Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Peer influence on smoking : causation or correlation?

In this thesis, we explore two different approaches to causal inferences. The traditional approach models the theoretical relationship between the outcome variables and their explanatory variables, i.e., the science, at the same time as the systematic differences between treated and control subjects are modeled, i.e., the assignment mechanism. The alternative approach, based on Rubin's Causal Model (RCM), makes it possible to model the science and the assignment mechanism separately in a two-step procedure. In the first step, no outcome variables are used when the assignment mechanism is modeled, the treated students are matched with similar control students using this mechanism, and the models for the science are determined. Outcome variables are only used in the second step when these pre-specified models for the science are fitted.In the first paper, we use the traditional approach to evaluate whether a husband is more prone to quit smoking when his wife quits smoking than he would have been had his wife not quit. We find evidence that this is the case, but that our analysis must rely on restrictive assumptions. In the subsequent two papers, we use the alternative RCM approach to evaluate if a Harvard freshman who does not smoke (observed potential outcome) is more prone to start smoking when he shares a suite with at least one smoker, than he would have been had he shared a suite with only smokers (missing potential outcomes). We do not find evidence that this is the case, and the small and insignificant treatment effect is robust against various assumptions that we make regarding covariate adjustments and missing potential outcomes. In contrast, we do find such evidence when we use the traditional approach previously used in the literature to evaluate peer effects relating to smoking, but the treatment effect is not robust against the assumptions that we make regarding covariate adjustments.These contrasting results in the two latter papers allow us to conclude that there are a number of advantages with the alternative RCM approach over the traditional approaches previously used to evaluate peer effects relating to smoking. Because the RCM does not use the outcome variables when the assignment mechanism is modeled, it can be re-fit repeatedly without biasing the models for the science. The assignment mechanism can then often be modeled to fit the data better and, because the models for the science can consequently better control for the assignment mechanism, they can be fit with less restrictive assumptions. Moreover, because the RCM models two distinct processes separately, the implications of the assumptions that are made on these processes become more transparent. Finally, the RCM can derive the two potential outcomes needed for drawing causal inferences explicitly, which enhances the transparency of the assumptions made with regard to the missing potential outcomes.
Taking the Edge off Cardinality Estimation Errors using Incremental Execution

Query optimization is an essential ingredient for efficient query processing, as semantically equivalent execution alternatives can have vastly different runtime behavior. The query optimizer is largely driven by cardinality estimates when selecting execution alternatives. Unfortunately these estimates are largely inaccurate, in particular for complex predicates or skewed data. We present an incremental execution framework to make the query optimizer more resilient to cardinality estimation errors. The framework computes the sensitivity of execution plans relative to cardinality estimation errors, and if necessary executes parts of the query to remove uncertainty. This technique avoids optimization decisions based upon gross misestimation, and makes query optimization (and thus processing) much more robust. We demonstrate the effectiveness of these techniques on large real-world and synthetic data sets.
Reliability ratio based weighted bit-flipping decoding for LDPC codes

In this contribution, a novel reliability-ratio based weighted bit-flipping (RRWBF) algorithm is proposed for decoding low density parity check (LDPC) codes. The RRWBF algorithm proposed is benchmarked against the conventional weighted bit-flipping (WBF) algorithm and the improved weighted bit-flipping (IWBF) algorithm. More than 1 and 2 dB coding gain was achieved at a BER of 10/sup -5/ while invoking the RRWBF algorithm in comparison to the two benchmarking schemes, when communicating over an AWGN and an uncorrelated Rayleigh channel, respectively. Furthermore, the decoding complexity of the proposed RRWBF algorithm is maintained at the same level as that of the conventional WBF algorithm.
Dental application: The steps toward the implementation of the CephSmile plus Services

Software plus Services might be the next step in the evolution of computing. Software plus Services is a concept that Software as a Service (SaaS) complements the traditional packaged software running on both client and server by services adding value. CephSmileV2 is dental application software for 2D cephalometric analysis, dental model analysis and focusing on orthodontics treatment planning and applied to simulate changes on the facial profile after receiving treatment. CephSmileV2 could be used to analyze craniofacial growth changes that lead to skeletal discrepancies and to study the cause of malocclusions. Since CephSmileV2 is intended to be sell as services or so called CephSmile plus Services, therefore, the implementation of the program to enable access to the web database is developed. There are two main steps for developing the CephSmile Plus Services. First step is the development of CephSmile V2 Program, which six main features have been developed as follows: Lateral Cephalometric Analysis, Superimposition, Orthodontic Treatment Simulation, PA Cephalometric Analysis, 3D Skull Simulation from 2D x-ray views and Dental Model Analysis. Second step is the implementation of CephSmile Plus Services, which divided in to two main steps: First step is the development of web database which is designed using PHP and MySQL. Second step is the further developing on the CephSmile V2 program to connect to the database via the network follow REST guideline using GET and POST methods. The result shows that CephSmileV2 can be used as a diagnostic tool for orthodontics treatment and simulation which requires username/password to login to database. The result also demonstrates the details of login user to use the CephSmile V2 program in term of amount of hours, amount of usages, functions that user has been accessing. Also the administrator is allowed to create the user account and setup the capabilities of user level in different packages: gold, silver, platinum and titanium packages. It is concluded that CephSmile plus Services can be provided to the orthodontist community as software plus services.
Brain Mechanisms Supporting the Modulation of Pain by Mindfulness Meditation

