Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fragmentation and Transition: Understanding Perceptions of Virtual Possessions among Young Adults in South Korea, Spain and the United States

People worldwide are increasingly acquiring collections of virtual possessions. While virtual possessions have become ubiquitous, little work exists on how people value and form attachments to these things. To investigate, we conducted a study with 48 young adults from South Korea, Spain and the United States. The study probed on participants’ perceived value of their virtual possessions as compared to their material things, and the comparative similarities and differences across cultures. Findings show that young adults live in unfinished spaces and that they often experience a sense of fragmentation when trying to integrate their virtual possessions into their lives. These findings point to several design opportunities, such as tools for life story-oriented archiving, and insights on better forms of Cloud storage. Author
Effect of Channel Estimation Errors on Turbo Equalization in ST Block Coded CDMA Downlink

Space-time (ST) block coding based transmit diversity is considered in the third generation mobile communication standards for wideband-CDMA downlink transmission. On the other hand, turbo equalization can be used to enhance the wireless system performance. Hence, recently we proposed a minimum mean-square error (MMSE)-based turbo equalization scheme for the ST block coded CDMA downlink. In the proposed scheme, we assumed that perfect channel information is available at the receiver. However, in practice, channel coefficients are unknown to the receiver and have to be obtained through channel estimation. In this paper, we investigate the effect of the channel estimation errors on the MMSE-based turbo equalization in the downlink of ST block coded CDMA systems. It is demonstrated through simulations that substantial performance improvements can be obtained using the MMSE-based turbo equalization for moderate-to-high channel estimation quality
Identification of Mentions and Relations between Bacteria and Biotope from PubMed Abstracts

This paper presents our participation in the Bacteria/Biotope track from the 2016 BioNLP Shared-Task. Our methods rely on a combination of distinct machinelearning and rule-based systems. We used CRF and post-processing rules to identify mentions of bacteria and biotopes, a rulebased approach to normalize the concepts in the ontology and the taxonomy, and SVM to identify relations between bacteria and biotopes. On the test datasets, we achieved similar results to those obtained on the development datasets: on the categorization task, precision of 0.503 (gold standard entities) and SER of 0.827 (both NER and categorization); on the event relation task, F-measure of 0.485 (gold standard entities, ranking third out of 11) and of 0.192 (both NER and event relation, ranking first); on the knowledgebased task, mean references of 0.771 (gold standard entities) and of 0.202 (both NER, categorization and event relation).
An Efficient Technique for Extracting Fuzzy Rulesfrom Neural Networks

— Artificial neural networks (ANN) have the ability to model input-output relationships from processing raw data. This characteristic makes them invaluable in industry domains where such knowledge is scarce at best. In the recent decades, in order to overcome the black-box characteristic of ANNs, researchers have attempted to extract the knowledge embedded within ANNs in the form of rules that can be used in inference systems. This paper presents a new technique that is able to extract a small set of rules from a two-layer ANN. The extracted rules yield high classification accuracy when implemented within a fuzzy inference system. The technique targets industry domains that possess less complex problems for which no expert knowledge exists and for which a simpler solution is preferred to a complex one. The proposed technique is more efficient, simple, and applicable than most of the previously proposed techniques.
Crm1p mediates regulated nuclear export of a yeast AP‐1‐like transcription factor

