Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A unifying representation of ventricular volumetric indexes

The authors studied volumetric characteristics of the ventricle in various hearts covering a wide (patho)physiological range, using the individual operating point at basal conditions. The aim of this analysis is to formulate a unifying relationship between volumetric parameters which will be applicable to cardiac ventricles regardless of underlying pathology. Analyzing the authors' own measurements as well as additional data published elsewhere indicates that end-systolic volume (ESV) versus end diastolic volume (EDV) yields a high linear population based correlation coefficient. This analytical expression can subsequently be used for the evaluation of clinically relevant derived indexes. For example, the new approach permits estimation of important physiological quantities such as stroke work and myocardial oxygen consumption, while isopleths and regions with equal ejection fraction can all be inscribed as linear relationships within a single graph. Based on statistical considerations, the authors demonstrate that in terms of correlation this new graphical representation is superior to the curve relating output (stroke volume) to input (preload) of the ventricle. It is concluded that the ESV versus EDV representation facilitates insight into cardiac volumetric behaviour and permits prediction of clinically relevant cardiodynamic effects, as produced by ventricular dimensional changes, for example induced by surgical or pharmacological intervention, or by the progression of cardiac disease.
Uptake of Cervical Screening in General Practice: Effect of Practice Organisation, Structure, and Deprivation

Objectives— To investigate associations between uptake for cervical screening in general practice and the organisation of screening, features of practice structure, and deprivation. Setting— Greater Glasgow Health Board area in the west of Scotland, which covers a socioeconomically varied population. Methods— General practice questionnaire survey and interview based study. The main outcome measure was the uptake rate for each participating practice over the five and a half years ending 31 December 1993. This was used to determine whether practices achieved 80% uptake to trigger maximum payment for cervical screening services. Results— Forty seven per cent (n = 92) of all practices in the Greater Glasgow Health Board area agreed to take part in the research, with complete data collected for 87 practices. Participation varied according to number of partners in the practice and the average deprivation score of the practice. Uptake rates ranged from 48.2% to 92.9% (median 77.5%, interquartile range 69.8% to 83.4%). Thirty seven practices (43%) achieved the 80% target. None of the recommended features of good organisation of cervical screening showed any statistically significant association with uptake rates. In stepwise multiple regression four variables were shown to have independent associations with uptake. These were the number of partners in the practice, the average deprivation of the practice, the presence of a female general practitioner, and using a practice's own lists for sending out letters of invitation. In stepwise logistic regression just two of these variables contributed to the prediction of achieving 80% uptake – namely, average deprivation and number of partners. There were no significant interactions between deprivation and the organisation of screening in relation to uptake. Conclusions— Organising cervical screening in general practice according to accepted standards is less important in predicting uptake than more intractable features of the practice such as the size of the partnership, its average deprivation level, the presence of a female general practitioner, and using their own (presumed more accurate) register of addresses to call women. A flexible incentive scheme may more fairly reward the efforts of those general practitioners who achieve high uptake rates but who do not trigger remuneration at the 80% level.
A Generic Middle Layer for Image Understanding

