Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Deformation Based Curved Shape Representation

In this paper, we introduce a deformation based representation space for curved shapes in <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathbb {R}^{n}$</tex-math><alternatives> <inline-graphic xlink:href="demisse-ieq1-2711607.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula>. Given an ordered set of points sampled from a curved shape, the proposed method represents the set as an element of a finite dimensional matrix Lie group. Variation due to scale and location are filtered in a preprocessing stage, while shapes that vary only in rotation are identified by an equivalence relationship. The use of a finite dimensional matrix Lie group leads to a similarity metric with an explicit geodesic solution. Subsequently, we discuss some of the properties of the metric and its relationship with a <italic>deformation by least action</italic>. Furthermore, invariance to reparametrization or estimation of point correspondence between shapes is formulated as an estimation of sampling function. Thereafter, two possible approaches are presented to solve the point correspondence estimation problem. Finally, we propose an adaptation of k-means clustering for shape analysis in the proposed representation space. Experimental results show that the proposed representation is robust to uninformative cues, e.g., local shape perturbation and displacement. In comparison to state of the art methods, it achieves a high precision on the Swedish and the Flavia leaf datasets and a comparable result on MPEG-7, Kimia99 and Kimia216 datasets.
Fe i Oscillator Strengths for Transitions from High-lying Odd-parity Levels

We report new experimental Fe i oscillator strengths obtained by combining measurements of branching fractions measured with a Fourier Transform spectrometer and time-resolved, laser-induced fluorescence lifetimes. This study covers the spectral region ranging from 213 to 1033 nm. A total of 120 experimental -values coming from 15 odd-parity energy levels are provided, 22 of which have not been reported previously and 63 of which have values with lower uncertainty than the existing data. The radiative lifetimes for 60 upper energy levels are presented, 39 of which have no previous measurements.
Movie rating prediction using content-based and link stream features

While graph-based collaborative filtering recommender systems have been introduced several years ago, there are still several shortcomings to deal with, the temporal information being one of the most important. The new link stream paradigm is aiming at extending graphs for correctly modelling the graph dynamics, without losing crucial information. We investigate the impact of such link stream features for recommender systems. by designing link stream features, that capture the intrinsic structure and dynamics of the data. We show that such features encode a fine-grained and subtle description of the underlying recommender system. Focusing on a traditional recommender system context, the rating prediction on the MovieLens20M dataset, we input these features along with some content-based ones into a gradient boosting machine (XGBoost) and show that it outperforms significantly a sole content-based solution. These encouraging results call for further exploration of this original modelling and its integration to complete state-of-the-art recommender systems algorithms. Link streams and graphs, as natural visualizations of recommender systems, can offer more interpretability in a time when algorithm transparency is an increasingly important topic of discussion. We also hope to sparkle interesting discussions in the community about the links between link streams and tensor factorization methods: indeed, they are two sides of the same object.
Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and risk of lung cancer and histologic types: a Mendelian randomisation analysis of the HUNT study

We aimed to investigate potential causal associations between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels and incidence of lung cancer overall and histologic types. We performed a Mendelian randomisation analysis using a prospective cohort study in Norway, including 54 580 individuals and 676 incident lung cancer cases. A 25(OH)D allele score was generated based on the vitamin D-increasing alleles rs2282679, rs12785878 and rs10741657. Hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals for incidence of lung cancer and histologic types were estimated in relation to the allele score. The inverse-variance weighted method using summarised data of individual single nucleotide polymorphisms was applied to calculate the Mendelian randomisation estimates. The allele score accounted for 3.4% of the variation in serum 25(OH)D levels. There was no association between the allele score and lung cancer incidence overall, with HR 0.99 (95% CI 0.93–1.06) per allele score. A 25 nmol·L−1 increase in genetically determined 25(OH)D level was not associated with the incidence of lung cancer overall (Mendelian randomisation estimate HR 0.96, 95% CI 0.54–1.69) or any histologic type. Mendelian randomisation analysis did not suggest a causal association between 25(OH)D levels and risk of lung cancer overall or histologic types in this population-based cohort study. Mendelian randomisation study did not suggest causal association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and lung cancer risk http://ow.ly/UOJ630jGVh1
The Benefits of Network Externality by Social Network Site

