Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Data Physicalization: From Theory to Practice

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Cycle to Clique (Cy2C) Graph Neural Network: A Sight to See beyond Neighborhood Aggregation

Graph neural networks have been successfully adapted for learning vector representations of graphs through various neighborhood aggregation schemes. Previous researches suggest, however, that they possess limitations in incorporating key non-Euclidean topological properties of graphs. This paper mathematically identifies the caliber of graph neural networks in classifying isomorphism classes of graphs with continuous node attributes up to their local topological properties. In light of these observations, we construct the Cycle to Clique graph neural network, a novel yet simple algorithm which topologically enriches the input data of conventional graph neural networks while preserving their architectural components. This method theoretically outperforms conventional graph neural networks in classifying isomorphism classes of graphs while ensuring comparable time complexity in representing random graphs. Empirical results further support that the novel algorithm produces comparable or enhanced results in classifying benchmark graph data sets compared to contemporary variants of graph neural networks.
New parametric solutions of some Abel equations

New parametric solutions of some Abel equations of second kind are found. The scheme for construction of these solutions utilizes a combination of differential invariants of a symmetry of an associated second order ODE and the solutions of the associated ODE. 2010 Mathematics Subject Classification: 34A05; 70G65
AIRS: Explanation for Deep Reinforcement Learning based Security Applications

Recently, we have witnessed the success of deep reinforcement learning (DRL) in many security applications, ranging from malware mutation to selfish blockchain mining. Like all other machine learning methods, the lack of explainability has been limiting its broad adoption as users have difficulty establishing trust in DRL models’ decisions. Over the past years, different methods have been proposed to explain DRL models but unfortunately, they are often not suitable for security applications, in which explanation fidelity, efficiency, and the capability of model debugging are largely lacking. In this work, we propose AIRS , a general framework to explain deep reinforcement learning-based security applications. Unlike previous works that pinpoint important features to the agent’s current action, our explanation is at the step level. It models the relationship between the final reward and the key steps that a DRL agent takes, and thus outputs the steps that are most critical towards the final reward the agent has gathered. Using four representative security-critical applications, we evaluate AIRS from the perspectives of ex-plainability, fidelity, stability, and efficiency. We show that AIRS could outperform alternative explainable DRL methods. We also showcase AIRS ’s utility, demonstrating that our explanation could facilitate the DRL model’s failure offset, help users establish trust in a model decision, and even assist the identification of inappropriate reward designs.
Influence of perinatal distress on adverse birth outcomes: A prospective study in the Tigray region, northern Ethiopia

Background In low-income countries, where socioeconomic adversities and perinatal distress are common, adverse birth outcomes are significant public health problems. In these settings, perinatal distress, i.e., high symptoms of anxiety, depression, and/or stress during pregnancy, may be linked with adverse birth outcomes. However, few prospective studies have investigated the impact of perinatal distress on adverse birth outcomes such as preterm birth (gestational age <37 weeks), low birth weight (<2.5 kg), and small for gestational age birth (birth weight below the 10th percentile for gestational age and sex). Objectives Our main objective was to assess the influence of perinatal distress on adverse birth outcomes. Secondly, to investigate if perinatal distress is an independent risk factor or a mediator in the pathway between socioeconomic adversity and adverse birth outcomes. Methods In a prospective cohort study following 991 women from before 20 weeks of gestation until delivery in northern Ethiopia, we collected self-reported data on distress at a mean of 14.8 (standard deviation [SD] = 1.9) and 33.9 (SD = 1.1) weeks of gestation. Distress was measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, the anxiety subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Perceived Stress Scale. To determine birth outcomes, gestational age was estimated from the last menstrual period, fundal palpation, and/or ultrasound, while birth weight was obtained from delivery records and measured within three days after birth for those delivered at home. Logistic regression and mediation analysis were employed to evaluate the impact of perinatal distress on adverse birth outcomes. Results Perinatal anxiety (OR [95% CI] 1.08 [1.02, 1.13]), depression (1.07 [1.03, 1.11]), stress (1.14 [1.07, 1.22]), and total distress (1.15 [1.07, 1.23]) were all associated with low birth weight, and small for gestational age birth but none did with preterm birth. Mediation analysis demonstrated that perinatal distress was a mediator in the pathway between socioeconomic adversity and adverse birth outcomes. Conclusion Our study revealed that perinatal distress was linked with adverse birth outcomes and acted as a mediator between socioeconomic adversity and these outcomes. Our findings highlight the importance of screening women for distress and providing appropriate interventions, focusing on women experiencing socioeconomic adversity. Integrating mental health services into primary maternal care in low-income countries could be an effective approach to achieve this.
Are religious patients less afraid of surgery? A cross-sectional study on the relationship between dimensions of religiousness and surgical fear

