Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Regular decomposition of large graphs and other structures: Scalability and robustness towards missing data

A method for compression of large graphs and matrices to a block structure is further developed. Szemerédi's regularity lemma is used as a generic motivation of the significance of stochastic block models. Another ingredient of the method is Rissanen's minimum description length principle (MDL). We continue our previous work on the subject, considering cases of missing data and scaling of algorithms to extremely large size of graphs. In this way it would be possible to find out a large scale structure of a huge graphs of certain type using only a tiny part of graph information and obtaining a compact representation of such graphs useful in computations and visualization.
Analysis of the HUPO Brain Proteome reference samples using 2‐D DIGE and 2‐D LC‐MS/MS

Within the Human Proteome Organization (HUPO) Brain Proteome Project, a pilot study was launched with reference samples shipped to nine international laboratories (see Hamacher et al., this Special Issue) to evaluate different proteome approaches in neuroscience and to build up a first version of a brain protein database. One part of the study addresses quantitative proteome alterations between three developmental stages (embryonic day 16; postnatal day 7; 8 weeks) of mouse brains. Five brains per stage were differentially analyzed by 2‐D DIGE using internal standardization and overlapping pH gradients (pH 4–7 and 6–9). In total, 214 protein spots showing stage‐dependent intensity alterations (>two‐fold) were detected, 56 of which were identified. Several of them, e.g. members of the dihydropyrimidinase family, are known to be associated with brain development. To feed the HUPO BPP brain protein database, a robust 2‐D LC‐MS/MS method was applied to murine postnatal day 7 and human post‐mortem brain samples. Using MASCOT and the IPI database, 350 human and 481 mouse proteins could be identified by at least two different peptides. The data are accessible through the PRIDE database (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/pride/).
p16INK4a is a beta-catenin target gene and indicates low survival in human colorectal tumors.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Human colorectal carcinomas display an infiltrative front of invasion where tumor cells undergo an epithelomesenchymal transition associated with low survival. Epithelomesenchymal transition is regulated by a nuclear beta-catenin accumulation, and subsequently, activation of beta-catenin/TCF4 target genes similar to CYCLIN D(1). Unexpectedly, these tumor cells are characterized by low proliferation, which correlates with the expression of the cell cycle inhibitor p16(INK4A). Therefore, we investigated the molecular mechanism of the transcriptional regulation of p16(INK4A) in colorectal cancer and its correlation with survival. METHODS Molecular biological techniques were used for investigating the transcriptional mechanisms of the p16(INK4A) gene regulation. Moreover, p16(INK4A) expression was correlated with the 10-year survival of patients with colorectal carcinomas. RESULTS In colorectal carcinomas, expression of the p16(INK4A) gene is regulated by beta-catenin/TCF4 and correlates with low survival rates of patients with tumors displaying an infiltrative front of invasion. CONCLUSIONS beta-catenin/TCF4 regulates cell cycle promoting (c-MYC, CYCLIN D(1)) and inhibiting genes (p16(INK4A)) at the same time in the mesenchymally differentiated tumor cells at the front of invasion. The function of p16(INK4A) seems to supersede in this context thus leading to low proliferation. Moreover, these tumor cells seem to govern the outcome of colorectal cancer independently of their proliferation.
Black Was Right: Price Is Within a Factor 2 of Value

We provide further evidence that markets trend on the medium term (months) and mean-revert on the long term (several years). Our results bolster Black's intuition that prices tend to be off roughly by a factor of 2, and take years to equilibrate. The story behind these results fits well with the existence of two types of behaviour in financial markets: "chartists", who act as trend followers, and "fundamentalists", who set in when the price is clearly out of line. Mean-reversion is a self-correcting mechanism, tempering (albeit only weakly) the exuberance of financial markets.
Thrombelastographic evaluation of coagulation in transurethral prostatectomy.

