Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Auto-ML Deep Learning for Rashi Scripts OCR

In this work we propose an OCR scheme for manuscripts printed in Rashi font that is an ancient Hebrew font and corresponding dialect used in religious Jewish literature, for more than 600 years. The proposed scheme utilizes a convolution neural network (CNN) for visual inference and Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM) to learn the Rashi scripts dialect. In particular, we derive an AutoML scheme to optimize the CNN architecture, and a book-specific CNN training to improve the OCR accuracy. The proposed scheme achieved an accuracy of more than 99.8% using a dataset of more than 3M annotated letters from the Responsa Project dataset.
Rule-based learning for eye movement type detection

Eye movements hold information about human perception, intention, and cognitive state. Various algorithms have been proposed to identify and distinguish eye movements, particularly fixations, saccades, and smooth pursuits. A major drawback of existing algorithms is that they rely on accurate and constant sampling rates, error free recordings, and impend straightforward adaptation to new movements, such as microsaccades, since they are designed for certain eye movement detection. We propose a novel rule-based machine learning approach to create detectors on annotated or simulated data. It is capable of learning diverse types of eye movements as well as automatically detecting pupil detection errors in the raw gaze data. Additionally, our approach is capable of using any sampling rate, even with fluctuations. Our approach consists of learning several interdependent thresholds and previous type classifications and combines them into sets of detectors automatically. We evaluated our approach against the state-of-the-art algorithms on publicly available datasets. Our approach is integrated in the newest version of EyeTrace which can be downloaded at http://www.ti. uni-tuebingen.de/Eyetrace.1751. 0.html.
Explaining Explanations in AI

Recent work on interpretability in machine learning and AI has focused on the building of simplified models that approximate the true criteria used to make decisions. These models are a useful pedagogical device for teaching trained professionals how to predict what decisions will be made by the complex system, and most importantly how the system might break. However, when considering any such model it's important to remember Box's maxim that "All models are wrong but some are useful. " We focus on the distinction between these models and explanations in philosophy and sociology. These models can be understood as a "do it yourself kit" for explanations, allowing a practitioner to directly answer "what if questions" or generate contrastive explanations without external assistance. Although a valuable ability, giving these models as explanations appears more difficult than necessary, and other forms of explanation may not have the same trade-offs. We contrast the different schools of thought on what makes an explanation, and suggest that machine learning might benefit from viewing the problem more broadly.
Log-Concave Polynomials III: Mason's Ultra-Log-Concavity Conjecture for Independent Sets of Matroids

We give a self-contained proof of the strongest version of Mason’s conjecture, namely that for any matroid the sequence of the number of independent sets of given sizes is ultra log-concave. To do this, we introduce a class of polynomials, called completely log-concave polynomials, whose bivariate restrictions have ultra log-concave coefficients. At the heart of our proof we show that for any matroid, the homogenization of the generating polynomial of its independent sets is completely log-concave.
Bidirectional Relationship between Gastric Emptying and Plasma Glucose Control in Normoglycemic Individuals and Diabetic Patients

Gastric emptying and glycemic control pathways are closely interrelated processes. Gastric chyme is transferred into the duodenum with velocities depending on its solid or liquid state, as well as on its caloric and nutritional composition. Once nutrients enter the intestine, the secretion of incretins (hormonal products of intestinal cells) is stimulated. Among incretins, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) has multiple glycemic-regulatory effects that include delayed gastric emptying, thus triggering a feedback loop lowering postprandial serum glucose levels. Glycemic values also influence gastric emptying; hyperglycemia slows it down, and hypoglycemia accelerates it, both limiting glycemic fluctuations. Disordered gastric emptying in diabetes mellitus is understood today as a complex pathophysiological condition, with both irreversible and reversible components and high intra- and interindividual variability of time span and clinical features. While limited delays may be useful for reducing postprandial hyperglycemias, severely hindered gastric emptying may be associated with higher glycemic variability and worsened long-term glycemic control. Therapeutic approaches for both gastric emptying and glycemic control include dietary modifications of meal structure or content and drugs acting as GLP-1 receptor agonists. In the foreseeable future, we will probably witness a wider range of dietary interventions and more incretin-based medications used for restoring both gastric emptying and glycemic levels to nearly physiological levels.
Ubiquitous Chatbots: Workshop on Wearable and Embodied Conversational Agents