The yeast AP‐1‐like transcription factor, Yap1p, activates genes required for the response to oxidative stress. Yap1p is normally cytoplasmic and inactive, but will activate by nuclear translocation if cells are placed in an oxidative environment. Here we show that Yap1p is a target of the β‐karyopherin‐like nuclear exporter, Crm1p. Yap1p is constitutively nuclear in a crm1 mutant, and Crm1p binds to a nuclear export sequence (NES)‐like sequence in Yap1p in the presence of RanGTP. Recognition of Yap1p by Crm1p is inhibited by oxidation, and this inhibition requires at least one of the three cysteine residues flanking the NES. These results suggest that Yap1p localization is largely regulated at the level of nuclear export, and that the oxidation state affects the accessibility of the Yap1p NES to Crm1p directly. We also show that a mutation in RanGAP (rna1‐1) is synthetically lethal with crm1 mutants. Yap1p export is inhibited in both rna1‐1 and prp20 (RanGNRF) mutant strains, but Yap1p rapidly accumulates at the nuclear periphery after shifting rna1‐1, but not other mutant cells to the non‐permissive temperature. Thus, disassembly of export complexes in response to RanGTP hydrolysis may be required for release of substrate from a terminal binding site at the nuclear pore complex (NPC).
Venous thrombotic, thromboembolic, and mechanical complications after retrievable inferior vena cava filters for major trauma.

BACKGROUND The ideal thromboprophylaxis in patients at risk of bleeding is uncertain. This retrospective cohort study assessed the risk factors for complications after using retrievable inferior vena cava (IVC) filters for primary or secondary thromboembolism prophylaxis in patients after major trauma. METHODS Using data from radiology, trauma and death registries, the incidence of and risk factors for subsequent deep venous thrombosis (DVT), venous thromboembolism (VTE), and mechanical complications related to retrievable IVC filters in patients, admitted between 2007 and 2012, were assessed in a single trauma centre. RESULTS Of the 2940 major trauma patients admitted during the study period, a retrievable IVC filter was used in 223 patients (7.6%). Thirty-six patients (16%) developed DVT or VTE subsequent to placement of IVC filters (median 20 days, interquartile range 9-33), including 27 with lower limb (DVT), 8 upper limb DVT, and 4 pulmonary embolism. A high Injury Severity Score, tibial/fibular fractures, and a delay in initiating pharmacological thromboprophylaxis after insertion of the filters (14 vs 7 days, P=0.001) were significant risk factors. Thirty patients were lost to follow-up (13%) and their filters were not retrieved. Mechanical complications-including filters adherent to the wall of IVC (4.9%), IVC thrombus (4.0%), and displaced or tilted filters (2.2%)-were common when the filters were left in situ for >50 days. CONCLUSIONS A delay in initiating pharmacological thromboprophylaxis or filter removal were associated with an increased risk of subsequent DVT, VTE, and mechanical complications of retrievable IVC filters in patients after major trauma.
Concepts and issues in interfaces for multiple users and multiple devices

In this paper, we identify and discuss several groups of issues that arise in the design of interfaces for multiple users interacting with multiple devices. We analyze in what ways these interfaces differ from traditional single-user single device interfaces, and identify different characteristics of interfaces. We categorize a possible set of device types that may exist in an environment, and then discuss the fundamental issues that have to be addressed when designing multi-user multi-device interfaces. The focus is on user and device management, technical concerns and social concerns, and some of the topics discussed include coordination, assignment, sharing, load-limits, coverage, privacy concerns, and user alienation.
DIVERSITY ANALYSIS FOR LINEAR DISPERSION OVER TIME AND FREQUENCY

To improve performance of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) for fading channels, linear dispersion coded OFDM (LDC-OFDM) was recently proposed to increase frequency and time diversity with high bandwith efficiency and performance. The performance of recently proposed LDC-OFDM was investigated through simulations. This paper analyzes the diversity aspects of LDCOFDM system, and shows that the upper bound of the diversity order, which LDC-OFDM can achieve, is equal to the full diversity order available in the channel.
Learning about Preference

This dissertation includes three essays, each investigating the formation and evolution of preference, with particular attention paid to epistemological concerns, dynamics, and learning. Loosely speaking, each chapter provides a different approach to modeling how a Decision Maker (DM) might learn about her own preference. The work as a whole adheres to the classical notions of revealed preference and utility maximization and the chapters are ordered by their level of abstraction. The first chapter considers DM who learns by observing the environment in which decisions must be made. The second chapter, written jointly with Roee Teper, considers a DM who learns by observing the consequences of her prior choices. Finally, the third chapter considers a DM who learns novel of which she previously had not conception.
ON NEW FOOTNOTES TO

