Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization of Mexican coriander (Eryngium foetidum) essential oil and its inactivation of Listeria monocytogenes in vitro and during mild thermal pasteurization of pineapple juice.

The aim of this work was to characterize the essential oil (EO) of Eryngium foetidum (EfEO) and assess its activity toward Listeria monocytogenes in broth and during thermal inactivation of the pathogen in pineapple juice. In this respect, EfEO was chemically characterized, and its antilisteria potential in broth as a function of pH, cell load, and EfEO concentration was assessed through a central composite design. Furthermore, the inactivation kinetics of L. monocytogenes in the juice were assessed by combining EfEO and low pasteurization temperatures. A total of 81 compounds were identified from EfEO. The reduction of pH and cell load increased EO activity. The use of only 15 ppm of EfEO during pasteurization of pineapple juice at 60°C reduced the time required for a 4-log reduction in L. monocytogenes CFU/ml by 74.9% (i.e., from 8.5 to 2.1 min) compared with treatment without EfEO. It could be concluded that EfEO activity toward L. monocytogenes increases with the reduction of pH and that it can be used at sublethal concentrations in combination with low temperatures in pineapple juice pasteurization. This study demonstrates that EO-assisted pasteurization is a promising strategy for the reduction of thermal impact during juice production. EfEO is easily available and compatible with many juices and is thus promising for industrial application.
15.1 An 85dB-DR 74.6dB-SNDR 50MHZ-BW CT MASH ΔΣ modulator in 28nm CMOS

A multi-stage noise-shaping (MASH) architecture is an attractive approach for its aggressive noise-shaping capability and relaxed stability requirements. However, in practice the quantization noise leakage associated with the mismatch between analog and digital transfer functions degrades performance significantly. The discrete-time (DT) Sturdy-MASH (SMASH) architecture avoids this problem, and promises a higher performance potential [1]. Although straightforward in DT implementation, the SMASH architecture poses challenges in continuous-time (CT) implementation demanded by high-bandwidth applications. This paper presents a 3-1 CT MASH A2 modulator to address these challenges. The modulator is clocked at 1.8GHz and achieves 85dB DR, 85.2dBc SFDR, and 74.6dB SNDR at a 50MHz BW.
Atlas-guided generation of pseudo-CT images for MRI-only and hybrid PET–MRI-guided radiotherapy treatment planning

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided attenuation correction (AC) of positron emission tomography (PET) data and/or radiation therapy (RT) treatment planning is challenged by the lack of a direct link between MRI voxel intensities and electron density. Therefore, even if this is not a trivial task, a pseudo-computed tomography (CT) image must be predicted from MRI alone. In this work, we propose a two-step (segmentation and fusion) atlas-based algorithm focusing on bone tissue identification to create a pseudo-CT image from conventional MRI sequences and evaluate its performance against the conventional MRI segmentation technique and a recently proposed multi-atlas approach. The clinical studies consisted of pelvic CT, PET and MRI scans of 12 patients with loco-regionally advanced rectal disease. In the first step, bone segmentation of the target image is optimized through local weighted atlas voting. The obtained bone map is then used to assess the quality of deformed atlases to perform voxel-wise weighted atlas fusion. To evaluate the performance of the method, a leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) scheme was devised to find optimal parameters for the model. Geometric evaluation of the produced pseudo-CT images and quantitative analysis of the accuracy of PET AC were performed. Moreover, a dosimetric evaluation of volumetric modulated arc therapy photon treatment plans calculated using the different pseudo-CT images was carried out and compared to those produced using CT images serving as references. The pseudo-CT images produced using the proposed method exhibit bone identification accuracy of 0.89 based on the Dice similarity metric compared to 0.75 achieved by the other atlas-based method. The superior bone extraction resulted in a mean standard uptake value bias of −1.5 ± 5.0% (mean ± SD) in bony structures compared to −19.9 ± 11.8% and −8.1 ± 8.2% achieved by MRI segmentation-based (water-only) and atlas-guided AC. Dosimetric evaluation using dose volume histograms and the average difference between minimum/maximum absorbed doses revealed a mean error of less than 1% for the both target volumes and organs at risk. Two-dimensional (2D) gamma analysis of the isocenter dose distributions at 1%/1 mm criterion revealed pass rates of 91.40 ± 7.56%, 96.00 ± 4.11% and 97.67 ± 3.6% for MRI segmentation, atlas-guided and the proposed methods, respectively. The proposed method generates accurate pseudo-CT images from conventional Dixon MRI sequences with improved bone extraction accuracy. The approach is promising for potential use in PET AC and MRI-only or hybrid PET/MRI-guided RT treatment planning.
Laser‐Doppler Flowmetry in Neurosurgery

