Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Detail-Preserving Image Denoising via Adaptive Clustering and Progressive PCA Thresholding

This paper proposes a detail-preserving image denoising method via cluster-wise progressive principal component analysis (PCA) thresholding based on the Marchenko–Pastur (MP) law in random matrix theory. According to random matrix theory, an efficient and stable noise-level estimation method is also presented. Specifically, a global Gaussian noise level is estimated by interpreting the relationship between noise and eigenvalues of PCA for noisy patch matrices via the MP law in conjunction with the observation that vectors extracted from a noise-free image often lie in a low-dimensional subspace. Before noise removal, an adaptive clustering method is developed to automatically determine a suitable number of clusters segregating patches with different features (edges and textures). To denoise each cluster matrix, progressive PCA thresholding is performed. First, a hard thresholding of singular values in the singular value decomposition domain based on the MP law is applied to find a low-rank approximation to the cluster matrix. Second, the remaining noises of the low-rank matrix are further removed in the PCA transform domain using a special soft thresholding, i.e., the linear minimum mean-square-error technique with locally estimated parameters. The experiments show that the proposed method not only achieves state-of-the-art denoising performance in terms of quantitative indices, but also preserves visually important image details best.
Structure and properties of flexible polyurethane foams with nano- and micro-fillers

The feasibility of using mineral nano- and micro-fillers as replacement of copolymer polyols in flexible foams was examined. Nano-fillers were nano-clays, a natural montmorillonite (Cloisite Na+) and montmorillonite modified with an organic quaternary ammonium salt (Cloisite 10A), and nano-silica dispersed in methylethylketone. Micro-fillers were micronized clay and silica. Flexible foams were prepared from the ethylene oxide caped polyether triol and toluene diisocyanate with water as the chemical blowing agent. All foams had good morphology except those with nano-clay. The open cell content was above 95%, but air flow was very low in all samples. Micro-fillers did not significantly change cell structure and morphology of hard domains. They moderately increased density, hardness, compression strength, and compression set and decreased elongation at break. The other properties were not affected. Cloisite Na+ (non-treated montmorillonite) and nano-silica with a hydrophilic surface increased hardness, compression strength, and rebound resilience of the foams, whereas Nano-clay 10A (surface-treated montmorillonite) decreased the modulus, hardness, and compression strength. Tensile and tear strengths decreased with the addition of nano-clay fillers, but increased with nano-silica.
When eye movements express memory for old and new scenes in the absence of awareness and independent of hippocampus

Eye movements can reflect memory. For example, participants make fewer fixations and sample fewer regions when viewing old versus new scenes (the repetition effect). It is unclear whether the repetition effect requires that participants have knowledge (awareness) of the old–new status of the scenes or if it can occur independent of knowledge about old–new status. It is also unclear whether the repetition effect is hippocampus-dependent or hippocampus-independent. A complication is that testing conscious memory for the scenes might interfere with the expression of unconscious (unaware), experience-dependent eye movements. In experiment 1, 75 volunteers freely viewed old and new scenes without knowledge that memory for the scenes would later be tested. Participants then made memory judgments and confidence judgments for each scene during a surprise recognition memory test. Participants exhibited the repetition effect regardless of the accuracy or confidence associated with their memory judgments (i.e., the repetition effect was independent of their awareness of the old–new status of each scene). In experiment 2, five memory-impaired patients with medial temporal lobe damage and six controls also viewed old and new scenes without expectation of memory testing. Both groups exhibited the repetition effect, even though the patients were impaired at recognizing which scenes were old and which were new. Thus, when participants viewed scenes without expectation of memory testing, eye movements associated with old and new scenes reflected unconscious, hippocampus-independent memory. These findings are consistent with the formulation that, when memory is expressed independent of awareness, memory is hippocampus-independent.
The Microbiota and Abundance of the Class 1 Integron-Integrase Gene in Tropical Sewage Treatment Plant Influent and Activated Sludge

Bacteria are assumed to efficiently remove organic pollutants from sewage in sewage treatment plants, where antibiotic-resistance genes can move between species via mobile genetic elements known as integrons. Nevertheless, few studies have addressed bacterial diversity and class 1 integron abundance in tropical sewage. Here, we describe the extant microbiota, using V6 tag sequencing, and quantify the class 1 integron-integrase gene (intI1) in raw sewage (RS) and activated sludge (AS). The analysis of 1,174,486 quality-filtered reads obtained from RS and AS samples revealed complex and distinct bacterial diversity in these samples. The RS sample, with 3,074 operational taxonomic units, exhibited the highest alpha-diversity indices. Among the 25 phyla, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes represented 85% (AS) and 92% (RS) of all reads. Increased relative abundance of Micrococcales, Myxococcales, and Sphingobacteriales and reduced pathogen abundance were noted in AS. At the genus level, differences were observed for the dominant genera Simplicispira and Diaphorobacter (AS) as well as for Enhydrobacter (RS). The activated sludge process decreased (55%) the amount of bacteria harboring the intI1 gene in the RS sample. Altogether, our results emphasize the importance of biological treatment for diminishing pathogenic bacteria and those bearing the intI1 gene that arrive at a sewage treatment plant.
Microstructure, Thermal Analysis and Acoustic Characteristics of Calotropis procera (Apple of Sodom) Fibers

