Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the Diversity of Realistic Image Synthesis

Many image processing tasks can be formulated as translating images between two image domains, such as colorization, super resolution and conditional image synthesis. In most of these tasks, an input image may correspond to multiple outputs. However, current existing approaches only show very minor diversity of the outputs. In this paper, we present a novel approach to synthesize diverse realistic images corresponding to a semantic layout. We introduce a diversity loss objective, which maximizes the distance between synthesized image pairs and links the input noise to the semantic segments in the synthesized images. Thus, our approach can not only produce diverse images, but also allow users to manipulate the output images by adjusting the noise manually. Experimental results show that images synthesized by our approach are significantly more diverse than that of the current existing works and equipping our diversity loss does not degrade the reality of the base networks.
Think Positively and Feel Positively: Optimism and Life Satisfaction in Late Life

This study developed a dispositional path model of life satisfaction for community dwelling Chinese elderly living in Hong Kong. A sample of 117 elderly completed scales measuring life satisfaction, optimism, self-esteem, relationship harmony, self-construals, and perceived/expected health and financial status. Modeling revealed that life satisfaction was predicted by self-esteem and relationship harmony, which in turn were predicted by independent and interdependent self-construals, respectively. In addition, optimism predicted life satisfaction directly and indirectly through self-esteem and relationship harmony. Financial status mediated entirely the effect of optimism on life satisfaction. Health status was predicted by optimism but did not predict life satisfaction. Optimism is a key contributor to subjective well being because it fosters self-esteem, relationship harmony, and positive perceptions of financial conditions.
IVSYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM TUMORS 65 National Cancer Institute SEER Pediatric Monograph

Incidence ♦ In the US, approximately 700 children and adolescents younger than 20 years of age are diagnosed with tumors of the sympathetic nervous system each year, of which approximately 650 are neuroblastomas. ♦ Sympathetic nervous system tumors accounted for 7.8% of all cancers among children younger than 15 years of age. ♦ Over 97% of sympathetic nervous system tumors are neuroblastomas, embryonal malignancies of the sympathetic nervous system that occur almost exclusively in infants and very young children. ♦ Regardless of age, neuroblastomas most commonly occurred in the adrenal gland. Mediastinal tumors were more frequent in infants than in older children, while the opposite age pattern was observed for CNS tumors (Figure IV.1). ♦ The average age-adjusted annual incidence rate for all sympathetic nervous system cancers was 9.5 per million children. ♦ The occurrence of sympathetic nervous system malignancies was strongly age-dependent (Figure IV.2). For neuroblastomas alone, the incidence rate for both sexes combined during the second year of life (29 per million) was less than half that of infancy (64 per million). ♦ Neuroblastomas were by far the most common cancer of infancy, with an incidence rate almost double that of leukemia, the next most common malignancy that occurred during the first year of life. ♦ Sixteen percent of infant neuroblastomas were diagnosed during the first month following birth and 41% were diagnosed during the first 3 months of life (Figure IV.3). ♦ Over the 21-year observation period, there was little indication of an increase in the overall incidence of sympathetic nervous system malignancies (Figure IV.4). The estimated annual percent change in age-adjusted incidence rates was 0.4%.
“cART intensification by the HIV-1 Tat B clade vaccine: progress to phase III efficacy studies”

ABSTRACT Introduction: In spite of its success at suppressing HIV replication, combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) only partially reduces immune dysregulation and loss of immune functions. These cART-unmet needs appear to be due to persistent virus replication and cell-to-cell transmission in reservoirs, and are causes of increased patients’ morbidity and mortality. Up to now, therapeutic interventions aimed at cART-intensification by attacking the virus reservoir have failed. Areas covered: We briefly review the rationale and clinical development of Tat therapeutic vaccine in cART-treated subjects in Italy and South Africa (SA). Vaccination with clade-B Tat induced cross-clade neutralizing antibodies, immune restoration, including CD4+ T cell increase particularly in low immunological responders, and reduction of proviral DNA. Phase III efficacy trials in SA are planned both in adult and pediatric populations. Expert commentary: We propose the Tat therapeutic vaccine as a pathogenesis-driven intervention that effectively intensifies cART and may lead to a functional cure and provide new perspectives for prevention and virus eradication strategies.
Measurement of total calcium in serum by atomic absorption spectrophotometry, with use of a strontium internal reference.

