Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
[Reference values in abdominal ultrasound - biliopancreatic system and spleen].

OBJECTIVE Reference values for B-mode abdominal ultrasound are controversially discussed due to the limited data in the literature. A systematic survey of the data published so far is presented for the biliopancreatic system and the spleen. METHODS A literature review of reference values in the abdomen from 1970 to 2010 in healthy subjects 18 years of age and older was carried out. According to the determination of reference intervals for laboratory values, reference values are generally determined using 95 %-reference intervals and their associated 90 %-confidence intervals. The gallbladder, gallbladder wall, bile ducts, pancreas and the spleen were evaluated. RESULTS 70 studies were analysed. The comparability of the data is limited, because different collectives were studied and diverse measuring techniques were used. In particular, gallbladder volume measurements reported in the literature differ substantially. Data for the size of the gallbladder are insufficient. Deducible reference values for the common hepatic duct or, respectively, the common bile duct lie between 5 and 9 mm in dependency on the measuring position and the collective analysed. The published measurement values for the size of the pancreas also vary considerably. In most of the publications the upper limit of normal for the length of the spleen amounts to around 12 cm, in young, athletic men up to 15 cm. DISCUSSION Normal values are helpful in delimiting numerous pathological changes in the respective organs.
A merged window comparator based relaxation oscillator with low temperature coefficient

A novel relaxation oscillator (ROSC) with a merged window comparator, an optimized parallel/series composite resistor and a reference generator on the basis of threshold monitoring circuit is presented. The ROSC achieves offset cancellation by adopting the merged window comparator. The optimized composite resistor is employed to reduce the output frequency temperature coefficient (T.C.) even in the presence of process variation. The oscillator is realized in 65nm CMOS process. At a supply voltage of 1.2V, the current consumption is 7. 47μΑ. The simulated frequency T.C. is 14.69ppm/°C over the temperature range of −20∼120°C and the line sensitivity is 0.188%/V over the supply voltage range of 1.2∼2.3V.
The variations in the IL1RL1 gene and susceptibility to preeclampsia

The IL1RL1, which encodes at least three isoforms by alternative splicing, has been identified to be involved in the initiation and perpetuation of inflammation. In spite of being a main contributor of maternal and perinatal mortality, the mechanism responsible for the pathophysiology of preeclampsia has not yet been well addressed. To investigate the relationship between IL1RL1 polymorphisms and preeclampsia risk, we identified the correlation between three tag SNPs (rs13017455, rs1420103 and rs17027006) in IL1RL1 with preeclampsia risk in a case-control study. A total of 214 cases and 208 controls were recruited to participate in this study. Genotypes of the three SNPs were determined with the use of polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism assay. Significantly reduced preeclampsia risk was found to be associated with the CT genotype of rs13017455 (p = 0. 032, OR = 0. 66, 95% CI = 0.45–0.97) in overdominant model. Differences were particularly significant in the severe preeclampsia subgroup (p = 0.045, OR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.44–0.99) and the early-onset severe preeclampsia subgroup (p = 0.0097, OR = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.26–0.84). Significantly increased mild preeclampsia risk was observed associated with GG genotype of rs1420103 polymorphisms (p = 0.029, OR = 2.18, 95% CI = 1.09–4.34), while reducing late-onset severe preeclampsia susceptibility was associated with TT genotype of rs1420103 (p = 0.02, OR = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.26–0.92).
Improving Speech Recognizers by Refining Broadcast Data with Inaccurate Subtitle Timestamps

This paper proposes an automatic method to refine broadcast data collected every week for efficient acoustic model training. For training acoustic models, we use only audio signals, subtitle texts, and subtitle timestamps accompanied by recorded broadcast programs. However, the subtitle timestamps are often inaccurate due to inherent characteristics of closed captioning. In the proposed method, we remove subtitle texts with low subtitle quality index, concatenate adjacent subtitle texts into a merged subtitle text, and correct the timestamp of the merged subtitle text by adding a margin. Then, a speech recognizer is used to obtain a hypothesis text from the speech segment corresponding to the merged subtitle text. Finally, the refined speech segments to be used for acoustic model training, are generated by selecting the subparts of the merged subtitle text that matches the hypothesis text. It is shown that the acoustic models trained by using refined broadcast data give significantly higher speech recognition accuracy than those trained by using raw broadcast data. Consequently, the proposed method can efficiently refine a large amount of broadcast data with inaccurate timestamps taking about half of the time, compared with the previous approaches.
Caerulin-induced pancreatitis in rats: histological and genetic expression changes from acute phase to recuperation.

