Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Benford's Law for Quality Assurance of Manner of Death Counts in Small and Large Databases

To assess if Benford's law, a mathematical law used for quality assurance in accounting, can be applied as a quality assurance measure for the manner of death determination. We examined a regional forensic pathology service's monthly manner of death counts (N = 2352) from 2011 to 2013, and provincial monthly and weekly death counts from 2009 to 2013 (N = 81,831). We tested whether each dataset's leading digit followed Benford's law via the chi‐square test. For each database, we assessed whether number 1 was the most common leading digit. The manner of death counts first digit followed Benford's law in all the three datasets. Two of the three datasets had 1 as the most frequent leading digit. The manner of death data in this study showed qualities consistent with Benford's law. The law has potential as a quality assurance metric in the manner of death determination for both small and large databases.
Acute sensitivity of a broad range of freshwater mussels to chemicals with different modes of toxic action

Freshwater mussels, one of the most imperiled groups of animals in the world, are generally underrepresented in toxicity databases used for the development of ambient water quality criteria and other environmental guidance values. Acute 96‐h toxicity tests were conducted to evaluate the sensitivity of 5 species of juvenile mussels from 2 families and 4 tribes to 10 chemicals (ammonia, metals, major ions, and organic compounds) and to screen 10 additional chemicals (mainly organic compounds) with a commonly tested mussel species, fatmucket (Lampsilis siliquoidea). In the multi‐species study, median effect concentrations (EC50s) among the 5 species differed by a factor of ≤2 for chloride, potassium, sulfate, and zinc; a factor of ≤5 for ammonia, chromium, copper, and nickel; and factors of 6 and 12 for metolachlor and alachlor, respectively, indicating that mussels representing different families or tribes had similar sensitivity to most of the tested chemicals, regardless of modes of action. There was a strong linear relationship between EC50s for fatmucket and the other 4 mussel species across the 10 chemicals (r2 = 0.97, slope close to 1.0), indicating that fatmucket was similar to other mussel species; thus, this commonly tested species can be a good surrogate for protecting other mussels in acute exposures. The sensitivity of juvenile fatmucket among different populations or cultured from larvae of wild adults and captive‐cultured adults was also similar in acute exposures to copper or chloride, indicating captive‐cultured adult mussels can reliably be used to reproduce juveniles for toxicity testing. In compiled databases for all freshwater species, 1 or more mussel species were among the 4 most sensitive species for alachlor, ammonia, chloride, potassium, sulfate, copper, nickel, and zinc; therefore, the development of water quality criteria and other environmental guidance values for these chemicals should reflect the sensitivity of mussels. In contrast, the EC50s of fatmucket tested in the single‐species study were in the high percentiles (>75th) of species sensitivity distributions for 6 of 7 organic chemicals, indicating mussels might be relatively insensitive to organic chemicals in acute exposures. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:786–796. Published 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC. This article is a US government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.
Modulation of CD11c+ lung dendritic cells in respect to TGF‐β in experimental pulmonary fibrosis

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a deadly, progressive lung disease with very few treatment options till now. Bleomycin‐induced pulmonary fibrosis (BIPF) is a commonly used mice model in IPF research. TGF‐β1 has been shown to play a key role in pulmonary fibrosis (PF). Dendritic cell (DC) acts as a bridge between innate and adaptive immune systems. The coexistence of chronic inflammation sustained by mature DCs with fibrosis suggests that inflammatory phenomenon has key importance in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis. Here, we investigated the modulation of DCs phenotypic maturation, accumulation in lung tissue, and expression of other lung DC subsets in respect to TGF‐β in PF. First, we established BIPF model in mice and blocked TGF‐β expression by the use of inhibitor SB431542. Accumulation of lung CD11c+ DCs is significantly higher in both inflammatory and fibrotic phases of the disease but that percentages got reduced in the absence of TGF‐β. TGF‐β initiates up‐regulation of costimulatory molecules CD86 and CD80 in the inflammatory phases of the disease but not so at fibrotic stage. Expression of lung DC subset CD11c+CD103+ is significantly increased in inflammatory phase and also in fibrotic phase of BIPF. Blocking of TGF‐β causes decreased expression of CD11c+CD103+ DCs. Another important lung DC subset CD11c+CD11b+ expression is suppressed by the absence of TGF‐β after bleomycin administration. CD11c+CD103+ DCs might have anti‐inflammatory as well as anti‐fibrotic nature in PF. All these data demonstrate differential modulation of CD11c+ lung DCs by TGF‐β in experimental PF.
Population collapse dynamics in Acropora downingi, an Arabian/Persian Gulf ecosystem‐engineering coral, linked to rising temperature