The Toyota Production System (TPS) has continually inspired scholars of production management to a search for its essence. Two new interpretations have recently been advanced. Firstly, Johnston has argued that conventional production management is based on an approach to management called management-as-planning. The central assumption is that intentional activity is based on a representation of the world. Thus, management is essentially about planning, i.e. manipulation of that representation. Instead, the TPS is essentially based on an approach called management-as-organizing. Here it is assumed that human activity is inherently situated, i.e. a response to the situation in question. Secondly, Spear and Bowen have claimed that the key to understand the TPS is the idea of the scientific method. When a production standard is defined, it also establishes a hypothesis that can be tested. Thus, they seem to emphasize the approach of managementas-learning as the foundational idea behind the TPS. It is shown that while providing fresh and deeper understanding to management in the TPS, these interpretations are partial and can be positioned inside the view on production management presented by Shingo. In fact, based on Shingo and other extant analysis, it can be argued that there are four approaches to management that are applied in tight coupling and synergistically in the TPS: management-as-organizing, management-as-planning, management-as-adhering and management-as-learning. It is concluded that the superiority of the TPS in comparison to its rivals is founded not only on a better theory of production, but also on a better theory of management.
Recommendations for end-of-life care in the intensive care unit: A consensus statement by the American College of Critical Care Medicine

Background:These recommendations have been developed to improve the care of intensive care unit (ICU) patients during the dying process. The recommendations build on those published in 2003 and highlight recent developments in the field from a U.S. perspective. They do not use an evidence grading system because most of the recommendations are based on ethical and legal principles that are not derived from empirically based evidence. Principal Findings:Family-centered care, which emphasizes the importance of the social structure within which patients are embedded, has emerged as a comprehensive ideal for managing end-of-life care in the ICU. ICU clinicians should be competent in all aspects of this care, including the practical and ethical aspects of withdrawing different modalities of life-sustaining treatment and the use of sedatives, analgesics, and nonpharmacologic approaches to easing the suffering of the dying process. Several key ethical concepts play a foundational role in guiding end-of-life care, including the distinctions between withholding and withdrawing treatments, between actions of killing and allowing to die, and between consequences that are intended vs. those that are merely foreseen (the doctrine of double effect). Improved communication with the family has been shown to improve patient care and family outcomes. Other knowledge unique to end-of-life care includes principles for notifying families of a patient’s death and compassionate approaches to discussing options for organ donation. End-of-life care continues even after the death of the patient, and ICUs should consider developing comprehensive bereavement programs to support both families and the needs of the clinical staff. Finally, a comprehensive agenda for improving end-of-life care in the ICU has been developed to guide research, quality improvement efforts, and educational curricula. Conclusions:End-of-life care is emerging as a comprehensive area of expertise in the ICU and demands the same high level of knowledge and competence as all other areas of ICU practice.
On the Effects of Finite Memory on Intrusion-Tolerant Systems

Intrusion tolerance has been proposed as a new paradigm for computer systems security. The idea is to apply the fault tolerance paradigm in the domain of systems security accepting that malicious faults (attacks, intrusions) can never be entirely prevented, and that highly resilient systems have to tolerate these faults. Research in this area has produced a set of clever intrusion-tolerant protocols and systems (I/T protocols and I/T systems for short). However, we believe that an issue has been overlooked: that servers have, finite memory, so the number of messages that can be stored in their buffers is limited. Intuitively, this can be a problem in systems in which there are many messages being exchanged. Moreover, all of these systems assume that the environment is essentially asynchronous, i.e., that there are no bounds on communication and processing delays. Assuming this kind of model is very important in order to prevent the success of attacks against time.
HUMAN VISION MODELS OF IMAGE QUALITY EVALUATION FOR JPEG 2000 COMPRESSION DESIGNED IN MATLAB

