Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing access barriers to maternal health care: measuring bypassing to identify health centre needs in rural Uganda.

BACKGROUND In low income countries, several barriers exist to the use of health services for child delivery, including distance, transportation, informal costs or low perceived quality. Yet there is rarely information about which barriers are more or less important to the use of a given health facility. This study assessed the relative importance of different barriers to maternal health facility use in rural Uganda through the use of simple indicators based on locally available data. METHODS Data from public health facilities performing deliveries in a rural district were used along with census information to construct a set of indicators useful for diagnosing barriers to delivery service use. Indicators included the number of facility-based deliveries per 1000 women served, the proportion of users from a facility's local area, and a new indicator, the 'bypassing ratio', defined as the number of women from a facility's local area who delivered in other facilities, divided by the number of local women using the facility itself. RESULTS Numbers of deliveries varied greatly between facilities of the same level. A few very low use facilities saw over 75% of women come from the local area, while other facilities services attracted a large majority of women from other areas. The phenomenon of bypassing provides additional insight into the relative importance of distance or transport as opposed to internal facility factors preventing use. CONCLUSIONS Simple and easily replicable tools are essential to assist health managers to identify communities and facilities needing improvements in access to delivery care. The methods developed in this paper could be utilized by local officials in other areas to assist planning and improvement of both maternal care and other health services.
Improved design of tapering and through element series antenna

In this paper, an array of series fed antenna based on tapering patch width and through element is presented. The antenna has wide impedance bandwidth of 16.18% covering from 5.34 GHz to 6.28 GHz with a gain of 6.53 dBi. The use of through element technique reduces the overall length of array structure by 25.47%. It also has lower side lobe level, and wider impedance bandwidth compared to the past research.
Nested atmospheric inversion for the terrestrial carbon sources and sinks in China

In this study, we establish a nested atmospheric inversion system with a focus on China using the Bayesian method. The global surface is separated into 43 regions based on the 22 TransCom large regions, with 13 small regions in China. Monthly CO 2 concentrations from 130 GlobalView sites and 3 additional China sites are used in this system. The core component of this system is an atmospheric transport matrix, which is created using the TM5 model with a horizontal resolution of 3° × 2°. The net carbon fluxes over the 43 global land and ocean regions are inverted for the period from 2002 to 2008. The inverted global terrestrial carbon sinks mainly occur in boreal Asia, South and Southeast Asia, eastern America and southern South America. Most China areas appear to be carbon sinks, with strongest carbon sinks located in Northeast China. From 2002 to 2008, the global terrestrial carbon sink has an increasing trend, with the lowest carbon sink in 2002. The inter-annual variation (IAV) of the land sinks shows remarkable correlation with the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The terrestrial carbon sinks in China also show an increasing trend. However, the IAV in China is not the same as that of the globe. There is relatively stronger land sink in 2002, lowest sink in 2006, and strongest sink in 2007 in China. This IAV could be reasonably explained with the IAVs of temperature and precipitation in China. The mean global and China terrestrial carbon sinks over the period 2002–2008 are −3.20 ± 0.63 and −0.28 ± 0.18 PgC yr −1 , respectively. Considering the carbon emissions in the form of reactive biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) and from the import of wood and food, we further estimate that China's land sink is about −0.31 PgC yr −1 .
SELF-TUNING PID CONTROLLER BASED ON CONTROL PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS

In steady state of process systems, reductions in cost and advances in quality are continuously pursued. Some process systems are considered time-variant systems with system characteristics that change according to the conditions and environments of the system operations. Previously, one of the authors proposed a design scheme of a selftuning PID control system, in which a user-specified parameter is tuned to maintain two control performances (variance of the control error and variance of the control input difference) based on the modeling performance assessment. As a result, efficient control is expected in the steady state. However, the transient state requires readiness and stability of the control systems. In this paper, the self-tuning control scheme is improved by adding a function to maintain two other control performances (overshoot and rise time) in the transient state. The tuning scheme of PID parameters is switched based on the steady state or the transient state. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme is evaluated by simulation examples.
LOREN: A Scalable Routing Method for Layout-Conscious Random Topologies

End-to-end network latency has become an important issue for parallel application on large-scale high performance computing (HPC) systems. It has been reported that randomly-connected inter-switch networks can lower the end-to-end network latency. The trade-off is a large amount of routing information. For irregular networks, minimal routing is achieved by using routing tables for all destinations in the network. In this work, a novel distributed routing method called LOREN (Layout-Oriented Routing with Entries for Neighbors) to achieve low-latency with a small routing table is proposed for irregular networks whose link length is limited. The routing tables contain both physically and topologically nearby neighbor nodes to ensure livelock-freedom and a small number of hops between nodes. Experimental results show that LOREN reduces the average latencies by 2.8% and improves the network throughput by up to 39% compared with a conventional compact routing method. Moreover, the required routing table size is reduced by up to 67%, which improves scalability and flexibility for implementation.
Does Nebulin Make Tropomyosin Less Dynamic in Mature Myofibrils in Cross-Striated Myocytes?

