Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Automatic breast border extraction

In computer aided mammography algorithms there are several processing steps, which must be performed. The basic segmentation procedure involves extracting the principal feature on a mammogram; the breast border. This is performed by segmenting the breast and the non-breast into distinct regions. In this paper, a method for extracting the breast border is proposed. The method has performance similar to established techniques but with higher degrees of automatization and robustness. It iteratively adapts a model of the background to ensure a robust object detection yielding a smooth outline of the breast. The main idea is to identify the "knee" in the cumulative intensity histogram of the image. The intensity value at the knee is thereafter used to automatically define a region, to be modelled by a two-dimensional polynomial surface of degree two. The modelled background is then subtracted from the original image. The procedure described is iteratively performed until the degree of non-uniformity of the grey-scale background is smaller then a certain value. Thereafter the difference image is post-processed by a flood-filling algorithm, a new threshold is estimated as above and applied to yield a binary image. Lastly morphological operations are performed to smoothen the breast border. In conclusion, the strength in the proposed method, compared to similar methods, is that it makes use of an iterative approach to reduce the effects of the background, it produces smooth edges and automatically finds thresholds. It is also evaluated on the entire MIAS database (322 images) with a performance of 94%.
Imitation Refinement

Many real-world tasks involve identifying patterns from data satisfying background and prior knowledge, for which the ground truth is not available, but ideal data can be obtained, for example using theoretical simulations. We propose a novel approach, imitation refinement, which refines imperfect patterns by imitating ideal patterns. The imperfect patterns are obtained for example using an unsupervised learner. Imitation refinement imitates ideal data by incorporating prior knowledge captured by a classifier trained on the ideal data: an imitation refiner applies small modifications to imperfect patterns, so that the classifier can identify them. In a sense, imitation refinement fits the data to the classifier, which complements the classical supervised learning task. We show that our imitation refinement approach outperforms existing methods in identifying crystal patterns from X-ray diffraction data in materials discovery. We also show the generality of our approach by illustrating its applicability to a computer vision task.
Epitheliocystis in fish: An emerging aquaculture disease with a global impact

Epitheliocystis is a skin and gill disease in fish caused by pathogenic intracellular bacteria. The disease has been reported in at least 90 species of marine and freshwater fish in both the southern and northern hemispheres. It affects a number of commercially important aquaculture species, including salmon, kingfish and bream. In infected fish, cysts typically develop in the gill epithelia, promoting the fusion of gill lamellae. Infections can lead to respiratory distress and death, particularly in cultured and juvenile fish with cases rarely reported in wild fish. Modern molecular techniques are challenging the conventional wisdoms regarding the epidemiology of epitheliocystis, showing now that a number of distinct bacterial pathogens from completely different phyla can cause this disease. Here, we review the state of knowledge, including updates on aetiology, host range, diagnosis and treatments. Traditionally, bacteria from the phylum Chlamydiae were the only known pathogenic agents of epitheliocystis, but aetiology is now recognized as being more complex, including a range of Proteobacteria. Notwithstanding recent advances in identifying the pathogens, the reservoirs and modes of transmission remain largely unknown. Recent genome sequencing of the growing number of epitheliocystis agents suggests that many bacteria causing this disease are unique to individual species of fish. Environmental conditions that approach or exceed animals' physiological tolerances (e.g. atypical temperature, salinity or pH levels) are thought to contribute to disease development and progression. Empirical data and evidence concerning epidemiology, aetiology and treatments are, however, in many cases limited, highlighting the need for more work to better characterize this disease across the different hosts and locales affected.
Sorting Rotating Micromachines by Variations in Their Magnetic Properties

We consider sorting for the broad class of micromachines (also known as microswimmers, microrobots, micropropellers, etc.) propelled by rotating magnetic fields. We present a control policy that capitalizes on the variation in magnetic properties between otherwise-homogeneous micromachines to enable the sorting of a select fraction of a group from the remainder and prescribe its net relative movement, using a uniform magnetic field that is applied equally to all micromachines. The method enables us to accomplish this sorting task using open-loop control, without relying on a structured environment or localization information of individual micromachines. With our method, the control time to perform the sort is invariant to the number of micromachines. The method is verified through simulations and scaled experiments. Finally, we include an extended discussion about the limitations of the method and address open questions related to its practical application.
Research on Aerial Flyer Interception Based on Anti-aircraft Gun System