Human-computer interaction is progressively shifting towards natural language communication, determining the rise of conversational agents. In the context of ubiquitous computing, the opportunities for interacting with new services and systems in a conversational manner are increasing and, nowadays, it is common to talk to home assistants to interact with a smart environment or to write to chatbots to access an online service. This workshop aims at bringing together researchers from academia and industry in order to establish a multidisciplinary community interested in discovering and exploring the challenges and opportunities coming from the ubiquity of conversational agents.
Manner of Articulation Detection using Connectionist Temporal Classification to Improve Automatic Speech Recognition Performance

Conventionally, the manner of articulations in speech signal are derived using discriminative signal processing techniques or deep learning approaches. However, training such complex systems involves feature extraction, phoneme force alignment and deep neural network training. In our work, we initially detect the manner of articulations without phoneme alignment using an end-to-end manner of articulation modeling based on connectionist temporal classification (CTC). The manner of articulation knowledge is deployed in the conventional character CTC path to regenerate the new character CTC path. The modified manner based character CTC is evaluated on open source speech datasets such as AN4, LibriSpeech and TEDLIUM-2 and it outperforms over the baseline character CTC.
Hepatic gadoxetic acid uptake as a measure of diffuse liver disease: Where are we?

MRI has emerged as the most comprehensive noninvasive diagnostic tool for focal liver lesions and diffuse hepatobiliary disorders. The introduction of hepatobiliary contrast agents, most notably gadoxetic acid (GA), has expanded the role of MRI, particularly in the functional imaging of chronic liver diseases, such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). GA‐enhanced MRI (GA‐MRI) may help to distinguish between the two subgroups of NAFLD, simple steatosis and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Furthermore, GA‐MRI can be used to stage fibrosis and cirrhosis, predict liver transplant graft survival, and preoperatively estimate the risk of liver failure should major resection be undertaken. The amount of GA uptake can be estimated, using static images, by the relative liver enhancement, hepatic uptake index, and relaxometry of T1‐mapping during the hepatobiliary phase. On the contrary, the hepatic extraction fraction and liver perfusion can be measured on dynamic imaging. Importantly, there is currently no clear consensus as to which of these MR‐derived parameters is the most suitable for assessing liver dysfunction. This review article aims to describe the current role of GA‐enhanced MRI in quantifying liver function, primarily in diffuse hepatobiliary disorders.
Organic Nitrogen Uptake and Assimilation in Cucumis sativus Using Position-Specific Labeling and Compound-Specific Isotope Analysis

Organic nitrogen is now considered a significant source of N for plants. Although organic management practices increase soil organic C and N content, the importance of organic N as a source of crop N under organic farming management systems is still poorly understood. While dual-labeled (13C and 15N) molecule methods have been developed to study amino acid uptake by plants, multiple biases may arise from pre-uptake mineralization by microorganisms or post-uptake metabolism by the plant. We propose the combination of different isotopic analysis methods with molecule isotopologues as a novel approach to improve the accuracy of measured amino acid uptake rates in the total N budget of cucumber seedlings and provide a better characterization of post-uptake metabolism. Cucumber seedlings were exposed to solutions containing L-Ala-1-13C,15N or U-L-Ala-13C3,15N, in combination with ammonium nitrate, at total N concentrations ranging from 0 to 15 mM N and at inorganic/organic N ratios from 10:1 to 500:1. Roots and shoots were then subjected to bulk stable isotope analysis (BSIA) by Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS), and to compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) of the free amino acids by Gas Chromatography – Combustion – Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS). Plants exposed to a lower inorganic:organic N ratio acquired up to 6.84% of their N from alanine, compared with 0.94% at higher ratio. No 13C from L-Ala-1-13C,15N was found in shoot tissues suggesting that post-uptake metabolism of Ala leads to the loss of the carboxyl-C as CO2. CSIA of the free amino acids in roots confirmed that intact Ala is indeed taken up by the roots, but that it is rapidly metabolized. C atoms other than from the carboxyl group and amino-N from Ala are assimilated in other amino acids, predominantly Glu, Gln, Asp, and Asn. Uptake rates reported by CSIA of the free amino acids are nevertheless much lower (16–64 times) than those reported by BSIA. Combining the use of isotopologues of amino acids with compound-specific isotope analysis helps reduce the bias in the assessment of organic N uptake and improves the understanding of organic N assimilation especially in the context of organic horticulture.
Down-regulation of miR-203a by lncRNA PVT1 in multiple myeloma promotes cell proliferation

