Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
E-SmallTalker: A Distributed Mobile System for Social Networking in Physical Proximity

Small talk is an important social lubricant that helps people, especially strangers, initiate conversations and make friends with each other in physical proximity. However, due to difficulties in quickly identifying significant topics of common interest, real-world small talk tends to be superficial. The mass popularity of mobile phones can help improve the effectiveness of small talk. In this paper, we present E-SmallTalker, a distributed mobile communications system that facilitates social networking in physical proximity. It automatically discovers and suggests topics such as common interests for more significant conversations. We build on Bluetooth Service Discovery Protocol (SDP) to exchange potential topics by customizing service attributes to publish nonservice-related information without establishing a connection. We propose a novel iterative Bloom filter (IBF) protocol that encodes topics to fit in SDP attributes and achieves a low false positive rate. We have implemented the system in Java ME for ease of deployment. Our experiments on real-world phones show that it is efficient enough at the system level to facilitate social interactions among strangers in physical proximity. To the best of our knowledge, E-SmallTalker is the first distributed mobile system to achieve the same purpose.
Multipliers and lacunary sets in non-amenable groups

Let $G$ be a discrete group. Let $\lambda : G \to B(\ell_2(G),\ell_2(G))$ be the left regular representation. A function $\ph : G \to \comp$ is called a completely bounded multiplier (= Herz-Schur multiplier) if the transformation defined on the linear span $K(G)$ of $\{\lambda(x),x \in G\}$ by $$\sum_{x \in G} f(x) \lambda(x) \to \sum_{x \in G} f(x) \ph(x) \lambda(x)$$ is completely bounded (in short c.b.) on the $C^*$-algebra $C_\lambda^*(G)$ which is generated by $\lambda$ ($C_\lambda^*(G)$ is the closure of $K(G)$ in $B(\ell_2(G),\ell_2(G))$. ) One of our main results gives a simple characterization of the functions $\ph$ such that $\eps \ph$ is a c.b. multiplier on $C_\lambda^*(G)$ for any bounded function $\eps$, or equivalently for any choice of signs $\eps(x) = \pm 1$. We also consider the case when this holds for ``almost all" choices of signs.
Dietary fat intake and prevention of cardiovascular disease: systematic review

Abstract Objective: To assess the effect of reduction or modification of dietary fat intake on total and cardiovascular mortality and cardiovascular morbidity. Design: Systematic review. Data sources: Cochrane Library, Medline, Embase, CAB abstracts, SIGLE, CVRCT registry, and biographies were searched; trials known to experts were included. Included studies: Randomised controlled trials stating intention to reduce or modify fat or cholesterol intake in healthy adult participants over at least six months. Inclusion decisions, validity, and data extraction were duplicated. Meta-analysis (random effects methodology), meta-regression, and funnel plots were performed. Results: 27 studies (30 902 person years of observation) were included. Alteration of dietary fat intake had small effects on total mortality (rate ratio 0.98; 95% confidence interval 0.86 to 1.12). Cardiovascular mortality was reduced by 9% (0.91; 0.77 to 1.07) and cardiovascular events by 16% (0.84; 0.72 to 0.99), which was attenuated (0.86; 0.72 to 1.03) in a sensitivity analysis that excluded a trial using oily fish. Trials with at least two years' follow up provided stronger evidence of protection from cardiovascular events (0.76; 0.65 to 0.90). Conclusions: There is a small but potentially important reduction in cardiovascular risk with reduction or modification of dietary fat intake, seen particularly in trials of longer duration. What is already known on this topic The epidemiological relation between dietary fat intake and cardiovascular disease is central in strategies aimed at risk reduction in populations and individuals Systematic review of randomised controlled trials supports manipulation of dietary fat to control serum lipid concentrations, though evidence of effect on one risk factor does not rule out an opposite or reinforced effect on another unstudied risk factor Randomised controlled trials of dietary fat reduction or modification have shown varying results on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality What this study adds Systematic review of trials of modified fat intake shows that reduction or modification of dietary fat intake results in reductions in cardiovascular events, but only in trials of at least two years' duration There is little effect on total mortality Despite decades of effort and many thousands of people randomised, there is still only limited and inconclusive evidence of the effects of modification of total, saturated, monounsaturated, or polyunsaturated fats on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality
Gut Microbial Translocation in Critically Ill Children and Effects of Supplementation with Pre- and Pro Biotics

