Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sparse Learning of the Disease Severity Score for High-Dimensional Data

Learning disease severity scores automatically from collected measurements may aid in the quality of both healthcare and scientific understanding. Some steps in that direction have been taken and machine learning algorithms for extracting scoring functions from data have been proposed. Given the rapid increase in both quantity and diversity of data measured and stored, the large amount of information is becoming one of the challenges for learning algorithms. In this work, we investigated the direction of the problem where the dimensionality of measured variables is large. Learning the severity score in such cases brings the issue of which of measured features are relevant. We have proposed a novel approach by combining desirable properties of existing formulations, which compares favorably to alternatives in accuracy and especially in the robustness of the learned scoring function. The proposed formulation has a nonsmooth penalty that induces sparsity. This problem is solved by addressing a dual formulation which is smooth and allows an efficient optimization. The proposed approach might be used as an effective and reliable tool for both scoring function learning and biomarker discovery, as demonstrated by identifying a stable set of genes related to influenza symptoms’ severity, which are enriched in immune-related processes.
Imaging in pulmonary hypertension, part 3: small vessel diseases

Pulmonary hypertension is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Unfortunately, non-specific presentation and lack of awareness of the disease frequently lead to significant delay in diagnosis, often with the onset of right heart failure, when prognosis is poor and therapy is of limited effectiveness. The classification of pulmonary hypertension is a clinical one grouping diseases into categories with similar patho-physiological mechanism and therapeutic options. Pulmonary biopsy can provide a definitive diagnosis but is hazardous in patients with pulmonary hypertension. Imaging has emerged as an invaluable tool in differentiating the aetiology, assessing disease severity and directing further management. One of the most important roles of imaging is to differentiate diseases resulting from obstruction of the large pulmonary arteries from those secondary to diffuse small vessel disease, as these have very different prognosis and are also treated differently. Small vessel diseases causing pulmonary arterial hypertension most commonly result from diffuse remodelling of the pulmonary arterioles. There are multiple causes of arteriolar remodelling which share similar histopathological, clinical and imaging features. In a subgroup of small vessel diseases causing pulmonary hypertension the predominant site of increased vascular resistance is at the level of the capillaries or venules. Correct diagnosis of pulmonary veno-occlusive disease and pulmonary capillary haemangiomatosis is essential since poor prognosis and inadvertent administration of vasodilators (conventional therapy for arteriolar predominant disease) can result in fatal pulmonary oedema. Multimodality imaging plays an important role in suggesting a diagnosis, guiding further investigation and directing treatment.
A Review Sheep Production System, Yield, Quality and Preservation Methods in Ethiopia

Article No.: 102917160 Type: Research DOI: 10.15580/GJAS.2017. 9.102917160 The review assesses Sheep Production System, Yield of Sheep Meat, Chemical Composition, Preservation of Meat and its quality in Ethiopia. In Ethiopia, Sheep production provides food, cash income and manure to the smallholder farmers. Major feed resources in Ethiopia for sheep production are natural pasture, crop residues, Aftermath, browse species and agro-industrial byproducts and to a lesser extent improved pasture and forage crops. In the country, the different types of sheep production system practiced accordingly are: Highland sheep-barley system, mixed crop-livestock system, pastoral and agro-pastoral production system, ranching, and Urban and peri-urban (UPU) sheep production system. Ethiopia has a diverse indigenous sheep population numbering 28.89 million Sheep, excluding nomadic areas. Meat production is depends up on different factors feed is one protein and energy are limiting factors, so that supplementation of nutrient has shown dramatic change on meat yield of the sheep in Ethiopia. Submitted: 29/10/2017 Accepted: 13/11/2017 Published: 30/11/2017
Specific epibacterial communities on macroalgae: phylogeny matters more than habitat

