Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Review on Various Measures for Finding Image Complexity

The complexity of an image tells many aspects of the image content and is an important factor in the selection of source material for testing various image processing methods. Databases of pictures or videos explained with subjective evaluations constitute basic ground truth for preparing, testing, what's more, benchmarking calculations for target quality appraisal. We propose a few criteria for quantitative correlations of source substance, test conditions, and subjective evaluations, which are utilized as the reason for the resulting investigations and dialog. This review paper presents some of the existing image quality metrics through which image quality can be classified or measured. Keywords— Image Quality Assestment, Spatial , Temporal, Video, MPEG, Compression, Decoder and
Oxygen radicals as second messengers for expression of the monocyte chemoattractant protein, JE/MCP-1, and the monocyte colony-stimulating factor, CSF-1, in response to tumor necrosis factor-alpha and immunoglobulin G. Evidence for involvement of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (

The potential involvement of reactive oxygen species in the expression of genes involved in immune response was examined in mesangial cells. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) and aggregated (aggr.) IgG increased mRNA levels for the monocyte chemoattractant protein, JE/MCP-1, and the colony-stimulating factor, CSF-1. Scavengers for free radicals such as di- and tetra-methylthiourea (DMTU and TMTU) attenuated the increase in mRNA levels in response to TNF-alpha and aggr. IgG. Generation of superoxide anion by xanthine oxidase and hypoxanthine increased mRNA levels of these genes, but exogenous H2O2 did not. Addition of NADPH to activate a membrane-bound NADPH-oxidase generated superoxide and caused a dose-dependent increase in mRNA levels and further enhanced the stimulation by TNF-alpha or aggr. IgG. An inhibitor of NADPH-dependent oxidase 4'-hydroxy-3'-methoxy-acetophenone attenuated the rise in mRNA levels in response to TNF-alpha and aggr. IgG. By nuclear run-on experiments TNF-alpha, aggr. IgG and NADPH increased the transcription rates for JE/MCP-1 and CSF-1, effects inhibited by TMTU. We conclude that generation of reactive oxygen species, possibly by NADPH-dependent oxidase, are involved in the induction of the JE/MCP-1 and CSF-1 genes by TNF-alpha and IgG complexes. The concerted expression of leukocyte-directed cytokines represents a general response to tissue injury.
Risk Premia in Executive Compensation: A Life-Cycle Perspective

This paper employs a life-cycle model of consumption and saving to study risk premia in CEO compensation, and compares them to variation in observed pay levels. The model incorporates the main types of risk to income and savings that executives of public corporations typically face: option- and stock-based pay, pay-performance sensitivity, dismissal risk, and stock return volatility. A calibration to a large panel of US CEOs shows that, for realistic degrees of risk aversion, risk premia can explain about 20 percent of the cross-sectional variation in CEO pay, and between 10 and 20 percent of the evolution of average pay levels over time. Thus, increases in risk exposures can only partially explain the surge in executive pay levels over the past decades. In contrast, the model captures very well the skewness of the cross-sectional pay distribution.
Endometriosis Fertility Index for Predicting Pregnancy after Endometriosis Surgery

