Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Health Tracking and Information Sharing in the Patient-Centered Era: A Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) Study

We examined the current state of digital health tracking and information sharing with health professionals among patients with chronic conditions using data from the National Cancer Institute's 2018 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). Descriptive statistics were used to examine the characteristics of health tracking and information sharing, Chi-squared tests were used to compare across groups, and multivariate logistic regression models were used to control for covariates. Between 17.4-37.6% of respondents reported sharing information with a health professional through either e-mail, monitoring device, text message, or online medical record message. There were sociodemographic differences across health tracking and information sharing modalities, and patients with chronic conditions disproportionately lacked Internet access, a basic cell phone, smartphone, or tablet compared to those without chronic conditions (p<0.05). This suggests there are sociodemographic and technology-based disparities for health tracking and information sharing for patients with chronic conditions.
Identifying error and accurately interpreting environmental DNA metabarcoding results: A case study to detect vertebrates at arid zone waterholes

Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding surveys enable rapid, noninvasive identification of taxa from trace samples with wide‐ranging applications from characterizing local biodiversity to identifying food‐web interactions. However, the technique is prone to error from two major sources: (a) contamination through foreign DNA entering the workflow, and (b) misidentification of DNA within the workflow. Both types of error have the potential to obscure true taxon presence or to increase taxonomic richness by incorrectly identifying taxa as present at sample sites, but multiple error sources can remain unaccounted for in metabarcoding studies. Here, we use data from an eDNA metabarcoding study designed to detect vertebrate species at waterholes in Australia's arid zone to illustrate where and how in the workflow errors can arise, and how to mitigate those errors. We detected the DNA of 36 taxa spanning 34 families, 19 orders and five vertebrate classes in water samples from waterholes, demonstrating the potential for eDNA metabarcoding surveys to provide rapid, noninvasive detection in remote locations, and to widely sample taxonomic diversity from aquatic through to terrestrial taxa. However, we initially identified 152 taxa in the samples, meaning there were many false positive detections. We identified the sources of these errors, allowing us to design a stepwise process to detect and remove error, and provide a template to minimize similar errors that are likely to arise in other metabarcoding studies. Our findings suggest eDNA metabarcoding surveys need to be carefully conducted and screened for errors to ensure their accuracy.
Haptics in Teleoperated Medical Interventions: Force Measurement, Haptic Interfaces and Their Influence on User's Performance

Objectives: Haptics in teleoperated medical interventions enables measurement and transfer of force information to the operator during robot-environment interaction. This paper provides an overview of the current research in this domain and guidelines for future investigations. Methods: We review current technologies in force measurement and haptic devices as well as their experimental evaluation and influence on user's performance. Results: Force sensing is moving away from the conventional proximal measurement methods to distal sensing and contact-less methods. Wearable devices that deliver haptic feedback on different body parts are increasingly playing an important role. Performance and accuracy improvement are the widely reported benefits of haptic feedback, while there is a debate on its effect on task completion time and exerted force. Conclusion: With the surge of new ideas, there is a need for better and more systematic validation of the new sensing and feedback technology, through better user studies and novel methods like validated benchmarks and new taxonomies. Significance: This review investigates haptics from sensing to interfaces within the context of user's performance and the validation procedures to highlight salient advances. It provides guidelines to future developments and highlights the shortcomings in the field.
An efficient fusion algorithm combining feature extraction and variational optimization for CT and MR images

