Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ankylosing Spondylitis: A Multi-Factorial Autoimmune Disease. MHC Class I, Antigen Presentation and others to Blame

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic systemic inflammatory disorder. One major histocompatibility complex gene, HLA-B27, is the strongest known risk factor associated with AS. Some of the unique features of HLA-B27 have led to different hypotheses to explain the mechanisms underlying the association between HLA-B27 and AS pathogenesis. Additionally, other MHC factors, non-MHC factors and environmental factors have also been implicated in AS susceptibility. This review highlights the different HLA -B27 hypotheses, as well as the roles of some of the other factors in determining AS susceptibility. It is evident that, individually, none of these factors can take complete credit for causing AS since it is a multi-factorial autoimmune disease.
Bionanocomposite Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering and Gene Therapy

Biopolymers are well-known examples for the renewable source-based environmental benign polymeric materials (Smith 2005). Biopolymers include polysaccharides such as cellulose, starch, alginate, and chitin/chitosan; carbohydrate polymers produced by bacteria and fungi (Chandra and Rustgi 1998); and animal protein-based biopolymers such as wool, silk, gelatin, and collagen. Naturally derived polymers have offered the interesting properties of biocompatibility and biodegradability. One of the advantages of the naturally derived polymers is the biological recognition that may positively support cell adhesion and function, but they have poor mechanical properties. Many of them are also limited in supply and can therefore be costly (Johnson et al. 2003). On the other hand, polyvinyl alcohol, poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL), poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(glycolic acid) (PGA), poly(hydroxy butyrate) (PHB) and poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) are examples of polymer of synthetic origin but are biodegradable (Platt 2006). In today’s commercial environment, synthetic biopolymers have proven to be relatively expensive and available only in small quantities, which include applications in the textile and medical industries, as well as the packaging industry. This has lead to limitations on their application to date. However, synthetic CONTENTS
Minimal Invasive Percutaneous Repair of Acute Closed Rupture of Achilles Tendon

Background: Achilles tendon injuries are fairly common nowadays due to prevalence of comorbid conditions. The proposed lines of treatment in the literature are conservative treatment with cast immobilization, open surgical repair and minimal invasive lines of treatment with percutaneous repair. To achieve optimum return of function, surgical repair is clearly superior to non-operative treatment. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine the results of minimal invasive Percutaneous repair of acute closed rupture of Achilles tendon with special emphasis on how to protect the sural nerve during the procedure. Patients and methods: Twelve patients with acute closed rupture of Achilles tendon were treated between November 2010 and 2012. Ten patients were males and two patients were females. The mean age of the patients was 35.5 years. The mean time between injury and index surgery was 8 days (range 5 to 14 days). Results: The average range of ankle plantar flexion was 130° (range, 120°-140°) on the repaired side and 143° (range, 120°- 155°) on the non-injured side. The average range of ankle dorsiflexion was 17° (range, 16°-21°) on the operated side and 19° (range, 18°-22°) on the non- injured side. The mean calf diameter was 38.5 cm (range, 36-44 cm) on the operated side and 42.5 cm (range, 39-45 cm) on the non- injured side. The interval between injury and return to regular work was 17 weeks (range 16-18 weeks). The mean AOFAS score was 90 (80-98) at the most recent follow-up and 75% of patients’ results were considered excellent while 25% were good. We had no re-ruptures. Conclusion: Percutaneous repair of acute closed rupture of Achilles tendon is a reproducible and effective method of treatment. It results into a strong and sound tendon healing in a relatively short time that allowed for early functional rehabilitation. The only drawback of this technique is the sural nerve injury. This can be eliminated by direct visualization of the nerve by very minimal blunt dissection through the lateral stab incisions.
The Effect of Age on Gaze Behavior in Older Drivers and Pedestrians – A Review

In 2010, an estimated 524 million people were aged 65 or older – eight percent of the world's population at large (National Institute on Aging, 2015). By 2050, this number is expected to nearly triple to about 1.5 billion, representing 16 percent of the world's estimated population at large. In 2012, among those aged 65 and over, there were almost 36 million licensed drivers in the USA (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). This number of older drivers is a 34 percent increase from 1999.
Workplace Variation in Fatherhood Wage Premiums: Do Formalization and Performance Pay Matter?