Bacterial translocation as a direct cause of sepsis is an attractive hypothesis that presupposes that in specific situations bacteria cross the intestinal barrier, enter the systemic circulation, and cause a systemic inflammatory response syndrome. Critically ill children are at increased risk for bacterial translocation, particularly in the early postnatal age. Predisposing factors include intestinal obstruction, obstructive jaundice, intra-abdominal hypertension, intestinal ischemia/reperfusion injury and secondary ileus, and immaturity of the intestinal barrier per se. Despite good evidence from experimental studies to support the theory of bacterial translocation as a cause of sepsis, there is little evidence in human studies to confirm that translocation is directly correlated to bloodstream infections in critically ill children. This paper provides an overview of the gut microflora and its significance, a focus on the mechanisms employed by bacteria to gain access to the systemic circulation, and how critical illness creates a hostile environment in the gut and alters the microflora favoring the growth of pathogens that promote bacterial translocation. It also covers treatment with pre- and pro biotics during critical illness to restore the balance of microbial communities in a beneficial way with positive effects on intestinal permeability and bacterial translocation.
Phase IIa Study of the Immunogenicity and Safety of the Novel Staphylococcus aureus Vaccine V710 in Adults with End-Stage Renal Disease Receiving Hemodialysis

ABSTRACT Bacteremia is the second leading cause of death in patients with end-stage renal disease who are on hemodialysis. A vaccine eliciting long-term immune responses against Staphylococcus aureus in patients on chronic hemodialysis may reduce the incidence of bacteremia and its complications in these patients. V710 is a vaccine containing iron surface determinant B (IsdB), a highly conserved S. aureus surface protein, which has been shown to be immunogenic in healthy subjects. In this blinded phase II immunogenicity study, 206 chronic hemodialysis patients between the ages of 18 and 80 years old were randomized to receive 60 μg V710 (with or without adjuvant), 90 μg V710 (with adjuvant), or a placebo in various combinations on days 1, 28, and 180. All 201 vaccinated patients were to be followed through day 360. The primary hypothesis was that at least 1 of the 3 groups receiving 2 V710 doses on days 1 and 28 would have a ≥2.5 geometric mean fold rise (GMFR) in anti-IsdB IgG titers over the baseline 28 days after the second vaccination (day 56). At day 56, all three groups receiving 2 doses of V710 achieved a ≥2.5 GMFR in anti-IsdB antibodies compared to the baseline (P values of <0.001 for all 3 groups), satisfying the primary immunogenicity hypothesis. None of the 33 reported serious adverse experiences were considered vaccine related by the investigators. V710 induced sustained antibody responses for at least 1 year postvaccination in patients on chronic hemodialysis.
Study of Electrochemical Performance of Li-Ion Batteries Based on Simultaneous Measurement of a Three-Electrode System

In this paper, the electrochemical performance of the cathode and the anode of the three-electrode Li-ion batteries (LIBs) was measured and studied. During the process of the charge and discharge for three-electrode LIBs, the voltage of the cathode and the anode can be simultaneously collected. The incremental capacity curves show that the intercalation and de-intercalation occur both in the cathode and the anode. From the electrochemical impedance spectra, it is known that the electrochemical behavior of full cell depends on both cathode and the anode. The Li ion diffusion on the surface of the cathode dominates the full cell performance at low-frequency range, and electrochemical impedance of the anode dominates at the medium to high frequency.
Functional role of anion channels in cardiac diseases

