Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Near-Optimal (Euclidean) Metric Compression

The metric sketching problem is defined as follows. Given a metric on n points, and ϵ > 0, we wish to produce a small size data structure (sketch) that, given any pair of point indices, recovers the distance between the points up to a 1 + ϵ distortion. In this paper we consider metrics induced by l2 and l1 norms whose spread (the ratio of the diameter to the closest pair distance) is bounded by Φ > 0. A well-known dimensionality reduction theorem due to Johnson and Lindenstrauss yields a sketch of size O(ϵ−2 log(Φn)n log n), i.e., O(ϵ−2 log(Φn)n log n) bits per point. We show that this bound is not optimal, and can be substantially improved to O(ϵ−2 log(1/ϵ) · log n + log log Φ) bits per point. Furthermore, we show that our bound is tight up to a factor of log(1/ϵ). We also consider sketching of general metrics and provide a sketch of size O(n log(1/ϵ) + log log Φ) bits per point, which we show is optimal.
Verbal Serial List Learning in Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Profile Analysis of Interference, Forgetting, and Errors

Abstract Using cluster analysis Libon et al. (2010) found three verbal serial list-learning profiles involving delay memory test performance in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Amnesic MCI (aMCI) patients presented with low scores on delay free recall and recognition tests; mixed MCI (mxMCI) patients scored higher on recognition compared to delay free recall tests; and dysexecutive MCI (dMCI) patients generated relatively intact scores on both delay test conditions. The aim of the current research was to further characterize memory impairment in MCI by examining forgetting/savings, interference from a competing word list, intrusion errors/perseverations, intrusion word frequency, and recognition foils in these three statistically determined MCI groups compared to normal control (NC) participants. The aMCI patients exhibited little savings, generated more highly prototypic intrusion errors, and displayed indiscriminate responding to delayed recognition foils. The mxMCI patients exhibited higher saving scores, fewer and less prototypic intrusion errors, and selectively endorsed recognition foils from the interference list. dMCI patients also selectively endorsed recognition foils from the interference list but performed similarly compared to NC participants. These data suggest the existence of distinct memory impairments in MCI and caution against the routine use of a single memory test score to operationally define MCI. (JINS, 2011, 17, 905–914)
Crimp, Microstructure, and Biomechanics: Analyzing the Eye Using Polarized Light Microscopy

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) is the main risk factor for glaucoma, though sensitivity to IOP varies widely. A leading theory states that the breadth of sensitivity is due to the biomechanical variability between eyes. According to this theory, biomechanically weak eyes suffer glaucoma at lower IOPs whereas robust eyes withstand higher IOPs without glaucomatous neural tissue damage. Therefore, in order to prevent, diagnose, and treat glaucoma, we need to have a better understanding of ocular biomechanics. Ocular biomechanics are intimately tied to the anisotropy and nonlinearity of eye tissue. Both of these macroscale properties are largely determined by the organization of collagen, the main load-bearing component of the eye. The anisotropy is related to the mesoscale collagen structure, whereas the nonlinearity is related to the microstructural collagen fiber waviness or crimp. Although many have studied the collagen anisotropy, few studies of ocular crimp exist. Hence, the microstructural basis for eye biomechanics remains unclear, precluding a mechanistic assessment and understanding of individual sensitivity to IOP. The main goal of this project was to characterize the collagen crimp in the eye. The lack of information on ocular crimp stems largely from the absence of a suitable imaging technique that can quantify ocular crimp with high resolution over a wide field-of-view. We established a method using polarized light microscopy (PLM) to quantify collagen fiber orientation in the eye and characterized the accuracy, repeatability, and robustness of our method. We then used PLM to characterize the crimp distribution in the eye. We also characterized how the crimp differed in eyes fixed at different IOPs and tracked how ocular crimp changed with stretch. Our studies revealed many complex aspects of collagen architecture in the eye, including the existence of fibers that are arranged radially around the optic nerve head and highly uniform crimp in the lamina cribrosa and cornea. Our findings helped elucidate the role of crimp in determining eye biomechanics and provided insight into collagen patterns that play a central role in the pathophysiology of glaucoma.
Phantom Breast Syndrome

