Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The decrease of IGF-I, IGF-binding protein-3 and bone alkaline phosphatase isoforms during gluten challenge correlates with small intestinal inflammation in children with coeliac disease.

OBJECTIVE In children with coeliac disease, the ingestion of gluten causes small intestinal inflammation and a clinical picture of malabsorption, weight reduction and short stature. Decreased alkaline phosphatase (ALP) during gluten challenge was found in a previous study. ALP is a marker of bone formation and ALP activities are correlated with growth velocity. The aim of this study was to characterise the previously observed decrease of total ALP by investigating three specific bone ALP isoforms (bone/intestinal, B1 and B2) and three specific liver ALP isoforms (L1, L2 and L3) and, moreover, to correlate these ALP isoforms with other growth factors and growth markers. In addition, we also studied the association with possible weight changes, small intestinal mucosa inflammation, sex, age and gluten dose during gluten challenge. MATERIALS AND METHODS Bone and liver ALP isoforms, IGF-I, IGF-binding protein (IGFBP)-3 and serum cross-linked carboxy-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (ICTP) were measured together with change in weight and small intestinal mucosa histopathology in 54 children with earlier enteropathy who participated in a 4-week gluten challenge. RESULTS We observed a decreased total ALP activity after 4 weeks of gluten challenge, 7.8+/-1.8 to 6.5+/-1.7 microkat/l (means +/- s.d.), which was mainly due to a reduction of the bone ALP isoforms. The sum of all three bone ALP isoforms decreased from 6.3+/-1.7 to 5.1+/-1.6 microkat/l. The decreased activities of the bone ALP isoforms correlated with the observed reductions of IGF-I (r=0.74, P<0.001), IGFBP-3 (r=0.51, P<0.001) and ICTP (r=0.57, P<0.001). The decrease of the growth factors and growth markers correlated with weight reduction, but when influences from the change in weight were adjusted for, the partial correlation of the small intestinal mucosa inflammation was significant for IGF-I (r=-0.56, P<0.001) and IGFBP-3 (r=-0.55, P<0.001). CONCLUSION The decrease of total ALP was due to a reduction of bone ALP. The decrease of IGF-I and IGFBP-3 was independently correlated with weight change and small intestinal inflammation.
Towards the development of self-ant systems

We propose a computational framework for the self-generation of components used by an Ant Colony Optimization algorithm. The approach relies on Strongly Typed Genetic Programming to automatically seek for effective update pheromone strategies. Best evolved strategies are then inserted in an Ant Colony Algorithm used to find good quality solutions for the Quadratic Assignment Problem. Results reveal that evolved update rules are competitive with human designed variants and can be effectively reused on different instances of the same problem. Moreover, we investigate the possibility of evolving general strategies that can be used across different optimization problems.
Parallel Hybrid Evolutionary Algorithm in a Grid Environment for the Job Shop Scheduling Problem

This paper presents a parallel hybrid evolutionary algorithm executed in a grid environment. The algorithm executes local searches using simulated annealing within a Genetic Algorithm to solve the job shop scheduling problem. Experimental results of the algorithm obtained in the “Tarantula MiniGrid” are shown. Tarantula was implemented by linking two clusters from different geographic locations in Mexico (Morelos-Veracruz). The technique used to link the two clusters and configure the Tarantula MiniGrid is described. The effects of latency in communication between the two clusters are discussed. It is shown that the evolutionary algorithm presented is more efficient working in Grid environments because it can carry out major exploration and exploitation of the solution space.
Detection of Helicobacter pylori in the Bronchoalveolar Lavage of Patients with Lung Cancer Using Real-Time PCR

Background Lung cancer is one of the most common causes of death worldwide. Although smoking and environmental pollutants are the most important risk factors of lung cancer, the role of infectious causes should also be considered in the pathogenesis and progress of lung cancer. Objectives This study examined the relationship between Helicobacter pylori and lung cancer through serology, real-time PCR, and urease tests. Methods This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 52 adult patients with lung cancer who were selected after having their history taken and being physically examined by a pulmonologist. Then, the patients underwent a bronchoscopy, a BAL, and biopsy sampling. A urease test was run for each biopsy sample, real-time PCR was used for each BAL sample, and H. pylori serology was used for each patient’s serum. Results The patients’ average age was 60.65 ± 9.15 years; 11.5% were female and 88.5% were male. The prevalence of H. pylori in lung cancer patients was 11.5% according to the BAL PCR test, 92.3% according to the serology test, and 3.8% according to the urease test. Conclusions The results demonstrated an association between of lung cancer and H. Pylori infection via the hypothesis of direct damage and chronic inflammation through inhalation and aspiration and the systematic immune response induced by H. pylori colonization. Helicobacter pylori, together with a host’s genetic predisposition and other environmental risk factors, could be attributed to the induction of lung cancer.
Evaluating aggregated search using interleaving

