Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Crowdsourcing Exploration

Motivated by the proliferation of online platforms that collect and disseminate consumers’ experiences with alternative substitutable products/services, we investigate the problem of optimal information provision when the goal is to maximize aggregate consumer surplus. We develop a decentralized multi-armed bandit framework where a forward-looking principal (the platform designer) commits upfront to a policy that dynamically discloses information regarding the history of outcomes to a series of short-lived rational agents (the consumers). We demonstrate that consumer surplus is non-monotone in the accuracy of the designer’s information-provision policy. Because consumers are constantly in “exploitation” mode, policies that disclose accurate information on past outcomes suﬀer from inadequate “exploration. ” We illustrate how the designer can (partially) alleviate this ineﬃciency by employing a policy that strategically obfuscates the information in the platform’s possession – interestingly, such a policy is beneﬁcial despite the fact that consumers are aware of both the designer’s objective and the precise way by which information is being disclosed to them. More generally, we show that the optimal information-provision policy can be obtained as the solution of a large-scale linear program. Noting that such a solution is typically intractable, we use our structural ﬁndings to design an intuitive heuristic that underscores the value of information obfuscation in decentralized learning. We further highlight that obfuscation remains beneﬁcial even if the designer can directly incentivize consumers to explore through monetary payments.
Gross melt fracture of polyethylene. II: Effects of molecular structure

The effect of molecular structure (MW, MWD and LCB) on the critical tensile stress (σ c ) for the onset of gross melt fracture (OGMF), proposed in Part I (1) as a material-dependent criterion for fracture, was determined for a group of polyethylenes varying in structure. These included linear low and high-density polyethylenes and several materials produced using metallocene and constrained geometry catalysts. It was found that the critical stress is independent of M w , for constant polydispersity but increases with increasing long chain branching and polydispersity. The addition of boron nitride particles had no effect on the σ c up to a level of 0.5% by weight.
ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ANATOMICAL RESOLUTION AND FUNCTIONAL OUTCOMES IN THE MIVI-TRUST STUDIES USING OCRIPLASMIN TO TREAT SYMPTOMATIC VITREOMACULAR ADHESION/VITREOMACULAR TRACTION, INCLUDING WHEN ASSOCIATED WITH MACULAR HOLE

Purpose: To evaluate visual function in patients with symptomatic vitreomacular adhesion (VMA)/vitreomacular traction including when associated with macular hole after ocriplasmin treatment, and the association between resolution of the underlying condition and improvement in visual function. Methods: Six hundred and fifty-two patients from 2 Phase 3 trials received a single intravitreal injection of ocriplasmin 125 &mgr;g (n = 464) or placebo (n = 188). Mean and categorical changes from baseline in best-corrected visual acuity and 25-item Visual Function Questionnaire scores were used to evaluate visual function. Subgroups with VMA resolution and full-thickness macular hole closure were compared. Results: Overall, 42% of patients who achieved VMA resolution at Day 28 had a ≥2-line improvement in best-corrected visual acuity at Month 6, and 20% had a ≥3-line improvement. Likewise, 69% of patients with nonsurgical full-thickness macular hole closure at Day 28 had a ≥2-line improvement at Month 6, and 48% had a ≥3-line best-corrected visual acuity improvement. Mean improvements in 25-item Visual Function Questionnaire scores were associated with achieving VMA resolution and nonsurgical full-thickness macular hole closure. Conclusion: In patients with symptomatic VMA/vitreomacular traction, VMA resolution and nonsurgical full-thickness macular hole closure were each associated with improvements in visual function. Resolving the underlying anatomical condition in symptomatic VMA/vitreomacular traction will increase the probability of achieving a clinically meaningful improvement in visual function.
Review: ecotoxicity of organic and organo-metallic antifouling co-biocides and implications for environmental hazard and risk assessments in aquatic ecosystems