This study developed a prediction model to understand the benefits generated by the number of users of social network site (SNS). The three aspects of network externality, number of members, number of peers, and perceived complementarily were used to discuss whether benefits are produced for users when the number of users continues to increase, and to explore the influences of user benefits on behavioral intention to use. In the past, network externality is generally combined with technology acceptance model (TAM) for researching the behavior of users in regard to telephones, televisions, e-mail, and blogs, but has not been applied to SNS. This study used SEM to conduct questionnaire data analysis, and research results show that network externality of SNS has significant and positive effects on user functional benefits, social benefits, and hedonic benefits, respectively. Functional benefits, social benefits, and hedonic benefits have significant and positive effects on behavioral intention to use. The results can be provided to SNS as a reference for their operations, so they can create SNS that are more attractive to users, and provide more diverse applications, social networking programs, and support tools, brining user enjoyment on different levels of benefits.
How Can Men Convicted of Violence Against Women Feel Moral While Holding Sexist and Violent Attitudes? A Homeostatic Moral Model Based on Self-Deception

A moral model is proposed to understand how men convicted of violence against the partner can feel moral in spite of their past violent behavior and their current violent and sexist attitudes. Because of its appeal to the role of self-deception and its relationship to psychological well-being, it was hypothesized that a rigid conception about what is right and wrong (moral absolutism) is associated with ambivalent outcomes that keep their psychological system in homeostasis. The relationships were specified a priori and tested using path analysis. Several fit indices supported the adequacy of the model and showed that moral absolutism was indirectly related to both psychological well-being and a good moral self-conceptualization through self-deception. At the same time, moral absolutism was related to sexist and violent attitudes and a poor moral self-conceptualization. Future interventions could include strategies to reduce the resistances to change based on the reduction of moral absolutism and self-deception.
Differential Effect of Viable Versus Necrotic Neutrophils on Mycobacterium tuberculosis Growth and Cytokine Induction in Whole Blood

Neutrophils exert both positive and negative influences on the host response to tuberculosis, but the mechanisms by which these differential effects are mediated are unknown. We studied the impact of live and dead neutrophils on the control of Mycobacterium tuberculosis using a whole blood bioluminescence-based assay, and assayed supernatant cytokine concentrations using Luminex™ technology and ELISA. CD15+ granulocyte depletion from blood prior to infection with M. tuberculosis-lux impaired control of mycobacteria by 96 h, with a greater effect than depletion of CD4+, CD8+, or CD14+ cells (p < 0.001). Augmentation of blood with viable granulocytes significantly improved control of mycobacteria by 96 h (p = 0.001), but augmentation with necrotic granulocytes had the opposite effect (p = 0.01). Both augmentations decreased supernatant concentrations of tumor necrosis factor and interleukin (IL)-12 p40/p70, but necrotic granulocyte augmentation also increased concentrations of IL-10, G-CSF, GM-CSF, and CCL2. Necrotic neutrophil augmentation reduced phagocytosis of FITC-labeled M. bovis BCG by all phagocytes, whereas viable neutrophil augmentation specifically reduced early uptake by CD14+ cells. The immunosuppressive effect of dead neutrophils required necrotic debris rather than supernatant. We conclude that viable neutrophils enhance control of M. tuberculosis in blood, but necrotic neutrophils have the opposite effect—the latter associated with induction of IL-10, growth factors, and chemoattractants. Our findings suggest a mechanism by which necrotic neutrophils may exert detrimental effects on the host response in active tuberculosis.
Undermining belief in false memories leads to less efficient problem-solving behaviour