As in the tropical Atlantic, Acropora populations in the southern Persian/Arabian Gulf plummeted within two decades after having been ecosystem engineers on most wave‐exposed reefs since the Pleistocene. Since 1996/1998 live coral cover in the Gulf declined by over 90% in many areas, primarily due to bleaching and diseases caused by rising temperatures. In the formerly dominant table‐coral species A. downingi, population dynamics corresponding to disturbance regimes was quantified in three transition matrices (lower disturbance pre‐1996; moderate disturbance from 1998 to 2010 and 2013 to 2017, disturbed in 1996/1998, 2010/11/12, 2017). Increased disturbance frequency and severity caused progressive reduction in coral size, cover, and population fecundity. Small size‐classes were bolstered more by partial colony mortality than sexual recruitment. Some large corals had a size refuge and resisted die‐back but were also lost with increasing disturbance. Matrix and biophysical larval flow models suggested one metapopulation. Southern, Arabian, populations could be connected to northern, Iranian, populations but this connectivity was lost under assumptions of pelagic larval duration at rising temperatures shortened to a third. Then, the metapopulation disintegrated into isolated populations. Connectivity required to avoid extinctions increased exponentially with disturbance frequency and correlation of disturbances across the metapopulation. Populations became unsustainable at eight disturbances in 15 years, when even highest theoretical recruitment no longer compensated mortality. This lethal disturbance frequency was 3‐fold that of the moderately disturbed monitoring period and 4‐fold of the preceding low‐disturbance period—suggesting ongoing shortening of the disturbance‐free period. Observed population collapse and environmental changes in the Gulf suggest that A. downingi is heading toward at least functional extinction mainly due to increasingly frequent temperature‐induced mortality events, clearly linked to climate change.
Segments Graph-Based Approach for Document Capture in a Smartphone Video Stream

The paper is devoted to the analysis of the problem of document boundaries detection in images and in a video stream. The paper proposes an algorithm for obtaining the position of the document, consisting of very reliable segments of a document boundaries extraction and a construction of an intersection graph that satisfies the projective model of the rectangle. An online algorithm for selecting and integrating possible document positions in a video stream based on the Kalman filter is proposed. The analysis of possible modifications of the algorithm and their effect on the final result are provided. Evaluation of the quality of the document at ICDAR'15 Smartphone Document Capture competition's dataset [1] showed a mean result of 95.5% in Jaccard index of projectively corrected document quadrangles and a 3rd place in the competition.
Statistical Analysis of Multiple Phenotypes in Genetic Epidemiologic Studies: From Cross-Phenotype Associations to Pleiotropy

In the context of genetics, pleiotropy refers to the phenomenon in which a single genetic locus affects more than 1 trait or disease. Genetic epidemiologic studies have identified loci associated with multiple phenotypes, and these cross-phenotype associations are often incorrectly interpreted as examples of pleiotropy. Pleiotropy is only one possible explanation for cross-phenotype associations. Cross-phenotype associations may also arise due to issues related to study design, confounder bias, or nongenetic causal links between the phenotypes under analysis. Therefore, it is necessary to dissect cross-phenotype associations carefully to uncover true pleiotropic loci. In this review, we describe statistical methods that can be used to identify robust statistical evidence of pleiotropy. First, we provide an overview of univariate and multivariate methods for discovery of cross-phenotype associations and highlight important considerations for choosing among available methods. Then, we describe how to dissect cross-phenotype associations by using mediation analysis. Pleiotropic loci provide insights into the mechanistic underpinnings of disease comorbidity, and they may serve as novel targets for interventions that simultaneously treat multiple diseases. Discerning between different types of cross-phenotype associations is necessary to realize the public health potential of pleiotropic loci.
Salient closed boundary extraction with ratio contour

