Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A neural network based breast cancer prognosis model with PCA processed features

Accurate identification of the diagnosed cases is extremely important for a reliable prognosis of breast cancer. Data analytics and learning based methods can provide an effective framework for prognostic studies by accurately classifying data instances into relevant classes based on the tumor severity. Accordingly, a multivariate statistical approach has been coupled with an artificial intelligence based learning technique to implement a prediction model. Principal components analysis pre-processes the data and extracts features in the most relevant form for training an artificial neural network that learns the patterns in the data for classification of new instances. The diagnostic data of the original Wisconsin breast cancer database accessed from the UCI machine learning repository has been used in the study. The proposed hybrid model shows promising results when compared with other classification algorithms used most commonly in the literature and can provide a future scope for creation of more sophisticated machine learning based cancer prognostic models.
Impaired Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Innate Immune Responses in Patients with Herpes Virus-Associated Acute Retinal Necrosis1

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDC), the main producers of type I IFNs in the blood, are important for the recognition and control of viral and bacterial infections. Because several viruses induce IFN-α production, severe courses of herpes virus infections in nonimmunocompromised patients may be related to numerical or functional PDC deficits. To evaluate this hypothesis, PBMC and PDC were repeatedly isolated from nine patients with acute retinal necrosis (ARN), caused by herpes simplex or varicella zoster virus. The patients experienced meningitis/encephalitis and frequent infections in childhood (n = 2), recurrent herpes virus infections at unusual localizations (n = 2), ocular surgery (n = 1), infections (n = 4), and stress around ARN (n = 6). The median percentage of isolated PDC was significantly lower in patients compared with 18 age-matched healthy controls (p < 0.001), confirmed by FACS analysis using peripheral blood, and was extremely low during acute disease. PDC counts dropped in five controls suffering from respiratory infections or diarrhea. IFN-α production in PDC and PBMC exposed to different stimuli was significantly lower in patients than in controls (p < 0.05). Anergy to these stimuli was observed on four occasions, in particular during acute disease. PDC of patients showed up-regulated IFN regulatory factor-7 mRNA levels and evidence of in vivo activation (CD80) and maturation (CD83) (p < 0.05). CD8+ cell responses were significantly lower in patients vs controls (p = 0.04). These data support a risk factor model in which numerical and functional deficits in PDC-mediated innate immune responses contribute to an impaired control of latent herpes virus infections and subsequent development of ARN.
Spatial learning of female mice: a role of the mineralocorticoid receptor during stress and the estrous cycle

Corticosterone facilitates behavioral adaptation to a novel experience in a coordinate manner via mineralocorticoid (MR) and glucocorticoid receptors (GR). Initially, MR mediates corticosterone action on appraisal processes, risk assessment and behavioral flexibility and then, GR activation promotes consolidation of the new information into memory. Here, we studied on the circular holeboard (CHB) the spatial performance of female mice with genetic deletion of MR from the forebrain (MRCaMKCre) and their wild type littermates (MRflox/flox mice) over the estrous cycle and in response to an acute stressor. The estrous cycle had no effect on the spatial performance of MRflox/flox mice and neither did the acute stressor. However, the MRCaMKCre mutants needed significantly more time to find the exit and made more hole visit errors than the MRflox/flox mice, especially when in proestrus and estrus. In addition, stressed MRCaMKCre mice in estrus had a shorter exit latency than the control estrus MRCaMKCre mice. About 70% of the female MRCaMKCre and MRflox/flox mice used a hippocampal (spatial, extra maze cues) rather than the caudate nucleus (stimulate-response, S-R, intra-maze cue) strategy and this preference did neither change over the estrous cycle nor after stress. However, stressed MRCaMKCre mice using the S-R strategy needed significantly more time to find the exit hole as compared to the spatial strategy using mice suggesting that the MR could be needed for the stress-induced strategy switch toward a spatial strategy. In conclusion, the results suggest that loss of MR interferes with performance of a spatial task especially when estrogen levels are high suggesting a strong interaction between stress and sex hormones.
A VERIFICATION STUDY OVER EUROPE OF AMSU-A/MHS AND SSMIS PASSIVE MICROWAVE PRECIPITATION RETRIEVALS

