Graph-Embedding Empowered Entity Retrieval

In this research, we improve upon the current state of the art in entity retrieval by re-ranking the result list using graph embeddings. The paper shows that graph embeddings are useful for entity-oriented search tasks. We demonstrate empirically that encoding information from the knowledge graph into (graph) embeddings contributes to a higher increase in effectiveness of entity retrieval results than using plain word embeddings. We analyze the impact of the accuracy of the entity linker on the overall retrieval effectiveness. Our analysis further deploys the cluster hypothesis to explain the observed advantages of graph embeddings over the more widely used word embeddings, for user tasks involving ranking entities

Yet another breakdown point notion: EFSBP - illustrated at scale-shape models

The breakdown point in its different variants is one of the central notions to quantify the global robustness of a procedure. We propose a simple supplementary variant which is useful in situations where we have no obvious or only partial equivariance: Extending the Donoho and Huber(1983) Finite Sample Breakdown Point, we propose the Expected Finite Sample Breakdown Point to produce less configuration-dependent values while still preserving the finite sample aspect of the former definition. We apply this notion for joint estimation of scale and shape (with only scale-equivariance available), exemplified for generalized Pareto, generalized extreme value, Weibull, and Gamma distributions. In these settings, we are interested in highly-robust, easy-to-compute initial estimators; to this end we study Pickands-type and Location-Dispersion-type estimators and compute their respective breakdown points.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figure

Dietary administration of a commercial mixed-species probiotic improves growth performance and modulates the intestinal immunity of tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus.

The growth performance, immunological status, intestinal morphology and microbiology of tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, were investigated after dietary administration of the commercial probiotic AquaStar(®) Growout. Tilapia (29.02 ± 0.33 g) were split into five treatments; control (CON), 1.5 g kg(-1) probiotic (PRO-1.5), 3 g kg(-1) probiotic (PRO-3), pulsed probiotic feeding (PRO-PULSE) or an initial probiotic feed followed by control feeding (PRO-INI). After six weeks of experimental feeding, fish fed PRO-3 displayed significantly higher final weight, weight gain and SGR compared to the CON or PRO-INI treatments. Supplementation of the probiotic at this dose induced an up-regulation of intestinal caspase-3, PCNA and HSP70 mRNA levels compared to the CON fed fish. Immuno-modulatory pathways were also affected; significantly higher expression of TLR2, pro-inflammatory genes TNFα and IL-1β, and anti-inflammatory genes IL-10 and TGFβ suggest that the probiotic may potentiate a higher state of mucosal tolerance and immuno-readiness. Histological appraisal revealed significantly higher numbers of intraepithelial leucocytes in the intestine of PRO-3 fed fish compared with treatments CON, PRO-PULSE and PRO-INI but not PRO-1.5. Additionally, fish receiving PRO-3 had a significantly higher abundance of goblet cells in their mid-intestine when compared with fish from all other treatments. Together, these data suggest that continuous provision of AquaStar(®) Growout at 3 g kg(-1) can improve tilapia growth and elevate the intestinal immunological status of the host

Systemic inflammatory response exacerbates the neuropsychological effects of induced hyperammonemia in cirrhosis

Background/Aims: Studies in acute liver failure show correlation between evidence of a systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and progression of hepatic encephalopathy (HE). We tested the hypothesis that SIRS mediators, such as nitric oxide and proinflammatory cytokines, may exacerbate the neuropsychological effects of hyperammonemia in cirrhosis.Methods: Ten patients with cirrhosis were studied, 24-36 h after admission with clinical evidence of infection, and following its resolution. Hyperammonemia was induced by oral administration of an amino-acid (aa) solution mimicking hemoglobin composition. Inflammatory mediators, nitrate/nitrite, ammonia, aa profiles and a battery of neuropsychological tests were measured.Results: The hyperammonemia generated in response to the aa solution was similar prior to, and after resolution, of the inflammation (P = 0.77). With treatment of the infection there were significant reductions in white blood cell count (WBC), C-reactive protein (CRP), nitrate/nitrite, interleukin-6, interieukin-1beta and tumour necrosis factor alpha. Induced hyperammonemia resulted in significant worsening of the neuropsychological scores when patients showed evidence of SIRS but not after its resolution.Conclusions: The significant deterioration of neuropsychological test scores following induced hyperammonemia during the inflammatory state, but not after its resolution, suggests that the inflammation and its mediators may be important in modulating the cerebral effect of ammonia in liver disease. (C) 2003 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Effects of dietary β-(1,3)(1,6)-D-glucan supplementation on growth performance, intestinal morphology and haemato-immunological profile of mirror carp (Cyprinus carpio L.).