Abstract Hazard assessments of Irgarol 1051, diuron, 2-(thiocyanomethylthio)benzothiazole (TCMTB), dichloro-octylisothiazolin (DCOIT), chlorothalonil, dichlofluanid, thiram, zinc pyrithione, copper pyrithione, triphenylborane pyridine (TPBP), capsaicin, nonivamide, tralopyril and medetomidine were performed to establish robust environmental quality standards (EQS), based on predicted no effect concentrations (PNECs). Microalgae, zooplankton, fish and amphibians were the most sensitive ecological groups to all the antifoulants evaluated, especially in the early life stages. No differences were identified between freshwater and seawater species. The use of toxicity tests with non-standard species is encouraged because they increase the datasets, allowing EQS to be derived from probabilistic-based PNECs whilst reducing uncertainties. The global ban of tributyltin (TBT) has been heralded as a major environmental success; however, substitute antifoulants may also pose risks to aquatic ecosystems. Environmental risk assessments (ERAs) have driven decision-makings for regulating antifouling products, but in many countries there is still a lack of regulation of antifouling biocides which should be addressed.
Bilinear Lithography Hotspot Detection

Advanced semiconductor process technologies are producing various circuit layout patterns, and it is essential to detect and eliminate problematic ones, which are called lithography hotspots. These hotspots are formed due to light diffraction and interference, which induces complex intrinsic structures within the formation process. Though various machine learning based methods have been proposed for this problem, most of them cannot capture the intrinsic structure of each data. In this paper, we propose a novel feature extraction by representing each data sample in matrix form. We argue that this method can well preserve the intrinsic feature of each sample, leading to better performance.We then further propose a bilinear lithography hotspot detector, which can tackle data in matrix form directly to preserve the hidden structural correlations in the lithography process. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms state-of-the-art ones with remarkably large margin in both false alarms and runtime, with 98.16% detection accuracy.
Humor-based online positive psychology interventions: A randomized placebo-controlled long-term trial

While correlational evidence exists that humor is positively associated with well-being, only few studies addressed causality. We tested the effects of five humor-based activities on happiness and depression in a placebo-controlled, self-administered online positive psychology intervention study (N = 632 adults). All of the five one-week interventions enhanced happiness, three for up to six months (i.e. three funny things, applying humor, and counting funny things), whereas there were only short-term effects on depression (all were effective directly after the intervention). Additionally, we tested the moderating role of indicators of a person × intervention-fit and identified early changes in well-being and preference (liking of the intervention) as the most potent indicators for changes six months after the intervention. Overall, we were able to replicate existing work, but also extend knowledge in the field by testing newly developed interventions for the first time. Findings are discussed with respect to the current literature.
Understanding Peakons, Periodic Peakons and Compactons via a Shallow Water Wave Equation

In this paper, a shallow water wave model is used to introduce the concepts of peakon, periodic peakon and compacton. Traveling wave solutions of the shallow water equation are presented. The corresponding traveling wave system is a singular planar dynamical system with one singular straight line. By using the method of dynamical systems, bifurcation diagrams and explicit exact parametric representations of the solutions are given, including solitary wave solution, periodic wave solution, peakon solution, periodic peakon solution and compacton solution under different parameter conditions.
Ascorbic acid concentrations in umbilical cord veins and arteries of preterm and term newborns.

