Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Markov-chain model for sensor scheduling in electronic support

In electronic support, receivers must maintain surveillance over the very wide portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in which threat emitters operate. A common approach is to use a receiver with a relatively narrow bandwidth which sweeps its centre frequency over the threat bandwidth to search for emitters. The sequence and timing of changes in the centre frequency constitute a search strategy. The search can be expedited if there is intelligence about the operational parameters of the emitters that are likely to be found. However, it can happen that the intelligence is deficient, untrustworthy or absent In this case, what is the best search strategy to use? We propose a random search strategy based on a continuous-time Markov chain (CTMC). When the search is conducted for emitters with a periodic scan, we show that there is an optimal configuration for the CTMC. It is optimal in the sense that the expected time to intercept an emitter approaches linearity most quickly with respect to the emitter's scan period. A fast and smooth approach to linearity is important since other strategies can exhibit considerable and abrupt variations in the intercept time as a function of scan period. In theory and in numerical examples, we compare the optimum CTMC strategy with other strategies to demonstrate its superior properties.
Association of macular pigment optical density with early stage of non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

AIM To detect the association between macular pigment optical density (MPOD), which reflects the antioxidant ability of retina, and diabetic retinopathy (DR) and to investigate the correlated factors of MPOD. METHODS Totally 435 subjects of urban Chinese were recruited to the study and divided into 3 groups: non-diabetes mellitus controls (NDM), diabetic patients without retinopathy (DWR), and patients with early stage of non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (DR). Demographic and lifestyle characteristics were ascertained by questionnaire. A food-frequency questionnaire, general physical and ophthalmic examinations were completed for all participants. MPOD was measured by heterochromatic flicker photometry. Foveal thickness was measured by optical coherence tomography. The difference of MPOD among 3 groups was analyzed by analysis of covariance. The correlation analyses of MPOD with the candidate influence factors were assessed using the generalized estimating equations (GEE) model. RESULTS Of the 435 participants, 34 could not perform the MPOD measurements. Final analysis included 401 subjects, including 48 were in DR group, 134 in DWR group, and 219 in NDM group. MPOD was not significantly different among DR (0.49±0.21), DWR (0.45±0.21), and NDM (0.49±0.17) groups (P=0.24) after adjustment for fasting plasma glycemia, central foveal thickness, green vegetables, Chinese wolfberry, carotene and vitamin E. For all the 401 participants included, MPOD was positively associated with central foveal thickness (E=0.0007, P=0.001), Chinese wolfberry (E=0.0345, P=0.01), and green vegetables (E=0.0596, P<0.001) intake. CONCLUSION The data suggest that MPOD level is not statistically significantly influenced by the onset of diabetes or early stage of DR in the studied population. MPOD level is positively associated with thicker central foveal thickness and higher intake of foods containing carotenoids.
A review of the literature on the epidemiology of parasuicide in the general population.

OBJECTIVE The author reviewed recent literature on the epidemiology of parasuicide in the general population. Major risk factors are also discussed. METHODS Parasuicide was defined as suicide attempts and deliberate self-harm inflicted with no intent to die. Articles in English on rates of parasuicide in the general population from 1970 through June 2000 were identified by keyword searches of the PsycINFO and MEDLINE databases. Studies that provided data from a representative population sample and provided incidence or prevalence rates were included in the review. Articles focusing on subsamples such as adolescents or psychiatric patients were excluded. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Twenty studies were analyzed. Although methodological problems constitute a major limitation in interpretation of the results, the literature indicates that parasuicide is a serious public health problem. Reported annual rates of parasuicide in recent decades range from 2.6 to 1,100 per 100,000, and lifetime prevalence rates range from 720 to 5,930 per 100,000. The most important risk factors identified were younger age and female gender. Others included being single or divorced, being unemployed, having a recent change in living situation, having a mental disorder, and having a previous parasuicide incident.
Plasma PH3-passivated high mobility inversion InGaAs MOSFET fabricated with self-aligned gate-first process and HfO2/TaN gate stack

N-type InGaAs MOS devices are fabricated using HfO<sub>2</sub>/TaN and HfAlO/TaN gate stacks. Both direct deposition and novel in-situ plasma PH<sub>3</sub> surface passivation are compared. The PH<sub>3</sub>-passivated MOS capacitances shows high performance with EOT=1.7<sub>~</sub>3.0 nm, J<sub>g</sub>=2times10<sup>-5</sup> A/cm<sup>2</sup> at V<sub>g</sub>=2 V. After RTA, gate stack maintains stable with excellent C-V frequency dispersion of 1.3%. Silicon implanted InGaAs achieves good n<sup>+</sup>-p rectifying characteristic and low resistivity in the n<sup>+</sup> S/D by 600degC RTA. Inversion-mode nMOSFET exhibits remarkable enhancement with the PH<sub>3</sub>-passivation. It shows an excellent S.S. =96 mV/dec and mu<sub>eff</sub>=1600 cm<sup>2</sup>/Vs. There is significant reduction in S.S. and leap in drain current comparing to the recent reported inversion-mode III-V MOSFET and unpassivated control samples. In addition, sub 100 nm InGaAs MOSFET with the self-aligned gate-first process is demonstrated for the first time.
Chapter 7 Experiments on Clientelism and Vote-Buying

