Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
FCHD: Fast and accurate head detection in crowded scenes

In this paper, we propose FCHD-Fully Convolutional Head Detector, an end-to-end trainable head detection model. Our proposed architecture is a single fully convolutional network which is responsible for both bounding box prediction and classification. This makes our model lightweight with low inference time and memory requirements. Along with run-time, our model has better overall average precision (AP) which is achieved by selection of anchor sizes based on the effective receptive field of the network. This can be concluded from our experiments on several head detection datasets with varying head counts. We achieve an AP of 0.70 on a challenging head detection dataset which is comparable to some standard benchmarks. Along with this our model runs at 5 FPS on Nvidia Quadro M1000M for VGA resolution images. Code is available at this https URL.
The role of general and number-specific order processing in adults’ arithmetic performance

ABSTRACT Digit order processing is highly related to individual differences in arithmetic performance. To examine whether serial scanning or associative mechanisms underlie order processing, order tasks (i.e. deciding whether three digits were presented in an order or not) were administered in two experiments. In the first experiment, digits were presented in different directions namely ascending, descending and non-ordered. For each direction, close and far distance sequences were presented. Results revealed reversed distance effects for ordered sequences, but ascending sequences elicited faster performance and stronger reversed distance effects than descending sequences, suggesting that associative mechanisms underlie order processing. In the second experiment, it was examined to which extent the relation between order processing and arithmetic is number-specific by presenting order tasks with digits, letters and months. In all order tasks similar distance effects were observed and similar relations with arithmetic were found, suggesting that both general associative mechanisms and number-specific mechanisms contribute to arithmetic.
The Therapeutic Potential of Human Milk Oligosaccharides in the Context of Chronic Inflammation

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMO) are complex unconjugated glycans that are known to benefit infant health. Preliminary data suggest that pooled HMO reduce the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in macrophages. The study identified 3’sialyllactose (3’SL) as a specific HMO responsible for the reported anti-inflammatory effects and defined the underlying molecular mechanisms using various macrophage models. The observed effects were further translated to in vivo efficacy in a mouse model of RA . These findings hold promise for the commercial application of 3’SL as a treatment of RA and other chronic inflammatory disorders, in both children and adults.
Identification of primary sensory neurons that mediate mechanical allodynia

Mechanical allodynia is a type of neuropathic pain in which innocuous touch evokes severe pain. Despite several years of research, the primary sensory neurons that mediate allodynia still remain unidentified. In this study, we demonstrate that a population of low threshold mechanoreceptors expressing TrkB mediates the input that produces pain from light touch after nerve injury. Using an inducible Cre line driven from the TrkB gene locus, we show that TrkB is expressed in Dhairs and RA Ab-mechanoreceptors. Ablation of TrkB positive neurons leads to reduction in sensitivity to the gentle touch under naive conditions, and failure to develop mechanical allodynia in a nerve injury model of neuropathic pain. Also, selective optogenetic activation of these neurons evokes marked nocifensive behavior after nerve injury. Furthermore, we develop a phototherapeutic strategy based on the ligand for TrkB to perform ligand-mediated photoablation of TrkB positive afferents. Using this approach we show that selective photo-ablation of TrkB afferents in the skin results in a pronounced rescue of mechanical allodynia in multiple models of neuropathic pain. We thus identify the peripheral neurons which transmit pain from light touch and establish a novel therapeutic strategy for its treatment.
Low power design of turbo decoder module with exploration of energy-performance trade-offs

Turbo coding has become an attractive scheme for design of current communication systems, providing near optimal bit error rates for data transmission at low signal to noise ratios. However, it is as yet unsuitable for use in mobile systems owing to the high energy consumption of current implementations of the scheme. Due to the data dominated nature of the decoder, a memory organization providing sufficient bandwidth is the main bottleneck for energy. We have developed the Data Transfer and Storage Exploration methodology to optimize and trade off energy consumption and performance. This paper discusses the exploration of the cycle budget versus energy trade-off for the turbo decoder module, which was obtained using our storage cycle budget distribution tool.
Associations between the lipid profile and the development of hypertension in young individuals – the preliminary study

