Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy of small pulmonary nodules abutting to the chest wall.

BACKGROUND Ultrasound (US)-guided needle biopsies in peripheral pulmonary lesions are widely applied. Most pulmonary lesions had a large size. We report our results in evaluating the availability of US-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy (US-guided FNAB) in diagnosing small pulmonary nodules abutting to the chest wall. METHODS Forty patients, whose chest radiographs showed peripheral pulmonary nodules of diameter smaller than 3.0cm, received chest sonographic examination and US-guided FNAB. Of those, six patients had no definite diagnoses; the remaining 34 patients with pulmonary nodules, we divided into three groups. There were four tiny nodules of diameters smaller than 1.0cm, 11 nodules between 1.1 and 2.0cm, and 19 nodules between 2.1 and 3.0cm. We evaluated the diagnostic yields and rates of complication in relation to the size or nature of the nodule. RESULTS In the enrolled 40 patients, six were lost to surveillance and had indeterminate diagnoses. Of the remaining 34 patients with proven pathological diagnoses and compatible clinical conditions, the diagnostic yields of US-guided FNAB achieved 88% (30/34) which include 96% (26/27) in malignancies and 57% (4/7) in benign nodules. According to the nodular size, the diagnostic rate achieved 100% (4/4) in tiny nodules, 91% (10/11) in nodules between 1.1 and 2.0cm, and 84% (16/19) in nodules between 2.1 and 3.0cm. Only one patient with a 2.5-cm nodule developed pneumothorax after the US-guided FNAB procedure. CONCLUSIONS US-guided FNAB is a useful and safe diagnostic tool for small pulmonary nodules abutting to the chest wall. The nodular nature, but not size, affects the diagnostic yields and rates of complication.
Is Civic Discourse Still Alive?

Abstract Civic discourse is the rhetorical fretwork of democracy, the supporting lattice on which democracy emerges, clings, and grows strong. Yet civic discourse is not all one thing. It oscillates between the extremes of consensus building and conflict, creating the inevitable and welcomed agitations of civic exchange and churn in a healthy democracy. The following examines what civic discourse is, provides examples of practice, and suggests ways to measure the strength of our civic discourse.
Dangerous Dyads

Theoretical arguments and some empirical evidence suggest that war is more likely to occur between states that are geographically proximate, approximately equal in power, major powers, allied, undemocratic, economically advanced, and highly militarized than between those that are not. Bivariate analyses of these seven factors in relation to the onset of interstate war over all pairs of states in the period from 1816 to 1965 generally support these associations. However, multivariate analyses reveal some differences. In order of declining importance, the conditions that characterize a dangerous, war-prone dyad are: presence of contiguity, absence of alliance, absence of more advanced economy, absence of democratic polity, absence of overwhelming preponderance, and presence of major power. Taken together these findings suggest that our research priorities may be seriously distorted and that the idealist prescription for peace may be better than the realist one.
Strong designated verifier signature scheme: new definition and construction

Recently, several strong designated verifier signature schemes have been proposed in the literature. In this paper, we first point out that such so-called strong designated verifier signature scheme is just message authentication code HMAC. Without the key property, unforgeability, for signatures, these schemes cannot enable signers to have complete controls over their signatures as demanded by Chaum and Van Antwerpen originally. No signer would use such Designated Verifier Signature schemes if he does not trust the designated verifier entirely. Then we introduce a new notion for the strong designated verifier signature scheme and its security requirements. We further propose the first strong designated verifier signature scheme based on Schnorr signature scheme, and provide a formal security proof under the DL assumption and the CDH assumption in the random oracle model. Finally, we discuss general methods to construct the strong designated verifier signature scheme. Keyword: Undeniable signature; Designation of verifiers; Discrete logarithm; Random oracle model.
Cognitive Efficacy across the Life Span: Introduction to the Special Series.

A brief background and the rationale for examining personal beliefs of efficac y and control as related to adulthood cognition and memory are presented in this introduction to the special series. The research presented in the series draws on theory and research from several fields, includin g personality and social psychology, child development, and social learning and cognition. Although particular emphasis is placed on the self-efficacy construct (Bandura, 1977) and its utility in studying cognitive behavior in adults, this introdaction also highlights related work on achievement behavior in children (e.g., Dweck, 1975, 1986; Schunk, 1981, 1982). The series comprises four empirical articles and one conceptual commentary. In the commentary, Bandura argues that self-efficacy judgments are powerful determinants of. yet are also determined by, human cognition, affect, and behavior. It is this theoretical framework that guided the research presented in this scries. The five articles that make up this special series share the general premise that personal beliefs are related integrally to behavior and that this relationship changes with age. More specifically, these articles focus on the nature and function of selfbeliefs of personal efficacy and control as they are related to cognition in adulthood. The model on which these studies are based assumes that self-knowledge of abilities derives from, yet also determines, behavior in a dynamic and mutually reciprocal developmental process. This model is consistent with a contextual approach to cognitive development wherein chronological age per se is no longer regarded as a sufficient explanation for age-related varianc e in cognitive performance. Instead , the roles of task, person, and situational variables have gained recognition as critical components for understanding cognition in adulthood (Arbuckle, Gold, & Andres, 1986; Craik, Byrd, &
Hybridized Improved Genetic Algorithm with Variable Length Chromosome for Image Clustering

