Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tracking Dynamics of Opinion Behaviors with a Content-Based Sequential Opinion Influence Model

Nowadays, social media has become a popular channel for people to exchange opinions through the user-generated text. Exploring the mechanisms about how customers’ opinions towards products are influenced by friends, and further predicting their future opinions have attracted great attention from corporate administrators and researchers. Various influence models have already been proposed for the opinion prediction problem. However, they largely formulate opinions as derived sentiment categories or values but ignore the role of the content information. Besides, existing models only make use of the most recently received information without taking into consideration the long-term historical communication. To keep track of user opinion behaviors and infer user opinion influence from the historical exchanged textual information, we develop a content-based sequential opinion influence framework. Based on this framework, two opinion sentiment prediction models with alternative prediction strategies are proposed. In the experiments conducted on three Twitter datasets, the proposed models outperform other popular influence models. An interesting finding based on a further analysis of user characteristic is that an individuals influence is correlated to her/his style of expressions.
Effects of interventions promoting mentalization and interventions disconfirming pathogenic beliefs: A comparative single case study of three patients

Abstract Design: The effects of two types of interventions were investigated in an explorative single-case study of three patients with chronic depression and/or borderline personality disorder over 20 therapy sessions (sessions 2–11 and sessions 51–60). The ratings of therapeutic interventions that promoted mentalization were based on the concept of mentalization (Bateman & Fonagy), and the ratings of those disconfirming pathogenic beliefs were based on Control Mastery Theory (Weiss & Sampson). The effect of therapeutic interventions (mentalization vs. pathogenic beliefs) was assessed by measuring the level of reflective self-awareness, which was rated using the Experiencing Scale. The therapeutic alliance relationship was examined each session by a questionnaire. Therapy sessions were analysed with two different time series analyses. Each session was rated in five-minute sections. Results: In the time-series analysis, therapeutic interventions promoting mentalization and those disconfirming pathogenic beliefs correlated significantly with reflective self-awareness for two of the three patients. For one patient, there was no correlation. However, the results in the trend were different. For all patients, reflective self-awareness decreased or remained stable, and therapeutic alliance improved. This needs to be explained. Conclusions: The significant association between therapeutic interventions and patients’ reflective self-awareness can be understood as a reciprocal causal process that is co-created by the patient and the therapist. The deviating results, especially for the third patient, are discussed.
Meta-Analysis: Narrow Band Imaging for Diagnosis of Gastric Intestinal Metaplasia

Background Distinguishing early gastric cancer is challenging with current imaging techniques. Narrow band imaging (NBI) is effective for characterizing gastric lesions. Objectives The aim of this meta-analysis was to estimate the diagnostic accuracy of NBI in the gastric intestinal metaplasia (GIM). Methods We performed data analysis using Meta-DiSc (version 1.4) and STATA (version 11.0) software. To assess study quality and potential for bias, we used the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2) tool. Results Six studies involving 347 patients were included. On a per-patient basis, the sensitivity of NBI for diagnosis of GIM was 0.65 (95% CI = 0.56–0.74), and the specificity was 0.93 (95% CI = 0.88–0.97). The area under the summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve was 0.8731. However, on a per-lesion basis, the sensitivity and specificity of NBI were 0.69 (95% CI = 0.63–0.74) and 0.91 (95% CI = 0.87–0.94), respectively. The SROC was 0.9009. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of magnification endoscopy (NBI-ME) were 0.76 (95% CI = 0.61–0.87) and 0.89 (95% CI = 0.80–0.94), respectively, on per-patient analysis. On a per-lesion basis, the pooled sensitivity and specificity of NBI-ME were 0.84 (95% CI = 0.76–0.89) and 0.93 (95% CI = 0.89–0.96), respectively. Heterogeneity was observed with an I2 for diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of 0.01% and 85.8%, respectively. There was no statistical significance for the evaluation of publication bias. Conclusions Our meta-analysis shows that NBI is a useful tool for differential diagnosis of GIM with relatively low sensitivity and high specificity.
CNOB/ChrR6, a new prodrug enzyme cancer chemotherapy

