Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of apple pomace powder addition on farinographic properties of wheat dough and biscuits quality

In the present study, dietary fibre rich powders obtained from two apple cultivars (Gala, Golden Delicious) were analysed for their chemical composition and functional properties. Apple powders contained more than 50 mass % of total dietary fibre and showed high values of hydration properties such as water holding (11.73–18.34 g g−1), water retention (11.31–11.68 g g−1) and swelling capacity (7.19–8.03 cm3 g−1). Incorporation of apple pomace powders (5 mass %, 10 mass %, and 15 mass %) to wheat dough resulted in a significant increase of water absorption (58.60–71.80 mass %), dough development time (from 3.43 min to 5.53 min) and dough stability (from 9.40 min to 10.90 min). The results also indicate that an addition of higher amounts (10 mass % and 15 mass %) of apple pomace powders negatively affects the volume, thickness, width, and spread ratio of biscuits and reduces their overall acceptance. Sensory analysis also showed that no significant differences between the control biscuits and biscuits containing 5 mass % of apple pomace powder from cultivar Gala were found.
Does the World Health Organization criterion adequately define glaucoma blindness?

Purpose Blindness in glaucoma is difficult to assess with merely the use of the current World Health Organization (WHO) definition (a visual field restricted to 10° in a radius around central fixation), as this criterion does not cover other types of visual field loss that are encountered in clinical practice and also depict blindness. In this study, a 5-point ordinal scale was developed for the assessment of common visual field defect patterns, with the purpose of comparing blindness as outcome to the findings with the WHO criterion when applied to the same visual fields. The scores with the two methods were compared between two ophthalmologists. In addition, the variability between these assessors in assessing the different visual field types was determined. Methods Two glaucoma specialists randomly assessed a sample of 423 visual fields from 77 glaucoma patients, stripped of all indices and masked for all patient variables. They applied the WHO criterion and a 5-point ordinal scale to all visual fields for the probability of blindness. Results The WHO criterion was mostly found applicable and in good agreement for both assessors to visual fields depicting central island of vision or a temporal crescent. The percentage of blindness scores was higher when using the ordinal scale, 21.7% and 19.6% for assessors A and B, respectively, versus 14.4% and 11.3% for the WHO criterion. However, Kappa was lower, 0.71 versus 0.78 for WHO. Conclusions The WHO criterion is strictly applied and shows good agreement between assessors; however, blindness does not always fit this criterion. More visual fields are labeled as blind when a less stringent criterion is used, but this leads to more interobserver variability. A new criterion that describes the extent, location, and depth of visual field defects together with their consequence for the patient’s quality of life is needed for the classification of glaucoma blindness.
Centering, Anaphora Resolution, and Discourse Structure

Centering was formulated as a model of the relationship between attentional state, the form of referring expressions, and the coherence of an utterance within a discourse segment (Grosz, Joshi and Weinstein, 1986; Grosz, Joshi and Weinstein, 1995). In this chapter, I argue that the restriction of centering to operating within a discourse segment should be abandoned in order to integrate centering with a model of global discourse structure. The within-segment restriction causes three problems. The first problem is that centers are often continued over discourse segment boundaries with pronominal referring expressions whose form is identical to those that occur within a discourse segment. The second problem is that recent work has shown that listeners perceive segment boundaries at various levels of granularity. If centering models a universal processing phenomenon, it is implausible that each listener is using a different centering algorithm.The third issue is that even for utterances within a discourse segment, there are strong contrasts between utterances whose adjacent utterance within a segment is hierarchically recent and those whose adjacent utterance within a segment is linearly recent. This chapter argues that these problems can be eliminated by replacing Grosz and Sidner's stack model of attentional state with an alternate model, the cache model. I show how the cache model is easily integrated with the centering algorithm, and provide several types of data from naturally occurring discourses that support the proposed integrated model. Future work should provide additional support for these claims with an examination of a larger corpus of naturally occurring discourses.
A linear algorithm for finding dominators in flow graphs and related problems

In the first part of the paper we show how to extend recent methods for solving a special case of the union-find problem in linear time, to a special case of the eval-link-update problem for computing the minimum function defined on paths of trees. In the cases where our approach is applicable, we give a way to perform m eval, link, and update operations on n elements in O(m + n) time and O(n) space, improved from O(m α(m + n, n) + n) time and O(n) space in the more general case, where α is a functional inverse of Ackermans function. The technique gives similar improvements in the efficiency of algorithms for solving several network optimization problems in the case where all the keys involved are integers in some suitable range. In the second part of the paper we show how to use the new technique for speeding up the fastest known algorithm for finding dominators in flow graphs so that it runs in linear time. We introduce the notions of pseudo and external dominators which are both computable in linear time and make the technique introduced in the first part applicable for finding immediate dominators. We first give an algorithm for a limited class of graphs which include cycle free graphs, and thus can be used to find dominators in reducible flow graphs. We then show how to extend our technique for computing dominators on any flow graph. All the algorithms we describe run on a Random Access Machine.
Linewidth measurement intercomparison on a BESOI sample