We present ratio contour, a novel graph-based method for extracting salient closed boundaries from noisy images. This method operates on a set of boundary fragments that are produced by edge detection. Boundary extraction identifies a subset of these fragments and connects them sequentially to form a closed boundary with the largest saliency. We encode the Gestalt laws of proximity and continuity in a novel boundary-saliency measure based on the relative gap length and average curvature when connecting fragments to form a closed boundary. This new measure attempts to remove a possible bias toward short boundaries. We present a polynomial-time algorithm for finding the most-salient closed boundary. We also present supplementary preprocessing steps that facilitate the application of ratio contour to real images. We compare ratio contour to two closely related methods for extracting closed boundaries: Elder and Zucker's method based on the shortest-path algorithm and Williams and Thornber's method based on spectral analysis and a strongly-connected-components algorithm. This comparison involves both theoretic analysis and experimental evaluation on both synthesized data and real images.
Secrecy rate balancing for the downlink multiuser MISO system with independent confidential messages

Consider secure transmissions over the downlink of a multiuser MISO system with independent confidential messages, each of which is intended for one of the users and should keep secret from others. We are interested in a scenario where users have individual secrecy rate requirements. This scenario is practical but has drawn little attention in the literature so far. In this paper, we propose a secrecy rate balancing algorithm which tries to fulfill the secrecy rate requirements of users, and maximizes the minimum margin which is defined as the difference between the available secrecy rate and the required rate for each user. This algorithm balances out all the secrecy rate margins until an equilibrium is reached. We derive a necessary condition for the optimal solution. Finally, theoretical results are illustrated by numerical simulations.
Iodine Status and Iodised Salt Consumption in Portuguese School-Aged Children: The Iogeneration Study

The World Health Organization promotes salt iodisation to control iodine deficiency. In Portugal, the use of iodised salt in school canteens has been mandatory since 2013. The present study aimed to evaluate iodine status in school-aged children (6–12 years) and to monitor the use of iodised salt in school canteens. A total of 2018 participants were randomly selected to participate in a cross-sectional survey in northern Portugal. Children’s urine and salt samples from households and school canteens were collected. A lifestyle questionnaire was completed by parents to assess children’s eating frequency of iodine food sources. Urinary iodine concentration (UIC) was measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. The median UIC was 129 µg/L which indicates the adequacy of iodine status and 32% of the children had UIC < 100 µg/L. No school canteen implemented the iodised salt policy and only 2% of the households were using iodised salt. Lower consumption of milk, but not fish, was associated with a higher risk of iodine deficiency. Estimation of sodium intake from spot urine samples could be an opportunity for adequate monitoring of population means. Implementation of iodine deficiency control policies should include a monitoring program aligned with the commitment of reducing the population salt intake.
The Impact of Latino Values and Cultural Beliefs on Brain Donation: Results of a Pilot Study to Develop Culturally Appropriate Materials and Methods to Increase Rates of Brain Donation in this Under-Studied Patient Group

