Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Single‐shot single‐voxel lactate measurements using FOCI‐LASER and a multiple‐quantum filter

Measurement of tissue lactate using 1H MRS is often confounded by overlap with intense lipid signals at 1.3 ppm. Single‐voxel localization using PRESS is also compromised by the large chemical shift displacement between voxels for the 4.1 ppm (–CH) resonance and the 1.3 ppm –CH3 resonance, leading to subvoxels with signals of opposite phase and hence partial signal cancellation. To reduce the chemical shift displacement to negligible proportions, a modified semi‐LASER sequence was written (“FOCI‐LASER”, abbreviated as fLASER) using FOCI pulses to permit high RF bandwidth even with the limited RF amplitude characteristic of clinical MRI scanners. A further modification, MQF‐fLASER, includes a selective multiple‐quantum filter to detect lactate and reject lipid signals.
Effects of Lidocaine and Bupivacaine on Isolated Rabbit Mesenteric Capacitance Veins

Background and Objectives The direct effects of circulating lidocaine and bupivacaine on splanchnic capacitance veins have not been examined previously. This article reports on the effects of clinically relevant concentrations of lidocaine and bupivacaine on adrenergic responsiveness of isolated rabbit mesenteric veins and examines the mechanism of changes. Methods Rings of ileal mesenteric capacitance veins were suspended in tissue baths for isometric tension measurements. Effects of lidocaine and bupivacaine on contractile responses to adrenergic nerve stimulation, exogenous norepinephrine (10−6 M NE), and potassium chloride (80 mM KCl) were examined in endothelium-intact, L-NAME (10−4 M) treated or denuded veins. Results Constriction in response to adrenergic nerve stimulation was attenuated by lidocaine and bupivacaine in a dose-dependent manner, with the potency of bupivacaine being higher than lidocaine. Unstimulated or potassium-constricted veins with and without endothelium were unaffected by lidocaine (0.25-100 μg/mL) and bupivacaine (0.1-100 μg/mL). In veins preconstricted by exogenously administered NE, a cumulative increase of both anesthetics produced no effect at low doses, an augmentation of constriction to NE at 5-20 μg/mL bupivacaine and 20-100 μg/mL lidocaine, and minimal effect at 50-100 μg/mL bupivacaine. These actions persisted in denuded or L-NAME treated veins. Nonincremental delivery of high concentrations of lidocaine or bupivacaine produced relaxation of NE and potassium-constricted rings in the absence and presence of L-NAME. Conclusions Lidocaine and bupivacaine in concentrations typical during uncomplicated regional anesthesia inhibit adrenergic neurotransmission in rabbit mesenteric capacitance veins and produce modest venodilatation. Higher doses, resembling concentrations during accidental intravascular injection, result in substantial loss in vasomotor control of these capacitance vessels, which may contribute to hemodynamic effects.
A Longitudinal Predictive Validity Investigation of the Sb:Fe and K-Abc With At-Risk Children

The predictive validity of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition (SB:FE) and Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) was investigated by testing a sample of African-American and White children from impoverished families over an 8-year period. The cognitive tests were administered at ages 4, 6, and 9, and the Metropolitan Achievement Test was administered each year from kinder garten through sixth grade. Predictive validity coefficients for both tests were moderately strong and quite consistent over time. The cor relations between the cognitive and achieve ment measures were adequate for the youngest group of children and improved when the pre dictors were administered at later ages. The K-ABC Achievement scale was found to be the best predictor of academic achievement, par ticularly for the school-aged children. Each test predicted academic performance of both African-American and White children equally well.
A simple yet effective data integration approach to tree-based microarray data classification

Different biological labs conduct similar experiments on same diseases. It is highly desirable to have a better model based on more experimental results than that on a single result. In this paper, we propose a method for integrating microarray data from multiple sources for building classification models. To test the method, we use three real world microarray data sets from different labs with different experimental devices and environments. Although microarray data is well known for its inconsistencies across labs, we demonstrate that it is possible to build consistent models using data sets from multiple labs. We report our method, experimental results and observations in the paper.
Interpolation of Dwi Prior to Dti Reconstruction, and Its Validation