The subjective experience of one's environment is constructed by interactions among sensory, cognitive, and affective processes. For centuries, meditation has been thought to influence such processes by enabling a nonevaluative representation of sensory events. To better understand how meditation influences the sensory experience, we used arterial spin labeling functional magnetic resonance imaging to assess the neural mechanisms by which mindfulness meditation influences pain in healthy human participants. After 4 d of mindfulness meditation training, meditating in the presence of noxious stimulation significantly reduced pain unpleasantness by 57% and pain intensity ratings by 40% when compared to rest. A two-factor repeated-measures ANOVA was used to identify interactions between meditation and pain-related brain activation. Meditation reduced pain-related activation of the contralateral primary somatosensory cortex. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify brain regions associated with individual differences in the magnitude of meditation-related pain reductions. Meditation-induced reductions in pain intensity ratings were associated with increased activity in the anterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula, areas involved in the cognitive regulation of nociceptive processing. Reductions in pain unpleasantness ratings were associated with orbitofrontal cortex activation, an area implicated in reframing the contextual evaluation of sensory events. Moreover, reductions in pain unpleasantness also were associated with thalamic deactivation, which may reflect a limbic gating mechanism involved in modifying interactions between afferent input and executive-order brain areas. Together, these data indicate that meditation engages multiple brain mechanisms that alter the construction of the subjectively available pain experience from afferent information.
Identification of contact conditions from contaminated data of contact moment

When a grasped object is in contact with external environment, it is required to identify contact conditions prior to performing the assembly tasks. This paper discusses a method for identification of contact conditions from the information of force sensor equipped with the robot hand. This paper treats the practical case where sensing data are contaminated with noise. We propose an efficient and analytical algorithm for identifying contact conditions by using an active force sensing method. The algorithm can identify not only contact position and contact force, but also contact type such as soft finger contact type, line contact type, and plane contact type. These contact types are characterized by a standard deviation of contact moments. The contact position is estimated by a least-squares method. The contact moment is then estimated from noisy observations and its eigenvalues are analyzed. The contact type can be judged by the eigenvalues of estimated contact moment. The effectiveness of the algorithm is demonstrated by simulations.
Submerged liquid jet impingement cooling

In this paper, submerged liquid jet array impingement is proposed as a solution for the thermal management of the high performance electronics. Experiments were done using a submerged jet array of 285 nozzles of 0.5 mm diameter spaced 5.5 mm apart, machined on a 5 mm thick nozzle plate, with an impingement height of 3 mm. The temperature difference between the average heat source temperature and the inlet temperature decreases with the flow rate and increases with the heating power. The experimental Nusselt numbers agree well with the reported data in previous studies. Numerical studies were also conducted on a selected 16-nozzle module using the renormalization group (RNG) k-ε turbulence model. The temperature and velocity fields were obtained, and the average heat transfer coefficients from the numerical studies show good agreement with the experimental results.
Inhibition of staphylothrombin by dabigatran reduces Staphylococcus aureus virulence

Summary. Background: Staphylocoagulase and von Willebrand binding protein (VWbp) bind to prothrombin to form the staphylothrombin complex that converts fibrinogen into fibrin. Objectives: To study the role of staphylothrombin and its inhibition by dabigatran on Staphylococcus aureus virulence. Methods: We studied the effect of staphylothrombin inhibition on bacterial attachment to polystyrene surfaces, leukocyte activation and bactericidal activity for S. aureus ATCC 25923, S. aureus Newman, and staphylocoagulase‐ and VWbp‐negative S. aureus Newman mutants in the presence or absence of prothrombin and fibrinogen. We measured the abscess size after subcutaneous (s.c.) injection of S. aureus ATCC 25923 and S. aureus Newman, as well as an S. aureus Newman mutant strain lacking staphylocoagulase and VWbp, in mice treated with either dabigatran or placebo. Results: Staphylothrombin‐mediated fibrin increased the association of S. aureus to polystyrene surfaces and reduced the bactericidal activity of leukocytes. The absence or inhibition of staphylothrombin decreased the bacterial association, enhanced leukocyte activation and reduced bacterial survival in vitro. Abscess size was smaller in mice treated with dabigatran or infected with a coagulase‐negative mutant. Conclusion: Inhibition or the absence of staphylothrombin reduced S. aureus virulence in in vitro and in vivo models.
CT screening for lung cancer: five-year prospective experience.