ABSTRACT Objectives: Increasing the number of Latino persons with dementia who consent to brain donation (BD) upon death is an important public health goal that has not yet been realized. This study identified the need for culturally sensitive materials to answer questions and support the decision-making process for the family. Methods: Information about existing rates of BD was obtained from the Alzheimer’s Disease Centers. Several methods of data collection (query NACC database, contacting Centers, focus groups, online survey, assessing current protocol and materials) were used to give the needed background to create culturally appropriate BD materials. Results: A decision was made that a brochure for undecided enrollees would be beneficial to discuss BD with family members. For those needing further details, a step-by-step handout would provide additional information. Conclusions: Through team collaboration and engagement of others in the community who work with Latinos with dementia, we believe this process allowed us to successfully create culturally appropriate informational materials that address a sensitive topic for Hispanic/Latino families. Clinical Implications: Brain tissue is needed to further knowledge about underlying biological mechanism of neurodegenerative diseases, however it is a sensitive topic. Materials assist with family discussion and facilitate the family’s follow-through with BD.
Assessment of Knowledge of Acute Kidney Injury among Non-Nephrology Doctors in Two Government Hospitals in Ondo City, Southwest, Nigeria

Background Adequate knowledge of acute kidney injury (AKI) among doctors is essential for its prevention, early diagnosis and management. Assessing knowledge of AKI among doctors is necessary to identify areas of deficiencies and key areas to be emphasized when organizing educational programs aimed at improving AKI care. This study determined the knowledge of AKI among non-nephrology doctors in Ondo City, Southwest Nigeria. Materials and Methods This was a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out in two government hospitals in Ondo City using a self-administered pretested questionnaire that assessed knowledge of AKI among non-nephrology doctors. P-value of < 0.05 was taken as significant. Results Eighty-one doctors participated in the study with a median post-graduation experience of 5.5 years. Sixty-one (78.2%) were in surgical specialty while the remaining worked in medical specialty. Only 1(1.2%) of the respondents had good knowledge of AKI, 56(69.2%) had fair knowledge while the remaining 24 (29.6%) had poor knowledge of AKI. Identified areas of deficiencies in knowledge of AKI were in mode of presentation, risk factors, potentially nephrotoxic medications, criteria for AKI definition and staging, newer AKI biomarkers and indications for renal replacement therapy. There was no significant association between knowledge of AKI and specialty (p=0.593) or year of practice (p=0.312) Conclusion There were significant deficiencies in the knowledge of AKI amongst most non-nephrology doctors in Ondo city. We therefore recommend regular in-service training on AKI for practicing doctors.
Demand Side Management Using the Internet of Energy Based on Fog and Cloud Computing

The smart grid, as a communication network, allows numerous connected devices such as sensors, relays and actuators to interact and cooperate with each other. An Internet-based solution for electricity that provides bidirectional flow of information and power is internet of energy (IoE) which is an extension of smart grid concept. A large number of connected devices and the huge amount of data generated by IoE and issues related to data transmission, process and storage, force IoE to be integrated by cloud computing. Furthermore, in order to enhance the performance and reduce the volume of transmitted data and process information in an acceptable time, fog computing is suggested as a layer between IoE layer and cloud layer. This layer is used as a local processing level that leads to reduction in data transmissions to the cloud. So, it can save energy consumption used by IoE devices to transmit data into cloud because of short-range communication technologies such as Bluetooth and Zigbee. In this paper, a smart gateway, which bridges fog domain and cloud, is introduced for scheduling devices/appliances by creating a priority queue which can perform demand side management dynamically. The queue is affected by not only the consumer importance but also the consumer policies and the status of energy resources.
Determination of Protein Haptenation by Chemical Sensitizers Within the Complexity of the Human Skin Proteome

