Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Becoming the Maestro - A Game to Enhance Curiosity for Classical Music

Classical music is associated with a set of social and cognitive barriers that prevent potentially interested novice classical music listeners from attending concerts. The possible strategies to overcome these barriers and make the genre appealing to new audiences are diverse. In this paper, we present Becoming the Maestro, a game where users impersonate the conductor of an orchestra during a concert in a way that allows them to better understand musical concepts of symphonic music. A user study of the game prototype with 20 subjects proved that the game succeeded in increasing curiosity for classical music.
Utility of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy for Pancreatic Cancer Studies

Objectives The aims of this study were (1) to determine nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic characteristics and metabolite profiles of serum samples from patients with pancreatic cancer compared with noncancerous control samples and (2) to ascertain if the accuracy of metabolite identification by 1D spectra can be improved upon by confirmation of spin-system assignment using more sophisticated experiments. Methods Nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, including 1D, total correlation spectroscopy, and heteronuclear multiple/single quantum coherence, were obtained from serum samples from patients with pancreatic cancer and control subjects and used to determine serum levels of a range of metabolites. Results The data show that total choline (P = 0.03), taurine (P = 0.03), and glucose plus triglycerides (P = 0.01) are significantly higher in cancer versus control samples. Also detected were species that could not be individually identified and that were designated UCM (unresolved complex matter). Levels of UCM are significantly higher in subjects with cancer, being almost double those of control samples. Conclusions Although metabolites such as lactate, taurine, glucose, choline, and triglycerides can be determined from 1D spectra, accuracy is improved by confirmation of spin-system assignment with total correlation spectroscopy and heteronuclear multiple/single quantum coherence spectral analysis. In addition, we introduce a new metric, UCM, which is at higher concentrations in cancer compared with control samples.
Training prosodic phrasing rules for Chinese TTS systems

This paper describes several experiments designed to train prosodic phrasing models for Chinese TTS systems and to investigate the underlying rules that control Chinese prosody. First, we collected 559 sentences from news programs and built a large corpus for modeling Chinese prosody. Second, we selected 20 features and used classification and regression trees (CART) and transformational rule-based learning (TRBL) techniques to generate phrasing rules automatically. Lastly, we propose a computer aided error-driven method of designing rule templates, and integrate it into the TRBL algorithm. The experimental results show that we achieve a high success rate of 94.5%, and we also get a set of well comprehensible rule templates which may give us insights into the relationship between Chinese syntax and p rosody.
The effect of three methods of warm-up on the anaerobic power, agility, speed, flexibility and fatigue index of elite female volleyball players

The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of warm-up on the anaerobic power, agility, speed, flexibility and fatigue index elite female volleyball players. To this end, 20 of the volleyball players aged 18 to 30 years and at least 5 years of experience in the sport voluntarily participated in this study. Each of the warm-up method consists of three sessions per week for a week and then test. Warm-up exercise includes warm-up routine, vibration, and a combination of both. The aerobic power, agility, speed, flexibility and fatigue index were measured after each training session. For data analysis of repeated measures and the significance of the results of the Bonferroni post-test were used. Base on the results after three warm-up exercise, no significant difference was observed between aerobic power, agility, and speed. No significant difference was observed in the flexibility and fatigue index. In general, it can be concluded that the combination of warm-up with vibration can improve aerobic power, agility and speed will be. Hence, it can be offered as a new method of warm-up in the different sports to athletes and coaches. Therefore, combined warm-up with vibration increases blood flow to active muscles and nerve receptors and increases the speed of nerve impulses.
Unsupervised Leukemia Cells Segmentation Based on Multi-space Color Channels