Introduction: The resolution of diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) is mainly limited by hardware constraints and a negative relationship between image resolution and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Moreover, SNR can only to a limited extent be improved by repeating the measurements. Super-resolution (SR) is a technique that fuses information from a series of interpolated low resolution images to create a single high resolution image. A prerequisite is that the multiple low resolution images contain statistically independent data of the same object, e.g. capture a static object displayed from different spatial viewpoints. Since this is the case for HARDI DWI, we hypothesized that SR can extract anatomical details from HARDI DWI data that are obscured by partial volume effect (PVE) and thus, are currently only visible when DWI is acquired at a higher spatial resolution, from such data sets. In contrast to previous SR methods which are limited to special acquisition sequences 1 or require the introduction of additional complex SR reconstruction methods applied after fibre reconstruction 2,3 , we introduce a simple and general SR framework for HARDI DWI. We propose that by incorporating standard interpolation of the acquired (low resolution) DWI data, and then applying the diffusion tensor model for reconstruction (though any fibre reconstruction method can be used), we are able to significantly increase the spatial resolution of the final image and hereby to visualize more anatomical details. Preliminary results from SR interpolation of low-resolution high-quality ex vivo HARDI DWI datasets acquired on perfusion fixed monkey brain are validated against high resolution acquisitions of the same datasets. Method: Ex vivo imaging of an 82 month healthy perfusion fixed Vervet monkey brain was performed on an experimental 4.7 tesla Varian Inova scanner. Two whole brain DWI datasets were acquired with isotropic voxels of size 0.8 and 0.5 mm respectively (no gap). As a validation golden standard a high-resolution DWI dataset was also acquired, comprising 30 coronal slices partly covering the brain, with in-plane resolution 0.25 x 0.25 mm, slice thickness 0.5 mm and 0.5 mm gap. High SNR was ensured by NEX of 1, 4 and 7, resulting in a final SNR of 52, 48 and 16 respectively. For all datasets: TR=5500 ms, TE=47 ms, 3 x b0 volumes and 61 dw directions. For the ex vivo DWI, the setup of Dyrby et al. (2010) was employed, and from there a b-value of ~4300 s/mm 2 was selected. Conditioned airflow surrounded …
MASON NorthLands : A Geospatial Agent-Based Model of Coupled Human-Artificial-Natural Systems in Boreal and Arctic Regions

Current climate change causes significant biophysical effects in the Northern Hemisphere, especially in the Boreal and Arctic regions. Rising and more variable temperatures, permafrost thawing, and snow loading are major hazards affecting human societies on multiple spatial, temporal, and risk-related scales. The MASON NorthLands computational simulation model is motivated by fundamental science and policy research questions. Preliminary results demonstrate causal processes relating ambient and soil temperature increases to measurable social impacts, mediated by biophysical effects of climate change on the built environment, as in a coupled human-artificial-natural system (CHANS).
Exploring the Caffeine-Induced Teratogenicity on Neurodevelopment Using Early Chick Embryo

