Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Epidemiology and Risk Factors of Functional Constipation in Pregnant Women

Aim To understand the prevalence of functional constipation in pregnant women and to analyze the impact of its risk factors. Methods We searched hospital databases for women who were 37–41 weeks pregnant (1698 cases) from July 2012 to January 2014 in four hospitals in Shanghai. We reviewed factors including general data, living and eating habits, psychological history, past history of defecation in the 6 months before pregnancy and defecation after pregnancy. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results Pregnant women who were more than 35 years old, with a pre-pregnancy body mass index >24, who were highly educated and employed in a sedentary occupation, showed a higher prevalence of functional constipation. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that the prevalence of functional constipation among pregnant women was related to age, pre-pregnancy body mass index, diet, exercise, occupation, psychological factors, threatened abortion in early pregnancy and constipation history. Conclusion The prevalence rate of functional constipation in pregnant women was significantly higher than in the general population.
Coherent and Exact Polygon-to-Polygon Visibility

Visibility computation is a classical problem in computer graphics. A wide variety of algorithms provides solutions with a different accuracy. However, the four dimensional nature of the 3D visibility has prevented for a long time from leading to exact from-polygon visibility algorithms. Recently, the two first tractable solutions were presented by Nirenstein, then Bittner. Their works give the opportunity to design exact visibility tools for applications that require a high level of accuracy. This paper presents an approach that takes advantage of both Nirenstein and Bittner methods. On the one hand, it relies on an optimisation of Nirenstein’s algorithm that increases the visibility information coherence and the computation robustness. On the other hand, it provides an exact visibility data structure as Bittner does, but also suited for non-oriented polygon-to-polygon visibility queries. Exact visibility, CSG, Plücker space
Complexities of Horn Description Logics

Description logics (DLs) have become a prominent paradigm for representing knowledge in a variety of application areas, partly due to their ability to achieve a favourable balance between expressivity of the logic and performance of reasoning. Horn description logics are obtained, roughly speaking, by disallowing all forms of disjunctions. They have attracted attention since their (worst-case) data complexities are in general lower than those of their non-Horn counterparts, which makes them attractive for reasoning with large sets of instance data (ABoxes). It is therefore natural to ask whether Horn DLs also provide advantages for schema (TBox) reasoning, that is, whether they also feature lower combined complexities. This article settles this question for a variety of Horn DLs. An example of a tractable Horn logic is the DL underlying the ontology language OWL RL, which we characterize as the Horn fragment of the description logic SROIQ without existential quantifiers. If existential quantifiers are allowed, however, many Horn DLs become intractable. We find that Horn-ALC already has the same worst-case complexity as ALC, that is, ExpTime, but we also identify various DLs for which reasoning is PSpace-complete. As a side effect, we derive simplified syntactic definitions of Horn DLs for which we exploit suitable normal form transformations.
Mining relational context-aware graph for rater identification

This paper studies the rater identification problem in recommender systems. We propose to approach rater identification by fusing influence from various factors that relate to users. The rater likelihood is modeled from a probabilistic point of view as the conditional probability of a user given sources of contextual information, resulting in an aggregation model that fuses all the available information sources pertaining to a particular user. The result is a relational context-aware graph. A random walk with restart is used to calculate the proximity scores over this graph, which are used to identify raters. We compare our approach with several baselines in a set of experiments performed on the CAMRa2011 challenge dataset. The results demonstrate the superiority of our approach in predicting the identity of a rater who rated a particular movie within a given household.
Investigating the impact of intrusion detection system performance on communication latency and power system stability