ABSTRACT Memories of events for which the belief in the occurrence of those events is undermined, but recollection is retained, are called nonbelieved memories (NBMs). The present experiments examined the effects of NBMs on subsequent problem-solving behaviour. In Experiment 1, we challenged participants’ beliefs in their memories and examined whether NBMs affected subsequent solution rates on insight-based problems. True and false memories were elicited using the Deese/Roediger–McDermott (DRM) paradigm. Then participants’ belief in true and false memories was challenged by telling them the item had not been presented. We found that when the challenge led to undermining belief in false memories, fewer problems were solved than when belief was not challenged. In Experiment 2, a similar procedure was used except that some participants solved the problems one week rather than immediately after the feedback. Again, our results showed that undermining belief in false memories resulted in lower problem solution rates. These findings suggest that for false memories, belief is an important agent in whether memories serve as effective primes for immediate and delayed problem-solving.
Integrated, Accountable Care For Medicaid Expansion Enrollees: A Comparative Evaluation of Hennepin Health

Hennepin Health, a Medicaid accountable care organization, began serving early expansion enrollees (very low-income childless adults) in 2012. It uses an integrated care model to address social and behavioral needs. We compared health care utilization in Hennepin Health with other Medicaid managed care in the same area from 2012 to 2014, controlling for demographics, chronic conditions, and enrollment patterns. Homelessness and substance use were higher in Hennepin Health. Overall adjusted results showed Hennepin Health had 52% more emergency department visits and 11% more primary care visits than comparators. Over time, modeling a 6-month exposure to Hennepin Health, emergency department and primary care visits decreased and dental visits increased; hospitalizations decreased nonsignificantly but increased among comparators. Subgroup analysis of high utilizers showed lower hospitalizations in Hennepin Health. Integrated, accountable care under Medicaid expansion showed some desirable trends and subgroup benefits, but overall did not reduce acute health care utilization versus other managed care.
Dengue fever in patients admitted in tertiary care hospitals in Pakistan.

OBJECTIVES To assess the gaps in the diagnosis and management of dengue fever cases. METHODS The retrospective descriptive analytical study was done with a case record analysis of patients with dengue fever admitted from January to December 2010 at five tertiary care hospitals in different Pakistani cities. Using a questionnaire, information was gathered on demography, haematological profile, management, use of blood and platelet transfusions and the outcome. For comparison, data of serologically-confirmed dengue patients from a private laboratory in Islamabad was collected to see the age, gender and month-wise distribution of cases tested over the same period. SPSS 16 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS Out of the 841 confirmed dengue cases, 514 (79%) were males and 139 (21%) females. The overall mean age was 31.3 +/- 14.0 years. Dengue fever was seen in 653 (78%) and dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) in 188 (22%) patients. Most cases were between 20 and 49 years of age. A gradual increase in dengue fever and dengue haemorrhagic fever was seen from August, with a peak in October/November. Tourniquet test was done only in 20 (2.3%) cases, out of which 11 (55%) were positive and 9 (45%) were negative. Serial haematocrit was not done in any case. Total deaths were 5 (0.6%). CONCLUSIONS Most cases were seen in October/November with the majority being in the 20-39 age group. Tourniquet test and serial haematocrit were infrequently used. No standard national guidelines were employed.
Epidemiology and prognoses in a medical intermediate care unit.

