Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Matched filter for event identification and processing in PET

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a technology that can image the spatial and temporal distribution of radio-labeled biomolecules in-vivo. It is dependent on the coincidence detection of photons emitted due to the annihilation of positrons. Most PET scanners use constant fraction discriminators (CFD) to confirm detector triggering. Following this, a blocking time window is used to allow processing of individual events. However, if a second (or more) event interacts with the detectors within this blocking time window, this method will not be capable to accurately identify its timing or energy, while the energy information for the first event is lost. Both energy and timing of all events are necessary for accurate event detection and localization. In these cases and without a method to identify individual events collected within the blocking time window, all events within the blocking window must be rejected, resulting in a real loss in sensitivity. The information loss in these situations is a significant problem when using high activity sources due to the high probability of event pile-up. To address this issue, we examined the performance of a matched filter when applied to raw pulses obtained from a pulse library derived from the PETBox system. Here, we compare the performance of the matched filter to CFD for event detection, positioning and timing. In addition, we show preliminary results from a real-time digital implementation of the matched filter on the PETBox FPGA. Preliminary results indicate that the matched filter can significantly improve the fidelity of the detection of true events at high count rates, as compared to conventional CFD, while event timing is somewhat compromised for the matched filter.
Gamma spectrometer based on CeBr3 scintillator with compton suppression for identification of trace activities in water

The performance of a spectrometry system (SPEC) for identification of trace activities in water is presented. The SPEC detector is a part of the TAWARA_RTM platform designed for monitoring of water processed for distribution by the Waterworks Company. The SPEC system is dedicated for identification of radioisotopes emitting γ-rays of energies between 50 keV and 2 MeV. The SPEC detector comprises a CeBr3 scintillator grown from specially purified raw material with reduced content of actinides that produce unwanted alpha particle background. In order to reduce the Compton scattering background, an active anti-Compton shield (ACS) made of BGO is used. In addition, a passive lead shield around the ACS is used for further suppression of the external background. The SPEC detector is designed for use with a dedicated concentrator system, that will be used for absorption of a selected group of radioactive elements that may be present in water processed at the waterworks. The system is tested upon capability to detect the γ-ray emitters with activity according to the guidance levels published by the EU in the Council Directive.
Smart Concurrent Learning Scheme for 5G Network: QoS-Aware Radio Resource Allocation

The continuous performance race led wireless industry to a ubiquitous adoption of heterogeneous architecture with small cells. Although, the extreme densification offers the largest increase in the network capacity, it also challenges more valuable system metrics like quality of service (QoS) for users with various traffic types. While previously used to boost capacity in the cellular system, radio resource management schemes now need to be refocused to address the requirements of the next generation services. In this paper, we propose a novel power profile construction framework designed specifically for scenarios with multiple traffic types and a smart way to adopt it to a distributed learning algorithm. The main goal is to provide each cell with the ability to make its decision autonomously while taking into account the QoS metrics of the surrounding cells. We illustrate the application of this distributed learning strategy for the subband allocation and propose several mechanisms to improve the convergence speed in the absence of communication. To address the arising convergence challenge we propose to additionally enhance the proposed algorithm with a smart model fitting stage. Taking advantage of this ideas, we were able to properly utilize flexibility and meet the strict requirements of machine learning algorithm for QoS scenarios. The performances of the proposed method are evaluated in the case of Long Term Evolution (LTE-A) setup and compared to a number of traditional resource allocation schemes. System level simulations show that it achieves a considerable improvement in system performance for heterogeneous deployment, without compromising the quality of service of the overall system.
Quantitative detection of PML‐RARα fusion transcript by real‐time PCR with a single primer pair

Quantitative detection of minimal residual disease has prognostic value for some leukemias. Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is characterized by the specific PML‐RARα fusion gene from t(15;17). Added to three PML‐RARα isoforms, alternative spliced forms of PML exons give rise to multiple isoforms even within a single patient. To date, multiple primer pairs for the detection of the various PML‐RARα transcripts have been designed, potentially generating some nonspecific amplification products. Here, we established a real‐time quantitative PCR (RQ‐PCR) strategy with a single primer pair using LightCycler (sp‐RQ‐PCR), which could simultaneously detect three isoforms with equal specificity and sensitivity as well as alternative spliced forms. Results obtained with sp‐RQ‐PCR for 39 samples from 15 APL patients and 31 non‐APL samples were compared with those with TaqMan™ assay with three primer pairs. In two of the APL samples, PML‐RARα was detected in the TM, but not in the sp‐RQ‐PCR or nested PCR. Furthermore, the sp‐RQ‐PCR showed no positive results for the 31 non‐APL samples, whereas the TM identified 13% (4/31) as positive. Electrophoresis detected some artifacts in the TM, which do not correspond to PML‐RARα. We conclude that our sp‐RQ‐PCR is specific enough to identify various forms of PML‐RARα and yields no false‐positive results. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 23:223–230, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
“I understood…but some parts were confusing and hard to grasp”: Patients’ perception of informed consent forms and clinical trials in Eldoret, Kenya

