Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
More on Solutions to Galton's Problem

Presentation d'une nouvelle solution au probleme pose par Galton sur la diffusion des traits culturels: la diffusion differentielle, et critique de la position adoptee sur ce sujet par D. Strauss et M. Orans. Reponse de D. Strauss et M. Orans aux critiques qui leur sont adressees.
Un théorème de Γ-convergence pour la segmentation des signaux

Nous presentons en dimension un une version discrete (ou les fonctions sont approximees par des splines lineaires) de la fonctionnelle de Mumford et Shah utilisee en segmentation d'image ou de signaux. Un resultat de Γ-convergence prouve que notre version est effectivement asymptotiquement equivalente a leur probleme, et mene a un algorithme nouveau de segmentation, etablissant un lien entre la segmentation par methodes variationnelles et les algorithmes de debruitage par diffusion conditionnelle de Malik et Perona
School exclusion in children with psychiatric disorder or impairing psychopathology: a systematic review

Childhood psychiatric disorders are associated with a wide range of adverse outcomes including poor academic attainment. For some children these difficulties are recognised through school Special Educational Need procedures (SEN) but many others may remain unidentified and/or unsupported. In Britain, government data suggests disproportionate representation of children with a SEN among children permanently excluded from school. This review asks whether school-aged children with impairing psychopathology were more likely to be excluded from school than those without. Databases covering education, social sciences, psychology and medicine were searched, experts were contacted and bibliographies of key papers were hand-searched. Studies were included if the population covered school-aged children, and if validated diagnostic measures had been used to assess psychopathology. Children with impairing psychopathology had greater odds of exclusion compared to the rest of the school-age population: odds ratios range from 1.13 (95% CI: 0.55–2.33) to 45.6 (95% CI: 3.8–21.3). These findings however need to be considered in light of the paucity of the literature and methodological weaknesses discussed.
Spectral Photon-Counting Molecular Imaging for Quantification of Monoclonal Antibody-Conjugated Gold Nanoparticles Targeted to Lymphoma and Breast Cancer: An In Vitro Study

The purpose of the present study was to demonstrate an in vitro proof of principle that spectral photon-counting CT can measure gold-labelled specific antibodies targeted to specific cancer cells. A crossover study was performed with Raji lymphoma cancer cells and HER2-positive SKBR3 breast cancer cells using a MARS spectral CT scanner. Raji cells were incubated with monoclonal antibody-labelled gold, rituximab (specific antibody to Raji cells), and trastuzumab (as a control); HER2-positive SKBR3 breast cancer cells were incubated with monoclonal antibody-labelled gold, trastuzumab (specific antibody to HER2-positive cancer cells), and rituximab (as a control). The calibration vials with multiple concentrations of nonfunctionalised gold nanoparticles were used to calibrate spectral CT. Spectral imaging results showed that the Raji cells-rituximab-gold and HER2-positive cells-trastuzumab-gold had a quantifiable amount of gold, 5.97 mg and 0.78 mg, respectively. In contrast, both cell lines incubated with control antibody-labelled gold nanoparticles had less gold attached (1.22 mg and 0.15 mg, respectively). These results demonstrate the proof of principle that spectral molecular CT imaging can identify and quantify specific monoclonal antibody-labelled gold nanoparticles taken up by Raji cells and HER2-positive SKBR3 breast cancer cells. The present study reports the future potential of spectral molecular imaging in detecting tumour heterogeneity so that treatment can be tuned accordingly, leading to more effective personalised medicine.
Crystal Structures of the Putative Isocitrate Dehydrogenase from Sulfolobus tokodaii Strain 7 in the Apo and NADP+-Bound Forms