Background: The endometriosis fertility index (EFI) has a predictive value for pregnancy after surgery. In vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) is a good treatment to infertility. This study aimed to provide external validation of EFI, assess the factors affecting the ability of EFI to predict cumulative spontaneous pregnancy rates (PRs), and propose reasonable advice for treatment by evaluating the effect of infertility management combining surgery and IVF-ET. Methods: This retrospective study enrolled 345 endometriosis-related infertile women after laparoscopic surgery from January 2012 to January 2016. Among them, 234 patients tried to conceive naturally and were divided into six groups according to their different EFI scores. Of the 345 patients, 307 with an EFI score ≥5 were divided into non-IVF-ET group (n = 209) and IVE-ET group (n = 98) to compare the cumulative PRs. Cumulative PRs’ curves were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier product limit estimate and the differences were evaluated by log-rank test. Independent predictive factors for pregnancy were assessed using the Cox regression model. Results: Significant differences in spontaneous PRs among different EFI scores were identified (&khgr;2 = 29.945, P < 0.05). The least function score was proved to be the most important factor for EFI (&khgr;2 = 6.931, P < 0.05) staging system. In patients with an EFI score ≥5 after 12 months from surgery, the cumulative PRs of those who received both surgery and IVF-ET were much higher than the spontaneous PRs of those who received surgery alone (&khgr;2 = 4.160, P = 0.041). Conclusions: The EFI is a reliable staging system to predict the spontaneous PR of patients. The least function score was the most influential factor to predict the spontaneous PR. Patients with an EFI score ≥5 after 12 months from surgery are recommended to receive IVF-ET to achieve a higher PR.
Massage Alleviates Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness after Strenuous Exercise: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Purpose: The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the effects of massage on alleviating delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS) and muscle performance after strenuous exercise. Method: Seven databases consisting of PubMed, Embase, EBSCO, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI and Wanfang were searched up to December 2016. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were eligible and the outcomes of muscle soreness, performance (including muscle maximal isometric force (MIF) and peak torque) and creatine kinase (CK) were used to assess the effectiveness of massage intervention on DOMS. Results: Eleven articles with a total of 23 data points (involving 504 participants) satisfied the inclusion criteria and were pooled in the meta-analysis. The findings demonstrated that muscle soreness rating decreased significantly when the participants received massage intervention compared with no intervention at 24 h (SMD: –0.61, 95% CI: –1.17 to –0.05, P = 0.03), 48 h (SMD: –1.51, 95% CI: –2.24 to –0.77, P < 0.001), 72 h (SMD: –1.46, 95% CI: –2.59 to –0.33, P = 0.01) and in total (SMD: –1.16, 95% CI: –1.60 to –0.72, P < 0.001) after intense exercise. Additionally, massage therapy improved MIF (SMD: 0.56, 95% CI: 0.21–0.90, P = 0.002) and peak torque (SMD: 0.38, 95% CI: 0.04–0.71, P = 0.03) as total effects. Furthermore, the serum CK level was reduced when participants received massage intervention (SMD: –0.64, 95% CI: –1.04 to –0.25, P = 0.001). Conclusion: The current evidence suggests that massage therapy after strenuous exercise could be effective for alleviating DOMS and improving muscle performance.
Comparing Patient-Derived Xenograft and Computational Response Prediction for Targeted Therapy in Patients of Early-Stage Large Cell Lung Cancer

Purpose: Targeted therapy (TT) provides highly effective cancer treatment for appropriately selected individuals. A major challenge of TT is to select patients who would benefit most. Experimental Design: The study uses cancer material from 25 patients primarily diagnosed with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) are treated with cetuximab and erlotinib. Treatment response is measured by tumor shrinkage comparing tumor volume at day 25 (V25) with tumor volume at baseline (V0). Shrinkage below 40% is considered as treatment response: V25/V0 < 0.4 (<40%). Furthermore, RNA-seq data from each tumor sample are used to predict tumor response to either treatment using an in silico molecular signaling map (MSM) approach. Results: PDX response was 40% (10/25; 95% CI [21.13%, 61.34%]) under cetuximab and 20% (5/25; 95% CI [6.83%, 40.70%]) under erlotinib. MSM predicted response was 48% (12/25; 95% CI [27.8%, 68.7%]) under cetuximab and 40% (10/25; 95% CI [21.13%, 61.34%]) under erlotinib. Agreement between PDX and MSM response prediction is substantial under cetuximab and erlotinib: 84% (21/25, P = 0.001) and 80% (20/25, P = 0.003). A total of 5 from the 25 patients have been treated with cetuximab showing a clinical response identical to both predictions. Conclusions: For NSCLC patients, this proof-of-concept study shows a considerable agreement in response prediction from MSM and PDX approaches, but MSM saves time and laboratory resources. Our result indicates the potential of MSM-based approach for clinical decision making when selecting cancer TTs. Clin Cancer Res; 22(9); 2167–76. ©2015 AACR.
TFT: a software system for application-transparent fault tolerance

