Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification of viable embryos in IVF by non-invasive measurement of amino acid turnover.

BACKGROUND IVF is limited by low success rates and an unacceptably high multiple pregnancy rate. These outcomes would be improved significantly if a single embryo of high viability could be replaced in each treatment cycle, but widespread acceptance of such a policy is hindered by the lack of predictive factors for embryo selection. We have conducted a retrospective clinical study of a novel non-invasive method of embryo selection based on the depletion/appearance of amino acids in the culture medium. METHODS Fifty-three cycles of IVF treatment using ICSI were studied. Embryos were cultured for 24 h in 4 microl drops of medium containing a physiological mixture of 18 amino acids. The spent medium was analysed for amino acid content by high performance liquid chromatography. RESULTS The turnover of three amino acids, Asn, Gly and Leu, was significantly correlated with a clinical pregnancy and live birth. These correlations were independent of known predictors, such as female age, basal levels of FSH, embryo cell number and embryo morphological grade. CONCLUSIONS Non-invasive assay of amino acid turnover has the potential to improve significantly the prospective selection of the most viable embryos, or single embryo, for replacement in an IVF cycle.
Applications of Generalized Method of Moments Estimation

I describe how the method of moments approach to estimation, including the more recent generalized method of moments (GMM) theory, can be applied to problems using cross section, time series, and panel data. Method of moments estimators can be attractive because in many circumstances they are robust to failures of auxiliary distributional assumptions that are not needed to identify key parameters. I conclude that while sophisticated GMM estimators are indispensable for complicated estimation problems, it seems unlikely that GMM will provide convincing improvements over ordinary least squares and two-stage least squares--by far the most common method of moments estimators used in econometrics--in settings faced most often by empirical researchers.
Flexible Parametric Measurement Error Models

Summary. Inferences in measurement error models can be sensitive to modeling assumptions. Specifically, if the model is incorrect, the estimates can be inconsistent. To reduce sensitivity to modeling assumptions and yet still retain the efficiency of parametric inference, we propose using flexible parametric models that can accommodate departures from standard parametric models. We use mixtures of normals for this purpose. We study two cases in detail: a linear errors‐in‐variables model and a change‐point Berkson model.
Investigations into Trust for Collaborative Information Repositories: A Wikipedia Case Study

As collaborative repositories grow in popularity and use, issues concerning the quality and trustworthiness of information grow. Some current popular repositories contain contributions from a wide variety of users, many of which will be unknown to a potential end user. Additionally the content may change rapidly and information that was previously contributed by a known user may be updated by an unknown user. End users are now faced with more challenges as they evaluate how much they may want to rely on information that was generated and updated in this manner. A trust management layer has become an important requirement for the continued growth and acceptance of collaboratively developed and maintained information resources. In this paper, we will describe our initial investigations into designing and implementing an extensible trust management layer for collaborative and/or aggregated repositories of information. We leverage our work on the Inference Web explanation infrastructure and exploit and expand the Proof Markup Language to handle a simple notion of trust. Our work is designed to support representation, computation, and visualization of trust information. We have grounded our work in the setting of Wikipedia. In this paper, we present our vision, expose motivations, relate work to date on trust representation, and present a trust computation algorithm with experimental results. We also discuss some issues encountered in our work that we found interesting.
On the Political Economy of Income Redistribution and Crime

In this paper we consider a general equilibrium model where heterogeneous agents specialize either in legitimate market activities or in criminal activities and majority rule determines the share of income redistributed and the expenditures devoted to the apprehension of criminals. We calibrate our model to the U.S. economy in 1990, and we conduct simulation exercises to evaluate the effectiveness of expenditures on police protection and income redistribution at reducing crime. We find that while expenditures on police protection reduce crime, it is possible for the crime rate to increase with redistribution. We also show that economies that adopt relatively more generous redistribution policies may have either higher or lower crime rates than economies with relatively less generous redistribution policies, depending on the characteristics of their wage distribution and on the efficiency of their apprehension technology.
A Minmax Extremum-Seeking Controller Design Technique

This paper considers the solution of a minmax optimization problem using adaptive extremum seeking control. It is assumed that the equations describing the dynamics of the nonlinear system and the cost function to be minimized are unknown and that the objective function is measured. The appropriate selection of the minimizing and the maximizing inputs is also assumed to be known a priori. The proposed extremum-seeking control technique uses a time-varying estimation of the unknown gradients that minimizes the impact of the choice of dither signal on the performance of the extremum seeking control system. Two examples are used to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique.
Facing up to the inequality of crowdsourced API documentation

