nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Residual Belief Propagation for Topic Modeling
Venue: ADMA
Year: 2012

Fast convergence speed is a desired property for training topic models such as latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) especially in online and parallel topic modeling algorithms for big data sets. In this paper, we develop a novel and easy to implement residual belief propagation (RBP) algorithm to accelerate the convergence speed for training LDA. The proposed RBP uses an informed scheduling scheme for asynchronous message passing, which passes fast convergent messages with a higher priority to influence those slow convergent messages at each learning iteration. Extensive empirical studies confirm that RBP significantly reduces the training time until convergence while achieves a much lower predictive perplexity than several state of the art training algorithms for LDA, including variational Bayes (VB) collapsed Gibbs sampling (GS) loopy belief propagation (BP) and residual VB (RVB)
Squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and oropharynx in patients aged 18 45 years: A case control study to evaluate the risk factors with emphasis on stress, diet, oral hygiene, and family history.
Venue: Indian journal of cancer
Year: 2016

Increasing incidence of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the oral cavity and oropharynx is reported in young adults. However, there is a paucity regarding etiology and risk factors.  To evaluate the exposure potential carcinogenic factors among a sample aged 45 years and younger, diagnosed with SCC of the oral cavity and oropharynx.  Eighty five case samples aged 18 45 years, diagnosed with SCC of the oral cavity and oropharynx were compared with 85 controls who had never had cancer, matched for age and sex. This study was conducted by questionnaire based interviews. Questionnaire contained items about exposure to the following risk factors: Caries prevalence, oral hygiene status, dental trauma, dental visit, stress, family history of cancer, environmental exposure to potential carcinogens, diet, body mass index (BMI) habits such as smoking, tobacco chewing, betel quid/pan, or supari. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS Odds ratios (ORs) of oral and pharyngeal cancer and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals were estimated using multiple logistic regression models. P< 0.05 was considered statistically significant.  Elevated OR was seen in young adults who had poor oral hygiene, stress, dental trauma, low BMI, family history of cancer, exposure to environmental carcinogens, and habit of placement of quid for 11 20 years.  An increased risk of oral and pharyngeal cancer was seen in cases who had poor oral hygiene, stress, dental trauma, low BMI, family history of cancer, exposure to environmental carcinogens, and habit of placement of quid.
Corporate boards and bank loan contracting Bank of Finland
Year: 2012

We investigate the role of corporate boards in bank loan contracting. We find that when corporate boards are more independent, both price and nonprice loan terms (e.g. interest rates, collateral, covenants, and performance pricing provisions) are more favorable, and syndicated loans comprise more lenders. In addition, board size, audit committee structure, and other board characteristics influence bank loan prices. However, they do not consistently affect all nonprice loan terms except for audit committee independence. Our study provides strong evidence that banks tend to recognize the benefits of board monitoring in mitigating information risk ex ante and controlling agency risk ex post, and they reward higher quality boards with more favorable loan contract terms.
DtiStudio: Resource program for diffusion tensor computation and fiber bundle tracking
Venue: Comput. Methods Programs Biomed.
Year: 2006

A versatile resource program was developed for diffusion tensor image (DTI) computation and fiber tracking. The software can read data formats from a variety of MR scanners. Tensor calculation is performed by solving an over determined linear equation system using least square fitting. Various types of map data, such as tensor elements, eigenvalues, eigenvectors, diffusion anisotropy, diffusion constants, and color coded orientations can be calculated. The results are visualized interactively in orthogonal views and in three dimensional mode. Three dimensional tract reconstruction is based on the Fiber Assignment by Continuous Tracking (FACT) algorithm and a brute force reconstruction approach. To improve the time and memory efficiency, a rapid algorithm to perform the FACT is adopted. An index matrix for the fiber data is introduced to facilitate various types of fiber bundles selection based on approaches employing multiple regions of interest (ROIs) The program is developed using C+ and OpenGL on a Windows platform.
FollowNet: Robot Navigation by Following Natural Language Directions with Deep Reinforcement Learning
Venue: ArXiv
Year: 2018

Understanding and following directions provided by humans can enable robots to navigate effectively in unknown situations. We present FollowNet, an end to end differentiable neural architecture for learning multi modal navigation policies. FollowNet maps natural language instructions as well as visual and depth inputs to locomotion primitives. FollowNet processes instructions using an attention mechanism conditioned on its visual and depth input to focus on the relevant parts of the command while performing the navigation task. Deep reinforcement learning (RL) a sparse reward learns simultaneously the state representation, the attention function, and control policies. We evaluate our agent on a dataset of complex natural language directions that guide the agent through a rich and realistic dataset of simulated homes. We show that the FollowNet agent learns to execute previously unseen instructions described with a similar vocabulary, and successfully navigates along paths not encountered during training. The agent shows 30% improvement over a baseline model without the attention mechanism, with 52% success rate at novel instructions.
Budget preparers' perceptions and performance based budgeting implementation
Venue: Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting Financial Management
Year: 2019