BACKGROUND The purpose of medical intermediate care units is the observation and treatment of patients with incipient or manifest organ failure. We wished to obtain data on which conditions result in admission to these units and the prognosis for these patients. MATERIAL AND METHOD All patients admitted to the medical intermediate care unit at Akershus University Hospital in 2014 were registered prospectively with reason for admission, period of hospitalisation, degree of severity, comorbidity, last place of hospitalisation prior to medical intermediate care and treatment limitations (do-not-resuscitate order and/or do-not-intubate order). Mortality in the hospital and one year after hospitalisation were registered retrospectively. Multiple regression analysis was performed with hospital mortality as the outcome variable. RESULTS Altogether 1369 patient hospitalisations for 1118 unique patients were included. The most frequent reasons for admission were pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, sepsis, poisonings and hyponatraemia. The degree of severity of the condition for which patients were admitted corresponded to that reported by intensive care departments in Norwegian local hospitals. A total of 13 % died during their stay in hospital and a further 14 % in the course of one year. The highest mortality was for patients with severe infection, cardiac failure and restrictive/neuromuscular respiratory disorder. The degree of severity, age, infection, comorbidity and ward as admitting unit were predictors of mortality during the hospitalisation period. Risk-adjusted mortality ratio of 0.64 satisfied the quality objective for intensive care departments (<0.7). A total of 5.6 % of hospitalisations in the medical intermediate care unit entailed transfer to the intensive care ward. INTERPRETATION The degree of severity of the condition for which patients were admitted was high, and the treatment outcomes judged upon expected mortality were good. Medical intermediate care units can relieve pressure on wards with seriously ill patients without taking up intensive care beds.
Blood Neutrophils Are Reprogrammed in Bronchiectasis

Rationale: Excessive neutrophilic airway inflammation is the central feature of bronchiectasis, but little is known about neutrophils in bronchiectasis. Objectives: To assess blood neutrophil phenotype in patients with bronchiectasis while stable and during exacerbations. Methods: In the clinically stable arm of this study, there were eight healthy volunteers, eight patients with mild bronchiectasis, and eight patients with severe bronchiectasis. In addition, six patients with severe bronchiectasis were compared with six patients with community‐acquired pneumonia at the start and end of an exacerbation. We assessed neutrophils for spontaneous apoptosis, cell surface marker expression, degranulation, reactive oxygen species generation, phagocytosis, and killing of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PAO1). In addition, blood neutrophil function was compared with airway neutrophil function in bronchiectasis. Measurements and Main Results: In stable bronchiectasis, compared with healthy volunteers, blood neutrophils had significantly prolonged viability, delayed apoptosis, increased CD62L shedding, upregulated CD11b expression, increased myeloperoxidase release, and impaired neutrophil phagocytosis and killing of PAO1. Bronchiectatic airway neutrophils had significantly lower bacterial phagocytosis and killing than their matched autologous blood neutrophils. Both blood and airway neutrophil phagocytosis and killing were impaired at the start of an exacerbation and improved following antibiotic treatment. In pneumonia, there was a significant improvement in phagocytosis and killing after treatment with antibiotics. During infections, there was no difference in phagocytosis, but there was significantly increased bacterial killing at the start and end of infection in pneumonia compared with bronchiectasis exacerbations. Conclusions: In bronchiectasis stable state, peripheral blood neutrophils are reprogrammed and have prolonged survival. This impairs their functional ability of bacterial phagocytosis and killing, thereby perpetuating the vicious circle in bronchiectasis.
The Interplay of Rogue and Clustered Ryanodine Receptors Regulates Ca2+ Waves in Cardiac Myocytes

Ca2+ waves in cardiac myocytes can lead to arrhythmias owing to delayed after-depolarisations. Based on Ca2+ regulation from the junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum (JSR), a mathematical model was developed to investigate the interplay of clustered and rogue RyRs on Ca2+ waves. The model successfully reproduces Ca2+ waves in cardiac myocytes, which are in agreement with experimental results. A new wave propagation mode of “spark-diffusion-quark-spark” is put forward. It is found that rogue RyRs greatly increase the initiation of Ca2+ sparks, further contribute to the formation and propagation of Ca2+ waves when the free Ca2+ concentration in JSR lumen ([Ca2+]lumen) is higher than a threshold value of 0.7 mM. Computational results show an exponential increase in the velocity of Ca2+ waves with [Ca2+]lumen. In addition, more CRUs of rogue RyRs and Ca2+ release from rogue RyRs result in higher velocity and amplitude of Ca2+ waves. Distance between CRUs significantly affects the velocity of Ca2+ waves, but not the amplitude. This work could improve understanding the mechanism of Ca2+ waves in cardiac myocytes.
The sociology of unemployment