Phantom breast syndrome is a type of condition in which patients have a sensation of residual breast tissue and can include both non-painful sensations as well as phantom breast pain. The incidence varies in different studies, ranging from approximately 30% to as high as 80% of patients after mastectomy. It seriously affects quality of life through the combined impact of physical disability and emotional distress. The breast cancer incidence rate in India as well as Western countries has risen in recent years while survival rates have improved; this has effectively increased the number of women for whom post-treatment quality of life is important. In this context, chronic pain following treatment for breast cancer surgery is a significantly under-recognized and under-treated problem. Various types of chronic neuropathic pain may arise following breast cancer surgery due to surgical trauma. The cause of these syndromes is damage to various nerves during surgery. There are a number of assumed factors causing or perpetuating persistent neuropathic pain after breast cancer surgery. Most well-established risk factors for developing phantom breast pain and other related neuropathic pain syndromes are severe acute postoperative pain and greater postoperative use of analgesics. Based upon current evidence, the goals of prophylactic strategies could first target optimal peri-operative pain control and minimizing damage to nerves during surgery. There is some evidence that chronic pain and sensory abnormalities do decrease over time. The main group of oral medications studied includes anti-depressants, anticonvulsants, opioids, N-methyl-D-asparate receptor antagonists, mexilitine, topical lidocaine, cannabinoids, topical capsaicin and glysine antagonists. Neuromodulation techniques such as motor cortex stimulation, spinal cord stimulation, and intrathecal drug therapies have been used to treat various neuropathic pain syndromes.
Laminins in basement membrane assembly

The heterotrimeric laminins are a defining component of all basement membranes and self-assemble into a cell-associated network. The three short arms of the cross-shaped laminin molecule form the network nodes, with a strict requirement for one α, one β and one γ arm. The globular domain at the end of the long arm binds to cellular receptors, including integrins, α-dystroglycan, heparan sulfates and sulfated glycolipids. Collateral anchorage of the laminin network is provided by the proteoglycans perlecan and agrin. A second network is then formed by type IV collagen, which interacts with the laminin network through the heparan sulfate chains of perlecan and agrin and additional linkage by nidogen. This maturation of basement membranes becomes essential at later stages of embryo development.
The effect of the anti‐angiogenic drug sunitinib malate on the vascular architecture of oral squamous cell carcinoma

The effects of anti‐angiogenic therapies in guiding tumor angioarchitecture prompted us to examine the modifications in the vascular network of the oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) produced by the multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor sunitinib malate. Twelve Syrian hamsters had their right buccal pouches submitted to tumor induction with dimethylbenzanthracene and carbamide peroxide for 55 days. The animals were then divided into two groups of six animals each; group I was treated with sunitinib malate and group II (control) was remained untreated. After 4 weeks, the hamsters had their vascular networks casted by Mercox® resin and analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. The qualitative study of the vascular network of the control tumor‐bearing pouches showed images of intussusception and sprouting angiogenesis, flattened blood vessels, abrupt variations in their diameter, and a tortuous course. The samples treated with sunitinib exhibited a qualitative reduction of the signs of vascular proliferation. In addition, these casts presented an attenuation of the morphological features observed in the untreated tumor‐bearing pouches. Quantitative analysis demonstrated that the pouches treated with sunitinib did not show a decrease (P > 0.05) in the vascular diameter and intervessel distances when compared with the control group. The results of the present study suggest that sunitinib may act on the vascular network of oral SCC, normalizing the blood vessels. However, further experiments should be performed in order to determine a judicious dose of this anti‐angiogenic therapy. Microsc. Res. Tech. 77:250–256, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Dissecan osteochondritis of the elbow: a possible explanation with a numerical study

