QUARE: 1st Workshop on Measuring the Quality of Explanations in Recommender Systems

QUARE - measuring the QUality of explAnations in REcommender systems - is the first workshop that aims to promote discussion upon future research and practice directions around evaluation methodologies for explanations in recommender systems. To that end, we bring together researchers and practitioners from academia and industry to facilitate discussions about the main issues and best practices in the respective areas, identify possible synergies, and outline priorities regarding future research directions. Additionally, we want to stimulate reflections around methods to systematically and holistically assess explanation approaches, impact, and goals, at the interplay between organisational and human values. The homepage of the workshop is available at: https: //sites.google.com/view/quare-2022/

Chemical composition and biological activities of oregano and lavender essential oils

Folk medicine uses wild herbs, especially from the Lamiaceae family, such as oregano and lavender, in the treatment of many diseases. In the present study, we investigated the antibacterial activity of the essential oils of Origanum glandulosum Desf. and Lavandula dentata L. against multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae strains. The chemical composition of essential oils and their effect on the ultrastructure of the tested bacteria and on the release of cellular components that absorb at 260 nm were studied. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity and the production of reactive oxygen species in human lymphocytes treated with essential oils were evaluated. Thymol (33.2%) was the major constituent in O. glandulosum, and β-pinene (17.3%) was the major constituent in L. dentata. We observed ultrastructural damage in bacteria and increased release of cellular material. Furthermore, ROS production in human lymphocytes treated with essential oils was lower than in untreated lymphocytes and no cytotoxicity was observed. Therefore, the essential oils of lavender and oregano could be used as a source of natural antibacterial and antioxidant agents with potential pharmacological applications

Terminal osteoblast differentiation, mediated by runx2 and p27KIP1, is disrupted in osteosarcoma

The molecular basis for the inverse relationship between differentiation and tumorigenesis is unknown. The function of runx2, a master regulator of osteoblast differentiation belonging to the runt family of tumor suppressor genes, is consistently disrupted in osteosarcoma cell lines. Ectopic expression of runx2 induces p27KIP1, thereby inhibiting the activity of S-phase cyclin complexes and leading to the dephosphorylation of the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein (pRb) and a G1 cell cycle arrest. Runx2 physically interacts with the hypophosphorylated form of pRb, a known coactivator of runx2, thereby completing a feed-forward loop in which progressive cell cycle exit promotes increased expression of the osteoblast phenotype. Loss of p27KIP1 perturbs transient and terminal cell cycle exit in osteoblasts. Consistent with the incompatibility of malignant transformation and permanent cell cycle exit, loss of p27KIP1 expression correlates with dedifferentiation in high-grade human osteosarcomas. Physiologic coupling of osteoblast differentiation to cell cycle withdrawal is mediated through runx2 and p27KIP1, and these processes are disrupted in osteosarcoma

High-accuracy determination of the neutron flux in the new experimental area n_TOF-EAR2 at CERN

A new high flux experimental area has recently become operational at the n_TOF facility at CERN. This new measuring station, n_TOF-EAR2, is placed at the end of a vertical beam line at a distance of approximately 20m from the spallation target. The characterization of the neutron beam, in terms of flux, spatial profile and resolution function, is of crucial importance for the feasibility study and data analysis of all measurements to be performed in the new area. In this paper, the measurement of the neutron flux, performed with different solid-state and gaseous detection systems, and using three neutron-converting reactions considered standard in different energy regions is reported. The results of the various measurements have been combined, yielding an evaluated neutron energy distribution in a wide energy range, from 2meV to 100MeV, with an accuracy ranging from 2%, at low energy, to 6% in the high-energy region. In addition, an absolute normalization of the n_TOF-EAR2 neutron flux has been obtained by means of an activation measurement performed with 197Au foils in the beam.Peer reviewe

Impact of social determinants on antiretroviral therapy access and outcomes entering the era of universal treatment for people living with HIV in Italy

Background: Social determinants are known to be a driving force of health inequalities, even in high income countries. Aim of our study was to determine if these factors can limit antiretroviral therapy (ART) access, outcome and retention in care of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Italy. Methods: All ART naïve HIV+ patients (pts) of Italian nationality enrolled in the ICONA Cohort from 2002 to 2016 were included. The association of socio-demographic characteristics (age, sex, risk factor for HIV infection, educational level, occupational status and residency area) with time to: ART initiation (from the first positive anti-HIV test), ART regimen discontinuation, and first HIV-RNA < 50 cp/mL, were evaluated by Cox regression analysis, Kaplan Meier method and log-rank test. Results: A total of 8023 HIV+ pts (82% males, median age at first pos anti-HIV test 36 years, IQR: 29-44) were included: 6214 (77.5%) started ART during the study period. Women, people who inject drugs (PWID) and residents in Southern Italy presented the lowest levels of education and the highest rate of unemployment compared to other groups. Females, pts aged > 50 yrs., unemployed vs employed, and people with lower educational levels presented the lowest CD4 count at ART initiation compared to other groups. The overall median time to ART initiation was 0.6 years (yrs) (IQR 0.1-3.7), with a significant decrease over time [2002-2006 = 3.3 yrs. (0.2-9.4); 2007-2011 = 1.0 yrs. (0.1-3.9); 2012-2016 = 0.2 yrs. (0.1-2.1), p < 0.001]. By multivariate analysis, females (p < 0.01) and PWID (p < 0.001), presented a longer time to ART initiation, while older people (p < 0.001), people with higher educational levels (p < 0.001), unemployed (p = 0.02) and students (p < 0.001) were more likely to initiate ART. Moreover, PWID, unemployed vs stable employed, and pts. with lower educational levels showed a lower 1-year probability of achieving HIV-RNA suppression, while females, older patients, men who have sex with men (MSM), unemployed had higher 1-year risk of first-line ART discontinuation. Conclusions: Despite median time to ART start decreased from 2002 to 2016, socio-demographic factors still contribute to disparities in ART initiation, outcome and durability

