Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Noninvasive ventilation in cystic fibrosis patients with acute or chronic respiratory failure

The experience of using noninvasive ventilation (NIV) in 113 adult cystic fibrosis (CF) patients with chronic respiratory failure, during episodes of acute deterioration in respiratory function is reported. The patients aged 15–44 yrs were divided into three groups. Group A consisted of 65 patients (median forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC) 0.7/1.4 L) who were on a lung transplant waiting list. Group B consisted of 25 patients (median FEV1/FVC 0.7/1.4 L) who were being evaluated for lung transplantation. Group C consisted of 23 patients (median FEV1/FVC 0.6/1.2 L) who were not being considered for lung transplantation. The mean duration of NIV support for groups A, B and C was 61 (range: 1–600) days, 53 (1–279) days and 45 (0.5–379) days respectively. Twenty-three patients in group A subsequently received lung transplantation and 12 of these patients had a median survival of 39 months postsurgery. Thirty-nine patients died and three awaited transplantation. Five patients in group B received a transplant four of whom survived; thirteen patients died and seven awaited transplantation. Twenty patients in group C died. Noninvasive ventilation improved hypoxia but failed to correct hypercapnia in these cystic fibrosis patients. Noninvasive ventilation is useful in the treatment of acute episodes of respiratory failure in cystic fibrosis patients with end-stage lung disease who have been accepted, or are being evaluated, for lung transplantation. For these patients, there is a possibility of prolonging life if they are successfully treated for their acute episode of respiratory failure until transplantation. In this group, treatment is not merely prolonging the process of dying.
Gender Differences in the Impact of North Carolina’s Early Care and Education Initiatives on Student Outcomes in Elementary School

Based on growing evidence of the long-term benefits of enriched early childhood experiences, we evaluate the potential for addressing gender disparities in elementary school through early care and education programs. Specifically, we explore the community-wide effects of two statewide initiatives in North Carolina on gender differences in academic outcomes in Grades 3 to 5, using administrative student data and information on variation in program availability across counties and over time. We find that although investments in early care and education programs produce significant gains in math and reading skills on average for all children, boys experience larger program-related gains than girls. Moreover, the greatest gains among boys emerge for those from less advantaged families. In contrast, the large and statistically significant reductions in special education placements induced by these early childhood program do not differ consistently by gender.
Efficient frequency sharing of baseband and subcarrier coding UHF RFID systems

Report Abstract: UHF band passive RFID systems have been steadily adopted by industries leveraging the long range automatic identifications. For the applications which demand large number of readers to be located in a limited geographical area, the interference rejection among readers is important. The coding method, baseband or subcarrier coding, of the tag to reader communication link entails a significant influence onto the interference rejection. An introduction of subcarrier coding system among existing baseband coding systems need to be carefully done accordingly. This paper examines the frequency sharing of baseband and subcarrier coding UHF RFID system from the perspective of transmission delay using a numerical simulation. It is revealed that frequency band need to be divided in accordance with the coding method otherwise, a mixed operation fundamentally works against subcarrier coding system.
Complex behavior in a network with time-dependent connections and silent nodes

We studied, both analytically and numerically, excitable networks in which connections are time-dependent and some of the nodes remain silent at each time step, and we show that these two features may induce intriguing functional complexity. More specifically, we consider (a) a heterogeneous distribution of connection weights such that, depending on the current degree of order, some connections are reinforced/weakened with strength Φ on short timescales, and (b) that only a fraction ρ of nodes are simultaneously active. The resulting dynamics has attractors which, for a range of Φ values and ρ exceeding a threshold, become unstable, the instability depending critically on the value of ρ. We observe that (i) the activity describes a trajectory in which the close neighborhood of some of the attractors is constantly visited, (ii) the number of attractors visited increases with ρ, and (iii) the trajectory may change from regular to chaotic and vice versa as ρ is, even slightly modified. Furthermore, (iv) time series show a power-law spectra under conditions in which the attractors’ space tends to be most efficiently explored. We argue on the possible qualitative relevance of this phenomenology to networks in several natural contexts.
Learning to rank collections

Collection selection, ranking collections according to user query is crucial in distributed search. However, few features are used to rank collections in the current collection selection methods, while hundreds of features are exploited to rank web pages in web search. The lack of features affects the efficiency of collection selection in distributed search. In this paper, we exploit some new features and learn to rank collections with them through SVM and RankingSVM respectively. Experimental results show that our features are beneficial to collection selection, and the learned ranking functions outperform the classical CORI algorithm.
The Omega dependence of the velocity divergence distribution

