Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical Features and Surgical Outcomes of Patients With Moyamoya Disease and the Homozygous RNF213 p.R4810K Variant

The ring-finger protein 213 (RNF213) gene is a major susceptibility gene for moyamoya disease. The homozygote of the p.R4810K variant on RNF213 exhibits an early onset age and severe form of moyamoya disease. We report 4 unrelated pediatric moyamoya disease cases with the homozygous p.R4810K variant and the long-term surgical outcomes. Published reports on surgical outcome of moyamoya disease case with the homozygous p.R4810K variant were reviewed. Cerebral angiography revealed classic angiographic findings of moyamoya disease in 7 hemispheres of the 4 children. All patients underwent successful indirect revascularization. Abundant collateral blood flow from the external carotid arteries to the internal carotid arteries was observed in all bypass procedures by angiography. Improvements in symptoms and cerebral blood volume were observed in all patients at long-term follow-up. This report is the first case series in the literature on the surgical management of these patients. These cases highlight the effectiveness of indirect revascularization for moyamoya disease patients with the homozygous p.R4810K variant. Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial to avoid irreversible neurologic deficits in these patients.
The Norwegian Patient Registry and the Norwegian Registry for Primary Health Care: Research potential of two nationwide health-care registries

In Norway, the Directorate of Health is responsible for two nationwide registries – the Norwegian Patient Registry (NPR) and the Norwegian Registry for Primary Health Care (NRPHC) – which together cover all governmental-funded health care. The NPR (specialist health care) was established in 2008, while the NRPHC (primary health care) was established in 2017. Data from the NPR are extensively used in a large variety of studies. We expect that data from the NRPHC will increase in importance when the registry covers a longer time period. The NRPHC will be especially important for studying conditions mainly treated in primary care and for investigation of patient trajectories. The main aim of this paper is to give an overview of the history and content of the NPR and its research possibilities. In addition, we introduce the NRPHC as a possible future research tool and the potential for studying patient trajectories when combining data from the two registries.
Enhancing the learning of Chinese with Second Life

This article reports on a study that incorporates SL into the curriculum of university Introductory Chinese course in Fall 2009, including its implementation and evaluation. Using the existing resources of the SL Chinese School created by Michigan State University, 7 learning tasks were designed to supplement teaching throughout the semester. Along with the face-to-face instruction in class, students were required to study by completing the tasks alone, or with their peers or the teaching assistant in the SL Chinese School outside of the classroom. In performing the tasks, students practiced what was being learned in the classroom, and explored cultural aspects relating to the language. We will discuss both the teaching experience of including SL in the curriculum from the instructor"s perspective, and the feedback from students on the learning of Chinese within the virtual world. Recommendations are provided for researchers for future directions as well as for practitioners for effective use of SL in the Chinese classroom.
QTLs Associated with Resistance to Cardiomyopathy Syndrome in Atlantic Salmon

Abstract Cardiomyopathy syndrome (CMS) caused by piscine myocarditis virus is a major disease affecting the Norwegian Atlantic salmon industry. Three different populations of Atlantic salmon from the Mowi breeding program were used in this study. The first 2 populations (population 1 and 2) were naturally infected in a field outbreak, while the third population (population 3) went through a controlled challenged test. The aim of the study was to estimate the heritability, the genetic correlation between populations and perform genome-wide association analysis for resistance to this disease. Survival data from population 1 and 2 and heart atrium histology score data from population 3 was analyzed. A total of 571, 4312, and 901 fish from population 1, 2, and 3, respectively were genotyped with a noncommercial 55,735 Affymetrix marker panel. Genomic heritability ranged from 0.12 to 0.46 and the highest estimate was obtained from the challenge test dataset. The genetic correlation between populations was moderate (0.51–0.61). Two chromosomal regions (SSA27 and SSA12) contained single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with resistance to CMS. The highest association signal (P = 6.9751 × 10−27) was found on chromosome 27. Four genes with functional roles affecting viral resistance (magi1, pi4kb, bnip2, and ha1f) were found to map closely to the identified quantitative trait loci (QTLs). In conclusion, genetic variation for resistance to CMS was observed in all 3 populations. Two important quantitative trait loci were detected which together explain half of the total genetic variance, suggesting strong potential application for marker-assisted selection and genomic predictions to improve CMS resistance.
Mesothelioma mortality within two radiation monitored occupational cohorts

