Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Photoacoustic determination of the residual stress and transverse isotropic elastic moduli in thin films of the polyimide PMDA/ODA

We present results of experiments on thin films of the polyimide PMDA/ODA using the real-time impulsive stimulated thermal scattering (ISTS) technique. We determine the transverse isotropic modulus, and we describe a method which allows residual stress determination from ISTS data. The residual stress determined in this way is in good agreement with measurements made using other techniques. <<ETX>>
The Quest for Arterial Recanalization in Acute Ischemic Stroke-The Past, Present and the Future

Ischemic stroke is one of the major causes of mortality and long-term disability. In the recent past, only very few treatment options were available and a considerable proportion of stroke survivors remained permanently disabled. However, over the last 2 decades rapid advances in acute stroke care have resulted in a corresponding improvement in mortality rates and functional outcomes. In this review, we describe the evolution of systemic thrombolytic agents and various interventional devices, their current status as well as some of the future prospects. We reviewed literature pertaining to acute ischemic stroke reperfusion treatment. We explored the current accepted treatment strategies to attain cerebral reperfusion via intravenous modalities and compare and contrast them within the boundaries of their clinical trials. Subsequently we reviewed the trials for interventional devices for acute ischemic stroke, categorizing them into thrombectomy devices, aspiration devices, clot disruption devices and thrombus entrapment devices. Finally we surveyed several of the alternative reperfusion strategies available. We also shed some light on the controversies surrounding the current strategies of treatment of acute ischemic stroke. Acute invasive interventional strategies continue to improve along with the noninvasive modalities. Both approaches appear promising. We conducted a comprehensive chronological review of the existing treatments as well as upcoming remedies for acute ischemic stroke.
Pathology of incipient pancreatic cancer.

BACKGROUND An understanding of incipient pancreatic neoplasia is an essential foundation for the future development of effective screening tests for pancreatic cancer. Only when we understand early pancreatic neoplasms will we be able to detect tumors that are curable with surgical resection. METHOD Two approaches have helped define incipient pancreatic neoplasia. First, the histologic examination of pancreata has helped identify the most common histologic lesions in pancreatic tissues adjacent to infiltrating carcinomas. The assumption is that some of these lesions represent the precursors to the infiltrating cancers. Second, advances in molecular genetics now make it possible to define the genetic alterations present in small lesions. The demonstration that a suspected precursor lesion and an infiltrating pancreatic carcinoma share the same genetic alterations would help establish that the lesion is indeed a precursor to infiltrating pancreatic carcinoma. RESULTS A spectrum of intraductal proliferations in the pancreas has been found associated with infiltrating adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. These lesions, called "duct lesions," have even been identified in pancreata years before patients develop infiltrating carcinoma. Molecular genetic analysis of these lesions has revealed that they frequently harbor many of the same alterations present in infiltrating carcinoma of the pancreas. These alterations include activation of K-ras and inactivation of p16, p53 and, rarely BRCA2. CONCLUSIONS From these morphologic and molecular observations, we can now develop a progression model for the development of infiltrating carcinoma of the pancreas. Infiltrating carcinomas of the pancreas may arise from pancreatic duct lesions, and the progression of duct lesions to infiltrating cancer is associated with the accumulation of generalized and specific genetic alterations.
Quantification of harms in cancer screening trials: literature review

Objectives To assess how often harm is quantified in randomised trials of cancer screening. Design Two authors independently extracted data on harms from randomised cancer screening trials. Binary outcomes were described as proportions and continuous outcomes with medians and interquartile ranges. Data sources For cancer screening previously assessed in a Cochrane review, we identified trials from their reference lists and updated the search in CENTRAL. For cancer screening not assessed in a Cochrane review, we searched CENTRAL, Medline, and Embase. Eligibility criteria for selecting studies Randomised trials that assessed the efficacy of cancer screening for reducing incidence of cancer, cancer specific mortality, and/or all cause mortality. Data extraction Two reviewers independently assessed articles for eligibility. Two reviewers, who were blinded to the identity of the study’s authors, assessed whether absolute numbers or incidence rates of outcomes related to harm were provided separately for the screening and control groups. The outcomes were false positive findings, overdiagnosis, negative psychosocial consequences, somatic complications, invasive follow-up procedures, all cause mortality, and withdrawals because of adverse events. Results Out of 4590 articles assessed, 198 (57 trials, 10 screening technologies) matched the inclusion criteria. False positive findings were quantified in two of 57 trials (4%, 95% confidence interval 0% to 12%), overdiagnosis in four (7%, 2% to 18%), negative psychosocial consequences in five (9%, 3% to 20%), somatic complications in 11 (19%, 10% to 32%), use of invasive follow-up procedures in 27 (47%, 34% to 61%), all cause mortality in 34 (60%, 46% to 72%), and withdrawals because of adverse effects in one trial (2%, 0% to 11%). The median percentage of space in the results section that reported harms was 12% (interquartile range 2-19%). Conclusions Cancer screening trials seldom quantify the harms of screening. Of the 57 cancer screening trials examined, the most important harms of screening—overdiagnosis and false positive findings—were quantified in only 7% and 4%, respectively.
Global Solutions to the Gradient Flow Equation of a Nonconvex Functional

