Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of scoliosis using 3-D ultrasound volume projection imaging with automatic spine curvature detection

X-ray imaging is a gold standard to diagnose scoliosis, a medical condition defined as lateral spine curvature > 10°. However, radiation hazard restricts its application. 3-D ultrasound imaging shows potential for radiation-free scoliosis assessment. Recently, ultrasound volume projection imaging (VPI) was reported to provide a coronal view of spine for manual measurement of spine curvature. An automatic method for processing VPI images is now very much desired to avoid using tedious and subjective manual procedures, especially for scoliosis mass screening. In this paper, we reported an automatic method to quantitatively determine the spine curvature using the spine column profile, represented by the darkest region along the midline of VPI image. The method started with image enhancement using histogram equalization, and identified the points by locating the darkest points row by row in the enhanced image, followed by a polynomial curve fitting to the detected points. The spine curvature angle was finally calculated according to the inflection points on the curve. The performance was tested on the VPI images obtained from 36 subjects (Age: 30.1 ± 14.5) with different spine curvatures. The curvatures obtained using the automatic method had a significant correlation with those by the manual method (r = 0.92; p <; 0.001). The proposed automatic method is capable of measuring the spine curvature on the VPI images, thus greatly facilitating the use of 3-D ultrasound for scoliosis assessment.
Pharmacokinetics of Recombinant Transgenic Antithrombin in Volunteers

Adequate levels of antithrombin (AT) III are essential for anticoagulation during cardiopulmonary bypass. Levels of AT are often decreased in patients receiving heparin before surgery. In these patients supplementation with exogenous AT can suppress the coagulation pathway and possibly decrease the risk of postoperative coagulopathy. However, the pharmacokinetics of AT have not been extensively analyzed. In this study we investigated the pharmacokinetics of transgenic recombinant AT in healthy volunteers. The concentrations of AT, after initial doses given over 30 min, were best described by a weight-normalized two-compartment model. The fast compartment volume was 41.1 mL/kg and the volume of distribution was 115.4 mL/kg. Intercompartmental clearance was 0.0763 mL · kg−1 · min−1 and elimination clearance was 0.0383 mL · kg−1 · min−1. These variables are equivalent to a distribution half-life of 196 min and an elimination half-life of 2568 min. Approximately 75% of the supplemental dose is removed from plasma by the initial distribution process. A single supplemental dose of transgenic recombinant antithrombin restoring levels to 120%–150% of normal can provide adequate levels for the usual duration of cardiopulmonary bypass. Implications: A single supplemental dose of transgenic recombinant antithrombin restoring levels to 120%–150% of normal can provide adequate levels for the usual duration of cardiopulmonary bypass.
Detecting and classifying blurred image regions

Many image deblurring algorithms perform blur kernel estimation and image deblurring by assuming the blur type and distribution are already known. However, in practice such information is not known in advance and must be estimated using local blur measures. In this paper, we revisit the image partial blur detection and classification problem and propose several new or enhanced local blur measures using different types of image information including color, gradient and spectral information. The proposed measures demonstrate stronger discriminative power, better across-image stability or higher computational efficiency than previous ones. By learning the optimal combination of these measures with SVM classifiers, we obtain a patch-based image partial blur detector and classifier. Experiments on a large dataset of real images show the proposed approach has superior performance to the state-of-the-art approach.
The Eye of the Beholder. Reconsidering the Notions of Pro‐Poor Growth and Progressivity, with an Application to Vietnam

Both policymakers and economists have tried to find criteria to assess whether economic growth is pro‐poor. In this paper we reconsider the inequality‐oriented approach originally proposed by Jenkins and Van Kerm. They look at the changes in the whole income distribution, and decompose the change in income inequality, measured by the Gini coefficient, into a progressivity and a reranking component. They define a pro‐poor (or progressive) change as one where the changes in income are more to the benefit of those who are initially poor than to the benefit of those who are initially rich. We challenge this assumption, and maintain that also the point of view of the finally poor and the finally rich should be taken into account when evaluating whether growth is pro‐poor. We suggest a new decomposition method, based on an inequality index of the generalized entropy family, which allows the change in income inequality to be decomposed exactly into a forward‐looking and a backward‐looking progressivity component. Our empirical illustration, using data from household surveys in Vietnam, shows that economic growth in Vietnam has been pro‐poor from a forward‐looking perspective, but not from a backward‐looking perspective.
Markets Under the Microscope: Making Scientific Discoveries Valuable Through Choreographed Contestations

