Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perianal sepsis in neutropaenic patients with haematological malignancies: the role of magnetic resonance imaging and surgery

Perianal sepsis occurs in up to 10% of neutropaenic patients with haematological malignancy and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The management of this condition is challenging in neutropaenic patients due to its atypical pathophysiology. The aim of this study is to assess the role of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and surgery in neutropaenic patients with perianal sepsis.
Gene therapy to the blood–brain barrier with resulting protein secretion as a strategy for treatment of Niemann Picks type C2 disease

Treatment of many diseases affecting the central nervous system (CNS) is complicated by the inability of several therapeutics to cross the blood–brain barrier (BBB). Genetically modifying brain capillary endothelial cells (BCECs) denotes an approach to overcome the limitations of the BBB by turning BCECs into recombinant protein factories. This will result in protein secretion toward both the brain and peripheral circulation, which is particularly relevant in genetic diseases, like lysosomal storage diseases (LSD), where cells are ubiquitously affected both in the CNS and the periphery. Here we investigated transfection of primary rat brain capillary endothelial cells (rBCECs) for synthesis and secretion of recombinant NPC2, the protein deficient in the lysosomal cholesterol storage disease Niemann Pick type C2. We demonstrate prominent NPC2 gene induction and protein secretion in 21% of BCECs in non‐mitotic monocultures with a biological effect on NPC2‐deficient fibroblasts as verified from changes in filipin III staining of cholesterol deposits. By comparison the transfection efficiency was 75% in HeLa‐cells, known to persist in a mitotic state. When co‐cultured with primary rat astrocytes in conditions with maintained BBB properties 7% BCECs were transfected, clearly suggesting that induction of BBB properties with polarized conditions of the non‐mitotic BCECs influences the transfection efficacy and secretion directionality. In conclusion, non‐viral gene therapy to rBCECs leads to protein secretion and signifies a method for NPC2 to target cells inside the CNS otherwise inaccessible because of the presence of the BBB. However, obtaining high transfection efficiencies is crucial in order to achieve sufficient therapeutic effects.
Single residue in CD28-costimulated CAR T cells limits long-term persistence and antitumor durability.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies can eliminate relapsed and refractory tumors, but the durability of anti-tumor activity requires in vivo persistence. Differential signaling through the CAR costimulatory domain can alter the T cell metabolism, memory differentiation, as well as influence long-term persistence. CAR-T cells costimulated with 4-1BB or ICOS persist in xenograft models but those constructed with CD28 exhibit rapid clearance. Here, we show that a single amino acid residue in CD28 drove T cell exhaustion and hindered the persistence of CD28-based CAR-T cells and substituting this asparagine to phenylalanine (CD28-YMFM) promoted durable anti-tumor control. In addition, CD28-YMFM CAR-T cells exhibited reduced T cell differentiation and exhaustion as well as increased skewing towards Th17 cells. Reciprocal modification of ICOS-containing CAR-T cells abolished in vivo persistence and anti-tumor activity. This finding suggests modifications to the co-stimulatory domains of CAR-T cells can enable longer persistence and thereby improve anti-tumor response.
Associations between parent and child sedentary behaviour and physical activity in early childhood.

BACKGROUND Parents are central to healthy development in early childhood. Study objectives were to examine the associations between parent and child sedentary behaviour and physical activity in a large representative sample of Canadian 3-5-year-olds, and to determine if associations differed between sons and daughters and mothers and fathers. DATA AND METHODS Participants were 1,116 children aged 3-5 years and one of their biological parents from cycles 2-5 (2009-2017) of the repeated cross-sectional Canadian Health Measures Survey. Sedentary time, light-intensity physical activity (LPA), and moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) were objectively-measured in both parents and children with Actical accelerometers. Average minutes/day for all valid days, valid weekdays, and valid weekend days (n=935) were calculated. Screen time of both parents and children was parent-reported, and average hours/day were calculated. Pearson correlations and linear regression models with interaction terms were conducted. RESULTS In the overall sample, all of the parental physical activity and sedentary behaviours were significantly correlated with children's behaviours (r=0.08-0.20). No significant parental or child sex interactions were observed in linear regression models so models were not stratified by parent or child sex. Significant associations with small effect sizes were observed between all of the parental behaviours and children's behaviours. For accelerometer data this was consistent for total days, weekdays, and weekend days. DISCUSSION Parental sedentary behaviour and physical activity may be intervention targets in early childhood. This appears consistent regardless of the sex of the parent or child. Given the small effect sizes observed, additional intervention targets should also be considered.
Association between Smoking and Noise-Induced Hearing Loss: A Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies

The purpose of this study was to synthesize the results of previously published observational studies through meta-analysis to clarify the association between smoking and noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). We searched several databases as of October 2019. Based on the results of heterogeneity analysis (Q statistic and I2 statistic), a fixed effect model (for no heterogeneity; Q test P > 0.1 and I2 ≤ 50%) or a random effects model (for heterogeneity) was used to calculate the pooled odds ratios (ORs). We explored the potential dose-response relationship between smoking and NIHL as well. In total, 27 studies involving 30,465 participants were included. Compared with non-smokers, the pooled OR of current smokers was 2.05 (95% Confidence interval (CI): 1.71–2.46), and of former smokers was 1.11 (95% CI: 1.05–1.18). We found a curve linear association between an increasing number of pack-years (packages/day × smoking years) and risk of NIHL. The dose-response meta-analysis suggested that when the number of pack-years was less than fifteen, the risk of NIHL was increasing, and the highest combined OR was 5.25 (95% CI: 2.30–11.96) for pack-years of fifteen. After fifteen pack-years, the pooled OR had a slow decline. Our study indicated that smoking is a risk factor for NIHL. Current smokers have a higher risk than former smokers, and there is a positive dose-response relationship between smoking and NIHL.
Microcytic anemia in children: parallel screening for iron deficiency and thalassemia provides a useful opportunity for thalassemia prevention in low- and middle-income countries

Abstract Microcytic anemia in children is commonly attributed to iron deficiency without attempting to find the cause. Inadequate investigations to exclude hemoglobinopathies lead to missed opportunities for identification of thalassemia carriers. Here we aim to describe the relative contribution of iron deficiency and thalassemia to microcytic anemia in children. This hospital-based prospective study was conducted at the Colombo North Teaching Hospital, Ragama, Sri Lanka. All newly diagnosed patients with microcytic anemia were recruited and data were collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Full blood count, blood film, serum ferritin, c-reactive protein, quantification of hemoglobin sub-types and α-globin genotype were performed using 4 ml of venous blood. A total of 104 children (Male- 60.5%) were recruited. Iron deficiency was the cause for anemia in 49% whilst 16% and 10% had α- and β-thalassemia trait respectively. Seven (6.7%) children had co-existing iron deficiency and thalassemia trait while two coinherited α- and β-thalassemia trait. Children with β-thalassemia trait had significantly higher red cell count and lower mean corpuscular volume compared to children with iron deficiency. However, none of the red cell parameters were significantly different between children with α-thalassemia trait and iron deficiency. Iron deficiency contributes only to half of children with microcytic anemia; one-fourth had thalassemia trait. Co-existence of iron deficiency and thalassemia trait or co-inheritance of α- and β-thalassemia trait were found in 9%. Parallel investigation of children with microcytic anemia to diagnose iron deficiency and thalassemia provides an opportunity to identify thalassemia carriers which is beneficial for thalassemia prevention.
Digital assessment of a retentive full crown preparation—An evaluation of prepCheck in an undergraduate pre‐clinical teaching environment

