Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale Score Is Poorly Predictive of Proximal Occlusion in Acute Cerebral Ischemia

Background and Purpose— Multimodal imaging is gaining an important role in acute stroke. The benefit of obtaining additional clinically relevant information must be weighed against the detriment of increased cost, delaying time to treatment, and adverse events such as contrast-induced nephropathy. Use of National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score to predict a proximal arterial occlusion (PO) is suggested by several case series as a viable method of selecting cases appropriate for multimodal imaging. Methods— Six hundred ninety-nine patients enrolled in a prospective cohort study involving CT angiographic imaging in acute stroke were dichotomized according to the presence of a PO, including a subgroup of 177 subjects with middle cerebral artery M1 occlusion. Results— The median NIHSS score of patients found to have a PO was higher than the overall median (9 versus 5, P<0.0001). The median NIHSS score of patients with middle cerebral artery M1 occlusion was 14. NIHSS score ≥10 had 81% positive predictive value for PO but only 48% sensitivity with the majority of subjects with PO presenting with lower NIHSS scores. All patients with NIHSS score ≥2 would need to undergo angiographic imaging to detect 90% of PO. Conclusions— High NIHSS score correlates with the presence of a proximal arterial occlusion in patients presenting with acute cerebral ischemia. No NIHSS score threshold can be applied to select a subgroup of patients for angiographic imaging without failing to capture the majority of cases with clinically important occlusive lesions. The finding of minimal clinical deficits should not deter urgent angiographic imaging in otherwise appropriate patients suspected of acute stroke.
Adhesive systems for low formaldehyde emission wood-based panels

Concentration of cyclic polymeric structures (urons) plays an important role on the adhesive properties, such as viscosity and gel time, but also on physico-mechanical properties and formaldehyde content of particleboards. Higher urons concentration presents lower viscosity and reactivity. Particleboards produced with resins with higher uron concentration present lower formaldehyde content, but lower internal bond strength. The wood-based panels produced fulfil E1 class requirements for formaldehyde emissions, indicating that strongly acid process is an interesting alternative to the conventional alkaline-acid process. 1 N. A. Costa, D. Martins, J. Pereira, J. Martins, J. Ferra, P. Cruz, A. Mendes, F. D. Magalhaes and L. H. Carvalho, Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 2013. 130(6):4500-4507
Morphology and growth mechanism of alumina whiskers in aluminum-based metal matrix composites

A process has been invented for growing alumina (Al_2O_3) whiskers in the matrix of the aluminum-based metal matrix composite by the internal oxidation reaction between aluminum (Al) and molybdenum oxide (MoO_3) at 850 °C. The whiskers were formed during the firing stage and distributed uniformly throughout the metal matrix. The fractional volume of the whiskers was about 30%, and their average size was 1 μm in diameter and 10 μm in length. The growth mechanism of the Al_2O_3 whiskers was studied. It was found that the nutrient for the growth of the whiskers was supplied from the molten Al at the base of the whiskers where they reacted with MoO_3 forming the Al_2O_3 whiskers and the Al–Mo intermetallic phases.
Forecasting a Moving Target: Ensemble Models for ILI Case Count Predictions

Modern epidemiological forecasts of common illnesses, such as the flu, rely on both traditional surveillance sources as well as digital surveillance data. However, most published studies have been retrospective. Concurrently, the reports about flu activity generally lags by several weeks and even when published are revised for several weeks more. We posit that effectively handling this uncertainty is one of the key challenges for a real-time prediction system in this sphere. In this paper, we present a detailed prospective analysis on the generation of robust quantitative predictions about temporal trends of flu activity, using several surrogate data sources for 15 Latin American countries. We present our findings about the limitations and possible advantages of correcting the uncertainty associated with official flu estimates. We also compare the prediction accuracy between model-level fusion of different surrogate data sources against data-level fusion. Finally, we present a novel matrix factorization approach using neighborhood embedding to predict flu case counts. Comparing our proposed ensemble method against several baseline methods helps us demarcate the importance of different data sources for the countries under consideration.
Improved converses and gap-results for coded caching

