Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lessons Learned from Crime Caught on Camera

Objectives: The widespread use of camera surveillance in public places offers criminologists the opportunity to systematically and unobtrusively observe crime, their main subject matter. The purpose of this essay is to inform the reader of current developments in research on crimes caught on camera. Methods: We address the importance of direct observation of behavior and review criminological studies that used observational methods, with and without cameras, including the ones published in this issue. We also discuss the uses of camera recordings in other social sciences and in biology. Results: We formulate six key insights that emerge from the literature and make recommendations for future research. Conclusions: Camera recordings of real-life crime are likely to become part of the criminological tool kit that will help us better understand the situational and interactional elements of crime. Like any source, it has limitations that are best addressed by triangulation with other sources.
Drug drug interaction extraction from biomedical literature using syntax convolutional neural network

Motivation: Detecting drug-drug interaction (DDI) has become a vital part of public health safety. Therefore, using text mining techniques to extract DDIs from biomedical literature has received great attentions. However, this research is still at an early stage and its performance has much room to improve. Results: In this article, we present a syntax convolutional neural network (SCNN) based DDI extraction method. In this method, a novel word embedding, syntax word embedding, is proposed to employ the syntactic information of a sentence. Then the position and part of speech features are introduced to extend the embedding of each word. Later, auto-encoder is introduced to encode the traditional bag-of-words feature (sparse 0–1 vector) as the dense real value vector. Finally, a combination of embedding-based convolutional features and traditional features are fed to the softmax classifier to extract DDIs from biomedical literature. Experimental results on the DDIExtraction 2013 corpus show that SCNN obtains a better performance (an F-score of 0.686) than other state-of-the-art methods. Availability and Implementation: The source code is available for academic use at http://202.118. 75.18:8080/DDI/SCNN-DDI.zip. Contact: yangzh@dlut.edu. cn Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Vocal tract resonances in speech, singing, and playing musical instruments

In both the voice and musical wind instruments, a valve (vocal folds, lips, or reed) lies between an upstream and downstream duct: trachea and vocal tract for the voice; vocal tract and bore for the instrument. Examining the structural similarities and functional differences gives insight into their operation and the duct‐valve interactions. In speech and singing, vocal tract resonances usually determine the spectral envelope and usually have a smaller influence on the operating frequency. The resonances are important not only for the phonemic information they produce, but also because of their contribution to voice timbre, loudness, and efficiency. The role of the tract resonances is usually different in brass and some woodwind instruments, where they modify and to some extent compete or collaborate with resonances of the instrument to control the vibration of a reed or the player's lips, and/or the spectrum of air flow into the instrument. We give a brief overview of oscillator mechanisms and vocal tract acoustics. We discuss recent and current research on how the acoustical resonances of the vocal tract are involved in singing and the playing of musical wind instruments. Finally, we compare techniques used in determining tract resonances and suggest some future developments.
Predicting Development of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in Frontotemporal Dementia.

BACKGROUND A proportion of patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) also develop amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). OBJECTIVE We aimed to establish the risk of developing ALS in patients presenting with FTD and to identify the relevant clinical variables associated with progression from FTD to FTD-ALS. METHODS Of 218 consecutive patients with FTD, 10.1% had a dual FTD-ALS diagnosis at presentation. The remaining 152 FTD patients with follow-up of at least 12 months were included in the present study. We calculated the rate of progression to FTD-ALS and compared the baseline characteristics of FTD patients who developed ALS to those who did not develop ALS. RESULTS Five percent of FTD patients developed ALS. The incidence rate of ALS was 6.7/100 patient-years in patients with FTD symptoms since 1 year, which declined with duration of FTD symptoms. No FTD patients developed ALS after 5 years. Five out of 8 FTD patients who developed ALS had presented with a mixed behavioral variant FTD and progressive non-fluent aphasia (bvFTD+PNFA) phenotype, 2 with bvFTD, and 1 with PNFA. Progression to FTD-ALS was significantly more frequent in patients with bvFTD+PNFA compared to those without this phenotype (p < 0.0001, OR 38.3, 95% CI: 7.3 to 199.2), and in FTD patients who carried the C9orf72 repeat expansion compared to those without the repeat expansion (p = 0.02, OR 8.0, 95% CI: 1.7 to 38.6). CONCLUSIONS FTD patients with a mixed bvFTD+PNFA phenotype and with a C9orf72 repeat expansion should be closely monitored for the possible development of ALS. The risk of developing ALS in FTD appears to decline with the duration of FTD symptoms.
JAK3 and PI3K mediate bovine Interferon‐tau stimulated gene expression in the blood neutrophils

