Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Just-In-Time Data Virtualization: Lightweight Data Management with ViDa

As the size of data and its heterogeneity increase, traditional database system architecture becomes an obstacle to data analysis. Integrating and ingesting (loading) data into databases is quickly becoming a bottleneck in face of massive data as well as increasingly heterogeneous data formats. Still, state-of-the-art approaches typically rely on copying and transforming data into one (or few) repositories. Queries, on the other hand, are often ad-hoc and supported by pre-cooked operators which are not adaptive enough to optimize access to data. As data formats and queries increasingly vary, there is a need to depart from the current status quo of static query processing primitives and build dynamic, fully adaptive architectures. We build ViDa, a system which reads data in its raw format and processes queries using adaptive, just-in-time operators. Our key insight is use of virtualization, i.e., abstracting data and manipulating it regardless of its original format, and dynamic generation of operators. ViDa’s query engine is generated just-in-time; its caches and its query operators adapt to the current query and the workload, while also treating raw datasets as its native storage structures. Finally, ViDa features a language expressive enough to support heterogeneous data models, and to which existing languages can be translated. Users therefore have the power to choose the language best suited for an analysis.
Urban Differentiation, Characteristics of Boards of Directors, and Organizational Effectiveness

The internal differentiation of urban areas affects the support base of organizations by, among other things, its provision of a pool of potential supporters to organizations. In turn, the characteristics of actual supporters (in this case boards of directors) should be related to organizational effectiveness. Aggregate measures of the socioeconomic composition of boards of directors of thirty-four branches of the YMCA of Chicago are found to be correlated with demographic measures on the areas each serves. Furthermore, the composition of the boards is correlated with measures of organizational and board effectiveness. The demographic measures are also correlated with the spatial work-residence patterns of board members. The over-all import of the study is to link ecological and organizational analysis.
The Cause and Treatment of Pancreatitis Associated with Pancreas Divisum

Recurrent pancreatitis is more prevalent in the 4% of people with pancreas divisum (nonfused dorsal and ventral ducts), and it has been proposed that the pancreatitis is caused by stenosis at the orifice of the dorsal duct. We have treated 40 patients with pancreas divisum and proven or probable pancreatitis. The diagnoses were made by endoscopic pancreatography showing a foreshortened (<6 cm) ventral duct (Wirsung) and confirmed by postoperative pancreatograms showing the separate main duct (Santorini) emptying via the accessory papilla. Of these, 32 patients (25 men, 7 women, median age 30) had recurrent acute pancreatitis (22) or persistent pain (10) without chronic inflammation or fibrosis. Twenty-nine have been treated by transduodenal sphincteroplasty of the accessory papilla; 22 were stenotic (0.75 mm or less) and 7 nonstenotic. Among 25 patients observed for longer than 6 months after surgery, the relief of pain and pancreatitis has been good in 17, fair in 1, and poor in 7. There was no difference between accessory papillotomy alone (10–0-3) v papillotomies of both accessory and major papillae (7–1-4). Patients with stenosis (16–1-1) fared better (p < 0.001) than those without stenosis (1–0-6). Those presenting with discrete attacks (12–1-2) also fared better (p < 0.05) than those presenting with chronic pain (5–0-5). The other eight patients (two women, six men, median age 28) had chronic pancreatitis proven by pancreatography and surgical biopsy. In this group, treatment by sphincteroplasty of the accessory papilla failed, and seven patients eventually required a pancreaticojejunostomy (3), distal pancreatectomy (2), or total pancreatectomy (2). In pancreas divisum, pancreatitis is caused by stenosis at the accessory papilla of Santorini. There may be progression from recurrent acute pancreatitis to irreversible fibrosis in some cases. Sphincteroplasty is effective for recurrent acute pancreatitis, but ductal drainage or resection becomes necessary once chronic pancreatitis is established. A preoperative test for stenosis of the accessory papilla is needed to identify patients whose symptoms are genuinely caused by their pancreas divisum.
De profundis: spiritual transformations in Alcoholics Anonymous.