An important objective of software fault tolerant systems should be to provide a fault-tolerance infrastructure in a manner that minimizes the effort required by the application developer. In the limit, the objective is to provide fault tolerance transparently to the application. TFT, the work presented in this paper, provides transparent fault-tolerance at a higher interface than prior solutions. TFT coordinates replicas at the system call interface, interposing a supervisor agent between the application and the operating system. Moving the replica coordination to this interface allows uncorrelated faults within the operating system and below to be tolerated and also admits the possibility of online operating system and hardware upgrades. To accomplish its task, TFT must enforce a deterministic computation above the system call interface. The potential sources of non-determinism addressed include non-deterministic system calls, delivery of asynchronous events, and the representation of operating system abstractions that differ between replicas.
XRCC1 codon 399 mutant allele: A risk factor for recurrence of urothelial bladder carcinoma in patients on BCG immunotherapy

XRCC1 protein plays crucial role in base excision repair (BER) by acting as a scaffold for other BER enzymes. Variants in XRCC1 gene might alter protein structure/function or create alternatively spliced protein influencing BER efficiency and affect individual susceptibility/recurrence to urinary bladder cancer (BC). We tested whether polymorphisms in XRCC1 gene were associated with BC risk and further to substantiate risk of recurrence after Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) immunotherapy. Genotyping for three polymorphic sites of XRCC1 gene at codon Arg194Trp (PvuII), Arg280His (RsaI) and, Arg399Gln (MspI) in 140 BC cases and 190 controls by PCR-RFLP method was done. We observed significant association in heterozygous genotype (GA) of codon 280 and 399 with BC risk (OR=1.96, p=0.021 and OR = 1.81, p=0.021, respectively), however no association was seen for variant AA genotype. A trend of increased risk with high stage and grade in patients with codon 194 variant genotypes (CT+TT) was observed. Haplotype analysis showed that individuals with haplotype 194C-280G-399A were at >3-fold higher risk for BC (OR=3.48, p=0.01). The A/A genotype of codon 399 was associated with high risk for recurrence in BCG treated patients (HR=5.05, P=0.01) thus, showing reduced recurrence free survival (AA/GG=12/60months; log rank P=0.004). The study suggested no association of variant genotypes with the susceptibility to BC. Haplotype analysis however, revealed that XRCC1 399 A allele may have a major role as patients with haplotype 194C-280G-399A carrying variant allele of 399 were at higher risk. Running Title XRCC1 gene polymorphism and risk of recurrence after BCG immunotherapy
Scaling to Large³ Data: An Efficient and Effective Method to Compute Distributional Thesauri

We introduce a new highly scalable approach for computing Distributional Thesauri (DTs). By employing pruning techniques and a distributed framework, we make the computation for very large corpora feasible on comparably small computational resources. We demonstrate this by releasing a DT for the whole vocabulary of Google Books syntactic n-grams. Evaluating against lexical resources using two measures, we show that our approach produces higher quality DTs than previous approaches, and is thus preferable in terms of speed and quality for large corpora.
The Influence of Perceived Contextual and Cultural Factors on Entrepreneurial Intentions Among Iranian College Students

The present study explores the impact of contextual and cultural factors on the development of students’ entrepreneurial intentions. Primary data was collected from a sample of 347 students following entrepreneurship courses at 7 universities in Iran. Hierarchical multiple regression is used to analyze the data. The study found positive effects of perceived relational support, individualism and collectivism on students’ entrepreneurial intentions. Furthermore, the results illustrated that education level and knowing an entrepreneurial role model also have a direct influence on entrepreneurial intentions. Perceived environmental and university support, perceived barriers and power distance were not considered important in this regard.
Boosted Spatially Uniform ReliefF Algorithm for Genome-Wide Genetic Analysis

Identifying causal factors for complex diseases is a primary goal in the field of human genetics. However, complex non-linear genotypephenotype interactions make relevant attribute identification a very challenging problem. Relief family filtering algorithms, which utilize the nearest neighbors technique to determine relevance scores for each attribute, present an efficient and effective way to detect these genotypephenotype interactions. Currently Multiple Threshold Spatially Uniform ReliefF (multiSURF*) is the most effective ReliefF family algorithm. In this paper, we introduce the algorithm called boostedSURF, which uses weighted distance metric to find nearest neighbors. We show that boostedSURF significantly outperforms multiSURF* in its ability to find the most predictive attributes in the simulated genetic datasets. In addition, boostedSURF also discovers new informative genes in the real datasets in comparison with the other Relief algorithms.
System-Level Analysis of Mobile Cellular Networks Considering Link Unreliability