Isocitrate dehydrogenase is a catabolic enzyme that acts during the third step of the tricarboxylic acid cycle. The hypothetical protein ST2166 from the archaeon Sulfolobus tokodaii was isolated and crystallized. It shares high primary structure homology with prokaryotic NADP+-dependent IDHs, suggesting that these enzymes share a common enzymatic mechanism. The crystal structure of ST2166 was determined at 2.0 Å resolution in the apo form, and then the structure of the crystal soaked with NADP+ was also determined at 2.4 Å resolution, which contained NADP+ bound at the putative active site. Comparisons between the structures of apo and NADP+-bound forms and NADP-IDHs from other prokaryotes suggest that prokaryotic NADP-IDHs recognize their cofactors using conserved Lys335, Tyr336, and Arg386 in ST2166 at the opening cleft before the domain closure.
The Effect of Support Surfaces on the Incidence of Pressure Injuries in Critically Ill Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Purpose To analyze whether a viscoelastic mattress support surface can reduce the incidence of stage 2 pressure injuries compared to a standard hospital mattress with pyramidal overlay in critically ill patients. Method A randomized clinical trial with intention-to-treat analysis was carried out recruiting patients with Braden scale ≤14 on intensive care unit admission from April 2016 to April 2017. Patients were allocated into two groups: intervention group (viscoelastic mattress) and control group (standard mattress with pyramidal overlay). The level of significance adopted was 5%. Results A total of 62 patients were included in the study. There was a predominance of males (53%) and the mean age was 67.9 (SD 18.8) years. There were no differences in clinical or severity characteristics between the patients in the control group and the intervention group. Pressure injuries occurred in 35 patients, with a median time of 7 days (ITQ 4–10) from admission. The frequency of pressure injuries was higher in the control group (80.6%) compared to the intervention group (32.2%; p < 0.001). Conclusions Viscoelastic support surfaces reduced the incidence of pressure injuries in moderate or higher risk critically ill patients when compared to pyramidal support surfaces.
Foraminoplasty at the Tip or Base of the Superior Articular Process for Lateral Recess Stenosis in Percutaneous Endoscopic Lumbar Discectomy: A Multicenter, Retrospective, Controlled Study with 2-Year Follow-Up

Objective To compare the clinical efficacy and complications which obtained foraminoplasty at the tip or base of the superior articular process (SAP) for the patients with lateral recess stenosis treated by percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD). Methods Between January 2015 and January 2016, 156 patients of lumbar disc herniation accompanying with lateral recess stenosis were treated with PELD in five tertiary hospitals and fulfilled the 2-year follow-up. Among them, 78 patients obtained a foraminoplasty at the tip of SAP (group A), and foraminoplasty at the base of SAP was performed in the other 78 cases (group B). Clinical efficacy was evaluated using the visual analog scale (VAS) score for back and leg pain, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), and 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) score. The intervals of follow-up were scheduled at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years after surgery. Results Mean operative duration is shorter in group B (55 versus 61 min, P = 0.047). Only one case belonged to group A could not tolerate the neural irritation and required conversion to an open procedure. During the surgery, no dura tears, cauda equina syndrome, or infections were observed. 5 patients experienced transient dysesthesia located at the exiting nerve in group A, while no cases complained dysesthesia in group B. 2 cases who suffered temporary motor weakness all belonged to group A. A total of 5 cases obtained a revision surgery after recurrence in the follow-up, in which 3 patients belonged to group A. Compared to the preoperative data, significant improvements in VAS scores of low back pain and sciatica, ODI, and SF-36 PCS and MC were observed in the follow-up, respectively (P < 0.05, respectively). However, no statistical difference was observed at all time-points after surgery between these two groups (P > 0.05, respectively). Conclusions For the patients of LDH accompanying with lateral recess stenosis, compared with the routine foraminoplasty at the tip of SAP, our modified foraminoplastic technique does not only change place of foraminoplasty to the base of SAP but also simplified puncture process in transforaminal PELD. Although there was no significant difference in symptom relief, the modified foraminoplasty showed the advantages in decreasing the incidence of postoperative neural dysfunction and reducing operation time.
Hearing Loss Characteristics of Workers with Hypertension Exposed to Occupational Noise: A Cross-Sectional Study of 270,033 Participants

