Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Regularizing Prediction Entropy Enhances Deep Learning with Limited Data

Many supervised learning problems require learning with small amounts of training data, since constructing large training datasets could be impractical due to cost, labor, or unavailability of data. For such tasks, constructing deep learning approaches that generalize to new data is difficult. In this paper, we demonstrate the effectiveness of using entropy as a regularizer on image classification tasks involving very small amounts of data. Optimizing with entropy regularization enables neural networks to learn more generalizable feature representations in the penultimate layers. We conduct experiments on training from scratch on limited subsets of CIFAR10 and CIFAR100 as well as on fine-tuning from existing models on three datasets for fine-grained visual recognition (FGVC) and observe significant improvements in classification performance on both tasks.
Conformational diversity and ligand tunnels of mammalian cytochrome P450s

The mammalian cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes play important roles in drug metabolism, steroid biosynthesis, and xenobiotic degradation. The active site of CYPs is buried in the protein and thus the ligands have to enter and exit the active site via ligand tunnels. Conformational changes of flexible parts of the protein usually accompany the entrance and exit of ligands. Comparison of the crystal structures of mammalian CYPs in closed, open, and partially open states reveals that the greatest conformational diversity associated with ligand tunnel opening is in the regions of the B–C and F–G loops. Some CYPs have been observed to adopt different open and closed conformations when bound to different ligands, suggesting that the ligand entrance and exit routes might differ according to the ligand properties. Mammalian CYPs are mostly membrane‐bound enzymes, making them difficult to characterize structurally and dynamically. A range of molecular dynamics simulation techniques has been applied to investigate the dynamics and the ligand tunnels of these proteins both in the aqueous environment, and more recently, in lipid bilayers. These simulations not only reveal multiple tunnels through which ligands can pass but also show that different tunnels are preferred by different ligands and that the lipid bilayer can influence the protein dynamics and tunnel opening. The results indicate that not only the active site but also the ligand tunnels can contribute to the different substrate specificity profiles of the mammalian CYPs.
Exercise and Insulin Resistance in Youth

In parallel with the pediatric obesity epidemic, the incidence of impaired glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes has increased among youth. Insulin resistance is thought to be central to the pathophysiology of these obesity-related disorders. A growing body of literature suggests that exercise may ameliorate insulin resistance and thus potentially reduce the long-term diabetes risk in overweight youth.
Feature selection based on partition clustering

Feature selection plays an important role in data mining, machine learning and pattern recognition, especially for large scale data with high dimensions. Many selection techniques have been proposed during past years. Their general purposes are to exploit certain metric to measure the relevance or irrelevance between different features of data for certain task, and then select fewer features without deteriorating discriminative capability. Each technique, however, has not absolutely better performance than others' for all kinds of data, due to the data characterized by incorrectness, incompleteness, inconsistency, and diversity. Based on this fact, this paper put forward to a new scheme based on partition clustering for feature selection, which is a special preprocessing procedure and independent of selection techniques. Experimental results carried out on UCI data sets show that the performance achieved by our proposed scheme is better than selection techniques without using this scheme in most cases.
Prognostic significance of cardiac troponin I on admission for surgical treatment of acute pulmonary embolism: a single-centre experience over more than 10 years.

