Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Computerized transverse axial scanning (tomography): Part I. Description of system. 1973.

Abstract This article describes a technique in which X-ray transmission readings are taken through the head at a multitude of angles: from these data, absorption values of the material contained within the head are calculated on a computer and presented as a series of pictures of slices of the cranium. The system is approximately 100 times more sensitive than conventional X-ray systems to such an extent that variations in soft tissues of nearly similar density can be displayed.
Elevated NT-proBNP and coronary calcium score in relation to coronary artery disease in asymptomatic type 2 diabetic patients with elevated urinary albumin excretion rate.

BACKGROUND Elevated plasma N-terminal (NT)-proBNP levels and coronary calcium score (CCS) not only predicts myocardial ischaemia and coronary artery stenosis but also adverse cardiovascular events and mortality in type 2 diabetic patients with an increased urinary albumin excretion rate (UAER), whereas low levels are associated with low frequency of coronary artery disease (CAD) and good prognosis. The underlying causes of poor prognosis in patients with elevated NT-proBNP are not known; thus, we investigated the role of putative asymptomatic CAD in type 2 diabetic patients with UAER >30 mg/24 h and elevated P-NT-proBNP and/or CCS. METHODS We identified 200 type 2 diabetic patients without known CAD and with normal creatinine levels. Patients with P-NT-proBNP >45.2 ng/L (the median P-NT-proBNP value in this cohort and in accordance with our previous findings) and/or CCS ≥ 400 were stratified as high-risk patients for CAD (n = 133) and all other patients as low-risk patients (n = 67). High-risk patients were examined by myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI; n = 109) and/or computer tomography angiography (n = 20) and/or coronary angiography (CAG; n = 86). RESULTS All patients received intensive mulitifactorial intervention. In 70 of 133 (53%) high-risk patients, significant CAD was demonstrated by MPI and/or CAG, corresponding to 35% (70/200) of the total cohort. Among high-risk patients, CCS but not P-NT-proBNP was paralleled by increased prevalence of significant CAD and in the 86 patients where CAG was performed, a CCS <100 had a negative predictive value for coronary artery stenosis of 94% (P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS Our study revealed that >50% of asymptomatic type 2 diabetic patients with UAER >30 mg/24 h had significant CAD based on risk stratification with P-NT-proBNP and CCS. This provides some explanation to the previously reported poor prognosis in these asymptomatic patients. Optimized cardio protective treatment in these patients is warranted.
[Hepatic lesion in experimental acute pancreatitis. Influence of pancreatic enzyme storage reduction].

Acute Pancreatitis (AP) is known to produce morphologic and functional changes in liver. Administration of low doses of caerulein significant decreases the content of pancreatic enzymes, leading to reduced mortality of animals submitted to AP. The present study was designed to assess the effect of acute reduction of pancreatic enzymatic content in the hepatic mitochondrial function. Wistar male rats, submitted to AP by injection of Na thaurocholate into the pancreatic duct, with and without previous i.v. injection of 0.133 microgram Kg-1h-1 of caerulein for three hours, were divided in four groups: Group I: No caerulein infusion and AP; Group II: Previous caerulein infusion and with AP; Group III: Caerulein infusion without AP; Group IV (control): No caerulein infusion and without AP. After 2 hours of induction of AP the livers were removed and prepared to the mitochondrial oxidative and phosphorylative activities, measured polarographically with determination of oxygen consumption without ADP (Basal respiration-State 4) and in the presence of ADP (Activated respiration-State 3). Ascitic fluid contents of amylase, trypsin and total protein were routinely determined. After 2 hours of AP there was a significant increase in state 4 respiration (41%) and a decrease in respiratory control ratio and in ADP/O ratio (p < 0.05) in animals of Group I (AP without caerulein) when compared to Group II (AP with caerulein) (Table 1). Ascitic fluids contents of amylase (A) and trypsin (T) showed decrease in animals of Group II with AP that received previous caerulein infusion (A = 80 +/- 10 U/ml, T = 9.75 +/- 1.25 U/ml), when compared to animals of Group I that did not receive caerulein (A = 231 +/- 24, T = 40.32 +/- 5.19) (p < 0.001). Caerulein infusion by itself (Group III) did not have any influence on mitochondrial liver dysfunction. Reduction of pancreatic enzyme content through caerulein infusion attenuates the damage of mitochondrial respiration, demonstrated by uncoupling phase on mitochondrial function in experimental AP. Further studies are needed to elucidate this phenomena, but it is probably related to the decreased of the pathogenic effects of pancreatic activated enzymes that reach the systemic circulation in reduced amounts.
Protein Interaction Network of Arabidopsis thaliana Female Gametophyte Development Identifies Novel Proteins and Relations

