Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Imitation Learning by Coaching

Imitation Learning has been shown to be successful in solving many challenging real-world problems. Some recent approaches give strong performance guarantees by training the policy iteratively. However, it is important to note that these guarantees depend on how well the policy we found can imitate the oracle on the training data. When there is a substantial difference between the oracle's ability and the learner's policy space, we may fail to find a policy that has low error on the training set. In such cases, we propose to use a coach that demonstrates easy-to-learn actions for the learner and gradually approaches the oracle. By a reduction of learning by demonstration to online learning, we prove that coaching can yield a lower regret bound than using the oracle. We apply our algorithm to cost-sensitive dynamic feature selection, a hard decision problem that considers a user-specified accuracy-cost trade-off. Experimental results on UCI datasets show that our method outperforms state-of-the-art imitation learning methods in dynamic feature selection and two static feature selection methods.
Pandemic Vibrio parahaemolyticus O3:K6 on the American continent

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is one of the most important seafood-borne bacterial in recent years and is the leading causal agent of human acute gastroenteritis, primarily following the consumption of raw, undercooked or mishandled marine products. Until 1996, infections caused by V. parahaemolyticus were generally associated with diverse serovars. However, in February 1996, a unique serovar (O3:K6) of V. parahaemolyticus with specific genetic markers (tdh, toxRS/New and/or orf8) appeared abruptly in Kolkata, India. In subsequent years, O3:K6 isolates similar to those isolated in Kolkata have been reported from food borne outbreaks in Southeast Asia, as well as in the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States (U.S). More recently, there have been reports in Europe, Africa and Central and South America. Specifically, in the American continent, some countries have reported cases of gastroenteritis due to the pandemic O3:K6 strain and its serovariants; the pandemic strain was first detected in Peru (1996, >100 cases), subsequently spreading to Chile in 1998 (>16,804 human cases), to the U.S. in 1998 (>700 cases), to Brazil in 2001 (>18 cases) and to Mexico in 2004 (>1200 cases). The arrival of the pandemic clone on the American continent may have resulted in a significant shift on the epidemic dynamics of V. parahaemolyticus. However, although O3:K6 is the predominant serovar of the recognized clinical strains in some countries in the Americas, a decrease in clinical cases caused by O3:K6 and an increase in cases associated with a new serotype (O3:K59, Chile) have been recently reported. The emergence and worldwide dissemination of O3:K6 and other pandemic strains since 1996 have come to represent a threat to public health and should concern health authorities. This review focuses on the presence, distribution and virulence factors of the V. parahaemolyticus O3:K6 pandemic clone and its serovariants in clinical and environmental strains on the American continent.
Robust detection of nonstationary random signals belonging to p-point uncertainty classes

We present two robust detectors for nonstationary random signals that belong to p-point uncertainty classes, one being based on an estimator-correlator approach, the other using the deflection criterion. Apart from stable performance, these robust detectors have the advantage of requiring only reduced prior knowledge. Using local cosine bases, we provide an intuitive and highly efficient time-frequency implementation of these robust detectors along with an extension that permits signal-adaptive operation. Simulation results illustrate the robustness of the proposed detectors.
Assessment of c-Jun, c-Fos and cyclin D1 in premalignant and malignant oral lesions.

UNLABELLED Some oral cancers are known to develop from dysplastic oral epithelium. In the present study, the expression of c-Jun, c-Fos, and cyclin D1 proteins in oral epithelial lesions with different degrees of dysplasia, and in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) was evaluated. Eighteen cases of mild dysplasia, 23 cases of moderate to severe dysplasia and 24 OSCCs were studied immunohistochemically. Additionally, 15 sections of oral mucosa without any evidence of dysplasia were included in the study. RESULTS c-Jun expression increased according to the degree of oral dysplasia, with the greatest expression found in OSCC. c-Fos expression was intense in normal mucosa, reduced in mild dysplasia and high in moderate to severe dysplasia and in OSCCs. Cyclin D1 was expressed in only a few cases of moderate to severe dysplasia and in most of the OSCCs. Statistical analysis showed a correlation between the three proteins and the degree of epithelial alteration. The present results indicate a possible role of c-Jun and c-Fos in malignant transformation of oral mucosa.
CYP2A5-MEDIATED ACTIVATION AND EARLY ULTRASTRUCTURAL CHANGES IN THE OLFACTORY MUCOSA: STUDIES ON 2,6-DICHLOROPHENYL METHYLSULFONE

