Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Disorders of balance and vestibular function in US adults: data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2001-2004.

BACKGROUND Balance dysfunction can be debilitating and can lead to catastrophic outcomes such as falls. The inner ear vestibular system is an important contributor to balance control. However, to our knowledge, the prevalence of vestibular dysfunction in the United States and the magnitude of the increased risk of falling associated with vestibular dysfunction have never been estimated. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of vestibular dysfunction among US adults, evaluate differences by sociodemographic characteristics, and estimate the association between vestibular dysfunction and risk of falls. METHODS We included data from the 2001-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, which were cross-sectional surveys of US adults aged 40 years and older (n = 5086). The main outcome measure was vestibular function as measured by the modified Romberg Test of Standing Balance on Firm and Compliant Support Surfaces. RESULTS From 2001 through 2004, 35.4% of US adults aged 40 years and older (69 million Americans) had vestibular dysfunction. Odds of vestibular dysfunction increased significantly with age, were 40.3% lower in individuals with more than a high school education, and were 70.0% higher among people with diabetes mellitus. Participants with vestibular dysfunction who were clinically symptomatic (ie, reported dizziness) had a 12-fold increase in the odds of falling. CONCLUSIONS Vestibular dysfunction, as measured by a simple postural metric, is common among US adults. Vestibular dysfunction significantly increases the likelihood of falls, which are among the most morbid and costly health conditions affecting older individuals. These data suggest the importance of diagnosing, treating, and potentially screening for vestibular deficits to reduce the burden of fall-related injuries and deaths in the United States.
Foreign Direct Investment and Border Security Issues: A Multi-Country Multi-Sector Computable General Equilibrium Framework. EcoMod Conference 2011

As Canada is a very open economy characterized by an economic prosperity highly dependent on trade with the U.S., it has good reasons to have concerns with the security measures that have been implemented post-9/11 to secure the movement of goods and people. Beyond the possible impact on trade, however, an additional risk of border delays could be a shifting in the sourcing of U.S. firms away from Canadian suppliers. This risk increases with high-valued activities which depend on “just in time” processes. Consequently, border delays may distort investment decisions against Canada and its sectors that are most affected, generating sectoral and hence regional reallocation of resources. Even firms operating on a worldwide scale might be more reluctant to invest in Canada if they perceive a high likelihood of considerable delays in their supply chains. In such a case, border delays would divert foreign direct investment (FDI) away from Canada and hurt its GDP.
Dynamic Security Policy Enforcement on Android

This work deals with the concepts of Android security and proposes the system for dynamic enforcement of access rights. Each suspicious application can be repackaged by this system, so that the access to selected private data is restricted for the outer world. In the ﬁrst phase, interprocess communication and existing frameworks, which are capable to intercept communication between application and the operating system on the level of system calls, are explored. After that, the system is designed and developed, utilizing the possibilities of one of the compared frameworks – Aurasium framework. The system adds an innovative approach of tracking the information ﬂows from the privacy-sensitive sources using tainting mechanism without need of administrator rights. There has been designed ﬁle-level and data-level taint propagation and policy enforcement based on Android binder.
Safer lung biopsy techniques: fewer patients with pneumothorax, fewer chest tube insertions.

Image guided transthoracic lung biopsy is a widely accepted technique for the workup of lung lesions (1). Screening for lung cancer and the growing need for research biopsy samples will continue to increase the demand for image guided lung biopsy (2,3). Technical aspects of the procedure have evolved over the years and will continue to change. In the early days, lung biopsies were performed under fluoroscopic guidance. With the widespread use of cross sectional imaging and multidetector CTs, most centers in the US have shifted their practice to performing lung biopsies under CT guidance (4). Others have experimented with C-arm cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) to combine advantages of real-time fluoroscopic guidance with accuracy of cross sectional imaging (5-7).
Charging Up: The Role of States, Utilities, and the Auto Industry in Dramatically Accelerating Electric Vehicle Adoption in Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States

This report recommends actions and policies to increase the rate of electric vehicle (EV) adoption. It argues that a range of stakeholders must participate in these programs including government agencies, automakers, auto dealers, employers, and utilities. Each recommendation includes examples of current programs and best practices from around the U.S. Recommendations include: state-level leadership, financial and non-financial incentives, charging infrastructure, utility policies, government fleet mandates, automobile dealer programs, greenhouse gas reduction policies, public education and outreach.
Application of dual Willis covered stents in the management of large fusiform carotid aneurysms in a canine model