Improved lower bounds on the worst-case and the average-case rate-memory tradeoffs for the Maddah-Ali&Niesen coded-caching scenario are presented. For any number of users and files and for arbitrary cache sizes, the multiplicative gap between the exact rate-memory tradeoff and the new lower bound is less than 2.315 in the worst-case scenario and less than 2.507 in the average-case scenario.
Body mass index and mortality in elderly men and women: the Tromsø and HUNT studies

Background The impact of body mass index (BMI; kg/m2) and waist circumference (WC) on mortality in elderly individuals is controversial and previous research has largely focused on obesity. Methods With special attention to the lower BMI categories, associations between BMI and both total and cause-specific mortality were explored in 7604 men and 9107 women aged ≥65 years who participated in the Tromsø Study (1994–1995) or the North-Trøndelag Health Study (1995–1997). A Cox proportional hazards model adjusted for age, marital status, education and smoking was used to estimate HRs for mortality in different BMI categories using the BMI range of 25–27.5 as a reference. The impact of each 2.5 kg/m2 difference in BMI on mortality in individuals with BMI<25.0 and BMI≥25.0 was also explored. Furthermore, the relations between WC and mortality were assessed. Results We identified 7474 deaths during a mean follow-up of 9.3 years. The lowest mortality was found in the BMI range 25–29.9 and 25–32.4 in men and women, respectively. Mortality was increased in all BMI categories below 25 and was moderately increased in obese individuals. U-shaped relationships were also found between WC and total mortality. About 40% of the excess mortality in the lower BMI range in men was explained by mortality from respiratory diseases. Conclusions BMI below 25 in elderly men and women was associated with increased mortality. A modest increase in mortality was found with increasing BMI among obese men and women. Overweight individuals (BMI 25–29.9) had the lowest mortality.
Sustainability science from space: Quantifying forest disturbance and land-use dynamics in the Amazon

Tropical deforestation is occurring at unprecedented rates, contributing as much as a fifth of annual global carbon emissions and imparting significant impacts on biodiversity, ecosystem function, livelihoods, and climate (1–3). Selective logging, removal of 1–25 canopy trees per hectare with associated levels of harvesting damage, is predicted to greatly exceed tropical deforestation in extent worldwide, but it remains largely unquantified (4). However, selective logging is highly heterogeneous not only in time and space but also in intensity of forest disturbance. Quantifying how forests are degraded by selective logging has been one of the major technical challenges in remote sensing applications to forest cover assessment. Widely available satellite imagery used to monitor global vegetation cover has a much coarser grain than that of forest disturbance created by logging. These sensor constraints are exacerbated by rapid vegetation growth that reduces indicator signals measured by optical sensors and, thus, previously prevented reliable and consistent detection of logging, especially over several years. In this issue of PNAS, Asner et al. (5) present innovative high-resolution remote sensing analyses that have generated the first automated, large-scale assessments capable of discriminating logged forest condition across vast areas of the Amazon.
Thermal radiation in finite cavities