A method for total calcium in serum was optimized, a dual double-beam atomic absorption spectrophotometer being used, with strontium as an internal reference. The effect of HCl and lanthanum concentrations on the signals of both calcium and strontium was determined. The final analysis was unaffected by known sources of interference in serum at a 50-fold dilution of serum in 50 mmolar HCl containing 10 mmol LaCl3 and 0.12 mmol of SrCl2 per liter. Within-run precision for 30 replicate analyses performed during 30 min gave a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 0.36% for the internal strontium reference mode vs. 0.72% RSD for the single-channel mode. Nine consecutive multiconcentration control pools were measured repeatedly for two years; the median RSD was 2.3%. With meticulous technique, long-term variability for total calcium in serum approached 1%. Accuracy is believed to be limited only by the precision, since systematic bias was not detected from recovery studies and comparisons with results of ashing procedures or oxalate precipitation techniques.
Improving Consistency and Correctness of Sequence Inpainting using Semantically Guided Generative Adversarial Network

Contemporary benchmark methods for image inpainting are based on deep generative models and specifically leverage adversarial loss for yielding realistic reconstructions. However, these models cannot be directly applied on image/video sequences because of an intrinsic drawback- the reconstructions might be independently realistic, but, when visualized as a sequence, often lacks fidelity to the original uncorrupted sequence. The fundamental reason is that these methods try to find the best matching latent space representation near to natural image manifold without any explicit distance based loss. In this paper, we present a semantically conditioned Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) for sequence inpainting. The conditional information constrains the GAN to map a latent representation to a point in image manifold respecting the underlying pose and semantics of the scene. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work which simultaneously addresses consistency and correctness of generative model based inpainting. We show that our generative model learns to disentangle pose and appearance information; this independence is exploited by our model to generate highly consistent reconstructions. The conditional information also aids the generator network in GAN to produce sharper images compared to the original GAN formulation. This helps in achieving more appealing inpainting performance. Though generic, our algorithm was targeted for inpainting on faces. When applied on CelebA and Youtube Faces datasets, the proposed method results in a significant improvement over the current benchmark, both in terms of quantitative evaluation (Peak Signal to Noise Ratio) and human visual scoring over diversified combinations of resolutions and deformations.
Factorisation of germ-like series

A classical tool in the study of real closed fields are the fields $K((G))$ of generalised power series (i.e., formal sums with well-ordered support) with coefficients in a field $K$ of characteristic 0 and exponents in an ordered abelian group $G$. A fundamental result of Berarducci ensures the existence of irreducible series in the subring $K((G^{\leq 0}))$ of $K((G))$ consisting of the generalised power series with non-positive exponents. It is an open question whether the factorisations of a series in such subring have common refinements, and whether the factorisation becomes unique after taking the quotient by the ideal generated by the non-constant monomials. In this paper, we provide a new class of irreducibles and prove some further cases of uniqueness of the factorisation.
Fiber diffraction of skin and nails provides an accurate diagnosis of malignancies

An early diagnosis of malignancies correlates directly with a better prognosis. Yet for many malignancies there are no readily available, noninvasive, cost‐effective diagnostic tests with patients often presenting too late for effective treatment. This article describes for the first time the use of fiber diffraction patterns of skin or fingernails, using X‐ray sources, as a biometric diagnostic method for detecting neoplastic disorders including but not limited to melanoma, breast, colon and prostate cancers. With suitable further development, an early low‐cost, totally noninvasive yet reliable diagnostic test could be conducted on a regular basis in local radiology facilities, as a confirmatory test for other diagnostic procedures or as a mass screening test using suitable small angle X‐ray beam‐lines at synchrotrons. © 2009 UICC
Spatial congruence in working memory: an ERP study

