Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A theory of generalized proximity for ADMM

The alternating direction method of multipliers has become in recent years the most widely used proximal method for signal processing. In this paper, we lay the groundwork for a new notion of proximity and use it to illustrate that the method (ADMM) is actually somewhat of a maladroit rearrangement of a new, more practical procedure that generalizes the Douglas-Rachford algorithm. Compared to ADMM, the algorithm that we propose enjoys not only a more sensible form, but also a more general convergence result.
eHealth for Breast Cancer Survivors: Use, Feasibility and Impact of an Interactive Portal

Background MijnAVL is an interactive portal including patient education, overview of appointments, access to the electronic medical records (EMR), patient-reported outcomes, plus feedback and physical activity support. Objective With this study we aimed to evaluate the use, feasibility, and impact of MijnAVL among breast cancer survivors. Methods We included survivors currently or recently treated with curative intent, who completed questions on sociodemographics, patient activation (PAM), quality of life (SF-36), and physical activity (IPAQ). MijnAVL could be used noncommittally for four months. Log data were collected retrospectively and participants completed questions on acceptability, satisfaction, and the PAM, SF-36 and IPAQ. Results Ninety-two women (mean age 49.5 years, 59% on-treatment) participated, with a mean number of logins of 8.7. Overview of appointments (80% of participants) and access to the EMR (90%) were most frequently used and most highly valued. Average website user satisfaction was 3.8 on a 5-point scale. Although participants reported having more knowledge and experiencing more control of their situation after using MijnAVL, PAM scores did not change significantly. Three domains of the SF-36 (role functioning - emotional, mental health, and social functioning) and median vigorous physical activity improved significantly over time. The burden of MijnAVL for professionals was limited. Conclusions User experiences were positive and exposure to MijnAVL was accompanied by improvements in three quality of life domains and vigorous physical activity. Tailored features may be needed to enhance the usefulness and efficacy of MijnAVL. Research with a controlled design is needed to confirm our findings.
Isolation of bacteria from diabetic foot ulcers with special reference to anaerobe isolation by simple two-step combustion technique in candle jar

Background & objectives: Although polymicrobial infections involving both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria are very common in diabetic foot ulcers, in many centres of developing countries, anaerobes are rarely isolated due to technical difficulties. This can be overcome by using a new simple, innovative technique of a combination of candle combustion and use of acidified copper-coated steel wool, as reported here. Methods: In-house developed method was used in a prospective clinico-microbiological study for anaerobes from randomly selected 43 patients with diabetic foot ulcers along with conventional method of anaerobic culture in GasPak system and aerobic culture by standard laboratory procedures. For primary isolation of anaerobes, Brucella blood agar supplemented with hemin (5 μg/ml) and menadione (1 μg/ml) was used. Antibiotic sensitivity tests were performed by the standard disc diffusion method for aerobes and E-test method for anaerobes. Results: All the 43 samples were culture positive, of which aerobic Gram-negative bacteria (GNB) predominated, followed by Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus and diphtheroids. Anaerobes isolated from 21 samples were Peptostreptococcus, Bacteroides, Porphyromonas, Veillonella spp. and Clostridium perfringens by both GasPak and in-house developed and modified candle jar techniques. Imipenem and metronidazole were most sensitive while clindamycin, penicillin and cefoxitin were least sensitive drugs for anaerobes. Aerobic GNB were found to be multidrug resistant, especially to penicillin and cephalosporins. The most sensitive drug was piperacillin-tazobactam. Interpretation & conclusions: For isolation of anaerobes from clinical specimens such as diabetic foot ulcers, modified candle jar technique was found to be as reliable as GasPak system. This modified technique needs to be tested for many other clinical materials which are not yet evaluated.
Limitation of SDMA in Ultra-Dense Small Cell Networks

