Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Institutional Analysis of Malignancy Rate in Bethesda III and IV Nodules of the Thyroid

Background: Bethesda III and IV nodules constitute a problematic entity, with previous reports demonstrating a large variability in their malignancy rate between different institutions and regions. Methods: A retrospective analysis recognized patients who underwent thyroidectomy due to Bethesda III and IV nodule between 2011 and 2016. The primary outcome was to identify the malignancy rate in these nodules. A secondary outcome was to recognize predictors of malignancy in these patients. Results: During the study period 176 thyroidectomies were performed due to Bethesda III/IV lesions. This group had a mean age of 47.1 years ± 14.6 years and 73.9% were females. They had a mean of 1.6 ± 1.0 nodules per patient and a mean size 30.6 mm ± 16.6 mm. Total thyroidectomy was performed in 48.3%, and lobectomy in 51.7%. Malignancy was identified in 109 patients (61.9%) on final pathology, leading to the performance of completion thyroidectomy in 47/91 (51.6%) of the patients who first underwent lobectomy. Patients with benign and malignant pathologic results had similar mean age, gender distribution, number and size of nodules. Significantly more patients with malignancy were found to have positive family history of thyroid cancer when compared to patients with benign nodules (7.3 vs. 0%, respectively, p=0.02). Conclusion: This study emphasizes the vast inter-institutional and regional variability in malignancy rate in Bethesda III/IV nodules, a finding which can guide an informed dialogue with patients and endocrinologists, and assist in determining appropriate management. The presence of positive family history of thyroid carcinoma may justify a more aggressive approach to these patients.
Impact of Retrograde Condensation on Production in the Ohio Utica Point Pleasant

Validating the Representativeness of Test Samples for Performance Prediction of Face Recognition Jason Hooks One of the reasons testing biometric systems is difficult lays in the fact that the test sample available during technology evaluation may not be sufficiently similar to the usage profile that the system will encounter in operations. As the result, performance expectations derived from testing prior to system deployment may not match actual performance after the deployment. A specific instance of this problem occurs when the data from the field in which biometric system will be deployed is sequestered. In this study, we simulated the stated scenario using two datasets, originally claimed to be similar and adequate for performance prediction; dataset A, assembled by RAND Corporation and the “sequestered” dataset B, collected in a multi-year project at West Virginia University, sponsored by the FBI. Our objective was to select biometric samples from A that yield match scores that best represent the performance of B, thus enabling accurate prediction. We developed two groups of approaches. In the first, we select biometric samples from data set A randomly. The subset of samples with overall match score distributions most similar to data set B then represent the best test sample. We use the Probability Mass Function to make distributions based on percentage of score vectors. Kullback-Leibler Divergence, a statistical method, measures the similarity of Probability Mass Functions. The second group of approaches adds carefully chosen weights to match scores. The samples are added into a sorted list by weight, and a number of them are picked to make a test sub set most similar. ROC curve is used to measure how well test performance over subsets of data set A compare to data set B. Weighted selection approaches allow us to construct test data sets that successfully predict match performance of the sequestered biometric data set.
The Information Bottleneck Method : Fundamental Idea and Algorithmic Implementations

The quantized representation of signals is a general task of data processing. For lossy data compression the celebrated Rate-Distortion theory provides the compression rate in order to quantize a signal without exceeding a given distortion measure. Recently, with the Information Bottleneck method an alternative approach has been emerged in the field of machine learning and has been successfully applied for data processing. The fundamental idea is to include the original source into the problem setup when quantizing an observation variable and to use strictly information theoretic measures to design the quantizer. This paper introduces this framework and discusses algorithmic implementations for the quantizer design. I. EXTENDED ABSTRACT A fundamental task in data processing is the quantized representation of noisy observations of an original source signal. Fig. 1 shows the considered system model consisting of a data source, a transmission channel and a quantizer. data source quantizer channel y ∈ Y z ∈ Z x ∈ X
1 Exogenously Applied H 2 O 2 Promotes Proline Accumulation , Water Relations , Photosynthetic Efficiency and Growth of Wheat ( Triticum aestivum L . ) Under Salt Stress