OBJECTIVES Cardiac troponin I (cTnI) is a highly sensitive, specific marker for myocardial cell injury. We sought to determine whether cTnI on admission may help to identify patients with increased risk of open surgical embolectomy with acute pulmonary embolism (PE). METHODS Forty-six consecutive patients with confirmed acute PE were enrolled in this prospective study. PE was confirmed by pulmonary angiography, computed tomography (CT) scan or echocardiography. Severity of PE was assessed by clinical data, and cTnI was measured within 12 h after admission. RESULTS cTnI was elevated in 28 patients with acute PE. Preoperative right ventricular dysfunction [odds ratio (OR): 15.2; 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.02-144.8; P < 0.002], prolonged hypotension with cardiogenic shock (OR: 14.9; 95% CI: 2.2-131.1; P < 0.002) and preoperative need for resuscitation (OR: 6.0; 95% CI: 0.6-143.8; P = 0.12) were more prevalent in patients with elevated cTnI serum concentrations. cTnI-positive patients were also more likely to require inotropic support (OR: 10.0; 95% CI: 1.8-65.1; P < 0.005) and mechanical ventilation (OR: 13.5; 95% CI: 2.2-95.6; P < 0.005). Moreover, an elevated cTnI level on admission significantly correlated with both primary endpoints, in-hospital mortality (OR: 9.0; 95% CI: 1.0-215.2; P = 0.03) and major adverse clinical events (OR: 8.3; 95% CI: 1.5-62.5; P = 0.006). After multivariable risk adjustment, a positive cTnI value remained an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality (OR: 13.6; 95% CI: 3.22-145.8; P = 0.014) and major adverse clinical events (OR: 15.7; 95% CI: 4.15-133.7; P = 0.031). CONCLUSIONS cTnI on admission may improve risk assessment of patients undergoing open surgical embolectomy due to acute PE.
On Pareto Set Generation in Multi-criteria Portfolio Optimization

Pareto set generation methods are considered with respect to their application for multi criteria portfolio selection. Several such methods were compared experimentally including some recently proposed evolutionary methods and the method of adjustable weights. Test problems were based on standard portfolio quality criteria and data on stocks of 10 Lithuanian companies. The experimental data on the performance of the considered algorithms in different metrics are presented and discussed.
A three-phase fault currents calculation method used for protection coordination analysis

A reliable fault current calculation method is required to perform precise protection coordination analysis. The conventional short circuit calculation method is not valid for distribution power systems that are equipped with Inverter-Based Distributed Generation (IBDG) units. This paper proposes a new simple method based on the superposition theorem that calculates the three-phase fault currents for meshed distribution system in the presence of IBDG units. The proposed method is tested on the power distribution system of IEEE 14-bus with three IBDG units. The proposed method achieves good accuracy when compared to the results of a transient model of the test system. Moreover, the three-phase fault currents computed by the proposed method were used as part of the protection coordination problem. The protection coordination problem is formulated as a constrained non-linear programming problem and solved to determine the optimal relay settings.
A Recombinant Hepatitis C Virus RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase Capable of Copying the Full-Length Viral RNA

ABSTRACT All of the previously reported recombinant RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRp), the NS5B enzymes, of hepatitis C virus (HCV) could function only in a primer-dependent and template-nonspecific manner, which is different from the expected properties of the functional viral enzymes in the cells. We have now expressed a recombinant NS5B that is able to synthesize a full-length HCV genome in a template-dependent and primer-independent manner. The kinetics of RNA synthesis showed that this RdRp can initiate RNA synthesis de novo and yield a full-length RNA product of genomic size (9.5 kb), indicating that it did not use the copy-back RNA as a primer. This RdRp was also able to accept heterologous viral RNA templates, including poly(A)- and non-poly(A)-tailed RNA, in a primer-independent manner, but the products in these cases were heterogeneous. The RdRp used some homopolymeric RNA templates only in the presence of a primer. By using the 3′-end 98 nucleotides (nt) of HCV RNA, which is conserved in all genotypes of HCV, as a template, a distinct RNA product was generated. Truncation of 21 nt from the 5′ end or 45 nt from the 3′ end of the 98-nt RNA abolished almost completely its ability to serve as a template. Inclusion of the 3′-end variable sequence region and the U-rich tract upstream of the X region in the template significantly enhanced RNA synthesis. The 3′ end of minus-strand RNA of HCV genome also served as a template, and it required a minimum of 239 nt from the 3′ end. These data defined the cis-acting sequences for HCV RNA synthesis at the 3′ end of HCV RNA in both the plus and minus senses. This is the first recombinant HCV RdRp capable of copying the full-length HCV RNA in the primer-independent manner expected of the functional HCV RNA polymerase.
Image Noise Removal via Hierarchical Subbands Shrinkage Modified by Particle Swarm Optimization

