Lifted graphical models: a survey

Lifted graphical models provide a language for expressing dependencies between different types of entities, their attributes, and their diverse relations, as well as techniques for probabilistic reasoning in such multi-relational domains. In this survey, we review a general form for a lifted graphical model, a par-factor graph, and show how a number of existing statistical relational representations map to this formalism. We discuss inference algorithms, including lifted inference algorithms, that efficiently compute the answers to probabilistic queries over such models. We also review work in learning lifted graphical models from data. There is a growing need for statistical relational models (whether they go by that name or another), as we are inundated with data which is a mix of structured and unstructured, with entities and relations extracted in a noisy manner from text, and with the need to reason effectively with this data. We hope that this synthesis of ideas from many different research groups will provide an accessible starting point for new researchers in this expanding field

Causes and Severity of Fatal Injuries in Autopsies of Victims of Fatal Traffic Accidents

Introduction: In this retrospective study, we decided to determine the death causes and severity of injuries in traffic accidents according to reports of the forensic medical center of Yazd. Methods: A total of 251 fatalities due to traffic accidents that had undergone autopsy examinations at the Yazd forensic medicine center from2006 till 2008 were included in the study by census method. Data regarding gender, road user type, type of vehicle (car, motorcycle, autobus or minibus), consciousness level, and intensive care unit (ICU) admission was gathered. For evaluation of injury severity, we used Injury Severity Score (ISS). Results: The population under study consisted of 202 men (80.5%) and 49 women (19.5%) with an average age of 34.1 years (range: 1-89 years). Motorcycle-pedestrian accidents were the most common type of injury (100, 39.8%). Head (220, 87.6%) and face (169, 67.3%) were the two most common sites of injuries. Mean (±SD) of ISS was 23.2 (±10.4). According to autopsy records, the main cause of death was head trauma (146, 58.1%). Conclusion: Public awareness in terms of primary prevention of road accidents should be considered important. Also, regarding the high prevalence of brain injuries and complications associated with skull fractures, accessibility to neurosurgeons and availability of imaging devices have an important role in decreasing the mortality rate of traffic accidents

The expression of HoxB5 and SPC in neonatal rat lung at exposure to fluoxetine

Razieh Taghizadeh,1 Zahra Taghipour,2 Akbar Karimi,1 Ali Shamsizadeh,3 Mohammad Mohsen Taghavi,2 Mahdi Shariati,2 Ahmad Shabanizadeh,2 Hamid Reza Jafari Naveh,2 Reza Bidaki,4 Fariba Aminzadeh51Department of Biology, Payame Noor University, Isfahan, Iran; 2Department of Anatomy, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran; 3Department of Physiology, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran; 4Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran; 5Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, IranObjective: Approximately 10% of pregnant women suffer from pregnancy-associated depression. Fluoxetine, as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, is being employed as a therapy for depressive disorders. The present study aimed to determine the effects of fluoxetine on neonatal lung development.Methods: Thirty pregnant Wistar rats (weighing 200–250 g) were treated daily with 7 mg/kg fluoxetine from gestation day 0 to gestation day 21, via gavage. The control group received a similar volume of distilled water only. Following delivery, the newborns and their lungs were immediately weighed in both of the groups. The right lung was fixed for histological assessments while the left lung was used for evaluation of the expression of SPC and HoxB5 by the real-time polymerase chain reaction method.Results: Results have indicated that even though the body weight and the number of neonatal rats in both groups were the same, the lung weight of neonates exposed to fluoxetine was significantly different compared to the control group (P<0.05). Expression of both genes was increased, nonetheless, only elevation of HoxB5 was significant (P<0.05). Histological studies demonstrated that lung tissue in the fluoxetine treatment group morphologically appears to be similar to the pseudoglandular phase, whereas the control group lungs experienced more development.Conclusion: According to the upregulated expression of HoxB5 concerning histological findings, results of the present study showed that fluoxetine can influence lung growth and may in turn lead to delay in lung development. So establishment of studies to identify the effects of antidepressant drugs during pregnancy is deserved. Keywords: fluoxetine, rat, lung, HoxB5, SP

Acute Toxoplasma infection in pregnant women worldwide: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Acute Toxoplasma infection (ATI) during pregnancy, if left untreated, can cause severe adverse outcomes for the fetus and newborn. Here, we undertook a meta-analysis to estimate the worldwide prevalence of ATI in pregnant women. METHODS: We searched international databases for studies published between January 1988 and November 2018. We included population-based cross-sectional and prospective cohort studies that reported the prevalence of ATI in pregnant women. Data were synthesized using a random effect model to calculate the overall prevalence of ATI (with a 95% CI) in six WHO regions and globally. We also performed linear meta-regression analyses to investigate associations of maternal, socio-demographic, geographical and climate parameters with the prevalence of ATI. RESULTS: In total, 217 studies comprising 902,228 pregnant women across 74 countries were included in the meta-analysis. The overall prevalence of ATI in pregnant women globally was 1.1% (95% CI: 0.9-1.2%). In studies where more strict criteria for ATI were used, the overall prevalence was 0.6% (95% CI: 0.4-0.7%). The prevalence was highest in the Eastern Mediterranean region (2.5%; 95%CI: 1.7-3.4%) and lowest in the European region (0.5%; 95% CI: 0.4-0.7%). A significantly higher prevalence of ATI was found in countries with lower income levels (P = 0.027), lower human development indices (P = 0.04), higher temperatures (P = 0.02) and lower latitudes (P = 0.005) and longitudes (P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: The risk of acquiring ATI during gestation is clinically important and preventive measures to avoid exposure of pregnant women to Toxoplasma infection should be strictly applied