Abstract Introduction Acquiring practical skills is essential for dental students. These practical skills are assessed throughout their training, both formatively and summatively. However, by means of visual inspection alone, assessment cannot always be performed objectively. A computerised evaluation system may serve as an objective tool to assist the assessor. Aim The aim of the study was to evaluate prepCheck as a tool to assess students’ practical skills and as a means to provide feedback in dental education. Methods As part of a previously scheduled practical examination, students made a preparation for a retentive crown on the maxillary right central incisor—tooth 11. Assessments were made four times by two independent assessors in two different ways: (a) conventionally and (b) assisted by prepCheck. By means of Cohen's kappa coefficient, agreements between conventional and digitally assisted assessments were compared. Questionnaires were used to assess how students experienced working with prepCheck. Results Without the use of prepCheck, ratings given by teachers differed considerably (mean κ = 0.19), whereas the differences with prepCheck assistance were very small (mean κ = 0.96). Students found prepCheck a helpful tool for teachers to assess practical skills. Extra feedback given by prepCheck was considered useful and effective. However, some students complained about too few scanners and too little time for practice, and some believed that prepCheck is too strict. Conclusion prepCheck can be used to assist assessors in order to obtain a more objective outcome. Results showed that practicing with feedback from both prepCheck and the teacher contributes to an effective learning process. Most students appreciated prepCheck for learning practical skills, but introducing prepCheck requires enough equipment and preparation time.
Changes in Salivary Flow Rate and pH in Stressful Conditions

타액은 그 양과 조성 등에 있어 많은 인자들의 영향을 받는다. 타액분비 감소는 구강의 자정작용, 완충능, 치아우식저항성 등 타액의 고유한 기능을 변화시켜서 구강건조감, 구강작열감, 다발성 치아우식증 등의 소인이 된다. 이에 저자는 심리적 요인이 구강내 환경에 미치는 영향을 평가하고자 타액선질환을 포함한 전신질환이 없는 전북대학교 치과대학생 20명을 대상으로 일상생활시와 시험 직전의 비자극성 전타액을 5분간 추출하여, 그 유출량과 수소이온농도를 측정, 비교, 평가하였다. 타액유출량은 25㎖의 메스실린더를 사용하였고, 수소이온농도는 pH/SEmeter(ORION, 720A model)를 이용하여 측정하였다. 평가 결과 남성의 비자극성 타액유출량과 수소이온농도는 3.68±1.31㎖/5min와 7.63±0. 17이었고, 여성에서는 각각 4.93±1.47㎖/5min와 7.43±0. 29로서성별간 유의한 차이가 없었다. 그리고 일상생활시의 성인의 5분간 수집된 비자극성 타액유출량은 4.18±1.48㎖/5min였고, 스트레스하에서의 양은 2.20±0.95㎖/5min로 나타나 스트레스시 타액유출량이 감소하는 것으로 나타났다 (p 이상의 결과로 보아 스트레스는 타액유출량을 감소시키고 구강내를 보다 산성화시킨다고 사료된다.
Facial Landmark Detection with Local and Global Motion Modeling. (Détection des points caractéristiques du visage par modélisation des mouvements locaux et globaux)

La detection des points caracteristiques du visage est une tâche essentielle pour un grand nombre d’applications telles que l’analyse faciale (p. ex., identification, expression, reconstruction 3D), l’interaction homme-machine ou encore le multimedia (p. ex., recherche, indexation). Bien que de nombreuses approches aient ete proposees, les performances en conditions non controlees ne sont toujours pas satisfaisantes. Les variations susceptibles d’impacter l’apparence du visage (p. ex., pose, expression, eclairage, occultation, flou cinetique) en font un probleme encore difficile a resoudre. Dans cette these, une contribution est faite a la fois sur l’analyse des performances des approches actuelles mais aussi sur la modelisation de l’information temporelle pour la detection des points caracteristiques du visage basee sur la video. Une etude experimentale est realisee a l’aide d’un jeu de donnees video permettant d’evaluer l’impact des variations de pose et d’expression sur la detection des points caracteristiques. Cette evaluation permet notamment de mettre en evidence les poses et expressions posant le plus de difficultes. Elle permet egalement d’illustrer l’importance d’une modelisation temporelle capable de tenir compte efficacement de la nature dynamique du visage. L’accent est ensuite mis sur l’amelioration de la modelisation temporelle afin de considerer le mouvement local en plus du mouvement global. Plusieurs architectures sont concues en s’appuyant sur les deux principaux modeles de la litterature : les reseaux de regression de coordonnees et les reseaux de regression de cartes de chaleur. Les experimentations sur deux ensembles de donnees confirment que la modelisation du mouvement local ameliore les resultats (p. ex. avec les expressions). Ces experimentations sont etendues par une etude portant sur la complementarite entre l’information spatiale et temporelle ainsi que le mouvement local et global dans le but d’ameliorer la conception des architectures proposees. En exploitant davantage ces complementarites, de meilleures performances, competitives avec l’etat de l’art, sont obtenues, et ce, malgre la simplicite des modeles proposes.
Massive Uncoordinated Access With Massive MIMO: A Dictionary Learning Approach