Interferon tau, a 23 kDa trophoblast derived protein diffuses out from the uterus into the circulation and leads to the expression of IFNτ stimulated genes viz. ISG15 and OAS1 in blood neutrophils. The IFNτ pathway is species as well as tissue specific. To unsnarl the IFNτ downstream signaling pathway, the blood neutrophils were incubated simultaneously with 10 ng/ml of recombinant bovine interferon tau and the inhibitors of JAK2 (AG490), JAK3 (CP690550), p38 (SB202190), PI3K/Akt (LY294002), and MAPK/Erk (U0126) at specific doses for 4‐hr duration. The IFNτ pathway was determined through real‐time gene expression of ISG15 and OAS1; immunocytochemistry of ISG15; and Western blotting of ISG15, OAS1, pJAK3 and PI3K. The ISG15 and OAS1 expression decreased significantly (p < 0.001) in the presence of pJAK3 and PI3K inhibitors as compared to a positive control where only interferon tau was used. Immunocytochemistry revealed an attenuated ISG15 response while stimulating blood neutrophils with pJAK3 inhibitor (CP690550) and PI3K inhibitor (LY294002). Similarly, Western blot analysis of neutrophil protein fraction showed weak signals of ISG15, OAS1, pJAK3 and PI3K in the presence of pJAK3 and PI3K inhibitors. The expression profile, immunocytochemistry and western blot analysis revealed a JAK3 and PI3K mediated interferon‐tau stimulated gene expression in blood neutrophils.
Glomerular and Tubular Functions in Children and Adults with Transfusion-Dependent Thalassemia

This study aimed at assessing renal functions in patients with transfusion-dependent thalassemia (TDT). Fifty patients and 30 controls were enrolled in this prospective study. Serum levels of electrolytes and albumin were measured by a spectrophotometer. Serum levels of cystatin-C and urinary levels of β2-microglobulin were measured by nephelometric method. Thirty-eight patients were receiving deferasirox and 8 were on deferiprone. Serum electrolytes and albumin levels of the patients were found to be within normal ranges. Urinary β2-microglobulin and serum cystatin-C levels were significantly higher in patients than controls. They did not significantly differ between the subgroup of patients on deferiprone and the control group, whereas they were found to be higher in patients using deferasirox compared to controls. Urinary β2-microglobulin levels significantly increased in patients who were receiving high-dose deferasirox compared to those who were receiving a daily dose of 15-20 mg/kg or controls. Subclinical renal injury may be present in TDT patients.
Gut Permeability and Microbiota in Parkinson's Disease: Role of Depression, Tryptophan Catabolites, Oxidative and Nitrosative Stress and Melatonergic Pathways.

BACKGROUND Increased gut permeability (leaky gut) and alterations in gut microbiota are now widely accepted as relevant to the etiology, course and treatment of many neuropsychiatric disorders, including Parkinson disease (PD). Although a wide array of data on the biological underpinnings of PD has not yet been linked to such gut-associated changes, increased gut permeability and dysregulated microbiota alter many pathways germane to PD. METHODS In this article we review and integrate these wider biological changes in PD, including increased oxidative and nitrosative stress, immune-inflammatory processes, tryptophan catabolites and alterations in serotoninergic and melatoninergic pathways. RESULTS These wider biological changes in PD are compatible with alterations in gut permeability and changes in gut microbiota. By driving tryptophan down the kynurenine pathway, pro-inflammatory cytokines and chronic stress-driven activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis decrease the availability of serotonin as a precursor for activation of the melatonergic pathways. CONCLUSION Decreased local melatonin synthesis in glia, gut, neuronal and immune cells is likely to be important to the etiology, course and management of PD.
The metabonomics study of P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1) deficiency inhibiting the progression of atherosclerosis in LDLR-/- mice