Global monitoring of the precipitation requires the full exploitation of all overpasses of present and future satellites carrying cross-track and conically scanning passive microwave (PMW) radiometers. Therefore, it is essential to achieve consistency and accuracy of passive microwave precipitation retrievals from the different sensors orbiting around the globe. Within the EUMETSAT H-SAF program (Satellite Application Facility on Support to Operational Hydrology and Water Management, http://hsaf.meteoam.it) we have developed two different passive microwave precipitation retrieval algorithms, one based on a physically-based Bayesian approach for conically scanning radiometers (i.e., SSMIS), and the other one based on Neural Network approach for cross-track scanning radiometers (i.e., AMSU-A/MHS). The two algorithms are based on the same physical foundation, i.e., same cloud-radiation model simulations to be used as a priori information in the Bayesian solver and as training dataset in the neural network approach. They also use similar procedures for screening of non-precipitating pixels, identification of frozen background surface, presence of snowfall, and determination of a pixel based quality index of the surface precipitation retrievals. These procedures are calibrated according to the different characteristics of the radiometers used. The two algorithms use dynamical/meteorological/environmental variables as ancillary information to characterize the observed event, and mitigate the ambiguity of the rainfall rates at the ground associated to any given set of measured multichannel brightness temperatures. A verification study of the latest versions of the two algorithms has been carried out, where the PMW rainfall estimates are compared against radar observations and raingauge network measurements for several precipitation events in Europe, characterized by different environmental, meteorological, dynamical conditions, and by different precipitation regimes. In this paper we present the main results of this study, discussing strengths and potentials of the two algorithms in relation to the different characteristics of the observed events. In addition we describe the efforts made to achieve consistency of the retrievals from close in time overpasses of the cross-track and conically scanning radiometers for the same event, foreseeing potential improvements in nowcasting and/or hydrological applications.
Gradient methods for convex minimization: better rates under weaker conditions

The convergence behavior of gradient methods for minimizing convex differentiable functions is one of the core questions in convex optimization. This paper shows that their well-known complexities can be achieved under conditions weaker than the commonly accepted ones. We relax the common gradient Lipschitz-continuity condition and strong convexity condition to ones that hold only over certain line segments. Specifically, we establish complexities $O(\frac{R}{\epsilon})$ and $O(\sqrt{\frac{R}{\epsilon}})$ for the ordinary and accelerate gradient methods, respectively, assuming that $\nabla f$ is Lipschitz continuous with constant $R$ over the line segment joining $x$ and $x-\frac{1}{R}\nabla f$ for each $x\in\dom f$. Then we improve them to $O(\frac{R}{\nu}\log(\frac{1}{\epsilon}))$ and $O(\sqrt{\frac{R}{\nu}}\log(\frac{1}{\epsilon}))$ for function $f$ that also satisfies the secant inequality $\ \ge \nu\|x-x^*\|^2$ for each $x\in \dom f$ and its projection $x^*$ to the minimizer set of $f$. The secant condition is also shown to be necessary for the geometric decay of solution error. Not only are the relaxed conditions met by more functions, the restrictions give smaller $R$ and larger $\nu$ than they are without the restrictions and thus lead to better complexity bounds. We apply these results to sparse optimization and demonstrate a faster algorithm.
Value of cardioversion in chronic atrial fibrillation.

