Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Health economic consequences related to the diagnosis of fibromyalgia syndrome.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the use and costs of medical resources before and after a diagnosis of fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) in a large primary care population in the UK. METHODS We applied an existing data set for medical resource use among patients with a coded diagnosis of FMS. The observed quantities of 157 types of medical resource use before and after the diagnosis of FMS were multiplied by unit costs in order to calculate the cost of care (general practitioner [GP] visits, drugs, referrals, and diagnostics) within the National Health Service, excluding hospital costs. Costs before diagnosis were used in a trend analysis to predict later costs, assuming the diagnosis had never been made, and these predicted costs were compared with the observed costs after diagnosis. RESULTS Following a diagnosis of FMS, a decrease in costs as compared with the predicted trend was observed. In the 4 years after diagnosis, the average difference between the predicted and observed cost was pound66.21 per 6 months per patient. This suggests that making the diagnosis leads to savings and a decrease in resource use. The main effect was observed for tests and imaging ( pound24.02 per 6 months), followed by pharmaceuticals ( pound22.27), referrals ( pound15.56), and GP visits ( pound4.36). CONCLUSION Failure to diagnose a true case of FMS has its own costs, largely in excess GP visits, investigations, and prescriptions.
Copy-Move Forgery Detection Using Dyadic Wavelet Transform

The issue of the verification of the authenticity and integrity of digital images is increasingly being important. Copy move forgery is one type of tempering that is commonly used for manipulating the digital contents, in this case, a part of an image is copied and is pasted on another region of the image. The non-intrusive approach for this problem is becoming attractive because it does not need any embedded information, but it is still far from being satisfactory. In this paper, an efficient non-intrusive method for copy-move forgery detection is presented. This method is based on image segmentation and similarity detection using dyadic wavelet transform (DyWT). Copied and pasted regions are structurally similar and this structural similarity is detected using DyWT and statistical measures. The results show that the proposed method outperforms the stat-of-the-art methods.
Supersymmetric world-volume action for non-BPS D-branes

We construct the world-volume action for non-BPS D-branes in type II string theories. This action is invariant under all the unbroken supersymmetries in the bulk, but these symmetries are realised as spontaneously broken symmetries in the world-volume theory. Coupling of this action to background supergravity fields is straightforward. We also discuss the fate of the U(1) gauge field on the D-brane world-volume after tachyon condensation.
Synchronous Signal Delivery in a Multi-Variant Intrusion Detection System

The number and complexity of software attacks is increasing. This growth necessitates proper defense mechanisms. Intrusion detection systems have an important role in detecting and disrupting attacks before they can compromise software. Multi-variant execution is a technique that runs multiple variants or versions of a program and looks for divergences in their execution behavior. A divergence in behavior is an indication of an attack. Unfortunately, it could also be a false positive. Asynchronous signals are one the main sources of false positives. We present a novel solution which removes false positives generated by signals. Our system runs variants of a program in parallel. These variants are run under the supervision of a monitor. When a signal is sent to one of the variants, the monitor intercepts it and synchronizes its delivery to all the variants. Our experimental results show negligible performance degradation in real applications. By creating a realistic solution and removing an important source of false positives, we have increased the accuracy of multivariant intrusion detection systems.
The Macroeconomics of Trend Inflation

Most macroeconomic models for monetary policy analysis are approximated around a zero inflation steady state, but most central banks target an inflation rate of about 2 percent. Many economists have recently proposed even higher inflation targets to reduce the incidence of the zero lower bound constraint on monetary policy. In this survey, we show that the conduct of monetary policy should be analyzed by appropriately accounting for the positive trend inflation targeted by policymakers. We first review empirical research on the evolution and dynamics of U.S. trend inflation and some proposed new measures to assess the volatility and persistence of trend-based inflation gaps. We then construct a Generalized New Keynesian model that accounts for a positive trend inflation. In this model an increase in trend inflation is associated with a more volatile and unstable economy and tends to destabilize inflation expectations. This analysis offers a note of caution regarding recent proposals to address the existing zero lower bound problem by raising the long-run inflation target.
The Max K-Armed Bandit: A PAC Lower Bound and tighter Algorithms