Atherosclerosis (AS) is a multi-factorial chronic disease commonly associated with the mechanisms of metabolism disorder, endothelial dysfunction and chronic inflammation. AS an inflammatory molecule, p-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1) played an important role in the inflammatory process of atherogenesis involving the recruitment of leukocyte and transmitting signals to activate leukocyte during the adhesion process. So far, there has been little study regarding the effects of PSGL-1 on AS progression and the metabolic regulation. In this report, we studied the effect of PSGL-1 deficiency on the formation and progression of AS and the metabolic regulation by use of LDLR-/-, PSGL-1-/- transgenic mice based on metabonomics. It was found that the PSGL-1 deficiency reduced the atherosclerotic plaque area, inflammatory cells infiltration and fiber hyperplasia during the AS development. The serum metabonomics study showed that the LDLR-/- ,PSGL-1-/- mice had higher levels of HDL, valine, acetate, pyruvate, choline, PC, GPC and glycine, and lower levels of LDL+VLDL and lactate at the early stage of atherosclerosis, while lactate, citrate and glutamine showed statistical significance at the late stage of atherosclerosis. These results showed that the PSGL-1 deficiency inhibited the AS progression and regulated glucose metabolism, lipid metabolism, amino acid and phospholipid metabolism in LDLR-/- mice.
Middle east respiratory syndrome corona virus spike glycoprotein suppresses macrophage responses via DPP4-mediated induction of IRAK-M and PPARγ

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) is transmitted via the respiratory tract and causes severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome by infecting lung epithelial cells and macrophages. Macrophages can readily recognize the virus and eliminate it. MERS-CoV infects cells via its Spike (S) glycoprotein that binds on Dipeptidyl-Peptidase 4 (DPP4) receptor present on macrophages. Whether this Spike/DPP4 association affects macrophage responses remains unknown. Herein we demonstrated that infection of macrophages with lentiviral particles pseudotyped with MERS-CoV S glycoprotein results in suppression of macrophage responses since it reduced the capacity of macrophages to produce TNFa and IL-6 in naive and LPS-activated THP-1 macrophages and augmented LPS-induced production of the immunosuppressive cytokine IL-10. MERS-CoV S glycoprotein induced the expression of the negative regulator of TLR signaling IRAK-M as well as of the transcriptional repressor PPARγ. Inhibition of DPP4 by its inhibitor sitagliptin or siRNA abrogated the effects of MERS-CoV S glycoprotein on IRAK-M, PPARγ and IL-10, confirming that its immunosuppressive effects were mediated by DPP4 receptor. The effect was observed both in THP-1 macrophages and human primary peripheral blood monocytes. These findings support a DPP4-mediated suppressive action of MERS-CoV in macrophages and suggest a potential target for effective elimination of its pathogenicity.
Better k-best Parsing

We discuss the relevance of k-best parsing to recent applications in natural language processing, and develop efficient algorithms for k-best trees in the framework of hypergraph parsing. To demonstrate the efficiency, scalability and accuracy of these algorithms, we present experiments on Bikel's implementation of Collins' lexicalized PCFG model, and on Chiang's CFG-based decoder for hierarchical phrase-based translation. We show in particular how the improved output of our algorithms has the potential to improve results from parse reranking systems and other applications.
Overexpressing Exogenous 5-Enolpyruvylshikimate-3-Phosphate Synthase (EPSPS) Genes Increases Fecundity and Auxin Content of Transgenic Arabidopsis Plants