CARDIOVERSION, the Lown technique of direct current capacitor discharge through the chest wall, has converted chronic atrial fibrillation to sinus rhythm in approximately four fifths of reported cases.1-6Hemodynamic improvement has been reported to follow restoration of regular rhythm, with an increase in cardiac output and coronary blood flow.7-11Serious detrimental effects, such as embolism, have infrequently been noted.6,12,13 Nearly half of the reported cases reverted to atrial fibrillation in one month, in some, despite the continuance of a maintenance dose of quinidine.2-6The procedure was of little or no value in this group. In those patients remaining in sinus rhythm for longer periods, clinical benefit has been inferred but not well documented. Reported followup data after electroconversion are summarized in Table 1. These data suggest that: (1) fibrillation recurs in two thirds of the patients within one year, and in half of them within one year, and in half
Accurate Representations of Geneil Textures by a Set of WetghtedGrains

The most compact way of describing general texture information is by way of a file of weighted discrete grains. When the textures are strong, this results in a great saving of necessary parameters. The most efficient way is a random file from which grains with low weights get discarded. This method is routine and independent of any preknowledge of the texture or even the symmetries. Typically, the order of 100 grains are sufficient for strong textures or fiber textures. Furthermore, these grains files are directly in the kind of format that is useful for computer simulation of current anisotropic properties or future texture development. For textures that are not very sharp, but nevertheless are not properly represented as random (which would imply isotropic properties), one may also use weighted-grains files, but here the number of grains needed may be large for an accurate representation. We have found that on the order of 1000 weighted grains are sufficient for most cases. When the symmetries are known, grains that are regularly (rather than randomly) arranged in orientation space are useful -- again better when they are weighted.
Sublingual vaccination with sonicated Salmonella proteins and mucosal adjuvant induces mucosal and systemic immunity and protects mice from lethal enteritis

Huang C‐F, Wu T‐C, Wu C‐C, Lee C‐C, Lo W‐T, Hwang K‐S, Hsu M‐L, Peng H‐J. Sublingual vaccination with sonicated Salmonella proteins and mucosal adjuvant induces mucosal and systemic immunity and protects mice from lethal enteritis. APMIS 2011; 119: 468–78.
A scalable algorithm for monte carlo localization using an incremental E2LSH-database of high dimensional features

In recent years, high-dimensional descriptive features have been widely used for feature-based robot localization. However, the space/time costs of building/retrieving the map database tend to be significant due to the high dimensionality. In addition, most of existing databases are working well only on batch problems, difficult to be built incrementally by a mapper robot. In this paper, a scalable localization algorithm is proposed for incremental databases of high dimensional features. The Monte Carlo localization (MCL) algorithm is extended by employing the exact Euclidean locality sensitive hashing (LSH). The robustness and efficiency of the proposed algorithms have been demonstrated using the radish dataset.
The biochemical pathway of neurofibrillary degeneration in aging and Alzheimer’s disease

Objective: To determine the spatiotemporal mapping of neurofibrillary degeneration (NFD) in normal aging and the different stages of AD. Background: The pathophysiologic significance of AD lesions, namely amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, is still unclear, especially their interrelationship and their link with cognitive impairment. Methods: The study included 130 patients of various ages and different cognitive statuses, from nondemented control subjects (n = 60, prospective study) to patients with severe definite AD. Paired helical filaments (PHF)-tau and Aβ were used as biochemical and histologic markers of NFD and amyloid plaques, respectively. Results: NFD with PHF-tau was systematically present in variable amounts in the hippocampal region of nondemented patients age >75 years. When NFD was found in other brain areas, it was always along a stereotyped, sequential, hierarchical pathway. The progression was categorized into 10 stages according to the brain regions affected: transentorhinal cortex (S1), entorhinal (S2), hippocampus (S3), anterior temporal cortex (S4), inferior temporal cortex (S5), medium temporal cortex (S6), polymodal association areas (prefrontal, parietal inferior, temporal superior) (S7), unimodal areas (S8), primary motor (S9a) or sensory (S9b, S9c) areas, and all neocortical areas (S10). Up to stage 6, the disease could be asymptomatic. In all cases studied here, stage 7 individuals with two polymodal association areas affected by tau pathologic states were cognitively impaired. Conclusions: The relationship between NFD and Alzheimer-type dementia, and the criteria for a biochemical diagnosis of AD, are documented, and an association between AD and the extent of NFD in defined brain areas is shown.
2 International Journal of Alzheimer ’ s Disease from the forebrain

