Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
System modeling and DMPC control of AFM in X-axis

Based on the system construction of AFM in X-axis, system modeling and a discrete-time model predictive controller design are presented in this paper, which achieve accurate tracking control for a desired trajectory. Specifically, considering the features of the piezo-scanner, a segmented swept signal with decreasing amplitude is planned as the input signal to the piezo-scanner in X direction, and a dynamic model of the system is obtained by the N4SID algorithm. Meanwhile, an improved model with varying gain is acquired by polynomial fitting method, where the nonlinear behavior of the measurement system is taken into account. Additionally, based on the predictive advantage of the dynamic behavior of the system which can be used to improve the response speed of the system, and the strategy of the optimal control which further enhances the system robustness, a DMPC algorithm based on the improved model is applied to the closed-loop control of the system. Some experimental results show that the improved model describes the relationship of the system input and output exactly, while the DMPC strategy presents superior performance for tracking control in high scanning speed in contrast with the PI controller.
A Decade of Experience With the Primary Pull-Through for Hirschsprung Disease in the Newborn Period: A Multicenter Analysis of Outcomes

ObjectiveTo determine whether use of a primary pull-through would result in equivalent perioperative and long-term complications compared with the two-stage approach. Summary Background DataDuring the past decade, the authors have advanced the use of a primary pull-through for Hirschsprung disease in the newborn, and preliminary results have suggested excellent outcomes. MethodsFrom May 1989 through September 1999, 78 infants underwent a primary endorectal pull-through (ERPT) procedure at four pediatric surgical sites. Data were collected from medical records and a parental telephone interview (if the child was older than 3 years) to assess stooling patterns. A similar group of patients treated in a two-stage fashion served as a historical control. ResultsMean age at the time of ERPT was 17.8 days of life. Comparing primary ERPT with a two-stage approach showed a trend toward a higher incidence of enterocolitis in the primary ERPT group compared with those with a two-stage approach (42.0% vs. 22.0%). Other complications were either lower in the primary ERPT group or similar, including rate of soiling and development of a bowel obstruction. Median number of stools per day was two at a mean follow-up of 4.1 ± 2.5 years, with 83% having three or fewer stools per day. ConclusionsPerformance of a primary ERPT for Hirschsprung disease in the newborn is an excellent option. Results were comparable to those of the two-stage procedure. The greater incidence of enterocolitis appears to be due to a lower threshold in diagnosing enterocolitis in more recent years.
Burn Scar Delineation from Landsat Imagery Using Modified Chan-Vese Model

In this paper, we propose a novel semi-automatic method for burn scar delineation from Landsat imagery using modified Chan-Vese model. Burn scars show reddish-brown from Landsat's band 742 combination. This feature can be used for semi-automatic delineation of burn scars. Usual segmentation algorithms detect all objects in the image, while our goal is to detect burn scars from a given Landsat image, regardless of other objects. Our algorithm is based on segmenting objects of interest (OOI) using modified ChanVese model. Firstly, we choose sample pixels visually from the burn scar. From these sample pixels, a discrimination function for whether a pixel belongs to burn scar or not is determined by the principal component analysis and interval estimation. Then we define a modified Chan-Vese functional. In order to minimize this modified Chan-Vese functional, the evolution equation corresponding to the functional is given. The initial contour of the evolution is a function of the discrimination function, and automatically located near the boundary of OOI. An improved stopping function is used in our evolution equation. Our stopping function depends on image gradient and the discrimination function. This stopping function helps the evolving curve reaches the exterior and interior boundaries of burn scar fast and accurately. Landsat imagery of burn scars over Russia is used to test our algorithm. The result shows that the algorithm is very accurate for delineating exterior and interior burn scar boundaries.
A Photoacoustic Tomography System Based on a Double-Ring Sensor with a Narrow Angular Aperture

