Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Calibration of EBT2 film by the PDD method with scanner non-uniformity correction

The EBT2 film together with a flatbed scanner is a convenient dosimetry QA tool for verification of clinical radiotherapy treatments. However, it suffers from a relatively high degree of uncertainty and a tedious film calibration process for every new lot of films, including cutting the films into several small pieces, exposing with different doses, restoring them back and selecting the proper region of interest (ROI) for each piece for curve fitting. In this work, we present a percentage depth dose (PDD) method that can accurately calibrate the EBT2 film together with the scanner non-uniformity correction and provide an easy way to perform film dosimetry. All films were scanned before and after the irradiation in one of the two homemade 2 mm thick acrylic frames (one portrait and the other landscape), which was located at a fixed position on the scan bed of an Epson 10 000XL scanner. After the pre-irradiated scan, the film was placed parallel to the beam central axis and sandwiched between six polystyrene plates (5 cm thick each), followed by irradiation of a 20 × 20 cm2 6 MV photon beam. Two different beams on times were used on two different films to deliver a dose to the film ranging from 32 to 320 cGy. After the post-irradiated scan, the net optical densities for a total of 235 points on the beam central axis on the films were auto-extracted and compared with the corresponding depth doses that were calculated through the measurement of a 0.6 cc farmer chamber and the related PDD table to perform the curve fitting. The portrait film location was selected for routine calibration, since the central beam axis on the film is parallel to the scanning direction, where non-uniformity correction is not needed (Ferreira et al 2009 Phys. Med. Biol. 54 1073–85). To perform the scanner non-uniformity calibration, the cross-beam profiles of the film were analysed by referencing the measured profiles from a Profiler™. Finally, to verify our method, the films were exposed to 60° physical wedge fields and the compositive fields, and their relative dose profiles were compared with those from the water phantom measurement. The fitting uncertainty was less than 0.5% due to the many calibration points, and the overall calibration uncertainty was within 3% for doses above 50 cGy, when the average of four films were used for the calibration. According to our study, the non-uniformity calibration factor was found to be independent of the given dose for the EBT2 film and the relative dose differences between the profiles measured by the film and the Profiler were within 1.5% after applying the non-uniformity correction. For the verification tests, the relative dose differences between the measurements by films and in the water phantom, when the average of three films were used, were generally within 3% for the 60° wedge fields and compositive fields, respectively. In conclusion, our method is convenient, time-saving and cost-effective, since no film cutting is needed and only two films with two exposures are needed.
A Pilot and Feasibility Study on the Effects of Naturopathic Botanical and Dietary Interventions on Sex Steroid Hormone Metabolism in Premenopausal Women

Naturopathic physicians commonly make dietary and/or dietary supplement recommendations for breast cancer prevention. This placebo-controlled, parallel-arm, pilot study tested the effects of two naturopathic interventions over five menstrual cycles on sex steroid hormones and metabolic markers in 40 healthy premenopausal women. The intervention arms were as follows: combination botanical supplement (Curcuma longa, Cynara scolymus, Rosmarinus officinalis, Schisandra chinensis, Silybum marinum, and Taraxacum officinalis; n = 15), dietary changes (3 servings/d crucifers or dark leafy greens, 30 g/d fiber, 1-2 liters/d water, and limiting caffeine and alcohol consumption to 1 serving each/wk; n = 10), and placebo (n = 15). Early-and late-follicular phase serum samples from cycles 1 and 5 were analyzed for estrogens (estrone, estrone-sulfate, total estradiol, and free estradiol), androgens (dehydroepiandrosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate, androstenedione, total testosterone, and free testosterone), sex hormone-binding globulin, and metabolic markers (insulin, insulin-like growth factor-I, insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3, and leptin). Serum samples collected during the mid-luteal phase of cycles 1 and 5 were analyzed for total estradiol, free estradiol, and sex hormone-binding globulin. Urine samples collected during the late follicular phase of cycles 1 and 5 were analyzed for 2-hydroxyestrone and 16α-hydroxyestrone. During the early follicular phase, compared with placebo, the botanical supplement decreased dehydroepiandrosterone (−13.2%; P = 0.02), dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (−14.6%; P = 0.07), androstenedione (−8.6%; P = 0.05), and estrone-sulfate (−12.0%; P = 0.08). No other trends or statistically significant changes were observed. When comparing dietary changes with placebo, no statistically significant differences were observed. Overall, in this pilot study, the naturopathic interventions had no substantial effects on estrogen measures. Early-follicular phase androgens decreased with the botanical supplement. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(8):1601–9)
Supersense tagging with inter-annotator disagreement