The osteochondritis is a developmental pathology that involves failure of normal development of the subchondral bone and articular cartilage of a joint. The term ‘dissecans’ refers to the case in which the lesion becomes completely detached from the rest of the bone, forming a loose body within the joint space. Such disorder only occurs in elbows of young athletes (children and adolescents) practicing competitive sports that involve repetitive movements of compression and hyperextension. The clinical model is the young baseball player (Figure 1). We are interested in the mechanism leading to such anomalies. It seems that bone remodelling must be considered for the understanding of this phenomenon. Several simulations have been developed to investigate the process of bone remodelling; in our study, we used the SiNuPrOs model (Predoi-Racila and Crolet 2008). The first analysis induced a paradoxal comment: the patient is young without health problems, and one can presume that all his physiological functions are efficient. The results obtained with SiNuPrOs show that an increase in physical activity leads to an increased process of bone remodelling.With such conditions, we should have a very good bone remodelling, but clinical observation proves that it is not. We can then conclude that bone remodelling is faulted: either young bone is immediately destroyed in response to high loading forces or the remodelling process induces itself the destruction of bone. The first assumption needs to accept that a large area of bone is under remodelling during the same period. Why is such a wide area found in one place and not elsewhere? We studied the second possibility because the SiNuPrOs model does not take into account a change in the bone remodelling law in the case of great external loads applied to bone. Several studies have already shown that the collagen plays a key role in bone remodelling: it can initiate the mineralisation process acting as a site of nucleation (Ferreira et al. 2009) and stimulate both bone resorption and formation (Fernandez et al. 2012). So, we decided to investigate the mechanical response of a collagen fibre in earlier steps of mineralisation.
The estimation of high density atmospheric motion vectors and their application to operational numerical weather prediction

Wind is a primary variable for describing atmospheric state. Accurate depiction of the wind field in areas with no conventional data is essential for operational weather forecasting and initialisation of NWP models. Measurement of wind from geostationary platforms is important as it provides near continuous data where conventional observations are lacking, particularly over the data-sparse oceans. Studies as early as Bauer (1976) showed that AMVs have a capacity similar in several aspects to that of radiosondes for representing atmospheric flow. Use of cloud-drift wind vectors is now widespread. Applications include nowcasting, global and regional NWP and tropical cyclone forecasting. The characteristics of the winds and their impact on medium-range global NWP was summarised in Kallberg et Aust. Met. Mag. 51 (2002) 173-180
Environmental Risk Factors in the Etiology of Nonsyndromic Orofacial Clefts in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia

Objectives Nonsyndromic orofacial cleft (NSOFC) etiology is multifactorial and heterogeneous. This study aimed to identify environmental risk factors related to NSOFC in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia. Methods A case-control study carried out in seven hospitals in two main cities (Jeddah and Maddina) over 2 years on parents of 112 infants with NSOFC (infants were also examined) and 138 infant controls, matched for age (≤18 months), gender, and location, completed a questionnaire on 3-month pregestation and first trimester events. Results There was significantly increased NSOFC risk with twin pregnancies (P = .01, odds ratio [OR] = 9.5, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.15 to 78.4), maternal antibiotic use (P = .021, OR = 2.71, 95% CI: 1.11 to 6.62), antiemetic medication (P = .005, OR = 2.85, 95% CI: 1.3 to 6), severe morning sickness (P = .006, OR = 3.6, 95% CI: 1.34 to 9.65), illness (P = .009, OR = 2.19, 95% CI: 1.17 to 4.08), common cold/flu (P = .003, OR = 3.32, 95% CI: 1.48 to 7.58), Jorak smoking (P = .004, OR = 14.07, 95% CI: 1.55 to 128.1), and passive smoking (P = .05, OR = 2.05, 95% CI: 1.05 to 4.01). Reduced NSOFC risk was found with calcium supplementation (P = .02, OR = 0.32, 95% CI: 0.11 to 0.88), incense use (P = .03, OR = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.34 to 0.98), and maternal drinking water, with Zamzam water (which contains a high concentration of minerals) showing a significant protective effect compared with tap water (P = .01, 95% CI: 0.06 to 0.6) and bottled water (P = .02, 95% CI: 0.03 to 0.57). Conclusion Twin births, maternal antibiotic use, antiemetic medication, severe morning sickness, common cold/flu, Jorak smoking, and passive smoking were associated with infants born with NSOFC. Calcium supplementation, incense use, and Zamzam water reduced the risk of NSOFC, raising the possibility of community preventive programs.
Structured Observations Reveal Slow HIV-1 CTL Escape