Although humans can understand complex scenes with apparent ease, the problem remains difficult for artificial scene interpretation systems. A central problem facing such systems is reliable detection of objects present in a scene from raw image data. This thesis presents a probabilistic middle-layer architecture which can make use of high-level scene context to improve the detection and recognition of scene objects. The main features of the proposed middle layer are a novel contextual classification scheme, an intermediate-level representation of the scene in terms of object views, and accurate modelling of detection certainty. The architecture is generic and can be applied to any low-level algorithm which delivers class probabilities and any high-level reasoning system which implements the needed interface. The performance is evaluated on images from the facade domain using a wide range of low-level detectors and several high-level interpretation systems. Das Verstehen von komplexen Szenen ist eine leichte Aufgabe fur Menschen, bleibt aber nach wie vor schwierig fur kunstliche Szeneninterpretationssysteme. Dabei ist die zuverlassige Erkennung von Szenenobjekten in Bilddaten ein zentrales Problem. Diese Arbeit stellt eine probabilistische Architektur vor, die wissensbasierten Szenenkontext benutzen kann, um die Detektion und Erkennung von Szenenobjekten zu verbessern. Sie funktioniert dabei als Schnitstelle zwischen der Bildverarbeitungsalgorithmen und hoheren Szenenmodellen. Die Hauptmerkmale der vorgestellten Architektur sind ein neuer kontextbasierter Klassifikationsmechanismus, eine Zwischenreprasentation der Szene basierend auf Object Views und genaue Modellierung der Detektionsungenauigkeit. Die Architektur ist generisch aufgebaut und kann durch generische Schnittstellen mit verschiedenen probabilistischen Bildverarbeitungsalgorithmen kombiniert werden, sowie mit verschiedenen Systemen fur hohere Bilddeutung. Die Evaluierung der Architektur in der Kombination mit verschiedenen Bildverarbeitungs- und Bilddeutungsmodulen wurde auf Bilddaten aus der Fassadendomane durchgefuhrt.
Confidence versus Performance as an Indicator of the Presence of Alternative Conceptions and Inadequate Problem‐Solving Skills in Mechanics

This study investigated the use of performance–confidence relationships to signal the presence of alternative conceptions and inadequate problem‐solving skills in mechanics. A group of 33 students entering physics at a South African university participated in the project. The test instrument consisted of 20 items derived from existing standardised tests from literature, each of which was followed by a self‐reported measure of confidence of students in the correctness of their answers. Data collected for this study included students’ responses to multiple‐choice questions and open‐ended explanations for their chosen answers. Fixed response physics and confidence data were logarithmically transformed according to the Rasch model to linear measures of performance and confidence. The free response explanations were carefully analysed for accuracy of conceptual understanding. Comparison of these results with raw score data and transformed measures of performance and confidence allowed a re‐evaluation of the model developed by Hasan, Bagayoko, and Kelley in 1999 for the detection of alternative conceptions in mechanics. Application of this model to raw score data leads to inaccurate conclusions. However, application of the Hasan hypothesis to transformed measures of performance and confidence resulted in the accurate identification of items plagued by alternative conceptions. This approach also holds promise for the differentiation between over‐confidence due to alternative conceptions or due to inadequate problem‐solving skills. It could become a valuable tool for instructional design in mechanics.
Stimulation of Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor In Vivo by Infusion of Angiotensin II Evidence of a Potential Interaction Between the Renin‐Angiotensin System and Fibrinolytic Function

BackgroundRecent clinical trial data indicate that the use of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors among patients with left ventricular dysfunction results in reduced rates of coronary thrombosis, a provocative finding that suggests a potential interaction between the renin-angiotensin system and fibrinolytic function Methods and ResultsIn four normotensive subjects and six hypertensive patients, we investigated whether infusion of angiotensin II (Ang II) affected circulating levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor-i (PAI-1), the most important physiological inhibitor of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA). Overall, mean levels of PAI-1 antigen increased significantly from 20.1 ng/mL before Ang H infusion to 36.0 ng/mL at the end of Ang II infusion (p=0.008), whereas no change in PAI-1 was observed for control subjects infused with 5% dextrose (p=0.46). Among the normotensive subjects for whom graded doses of Ang II were infused at 0, 1, 3, and 10 ng · kg-1 · min-1, mean PAI-1 levels increased sequentially from 14.7 ng/mL to 23.0, 26.8, and 33.5 ng/mL, a dose-response relation that, compared with controls, was highly significant (p<0.001). Among the hypertensive patients for whom a single 45-minute infusion of Ang II was given at a dose of 3 ng · kg-1 · min-1, PAI-1 levels increased from 23.7 to 37.7 ng/mL, whereas PAI-1 levels among control subjects infused with 5% dextrose decreased from 16.9 to 10.8 ng/mL (p=0.04). Finally, when compared with infusion of 5% dextrose solution, infusion of Ang II appeared to have little effect on circulating levels of t-PA antigen. ConclusionThese in vivo data suggest that infusion of Ang H results in a rapid increase in circulating levels of PAI-1, a finding that may help to explain clinical observations linking the renin-angiotensin system and thrombotic risk. (Circulation 1993;87:1969-1973)
Nonparametric Clustering with Distance Dependent Hierarchies