Linguistic annotation underlies many successful approaches in Natural Language Processing (NLP), where the annotated corpora are used for training and evaluating supervised learners. The consistency of annotation limits the performance of supervised models, and thus a lot of effort is put into obtaining high-agreement annotated datasets. Recent research has shown that annotation disagreement is not random noise, but carries a systematic signal that can be used for improving the supervised learner. However, prior work was limited in scope, focusing only on part-of-speech tagging in a single language. In this paper we broaden the experiments to a semantic task (supersense tagging) using multiple languages. In particular, we analyse how systematic disagreement is for sense annotation, and we present a preliminary study of whether patterns of disagreements transfer across languages.
Inkjet‐Printed Quantum Dot–Polymer Composites for Full‐Color AC‐Driven Displays

We demonstrate print-deposition of high resolution, patterned,multicolored thin ﬁlms of luminescent colloidal quantum dot(QD)-polymer composites and use the printed patterns infabricating robust, bright, full-color AC-driven displays. Thebeneﬁts of AC electroluminescent (EL) displays include simple,low-costfabricationandhighreliability;however,ﬁndingefﬁcientand stable phosphors for full-colored displays remains a majorchallenge.
Performance Appraisal System for Academic Staff in the Context of Digital Campus of Higer Education Institutions: Design and Implementation

—Academic staff at higher education institutions are crucial for quality education and research, the core competiveness of a top research-oriented university. Efforts have been made at many universities to work on a system to effectively and accurately assess the performance of academic staff to promote the overall teaching and research activities. The paper presents an appraisal information system developed for School of Economics and Management of Beihang University, which has taken into consideration the contextual factors of research-oriented universities. The appraisal information system, based on service-oriented architecture, is characterized by a multi-layer system in digital campus. The implementation of the system has significantly promoted the overall teaching and research quality at the school.
Protochlamydia naegleriophila as Etiologic Agent of Pneumonia

Using ameba coculture, we grew a Naegleria endosymbiont. Phenotypic, genetic, and phylogenetic analyses supported its affiliation as Protochlamydia naegleriophila sp. nov. We then developed a specific diagnostic PCR for Protochlamydia spp. When applied to bronchoalveolar lavages, results of this PCR were positive for 1 patient with pneumonia. Further studies are needed to assess the role of Protochlamydia spp. in pneumonia.
Bit-line clamped sensing multiplex and accurate high-voltage generator for 0.25 /spl mu/m flash memories

A 105.9 mm/sup 2/ 128 Mb experimental chip using 0.25 /spl mu/m technology demonstrates the feasibility of circuits that take advantage of the potential scalability of flash memory cells and an accurate internal voltage generator that operates at 2.5 V Vcc: (1) a layout-pitch-relaxing bit-line clamped sensing multiplex and intermittent-burst data transfer (four phases with 500 ns/20 ns) for a 3F (F=feature size) pitch, and (2) a 5 /spl mu/A dynamic band-gap generator under a boosted voltage using triple-well bipolar transistors and a voltage doubler charge pump, for accurate 10 to 20 V generation.
Measuring CRM performance: an exploratory case

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a business philosophy that has emerged and gained prominence in the field of IS in recent years. Organisations have begun to realise that creating a dynamic substantial relationship with each customer may lead to sustained business success. While numerous firms have bought into the CRM concept many organisations are now trying to evaluate whether their CRM initiative is performing. This paper will examine how Irish Life and Permanent, a leading financial services organisation based in Ireland evaluate the performance of their CRM initiative. They developed a set of measures for evaluating the performance of their CRM initiative. We believe that these measures may be useful to other organisations for measuring the performance of their CRM initiatives.
Automated Quantification of Nonperfusion in Three Retinal Plexuses Using Projection-Resolved Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Diabetic Retinopathy