Caffeine consumption is worldwide. It has been part of our diet for many centuries; indwelled in our foods, drinks, and medicines. It is often perceived as a “legal drug”, and though it is known to have detrimental effects on our health, more specifically, disrupt the normal fetal development following excessive maternal intake, much ambiguity still surrounds the precise mechanisms and consequences of caffeine-induced toxicity. Here, we employed early chick embryos as a developmental model to assess the effects of caffeine on the development of the fetal nervous system. We found that administration of caffeine led to defective neural tube closures and expression of several abnormal morphological phenotypes, which included thickening of the cephalic mesenchymal tissues and scattering of somites. Immunocytochemistry of caffeine-treated embryos using neural crest cell markers also demonstrated uncharacteristic features; HNK1 labeled migratory crest cells exhibited an incontinuous dorsal-ventral migration trajectory, though Pax7 positive cells of the caffeine-treated groups were comparatively similar to the control. Furthermore, the number of neurons expressing neurofilament and the degree of neuronal branching were both significantly reduced following caffeine administration. The extent of these effects was dose-dependent. In conclusion, caffeine exposure can result in malformations of the neural tube and induce other teratogenic effects on neurodevelopment, although the exact mechanism of these effects requires further investigation.
Trait dominance and cardiovascular reactivity to social and non-social stressors: Gender-specific implications

The present study sought to investigate whether trait dominance exerted different influences on cardiovascular responses to social and nonsocial stressors among men and women. A sample of 39 college men and 41 college women underwent social (speech) and nonsocial (mental arithmetic) tasks, in a counterbalanced order. Cardiovascular reactivity to the tasks, trait dominance, state anxiety following the tasks, coping styles, hostility, and trait anxiety were all assessed, as were ratings of the tasks themselves. The data suggested no impact of trait dominance on the nonsocial stressor. However, for the social stressor, trait dominance was positively associated with cardiovascular reactivity among females but negatively associated among males. Among males, associations with state anxiety were congruent, suggesting that the observed relationships were anxiety-related rather than coping-related. Trait dominance appears to contribute to adaptive male responding to stress and possibly to maladaptive female responding.
Korean Version of the 14-Item Resilience Scale (RS-14) for University Students: A Validity and Reliability Study

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to verify the validity and reliability of a 14-item Resilience Scale (RS-14) by applying it to Korean university students. Methods: The original English version of the RS-14 was translated into Korean, and the Korean version of the RS-14 was confirmed with back-translation. This was a methodological study, and data were collected from 273 students. Principal components factor analysis and Pearson correlation coefficients were used to test validity; Cronbach``s . coefficient was used to test reliability. Results: Factor analysis of 14 items revealed 2 factors with a total variance of 55.43%. The new scale correlated significantly with self-esteem (.48, p<.001) and depression (-.44, p<.001). Cronbach``s coefficient was . 905. Conclusion: The results indicate good validity and reliability for the Korean version of the RS-14. Future studies will need to further test this scale by applying it to different study populations.
Asynchronous Onset of Clinical Disease in BSE-Infected Macaques

To estimate the effect of the variability of prion disease onset on primary bovine spongiform encephalopathy transmission to humans, we studied 6 cynomolgus macaques. The preclinical incubation period was significantly prolonged in 2 animals, implying that onset of variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease in humans could be more diverse than previously expected.
Airflow Resistance of Rough Rice as Affected by Moisture Content, Fines Concentration and Bulk Density

ABSTRACT THE effect of moisture content, fine material con-centration and bulk density on the airflow resistance of long-grain rough rice was determined. Airflow resistance was measured at air velocities ranging from 0.013 to 0.387 m/s, bulk densities from 480 to 604 kg/m^, fines concentrations from 0 to 30% and moisture contents from 12 to 24%. Airflow resistance was accurately described by an empirical equation comprised of these variables with over 99% of the variance in resistance being accounted for by the variables. Inclusion of each variable significantly improved the prediction of airflow resistance. Using an air velocity of 0.10 m/s and typical design conditions of 18% moisture content, bulk density of 577 kg/m^ and clean rice (0% fines concentration) as a base condition, it was found that increasing fines concentration by 1% increased airflow resistance by 0.87%, increasing bulk density by 16 kg/m^ (1 Ib/ft^) increased resistance by 3.37% and increasing moisture content by 1 % decreased resistance by 3.73%.
Real-Time Label-Free Surface Plasmon Resonance Biosensing with Gold Nanohole Arrays Fabricated by Nanoimprint Lithography

