Adapting to Sparsity and Heavy Tailed Data

The Lasso and the Horseshoe, gold-standards in the frequentist and Bayesian paradigms, critically depend on learning the error variance. This causes a lack of scale invariance and adaptability to heavy-tailed data. The √ Lasso [Belloni et al., 2011] attempt to correct this by using the `1 norm on both the likelihood and the penalty for the objective function. In contrast, there is essentially no methods for uncertainty quantification or automatic parameter tuning via a formal Bayesian treatment of an unknown error distribution. On the other hand, Bayesian shrinkage priors lacking a local shrinkage term fails to adapt to the large signals embedded in noise. In this thesis, I propose to build a fully Bayesian method called √ DL that achieves scale invariance and robustness to heavy tails while maintaining computational efficiency. The classical √ Lasso estimate is then recovered as the posterior mode with an appropriate modification of the local shrinkage prior. The Bayesian √ DL leads to uncertainty quantification by yielding standard error estimates and credible sets for the underlying parameters. Furthermore, the hierarchical model leads to an automatic tuning of the penalty parameter using a full Bayes or empirical Bayes approach, avoiding any ad-hoc choice over a grid. We provide an efficient Gibbs sampling scheme based on Normal scale mixture representation of Laplace densities. Performance on real and simulated data exhibit excellent small sample properties and we establish some theoretical guarantees

Spondylarthrite ankylosante au Sénégal: aspects épidémiologiques, diagnostiques, thérapeutiques et évolutifs au Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Aristide LeDantec de Dakar

Introduction: la spondylarthrite ankylosante (SA) est une maladie évolutive, pouvant s'aggraver par une invalidité. Le but de notre étude est de décrire les aspects épidémiologiques, diagnostiques, thérapeutiques et évolutifs de la SA dans le service de rhumatologie du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Aristide LeDantec à Dakar. Méthodes: il s´agissait d´une étude transversale descriptive et analytique, avec un recueil de données à la fois prospectif et rétrospectif sur une période de 8 ans, entre janvier 2012 et décembre 2020, sur des patients atteints de SA de diagnostic établi en accord avec les critères diagnostiques d´Amor, de l´ESSG (European Seronegative Spondylarthropathy Group), d´ASAS (Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society) et les critères de New York modifié pour la SA. Les données ont été recueillies par le biais d'un questionnaire structuré et analysées à l´aide du logiciel SPSS25 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). Résultats: six cent quarante-sept (647) patients ont répondu aux critères d´inclusions; 414 femmes et 233 hommes soit un sex ratio de 1,77F/1H. Différentes formes symptomatiques étaient obtenues: les formes axiales (55,65%), les formes mixtes (44,35%) et les formes systémiques avec manifestation extra-articulaires: uvéites (12,21%), insuffisance aortique (5,71%) et maladie fibrobulleuse des poumons (3,86%). Soixante pourcent (60%) des patients étaient sous antiinflammatoires non stéroïdiens (AINS), 47% sous méthotrexate et 0,92% sous biothérapie. Les indices d´activité de la maladie, les indices fonctionnels et les indices de la qualité de vie ont permis le suivi de la maladie. Conclusion: nos résultats ont montré une prédominance féminine. Les formes axiales étaient les plus représentées. Plus de la moitié de nos patients étaient sous antiinflammatoires, 47% sous méthotrexate et 0,92% sous biothérapie. Cette étude a permis de comprendre le poids de la SA dans les spondyloarthrites et son évolution dans le temps

Antioxidant vitamins, oxidant injuries and diseases

Over the past few decades antioxidant vitamins have been shown to aid in disease prophylaxis as well as treatment. Deficiencies of these vitamins in diets have resulted in associated deficiency syndromes in both humans and animals. Since a handful of disease conditions is associated with imbalances of antioxidant enzymes such as catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione as well as increases in reactive oxygen species (ROS), nitrogen oxide species (NOS) and lipid per-oxidation markers such as malondialdehyde, supplementation with antioxidant vitamins has resulted in amelioration of oxidative damage and ultimately disease recession. Vitamins A, C and E together with compounds such as carotenoids have been extensively studied for their roles in disease modulation or exacerbation. However, while Vitamins C and E have been shown to have immense potentials in the alleviation of several conditions, Vitamin A and especially carotenoids had shown little or no use in conditions such as cardiovascular disease and cancer prevention. This review highlights the documented roles of these vitamins in disease prevention over the past few decades and the potentials that need to be explored further

