Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Scan Registration Using the Normal Distributions Transform with Ground Segmentation and Point Cloud Clustering

The Normal Distributions Transform (NDT) scan registration algorithm models the environment as a set of Gaussian distributions and generates the Gaussians by discretizing the environment into voxels. With the standard approach, the NDT algorithm has a tendency to have poor convergence performance for even modest initial transformation error. In this work, a segmented greedy cluster NDT (SGC-NDT) variant is proposed, which uses natural features in the environment to generate Gaussian clusters for the NDT algorithm. By segmenting the ground plane and clustering the remaining features, the SGC-NDT approach results in a smooth and continuous cost function which guarantees that the optimization will converge. Experiments show that the SGC-NDT algorithm results in scan registrations with higher accuracy and better convergence properties when compared against other state-ofthe-art methods for both urban and forested environments.
Decreased expression of miR-146a and miR-155 contributes to an abnormal Treg phenotype in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Objectives MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, not least for their critical role in the regulation of regulatory T cell (Treg) function. Deregulated expression of miR-146a and miR-155 has been associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We therefore investigated miR-146a and miR-155 expression in Tregs of patients with RA and their possible impact on Treg function and disease activity. Methods Expression of miR-146a and miR-155 was assessed in RA patients and controls. MiRNA expression was correlated with disease activity and expression of target genes. Interference with biological activity of miRNAs was evaluated in functional Treg assays. Results Diminished upregulation of miR-146a and miR-155 in response to T cell stimulation was found in Tregs of RA patients. Diminution of miR-146a expression was observed in particular in patients with active disease, and correlated with joint inflammation. In patients with active RA, Tregs demonstrated a pro-inflammatory phenotype characterised by inflammatory cytokine expression. This was due to an augmented expression and activation of signal transducer and activator transcription 1 (STAT1), a direct target of miR-146a. Conclusions Our results suggest that in RA miR-146a facilitates a pro-inflammatory phenotype of Tregs via increased STAT1 activation, and contributes thereby to RA pathogenesis.
Neck and Low Back Pain Among Dentistry Staff

Duygu Geler Kulcu1, Gulcin Gul en1, Tuba Ci dem Altunok2, Davut Kucuko lu3, Sait Naderi4 1Yeditepe Universitesi T p Fakultesi, Fiziksel T p ve Rehabilitasyon Anabilim Dal , stanbul, Turkey 2Yeditepe Universitesi T p Fakultesi, Biyoistatistik Anabilim Dal , stanbul, Turkey 3Yeditepe Universitesi Di Hekimli i Fakultesi, stanbul, Turkey 4Umraniye E itim ve Ara t rma Hastanesi, Beyin Cerrahisi Anabilim Dal , stanbul, Turkey 122 Original Article
A benchmark for RGB-D visual odometry, 3D reconstruction and SLAM

We introduce the Imperial College London and National University of Ireland Maynooth (ICL-NUIM) dataset for the evaluation of visual odometry, 3D reconstruction and SLAM algorithms that typically use RGB-D data. We present a collection of handheld RGB-D camera sequences within synthetically generated environments. RGB-D sequences with perfect ground truth poses are provided as well as a ground truth surface model that enables a method of quantitatively evaluating the final map or surface reconstruction accuracy. Care has been taken to simulate typically observed real-world artefacts in the synthetic imagery by modelling sensor noise in both RGB and depth data. While this dataset is useful for the evaluation of visual odometry and SLAM trajectory estimation, our main focus is on providing a method to benchmark the surface reconstruction accuracy which to date has been missing in the RGB-D community despite the plethora of ground truth RGB-D datasets available.
Phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome: a series of 136 patients from the Eurofever Registry

