Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An eye tracking index for the salience estimation in visual stimuli

Every day we face visual stimuli able to catch our attention, but this aspect becomes crucial if the visual material has the purpose to spread a message aimed at engaging the observer. In this framework, a worthy aspect is how to measure the “visual engagement” produced by visual stimuli exposure. To this purpose, in the present study, employing the eye tracking technique, an index of visual attention (VA) has been proposed, and applied to pictures belonging to antismoking public service announcements, so to investigate the saliency of health-promoting messages in a young sample. The VA index is a non-dimensional index, defined as the ratio between the percentage of the total time spent fixating an area of interest (AOI) weighted on the total time the picture is showed on the screen, and the percentage of the area occupied by the AOI weighted on the total dimension of the picture. It could be predicted that AOI reporting higher VA values will be the ones having more saliency. Three antismoking Public Service Announcements (PSAs) images have been selected for the study and for each of them were identified: i) “picture” (such as a young man with a sarcastic expression depicted while smoking a cigarette, or the image of a lady who underwent a tracheotomy) and ii) “writing” (text of the antismoking message) AOIs. Main results of the analysis revealed that writing AOIs obtained statistically significant higher VA values than visual AOIs (p=0.03), but these held true only for an ineffective PSA, probably because the text was not perceived as pertinent with the surrounding image. On the other hand, an effective PSA obtained higher VA values in response to visual than writing AOIs observation (p=0.02). The VA index appears therefore to represent a useful tool to measure the saliency of visual stimuli elements.
THE IMPACT OF DEMOGRAPHY, GROWTH AND PUBLIC POLICY ON HOUSEHOLD SAVING: A CASE STUDY OF PAKISTAN

The present study investigates the behaviour of household saving by employing the Johansen-Juselius cointegration technique and error correction model to determine the long run and short run dynamics of the system respectively using “time-series” data for Pakistan over the period 1972-2003. The study found the existence of one cointegrating vector, indicating a valid long run economic relationship among the determinants of household saving. The study established that there exists a valid long run inverse relationship between household saving and demographic variables. The results also reveal that income and growth variables have a significant positive effect on household saving. Similarly, the positive impact of real interest rates on saving indicates that the substitution effect dominates the income effect in Pakistan. The study also found that the rate of inflation affects household saving rate negatively. Furthermore, public saving ‘crowds-out’ private saving less proportionately in Pakistan, than in other comparable cases.
Developmental evidence for obstetric adaptation of the human female pelvis

Significance The obstetrical dilemma hypothesis states that the human female pelvis represents a compromise between designs most suitable for childbirth and bipedal locomotion, respectively. This hypothesis has been challenged recently on biomechanical, metabolic, and biocultural grounds. Here we provide evidence for the pelvis’ developmental adaptation to the problem of birthing large-headed/large-bodied babies. We show that the female pelvis reaches its obstetrically most adequate morphology around the time of maximum fertility but later reverts to a mode of development similar to that of males, which significantly reduces the dimensions of the birth canal. These developmental changes are likely mediated by hormonal changes during puberty and menopause, indicating “on-demand” adjustment of pelvic shape to the needs of childbirth. The bony pelvis of adult humans exhibits marked sexual dimorphism, which is traditionally interpreted in the framework of the “obstetrical dilemma” hypothesis: Giving birth to large-brained/large-bodied babies requires a wide pelvis, whereas efficient bipedal locomotion requires a narrow pelvis. This hypothesis has been challenged recently on biomechanical, metabolic, and biocultural grounds, so that it remains unclear which factors are responsible for sex-specific differences in adult pelvic morphology. Here we address this issue from a developmental perspective. We use methods of biomedical imaging and geometric morphometrics to analyze changes in pelvic morphology from late fetal stages to adulthood in a known-age/known-sex forensic/clinical sample. Results show that, until puberty, female and male pelves exhibit only moderate sexual dimorphism and follow largely similar developmental trajectories. With the onset of puberty, however, the female trajectory diverges substantially from the common course, resulting in rapid expansion of obstetrically relevant pelvic dimensions up to the age of 25–30 y. From 40 y onward females resume a mode of pelvic development similar to males, resulting in significant reduction of obstetric dimensions. This complex developmental trajectory is likely linked to the pubertal rise and premenopausal fall of estradiol levels and results in the obstetrically most adequate pelvic morphology during the time of maximum female fertility. The evidence that hormones mediate female pelvic development and morphology supports the view that solutions of the obstetrical dilemma depend not only on selection and adaptation but also on developmental plasticity as a response to ecological/nutritional factors during a female’s lifetime.
Analyzing and Introducing Structures in Deep Convolutional Neural Networks. (Analyse et structuration des réseaux de neurones convolutifs profonds)