Myofibrils in vertebrate cardiac and skeletal muscles are characterized by groups of proteins arranged in contractile units or sarcomeres, which consist of four major components – thin filaments, thick filaments, titin and Z-bands. The thin actin/tropomyosin-containing filaments are embedded in the Z-bands and interdigitate with the myosin-containing thick filaments aligned in A-bands. Titin is attached to the Z-band and extends upto the middle of the A-Band. In this mini review, we have addressed the mechanism of myofibril assembly as well as the dynamics and maintenance of the myofibrils in cardiac and skeletal muscle cells. Evidence from our research as well as from other laboratories favors the premyofibril model of myofibrillogenesis. This three-step model (premyofibril to nascent myofibril to mature myofibril) not only provides a reasonable mechanism for sequential interaction of various proteins during assembly of myofibrils, but also suggests why the dynamics of a thin filament protein like tropomyosin is higher in cardiac muscle than in skeletal muscles. The dynamics of tropomyosin not only varies in different muscle types (cardiac vs. skeletal), but also varies during myofibrillogenesis, for example, premyofibril versus mature myofibrils in skeletal muscle. One of the major differences in protein composition between cardiac and skeletal muscle is nebulin localized along the thin filaments (two nebulins/thin filament) of mature myofibrils in skeletal muscle cells, but which is expressed in a minimal quantity (one nebulin/50 actin filaments) in ventricular cardiomyocytes. Interestingly, nebulin is not associated with premyofibrils in skeletal muscle. Our FRAP(Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching) results suggest that tropomyosin is more dynamic in premyofibrils than in mature myofibrils in skeletal muscle, and also, the dynamics of tropomyosin in mature myofibrils is significantly higher in cardiac muscle compared to skeletal muscle. Our working hypothesis is that the association of nebulin in mature myofibrils renders tropomyosin less dynamic in skeletal muscle.
Title New method for designing two-channel causal stable IIR perfectreconstruction filter banks and wavelet bases

A new method for designing two-channel causal stable IIR PR filter banks and wavelet bases is proposed. It is based on the structure previously proposed by Phoong et al. (1995). Such a filter bank is parameterized by two functions ␣(z) and ␤(z), which can be chosen as an all-pass function to obtain IIR filterbanks with very high stopband attenuation. One of the problems with this choice is that a bump of about 4 dB always exists near the transition band of the analysis and synthesis filters. The stopband attenuation of the high-pass analysis filter is also 10 dB lower than that of the low-pass filter. By choosing ␤(z) and ␣(z) as an all-pass function and a type-II linear-phase finite impulse response (FIR) function, respectively, the bumping can be significantly suppressed. In addition, the stopband attenuation of the high-pass filter can be controlled easily. The design problem is formulated as a polynomial approximation problem and is solved efficiently by the Remez exchange algorithm. The extension of this method to the design of a class of IIR wavelet bases is also considered.
Gravitational collapse in 2¿1 dimensional AdS spacetime

We present results of numerical simulations of the formation of black holes from the gravitational collapse of a massless, minimally coupled scalar field in 211 dimensional, axially symmetric, anti‐de Sitter ~AdS! spacetime. The geometry exterior to the event horizon approaches the BTZ solution, showing no evidence of scalar ‘‘hair. ’’ To study the interior structure we implement a variant of black-hole excision, which we call singularity excision. We find that interior to the event horizon a strong, spacelike curvature singularity develops. We study the critical behavior at the threshold of black hole formation, and find a continuously self-similar solution and corresponding mass-scaling exponent of approximately 1.2. The critical solution is universal to within a phase that is related to the angle deficit of the spacetime.
Recommendation : An evolution Approach based on Bayesian Networks

Recommending to groups is even more complicated than recommending to individuals. Previous works has suggested that when generating recommendations to a group, it can achieve better result by learning information from other groups. Besides, recent research reports indicate that incorporating disagreement is critical to the effectiveness of group recommendation. Although the computation model build with Bayesian networks for group recommender system is very straightforward, the computation is rather complex (even though using approximate technology). In this paper, we will first present a Bayesian networks based evolution group recommendation model where groups can learn from each other. Then, we not only propose a new group recommendation computation framework, but also propose a new satisfaction measure model to refine the group recommendations. We evaluate the performance of our approach on the MovieLens dataset. Experiment results show that our Bayesian networks based evolution approach which is an ensemble of the above three sub-components outperforms the baseline one.
ON THE COUNTING OF COLORED TANGLES