In order to satisfy the requirements of anti-terrorism and security task, the interception methods of aerial flyer has been got much attention. According to the problem of low effectiveness-cost ratio of interception by missile traditionally, the feasibility of interception by anti-aircraft gun system is researched in the paper, two new interception methods, the point interception and barrage net interception are presented. The conception and idea of the two interception modes are proposed, and the maneuverability of the latter mode is validated by using probability theory. Finally, the validity of the two modes is verified through simulation. Results show that, point interception mode can be adopted when forecasting precision of aerial flyer is high, and barrage net mode can be used is applied in the condition of low forecasting precision, and the relationships between the two modes are not mutually exclusive and they are complementary. Key-Words: Anti-aircraft gun system; Point interception; Barrage net interception; Probability Theory; research
Integration of a text mining approach in the strategic planning process of small and medium-sized enterprises

Purpose Strategic planning (SP) enables enterprises to plan management and operations activities efficiently in the medium and large term. During its implementation, many processes and methods are manually applied and may be time consuming. The purpose of this paper is to introduce an automatic method to define strategic plans by using text mining (TM) algorithms within a generic SP model especially suited for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach Textual feedbacks were collected through a SWOT matrix during the implementation of a SP model in a company dedicated to the local distribution of food. A four-step TM process (performing acquisition, pre-processing, processing, and validation tasks) is applied via a framework developed under the cloud computer paradigm in order to determine the strategic plans. Findings The use of categorization and clustering algorithms show that unstructured textual information produced during the SP can be efficiently processed and capitalized. Collected evidence reveals the potential to enhance the strategic plans creation with less effort and time, improving the relevance, and producing new technological resources accessible to SMEs. Originality/value An innovative framework especially suited for the SMEs based on the synergy assumption of the coupling between TM and a generic SP model.
Adversarial Training of Word2Vec for Basket Completion

In recent years, the Word2Vec model trained with the Negative Sampling loss function has shown state-of-the-art results in a number of machine learning tasks, including language modeling tasks, such as word analogy and word similarity, and in recommendation tasks, through Prod2Vec, an extension that applies to modeling user shopping activity and user preferences. Several methods that aim to improve upon the standard Negative Sampling loss have been proposed. In our paper we pursue more sophisticated Negative Sampling, by leveraging ideas from the field of Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), and propose Adversarial Negative Sampling. We build upon the recent progress made in stabilizing the training objective of GANs in the discrete data setting, and introduce a new GAN-Word2Vec model.We evaluate our model on the task of basket completion, and show significant improvements in performance over Word2Vec trained using standard loss functions, including Noise Contrastive Estimation and Negative Sampling.
Blockade of MIF–CD74 Signalling on Macrophages and Dendritic Cells Restores the Antitumour Immune Response Against Metastatic Melanoma

Mounting an effective immune response against cancer requires the activation of innate and adaptive immune cells. Metastatic melanoma is the most aggressive form of skin cancer. While immunotherapies have shown a remarkable success in melanoma treatment, patients develop resistance by mechanisms that include the establishment of an immune suppressive tumor microenvironment. Thus, understanding how metastatic melanoma cells suppress the immune system is vital to develop effective immunotherapies against this disease. In this study, we find that macrophages (MOs) and dendritic cells (DCs) are suppressed in metastatic melanoma and that the Ig-CDR-based peptide C36L1 is able to restore MOs and DCs’ antitumorigenic and immunogenic functions and to inhibit metastatic growth in lungs. Specifically, C36L1 treatment is able to repolarize M2-like immunosuppressive MOs into M1-like antitumorigenic MOs, and increase the number of immunogenic DCs, and activated cytotoxic T cells, while reducing the number of regulatory T cells and monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells in metastatic lungs. Mechanistically, we find that C36L1 directly binds to the MIF receptor CD74 which is expressed on MOs and DCs, disturbing CD74 structural dynamics and inhibiting MIF signaling on these cells. Interfering with MIF–CD74 signaling on MOs and DCs leads to a decrease in the expression of immunosuppressive factors from MOs and an increase in the capacity of DCs to activate cytotoxic T cells. Our findings suggest that interfering with MIF–CD74 immunosuppressive signaling in MOs and DCs, using peptide-based immunotherapy can restore the antitumor immune response in metastatic melanoma. Our study provides the rationale for further development of peptide-based therapies to restore the antitumor immune response in metastatic melanoma.
Phytochemical Profile of Brown Rice and Its Nutrigenomic Implications