An image noise removal method based on hierarchal subbands shrinkage (HSS) via smooth-shrinking method is proposed in this paper. Small coefficients are often thought to be due to noise, but some of them may be due to fine image features. Unlike the soft- or hard-thresholding just set those small coefficients to zero,smooth-shrinking shrinks them to some extent. Universal thresholding shrinks all subbands by a universal threshold, but HSS shrinks each subband by special selected thresholds. As an efficient optimization method, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is adopted to modify or optimize those special thresholds for smooth shrinkage. HSS was superior to universal shrinkage and Wiener filering in terms of MSE. HSS could keep more fine details preserved and obtain better subjective image quality. The optimization achieved by PSO improved the noise removal performance of HSS.
Hello: bracelets communicating nearby presence of friends

In this paper we will describe an initial concept of bracelets which are communicating with each other. By these bracelets the possessors will be aware of the nearby presence of their friends. The wearers will also communicate about their social network when wearing the bracelets. The initial idea of the concept of the bracelets is from an earlier study of teenager girls' jewellery.
A preface on advances in diagnostics for infectious and parasitic diseases: detecting parasites of medical and veterinary importance

SUMMARY There are many reasons why detection of parasites of medical and veterinary importance is vital and where novel diagnostic and surveillance tools are required. From a medical perspective alone, these originate from a desire for better clinical management and rational use of medications. Diagnosis can be at the individual-level, at close to patient settings in testing a clinical suspicion or at the community-level, perhaps in front of a computer screen, in classification of endemic areas and devising appropriate control interventions. Thus diagnostics for parasitic diseases has a broad remit as parasites are not only tied with their definitive hosts but also in some cases with their vectors/intermediate hosts. Application of current diagnostic tools and decision algorithms in sustaining control programmes, or in elimination settings, can be problematic and even ill-fitting. For example in resource-limited settings, are current diagnostic tools sufficiently robust for operational use at scale or are they confounded by on-the-ground realities; are the diagnostic algorithms underlying public health interventions always understood and well-received within communities which are targeted for control? Within this Special Issue (SI) covering a variety of diseases and diagnostic settings some answers are forthcoming. An important theme, however, throughout the SI is to acknowledge that cross-talk and continuous feedback between development and application of diagnostic tests is crucial if they are to be used effectively and appropriately.
Reversible Glutathionylation Regulates Actin Polymerization in A431 Cells*

In response to growth factor stimulation, many mammalian cells transiently generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) that lead to the elevation of tyrosine-phosphorylated and glutathionylated proteins. While investigating EGF-induced glutathionylation in A431 cells, paradoxically we found deglutathionylation of a major 42-kDa protein identified as actin. Mass spectrometric analysis revealed that the glutathionylation site is Cys-374. Deglutathionylation of the G-actin leads to about a 6-fold increase in the rate of polymerization.In vivo studies revealed a 12% increase in F-actin content 15 min after EGF treatment, and F-actin was found in the cell periphery suggesting that in response to growth factor, actin polymerizationin vivo is regulated by a reversible glutathionylation mechanism. Deglutathionylation is most likely catalyzed by glutaredoxin (thioltranferase), because Cd(II), an inhibitor of glutaredoxin, inhibits intracellular actin deglutathionylation at 2 μm, comparable with its IC50 in vitro. Moreover, mass spectral analysis showed efficient transfer of GSH from immobilized S-glutathionylated actin to glutaredoxin. Overall, this study revealed a novel physiological relevance of actin polymerization regulated by reversible glutathionylation of the penultimate cysteine mediated by growth factor stimulation.
Ballistic Band-to-Band Tunneling in the OFF State in InGaAs MOSFETs

We present quantum transport simulation results for InAs and In0.7Ga0. 3As double-gate MOSFETs by using an atomistic full-band basis to evaluate the tunneling currents in the OFF state. While InAs has the advantage of lower mass and higher injection velocity, it also has lower bandgap. For low gate bias, the overlap in energy of the valence band in the channel with the source/drain conduction bands results in band-to-band tunneling (BTBT) between source and drain, which clamps the OFF current. Such current can be reduced by increasing the bandgap of the material either by increasing confinement or by lowering the In content, for example, using In0.7Ga0. 3As. Grading the doping of the source/drain region to create a wider barrier also reduces BTBT, but to a lesser extent.
Idiopathic Subglottic Stenosis: Long-Term Outcomes of Open Surgical Techniques