A result page of a modern web search engine is often much more complicated than a simple list of "ten blue links. " In particular, a search engine may combine results from different sources (e.g., Web, News, and Images), and display these as grouped results to provide a better user experience. Such a system is called an aggregated or federated search system. Because search engines evolve over time, their results need to be constantly evaluated. However, one of the most efficient and widely used evaluation methods, interleaving, cannot be directly applied to aggregated search systems, as it ignores the need to group results originating from the same source (vertical results). We propose an interleaving algorithm that allows comparisons of search engine result pages containing grouped vertical documents. We compare our algorithm to existing interleaving algorithms and other evaluation methods (such as A/B-testing), both on real-life click log data and in simulation experiments. We find that our algorithm allows us to perform unbiased and accurate interleaved comparisons that are comparable to conventional evaluation techniques. We also show that our interleaving algorithm produces a ranking that does not substantially alter the user experience, while being sensitive to changes in both the vertical result block and the non-vertical document rankings. All this makes our proposed interleaving algorithm an essential tool for comparing IR systems with complex aggregated pages.
RATING: rigorous assessment of trust in identity management

Trust can be an important aspect for decision-making in the Internet. This paper proposes a new trust establishment model for identity management on the Internet. After discussing the challenges and opportunities of a trust model in identity management, we describe our trust model in detail. The fundamental difference to existing models (or the lack of) in identity management is the establishment of trust and evaluation of trust in this model changes over time. Leaving greater incentives to constantly seek and learn from the past behavior to influence their future. Moreover this model acknowledges the heterogeneity of service providers, and lastly this model proposes some attenuation measures to counter biased ratings in identity management scenarios.
Longitudinal, cross-site and "in the Wild": a study of public displays user communities' situated snapshots

Networked public displays are a new medium, and as such they can improve the quality and experience of urban spaces by providing new means to engage members of place-based communities. As they are located in different public spaces understanding commonalities and differences between their users helps in building a solid foundation for knowledge on how networked public displays operate. In this paper, we describe findings from a 12 weeks deployment of the Moment Machine application that allows posting and viewing situated snapshots across 4 displays placed in urban settings of the Screens in the Wild Network (UK). We describe similarities/differences between the four user communities in terms of the photos taken, returning users behavior, interaction session properties etc. Overall, our findings contribute to the buildup of knowledge on general engagement patterns of networked public displays. We suggest that situated snapshots and their analysis as described in this paper can be used as a research tool and methodology for capturing and uncovering the part of a place-based community interested in interacting with public displays.
A Systematic Empirical Analysis of Forging Fingerprints to Fool Biometric Systems

This paper serves to systematically describe the attempts made to forge fingerprints to fool biometric systems and to review all relevant publications on forging fingerprints to fool sensors. The research finds that many of the related works fail in this aspect and that past successes could not be repeated. First, the basics of biometrics are explained in order to define the meaning of the term security in this special context. Next, the state of the art of biometric systems is presented, followed by to the topic of security of fingerprint scanners. For this, a series of more than 30,000 experiments were conducted to fool scanners. The authors were able to reproduce and keep records of each single step in the test and to show which methods lead to the desired results. Most studies on this topic exclude a number of steps in producing a fake finger and fooling a fingerprint scanner are not explained, which means that some of the studies cannot be replicated. In addition, the authors' own ideas and slight variations of existing experiment set-ups are presented.
Towards an adaptive cultural heritage experience using physiological computing

The contemporary heritage institution visitor model is built around passive receivership where content is consumed but not influenced by the visitor. This paper presents work in progress towards an adaptive interface designed to respond to the level of interest of the visitor, in order to deliver a personalised experience within cultural heritage institutions. A subject-dependent experimental approach was taken to record and classify physiological signals using mobile physiological sensors and a machine learning algorithm. The results show a high classification rate using this approach, informing future work for the development of a real-time physiological computing component for use within an adaptive cultural heritage experience.
Simulation-based development of embedded sensor fusion applications

This paper proposes a methodology for the design, testing, and fine-tuning of sensor fusion applications for distributed embedded sensor networks. The presented approach involves the following steps: (i) gathering data about the process environment, (ii) modeling of the process and the sensors to be used, (iii) selection of sensor fusion functions to process the sensor measurements, (iv) simulated closed-loop hardware-in-the-loop testing, (v) validation by open-loop testing in the real process, and, finally, (vi) application of the developed embedded sensor fusion application in the system. Particular steps may be repeated in a loop, if the result of a given step is not satisfactory. The main contribution of the approach is a separation of the modeling of process environment, sensors, and sensor processing. This allows for a strategic refinement of the model and supports the reuse and change of parts, e. g. , in case of a sensor upgrade. The application of the approach is shown by a MATLAB/Simulink model that incorporates block diagrams describing process environment, sensor behavior, and sensor fusion algorithms
Induction of Kanizsa Contours Requires Awareness of the Inducing Context