We report the discovery of a new prodrug, 6-chloro-9-nitro-5-oxo-5H-benzo(a)phenoxazine (CNOB). This prodrug is efficiently activated by ChrR6, the highly active prodrug activating bacterial enzyme we have previously developed. The CNOB/ChrR6 therapy was effective in killing several cancer cell lines in vitro. It also efficiently treated tumors in mice with up to 40% complete remission. 9-Amino-6-chloro-5H-benzo(a)phenoxazine-5-one (MCHB) was the only product of CNOB reduction by ChrR6. MCHB binds DNA; at nonlethal concentration, it causes cell accumulation in the S phase, and at lethal dose, it induces cell surface Annexin V and caspase-3 and caspase-9 activities. Further, MCHB colocalizes with mitochondria and disrupts their electrochemical potential. Thus, killing by CNOB involves MCHB, which likely induces apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway. An attractive feature of the CNOB/ChrR6 regimen is that its toxic product, MCHB, is fluorescent. This feature proved helpful in in vitro studies because simple fluorescence measurements provided information on the kinetics of CNOB activation within the cells, MCHB killing mechanism, its generally efficient bystander effect in cells and cell spheroids, and its biodistribution. The emission wavelength of MCHB also permitted its visualization in live animals, allowing noninvasive qualitative imaging of MCHB in mice and the tumor microenvironment. This feature may simplify exploration of barriers to the penetration of MCHB in tumors and their amelioration. [Mol Cancer Ther 2009;8(2):333–41]
Role of Mitochondrial Dynamics in Neuronal Development: Mechanism for Wolfram Syndrome

Deficiency of the protein Wolfram syndrome 1 (WFS1) is associated with multiple neurological and psychiatric abnormalities similar to those observed in pathologies showing alterations in mitochondrial dynamics. The aim of this study was to examine the hypothesis that WFS1 deficiency affects neuronal function via mitochondrial abnormalities. We show that down-regulation of WFS1 in neurons leads to dramatic changes in mitochondrial dynamics (inhibited mitochondrial fusion, altered mitochondrial trafficking, and augmented mitophagy), delaying neuronal development. WFS1 deficiency induces endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, leading to inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R) dysfunction and disturbed cytosolic Ca2+ homeostasis, which, in turn, alters mitochondrial dynamics. Importantly, ER stress, impaired Ca2+ homeostasis, altered mitochondrial dynamics, and delayed neuronal development are causatively related events because interventions at all these levels improved the downstream processes. Our data shed light on the mechanisms of neuronal abnormalities in Wolfram syndrome and point out potential therapeutic targets. This work may have broader implications for understanding the role of mitochondrial dynamics in neuropsychiatric diseases.
Epidemiology of criniviruses: an emerging problem in world agriculture

The genus Crinivirus includes the whitefly-transmitted members of the family Closteroviridae. Whitefly-transmitted viruses have emerged as a major problem for world agriculture and are responsible for diseases that lead to losses measured in the billions of dollars annually. Criniviruses emerged as a major agricultural threat at the end of the twentieth century with the establishment and naturalization of their whitefly vectors, members of the genera Trialeurodes and Bemisia, in temperate climates around the globe. Several criniviruses cause significant diseases in single infections whereas others remain asymptomatic and only cause disease when found in mixed infections with other viruses. Characterization of the majority of criniviruses has been done in the last 20 years and this article provides a detailed review on the epidemiology of this important group of viruses.
Molecular Biology of the Natriuretic Peptides and Their Receptors