The Simon effect refers to the finding that reaction times are faster when stimulus and response locations are congruent than when they are not, even stimulus locations are task irrelevant. Zhang and Johnson reported a Simon-like spatial congruence effect in working memory. This study examined the neural mechanisms of this memory-based spatial congruence effect by recording event-related potentials to probe stimuli. Behavioral results showed a clear congruence effect. The P300 amplitudes were larger in the congruent condition than in the incongruent condition. The results suggest that the memory-based congruence effect and the classical Simon effect were mediated by similar neural mechanisms and support theories assigning response selection an essential role in spatial congruence effects.
Altered energy intake and the amplitude of the body temperature rhythm are associated with changes in phase, but not amplitude, of clock gene expression in the rat suprachiasmatic nucleus in vivo

ABSTRACT Circadian rhythms in mammals are driven by a central clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). In vitro, temperature cycles within the physiological range can act as potent entraining cues for biological clocks. We altered the body temperature (Tc) rhythm in rats by manipulating energy intake (EI) to determine whether EI-induced changes in Tc oscillations are associated with changes in SCN clock gene rhythms in vivo. Male Wistar rats (n = 16 per diet) were maintained on either an ad libitum diet (CON), a high energy cafeteria diet (CAF), or a calorie restricted diet (CR), and Tc was recorded every 30 min for 6-7 weeks. SCN tissue was harvested from rats at zeitgeber time (ZT) 0, ZT6, ZT12, or ZT18. Expression of the clock genes Bmal1, Per2, Cry1, and Rev-erbα, the heat shock transcription factor Hsf1, and the heat shock protein Hsp90aa1, were determined using qPCR. The circadian profile of gene expression for each gene was characterized using cosinor analysis. Compared to the CON rats, the amplitude of Tc was decreased in CAF rats by 0.1 °C (p < 0.001), and increased in CR rats by 0.3 °C (p < 0.001). The amplitude of Hsp90aa1 expression was lowest in CAF rats and highest in CR rats (p = 0.045), but the amplitude of all of the clock genes and Hsf1 were unaffected by diet (p > 0.25). Compared to CON, phase advances of the Tc, Bmal1, and Per2 rhythms were observed with CR feeding (p < 0.05), but CAF feeding elicited no significant changes in phase. The present results indicate that in vivo, the SCN is largely resistant to entrainment by EI-induced changes in the Tc rhythm, although some phase entrainment may occur.
Mean Variance Vulnerability

This paper transfers the concept of Gollier and Pratt's (Gollier, C., J. W. Pratt. 1996. Risk vulnerability and the tempering effect of background risk. Econometrica64 1109--1123) risk vulnerability into mean variance preferences. Risk vulnerability is shown to be equivalent to the slope of the mean variance indifference curve being decreasing in mean and increasing in variance. Next, we introduce the notion of mean variance vulnerability to link the concepts of decreasing absolute risk aversion, risk vulnerability, properness, and standardness. All of the abovementioned concepts are characterized in terms of mean variance indifference curve properties and in terms of absolute risk measures.
Dynamic, data-driven processing of multispectral video streams

Video analytics plays an important role in a wide variety of defense-, monitoring- and surveillance-related systems for air and ground environments. In this context, multispectral video processing is attracting increased interest in recent years, due in part to technological advances in video capture. Compared with monochromatic video, multispectral video offers better spectral resolution, and different bands of multispectral video streams can enhance video analytics capabilities in different ways. For example, the infrared bands can provide better separation of shadows from objects, and improved spatial resolution in scenes that are impaired by fog or haze [16].
The intubating laryngeal maskClinical appraisal of ventilation and blind tracheal intubation in 110 patients

