Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Compressed Sensing for Few-View Multi-Pinhole Spect with Applications to Preclinical Imaging

COMPRESSED SENSING FOR FEW-VIEW MULTI-PINHOLE SPECT WITH APPLICATIONS TO PRECLINICAL IMAGING by Benjamin Rizzo Doctor of Philosophy in Computational Sciences Marquette University, 2018 Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) can be used to identify and quantify changes in molecular and cellular targets involved in disease. A radiopharmaceutical that targets a specific metabolic function is administered to a subject and planar projections are formed by imaging emissions at different view angles around the subject. The reconstruction task is to determine the distribution of radioactivity within the subject from the projections. We present a reconstruction approach that utilizes only a few view angles, resulting in a highly underdetermined system, which could be used for dynamic imaging applications designed to quantify physiologic processes altered with disease. We developed an approach to solving the underdetermined problem that incorporates a fast matrix-based multi-pinhole projection model into a primal-dual algorithm (Chambolle-Pock), tailored to perform penalized data fidelity minimization using the reconstruction’s total variation as a sparse regularizer. The resulting algorithm was implemented on a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), and validated by solving an idealized quadratic problem. Simulated noisy data from a digital rat thorax phantom was reconstructed using a range of regularizing parameters and primaldual scale factors to control the smoothness of the reconstruction and the step-size in the iterative algorithm, respectively. The approach was characterized by evaluating data fidelity, convergence, and noise properties. The proposed approach was then applied to few-view experimental data obtained in a preclinical SPECT study. 99mTc-labeled macroaggregated albumin (MAA) that accumulates in the lung was administered to a rat and multi-pinhole image data was acquired and reconstructed. The results demonstrate MAA uptake in the lungs is accurately quantified over a wide range of activity levels using as few as three view angles. In a pilot experiment, we also showed using 15 and 60 view angles that uptake of 99mTc-hexamethylpropyleneamineoxime in hyperoxia-exposed rats is higher than that in control rats, consistent with previous studies in our laboratory. Overall these experiments demonstrate the potential utility of the proposed method for few-view threedimensional reconstruction of SPECT data for dynamic preclinical studies.
Uncertainties of Water Fluxes in Soil–Vegetation–Atmosphere Transfer Models: Inverting Surface Soil Moisture and Evapotranspiration Retrieved from Remote Sensing

Effective hydraulic parameters of soil–vegetation–atmosphere transfer (SVAT) models can be derived by inverting observed surface soil moisture, θobs, and evapotranspiration, ETobs, retrieved from remote sensing. We investigated the uncertainties in simulating the water fluxes of contrasting hydroclimatic scenarios for which it was assumed that θobs had a RMSE of 0.04 m3 m−3 (Δθobs) and ETobs had a relative error of 20% (ΔETobs). The correlation of the uncertainties in the simulated water fluxes (ΔWFsim) with Δθobs and ΔETobs was derived with the proposed Uncertainty Simulator Algorithm. The results show that ΔWFsim is influenced by climate and increases when the climate is drier. The uncertainty in estimated root‐zone θ was found to be correlated with Δθobs. The prediction of evaporation contained large uncertainties and was correlated with the actual/potential evapotranspiration ratio. The uncertainties in transpiration under dry climates were high and were correlated with ΔETobs; however, the uncertainty under wet climates was insignificant. The uncertainties in groundwater recharge under dry climates were large but were reduced under wet climates. Furthermore, uncertainties in groundwater recharge were correlated with ΔETobs but not with Δθobs. In general, the ΔWFsim increases as (i) climate gets drier, (ii) texture gets coarser, or (iii) roots grow deeper. The uncertainty in recharge is explained by soil moisture and transpiration decoupling. Soil moisture decoupling occurs when the information provided by surface θ is no longer representative of root‐zone θ. Transpiration decoupling occurs when there is substantially more water storage at depth. We propose methodology to reduce the nonuniqueness of the inverted hydraulic parameters.
A 21-Gbit/s 1.63-pJ/bit Adaptive CTLE and One-Tap DFE With Single Loop Spectrum Balancing Method

