rates were estimated and mapped to assess epidemic clusters and trends. The relationships between environmental factors were assessed at the commune level using multivariate analysis. The global attack and mortality rates were 488.9 cases/10,000 inhabitants and 6.24 deaths/10,000 inhabitants, respectively. Attack rates displayed a significantly high level of spatial heterogeneity (varying from 64.7 to 3070.9 per 10,000 inhabitants), thereby suggesting disparate outbreak processes. The epidemic course exhibited two principal outbreaks. The first outbreak (October 16, 2010–January 30, 2011) displayed a centrifugal spread of a damping wave that suddenly emerged from Mirebalais. The second outbreak began at the end of May 2011, concomitant with the onset of the rainy season, and displayed a highly fragmented epidemic pattern. Environmental factors (river and rice fields: p<0.003) played a role in disease dynamics exclusively during the early phases of the epidemic. Conclusion Our findings demonstrate that the epidemic is still evolving, with a changing transmission pattern as time passes. Such an evolution could have hardly been anticipated, especially in a country struck by cholera for the first time. These results argue for the need for control measures involving intense efforts in rapid and exhaustive case tracking.
An Oline Cursive Script Recognition System Using Recurrent Error Propagation Networks

aws eng.cam. ac.uk Computer handwriting recognition o ers a new way of improving the humancomputer interface and of integrating computers better into human society. This paper details a complete system for automatic, o -line recognition of handwriting which takes word images scanned from a handwritten page and identi es the words. The system is composed of normalisation and parametrisation operations which prepare word images for recognition by a recurrent network. After crossvalidation training the network is able to model the handwritten data and can output letter probability estimates. These are accumulated in a Viterbi decoder which nds the best word match from a lexicon of permitted words. All of these processes are described in the paper, followed by results for experiments on two single-author cursive script databases and a discussion of these results and future work. Abstract
Policy-based management of middleware for distributed sensor applications

Contemporary distributed software systems have become extremely heterogeneous, dynamic and large-scale. They include back-end servers, regular PCs and various mobile and embedded devices, as well as diverse network infrastructures, such as sensor networks. However, these factors make manual management of the distributed system and its installed software extremely complex. In this position paper we seek for an architectural solution for a middleware that supports autonomic management of these distributed software systems through a policy-based approach. This middleware architecture suggests the introduction of a closed control loop on top of a highly customizable middleware architecture. We describe the key research challenges that still remain open for discussion and propose a plan to tackle them.
Optimized ciphertext retrieval for cloud computing based on dynamic clustering

With the extensive application of cloud storage, the amount of data stored in the server rapidly increases. At the same time, user documentation typically contains privacy-sensitive information that needs to be encrypted before uploaded to the cloud server. Facing such a large number of ciphertext data, the existing search technologies in retrieve of large amounts of data efficiency of the ciphertext data are fulfilling. To solve this problem, this paper makes improvement based on similarity search tree ciphertext retrieval method (MRSE-SS). In the big data environment, this paper proposes dynamic range clustering algorithm DIK-MEDOIDS. This method divides gap between the maximum and minimum document vectors into k slots. The size of the slots is hypersphere diameter, and the document vector which is closest to the middle value of the range is set as the hypersphere center. The size of each documentation slot depends on number of documents. Different with MRSS-SS algorithm, the proposed algorithm can search the qualified documents in the searching stage among hypersphere, to expand the cover of both documents and searching sets for returned data more in line with the user search need. With the increase of the documents, slots are dynamically determined. At the search stage, the search vector is represented as a hypersphere. Cloud server makes the determination through the position of search vector hypersphere and similarity search tree nodes. Along with the number of documents increasing, initialized time increases linearly, while the search stage is same with algorithms MRSE-SS which is shown in formula. When the document vector DC exponential grows, the time complexity is O (l).
Intelligent Adaptive Filtering Algorithm for Electromagnetic-Radiation Field Testing

To reduce the effect of background noise on the electromagnetic-radiation field testing of large- and medium-sized equipment, this work combines the multiscale wavelet transform, particle swarm parameter optimization, and adaptive filtering algorithm improvement to obtain an intelligent adaptive filtering algorithm that can be applied to electromagnetic-radiation field tests. After these improvements, the new algorithm overcomes the problem of traditional algorithm in which the latter cannot ensure both convergence speed and steady-state error that satisfy the real-time requirements of field tests. The multiscale wavelet analysis segments and reconstructs the electromagnetic radiation and background noise of equipment within the frequency domain, and decomposes the broadband signal into a narrowband signal to overcome the difficulty in configuring broadband-signal filtering parameters. The particle swarm parameter optimization uses error $\boldsymbol {E[e^{2}(n)]}$ as a fitness function to optimize the adaptive algorithm parameters, simplifying the operations performed by engineering personnel. The algorithm is simulated, and the actual engineering experimental data are verified in the Laboratory Virtual Instrument Engineering Workbench software platform, which prove that the proposed algorithm is more suitable to practical engineering application than the traditional adaptive filtering algorithm.
Obesity and ischemic heart disease: defining the link.