Clustering is a process of putting similar data into groups. This paper presents data clustering using improved genetic algorithm (IGA) in which an efficient method of crossover and mutation are implemented. Further it is hybridized with the popular NelderMead (NM) Simplex search and K-means to exploit the potentiality of both in the hybridized algorithm. The performance of hybrid approach is evaluated with few data clustering problems. Further a Variable Length IGA is proposed which optimally finds the clusters of benchmark image datasets and the performance is compared with K-means and GCUK[12]. The results revealed are very encouraging with IGA and its hybridization with other algorithms.
An Autonomous Fall Detection and Alerting System Based on Mobile and Ubiquitous Computing

This paper presents information on an autonomous fall detection and alerting system mainly consisting of a custom vest and a mobile smart phone. A 3-axial accelerator and gyroscope with a main board and Bluetooth are built into a custom vest worn by elderly. The vest can capture the data about the activities of daily living (ADLs) of elderly in real time. The data via Bluetooth is then sent to a mobile smart phone equipped with a threshold-based fall detection algorithm based on 3-axial accelerator and angular velocity. When a fall occurs the phone can alert a family member or health care center through a call or an emergent text message with a built in global positioning system (GPS) location, so as to provide a fast and accurate intervention. The experimental results show that the system discriminates falls from ADLs with a sensitivity of 95.74% and a specificity of 88.75%, for a total set of 175 movements.
Geometric morphometrics and ecological niche modelling for delimitation of near‐sibling triatomine species

Identifying morphologically similar triatomine species is key to Chagas' disease vector control and surveillance, but remains challenging when only qualitative phenotypic data are available. We investigated whether morphometric and ecological variation can provide additional criteria for species delimitation by combining geometric morphometrics and ecological niche modelling to characterize two near‐sibling triatomine species, Triatoma sordida and Triatoma garciabesi (Reduviidae: Triatominae). We analysed size and shape variation in 231 wings and 123 heads from one T. garciabesi and three T. sordida populations. Predicted distribution maps (21 climatic variables, 324 vector occurrence points) were produced using the Maxent method. Multivariate analyses summarized morphological and ecological variation. Wings and heads of T. sordida were significantly larger and more elongated than those of T. garciabesi. Discriminant analyses separated the species, with a partial overlap between Argentinean populations. The predicted distribution of T. garciabesi included northwest Argentina (mainly arid Chaco), whereas that of T. sordida included northeast Argentina (humid Chaco) and the Brazilian Cerrado and Caatinga ecoregions. Clear ecological niche differences were observed, with T. garciabesi occupying colder and drier areas than T. sordida. Our results show how morphometric variation and niche divergence can be used to enhance operational criteria for the delimitation of phenotypically similar triatomine species.
Geographic Mobility and Spatial Assimilation among U.S. Latino Immigrants 1

Although the spatial assimilation of immigrants to the United States has important implications for social theory and social policy, few studies have explored the patterns and determinants of interneighborhood geographic mobility that lead to immigrants' residential proximity to the white, non-Hispanic majority. We explore this issue by merging data from three different sources – the Latino National Political Survey, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, and tract-level census data – to begin unraveling causal relationships among indicators of socioeconomic, social, cultural, segmented, and spatial assimilation. Our longitudinal analysis of 700 Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban immigrants followed from 1990 to 1995 finds broad support for hypotheses derived from the classical account of minority assimilation. High income, English language use, and embeddedness in Anglo social contexts increase Latino immigrants' geographic mobility into Anglo neighborhoods. U.S. citizenship and years spent in the United States are positively associated with geographic mobility into more Anglo neighborhoods, and coethnic contact is inversely associated with this form of mobility, but these associations operate largely through other predictors. Prior experiences of ethnic discrimination increase and residence in public housing decreases the likelihood that Latino immigrants will move from their origin neighborhoods, while residing in metropolitan areas with large Latino populations leads to geographic moves into “less Anglo” census tracts.
Robust Video Fingerprinting Based on Symmetric Pairwise Boosting

