Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Learning Information Retrieval Functions and Parameters on Unlabeled Collections. (Apprentissage des fonctions de la recherche d'information et leurs paramètres sur des collections non-étiquetées)

The present study focuses on (a) predicting parameters of already existing standard IR models and (b) learning new IR functions. We first explore various statistical methods to estimate the collection parameter of family of information based models (Chapter 2). This parameter determines the behavior of a term in the collection. In earlier studies, it was set to the average number of documents where the term appears, without full justification. We introduce here a fully formalized estimation method which leads to improved versions of these models over the original ones. But the method developed is applicable only to estimate the collection parameter under the information model framework. To alleviate this we propose a transfer learning approach which can predict values for any parameter for any IR model (Chapter 3). This approach uses relevance judgments on a past collection to learn a regression function which can infer parameter values for each single query on a new unlabeled target collection. The proposed method not only outperforms the standard IR models with their default parameter values, but also yields either better or at par performance with popular parameter tuning methods which use relevance judgments on target collection. We then investigate the application of transfer learning based techniques to directly transfer relevance information from a source collection to derive a “pseudo-relevance” judgment on an unlabeled target collection (Chapter 4). From this derived pseudo- relevance a ranking function is learned using any standard learning algorithm which can rank documents in the target collection. In various experiments the learned function outperformed standard IR models as well as other state-of-the-art transfer learning based algorithms. Though a ranking function learned through a learning algorithm is effective still it has a predefined form based on the learning algorithm used. We thus introduce an exhaustive discovery approach to search ranking functions from a space of simple functions (Chapter 5). Through experimentation we found that some of the discovered functions are highly competitive with respect to standard IR models.
PROGNOSTIC VALUES OF LESION VOLUME AND BIOCHEMICAL MARKERS IN ISCHEMIC AND HEMORRHAGIC STROKE: A STEREOLOGICAL AND CLINICAL STUDY

Purpose: Our aim was to evaluate the relationship between lesion volume, serum level of biochemical markers, and clinical situation in ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. Methods: MRI was obtained on 33 ischemic and 28 hemorrhagic strokes. The Cavalieri method was used to measure the volume. To evaluate neurological situation of the patients, we used the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and Rankin Disability Scores at the first, third, seventh, and thirtieth days. We measured the level of leptin, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), insulin, cortisol, fibrinogen, protein C, protein S, von Willebrand factor, D-dimer, Antitrombin III, and Factor VIII (F VIII) at the same time intervals. Results: In ischemic events, cortisol level at third and seventh days, and fibrinogen level at the first day were correlated with lesion volumes (r = 0.5, p = .02; r = 0.4, p = .02; r = 0.5, p = .005, respectively). In hemorrhagic events, only fibrinogen level was correlated with lesion volumes at third day (r = 0.6, p = .04). No significant differences were found among all these biochemical parameters, neurological situation (p > .05), and lesion volumes at all times. Conclusion: In the prediction of stroke prognosis, lesion volume and all of the evaluated biochemical parameters are not deterministic factors.
Antibody therapeutics:

Recombinant monoclonal antibody (rMAb) therapy may be instituted to achieve one of two broad outcomes: i) killing of cells or organisms (e.g., cancer cells, bacteria); and ii) neutralisation of soluble molecules (e.g., cytokines in chronic disease or toxins in infection). The choice of rMAb isotype is a critical decision in the development of a therapeutic antibody as it will determine the biological activities triggered in vivo. It is not possible, however, to accurately predict the in vivo activity because multiple parameters impact on the functional outcome, for example, IgG subclass, IgG-Fc glycoform, epitope density, cellular Fc receptors polymorphisms and so on. The present understanding of the molecular interactions between IgG-Fc and effector ligands in vitro has allowed the generation of new antibody structures with altered/improved effector function profiles that may prove optimal for given disease indications. Thus, when maximal antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity activity is indicated a non-fucosylated IgG1 format may be optimal; when minimal activity is indicated an aglycosylated IgG2 may be the form of choice.
The role of IL‐28, IFN‐γ, and TNF‐α in predicting response to pegylated interferon/ribavirin in chronic HCV patients