Abstract In medical image processing, image fusion is the process of combining complementary information from different or multimodality images to obtain an informative fused image in order to improve clinical diagnostic accuracy. In this paper, we propose a two‐stage fusion framework for computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) images. First, the intensity and geometric structure features in both CT and MR images are extracted by the saliency detection method and structure tensor, respectively, and an initial fused image is obtained. Then, the initial fused image is optimized by a variational model which contains a fidelity term and a regularization term. The fidelity term is to retain the intensity of the initial fused image, and the regularization term is to constrain the gradient information of the fused image to approximate the MR image. The primal‐dual algorithm is proposed to solve the variational problem. The proposed method is applied on five pairs of clinical medical CT and MR‐T1\MR‐T2 images, and the comparison metrics SF, MI, QAB/F , QW , and VIFF are calculated for assessment. Compared with seven state‐of‐the‐art methods, the proposed method shows a comprehensive advantage in preserving the salient intensity features, as well as texture structure information, not only in visual effects but also in objective assessments.
RETRACTED ARTICLE: Long noncoding RNA SNHG22 increases ZEB1 expression via competitive binding with microRNA-429 to promote the malignant development of papillary thyroid cancer

Statement of Retraction We, the Editors and Publisher of the journal Cell Cycle, have retracted the following article: Hong Gao, Xiaosong Sun, Hongdong Wang & Ying Zheng (2020) Long noncoding RNA SNHG22 increases ZEB1 expression via competitive binding with microRNA-429 to promote the malignant development of papillary thyroid cancer, Cell Cycle, 19:10, 1186-1199, DOI: 10.1080/15384101.2020. 1749466 Since publication, the authors have informed us they have not been able to replicate their results presented in this article. As this casts doubt over the results and conclusions, the authors alerted the issue to the Editor and Publisher and all have agreed to retract the article to ensure the integrity of the scholarly record. We have been informed in our decision-making by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retractions. The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as ‘Retracted’.
Lumbosacral immobilization following glucocorticoid intradiscal injection in patients with chronic low back pain and active discopathy: A feasibility study.

BACKGROUND In people with chronic low back pain (cLBP) and active discopathy, glucocorticoid intradiscal injection (GC IDI) reduces LBP in the short-term. Lumbosacral immobilization may be useful to obtain long-term results. OBJECTIVE To assess the feasibility of a lumbosacral immobilization using a pantaloon cast following GC IDI in people with cLBP sand active discopathy. METHODS We conducted a retrospective feasibility study. Participants were allocated to experimental or control groups by preferences. The experimental group received lumbosacral immobilization using a custom-made pantaloon cast worn continuously for one week following a GC IDI of 25 mg of prednisolone acetate. The control group received GC IDI alone. The primary endpoint was the feasibility of lumbosacral immobilization assessed by the rate of refusal and early withdrawal of the cast. RESULTS Twelve patients were offered lumbosacral immobilization following GC IDI: the rate of refusal was 3/12 (25.0%) and was 3/9 (33.3%) of early withdrawal. Mean (95% CI) acceptability of the procedure was 55.0 (26.9-83.1)/100 in the experimental group (N= 6) and 61.6 (25.1-98.2)/100 in the control group (N= 6). CONCLUSIONS We found high rates of refusal and early withdrawal of the lumbosacral immobilization using a pantaloon cast following GC IDI in people with nonspecific cLBP and active discopathy.
Multilinear Modelling of Faces and Expressions

In this work, we present a new versatile 3D multilinear statistical face model, based on a tensor factorisation of 3D face scans, that decomposes the shapes into person and expression subspaces. Investigation of the expression subspace reveals an inherent low-dimensional substructure, and further, a star-shaped structure. This is due to two novel findings. (1) Increasing the strength of one emotion approximately forms a linear trajectory in the subspace. (2) All these trajectories intersect at a single point – not at the neutral expression as assumed by almost all prior works—but at an apathetic expression. We utilise these structural findings by reparameterising the expression subspace by the fourth-order moment tensor centred at the point of apathy. We propose a 3D face reconstruction method from single or multiple 2D projections by assuming an uncalibrated projective camera model. The non-linearity caused by the perspective projection can be neatly included into the model. The proposed algorithm separates person and expression subspaces convincingly, and enables flexible, natural modelling of expressions for a wide variety of human faces. Applying the method on independent faces showed that morphing between different persons and expressions can be performed without strong deformations.
Metal-Free Thiophene-Sulfur Covalent Organic Frameworks: Precise and Controllable Synthesis of Catalytic Active Sites for Oxygen Reduction.