The mode density D(v) of the electromagnetic resonances of a lossless closed cavity plays a dominant role in the theory of far-infrared radiation Standards, the Einstein coefficients of spontaneous and stimulated emission, and radiation corrections as e. g. the Lamb-shift. Refinements of the Planck-Weyl asymptotic density D0(v) for cavities of finite size are studied by computational methods involving the first IO6 eigenvalues. Averaging over the modes for a large bandwidth Av, second order corrections of the type D/Do = 1-Cr2 F"2/3 with V = volume of the cavity are obtained for a variety of cavity geometries including the parallelepiped, the circular cylinder, the sphere, the hemisphere,and cylindrical as well as spherical sectors (wedges and cones). The relation of the constantC to the edge lengths and curvatures of the cavity is investigated. The secondorder corrections resulting for the Wien displacementlaw and for the Lamb-shift are determined. The implications for the Stefan-Boltzmann radiation law as well as for the thermodynamical properties of the radiation field are studied. A rigorous connectionbetween the asymptotic spectral and total radiation formulae is established in terms of Abelian and Tauberian theorems. For narrow bandwitdh Av, fluctuations of the mode density are much stronger than the • second order average correction. The relative mean fluctuation is found to be proportional to v-HAv)-1. A new proof for the wellknown vanishing of the average first order or surface correction term is given in terms of the scalar Eand H-type wave potentials. Surface terms appear only if the JEand H-type densities DE and DH are determined separately. The surface corrections of DE and DH are equal, but have opposite signs. The correspondingfirst order refinementof the temporal autocorrelation functions of the black-body radiation field is studied. «Es ist wohl nicht überflüssig,hier zu bemerken, dass es bis jetzt noch nicht gelungen ist, eine exakte Definition eines . vollkommen schwar¬ zen' Körpers, welche sich auf beliebig lange Wellen anwendenlässt, aufzufinden. » Max Planck 1898 [136]
The Association of General and Central Obesity with Major Dietary Patterns in Adult Women Living in Tehran, Iran

BACKGROUND Using dietary pattern analysis method could provide more information about nutritional etiology of chronic disease such as obesity. The aim of this study is to determine the association between major dietary patterns and general and central obesity among adult women living in Tehran. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted in Tehran, Iran, with 460 women aged 20-50 years. Dietary intake in last year was collected by a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Weight, height and waist circumstance (WC) were measured with standard methods and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. General obesity was defined as BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 and central obesity as WC ≥ 88 cm. Factor analysis was used for identifying major dietary patterns. The association between major dietary patterns and general and central obesity were assessed by logistic regression analysis. RESULTS Two major dietary patterns were extracted: "Healthy" and "Unhealthy" dietary pattern. After adjusting for confounders, individuals in the highest quartile of the unhealthy dietary pattern score were more likely to be generally (OR = 7.33, 95% CI: 2.39-22.51) and centrally obese (OR = 4.99, 95% CI: 2.08-11.94); whereas, those in the upper quartile of healthy dietary pattern were less likely to be generally (OR = 0.38, 95% CI: 0.15-0.98) and centrally obese (OR = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.16-0.71). CONCLUSION Major dietary patterns of Tehrani women had a significant association with general and central obesity. Further prospective researches are required to confirm such associations.
System for time-resolved spectroscopy using a semiconductor picosecond laser

Optical time-resolved spectroscopy using optical fibers opens up new possibilities for research on highly scattering materials. We present a system that measures the time of fligh distribution of light propagating through such materials. The system employs a picosecond semiconductor laser, a photon counter using an avalanche photodiode working in Geiger mode and standard, gradient index profile, multimode fibers. We present the results of measurements obtained using this system and conclusions regarding the further improvement of the system.
Developing Visualization Tools for an Out-of-Order Execution Simulator

Researchers and students require visualization tools in order to efficiently evaluate microprocessor designs as they run in a simulator. The SimpleScalar toolkit, a popular and versatile program for simulating numerous processors, would benefit from such tools. While some visualization tools have been made before for SimpleScalar, few have yet supported the out-of-order execution simulator, where independent instructions are processed in parallel, out of program order. There are several factors that a designer must assess to develop visualization tools that can run on numerous hardware architectures and operating systems: code portability, the graphical user interface (GUI), and running speed. Code portability refers to the choice of programming language/languages and supported compilers and platforms, which determines the system configuration required to run the software. The design of the graphical user interface determines the effectiveness with which a user can interact with the visualization tool, and the underlying simulator itself. Both of these factors will have an effect on running speed and overall program efficiency. The visualization tool, JSimViz, addresses these factors and provides software for the student and research community.
Epidermal growth factor stimulates the recovery of glucose absorption after small bowel transplantation.