Introduction Emerging evidence has indicated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play vital roles in multiple myeloma (MM) development and progression. However, the underlying mechanism of PVT1 in MM remains unclear. Material and methods QRT-PCR was used to detect the expression of PVT1 and miR-203a in MM samples and cell lines. The effects of PVT1 on MM cell proliferation and apoptosis were determined by CCK8 assay and flow cytometer assay, respectively. Bioinformatics methods were used to identify the downstream target miRNAs of PVT1. Results We found that the expression of PVT1 was upregulated in MM samples and cell lines (p < 0.05), while the expression of miR-203a was downregulated in MM samples and cell lines (p < 0.05). There was a negative correlation between PVT1 expression and miR-203a expression in MM samples (p < 0.05). In in vitro function assays, we found that PVT1 inhibition suppressed MM cell proliferation and induced MM cell apoptosis (p < 0.05). The bioinformatics approach predicted that PVT1 sponge miR-203a would modulate MM cells. Rescue experiments confirmed the recovering roles of miR-203a for PVT1 on MM progression. Conclusions In the present study, we found that lncRNA PVT1 could promote MM cell proliferation and induce cell apoptosis by inhibiting miR-203a expression. Therefore, PVT1 may represent a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of MM patients.
Mobility-Aware Caching Scheduling for Fog Computing in mmWave Band

As an extension of cloud computing, fog computing at the edge of networks provides low latency, location awareness, and real-time interactions. At the same time, millimeter-wave communications are able to provide directional multi-gigabit transmission rates with large available bandwidth. Based on the user mobile trajectories in a region, several activity hotspots that users pass by frequently can be obtained. By caching popular content at the edge nodes near the hotspots, users can download the cached content directly at a short distance, and the user experience can be significantly improved. Considering multiple hotspots in a region, how to efficiently schedule the transmission for the caching at edge nodes becomes a key problem. In this paper, we focus on the problem of mobility-aware transmission scheduling for caching at edge nodes near hotspots and utilize the multi-hop relaying and concurrent transmissions to achieve better performance. After formulating the optimal scheduling problem as a stochastic nonlinear mixed integer program, we propose a mobility-aware caching scheduling scheme, called Multi-Hop Relaying-based Caching, where multi-hop D2D paths are established for edge nodes, and concurrent transmissions are exploited in the scheduling of caching at edge nodes. Extensive performance evaluation demonstrates that MHRC achieves more than $1\times $ higher expected cached data amount compared with the state-of-the-art schemes.
Qualität der medizinischen Versorgung von Kindern mit primärer angeborener Hypothyreose