Transgenic glyphosate-tolerant plants overproducing EPSPS (5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase) may exhibit enhanced fitness in glyphosate-free environments. If so, introgression of transgenes overexpressing EPSPS into wild relative species may lead to increased competitiveness of crop-wild hybrids, resulting in unpredicted environmental impact. Assessing fitness effects of transgenes overexpressing EPSPS in a model plant species can help address this question, while elucidating how overproducing EPSPS affects the fitness-related traits of plants. We produced segregating T2 and T3 Arabidopsis thaliana lineages with or without a transgene overexpressing EPSPS isolated from rice or Agrobacterium (CP4). For each of the three transgenes, we compared glyphosate tolerance, some fitness-related traits, and auxin (indole-3-acetic acid) content in transgene-present, transgene-absent, empty vector (EV), and parental lineages in a common-garden experiment. We detected substantially increased glyphosate tolerance in T2 plants of transgene-present lineages that overproduced EPSPS. We also documented significant increases in fecundity, which was associated with increased auxin content in T3 transgene-present lineages containing rice EPSPS genes, compared with their segregating transgene-absent lineages, EV, and parental controls. Our results from Arabidopsis with nine transgenic events provide a strong support to the hypothesis that transgenic plants overproducing EPSPS can benefit from a fecundity advantage in glyphosate-free environments. Stimulated biosynthesis of auxin, an important plant growth hormone, by overproducing EPSPS may play a role in enhanced fecundity of the transgenic Arabidopsis plants. The obtained knowledge is useful for assessing environmental impact caused by introgression of transgenes overproducing EPSPS from any GE crop into populations of its wild relatives.
Dynamic Change of Red Cell Distribution Width Levels in Prediction of Hospital Mortality in Chinese Elderly Patients with Septic Shock

Background: The normal range of red cell distribution width (RDW) level is <15%. Several studies have indicated that a high RDW level was associated with mortality in critically ill patients, and the patients with a high RDW level need increased focus in clinical practice. In view of the difficulty in defining the specific value of high RDW level, the key is to focus on the patient with the level beyond the normal upper limit. This study aimed to determine whether dynamic change of RDW levels, rather than the level itself, is predictive of death in elderly patients with septic shock when RDW level is beyond 15%. Methods: Between September 2013 and September 2015, the elderly septic shock patients with RDW level beyond 15% were enrolled in this study. The RDW levels were measured at enrollment (day 1), and days 4 and 7 after enrollment. Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores were recorded simultaneously. Results: A total of 45 patients, including 32 males and 13 females, were included in the final analysis. Based on their hospital outcomes, these patients were divided into the survivor group (n = 26) and the nonsurvivor group (n = 19). There were no significant differences in age, gender, body mass index, initial level of RDW, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II scores, and SOFA scores between survivors and nonsurvivors. At days 4 and 7 measurement, both RDW level (median [interquartile range]: day 4: 15.8 [2.0]% vs. 16.7 [2.0]%, P = 0.011; and day 7: 15.6 [1.8]% vs. 17.7 [2.5]%, P = 0.001) and SOFA scores (day 4: 7.0 [4.0] vs. 16.0 [5.0], P < 0.001, day 7: 5.5 [4.0] vs. 17.0 [5.0], P < 0.001) were significantly lower in survivors than those in nonsurvivors. Dynamic changes of RDW and SOFA scores in survivor group were significantly different from those in nonsurvivor group (all P < 0.05). Continuous increase in RDW level was observed in 10 of the 13 nonsurvivors, but only in 3 of the 26 survivors. The level of RDW7 and dynamic changes significantly correlated with their counterparts of SOFA scores (all P < 0.05), whereas the levels of RDW1 and RDW4 had no significant correlation with their counterparts of SOFA scores (all P > 0.05). Conclusions: Continuous increase in RDW level, rather than the level of RDW itself, was more useful in predicting hospital death in elderly patients with septic shock when the level of RDW was >15%. The dynamic changes of RDW were highly correlated with the SOFA score in the patients.
Attitudes Toward Adoption of Evidence-Based Practice Among Physical Therapists and Social Workers: A Lesson for Interprofessional Continuing Education

