Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prospective Comparison of 99mTc-GH SPECT/CT and 18F-FDOPA PET/CT for Detection of Recurrent Glioma: A Pilot Study

Objective This study aimed to evaluate and compare the role of 99mTc-GH SPECT/CT and 18F-FDOPA PET/CT for diagnosing recurrence in patients with glioma. Methods Thirty patients with histopathologically proven glioma (glioblastoma multiforme, 14; grade III, 6; grade II, 8; and grade I, 2), who presented with clinical and/or imaging suspicion of recurrence were prospectively evaluated. They were primarily treated with surgery and radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy. Each patient underwent 99mTc-GH SPECT/CT and 18F-FDOPA PET/CT within a span of 15 days. Images were evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively by 2 experienced nuclear medicine physicians in consensus. Histopathology and/or clinical/imaging follow-up were used as reference standard. Results Based on reference standard, 22 patients were positive and 8 were negative for recurrence. 99mTc-GH SPECT/CT was positive for recurrence in 22 and negative in 8 patients. 18F-FDOPA PET/CT scan was positive for recurrence in 23 and negative in 7 patients. Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 86.4%, 62.5%, and 80% for 99mTc-GH SPECT/CT and 100%, 87.5%, and 96% for 18F-FDOPA PET/CT, respectively. No significant difference was found between 99mTc-GH SPECT/CT and 18F-FDOPA PET/CT overall (P = 1.00), as well as for low-grade (P = 0.250) or high-grade tumors (P = 0.50). Significant correlation was noted between tumor-brain of 99mTc-GH with both tumor-striatum (r = 0.371; P = 0.044) and tumor-cerebellum ratio of 18F-FDOPA (r = 0.369; P = 0.045). Conclusions For detection of recurrence in glioma patients, 99mTc-GH SPECT/CT is not inferior to 18F-FDOPA PET/CT and can be used as a low-cost alternative.
Thin hermetic passivation of semiconductors using low temperature borosilicate glass - benchmark of a new wafer-level packaging technology

A novel approach on wafer-level passivation using a thin, hermetic borosilicate glass layer replacing the polymers in redistribution is presented here. The technology will be benchmarked to those conventional technologies. The glass layer is deposited at low temperatures (T ≪ 100°C) using a plasma-enhanced e-beam deposition and can be structured by a lift-off process using a standard photo resist process for masking. The process flow is fully compatible with standard CMOS post processing and is integrated in a state-of-the-art production environment.
Endothelial nanomedicine for the treatment of pulmonary disease

Introduction: Even though pulmonary diseases are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the world, exceedingly few life-prolonging therapies have been developed for these maladies. Relief may finally come from nanomedicine and targeted drug delivery. Areas covered: Here, we focus on four conditions for which the pulmonary endothelium plays a pivotal role: acute respiratory distress syndrome, primary graft dysfunction occurring immediately after lung transplantation, pulmonary arterial hypertension and pulmonary embolism. For each of these diseases, we first evaluate the targeted drug delivery approaches that have been tested in animals. Then we suggest a ‘need specification’ for each disease: a list of criteria (e.g., macroscale delivery method, stability, etc.) that nanomedicine agents must meet in order to warrant human clinical trials and investment from industry. Expert opinion: For the diseases profiled here, numerous nanomedicine agents have shown promise in animal models. However, to maximize the chances of creating products that reach patients, nanomedicine engineers and clinicians must work together and use each disease’s need specification to guide the design of practical and effective nanomedicine agents.
Influence of water droplets on the numerical simulation of a small gas turbine

Numerical simulation of a complete gas turbine engine working with inlet cooling of water injection has been evaluated using computational fluid dynamic (CFD), the influence of water droplet and injection rate on the compressor operation, engine combustion and the turbine were studied. The results obtained in contrast with dry compression unveil that, with minimum amount of water droplet and high water injection rate (below 3.0%), water injection at the compressor inlet has potential influence on the engine performances, it boost the amount of inlet mass flow rate, raises compression and expansion pressure ratio, which remarkably uplift the thermal efficiency of the system. Moreover, water droplets brought about decrease in the relative specific fuel consumption, outlet temperature as well as cuts down the amount of NOx production.
The Effect of the Dynamics of Knowledge Base Complexity on Schumpeterian Patterns of Innovation: The Upstream Petroleum Industry

