Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gauss-Markov Model for Wavelet-Based SAR Image Despeckling

This letter presents synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image despeckling using dyadic wavelet transform. Maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation is used to despeckle a SAR image in the wavelet domain. A wavelet transformed speckle-free image is approximated with a Gauss–Markov random field, and a Gaussian model is chosen to approximate speckle in the wavelet domain. A speckle-free wavelet coefficient is estimated with Bayesian inference using image and noise model parameters, which produce the highest evidence. The experimental results showed that the despeckling algorithm removes speckle noise in the homogeneous areas better than the state-of-the-art methods, which operate in the wavelet and image domain. The proposed method is very simple and computationally not demanding.
Electron-microscopic structure of denervated skeletal muscle

(1) An electron-microscopic study was made of normal and denervated muscle fibres in the rat diaphragm. (2) Early after denervation muscle fibres become hypertrophic. The cross-sectional area of the fibres and the number of myofibrils within them are increased. Since filament spacing is not significantly altered, it is concluded that during hypertrophy the number of actin and myosin filaments is increased. (3) A few weeks after denervation the muscle fibres are greatly reduced in size. This atrophy is mainly a consequence of two processes: fragmentation of the muscle fibre, with subsequent degeneration of the fragments; and disintegration of myofilaments.
Ideology and Gender: Observers’ System Justification and Targets’ Gender as Interactive Predictors of Citizenship Expectations

ABSTRACT We integrate system justification and social role theory to explain how observers’ system justification and target employees’ gender interact to predict observers’ expectations of targets’ sportsmanship citizenship behaviors. In contrast with social role theory predictions, observers did not expect greater levels of sportsmanship from women compared to men. Yet observers expected more sportsmanship from women (a) when observers were ideologically motivated by gender-specific beliefs (gender-specific system justification; Study 1) and (b) when system justification was cued experimentally (Study 2). A heretofore-unexamined aspect, observers’ ideology, modifies their expectations of sportsmanship citizenship across target genders. This has implications for system justification, social role, and organizational citizenship theoretical perspectives.
The CC Genotype of the C825T Polymorphism of the G Protein β3 Gene (GNB3) is Associated with a High Relapse Rate in Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia

A C825T polymorphism has been described in the GNB3 gene which encodes the Gbeta3 subunit of heterotrimeric G proteins. The GNB3 825T allele is predictive of enhanced Gi protein activation. This study was performed to correlate genotypes of the C825T polymorphism with various clinical aspects of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (B-CLL). The GNB3 genotype distribution in B-CLL patients was similar to that in other Caucasian populations, arguing against a role of the polymorphism in the susceptibility to develop B-CLL. No statistically significant differences were observed at diagnosis between patients with the CC genotype and homozygous or heterozygous T allele carriers with respect to age at disease onset, sex distribution, proportion of patients with CD38+ leukaemia or patients in Binet stage A, blood cell counts, degree of bone marrow infiltration or serum levels of lactate dehydrogenase, thymidine kinase or β2-microglobulin. In a subgroup of 44 patients requiring chemotherapy, the median interval between diagnosis and first treatment and the response to treatment were similar in patients with CC or CT/TT genotypes. A statistically significant difference, however, was found in the proportion of patients relapsing and requiring second line chemotherapy (CC: 95%; CT/TT: 52%; p = 0.0043). The GNB3 genotype (p = 0.024) and age (p = 0.042) were identified as independent prognostic factors for a second therapy. Thus, the long-term success of the treatment appears to be correlated with the GNB3 genotype.
Towards a virtual health record for mobile home care of elderly citizens

Mobile work situations within home care of the elderly require immediate and ubiquitous access to patient-oriented data. The ongoing Swedish research project "Technical support for Mobile CloseCare" focuses on the development and evaluation of work-scenario oriented ICT support for enhanced home care of elderly citizens. The aim of the project is to provide a seamless and consistent information flow between different health care providers and to give intuitive access to information services for the elderly and their relatives. For that purpose, different independent software components are connected through a mobile communication platform. Flexible access to prioritized information for different users in different work situations will be given through a virtual health record. In order to obtain both usable and clinically relevant results, a user centered system development approach is followed. Evaluation of the project results will be based on usability tests and quasi-experimental studies on how system implementation influences quality of care and job- and life satisfaction for care providers, patients and relatives.
Awareness and Knowledge of Recommendations from Canada's Food Guide.

