Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Test-Retest and Interreader Reproducibility of Semiautomated Atlas-Based Analysis of Diffusion Tensor Imaging Data in Acute Cervical Spine Trauma in Adult Patients

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: DTI is a tool for microstructural spinal cord injury evaluation. This study evaluated the reproducibility of a semiautomated segmentation algorithm of spinal cord DTI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-two consecutive patients undergoing acute trauma cervical spine MR imaging underwent 2 axial DTI scans in addition to their clinical scan. The datasets were put through a semiautomated probabilistic segmentation algorithm that selected white matter, gray matter, and 24 individual white matter tracts. Regional and white matter tract volume, fractional anisotropy, and mean diffusivity values were calculated. Two readers performed the nonautomated steps to evaluate interreader reproducibility. The coefficient of variation and intraclass correlation coefficient were used to assess test-retest and interreader reproducibility. RESULTS: Of 42 patients, 30 had useable data. Test-retest reproducibility of fractional anisotropy was high for white matter as a whole (coefficient of variation, 3.8%; intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.93). Test-retest coefficient-of-variation ranged from 8.0%–18.2% and intraclass correlation coefficients from 0.47–0.80 across individual white matter tracts. Mean diffusivity metrics also had high test-retest reproducibility (white matter: coefficient-of-variation, 5.6%; intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.86) with coefficients of variation from 11.6%–18.3% and intraclass correlation coefficients from 0.57–0.74 across individual tracts, with better agreement for larger tracts. The coefficients of variation of fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity both had significant negative relationships with white matter volume (26%–27% decrease for each doubling of white matter volume, P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: DTI spinal cord segmentation is reproducible in the setting of acute spine trauma, specifically for larger white matter tracts and total white or gray matter.
[Isolated tricuspid endocarditis. Apropos of a case caused by Streptococcus D bovis and faecalis occurring after coloscopy].

A 59-year-old chronic alcoholic male, with no cardiac past history, was hospitalised with septicemia 5 months after the endoscopic removal of 2 benign intestinal polyps. The diagnosis of tricuspid endocarditis was possible only 2 months later on the basis of echocardiography requested because of the onset of a tricuspid systolic murmur. Blood cultures revealed the presence in succession of streptococcus D fecalis then bovis. Antibiotics, changed several times because of the onset of complications (allergy, agranulocytosis), failed to deal with the problem of infection as shown by the development of several septic pulmonary emboli which finally resulted in total tricuspidectomy with neither immediate nor secondary valve replacement. The authors use this clinical case to review the characteristics of tricuspid endocarditis, the incidence of which is on the increase in certain etiological contexts (staphylococcal endocarditis in drug addicts or secondary to central vascular lines). They stress that the clinical picture is often confusing since the murmur of tricuspid incompetence is absent in 2/3 of cases. Echocardiography must therefore be requested routinely in all septicemias, thus enabling earlier diagnosis and assessment of the risk of pulmonary embolism (risk if vegetation greater than 10 mm). The nature of the organism responsible may be suggestive of certain etiologies. Thus malignant disease of the colon should be sought if the bacterium is a streptococcus D bovis. Apart from antibiotics, treatment must include effective anticoagulation to decrease the risk of embolic recurrence. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Pattern based fact extraction from Estonian texts Master ’ s Thesis

ion level fp-rate fn-rate fp-rate treshold Figure 3.2: The generalization steps when mining fp-safe patterns with Algorithm 1. Blue dots represent maximal patterns, gray dots are infrequent (too generic) patterns, white dots are frequent, but not maximal patterns. Arrows depict the generalization DAG of the seed patterns, where solid ones show the actual search tree and dashed ones the edges that will not be traversed. consider only closed patterns: Cfp(τ) = Pfp(τ) \ {p : ∃q p : fp(q) = fp(p)} , (3.7) Cfn(τ) = Pfn(τ) \ {p : ∃q ≺ p : tp(q) = tp(p)} . (3.8) Of course, the claim is true only if we indeed have completely labeled corpus. Otherwise, we can only approximate fp(p) and tp(p) and thus closed patterns under incomplete labeling do not correspond to closed patterns under complete labeling. 3.2 Algorithm for finding fp-safe patterns To traverse all fp-safe patterns we have to start from a list of seed patterns and then traverse the lattice of all patterns by generalizing patterns until the rate of false positives goes over the threshold τ . To evaluate fp measure, we have to fix a corpus consisting of negative examples—set of sentences that do not encode the relation we seek. As a first approximation, we can take a
Regional real exchange rates and Phillips curves in monetary unions - Evidence from the US and EMU

We study price level convergence within the US and EMU, using panel estimates of regional Phillips curves of the hybrid New-Keynesian type. The estimated half lives of deviations from trend PPP are around three years for US regions and two years for euro area countries. The start of EMU had no noticeable influence on PPP convergence in the euro area. Where nominal exchange rates accounted for the bulk of the adjustment process before 1999, this role was taken over by relative prices thereafter. Notwithstanding clear evidence of forward-lookingness, inflation persistence is substantial in both monetary unions, especially in the US.
Functional Characterization of 5-HT1B Receptor Drugs in Nonhuman Primates Using Simultaneous PET-MR

