Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improved Listwise Collaborative Filtering with High-Rating-Based Similarity and Temporary Ratings

In this paper, we make two proposals to speed up listwise collaborative filtering and improve its accuracy. The first is to speed up computation by only using a subset of the rating information (the high ratings). The second is to improve accuracy using temporary ratings that estimate the rating scores that neighboring users are not rating. Experiments using MovieLens datasets (1M and 10M) demonstrate that these proposals effectively reduce computation time about 1/50 and improve accuracy 2.22% compared with ListCF, a well-known listwise collaborative filtering algorithm. Author
Relationship Between Grit with Academic Performance and Attainment of Postgraduate Training in Pharmacy Students

Objective. To determine if Grit-S scores correlate with academic success in a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) program, as well as the pursuit and attainment of pharmacy postgraduate (residency or fellowship) training. Methods. A 28-item survey was administered to third- and fourth-year (P3 and P4) pharmacy students. Variables queried included Grit-S score, demographics, pharmacy experience prior to the PharmD program, and factors that may affect academic performance during didactic coursework. Didactic coursework GPA was used as a surrogate for academic success. Information about pursuit and attainment of a postgraduate training position was also documented and used in the analyses. Results. There was no significant correlation between Grit-S scores and variables related to academic success. However, students were more likely to pursue postgraduate training with higher academic success and higher Grit-S. Lastly, students with higher Grit-S were also more likely to obtain a postgraduate training position. Conclusion. Grit-S scores correlated with the pursuit and successful attainment of postgraduate training, but not with academic success during the didactic years of a PharmD program.
Debond Detection using Embedded Piezoelectric Elements in Reinforced Concrete Structures - Part I: Experiment

An investigation is performed to detect debond in reinforced concrete structures. This study utilizes built-in piezoelectric discs as sensors and actuators in a pitch-catch mode to generate sensor data, which are sensitive to debond in reinforced concrete. A comparison of sensor measurements or signal changes before and after maintenance or inspection can be correlated to debonding. Both experimental and analytical works are performed during the study. Experimental study and test data are presented in this article. The test results clearly indicate that debond between concrete and rebar and yielding in rebar can be detected with built-in piezoelectric sensors and actuators in a pitch-catch mode.
Variations in assessment and certification in postgraduate anaesthesia training: a European survey

Background Postgraduate specialty training has traditionally been based on a time- and rotation-based model, but competency-based models are emerging. Because anaesthesia training evolves differently across Europe, variations in assessment and certification processes are expected, but the extent of similarities and differences is unknown. The aim of this study was to compare anaesthesia training programmes in Europe, focusing on assessment and certification processes. Methods We performed an online survey among national representatives of the Union of European Medical Specialists/European Board of Anaesthesiology. Results All 36 countries participated. Duration of training had a median of 5 yr (range 2.75-7). Mean number of different assessment tools was 7.45 (range 4-13), with more tools being used in competency-based programmes [mean 9.1 (sd 2.97) vs 7.0 (sd 1.97); P=0.03]. Most countries had a nationally uniform certification process. Based on a qualitative analysis of the survey findings, a categorization of countries emerged, reflecting the approach to assessment and certification. We observed two main streams of countries with an underlying knowledge or procedural focus within a time- and rotation-based apprenticeship model. These main streams are evolving, to different extents, towards a third orientation, competency-based training. Conclusions Assessment and certification processes in European anaesthesia training are diverse. In many countries, a time-based apprenticeship model is evolving towards a competency-based certification process. This diversity precludes comparison of competence of graduating anaesthetists across Europe.
Primary Sjögren's Syndrome

PRIMARY SJÖGREN'S SYNDROMEA diagnosis of primary Sjögren's syndrome is often made on the basis of a classic triad of symptoms: dryness of the mouth and eyes, fatigue, and pain. Systemic complications, which are present in 30 to 40% of patients, may provide the first clues to the disease.The risk of B‐cell lymphoma is markedly increased (by a factor of 15 to 20) among patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome, as compared with the general population.Treatment relies on muscarinic agonists (pilocarpine hydrochloride and cevimeline hydrochloride). The main adverse effect of these agents is sweating, which can be minimized by gradual escalation of the dose.Hydroxychloroquine is often used for arthralgia with or without synovitis and purpura, although benefits have not been shown in a randomized, controlled trial.In the absence of trials involving patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome, severe organ manifestations are treated with immunosuppressive agents (including prednisone, methotrexate, mycophenolate sodium, azathioprine, and cyclophosphamide), in accordance with guidelines for systemic lupus erythematosus and other connective‐tissue diseases.
Deep Binary Representation for Efficient Image Retrieval