This thesis studies empirical properties of deep convolutional neural networks, and in particular the Scattering Transform. Indeed, the theoretical analysis of the latter is hard and until now remains a challenge: successive layers of neurons have the ability to produce complex computations, whose nature is still unknown, thanks to learning algorithms whose convergence guarantees are not well understood. However, those neural networks are outstanding tools to tackle a wide variety of difficult tasks, like image classification or more formally statistical prediction. The Scattering Transform is a non-linear mathematical operator whose properties are inspired by convolutional networks. In this work, we apply it to natural images, and obtain competitive accuracies with unsupervised architectures. Cascading a supervised neural networks after the Scattering permits to compete on ImageNet2012, which is the largest dataset of labeled images available. An efficient GPU implementation is provided. Then, this thesis focuses on the properties of layers of neurons at various depths. We show that a progressive dimensionality reduction occurs and we study the numerical properties of the supervised classification when we vary the hyper parameters of the network. Finally, we introduce a new class of convolutional networks, whose linear operators are structured by the symmetry groups of the classification task.
HUBUNGAN KELENGKAPAN IMUNISASI DENGAN KEJADIAN PNEUMONIA PADA BALITA DI PUSKESMAS RAWAT INAP GEDUNG AIR KOTA BANDAR LAMPUNG TAHUN 2015

Pneumonia adalah penyakit saluran nafas bagian atas disebabkan oleh bakteri, virus, dan jamur yang merupakan penyebab utama pada balita, Banyak faktor yang mempengaruhi kejadian pneumonia diantaranya adalah kelengkapan imunisasi diantaranya Hb, DPT, Campak, Polio, dan BCG. Berdasarkan data Dinas Kesehatan Kota Bandar Lampung dari 403 kasus pneumonia pada balita di Provinsi Lampung 2014, tercatat 199 (49,3%) kasus pneumonia pada balita terjadi di Wilayah Kerja Puskesmas Gedung Air dan diketahui balita yang melalukan imunisasi secara lengkap sebanyak 71 balita. Tujuan penelitian ini untuk mengetahui hubungan kelengkapan imunisasi dengan kejadian pneumonia pada balita di Puskesmas Rawat Inap Gedung Air Kota Bandar Lampung Tahun 2015. Jenis penelitian kuantitatif, menggunakan survey analitik dengan pendekatan crossectional dan Populasi dalam penelitian ini adalah seluruh ibu yang memiliki bayi 0-24 bulan yang berkunjung pada bulan April di Pusesmas Rawat InapGedung Air Kota Bandar Lampung Tahun 2015, pengambilan sampelmenggunak anteknik sampling accidenal sampling sebanyak 71 balita dengan alat ukur Lemabar Observasi dengan cara ukur Ceklist, Analisa bivariat chi squre. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian diketahui terdapat hubungan antara kelengkapan imunisasi dengan kejadian pneumonia pada balita di Puskesmas Rawat Inap Gedung Air Kota Bandar Lampung Tahun 2015, dengan PValue < α (0,001) < 0,05) dan Odds Rasio (OR) = 12,2. Saran dalam penelitian ini perlu lebih ditingkatkannya pemberian dukungan terhadap peningkatan pengetahuan mengenai faktor-faktor dan memberikan penyuluhan secara rutin tentang pneumonia danimunisasi.
Distributed low-complexity output feedback tracking control for nonlinear multi-agent systems with unmodeled dynamics and prescribed performance

