Towards Quantifying the Distance between Opinions

Increasingly, critical decisions in public policy, governance, and business strategy rely on a deeper understanding of the needs and opinions of constituent members (e.g. citizens, shareholders). While it has become easier to collect a large number of opinions on a topic, there is a necessity for automated tools to help navigate the space of opinions. In such contexts understanding and quantifying the similarity between opinions is key. We find that measures based solely on text similarity or on overall sentiment often fail to effectively capture the distance between opinions. Thus, we propose a new distance measure for capturing the similarity between opinions that leverages the nuanced observation -- similar opinions express similar sentiment polarity on specific relevant entities-of-interest. Specifically, in an unsupervised setting, our distance measure achieves significantly better Adjusted Rand Index scores (up to 56x) and Silhouette coefficients (up to 21x) compared to existing approaches. Similarly, in a supervised setting, our opinion distance measure achieves considerably better accuracy (up to 20% increase) compared to extant approaches that rely on text similarity, stance similarity, and sentiment similarityComment: Accepted in ICWSM '2

A Lytic Lesion in Proximal Phalanx of Hand: A Case Report and Diagnostic Approach

Lytic lesions arising in the hand can be confused with an enchondroma. Enchondroma is the most common tumor of the hand and can present with varied features. It often requires only observation. A dilemma arises when surgically treatable lesions like aneurysmal bone cyst (ABC) present in uncommon locations like the hand. To diagnose a lytic lesion in the hand, percutaneous biopsy is commonly done. But, percutaneous biopsy is unnecessary in enchondroma and may not be useful in conditions like simple bone cyst and ABC. In such situations, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can differentiate between the most frequent benign lesions of the hand thereby reducing the need for invasive procedures. We present a 25-year-old lady who presented with a painless right index finger swelling for the past 6 months. Radiographs revealed a lytic expansile lesion in the proximal phalanx of the hand. MRI showed multiple fluid-fluid levels. Curettage and autologous iliac crest bone grafting was done. Histopathology confirmed the diagnosis of an ABC. The patient was followed up for 12 months without any recurrence. We briefly review the paucity of literature on the diagnostic approach to benign lytic lesions of the hand

Supplementation of Madhuca longifolia Seed oil augments diclofenac-induced organ toxicities: A biochemical and histopathological approach

Diclofenac medication has been extensively used for anti-inflammatory, anti-pyretic, and analgesic actions. Its abiding usage and overdose have induced toxicity and harmful effects on the liver, kidney, and gastrointestinal tract. The research aims to scrutinize the protective effect of Madhuca longifolia seed oil against diclofenac-induced toxicity in female Wistar albino rats. A period of 10 days of study was aimed at 7 groups; Group 1 was assigned as normal control. Group 2 has been administered diclofenac (50 mg/kg b.w. /day, i.p.) only on the last two days of each study period. Group 3 and Group 4 have been pre-treated with 1 mL, and 2 mL of Madhuca longifolia seed oil, respectively, and diclofenac was induced as per Group 2. Group 5 was treated with the standard drug silymarin and diclofenac. Group 6 and Group 7 were given 1 mL and 2 mL of Madhuca longifolia seed oil alone. After the study period, parameters like liver enzyme markers, renal enzyme markers, and antioxidants were measured, and tissue samples were analyzed for histopathological changes. The results proved that pre-treatment of 1 mL of Madhuca longifolia seed oil has efficacy against diclofenac-induced toxicity