OBJECTIVE To assess the changes in overall coagulation status and define the degree of systemic fibrinolysis occurring in patients undergoing transurethral prostatectomy (TURP). PATIENTS AND METHODS Thirty patients undergoing TURP, 23 for benign prostatic hyperplasia and seven for prostatic carcinoma, were studied prospectively. Serial venous blood samples were taken using the two-syringe technique. Samples were taken before, during and at intervals up to 72 h and 10-14 days after surgery. Thrombelastography (TEG) was performed on native whole blood samples. Peri-operative blood loss was assessed, until the catheter was removed, by photometric estimation of the haemoglobin content of the irrigant fluid and the measurement of clot volume. RESULTS There was no evidence of fibrinolysis (TEG Percentage Clot Lysis Ly60 > 15%) in any patient over the whole peri-operative period. There was a significant change in the mean TEG variables towards hypercoagulation from 3 h until 10-14 days postoperatively, compared with the pre-operative values (P < 0.05). There was a significant correlation between blood loss and clot volume. CONCLUSION These results question the role of systemic fibrinolysis in primary and secondary haemorrhage following TURP and thus the rationale of using antifibrinolytics in these patients. The persistent hypercoagulable state post-operatively indicates a possible role of hypercoagulability in clot retention.
Epilepsy surgery in children and adolescence; Phramongkutklao College of Medicine's experience.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the safety and efficacy of epilepsy surgery in children and adolescence at Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Phramongkutklao College of Medicine. MATERIAL AND METHOD Children and adolescents, who underwent epilepsy surgery at Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Phramongkutklao College of Medicine were identified from the epilepsy surgery database. The following parameters were evaluated: age at surgery, duration of seizure prior to surgery, presurgical work up, presurgical as well as postsurgical neurological/ seizure status and neuropathology (if applicable). All follow-up data were obtained through clinic visits. RESULTS Fifteen children who underwent epilepsy surgery between January 1, 2003 and March 31, 2005 were identified. Age at surgery ranged from 2.5 years to 19 years (mean age=8.2 years). Seizure duration prior to surgery ranged from 1 year to 17 years (mean=4.7 years). Eight patients (53%) had partial seizures and underwent excisional procedures [5 temporal lobectomy, 2 left frontal corticectomy, and 1 left functional hemispherectomy]. Seven patients (47%) had generalized seizures and underwent anterior 2/3 corpus callosotomy. Pathological information was available for all 8 cases with partial epilepsy. Four out of eight cases with pathological information demonstrated cortical dysplasia, four revealed hippocampal sclerosis, and two patients had dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor (DNET). At follow-up, all 5 patients with temporal lobectomy and a child who underwent functional hemispherectomy were seizure free (follow up period 3-31 months). Two children with extratemporal resective surgery [left frontal corticectomy] showed remarkable improvement with rare breakthrough seizures (follow up period= 3 and 19 months respectively). Four out of seven patients with corpus collosotomy had worthwhile improvement of seizures (follow up period=4-19 months), while another two children were seizure free during short-termed follow up postoperatively (follow up period=1 and 2 months). All patients did not have significant neurological deterioration or worsening of seizure after the surgery. CONCLUSION Resective epilepsy surgery in Thai pediatric populations in the authors' experience seems to be safe and effective in selected patients. Most children who underwent callosotomy had a significant reduction in intensity and frequency of tonic, atonic, and tonic-clonic seizures. Dual pathology was common in refractory temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis. Although the study sample was small, it did advocate several larger studies with the same findings.
The effect of tobacco exposure on the fetal hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis

Objective Our objective was to determine if maternal smoking is associated with programming of the fetal hypothalamic–pituitary‐adrenal (HPA) axis. Cigarette smoking, which induces a state of hypoxia in the fetus, may promote in utero‘programming’ of the HPA axis. In utero, adaptations to the HPA axis, which become maladaptive later in life, have been hypothesised to contribute to the development of adult cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders.
Demand Response of Ancillary Service From Industrial Loads Coordinated With Energy Storage

