Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of a real-time lumbar ultrasound image processing system for epidural needle entry site localization

A fully-automatic ultrasound image processing system that can determine the needle entry site for epidural anesthesia (EA) in real time is presented in this paper. Neither the knowledge of anesthetists nor additional hardware is required to operate the system, which firstly directs the anesthetists to reach the desired insertion region in the longitudinal view, i.e., lumbar level L3-L4, and then locates the ideal puncture site by instructing the anesthetists to rotate and slightly adjust the position of ultrasound probe. In order to implement these functions, modules including image processing, panorama stitching, feature extraction/selection, template matching and support vector machine (SVM) classification are incorporated in this system. Additionally, a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI), which displays the processing results and guides anesthetists intuitively, is further designed to conceal the intricacy of algorithms. Feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed system has been evaluated through a set of realtime tests on 53 volunteers from a local hospital.
Engineering of a Staphylokinase-based Fibrinolytic Agent with Antithrombotic Activity and Targeting Capability toward Thrombin-rich Fibrin and Plasma Clots*

Current clinically approved thrombolytic agents have significant drawbacks including reocclusion and bleeding complications. To address these problems, a staphylokinase-based thrombolytic agent equipped with antithrombotic activity from hirudin was engineered. Because the N termini for both staphylokinase and hirudin are required for their activities, a Y-shaped molecule is generated using engineered coiled-coil sequences as the heterodimerization domain. This agent, designated HE-SAKK, was produced and assembled from Bacillus subtilis via secretion using an optimized co-cultivation approach. After a simple in vitro treatment to reshuffle the disulfide bonds of hirudin, both staphylokinase and hirudin in HE-SAKK showed biological activities comparable with their parent molecules. This agent was capable of targeting thrombin-rich fibrin clots and inhibiting clot-bound thrombin activity. The time required for lysing 50% of fibrin clot in the absence or presence of fibrinogen was shortened 21 and 30%, respectively, with HE-SAKK in comparison with staphylokinase. In plasma clot studies, the HE-SAKK concentration required to achieve a comparable 50% clot lysis time was at least 12 times less than that of staphylokinase. Therefore, HE-SAKK is a promising thrombolytic agent with the capability to target thrombin-rich fibrin clots and to minimize clot reformation during fibrinolysis.
Dataflow anomaly detection

Beginning with the work of Forrest et al, several researchers have developed intrusion detection techniques based on modeling program behaviors in terms of system calls. A weakness of these techniques is that they focus on control flows involving system calls, but not their arguments. This weakness makes them susceptible to several classes of attacks, including attacks on security-critical data, race-condition and symbolic link attacks, and mimicry attacks. To address this weakness, we develop a new approach for learning dataflow behaviors of programs. The novelty in our approach, as compared to previous system-call argument learning techniques, is that it learns temporal properties involving the arguments of different system calls, thus capturing the flow of security-sensitive data through the program. An interesting aspect of our technique is that it can be uniformly layered on top of most existing control-flow models, and can leverage control-flow contexts to significantly increase the precision of dataflows captured by the model. This contrasts with previous system-call argument learning techniques that did not leverage control-flow information, and moreover, were focused on learning statistical properties of individual system call arguments. Through experiments, we show that temporal properties enable detection of many attacks that aren't detected by previous approaches. Moreover, they support formal reasoning about security assurances that can be provided when a program follows its dataflow behavior model, e.g., tar would read only files located within a directory specified as a command-line argument
Investigating the Effects of Planning Aids on Adults' and Adolescents' Organisation of a Complex Task

Adolescents and adults planned a hypothetical unexpected party for a teenager, with and without planning aids in two studies. Errors were computed for subjects' planning of the given party task, and for their transformations of the task into one of their own. In Study 1, when planning aids were provided for all subjects, adolescents produced plans with no more errors than plans of working adults in the given party task, but made more errors than working adults when they transformed the task into one of their own. In Study 2, retired adults, working adults, and adolescents were assigned to two conditions (with and without planning aids). Planning aids were effective for all age groups and planning efficiency was related to the experimental provision of planning aids, subjects' use of integrated or single-step planning strategies, and their retrospective evaluations of their plans. Adolescents did not make more errors than either group of adults, but retired adults made more errors than working adults regardless of whether plans were analysed as given or following subjects' own plans. Findings are interpreted in relation to their developmental implications and to the possibility of assisting older and younger planners to engage in effective organisation of complex tasks with the presentation of planning aids.
Risks caused by bio-aerosols in poultry houses