Abstract Skin sensitization associated with the development of allergic contact dermatitis occurs via a number of specific key events at the cellular level. The molecular initiating event (MIE), the first in the sequence of these events, occurs after exposure of the skin to an electrophilic chemical, causing the irreversible haptenation of proteins within skin. Characterization of this MIE is a key step in elucidating the skin sensitization adverse outcome pathway and is essential to providing parameters for mathematical models to predict the capacity of a chemical to cause sensitization. As a first step to addressing this challenge, we have exposed complex protein lysates from a keratinocyte cell line and human skin tissue with a range of well characterized sensitizers, including dinitrochlorobenzene, 5-chloro-2-methylisothiazol-3-one, cinnamaldehyde, and the non (or weak) sensitizer 6-methyl coumarin. Using a novel stable isotope labeling approach combined with ion mobility-assisted data independent mass spectrometry (HDMSE), we have characterized the haptenome for these sensitizers. Although a significant proportion of highly abundant proteins were haptenated, we also observed the haptenation of low abundant proteins by all 3 of the chemical sensitizers tested, indicating that within a complex protein background, protein abundance is not the sole determinant driving haptenation, highlighting a relationship to tertiary protein structure and the amino acid specificity of these chemical sensitizers and sensitizer potency.
Gammaherpesviral Tegument Proteins, PML-Nuclear Bodies and the Ubiquitin-Proteasome System

Gammaherpesviruses like Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) subvert the ubiquitin proteasome system for their own benefit in order to facilitate viral gene expression and replication. In particular, viral tegument proteins that share sequence homology to the formylglycineamide ribonucleotide amidotransferase (FGARAT, or PFAS), an enzyme in the cellular purine biosynthesis, are important for disrupting the intrinsic antiviral response associated with Promyelocytic Leukemia (PML) protein-associated nuclear bodies (PML-NBs) by proteasome-dependent and independent mechanisms. In addition, all herpesviruses encode for a potent ubiquitin protease that can efficiently remove ubiquitin chains from proteins and thereby interfere with several different cellular pathways. In this review, we discuss mechanisms and functional consequences of virus-induced ubiquitination and deubiquitination for early events in gammaherpesviral infection.
KHATT: A Deep Learning Benchmark on Arabic Script

This work presents state-of-the-art results on one of the complex datasets; known as KHATT. The KHATT dataset shows complex patterns for Arabic handwritten text. We have achieved better performance in terms of Character Recognition by implementing the most successful deep learning approach based on Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks. Connectionist Temporal Classification (CTC) is used as a final layer to align the predicted labels according to the most probable path. The application of MDLSTM scans text-lines in all direction to cover fine inflammation in horizontal and vertical direction. Further, we apply pre-processing on text-lines to prune extra white regions, and de-skew the text lines for accurate height normalization. The deep learning and pre-processing allow us to improve results from 46.13% to 75.8%.
Elementary Deformation and Damage Mechanisms During Fatigue of Pseudoelastic NiTi Microstents

In the present study, we investigate the fatigue behavior of Nickel Titanium (NiTi) microstents at 22 °C (room temperature) and 37 °C up to 30 × 106 load cycles. We briefly describe our test procedure, which applies displacement‐controlled pull–pull fatigue cycling between displacements corresponding to apparent strains of 5 and 7.5%. The response of the microstents to mechanical loading indicates cyclic softening during 30 × 104 cycles. Subsequently, the maximum load remains constant throughout the remainder of the test. We use transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to clarify the microstructural reasons for cyclic softening. A focused ion beam (FIB) technique is used to take out thin foil specimens from critical microstent locations. Our TEM results show that the dislocation density increases during cycling. We also find that microstructural regions with stabilized stress‐induced B19′ martensite can be detected.
Relationships between Bone Turnover and Energy Metabolism

It is well established that diabetes can be detrimental to bone health, and its chronic complications have been associated with an increased risk of osteoporotic fracture. However, there is growing evidence that the skeleton plays a key role in a whole-organism approach to physiology. The hypothesis that bone may be involved in the regulation of physiological functions, such as insulin sensitivity and energy metabolism, has been suggested. Given the roles of insulin, adipokines, and osteocalcin in these pathways, the need for a more integrative conceptual approach to physiology is emphasized. Recent findings suggest that bone plays an important role in regulating intermediary metabolism, being possibly both a target of diabetic complications and a potential pathophysiologic factor in the disease itself. Understanding the relationships between bone turnover and glucose metabolism is important in order to develop treatments that might reestablish energy metabolism and bone health. This review describes new insights relating bone turnover and energy metabolism that have been reported in the literature.