Introduction Surgical fear is common and has a negative impact on surgery and its outcome. Recent research has identified individual religiousness as an important factor among patients with associations to mental health, particularly anxiety. Objective This study aimed to examine associations between religiousness and surgical fear in a representative sample of adult surgical patients in Croatia. Design Cross-sectional study among elective surgery patients at different departments of a single hospital. Setting University Hospital Sveti Duh, a tertiary health care facility in Croatia. Measurements Religiousness and surgical fear were the variables of interest and assessed through self-report instruments. The Croatian version of the Duke Religiosity Index questionnaire (DUREL) assessed organizational religious activity (ORA), non-organizational religious activity (NORA), and intrinsic religiousness (IR). The Croatian version of the Surgical Fear Questionnaire (SFQ) measured surgical fear and its subscales the fear of the short-term and long-term consequences of surgery. Additionally, sociodemographic characteristics and medical history were assessed. Analyses were carried out using descriptive and linear regression analyses. Results 178 subjects were included for data analysis. Univariate linear regression found two dimensions of religiousness (non-organizational religious activity, intrinsic religiousness) to be weak, but significant predictors of greater surgical fear (adj. R2 = 0.02 and 0.03 respectively). In the multiple linear regression model together with age, gender, education and type of surgery, all three dimensions of religiousness were found to be significant independent predictors of greater surgical fear. Limitations The study was single-center and cross-sectional and did not assess patients’ specific religious identity. Conclusions This study demonstrated significant positive associations between dimensions of religiousness and surgical fear, potentially suggesting that surgical patients experience increased religiousness to cope with heightened anxiety. Assessment and intervention to address patient religiousness is warranted in the context of surgical fear among religious patients, and the importance of religiousness in the context of surgical fear needs to be further addressed in research.
Utilization of antiretroviral therapy services and associated factors among adolescents living with HIV in northern Uganda: A cross-sectional study

Background Suboptimal utilization of antiretroviral therapy (ART) services remains a problem among adolescents in low- and middle-income countries, which has a negative impact on their response to treatment and increases the risk of developing resistance. Optimal use is essential to enhancing treatment efficacy. We investigated the optimal use of ART service and predictors among adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV) in northern Uganda. Methods We used a cross-sectional study design to collect quantitative data from 293 ALHIV at three health facilities in Lira municipality, northern Uganda. We used an interviewer-administered questionnaire and data abstraction form. Data were analysed using SPSS version 23 software. Descriptive analysis and logistic regressions were performed to determine the relationship between the predictor and outcome variables. Statistical significance was determined at P-value<0.05 and the adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval was used. Results The level of utilization of ART services was suboptimal among 27.6% (81/293) of the participants, and only 63.1% (185/293) were virally suppressed. Of the participants who were optimally utilizing ART services, the majority 86.8% (184/212) were virally suppressed. Age 10–14 years (aOR = 3.34), the presence of both parents (aOR = 1.85), parental and peer reminders (aOR = 2.91) and (aOR = 0.49) respectively, and being on ART for five years or less were the characteristics related with optimal utilization of ART services. Conclusions and recommendations Not all ALHIV used ART services to their full potential. However, factors such as participants’ age, the presence of both parents, reminders from parents and peers, and being on ART for some time were all related to the optimal use of ART services. There is a need for developing strategies to increase family and peer support with a focus on older adolescents if the 95-95-95 goal is to be achieved in this age group.
Depth estimation of complex geometry scenes from light fields

The surface camera (SCam) of light fields gathers angular sample rays passing through a 3D point. The consistency of SCams is evaluated to estimate the depth map of scene. But the consistency is affected by several limitations such as occlusions or non-Lambertian surfaces. To solve those limitations, the SCam is partitioned into two segments that one of them could satisfy the consistency constraint. The segmentation pattern of SCam is highly related to the texture of spatial patch, so we enforce a mask matching to describe the shape correlation between segments of SCam and spatial patch. To further address the ambiguity in textureless region, a global method with pixel-wise plane label is presented. Plane label inference at each pixel can recover not only depth value but also local geometry structure, that is suitable for light fields with sub-pixel disparities and continuous view variation. Our method is evaluated on public light field datasets and outperforms the state-of-the-art.
Ocular Distribution of Brimonidine and Brinzolamide after Topical Instillation of a 0.1% Brimonidine Tartrate and 1% Brinzolamide Fixed-Combination Ophthalmic Suspension: An Interventional Study