Aim: To determine the role of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in the alleviation of salt stress in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Design of the Study: Wheat plants were grown with or without 100 mM NaCl and were treated with 0, 50 or 100 nM H2O2 treatments. Place and Duration of Study: The experimental work was carried out in the naturally illuminated green house at the Department of Botany, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India between November to December, 2012. Methodology: Plants were sampled at 30 days after seed sowing to determine physiological, biochemical and growth parameters. Results: Treatment of plants with H2O2 significantly influenced the parameters both under non saline and salt stress. The application of both 50 and 100 nM H2O2 reduced the severity of salt stress through the reduction in Na and Cl content; and the increase in proline content and N assimilation. This resulted in increased water relations, photosynthetic pigments and growth under salt stress. However, maximum alleviation of salt stress was noted with 100 nM H2O2 and 50 nM H2O2 proved less effective. Under non saline condition also application of H2O2 increased all the studied parameters. 2 Conclusion: The treatment of 100 nM H2O2 maximally benefitted the wheat plants under non saline condition and alleviated the effects of salt stress. The treatment of H2O2 increased proline content which might help increased photosynthetic pigments and growth under salt stress. The mechanism of proline metabolism by which H2O2 treatment may protect against salt stress will be investigated further.
Determining Sleep Quality and its Associated Factors in Patients with Lower Limb Amputation

Objective: This study aims to evaluate sleep quality in male patients with lower limb amputation (LLA) and to identify factors that may contribute to sleep disturbance. Material and Methods: This study includes a total of 35 patients with LLA and 35 healthy controls. The demographic data of the patients were recorded, the level of amputation-related pain of the patients was assessed by visual analogue scale, and sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Furthermore, the emotional state of the patients was assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). Results: The patients had significantly higher scores in the subscores, excluding sleep duration, and total scores of PSQI in comparison with the controls. The BAI (p<0.01) and BDI scores (p<0.05) were correlated with PSQI total score in the patients. The multivariate regression analyses indicated that the anxiety state and age were the most significant factors to predict the sleep quality (p<0.05). Conclusion: Our study has revealed that there is impairment in the sleep quality of the patients with LLA compared with that of controls and that age and emotional state are related to the sleep quality. Therefore, in the elderly and in those patients with impaired emotional state, multifaceted treatment approaches are required to resolve sleep disorders. However, there is a requirement for further studies that are to be conducted with larger series of patients demonstrating the reasons for sleep impairment and its effects on the general health.
MICROSTRIP COUPLED LINE FILTER DESIGN FOR ULTRA WIDEBAND APPLICATIONS

A compact microstrip parallel coupled line filter for ultra wide band applications by means of combining a network of coupled line and defected ground is proposed. The design equations for three and five interconnected networks are derived and implemented. Simulations for three different configurations for filters are optimized. Then three prototype circuits are constructed, a bandpass filter with center frequency 2.25 GHz and two different bandpass filters (in terms of perturbations) with center frequencies 2.33GHz. For 2.25 GHz circuit wide fractional bandwidth of about 90% is obtained but undesired high return loss existed. For 2.33GHz circuit with grooves in sides fractional bandwidth of about 60% is obtained at about 3.4 GHz center frequency. However undesired return loss existed for this circuit whereas good out off band performance is achieved. For 2.33GHz circuit with grooves in whole sections the center frequency got shifted to about 3.4 GHz and about 50% fractional bandwidth is obtained with very good out off band performance observed.
Netcentric Semantic Linking : An Approach for Enterprise Semantic Interoperability Revision 1 October 2004

As threats around around the world become ever more complex, the DoD must seek ways to minimize the lag time required for synthesizing information and providing the resultant intelligence to the Warfighter. Key to this goal is providing a Command and Control (C2) machine to machine (M2M) environment where rapid and flexible exchange of information with new, and often unanticipated, trading partners is possible. To enable M2M semantic interoperability in dynamic environments, semantics must be expressed in a manner precise enough for humans and machines to understand them. This entails capturing data and application semantics using a standard language and making implied semantics explicit. Extending the Web to give Web-based information well-defined meaning in a standard way is the vision of the Semantic Web. Key to the vision of the Semantic Web is the ability to capture semantics in ontologies across multiple domains and link these ontologies to interconnect related concepts. One approach for facilitating system interoperability and data integration in a network centric environment is to harness the power of linked ontologies to promote semantic interoperability across the enterprise. Therefore, our purpose was to explore Network Centric Semantic Linking as a potential solution for integration across the U.S. Military C2 Enterprise. Our one staff-year research effort accomplished three goals. First, we investigated approaches for semantically linking ontologies across military domains using the proposed international standard Web Ontology Language (OWL). Second, we formed opinions on the applicability of semantic linking to the military domain by using this technology to develop a semantic linking test case that addressed an existing mission problem. Finally, we assessed the value of using standard upper ontologies in a military environment. This paper presents the results of our research and gives details on the mission test case we implemented.
SELECTION CONTROVERSIES IN AND OUT OF EQUILIBRIUM SHORT VERSION PUBLISHED AS: ‘BETTER LIVING THROUGH PHYSICS’. NATURE 467. P661 (2010)

