Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Preference Dissemination by Sharing Viewpoints

The Web currently stores two types of content. These contents include linked data from the semantic Web and user contributions from the social Web. Our aim is to represent simplified aspects of these contents within a unified topological model and to harvest the benefits of integrating both content types in order to prompt collective learning and knowledge discovery. In particular, we wish to capture the phenomenon of Serendipity (i.e., incidental learning) using a subjective knowledge representation formalism, in which several âviewpointsâ are individually interpretable from a knowledge graph. We prove our own Viewpoints approach by evidencing the collective learning capacity enabled by our approach. To that effect, we build a simulation that disseminates knowledge with linked data and user contributions, similar to the way the Web is formed. Using a behavioral model configured to represent various Web navigation strategies, we seek to optimize the distribution of preference systems. Our results outline the most appropriate strategies for incidental learning, bringing us closer to understanding and modeling the processes involved in Serendipity. An implementation of the Viewpoints formalism kernel is available. The underlying Viewpoints model allows us to abstract and generalize our current proof of concept for the indexing of any type of data set.
Dual Modulation of Endocannabinoid Transport and Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase Protects against Excitotoxicity

The endocannabinoid system has been suggested to elicit signals that defend against several disease states including excitotoxic brain damage. Besides direct activation with CB1 receptor agonists, cannabinergic signaling can be modulated through inhibition of endocannabinoid transport and fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), two mechanisms of endocannabinoid inactivation. To test whether the transporter and FAAH can be targeted pharmacologically to modulate survival/repair responses, the transport inhibitor N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-arachidonamide (AM404) and the FAAH inhibitor palmitylsulfonyl fluoride (AM374) were assessed for protection against excitotoxicity in vitro and in vivo. AM374 and AM404 both enhanced mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation in cultured hippocampal slices. Interestingly, combining the distinct inhibitors produced additive effects on CB1 signaling and associated neuroprotection. After an excitotoxic insult in the slices, infusing the AM374/AM404 combination protected against cytoskeletal damage and synaptic decline, and the protection was similar to that produced by the stable CB1 agonist AM356 (R-methanandamide). AM374/AM404 and the agonist also elicited cytoskeletal and synaptic protection in vivo when coinjected with excitotoxin into the dorsal hippocampus. Correspondingly, potentiating endocannabinoid responses with the AM374/AM404 combination prevented behavioral alterations and memory impairment that are characteristic of excitotoxic damage. The protective effects mediated by AM374/AM404 were (1) evident 7 d after insult, (2) correlated with the preservation of CB1-linked MAPK signaling, and (3) were blocked by a selective CB1 antagonist. These results indicate that dual modulation of the endocannabinoid system with AM374/AM404 elicits neuroprotection through the CB1 receptor. The transporter and FAAH are modulatory sites that may be exploited to enhance cannabinergic signaling for therapeutic purposes.
Differential diagnosis of primary cutaneous CD4+ small/medium T-cell lymphoproliferative lesions: A report of three cases

with a specific myeloma immunoglobulin type, although a more aggressive course is observed in light-chain-only subtypes [10]. Requena et al. [11] analyzed 8 cases of cutaneous plasmacytoma and revealed that malignant plasmacytes are homogeneous in their immunophenotype with strong expression of CD79a, CD138, and epithelial membrane antigen. In addition, RB1 gene deletion in skin-infiltrated plasmacytes was reported to be associated with poor prognosis [11]. A recent retrospective study of 53 cutaneous plasmacytoma cases showed no correlation between CD56 negativity or cytogenetic abnormality with skin infiltration of malignant plasma cells and that the plasmablastic morphology in the skin lesion indicated a worse overall survival [10]. In the present case, the malignant plasma cells were positive for CD138 and negative for CD56, CD19, CD20, and CD22, which correlated to the immunophenotypic characterization of malignant plasma cells. The RB1 gene deletion could not be analyzed, and no significant plasmablastic appearance of plasma cell infiltration was observed in the patient’s skin lesion. Although hemophagocytosis by neoplastic plasma cells has rarely been described in the literature, this rare condition does not appear to be associated with a specific immunophenotype, immunoglobulin or light-chain subtype, or karyotype [6]. One hypothesis is that hemophagocytic plasma cell formation may be attributed to the expansion of rare B-cell clones with innate phagocytic potential, although this proposition remains to be confirmed [5, 7]. Similar to our case, the hemophagocytic feature of plasma cells is more frequently found in female patients, and it appears to be dominant in mature erythrocytes and platelets [4, 7]. Some reports also suggest that phagocytosis by neoplastic plasma cells resulted in peripheral blood cytopenia; however, whether this complication is a direct consequence of hemophagocytosis by plasma cells remains to be determined [2, 4].
Quantifying metamorphopsia with M-CHARTS in patients with idiopathic macular hole