Leukemia is a type of cancer that originates in the bone marrow and is characterized by abnormal proliferation of white blood cells. In order to have correct identification of lymphoblasts, hematologists examine blood blades of the patient. A low cost and efficient solution to facilitate the work of these experts is the use of systems to examine blood microscopic images. Segmentation is considered a crucial step to developing these systems. In this paper, we propose an automatic segmentation technique that uses two-color systems and the clustering algorithm K-means. The proposed approach is evaluated on three public image databases with different characteristics and performance measures used are: accuracy, specificity, sensitivity and Kappa index. The results obtained in the experiments have Kappa index of 0.9306 in ALL-IDB 2, 0.8603 in BloodSeg and 0.9119 in Leukocytes database. These measures outperform other methods of literature.
Menstrual Cycle Characteristics: Associations With Fertility and Spontaneous Abortion

Background: Epidemiologists often use menstrual cycle patterns as indicators of endocrine function in environmental and occupational studies, yet few studies have considered whether menstrual cycle characteristics are associated with fertility or pregnancy outcome. Methods: We prospectively studied 470 women to determine whether cycle length or bleed length were associated with fertility or spontaneous abortion. Women completed daily diaries with information on menstrual bleeding, intercourse, birth control use, and covariates. For each menstrual cycle, women collected at least 2 urine samples, which were assayed for human chorionic gonadotropin to define early pregnancies. Women were followed for 1 year or until the end of a clinical pregnancy. Results: Cycles with lengths of 30 to 31 days preceded cycles with the highest fecundity. Shorter cycles were less likely to be followed by conception (fecundity ratio [FR] = 0.6; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.4–1.0). Compared with 30- to 31-day cycles, conceptions after shorter and longer cycles were more likely to be spontaneously aborted (for shorter cycles, odds ratio [OR] = 3.0 [95% CI = 0.9–9.6] and for longer cycles, OR = 3.0 [0.9–10.6]). Cycles with 5 days of menstrual bleeding had the highest fecundity. Cycles with up to 4 days of bleeding had lower fecundity (for bleed lengths of 4 days, FR = 0.5 [0.3–0.8] and for bleed lengths less than 4 days, FR = 0.6 [0.3–0.9]). Spontaneous abortion was less likely after bleeds greater than 5 days (OR = 0.4 [0.1–1.1]) when compared with 5-day bleeds. Conclusions: Menstrual cycle characteristics appear to be associated with fertility and spontaneous abortion.
Anatomical Connections between Medial and Lateral Regions of the Hypothalamus Concerned with Food Intake

No anatomical connections have yet been demonstrated from the ventromedial ("satiety") to the lateral ("feeding") areas of the hypothalamus. Lesions were induced with goldthioglucose in mice in the ventromedial region, including the arcuate and ventromedial nuclei. With the Fink-Heimer stain for degenerating axons, fiber connections between these two areas were demonstrated.
Corporate Stakeholder Management

In recent times there have been scores of corporate failures all over the world due to moral turpitude, lack of good governance, and erosion of values. The need for a change in corporates’ approach towards stakeholder management is greater now than ever before. Though the term ‘stakeholder’ was first used in the West in the 1930s, this concept has been highlighted in the ancient Indian scriptures written centuries ago. These highlight the methodologies the kings used to ensure the welfare of all their stakeholders. The kings of yore, who considered themselves as trustees of their kingdom, can be compared to the top management in corporates of this era. Thus, the concepts highlighted in these ancient scriptures find as much relevance and applicability even in today's times. This article takes a brief look at few of the studies undertaken in this area and also highlights excerpts from the ancient Indian scriptures to prove that the concept of stakeholder management owes its origin to India.
Quality management in gynecologic cytology using interlaboratory comparison.

