Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ocular adenovirus gene transfer varies in efficiency and inflammatory response.

PURPOSE To study the effects of adenoviral gene transfer to the tissues of the anterior segment in vitro by rat and monkey lens organ cultures and in vivo by single injection into the anterior chamber of rabbits. METHODS In vitro, intact lens cultures were exposed to 1 to 4 x 10(8) pfu Av1LacZ4 and Av1Luc1 in TC199 medium containing no serum or growth factors. Av1LacZ4 and Av1Luc1 are replication-deficient adenovirus vectors, carrying the reporter genes Escherichia coli LacZ and firefly luciferase, respectively. In vivo, the anterior chambers of eight rabbits were injected once with 20 mumol Av1LacZ4 (8 x 10(8) pfu) and evaluated 48 hours after injection. Enzyme activity of the reporter genes was measured biochemically and histochemically. RESULTS In organ cultures, adenovirus delivers reporter genes efficiently to the ciliary processes but penetrates poorly into the capsulated lenses. Viral receptors, however, are present in rat lens epithelium, as in primary trabecular meshwork and other lens cell lines. In vivo, gene transfer was evident in corneal endothelium, iris anterior surface, and trabecular meshwork. Presence of the virus did not affect lens transparency or provoke external discomfort signs. Infected corneal endothelial cells were swollen and partly detached; 3 of 8 infected eyes showed a severe inflammatory response in chamber angle, anterior uvea, and limbal conjunctiva. CONCLUSIONS These findings reveal the distinct gene transfer potential of each of the tissues of the anterior segment and emphasize the need to address the inflammatory response to these first-generation adenoviral vectors.
Study quality on groin injury management remains low: a systematic review on treatment of groin pain in athletes

Background Groin pain in athletes is frequent and many different treatment options have been proposed. The current level of evidence for the efficacy of these treatments is unknown. Objective Systematically review the literature on the efficacy of treatments for groin pain in athletes. Methods Nine medical databases were searched in May 2014. Inclusion criteria: treatment studies in athletes with groin pain; randomised controlled trials, controlled clinical trials or case series; n>10; outcome measures describing number of recovered athletes, patient satisfaction, pain scores or functional outcome scores. One author screened search results, and two authors independently assessed study quality. A best evidence synthesis was performed. Relationships between quality score and outcomes were evaluated. Review registration number CRD42014010262. Results 72 studies were included for quality analysis. Four studies were high quality. There is moderate evidence that, for adductor-related groin pain, active exercises compared with passive treatments improve success, multimodal treatment with a manual therapy technique shortens the time to return to sports compared with active exercises and adductor tenotomy improves treatment success over time. There is moderate evidence that for athletes with sportsman's hernia, surgery results in better treatment success then conservative treatment. There was a moderate and inverse correlation between study quality and treatment success (p<0.001, r=−0.41), but not between study quality and publication year (p=0.09, r=0.20). Conclusions Only 6% of publications were high quality. Low-quality studies showed significantly higher treatment success and study quality has not improved since 1985. There is moderate evidence for the efficacy of conservative treatment (active exercises and multimodal treatments) and for surgery in patients with adductor-related groin pain. There is moderate evidence for efficacy of surgical treatment in sportsman's hernia.
Fast division algorithm with a small lookup table

This paper presents a new division algorithm, which requires two multiplication operations and a single lookup in a small table. The division algorithm takes two steps. The table lookup and the first multiplication are processed concurrently in the first step, and the second multiplication is executed in the next step. This divider uses a single multiplier and a lookup table with 2/sup m/(2m+1) bits to produce 2 m-bit results that are guaranteed correct to one ulp. By using a multiplier and a 12.5 KB lookup table, the basic algorithm generates a 24-bit result in two cycles.
Towards Concept-Based Translation Models Using Search Logs for Query Expansion

Query logs have been successfully used to improve Web search. One of the directions exploits user clickthrough data to extract related terms to a query to perform query expansion (QE). How-ever, term relations have been created between isolated terms without considering their context, giving rise to the problem of term ambiguity. To solve this problem, we propose several ways to place terms in their contexts. On the one hand, contiguous terms can form a phrase; and on the other hand, terms at proximi-ty can provide less strict but useful contextual constraints mutual-ly. Relations extracted between such more constrained groups of terms are expected to be less noisy than those between single terms. In this paper, the constrained groups of terms are called concepts. We exploit user query logs to build statistical translation models between concepts, which are then used for QE. We perform experiments on the Web search task using a real world data set. Results show that the concept-based statistical translation model trained on clickthrough data outperforms signif-icantly other state-of-the-art QE systems.
The Combined Effects of Measurement Error and Omitting Confounders in the Single-Mediator Model