Analytical studies based on perturbative theory have shown that the moments of the probability distribution function (PDF) of the local smoothed velocity divergence are expected to have a very specific dependence on the density parameter D in the quasi-linear regime. This dependence is particularly interesting as it does not involve the possible bias between the galaxy spatial distribution and the underlying mass distribution. This implies a new and promising method for determining a bias-independent value of Omega based on a reliable determination of the velocity divergence PDF. In this paper we study the Omega dependence of the velocity divergence PDF and its first moments in a set of N-body simulations, using the so-called Voronoi and Delaunay methods. We show that this dependence is in agreement with the theoretical prediction, even while the number density of velocity field tracers has been diluted to a value comparable to that available in current galaxy catalogues. In addition, we demonstrate that a sufficiently reliable determination of these statistical quantities is also possible when the measurement of the galaxy peculiar velocities is restricted to the one component along the line of sight. Under ideal, noise-free circumstances we can successfully discriminate between low and high Omega.
Optimization Methods for ` 1-Regularization

In this paper we review and compare state-of-the-art optimization techniques for solving the problem of minimizing a twice-differentiable loss function subject to `1-regularization. The first part of this work outlines a variety of the approaches that are available to solve this type of problem, highlighting some of their strengths and weaknesses. In the second part, we present numerical results comparing 14 optimization strategies under various scenarios.
Traffic matrix estimation approach based on partial direct measurements in large-scale IP backbone networks

With the rapid development of the IP network, it has been a complex and hybrid network. Specially, the scale of the IP backbone network is much larger than before. For maintaining the normal running of our backbone networks, lots of network management operations are applied to our backbone networks. The network management operators should know the status of our backbone network before carrying out some network management operations. For instance, the end-to-end traffic information is necessary for traffic engineering and network planning. Limited by current traffic monitoring techniques, the traffic information of a large-scale backbone network is hard to be collected. Motivated by that, we propose a network traffic estimation approach to the large-scale IP backbone network. We take advantage of link loads, routing matrix and partial direct measurements of network traffic to construct an optimization model in our method. Then we validate the properties of the proposed approach by the real network traffic dataset from the Abilene backbone network.
Trust-Based Neighbor Unreachability Detection for RPL

The IETF ROLL working group developed Routing Protocol for Low Power and Lossy Networks (RPL) for packet routing within Low power and Lossy Networks (LLNs) formed by resource constrained devices. RPL handles LLN issues such as unreachable parent and routing loops by triggering reconstruction of routing tree. For unreachable neighbor detection, RPL requires an external mechanism with very low communication overhead. This rules out the use of proactive mechanisms that employ keep-alive messages. Instead, RPL suggests to use IPv6 Neighbor Unreachability Detection (NUD), which is a reactive mechanism maintaining timers that trigger control messages. However, due to the use of fixed timeout intervals, NUD suffers from frequent premature timeouts and the communication overhead of NUD is still substantial. We propose a cross layer trust-based NUD mechanism, which adapts its timeout intervals based on network traffic without the need for explicit coordination among nodes. The proposed mechanism takes advantage of overhearing at the link layer and uses the statistics about packets that are not sent to the node itself, i.e. that would otherwise be discarded. Our evaluation shows that the proposed mechanism decreases the number of control messages significantly, while the packet delivery rate remains comparable to classical NUD.
Some password users are more equal than others: Towards customisation of online security initiatives

Background: Online security is a growing concern and user authentication through passwords remains an important mechanism to protect online assets. Research to date has highlighted the need to address human behaviour but without an indication of where the emphasis of security education, training and awareness (SETA) initiatives should be, beyond improved password practices. Objectives: The aim of this study was to, through analysis of the password behaviour of South African online consumers: (1) understand the prevalence of poor password practices among consumers overall and (2) identify specific password deficiencies prevalent among different demographic groups to be focus areas for tailored intervention programmes. Method: The study uses a quantitative research approach. An online survey was used to gather demographic data, perceptions about online security and applied password practices. A sample of 737 valid responses was analysed for this research. Results: Based on the descriptive analysis of the responses three key observations were made. Firstly, there is a distinct difference in the incidence of poor password practices for all respondents and thus support for tailored interventions. Secondly, there are variances between the practices within different demographic groups that could be used for customisation of interventions. Finally, the different poor practices cannot be uniquely attributed to one particular set of demographics. Conclusion: The study concluded that to improve computer password security in South Africa, password SETA programmes should be customised for areas where individual needs exist and not merely per password practice or demographic group.
Semi-autonomous centipede-like robot with flexible legs