AIM To study the histological and pancreatitis-associated protein mRNA accumulation changes of pancreas from acute phase of caerulin-induced pancreatitis to recuperation in rats. METHODS Acute pancreatitis was induced by caerulein in male Wistar rats and followed up for 90 d by histological and mRNA analyses of pancreas. Pancreases were dissected at 0, 9, 24 h and 3, 5, 15, 30, 60, 90 d post-induction. Edema (E), polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) infiltration, cytoplasmic vacuolization (V), zymogen granule depletion (ZD) and acinar disorganization (AD) were microscopically evaluated. Accumulation of pancreatitis-associated protein (PAP) and L13A mRNAs were quantified by real-time PCR. RESULTS The main histological changes appeared at 9 h post-induction for PMN infiltration and cytoplasmic V, while at 24 h and 3 d for E and ZD, respectively. All the parameters were recovered after 5 d, except for ZD which delayed more than 30 d. The main AD was observed after 15 d and values returned to normal after 30 d. Similarly to histological changes, accumulation of the PAP mRNA was increased at 9 h with the highest accumulation at 24 h and differences disappeared after 5 d. CONCLUSION From the acute phase to recuperation of pancreatitis, regeneration and re-differentiation of pancreas occur and PAP expression is exclusively an acute response of pancreatitis.
Anderson’s disease (chylomicron retention disease): a new mutation in the SARA2 gene associated with muscular and cardiac abnormalities

Anderson’s disease (AD) or chylomicron retention disease (CMRD) is a rare hereditary lipid malabsorption syndrome linked to SARA2 gene mutations. We report in this study a novel mutation in two sisters for which the Sar1b protein is predicted to be truncated by 32 amino acids at its carboxyl‐terminus. Because the SARA2 gene is also expressed in the muscle, heart, liver and placenta, extraintestinal clinical manifestations may exist. For the first time, we describe in this study in the two sisters muscular as well as cardiac abnormalities that could be related to the reported expression of SARA2 in these tissues. We also evaluated six other patients for potential manifestations of the SARA2 mutation. The creatine phosphokinase levels were increased in all patients [1.5–9.4 ×normal (N)] and transaminases were moderately elevated in five of the eight patients (1.2–2.6 × N), probably related to muscle disease rather than to liver dysfunction. A decreased ejection fraction occurred in one patient (40%, N: 60%). The muscle, liver and placental tissues that were examined had no specific abnormalities and, in particular, no lipid accumulation. These results suggest that myolysis and other extraintestinal abnormalities can occur in AD/CMRD and that the clinical evaluation of patients should reflect this.
Hybrid perovskites: Approaches towards light-emitting devices

The high optical gain and absorption of organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites have attracted extensive research for photonic device applications. Using the bromide halide as an example, we present key approaches of our work towards realizing efficient perovskites based light-emitters. The approaches involved determination of optical constants for the hybrid perovskites thin films, fabrication of photonic nanostructures in the form of subwavelength grating reflector patterned directly on the hybrid perovskites as light manipulation layer, and enhancing the emission property of the hybrid perovskites by using microcavity structure. Our results provide a platform for realization of hybrid perovskites based light-emitting devices for solid-state lighting and display applications.
The Göteborg Cohort of Embolized Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformations: A 6-year Follow-up