Although the female gametophyte in angiosperms consists of just seven cells, it has a complex biological network. In this study, female gametophyte microarray data from Arabidopsis thaliana were integrated into the Arabidopsis interactome database to generate a putative interaction map of the female gametophyte development including proteome map based on biological processes and molecular functions of proteins. Biological and functional groups as well as topological characteristics of the network were investigated by analyzing phytohormones, plant defense, cell death, transporters, regulatory factors, and hydrolases. This approach led to the prediction of critical members and bottlenecks of the network. Seventy-four and 24 upregulated genes as well as 171 and 3 downregulated genes were identified in subtracted networks based on biological processes and molecular function respectively, including novel genes such as the pathogenesis-related protein 4, ER type Ca2+ ATPase 3, dihydroflavonol reductase, and ATP disulfate isomerase. Biologically important relationships between genes, critical nodes, and new essential proteins such as AT1G26830, AT5G20850, CYP74A, AT1G42396, PR4 and MEA were found in the interactome's network. The positions of novel genes, both upregulated and downregulated, and their relationships with biological pathways, in particular phytohormones, were highlighted in this study.
Potential and Caveats of Lipidomics for Cardiovascular Disease

Since the seminal publications from the Framingham study in the mid-sixties,1 the measurement of lipid levels, mainly of total cholesterol, total triglycerides, and LDL and HDL cholesterol, is routine clinical practice for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and lipid-lowering therapy. A more detailed assessment of the lipid composition, that is, the molecular species that constitute the lipid classes is not widely used, mainly due to the caveats of assessing the lipidome. The human lipidome is estimated to include thousands of molecular lipid species with functional diversity. The molecular lipid species within a lipid classes share a modular composition with fatty acids being attached to a common backbone. While a characteristic head group within the backbone defines the lipid class, the diversity of molecular lipid species derives from the conjugated fatty acids.2 The conjugated fatty acids can differ in their carbon chain length, the number, position, and configuration (cis or trans) of their double bonds, and in the position and type (acyl, alkyl, or vinyl) of linkage to the backbone.
Computational methods for atherosclerotic plaque characterization

Η παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή συμβάλλει στο πρόβλημα του χαρακτηρισμού της αθηρωματικής πλάκας χρησιμοποιώντας επεμβατικές και μη επεμβατικές απεικονιστικές μεθόδους. Απώτερος σκοπός είναι η ανάπτυξη και η εφαρμογή μεθοδολογιών για το χαρακτηρισμό της αθηρωματικής πλάκας χρησιμοποιώντας εικόνες ενδοαγγειακού υπερηχογραφήματος (IVUS), οπτικής συνεκτικής τομογραφίας (OCT) και αξονικής τομογραφίας (CT). Η έρευνα ξεκίνησε κατόπιν μελέτης των περιορισμών στις υφιστάμενες αυτοματοποιημένες μεθοδολογίες χαρακτηρισμού αθηρωματικής πλάκας, οι οποίες εφαρμόζονται σε ευρέως χρησιμοποιούμενες απεικονιστικές μεθόδους. Για να ξεπεραστούν αυτοί οι περιορισμοί, αναπτύχθηκαν νέες μεθοδολογίες. Επιπλέον, αναπτύχθηκαν και παρουσιάζονται για πρώτη φορά μεθοδολογίες για τον χαρακτηρισμό της αθηρωματικής πλάκας σεπροσφάτως ανεπτυγμένα συστήματα απεικόνισης. Η συνεισφορά της παρούσας διατριβής εντοπίζεται στους ακόλουθους συγκεκριμένους τομείς: (i) στην εφαρμογή νέων μεθοδολογιών χαρακτηρισμού αθηρωματικής πλάκας οι οποίες ξεπερνούν τους περιορισμούς της υπάρχουσας βιβλιογραφίας, (ii) στην ανάγκη ανάπτυξης μεθοδολογιών χαρακτηρισμού αθηρωματικής πλάκας ικανές να εφαρμοστούν σε προσφάτως ανεπτυγμένα συστήματα απεικόνισης, (iii) στην παρουσίαση μεθοδολογιών ικανών να παράγουν 3Δ μοντέλα αρτηριακής πλάκας, για τη διερεύνηση της εξέλιξης της αθηρωματικής πλάκας, (iv) στην μελέτη και την ανάλυση της διάδοσης των σφαλμάτων των συστημάτων απεικόνισης στην ανίχνευση της πλάκας, και (v) στην αυτοματοποιημένη ευθυγράμμιση των εικόνων ιστολογίας με ενδοαγγειακές εικόνες.
Towards a theory of search queries