Massive machine-type communications (mMTC) or massive Internet of things (IoT) is one of the key application scenarios of fifth generation (5G) and beyond cellular networks. Since initial access procedures of legacy systems are not suitable for massive connectivity due to increased collision probability and prohibitive overhead, it is of great interest to design an efficient grant-free access protocol. In this paper, we propose an uncoordinated access protocol for massive connectivity, which leverages a massive number of antennas at the base station (BS), which is expected to be widely deployed in cellular networks. With the proposed scheme consisting of a sparse frame structure and receiver processing based on sparse dictionary learning, a massive number of IoT devices can transmit data without any prior scheduling process. Unlike existing schemes that necessitate significant overhead for preamble signals, the overhead required for the proposed scheme is negligible, which is attractive in terms of resource utilization and transmit power consumption. Numerical results verify that the proposed scheme can be utilized to facilitate massive connectivity in realistic cellular-based IoT scenarios.
A Channel Model for Indoor Time-of-Arrival Ranging

We executed an indoor measurement campaign to statistically characterize the bias in time of arrival (ToA) estimates incurred by multipath in the 5.5 GHz industrial, scientific and medical band by transmitting 10 and 100 MHz bandwidth waveforms. Measurements in three buildings with different propagation conditions are performed to analyze ToA statistics in a wide range of indoor environments, from partitioned offices to an open cafeteria area. We demonstrate that WINNER II and similar channel models designed for communications are not suitable for localization applications as they do not provide absolute delays. Furthermore, such models assume constant root mean square delay spread over distance, which is a significant contributor to the ToA errors for lower signal bandwidths. Other physical aspects such as specular components in line-of-sight (LOS) and random bias in non-LOS scenario are also not considered in those channel models. An extension of the WINNER II model that overcomes those flaws and provides more realistic ranging performance is proposed. We validate the extended model by demonstrating a good match between the statistics of its simulated output and our measurements.
Regularization schemes for transfer learning with convolutional networks. (Stratégies de régularisation pour l'apprentissage par transfert des réseaux de neurones à convolution)

Transfer learning with deep convolutional neural networks significantly reduces the computation and data overhead of the training process and boosts the performance on the target task, compared to training from scratch. However, transfer learning with a deep network may cause the model to forget the knowledge acquired when learning the source task, leading to the so-called catastrophic forgetting. Since the efficiency of transfer learning derives from the knowledge acquired on the source task, this knowledge should be preserved during transfer. This thesis solves this problem of forgetting by proposing two regularization schemes that preserve the knowledge during transfer. First we investigate several forms of parameter regularization, all of which explicitly promote the similarity of the final solution with the initial model, based on the L1, L2, and Group-Lasso penalties. We also propose the variants that use Fisher information as a metric for measuring the importance of parameters. We validate these parameter regularization approaches on various tasks. The second regularization scheme is based on the theory of optimal transport, which enables to estimate the dissimilarity between two distributions. We benefit from optimal transport to penalize the deviations of high-level representations between the source and target task, with the same objective of preserving knowledge during transfer learning. With a mild increase in computation time during training, this novel regularization approach improves the performance of the target tasks, and yields higher accuracy on image classification tasks compared to parameter regularization approaches.
The European Refugee Crisis Discourse in the Spanish Press: Mapping Humanization and Dehumanization Frames Through Metaphors