This brief presents an adaptive continuous-time linear equalizer (CTLE) and one-tap decision feedback equalizer (DFE) using the spectrum balancing (SB) method. The SB method is extended for not only CTLE but also DFE with the aid of gain characteristics of one-tap DFE. Thus, adaptation loops for each equalizer type are merged to a single loop. As a result, the complexity and power consumption of the adaptation circuits are reduced significantly. The test chip consumes 34.2 mW from 1.2 V supply with 65-nm CMOS process.
Fe–Co magnetic nanoclusters by density functional theory calculations

ABSTRACT We present density functional theory results referring to the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of 13, 55, 147 and 309 Fe–Co (magnetic–magnetic) icosahedral nanoclusters (ICO) comparing with our previous results on Fe–Cu (magnetic–nonmagnetic). It came out that the Fe atoms always favour the edge surface sites exhibiting higher average magnetic moment (MM) for Fe and FeCo ICOs than FeCu while the local Fe MM is greater for FeCu12 and Fe6Cu49 ones. This is due to the strong hybridisation of Fe 3d–Co 3d states, while in Fe–Cu the Fe spin down states are restricted close to fermi without been affected by the corresponding Cu states. These results could be used for the design of environmental sustainable smart magnetic alloys. This is part of a thematic issue on Nanoscale Materials Characterisation and Modeling by Advances Microscopy Methods - EUROMAT.
RECORD OF ABELISAURIDAE (DINOSAURIA: THEROPODA) FROM THE CENOMANIAN OF MOROCCO

Abelisauroid theropods have1 been used as evidence of land connections between several southern continents and Europe during the Late Cretaceous. Abelisauroids (abelisaurids and noasaurids) have been described from South America (Bonaparte and Powell, 1980; Bonaparte and Novas, 1985; Martínez et al., 1986; Bonaparte et al., 1990; Coria et al., 2002; Lamanna et al., 2002), Madagascar (Krause and Hartman, 1996; Sampson et al., 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001; Carrano et al., 2002), India (Chatterjee, 1978; Wilson et al., 2003), and southern Europe (Buffetaut et al., 1988; Le Loeuff and Buffetaut, 1991; Accarie et al., 1995). Their presence in Africa has been in dispute. Russell (1996) referred dentary fragments from the Kem Kem beds of Morocco (Cenomanian; Sereno et al., 1996) to the Abelisauridae based on small size and the subrectangular shape of the alveoli. This assignment, however, has been questioned (Sampson et al., 1998; Carrano et al., 2002). Smith et al. (2001) have speculated that various isolated teeth from the Bahariya Formation (Cenomanian) of Egypt are abelisaurid, but this also remains a tentative assignment. Recently, Sereno et al. (2002, 2004) have described a noasaurid and an abelisaurid from the Aptian-Albian of Niger, and have reinterpreted Deltadromeus agilis, of the Cenomanian of Morocco (upper Kem Kem), as a possible basal noasaurid. A new maxilla, described below, establishes without doubt the presence of abelisaurids on the northwestern shores of Africa during the Cenomanian. Institutional Abbreviations—FMNH, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago; UCPC, University of Chicago Paleontological Collection, Chicago; UNPSJB, Universidad Nacional de Patagonia “San Juan Bosco,” Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina.
Investigations of high pressure phase diagrams of MgO-SiO2 systems with laser shock compression