In this paper, we focus on a centipede. The defining characteristics of a centipede are its thin, long shape and many legs. The thin shape enables it to move into narrow spaces, and its length and many legs endow it with excellent mobility. However, when designing its robotic counterpart, these features cause operational disadvantages. In general, it is very difficult to control the many degrees of freedom adapting to complex environments such as rubble. The main objective of our research was determining how to address this disadvantage without sacrificing the benefits. We observed the movements of a real centipede and found that the key to realizing this is flexibility. Since the flexible body and legs adapt passively to the bumps of the environment, a centipede only has to perform regular locomotive patterns such as wave-like motion. In this paper, we propose a flexible mechanism for a multi-legged robot that can adapt to a rubble-heavy environment, and we demonstrate that the robot achieves mobility without complicated controls.
Results of the BioASQ Track of the Question Answering Lab at CLEF 2014

The goal of this task is to push the research frontier towards hybrid information systems. We aim to promote systems and approaches that are able to deal with the whole diversity of the Web, especially for, but not restricted to, the context of bio-medicine. This goal is pursued by the organization of challenges. The second challenge consisted of two tasks: semantic indexing and question answering. 61 systems participated by 18 diﬀerent participating teams for the semantic indexing task, of which between 25 and 45 participated in each batch. The semantic indexing task was tackled by 22 systems, which were developed by 8 diﬀerent organizations. Between 15 and 19 of these systems addressed each batch. The question answering task was tackled by 18 diﬀerent systems, developed by 7 diﬀerent organizations. Between 9 and 15 of these systems submitted results in each batch. Overall, the best systems were able to outperform the strong baselines provided by the organizers.
Epidem iology of C olon C ancer

C olorecta l cancer appears to have rapidly increased over the past two decades in Korea . E nvironmenta l factors, characterized by a western life style , seem to be close ly re la ted to the increased risk of colorecta l cancer. H igher intakes of meat, a lower vegetable intake , a lack of physica l activity, obesity, and a lcohol drinking have been suggested to be risk factors for colorecta l cancer in the numerous epidemiologic studies. S evera l specific associa tions have a lso been observed between genetic polymorphisms and colorecta l cancer. M oreover, it has been postula ted that environmental factors and a genetic predisposition work in concert in colorecta l cancer development. A stronger association between red meat intake and colorecta l cancer among those with rapid acetylators at e ither the N AT1 or N AT2 locus was reported, particularly for colorecta l cancer associa ted with K-ras mutations. The protective effect of the homozygous variant TT form of the M TH FR genotype on the risk of colon cancer seems to be modified by the level of methyl diets, i.e . , by fola te , which has a protective e ffect, or converse ly by a lcohol. The insulin-re la ted pathway, which possibly expla ins at a mechanistic level the e ffect of physical activity and obesity on colon cancer, appears to be a common denominator in colon cancer and in other metabolic disorders, such as diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia. H yperinsulinemia has been proposed as an explanation for the associa tion between a W estern lifestyle and colon cancer risk. Further studies, that incorporate both genetic and environmenta l factors, are needed to fully expla in and identify the underlying pathway of colorecta l carcinogenesis. (C ancer R esearch and Treatment 2004;36:93-99) 󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏 Key W ords: C olon neoplasm, R isk factors, G enetic susceptibility, M olecular epidemiology
Genetic influences on cognitive decline in Parkinson's disease

The role of genetic factors in cognitive decline associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) is unclear. We examined whether variations in apolipoprotein E (APOE), microtubule‐associated protein tau (MAPT), or catechol‐O‐methytransferase (COMT) genotypes are associated with cognitive decline in PD. We performed a prospective cohort study of 212 patients with a clinical diagnosis of PD. The primary outcome was change in Mattis Dementia Rating Scale version 2 score. Linear mixed‐effects models and survival analysis were used to test for associations between genotypes and change in cognitive function over time. The ε4 allele of APOE was associated with more rapid decline (loss of 2.9; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.7–4.1) of more points per year; P < 0.001) in total score and an increased risk of a ≥10 point drop during the follow‐up period (hazard ratio, 2.8; 95% CI: 1.4–5.4; P = 0.003). MAPT haplotype and COMT genotype were associated with measures of memory and attention, respectively, over the entire follow‐up period, but not with the overall rate of cognitive decline. These results confirm and extend previously described genetic associations with cognitive decline in PD and imply that individual genes may exert effects on specific cognitive domains or at different disease stages. Carrying at least one APOE ε4 allele is associated with more rapid cognitive decline in PD, supporting the idea of a component of shared etiology between PD dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Clinically, these results suggest that genotyping can provide information about the risk of future cognitive decline for PD patients. © 2012 Movement Disorder Society
Changes After EEG Biofeedback and Cognitive Retraining in Adults with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Introduction. Adults diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) were treated with EEG Biofeedback and cognitive retraining. Methods. Psychological and neuropsychological tests were completed at pre-treatment and post-treatment and compared to a normal control group that did not receive training, but tested on two occasions. Results. The results found significant improvement on full scale attention and full scale response accuracy of a continuous performance task in the mTBI and ADHD groups compared to the control group. A self report showed a significant decline in symptoms in the mTBI and ADHD groups compared to the control group. Errors on a problem solving task decreased only in the mTBI group. Discussion. The treatment model used in this study showed significant improvement in the sustained attention of individuals diagnosed with mTBI and ADHD after twenty treatment sessions.
Colorectal cancer in the course of familial adenomatous polyposis syndrome (“de novo” pathogenic mutation of APC gene): case report, review of the literature and genetic commentary