PURPOSE To examine use and content knowledge of Canada's Food Guide recommendations. METHODS A total of 1048 intercept exit surveys were conducted with adults who had purchased food that day at 2 hospital cafeterias in Ottawa, Ontario. RESULTS Most respondents (85.9%) reported looking at Canada's Food Guide over their lifetime; however, less than half reported looking at the food guide in the past year. Milk and Alternatives were the most commonly recalled food group (80.1%) and Grain Products were least commonly recalled (66.0%). Of the entire sample, 42.8% correctly recalled all 4 food groups. Overall, 0.8% correctly recalled the correct number of servings for all 4 food groups. Females, younger respondents, white respondents, respondents with higher annual income, and respondents who had reported looking at Canada's Food Guide recalled more food groups (P < 0.05 for all). CONCLUSIONS Despite high levels of awareness, the study found relatively low levels of reported use and very low levels of knowledge of Canada's Food Guide, particularly among population subgroups that face health disparities. Improving awareness, knowledge, and use of Canada's Food Guide may contribute to improving the nutrition profile of Canadians.
Characterization of human adipose-derived stem cells.

PURPOSE There is a growing scientific interest in the plasticity and therapeutic potential of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs), which are multipotent and abundant in adipose tissue and can differentiate in vitro into multiple lineages, including adipocytes, chondrocytes, osteoblasts, neural cells, endothelial cells and cardiomyocytes. The aim of this study was to isolate, cultivate and identify ASCs. METHODS Human adipose precursor cells were obtained from subcutaneous abdominal tissue. Recently dispersed cells were separated by density centrifugation gradient, cultured and then analyzed. RESULTS Human ASCs were able to replicate in our culture conditions. The cells maintained their phenotypes throughout the studied period on different passages confirming they suitability for in vitro cultivation. We also induced their adipogenic, osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation, verifying their mesenchymal stem cells potentiality in vitro. Flow cytometry results showed that these cells expressed CD73, CD90 and CD105, (mesenchymal stem-cells markers), contrasting with the lack of expression of CD16, CD34 and CD45 (hematopoietic cells markers). CONCLUSION It was possible to isolate human adipose-derived stem cells by in vitro cultivation without adipogenic induction, maintaining their functional integrity and high proliferation levels. The cells demonstrated adipogenic, osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation potential in vitro.
Collective Modes and Colored Noise as Beam‐Halo Amplifiers

As illustrated herein, collective modes and colored noise conspire to produce beam halo with much larger amplitude than could be generated by either phenomenon separately. Collective modes are inherent to nonequilibrium beams with space charge. Colored noise arises from unavoidable machine transitions and/or errors that influence the internal space‐charge force. Lowest‐order radial eigenmodes calculated self‐consistently for a direct‐current, cylindrically symmetric, warm‐fluid Kapchinskij‐Vladimirskij equilibrium serve to model the collective modes. Even with weak space charge, small‐amplitude collective modes, and weak noise strength, a pronounced halo is seen to develop if these phenomena act on the beam over a sufficiently long time, such as in a synchrotron or storage ring.
A pilot study of the rectus sheath block for pain control after umbilical hernia repair

Background : Umbilical hernia repair, a common day surgery procedure in children, is associated with significant postoperative discomfort. The rectus sheath block may offer improved pain management following umbilical hernia repair. In this pilot study, we compared the efficacy of the rectus sheath block with that of our current standard practice – local anesthetic infiltration into the surgical wound – for pain control after umbilical hernia repair in children.
Effect of Fatiguing Maximal Isokinetic Quadriceps Contractions on Ability to Estimate Knee-Position

This randomized controlled study compared the accuracy of knee positioning by 8 women after fatiguing maximal isokinetic contractions of the quadriceps with those of 8 controls who performed no exercise. The mean algebraic error (AE) and variable error (VE) showed a significant posttest improvement for the control group after a 5-min. intertrial period. There was no change in accuracy of knee positioning postexercise, however, for the experimental group. These findings suggest that, while a single bout of fatiguing knee exercises may not alter absolute accuracy of knee positioning, the movements may undermine the relative proficiency attainable by learning. They suggest a role for central as well as peripheral mechanisms in mediating this sensory modality
Online signature verification using double-stage feature extraction modelled by dynamic feature stability experiment

Identification based on signature verification is one of the most popular biometric methods which were used even prior to the advent of computers. In the field of dynamic signature verification, signatures' time functions (e.g. pen tip velocity, acceleration and pressure) are analysed in addition to static appearance of signatures. Dynamic feature stability (DFS) experiment is a process for finding the most stable signature partitions which are difficult to forge. The experiment can most effectively lead to a focus on the signature trajectories. Due to the different angles related to the signature pad which are regarded as major problem in signature verification algorithms, in this study, radon transform is used to transform rotation effect to shift effect. Convolutional neural network disregards the precise location of image features, as well as shift effects in both axes of image that is decline by its nature. According to DFS experiment, three independent recognition paths are structured and their effects on final classification are determined by the experiment. Three Persian datasets are analysed by DFS, which led to a reliable trait of Persian signatures. As a result, the least verification error is attained. Besides, SVC2004, as an international benchmark is evaluated by the proposed algorithm.
Machine Vision based Fruit Classification and Grading - A Review