2,6-Dichlorophenyl methylsulfone (2,6-diClPh-MeSO2) is a potent olfactory toxicant reported to induce endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, caspase activation, and extensive cell death in mice. The aim of the present study was to examine cytochrome P450 (P450)-dependent bioactivation, nonprotein sulfhydryl (NP-SH) levels, and early ultrastructural changes in mouse olfactory mucosa following an i.p. injection of 2,6-diClPh-MeSO2 (32 mg/kg). A high covalent binding of 2,6-diClPh-14C-MeSO2 in olfactory mucosa S9 fraction was observed, and the CYP2A5/CYP2G1 substrates coumarin and dichlobenil significantly decreased the binding, whereas the CYP2E1 substrate chlorzoxazone had no effects. An increased bioactivation was detected in liver microsomes of mice pretreated with pyrazole, known to induce CYP2A4, 2A5, 2E1, and 2J, and addition of chlorzoxazone reduced this binding. 2,6-DiClPh-14C-MeSO2 showed a marked covalent binding to microsomes of recombinant yeast cells expressing mouse CYP2A5 or human CYP2A6 compared with wild type. One and 4 h after a single injection of 2,6-diClPh-MeSO2, the NP-SH levels in the olfactory mucosa were significantly reduced compared with control, whereas there was no change in the liver. Ultrastructural studies revealed that ER, mitochondria, and secretory granules in nonneuronal cells were early targets 1 h after injection. We propose that lesions induced by 2,6-diClPh-MeSO2 in the mouse olfactory mucosa were initiated by a P450-mediated bioactivation in the Bowman's glands and depletion of NP-SH levels, leading to disruption of ion homeostasis, organelle swelling, and cell death. The high expression of CYP2A5 in the olfactory mucosa is suggested to play a key role for the tissue-specific toxicity induced by 2,6-diClPh-MeSO2.
Association of body fat percentage with lipid concentrations in children and adolescents: United States, 1999-2004.

BACKGROUND BMI is one factor that is used to determine a child's eligibility for lipid screening and treatment. BMI, which is an indirect measure of body fat, may inadequately represent the biological effect of body fat percentage on lipid concentrations. OBJECTIVE We examined the relation between directly measured body fat percentage and lipid concentrations in a representative sample of US youths. DESIGN Data from 7821 participants aged 8-19 y from the 1999-2004 NHANES were analyzed. Body fat percentage was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Total and HDL-cholesterol concentrations were measured in serum. Serum triglyceride and LDL-cholesterol concentrations were measured in a subsample of 2661 fasting NHANES participants aged 12-19 y. Prevalences of adverse total cholesterol (>200 mg/dL), LDL cholesterol (>130 mg/dL), triglycerides (>150 mg/dL), and HDL cholesterol (<35 mg/dL) were measured. RESULTS Approximately 10.0% [±0.7% (SE)] of participants had high total cholesterol, 7.0 ± 0.4% of participants had low HDL cholesterol, 9.7 ± 1.0% of participants had high triglycerides, and 7.6 ± 0.7% of participants had high LDL cholesterol. Prevalence of adverse total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL cholesterol in US youths with high adiposity (greater than or equal to the age- and sex-specific 75th percentile of body fat percentage) was significantly greater (P < 0.01) than for participants without high adiposity. In multiple linear regressions adjusted for age, survey period, and race-ethnicity, the variance in lipid concentrations explained by body fat percentage was 2-20% (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION Adverse lipid concentrations and high adiposity are significantly associated in youths.
Neurocognitive Predictors of Response in Treatment Resistant Depression to Subcallosal Cingulate Gyrus Deep Brain Stimulation

Background: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a neurosurgical intervention with demonstrated effectiveness for treatment resistant depression (TRD), but longitudinal studies on the stability of cognitive parameters following treatment are limited. The objectives of this study are to (i) identify baseline cognitive predictors of treatment response to subcallosal cingulate gyrus (SCG) DBS for unipolar TRD and (ii) compare neurocognitive performance prior to and 12 months after DBS implantation. Methods: Twenty unipolar TRD patients received SCG DBS for 12 months. A standardized neuropsychological battery was used to assess a range of neurocognitive abilities at baseline and after 12 months. Severity of depression was evaluated using the 17 item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. Results: Finger Tap-Dominant Hand Test and total number of errors made on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test predicted classification of patients as treatment responders or non-responders, and were independent of improvement in mood. Change in verbal fluency was the only neuropsychological test that correlated with change in mood from baseline to the follow up period. None of the neuropsychological measures displayed deterioration in cognitive functioning from baseline to repeat testing at 12 months. Limitations: This was an open label study with a small sample size which limits predictive analysis. Practice effects of the neuropsychological testing could explain the improvement from baseline to follow up on some tasks. Replication using a larger sample of subjects who received neuropsychological testing before and at least 12 months after DBS surgery is required. Conclusion: These preliminary results (i) suggest that psychomotor speed may be a useful baseline predictor of response to SCG DBS treatment and (ii) support previous suggestions that SCG DBS has no deleterious effects on cognition.
The Role of Planning in Grid Computing