The purpose of this research was a comparative analysis of cholinergic synaptic organization following learning and memory in normal and chronic cerebral ischaemic rats in the Morris water maze model. Choline acetyltransferase and protein content were determined in subpopulations of presynapses of “light” and “heavy” synaptosomal fractions of the cortex and the hippocampus, and the cholinergic projective and intrinsic systems of the brain structures were taken into consideration. We found a strong involvement of cholinergic systems, both projective and intrinsic, in all forms of cognition. Each form of cognition had an individual cholinergic molecular profile and the cholinergic synaptic compositions in the ischaemic rat brains differed significantly from normal ones. Our data demonstrated that under ischaemic conditions, instead of damaged connections new key synaptic relationships, which were stable against pathological influences and able to restore damaged cognitive functions, arose. The plasticity of neurochemical links in the individual organization of certain types of cognition gave a new input into brain pathology and can be used in the future for alternative corrections of vascular and other degenerative dementias.
Comparison of gastroduodenal ulcer incidence in healthy Japanese subjects taking celecoxib or loxoprofen evaluated by endoscopy: a placebo‐controlled, double‐blind 2‐week study

Although nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are widely prescribed globally, their chronic use increases the risk of upper gastrointestinal (GI) damage. Cyclooxygenase‐2–selective NSAIDs are considered to reduce this risk. Current guidelines in Japan recommend loxoprofen sodium (loxoprofen), a pro‐drug in the propionic acid class of nonselective NSAIDs, as first‐line therapy in rheumatoid arthritis.
User Mobility Modeling and Characterization of Mobility Patterns

A mathematical formulation is developed for systematic tracking of the random movement of a mobile station in a cellular environment. It incorporates mobility parameters under the most generalized conditions, so that the model can be tailored to be applicable in most cellular environments. This mobility model is used to characterize different mobility-related traffic parameters in cellular systems. These include the distribution of the cell residence time of both new and handover calls, channel holding time, and the average number of handovers. It is shown that the cell residence time can be described by the generalized gamma distribution. It is also shown that the negative exponential distribution is a good approximation for describing the channel holding time.
Meal frequency and energy balance

Several epidemiological studies have observed an inverse relationship between people's habitual frequency of eating and body weight, leading to the suggestion that a ‘nibbling’ meal pattern may help in the avoidance of obesity. A review of all pertinent studies shows that, although many fail to find any significant relationship, the relationship is consistently inverse in those that do observe a relationship. However, this finding is highly vulnerable to the probable confounding effects of post hoc changes in dietary patterns as a consequence of weight gain and to dietary under-reporting which undoubtedly invalidates some of the studies. We conclude that the epidemiological evidence is at best very weak, and almost certainly represents an artefact. A detailed review of the possible mechanistic explanations for a metabolic advantage of nibbling meal patterns failed to reveal significant benefits in respect of energy expenditure. Although some short-term studies suggest that the thermic effect of feeding is higher when an isoenergetic test load is divided into multiple small meals, other studies refute this, and most are neutral. More importantly, studies using whole-body calorimetry and doubly-labelled water to assess total 24h energy expenditure find no difference between nibbling and gorging. Finally, with the exception of a single study, there is no evidence that weight loss on hypoenergetic regimens is altered by meal frequency. We conclude that any effects of meal pattern on the regulation of body weight are likely to be mediated through effects on the food intake side of the energy balance equation.
Adaptive Wavelet Methods for Dierential Equations