AbstractIn comparison to cation (K+, Na+ and Ca2+) channels, much less is currently known about the functional role of anion (Cl−) channels in cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology. Over the past 15 years, various types of Cl− currents have been recorded in cardiac cells from different species including humans. All cardiac Cl− channels described to date may be encoded by five different Cl− channel genes: the PKA- and PKC-activated cystic fibrosis tansmembrane conductanceregulator (CFTR), the volume-regulated CIC-2 und CIC-3, and the Ca2+ - activated CLCA or Bestrophin. Recent studies using multiple approaches to examine the functional role of Cl− channels in the context of health and disease have demonstrated that Cl− channels might contribute to: 1) arrhythmogenesis in mycocardial injury; 2) Cardiac ischemic preconditioning; and 3) the adaptive remodeling of the heart during myocardial hypertrophy and heart failure. Therefore anion channels represent very attractive novel targets for therapeutic approaches to the treatment of heart diseases. Recent evidence suggests that Cl− channels, like cation channels, might function as a multiprotein complex or functional module. In the post-genome era, the emergence of functional proteomics has necessitated a new paradigm shift to the structural and functional assessment of integrated Cl− channel multiprotein complexes in the heart, which could provide new insight into our understanding of the underlying mechanisms responsible for heart disease and protection.
A Removal of Eye Movement and Blink Artifacts from EEG Data Using Morphological Component Analysis

EEG signals contain a large amount of ocular artifacts with different time-frequency properties mixing together in EEGs of interest. The artifact removal has been substantially dealt with by existing decomposition methods known as PCA and ICA based on the orthogonality of signal vectors or statistical independence of signal components. We focused on the signal morphology and proposed a systematic decomposition method to identify the type of signal components on the basis of sparsity in the time-frequency domain based on Morphological Component Analysis (MCA), which provides a way of reconstruction that guarantees accuracy in reconstruction by using multiple bases in accordance with the concept of “dictionary. ” MCA was applied to decompose the real EEG signal and clarified the best combination of dictionaries for this purpose. In our proposed semirealistic biological signal analysis with iEEGs recorded from the brain intracranially, those signals were successfully decomposed into original types by a linear expansion of waveforms, such as redundant transforms: UDWT, DCT, LDCT, DST, and DIRAC. Our result demonstrated that the most suitable combination for EEG data analysis was UDWT, DST, and DIRAC to represent the baseline envelope, multifrequency wave-forms, and spiking activities individually as representative types of EEG morphologies.
Enhanced 3G-Based m-Health System

The architecture of a multi-collaborative mobile telemedicine system operating over third-generation (3G) mobile networks is presented. The system architecture is based on advanced signaling protocols that allow multimedia multi-collaborative conferences in IPv4/IPv6 3G scenarios. It is designed to communicate the personnel of an ambulance with medical specialists in a remote hospital through a 3G mobile access, providing appropriate support for real-time transmission of medical data and videoconference, together with other non real-time services. The system has been optimized specifically to operate over 3G mobile networks using the most appropriate codecs and quality of service (QoS) mechanisms to improve the services offered
In vivo analysis of oligodendrocyte lineage development in postnatal FGF2 null mice

Analysis of fibroblast growth factor 2 null (FGF2−/−) and wild‐type (FGF2+/+) mice was used to interpret the potential in vivo role of endogenous FGF2 on oligodendrocyte lineage cell (OLC) responses during oligodendrogenesis and myelination. In wild‐type mouse spinal cord, FGF2 levels increased approximately threefold between the first and second postnatal weeks, a period corresponding with the peak of oligodendrogenesis. Absence of this developmental FGF2 elevation in FGF2−/− mice eliminated the transient overproduction of oligodendrocytes that is known to occur at the peak of oligodendrogenesis in wild‐type mice. Absence of FGF2 did not affect oligodendrocyte progenitor (OP) density or proliferation, based on BrdU incorporation, and also did not alter survival, based on TUNEL analysis. To examine OLC differentiation in vivo, retrovirus encoding‐enhanced green fluorescent protein (GFP) was injected into the spinal cord to heritably label endogenous cycling cells in the white matter at postnatal day 7 and then identify the generated cells at postnatal day 28. Phenotypes of cells expressing GFP were identified by morphology and immunolabeling, using CC1 for oligodendrocytes and NG2 combined with platelet‐derived growth factor α receptor for OPs. Within the population of GFP‐labeled cells, the proportion of oligodendrocytes was higher in FGF2−/− mice, indicating that endogenous FGF2 inhibited OLC differentiation in wild‐type mice. Furthermore, in FGF2−/− mice fewer cells appeared to be generated from an initial retrovirus‐labeled cell, consistent with more frequent differentiation into post‐mitotic oligodendrocytes. This in vivo analysis demonstrates that the predominant role of endogenous FGF2 on OLCs in development is inhibition of differentiation. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Keyhole Approach Combined With External Ventricular Drainage for Ruptured, Poor-Grade, Anterior Circulation Cerebral Aneurysms