We consider the Max $K$-Armed Bandit problem, where a learning agent is faced with several sources (arms) of items (rewards), and interested in finding the best item overall. At each time step the agent chooses an arm, and obtains a random real valued reward. The rewards of each arm are assumed to be i.i. d. , with an unknown probability distribution that generally differs among the arms. Under the PAC framework, we provide lower bounds on the sample complexity of any $(\epsilon,\delta)$-correct algorithm, and propose algorithms that attain this bound up to logarithmic factors. We compare the performance of this multi-arm algorithms to the variant in which the arms are not distinguishable by the agent and are chosen randomly at each stage. Interestingly, when the maximal rewards of the arms happen to be similar, the latter approach may provide better performance.
The relation of corpus callosum connections to architectonic fields and body surface maps in sensorimotor cortex of new and old world monkeys

Corpus callosum connections of parietal and motor cortex were studied in New World owl monkeys (Aotus trivirgatus)and Old World macaque monkeys (Macaca fascicnlaris) after multiple injections of 3H‐proline and horseradish peroxidase, HRP, into one cerebral hemisphere, and extensive microelectrode mapping of architectonic Areas 3b, 1, and 2 of the other hemisphere. Results were obtained both from parasagittal brain sections cut orthogonal to the brain surface and from sections from flattened brains cut parallel to the brain surface. Cortical fields varied in density of callosal connections, and the density of connections varied according to body part within sensory representations. Thus, Area 3b had few, Area 1 had more, and Area 2 had relatively dense callosal connections. Within each of these fields, connections were much less dense for the representations of the glabrous hand and foot and much more dense for the representations of the face and trunk. For the representation of the hand, retrogradely labeled cells were extremely sparse in Area 3b, moderately sparse in Area 1, and moderate in Area 2. There were less dense callosal connections in the hand representations of Areas 3b, 1, and 2 in macaque as compared to owl monkeys. Label in posterior parietal cortex was uneven with zones of extremely dense connections. A large region of very dense callosal connections was noted in motor cortex just medial to the probable location of the hand representation. In all regions, callosally projecting cells appeared to be more broadly distributed than callosal terminations. In no region was the discontinuous arrangement of callosal connections obviously organized into an extensive pattern of mediolateral or rostrocaudal bands or strips.
Characterization of a Haemophilus ducreyi Mutant Deficient in Expression of Cytolethal Distending Toxin

ABSTRACT Haemophilus ducreyi expresses a soluble cytolethal distending toxin (CDT) that kills HeLa, HEp-2, and other human epithelial cells in vitro. H. ducreyi CDT activity is encoded by a three-gene cluster (cdtABC), and antibody to the cdtC gene product can neutralize CDT activity in vitro (L. D. Cope, S. R. Lumbley, J. L. Latimer, J. Klesney-Tait, M. K. Stevens, L. S. Johnson, M. Purven, R. S. Munson, Jr., T. Lagergard, J. D. Radolf, and E. J. Hansen, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94:4056–4061, 1997). Culture supernatant fluid from a recombinant Escherichia colistrain containing the H. ducreyi cdtABC gene cluster readily killed both HeLa cells and HaCaT keratinocytes and had a modest inhibitory effect on the growth of human foreskin fibroblasts. Insertional inactivation of the cdtC gene in this recombinant E. coli strain eliminated the ability of this strain to kill HeLa cells and HaCaT keratinocytes. This mutatedH. ducreyi cdtABC gene cluster was used to construct an isogenic H. ducreyi cdtC mutant. Monoclonal antibodies against the H. ducreyi CdtA, CdtB, and CdtC proteins were used to characterize protein expression by this cdtCmutant. Culture supernatant fluid from this H. ducreyi cdtCmutant did not detectably affect any of the human cells used in this study. The presence of the wild-type H. ducreyi cdtC gene in trans in this H. ducreyi mutant restored its ability to express a CDT that killed both HeLa cells and HaCaT keratinocytes. The isogenic H. ducreyi cdtC mutant was shown to be as virulent as its wild-type parent strain in the temperature-dependent rabbit model for experimental chancroid. Lack of expression of the H. ducreyi CdtC protein also did not affect the ability of this H. ducreyi mutant to survive in the skin of rabbits.
Nonsingular terminal sliding control using fuzzy wavelet networks for Mecanum wheeled omni-directional vehicles

