Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Catheter Interventions for Mitral Stenosis in Children

Stenosis of the mitral valve most often occurs as a result of chronic rheumatic heart disease, causing thickening and fibrosis of the mitral valve apparatus. Rheumatic heart disease continues to be a major public health problem in several developing countries and mitral stenosis is also common in these regions. According to the reports from India and Africa, the disease tends to follow a rapidly progressive course in children. The treatment of choice is balloon dilatation of the mitral valve. Echocardiography is indispensable for this procedure. Before planning the procedure, it is essential to assess the suitability of balloon dilatation. Echocardiography performed during the procedure helps to decide whether the size of the balloon needs to be increased in case of inadequate relief of stenosis. Most published series have reported an immediate success rate of over 90% with balloon dilatation in children and young adults. With an increase in mitral valve area and improvement in functional class, the left atrial pressure and the transmitral gradients fall. These gratifying results are also reported from very young children of less than 12 years of age. It is recommended to start with a smaller balloon size and increase its size in a stepwise fashion to minimize complications. The complications, seen in about 1% to 2% of cases, include development of significant mitral regurgitation and hemopericardium, secondary to cardiac chamber perforation. The long-term results indicate slightly higher restenosis rates in children than in adults. Most children with restenosis can undergo successful repeat dilatation.
Quantum Walks on Regular Graphs and Eigenvalues

We study the transition matrix of a quantum walk on strongly regular graphs. It is proposed by Emms, Hancock, Severini and Wilson in 2006, that the spectrum of S + (U 3 ), a matrix based on the amplitudes of walks in the quantum walk, distinguishes strongly regular graphs. We find the eigenvalues of S + (U) and S + (U 2 ) for regular graphs and show that S + (U 2 ) = S + (U) 2 + I.
Predisposing Factors, Microbial Characteristics, and Clinical Outcome of Microbial Keratitis in a Tertiary Centre in Hong Kong: A 10-Year Experience

Purpose. To study the risk factors, microbial profile, antibiotic susceptibility pattern, and outcome for microbial keratitis over the past 10 years in a tertiary center in Hong Kong. Methods. All cases with corneal scraping performed in Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong from January 2004 to December 2013 were included. Clinical outcome was defined as poor if the final visual acuity (VA) was abnormal or worse than presenting VA, a major complication occurred, or therapeutic keratoplasty was required. Results. 347 scrapes were performed in the 10-year period growing 130 microorganisms (32.3% culture positive rate). Contact lens use was the commonest risk factor. The commonest isolates were coagulase-negative Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Fluoroquinolone susceptibility was tested in 47 Gram-negative bacteria with 93.6% susceptibility (100% for Pseudomonas). 90.7% of cases had good visual outcome. Multivariate logistic regression showed age (p = 0.03), trauma (p = 0.006), and ulcer size >3 mm (p = 0.039) to be independently associated with poor outcome. Conclusion. There was no shifting trend in the isolate distribution or emergence of resistant strains in our study. Contact lens wear was the commonest risk factor, with Pseudomonas being the most frequent isolate in this group. It remained 100% susceptible to fluoroquinolones and 97% cases had good visual outcome.
Investigation of bound and leaky modes on periodic bidimensional structures using mixed-potential integral equations

In this paper an original acceleration scheme for the computation of periodic multilayered mixed-potential Green's functions is used to perform numerical dispersive analyses in bidimensional periodic structures embedded in a dielectric slab. The acceleration scheme is first described with reference to the various components of the dyadic and scalar potentials. The Green's functions are then implemented in a method-of-moments code and dispersion curves for both leaky and bound modes (i.e., surface waves) in slabs with periodic inclusions are numerically computed and discussed.
Construction of Calcium Release Sites in Cardiac Myocytes