This article analyses important changes in technological innovation in the upstream petroleum industry. It provides evidence that shifts in sectoral patterns of innovation over the petroleum industry’s lifecycle from the 1970s up to 2005 were dependent on the dynamics of knowledge base complexity, a key dimension of an industry’s technological regime. Accordingly, observed shifts in innovation patterns are understood to be the aggregated strategic response of industry innovators to changes in the technological regime. The article proposes a quantitative method for exploring knowledge base complexity and Schumpeterian patterns of innovation, and interactions between the two at the industry level. As the industry evolved, its knowledge base moved to higher orders of complexity creating a shift in the Schumpeterian pattern of innovation. Increased knowledge base complexity was found to alter Schumpeterian patterns from Mark I towards a ‘modified’ Mark II. Instead of coming predominantly from ‘traditional’ established oil operators, technological innovation was increasingly triggered by a new class of emergent integrated service companies – ‘second tier’ systems integrators of the upstream sector able to cope with increased knowledge base complexity.
The Dopaminergic System in the Aging Brain of Drosophila

Drosophila models of Parkinson's disease are characterized by two principal phenotypes: the specific loss of dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the aging brain and defects in motor behavior. However, an age-related analysis of these baseline parameters in wildtype Drosophila is lacking. Here we analyzed the DA system and motor behavior in aging Drosophila. DA neurons in the adult brain can be grouped into bilateral symmetric clusters, each comprising a stereotypical number of cells. Analysis of TH > mCD8::GFP and cell type-specific MARCM clones revealed that DA neurons show cluster-specific, stereotypical projection patterns with terminal arborization in target regions that represent distinct functional areas of the adult brain. Target areas include the mushroom bodies, involved in memory formation and motivation, and the central complex, involved in the control of motor behavior, indicating that similar to the mammalian brain, DA neurons in the fly brain are involved in the regulation of specific behaviors. Behavioral analysis revealed that Drosophila show an age-related decline in startle-induced locomotion and negative geotaxis. Motion tracking however, revealed that walking activity, and exploration behavior, but not centrophobism increase at late stages of life. Analysis of TH > Dcr2, mCD8::GFP revealed a specific effect of Dcr2 expression on walking activity but not on exploratory or centrophobic behavior, indicating that the siRNA pathway may modulate distinct DA behaviors in Drosophila. Moreover, DA neurons were maintained between early- and late life, as quantified by TH > mCD8::GFP and anti-TH labeling, indicating that adult onset, age-related degeneration of DA neurons does not occur in the aging brain of Drosophila. Taken together, our data establish baseline parameters in Drosophila for the study of Parkinson's disease as well as other disorders affecting DA neurons and movement control.
Dynamics of Phosphorus Content in the Water‐Sediment Interface of Wetlands in a Mid‐Temperature Steppe

In order to reveal dynamics changes in phosphorus release from the sediments of wetlands in a mid‐temperature steppe without external phosphorus input, the relationship between phosphorus content in the overlying water, sediment, and interstitial water was studied using the variables control method. The results showed that, during the incubation period, the content of total phosphorus in the overlying water and the content of total phosphorus in interstitial water both presented in the order of August > September > July. Furthermore, the correlation relationships between phosphorus content in the overlying water, total phosphorus in the interstitial water, and the ratios of sediment Olsen‐P to total phosphorus in the interstitial water, indicated that Olsen‐P might be a kind of release form of phosphorus ‐ from the sediment to the overlying water of the wetlands in Hulunbeier steppe, without external phosphorus input.
Cow-dung colonization and decomposition following insect exclusion