We study the $L^2$-gradient flow of the nonconvex functional $F_{\phi}(u) := \frac{1}{2} \int_{(0,1)} \phi(u_x)\,dx$, where $\phi(\xi) := \min(\xi^2, 1)$. We show the existence of a global in time possibly discontinuous solution u starting from a mixed-type initial datum $u_0$, i.e., when $u_0$ is a piecewise smooth function having derivative taking values both in the region where $\phi'>0$ and where $\phi' = 0$. We show that, in general, the region where the derivative of u takes values where $\phi' =0$ progressively disappears while the region where $\phi'$ is positive grows. We show this behavior with some numerical experiments.
Gastroesophageal Reflux After Anterior Cervical Surgery: A Controlled, Prospective Analysis

Study Design. Prospective controlled clinical study. Objective. To determine the incidence and severity of GERD in patients undergoing anterior cervical decompression and fusion (ACDF), using patients undergoing posterior lumbar decompression as a control group. Summary of Background Data. The incidence gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) after anterior cervical decompression and fusion (ACDF) has not previously been studied. Methods. Patients undergoing either 1- or 2-level ACDF (n = 38) or posterior lumbar decompression surgery (control group, n = 56) were prospectively enrolled. Baseline patient characteristics were recorded. Intraoperative and postoperative medical records were reviewed. A validated GERD measurement tool (GERD Impact Scale, GIS) and a dysphagia questionnaire (including a dysphagia numeric rating score, range, 0–10) were administered preoperatively, and during the 2-week, 6-week, and 12-week postoperative visits. Results. Cervical patients had a significantly higher incidence of GERD at 2 weeks than the lumbar patients (78.9% vs. 42.9%, P = 0.001). Cervical patients had a higher incidence of GERD at 6 and 12 weeks as well, but these differences were not statistically significant. The change in GIS score from baseline was significantly higher in the cervical group at all follow-up time periods. On average, cervical patients required 1.2 doses of antacid medication in the postoperative period, compared to an average of 0.5 doses required by lumbar patients (P = 0.006). There was a significant correlation between the severity of dysphagia and the GIS score at 2 weeks, but no correlation at 6 or 12 weeks. Operative time did not correlate with the GIS score at any of the follow-up time periods. The number of surgical levels (i.e., one vs. two) and level of surgery (i.e., above C5–C6 vs. at or below C5–C6) had no effect on the GIS score. Conclusion. Compared to the lumbar control group, patients in the cervical group had increased incidence, and severity of GERD-like symptoms in the early postoperative period.
The Intersection of Race and Gender among Chemists: Assessing the Impact of Double Minority Status on Income

Abstract This study assesses the income attainment of African American women relative to that of three race / gender groups (white women, African American men, white men) among industrial chemists, using the American Chemical Society (ACS) member survey. Regression models including education, professional work experience, work authority and marital status predict the annual income of the four race / gender groups. The findings indicate that in this sample of chemists, African American women earn on average less than white women, black men and white men. The main disadvantage experienced by black women relates to income returns to authority: compared with white men, African American women (and women in general) continue to receive significantly less income for authority positions. In addition, within the ACS membership, gender seems to be a larger “liability” for income attainment than race, and being married is more advantageous to men than to women.
Adaptive Metric Kernel Regression

Kernel smoothing is a widely used non-parametric pattern recognition technique. By nature, it suffers from the curse of dimensionality and is usually difficult to apply to high input dimensions. In this contribution, we propose an algorithm that adapts the input metric used in multivariate regression by minimising a cross-validation estimate of the generalisation error. This allows to automatically adjust the importance of different dimensions. The improvement in terms of modelling performance is illustrated on a variable selection task where the adaptive metric kernel clearly outperforms the standard approach. Finally, we benchmark the method using the DELVE environment.
Biometric template transformation: a security analysis

One of the critical steps in designing a secure biometric system is protecting the templates of the users that are stored either in a central database or on smart cards. If a biometric template is compromised, it leads to serious security and privacy threats because unlike passwords, it is not possible for a legitimate user to revoke his biometric identifiers and switch to another set of uncompromised identifiers. One methodology for biometric template protection is the template transformation approach, where the template, consisting of the features extracted from the biometric trait, is transformed using parameters derived from a user specific password or key. Only the transformed template is stored and matching is performed directly in the transformed domain. In this paper, we formally investigate the security strength of template transformation techniques and define six metrics that facilitate a holistic security evaluation. Furthermore, we analyze the security of two wellknown template transformation techniques, namely, Biohashing and cancelable fingerprint templates based on the proposed metrics. Our analysis indicates that both these schemes are vulnerable to intrusion and linkage attacks because it is relatively easy to obtain either a close approximation of the original template (Biohashing) or a pre-image of the transformed template (cancelable fingerprints). We argue that the security strength of template transformation techniques must consider also consider the computational complexity of obtaining a complete pre-image of the transformed template in addition to the complexity of recovering the original biometric template.
Renal injury management in an urban trauma centre and implications for urological training.