With the fast growing number of images uploaded every day, efficient content-based image retrieval becomes important. Hashing method, which means representing images in binary codes and using Hamming distance to judge similarity, is widely accepted for its advantage in storage and searching speed. A good binary representation method for images is the determining factor of image retrieval. In this paper, we propose a new deep hashing method for efficient image retrieval. We propose an algorithm to calculate the target hash code which indicates the relationship between images of different contents. Then the target hash code is fed to the deep network for training. Two variants of deep network, DBR and DBR-v3, are proposed for different size and scale of image database. After training, our deep network can produce hash codes with large Hamming distance for images of different contents. Experiments on standard image retrieval benchmarks show that our method outperforms other state-of-the-art methods including unsupervised, supervised, and deep hashing methods.
Waterproof and durable screen printed silver conductive tracks on textiles

Conductive textiles are fabrics that include conductive yarns woven into or conductive tracks printed on to the textiles. Conductive textiles have attracted significant attention, since they are fundamental for the integration of electronic functions to achieve wearable devices. Screen printing is a well-established and cost-effective fabrication method; it enables a versatile layout of conductive tracks. The limitation of the current screen-printed conductive textiles is low durability to weathering, abrasion and washing. This paper presents a process for producing a waterproof and durable conductive textile using only screen printing. A three functional layer design was used to fabricate the durable conductive tracks. Firstly, an interface layer was printed to provide a smooth surface for subsequent printing, under-side protection and electrical insulation. Next, a silver layer provided the conductive track and finally an encapsulation layer was printed on top to provide upper-side protection and electrical insulation. The printed silver tracks achieved maximum conductivity using a single print. The conductivity of the silver tracks returned to its original value when they were dried after soaking in water continuously for 24 hours.
Combining DNA Vaccine and AIDA-1 in Attenuated Salmonella Activates Tumor-Specific CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell Responses

Effective tumor vaccines activate both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. A melanoma DNA vaccine delivered by a bacterial system that ensured presentation of both class I and class II peptides activated both arms of the adaptive immune response. Stimulation of tumor-specific responses in both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells has been a challenge for effective tumor vaccines. We designed a vaccine vector containing the AIDA-1 autotransporter and DNA vaccine elements, generating a murine melanoma vaccine that was delivered by the attenuated Salmonella strain SL7207. Growth of murine subcutaneous melanoma was significantly inhibited by intranasal immunization with the Salmonella tumor vaccine. The vaccine activated tumor-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses, with increased T-cell proliferation, tumor antigen–specific Th1 cytokine production, increased percentages of tetramer positive cells, and cytotoxicity. CD4+ or CD8+ T-cell depletion resulted in the loss of antitumor activity of the Salmonella tumor vaccine, suggesting that the efficacy of the vaccine was dependent on both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Lung metastasis of the tumor was also inhibited by vaccine treatment. Similarly, the percentages of tumor-specific Th1 cytokine production by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the spleen, tumor, and bronchoalveolar lavage were increased after vaccine treatment. Tumor-specific proliferation of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells was also promoted by the vaccine. Tetramer staining and cytotoxicity assay showed enhanced tumor-specific CD8+ T-cell response after vaccine treatment. Therefore, the Salmonella tumor vaccine could activate both tumor-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses. This vaccine strategy may be widely applicable to the development of oral or nasal vaccines against tumors. Cancer Immunol Res; 5(6); 503–14. ©2017 AACR.
Evidence of Signaling and Adhesion Roles for &bgr;‐Catenin in the Sponge Ephydatia muelleri

Abstract &bgr;‐Catenin acts as a transcriptional coactivator in the Wnt/&bgr;‐catenin signaling pathway and a cytoplasmic effector in cadherin‐based cell adhesion. These functions are ancient within animals, but the earliest steps in &bgr;‐catenin evolution remain unresolved due to limited data from key lineages—sponges, ctenophores, and placozoans. Previous studies in sponges have characterized &bgr;‐catenin expression dynamics and used GSK3B antagonists to ectopically activate the Wnt/&bgr;‐catenin pathway; both approaches rely upon untested assumptions about the conservation of &bgr;‐catenin function and regulation in sponges. Here, we test these assumptions using an antibody raised against &bgr;‐catenin from the sponge Ephydatia muelleri. We find that cadherin‐complex genes coprecipitate with endogenous Em &bgr;‐catenin from cell lysates, but that Wnt pathway components do not. However, through immunostaining we detect both cell boundary and nuclear populations, and we find evidence that Em &bgr;‐catenin is a conserved substrate of GSK3B. Collectively, these data support conserved roles for Em &bgr;‐catenin in both cell adhesion and Wnt signaling. Additionally, we find evidence for an Em &bgr;‐catenin population associated with the distal ends of F‐actin stress fibers in apparent cell‐substrate adhesion structures that resemble focal adhesions. This finding suggests a fundamental difference in the adhesion properties of sponge tissues relative to other animals, in which the adhesion functions of &bgr;‐catenin are typically restricted to cell‐cell adhesions.
A Novel Representation and Compression for Queries on Trajectories in Road Networks