API usability is a crucial issue in software development. One bottleneck of API usability is insufficient documentation. This study empirically confirmed the inequality of crowdsourced API documentation, which is one of the main sources of API documentation. To manage the inequality, a method for documentation reuse is proposed based on the nature of object-oriented programming language, inheritance. A case study was conducted in Stackoverflow, which is a widely used Q&A site, to study the feasibility of the documentation reuse. Results of the case study indicate that documentation reuse is feasible in improving both the coverage and quality of crowdsourced API documentations.
Processing science of advanced thermal-barrier systems

Thermal-barrier coatings (TBCs) are complex, defected, thick films made of zirconia-based refractory ceramic oxides. Their widespread applicability has necessitated development of high throughput, low cost materials manufacturing technologies. Thermal plasmas and electron beams have been the primary energy sources for processing of such systems. Electron-beam physical vapor deposition (EBPVD) is a sophisticated TBC fabrication technology for rotating parts of aero engine components, while atmospheric plasma sprays (APS) span the range from rotating blades of large power generation turbines to afterburners in supersonic propulsion engines. This article presents a scientific description of both contemporary manufacturing processes (EBPVD, APS) and emerging TBC deposition technologies based on novel extensions to plasma technology (suspension spray, plasma spray-PVD) to facilitate novel compliant and low thermal conductivity coating architectures. TBCs are of vital importance to both performance and energy efficiency of modern turbines with concomitant needs in process control for both advanced design and reliable manufacturing.
Heat shock proteins IbpA and IbpB are required for NlpI-participated cell division in Escherichia coli

Lipoprotein NlpI of Escherichia coli is involved in the cell division, virulence, and bacterial interaction with eukaryotic host cells. To elucidate the functional mechanism of NlpI, we examined how NlpI affects cell division and found that induction of NlpI inhibits nucleoid division and halts cell growth. Consistent with these results, the cell division protein FtsZ failed to localize at the septum but diffused in the cytosol. Elevation of NlpI expression enhanced the transcription and the outer membrane localization of the heat shock protein IbpA and IbpB. Deletion of either ibpA or ibpB abolished the effects of NlpI induction, which could be restored by complementation. The C-terminus of NlpI is critical for the enhancement in IbpA and IbpB production, and the N-terminus of NlpI is required for the outer membrane localization of NlpI, IbpA, and IbpB. Furthermore, NlpI physically interacts with IbpB. These results indicate that over-expression of NlpI can interrupt the nucleoids division and the assembly of FtsZ at the septum, mediated by IbpA/IbpB, suggesting a role of the NlpI/IbpA/IbpB complex in the cell division.
Robust Object-Based Multipass InSAR Deformation Reconstruction

Deformation monitoring by multipass synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry (InSAR) is, so far, the only imaging-based method to assess millimeter-level deformation over large areas from space. Past research mostly focused on the optimal retrieval of deformation parameters on the basis of a single pixel or a pixel cluster. Only until recently, the first demonstration of object-based urban infrastructure monitoring by fusing InSAR and the semantic classification labels derived from optical images was presented by Wang et al. Given such classification labels in the SAR image, we propose a general framework for object-based InSAR parameter retrieval, where the parameters of the whole object are jointly estimated by the inversion of a regularized tensor model instead of pixelwise. Our approach does not assume the stationarity of each sample in the object, which is usually assumed in other pixel cluster-based methods, such as SqueeSAR. In addition, to handle outliers in real data, a robust phase recovery step prior to parameter retrieval is also introduced. In typical settings, the proposed method outperforms the current pixelwise estimators, e.g., periodogram, by a factor of several tens in the accuracy of the linear deformation estimates. Last but not least, for a practical demonstration on bridge monitoring, we present a full workflow of long-term bridge monitoring using the proposed approach.
Content based Sentence Ordering using Spanning Tree Algorithm for Improved Multi Document Summarization

Due to the availability of required information in the web, as multiple documents, the need for summarizing these multiple documents and ordering of the sentences in the summary in an efficient way become a relevant task in data mining. We present a novel sentence ordering method based on maximum cost spanning tree algorithm to improve the readability and cohesion of the summary obtained by extraction method from related multiple documents. It is based on extracting candidate sentences for the summary from multiple documents by ranking the sentences using cosine similarity measure and reducing the redundancy in the summary by Maximal Marginal Relevance (MMR) technique. Sentences in the summary are organized by constructing a graph where each sentence represents nodes of graph and edges are maintained between every pair of vertices which represents the similarity between the sentences. Most important task of our work is to find the first sentence to be placed in the ordered summary, by identifying the sentence which has minimum similarity with the sentences in the extracted summary. Ordering of remaining sentences in the summary is fixed one by one using Prim"s Maximum Cost Spanning tree algorithm. The proposed algorithm is tested with DUC 2002 data set and found that summary generated after ordering has better readability and cohesion than that generated without ordering. It is noted that results are more impressive as the summary size increases.
The synergy of top-down and bottom-up attention in complex task: going beyond saliency models