Parenthood contributes substantially to broader gender wage inequality. The intensification of gendered divisions of paid and unpaid work after the birth of a child create unequal constraints and expectations such that, all else equal, mothers earn less than childless women, but fathers earn a wage premium. The fatherhood wage premium, however, varies substantially among men. Analyses of linked workplace-employee data from Canada reveal how organizational context conditions educational, occupational and family-status variation in fatherhood premiums. More formal employment relations (collective bargaining and human resource departments) reduce both overall fatherhood premiums and group differences in them, while performance pay systems (merit and incentive pay) have mixed effects. Shifting entrenched gendered divisions of household labour is thus not the only pathway to minimizing fathers’ wage advantage.
Relationship between geomorphological land classification and site amplification ratio based on JMA strong motion records

The relationship between the amplification ratio of earthquake ground motion and geologic conditions at Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) stations nationwide was examined to propose an estimation method of the amplification ratio that is applicable to entire Japan. The amplification ratios for the instrumental JMA intensity, as well as for the peak ground acceleration and velocity, were obtained from the station coefficients of the attenuation relationships using strong motion records measured at 77 JMA stations over a period of more than 8 years. A combined use of geomorphological land classification and subsurface geology was found to yield the best estimate of the site amplification ratio. This result suggests that these data, and hence the Digital National Land Information, which is a nationwide GIS database, may be conveniently used for the estimation of strong motion distribution over large areas in Japan. q 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
A novel enhancer near the Pitx1 gene influences development and evolution of pelvic appendages in vertebrates

Vertebrate pelvic reduction is a classic example of repeated evolution. Recurrent loss of pelvic appendages in sticklebacks has previously been linked to natural mutations in a pelvic enhancer that maps upstream of Pitx1. The sequence of this upstream PelA enhancer is not conserved to mammals, so we have surveyed a large region surrounding the mouse Pitx1 gene for other possible hind limb control sequences. Here we identify a new pelvic enhancer, PelB, that maps downstream rather than upstream of Pitx1. PelB drives expression in the posterior portion of the developing hind limb, and deleting the sequence from mice alters the size of several hind limb structures. PelB sequences are broadly conserved from fish to mammals. A wild stickleback population lacking the pelvis has an insertion/deletion mutation that disrupts the structure and function of PelB, suggesting that changes in this ancient enhancer contribute to evolutionary modification of pelvic appendages in nature.
Debt Overhang, Rollover Risk, and Corporate Investment: Evidence from the European Crisis

We quantify the role of financial leverage behind the sluggish post-crisis investment performance of European firms. We use a cross-country firm-bank matched database to identify separate roles for firm leverage, bank balance sheet weaknesses arising from sovereign risk, and aggregate demand conditions. We find that firms entering the crisis with higher debt levels reduce their investment more after the crisis. This negative effect is stronger for firms holding short-term debt in countries whose banks were weak due to sovereign stress, consistent with rollover risk being an important channel influencing investment. The negative effect of firm leverage on investment is also persistent for several years after the shock in the countries with sovereign stress. The corporate leverage channel can explain about 20% of the cumulative decline in aggregate private sector investment over the crisis period.
Elasto-plastic Analysis of Two-dimensional Orthotropic Bodies with the Boundary Element Method

Abstract: The Boundary Element Method (BEM) isintroduced to analyze the elasto-plastic problems of 2-D orthotropic bodies. With the help of known boundaryintegral equations and fundamental solutions, a numeri-cal scheme for elasto-plastic analysis of 2-D orthotropicproblems with the BEM is developed. The Hill or-thotropic yield criterion is adopted in the plastic analy-sis. The initialstress method and tangent predictor-radialreturn algorithm are used to determine the stress state insolving the nonlinear equation with the incremental iter-ation method. Finally, numerical examples show that theBEM is effective and reliable in analyzing elasto-plasticproblems of orthotropic bodies.keyword: Boundary Element Method (BEM), Elasto-plastic Analysis, Singular Integrals, 2-D OrthotropicBody, Orthotropic Yield Criterion1 IntroductionNowadays new type materials exhibiting a characteristicof anisotropy or orthotropy are widely used in the indus-tries and the corresponding numerical analysis is neces-sary to solve these complicated problems as the exper-iments are absent or the analytical methods are unfea-sible in most conditions. Elasto-plastic analysis is oneof the practical and desirable problems, which has at-tracted many interestson study. However, the anisotropicor orthotropic plastic analysis is much more complicatedthan isotropic problems. Fortunately, the development ofcomputer technologies and computational methods per-mits a more realistic and complex modelingthan ever be-fore. The ﬁnite element method (FEM) and the boundaryelement method (BEM) are twousualnumerical methodsthat are widely used in solving many engineering prob-
Recent trends in U.S. flood risk

