Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Catheters and guide wires for interventional MRI: are we there yet?

Clinical feasibility of interventional MRI has been shown for a number of procedures. However, MRI-guided endovascular interventions have not yet reached clinical routine due to the lack of suitable MR safe or MR conditional and MR visible devices. In this article, some of the MR tools currently under development are reviewed. Good handling and MR visibility properties both are critical factors for successful application of such novel devices. Finally, we argue that it is only when both MR catheters and guidewires are available on the market that real progress and impact will be made in the field of interventional MRI.
Greenstone: Open-Source Digital Library Software

The Greenstone digital library software is an open‐source system for the construction and presentation of information collections. Collections built with Greenstone offer effective full‐text searching and metadata‐based browsing facilities that are attractive and easy to use. Moreover, they are easily maintainable and can be augmented and rebuilt entirely automatically. The system is extensible: software “plugins” accommodate different document and metadata types. Greenstone incorporates an interface that makes it easy for people to create their own library collections. Collections may be built and served locally from the user’s own Web server, or (given appropriate permissions) remotely on a shared digital library host. End users can easily build new collections styled after existing ones from material on the Web or from their local files (or both), and collections can be updated and new ones brought online at any time.
Fuzzy Evaluation of Network Vulnerability

Vulnerability of networks is not only associated with the ability to resist disturbances but also has an impact on stable development of the networks in the long run. In this paper, a new vulnerability evaluation based on fuzzy logics is proposed. To obtain the vulnerability of the networks, fuzzy logic is utilized to model uncertain environment. Therefore, this evaluation can be divided into two steps. One is to use a graph to represent the network and analyze the main properties of the network, including average path length, edge betweenness, degree, and clustering coefficient. The other is to use fuzzy logics according to the main properties. Namely, this step is to calculate deviations, design rule database, and obtain vulnerability. Two examples are given to show the efficiency and practicability of the proposed method at the end. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Axonal Neuropathies due to Mutations in Small Heat Shock Proteins: Clinical, Genetic, and Functional Insights into Novel Mutations

In this study, we describe the phenotypic spectrum of distal hereditary motor neuropathy caused by mutations in the small heat shock proteins HSPB1 and HSPB8 and investigate the functional consequences of newly discovered variants. Among 510 unrelated patients with distal motor neuropathy, we identified mutations in HSPB1 (28 index patients/510; 5.5%) and HSPB8 (four index patients/510; 0.8%) genes. Patients have slowly progressive distal (100%) and proximal (13%) weakness in lower limbs (100%), mild lower limbs sensory involvement (31%), foot deformities (73%), progressive distal upper limb weakness (29%), mildly raised serum creatine kinase levels (100%), and central nervous system involvement (9%). We identified 12 HSPB1 and four HSPB8 mutations, including five and three not previously reported. Transmission was either dominant (78%), recessive (3%), or de novo (19%). Three missense mutations in HSPB1 (Pro7Ser, Gly53Asp, and Gln128Arg) cause hyperphosphorylation of neurofilaments, whereas the C‐terminal mutant Ser187Leu triggers protein aggregation. Two frameshift mutations (Leu58fs and Ala61fs) create a premature stop codon leading to proteasomal degradation. Two mutations in HSPB8 (Lys141Met/Asn) exhibited increased binding to Bag3. We demonstrate that HSPB1 and HSPB8 mutations are a major cause of inherited motor axonal neuropathy. Mutations lead to diverse functional outcomes further demonstrating the pleotropic character of small heat shock proteins.
Evaluation of rise in common mode voltage with variation in switching frequency for two level inverter fed induction motor drive

Common mode voltage (CMV) and switching frequency of an inverter fed induction motor drive are dependent quantities. Increase in common mode voltage (CMV) with increase in switching frequency for induction motor drive is studied in this paper. Conventional sinusoidal pulse width modulation technique is used to drive an inverter fed induction motor. It is demonstrated that the peak value of CMV increases by an amount of 5% with respect to DC bus voltage for increase in switching frequency from 1 kHz to 16 kHz. This may cause severe damage to motor drive when inverter is operated at higher switching frequencies in order to reduce size and overall cost of the drive. It is suggested to take preventive measures towards reduction or mitigation of CMV while operating wide band-gap semiconductor devices based highly efficient and compact motor drives. As these switches are operated at higher switching frequencies, unacceptable rise in CMV should be minimized.
The SKILL Card. An acuity test of reduced luminance and contrast. Smith-Kettlewell Institute Low Luminance.

