Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Segmentation of the heart and major vascular structures in cardiovascular CT images

Segmentation of organs in medical images can be successfully performed with shape-constrained deformable models. A surface mesh is attracted to detected image boundaries by an external energy, while an internal energy keeps the mesh similar to expected shapes. Complex organs like the heart with its four chambers can be automatically segmented using a suitable shape variablility model based on piecewise affine degrees of freedom. In this paper, we extend the approach to also segment highly variable vascular structures. We introduce a dedicated framework to adapt an extended mesh model to freely bending vessels. This is achieved by subdividing each vessel into (short) tube-shaped segments ("tubelets"). These are assigned to individual similarity transformations for local orientation and scaling. Proper adaptation is achieved by progressively adapting distal vessel parts to the image only after proximal neighbor tubelets have already converged. In addition, each newly activated tubelet inherits the local orientation and scale of the preceeding one. To arrive at a joint segmentation of chambers and vasculature, we extended a previous model comprising endocardial surfaces of the four chambers, the left ventricular epicardium, and a pulmonary artery trunk. Newly added are the aorta (ascending and descending plus arch), superior and inferior vena cava, coronary sinus, and four pulmonary veins. These vessels are organized as stacks of triangulated rings. This mesh configuration is most suitable to define tubelet segments. On 36 CT data sets reconstructed at several cardiac phases from 17 patients, segmentation accuracies of 0.61-0.80mm are obtained for the cardiac chambers. For the visible parts of the newly added great vessels, surface accuracies of 0.47-1.17mm are obtained (larger errors are asscociated with faintly contrasted venous structures).
Effect of Starvation on Rat Gastric and jejunal Epithelium A Histopathological and Immunohistochemical Study

Starvation is a severe reduction in vitamins, nutrients, and energy intake, and is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In human, prolonged starvation causes permanent organ damage and, eventually, death. A number of factors may result in starvation as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, intentional fasting, prolonged coma, stroke, inability to obtain food or severe gastrointestinal diseases beside poverty and overpopulation. The objective of this work was to determine the effects of starvation on gastric and jejunal epithelium in starved rats. Eighty normal male adult albino rats, weighing 150-180 g, were divided into four equal groups. First group served as control (group I) and had a free access to food and water, second, third and fourth groups were given access to water only for 24 hours (group II),48 hours (group III) and 72 hours (group IV) respectively. At the end of the experimental period, the rats were sacrificed, the stomach and jejunum were subjected to histopathological and immunohistochemical examinations . The histopathological examination of the stomach of control rats (group I) and the rats starved for 24 hours (group II) showed no pathological changes while the stomach of the rats starved for 48 hours (group III) showed gastric mucosal cells swelling, ballooning, vacuolar and hydropic degeneration with necrotic changes in the form of lyses, nuclear pyknotic changes, nuclear fragmentation, and appearance of apoptotic bodies. Mononuclear inflammatory infiltration was seen, all changes were predominant and more severe in the rats starved for 72 hours (group IV). At the same time, the jejunum of the rats starved for 48 hours (group III) showed fragmentation of intestinal villi, focal glandular epithelial cells, and mononuclear inflammatory cell infiltration in submucosa with necrotic changes was seen. All changes were more severe in the rats starved for three days (group IV). No pathological changes can be detected in control rats (group I) and the rats starved for 24 hours (group II). Immunohistochemical staining of stomach and jejunum revealed that Bcl-2 was expressed in the rats starved for 24, 48 and 72 hours. At the same time, Bcl-2 was not expressed in all rats of control group. In conclusion, this study reveals that starvation can induce marked apoptotic and severe histopathological changes in the gastric and jejunal epithelium.
The effects of a physical activity programme on the psychological wellbeing of older people in a residential care facility: an experimental study

ABSTRACT This experimental study aimed to analyse the effects of an aerobic activity intervention delivered by specially trained instructors to a sample of Italian older people living in a residential care facility. We assessed intervention effects on general health perception, perception that one's health represents a limitation for moderate and heavy physical activity, and positive and negative self-perception. The 36-item Short Form Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36) was administered at pre-test and post-test to a sample of 22 older people (ten in the control group and 12 in the intervention group) of both genders with an average age of 80.6 years. The findings showed that: (a) the perception that one's health can limit moderate and heavy physical activity decreased significantly in the older people belonging to the intervention group between pre- and post-test, while it increased in the control group; (b) positive self-perception was found to be stable in the intervention group, while it decreased in the control group; and (c) there was no interaction between group and time with respect to both general health perception and negative self-perception. The exercise programme seemed to have a particularly positive effect on older people's beliefs about their ability to master successfully the activities of daily living such as walking and moving objects.
Specific and common brain regions involved in the perception of faces and bodies and the representation of their emotional expressions

