Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Methods of Cytologic Smear Preparation and Fixation

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of fixation and methods of cytologic smear preparation on the immunoreactivity of commonly used anticytokeratin antibody AE1/AE3. STUDY DESIGN Scrape cytology smears and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections (FPTS) of 20 unfixed, fresh specimens submitted for intraoperative consultation were studied by the immunoperoxidase method. In addition to the morphologic examination, the smears and FPTS were evaluated for intensity and proportion scores. For each specimen, two scrape cytology smears were wet fixed in 95% ethanol, and 12 smears were air dried without fixation. Air-dried smears were either postfixed after rehydration in saline or fixed directly without rehydration by one of the three fixatives: alcoholic formalin, 95% ethanol with 5% acetic acid or 95% ethanol. RESULTS Both intensity and proportion scores were higher with rehydrated, air-dried smears as compared to those without rehydration and were comparable to those with wet-fixed smears and FPTS. In the rehydrated group, the optimum results were achieved when the smears were postfixed with alcoholic formalin. CONCLUSION The method of preparation and fixation had variable effects on the immunoreactivity of anticytokeratin antibody AE1/AE3. The optimum results were achieved with saline-rehydrated, air-dried smears post-fixed in alcoholic formalin. To evaluate the role of inter-sample variation, further, larger studies are recommended on this and other antibodies before applying them to different types of cytologic smears.
A Comparative Study of ±1 Steganalyzers

We compare the performance of three steganalysis system for detection of ±1 steganography. We examine the relative performance of each system on three commonly used image databases. Experimental results clearly demonstrate that both absolute and relative performance of all three algorithms vary considerably across databases. This sensitivity suggests that considerably more work is needed to develop databases that are more representative of diverse imagery. In addition, we investigate how performance varies based on a variety of training and testing assumptions, specifically (i) that training and testing are performed for a fixed and known embedding rate, (ii) training is performed at one embedding rate, but testing is over a range of embedding rates, (iii) training and testing are performed over a range of embedding rates. As expected, experimental results show that performance under (ii) and (iii) is inferior to (i). The experimental results also suggest that test results for different embedding rates should not be consolidated into a single score, but rather reported separately. Otherwise, good performance at high embedding rates may mask poor performance at low embedding rates.
Feature-based locomotion controllers

This paper introduces an approach to control of physics-based characters based on high-level features of movement, such as center-of-mass, angular momentum, and end-effectors. Objective terms are used to control each feature, and are combined by a prioritization algorithm. We show how locomotion can be expressed in terms of a small number of features that control balance and end-effectors. This approach is used to build controllers for human balancing, standing jump, and walking. These controllers provide numerous benefits: human-like qualities such as arm-swing, heel-off, and hip-shoulder counter-rotation emerge automatically during walking; controllers are robust to changes in body parameters; control parameters and goals may be modified at run-time; control parameters apply to intuitive properties such as center-of-mass height; and controllers may be mapped onto entirely new bipeds with different topology and mass distribution, without modifications to the controller itself. No motion capture or off-line optimization process is used.
Response of Irrigated Tomatoes ( Lycopersicon lycopersicum Karst) to Boron Fertilizer: 2. Growth and Nutrient Concentration

Field trials were conducted at the Irrigation Research Station, Institute for Agricultural Research, Kadawa in the Sudan savanna ecological zone of Nigeria, to study the effect of six levels of boron (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 kg B ha -1 ) on growth, dry matter yield and nutrient concentration of two tomato varieties (Roma VF and Dandino). The trials were laid out in a randomized complete block design. Application of boron significantly (P -1 recorded the maximum number of leaves and dry matter yield in both years. Dandino variety recorded more number of leaves, and higher dry matter yields than Roma VF variety. Key words: Irrigated tomatoes, boron fertilizer, growth, nutrient concentration, dry matter yield. Nigerian Journal of Soil Research Vol.5 2004: 62-69
A Non-Hydrostatic Depth-Averaged Model for Hydraulically Steep Free-Surface Flows

This study describes the results of a numerical investigation aimed at developing and validating a non-hydrostatic depth-averaged model for flow problems where the horizontal length scales close to flow depth. For such types of problems, the steep-slope shallow-water equations are inadequate to describe the two-dimensional structure of the curvilinear flow field. In the derivation of these equations, the restrictive assumptions of negligible bed-normal acceleration and bed curvature were employed, thus limiting their applicability to shallow flow situations. Herein, a Boussinesq-type model is deduced from the depth-averaged energy equation by relaxing the weakly-curved flow approximation to deal with the non-hydrostatic steep flow problems. The proposed model is solved with an implicit finite difference scheme and then applied to simulate steady free-surface flow problems with strong curvilinear effects. The numerical results are compared to experimental data, resulting in a reasonable overall agreement. Further, it is shown that the discharge characteristics of free flow over a round-crested weir are accurately described by using a Boussinesq-type approximation, and the drawbacks arising from a standard hydrostatic approach are overcome. The suggested numerical method to determine the discharge coefficient can be extended and adopted for other types of short-crested weirs.
Arrhenius parameter determination as a function of heating method and cellular microenvironment based on spatial cell viability analysis