Abstract The rate of dung-pat degradation in cattle pastures in south west England was examined between May and September 2002, using batches of standardized, 1.5 kg, artificially-formed cow pats. In pats in which insects were allowed free access, the rate of disappearance, measured as ash-free dry weight, was faster in spring than summer and the loss of organic matter ranged between 0.69 and 1.99% per day, equating to an estimated time for complete disappearance of 57–78 and 88–111 days in spring and summer, respectively. To assess the role of colonizing insects on decomposition, six batches of pats were constructed and either left uncovered or, using fine mesh cages, were covered for 2, 7 or 14 days following deposition to exclude colonizing insects, after which they were uncovered. After 35 days all pats were then retrieved from the field, the composition of the invertebrate community within each pat was determined and the degree of degradation, measured as ash-free dry weight, was assessed. Covered pats had significantly higher rates of ash-free dry weight loss than uncovered pats. From the 180 pats that were recovered and searched, larvae of Aphodius (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) were the most numerous taxon collected (1435 individuals). Aphodius larvae were significantly more abundant in pats that remained uncovered or were covered for 2 days only, compared to pats that had been covered for 7 or 14 days. The results show that the exclusion of insects for as little as two days following deposition causes a significant reduction in both the insect population and the subsequent rate of pat degradation.
Permission-Based Android Malware Detection

Mobile devices have become popular in our lives since they offer almost the same functionality as personal computers. Among them, Android-based mobile devices had appeared lately and, they were now an ideal target for attackers. Android-based smartphone users can get free applications from Android Application Market. But, these applications were not certified by legitimate organizations and they may contain malware applications that can steal privacy information for users. In this paper, a framework that can detect android malware applications is propos ed to help organizing Android Market. The proposed framework intends to develop a machine learning-based malware detection system on Android to detect malware applications and to enhance security and privacy of smartphone users. This system monitors various permissionbased features and events obtained from the android applications, and analyses these features by using machine learning classifiers to classify whether the application is goodware or malware.
Slip velocity and slip layer thickness in flow of concentrated suspensions

The rheological characterization of highly filled suspensions consisting of a Newtonian matrix (hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene), mixed with two different sizes of aluminum powder (30% and above by volume) and two different sizes of glass beads (50% and above by volume), was performed using a parallel disk rheometer with emphasis on the wall slip phenomenon. The effects of the solid content, particle size, type of solid particle material, and temperature on slip velocity and slip layer thickness were investigated. Suspensions of small particles of aluminum (mean diameter of 5.03 μm) did not show slip at any concentration up to the maximum packing fraction. However, suspensions of the other particles exhibited slip at the wall, at concentrations close to their maximum packing fraction. In these suspensions, the slip velocity increased linearly with the shear stress, and at constant shear stress, the slip velocity increased with increasing temperature. The slip layer thickness increased proportionally with increasing size of the particles for the glass beads. Up to a certain value of (filler content/maximum packing fraction), ϕ/ϕm, the slip layer thickness divided by the particle diameter, δ/DP, was 0, but it suddenly increased and reached a value that was independent of ϕ/ϕm and the temperature. On average, the ratio of δ/DP was 0.071 for aluminum and 0.037 for glass beads. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 70: 515–522, 1998
[Efficacy and tolerability of long term topiramate in drug resistant epilepsy in adults].

OBJECTIVE With the objective of evaluating the efficacy and tolerability of topiramate (TPM) in resistant epilepsy, we did a retrospective, open, multicentric analysis of 56 patients aged over 15 years in whom TPM was given as the second, third or fourth drug. All patients had already been on treatment for at least 18 months when topiramate was started. The average follow up was 27.2 months. RESULTS At the close of the study 16% of the patients were asymptomatic, 23% had a 75% reduction in seizures and 36% a 50% reduction. The drug was withdrawn in 25% of the cases. The adverse effects noted were: nephrolithiasis, asthenia, loss of hair, diarrhoea, weight loss of over 5kg. , agitation, aggressiveness, language disorders, ataxia, tremor, somnolence and confusion. The drug had to be suspended when these adverse effects affected the central nervous system moderately or severely, and when there were general effects such as renal calculi in one case and weight loss associated with symptoms which worried the patients in two cases. CONCLUSIONS Thus, TPM is an effective drug in refractory epilepsy and most patients continue on this treatment. The side effects are typical of the drug, and although there is no risk to life, the patient should be warned of them.
The efficacy of a home-mechanical traction unit for patients with mild to moderate cervical osteoarthrosis: A pilot study

