Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Percutaneous intervention for symptomatic vertebral artery stenosis using coronary stents.

BACKGROUND There is very limited experience with percutaneous treatment of symptomatic vertebral artery disease. Angioplasty and stenting for vertebral artery stenosis are still evolving and have generally been performed for asymptomatic disease. We performed vertebral artery stenting in 12 patients with vertebrobasilar transient ischemic attacks and present our short- and intermediate-term results. METHODS A total of 12 lesions affecting the vertebral artery were treated by coronary stent placement. The mean age was 72 +/- 8 years and 83% were males (10 males, 2 females). Baseline characteristics included hypertension (11/12); hypercholesterolemia (8/12); coronary artery disease (8/12); and diabetes (5/12). Mean lesion length was 8.6 +/- 2.7 mm, mean calipered stenosis was 78 +/- 8%, and mean arterial diameter was 4.1 +/- 0.3 mm. All patients were symptomatic, fulfilling our criteria for vertebral artery angioplasty. All patients were followed for at least 6 months after treatment. RESULTS All 12 lesions were successfully stented, with a mean residual stenosis of 11 +/- 6%. Clinical follow-up showed resolution or improvement of symptoms in all patients. One patient had symptomatic restenosis seven months after the initial procedure requiring repeat angioplasty. CONCLUSIONS Stent placement for symptomatic stenosis involving the vertebral artery is safe and effective for alleviating symptoms of vertebrobasilar ischemia. Coronary stents appear to be well suited to treat atherosclerotic lesions of the vertebral artery.
The Expression and Prognostic Significance of Retinoic Acid Metabolising Enzymes in Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common types of cancer with over fifty percent of patients presenting at an advanced stage. Retinoic acid is a metabolite of vitamin A and is essential for normal cell growth and aberrant retinoic acid metabolism is implicated in tumourigenesis. This study has profiled the expression of retinoic acid metabolising enzymes using a well characterised colorectal cancer tissue microarray containing 650 primary colorectal cancers, 285 lymph node metastasis and 50 normal colonic mucosal samples. Immunohistochemistry was performed on the tissue microarray using monoclonal antibodies which we have developed to the retinoic acid metabolising enzymes CYP26A1, CYP26B1, CYP26C1 and lecithin retinol acyl transferase (LRAT) using a semi-quantitative scoring scheme to assess expression. Moderate or strong expression of CYP26A1was observed in 32.5% of cancers compared to 10% of normal colonic epithelium samples (p<0.001). CYP26B1 was moderately or strongly expressed in 25.2% of tumours and was significantly less expressed in normal colonic epithelium (p<0.001). CYP26C1 was not expressed in any sample. LRAT also showed significantly increased expression in primary colorectal cancers compared with normal colonic epithelium (p<0.001). Strong CYP26B1 expression was significantly associated with poor prognosis (HR = 1.239, 95%CI = 1.104–1.390, χ2 = 15.063, p = 0.002). Strong LRAT was also associated with poorer outcome (HR = 1.321, 95%CI = 1.034–1.688, χ2 = 5.039, p = 0.025). In mismatch repair proficient tumours strong CYP26B1 (HR = 1.330, 95%CI = 1.173–1.509, χ2 = 21.493, p<0.001) and strong LRAT (HR = 1.464, 95%CI = 1.110–1.930, χ2 = 7.425, p = 0.006) were also associated with poorer prognosis. This study has shown that the retinoic acid metabolising enzymes CYP26A1, CYP26B1 and LRAT are significantly overexpressed in colorectal cancer and that CYP26B1 and LRAT are significantly associated with prognosis both in the total cohort and in those tumours which are mismatch repair proficient. CYP26B1 was independently prognostic in a multivariate model both in the whole patient cohort (HR = 1.177, 95%CI = 1.020–1.216, p = 0.026) and in mismatch repair proficient tumours (HR = 1.255, 95%CI = 1.073–1.467, p = 0.004).
Snap-and-ask: answering multimodal question by naming visual instance