One of the main reasons of image quality evaluation is introduction and employment of the image compression methods and them corresponding formats. The first approach to the image quality evaluation is subjective quality testing (e.g. DSIS Double Stimulus Impairment Scale, DSCQS Double Stimulus Continuous Quality Scale, SCM Stimulus Comparison Method, SSM Single Stimulus Method, SSCQM – Single Stimulus Continuous Quality Evaluation), which is based on many observers that evaluate image quality. These tests are time demanding expensive and have a very strict definition of observational conditions [1]. The second approach is the objective image quality testing (e.g. SNR – Signal to Noise Ratio, MSE – Mean Square Error, MAE Mean Absolute Error) based on mathematical calculations. The objective quality evaluation is easier and faster then the subjective one because observers are not needed [2], but generally these testing have bad correlation (ρ = 0.4 0.7) with objective criteria. The third way of image quality evaluation is usage of a human visual model (HVS) [3, 4]. HVS model combines and uses both the objective and subjective methods. These HVS models can model only parts of human vision that we need (e.g. spatial resolution, temporal motion, color fidelity, color resolution.) [3]. A majority of these models requires a tested image and its corresponding matching reference in order to determine the perceptual difference between them. HVS models can be divided into two groups. The first group comprises one-channel models [2, 3] that can be characterized by computing with the whole image. In the second one there are multi-channel models [2, 3, 4] that simulate the neuron response of the brain cortex. The response is selective to spatial frequencies and orientations. These models decompose the image into the spatial frequency bands and/or orientations. Then, separate thresholds are set for each channel. At the end of the processing the channels are weighted and summed in order to get a number that represents the image quality.
A CENTRAL LIMIT THEOREM LENGTH OF TREES FOR THE PARSIMONY

In phylogenetic analysis it is useful to study the distribution of the parsimony length of a tree under the null model, by which the leaves are independently assigned letters according to prescribed probabilities. Except in one special case, this distribution is difficult to describe exactly. Here we analyze this distribution by providing a recursive and readily computable description, establishing large deviation bounds for the parsimony length of a fixed tree on a single site and for the minimum length (maximum parsimony) tree over several sites. We also show that, under very general conditions, the former distribution converges asymptotically to the normal, thereby settling a recent conjecture. Furthermore, we show how the mean and variance of this distribution can be efficiently calculated. The proof of normality requires a number of new and recent results, as the parsimony length is not directly expressible as a sum of independent random variables, and so normality does not follow immediately from a standard central limit theorem. TREES; DEPENDENT CENTRAL LIMIT THEOREM; PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS; PARSIMONY SCORE; LARGE DEVIATION BOUNDS AMS 1991 SUBJECT CLASSIFICATION: PRIMARY 6OFOS SECONDARY Y2B10 6LKD5
Mathematically Modeling Chondrocyte Orientation and division in Relation to Primary Cilium