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) has been reported to enhance adaptation in damaged intestines following massive intestinal resection. Studies were performed to determine whether EGF influences the recovery of intestinal function after small bowel transplantation in rats. Recipient Lewis rats underwent resection of the distal 80% of the small bowel, which was replaced with a 20-cm isograft. EGF (30 microg/kg/day) or its vehicle (control) was infused intraperitoneally for 3 days after transplantation. After 7 days, the graft was isolated for morphologic studies and was used for analysis of glucose and water absorption and the expression of sodium glucose cotransporter (SGLT1). These were used as indicators of functional adaptation. The EGF-treated group exhibited significantly increased mucosal villous height, crypt cell proliferation, glucose and water absorption, and expression of SGLT1 protein compared to the control group. No significant differences were found in body weight change or crypt depth between the two groups. These results demonstrate that EGF augments structural and functional adaptation of intestinal grafts in rats. EGF may be useful after intestinal transplantation in patients with short bowel syndrome.
Learning a subword vocabulary based on unigram likelihood

Using words as vocabulary units for tasks like speech recognition is infeasible for many morphologically rich languages, including Finnish. Thus, subword units are commonly used for language modeling. This work presents a novel algorithm for creating a subword vocabulary, based on the unigram likelihood of a text corpus. The method is evaluated with entropy measure and a Finnish LVCSR task. Unigram entropy of the text corpus is shown to be a good indicator for the quality of higher order n-gram models, also resulting in high speech recognition accuracy.
Targeting Sensory Axon Regeneration in Adult Spinal Cord

Extensive regeneration of sensory axons into the spinal cord can be achieved experimentally after dorsal root injury, but no effort has been made to target regenerating axons and restore a normal lamina-specific projection pattern. Ectopic axon growth is potentially associated with functional disorders such as chronic pain and autonomic dysreflexia. This study was designed to target regenerating axons to normal synaptic locations in the spinal cord by combining positive and negative guidance molecules. Previously, we observed that, after dorsal rhizotomy, overexpression of NGF leads to robust regeneration and sprouting of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)-positive nociceptive axons throughout dorsal horn and ventral horns. To restrict these axons within superficial laminas, adenovirus expressing semaphorin 3A was injected into the ventral spinal cord 3 d after NGF virus injection. Semaphorin 3A expression was observed in deep dorsal and ventral cord regions and limited axon growth to laminas I and II, shaping axonal regeneration toward the normal distribution pattern. NGF and semaphorin 3A treatment also targeted the regeneration of substance P-positive nociceptive axons but had no effect on injured isolectin B4-binding nociceptive axons. Axon regeneration led to functional restoration of nociception in both NGF- and NGF/semaphorin 3A-treated rats. Although no significant difference in behavior was found between these two groups, confocal microscopy illustrated ectopic synaptic formations in deeper laminas in NGF/green fluorescent protein-treated rats. The results suggested that antagonistic guidance cues can be used to induce and refine regeneration within the CNS, which is important for long-term, optimal functional recovery.
Integrated system for ultrasonic, photoacoustic and elasticity imaging

A hybrid imaging system is proposed for cancer detection, diagnosis and therapy monitoring by integrating three complementary imaging techniques - ultrasound, photoacoustic and elasticity imaging. Indeed, simultaneous imaging of the anatomy (ultrasound imaging), cancer-induced angiogenesis (photoacoustic imaging) and changes in biomechanical properties (elasticity imaging) of tissue is based on many synergistic features of these modalities and may result in a unique and important imaging tool. To facilitate the design and development of a real-time imaging system for clinical applications, we have investigated the core components of the imaging system using numerical simulations. Differences and similarities between each imaging technique were considered and contrasted. The results of our study suggest that the integration of ultrasound, photoacoustic and elasticity imaging is possible using a custom designed imaging system.
A Novel Semi-blind Multiuser Detector for CDMA Reverse Link