The effect of the instrument on the measurement must be known in order to generate an accurate linewidth measurement. Although instrument models exist for a variety of techniques, how does one assess the accuracy of these models? Intercomparisons between techniques which rely upon fundamentally different measurement physics can play an important role in model verification. We report here such an intercomparison. The average linewidth of a test pattern on a BESOI (Bonded and Etched-back Silicon on Insulator) sample, which is single crystal silicon with a buried insulating oxide, was measured using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrical critical dimension (ECD) techniques. The higher conductivity of the BESOI sample compared to a previously measured SIMOX (another silicon on insulator technology) sample reduced the ECD uncertainty. Unexpected features in the SEM image were fit by modeling the cross sectional geometry of the line as a skewed trapezoid with deviations of a few tenths of a degree from the expected 90 degree angles. The SEM and ECD results differed by 0.67% of the electrical tap spacing, a nominal difference of 55 nm. This is larger than can be accounted for by known sources of measurement uncertainty.
Carbon removal from trenches on EUV reticles

We report on our investigation of dry cleaning of reticles with a microwave induced hydrogen plasma on dummy reticles. The dummy reticles were manufactured with 70 nm ALD grown TaN on a Ru surface and test structures were patterned with lines and spaces ranging between 250 and 400 nm. After processing the test structures were contaminated with e–beam grown carbon and exposed in our plasma facility to remove the carbon with the aid of a hydrogen plasma. Analysis of the samples was performed with SEM/EDX and with SIMS-SPM to verify the complete removal of carbon from the bottom of the trench. Analysis showed that there are small traces of carbon still present on the samples. This can be contributed to contamination which has occurred during transport and storage or that the grown carbon has some edges which are higher due to localized high intensity in the focus of the e-beam.
Tactical and surgical techniques issues in the surgical treatment of incisional hernias

Abstract Within five years, between 2006 and 2011, a total of 368 incisional hernias have been operated in the Surgery Clinic 1, University Emergency Hospital Bucharest. The study followed the morphological and biological parameters, associated pathology, tactics and surgical technique used and postoperative morbidity. The average age of patients was 61.75 years, female sex was predominant (81.25%), and incisional hernias were large and giant in a percentage of 73.37%. Locations were predominantly median (83.42%). Recurrent incisional hernias and multiple relapsed hernias represented 25.54%. Associated pathology was dominated by obesity (51,09%) and cardiovascular disease (37,77%). We have used both methods of tissue procedures (22.83%), and the prosthetic procedures (77.17%). Prosthetic techniques, retro muscle fitting mesh in the rectus abdominis muscle sheath (Rives-Stoppa technique), fitting ov er the fascia and tissue replacement techniques were performed. Immediate postoperative morbidity was represented by seroma (14.13%), prolonged postoperative ileus (8.69%), prolonged hematic drainage (6.52%), and hematoma (1.9%). Late postoperative morbidity was given by granulomas (5.7%) and recurrence of incisional hernias (4.34%). Good and very good results were obtained in the 89.96% of the operated cases.
Left Ventricular Epicardial Electrograms Show Divergent Changes in Action Potential Duration in Responders and Nonresponders to Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy

Background—A consistent feature of electrophysiological remodeling in heart failure is ventricular action potential duration (APD) prolongation. However, the effect of reverse remodeling on APD during cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has not been determined in these patients. We hypothesized (1) that CRT may alter APD and (2) that the effect of CRT on APD may be different in patients who exhibit a good hemodynamic response to CRT compared with those with a poor response. Methods and Results—Left ventricular (LV) activation recovery intervals, as a surrogate for APD, were measured from the LV epicardium in 13 patients at day 0, 6 weeks, and 6 months after CRT implant. Responders to CRT were defined as those demonstrating a ≥15% reduction in LV end-systolic volume at 6 months. The responder group had a significant reduction in LV activation recovery interval (mean, −13±12 ms; median, −16 ms; interquartile range, −2 to −19 ms) during right ventricular pacing at 6 months (P<0.05). Conversely, the nonresponders showed a significant increase in activation recovery interval (mean, +22 ms±16; median, 17 ms; interquartile range, 8 to 35 ms; P<0.05). One patient in each group was on amiodarone. Conclusions—In patients with heart failure, LV epicardial APD (activation recovery interval) altered during CRT. The effect on APD was opposite in patients showing a good hemodynamic response compared with nonresponders. The findings may provide an explanation for the persistent high incidence of arrhythmias in some patients with CRT and the additional mortality benefit observed in responders of CRT.
Ongoing tests and improvements of the MPS algorithm for the automatic crack detection within grey level pavement images

