Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Body Mass Index and All-Cause Mortality.

Body Mass Index and All-Cause Mortality To the Editor In their study on body mass index (BMI) associated with the lowest mortality in Denmark, Dr Afzal and colleagues1 concluded that the BMI associated with the lowest all-cause mortality increased by 3.3 (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) over 3 decades and that optimal body weight was currently in the overweight category. We believe that their analysis has inherent biases and their conclusions may be misleading. The shift in the BMI associated with the lowest mortality over time may result from differences in the degree of reverse causation across the 3 cohorts and limitations in the analytic approach. For example, the median follow-up for the 20032013 cohort was only 4.6 years, whereas the median follow-up times for the earlier 2 cohorts were 11.0 years and 19.8 years. With such a short follow-up for the most recent cohort, it is not surprising that the nadir of the BMI and mortality curve shifted to the right, because individuals who died would have been more likely to have existing disease at baseline or to be elderly and frail. These individuals would have had an increased risk of death and lower BMI due to weight loss, leading to reverse causation. The authors correctly recognized that the association between BMI and mortality is susceptible to confounding or effect modification by age, sex, smoking, and presence of chronic disease. They performed several sensitivity analyses stratifying on these variables individually. However, these factors should be evaluated simultaneously rather than just one at a time.2 To address weight guidelines for healthy people and account for reverse causation adequately, it would be essential to conduct an analysis among never smokers younger than 70 years, without chronic disease at baseline, and excluding the first 5 years of follow-up. Studies, including some with millions of participants, have repeatedly found that a BMI less than 25 is associated with the lowest mortality, especially for people younger than 70 years.3,4 Among older adults, the association between BMI and mortality is weakened because of increasing reverse causation that is a result of a greater prevalence of underlying disease and loss of muscle mass. For this reason, weight guidelines should consider not just evidence on BMI and mortality but also the relationship between body weight and incidence of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, as there is evidence that increasing BMI is associated with increased risk of these diseases.5
Optical coherence tomographic elastography technique for measuring deformation and strain of atherosclerotic tissues

Objectives: To evaluate optical coherence tomographic elastography as a method for assessing the elastic properties of atherosclerotic plaque and the parameters that influence interpretation. Methods: Phantoms and aorta were examined in vitro to quantify speckle modulation and measure the displacement and strain maps. A correlation method was used as a speckle tracking technique for measuring axial and lateral displacement vectors and calculation of strain maps. The influence of correlation kernel size on accuracy of the method was evaluated. Results: In terms of a percentage error between calculated and measured displacements, the best results for phantoms were obtained with a 41 × 41 kernel (1.88% error). For both phantom and aorta images, it was found that, with the increasing size of cross correlation kernel, the axial and lateral displacement maps are less noisy and the displacement vectors are more clearly defined. However, the large kernels tend to average out the differences in displacements of small particles in phantoms and decrease the ability of speckle tracking to make microstructural assessments. Therefore, it is important to select kernel size carefully, based on the image features. Conclusions: Optical tomographic elastography can be used to assess the microstructural properties of atherosclerotic tissue at micrometre scale resolution, but preselected analysis criteria must be understood in a critical interpretation of the results.
Curve Style Analysis in a Set of Shapes

The word ‘style’ can be interpreted in so many different ways in so many different contexts. To provide a general analysis and understanding of styles is a highly challenging problem. We pose the open question ‘how to extract styles from geometric shapes? ’ and address one instance of the problem. Specifically, we present an unsupervised algorithm for identifying curve styles in a set of shapes. In our setting, a curve style is explicitly represented by a mode of curve features appearing along the 2D silhouettes of the shapes in the set. Unlike previous attempts, we do not rely on any preconceived conceptual characterisations, for example, via specific shape descriptors, to define what is or is not a style. Our definition of styles is data‐dependent; it depends on the input set but we do not require computing a shape correspondence across the set. We provide an operational definition of curve styles which focuses on separating curve features that represent styles from curve features that are content revealing. To this end, we develop a novel formulation and associated algorithm for style‐content separation. The analysis is based on a feature‐shape association matrix (FSM) whose rows correspond to modes of curve features, columns to shapes in the set, and each entry expresses the extent a feature mode is present in a shape. We make several assumptions to drive style‐content separation which only involve properties of, and relations between, rows of the FSM. Computationally, our algorithm only requires row‐wise correlation analysis in the FSM and a heuristic solution of an instance of the set cover problem. Results are demonstrated on several data sets showing the identification of curve styles. We also develop and demonstrate several style‐related applications including style exaggeration, removal, blending, and style transfer for 2D shape synthesis.
Sham Surgery: To Cut or Not to Cut—That Is the Ethical Dilemma

