Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ultrasound Segmentation in Navigated Liver Surgery

In computer assisted liver surgery, the use of pre-operative 3D computer tomography (CT) images provides basic orientation and valuable information about the patient liver. During the surgical intervention, the accuracy of this information is reduced by motion and deformation of the organ. The fusion of intraoperative ultrasound (US) imaging with the pre-operative data is the next step in order to improve this situation. As pre-requisite, the identification of corresponding structures in US and CT (such as blood vessels) is required. Within this paper, the integration of an ultrasound vessel segmentation algorithm in a navigation system for liver surgery is presented. Initial results obtained on patients undergoing liver resection are evaluated. 1 Problem Intra-operative ultrasound imaging is used during surgical interventions on the open liver, providing real-time information about the organ inner structure. Moreover, new tumors may be detected and the surgical intervention shall eventually be adapted on site. Within our navigation system for liver surgery [1], [2], surgeons are provided with the pre-operative 3D images, navigated US imaging and a set of optical trackers for the navigation of standard surgical tools. During the surgical intervention, the accuracy of the pre-operative images is reduced due to motions and deformations of the liver. Thus, updating the pre-operative images with the 3D information obtained from US imaging is an important step towards an increase of the navigation system accuracy.
Role of child psychiatry in divorce.

DIVORCE is generally recognized as a disruptive, stressful experience for affected children. 1-3 It is less clear, however, that divorce is a direct cause of psychopathological disturbance in children. With an increasing number of children experiencing divorce, clarification of the relevance of divorce to child psychiatry is in order. To this end, this paper is a report of impressions of divorce gained from the perspective of child psychiatrists working in a family court and in a child psychiatry clinic. Before proceeding to the substance of this study, several orienting considerations are in order. From the statistical standpoint, the divorce rate in the United States has been increasing steadily, although not dramatically, over the last 25 years. The national average was 2.0 divorces per thousand population in 1940, 2.6/1,000 in 1950, and 2.8/1,000 in 1968. 4 The facts, also, indicate that divorce is a
Linear fitted-Q iteration with multiple reward functions

We present a general and detailed development of an algorithm for finite-horizon fitted-Q iteration with an arbitrary number of reward signals and linear value function approximation using an arbitrary number of state features. This includes a detailed treatment of the 3-reward function case using triangulation primitives from computational geometry and a method for identifying globally dominated actions. We also present an example of how our methods can be used to construct a real-world decision aid by considering symptom reduction, weight gain, and quality of life in sequential treatments for schizophrenia. Finally, we discuss future directions in which to take this work that will further enable our methods to make a positive impact on the field of evidence-based clinical decision support.
Computational adequacy for recursive types in models of intuitionistic set theory

We present a general axiomatic construction of models of FPC, a recursively typed lambda-calculus with call-by-value operational semantics. Our method of construction is to obtain such models as full subcategories of categorical models of intuitionistic set theory. This allows us to obtain a notion of model that encompasses both domain-theoretic and realizability models. We show that the existence of solutions to recursive domain equations, needed for the interpretation of recursive types, depends on the strength of the set theory. The internal set theory of an elementary topos is not strong enough to guarantee their existence. However, solutions to recursive domain equations do exist if models of intuitionistic Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory are used instead We apply this result to interpret FPC, and we provide necessary and sufficient conditions on a model for the interpretation to be computationally adequate, i.e. for the operational and denotational notions of termination to agree.
An integrated elastic contour fitting and attribute graph matching model for automatic face coding and recognition

Describes an integrated system for automatic face coding and recognition. The proposed system consists of three modules: (1) a contour mask fitting module using an active contour model (ACM); (2) an automatic facial "landmark" extraction module using a Gabor filter; and 3) an elastic graph matching module using an elastic graph dynamic link model (EGDLM). As opposed to contemporary approaches to face recognition, our proposed model provides a fully automatic facial extraction, feature encoding and matching scheme for face recognition. The ORL face database from AT&T Laboratories was adopted for the experiment. Using this portrait gallery of 40 distinct human faces for model training, 400 facial images under varying pose and expression were taken for invariant tests. The experimental results reported an overall correct recognition rate of over 96%.
Structure propagation for deformable image stitching