Background: A signed informed consent (IC) form proves voluntary participation in a study. Yet the development of accessible and understandable IC forms comes with its own set of challenges, particularly when conducting international research. Purpose: This study explores understanding by participants in an Eldoret-based clinical trial of IC and its implications as well as whether they will volunteer for future trials. Materials and Methods: In mid-2010, in-depth interviews with trial participants were recorded in audio format. Content analysis provides a description of trial participants’ experiences and thoughts. Results: All participants were informed about the trial and its voluntariness and they consented. However, some were too ill to scrutinize trial details. Thus, they relied on their health care provider's advice, or on their guardians. In general, participants understood their role and were happy to volunteer or invite others to participate in future trials. They also emphasised the importance of an open on-going dialogue in order for participants to be able to ask questions. Conclusion: Clinical trial participants in Eldoret seem to understand their role, but rely on providers and guardians when consenting. They are very willing to participate in future trials. Evaluation of research participants’ opinions may improve trial protocols, increase comprehension and guard against manipulation of study participants. In addition, this research focus should guide development of consent forms and process that facilitates a truly IC.
12-month Tai Chi training in the elderly: its effect on health fitness.

PURPOSE The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) on health fitness in older individuals. METHODS Thirty-eight community-dwelling persons aged 58 to 70 yr completed this study. The TCC group included 9 men and 11 women; the control group included 9 men and 9 women. The TCC group practiced TCC for 11.2+/-1.4 months, with the attendance of 4.6+/-1.3 times x wk(-1). Each session included 20 min of warm-up, 24 min of TCC practice, and 10 min of cooldown. The exercise intensity was 52-63% of the heart rate range. Cardiorespiratory function, strength, flexibility, and percent of body fat were evaluated before and at the end of this study. RESULTS The male TCC group showed 16.1% increase in VO2max (P < 0.01), 11 degrees increase in thoracic/lumbar flexibility (P < 0.05), 18.1% increase in muscle strength of knee extensor (P < 0.01), and 15.4% increase of knee flexor (P < 0.05). The female TCC group showed 21.3% increase in VO2max (P < 0.01), 8.8 degrees increase in flexibility (P < 0.05), 20.3% increase in muscle strength of knee extensor (P < 0.05), and 15.9% increase of knee flexor (P < 0.05). The control group showed no significant change in these variables. CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that a 12-month Tai Chi Chuan program is effective for improving health fitness of the elderly.
A low cost non-wearable gaze detection system based on infrared image processing

Human eye gaze detection plays an important role in various fields, including human-computer interaction, virtual reality and cognitive science. Although different relatively accurate systems of eye tracking and gaze detection exist, they are usually either too expensive to be bought for low cost applications or too complex to be implemented easily. In this article, we propose a non-wearable system for eye tracking and gaze detection with low complexity and cost. The proposed system provides a medium accuracy which makes it suitable for general applications in which low cost and easy implementation is more important than achieving very precise gaze detection. The proposed method includes pupil and marker detection using infrared image processing, and gaze evaluation using an interpolation-based strategy. The interpolation-based strategy exploits the positions of the detected pupils and markers in a target captured image and also in some previously captured training images for estimating the position of a point that the user is gazing at. The proposed system has been evaluated by three users in two different lighting conditions. The experimental results show that the accuracy of this low cost system can be between 90% and 100% for finding major gazing directions.
Repression of hsp70 heat shock gene transcription by the suppressor of hairy-wing protein of Drosophila melanogaster

The suppressor of hairy-wing [su(Hw)] locus of Drosophila melanogaster encodes a zinc finger protein that binds a repeated motif in the gypsy retroposon. Mutations of su(Hw) suppress the phenotypes associated with mutations caused by gypsy insertions. To examine the mechanisms by which su(Hw) alters gene expression, a fragment of gypsy containing multiple su(Hw) protein-binding sites was inserted into various locations in the well-characterized Drosophila hsp70 heat shock gene promoter. We found no evidence for activation of basal hsp70 transcription by su(Hw) protein in cultured Drosophila cells but observed that it can repress heat shock-induced transcription. Repression occurred only when su(Hw) protein-binding sites were positioned between binding sites for proteins required for heat shock transcription. We propose that su(Hw) protein interferes nonspecifically with protein-protein interactions required for heat shock transcription, perhaps sterically, or by altering the ability of DNA to bend or twist.
Preoperative Evaluation of Extension Capacity of the Occipitoatlantoaxial Complex in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: Comparison between the Bellhouse Test and a New Method, Hyomental Distance Ratio