The mechanism of change in Alcoholics Anonymous is described as "spiritual transformation. " A.A. acknowledges that such transformation can occur gradually; however, nearly all of the examples presented in the Big Book of A.A. involve discrete and sudden experiences that resemble the phenomenon of quantum change. The sequence offered describes how spiritual transformations transpire. The sequence begins with hitting bottom, recognition of inability to control the problem. A feeling of contrition follows, describing not only sorrow for the present state, but also desire for a new way. The final step is the act of surrendering one's will to a higher power. The de profundis sequence sets the process of spiritual transformation in motion, offering stabilization to sobriety.
Efficacy of darunavir/ritonavir maintenance monotherapy in patients with HIV-1 viral suppression: a randomized open-label, noninferiority trial, MONOI-ANRS 136

Background:Darunavir/ritonavir (darunavir/r) maintenance strategy, in patients with suppressed HIV RNA viremia, is a potential long-term strategy to avoid nucleoside analogue toxicities and to reduce costs. Methods:MONOtherapy Inhibitor protease is a prospective, open-label, noninferiority, 96-week safety and efficacy trial in virologically suppressed patients on triple therapy who were randomized to a darunavir/r triple drug regimen or darunavir/r monotherapy. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients with HIV RNA less than 400 copies/ml at week 48; treatment failure was defined as two consecutive HIV RNA more than 400 copies/ml (time to loss of virologic response) or any change in treatment. The trial had 80% power to show noninferiority for the monotherapy arm (δ=−10%, 90% confidence interval). Results:A total of 242 patients were screened, 225 of whom were randomized. In the per protocol efficacy analysis, treatment success was 99% on darunavir/r triple drug versus 94% on darunavir/r monotherapy (δ = −4.9%, 90% confidence interval, from −9.1 to −0.8). Similar results were found in intent-to-treat population (92 versus 87.5%, δ = −4.5%, 90% confidence interval from −11.2 to 2.1). Three patients experienced virologic failure on darunavir/monotherapy and none on darunavir/r triple drug. No resistance to protease inhibitor emerged in patients with plasma viral load above 50 copies/ml. The two groups did not differ in the number of serious adverse events. Conclusion:Darunavir/r monotherapy exhibited efficacy rate over 85% with concordant results in the magnitude of difference with darunavir/r triple drug regimen in both intent-to-treat and per protocol analyses, but discordant conclusions with respect to the noninferiority margin. Patients failing on darunavir/r monotherapy had no emergence of new darunavir resistance mutations preserving future treatment options.
interpersonal behaviours and BPD. Are specific interpersonal behaviours related to borderline personality disorder? An empirical study using the Core Conflictual Relationship Theme standard categories.

Summary Aim . It is common knowledge that disturbed interpersonal functioning is a key feature of borderline per-sonality disorder (BPD). However, it remains uncertain whether patients with BPD have specific interper-sonal behaviours that can be validly and objectively identified. This study examined the interpersonal be-haviours of patients with BPD. Method . The narratives of interpersonal interactions of the 66 participants were rated using the Core Con-flictual relationship theme (CCrt) method.Results. results showed that once other Axis II disorders were controlled for, only three CCrt compo-nents significantly predicted scores on the borderline personality Disorder Scale: not wishing to be good as a CCrt Wish component, others not being untrustworthy as a response of other component, and not being open to others as a response of self component. However, while these findings were significant, the percentage of variance explained remained low. Conclusions . the authors argue that future research will need to examine subgroups within bpD if spe-cific interpersonal behaviours are to be reconsidered.
Differential effects of benzodiazepines on EEG activity and hypnogenic mechanisms of the brain stem in cats.