While power grid systems benefit from utilizing communication network through networked control and protection, the addition of communication exposes the power system to new security vulnerabilities and potential attacks. To mitigate these attacks, such as denial of service, intrusion detection systems (IDS) are often employed. In this paper we investigate the relationship of IDS accuracy performance to the stability of power systems via its impact on communication latency. Several IDS machine learning algorithms are implemented on the NSL-KDD dataset to obtain accuracy performance, and a mathematical model for computing the latency when incorporating IDS detection information during network routing is introduced. Simulation results on the New England 39-bus power system suggest that during a cyber-physical attack, a practical IDS can achieve similar stability as an ideal IDS with perfect detection. In addition, false positive rate has been found to have a larger impact than false negative rate under the simulation conditions studied. These observations can contribute to the design requirements of future embedded IDS solutions for power systems.
Glucagon-Like Peptide-1-Responsive Catecholamine Neurons in the Area Postrema Link Peripheral Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 with Central Autonomic Control Sites

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) released from the gut is an incretin that stimulates insulin secretion. GLP-1 is also a brain neuropeptide that has diverse central actions, including inhibition of food and water intake, gastric emptying, and stimulation of neuroendocrine responses characteristic of visceral illness. Both intravenous and intracerebroventricular administration of GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists increase blood pressure and heart rate and induce Fos-like immunoreactivity (Fos-IR) in autonomic regulatory sites in the rat brain. The area postrema (AP) is a circumventricular organ and has been implicated in processing visceral sensory information. GLP-1Rs are densely expressed in the AP, and peripheral GLP-1R agonists induce Fos-IR in AP neurons to a greater degree than intracerebroventricular administration. Because the AP lacks a blood–brain barrier, we hypothesized that the AP is a key site for peripheral GLP-1 to activate central autonomic regulatory sites. In this study, we found that many tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-containing neurons in the AP expressed GLP-1Rs and Fos-IR after intravenous GLP-1R agonists. Furthermore, intravenous but not intracerebroventricular GLP-1R agonists induced TH transcription in the APin vivo. In addition, GLP-1R agonists directly activatedTH transcription in an in vitro cell system. Finally, we found that GLP-1-responsive TH neurons in the AP innervate autonomic control sites, including the parabrachial nucleus, nucleus of solitary tract, and ventrolateral medulla. These findings suggest that catecholamine neurons in the AP link peripheral GLP-1 and central autonomic control sites that mediate the diverse neuroendocrine and autonomic actions of peripheral GLP-1.
Correlation of a Decline in Aerobic Capacity with Development of Emphysema in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Prospective Observational Study

In patients with COPD, CT assessment of emphysema and airway disease is known to be associated with lung function and 6-minute walk distance. However, it remains to be determined whether low attenuation area (LAA) on CT is associated with aerobic capacity assessed using cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET). In this prospective observational study, we repeatedly conducted high-resolution CT and CPET using a treadmill in 81 COPD patients over a median interval of 3.5 years. Two investigators independently scored LAA on images obtained at the aortic arch level, tracheal bifurcation level, and supradiaphragmatic level. Grades for the images of each lung were added to yield the total LAA score. Total LAA score was negatively correlated with peak aerobic capacity (V˙O2) (p<0.001, r = -0.485). LAA scores of the upper (aortic arch level) and the lower (supradiaphragmatic level) lungs were both significantly associated with peak V˙O2. There was a significant correlation between total LAA score and peak CO2 output (V˙CO2) (p<0.001, r = -0.433). Total LAA score was correlated with oxygen saturation at peak exercise (p<0.001, r = -0.634) and the estimated dead space fraction (p<0.001, r = 0.416). The mean annual change in total LAA score was significantly correlated with those in peak V˙O2 (p<0.001, r = -0.546) and peak V˙CO2 (p<0.001, r = -0.488). The extent of emphysema measured by CT was associated with the results of CPET. The time-dependent changes in CPET data were also correlated with that in total LAA score. CT assessment could be a non-invasive tool to predict aerobic capacity in patients with COPD.
PROBI: A Heuristic for the probabilistic k-median problem