Abstract Purpose The risk of mesothelioma, including cancers of the pleura and peritoneum, was examined within two large cohorts of workers monitored for exposure to ionizing radiation. Methods and materials Mortality was assessed among 253,632 workers routinely monitored for external radiation, including 30,724 industrial radiographers (IR) at shipyards, 142,583 workers at nuclear power plants (NPP), and 83,441 IR who had not worked at an NPP or shipyard. Follow-up was from 1969 through 2011. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed; observed numbers of deaths from mesothelioma (including cancers of the pleura and peritoneum) and asbestosis were compared with numbers expected based on age-, sex-, and calendar year-specific national mortality rates. Job history and quantitative asbestos exposure data were unavailable, but work at a shipyard was taken as a surrogate for the likelihood of exposure. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) for mesothelioma in relation to estimated cumulative radiation exposure to the lung. Results The mean duration of follow-up was 25.3 years (max 42 years). The mean cumulative lung dose was 28.6 mGy (7.3% > 250 mGy). Nearly 20% of the workers had died by 2011. A total of 421 mesothelioma deaths were found (75% occurring after 1999) with increased SMRs among workers monitored in shipyards (SMR 9.97; 95% CI 8.50–11.63) and for NPP workers (SMR 5.55; 95% CI 4.88–6.29), but not for IR who had not worked in shipyards (SMR 1.15; 95% CI 0.53–2.19). Likewise, deaths from asbestosis (n = 189) were also increased for shipyard and NPP workers (SMR = 18.1 and 9.2, respectively), but not among workers who never worked at a shipyard or NPP (SMR = 0.70; n = 1). Radiation dose to the lung was not associated with a statistically meaningful dose-response trend for mesothelioma in the combined cohorts (HR at 100 mGy = 1.10; 95% CI 0.96–1.27; p = .18), nor was mesothelioma risk associated with radiation exposure among IR who had not worked in a shipyard and assumed minimally exposed to asbestos. Conclusions An elevated rate of death from mesothelioma was observed in two radiation-exposed occupational groups with potential for asbestos exposure. The increased risk of death from asbestosis, combined with little evidence of a rising trend in mesothelioma mortality with increasing radiation exposure, suggests that the mesothelioma (and asbestosis) excess in these workers was due to asbestos exposure in shipyards and power plants and not to occupational low-dose radiation.
Effect of Subcutaneous Tissue on Changes in Thigh Circumference Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

Abstract Circumference measurements have been used to estimate muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) in clinical settings. Measurements of thigh circumference are affected by muscle and subcutaneous fat (SF). In fact, SF could increase over a short period. Therefore, clarifying the relationship between thigh circumference and muscle and SF following ACL reconstruction is important. This study’s primary purpose was to examine pre- and post-operative changes in thigh circumference, thigh muscles and SF CSAs in both legs. Secondary, the relationship between thigh circumference and muscle and SF CSAs was examined to demonstrate that circumference measurements could be used to detect atrophy. Quadriceps, hamstrings, and SF CSAs at 15, 10, and 5 cm proximal to the patella were measured by MRI pre- and 4 weeks postoperatively to examine how reconstruction affected those tissues in the thighs. The results showed increases in SF CSA (r=0.72 at 10 cm, r=0.67 at 15 cm) greatly affected thigh circumference in females on the surgical side. In males, increases in SF CSA (r=0.83) at 15- and 5-cm and decreases in quadriceps muscle CSA (r=0.73) at 5 cm affected thigh circumference on the surgical side. Thigh circumference measurements might not reflect actual muscle CSA in ACL patients.
Changes in Substance Abuse and HIV Risk Behaviors over 12-Month Methadone Maintenance Treatment among Vietnamese Patients in Mountainous Provinces

Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) programs have been used worldwide to reduce the number of drug users and for HIV prevention; however, evidence of their effectiveness in mountainous areas is limited. This study aimed to identify changes in substance abuse and sexual practices among MMT patients after treatment in three Vietnamese mountainous provinces. A survey on risk behaviors was conducted among 300 drug users in six MMT clinics prior to and following one year of MMT. Cramér’s effect size of changes was extrapolated to justify the magnitude of the intervention’s effectiveness. A generalized estimation equation was used to find the factors associated with respondents’ substance use and sexual risk behavior. While drug-related risk behaviors were significantly reduced, alcohol and sex-related behaviors remained risk factors for HIV in this group. Additionally, condom use was common among participants at both time points, but not among those having sex with sex workers. Socio-economic characteristics of ethnic, education, occupation, as well as drug use history influenced the possibility of engaging in drug use and/or sexual risk behavior following treatment. Further emphasis on managing these among MMT patients is required, potentially by providing integrated services including smoking and drinking counseling and condom use promotion in accordance with MMT.
TECHNICAL BASIS FOR CALCULATING RADIATION DOSES FOR THE BUILDING OCCUPANCY SCENARIO USING THE PROBABILISTIC RESRAD-BUILD 3.0 CODE

ABSTRACT The purpose of this report is to illustrate the useof the probabilistic RESRAD-BUILD 3.0 code tosimulate the light industrial use of adecontaminated building as one of the buildingoccupancy scenarios described in NUREG/CR-5512 and NUREG-1727. The report illustrateshow a data template file of updated inputparameters and their distributions may beconstructed to transition from the screeningapproach for dose analysis in NUREG/CR-5512to a site-specific approach of the RESRAD-BUILD code. The intent of this illustration is notto recommend a set of “default“ parameters, butto assist users in formulating a method forselecting and constructing a set of parameters to be used with the code fordemonstrating compliance with the dose criteriain the license termination rule. The reportdescribes an example of a dose analysisperformed by using the probabilistic RESRAD-BUILD 3.0 code and the data template filedeveloped for this report to provide insight into thedose values that may be obtained by simulatinglight industrial use as the building occupancyscenario.
A Semismooth Newton Algorithm for High-Dimensional Nonconvex Sparse Learning

The smoothly clipped absolute deviation (SCAD) and the minimax concave penalty (MCP)-penalized regression models are two important and widely used nonconvex sparse learning tools that can handle variable selection and parameter estimation simultaneously and thus have potential applications in various fields, such as mining biological data in high-throughput biomedical studies. Theoretically, these two models enjoy the oracle property even in the high-dimensional settings, where the number of predictors <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$p$ </tex-math></inline-formula> may be much larger than the number of observations <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$n$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. However, numerically, it is quite challenging to develop fast and stable algorithms due to their nonconvexity and nonsmoothness. In this article, we develop a fast algorithm for SCAD- and MCP-penalized learning problems. First, we show that the global minimizers of both models are roots of the nonsmooth equations. Then, a semismooth Newton (SSN) algorithm is employed to solve the equations. We prove that the SSN algorithm converges locally and superlinearly to the Karush–Kuhn–Tucker (KKT) points. The computational complexity analysis shows that the cost of the SSN algorithm per iteration is <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$O(np)$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. Combined with the warm-start technique, the SSN algorithm can be very efficient and accurate. Simulation studies and a real data example suggest that our SSN algorithm, with comparable solution accuracy with the coordinate descent (CD) and the difference of convex (DC) proximal Newton algorithms, is more computationally efficient.
Stellar Metallicities and Elemental Abundance Ratios of z ∼ 1.4 Massive Quiescent Galaxies