ABSTRACT Mediation analysis requires a number of strong assumptions be met in order to make valid causal inferences. Failing to account for violations of these assumptions, such as not modeling measurement error or omitting a common cause of the effects in the model, can bias the parameter estimates of the mediated effect. When the independent variable is perfectly reliable, for example when participants are randomly assigned to levels of treatment, measurement error in the mediator tends to underestimate the mediated effect, while the omission of a confounding variable of the mediator-to-outcome relation tends to overestimate the mediated effect. Violations of these two assumptions often co-occur, however, in which case the mediated effect could be overestimated, underestimated, or even, in very rare circumstances, unbiased. To explore the combined effect of measurement error and omitted confounders in the same model, the effect of each violation on the single-mediator model is first examined individually. Then the combined effect of having measurement error and omitted confounders in the same model is discussed. Throughout, an empirical example is provided to illustrate the effect of violating these assumptions on the mediated effect.
Effect modification, interaction and mediation: an overview of theoretical insights for clinical investigators

We revisited the three interrelated epidemiological concepts of effect modification, interaction and mediation for clinical investigators and examined their applicability when using research databases. The standard methods that are available to assess interaction, effect modification and mediation are explained and exemplified. For each concept, we first give a simple “best-case” example from a randomized controlled trial, followed by a structurally similar example from an observational study using research databases. Our explanation of the examples is based on recent theoretical developments and insights in the context of large health care databases. Terminology is sometimes ambiguous for what constitutes effect modification and interaction. The strong assumptions underlying the assessment of interaction, and particularly mediation, require clinicians and epidemiologists to take extra care when conducting observational studies in the context of health care databases. These strong assumptions may limit the applicability of interaction and mediation assessments, at least until the biases and limitations of these assessments when using large research databases are clarified.
Coordination Over Multi-Agent Networks With Unmeasurable States and Finite-Level Quantization

In this note, the coordination of linear discrete-time multi-agent systems over digital networks is investigated with unmeasurable states in agents' dynamics. The quantized-observer based communication protocols and Certainty Equivalence principle based control protocols are proposed to characterize the inter-agent communication and the cooperative control in an integrative framework. By investigating the structural and asymptotic properties of the equations of stabilization and estimation errors, which are nonlinearly coupled by the finite-level quantization scheme, some necessary conditions and sufficient conditions are given for the existence of such communication and control protocols to ensure the inter-agent state observation and cooperative stabilization. It is shown that these conditions come down to the simultaneous stabilizability and the detectability of the dynamics of agents and the structure of the communication network.
Cinacalcet, Fibroblast Growth Factor-23, and Cardiovascular Disease in Hemodialysis The Evaluation of Cinacalcet HCl Therapy to Lower Cardiovascular Events (EVOLVE) Trial Heart Failure

0.37–0.86), and heart failure (relative hazard, 0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.48–0.99). Conclusions —Treatment with cinacalcet significantly lowers serum FGF23. Treatment-induced reductions in serum FGF23 are associated with lower rates of cardiovascular death and major cardiovascular events. in The results of this study suggest an important kidney-bone-cardiovascular link. Fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF23) is made in the bone in response to elevated parathyroid hormone and 1,25(OH) 2 -vitamin D and increased dietary intake of phosphorus. FGF23 binds to its receptor and klotho coreceptor in the kidney to increase urinary phosphate and to decrease 1,25(OH) 2 -vitamin D synthesis and in the parathyroid gland to reduce parathyroid hormone secretion as part of a negative feedback loop. In animals, FGF23 directly induces cardiac hypertrophy in a klotho-independent manner. Levels of FGF23 increase with progressive kidney disease and, by the time a patient reaches dialysis, can be 100-fold greater than in individu-als without kidney disease. The present study, a secondary analyses of the Evaluation of Cinacalcet HCl Therapy to Lower Cardiovascular Events (EVOLVE) trial, which randomized patients receiving hemodialysis to cinacalcet versus placebo for the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism, demonstrates that cinacalcet reduces serum FGF23 levels. Furthermore, in patients randomized to cinacalcet, a ≥ 30% decrease in FGF23 was associated with a reduction in mortality, heart failure, and nonatherosclerotic cardiovascular events, including sudden cardiac death. The latter is the leading cause of cardiovascular death in patients undergoing hemodialysis. The present study is the first to demonstrate that a reduction in FGF23 in patients receiving cinacalcet is associated with a reduction in hard clinical end points. It is important to emphasize that this is a secondary analyses and that the mechanisms by which a reduction in FGF23 or cinacalcet reduces the risks of heart failure and sudden cardiac death are likely multifactorial and cannot be discerned by this study.
Crack Development in Concrete, Part 2: Modelling of Fracture Process

In a companion paper in this conference [1] an experimental study is presented that deals with measuring fracture properties and obtaining 3D images of the particle structure in heterogeneous materials as mortars and concrete. The fracture mechanisms observed in the tests are modelled with a 3D lattice model. The heterogeneity of the model is directly implemented from the 3D images obtained in a CT-scanner. With this method realistic crack patterns can be obtained.
64 slice MDCT generally underestimates coronary calcium scores as compared to EBT: A phantom study.

