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Black-box uniform stability for non-Euclidean empirical risk minimization
Get PDFWe study first-order algorithms that are uniformly stable for empirical risk minimization (ERM) problems that are convex and smooth with respect to p-norms, p≥1. We propose a black-box reduction method that, by employing properties of uniformly convex regularizers, turns an optimization algorithm for H{ö}lder smooth convex losses into a uniformly stable learning algorithm with optimal statistical risk bounds on the excess risk, up to a constant factor depending on p. Achieving a black-box reduction for uniform stability was posed as an open question by Attia and Koren (2022), which had solved the Euclidean case p=2. We explore applications that leverage non-Euclidean geometry in addressing binary classification problems
LRP5 promotes adipose progenitor cell fitness and adipocyte insulin sensitivity
Get PDFBackground: WNT signaling plays a key role in postnatal bone formation. Individuals with gain-of-function mutations in the WNT co-receptor LRP5 exhibit increased lower-body fat mass and potentially enhanced glucose metabolism, alongside high bone mass. However, the mechanisms by which LRP5 regulates fat distribution and its effects on systemic metabolism remain unclear. This study aims to explore the role of LRP5 in adipose tissue biology and its impact on metabolism. Methods: Metabolic assessments and imaging were conducted on individuals with gain- and loss-of-function LRP5 mutations, along with age- and BMI-matched controls. Mendelian randomization analyses were used to investigate the relationship between bone, fat distribution, and systemic metabolism. Functional studies and RNA sequencing were performed on abdominal and gluteal adipose cells with LRP5 knockdown. Results: Here we show that LRP5 promotes lower-body fat distribution and enhances systemic and adipocyte insulin sensitivity through cell-autonomous mechanisms, independent of its bone-related functions. LRP5 supports adipose progenitor cell function by activating WNT/β-catenin signaling and preserving valosin-containing protein (VCP)-mediated proteostasis. LRP5 expression in adipose progenitors declines with age, but gain-of-function LRP5 variants protect against age-related fat loss in the lower body. Conclusions: Our findings underscore the critical role of LRP5 in regulating lower-body fat distribution and insulin sensitivity, independent of its effects on bone. Pharmacological activation of LRP5 in adipose tissue may offer a promising strategy to prevent age-related fat redistribution and metabolic disorders
Do economic warfare and sanctions work? Three centuries of evidence
Get PDFWe draw lessons from three centuries of economic warfare and sanctions. Establishing cause and effect is difficult because much else was typically changing during periods of conflict. Unintended consequences were everywhere. Impact was followed (and sometimes preceded) by adaptation so that countermeasures blunted the effectiveness of economic warfare measures and sanctions. This does not mean that the original measures were unimportant, because countermeasures were costly to the target country. Civilian lives and interests were collateral damage. Economic warfare and sanctions worked most effectively when complemented by fighting power either engaged in conventional warfare or credibly threatening war as a deterrent, and they were ineffective in its absence
To speak as another: hacking, ghost-writing and the dark side of kinship on Indian social media
No full textThis paper investigates the use of digital impersonations on Facebook and WhatsApp among young people in Ghaziabad, India. It conceptualises these borrowed identities as “avatars” that allow people to use digital media without claiming authorship. This paper shows how people seamlessly operate multiple digital IDs—their own, their siblings’, parents’, and girlfriends’—masking behind the IDs of their kin and friends by hacking into their accounts or ghost-writing chats with them. These forms of social media use go beyond self-presentation, and digital identity formation to show how people misidentify themselves to excavate the feelings and thoughts of intimate others. Such discoveries enable them to register and calibrate their own responses to their intimates’ lives at a time of immense anxiety about growing estrangements from families. The paper shows how digital impersonations help people overcome the anxieties of doubleness and loss sparked by social media
Disrupting health professions education research: a guide to critical reflexive praxis during research planning
Get PDFResearch is never truly neutral; all research is inherently subjective because it is shaped by who conducts it, how they think, and the systems they operate within. Paradoxically, despite reflexivity’s critical intent – a practice for recognizing and addressing researcher influence – it too often becomes a superficial checkbox exercise that fails to meaningfully challenge deeper structural and systemic inequities. As a result, Health Professions Education (HPE) research often reinforces global power imbalances, privileging Western perspectives while excluding knowledge from the Global South and marginalized communities. This article advocates for Critical Reflexive Praxis (CRP), an approach grounded in Critical Theory, that combines self-reflection with deliberate action to disrupt power dynamics and promote equity in research. CRP extends beyond traditional reflexivity by interrogating and transforming the underlying structures that shape knowledge production and dominant research practice. By adopting CRP, researchers can challenge entrenched hierarchies, include and amplify marginalized perspectives, and create research that fosters meaningful social transformation. This article offers practical guidelines for enacting CRP across individual, interpersonal, local, and global levels during HPE research planning, paving the way for more equitable and impactful contributions to HPE and beyond
Artificial intelligence for intraoperative video analysis in robotic-assisted esophagectomy