The primary goal of HCV therapy is to achieve a sustained virological response (SVR). Many host and viral factors influence the treatment response. Cytokines play an important role in the defense against viral infections, where successful treatment of hepatitis C depends on a complex balance between pro‐ and anti‐inflammatory responses. In the present study, we investigated the relationship between the presence and percentage of some cytokines (IL‐28, IFN‐γ, and TNF‐α) regarding different clinicopathological parameters including response to therapy in chronic HCV patients using immunohistochemical technique. This study was carried out on 64 chronic HCV patients (34 responders and 30 non‐responders). Of cases, 54% showed IL‐28 expression, which was associated with low AST (p = 0.002) and low HAI score (p = 0.006). Of cases, 67 and 45% showed IFN‐γ and TNF‐α expression, respectively, where the median percentage of TNF‐α expression was higher in grade II spotty necrosis compared to grade I. Some inflammatory cytokines expressed by intrahepatic inflammatory cells in chronic HCV patients promote inflammation and injury (pro‐inflammatory) such as TNF‐α. Other cytokines aid in resolving inflammation and injury (anti‐inflammatory) such as IL‐28. The balance between these cytokines will determine the degree of inflammatory state. None of the investigated cytokines proved its clear cut role in affecting response to therapy, however, their levels varied between responders and non‐responders for further investigations to clarify.
Bi-Directional Use of Spatial Resources and Effects of Spatial Correlation

In multiple antenna systems, spatial fading correlation causes a significant degradation in performance. In this work, a method for reducing the sensitivity to spatial fading correlation through the bi-directional use of spatial resources is investigated. Firstly, the concept of bi-directional use of spatial resources is introduced and the fading characteristics of the proposed bi-directional multiple-input multiple-output (B-MIMO) system are investigated. The achievable rates of the B-MIMO system are then investigated and compared with those of conventional MIMO systems for beamforming and full rank transmission. Based on those results, conditions needed for the B-MIMO system to demonstrate a larger average achievable rate are evaluated. B-MIMO systems are found to efficiently reduce the sensitivity to spatial fading correlation, while supporting comparable achievable rates in spatially white environments.
Clustering-Based Source Selection for Efficient Image Retrieval in Peer-to-Peer Networks

In peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, computers with equal rights form a logical (overlay) network in order to provide a common service that lies beyond the capacity of every single participant. Efficient similarity search is generally recognized as a frontier in research about P2P systems. One way to address it is using data source selection based approaches where peers summarize the data they contribute to the network, generating typically one summary per peer. When processing queries, these summaries are used to choose the peers (data sources) that are most likely to contribute to the query result. Only those data sources are contacted. There are two main contributions of this paper. We extend earlier work, adding a data source selection method for high-dimensional vector data, comparing different peer ranking schemes. More importantly, we present a method that uses progressive stepwise data exchange between peers to better each peer's summary and therefore improve the system's performance
Indications Contributing to the Increasing Cesarean Delivery Rate

OBJECTIVE: To examine physician-documented indications for cesarean delivery in order to investigate the specific factors contributing to the increasing cesarean delivery rate. METHODS: We analyzed rates of primary and repeat cesarean delivery, including indications for the procedure, among 32,443 live births at a major academic hospital between 2003 and 2009. Time trends for each indication were modeled to estimate the absolute and cumulative annualized relative risk of cesarean by indication over time and the relative contribution of each indication to the overall increase in primary cesarean delivery rate. RESULTS: The cesarean delivery rate increased from 26% to 36.5% between 2003 and 2009; 50.0% of the increase was attributable to an increase in primary cesarean delivery. Among the documented indications, nonreassuring fetal status, arrest of dilation, multiple gestation, preeclampsia, suspected macrosomia, and maternal request increased over time, whereas arrest of descent, malpresentation, maternal-fetal indications, and other obstetric indications (eg, cord prolapse, placenta previa) did not increase. The relative contributions of each indication to the total increase in primary cesarean rate were: nonreassuring fetal status (32%), labor arrest disorders (18%), multiple gestation (16%), suspected macrosomia (10%), preeclampsia (10%), maternal request (8%), maternal-fetal conditions (5%), and other obstetric conditions (1%). CONCLUSION: Primary cesarean births accounted for 50% of the increasing cesarean rate. Among primary cesarean deliveries, more subjective indications (nonreassuring fetal status and arrest of dilation) contributed larger proportions than more objective indications (malpresentation, maternal-fetal, and obstetric conditions). LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III
The Effects of Acute Aerobic Exercise on the Primary Motor Cortex

ABSTRACT. The effect of aerobic exercise on primary motor cortical excitability is a relevant area of interest for both motor learning and motor rehabilitation. Transient excitability changes that may follow an exercise session are a necessary precursor to more lasting neuroplastic changes. While the number of studies is limited, research suggests that a session of aerobic exercise can create an ideal environment for the early induction of plasticity. Potential mechanisms include the upregulation of neurotransmitter activity, altered cerebral metabolism and cortisol levels, and increases in brain-derived neurotrophic factor. While there is considerable evidence that chronic physical activity positively impacts brain health and function, studies examining cortical excitability changes and motor performance after a single session of exercise are lacking. Further research is required to determine the clinical utility and feasibility of aerobic exercise.
A fast low-power modulo 2n+1 multiplier design