We develop the heuristic PROBI for the probabilistic Euclidean k-median problem based on a coreset construction by Lammersen et al. Our algorithm computes a summary of the data and then uses an adapted version of k-means++ (Arthur and Vassilvitskii, 2007) to compute a good solution on the summary. The summary is maintained in a data stream, so PROBI can be used in a data stream setting on very large data sets. We experimentally evaluate the quality of the summary and of the computed solution and compare the running time to state of the art data stream clustering algorithms.
Power Splitting for Full-Duplex Relay with Wireless Information and Power Transfer

This paper investigates power splitting for full-duplex relay networks with wireless information and energy transfer. By applying power splitting as a relay transceiver architecture, the full duplex information relaying can be powered by energy harvested from the source-emitted radio frequency signal. In order to minimize outage probability, power splitting ratios have been dynamically optimized according to full channel state information (CSI) and partial CSI, respectively. Under strong loop interference, the proposed full CSI-based and partial CSI-based power splitting schemes achieve the better outage performance than the fixed power splitting scheme, whereas the partial CSI-based power splitting scheme can ensure competitive outage performance without requiring CSI of the second-hop link. It is also observed that the worst outage performance is achieved when the relay is located midway between the source and destination, whereas the outage performance of partial CSI-based power splitting scheme approaches that of full CSI-based scheme when the relay is placed close to the destination.
Consequence of Two Protocols of Social Defeat Stress on Nicotine-Induced Psychomotor Effects in Mice

Exposure to stress may contribute to enhanced vulnerability to drug use disorders, by altering sensitivity to drug-related reward and psychomotor effects. This study aimed to characterize the psychomotor effects of nicotine administration and then investigate the consequences of two types of repeated social defeat stress (episodic and continuous) on nicotine-induced psychomotor effects in mice. Adult male Swiss mice were treated for 13 days with daily injections of nicotine (0.1, 0.4, or 1.0 mg/kg, s.c.) and received saline and nicotine challenges (0, 0.1 and 0.4 mg/kg) after a withdrawal period. Dose-dependent effects were observed in locomotor response to nicotine, with trends for locomotor stimulation after intermittent (but not acute) administration of 0.1 mg/kg. Higher nicotine doses caused acute locomotor suppression (0.4 and 1.0 mg/kg) and tolerance after intermittent administration (0.4 mg/kg dose). In separate cohorts, experimental mice were daily defeated by aggressive mice, using the resident-intruder model, for 10 days. After brief confrontations, intruders returned to their home cage (episodic stress) or were continuously exposed to the aggressive resident for 24 h (continuous stress), until the following defeat. After the 10-day stress protocol, mice received saline and nicotine challenges (0 and 0.1 mg/kg, s.c.) in locomotor tests. Mice were also tested for methamphetamine-induced locomotor response (1.0 mg/kg, i.p.). Both defeat protocols induced short-term locomotor suppression (24h after stress), which was further suppressed by nicotine only in mice exposed to continuous defeat stress. Ten days after stress, locomotor behavior was no longer suppressed in defeated mice of either stress protocol. Mice exposed to continuous defeat stress showed a reduced stimulant response to methamphetamine, 12 days after termination of stress. Our findings indicate that exposure to continuous defeat stress facilitates nicotine-induced locomotor suppression shortly after stress and reduces methamphetamine-induced stimulation in the long term.
Delayed Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy Is Safe and Effective for Acute Severe Calculous Cholecystitis in Patients with Advanced Cirrhosis: A Single Center Experience

Acute calculous cholecystitis is a common disease in cirrhotic patients. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy can resolve this problem but is performed based on the premise that the local inflammation must been controlled. An Initial ultrasound guided percutaneous transhepatic cholecystostomy may reduce the local inflammation and provide advantages in subsequent surgery. In this paper, we detailed our experience of treating acute severe calculous cholecystitis in patients with advanced cirrhosis by delayed laparoscopic cholecystectomy plus initiated ultrasound guided percutaneous transhepatic cholecystostomy and provided the analysis of the treatment effect. We hope this paper can provided a kind of standard procedure for this special disease; however, further prospective comparative randomized trials are needed to assess this treatment in cirrhotic patients with acute cholecystitis.
Network localization from range measurements: Algorithms and numerical experiments