PURPOSE To design and evaluate a new vision test that combines low contrast and reduced illumination to stress the visual system and be sensitive to subtle alterations in function. METHODS A simple new clinical test, the Smith-Kettlewell Institute Low Luminance (SKILL) Card, is designed to measure spatial vision under conditions of reduced contrast and luminance using normal office lighting. The SKILL Card consists of two near acuity charts mounted back to back. One side has a chart with black letters on a dark gray background designed to simulate reduced contrast and luminance conditions. The other side has a high-contrast, black-on-white letter chart. The SKILL score is the acuity loss (number of letters) between the light and dark sides. RESULTS Age norms for a large normal population have been established and show that test scores increase with age, particularly after age 50. Repeatability is as good as that of standard Snellen acuity. The SKILL score is affected minimally by blur, but it is affected by large variations in light level. SKILL scores are sensitive to the presence of visual disease such as "recovered" optic neuritis. CONCLUSIONS The SKILL card allows quick, reliable measurement of the effect of reduced luminance and contrast on acuity SKILL scores are not correlated with other vision measures in patients with optic neuritis, which shows that the SKILL card measures a different dimension of vision function than existing clinical tests.
RNA Recognition Motif 2 of Yeast Pab1p Is Required for Its Functional Interaction with Eukaryotic Translation Initiation Factor 4G

ABSTRACT The eukaryotic mRNA 3′ poly(A) tail and its associated poly(A)-binding protein (Pab1p) are important regulators of gene expression. One role for this complex in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is in translation initiation through an interaction with a 115-amino-acid region of the translation initiation factor eIF4G. The eIF4G-interacting domain of Pab1p was mapped to its second RNA recognition motif (RRM2) in an in vitro binding assay. Moreover, RRM2 of Pab1p was required for poly(A) tail-dependent translation in yeast extracts. An analysis of a site-directed Pab1p mutation which bound to eIF4G but did not stimulate translation of uncapped, polyadenylated mRNA suggested additional Pab1p-dependent events during translation initiation. These results support the model that the association of RRM2 of yeast Pab1p with eIF4G is a prerequisite for the poly(A) tail to stimulate the translation of mRNA in vitro.
Instrumenting and monitoring the LarKC reasearch infrastructure

Reasoning is central to the idea of the Semantic Web and ontologies, however, the fundamental principles of reasoning - soundness and completeness - do not match the reality of the (Semantic) Web that is ruled by contradicting and incomplete data and claims. Furthermore, logical reasoning is strong for rather small numbers of axioms and facts, while the Web is growing at an impressive speed and hence offering tremendous amounts of data. ‘Reasearch’ is a novel idea of combining reasoning with information retrieval methods (search) in order to respond to the requirements and constraints implied by reasoning on the Semantic Web. The Large Knowledge Collider is a modular reasoning platform that allows for reasearching with Web-scale data, and instrumenting and monitoring the platform is essential for verifying and assuring high performance, adaptability and well-functioning. These aspects are vital for experiments running on the platform.
Group Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Review

Behavioral therapy utilizing exposure and response prevention (ERP) is considered the psychosocial treatment of choice for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Individual ERP treatment is the most common therapy format, and much of the empirical support for ERP is based upon studies of OCD subjects treated individually. However, there are numerous advantages of delivering this effective intervention in a group format, including cost savings to patients and time-efficiency for ERP therapists. This review summarizes the 12 adult trials and 4 adolescent trials of group behavioral therapy for OCD conducted to date. The paper also describes a typical group therapy protocol in detail and describes the costs and benefits of delivering ERP for OCD in a group format. [Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention 3:217–229 (2003)]
On the error performance bound of ordered statistics decoding of linear block codes