Obesity is a complex metabolic disorder that afflicts 35% of the adult population in the United States. As an important risk factor for ischemic heart disease (IHD) and its metabolic precedents, it has become one of the most serious health problems in many parts of the world. Nordestgaard et al1 have previously reported that an allelic score for obesity based on 3 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associates with IHD and in accord with other findings2,3 supports a causal relationship. As reported in this issue,4 they have sought to define the intermediates underlying the increased risk. Article, see p 665 Their approach represents a novel application of Mendelian randomization principles to mediation analysis directed at exploring potential causal mechanisms that may link adiposity to cardiovascular disease focusing on lipoproteins, blood pressure (BP), glucose, and C-reactive protein (CRP). Using SNPs that contribute significantly to each of body mass index (BMI), and intermediary variables affecting IHD risk, including nonfasting remnant cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), systolic and diastolic BPs, glucose, and CRP, they sought to clarify to what extent these variables contribute to increased IHD risk with increasing adiposity (Figure). One strength of this study is the large study population consisting of 3 large Danish cohorts, encompassing ≈90 000 individuals and ≈14 000 IHD outcomes. Figure. On the basis of the tenets of Mendelian randomization, …
Evaluation of a speech recognition / generation method based on HMM and straight

We propose a method for integrating speech recognition and generation within a unified framework. The method consists of STRAIGHT, warped-frequency DCT, and an HMM engine. The warped-frequency DCT is used to derive a kind of mel-cepstral coefficient from the smoothed spectrum of STRAIGHT, which is known as a high-quality vocoder. This analysis/synthesis method has potential to improve the performance beyond a conventional method using the MFCC derived from the STFT. We evaluated the method by using speaker-dependent speech recognition as well as by the perceptual evaluation of sounds generated by HMM text-to-speech. The recognition rate using the coefficients from the warped-DCT of the STRAIGHT spectrum was almost the same as that obtained using conventional MFCCs. The sound quality was sufficiently good for a fundamental system.
Closed-Loop Control of Myoelectric Prostheses With Electrotactile Feedback: Influence of Stimulation Artifact and Blanking

Electrocutaneous stimulation is a promising approach to provide sensory feedback to amputees, and thus close the loop in upper limb prosthetic systems. However, the stimulation introduces artifacts in the recorded electromyographic (EMG) signals, which may be detrimental for the control of myoelectric prostheses. In this study, artifact blanking with three data segmentation approaches was investigated as a simple method to restore the performance of pattern recognition in prosthesis control (eight motions) when EMG signals are corrupted by stimulation artifacts. The methods were tested over a range of stimulation conditions and using four feature sets, comprising both time and frequency domain features. The results demonstrated that when stimulation artifacts were present, the classification performance improved with blanking in all tested conditions. In some cases, the classification performance with blanking was at the level of the benchmark (artifact-free data). The greatest pulse duration and frequency that allowed a full performance recovery were 400 μs and 150 Hz, respectively. These results show that artifact blanking can be used as a practical solution to eliminate the negative influence of the stimulation artifact on EMG pattern classification in a broad range of conditions, thus allowing to close the loop in myoelectric prostheses using electrotactile feedback.
The Limits of Empowerment

Reports on the early stage of a research project being undertaken at Nottingham Business School. Suggests that claims made for the benefits of employee empowerment need to be viewed with caution: there are clearly different meanings to empowerment and a variety of different forms in different organizations. Suggests that a framework of analysis is needed so as to identify the precise nature of the form of empowerment being initiated. Provides a five‐dimensional model. Each dimension is based on a dichotomous continuum which compares the empowered hospitality organization with the traditional “Production‐line” organization. The dimensions given are the task dimension, the task allocation dimension, the power dimension, the commitment dimension and the cultural dimension.
Reentrant Ventricular Arrhythmias in the Late Myocardial Infarction Period 9. Electrophysiologic-Anatomic Correlation of Reentrant Circuits