INTRODUCTION The aim of this study was to analyse the treatment and management of renal injury patients presenting to our major trauma unit to determine the likelihood of patients needing immediate nephrectomy. METHODS The Trauma Audit and Research Network (TARN) database was used to review trauma cases presenting to our department between February 2009 and September 2013. Demographic data, mechanism and severity of injury, grade of renal trauma, management and 30-day outcome were determined from TARN data, electronic patient records and imaging. RESULTS There were a total of 1,856 trauma cases, of which 36 patients (1.9%) had a renal injury. In this group, the median age was 28 years (range: 16-92 years), with 28 patients (78%) having blunt renal trauma and 8 (22%) penetrating renal trauma. The most common cause for blunt renal trauma was road traffic accidents. Renal trauma cases were stratified into American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) grades (grade I: 19%, grade II: 22%, grade III: 28%, grade IV: 28%, grade V: 0%). All patients with grade I and II injuries were treated conservatively. There were three patients (1 with grade III and 2 with grade IV renal injuries) who underwent radiological embolisation. One of these patients went on to have a delayed nephrectomy owing to unsuccessful embolisation. CONCLUSIONS Trauma patients rarely require emergency nephrectomy. Radiological selective embolisation provides a good interventional option in cases of active bleeding from renal injury in haemodynamically stable patients. This has implications for trauma care and how surgical cover is provided for the rare event of nephrectomy.
Functional outcome of myositis patients: can a low-dose glucocorticoid regimen achieve good functional results?

OBJECTIVE During the last few years, in an attempt to reduce the side effects of glucocorticoid (GC) therapy, we have been treating polymyositis-dermatomyositis (PM-DM) patients with a lower starting dose of GC than is classically recommended. In order to validate this approach, we performed a functional re-evaluation of these PM-DM patients. METHODS A comprehensive protocol evaluating muscle strength, muscle function, CK levels, persistence of spontaneous activity on electromyography, disability in daily life activities and degree of dependence was applied in 25 non-cancer-associated biopsy-proven PM-DM patients, 15 of whom had been treated with a high-dose regimen (i.e. > 0.5 mg prednisolone/kg/day) and 10 with a low-dose regimen (i.e. < or = 0.5 mg prednisolone/kg/day). RESULTS Our results indicate that the functional outcome of PM-DM patients given a low-dose starting regimen of GC does not differ from that observed in patients given higher doses. Interestingly, vertebral fractures were less common in patients treated with lower GC doses. CONCLUSIONS Although our analysis has certain shortcomings, including the small number of patients investigated and their uncontrolled assignment to a low-dose or a high-dose GC regimen, the results of this retrospective study suggest that a low-dose starting regimen of GC can achieve a good functional outcome in PM-DM patients, with a reduction of treatment-related disability. This approach would be welcome as a step forward should it be validated by a longitudinal study.
SLEX Analysis of Multivariate Nonstationary Time Series

We develop a procedure for analyzing multivariate nonstationary time series using the SLEX library (smooth localized complex exponentials), which is a collection of bases, each basis consisting of waveforms that are orthogonal and time-localized versions of the Fourier complex exponentials. Under the SLEX framework, we build a family of multivariate models that can explicitly characterize the time-varying spectral and coherence properties. Every model has a spectral representation in terms of a unique SLEX basis. Before selecting a model, we first decompose the multivariate time series into nonstationary components with uncorrelated (nonredundant) spectral information. The best SLEX model is selected using the penalized log energy criterion, which we derive in this article to be the Kullback–Leibler distance between a model and the SLEX principal components of the multivariate time series. The model selection criterion takes into account all of the pairwise cross-correlation simultaneously in the multivariate time series. The proposed SLEX analysis gives results that are easy to interpret, because it is an automatic time-dependent generalization of the classical Fourier analysis of stationary time series. Moreover, the SLEX method uses computationally efficient algorithms and hence is able to provide a systematic framework for extracting spectral features from a massive dataset. We illustrate the SLEX analysis with an application to a multichannel brain wave dataset recorded during an epileptic seizure.
iParking: An Intelligent Indoor Location-Based Smartphone Parking Service