Abstract Purpose: Predictions of injury in response to photothermal therapy in vivo are frequently made using Arrhenius parameters obtained from cell monolayers exposed to laser or water bath heating. However, the impact of different heating methods and cellular microenvironments on Arrhenius predictions has not been thoroughly investigated. This study determined the influence of heating method (water bath and laser irradiation) and cellular microenvironment (cell monolayers and tissue phantoms) on Arrhenius parameters and spatial viability. Methods: MDA-MB-231 cells seeded in monolayers and sodium alginate phantoms were heated with a water bath for 3–20 min at 46, 50, and 54 °C or laser irradiated (wavelength of 1064 nm and fluences of 40 W/cm2 or 3.8 W/cm2 for 0–4 min) in combination with photoabsorptive carbon nanohorns. Spatial viability was measured using digital image analysis of cells stained with calcein AM and propidium iodide and used to determine Arrhenius parameters. The influence of microenvironment and heating method on Arrhenius parameters and capability of parameters derived from more simplistic experimental conditions (e.g. water bath heating of monolayers) to predict more physiologically relevant systems (e.g. laser heating of phantoms) were assessed. Results: Arrhenius predictions of the treated area (<1% viable) under-predicted the measured areas in photothermally treated phantoms by 23 mm2 using water bath treated cell monolayer parameters, 26 mm2 using water bath treated phantom parameters, 27 mm2 using photothermally treated monolayer parameters, and 0.7 mm2 using photothermally treated phantom parameters. Conclusions: Heating method and cellular microenvironment influenced Arrhenius parameters, with heating method having the greater impact.
Fix your classifier: the marginal value of training the last weight layer

Neural networks are commonly used as models for classification for a wide variety of tasks. Typically, a learned affine transformation is placed at the end of such models, yielding a per-class value used for classification. This classifier can have a vast number of parameters, which grows linearly with the number of possible classes, thus requiring increasingly more resources. In this work we argue that this classifier can be fixed, up to a global scale constant, with little or no loss of accuracy for most tasks, allowing memory and computational benefits. Moreover, we show that by initializing the classifier with a Hadamard matrix we can speed up inference as well. We discuss the implications for current understanding of neural network models.
Calculation and significance of the maximum polymer surface temperature T
* in reciprocating cylinder-on-plate sliding

Heat generation and surface temperature rise are the main parameters controlling friction and wear of polymers, while certain transitions in sliding behavior often are difficultly related to intrinsic polymer transition temperatures. The sliding temperature cannot be accurately measured through physical limitations in the contact interface, and different calculation methods are available. Some temperature models are reviewed and applied to the reciprocating sliding of polyimide (PI) and polyethylene terephthalate against a steel counterface. The bulk temperature and asperity flash temperature models cannot explain transitions in friction and wear for polymers under reciprocating sliding. The bulk temperature model provides too low temperatures, representing a long-range temperature, while the asperity flash temperature model provides too high temperatures, not considering visco-elastic deformation of the polymer surface. An experimental model for the maximum polymer surface temperature T* under reciprocating sliding is developed, considering the environmental temperature, gradual heating of the steel counterface, and additional heating of the polymer surface. The proposed temperature model is analytically validated by differential thermal analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. Transitions in tribological behavior are controlled by the maximum polymer surface temperature T*, coinciding with an endotherm reaction (PIs) or a glass transition and melting (polyethylene terephthalate). POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2008. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers
A novel TF-IDF weighting scheme for effective ranking

Term weighting schemes are central to the study of information retrieval systems. This article proposes a novel TF-IDF term weighting scheme that employs two different within document term frequency normalizations to capture two different aspects of term saliency. One component of the term frequency is effective for short queries, while the other performs better on long queries. The final weight is then measured by taking a weighted combination of these components, which is determined on the basis of the length of the corresponding query. Experiments conducted on a large number of TREC news and web collections demonstrate that the proposed scheme almost always outperforms five state of the art retrieval models with remarkable significance and consistency. The experimental results also show that the proposed model achieves significantly better precision than the existing models.
Quantitative Analysis of the Relationship between Ruminal Redox Potential and pH in Dairy Cattle: Influence of Dietary Characteristics