In this thesis we study stable Wavelet Galerkin schemes for solving initial value problems. The methods use the Daubechies family of orthogonal wavelets as bases for the solution. Their order of convergence is p− 1, where p is the number of vanishing moments of the wavelet function. Their stability regions are similar to those for BDF multistep methods of the same order. Due to the nature of the wavelets and the Galerkin procedure the discretization gives a regular grid. We propose methods to use time density control to make the schemes adaptive. A few examples are solved with our new, adaptive methods. These indicate that order of convergence is preserved if the time density sequence is smooth enough. The time density can be computed during numerical integration by a local error tracker. We demonstrate with examples that this technique works well up to order four. We also advance the Wavelet Galerkin schemes by proposing a many times more efficient way of handling the right hand side function of the initial value problem. The resulting new integration schemes are shown to preserve the order of the method but, for the higher orders, lose the excellent stability properties.
The Human Face of E-Business: Engendering Consumer Initial Trust Through the Use of Images of Sales Personnel on E-Commerce Web Sites

Business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce suffers from consumersâ€™ lack of trust. This may be partly attributable to the lack of face-to-face interpersonal exchanges that provide trust behavior in conventional commerce. It was proposed that initial trust may be built by simulating face-to-face interaction. To test this, an extensive laboratory-based experiment was conducted to assess the initial trust in consumers using four online vendorsâ€™ Web sites with a variety of still and video images of sales personnel, both Western and Saudi Arabian. Initial trust was found to be enhanced for Web sites employing photographs and video clips compared to control Web sites lacking such images; also the effect of culture was stronger in the Saudi Arabian setting when using Saudi photos rather than Western photos.
The Higgs Field As The Cheshire Cat And His Yang-Mills "Smiles"

The well-known Bogomol’nyi-Prasad-Sommerfeld (BPS) monopole is considered in the limit of the infinite mass of the Higgs field as a basis of the Yang-Mills field vacuum with the finite energy density. In this limit the Higgs field disappears, but it leaves its trace as the BPS monopole transformed into the Wu-Yang monopole obtained in the pure Yang-Mills theory by a spontaneous scale symmetry breaking in the class of functions with the zero value of the topological charge. The topological degeneration of the BPS monopole manifests itself as Gribov copies of the covariant Coulomb gauge in the form of the time integral of the Gauss constraint. We also show that, in the considered theory, there is a zero mode of the Gauss constraint leading to an electric monopole and an additional mass of � ′ -meson in QCD. The consequences of the monopole vacuum in the form of a rising potential and topological confinement are studied in the framework of the perturbation theory. An estimation of the vacuum expectation value of the square of the magnetic tension is given through the � ′ -meson mass, and arguments in favour of the stability of the monopole vacuum are considered. We also discuss why all these ”smiles” of the Cheshire cat are kept by the Dirac fundamental quantization, but not by the conventional Faddeev-Popov integral.
Informing Memory Operations: Providing Memory Performance Feedback in Modern Processors

Memory latency is an important bottleneck in system performance that cannot be adequately solved by hardware alone. Several promising software techniques have been shown to address this problem successfully in specific situations. However, the generality of these software approaches has been limited because current architectures do not provide a fine-grained, low-overhead mechanism for observing and reacting to memory behavior directly. To fill this need, we propose a new class of memory operations called informing memory operations, which essentially consist of a memory operation combined (either implicitly or explicitly) with a conditional branch-and-link operation that is taken only if the reference suffers a cache miss. We describe two different implementations of informing memory operations---one based on a cache-outcome condition code and another based on low-overhead traps---and find that modern in-order-issue and out-of-order-issue superscalar processors already contain the bulk of the necessary hardware support. We describe how a number of software-based memory optimizations can exploit informing memory operations to enhance performance, and look at cache coherence with fine-grained access control as a case study. Our performance results demonstrate that the runtime overhead of invoking the informing mechanism on the Alpha 21164 and MIPS R10000 processors is generally small enough to provide considerable flexibility to hardware and software designers, and that the cache coherence application has improved performance compared to other current solutions. We believe that the inclusion of informing memory operations in future processors may spur even more innovative performance optimizations.