Grid computing gives users access to widely distributed networks of computing resources to solve large-scale tasks such as scientific computation. These tasks are defined as standalone components that can be combined to process the data in various ways. We have implemented a planning system to generate task workflows for the Grid automatically, allowing the user to specify the desired data products in simple terms. The planner uses heuristic control rules and searches a number of alternative complete plans in order to find a high-quality solution. We describe an implemented test case in gravitational wave interferometry and show how the planner is integrated in the Grid environment. We discuss promising future directions of this work. We believe AI planning will play a crucial role in developing complex application workflows for the Grid.
Improved Arabic Word Classification using Spatial Pyramid Matching Method

In recent years, rapidly developed hand written word recognition techniques have attracted researcher’s attention to study Arabic word classification. Arabic language has cursive style of writing so it needs special framework for classification. In this paper, a precise framework for Arabic word classification is presented, which uses sparse coding with spatial pyramid matching (SPM) algorithm and linear support vector machine classifier. SPM maps each feature set to a multi-resolution histogram that preserves the individual feature at the finest level. The histogram pyramids are then compared by using a weighted histogram intersection algorithm. Our proposed framework is evaluated with four publically available datasets; IFN/ENIT, PATS-A01, IFHCDB and ISI Bangla numeral. Experimental results show that the proposed framework outperforms those state of art methods used for Arabic words classification. KeywordsArabic Character Recognition; linear support vector machine (LSVM); Spatial Pyramid Matching (SPM); Scale invariant feature transform (SIFT).
Comparison of Subjective Health Complaints between Chinese and German University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

High rates of health complaints (HCs) with substantial variation are reported in different university populations, which can be linked to socio-demographic, lifestyle-related factors, and cultural differences. HCs can be categorized into distinct components. This study aimed to identify and compare underlying dimensions of HCs (HC components); to access and compare HC prevalence, and the associations between HC components, socio-demographic, lifestyle-related factors, and perceived stress in German and Chinese university students. Two health surveys were conducted among 5159 university students (1853 Chinese, 3306 German). Factor analysis and logistic regression were applied. The prevalence of HC ranged from 4.6% to 40.2% over the two countries. Germans reported at least three HCs more often (47.2% vs. 35.8%). Chinese students more often reported gastrointestinal complaints. Perceived stress was positively associated with all three HC components in both countries (OR = 1.03–1.50) with stronger associations among Germans. Women more often reported HCs (OR = 1.32–2.43) with stronger associations among the Germans. Having a father with a low educational level was associated with high psychological symptoms among the Chinese (OR = 1.51), but with low gastrointestinal complaints among the Germans (OR = 0.79). The high prevalence of HCs in students requires country-specific interventions.
Risk Factors for Readmission on an Adult Inpatient Psychiatric Unit

Objective: Readmission rates have been proposed as a possible quality metric for inpatient psychiatry. Little is known about predicting readmissions and identifying modifiable factors that may reduce early readmissions in these settings. Methods: We reviewed 693 medical records from our adult inpatient psychiatric unit to identify factors associated with patients' readmission within 90 days of discharge. Results: After adjusting for all variables, and including interactions between identified factors, we found several demographic features predicting readmission, including male gender with suicidal ideation on admission (odds ratio [OR] = 13.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.4-51.9), a diagnosis of a psychotic disorder with a prior medical admission (OR = 5.7; 95% CI, 1.7-20.6), and suicidal ideation with comorbid personality disorder (OR = 5.3; 95% CI, 1.4-20.6). Demographic features decreasing the odds of readmission included being non-white with homeless living situation (OR = 0.18; 95% CI, 0.04-0.82), medication changes made within 48 hours of discharge (OR = 0.44; 95% CI, 0.23-0.84), and the number of medications dispensed without documented follow-up plan or appointment (OR = 0.88; 95% CI, 0.81-0.96). Conclusion: Future prospective studies utilizing qualitative and quantitative methods are required to more precisely define a wider array of metrics. Improved identification of demographic features associated with early readmissions may suggest areas to target as we seek to the quality of inpatient psychiatric care.
Temperature dependence of the spin polarization of a quantum Hall ferromagnet.

The absolute spin polarization of a two-dimensional electron gas has been measured as a function of temperature at the ν = 1 quantum Hall state by magnetoabsorption spectroscopy. We find that the electrons become fully polarized as T → 0 and that the loss of spin polarization over the temperature regime of 500mK to 12K is consistent with a recently proposed continuum quantum ferromagnet model of the spin thermodynamics of the ν = 1 QHE state.
The Role of Right Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction and Elevated Intrapericardial Pressure in the Genesis of Low Output in Experimental Right Ventricular Infarction