In this work we present a surface plasmon resonance sensor based on enhanced optical transmission through sub-wavelength nanohole arrays. This technique is extremely sensitive to changes in the refractive index of the surrounding medium which result in a modulation of the transmitted light. The periodic gold nanohole array sensors were fabricated by high-throughput thermal nanoimprint lithography. Square periodic arrays with sub-wavelength hole diameters were obtained and characterized. Using solutions with known refractive index, the array sensitivities were obtained. Finally, protein absorption was monitored in real-time demonstrating the label-free biosensing capabilities of the fabricated devices.
Effect of the Apolipoprotein E ε4 Allele on the Efficacy and Tolerability of Galantamine in the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease

Objective: To investigate the effect of the apolipoprotein E (ApoE) ε4 allele on the efficacy and tolerability of galantamine treatment. Methods: A total of 202 patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease participated in a 16-week, prospective, multi-center, randomized, double-blind galantamine trial in a Korean population. Patients were assessed at baseline and after 4, 8 and 16 weeks of randomized treatment using the 11-item cognitive subscale of the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS-cog/11), the Clinician’s Interview-Based Impression of Change plus Caregiver Input (CIBIC-plus), the Disability Assessment for Dementia Scale (DAD), the Behavioural Pathology in Alzheimer’s Disease Rating Scale (BEHAVE-AD) and adverse events. ApoE genotypes were determined for all subjects. Results: Of the 202 subjects, 115 carried at least one ApoE ε4 allele and 87 did not. In both ApoE ε4 carriers and ApoE ε4 noncarriers, significant improvements were detected relative to baseline on ADAS-cog/11, CIBIC-plus, DAD and BEHAVE-AD. ApoE ε4 noncarriers showed better improvement in mean total BEHAVE-AD score and mean psychosis (delusions and hallucinations) subscale score than ApoE ε4 carriers. The incidence of weight loss was significantly higher in ApoE ε4 carriers (n = 11; 9.6%) than in ApoE ε4 noncarriers (n = 1; 1.2%) during this 16-week study, even though 92% of patients who complained of weight loss completed this 16-week trial successfully. Conclusion: ApoE ε4 genotype does not affect galantamine-related improvements in cognition, global rating, function and behavior. Longer prospective studies with larger patient populations are required to confirm these new findings.
Money, marriage and the computer

In this paper, I describe how I used the computer to develop a grounded theory of the social meaning of money and information. In doing this, I take up Bryman and Burgesss (1994) challenge for qualitative researchers to articulate as fully as possible the processes associated with data analysis (p. 224). This account is written in the active voice using the personal pronoun, for I am acknowledging agency (Van Maanen, 1979, p. 249) in the transformation of data to theory.
Treatment failure due to methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin

tions. The Hunter Area Toxicology Service (HATS) manages all patients with poisoning in the Newcastle region and is based at the Newcastle Mater Misericordiae Hospital. The limitation of the small sample size in the HATS data was discussed in the article, highlighting the fact that, as this was an opportunistic study, it was not possible to increase the sample size. However, the conclusions drawn were based on two different data sets, with a much larger sample size for the NSW Poisons Information Centre data. Overdose is a significant public health problem that requires appropriate post-marketing vigilance. For drugs that are commonly taken in overdose, it is important to take advantage of opportunities to assess the potential effect of any change in availability.
Recombinant human lactoferrin prevents NSAID‐induced intestinal bleeding in rodents

Recombinant human lactoferrin (RHLF) was tested for its ability to prevent non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drug (NSAID)‐induced intestinal injury in rats and mice. Acute and chronic models using indometacin, naproxen and diclofenac were used. Measurements were made of intestinal bleeding and inflammation. Orally administered RHLF was effective at preventing acute NSAID‐induced increases in gut bleeding and myeloperoxidase activity. Oral RHLF was also effective at blocking some chronic manifestations of indometacin usage. Protection by RHLF of the intestinal tract from NSAIDs appears to be linked to attenuation of neutrophil migration to the intestine, and is independent of prostaglandins and nitric oxide. RHLF does not bind to the NSAID or interfere with the NSAID biological activity. We conclude that orally administered RHLF is effective at preventing NSAID‐induced intestinal injury in rodents and should be investigated for this potential therapeutic use in man.
Domain abstractions in requirements engineering: an exemplar approach?