This study evaluates the efficacy of dual Willis covered stents for the treatment of large fusiform carotid aneurysms in a canine model. Carotid fusiform aneurysms >10 mm long were surgically created in 10 dogs and were then repaired using either single or dual covered stents. Clinical results were assessed by scheduled angiography and histological features by light and electron microscopy. Angiography immediately post-op and 6 months after surgery revealed aneurysm isolation rates of 60 and 20% for the single stent technique and 60 and 100% for the dual stent technique, respectively. The rate of complete obliteration of the aneurysm sac differed significantly between treatments (P = 0.048). The dual stent technique also resulted in greater endothelialization. For large carotid fusiform aneurysms in a canine model, endovascular repair using dual Willis covered stents is technically feasible and more effectively obliterates the aneurysm sac than the use of a single stent.
Chemotherapy‐induced structural changes in cerebral white matter and its correlation with impaired cognitive functioning in breast cancer patients

A subgroup of patients with breast cancer suffers from mild cognitive impairment after chemotherapy. To uncover the neural substrate of these mental complaints, we examined cerebral white matter (WM) integrity after chemotherapy using magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in combination with detailed cognitive assessment. Postchemotherapy breast cancer patients (n = 17) and matched healthy controls (n = 18) were recruited for DTI and neuropsychological testing, including the self‐report cognitive failure questionnaire (CFQ). Differences in DTI WM integrity parameters [fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD)] between patients and healthy controls were assessed using a voxel‐based two‐sample‐t‐test. In comparison with healthy controls, the patient group demonstrated decreased FA in frontal and temporal WM tracts and increased MD in frontal WM. These differences were also confirmed when comparing this patient group with an additional control group of nonchemotherapy‐treated breast cancer patients (n = 10). To address the heterogeneity observed in cognitive function after chemotherapy, we performed a voxel‐based correlation analysis between FA values and individual neuropsychological test scores. Significant correlations of FA with neuropsychological tests covering the domain of attention and processing/psychomotor speed were found in temporal and parietal WM tracts. Furthermore, CFQ scores correlated negatively in frontal and parietal WM. These studies show that chemotherapy seems to affect WM integrity and that parameters derived from DTI have the required sensitivity to quantify neural changes related to chemotherapy‐induced mild cognitive impairment. Hum Brain Mapp 32:480–493, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Distortion-Based Visualization for Long-Term Continuous Acoustic Monitoring

Visualizing long-term acoustic data has been an important subject in the field of equipment surveillance and equipment diagnosis. This paper proposes a distortion-based visualization method of long-term acoustic data. We applied the method to 1 hour observation data of electric discharge sound, and our method could visualize the sound data more intelligibly as compared with conventional methods.
Morphometrics and lesions of vertebral end plates are associated with lumbar disc degeneration: evidence from cadaveric spines.

BACKGROUND Prior studies have suggested that vertebral end plate morphometrics and lesions may play a role in disc degeneration. However, most prior end plate studies have been based on radiographic images, and findings of associations between end plate morphometrics (measurements of size and shape) and disc degeneration remain controversial. The present study investigated the prevalence of vertebral end plate lesions and determined end plate morphometrics through direct measurements of cadaveric spines, and it examined the association of these factors with disc degeneration. METHODS We studied 600 vertebral end plates and 313 intervertebral discs from the cadaveric lumbosacral spines of seventy-six men (mean age, fifty-one years). Discography was performed to evaluate disc degeneration as indicated by disruption of the anulus fibrosus. The shape of the vertebral end plate and the presence of any lesions were visually evaluated. Lesions were rated as absent, small to moderate, or large. In addition, each end plate was digitized to quantify its area, circularity, and concavity. The association of end plate morphometrics and lesions with disc degeneration was examined. RESULTS Vertebral end plate lesions were found in 72% (fifty-five) of the seventy-six lumbar spines and in 32.8% (197) of the 600 end plates. The presence of end plate lesions was associated with disc degeneration, with larger lesions being associated with more severe disc degeneration (odds ratio, 2.31 for small to moderate lesions [p < 0.01] and 3.54 for large lesions [p < 0.001]). Greater end plate area was also associated with more severe disc degeneration (odds ratio, 1.2 per cm2 [p < 0.05]). CONCLUSIONS Vertebral end plate lesions were common and were associated with adjacent disc degeneration, with greater lesion size being associated with more severe disc degeneration. End plate morphometrics, particularly greater end plate size, may also play a role in the pathogenesis of disc degeneration.
A Model of [ ]-Cell Mass, Insulin, Glucose, and Receptor Dynamics with Applications to Diabetes