As one of the featured initiatives in smart grids, demand response is enabling active participation of electricity consumers in the supply/demand balancing process, thereby enhancing the power system's operational flexibility in a cost-effective way. Industrial load plays an important role in demand response because of its intense power consumption, already existing advanced monitoring, and control infrastructure, and its strong economic incentive due to the high energy costs. As typical industrial loads, cement plants are able to quickly adjust their power consumption rate by switching on/off the crushers. However, in the cement plant as well as other industrial loads, switching on/off the loading units only achieves discrete power changes, which restricts the load from offering valuable ancillary services such as regulation and load following, as continuous power changes are required for these services. In this paper, we overcome this restriction of poor granularity by proposing methods that enable these loads to provide regulation or load following with the support of an onsite energy storage system.
[Molecular diagnosis of acquired human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in pooled plasma from blood donors at the Regional Blood Transfusion Center in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso].

STUDY OBJECTIVES The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the use of viral genome diagnosis of HIV-1 infection in blood donors in the regional blood transfusion center in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. METHODOLOGY This prospective study was carried out from August to December 2009 at the regional blood transfusion center in Ouagadougou (RBTC-O). Detection of HIV-1 was performed by RT-PCR on pooled plasma and individual samples from blood donors. Samples were selected based on reactivity with fourth generation ELISA. RESULTS ELISA assays on 20 plasma pools demonstrated 10 negative samples, 8 positive and 2 undeterminable. All positive and negative ELISA tests were confirmed by RT-PCR. Findings of RT-PCR on individual samples confirmed those obtained on pooled plasma samples. For the two undeterminable pools, RT-PCR identified one as negative and the other as positive. Individual RT-PCR testing of donations contained in positive and negative pooled plasma samples confirmed negative or positive findings. CONCLUSIONS Because of the high cost of RT-PCR, we recommend use first on minipools or individual samples from blood donors with questionable HIV-1 status to confirm status quickly and minimize loss of blood bags.
A New Solution for the Analysis of Multiple-Building Diffraction in Urban Areas With Shadowing Caused by a Cylindrical Hill

A hybrid uniform theory of diffraction (UTD)-physical optics (PO) formulation for the analysis of the multiple diffraction which takes place in urban environments where a cylindrical hill, either smooth or with buildings located on its surface, causes shadowing of the transmitter from the receiver (a non-line-of-sight situation) is presented, thus furthering a previous study published by the authors, in which the hill is modeled as a wedge. The mentioned UTD-PO solution, which is validated by numerical results from technical literature, is of a good computational efficiency, while at the same time increasing the versatility over other methods for the analysis of the same scenarios, since the presented hybrid formulation allows for the study of the above-mentioned environment when the urban area consists of a small number of buildings.
Penetration of Glycopeptide Antibiotics in Nucleus Pulposus

The penetration of the glycopeptide antibiotics vancomycin and teicoplanin into the nucleus pulposus of rabbits was studied. Blood samples were obtained at 0.5, 1, 4, 8, and 24 hours after intravenous administration of 30 mg/kg vancomycin or 16 mg/kg teicoplanin. Concentrations of antibiotics were determined in tissue specimens and serum samples by fluorescence polarization immunoassays. Antimicrobial activity in the nucleus pulposus was determined with an agar diffusion method using a strain of Micrococcus luteus as the indicator organism. A peak concentration of vancomycin in the nucleus pulposus was attained 8 hours after drug administration. Teicoplanin reached its maximum level and plateaued 1 and 2 hours, respectively, after injection, and it remained unchanged for the rest of the study. This microbiologic analysis showed that the nucleus pulposus contained an antimicrobial level of glycopeptide antibiotics after administration. Because rabbit nucleus pulposus is similar anatomically to that of humans, these results may have implications regarding the timing and choice of antibiotic administration.
Nonlinear pricing without market power; what could be learned from the contestable markets approach?