We studied isochronal maps of ventricular activation during ventricular arrhythmias induced by programmed premature stimulation in dogs 3–5 days after ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery. The entire epicardial surface and selective intramural sites were recorded using a computerized multiplexing technique. The electrophysiologic data were correlated with the anatomic characteristics of the infarction. In nine of 17 dogs (55%), the induced ventricular rhythm was due to reentrant activation in the surviving epicardial layer overlying the infarction. The irregular epicardial layer (up to 4 mm thick) had grossly intact myocardial fibers on microscopic examination but showed abnormal electrophysiologic characteristics. The stimulated premature beat that initiated reentry produced a continuous arc offunctional conduction block within the surviving epicardial layer. The activation wave front circulated slowly around both ends of the arc of block, rejoined on the distal side of the arc before breaking through the arc to reactivate an area proximal to the block. This resulted in splitting of the initial single arc of block into two arcs. Reentrant activation continued as two synchronous circuits that traveled clockwise around one arc and counterwise around the other. Reentry spontaneously terminated when the leading edge of both reentrant circuits encountered refractory tissue, resulting in the coalescence of the two arcs of block into one. The present study may increase the understanding of the electrophysiologic mechanism of some ventricular repetitive responses and tachyarrhythmias induced by programmed premature stimulation in the clinical laboratory.
Differences in Expression of Acetylcholinesterase and Collagen Q Control the Distribution and Oligomerization of the Collagen-Tailed Forms in Fast and Slow Muscles

The collagen-tailed forms of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) are accumulated at mammalian neuromuscular junctions. The A4, A8, and A12 forms are expressed differently in the rat fast and slow muscles; the sternomastoid muscle contains essentially the A12 form at end plates, whereas the soleus muscle also contains extrajunctional A4 and A8 forms. We show that collagen Q (ColQ) transcripts become exclusively junctional in the adult sternomastoid but remain uniformly expressed in the soleus. By coinjectingXenopus oocytes with AChET and ColQ mRNAs, we reproduced the muscle patterns of collagen-tailed forms. The soleus contains transcripts ColQ1 and ColQ1a, whereas the sternomastoid only contains ColQ1a. Collagen-tailed AChE represents the first evidence that synaptic components involved in cholinergic transmission may be differently regulated in fast and slow muscles.
Neuron-macrophage crosstalk in the intestine: a “microglia” perspective

Intestinal macrophages are strategically located in different layers of the intestine, including the mucosa, submucosa and muscularis externa, where they perform complex tasks to maintain intestinal homeostasis. As the gastrointestinal tract is continuously challenged by foreign antigens, macrophage activation should be tightly controlled to prevent chronic inflammation and tissue damage. Unraveling the precise cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the tissue-specific control of macrophage activation is crucial to get more insight into intestinal immune regulation. Two recent reports provide unanticipated evidence that the enteric nervous system (ENS) acts as a critical regulator of macrophage function in the myenteric plexus. Both studies clearly illustrate that enteric neurons reciprocally interact with intestinal macrophages and are actively involved in shaping their phenotype. This concept has striking parallels with the central nervous system (CNS), where neuronal signals maintain microglia, the resident macrophages of the CNS, in a quiescent, anti-inflammatory state. This inevitably evokes the perception that the ENS and CNS share mechanisms of neuroimmune interaction. In line, intestinal macrophages, both in the muscularis externa and (sub)mucosa, express high levels of CX3CR1, a feature that was once believed to be unique for microglia. CX3CR1 is the sole receptor of fractalkine (CX3CL1), a factor mainly produced by neurons in the CNS to facilitate neuron-microglia communication. The striking parallels between resident macrophages of the brain and intestine might provide a promising new line of thought to get more insight into cellular and molecular mechanisms controlling macrophage activation in the gut.
The Evolution of WebCT in a Baccalaureate Nursing Program: An Alice in Wonderland Reflection

