Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Aerosol Bolus Dispersion and Aerosol-Derived Airway Morphometry: Assessment of Lung Pathology and Response to Therapy, Part 2

ABSTRACT This review discusses the potential utility of two methods using inhaled aerosol to detect and diagnose lung disease. Part 1, published earlier,(1) focused upon aerosol bolus dispersion, which measures convective gas mixing. Here, Part 2 focuses upon aerosol-derived airway morphometry (ADAM), which assesses the diameters of airways and acini. This method is discussed in terms of its validity, ability to detect known interventions and diseases, and reproducibility (administering and performing this procedure were already discussed(1). With ADAM, airway and acinar diameters are expressed in terms of the effective airway diameter (EAD), which can be measured as a function of volumetric depth in the lungs. Evidence that ADAM is valid is provided by studies showing EAD agrees well with morphometric indices of airway and acinar size, especially once the distribution of aerosol is accounted for, and changes appropriately in response to known interventions and several diseases. Of particular note is the .
A Novel Spatio-Temporal Attributes Index Based Query for Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are envisioned to consist of hundreds to thousands of wireless sensor nodes. The operator doesn't interest in the data sensed by a specific sensor node generally, on the contrary, he pays more attention to the data gathered from a specific area in granted time. One crucial problem is how to process the great deal of data and respond to the query request. We propose a novel query processing based data attributes, called Spatio-Temporal Attributes R-tree based Query (STARQ). Consider the similarity of data collected by a sensor node and its neighboring nodes, partial clustering algorithm is used to form a storage cluster. Partial clustering algorithm is implemented in two phases. First phase is the beginning of partial clustering, in which an object occurs. In second phase, a certain node (e.g., resumes from failure) senses an existed object. The method provided in this paper aims to obtain the neighboring nodes firstly, and judges whether existing a storage cluster that conforms to metadata of the sensor node or not. If the relevant storage cluster does not exist, first phase works, otherwise second phase. If failed in first phase, partial clustering algorithm is called again after a random time. If there are more than one relevant storage cluster in second phase, exercises a sort algorithm which is in descending order according to the storage node's capability weight, and tries to join a storage cluster in turn. R-tree [1] is an approximately balanced search tree that is widely used to handle spatial data in traditional database systems. Motivated by the unique characteristic of R-tree, a Saptio-Temporal Attributes R-tree (STAR) is built on the top of storage clusters. Objects in STAR are not restricted to the geographical rectangles and could be any abstract ranges of arbitrary attributes. A top-down approach that achieves energy efficiency is adopted to locate the corresponding storage nodes, which transmit the relevant data back to the operator. We compare STARQ with Directed Diffusion [2] and GHT [3] in NS-2. To measure the performance of these protocols, we consider two metrics: interval of query and the size of network. The simulation results show that STARQ has better performance with different query intervals and network size.
Information Technology and Surveillance

The PATRIOT Act of 2001 has introduced significant legislative changes affecting how public managers collect, disseminate, and evaluate information for decision making. The article describes the theoretical underpinnings of information gathering and decision making and argues that more information gathering and subsequent use of sophisticated information gathering tools serves as an important myth promoting greater legitimacy and confidence in the government’s ability to provide security to the citizens. The article suggests that the rational choice approach to security is limited in its ability to evaluate values that are embedded into the decision-making processes. However, being cognizant of the nonrational rulings placed on technology-based policy initiatives, public managers can be guided toward “responsible values” to avoid the dark path of control, surveillance, and the loss of freedom.
STUDY ON ANALYSIS OF SIGNIFICANCE OF SYMPTOM-TREATMENT METHOD COMBINATION

Treatment method refers to a principle or method for treating diseases in Traditional Korean Medicine(TKM). As doctors determine the ideal treatment for a patient’s disease or symptom, they are also able to prescribe effective treatment means for the diseases or symptom such as medicinal materials, prescription, acupuncture and moxibustion. Therefore, if significant symptom-treatment method combinations are found from literature or database, proper treatment means for the patient’s diseases or symptom may be presented to TKM doctors and enhanced treatment accuracy and efficiency can be expected. This study aims to analyze the relation between symptom and treatment method by interpreting hypotheses through null hypotheses to find significant symptom-treatment method combinations. This combinations suggested in this study will be compared with TKM experts analysis result to find an objective analysis method and eventually apply the method to medical big data, e.g., a huge amount of literature or treatment records. AMS Mathematics Subject Classification : 92C50, 92C99
Carfilzomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone for relapsed multiple myeloma.