Recording and querying time-stamped trajectories incurs high cost of data storage and computing. In this paper, we explore several characteristics of the trajectories in road networks, which have motivated the idea of coding trajectories by associating timestamps with relative spatial path and locations. Such a representation contains a large number of duplicate information to achieve a lower entropy compared with the existing representations, thereby drastically cutting the storage cost. We propose several techniques to compress spatial path and locations separately, which can support fast positioning and achieve better compression ratio. For locations, we propose two novel encoding schemes such that the binary code can preserve distance information, which is very helpful for LBS applications. In addition, an unresolved question in this area is whether it is possible to perform a search directly on the compressed trajectories, and if the answer is yes, then how. Here, we show that directly querying compressed trajectories based on our encoding scheme is possible and can be done efficiently. We design a set of primitive operations for this purpose, and propose index structures to reduce query response time. We demonstrate the advantage of our method and compare it against existing ones through a thorough experimental study on real trajectories in road network.
Facilitatory effects of perineural dexmedetomidine on neuraxial and peripheral nerve block: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

UNLABELLED Nerve blocks improve postoperative analgesia, but their benefits may be short-lived. This quantitative review examines whether perineural dexmedetomidine as a local anaesthetic (LA) adjuvant for neuraxial and peripheral nerve blocks can prolong the duration of analgesia compared with LA alone. All randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing the effect of dexmedetomidine as an LA adjuvant to LA alone on neuraxial and peripheral nerve blocks were reviewed. Sensory block duration, motor block duration, block onset times, analgesic consumption, time to first analgesic request, and side-effects were analysed. RESULTS were combined using random-effects modelling. A total of 516 patients were analysed from nine RCTs. Five trials investigated dexmedetomidine as part of spinal anaesthesia and four as part of a brachial plexus (BP) block. Sensory block duration was prolonged by 150 min [95% confidence interval (CI): 96, 205, P<0.00001] with intrathecal dexmedetomidine. Perineural dexmedetomidine used in BP block may prolong the mean duration of sensory block by 284 min (95% CI: 1, 566, P=0.05), but this difference did not reach statistical significance. Motor block duration and time to first analgesic request were prolonged for both intrathecal and BP block. Dexmedetomidine produced reversible bradycardia in 7% of BP block patients, but no effect on the incidence of hypotension. No patients experienced respiratory depression. Dexmedetomidine is a potential LA adjuvant that can exhibit a facilitatory effect when administered intrathecally as part of spinal anaesthesia or peripherally as part of a BP block. However, there are presently insufficient safety data to support perineural dexmedetomidine use in the clinical setting.
Predictive role of human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 in patients with pancreatic cancer treated by curative resection and gemcitabine-only adjuvant chemotherapy

The predictive roles of human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (hENT-1) in patients who undergo curative resection and adjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine alone have not been established. The present study retrospectively analyzed the clinical data from 101 consecutive patients who underwent curative resection and who received gemcitabine adjuvant chemotherapy for the treatment of pancreatic cancer at Kanagawa Cancer Center (Yokohama, Japan) between 2005 and 2014. The associations between the hENT-1 status and the survival and clinicopathological features of the patients were investigated. Of the 101 patients, 60 patients (59.4%) had high levels of hENT-1 expression. A significant association was observed between hENT-1 status and sex; however, for all the other clinicopathological parameters, including tumor and node stages, no differences were observed between the high and low hENT-1 expression groups. The median follow-up period of the present study was 67.3 months. Between the high and low hENT-1 expression groups, there was a statistically significant difference in the 5-year overall survival (OS) rates following surgery (20.6 and 8.9%, respectively; P=0.019). In addition, a significant difference was observed in the recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates at 5 years following surgery (P=0.049). hENT-1 status was one of the important predictive factors for OS and RFS in patients with pancreatic cancer who underwent curative resection followed by adjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine. Adjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine alone may be insufficient, particularly in patients with certain relevant risk factors.
A Uniform Architecture for Parsing and Generation

The use of a single grammar for both parsing and generation is an idea with a certain elegance, the desirability of which several researchers have noted. In this paper, we discuss a more radical possibility: not only can a single grammar be used by different processes engaged in various "directions" of processing, but one and the same language-processing architecture can be used for processing the grammar in the various modes. In particular, parsing and generation can be viewed as two processes engaged in by a single parameterized theorem prover for the logical interpretation of the formalism. We discuss our current implementation of such an architecture, which is parameterized in such a way that it can be used for either purpose with grammars written in the PATR formalism. Furthermore, the architecture allows fine tuning to reflect different processing strategies, including parsing models intended to mimic psycholinguistic phenomena. This tuning allows the parsing system to operate within the same realm of efficiency as previous architectures for parsing alone, but with much greater flexibility for engaging in other processing regimes.
Submesoscale-selective compensation of fronts in a salinity-stratified ocean