Indoor positioning technologies have been widely studied with a number of solutions being proposed, yet substantial applications and services are still fairly primitive. Taking advantage of the emerging concept of the connected car, the popularity of smartphones and mobile Internet, and precise indoor locations, this study presents the development of a novel intelligent parking service called iParking. With the iParking service, multiple parties such as users, parking facilities and service providers are connected through Internet in a distributed architecture. The client software is a light-weight application running on a smartphone, and it works essentially based on a precise indoor positioning solution, which fuses Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) signals and the measurements of the built-in sensors of the smartphones. The positioning accuracy, availability and reliability of the proposed positioning solution are adequate for facilitating the novel parking service. An iParking prototype has been developed and demonstrated in a real parking environment at a shopping mall. The demonstration showed how the iParking service could improve the parking experience and increase the efficiency of parking facilities. The iParking is a novel service in terms of cost- and energy-efficient solution.
Diabetic Kidney Disease in FVB/NJ Akita Mice: Temporal Pattern of Kidney Injury and Urinary Nephrin Excretion

Akita mice are a genetic model of type 1 diabetes. In the present studies, we investigated the phenotype of Akita mice on the FVB/NJ background and examined urinary nephrin excretion as a marker of kidney injury. Male Akita mice were compared with non-diabetic controls for functional and structural characteristics of renal and cardiac disease. Podocyte number and apoptosis as well as urinary nephrin excretion were determined in both groups. Male FVB/NJ Akita mice developed sustained hyperglycemia and albuminuria by 4 and 8 weeks of age, respectively. These abnormalities were accompanied by a significant increase in systolic blood pressure in 10-week old Akita mice, which was associated with functional, structural and molecular characteristics of cardiac hypertrophy. By 20 weeks of age, Akita mice developed a 10-fold increase in albuminuria, renal and glomerular hypertrophy and a decrease in the number of podocytes. Mild-to-moderate glomerular mesangial expansion was observed in Akita mice at 30 weeks of age. In 4-week old Akita mice, the onset of hyperglycemia was accompanied by increased podocyte apoptosis and enhanced excretion of nephrin in urine before the development of albuminuria. Urinary nephrin excretion was also significantly increased in albuminuric Akita mice at 16 and 20 weeks of age and correlated with the albumin excretion rate. These data suggest that: 1. FVB/NJ Akita mice have phenotypic characteristics that may be useful for studying the mechanisms of kidney and cardiac injury in diabetes, and 2. Enhanced urinary nephrin excretion is associated with kidney injury in FVB/NJ Akita mice and is detectable early in the disease process.
Introducing Large-Scale Educational Reform in a Complex Environment: The Role of Piloting and Evaluation in Modernizing Medical Careers

Medical education and training in the United Kingdom is undergoing profound change driven by a governmental policy that has attracted the title Modernizing Medical Careers.The role of piloting and evaluation in Modernizing Medical Careers is described and the article argues that, in addition to the previously described rational, cultural and control functions of evaluation, a significant function of evaluation and pilot programmes is to facilitate the implementation of change in a complex system. Once at the `edge of chaos', given minimal direction, complex systems will self-organize and policy and context can be allowed to co-evolve. Pilot programmes and their accompanying evaluation provide a powerful catalyst for that process to occur.
Paradigms in South African cinema research: Modernity, the New Africa Movement and beyond

Abstract The history of theoretical approaches about South African cinema is discussed from the turn of the twentieth century period of the New Africa Movement, through various other theoretical moments, up to the early 1990s. These include conservative cultural theory, liberal humanism, workerist, Althusserian and Gramscian Marxisms. The discussion examines theoretical interventions either promoting or opposing modernity in the work of Thelma Gutsche, Hans Rompel, John Grierson and various Afrikaner cultural organisations during the first half of the twentieth century. Post-1970s cinema theory is critically examined in relation to discursive contestation occurring within both academia and the industry.
Distributed Adaptive Power Allocation for Wireless Relay Networks

In this paper, we consider a 2-hop wireless diversity relay network. We explore transmit power allocation among the source and relays to maximize the received signal to noise ratio (SNR) at the destination. We consider two relay protocols, "amplify and forward" (AAF) and "decode and forward" (DAF) and design the respective power allocations for both uneeded and coded systems. For a 2-hop relay system with one relay node, we derive a closed-form power allocation solution and, based on it, we propose a relay activation condition. If and only if the fading channel coefficients satisfy this condition, the relay transmits the signals to the destination; otherwise, the relay will stay in the idle state. For a system with more than one relay node, general closed-form power allocation solutions based on an exact SNR expression are difficult to derive; we hence, calculate a SNR upper bound and derive a sub-optimum power allocation solution based on this bound. The simulation results show that for a 2-hop diversity relay channel with one relay node the proposed adaptive power allocation (APA) scheme yields about 1- 2 dB SNR gains compared to the equal power allocation. This SNR gain increases monotonically as the number of relays increases