Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Item Recommendation with Evolving User Preferences and Experience

Current recommender systems exploit user and item similarities by collaborative filtering. Some advanced methods also consider the temporal evolution of item ratings as a global background process. However, all prior methods disregard the individual evolution of a user's experience level and how this is expressed in the user's writing in a review community. In this paper, we model the joint evolution of user experience, interest in specific item facets, writing style, and rating behavior. This way we can generate individual recommendations that take into account the user's maturity level (e.g., recommending art movies rather than blockbusters for a cinematography expert). As only item ratings and review texts are observables, we capture the user's experience and interests in a latent model learned from her reviews, vocabulary and writing style. We develop a generative HMM-LDA model to trace user evolution, where the Hidden Markov Model (HMM) traces her latent experience progressing over time -- with solely user reviews and ratings as observables over time. The facets of a user's interest are drawn from a Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) model derived from her reviews, as a function of her (again latent) experience level. In experiments with five real-world datasets, we show that our model improves the rating prediction over state-of-the-art baselines, by a substantial margin. We also show, in a use-case study, that our model performs well in the assessment of user experience levels.
Effects of Visible Light on the Skin †

Electromagnetic radiation has vast and diverse effects on human skin. Although photobiologic studies of sunlight date back to Sir Isaac Newton in 1671, most available studies focus on the UV radiation part of the spectrum. The effects of visible light and infrared radiation have not been, until recently, clearly elucidated. The goal of this review is to highlight the effects of visible light on the skin. As a result of advances in the understanding of skin optics, and comprehensive studies regarding the absorption spectrum of endogenous and exogenous skin chromophores, various biologic effects have been shown to be exerted by visible light radiation including erythema, pigmentation, thermal damage and free radical production. It has also been shown that visible light can induce indirect DNA damage through the generation of reactive oxygen species. Furthermore, a number of photodermatoses have an action spectrum in the visible light range, even though most of the currently available sunscreens offer, if any, weak protection against visible light. Conversely, because of its cutaneous biologic effects, visible light is used for the treatment of a variety of skin diseases and esthetic conditions in the form of lasers, intense pulsed light and photodynamic therapy.
Multidimensional assortment problem with an application

This paper addresses the discrete multidimensional assortment problem. Assortment issues arise frequently in practice as an important design and inventory problem which simultaneously seeks the answers to two related questions: (a) Which items (or sizes of a product) to stock? (b) How much of each to stock? Its discrete multidimensional version concerns itself with choosing sizes from among a discrete set of possible ones with each size being characterized by more than one dimension. Our research is motivated by an application of the problem in the distribution center of a global manufacturer of telecommunications equipment where the goal was to standardize the sizes of three-dimensional crates used to package finished items by selecting a few from among all crate sizes. The main contributions of this research are (1) modeling the assortment problem as a facility location problem, (2) devising a heuristic procedure that generates a good solution to the problem as well as a bound on the optimal solution, and (3) implementing the heuristic procedure on a PC so as to obtain solutions for actual large-scale instances of a three-dimensional problem. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Networks 33: 239–245, 1999
Eigenvector based spatial filtering of fetal biomagnetic signals

Abstract In this paper we demonstrate the usefulness of an eigenvector based spatial filtering method for signal processing of multi-channel fetal magnetocardiogram (fMCG) and fetal magnetoencephalogram (fMEG) recordings. This method of filtering can separate signal and interference by exploiting the considerable spatial information contained in multi-channel recordings. Typically, fMCGs and fMEGs suffer from large cardiac interference and low signal-to-noise ratio. To isolate the signal from the interference, we identify their respective subspaces using one portion of the record dominated by the signal and another dominated by the interference. Each subspace is approximately rank two since the sources of the signal and interference can be modeled as current dipoles. The spatial filter consists of a linear transformation that preserves the signal subspace and annihilates the interference subspace. It is easier to implement than a matched filter, preserves the morphology and topography of the fetal signal, and effectively removes maternal cardiac interference, even when the maternal and fetal complexes overlap strongly in time or when small maternal movements or maternal arrhythmias alter the temporal character of the interference.
Emerging Strategies for Controlling Drug Release by Using Visible/Near IR Light