In recent years, aquaculture research has focused on probiotics, prebiotics, and β-glucans, in order to improve health status and growth performance. Information regarding the effects of β-glucan on growth performance and intestinal immunity of mirror carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) is scarce. An experiment was therefore conducted to investigate the effects of a yeast β-glucan preparation (MacroGard(®) ) on growth performance, intestinal morphology and haemato-immunological indices of mirror carp. Carp (initial weight 11.1 ± 0.0 g) were fed highly purified diets supplemented with 0% (control), 0.1%, 1% or 2% MacroGard(®) for 8 weeks. Fish fed diets containing 1% and 2% MacroGard(®) showed significant improvements in weight gain, specific growth rate and feed conversion ratio compared to fish fed both the control and the 0.1% MacroGard(®) containing diet. Histological appraisal of the intestine showed a significantly higher infiltration of leucocytes into the epithelial layer of fish fed diets supplemented with 1% and 2% MacroGard(®) in the anterior intestine compared to fish fed the control and 0.1% MacroGard(®) diet. This effect was not observed in the posterior intestine. There were no significant differences in the intestinal absorptive surface area and number of goblet cells in either intestinal region. At the end of the experiment, the haematological status of the fish was examined. Compared to control fed fish, the haematocrit value was significantly elevated in fish fed the 2% MacroGard(®) diet. Furthermore, the blood monocyte fraction was significantly higher in fish fed the 1% and 2% MacroGard(®) diets. No significant changes were observed in the other blood parameters assessed. The present study shows that high dietary β-glucan inclusion increases growth performance without detrimental effects on the health indicators assessed. Increased intraepithelial leucocytes in the anterior intestine may indicate a localized immune response; no detrimental effects on intestinal morphology were observed

Probiotic Pediococcus acidilactici modulates both localised intestinal- and peripheral-immunity in tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus).

The application of probiotics in aquaculture has received concerted research efforts but the localised intestinal immunological response of fish to probiotic bacteria is poorly understood. Therefore, a study was conducted to evaluate the probiotic effect of Pediococcus acidilactici on Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) with specific emphasis on intestinal health and probiotic levels as well as system level responses such as growth performance, feed utilization and haemato-immunological parameters under non-challenged conditions. Fish (9.19 ± 0.04 g) were fed either a control diet or a P. acidilactici supplemented diet (at 2.81 × 10(6) CFU g(-)(1)) for six weeks. At the end of the study the probiotic was observed to populate the intestine, accounting for ca. 3% (1.59 × 10(5) CFU g(-)(1)) of the cultivable intestinal bacterial load. Real-time PCR indicated that the probiotic treatment may potentiate the immune-responsiveness of the intestine as up-regulation of the gene expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNFα was observed in the probiotic fed fish (P 0.05)

Two-year results from a phase 2 extension study of oral amiselimod in relapsing multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: Amiselimod, an oral selective sphingosine-1-phosphate 1 receptor modulator, suppressed disease activity dose-dependently without clinically relevant bradyarrhythmia in a 24-week phase 2, placebo-controlled study in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. OBJECTIVE: To assess safety and efficacy of amiselimod over 96 weeks. METHODS: After completing the core study, patients on amiselimod continued at the same dose, whereas those on placebo were randomised 1:1:1 to amiselimod 0.1, 0.2 or 0.4 mg for another 72 weeks. Most patients receiving 0.1 mg were re-randomised to 0.2 or 0.4 mg upon availability of the core study results. RESULTS: Of 415 patients randomised in the core study, 367 (88.4%) entered and 322 (77.6%) completed the extension. One or more adverse events were reported in 303 (82.6%) of 367 patients: 'headache', 'lymphocyte count decreased', 'nasopharyngitis' and 'MS relapse' were most common (14.7%-16.9%). No serious opportunistic infection, macular oedema or malignancy was reported and no bradyarrhythmia of clinical concern was observed by Holter or 12-lead electrocardiogram. The dose-dependent effect of amiselimod on clinical and magnetic resonance imaging-related outcomes from the core study was sustained in those continuing on amiselimod and similarly observed after switching to active drug. CONCLUSION: For up to 2 years of treatment, amiselimod was well tolerated and dose-dependently effective in controlling disease activity