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the reason for the failure of implementing performance based budgeting (PBB) at Iranian public universities and research institutes (PURI) This examination focuses on the actors participating in the budget processes and their perceptions. This leads to budgetary slack as a barrier for authentic information flow and indeed PBB implementation. In the analysis of the results, the authors suggest some ways to improve the current situation of the budgeting processes at Iranian PURI.Practical implicationsPublic organizations that desire to transform their budgeting system need to consider their actors' perceptions regarding the budgeting process. By explicitly considering their perceptions the organization may be able to solve any loose coupling as a result of internal, external and behavioral conditions.valueThis research examines issues that arise in the transformation of organizational processes. The focus on budget processes is critical for organizations which receive most, if not all, of their operational funds from a central authority. This research highlights the role of budget actors' perceptions in transforming the budgeting process. An important result of this analysis is documenting the existence of loose coupling in the current budgeting process at Iranian PURI. This loose coupling results in slack creation and restricts the implementation of a PBB system. Additionally, this loose coupling limits the flow of authentic information.
A STUDY OF FACTORS EFFECTING LEARNER SATISFACTION IN MASSIVE OPEN ONLINE COURSES (MOOCS) IN THE INDIAN CONTEXT
Year: 2020

By opening up the education systems to enact new models of technology to the already existing education infrastructure, a new learning experience which is both creative and interactive for the students will absolutely help it in the long run. The usage of MOOC's both for school usage as well as for the personal use of the students will benefit the population and the nation as a whole. They have the edge in the elearning field because of their features, and them being an open source for any person interested. However, not all MOOC's seem effective, throwing a light on the learner satisfaction and the factors corresponding to it. The study focussed on identifying the factors which have an effect on the learner satisfaction in online courses (MOOC) and thus based the objective on it. This research had also kept its focus only on India and Indian respondents, and had identified factors more to this suitable geography. The learner satisfaction from MOOCs was researched on eight factors level of interaction, networking opportunities, course pedagogy, course content, course site/portal, presence of technology, assessment features, and feedback sharing mechanisms. The relationship of the different parameters or factors with the learner satisfaction was found out through an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) done using principal axis factoring varimax rotation, and eigen values were used to find out the relevancy of the extracted components. Based on the analysis, four components were extracted explaining a variance of 64.580% and were renamed based on the items which were loading into them. These components were renamed as "pedagogical content" "technological assessment" "networking feedback" "course site/portal" These were the factors which affected learner satisfaction in MOOCs.
Low Profile Planar Filtering Dipole Antenna With Omnidirectional Radiation Pattern
Venue: IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation
Year: 2018

This paper presents a low profile planar dipole antenna with omnidirectional radiation pattern and filtering response. The proposed antenna consists of a microstrip to slotline transition structure as the feeding network and a planar dipole as the radiator. Filtering response is obtained by adding nonradiative elements, including a coupled U shaped microstrip line and two I shaped slots, to the feeding network. Within the operating passband, the added nonradiative elements do not work, and thus the in band radiation performance of the dipole antenna is nearly not affected. However, at the side stopbands, the added elements resonate and prevent the signal passing through the feeding network to the dipole antenna, suppressing the out of band radiation significantly. As a result, both satisfactory filtering and radiation performances are obtained. For demonstration, an omnidirectional filtering dipole antenna is implemented. Single band bandpass filtering responses in both the reflection coefficient and realized gain are obtained. The measured in band gain is ~2.5 dBi, whereas the out of band radiation suppression is more than 15 dB.
2D Ti2C (MXene) as a novel highly efficient and selective agent for photothermal therapy.
Venue: Materials science engineering. C, Materials for biological applications
Year: 2019

Photothermal therapy (PTT) has shown significant potential for anti cancer modality. In this report, according to our best knowledge, we explore for the first time Ti2C based MXene as a novel, highly efficient and selective agent for photothermal therapy (PTT) Ti2C superficially modified with PEG was obtained from the layered, commercially available Ti2AlC MAX phase in the process of etching aluminum layers using concentrated HF, and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HREM) as well as X ray photoelectron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA XPS) The PEG coated Ti2C flakes showed a satisfactory photothermal conversion efficacy (PTCE) and good biocompatibility in wide range of the tested concentrations. Through in vitro studies, the PEG modified Ti2C demonstrated notable NIR induced ability to cancerous cells' ablation with minimal impact on non malignant cells up to the concentration of 37.5 mg mL 1. The applied doses of Ti2C_PEG in our work were even 24 times lower comparing other MXene based photothermal agents. This work is expected to expand the utility of 2D MXenes to biomedical applications through the development of entirely novel agents for photothermal therapy. This work is expected to expand the utility of 2D MXenes to biomedical applications through the development of entirely novel agents for photothermal therapy.
Secure Online Voting System Using Biometric and Blockchain
Venue: Data Management, Analytics and Innovation
Year: 2019