This study assesses the efficacy of the intubating laryngeal mask as a ventilation device and blind intubation guide. Following induction of anaesthesia with propofol, the device was successfully inserted at the first attempt in 110/110 (100%) patients. Placement took less than 10 s in all patients. Size selection was based on nose–chin distance. Adequate ventilation was achieved in 104/110 (95%) patients. Blind tracheal intubation using an 8‐mm internal diameter straight silicone cuffed tracheal tube was attempted 3 min after the administration of vecuronium. Passage of a lighted stylet through the intubating laryngeal mask was used to determine the position of the intubating laryngeal mask cuff before blind intubation. If resistance was felt during intubation, a sequence of adjusting manoeuvres was used, based on the depth at which resistance occurred. Tracheal intubation was possible in 104/104 (100%) patients. In 42 (40%) patients, no resistance was encountered and the trachea was intubated at the first attempt. Sixty‐two (60%) patients required one adjusting manoeuvre. The mean (range) time taken to successful intubation, i.e. the time from disconnection of the intubating laryngeal mask from the breathing system to successful tracheal intubation, was 79 (12–315) s. Six patients with potential or known intubation problems were included in the study. The tracheas of all six patients were successfully intubated. We conclude that the intubating laryngeal mask is an effective ventilation device and intubation guide with potential for use in patients who may present difficulty in tracheal intubation.
Upper airway obstruction in neonates and infants with CHARGE syndrome

Upper airway obstruction can be life‐threatening in neonates and infants with CHARGE syndrome, many of whom undergo intratracheal intubation early in life. Although some of these patients are successfully extubated, others require tracheotomy. Deciding whether to complete tracheotomy is challenging since there are no clear criteria upon which to base this decision. We assessed 10 infants with CHARGE syndrome, 5 of whom required tracheotomy. Fiberoptic laryngoscopy showed that all of these patients shared certain features: anteroposterior flattening of the larynx; short vocal cords; anteriorly positioned, tall and hypertrophic arytenoids obscuring the glottis; uncoordinated movement of the vocal cords, epiglottis and arytenoids; salivary pooling. In addition, we observed only in those requiring tracheotomy an obstructive supraglottis that prevented visualization of the vocal cords throughout respiration. Salivary retention was much more severe in this group. These findings might be helpful for predicting the need for an early tracheotomy in situations where the vocal cords are not visible throughout the entire respiratory cycle. Given the high prevalence of malformed larynx and abnormal cranial nerve function, which are not alleviated by supraglottoplasty, we suggest that a thorough investigation of upper airway obstructive entities other than laryngomalacia be performed before embarking on supraglottoplasty in patients with CHARGE syndrome. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
ANGULAR ABSORBED DOSE DEPENDENCE OF INTERNAL RADIATION-GENERATING DEVICES IN RADIOTHERAPY

The angular dependence of the absorbed dose from internal radiation-generating devices located within a tumor mass is investigated. Given the systematics of proton and heavy-ion differential scattering cross sections, candidate internal radiation-generating devices will have a relatively constant absorbed dose output beyond a critical angle. Inside this angle, the absorbed dose output is suppressed because elastic and inelastic differential cross sections are peaked in the beam direction. This peaking increases in severity as the particle energy increases and suggests internal radiation-generating devices must have a limited rotation capability to compensate for the depression in the absorbed dose for angles near the beam direction.
High-frequency oscillatory ventilation: Lessons learned from mechanical test lung models

Objective:Review data obtained from high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) and mechanical test lung models with respect to delivered tidal volume, distal pressure transmission, endotracheal tube cuff leaks, and simulated clinical conditions. Design:Review of selected studies from PubMed, published abstracts, and institutional mechanical test lung data. Results:Tidal volume delivery during HFOV is altered by oscillatory pressure amplitude (&Dgr;P), frequency (Hz), percent inspiratory time (IT%), and patient variables. Distal (carinal) oscillatory pressure amplitude transmission is directly correlated with endotracheal tube diameter and peripheral airway resistance. Endotracheal tube cuff leaks promote egress of tracheal gas while attenuating distal oscillatory pressure amplitude and tidal volume transmission. Simulated clinical conditions (e.g., increased distal airway resistance, mainstem intubation) may increase observed &Dgr;P, whereas mean airway pressure is decreased with air leaks. Conclusion:Mechanical test lung and artificial trachea simulations may provide useful information on the interaction of HFOV with altered lung mechanics and may contribute to the formulation of HFOV clinical strategies. Important limitations of these models include absence of gas exchange, histologic and biologic markers, or hemodynamic data.
Highly conductive Ga-doped ZnO thin films deposited onto Si wafers: Interface characterization