Ascorbic acid (AA) is a powerful antioxidant required for the defense against oxidative stress. At present it is not known whether AA may play a role in the developmental process of the fetus. We therefore determined the relationship of AA levels between the umbilical cord vein (UCV) and umbilical cord artery (UCA) of preterm ( < 37 weeks of gestation) and term ( > or = 37 weeks of gestation) infants and compared those levels to matched maternal venous AA levels. We also assessed the association between UCV plasma AA levels with birth weight and gestational age by measuring AA in 88 UCV plasma samples and 58 UCA plasma samples obtained from newborn infants ranging in gestational age from 24 to 42 weeks and birth weight from 675 to 5,020 g, by high pressure liquid chromatography. Maternal venous samples were collected at the time of delivery. The mean UCV plasma AA levels (mg/dl) were significantly lower in the preterm group than in the term group (0.43 +/- 0.59 and 1.16 +/- 0.97, respectively; p < 0.002); however, the mean UCA plasma AA levels did not differ between the groups. In contrast, mean maternal venous plasma AA levels of the preterm group (1.33 +/- 0.62) were significantly higher than those of the mothers in the term group (0.72 +/- 0.69; p < 0.01). A direct correlation was found between UCV levels and birth weight (r = 0.23, p < 0.05), and UCV levels and gestational age (r = 0.23, p < 0.05). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Dual-Energy CT in Hemorrhagic Progression of Cerebral Contusion: Overestimation of Hematoma Volumes on Standard 120-kV Images and Rectification with Virtual High-Energy Monochromatic Images after Contrast-Enhanced Whole-Body Imaging

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In patients with hemorrhagic contusions, hematoma volumes are overestimated on follow-up standard 120-kV images obtained after contrast-enhanced whole-body CT. We aimed to retrospectively determine hemorrhagic progression of contusion rates on 120-kV and 190-keV images derived from dual-energy CT and the magnitude of hematoma volume overestimation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed admission and follow-up CT studies in 40 patients with hemorrhagic contusions. After annotating the contusions, we measured volumes from admission and follow-up 120-kV and 190-keV images using semiautomated 3D segmentation. Bland-Altman analysis was used for hematoma volume comparison. RESULTS: On 120-kV images, hemorrhagic progression of contusions was detected in 24 of the 40 patients, while only 17 patients had hemorrhagic progression of contusions on 190-keV images (P = .008). Hematoma volumes were systematically overestimated on follow-up 120-kV images (9.68 versus 8 mm3; mean difference, 1.68 mm3; standard error, 0.37; P < .001) compared with 190-keV images. There was no significant difference in volumes between admission 120-kV and 190-keV images. Mean and median percentages of overestimation were 29% (95% CI, 18–39) and 22% (quartile 3 − quartile 1 = 36.8), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The 120-kV images, which are comparable with single-energy CT images, significantly overestimated the hematoma volumes, hence the rate of hemorrhagic progression of contusions, after contrast-enhanced whole-body CT. Hence, follow-up of hemorrhagic contusions should be performed on dual-energy CT, and 190-keV images should be used for the assessment of hematoma volumes.
Aflatoxin Contamination in Foods and Feeds: A Special Focus on Africa

Makun Hussaini Anthony1, Dutton Michael Francis2, Njobeh Patrick Berka2, Gbodi Timothy Ayinla3 and Ogbadu Godwin Haruna4 1Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology, Minna, 2Food, Environment and Health Research Group, University of Johannesburg, 3Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, 4Sheda Science and Technology Complex, Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, Abuja, 1,3,4Nigeria 2South Africa
Prostaglandin E Positively Modulates Endothelial Progenitor Cell Homeostasis: An Advanced Treatment Modality for Autologous Cell Therapy

Aims: The mobilization of endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) and their functioning in postnatal neovascularization are tightly regulated. To identify new modulators of EPC homeostasis, we screened biologically active prostaglandin E compounds for their effects on EPC production, trafficking and function. Methods and Results: We found that EPC are a rich source for prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), stimulating their number and function in an auto- and paracrine manner. In vivo blockade of PGE2 production by selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition virtually abrogated ischemia-induced EPC mobilization demonstrating its crucial role in EPC homeostasis following tissue ischemia. Conversely, ex vivo treatment of isolated EPC with the clinically approved PGE1 analogue alprostadil enhanced EPC number and function. These effects were mediated by increased expression of the chemokine receptor CXCR4 and were dependent on nitric oxide synthase activity. Most importantly, ex vivo PGE1 pretreatment of isolated EPC significantly enhanced their neovascularization capacity in a murine model of hind limb ischemia as assessed by laser Doppler analysis, exercise stress test and immunohistochemistry. Conclusions: The conserved role for PGE in the regulation of EPC homeostasis suggests that ex vivo modulation of the prostaglandin pathway in isolated progenitor cells may represent a novel and safe strategy to facilitate cell-based therapies.
Modular Open-Source Software for Item Factor Analysis