The effects of quazepam, flurazepam and diazepam (0.12-1 mg/kg i.v.) on cortical electroencephalogram (EEG) and EEG power spectra were studied in cats with lesioning at various levels of the brain stem (encéphale isolé, midpontine pretrigeminal and cerveau isolé preparations). In the encéphale isoleé, quazepam produced slow waves, spindles and power increases in the 0.5-14 Hz range. Flurazepam produced similar EEG activity but alternated with fast frequency rhythms (8-14 Hz) of moderate amplitude. Diazepam produced spindles superimposed on a continuous fast frequency background while the slow waves were not observed. In the midpointine cats, quazepam modified the desynchronized EEG only at the higher doses. It enhanced the fast rhythms (10-14 Hz) observed in controls. Flurazepam produced similar effects but to a great extent. EEG effects of diazepam were similar to those observed in the encéphale isolé. Thus, the midpontine transection precluded the appearance of the slow wave synchronization. None of the benzodiazepines affected the synchronized EEG of the cerveau isolé. It is suggested that quazepam and, at least in part, flurazepam may induce EEG synchronization and slow wave sleep by influencing hypnogenic mechanisms of the lower brain stem. Fast EEG patterns produced by diazepam and partially by flurazepam seemed unrelated to the sleep-inducing mechanisms while the activating mesencephalic system appeared to be involved.
Backlog Bound Analysis for Virtual-Channel Routers

Backlog bound analysis is crucial for predicting buffer sizing boundary in on-chip virtual-channel routers. However, the complicated resource contention among traffic flows makes the analysis difficult. Because conventional simulation-based approaches are generally incapable of investigating the worst-case scenarios for the backlog bounds, we propose a formal analysis technique. We identify basic buffer use scenarios and propose corresponding analysis models to formally deduce per-buffer backlog bound using network calculus. A topology independent analysis technique is developed to convey the per-buffer backlog bound analysis step by step. We further develop an algorithm to automate the analysis procedure with polynomial complexity. A case study shows how to apply the technique and the analytical bounds are tight.
Capacity and Delay Spread in Multilayer Diffusion-Based Molecular Communication (DBMC) Channel

In nanoscale communication, diffusion-based molecular communication (DBMC) in which information is encoded into molecule patterns by a transmitter nanomachine, has emerged as a promising communication system, particularly for biomedical and healthcare applications. Although, numerous studies have been conducted to evaluate and analyze DBMC systems, investigation on DBMC system through a multilayer channel has received less attention. The aims of this paper are to formulate channel characteristics and to evaluate the performance of multilayer DBMC channel in terms of delay spread and capacity. In this paper, the propagation of molecules over an n-layer channel is assumed to follow the Brownian motion and subjected to Fick's law of diffusion. Fourier transform is used to convert time to frequency domain functions. Besides, the multilayer channel is considered as a linear and deterministic channel. For the performance evaluation, the air-water-blood plasma medium representing the simplified multilayer diffusion model in the respiratory system was chosen. It was found that a high channel capacity can be achieved with wide transmission bandwidth, short transmission distance, and high averaged transmitted power. In addition, the findings showed that channel delay spread increases as both the transmission distance, and the pulse duration increased. By setting the symbol duration greater than the pulse duration or delay spread, an inter-symbol interference problem due to previous molecules transmission can be mitigated. These findings can be used as a guide in the development and fabrication of future artificial nanocommunication and nanonetworks systems involving multilayer transmission medium.
PEPPER-a process simulator for VLSI

PEPPER is a computer program that simulates in one dimension the ion implantation, diffusion, oxidation, epitaxy, deposition, and etch processes used in VLSI technology. The program contains an efficient Monte Carlo ion implantation algorithm that includes explicit calculation of ion channeling and damage. The key feature of the diffusion calculation is a general partial differential equation solver for rapid prototyping of physical models. The solver has been used to develop several unique diffusion models. A novel model for impurity diffusion in polysilicon treats the problem as a two-stream process, with relatively slow standard diffusion within the grain and a much more rapid component of diffusion along the grain boundaries. The two components are coupled at each point by a segregation term. Two other models for impurity diffusion in silicon include explicit calculation of the coupling of point defects with impurities. One of the point-defect models is a general and detailed formulation from a chemical kinetics viewpoint, while the other makes further assumptions to simplify the model for engineering analysis. >
British Liberalism and the Idea of Social Justice