ABSTRACT In order to characterize the Calotropis procera (Sodom Apple) fibers six experimental tests and analyses are made. Such tests are Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis of the fiber diameter, Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy analysis, Fourier Transformation- Infra Red (FT-IR) analysis, Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA and DTGA), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), and sound absorption for three specimens with different densities. Test results showed that the fibers are very smooth and have a diameter range 5–21 µm in its crude state. The major constituent of the fiber is obtained as Carbon, Oxygen and Hydrogen since the fiber is organic in nature with a huge stretching at 3347 cm−1 which is due to the –OH group. The degradation and decomposition of the fiber starts at about 222°C and ends at about 382°C with melting point at about 313°C. High density sample of the fibers showed a good behavior of absorbing the sound especially at high frequency. Using such natural fiber in sound absorption with cornstarch as a binder has the advantages of not being hazardous to human beings and of a low environment impact.
Growth Deceleration and Restoration after Serious Burn Injury

There is a common perception that burned children are at risk for growth deceleration. However, because the prevalence, duration, and degree of this stereotypic growth are poorly described, making informed decisions about treatment is difficult. This article describes the natural history of growth after burn injury, according to the findings of a retrospective review conducted in a regional pediatric burn center. The study population comprised children younger than 13 years at the time of injury, who survived burns involving ≥30% TBSA. Main outcome measures were height and weight; values obtained upon admission for burn injury and at all subsequent hospital admissions were converted to height-for-age and weight-for-age Z scores with use of a reference standard. Z scores were then used to determine whether baseline height and weight status (according to initial admission data) were recouped after burn injury. Medical records of 159 patients (2910 admissions) were reviewed. Children with massive burns (≥50% TBSA) had height-for-age Z scores that were significantly below their baseline average for all years studied (mean fall in Z score units of 0.50–0.76; P < .0001). This decline in height-for-age Z scores represented a deficit of 1.6 to 5.8 cm. Seventeen patients (11%) had height-for-age Z scores consistent with stunting. Weight-for-age Z scores were not statistically lower than the reference standard, except for patients with massive burns up to 1.5 years post-burn. In our population of burned children, only massively burned children demonstrated a decline in stature. The decline for most was modest.
High-Resolution Angle Tracking for Mobile Wideband Millimeter-Wave Systems With Antenna Array Calibration

Millimeter-wave (mmWave) systems use directional beams to support high-rate data communications. Small misalignment between the transmit and receive beams (e.g., due to the mobility) can result in a significant drop of the received signal quality, especially in line-of-sight communication channels. In this paper, we propose and evaluate high-resolution angle tracking strategies for wideband mmWave systems with mobility. We custom design pairs of auxiliary beams as the tracking beams, and use them to capture the angle variations, toward which the steering directions of the data beams are adjusted. Different from conventional beam tracking designs, the proposed framework neither depends on the angle variation model nor requires an on-grid assumption. For practical implementation of the proposed methods, we examine the impact of the array calibration errors on the auxiliary beam pair design. Numerical results reveal that by employing the proposed methods, good angle tracking performance can be achieved under various antenna array configurations, channel models, and mobility conditions.
Competing cell clones in myeloproliferative neoplasm.

To the editor: Patients with classic myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) share a risk of transformation from a chronic phase (CP) to blast phase (BP; ie, acute myeloid leukemia, AML). Interestingly, JAK2V617F mutation detectable in most patients in CP can become undetectable upon transformation to
Stress analysis in oral obturator prostheses over parallel and tilted implants: photoelastic imaging

Abstract. This study aimed to evaluate the stress distribution through the photoelastic method in implant-retained palatal obturators prostheses. Two photoelastic models with bucco-sinusal communication were fabricated, one model without implants and another with two parallel implants and one tilted in the molar region. A conventional obturator prosthesis and five implant-retained obturators dentures with different attachment systems were fabricated: OR, three individualized O-rings; BC, bar clip; BOC, implants splinted by bars associated with two O-rings positioned at the center of the bar; OD, implants splinted by bars associated with two O-rings positioned in distal cantilever; and BOD, implants splinted by bars with clips associated with two O-rings positioned in distal cantilever. Each assembly (model/attachment system/prosthesis) was positioned in a circular polariscope and a load of 100 N was applied on each implant. The results were obtained by observing the photographic record of the tensions in the photoelastic models resulting from the application of load. It can be observed that a larger amount of stress fringes on BC system. It was concluded that the attachment system has a direct influence on the stress distribution of implant-retained obturator prostheses, with the three individualized O-rings exhibiting the lowest stress values, and tilted implants presented a biomechanical behavior similar to parallel implants.
Synthesis and characteristics of gold nanorod