The distance dependent Chinese restaurant process (ddCRP) provides a flexible framework for clustering data with temporal, spatial, or other structured dependencies. Here we model multiple groups of structured data, such as pixels within frames of a video sequence, or paragraphs within documents from a text corpus. We propose a hierarchical generalization of the ddCRP which clusters data within groups based on distances between data items, and couples clusters across groups via distances based on aggregate properties of these local clusters. Our hddCRP model subsumes previously proposed hierarchical extensions to the ddCRP, and allows more flexibility in modeling complex data. This flexibility poses a challenging inference problem, and we derive a MCMC method that makes coordinated changes to data assignments both within and between local clusters. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our hddCRP on video segmentation and discourse modeling tasks, achieving results competitive with state-of-the-art methods.
Dose-Dependent Effects on Sphingoid Bases and Cytokines in Chickens Fed Diets Prepared with Fusarium Verticillioides Culture Material Containing Fumonisins

In chickens, the effect of mycotoxins, especially fumonisins (FB), in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is not well documented. Thus, this study in broiler chicks determined the effects of consuming diets prepared with Fusarium verticillioides culture material containing FB on intestinal gene expression and on the sphinganine (Sa)/sphingosine (So) ratio (Sa/So; a biomarker of FB effect due to disruption of sphingolipid metabolism). Male broilers were assigned to 6 diets (6 cages/diet; 6 birds/cage) from hatch to 20 days containing 0.4, 5.6, 11.3, 17.5, 47.8, or 104.8 mg FB/kg diet. Exposure to FB altered the Sa/So ratio in all tissues analyzed, albeit to varying extents. Linear dose-responses were observed in the kidney, jejunum and cecum. The liver and the ileum were very sensitive and data fit a cubic and quadratic polynomial model, respectively. Gene expression in the small intestine revealed low but significant upregulations of cytokines involved in the pro-inflammatory, Th1/Th17 and Treg responses, especially at 10 days of age. Interestingly, the cecal tonsils exhibited a biphasic response. Unlike the sphingolipid analysis, the effects seen on gene expression were not dose dependent, even showing more effects when birds were exposed to 11.3 mg FB/kg. In conclusion, this is the first report on the disruption of the sphingolipid metabolism by FB in the GIT of poultry. Further studies are needed to reach conclusions on the biological meaning of the immunomodulation observed in the GIT, but the susceptibility of chickens to intestinal pathogens when exposed to FB, at doses lower than those that would cause overt clinical symptoms, should be addressed.
Structural and functional changes in the frog sympathetic ganglion following cutting of the presynaptic nerve fibres

The morphological and functional changes that follow cutting of presynaptic nerve fibres have been studied at the frog neuromuscular junction (Birks, Katz & Miledi, 1960). There, presynaptic cutting is followed, after an interval of about 4-5 days, by failure of neuromuscular transmission and disappearance of spontaneous miniature end-plate potentials (m.e.p.p.s). After several days, during which no activity can be recorded from the endplate region, spontaneous miniature potentials reappear, although of altered frequency and amplitude. Electron microscopic studies show that the phase of loss of transmission and disappearance of m.e. p.p.s is correlated with degenerative changes in the nerve terminals and that the reappearance of spontaneous potentials occurs at a time when the Schwann cell has replaced the nerve terminal in making contact with the end-plate membrane. The frog sympathetic ganglion provides an interesting and convenient preparation for a comparative study of the effects of cutting the presynaptic fibre in a nerve-nerve synapse. The structure of this synapse, which differs in several aspects from that at the neuromuscular junction, has been studied principally by Taxi (1961 a). A recent study by Pick (1963) describes in further detail the morphology of this ganglion, including its fine structure. Recently, the functional characteristics of this ganglion have been investigated by Nishi & Koketsu (1960) and by Blackman, Ginsborg & Ray (1963a, b, c, d). At this cholinergic synapse, the postsynaptic cell is usually innervated by only one presynaptic fibre. The latter has multiple terminations on the surface of the spherical postsynaptic cell body and on its axon near the axon hillock. These terminations, containing large numbers of vesicles and other inclusions, are separated from the post-synaptic membrane by a 200 A cleft. In regions other than
Purified astrocytes promote the in vitro division of a bipotential glial progenitor cell.