Two decades of exoplanet discoveries brought the physics of planetary interiors among the topics of broad and current interests. To advance in this field, one of the key ingredient is the knowledge of the equation of states and physical properties of planetary constituents. At the extreme conditions of planetary interiors ( 1-100 Mbar, 10^3-10^4 K), matter lies in the Warm Dense Matter (WDM) regime and theoretical descriptions are not trivial. Important progress have been done with ab-initio calculations based on differential functional theories, but such calculations need to be validated by experiments.In this thesis, we experimentally characterized phase diagrams and physical properties of MgO, MgSiO3 and Mg2SiO4 at conditions relevant for planetary science (0.5-10 Mbar). The studied compounds are the Mg end members of (Fe, Mg)SiO3 and (Fe, Mg)2SiO4 that are among the most abundant components of Earth’s mantle and are also thought to be abundant in Super-Earth’s mantle and giant planet cores. To bring these materials to planetary interior conditions we performed laser shock compression experiments at three high power laser facilities: LULI2000 (France), GEKKOXII (Japan), MEC at LCLS(USA). At LULI2000 and GEKKOXII we investigated the liquid properties and melting of MgO, MgSiO3 and Mg2SiO4 using decaying shocks coupled to visible diagnostics. At LULI2000 we studied with XANES spectroscopy MgO in the WDM regime highlighting its metallisation mechanism and structural properties in the liquid phase. Finally, at the MEC end station of LCLS, we used X-ray diffraction to measure shock induced structural changes on MgSiO3 and Mg2SiO4 in the solid region of their phase diagrams. Altogether these works, obtained with different diagnostics, imply a revision of the phase diagrams of the studied compounds. In particular we determined a new experimental melting point for MgO (at 470 ± 40 GPa and 9860 ± 810 K), we ruled out the occurrence of an MgSiO3 liquid-liquid transition (supposed to occur at ~ 400 GPa along the Hugoniot) and we evidenced for the first time the occurrence of an amorphous phase along the Forsterite (Mg2SiO4 crystal) Hugoniot (at ~50 GPa).
Increased pain and muscle glutamate concentration after single ingestion of monosodium glutamate by myofascial temporomandibular disorders patients

A randomized, double‐blinded, placebo‐controlled study was conducted to investigate if single monosodium glutamate (MSG) administration would elevate muscle/serum glutamate concentrations and affect muscle pain sensitivity in myofascial temporomandibular disorders (TMD) patients more than in healthy individuals.
Cyberbullying Bystander Intervention: The Number of Offenders and Retweeting Predict Likelihood of Helping a Cyberbullying Victim

Cyberbullying happens while bystanders are watching. To understand cyberbystanders ’ experience, the present experiment investigates how repetitive aspects of online communication in ﬂ uence bystanders ’ perceptions and intentions to halt cyberbullying. We consider the role repetition plays in identifying cyberbullying, and outline two of its mechanisms — power imbalance and intention. Participants (N = 133) were exposed to messages on Twitter that either contained retweets or original o ﬀ enses from one or several o ﬀ enders. Although cyberbystanders were generally unwilling to intervene, seeing several o ﬀ enders increased their likelihood of engaging in the Bystander Intervention Model ’ s (BIM) stages. Further, re-sharing moderated the e ﬀ ect of number of o ﬀ enders suggesting cyberbystanders may be less willing to intervene when they read re-shared rather than original content. Implications for cyberbystander interventions are discussed.
Acceptance of Commercially Available Wearable Activity Trackers Among Adults Aged Over 50 and With Chronic Illness: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation

Background Physical inactivity and sedentary behavior increase the risk of chronic illness and death. The newest generation of “wearable” activity trackers offers potential as a multifaceted intervention to help people become more active. Objective To examine the usability and usefulness of wearable activity trackers for older adults living with chronic illness. Methods We recruited a purposive sample of 32 participants over the age of 50, who had been previously diagnosed with a chronic illness, including vascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, and osteoporosis. Participants were between 52 and 84 years of age (mean 64); among the study participants, 23 (72%) were women and the mean body mass index was 31 kg/m2. Participants tested 5 trackers, including a simple pedometer (Sportline or Mio) followed by 4 wearable activity trackers (Fitbit Zip, Misfit Shine, Jawbone Up 24, and Withings Pulse) in random order. Selected devices represented the range of wearable products and features available on the Canadian market in 2014. Participants wore each device for at least 3 days and evaluated it using a questionnaire developed from the Technology Acceptance Model. We used focus groups to explore participant experiences and a thematic analysis approach to data collection and analysis. Results Our study resulted in 4 themes: (1) adoption within a comfort zone; (2) self-awareness and goal setting; (3) purposes of data tracking; and (4) future of wearable activity trackers as health care devices. Prior to enrolling, few participants were aware of wearable activity trackers. Most also had been asked by a physician to exercise more and cited this as a motivation for testing the devices. None of the participants planned to purchase the simple pedometer after the study, citing poor accuracy and data loss, whereas 73% (N=32) planned to purchase a wearable activity tracker. Preferences varied but 50% felt they would buy a Fitbit and 42% felt they would buy a Misfit, Jawbone, or Withings. The simple pedometer had a mean acceptance score of 56/95 compared with 63 for the Withings, 65 for the Misfit and Jawbone, and 68 for the Fitbit. To improve usability, older users may benefit from devices that have better compatibility with personal computers or less-expensive Android mobile phones and tablets, and have comprehensive paper-based user manuals and apps that interpret user data. Conclusions For older adults living with chronic illness, wearable activity trackers are perceived as useful and acceptable. New users may need support to both set up the device and learn how to interpret their data.
Neural network potential for Al-Mg-Si alloys