The authors report an intelligent advisor which helps software engineer to reuse domain abstractions to improve the consistency, completeness, and clarity of requirement specifications. Understanding unfamiliar domain abstractions can be difficult, so partial exposure and visualization of concrete examples and metaphors are proposed to aid comprehension, prior to reuse. These strategies are incorporated into an iterative fact acquisition and domain retrieval dialogue with important implications for fact capture and modeling during requirements engineering. The effectiveness of this paradigm was shown during user studies with a prototype of the intelligent advisor, during which software engineering retrieved and understood correct domain abstractions while analyzing a new domain. <<ETX>>
The role of dynamic programming & control structures in performance

Dynamic programming is used infrequently by APL programmers, in spite of its ability to reduce the computational effort required to solve many problems. This paper uses the String Shuffle problem as the basis for a comparison of brute force, recursive, and dynamic programming algorithms. Simple algorithms for each of these approaches are designed and evaluated, then individually optimized and re-evaluated, to show the benefits of dynamic programming. The dynamic programming algorithm is then recast to use flow control structures recently introduced into ISI J and APL*PLUS III. Use of control structures in conjunction with dynamic programming results in orders of magnitude performance improvement over brute force and naive recursive algorithms. APL*PLUS III control structures are shown to provide a performance improvement of up to 30% over GOTO-based loops.
Managing the accompaniment to change using ict and experiential training: R&D Context

This paper intends to demonstrate how it is possible to use ICT for education purpose and in particular, to realize a change accompaniment within the framework of the professional activity of R&D. This context is strongly marked by an evolution of the individual activity and team management towards participative, collaborative and partner processes often driven or realized in a project management system such as CSCW platform. This article identifies the new skills which must be improved by the various actors of an innovative project, in order to ensure both the evolution of the individual and the organization. It then presents in which ways experiential learning strategies can be used in this context. Indeed, by observing cognitive mechanisms and social interactions in knowledge construction, we propose an ICT (Information and Communication Technology) platform for long life change management, which combines e-assistance and work practice activities. The piloting of activities, organized by the project manager and a virtual coach integrated into the platform, is made possible thanks to knowledge modeling presenting R&D project managerial expertise related to different actors profiles and skills. This knowledge and skill modeling is made by using MOT and UML. It aims to ensure distant supervision and assistance of individual learning, project progress and organizational learning.
The minimum distance of codes in an array coming from telescopic semigroups

The concept of an error-correcting array gives a new bound on the minimum distance of linear codes and a decoding algorithm which decodes up to half this bound. This gives a unified point of view which explains several improvements on the minimum distance of algebraic-geometric codes. Moreover, it is explained in terms of linear algebra and the theory of semigroups only.
Improved Nyström low-rank approximation and error analysis

Low-rank matrix approximation is an effective tool in alleviating the memory and computational burdens of kernel methods and sampling, as the mainstream of such algorithms, has drawn considerable attention in both theory and practice. This paper presents detailed studies on the Nyström sampling scheme and in particular, an error analysis that directly relates the Nyström approximation quality with the encoding powers of the landmark points in summarizing the data. The resultant error bound suggests a simple and efficient sampling scheme, the k-means clustering algorithm, for Nyström low-rank approximation. We compare it with state-of-the-art approaches that range from greedy schemes to probabilistic sampling. Our algorithm achieves significant performance gains in a number of supervised/unsupervised learning tasks including kernel PCA and least squares SVM.