Zusammenfassung Einleitung Die primäre angeborene Hypothyreose ist die häufigste angeborene endokrine Erkrankung. Ziel unserer Studie war es, zu untersuchen, wie hoch die Qualität der medizinischen Behandlung von Kindern mit primärer angeborener Hypothyreose in Deutschland ist und inwiefern die kürzlich veröffentlichten Empfehlungen der Europäischen Gesellschaft für Kinderendokrinologie (European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology [ESPE]) in der Diagnostik und Therapie der Kinder mit einer primären angeborenen Hypothyreose bereits in der Vergangenheit von den behandelnden Ärzten in der alltäglichen Praxis umgesetzt worden sind. Methoden Hierzu wurden retrospektiv die Daten aller Patienten, die von 1998 bis 2008 ein positives Testergebnis für eine primäre angeborene Hypothyreose im Neugeborenscreening (NGS) im Screeningzentrum Leipzig aufwiesen, analysiert. Ergebnisse Das NGS wurde mehrheitlich im empfohlenen Zeitraum durchgeführt. Eine ätiologische Zuordnung der angeborenen Hypothyreose gelang in 71 % der Fälle. Die medikamentöse Therapie mit L-Thyroxin (LT4) wurde durchschnittlich mit 8,5 Lebenstagen begonnen. Eine Normalisierung der Schilddrüsenhormone wurde durchschnittlich innerhalb von 11,4 Tagen nach Behandlungsbeginn erreicht. Eine formale audiologische und neurokognitive Testung im Verlauf wurde zwar lediglich in 25 % und 5 % durchgeführt und dokumentiert. Betroffene Kinder erhielten dennoch die notwendigen Fördermaßnahmen auf Grundlage der klinischen Einschätzung der behandelnden Ärzte. Diskussion Unsere Studie zeigt, dass die Empfehlungen der kinderendokrinologischen Fachgesellschaft bereits mehrheitlich umgesetzt wurden. Die Diagnostik zur ätiologischen Zuordnung der primären angeborenen Hypothyreose, die Durchführung von audiologischen Untersuchungen sowie die Dokumentation und Nachverfolgung der Patienten bedürfen Verbesserung.
Increasing early surgery within 2 days for hip fracture: a time trend in 15 EU countries (2000-2013)

Objective To analyse the trajectories of hip-fracture surgery rates within 2 days of admission to the hospital and the ratios of procedures initiated within the same day (day 0) and the following day (days 0–1) to procedures performed on the 2nd day. To study the association between socio-economic, health input variables and early surgery. Design A pooled, cross-sectional, time series analysis was used to evaluate secondary data from 15 European countries, during 2000/2013. Results The rate of patients aged ≥65 years that were operated on within 2 days of hip-fracture has changed over time with an EU average annual increase of 0.42% (95% IC = 0.25, 0.59; P < 0.001) and with a significant linear trend. Multiple slopes from all the countries compete with this result. In contrast, the ratios of procedures initiated within the same day (day 0) and the following day (days 0–1) compared to procedures performed on the 2nd day are constant. No association was found between the rate of patients treated within 2 days of admission and demographic structure, health expenditure, health resources. However, the rate of patients treated within 2 days of admission is significantly associated with surgical volumes. effectiveness by taking actions aimed at acting on specific organizational and logistical causes that represent a barrier to early surgery. This study used a pooled cross-sectional time series analysis [7] of secondary data for 15 European countries over a 14-year period (2000 to 2013). These countries and years were chosen based on the availability of the data. The unit of analysis was each country in each year (country-year). The countries included in the study were the following: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Our results show that hip-fracture surgery performance within 2 days of admission to the hospital in 15 European countries is improving over the time and is constantly increasing. This means that attention is being paid to improving the quality of health care. Twelve UE countries experienced a significant increase on rates, although at different annual changes (slopes). The highest EU average annual rate increase is shown in Italy, and it may be explained by the fact that, for years, the Italian health system has aimed at ensuring the appropriate use of resources and ensuring the balance of the budget. In this context, some health laws establish that physicians conform their own decisions to the clinical pathways (PDTAs) defined by evidence. The Essential Levels of Assistance (LEA) hip elderly instrument results care hip
Non-adherence to antidepressants among older patients with depression: a longitudinal cohort study in primary care