Background: The authors devised a new method, the hyomental distance ratio (HMDR), for preoperatively identifying patients with a reduced occipitoatlantoaxial extension capacity, which was defined as the ratio of the hyomental distance in head extension position to that in the neutral position. They compared the accuracy of the HMDR with that of the Bellhouse test in 40 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: Each patient wearing goggles on which a goniometer was mounted sat upright with the head in the neutral position and then extended the head maximally. The angle of the goggles and the hyomental distance were measured in the two head positions, and a lateral cervical radiograph was taken simultaneously. The Bellhouse angle was defined as a difference in the angles of the goggles between these positions. Results: Median values of the radiologic occipitoatlantoaxial extension angle and the Bellhouse angle were 11.2° and 24.9°, respectively. In 21 of 40 patients, the radiologic occipitoatlantoaxial extension angle was less than 12° (reduced occipitoatlantoaxial extension capacity). In these patients, extension of the median angle of 16.4° occurred at the subaxial regions and was greater than that of 8.5° in patients with a radiologic occipitoatlantoaxial extension angle of 12° or more (P < 0.01). As a result, a strong relation between the Bellhouse angle and radiologic occipitoatlantoaxial extension angle was not established (P < 0.01, r = 0.48). In contrast, the HMDR correlated well with the radiologic occipitoatlantoaxial extension angle (P < 0.0001, r = 0.88). The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the Bellhouse test and the HMDR were 0.72 and 0.95, respectively. Conclusions: The HMDR was a good predictor of a reduced occipitoatlantoaxial extension capacity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, but the Bellhouse test was not a clinically reliable method.
Surgical management with intentional replantation on a tooth with palato-radicular groove

A palato-radicular groove (PRG) is a developmental anomaly primarily found in the maxillary lateral incisors. It is a potential communication path between the root canal and the periodontium that decreases the survival prognosis of the affected tooth, therefore compromising the stability of the dental structure in the oral cavity. The aim of this case report is to present an original technique where a PRG was treated by means of intracanal disinfection, PRG sealing with glass ionomer, replantation with intentional horizontal 180 degree rotation of the tooth, and an aesthetic veneer placed to provide adequate tooth morphology. The clinical and biological benefits of this novel technique are presented and discussed.
Recovery from alcohol dependence: Do smoking indicators predict abstinence?

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES There is inconsistent evidence about the potential influence of smoking on recovery from alcohol dependence. Our study aimed at assessing the impact of smoking-behavior on relapse during a 12 months follow-up period following a detoxification in patients with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). METHODS Three hundred Patients with AUD (74.9% smoking) were recruited from two inpatient detoxification units in psychiatric hospitals in Germany and their alcohol consumption was prospectively followed for 1 year. Data on different indicators of smoking behavior was gathered. Cox regression model was used to evaluate potential risk factors on time to relapse of alcohol consumption. Two hundred seventy-nine participants (n = 279) were included in the final analysis. RESULTS Smoking increased the risk for alcohol relapse (hazard ratio = 3.962, 95% CI 1.582-9.921). However, this increased risk is slightly reduced with higher numbers of daily consumed cigarettes (hazard ratio per cigarette = .986, 95% CI .976-.995). CONCLUSION Smoking reduced the probability of maintaining alcohol abstinence significantly, whereas higher number of cigarettes smoked daily diminished the increased risk of alcohol relapse in alcohol-dependent patients. SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE Coordinated psychiatric and substance abuse interventions for different subgroups of patients with AUD in the post-acute treatment phase are necessary. Individualized treatment planning is especially important in smoking patients with AUD who are vulnerable for a relapse to alcohol drinking and for somatic complications. Our findings might support individualized treatment plans. (Am J Addict 2017;26:366-373).
A robust eigendecomposition framework for inexact graph-matching

Graph-matching is a task of pivotal importance in high-level vision since it provides a means by which abstract pictorial descriptions can be matched to one another. This paper describes an efficient algorithm for inexact graph-matching. The method is purely structural, that is to say it uses only the edge or connectivity structure of the graph and does not draw on node or edge attributes. We make two contributions. Commencing from a probability distribution for matching errors, we show how the problem of graph-matching can be posed as maximum likelihood estimation using the apparatus of the EM algorithm. Our second contribution is to cast the recovery of correspondence matches between the graph nodes in a matrix framework. This allows us to efficiently recover correspondence matches using singular value decomposition. We experiment with the method on both real-world and synthetic data. Here we demonstrate that the method offers comparable performance to more computationally demanding methods.
A 20-GHz integer-N frequency synthesizer for 60-GHz transceivers in 90nm CMOS