A photoacoustic tomography system is developed by using a double-ring sensor featuring a narrow angular aperture. An angular aperture of 2.0 degree can be obtained with this sensor, which improves the spatial resolution of the sensor in scanning direction. In this sensor a fiber for illumination of the sample is integrated, which enables reflection-mode detection of ultrasonic waves. These give the ability to make A-scans of the tissue on a line in depth. Scanning over the surface of the tissue, a photoacoustic tomography can be obtained in a manner analogous to the ultrasound B-can mode. The system is demonstrated with phantom samples, the reconstructed images agree well with the structures of the samples.
Performance analysis of collaborative communication in the presence of phase errors and AWGN in wireless sensor networks

Collaborative communications in sensor networks is analyzed for the case when a phase error, which is result of a displacement error, exists in the system. In this paper we analyze a more realistic collaborative communication system that includes the influence of AWGN and phase error on the signal transmission. A mathematical analysis is performed to calculate the received power and bit error rate (BER). A phase error is assumed to be uniformly distributed over --πΔ to πΔ, where Δ is between 0.1 to 0.4. It is shown that received power increase as the number of sensor nodes (transmitters) increases, and that the received power decrease about 40% as the phase error increases from 0.1π to 0.4π. A detailed theoretical analysis and simulation reviled that the BER increase from 10-5 to 10-2 when the phase error increases from 0.1π to 0.4π.
Citizen Coproduction

Citizen coproduction, that is, citizens’ input to the provision of public services, holds great potential to improve services provided to citizens. It is therefore important to understand why some citizens are more likely to coproduce than others. Citizens’ skills and knowledge to coproduce are argued to be crucial for their contribution to coproduction, but research on this topic is sparse. Building on coproduction theory supplemented with theoretical insights from social psychology theory, the main contribution of this study is to develop theoretical arguments that describe how self-efficacy perception may moderate the influence of knowledge of how to coproduce on citizen coproduction undertaken by individual citizens. A large-N study in the field of education is used to examine this relation.
Pathology and Biopsy Assessment of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most prevalent liver diseases in Western industrialized countries with dramatically rising incidence. The diagnosis of NAFLD requires the existence of steatosis in the absence of significant alcohol consumption. In cases of relevant inflammation pathogenetically linked to steatosis, it is termed non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). While pure steatosis represents a relatively harmless and rapidly reversible condition without a significant tendency to progression, NASH carries a significant morbidity and progression risk. Noninvasive methods neither reliably establish the diagnosis nor define the extent of disease in NASH, making histopathology the diagnostic gold standard. Since current therapeutic options in NASH are limited, indication for biopsy is made in the clinical context, predominantly in unclear clinical constellations, prior to invasive measures, for follow-up purposes and in the context of clinical studies. Histological hallmarks of NASH are steatosis, hepatocellular ballooning (with and without Mallory-Denk bodies), necroinflammation, and progressing disease a characteristic with perisinusoidal fibrosis. For semiquantitative assessment of necroinflammation (grading) and fibrosis (staging), a score has recently been implemented. Although histology does not reliably distinguish alcoholic steatohepatitis/alcoholic fatty liver disease from NASH/NAFLD, it may give valuable hints. NASH has a tendency for more steatosis, the so-called glycogenated nuclei, and less necroinflammatory activity. Future development of biopsy diagnosis will be coupled to the development of differential systemic therapeutic approaches. Especially in the context of clinical studies, detailed histological evaluation should be considered for the detection of predictive parameters.
The expression and localization of fibroblast growth factor-1 (FGF-1) and FGF receptor-1 (FGFR-1) in human breast cancer.