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine the degree of metamorphopsia using M-CHARTS™ in patients with idiopathic macular hole before and after pars plana vitrectomy and internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling. Patients and methods The records of 22 eyes of 22 patients with a full-thickness macular hole who underwent pars plana vitrectomy and ILM peeling were reviewed. All patients underwent a complete ophthalmic examination including spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT). Horizontal metamorphopsia (MH) and vertical metamorphopsia (MV) scores were determined using M-CHARTS at the same time. The time course of changes in metamorphopsia and the relationship between best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and OCT parameters were assessed. Results Sealing of the macular hole was noted in all eyes after surgery. BCVA improved significantly from 1 month after surgery (P<0.001). The MV score was significantly higher than the MH score before surgery (P<0.05) and improved significantly from 1 month after surgery (P<0.03). The MH score improved significantly at 6 months after surgery (P<0.001). The postoperative MV and MH scores became closer to one another from 1 month after surgery. Moreover, the MV score was higher than the MH score at all postoperative assessments. There was a significant correlation between the MV and MH scores at all follow-up assessments. There was no significant correlation between BCVA and the MV or MH score at any follow-up assessment. Conclusion The satisfaction of the patients with macular hole after surgery cannot be necessarily measured by BCVA alone, because M-scores were not correlated to BCVA in postoperative evaluation. Therefore, evaluation of the MV and MH scores can be an independent treatment outcome in addition to BCVA.
Modelling the onset of Type 1 diabetes: can impaired macrophage phagocytosis make the difference between health and disease?

A wave of apoptosis (programmed cell death) occurs normally in pancreatic β-cells of newborn mice. We previously showed that macrophages from non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice become activated more slowly and engulf apoptotic cells at a lower rate than macrophages from control (Balb/c) mice. It has been hypothesized that this low clearance could result in secondary necrosis, escalating inflammation and self-antigen presentation that later triggers autoimmune, Type 1 diabetes (T1D). We here investigate whether this hypothesis could offer a reasonable and parsimonious explanation for onset of T1D in NOD mice. We quantify variants of the Copenhagen model (Freiesleben De Blasio et al. 1999 Diabetes 48, 1677), based on parameters from NOD and Balb/c experimental data. We show that the original Copenhagen model fails to explain observed phenomena within a reasonable range of parameter values, predicting an unrealistic all-or-none disease occurrence for both strains. However, if we take into account that, in general, activated macrophages produce harmful cytokines only when engulfing necrotic (but not apoptotic) cells, then the revised model becomes qualitatively and quantitatively reasonable. Further, we show that known differences between NOD and Balb/c mouse macrophage kinetics are large enough to account for the fact that an apoptotic wave can trigger escalating inflammatory response in NOD, but not Balb/c mice. In Balb/c mice, macrophages clear the apoptotic wave so efficiently, that chronic inflammation is prevented.
Case Report and Review of the Literature