Whole grain foods have been promoted to be included as one of the important components of a healthy diet because of the relationship between the regular consumption of whole-grain foods and reduced risk of chronic diseases. Rice is a staple food, which has been widely consumed for centuries by many Asian countries. Studies have suggested that brown rice is associated with a wide spectrum of nutrigenomic implications such as anti-diabetic, anti-cholesterol, cardioprotective and antioxidant. This is because of the presence of various phytochemicals that are mainly located in bran layers of brown rice. Therefore, this paper is a review of publications that focuses on the bioactive compounds and nutrigenomic implications of brown rice. Although current evidence supports the fact that the consumption of brown rice is beneficial for health, these studies are heterogeneous in terms of their brown rice samples used and population groups, which cause the evaluation to be difficult. Future clinical studies should focus on the screening of individual bioactive compounds in brown rice with reference to their nutrigenomic implications.
Female Facial Attractiveness Assessed from Three-Dimensional Contour Lines by University Students

Background: Three-dimensional (3D) images could provide more accurate evaluation for facial attractiveness than two-dimensional (2D) images. The 3D facial image could be simplified into gray scale 3D contour lines. Whether female facial attractiveness could be perceived in these simplified 3D facial contour lines should be determined. Methods: A series of 100 2D photographs (one frontal and two lateral views) and 3D contour lines extracted from 3D facial images of females were projected onto a screen. Each image presentation lasted 5 s, and the evaluators marked their impression of each image’s facial attractiveness on a five-point Likert scale within 3 s of its presentation. The evaluation of the 3D contour lines was performed twice, 2 weeks apart. The evaluators were university students. Results: High consistency (r = 0.92) was found for the first and second evaluation of 3D facial contour lines for female facial attractiveness. The judgments of unattractive face were more consistent than the judgments of attractive face. Male students tended to give lower scores than female students in the evaluation of female facial attractiveness. Conclusions: Female facial attractiveness could be evaluated by 3D facial contour lines. 3D facial contour lines should be one of the key factors of facial attractiveness.
VOLATILITY EXPECTATIONS IN AN ERA OF DISSONANCE

Options pricing depends critically on expectations of future volatility. Risk measurement and time series research methods often assume that volatility is constant over a given time period. If volatility repeatedly shifts to elevated levels and then moderates, the robustness of many models may be called into question. Financial practitioners often characterize such conditions as being "risk-on" or "risk-off" states, and during 2007-2011 there were many examples. This paper discusses how probabilities may shift between two distinct scenarios for the future. The first scenario describes a state in which economies settle into steady growth patterns and financial markets adjust accordingly, while the second scenario encapsulates the potentially dire consequences of considerable economic and financial disruption. This approach focuses attention on the robustness of many common practices that embed assumptions of steady levels of volatility.
Cell-Type Specific Changes in Glial Morphology and Glucocorticoid Expression During Stress and Aging in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex

Repeated exposure to stressors is known to produce large-scale remodeling of neurons within the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Recent work suggests stress-related forms of structural plasticity can interact with aging to drive distinct patterns of pyramidal cell morphological changes. However, little is known about how other cellular components within PFC might be affected by these challenges. Here, we examined the effects of stress exposure and aging on medial prefrontal cortical glial subpopulations. Interestingly, we found no changes in glial morphology with stress exposure but a profound morphological change with aging. Furthermore, we found an upregulation of non-nuclear glucocorticoid receptors (GR) with aging, while nuclear levels remained largely unaffected. Both changes are selective for microglia, with no stress or aging effect found in astrocytes. Lastly, we show that the changes found within microglia inversely correlated with the density of dendritic spines on layer III pyramidal cells. These findings suggest microglia play a selective role in synaptic health within the aging brain.
The Relationship Between Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions, Schwartz’s Cultural Values, and Obesity

According to the World Health Organization, obesity is a major public health issue. In 2014, there were more than 600 million obese people around the world. According to the data of the World Health Organization, obesity rates differ among countries. One possible underlying reason of the difference can be culture, more specifically shared cultural values. The strategies and policies regarding obesity were developed; however, the effect of culture is not adequately considered. The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between obesity rates of countries, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, Schwartz’s values, and Gross National Income per capita per country. The data consist of obesity ranking (i.e., the percentage of the population with a body mass index of 30 kg/m2 or higher), Gross National Income per capita for each country, and cultural variables (i.e., Hofstede’s cultural dimensions for 54 nations and Schwartz’s cultural values for 57 nations). Hierarchical regression analysis results revealed that Gross National Income per capita was not a significantly related obesity at the aggregated level. Among Hofstede’s dimensions, individualism and uncertainty avoidance were positively associated with obesity, and long-term orientation was negatively associated with obesity. The relationship between Schwartz’s cultural values and obesity was not found to be significant. Findings suggest that Hofstede’s cultural dimensions should be considered when developing national level strategies and campaigns to decrease obesity.
Inhibition of Glycolysis and Glutaminolysis: An Emerging Drug Discovery Approach to Combat Cancer