Flooding is projected to become more frequent as warming temperatures amplify the atmosphere's water holding capacity and increase the occurrence of extreme precipitation events. However, there is still little evidence of regional changes in flood risk across the USA. Here we present a novel approach assessing the trends in inundation frequency above the National Weather Service's four flood level categories in 2042 catchments. Results reveal stark regional patterns of changing flood risk that are broadly consistent above the four flood categories. We show that these patterns are dependent on the overall wetness and potential water storage, with fundamental implications for water resources management, agriculture, insurance, navigation, ecology, and populations living in flood‐affected areas. Our findings may assist in a better communication of changing flood patterns to a wider audience compared with the more traditional approach of stating trends in terms of discharge magnitudes and frequencies.
Salmonella Saintpaul Outbreak: Export and Trade Economic Impact

Foodborne pathogens cause diarrhea and flulike illnesses. An estimated 1.8 million children death is associated with disease-causing organisms acquired via food consumption with the greatest number of cases occurring in developing countries (WHO 2008). In the United States, the burden of foodborne infections causes an estimated of 48 million cases of sick people, from which 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die anually (CDC, 2011). In addition, around 31 of the acquired pathogens known cause an approximated of 9.4 million episodes of foodborne illnesses while additional episodes are caused by unspecified agents, known agents not yet recognized as causing foodborne illness, and substances known to be in food but unproven pathogenicity (Scallan et al., 2011). According to Allos et al. (2004) and Imhoff et al. (2004) the economic burden of foodborne illnesses results in an estimated annual cost of $6.9 billion USD because of work absenteeism, cost of medication and hospitalization, being the annual diarrheal burden of 0.72 episodes per person. According to Buzby et al. (1996) and WHO (2008) the most common foodborne pathogens associated with outbreaks are bacteria like Campylobacter jejunii, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella. Data from the CDC (2011) indicates the prevalence of Salmonella serotypes causing foodborne illnesses, which shows an increasing tendency from 2006 to 2011, involving several food as transmission vehicle, such as tomatoe, cantaloupe, egg, alfalfa sprout, peanut butter, pepper, and papaya. Therefore, the control of foodborne pathogens must be considered as one of the most important goals of authorities and producers. When a pathogen related outbreak is detected, the collaboration among Universities, Research Centers and health authorities from countries involved, is an essential step to source track the origin of the causative agent, and to seek for strategies for problem remediation. The association of food with pathogens is a critical problem that requires special attention of the Mexican producers, since the presence of disease-causing organisms might provoke the close of borders of the destiny country. Therefore, the Mexican agricultural authorities have established mandatory regulations for fresh produce production and processing, which include Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) audit
Dog Breed Classification via Convolutional Neural Network

In this project, a convolutional neural network which can classify 40 breeds of dogs with more than 80% accuracy is built by transfer learning. Existing results with different pretrained model were compared and VGG19 network is finally chosen in this project. Also, an investigation of the category number’s effect on test accuracy is done and the largest breeds number with tolerable accuracy is found.
Classification of Emoji Categories from Tweet Based on Deep Neural Networks

In this paper, we describe the sentiment analysis method from tweets based on emoji's category. Many of existing study about sentiment analysis focused on the emotional expressions included in sentence. However, because there are various kinds of emotional expressions, such as Internet slang, it cannot be constructed that the fixed emotional expression dictionary. The most of the methods based on corpus and machine learning, its performance is quite depended on the quality of annotation. Therefore, we attempt to use categories which are expressed by emoji as sentiment label instead of manually annotated labels. Our proposed method uses automatically annotated category label by emoji which is annotated to sentence, and train word embedding feature by deep neural networks. As the result of the experiment, our proposed method overcome the simple word feature based method.
Iterative Projection and Matching: Finding Structure-Preserving Representatives and Its Application to Computer Vision

The goal of data selection is to capture the most structural information from a set of data. This paper presents a fast and accurate data selection method, in which the selected samples are optimized to span the subspace of all data. We propose a new selection algorithm, referred to as iterative projection and matching (IPM), with linear complexity w.r. t. the number of data, and without any parameter to be tuned. In our algorithm, at each iteration, the maximum information from the structure of the data is captured by one selected sample, and the captured information is neglected in the next iterations by projection on the null-space of previously selected samples. The computational efficiency and the selection accuracy of our proposed algorithm outperform those of the conventional methods. Furthermore, the superiority of the proposed algorithm is shown on active learning for video action recognition dataset on UCF-101; learning using representatives on ImageNet; training a generative adversarial network (GAN) to generate multi-view images from a single-view input on CMU Multi-PIE dataset; and video summarization on UTE Egocentric dataset.
The Road to Price Stability