Objectives This study investigated the hearing loss characteristics among occupational noise exposure workers with hypertension and the link between hypertension and hearing loss when exposed to occupational noise. Methods A total of 267,766 occupational noise-exposed workers were enrolled, including 29,868 workers with hypertension and 240,165 without hypertension. Hypertension was diagnosed according to WHO criteria. Hypertension was classified into four grades based on blood pressure. Assessment of hearing was performed through measurement of an unadulterated tone threshold at different frequencies, which ranged between 250 and 8,000 Hz. Results A substantial link was observed to exist between hypertension and the increment in the hearing limit. The increase in the hearing threshold was substantially higher among those having grade 2 hypertension. Conclusion The current investigation suggested patients with hypertension exhibit a substantial rise in hearing loss in comparison with patients without hypertension. The rise in hearing loss was significant in patients with grade 2 hypertension. Efficient and practicable measures are required to decrease the hearing loss in workers with hypertension and work-related noise exposure.
Documentary — the evocation of a world

Abstract This article sets out to describe the conceptual evolution of a feature-length documentary film from the first few words on paper through to a finished 35mm print. Central to the development of the project is a recognition that this film is an evocation of a world…and in particular a very personal world of the author. Placing the film within a critical, historical context, there is an exploration of precedents to this idiom of practice — documentary which interrogates the boundaries between its own supposed and assumed objectivity, and the subjective view of the personal, what one might term ‘poetic’ film.
Development of a Novel Diagnostic Biomarker Set for Rheumatoid Arthritis Using a Proteomics Approach

Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that starts with inflammation of the synovial membrane. Studies have been conducted to develop methods for efficient diagnosis of RA and to identify the mechanisms underlying RA development. Blood samples can be useful for detecting disturbance of homeostasis in patients with RA. Nanoliquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) is an efficient proteomics approach to analyze blood sample and quantify serum proteins. Methods Serum samples of 18 healthy controls and 18 patients with RA were analyzed by LC-MS/MS. Selected candidate biomarkers were validated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using sera from 43 healthy controls and 44 patients with RA. Results Thirty-eight proteins were significantly differentially expressed by more than 2-fold in healthy controls and patients with RA. Based on a literature survey, we selected six candidate RA biomarkers. ELISA was used to evaluate whether these proteins effectively allow distinguishing patients with RA from healthy controls and monitoring drug efficacy. SAA4, gelsolin, and vitamin D-binding protein were validated as potential biomarkers of RA for screening and drug efficacy monitoring of RA. Conclusions We identified a panel of three biomarkers for RA which has potential for application in RA diagnosis and drug efficacy monitoring. Further, our findings will aid in understanding the pathogenesis of RA.
Crosstalk between the Tumor Microenvironment and Immune System in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: Potential Targets for New Therapeutic Approaches

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is a lethal disease for which radical surgery and chemotherapy represent the only curative options for a small proportion of patients. Recently, FOLFIRINOX and nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine have improved the survival of metastatic patients but prognosis remains poor. A pancreatic tumor microenvironment is a dynamic milieu of cellular and acellular elements, and it represents one of the major limitations to chemotherapy efficacy. The continued crosstalk between cancer cells and the surrounding microenvironment causes immunosuppression within pancreatic immune infiltrate increasing tumor aggressiveness. Several potential targets have been identified among tumor microenvironment components, and different therapeutic approaches are under investigation. In this article, we provide a qualitative literature review about the crosstalk between the tumor microenvironment components and immune system in pancreatic cancer. Finally, we discuss potential therapeutic strategies targeting the tumor microenvironment and we show the ongoing trials.
A View of the Horse from the Classical Perspective: The Penn Museum Collection