Abstract Many studies provide support for the role of the fusiform gyrus in face recognition and its sensitivity to emotional expressions. Recently, category-specific representation was also observed for neutral human bodies in the middle temporal/middle occipital gyrus (extrastriate body area) but it is not clear whether this area is also sensitive to emotional bodily expressions. Besides these areas, other regions that process the affective information carried by the face and the body may be common and/or specific to the face or the body. To clarify these issues we performed a systematic comparison of how the whole brain processes faces and bodies and how their affective information is represented. Participants categorized emotional facial and bodily expressions while brain activity was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Our results show that, first, the amygdala and the fusiform gyrus are sensitive to recognition of facial and bodily fear signals. Secondly, the extrastriate body area–area V5/MT is specifically involved in processing bodies without being sensitive to the emotion displayed. Thirdly, other important areas such as the superior temporal sulcus, the parietal lobe and subcortical structures represent selectively facial and bodily expressions. Finally, some face/body differences in activation are a function of the emotion expressed.
A Systematic Review of Methodology: Time Series Regression Analysis for Environmental Factors and Infectious Diseases

Background: Time series analysis is suitable for investigations of relatively direct and short-term effects of exposures on outcomes. In environmental epidemiology studies, this method has been one of the standard approaches to assess impacts of environmental factors on acute non-infectious diseases (e.g. cardiovascular deaths), with conventionally generalized linear or additive models (GLM and GAM). However, the same analysis practices are often observed with infectious diseases despite of the substantial differences from non-infectious diseases that may result in analytical challenges. Methods: Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, systematic review was conducted to elucidate important issues in assessing the associations between environmental factors and infectious diseases using time series analysis with GLM and GAM. Published studies on the associations between weather factors and malaria, cholera, dengue, and influenza were targeted. Findings: Our review raised issues regarding the estimation of susceptible population and exposure lag times, the adequacy of seasonal adjustments, the presence of strong autocorrelations, and the lack of a smaller observation time unit of outcomes (i.e. daily data). These concerns may be attributable to features specific to infectious diseases, such as transmission among individuals and complicated causal mechanisms. Conclusion: The consequence of not taking adequate measures to address these issues is distortion of the appropriate risk quantifications of exposures factors. Future studies should pay careful attention to details and examine alternative models or methods that improve studies using time series regression analysis for environmental determinants of infectious diseases.
Effects of Sidr honey on second-intention healing of contaminated full-thickness skin wounds in healthy dogs

Abstract The therapeutic effects of Sidr honey on second-intention healing of contaminated full-thickness skin wounds in dogs were investigated. Povidone-iodine was used as a standard treatment and served as a control. Healthy adult (two-to-four-year-old) mongrels, comprising six dogs and two bitches, were divided into four equal groups in order to obtain multi-aged wounds at the end of the study. Four 2cm × 2cm full-thickness skin wounds were created on both sides of the back area of each dog under general anaesthesia adhering to aseptic technique. Contaminated wounds were then divided into two treatment groups: Group 1, Sidr honey treated (right side wounds) and group 2, povidone-iodine treated (left side wounds). All wounds were evaluated grossly daily at the time of treatment application and digitally photographed once every week. Images were analysed using ImageJ software. The parameters of unhealed wound area and length of advancing epithelium were obtained. The epithelialisation areas, percentage of wound area, and wound contraction rate were then calculated. No significant differences were found between the two treatment groups in any of the parameters studied. Overall, both honey treated and iodine treated wounds healed well within the time period of the study (28 d). However, the study showed a beneficial effect of Sidr honey on second-intention healing of full thickness contaminated wounds in healthy dogs and the effect was comparable to that of Povidone iodine.
The relationship between hardiness, and perfectionism with coping strategies with stress

The goal of this study is to assign the relationship between hardiness, and perfectionism with coping strategies with stress. This study is descriptive-co relational type and 278 people from students of Razi University in Kermanshah city were selected by cluster sampling. They are chosen based on cluster in the different levels. They answered the questionnaires of hardiness (Poolti et al 1998), perfectionism (Hill, 2004), and coping strategies with stress (Andler & Parker 1990). The Results showed that there is a meaningful relation between hardiness and emotion-oriented strategy and problem-oriented strategy with stress (P<0/05). But there is no meaningful relationship between hardiness and avoidance-oriented strategy with stress. There is meaningful correlation between perfectionism and emotion-oriented strategy and avoidance-oriented strategy with stress (P<0/05). There isn't any meaningful relation between perfectionism and problem-oriented strategy with stress (P<0/001). Results of regression analysis showed that hardiness could be predicted by problem-oriented strategy with stress, and perfectionism could be predicted by avoidance-oriented strategy and emotion-oriented strategy with stress. Regarding the findings of this study, it is a must to recognize that the personality traits, and coping strategies with stress were evident in teaching students in order to use coping strategies appropriate in stressful situation.
Exploring the Understandability of Components in Architectural Component Models Using Component Level Metrics and Participants' Experience