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the prescribed performance distributed output consensus problem under directed graphs. With the utilisation of a filter, the original system of each follower can be converted into a strict-feedback system. Then, we design a prescribed performance output feedback distributed control protocol by applying the backstepping approach in the converted system. The proposed protocol can guarantee that the consensus tracking error of each agent evolves in predefined decaying bounds to achieve the prescribed performance, that is, the consensus tracking error of each agent converges to a predetermined residual set at a convergence rate no less than a prespecified value and exhibiting a maximum overshoot less than a preassigned constant. Moreover, during the process of consensus, all the signals in the closed-loop system are globally uniformly bounded. A simulation example is given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control protocol.
Multiple Binary Images Watermarking in Spatial and Frequency Domains

Editing, reproduction and distribution of the digital multimedia are becoming extremely easier and faster with the existence of the internet and the availability of pervasive and powerful multimedia tools. Digital watermarking has emerged as a possible method to tackle these issues. This paper proposes a scheme using which more data can be inserted into an image in different domains using different techniques. This increases the embedding capacity. Using the proposed scheme 24 binary images can be embedded in the DCT domain and 12 binary images can be embedded in the spatial domain using LSB substitution technique in a single RGB image. The proposed scheme also provides an extra level of security to the watermark image by scrambling the image before embedding it into the host image. Experimental results show that the proposed watermarking method results in almost invisible difference between the watermarked image and the original image and is also robust against various image processing attacks.
Multi-task Adaptive Matching Pursuit for Sparse Signal Recovery Exploiting Signal Structures

Multi-task compressive sensing is a framework that, by leveraging the useful information contained in multiple tasks, significantly reduces the number of measurements required for sparse signal recovery and achieves improved sparse reconstruction performance of all tasks. In this paper, a novel multi-task adaptive matching pursuit (MT-AMP) algorithm based on a hierarchical Bayesian model is proposed with the exploitation of both the group structure across different tasks and the intra-group correlation, yielding an effective means to simultaneously perform sparse recovery as well as learn the statistical inter-task and intra-group relationships. Experimental results using both synthetic data and real data sets demonstrate the superiorities of the proposed method over existing state-of-the-art algorithms.
Oxidized LDL can promote human monocyte survival.

To the Editor: It is likely that in the early stages of atherosclerosis, circulating monocytes migrate into the subendothelial space, where they can mature into foam cells.1 2 3 4 5 There is in vivo and in vitro evidence for both foam cell death but also enhanced survival and growth.6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Human peripheral blood monocytes (≥95% pure) were obtained by countercurrent elutriation and usually cultured in minimal essential medium, α-modification (α-MEM)/1% pooled normal human serum (HS). 23 24 The number of viable cells was measured by scraping the tissue culture surface and counting them in a hemocytometer with trypan blue exclusion or by propidium iodide staining (flow cytometry). Oxidized LDL (ox-LDL) was prepared as before.14 The number of viable monocytes declined when they were left untreated or treated with native LDL; this loss was reduced by both ox-LDL and acetylated LDL (ac-LDL; see the Table⇓). A dose response for the ox-LDL effect is provided in the online Figure⇓ (please see http://atvb.ahajournals.org) and, as we found before with murine macrophages,14 doses of ox-LDL ≤50 μg/mL generally promoted survival; at these survival-inducing doses, the cells spread on the tissue …
‘Yeah, I’ve grown; I can’t go out anymore’: differences in perceived risks between girls and boys entering adolescence