&NA; Laser‐Doppler flowmetry (LDF) provides a reliable measurement of local cerebral blood flow (ICBF) as demonstrated by multiple validation studies. This article evaluates the clinical applications of LDF in neurosurgery. With the availability of modified probes, it is possible to carry out LDF monitoring of neurosurgical patients in the intensive care unit. Currently, there are multiple systemic and intracranial parameters that are interactive and separately monitored. A multichanneled digital data acquisition system allows these data to be compiled in a single computer environment for the interpretation of ICBF changes. Guidelines are suggested for the clinical use of LDF monitoring, and the technical features of monitoring including the interpretation of data are summarized.
Merging FrameNet and PropBank in a corpus of written Dutch

We discuss the development of a schema for the semantic annotation of a corpus of written Dutch. Our focus is on the annotation of semantic roles. We rely on the proposals made within initiatives such as PropBank and FrameNet. Our aim is to reconcile the PropBank approach to role assignment which is essentially corpus based and syntax driven with the more semantic driven FrameNet approach which is based on a network of relations between frames. A comparison with similar initiatives such as Omega is carried out.
Short-Term Fading Behavior in High-Speed Railway Cutting Scenario: Measurements, Analysis, and Statistical Models

Cuttings are widely used in high-speed railway (HSR) transportation to ensure the flatness of rails. The special structure of cuttings results in rich reflection and scattering, and creates dense multipath components. This paper presents a series of measurements of the propagation channel at 930 MHz conducted along the “Zhengzhou-Xi'an” HSR of China, to characterize the small-scale fading behavior of rail-cutting scenarios as a function of the geometry of cuttings, including crown width and bottom width. Raw data are collected in six cuttings (five cuttings are used for developing the model, while the other one is used for validation) in rural and suburban environments. We propose a set of effective methods to statistically model the spatial/temporal variations – including fade depth (FD), level crossing rate (LCR), average fade duration (AFD), and Ricean <formula formulatype="inline"> <tex Notation="TeX">${K}$</tex></formula>-factor – as a function of the structural parameters of cuttings. Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC)-based evaluation indicates that the Ricean distribution is the best to describe small-scale fading. In addition, the rich multipath and directionality of the transmitting antennas lead to a non-monotonous dependence of the <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">${K}$</tex></formula>-factor on the distance between transmitter and receiver. The autocovariance function of the deviation of the extracted <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">${K}$</tex> </formula>-factors from the proposed model is presented and the coherence length is investigated. Our results show that even though a cutting is a scenario with severe fading, a “wide” cutting (i.e., with both wide crown and bottom widths) is conducive to the reduction of the severity of fading.
Ghost artifact removal using a parallel imaging approach

Parallel imaging techniques, which use several receive coils simultaneously, have been shown to enable a significant scan time reduction by subsampling k‐space. Nevertheless, the data acquired with multiple coils in parallel exhibit some redundancy if the number of receive coils exceeds the subsampling factor. This redundancy leads to an overdetermination of the reconstruction problem, which is generally used to optimize the signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR). However, it can yield further information about the quality of the reconstructed image, and can thus be used to identify and correct image artifacts. While some known approaches try to solve this problem in k‐space, this study addresses it in the spatial domain and uses a modified SENSE reconstruction to reduce or completely remove ghost‐type artifacts arising from processes such as motion or flow during data acquisition. Phantom and in vivo studies show significant improvements in image quality after correction, and serve as a basis for the discussion of the performance and limitations of this new approach. Magn Reson Med, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A study on customer online purchasing behavior: A Malaysian perspective