Introduction Hypertension is the leading direct cause of death in the world and one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Elevated blood pressure (BP) often coexists with lipid disorders and is an additional factor that increases CV risk. Nowadays, we are able to distinguish low density lipoproteins (LDL) and high density lipoproteins (HDL) subfractions. Except LDL also HDL small subfractions can increase the risk of CV events. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the associations between changes of lipoprotein subfractions and the risk of hypertension development. Material and methods In 2-year long study 200 volunteers with normal blood pressure at the age of 19–32 years were included. Each volunteer underwent detailed medical examination, 12-lead electrocardiogram was taken at rest, echocardiogram, lipid subfraction assessment (using Lipoprint®) and two 24-hour BP measurements. Results Mean total cholesterol concentration was 189 mg/dl (4.89 mmol/l), with mean LDL concentration of 107 mg/dl (2.77 mmol/l), HDL of 63 mg/dl (1.63 mmo/l), very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) of 40 mg/dl (1.04 mmol/l) and triglycerides (TG) of 89 mg/dl (1.00 mmol/l). Subfractions LDL 1–3 were most abundant, LDL 4–5 making up a marginal portion and LDL 6–7 were not observed. Whereas, subfractions HDL 4–6 were most abundant, in lower concentration was present HDL 1–3 and HDL 8–10. We showed that increased systolic blood pressure coreclated significantly with HDL cholesterol concentrations (p = 0.0078), HDL intermediate subgractions (p = 0.0451), with HDL-3 subfraction (p = 0.0229), and intermediate density lipoprotein-A (IDL-A) (p = 0.038). A significant correlation between increased diastolic blood pressure and HDL lipoprotein levels (p = 0.0454) was only observed. Conclusions Obtained results indicating correlation between total HDL levels and HDL-3 subfraction concentration (for systolic BP) and the tendency to develop hypertension.
Factors affecting aggressive oral tongue cancer invasion and development of in vitro models for chemoradiotherapy assay

Tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) are linked to the invasion of oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC). We modified THP-1 leukemia cells to M1 (inflammatory), M2 (TAM-like) and R848 (imidazoquinoline-treated) type macrophages in order to examine their interactions with OTSCC-cells (HSC-3) by using different kinds of in vitro migration and invasion models. We observed that interaction of TAM-resembling M2-type macrophages with HSC-3 cells induced invasion and migration, whereas the influence of M1 macrophages reduced them. Patient response to chemoradiotherapy is highly reliant on the characteristics such as the aggressiveness and stage of the cancer. Therefore, new methods for treatment testing are needed in order to design personalized therapies. We tested the applicability and consistency of human TME mimicking tissue methods for analyzing the effects of chemoradiation using commercial OTSCC cell lines. Based on our trials, both our human uterine leiomyoma tissue -based matrix models provide viable platforms for future in vitro chemoradiotherapy testing. Conventionally pro-tumorigenic activities of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)9 have been linked with oral squamous cell carcinoma, but recently its tumor-suppressor role has also been revealed. Our study provides strong evidence that MMP9 also has an anti-invasive effect in OTSCC and is a potential mediator of the protective effects of arresten in tongue cancer cells.
Infecções Respiratórias de Importância Clínica: uma Revisão Sistemática

