Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Integrating syntax‐semantic‐based text analysis with structural and citation information for scientific plagiarism detection

The objective of the work is to explore the potency of integrating structural and citation information with effective syntax‐semantic text‐based analysis for scientific plagiarism detection. One of the major limitations in today's plagiarism checkers is their sole dependence on text‐based detection, where they ignore the citation and structural information. Further, the text‐based detection approaches that they employ usually fail to trace out intelligent manipulations. In the proposed work, a plagiarism detection system is presented that employs the effective coupling of various modules, namely, logical structure classifications and citation parsing, two‐stage candidate document selections, syntax‐semantic‐based exhaustive passage level analysis with plagiarism analysis using structural and citation information. Further, a new plagiarism score, namely, weighted overall similarity index is proposed, opposed to the general plagiarism scores. The proposed approach is evaluated on the data set created by Alzahrani et al. ( ), which contains scientific publications imposed with various plagiarism complexities. Comparison of the final system results is done against a potential baseline approach. The proposed approach exhibits considerable improvement over the comparative baseline, and hence reflects the potency of syntax‐semantic text‐based analysis with structural and citation information.
Repeated rectal application of a hyperosmolar lubricant is associated with microbiota shifts but does not affect PrEP drug concentrations: results from a randomized trial in men who have sex with men

Oral pre‐exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) and emtricitabine (FTC) is highly effective in preventing HIV infection among men who have sex with men (MSM). The effects of consistent personal lubricant use in the rectum on tissue PrEP drug concentrations and the rectal microbiota are unknown. We investigated rectal PrEP drug concentrations and the microbiota in MSM before and after repeated rectal application of a hyperosmolar lubricant.
Probing Plasmodium falciparum sexual commitment at the single-cell level

Background: Malaria parasites go through major transitions during their complex life cycle, yet the underlying differentiation pathways remain obscure. Here we apply single cell transcriptomics to unravel the program inducing sexual differentiation in Plasmodium falciparum. Parasites have to make this essential life-cycle decision in preparation for human-to-mosquito transmission. Methods: By combining transcriptional profiling with quantitative imaging and genetics, we defined a transcriptional signature in sexually committed cells. Results: We found this transcriptional signature to be distinct from general changes in parasite metabolism that can be observed in response to commitment-inducing conditions. Conclusions: This proof-of-concept study provides a template to capture transcriptional diversity in parasite populations containing complex mixtures of different life-cycle stages and developmental programs, with important implications for our understanding of parasite biology and the ongoing malaria elimination campaign.
Pain and Depressive Symptoms: Exploring Cognitive Fusion and Self-Compassion in a Moderated Mediation Model

Abstract The association between chronic pain (CP) and depression is complex and influenced by several psychological processes. Cognitive fusion (i.e. being entangled with one´s internal experiences) and self-compassion (i.e. being touched by one´s suffering, with a motivation to alleviate it) have been hypothesized as relevant psychological processes in physical and mental health, but few studies have addressed them in CP, and none in a comprehensive model relating pain intensity and depressive symptoms. This study tests, in a moderated mediation model, the mediator role of cognitive fusion between pain intensity and depressive symptoms, and the moderator effect of self-compassion in this mediation. In a cross-sectional study, 231 female CP patients (Age: M = 48.51, SD = 10.89) responded online self-report measures. PROCESS, an SPSS macro for conducting path analysis modeling, was used to test the hypothesized model. The model explained 63% of depressive symptoms, and cognitive fusion mediates the association between pain intensity and depressive symptoms. Also, self-compassion moderates this mediation (regardless of self-compassion being low, moderate or high). Although pain intensity is a predictor of depressive symptoms, fusion with thinking in general mediates this association, this relationship is buffered when patients are able to respond to setbacks and perceived shortcomings with self-kindness and warmth. Clinical and theoretical implications are discussed.
General State Channel Networks

One of the fundamental challenges that hinder further adaption of decentralized cryptocurrencies is scalability. Because current cryptocurrencies require that all transactions are processed and stored on a distributed ledger -- the so-called blockchain -- transaction throughput is inherently limited. An important proposal to significantly improve scalability are off-chain protocols, where the massive amount of transactions is executed without requiring the costly interaction with the blockchain. Examples of off-chain protocols include payment channels and networks, which are currently deployed by popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. A further extension of payment networks envisioned for cryptocurrencies are so-called state channel networks. In contrast to payment networks that only support off-chain payments between users, state channel networks allow execution of arbitrary complex smart contracts. The main contribution of this work is to give the first full specification for general state channel networks. Moreover, we provide formal security definitions and prove the security of our construction against powerful adversaries. An additional benefit of our construction is the use of channel virtualization, which further reduces latency and costs in complex channel networks.
Multiple Measurement Vectors Problem: A Decoupling Property and its Applications

We study a Compressed Sensing (CS) problem known as Multiple Measurement Vectors (MMV) problem, which arises in joint estimation of multiple signal realizations when the signal samples have a common (joint) sparse support over a fixed known dictionary. Although there is a vast literature on the analysis of MMV, it is not yet fully known how the number of signal samples and their statistical correlations affects the performance of the joint estimation in MMV. Moreover, in many instances of MMV the underlying sparsifying dictionary may not be precisely known, and it is still an open problem to quantify how the dictionary mismatch may affect the estimation performance. In this paper, we focus on $\ell_{2,1}$-norm regularized least squares ($\ell_{2,1}$-LS) as a well-known and widely-used MMV algorithm in the literature. We prove an interesting decoupling property for $\ell_{2,1}$-LS, where we show that it can be decomposed into two phases: i) use all the signal samples to estimate the signal covariance matrix (coupled phase), ii) plug in the resulting covariance estimate as the true covariance matrix into the Minimum Mean Squared Error (MMSE) estimator to reconstruct each signal sample individually (decoupled phase). As a consequence of this decomposition, we are able to provide further insights on the performance of $\ell_{2,1}$-LS for MMV. In particular, we address how the signal correlations and dictionary mismatch affects its performance. Moreover, we show that by using the decoupling property one can obtain a variety of MMV algorithms with performances even better than that of $\ell_{2,1}$-LS. We also provide numerical simulations to validate our theoretical results.
Moderating effect of mode of delivery on the genetics of intelligence: Explorative genome‐wide analyses in ALSPAC

Intelligence is a core construct of individual differences in cognitive abilities and a strong predictor of important life outcomes. Within recent years, rates of cesarean section have substantially increased globally, though little is known about its effect on neurodevelopmental trajectories. Thus, we aimed to investigate the influence of delivery by cesarean section on the genetics of intelligence in children.
Evolution of African barbs from the Lake Victoria drainage system, Kenya

The Lake Victoria drainage basin (LVD) in Kenya is home to ten nominal species of small barbs (Enteromius) and one of large barbs (Labeobarbus altianalis). A recent molecular study genetically characterized small barbs in this region and found evidence of introgression between certain species, complicating the taxonomy and species identification of these fishes. This study aimed to extend our understanding on the evolution of these fishes by: (1) determining whether putatively pure individuals of Enteromius cercops are found in the Kenyan LVD, as the previous study only found hybrid individuals of this species in this region; (2) testing the sister relationship between Enteromius profundus, endemic to Lake Victoria, and Enteromius radiatus, also found in Lake Victoria, which had been previously synonymized; (3) examining the phylogenetic relationships of small barbs of the Kenyan LVD with those reported from other ichthyological provinces of Africa; and (4) examining the phylogenetic relationships of Labeobarbus altianalis with other Labeobarbus species. To this end, we obtained mitochondrial Cytochrome b and nuclear Growth Hormone (GH) intron 2 gene sequences of nine Enteromius species from the LVD in Kenya, as well as cytochrome b sequences for L. altianalis. We conducted Maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic analyses to establish their evolutionary relationships in relation to many other barbs specimens from Africa. Phylogenetic analyses did not reveal instances of hybridization/introgression among the individuals sequenced by us. A sister relationship between E. profundus and E. radiatus was not found. This latter species shows instead a sister relationship with a lineage comprised of two species from West Africa. Other sister relationships between taxa from the East coast and other ecoregions from Africa are observed, suggesting that past drainage connections and vicariant events contributed to the diversification of Enteromius. Finally, only a single haplotype was recovered among the L. altianalis individuals examined, which is most similar to a specimen from Lake Edward in Uganda.
Learning over Subgoals for Efficient Navigation of Structured, Unknown Environments

We propose a novel technique for efficiently navigating unknown environments over long horizons by learning to predict properties of unknown space. We generate a dynamic action set defined by the current map, factor the Bellman Equation in terms of these actions, and estimate terms, such as the probability that navigating beyond a particular subgoal will lead to a dead-end, that are otherwise difficult to compute. Simulated agents navigating with our Learned Subgoal Planner in real-world floor plans demonstrate a 21% expected decrease in cost-to-go compared to standard optimistic planning techniques that rely on Dijkstra’s algorithm, and real-world agents show promising navigation performance as well.
Robust Visual Tracking with Discrimination Dictionary Learning

It is a challenging issue to deal with kinds of appearance variations in visual tracking. Existing tracking algorithms build appearance models upon target templates. Those models are not robust to significant appearance variations due to factors such as illumination variations, partial occlusions, and scale variation. In this paper, we propose a robust tracking algorithm with a learnt dictionary to represent target candidates. With the learnt dictionary, a target candidate is represented with a linear combination of dictionary atoms. The discriminative information in learning samples is exploited. In the meantime, the learning processing of dictionaries can learn appearance variations. Based on the learnt dictionary, we can get a more stable representation for target candidates. Additionally, the observation likelihood is evaluated based on both the reconstruct error and dictionary coefficients with l1 constraint. Comprehensive experiments demonstrate the superiority of the proposed tracking algorithm to some state-of-the-art tracking algorithms.
Isolated Posterior Cruciate Reconstruction Results in Improved Functional Outcome but Low Rates of Return to Preinjury Level of Sport: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Background: Although isolated posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (PCLR) has become a more frequently performed procedure, reports of functional outcomes and return-to-sport (RTS) rates to support its use are still limited. Purpose: To systematically review the literature to determine the rates of RTS and the functional outcomes of patients after isolated PCLR. Study Design: Systematic review: Level of evidence, 4. Methods: Two reviewers independently searched 5 databases for patient-based clinical studies with a minimum 2-year follow-up that analyzed functional outcome and RTS following isolated PCLR. Studies with multiligament knee reconstruction were excluded. Risk of bias was performed with a modified Downs and Black checklist. The primary outcomes were Tegner and Lysholm scores, rates of RTS, and International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) subjective scores. Secondary outcomes were IKDC objective scores, instrumented knee laxity assessment, and Telos radiographic analysis. Where feasible, these data were pooled via a random effects meta-analysis model. Results: Of the 240 titles identified, 14 studies were included. The median time from injury to surgery was 10.6 months (range, 6 weeks–21 years). The pooled mean postoperative Tegner and Lysholm scores were 5.7 (95% CI, 5.4-6.0) and 87.8 (95% CI, 85.6-90.0), respectively, following isolated PCLR; the pooled effect size between pre- and postoperative values was 2.8 (95% CI, 1.6-4.0) and 3.7 (95% CI, 2.6-4.9), respectively. An RTS rate of 44% (95% CI, 23%-66%) was identified. IKDC subjective scores improved to a pooled mean of 73.5 (95% CI, 62.8-84.1), with an effect size of 3.0 (95% CI, 0.4-5.6). The proportion of patients with postoperative IKDC objective scores of grade A/B was 82%. The pooled postoperative KT-1000/KT-2000 side-to-side difference was 3.4 mm (95% CI, 2.5-4.3 mm), with an effect size of 2.8 (95% CI, 1.1-4.5). The pooled postoperative Telos side-to-side difference measurement was 3.5 mm (95% CI, 2.8-4.3 mm), with an effect size of 3.9 (95% CI, 3.3-4.5). Conclusion: The results of this review demonstrate that while isolated PCLR results in a significant improvement in functional outcome scores and improved knee laxity, there is a low rate of return to preinjury level of sport. The prolonged period from injury to surgery might reduce functional improvement and RTS following reconstruction. Therefore, comparison of the outcomes of isolated PCLR and nonoperative treatment is impracticable owing to the potential for selection bias.
Telomere Length-Associated Genetic Variants and the Risk of Thyroid Cancer in Survivors of Childhood Cancer: A Report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS)