It remains unknown to what extent the human visual system interprets information about complex scenes without conscious analysis. Here we used visual masking techniques to assess whether illusory contours (Kanizsa shapes) are perceived when the inducing context creating this illusion does not reach awareness. In the first experiment we tested perception directly by having participants discriminate the orientation of an illusory contour. In the second experiment, we exploited the fact that the presence of an illusory contour enhances performance on a spatial localization task. Moreover, in the latter experiment we also used a different masking method to rule out the effect of stimulus duration. Our results suggest that participants do not perceive illusory contours when they are unaware of the inducing context. This is consistent with theories of a multistage, recurrent process of perceptual integration. Our findings thus challenge some reports, including those from neurophysiological experiments in anaesthetized animals. Furthermore, we discuss the importance to test the presence of the phenomenal percept directly with appropriate methods.
Niger case study.

The purpose of this chapter is to describe preliminary results in the attempt to model the linkages between property rights, risk, and livestock development in Niger. Rainfall variation is often identified as the major environmental risk faced by agropastoralists (for example, Swallow 1994). Among the many riskmanagement strategies that are identified, livestock mobility is seen as one of the most valuable by agropastoralists (for example, Fleuret 1986; Painter, Sumberg, and Price 1994; Swallow 1994; van den Brink, Bromley, and Chavas 1995). Sivakumar (1989) and Sivakumar, Maidoukia, and Stern (1993) show that one of the major climatic characteristics in Niger is rainfall variability and the recently increased frequency of droughts. In Niger, land tenure consists of a mix of quasi-private and common property, enabling both fixed agricultural production and mobile cattle raising. Nevertheless, the combination of population increase, low and variable rainfall, and a changing institutional environment creates stress on land-tenure systems. Since 1993, the Niger government has been implementing a new rural code that should redefine the access, use, and management of natural resources in Niger (Secrétariat Permanent 1993, 1997). This calls for a clear understanding of how environmental variability, and the use of land for agricultural and pastoral activities, must contribute to a definition or redefinition of land tenure in Niger. The purpose of the modeling exercise that is envisaged is therefore twofold: to contribute, using quantitative methods, to the common rangeland and mobility debate; and to contribute to a better understanding of the situation in Niger—a prerequisite for developing changes in the land-tenure system that benefits all users. This chapter includes a short review of the literature specific to Niger; a description of observations made in the study area; and a preliminary, reducedform econometric model, which is presented for discussion purposes.
Iterative mining of resource-releasing specifications

Software systems commonly use resources such as network connections or external file handles. Once finish using the resources, the software systems must release these resources by explicitly calling specific resource-releasing API methods. Failing to release resources properly could result in resource leaks or even outright system failures. Existing verification techniques could analyze software systems to detect defects related to failing to release resources. However, these techniques require resource-releasing specifications for specifying which API method acquires/releases certain resources, and such specifications are not well documented in practice, due to the large amount of manual effort required to document them. To address this issue, we propose an iterative mining approach, called RRFinder, to automatically mining resource-releasing specifications for API libraries in the form of (resource-acquiring, resource-releasing) API method pairs. RRFinder first identifies resource-releasing API methods, for which RRFinder then identifies the corresponding resource-acquiring API methods. To identify resource-releasing API methods, RRFinder performs an iterative process including three steps: model-based prediction, call-graph-based propagation, and class-hierarchy-based propagation. From heterogeneous information (e.g., source code, natural language), the model-based prediction employs a classification model to predict the likelihood that an API method is a resource-releasing method. The call-graph-based and class-hierarchy-based propagation propagates the likelihood information across methods. We evaluated RRFinder on eight open source libraries, and the results show that RRFinder achieved an average recall of 94.0% with precision of 86.6% in mining resource-releasing specifications, and the mined specifications are useful in detecting resource leak defects.
2DPCA based nonlocal means filter

While The nonlocal(NL)-means filter introduced by Buades et al. have speedily entered the hall of fame of denoising methods, its computational complexity is quite a burden, we propose a newly automatical and efficient preselection-based NL-means filter, using the 2DPCA technique. Mainly, our contributions to the NL-means filter are: 1) a preselection of the most relevant pixels using the 2DPCA technique; 2) adaptive determination of the similar sets. The new approach has been tested on a commonly-used image database and a real noisy image. The results demonstrate that our method significantly improves the denoising effect and the restored have higher peak signal-to-noise ratio.
AN EFFICIENT APPROACH WITH ZERNIKE AND ANT COLONY OPTIMIZATION FOR IMAGE REGISTRATION