Optic nerves of neonatal rats contain a bipotential glial progenitor cell which can be induced by tissue culture conditions to differentiate into either an oligodendrocyte (the myelin‐forming cell of the CNS) or a type 2 astrocyte (an astrocyte population found only in the myelinated tracts of the CNS). In our previous studies most oligodendrocyte‐type 2 astrocyte (O‐2A) progenitor cells differentiated within 3 days in vitro with relatively little division of the progenitors or their differentiated progeny. We have now found that the O‐2A progenitors are stimulated to divide in culture by purified populations of type 1 astrocytes, another glial cell‐type found in the rat optic nerve. This cell‐cell interaction appears to be mediated by a soluble factor(s) and results in the production of large numbers of both progenitor cells and oligodendrocytes. As type 1 astrocytes are the major glial cell‐type in the optic nerve when oligodendrocytes first begin to be produced in large numbers in vivo, our results suggest that this astrocyte subpopulation may play an important role in expanding the oligodendrocyte population during normal development.
The relationship between exercise motives and physical self-esteem in female exercise participants: An application of Self-Determination Theory

This study examined the relationship between exercise motives and physical self-esteem (PSE) in physically active females using Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985, 1995; Ryan & Deci, 2000). Female exercise participants recruited from university-based exercise classes reported their motives for exercise during Week 2, and their levels of PSE during Week 12, of a 15-week exercise class. Bivariate correlations indicated that exercise motives displayed a graded pattern of relationships. They also suggested that only autonomous exercise motives were associated with higher PSE. Discriminant function analysis revealed that more autonomous exercise motives correctly classified 83.3% of the high PSE group and 88.9% of the low PSE group. These findings support Ryan and Deci's assertions and suggest that autonomous exercise motives may play an important role in positive PSE in the exercise domain. These findings advance the application of SDT in the exercise domain and further our understanding of PSE development.
Teachers' Communication of Goal Orientations in Four Fifth-Grade Classrooms

We investigated the explicit and implicit ways in which 4 fifth-grade teachers communicated an emphasis on mastery and performance goal orientations to their students. We used survey data about perceptions of the classroom mastery and performance goal structures from 223 students in 10 classes to identify 4 classrooms with significantly different motivational profiles. We then used observational data to describe teachers' talk and practices regarding tasks, authority, recognition, grouping, evaluation, time, social interactions, and help-seeking in those classes. We found that teachers perceived as having a high mastery focus spoke about learning as an active process, and this was reflected in their practices. They required involvement from all students, emphasized effort, and encouraged student interaction. Those teachers also exhibited social and affective support for, and concern about, students' learning and progress. These practices were not observed in low mastery-focused classes. The teachers perceived as having a high performance focus emphasized formal assessments, grades, and students' relative performance to a substantially greater extent than the low performance-focused teachers.
A Systematic Methodology to Generate Decomposable and Responsive Power Models for CMPs