Undoped ZnO and Ga:ZnO films deposited onto Si wafer substrates have been prepared and characterized in order to investigate the suitability of Ga:ZnO as a transparent and conductive material. A comparative study between ZnO and Ga:ZnO properties using a wide variety of experimental techniques has been carried out. Our results prove the improvement of electrical and optical properties of Ga:ZnO films with respect to an undoped ZnO one. The interface between the film and the Si substrate has been explored in order to detect specific problems that could hinder an optimum electric contact between them. A very thin and abrupt Si/ZnO interface is observed using different characterization techniques, independently of doping. In spite of a dopant enrichment at the interface, the ZnO electronic band structure seems to smoothly adapt to the Si one.
NEUROLOGICAL COMPLICATIONS OF BACTERIAL MENINGITIS IN ADULT PATIENTS : A HOSPITAL BASED STUDY By

477 COGNUTUVE AND NEUROLOGICAL COMPLICATIONS OF BACTERIAL MENINGITIS IN ADULT PATIENTS: A HOSPITAL BASED STUDY By EMAN M. EL-GINDY1, FATMA A. ALI-ELDIN1, IMAN BAYOUMY2, LAMIAA ABDEL-MONEIM3and WESAM A. IBRAHIM4 Departments of Tropical Medicine, Neurology, Bacteriology and Immunology and, Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11566 Abstract Bacterial meningitis is associated with disabling sequelae in a significant proportion of patients. It is associated with high mortality, risk of neuropsychological sequelae and risk of cognitive impairment the purpose of this study is to assess cognitive and neurological complications in adult patients with bacterial meningitis. A total of 45 patients with bacterial meningitis and 16 patients with tuberculous meningitis were enrolled. They were subjected to full medical history taking and clinical examination, full neurological examination on admission and discharge. Mini mental state examination (MMSE) and Wechsler memory scale (WMS) were used to assess cognitive function. The results showed that the ischemic brain insult (87.88%) followed by cranial nerves affection (32.42%) were the commonest neurological complication detected on discharge. Cognitive impairment was detected in 53.66% of patients using MMSE.WMS showed that orientation, information and logical memory were the most common affected. Cognitive and neurological complications were not statistically related to age or etiology (P>0.05). Longer duration until diagnosis (Beta = -.18, p <0.001), presence of intracranial complications (Beta = -.12, p <0.005), need for mechanical ventilation (Beta = -.79, p <0.001) and drug abuse (Beta = -0.11, p < 0.05) were significant predictors of worse outcome assessed by Glasgow outcome score.
Oligomerization preceding amyloid fibril formation: a process in common to intrinsically disordered and globular proteins

Neurodegenerative diseases present a big burden to society. At the molecular level many of them – if not all – show protein aggregation (as an epiphenomenon or as a cause). The knowledge on details of thermodynamics and kinetics as well as structure of the protein aggregates, especially the early and soluble oligomers, may help in designing inhibitors for early stages of such diseases. Here, a possible outlook on more general mechanism for their formation is discussed. The oligomers of amyloid forming proteins, which are present prior and during nucleation and amyloid fibril formation, are claimed to be toxic to cells. Oligomers of the globular proteins and the intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), form in vitro upon partial denaturation and renaturation, respectively. Often they form if the sample is heated or freeze-thawed for a few cycles. A question is asked if this does not highlight one important property in common to globular proteins and IDPs, namely, a high energetic barrier dividing such oligomers from the monomers. This also would imply existence of two populations of states, one, the monomer – being metastable – at least under the conditions, which promote fibril formation.