In real-life, it is easier to provide a visual cue when asking a question about a possibly unfamiliar topic, for example, asking the question, "Where was this crop circle found? ". Providing an image of the instance is far more convenient than texting a verbose description of the visual properties, especially when the name of the query instance is not known. Nevertheless, having to identify the visual instance before processing the question and eventually returning the answer makes multimodal question-answering technically challenging. This paper addresses the problem of visual-to-text naming through the paradigm of answering-by-search in a two-stage computational framework, which is composed out of instance search (IS) and similar question ranking (QR). In IS, names of the instances are inferred from similar visual examples searched through a million-scale image dataset. For recalling instances of non-planar and non-rigid shapes, spatial configurations that emphasize topology consistency while allowing for local variations in matches have been incorporated. In QR, the candidate names of the instance are statistically identified from search results and directly utilized to retrieve similar questions from community-contributed QA (cQA) archives. By parsing questions into syntactic trees, a fuzzy matching between the inquirer's question and cQA questions is performed to locate answers and recommend related questions to the inquirer. The proposed framework is evaluated on a wide range of visual instances (e.g., fashion, art, food, pet, logo, and landmark) over various QA categories (e.g., factoid, definition, how-to, and opinion).
Multi-age-grouping paradigm for young swimmers

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the adequacy of “multi-age” classification systems in youth sports with a specific focus on the unisex multi-age-groupings used by USA Swimming. In addition, we offer an analytical rationale for the multi-age-groupings and potential alternatives. We examined the top 100 US swim performances for three years (2005, 2006, and 2007) for girls and boys in 15 age-groups (7 to 20 years and a singular group of 21 years and older). Data for each age and sex were pooled over the three years and means were calculated for each of seven competitive swim events. Swim times differed among each age up to the 14-year age-group in girls (F 14,30885 = 183.9, P < 0.01, Cohen's d = 1.19–3.72, large effect) and 16-year age-group in boys (F 14,30885 = 308.7, P < 0.01, Cohen's d = 0.81–3.64, large effect) for all events. Age-related differences in swim times continued later in boys than girls likely due to differences between the sexes in timing of growth and maturation. Because of the differences in swim performance in contemporary multi-age-groups, stratifying swimmers by a single age is the best means to ensure competitive fairness and equality, although there is no rationale for swimmers under the age of 8 years to compete in separate unisex competitive groups.
Direct simultaneous measurement of intraglottal geometry and velocity fields in excised larynges

Current theories regarding the mechanisms of phonation are based on assumptions about the aerodynamics between the vocal folds during the closing phase of vocal fold vibration. However, many of these fundamental assumptions have never been validated in a tissue model. In this study, the main objective was to determine the aerodynamics (velocity fields) and the geometry of the medial surface of the vocal folds during the closing phase of vibration. The main hypothesis is that intraglottal vortices are produced during vocal fold closing when the glottal duct has a divergent shape and that these vortices are associated with negative pressures.
Spatial and temporal variability of patterns of colonization by mussels (Mytilus trossulus,M-edulis) on a wave-exposed rocky shore

Colonization rates of mussels (Mytilus trossulus and M. edulis) were measured on natural substrata in tidepools and on emergent rock in recently ice-scoured and non-scoured regions of a rocky shore near Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The relative importance of initial settlement/colonization, compared to subsequent dispersal and mortality, in determining the distribution and abundance of mussels was examined by comparing patterns and rates of mussel colonization at sampling intervals of days to months over a 17 mo period. Lrss than 4 ":, of mussels which colonized the quadrats sampled at short (2 to 7 d) intervals were settling larvae (<O.5 mm shell length), indicating the importance of poslsettlement dispersal of mussels on this shore. Most colonists were >2 mm, too large to be dispersed by byssal drifting, suggesting they \Yere redistributed by wave dislodgment and deposition. At both short (2 to 7 d) and long (5 to 16 mo) sarnpllng ~ntervdls, colon~sts were most abundant in ice-scoured tidepools and least abundant on ice-scoured emergent rock, probably reflecting d~fferences In the macrobenthic assemblaqe. the sllhc;tratl~m fnr co! oniza! ic~. 1: addi:ion, thrluny L ~ I I I I dbunaance oi colonists was linearly related to the cumulativct short term abundance during all but one of the intervals. Therefore, our results ~ndicate that, over time scales up to 16 mo, patterns of initial colonization by settlers and larger post-larval mussels were inore important than post-colonizati.on mortality and dispersal in determining pattt=rns of distribution and abundance of n~ussels on this shore
Overlay of Eucalyptus urophylla cement-bonded particleboard for application as flooring panels.