Salinity fronts in the ocean mixed layer stand out as cold filaments in winter due to restratification rather than upwelling. Salinity, rather than temperature, is the leading influence on density in some regions of the world’s upper oceans. In the Bay of Bengal, heavy monsoonal rains and runoff generate strong salinity gradients that define density fronts and stratification in the upper ~50 m. Ship-based observations made in winter reveal that fronts exist over a wide range of length scales, but at O(1)-km scales, horizontal salinity gradients are compensated by temperature to alleviate about half the cross-front density gradient. Using a process study ocean model, we show that scale-selective compensation occurs because of surface cooling. Submesoscale instabilities cause density fronts to slump, enhancing stratification along-front. Specifically for salinity fronts, the surface mixed layer (SML) shoals on the less saline side, correlating sea surface salinity (SSS) with SML depth at O(1)-km scales. When losing heat to the atmosphere, the shallower and less saline SML experiences a larger drop in temperature compared to the adjacent deeper SML on the salty side of the front, thus correlating sea surface temperature (SST) with SSS at the submesoscale. This compensation of submesoscale fronts can diminish their strength and thwart the forward cascade of energy to smaller scales. During winter, salinity fronts that are dynamically submesoscale experience larger temperature drops, appearing in satellite-derived SST as cold filaments. In freshwater-influenced regions, cold filaments can mark surface-trapped layers insulated from deeper nutrient-rich waters, unlike in other regions, where they indicate upwelling of nutrient-rich water and enhanced surface biological productivity.
Classification of Lacrimal Punctal Stenosis and Its Related Histopathological Feature in Patients with Epiphora

Purpose To evaluate the classification of punctal stenosis based on the shape of the external punctum, clinical characteristics and histopathologic features. Methods Patients who experienced tearing and were diagnosed with punctal stenosis were evaluated in this study. Punctal stenosis was classified according to the shape of the lower external punctum, which included membranous type, slit type, horseshoe type, and pinpoint type. Tear meniscus height, 2% fluorescein dye disappearance test and lacrimal pathway irrigation were measured or performed. For treatment, a punctal snip operation and silicone tube placement were performed, and the peripunctal histopathological findings were evaluated. Results Punctal stenosis was classified into four types: membranous type (17 eyes, 21.5%), slit type (11 eyes, 13.9%), horseshoe type (25 eyes, 31.6%), and pinpoint type (26 eyes, 32.9%). The tear meniscus was significantly higher, and the 2% fluorescein dye disappeared significantly more slowly in the punctal stenosis group. However, correlation of the tear meniscus height and 2% fluorescein dye disappearance test with the punctum shape was not statistically significant. A history of previous chemotherapy was significantly associated with the occurrence of punctal stenosis, especially the membranous type (p < 0.05). Histopathologic evaluation of the punctum showed differences between the punctum types. Pinpoint puncta exhibited a high density of muscle fibers, while they were faintly visible in the membranous type. Conclusions Acquired punctal stenosis has various shapes, and the major types of stenotic puncta exhibited unique histopathologic features. Punctal stenosis and its pathophysiology may be related to multiple factors, such as age and systemic 5-fluorouracil chemotherapy history.
Driver Vigilance in Automated Vehicles: Hazard Detection Failures Are a Matter of Time

Objective: The primary aim of the current study was to determine whether monitoring the roadway for hazards during automated driving results in a vigilance decrement. Background: Although automated vehicles are relatively novel, the nature of human-automation interaction within them has the classic hallmarks of a vigilance task. Drivers must maintain attention for prolonged periods of time to detect and respond to rare and unpredictable events, for example, roadway hazards that automation may be ill equipped to detect. Given the similarity with traditional vigilance tasks, we predicted that drivers of a simulated automated vehicle would demonstrate a vigilance decrement in hazard detection performance. Method: Participants “drove” a simulated automated vehicle for 40 minutes. During that time, their task was to monitor the roadway for roadway hazards. Results: As predicted, hazard detection rate declined precipitously, and reaction times slowed as the drive progressed. Further, subjective ratings of workload and task-related stress indicated that sustained monitoring is demanding and distressing and it is a challenge to maintain task engagement. Conclusion: Monitoring the roadway for potential hazards during automated driving results in workload, stress, and performance decrements similar to those observed in traditional vigilance tasks. Application: To the degree that vigilance is required of automated vehicle drivers, performance errors and associated safety risks are likely to occur as a function of time on task. Vigilance should be a focal safety concern in the development of vehicle automation.