WEBER-CHRISTIAN disease was the name given by Brill' in 1936 to a condition first described by Pfeifer2 in Germany in 1892. Gilchrist and Ketron3 presented a second case in 1916. Weber4 described a similar case in 1925 and called it "relapsing nodular non-suppurative panniculitis". Christian5 in 1928 contributed another case to the literature and added the adjective "febrile" to the name of this syndrome. As the term "panniculitis" suggests, this disorder was at first believed to be confined to the panniculus adiposus. In 1943, however, Miller and Kritzler'3 reported a case of Weber-Christian disease with visceral involvement. Approximately 20 cases of visceral or systemic Weber-Christian disease have been reported to date. Some have been confirmed by autopsy, others by laparotomy and biopsy, and in a few the diagnosis was one of conjecture based on the clinical and laboratory findings. Fifteen fatal cases labelled Weber-Christian disease have been subjected to necropsy.720 Of these, the case reported by Kiernan and Burger'2 may have been one of non-tubercubus erythema nodosum rather than true WeberChristian disease, according to the criteria described by Kooy.21 In Friedman's9 and Hanrahan, Ippolito and Dilworth's'0 cases there were no pertinent visceral findings. Hence there have been 12 previous necropsied cases which we can accept as true cases of Weber-Christian disease with systemic involvement.
Olfactory memories are intensity specific in larval Drosophila

SUMMARY Learning can rely on stimulus quality, stimulus intensity, or a combination of these. Regarding olfaction, the coding of odour quality is often proposed to be combinatorial along the olfactory pathway, and working hypotheses are available concerning short-term associative memory trace formation of odour quality. However, it is less clear how odour intensity is coded, and whether olfactory memory traces include information about the intensity of the learnt odour. Using odour–sugar associative conditioning in larval Drosophila, we first describe the dose–effect curves of learnability across odour intensities for four different odours (n-amyl acetate, 3-octanol, 1-octen-3-ol and benzaldehyde). We then chose odour intensities such that larvae were trained at an intermediate odour intensity, but were tested for retention with either that trained intermediate odour intensity, or with respectively higher or lower intensities. We observed a specificity of retention for the trained intensity for all four odours used. This adds to the appreciation of the richness in ‘content’ of olfactory short-term memory traces, even in a system as simple as larval Drosophila, and to define the demands on computational models of associative olfactory memory trace formation. We suggest two kinds of circuit architecture that have the potential to accommodate intensity learning, and discuss how they may be implemented in the insect brain.
Ketogenic Diet for the Treatment of Refractory Epilepsy in Children: A Systematic Review of Efficacy

Objectives. To systematically review and synthesize the available evidence on the efficacy of the ketogenic diet in reducing seizure frequency for children with refractory epilepsy. Data Sources. Medline searches were performed using the keywords epilepsy/therapy, dietary therapy, and epilepsy, and the text word ketogenic diet. The Cochrane Library of clinical trials was searched using the term ketogenic diet. Bibliographies of recent review articles and relevant primary research reports, as well asCurrent Contents were reviewed for additional relevant citations. Study Selection. Studies were selected for inclusion in the review that reported the reduction of seizure frequency following treatment with the ketogenic diet in children with refractory epilepsy. The outcome measures used were the percentage of patients with: 1) complete elimination of seizures, 2) >90% reduction in seizures, and 3) >50% reduction in seizures. Results. The evidence consists entirely of uncontrolled studies. Of 11 studies identified for this review, 9 are retrospective series of patients from a single institution. Two studies are prospective, 1 of which is a multicenter trial. The results of these studies are consistent in showing that some children benefit from the ketogenic diet, demonstrated by a significant reduction in seizure frequency. Estimates of the rates of improvement by combined analysis (confidence profile method) are complete cessation of all seizures in 16% of children (95% confidence interval [CI]: 11.0–21.7); a greater than 90% reduction in seizures in 32% (95% CI: 25.3–39.8); and a greater than 50% reduction in seizures in 56% (95% CI: 41.2–69.7). It is unlikely that this degree of benefit can result from a placebo response and/or spontaneous remission. Conclusions. Although controlled trials are lacking, the evidence is sufficient to determine that the ketogenic diet is efficacious in reducing seizure frequency in children with refractory epilepsy.
Software Assessment Parameter Optimization using Genetic Algorithm