Effective drug delivery systems require controlled drug release at the target cancer cell. While strategies for targeting tumors have been extensively studied, a better understanding of the necessary technology for controlling the spatiotemporal release of a drug is still needed. It has been established that the use of light can be a unique tool for controlling drug release. While UV light can be used for the release of biologically active, caged (deactivated) compounds, clinical application is restricted because of its limited ability to penetrate tissues as well as its cytotoxicity. Recently, the use of both tissue-penetrable visible and near IR have shown promise to overcome these limitations. In this short review, we introduce new smart strategies to convert such low energy light to a tissue-penetrable stimulus for both actively and remotely controlling drug release.
Adaptation of the translation model for statistical machine translation based on information retrieval

In this paper we present experiments concerning translation model adaptation for statistical machine translation. We develop a method to adapt translation models using in- formation retrieval. The approach selects sentences similar to the test set to form an adapted training corpus. The method allows a better use of additionally available out-of-domain training data or finds in-domain data in a mixed corpus. The adapted translation models significantly improve the translation performance compared to competitive baseline sys- tems.
Selective modulation of protein C affinity for EPCR and phospholipids by Gla domain mutation

Uniquely amongst vitamin K‐dependent coagulation proteins, protein C interacts via its Gla domain both with a receptor, the endothelial cell protein C receptor (EPCR), and with phospholipids. We have studied naturally occurring and recombinant protein C Gla domain variants for soluble (s)EPCR binding, cell surface activation to activated protein C (APC) by the thrombin–thrombomodulin complex, and phospholipid dependent factor Va (FVa) inactivation by APC, to establish if these functions are concordant. Wild‐type protein C binding to sEPCR was characterized with surface plasmon resonance to have an association rate constant of 5.23 × 105 m−1·s−1, a dissociation rate constant of 7.61 × 10−2 s−1 and equilibrium binding constant (KD) of 147 nm. It was activated by thrombin over endothelial cells with a Km of 213 nm and once activated to APC, rapidly inactivated FVa. Each of these interactions was dramatically reduced for variants causing gross Gla domain misfolding (R‐1L, R‐1C, E16D and E26K). Recombinant variants Q32A, V34A and D35A had essentially normal functions. However, R9H and H10Q/S11G/S12N/D23S/Q32E/N33D/H44Y (QGNSEDY) variants had slightly reduced (< twofold) binding to sEPCR, arising from an increased rate of dissociation, and increased Km (358 nm for QGNSEDY) for endothelial cell surface activation by thrombin. Interestingly, these variants had greatly reduced (R9H) or greatly enhanced (QGNSEDY) ability to inactivate FVa. Therefore, protein C binding to sEPCR and phospholipids is broadly dependent on correct Gla domain folding, but can be selectively influenced by judicious mutation.
Discovery of the VHE gamma-ray source HESS J1832−093 in the vicinity of SNR G22.7−0.2

The region around the supernova remnant (SNR) W41 contains several TeV sources and has prompted the HESS Collaboration to perform deep observations of this field of view. This resulted in the discovery of the new very high energy (VHE) source HESS J1832-093, at the position RA = 18(h)32(m)50(s) +/- 3(stat)(s) +/- 2(syst)(s), Dec = -9 degrees 22'36 '' +/- 32(stat)'' +/- 20(syst)'' (J2000), spatially coincident with a part of the radio shell of the neighbouring remnant G22.7-0.2. The photon spectrum is well described by a power law of index Gamma = 2.6 +/- 0.3(stat) +/- 0.1(syst) and a normalization at 1 TeV of Phi(0) = (4.8 +/- 0.8(stat) +/- 1.0(syst)) x 10(-13) cm(-2) s(-1) TeV-1. The location of the gamma-ray emission on the edge of the SNR rim first suggested a signature of escaping cosmic rays illuminating a nearby molecular cloud. Then a dedicated XMM-Newton observation led to the discovery of a new X-ray point source spatially coincident with the TeV excess. Two other scenarios were hence proposed to identify the nature of HESS J1832-093. Gamma-rays from inverse Compton radiation in the framework of a pulsar wind nebula scenario or the possibility of gamma-ray production within a binary system are therefore also considered. Deeper multiwavelength observations will help to shed new light on this intriguing VHE source.
Structural and functional characterization of the human NBC3 sodium/bicarbonate co-transporter carboxyl-terminal cytoplasmic domain