C ou rt es y of t he U ni ve rs ity o f P en ns yl va ni a A rc hi ve s E quus caballus is handsomely stabled in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. From the Chinese Rotunda’s masterpiece reliefs portraying two horses of the Chinese emperor Taizong to Edward S. Curtis’s iconic American Indian photographs housed in the Museum’s Archives, horses stand with man in nearly every culture and time-frame represented in the Museum’s Collection (pre-Columbian America and the northern polar region being perhaps the two most obvious exceptions). Examples drawn from the more than 30,000 Greek, Roman, and Etruscan vases, sculptures, and other objects in the Museum’s Mediterranean Section serve here as a lens through which to view some of the notable roles the horse played in the classical Mediterranean world. The horse functioned as man’s inseparable and indispensible companion throughout classical antiquity. How do we know? In part because the ancient authors tell us so. From Homer’s brilliant animal similes and Xenophon’s authoritative how-to manual On Horsemanship (“The tail and mane should be washed, to keep the hairs growing, as the tail is used to swat insects and the mane may be grabbed by the rider more easily if long.”) all the way down to the 9th century AD Corpus of Greek Horse Veterinarians, which itemizes drugs for curing equine ailments as well as listing vets by name, Greek and Roman literature is filled with equine references. One recalls the cynical utterance of the 5th century BC lyric poet Xenophanes from the Asia Minor city of Colophon: “But if cattle and horses and lions had hands, or were able to do the work that men can, horses would draw the forms of the gods like horses” (emphasis added by author). The partnership between horse and master in antiquity rested on many factors; perhaps the most important was that the horse provided man with his quickest means of overland movement. Usain “Lightning” Bolt, the fastest man in the world, was traveling nearly 22 mph when he broke the world’s record for the 100 m dash in 2009, while an American quarter horse carrying a saddle and rider has been clocked at over 45 mph. A View of the Horse from the Classical Perspective The Penn Museum Collection by donald white
Predictive validity of WXYfm and SAIN,LIM food nutrient profiling models in the Whitehall II cohort

Background: Nutrient profiling (NP) aims to identify healthier food options according to the content of selected ‘positive’ nutrients e.g. fibre, protein, and ‘negative’ nutrients e.g. sodium, saturated fat. The British and French food safety agencies developed the WXYfm and SAIN,LIM models, respectively. Their predictive validity in relation to chronic disease has yet to be demonstrated. Aim: To test the hypothesis that ‘healthy’ diets as defined by NP have predictive validity. Methods: Between 1991-93, 7,251 participants of the Whitehall II study completed a 127-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). WXYfm and SAIN,LIM scores for each FFQ-item were used to derive energy-weighted aggregate diet scores (AS) for each participant and NP model. Validity was assessed against baseline factors including dietary quality indices. Prospective associations were examined with incident CHD, diabetes and cancer, and all-cause mortality (318, 754, 251, and 524 events, respectively—median follow-up time was approximately 17 years). Results: AS were weakly associated with dietary quality indices. Cox modelling identified U-shaped associations (p quadratic trend <.05) between both AS and all outcomes except diabetes. Participants with middle AS had slightly reduced risk; SAIN,LIM estimates were significant for CHD and all-cause mortality. Dietary misreporting, particularly of energy-dense foods with high ‘negative’ nutrient content, was associated with BMI, hypertension and other risk factors, and explained much of the unexpected U-shaped AS-outcome associations. Alternative AS less sensitive to dietary misreporting confirmed the potential of NP as a public health tool. In particular, the WXYfm ‘positive’ nutrients predicted risk reduction for all outcomes. Conclusions: Predictive validity of the NP approach was partly established. The prospective effects of AS on chronic disease outcomes were confounded by the association between vascular risk and energy misreporting. Further predictive validity studies of NP methods ideally require food-based dietary assessment (e.g. diet diaries, 24h recalls) with less reporting bias.
Targeting Body Weight Regulation with Probiotics: A Review of Randomized Trials in Obese and Overweight People Free of Comorbidities