The 6000 series Al alloys, which include a few percent of Mg and Si, are important in automotive and aviation industries because of their low weight, as compared to steels, and the fact their strength can be greatly improved through engineered precipitation. To enable atomistic-level simulations of both the processing and performance of this important alloy system, a neural network (NN) potential for the ternary Al-Mg-Si has been created. Training of the NN uses an extensive database of properties computed using first-principles density functional theory, including complex precipitate phases in this alloy. The NN potential accurately reproduces most of the pure Al properties relevant to the mechanical behavior as well as heat of solution, solute-solute, and solute-vacancy interaction energies, and formation energies of small solute clusters and precipitates that are required for modeling the early stage of precipitation and mechanical strengthening. This success not only enables future detailed studies of Al-Mg-Si but also highlights the ability of NN methods to generate useful potentials in complex alloy systems.
Microwave-assisted liver resection is safe and effective for selecting patients with BCLC stage B hepatocellular carcinoma

This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of microwave ablation-assisted liver resection (MW-LR) and clamp-crush liver resection (CC-LR) in Barcelona clinic liver cancer stage B (BCLC-B) hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). From January 2006 to July 2014, a total of 202 BCLC-B HCC patients who received CC-LR (n=110) or MW-LR (n=92) were retrospectively analyzed. We compared the morbidity, mortality, disease-free survival time, and overall survival time between the CC-LR and MW-LR groups. The 30-day mortality (2.7% vs. 2.2%) and postoperative complication rate (20.9% vs. 22.8%) were both similar in the CC-LR and MW-LR groups, respectively. However, MW-LR provided a survival benefit over CC-LR at one, three, and five years (89.1% vs. 79.2%, 68.2% vs. 49.7%, and 45.8% vs. 30.5%, respectively; P=0.023), as well as disease-free survival benefits at the same period (80.8% vs. 62.2%, 60.0% vs. 42.2%, and 36.4% vs. 25.3%, respectively; P=0.002). Multivariate analysis showed that blood loss (HR=1.832, 95% CI 1.428-2.256, P<0.001) and treatment method (HR=1.733, 95% CI 1.312-2.154, P<0.001) were predictors of overall survival for BCLC-B HCC. MW-LR is a safe and feasible procedure for BCLC-B HCC patients with Child-Pugh liver function grade of A.
A Dynamic Model of Purchase Timing with Application to Direct Marketing

Abstract Predicting changes in individual customer behavior is an important element for success in any direct marketing activity. In this article we develop a hierarchical Bayes model of customer interpurchase times based on the generalized gamma distribution. The model allows for both cross-sectional and temporal heterogeneity, with the latter introduced through the component mixture model dependent on lagged covariates. The model is applied to personal investment data to predict when and if a specific customer will likely increase time between purchases. This prediction can be used managerially as a signal for the firm to use some type of intervention to keep that customer.
Monitoring of egg shell strength and egg shell breakage in different production chains of consumption eggs.