In this paper, a novel simplified statistical approach to evaluate the error performance bound of Ordered Statistics Decoding (OSD) of Linear Block Codes (LBC) is investigated. First, we propose a novel statistic which depicts the number of errors contained in the ordered received noisy codeword. Then, simplified expressions for the probability mass function and cumulative distribution function are derived exploiting the implicit statistical independence property of the samples of the received noisy codeword before reordering. Second, we incorporate the properties of this new statistic to derive the simplified error performance bound of the OSD algorithm for all order-I reprocessing. Finally, with the proposed approach, we obtain computationally simpler error performance bounds of the OSD than those proposed in literature for all length LBCs.
A Collaborative Analysis of Exploration of Swine Influenza transmission

Influenza A viruses (IAVs) may infect humans through interspecies transmission in live animal markets. Dr. Montse Torremorell from the College of Veterinary Medicine was interested in investigating potential routes for occupational exposure and evaluating the risk of interspecies transmission. Through the UMN Statistical Consulting Clinic, we collaborated with Dr. Torremorell to test whether there is difference of quantity of influenza virus in different seasons and different markets, and to explore the relationship among quantity of virus, clinical condition of swine and environmental elements. Using techniques including t-test, Agresti-Caffo proportion test and Kendall’s correlation test, we determined that there is a significant difference of quantity of virus in the air between winter and summer. Our work indicated a dependent relationship between virus in the air and quantity of virus on the surfaces and demonstrated the air is a potential route of virus transmission. An additional data set with a similar scientific background was studied after the summer consulting services. The goal was to detect the common pattern of the time that virus last in different farms. Analysis focused on model fitting and observing the duration of virus. Although our fitted model may not be used for further prediction due to the sample size, it allowed us to practice the model developing skills and have a direction for further analysis.
Time Trends and Occupational Risk Factors for Peritoneal Mesothelioma in Sweden

Epidemiologic data on peritoneal mesothelioma are scarce but exposure to asbestos is an identified risk factor. To characterize the disease, time trends, age-incidence relationships, and occupational risk factors for peritoneal mesothelioma were studied based on the Swedish Family-Database covering years 1961 to 1998. Peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare disease and only 96 male and 113 female cases were recorded during the 38-year period. Age-standardized incidence of the disease has increased for men until 1985 and leveled off thereafter. The incidence in women has been equally high but it has continued to increase toward the end of the follow-up period. The incidence was maximal at an age around 80 years for both genders. No female occupational or socioeconomic group was at risk. For men, 29% of the cases had typical asbestos related jobs with a SIR of 1.70. Bricklayers and plumbers had the highest risk of 7.22 and 5.12, respectively. Within limits of the sample size, no evidence was noted for risk from environmental exposures to asbestos because the risk of farmers and that of urban residents were not different.
Insomnia and Mental Health in College Students

Insomnia is strongly associated with certain mental health problems in the general population. However, there is little research examining this relation in young adults—an age group where many mental health problems first present. This study examined relations between insomnia and mental health symptoms in a college population (N = 373; 60.9% women; mean age of 21 years). Insomnia was assessed via self-report and sleep diaries, and mental health was assessed via the Symptom Check List–90. Analyses revealed insomnia was prevalent (9.4%), and these young adults had significantly more mental health problems than those without insomnia, although some significant results were lost after controlling for comorbid health problems.
Acoustic Scattering into Shadow Zones from Atmospheric Turbulence