OBJECTIVETo present a follow-up of the results after endovascular treatment of cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) with acrylic glue. An initial follow-up was published in 1996. METHODSA cohort of 150 patients with cerebral AVMs underwent embolization between 1987 and 1993. Fifty-seven patients had supplemental stereotactic irradiation, and 13 had subsequent surgery. The follow-up was carried out clinically and radiologically. RESULTSThe mean follow-up time was 6.2 years. Only four patients were lost to follow-up. If at least 90% of the AVM had been obliterated, the clinical course was stable and there were no new manifestations from the AVM. No recanalization occurred in any AVM that had been totally obliterated with glue. For patients in whom it was not possible to totally obliterate the AVM either with glue alone or glue supplemented with stereotactic irradiation or surgery, the long-term outcome was discouraging. CONCLUSIONObliteration of an AVM with acrylic glue seems to offer stability. If the AVM is totally obliterated, the patient had a stable clinical course. Patients with large AVMs with minor occlusion after embolization may have a worse clinical outcome than expected.
CMOS compatible Ge/Si core/shell nanowire gate-all-around pMOSFET integrated with HfO2/TaN gate stack

Ge/Si core/shell gate-all-round nanowire pMOSFET integrated with HfO<inf>2</inf>/TaN gate stack is demonstrated using fully CMOS compatible process. Devices with 100 nm gate length achieved high I<inf>ON</inf> of ∼946 µA/µm at V<inf>G</inf> − V<inf>T</inf> = −0.7 V and V<inf>DS</inf> = −1 V and on/off ratio of 10<sup>4</sup> with decent subthreshold behavior. Significant improvement in hole mobility and ballistic efficiency is demonstrated as a result of core/shell channel architecture.
Population Pharmacokinetics of Itraconazole in Thai HIV-1-Infected Persons

The authors describe the development of a population pharmacokinetic model using NONMEM for itraconazole and its active metabolite hydroxyitraconazole in a Thai cohort of HIV-infected patients who were using itraconazole as an addition to their antiretroviral therapy. The data were best described with an open two-compartment model for both itraconazole and hydroxyitraconazole. The model adequately described the data and provided population pharmacokinetic parameters which were not different from those described for other populations. The authors found that concomitant use of co-trimoxazole leads to a reduced formation rate (−51%) of hydroxyitraconazole.
Costing Water Cycle Infrastructure for Sustainable Investment

Decisions related to investment in water infrastructure are frequently supported by cost methodologies such as long run marginal cost, annualised cost and levelised cost. The selection of cost as a discriminator among projects derives from a view of water as an undifferentiated public commodity. Instead of investing for maximum value the objective is to find the 'least cost' of delivering water to community demand. Furthermore, the focus is on direct infrastructure costs notwithstanding the profound effect of externalities on the merits of the project.
PENGARUH CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, UKURAN PERUSAHAAN, PROFITABILITAS, LEVERAGE DAN CAPITAL INTENSITY TERHADAP AGRESIVITAS PAJAK (Studi Empiris pada Perusahaan Non Keuangan yang Terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia 2012-2013)

The aim of this study are to examine the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR), size of firm, profitability, leverage and capital intensity to tax aggresiveness. The independent variables are used in this study are corporate sosial responsibility disclosure, size of firm, profitability, leverage and capital intensity. While the dependent in this study is tax aggresiveness tahe measured using two kind of effective tax rates (ETR). Population taken as the object of observation amounted 794 non-financial companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange in the 2012-2013 period. Determination of the sample was made by applying purposive sampling method and obtaining a sample of 240 manufacturing companies based on certain criteria. The result showed tat the CSR and leverage significant effect on the tax aggresiveness. While size, profitability and capital intensity does not significantly influence the tax aggresiveness.
Cyclopamine decreased the expression of Sonic Hedgehog and its downstream genes in colon cancer stem cells.