Approximately 15.7 million people in the United States suffer from diabetes mellitus, of which about 90% are classified as type II [13]. Most cases of type II diabetes mellitus are characterized by high blood glucose levels resulting from chronic insulin resistance, [30], which then leads to significant β-cell mass reduction from “β-cell exhaustion” and/or “glucose toxicity” [1]. Existing mathematical models of β-cell mass, insulin, and glucose kinetics contribute to the study of the disease by qualitatively and quantitatively describing different pathways to diabetes. Successful models of a complex system are often malleable, in that they can be extended to include further components, and consequently be a more complete representation of the system. Insulin receptor dynamics have not been previously considered in modeling the glucoregulatory system, yet are important in the pathogenesis of the disease as chronic insulin resistance is associated with the down-regulation of these receptors at the surface of muscle cells. We incorporate the dynamics of insulin receptors into an existing mathematical model, resulting in a four dimensional system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. Through analytical calculations and numerical simulations we conclude that coupling receptor dynamics is valuable in that our system extends previous models to include a fourth
The role of drinking in suicidal ideation: analyses of Project MATCH data.

OBJECTIVE The associations of suicidal ideation with both the intensity (drinks per drinking day) and frequency of alcohol consumption were examined in a longitudinal study of treated alcoholics. METHOD The data are from alcohol dependent subjects (1,187 men and 374 women) enrolled in Project MATCH, a multisite clinical trial of psychosocial treatments of alcoholism. Multivariate analyses for correlated data using generalized estimating equation approaches were performed to examine correlates of suicidal ideation at study entry and at 3-, 9- and 15-month follow-up. Analyses were stratified by gender and controlled statistically for depression and alcoholism severity. RESULTS Suicidal ideation was common among women (15.5%) and men (9.9%) entering treatment, and at least 3.6% of women and 4.2% of men reported suicidal ideation at each follow-up. There were gender patterns in suicidal ideation. In women, intensity was associated with suicidal ideation, but even nonintense drinking became associated with suicidal ideation with more frequent drinking (intensity-frequency interaction). In men, intensity was also associated with suicidal ideation, whereas frequency was unrelated. Antisocial personality disorder in men but not in women, and depression in both groups, were also linked to suicidal ideation. CONCLUSIONS Suicidal ideation is prevalent among treated alcoholics. Drinking is strongly associated with suicidal ideation and in women even light drinking, if it occurs regularly, is associated with suicidal ideation, with implications for suicide risk-recognition and intervention.
Variant of TREM 2 Associated with the Risk of Alzheimer ’ s Disease

Thorlakur Jonsson, Ph.D., Hreinn Stefansson, Ph.D., Stacy Steinberg Ph.D., Ingileif Jonsdottir, Ph.D., Palmi V. Jonsson, M.D., Jon Snaedal, M.D., Sigurbjorn Bjornsson, M.D., Johanna Huttenlocher, B.S., Allan I. Levey, M.D., Ph.D., James J. Lah, M.D., Ph.D., Dan Rujescu, M.D., Harald Hampel, M.D., Ina Giegling, Ph.D., Ole A. Andreassen, M.D., Ph.D., Knut Engedal, M.D., Ph.D., Ingun Ulstein, M.D., Ph.D., Srdjan Djurovic, Ph.D., Carla Ibrahim-Verbaas, M.D., Albert Hofman, M.D., Ph.D., M. Arfan Ikram, M.D., Ph.D., Cornelia M van Duijn, Ph.D., Unnur Thorsteinsdottir, Ph.D., Augustine Kong, Ph.D., and Kari Stefansson, M.D., Ph.D.
Optimal capacitor placement in distribution system using genetic algorithm

The placement of shunt capacitor banks at optimal locations in the distribution network and their sizing can effectively reduce the losses in the utility network. It also helps in the maximum active power flow through the existing distribution lines which. This also increases the power transfer capacity of feeders and improves the voltage profile of the feeders which leads to reduced investment of transmission network. This paper presents a method for optimal placement and sizing of the capacitors in radial distribution feeder using Genetic algorithm (GA) with an objective of loss reduction and voltage profile improvement. The results have been validated using MATLAB programming. An IEEE 33-bus distribution test feeder is employed for testing the proposed algorithm. The optimal sizing of the capacitors has been suggested in terms of the kVAr.
Improving Ray Tracing Anti-aliasing Performance through Image Gradient Analysis

Ray tracing is the primary technique used for imaging based on the simulation of physical phenomena. The core problem is in the need of high computing power. Since the 1960s, research has been conducted to improve the efficiency of algorithms and the development of parallel systems has promoted their implementation. Migration to many-core architectures and in particular the development of GPUs make realtime applications possible. This work aims at improving the performance of ray tracing with support for anti-aliasing using image processing techniques implemented in GPU. The results show considerable gains with the use of the proposed approach.
Towards Automatic Construction of Skyline Composite Services