One of the important quality features of fruits is its appearance. Appearance not only influences their market value, the preferences and the choice of the consumer, but also their internal quality to a certain extent. Color, texture, size, shape, as well the visual flaws are generally examined to assess the outside quality of food. Manually controlling external quality control of fruit is time consuming and labor-intensive. Thus for automatic external quality control of food and agricultural products, computer vision systems have been widely used in the food industry and have proved to be a scientific and powerful tool for by intensive work over decades. The use of machine and computer vision technology in the field of external quality inspection of fruit has been published based on studies carried on spatial image and / or spectral image processing and analysis. A detailed overview of the process of fruit classification and grading has been presented in this paper. Detail examination of each step is done. Some extraction methods like Speeded Up Robust Features (SURF), Histogram of Oriented Gradient (HOG) and Local Binary Pattern (LBP) are discussed with the common features of fruits like color, size, shape and texture. Machine learning algorithms like K-nearest neighbor (KNN), Support Vector
The determinants of parenting: an epidemiological, multi-informant, retrospective study

Background. To understand the relationship between parenting and psychopathology in offspring, it is critical to clarify the determinants of parenting behaviour itself. Methods. A 16-item version of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) was administered to parents of epidemiologically sampled adult female–female twin pairs, who reported on the parenting they provided to their twins, and to the twins themselves who reported on the parenting they and their co-twin had received (N=828 twin families). Using a mixed-model regression, we examined the impact on parenting, as retrospectively reported by parents and twins, of six variable domains: demographic factors, family characteristics, parental symptoms and personality, parental psychopathology, child vulnerability and childhood temperament. Results. The PBI yielded three factors: warmth (W), protectiveness (P) and authoritarianism (A). W was most strongly predicted by parental personality and psychopathology, parental marital quality, and child temperament. P and A were both most strongly predicted by parental educational level and religious fundamentalism. In addition, P was predicted by neurotic/anxious traits in both parent and child. For a number of variables that predicted W, the strength of the association was stronger when twins were reporting than when parents were reporting. Conclusions. Parenting is a complex, multi-determined set of behaviours that is influenced by parental personality, psychopathology, values and marital quality and by a range of child characteristics. W appears to be strongly influenced by parental and childhood temperament and vulnerability to psychiatric illness while P and A are more strongly influenced by ‘sociological’ factors such as religious affiliation and educational status.
Cutting Edge: The Transcription Factor Eomesodermin Enables CD8+ T Cells To Compete for the Memory Cell Niche

CD8+ T cells responding to intracellular infection give rise to cellular progeny that become terminally differentiated effector cells and self-renewing memory cells. T-bet and eomesodermin (Eomes) are key transcription factors of cytotoxic lymphocyte lineages. We show in this study that CD8+ T cells lacking Eomes compete poorly in contributing to the pool of Ag-specific central memory cells. Eomes-deficient CD8+ T cells undergo primary clonal expansion but are defective in long-term survival, populating the bone marrow niche and re-expanding postrechallenge. The phenotype of Eomes-deficient CD8+ T cells supports the hypothesis that T-bet and Eomes can act redundantly to induce effector functions, but can also act to reciprocally promote terminal differentiation versus self-renewal of Ag-specific memory cells.
Oral Ibuprofen versus Intravenous Ibuprofen or Intravenous Indomethacin for the Treatment of Patent Ductus Arteriosus in Preterm Infants: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Pharmacological closure of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is commonly achieved by intravenous (IV) administration of ibuprofen or indomethacin. Occasionally, oral ibuprofen is used for PDA treatment although its efficacy and safety are unclear. Objectives: To systematically review randomized and quasi-randomized trials comparing oral ibuprofen with IV ibuprofen or IV indomethacin for closure of PDA in preterm infants. Methods: The standard search methods of the Cochrane Neonatal Review Group were used. Results: We identified two studies (n = 166) of good methodological quality comparing oral ibuprofen with IV ibuprofen and three small trials (n = 92) of moderate methodological quality comparing oral ibuprofen to IV indomethacin. Meta-analysis showed higher PDA closure rate of oral ibuprofen versus IV ibuprofen but no difference between oral ibuprofen and IV indomethacin. Meta-analysis did not indicate a significant difference in adverse effects. Conclusion: Oral ibuprofen for PDA closure appears to be as effective as IV ibuprofen and IV indomethacin. Due to small sample size, lack of data in extremely preterm neonates, and methodological limitations of reviewed trials, definitive conclusions cannot be drawn. Randomized trials with a low risk of bias and adequate sample size in extremely preterm infants are urgently needed.
CHARACTERIZATION OF GLIOBLASTOMA GROWTH USING FIVE DIFFERENT MATHEMATICAL MODELS