AbstractPoor-grade ruptured anterior circulation cerebral aneurysms are frequently associated with severe vasospasm and high morbidity rates despite recent remarkable advances in endovascular coiling.Here, we explored the feasibility of keyhole approach combined with external ventricular drainage for ruptured, poor-grade, anterior circulation cerebral aneurysms. We retrospectively assessed the records of 103 patients with ruptured, Hunt and Hess grade IV or V, anterior circulation cerebral aneurysms. The patients were divided into 2 groups (conservative group and surgical group). In surgical group, patients were divided into 2 subgroups according to surgical time (within 24 hours and at 24–48 hours). Clinical outcome was assessed at the 6-month follow-up and categorized according to modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score.Twenty percent of patients (9/44) in conservative group obtained good outcome, while 54% (32/54) in surgical group (P < 0.05). Mortality was 73% in conservative group and 40% in surgical group, respectively. In surgical group, age, Hunt and Hess grade (IV or V), and timing of intervention (<24 hours or later) influenced the clinical outcome of the patients (P < 0.05), while sex, Fisher grade, hydrocephalus, the location of aneurysms, and cerebral vasospasm (CVS) not (P > 0.05). Furthermore, 65% of patients (22/34) operated within 24 hours after onset of hemorrhage had a good outcome compared with 20% of patients (5/25) operated at 24 to 48 hours in surgical group (P < 0.05). The results indicate that keyhole approach combined with external ventricular drainage is a safe and reliable treatment for ruptured, poor-grade, anterior circulation cerebral aneurysms in early stage, which will reduce mortality.
Explicit and Implicit Pipelining for Wireless Medium Access Control (Invited Paper)

In wireless networks, multiple stations contend for access to the shared channel. In the cases of collisions, the associated collision cost is much higher than wired networks since stations cannot detect the collision without explicit feedback from the receiver. For this reason, more efficient contention resolution algorithms are desired for wireless networks to reduce the collision probability among backlogged stations. With distributed multiple access control, each station usually goes through a contention resolution stage before initiating its transmission. As contention resolution stage consumes channel bandwidth without producing any goodput, ideally, we desire it to be as short as possible while reducing the possibility of collisions to as small as possible. However, in general, it is difficult to achieve an optimum tradeoff between these two desired features. In this paper, we propose to use pipelining techniques to resolve such conflicts and improve the performance of multiple access control in terms of channel utilization. We discuss several pipelining MAC schemes and present their advantages and disadvantages accordingly. I. INTRODUCTION In wireless networks, a station usually can only learn about a collision when the transmission is finished and the expected acknowledgment (in some form) does not come back. Consequently, a collision will last for the entire packet trans- mission duration instead of propagation delay only, resulting in higher collision cost in wireless networks compared with wired networks. Moreover, wireless networks deliver much lower bandwidth than wired networks, which makes it hard for wireless networks to afford significant loss of channel resource. For the above reasons, more efficient contention resolution algorithms for multiple access control are desired in order to improve channel utilization of wireless networks. Standards for wireless MAC protocol include the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) High Perfor- mance European Radio LAN (HIPERLAN/1) (1) and the IEEE 802.11 WLAN (2). HIPERLAN/1 has two contention resolution stages in series: the "elimination" stage followed by the "yield" stage. In the elimination stage, a contending station transmits bursts (i.e., pulses of energy) for a random duration and then listens to the channel in the elimination survival verification interval. A contending station survives the elimination stage if and only if the channel is sensed idle in its elimination survival verification interval; otherwise, this station is eliminated. The objective of the "elimination" stage is to eliminate as many contending stations as possible.
Data Complexity of Instance Checking in The EL Family of Description Logics