Fibroblast growth factor-1 (FGF-1) is an inducer of angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels. The expression and localization of FGF-1 (acidic FGF) and FGF receptor (FGFR)-1 in mammary tissues from patients with breast cancer was investigated using Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. The affinity-purified FGF-1 antibody which did not have cross-reactivity to FGF-2 (basic FGF) was used in this study. Western blot analysis demonstrated the presence of FGF-1 protein in all of the samples from breast cancer, but not benign tumors such as mastopathy and fibroadenoma. To assess the localization of FGF-1 in cancer tissues, immunostaining with specific antibody was performed. All samples from breast cancer displayed significantly intense staining with FGF-1 antibody. The extent and intensity of immunoreactive FGF-1 polypeptides in cancer cells was statistically much greater than those of cells from fibroadenoma or mastopathy. Control immunostaining with normal rabbit serum or anti-FGF-1 antibody adsorbed with the recombinant FGF-1 polypeptide was completely negative. In contrast to FGF-1, Western blot analysis demonstrated the presence of FGFR-1 protein in all of the samples from breast cancer and benign tumors. By immunohistochemical analysis, the enhanced expression of FGFR-1 was observed in breast cancer cells. Benign tumor cells or interstitial cells displayed a faint expression of FGFR-1. These results demonstrated that breast cancer cells not only generated FGF-1, but also expressed FGFR-1, and FGF-1 might play a role in the proliferation of breast cancer cells not only by paracrine but also by autocrine mechanism.
Why it is Important to Demonstrate Linkages Between Outcomes of Care and Processes and Structures of Care

This first article of the supplement describes the rationale for the Department of Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study, Processes, Structures, and Outcomes in Cardiac Surgery, which was designed to demonstrate statistically and clinically meaningful linkages between processes and structures of care and the outcomes of that care. United States health care is in an era of great enthusiasm for the use of health care outcomes to assess and improve quality of care. An important reason for this enthusiasm is the concern that processes and structures of care, which traditionally have been selected arbitrarily without valid linkages to favorable outcomes, may not result in the desired outcomes of care. Furthermore, health care outcomes are intrinsic to the definition of quality of care and should be relatively free of preconceived biases about how care should be provided. However, the limitations to outcomes-directed quality improvement have been inadequately recognized. These limitations include the following: (1) mortality, the most commonly used outcome, is usually sufficiently rare, resulting in inadequate statistical power; (2) nonfatal outcomes are much more difficult to measure reliably; (3) outcomes may not be measurable for an extended period of time after the care episode, making linkage to quality improvement inefficient; and (4) patients often desire good processes of care as well as favorable outcomes.A review of the literature found relatively few reports linking processes and structures of care to favorable outcomes. Significant relationships between processes of care and outcomes have been reported for several medical conditions (congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, pneumonia, and stroke) when the patient has been considered the unit of analysis. However, there is a paucity of published meaningful process-outcome or structure-outcome linkages for surgical conditions or for any conditions when the hospital has been the focus of analysis. The authors concluded that quality improvement will proceed most efficiently and effectively if all three elements of Donabedian's quality triad (processes, structures, and outcomes) are used and if the processes and structures chosen have been demonstrated to be associated with desired outcomes of care.
An automated approach to beat-by-beat QT-interval analysis.

The present work attempts to resolve some of the problems encountered in QT interval analysis and to describe a new algorithm that uses wavelets to analyze the QT interval on a beat-by-beat basis. The QT interval is further segmented into its contributing factors to find the variability in the repolarization phase. The technique and the algorithm have been tested on control and disease data from the standard MIT ECG library to prove the reproducibility and accuracy of the system. The technique has been implemented on a PC DSP add-on card to do the analysis on a beat-by-beat basis.
Complete Genome Sequence of Wohlfahrtiimonas chitiniclastica Strain SH04, Isolated from Chrysomya megacephala Collected from Pudong International Airport in China

ABSTRACT Wohlfahrtiimonas chitiniclastica bacilli that live in the larvae of a parasitic fly were recently isolated and are speculated to be the cause of fulminant sepsis. Here we report and analyze the complete genome sequence of Wohlfahrtiimonas chitiniclastica strain SH04. No complete genome sequence of a Wohlfahrtiimonas chitiniclastica isolate has been documented previously.
Study of long term structural and functional changes in medically controlled glaucoma.