In this paper, a semi-blind multi-user detection (MUD) algorithm for CDMA systems is proposed where the codes of intra-cell users are known but the codes of inter-cell users are unknown. This semi-blind multi-user detection algorithm (SB-LSCM) is a joint MUD algorithm of decorrelating algorithm and Least Square Constant Modulus (LSCM) algorithm. The proposed approach fully utilizes all known users’ information, performs non-blind detector to suppress the interferers within the cell, and exploits blind LSCM detector to suppress the remain interferences. The performance of the semi-blind LSCM detector is compared to that of the non-blind decorrelating detector and blind LSCM detector, and it is shown that the semi-blind detector can achieve a considerable performance improvement.
Design and development of an I-slot antenna for dual-band applications

In the present work, a dual band Microstrip patch antenna is designed, fabricated and tested. The proposed antenna consists of an I-slot in a rectangular patch over a partial ground which operates at higher order TM02 mode. The presented design is suitable for 3G and WLAN applications as it produces dual beams at 1.9GHz and 5.7GHz respectively. Return loss, VSWR and radiation pattern are obtained and analyzed using HFSS. Antenna is tested and measured results are also analyzed.
Analysis of measured single-hop delay from an operational backbone network

We measure and analyze the single-hop packet delay through operational routers in a backbone IP network. First we present our delay measurements through a single router. Then we identify step-by-step the factors contributing to single-hop delay. In addition to packet processing, transmission, and queueing delays, we identify the presence of very large delays due to non-work-conserving router behavior. We use a simple output queue model to separate those delay components. Our step-by-step methodology used to ohtain the pure queueing delay is easily applicable to any single-hop delay measurements. After obtaining the queueing delay, we analyze the tail of its distribution, and find that it is long tailed and fits a Weihull distrihution with the scale parameter, a = 0.5, and the shape parameter, b = 0.58 to 0.6. The measured average queueing delay is larger than predicted by M/M/l, M/G/l, and FBM models when the link utilization is below 70%, but its absolute value is quite small.
A non-homogeneous MRF model for multiresolution Bayesian estimation

The popularity of Bayesian methods in image processing applications has generated great interest in image modeling. A good image model needs to be non-homogeneous to be able to adapt to the local characteristics of the different regions in an image. In the past however, such a formulation was difficult since it was not clear as to how to choose the parameters of the non-homogeneous model. But now motivated by results in maximum likelihood parameter estimation of MRF models, we formulate in this paper a non-homogeneous Markov random field (MRF) image model in the multiresolution framework. The advantage of the multiresolution framework is two fold: first, it makes it possible to estimate the parameters of the nonhomogeneous MRF at any resolution by using the image at the coarser resolution. Second, it yields multiresolution algorithms which are computationally efficient and more robust than their single resolution counterparts. Experimental results in tomographic image reconstruction and optical flow computation problems verify the superior modeling provided by the new model.
A new improvement to the Powell and Chau linear phase IIR filters

An improvement to the realization of the linear-phase IIR filters is described. It is based on the rearrangement of the numerator polynomials of the IIR filter functions that are used in the real-time realizations proposed in literature. The new realization has better total harmonic distortion when a sine input is used, and it has smaller phase and group delay errors due to finite section length.
Robust PCA with partial subspace knowledge

In recent work, robust PCA has been posed as a problem of recovering a low-rank matrix L and a sparse matrix S from their sum, M := L + S and a provably exact convex optimization solution called PCP has been proposed. Suppose that we have a partial estimate of the column subspace of the low rank matrix L. Can we use this information to improve the PCP solution, i.e. allow recovery under weaker assumptions? We propose here a simple modification of the PCP idea, called modified-PCP, that allows us to use this knowledge. We derive its correctness result which shows that modified-PCP indeed requires significantly weaker incoherence assumptions than PCP, when the available subspace knowledge is accurate. Extensive simulations are also used to illustrate this. Finally, we explain how this problem naturally occurs in many applications involving time series data, e.g. in separating a video sequence into foreground and background layers, in which the subspace spanned by the background images is not fixed but changes over time and the changes are gradual. A corollary for this case is also given.