BACKGROUND Lenalidomide plus dexamethasone is a reference treatment for relapsed multiple myeloma. The combination of the proteasome inhibitor carfilzomib with lenalidomide and dexamethasone has shown efficacy in a phase 1 and 2 study in relapsed multiple myeloma. METHODS We randomly assigned 792 patients with relapsed multiple myeloma to carfilzomib with lenalidomide and dexamethasone (carfilzomib group) or lenalidomide and dexamethasone alone (control group). The primary end point was progression-free survival. RESULTS Progression-free survival was significantly improved with carfilzomib (median, 26.3 months, vs. 17.6 months in the control group; hazard ratio for progression or death, 0.69; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.57 to 0.83; P=0.0001). The median overall survival was not reached in either group at the interim analysis. The Kaplan-Meier 24-month overall survival rates were 73.3% and 65.0% in the carfilzomib and control groups, respectively (hazard ratio for death, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.63 to 0.99; P=0.04). The rates of overall response (partial response or better) were 87.1% and 66.7% in the carfilzomib and control groups, respectively (P<0.001; 31.8% and 9.3% of patients in the respective groups had a complete response or better; 14.1% and 4.3% had a stringent complete response). Adverse events of grade 3 or higher were reported in 83.7% and 80.7% of patients in the carfilzomib and control groups, respectively; 15.3% and 17.7% of patients discontinued treatment owing to adverse events. Patients in the carfilzomib group reported superior health-related quality of life. CONCLUSIONS In patients with relapsed multiple myeloma, the addition of carfilzomib to lenalidomide and dexamethasone resulted in significantly improved progression-free survival at the interim analysis and had a favorable risk-benefit profile. (Funded by Onyx Pharmaceuticals; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01080391.).
Bakteriell kontaminierte Desinfektionsmittel und Gerätschaften beim Melkakt als mögliche Ursache für Mastitiden

Various instruments and utensils used during milking as well as teat dip solutions were examined for contamination with coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS). The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between contaminated fomites and udder infection in dairy cows. A total of 344 cows from ten dairy farms with the highest rate of clinical mastitis among the farms serviced by the Ambulatory Clinic of the University of Zurich were included in the study. Each farm was visited five times. All lactating cows, with the exception of those undergoing antibiotic treatment, were examined immediately before milking using the California Mastitis Test (CMT). A milk sample was collected from positive quarters. Items used to clean the udder, which included wood wool, paper towels and disinfecting towels as well as the milker's hands and the teat dip cup were swabbed for bacteriological examination. Water samples, samples of teat dip and cleaning solutions were also collected and cultured. Our results demonstrate that cleaning and disinfecting solutions have the potential to transmit udder pathogens and cause clinical mastitis. The most common CNS isolated from quarter samples were S. saprophyticus, S. sciuri and S. chromogenes, and the most common CNS isolated from utensils, cleaning and disinfecting solutions were S. fleuretii, S. vitulus, S. equorum, S. sciuri, S. haemolyticus, S. succinus and S. saprophyticus.
An Investigation of the Use of Wikis in English Language Learning

This paper presents a study exploring the efficacy of Wikis in an online language exchange program involving a purposeful sample of university students from China and the UK. The article first provides a brief overview of the use of Web 2.0 applications in language education. It then specifically addresses the potential advantages of using Wikispaces in second language acquisition, particularly in tasks designed for the purpose of collaborative learning. Research methods employed in the study included questionnaire, interview and analysis of textual input on Wikis. Participants were students from two partner universities in China and the UK, who communicated with each other in English and Chinese to discuss curriculum-based topics posted to the China-UK Wikispaces. The results demonstrate that tasks designed for Wikis offer students constructive opportunities to communicate with each other and develop their language proficiencies. The findings also indicate that the informed involvement of language tutors in selecting topics and designing tasks is instrumental in effectively facilitating and further enhancing students’ experiences of collaborative learning on Wikis.
Development of power electronics converters based on switched-capacitor circuits

A new DC-to-DC converter is proposed that uses only switched capacitors. The energy conversion is based on controlled cyclical switching between two phases. The DC gain can be fixed by choosing an appropriate steady-state value of the duty ratio. The output voltage can be kept constant over a large range of loads. The output voltage ripple was less than 5% for most of the load range interval. By avoiding the use of magnetic elements, a small-size and lightweight converter can be built. The circuit is analyzed by using the state-space averaging method. The theoretical results have been confirmed by experimental data. <<ETX>>
Experiences in Deploying Metadata Analysis Tools for Institutional Repositories