In this paper, we present a critical survey of experiments on political clientelism and vote-buying. We claim that through randomization and control, field experiments represent an important tool for answering causal questions, whereas list experiments provide useful methods that improve the hard task of measuring clientelism. We show that existing experimental research gives answers to the questions of why clientelism is effective for getting votes and winning elections, who relies more on this strategy – incumbents or challengers – how much clientelism takes place, and who tend to be the favorite targets of clientelistic politicians. The relationship between clientelism and other illicit strategies for getting votes, such as electoral violence and fraud, has also been analyzed through experimental interventions. Experiments have also studied mechanisms and policies for overcoming clientelism. Finally, we show that external validity is a major source of concern that affects this burgeoning literature.
A Dominant Negative OsKAT2 Mutant Delays Light-Induced Stomatal Opening and Improves Drought Tolerance without Yield Penalty in Rice

Stomata are the main gateways for water and air transport between leaves and the environment. Inward-rectifying potassium channels regulate photo-induced stomatal opening. Rice contains three inward rectifying shaker-like potassium channel proteins, OsKAT1, OsKAT2, and OsKAT3. Among these, only OsKAT2 is specifically expressed in guard cells. Here, we investigated the functions of OsKAT2 in stomatal regulation using three dominant negative mutant proteins, OsKAT2(T235R), OsKAT2(T285A) and OsKAT2(T285D), which are altered in amino acids in the channel pore and at a phosphorylation site. Yeast complementation and patch clamp assays showed that all three mutant proteins lost channel activity. However, among plants overexpressing these mutant proteins, only plants overexpressing OsKAT2(T235R) showed significantly less water loss than the control. Moreover, overexpression of this mutant protein led to delayed photo-induced stomatal opening and increased drought tolerance. Our results indicate that OsKAT2 is an inward- rectifying shaker-like potassium channel that mainly functions in stomatal opening. Interestingly, overexpression of OsKAT2(T235R) did not cause serious defects in growth or yield in rice, suggesting that OsKAT2 is a potential target for engineering plants with improved drought tolerance without yield penalty.
Permanent corneal haze after riboflavin-UVA-induced cross-linking in keratoconus.

PURPOSE Retrospective evaluation of haze development after riboflavin-ultraviolet (UV) A-induced corneal collagen cross-linking (CXL). METHODS One hundred sixty-three eyes of 127 patients with stage 1-3 keratoconus according to Krumeich's classification were included in this retrospective analysis. Follow-up was 1 year. Preoperatively and at all follow-up examinations uncorrected visual acuity, best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA), slit-lamp microscopic findings, corneal topography, and corneal thickness were recorded. RESULTS At 1 year after CXL, 149 (91.4%) eyes of 114 patients had a clear cornea without stromal haze (control group), whereas 14 eyes (8.6%) of 13 patients developed clinically significant stromal haze (haze group). Preoperatively, the mean keratometry (K) value of the apex was 62.1+/-13.8 diopters (D) in the control group and 71.1+/-13.2 D in the haze group (P=.02). The mean corneal thickness before the procedure was 478.1+/-52.4 mum in the control group and 420.0+/-33.9 mum in the haze group (P=.001). Uncorrected visual acuity and BSCVA, which were similar between groups preoperatively (P=.59 and P=.75, respectively), were improved in the control group (P=.023 and P=.001, respectively), but reduced in the haze group (P=.012 and P=.004, respectively) postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS The parameters defining the stage of keratoconus, such as K-value and corneal thickness, could be considered predicting factors for possible development of corneal haze after riboflavin-UVA-induced CXL. Advanced keratoconus should be considered at higher risk of haze development after CXL due to low corneal thickness and high corneal curvature.
Developing Medical Record–Based Performance Indicators to Measure the Quality of Mental Healthcare

&NA; Recent attention has focused on validity and feasibility of different approaches to developing performance indicators for the purposes of quality improvement and value–based purchasing. This paper presents the methodology used to develop a comprehensive set of performance indicators that will be used for a national evaluation of the mental healthcare provided by the Veterans Health Administration. The paper report on the indicators' technical specifications and the United States Public Health System Task Force defined strength of supporting evidence. Indicators were reviewed iteratively for meaningfulness, utility, feasibility, and supporting evidence until a final set of measures of acceptable validity and feasibility was produced with technical specifications. Fifty–seven mental health performance indicators that use information from both the medical record and administrative data (hybrid indicators) and 31 administrative–data only indicators are presented. Of the 57 hybrid indicators, 13 indicators are supported by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality grade I evidence, 5 indicators are grade II, and 39 indicators are grade III. This paper describes the methodology used to develop 88 performance indicators of the quality of mental health and substance abuse treatment, and presents the technical specifications associated with each indicator.
Quantization for distributed binary detection under secrecy constraints