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate an automated algorithm for detecting avascular area (AA) in optical coherence tomography angiograms (OCTAs) separated into three individual plexuses using a projection-resolved technique. Methods A 3 × 3 mm macular OCTA was obtained in 13 healthy and 13 mild nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) participants. A projection-resolved algorithm segmented OCTA into three vascular plexuses: superficial, intermediate, and deep. An automated algorithm detected AA in each of the three plexuses that were segmented and in the combined inner-retinal angiograms. We assessed the diagnostic accuracy of extrafoveal and total AA using segmented and combined angiograms, the agreement between automated and manual detection of AA, and the within-visit repeatability. Results The sum of extrafoveal AA from the segmented angiograms was larger in the NPDR group by 0.17 mm2 (P < 0.001) and detected NPDR with 94.6% sensitivity (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AROC] = 0.99). In the combined inner-retinal angiograms, the extrafoveal AA was larger in the NPDR group by 0.01 mm2 (P = 0.168) and detected NPDR with 26.9% sensitivity (AROC = 0.62). The total AA, inclusive of the foveal avascular zone, in the segmented and combined angiograms, detected NPDR with 23.1% and 7.7% sensitivity, respectively. The agreement between the manual and automated detection of AA had a Jaccard index of >0.8. The pooled SDs of AA were small compared with the difference in mean for control and NPDR groups. Conclusions An algorithm to detect AA in OCTA separated into three individual plexuses using a projection-resolved algorithm accurately distinguishes mild NPDR from control eyes. Automatically detected AA agrees with manual delineation and is highly repeatable.
Recipient design in human communication: simple heuristics or perspective taking?

Humans have a remarkable capacity for tuning their communicative behaviors to different addressees, a phenomenon also known as recipient design. It remains unclear how this tuning of communicative behavior is implemented during live human interactions. Classical theories of communication postulate that recipient design involves perspective taking, i.e., the communicator selects her behavior based on her hypotheses about beliefs and knowledge of the recipient. More recently, researchers have argued that perspective taking is computationally too costly to be a plausible mechanism in everyday human communication. These researchers propose that computationally simple mechanisms, or heuristics, are exploited to perform recipient design. Such heuristics may be able to adapt communicative behavior to an addressee with no consideration for the addressee's beliefs and knowledge. To test whether the simpler of the two mechanisms is sufficient for explaining the “how” of recipient design we studied communicators' behaviors in the context of a non-verbal communicative task (the Tacit Communication Game, TCG). We found that the specificity of the observed trial-by-trial adjustments made by communicators is parsimoniously explained by perspective taking, but not by simple heuristics. This finding is important as it suggests that humans do have a computationally efficient way of taking beliefs and knowledge of a recipient into account.
Energy-Aware Bio-signal Compressed Sensing Reconstruction: FOCUSS on the WBSN-Gateway

Technology scaling enables today the design of ultra-low power wearable bio-sensors for continuous vital signs monitoring or wellness applications. Such bio-sensing nodes are typically integrated in Wireless Body Sensor Network (WBSN) to acquire and process biomedical signals, e.g. Electrocardiogram (ECG), and transmit them to the WBSN gateway, e.g. smartphone, for online reconstruction or features extraction. Both bio-sensing node and gateway are battery powered devices, although they show very different autonomy requirements (weeks vs. days). The rakeness-based Compressed Sensing (CS) proved to outperform standard CS, achieving a higher compression for the same quality level, therefore reducing the transmission costs in the node. However, most of the research focus has been on the efficiency of the node, neglecting the energy cost of the CS decoder. In this work, we evaluate the energy cost and real-time reconstruction feasibility on the gateway, considering the FOCUSS signal reconstruction algorithm running on a heterogeneous mobile SoC based on the ARM big. LITTLE TM architecture. The experimental results show that standard CS does not satisfy real-time constraints, while the rakeness enables different QoS-energy trade-offs, achieving the most efficient real-time reconstruction on the Cortex-A7 @ 1.3 GHz for 0.2 J/window (for a target QoS of 23 dB), while the lowest CPU consumption is achieved with the Cortex-A15 @ 1.9 GHz.
Channel Estimation in OFDM System Based on the Linear Interpolation , FFT and Decision Feedback