Defective or heteroatoms-doped metal-free carbon materials (MFCMs) are regarded as efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts in the past decade. However, the active site structures for ORR in MFCMs are hard to be precisely confirmed and controllably synthesized through the common methods such as high temperature pyrolysis or heteroatom doping process. To verify the precise structure acted as active center for ORR, we firstly report two crystalline metal-free thiophene-sulfur covalent organic frame-works (MFTS-COFs) as ORR catalysts. The MFTS-COFs show more positive catalytic capability than that of the thiophene-free COF, indicating pentacyclic thiophene-sulfur building blocks acted as active centers induce ORR catalytic activity. MFTS-COFs with higher numbers of thiophene-sulfur exhibits better ORR performance. The experimental identification is supported by density functional theory calculations. These results thus demonstrate that rational design and precise synthesis of metal-free crystal-line organic materials can promote the development of new ORR catalysts.
Facilitating Analysis of Publicly Available ChIP-Seq Data for Integrative Studies

ChIP-Seq, a technique that allows for quantification of DNA sequences bound by transcription factors or histones, has been widely used to characterize genome-wide DNA-protein binding at baseline and induced by specific exposures. Integrating results of multiple ChIP-Seq datasets is a convenient approach to identify robust DNA- protein binding sites and determine their cell-type specificity. We developed brocade, a computational pipeline for reproducible analysis of publicly available ChIP-Seq data that creates R markdown reports containing information on datasets downloaded, quality control metrics, and differential binding results. Glucocorticoids are commonly used anti-inflammatory drugs with tissue-specific effects that are not fully understood. We demonstrate the utility of brocade via the analysis of five ChIP-Seq datasets involving glucocorticoid receptor (GR), a transcription factor that mediates glucocorticoid response, to identify cell type-specific and shared GR binding sites across the five cell types. Our results show that brocade facilitates analysis of individual ChIP-Seq datasets and comparative studies involving multiple datasets.
The effects of gain- and loss-framed nutritional messages on children’s healthy eating behaviour

Abstract Objective: Despite extensive research on framing effects in public health communication, there is still a lack of knowledge on how gain frames v. loss frames can encourage healthy eating behaviour among children. Design: Drawing on the Prospect Theory as well as on the Reactivity of Embedded Food Cues in Advertising Model, an experiment exposed children to an audio-visual cartoon movie with gain-framed nutritional messages about eating fruit (gain condition), loss-framed nutritional messages about eating fruit (loss condition) or a message without any food (control group). Children’s fruit intake was measured as the dependent variable. Children’s awareness of gain- and loss-framed arguments was treated as mediators, while children’s age and parents’ self-reported food-related mediation styles were modelled as moderators. Setting: Vienna, Austria, in 2018. Participants: Children aged 6–10 years (N 161). Results: Children in the gain frame group were more aware of gain-framed arguments, and children in the loss frame group were more aware of loss-framed arguments than those in the control group. However, only the mediator awareness of gain-framed arguments increased fruit intake. Additionally, there was a direct effect of the gain-framed message on fruit intake compared to the control group. The loss condition did not reveal such an effect. Neither parent’s food-related mediation styles nor children’s age moderated those results. Conclusion: Gain-framing seems to be more effective in influencing children’s healthy food choices compared to loss-framing. Implications for health communication strategies aimed at children are discussed.
Designing User Interface for Facilitating Live Editing in Streaming

Media assets, such as overlay graphics or comments, can make video streaming a unique and engaging experience. Appropriately managing media assets during the live streaming, however, is still difficult for streamers who work alone or in small groups. With the aim to ease the management of such assets, we analyzed existing live production tools and designed four low fidelity prototypes, which eventually led to two high fidelity ones, based on the feedback from users and designers. The results of a usability test, using fully interactive prototypes, suggested that a controller and predefined media object behavior were useful for managing objects. The findings from this preliminary work help us design a prototype that helps users to stream rich media presentations.
Exploring the use of linguistic analysis for answering why - questions