Objectives Idiopathic subglottic stenosis (iSGS) is rare, and its cause remains elusive. Treatment options include empiric medical therapy and endoscopic or open surgery. We present our results for open surgical technique. Study Design Case series with chart review (1978-2015). Setting Tertiary academic center. Subjects/Methods Thirty-three patients (32 female; median age, 51 years) met inclusion criteria and underwent cricotracheal resection with thyrotracheal anastomosis, tracheal resection with primary anastomosis, or laryngotracheoplasty with rib grafting. Continuous variables were summarized using medians and ranges while categorical features are presented using frequency counts and percentages. Results Sixteen patients (48%) underwent a single-stage approach with immediate extubation or temporary intubation following surgery (median, 1 day; range, 1-3 days). Seventeen patients (52%) underwent a double-staged approach with a median time to decannulation of 35 days (range, 13-100 days). Twenty-four (73%) patients underwent a previous intervention. Median stay in the intensive care unit was 1 day (range, 0-3 days), with a median hospital stay of 4 days (range, 2-7 days). Recurrence requiring further surgical intervention was observed in 12 patients (36%). The median time to recurrence was 8 years over an average follow-up of 9.7 years. The most common complaint following surgery was change in voice quality (fair to poor; n = 10; 30%). Conclusions Open surgery should be reserved for refractory cases of iSGS; cricotracheal resection with thyrotracheal anastomosis is the preferred open technique. Recurrence may occur after open treatment, highlighting the importance of long-term follow-up. Patients should be counseled about the potential for worsening voice quality with the open approach.
Optical pumping of metastable NH radicals into the paramagnetic ground state

We here report on the optical pumping of both {sup 14}NH and {sup 15}NH radicals from the metastable a {sup 1}{delta} state into the X {sup 3}{sigma}{sup -} ground state in a molecular beam experiment. By inducing the hitherto unobserved spin-forbidden A {sup 3}{pi} <- a {sup 1}{delta} transition, followed by spontaneous emission to the X {sup 3}{sigma}{sup -} state, a unidirectional pathway for population transfer from the metastable state into the electronic ground state is obtained. The optical pumping scheme demonstrated here opens up the possibility to accumulate NH radicals in a magnetic or optical trap.
Coronary vascular injury due to ischemia-reperfusion is reduced by pentoxifylline.

Myocardial ischemia and reperfusion cause coronary vascular injury involving both the large epicardial arteries and the microcirculation. Although the mechanisms are unclear, leukocytes appear to play an important role. Since the methylxanthine derivative pentoxifylline (PTX) decreases neutrophil activity in vitro, we hypothesized that it might diminish coronary vascular injury due to ischemia and reperfusion. We investigated the effects of PTX on coronary microvascular and epicardial artery injury in open chest, anesthetized dogs undergoing moderate (60 min) or more prolonged (90 min) ischemia due to left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion followed by 60 min of reperfusion. As an index of microvascular injury, we assessed regional permeability with a dual radioisotope protein leak index (PLI) method. Both ischemic periods with reperfusion increased the PLI of severely ischemic (flow less than or equal to 20/ml/min/100 g) myocardium by 2.5- and 3-fold, respectively, compared to nonischemic (flow greater than or equal to 100 ml/min/100 g) myocardium. Treated dogs received PTX (20 mg/kg bolus plus 0.1 mg/kg/min infusion) before ischemia. PTX reduced the increase in the PLI by 40% after 60 min of ischemia (PLI = 5.87 +/- 0.48 vs. 4.10 +/- 0.52 untreated vs. PTX-treated; P less than .05), and by 25% after 90 min of ischemia (6.84 +/- 0.49 vs. 4.84 +/- 0.42; P less than .05). The amount of protein leak was inversely related to ischemic blood flow, and the magnitude of this relationship was significantly reduced in PTX-treated animals. In arterial rings from untreated dogs exposed to 90 min of ischemia followed by reperfusion, there was impaired relaxation to ADP and acetylcholine, but not to sodium nitroprusside. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The buffering role of sportsmanship on the effects of daily negative events