The need to manage diverse information sources has triggered the rise of very loosely structured data models, known as "dataspace models. " Such information management systems must allow querying in simple ways, mostly by a form of searching. Motivated by these developments, we propose a theory of search queries in a general model of dataspaces. In this model, a dataspace is a collection of data objects, where each data object is a collection of data items. Basic search queries are expressed using filters on data items, following the basic model of boolean search in information retrieval. We characterise semantically the class of queries that can be expressed by searching. We apply our theory to classical relational databases, where we connect search queries to the known class of fully generic queries, and to dataspaces where data items are formed by attribute--value pairs. We also extend our theory to a more powerful, associative form of searching where one can ask for objects that are similar to objects satisfying given search conditions. Such associative search queries are shown to correspond to a very limited kind of joins. Specifically, we show that the basic search language extended with associative search can define exactly the queries definable in a restricted fragment of the semijoin algebra working on an explicit relational representation of the dataspace.
SIMD compression and the intersection of sorted integers

Sorted lists of integers are commonly used in inverted indexes and database systems. They are often compressed in memory. We can use the single‐instruction, multiple data (SIMD) instructions available in common processors to boost the speed of integer compression schemes. Our S4‐BP128‐D4 scheme uses as little as 0.7 CPU cycles per decoded 32‐bit integer while still providing state‐of‐the‐art compression. However, if the subsequent processing of the integers is slow, the effort spent on optimizing decompression speed can be wasted. To show that it does not have to be so, we (1) vectorize and optimize the intersection of posting lists; (2) introduce the SIMD GALLOPING algorithm. We exploit the fact that one SIMD instruction can compare four pairs of 32‐bit integers at once. We experiment with two Text REtrieval Conference (TREC) text collections, GOV2 and ClueWeb09 (category B), using logs from the TREC million‐query track. We show that using only the SIMD instructions ubiquitous in all modern CPUs, our techniques for conjunctive queries can double the speed of a state‐of‐the‐art approach. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Data Mining Approach for Capacity Building of Stakeholders in Integrated Flood Management

New approaches to managing flood events are increasingly of more relevance due to recent widespread floods and the presumed changes in the climate. These approaches fall under the integrated flood management (IFM) banner and focus not only on flood prevention, but on flood resilience. This paper introduces an application (FLORETO) for IFM that utilizes the data mining approach, in a web based three tier system, devoted to the capacity building of stakeholders as a micro-scale resilience strategy of IFM. The intelligent models, which constitute the business logic in FLORETO, are used to match the input parameters or design criteria, describing properties prone to flooding, to technically justifiable flood mitigation measures. Datasets from the German city of Kellinghusen were collected and intelligent models were built. Satisfactory results have been obtained, which shows the promise of this data mining approach and opens the door for its application for IFM in other regions.
Computational agile beam ladar imaging

A LAser Detection And Ranging (LADAR) apparatus obtains range information from a three dimensional scene by emitting laser beams and collecting the reflected rays from target objects in the region of interest. The Agile Beam LADAR concept makes the measurement and interpretation process more efficient by a software-defined architecture that leverages Computational Imaging principles to this end. Using these techniques, we show that, the process of object identification and scene understanding can be accurately performed in the LADAR measurement domain thereby rendering the efforts of pixel based scene reconstruction superfluous.
An Evaluation of Automatic Query Expansion in an Online Library Catalogue