The existence of viral variants that escape from the selection pressures imposed by cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs) in HIV-1 infection is well documented, but it is unclear when they arise, with reported measures of the time to escape in individuals ranging from days to years. A study of participants enrolled in the SPARTAC (Short Pulse Anti-Retroviral Therapy at HIV Seroconversion) clinical trial allowed direct observation of the evolution of CTL escape variants in 125 adults with primary HIV-1 infection observed for up to three years. Patient HLA-type, longitudinal CD8+ T-cell responses measured by IFN-γ ELISpot and longitudinal HIV-1 gag, pol, and nef sequence data were used to study the timing and prevalence of CTL escape in the participants whilst untreated. Results showed that sequence variation within CTL epitopes at the first time point (within six months of the estimated date of seroconversion) was consistent with most mutations being transmitted in the infecting viral strain rather than with escape arising within the first few weeks of infection. Escape arose throughout the first three years of infection, but slowly and steadily. Approximately one third of patients did not drive any new escape in an HLA-restricted epitope in just under two years. Patients driving several escape mutations during these two years were rare and the median and modal numbers of new escape events in each patient were one and zero respectively. Survival analysis of time to escape found that possession of a protective HLA type significantly reduced time to first escape in a patient (p = 0.01), and epitopes escaped faster in the face of a measurable CD8+ ELISpot response (p = 0.001). However, even in an HLA matched host who mounted a measurable, specific, CD8+ response the average time before the targeted epitope evolved an escape mutation was longer than two years.
Biotribology and biomechanics of articular cartilage

Articular cartilage exhibits outstanding material properties and lasts for a human lifetime even without the ability to regenerate. The new insights described in this thesis on how biopolymers mediate the biomechanical and biotribological properties of cartilage could guide the path towards the design of new biomimetic materials: Mucins are able to reduce friction on various materials through hydration lubrication and minimize wear formation on cartilage surfaces. Moreover, the reported resilience of cartilage, examined through the de- and rehydration of the tissue, should be considered in the development of cartilage substitute materials.
Chromatin dynamics

Organization of eukaryotic genomes into compact, nucleoprotein fibers is key for stuffing a lot of DNA into a tiny nucleus, but these structures also create a requirement for machineries that promote DNA accessibility for nuclear processes such as gene transcription, DNA repair, recombination, and replication. Arguably the most notable of such machineries is a large family of ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling enzymes.1 These are typically multi-subunit enzymes that perform the “heavy lifting” of chromosome dynamics, as they can use the energy from ATP hydrolysis to unfold chromatin fibers, mobilize nucleosomes within the fiber, evict histone components of the nucleosome, or catalyze incorporation or removal of variant histones that have distinct biochemical properties. These enzymes harbor an ATPase subunit that is related to the SF2 superfamily of DNA helicases, and although these enzymes lack helicase activity, several enzymes have ATP-dependent DNA translocase activity that is likely central for their remodeling activities.
Rh-doped MoSe2 as a toxic gas scavenger: a first-principles study

Using first-principles theory, we investigated the most stable configuration for the Rh dopant on a MoSe2 monolayer, and the interaction of the Rh-doped MoSe2 (Rh-MoSe2) monolayer with four toxic gases (CO, NO, NO2 and SO2) to exploit the potential application of the Rh-MoS2 monolayer as a gas sensor or adsorbent. Based on adsorption behavior comparison with other 2D adsorbents and desorption behavior analysis, we assume that the Rh-MoSe2 monolayer is a desirable adsorbent for CO, NO and NO2 storage or removal given the larger adsorption energy (Ead) of −2.00, −2.56 and −1.88 eV, respectively, compared with other materials. In the meanwhile, the Rh-MoSe2 monolayer is a good sensing material for SO2 detection according to its desirable adsorption and desorption behaviors towards the target molecule. Our theoretical calculation would provide a first insight into the TM-doping effect on the structural and electronic properties of the MoSe2 monolayer, and shed light on the application of Rh-MoSe2 for the sensing or disposal of common toxic gases.
Love Canal revisited.