Objective To evaluate genetic, demographic and clinical features in patients with cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome (CAPS) from the Eurofever Registry, with a focus on genotype-phenotype correlations and predictive disease severity markers. Methods A web-based registry retrospectively collected data on patients with CAPS. Experts in the disease independently validated all cases. Patients carrying NLRP3 variants and germline-mutation-negative patients were included. Results 136 patients were analysed. The median age at disease onset was 9 months, and the median duration of follow-up was 15 years. Skin rash, musculoskeletal involvement and fever were the most prevalent features. Neurological involvement (including severe complications) was noted in 40% and 12% of the patients, respectively, with ophthalmological involvement in 71%, and neurosensory hearing loss in 42%. 133 patients carried a heterozygous, germline mutation, and 3 patients were mutation-negative (despite complete NLRP3 gene screening). Thirty-one different NLRP3 mutations were recorded; 7 accounted for 78% of the patients, whereas 24 rare variants were found in 27 cases. The latter were significantly associated with early disease onset, neurological complications (including severe complications) and severe musculoskeletal involvement. The T348M variant was associated with early disease onset, chronic course and hearing loss. Neurological involvement was less strongly associated with V198M, E311 K and A439 V alleles. Early onset was predictive of severe neurological complications and hearing loss. Conclusions Patients carrying rare NLRP3 variants are at risk of severe CAPS; onset before the age of 6 months is associated with more severe neurological involvement and hearing loss. These findings may have an impact on treatment decisions.
Prevalence and clinical characteristics of adult polymyositis and dermatomyositis; data from a large and unselected Norwegian cohort

Objectives The occurrence of polymyositis (PM) and dermatomyositis (DM) in the general population is largely unknown and unbiased data on clinical and laboratory features in PM/DM are missing. Here, we aim to identify and characterise every PM/DM patient living in southeast Norway (denominator population 2.64 million), 2003–2012. Method Due to the structure of the Norwegian health system, all patients with PM/DM are followed at public hospitals. Hence, all public hospital databases in southeast Norway were screened for patients having ICD-10 codes compatible with myositis. Manual chart review was then performed to identify all cases meeting the Peter & Bohan and/or Targoff classification criteria for PM/DM. Results The ICD-10 search identified 3160 potential myositis patients, but only 208/3160 patients met the Peter & Bohan criteria and 230 the Targoff criteria (100 PM, 130 DM). With 56 deaths during the observation period, point prevalence of PM/DM was calculated to 8.7/100 000. Estimated annual incidences ranged from 6 to 10 /1 000 000, with peak incidences at 50–59 (DM) and 60–69 years (PM). Myositis specific antibodies (Jo-1, PL-7, PL-12, signal recognition particle (SRP) and Mi-2) were present in 53% (109/204), while 137/163 (87%) had pathological muscle MRI. Frequent clinical features included myalgia (75%), arthritis (41%) dyspnoea (62%) and dysphagia (58%). Positive anti-Jo-1, present in 39% of DM and 22% of PM cases, was associated with dyspnoea, arthritis and mechanic hands. Conclusions Our data indicate that the population prevalence of PM/DM in Caucasians is quite low, but underscores the complexity and severity of the disorders.
Additive effect of anti-citrullinated protein antibodies and rheumatoid factor on bone erosions in patients with RA

Objective To determine whether there is an additive effect of anticitrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) and rheumatoid factor (RF) on the number and size of bone erosions in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) Methods 242 patients with RA received high-resolution peripheral quantitative CT (HR-pQCT) scans of the metacarpophalangeal joints. Demographic and disease-specific parameters including ACPA and RF levels were recorded from all patients. Erosion numbers and their size were assessed in 238 patients at 714 individual joints (MCP 2, 3 and 4) and 5712 sites (each 4 quadrants in metacarpal heads and phalangeal bases). The volume of erosions was calculated by a semiellipsoid formula. Results Of the 238 patients, 112 patients showed RF and ACPAs (ACPAs+RF+), 28 only RF (RF+), 29 only ACPAs (ACPA+) and 69 were antibody negative (NEG). Erosion number and size were highest in RF+ACPAs+ patient group with significant differences compared with NEG patients with respect to erosion number (p=0.001) and to ACPA-negative patients with respect to erosion size (p<0.001). Results maintained significance in a linear mixed model showing ACPAs+RF+ status and disease duration being associated with higher number (p=0.017 and p=0.005, respectively), and larger size (p=0.014 and p=0.013, respectively) of bone erosions. Furthermore, erosion size was influenced by the presence and titre of RF only in ACPA-positive patients with RA but not in ACPA-negative patients. Conclusions ACPAs and RF show an additive effect on erosion number and erosion size. Concomitant presence of ACPAs and RF is associated with higher erosive disease burden in patients with RA. Furthermore, RF influences erosion size only in ACPA-positive but not in ACPA-negative patients.
Computer-Assisted Surgery in Total Knee Arthroplasty: Experience With the VectorVision and Ci Navigation System for Mobile Bearing Total Knee Arthroplasty