PURPOSE To report results of a 5-year prospective low-dose helical chest computed tomographic (CT) study of a cohort at high risk for lung cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS After informed written consent was obtained, 1520 individuals were enrolled. Protocol was approved by institutional review board and National Cancer Institute and was compliant with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA. Participants were aged 50 years and older and had smoked for more than 20 pack-years. Participants underwent five annual (one initial and four subsequent) CT examinations. A significant downward shift was evaluated in non-small cell lung cancers detected initially from advanced stage down to stage I by using a one-sided binomial test of proportions. Poisson regression and Fisher exact tests were used for comparisons with Mayo Lung Project. RESULTS In 788 (52%) men and 732 (48%) women, 61% (927 of 1520) were current smokers, and 39% were former smokers. After five annual CT examinations, 3356 uncalcified lung nodules were identified in 1118 (74%) participants. Sixty-eight lung cancers were diagnosed (31 initial, 34 subsequent, three interval cancers) in 66 participants. Twenty-eight subsequent cases of non-small cell cancers were detected, of which 17 (61%; 95% confidence interval: 41%, 79%) were stage I tumors. Diameter of cancers detected subsequently was 5-50 mm (mean, 14.4 mm; median, 10.0 mm). Analysis for a more than 50% shift in proportion of stage I non-small cell cancer detection did not show statistical significance. Forty-eight participants died of various causes since enrollment. Lung cancer mortality rate for incidence portion of trial was 1.6 per 1000 person-years. There was no significant difference in lung cancer mortality rates of cancers detected in subsequent examinations between this trial and Mayo Lung Project after separation of participants into subsets (2.8 vs 2.0 per 1000 person-years, P = .43). CONCLUSION CT allows detection of early-stage lung cancers. Benign nodule detection rate is high. Results suggest no stage shift.
Semi-Automatic Evaluation Features in Computer-assisted Essay Assessment

The role of assessment and evaluation has recently changed in a way which will have fundamental consequences in applying information and communication technologies (ICTs) to analyzing learning outcomes. Rather than helping the teacher only to get her students' final grades from an entirely automated assessment system, the idea is also to support the student to reflect her learning process as early as possible and point out the strong and weak aspects of it. This paradigmatic shift from a teacher-centered assessment towards learner-centric process evaluation offers interesting challenges to educational technologists, especially in the area of essay evaluation. We present a system that evaluates the content of essays based on Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA). The system applies LSA to compare the conceptual similarity between the essays and selected text passages from the course material covering the essay assignment-specific subject matter. In addition to grade, we use LSA to provide writer with more detailed feedback about the covered points in the essay as an introduction to the semi-automatic essay grading.
(YIP-07) Economic Models for End-to-End Decision Making in an AD HOC Network Environment

Abstract : In a distributed wireless system, such as an ad hoc network, multiple nodes behave cooperatively towards a common goal. For doing so, they make decisions independently and cooperatively such that they benefit the mission of the network. Though such assumptions on cooperation are desirable (e.g., controlling the transmit power level, reducing interference for each other, revealing private information, adhering to network policies) for analyzing and modeling, certain nodes, bring more challenges to the design of the wireless network because the unreliable channel makes the actions of the nodes hidden from each other. In this project, we analyze misbehavior in wireless networks that have dire consequences on the performance of the network. In particular, we analyze two types of misbehavior, namely, selfish noncooperation and malicious attacking. We apply game theoretic techniques to model the interactions among the nodes in the network. First, we consider a homogeneous unreliable channel and analyze the necessary and sufficient conditions to enforce cooperative packet forwarding among a node pair. We formulate an anti-collusion game and derive the conditions that achieve full cooperation when the non-cooperative nodes collude. In addition, we consider multi-hop communication with a heterogeneous channel model. We refine our game model as a hidden action game with imperfect private monitoring. A state machine based strategy is proposed to reach Nash Equilibrium. The strategy attains cooperative packet forwarding with heterogeneous channel and requires only partial and imperfect information. Furthermore, it also enforces cooperation in multi-hop packet forwarding. To tackle the malicious attacks, we use Bayesian game analysis to show the existence of equilibrium in the detection game and argue that it might not be profitable to isolate the malicious nodes upon detection.
Adaptive photoreceptor with wide dynamic range

