Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantitative vibro-acoustography of tissue-like objects by measurement of resonant modes

We demonstrate a simple and computationally efficient method to recover the shear modulus pertaining to the focal volume of an ultrasound transducer from the measured vibro-acoustic spectral peaks. A model that explains the transport of local deformation information with the acoustic wave acting as a carrier is put forth. It is also shown that the peaks correspond to the natural frequencies of vibration of the focal volume, which may be readily computed by solving an eigenvalue problem associated with the vibrating region. Having measured the first natural frequency with a fibre Bragg grating sensor, and armed with an expedient means of computing the same, we demonstrate a simple procedure, based on the method of bisection, to recover the average shear modulus of the object in the ultrasound focal volume. We demonstrate this recovery for four homogeneous agarose slabs of different stiffness and verify the accuracy of the recovery using independent rheometer-based measurements. Extension of the method to anisotropic samples through the measurement of a more complete set of resonant modes and the recovery of an elasticity tensor distribution, as is done in resonant ultrasound spectroscopy, is suggested.
Blog content management in shaping pro recreational attitudes

AbstractThe main aim of this article was to research the impact of the content of recreational blogs on the change of attitude and behaviours of their recipients, as well as creating the basis to manage the content of blogs directed to achieve particular results. The study was conducted with the use of quantitative and qualitative content analysis. The contents of 691 comments left by 4 main types of commentators were analysed. The evaluation of individual entries was performed using the assumptions of the modified AIDA model of consumer behaviour. The possibility of a positive causal link between the presented content and the appearance of the signs of its impact on the behaviour of individuals tracking the posts has been proven to a minor extent only. Merely 0.5% of commentators and individuals were not engaged in running declared changing their way of life to a pro recreational and sports-related one.Conducting analyses directly on the large, narrative story-telling content with the use of a consumer b.
Surface folds during the penetration of a viscoelastic fluid by a sphere

When a sphere settles through the free surface of a viscous fluid, the interface is deformed and assumes a funnel shape behind the sphere. If the fluid is viscoelastic and the settling process is fast compared to the relaxation time of the fluid, elastic effects are dominant and an instability occurs. The interface loses its original axisymmetry and buckles, leading to a particular mode of pinch-off unseen in Newtonian fluids. We present experimental evidence that stress boundary layers form in this type of flow, and argue that a physical mechanism for this instability can be recovered, at least qualitatively, by considering the stability of a stretched anisotropic elastic membrane in a pressure field.
The spatial and temporal characteristics of the apparent-diffusion-coefficient-dependent fMRI signal changes during visual stimulation

The blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) contrast has been commonly used to detect fMRI signal. The majority of the BOLD signals are believed to arise from the venous and capillary networks. However, only those from the capillaries are spatially close to the neuronal activities, while the signals from large veins could be distant, rendering the overall localization inaccurate. In recent years, an alternative contrast using arterial spin labeled (ASL) perfusion imaging techniques has been proposed for predominant capillary sensitivity. Such acquisition methods, however, are intrinsically limited in temporal resolution and spatial coverage. Another contrast mechanism, free of such constraints, is based on the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) changes during brain activation using isotropic diffusion weighting. It has been shown that these changes are synchronized with brain activation and that they, as a whole, temporally precede BOLD activation, suggesting significant upstream arterial contribution. Moreover, the spatial overlaps between the upstream ADC and downstream BOLD activations are shown to be more localized in the capillaries, which are the temporal and spatial middle ground. In this paper, we sought to further investigate the temporal and spatial characteristics of ADC contrast with additional arterial signal suppression. Also, a pixel-based evaluation was performed in conjunction with the averaged global assessment. It was found that in addition to the known spatial discrepancy and global timing advance compared to the BOLD signal, the ADC activation endured significant temporal heterogeneities. Such fine spatial and temporal assessment could help characterize the exact signal sources of ADC contrast, and ultimately achieve exclusive capillary sensitivity.
Research on the conflict between policymakers and firms in actioning low-carbon production

ABSTRACT The conflict between policymakers and firms is a pervasive problem of critical importance to enact policies successfully. Employing questionnaire survey methods, the present research examined the causes of conflict between policymakers and firms in actioning low-carbon production. Results showed a high proportion of personal attributions, especially firms’ personal attribution to policymakers, indicating high levels of relationship conflict. Given that attribution theory predicts that individuals will usually give situational “excuses” for their behavior in the interest of self-protection, to show their behavior in a better light, this is partly contrary to the expectations of attribution theory; although situational attributions got a high total average score, policymakers and firms’ self-attributions are personal. Suggestions highlight changes in organizational culture and offering situational explanations to replace dysfunctional personal attributions.
Inferring Host Range Dynamics from Comparative Data: The Protozoan Parasites of New World Monkeys