This paper presents a nonsingular terminal sliding mode control using fuzzy wavelet networks for trajectory tracking and stabilization of a Mecanum wheeled omnidirectional vehicle (MWOV). A dynamic model of the vehicle including static friction is constructed; on the basis of the model, a nonsingular terminal sliding mode control is proposed to achieve trajectory tracking and stabilization. Fuzzy wavelet networks are then used to on-line approximate some uncertain nonlinear term of the controller, thereby accomplishing out better motion performance. Simulation results are conducted to show the effectiveness and the merit of the proposed approach.
Revisiting the Blind Alley of Value Added.

T HE COMMISSION ON THE FUTURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION APPOINTED by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings issued a report in September 2006 entitled A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of U.S. Higher Education (U.S. Department of Education, 2006). Two key commission recommendations are stated: “Higher education institutions should measure student learning using quality assessment data” and “The results of student learning assessments, including value-added measurements that indicate how much students’ skills have improved over time, should be made available to students and reported in the aggregate publicly” (p. 23). Anticipating such recommendations, in its Spring 2006 issue of Perspectives, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities issued the following statement in an article entitled “Value-Added Assessment: Accountability’s New Frontier”: “Value-added assessment allows true comparisons of the difference college makes to students across institutions and institutional types, instead of simply reflecting institutional resources and/or reputation” (p. 3). Interest in measuring what students learn in college and using one or a limited number of standardized instruments (thus permitting institutional comparisons) to do that has probably never been more intense. Our purpose in this article is to raise some questions about the capacity of standardized instruments to measure gain, or value added. We describe the ways in which change or growth and development can be measured and summarize what experts over the past four decades have concluded about the reliability and usability of these approaches.
REACTIVATION OF NON-INFECTIVE VIRUS IN A CORTISONE-INJECTED HOST

The administration of cortisone to chick embryos inoculated with large quantities of inactive influenza B virus results in a rate of viral increase greater than is concommittantly observed with inocula of comparable infectivity which are devoid of inactive particles. Thus, more than a mere negation of autointerference is effected. It is concluded that in the presence of cortisone reactivation has occurred of non-infective virus to a state in which it can participate in viral synthesis. Cortisone-induced viral reactivation is dependent upon a high partide/cell ratio and is thus analogous to the previously described phenomenon of "multiplicity reactivation. " Cortisone does not influence either homologous or heterologous viral interference unless reactivation of the inactive interfering virus occurs. Virus reactivable with cortisone possesses both interfering and enzymatic properties. Reactivation of virus with cortisone cannot be effected in vitro but is mediated by the host cell. Two hypotheses concerning the action of cortisone are presented.
Bimodal distribution of fasting gastric acidity in a rural African population.