Get PDFBackground: Robotic-assisted minimally invasive esophagectomy (RAMIE) is a complex surgical procedure for treating esophageal cancer. Artificial intelligence (AI) is an uprising technology with increasing applications in the surgical field. This scoping review aimed to assess the current AI applications in RAMIE, with a focus on intraoperative video analysis. Methods: To identify all articles utilizing AI in RAMIE, a comprehensive literature search was performed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis for scoping reviews of Medline and Embase databases and the Cochrane Library. Two independent reviewers assessed articles for quality and inclusion. Results: One hundred and seventeen articles were identified, of which four were included in the final analysis. Results demonstrated that the main AI applications in RAMIE were intraoperative video assessment and the evaluation of surgical technical skills to evaluate surgical performance. AI was also used for surgical phase recognition to support clinical decision-making through intraoperative guidance and identify key anatomical landmarks. Various deep-learning networks were used to generate AI models, and there was a strong emphasis on using high-quality standardized video frames. Conclusions: The use of AI in RAMIE, especially in intraoperative video analysis and surgical phase recognition, is still a relatively new field that should be further explored. The advantages of using AI algorithms to evaluate intraoperative videos in an automated manner may be harnessed to improve technical performance and intraoperative decision-making, achieve a higher quality of surgery, and improve postoperative outcomes. Graphical Abstract
Identification and functional analysis of five hub lncRNAs associated with oncogenesis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Get PDFLiver cancer stands as one of the most pervasive and aggressive malignant neoplasms on a global scale, with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounting for over 90% of primary liver cancer cases. It has been documented that long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) plays a significant role in various pathological contexts and serves as a pivotal determinant in numerous malignancies, including HCC. Leveraging mRNA sequencing data and lncRNA expression profiles from 346 HCC samples and 50 pairs of adjacent normal samples sourced from the TCGA database, a comprehensive bioinformatics analysis was conducted. The dataset was randomly partitioned into a training subset and a validation subset. This rigorous analysis aimed to pinpoint the lncRNAs intricately linked to the oncogenesis of HCC, unveiling distinct expression patterns of these lncRNAs between normal liver and HCC samples across different stages. Moreover, the construction of a lncRNA-mRNA co-expression network led to the identification of five central lncRNA hubs (AC091057, AC099850, AC012073, DDX11-AS1, and AL035461). Subsequently, these five lncRNAs were validated using the independent validation set. In summary, this investigation successfully discerned five lncRNAs closely associated with the oncogenesis of HCC, thereby shedding light on their potential utility as diagnostic or therapeutic targets for this formidable disease
Queering the South: case studies with Emma Dante
No full textThis thesis analyses the films and plays by Sicilian director Emma Dante by adopting a queer approach. While the focus is on Dante’s works that that thematise LGBTQIA+ histories, identity positions, and embodiments, the thesis also expands onto her other films and plays. Differentiating itself from the majority of Dante scholarship (Barsotti 2009; Scattina 2019), it focuses on Dante’s queering practice and uses it as an incitement to further investigate the poetics of haunting, kinship, and the Southern cultural archive.
Furthermore, the thesis places Dante’s work in the divided Italian socio-cultural context, as internal racialising processes promote the ‘progressive’ North in contrast to the ‘backward’ South. This rhetoric, which can be traced back to the Italian Unification in the nineteenth century, involves the representation of the LGBTQIA+ community as well, as Southern individuals are deemed as representative of a pre-modern form of sexuality (Barbagli and Colombo 2007; Dall'Orto 2015). While this polarising view is predominant, contemporary cultural practitioners and theorists from Southern Italy have attempted to disrupt this temporal binary (Ferrante 2019; Polizzi 2022).
First, it is argued that Dante is a prime example of this oppositional cultural trend. Moreover, by queerly tracing the connections that Dante’s oeuvre establishes with a larger genealogy of cultural works that are both queer and Southern (Letizia Battaglia, Liliana Cavani, Vincent Dieutre, Jolanda Insana, Curzio Malaparte, Fabio Mollo, Elsa Morante, Ferzan Özpetek, Emanuela Pirelli, Nicola Sisci and Paolo Valerio), the thesis states that queerness should be added as a core element of Franco Cassano’s Southern epistemology (2012). Working on Emma Dante and with Emma Dante (on Dante’s oeuvre and on an expansive cultural network constituted through it), this thesis claims that queerness, instead of being the marginal ‘other’ of the Italian South, is at the core of its cultural, theoretical, and epistemological articulation
Understanding the support needs of women with hyperemesis gravidarum
Get PDFProblem: Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) is a severe condition, but little is known about how best to psychologically support those going through this experience.
Background: HG, a severe form of nausea and vomiting affects 0.3-3.4% of pregnancies. It can have significant psychological impacts on sufferers, with increased rates of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress. There is a need for interventions tailored to this group that could ameliorate these impacts.
Aim: To explore what women with HG found useful for their mental health, what could and should be targeted in an intervention and optimal features of an intervention.
Methods: A series of focus groups were run with 22 survivors of HG, analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.
Findings: Four overarching themes were identified: the individual journey of HG; recognition and validation by healthcare professionals; impact on family roles and systems; flexible personalised support. The need for cultural competence in understanding and developing support ran through the themes.
Discussion: HG involves both physical and psychological impacts, some of which are exacerbated by invalidating interactions and lack of knowledge in the healthcare system. Those with HG are simultaneously physically and mentally depleted, leading to multiple impacts on woman and family. A tailored intervention including elements of information, recording and active psychological intervention could support women's physical and mental health during HG, with the potential to prevent or ameliorate negative psychological consequences.
Conclusion: Psychological support for women with HG is a current gap. A tailored intervention has promise to mitigate negative impacts of this condition