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignant tumours in Poland. Annually approximately 11 000 new cases of CRC are diagnosed, while the number of deaths caused by CRC approaches 8 000. Five-year survival does not exceed 20%. Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is responsible for about 1% of new cases of CRC. The risk of CRC in FAP syndrome is 100%, and the average age of CRC development is 39 years. Early colectomy is the most effective method of CRC prevention. We report an atypical case of CRC in a patient with FAP caused by 2797-2800delAACA mutation of the APC gene.
Restaurant Recommendation System

There are many recommendation systems available for problems like shopping, online video entertainment, games etc. Restaurants & Dining is one area where there is a big opportunity to recommend dining options to users based on their preferences as well as historical data. Yelp is a very good source of such data with not only restaurant reviews, but also user-level information on their preferred restaurants. This report describes the work to learn to predict whether a given yelp user visiting a restaurant will like it or not. I explore the use of different machine learning techniques and also engineer features that perform well on this classification.
Gravitational effects on domain walls with curvature corrections.

We derive the effective action for a domain wall with small thickness in curved spacetime and show that, apart from the Nambu term, it includes a contribution proportional to the induced curvature. We then use this action to study the dynamics of a spherical thick bubble of false vacuum (de Sitter) surrounded by an infinite region of true vacuum (Schwarzschild).
Bound states of electrons with soliton-like excitations in thermal systems ñ adiabatic approximations

We study the bound states of electrons with solitonic excitations in one and two-dimensional atomic systems. We include Morse interactions between the atoms in a temperature range from low to physiological temperatures. The atoms are treated by classical Langevin equations. In a rst approach, the places of compressions are visualized by drawing the overlap of the densities of the core electrons. Then we study the effect of nonlinear vibrations on the added, free electrons moving on the background of the atoms. We study the coupled classical and quantum-mechanical dynamics of the electrons on the lattice in tight-binding approximation (TBA). Further we consider the formation of solectrons, i. e. , dynamic electron-soliton bound states in adiabatic approximations based on the energy spectrum and the canonical distribution.
Lecture capture in higher education: time to learn from the learners

In this review we consider the evidence concerning the impact of student access to lecture recordings. Overwhelmingly, students perceive having access to recordings as enhancing their experience and providing a flexible resource to aid their studies, deal with competing demands, and reduce anxiety. Research to date has largely focused on a binary question concerned with attendance and not the rich pedagogic tapestry revealed by the student data. There is no systematic evidence to suggest that access to recordings alone significantly impacts attendance and the impact of access to recordings on performance is related to a range of individual student characteristics such as level of study, ability, and approaches to learning. We argue that situating research in broader conceptual frameworks of student learning will prove a more fruitful approach to opening potential avenues of future research based, for example, around concepts of deep processing and distributed practice. Finally, we provide an overview of current institutional lecture capture policies and present, as a ‘starter for 10’, recommendations for guidance to support students, staff, and policy writers.
Measuring Outer Disk Warps with Optical Spectroscopy

Abstract Warps in the outer gaseous disks of galaxies are a ubiquitous phenomenon, but it is still unclear what generates them. One theory is that warps are generated internally through spontaneous bending instabilities. Other theories suggest that they result from the interaction of the outer disk with accreting extragalactic material. In this case, we expect to find cases where the circular velocity of the warp gas is poorly correlated with the rotational velocity of the galaxy disk at the same radius. Optical spectroscopy presents itself as an interesting alternative to 21-cm observations for testing this prediction, because (i) separating the kinematics of the warp from those of the disk requires a spatial resolution that is higher than what is achieved at 21 cm at low HI column density; (ii) optical spectroscopy also provides important information on star formation rates, gas excitation, and chemical abundances, which provide clues to the origin of the gas in warps. We present here preliminary results of a study of the kinematics of gas in the outer-disk warps of seven edge-on galaxies, using multi-hour VLT/FORS2 spectroscopy.