This article introduces an item factor analysis (IFA) module for OpenMx, a free, open-source, and modular statistical modeling package that runs within the R programming environment on GNU/Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows. The IFA module offers a novel model specification language that is well suited to programmatic generation and manipulation of models. Modular organization of the source code facilitates the easy addition of item models, item parameter estimation algorithms, optimizers, test scoring algorithms, and fit diagnostics all within an integrated framework. Three short example scripts are presented for fitting item parameters, latent distribution parameters, and a multiple group model. The availability of both IFA and structural equation modeling in the same software is a step toward the unification of these two methodologies.
Sound Synthesis of Objects Swinging through Air Using Physical Models

A real-time physically-derived sound synthesis model is presented that replicates the sounds generated as an object swings through the air. Equations obtained from fluid dynamics are used to determine the sounds generated while exposing practical parameters for a user or game engine to vary. Listening tests reveal that for the majority of objects modelled, participants rated the sounds from our model as plausible as actual recordings. The sword sound effect performed worse than others, and it is speculated that one cause may be linked to the difference between expectations of a sound and the actual sound for a given object.
Sunrise Session Cardiovascular Course Evaluation of Ischemia / Perfusion Reserve

Myocardial perfusion and wall motion assessment by CMR for detection of CAD. Contrast media (CM) first-pass techniques are the most commonly used approaches for perfusion-CMR. Alternatively, blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) techniques and spin-labeling techniques have also been applied to measure myocardial perfusion, but are still in an early experimental stage. As an alternative for perfusion-CMR, ischemic myocardium can also be detected directly by functional CMR during inotropic stress.
Parallel Algorithm for Incremental Betweenness Centrality on Large Graphs

Betweenness centrality quantifies the importance of nodes in a graph in many applications, including network analysis, community detection and identification of influential users. Typically, graphs in such applications evolve over time. Thus, the computation of betweenness centrality should be performed incrementally. This is challenging because updating even a single edge may trigger the computation of all-pairs shortest paths in the entire graph. Existing approaches cannot scale to large graphs: they either require excessive memory (i.e., quadratic to the size of the input graph) or perform unnecessary computations rendering them prohibitively slow. We propose <sc><inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$i$</tex-math><alternatives><inline-graphic xlink:href="jamour-ieq1-2763951.gif"/> </alternatives></inline-formula>Central</sc>; a novel incremental algorithm for computing betweenness centrality in evolving graphs. We decompose the graph into biconnected components and prove that processing can be localized within the affected components. <sc><inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$i$</tex-math><alternatives> <inline-graphic xlink:href="jamour-ieq2-2763951.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula>Central</sc> is the first algorithm to support incremental betweeness centrality computation <italic>within</italic> a graph component. This is done efficiently, in linear space; consequently, <sc><inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$i$</tex-math> <alternatives><inline-graphic xlink:href="jamour-ieq3-2763951.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula>Central</sc> scales to large graphs. We demonstrate with real datasets that the serial implementation of <sc><inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$i$</tex-math><alternatives><inline-graphic xlink:href="jamour-ieq4-2763951.gif"/> </alternatives></inline-formula>Central</sc> is up to 3.7 times faster than existing serial methods. Our parallel implementation that scales to large graphs, is an order of magnitude faster than the state-of-the-art parallel algorithm, while using an order of magnitude less computational resources.
What Level of Accuracy Is Achievable for Preclinical Dose Painting Studies on a Clinical Irradiation Platform?