The design of scalar quantization for distributed binary decision in presence of an eavesdropper (Eve) is investigated. An encoder/quantizer (Alice) observes a memoryless source and communicate via a public noiseless rate-limited channel with the detector (Bob) who has also access to a correlated analog source. Bob can take advantage of both informations to perform a binary decision on the joint probability law of these observations. Eve is further assumed to have access to a different correlated analog source and perfectly observe the information bits sent by Alice. This paper evaluates the various tradeoffs between the probabilities of error (on the decision) depending on the amount of information leakage from Alice to Eve. The Bhattacharyya distance; one of the distances measuring the difference between two probability distributions; is taken as a criterion to optimize the scalar quantizer subject to a tolerable constraint on the information leakage at the level of Eve. Numerical results for memoryless Gaussian sources demonstrate the performance of the proposed quantization method.
Outer estimates of interval system of linear equations: ISPN models in dependability evaluation

Interval methods have been applied to the outer estimation of solution sets for real interval linear systems of equations. This work presents the evaluation of results relating to a significant set of algorithms for solving interval linear systems of equations applied to the steady state solution of dependability models. These algorithms have been implemented using the Matlab Intlab framework. The ISPN analysis takes into account the effects of variabilities in exponential transition rates and immediate transition weights when calculating dependability indices. Case studies were conducted and an evaluation is presented comparing the algorithms which have been applied to solving steady state dependability studies.
Effectiveness of Nonpharmacological and Nonsurgical Interventions for Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis: An Overview of Systematic Reviews

Conclusions based on systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials are considered to provide the highest level of evidence about the effectiveness of an intervention. This overview summarizes the available evidence from systematic reviews on the effects of nonpharmacological and nonsurgical interventions for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Systematic reviews of studies of patients with RA (aged >18 years) published between 2000 and 2007 were identified by comprehensive literature searches. Methodological quality was independently assessed by 2 authors, and the quality of evidence was summarized by explicit methods. Pain, function, and patient global assessment were considered primary outcomes of interest. Twenty-eight systematic reviews were included in this overview. High-quality evidence was found for beneficial effects of joint protection and patient education, moderate-quality evidence was found for beneficial effects of herbal therapy (gamma-linolenic acid) and low-level laser therapy, and low-quality evidence was found for the effectiveness of the other interventions. The quality of evidence for the effectiveness of most nonpharmacological and nonsurgical interventions in RA is moderate to low.
Testing the association between the incidence of schizophrenia and social capital in an urban area

Background Social capital has been considered aetiologically important in schizophrenia but the empirical evidence to support this hypothesis is absent. We tested whether social capital, measured at the neighbourhood level, was associated with the incidence of schizophrenia (ICD-10 F20). Method We administered a cross-sectional questionnaire on social capital to 5% of the adult population in 33 neighbourhoods (wards) in South London (n=16 459). The questionnaire contained items relating to two social capital constructs: social cohesion and trust (SC&T) and social disorganization (SocD). Schizophrenia incidence rates, estimated using data from the Aetiology and Ethnicity in Schizophrenia and Other Psychoses (AESOP) study, provided the outcome. We used multi-level Poisson regression to test our hypothesis while controlling for individual- and neighbourhood-level characteristics. Results We identified 148 cases during 565 576 person-years at-risk. Twenty-six per cent of the variation in incidence rates was attributable to neighbourhood-level characteristics. Response from the social capital survey was 25.7%. The association between SC&T and schizophrenia was U-shaped. Compared with neighbourhoods with medial levels of SC&T, incidence rates were significantly higher in neighbourhoods with low [incidence rates ratio (IRR) 2.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.2–3.3] and high (IRR 2.5, 95% CI 1.3–4.8) levels of SC&T, independent of age, sex, ethnicity, ethnic density, ethnic fragmentation and socio-economic deprivation. Conclusion Neighbourhood variation in SC&T was non-linearly associated with the incidence of schizophrenia within an urban area. Neighbourhoods with low SC&T may fail to mediate social stress whereas high SC&T neighbourhoods may have greater informal social control or may increase the risk of schizophrenia for residents excluded from accessing available social capital.
Climate Finance at COP21 and After: Lessons Learnt