SETTING The people of Transkei eat a diet high in linoleic acid, the principal fatty acid in maize. The theory has been put forward that a diet high in linoleic acid and low in fat and riboflavin, such as the traditional diet in Transkei, results in overproduction of prostaglandin E2 in the gastric mucosa, and that this overproduction in turn causes a suppression of gastric acid production. OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of diet on fasting gastric pH in a rural black African population. DESIGN Fasting gastric acid samples were obtained by fine nasogastric tube aspiration from 150 volunteers at a rural health clinic. The pH of these samples was measured and a full dietary questionnaire was used. Helicobacter pylori serology was done on a subgroup of 30 volunteers. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS A bimodal pH distribution was found. Approximately half the population had a gastric pH within the range 1-4. Half had a pH of over 4. A high pH was significantly associated with consumption of maize (p = 0.006), and with consumption of both pumpkin and beans (p = 0.006). A high proportion of this rural African population has a diet-associated abnormally high gastric pH. The pattern of upper gastrointestinal disease may be significantly affected by diet in this community and in others with a similar diet.
Efficient First Order Superlinear Algorithms

Substantial number of problems in artificial intelligence requires optimization. Increasing complexity of the problems imposes several challenges on optimization algorithms. The algorithms must be fast, computationally efficient, and scalable. Balance between convergence speed and computational complexity is of central importance. Typical example is the task of training neural networks. Superlinear algorithms are highly regarded for their speed-complexity ratio. With superlinear convergence rates and linear computational complexity they are often the primary choice. Two first order superlinear algorithms are introduced. The algorithms are computationally efficient, convergent, and theoretically justified. They are applied to several neural network training tasks, practically evaluated, and compared to the relevant first order optimization techniques. Results indicate superior performance.
Moral Reasoning in the Context of Ego Functioning.

This study is an attempt to overcome the rationalistic bias in contemporary moral psychology by placing moral reasoning development within the broader context of ego functioning. Participants were 63 Grade 5 students, 72 Grade 10 students, and 69 midlife adults who responded to a moral judgment interview (to assess moral stage) and who participated in a dyadic discussion of moral conflicts (from which observers rated various ego processes). A subsample of 66 students was reinter viewed 3 years later to assess the extent of moral development. Results indicated that ego functioning was predictive of both concurrent level of moral reasoning and moral development over time. However, ego functioning was unrelated to measures of moral disequilibrium. These findings imply that moral cognition can be meaning fully integrated with broader aspects of personality and suggest more holistic models of moral functioning.
Patient preferences regarding pharmacologic venous thromboembolism prophylaxis.

BACKGROUND The 2012 American College of Chest Physicians venous thromboembolism prevention guidelines emphasized the importance of considering patient preferences when ordering venous thromboembolism prophylaxis. OBJECTIVE Determine patient preferences regarding pharmacologic venous thromboembolism prophylaxis. DESIGN Single-center, mixed-methods survey. SETTING Academic medical center. PATIENTS Consecutive hospitalized patients on surgical and medical units. MEASUREMENTS Patients were asked about their preferences regarding the route of administration for pharmacologic venous thromboembolism prophylaxis and the rationale for their preference. Qualitative analyses of themes were determined from patient rationale. RESULTS Of the 227 patients, a majority (60.4%) preferred an oral medication, if equally effective to subcutaneous options. Dislike of needles (30.0%) and pain from injection (27.7%) were identified as rationales for their preference. Patients favoring subcutaneous administration (27.5%) identified a presumed faster onset of action (40.3%) as the primary reason for their preference. Patients with a preference for subcutaneous injections were less likely to refuse prophylaxis than patients who preferred an oral route of administration (37.5% vs 51.3%, P < 0.0001). LIMITATION Only medical and surgical patients participated. CONCLUSION In a sample of consecutive medical and surgical patients, a majority preferred an oral route of administration for prophylaxis. Patients preferring subcutaneous injections were less likely to refuse doses of ordered pharmacologic prophylaxis. These results indicate use of an oral agent for venous thromboembolism prophylaxis may improve adherence and that integrating patient preferences into care may increase delivery of effective prophylaxis and reduce the incidence of venous thromboembolism.
Mitochondrial displacements in response to nanomechanical forces