Abstract This analysis is based on data from the Global Early Adolescent Study, which aims to understand the factors that predispose young people aged 10–14 years to positive or negative health trajectories. Specifically, interview transcripts from 202 adolescents and 191 parents across six diverse urban sites (Baltimore, Ghent, Nairobi, Ile Ife, Assuit and Shanghai) were analysed to compare the perceived risks associated with entering adolescence and how these risks differed by gender. Findings reveal that in all sites except Ghent, both young people and their parents perceived that girls face greater risks related to their sexual and reproductive health, and because of their sexual development, were perceived to require more protection. In contrast, when boys grow up, they and their parents recognised that their independence broadened, and parents felt that boys were strong enough to protect themselves. This has negative consequences as well, as boys were perceived to be more prone to risks associated with street violence and peer pressure. These differences in perceptions of vulnerability and related mobility are markers of a gender system that separates young women and men’s roles, responsibilities and behaviours in ways that widen gender power imbalance with lifelong social and health consequences for people of both sexes.
Urinary biomarkers for the diagnosis of cervical cancer by quantitative label-free mass spectrometry analysis

Due to the invasive procedure associated with Pap smears for diagnosing cervical cancer and the conservative culture of developing countries, identifying less invasive biomarkers is of great interest. Quantitative label-free mass spectrometry was performed to identify potential biomarkers in the urine samples of patients with cervical cancer. This technique was used to study the differential expression of urinary proteomes between normal individuals and cancer patients. The alterations in the levels of urinary proteomes in normal and cancer patients were analyzed by Progenesis label-free software and the results revealed that 60 proteins were upregulated while 73 proteins were downregulated in patients with cervical cancer. This method could enrich high molecular weight proteins from 100 kDa. The protein-protein interactions were obtained by Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins analysis and predicted the biological pathways involving various functions including cell-cell adhesion, blood coagulation, metabolic processes, stress response and the regulation of morphogenesis. Two notable upregulated urinary proteins were leucine-rich α-2-glycoprotein (LRG1) and isoform-1 of multimerin-1 (MMRN1), while the 3 notable downregulated proteins were S100 calcium-binding protein A8 (S100A8), serpin B3 (SERPINB3) and cluster of differentiation-44 antigen (CD44). The validation of these 5 proteins was performed by western blot analysis and the biomarker sensitivity of these proteins was analyzed individually and in combination with receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC) analysis. Quantitative mass spectrometry analysis may allow for the identification of urinary proteins of high molecular weight. The proteins MMRN1 and LRG1 were presented, for the first time, to be highly expressed urinary proteins in cervical cancer. ROC analysis revealed that LRG1 and SERPINB3 could be individually used, and these 5 proteins could also be combined, to detect the occurrence of cervical cancer.
Graphs with tiny vector chromatic numbers and huge chromatic numbers

Karger Motwani and Sudan (1998) introduced the notion of a vector coloring of a graph. In particular they show that every k-colorable graph is also vector k-colorable, and that for constant k, graphs that are vector k-colorable can be colored by roughly /spl Delta//sup 1-2/k/ colors. Here /spl Delta/ is the maximum degree in the graph. Their results play a major role in the best approximation algorithms for coloring and for maximal independent set. We show that for every positive integer k there are graphs that are vector k-colorable but do not have independent sets significantly larger than n//spl Delta//sup 1-2/k/ (and hence cannot be colored with significantly less that /spl Delta//sup 1-2/k/ colors). For k = O(log n/log log n) we show vector k-colorable graphs that do not have independent sets of size (log n)/sup c/, for some constant c. This shows that the vector chromatic number does not approximate the chromatic number within factors better than n/polylogn. As part of our proof, we analyze "property testing" algorithms that distinguish between graphs that have an independent set of size n/k, and graphs that are "far" from having such an independent set. Our bounds on the sample size improve previous bounds of Goldreich, Goldwasser and Ron (1998) for this problem.
Metabolic risk factors for vascular disease in obstructive sleep apnea: a matched controlled study.