Elections play an important role is democracy. If the election process is not transparent, secure and tamper proof then the reliability and authenticity of whole process is at stake. In this paper, we have discussed online voting system which fulfills all the above system requirements. We have addressed the issue of user authentication through iris recognition. We have used One Time Password (OTP) to have additional security check. We have also taken care that one valid user should not cast multiple votes. Use of Blockchain is the another security measure implemented in order to provide decentralized, tamper proof storage of data related to users biometric, personal details and votes casted by them. Thus we are not only focusing on user authenticity but also data security is also taken into consideration. The performance of the system has been tested for users from different age group and different background and its inference is presented.
Atezolizumab as first line treatment in cisplatin ineligible patients with locally advanced and metastatic urothelial carcinoma: a single arm, multicentre, phase 2 trial
Venue: The Lancet
Year: 2017

First line chemotherapy for patients with cisplatin ineligible locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma is associated with short response duration, poor survival, and high toxicity. This study assessed atezolizumab (anti programmed death ligand 1 [PD L1] as treatment for metastatic urothelial cancer in cisplatin ineligible patients.  For this single arm, multicentre, phase 2 study, in 47 academic medical centres and community oncology practices in seven countries in North America and Europe, we recruited previously untreated patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who were cisplatin ineligible. Patients were given 1200 mg intravenous atezolizumab every 21 days until progression. The primary endpoint was independently confirmed objective response rate per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1 (central review) assessed in prespecified subgroups based on PD L1 expression and in all patients. All participants who received one or more doses of atezolizumab were included in the primary and safety analyses.  Between June 9, 2014, and March 30, 2015, we enrolled 123 patients, of whom 119 received one or more doses of atezolizumab. At 17*2 months' median follow up, the objective response rate was 23% (95% CI 16 to 31) the complete response rate was 9% (n=11) and 19 of 27 responses were ongoing. Median response duration was not reached. Responses occurred across all PD L1 and poor prognostic factor subgroups. Median progression free survival was 2*7 months (2*1 to 4*2) Median overall survival was 15*9 months (10*4 to not estimable) Tumour mutation load was associated with response. Treatment related adverse events that occurred in 10% or more of patients were fatigue (36 [30% patients) diarrhoea (14 [12% patients) and pruritus (13 [11% patients) One treatment related death (sepsis) occurred. Nine (8% patients had an adverse event leading to treatment discontinuation. Immune mediated events occurred in 14 (12% patients.  Atezolizumab showed encouraging durable response rates, survival, and tolerability, supporting its therapeutic use in untreated metastatic urothelial cancer. FUNDING F Hoffmann La Roche, Genentech.
Uplift modeling for clinical trial data
Year: 2012

Traditional classification methods predict the class probability distribution conditional on a set of predictor variables. Uplift modeling, in contrast, tries to predict the difference between class probabilities in the treatment group (on which some action has been taken) and the control group (not subjected to the action) such that the model predicts the net effect of the action. Such an approach seems to be well suited to analysis of clinical trial data and to allow for discovering groups of patients for which the treatment is most beneficial. One of the purposes of this paper is to verify this claim experimentally. Additionally, we present an approach to uplift modeling which allows for application of standard probabilistic classification models, such as logistic regression, in the uplift setting. Further, we extend the approach such that standard classification models built on the treatment and control datasets can be incorporated in a manner similar to semisupervised learning in order to improve prediction accuracy. The usefulness of both approaches has been verified experimentally on publicly available clinical trial data.
Teaching ESL/EFL reading and writing
Year: 2008