An automatic query expansion (AQE) facility in an online catalogue was evaluated in an operational library setting. The Okapi experimental system had other features including: ranked output ‘best match’ keyword searching, automatic stemming, spelling normalisation and cross referencing as well as relevance feedback. A combination of transaction log analysis, search replays, questionnaires and interviews was used for data collection. Findings show that contrary to previous results, AQE was beneficial in a substantial number of searches. User intentions, the effectiveness of the ‘best match’ search and user interaction were identified as the main factors affecting the take‐up of the query expansion facility.
Optimal data allocation algorithm for loop-centric applications on scratch-PAD memories

The traditional way of managing SPM with arrays is fetching data tiles that are required for the current computation from the off-chip memory. Yet, this method is not the best solution for the array intensive applications. In this paper, we propose a dynamic programming algorithm that can optimally minimize the data transferring cost and the memory access cost for a regular loop. According to the experimental results, the DLAA algorithm can reduce time and energy of the total memory access cost for loops by an average 35-40% compared with the traditional data tiling algorithms.
Implementation of high-efficiency battery charger with a zero-voltage-transition pulse-width-modulated boost converter

This work presents a novel battery charger with a zero-voltage-transition (ZVT) pulse-width-modulated (PWM) boost converter that decreases switching losses and attains high charging efficiency. The main switch in the proposed battery charger is conducted under zero voltage and the boost diode is cut off under zero current. Switching is completed under the resonance condition. The proposed battery charger with soft-switching technology has much higher efficiency, lower switch stress and electromagnetic interference (EMI) compared with battery chargers with traditional boost converters. This study utilizes the PWM control mode for switching two active switches. The equations employed to determine circuit parameters are derived from equivalent circuits. Experimental results demonstrate the theoretical effectiveness of the proposed battery charger. The practical average charging efficiency of the proposed battery charger is 91.25%.
Combinatorial Aggregation Binary Aggregation with Integrity Constraints

Social Choice Theory (SCT), and the study of collective methods for decision making in general, have received a lot of attention in the AI community in recent years. The reasons for this focus are clear: SCT provides tools for the analysis of collective choices of groups of agents, and as such is of immediate relevance to the study of multiagent systems. At the same time, studies in AI have led to a new and broadened perspective on classical results in SCT, e.g., via the use of knowledge representation languages for modelling preferences in social choice problems or via the complexity-theoretic analysis of the implementation of social choice rules (Chevaleyre et al., 2007). Particularly close to the interests of AI is the problem of social choice in combinatorial domains (Cheva-leyre et al., 2008), where the space of alternatives the individuals have to choose from has a combinatorial structure. Definition 1. A combinatorial domain D is a finite product D = D 1 × · · · × D m where each D j is finite. My work aims at carrying out a complete analysis of problems of combinatorial aggregation, with particular attention to the binary case. In this general framework a set of individuals each make a choice over a finite number of issues, and such choices have to be aggregated into a collective one. Given a combinatorial domain D and a set of individuals N an aggregation procedure is a function F : D N → D. I believe that such problems of combinatorial aggregation are crucial to the study of both voting in combinatorial domains and more classical frameworks in SCT, like preference and judgment aggregation. First, several situations of decision making are instances of combinatorial aggregation, such as referenda and voting for committees. Second, aggregation problems where individuals express complex ballots, such as preferences or judgments, can be modelled as combinatorial aggregation problems for suitably enriched domains. This suggests that combinatorial aggregation is a general framework for the study of situations of collective decision making. Third, on a more practical level this work makes it possible for mechanism designers to analyse situations of decision making using a general framework to point out possible inconsistencies and avoid paradoxical situations. I intend to approach the study of combinatorial aggrega-tion in the following way. First, carry out a thorough analysis of aggregation in binary combinatorial domains, proving several results in this …
Effect of sputum processing with dithiothreitol on the detection of inflammatory mediators in chronic bronchitis and bronchiectasis