The sodium bicarbonate co-transporter, NBC3, is expressed in a range of tissues including heart, skeletal muscle and kidney, where it modulates intracellular pH and bicarbonate levels. NBC3 has a three-domain structure: 67 kDa N-terminal cytoplasmic domain, 57 kDa membrane domain and an 11 kDa C-terminal cytoplasmic domain (NBC3Ct). The role of C-terminal domains as important regulatory regions is an emerging theme in bicarbonate transporter physiology. This study determined the functional role of human NBC3Ct and characterized its structure using biochemical techniques. The NBC3 C-terminal domain deletion mutant (NBC3ΔCt) had only 12±5% of wild-type transport activity. This low activity is attributable to low steady-state levels of NBC3ΔCt and almost complete retention inside the cell, as assessed by immunoblots and confocal microscopy, suggesting a role of NBC3Ct in cell surface processing. To characterize the structure of NBC3Ct, amino acids 1127–1214 of NBC3 were expressed as a GST fusion protein (GST.NBC3Ct). GST.NBC3Ct was cleaved with PreScission Protease™ and native NBC3Ct could be purified to 94% homogeneity. Gel permeation chromatography and sedimentation velocity ultracentrifugation of NBC3Ct indicated a Stokes radius of 26 and 30 Å, respectively. Shape modelling revealed NBC3Ct as a prolate shape with long and short axes of 19 and 2 nm, respectively. The circular dichroism spectra of NBC3Ct did not change over the pH 6.2–7.8 range, which rules out a large change of secondary structure as a component of pH sensor function. Proteolysis with trypsin and chymotrypsin identified two proteolytically sensitive regions, R1129 and K1183-K1186, which could form protein interaction sites.
[THE NORMAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE MASTOID PNEUMATIC CELLS].

The development of the mastoid pneumatic cells was studied by means of the radiographs of the temporal bone in the Sonnenkarb's position. The examines were 116 normal children from one year old to six and the radiographs were mostly taken in their sleep. The extent of the mastoid pneumatic cells on the radiographs was traced on a section paper and their area was measured. The area of the mastoid pneumatic cells was broaden with the years. The average area of the mastoid cells was 306 mm2 in old.
Clinical Application of Population Pharmacokinetic Methods Developed for Immunosuppressive Drugs

After a brief overview of the relevant exposure indices for cyclosporine (CsA) and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), as well as of the different steps necessary to develop maximum a posteriori Bayesian estimators (MAP-BE), this paper presents applications of MAP-BE for CsA or MMF to clinical cases and clinical trials. In a renal transplant patient under CsA, grade 1 chronic allograft nephropathy was found at the sixth month posttransplantation, with CsA C0 slightly above the target range and C2 markedly below; the AUC0-12h Bayesian estimate was quite high, at 5.6 mg · h/L, as compared with a mean value of 4.3 ± 0.9 mg · h/L in stable renal transplants at this period; the inconsistent C2 level found could be explained by delayed absorption of CsA in this patient, in which case C2 no longer represents the major part of the AUC. The patient was switched to sirolimus, which resulted in a slow and significant improvement of graft function with no acute rejection. In a 50-year-old female renal transplant recipient administered MMF and CsA and with a very favorable outcome otherwise, progressive anemia appeared 8 months posttransplantation. Clinical investigations were negative, but Bayesian estimation showed a rather high MPA AUC0-12h (69.8 mg · h/L). After MMF dose reduction, hemoglobin level progressively returned to normal, without erythropoietin injection or blood transfusion. Finally, the feasibility of accurate dose adjustment using these MAP-BE is shown through preliminary results from 2 ongoing multicenter clinical trials, 1 evaluating an AUC-controlled cyclosporine-sparing strategy in stable renal transplants, the second evaluating the benefit of MMF therapeutic drug monitoring based on MPA AUC0-12h in de novo renal transplant recipients.
Effects of matrine on HepG2 cell proliferation and expression of tumor relevant proteins in vitro