Epibacterial communities on thalli of the algal species Fucus serratus, Fucus vesiculo- sus, Laminaria saccharina, Ulva compressa, Delesseria sanguinea and Phycodrys rubens were analysed using 16S ribosomal RNA gene-based DGGE. Individuals of all species were collected in the Kiel Fjord (Baltic Sea) and in the rocky intertidal of Helgoland (North Sea). DGGE gels as well as cluster and multidimensional scaling analysis based on the DGGE band patterns of the epibacterial community showed significant differences between the epibacterial communities on the investigated algal species both in the Baltic and North Seas. Epibacterial communities differed less between regions than between host species, and were more similar on closely related host species. Results give the first evidence for lineage-specific bacterial associations to algal thalli. Furthermore, the results suggest that these algal species may control their epibiotic bacterial communities.
Exercise-Induced Dose-Response Alterations in Adiponectin and Leptin Levels Are Dependent on Body Fat Changes in Women at Risk for Breast Cancer

Background: Dysregulation of adipokines, such as adiponectin and leptin, is associated with a variety of chronic diseases, including cancer. Physical activity protects against breast cancer and one of the mechanisms which may underlie this association is exercise-induced changes in adipokine levels. The WISER Sister Trial was a three-armed randomized controlled trial in premenopausal women (n = 137) with an elevated risk for breast cancer. Methods: A 5-menstrual-cycle-long dosed aerobic exercise intervention compared low-dose exercise (150 min/wk; n = 44) or high-dose exercise (300 min/wk; n = 48) with a control group asked to maintain usual activity levels (n = 45). Exercise intensity progressed to and was maintained at 70% to 80% of age predicted heart rate max. Body composition and adipokine levels were measured at baseline and follow-up. Results: We observed significant linear trends for increased fitness capacity (Δ%: −2.0% control, 10.1% low dose, 13.1% high dose), decreased fat tissue-to-total tissue mass (Δ%: 0.7% control, −2.9% low dose, −3.7% high dose), increased body fat adjusted adiponectin (Δ%: −0.6% control, 0.6% low dose, 0.9% high dose), and decreased body fat adjusted leptin (Δ%: 0.7% control, −8.2% low dose, −10.2% high dose). Conclusions: In this randomized clinical trial of premenopausal women at risk for breast cancer, we demonstrate a dose–response effect of exercise on adiponectin and leptin and that dose response is dependent on changes in body fat. Impact: Improved adipokine levels, achieved by aerobic exercise training-induced decreases in body fat, may decrease breast cancer risk for high-risk premenopausal women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 25(8); 1195–200. ©2016 AACR.
Géométrie des nombres et cryptanalyse de NTRU

La cryptographie a clef publique, inventee par Diffie et Hellman en 1976, fait aujourd'hui partie de la vie courante : les cartes bleues, les consoles de jeux et le commerce electronique par exemple utilisent des mecanismes de cryptographie a clef publique. La securite de certains cryptosystemes, comme NTRU, repose sur des problemes issus de la geometrie des nombres, et notamment les problemes de plus court vecteur ou de plus proche vecteur dans des reseaux euclidiens. Bien que ces problemes soient NP-difficiles, il reste neanmoins possible d'en obtenir de bonnes approximations en pratique. Dans cette these, nous etudions les algorithmes qui permettent d'approcher ces problemes de reduction de reseau en temps polynomial, ou plus generalement en temps raisonnable. Nous analysons d'abord le fonctionnement de ces algorithmes d'un point de vue theorique, ce qui nous permet de construire par exemple le meilleur algorithme prouve, au sens de sa complexite et de la qualite de son resultat. Mais nous nous interessons aussi au cote pratique, au travers d'une grande quantite de simulations, ce qui nous permet de mettre en evidence un important ecart entre les proprietes de complexite et de qualite que l'on peut prouver, et celles (bien meilleures) que l'on obtient en pratique. Ces simulations nous permettent en outre de predire correctement le comportement reel des algorithmes. Nous etudions ces algorithmes dans le cas general, et nous montrons comment en faire des versions specialisees pour le cas tres particulier des reseaux issus du cryptosysteme NTRU.
Drama and discovery: the story of histoplasmosis.