This article provides an overview of the rationale for computer-assisted surgery and the technical aspects of navigation for total knee arthroplasty. The authors' experience with computer-assisted surgery for total knee arthroplasty using the VectorVision (BrainLAB, Feldkirchen, Germany) and Ci (DePuy, Warsaw, Ind) system to assist in mobile bearing total knee arthroplasty, the validation of the technique, and outcomes from a series of more than 1000 consecutive cases are reported.
Semantic octree: Unifying recognition, reconstruction and representation via an octree constrained higher order MRF

On the one hand, mainly within the computer vision community, multi-resolution image labelling problems with pixel, super-pixel and object levels, have made great progress towards the modelling of holistic scene understanding. On the other hand, mainly within the robotics and graphics communities, multi-resolution 3D representations of the world have matured to be efficient and accurate. In this paper we bring together the two hands and move towards the new direction of unified recognition, reconstruction and representation. We tackle the problem by embedding an octree into a hierarchical robust PN Markov Random Field. This allows us to jointly infer the multi-resolution 3D volume along with the object-class labels, all within the constraints of an octree data-structure. The octree representation is chosen as this data-structure is efficient for further processing such as dynamic updates, data compression, and surface reconstruction. We perform experiments in inferring our semantic octree on the The kitti Vision Benchmark Suite in order to demonstrate its efficacy.
Interference and SINR in Dense Terahertz Networks

Over the last decade short-range communications in the terahertz band have been extensively studied as a technology-enabler for dense and ultra-dense wireless networks. Recent advances in miniaturized terahertz transceivers design promise wireless connectivity and simultaneous interaction between thousands of devices. However, the feasibility of network-wide communications is still an open issue due to specific features of the terahertz band and inherent properties of dense deployments. We address this issue developing an analytical model for interference and SINR assessment in dense terahertz networks obtaining the first two moments and density functions for both metrics. Our results demonstrate that the presence of molecular noise does not qualitatively affect the behavior of SINR, while its quantitative effect is of secondary importance compared to interference. The presented approach provides the so-far missing building block for performance analysis of prospective dense terahertz networks.
Neuropsychological Assessment and Management of People in States of Impaired Consciousness: An Overview of Some Recent Studies

Abstract This article is concerned with patients in coma, the vegetative, or minimally conscious states. Studies addressing the issue of assessment and management of these patients are described. These include (a) the development of an assessment tool (Wessex Head Injury Matrix, WHIM); (b) use of the WHIM to assess the effects of posture on arousal, showing that some 75% of patients show more behaviours when assessed while they are in a standing frame than when supine; (c) a comparison of the WHIM with the Glasgow Coma Scale, demonstrating that the WHIM is more sensitive than the GCS for measuring the behavioural repertoire of people in states of reduced consciousness; (d) a discussion of situations when neuro-imaging techniques are required to assess residual functioning; and (e) the long term outcome of one of the first vegetative patients to be scanned with Positron Emission Tomography (PET). We conclude with a discussion about neuropsychology and patients in states of impaired consciousness.
Repeat cycles of rituximab on clinical relapse in ANCA-associated vasculitis: identifying B cell biomarkers for relapse to guide retreatment decisions