Background: Traction has been suggested to be an effective treatment for symptoms of neck disorder in patients with no contraindications. However, according to previous researches, the effectiveness of traction is controversial, particularly compared to other conservative treatments. This trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of sustained traction, using an over-the-door home cervical traction unit in combination with routine physical therapy on reducing cervical osteoarthrosis symptoms including neck pain, medication use and disability level compared to routine physical therapy alone. Methods: In this double- blinded pilot study with a pre-post test design and a control group, 20 women with mild to moderate osteoarthrosis were systematically assigned to the over-the-door home cervical traction (mean±SD age: 50.5±4.45yrs) or control groups (mean±SD age: 55.6±7.34yrs). Pain, level of disability, and drug consumption were evaluated before and after 10 sessions of intervention. Data were analyzed using parametric or non-parametric statistic including the paired-sample t-test, independent sample t-test, and Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney u test for intra and inter groups comparison based on the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test results. Results: Patients in both groups showed a significant decrease in pain intensity and disability level (p<0.05). Despite the greater improvement in pain levels and disability in the experimental group compared to the controls, the differences were not significant (p>0.05). No significant differences were found in terms of drugs consumption within and between the groups at the end of the treatment (p>0.05). Conclusion: The results revealed that applying sustained traction using an over-the-door home cervical traction unit was not significantly superior to the routine physical therapy and ergonomic training to manage symptoms including neck pain and disability in a small group of mild to moderate cervical osteoarthrosis patients.
Information limits for recovering a hidden community

We study the problem of recovering a hidden community of cardinality K from an n × n symmetric data matrix A, where for distinct indices i; j, Aij ~ P if i; j both belong to the community and Aij ~ Q otherwise, for two known probability distributions P and Q depending on n. We focus on two types of asymptotic recovery guarantees as n → ∞: (1) weak recovery: expected number of classification errors is o(K); (2) exact recovery: probability of classifying all indices correctly converges to one. Under mild assumptions on P and Q, and allowing the community size to scale sublinearly with n, we derive a set of sufficient conditions and a set of necessary conditions for recovery, which are asymptotically tight with sharp constants. The results hold in particular for the Gaussian case (P = N(μ, 1) and Q = N(0; 1)), and for the case of bounded log likelihood ratio, including the Bernoulli case (P = Bern(p) and Q = Bern(q)) whenever p/q and 1-p/1-q are bounded away from zero and infinity. An important algorithmic implication is that, whenever exact recovery is information theoretically possible, any algorithm that provides weak recovery when the community size is concentrated near K can be upgraded to achieve exact recovery in linear additional time by a simple voting procedure.
A framework for interactive visualization of component-based software

We advocate the use of visual tooling for the development and maintenance of component-based software systems. Our contribution is twofold. First, we demonstrate how an interactive visualization tool effectively supports understanding large component based software. Secondly, we show how to design such a tool in order to make it applicable for a wide range of component systems and investigation goals. We demonstrate our approach by several visualization scenarios for real-world systems.
The effect of brief interventions on alcohol consumption among heavy drinkers in a general hospital setting.