In 1980 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the results of a pilot cytogenetic study of 36 self-selected residents of the Love Canal area in Niagara Falls, NY. This area had previously been used as a chemical dump site and now could only be regarded as an ecological disaster area. After being told the results of the initial cytogenetic tests performed on their peripheral blood lymphocytes, many of the residents were terrified. Some appeared on national television emotionally bemoaning the "fact" that they now were going to get cancer because their blood cells contained chromosomal aberrations. The issue was so important that the US Department of Health and Human Services sent in a team of extramural experts to look at the data and the report that had led to so much anguish among those tested. The team was not allowed to see the data but did write a statement criticizing
Preference of Chinese general public and healthcare providers for a good death

Objectives: The aim of this study is to find and compare the current situation between common people and healthcare providers’ preferences for a good death in the context of Chinese culture. Methods: A cross-sectional anonymous questionnaire survey covering 190 ordinary Chinese people and 323 healthcare providers was conducted. An inventory of the good death was translated and the subjects were surveyed about their attitude toward it. Ethical considerations: Permission to conduct the study was granted by department chiefs, nurse managers and the participants themselves. The participants were informed that they took part on a voluntary and anonymous basis, that they could withdraw at any time, that they had the right to ignore questions they did not wish to answer, and that whatever they chose to do would not jeopardize their employment conditions. Results: The attributes that were perceived as important by major respondents for a good death were maintaining hope and pleasure, good relationship with medical staff, good relationship with family, independence, environment comfort, being respected as an individual, preparation for death, physical and psychological comfort, dying in a favorite place, and not being a burden to others. And some relatively less important characteristics were life completion, receiving enough treatment, natural death, controlling over the future, unawareness of death, pride and beauty, feeling that one’s life is worth living, and religious and spiritual comfort. We also found that healthcare providers were more likely than general out-patients to perceive “physical and psychological comfort,” “dying in a favorite place,” “good relationship with medical staff,” and “natural death” as important for a good death. Conclusion: This study offers healthcare providers in China a fundamental understanding of the normal expectations of the general public for a good death. It is believed that these findings in our study are valuable to improve palliative care in China. We compared the attitudes of Chinese and Westerners and found some differences, which suggested that cultural difference should be an important consideration to achieve a good death in China. We also found that healthcare providers see good death differently from general public, indicating that the criteria for good death warrant further study.
A combined OFDM/SDMA approach

Two major technical challenges in the design of future broadband wireless networks are the impairments of the propagation channel and the need for spectral efficiency. To mitigate the channel impairments, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) can be used, which transforms a frequency-selective channel in a set of frequency-flat channels. On the other hand, to achieve higher spectral efficiency, space division multiple access (SDMA) can be used, which reuses bandwidth by multiplexing signals based on their spatial signature. In this paper, we present a combined OFDM/SDMA approach that couples the capabilities of the two techniques to tackle both challenges at once. We propose four algorithms, ranging from a low-complexity linear minimum mean squared error (MMSE) solution to the optimal maximum likelihood (ML) detector. By applying per-carrier successive interference cancellation (pcSIC), initially proposed for DS-CDMA, and introducing selective state insertion (SI), we achieve a good tradeoff between performance and complexity. A case study demonstrates that, compared to the MMSE approach, our pcSIC-SI-OFDM/SDMA algorithm obtains a performance gain of 10 dB for a BER of 10/sup -3/, while it is only three times more complex. On the other hand, it is two orders of magnitude less complex than the ML approach, for a performance penalty of only 2 dB.