During recent decades gold nanorod has been found very interesting due to their optical and thermal characteristics which make them suitable for different applications. Many interesting applications are optical application because of rod’s strong, special range of plasmon resonances, such as biotechnological imaging and sensing, surface-enhanced raman scattering and metamaterials, and these applications’ performances can be impaired by polydispersity and low yield of gold nanorod when using seed-mediated method. Since seed-mediate approach is the most convenient and cheap method making gold nanorod, so it is necessary to find ways to optimize this method. In this research, first, we focus on relationship between shapes of gold nanorods and several factors exist in forming process due to its unique surface plasmon resonance and try to find an effect way to optimize this formation. Second, we put an effort to explain the mechanism of whole formation of rods by designing experiments testing rods’ properties and directly observing rods through SEM. Experimental results are shown as we predicted, strong acid environment with slowly stirring during rods forming process can optimize seed-mediate approach and mechanism of it is: growth isotropically at first, when seeds’ size are up to 6nm, they change to growth anisotropically due to CTA−Br−Ag+ capping agents forcing rods growth in specific direction.
Probit vs. semi-nonparametric estimation: examining the role of disability on institutional entry for older adults

Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this study was to showcase an advanced methodological approach to model disability and institutional entry. Both of these are important areas to investigate given the on-going aging of the United States population. By 2020, approximately 15% of the population will be 65 years and older. Many of these older adults will experience disability and require formal care. Methods: A probit analysis was employed to determine which disabilities were associated with admission into an institution (i.e. long-term care). Since this framework imposes strong distributional assumptions, misspecification leads to inconsistent estimators. To overcome such a short-coming, this analysis extended the probit framework by employing an advanced semi-nonparamertic maximum likelihood estimation utilizing Hermite polynomial expansions. Results: Specification tests show semi-nonparametric estimation is preferred over probit. In terms of the estimates, semi-nonparametric ratios equal 42 for cognitive difficulty, 64 for independent living, and 111 for self-care disability while probit yields much smaller estimates of 19, 30, and 44, respectively. Conclusions: Public health professionals can use these results to better understand why certain interventions have not shown promise. Equally important, healthcare workers can use this research to evaluate which type of treatment plans may delay institutionalization and improve the quality of life for older adults. Implications for rehabilitation With on-going global aging, understanding the association between disability and institutional entry is important in devising successful rehabilitation interventions. Semi-nonparametric is preferred to probit and shows ambulatory and cognitive impairments present high risk for institutional entry (long-term care). Informal caregiving and home-based care require further examination as forms of rehabilitation/therapy for certain types of disabilities.
Engineered T Regulatory Type 1 Cells for Clinical Application

T regulatory cells, a specialized subset of T cells, are key players in modulating antigen (Ag)-specific immune responses in vivo. Inducible T regulatory type 1 (Tr1) cells are characterized by the co-expression of CD49b and lymphocyte-activation gene 3 (LAG-3) and the ability to secrete IL-10, TGF-β, and granzyme (Gz) B, in the absence of IL-4 and IL-17. The chief mechanisms by which Tr1 cells control immune responses are secretion of IL-10 and TGF-β and killing of myeloid cells via GzB. Tr1 cells, first described in peripheral blood of patients who developed tolerance after HLA-mismatched fetal liver hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, have been proven to modulate inflammatory and effector T cell responses in several immune-mediated diseases. The possibility to generate and expand Tr1 cells in vitro in an Ag-specific manner has led to their clinical use as cell therapy in patients. Clinical grade protocols to generate or to enrich and expand Tr1 cell medicinal products have been established. Proof-of-concept clinical trials with Tr1 cell products have demonstrated the safety and the feasibility of this approach and indicated some clinical benefit. In the present review, we provide an overview on protocols established to induce/expand Tr1 cells in vitro for clinical application and on results obtained in Tr1 cell-based clinical trials. Moreover, we will discuss a recently developed protocol to efficient convert human CD4+ T cells into a homogeneous population of Tr1-like cells by lentiviral vector-mediated IL-10 gene transfer.
Prevalence and Risk of Birth Defects Observed in a Prospective Cohort Study: The Hokkaido Study on Environment and Children’s Health