Norwegian architects' perceptions regarding the use of wood as a structural material in urban construction was investigated. Increased use of wood in the urban construction sector represents a substantial market opportunity for the wood industry. A theoretical model based on Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior was developed to explain architects' intentions of using wood as a structural material in urban construction. A questionnaire was used to measure attitudes toward the various properties of wood, aesthetic and environmental aspects, construction costs, as well as the use of wood in different types of urban buildings and building heights. Intentions, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and experience with wood as a structural material were also measured. Data from the questionnaire were analyzed using factor analysis and multiple regression analysis. Based on a multiple regression model, it was concluded that experience with use of wood as a structural material, perceived behavioral control over the use of wood, and attitudes toward the use of wood as a structural material in buildings three to five stories or higher, were statistically significant aspects that influenced architects' intentions of using wood as a structural material in urban construction.
A discrete differential evolution algorithm for the permutation flowshop scheduling problem

In this paper, a novel discrete differential evolution (DDE) algorithm is presented to solve the permutation flowhop scheduling problem with the makespan criterion. The DDE algorithm is simple in nature such that it first mutates a target population to produce the mutant population. Then the target population is recombined with the mutant population in order to generate a trial population. Finally, a selection operator is applied to both target and trial populations to determine who will survive for the next generation based on fitness evaluations. As a mutation operator in the discrete differential evolution algorithm, a destruction and construction procedure is employed to generate the mutant population. We propose a referenced local search, which is embedded in the discrete differential evolution algorithm to further improve the solution quality. Computational results show that the proposed DDE algorithm with the referenced local search is very competitive to the iterated greedy algorithm which is one of the best performing algorithms for the permutation flowshop scheduling problem in the literature.
WEED SCIENCE Weed Response to 2,4-D, 2,4-DB, and Dicamba Applied Alone or with Glufosinate

Cotton tolerant of 2,4-D, glufosinate, and glyphosate or dicamba, glufosinate, and glyphosate is in development. This technology will give growers additional tools to manage glyphosateresistant weeds. A field experiment was conducted across six environments in Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee to determine the response of 13- to 20-cm weeds to 2,4-D, 2,4-DB, and dicamba applied alone or mixed with glufosinate. Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri S. Wats) was controlled 59 to 78%, 68 to 80%, and 59 to 83% by 2,4-DB dimethylamine (560-1120 g ae ha -1 ), 2,4-D dimethylamine (530-1060 g a.e. ha -1 ), and dicamba diglycolamine (280-1120 g ae ha -1 ), respectively, and 74% by glufosinate ammonium (430 g ae ha 1 ). Control was improved (89-97%) with all auxin/ glufosinate mixtures when compared to respective herbicides alone. Glufosinate controlled Benghal dayflower (Commelina benghalensis L.) only 68%; 2,4-D at 530 g ha -1 and dicamba at 1120 g ha -1 controlled this weed at least 90%. Combinations of glufosinate and auxin herbicides were beneficial when control by auxin herbicides was 90% or less. Carpetweed (Mollugo verticillata L.) control by auxin herbicides ranged from 50 to 66%; glufosinate alone or in mixtures completely controlled carpetweed. All treatments completely controlled morningglory (Ipomoea spp.). Auxin herbicides had no activity on grasses. Texas millet (Panicum texanum [Buckl.] R. Webster) and broadleaf signalgrass (Brachiaria platyphylla [Nash] R. Webster) were controlled 89 to 90% by glufosinate alone. Both 2,4-D and 2,4-DB mixed with glufosinate reduced Texas millet control, and 2,4-D reduced broadleaf signalgrass control.
Visualization of Latent Fingerprint Corrosion of Metallic Surfaces

