Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Traditional healers and pulmonary tuberculosis in Malawi.

SETTING Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) and Blantyre district, Malawi. OBJECTIVE To investigate the use that tuberculosis (TB) patients in Malawi make of traditional healers and traditional medicine. DESIGN A questionnaire study was carried out on 89 smear-positive pulmonary TB patients admitted to QECH. Seven traditional healers in Blantyre were also interviewed about their knowledge, attitudes and practice of patients whom they considered to have TB. RESULTS Of the 89 patients, 33 (37%) visited a traditional healer before seeking regular medical care. Patients spent a median length of 4 weeks with the traditional healer. During this time, 24 patients did not improve or deteriorated while on traditional treatment. No patient was referred to the medical services by the traditional healer. All traditional healers claimed to know about TB. Four said they would refer a patient to hospital if their treatment was not curative. In 1995, six traditional healers claimed to have cured 116 patients with TB. CONCLUSION It is important to involve traditional healers in the educational activities of the National TB Control Programme. These healers need to be taught to recognise and refer patients with TB, whom they should not treat, but at the same time be encouraged to administer safe treatments for conditions which are more amenable to their practice.
Memetic Algorithms for Feature Selection in Face Recognition

This paper presents a memetic algorithm based new approach to feature selection in face recognition. In this work, principal component analysis (PCA) has been used for dimensionality reduction/feature extraction and memetic algorithms have been applied for selection of features in face recognition application. ORL face database has been used for performing the experiments. The results indicate that the proposed method is superior and completely outperforms the standard Eigenface method in terms of recognition rate of the face recognition system.
Blade and razor: cell and interconnect delay analysis using current-based models

In order to adequately account for nanometer effects during timing analysis, archaic standard cell models must be replaced. Simplifying assumptions used during characterization, such as nearly linear voltage inputs or lumped-capacitance loads, are no longer valid. Signal integrity analysis further complicates the characterization process because the typical voltage waveform used during characterization does not contain a noise component. This paper introduces two new technologies for standard cell and interconnect timing analysis: Blade and Razor. Blade is a novel cell model and runtime engine based on current flow. Razor is the accompanying interconnect model. Both Blade and Razor produce and consume arbitrary voltage waveforms with near-SPICE accuracy at speeds tens of thousands of times faster than SPICE.
Energy efficiency bounds of pulse-encoded buses

Pulse-encoded buses, (i.e., in which a transition is encoded as a pulse) have recently emerged as an effective solution to solve crosstalk issues in global interconnects, since they suppress transitions in opposite directions by construction. As a side effect, this also reduces energy, since coupling capacitances in deep-submicron technologies are larger than ground capacitances. Furthermore, a single pulse consumes less energy than a conventional transition, because the limited length does not fully implies extra transitions since all input transitions are encoded with a pulse. This tradeoff leaves the issue of energy efficiency of pulsed buses an open problem, which we address in this work. We present an explorative analysis of the energy efficiency bounds of pulse encoded bus with respect to conventional level-signaled ones. More specifically, we provide a quantitative comparison of the two signaling modes under the same delay constraints, by accounting for the various bus devices (codecs, drivers, and receivers), under (i) the presence of process variations, and (ii) under different input switching activities transmitted on a bus, along with the impact of delay and pulse width.
Finding saliency in noisy images

Recently, many computational saliency models have been introduced2, 5, 7, 13, 23 to transform a given image into a scalar-valued map that represents visual saliency of the input image. These approaches, however, generally assume the given image is clean. Fortunately, most methods implicitly suppress the noise before calculating the saliency by blurring and downsampling the input image, and therefore tend to be apparently rather insensitive to noise.11 However, a fundamental and explicit treatment of saliency in noisy images is missing from the literature. Indeed, as we will show, the price for this apparent insensitivity to noise is that the overall performance over a large range of noise strengths is diminished. Accordingly, the question is how to compute saliency in a reliable way when a noise-corrupted image is given. To address this problem, we propose a novel and statistically sound method for estimating saliency based on a non-parametric regression framework. The proposed estimate of the saliency at a pixel is a data-dependent weighted average of dissimilarities between a center patch and its surrounding patches. This aggregation of the dissimilarities is simple and more stable despite the presence of noise. For comparison's sake, we apply a state of the art denoising approach before attempting to calculate the saliency map, which obviously produces much more stable results for noisy images. Despite the advantage of preprocessing, we still found that our method consistently outperforms the other state-of-the-art2, 13 methods over a large range of noise strengths.
Expression of B 7-1 by Highly Metastatic Mouse T Lymphomas Induces Optimal Natural Killer Cell-mediated Cytotoxicity '