The MPS approach (Minimal Path Selection) has shown in [1] to provide robust and accurate segmentation of cracks within pavement images compared to other algorithms. As a counterpart, MPS suffers from a large computing time. In this paper, we present three different ongoing improvements to reduce the computing time and to improve the overall segmentation performance. Most of the work focuses on the first three steps of the algorithm which achieve the segmentation of the crack skeleton. This is at first the improvement of the MPS methodology under Matlab coding, then, the C language MPS version and finally, the first attempt to parallelize MPS under the GPU platform. The results on pavement images illustrate the achieved improvements in terms of better segmentation and faster computational time.
Novel SNP Discovery in African Buffalo, Syncerus caffer, Using High-Throughput Sequencing

The African buffalo, Syncerus caffer, is one of the most abundant and ecologically important species of megafauna in the savannah ecosystem. It is an important prey species, as well as a host for a vast array of nematodes, pathogens and infectious diseases, such as bovine tuberculosis and corridor disease. Large-scale SNP discovery in this species would greatly facilitate further research into the area of host genetics and disease susceptibility, as well as provide a wealth of sequence information for other conservation and genomics studies. We sequenced pools of Cape buffalo DNA from a total of 9 animals, on an ABI SOLiD4 sequencer. The resulting short reads were mapped to the UMD3.1 Bos taurus genome assembly using both BWA and Bowtie software packages. A mean depth of 2.7× coverage over the mapped regions was obtained. Btau4 gene annotation was added to all SNPs identified within gene regions. Bowtie and BWA identified a maximum of 2,222,665 and 276,847 SNPs within the buffalo respectively, depending on analysis method. A panel of 173 SNPs was validated by fluorescent genotyping in 87 individuals. 27 SNPs failed to amplify, and of the remaining 146 SNPs, 43–54% of the Bowtie SNPs and 57–58% of the BWA SNPs were confirmed as polymorphic. dN/dS ratios found no evidence of positive selection, and although there were genes that appeared to be under negative selection, these were more likely to be slowly evolving house-keeping genes.
Path-dependent kalman estimation of a cepstral bias

An acoustic mismatch between a given utterance and a model degrades the performance of the speech rec ognition process. We choose to model sp eech by Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) in the cepstrum domain and the mismatch by an additive bias. To track the variations of this bias, we explicitly model the way in which the bias can vary by a state equation. We derive a frame-synchronous estimator of this bias based on Kalman recursions. We use this estimator to compensate for the mismatch in the recognition process. Finally, we report recognition experiments carried out over both public switched telephone network (PSTN) and cellular telephone network to show the efficiency of the method in a real context.
Estimated radiation dose associated with cardiac CT angiography.

CONTEXT Cardiac computed tomography (CT) angiography (CCTA) has emerged as a useful diagnostic imaging modality in the assessment of coronary artery disease. However, the potential risks due to exposure to ionizing radiation associated with CCTA have raised concerns. OBJECTIVES To estimate the radiation dose of CCTA in routine clinical practice as well as the association of currently available strategies with dose reduction and to identify the independent factors contributing to radiation dose. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS A cross-sectional, international, multicenter, observational study (50 study sites: 21 university hospitals and 29 community hospitals) of estimated radiation dose in 1965 patients undergoing CCTA between February and December 2007. Linear regression analysis was used to identify independent predictors associated with dose. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Dose-length product (DLP) of CCTA. RESULTS The median DLP of 1965 CCTA examinations performed at 50 study sites was 885 mGy x cm (interquartile range, 568-1259 mGy x cm), which corresponds to an estimated radiation dose of 12 mSv (or 1.2 x the dose of an abdominal CT study or 600 chest x-rays). A high variability in DLP was observed between study sites (range of median DLPs per site, 331-2146 mGy x cm). Independent factors associated with radiation dose were patient weight (relative effect on DLP, 5%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4%-6%), absence of stable sinus rhythm (10%; 95% CI, 2%-19%), scan length (5%; 95% CI, 4%-6%), electrocardiographically controlled tube current modulation (-25%; 95% CI, -23% to -28%; applied in 73% of patients), 100-kV tube voltage (-46%; 95% CI, -42% to -51%; applied in 5% of patients), sequential scanning (-78%; 95% CI, -77% to -79%; applied in 6% of patients), experience in cardiac CT (-1%; 95% CI, -1% to 0%), number of CCTAs per month (0%; 95% CI, 0%-1%), and type of 64-slice CT system (for highest vs lowest dose system, 97%; 95% CI, 88%-106%). Algorithms for dose reduction were not associated with deteriorated diagnostic image quality in this observational study. CONCLUSIONS Median doses of CCTA differ significantly between study sites and CT systems. Effective strategies to reduce radiation dose are available but some strategies are not frequently used. The comparable diagnostic image quality may support an increased use of dose-saving strategies in adequately selected patients.
Quantitative determination of thiols and disulphides in urine by means of Ellman's reagent and thiolated Sephadex and its application in cystinuria.