The problem of estimating node positions in sensor networks and multi agent formations has been extensively studied in the last decade for the purpose of enabling self-configurable and autonomous systems. A typical scenario involves the nodes to estimate their locations using relative measurements from neighbors. When full relative positions (coordinates or, equivalently, range and angle) between pairs of nodes are available, the problem reduces to linear estimation. Contrary, when distance-only (range) measurements are available, the localization problem is strongly NP-hard, and convergence of general-purpose optimization techniques can no longer be guaranteed. In the present paper we analyze three ad-hoc numerical techniques for solving the network localization problem under range-only measurements, namely an iterative Least-Squares algorithm, a Trust-Region method, and a Global Continuation method based on Gaussian smoothing. The global convergence properties of these techniques are then tested through numerical simulations.
Minimum Temperatures, Diurnal Temperature Ranges, and Temperature Inversions in Limestone Sinkholes of Different Sizes and Shapes

Abstract Air temperature data from five enclosed limestone sinkholes of various sizes and shapes on the Hetzkogel Plateau near Lunz, Austria (1300 m MSL), have been analyzed to determine the effect of sinkhole geometry on temperature minima, diurnal temperature ranges, temperature inversion strengths, and vertical temperature gradients. Data were analyzed for a non-snow-covered October night and for a snow-covered December night when the temperature fell as low as −28.5°C. A surprising finding is that temperatures were similar in two sinkholes with very different drainage areas and depths. A three-layer model was used to show that the sky-view factor is the most important topographic parameter controlling cooling for basins in this size range in near-calm, clear-sky conditions and that the cooling slows when net longwave radiation at the floor of the sinkhole is nearly balanced by the ground heat flux.
WISTI : a simple efficient Textuo-Visual Web Image Retrieval model-Specifications and Benchmarks

In this article we specify the textual and visual algorithms that we developed and merged to design a simple efficient Textuo-Visual Web Image Retrieval System that we call WISTI (Web Image Search by Text and Image content). It integrates subband entropy profile visual features and usual mean and color standard deviation, which distributions are depicted. A simple weighted norm fusion is done with tf-idf web page analysis. WISTI is the second best model (after XEROX) according to the official European ImagEVAL Technovision 2006 campaign evaluation. We depict analyses of the fusion behavior of each of the 25 queries on 700 URLs, with Mean Average Precision curves for different text ratio. These precise analyses bring us to propose and discuss on “visualness” versus “textualness” of each query concept.
SBASCO: skeleton-based scientific components

SBASCO is a new programming environment for the development of parallel and distributed high-performance scientific applications. The approach integrates both skeleton-based and component technologies. The main goal of the proposal is to provide a high-level programmability system for the efficient development of numerical applications with performance portability on different platforms. We present the system programming model which considers two different views of a component interface: one from the point of view of the application programmer and another thought to be used by a configuration tool in order to establish efficient implementations. This can be achieved due to the knowledge at the interface level of data distribution and processor layout inside each component. The programming model borrows from software skeletons a cost model enhanced by a run-time analysis, which enables one to automatically establish a suitable degree of parallelism and replication of the internal structure of a component.
Association of the dopamine transporter (SLC6A3/DAT1) gene 9–6 haplotype with adult ADHD