Objective To assess clinical and B cell biomarkers to predict relapse after rituximab in antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) using retreatment on clinical relapse strategy. Methods 35 patients with AAV received treatment with 2×1000 mg rituximab, repeated on clinical relapse (up to 5 cycles). Disease activity was assessed by Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score (BVAS) and peripheral B cell subsets using highly sensitive flow cytometry (HSFC) as previously described; both performed at baseline and every 3 months. Results Response rates were high: >83%, with median time-to-relapse of 82 weeks for cycle 1 (C1) and >54 weeks for all cycles. Prior to rituximab, AAV was characterised by naïve B-lymphopenia compared to healthy controls. This dysregulation was more marked in patients with raised C-reactive protein (CRP) (p<0.05). In C1, no clinical feature predicted relapse. However, repopulation of naïve B cell at 6 months was associated with a reduced risk of relapse (HR: 0.326, 95% 0.114 to 0.930, p=0.036). Relapse rates at 12 and 18 months were 0% and 14% with naïve repopulation at 6 months, and 31% and 54% without naïve repopulation. Conclusions Responses to B cell depletion therapy are long-lasting and relapse post-treatment may be predicted by absence of naïve B cell repopulation at 6 months. Naïve B-lymphopenia may be a biomarker of disease activity in AAV.
Conventional DMARDs in axial spondyloarthritis: wishful––rather than rational—thinking!

Conventional synthetic DMARD (csDMARD) therapy in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (SpA) is a matter of continuous debate. Part of this discussion is a dispute about methotrexate (MTX) comedication in patients with axial SpA treated with tumour necrosis factor inhibitors biologicals (TNFi). The dispute seems to be based on perceptions rather than scientific evidence and may have been fuelled by one of the European League Against Rheumatism task force on the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) recommendations. This recommendation states that in RA, TNFi-biologicals should be used in combination with MTX,1 which finds its justification in the results of multiple randomised clinical trials and careful posthoc analyses thereof. According to the Assessment in SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS), however, axial SpA is not a disease in which csDMARDs including MTX should be prescribed.2 This bold conclusion has been framed by thorough systematic literature research that has failed to find evidence for efficacy of csDMARDs in axial SpA.3 Guidelines and recommendations are supposedly clear and unequivocal. However, clinicians prefer to manage ‘several shades of grey’ rather than ‘think in black and white’. They may argue that absence of evidence (for the efficacy of csDMARDs in axial SpA) does not necessarily mean evidence for the absence of such an effect. In fact, and in spite of current recommendations prescribing the opposite, many do treat patients with axial SpA with csDMARDs occasionally. It must be easier to digest disobedience with guidelines if plausible scientific explanations can be employed to justify non-commitment: immunogenicity of TNF-inhibiting biologicals is one of those attractive theories that scientists may bring up in order to explain why combinations of MTX and a TNFi-biological work better in RA than monotherapy with a biological: MTX may prevent the formation of TNFi-neutralising antibodies, which in turn could be responsible for loss …
The Rate of Awareness for Familial Mediterranean Fever for Urban Dwellers in Turkey

In addition, a dramatic decrease in secondary amyloidosis, the most serious complication of FMF, has been reported in Turkey in recent years. This can be attributed to the increased awareness of physicians with regard to FMF. [4] Familial Mediterranean fever was highlighted as a health problem due in large part to a study published in 1993 that reported on this disorder in Turkey. [5] In 1998, the high prevalence rate of FMF at 1/1.073 in a field study placed it as one of the most frequent genetic diseases in Turkey. [6] Subsequently, there have been increased efforts to train Turkish physicians regarding this inherited disorder. In 2005, a nationwide study on FMF further increased awareness and verified the need for healthcare professionals to become more familiar with it. [3] The main factor for the dramatic decrease in the cases of renal amyloidosis in Turkey is thought to be due to better medical education and practice among Turkish physicians which has led to the increased use of colchicine. [4]
A Simple Statistical Signal Loss Model for Deep Underground Garage