Architectural component models play a crucial role in achieving the desired software quality, as understandability of components and their interactions plays a key role in supporting the architectural understanding of a software system. In this article, we extend our previous studies on component models understandability. Our extensions study hierarchical understandability metrics, the impact of personal factors of participants like experience and expertise, and the combinations of both personal factors and the metrics (the previously studied and the newly introduced). The subjects of the study had to fully understand the functionalities of a number of components of an open source system by exploring the relationships of the components' classes. Our results provide evidence that the hierarchical understandability metrics are significantly better in predicting the understandability effort than the models obtained in our previous studies or the models that include just the participants' experiences. The participants' experience plays an important role in the prediction but the obtained prediction models are not as accurate as the models that use the component level metrics.
Gendering Environmental Education Reform: Identifying the Constitutive Power of Environmental Discourses

This study was undertaken to examine the ways, and to what extent, boys and girls entering school have positioned themselves in relation to discourses about the environment and the implications this has for environmental education. I was inspired by Davies (1989) and Davies' and Banks' (1992) studies of the ways in which gender was constituted through the discursive practices of girls and boys and the ‘… political implications of the ways in which children are constrained by the dominant gender discourses …’ (Davies and Banks 1992, p. 2). I was also influenced by the current ecofeminist scholarship that looks at the political implications of the perceived right in Western cultures to dominate the non-human. While I am anxious to avoid labelling the children as masculine and feminine based on their biological sex it is interesting to note that in my study of young children's perceptions of environment the discourses of male ‘culture’ ascendancy were more often taken up by boys, while the marginalised discourses that opposed culture as ascendant were more often taken up by girls. I am concerned with the implications of these gendered constructions of environment for girls, nature and environmental education reform.
Embedded mini heat pipes as thermal solution for PCBs

Rapidly ongoing miniaturization in combination with increasing electronic functionality — particularly in high end applications — leads to the need of progresses in the PCB cooling technology. Improved thermal performance of PCBs should allow, at lowest possible cost, to remove the power loss from components without exceeding the specified maximum temperature. Heat decentralization, i.e., heat spreading and heat guiding in the PCB is one opportunity to achieve high cooling effectiveness from passive systems. In order to provide an effective heat transport from the heat source into the lateral direction of the PCB, embedded miniaturized heat pipes are a promising solution for the heat spreading problem. Heat pipes have an extremely high effective thermal conductivity compared to solids because they are based on a different heat transfer mechanism. Heat pipes are basically a closed vessel (usually a copper pipe) whereas fluid and gas (often water and air) are trapped inside at low pressures. Inner structures called wick are made in such way to provide means for fluid water flow inside the vessel. When heat is applied on the evaporator section of the heat pipe, the fluid inside is vaporized and flows to the other end of the heat pipe (condenser) due to the difference in pressure. At the condenser section the heat flow is absorbed, so that the vapor condenses into a so called wick structure. Capillary forces acting inside the porous wick structure drives the liquid back to the evaporator. However, since this process is governed by vaporization and condensation of the medium inside the heat pipe along a certain distance, the heat transport capacity is limited related to the geometrical dimensions. Within the scope of this work, the heat transfer performance of miniaturized heat pipes (diameters 1.5 mm and 2.0 mm) is quantified by thermal 3D simulations. The heat spreading capability of miniaturized heat pipes embedded in four different test PCBs are investigated. The effective thermal conductivity and the thermal resistances between the location of the temperature maximum and a defined point of the heat pipe at ambient temperature are determined in dependence on different design parameters, respectively. One important parameter is the thermal interconnection between the copper structure of the PCB and the heat pipe: interconnects by copper filled slots or vias — both standard manufacturing steps in the AT&S embedding process — proved to be superior solutions. The simulation results are compared with experimental ones from a previous study and are in satisfying agreement.
A study on the structure of conceptual representations of trait terms in everyday Japanese language