Software assessment of a project is a key aspect for the prediction of the cost, duration and the expertise required for the project. An efficient optimization algorithm is urgently needed. In this paper, we analyze the genetic algorithm (GA) technique for the development of a software assessment model for the NASA software project dataset. The simulation is performed using MATLAB environment and the results are tested on the basis of measures such as MMRE, MdMRE, MMER, Prediction Accuracy (25%) and the estimation time. The results of the developed Genetic Algorithm (GA) based model was also compared to known models in the literature. The assessment provided by the developed GA model was good compared to other models. General Terms Parameter Optimization, Software Assessment.
Undergraduate teaching in geriatric medicine: mapping the British Geriatrics Society undergraduate curriculum to Tomorrow's Doctors 2009.

INTRODUCTION in 2008, the British Geriatrics Society (BGS) developed the Recommended Undergraduate Curriculum in Geriatric Medicine. This was subsequently mapped to the second edition of Tomorrows' Doctors (TD2, 2003). Following the publication of the third edition of Tomorrow's Doctors in 2009 (TD3), the mapping exercise was repeated to verify the extent to which the updated General Medical Council recommendations supported teaching in ageing and geriatric medicine. METHOD we analysed TD3 and identified 48 aspects of its general guidance that were relevant to the teaching of medicine for older people. We then mapped these to the 2009 BGS curriculum. RESULTS the BGS curriculum was supported in full by TD3. However, learning outcomes relating to the interpretation and conduct of research in TD3 had no corresponding outcomes in the BGS curriculum. CONCLUSION the BGS curriculum for medical undergraduates continues to provide a specific and complete list of learning objectives, all of which could help to operationalise the general statements made in TD3 with relation to ageing and geriatric medicine. Learning outcomes in research in frail older patients have been added following this mapping exercise.
Speech Perception Benefit for Children with a Cochlear Implant and a Hearing Aid in Opposite Ears and Children with Bilateral Cochlear Implants

The aims of the present study are to investigate: (1) the effect of using a hearing aid (HA) or a second cochlear implant (2nd CI) on speech recognition in noise for children; (2) the ability to perceive phoneme groups of different frequencies when using a CI and an HA in opposite ears (bimodal fitting) and when using a CI in each ear (bilateral implant fitting), and (3) the relationship between aided thresholds in the HA ear and bimodal advantage. Thirteen school-age children who consistently used a bimodal or bilateral implant fitting participated. Perception was evaluated using consonant-nucleus-consonantwords presented from in front with noise from either side. Significant bimodal or bilateral CI advantage in speech perception was demonstrated by most subjects in at least 1 noise condition. Comparisons indicated that the bimodal advantage obtained by the bimodal subjects was greater than the bilateral CI advantage obtained by the bilateral-implant subjects in the noise front condition, but also suggested that the 2nd CI may provide more functional advantage in real life. The mechanisms underlying the advantage provided by the second device appear to be different in the bimodal and bilateral groups. Information transmission analysis did not show a clear difference between the groups in the pattern of advantage across phoneme groups. For the bimodal subjects, those with better aided thresholds at low frequencies and poorer aided thresholds at 4 kHz demonstrated greater bimodal advantage. Overall, these findings encourage the use of bimodal and bilateral implant fittings for children, provide insight into the individual variability in bimodal outcome, and enhance understanding of the differences between an HA and a 2nd CI when used together with an implant in the opposite ear.
Soil Texture Often Exerts a Stronger Influence Than Precipitation on Mesoscale Soil Moisture Patterns