Uncovering the ecological determinants of parasite host range is a central goal of comparative parasitology and infectious disease ecology. But while parasites are often distributed nonrandomly across the host phylogeny, such patterns are difficult to interpret without a genealogy for the parasite samples and without knowing what sorts of ecological dynamics might lead to what sorts of nonrandomness. We investigated inferences from comparative data, using presence/absence records from protozoan parasites of the New World monkeys. We first demonstrate several distinct types of phylogenetic signal in these data, showing, for example, that parasite species are clustered on the host tree and that closely related host species harbor similar numbers of parasite species. We then show that all of these patterns can be generated by a single, simple dynamical model, in which parasite host range changes more rapidly than host speciation/extinction and parasites preferentially colonize uninfected host species that are closely related to their existing hosts. Fitting this model to data, we then estimate its parameters. Finally, we caution that quite different ecological processes can lead to similar signatures but show how phylogenetic variation in host susceptibility can be distinguished from a tendency for parasites to colonize closely related hosts. Our new process-based analyses, which estimate meaningful parameters, should be useful for inferring the determinants of parasite host range and transmission success.
Event-related potential P2 correlates of implicit aesthetic experience

Using event-related potential measures, the present study investigated the affective responses to aesthetic experience. To differentiate the objective aesthetic value from subjective aesthetic evaluation, an amended oddball task was used in which pendant pictures were presented as frequent nontarget stimuli, whereas the landscape pictures were presented as a rare target. The pendant pictures were chosen from the largest online store in China and divided into beautiful and less beautiful conditions by the sales ranking. A positive component, P2, was recorded for each condition on the participants’ frontal, central and parietal scalp areas. Less beautiful pendants elicited greater amplitudes of P2 than the beautiful ones. This indicates that emotion arousal seems to occur at the early stage of processing of aesthetics and can be detected by the P2 component, implying that the event-related potential methodology may be a more sensitive measure of the beauty-related attention bias. From the perspective of artwork design and marketing, our finding also shows that P2 can potentially be used as a reference measure in consumer aesthetic experience.
Cost effectiveness of palivizumab for RSV prevention in high-risk children in the Netherlands

Abstract Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common pathogen that is the leading cause of lower respiratory tract infections in young children. High-risk children are at risk of severe infection, which may require hospitalisation. RSV is also associated with a high risk for respiratory morbidity and mortality, which may have long-term clinical and economic consequences. Objective: To assess the cost effectiveness of palivizumab, a humanised monoclonal antibody, used as prevention against severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection requiring hospitalisation, in the indication of preterm infants and infants with preterm/bronchopulmonary dysplasia and in the second indication of children with congenital heart disease in the Dutch healthcare setting. Methods: A decision-tree model was used to estimate the cost effectiveness of palivizumab, used as a preventative treatment against severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, in high-risk groups of children in the Netherlands. The analysis was based on a lifetime follow-up period in order to capture the impact of palivizumab on long-term morbidity and mortality resulting from an RSV infection. Data sources included published literature, the palivizumab pivotal trials, official price/tariff lists and national population statistics. The study was conducted from the perspective of society in the Netherlands. Results: The use of palivizumab results in undiscounted incremental cost-effectiveness ratios of €12,728/QALY and €4,256/QALY in the in preterm/bronchopulmonary dysplasia and congenital heart disease indications, respectively. Inclusion of indirect costs leads to even more favourable cost-effectiveness outcomes. The study is limited by a number of conservative assumptions. It was assumed that palivizumab only affects the occurrence of RSV hospitalisation and does not influence the severity of the RSV infection. Another assumption was that international clinical trial data and data on utilities could be applied to the Dutch healthcare setting. Conclusion: Palivizumab provides cost-effective prophylaxis against RSV in high-risk infants. The use of palivizumab in these children results in positive short- and long-term health-economic benefits.
Prevalence of Secondary Chronic Headaches in a Population-Based Sample of 30-44-Year-Old Persons. The Akershus Study of Chronic Headache

We studied secondary chronic headaches (≥ 15 days/month for at least 3 months) in a random sample of 30 000 persons aged 30-44 years. They received a mailed questionnaire. Those with self-reported chronic headache within the last month and/or year were invited to an interview and examination by a neurological resident. The criteria of the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-II) were applied. The questionnaire response rate was 71%, and the participation rate of the interview was 74%. Of the 633 participants, 298 had a secondary chronic headache. The 1-year prevalence of secondary chronic headache was 2.14%, i.e. chronic posttraumatic headache 0.21%, chronic headache attributed to whiplash injury 0.17%, post-craniotomy headache 0.02%, medication-overuse headache (MOH) 1.72%, cervicogenic headache 0.17%, headache attributed to chronic rhinosinusitis 0.33% and miscellaneous headaches 0.04%. The majority of those with ICHD-II-defined secondary chronic headache had MOH, while about one-third had other secondary headaches often in combination with MOH.
Post‐traumatic segmental myoclonus associated with bilateral olivary hypertrophy