ADHD is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by chronic hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity, which affects about 5% of school‐age children. ADHD persists into adulthood in at least 15% of cases. It is highly heritable and familial influences seem strongest for ADHD persisting into adulthood. However, most of the genetic research in ADHD has been carried out in children with the disorder. The gene that has received most attention in ADHD genetics is SLC6A3/DAT1 encoding the dopamine transporter. In the current study we attempted to replicate in adults with ADHD the reported association of a 10–6 SLC6A3‐haplotype, formed by the 10‐repeat allele of the variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphism in the 3′ untranslated region of the gene and the 6‐repeat allele of the VNTR in intron 8 of the gene, with childhood ADHD. In addition, we wished to explore the role of a recently described VNTR in intron 3 of the gene. Two hundred sixteen patients and 528 controls were included in the study. We found a 9–6 SLC6A3‐haplotype, rather than the 10–6 haplotype, to be associated with ADHD in adults. The intron 3 VNTR showed no association with adult ADHD. Our findings converge with earlier reports and suggest that age is an important factor to be taken into account when assessing the association of SLC6A3 with ADHD. If confirmed in other studies, the differential association of the gene with ADHD in children and in adults might imply that SLC6A3 plays a role in modulating the ADHD phenotype, rather than causing it. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Model-Based Verification and Estimation Framework for Dynamically Partially Reconfigurable Systems

Unified Modeling Language (UML), an industry de-facto standard, has been used to analyze dynamically partially reconfigurable systems (DPRS) that can reconfigure their hardware functionalities on-demand at runtime. To make model-driven architecture (MDA) more realistic and applicable to the DPRS design in an industrial setting, a model-based verification and estimation (MOVE) framework is proposed in this work. By taking advantage of the inherent features of DPRS and considering real-time system requirements, a semiautomatic model translator converts the UML models of DPRS into timed automata models with transition urgency semantics for model checking. Furthermore, a UML-based hardware/software co-design platform (UCoP) is proposed to support the direct interaction between the UML models and the real hardware architecture. The two-phase verification process, including exhaustive functional verification and physical-aware performance estimation, is completely model-based, thus reducing system verification efforts. We used a dynamically partially reconfigurable network security system (DPRNSS) as a case study. The related experiments have demonstrated that the model checker in MOVE can alleviate the impact of the state-space-explosion problem. Compared to the synthesis-based estimation method having inaccuracies ranging from -43.4% to 18.4%, UCoP can provide accurate and efficient platform-specific verification and estimation through actual time measurements.
Exploiting SAT Technology for Axiom Pinpointing

Axiom pinpointing is the task of identifying the axioms that are responsible for a consequence. It is a fundamental step for tasks like ontology revision and context-based reasoning, among many others. One known approach is to reduce axiom pinpointing to an enumeration problem over a set of Horn clauses. We introduce the new SATPin system, which combines techniques from axiom pinpointing and minimal unsatisfiable subformula enumeration, and exploits the numerous optimizations developed for SAT solving in the last two decades. By adding a novel optimization method the runtime can improve by a factor up to 4300. Our experiments show that SATPin can find all the MinAs of large biomedical ontologies an order of magnitude faster than existing tools.
The ratio of NR2A/B NMDA receptor subunits determines the qualities of ocular dominance plasticity in visual cortex

Bidirectional synaptic plasticity during development ensures that appropriate synapses in the brain are strengthened and maintained while inappropriate connections are weakened and eliminated. This plasticity is well illustrated in mouse visual cortex, where monocular deprivation during early postnatal development leads to a rapid depression of inputs from the deprived eye and a delayed strengthening of inputs from the non-deprived eye. The mechanisms that control these bidirectional synaptic modifications remain controversial. Here we demonstrate, both in vitro and in vivo, that genetic deletion or reduction of the NR2A NMDA receptor subunit impairs activity-dependent weakening of synapses and enhances the strengthening of synapses. Although brief monocular deprivation in juvenile WT mice normally causes a profound depression of the deprived-eye response without a change in the non-deprived eye response, NR2A-knockout mice fail to exhibit deprivation-induced depression and instead exhibit precocious potentiation of the non-deprived eye inputs. These data support the hypothesis that a reduction in the NR2A/B ratio during monocular deprivation is permissive for the compensatory potentiation of non-deprived inputs.