The connection between matrix integrals and links is used to define matrix models which count alternating tangles n which each closed loop is weighted with a factor n, i.e. may be regarded as decorated with n possible colors. For n=2, the corresponding matrix integral is that recently solved in the study of the random lattice six-vertex model. The generating function of alternating 2-color tangle is provided in terms of elliptic functions, expanded to 16-th order (16 crossings) and its asymptotic behaviors is given.
Geophysical prospecting: dynamic reservoir characterization and time-lapse multicomponent seismology for reservoir monitoring

1. Multicomponent Seismology – Part I 1.1. Rock Physics / Reservoir Processes 2. Multicomponent Seismology – Part II 3. Integration 3.1. Multicomponent Seismic Data Acquisition 3.2. Multicomponent Seismic Data Processing 3.3. Integration with Well Control and Reservoir Production 4. Key Results – Dynamic Reservoir Characterization 4.1. Vacuum Field 4.2. Weyburn Field 4.3. Rulison Field 5. Conclusions Bibliography Biographical Sketches
Passage-Based Bibliographic Coupling: An Inter-Article Similarity Measure for Biomedical Articles

Biomedical literature is an essential source of biomedical evidence. To translate the evidence for biomedicine study, researchers often need to carefully read multiple articles about specific biomedical issues. These articles thus need to be highly related to each other. They should share similar core contents, including research goals, methods, and findings. However, given an article r, it is challenging for search engines to retrieve highly related articles for r. In this paper, we present a technique PBC (Passage-based Bibliographic Coupling) that estimates inter-article similarity by seamlessly integrating bibliographic coupling with the information collected from context passages around important out-link citations (references) in each article. Empirical evaluation shows that PBC can significantly improve the retrieval of those articles that biomedical experts believe to be highly related to specific articles about gene-disease associations. PBC can thus be used to improve search engines in retrieving the highly related articles for any given article r, even when r is cited by very few (or even no) articles. The contribution is essential for those researchers and text mining systems that aim at cross-validating the evidence about specific gene-disease associations.
The VCP/p97 system at a glance: connecting cellular function to disease pathogenesis

ABSTRACT The ATPase valosin-containing protein (VCP)/p97 has emerged as a central and important element of the ubiquitin system. Together with a network of cofactors, it regulates an ever-expanding range of processes that stretch into almost every aspect of cellular physiology. Its main role in proteostasis and key functions in signaling pathways are of relevance to degenerative diseases and genomic stability. In this Cell Science at a Glance and the accompanying poster, we give a brief overview of this complex system. In addition, we discuss the pathogenic basis for VCP/p97-associated diseases and then highlight in more detail new exciting links to the translational stress response and RNA biology that further underscore the significance of the VCP/p97 system.
Higher levels of CRP, D-dimer, IL-6, and hyaluronic acid before initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) are associated with increased risk of AIDS or death.

BACKGROUND Substantial morbidity occurs during the first year of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in persons with advanced human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease despite HIV suppression. Biomarkers may identify high-risk groups. METHODS Pre-ART and 1-month samples from an initial ART trial were evaluated for biomarkers associated with AIDS events or death within 1-12 months. Case patients (n = 63) and control patients (n = 126) were 1:2 matched on baseline CD4 cell count, hepatitis status, and randomization date. All had ≥ 1 log(10) HIV RNA level decrease at 1 month. RESULTS Case patients had more frequent prior AIDS events, compared with control patients (P = .004), but similar HIV RNA levels at baseline. Pre-ART and 1-month C-reactive protein (CRP), D-dimer, and interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels and pre-ART hyaluronic acid (HA) levels were associated with new AIDS events or death (P ≤ .01). Patients who experienced immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) events had higher pre-ART tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and HIV RNA levels and significant 1-month increases in CRP, D-dimer, IL-6, interleukin 8, CXCL10, TNF-α, and interferon-γ levels, compared with patients who experienced non-IRIS events (P ≤ .03). Individuals with baseline CRP and HA levels above the cohort median (>2.1 mg/L and >50.0 ng/mL, respectively) had increased risk of AIDS or death (OR, 4.6 [95% CI, 2.0-10.3]; P < .001) and IRIS (OR, 8.7 [95% CI, 2.2-34.8] P = .002). CONCLUSIONS Biomarkers of Inflammation (CRP, IL-6), coagulation (D-dimer), and tissue fibrosis (HA) measured pre-ART and at 1 month are associated with higher risk of AIDS events, IRIS, or death, warranting additional study as risk stratification strategies.
On the calculation of time‐varying stability radii