Benefitting from multi-user gain brought by multi-antenna techniques, space division multiple access (SDMA) is capable of significantly enhancing spatial throughput (ST) in wireless networks. Nevertheless, we show in this letter that, even when SDMA is applied, ST would diminish to be zero in ultra-dense networks (UDN), where small cell base stations are fully densified. More importantly, we compare the performance of SDMA, single-user beamforming (SU-BF) (one user is served in each cell) and full SDMA (the number of served users equals the number of equipped antennas). Surprisingly, it is shown that SU-BF achieves the highest ST and critical density, beyond which ST starts to degrade, in UDN. The results in this letter could shed light on the fundamental limitation of SDMA in UDN.
La méthode RA k EL évidentielle pour la classification multi-label The evidential RA k EL method for multi-label classification

Multi-label classification deals with problems in which each instance can be associated with a set of labels. An effective multi-label method, named RA kEL, randomly breaks the initial set of labels into smaller sets and trains single-label classifier in each of this subset. To classify a n unseen instance, the predictions of all classifiers are combined using a voting process. In this paper, we adapt the RAkEL approach under the belief function framework applied to set-valued variables. Using evidence theory allows us to handle partial information by associating a mass function to each classifier and combining them conjunctively. Experiments on real datasets demonstrate that our approach improves classification performances as compared to the basic RA kEL method.
The contribution of alcohol to the East-West life expectancy gap in Europe from 1990 onward.

Background Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries have lower life expectancies and higher alcohol-attributable mortality than Western European countries. We examine the contribution of alcohol consumption to mortality across Europe, and specifically to the East-West life expectancy gap from 1990 onward. Methods We retrieved alcohol-attributable mortality rates (GBD Study 2013) and all-cause mortality rates (Human Mortality Database) by age and sex for nine CEE countries and for the EU-15 countries. We assessed country-specific potential gains in life expectancy (PGLE) by eliminating alcohol-attributable mortality using associated single decrement life tables. We decomposed the life expectancy differences between each CEE country and the EU-15 population-weighted average for 1990-2012/13 into alcohol-attributable and non-alcohol-attributable mortality. Results In 2012/13, the PGLE for men and women were, respectively, 2.15 and 1.00 years in the CEE region and 0.90 and 0.44 years in the EU-15 region. The contribution of alcohol to the East-West gap in life expectancy was largest among men in Russia {2.88 years [uncertainty interval (UI): 1.57-4.06]}, Belarus [3.70 years (UI: 1.75-5.45)] and Ukraine [2.47 years (UI: 0.90-3.88)]. The relative contributions increased in most of the countries between 1990 and 2005 (on average, from 17.0% to 25.4% for men, and from 14.7% to 22.5% for women), and declined thereafter (20.2% for men and 20.5% for women in 2012/13). Conclusions Alcohol contributed substantially to the East-West life expectancy gap in Europe, and to its increase (1990-2005) and decline (2005 onward). Diminishing alcohol consumption in CEE countries to Western European levels can contribute to mortality convergence across Europe.
VLSI micro-architectures for high-radix crossbar schedulers

We study the scaling of parallel-matching crossbar schedulers to radices above 100. First, we examine a traditional microarchitecture that implements the matching decision of each input and each output of the crossbar in a separate arbiter block and communicates the matching decisions between the input and the output arbiters through global point-to-point links. Using simple models and experimentation with 90nm CMOS layouts, we show that this architecture is expensive because the global point-to-point links take up O(N4) area, where N the radix of the crossbar. Next, by observing that the wiring of an arbiter fits in a minimal O(NlogN) area, we propose a novel microarchitecture that inverts the locality of wires by orthogonally interleaving the input with the output arbiters, thus lowering the wiring area of the scheduler down to O(N2log2N). Using this architecture, the scheduler for a radix-128 FIFO, VOQ, or 2-VC crossbar becomes gate limited, fitting in 3.6, 7.2, and 7.2mm2 respectively, which is a 40, 50, and 70% improvement compared to the traditional. Moreover, the proposed schedulers find a new match in less than 10ns, thus allowing a minimum packet below 30Bytes at 24Gb/s line rate. Based on these findings, we conclude that crossbar schedulers are feasible even for radices above 100.
Dependence Anti Patterns