The objective of our study was the determination of the influence of the sequential and spiral acquisition modes on the concordance and deviation of the calcium score on 64-slice multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) scanners in comparison to electron beam tomography (EBT) as the gold standard. Our methods and materials were an anthropomorphic cardio CT phantom with different calcium inserts scanned in sequential and spiral acquisition modes on three identical 64-slice MDCT scanners of manufacturer A and on three identical 64-slice MDCT scanners of manufacturer B and on an EBT system. Every scan was repeated 30 times with and 15 times without a small random variation in the phantom position for both sequential and spiral modes. Significant differences were observed between EBT and 64-slice MDCT data for all inserts, both acquisition modes, and both manufacturers of MDCT systems. High regression coefficients (0.90-0.98) were found between the EBT and 64-slice MDCT data for both scoring methods and both systems with high correlation coefficients (R2>0.94). System A showed more significant differences between spiral and sequential mode than system B. Almost no differences were observed in scanners of the same manufacturer for the Agatston score and no differences for the Volume score. The deviations of the Agatston and Volume scores showed regression dependencies approximately equal to the square root of the absolute score. The Agatston and Volume scores obtained with 64-slice MDCT imaging are highly correlated with EBT-obtained scores but are significantly underestimated (-10% to -2%) for both sequential and spiral acquisition modes. System B is more independent of acquisition mode to calcium score than system A. The Volume score shows no intramanufacturer dependency and its use is advocated versus the Agatston score. Using the same cut points for MDCT-based calcium scores as for EBT-based calcium scores can result in classifying individuals into a too low risk category. System information and scanprotocol is therefore needed for every calcium score procedure to ensure a correct clinical interpretation of the obtained calcium score results.
Imitators and Optimizers in Cournot Oligopoly

We analyze a symmetric n-firm Cournot oligopoly with a heterogeneous population of optimizers and imitators. Imitators mimic the output decision of the most successful firms of the previous round a la Vega-Redondo (1997). Optimizers play a myopic best response to the opponents' previous output. Firms are allowed to make mistakes and deviate from their decision rules with a small probability. Applying stochastic stability analysis, we find that the long run distribution converges to a recurrent set of states in which imitators are better off than are optimizers. This finding appears to be robust even when optimizers are more sophisticated. It suggests that imitators drive optimizers out of the market contradicting a fundamental conjecture by Friedman (1953).
Wetting phenomena and time of wetness in atmospheric corrosion: a review

Abstract The concept of time of wetness (TOW) is extensively used in the atmospheric corrosion disciplines for such purposes as corrosion prognostics and environmental corrosivity classification. Time of wetness can generally be defined as the amount of time a metal surface remains wet during atmospheric exposure. Although the basic concept and importance of TOW in governing atmospheric corrosion is generally agreed upon, what is meant by “wet” has generally remained ambiguous and its practical determination has been widely varied throughout its history. The objective of this review is to demystify TOW in terms of definition and measurement and identify issues that inhibit this parameter from providing deeper insight into the effect wetness duration has on atmospheric corrosion. Specifically, this paper summarizes the current state of TOW determination methods along with the parallel concept leaf wetness used in environmental science. Furthermore, wetting and drying phenomena associated with atmospheric corrosion and thought to control TOW are overviewed. From this framework, current issues and limitations of TOW are identified and avenues for further improvement suggested.
Three‐Dimensional Geometric Morphometric Analysis of the Nasopharyngeal Boundaries and Its Functional Integration with the Face and External Basicranium Among Extant Hominoids

The nasopharynx is a centrally located but understudied upper respiratory tract component. This study tested hypotheses related to the functional integration of the nasopharyngeal boundaries with the facial skeleton and external basicranium over the course of development in humans and nonhuman hominoids. It was hypothesized that facial morphology (width, length, and kyphosis) is related to nasopharyngeal width and choanal morphology, whereas relative external basicranial proportions are related to nasopharyngeal depth. Human infants were used as models of extreme orthognathy and external basicranial retroflexion, whereas nonhuman hominoids were used to model greater relative prognathism and external basicranial retroflexion. Both of these groups were contrasted against adult humans, who exhibit both extreme orthognathy and external basicranial flexion. Three‐dimensional landmark coordinate data were collected from age‐graded series of Homo, Pan, Gorilla, Pongo, and Hylobates. Generalized Procrustes Analysis was performed, and multivariate shape differences were evaluated via principal components analysis. Additionally, linear measures were extracted from the Procrustes‐corrected sets of landmark data. Results indicate that human adults are indeed distinct from all groups in possessing a relatively shallow nasopharyngeal roof and shorter, more flexed external basicranial axis. Human adults and infants both exhibit greater relative choanal and nasopharyngeal width. Nonhuman hominoid faces tended to become airorhynch into adulthood, whereas humans exhibited the opposite trend. When pooling all the hominoids, facial width and palate length were strongly correlated with choanal and nasopharyngeal width, whereas facial kyphosis was strongly correlated with choanal orientation. The hypotheses were supported as the results indicated a morphologic relationship among nasopharyngeal boundaries, the facial skeleton, and the external basicranium. Anat Rec, 298:85–106, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A discriminative HMM/N-gram-based retrieval approach for mandarin spoken documents