The chemical composition of galaxies has been measured out to z ∼ 4. However, nearly all studies beyond z ∼ 0.7 are based on strong-line emission from H ii regions within star-forming galaxies. Measuring the chemical composition of distant quiescent galaxies is extremely challenging, as the required stellar absorption features are faint and shifted to near-infrared wavelengths. Here, we present ultradeep rest-frame optical spectra of five massive quiescent galaxies at z ∼ 1.4, all of which show numerous stellar absorption lines. We derive the abundance ratios [Mg/Fe] and [Fe/H] for three out of five galaxies; the remaining two galaxies have too young luminosity-weighted ages to yield robust measurements. Similar to lower-redshift findings, [Mg/Fe] appears positively correlated with stellar mass, while [Fe/H] is approximately constant with mass. These results may imply that the stellar mass–metallicity relation was already in place at z ∼ 1.4. While the [Mg/Fe]−mass relation at z ∼ 1.4 is consistent with the z < 0.7 relation, [Fe/H] at z ∼ 1.4 is ∼0.2 dex lower than at z < 0.7. With a [Mg/Fe] of the most massive galaxy may be more α-enhanced than similar-mass galaxies at lower redshift, but the offset is less significant than the [Mg/Fe] of 0.6 previously found for a massive galaxy at z = 2.1. Nonetheless, these results combined may suggest that [Mg/Fe] in the most massive galaxies decreases over time, possibly by accreting low-mass, less α-enhanced galaxies. A larger galaxy sample is needed to confirm this scenario. Finally, the abundance ratios indicate short star formation timescales of 0.2–1.0 Gyr.
Finding Robust Periodic Timetables by Integrating Delay Management

This paper defines and solves a mathematical model for finding robust periodic timetables by proposing an extension of the Periodic Event Scheduling Problem (PESP). In order to model delayed and not nominal travel times already in the timetabling step, we integrate delay management into the periodic timetabling problem. After revisiting both (PESP) and delay management individually, we introduce a periodic delay management model capable of evaluating periodic timetables with respect to delay resistance. Having introduced periodic delay management, we define the Robust Periodic Timetabling problem (RPT). Due to the high complexity of (RPT) we propose two different simplifications of the problem and introduce solution algorithms for both of them. These solution algorithms are tested against timetables found by standard procedures for periodic timetabling with respect to their delay-resistance. The computational results show that our algorithms yield timetables which can cope better with occurring delays, even on large-scale datasets and with low computational effort.
ReQA: An Evaluation for End-to-End Answer Retrieval Models

Popular QA benchmarks like SQuAD have driven progress on the task of identifying answer spans within a specific passage, with models now surpassing human performance. However, retrieving relevant answers from a huge corpus of documents is still a challenging problem, and places different requirements on the model architecture. There is growing interest in developing scalable answer retrieval models trained end-to-end, bypassing the typical document retrieval step. In this paper, we introduce Retrieval Question-Answering (ReQA), a benchmark for evaluating large-scale sentence-level answer retrieval models. We establish baselines using both neural encoding models as well as classical information retrieval techniques. We release our evaluation code to encourage further work on this challenging task.
A complexity dichotomy for hitting connected minors on bounded treewidth graphs: the chair and the banner draw the boundary

For a fixed connected graph $H$, the $\{H\}$-M-DELETION problem asks, given a graph $G$, for the minimum number of vertices that intersect all minor models of $H$ in $G. $ It is known that this problem can be solved in time $f(tw)\cdot n^{O(1)}$, where $tw$ is the treewidth of $G. $ We determine the asymptotically optimal function $f(tw),$ for each possible choice of $H. $ Namely, we prove that, under the ETH, $f(tw) =2^{\Theta(tw)}$ if $H$ is a contraction of the chair or the banner, and $f(tw)=2^{\Theta( tw \cdot \log tw)}$ otherwise. Prior to this work, such a complete characterization was only known when $H$ is a planar graph with at most five vertices. For the upper bounds, we present an algorithm in time $2^{\Theta( tw\cdot \log tw)} \cdot n^{O(1)}$ for the more general problem where all minor models of connected graphs in a finite family ${\mathcal F}$ need to be hit. We combine several ingredients such as the machinery of boundaried graphs in dynamic programming via representatives, the Flat Wall Theorem, Bidimensionality, the irrelevant vertex technique, treewidth modulators, and protrusion replacement. In particular, this algorithm vastly generalizes a result of Jansen et al. [SODA 2014] for the particular case ${\mathcal F}=\{K_5,K_{3,3}\}. $ For the lower bounds, our reductions are based on a generic construction building on the one given by the authors in [IPEC 2018], which uses the framework introduced by Lokshtanov et al. [SODA 2011] to obtain superexponential lower bounds.
Open problems in the spectral theory of signed graphs