Introduction: Respiratory diseases are defined as infections that obstruct the air passage both at the upper and lower respiratory tract and are among the infections with the highest morbidity and mortality rate in the world. Objectives: This study aims to analyze the respiratory infections of clinical importance and their main etiological agents, compiling the types of infections, the most prevalent etiological agents, and the main study sites. Materials and Methods: This is a systematic review performed through articles published between 2010 and 2016 in Portuguese, Spanish, and English. The electronic collect was conducted using the MEDLINE / PubMed and BVS databases and using the following descriptors, respiratory tract infection, epidemiology, mortality, and transmission, indexed in Medical Subject Headings database (MeSH). Results: Following the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 33 studies were selected for review. It was noticeable the high index of publications of Brazil referring to the subject, followed by China, USA, Austria and United Kingdom. It was observed that most of the studies mentioned influenza as the predominant respiratory clinical pathology. It is evident that the main cause of the respiratory infections was the viral etiologic agent followed by bacteria. Conclusion: We found a high geographical distribution of the studies related to the topic, where Brazil was highlighted as the country in which there were more publications. However, the subject is still little discussed given the socioeconomic impact caused by it. Concerning the etiological agents that cause respiratory infections, viruses prevailed, suggesting a better diagnostic approach to this type of infection. Key words: Respiratory Tract Infection. Epidemiology. Mortality. Transmission, Viral Infection, Bacterial Infection.
Procalcitonin as an Early Predictor of Septic Complications after Elective Colon Surgery: A Comparative Study versus Interleukin-6 and C-reactive Protein

This study aimed to assess the utility of estimation of plasma Procalcitonin (PCT) and serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP), as early (within 24 h after surgery) predictors of postoperative septic complications in patients who underwent elective colonic resection for malignant disease. The study included 40 patients and 10 healthy subjects as controls for the preoperative values. Patients were observed at ICU for their first 5 postoperative days for the development of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), sepsis, severe sepsis or septic shock that were defined according to Bone's criteria. Patients were allocated into 3 groups on the basis of signs of sepsis: Group A (No SIRS/Sepsis), Group B (SIRS) and Group C (Sepsis) group. Blood samples were obtained the day before surgery (Day-0) and at the morning of the first postoperative day (Day-1) for estimation of serum CRP and IL-6 and plasma PCT. Eight patients developed SIRS and 9 patients progressed to sepsis with a total morbidity rate of 42.5%. One patient developed septic shock and died with a mortality rate of 2.5%. Day-0 serum CRP and plasma PCT showed nonsignificant difference, while Day-0 serum IL-6 was significantly higher compared to control levels. However, Day-1 levels of the three parameters were significantly higher compared to their Day-0 levels. Day-1 serum levels of CRP showed nonsignificant difference between the three study groups; however, Day-1 serum IL-6 was non-significantly higher in group B but was significantly higher in group C compared to its levels in group A with a non-significant increase in group C compared to group B . Day-1 plasma levels of PCT were significantly higher in groups B and C compared to its levels in group A with a significant increase in group C compared to group B. There was a positive significant correlation between the frequency of occurrence of SIRS and/or septic complication with levels of serum IL-6 and of plasma PCT, while the correlation was positive non-significant with serum CRP levels and ROC curve analysis showed that plasma PCT levels were highly specific (AUC=0.928), followed by serum levels of IL-6 (AUC=0.763) and serum CRP was the least specific parameter (AUC=0.498). It could be concluded that PCT can be used as a reliable diagnostic parameter to detect and to monitor infectious complications in the postoperative period after colonic surgery and can be detected before the occurrence of clinical infection, especially in patients suspected to be at higher risk for development of SIRS or septic complications. Bull. Egypt. Soc. Physiol. Sci. 26 (2) 2006 Abdel Sattar et al.
Potential Risk Factors of Developmental Cognitive Delay in the First Two Years of Life