The ruminal redox potential (Eh) can reflect the microbiological activity and dynamics of fermentation in the rumen. It might be an important indicator of rumen fermentation in combination with pH. However, the ruminal Eh has been rarely studied in dairy cows due to the difficulty of its measurement, and the relationship between ruminal Eh and pH is not clear. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between ruminal Eh and pH of dairy cows by meta-analysis of systematic measurements from different experiments. A database was constructed from 22 experiments on cannulated dairy cattle including 57 dietary treatments. The ruminal pH and Eh were measured without air contact between 0 and 8 h post-feeding. The results demonstrated a quadratic correlation between ruminal Eh and pH with a reliable within-animal variation (Eh = -1697 + 540.7 pH -47.7 pH2, nobservation = 70, nanimal = 26, P < 0.001, RMSE = 56, AIC = 597). The dietary characteristics (NDF, NDFf, OM, starch, degradable starch, soluble sugars contents, and the dietary ionic balance) influencing the ruminal pH also affected the ruminal Eh, but not always to the same extent. Some of them still influenced the relationship between ruminal Eh and pH. While the mechanism of the interaction between ruminal Eh and pH remains to be elucidated, it would be interesting to associate Eh to microbial profile, ruminal VFA concentration and milk production performance in future studies.
The regulation and function of microRNA-377/RASSF8 signaling axis in gastric cancer

Gastric cancer is a major cause of cancer-associated mortality worldwide. The aberrant expression of microRNA (miRNA) is involved in tumorigenesis. Ras proteins transfer information from the extracellular environment to internal cellular compartments and are essential in numerous signal transduction pathways. To investigate the regulation, function and clinical significance of the miRNA377/Ras association domain family (RASSF) 8 signaling axis in gastric cancer, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry, cell counting kit-8, western blotting, and Transwell assays were used. The results revealed that expression of RASSF8 was significantly upregulated in normal gastric tissues compared with gastric cancer, which was further confirmed by immunohistochemical analysis, and its expression level was increased in normal gastric cells compared with gastric cancer cell lines. However, the expression of miR-377 was significantly upregulated in gastric cancer compared with normal gastric tissues. In addition, RASSF8 overexpression in BGC-823 gastric cancer cells significantly inhibited the proliferation, apoptosis and invasive abilities of cells. Whereas miR-377 attenuated these effects due to downregulated RASSF8 expression by directly targeting its 3′-untranslated region. Furthermore, in the current study, miR-377 was not able to reverse the effects of RASSF8 overexpression on gastric cancer cells. Collectively, the RASSF8 gene may represent a novel molecular target involved in gastric cancer development and may be useful in targeted therapy of patients with gastric cancer.
Altered Integrated Locomotor and Cognitive Function in Elite Athletes 30 Days Postconcussion: A Preliminary Study

Objective:To begin to understand changes in locomotor navigation in elite athletes following concussion. Methods:Clinical measures and gait analysis were undertaken on average 37.33 days (SD = 4.8) postconcussion for 6 athletes as well as for a control group of athletes matched for age, sex, and team. The locomotor task consisted of walking at a self-selected speed along an unobstructed or obstructed path with and without a visual interference task. The trends for 4 dependent variables were described (2 for gait behavior and 2 for cognitive behavior). A principal component analysis was used to reduce data to root sources of variance among these variables. General group differences were tested with Wilcoxon matched-pairs tests on factorial scores. Results:Athletes with concussion were symptom free at the time of testing and their neuropsychological test results were not different from those of athletes in the control group. However, when the laboratory data between paired groups were compared, descriptive analyses suggested potential group differences in navigating the obstacle. The simultaneous Stroop task appeared to present difficulty for both groups. A significant group effect was found on the component of the factorial analysis that was highly loaded with both gait and cognitive variables (minimum clearance, Stroop task errors, and cognitive dual-task costs), generally supporting the descriptive analyses by suggesting that athletes with concussion do not navigate the targeted complex environments like the control group. Conclusions:Athletes with concussion appear to still show navigational deficits in environments well after being considered fully recovered according to current return-to-play protocols. Although still preliminary and requiring further study, the present findings suggest that functional assessment within complex environment contexts could be considered before sending athletes back to play following a concussion, even in the absence of postconcussion symptoms or with normal clinical outcomes.
Understanding of Formaldehyde Emissions from Solid Wood: An Overview

Wood is known to contain and emit volatile organic compounds including formaldehyde. The emission of formaldehyde from wood increases during its processing to lumber and wood-based panels (i.e., particleboard and fiberboard). This increased emission can be attributed to the processing procedure of wood, which includes drying, pressing, and thermo-hydrolysis. Formaldehyde is emitted from wood under very high heat and is not expected to be a significant source of the emissions from composite wood products during normal service. Formaldehyde is also detectable even if wood has never been heated as well as under more or less ambient conditions. The presence of formaldehyde in the emissions from wood that does not contain adhesive resin has been explained by thermal degradation of polysaccharides in the wood. The emission levels of formaldehyde depend on factors such as wood species, moisture content, outside temperature, and time of storage. Additionally, the pyrolysis of milled wood lignin at 450 °C yields benzaldehyde, and the pyrolysis of spruce and pinewood at 450 °C generate formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, 2–propenal, butanal, and butanone, which can be attributed to the breakdown of the polysaccharide fraction of the wood.
Semiparametric methods for estimation of a nonlinear exposure‐outcome relationship using instrumental variables with application to Mendelian randomization