Advancements made over the past decades in both molecular imaging and radiotherapy planning and delivery have enabled studies that explore the efficacy of heterogeneous radiation treatment (“dose painting”) of solid cancers based on biological information provided by different imaging modalities. In addition to clinical trials, preclinical studies may help contribute to identifying promising dose painting strategies. The goal of this current study was twofold: to develop a reproducible positioning and set-up verification protocol for a rat tumor model to be imaged and treated on a clinical platform, and to assess the dosimetric accuracy of dose planning and delivery for both uniform and positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) based heterogeneous dose distributions. We employed a syngeneic rat rhabdomyosarcoma model, which was irradiated by volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) with uniform or heterogeneous 6 MV photon dose distributions. Mean dose to the gross tumor volume (GTV) as a whole was kept at 12 Gy for all treatment arms. For the nonuniform plans, the dose was redistributed to treat the 30% of the GTV representing the biological target volume (BTV) with a dose 40% higher than the rest of the GTV (GTV – BTV) (~15 Gy was delivered to the BTV vs. ~10.7 Gy was delivered to the GTV – BTV). Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images acquired for each rat prior to irradiation were used to correctly reposition the tumor and calculate the delivered 3D dose. Film quality assurance was performed using a water-equivalent rat phantom. A comparison between CT or CBCT doses and film measurements resulted in passing rates >98% with a gamma criterion of 3%/2 mm using 2D dose images. Moreover, between the CT and CBCT calculated doses for both uniform and heterogeneous plans, we observed maximum differences of <2% for mean dose to the tumor and mean dose to the biological target volumes. In conclusion, we have developed a robust method for dose painting in a rat tumor model on a clinical platform, with a high accuracy achieved in the delivery of complex dose distributions. Our work demonstrates the technical feasibility of this approach and enables future investigations on the therapeutic effect of preclinical dose painting strategies using a state-of-the-art clinical platform.
The Influence of COPD on Mortality and Severity Scoring in Community-Acquired Pneumonia

Background: Chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) is a frequent co-morbidity in patients hospitalised with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). In recent retrospective studies, higher mortality in patients with CAP and COPD was found. Objectives: The aim of the study was to determine the 30-day mortality and to evaluate the differences in CAP severity scoring in hospitalised patients with COPD. Methods: A subanalysis of a randomized clinical trial was performed. Results: A total of 262 patients with CAP were included. Ninety-five (36.3%) patients had COPD. A total of 28 (10.7%) patients died within 30 days. No differences between patients with and without COPD in 30-day mortality were observed [8 (8.4%) vs. 20 (12.0%), p = 0.37]. In the Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI), significant differences in age, gender and heart rate between patients with and without COPD were observed. Patients with COPD were stratified in higher PSI classes. In the CURB-65 score, age ≥65 years was significantly higher in patients with COPD [72 (75.8%) vs. 88 (52.7%), p = <0.01]. In a multivariate analysis, only the need for intensive care unit admission and high serum glucose were predictors of mortality [OR 32.50 (95% CI 6.87–153.75), p < 0.01; OR 7.34 (95% CI 1.19–45.4), p = 0.03]. Conclusions: Mortality was not increased in patients with COPD hospitalised with CAP. Severity scores are influenced by age and gender. Further studies evaluating CAP in patients with COPD are needed to explain these findings.
Priority-Based fair Scheduling for Multimedia WiMAX Uplink Traffic

Worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) is based on the IEEE 802.16 Standard with mobility support from the 802.16e amendment and it enables convergence of mobile and fixed broadband wireless networks covering metropolitan and rural areas. WiMAX traffic management aims at providing efficient delivery of multimedia applications with a range of QoS requirements. Focussing on the point-to-multipoint mode, we propose a priority-based fair scheduling algorithm for subscriber stations to serve a mixture of uplink traffic from different scheduling services and provide an analytical model for evaluating user-perceived delay performance under this scheduling scheme. The model is supported and validated by a simulation study. We present numerical results to illustrate the effect of traffic load and other design parameters on WiMAX message delay.