OBJECTIVE To describe a comprehensive integrated laboratory quality management plan for gynecologic cytology. DESIGN AND SETTING Cytopathology laboratory performance monitors with interlaboratory comparison. RESULTS Utilizing College of American Pathologists Q-Probes studies, the College of American Pathologists Interlaboratory Comparison Program in Cervicovaginal Cytology, and other published data, a quality management program for gynecologic cytology involving diagnostic statistics, screening limits and competency assessment, retrospective rescreening, real-time rescreening, cytology-biopsy correlation, follow-up of patients with abnormal cytology results, turnaround time, examination of unknown slides (survey programs), and new technology is described. CONCLUSION Regular coordinated monitoring of performance, with longitudinal and interlaboratory comparison utilizing the methods described, provides an opportunity to optimize gynecologic cytology service.
Mood-congruent false memories in the DRM paradigm

This study investigated the creation of mood-congruent false memories within the Deese–Roediger–McDermott (DRM) paradigm using recall and recognition of critical lures as performance measures. Participants (n=93) were randomly assigned to three mood-induction conditions (positive, negative and control) and were presented with positive, negative and neutral DRM word lists in audio form. We predicted that intrusion errors of the critical lures would be higher in the mood-congruent conditions. Results confirmed this prediction and extended previous DRM research by showing that already high false memory rates were increased when the valence of the lures matched the mood-induction condition. Furthermore, participants made more “remember” judgements for the emotion critical lures in their mood-congruent conditions. Discussion draws on spreading activation explanations of DRM findings, and considers how moods could increase activation of non-presented information.
Hypnosis: Complications—An Illustrative Clinical Example

ALTHOUGH hypnosis has received an ever greater utilization in forensic psychiatry, growing opposition seems to be mounting. The opposition is both legal and psychiatric/psychological. The conflictual tension and attention is indicated by the fact that an entire issue of The International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Vol. 27, 1979, has been devoted to this conflict. Another professional journal, The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, has been publishing an increasing number of articles on forensic hypnosis. A new association, founded in 1976, The Society for Investigative and Forensic Hypnosis, is now active and publishes its own journal. The conflict can be summarized in a variety of ways. For example, it can be demonstrated that hypnosis has been the key factoror variable-in solving criminal cases. Reiser, in his text, Handbook of Investigative Hypnosis (1980), documents how hypnosis has been valuable in helping to solve hundreds of criminal cases. The Supreme Court of New Jersey, in a 5 to 2 decision, favored admission of induced testimony under six guidelines:
Generalized Hopfield networks for constrained optimization

textabstractA twofold generalization of the classical continuous Hopfield neural network for modelling constrained optimization problems is proposed. On the one hand, non-quadratic cost functions are admitted corresponding to non-linear output summation functions in the neurons. On the other hand it is shown under which conditions various (new) types of constraints can be incorporated directly. The stability properties of several relaxation schemes are shown. If a direct incorporation of the constraints appears to be impossible, the Hopfield-Lagrange model can be applied, the stability properties of which are analyzed as well. Another good way to deal with constraints is by means of dynamic penalty terms, using mean field annealing in order to end up in a feasible solution. A famous example in this context is the elastic net, although it seems impossible - contrary to what is suggested in the literature - to derive the architecture of this network from a constrained Hopfield model. Furthermore, a non-equidistant elastic net is proposed and its stability properties are compared to those of the classical elastic network. In addition to certain simulation results as known from the literature, most theoretical statements of this paper are validated with simulations of toy problems while in some cases, more sophisticated combinatorial optimization problems have been tried as well. In the final section, we discuss the possibilities of applying the various models in the area of constrained optimization. It is also demonstrated how the new ideas as inspired by the analysis of generalized continuous Hopfield models, can be transferred to discrete stochastic Hopfield models. By doing so, simulating annealing can be exploited in other to improve the quality of solutions. The transfer also opens new avenues for continued theoretical research.
The Internet and Civic Engagement: The Age of the Citizen-Consumer

Dr. Railly, you are giving alarmists a bad name . the planet cannot survive the excesses of the human race . proliferation of nuclear weapons, pollution of land, sea and air, the rape of the environment. In this context, isn’t it obvious that [the alarmist] represents the sane vision and the [optimist’s] model, “let’s go shopping,” is the cry of the true lunatic? (Twelve Monkeys, starring Bruce Willis)
Three Drug Combinations for Late-Stage Trypanosoma brucei gambiense Sleeping Sickness: A Randomized Clinical Trial in Uganda