AIMS (i) To evaluate the effect of receiving one of two brief interventions in reducing alcohol consumption among general hospital patients compared with usual care. (ii) To assess whether a brief intervention of self-efficacy enhancement was superior to a self-help booklet in reducing alcohol consumption. DESIGN A three-arm cluster randomized controlled trial. SETTING Seven general medical, six general surgical, one dermatology and two otolaryngology wards of a large teaching hospital covering a large urban and rural area. PARTICIPANTS A total of 215 of 789 in-patients aged 18-75 years, who screened positive for alcohol consumption in excess of national recommended limits according to a 7-day retrospective drinking diary. INTERVENTIONS Participants were allocated to receive one of three interventions: (i) face-to-face self-efficacy enhancement; (ii) a self-help booklet; or (iii) usual care. MEASUREMENTS The primary outcome measure was change in reported alcohol consumption at 6-month follow-up as measured by a 7-day retrospective drinking diary. Secondary outcomes were change in: number of alcohol drinking days in last week; the maximum units of alcohol consumed on any one day in last week; and Drinking Refusal Self-efficacy Expectancy Questionnaire score. FINDINGS Compared to the usual care group the self-efficacy enhancement group (-10.1 units 95% CI -16.1 to -4.1) and the self-help booklet group (-10.0 units 95% CI -16.0 to -3.9) had greater reductions in self-reported weekly alcohol consumption. There was no evidence that self-efficacy enhancement was superior to the self-help booklet (P = 0.96). CONCLUSIONS Brief interventions delivered in hospital offer simple means of helping heavy drinkers to reduce their alcohol consumption.
Are hypertensive women at additional risk of ischaemic heart disease from physically demanding work?

Background The combination of hypertension and high physical activity at work may increase blood pressure considerably and increase the risk of atherosclerosis and thereby ischaemic heart disease (IHD), but only a few studies in men, and none among women, have examined this topic. Design This was a prospective cohort study. Methods In 1993, 12,093 female nurses from the Danish Nurse Cohort Study, aged 45–64 years answered a baseline questionnaire on physical activity at work, history of hypertension, a selection of known risk factors for IHD and occupational factors. Information on incident IHD from baseline to 2008 was retrieved by individual linkage to the National Register of Hospital Discharges. Results In a fully adjusted Cox model, hypertensive nurses with high physical activity at work had nearly three times higher risk of IHD (hazard ratio (HR) 2.87 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.12–3.87)) compared to normotensive nurses with moderate physical activity at work. Significant additive interaction between physical activity at work and hypertension was found measured by the relative excess risk due to additive interaction (RERI) (1.20 (95% CI 0.26–2.14), and in an additive hazards model. Hypertensive nurses with high physical activity at work had 60 additional cases of IHD per 10,000 person years compared to normotensive nurses with moderate physical activity at work (60.0 (95% CI 38.1–81.9; p < 0.001)), of which more than half was explained by additive interaction (40.7 (95% CI 11.7–69.7; p = 0.006)). No multiplicative interaction (p = 0.249) was found. Conclusions This study among Danish nurses indicated that hypertensive women may be at particular high risk of IHD from physically demanding work.
The Isolation and Identification of Spinal Neurons That Control Movement in the Xenopus Embryo

A procedure for isolating spinal neurons of the Xenopus embryo has been devised. Using a variety of methods four of the eight previously described categories of neuron can be distinguished in vitro. Firstly, since many anatomical features of the neurons survived dissociation, sensory neurons and glycinergic inhibitory interneurons could be identified after isolation using anatomical criteria. Secondly, by selective labelling of the neurons in the intact spinal cord with fluorescein‐conjugated dextran amines prior to dissociation, three classes of isolated neuron could be identified: motoneurons, putative excitatory interneurons and, once again, inhibitory interneurons. The identity of the inhibitory interneurons has been confirmed using glycine immunocytochemistry. The physiological properties of the isolated neurons were similar to those of their in vivo counterparts. The dissociated neurons exhibited strong membrane accommodation and outward rectification, both of which could be blocked by the injection of Cs+ ions. The neurons also retained their receptors for the agonists N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate, kainate, quisqualate, glycine and GABA. Both the membrane properties and pharmacological sensitivity of the isolated neurons therefore appeared to be unaltered by the dissociation procedure. Thus the four classes of neuron from the Xenopus embryonic nervous system that can be identified after isolation constitute the basis for a valid model for detailed study of how the properties of individual neurons contribute to the functioning of the circuitry that underlies locomotor pattern generation in vertebrates.