Background Depression is common among older adults and is typically treated with antidepressants. Objective To determine the non-adherence rates to antidepressants among older adults in primary care, based on non-initiation, suboptimal implementation or non-persistence. Methods We selected all patients aged ≥60 years and diagnosed with depression in 2012, from the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL) Primary Care Database. Non-initiation was defined as no dispensing within 14 days of the first prescription; suboptimal implementation, as fewer than 80% of the days covered by dispensed dosages; and non-persistence, as discontinuation within 294 days after first dispense. First, we determined the antidepressant non-initiation, suboptimal implementation and non-persistence rates. Second, we examined whether comorbidity and chronic drug use were associated with non-adherence by mixed-effects logistic regression (non-initiation or suboptimal implementation as dependent variables) and a clustered Cox regression (time to non-persistence). Results Non-initiation, suboptimal implementation and non-persistence rates were 13.5%, 15.2% and 37.1%, respectively. As the number of chronically used drugs increased, the odds of suboptimal implementation (odds ratio, 0.89; 95% confidence interval, 0.83-0.95) and of non-persistence (hazard ratio, 0.87; 95% confidence interval, 0.82-0.92) reduced. Conclusions Non-adherence to antidepressants is high among older patients with depression in primary care settings. Adherence is better when patients are accustomed to taking larger numbers of prescribed drugs, but this only provides partial explanation of the variance. GPs should be aware of the high rates of non-adherence. Emphasizing the importance of adhering to the optimal length of antidepressant therapy might be prudent first steps to improving adherence.
Adaptation Metrics: Perspectives on measuring, aggregating and comparing adaptation results

Adaptation metrics under the UNFCCC have evolved considerably over the last twenty years, starting with measuring the degree of vulnerability of countries to monitoring and evaluating adaptation at the project, sectoral and subsequently national levels to more recently reviewing the adequacy and effectiveness of adaptation and support, as well as the collective progress made in achieving the global goal on adaptation following the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015. Despite the progress made, no common metrics have yet been agreed for adaptation under Annett Möhner UNFCCC Secretariat* the Convention, and the global goal on adaptation remains unspecified in respect of targets and indicators. Considering the context-specific nature of adaptation, the inherent methodological challenges and the evolving objectives for measuring adaptation, the desirability, feasibility and above all necessity of common metrics remains to be seen. * The views expressed in this article are in the author’s personal capacity and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or of the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat. 15 SECTION A
Devices as a commons: limits to premature recycling

Owners of electronic devices typically decide whether or when they become e-waste or are still reusable. For a device in a commons model, where devices are collectively owned and managed, we propose restricting this individual choice in favour of the collective choice. This is achieved through external and internal organisational and governance instruments for a commons-based cooperative platform that has developed over the last three years, handling more than 700 computers. As part of that governance, we present the circular product licence, where the ownership of a device is not linked to the first user but resides in a community or organisation responsible for safeguarding its reuse, ensuring that a pool of devices, as a commons, will have a maximised lifetime through multiple reuse cycles. Devices will only be recycled when there is no longer a demand or reuse potential. We describe an algorithm to estimate the use value of the devices, such as laptops and desktops. When this value is too low or has no demand, the community in custody obtains recycling permission; otherwise, a cycle of reuse begins. These open-source tools that are part of the eReuse.org platform bring automation, cost reduction, traceability, and auditability to all the steps in the lifetime of any device included in the commons, across manufacturing, use, reuse, repair, refurbishment, and final recycling.
Modelo para avaliação da integração ensino-serviço em Unidades Docentes Assistenciais na Atenção Básica

RESUMO A pesquisa objetivou elaborar um modelo para avaliacao da efetividade da integracao ensino-servico na Atencao Basica. O modelo foi elaborado com base na literatura, consulta aos atores envolvidos na integracao (gestao, servico, comunidade e ensino) e tecnicas de consenso com discussao de especialistas para validacao. O modelo teorico-logico foi construido com suporte na legislacao da saude e educacao. A matriz avaliativa proposta e composta por quatro dimensoes e dez indicadores. Posteriormente o modelo proposto sera utilizado no intuito de verificar sua aplicabilidade, a necessidade de ajustes e a possibilidade de replicacao em diferentes contextos.