ABSTRACT Affective events theory (AET) argues that everyday negative events are likely to lower both daily work engagement and momentary positive affect. These problems can then persist on subsequent days. However, AET also argues that individual strategies can diminish the ill effects of negative events. We explicitly focused on good sportsmanship or abstaining from unnecessary complaints and criticism as a possible moderator of the effects of daily negative work events on daily work engagement and positive affect. We tested this possibility with a 3-day diary study among 112 employees. As expected, we found that daily negative events lowered daily engagement and momentary positive affect for two consecutive days. However, this effect only held on days that people exhibited low sportsmanship. For days that people exhibited high sportsmanship, there were no significant effects. Creating a resource rich work environment that enhances individuals’ sportsmanship behaviour can help to minimize the unfavourable impact of daily negative events.
Reduction in mortality from breast cancer

Editor—Although no supporting data are given, Jones in her editorial proposes that adjuvant treatments with chemotherapy or hormones are more likely than screening to be responsible for reduction in breast cancer mortality.1 However, the reason(s) for the improved survival is much more complex than suggested. In the 1970s surgeons felt they “owned” the patient and were usually the only ones who decided which women had anything other than surgery. Nowadays it is accepted that overall management is best decided by a multidisciplinary team and that several people—medical and non-medical—have a crucial role in the management. This very basic change in the overall management of breast and other cancers has been overlooked in the rush to promote the use of adjuvant chemotherapy, although its benefit has been very much over-rated.1 Additionally the editorial does not give due credit to radiotherapy—there is now evidence that its omission after mastectomy even after chemotherapy or hormones leads to unacceptable local relapse2 and that there is an excess mortality (or loss of survival benefit) of 8.6% for women who do not receive radiotherapy after breast conserving surgery.3 As well as the “medical” treatments, much has been accomplished by paramedical services such as psycho-oncology, although the effect is more difficult to quantify.
Adaptive optimal transmit power allocation for two-hop non-regenerative wireless relaying system

In order to combat fading in wireless networks and increase the capacity of a system, cooperation is allowed among the terminals in a network. The adaptive optimal power allocation (PA) scheme, based on a certain system performance, is an important issue for relaying routing and network operation. The paper analyzes the two-hop non-regenerative (NR) relaying channel with and without diversity, and investigates the optimal PA scheme between the source terminal (Tx) and the relaying terminal (RS) under power constraints. Since, in real relaying environments, the transmitter usually knows the instantaneous channel state information (ICSI) of the 1st hop and the statistical channel state information (SCSI) of the 2nd hop, the proposed PA schemes are based on two-hop ICSI and two-hop mixed channel state information (MCSI) respectively. With the adaptive scheme, the system performance not only outperforms that of the direct transmission system, but also obtains the maximum channel capacity or SNR of the relaying system.
The Binary Floor Control Protocol (BFCP)

Floor control is a means to manage joint or exclusive access to shared resources in a (multiparty) conferencing environment. Thereby, floor control complements other functions -- such as conference and media session setup, conference policy manipulation, and media control -- that are realized by other protocols. This document specifies the Binary Floor Control Protocol (BFCP). BFCP is used between floor participants and floor control servers, and between floor chairs (i.e., moderators) and floor control servers. [STANDARDS-TRACK]
Measurement and analysis of motor adaptation to dynamic environments

The present paper first introduces the recent activities of IMEKO Technical Committee "TC-18 Measurement of Human Functions". Then we discuss the motor adaptation under dynamical environments during reaching movements. Subjects first learned reaching movements in a position-dependent divergent force field (DF) and velocity-dependent force field (VF), and then in switched force fields SF1 (DFrarrVF) and SF2 (VFrarrDF). It is shown that the adaptation to the switched force fields has been achieved by combining the internal model control and impedance control in a feedforward manner.