Finance has emerged in the last few years in and outside the Conference of the Parties (COP) process as a key ingredient of climate policy design. It also appears to be a key sector for structural reform in order to align it with the new low-carbon horizon. This policy brief draws lessons from a discussion platform launched jointly by CEPII and France Strategie, which welcomed more than thirty contributions on climate finance issues from various experts and citizens in the four months leading to COP21. Both these contributions and the final text adopted by the Parties indicate that the financial question will remain essential in the near future in order to consolidate and nurture the Paris Agreement. In this brief, three directions for future debates are analyzed. First, the equity question remains open, through the financing schemes to guarantee a minimum of $100 billion in annual transfers to developing countries in the name of the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities”. The question of an increasing ambition to implement the “Intended Nationally Determined Contributions” through specific financial instruments is also discussed. Finally, the necessary long-term objective of a net decarbonization of the world economy invites us to look for more structural reforms in the financial sector.
Using OCL to Model Constraints in Data Warehouses

Recent research works propose using Object-Oriented OO approaches, such as UML to model data warehouses. This paper overviews these recent OO techniques, describing the facts and different analysis dimensions of the data. The authors propose a tutorial of the Object Constraint Language OCL and show how this language can be used to specify constraints in OO-based models of data warehouses. Previously, OCL has been only applied to describe constraints in software applications and transactional databases. As such, the authors demonstrate in this paper how to use OCL to represent the different types of data warehouse constraints. This paper helps researchers working in the fields of business intelligence and decision support systems, who wish to learn about the major possibilities that OCL offer in the context of data warehouses. The authors also provide general information about the possible types of implementation of multi-dimensional models and their constraints.
Improving activity recognition without sensor data: a comparison study of time use surveys

Wearable sensing systems, through their proximity with their user, can be used to automatically infer the wearer's activity to obtain detailed information on availability, behavioural patterns and health. For this purpose, classifiers need to be designed and evaluated with sufficient training data from these sensors and from a representative set of users, which requires starting this procedure from scratch for every new sensing system and set of activities. To alleviate this procedure and optimize classification performance, the use of time use surveys has been suggested: These large databases contain typically several days worth of detailed activity information from a large population of hundreds of thousands of participants. This paper uses a strategy first suggested by [16] that utilizes time use diaries in an activity recognition method. We offer a comparison of the aforementioned North-American data with a large European database, showing that although there are several cultural differences, certain important features are shared between both regions. By cross-validating across the 5160 households in this new data with activity episodes of 13798 individuals, especially distinctive features turn out to be time and participant's location. Additionally, we identify for 11 different activities which features are most suited to be used for later on activity recognition.
New development in the diagnosis of dengue infections.

INTRODUCTION Dengue is of major concern around the world. Having no pathognomonic features that reliably distinguish it from other febrile illnesses, laboratory diagnosis is important for confirmation. Ideally, a dengue diagnostic test should be sensitive, specific and applicable from the onset of disease to 10 days post-infection. AREAS COVERED In this review, the pro and cons of currently available diagnostic arrays as well as evaluations that have been conducted by numerous groups using both in-house and commercialized kits were assessed and reviewed. We also probed into the challenges and hurdles of applying these assays worldwide. This review also glimpsed at newer technologies that may be invaluable in the future of dengue diagnostics. EXPERT OPINION To diagnose dengue, an understanding of the complex immune responses and the clinical features of this disease is essential. The MAC-ELISA currently remains the assay of choice but needs further evaluation and confirmation. Viral RT-PCR and NS1 have gained interest but their inconsistencies and great variability are of concern. Combinations of these tests have improved sensitivity but specificity issues still exist. Consequently, the favorable method of diagnosing dengue currently is to run multiple tests or obtain a paired sample so that more than one parameter is detected or a rising titer is demonstrated.
Optimized 4-coil inductor system arrangement for induction heating appliances

In this paper, the efficiency of the induction system composed of 4 small coils with a given connection among them for cooking applications is analyzed. The 4-coil configuration has several advantages with respect to the single-coil induction system, for instance, higher flexibility and better heat distribution in the pan. Different configurations can be arranged according to series or parallel connections of the coils and the polarity of the currents. However, the selected configuration connection has a direct impact on the efficiency of the power transference into the pot. Therefore, in this work the efficiency of the different 4-coil configurations is analyzed. The analysis is carried out in terms of equivalent impedances. The experimental test based on impedance measurements is performed to verify the preceding analysis.
The role of the bacterial microbiome in lung disease

Novel culture-independent techniques have recently demonstrated that the lower respiratory tract, historically considered sterile in health, contains diverse communities of microbes: the lung microbiome. Increasing evidence supports the concept that a distinct microbiota of the lower respiratory tract is present both in health and in various respiratory diseases, although the biological and clinical significance of these findings remains undetermined. In this article, the authors review and synthesize published reports of the lung microbiota of healthy and diseased subjects, discuss trends of microbial diversity and constitution across disease states, and look to the extrapulmonary microbiome for hypotheses and future directions for study.