Introduction: Professionals who embrace evidence-based practice (EBP) continually search for research evidence, appraise, and apply it, while interacting with each client in his/her situation. This dynamic learning process takes a substantial commitment from professionals and requires a positive attitude toward EBP. The main objective of this research was to explore the following: 1) distinct dimensions of attitudes toward adoption of EBP among physical therapists and social workers and 2) the relationship between these dimensions of attitudes and selected background characteristics of the compared professions. Methods: Cross-sectional web-based surveys were conducted in 2012 and 2013 on a population-based sample from the Icelandic Physical Therapy Association and the Icelandic Association of Social Workers. The participants were 214 physical therapists (76.3% women) and 163 social workers (92.2% women). The Evidence-Based Practice Attitude Scale (EBPAS) and its four subscales were used to survey dimensions of attitudes toward EBP. Scores on the total EBPAS range from zero to five, with a higher score indicating a more positive attitude toward EBPs. Linear regression was used to explore the relationship between the EBPAS scales and selected background variables. Results: The overall response rate was 39%. Both professions generally held positive attitudes toward adoption of EBP, with an average EBPAS total score of 3.06 (SD = 0.46). The professionals' background characteristics were independently related to at least one dimension of attitudes toward EBP. More positive attitudes were associated with being a physical therapist, a woman, in a younger age group, having a graduate degree, working with individual clients, and having at least five same-profession coworkers. Discussion: The results may be useful to design continuing education focusing on EBP. Such inventions should be targeted to professional attitudes, background, and other contextual factors.
Position error compensation in quadrature analog magnetic encoders through an iterative optimization algorithm

This paper analyses the position error compensation in quadrature analog magnetic encoders through the iterative linear search optimization algorithm of "steepest descent". In current literature, the sine/cosine signals from the encoder are compensated considering only the gain mismatch, the DC offset components and the non-orthogonality. Nevertheless, the magnetic field distortion due to the non-homogeneity of the magnet and the distortion of the signals due to the mechanical misalignment between the rotation axis of the motor shaft, the magnet center and the chip sensor are generally neglected. In this work, all of these factors are taken into account. The results show that a higher order approximation for modeling the harmonic distortion contained in the encoder signals leads to a slight biasing in the convergence of the compensating parameters. However, the unconstrained and multivariate optimization algorithm of steepest descent fairly minimizes the error from the objective function F(xn) allowing achieve a compensation efficiency of up to 66%, thus increasing the overall accuracy of this kind of magnetic encoders and improving the performance of any application where they provide rotary position feedback.
Computed Tomography Measure of Lung at Risk and Lung Function Decline in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Rationale: The rate of decline of lung function is greater than age‐related change in a substantial proportion of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, even after smoking cessation. Regions of the lung adjacent to emphysematous areas are subject to abnormal stretch during respiration, and this biomechanical stress likely influences emphysema initiation and progression. Objectives: To assess whether quantifying this penumbra of lung at risk would predict FEV1 decline. Methods: We analyzed paired inspiratory‐expiratory computed tomography images at baseline of 680 subjects participating in a large multicenter study (COPDGene) over approximately 5 years. By matching inspiratory and expiratory images voxel by voxel using image registration, we calculated the Jacobian determinant, a measure of local lung expansion and contraction with respiration. We measured the distance between each normal voxel to the nearest emphysematous voxel, and quantified the percentage of normal voxels within each millimeter distance from emphysematous voxels as mechanically affected lung (MAL). Multivariable regression analyses were performed to assess the relationship between the Jacobian determinant, MAL, and FEV1 decline. Measurements and Main Results: The mean (SD) rate of decline in FEV1 was 39.0 (58.6) ml/yr. There was a progressive decrease in the mean Jacobian determinant of both emphysematous and normal voxels with increasing disease stage (P < 0.001). On multivariable analyses, the mean Jacobian determinant of normal voxels within 2 mm of emphysematous voxels (MAL2) was significantly associated with FEV1 decline. In mild‐moderate disease, for participants at or above the median MAL2 (threshold, 36.9%), the mean decline in FEV1 was 56.4 (68.0) ml/yr versus 43.2 (59.9) ml/yr for those below the median (P = 0.044). Conclusions: Areas of normal‐appearing lung are mechanically influenced by emphysematous areas and this lung at risk is associated with lung function decline. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials. gov (NCT00608764).