Abstract: Chemical reactions between latent fingerprints and a variety of metal surfaces are investigated by heating the metal up to temperatures of ∼600°C after deposition of the fingerprint. Ionic salts present in the fingerprint residue corrode the metal surface to produce an image of the fingerprint that is both durable and resistant to cleaning of the metal. The degree of fingerprint enhancement appears independent of the elapsed time between deposition and heating but is very dependent on both the composition of the metal and the level of salt secretion by the fingerprint donor. Results are presented that show practical applications for the enhancement to fingerprints deposited in arson crime scenes, contaminated by spray painting, or deposited on brass cartridge cases prior to discharge. The corrosion of the metal surface is further exploited by the demonstration of a novel technique for fingerprint enhancement based on the electrostatic charging of the metal and then the preferential adherence of a metallic powder to the corroded part of the metal surface.
Mdr1 Gene Expression and Mutations in Ras Proto-oncogenes in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Resistance to cytotoxic therapy and development of refractory disease in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is frequently associated with the expression of mdr1/P-gp. In the last years many potential signaling pathways leading to modulation of mdr1 expression have been described. Thus, it has been assumed that activated Ras may influence mdr1 expression. This activation can be realized by mutations in the Ras oncogene leading to constitutive signaling. Ras mutations are observed in many human cancers, including AML. Recently, we could show a negative correlation between Ras mutations and mdr1 expression in blast samples of AML patients. Taking this up the potential possibilities of Ras influence on mdr1 activity and their implications on treatment outcome in AML are discussed.
Noise-robust automatic speech recognition using orthogonalized distinctive phonetic feature vectors

Abstract With the aim of using an automatic speech recognition (ASR) system in practical environments, various approaches focused on noise-robustness such as noise adaptation and reduction techniques have been investigated. We have previously proposed a distinctive phonetic feature (DPF) parameter set for a noise-robust ASR system, which reduced the effect of high-level additive noise[1]. This paper describes an attempt to apply an orthogonalized DPF parameter set as an input of HMMs. In our proposed method, orthogonal bases are calculated using conventional DPF vectors that represent 38 Japanese phonemes, then the Karhunen-Loeve transform (KLT) is used to orthogonalize the DPFs, output from a multi-layer neural network (MLN), by using the orthogonal bases. In experiments, orthogonalized DPF parameters were firstly compared with original DPF parameters on an isolated spoken-word recognition task with clean speech. Noise robustness was then tested with four types of additive noise. The proposed orthogonalized DPFs can reduce the error rate in an isolated spoken-word recognition task both with clean speech and with speech contaminated by additive noise. Furthermore, we achieved significant improvements over a baseline system with MFCC and dynamic feature-set when combining the orthogonalized DPFs with conventional static MFCCs and ∆P.
Outcome in an Urban Pediatric Trauma System with Unified Prehospital Emergency Medical Services Care

Abstract Hypothesis: Pediatric mortality is predicted by age, presence of head trauma, head trauma with a low Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, a low Pediatric Trauma Score (PTS), and transport directly to a pediatric trauma center. Population: Studied were 1,429 patients younger than 16 years old admitted to or declared dead on arrival (DOA) in a pediatric trauma center from January through October, 1988. The trauma system, which served 3-million persons, included six pediatric trauma centers. Methods: Data were obtained by a retrospective review of summary statistics provided to the Chicago Department of Health by the pediatric trauma centers. Results: Overall mortality was 4.8% (68 of 1429); 32 of the patients who died (47.1%) were DOA. The in-hospital mortality rate was 2.6%. Head injury was the principal diagnosis in 46.2% of admissions and was a factor in 72.2% of hospital deaths. The mortality rate was 20.3% in children with a GCS≤10 and 0.4% when the GCS was >10 (odds ratio [OR] = 67.0, 95% CI = 15.0–417.4). When the PTS was ≤ 5, mortality was 25.6%; with a PTS > 5, the mortality was 0.2% (OR = 420.7, 95% CI = 99.3–2,520). Although transfers to a pediatric trauma center accounted for 73.6% of admissions, direct field triage to a pediatric trauma center was associated with a 3.2 times greater mortality risk (95% CI = 1.58–6.59). Mortality rates were equal for all age groups. Pediatric trauma center volume did not influence mortality rates. Conclusions: Head injury and death occur in all age groups, suggesting the need for broad prevention strategies. Specific GCS and PTS values that predict mortality can be used in emergency medical services (EMS) triage protocols. Although the high proportion of transfers mandates systemwide transfer protocols, the lower mortality in these patients suggests appropriate EMS field triage. These factors should be considered as states develop pediatric trauma systems.
Solar Powered Water Pumping System Employing Switched Reluctance Motor Drive