This paper breaks new ground by revealing and conceptualizing the marketization of science as a process that transforms scientific discoveries and markets through a series of choreographed contestations: moments of valuation that occur when different social worlds collide. We follow a scientific discovery, from the moment it entered an incubator, to uncover how valuation practices and market devices enact and contest diverse social values (i.e., what is worth doing) to generate economic value (i.e., what is worth paying for) at the science-market-entrepreneurship nexus. In contrast with commercialization of science studies that focus on institutional arrangements, this study explicates the practices and devices used by multiple market actors to transform a scientific discovery into a marketable object. In so doing, we characterise choreographed contestations and the mechanisms through which they operate to explain how specific valuations are performed to work out innovative next steps that unfold the marketization of science.
Proinflammatory and Proadhesive Activation of Lymphocytes and Macrophages in Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Even though sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SHL) is a quite frequent disease, the pathogenetic processes leading to it are widely unknown. There is increasing evidence that immunomodulatory cells, especially T lymphocytes, might be involved. Twelve patients with acute SHL and 12 healthy, age-matched individuals were included in this study. In addition to routine blood parameters, plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), soluble CD40 (sCD40) and sCD40 ligand (sCD40L) were determined by ELISA. Moreover, peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated by Ficoll density gradient. Afterwards, in subpopulations – identified by CD14 (monocytes), CD68 (macrophages), CD3 (T lymphocytes) or CD19 (B lymphocytes) immunoreactivity – proinflammatory (CD40, TNF-α or cyclooxygenase-2) and proadhesive (CD38) proteins were measured by 2-color fluorescence-activated cell sorter analyses. In comparison with healthy individuals, patients with acute SHL revealed elevated plasma levels of sCD40 and sCD40L and a significantly decreased percentage (36%) of lymphocytes, especially of T lymphocytes (28%). Additionally, in patients with acute SHL the percentage of proinflammatory CD40, TNF-α, cyclooxygenase-2 or CD38-positive T or B lymphocytes was significantly increased. Our data suggest an enhanced extravasation of proadhesive and proinflammatory lymphocytes from the peripheral circulation, which may contribute to SHL disease induction as well as progression and, thus, may be suggested as a novel therapeutical target.
Design of an implantable stimulator ASIC with self-adapting supply

A high voltage supply is necessary for implantable stimulators that need to deliver high stimulus current to load tissue and overcome large electrode impedance. A constantly high supply voltage results in unnecessary power wastage in low-voltage stimulation and is potentially dangerous at the neural tissue interface. This paper presents the authors' recent progress in developing a stimulation system with self-adapting supply based on the previous Active Books system. The improved design is able to measure the peak electrode voltage on any specified anode and feed back the information to a central hub unit. If the peak electrode voltage is significantly lower than the current supply voltage, the adjustable voltage regulator in the hub will issue a lower but high enough supply voltage to power up the stimulator chip. The circuit has been designed and simulated in a 0.6-μm HV CMOS process.
The Influence of Patient Choice of First Provider on Costs and Outcomes: Analysis From a Physical Therapy Patient Registry

• STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study. • BACKGROUND: Alternative models of care that allow patients to choose direct access to physical therapy have shown promise in terms of cost reduction for neck and back pain. However, real‐world exploration within the US health care system is notably limited. • OBJECTIVES: To compare total claims paid and patient outcomes for patients with neck and back pain who received physical therapy intervention via direct access versus medical referral. • METHODS: Data were accessed for patients seeking care for neck or back pain (n = 603) between 2012 and 2014, who chose to begin care either through traditional medical referral or direct access to a physical therapy‐led spine management program. All patients received a standardized, pragmatic physical therapy approach, with patient‐reported measures of pain and disability assessed before and after treatment. Patient demographics and outcomes data were obtained from the medical center patient registry and combined with total claims paid calculated for the year after the index claim. Linear mixed‐effects modeling was used to analyze group differences in pain and disability, visits/time, and annualized costs. • RESULTS: Patients who chose to enter care via the direct‐access physical therapy‐led spine management program displayed significantly lower total costs (mean difference, $1543; 95% confidence interval: $51, $3028; P = .04) than those who chose traditional medical referral. Patients in both groups showed clinically important improvements in pain and disability, which were similar between groups (P>.05). • CONCLUSION: The initial patient choice to begin care with a physical therapist for back or neck pain resulted in lower cost of care over the next year, while resulting in similar improvements in patient outcomes at discharge from physical therapy. These findings add to the emerging literature suggesting that patients' choice to access physical therapy through direct access may be associated with lower health care expenditures for patients with neck and back pain. • LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Economic and decision analyses, level 4.
Thermal analysis using equivalent thermal network in IPMSM