Subsumption in the description logic (DL) EL is known to be tractable even when it is done with respect to the most general form of terminology, namely a set of general inclusion axioms (GCIs). Recently, this tractability boundary has been clarified by identifying DL constructors that causes intractability of subsumption when added to EL and that do not. These results provide us with a characterization of the complexity of subsumption for the EL family of DLs (i.e., EL and its extensions). Besides subsumption, there are other standard reasoning problems studied in DL. Among them, the instance checking problem is the most basic reasoning problem that is concerned with deriving implicit knowledge about individuals in a DL knowledge base. Such a knowledge base consists of an intensional part in the form of a terminology (TBox) and an extensional or data part in the form of assertions about particular individuals in the domain of the knowledge base (ABox). Like other reasoning problems, complexity of instance checking is usually measured in the size of the whole input—thus called combined complexity—which, in this case, consists of a TBox, an ABox, a query concept and an individual name. On the other hand, it is common to assume that the data (ABox) is very large compared to the TBox and the query. Therefore, it is often more realistic to use a complexity measure based only on the size of the ABox, i.e., data complexity. For the EL family, results for the combined complexity of instance checking can be derived from the complexity results for subsumption. But results which are concerned with data complexity are still lacking. This motivates us to investigate the data complexity of instance checking in the EL family. In particular, we are interested in whether there are extensions of EL which are intractable regarding combined complexity, but tractable regarding data complexity. The first part of this thesis establishes coNP-hardness (and even coNP-completeness) results regarding data complexity of instance checking w.r. t. sets of GCIs for extensions of EL with negation, disjunction, value restriction, number restriction and role constructors such as role negation, role union and transitive closures. The lower bounds of data complexity for these DLs are proved by polynomial reductions from the complement of 2+2-SAT, a variant of propositional satisfiability problem which is NP-complete, whereas the upper bounds follow from known results of data complexity for ALC and SHIQ. The second part identifies an extension of EL called ELI , for which data complexity of instance checking w.r. t. sets of GCIs is tractable. The DL ELI is obtained from EL by adding inverse roles and global functionality. This result is interesting since adding only one of those two constructors leads to intractability of reasoning w.r. t. combined complexity. The result is derived by giving an algorithm that decides instance checking in ELI w.r. t. sets of GCIs and runs in time polynomial in the size of the input ABox.
Cause Identification from Aviation Safety Incident Reports via Weakly Supervised Semantic Lexicon Construction

The Aviation Safety Reporting System collects voluntarily submitted reports on aviation safety incidents to facilitate research work aiming to reduce such incidents. To effectively reduce these incidents, it is vital to accurately identify why these incidents occurred. More precisely, given a set of possible causes, or shaping factors, this task of cause identification involves identifying all and only those shaping factors that are responsible for the incidents described in a report. We investigate two approaches to cause identification. Both approaches exploit information provided by a semantic lexicon, which is automatically constructed via Thelen and Riloff's Basilisk framework augmented with our linguistic and algorithmic modifications. The first approach labels a report using a simple heuristic, which looks for the words and phrases acquired during the semantic lexicon learning process in the report. The second approach recasts cause identification as a text classification problem, employing supervised and transductive text classification algorithms to learn models from incident reports labeled with shaping factors and using the models to label unseen reports. Our experiments show that both the heuristic-based approach and the learning-based approach (when given sufficient training data) outperform the baseline system significantly.