Aerial pollutants in confined animal houses are widely recognized as detrimental to the respiratory health of animals kept in these facilities. Primary and opportunistic microbial pathogens may directly cause infectious and allergic diseases in farm animals, and chronic exposure to some types of aerial pollutants may exacerbate multi-factorial environmental diseases. There are, however, few international field surveys paying attention to the health of the farmers and the farm personnel working in such atmospheres, and to the spread of pathogens from farm buildings. Studies reveal that up to 20 percent of farmers and farm workers report work-related symptoms of respiratory affections, such as coughing, sputum and wheezing. Some develop asthma, others develop diseases that are described as ODTS (organic dust toxic syndrome). There are indications that various pathogens can survive in ambient air for several minutes and can be distributed over long distances, (e.g. foot-andmouth disease (FMD) virus more than 50 km, and staphylococcae up to 500 m). This paper describes the complex nature and composition of the aerial pollutants, such as gases, dust, micro-organisms and other compounds, present in the air of farm animal houses, their potential role in the development of respiratory diseases in humans and animals, and their distribution in the surroundings of farms. Future-oriented sustainable farm animal production should (in addition to improving animal welfare, consumer protection, economy and occupational health) enhance standards aimed at preventing or reducing the aerial spread of pathogens.
The detection and quantitation of free desmosine and isodesmosine in human urine and their peptide-bound forms in sputum

Desmosine (D) and isodesmosine (I), the intramolecular crosslinking amino acids that occur in chains of elastin, have now been found in free form in human urine. Until now, these amino acids (Mr = 526) were found to occur in urine only as higher molecular weight (Mr = 1,000–1,500) peptides. Thus, the previously used analytical methods required, as the first step, acid hydrolysis of the urine at elevated temperature to liberate D and I from their peptides. The analytical method described here uses HPLC followed by electrospray ionization MS for the detection and quantitation of free D and I in unhydrolyzed urine. Identities of both D and I were established by their retention times on LC and by their mass ion at 526 atomic mass units, characteristic of each compound. The sensitivity of the method is 0.10 ng. The average values of free D and I in the urine of seven healthy subjects were 1.42 ± 1.16 and 1.39 ± 1.04 μg/g of creatinine, respectively. After acid hydrolysis of the urine, the amounts of D and I were 8.67 ± 3.75 and 6.28 ± 2.87 μg/g of creatinine, respectively. The method was also successfully used to measure peptide-bound D and I levels in the sputum of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
A non-negative sparse promoting algorithm for high resolution hyperspectral imaging

Promoting the spatial resolution of off-the-shelf hyperspectral sensors is expected to improve typical computer vision tasks, such as target tracking and image classification. In this paper, we investigate the scenario in which two cameras, one with a conventional RGB sensor and the other with a hyperspectral sensor, capture the same scene, attempting to extract redundant and complementary information. We propose a non-negative sparse promoting framework to integrate the hyperspectral and RGB data into a high resolution hyperspectral set of data. The formulated problem is in the form of a sparse non-negative matrix factorization with prior knowledge on the spectral and spatial transform responses, and it can be handled by alternating optimization where each subproblem is solved by efficient convex optimization solvers; e.g., the alternating direction method of multipliers. Experiments on a public database show that our method achieves much lower average reconstruction errors than other state-of-the-art methods.
The Effectiveness of Topical Diclofenac for Lateral Epicondylitis

IntroductionGastrointestinal upset and local pain commonly limit the use of oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and corticosteroid injection as treatments for lateral epicondylitis. Transdermal administration of an anti-inflammatory drug could avoid these adverse effects. PurposeTo determine the effectiveness of topical diclofenac as a treatment of lateral epicondylitis. MethodsA convenience sample of 14 subjects meeting clinical criteria of chronic lateral epicondylitis participated in this randomized, double blind, crossover study. Each subject applied a plutonic lecithin liposomal organo-gel (PLO) over the affected lateral elbow three times daily for 1 week, followed by a 1-week “washout” period of no gel. A second topical PLO gel was then applied similarly for 1 week. Both gels were identical, but only one gel contained 2% diclofenac. Treatment order was randomized, and both the subject and tester were blinded. Pain and isometric wrist extension strength were measured using a visual analog pain scale (VAS) and a mounted manual muscle testing dynamometer, respectively, at the following time periods: just before application of the first gel, the last day of using the first gel, the last day of the washout week, and the last day of using the second gel. Analysis was performed using repeated measures analysis of variance. ResultsWhen subjects used diclofenac PLO, pain was significantly less than that during the pretreatment, washout, and placebo PLO periods (mean VAS; diclofenac PLO, 2.1; pretreatment, 3.5; washout, 3.4; placebo PLO, 3.6). Average wrist extension strength was significantly greater when subjects used diclofenac PLO (8.4 kg) than it was before treatment (5.9 kg). One subject developed a local rash while using diclofenac PLO. ConclusionTopical 2% diclofenac in PLO appears to provide effective short-term reduction in elbow pain and wrist extensor weakness associated with chronic lateral epicondylitis.
Effects of Supplemental Early Reading Intervention at 2-Year Follow Up: Reading Skill Growth Patterns and Predictors