Traditionally, system-level performance evaluation of mobile wireless communication networks has been addressed by only considering resource insufficiency, whereas the effect of an unreliable wireless channel has largely been ignored because of the complexity that its inclusion entails. To fill this void, a general analytical model for the system-level performance evaluation of mobile wireless networks taking into account both resource insufficiency and link unreliability is proposed in this paper. The effect of link unreliability is captured through the appropriate probabilistic characterization of the ldquounencumbered call-interruption time.rdquo Additionally, useful functional relationships between the call-interruption processes of the proposed analytical model and some system-level parameters that can easily be obtained from statistics collected at base stations (BSs) are derived. For the sake of generality, the involved time variables (i.e., cell dwell time, unencumbered call-interruption time, and channel holding time) are considered generally distributed. Then, general and easily computable mathematical expressions for many useful performance metrics under more realistic considerations are obtained. The analytical model proposed here is able to provide new and important insights into the dependence of system performance on link unreliability. Such understanding of this teletraffic engineering issue is vital for planning, designing, dimensioning, and optimizing mobile cellular networks for present and future wireless communication systems beyond the third generation.
Coupled evolutionary shape optimization and reverse engineering in rapid product design and prototyping

Product development in highly competitive times frequently implies very short time-to-market deadlines and product designs that need to deliver high performance at low investment and operation costs. These conflicting objectives can sometimes be accomplished by starting from existing designs and optimizing for better performance defined by some set of excellence criteria. This paper develops a systematic procedure that starts by using a 3D scan of the existing design, defines an efficient shape parameterization for the part of the object that shall be redesigned, and develops an evolutionary shape optimization model. This is accompanied by developing a numerical workflow to handle this demanding process and an implementation that provides solutions in reasonable computer time. The workflow is developed based on existing specialized applications for geometric modeling, numerical analysis, finite-element simulations, and optimization, and therefore makes a rather heterogeneous system. It uses and runs different applications on the 'as-needed' basis and provides for corresponding synchronization and data mining. The procedure is in this paper applied to the optimum design of 2D airfoils for wind-turbine blades.
Increased expression of microRNA-191 as a potential serum biomarker for diagnosis and prognosis in human osteosarcoma.

BACKGROUND MicroRNA (miR)-191 has been observed to be overexpressed in osteosarcoma cell lines in comparison with osteoblasts. OBJECTIVE To investigate the clinical significance of miR-191 in human osteosarcomas. METHODS Quantitative PCR was performed to detect miR-191 expression in osteosarcoma tissues and patients' sera. RESULTS miR-191 expression levels, both in osteosarcoma tissues and patients' sera, were significantly higher than those in matched adjacent normal bone tissues and healthy controls (both P< 0.001). Importantly, miR-191 could efficiently screen osteosarcoma patients from healthy controls (Area under receiver operating characteristic curve, AUC = 0.808). Then, high serum miR-191 expression was significantly associated with advanced clinical stage (P = 0.001), large tumor size (P = 0.01) and positive distant metastasis (P = 0.001). Moreover, overall and disease-free survival durations in patients with high miR-191 expression were both shorter than those with low miR-191 expression. Multivariate analysis further identified serum miR-191 level as an independent and significant prognostic factor for both overall survival (P = 0.01) and disease-free survival (P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS Our data provide new insights for the involvement of miR-191 in osteosarcoma and suggest that the increased expression of miR-191 may be associated with aggressive tumor progression and adverse outcome. Of note, serum miR-191 quantification may be a promising biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis in osteosarcoma.
Microbe‐aliphatic hydrocarbon interactions in soil: implications for biodegradation and bioremediation