The book begins by describing the work of Samuel Darling, his first description of histoplamosis and the causative agent, thought initially to be a parasite. The work of William DeMonbreun in defining the dimorphism and growth characteristics of Histoplasma is discussed in the next chapter. Contributions by Chester Emmons in culturing the organism from soil and by Jan Schwarz in defining the granulomas associated with the disease are also covered. Subsequent chapters cover the development of skin tests and serological tests for diagnosing histoplasmosis. An interesting chapter describes the outbreaks of histoplasmosis that occurred and how eminent scientists and clinicians, including Libero Ajello, Ernest Chick, Chester Emmons and Leo Kaufman, helped to piece together the epidemiology. The final chapter looks at the different drugs used to treat histoplasmosis, from the advent of amphotericin B in the 50’s, through ketoconazole and itraconazole in the 80’s and 90’s, to more recent experience with the lipid formulation of amphotericin.
Financial Statement Complexity and Bank Lending

Recent evidence suggests that investors struggle to process complex financial disclosures. Relative to equity and public debt investors, banks have unique advantages in acquiring information and can impose contractual terms to mitigate information frictions. We investigate whether financial statement complexity is associated with firms' reliance on bank financing and the terms of bank loans. We focus on two aspects of complexity, the length of financial reports and the complexity of financial reporting rules. We document that both aspects of complexity are positively associated with firms' reliance on bank financing (i.e., level of debt and new financing). This result is consistent with banks' superior information processing capabilities. Next, we document that banks ameliorate information frictions using loan contractual terms that depend on the source of complexity. Overall, banks are an attractive source of financing for firms with complex disclosures, but banks also increase screening and monitoring for relatively complex borrowers.
Prescription dose in permanent Cs131 seed prostate implants.

Recently, Cs131 seeds have been introduced for prostate permanent seed implants. This type of seed has a relatively short half-life of 9.7 days and has its most prominent emitted photon energy peaks in the 29-34 keV region. Traditionally, 145 and 125 Gy have been prescribed for I125 and Pd103 seed prostate implants, respectively. Since both the half-life and dosimetry characteristics of Cs131 seed are quite different from those of I125 and Pd103, the appropriate prescription dose for Cs131 seed prostate implant may well be different. This study was designed to use a linear quadratic radiobiological model to determine an appropriate dose prescription scheme for permanent Cs131 seed prostate implants. In this model, prostate edema was taken into consideration. Calculations were also performed for tumors of different doubling times and for other related radiobiological parameters of different values. As expected, the derived prescription dose values were dependent on type of tumors and types of edema. However, for prostate cancers in which tumor cells are relatively slow growing and are reported to have a mean potential doubling time of around 40 days, the appropriate prescription dose for permanent Cs131 seed prostate implants was determined to be: 127-12+5Gy if the experiences of I125 seed implants were followed and 121-3+0Gy if the experiences of Pd103 seed implants were followed.
Serological markers for metastatic breast cancer.

Three serum markers, TPS, CA 15.3 and CEA, were used to monitor the response to treatment of 20 patients with metastatic breast cancer. At the time of the first evidence of metastases or at the time of progression of known metastatic disease, 84% of TPS values were above the reference limit, as compared to 74% for CA 15.3 and 84% for CEA. If the treatment instituted was effective, 60% of TPS values showed an early (within 2 or 3 weeks after commencement or change of therapy) reduction in level against only 27% of CA 15.3 and 27% of CEA levels. This suggests that TPS provides a more sensitive and earlier predictor of therapeutic response. In patients with clinical evidence of further progression of disease while on therapy, 86% of TPS values showed persistent elevation or increase, as compared to 71% of CA 15.3 levels and only 36% of CEA levels. It was also noted in these patients that TPS values rose earlier than either CA 15.3 or CEA. This indicates that TPS is a more reliable predictor of response to treatment than the other two markers. In addition, we found that, at the time of presentation, in women who had visceral metastases (liver, lung, or brain alone or in combination), 87% of TPS values were raised, as compared to 80% of CA 15.3 and 73% of CEA values. In women who had bone and soft tissue metastases at presentation, 75% of TPS values were elevated, against 50% of CA 15.3 and 75% of CEA values. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Relationship between the level of resilience and the level of satisfaction of the companies located in the Laguna de Durango that are currently in operation and of the companies that closed definitively