Antioxidant Vitamins, Oxidant Injuries and Diseases

Over the past few decades antioxidant vitamins have been shown to aid in disease prophylaxis as well as treatment. Deficiencies of these vitamins in diets have resulted in associated deficiency syndromes in both humans and animals. Since a handful of disease conditions is associated with imbalances of antioxidant enzymes such as catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione as well as increases in reactive oxygen species (ROS), nitrogen oxide species (NOS) and lipid per-oxidation markers such as malondialdehyde, supplementation with antioxidant vitamins has resulted in amelioration of oxidative damage and ultimately disease recession. Vitamins A, C and E together with compounds such as carotenoids have been extensively studied for their roles in disease modulation or exacerbation. However, while Vitamins C and E have been shown to have immense potentials in the alleviation of several conditions, Vitamin A and especially carotenoids had shown little or no use in conditions such as cardiovascular disease and cancer prevention. This review highlights the documented roles of these vitamins in disease prevention over the past few decades and the potentials that need to be explored further

Isolation and identification of bacterial populations of zoonotic importance from captive non-venomous snakes in Malaysia

Aim: Captivity of non-venomous snakes such as python and boa are common in zoos, aquariums and as pets in households. Poor captivity conditions expose these reptiles to numerous pathogens which may result in disease conditions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the common bacteria isolated from necropsied captive snakes in Malaysia over a five year period. Materials and methods: A total of 27 snake carcasses presented for necropsy at the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) were used in this survey. Samples were aseptically obtained at necropsy from different organs/tissues (lung, liver, heart, kindey, oesophagus, lymph node, stomach, spinal cord, spleen, intestine) and cultured onto 5% blood and McConkey agar, respectively. Gram staining, morphological evaluation and biochemical test such as oxidase, catalase and coagulase were used to tentatively identify the presumptive bacterial isolates. Results: Pythons had the highest number of cases (81.3%) followed by anaconda (14.8%) and boa (3.7%). Mixed infection accounted for 81.5% in all snakes and was highest in pythons (63%). However, single infection was only observed in pythons (18.5%). A total of 82.7%, 95.4% and 100% of the bacterial isolates from python, anaconda and boa, respectively were gram negative. Aeromonas spp was the most frequently isolated bacteria in pythons and anaconda with incidences of 25 (18%) and 8 (36.6%) with no difference (p > 0.05) in incidence, respectively, while Salmonella spp was the most frequently isolated in boa and significantly higher (p < 0.05) than in python and anaconda. Bacteria species were most frequently isolated from the kidney of pythons 35 (25.2%), intestines of anacondas 11 (50%) and stomach of boa 3 (30%).Conclusion: This study showed that captive pythons harbored more bacterial speciesthan anaconda or boa. Most of the bacterial species isolated from these snakes have public health importance and have been incriminated in human infections worldwide

In vitro isolation and molecular identification of reptarenavirus in Malaysia

Boid inclusion body disease (BIBD) is a viral disease of boids caused by reptarenavirus. In this study, tissue from naturally infected boid snakes were homogenized and propagated in African Monkey kidney (Vero) and rat embryonic fibroblast (REF) cells. Virus replication was determined by the presence of cytopathic effect, while viral morphology was observed using transmission electron microscopy. Viral RNA was amplified using RT-PCR with primers specific for the L-segment of reptarenavirus; similarly, quantification of viral replication was done using qPCR at 24–144 h postinfection. Viral cytopathology was characterized by cell rounding and detachment in both Vero and REF cells. The viral morphology showed round-to-pleomorphic particles ranging from 105 to 150 nm which had sand-like granules. Sanger sequencing identified four closely associated reptarenavirus species from 15 (37.5 %) of the total samples tested, and these were named as follows: reptarenavirus UPM-MY 01, 02, 03, and 04. These isolates were phylogenetically closely related to the University Helsinki virus (UHV), Boa Arenavirus NL (ROUTV; BAV), and unidentified reptarenavirus L20 (URAV-L20). Comparison of deduced amino acid sequences further confirmed identities to L-protein of UHV, L-polymerase of BAV and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of URAV-L20. Viral replication in Vero cells increased steadily from 24 to 72 h and peaked at 144 h. This is the first study in South East Asia to isolate and characterize reptarenavirus in boid snakes with BIBD

The impact of e-banking service quality on the sustainable customer satisfaction: Evidence from the Saudi Arabia commercial banking sector