This study examined the long-term growth of reading skills following 1 year of supplemental 1st-grade code-oriented intervention provided by paraeducators. A group of 79 1st graders with reading skills averaging in the lowest quartile received explicit alphabetic and decoding instruction and were assessed postintervention and at 1-year intervals through the end of 3rd grade. Growth model results indicate that students continued to benefit from 1st-grade intervention through the end of 3rd grade, with average performance near 50th percentile on decoding and reading fluency, near 40th percentile on word reading and comprehension, and near 30th percentile on spelling. Without exception, both receptive language and rapid automatized naming uniquely predicted 3rd-grade outcomes. Of the students remaining in study in fall of 2nd grade, a subgroup selected by their teachers received additional supplemental instruction. Students referred for added intervention continued to perform significantly lower than those more readily remediated with 1st-grade intervention alone.
The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS): Psychometric Properties in an Arabic-speaking Sample

ABSTRACT To develop an Arabic version of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), two Arab bilinguals achieved consensus in their translation of the five items. Eight hundred sixty four (864) students (age 18 to 31) completed the SWLS, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Satisfaction With Life Scale (LSI, Neugarten, 1961) and Symptom Checklist-90-R. Internal consistency (alpha = .79) and test-retest reliability (r = .83) were adequate. Used as estimates of concurrent validity, correlations of the SWLS with the BDI, SCL-90-R, and LSI were calculated and were consistently statistically significant. Findings indicate that the Arabic version of SWLS is suitable for use in research at least with university student samples.
Further contributions to the Aleocharinae (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) fauna of New Brunswick and Canada including descriptions of 27 new species

Abstract This paper treats the discovery of new species and new records of aleocharine beetles for the province of New Brunswick. We report here 27 species new to science, one new North American record, six new Canadian records, and 29 new provincial records. The following are the new species: Acrotona brachyoptera Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Acrotona sphagnorum Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Atheta (Dimetrota) alphacrenuliventris Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Atheta (Dimetrota) chartersensis Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Atheta (Dimetrota) cranberriensis Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Atheta (Dimetrota) bubo Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Atheta (Dimetrota) mcalpinei Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Atheta (Dimetrota) makepeacei Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Atheta (Dimetrota) giguereae Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Atheta (Dimetrota) petitcapensis Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Atheta (sensu lato) pseudoschistoglossa Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Atheta (sensu lato) sphagnicola Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Atheta (sensu lato) thujae Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Atheta (Pseudota) pseudoklagesi Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Philhygra atypicalis Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Schistoglossa (Schistoglossa) pelletieri Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Thamiaraea corverae Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Thamiaraea claydeni Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Pleurotobia bourdonae Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Pleurotobia brunswickensis Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Agaricomorpha vincenti Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Gyrophaena (Gyrophaena) aldersonae Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Oligota polyporicola Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Oligota sevogle Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Hylota cryptica Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , Oxypoda sunpokeana Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. , and Phloeopora gilbertae Klimaszewski & Webster, sp. n. The spermatheca of Dinaraea curtipenis Klimaszewski & Webster, Dinaraea longipenis Klimaszewski & Webster, and Dinaraea subdepressa (Bernhauer) are illustrated for the first time. Male specimens of Mniusa odelli Klimaszewski & Webster were confirmed and are illustrated. Color habitus images and black and white images of the median lobe of the aedeagus, the spermatheca, and tergite and sternite VIII are provided for all species. New or additional habitat data are provided for most of the species treated in this contribution.
Communication skills in accounting education: perceptions of academics, employers and graduate accountants

Communication skills are central to intellectual interaction between the providers and the recipients of information. The importance of accounting starts with the gathering and processing of information and ends with the communication of processed information. This paper examines the communication skills which employers, academics and graduate accountants consider necessary to the newly graduated accountant. It also identifies and considers the differences in perception which occur between these groups and suggests solutions to the communication gap. This study confirms findings from previous research that new graduate accountants experience communication-related problems in early employment. In addition, it provides evidence that the Australian accounting curriculum has contributed to the development of communication skills. However, the paper highlights the need for the reconsideration of an emphasis on communication skills in the accounting curriculum, a role which arises from the very nature of accoun.
Depth‐of‐Field Rendering by Pyramidal Image Processing

