Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chlamydia trachomatis in infertile women undergoing uterine instrumentation: Screen or treat.

We read with interest ‘Chlamydia trachomatis in infertile women undergoing uterine instrumentation: Screen or treat’ (Land et al., 2002), proposing that prophylactic antibiotics should be given to all infertile women undergoing uterine instrumentation instead of screening for C. trachomatis and treating positive cases only. Universal screening was not considered by the authors to be cost-effective in view of the low incidence of detection of C. trachomatis in the endocervix of infertile women. Possible reactivation of C. trachomatis infection may also follow uterine instrumentation as a result of persistent micro-organisms in the upper genital tract despite adequate treatment. We would like to point out some of the problems that may arise from adopting the universal prophylaxis approach. It is obvious that criteria for selective screening are not useful in infertility, as the majority of infertile women are 25 years old and the couples usually have stable monogamous relationships for several years prior to seeking infertility treatment. Therefore, all women presenting for infertility investigation should be screened for C. trachomatis (Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, 1998). The costeffectiveness of universal screening for C. trachomatis depends on the prevalence of asymptomatic infection. The threshold prevalence of C. trachomatis, over which universal screening is shown to be cost effective, varied from 3.1–10.0% (Sellors et al., 1992; Genc and Mardh, 1996; Marazzo et al., 1997; Howell et al., 1998; Paavonen et al., 1998). The variation in the threshold prevalence rate can be explained by the very wide range of direct and indirect costs used in the economic models (McIntosh et al., 1999). These studies mainly addressed the cost implications associated with prevention of infectious pelvic inflammatory episodes. The prevalence of C. trachomatis in infertile women, which is much lower than other clinical settings (Macmillan et al., 2000), is 1.3% (95% CI 0.2–4.7%) (Eggert-Kruse et al., 1997) and 1.9% (95% CI 0.5–4.8%) (Macmillan and Templeton, 1999) using ligase chain reaction (LCR). The upper range of the prevalence in infertile women is still within the threshold prevalence rate (3.1–10.0%) for which universal screening is cost effective, even after taking into consideration unpublished data (J.A.Land et al., 2002) using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Other advantages of the screen and treat approach that cannot be offered by the universal prophylaxis approach include screening for other sexually transmitted diseases in the women and treatment of sexual partners when chlamydial infection is detected. These steps help to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases in the community. Recurrent
Proteasome-mediated Degradation of Smac during Apoptosis: XIAP Promotes Smac Ubiquitination in Vitro *

During apoptosis, Smac (secondmitochondria-derived activator ofcaspases)/DIABLO, an IAP (inhibitor of apoptosis protein)-binding protein, is released from mitochondria and potentiates apoptosis by relieving IAP inhibition of caspases. We demonstrate that exposure of MCF-7 cells to the death-inducing ligand, TRAIL (tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand), results in rapid Smac release from mitochondria, which occurs before or in parallel with loss of cytochrome c. Smac release is inhibited by Bcl-2/Bcl-xL or by a pan-caspase inhibitor demonstrating that this event is caspase-dependent and modulated by Bcl-2 family members. Following release, Smac is rapidly degraded by the proteasome, an effect suppressed by co-treatment with a proteasome inhibitor. As the RING finger domain of XIAP possesses ubiquitin-protein ligase activity and XIAP binds tightly to mature Smac, an in vitroubiquitination assay was performed which revealed that XIAP functions as a ubiquitin-protein ligase (E3) in the ubiquitination of Smac. Both the association of XIAP with Smac and the RING finger domain of XIAP are essential for ubiquitination, suggesting that the ubiquitin-protein ligase activity of XIAP may promote the rapid degradation of mitochondrial-released Smac. Thus, in addition to its well characterized role in inhibiting caspase activity, XIAP may also protect cells from inadvertent mitochondrial damage by targeting pro-apoptotic molecules for proteasomal degradation.
Accounting Comparability and Corporate Innovative Efficiency

We predict that a firm's greater accounting comparability with its industry peers facilitates its learning from those peer firms' research and development (R&D) investments, allowing that firm to have greater innovative efficiency. We estimate accounting comparability using pro forma capitalized R&D earnings that link lagged R&D expenditures to future profitability employing the Almon (1965) distributed lag model. We find that greater accounting comparability leads to enhanced ability to predict future cash flows generated by R&D investments of peer firms. In the cross-section, we observe that the relation between accounting comparability and innovative efficiency is stronger if peer firms exhibit higher accounting (accrual) quality and are themselves successful innovators. In sum, this study shows that a shared qualitative characteristic of accounting, namely, accounting comparability, is positively associated with innovative efficiency. JEL Classifications: G12; G14; O32.
Notice of Violation of IEEE Publication PrinciplesGeneric Object Recognition Via Integrating Distinct Features with SVM