Objectives: Our objective was to compare the efficacy and safety of three drug combinations for the treatment of late-stage human African trypanosomiasis caused by Trypanosoma brucei gambiense. Design: This trial was a randomized, open-label, active control, parallel clinical trial comparing three arms. Setting: The study took place at the Sleeping Sickness Treatment Center run by Médecins Sans Frontières at Omugo, Arua District, Uganda Participants: Stage 2 patients diagnosed in Northern Uganda were screened for inclusion and a total of 54 selected. Interventions: Three drug combinations were given to randomly assigned patients: melarsoprol-nifurtimox (M+N), melarsoprol-eflornithine (M+E), and nifurtimox-eflornithine (N+E). Dosages were uniform: intravenous (IV) melarsoprol 1.8 mg/kg/d, daily for 10 d; IV eflornithine 400 mg/kg/d, every 6 h for 7 d; oral nifurtimox 15 (adults) or 20 (children <15 y) mg/kg/d, every 8 h for 10 d. Patients were followed up for 24 mo. Outcome Measures: Outcomes were cure rates and adverse events attributable to treatment. Results: Randomization was performed on 54 patients before enrollment was suspended due to unacceptable toxicity in one of the three arms. Cure rates obtained with the intention to treat analysis were M+N 44.4%, M+E 78.9%, and N+E 94.1%, and were significantly higher with N+E (p = 0.003) and M+E (p = 0.045) than with M+N. Adverse events were less frequent and less severe with N+E, resulting in fewer treatment interruptions and no fatalities. Four patients died who were taking melarsoprol-nifurtimox and one who was taking melarsoprol-eflornithine. Conclusions: The N+E combination appears to be a promising first-line therapy that may improve treatment of sleeping sickness, although the results from this interrupted study do not permit conclusive interpretations. Larger studies are needed to continue the evaluation of this drug combination in the treatment of T. b. gambiense sleeping sickness.
Teenage cervical screening in a high risk American population

Background: The new 2009 ACOG guideline for cervical cytology screening changed the starting age to 21 years regardless of the age of onset of sexual intercourse. However, many recent studies have shown a dramatic increase in the incidence of cervical epithelial abnormalities among adolescents within the past two decades. Materials and Methods: For this study, the reports of 156,342 cervical cytology were available of which 12,226 (7.8%) were from teenagers. A total of 192 teenagers with high grade intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) cervical cytology were identified. The ages ranged from 13 to 19 years with a mean of 17.7 years and a median of 18 years. Among them, 31.3% were pregnant, 12.0% were postpartum, and 13.5% were on oral contraceptive. Ninety-eight had prior cervical cytology. Results: The teenagers had statistically significant higher detection rates of overall abnormal cervical cytology (23.6% vs. 6.6%, P = 0), with 15.4% vs. 3.2% (P = 0) of low grade intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) and 1.8% vs. 1.0% (P = 2.56 × 10-13 ) of HSIL compared to women ≥20 years. The teenage group had the highest abnormal cytology among all age groups. The LSIL/HSIL ratio was 8.5:1 for teenagers and 3.1:1 for women ≥20 years. A total of 131 teenagers had cervical biopsies within 12 months of the HSIL cytology, with diagnoses of 39 CIN 3, 1 VAIN 3, 15 CIN 2, 62 CIN 1, and 14 had a negative histology (CIN 0). Only in 19 of these 39 women, the CIN 2/3 lesion proved to be persistent. Conclusion: We conclude that cytology screening of high risk teenagers is effective in detecting CIN 2/3 lesions. Moreover, treatment and careful follow-up can be realized.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Different Stationary Phase Selectivities and Morphologies for Intact Protein Separations

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Bayesian Networks : Representation , Variable Elimination CS 6375 : Machine Learning