In this paper we address the channel modeling aspects for a deep-indoor scenario with extreme coverage conditions in terms of signal losses, namely underground garage areas. We provide an in- depth analysis with regard to the path loss (gain) and large-scale signal shadow fading, and propose a simple propagation model which can be used to predict cellular signal levels in similar deep- indoor scenarios. The measurement results indicate that the signal at 800 MHz band penetrates external concrete walls to reach the lower levels, while for 2000 MHz wall openings are required for the signal to propagate. It is also evident from the study that the shadow fading at different levels of an underground garage are highly correlated. The proposed frequency-independent floor attenuation factor (FAF) is shown to be in range of 5.2 dB per meter deep. Therefore, the attenuation rate in the z dimension is much higher than the in-building attenuation in x and y dimension, which is often assumed at 0.6 dB/m.
Deep learning for human part discovery in images

This paper addresses the problem of human body part segmentation in conventional RGB images, which has several applications in robotics, such as learning from demonstration and human-robot handovers. The proposed solution is based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs). We present a network architecture that assigns each pixel to one of a predefined set of human body part classes, such as head, torso, arms, legs. After initializing weights with a very deep convolutional network for image classification, the network can be trained end-to-end and yields precise class predictions at the original input resolution. Our architecture particularly improves on over-fitting issues in the up-convolutional part of the network. Relying only on RGB rather than RGB-D images also allows us to apply the approach outdoors. The network achieves state-of-the-art performance on the PASCAL Parts dataset. Moreover, we introduce two new part segmentation datasets, the Freiburg sitting people dataset and the Freiburg people in disaster dataset. We also present results obtained with a ground robot and an unmanned aerial vehicle.
Robust stereo visual odometry through a probabilistic combination of points and line segments

Most approaches to stereo visual odometry reconstruct the motion based on the tracking of point features along a sequence of images. However, in low-textured scenes it is often difficult to encounter a large set of point features, or it may happen that they are not well distributed over the image, so that the behavior of these algorithms deteriorates. This paper proposes a probabilistic approach to stereo visual odometry based on the combination of both point and line segment that works robustly in a wide variety of scenarios. The camera motion is recovered through non-linear minimization of the projection errors of both point and line segment features. In order to effectively combine both types of features, their associated errors are weighted according to their covariance matrices, computed from the propagation of Gaussian distribution errors in the sensor measurements. The method, of course, is computationally more expensive that using only one type of feature, but still can run in real-time on a standard computer and provides interesting advantages, including a straightforward integration into any probabilistic framework commonly employed in mobile robotics.
Patient‐specific computational biomechanics for simulating adolescent scoliosis surgery: Predicted vs clinical correction for a preliminary series of six patients

Scoliosis is a spinal deformity that requires surgical correction in progressive cases. In order to optimize surgery outcomes, patient‐specific finite element models are being developed by our group. In this paper, a single rod anterior correction procedure is simulated for a group of six scoliosis patients. For each patient, personalized model geometry was derived from low‐dose CT scans, and clinically measured intra‐operative corrective forces were applied. However, tissue material properties were not patient‐specific, being derived from existing literature. Clinically, the patient group had a mean initial Cobb angle of 47.3 ∘, which was corrected to 17.5 ∘ after surgery. The mean simulated post‐operative Cobb angle for the group was 18.1 ∘. Although this represents good agreement between clinical and simulated corrections, the discrepancy between clinical and simulated Cobb angle for individual patients varied between − 10.3 and + 8.6∘, with only three of the six patients matching the clinical result to within accepted Cobb measurement error of ±5∘. The results of this study suggest that spinal tissue material properties play an important role in governing the correction obtained during surgery, and that patient‐specific modelling approaches must address the question of how to prescribe patient‐specific soft tissue properties for spine surgery simulation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.