This paper deals with temperature calculation using equivalent thermal network in interior permanent magnet synchronous motor (IPMSM) under the steady-state condition. The equivalent thermal network consists of heat sources, which are generated from copper loss and iron loss, and thermal resistances considering conduction and convection. The heat transfer coefficient in conduction is decided by material property but it has some disagreement between the value using numerical formula and experimental results. Therefore, temperature of each part in IPMSM is calculated by the equivalent thermal network using calculated thermal resistance based on experimental results. Finally, validation and reliability for proposed equivalent thermal network are verified by experimental results.
Differential haemostatic risk factors for pregnancy-related deep-vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism

Summary Limited data exist on thrombophilia and the risk of venous thrombosis (VT) during pregnancy and postpartum. The objectives of the present study were to investigate the role of haemostatic risk factors for pregnancy-related VT and their phenotypic expression in deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). Total 313 cases with objectively verified first time VT and 353 controls were selected from a source population of 377,155 women with 613,232 pregnancies. The adjusted odds ratio (aOR) for pregnancy-related VT was 1.7 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1–2.8) for women with factor VIII >90th percentile. The aOR for VT for endogenous thrombin potential and D-dimer values >90thpercentiles were 1.8 (95% CI 1.1–3.0) and 2.1 (95% CI 1.3–3.3), respectively. Factor IX >90thpercentile or free protein S ≤the 5th percentile increased the risk for PE, and the aORs were 2.4 (95% CI 1.1–5.0) and 3.1 (95% CI 1.3–7.2), respectively. Women carrying the factor V Leiden (F5 rs6025) polymorphism, or who had reduced sensitivity to activated protein C (aPC) in the absence of F5 rs6025, had increased risk for DVT, with unadjusted ORs 7.7 (95% CI 4.7–12.7) and 3.5 (95% CI 2.2–5.4), respectively. Women with a history of pregnancy-related VT showed activation of coagulation and had elevated factor VIII. Furthermore, high levels of factor IX and low levels of free protein S were associated with increased risk for PE, whereas aPC resistance and F5 rs6025 were risk factors for DVT and not PE.
Structural and Biochemical Characterization of Spa47 Provides Mechanistic Insight into Type III Secretion System ATPase Activation and Shigella Virulence Regulation*

Like many Gram-negative pathogens, Shigella rely on a complex type III secretion system (T3SS) to inject effector proteins into host cells, take over host functions, and ultimately establish infection. Despite these critical roles, the energetics and regulatory mechanisms controlling the T3SS and pathogen virulence remain largely unclear. In this study, we present a series of high resolution crystal structures of Spa47 and use the structures to model an activated Spa47 oligomer, finding that ATP hydrolysis may be supported by specific side chain contributions from adjacent protomers within the complex. Follow-up mutagenesis experiments targeting the predicted active site residues validate the oligomeric model and determined that each of the tested residues are essential for Spa47 ATPase activity, although they are not directly responsible for stable oligomer formation. Although N-terminal domain truncation was necessary for crystal formation, it resulted in strictly monomeric Spa47 that is unable to hydrolyze ATP, despite maintaining the canonical ATPase core structure and active site residues. Coupled with studies of ATPase inactive full-length Spa47 point mutants, we find that Spa47 oligomerization and ATP hydrolysis are needed for complete T3SS apparatus formation, a proper translocator secretion profile, and Shigella virulence. This work represents the first structure-function characterization of Spa47, uniquely complementing the multitude of included Shigella T3SS phenotype assays and providing a more complete understanding of T3SS ATPase-mediated pathogen virulence. Additionally, these findings provide a strong platform for follow-up studies evaluating regulation of Spa47 oligomerization in vivo as a much needed means of treating and perhaps preventing shigellosis.
The postural and control-display gain effects of distal pointing on upper extremity fatigue

Pointing at displays from a distance is becoming common in both work and domestic environments. Ray-casting interaction is easy for novices to learn and understand, but this technique can cause physiological fatigue. To address this issue, the present study aims to investigate the issue of fatigue caused by joint-based pointing methods and Control-Display gains (CD gains) via Fitts' task. Ten healthy subjects participated in the experiment and performed multi-directional tapping tests with three joint-based pointing methods and three CD gains. The experimental results indicated that the joint-based pointing methods indeed affected the physiological and subjective fatigue of the upper limb muscles and measured body parts during distal pointing tasks. The wrist-based pointing method, which can induce substantially lower physiological and subjective fatigue, appears to be superior to the other two methods. There were no significant main effects of CD gains on either physiological fatigue or subjective Borg's CR-10 rating. Practitioner Summary: The present study investigates the issue of fatigue caused by joint-based pointing methods and CD gains via Fitts' task. The pointing methods affected the physiological and subjective fatigue of the upper-limb muscles. There were no significant main effects of CD gains on either physiological fatigue or subjective Borg's CR-10 rating.
Arrhythmia classification from wavelet feature on FGPA