A dependence anti pattern is a dependence structure that may indicate potential problems for on-going software maintenance and evolution. Dependence anti patterns are not structures that must always be avoided. Rather, they denote warnings that should be investigated. This paper defines a set of dependence anti patterns and presents a series of case studies that show how these patterns can be identified using techniques for dependence analysis and visualization. The paper reports the results of this analysis on six real world programs, two of which are open source and four of which are part of production code in use with Daimler.
Effect of poly(ethylene glycol) content and formulation parameters on particulate properties and intraperitoneal delivery of insulin from PLGA nanoparticles prepared using the double-emulsion evaporation procedure

Abstract Context: Size, encapsulation efficiency and stability affect the sustained release from nanoparticles containing protein-type drugs. Objectives: Insulin was used to evaluate effects of formulation parameters on minimizing diameter, maximizing encapsulation efficiency and preserving blood glucose control following intraperitoneal (IP) administration. Methods: Homogenization or sonication was used to incorporate insulin into poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles with increasing poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) content. Effects of polymer type, insulin/polymer loading ratio and stabilizer in the internal aqueous phase on physicochemical characteristics of NP, in vitro release and stability of encapsulated insulin were investigated. Entrapment efficiency and release were assessed by radioimmunoassay and bicinconnic acid protein assay, and stability was evaluated using SDS-PAGE. Bioactivity of insulin was assessed in streptozotocin-induced, insulin-deficient Type I diabetic mice. Results: Increasing polymeric PEG increased encapsulation efficiency, while the absence of internal stabilizer improved encapsulation and minimized burst release kinetics. Homogenization was shown to be superior to sonication, with NP fabricated from 10% PEG–PLGA having higher insulin encapsulation, lower burst release and better stability. Insulin-loaded NP maintained normoglycaemia for 24 h in diabetic mice following a single bolus, with no evidence of hypoglycemia. Conclusions: Insulin-loaded NP prepared from 10% PEG–PLGA possessed therapeutically useful encapsulation and release kinetics when delivered by the IP route.
Neoadjuvant treatments for locally advanced, resectable esophageal cancer: A network meta‐analysis

The relative survival benefits and postoperative mortality among the different types of neoadjuvant treatments (such as chemotherapy only, radiotherapy only or chemoradiotherapy) for esophageal cancer patients are not well established. To evaluate the relative efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant therapies in resectable esophageal cancer, a Bayesian network meta‐analysis was performed. MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched for publications up to May 2016. ASCO and ASTRO annual meeting abstracts were also searched up to the 2015 conferences. Randomized controlled trials that compared at least two of the following treatments for resectable esophageal cancer were included: surgery alone, surgery preceded by neoadjuvant chemotherapy, neoadjuvant radiotherapy or neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. The primary outcome assessed from the trials was overall survival. Thirty‐one randomized controlled trials involving 5496 patients were included in the quantitative analysis. The network meta‐analysis showed that neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy improved overall survival when compared to all other treatments including surgery alone (HR 0.75, 95% CR 0.67–0.85), neoadjuvant chemotherapy (HR 0.83. 95% CR 0.70–0.96) and neoadjuvant radiotherapy (HR 0.82, 95% CR 0.67–0.99). However, the risk of postoperative mortality increased when comparing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy to either surgery alone (RR 1.46, 95% CR 1.00–2.14) or to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (RR 1.58, 95% CR 1.00–2.49). In conclusion, neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy improves overall survival but may also increase the risk of postoperative mortality in patients locally advanced resectable esophageal carcinoma.
Body Composition Remodeling and Mortality: The Health Aging and Body Composition Study