Current institutional repository software provides few tools to help metadata librarians understand and analyze their collections. In this article, we compare and contrast metadata analysis tools that were developed simultaneously, but independently, at two New Zealand institutions during a period of national investment in research repositories: the Metadata Analysis Tool (MAT) at The University of Waikato, and the Kiwi Research Information Service (KRIS) at the National Library of New Zealand. The tools have many similarities: they are convenient, online, on-demand services that harvest metadata using OAI-PMH; they were developed in response to feedback from repository administrators; and they both help pinpoint specific metadata errors as well as generating summary statistics. They also have significant differences: one is a dedicated tool wheres the other is part of a wider access tool; one gives a holistic view of the metadata whereas the other looks for specific problems; one seeks patterns in the data values whereas the other checks that those values conform to metadata standards. Both tools work in a complementary manner to existing Web-based administration tools. We have observed that discovery and correction of metadata errors can be quickly achieved by switching Web browser views from the analysis tool to the repository interface, and back. We summarize the findings from both tools’ deployment into a checklist of requirements for metadata analysis tools.
Tracking Facila Expressions by using Stereoscopy Video and Back Propagation Neural Network

In this paper we propose a method to tracking facial expressions. A system with two cameras is used to capture stereoscopic video sequences. The frames are acquired and analyzed by matching two stereoscopic frames through a correlation method that performs image processing to obtain a resulting frame, and then it is processed to recognize a human face by using the Viola and Jones (VJ) method. The face is located via the Nitzberg operator and it provides the feature points of the eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth, which are introduced into a Backpropagation neural network that is capable of learning and classifying different types of facial expressions that make a person, feel such as: surprised, scared, unhappy, sad, mad and happy. Finally, the result of this process is recognition of facial expressions. Keywords: Facial expression; Backpropagation neural networks; VJ method; Nitzberg algorithm. DOI: 10.3126/kuset.v6i1. 3303 Kathmandu University Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology Vol.6(1) 2010, pp11-24
The Efficacy of Orthographic Rime, Grapheme–Phoneme Correspondence, and Implicit Phonics Approaches to Teaching Decoding Skills

This study compared the efficacy of two decoding skill-based programs, one based on explicit orthographic rime and one on grapheme–phoneme correspondences, to a control group exposed to an implicit phonics program. Children in both explicit decoding programs performed consistently better than the control group in the accuracy with which they read and spelled words covered in the program. Only children in the grapheme–phoneme correspondence program consistently spelled transfer words better than children in the control group. In addition, children in the grapheme–phoneme correspondence group consistently read words more quickly than children in the control group. Children in both explicit decoding programs scored higher than the children in the control group on measures of reading comprehension and oral reading at posttest.
Optimal Co-Design of Control Algorithm and Bandwidth Scheduling for Networked Control Systems

The performance of Networked Control System (NCS) is not only determined by controller, but also by network QoS. In this paper, aiming at the bandwidth scheduling problem of multiple closed loop control system, an approximate linear function of continuous system performance with delay and sample period is proposed firstly, and then the optimal scheduling algorithm under both non-preemptive rate monotonic (NPRM) schedulability constraint and NCS stability constraint is proposed which is to optimize the overall performance of NCS. Moreover, an algorithm of sample periods harmonization is presented to improve the bandwidth utilization. A reservation-based schedule of non-period data is also taken into account. Finally, an integrated simulation platform based on Truetime is present, and the experimental results show that the scheme is more effective than the former ones.
Accuracy and Feasibility of Measuring Characteristics of Single Kernels Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy 1

Single-kernel near-infrared spectroscopy has been used to measure many grain attributes such as protein, oil, internal insects, transgenic traits, and fungal damage. Analysis of single kernels instead of bulk samples has the advantage of detecting attributes that may only be present in a few kernels in a sample. It can also give the distribution of measured attributes. This paper reviews manual and automated, reflectance and transmittance, and low-speed and high-speed single-kernel NIRS analysis and sorting systems. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is commonly used for measuring characteristics of biological materials. Advantages that make this technology a viable alternative to many analytical techniques include little or no sample preparation, measurements in <1s, and spectrometers that cost less than $2000. Williams and Norris (2001) reviewed the physics of NIRS and summarized the use of this technology for measuring constituents such as protein and moisture since its earliest applications about 30 years ago. The technology has progressed to include predictions of functionality parameters such as protein composition, biochemical properties, dough-handling properties, and bread quality (Delwiche and Weaver 1994; Delwiche et al 1998). Until the mid-1990’s, predictions were made only from ground or whole-grain bulk samples. Ground sample predictions have the advantage of lower experimental error than whole-grain analysis partly because of less influence of particle size on NIR absorption, and constituents are more uniformly mixed throughout the sample. Disadvantages of analyzing ground samples include sample presentation errors caused by packing variability, and the sample is destroyed. Whole-grain analysis advantages include reducing analysis time since little sample preparation is needed, and the kernels are preserved for other analyses. However, analysis of bulk samples may not detect grain attributes such as fungal or insect damage that are not present in all, or most, kernels. Also, bulk-sample analysis does not indicate if an attribute, such as protein, follows a normal, binomial, or skewed distribution in a sample. Information about the distribution of attributes within a sample can indicate if a lot has been mixed with extreme ranges of attributes in order to arrive at an average value. To address some of the limitations of bulk-sample analysis, NIRS was adapted for analysis of single kernels in the mid-1990’s. Advantages of single-kernel analysis include that it can detect attributes that may only be present in a few kernels from a bulk sample, and it can provide information about distribution of attributes within a sample. In addition, specific kernels can be preserved for further analysis or used to propagate specific traits in breeding programs. This 1 Paper for presentation at the ICC Conference 2002 “ Novel Raw Materials, Technologies, and Products –
Image classification by classifier combining technique