After the description in the past 5 years of BNP and CNP, interest in the natriuretic peptide family has dramatically increased. Molecular characterization of the receptors for this hormone family has identified a heterogeneity in the receptor subtypes not previously alluded to by pharmacological or biochemical studies. Much has been published on the physiology of ANP, but the major roles for BNP and CNP remain to be elucidated. Some experiments indicate that ANP and BNP may act synergistically, especially during cardiac stress; however, the high level of structural diversity of BNP among species and the ability of porcine BNP, but not human BNP, to activate human NPR-B suggest that an as yet unidentified receptor may exist that specifically recognizes BNP. Localization studies have implied that CNP is the most prominent neuropeptide in the natriuretic peptide family, and the restriction of its receptor, NPR-B, to the nervous system suggests that CNP and NPR-B may act in the brain to coordinate the central aspects of body fluid homeostasis. Of the three known NPRs, two, NPR-A and NPR-B, are capable of synthesizing their own second messenger, cGMP. The domain within these receptors that has high homology to protein kinases has been demonstrated to be essential for regulating this activity. No kinase activity has been measured in these proteins, but it is possible that this region is important for ATP regulation of guanylyl cyclase activity. This possibility raises interesting parallels with receptor-mediated cAMP signaling within cells. Seven transmembrane receptors, once activated by ligand, associate with G proteins to affect the activity of adenylyl cyclase. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Tackling Winograd Schemas by Formalizing Relevance Theory in Knowledge Graphs

We study disambiguating of pronoun references in Winograd Schemas, which are part of the Winograd Schema Challenge, a proposed replacement for the Turing test. In particular we consider sentences where the pronoun can be resolved to both antecedents without semantic violations in world knowledge, that means for both readings of the sentence there is a possible consistent world. Nevertheless humans will strongly prefer one answer, which can be explained by pragmatic effects described in Relevance Theory. We state formal optimization criteria based on principles of Relevance Theory in a simplification of Roger Schank's graph framework for natural language understanding. We perform experiments using Answer Set Programming and report the usefulness of our criteria for disambiguation and their sensitivity to parameter variations.
Toward an Effective Interaction Potential Model for the Shape Memory Alloy

The unusual properties of Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) result from a lattice level Martensitic Transformation (MT) corresponding to an instability of the SMAs crystal structure. Currently, there exists a shortage of material models that can capture the details of lattice level MTs occurring in SMAs and that can be used for efficient computational investigations of the interaction between MTs and larger-scale features found in typical materials. These larger-scale features could include precipitates, dislocation networks, voids, and even cracks. In this paper, one such model is developed for the SMA AuCd. The model is based on Effective Interaction Potentials (EIPs). That is, atomic interaction potentials that are explicit functions of temperature. In particular, the Morse pair potential is used and its adjustable coefficients are taken to be temperature dependent. A fitting procedure is developed for the EIPs that matches, at a suitable reference temperature, the lattice parameters, instantaneous bulk moduli, thermal expansion coefficients, and heat capacities of FCC Au, HCP Cd, and the B2 cubic austenite phase of the Au-47.5at%Cd alloy. The resulting model is explored using branchfollowing and bifurcation techniques. A hysteretic temperature-induced MT between the B2 cubic and B19 orthorhombic crystal structures is predicted. The predicted MT is found to have characteristics that compare quite well with the experimentally observed behavior of AuCd SMAs. Unfortunately, the model exhibits an unphysical negative thermal expansion at high temperatures.
Limited knowledge of chronic kidney disease and its main risk factors among Iranian community: an appeal for promoting national public health education programs.