BACKGROUND: The first two years of life constitute a critical period of rapid change. The events during this phase prepare the child for subsequent developmental competency. AIM: To determine the potential risk factors that affect an infant’s cognitive development in the first two years of life in a sample of Egyptian infants SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional comparative study included 655 male and female infants. Their age ranged from 3 – 24 months. Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (Bayley III) were used for cognitive assessment. Perinatal and nutritional data were recorded. Levels of serum Zinc, Copper, Iron, vitamin B12 and complete blood count (CBC) were assessed in a subsample of 193 infants. RESULTS: Infants having below the average cognitive composite score (CCS) represented 38.47% of the whole sample. The risk of having a low average (CCS) was determined by multiple factors. Poor maternal education and low family income were the most significant social risk factors (OR = 2.19, p = 0.0003; OR = 1.64, p = 0.002 respectively). Prematurity and complicated labor represented significant perinatal risks (OR = 1.22, p = 0.005; OR = 2.39, p =0.001respectively). Bottle feeding versus breastfeeding in the first six months of life was the most significant nutritional predictor of low average (CCS) (OR = 1.79, p = 0.001). Infants with low average (CCS) had significantly lower levels of serum zinc and vitamin B12 than those with average scores. CONCLUSION: Multiple factors appear to interact affecting the early cognitive development of Egyptian infants. Prematurity, complicated labour, poor maternal education, low family income and micronutrient deficiency are the main risk factors. Studying these factors is of great value in directing governmental intervention efforts.
Neurodevelopmental outcomes following severe hand foot and mouth disease in Vietnam

In 2011, more than 160 children died in an unprecedented outbreak of Hand foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in Vietnam, predominantly associated with enterovirus 71 (EV-A71). The occurrence of encephalitis outbreaks in children at vulnerable developmental stages raised concerns of long-term consequences. Limited retrospective outcome studies in the literature lack either a healthy comparison group or a locally validated neurodevelopmental assessment tool. Brain MRI retrospective observations identified stereotypical patterns of brainstem lesions predominantly in severe EV-A71 HFMD cases with conflicting opinions on the prognostic role of MRI. I adapted the “Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (3rd edition)” for Vietnam and demonstrated that the adaptation was reliable and valid. I conducted a prospective observational cohort study to test the hypothesis that children with severe HFMD, graded per Vietnam Ministry of Health classification, would have lower cognitive, language and motor Z scores than a healthy comparison group. All HFMD cases had virological samples taken and a sample of severe HFMD cases had brain MRI scans. All Z score 95% confidence intervals were within 2 standard deviations of the comparative healthy cohort mean suggesting outcomes at six months were not significantly lower than the healthy comparative group. I identified novel nonspecific brain white matter abnormalities on MRI in all severity grades, lower motor Z scores in grade 2b children with MRI abnormalities and that Coxsackievirus A10 (CV-A10) was significantly associated with MRI abnormalities. These findings support surveillance of all enteroviruses during HFMD outbreaks and suggest MRI may be predictive of motor impairment in a subset of severe HFMD cases. No significant impairment was identified at six months follow-up, but more complex developmental skills are yet to emerge. Hence the study continues for an eighteen-month follow up to robustly determine emergence of long-term sequelae.
The Examination of Injuries in Dancers

The purpose of the present study was to examine the incidence of the injuries in dancers. A hundred and sixty eight dancers (135 women and 33 men) 23.17+6.43 years old, members of different dancing clubs, participated in the research. All the subjects participated only in dancing programs for learning, performing and practicing in any kind of dance and no other form of physical activity, and filled the instrument of measurements concerning general questions as well as questions about injury incidence. For data analysis, descriptive analysis and Pearson chi-square test of the SPSS version 17 for windows, were used. From the results it was shown that the biggest percentage of dancers take hip-hop (25.1%) and Latin American lessons (18.6%). Moreover, the dancers are involved in European dances, classic ballet, modern dance, oriental dances and Greek dances. The subjects participated in dance programs for 4.44 + 4.45 years, 3.16+1.63 days a week, for 2.29+1.30 hours a day. According to the dancersrsquo statements, 44.62% of them have suffered an injury. The most usual kinds of injuries are muscle strains (22.9%), muscular spasms-cramps (20.15%), callus (13.18%), sprains (12.53%), blisters (11.80%) and abrasions (11.10%). Also, in smaller percentages follow the fractures (3.48%), hematomas (3.48%) and dislocations (1.38%). The most significant causes of the injuries are poor warming-up (21.92%), fatigue (16.64%), clumsiness (15.68%), bad technique (10.48%), and concentration (10%), and nbspin smaller percentages performance pressure (7.12%), shoes (5.2%), partner and floor (4.8% both), hour of the day (1.44%), as well as competition and space tightness (7.96% both). Most of the dancers of the present sample (34%), who had an injury, overcame it with medication, 25% needed further medical examinations and 20% overcame the injury with rehabilitation. 16% of the dancers needed rest, while fortunately, only 5% overcame the injury with a surgery. Finally, most of the dancers of the present sample (63.76%) consider that dance teachers, as well as dancing clubs, are concerned very much with injuries prevention (63.76%). Consequently, recognizing, resolving, but above all, preventing the causes of injuries is very important concerning injuriesrsquo avoidance, good physical condition of dancers, reduction of training time loss, continuation of professional career, and continuation of dancing activity of those who have finished their career or are not professionally engaged in dancing.
Sagittal Alignment After Laminectomy Without Fusion as Treatment for Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy: Follow-up of Minimum 4 Years Postoperatively