In a generic image object recognition or categorization system, the relevant features or descriptors from a characteristic point, patch or region of an image are often obtained by different approaches. And these features are often separately selected and learned by machine learning methods. In this paper, the relation between distinct features obtained by different feature extraction approaches and that for the same original images were studied by kernel canonical correlation analysis (KCCA). We apply a support vector machine (SVM) classifier in the learnt semantic space of the combined features and compare against SVM on the raw data and previously published state-of-the-art results. Experiments show that significant improvement is achieved with the SVM in the semantic space in comparison with direct SVM classification on the raw data
A novel missense mutation in the gene EDARADD associated with an unusual phenotype of hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia

Hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (HED) is a rare disorder characterized by deficient development of structures derived from the ectoderm including hair, nails, eccrine glands, and teeth. HED forms that are caused by mutations in the genes EDA, EDAR, or EDARADD may show almost identical phenotypes, explained by a common signaling pathway. Proper interaction of the proteins encoded by these three genes is important for the activation of the NF‐κB signaling pathway and subsequent transcription of the target genes. Mutations in the gene EDARADD are most rarely implicated in HED. Here we describe a novel missense mutation, c.367G>A (p.Asp123Asn), in this gene which did not appear to influence the interaction between EDAR and EDARADD proteins, but led to an impaired ability to activate NF‐κB signaling. Female members of the affected family showed either unilateral or bilateral amazia. In addition, an affected girl developed bilateral ovarian teratomas, possibly associated with her genetic condition. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Risk of early recurrence among postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor‐positive early breast cancer treated with adjuvant tamoxifen

Adjuvant aromatase inhibitors (AIs), instead of or after tamoxifen, are effective in decreasing recurrence in postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor (ER)‐positive breast cancer. An understanding of which patients are at risk of early recurrence while they are receiving tamoxifen may improve clinical decision making.
Bag of Soft Biometrics for Person Identification New trends and challenges

In this work we seek to provide insight on the general topic of soft biometrics. We firstly present a new refined definition of soft biometrics, emphasizing on the aspect of human compliance, and then proceed to identify candidate traits that accept this novel definition. We then address relations between traits and discuss associated benefits and limitations of these traits. We also consider two novel soft biometric traits, namely weight and color of clothes and we analyze their reliability. Related promising results on the performance are provided. Finally, we consider a new application, namely human identification solely carried out by a bag of facial, body and accessory soft biometric traits, and as an evidence of its practicality, we provide preliminary promising results.
Deploying a dynamic traffic assignment model for the Sydney region

To study traffic dynamics a network level, traffic flow should be evaluated from a fine resolution. Considering the ever changing traffic conditions in a city, Dynamic Traffic Assignment (DTA) models are useful to access the impact of policy measures on the travel behaviour and overall network performance at a regional level. A majority of established planning models in Australia (and around the world) are macroscopic in nature and provide aggregated performance measures for the entire network. However, these traditional models cannot represent important phenomena such as queue spillback or temporal congestion propagation due to their time-invariant framework. One solution to this issue that is receiving greater attention in both research and industry is DTA modelling. This work presents an overview of developing and deploying a metropolitan area dynamic assignment model (MADAM) for the Sydney region. The workflow for the project involved obtaining the necessary input data, including network geometry, travel demand, signals and transit, converting the data into the form needed for the DTA platform, making model adjustments for computational efficiency, implementing and finally calibrating the model. In particular, this work focuses on the role of dynamic traffic assignment models, lessons learned during the current deployment, and presenting an overview of the calibration process and the model outputs. Future research directions will also be discussed. This study makes a significant contribution toward developing a regional dynamic model for a metropolitan city in Australia. In the future, the MADAM model could aid in evaluating important policy decisions and infrastructural development in the context of the overall network operation. This project serves as a proof of concept and may provide valuable insight to other practitioners interested in the areas of transport planning and traffic modelling.
Quality improvement of diabetes care using flow sheets in family health practice.

OBJECTIVE To show that the use of a flow sheet would improve performance of family physicians in diabetes care. METHODS This is a one-year intervention study conducted in 7 family practice clinics in Taif Armed Forces Hospitals, Taif, Saudi Arabia from March 2006 to June 2007. Diabetic flow sheet was developed based on the clinical practice guidelines of Canada for the management of type 2 diabetes. Patients' records were selected by systematic random sampling technique. RESULTS Four hundred and fourteen medical records of patients with type 2 diabetes were included in the study. Compliance with the quality indicators was audited using 9 quality improvement indicators. Significant improvement was detected in the indicators of body mass index, glycosylated hemoglobin, microalbuminuria, lipid profile, retinoscopy, foot examination, and peripheral neuropathy examination. CONCLUSION Flow sheet can be effective in improving quality of care not only for diabetes but also for other chronic conditions.
Myocardial Lesion Size After Epicardial Electroporation Catheter Ablation After Subxiphoid Puncture