BACKGROUND The aim of this survey was to explore the baseline knowledge of the Iranian community about Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) definition and its two main risk factors, i.e. diabetes and hypertension. This study also introduced a model of public education program with the purpose of reducing the incidence of CKD in high-risk groups and thereby decreasing the economic burden of CKD in Iran. METHODS This cross-sectional study was conducted on world kidney day 2013 in Isfahan, Iran. Self-administered anonymous questionnaires evaluating the knowledge of CKD and its risk factors were distributed among subjects who participated in a kidney disease awareness campaign. Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were used to examine the differences in the level of knowledge across different socio-demographic groups. RESULTS The questionnaires were completed by 748 respondents. The majority of these respondents believed that "pain in the flanks" and "difficulty in urination" was the early symptoms of CKD. Roughly, 10.4% knew that CKD could be asymptomatic in the initial stages. Only 12.7% knew diabetes and 14.4% knew hypertension was a CKD risk factor. The respondents who had a CKD risk factor (i.e. diabetes and/or hypertension) were significantly more likely than respondents without CKD risk factor to select "unmanaged diabetes" [Odds Ratio (OR)= 2.2, Confidence Interval (CI) (95%): 1.4-3.6] and "unmanaged hypertension" [OR= 1.9, CI(95%): 1.2-3.0] as "very likely to result in CKD". No more than 34.6% of all respondents with diabetes and/or hypertension reported that their physician has ever spoken with them about their increased risk for developing CKD. CONCLUSION The knowledge of Iranian population about CKD and its risk factors is low. Future public health education programs should put efforts in educating Iranian community about the asymptomatic nature of CKD in its initial stages and highlighting the importance of regular renal care counseling. The high-risk individuals should receive tailored education and be encouraged to adopt lifestyle modifications to prevent or slow the progression of CKD.
Temporal Uncertainty and Temporal Estimation Errors Affect Insular Activity and the Frontostriatal Indirect Pathway during Action Update: A Predictive Coding Study

Action update, substituting a prepotent behavior with a new action, allows the organism to counteract surprising environmental demands. However, action update fails when the organism is uncertain about when to release the substituting behavior, when it faces temporal uncertainty. Predictive coding states that accurate perception demands minimization of precise prediction errors. Activity of the right anterior insula (rAI) is associated with temporal uncertainty. Therefore, we hypothesize that temporal uncertainty during action update would cause the AI to decrease the sensitivity to ascending prediction errors. Moreover, action update requires response inhibition which recruits the frontostriatal indirect pathway associated with motor control. Therefore, we also hypothesize that temporal estimation errors modulate frontostriatal connections. To test these hypotheses, we collected fMRI data when participants performed an action-update paradigm within the context of temporal estimation. We fit dynamic causal models to the imaging data. Competing models comprised the inferior occipital gyrus (IOG), right supramarginal gyrus (rSMG), rAI, right presupplementary motor area (rPreSMA), and the right striatum (rSTR). The winning model showed that temporal uncertainty drove activity into the rAI and decreased insular sensitivity to ascending prediction errors, as shown by weak connectivity strength of rSMG→rAI connections. Moreover, temporal estimation errors weakened rPreSMA→rSTR connections and also modulated rAI→rSTR connections, causing the disruption of action update. Results provide information about the neurophysiological implementation of the so-called horse-race model of action control. We suggest that, contrary to what might be believed, unsuccessful action update could be a homeostatic process that represents a Bayes optimal encoding of uncertainty.
Variability of Bio-Clinical Parameters in Chinese-Origin Rhesus Macaques Infected with Simian Immunodeficiency Virus: A Nonhuman Primate AIDS Model