RATIONALE Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is reported to have a metabolic profile predisposing to cardiovascular disease. However, previous case-control studies have not adequately controlled for confounders. OBJECTIVES To determine whether OSA is associated with increased insulin resistance and related metabolic risk factors. METHODS We performed a matched case-control study (n = 42) examining putative metabolic risks among men with OSA attending a sleep clinic (apnea-hypopnea index [AHI] > 15] compared with no OSA (AHI < 5). Participants were matched for age +/- 5 yr, body mass index +/- 10%, and current smoking status. They were free of diabetes, clinically demonstrable cardiovascular disease, marked hypertension, and dyslipidemia. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Mean +/- SD AHI was higher in patients with OSA (40 +/- 27) than in control subjects (3 +/- 1.3, p = 0.02), and median (interquartile range) nocturnal oxygen saturation was lower (OSA, 83 [76-88]; control, 91 [90-93]%; p < 0.001). Patients with OSA had a higher median (interquartile range) homeostasis model assessment score for insulin resistance (OSA, 1.7 [0.8-4.1]; control, 1.0 [0.7-1.8] mU.mmol/L(2); p = 0.02), total cholesterol (OSA, 5.6 [4.8-6.2]; control, 4.8 [4.3-5.4] mmol/L; p = 0.049), and low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (OSA, 3.8 [2.9-4.2]; control, 3.1 [2.6-3.6] mmol/L; p = 0.04). Patients with OSA had higher 24-h and nocturnal (12-h) urinary norepinephrine excretion and plasma leptin levels, and lower insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 levels (all, p < or = 0.02). Multiple linear regression, adjusting for central obesity, age, and alcohol consumption, confirmed an independent association between OSA and metabolic risks (all, p < 0.05), with a trend for IGF-1 (p = 0.053). CONCLUSIONS In a sleep clinic population, men with OSA and no identifiable cardiovascular disease have increased insulin resistance and other metabolic changes that act to increase the risk of vascular disease, compared with age- and body mass index-matched attendees without OSA.
The Qualitative Shift in European Integration: Towards permanent wage pressures and a ‘Latin-Americanization’ of Europe?

US economist Hyman Minsky jokingly used to claim that there are as many varieties of capitalism as Heinz has pickles, that is 57 varieties (Minsky 1991). In this paper we argue that economic integration provides a similar analytical problem: economic integration can take many forms, and some are more conducive to wealth and freedom than others. Colonialism was probably the first form of international economic integration, and a very close form of integration at that. Intuitively we understand that what the European Union has attempted to achieve – ever since Winston Churchill called for ‘a kind of United States of Europe’ in a 1946 Zurich University speech – is something qualitatively very different from colonialism. In this paper we argue that European economic integration has made a qualitative shift from one type of economic integration to another, from a Listian symmetrical economic integration to an integrative and asymmetrical integration. We argue that this change – originating in a new definition of the nature of capitalism – is measurably threatening European welfare, first in the economic periphery and secondly potentially also in the core countries.
IL‐21 regulates experimental colitis by modulating the balance between Treg and Th17 cells

Regulatory T (Treg) cells play a key role in the maintenance of the immune system homeostasis. Treg cells can be generated in the periphery under control of TGF‐β, a cytokine involved in the negative control of the immune system. However, TGF‐β cooperates with IL‐6 in the generation of Th17 cells, a novel class of effector cells involved in numerous inflammatory diseases, including colitis. Therefore, TGF‐β emerges as a mediator of both anti‐inflammatory and pro‐inflammatory processes, depending on the local cytokine milieu. Here we demonstrate that IL‐21, a type‐1 cytokine produced by T cells and involved in the pathogenesis of immune‐mediated diseases, prevents the TGF‐β‐dependent expression of FoxP3, the master regulator of Treg cell commitment, and the induction of suppressive capacity in naive CD4+ T cells, while promoting the differentiation of Th17 cells. In vivo, CD4+ naive T cells activated in the presence of TGF‐β and IL‐21 failed to suppress colitis while inducing an inflammatory response characterized by high levels of IL‐17 and RORγt, the transcription factor expressed by Th17 cells. Therefore, IL‐21 emerges as a key modulator of TGF‐β signaling, leading to the reciprocal differentiation of Treg and Th17 cells.