Stitching of images is often challenging due to lack or insufficient amount of information shared by sub-images to be stitched. Imaging artifacts such as distortions complicate the process further by decreasing the reliability of available information in overlap region. Without taking these into account, a stitching approach might violate global continuity and smoothness of structures across overlap region. In this paper, we propose a new registration approach for deformable stitching of sub-images in such scenarios. Using tensor voting, we propagate structures throughout the overlap region, creating a structural map to guide the optimization towards an optimum that will ensure the global structural continuity after stitching. Experimental results on synthetic and real images in 2D and 3D demonstrate robust performance of the proposed registration technique.
[Operation planning of secondary interventions after polytrauma].

A prospective study of 135 secondary operations (> 24 h after trauma) in patients with multiple injuries (ISS 40.6 pts) was performed to determine specific and unspecific indicators of the inflammatory response that may indicate the degree of risk of postoperative organ failure in these patients. On the morning of the operation each patients' data were recorded and blood samples were collected. Patients were divided in those in whom respiratory, renal and/or hepatic failure developed or preexisting organ failure worsened by more than 20% from baseline within 2 days after the operation and those who had no complications. In 29 patients who were operated upon between 24 and 72 h after trauma only the pO2/FiO2 ratio allowed discrimination between the two groups. The overall accuracy of this parameter as a predictor of postoperative organ failure was 83%, with a sensitivity of 78% and a specificity of 85%. In 106 patients with secondary operations later than 72 h after trauma, neutrophil elastase, C-reactive protein and platelet count revealed the highest predictive accuracy, with cut-off values of 250 ng/ml, 11 mg/dl and 180 x 10(6)/ml, respectively. The combined accuracy of these three parameters in prediction of postoperative organ failure was 79% (sensitivity 73%, specificity 83%). In this group of patients the pO2/FiO2 ratio was of less value and blood pressure, heart rate, renal function parameters, lactate and coagulation parameters were of no value. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Synchronous activation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone gene transcription and secretion by pulsatile kisspeptin stimulation

Pulsatile release of hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is essential for pituitary gonadotrope function. Although the importance of pulsatile GnRH secretion has been recognized for several decades, the mechanisms underlying GnRH pulse generation in hypothalamic neural networks remain elusive. Here, we demonstrate the ultradian rhythm of GnRH gene transcription in single GnRH neurons using cultured hypothalamic slices prepared from transgenic mice expressing a GnRH promoter-driven destabilized luciferase reporter. Although GnRH promoter activity in each GnRH neuron exhibited an ultradian pattern of oscillations with a period of ∼10 h, GnRH neuronal cultures exhibited partially synchronized bursts of GnRH transcriptional activity at ∼2-h intervals. Surprisingly, pulsatile administration of kisspeptin, a potent GnRH secretagogue, evoked dramatic synchronous activation of GnRH gene transcription with robust stimulation of pulsatile GnRH secretion. We also addressed the issue of hierarchical interaction between the circadian and ultradian rhythms by using Bmal1-deficient mice with defective circadian clocks. The circadian molecular oscillator barely affected basal ultradian oscillation of GnRH transcription but was heavily involved in kisspeptin-evoked responses of GnRH neurons. In conclusion, we have clearly shown synchronous bursts of GnRH gene transcription in the hypothalamic GnRH neuronal population in association with episodic neurohormone secretion, thereby providing insight into GnRH pulse generation.
SIRT1 negatively regulates amyloid-beta-induced inflammation via the NF-κB pathway