Objectives: The aims of this study were to evaluate the incidence of sagittal malalignment including kyphosis following cervical laminectomy without fusion as treatment for cervical spondylotic myelopathy and to assess any correlation between malalignment and clinical outcome. Study Design: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: In all, 60 patients were followed up with conventional radiography at an average of 8 years postoperatively. The cervical lordosis (C2-C7 Cobb angle), C2-C7 sagittal vertical axis (cSVA) and C7 slope were measured on both preoperative and postoperative images. Patients completed a questionnaire covering Neck Disability Index (NDI), visual analogue scale for neck pain, and general health (EQ-5D). Results: Mean C2-C7 Cobb angle was 8.6° (SD 9.0) preoperatively, 3.4° (10.7) postoperatively and 9.6° (14.5) at follow-up. Ultimately, 3 patients showed >20° cervical kyphosis. Mean cSVA was 16.3 mm (SD 10.2) preoperatively, 20.6 mm (11.8) postoperatively, and 31.6 mm (11.8) at follow-up. Mean C7 slope was 20.4° (SD 8.9) preoperatively, 18.4° (9.4) postoperatively, and 32.6° (10.2) at follow-up. The preoperative to follow-up increase in cSVA and C7 slope was statistically significant (both P < .0001), but not for cervical lordosis. The preoperative to follow-up change in cSVA correlated moderately with preoperative cSVA (r = 0.43, P = .002), as did the corresponding findings regarding C7 slope (r = 0.52, P = .0001). A comparison of radiographic measurements with clinical outcome showed no strong correlations. Conclusions: No preoperative to follow-up change in cervical lordosis was found in this group; 5.0% developed >20° kyphosis. No clear correlation between sagittal alignment and clinical outcome was shown.
LAGRANGIAN ERRORS: FEATURE RELATIVE VERIFICATION

Fehnel, Bradely J. MS, Purdue University, December 2015. Lagrangian Errors: Feature Relative Verification. Major Professor: Michael Baldwin. A method of forecast verification is introduced that examines the errors in forecasts relative to a specific weather feature. The method is demonstrated on cyclones in and around North America during the winter season of 2013-2014. A simple method for identifying cyclone centers is employed based on the location of relative maximums in relative vorticity and relative minimums in height at the 850 hPa level. A grid is created, centered on the cyclone, onto which the forecast and observed values are interpolated. Errors are created from the difference between the forecast and observation. The errors from each cyclone are collected to make an error series and the mean error for each grid point is found. In this way, errors are analyzed ”following” the feature(s), in a Lagrangian sense, as opposed to a more traditional method which allows weather features to be created in or pass through a fixed geographical region, in an Eulerian sense. Significance testing is performed in order to determine if the mean error field is field significant. The intent of this new method is to allow forecasters to know and understand the errors when a particular weather event is forecasted and to ultimately make better forecasts with that knowledge. Additionally, model developers will be able to learn how the model handles a weather feature to allow for better development in future iterations of the model.