This paper presents a solar photovoltaic array fed water pumping system employing a switched reluctance motor (SRM) drive. The electronic commutation of the SRM drive at fundamental frequency offers reduced switching losses in a mid-point converter and considerably increases the efficiency of proposed system. The speed of SRM is controlled by varying the dc-bus voltage of the mid-point converter. A dc–dc Cuk converter operating in continuous conduction mode (CCM) is used for dc-bus voltage control. The CCM operation of inductors helps to reduce the ringing effect and decreases the losses of dc–dc converter. Current and voltage stresses on devices including switching stress of Cuk converter are also reduced in CCM. The Cuk converter facilitates the continuous and smooth input/output currents to SRM drive with boundless region for maximum power point tracking (MPPT) operation. The adjustment in step size of an incremental conductance MPPT algorithm facilitates the soft starting of SRM drive. The proposed system, subjected to dynamically atmospheric conditions is designed, modeled, and simulated using MATLAB/Simulink environment. A prototype of proposed configuration is also developed and its performance is validated with test results for the control of speed over varying insolation levels.
Sensitivity to UV radiation of small nuclear RNA synthesis in mammalian cells

It was demonstrated previously that the synthesis of small nuclear RNA (snRNA) species U1 and U2 in human cells is very sensitive to UV radiation. In the present work, the UV sensitivity of U3, U4, and U5 snRNA synthesis is shown to be also high. The synthesis of U1, U2, U3, U4, and U5 snRNAs progressively decreased during the first 2 h after UV irradiation (this was not observed in polyadenylated RNA) and had not returned to normal rates 6 h after UV exposure. In contrast, the restoration of 5.8S rRNA synthesis began immediately after UV irradiation and was essentially complete 6 h later. A small fraction of U1 and U5 (and possibly U2 and U3) snRNA synthesis remained unaffected by high UV doses, when cell radiolabeling began 10 min after UV irradiation. The present data suggest that a factor other than the level of pyrimidine dimers in DNA (possibly, steps in the post-irradiation DNA repair process) plays an important role in the mechanism of UV-induced inhibition of U1-U5 snRNA synthesis.
DeOri: a database of eukaryotic DNA replication origins

SUMMARY DNA replication, a central event for cell proliferation, is the basis of biological inheritance. The identification of replication origins helps to reveal the mechanism of the regulation of DNA replication. However, only few eukaryotic replication origins were characterized not long ago; nevertheless, recent genome-wide approaches have boosted the number of mapped replication origins. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the nature of eukaryotic replication origins, we have constructed a Database of Eukaryotic ORIs (DeOri), which contains all the eukaryotic ones identified by genome-wide analyses currently available. A total of 16 145 eukaryotic replication origins have been collected from 6 eukaryotic organisms in which genome-wide studies have been performed, the replication-origin numbers being 433, 7489, 1543, 148, 348 and 6184 for humans, mice, Arabidopsis thaliana, Kluyveromyces lactis, Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Drosophila melanogaster, respectively. AVAILABILITY Database of Eukaryotic ORIs (DeOri) can be accessed from http://tubic.tju. edu.cn/deori/