In consumption eggs the quality of the shell is of major importance. Therefore it is of great interest to obtain high shell strength in order to resist all impacts an egg is subjected to in the production chain. The research had 3 goals: 1. monitoring of the critical points for eggshell breakage in different logistic chains; 2. investigate differences in eggshell strength (Kdyn & damping) between eggs produced in different housing systems; 3. developing a model to investigate the relation between the initial shell strength (Kdyn & damping), and the likelihood of the egg to break during handling and grading. Four logistic chains were investigated: cages, furnished cages, aviary and free-range system. In all systems Bovans Goldline © chickens in their mid lay were housed. In every system, a randomised set of 1500 eggs was taken, numbered and strength of the intact eggs was measured. In this way the percentage of broken eggs directly after laying was defined. Then all the intact eggs were placed back into the cages and they continued their normal way throughout the logistic chain. At every critical point in the logistic chain, the eggs were examined for breakage to define the percentage of breakage. Firstly the traditional and furnished cage system showed high breakage directly after lay (6.73% resp. 10.72%) while the other systems showed about 2% of breakage. There was no difference in breakage between the other control points of the logistic chains. Secondly, there was a significant difference between the eggshell strength of eggs from chickens in different housing systems. Thirdly, there was a significant correlation between the measured shell strength and the likelihood of breakage. In conclusion, it was shown that measurement of Kdyn and damping provides a good predictive value for egg shell breakage.
Web-Based Immersive Virtual Patient Simulators: Positive Effect on Clinical Reasoning in Medical Education

Background Clinical reasoning is based on the declarative and procedural knowledge of workflows in clinical medicine. Educational approaches such as problem-based learning or mannequin simulators support learning of procedural knowledge. Immersive patient simulators (IPSs) go one step further as they allow an illusionary immersion into a synthetic world. Students can freely navigate an avatar through a three-dimensional environment, interact with the virtual surroundings, and treat virtual patients. By playful learning with IPS, medical workflows can be repetitively trained and internalized. As there are only a few university-driven IPS with a profound amount of medical knowledge available, we developed a university-based IPS framework. Our simulator is free to use and combines a high degree of immersion with in-depth medical content. By adding disease-specific content modules, the simulator framework can be expanded depending on the curricular demands. However, these new educational tools compete with the traditional teaching Objective It was our aim to develop an educational content module that teaches clinical and therapeutic workflows in surgical oncology. Furthermore, we wanted to examine how the use of this module affects student performance. Methods The new module was based on the declarative and procedural learning targets of the official German medical examination regulations. The module was added to our custom-made IPS named ALICE (Artificial Learning Interface for Clinical Education). ALICE was evaluated on 62 third-year students. Results Students showed a high degree of motivation when using the simulator as most of them had fun using it. ALICE showed positive impact on clinical reasoning as there was a significant improvement in determining the correct therapy after using the simulator. ALICE positively impacted the rise in declarative knowledge as there was improvement in answering multiple-choice questions before and after simulator use. Conclusions ALICE has a positive effect on knowledge gain and raises students’ motivation. It is a suitable tool for supporting clinical education in the blended learning context.
Kinematics of the ribbon fin in hovering and swimming of the electric ghost knifefish

SUMMARY Weakly electric knifefish are exceptionally maneuverable swimmers. In prior work, we have shown that they are able to move their entire body omnidirectionally so that they can rapidly reach prey up to several centimeters away. Consequently, in addition to being a focus of efforts to understand the neural basis of sensory signal processing in vertebrates, knifefish are increasingly the subject of biomechanical analysis to understand the coupling of signal acquisition and biomechanics. Here, we focus on a key subset of the knifefish's omnidirectional mechanical abilities: hovering in place, and swimming forward at variable speed. Using high-speed video and a markerless motion capture system to capture fin position, we show that hovering is achieved by generating two traveling waves, one from the caudal edge of the fin and one from the rostral edge, moving toward each other. These two traveling waves overlap at a nodal point near the center of the fin, cancelling fore–aft propulsion. During forward swimming at low velocities, the caudal region of the fin continues to have counter-propagating waves, directly retarding forward movement. The gait transition from hovering to forward swimming is accompanied by a shift in the nodal point toward the caudal end of the fin. While frequency varies significantly to increase speed at low velocities, beyond approximately one body length per second, the frequency stays near 10 Hz, and amplitude modulation becomes more prominent. A coupled central pattern generator model is able to reproduce qualitative features of fin motion and suggest hypotheses regarding the fin's neural control.