Background Age-related losses of lean mass and shifts to central adiposity are related to functional decline and may predict mortality and/or explain part of the risk of weight loss. To determine how mortality risk is related to shifts in body composition, changes should be considered in the context of overall weight change. Methods Five-year changes in body composition were assessed with computed tomography (cm2) and dual x-ray absorptiometry (kg) in 869 men and 934 women initially aged 70-79 years. All-cause mortality was monitored for up to 12 years (2002-2003 to September 30, 2014), and risk was assessed using sex-specific Cox models. Results Both men and women lost weight, visceral fat area, thigh muscle area, lean mass, and fat mass (all p < .01) but gained intermuscular thigh fat area (p < .01). There were 995 deaths. After adjustment for total weight change, demographics, and chronic disease, losing thigh muscle area was associated with higher mortality in both men (1.21, 1.08-1.35) and women (1.18, 1.01-1.37, per 9.0cm2) and was especially strong in normal weight (body mass index < 25kg/m2) individuals and those losing weight. Losing intermuscular thigh fat was protective against mortality only in normal weight (0.66, 0.51-0.86) and weight stable men (0.79, 0.66-0.95, per 3.2cm2). Changes in visceral fat area were not associated with mortality. Conclusions Older adults with greater loss of thigh muscle than expected for overall weight change had a higher mortality risk compared to those with relative thigh muscle preservation, suggesting that conservation of muscle mass is important for survival in old age.
NIR Based Non-Invasive Blood Glucose Measurement

Objectives: This paper describes the method of measurement of glucose concentration in the human blood non-invasively using the near infrared optical technique. Methods/Analysis: In recent medical practice, the concentration of glucose in blood is measured using an invasive techniques which generally involves puncturing finger. In generic few ml of blood whereas in recent practice less than a drop of blood is taken out and passed through the standard chemical tests to measure glucose concentration. These methods are expensive as well as painful. The frequent finger puncturing causes calluses on the skin and also increases the risk of spreading infectious diseases. Findings: So, the development of a non-invasive blood glucose measurement system will be boon to the diabetic patients. This paper describes the method of blood sugar measurement in the human blood non-invasively using the painless near infrared based optical technique. The designed system consists of LED emitting signals of 940 nm wavelength. These optical signals are sent through the fingertip and reflected signals are detected by phototransistor placed beside the LED. The glucose concentration in the blood is determined by analyzing the variation in the intensity of received signal obtained after reflection. The results obtained from the designed system shows the feasibility of using NIR based non-invasive method for the measurement of blood glucose. Applications/Improvements: The described system is majorly useful for diabetic patients. The measurement accuracy of the proposed system can be improved by incorporating it with noise filtering techniques.
Effects of low oxygen concentrations on aerobic methane oxidation 1633 ( b ) ( a )

Coastal seas may account for more than 75 % of global oceanic methane emissions. There, methane is mainly produced microbially in anoxic sediments from which it can escape to the overlying water column. Aerobic methane oxidation (MOx) in the water column acts as a biological filter, reducing the amount of methane that eventually evades to the atmosphere. The efficiency of the MOx filter is potentially controlled by the availability of dissolved methane and oxygen, as well as temperature, salinity, and hydrographic dynamics, and all of these factors undergo strong temporal fluctuations in coastal ecosystems. In order to elucidate the key environmental controls, specifically the effect of oxygen availability, on MOx in a seasonally stratified and hypoxic coastal marine setting, we conducted a 2-year time-series study with measurements of MOx and physicochemical water column parameters in a coastal inlet in the south-western Baltic Sea (Eckernförde Bay). We found that MOx rates generally increased toward the seafloor, but were not directly linked to methane concentrations. MOx exhibited a strong seasonal variability, with maximum rates (up to 11.6 nmol L−1 d−1) during summer stratification when oxygen concentrations were lowest and bottom-water temperatures were highest. Under these conditions, 2.4–19.0 times more methane was oxidized than emitted to the atmosphere, whereas about the same amount was consumed and emitted during the mixed and oxygenated periods. Laboratory experiments with manipulated oxygen concentrations in the range of 0.2–220 μmol L−1 revealed a submicromolar oxygen optimum for MOx at the study site. In contrast, the fraction of methane–carbon incorporation into the bacterial biomass (compared to the total amount of oxidized methane) was up to 38-fold higher at saturated oxygen concentrations, suggesting a different partitioning of catabolic and anabolic processes under oxygen-replete and oxygen-starved conditions, respectively. Our results underscore the importance of MOx in mitigating methane emission from coastal waters and indicate an organism-level adaptation of the water column methanotrophs to hypoxic conditions.
Scalable Steady State Analysis of Boolean Biological Regulatory Networks