This paper proposes a video fingerprinting method based on a novel binary fingerprint obtained using a feature selection algorithm called the symmetric pairwise boosting (SPB). The binary fingerprints are obtained by filtering and quantizing perceptually significant features extracted from an input video clip. The SPB algorithm, which is a generalization of the conventional asymmetric pairwise boosting (APB), selects appropriate filters and quantizers from a class of candidate filters and quantizers in such a way that perceptually similar and dissimilar pairs of video clips are correctly classified as matching and non-matching pairs, respectively. The binary form of the novel fingerprint makes it conducive to an efficient database search, and the experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms the APB-based video fingerprinting methods in terms of both robustness and discriminability.
Class Relationships at the Point of Production: A Case Study

A case-study of relations between supervisors and workers in a medium-sized shoe factory is used to argue that it is the Marxian question of function within the social relations of production rather than the Weberian one of market capacities which most convincingly determines the question of the proletarianization or otherwise of the direct supervisors of labour. Understanding class, and therefore proletarianization, as a matter of the interests arising out of the social relations of production, it is shown that, for the supervisors, these were not changed by a deterioration of their position on such Weberian dimensions of stratification as income and status relative to the workforce, nor by a diminution of their decision - making power within the management function. Rather, the supervisors responded to their situation by attempting to demonstrate their continuing usefulness as the extractors (rather than the creators) of surplus value since it was by these standards that their worth was judged - and increasingly doubted. The `option' of maintaining their position by playing a greater role in assisting the productive process itself was effectively foreclosed by technological and organizational developments in which assistance of a nature sufficiently demanding to justify a supervisory position was either beyond the capacity of the supervisors or had already been taken over by experts. Although the supervisors resented their low pay, lowly status and the pressures put upon them by senior management, their interests clearly lay in continuing to serve the interests of capital within the social relations of production. There was therefore no question of their proletarianization in the sense outlined above.
Blind Source Separation Based Digital Color Image-Adaptive Watermarking

In a digital watermarking scheme, it is not convenient to carry the original image all the time in order to detect the owner's signature from the watermarked image. Moreover, for those applications that require different watermark for different copies, it is preferred to utilize some kind of watermark-independent algorithm in extraction. This paper presents a digital color image watermarking scheme using Blind Source Separation to embed the watermark by manipulating the least significant levels of the blue channel of the host color image so as not to bring about a perceptible change in the marked image. The novelty of our scheme lies in determining the mixing matrix for BSS model, based on the smooth and textured metric based on energy content of the image. This makes our method image adaptive to embed color image into color images. Meanwhile the performance analysis of two ICA (Independent Component Analysis) algorithms is introduced in extraction procedure, through which the watermark can be derived efficiently. The proposed method, undergoing different experiments, has shown its robustness against many attacks.
St Helens EAZ: Creative Learning/Collaborative Leadership Project

MiE, Vol 20 issue 4 Education Action Zones (EAZs) have formed one of the key elements of government policy in trying to drive up standards and disseminate best practice. However, the initiative has been subject to a sustained critique and questions have remained as to the efficacy of such networks of schools. This article offers a brief report on an evaluative study of one Education Action Zone, based in St Helens in the North-West of England. The findings of the study suggest that the schools involved in the Zone have experienced a period of innovation and positive development.
Thylakoid redox signals are integrated into organellar-gene-expression-dependent retrograde signaling in the prors1-1 mutant

Perturbations in organellar gene expression (OGE) and the thylakoid redox state (TRS) activate retrograde signaling pathways that adaptively modify nuclear gene expression (NGE), according to developmental and metabolic needs. The prors1-1 mutation in Arabidopsis down-regulates the expression of the nuclear gene Prolyl-tRNA Synthetase1 (PRORS1) which acts in both plastids and mitochondria, thereby impairing protein synthesis in both organelles and triggering OGE-dependent retrograde signaling. Because the mutation also affects thylakoid electron transport, TRS-dependent signals may likewise have an impact on the changes in NGE observed in this genotype. In this study, we have investigated whether signals related to TRS are actually integrated into the OGE-dependent retrograde signaling pathway. To this end, the chaos mutation (for chlorophyll a/b binding protein harvesting-organelle specific), which shows a partial loss of PSII antennae proteins and thus a reduction in PSII light absorption capability, was introduced into the prors1-1 mutant background. The resulting double mutant displayed a prors1-1-like reduction in plastid translation rate and a chaos-like decrease in PSII antenna size, whereas the hyper-reduction of the thylakoid electron transport chain, caused by the prors1-1 mutation, was alleviated, as determined by monitoring chlorophyll (Chl) fluorescence and thylakoid phosphorylation. Interestingly, a substantial fraction of the nucleus-encoded photosynthesis genes down-regulated in the prors1-1 mutant are expressed at nearly wild-type rates in prors1-1 chaos leaves, and this recovery is reflected in the steady-state levels of their protein products in the chloroplast. We therefore conclude that signals related to photosynthetic electron transport and TRS, and indirectly to carbohydrate metabolism and energy balance, are indeed fed into the OGE-dependent retrograde pathway to modulate NGE and adjust the abundance of chloroplast proteins.
Crystal structure of soybean 11S globulin: Glycinin A3B4 homohexamer