AIM Prospectively analyze the long term structural and functional changes in patients of primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) receiving medical therapy (beta blockers and non beta blockers). In this study an attempt has been made to evaluate whether medical reduction of IOP prevents or delays the progression of glaucomatous visual field loss and/or optic nerve damage in patients with open angle glaucoma. METHODS Study conducted over a period of 27 months, at a tertiary eye care hospital including both eyes of 40 patients with POAG. Group 1 (20 patients, 40 eyes) received beta-blockers, and Group 2 (20 patients, 40 eyes) received non-beta-blockers. Each patient underwent intraocular pressure measurement, best corrected visual acuity, slit-lamp, fundus examination, gonioscopy, central corneal thickness, visual field assessment by Humphrey automated perimetry and retinal nerve fibre layer thickness by Stratus optical coherence tomography at baseline and at two subsequent visits. The average time interval between each visit was 10-11 months. The statistical analysis was done using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Post-hoc test, using tukey' method were adopted. Probablity (P) value of 0.05 or less was considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS A total of 80 eyes of 40 patients of POAG were enrolled, 24 males, 16 females, age group 50-80 years. In both beta and non beta blocker group, reduction (improvement) in mean IOP from initial levels to the levels achieved at the 2nd and 3rd visits was statistically significant. One way ANOVA (df=2), fisher f value=11.64, P=0.000, one way ANOVA (df=3), fisher f value=35.61, P=0.000. Both mean deviation (MD) and pattern standard deviation (PSD) in both beta and non beta blockers at different visits were not statistically significant. Retinal nerve fibre layer thickness (RNFL) -only mean inferior retinal nerve fibre layer, the difference between the mean value in beta and non beta blocker groupwere statistically significant. [unpaired t test value (df=78) =2.27, P=0.03]. Side effects with beta blocker were conjunctival hyperemia (10%), burning (5%), and conjunctival hyperemia (5%) in non beta blockers. CONCLUSION Non-beta-blockers are as effective as beta-blockers in bringing about a significant lowering of intraocular pressure to the normal range, and in preventing progressive damage to the visual fields and retinal nerve fibre layer. The absence of systemic side effects and superior IOP lowering efficacy has made non beta-blockers attractive for first line therapy for the treatment of glaucoma worldwide.
Laboratory Strains of Bacillus subtilis Do Not Exhibit Swarming Motility

ABSTRACT We redemonstrate that SwrA is essential for swarming motility in Bacillus subtilis, and we reassert that laboratory strains of B. subtilis do not swarm. Additionally, we find that a number of other genes, previously reported to be required for swarming in laboratory strains, are dispensable for robust swarming motility in an undomesticated strain. We attribute discrepancies in the literature to a lack of reproducible standard experimental conditions, selection for spontaneous swarming suppressors, inadvertent genetic linkage to swarming mutations, and auxotrophy.
Assessing the Effectiveness of Neuromuscular Training Programs in Reducing the Incidence of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries in Female Athletes

Background: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are more common in female athletes because of anatomic and biomechanical factors. These injuries can have detrimental ramifications for the athlete and the health care system. Neuromuscular training programs have been designed to modify risk factors and prevent ACL injuries. Purpose: This systematic review evaluates studies that assess the effectiveness of neuromuscular training programs in reducing ACL injuries in female athletes and provides an update to 2 previously published reviews. Study Design: Systematic review. Methods: Medline, Cochrane, and CINAHL databases were searched for relevant journal articles published from 1995 to 2011. We performed a manual review of relevant articles, authors, and journals, including bibliographies from identified articles. Ten studies were included in this review. Results: Only 2 studies demonstrated a statistically significant decrease in ACL injuries with neuromuscular training programs. Two additional studies showed a statistically significant decrease in subgroup analyses only. Four studies did show a trend toward reduced ACL injuries with neuromuscular training programs but were unable to achieve statistical significance. Neuromuscular training programs utilizing plyometric exercises and a preseason component were the most beneficial. Two studies actually showed an increase in injuries with intervention programs. Conclusion: Neuromuscular training programs may be a useful adjunct to training, but current literature precludes our universal recommendation of them.
Whisking as a “voluntary” response: operant control of whisking parameters and effects of whisker denervation