Soil moisture patterns are commonly thought to be dominated by land surface characteristics, such as soil texture, at small scales and by atmospheric processes, such as precipitation, at larger scales. However, a growing body of evidence challenges this conceptual model. We investigated the structural similarity and spatial correlations between mesoscale (∼1–100 km) soil moisture patterns and land surface and atmospheric factors along a 150 km transect using 4 km multisensor precipitation data and a cosmic‐ray neutron rover, with a 400 m diameter footprint. The rover was used to measure soil moisture along the transect 18 times over 13 months. Spatial structures of soil moisture, soil texture (sand content), and antecedent precipitation index (API) were characterized using autocorrelation functions and fitted with exponential models. Relative importance of land surface characteristics and atmospheric processes were compared using correlation coefficients (r) between soil moisture and sand content or API. The correlation lengths of soil moisture, sand content, and API ranged from 12–32 km, 13–20 km, and 14–45 km, respectively. Soil moisture was more strongly correlated with sand content (r = −0.536 to −0.704) than with API for all but one date. Thus, land surface characteristics exhibit coherent spatial patterns at scales up to 20 km, and those patterns often exert a stronger influence than do precipitation patterns on mesoscale spatial patterns of soil moisture.
Ieee Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics—part C: Applications and Reviews 1 a Survey of Actor-critic Reinforcement Learning: Standard and Natural Policy Gradients

—Policy gradient based actor-critic algorithms are amongst the most popular algorithms in the reinforcement learning framework. Their advantage of being able to search for optimal policies using low-variance gradient estimates has made them useful in several real-life applications, such as robotics, power control and finance. Although general surveys on reinforcement learning techniques already exist, no survey is specifically dedicated to actor-critic algorithms in particular. This paper therefore describes the state of the art of actor-critic algorithms, with a focus on methods that can work in an online setting and use function approximation in order to deal with continuous state and action spaces. After starting with a discussion on the concepts of reinforcement learning and the origins of actor-critic algorithms, this paper describes the workings of the natural gradient, which has made its way into many actor-critic algorithms in the past few years. A review of several standard and natural actor-critic algorithms follows and the paper concludes with an overview of application areas and a discussion on open issues.
Norwegian LongoVital and recurrent aphthous ulceration: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

OBJECTIVE LongoVital (LV) is a herbal-based tablet enriched with the recommended daily doses of vitamins. The present study was undertaken to investigate possible prevention of recurrent aphthous ulceration (RAU) during 4 months daily intake of the Norwegian LV. DESIGN The study was a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized, clinical trial. SUBJECTS Sixty otherwise healthy patients with at least one attack of minor RAU per 2 months were included in the study. METHODS After an introduction period (IP) of 60 days, the patients were randomly divided into three groups and given either LV, the herbs of LV only, or placebo. Three test tablets were taken every day together with breakfast for 4 months [tablet period (TP)] and the patients followed up for another 4 months (F-UP). The number of new ulcers (NU) and ulcer-free days (UFD) were observed. RESULTS Fifty-two patients completed the study. Neither NU nor UFD showed any statistical significant differences between any of the groups in any of the periods. All three groups, however, showed a significant increase in UFD during the first 2 months of TP compared to IP. Within the LV group only, there was a further increase in UFD after 2 months intake of the tablets. The number of NU and UFD decreased significantly in both the LV and the herbal group in F-UP compared with TP. CONCLUSION Neither the Norwegian LV nor the herbal component alone was superior to placebo in the prevention of RAU. The results, however, indicate that neither the LV nor the herbal group benefited from the treatment.
The Relationship between Alexithymia, Anxiety, Depression, and Internet Addiction Severity in a Sample of Italian High School Students

We aimed to assess whether Internet addiction (IA) severity was related to alexithymia scores among high school students, taking into account the role of gender differences and the possible effect of anxiety, depression, and age. Participants in the study were 600 students (ages ranging from 13 to 22; 48.16% girls) recruited from three high schools in two cities from Southern Italy. Participants completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Internet Addiction Test, the Hamilton Anxiety Scale, and the Hamilton Depression Scale. The findings of the study showed that IA scores were associated with alexithymia scores, over and above the effect of negative emotions and age. Students with pathological levels of alexithymia reported higher scores on IA severity. In particular, results showed that difficulty in identifying feelings was significantly associated with higher scores on IA severity. No effect of gender was found. Implications for clinicians were discussed.