Modulo 2n + 1 multipliers are the primitive computational logic components widely used in residue arithmetic, digital signal processing and cryptography. In this work, a fast low-power hardware implementation of modulo 2n + 1 multiplier is proposed and validated. The proposed hardware architecture is based on the efficient compressors and modulo carry look-ahead adders as the basic building blocks. The modulo carry lookahead adder uses the sparse-tree adder technique to achieve better speed. The resulting implementations are compared both qualitatively and quantitatively, in standard CMOS cell technology, with the existing implementations. The results show that the proposed implementation is considerably faster and consume significantly less power than similar hardware implementations making them a viable option for efficient designs.
Major depression is a risk factor for seizures in older adults

We tested the hypothesis that major depression meeting DSM‐III‐R criteria or medical therapies for depression increase the risk for unprovoked seizures. Major depression was associated with a sixfold increased risk for unprovoked seizures (95% CI, 1.56–22). The risk remained increased even when controlling for age, sex, length of medical follow‐up, and medical therapies for depression. In the absence of known prior neurological insult, major depression is associated with an increased risk for unprovoked seizures. Ann Neurol 2000;47:246–249
Denial-of-service attack detection system

Use of online applications in day-to-day life is increasing. In parallel to this increase the threat to the security of these applications is also increasing. The security of these applications is breached by different cyber attacks. Denial-of-Service (DoS) is one such type of cyber attack. DoS makes the online application or the resources of the server unavailable to the intended users. For detecting these DoS attacks a detection system is proposed which can be used for detecting both known and unknown attacks. In the proposed system makes use of multivariate correlation analysis (MCA) technique which extracts the geometrical correlation between network traffic. This geometrical correlation is used for detecting DoS attack. Triangle area based technique to used enhance and speedup the MCA process. KDD cup 99 dataset is for examining the effectiveness of the proposed system. To increase the detection rate and to reduce the complexity of the proposed system a subset of features of the record is used. This subset is used in the whole detection process.
Identification of Shark Species Composition and Proportion in the Hong Kong Shark Fin Market Based on Molecular Genetics and Trade Records

Abstract: The burgeoning and largely unregulated trade in shark fins represents one of the most serious threats to shark populations worldwide. In Hong Kong, the world's largest shark fin market, fins are classified by traders into Chinese‐name categories on the basis of market value, but the relationship between market category and shark species is unclear, preventing identification of species that are the most heavily traded. To delineate these relationships, we designed a sampling strategy for collecting statistically sufficient numbers of fins from traders and categories under conditions of limited market access because of heightened trader sensitivities. Based on information from traders and morphological inspection, we hypothesized matches between market names and shark taxa for fins within 11 common trade categories. These hypotheses were tested using DNA‐based species identification techniques to determine the concordance between market category and species. Only 14 species made up approximately 40% of the auctioned fin weight. The proportion of samples confirming the hypothesized match, or concordance, varied from 0.64 to 1 across the market categories. We incorporated the concordance information and available market auction records for these categories into stochastic models to estimate the contribution of each taxon by weight to the fin trade. Auctioned fin weight was dominated by the blue shark (Prionace glauca), which was 17% of the overall market. Other taxa, including the shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus), silky (Carcharhinus falciformis), sandbar (C. obscurus), bull (C. leucas), hammerhead (Sphyrna spp.), and thresher (Alopias spp.), were at least 2–6% of the trade. Our approach to marketplace monitoring of wildlife products is particularly applicable to situations in which quantitative data at the source of resource extraction are sparse and large‐scale genetic testing is limited by budgetary or other market access constraints.
A Scenario Simulation Approach for Market Power Analysis in Hydrothermal Systems

This paper focuses on markets based on physical bilateral contracts combined with a power exchange (PX). The main feature to be analyzed is the behavior of the hydrothermal system where one or more companies have a big reservoir with capacity for interannual regulation. In this work, interannual regulation means the ability of a reservoir to allocate water from consecutive years. The use of the reservoirs in a context of a power exchange market with competition is the main objective of this study. Results on the Chilean central interconnected system using stochastic dynamic programming are presented and discussed.
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Ugt1A1 Genetic Testing to Inform Antiretroviral Prescribing in HIV Disease