Online purchasing power has increased and beyond limitations once internet drives the mankind way of life. It has become an increasingly demanded platform since the existence of WWW in early 1990s. In conjunction with this trending, a study on insights on online purchasing where the study framework embedded the dimensions of information satisfaction, trust, convenience security and purchasing online. A total of 250 questionnaires were distributed randomly to public users at Perpustakaan Awam Raja Tun Uda (PPAS), Shah Alam visitor. The choice of public users is based on the convenience of the research setting where PPAS is the most visited public library by visitors ranging from parents (accompanying their children at kids' section), graduates, primary and secondary school students. All of the posited study variables show a significant relationship with purchasing online. Nevertheless the Net Easy Score (NES was only 19.2%, showing a low index of easiness online purchasing. Early assumptions are that the results obtained could due to the website itself, which might offer a not user-friendly interface or poor network connectivity during the process. While this seems premature to speculate, insights gained from the study could produce some leads to actually increase customer experience through their journey to do online purchase.
Clinically Important Difference in Dry Eye: Change in IDEEL-Symptom Bother

Purpose. The impact of dry eye on everyday living (IDEEL) is a valid, reliable questionnaire with 3 modules; symptom bother (SB), quality of life, and treatment satisfaction. This study tests the utility of the 20-item IDEEL-SB to discrimate self-assessed severity in dry eye subjects and to determine the clinically important difference (CID) in IDEEL-SB score that relates to a self-report of global change in dry eye condition after treatment. Methods. After randomization to 1 of 3 marketed tear replacements, dry eye subjects completed the IDEEL-SB at baseline, 1 and 4 wk and global change questionnaire on status of general health and dry eye at 1 and 4 wk (5-point Likert scale; “much better” to “much worse”). The IDEEL-SB score was the unweighted mean score × 25. CID was initially estimated by receiver-operator curve analysis (ROC) and global change questionnaire. Various IDEEL-SB change criteria were tested to maximize % agreement, &kgr; score, and effect size. Results. The 74 subjects were 54.0 ± 17.2 years old and 52 (70.3%) were female. At baseline, 56.3% rarely/never used replacement tears. Subjects rated their dry eye severity as mild (41%), moderate (50%), or severe (9%). IDEEL-SB discriminated dry eye severity well; average baseline scores were mild: 40.0 (SD = 7.5), moderate: 50.6 (SD = 11.0) and severe 64.3 (SD = 8.0) (p = 0.001). After 4 wk of drops usage, IDEEL-SB dropped among “improved” subjects by −13.3 (SD = 10.9), “same” shifted by −4.7 (SD = 9.4), “worsened” changed by 1.4 (SD = 11.1). ROC results show that a 12-point change in IDEEL-SB is a clinically significant change in symptoms. Conclusions. 12-Point shift in the IDEEL-SB module is a CID based on ROC and the distribution across self-assessed severity groups compared with their global assessment of change in condition with treatment.
Cellular phone based online ECG processing for ambulatory and continuous detection

A cellular phone based online ECG processing system for ambulatory and continuous detection has been developed. It aids cardiovascular disease (CVD) patients to monitor their heart status and detect abnormalities in their normal daily life. This system is a solution to supplement the limitations in conventional clinic examination such as the difficulty in capturing rare events, off-hospital monitoring of patientspsila heart status and the immediate dissemination of physicianpsilas instruction to the patients.
Validating a tool for simulating user interaction