Accumulating evidence has pointed towards a role of the gut microbiota in the pathogenesis of obesity. Also, the gut microbiota is a dynamic and modifiable community offering itself as a target for therapeutic interventions potentially improving host health. This review gives an overview on effects of clinically controlled interventions with probiotics on body weight regulation in overweight or obese individuals free of co-morbidities. Literature search was performed through PubMed with the criteria 1) healthy overweight/obese adults without comorbidities as study population, 2) probiotics as intervention without limits regarding dose or duration of intervention 3) healthy overweight/obese adults receiving placebo as controls, 4) body weight-related variables as the primary outcome and 5) randomized controlled trial as the study design. Methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the Jadad score. Seven studies from five different countries met the inclusion criteria. Three studies reported improvements in body weight-related variables after probiotic supplementation compared to that in the controls, whereas four did not find such improvements. Overall, the methodological quality of the studies was limited and ranged from three to five based on the Jadad score. In conclusion, this review failed to identify convincing evidence of a robust effect of interventions with probiotics on body weight regulation in overweight or obese individuals free of co-morbidities. Large high quality randomized controlled trials in well-phenotyped study participants on regulated and to some extent standardized diets with mixtures of probiotics known to have master-switch roles in the gut microbiota composition and function of healthy lean individuals are needed to examine the effects of probiotics on body weight in greater detail.
Attack and Defense with Hardware-Aided Security

Riding on recent advances in computing and networking, our society is now experiencing the evolution into the age of information. While the development of these technologies brings great value to our daily life, the lucrative reward from cyber-crimes has also attracted criminals. Unwanted software is delivered to the victims through various methods such as remote exploitation and social engineering. As computing continues to play an increasing role in the society, security has become a pressing issue. Failures in computing systems could result in loss of infrastructure or human life, as demonstrated in both academic research and production environment. With the continuing widespread of malicious software and new vulnerabilities revealing every day, protecting the heterogeneous computing systems across the Internet has become a daunting task. Our approach to this challenge consists of two directions. The first direction aims to gain a better understanding of the inner working of both attacks and defenses in the cyber environment. It was said in Art of War by Sun Tzu that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles. I share the same belief that in order to design systems that are resistant to cyber attackers, it is necessary to understand how cyber-attack works. Under this direction, part of our research focuses on examining the evolution of cyber-attack. Meanwhile, our other direction is designing secure execution environments using security features offered by hardware. Hardware-aided security offers the capability to bootstrap a secure environment even when the software environment is compromised. Under this direction, our research focuses on providing trusted environment in an adversarial setting with the presence of powerful attackers. The next generation of computing consists of powerful elastic cloud and mobile devices inter-connecting via fast and reliable networks. Therefore to provide a complete solution, our work spans both the cloud and mobile endpoint. Attack and Defense with Hardware-Aided Security
Pharmaceutical Evaluation of Different Tablet Brands of Letrozole and Imatinib Mesylate Marketed in Libya

Objectives: This study addresses pharmaceutical evaluation of different batches within two brands of two anticancer drugs, Letrozole and Imatinib mesylate tablets, that are available in Libyan drug market. Methods: Different tablet batches were subjected to in vitro evaluation for their weight variation, drug content, uniformity of dosage unit, disintegration and drug dissolution attributes. Determined quality parameters for tablet batches were then compared to their official standards stated in compendial Pharmacopoeia. Results: Inspite of the significant variations (p 80% at 30 minutes). However, in relation to Biopharmaceutical Classification System, which is a newly introduced concept and applied in regions of International Conference on Harmonization (ICH), one batch each of Letrozole and Imatinib mesylate failed the criteria for rapidly dissolving tablets that considers > 85% of drug dissolution within 30 minutes. The study concluded that batches within the evaluated brands of Letrozole and Imatinib mesylate tablets could be regarded as being biopharmaceutically and chemically equivalent and, therefore, can be interchanged in the clinical practice.