This paper studies how visual perception of a scene is affected by cognitive processes beyond the scene's bottom-up saliency. The game of SET is taken as an example where contrast-based salient parts of a scene are ignored in favor of a larger group of similar elements. Using results from a laboratory experiment and a model simulation we explain how three cognitive mechanisms, differential acuity, visual iconic memory and declarative retrieval, considered together help to explain player's visual perception in SET.
Schematic Processing as a Framework for Learning and Creativity in CBR and CC

There is a clear connection to be made between psychologi- cal ndings regarding learning and memory and the areas of case-based reasoning (CBR) and computational creativity (CC). This paper aims to encourage researchers in these areas to consider psychological per- spectives while developing the technical and theoretical aspects of their computational systems. To this end, an overview of knowledge structures and schematic processing is provided, oering ndings from music cog- nition to demonstrate the utility of this approach. Examples of musical schemata are oered as cases which may be used in CBR systems for combinatorial creativity and the generation of new creative output.
Outdoor recreation participation of people with mobility disabilities: selected results of the national survey of recreation and the environment

Outdoor recreation is an important and meaningful experience that carries numerous benefits for people with and without disabilities. Traditionally, relatively few recreation services and facilities were accessible to people with disabilities. Recent legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act has increased the accessibility of many outdoor recreation resources, yet little documentation of the outdoor recreation participation patterns of people with disabilities exists. If outdoor recreation services are going to be inclusive of all people, then a greater understanding of the participation patterns and barriers faced by people with mobility disabilities is needed. The National Survey of Recreation and the Environment (NSRE) is an on-going study of the outdoor recreation participation of people living in the United States. The 1995 version of the survey included questions about participation in a variety of outdoor recreation activities as well as about disability and constraints. Data were collected through a nationwide telephone survey conducted by the National Forest Service. Binary logistic regression and chi-square analyses were used to analyze the data. Results indicated that for many of the activities and constraints, significant differences were found between people with mobility disabilities and people without disabilities. Characteristics of activities that influenced participation rates included: (a) the physical nature of activities, (b) the degree of adaptation needed for participation, (c) social expectations, self perceptions, and social fears associated with certain activites, (d) the financial costs of activities, and (e) the accessibility of sites where activities took place. There were no significant differences between people with mobility disabilities and people without disabilities for six of the constraints included in the survey. Seven constraints were experienced significantly more often by people with mobility disabilities than by people without disabilities, and only one constraint was experienced more often by people without disabilities than by people with mobility disabilities.
Vascular precursors in developing human retina.

PURPOSE Prior investigation has demonstrated that angioblasts are present in the inner retinas of human embryos and fetuses and that they differentiate and organize to form the primordial retinal vasculature. The purpose of this study was to characterize these angioblasts further and examine ligands that might control their migration and differentiation. METHODS Immunohistochemistry was used to localize stroma-derived factor-1 (SDF-1), its receptor CXCR4, stem cell factor (SCF), and its receptor c-Kit on sections obtained from human eyes at from 6 to 23 weeks' gestation (WG). Coexpression of CD39 (marker for retinal angioblasts and endothelial cells) and CXCR4 or c-Kit was investigated by confocal microscopy. RESULTS SDF-1 was prominent in inner retina with the greatest reaction product near the internal limiting membrane (ILM). SCF immunoreactivity was also confined to the inner retina and increased significantly between 7 and 12 WG. The level of both ligands declined by 22 WG. A layer of CXCR4(+) and c-Kit(+) precursors, some of which coexpressed CD39, existed in the inner retina from 7 to 12 WG. With migration, c-Kit was downregulated, whereas CD39(+) cells continued to express CXCR4 as they formed cords. With canalization, CXCR4 expression was downregulated. CONCLUSIONS Embryonic human retina has a pool of precursors (CXCR4(+) and c-Kit(+)) that enlarged centrifugally during fetal development. From this pool emerges angioblasts, which migrate anteriorly into the nerve fiber layer where SDF-1 and SCF levels are highest. c-Kit expression declines with apparent migration, and CXCR4 expression declines with canalization of new vessels. Both SCF and SDF-1 are associated with the differentiation of retinal precursors into angioblasts and their migration to sites of vessel assembly.
Applying a Grammar-Based Language Model to a Simplified Broadcast-News Transcription Task

We propose a language model based on a precise, linguistically motivated grammar (a hand-crafted Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar) and a statistical model estimating the probability of a parse tree. The language model is applied by means of an N-best rescoring step, which allows to directly measure the performance gains relative to the baseline system without rescoring. To demonstrate that our approach is feasible and beneficial for non-trivial broad-domain speech recognition tasks, we applied it to a simplified German broadcast-news transcription task. We report a significant reduction in word error rate compared to a state-of-the-art baseline system.
Combining embedded accelerometers with computer vision for recognizing food preparation activities

This paper introduces a publicly available dataset of complex activities that involve manipulative gestures. The dataset captures people preparing mixed salads and contains more than 4.5 hours of accelerometer and RGB-D video data, detailed annotations, and an evaluation protocol for comparison of activity recognition algorithms. Providing baseline results for one possible activity recognition task, this paper further investigates modality fusion methods at different stages of the recognition pipeline: (i) prior to feature extraction through accelerometer localization, (ii) at feature level via feature concatenation, and (iii) at classification level by combining classifier outputs. Empirical evaluation shows that fusing information captured by these sensor types can considerably improve recognition performance.
MicroRNAs in age-related diseases

Aging is a complex process that is linked to an increased incidence of major diseases such as cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disease, but also cancer and immune disorders. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non‐coding RNAs, which post‐transcriptionally control gene expression by inhibiting translation or inducing degradation of targeted mRNAs. MiRNAs target up to hundreds of mRNAs, thereby modulating gene expression patterns. Many miRNAs appear to be dysregulated during cellular senescence, aging and disease. However, only few miRNAs have been so far linked to age‐related changes in cellular and organ functions. The present article will discuss these findings, specifically focusing on the cardiovascular and neurological systems.
Molecular Epidemiology of Hepatitis D Virus Infection among Injecting Drug Users with and without Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection in Taiwan

ABSTRACT An outbreak of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection occurred among injecting drug users (IDU) in Taiwan between 2003 and 2006, when an extremely high prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection was also detected. To determine whether clusters of hepatitis D virus (HDV) infection occurred in this outbreak, 4 groups of subjects were studied: group 1, HIV-infected IDU (n = 904); group 2, HIV-infected non-IDU (n = 880); group 3, HIV-uninfected IDU (n = 211); and group 4, HIV-uninfected non-IDU (n = 1,928). The seroprevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) was 19.8%, 18.4%, 17.1%, and 6.7%, and HDV seroprevalence among HBV carriers was 75.4%, 9.3%, 66.7%, and 2.3%, for groups 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Ninety-nine of 151 (65.6%) HDV-seropositive IDU had HDV viremia: 5 were infected with HDV genotype I, 41 with genotype II, 51 with genotype IV, and 2 with genotypes II and IV. In the phylogenetic analysis, only one cluster of 4 strains within the HDV genotype II was identified. Among patients with HCV viremia, a unique cluster within genotype 1a was observed; yet, patients within this cluster did not overlap with those observed in the HDV phylogenetic analysis. In summary, although IDU had a significantly higher HDV seroprevalence, molecular epidemiologic investigations did not support that HDV was introduced at the same time as HCV among IDU.
Intrahour Cloud Tracking Based on Probability Hypothesis Density Filtering

Swift variations in the cloud cover may cause significant power output fluctuations in solar power systems, jeopardizing power quality. Forecasting the power output with a very short horizon below 30 s can be seen as a cloud cover forecasting problem solved by processing images from a sky camera. After a preprocessing stage that identifies clouds with a criterion based on the red-green blue values of each pixel, a probability hypothesis density filter or a more advanced cardinalized probability hypothesis density filter can be used to an unknown and varying number of clouds. The time when cumulus clouds will shade the sun can be forecasted with an absolute precision 6 s ahead and with an acceptable accuracy 27 s ahead. It has been found that both filters are equally well suited for a real-time online nowcasting application. They also have the potential to deal with noise and the swift dynamics and high variability of clouds.
Research approaches, adaptation strategies, and knowledge gaps concerning the impacts of climate change on plant diseases

This review discusses the present trends in studies on the impacts of climate change on plant diseases. Firstly, the approaches used for studying the potential effects of altered temperature, water availability, CO2 and O3 air concentrations, and UV-B radiation on components of the disease cycle are explained and discussed. Next, the impact of changes in climate patterns on the geographic and temporal distribution of diseases by integrating biological and epidemiological models into geographic and climate databases are assessed. Finally, adaptation strategies are discussed and areas where there is a recognized lack of knowledge are highlighted. The literature shows that different pathosystems respond in different ways to climate change. Thus, case-by-case studies on the responses of crop species or varieties and their diseases to climate change are necessary. In addition to that, wide-scale projections of disease risk are necessary in order to identify research priorities, whereas industry must be strategically directed and public policies developed to establish adaptation measures and to prevent potential food security crisis. Only by conducting long-term and multidisciplinary studies can we reduce the uncertainty regarding the effects of climate change on plant diseases.