We describe a photoreceptor circuit that can be used in massively parallel analog VLSI silicon chips, in conjunction with other local circuits, to perform initial analog visual information processing. The receptor provides a continuous-time output that has low gain for static signals (including circuit mismatches), and high gain for transient signals that are centered around the adaptation point. The response is logarithmic, which makes the response to a fixed image contrast invariant to absolute light intensity. The 5-transistor receptor can be fabricated in an area of about 70 /spl mu/m by 70 /spl mu/m in a 2-/spl mu/m single-poly CMOS technology. It has a dynamic range of 1-2 decades at a single adaptation level, and a total dynamic range of more than 6 decades. Several technical improvements in the circuit yield an additional 1-2 decades dynamic range over previous designs without sacrificing signal quality. The lower limit of the dynamic range, defined arbitrarily as the illuminance at which the bandwidth of the receptor is 60 Hz, is at approximately 1 lux, which is the border between rod and cone vision and also the limit of current consumer video cameras. The receptor uses an adaptive element that is resistant to excess minority carrier diffusion. The continuous and logarithmic transduction process makes the bandwidth scale with intensity. As a result, the total AC RMS receptor noise is constant, independent of intensity. The spectral density of the noise is within a factor of two of pure photon shot noise and varies inversely with intensity. The connection between shot and thermal noise in a system governed by Boltzmann statistics is beautifully illustrated. <<ETX>>
Citation of prior research has increased in introduction and discussion sections with time: A survey of clinical trials in physiotherapy

Background/aims: Many clinical trials are reported without reference to the existing relevant high-quality research. This study aimed to investigate the extent to which authors of reports of clinical trials of physiotherapy interventions try to use high-quality clinical research to (1) help justify the need for the trial in the introduction and (2) help interpret the trial’s results in the discussion. Methods: Data were extracted from 221 clinical trials that were randomly selected from the Physiotherapy Evidence Database: 70 published in 2001 (10% sample) and 151 published in 2015 (10% sample). The Physiotherapy Evidence Database score (which rates methodological quality and completeness of reporting) for each trial was also downloaded. Results: Overall 41% of trial reports cited a systematic review or the results of a search for other evidence in the introduction section: 20% for 2001 and 50% for 2015 (relative risk = 2.3, 95% confidence interval = 1.5–3.8). For the discussion section, only 1 of 221 trials integrated the results of the trial into an existing meta-analysis, but citation of a relevant systematic review did increase from 17% in 2001 to 34% in 2015. There was no relationship between citation of existing research and the total Physiotherapy Evidence Database score. Conclusion: Published reports of clinical trials of physiotherapy interventions increasingly cite a systematic review or the results of a search for other evidence in the introduction, but integration with existing research in the discussion section is very rare. To encourage the use of existing research, stronger recommendations to refer to existing systematic reviews (where available) could be incorporated into reporting checklists and journal editorial guidelines.
Soil Viral Communities Vary Temporally and along a Land Use Transect as Revealed by Virus-Like Particle Counting and a Modified Community Fingerprinting Approach (fRAPD)

Environmental surveys on soil viruses are still rare and mostly anecdotal, i. e. , they mostly report on viruses at one location or for only a few sampling dates. Detailed time-series analysis with multiple samples can reveal the spatio-temporal dynamics of viral communities and provide important input as to how viruses interact with their potential hosts and the environment. Such surveys, however, require fast, easy-to-apply and reliable methods. In the present study we surveyed monthly across 13 months the abundance of virus-like particles (VLP) and the structure of the viral communities in soils along a land use transect (i.e., forest, pasture, and cropland). We evaluated 32 procedures to extract VLP from soil using different buffers and mechanical methods. The most efficient extraction was achieved with 1× saline magnesium buffer in combination with 20 min vortexing. For community structure analysis we developed an optimized fingerprinting approach (fluorescent RAPD-PCR; fRAPD) by combining RAPD-PCR with fluorescently labeled primers in order to size the obtained fragments on a capillary sequencing machine. With the concomitantly collected data of soil specific factors and weather data, we were able to find correlations of viral abundance and community structure with environmental variables and sampling site. More specifically, we found that soil specific factors such as pH and total nitrogen content played a significant role in shaping both soil viral abundance and community structure. The fRAPD analysis revealed high temporal changes and clustered the viral communities according to sampling sites. In particular we observed that temperature and rainfall shaped soil viral communities in non-forest sites. In summary our findings suggest that sampling site was a key factor for shaping the abundance and community structure of soil viruses, and when site vegetation was reduced, temperature and rainfall were also important factors.