In the current project, we aim at developing an approach for automatically answering why - questions ( why -QA). In the present paper, we investigate the relevance of linguistic analysis for why -QA. We focus on two tasks: the use of syntactic information for answer type determination and the use of discourse structure for the extraction of possible answers from retrieved documents. For answer type determination, syntactic analysis appears to be of signiﬁcance: we obtain 77.5% performance using a method based on syntactic parses by the TOSCA parser— compared to 58.1% using a comparable approach without syntactic analysis. Discourse analysis appears to be very relevant for extraction of potential answers to why -questions. We performed a manual analysis of 336 question-answer pairs and the corresponding RST annotated texts. We found that for 58.9% of why -questions, the RST analysis of the source text can lead to a correct answer to the question.
Foveated Video Coding for Real-Time Streaming Applications

Video streaming under real-time constraints is an increasingly widespread application. Many recent video encoders are unsuitable for this scenario due to theoretical limitations or run time requirements. In this paper, we present a framework for the perceptual evaluation of foveated video coding schemes. Foveation describes the process of adapting a visual stimulus according to the acuity of the human eye. In contrast to traditional region-of-interest coding, where certain areas are statically encoded at a higher quality, we utilize feedback from an eye-tracker to spatially steer the bit allocation scheme in real-time. We evaluate the performance of an H.264 based foveated coding scheme in a lab environment by comparing the bitrates at the point of just noticeable distortion (JND). Furthermore, we identify perceptually optimal codec parameterizations. In our trials, we achieve an average bitrate savings of 63.24% at the JND in comparison to the unfoveated baseline.
ThermalWear: Exploring Wearable On-chest Thermal Displays to Augment Voice Messages with Affect

Voice is a rich modality for conveying emotions, however emotional prosody production can be situationally or medically impaired. Since thermal displays have been shown to evoke emotions, we explore how thermal stimulation can augment perception of neutrally-spoken voice messages with affect. We designed ThermalWear, a wearable on-chest thermal display, then tested in a controlled study (N=12) the effects of fabric, thermal intensity, and direction of change. Thereafter, we synthesized 12 neutrally-spoken voice messages, validated (N=7) them, then tested (N=12) if thermal stimuli can augment their perception with affect. We found warm and cool stimuli (a) can be perceived on the chest, and quickly without fabric (4.7-5s) (b) do not incur discomfort (c) generally increase arousal of voice messages and (d) increase / decrease message valence, respectively. We discuss how thermal displays can augment voice perception, which can enhance voice assistants and support individuals with emotional prosody impairments.
Evaluating the Inverted Pyramid Structure through Automatic 5W1H Extraction and Summarization

The inverted pyramid is a basic structure of news reporting used by journalists to convey information and it is considered a key element of objectivity in news reporting. In this article, we propose the Inverted Pyramid Scoring method to evaluate how well a news article follows the inverted pyramid structure using main event descriptors (5W1H) extraction and news summarization. We evaluate our proposed method on a proprietary data set of Associated Press news articles across breaking and non-breaking news spanning two topics—political and business. Our results show that the method works at distinguishing the structural differences between breaking and non-breaking news. In particular, our results confirm that breaking news articles are more likely to follow the inverted pyramid structure.
Collecting Resources in Sub-Saharan African Languages for Automatic Speech Recognition: a Case Study of Wolof

This article presents the data collected and ASR systems developped for 4 sub-saharan african languages (Swahili, Hausa, Amharic and Wolof). To illustrate our methodology, the focus is made on Wolof (a very under-resourced language) for which we designed the first ASR system ever built in this language. All data and scripts are available online on our github repository.
A Mobile Health Platform to Disseminate Validated Institutional Measurements During the COVID-19 Outbreak: Utilization-Focused Evaluation Study