Background: Given the inverse relationship described previously between telomere content and thyroid subsequent malignant neoplasm (thyroid SMN) in survivors of childhood cancer, we investigated the relationship between known genetic determinants of leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and thyroid SMN among survivors. Methods: Leveraging data from a large, genotyped survivor cohort, the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, we used a well-described genetic risk score method to estimate the HR for thyroid SMN among 5,324 genotyped survivors. Results: We identified 118 survivors with thyroid SMN and 5,206 without thyroid SMN. No association between genetically estimated LTL and risk for thyroid SMN was identified. Conclusions: Our results suggest that variation in common SNPs influencing LTL is not strongly associated with risk for thyroid SMN in survivors of childhood cancer. Impact: The previously observed inverse relationship between LTL and thyroid SMN risk in survivors of childhood cancer may be related to alternative molecular mechanisms and warrants further study.
Inverse association between serum antioxidant levels and inflammatory markers is moderated by adiposity: a report based on a large representative population sample of American adults

Abstract We examined the association between plasma antioxidant levels and markers of inflammation, including C-reactive protein (CRP) and fibrinogen (FG) in US adults. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey participants examined between 2001 and 2002 were included, if data on CRP or FG levels. Serum vitamins A and E, two retinyl esters, and six carotenoids were measured using HPLC with photodiode array detection. Multivariable-adjusted linear regression analyses accounted for the survey design and sample weights. A total of 784 eligible participants were included; 47·5 % (n 372) were men. In multivariable linear regression models, serum α-carotene, trans-β-carotene, cis-β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, combined lutein/zeaxanthin, trans-lycopene, retinyl palmitate, α-tocopherol, retinol and 25-hydroxy vitamin D were negatively associated with serum CRP (P<0·001 for all comparisons). Serum α-carotene, trans-β-carotene, cis-β-carotene, combined lutein/zeaxanthin, trans-lycopene, α-tocopherol, retinol and 25-hydroxy vitamin D were negatively associated with serum FG levels (P<0·001 for all comparisons). In the same model, the risk of CVD, defined as CRP levels >3 mg/l, decreased with increasing levels of antioxidants (α-carotene, trans-β-carotene, cis-β-carotene, vitamins A and E). Furthermore, we found a moderate impact of adiposity on the link between antioxidants and CRP. Our results suggest that the lower the antioxidants levels, the higher the inflammatory burden, based on CRP and FG levels. Adiposity moderately affects this association. Furthermore, an inverse relationship between CVD risk and antioxidant levels was observed. This finding suggests that reduced levels of vitamins with antioxidant properties may predispose to increased CVD risk.
Integrated Structural Approach to Credit Value Adjustment

This paper proposes an integrated pricing framework for Credit Value Adjustment of equity and commodity products. The given framework, in fact, generates dependence endogenously, allows for calibration and pricing to be based on the same numerical schemes (up to Monte Carlo simulation), and also allows the inclusion of risk mitigation clauses such as netting, collateral and initial margin provisions. The model is based on a structural approach which uses correlated Levy processes with idiosyncratic and systematic components; the pricing numerical scheme, instead, efficiently combines Monte Carlo simulation and Fourier transform based methods. We illustrate the tractability of the proposed framework and the performance of the proposed numerical scheme by means of a case study on a portfolio of commodity swaps using real market data.
Regulation of myelin structure and conduction velocity by perinodal astrocytes