Selon la theorie economique, la mise en œuvre de la discrimination de prix par une entreprise exige pouvoir de marche. Cependant, l’observation de la realite, confirmee par des etudes empiriques, montre que dans les industries extremement competitives la pratique de la discrimination de prix est verifiee, en particulier sa variante de deuxieme degre. Cet article explique theoriquement la viabilite de la discrimination de prix de deuxieme degre dans des marches parfaitement contestables (une generalisation de la notion de marches parfaitement concurrentiels), ce qui explique un phenomene empirique non autorise par la theorie economique. Les systemes de prix non lineaires apparaissent comme des mecanismes qui, dans des environnements concurrentiels, et sans centralisation d’information, permettent une plus grande efficacite sociale.
Knowledge Concentration: Learning 100K Object Classifiers in a Single CNN

Fine-grained image labels are desirable for many computer vision applications, such as visual search or mobile AI assistant. These applications rely on image classification models that can produce hundreds of thousands (e.g. 100K) of diversified fine-grained image labels on input images. However, training a network at this vocabulary scale is challenging, and suffers from intolerable large model size and slow training speed, which leads to unsatisfying classification performance. A straightforward solution would be training separate expert networks (specialists), with each specialist focusing on learning one specific vertical (e.g. cars, birds.). However, deploying dozens of expert networks in a practical system would significantly increase system complexity and inference latency, and consumes large amounts of computational resources. To address these challenges, we propose a Knowledge Concentration method, which effectively transfers the knowledge from dozens of specialists (multiple teacher networks) into one single model (one student network) to classify 100K object categories. There are three salient aspects in our method: (1) a multi-teacher single-student knowledge distillation framework; (2) a self-paced learning mechanism to allow the student to learn from different teachers at various paces; (3) structurally connected layers to expand the student network capacity with limited extra parameters. We validate our method on OpenImage and a newly collected dataset, Entity-Foto-Tree (EFT), with 100K categories, and show that the proposed model performs significantly better than the baseline generalist model.
Exploring customer experiences with robotics in hospitality

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore consumer reviews with robotics based on the five dimensions for evaluating user experiences (i.e. embodiment, emotion, human-oriented perception, feeling of security and co-experience), as derived from research in human-robot interactions (HRI). Design/methodology/approach The study first reviews the five dimensions for evaluating user experiences in HRI and then analyzes user experiences with robotics at four hotels (i.e. Yotel New York, Aloft Cupertino, Henn-na Hotel Japan and Marriott Residence Inn LAX) based on reviews on TripAdvisor, Agoda, Yelp and Booking.com. Findings The findings highlight the influence of robotic embodiment and human-oriented perceptions on consumer experiences. The findings also suggest that users and robots can co-create novel experiences, with some guests even proactively seeking new opportunities to interact and communicate with robots to develop a certain level of “relationship” with them. Research limitations/implications An understanding of user experiences from HRIs can inform future hospitality and tourism research and management. Practical implications This study contributes to hospitality and tourism management by highlighting current practices with robotics to suggest areas of improvements for enhancing future consumer experiences. Social implications Consumer experiences will change rapidly as hospitality and tourism management deploys robotics in the future. Originality/value This is one of the early studies in the field to explore consumer experiences with robotics based on the five dimensions for evaluating user experiences from research in HRI. In doing so, this study provides a number of theoretical and managerial implications relevant for hospitality and tourism research and practice.
Canadian boreal forest greening and browning trends: an analysis of biogeographic patterns and the relative roles of disturbance versus climate drivers