1. Introduction - Tom Boland and Ray Griffin Part I: Being unemployed 2. Talk: Nothing to be done - Tom Boland 3. Dialog: Focus groups with young and mature unemployed - Jennifer Yeager and Jonathon Culleton 4. City: Redundant workers, forgotten citizens? The case of Waterford Crystal - Josh Lalor 5. Places: Graceful living: The experience of unemployment and the built environment - John O'Brien 6. Rural: Beyond the deprivation theory: examining rural experience - Gordon B. Cooke, Deidre Hutchings, Jimmy Donaghey and Isik U. Zeytinoglu Part II: Becoming unemployed 7. Forms: Up one: observations on decoding a form of unemployment - Ray Griffin 8. Spaces: Autoethnographies of Irish social welfare offices - Tom Boland and Ray Griffin 9. Job-seeking: Making a self for the labour market - Tom Boland 10. Experiencing activisation: Ireland's new pathway? - Tom Boland Part III: Knowing unemployment 11. Media: Nothing to be said - Tom Boland, Rose Shearer and Aisling Tuite 12. Statistics: On the statistical composition of unemployment - Ray Griffin and John O'Brien Conclusion Index
Investigational agents in immunotherapy: a new horizon for the treatment of multiple myeloma

The treatment of multiple myeloma (MM) has gone through several major advances over the last 5 years with the introduction of next generation proteasome inhibitors (PI; carfilzomib, ixazomib) and immunomodulatory derivatives (IMiD; pomalidomide), with these new agents having a substantial impact on patient outcome. However, despite these advances, MM remains a highly resistant disease given its propensity for clonal heterogeneity and its complex interaction with the surrounding bone marrow microenvironment. Almost all patients eventually relapse despite therapeutic responses to a PI, IMiD or both. With the regulatory approval of the monoclonal antibodies Daratumumab and Elotuzumab in 2015, impressive and durable responses are being observed, even in heavily pre‐treated patients who have exhausted other therapeutic options, suggesting immunological approaches in this setting have real merit. This review will focus on newer monoclonal antibodies and chimeric‐antigen receptor (CAR) T cell strategies currently under investigation and in various stages of clinical development.
Toxicological Assessment of a Lignin Core Nanoparticle Doped with Silver as an Alternative to Conventional Silver Core Nanoparticles

Elevated levels of silver in the environment are anticipated with an increase in silver nanoparticle (AgNP) production and use in consumer products. To potentially reduce the burden of silver ion release from conventional solid core AgNPs, a lignin-core particle doped with silver ions and surface-stabilized with a polycationic electrolyte layer was engineered. Our objective was to determine whether any of the formulation components elicit toxicological responses using embryonic zebrafish. Ionic silver and free surface stabilizer were the most toxic constituents, although when associated separately or together with the lignin core particles, the toxicity of the formulations decreased significantly. The overall toxicity of lignin formulations containing silver was similar to other studies on a silver mass basis, and led to a significantly higher prevalence of uninflated swim bladder and yolk sac edema. Comparative analysis of dialyzed samples which had leached their loosely bound Ag+, showed a significant increase in mortality immediately after dialysis, in addition to eliciting significant increases in types of sublethal responses relative to the freshly prepared non-dialyzed samples. ICP-OES/MS analysis indicated that silver ion release from the particle into solution was continuous, and the rate of release differed when the surface stabilizer was not present. Overall, our study indicates that the lignin core is an effective alternative to conventional solid core AgNPs for potentially reducing the burden of silver released into the environment from a variety of consumer products.