We present clinical and magnetic resonance (MR) findings in three patients with segmental myoclonia occurring 11–18 months after severe brainstem injury. Palatal myoclonus and vertical ocular myorhythmia were present in all three patients and synchronous involuntary movements of the upper extremities (“wing beating”) in two patients. MR‐imaging showed multiple post‐traumatic lesions within the dentato‐rubro‐olivary pathway (“myoclonic triangle”), associated with bilateral enlargement and increased signal intensity of the inferior olives. The signal abnormality was more prominent on proton density weighted images than on T2‐weighted images, suggesting underlying pathological changes different from typical gliosis.
Atrioventricular septal defect with common valvar orifice and tetralogy of Fallot revisited: making a case for primary repair in infancy

Abstract Atrioventricular septal defect with common valvar orifice and tetralogy of Fallot is a rare combination of congenital cardiac anomalies. Approaches to this lesion have tended to emphasize either staged repair or complete repair beyond infancy. Between July 1992 and August 1997, nine patients underwent repair of complete atrioventricular septal defect with tetralogy of Fallot. One patient, aged 9.6 years at the time of repair, had previously undergone construction of a modified Blalock-Taussig shunt. Primary complete repair was performed in the other 8 patients at ages ranging from 2.5 to 16 months (median 4.6 months), and all but one were infants. All patients had a Rastelli type C defect, a single ventricular septal defect with inlet and outlet components, and malalignment of the muscular outlet septum with subpul-monary stenosis. A single patch technique, with closure of the zone of apposition (‘cleft’) in the left atrioventricular valve, was used in all eight patients undergoing primary repair, while a double patch was employed in the previously palliated older patient. In all cases of repair using a single patch, the anterosu-perior bridging leaflet was divided obliquely to the right, following the malaligned outlet septum, in order to avoid subaortic obstruction. Repair of the right ventricular outflow tract included infundibular myectomy in eight, pulmonary valvotomy in four, infundibular or transannular patching in three and one, respectively, and reconstruction with a valved allograft conduit in two patients. There was no early mortality or significant morbidity. At a median follow-up of 45 months, there had been one death related to non-cardiac causes and no reinterventions. Left atrioventricular valvar regurgitation was moderate or mild in two patients, and right atrioventricular valvar regurgitation was mild in one patient. No patient had more than mild pulmonary regurgitation or a gradient across the right ventricular outflow tract in excess of 18 mm Hg. Our results demonstrate that primary repair of atrioventricular septal defect with tetralogy of Fallot can be performed with excellent early and mid-term results in young infants. Although it has been suggested that a technique utilizing oblique division of the anterosuperior bridging leaflet may lead to high rates of atrioventricular valvar regurgitation, medium-term atrioventricular valvar function in the present cohort of patients has been excellent.
On the Failure (Success) of the Markets for Longevity Risk Transfer

Longevity risk is the chance that people will live longer than expected. That potential increase in life expectancy exposes insurers and pension funds to the risk of not having sufficient funds to pay a longer stream of annuity benefits than promised. Longevity bonds and forwards provide insurers and pension funds with financial market instruments designed to hedge the longevity risk that these organization face. The European Investment Bank and World Bank have both discussed longevity bond issues, but those issues have failed due to insufficient demand. Forward contracts have also been created, but that market remains dormant. The extant literature suggests that these failures may be due to design or pricing problems. In this article the analysis shows that the market failure is instead due to a moral hazard problem.
A Cycle-based Clustering Algorithm for Wireless Sensor Networks

In energy constrained wireless sensor networks, it is important that a routing protocol provides network redundancy and reliability at a minimum energy consumption cost. To satisfy these conflicting constraints, wireless sensor networks (WSN) routing protocols generally employ a clustering algorithm in which the entire network does not have to be active at all times. In this paper, we propose a novel graph-theoretic clustering algorithm that exploits cycles in a connected and undirected WSN graph to provide redundancy and reliability in an energy efficient manner. The proposed algorithm also facilitates cluster head rotation for load distribution, thereby extending the network lifetime. Our performance evaluation shows that the proposed algorithm performs better than existing graph- theoretic clustering algorithms.
Psychosocial predictors of weight loss by race and sex