Power modeling based on performance monitoring counters (PMCs) attracted the interest of researchers since it became a quick approach to understand the power behavior of real systems. Consequently, several power-aware policies use models to guide their decisions. Hence, the presence of power models that are informative, accurate, and capable of detecting power phases is critical to improve the success of power-saving techniques. Additionally, the design of current processors varied considerably with the appearance of CMPs (multiple cores sharing resources). Thus, PMC-based power models warrant further investigation on current energy-efficient multicore processors. In this paper, we present a systematic methodology to produce decomposable PMC-based power models on current multicore architectures. Apart from being able to estimate the power consumption accurately, the models provide per component power consumption, supplying extra insights about power behavior. Moreover, we study their responsiveness -the capacity to detect power phases-. Specifically, we produce power models for an Intel Core 2 Duo with one and two cores enabled for all the DVFS configurations. The models are empirically validated using the SPECcpu2006, NAS and LMBENCH benchmarks. Finally, we compare the models against existing approaches concluding that the proposed methodology produces more accurate, responsive, and informative models.
A dynamic view of usage and language acquisition

Abstract A general framework is sketched for thinking about problems of usage and acquisition from a cognitive linguistic perspective. It is a dynamic, usage-based approach emphasizing the temporal dimension of language structure as an aspect of cognitive processing. A variety of topics are discussed involving the abstraction of linguistic units, their mental representation, and their activation in usage events.
In Vitro Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Activity of Ceftaroline against Cephalosporin-Resistant Isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae

ABSTRACT Increasing pneumococcal resistance to extended-spectrum cephalosporins warrants the search for novel agents with activity against such resistant strains. Ceftaroline, a parenteral cephalosporin currently in phase 3 clinical development, has demonstrated potent in vitro activity against resistant gram-positive organisms, including penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae. In this study, the activity of ceftaroline was evaluated against highly cefotaxime-resistant isolates of pneumococci from the Active Bacterial Core surveillance program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and against laboratory-derived cephalosporin-resistant mutants of S. pneumoniae. The MICs of ceftaroline and comparators were determined by broth microdilution. In total, 120 U.S. isolates of cefotaxime-resistant (MIC ≥ 4 μg/ml) S. pneumoniae were tested along with 18 laboratory-derived R6 strains with known penicillin-binding protein (PBP) mutations. Clinical isolates were characterized by multilocus sequence typing, and the DNAs of selected isolates were sequenced to identify mutations affecting pbp genes. Ceftaroline (MIC90 = 0.5 μg/ml) had greater in vitro activity than penicillin, cefotaxime, or ceftriaxone (MIC90 = 8 μg/ml for all comparators) against the set of highly cephalosporin-resistant clinical isolates of S. pneumoniae. Ceftaroline was also more active against the defined R6 PBP mutant strains, which suggests that ceftaroline can overcome common mechanisms of PBP-mediated cephalosporin resistance. These data indicate that ceftaroline has significant potency against S. pneumoniae strains resistant to existing parenteral cephalosporins and support its continued development for the treatment of infections caused by resistant S. pneumoniae strains.
Cultural values in commercials: Reaching and representing the multicultural market?

Abstract Advertisers in the Netherlands and Flanders are discovering marketing opportunities to market to specific target groups such as children and adolescents, and their growing numbers in the ethnic minority population. There have been relatively few empirical studies on the portrayal of these audience segments. In light of the first steps in ethnic marketing theory and practice in the Netherlands and Flanders, this study questions how advertising campaigns actually deal with ethnicity and the multicultural market. This issue is tackled by means of a quantitative and comparative content analysis of Dutch, Flemish, American, Turkish, and Chinese television commercials. The first section of this article sketches a theoretical framework for the measurement of cultural values and the representation of ethnic minorities in commercials. On the one hand it draws on previous cross-cultural research examining the individualism/collectivism dimension of culture (cf. Hofstede, 1991; Schwartz, 1992; Gudykunst, 1998) and on the other hand on advertising research concerned with both content-related, and style characteristics of commercials (e. g., De Pelsmacker and Geuens, 1997). In the second section, the methodology is discussed through an examination of the sample and coding instrument. The results section reveals both similarities and differences in the use of values and communication styles in commercials from individualistic as well as collectivistic cultures. Finally, the conclusions of this study are discussed and recommendations for further research are presented.