We present an image‐based algorithm for interactive rendering depth‐of‐field effects in images with depth maps. While previously published methods for interactive depth‐of‐field rendering suffer from various rendering artifacts such as color bleeding and sharpened or darkened silhouettes, our algorithm achieves a significantly improved image quality by employing recently proposed GPU‐based pyramid methods for image blurring and pixel disocclusion. Due to the same reason, our algorithm offers an interactive rendering performance on modern GPUs and is suitable for real‐time rendering for small circles of confusion. We validate the image quality provided by our algorithm by side‐by‐side comparisons with results obtained by distributed ray tracing.
Assessment of LLLT systemic effects on thyroid hormones function after dental titanium implant installation: An experimental rabbit model

This study aimed to assess the systemic effect of LLLT on thyroid gland functioning and consequently on calcium regulation through Triiodothyronine (T3) and Thyroxine (T4) measurements in rabbits’ serum. A total of thirty two New Zealand male rabbits were randomly distributed in four groups with eight animals each: control group C (nonirradiated animals), group EI (5 J/cm2 per session), group EII (10 J/cm2 per session) and group EIII (20 J/cm2 per session). All animals underwent lower left incisor extraction followed by immediate insertion of an osseintegrated implant, providing an equality of initial clinical condition between the groups. The experimental groups were irradiated with aluminium gallium arsenide diode laser (GaAlAs, λ = 830 nm, 50 mW, CW), during 13 days at each 48 hours, totalizing 7 sessions. Laboratorial T3 and T4 measurements were done in four distinct moments (before surgical procedure, immediately after surgical procedure, after the first LLLT session and after the last LLLT session) in all animals. The results obtained showed statistically significant differences in Triiodothyronine values between the groups throughout the experiment. It was concluded that the LLLT, in the protocol of irradiation used in this study, promoted a significantly alteration on rabbits’ serum hormonal levels.
Implementing Ask Me 3 to improve African American patient satisfaction and perceptions of physician cultural competency.

OBJECTIVE Improve African American patient satisfaction and perceptions of physician cultural competency through the implementation of Ask Me 3 pamphlet which encourages patients to ask questions of physicians. METHODS Intervention participants received the pamphlet prior to their visit with the physician. Analysis evaluated differences in patient satisfaction and perceptions of physician cultural competency between intervention participants and controls. RESULTS Intervention participants who saw their regular physician reported higher satisfaction. All found the questions to be helpful and reported knowing more about their medical condition or illness after the visit. CONCLUSIONS The Ask Me 3 pamphlet is a low cost and logistically feasible tool that could be readily implemented in medical settings to facilitate physician-patient interaction. Improved satisfaction with the visit was found when the pamphlet was implemented during visits with a regular physician. Thus, our research findings suggest implementation of the Ask Me 3 pamphlet has the potential to improve health care behaviors and health outcomes and may ultimately lead to a reduction in health care disparities.
Human mesenchymal stem cells respond to native but not oxidized damage associated molecular pattern molecules from necrotic (tumor) material

Necrosis is a characteristic feature of advanced solid tumors. Released necrotic factors, also referred to as damage associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), are known to critically impact the tumor microenvironment by enhancing angiogenesis or influencing the immune response. We have recently shown that DAMPs can act as chemoattractants and activators of granulocytes. We demonstrate that necrotic material from both normal and tumor cells promotes proliferation and trafficking of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). We characterize the protein high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) as a crucial member of DAMPs within necrotic material. In addition, we show that DAMPs interfere with expression of indoleamine 2, 3‐dioxygenase (IDO) in MSCs. The biological activity of necrotic material toward MSCs is abolished once these DAMPs are oxidized. MSCs found within tumor tissue can act as immunoregulatory cells and are able to promote tumor metastasis, thus playing a crucial role within the tumor microenvironment. Here, we reveal DAMPs to be crucial factors in the setting of MSC biology within the tumor microenvironment. The tumor microenvironment is characterized by reducing and hypoxic conditions that protect DAMPs from oxidation. Based on our results, oxidizing conditions should be considered for therapeutic approaches that target the tumor microenvironment.
The Sizes of Galaxy Halos in Galaxy Cluster Abell 1689

The multiple images observed in the galaxy cluster Abell 1689 provide strong constraints not only on the mass distribution of the cluster, but also on the ensemble properties of the cluster galaxies. Using parametric strong-lensing models for the cluster, and by assuming well-motivated scaling laws between the truncation radius s and the velocity dispersion σ of a cluster galaxy, we are able to derive the sizes of the dark matter halos of cluster galaxies. For the scaling law expected for galaxies in the cluster environment (s ∝ σ), we obtain s = 64(σ/220 km s-1) kpc. For the scaling law used for galaxies in the field with s ∝ σ2, we find s = 66(σ/220 km s-1)2 kpc. Compared to halos of field galaxies, the cluster galaxy halos in Abell 1689 are strongly truncated.