The banking sector around the globe has witnessed a huge development in its services and products. The electronic banking services are considered as a competitive advantage for the banking sector. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of e-banking service quality on customer satisfaction in the context of Saudi Arabian commercial banks. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used in the study. A sample of 308 customers from the banking sector participated in this study. The researchers have developed a self-structured questionnaire to collect the relevant data. In addition, secondary data was gathered from published sources, including websites, journal papers, and publications of the chosen commercial banks. The findings of this study show that the eight service quality dimensions; reliability, transactional efficiency, customer support, service security, ease of use, performance, satisfaction with service quality and service content have a significant impact on the level of user's satisfaction with e-banking in the Saudi Arabian commercial banks

WHISPER: A Location Privacy-Preserving Scheme Using Transmission Range Changing for Internet of Vehicles

Internet of Vehicles (IoV) has the potential to enhance road-safety with environment sensing features provided by embedded devices and sensors. This benignant feature also raises privacy issues as vehicles announce their fine-grained whereabouts mainly for safety requirements, adversaries can leverage this to track and identify users. Various privacy-preserving schemes have been designed and evaluated, for example, mix-zone, encryption, group forming, and silent-period-based techniques. However, they all suffer inherent limitations. In this paper, we review these limitations and propose WHISPER, a safety-aware location privacy-preserving scheme that adjusts the transmission range of vehicles in order to prevent continuous location monitoring. We detail the set of protocols used by WHISPER, then we compare it against other privacy-preserving schemes. The results show that WHISPER outperformed the other schemes by providing better location privacy levels while still fulfilling road-safety requirements

Prevalence of uncontrolled hypertension in people with comorbidities in sub-Saharan Africa : a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: The burden of uncontrolled hypertension in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is high and hypertension is known to coexist with other chronic diseases such as kidney disease, diabetes among others. This is the first systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the burden of uncontrolled hypertension among patients with comorbidities in SSA. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted on MEDLINE, Excerpta Medica Database (Embase) and Web of Science to identify all relevant articles published between 1 January 2000 and 17 June 2021. We included studies that reported on the prevalence of uncontrolled hypertension among people in SSA who report taking antihypertensive treatment and have another chronic condition. A random-effects meta-analysis was performed to obtain the pooled estimate of the prevalence of uncontrolled hypertension among patients with comorbid conditions while on treatment across studies in SSA. Results: In all, 20 articles were included for meta-analyses. Eleven articles were among diabetic patients, five articles were among patients with HIV, two were among patients with stroke while chronic kidney disease and atrial fibrillation had one article each. The pooled prevalence of uncontrolled hypertension among patients with comorbidities was 78.6% (95% CI 71.1% to 85.3%); I² 95.9%, varying from 73.1% in patients with stroke to 100.0% in patients with atrial fibrillation. Subgroup analysis showed differences in uncontrolled hypertension prevalence by various study-level characteristics Conclusion: This study suggests a high burden of uncontrolled hypertension in people with comorbidities in SSA. Strategies to improve the control of hypertension among people with comorbidities are needed. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42019108218

One hundred years of hypertension research : a topic modelling study

Background: Due to scientific and technical advancements in the field, published hypertension research has developed substantially during the last decade. Given the amount of scientific material published in this field, identifying the relevant information is difficult. We used topic modeling, which is a strong approach for extracting useful information from enormous amounts of unstructured text. Objective: This study aims to use a machine learning algorithm to uncover hidden topics and subtopics from 100 years of peer-reviewed hypertension publications and identify temporal trends. Methods: The titles and abstracts of hypertension papers indexed in PubMed were examined. We used the latent Dirichlet allocation model to select 20 primary subjects and then ran a trend analysis to see how popular they were over time. Results: We gathered 581,750 hypertension-related research articles from 1900 to 2018 and divided them into 20 topics. These topics were broadly categorized as preclinical, epidemiology, complications, and therapy studies. Topic 2 (evidence review) and topic 19 (major cardiovascular events) are the key (hot topics). Most of the cardiopulmonary disease subtopics show little variation over time, and only make a small contribution in terms of proportions. The majority of the articles (414,206/581,750; 71.2%) had a negative valency, followed by positive (119, 841/581,750; 20.6%) and neutral valency (47,704/581,750; 8.2%). Between 1980 and 2000, negative sentiment articles fell somewhat, while positive and neutral sentiment articles climbed substantially. Conclusions: The number of publications has been increasing exponentially over the period. Most of the uncovered topics can be grouped into four categories (ie, preclinical, epidemiology, complications, and treatment-related studies)