Background Prevalence rates of all anomalies classified as birth defects, including those identified before the 22nd gestational week, are limited in published reports, including those from the International Clearinghouse for Birth Defects Surveillance and Research (ICBDSR). In our birth cohort study, we collected the data for all birth defects after 12 weeks of gestation. Methods Subjects in this study comprised 19,244 pregnant women who visited one of 37 associated hospitals in the Hokkaido Prefecture from 2003 through 2012, and completed follow-up. All birth defects after 12 weeks of gestation, including 55 marker anomalies associated with environmental chemical exposures, were recorded. We examined parental risk factors for birth defects and the association between birth defects and risk of growth retardation. Results Prevalence of all birth defects was 18.9/1,000 births. The proportion of patients with birth defects delivered between 12 and 21 weeks of gestation was approximately one-tenth of all patients with birth defects. Among those with congenital malformation of the nerve system, 39% were delivered before 22 weeks of gestation. All patients with anencephaly and encephalocele were delivered before 22 weeks of gestation. We observed different patterns of parental risk factors between birth defect cases included in ISBDSR and cases not included. Cases included in ISBDSR were associated with an increased risk of preterm birth. Cases not included in ISBDSR were associated with an increased risk of being small for gestational age at term. Conclusions Data from our study complemented the data from ICBDSR. We recommend that birth defects not included in ICBDSR also be analyzed to elucidate the etiology of birth defects.
Personality disorders: patient characteristics and level of outpatient treatment service

Abstract Background: In this naturalistic study, patients with personality disorders (N = 388) treated at Stolpegaard Psychotherapy Center, Mental Health Services, Capital Region of Denmark were allocated to two different kinds of treatment: a standardized treatment package with a preset number of treatment hours (basic hospital service) and 2: a specialized treatment program for the most severely affected patients without a predetermined restricted number of treatment hours and significantly more individual psychotherapy (regional specialized hospital services). Aims: To investigate patient characteristics associated with clinicians’ allocation of patients to the two different personality disorder services. Methods: Patient characteristics across eight domains were collected in order to study whether there were systematic differences between patients allocated to the two different treatments. Patient characteristics included measures of symptom severity, personality pathology, trauma and socio-demographic characteristics. Significance testing and binary regression analysis were applied to identify important predictors. Results: Patient characteristics on fifteen variables differed significantly, all in the expected direction, with patients in regional specialized hospital services showing more pathology and psychosocial problems. In the regression model, only age and two variables capturing psychosocial functioning remained significant predictors of allocation. Discussion: The finding that younger age was the most significant predictor of longer treatment replicates an earlier finding of allocation to treatment for personality disorder. Overall, this study therefore lends further support to the importance of demographic and social contextual factors in clinicians’ allocation of patients to different treatment services for personality disorder.
Mapping the sequence of brain events in response to disgusting food

Warning signals indicating that a food is potentially dangerous may evoke a response that is not limited to the feeling of disgust. We investigated the sequence of brain events in response to visual representations of disgusting food using a dynamic image analysis. Functional MRI was acquired in 30 healthy subjects while they were watching a movie showing disgusting food scenes interspersed with the scenes of appetizing food. Imaging analysis included the identification of the global brain response and the generation of frame‐by‐frame activation maps at the temporal resolution of 2 s. Robust activations were identified in brain structures conventionally associated with the experience of disgust, but our analysis also captured a variety of other brain elements showing distinct temporal evolutions. The earliest events included transient changes in the orbitofrontal cortex and visual areas, followed by a more durable engagement of the periaqueductal gray, a pivotal element in the mediation of responses to threat. A subsequent core phase was characterized by the activation of subcortical and cortical structures directly concerned not only with the emotional dimension of disgust (e.g., amygdala‐hippocampus, insula), but also with the regulation of food intake (e.g., hypothalamus). In a later phase, neural excitement extended to broad cortical areas, the thalamus and cerebellum, and finally to the default mode network that signaled the progressive termination of the evoked response. The response to disgusting food representations is not limited to the emotional domain of disgust, and may sequentially involve a variety of broadly distributed brain networks. Hum Brain Mapp 39:369–380, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Molecular Characterization and Tissue Distribution of Feline Retinol-Binding Protein 4

ABSTRACT Retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) is a specific transporter of retinol and was recently identified as an adipokine potentially involved in type 2 diabetes in humans and rodents. However, the function and structure of feline RBP4 have not been reported. In this study, we describe the molecular cloning and expression analysis of feline RBP4. The complete feline RBP4 cDNA encodes a precursor protein comprising an 18 amino acid signal peptide and a 183 amino acid mature protein. Feline RBP4 was mapped to chromosome D2. Mature feline RBP4 is 83–94% homologous to the RBPs of humans, cows and rodents. RT-PCR analysis revealed feline RBP4 expression in liver and adipose tissues.