Chronic inflammation induced by amyloid-beta (Aβ) plays a key role in the development of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-8 may be associated with chronic inflammation in AMD. Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) regulates inflammation via inhibition of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling, and resveratrol has been reported to prevent Aβ-induced retinal degeneration; therefore, we investigated whether this action was mediated via activation of SIRT1 signaling. Human adult retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells were exposed to Aβ, and overactivation and knockdown of SIRT1 were performed to investigate whether SIRT1 is required for abrogating Aβ-induced inflammation. We found that Aβ-induced RPE barrier disruption and expression of IL-6, IL-8, and MMP-9 were abrogated by the SIRT1 activator SRT1720, whereas alterations induced by Aβ in SIRT1-silenced RPE cells were not attenuated by SRT1720. In addition, SRT1720 inhibited Aβ-mediated NF-κB activation and decrease of the NF-κB inhibitor, IκBα. Our findings suggest a protective role for SIRT1 signaling in Aβ-dependent retinal degeneration and inflammation in AMD.
Development in the research of exercise and visfatin

Visfatin was a new adenosine, expressed highly in adipose tissue of viscous organs of person and mouse, the level of visfatin in plasma usually increased as the fat degree rising. visfatin had the effect as insulin to capitulate the glucose level and mend insulin resistant. research had found that visfatin had important relation to metabolism syndrome and some disease correlation to metabolism such as diabetes and fatness and arteriosclerosis. exercise should reduce the visfatin level in plasma and rise the visfatin mRNA express in adipose tissue. visfatin perhaps was a kind of signal molecule of exercise improve metabolize status and prevention some disease correlation to metabolism.
Children and Play

Series Editor's Preface. Acknowledgments. Chapter 1 An Introduction to Play. Why Play? Examples of What Is and What Is Not Play. Characteristics of Playful Behavior. Types of Play. Things That Are Probably Not Play: Exploration, Stereotypic Behavior, Work, Rule-Governed Games. Methods of Studying Play. Plan of the Book. Chapter 2 A Brief History of the Study of Play and of Play Theories. Early European Educators and the Role of Play. Evolutionary Theory and Play: Darwin, Spencer, and Groos. Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Play. The Play Ethos. Anthropological Perspectives on Play. Psychological Perspectives: Vygotsky and Piaget. Developmental Sequences in Play: Piaget, Smilansky, Rubin. More Recent Play Theorists. Chapter 3 Animal Play: Definitions and Descriptions. Possible Play in Birds, Lower Vertebrates, and Invertebrates. Play in Mammals. Some Examples of Mammalian Play. Do All Mammals Play? Play in Monkeys and Apes. Chapter 4 Animal Play: Theoretical Perspectives on Function. Theories and Evidence Concerning the Evolution and Adaptive Value of Animal Play. Examining Possible Benefits of Play. General Views on the Benefits of Play. The Possible Relevance for Human Play of Studying Animal Play. Chapter 5 Play in Different Cultures. (author: Yumi Gosso) Parakana Children. Factors Contributing to Cultural Similarities and Differences. Similarities and Differences across Cultures. Chapter 6 Physical Activity Play: Exercise Play and Rough-and-Tumble. Stages in Physical Activity Play. Rough-and-Tumble Play. Sex Differences in Physical Activity Play. Functions of Physical Activity Play. Chapter 7 Object Play. Sensorimotor or Functional Play. Beyond the Sensorimotor Period. Functions of Object Play. Experiments with Object Play and Creative Problem-Solving. Chapter 8 Pretend Play: Description. Definitions of Pretend or Fantasy Play. The Development of Pretend Play in Children. Solitary and Social Pretend Play. Sociodramatic Play. Imaginary Companions. Distinguishing Fantasy and Reality. Gender Differences. Pretend Play and Friendship. Other Factors Affecting Pretend Play. A Universal Human Feature? Children with Autism. Pretend Play as a Lifespan Activity? Chapter 9 Pretend Play: Theories and Functions. Arguments for Benefits of Pretend or Fantasy Play. Theories Concerning the Function of Pretend Play. Models of the Role of Pretend Play in Development. Evidence for the Functions of Pretend Play. Experimental Studies. Chapter 10 Some Practical Issues Concerning Play. The Role of Parents in Encouraging and Structuring Children's Play. The Role of Play in the Early Childhood Curriculum: Play Training. Attitudes to War Play. The Arguments For (and Against) Recess Breaks. The Role of Play in Helping Children under Stress, or with Illness or Disability. Chapter 11 Concluding Comments: Play and the Middle Way. Play: Ignored or Idealized? References. Author Index. Subject Index.
1 DOES SELF-EMPLOYMENT REDUCE UNEMPLOYMENT ?