ing a medication. This was readily evident to Bosk, who writes in Forgive and Remember (1979), his classic sociological study of surgical residency, “When the patient of an internist dies, the natural question his colleagues ask is, ‘What happened? ’ When the patient of a surgeon dies his colleagues ask, ‘What did you do? ’” (30). The surgeon who participates in a placebo-controlled surgical trial must necessarily actively strive to deceive the subject. This calculated deception of the subject is the basis for the potential power of the sham operation to inuence the subject’s condition. The surgeon is more directly and deliberately involved in misleading the subject after sham surgery than any researcher whose subject has received a placebo medication. The surgeon cannot be blinded to whether a therapeutic operation or a sham operation occurred. The postoperative visits in the hospital or as an outpatient require the continuation of the deception to an extent that is unparalleled by what happens after a placebo medication has been given. Despite these potential problems with sham surgery, Miller reaches the correct conclusion that all placebo-controlled surgical trials are not inherently unethical. The benets to society of carefully studying the effects of surgical interventions are readily apparent to anyone who has reviewed the history of surgical procedures that were advocated to treat various medical conditions. In addition to unnecessary internal mammary artery ligation as a treatment for angina, abdominal exploration has in the past been advocated as a treatment for pelvic inammatory disease, and colectomy has been advocated as a treatment for epilepsy. If new surgical procedures (just as new drugs) were carefully tested, many patients could avoid unnecessary and potentially risky operations. How, then, can sham surgery be allowed in a clinical trial? A sham surgical arm should only be allowed in a clinical trial when there is no alternative to using sham surgery, when the risks of the placebo surgery are minimal, and when the drawbacks of not having a placebo arm are signicant. Once these criteria are met, the researchers must very carefully evaluate the actual risks of the sham operation. Subjects should, as much as possible, not interact with the surgeons except as required in the operating room. Such an approach will minimize the need for continued deception of the subject. n
Sexual and asexual reproduction of queens in a myrmicine ant, Vollenhovia emeryi (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Sexual reproduction is more common than asexual reproduction in eukaryotes. There are few species with obligate clonality, and most clonal organisms maintain sexual reproduction. Organisms tend to couple sexual reproduction with dispersal, or changes in the environment. These facultatively clonal species use both reproductive systems to reduce the costs of clonality, and to gain benefits of sexuality. In recent decades, clonal reproductive systems have been discovered in some eusocial insects. In the myrmicine ant Vollenhovia emeryi previous research has documented that new queens are produced clonally with complete, diploid, maternal genomes. Usually, new queens have short rudimentary wings and cannot fly, suggesting that dispersal of new colonies is limited. However, some new queens with functional long wings occur in natural colonies, in addition to short-winged queens. In this study, we analyzed the reproductive modes of long-winged queens and short-winged queens. In agreement with previous data, most short-winged queens were produced asexually. However, mature colonies and nutritionally rich colonies tend to produce long-winged queens sexually. Since long-winged queens may encounter different environments after dispersal, higher genetic diversity should be advantageous to increase adaptability. Thus, V. emeryi may have evolved a reproductive strategy to maximize advantages of both clonal and sexual reproduction, as in other facultatively clonal organisms.
Sb-rich rutile in the manganese concentrations St. Marcel-Praborna, Aosta Valley, Italy: petrology and crystal-chemistry

Abstract The petrographical, crystal-chemical and petrogenetical aspects of rutile rich in antimony (up to 33.75 wt.% Sb2O5; equal to 0.2 Sb5+ per O = 2) from St. Marcel-Praborna in the Aosta Valley, Italy, were re-examined. These compositions occur in two different petrographical environments (within the rock matrix or as microinclusions within Sb-rich titanite) in the manganese concentrations at this locality. The new data confirm our earlier hypothesis that two distinct petrogenetical/crystal-chemical processes both occurred: 1. Sbmetasomatism of pre-existing Sb-free rutile inclusions; and 2. creation of neoblastic Sb-rich futile by the expulsion of Ti from pre-existing Sb-free titanite being metasomatized by Sb to form Sb-rich titanite. In the literature, Sb in minerals is variably considered as being trivalent and/or pentavalent. This work demonstrates that within rutile it is entirely Sb5+, substituting for Ti4+ by the following heterovalent cation exchange mechanism which is also the dominant one in the host Sb-rich titanite: 2 νiR4+ = viR3+ + viR5+, where viR3+ = (Al,Cr,Mn,Fe)3+ A near-perfect correlation of ∑R5+ vs. ∑R3+ (r > 0.98) is perturbed only by the presence of trace amounts of Ca2+, Sr2+ and Ba2+. Traces of Mn4+, Si4+ and/or (OH)- might also be present. These alkaline earth cations are the largest cations ever recorded in the rutile structure and are seemingly too large to occupy normal octahedral sites. The cation exchange mechanism involved might be that found in the 'trirutile' mineral group: 3 viR4+ = viR2+ + 2 νiR5+. Alternatively these large divalent cations may be situated in the lozenge-shaped tunnels of the rutile structure, by analogy with other large cations occupying the wider subrectangular tunnels in the analogous cryptomelane/hollandite/priderite, romanéchite and todorokite mineral groups. This leads to a possible new cation exchange mechanism for the rutile structure: 2 νiR4+ + tunnelvacant = 2 viR3+ + tunnelR2+.
Intellectual Property Rights and Economic Development: Historical lessons and emerging issues