Background Although Chinese-origin Rhesus macaques (Ch RhMs) infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) have been used for many years to evaluate the efficacy of AIDS vaccines and therapeutics, the bio-clinical variability of such a nonhuman primate AIDS model was so far not established. Methodology/Principal Findings By randomizing 150 (78 male and 72 female) Ch RhMs with diverse MHC class I alleles into 3 groups (50 animals per group) challenged with intrarectal (ir) SIVmac239, intravenous (iv) SIVmac239, or iv SIVmac251, we evaluated variability in bio-clinical endpoints for 118 weeks. All SIV-challenged Ch RhMs became seropositive for SIV during 1–2 weeks. Plasma viral load (VL) peaked at weeks 1–2 and then declined to set-point levels as from week 5. The set-point VL was 30 fold higher in SIVmac239 (ir or iv)-infected than in SIVmac251 (iv)-infected animals. This difference in plasma VL increased overtime (>100 fold as from week 68). The rates of progression to AIDS or death were more rapid in SIVmac239 (ir or iv)-infected than in SIVmac251 (iv)-infected animals. No significant difference in bio-clinical endpoints was observed in animals challenged with ir or iv SIVmac239. The variability (standard deviation) in peak/set-point VL was nearly one-half lower in animals infected with SIVmac239 (ir or iv) than in those infected with SIVmac251 (iv), allowing that the same treatment-related difference can be detected with one-half fewer animals using SIVmac239 than using SIVmac251. Conclusion/Significance These results provide solid estimates of variability in bio-clinical endpoints needed when designing studies using the Ch RhM SIV model and contribute to the improving quality and standardization of preclinical studies.
Institution-building and Economic Governance in ' Canada ' s Technology Triangle ' Institutional Barriers to Associative City-region Governance : The Politics of

It has been argued that collaborative and associative forms of governance can enhance the economic competitiveness of cities and regions. Institutionalist approaches to urban and regional economic development have been particularly influential in emphasising the potential role that collaboration between firms, governance agencies, labour and supporting institutions can play in enabling communities to promote progressive competitiveness. At the same time, there has been relatively little discussion and empirical analysis of the actual process of institutional change and institution-building that characterise city-regions situated in liberal political economies that are not historically endowed with 'pre-existing' stocks of social capital and associative governance. In addition, institutionalist perspectives on urban and regional economic change have produced economistic explanations, while underplaying the importance of political factors. This paper offers an analysis of the various institutional barriers to associative governance by examining the case of 'Canada's Technology Triangle', a city-region which has experienced several attempts to develop associative governance institutions since the early 1990s. The evidence from this case study suggests that the experience of institution-building in this city-region has been intertwined with a struggle to create a regional scale of engagement for a range of governance actors. The analysis in this paper demonstrates the importance of paying careful attention to the factors that shape the political mobilisation of actors into associative institutional structures.
RGBD relocalisation using pairwise geometry and concise key point sets

We describe a novel RGBD relocalisation algorithm based on key point matching. It combines two components. First, a graph matching algorithm which takes into account the pairwise 3-D geometry amongst the key points, giving robust relocalisation. Second, a point selection process which provides an even distribution of the `most matchable' points across the scene based on non-maximum suppression within voxels of a volumetric grid. This ensures a bounded set of matchable key points which enables tractable and scalable graph matching at frame rate. We present evaluations using a public dataset and our own more difficult dataset containing large pose changes, fast motion and non-stationary objects. It is shown that the method significantly out performs state-of-the-art methods.
Stabilities of negative correlations between blood oxygen level‐dependent signals associated with sensory and motor cortices

Compared with positive correlations, negative correlations of blood oxygen level‐dependent (BOLD) signals (NCOBSs) have been much less studied. In most related studies, the NCOBSs have been accepted as stable without further consideration. To investigate the stabilities of NCOBSs associated with the auditory, motor, and visual cortices, we evaluated the negative correlation maps of each brain region under different “task‐backgrounds” within the same subject‐group, as well as within different subject‐groups during a conscious resting state. These “task‐backgrounds” refer to tasks not expected to activate the specific ROI under consideration and are in some sense analogous to “resting states. ” We found that the negative correlation maps of the motor and visual cortices were quite variable between either different task‐backgrounds or different subject‐groups, whereas those of the auditory cortex exhibited some similarities. These results indicate that the NCOBSs associated with the motor and visual cortices were unstable both under task‐backgrounds and during the conscious resting state. The auditory cortex tended to have stable NCOBSs during these “resting states” (but scanner noise could make the auditory cortex “less resting”). This study highlights the importance of paying attention to the influence of the stabilities of NCOBSs in related studies and establishes the need for further studies on NCOBSs. Hum Brain Mapp 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.