A. Roy Thurik Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands; EIM Business and Policy Research, Zoetermeer, the Netherlands; and Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany Martin A. Carree University of Maastricht, the Netherlands André van Stel EIM Business and Policy Research, Zoetermeer, the Netherlands; and Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield University, UK David B. Audretsch Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany; and Institute for Development Strategies, Indiana University, USA
Effects of Orally Administered Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus on the Well-Being and Salmonella Colonization of Young Chicks

ABSTRACT Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus is a bacterium which preys upon and kills Gram-negative bacteria, including the zoonotic pathogens Escherichia coli and Salmonella. Bdellovibrio has potential as a biocontrol agent, but no reports of it being tested in living animals have been published, and no data on whether Bdellovibrio might spread between animals are available. In this study, we tried to fill this knowledge gap, using B. bacteriovorus HD100 doses in poultry with a normal gut microbiota or predosed with a colonizing Salmonella strain. In both cases, Bdellovibrio was dosed orally along with antacids. After dosing non-Salmonella-infected birds with Bdellovibrio, we measured the health and well-being of the birds and any changes in their gut pathology and culturable microbiota, finding that although a Bdellovibrio dose at 2 days of age altered the overall diversity of the natural gut microbiota in 28-day-old birds, there were no adverse effects on their growth and well-being. Drinking water and fecal matter from the pens in which the birds were housed as groups showed no contamination by Bdellovibrio after dosing. Predatory Bdellovibrio orally administered to birds that had been predosed with a gut-colonizing Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis phage type 4 strain (an important zoonotic pathogen) significantly reduced Salmonella numbers in bird gut cecal contents and reduced abnormal cecal morphology, indicating reduced cecal inflammation, compared to the ceca of the untreated controls or a nonpredatory ΔpilA strain, suggesting that these effects were due to predatory action. This work is a first step to applying Bdellovibrio therapeutically for other animal, and possibly human, infections.
Mesoamérica: historia y reconsideración del concepto

This article discusses the meaning and the historical development of the concept of Mesoamerica through a study of some of the ideas that made up its original source of inspiration. A concept different from the traditional definition of Mesoamerica, as originally formulated in 1943, is presented and its actual importance is emphasized, an importance which is due to a redynamization of some of its constituent features and the application of combined historical and neoevolutionist viewpoints.
Action research in the field of societal entrepreneurship. Building participative relationships