The structure of conceptual representations of personality traits was investigated using the 75 trait terms in everyday language which were previously employed for the ratings for actual people (Isaka, 1990). Subjects were asked to estimate how possible it is for each of 75 traits to coexist with the other 74 traits. The three factors obtained corresponding to the commun «Big Five» factor (e.g., Norman, 1963) were; 1) Extroversion with a negative connotation, 2) Kindness/Agreeableness, and 3) Dominance and Industriousness/Conscientiousness. The multi-dimensional analysis showed the circular representation of those traits, with seven clusters derived from cluster analysis dividing the circle
Attentional capacity limits in face processing : Interference and repetition priming from irrelevant faces

This thesis investigated the processing of spatially unattended, that is, “ignored” faces. It has been a matter of considerable debate over the last decades in the field of selective attention, whether ignored information is excluded, or “filtered” from further analysis, or whether it can be partly or even entirely processed. Conflicting evidence regarding the stage of the putative filter process (early vs. late filter account) were recently integrated into a capacity account of selective attention, the “Perceptual Load Theory”. According to this theory, irrelevant information is mandatorily processed as long as relevant information does not completely exhaust all available capacity. Recent studies have suggested that faces might be an exception to this account, and may even be processed automatically. For example, there is considerable evidence for the idea that faces might capture attention to a greater extent than other stimulus classes. Similarly, recent studies demonstrated that task-irrelevant faces, but not task-irrelevant non-faces, may affect processing of task-relevant information under conditions of high perceptual load. However, new studies have reported face processing as being capacity limited, in that only one face can be processed at a time. This finding strongly argues against an “automaticity” account of face processing. The current thesis examined long-term and immediate repetition effects from – presumably – unattended faces. The use of event-related brain potentials allowed a more detailed insight into the neural processes underlying face processing in the near absence of general attention resources. One main aspect of this thesis was to show that face processing is by no means unlimited, i.e. “automatic”. Rather, the experiments presented here provide the first neural evidence for a separate attention module with limited capacity, which is well-suited to, or specific for, the processing of faces.
Self-tuning transmission rate manager for fuzzy traffic control of ATM network

This paper presents a method for the design of a self-tuning transmission rate manger to improve the performance of a fuzzy traffic controller that simultaneously manages congestion control and connection admission control for asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network. An ATM network requires a sophisticated, real-time traffic controller that manages connection admission control and congestion control, to guarantee the quality of service (QoS) for existing calls and to achieve high system utilization. This self-tuning transmission rate manager adjusts source rates of data traffic yielding high system utilization and low cell loss rate. Simulation results show the total system utilization improves from 69% to 99% and cell loss probability (ratio) reduces from 2.9e-3 to 3.0e-8.
The influence of structural organization of epilithic and endolithic lichens on limestone weathering

Hyphal penetration, mineral dissolution and neoformation at the lichen–rock interface have been widely characterized by microscopic and spectroscopic studies, and considered as proxies of lichen deterioration of stone substrates. However, these phenomena have not been clearly related to experimental data on physical properties related to stone durability, and the physical consequences of lichen removal from stone surfaces have also been overlooked. In this study, we combine microscopic and spectroscopic characterization of the structural organization of epi‐ and endolithic lichens (Caloplaca marina (Wedd.) Du Rietz, Caloplaca ochracea (Schaer.) Flagey, Bagliettoa baldensis (A.Massal.) Vězda, Porina linearis (Leight.) Zahlbr. , Verrucaria nigrescens Pers. ) at the interface with limestones of interest for Cultural Heritage (Portland Limestone, Botticino Limestone), with analysis of rock properties (water absorption, surface hardness) relevant for durability, before and after the removal or scraping of lichen thalli. Observations using reflected‐light and electron microscopy, and Raman analyses, showed lichen–limestone stratified interfaces, differing in the presence/absence and depth of lichen anatomical layers (lithocortex, photobiont layer, pervasive and sparse hyphal penetration component) depending on species and lithology. Specific structural organizations of lichen–rock interface were found to be associated with differential patterns of water absorption increase, evaluated by Karsten tube, in comparison with surfaces with microbial biofilms only, even more pronounced after the removal or scraping of the upper structural layers. Equotip measurements on surfaces bearing intact thalli showed lower hardness in comparison with control surfaces. By contrast, after the removal or scraping procedures, Equotip values were similar to or higher than those of controls, suggesting that the increasing open porosity may be related to a biogenic hardening process. Such counterposed patterns of porosity increase and hardening need to be considered when models relating lichen occurrence on limestones and biogeomorphological surface evolution are proposed, and to evaluate the consequences of lichen removal from stone‐built cultural heritage. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.