Mendelian randomization, the use of genetic variants as instrumental variables (IV), can test for and estimate the causal effect of an exposure on an outcome. Most IV methods assume that the function relating the exposure to the expected value of the outcome (the exposure-outcome relationship) is linear. However, in practice this assumption may not hold. Indeed, often the primary question of interest is to assess the shape of this relationship. We present two novel IV methods for investigating the shape of the exposure-outcome relationship: a fractional polynomial method and a piecewise linear method. We divide the population into strata using the exposure distribution, and estimate a causal effect, referred to as a localized average causal effect (LACE), in each stratum of population. The fractional polynomial method performs meta-regression on these LACE estimates. The piecewise linear method estimates a continuous piecewise linear function, the gradient of which is the LACE estimate in each stratum. Both methods were demonstrated in a simulation study to estimate the true exposure-outcome relationship well, particularly when the relationship was a fractional polynomial (for the fractional polynomial method) or was piecewise linear (for the piecewise linear method). The methods were used to investigate the shape of relationship of body mass index with systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure. Availability and implementation: https://github.com/jrs95/nlmr
Is Level of Injury a Determinant of Quality of Life Among Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury?  A Tertiary Rehabilitation Center Report.

OBJECTIVES The role of injury-related variables in determining health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among Iranian persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) has not yet been fully described. In this study, we compared HRQOL between individuals with injury at cervical level and those with injury at thoracolumbar sections and evaluated the discriminating value of injury level as a determinant of HRQOL among Iranian people with SCI. METHODS Individuals with SCI, who were referred to Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, were invited to participate in this investigation. HRQOL was assessed using the Short Form (SF-36) questionnaire to determine the quality of life (QOL) in eight domains: physical functioning (PF), role limitation due to physical problems (RP), bodily pain (BP), general health (GH), vitality (VT), social functioning (SF), role limitation due to emotional problems (RE), and mental health (MH). RESULTS Ninety patients with paraplegia and 94 quadriplegic patients participated in this investigation. The mean score of PF domain was significantly lower in patients with injury at cervical level (p < 0.0001). There was no significant difference in other domains of SF-36 between subjects with paraplegia and quadriplegia (p = 0.670, 0.700, 0.910, 0.710, 0.730, 0.290 and 0.850 for RP, RE, VT, MH, SF, BP and GH, respectively). Similarly, the mean physical component summary (PCS) score was significantly higher among individuals with injury at thoracolumbar sections (p < 0.0001). The mean mental component summary (MCS) score did not differ between the two groups (p = 0.720). CONCLUSIONS Patients with SCI at the cervical level have similar mental health compared to those with injury at thoracolumbar sections, which shows proper mental adaptability in quadriplegic individuals. Injury level can be used as a major determinant of the physical component of QOL among people with SCI.
Wetting and Mechanical Performance of Zirconia Brazed with Silver/Copper Oxide and Silver/Vanadium Oxide Alloys

The wetting behavior and mechanical strength of silver/copper oxide and silver/vanadium oxide braze alloys were investigated for both magnesia‐stabilized and yttria‐stabilized (Mg‐PSZ and Y‐TZP) transformation toughened zirconia substrates. The temperatures investigated were 1000–1100 °C, with oxide additions of 1–10 wt% V2O5 or CuO, and hold times of 0.9–3.6 ks. Increasing either the isothermal hold temperature or time had a distinctly negative effect on the joint strength. The maximum strengths for both braze alloys were obtained for 5 wt% oxide additions at 1050 °C with a hold time of 0.9 ks. The Mg‐PSZ/Ag‐CuO system exhibited a average fracture strength of 255 MPa (45% of the reported monolithic strength), and the Y‐TZP/Ag‐CuO system had an average fracture strength of 540 MPa (35% of the reported monolithic strength). The fracture strengths were lower for the Ag‐V2O5 braze alloys, with fracture strengths of approximately 180 MPa (30% of the monolithic strength) for Mg‐PSZ versus approximately 160 MPa (10% of the monolithic strength) for Y‐TZP. The fracture always occurred at the braze–ceramic interface. No interfacial products were observed in low magnification SEM analysis for the brazing alloys containing V2O5 additions, while there were interfacial products present for brazes prepared with CuO additions in the braze alloy.