Purpose: To evaluate the concentrations of brimonidine and brinzolamide in the vitreous and aqueous humor after instillation of a 0.1% brimonidine tartrate and 1% brinzolamide fixed-combination ophthalmic suspension. Methods: The present investigation involved patients with macular holes or idiopathic epiretinal membranes who were planning to undergo vitrectomy. One week prior to surgery, the patients received twice-daily topical treatment with 0.1% brimonidine tartrate and 1% brinzolamide fixed-combination ophthalmic suspension. Before vitrectomy, vitreous and aqueous humor samples were collected, and the mean concentrations of brimonidine and brinzolamide were determined through liquid chromatography-tandem spectrometry. Results: Ten eyes (nine phakic and one pseudophakic eyes; 10 patients) were examined. The concentration of brimonidine in vitreous and aqueous humor samples was 5.02 ± 2.24 and 559 ± 670 nM, respectively. The concentration of brimonidine in the vitreous humor, which is needed to activate α2 receptors, was >2 nM in all patients. The concentration of brinzolamide was 8.96 ± 4.65 and 1100 ± 813 nM, respectively. However, there was no significant correlation between the concentrations of brimonidine in the vitreous and aqueous humor samples. Conclusions: Sufficient concentrations of brimonidine were detected in all vitreous samples. The dissociated correlation of the drug concentrations between aqueous and vitreous humors implies the possibility of another pathway to vitreous humor, different from the pathway to aqueous humor.
A dual‐band half‐mode substrate integrated waveguide‐based antenna for WLAN/WBAN applications

A dual‐band half‐mode substrate integrated waveguide (HMSIW) based cavity‐backed antenna is proposed for WLAN/WBAN applications at 5/5.8 GHz, respectively. A semi‐hexagonal slot is introduced on the top plane of the cavity primarily for radiation. This slot offers miniaturization for both the TM210 and TM020 modes. Later on, two rectangular slits are loaded on the open edge of the patch, to provide miniaturization and tuning mainly for the higher frequency band. The performance of the proposed antenna is investigated in free space and in proximity of the pork tissues. In free space conditions, the measured −10 dB fractional bandwidths are 3% and 3.1% along with peak gains of 6.25 and 6 dBi for the frequency bands at 5 and 5.8 GHz, respectively. In proximity of the pork tissues, the measured fractional bandwidth is 3.2% along with the efficiency of 81.5% at 5.8 GHz. The specific absorption rate (SAR) is 0.48 mW/g averaged over 1 g of tissues with 100 mW input power.
Reweighted L1-norm minimization with guarantees: An incremental measurement approach to sparse reconstruction

João F. C. Mota∗, Lior Weizman†, Nikos Deligiannis‡, Yonina C. Eldar†, and Miguel R. D. Rodrigues§ ∗ Institute of Sensors, Signals and Systems, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK Email: j.mota@hw.ac. uk † Department of Electrical Engineering, Technion — Israel Institute of Technology, Israel Email: weizmanl@tx.technion. ac.il, yonina@ee.technion. ac.il ‡ Department of Electronics and Informatics, Vrije Universiteit Brussel — imec, Belgium Email: ndeligia@etrovub.be § Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University College London, UK Email: m.rodrigues@ucl.ac. uk
Systolic third sound associated with systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve in cats with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Abstract Background Third heart sounds in cats frequently are associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) but their exact characterization and timing within the cardiac cycle remains unknown. Objectives Characterize third heart sounds in cats by phonocardiography and test the ability of 3 observers with different levels of experience and training to recognize third systolic heart sounds in cats. Animals Fifty client‐owned cats of different breeds presented for heart screening. Methods Cats were prospectively assessed using an electronic stethoscope (with digital recording) and then underwent full conventional echocardiographic examination. Audio recordings were blindly assessed in a random order by 3 observers: the cardiologist who collected clinical data, as well as a trained and an untrained junior veterinarian. Cohen's kappa coefficients were calculated to quantify agreement between the opinion of each observer and the echocardiography results (considered the gold standard). Results Twenty cats had a third systolic sound on phonocardiography and an obstructive HCM phenotype with systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve (SAM) on echocardiography. Agreement with echocardiography was very good for the experienced cardiologist, substantial for the trained junior veterinarian, and poor for the untrained junior veterinarian (kappa of 0.92, 0,64, and 0.08, respectively). Conclusions and Clinical Importance We describe here a new auscultatory abnormality in cats with obstructive HCM. It could help a trained non‐cardiologist veterinarian in suspecting obstructive HCM in cats based on auscultation only.
Cannabis-Involved Emergency Department Visits Among Persons Aged <25 Years Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, 2019–2022