Confocal microscopy images show that growth plate chondrocytes will tend to form columns after cellular division[2], and the primary cilium may be responsible for the migration of the cells[4][5]. These cells have the ability to move within the growth plate, possibly influenced by the environment, and the primary cilium may direct the orientation and positioning of the cell in response to the environment or extracellular matrix[13][10][15][19][8][22][24]. The primary cilium may also point in the direction of movement of cells or cell formation[20], and that cell movement may be related to hardness or softness of the surface[23]. It has been demonstrated that cells divide perpendicular to the growth plate before moving into columns[6]. The cells may react differently to stimuli based upon their level of development[12], and the development of the cells can be influenced by a mutation. In particular, the disruption of IFT can cause chondrocytes to no longer form in a columnar structure[21] and knockouts of Smad 1, 5, and 8 cause increased apoptosis[18]. The primary cilium has been shown to be related to the centrioles, and that the centrioles are related to cell division and positioning[1][7]. Previous mathematical models are broken into three categories; ones that look at longitudinal bone length as a differential equation with respect to time, ones that view the bone as broken into various regions and models the growth of each of them, and ones that model individual cellular division without concern to the large-scale full bone growth. Classic examples include modeling the length of gull wings as they age [11], as well as fluid and mass flow through the zones of the growth plate using coupled partial differential equations [9]. Individual cell division was modeled using ovals of Cassini to represent one mother cell dividing into two daughter cells [14]. The value of the φci for the wild type clusters at around both 10 degrees and 80 degrees, as opposed to the value of the φci of the mutant whose φci clusters only at approximately 80 degrees. Because the growth plate of the wild type mouse is more organized than the mutant mouse, we utilized the idea that the φci clustering at around 10 degrees, which does not occur in the mutant, controls the organization of the growth plate of the wild type mouse. Therefore, we made the assumption that the closer the value of φci is to 0 degrees, the stronger the signal emitted.
Inactivation of Fructose-1,6-Bisphosphate Aldolase Prevents Optimal Co-catabolism of Glycolytic and Gluconeogenic Carbon Substrates in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Metabolic pathways used by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) to establish and maintain infections are important for our understanding of pathogenesis and the development of new chemotherapies. To investigate the role of fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase (FBA), we engineered an Mtb strain in which FBA levels were regulated by anhydrotetracycline. Depletion of FBA resulted in clearance of Mtb in both the acute and chronic phases of infection in vivo, and loss of viability in vitro when cultured on single carbon sources. Consistent with prior reports of Mtb's ability to co-catabolize multiple carbon sources, this in vitro essentiality could be overcome when cultured on mixtures of glycolytic and gluconeogenic carbon sources, enabling generation of an fba knockout (Δfba). In vitro studies of Δfba however revealed that lack of FBA could only be compensated for by a specific balance of glucose and butyrate in which growth and metabolism of butyrate were determined by Mtb's ability to co-catabolize glucose. These data thus not only evaluate FBA as a potential drug target in both replicating and persistent Mtb, but also expand our understanding of the multiplicity of in vitro conditions that define the essentiality of Mtb's FBA in vivo.
A Novel Blocks Placement Strategy for Hadoop

A novel blocks placement strategy is developed for solving some shortages in recent Hadoop. With the Strategy, the optimal Data nodes, according to the real-time situation of Data nodes, are chosen dynamically to achieve load balancing. Finally, the simulation experiments indicate that our strategy behaves much better than the HDFS blocks placement when the situation is coherent to time.
Potential Implications of Agricultural Special Products for Poverty in Low-Income Countries

Proposals for special products in the Doha negotiations on agricultural tariffs seek to achieve vitally important goals of food security, livelihood security and rural development. They use an instrument—exceptions to tariff binding reductions on staple foods—that can only have an effect if it allows applied tariff rates on imported goods to be higher than their level in the absence of this exception, and if this causes prices for producers and/or consumers to be higher than they would otherwise be. A key con er with this approach is that staple foods are frequently important cost items to poor consumers, and the marketable surplus of producers in poor countries is frequently small or negative, resulting in small benefits (or even costs) to poor producers. Results using household data for four poor countries show that—if these flexibilities were used— the impacts of higher-than-otherwise staple food prices on poverty differ substantially by commodity and by country, but that poverty increases would be more frequent, and larger, than poverty reductions. The results highlight the need for caution in using the flexibility provided by this instrument and the need for other measures, such as improvements in technology, rural infrastructure and education, if poverty is to be successfully reduced. * Maros Ivanic was with the World Bank at the time the analysis for this paper was undertaken. He is now an Economic Consultant and a Senior Expert at the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting. Will Martin is a Lead Economist in the Development Research Group of the World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not represent the views of the World Bank or any other individual or organization.