Background Homozygosity for UGT1A1*28/*28 has been reported to be associated with atazanavir-associated hyperbilirubinaemia and premature atazanavir discontinuation. We assessed the potential cost-effectiveness of UGT1A1 testing to inform the choice of an initial protease-inhibitor-containing regimen in antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naive individuals. Methods We used the Cost-Effectiveness of Preventing AIDS Complications computer simulation model to project quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and lifetime costs (2009 USD) for atazanavir-based ART with or without UGT1A1 testing, using darunavir rather than atazanavir when indicated. We assumed the UGT1A1-associated atazanavir discontinuation rate reported in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study (a *28/*28 frequency of 14.9%), equal efficacy and cost of atazanavir and darunavir and a genetic assay cost of $107. These parameters, as well as the effect of hyperbilirubinaemia on quality of life and loss to follow up, were varied in sensitivity analyses. Costs and QALYs were discounted at 3% annually. Results Initiating atazanavir-based ART at CD4+ T-cell counts <500 cells/μl without UGT1A1 testing had an average discounted life expectancy of 16.02 QALYs and $475,800 discounted lifetime cost. Testing for UGT1A1 increased QALYs by 0.49 per 10,000 patients tested and was not cost-effective (>$100,000/QALY). Testing for UGT1A1 was cost-effective (<$100,000/QALY) if assay cost decreased to $10, or if avoiding hyperbilirubinaemia by UGT1A1 testing reduced loss to follow-up by 5%. If atazanavir and darunavir differed in cost or efficacy, testing for UGT1A1 was not cost-effective under any scenario. Conclusions Testing for UGT1A1 may be cost-effective if assay cost is low and if testing improves retention in care, but only if the comparator ART regimens have the same drug cost and efficacy.
Z-H converter

Inspirited by the Z-source inverter, a new power converter (named as Z-H converter) is presented in this paper. The basic operating principle of Z-H converter and Z-source inverter are similar and they have the same equations in boost mode. The new converter employs an impedance network similar to that in the Z-source inverter but with different connection. Therefore the new topology has different features compared to the Z-source inverter. There's no shoot-through switching state in the Z-H converter and the front end diode is eliminated. The Z-H converter can be applied to dc-dc, dc-ac, ac-dc, and ac-ac power conversion. A Z-H dc-dc converter will be presented in the paper as an example to show the operating principle, and the extensions to dc-ac, ac-dc, and ac-ac power conversion are also introduced. The simulation and experimental results verified the analysis and demonstrated the great potential of the Z-H converter.
High-resolution Video Generation Using Morphing

In imaging devices such as CCDs, there is a trade-off between the image resolution and frame rate because of the limitation of data transfer speed. This creates difficulties in producing a high-quality imaging system using only one sensor. Therefore, we use a camera that has two imaging sensors with different spatio-temporal resolutions. The camera captures a high-resolution image sequence at a low frame rate and a low-resolution image sequence at a video rate. We propose using an image-morphing method to generate high-resolution video sequences from these two image sequences
Evaluating Lean in healthcare.

PURPOSE The purpose of this paper is to present findings relating to how Lean is implemented in English hospitals. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH Lean implementation snapshots in English hospitals were conducted by content analysing all annual reports and web sites over two time periods, giving a thorough analysis of Lean's status in English healthcare. FINDINGS The article identifies divergent approaches to Lean implementation in English hospitals. These approaches are classified into a typology to facilitate an evaluation of how Lean is implemented. The findings suggest that implementation tends to be isolated rather than system-wide. A second dataset conveys Lean implementation trajectory across the time period. These data signal Lean's increasing use by English hospitals and shows progression towards an increasingly systemic approach. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS Data were collected using content analysis methods, which relies on how "Lean" methods were articulated within the annual report and/or on the organisation's web site, which indicates approaches taken by hospital staff implementing Lean. ORIGINALITY/VALUE This research is the first to examine more closely "how" Lean is implemented in English hospitals. The emergent typology could prove relevant to other public sector organizations and service organisations more generally. The research also presents a first step to understanding Lean thinking in the English NHS. This article empirically analyses Lean implementation in English hospitals. It identifies divergent approaches that allow inferences about how far Lean is implemented in an organisation. Data represent a baseline for further analysis so that Lean implementation can be tracked.
mTOR inhibitors: An overview

Inhibitors of the mammalian target of rapamycin are a new class of immunosuppressants. In contrast to other macrolides, such as tacrolimus and cyclosporine A, they do not inhibit calcineurin and thus signal I of T‐cell activation. By inhibiting signal III, the mechanism of action and side effects of sirolimus (rapamycin) and its derivative RAD are distinct from other immunosuppressants. Reports of synergism with cyclosporine A and tacrolimus in preclinical and clinical studies, avoidance of nephrotoxicity, and possible treatment or prevention of chronic allograft rejection are leading to high expectations for this new class of immunosuppressants. Furthermore, studies evaluating tolerance induction are being conducted. This review summarizes preclinical and clinical results published to date and exploits the future value of sirolimus and RAD for clinical transplantation.