Background—Irreversible electroporation is a promising nonthermal ablation modality able to create deep myocardial lesions. We investigated lesion size after epicardial electroporation catheter ablation with various energy levels after subxiphoid pericardial puncture. Methods and Results—In six 6-month-old pigs (60–75 kg), a custom deflectable octopolar 12-mm circular catheter with 2-mm ring electrodes was introduced via a deflectable sheath after pericardial access by subxiphoid puncture. Nonarcing, nonbarotraumatic, cathodal 50, 100, and 200 J electroporation applications were delivered randomly on the basal, mid and lateral left ventricle. After 3-month survival, myocardial lesion size and degree of intimal hyperplasia of the coronary arteries were analyzed histologically. Five animals survived the follow-up without complications and 1 animal died of shock after the subxiphoid puncture. At autopsy, whitish circular scars with indentation of the epicardium could be identified. Average lesion depths of the 50-, 100-, and 200-J lesions were 5.0±2.1, 7.0±2.0, and 11.9±1.5 mm, respectively. Average lesion widths of the 50-, 100-, and 200-J lesions were 16.6±1.1, 16.2±4.3, and 19.8±1.8 mm, respectively. In the 100- and 200-J cross sections, transmural left ventricular lesions and significant tissue shrinkage were observed. No intimal hyperplasia of the coronary arteries was observed. Conclusions—Epicardial electroporation ablation after subxiphoid pericardial puncture can create deep, wide, and transmural ventricular myocardial lesions. There is a significant relationship between the amounts of electroporation energy delivered epicardially and lesion size in the absence of major adverse events.
Effects of some natural flavonoids on retinal function recovery after ischemic insult in the rat.

PURPOSE There are six natural flavonoids studied recently and their effects on ocular blood flow measured with colored microsphere technique. It was found that three out of six compounds showed strong positive effects in increasing the ocular blood flow. In this study, we tried to find out whether these results can be translated on their effects to improve retinal function recovery after ischemic insult. METHODS Electroretinography was used to measure the b-wave recovery as an indication of retinal function recovery. RESULTS Naringenin, hesperetin, and rutin were found to produce marked positive effects on b-wave recovery, whereas naringin, hesperidin, and quercetin showed poor recovery of b-wave after ischemic insult of the retina. CONCLUSION It was found that the compounds that showed strong increase of ocular blood flow also showed marked increase of retinal function recovery, whereas those that showed poor increase of ocular blood flow also showed poor effects on the retinal function recovery.
The Role of Private Stakeholders in Disaster and Humanitarian Operations

The role of private stakeholders in disaster operations goes far beyond the delivery of profits to its shareholders. Disasters and humanitarian operations literature acknowledges the importance of private sector in disaster lifecycle; however, it lacks an analysis of the risks and benefits of each different form of their engagement in such operations (contractual relationships, one-off relationships and CSR - Corporate Social Responsibility partnerships). To address this research gap, a literature review was conducted on papers covering the perspective of private stakeholders when engaging in disaster and humanitarian operations with stakeholders from public and social groups. The results revealed that some challenges are specific from one approach and others are common for all of them. Moreover, despite the increasing of reputation capital and organizational learning being used to motivate CSR approach, they are mentioned as benefits in approaches with lower engagement - contractual and one-off relationship approaches. Thus, the benefits and risks of each approach need to be carefully addressed by scholars and field professionals in order to seek better results from the engagement of private organizations.
Discovery of Action Patterns and User Correlations in Task-Oriented Processes for Goal-Driven Learning Recommendation

With the high development of social networks, collaborations in a socialized web-based learning environment has become increasing important, which means people can learn through interactions and collaborations in communities across social networks. In this study, in order to support the enhanced collaborative learning, two important factors, user behavior patterns and user correlations, are taken into account to facilitate the information and knowledge sharing in a task-oriented learning process. Following a hierarchical graph model for enhanced collaborative learning within a task-oriented learning process, which describes relations of learning actions, activities, sub-tasks and tasks in communities, the learning action pattern and Goal-driven Learning Group, as well as their formal definitions and related algorithms, are introduced to extract and analyze users' learning behaviors in both personal and cooperative ways. In addition, a User Networking Model, which is used to represent the dynamical user relationships, is proposed to calculate user correlations in accordance with their interactions in a social community. Based on these, an integrated mechanism is developed to utilize both user behavior patterns and user correlations for the recommendation of individualized learning actions. The system architecture is described finally, and the experiment results are presented and discussed to demonstrate the practicability and usefulness of our methods.
Investigation of Recessive Effects in Schizophrenia Using Next‐Generation Exome Sequence Data