To elucidate the pathophysiology of severe right ventricular infarction (RVI), isolated RVI was produced in 15 dogs with the pericardium intact or open. After RVI in dogs with the pericardium intact, RV systolic pressure decreased by 27%, aortic pressure by 29% and cardiac output by 34%. RV transmural pressure, RV end-diastolic size and intrapericardial pressure increased, left ventricular transmural pressure and end-diastolic size decreased and the diastolic pressures equalized. Pericardiotomy after RVI resulted in increased ventricular transmural pressures and diastolic size, improved cardiac output and resolution of equalized diastolic pressures. RVI in dogs with the pericardium open resulted in similar changes, but of lesser magnitude and without equalization of diastolic pressures. These results indicate that reduced left ventricular preload due to impaired RV systolic function contributes to low cardiac output in RVI. Elevated intrapericardial pressure further reduces left ventricular preload and produces equal diastolic pressures.
Correlation between Transient Ischemic Dilation Index and Endothelin-1 Level in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Transient ischemic dilation (TID) is a sensitive and specific marker for detecting the severity and extent of coronary artery disease (CAD), which is closely associated with endothelial dysfunction. TID can be observed on stress-rest myocardial perfusion scan (MPS) due to subendocardial hypoperfusion. Hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) could lead to micro- and macrovascular complications and begins with endothelial dysfunction. Endothelin-1 (ET-1), a potent vasocontrictor, increases in endothelial dysfunction. The aim of this study was to examine the correlation between TID index and ET-1 levels in T2DM patients without any sign or symptom of cardiovascular complication. An analytic-correlational cross-sectional study was done on T2DM patients who met the inclusion criteria and agreed to participate by signing an informed consent form. The TID index was calculated automatically using standard software provided by the gamma camera GE-Infinia. Stress-rest MPS was done using technetium-99m ( 99m Tc)-tetrofosmin and a pharmacological stress test using adenosine. The ET-1 level was determined by radioimmunoassay. Data distribution was analyzed using the Shapiro-Wilk normality test. The Mann-Whitney test was used to compare the average difference of the variables and Spearman′s rank for correlation analysis. A total of 47 subjects consisting of 24 (51%) males and 23 (49%) females were included in this study. The age range was 37-74 years (54.3 ± 8.4). The TID index range was 0.86-1.26 (median = 1.12) and abnormal TID index was found in 23/47 (49%) subjects. ET-1 levels range 8.02-17.91 pg/mL (median = 11.08). The results showed no significant differences in age, ET-1 levels, and TID index based on age and sex (P > 0.05). There was a significant positive correlation between TID index and ET-1 level with r = 0.7 and P < 0.001. There was a positive correlation between TID index and ET-1 plasma level in patients with T2DM.
Functional characterization and evolution of the isotuberculosinol operon in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and related Mycobacteria

Terpenoid metabolites are important to the cellular function, structural integrity, and pathogenesis of the human-specific pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Genetic and biochemical investigations have indicated a role for the diterpenoid isotuberculosinol (isoTb) early in the infection process. There are only two genes (Rv3377c and Rv3378c) required for production of isoTb, yet these are found in what appears to be a five-gene terpenoid/isoprenoid biosynthetic operon. Of the three remaining genes (Rv3379c, Rv3382c, and Rv3383c), previous work has indicated that Rv3379c is an inactive pseudo-gene. Here we demonstrate that Rv3382c and Rv3383c encode biochemically redundant machinery for isoprenoid metabolism, encoding a functional 4-hydroxy-3-methylbut-2-enyl diphosphate reductase (LytB) for isoprenoid precursor production and a geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGPP) synthase, respectively, for which the Mtb genome contains other functional isozymes (Rv1110 and Rv0562, respectively). These results complete the characterization of the isoTb biosynthetic operon, as well as further elucidating isoprenoid metabolism in Mtb. In addition, we have investigated the evolutionary origin of this operon, revealing Mtb-specific conservation of the diterpene synthase genes responsible for isoTb biosynthesis, which supports our previously advanced hypothesis that isoTb acts as a human-specific pathogenic metabolite and is consistent with the human host specificity of Mtb. Intriguingly, our results revealed that many mycobacteria contain orthologs for both Rv3383c and Rv0562, suggesting a potentially important role for these functionally redundant GGPP synthases in the evolution of terpenoid/isoprenoid metabolism in the mycobacteria.
The Angular Size of the Cepheid ℓ Carinae: A Comparison of the Interferometric and Surface Brightness Techniques

Recent interferometric observations of the brightest and angularly largest classical Cepheid, ℓ Carinae, with ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer have resolved with high precision the variation of its angular diameter with phase. We compare the measured angular diameter curve to the one that we derive by an application of the Baade-Wesselink-type infrared surface brightness technique and find a near-perfect agreement between the two curves. The mean angular diameters of ℓ Car from the two techniques agree very well within their total error bars (1.5%), as do the derived distances (4%). This result is an indication that the calibration of the surface brightness relations used in the distance determination of far-away Cepheids is not affected by large biases.