The use of WebCT in the Laurentian University Bachelor of Science in Nursing program began in 2001 when faculty were eager to explore different modes of delivery for fourth year courses. Since then, the use of WebCT within the baccalaureate program has increased substantively. This paper outlines the developmental growth of the use of this learning management system in addition to its strengths and challenges as experienced by Laurentian nursing faculty. It furthermore poses questions about the sustained use of existing as well as newer and emerging educational technologies within undergraduate nursing education. Resume L’utilisation de WebCT dans le programme de premier cycle en sciences infirmieres de la Laurentian University a debute en 2001, alors que les professeurs etaient desireux d’explorer differentes methodes de diffusion pour les cours de quatrieme annee. Depuis lors, l’utilisation de WebCT dans le cadre du programme de premier cycle a considerablement augmente. Cet article dresse un portrait de la croissance developpementale de l’utilisation de ce systeme de gestion de l’apprentissage, de meme qu’un portrait de ses points forts et des defis vecus par les professeurs de l’ecole des sciences infirmieres de l’universite. On y souleve aussi des questions concernant l’utilisation soutenue de technologies educatives plus nouvelles et emergentes dans le cadre d’un programme de premier cycle en sciences infirmieres.
Are Contemporary Media Images Which Seem to Display Women as Sexually Empowered Actually Harmful to Women?

There has been a shift in the depiction of women in advertising from objectifying representations of women as passive sex objects to agentic sexual representations where the women appear powerful and in control (Gill, 2007a, 2008), and there is substantial evidence that these representations have a negative impact on women’s body image. However, to our knowledge, this study is the first experimental research that aims to compare passively objectifying and more recent sexually agentic representations. British undergraduate women (N = 122) participated in an experiment in which they were randomly assigned to view sexually passive, sexually agentic, or control print advertisements. Exposure to both types of representations of women, compared to viewing control images, was associated with increased weight dissatisfaction. The sexually agentic representations were singularly associated with increased state self-objectification. Media exposure research tends to focus on the models (e.g., their thinness) shown in advertising and pay little attention to the framing of the image. Our results highlight the powerful impact different framings can have on women’s body image concerns as well as suggest that recent shifts in advertising may be particularly problematic because contemporary images increased both weight concern and self-objectification. Therefore, these images may have a more powerful impact on psychological well-being and disordered eating behaviors than traditional images.
Two New p73 Splice Variants, γ and δ, with Different Transcriptional Activity

p73 has been recently identified as a new structural and functional homologue of the transcription factor p53. It is expressed in either a full-length form, α, or a shorter β mRNA variant, with exon 13 spliced out. Here we report the identification and functional characterization of two new p73 splicing variants, γ (splicing out exon 11) and δ (splicing out exons 11, 12, and 13). Both γ and δ p73 variants are expressed in human peripheral blood lymphocytes, primary keratinocytes, and different tumor cell lines, including neuroblastoma, glioblastoma, melanoma, hepatoma, and leukemia. The expression pattern of the four p73 splicing variants differs in both primary cells of different lineage and established cell lines even within the same type of tumor. A two-hybrid assay was used to characterize the homodimeric and heterodimeric interactions between the p73 variants, and showed that neither p73γ nor p73δ interact with p53, whereas p73γ showed strong interactions with all p73 isoforms, and p73δ binds efficiently p73α and p73γ but only weakly p73β. At the functional level, p73γ is significantly less efficient in activating transcription of the p21Waf1/Cip1 promoter than p53 or p73β, whereas the effect of p73δ is intermediate and comparable to that of p73α. The ability of the different p73 variants to affect cell growth in p53 null osteosarcoma SAOS-2 cells correlates with their transcriptional activity on the p21Waf1/Cip1 promoter: p73β is the most efficient in inhibiting colony formation, whereas p73γ is almost ineffective. Our results suggest that p73 isoforms may be differentially regulated, with four different isoforms capable of interacting among themselves and with p53. The relative expression level of each splice variant may modulate p73 transcriptional and growth suppression activities by affecting heterodimer formation.
As Teias que a Doença Tece: A Análise das Redes Sociais no Cuidado da Doença Mental

Este artigo pretende mostrar a importância de uma analise das redes sociais para compreender as trajetorias sociais e clinicas das pessoas com doencamental e conhecer as potencialidades e constrangimentos de ditas redes para a prestacao de cuidados num contexto de desinstitucionalizacao da doenca mental. Com base nas historias de vida de vinte pessoas com doenca mental e de sete estudos de caso realizados no interior desse grupo emPortugal, identificam-se os nos e os lacos das suas redes sociais, mapeando-se atores e tipos de apoio disponiveis. O artigo revela a vitalidade e a capacidade de resposta da rede familiar, mas mostra tambem as dificuldades materiais e emocionais enfrentadas, as fragilidades do apoio prestado pela familia e as limitacoes a autonomia e inclusao social das pessoas com doenca mental.