The European refugee crisis has a central role in media and political narratives about migration these days. By applying critical metaphor analysis, this article explores how the Spanish press framed the crisis using metaphors in 2015, 2016, and 2017. The evolution of the different ways of conceptualizing migrants and European policies shows two metaphorical frames: the dehumanization frame, where refugees are a natural disaster/mass water or objects/goods, and the humanization frame, where migrants are positively framed as travelers, but also negatively, as troublemakers. Spain as a political actor has no agency till 2016 and 2017, when it is portrayed under the living thing source domain, mainly in a negative way. It is concluded the way in which the refugee crisis is framed is in line either with EU relocation or resettlement policies and points out the connection between language and policy.
Örebro University

For those individuals who committed serious crimes, treatment often shows lack of positive effects in terms of social, psychological and behavioral change (Latessa, Cullen & Gendreau, 2002). Not only is the treatment high in cost, but sometimes also results in negative outcomes through the deterioration of an individual’s behavior, as well as their social and psychological function. Due to the goals and values in society, there is a requirement that the human services and treatment organizations can provide a concise image regarding the extent of given interventions but also whether their efficient in terms of improving the individuals’ over all wellbeing. The overall aim with this study is to investigate how treatment within prison settings is distributed in terms of promoting positive changing processes through daily around-the-clock activities. This study has a qualitative approach where the data has been conducted through interviews with the staff at T-unit, Kumla prison. The result shows that the treatment is practiced in accordance with the risk, need and responsivity model. However, there is a lack of interaction between the prison officer’s and the inmate’s which prevent the specific treatment to connect with the daily activities which in turn prevent a positive socialization process to occur.
Statistical Detection of Tax Fraud using Auditing Announcements

In the Netherlands, the tax authorities announce at the beginning of the tax-filing period a specific component in tax reports which will receive special attention when auditing. Theoretical models predict that rational taxpayers will reduce misreporting on these components in response to stricter auditing. We use detailed administrative data from the Dutch tax authorities (Belastingdienst) to detect unusual patterns in tax reports due to two announcements. We find increased declarations of secondary income and freelance income not subject to third-party reporting. We also observe patterns in property and residual assets declarations which presuppose that increases are not always directly visible on the tax item targeted by the announcement but reveal themselves in other overlapping topics. The substitution patterns suggest that taxpayers try to reduce their declarations in the announcement related topic whenever possible and declare previously underreported income and wealth across other topics in an effort to minimize their tax burden. When shifting declarations to other sections is not possible, taxpayers increase their declarations in the topic targeted by the auditing announcement. ∗University of Mannheim, IZA Address: Department of Economics, University of Mannheim, Block L7, 3-5, D–68131 Mannheim, Germany. E-mail: s.kastoryano@uni-mannheim.de Special thanks to Marc Dirkx, Rafail Aliev and all members from the Research and Marketing (O&M) section of the Dutch tax authorities. I also owe my gratitude to my supervisors Joop Hartog and Bas van der Klaauw for their suggestions. The views and interpretations presented in this paper are those of the author and should not be understood as the opinion of the Dutch tax administration (Belastingdienst) or the Dutch government.
Real Wage Cyclicality in the Euro zone before and during the Crisis: Evidence from micro-data

We estimate the response of real wages to the busin ess cycle in major Euro zone countries before and during the crisis. Average real wages are found a-c yclical but this reflects in a large part the effec t of changes in the composition of the labour force rela ted to unemployment variations. Using individual level data from the ECHP and SILC panel, we estimat e elasticities of real wages to unemployment increases between −0.9 and −1.4 over the period 199 4-2008. We use this result to investigate whether real wages have been particularly rigid during the recent crisis. We first highlight that composition effects have been large after 2009 and explain most of the stagnation or increase in average wage observed in some countries from 2008 to 2011. In co ntrast, at constant composition of the labour force in terms of education and experience, the figures i ndicate a significant decrease in average wage during the downturn in countries most affected by t he crisis. Nevertheless, in most cases, this decrea se is more moderate than predictions based on the prev iously estimated elasticity in the 2008-2009 period but not in the 2009-2010 period. A potential explan ation of this relatively higher wage rigidity is th e strong decrease in inflation in 2009 which had prev ented firms to adjust real wages by using inflation . JEL Codes: J30, E32