Image registration is one of technique that enables us to join two images to form a single image. Its applications lie for general photography, medical imaging etc. Nowadays, medical image registration plays a vital role for diagnosis. So, we have rigid and non-rigid images that need to be registered properly. None of single method can work as generalized for image registration. In the current paper we are going to combine two methods which is Zernike and ant colony optimization in order to make it applicable for different types of images especially complex images. The result of this technique shows that it proves to be better, accurate and improves quality for registration of images.
Testosterone affects reproductive success by influencing extra–pair fertilizations in male dark–eyed juncos (Aves: Junco hyemalis)

Monogamous male birds typically allocate less effort to courtship and more to parental behaviour than males of polygynous species. The seasonal pattern of testosterone (T) secretion varies accordingly. Monogamous males exhibit a spring peak in plasma T followed by lower levels during the parental phase, while males of polygynous species continue to court females and maintain T at higher levels. To determine whether testosterone underlies the trade–off between mating and parental effort, we treated male dark–eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis) with exogenous T and compared the reproductive success (RS) of T–treated males (T–males) to that of controls. T–males had lower apparent annual RS than controls, probably because elevated T reduced parental care. Nevertheless, annual genetic RS of the treatment groups was similar because (i) T–males suffered fewer losses in genetic RS due to extra–pair fertilizations (EPFs), and (ii) T–males gained more genetic RS through their own EPFs. This is the first hormonal manipulation of an avian phenotype shown to have influenced male RS through EPFs. Together with other studies, it suggests that testosterone may have mediated the evolution of inter– and intraspecific differences in allocation of reproductive effort to mate attraction and parental care.
Start-up incubation: a rite of passage of entrepreneurs and their social ventures

This dissertation presents a socio-anthropological investigation of social venture incubation: a process of providing enterprise support aimed at creating social change. Most previous research on incubation has focused on venture development and growth, and the efficacy of incubation in terms of the economic contribution firms make. In this study I contribute by investigating the process of incubation, conceptualising it as a rite of passage of both the entrepreneur and the venture. I conducted an ethnographic study following the rites of passage of one cohort of social entrepreneurs and their ventures - from selection to incorporation into the business world. The insider perspective provided access to both the organisers and designers of the process as well as the entrepreneurs over a period of 15 months. I thematically analysed my data with NVivo using an a priori and emergent coding system. The key finding of the study was the dual nature of the incubatee, the liminal entity in this rite of passage. As opposed to most incubation studies, I found that the process was as much a transition of the ventures as it was for the entrepreneurs. The rite of passage framework enabled me to identify the transition to becoming a social entrepreneur. In addition the study contributes theoretically showing the importance of social exchanges in participants’ relationships as well as the variety of different engagement patterns in the entrepreneurial rite of passage. Engagement also influences incubation outcomes and evaluation. The value of the research findings for managers of such initiatives include designing relevant evaluation systems and strengthening the case for social incubation. Policy makers and funders of such initiatives thus need to take into account the different outcomes and impact of the programmes when allocating resources. The dual nature of the incubatee and impact on the incubatee should thus be taken into account when setting expected outcomes.
Spatial analytical methods and geographic information systems: use in health research and epidemiology.

Person, place, time: these are the basic elements of outbreak investigations and epidemiology. Historically, however, the focus in epidemiologic research has been on person and time, with little regard for the implications of place or space even though disease mapping has been done for over a hundred years. The development of geographic information systems (GISs) over the last 20 years has provided a more powerful and rapid ability to examine spatial patterns and processes. This, in turn, has fostered the discussion of such policyrelevant issues as health services and planning (1), as well as the use of GISs for epidemiologic investigations and disease surveillance. Methods of spatial analysis are given little, if any, introduction in modern epidemiology texts, and few epidemiologists have ventured further than making dot or choropleth maps, or listing geographic units along with rates of disease in tabular form (2-6). Spatial patterns are frequently intricate and complex, while most spatial methods used by epidemiologists can capture or identify only gross, simplistic patterns (2). Epidemiologists understand that disease processes have an historical (time) component, and formal methods of time series and hazard analyses are well-developed to study them. Few, however, recognize that every epidemic also has a geography (space). Some epidemiologists may not be aware that evaluation of the spatial distribution of measures of disease risk may provide etiologic insight. The logic of using geography to study disease or health care is derived from appreciation of factors causing non-uniformity of disease distribution (2). These fac-