The interaction between B7-1 and CD2S provides costimulatory signals not only for I cells but also for natural killer (NK) cells. Highly metastatic mouse I lymphoma cells (BW-Li) can escape from NK cell-mediated killing by expressing H. 2Dâ€•molecules that negatively regulate NK lytic activity. We have analyzed whether B7-1:CD2S overrules the MHC class I-mediated inactivation of NK cells by transfecting BW-L1 with the gene coding for B7-1. Expression ofB7-1 rendered BW-Li cells sensitive toward NK cells. The experimental metastatic capacity of the B7-1 transfectants was drastically reduced in both syngeneic AKR and SCID mice but could be restored in SCm-hg mice. These results provide direct evidence that B7-1 expression leads to NK-mediated elimination of metastasizing, NK-resistant tumor cells.
Sloth: being lazy is a virtue (when issuing database queries)

Many web applications store persistent data in databases. During execution, such applications spend a significant amount of time communicating with the database for retrieval and storing of persistent data over the network. These network round trips represent a significant fraction of the overall execution time for many applications and as a result increase their latency. While there has been prior work that aims to eliminate round trips by batching queries, they are limited by 1) a requirement that developers manually identify batching opportunities, or 2) the fact that they employ static program analysis techniques that cannot exploit many opportunities for batching. In this paper, we present Sloth, a new system that extends traditional lazy evaluation to expose query batching opportunities during application execution, even across loops, branches, and method boundaries. We evaluated Sloth using over 100 benchmarks from two large-scale open-source applications, and achieved up to a 3x reduction in page load time by delaying computation.
Viewing Object-Oriented Software with MetricAttitude: An Empirical Evaluation

MetricAttitude is a visualization tool based on static analysis that provides a mental picture by viewing an object-oriented software system by means of polymetric views. In this paper, we present a preliminary empirical investigation based on a questionnaire-based survey to assess Metric Attitude with respect to source code comprehension tasks. Participants involved in this study were Computer Science students and software professionals. The results suggest that Metric Attitude is a viable means to comprehend source code and that both kinds of participants in the empirical investigation considered it to be appropriate in source code comprehension.
Closed Form Solutions for Term Structure Derivatives with Log-Normal Interest Rates

The authors derive a unified model that gives closed form solutions for caps and floors written on interest rates as well as puts and calls written on zero-coupon bonds. The crucial assumption is that simple interest rates over a fixed finite period that matches the contract, which the authors want to price, are log-normally distributed. Moreover, this assumption is shown to be consistent with the Heath-Jarrow-Morton model for a specific choice of volatility. Copyright 1997 by American Finance Association.
Laughter as a gesture accompanying speech - towards the creation of a tool for the support of children on the autistic dimension

People on the autistic dimension often have great difﬁ-culty in understanding the intentions underlying paralin-guistic signals and laughter. Our current work focusses on detecting different types of laughter to support autistic children. This report presents the results of a pre-liminary analysis of the sounds of human laughs in a very large corpus of naturally-occurring conversational speech. Two types of laughter were categorized, and the automatic classiﬁcation of these laughs form the core of this work. Statistical analysis of the acoustic features of each laugh was performed, and a Principal Component Analysis determined which were the main contributing factors in each case. We then used both Classiﬁcation Trees and Support Vector Machines to predict the most likely category for each laugh, training either with laughs from other speakers (male and female) or from laughs of the same speaker with a subset held back for testing. Greater than 85% classiﬁcation accuracy was achieved by these statistical methods.
L'Atlas Historique du Limousin. Questions et méthodes vers un système de données spatio-temporelles contributif

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. L’Atlas Historique du Limousin. Questions et méthodes vers un système de données spatio-temporelles contributif Juliette Morel
Computational Cameras

The traditional camera is based on the principle of the camera obscura and produces linear perspective images. A computational camera uses unconventional optics to capture a coded image and software to decode the captured image to produce new forms of visual information. We show examples of computational cameras that capture wide ﬁeld of view images, high dynamic range images, multispectral images, and depth images. We also describe through examples how the capability of a computational camera can be enhanced by using a controllable optical system for forming the image and a programmable light source as the camera’s ﬂash.
Molecular, histologic, and gross phenotype of skin wound healing in red Duroc pigs reveals an abnormal healing phenotype of hypercontracted, hyperpigmented scarring

This study examined dermal wound healing in juvenile red Duroc pigs and determined that these animals exhibit a unique healing phenotype at multiple levels. Gross and histologic analysis revealed that full‐thickness and deep dermal (1.8 mm deep) wounds both heal via formation of hypercontracted, hyperpigmented scars. Molecular analysis using reverse‐transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and porcine‐specific primer sets revealed that types I and III collagen, heat shock protein 47, bone morphogenetic protein‐1, several proteoglycans, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 1–3 all showed a unique biphasic pattern of mRNA expression compared to previous results with Yorkshire pigs. This pattern was characterized by an initial peak of expression early after wounding, followed by a return to near‐normal levels by days 28–42, and then a second increase in mRNA levels at days 56–70. The second phase of increased gene expression correlated with an increased collagen deposition as observed by picrosirius red staining and polarizing light microscopy. Reverse‐transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis also revealed a prolonged expression of matrix metalloproteinase‐2 compared to previous findings in the Yorkshire strain. Further characterization of the genetics and molecular biology associated with the red Duroc phenotype may provide insight into aberrant human wound healing.
Everest: Towards a Verified, Drop-in Replacement of HTTPS