Background Computing the long term behavior of regulatory and signaling networks is critical in understanding how biological functions take place in organisms. Steady states of these networks determine the activity levels of individual entities in the long run. Identifying all the steady states of these networks is difficult due to the state space explosion problem. Methodology In this paper, we propose a method for identifying all the steady states of Boolean regulatory and signaling networks accurately and efficiently. We build a mathematical model that allows pruning a large portion of the state space quickly without causing any false dismissals. For the remaining state space, which is typically very small compared to the whole state space, we develop a randomized traversal method that extracts the steady states. We estimate the number of steady states, and the expected behavior of individual genes and gene pairs in steady states in an online fashion. Also, we formulate a stopping criterion that terminates the traversal as soon as user supplied percentage of the results are returned with high confidence. Conclusions This method identifies the observed steady states of boolean biological networks computationally. Our algorithm successfully reported the G1 phases of both budding and fission yeast cell cycles. Besides, the experiments suggest that this method is useful in identifying co-expressed genes as well. By analyzing the steady state profile of Hedgehog network, we were able to find the highly co-expressed gene pair GL1-SMO together with other such pairs. Availability Source code of this work is available at http://bioinformatics.cise. ufl.edu/palSteady.html twocolumnfalse]
Multimodality Imaging in Patients with Secondary Hypertension: With a Focus on Appropriate Imaging Approaches Depending on the Etiologies

Although the causes of hypertension are usually unknown, about 10% of the cases occur secondary to specific etiologies, which are often treatable. Common categories of secondary hypertension include renal parenchymal disease, renovascular stenosis, vascular and endocrinologic disorders. For diseases involving the renal parenchyma and adrenal glands, ultrasonography (US), computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is recommended. For renovascular stenosis and vascular disorders, Doppler US, conventional or noninvasive (CT or MR) angiography is an appropriate modality. Nuclear imaging can be useful in the differential diagnosis of endocrine causes. Radiologists should understand the role of each imaging modality and its typical findings in various causes of secondary hypertension. This article focuses on appropriate imaging approaches in accordance with the categorized etiologies leading to hypertension.
Adipokine zinc-alpha-2-glycoprotein as a novel urinary biomarker presents earlier than microalbuminuria in diabetic nephropathy

Objective To investigate the role of zinc-alpha-2-glycoprotein (ZAG) in the early stage of diabetic nephropathy, in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods This cross-sectional observational study recruited patients with longstanding T2DM and healthy control subjects. Patients with T2DM were further stratified based on their urine albumin–creatinine ratio (UACR) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Serum and urine concentrations of ZAG were determined using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results Eighty patients with T2DM and 20 healthy control subjects were enrolled in the study. Mean ± SD concentrations of ZAG in serum and urine were both significantly higher in patients with T2DM (serum: 38.29 ± 22.72 mg/l; urine: 53.64 ± 29.48 mg/g) compared with concentrations in healthy control subjects (serum: 21.61 ± 8.83 mg/l; urine: 28.17 ± 10.64 mg/g). Serum ZAG concentration was positively correlated with serum creatinine and eGFR. Urine ZAG concentration was positively correlated with UACR. Urine concentration of ZAG in the higher eGFR group was higher than that in the normal eGFR group (41.26 ± 13.67 versus 32.05 ± 8.55 mg/g, respectively). Conclusion These preliminary findings suggest that ZAG might be a potentially useful biomarker for early diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy in patients with T2DM.