The relationship between selection, costly behaviors and population structure –to include kinship and groups– has been a central debate in evolutionary theory for the last forty years. This is often defined in terms of those conditions favoring the emergence of altruism. There remains substantial uncertainty about the mathematical relationship of models supporting altruism based on kinship (inclusive fitness), group selection and individual selection to one another, and the extent to which these selection structures are truly alternatives, or are instead, members of a statistical family all of which can be derived from more fundamental equations of evolutionary dynamics. The most recent insight into the consequences of selection in structured populations comes from Nowak et al. (Nowak, Tarnita, Wilson, 2010). Nowak and colleagues show that there are a large number of mathematically related statistical frameworks that can account for the persistence of altruistic traits (traits that cause donor fitness to decrease and recipient fitness to increase) in equilibrium systems, and that Hamilton’s popular kin selection theory, sits in this space along with several alternative expressions (Nowak et al. 2010, SI; see also Nowak, 2006; Lehmann, Keller, West, Roze, 2007; Traulsen, 2010). Nowak et al’s paper has drawn fire because it suggests that inclusive fitness theory makes rather strong assumptions, including weak selection, employs rather unnatural methods of accounting, and that the conditions supporting kin selection solutions are stringent and likely to be rare in nature. Although there will be countless arguments about this paper largely focused on its rhetoric the essential insight, as we see it, is not that kin selection completely fails as an explanation for eusociality. It is that that much of multilevel selection theory has been based on equilibrium solutions operating on posited, aggregate variables. This has generated some cumbersome calculation frameworks that are in need of updating. In Hamilton’s theory, for example, these aggregate variables correspond to the terms benefit b, cost c and relatedness R. R in particular is problematic because it is more often than not interpreted statistically as a measure of association or correlation, rather than as a parameter describing genetic properties (Grafen, 1984). Treatments of kin and group selection have thereby been founded on statistical variables in largely non-mechanistic and non-dynamical frameworks. A key limitations is that these variables are often not provided with the same units of measurement, and the experiments required to make precise measurements, are required to span many generations of observation.
Flow Sampling for Network Intrusion Detection – An Acceptance Sampling Approach

A Network Intrusion Detection System (NIDS) detects anomalous network flows by inspecting the incoming fragments for malicious patterns and notifies to the network administrator, if any. Hundred percent inspections of all the fragments of network flows for detecting malicious fragments and thereof anomalous flows are highly prohibitive. The Acceptance Sampling for Network Intrusion Detection Method (ASNID) method inspects a randomly chosen sample of fragments from a network flow for detecting whether it is anomalous or not. It reduces the computational effort by a factor of 0 <k<1 where k is the ratio of sample size to total fragments of a network flow. This study proposes a novel flow sampling method utilizing acceptance sampling for network intrusion detection and this method further reduces the computational effort. It is proved experimentally that the Geometric Mean Accuracy Index (GMAI), the performance metric monotonically increases as percentage of anomalous network flows increases. The GMAI monotonically increases as the sample of percentage of network flows increases. The computational effort is further reduced by a factor of 0 <j<1 where j is the ratio of sample of flows to total number of network flows.
MIOCENE SHARK TEETH ASSEMBLAGES AND ANCILLARY FISH TAXA FROM BARIPADA , ORISSA : TAXONOMIC REVISION AND A GLOBAL PALAEOBIOGEOGRAPHIC OVERVIEW

New assemblages of fossil fish remains have been collected from the Miocene marine beds of Baripada, Orissa, along the river Burhabalang. Although several authors previously described various taxa from the same locality, little was known about their stratigraphic distribution. Present work includes a detailed systematic study, based on numerous specimens along with the establishment of regional stratigraphy and depositional environment. Five new species of sharks are reported here. Among them Isurus desori, Carcharhinus aff. balochenisis and Carcharhinus aff. perseus are described for the first time from the Indian subcontinent; whereas Isurus oxyrinchus and Galeocerdo cuvieri were not previously reported from Baripada. The state-of-the-art of the Miocene shark assemblages of the world has been reevaluated in the light of new data. The most diverse shark teeth assemblage has been found to be in Baripada. Diversity patterns have been studied. The species-level faunal correlation using Jaccard similarity coefficient method suggests the persistence of endemism among the major bio-provinces during the early Miocene and reasons for this have been explored.
Artificial neural network analysis of AE data during long time corrosion monitoring of a post-tensioned concrete beam