The rat’s ability to vary its whisking “strategies” to meet the functional demands of a discriminative task suggests that whisking may be characterized as a “voluntary” behavior—an operant—and like other operants, should be modifiable by appropriate manipulations of response–reinforcer contingencies. To test this hypothesis we have used high-resolution, optoelectronic “real-time” recording procedures to monitor the movements of individual whiskers and reinforce specific movement parameters (amplitude, frequency). In one operant paradigm (N = 9) whisks with protractions above a specified amplitude were reinforced (Variable Interval 30 s) in the presence of a tone, but extinguished (EXT) in its absence. In a second paradigm (N = 3), rats were reinforced on two different VI schedules (VI-20s/VI-120s) signaled, respectively, by the presence or absence of the tone. Selective reinforcement of whisking movements maintained the behavior over many weeks of testing and brought it under stimulus and schedule control. Subjects in the first paradigm learned to increase responding in the presence of the tone and inhibit responding in its absence. In the second paradigm, subjects whisked at significantly different rates in the two stimulus conditions. Bilateral deafferentation of the whisker pad did not impair conditioned whisking or disrupt discrimination behavior. Our results confirm the hypothesis that rodent whisking has many of the properties of an operant response. The ability to bring whisking movement parameters under operant control should facilitate electrophysiological and lesion/behavioral studies of this widely used “model” sensorimotor system.
Underwater 3D structures as semantic landmarks in SONAR mapping

SONAR mapping of underwater environments leads to dense point-clouds. These maps have large memory footprints, are inherently noisy and consist of raw data with no semantic information. This paper presents an approach to underwater semantic mapping where known man-made structures that appear in multibeam SONAR data are automatically recognised. From a set of SONAR images acquired by an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) and a catalogue of ‘a-priori’ 3D CAD models of structures that may potentially be found in the data, our algorithm proceeds in two phases. First we recognise objects using an efficient, rotation-invariant 2D descriptor combined with a histogram matching method. Then, we determine pose using a 6 degree-of-freedom registration of the 3D object to the local scene using a fast 2D correlation, refined with an iterative closest point (ICP)-based method. Once the structures located and identified, we build a semantic representation of the world based on the initial CAD models, resulting in a lightweight yet accurate world model. We demonstrate the applicability of our method on field data acquired by an AUV in Loch Linnhe, Scotland. Our method proves to be suitable for online semantic mapping of a partially man-made underwater environment such as a typical oil field.
Donepezil, but not galantamine, blocks muscarinic receptor‐mediated in vitro and in vivo responses

We have found that galantamine, but not donepezil, reversed isolation rearing‐induced deficits of prepulse inhibition (PPI) via an activation of muscarinic M1 receptors. To explain this difference, the present study examined the effects of these acetylcholinesterase inhibitors on muscarinic receptor‐mediated responses in in vitro and in vivo systems. Ca2+‐imaging study showed that donepezil, but not galantamine, blocked a muscarinic agonist carbachol‐induced increase in intracellular Ca2+ levels in SH‐SY5Y cells. Moreover, a microdialysis study showed that intraperitoneal administration of donepezil, but not galantamine, attenuated a preferential M1 receptor agonist Ndesmethylclozapine‐induced increase in dopamine release in mouse cerebral cortex. These results suggest that donepezil, but not galantamine, has an ability to block muscarinic receptor function and imply that the differential effects may be responsible for the difference in the effects on isolation rearing‐induced deficits of PPI between these drugs. Synapse, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.