A number of gene‐wise approaches to analysis were applied to whole exome sequence data from 2545 Swedish schizophrenia cases with 2545 matched controls. A weighted burden test was used to detect dominant and additive effects. Recessive effects were investigated by testing whether there was an excess of cases bearing two or more rare, functional variants or whether there was an excess of cases in which both phased haplotypes carried at least one rare, functional variant. Counts for cases were compared with controls and also with the expectation under Hardy‐Weinberg equilibrium. Analyses were performed using the SCOREASSOC program. No gene produced statistically significant results although COMT was highly ranked by the weighted burden test and within it the Ala72Ser polymorphism rs6267 had an uncorrected p value of 0.00003. A number of spurious results were generated, some apparently due to miscalling of homozygotes and others due to a failure to eradicate the effects of linkage disequilibrium between variants. These problems were not marked when using phased haplotypes but this method failed to produce any significant or suggestive findings. If there are exonic variants with recessive effects on the risk of schizophrenia, then the methods used were unable to detect them.
CSR and indirect impacts of core business products/services of financial services institutions

Financial services institutions (FSIs) are generally seen as organisations that have relatively minimal negative environmental impacts, compared to the heavy industrialised organisations. Their effort to minimise the direct environmental impacts as a result of their business processes is commendable, together with their highly publicised philanthropic/sponsorship activities. Whether FSIs should contribute even more positive social and environmental impacts through their core business products/services (indirect CSR impacts) has been less studied. Powerful FSIs have huge potential to make a difference because of their intermediary function that involves most if not all business organisations in the world. This paper examines the extent of reporting of indirect CSR impacts of FSIs' core business products/services. Literature review, content analysis and interviews were conducted to inform this study. There was evidence/admittance of lesser regard for indirect CSR impacts, despite an awareness of the huge potential for the powerful FSIs to influence global sustainability through their core business products/services.
Underpinnings of User Participation in Service Provider-Hosted Online Communities

The recent emergence of social media-based brand communities is seen as an effective channel for practicing user-centric service innovation. However, user participation is the major hurdle in their sustainability. Despite the growing popularity of these brand communities, there has been only limited research examining the factors affecting user intention to continue using these communities. Teenagers represent an important demographic group, not only as the dominant users, but also in their value and potential in contributing toward successful business. To date, no previous research has investigated the participation behaviour of teenagers in these communities. To address this research gap, the present study examines the factors affecting teenagers' intention to continue participating in Facebook-based brand communities. The roles of social and individual factors in the formulation of their attitudes to participation are examined. The relationship between users' attitudes, activity levels, and continuation intentions are explored. The study findings suggest that self-efficacy, hedonic motivation, reciprocal benefit, and social influence have a positive impact on user attitude. Among these, self-efficacy has the strongest influence. Furthermore, attitude, continuation intention, and activity levels are significantly related. The findings have implications for organisations intending to use social media-based brand communities to practice user-centric service innovation.
Ensemble Learning for Countermeasure of Audio Replay Spoofing Attack in ASVspoof2017

To enhance the security and reliability of automatic speaker verification (ASV) systems, ASVspoof 2017 challenge focuses on the detection problem of known and unknown audio replay attacks. We proposed an ensemble learning classifier for CNCB team’s submitted system scores, which across uses a variety of acoustic features and classifiers. An effective postprocessing method is studied to improve the performance of Constant Q cepstral coefficients (CQCC) and to form a base feature set with some other classical acoustic features. We also proposed using an ensemble classifier set, which includes multiple Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) based classifiers and two novel GMM mean supervector-Gradient Boosting Decision Tree (GSV-GBDT) and GSV-Random Forest (GSV-RF) classifiers. Experimental results have shown that the proposed ensemble learning system can provide substantially better performance than baseline. On common training condition of the challenge, Equal Error Rate (EER) of primary system on development set is 1.5%, compared to baseline 10.4%. EER of primary system (S02 in ASVspoof 2017 board) on evaluation data set are 12.3% (with only train dataset) and 10.8% (with train+dev dataset), which are also much better than baseline 30.6% and 24.8%, given by ASVSpoof 2017 organizer, with 59.7% and 56.4% relative performance improvement.
'Unfair' Contractual Practices and Hostages in Franchise Contracts

The paper investigates a number of commonly observed aspects of franchise contracts, such as lease control, termination conditions, and restrictive covenants, in terms of hostage analysis. Data are drawn from case studies of UK franchise systems. The investigation leads to a screening model of franchise contracts rather than to one with an emphasis on ex-post, disciplinary use of sunk-cost penalties. In particular, this is due to private legal constraints on the franchisor's rights to terminate at will. (JEL: L 22, K 12)