UNLABELLED Backround: Most solid cancers including colon cancer are believed to be initiated from and maintained by cancer stem cells (CSCs), that are responsible for treatment resistance, resulting in tumor relapse. The aim of this study was to clarify the possible role of the Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) signaling pathway in the regulation of cancer stem cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS The HCT-116 cell line was cultured with fetal bovine serum in RPMI-1640 medium and its sphere was grown in serum-free non-adherent culture. Gene expressions were analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) from cells treated with and without cyclopamine. RESULTS HCT-116 sphere-derived cells grown in serum-free, non-adherent culture, showed significantly increased expression of stem cell markers, Shh downstream genes and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers compared to parental cells grown in conventional culture. The expression of stemness markers, Shh downstream genes and EMT markers were higher in cancer spheres than the parental cell line and down-regulated by cyclopamine treatment in a dose-dependent manner. CONCLUSION Overall, these findings show that cyclopamine treatment could down-regulate the expression of stemness markers, shh downstream genes and EMT markers on HCT-116 spheres.
Benefits of personality characteristics and self‐efficacy in the perceived academic achievement of medical students

Abstract This study investigates the joint impact of personality characteristics and self‐efficacy on the perceived academic achievement of medical students on top of their prior high school performance. The sample consisted of medical students in their pre‐clinical years. The students’ grade point average scores at high school were included as control variable in our explanatory models. Based on previous findings in the literature, we selected self‐discipline, social activity and emotional stability from the Five Factor Model of Personality as predictor variables. Furthermore, following the social cognitive theory of Bandura, we added self‐efficacy (students’ belief in their academic skills) as an additional predictor. The logistic regression analyses confirmed the importance of self‐discipline (positively related) and social activity (negatively related) for these students’ perceived academic achievement. Additionally, we found a positive contribution of self‐efficacy. The results of this study (as discussed in the final sections) have implications for support programmes in the practical field.
Investigation of Surface- and Buffer-Induced Current Collapse in GaN High-Electron Mobility Transistors Using a Soft Switched Pulsed  \(I-V\)  Measurement

In this letter, we investigated the behaviors of surface- and buffer-induced current collapse in AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) using a soft-switched pulsed I-V measurement with different quiescent bias points. It is found that the surface- and buffer-related current collapse have different relationship with the gate and drain biases (VGS0,VDS0) during quiescent bias stress. The surface-induced current collapse in devices without passivation monotonically increases with the negative VGS0, suggesting that an electron injection to the surface from gate leakage is the dominant mechanism and the Si3N4 passivation could effectively eliminate such current collapse. The buffer-induced current collapse in devices with intentionally carbon-doped buffer layer exhibits a different relationship with VGS0 after surface passivation. The buffer-related current collapse shows a bell-shaped behavior with VGS0, suggesting that a hot electron trapping in the buffer is the dominant mechanism. The soft-switched pulsed I-V measurement provides an effective method to distinguish between the surface- and buffer-related current collapse in group III-nitride HEMTs.
TAN: A Distributed Algorithm for Dynamic Task Assignment in WSNs

We consider the scenario of wireless sensor networks where a given application has to be deployed and each application task has to be assigned to each node in the best possible way. Approaches where decisions on task execution are taken by a single central node can avoid the exchange of data packets between task execution nodes but cannot adapt to dynamic network conditions, and suffer from computational complexity. To address this issue, in this paper, we propose an adaptive and decentralized task allocation negotiation algorithm (TAN) for cluster network topologies. It is based on noncooperative game theory, where neighboring nodes engage in negotiations to maximize their own utility functions to agree on which of them should execute single application tasks. Performance is evaluated in a city scenario, where the urban streets are equipped with different sensors and the application target is the detection of the fastest way to reach a destination, and in random WSN scenarios. Comparisons are made with three other algorithms: 1) baseline setting with no task assignment to multiple nodes; 2) centralized task assignment lifetime optimization; and 3) a dynamic distributed algorithm, DLMA. The result is that TAN outperforms these algorithms in terms of application completion time and average energy consumption.
Inv/Sav Wallets and the Role of Financial Intermediaries in a Digital Currency