Selected  Table of Contents Chapter 1 Learning to read in another language 1 Learning to read in the first language Learning to read in another language Principles for teaching reading Chapter 2 Learning to recognise and spell words Prerequisites for formal reading instruction Phonics and the alphabetic principle The role of phonics in a reading programme Spelling: productive phonics Learning to spell Designing a focused spelling programme Chapter 3 Intensive reading Focuses in intensive reading Features of a good reading exercise Are comprehension questions good reading exercises? Comprehension of the text The focus of comprehension questions Grammar features in the text Cohesive devices Strategy development Standardized reading procedures Handling the exercises The role of teaching exercises Chapter 4 Extensive reading Understand the goals and limitations of extensive reading Find your learners= present vocabulary level Provide plenty of interesting and appropriate reading texts Set, encourage and monitor large quantities of extensive reading Support and supplement extensive reading with language focused learning and fluency development Help learners move systematically through the graded reader levels Simplified and unsimplified texts The extensive reading programme Chapter 5 Reading faster The nature and limits of reading speed The nature of fluency development The nature of fluency development activities Increasing oral reading speed Increasing careful silent reading speed Increasing silent expeditious reading speed Frequently asked questions about reading speed Chapter 6 Assessing reading Motivating Measuring achievement Diagnosing problems Measuring reading proficiency Issues in making and using comprehension tests Chapter 7 Helping learners write Principles for teaching writing Designing tasks Experience tasks Bringing tasks within the learners' experience Making sure learners have the experience to do a task Shared tasks Guided tasks Independent tasks Using the four kinds of tasks Chapter 8 The writing process The parts of a writing programme Meaning focused writing The parts of the writing process Considering the goals of the writer and model of the reader Gathering ideas Ideas to text Editing Reviewing Diagnosing control of the parts of the writing process Diagnosing from the written product Chapter 9 Topic types The topic type hypothesis Topic types and writing Topic types and reading Limitations of the topic type approach Chapter 10 Responding to written work Motivating Improving the quality of writing Measuring proficiency in writing Appendix 1 Spelling correspondences Appendix 2 Conjunction relationships References
Coking resistant iron catalyst in ethane dehydrogenation achieved through siliceous zeolite modulation.
Venue: Journal of the American Chemical Society
Year: 2020

Non oxidative dehydrogenation is promising for production of light olefins from shale gas, but current technology relies on pre cious Pt or toxic Cr catalysts and suffers from thermodynamically oriented coke formation. To solve these issues, the earth abundant iron catalyst is employed, where Fe species are effectively modulated by siliceous zeolite, which is realized by the syn thesis of Fe containing MFI siliceous zeolite in the presence of ethylenediaminetetraacetic sodium (FeS 1 EDTA) Catalytic tests in ethane dehydrogenation show that this catalyst has a superior coke resistance in a 200 hour run without any deactivation with extremely high activity and selectivity (e.g. 26.3% conversion and over 97.5% selectivity to ethene in at 873 K, close to the thermodynamic equilibrium limitation) Multiple characterizations demonstrate that the catalyst has uniformly and stably isolated Fe sites, which improves ethane dehydrogenation to facilitate the fast desorption of hydrogen and olefin products in the zeolite micropores, and hinders the coke formation, as also identified by density functional calculations.
Dynamics of Land Use and Land Cover in the Kafta Sheraro National Park, NW Ethiopia: Patterns, Causes and Management Implications
Year: 2019

Kafta Sheraro National Park (KSNP) is one of the most important protected areas in Ethiopia and provides a number of important ecological and hydrological benefits to the local people. However, the park is under immense pressure as a result of a rapidly increasing human population that resulted from a voluntary resettlement program launched by the government in 2003. Using satellite imageries taken in the years 2003, 2009 and 2015, this study examined patterns of changes in land use/cover throughout the park over a 12 year period (2003 to 2015) during which human population pressure is known to have increased over time and changes in government policies were taken place. The results showed that, over the period of 12 years, wood land experienced the most changeover the study period, with a loss of cover of 862.3 km 2 (i.e. from 77.8% coverage of the total park area in 2003 to 38.0% in 2015) at annual rate of 79.3 km 2 Conversely, the other land cover types showed increasing pattern, particularly, bush land and agricultural land were increasing at a rate of 44.96 and 18.90 km 2 per year, respectively. Overall, the rate of land cover change was higher during the first period (2003 to 2009) compared with the second period (2009 to 2015) for all land use and land cover types, except grass land, suggesting that human impacts were higher following the resettlement program in 2003 and then slowed down following establishment of the park in 2007. The major causes of land cover change in the area were settlement and population expansion, cultivation, fire, mining and grazing. We suggest that better effective park protection systems should be in place to mitigate and restore habitats.
Using the CIPP Model to Assess Nursing Education Program Quality and Merit
Year: 2018

Nursing programs must maintain a high quality curriculum that graduates exemplary nurses. Systematic evaluation of key components of nursing education is required. Stufflebeam's Context, Input, Process, and Product model allows for evaluation of the quality and merit of end of life care education within a nursing program. Data analysis identified missing content, program strengths, and curricular redundancies within the program. When used appropriately, Stufflebeam's model serves as a valuable guide for in depth curriculum evaluation.