The HTTPS ecosystem is the foundation on which Internet security is built. At the heart of this ecosystem is the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol, which in turn uses the X.509 public-key infrastructure and numerous cryptographic constructions and algorithms. Unfortunately, this ecosystem is extremely brittle, with headline-grabbing attacks and emergency patches many times a year. We describe our ongoing efforts in Everest (The Everest VERified End-to-end Secure Transport) a project that aims to build and deploy a verified version of TLS and other components of HTTPS, replacing the current infrastructure with proven, secure software. Aiming both at full verification and usability, we conduct high-level code-based, game-playing proofs of security on cryptographic implementations that yield efficient, deployable code, at the level of C and assembly. Concretely, we use F*, a dependently typed language for programming, meta-programming, and proving at a high level, while relying on low-level DSLs embedded within F* for programming low-level components when necessary for performance and, sometimes, side-channel resistance. To compose the pieces, we compile all our code to source-like C and assembly, suitable for deployment and integration with existing code bases, as well as audit by independent security experts. Our main results so far include (1) the design of Low*, a subset of F* designed for C-like imperative programming but with high-level verification support, and KreMLin, a compiler that extracts Low* programs to C; (2) an implementation of the TLS-1.3 record layer in Low*, together with a proof of its concrete cryptographic security; (3) Vale, a new DSL for verified assembly language, and several optimized cryptographic primitives proven functionally correct and side-channel resistant. In an early deployment, all our verified software is integrated and deployed within libcurl, a widely used library of networking protocols.
Molecular evolution of peptidergic signaling systems in bilaterians

Significance Peptides and their specific receptors form molecular peptidergic systems (PSs) that are essential components of neuronal communication in the animal brain. Many PSs have been characterized in insects and mammals but their precise evolutionary relationship is not fully understood. We interrogated genomic sequence databases and used phylogenetic reconstruction tools to show that a large fraction of human PSs were already present in the last common ancestor of flies, mollusks, urchins, and mammals. Our analysis provides a comprehensive view of animal PSs that will pave the way for comparative studies leading to a better understanding of animal physiology and behavior. Peptide hormones and their receptors are widespread in metazoans, but the knowledge we have of their evolutionary relationships remains unclear. Recently, accumulating genome sequences from many different species have offered the opportunity to reassess the relationships between protostomian and deuterostomian peptidergic systems (PSs). Here we used sequences of all human rhodopsin and secretin-type G protein-coupled receptors as bait to retrieve potential homologs in the genomes of 15 bilaterian species, including nonchordate deuterostomian and lophotrochozoan species. Our phylogenetic analysis of these receptors revealed 29 well-supported subtrees containing mixed sets of protostomian and deuterostomian sequences. This indicated that many vertebrate and arthropod PSs that were previously thought to be phyla specific are in fact of bilaterian origin. By screening sequence databases for potential peptides, we then reconstructed entire bilaterian peptide families and showed that protostomian and deuterostomian peptides that are ligands of orthologous receptors displayed some similarity at the level of their primary sequence, suggesting an ancient coevolution between peptide and receptor genes. In addition to shedding light on the function of human G protein-coupled receptor PSs, this work presents orthology markers to study ancestral neuron types that were probably present in the last common bilaterian ancestor.
Surface Proteins of Cultured Mouse Cerebellar Cells