Local character of calcium release in cardiac myocytes, as defined by confocal recordings of calcium sparks, implies independent activation of individual calcium release sites based on ryanodine receptor (RyR) channel recruitment. We constructed virtual calcium release sites (vCRSs) composed of a variable number of RyR channels distributed in clusters in accordance with the experimentally observed cluster size distribution. The vCRSs consisted either of a single virtual calcium release unit (vCRU), in which all clusters shared a common dyadic space, or of multiple virtual calcium release units (CRUs) containing one cluster each and having separate dyadic spaces. We explored the stochastic behavior of vCRSs to understand the activation and recruitment of RyRs during calcium sparks. RyRs were represented by the published allosteric gating model that included regulation by cytosolic Ca2+ and Mg2+. The interaction of Mg2+ with the RyR Ca2+-binding sites and the refractory period of vCRSs were optimized to accord with the experimentally observed calcium dependence of calcium spark frequency. The Mg2+-binding parameters of RyRs that provided the best description of spark frequency depended on the number of RyRs assembled in the vCRSs. Adequate inhibitory effect of Mg2+ on the calcium dependence of RyR open probability was achieved if the vCRSs contained at least three clusters. For the distribution of the number of open RyRs in evoked calcium sparks to correspond to the experimentally observed distribution of spark calcium release fluxes, at least three clusters had to share a common virtual CRU, in which ∼3 RyRs open to form an average spark. These results reconcile the small cluster size and stochastic placement of RyRs in the release sites with the estimates of the amount of RyR protein, volume density of calcium release sites, and the size of calcium release sites in rat cardiac myocytes.
Long-term Disability Associated With War-related Experience Among Vietnam Veterans

Background:Recent combat operations have involved large numbers of personnel. Long-term health effects of military deployment remain largely unknown. Objectives:To examine patterns and trends in long-term disability among combat veterans and to relate disability to aspects of wartime experience. Participants:A total of 60,228 Australian military personnel deployed between 1962 and 1975 during the Vietnam War, and 82,877 military personnel who were not deployed overseas. Outcome Measures:Accepted physician-assessed disability claims were evaluated over follow-up periods up to 50 years after deployment, and compared with age-matched controls. Multivariable analysis was used to examine differences by service branch, rank, age, and deployment duration. Results:The steepest rise in disability incidence was observed among Vietnam veterans starting in the 1990s, around 20–30 years after deployment for most veterans. After 1994, when Statements of Principles were introduced to guide evaluation of disability claims, the hazard ratio for disability incidence was 1.53 (95% confidence interval, 1.32–1.77) compared with the prior period. By January 2011, after an average follow-up of 42.5 years, 69.7% (95% confidence interval, 69.4%–70.1%) of veterans had at least 1 war-related disability. Many veterans had multiple disabilities, with leading causes being eye and ear disorders (48.0%), mental health conditions (47.9%), and musculoskeletal disorders (18.4%). For specific categories of disability, relative risks for accepted claims among veterans compared with controls were highest for mental health disorders, at 22.9 (21.9–24.0) and lowest for injuries, at 1.5 (1.4–1.6) with a relative risk for any disability of 3.7 (3.7–3.8). Veterans with service of >1 year were 2.5 (2.2–2.7) times more likely to have a mental health disability than those who served <100 days, and 2.3 (2.1–2.5) times more likely to have other disabilities. Conclusions:Long-term effects of deployment into military conflicts are substantial, and likelihood of war-related disability is associated with service history. If similar patterns follow from more recent conflicts, significant additional resources will be needed to prevent and treat long-term health conditions among veterans.
Representations of Continuous Attractors of Recurrent Neural Networks

A continuous attractor of a recurrent neural network (RNN) is a set of connected stable equilibrium points. Continuous attractors have been used to describe the encoding of continuous stimuli in neural networks. Dynamic behaviors of continuous attractors of RNNs exhibit interesting properties. This brief desires to derive explicit representations of continuous attractors of RNNs. Representations of continuous attractors of linear RNNs as well as linear-threshold (LT) RNNs are obtained under some conditions. These representations could be looked at as solutions of continuous attractors of the networks. Such results provide clear and complete descriptions to the continuous attractors.
Finite spectrum assignment of unstable time-delay systems with a safe implementation

The instability mechanisms, related to the implementation of distributed delay controllers in the context of finite spectrum assignment, were studied in detail in the past few years. In this note we introduce a distributed delay control law that assigns a finite closed-loop spectrum and whose implementation with a sum of point-wise delays is safe. This property is obtained by implicitly including a low-pass filter in the control loop. This leads to a closed-loop characteristic quasipolynomial of retarded type, and not one of neutral type, which was shown to be a cause of instability in previous schemes.
Deregulated Cyclin D 1 Expression Is Associated with Decreased Efficacy of the Selective Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Gefitinib in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cell Lines

Purpose: Despite promising initial results, recent Phase III trials of the selective epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor gefitinib (“Iressa”; AstraZeneca, Wilmington, Delaware) in advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) have been equivocal. Cyclin D1, an EGFR target gene, is frequently overexpressed in HNSCC, has been implicated in its pathogenesis, and is strongly associated with poor prognosis in this disease. Therefore, we examined the relationship between deregulated cyclin D1 expression and sensitivity to gefitinib to determine whether this frequently occurring oncogenic change affected the cellular response to gefitinib. Experimental Design: A panel of six EGFR-overexpressing HNSCC cell lines was used to correlate CCND1 gene copy number, cyclin D1 expression, and response to gefitinib. The effect of constitutive overexpression of cyclin D1 was assessed by establishing stably transfected clonal SCC-9 cell lines. Results: Three of six cell lines displayed cyclin D1 amplification and/or overexpression, and these cell lines were resistant to gefitinib. SCC 9 clones overexpressing cyclin D1 continued to proliferate and maintained their S-phase fraction when treated with gefitinib, whereas empty vector control clones and the parental SCC 9 cells were profoundly inhibited and displayed marked reductions in S-phase. The resistance of cyclin D1-overexpressing clones and cyclin D1amplified cell lines was associated with maintenance of cyclin D1 expression after gefitinib treatment. Conclusions: These data suggest that deregulated cyclin D1 overexpression may be associated with resistance of HNSCC to EGFR inhibitors. Therefore, the role of cyclin D1 as a marker of therapeutic response and its utility as a prognostic marker in HNSCC warrant additional analysis.
Towards understanding modern web traffic

As the nature of Web traffic evolves over time, we must update our understanding of underlying nature of today's Web, which is necessary to improve response time, understand caching effectiveness, and to design intermediary systems, such as firewalls, security analyzers, and reporting or management systems. In this paper, we analyze five years (2006-2010) of real Web traffic from a globally-distributed proxy system, which captures the browsing behavior of over 70,000 daily users from 187 countries. Using this data set, we examine major changes in Web traffic characteristics during this period, and also investigate the redundancy of this traffic, using both traditional object-level caching as well as content-based approaches.
Chromosome Synapsis Alleviates Mek1-Dependent Suppression of Meiotic DNA Repair

Faithful meiotic chromosome segregation and fertility require meiotic recombination between homologous chromosomes rather than the equally available sister chromatid, a bias that in Saccharomyces cerevisiae depends on the meiotic kinase, Mek1. Mek1 is thought to mediate repair template bias by specifically suppressing sister-directed repair. Instead, we found that when Mek1 persists on closely paired (synapsed) homologues, DNA repair is severely delayed, suggesting that Mek1 suppresses any proximal repair template. Accordingly, Mek1 is excluded from synapsed homologues in wild-type cells. Exclusion requires the AAA+-ATPase Pch2 and is directly coupled to synaptonemal complex assembly. Stage-specific depletion experiments further demonstrate that DNA repair in the context of synapsed homologues requires Rad54, a repair factor inhibited by Mek1. These data indicate that the sister template is distinguished from the homologue primarily by its closer proximity to inhibitory Mek1 activity. We propose that once pairing or synapsis juxtaposes homologues, exclusion of Mek1 is necessary to avoid suppression of all templates and accelerate repair progression.
Acquisition of Hemozoin by Monocytes Down-Regulates Interleukin-12 p40 (IL-12p40) Transcripts and Circulating IL-12p70 through an IL-10-Dependent Mechanism: In Vivo and In Vitro Findings in Severe Malarial Anemia

ABSTRACT Severe malarial anemia (SMA) is a primary cause of morbidity and mortality in immune-naïve infants and young children residing in areas of holoendemic Plasmodium falciparum transmission. Although the immunopathogenesis of SMA is largely undefined, we have previously shown that systemic interleukin-12 (IL-12) production is suppressed during childhood blood-stage malaria. Since IL-10 and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) are known to decrease IL-12 synthesis in a number of infectious diseases, altered transcriptional regulation of these inflammatory mediators was investigated as a potential mechanism for IL-12 down-regulation. Ingestion of naturally acquired malarial pigment (hemozoin [PfHz]) by monocytes promoted the overproduction of IL-10 and TNF-α relative to the production of IL-12, which correlated with an enhanced severity of malarial anemia. Experiments with cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and CD14+ cells from malaria-naïve donors revealed that physiological concentrations of PfHz suppressed IL-12 and augmented IL-10 and TNF-α by altering the transcriptional kinetics of IL-12p40, IL-10, and TNF-α, respectively. IL-10 neutralizing antibodies, but not TNF-α antibodies, restored PfHz-induced suppression of IL-12. Blockade of IL-10 and the addition of recombinant IL-10 to cultured PBMC from children with SMA confirmed that IL-10 was responsible for malaria-induced suppression of IL-12. Taken together, these results demonstrate that PfHz-induced up-regulation of IL-10 is responsible for the suppression of IL-12 during malaria.
Porous Copolymer Resins: Tuning Pore Structure and Surface Area with Non Reactive Porogens

In this review, the preparation of porous copolymer resin (PCR) materials via suspension polymerization with variable properties are described by tuning the polymerization reaction, using solvents which act as porogens, to yield microporous, mesoporous, and macroporous materials. The porogenic properties of solvents are related to traditional solubility parameters which yield significant changes in the surface area, porosity, pore volume, and morphology of the polymeric materials. The mutual solubility characteristics of the solvents, monomer units, and the polymeric resins contribute to the formation of porous materials with tunable pore structures and surface areas. The importance of the initiator solubility, surface effects, the temporal variation of solvent composition during polymerization, and temperature effects contribute to the variable physicochemical properties of the PCR materials. An improved understanding of the factors governing the mechanism of formation for PCR materials will contribute to the development and design of versatile materials with tunable properties for a wide range of technical applications.
Tumour necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-2 soluble receptor and different inflammatory parameters in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Although the participation of cytokines in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) seems to be unequivocal, their relationship with current serum markers of this disease is not clear. The present study analyses whether there is any correlation between the levels of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-2 soluble receptor (sIL-2R) and the concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and beta(2)-microglobulin in a group of 21 patients with RA, all rheumatoid factor positive. METHODS: The levels of TNF-alpha and sIL-2R were analysed in association with other parameters of inflammation (ESR, CRP and beta(2)-microglobulin). RESULTS: In comparison with the control group, RA patients presented high median levels of both cytokines, TNF-alpha (6.4 pg/ml) and sIL-2R (56 pmol/L), as well as of ESR (34 mm/h), CRP (0.9 mg/dl) and beta(2)-microglobulin (1.6 mg/dl) (p < 0.01). However, only ESR levels in the RA group significantly differ from the control group (p < 0.01). No correlation was found between the inflammatory parameters. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that TNF-alpha and slL-2R levels are up-regulated in RA patients but did not significantly differ from the control group. Due to the chronic course of this disease, other inflammatory markers must be identified in order to provide early therapeutic strategies to these patients.
Fine-Grained Recognition without Part Annotations : Supplementary Material