The objective of this project is to determine the level of resilience and the level of satisfaction of the MSE (micro and small enterprises) located in the Laguna of Durango that are currently in operation, the MSE that closed definitively. Definitions explaining the theme around the variables and the research question, such as resilience, satisfaction and importance of micro and small enterprises are occurring. The results show that businessmen or directors of SMEs currently in operation do not show a higher level of resilience in comparison to employers or managers of companies that closed definitively. If not happens with satisfaction, as employers or managers of SMEs that are currently functioning if they show employers increased satisfaction compared to or directors of companies that closed definitively. The study was conducted with 875 entrepreneurs, of which only 32% represents cases of entrepreneurs or managers of companies closed definitively; this limited number was due to the difficulty of finding employers or managers who already had closed a business.
Referrals for vascular hypertension in a group of 45‐64‐year‐old patients

Two hundred and ten consecutive 45‐66‐year‐old patients underwent a routine eye examination and a decision was made whether to refer each patient on the basis of fund us appearance and other non‐sphygmomanometric criteria. Blood pressure was then measured and the referral decision was reviewed. Of the 33 (15.7%) patients finally referred, only 5 (2.4%) would have been referred on the non‐sphygmomanometric findings. It is suggested that optometrists include a protocol of blood pressure measurement as part of the eye examination routine.
Visceral Fat Accumulation Is Associated with Increased Mortality Rate after Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolization in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Aim: Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is thought to be a safe and effective treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, in some HCC patients, it potentially shortens survival due to liver damage. We aimed to identify independent factors to predict overall survival of HCC after TACE. Methods: We included a total of 96 consecutive HCC patients who underwent TACE at Kobe University Hospital. Areas of skeletal muscle and fat tissue were measured by computed tomography (CT) scan before TACE. We divided the patients into two groups in terms of the presence or absence of 1-year mortality after TACE. Factors associated with 1-year mortality after TACE were assessed by multivariate analyses, and the optimal cut-off values were evaluated using a propensity score. Results: Multivariate analyses showed that visceral fat accumulation on CT was an independent factor associated with 1-year mortality after TACE (p = 0.033). There were no differences in skeletal muscle area and subcutaneous and intermuscular fat area between the two groups. Cut-off values for visceral fat area associated with 1-year mortality after TACE were defined as 33.3 cm 2 /m 2 for males and 24.4 cm 2 /m 2 for females. Conclusions: High visceral fat area was a prognostic factor associated with increased mortality rate in HCC patients undergoing TACE. Using this value, 1-year mortality risk after TACE would be better estimated before the day TACE was performed. * Corresponding author.
Depolarization Due to Scattering on Walls in the 5 GHz Band

A measurement campaign has been designed and developed to test the polarization behavior of different obstacles when a 5 GHz radio wave reaches their surfaces from different angles of incidence, with two orthogonal polarizations in transmission. The measurement outcomes have been analyzed by means of a matrix procedure, which is inspired in the polarimetric matrix formulation. This method allows the computation of depolarization indexes. The results highlight a strong depolarization of waves. A set of depolarization indexes for specular direction is given for several angles of incidence and three different materials, with direct application to wireless local area networks planning. These results are interesting for radio systems planning to double the channel capacity, if orthogonally polarized transmissions are used, or to mitigate the signal fading, if diversity techniques are applied at reception.
PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING OF ARGENTINE PLANTS WITH POTENTIAL PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVITY (PART VII)1