Matrine, one of the main active components extracted from dry roots of Sophora flavescens Ait (Leguminosae), has been reported to have anticancer effects on a number of cancer cell lines, but the anticancer mechanism of matrine remains elusive. This study shows that matrine also displays anticancer activity on human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells. In this work, the optimal cultivation condition for HepG2 cells was determined using the combinatorial orthogonal test design [L18 (21 × 37)]. Exposure of HepG2 cells to matrine resulted in inhibition of proliferation in both a time- and dose-dependent manner, as measured by morphology observation, hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, and MTT assay (p<0.05). Further immunohistochemical analyses revealed that the expression of alpha fetal protein (AFP), proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), C-myc and Bcl-2 was down-regulated significantly, but the expression of Bax was up-regulated higher than untreated cells. The results demonstrated that matrine inhibited HepG2 cells proliferation primarily via up-regulating or down-regulating expression of the tumor relevant proteins.
IPIC separability ratio for semi-supervised feature selection

Owing to the increase of computer processing power, datasets for pattern classification problems get larger. In semi-supervised learning problems, only a portion of training samples are labeled. This further reduces the effort in data collection. In the light of this situation, the number of features increases easily and the curse of dimensionality becomes a serious problem in semi-supervised pattern classification problems. In classical class separability based feature selection methods, samples in the same class are assumed to belong to a single cluster. However, this assumption does not hold true in many real life pattern classification problems. Instead, samples in a class may form several clusters (prototypes) [23]. These facts motivate us to propose the Intra-Prototype / Inter-Class Separability Ratio (IPICSR). Features selected by the IPICSR tend to preserve locality within a prototype while maximizing inter-class difference. Experimental results show that average testing accuracies of the proposed method out-performs off-the-shelf methods.
Infectivity and Early Antibody Response to Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato Isolated in Japan in Outbred Mice

Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato isolated from Ixodes ovatus (B. japonica), I. persulcatus and patients with erythema migrans (EM) in Japan were determined on infectivity and arthritis induction‐activity in outbred mice. Infectivity of B. japonica was weak and did not induce the development of footpad swelling by subcutaneous (s.c.) inoculation into the footpad. Challenged strain, NO129‐M of B. japonica, to ddY mice were reinoculated to the mice at various cell numbers (1 × 10‐1 × 106 cells/mouse). The strain isolated from the mouse did not reinfect ddY mice and did not induce the production of specific antibody to the homologous strain. On the other hand, strains from I. persulcatus and patients with EM in Japan infected the mice and induced a serious inflammatory response in Borrelia‐inoculated footpad as well as strains belonging to the three genospecies, B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. garinii, and B. afzelii, related to Lyme disease, from North America and Europe. The mice were infected with 10 cells of strain HP1 isolated from I. persulcatus in Hokkaido and of strain 297 isolated from a patient in the U.S.A. by subcutaneous inoculation into the hind footpad, or by intradermal inoculation into the back. Antigens of ca. 20, 23–24 (Osp C), 29, 39, 41 (flagellin) and 45 kDa reacted with the pooled sera from mice inoculated with strains HP1 and 297, but Osp A and Osp B did not.
Mid-Upper-Arm and Calf Circumferences are Useful Predictors of Underweight in Women of Reproductive Age in Northern Vietnam

Background Mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC) and calf circumference (CC) are correlated with body mass index (BMI) in adults and may be useful for screening women with underweight (BMI < 18.5 kg/m2). However, there is no consensus on appropriate MUAC and CC cutoff points in diverse populations, especially in women of reproductive age. Objective To assess the accuracy of different MUAC and CC cutoff points to screen for underweight and to identify the most appropriate cutoff points in a sample of women of reproductive age from rural northern Vietnam. Methods Anthropometric measurements (weight, height, MUAC, CC, and triceps and subscapular skinfold thicknesses) were obtained for 4,981 women of reproductive age who participated in a micronutrient intervention trial (PRECONCEPT) in Thái Nguyên Province, Viet- nam. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to evaluate different cutoff values of MUAC and CC and identify the most appropriate cutoff values to predict underweight. Results The overall prevalence of underweight was 32%. The MUAC value of 23.5 cm and the CC value of 31 cm were identified as the best cutoffs based on low misclassification (16% for MUAC and 21% for CC) and good balance of sensitivity (89% and 85%, respectively) and specificity (71% and 67%, respectively. The ROC curves were similar across different ethnic groups, with the area under the curve (AUC) values reaching 0.89 to 0.93 for MUAC and 0.83 to 0.89 for CC. Conclusions MUAC and CC perform adequately in screening for underweight in women. The utility of these measurements in predicting functional outcomes should be examined.
Cross‐bridge kinetics in the presence of MgADP investigated by photolysis of caged ATP in rabbit psoas muscle fibres.