Cancer cells have a very different metabolism from that of normal cells from which they are derived. Their metabolism is elevated, which allows them to sustain higher proliferative rate and resist some cell death signals. This phenomenon, known as the “Warburg effect”, has become the focus of intensive efforts in the discovery of new therapeutic targets and new cancer drugs. Both glycolysis and glutaminolysis pathways are enhanced in cancer cells. While glycolysis is enhanced to satisfy the increasing energy demand of cancer cells, glutaminolysis is enhanced to provide biosynthetic precursors for cancer cells. It was recently discovered that there is a tyrosine phosphorylation of a specific isoform of pyruvate kinase, the M2 isoform, that is preferentially expressed in all cancer cells, which results in the generation of pyruvate through a unique enzymatic mechanism that is uncoupled from ATP production. Pyruvate produced through this unique enzymatic mechanism is converted primarily into lactic acid, rather than acetyl-CoA for the synthesis of citrate, which would normally then enter the citric acid cycle. Inhibition of key enzymes in glycolysis and glutaminolysis pathways with small molecules has provided a novel but emerging area of cancer research and has been proven effective in slowing the proliferation of cancer cells, with several inhibitors being in clinical trials. This review paper will cover recent advances in the development of chemotherapeutic agents against several metabolic targets for cancer therapy, including glucose transporters, hexokinase, pyruvate kinase M2, glutaminase, and isocitrate dehydrogenase.
Self-heating measurement methodologies and their assessment on bulk FinFET devices

This paper describes three different measurement methodologies for the electrical characterization of FinFET self-heating at wafer-level. The different sensor types were designed to use the threshold voltage (VT) of an adjacent FET, the forward bias (VD) of an adjacent pn-junction or the gate resistance (RG) of the device itself. We report that self-heating is underestimated by 35% when sensed at a neighboring device. We also confirm that heat from local and surrounding sources are additive.
A journey into the retina: Müller glia commanding survival and death

Müller glial cells (MGCs) are known to participate actively in retinal development and to contribute to homoeostasis through many intracellular mechanisms. As there are no homologous cells in other neuronal tissues, it is certain that retinal health depends on MGCs. These macroglial cells are located at the centre of the columnar subunit and have a great ability to interact with neurons, astrocytes, microglia and endothelial cells in order to modulate different events. Several investigations have focused their attention on the role of MGCs in diabetic retinopathy, a progressive pathology where several insults coexist. As expected, data suggest that MGCs display different responses according to the severity of the stimulus, and therefore trigger distinct events throughout the course of the disease. Here, we describe physiological functions of MGCs and their participation in inflammation, gliosis, synthesis and secretion of trophic and antioxidant factors in the diabetic retina. We invite the reader to consider the protective/deleterious role of MGCs in the early and late stages of the disease. In the light of the results, we open up the discussion around and ask the question: Is it possible that the modulation of a single cell type could improve or even re‐establish retinal function after an injury?
A review of novel technologies and techniques associated with identification of bloodstream infection etiologies and rapid antimicrobial genotypic and quantitative phenotypic determination

ABSTRACT Introduction: The antimicrobial aspect of management of patients with blood stream infections (BSI) and sepsis is time critical. In an era of increasing antimicrobial resistance, rapid detection and identification of bacteria with antimicrobial susceptibility is crucial to direct therapy early in the course of illness. Molecular techniques offer a potential solution to this. Areas covered: In the present review the authors have discussed a number of novel solutions utilizing a variety of molecular techniques for pathogen detection, identification and antimicrobial susceptibility. The review is not designed to be an exhaustive literature review covering all diagnostic solutions ever developed, instead the authors have focused on what they have had experience using, evaluating or currently view as new and exciting with potential to revolutionize BSI diagnosis. The authors searched PubMed (Medline) and Google Scholar with terms: BSI, Bacteraemia, Candidaemia, Diagnostics, AST, Rapid, AMR, Novel and Blood Culture. The authors attended recent clinical microbiology technology congresses. Expert commentary: There are multiple exciting novel technologies at differing stages of development with potential to revolutionize diagnosis of BSI. More work is needed as well as a standardized assessment of different platforms in order to better understand the clinical and financial impacts these will have in clinical microbiology laboratories.