Glioblastoma multiforme is the most common and most malignant primary brain tumor. Optimal therapy results in survival time of 15 months for newly diagnosed cancer and 5-7 months for recurrent disease [1]. Malignant glioma patients demonstrate limited response to conventional therapies which include surgery, radiation, and/or chemotherapy. New and improved methods of therapy are urgently needed. Physiological experiments using animal models are often used to study new chemotherapeutic agents. These studies are quite effective but often expensive and time consuming. Mathematical models are often used to augment physiological experiments. These models can both increase our understanding of tumor growth, as well as aid in the development and preliminary testing of treatment options [2]. In this research five ordinary differential equation models were used determine the cancer growth characteristics. Model parameters for glioblastoma multiforme were determined for each model and the best fitting model was identified.
The effect of premium changes on SCHIP enrollment duration.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE To examine the impact of premium changes in Florida's State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) on enrollment duration. DATA SOURCES Administrative records, containing enrollment and demographic data, were used to identify 173,330 enrollment spells for 153,768 children in Florida's SCHIP from July 2002 through June 2004. Health care claims data were used to classify the children's health status. STUDY DESIGN Accelerated failure time models were used to examine the immediate and longer term effects on enrollment length of a temporary premium increase of $15 to $20 per family per month (PFPM) for children in families with income between 101-150 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) and a permanent premium increase of $15 to $20 PFPM for children in families with 151-200 percent FPL. Health status and sociodemographic variables were included as covariates. Transfers to other public health insurance programs were taken into account. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Enrollment lengths decreased significantly immediately following the premium increases, with a greater percentage decrease among lower income children (61 percent) than higher income children (55 percent). Enrollment lengths partially recovered in the longer term for both the temporary and permanent changes. Those with significant acute or chronic health conditions had longer enrollment lengths and were less sensitive to premium changes than healthy children. CONCLUSIONS An increase in the PFPM premium amount had differential effects across income categories and health status levels. Enrollment lengths remained shortened after the premium increase was rescinded for lower income families, suggesting that it may be difficult to reverse the impacts of even a short-term premium increase.
Understanding the Hawthorne effect

Researchers investigated the effectiveness of patient controlled analgesia for patients presenting to emergency departments with pain from traumatic injuries. A randomised controlled trial with a parallel groups study design was used. The control treatment was usual care, with analgesia titrated by nurses according to hospital guidelines. The participants were patients aged 18-75 years presenting to the emergency department who required intravenous opioid analgesia for the treatment of moderate to severe pain resulting from traumatic injuries, and who were expected to be admitted to hospital for at least 12 hours. In total, 200 adults were recruited and randomised to the intervention (patient controlled analgesia; n=99) and control (routine care; n=101) treatment groups.1 The primary outcome was total pain experienced over the 12 hour study period, recorded using a visual analogue scale. Secondary outcomes included total amount of morphine used. The mean total pain experienced by the intervention group was lower than that experienced by the control group, although the difference was not significant. Participants in the intervention group used significantly more morphine than was administered in the usual care group. It was concluded that patient controlled analgesia provided a reduction in pain, albeit not significant, compared with routine care for emergency department patients with traumatic injuries. The researchers commented that the results of the trial may have been influenced by the Hawthorne effect. Which of the following statements, if any, are true?
Optimal Multilevel Iterative Methods for Adaptive Grids

Many elliptic partial differential equations can be solved numerically with near optimal efficiency through the uses of adaptive refinement and multigrid solution techniques. This paper presents a more unified approach to the combined process of adaptive refinement and multigrid solution which can be used with high order finite elements. Refinement is achieved by the bisection of pairs of triangles, corresponding to the addition of one or more basis functions to the approximation space. An approximation of the resulting change in the solution is used as an error indicator. The multigrid iteration uses red-black Gauss-Seidel relaxation with local black relaxations. The grid transfers use the change between the nodal and hierarchical bases. This multigrid iteration requires only $O(N)$ operations, even for highly nonuniform grids, and is defined for any finite element space. The full multigrid method is an optimal blending of the processes of adaptive refinement and multigrid iteration. To minimize the numb.