Research on entrepreneurship has taken "the linguistic turn" inspired by postmodernism, narrative methods and a social constructionist perspective. This movement is particularly evident in the Scandinavian entrepreneurship research tradition (Hjorth, 2008). As a consequence, many of the inhibitions that traditionally have hindered researchers from getting close to their study objects are removed. Postmodernism teach us that the researcher doesn't have to be a distant, observing and disembodied narrator claiming universal and general knowledge. As Gergen (2003) notes, the basic assumptions that comes with a social constructionist perspective makes action research both a legitimate as well as promising pathway for further experimentation and development in qualitative research. He also notes that action research is gaining a steady momentum within the social sciences. Action research differs from both basic and applied social research in terms of people's involvement in the research process. With this involvement follows an integration of action with research, and a practice-based nature of the knowledge that is entailed (Park, 2001). Knowledge is seen to be enriched through direct involvement, intervention or insertion in processes of social action. The ambition is to arrive at a subject/ subject relationship with the ones being "studied", combining different kinds of knowledge in the research process (Fals Borda, 2001). Although participation is singled out as the main defining character of action research (Reason & Bradbury, 2001) and is widely discussed in the action research literature, relatively few studies deal with building the participative relationship itself. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the knowledge of the relationship building process in action research projects. Based on a description of a co- operation between researchers and practioners, the ambition is to give a detailed account of this process, letting the voices of the researchers as well as the participating co- researchers/ practioners be heard in the text.
International Development Studies: Theories and Methods in Research and Practice

This book is an exploration of what it is to 'do' development studies as a distinct discipline. It introduces and addresses the fundamental questions that everyone engaged with development - whether student, researcher, or practitioner. Accessibly written, with extensive use of case study material, this book is an essential primer for students of development studies who require a concise, penetrating overview of its foundations.
Social Categorization in Intergroup Contexts: Three Kinds of Self-Categorization

In reviewing self-categorization theory and the literature upon which it is based, we conclude that individuals' attempts to form social categories could lead to three kinds of self-categorization. We label them intergroup categorization, ingroup categorization, and outgroup categorization. We review literature supporting these three types and argue that they can help to explain and organize the existing evidence. Moreover, we conclude that distinguishing these three kinds of self-categorization lead to novel predictions regarding social identity, social cognition, and groups. We offer some of those predictions by discussing their potential causes (building from optimal distinctiveness and security seeking literatures) and implications (on topics including prototype complexity, self-stereotyping, stereotype formation, intergroup behavior, dual identity, conformity, and the psychological implications of perceiving uncategorized collections of people). This paper offers a platform from which to build theoretical and empirical advances in social identity, social cognition, and intergroup relations.
Managing the Boundary

Accounting research has traditionally been concerned with how accounting enables the organization of production. In contrast, raises the issue of how accounting is implicated in the production of the organization. Organizations are embedded in wider society, but a crucial element in their formation is that they become (and remain) differentiated from their environments. Uses the idea of boundary maintenance is used to understand how this differentiation is achieved. Boundaries are conceptualized in two ways, first, as thresholds and, second, as binding structures. Considers accounting, as information, as a system of accountability, as a moral order and as a legitimating institution in the context of the production and re‐production of the organization through the management of boundaries.
Networks within networks: using multiple link types to examine network structure and identify key actors in a drug trafficking operation

Understanding criminal networks can aid in the identification of key players and important relationships within the network. We examined multiple, directed link types in a criminal network. Eight distinct link types were identified, each one related to the exchange of a particular resource (e.g. drugs, money). The analyses focused on the eight link-type network layers and a merged network representing links across all eight layers. We were able to determine the link type of around 31% of the links, and found that nearly 50% of the nodes were involved in more than one network layer. This suggests that many actors contribute in multiple, diverse ways to the operation of the network. Actors were found to specialise in the exchange of particular types of resources, and also to specialise in the strategic position they occupied in the transfer of particular resources.
From Flutter to Tumble: Inertial Drag and Froude Similarity in Falling Paper

In an experiment on thin flat strips falling through a fluid in a vertical cell, two fundamental motions are observed: side-to-side oscillation (flutter) and end-over-end rotation (tumble). At high Reynolds number, the dimensionless similarity variable describing the dynamics is the Froude number Fr, being the ratio of characteristic times for downward motion and pendular oscillations. The transition from flutter to tumble occurs at Fr c › 0.67 6 0.05. We propose a phenomenological model including inertial drag and lift which reproduces this motion, and directly yields the Froude similarity. [S0031-9007(98)06387-X] PACS numbers: 47.27. Vf, 03.40. Gc