Background As part of the response plans for the current outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), authorities are drafting and implementing containment measures across jurisdictions worldwide in the effort to slow down transmission and reduce the infection rate. A solid communication strategy is needed to increase the reach of valid information to health professionals, reduce misinformation, and efficiently implement recommended measures. Objective The aim of this paper is to describe the utilization of a dedicated mobile health (mHealth) platform to disseminate up-to-date and validated information about SARS-CoV-2 to all medical staff of the Children’s Hospital at the University Hospitals of Geneva. Methods Three documents containing institutional information concerning screening, local containment procedures, and frequently asked questions and answers for parents were made available to the staff through a mobile app developed in the University of Geneva, Switzerland. Using a third-party statistics tool, we anonymously monitored user activity as well as content utilization patterns since the diagnosis of the first case of SARS-CoV-2 in Switzerland on February 25, 2020. Results From February 25, 2020, to March 13, 2020 (18 days), information documents on SARS-CoV-2 were viewed 859 times, which accounted for 35.6% of the total content views (total views=332). User activity increased significantly with 50.8 (SD 14.4) users per day in this period as compared to the previous weeks (mean 26.4, SD 9.8; P<.001). In addition, session numbers per day more than doubled during the aforementioned period (P<.001). In a survey, medical staff found the information easy to find within the app. On a 10-point Likert scale, the ability of the app to reassure staff in clinical practice was rated as 7.6 (SD 2.1), time-saving ability was rated as 8.5 (SD 2.1), and the need to look for information from other sources was rated as 5.9 (SD 3.3). Conclusions The use of an mHealth solution to disseminate novel coronavirus–related information seemed to be an effective and time-saving communication channel within our institution during the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. Medical staff felt reassured and informed in daily practice. More research should be done on the clinical impact and outcomes of the integration of mHealth solutions as a communication channel of validated information within health institutions.
Teaching the design of narrative visualization: Using metaphor for financial literacy and decision making

The​ ​authors​ ​provide​ ​a​ ​scholarly​ ​definition​ ​for​ ​metaphor-rich,​ ​story-driven​ ​‘narrative visualization’. ​ ​They​ ​argue​ ​that​ ​metaphors​ ​create​ ​a​ ​rich​ ​and​ ​emotionally​ ​resonant​ ​set of​ ​associations​ ​that​ ​frame​ ​the​ ​narrative​ ​and​ ​effectively​ ​support​ ​‘System​ ​1’​ ​(or​ ​intuition -based)​ ​thinking​ ​and​ ​decision-making​ ​that​ ​Kahneman​ ​and​ ​others​ ​have​ ​identified​ ​as the​ ​primary​ ​drivers​ ​of​ ​financial​ ​behaviour. ​ ​The​ ​authors​ ​then​ ​apply​ ​these​ ​observations to​ ​a​ ​case​ ​study​ ​in​ ​which​ ​they​ ​analyze​ ​student​ ​work​ ​on​ ​a​ ​financial​ ​literacy​ ​design project. ​ ​They​ ​discuss​ ​best​ ​practices​ ​for​ ​teaching​ ​narrative​ ​visualization​ ​and​ ​argue for​ ​its​ ​relevance​ ​in​ ​a​ ​contemporary​ ​design​ ​education​ ​-​ ​especially​ ​its​ ​capacity​ ​to represent​ ​and​ ​reflectively​ ​explore​ ​complex​ ​financial​ ​and​ ​other​ ​concepts.
Security Analysis of Java Web Applications Using String Constraint Analysis

Web applications are exposed to myriad security vulnerabilities related to malicious user string input. In order to detect such vulnerabilities in Java web applications, this project employs string constraint analysis, which approximates the values that a string variable in a program can take on. In string constraint analysis, program analysis generates string constraints – assertions about the relationships between string variables. We design and implement a dataﬂow analysis for Java programs that generates string constraints and passes those constraints to the CVC4 SMT solver to ﬁnd a satisfying assignment of string variables. Using example programs, we illustrate the feasibility of the system in detecting certain types of web application vulnerabilities, such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting.