Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Robust multiframe super-resolution reconstruction based on regularization

Images of high-resolution are desired and often required in most photoelectronic imaging applications, and corresponding image restoration algorithm has became the frontier research. A novel multiframe super-resolution reconstruction algorithm based on stochastic regularization is proposed in this paper. By analyzing the image degradation model, the iterative gradient method based on Taylor series expansion is applied in the algorithm to estimate the inter-frame displacement. The L1 norm is used for fusing the data of low-resolution frames and removing outliers, and the regularization technique based on bilateral total variation is used to remove artifacts from the final answer and improve the rate of convergence. Simulated and real experiment results confirm the effectiveness of the algorithm.
Efficient similarity search and classification via rank aggregation

We propose a novel approach to performing efficient similarity search and classification in high dimensional data. In this framework, the database elements are vectors in a Euclidean space. Given a query vector in the same space, the goal is to find elements of the database that are similar to the query. In our approach, a small number of independent "voters" rank the database elements based on similarity to the query. These rankings are then combined by a highly efficient aggregation algorithm. Our methodology leads both to techniques for computing approximate nearest neighbors and to a conceptually rich alternative to nearest neighbors.One instantiation of our methodology is as follows. Each voter projects all the vectors (database elements and the query) on a random line (different for each voter), and ranks the database elements based on the proximity of the projections to the projection of the query. The aggregation rule picks the database element that has the best median rank. This combination has several appealing features. On the theoretical side, we prove that with high probability, it produces a result that is a (1 + ε) factor approximation to the Euclidean nearest neighbor. On the practical side, it turns out to be extremely efficient, often exploring no more than 5% of the data to obtain very high-quality results. This method is also database-friendly, in that it accesses data primarily in a pre-defined order without random accesses, and, unlike other methods for approximate nearest neighbors, requires almost no extra storage. Also, we extend our approach to deal with the k nearest neighbors.We conduct two sets of experiments to evaluate the efficacy of our methods. Our experiments include two scenarios where nearest neighbors are typically employed---similarity search and classification problems. In both cases, we study the performance of our methods with respect to several evaluation criteria, and conclude that they are uniformly excellent, both in terms of quality of results and in terms of efficiency.
Advanced sonar and laser range finder fusion for simultaneous localization and mapping

Increasing the information content of measurements can ease some of the problems associated with simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). We present an approach for combining measurements from a laser range finder with measurements from an advanced sonar array capable of accurate range and bearing measurements and edge, corner and plane classification. In our approach sonar aids laser segmentation, laser aids good sonar point feature selection and laser and sonar measurements of the same object are fused. We also present a novel approach for fitting right angle corners to laser range data, which enables simple error estimation through the minimization of sum of square range residuals. The results are then used for SLAM with a mobile robot.
Clinical review 2: The "metabolic memory": is more than just tight glucose control necessary to prevent diabetic complications?

CONTEXT The concept of a "metabolic memory," that is of diabetic vascular stresses persisting after glucose normalization, has been supported both in the laboratory and in the clinic and in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION Using PubMed, we searched for publications on diabetic micro- and macrovascular complications using terms such as persistence, prolongation, sustained, and "memory" and focusing on the mechanistic basis behind this metabolic memory. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS We found that as early as the mid-1980s this memory phenomenon was described in diabetic animals and isolated cells exposed to high glucose followed by normalized glucose and then, beginning around 2002, in results from large clinical trials such as the Diabetes Complications and Control Trial-Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications and the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study. Furthermore, mechanisms for propagating this memory appear focused on the nonenzymatic glycation of cellular proteins and lipids and on an excess of cellular reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, in particular originating at the level of glycated mitochondrial proteins and perhaps acting in concert with one another to maintain stress signaling independent of glucose levels. CONCLUSIONS The emergence of this metabolic memory suggests the need for early aggressive treatment aiming to "normalize" metabolic control together perhaps with the addition of agents which reduce cellular reactive species and glycation in order to minimize long-term diabetic complications.
Cost-Effectiveness of a Genetic Test for Breast Cancer Risk—Response

We would like to thank Cox and colleagues for their comments on our article (1). They assert that the only demonstration of value of MRI screening is in genetically high-risk populations, who develop early, aggressive cancers, presumably referring to patients with BRCA1/2 mutations. However, the American Cancer Society guidelines recommendMRI screening for women with a risk of greater than 20% based on family history, a much broader population than just BRCA1/2 mutation carriers. The intent of our study was to investigate the potential for using singlenucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data to refine estimates of risk forwomenwho are not BRCA1/2 carriers butwho are at intermediate to high risk based on the Gail test. Cox and colleagues also state thatMRI screening has been shown to have little benefit after the age of 60 years. This is in part due to the fact that youngerwomen tend tohavehigh breast density, so that mammograms are less effective in younger women. In fact, our model does include breast density as a function of age and includes a breast density effect on the sensitivity of mammography, so that the benefits of MRI screening are greater relative to mammography in younger women. Our base case analysis initiates genetic testing andMRI screening at the age 40 years, before menopause, when average breast density is still relatively high. In our sensitivity analysis, we varied the start age to 50 years, and found that in this case the results were much less favorable, indicating that much of the benefit is gained between the ages of 40 and 50 years. In light of this finding and the comments by Cox and colleagues, an interesting analysis for future work would be to evaluate the effect of discontinuing MRI screening at different ages. Finally, Cox and colleagues point out that while we only consider seven SNPs, more than 70 have now been published. We chose to focus on these seven SNPs because, at least at the time of our study, these were the only seven for which there was a commercially available genetic test. Our cost assumption was based on the real cost of this commercial test at the time of the study. Clearly, both the technology and the costs of genetic testing are rapidly advancing and we intend to continue to update our model with newer data as it becomes available.
The ultrastructure of the epididymis of the African giant rat (Cricetomys gambianus, Waterhouse).

Five histological zones have been described in an earlier study of the epididymis of the African giant rat (Oke, Aire, Adeyemo & Heath, 1988). These are Zone I (initial segment), Zones II, III and IV (middle segment) and Zone V (terminal segment). Zone V has two major subzones, proximal and distal. The distinguishing characteristics of the different zones were also described at the histological and histochemical levels. This paper, an extension of the earlier study, seeks to evaluate at the ultrastructural level the cellular and organelle disposition in the various zones of the epididymis of the giant rat.
Overall Elastic and Elastoplastic Behavior of a Partially Debonded Fiber-reinforced Composite

In order to quantitatively evaluate the effect of partial debonding on the reduction of overall elastic moduli and overall elastoplastic strength of a fiber-reinforced composite, a combined homogenization and finite-element study is carried out to examine how the debonding angle affects these mechanical properties. In the development of the elastichomogenization theory, the relative strain concentration tensors of the interfacial cracks and fibers with respect to that of the matrix are first determined from Toya’s complex-variable solution [Toya, M. (1974). A Crack Along the Interface of a Circular Inclusion Embedded in an Infinite Solid,J. Mech. Phys. Solids. , 22: 325–348. ], and then the fibers, cracks, and matrix are assembled together to form the composite. Extension of the elastic formulation to the nonlinear elastoplastic behavior is accomplished through a secant-moduli approach in conjunction with a field-fluctuation method. The developed theory is intended primarily for conditions with low fiber concentration. The finite-element method makes use of the ANSYS program with a carefully constructed mesh near the crack tips. Both the homogenization and the finite-element calculations disclose significant effect of the debonding angle on the overall transverse Young’s modulus along the debonding direction, and on the plane-strain tensile bulk modulus of the composite. In the plastic range the transverse tensile stress–strain curves of the debonded composite are found to be significantly lowered due to the presence of the interfacial cracks.
Single-Cell Dynamics Determines Response to CDK4/6 Inhibition in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Purpose: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a heterogeneous subgroup of breast cancer that is associated with a poor prognosis. We evaluated the activity of CDK4/6 inhibitors across the TNBC subtypes and investigated mechanisms of sensitivity. Experimental Design: A panel of cell lines representative of TNBC was tested for in vitro and in vivo sensitivity to CDK4/6 inhibition. A fluorescent CDK2 activity reporter was used for single-cell analysis in conjunction with time-lapse imaging. Results: The luminal androgen receptor (LAR) subtype of TNBC was highly sensitive to CDK4/6 inhibition both in vitro (P < 0.001 LAR vs. basal-like) and in vivo in MDA-MB-453 LAR cell line xenografts. Single-cell analysis of CDK2 activity demonstrated differences in cell-cycle dynamics between LAR and basal-like cells. Palbociclib-sensitive LAR cells exit mitosis with low levels of CDK2 activity, into a quiescent state that requires CDK4/6 activity for cell-cycle reentry. Palbociclib-resistant basal-like cells exit mitosis directly into a proliferative state, with high levels of CDK2 activity, bypassing the restriction point and the requirement for CDK4/6 activity. High CDK2 activity after mitosis is driven by temporal deregulation of cyclin E1 expression. CDK4/6 inhibitors were synergistic with PI3 kinase inhibitors in PIK3CA-mutant TNBC cell lines, extending CDK4/6 inhibitor sensitivity to additional TNBC subtypes. Conclusions: Cell-cycle dynamics determine the response to CDK4/6 inhibition in TNBC. CDK4/6 inhibitors, alone and in combination, are a novel therapeutic strategy for specific subgroups of TNBC. Clin Cancer Res; 23(18); 5561–72. ©2017 AACR.
House-to-house human movement drives dengue virus transmission

Dengue is a mosquito-borne disease of growing global health importance. Prevention efforts focus on mosquito control, with limited success. New insights into the spatiotemporal drivers of dengue dynamics are needed to design improved disease-prevention strategies. Given the restricted range of movement of the primary mosquito vector, Aedes aegypti, local human movements may be an important driver of dengue virus (DENV) amplification and spread. Using contact-site cluster investigations in a case-control design, we demonstrate that, at an individual level, risk for human infection is defined by visits to places where contact with infected mosquitoes is likely, independent of distance from the home. Our data indicate that house-to-house human movements underlie spatial patterns of DENV incidence, causing marked heterogeneity in transmission rates. At a collective level, transmission appears to be shaped by social connections because routine movements among the same places, such as the homes of family and friends, are often similar for the infected individual and their contacts. Thus, routine, house-to-house human movements do play a key role in spread of this vector-borne pathogen at fine spatial scales. This finding has important implications for dengue prevention, challenging the appropriateness of current approaches to vector control. We argue that reexamination of existing paradigms regarding the spatiotemporal dynamics of DENV and other vector-borne pathogens, especially the importance of human movement, will lead to improvements in disease prevention.
Is risk of Kaposi's sarcoma in AIDS patients in Britain increased if sexual partners came from United States or Africa?

OBJECTIVE--To determine whether the risk of Kaposi's sarcoma in patients with AIDS is increased by sexual contact with groups from abroad with a high incidence of Kaposi's sarcoma. DESIGN--Analysis of risk of Kaposi's sarcoma in patients with AIDS, according to country of origin of their sexual partners. SETTING--United Kingdom. PATIENTS--2830 patients with AIDS reported to the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre and the Communicable Disease (Scotland) Unit up to March 1990, of whom 566 had Kaposi's sarcoma. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Percentage of patients with AIDS who had Kaposi's sarcoma. RESULTS--537 of 2291 homosexual or bisexual men (23%) with AIDS had Kaposi's sarcoma; 10% (14/135) of the men and women who acquired HIV by heterosexual contact had Kaposi's sarcoma. None of the 316 subjects who acquired HIV through non-sexual routes had Kaposi's sarcoma. Kaposi's sarcoma was more common among homosexual men whose likely source of infection included the United States (171/551, 31%) or Africa (9/34, 26%) than among those infected in the United Kingdom (119/625, 19%) (p less than 0.05). CONCLUSION--The data suggest that Kaposi's sarcoma is caused by a sexually transmissible agent which was introduced into the British homosexual population mainly from the United States [corrected].
Variations in the identity and complexity of endosymbiont combinations in whitefly hosts

The target of natural selection is suggested to be the holobiont - the organism together with its associated symbiotic microorganisms. The well-defined endosymbiotic communities of insects make them a useful model for exploring the role of symbiotic interactions in shaping the functional repertoire of plants and animals. Here, we studied the variations in the symbiotic communities of the sweet potato whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) by compiling a dataset of over 2000 individuals derived from several independent screenings. The secondary endosymbionts harbored by each individual were clustered into entities termed Facultative Endosymbiont Combinations (FECs), each representing a natural assemblage of co-occurring bacterial genera. The association of FECs with whitefly individuals stratified the otherwise homogeneous population into holobiont units. We both identified bacterial assemblages that are specific to whitefly groups sharing unique genetic backgrounds, and characterized the FEC variations within these groups. The analysis revealed that FEC complexity is positively correlated with both distance from the equator and specificity of the genetic clade of the host insect. These findings highlight the importance of symbiotic combinations in shaping the distribution patterns of B. tabaci and possibly other insect species.
Long-term colorectal-cancer mortality after adenoma removal.

To the Editor: The study of colorectal-cancer mortality by Løberg et al. (Aug. 28 issue)1 provides no data on the quality of the colonoscopies performed. This limitation outweighs the merits of the large population size and prolonged follow-up in this study, and it precludes meaningful inferences regarding the protective effect of colonoscopy against colorectal cancer. We think the results are best explained by polyps left behind or incompletely removed because of the use of a suboptimal technique.2,3 The timing of colonoscopy may explain the modest mortality benefit among patients with low-risk adenomas versus no benefit among patients with multiple polyps, since younger patients have fewer and less advanced polyps. Our recent study involving patients who received treatment from an endoscopy group with an extraordinary, continuous, and prolonged focus on optimal mucosal inspection and complete polypectomy, as compared with the general population, showed an 83% reduction in the incidence of colorectal cancer and an 89% reduction in mortality.4 The incidence of lung cancer in our study population was identical to that of the general population; this validated the substantial protective effect of high-quality colonoscopy against colorectal cancer. In our opinion, details about the quality of colonoscopy are more important than population size or follow-up in studies of methods to lower colorectalcancer mortality.5
Roles of Calcium-Stimulated Adenylyl Cyclase and Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase IV in the Regulation of FMRP by Group I Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors

The fragile X syndrome is caused by the lack of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) attributable to silencing of the FMR1 gene. The metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) in the CNS contribute to different brain functions, including learning/memory, mental disorders, drug addiction, and persistent pain. Most of the previous studies have been focused on downstream targets of FMRP in hippocampal neurons, and fewer studies have been reported for the second-messenger signaling pathways between group I mGluRs and FMRP. Furthermore, no molecular study has been performed in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a key region involved in high brain cognitive and executive functions. In this study, we demonstrate that activation of group I mGluR upregulated FMRP in ACC neurons of adult mice through the Ca2+-dependent signaling pathways. Using genetic approaches, we found that Ca2+/calmodulin-stimulated adenylyl cyclase 1 (AC1) and calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase IV (CaMKIV) contribute to the upregulation of FMRP induced by stimulating group I mGluRs. The upregulation of FMRP occurs at the transcriptional level. The cAMP-dependent protein kinase is activated by stimulating group I mGluRs through AC1 in ACC neurons. Both AC1 and CaMKIV contribute to the regulation of FMRP by group I mGluRs probably through cAMP response element-binding protein activation. Our study has provided the first evidence for a molecular link between group I mGluRs and FMRP in ACC neurons and may help us to understand the pathogenesis of fragile X syndrome.
Design and optimization of medium frequency, medium voltage transformers

Medium voltage, medium frequency transformers (MFTs) are much smaller in size and weight compared to conventional low frequency transformers. The MFTs are very attractive for applications where full control of the power flow and high power density are required, such as power electronic interface in smart grids and traction converter system. With reduced size, the optimal design of MFTs becomes more challenging due to the high isolation requirement and thermal stress. This paper presents a design and optimization methodology for MFTs with emphasis on thermal and insulation design. The improved thermal model for multi-layer windings consisting of litz-wire and the analytical calculation of maximum electric field in core window area are included in the optimization process. By using the methodology, the optimal designs of a 25kW/4 kHz MFT with two commonly used core materials are compared. The possibility of volume reduction by increasing the operating frequency is also investigated.
Association of Leishmania heat shock protein 83 antigen and immunoglobulin G4 antibody titers in Brazilian patients with diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis

Diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis (DCL) is characterized by the presence of numerous nonulcerated nodules and plaques containing large numbers of Leishmania amazonensis parasites and few lymphoid elements. The immune responses of DCL patients reflect severe antigen-specific T-cell deficiencies, while the antibody response to Leishmania antigens is often accentuated. We report herein on the Leishmania antigen-specific antibody subclass distribution in DCL patients and demonstrate that a dominant antigen contributing to the biased immunoglobulin G4 antibody subclass in sera of DCL patients is Leishmania heat shock protein 83.
Efficacy of clonal progenitor cells from dental pulp and bone marrow to regenerate craniofacial mineralised tissue structures

The current clinical choice for bone regeneration is autologous bone grafts from the iliac crest. The associated drawbacks, however, in terms of morbidity and low cell number following tissue harvest, have led to search for alternative stromal cell sources in conjunction with native tissue matrix components. For mineralised tissue engineering, alternative to mesenchymal bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs), mesenchymal dental pulp stromal cells (DPSCs) have been proposed due to high colony formation and differentiation potential. Understanding which stromal population is exemplar for rapid and effective regeneration is paramount, and central to efficient bone regeneration is providing the optimal microenvironment to the characterised stem cells. This thesis compared clonal BMSCs that formed few and large colonies, with DPSCs that formed many small colonies. Comparison of clonal differentiation along adipogenesis, chondrogenesis, with particular attention on their capacity for osteogenic formation, showed BMSCs were multipotent, while DPSCs only displayed uni- and bi- potency (osteogenic inclusive). Neither VCAM1 nor MCAM mesenchymal marker expression related to differentiation capacity. Stromal clones exposed to whole-protein tissue matrix extracts from bone (BME) and tooth (TME), found in vitro mineralisation by BMSCs and DPSCs with TME, but mineralisation by DPSCs only with BME. BMSC and DPSC clones were also assessed on bone- and tooth- slabs to replicate in vivo injury of fracture and caries, respectively. BMSCs and DPSCs displayed proliferation and differentiation on tissue-slabs, but BMSCs did not attach to tooth-slab, which was probable of tissue differences in supportive extracellular proteins. In summary, results indicated BMSCs are more primitive stromal cells closely related to the mother stem cell, while DPSCs are more lineage committed and are suggestive of transit-amplifying cells; indicative of their in vivo roles, that is, bone is remodeled constantly and tooth responds to injury only. While much research is still required, DPSCs and their matrix-proteins potentially offer an easily accessible and viable alternative for craniofacial bone reconstruction.