In recent years, statistical modeling approaches have steadily gained in popularity in the field of information retrieval. This article presents an HMM/N-gram-based retrieval approach for Mandarin spoken documents. The underlying characteristics and the various structures of this approach were extensively investigated and analyzed. The retrieval capabilities were verified by tests with word- and syllable-level indexing features and comparisons to the conventional vector-space model approach. To further improve the discrimination capabilities of the HMMs, both the expectation-maximization (EM) and minimum classification error (MCE) training algorithms were introduced in training. Fusion of information via indexing word- and syllable-level features was also investigated. The spoken document retrieval experiments were performed on the Topic Detection and Tracking Corpora (TDT-2 and TDT-3). Very encouraging retrieval performance was obtained.
Modelling the flyby anomalies using a modification of inertia

The flyby anomalies are unexplained velocity jumps of 3.9, −4.6, 13.5, −2, 1.8 and 0.02 mm s −1 observed near closest approach during the Earth flybys of six spacecraft. These flybys are modelled here using a theory that assumes that inertia is due to a form of Unruh radiation, and varies with acceleration due to a Hubble-scale Casimir effect. Considering the acceleration of the craft relative to every particle of the rotating Earth, the theory predicts that there is a slight reduction in inertial mass with increasing latitude for an unbound craft, since near the pole it sees a lower average relative acceleration. Applying this theory to the inbound and outbound flyby paths, with conservation of momentum, the predicted anomalies were 2.9, −0.9, 20.1, 0.9, 3.2 and −1.3 mm s −1 . Three of the flyby anomalies were reproduced within error bars, and the theory explains their recently observed dependence on the latitude difference between their incident and exit trajectories. The errors for the other three flybys were between 1 and 3 mm s −1 .
Mapping the Landscape of Human-Level Artificial General Intelligence

We present the broad outlines of a roadmap toward human-level artificial general intelligence (henceforth, AGI). We begin by discussing AGI in general, adopting a pragmatic goal for its attainment and a necessary foundation of characteristics and requirements. An initial capability landscape will be presented, drawing on major themes from developmental psychology and illuminated by mathematical, physiological and information processing perspectives. The challenge of identifying appropriate tasks and environments for measuring AGI will be addressed, and seven scenarios will be presented as milestones suggesting a roadmap across the AGI landscape along with directions for future research and collaboration.
ACCURATE SHORT-TERM ANALYSIS OF THE FUNDAMENTAL FREQUENCY AND THE HARMONICS-TO-NOISE RATIO OF A SAMPLED SOUND

We present a straightforward and robust algorithm for periodicity detection, working in the lag (autocorrelation) domain. When it is tested for periodic signals and for signals with additive noise or jitter, it proves to be several orders of magnitude more accurate than the methods commonly used for speech analysis. This makes our method capable of measuring harmonics-to-noise ratios in the lag domain with an accuracy and reliability much greater than that of any of the usual frequency-domain methods. By definition, the best candidate for the acoustic pitch period of a sound can be found from the position of the maximum of the autocorrelation function of the sound, while the degree of periodicity (the harmonics-to-noise ratio) of the sound can be found from the relative height of this maximum. However, sampling and windowing cause problems in accurately determining the position and height of the maximum. These problems have led to inaccurate timedomain and cepstral methods for pitch detection, and to the exclusive use of frequency-domain methods for the determination of the harmonics-to-noise ratio. In this paper, I will tackle these problems. Table 1 shows the specifications of the resulting algorithm for two spectrally maximally different kinds of periodic sounds: a sine wave and a periodic pulse train; other periodic sounds give results between these. Table 1. The accuracy of the algorithm for a sampled sine wave and for a correctly sampled periodic pulse train, as a function of the number of periods that fit in the duration of a Hanning window. These results are valid for pitch frequencies up to 80% of the Nyquist frequency. These results were measured for a sampling frequency of 10 kHz and window lengths of 40 ms (for pitch) and 80 ms (for HNR), but generalize to other sampling frequencies and window lengths (see section 5).