Recent studies have used satellite-derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) time series to explore geographic patterns in boreal forest greening and browning. A number of these studies indicate that boreal forests are experiencing widespread browning, and have suggested that these patterns reflect decreases in forest productivity induced by climate change. Here we use NDVI time series from Landsat, which has much higher quality and spatial resolution than imagery used in most previous studies, to characterize biogeographic patterns in greening and browning across Canada’s boreal forest and to explore the drivers behind observed trends. Our results show that the majority of NDVI changes in Canada’s boreal forest reflect disturbance-recovery dynamics not climate change impacts, that greening and browning trends outside of disturbed forests are consistent with expected ecological responses to regional changes in climate, and that observed NDVI changes are geographically limited and relatively small in magnitude. By examining covariance between changes in NDVI and temperature and precipitation in locations not affected by disturbance, our results isolate and characterize the nature and magnitude of greening and browning directly associated with climate change. Consistent with biogeographic theory, greening and browning unrelated to disturbance tended to be located in ecotones near boundaries of the boreal forest bioclimatic envelope. We observed greening to be most prevalent in Eastern Canada, which is more humid, and browning to be most prevalent in Western Canada, where forests are more prone to moisture stress. We conclude that continued long-term climate change has the potential to significantly alter the character and function of Canada’s boreal forest, but recent changes have been modest and near-term impacts are likely to be focused in or near ecotones.
EUS-FNA versus biliary brushings and assessment of simultaneous performance in jaundiced patients with suspected malignant obstruction.

CONTEXT Individuals with suspected malignant biliary obstruction commonly undergo ERCP for drainage and tissue sampling via biliary brushings. EUS with EUS-FNA facilitates staging and potentially more accurate tissue sampling. OBJECTIVE The aim is to compare the diagnostic performance of EUS-FNA and ERCP with biliary brushings (ERCP-BB) in the diagnosis of pancreatobiliary carcinoma and the utility of combining the two procedures under conscious sedation. DESIGN Retrospective analysis of a prospectively maintained database. PATIENTS Thirty-seven patients with suspected malignant obstructive jaundice underwent 39 paired procedures, either combined (n=22) or within a few days (n=17). RESULTS Using strict cytological criteria the sensitivity of EUS-FNA in the diagnosis of malignancy was 52.9% (95% CI: 35.1-70.2%) versus 29.4% (95% CI: 15.1-47.5%) for ERCP-BB. Combining the two tests improved sensitivity to 64.7% (95% CI: 46.5-80.3%) which was significantly better than ERCP-BB alone (P=0.001) but not EUS-FNA alone (P=0.125). When both procedures were performed under the same conscious sedation, there was a significant difference (P=0.031) between the sensitivity of EUS-FNA (52.6%; 95% CI: 28.9-75.6%) and that of ERCP-BB (21.1%; 95% CI: 6.1-45.6%). When both procedures were performed together the mean±SD in-room time was 79±14 min (range: 45-105 min). Two of the patients (9.1%) had a complication. CONCLUSIONS In patients undergoing EUS-FNA and ERCP-BB under the same sedation, EUS-FNA was significantly more sensitive in diagnosing malignancy. Combining the results of both tests improved diagnostic accuracy. Combining therapeutic ERCP and EUS-FNA under the same conscious sedation is feasible, with a complication rate similar to that of ERCP alone.
Optimization of skin testing

In this multicenter study we evaluated the results of a previous study (part I) in a relatively large Dutch patient population, using the two previously tested allergens (house‐dust mite and grass pollen) and two other standardized allergens (tree pollen and cat dander). The obtained skin test results were expressed as a histamine ratio and compared with RAST and clinical history (CH), The sensitivity and specificity were calculated at different cutoff values of the skin tests. The optimum cutoff values of 0.7 intracutaneous tests (ICT) and 0.4 skin prick tests (SPT) resulted in a predictive value for the detection of allergic sensitization of 83% (RAST) and 77% (CH), and 91% (RAST) and 86% (CH), for the ICT and SPT, respectively. As the ICT and SPT were performed in different centers, the results of these methods cannot be compared. No systemic side‐effects of the skin tests were recorded. These results generally correspond well with the predictions regarding safety and predictive value of part I of this study, in which a limited number of patients was studied. In conclusion, through the use of a limited number of standardized allergens in a small group of patients, it may be possible to predict a safe and efficacious concentration for routine skin testing and to extrapolate from these results to other standardized allergens.