In order to evolve beyond bitcoins, which are still speculative, volatile and small in terms of market cap, cryptocurrencies need decentralized financial intermediaries. In this work we first show that one fundamental role they can take regards price stability. The Economist and the Center for Financial Stability focus on the importance of regulating money supply for stable prices in a digital currency, and http://ssrn.com/abstract=2425270 designs a cryptocurrency where money supply is regulated to match money demand. This first proposal, however, has a limitation: the mechanism for stable prices implies that the amount of money in every account is continuously modified. This way the instability of prices typical of bitcoins is transferred to accounts, so that the purchasing power of savings is still less protected from inflation/deflation than in standard fiat currencies.The solution is to give wallet owners the freedom to choose how much they want to be affected by changes of money supply, by introducing two types of wallets: Inv wallets and Sav wallets. Money in Sav wallets is protected from instability thanks to the presence of Inv wallets, that take the risk, and the reward, of being the target of changes in money supply. This role of channel and cushion for monetary policy is taken by banks in fiat currencies, and is needed also in digital currencies, where it can be taken by decentralized financial intermediaries. This is a starting point to analyze the other roles that financial intermediaries can have in a digital currency, linking the ownership of Inv wallets to proof-of-stake validation of transactions and to lending.The appendix explores the possibility of currencies indexed to property prices registered in a block chain.
The incidence of cerebrovascular accidents and second brain tumors in patients with pituitary adenoma: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND To assess the risk of cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs) and second brain tumors (SBTs) in patients with pituitary adenoma after surgery or radiotherapy. METHODS A cohort of 143 people from Olmsted County, who were diagnosed with pituitary adenoma between 1933 and 2000, was studied. Only patients from Olmsted County were included because of the unique nature of medical care in Olmsted County, which allows the ascertainment of virtually all cases of pituitary adenoma for this community's residents and comparisons to the general population in the county. Surgical resection was performed in 76 patients, 29 patients underwent radiotherapy (with 21 undergoing both surgery and radiotherapy), 5 patients were reirradiated, and 59 patients were managed conservatively and observed. RESULTS Median follow-up was 15.5 years. There was no difference in CVA-free survival between treatment groups. On univariate analysis age > 60 years (hazard ratio [HR], 11.93; 95% CI, 6.26-23.03; P < .001); male sex (HR, 3.67; 95% CI, 2.03-6.84; P < .001), and reirradiation (HR, 3.41; 95% CI, 1.05-9.68; P = .04) were associated with worse CVA-free survival. In multivariate analysis, only age > 60 years was associated with worse CVA-free survival. Compared with the general population, there was a 4-fold increase in the rate of CVAs in pituitary adenoma patients (HR, 4.2; 95% CI, 2.8-6.1). Two patients developed SBT (an irradiated patient and a surgically managed patient). CONCLUSION CVA is a significant risk for patients with pituitary tumors, but treatment does not seem to impact the risk. Even with long-term follow-up, SBTs are a rare event regardless of treatment modality.
Recycling of high performance polymers from Electro(nic) scrap

Electro(nic) scrap contains valuable resources of plastics, including high impact polystyrene (HIPS), acrylonitrile- butadiene-styrene (ABS) and polypropylene (PP). Recovery of these secondary raw materials from e-waste is a challenging task since diverse polymer types are present in e-waste mixtures and many plastics contain high amounts of contaminants, which are listed in the European RoHS Directive. Former studies revealed that the solvent based CreaSolv® Process is capable of extracting valuable polymers out of polymer scrap from e-waste and to separate these from contaminants effectively. However, business models showed that revenues from recycled polymers typically only slightly exceed conversation cost, if at all.
NON-COMPENSATORY (AND COMPENSATORY) MODELS OF CONSIDERATION-SET DECISIONS

If customers do not consider your product, they can‟t choose it. There is evidence that 80% of the uncertainty in choice models can be explained by simply knowing the consideration set (Hauser 1978). Many important managerial decisions rely on identifying how customers form consideration sets: Which features lead customers to eliminate certain products from further consideration? Which features lead customers to seek further information and thus open the opportunity for a sale? How do technical specifications and quantifiable features of a product interact with more qualitative features such as service or reliability? Does “brand” drive consideration? And what can a firm do about it?