Nearly a quarter-century after Paul Volcker's declaration of war on inflation on October 6, 1979, Alan Greenspan declared that the goal had been achieved. Drawing on the extensive historical record, I examine the views of Chairmen Volcker and Greenspan on some aspects of the evolving monetary policy debate and explore some of the distinguishing characteristics of the disinflation.
Intelligent Network-Misuse-Detection-System Using Neurotree Classifier

Intrusion detection systems (IDSs) are designed to distinguish normal and intrusive activities. A critical part of the IDS design depends on the selection of informative features and the appropriate machine learning technique. In this paper, we investigated the problem of IDS from these two perspectives and constructed a misuse based neurotree classifier capable of detecting anomalies in networks. The major implications of this paper are a) Employing weighted sum genetic feature extraction process which provides better discrimination ability for detecting anomalies in network traffic; b) Realizing the system as a rule-based model using an ensemble efficient machine learning technique, neurotree which possesses better comprehensibility and generalization ability; c) Utilizing an activation function which is targeted at minimizing the error rates in the learning algorithm. An extensive experimental evaluation on a database containing normal and anomaly traffic patterns shows that the proposed scheme with the selected features and the chosen classifier is a state-of-the-art IDS that outperforms previous IDS methods.
A Comparative Study of Image Retrieval Algorithms for Enhancing a Content-based Image Retrieval System

Abst ract-Content Based image retrieval (CBIR) is in retrieve digital images by the actual content in the image. The content are the features of the image such as color, shape, texture and other information about the image including some statistic measures of the image. In this paper Content Based Image Retrieval algorithms are discussed. The comparative study of these algorithms is done. This article covers various techniques for implementing Content Based Image Retrieval algorithms and Some Open Source examples of Content-based Image Retrieval Search Engines
Here's a structure that's not so simple: Revisiting the acquisition of relative clauses

is study revisits the construction-based incremental account of relative clause acquisition presented in Diessel and Tomasello (2005) by reexamining the subset of presentational relative constructions (PRCs) from their data. I demonstrate that trends of incremental development within this construction rely on the assumption that “amalgams” (“at’s my doggy turn around,”) are precursors to standard PRC forms (“at’s my doggy that turns around.”) I argue that amalgams are not related to PRCs in terms of form or function, and that once amalgams are removed from this data set, no paerns of incremental development appear in ildren’s PRC productions. e results suggest that in order to maintain a constructional view of relative clause acquisition, a wider range of forms and functions must be considered.
The Intelligent Voice ASR system for the Iberspeech 2018 Speech to Text Transcription Challenge

This paper describes the system developed by the Empathic team for the open set condition of the Iberspeech 2018 Speech to Text Transcription Challenge. A DNN-HMM hybrid acoustic model is developed, with MFCC's and iVectors as input features, using the Kaldi framework. The provided ground truth transcriptions for training and development are cleaned up using customized clean-up scripts and then realigned using a two-step alignment procedure which uses word lattice results coming from a previous ASR system. 261 hours of data is selected from train and dev1 subsections of the provided data, by applying a selection criterion on the utterance level scoring results. The selected data is merged with the 91 hours of training data used to train the previous ASR system with a factor 3 times data augmentation by reverberation using a noise corpus on the total training data, resulting a total of 1057 hours of final training data. Selected text from the train and dev1 subsections are also used for new pronunciation additions and language model (LM) adaptation of the LM from the previous ASR System. The resulting model is tested using data from the dev2 subsection selected with the same procedure as the training data.
Stirring N-body systems - II. Necessary conditions for the dark matter attractor

We study the evolution of the phase space of collisionless N-body systems under repeated stirrings or perturbations, which has been shown to lead to a convergence towards a limited group of end states. This so-called attractor was previously shown to be independent of the initial system and environmental conditions. However, the fundamental reason for its appearance is still unclear. It has been suggested that the origin of the attractor may be either radial infall (RI), the radial orbit instability (ROI), or energy exchange which, for instance, happens during violent relaxation. Here, we examine the effects of a set of controlled perturbations, referred to as ‘kicks’, which act in addition to the standard collisionless dynamics by allowing pre-specified instantaneous perturbations in phase space. We first demonstrate that the attractor persists in the absence of RI and ROI by forcing the system to expand. We then consider radial velocity kicks in a rigid potential and isotropic velocity kicks, since there are no energy exchanges in these two recipes of kicks. We find that these kicks do not lead to the attractor, indicating that the energy exchange in a dynamic potential is indeed the physical mechanism responsible for the attractor.