1. The interaction between MgADP and rigor cross‐bridges in glycerol‐extracted single fibres from rabbit psoas muscle has been investigated using laser pulse photolysis of caged ATP (P3‐1(2‐nitrophenyl)ethyladenosine 5'‐triphosphate) in the presence of MgADP and following small length changes applied to the rigor fibre. 2. Addition of 465 microM‐MgADP to a rigor fibre caused rigor tension to decrease by 15.3 +/‐ 0.7% (S.E.M., n = 24 trials in thirteen fibres). The half‐saturation value for this tension reduction was 18 +/‐ 4 microM (n = 23, thirteen fibres). 3. Relaxation from rigor by photolysis of caged ATP in the absence of Ca2+ was markedly slowed by inclusion of 20 microM‐2 mM‐MgADP in the photolysis medium. 4. Four phases of tension relaxation occurred with MgADP in the medium: at, a quick partial relaxation (in pre‐stretch fibres); bt, a slowing of relaxation or a rise in tension for 50‐100 ms; ct, a sudden acceleration of relaxation; and dt, a final, nearly exponential relaxation. 5. Experiments at varied MgATP and MgADP concentrations suggested that phase at is due to MgATP binding to nucleotide‐free cross‐bridges. 6. Phase bt was abbreviated by including 1‐20 mM‐orthophosphate (Pi) in the photolysis medium, or by applying quick stretches before photolysis or during phase bt. These results suggest that phases bt and ct are complex processes involving ADP dissociation, cross‐bridge reattachment and co‐operative detachment involving filament sliding and the Ca(2+)‐regulatory system. 7. Stretching relaxed muscle fibres to 3.2‐3.4 microns striation spacing followed by ATP removal and release of the rigor fibre until tension fell below the relaxed level allowed investigation of the strain dependence of relaxation in the regions of negative cross‐bridge strain. In the presence of 50 microM‐2 mM‐MgADP and either 10 mM‐Pi or 20 mM‐2,3‐butanedione monoxime, relaxation following photolysis of caged ATP was 6‐ to 8‐fold faster for negatively strained cross‐bridges than for positively strained ones. This marked strain dependence of cross‐bridge detachment is predicted from the model of A. F. Huxley (1957). 8. In the presence of Ca2+, activation of contraction following photolysis of caged ATP was slowed by inclusion of 20‐500 microM‐MgADP in the medium. An initial decrease in tension related to cross‐bridge detachment by MgATP was markedly suppressed in the presence of MgADP. 9. Ten millimolar Pi partly suppressed active tension generation in the presence of MgADP. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Linear Vestibular Self‐Motion Signals in Monkey Medial Superior Temporal Area

Abstract: The present study was aimed at investigating the sensitivity to linear vestibular stimulation of neurons in the medial superior temporal area (MST) of the macaque monkey. Two monkeys were moved on a parallel swing while single‐unit activity was recorded. About one‐half of the cells (28/51) responded in the dark either to forward motion (n= 10), or to backward motion (n= 11), or to both (n= 7). Twenty cells responding to vestibular stimulation in darkness were also tested for their responses to optic flow stimulation simulating forward and backward self‐motion. Forty‐five percent (9/20) of them preferred the same self‐motion directions, that is, combined visual and vestibular signals in a synergistic manner. Thirty percent (6/20) of the cells were not responsive to visual stimulation alone. The remaining 25% (5/20) preferred directions that were antialigned. Our results provide strong evidence that neurons in the MST area are at least in part involved in the processing of self‐motion.