Plants of 21 families, encompassing 27 genera and 30 species were screened for the yield of different extracts and the presence of arnin'es, phenols, tannins, flavonoids, leucoanthocyanins, steroids, naphthaquinoids or anthraquinoids, cardenolides, alkaloids, saponins and cyanogenic compounds.
Isomorphism in the Banking Industry of the Regional Development Banks in Indonesia

Isomorphism is an industry pressure on companies to be uniform through coercive, normative and mimetic mechanisms. Banking is an industry that has strong isomorphism. This study aims to investigate isomorphism in the banking industry of the Regional Development Bank (BPD) group in Indonesia. This research uses mixed method research design. The first stage is to collect questionnaire data on top management and financial data from 26 BPDs for quantitative data analysis. Quantitative data processing uses partial least squarestructural equation model (PLS-SEM) to observe the relationship between the coercive, normative and mimetic dimensions of isomorphism variable. The second stage is the collection of information through indepth interviews and focus group discussions with BPD leaders, the Association of Regional Banks (Asbanda), and the Financial Services Authority (OJK) to review the results of the quantitative. The results show that mimetic isomorphism pressure has the greatest influence in creating uniformity in the industry. The success of one company in marketing and operating will soon be imitated by competitors and in turn create uniformity in the industry. The findings suggest that the BPD industry environment situation in Indonesia is waiting and seeing the actions that competitors undertake to be imitated if they show superior performance.
Outsourcing računovodstvene funkcije - strategija upravljanja troškovima u okviru ekonomike transakcijskih troškova

Transaction cost economics (TCE), an interdisciplinary approach that explains the emergence and operation of a company, can be diversely applied in everyday business, e.g. in making business decisions or in analyzing the management structure of the relationship buyer – supplier. This approach considers total operational costs, especially the costs of contracting and negotiation, and also the management process which provides a definition of company boundaries. This explains why some companies perform certain tasks on their own, while others contract other companies who are more competent in a particular field. In this context, it is also possible to apply transaction cost economics to outsourcing, which is a cost management strategy used to deal with certain non-core business activities. In this way, it is possible to get high-quality services at lower costs, while the company can focus on its core business. The core business function studied in this paper is the accounting function, which plays a significant role in any company, regardless of its legal form, size or structure. The primary aim of the paper is to relate the theoretical framework to practice and to indicate how the model could be used in business operations. The paper provides a detailed review of previous research and results obtained through the research regarding outsourcing of the accounting function within the transaction costs economics. In the literature review there is a special emphasis on the context OUTSOURCING RAČUNOVODSTVENE FUNKCIJE – STRATEGIJA UPRAVLJANJA TROŠKOVIMA U OKVIRU EKONOMIKE TRANSAKCIJSKIH TROŠKOVA 165 of determinants and factors that lead a company to decide to outsource their accounting functions. The impact of such outsourcing on company performance is analyzed using the transaction costs economics. This seems to be necessary given that there is no carried out research within this context in the Republic of Croatia, but also taking into account the (still) numerous concerns and controversies surrounding the concept of outsourcing.
Interactions of Public Paratransit and Vocational Rehabilitation

Federal and state governments spend over $3 billion annually on public-sector Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) programs, yet almost a third of people with disabilities report having inadequate access to the transportation necessary to commute to a job, potentially negating the positive eÂ¤ects of these interventions. We examine this previously understudied connection by assessing the impact access to public paratransit has on measures of VR program eÂ¤ectiveness. To do so, we use the data and estimates from three previously estimated structural models of VR service receipt and labor market outcomes that contain limited information about mobility. We spatially link the generalized residuals from these models to diÂ¤erent measures of the availability and effciency of local paratransit systems to determine whether paratransit explains any of the residual variation in the short- or long-run labor market outcomes of individuals receiving VR services. Results show that access to paratransit is an important determinant of the eÂ¢ cacy of VR services, but that effects are heterogeneous across disability groups. We discuss the policy implications of our findings for VR programs.