A method for quantitative determination of thiols and disulphides in urine by means of Ellman's reagent and thiolated Sephadex is described. The method is suitable as a routine method for the detection of cystinuria. The method was used to study the stability of cysteine in human urines at varying pH. In normal humans an increased excretion of thiols at the expense of disulphides was found in the urine at low pH. In order to inhibit spontaneous oxidation of cysteine, patients with cystinuria were given ammonium chloride to acidify the urine or had urine collected from the renal pelvis directly into hydrochloric acid through ureter catheterization. Despite these precautions the concentration of thiols in cystinuric urines was normal, whereas the concentration of disulphides was greatly increased.
Capture region of 3D PPN guidance law for intercepting high speed target

The implementation of a classic three dimensional PPN guidance against a high speed-nonmaneuvering target is analyzed. All the analysis is performed in a line of sight fixed coordinate. By utilizing an auxiliary function inspired from the tangential relative velocity at interception, a necessary and sufficient condition for the airfoil shape capture region for intercepting the target is obtained. In addition, a sufficient condition for the capture region with the finite line of sight turn rate constraint is also presented.
Trabecular Bone Image Segmentation Using Iterative Watershed and Multi Resolution Analysis

Usually, bone fragility risk is related to deteriorations of osseous architecture. However, medical imaging is one of the means to appreciate in vivo bone screen, such as microscopic or micro-tomography images, which is important in the follow up of the osteoporosis. In this paper, a new image segmentation technique of trabecular bone images is introduced. It combines both hierarchical watershed segmentation, wavelet and image mosaic transform. The wavelet transform is applied to the intensity image, to de-noise the image, enhance edges in multiple resolutions, creating detail and approximation coefficients. Gradient magnitudes of the approximation image at the coarsest resolution are computed. The hierarchical watershed and the image mosaic transform are then applied to the approximation image at a given resolution. The segmented image is projected up to higher resolutions using the inverse wavelet transform. This technique provides robust segmentation results for images; reduces the watershed algorithm over-segmentation and results in closed homogeneous regions.
Merge Frame Design for Video Stream Switching Using Piecewise Constant Functions

The ability to efficiently switch from one pre-encoded video stream to another (e.g., for bitrate adaptation or view switching) is important for many interactive streaming applications. Recently, stream-switching mechanisms based on distributed source coding (DSC) have been proposed. In order to reduce the overall transmission rate, these approaches provide a merge mechanism, where information is sent to the decoder, such that the exact same frame can be reconstructed given that any one of a known set of side information (SI) frames is available at the decoder (e.g., each SI frame may correspond to a different stream from which we are switching). However, the use of bit-plane coding and channel coding in many DSC approaches leads to complex coding and decoding. In this paper, we propose an alternative approach for merging multiple SI frames, using a piecewise constant (PWC) function as the merge operator. In our approach, for each block to be reconstructed, a series of parameters of these PWC merge functions are transmitted in order to guarantee identical reconstruction given the known SI blocks. We consider two different scenarios. In the first case, a target frame is first given, and then merge parameters are chosen, so that this frame can be reconstructed exactly at the decoder. In contrast, in the second scenario, the reconstructed frame and the merge parameters are jointly optimized to meet a rate-distortion criteria. Experiments show that for both scenarios, our proposed merge techniques can outperform both a recent approach based on DSC and the SP-frame approach in H.264, in terms of compression efficiency and decoder complexity.
The Genus Corynebacterium and Other Medically Relevant Coryneform-Like Bacteria

ABSTRACT Catalase-positive Gram-positive bacilli, commonly called “diphtheroids” or “coryneform” bacteria were historically nearly always dismissed as contaminants when recovered from patients, but increasingly have been implicated as the cause of significant infections. These taxa have been underreported, and the taxa were taxonomically confusing. The mechanisms of pathogenesis, especially for newly described taxa, were rarely studied. Antibiotic susceptibility data were relatively scant. In this minireview, clinical relevance, phenotypic and genetic identification methods, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight (MALDI-TOF) evaluations, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing involving species in the genus Corynebacterium and other medically relevant Gram-positive rods, collectively called coryneforms, are described.