Growing a list

It is easy to find expert knowledge on the Internet on almost any topic, but obtaining a complete overview of a given topic is not always easy: Information can be scattered across many sources and must be aggregated to be useful. We introduce a method for intelligently growing a list of relevant items, starting from a small seed of examples. Our algorithm takes advantage of the wisdom of the crowd, in the sense that there are many experts who post lists of things on the Internet. We use a collection of simple machine learning components to find these experts and aggregate their lists to produce a single complete and meaningful list. We use experiments with gold standards and open-ended experiments without gold standards to show that our method significantly outperforms the state of the art. Our method uses the clustering algorithm Bayesian Sets even when its underlying independence assumption is violated, and we provide a theoretical generalization bound to motivate its use.

A family case of fertile human 45,X,psu dic(15;Y) males

We report on a familial case including four male probands from three generations with a 45,X,psu dic(15;Y)(p11.2;q12) karyotype. 45,X is usually associated with a female phenotype and only rarely with maleness, due to translocation of small Y chromosomal fragments to autosomes. These male patients are commonly infertile because of missing azoospermia factor regions from the Y long arm. In our familial case we found a pseudodicentric translocation chromosome, that contains almost the entire chromosomes 15 and Y. The translocation took place in an unknown male ancestor of our probands and has no apparent effect on fertility and phenotype of the carrier. FISH analysis demonstrated the deletion of the pseudoautosomal region 2 (PAR2) from the Y chromosome and the loss of the nucleolus organizing region (NOR) from chromosome 15. The formation of the psu dic(15;Y) chromosome is a reciprocal event to the formation of the satellited Y chromosome (Yqs). Statistically, the formation of 45,X,psu dic(15;Y) (p11.2;q12) is as likely as the formation of Yqs. Nevertheless, it has not been described yet. This can be explained by the dicentricity of this translocation chromosome that usually leads to mitotic instability and meiotic imbalances. A second event, a stable inactivation of one of the two centromeres is obligatory to enable the transmission of the translocation chromosome and thus a stably reduced chromosome number from father to every son in this family

Male age is associated with extra-pair paternity, but not with extra-pair mating behaviour

Extra-pair paternity is the result of copulation between a female and a male other than her social partner. In socially monogamous birds, old males are most likely to sire extra-pair offspring. The male manipulation and female choice hypotheses predict that age-specific male mating behaviour could explain this old-over-young male advantage. These hypotheses have been difficult to test because copulations and the individuals involved are hard to observe. Here, we studied the mating behaviour and pairing contexts of captive house sparrows, Passer domesticus. Our set-up mimicked the complex social environment experienced by wild house sparrows. We found that middle-aged males, which would be considered old in natural populations, gained most extra-pair paternity. However, both, female solicitation behaviour and subsequent extra-pair matings were not associated with male age. Further, copulations were more likely when solicited by females than when initiated by males (i.e. unsolicited copulations). Male initiated within-pair copulations were more common than male initiated extra-pair copulations. To conclude, our results did not support either hypothesis regarding age-specific male mating behaviour. Instead, female choice, independent of male age, governed copulation success, especially in an extra-pair context. Post-copulatory mechanisms might determine why older males sire more extra-pair offspring

Immunohistochemical localization of fibronectin as a tool for the age determination of human skin wounds

We analyzed the distribution of fibronectin in routinely embedded tissue specimens from 53 skin wounds and 6 postmortem wounds. In postmortem wounds a faint but focal positive staining was exclusively found at the margin of the specimens which dit not extend into the adjacent stroma. Vital wounds were classified into 3 groups. The first comprising lesions with wound ages ranging from a few seconds to 30 min, the second comprising those with wound ages upt to 3 weeks, and the third group with lesions more than 3 weeks old. Ten out of 17 lesions with a wound age up to 30 min showed a clear positive reaction within the wound area. Three specimens in this group were completely negative, while in 4 additional cases the result was not significantly different from postmortem lesions. These 7 cases were characterized by acute death with extremely short survival times (only seconds). In wounds up to 3 weeks old fibronectin formed a distinct network containing an increasing number of inflammatory cells corresponding to the wound age. In 2 cases with a survival time of 17 days and in all wounds older than 3 weeks fibronectin was restricted to the surface of fibroblasts and to parallel arranged fibers in the granulation tissue without any network structures. We present evidence that fibronectin is a useful marker for vital wounds with a survival time of more than a few minutes. Fibronectin appears before neutrophilic granulocytes migrate into the wound area. Since a faint positive fibronectin staining is seen in postmortem lesions and bleedings, we propose that only those wounds which show strong positive fibronectin staining also extending into the adjacent stroma should be regarded as vital