In this paper a tool will be presented that simulates human perception and motor behavior in interaction with graphical user interfaces in the Microsoft Windows environment. The simulated hand and eye tool can be used in combination with any cognitive architecture. In order to validate the simulated hand and eye an experiment has been conducted in which human subjects showed simple, low-level interaction behavior. Eye movements and finger presses were measured and recorded. This allowed for basic validation of the simulated hand and eye. Furthermore, based on the collected data, an adjustment of the EMMA theory is suggested. To demonstrate the full usage if the tool, ACT-R has been used to model basic skill acquisition in instructed interaction behavior.
Development of Phage Lysin LysA2 for Use in Improved Purity Assays for Live Biotherapeutic Products

Live biotherapeutic products (LBPs), commonly referred to as probiotics, are typically preparations of live bacteria, such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species that are considered normal human commensals. Popular interest in probiotics has been increasing with general health benefits being attributed to their consumption, but there is also growing interest in evaluating such products for treatment of specific diseases. While over-the-counter probiotics are generally viewed as very safe, at least in healthy individuals, it must be remembered that clinical studies to assess these products may be done in individuals whose defenses are compromised, such as through a disease process, immunosuppressive clinical treatment, or an immature or aging immune system. One of the major safety criteria for LBPs used in clinical studies is microbial purity, i.e., the absence of extraneous, undesirable microorganisms. The main goal of this project is to develop recombinant phage lysins as reagents for improved purity assays for LBPs. Phage lysins are hydrolytic enzymes containing a cell binding domain that provides specificity and a catalytic domain responsible for lysis and killing. Our approach is to use recombinant phage lysins to selectively kill target product bacteria, which when used for purity assays will allow for outgrowth of potential contaminants under non-selective conditions, thus allowing an unbiased assessment of the presence of contaminants. To develop our approach, we used LysA2, a phage lysin with reported activity against a broad range of Lactobacillus species. We report the lytic profile of a non-tagged recombinant LysA2 against Lactobacillus strains in our collection. We also present a proof-of-concept experiment, showing that addition of partially purified LysA2 to a culture of Lactobacillus jensenii (L. jensenii) spiked with low numbers of Escherichia coli (E. coli) or Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus ) effectively eliminates or knocks down L. jensenii, allowing for clear detection of the contaminating strains. With continued identification and characterization of phage lysins, we hope that the use of recombinant phage lysins in purity assays for products containing live microbials may offer additional tools to help advance product development of LBPs.
Recipe search for blog-type recipe articles based on a user's situation

Many homemakers feel stressed when deciding on the menu of the day [? ]. Even though they have a vague idea of some dishes, it is not easy for them to make the idea clear. Therefore, this research proposes a system that finds recipes corresponding to the user's vague requirements. On the Web, many blog-type recipes describe not only a recipe itself, but also the reasons why a given recipe were created or selected by the page authors. Firstly, the system extracts the author's reasons for the creation or selection of a recipe from the blog-type recipes. Secondly, the system lets the user input his/her present situation or feelings which must include his/her vague requirement and mine his/her reasons for recipe selection from the input. Finally, the system outputs recipes that meet the user's vague requirements by associating the reasons for recipe selection from the user's input text with the reasons accompanying the blog-type recipes.
Environmental differences in substrate mechanics do not affect sprinting performance in sand lizards (Uma scoparia and Callisaurus draconoides)

SUMMARY Running performance depends on a mechanical interaction between the feet of an animal and the substrate. This interaction may differ between two species of sand lizard from the Mojave Desert that have different locomotor morphologies and habitat distributions. Uma scorparia possesses toe fringes and inhabits dunes, whereas the closely related Callisaurus draconoides lacks fringes and is found on dune and wash habitats. The present study evaluated whether these distribution patterns are related to differential locomotor performance on the fine sand of the dunes and the course sand of the wash habitat. We measured the kinematics of sprinting and characterized differences in grain size distribution and surface strength of the soil in both habitats. Although wash sand had a surface strength (15.4±6.2 kPa) that was more than three times that of dune sand (4.7±2.1 kPa), both species ran with similar sprinting performance on the two types of soil. The broadly distributed C. draconoides ran with a slightly (22%) faster maximum speed (2.2±0.2 m s–1) than the dune-dwelling U. scorparia (1.8±0.2 m s–1) on dune sand, but not on wash sand. Furthermore, there were no significant differences in maximum acceleration or the time to attain maximum speed between species or between substrates. These results suggest that differences in habitat distribution between these species are not related to locomotor performance and that sprinting ability is dominated neither by environmental differences in substrate nor the presence of toe fringes.
Retinoic acid increases proliferation rate of GL‐15 glioma cells, involving activation of STAT‐3 transcription factor