Acoustic emission (AE) technique is well suited for real-time control and detection of active defects within a structure. We used AE to monitor a post-tensioned concrete beam for about seven months, undergoing stress corrosion cracking (SCC) assisted by hydrogen embrittlement, activated by ammonium thiocyanate solution during a laboratory corrosion test. By multivariate analysis, three stages of damage mechanisms were identified: activation, propagation and rupture. An artificial neural self-organizing map (SOM) analysis was used to identify the relationship between the AE variables and to classify AE events. This methodology has in fact proved particularly powerful in identifying the evolution and extent of damage of the monitored post-tensioned concrete beam with the use of exemplified topological maps. The SOM analysis made it possible to correlate each AE stage, with unambiguous significant variables, to a specific degradation phase.
Leaf Agro Morphological Genetic Variability , Heritability Genetic Advance , Genetic Advance as Percent Mean of Ethiopian Mustard ( Brasica Carinata A . Braun ) Landraces

The genus Brassica of Brassicaceae family as a whole is believed to have originated around the Mediterranean, Eastern Afghanistan and the adjoing portion of Pakistan and North-Eastern Africa (Hemigway, 1976). The genus includes six economically important species, namely, Brassica rapa, B. oleracea, B. nigra, B. juncea, B. napus, and B. carinata (Doweny and Röbbelen, 1989). Ethiopian mustard is believed to be originated in the highlands of the Ethiopian plateau and the adjoining portion of East Africa and the Mediterranean coast (Gomez-Campo and Prakash, 1999). It evolved as a natural cross between B. nigra (BB) (n=8) and B. oleracea (CC) (n=9) and underwent further chromosomal doubling (2n=34; UN, 1935). It is partially amphidiploid.
EFFICIENT CLUSTER TENDENCY METHODS FOR DISCOVERING THE NUMBER OF CLUSTERS

The process of clustering is denoted as data grouping analysis that have a set of data objects and they can be defined as distinguished groups or subsets according to the similarity features; assessment of number of clusters is a key issue in data clustering problem. The popular k-means may also suffer from the issue of initial number of clusters ‘k’; thus, it is noted that k-means may outputs the poor clustering results if user attempts incorrect ‘k’ value. Determining the number of clusters for given set of data objects are called as cluster tendency. In k-means, assessing the ‘k’ value is cluster tendency for given data. This paper is majorly focused on how to perform effective assessment of cluster tendency for reallife datasets. Visual access tendency (VAT) is an optimal choice for assessment of clusters or cluster tendency. It finds the dissimilarity features using Euclidean metric and uses this matrix for determining the value of cluster tendency. Cosine metric is also most successful measure; however it computes the similarity between data objects using a single reference point. The proposed work uses multi view-points for measuring the accurate similarity matrix between data objects, and it is known as multi view-point based cosine similarity measure (MVS). The proposed MVS-VAT is experimented on various datasets for demonstrating better assessment of cluster results when compared to VAT and other related versions of VAT.
Passive Wireless Measurement System Based on Wireless Power Transfer Technology

This paper presents a passive wireless measurement system based on wireless power transfer (WPT) technology. It does not require separate information and power transmission circuits. The data receiver only needs to send a short signal to the data collector through WPT, and then the information of the measured environment can be obtained by analyzing the feedback signal from the data collector. Three concepts are included in this system, namely (1) the constant oscillation period of oscillation attenuation waveforms; (2) the characteristics of inductive coupling WPT; and (3) the relationship between sensitive resistances and environmental parameters. It is very suitable for measuring the parameters in an internal or closed space. The data collector is small in size and simple in structure, and no power is needed. It has stable performance after implantation and can be used permanently. Results obtained from simulations and experiments are included. They verify the measurement process and measurement results meet the requirements of passive wireless measurement, and the measurement error is less than 1.5%.
A Test of the Bicolored Fruit Display Hypothesis : Berry Removal with Artificial Fruit Flags Author ( s ) :

A Test of the Bicolored Fruit Display Hypothesis: Berry Removal with Artificial Fruit Flags Author(s): Jennifer M. Cramer, Maria L. Cloud, Nathan C. Muchhala, Anastasia E. Ware, Brent H. Smith, G. Bruce Williamson Source: Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society, Vol. 130, No. 1, (Jan. Mar., 2003), pp. 30-33 Published by: Torrey Botanical Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor. org/stable/3557523 Accessed: 17/05/2008 13:37