Towards Real-Time Head Pose Estimation: Exploring Parameter-Reduced Residual Networks on In-the-wild Datasets

Head poses are a key component of human bodily communication and thus a decisive element of human-computer interaction. Real-time head pose estimation is crucial in the context of human-robot interaction or driver assistance systems. The most promising approaches for head pose estimation are based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs). However, CNN models are often too complex to achieve real-time performance. To face this challenge, we explore a popular subgroup of CNNs, the Residual Networks (ResNets) and modify them in order to reduce their number of parameters. The ResNets are modifed for different image sizes including low-resolution images and combined with a varying number of layers. They are trained on in-the-wild datasets to ensure real-world applicability. As a result, we demonstrate that the performance of the ResNets can be maintained while reducing the number of parameters. The modified ResNets achieve state-of-the-art accuracy and provide fast inference for real-time applicability.Comment: 32nd International Conference on Industrial, Engineering & Other Applications of Applied Intelligent Systems (IEA/AIE 2019

Developing an objective indicator of fatigue: An alternative mobile version of the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (m-PVT)

Approximately 20% of the working population report symptoms of feeling fatigued at work. The aim of the study was to investigate whether an alternative mobile version of the ‘gold standard’ Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) could be used to provide an objective indicator of fatigue in staff working in applied safety critical settings such as train driving, hospital staffs, emergency services, law enforcements, etc., using different mobile devices. 26 participants mean age 20 years completed a 25-min reaction time study using an alternative mobile version of the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (m-PVT) that was implemented on either an Apple iPhone 6s Plus or a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4. Participants attended two sessions: a morning and an afternoon session held on two consecutive days counterbalanced. It was found that the iPhone 6s Plus generated both mean speed responses (1/RTs) and mean reaction times (RTs) that were comparable to those observed in the literature while the Galaxy Tab 4 generated significantly lower 1/RTs and slower RTs than those found with the iPhone 6s Plus. Furthermore, it was also found that the iPhone 6s Plus was sensitive enough to detect lower mean speed of responses (1/RTs) and significantly slower mean reaction times (RTs) after 10-min on the m-PVT. In contrast, it was also found that the Galaxy Tab 4 generated mean number of lapses that were significant after 5-min on the m-PVT. These findings seem to indicate that the m-PVT could be used to provide an objective indicator of fatigue in staff working in applied safety critical settings such as train driving, hospital staffs, emergency services, law enforcements, etc

Comparison of diffusion tensor imaging by cardiovascular magnetic resonance and gadolinium enhanced 3D image intensity approaches to investigation of structural anisotropy in explanted rat hearts

Background: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) can through the two methods 3D FLASH and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) give complementary information on the local orientations of cardiomyocytes and their laminar arrays. Methods: Eight explanted rat hearts were perfused with Gd-DTPA contrast agent and fixative and imaged in a 9.4T magnet by two types of acquisition: 3D fast low angle shot (FLASH) imaging, voxels 50 × 50 × 50 μm, and 3D spin echo DTI with monopolar diffusion gradients of 3.6 ms duration at 11.5 ms separation, voxels 200 × 200 × 200 μm. The sensitivity of each approach to imaging parameters was explored. Results:The FLASH data showed laminar alignments of voxels with high signal, in keeping with the presumed predominance of contrast in the interstices between sheetlets. It was analysed, using structure-tensor (ST) analysis, to determine the most (v 1 ST ), intermediate (v 2 ST ) and least (v 3 ST ) extended orthogonal directions of signal continuity. The DTI data was analysed to determine the most (e 1 DTI ), intermediate (e 2 DTI ) and least (e 3 DTI ) orthogonal eigenvectors of extent of diffusion. The correspondence between the FLASH and DTI methods was measured and appraised. The most extended direction of FLASH signal (v 1 ST ) agreed well with that of diffusion (e 1 DTI ) throughout the left ventricle (representative discrepancy in the septum of 13.3 ± 6.7°: median ± absolute deviation) and both were in keeping with the expected local orientations of the long-axis of cardiomyocytes. However, the orientation of the least directions of FLASH signal continuity (v 3 ST ) and diffusion (e 3 ST ) showed greater discrepancies of up to 27.9 ± 17.4°. Both FLASH (v 3 ST ) and DTI (e 3 DTI ) where compared to directly measured laminar arrays in the FLASH images. For FLASH the discrepancy between the structure-tensor calculated v 3 ST and the directly measured FLASH laminar array normal was of 9 ± 7° for the lateral wall and 7 ± 9° for the septum (median ± inter quartile range), and for DTI the discrepancy between the calculated v 3 DTI and the directly measured FLASH laminar array normal was 22 ± 14° and 61 ± 53.4°. DTI was relatively insensitive to the number of diffusion directions and to time up to 72 hours post fixation, but was moderately affected by b-value (which was scaled by modifying diffusion gradient pulse strength with fixed gradient pulse separation). Optimal DTI parameters were b = 1000 mm/s2 and 12 diffusion directions. FLASH acquisitions were relatively insensitive to the image processing parameters explored. Conclusions: We show that ST analysis of FLASH is a useful and accurate tool in the measurement of cardiac microstructure. While both FLASH and the DTI approaches appear promising for mapping of the alignments of myocytes throughout myocardium, marked discrepancies between the cross myocyte anisotropies deduced from each method call for consideration of their respective limitations