Computational framework for longevity risk management

Longevity risk threatens the financial stability of private and government sponsored defined benefit pension systems as well as social security schemes, in an environment already characterized by persistent low interest rates and heightened financial uncertainty. The mortality experience of countries in the industrialized world would suggest a substantial age-time interaction, with the two dominant trends affecting different age groups at different times. From a statistical point of view, this indicates a dependence structure. It is observed that mortality improvements are similar for individuals of contiguous ages (Wills and Sherris, Integrating financial and demographic longevity risk models: an Australian model for financial applications, Discussion Paper PI-0817, 2008). Moreover, considering the dataset by single ages, the correlations between the residuals for adjacent age groups tend to be high (as noted in Denton et al., J Population Econ 18:203-227, 2005). This suggests that there is value in exploring the dependence structure, also across time, in other words the inter-period correlation. In this research, we focus on the projections of mortality rates, contravening the most commonly encountered dependence property which is the "lack of dependence" (Denuit et al., Actuarial theory for dependent risks: measures. Orders and models, Wiley, New York, 2005). By taking into account the presence of dependence across age and time which leads to systematic over-estimation or under-estimation of uncertainty in the estimates (Liu and Braun, J Probability Stat, 813583:15, 2010), the paper analyzes a tailor-made bootstrap methodology for capturing the spatial dependence in deriving confidence intervals for mortality projection rates. We propose a method which leads to a prudent measure of longevity risk, avoiding the structural incompleteness of the ordinary simulation bootstrap methodology which involves the assumption of independence

Is Parental Longevity Associated With the Cardiovascular Risk and the Successful Aging of Their Offspring? Results From the Multinational MEDIS Study

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of parental longevity and parental cardiovascular disease (CVD) history in CVD risk and successful aging of a random sample of older adults living in the Mediterranean basin and who participated in the MEDiterranean Islands (MEDIS) study. During 2005 to 2011, 2663 elders were voluntarily enrolled. A multidimensional successful aging index consisting of 10 components was used. Paternal and maternal longevity was defined as those older participants of whom both parents lived above the age of 90. The burden of CVD-related factors (CVD-RFs) was calculated as the total score of 4 major CVD-RFs (range 0-4). After adjustment, parental longevity was inversely associated with the burden of CVD-RFs (P= .04). Moreover, parental longevity was positively associated with the older adults' successful aging score (β-coefficient [95% confidence interval]: .38 [0.06-0.71]). Parent's long living was revealed as an important factor for successful aging and for reduced CVD risk, suggesting that further research is needed in the genetic predisposition of longevity

Constructing an index of physical fitness age for Japanese elderly based on 7-year longitudinal data: sex differences in estimated physical fitness age

A standardized method for assessing the physical fitness of elderly adults has not yet been established. In this study, we developed an index of physical fitness age (fitness age score, FAS) for older Japanese adults and investigated sex differences based on the estimated FAS. Healthy elderly adults (52 men, 70 women) who underwent physical fitness tests once yearly for 7 years between 2002 and 2008 were included in this study. The age of the participants at the beginning of this study ranged from 60.0 to 83.0 years. The physical fitness tests consisted of 13 items to measure balance, agility, flexibility, muscle strength, and endurance. Three criteria were used to evaluate fitness markers of aging: (1) significant cross-sectional correlation with age; (2) significant longitudinal change with age consistent with the cross-sectional correlation; and (3) significant stability of individual differences. We developed an equation to assess individual FAS values using the first principal component derived from principal component analysis. Five candidate fitness markers of aging (10-m walking time, functional reach, one leg stand with eyes open, vertical jump and grip strength) were selected from the 13 physical fitness tests. Individual FAS was predicted from these five fitness markers using a principal component model. Individual FAS showed high longitudinal stability for age-related changes. This investigation of the longitudinal changes of individual FAS revealed that women had relatively lower physical fitness compared with men, but their rate of physical fitness aging was slower than that of men