Efficacy of Thermotherapy to Treat Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Caused by Leishmania tropica in Kabul, Afghanistan: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND: Pentavalent antimony is the agent recommended for treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). Its use is problematic, because it is expensive and because of the potential for drug-associated adverse effects during a lengthy and painful treatment course. METHODS: We tested the efficacy of thermotherapy for the treatment of CL due to Leishmania tropica in a randomized, controlled trial in Kabul, Afghanistan. We enrolled 401 patients with a single CL lesion and administered thermotherapy using radio-frequency waves (1 treatment of ≥1 consecutive application at 50°C for 30 s) or sodium stibogluconate (SSG), administered either intralesionally (a total of 5 injections of 25 mL every 57 days, depending on lesion size) or intramuscularly (20 mg/kg daily for 21 days). RESULTS: Cure, defined as complete reepithelialization at 100 days after treatment initiation, was observed in 75 (69.4%) of 108 patients who received thermotherapy, 70 (75.3%) of 93 patients who received intralesional SSG, and 26 (44.8%) of 58 patients who received intramuscular SSG. The OR for cure with thermotherapy was 2.80 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.455.41), compared with intramuscular SSG treatment (P = .002). No statistically significant difference was observed in the odds of cure in comparison of intralesional SSG and thermotherapy treatments. The OR for cure with intralesional SSG treatment was 3.75 (95% CI, 1.867.54), compared with intramuscular SSG treatment (P 100 days, respectively; P = .003). CONCLUSIONS: Thermotherapy is an effective, comparatively well-tolerated, and rapid treatment for CL, and it should be considered as an alternative to antimony treatment

On Tackling the Limits of Resolution in SAT Solving

The practical success of Boolean Satisfiability (SAT) solvers stems from the CDCL (Conflict-Driven Clause Learning) approach to SAT solving. However, from a propositional proof complexity perspective, CDCL is no more powerful than the resolution proof system, for which many hard examples exist. This paper proposes a new problem transformation, which enables reducing the decision problem for formulas in conjunctive normal form (CNF) to the problem of solving maximum satisfiability over Horn formulas. Given the new transformation, the paper proves a polynomial bound on the number of MaxSAT resolution steps for pigeonhole formulas. This result is in clear contrast with earlier results on the length of proofs of MaxSAT resolution for pigeonhole formulas. The paper also establishes the same polynomial bound in the case of modern core-guided MaxSAT solvers. Experimental results, obtained on CNF formulas known to be hard for CDCL SAT solvers, show that these can be efficiently solved with modern MaxSAT solvers

Troubling "understanding mathematics-in-depth": Its role in the identity work of student-teachers in England

Copyright @ The Author(s) 2013. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.comThis article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.In this paper, we focus on an initiative in England devised to prepare non-mathematics graduates to train as secondary mathematics teachers through a 6-month Mathematics Enhancement Course (MEC) to boost their subject knowledge. The course documentation focuses on the need to develop “understanding mathematics in-depth” in students in order for them to become successful mathematics teachers. We take a poststructural approach, so we are not interested in asking what such an understanding is, about the value of this approach or about the effectiveness of the MECs in developing this understanding in their participants. Instead we explore what positions this discourse of “understanding mathematics in-depth” makes available to MEC students. We do this by looking in detail at the “identity work” of two students, analysing how they use and are used by this discourse to position themselves as future mathematics teachers. In doing so, we show how even benign-looking social practices such as “understanding mathematics in-depth” are implicated in practices of inclusion and exclusion. We show this through detailed readings of interviews with two participants, one of whom fits with the dominant discourses in the MEC and the other who, despite passing the MEC, experiences tensions between her national identity work and MEC discourses. We argue that it is vital to explore “identity work” within teacher education contexts to ensure that becoming a successful mathematics teacher is equally available to all.King’s College Londo