Background: Sputum analysis is used increasingly to assess airway inflammation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, including those with chronic bronchitis and bronchiectasis. However, it is not known whether dithiothreitol (DTT), a reducing mucolytic agent regularly used to homogenise sputum, affects the detection of inflammatory mediators in the sputum soluble phase from such patients. Methods: Thirty two spontaneous sputum samples were collected from 13 patients with chronic bronchitis and 17 with bronchiectasis. An aliquot from each sample was treated with either freshly prepared 0.1% DTT plus normal saline (NaCl) or NaCl alone, then ultracentrifuged to obtain the sputum sol phase. Interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-8, leukotriene B4 (LTB4), secretory leukoprotease inhibitor (SLPI), alpha-1-antitrypsin (α1-AT), and tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) were measured by ELISA, and neutrophil elastase (NE) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) by chromogenic substrate assay. The effect of DTT on the detection of assay standards was also determined. Results: Median levels of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, SLPI, and NE were similar in the DTT and NaCl treated samples. There was a significant reduction in median (IQR) levels of detectable TNFα (0.07 (0.00–0.47) pM v 0.90 (0.06–6.98) pM, p<0.001), LTB4 (1.67 (1.31–2.64) nM v 2.29 (0.95–4.22) nM, p<0.05) and MPO (0.00 (0.00–0.00) mg/l v 4.48 (0.00–33.66) mg/l, p<0.001) and a small increase in the median α1-AT concentration (0.05 (0.03–0.08) nM v 0.03 (0.02–0.08) nM, p<0.01) in the DTT treated samples. DTT had no effect on the assay standards for IL-1β, IL-8 or TNFα, but at higher concentrations it did affect IL-6, SLPI, NE, and LTB4 standards (43%, 70%, 76% and 643% of control value for top standard, respectively) and at all concentrations DTT completely abolished MPO activity. Conclusions: Sputum processing with DTT significantly reduces the detectable concentration of TNFα, LTB4 and MPO, and produces a small but significant increase in median α1-AT levels. To avoid this problem we recommend that an untreated aliquot of sputum be retained for cytokine analysis, unless the assay has been specifically validated.
Performance estimation of a cooperative brain-computer interface based on the detection of steady-state visual evoked potentials

To be better suited for the expectations of healthy people, new brain-computer interface (BCI) paradigms should be proposed. To tackle this problem, we investigate the emerging field of cooperative BCIs, which involves several users in a single BCI system. Because combining trials over time improves performance, combining trials across subjects can significantly improve performance compared to a single user. However, cooperative BCIs can only be used in particular settings, and new paradigms must be proposed to efficiently use this approach. To show the advantages of a cooperative BCI based on steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEP), we evaluate and compare the performance of combining decisions across subjects, and over time. By considering a reliable brain response such as SSVEP responses, this study represents a first evolution for the combination, and the choice of the combination method for creating a cooperative SSVEP based BCI. The results suggest that six people would be enough to obtain a perfect accuracy within one second of EEG signal.
Peripheral Arterial Responses to Treadmill Exercise Among Healthy Subjects and Atherosclerotic Patients

BackgroundPeripheral cutaneous vascular beds, such as the fingertips, contain a high concentration of arteriovenous anastomoses, richly innervated by &agr;-adrenergic nerve fibers, to control heat regulation. Nevertheless, for a variety of technical reasons, finger blood flow responses to exercise have not been well studied in health and disease. Hence, we compared finger pulse-wave amplitude (PWA) responses to exercise among 50 normal volunteers and 57 patients with atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD) using a robust, modified form of volume plethysmography. Methods and ResultsPWA was quantified for each minute of exercise as a ratio relative to baseline. Exercise PWA responses were compared with clinical, hemodynamic, ECG, and myocardial single photon emission computed tomography parameters. Among normal subjects, 38 (76%) manifested vasodilation throughout exercise and 12 (24%) manifested initial vasodilation followed by vasoconstriction at high heart rate thresholds. None manifested vasoconstriction throughout exercise. By contrast, 20 CAD patients (35%) manifested progressive vasoconstriction from the onset of exercise, and 10 others (18%) manifested vasoconstriction at low heart rate thresholds (P <0.001 versus normals) after initial vasodilation with exercise. Patients exhibiting vasodilation versus vasoconstriction during exercise had similar clinical and exercise profiles, except for a greater use of ACE inhibitors and a greater level of achieved metabolic equivalents among the former (P <0.05 for both). ConclusionsHalf of our CAD patients manifested diminution in PWA that was consistent with peripheral arterial vasoconstriction during the early phases of treadmill exercise. Such paradoxical vasoconstrictive responses were not observed in normal subjects and, therefore, they may represent generalized vascular pathology secondary to atherosclerosis.