Most plant seeds contain 11S globulins as major storage proteins for their nutrition. Soybean glycinin belongs to the 11S globulin family and consists of five kinds of subunits. We determined the crystal structure of a homohexamer of the glycinin A3B4 subunit at 2.1-Å resolution. The crystal structure shows that the hexamer has 32-point group symmetry formed by face-to-face stacking of two trimers. The interface buries the highly conserved interchain disulfide. Based on the structure, we propose that an ingenious face-to-face mechanism controls the hexamer formation of the 11S globulin by movement of a mobile disordered region to the side of the trimer after posttranslational processing. Electrostatic analysis of the faces suggests that the interchain disulfide-containing face has high positive potential at acidic pH, which induces dissociation of the hexamer into trimers that may be susceptible to proteinases after seed imbibition. This dissociation might result in the degradation and mobilization of 11S globulins as storage proteins in embryos during germination and seedling growth.
Impact of Cross-Sectoral Alcohol Policy on Youth Alcohol Consumption.

OBJECTIVE Cross-sectoral alcohol policy is recommended to reduce youth alcohol consumption, but little evidence is available on its effectiveness. Therefore, we examined whether regions and municipalities in the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant with stronger cross-sectoral alcohol policy showed larger reductions in alcohol consumption among adolescents aged 12-15. METHOD Strong regional cross-sectoral alcohol policy was defined as participation in a regional alcohol prevention program. Strong municipal cross-sectoral alcohol policy was operationalized by measures on (a) sector variety: involvement of different policy sectors, and (b) strategy variety: formulation of different policy strategies. Relevant data from policy documents were searched for on the Internet. Data on trends in alcohol consumption were extracted from the 2007 and 2011 cross-sectional Youth Health Monitor that includes a random subset of adolescents aged 12-15 (n = 15,380 in 2007 and n = 15,437 in 2011). We used multilevel regression models. RESULTS Two of the three regions in which municipalities participated in a regional alcohol prevention program showed a larger reduction in weekly drinking than the region in which municipalities did not participate (-12.2% and -13.4% vs. -8.3%). Municipalities with strong compared to weak sector variety showed a larger increase in adolescents' age at consuming their first alcoholic drink (0.63 vs. 0.42 years). Municipalities with strong strategy variety showed a decrease (-3.8%) in heavy weekly drinking, whereas those with weak variety showed an increase (5.1%). Cross-sectoral alcohol policy did not affect trends in other alcohol outcomes. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that strong cross-sectoral alcohol policy may contribute to reducing some aspects of youth alcohol consumption. Monitoring policy implementation is needed to assess the full impact.
School choice and competition: a public‐market in education revisited

In 1993 the UK Economic and Social Research Council funded the Parental and School Choice Interaction (PACSI) Study into the marketisation of education, conducted by the author along with Philip Woods and Ron Glatter of the Open University. The findings from the PACSI study highlighted the localised and complex nature of markets in education and reported the ways in which senior school managers adopted a variety of strategies to respond to the local competitive arena in which they found themselves. In more than ten years since this study the UK Government has changed from Conservative to Labour and policy discourses on choice and competition have been situated alongside those of collaboration and partnership. In this shifting policy landscape the paper utilises analytical tools and findings from the original study to revisit one of the case study areas and examines the market environment in which senior school managers find themselves today. The findings reveal a stronger ‘parent as consumer’ marketing orientation and responsiveness on behalf of schools and an environment in which competition and rivalry has intensified and continues to discursively predominate.
Deterministic Initialization of Hidden Markov Models for Human Action Recognition

Human action recognition is often approached in terms of probabilistic models such as the hidden Markov model or other graphical models. When learning such models by way of Expectation-Maximisation algorithms, arbitrary choices must be made for their initial parameters. Often, solutions for the selection of the initial parameters are based on random functions. However, in this paper, we argue that deterministic alternatives are preferable, and propose various methods. Experiments on a video dataset prove that the deterministic initialization is capable of achieving an accuracy that is comparable to or above the average from random initializations and suffers from no deviation thanks to its deterministic nature. The methods proposed naturally extend to be used with other graphical models such as dynamic Bayesian networks and conditional random fields.