Signaling Network Map of Endothelial TEK Tyrosine Kinase

TEK tyrosine kinase is primarily expressed on endothelial cells and is most commonly referred to as TIE2. TIE2 is a receptor tyrosine kinase modulated by its ligands, angiopoietins, to regulate the development and remodeling of vascular system. It is also one of the critical pathways associated with tumor angiogenesis and familial venous malformations. Apart from the vascular system, TIE2 signaling is also associated with postnatal hematopoiesis. Despite the involvement of TIE2-angiopoietin system in several diseases, the downstream molecular events of TIE2-angiopoietin signaling are not reported in any pathway repository. Therefore, carrying out a detailed review of published literature, we have documented molecular signaling events mediated by TIE2 in response to angiopoietins and developed a network map of TIE2 signaling. The pathway information is freely available to the scientific community through NetPath, a manually curated resource of signaling pathways. We hope that this pathway resource will provide an in-depth view of TIE2-angiopoietin signaling and will lead to identification of potential therapeutic targets for TIE2-angiopoietin associated disorders.</jats:p

Impact of DHCP churn on network characterization

We investigate the DHCP churn impact on network characterization by analyzing 18 months of DHCP, DNS, Firewall Alert, and Netflow data collected from an enterprise network of 30,000 clients. We find that DHCP churn has clear impact on network metrics.</jats:p

A Lytic Lesion in Proximal Phalanx of Hand: A Case Report and Diagnostic Approach

Lytic lesions arising in the hand can be confused with an enchondroma. Enchondroma is the most common tumor of the hand and can present with varied features. It often requires only observation. A dilemma arises when surgically treatable lesions like aneurysmal bone cyst (ABC) present in uncommon locations like the hand. To diagnose a lytic lesion in the hand, percutaneous biopsy is commonly done. But, percutaneous biopsy is unnecessary in enchondroma and may not be useful in conditions like simple bone cyst and ABC. In such situations, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can differentiate between the most frequent benign lesions of the hand thereby reducing the need for invasive procedures. We present a 25-year-old lady who presented with a painless right index finger swelling for the past 6 months. Radiographs revealed a lytic expansile lesion in the proximal phalanx of the hand. MRI showed multiple fluid-fluid levels. Curettage and autologous iliac crest bone grafting was done. Histopathology confirmed the diagnosis of an ABC. The patient was followed up for 12 months without any recurrence. We briefly review the paucity of literature on the diagnostic approach to benign lytic lesions of the hand. </jats:p

Peritoneal Dialysis Teaching Series 2: The Bloody Problem

Hemoperitoneum is a frequent complication of chronic peritoneal dialysis which can occur early or late in the therapy. It may be related to the dialysis procedure itself or due to other factors. The presentation can vary from light red contamination to gross blood in the dialysate. This article, the second in the PD teaching series, unravels the various causes of PD related hemoperitoneum and with, its evaluation and management

PERITONEAL DIALYSIS TEACHING SERIES WHAT COMES OUT – HAS TO GO IN

Hernia is one of the mechanical complication of peritoneal dialysis and is the Achille's heel. Undetected hernias prior to initiating PD and those developing after initiation can lead to complications, infection and failure of therapy. In this first article of the PD teaching series, we aim to cover the various aspects of hernia management in peritoneal dialysis

Spatial and seasonal variability in the water chemistry of Kabar Tal wetland (Ramsar site), Bihar, India: multivariate statistical techniques and GIS approach

Abstract This study was performed to evaluate the spatial and temporal distribution of major ions in water samples of a newly designated Ramsar site, namely Kabar Tal (KT) wetland of Bihar. Samples were collected during summer, monsoon, and winter seasons. The analytical and GIS results show that concentration of electrical conductivity, chloride, and nitrate are higher in summer than monsoon and winter. However, the concentration of major cations such as sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium are higher in winter than monsoon and summer. In addition, major anions like sulphate and phosphate concentration is higher during monsoon than summer and winter. Multivariate statistical tool (discriminant analysis) results suggest that temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, sulphate, and potassium are the major parameters distinguishing the water quality in different seasons. The study confirms that seasonal variations are playing a major role in the hydrochemistry of KT wetland. Overall, this work outlines the approach towards proper conservation and utilization of wetlands and to assess the quality of surface water for determining its suitability for agricultural purposes. Overall, this work highlights the approach towards estimating the seasonal dynamics of chemical species in KT wetland and its suitability for irrigation purposes.</jats:p