— In this paper, we propose a new channel estimation algorithm based on the training data for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system in fast fading channel. In this method, channel frequency response (CFR) is estimated. In the first step, channel response is estimated at pilot subcarriers by last square method, and then primary whole CFR is obtained by linear interpolation. In the second step, the effect of noise on estimated channel is reduced by using FFT processing and then transmitted data is detected. For increasing accuracy of channel estimation, detected data is modulated again. Then by using received signal in receiver and new modulated data, CFR is estimated anew and is passed from noise reducing algorithm. And finally, data is detected again. This process is done about three or four times to reduce the effect of noise adequately. Computer simulations demonstrate that proposed method improves bit error rate (BER) and mean square error (MSE) compared to usual estimation methods.
Social learning and distributed hypothesis testing

This paper considers a problem of distributed hypothesis testing and social learning. Individual nodes in a network receive noisy (private) observations whose distribution is parameterized by a discrete parameter (hypotheses). The distributions are known locally at the nodes, but the true parameter/hypothesis is not known. An update rule is analyzed in which agents first perform a Bayesian update of their belief (distribution estimate) of the parameter based on their local observation, communicate these updates to their neighbors, and then perform a “non-Bayesian” linear consensus using the log-beliefs of their neighbors. The main result of this paper is that under mild assumptions, the belief of any agent in any incorrect parameter converges to zero exponentially fast, and the exponential rate of learning is a characterized by the network structure and the divergences between the observations' distributions.
In situ multicomponent MMC coating developed on Ti–6Al–4V substrate

High specific strength and corrosion resistance are the important characteristics of Ti–6Al–4V. Relatively soft and inferior wear resistive properties of Ti–6Al–4V alloy restrict further scope of exotic applications. In the present study, attempts were carried out to improve tribological properties of Ti–6Al–4V surface by preplacing B4C, hBN and Ti powders over the substrate and irradiating it with a fibre laser in an argon shroud. Clad layers, consisting of in situ multicomponents such as TiB2, TiN, TiO2, VN, V2O3, C, etc., were developed in the coating matrix. The effects of change in laser scanning speed on coating properties were studied extensively. Microhardness of the tailored surface was improved up to 2200 HV0·05 as compared to a microhardness value of 350 HV0·05 of the untreated Ti–6Al–4V substrate. The wear performance of the hard coating was tested with universal wear testing machine and analysed.
Cast Film Extrusion of Polypropylene Films

Abstract In cast film extrusion, the polymer melt is extruded through a slit die, slightly stretched in air and then cooled on a chill-roll. An important part of the present work was devoted to the development and application of a thermomechanical model of stretching in air and of a purely thermal model of cooling on the roll, taking polymer crystallization into account. The structures and morphologies in a series of extruded polypropylene films were investigated using density and sonic modulus measurements, wide-angle X-ray diffraction, small angle light scattering and optical microscopy. These experimental results combined with theoretical predictions obtained from the model allow to discuss the respective effects of stretching in air and cooling on the roll. Stretching in air essentially affects spherulite nucleation and growth during subsequent crystallization on the roll. Dissymmetrical cooling on the roll induces an inhomogeneous microstructure within the film. The presence of a zone with a finer microstructure near the roll has been correlated with the cooling rates and thermal gradients calculated by the model.
Semi-Supervised AUC Optimization Without Guessing Labels of Unlabeled Data