Due to the rapid increase of available web services over the Internet, service-oriented architecture has been regarded as one of the most promising web technologies. Moreover, enterprises are able to employ outsourcing software to build and publish their business applications as services, the latter can be accessible via the Web by other people or organizations. While there are a large number of web services available, often no single web service can satisfy a concrete user request, so one has to "compose" multiple basic services to fulfill a complex requirement. Web service composition enables dynamic and seamless integration of business applications on the Web. The traditional composition methods select the "best" composite service through defining a simple weight-additive method based on a utility function. But a service has multiple dimensions of nonfunctional properties, so how to assign weight for each QoS dimension is a non-trivial issue. In this article, we propose algorithms to compose skyline or top-k composite services for a given user request automatically. Experimental results show that our approach can find all skyline or a set of top-k composite services effectively and efficiently.
LERC: Coordinated Cache Management for Data-Parallel Systems

Memory caches are being aggressively used in today's data- parallel frameworks such as Spark, Tez and Storm. By caching input and intermediate data in memory, compute tasks can witness speedup by orders of magnitude. To maximize the chance of in-memory data access, existing cache algorithms, be it recency- or frequency-based, settle on cache hit ratio as the optimization objective. However, unlike the conventional belief, we show in this paper that simply pursuing a higher cache hit ratio of individual data blocks does not necessarily translate into faster task completion in data-parallel environments. A data-parallel task typically depends on multiple input data blocks. Unless all of these blocks are cached in memory, no speedup will result. To capture this all-or-nothing property, we propose a more relevant metric, called effective cache hit ratio. Specifically, a cache hit of a data block is said to be effective if it can speed up a compute task. In order to optimize the effective cache hit ratio, we propose the Least Effective Reference Count (LERC) policy that persists the dependent blocks of a compute task as a whole in memory. We have implemented the LERC policy as a memory manager in Spark and evaluated its performance through Amazon EC2 deployment. Evaluation results demonstrate that LERC helps speed up data-parallel jobs by up to 37% compared with the widely employed least-recently-used (LRU) policy.
Total Quality Management Practices and Microfinance Institutions Performance in Yemen: The Resource Based View Theory Perspective

The total quality management (TQM) practices in most of the organizations have proven to be the key strategic approach to ensure the peak performance of the firms. In the microfinance institutional (MFIs) contexts, the contribution of TQM is undeniably importance. From a study that has been conducted in Yemen, 125 usable questionnaires were collected using a self-administered technique and analyzed from the branch managers of the MFIs operating in this country. It was done in 2014 at the early stage of the political crisis in the country where most financial institutions were not functioning at the optimum level. The analysis used the partial least squares approach, evaluating the research framework, the measurement model and the structural model. The results show that TQM has a significant effect on the MFIs performance and supports the resource-based view theory, the underlying theory for the research that views the organizational resources as a source of sustainable competitive advantage. The findings provide useful insights into the practices and the contribution of the TQM to the MFIs and could be the benchmark for the practices in the middle-east countries.
Recent advances in the physiology and pharmacology of pain: plasticity and its implications for clinical analgesia

There have been considerable advances in our understanding of the transmission and modulation of nociceptive messages at both the central and peripheral endings of sensory afferent fibres. This review concentrates on the evidence for plasticity in these systems and emphasizes the recent spinal electrophysiological studies on the interplay between excitatory amino acids, opioids, noradrenaline and non-opioid peptides in these events.
Open innovation in process R&D:the activities needed for an integration of open innovation in a manufacturing firm

Disclaimer This document contains a student thesis (bachelor's or master's), as authored by a student at Eindhoven University of Technology. Student theses are made available in the TU/e repository upon obtaining the required degree. The grade received is not published on the document as presented in the repository. The required complexity or quality of research of student theses may vary by program, and the required minimum study period may vary in duration.
Efficient Pulse Compression Using Tapered Photonic Crystal Fiber at 850 nm

By using appropriate self-similar scaling analysis, we delineate the generation of linearly chirped solitary pulses in photonic crystal fiber (PCF) at 850 nm to obtain the short pulses with large compression factor and minimal pedestal energy when compared to adiabatic compression scheme. The dispersion and nonlinearity varying nonlinear Schrödinger equation aptly models the pulse propagation in such a PCF. The analytical results demand that the effective dispersion must decrease exponentially while the nonlinearity must increase exponentially in the PCF. Thus, based on the analytical results, we propose the new design of tapered PCF by varying the pitch and diameter of the air hole. We adopt the projection operator method to derive the pulse parameter equations which indeed very clearly describe the self-similar pulse compression process at different parts of the PCF structures. As we are interested in constructing compact compressor, we also introduce another designing of PCF by filling chloroform in the core region. The chloroform filled tapered PCF exhibits low dispersion length for efficient pulse compression with low input pulse energy over small propagation distances.