In the main text we showed that large gains from using a VGGNet [5] architecture on the CUB-2011 [6] dataset. We show a similar comparison on the cars-196 [3] dataset in Tab. 1. As before, using a VGGNet architecture leads to large gains. Particularly striking is the gain from fine-tuning a VGGNet on cars-196 – a basic R-CNN goes from 57.4% to 88.4% accuracy only by fine-tuning, much larger than the already sizeable gain from fine-tuning a CaffeNet [2].
Toward an Estimation of Nadir Objective Vector Using a Hybrid of Evolutionary and Local Search Approaches

A nadir objective vector is constructed from the worst Pareto-optimal objective values in a multiobjective optimization problem and is an important entity to compute because of its significance in estimating the range of objective values in the Pareto-optimal front and also in executing a number of interactive multiobjective optimization techniques. Along with the ideal objective vector, it is also needed for the purpose of normalizing different objectives, so as to facilitate a comparison and agglomeration of the objectives. However, the task of estimating the nadir objective vector necessitates information about the complete Pareto-optimal front and has been reported to be a difficult task, and importantly an unsolved and open research issue. In this paper, we propose certain modifications to an existing evolutionary multiobjective optimization procedure to focus its search toward the extreme objective values and combine it with a reference-point based local search approach to constitute a couple of hybrid procedures for a reliable estimation of the nadir objective vector. With up to 20-objective optimization test problems and on a three-objective engineering design optimization problem, one of the proposed procedures is found to be capable of finding the nadir objective vector reliably. The study clearly shows the significance of an evolutionary computing based search procedure in assisting to solve an age-old important task in the field of multiobjective optimization.
Computation of peak output for inputs satisfying many bounding conditions on magnitude and slope

The evaluation of peak outputs is an essential component of control systems design in which the outputs are required to remain within their prescribed bounds in the presence of all possible inputs. Characterising a possible set with many bounding conditions can reduce conservatism, thereby yielding a better design. However, this gives rise to difficulty in computing the peak outputs using analytical techniques. This article develops a practical method for computing the peak outputs of linear time-invariant systems for a class of possible sets characterised with many bounding conditions on the two- and/or the infinity-norms of the inputs and their slopes. The original infinite-dimensional convex optimisation problem is approximated as a large-scale convex programme defined in a Euclidean space with sparse matrices, which can be solved efficiently in practice. A case study of control design for a building subject to seismic disturbances is reinvestigated, where three bounding conditions are used. The numerical results show that the design so obtained is better than the previous one.
Tinnitus does not require macroscopic tonotopic map reorganization

The pathophysiology underlying tinnitus, a hearing disorder characterized by the chronic perception of phantom sound, has been related to aberrant plastic reorganization of the central auditory system. More specifically, tinnitus is thought to involve changes in the tonotopic representation of sound. In the present study we used high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging to determine tonotopic maps in the auditory cortex of 20 patients with tinnitus but otherwise near-normal hearing, and compared these to equivalent outcomes from 20 healthy controls with matched hearing thresholds. Using a dedicated experimental paradigm and data-driven analysis techniques, multiple tonotopic gradients could be robustly distinguished in both hemispheres, arranged in a pattern consistent with previous findings. Yet, maps were not found to significantly differ between the two groups in any way. In particular, we found no evidence for an overrepresentation of high sound frequencies, matching the tinnitus pitch. A significant difference in evoked response magnitude was found near the low-frequency tonotopic endpoint on the lateral extreme of left Heschl’s gyrus. Our results suggest that macroscopic tonotopic reorganization in the auditory cortex is not required for the emergence of tinnitus, and is not typical for tinnitus that accompanies normal hearing to mild hearing loss.