Mechanical stress affects and regulates many aspects of the cell, including morphology, growth, differentiation, gene expression and apoptosis. In this study we show how mechanical stress perturbs the intracellular structures of the cell and induces mechanical responses. In order to correlate mechanical perturbations to cellular responses, we used a combined fluorescence‐atomic force microscope (AFM) to produce well defined nanomechanical perturbations of 10 nN while simultaneously tracking the real‐time motion of fluorescently labelled mitochondria in live cells. The spatial displacement of the organelles in response to applied loads demonstrates the highly dynamic mechanical response of mitochondria in fibroblast cells. The average displacement of all mitochondrial structures analysed showed an increase of ∼40%, post‐perturbation (∼160 nm in comparison to basal displacements of ∼110 nm). These results show that local forces can produce organelle displacements at locations far from the initial point of contact (up to ∼40 µm). In order to examine the role of the cytoskeleton in force transmission and its effect on mitochondrial displacements, both the actin and microtubule cytoskeleton were disrupted using Cytochalasin D and Nocodazole, respectively. Our results show that there is no significant change in mitochondrial displacement following indentation after such treatments. These results demonstrate the role of the cytoskeleton in force transmission through the cell and on mitochondrial displacements. In addition, it is suggested that care must be taken when performing mechanical experiments on living cells with the AFM, as these local mechanical perturbations may have significant structural and even biochemical effects on the cell. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A filter method for pose estimation of maneuvering target

A filter method is presented for 3D pose (position and orientation) estimation of an arbitrary moving target from a monocular image sequence. Problem considered here is error propagation from image features to pose parameters. To this end, we have derived a combination of two filter schemes. The first filter scheme uses maneuver detection technique, in which the criterion of an optimal detector is deduced, two detectors suitable for fast and slow maneuvers are analyzed, and limited memory filtering is adopted for maneuver correction. In the second filter, a robust model is established via Lagrange interpolation and numerical integration, and the possibility of filter divergence is avoided by employing an adaptively estimated fading factor. Finally, generalized pseudo Bayes algorithm is employed to combine the two filter models for better filter performance. Superior to previous approaches that were limited to slow and smooth motion, this filter method is applicable for a maneuvering target that acts in an unknown manner. Moreover, it is suitable for real-time environment in terms of the following aspects: the structure of the filter is simplified by avoiding the need of EKF, the computational cost is much reduced by running six filters on the six pose sequences in parallel; the process to extract the feature points is simplified due to the predicted feature locations; time efficiency is increased because the sequence of image frames is allowed to be at unequal intervals. Simulation results and implement of a system for multi-mobile robots formation show the capacity of this algorithm.
Validation of the Sonomat: a contactless monitoring system used for the diagnosis of sleep disordered breathing.

STUDY OBJECTIVES To evaluate the ability of the Sonomat to diagnose obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). DESIGN Prospective and randomized. SETTING Sleep laboratory and home. PARTICIPANTS 62 subjects; 54 with a clinical history of OSA and 8 normal control subjects. INTERVENTIONS N/A. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS Simultaneous PSG and Sonomat recordings were made in 62 subjects; 2 were excluded due to a poor nasal flow recording in PSG. There were positive correlations between the two devices for measures of sleep time, respiratory events, and the AHI (all correlations > 0.89). Bland-Altman analysis of the AHI showed positive agreement between devices, particularly at levels around common diagnostic thresholds. The mean difference in AHI values was 1.4 events per hour, and at a diagnostic threshold of 15 events per hour, sensitivity and specificity were 88% and 91%. More than 93% of PSG defined respiratory events were identified by the Sonomat and the absence of respiratory events was correctly identified in 91% of occasions. Gender, obesity, and body position did not influence the accuracy of the Sonomat. PSG snore sensors differed in how much snoring was detected when compared to the Sonomat. CONCLUSION These data indicate that the Sonomat was reliable and accurate for the diagnosis of OSA. The provision of audible breath sound/snoring replay permits more accurate quantification of snoring. It requires no patient attachment and can be performed in the home with minimal training.