A Bayesian network is a directed acyclic graph (DAG)1 G(X,E) where X = {X1, . ,Xn} is a set of random variables and E is a set of directed edges. A node Xj is a parent of node Xi if there is a directed edge from Xj to Xi. We will denote by pa(Xi), the set of parents of Xi. Let D(Xi) denote the set of finite values that Xi can take, i.e., the domain of Xi. For example, if Xi is a binary variable, then D(Xi) = {True, False}. Each node in a Bayesian network is associated with a conditional probability table or CPT, whose functional form is P (Xi|pa(Xi)) (i.e., variable given its parents). A Bayesian network B represents the following joint probability distribution
An Efficient Distributed Link Selection Scheme for AF-Based Cognitive Selection Relaying Networks

Proposed is a distributed link selection scheme for cognitive selection amplify-and-forward (AF) relaying networks. For such a scheme, by approximating the instantaneous signal-to-noise ratio of dual-hop relaying link by its tight bound, a closed-form outage lower bound expression for the considered system is derived. Also, the average feedback overhead is evaluated. Both analytical and numerical results show that no matter whether the channel state information (CSI) knowledge of the interference links is perfect or not, the proposed scheme incurs extremely low signaling overhead to achieve almost the same outage performance with that of the centralized scheme. In addition, for both schemes, the influence of relay placement on the average feedback overhead is investigated and some useful conclusions are drawn as well.
Building the Internet of Things Using Rfid

T he rapid proliferation of passive RFID tags in the past decade has given rise to various concepts that integrate the physical world with the virtual one. One of the most popular is the Internet of Things (IoT), a vision in which the Internet extends into our everyday lives through a wireless network of uniquely identifiable objects. Given numerous predictions that we’ll have hundreds of billions of RFID-tagged objects at approximately five cents per tag by 2015,1 we’re not only approaching such a world, we’re on its doorstep. In this type of RFID system, each physical object is accompanied by a rich, globally accessible virtual object that contains both current and historical information on that object’s physical properties, origin, ownership, and sensory context (for example, the temperature at which a milk carton is being stored). When ubiquitous and available in real time, this information can dramatically streamline how we manufacture, distribute, manage, and recycle our goods. It can also transform the way we perform everyday activities by giving applications current and detailed knowledge about physical events. This “real-life” context can unlock the door to various business, environmental, personal, and social contexts hitherto inaccessible to Internet applications. The incredible amount of information captured by a trillion RFID tags will have a tremendous impact on our lives. However, questions remain if we At the University of Washington, the RFID Ecosystem creates a microcosm
Improving Transitions to High School: A Review of Current Research and Practice

This article synthesizes the current research in the area of school transitions for all students from junior high to high school and the effect of the transitions on students. The authors discuss current common high school transition practices and make recommendations for high school transition programming. The authors present a case study illustrating a way for school personnel to gather information about student perceptions and develop individualized programming to support students transitioning in their schools.
A monoclonal anti-HLA-B27 antibody which is reactive with a linear sequence of the HLA-B27 protein is useful for the study of molecular mimicry.

In the search for cross-reactivity between bacteria and HLA-B27, three groups of investigators have identified several bacterial envelope proteins which are reactive with the monoclonal anti-HLA-B27 antibodies B27.M1 and B27.M2. Since these two antibodies react poorly with HLA-B27-derived synthetic peptides, it is not possible to locate the reactive epitopes on the HLA-B27 using synthetic peptides. Here, we introduce Ye-2, a monoclonal anti-HLA-B27 antibody which, unlike B27.M1 and B27.M2, is reactive with a synthetic peptide derived from residues 63-84 of HLA-B27.1. Analysis with a cross-reactive peptide derived from residues 226-244 of bovine carbonic anhydrase suggests that only a few of the amino acid residues in the HLA-B27-derived peptide are responsible for the reactivity. This antibody should be a useful adjunct in a preliminary assessment of whether a bacterial protein mimics HLA-B27 in primary structure.