Semi-supervised learning, which aims to construct learners that automatically exploit the large amount of unlabeled data in addition to the limited labeled data, has been widely applied in many real-world applications. AUC is a well-known performance measure for a learner, and directly optimizing AUC may result in a better prediction performance. Thus, semi-supervised AUC optimization has drawn much attention. Existing semi-supervised AUC optimization methods exploit unlabeled data by explicitly or implicitly estimating the possible labels of the unlabeled data based on various distributional assumptions. However, these assumptions may be violated in many real-world applications, and estimating labels based on the violated assumption may lead to poor performance. In this paper, we argue that, in semi-supervised AUC optimization, it is unnecessary to guess the possible labels of the unlabeled data or prior probability based on any distributional assumptions. We analytically show that the AUC risk can be estimated unbiasedly by simply treating the unlabeled data as both positive and negative. Based on this finding, two semi-supervised AUC optimization methods named Samult and Sampura are proposed. Experimental results indicate that the proposed methods outperform the existing methods.
Epstein-Barr Virus Latent Membrane Protein 2A Mediates Transformation through Constitutive Activation of the Ras/PI3-K/Akt Pathway

ABSTRACT Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latent membrane protein 2A (LMP2A) is widely expressed in EBV-infected cells within the infected human host and EBV-associated malignancies, suggesting that LMP2A is important for EBV latency, persistence, and EBV-associated tumorigenesis. Previously, we demonstrated that LMP2A provides an antiapoptotic signal through the activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K)/Akt pathway in vitro. However, the exact function of LMP2A in tumor progression is not well understood. In this study, we found that LMP2A did not induce anchorage-independent cell growth in a human keratinocyte cell line, HaCaT, but did in a human gastric carcinoma cell line, HSC-39. In addition, LMP2A activated the PI3-K/Akt pathway in both HaCaT and HSC-39 cells; however, LMP2A did not activate Ras in HaCaT cells but did in HSC-39 cells. Furthermore, the Ras inhibitors manumycin A and a dominant-negative form of Ras (RasN17) and the PI3-K inhibitor LY294002 blocked LMP2A-mediated Akt phosphorylation and anchorage-independent cell growth in HSC-39 cells. These results suggest that constitutive activation of the Ras/PI3-K/Akt pathway by LMP2A is a key factor for LMP2A-mediated transformation.
RIVL: A Resolution Independent Video Language

As common as video processing is, programmers still implement video programs as manipulations of arrays of pixels. This paper presents an extension to Tcl called Rivl (pronounced "rival") where video is a first class data type. Programs in Rivl use high level operators that are independent of video resolution and format, increasing portability of programs and allowing rapid prototyping of video effects. This paper gives several examples of still-image and video sequence programs in Rivl. It also discusses efficiency issues and experiences with Tcl as a platform for Rivl.
Transfection of inducible nitric oxide synthase gene causes apoptosis in vascular smooth muscle cells.

BACKGROUND Excess production of nitric oxide (NO) by inducible NO synthase (iNOS) has been implicated in a variety of physiological processes including vascular remodeling. To elucidate whether endogenous NO generated by iNOS is involved in the programmed cell death (apoptosis) of the vasculature, iNOS cDNA- expressing construct was transfected into rat and human vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) by lipofection. METHODS AND RESULTS VSMCs transiently transfected with iNOS cDNA functionally expressed 130 kd iNOS protein with full catalytic activity to generate massive NO in proportion to the doses of cDNA used; its enzymatic activity as well as NO production was completely blocked by an NOS inhibitor, NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (LNMMA). Overexpression of iNOS led to a marked inhibition of DNA synthesis as well as induction of apoptosis in VSMCs. Evidence for apoptotic cell death was provided by internucleosomal DNA fragmentation by agarose gel electrophoresis, positive staining for TdT-mediated dUTP biotin nick end-labeling, and appearance of hypodiploid cells by flow cytometry analysis. Apoptosis after transfection with iNOS cDNA was abrogated by LNMMA. Transfection of iNOS cDNA caused accumulation of the tumor suppressor gene p53 but not of bcl-2, which was also blocked by LNMMA. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate that massive generation of endogenous NO derived from iNOS overexpression leads to a marked apoptosis in VSMCs, thus suggesting an important role of NO as a proapoptotic factor for VSMCs in the process of vascular remodeling.