Arrhythmia is a condition when heart beats are not beating properly, either in rhythm or in intensity. Sometimes arrhythmia problems could make patients in dangerous condition due to their sortie. However, good classification and diagnostic in arrhythmia will help many lives from fatal menace. Many different diagnostics and classifications have been conducted recently by using neural network as their classifier, both in simulation and real hardware implementation. Nevertheless, the products as an arrhythmia classifier are not small enough for daily use. Our previous research [3] succeeded making a simulation for heart beats classifier on neural network. In this research, we tried to implement it on a prototype small arrhythmia classifier on FPGA using Spartan 3AN development board.
Simultaneous administration of a diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis vaccine with measles-mumps-rubella and oral poliovirus vaccines.

OBJECTIVE To compare the safety and immunogenicity of Lederle Laboratories' (Pearl River, NY) diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccine with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and whole-cell pertussis (DTwP) vaccine when administered simultaneously with measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and trivalent oral poliovirus (OPV) vaccine at 15 to 16 months of age. DESIGN Randomized and double-blind. SETTING Two general pediatric practices. PARTICIPANTS Ninety-seven infants, aged 15 to 16 months, who had received three previous DTwP immunizations. SELECTION PROCEDURES AND INTERVENTIONS: Healthy children received the DTaP or DTwP vaccine. Infants received the MMR vaccine at a separate site and the OPV vaccine concurrently. Blood was obtained on day 0 and at 6 weeks. Adverse events were recorded by parents at specified times after immunization. MEASUREMENTS/RESULTS Within 3 days of immunization, DTaP vaccine recipients had less fever, drowsiness, and irritability (P = .01, .04, .01, respectively). They also experienced less tenderness, erythema, and induration (.001, .001, and .002, respectively). There was no difference in the frequency of adverse reactions 6 to 14 days after immunization. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were used to determine all antibody values. Antibody responses to filamentous hemagglutinin and pertussis toxoid were significantly greater in the DTaP group (P = .0001 and .02, respectively). Immune responses to the other measured antigens were similar. CONCLUSIONS Simultaneous administration of the Lederle DTaP with MMR and OPV vaccines did not interfere with antibody response to pertussis antigens measured or measles, mumps, or rubella viruses and was associated with fewer local and systemic adverse events during the first 3 days following immunization when compared with the simultaneous administration of the DTwP, OPV, and MMR vaccines. We conclude that the DTaP vaccine can be administered at 15 months of age concurrently with the MMR and OPV vaccines.
Symmetrical components based advanced scheme for detection of incipient inter-turn fault in transformer

Phase current based transformer differential protection is commonly used for detection of inter-turn fault. Initial pick-up and commonly used dual slope characteristics provides security against spill current due to on-load tap changer (OLTC) operation and CT saturation because of through fault. However, this limits ability to detect presence of inter-turn fault at an incipient stage. This paper presents a novel approach based on use of negative sequence components for incipient inter-turn fault detection. This technique offers higher sensitivity as compared with conventional phase based protection scheme. A comparison with conventional scheme with commonly used settings is presented for unbalanced load, over-voltage and under-voltage conditions. Experimental results indicate that the proposed scheme is able to detect fault involving 3% turns and fault current of 1 p.u.
Phase I clinical and pharmacokinetic study of oral sapacitabine in patients with acute leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome.

PURPOSE Sapacitabine is an oral deoxycytidine nucleoside analog with a unique mechanism of action that is different from cytarabine. PATIENTS AND METHODS To define the dose-limiting toxicities (DLT) and maximum-tolerated dose (MTD) of sapacitabine given orally twice daily for 7 days every 3 to 4 weeks, or twice daily for 3 days for 2 weeks (days 1 through 3 and days 8 through 10) every 3 to 4 weeks, in refractory-relapse acute leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). A total of 47 patients were treated in the phase I study that used a classical 3 + 3 design. Sapacitabine was escalated from 75 to 375 mg twice daily for 7 days (n = 35) and from 375 to 475 mg twice daily for 3 days on days 1 through 3 and days 8 through 10. RESULTS The DLTs with both schedules were gastrointestinal. The MTDs were 375 mg twice daily for 7 days and 425 mg twice daily for 3 days on days 1 through 3 and days 8 through 10. The recommended phase II single-agent dose schedules were 325 mg twice daily for 7 days and 425 mg twice daily for 3 days on days 1 through 3 and days 8 through 10. Responses were observed in 13 patients (28%); four were complete responses, and nine were marrow complete responses. CONCLUSION Sapacitabine is a new, safely administered, oral deoxycytidine analog that has encouraging activity in leukemia and MDS. Phase II studies are ongoing.