As will become clearer later in the paper, the role of intellectual property rights (IPR) in economic development has always been a controversial issue. However, the debate surrounding it has become even more heated after the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement. Initially, TRIPS was not even a central issue in the Uruguay Round of the GATT talks that led to the birth of the World Trade Organization (WTO) (Siebeck, 1990a), and therefore did not get much attention. A number of recent events, however, have come together to make people realize that this could become the biggest point of contention in the running of the WTO in the coming years. The rst thing that drew people’s attention to TRIPS was the fact that the ‘transition’ period allowed for the developing countries to ‘upgrade’ their IPR regimes in accordance with the TRIPS agreement was coming to an end, exposing them to greater dangers of trade sanctions by the advanced countries (end of 2000 except for the least developed countries, which were given until 2006). Second, many people were recently enraged by attempts by advanced country individuals and rms to patent products embodying knowledge that is commonly known in some developing countries on the back of the TRIPS provision (e.g. the notorious turmeric case; see UNDP, 1999, pp. 70–71). Third, the recent controversy surrounding the attempts by pharmaceutical companies based in advanced countries to block the exports of cheap HIV/AIDS drugs by some developing countries (such as Argentina, India, Thailand, and Brazil) using TRIPS has highlighted the potential conict between TRIPS and greater human well-being. TRIPS, like other WTO agreements, is an agreement on a legal framework, so its detailed modus operandi needs to be worked out through the accumulation of cases. For this reason, the exact future shape of the TRIPS regime cannot be predicted with certainty at this point. However, as the aforementioned examples show, the system seems to be evolving in a way that favours the advanced country producers over everyone else (e.g.
HE PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF CLASSICAL MUSIC AND POP MUSIC ON FEMALE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Purpose: Since the early times of history, music has evolved as a branch of art as well as being applied for the purpose of treatment. The effects of music on individuals, animals and plants have been heavily researched in recent years. So, we aimed to determine the physiological and psychological effects of classical and pop music on young students. Method: Various types of music invoke different reactions on animals, plants and individuals. We compared the results of effects of music we obtained from 17 female students aged 14-16. In this regard, we measured physiological parameters of subjects such as pulse, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, reaction times to light and sound, and the precision of voluntary action with muscle fatigue and precision test. Moreover, we assessed their psychological mood with the short-term memory, situational anxiety test. In order to acquire general knowledge about subjects, they were required to fill in information forms. We conducted the test in the same order on subjects who were individually taken into a room. The tests were applied to the subjects while they were a) not exposed to music and to classical music; b) not exposed to music and to pop music. The obtained results were compared with Student’s-t and Wilcoxon-t tests. Findings: According to the results, when prior to listening to music period was compared with while listening period; 1. the systolic and diastolic blood pressure and the number of pulses remained unchan ged; 2. while reaction to light duration decreased, reaction to sound duration increased; 3. short-term memory decreased; 4. rhythmic stroke pace in muscle action increased; 5. the precision of voluntary action decreased in pop music, and it increased in classical music. Discussion: The reason that the pulse along with the systolic diastolic pressure remained unchanged was because the subjects were inactive and unexcited before and during the music due to the atmosphere of experiment. The duration of reaction to sound by the subjects was supposed to be short but actually their reaction to the light was shorter because music prevented their reaction to the sound stimuli. In the same way, since music distracts the subjects, it affects the memory in the negative way. Since precision decreases the response when listening to the pop music and it increases during classical music, these values indicate to us that music with a fast tempo negatively affects the response at tasks that require concentration. Conclusions: Music hinders the reactions of the subjects to sound stimulus and affects it in a negative way by extending the reaction time. Therefore their reaction time increases. It is observed that music with fast rhythms affects short-term memory, decreases the effectiveness of the voluntary actions but it increases the effectiveness of the action in which muscle action is needed. Besides, music has the ability to remove stress and also make people feel relaxed and tranquil.
Diffusion-based Reinforcement Learning for Edge-enabled AI-Generated Content Services