Aliphatic hydrocarbons make up a substantial portion of organic contamination in the terrestrial environment. However, most studies have focussed on the fate and behaviour of aromatic contaminants in soil. Despite structural differences between aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons, both classes of contaminants are subject to physicochemical processes, which can affect the degree of loss, sequestration and interaction with soil microflora. Given the nature of hydrocarbon contamination of soils and the importance of bioremediation strategies, understanding the fate and behaviour of aliphatic hydrocarbons is imperative, particularly microbe–contaminant interactions. Biodegradation by microbes is the key removal process of hydrocarbons in soils, which is controlled by hydrocarbon physicochemistry, environmental conditions, bioavailability and the presence of catabolically active microbes. Therefore, the aims of this review are (i) to consider the physicochemical properties of aliphatic hydrocarbons and highlight mechanisms controlling their fate and behaviour in soil; (ii) to discuss the bioavailability and bioaccessibility of aliphatic hydrocarbons in soil, with particular attention being paid to biodegradation, and (iii) to briefly consider bioremediation techniques that may be applied to remove aliphatic hydrocarbons from soil.
Hemoglobin-based blood substitutes and risk of myocardial infarction and death.

To the Editor: The meta-analysis of cell-free hemoglobinbased blood substitutes and risk of myocardial infarction (MI) and death by Dr Natanson and colleagues and the accompanying Editorial by Drs Fergusson and McIntyre raise serious concerns for clinicians treating life-threatening anemia in South Africa, the only country where a hemoglobin solution (Hemopure, Biopure Corp, Cambridge, Massachusetts) is registered for clinical use. The safety concerns discussed by Natanson et al were already recognized and addressed in the case-series study of the experience with infusion of the first 750 units of Hemopure to 336 patients in clinical practice in South Africa, published in 2006. The increased risk of noncardiovascular death in patients receiving Hemopure has also been noted in South Africa. A tendency to raise blood pressure and increase circulating blood volume was noted in the initial South African experience. We are concerned that this publication was not identified on the authors’ literature search and was therefore not included in their meta-analysis. Hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers (HBOCs) can provide a valuable alternative where blood is not freely available. In South Africa, the donor pool for allogeneic blood has been reduced substantially by the impact of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic. In cases where patients have presented with life-threatening acute anemia after depletion and prior to restocking of the blood bank, HBOCs maintain oxygen delivery until blood becomes available. Other patient groups in whom the use of blood was not an option but in which Hemopure may have been lifesaving included 29 Jehovah’s Witnesses, 2 patients with acute hemolytic anemia, and 5 patients with atypical antibodies for whom no safe allogeneic blood could be identified. The United States is fortunate to have a safe and reliable blood supply at present. However, although the HIV epidemic is unlikely to have the effect on blood donation in the United States that it has had in South Africa, the aging of the baby-boomer population may result in an increasing demand for blood while the same aging process will substantially reduce the donor pool.
MicroRNA-145 Restores Contractile Vascular Smooth Muscle Phenotype and Coronary Collateral Growth in the Metabolic Syndrome

Objective—Transient, repetitive occlusion stimulates coronary collateral growth (CCG) in normal animals. Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) switch to synthetic phenotype early in CCG, then return to contractile phenotype. CCG is impaired in the metabolic syndrome. We determined whether impaired CCG was attributable to aberrant VSMC phenotypic modulation by miR-145–mediated mechanisms, and whether restoration of physiological miR-145 levels in metabolic syndrome (JCR rat) improved CCG. Approach and Results—CCG was stimulated by transient, repetitive left anterior descending artery occlusion and evaluated after 9 days by coronary blood flow measurements (microspheres). miR-145 was delivered to JCR VSMCs via adenoviral vector (miR-145-Adv). In JCR rats, miR-145 was decreased late in CCG (≈2-fold day 6; ≈4-fold day 9 versus SD), which correlated with decreased expression of smooth muscle-specific contractile proteins (≈5-fold day 6; ≈10-fold day 9 versus SD), indicative of VSMCs’ failure to return to the contractile phenotype late in CCG. miR-145 expression in JCR rats (miR-145-Adv) on days 6 to 9 of CCG completely restored VSMCs contractile phenotype and CCG (collateral/normal zone flow ratio was 0.93±0.09 JCR+miR-145-Adv versus 0.12±0.02 JCR versus 0.87±0.02 SD). Conclusions—Restoration of VSMC contractile phenotype through miR-145 delivery is a highly promising intervention for restoration of CCG in the metabolic syndrome.