Abstract : When acoustic scattering estimates are desired from atmospheric regions containing fully developed isotropic homogeneous turbulence, scattering formulas based upon statistical representations of the turbulence well represent the experimental results. However, there is a class of battlefield scenarios where these provisos of fully developed, isotropic and homogeneous sometimes do not apply. The example of this class that is most familiar is that of source and detector near the ground. At ground level, the wind velocity is zero, while at altitude it is not. Thus a gradient of wind velocity exists. There exists often a temperature gradient caused by heating or cooling of the air by contact with the ground. These gradients are recognized in propagation codes by modeling the atmosphere as stratified with each stratum bounded by planes parallel to the assumed flat ground. The anisotropy of the atmosphere near the ground recognized in propagation codes carries over into the generation of turbulence. The above discussion leads to the conclusion that anisotropy in turbulence is to be expected in scenarios played out near the ground, scenarios common to Army operations. The understanding that high sound levels in shadow zones (those regions in an acoustical field in which no sound can reach if the field is determined by ray theory) is caused by scattering from turbulence is very important. This importance arises from the possibility that shadow zone sensors may be used to achieve passive non-line-of-sight detection of enemy assets. This paper unites the above considerations by calculating the shadow zone signal level for a representative battlefield scenario using a structural model of turbulence.
How Do We Deal With Dissection After Angioplasty?

Over the last decades, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) has evolved as the first-line approach to peripheral artery disease. The mechanism consists of abrupt plaque fracture, vessel wall stretching, and subsequent remodeling over time. However, acute vessel damage is quite common, and it may vary from simple plaque rupture with a non-flow-limiting dissection to a more severe flow-limiting dissection or acute vessel thrombosis. It is noteworthy that subintimal tears may initiate a reactive inflammation process leading to restenosis. Thus, the long-term effects of a dissection, according to its severity, could involve the development of intimal hyperplasia and restenosis. On the other hand, thanks to arterial remodeling, dissection flaps tend to decrease in number and extent over long-term follow-up; still, owing to the risk of stenosis, stent deployment (i.e., provisional stenting) is generally performed in cases of dissection secondary to conventional PTA. Even though flow-limiting dissections can affect clinical outcome, the question is: do all these dissections require stenting? In this issue of the JEVT, Tepe and colleagues analyze the midterm outcomes of vessel injury in the form of non-flow-limiting dissection among a historical cohort from the THUNDER (Local Taxan with Short Exposure for Reduction of Restenosis in Distal Arteries) trial. The randomized, controlled, doubleblinded THUNDER study was designed to evaluate the effect of local paclitaxel administration via a drug-coated balloon (DCB) on the restenosis rate after interventions in the superficial femoral artery (SFA) and the popliteal artery. In comparison with standard balloon angioplasty, short-term exposure of the inner vessel wall to the paclitaxel-coated balloon effectively reduced restenosis up to 1 year. The incidence of a flow-limiting dissection after conventional femoropopliteal PTA has been reported by many studies and randomized controlled trials to range from 7.4% to 53% of cases. The initial rates of flowlimiting dissection using DCB were around 32% to 50%. However, in most recent studies, lower rates of flow-limiting dissection after angioplasty with DCB have been documented (9.6% in an Italian registry, 7.4% in the DEBELLUM trial), so the use of DCB has led to a lower rate of provisional stenting. These positive outcomes have been related to the recent introduction of the ‘‘optimal PTA’’ technique, in which angioplasty is performed as correctly as possible, inflating the balloon very slowly and keeping it inflated for more than 1 minute, thus reducing the incidence of plaque dissection. At present, the correct time to keep a DCB inflated is 2 minutes: the first 30 to 60 seconds are required for drug transfer and the rest of the time is needed to
Fast estimation of memory consumption for energy-efficient compilers

Efficient embedded computing requires extended compiler awareness of the underlying hardware platform: execution time and energy consumption estimates should guide optimization. Conventional compilers employ rough (energy-unaware) estimates for fast decision making. Real-time compilers quickly determine bounds for WCET, but ignore energy. Embedded compilers accurately estimate average time/energy but require time-consuming profiling. We propose a novel estimation method based on energy-aware Abstract Interpretation from cache configuration and target technology. Our estimates exhibit derivatives that are as accurate as those obtained by profiling, but are computed at least 1000 times faster, being suitable for driving embedded code optimizations through iterative improvement.
Iatrogenic right coronary artery stenosis resulting from surgical tricuspid valve replacement