To understand trends in U.S. cannabis-involved emergency department (ED) visits (i.e., those for which cannabis use was documented in the chief complaint or a discharge diagnosis) among young persons aged <25 years during the COVID-19 pandemic, CDC used National Syndromic Surveillance Program data to examine changes in ED visits during 2019-2022. Mean weekly cannabis-involved ED visits among all young persons were higher during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, 2021, and 2022, compared with corresponding periods in 2019. Large increases in cannabis-involved ED visits throughout the COVID-19 pandemic compared with prepandemic surveillance periods in 2019 were identified among persons aged ≤10 years. ED visit rates among children and adolescents aged 11-14 years did not differ by sex until the first half of the 2020-21 school year (2020, weeks 37-53), when ED visit rates among females surpassed those among males. Improving clinicians' awareness of rising cannabis-involved ED visits might aid in early diagnosis of cannabis intoxication among young persons. Further, increasing adults' knowledge regarding safe cannabis storage practices, strengthening youths' coping and problem-solving skills through evidence-based prevention programs, and modifying cannabis packaging to decrease appeal to youths might help prevent intentional and unintentional cannabis use.
A fast non-local means algorithm based on integral image and reconstructed similar kernel

Image denoising is one of the essential methods in digital image processing. The non-local means (NLM) denoising approach is a remarkable denoising technique. However, its time complexity of the computation is high. In this paper, we design a fast NLM algorithm based on integral image and reconstructed similar kernel. First, the integral image is introduced in the traditional NLM algorithm. In doing so, it reduces a great deal of repetitive operations in the parallel processing, which will greatly improves the running speed of the algorithm. Secondly, in order to amend the error of the integral image, we construct a similar window resembling the Gaussian kernel in the pyramidal stacking pattern. Finally, in order to eliminate the influence produced by replacing the Gaussian weighted Euclidean distance with Euclidean distance, we propose a scheme to construct a similar kernel with a size of 3 x 3 in a neighborhood window which will reduce the effect of noise on a single pixel. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is about seventeen times faster than the traditional NLM algorithm, yet produce comparable results in terms of Peak Signal-to- Noise Ratio (the PSNR increased 2.9% in average) and perceptual image quality.
Mechanisms of bariatric surgery for weight loss and diabetes remission

Obesity and type 2 diabetes(T2D) lead to defects in intestinal hormones secretion, abnormalities in the composition of bile acids (BAs), increased systemic and adipose tissue inflammation, defects of branched‐chain amino acids (BCAAs) catabolism, and dysbiosis of gut microbiota. Bariatric surgery (BS) has been shown to be highly effective in the treatment of obesity and T2D, which allows us to view BS not simply as weight‐loss surgery but as a means of alleviating obesity and its comorbidities, especially T2D. In recent years, accumulating studies have focused on the mechanisms of BS to find out which metabolic parameters are affected by BS through which pathways, such as which hormones and inflammatory processes are altered. The literatures are saturated with the role of intestinal hormones and the gut‐brain axis formed by their interaction with neural networks in the remission of obesity and T2D following BS. In addition, BAs, gut microbiota and other factors are also involved in these benefits after BS. The interaction of these factors makes the mechanisms of metabolic improvement induced by BS more complicated. To date, we do not fully understand the exact mechanisms of the metabolic alterations induced by BS and its impact on the disease process of T2D itself. This review summarizes the changes of intestinal hormones, BAs, BCAAs, gut microbiota, signaling proteins, growth differentiation factor 15, exosomes, adipose tissue, brain function, and food preferences after BS, so as to fully understand the actual working mechanisms of BS and provide nonsurgical therapeutic strategies for obesity and T2D.
Machine Learning of Noise in LHD Thomson Scattering System

Abstract Manual uncertainty propagation from possible noise sources has often been adopted for data analysis in many fields of science, including the analysis of Thomson scattering measurement data in fusion plasma science. However, it is not possible to perfectly model all the noise sources and their distributions. In this work, we propose a more data-driven approach for the noise modeling of multichannel measurement systems. We directly modeled the noise distribution by tractable density distributions parameterized with neural networks and trained their weights from a vast amount of measurement data. We demonstrated an application of this method in Thomson scattering measurement data for the Large Helical Device project. This method enabled us to make a realistic inference even without sufficient prior knowledge about the noise.
Some remarks on generalized derivations

In this short note generalized derivations are briefly described. This is done first by noticing some link with algebraic approach to differential geometry. In particular, through introducing certain operators over modules. Secondly, a direct geometrical reference is shortly reminded. Finally, a remark in the context of the Lindblad decomposition is reminded.