Signed graphs are graphs whose edges get a sign $+1$ or $-1$ (the signature). Signed graphs can be studied by means of graph matrices extended to signed graphs in a natural way. Recently, the spectra of signed graphs have attracted much attention from graph spectra specialists. One motivation is that the spectral theory of signed graphs elegantly generalizes the spectral theories of unsigned graphs. On the other hand, unsigned graphs do not disappear completely, since their role can be taken by the special case of balanced signed graphs. Therefore, spectral problems defined and studied for unsigned graphs can be considered in terms of signed graphs, and sometimes such generalization shows nice properties which cannot be appreciated in terms of (unsigned) graphs. Here, we survey some general results on the adjacency spectra of signed graphs, and we consider some spectral problems which are inspired from the spectral theory of (unsigned) graphs.
Improved bounds for centered colorings

A vertex coloring $\phi$ of a graph $G$ is $p$-centered if for every connected subgraph $H$ of $G$ either $\phi$ uses more than $p$ colors on $H$ or there is a color that appears exactly once on $H$. Centered colorings form one of the families of parameters that allow to capture notions of sparsity of graphs: A class of graphs has bounded expansion if and only if there is a function $f$ such that for every $p\geq1$, every graph in the class admits a $p$-centered coloring using at most $f(p)$ colors. In this paper, we give upper bounds for the maximum number of colors needed in a $p$-centered coloring of graphs from several widely studied graph classes. We show that: (1) planar graphs admit $p$-centered colorings with $O(p^3\log p)$ colors where the previous bound was $O(p^{19})$; (2) bounded degree graphs admit $p$-centered colorings with $O(p)$ colors while it was conjectured that they may require exponential number of colors. All these upper bounds imply polynomial algorithms for computing the colorings. Prior to this work there were no non-trivial lower bounds known. We show that: (4) there are graphs of treewidth $t$ that require $\binom{p+t}{t}$ colors in any $p$-centered coloring. This bound matches the upper bound; (5) there are planar graphs that require $\Omega(p^2\log p)$ colors in any $p$-centered coloring. We also give asymptotically tight bounds for outerplanar graphs and planar graphs of treewidth $3$. We prove our results with various proof techniques. The upper bound for planar graphs involves an application of a recent structure theorem while the upper bound for bounded degree graphs comes from the entropy compression method. We lift the result for bounded degree graphs to graphs avoiding a fixed topological minor using the Grohe-Marx structure theorem.
DeepXDE: A Deep Learning Library for Solving Differential Equations

Deep learning has achieved remarkable success in diverse applications; however, its use in solving partial differential equations (PDEs) has emerged only recently. Here, we present an overview of physics-informed neural networks (PINNs), which embed a PDE into the loss of the neural network using automatic differentiation. The PINN algorithm is simple, and it can be applied to different types of PDEs, including integro-differential equations, fractional PDEs, and stochastic PDEs. Moreover, from the implementation point of view, PINNs solve inverse problems as easily as forward problems. We propose a new residual-based adaptive refinement (RAR) method to improve the training efficiency of PINNs. For pedagogical reasons, we compare the PINN algorithm to a standard finite element method. We also present a Python library for PINNs, DeepXDE, which is designed to serve both as an education tool to be used in the classroom as well as a research tool for solving problems in computational science and engineering. Specifically, DeepXDE can solve forward problems given initial and boundary conditions, as well as inverse problems given some extra measurements. DeepXDE supports complex-geometry domains based on the technique of constructive solid geometry, and enables the user code to be compact, resembling closely the mathematical formulation. We introduce the usage of DeepXDE and its customizability, and we also demonstrate the capability of PINNs and the user-friendliness of DeepXDE for five different examples. More broadly, DeepXDE contributes to the more rapid development of the emerging Scientific Machine Learning field.