Predicting event attendance exploring social influence

The problem of predicting people's participation in real-world events has received considerable attention as it offers valuable insights for human behavior analysis and event-related advertisement. Today social networks (e.g. Twitter) widely reflect large popular events where people discuss their interest with friends. Event participants usually stimulate friends to join the event which propagates a social influence in the network. In this paper, we propose to model the social influence of friends on event attendance. We consider non-geotagged posts besides structures of social groups to infer users' attendance. To leverage the information on network topology we apply some of recent graph embedding techniques such as node2vec, HARP and Poincar`e. We describe the approach followed to design the feature space and feed it to a neural network. The performance evaluation is conducted using two large music festivals datasets, namely the VFestival and Creamfields. The experimental results show that our classifier outperforms the state-of-the-art baseline with 89% accuracy observed for the VFestival dataset

Reduction of Sunburn Damage to Skin by Topical Application of Vitamin E Acetate Following Exposure to Ultraviolet B Radiation: Effect of Delaying Application or of Reducing Concentration of Vitamin E Acetate Applied

The skin of the skh-1 mouse after ultraviolet B (280-320 nm, UVB) irradiation shows the pathological changes typical of sunburn damage: spongiosis (edematous spaces) around some cells, necrosis of keratinocytes, giving rise to sunburn cells, inflammatory infiltration ofpolymorphonuclear leucocytes, etc. In our previous study, these were accompanied by erythema, increased skin sensitivity, and edematous swelling. The topical application of tocopherol acetate (TA) immediately after the UVB exposure decreased these changes. In this paper, multiple measurements of the skin thickness were made at different locations along the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) cross-sectional image of the skin. This permits effects to be quantified with (if desired) the contralateral half of the back serving as an internal control, either exposed (positive control) or unexposed (negative control). Topical application of TA resulted in an increase in the concentration of free tocopherol in the skin. No qualitative differences in ultrastructural appearance of the DVB-irradiated, TA-treated skin could be discerned by careful examination. In vivo high resolution video microscopy of blood flow in venules of the irradiated mouse ear revealed a large (tenfold) but not statistically significant decrease in stationary lymphocytes adhering to the venule walls. The delaying of the application of TA up to 8 hours after the termination of UVB irradiation still offered statistically significant protection as did immediate application of 5% TA in diluent Myritol 318 (Delios S, Henkel)

Systematic Review of Potential Health Risks Posed by Pharmaceutical, Occupational and Consumer Exposures to Metallic and Nanoscale Aluminum, Aluminum Oxides, Aluminum Hydroxide and Its Soluble Salts

Aluminum (Al) is a ubiquitous substance encountered both naturally (as the third most abundant element) and intentionally (used in water, foods, pharmaceuticals, and vaccines); it is also present in ambient and occupational airborne particulates. Existing data underscore the importance of Al physical and chemical forms in relation to its uptake, accumulation, and systemic bioavailability. The present review represents a systematic examination of the peer-reviewed literature on the adverse health effects of Al materials published since a previous critical evaluation compiled by Krewski et al. (2007). Challenges encountered in carrying out the present review reflected the experimental use of different physical and chemical Al forms, different routes of administration, and different target organs in relation to the magnitude, frequency, and duration of exposure. Wide variations in diet can result in Al intakes that are often higher than the World Health Organization provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI), which is based on studies with Al citrate. Comparing daily dietary Al exposures on the basis of “total Al”assumes that gastrointestinal bioavailability for all dietary Al forms is equivalent to that for Al citrate, an approach that requires validation. Current occupational exposure limits (OELs) for identical Al substances vary as much as 15-fold. The toxicity of different Al forms depends in large measure on their physical behavior and relative solubility in water. The toxicity of soluble Al forms depends upon the delivered dose of Al+ 3 to target tissues. Trivalent Al reacts with water to produce bidentate superoxide coordination spheres [Al(O2)(H2O4)+ 2 and Al(H2O)6 + 3] that after complexation with O2•−, generate Al superoxides [Al(O2•)](H2O5)]+ 2. Semireduced AlO2• radicals deplete mitochondrial Fe and promote generation of H2O2, O2 • − and OH•. Thus, it is the Al+ 3-induced formation of oxygen radicals that accounts for the oxidative damage that leads to intrinsic apoptosis. In contrast, the toxicity of the insoluble Al oxides depends primarily on their behavior as particulates. Aluminum has been held responsible for human morbidity and mortality, but there is no consistent and convincing evidence to associate the Al found in food and drinking water at the doses and chemical forms presently consumed by people living in North America and Western Europe with increased risk for Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD). Neither is there clear evidence to show use of Al-containing underarm antiperspirants or cosmetics increases the risk of AD or breast cancer. Metallic Al, its oxides, and common Al salts have not been shown to be either genotoxic or carcinogenic. Aluminum exposures during neonatal and pediatric parenteral nutrition (PN) can impair bone mineralization and delay neurological development. Adverse effects to vaccines with Al adjuvants have occurred; however, recent controlled trials found that the immunologic response to certain vaccines with Al adjuvants was no greater, and in some cases less than, that after identical vaccination without Al adjuvants. The scientific literature on the adverse health effects of Al is extensive. Health risk assessments for Al must take into account individual co-factors (e.g., age, renal function, diet, gastric pH). Conclusions from the current review point to the need for refinement of the PTWI, reduction of Al contamination in PN solutions, justification for routine addition of Al to vaccines, and harmonization of OELs for Al substances

Aluminum toxicity in childhood

Aluminum intoxication is an iatrogenic disease caused by the use of aluminum compounds for phosphate binding and by the contamination of parenteral fluids. Although organ aluminum deposition was noted as early as 1880 and toxicity was documented in the 1960s, the inability to accurately measure serum and tissue aluminum prevented delineation of its toxic effects until the 1970s. Aluminum toxicity has now been conclusively shown to cause encephalopathy, metabolic bone disease, and microcytic anemia.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47831/1/467_2004_Article_BF00869743.pd

Microstructure and mechanical properties of hot rolled Fe-40 at-%Al intermetallic alloys with Zr and B addition

The microstructure and mechanical properties of hot rolled Fe-40 at-%Al based intermetallic alloys, with 0.1 at-%Zr and different additions of B (varying from 0.01 to 0.1 at-%), are characterised. The additions of Zr and B improve tensile properties at room and elevated temperatures. Increasing B content is also associated with a number of other effects. First, the fracture mode changes from intergranular decohesion to cleavage, which correlates with significant increases in the fracture toughness. Second, there is a certain stabilisation of dislocations arranged in parallel systems of slip bands, as shown by transmission electron microscopy. Numerous complex stacking faults on {100} planes are also observed in the alloy with the highest B content. Third, B is found to modify the formation of second phase particles; such particles (coarse and fine) are analysed by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and electron energy loss spectrometry to obtain compositional information