The molecular mechanisms underlying the heterogeneous effects of retinoic acid (RA) treatment on malignant glioma cells remain poorly understood. In this study, we present the first evidence of a functional role of the signal transduction factors (STATs) in RA‐induced proliferation, in a human glioblastoma GL‐15 cell line. We first observed that STAT‐3 was constitutively activated and present in the GL‐15 cell nuclei. We then showed that at low doses (0.01–1 μM) RA increased both the proliferation rate of GL‐15 cells and the phosphotyrosine (PY) activation of STAT‐3. This RA effect involved transcriptional processes and the transactivation of RA target genes, including RA receptors isoforms RARα2, ‐β2, and ‐γ2. At higher concentrations, however, RA (5–10 μM) inhibits GL‐15 proliferation, induces apoptosis, and fails to activate STAT‐3. An inhibitory effect on GL‐15 proliferation was also observed with the synthetic retinoids CD‐437 and CD‐2325, two structurally related RARγ agonists, which also fail to activate STAT‐3. In addition, the phorbol ester PMA, an inducer of GL‐15 differentiation, and staurosporine, a broad inhibitor of protein kinases, abrogate the stimulatory effects of RA at low concentrations. Together these observations suggest that, in GL‐15 cells, activation of STAT‐3 and cell proliferation share common mechanisms and that STAT transcription factors may be involved in a switch between proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. The proliferating effect observed at low doses of RA may be related to the failures in RA efficiency observed in clinical assays in relapsing malignant gliomas. Combining specific inhibitors of tyrosine kinases with RA might optimize the clinical outcome. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Unraveling the Anxious Mind: Anxiety, Worry, and Frontal Engagement in Sustained Attention Versus Off-Task Processing

Much remains unknown regarding the relationship between anxiety, worry, sustained attention, and frontal function. Here, we addressed this using a sustained attention task adapted for functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants responded to presentation of simple stimuli, withholding responses to an infrequent “No Go” stimulus. Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) activity to “Go” trials, and dorsal anterior cingulate (dACC) activity to “No Go” trials were associated with faster error-free performance; consistent with DLPFC and dACC facilitating proactive and reactive control, respectively. Trait anxiety was linked to reduced recruitment of these regions, slower error-free performance, and decreased frontal-thalamo-striatal connectivity. This indicates an association between trait anxiety and impoverished frontal control of attention, even when external distractors are absent. In task blocks where commission errors were made, greater DLPFC-precuneus and DLPFC-posterior cingulate connectivity were associated with both trait anxiety and worry, indicative of increased off-task thought. Notably, unlike trait anxiety, worry was not linked to reduced frontal-striatal-thalamo connectivity, impoverished frontal recruitment, or slowed responding during blocks without commission errors, contrary to accounts proposing a direct causal link between worry and impoverished attentional control. This leads us to propose a new model of the relationship between anxiety, worry and frontal engagement in attentional control versus off-task thought.
Aspects of sleep disorders in children and adolescents

Sleep disorders in children and adolescents is a topic that has been, and remains, neglected in both public health education and professional training. Although much knowledge has been accumulated in recent times, it has been poorly disseminated and, therefore, relatively little is put into practice. Only some general issues can be discussed in this article. The aspects chosen relate mainly to clinical practice, but they also have relevance for research. They concern various differences between sleep disorders in children and those in adults, the occurrence of such disorders in young people, their effects on psychological and physical development, the essential (but often ignored) distinction between sleep problems and their underlying causes (ie, sleep disorders), types of sleep disturbance encountered at different ages during development, and the differential diagnosis of certain parasomnias that are at particular risk of being confused with each other.