This paper examined the psychosocial predictors of weight loss among race and sex subgroups. Analyses included overweight and obese participants from the PREMIER study, a previously published randomized trial that examined the effects of two multi‐component lifestyle interventions on blood pressure among pre‐hypertensive and stage 1 hypertensive adults. Both intervention conditions received behavioural recommendations for weight loss and group sessions. Weight and psychosocial measures of self‐efficacy and social support for diet and exercise were assessed at baseline and at 6 months. There were 157 African–American (AA) women, 46 AA men, 203 non‐AA women and 182 non‐AA men with an average age of 50 years and average body mass index of 34 at baseline. Multiple predictor regression models were performed individually by race and sex subgroup. Among AA women, increases in diet self‐efficacy were associated with weight loss. Among AA men, increases in diet‐related social support and self‐efficacy, along with increases in family support to exercise, were associated with weight loss (all Ps <0.05). Among non‐AA women, increases in friends' support to exercise and exercise‐related self‐efficacy were associated with weight loss, and among non‐AA men only increases in diet self‐efficacy were associated with weight loss (all Ps <0.05). These results emphasize the need for targeted interventions based on race and sex to optimize the impact of lifestyle‐based weight loss programmes.
Endogenous markers of hypoxia/anaerobic metabolism and anemia in primary colorectal cancer

Anemia has been implicated in the decreased oxygen tension noted within the tumor environment. In a series of 79 colorectal adenocarcinomas we investigated the role of anemia in activating molecular pathways regulated by hypoxia. Preoperative Hb levels were correlated with the immunohistochemical expression of HIF1α and HIF2α, LDH5, GLUT1, VEGF, DEC1 and BNIP3, and with angiogenesis and the cancer cell proliferation index. Upregulation of HIF1α and HIF2α proteins, found in 43% and 44.3% of cases, respectively, was not related to anemia (Hb < 10 g%). This is in agreement with other studies suggesting that HIF activation occurs for various reasons, such as poor or irregular vascularity, or oncogene activation. Nevertheless, low Hb levels (<10 g%) were linked to activated anaerobic metabolism (LDH5 overexpression) in a subset of tumors not expressing HIF1α (P < 0.01). Overexpression of HIFs, whether linked to anemia or not, was associated with a number of factors related to tumor aggressiveness (assessed as local invasion and nodal metastasis), anaerobic metabolism and intratumoral acidosis (LDH5, GLUT1; increased glucose metabolism to lactate), activation of genes related to necrosis (BNIP3) and angiogenesis (VEGF). Expression of BNIP3 emerged as the strongest independent factor related to transmural invasion and metastasis to lymph nodes. Identification of specific patterns of the hypoxia molecular cascade activated in cancer cells might help in developing specific therapeutic policies. (Cancer Sci 2006; 97: 582–588)
Imaging of coronary calcification by computed tomography

As an unequivocal biomarker for arteriosclerosis, the presence of coronary calcium serves as a qualitative reflection of the severity of coronary artery disease (CAD). Greater calcium burdens correlate with more advanced disease, a higher likelihood of coronary stenoses, and a higher risk for coronary heart disease (CHD). Empirically, the quantification of coronary calcium not only provides an accurate reflection of disease severity, but also has great potential as a screening tool for CHD. Computed tomography (CT) has been shown to be capable of providing accurate, noninvasive measurements of coronary calcification. Evidence shows that calcium measurements by CT correlate well with histological plaque analyses, and that calcium burdens accurately reflect disease severity and can be used to assess individual risk for CHD. The purpose of this review article is to examine the accumulated evidence that has attempted to validate CT as a diagnostic tool for CAD and as a screening exam for CHD. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2004;19:720–733. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Crisis and Labour Market in Spain

This article examines the employment policies implemented in Spain since the onset of the crisis and highlights the consequences of the major legal changes that have been passed. Preceded by an overview on the strong and weak points of the Spanish labour market before the onset of the crisis, the first part of the analysis focuses on the labour reform implemented by the socialist government before 2012, marked by a deteriorating economic and social context with mounting unemployment and by a limited shift towards deregulation. Then the article offers some critical thinking on the new policy stage opened in Spain after the right-wing party gained an overwhelming majority in Parliament in November 2011, arguing that the magnitude of the legal changes introduced in 2012 is such that we might speak of a new Spanish model of industrial relations, a model of “flexinsecurity”. This section outlines how the reform (labour “disruption”) breaks the traditional balance between employers and employees, examining the following issues: the new forms of instability in hiring; how employers are allowed to impose internal flexibility on workers; the new and devalued collective bargaining system; and the easier and cheaper regime of dismissal. Finally, the article analyses the legal measures implemented in 2013 to complete that major reform.