POLITICAL AND SOCIAL IDEAS played a peculiarly important part in shaping British institutions in the century between Waterloo and the Great War of 1914. The utilitarian theories of Jeremy Bentham and his Radical followers, the free trade doctrines promoted by Richard Cobden and the Anti-Corn Law League, the evolutionary socialism of Sidney Webb and the Fabian Society are classic examples of concepts which profoundly affected the course of British history, and which cannot be explained in purely material terms. The current fashion may be to emphasize the interplay of economic interests represented in parliament and consider reform legislation in terms of the pressure of special groups, but the great debates in the Commons and in the country were held in terms of the basic principles of government. Economic interest was a factor that only the blind could fail to recognize; but the great reforms which moulded British institutions into their present shape can be understood only in connection with the general ideas from which they grew. The influence of theory on politics was particularly significant in the early years of the twentieth century, when the great social reforms of the Liberal party laid the foundations of a new-and yet thoroughly British-social unity, the strength of which was tested in the first world war and in the great depression, and won universal admiration after the military collapse of Dunkirk. Between 1906 and 1911 as much important legislation was placed upon the statute books as in the six years from 1832 to 1837. Among the more significant laws were the Trade Disputes Act and the Workman's Compensation Act of 1906, the Old Age Pensions Act of 1908, the Labor Exchange Act, the Children's Act and the Housing and Town Planning Act of 1909, and the National Insurance Act of 1911. Although this mass of detailed social legislation was put into effect piece-meal, it was the coherent result of years of discussion and agitation. It was based on a considered view of the State and society. The laws have been described many times, and the circumstances of their passage are recorded in detail. Yet, curiously enough, little effort has been made to connect social reform with the acceptance of new political ideas. '
Long-Term Outcome after Interferon Therapy in Elderly Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C

Objective: The purpose of this study was to elucidate the long-term outcome after interferon (IFN) therapy in chronic hepatitis C elderly patients. Methods: We studied the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and survival probability after the initiation of IFN therapy in 500 Japanese chronic hepatitis C patients >60 years. The mean age of initiation of IFN was 63 years and the mean follow-up period was 7.4 years. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was used to evaluate the long-term outcome after initiation of IFN therapy.Sustained virological response (SVR) was defined as negative HCV-RNA by RT-nested PCR 6 months after the completion of long-term IFN therapy. Non-response (NR) was applied to patients who did not show SVR. Hepatic fibrosis was defined as the fibrosis score (score 0–4) according to Knodell et al. Results: 140 patients (28%) had an SVR and 360 patients (72%) had an NR. 71 of 500 patients developed HCC during follow-up. The cumulative incidence of HCC was 9.6% at the 5th year, 17.4% at the 10th year, and 31.3% at the 15th year. HCC developed with significance when: (1) HCV was not cleared after IFN therapy (p < 0.0001), (2) sex was male (p < 0.0001), and (3) staging of liver fibrosis was >2 (p = 0.008). 53 of the patients died. The cumulative survival probability was 95.7% at the 5th year, 86.4% at the 10th year, and 78% at the 15th year. Patients achieved a long survival with significance when: (1) staging of liver fibrosis was 1 (p < 0.0001), (2) HCV was cleared after IFN therapy (p = 0.034), and (3) sex was female (p = 0.015). Conclusion: Chronic hepatitis C patients with clearance of HCV after IFN therapy had a significantly reduced risk of HCC appearance and achieved prolonged survival even if they are ≧60 years.
Readings in Scheme

In this edition of Readings in Scheme, there are twelve additions to the bibliography. Although there are also some corrections, I have chosen to include only the additions, rather than a complete re-print of the bibliography. Another complete re-print will take place sometime next summer. By then, I expect the bibliography to double in size.
Looking down a Gun Barrel: Person Perception and Violent Crime