A 20-GHz integer-N frequency synthesizer including a quadrature VCO for a 60-GHz heterodyne transmitter is presented in this paper. With this PLL, the transmitter can generate four channels defined by IEEE 802.15. 3c standard. The 60-GHz transmitter uses a sub-harmonic mixer in the second up-conversion stage. Output frequency range of the synthesizer is from 19.44 to 21.6 GHz in steps of 0.72 GHz. The RF frequency range of the transceiver is therefore three times of this. As a result, it provides four RF channels of 58.32–64.8 GHz in 2.16 GHz steps, which are compatible to IEEE 802.15. 3c standard. The phase-locked loop frequency synthesizer is implanted in 90nm CMOS.
A Dynactin Subunit with a Highly Conserved Cysteine-rich Motif Interacts Directly with Arp1*

Dynactin is a multisubunit complex and a required cofactor for most, or all, of the cellular processes powered by the microtubule-based motor cytoplasmic dynein. Using a dynein affinity column, the previously uncharacterized p62 subunit of dynactin was isolated and microsequenced. Two peptide sequences were used to clone human cDNAs encoding p62. Sequence analysis of the predicted human polypeptide of 53 kDa revealed a highly conserved pattern of eleven cysteine residues, eight of which fit the consensus sequence for a Zn2+-binding RING domain. We have characterized p62 as an integral component of 20 S dynactin by biochemical and immunocytochemical methods. Affinity chromatography experiments demonstrate that p62 binds directly to the Arp1 subunit of dynactin. Immunocytochemistry with antibodies to p62 demonstrates that this polypeptide has a punctate cytoplasmic distribution as well as centrosomal distribution typical of dynactin. In transfected cells, overexpression of p62 did not disrupt microtubule organization or the integrity of the Golgi but did cause both cytosolic and nuclear distribution of the protein, suggesting that this polypeptide may be targeted to the nucleus at very high expression levels.
Study on Theory of the Grey Markov Chain Method and Its Application

Against the uncertainty of stock price, this paper carried out the grey Markov forecasting model which build up the adjusting grey model and Markov chain model to forecast the stock price in Shanghai. This forecast bases on the analysis of the data in past days and gives the forecast result of stock price on April 30. The practical application results show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Binding of the concave surface of the Sds22 superhelix to the alpha 4/alpha 5/alpha 6-triangle of protein phosphatase-1.

Functional studies of the protein phosphatase-1 (PP1) regulator Sds22 suggest that it is indirectly and/or directly involved in one of the most ancient functions of PP1, i.e. reversing phosphorylation by the Aurora-related protein kinases. We predict that the conserved portion of Sds22 folds into a curved superhelix and demonstrate that mutation to alanine of any of eight residues (Asp(148), Phe(170), Glu(192), Phe(214), Asp(280), Glu(300), Trp(302), or Tyr(327)) at the concave surface of this superhelix thwarts the interaction with PP1. Furthermore, we show that all mammalian isoforms of PP1 have the potential to bind Sds22. Interaction studies with truncated versions of PP1 and with chimeric proteins comprising fragments of PP1 and the yeast PP1-like protein phosphatase Ppz1 suggest that the site(s) required for the binding of Sds22 reside between residues 43 and 173 of PP1gamma(1). Within this region, a major interaction site was mapped to a triangular region delineated by the alpha4-, alpha5-, and alpha6-helices. Our data also show that well known regulatory binding sites of PP1, such as the RVXF-binding channel, the beta12/beta13-loop, and the acidic groove, are not essential for the interaction with Sds22.
SFF Anti-Spoofer: IIIT-H Submission for Automatic Speaker Verification Spoofing and Countermeasures Challenge 2017

The ASVspoof 2017 challenge is about the detection of replayed speech from human speech. The proposed system makes use of the fact that when the speech signals are replayed, they pass through multiple channels as opposed to original recordings. This channel information is typically embedded in low signal to noise ratio regions. A speech signal processing method with high spectro temporal resolution is required to extract robust features from such regions. The single frequency filtering (SFF) is one such technique, which we propose to use for replay attack detection. While SFF based feature representation was used at front-end, Gaussian mixture model and bi-directional long short-term memory models are investigated at the backend as classifiers. The experimental results on ASVspoof 2017 dataset reveal that, SFF based representation is very effective in detecting replay attacks. The score level fusion of back end classifiers further improved the performance of the system which indicates that both classifiers capture complimentary information.