The problem of calculating the maximal Lyapunov exponent (generalized spectral radius) of a discrete inclusion is formulated as an average yield optimal control problem. It is shown that the maximal value of this problem can be approximated by the maximal value of discounted optimal control problems, where for irreducible inclusions the convergence is linear in the discount rate. This result is used to obtain convergence rates of an algorithm for the calculation of time-varying stability radii. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Motion-based recognition of pedestrians

In this paper we present an algorithm for recognizing walking pedestrians in sequences of color images taken from a moving camera. The recognition is based on the characteristic motion of the legs of a pedestrian walking parallel to the image plane. Each image is segmented into region-like image parts by clustering pixels in a combined color/position feature space. The proposed clustering technique implies matching of corresponding clusters in consecutive frames and therefore allows clusters to be tracked over a sequence of images. Based on the observation of clusters over time a two-stage classifier extracts those clusters which most likely represent the legs of pedestrians. A fast polynomial classifier performs a rough preselection of clusters by evaluating temporal changes of a shape-dependent clusters feature. The final classification is done by a time delay neural network (TDNN) with spatio-temporal receptive fields.
Performance evaluation of the MetaRing MAC protocol carrying asynchronous traffic

This paper analyzes in depth the asynchronous part of the MetaRing MAC protocol by considering a network configuration (hereafter scenario) in which the slot reuse capability is used to the minimum extent possible. The MetaRing MAC protocol behavior is first analyzed in asymptotic conditions (i.e., when each station is trying to seize all the medium capacity), then in underload conditions (i.e., when the offered load is lower than the maximum achievable aggregate throughput), and finally in overload conditions (i.e., when the offered load is slightly higher than the maximum achievable aggregate throughput). Our results show that the MetaRing is unfair and that the unfairness depends, in particular, upon the workload parameters, in addition to the K and L protocol parameter values. Our analysis includes medium capacities in the range 150 Mbps-2.4 Gbps.
Combining Multiple Correlated Reward and Shaping Signals by Measuring Confidence

Multi-objective problems with correlated objectives are a class of problems that deserve specific attention. In contrast to typical multi-objective problems, they do not require the identification of trade-offs between the objectives, as (near-) optimal solutions for any objective are (near-) optimal for every objective. Intelligently combining the feedback from these objectives, instead of only looking at a single one, can improve optimization. This class of problems is very relevant in reinforcement learning, as any single-objective reinforcement learning problem can be framed as such a multi-objective problem using multiple reward shaping functions. After discussing this problem class, we propose a solution technique for such reinforcement learning problems, called adaptive objective selection. This technique makes a temporal difference learner estimate the Q-function for each objective in parallel, and introduces a way of measuring confidence in these estimates. This confidence metric is then used to choose which objective's estimates to use for action selection. We show significant improvements in performance over other plausible techniques on two problem domains. Finally, we provide an intuitive analysis of the technique's decisions, yielding insights into the nature of the problems being solved.
The Impact of Subsequent Stock Market Liberalization on the Integration of Stock Markets in ASEAN-4 + South Korea

To strengthen the capital market, there is a need to integrate the capital markets within the region by removing legal or informal restriction, specifically, stock market liberalization. Thus the paper is to investigate the effects of the subsequent stock market liberalization on stock market integration in 4 ASEAN countries (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore) and Korea from 1997 to 2007. The correlation between stock market liberalization and stock market integration are to be examined by analyzing the stock prices and returns within the region and in comparison with the world MSCI index. Event study method is to be used with windows of ±12 months and T-7 + T. The results show that the subsequent stock market liberalization generally, gives minor positive effects to stock returns, except for one or two countries. The subsequent liberalization also integrates the markets short-run and long-run. Keywords—ASEAN, event method, stock market integration, stock market liberalization.
Ghosts in the Adoption: Uncovering Parents' Attachment and Coping History

Much has been written about the impact of trauma on adopted children, especially those adopted out of foster care or orphanage care. But what about trauma and/or attachment-related difficulties in the background of adoptive parents? The “state of mind with regard to attachment” (Main & Hesse, 2009) in parents makes a significant difference in parent–child relationships (van IJzendoorn, 1995), but this subject is rarely discussed compared to the trauma in adopted children. In this article, the Adult Attachment Interview (Main, Kaplan, & Cassidy 1985) is used to understand the history of adoptive parents and how it may impact the relationship with their adopted children. In addition to applying it during treatment with the family system, an unexpected benefit is the deepening of the therapeutic alliance with parents who are seeking help for their child as evidenced by clinician feedback.