Surface proteins of cultured monolayer cells from embryonic and early postnatal C57BL/6J mouse cerebella were identified by a lactoperoxidase‐catalysed 131iodine labelling technique. Major iodinated polypeptides have molecular weights of approximately 200, 145, 120, 100, 85, 65, 50, and 30 X 103 (P200, P145, ⃛) as estimated by sodium dodecylsulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Membrane glycoproteins, of apparent molecular weights 200, 145, 100, 85, and 50 X 103, are detected by biosynthetic labelling with [3H]fucose. The two major iodinated proteins are the glycoproteins P200 and P145. P145 is released from the cells into the medium together with other surface proteins. No changes in the patterns of labelled cerebellar cell surface proteins are detectable between embryonic day 17 and postnatal day 10. A pattern similar to the one seen with cerebellum is obtained with embryonic day 12 and 17 cerebral cortex. Cultured retinal cells from 2‐day‐old mice, skin fibroblasts, and l‐cells display a distinctly different pattern, which does not contain P145 as a major iodinated component. In granule cell‐enriched fractions of cerebellar cells the two glycoproteins P200 and P145 are proportionately increased, while three proteins, P100, P85, and P50, are more abundant in the glial cell‐enriched fraction. These three polypeptides are also enriched in cells obtained from staggerer mutant mice. An antiserum against 4‐day‐old cerebellar cells (anti‐NS‐4) precipitates the 145 and 200 X 103 molecular weight proteins, from lysates of both embryonic cerebral and postnatal cerebellar cells. From lysates of mouse retinal cells, anti‐NS‐4 antiserum precipitates two proteins with molecular weights of 140 and 210 X 103. Rohrer H. and Schachner M. Surface proteins of cultured mouse cerebellar cells. J. Neurochem.35, 792–803 (1980).
Observations of the warm plasma cloak and an explanation of its formation in the magnetosphere

[1] Previous studies of the magnetospheric plasma populations have concentrated on the low-energy (1 eV) plasma of the plasmasphere, the more energetic (1-100 keV) plasma of the plasma sheet and ring current, and the high-energy (approximately MeV) plasma of the radiation belts. A compilation of satellite measurements over the past 30 years augmented by recent observations from the Polar-TIDE instrument has revealed a new perspective on a plasma population in the middle magnetosphere. This population consists of ions with energies of a few eV to greater than several hundred eV which display a characteristic bidirectional field-aligned pitch angle distribution. Measurements from the ATS, ISEE, SCATHA, DE, and POLAR satellites establish the characteristics of this “warm plasma cloak” of particles that is draped over the nightside region of the plasmasphere and is blown into the morning and early afternoon dayside sector by the sunward convective wind in the magnetosphere. The satellite observations combined with the predictions of an ion trajectory model are used to describe the formation and dynamics of the warm plasma cloak.
A profile of transcriptomic changes in the rd10 mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa

Purpose Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a photoreceptor disease that affects approximately 100,000 people in the United States. Treatment options are limited, and the prognosis for most patients is progressive vision loss. Unfortunately, understanding of the molecular underpinnings of RP initiation and progression is still limited. However, the development of animal models of RP, coupled with high-throughput sequencing, has provided an opportunity to study the underlying cellular and molecular changes in this disease. Methods Using RNA-Seq, we present the first retinal transcriptome analysis of the rd10 murine model of retinal degeneration. Results Our data confirm the loss of rod-specific transcripts and the increased relative expression of Müller-specific transcripts, emphasizing the important role of reactive gliosis and innate immune activation in RP. Moreover, we report substantial changes in relative isoform usage among neuronal differentiation and morphogenesis genes, including a marked shift to shorter transcripts. Conclusions Our analyses implicate remodeling of the inner retina and possible Müller cell dedifferentiation.
Les particularités de la société en commandite par actions au regard des conflits d'agence

L'objectif de cette etude est d'analyser les relations entre les gerants, les associes-commandites et les actionnaires-commanditaires de societe en commandite par actions (SCA) familiales. Les relations entre ces trois categories d'acteurs presentent des specificites originales au regard des conflits d'agence, entre associes et dirigeants (type I), et entre actionnaires majoritaires et minoritaires (type II). Les particularites de la SCA en font un excellent cadre de gouvernance pour les entreprises familiales, notamment en raison de la dissociation entre le pouvoir et la detention du capital.
Risk factors for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and cervical cancer in Chinese women: large study in Jiexiu, Shanxi Province, China

We aimed to investigate the risk factors for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) in Jiexiu, Shanxi Province, China. Twenty thousand eligible married women (age: 18-65 years) were administered with a questionnaire on potential risk factors for CIN and underwent liquid based Pap test. All women with abnormal cytological results underwent colposcopy with biopsy. Based on the biopsy pathology results, women were then assigned to either study group (with CIN) or control group (negative for histological results and volunteered to participate in the follow up study). The women in both study group and control group underwent vaginal microflora detection and dietary survey. The potential risk factors were analyzed by using ordinal logistic regression. Among the 20,000 women ne 1,438 women (7.19%) had cytologic abnormalities and 410 (2.05%) women were diagnosed histologically with CIN lesions, including 317 (1.58%) with CIN1, 93 (0.50%) with CIN2/3and 11 (55/100,000) with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The average daily dietary folate intake was significantly lower in the study group (344.61±153.07μg) than in the control group (371.50±166.58μg; P<0.001). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that age of 56-65 years, farming as the husband's occupation, unwashing the vulva after sexual intercourse, and low self-reported folate intake were positively associated with CIN development and might have contribution to the increased CIN incidence in this population. These findings may provide help to develop the strategies to reduce the risk of cervical cancer in China.