A classification method has been proposed to recognize images of multiple classes based on algebraic feature extraction and classifier combining techniques. First, an image algebraic feature extraction method is applied to all pairs of classes to extract the image features. Then, a nearest neighbor classifier with a small number of prototypes is designed for each pair of classes based on the algebraic features of training samples. Finally, a neural network technique is used to combine the measurement values of paired classes. Experiments on the U.S. zip code data base show that the method is effective.
De la Web social al Móvil 2.0: el paradigma 2.0 en el proceso de convergencia mediática de la comunicación móvil

Due to their increasing connectivity and processing power, mobile devices are engaged in a process of mediatization that involves, on one side, conventional media related paradigms (standardized contents, pay per access, individualized passive consumption) and, on the other side, the Social Web related 2.0 paradigm (personalized and user generated content, third party open environments, collaborative work, prevalence of ‘sharing’ logics, etc.). This paper poses a general framework of those factors that enable the relevance of the Web 2.0 paradigm in the current development of market and data consumption in mobile devices, including some conceptual outline that may prove useful in future research of the evolution of mobile content production, business and consumption models.
A Practical Guide to Needs Assessment

List of Figures vi List of Needs Assessment Toolkit Forms ix Preface xi Acknowledgments xiv Introduction 1 PART ONE: FUNDAMENTALS OF NEEDS ASSESSMENT ONE Overview of Needs Assessment 15 TWO Ideas and Models Th at Guide Practice 35 THREE Strategies for Collecting and Analyzing Data 51 PART TWO: GETTING DOWN TO BRASS TACKS FOUR Knowledge and Skills Assessment 89 FIVE Job and Task Analysis 117 SIX Competency-Based Needs Assessment 145 SEVEN Strategic Needs Assessment 173 EIGHT Complex Needs Assessment 205 PART THREE: MANAGING A NEEDS ASSESSMENT NINE Writing Proposals and Reports 231 TEN Dealing with Ethical Issues 257 ELEVEN Answers to Frequently Asked Questions 271 PART FOUR: NEEDS ASSESSMENT TOOLKIT Toolkit Forms 291 Glossary 367 References 379 Index 393 About the Authors
Heat conduction in alloy-based superlattices

This work reports experimental studies of the thermal conductivity of alloy-based superlattices. Cross-plane thermal conductivity of a Si/Si/sub 0.71/Ge/sub 0.29/ (50 /spl Aring//10 /spl Aring/) superlattice is measured based on the 3/spl omega/ method. The measured thermal conductivity of this superlattice is 2-3 times smaller than that calculated from the Fourier heat conduction. This reduction in thermal conductivity is smaller than those observed in pure Si/Ge superlattices, possibly due to the smaller mismatch of the material properties between Si and Si/sub 0.71/Ge/sub 0.29/ as compared to between Si and Ge. To extend the 3/spl omega/ method for measuring both the cross-plane and the in-plane thermal conductivity of superlattices, a 2-wire 3/spl omega/ method is developed. Preliminary experimental results are reported for a AlAs/Al/sub 0.62/Ga/sub 0.38/As (455 /spl Aring//410 /spl Aring/) thick layer superlattice based on this method.
An investigation of multitasking on the web: key findings

Introduction. This paper presents key findings from a study exploring how multitasking information behaviour is affected by people’s working memory capacity and the flow they experience during the searching process. Method. The research is exploratory using a pragmatic, mixed method approach. 30 study participants, 10 psychologists, 10 accountants and 10 mechanical engineers, conducted Web searches on four information topics. The data collection tools used were: pre and post questionnaires, pre interviews, working memory test, the flow state scale of Jackson and Marsh (1996), audio-visual data, web search logs, think aloud data, observation, and the critical decision method. Results. The results suggested that people with high working memory, high flow and mechanical engineers generated more cognitive coordination and cognitive state shifts than people with low working memory, low flow, accountants and psychologists. The most frequent cognitive state and coordination shift for all groups was from strategy to information topic. Low working memory participants rated task complexity at the end of the procedure more highly for tasks without prior knowledge compared to tasks with prior knowledge. Participants with high flow levels experienced a greater change of knowledge for information tasks without prior knowledge compared to participants with low flow. The degree of change of knowledge for participants with high flow was higher for tasks without prior knowledge rather than for tasks with prior knowledge.