As Metaverse emerges as the next-generation Internet paradigm, the ability to efficiently generate content is paramount. AIGenerated Content (AIGC) emerges as a key solution, yet the resource intensive nature of large Generative AI (GAI) models presents challenges. To address this issue, we introduce an AIGC-as-a-Service (AaaS) architecture, which deploys AIGC models in wireless edge networks to ensure broad AIGC services accessibility for Metaverse users. Nonetheless, an important aspect of providing personalized user experiences requires carefully selecting AIGC Service Providers (ASPs) capable of effectively executing user tasks, which is complicated by environmental uncertainty and variability. Addressing this gap in current research, we introduce the AI-Generated Optimal Decision (AGOD) algorithm, a diffusion model-based approach for generating the optimal ASP selection decisions. Integrating AGOD with Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL), we develop the Deep Diffusion Soft Actor-Critic (D2SAC) algorithm, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of ASP selection. Our comprehensive experiments demonstrate that D2SAC outperforms seven leading DRL algorithms. Furthermore, the proposed AGOD algorithm has the potential for extension to various optimization problems in wireless networks, positioning it as a promising approach for future research on AIGC-driven services. The implementation of our proposed method is available at: https://github.com/Lizonghang/AGOD.
Physiological and pathophysiological roles of hepoxilins and their analogs

Abstract The metabolism of arachidonic acid (AA) occurs via different pathways leading to the production of a great number of metabolites with a wide range of biological effects. Hepoxilins (HXs) are physiologically active AA metabolites produced through the lipoxygenase pathway. Since their discovery, several researchers have investigated their biological effects. They were proven to have pro-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, and skin-protective effects. HXs also contribute to the processes of neutrophil activation and migration and inflammatory hyperalgesia. The major limitation to their effects is that they are highly labile and are metabolized into less active compounds which led to the synthesis of stable HXs analogs called proprietary bioactive therapeutics (PBTs). Although PBTs were synthesized to further study the effect of HXs, they showed different effects than natural HXs under some conditions. PBTs were proven to have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects and were found to be potent antagonists of the thromboxane receptor. In this review article, we aimed to provide an overview of some physiological and pathophysiological effects of hepoxilins and their analogs on the skin, platelet, blood vessel, neutrophil, and cell survival. Graphical Abstract
3DContextNet: K-d Tree Guided Hierarchical Learning of Point Clouds Using Local Contextual Cues

3D data such as point clouds and meshes are becoming more and more available. The goal of this paper is to obtain 3D object and scene classification and semantic segmentation. Because point clouds have irregular formats, most of the existing methods convert the 3D data into multiple 2D projection images or 3D voxel grids. These representations are suited as input of conventional CNNs but they either ignore the underlying 3D geometrical structure or are constrained by data sparsity and computational complexity. Therefore, recent methods encode the coordinates of each point cloud to certain high dimensional features to cover the 3D space. However, by their design, these models are not able to sufficiently capture the local patterns. In this paper, we propose a method that directly uses point clouds as input and exploits the implicit space partition of k-d tree structure to learn the local contextual information and aggregate features at different scales hierarchically. Extensive experiments on challenging benchmarks show that our proposed model properly captures the local patterns to provide discriminative point set features. For the task of 3D scene semantic segmentation, our method outperforms the state-of-the-art on the challenging Stanford Large-Scale 3D Indoor Spaces Dataset(S3DIS) by a large margin.
The Curious Case of Convex Networks

In this paper, we investigate a constrained formulation of neural networks where the output is a convex function of the input. We show that the convexity constraints can be enforced on both fully connected and convolutional layers, making them applicable to most architectures. The convexity constraints include restricting the weights (for all but the first layer) to be non-negative and using a non-decreasing convex activation function. Albeit simple, these constraints have profound implications on the generalization abilities of the network. We draw three valuable insights: (a) Input Output Convex Networks (IOC-NN) self regularize and almost uproot the problem of overfitting; (b) Although heavily constrained, they come close to the performance of the base architectures; and (c) The ensemble of convex networks can match or outperform the non convex counterparts. We demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed idea using thorough experiments and ablation studies on MNIST, CIFAR10, and CIFAR100 datasets with three different neural network architectures. The code for this project is publicly available at: \url{this https URL}.