Iatrogenic injury to the right coronary artery (RCA) is a rare complication of tricuspid valve surgery. We herein describe the first‐ever report of RCA injury related to tricuspid valve replacement surgery. A 38‐year‐old man with recurrent tricuspid endocarditis underwent redo tricuspid valve replacement by means of a minimally invasive right thoracotomy with a 32‐mm St. Jude bioprosthetic valve. His post‐operative course was complicated by pulseless ventricular tachycardia requiring CPR and defibrillation. Cardiac catheterization revealed a “kinked” stenotic distal RCA. The lesion was noted to be flow limiting by fractional flow reserve and was treated with two everolimus‐eluting stents. The RCA runs in the atrioventricular groove and is susceptible to injury especially in the region of the posterior leaflet of the tricuspid valve, where the relationship of the tricuspid annulus to the RCA is most intimate. Repair of surgically induced coronary stenosis can be accomplished with percutaneous intervention. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The effect of superdisintegrants on the properties and dissolution profiles of liquisolid tablets containing rosuvastatin

Abstract Context: The preparation of liquisolid systems (LSS) represents a promising method for enhancing a dissolution rate and bioavailability of poorly soluble drugs. The release of the drug from LSS tablets is affected by many factors, including the disintegration time. Objective: The evaluation of differences among LSS containing varying amounts and types of commercially used superdisintegrants (Kollidon® CL-F, Vivasol® and Explotab®). Materials and methods: LSS were prepared by spraying rosuvastatin solution onto Neusilin® US2 and further processing into tablets. Varying amounts of superdisintegrants were used and the differences among LSS were evaluated. The multiple scatter plot method was used to visualize the relationships within the obtained data. Results and discussion: All disintegrants do not showed negative effect on the flow properties of powder blends. The type and concentration of superdisintegrant had an impact on the disintegration time and dissolution profiles of tablets. Tablets with Explotab® showed the longest disintegration time and the smallest amount of released drug. Fastest disintegration and dissolution rate were observed in tablets containing Kollidon® CL-F (≥2.5% w/w). Also tablets with Vivasol® (2.5–4.0% w/w) showed fast disintegration and complete drug release. Conclusion: Kollidon® CL-F and Vivasol® in concentration ≥2.5% are suitable superdisintegrants for LSS with enhanced release of drug.
The accelerated simian immunodeficiency virus macaque model of human immunodeficiency virus-associated neurological disease: From mechanism to treatment

Highly active antiretroviral therapy has been effective in lowering viral loads in the peripheral blood, restoring immune function and reducing the incidence of opportunistic infections and dementia in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals. However, motor and cognitive deficits and peripheral neuropathy continue, with some studies reporting an increase in prevalence of nervous system disease. The authors developed an accelerated, consistent simian model of HIV infection in which pigtailed macaques are dual inoculated with a neurovirulent simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) clone and an immunosuppressive SIV strain. Infected animals invariably develop acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and over 90% develop central nervous system disease as well as peripheral nervous system disease with neurodegeneration by 3 months postinoculation. This model provides outstanding opportunities to delineate the pathogenesis of infection, to study the regulation of virus gene expression, and to identify host immune responses throughout the acute, clinically silent and late stages of infection. Using this model, the authors have demonstrated that the virus enters the brain within days after inoculation, that CCL2 (monocyte chemoattractant protein [MCP]-1) plays a major role in recruiting monocytes/macrophages to the brain, and that type I interferons are critical in suppressing early virus replication and inducing viral latency. This model provides a rigorous platform for the testing of potential antiretroviral, immune reconstituting, and/or neuroprotective agents and already has been used to confirm the neuroprotective properties of minocycline, which now is being tested in clinical trials of HIV-infected individuals.