Data from police reports showed the perception of a criminal assailant (as indicated by the completeness of description) is dependent on several variables related to characteristics of the crime and the victim. Taken from the perspective of person perception, these data suggest that perceiving and describing an object “in the field” may be influenced by a variety of conditions such as type of offense and the spatial and temporal characteristics of the act. Moreover, certain types of victims possessed differential capabilities for making identifications which might lead to an arrest.
Mega-events and micro-modernization: on the sociology of the new urban tourism

This paper focuses on one aspect of this field, namely the staging of cultural or sporting mega-events. Social science interest in mega-events tends to be dominated by economic impact studies. This paper attempts to go beyond a narrow economistic approach and explores the wider socio-economic impacts of mega-events. It also suggests that we need to take account of a range of contexts (from macro-level post-industrial/post-national shifts to micro level urban politics and tourism strategy formation), if we are to develop a sociologically adequate understanding of touristic mega-events and their contemporary social significance. The paper throughout takes the opportunity presented by mega-event analysis to discuss some of the main issues involved in developing a structural sociological and political economic account of tourism events and policies. The focus of the paper on income, employment and economic modernisation impacts means that the cultural impacts of urban tourism are not dealt with in any detail. However the paper concludes by briefly considering : a) tourism as a cultural phenomenon (indeed as one of the archetypal forms of the « post-modern » culture of modernity) and thus; b) the need for the sociology of tourism to attempt to comprehend tourisms's various different dimensions (i.e. economic, political and cultural). It is suggested that dialectical forms of conceptualisation will be needed in addition to empirical studies if the sociology of tourism is to respond adequately to the challenge of its subject matter
Lexical Morphology: Structure, Process, and Development

Recent work has demonstrated the importance of derivational morphology to later language development and has led to a consensus that derivation is a lexical process. In this review, derivational morphology is discussed in terms of lexical representation models from both linguistic and psycholinguistic perspectives. Input characteristics, including types of frequency (lexical, surface, affix, and relative) and transparency (semantic, phonological, and orthographic), are examined as key factors that affect processing and acquisition. We introduce the possibility that lexical prosody and syllabic characteristics are relevant to lexical representation and affix separability, and we propose that derivational morphemes can emerge to different degrees in a system that is sensitive to both sound and meaning. Finally, morphological development with a focus on children's sensitivity to input characteristics is briefly reviewed, and we conclude with a perspective of how lexical representation can be a framework for derived word study in therapeutic or educational settings.
Automatic Extraction of Knowledge from Greek Web Documents

Extracting textual data from Greek corpuses poses additional difficulties than in English texts as inclinations and intonation differentiate terms of equal information weight. Pre-processing and normalization of text is an important step before the extraction procedure as it leads to fewer rules and lexicon entries, thus to less execution time and greater success of the mining process. This paper presents a system accessible via the Web which automatically extracts data from Greek texts. The domain of conference announcements is utilized for experimentation purposes. The success of the extraction procedure is discussed on the basis of an evaluative study. The conclusions and the techniques discussed are applicable to other domains as well.
Intestinal Barrier to Intact Horseradish Peroxidase in Experimental Secretory Diarrhea

Summary: Intestinal permeability to intact horseradish peroxidase (HRP, MW 40,000) was assessed during the acute phase of secretory diarrhea. Secretion was either induced in ligated loops of rabbit jejunum with cholera toxin or mimicked in vitro with db-cAMP, 8Br-cGMP, or theophylline in isolated fragments of rabbit jejunum mounted in Ussing chambers. Although intestinal electrolyte secretion was obtained under these conditions, as shown by the rises in short-circuit current and potential difference, jejunal permeability to HRP did not change. These results suggest that, throughout the time course of secretory diarrhea, no change occurs in the functional ability of the jejunal epithelium to protect the organism against massive intact protein penetration.