Associations between HIV and Human Pathways Revealed by Protein-Protein Interactions and Correlated Gene Expression Profiles

BACKGROUND: AIDS is one of the most devastating diseases in human history. Decades of studies have revealed host factors required for HIV infection, indicating that HIV exploits host processes for its own purposes. HIV infection leads to AIDS as well as various comorbidities. The associations between HIV and human pathways and diseases may reveal non-obvious relationships between HIV and non-HIV-defining diseases. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Human biological pathways were evaluated and statistically compared against the presence of HIV host factor related genes. All of the obtained scores comparing HIV targeted genes and biological pathways were ranked. Different rank results based on overlapping genes, recovered virus-host interactions, co-expressed genes, and common interactions in human protein-protein interaction networks were obtained. Correlations between rankings suggested that these measures yielded diverse rankings. Rank combination of these ranks led to a final ranking of HIV-associated pathways, which revealed that HIV is associated with immune cell-related pathways and several cancer-related pathways. The proposed method is also applicable to the evaluation of associations between other pathogens and human pathways and diseases. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that HIV infection shares common molecular mechanisms with certain signaling pathways and cancers. Interference in apoptosis pathways and the long-term suppression of immune system functions by HIV infection might contribute to tumorigenesis. Relationships between HIV infection and human pathways of disease may aid in the identification of common drug targets for viral infections and other diseases

Does a SLAP lesion affect shoulder muscle recruitment as measured by EMG activity during a rugby tackle?

Background: The study objective was to assess the influence of a SLAP lesion on onset of EMG activity in shoulder muscles during a front on rugby football tackle within professional rugby players. Methods: Mixed cross-sectional study evaluating between and within group differences in EMG onset times. Testing was carried out within the physiotherapy department of a university sports medicine clinic. The test group consisted of 7 players with clinically diagnosed SLAP lesions, later verified on arthroscopy. The reference group consisted of 15 uninjured and full time professional rugby players from within the same playing squad. Controlled tackles were performed against a tackle dummy. Onset of EMG activity was assessed from surface EMG of Pectorialis Major, Biceps Brachii, Latissimus Dorsi, Serratus Anterior and Infraspinatus muscles relative to time of impact. Analysis of differences in activation timing between muscles and limbs (injured versus non-injured side and non injured side versus matched reference group). Results: Serratus Anterior was activated prior to all other muscles in all (P = 0.001-0.03) subjects. In the SLAP injured shoulder Biceps was activated later than in the non-injured side. Onset times of all muscles of the noninjured shoulder in the injured player were consistently earlier compared with the reference group. Whereas, within the injured shoulder, all muscle activation timings were later than in the reference group. Conclusions: This study shows that in shoulders with a SLAP lesion there is a trend towards delay in activation time of Biceps and other muscles with the exception of an associated earlier onset of activation of Serratus anterior, possibly due to a coping strategy to protect glenohumeral stability and thoraco-scapular stability. This trend was not statistically significant in all cases