Significance Proper communication between brain regions, via white matter tracts, allows us to carry out complex cognitive and motor tasks. Impulses traveling must arrive at relay points almost simultaneously for such communication to be effective. Myelin enables saltatory conduction of impulses and hence is a candidate for modulation of impulse conduction velocity. But myelin structure, once formed, has been considered static. In this study, we show that mature myelin structure is dynamic. The mature myelin sheath thickness and nodal gap length can be reversibly modulated to optimize the speed of axonal impulses. This modulation of myelin is regulated by exocytosis of thrombin protease inhibitors from astrocytes at the node of Ranvier. The speed of impulse transmission is critical for optimal neural circuit function, but it is unclear how the appropriate conduction velocity is established in individual axons. The velocity of impulse transmission is influenced by the thickness of the myelin sheath and the morphology of electrogenic nodes of Ranvier along axons. Here we show that myelin thickness and nodal gap length are reversibly altered by astrocytes, glial cells that contact nodes of Ranvier. Thrombin-dependent proteolysis of a cell adhesion molecule that attaches myelin to the axon (neurofascin 155) is inhibited by vesicular release of thrombin protease inhibitors from perinodal astrocytes. Transgenic mice expressing a dominant-negative fragment of VAMP2 in astrocytes, to reduce exocytosis by 50%, exhibited detachment of adjacent paranodal loops of myelin from the axon, increased nodal gap length, and thinning of the myelin sheath in the optic nerve. These morphological changes alter the passive cable properties of axons to reduce conduction velocity and spike-time arrival in the CNS in parallel with a decrease in visual acuity. All effects were reversed by the thrombin inhibitor Fondaparinux. Similar results were obtained by viral transfection of tetanus toxin into astrocytes of rat corpus callosum. Previously, it was unknown how the myelin sheath could be thinned and the functions of perinodal astrocytes were not well understood. These findings describe a form of nervous system plasticity in which myelin structure and conduction velocity are adjusted by astrocytes. The thrombin-dependent cleavage of neurofascin 155 may also have relevance to myelin disruption and repair.
Effects of Kinesiology Tape on Non-linear Center of Mass Dispersion During the Y Balance Test

Static taping of the ankle or knee joint is a common method of reducing risk of injury by providing mechanical stability. An alternative taping technique employs kinesiology tape, which has the additional benefit of improving functionality by stimulating proprioception. There is substantial disagreement whether kinesiology tape shows significant differences in proprioception and postural stability as compared to rigid/static tape when applied at the lower limb. The current study investigated the effects of kinesiology tape and static tape during a Y Balance Test on center of mass as an indicator for postural stability. Forty-one individuals, free of injury, performed the Y Balance Test under the three conditions; no tape, kinesiology tape, and static tape applied at the lower limb to the quadriceps, triceps surae and ankle joint. All participants completed the Y Balance Test to determine whether any significant differences could be observed using center of mass movement as a surrogate measure for balance and proprioception. The Minkowski-Bouligand and box-counting fractal dimension analyses were used as measures of the dynamic changes in the center of mass whilst undertaking the Y Balance Test. Statistical analyses included the Kruskal Wallis test to allow for non-normally distributed data and a Bonferroni corrected pairwise T-test as a post hoc test to ascertain pairwise differences between the three taping conditions. Significance was set at 0.05. The fractal analyses of the dynamic changes in center of mass showed significant differences between the control and both the static tape and kinesiology tape groups (p = 0.021 and 0.009, respectively). The current study developed a novel measure of dynamic changes in the center of mass during a set movement that indicated real-time processing effects during a balance task associated with the type of taping used to enhance postural stability.