In the present study, we used a simultaneous PET-MR experimental design to investigate the effects of functionally different compounds (agonist, partial agonist, and antagonist) on 5-HT1B receptor (5-HT1BR) occupancy and the associated hemodynamic responses. In anesthetized male nonhuman primates (n = 3), we used positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with the radioligand [11C]AZ10419369 administered as a bolus followed by constant infusion to measure changes in 5-HT1BR occupancy. Simultaneously, we measured changes in cerebral blood volume (CBV) as a proxy of drug effects on neuronal activity. The 5-HT1BR partial agonist AZ10419369 elicited a dose-dependent biphasic hemodynamic response that was related to the 5-HT1BR occupancy. The magnitude of the response was spatially overlapping with high cerebral 5-HT1BR densities. High doses of AZ10419369 exerted an extracranial tissue vasoconstriction that was comparable to the less blood–brain barrier-permeable 5-HT1BR agonist sumatriptan. By contrast, injection of the antagonist GR127935 did not elicit significant hemodynamic responses, even at a 5-HT1BR cerebral occupancy similar to the one obtained with a high dose of AZ10419369. Given the knowledge we have of the 5-HT1BR and its function and distribution in the brain, the hemodynamic response informs us about the functionality of the given drug: changes in CBV are only produced when the receptor is stimulated by the partial agonist AZ10419369 and not by the antagonist GR127935, consistent with low basal occupancy by endogenous serotonin. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT We here show that combined simultaneous positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging uniquely enables the assessment of CNS active compounds. We conducted a series of pharmacological interventions to interrogate 5-HT1B receptor binding and function and determined blood–brain barrier passage of drugs and demonstrate target involvement. Importantly, we show how the spatial and temporal effects on brain hemodynamics provide information about pharmacologically driven downstream CNS drug effects; the brain hemodynamic response shows characteristic dose-related effects that differ depending on agonistic or antagonistic drug characteristics and on local 5-HT1B receptor density. The technique lends itself to a comprehensive in vivo investigation and understanding of drugs' effects in the brain.
Regulation of Nitrogen Mustard‐Induced Lung Macrophage Activation by Valproic Acid, a Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor

&NA; Nitrogen mustard (NM)‐induced lung injury is associated with an accumulation of proinflammatory/cytotoxic M1 and antiinflammatory/wound repair M2 macrophages, which have been implicated in tissue injury and repair. Herein, we analyzed the effects of valproic acid (VPA), a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor with antiinflammatory and antioxidant activity, on lung macrophages responding to NM. Treatment of rats with NM (0.125 mg/kg, i.t.) resulted in structural alterations in the lung and a macrophage‐rich inflammatory cell infiltrate, at 3 d and 7 d. This was accompanied by expression of PCNA, a marker of proliferation, and CYPb5, HO‐1, and MnSOD, markers of oxidative stress. Administration of VPA (300 mg/kg/day; i.p.), beginning 30 min after NM, reduced increases in PCNA, CYPb5, HO‐1, and MnSOD. This was associated with increases in immature CD11b+CD43+ M1 macrophages in the lung, and decreases in mature CD11b+CD43− M2 macrophages 3 d post NM, suggesting delayed maturation and phenotypic switching. VPA also attenuated NM‐induced increases in lung iNOS+ and CCR2+ M1 macrophages, a response correlated with downregulation of NOS2, IL12B, PTGS2, MMP‐9, and CCR2 expression. Conversely, numbers of CD68+, CD163+, and ATR‐1&agr;+ M2 macrophages increased after VPA, along with the expression of IL10, ApoE, and ATR‐1A. NM exposure resulted in increased HDAC activity and upregulation of HDAC2 and acetylated H3K9 in the lung. Whereas VPA blunted the effects of NM on HDAC2 expression, histone H3K9 acetylation increased. These data suggest that alterations in the balance between histone acetylases and deacetylases contribute to lung macrophage maturation and activation following NM exposure.
Carbon-Based Nanomaterials Functionalized with Ionic Liquids for Microextraction in Sample Preparation

A large number of carbon-based nanomaterials has been investigated as sorbents in sample preparation, including fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, nanofibers, nanohorns and graphene, as well as their functionalized forms. Taking into account their properties, carbon-based nanomaterials have found a wide range of applications in different sample preparation techniques. Ionic liquids, as an alternative to environmentally-harmful ordinary organic solvents, have attracted extensive attention and gained popularity in analytical chemistry covering different fields like chromatography, electrochemistry and (micro)extraction. Some of the properties of ionic liquids, including polarity, hydrophobicity and viscosity, can be tuned by the proper selection of the building cations and anions. Their tunable nature allows the synthesis of tailor-made solvents for different applications. This review provides a snapshot of the most important features and applications of different carbon-based nanomaterials functionalized with ionic liquids for sample preparation. Emphasis is placed on the description of the different works that have provided interesting results for the use of graphene and carbon nanotubes, in this analytical field.
From Pathology to Politics: Public Health in America

Why the almost daily announcements of new public health threats and proclamations of impending crises? Bennett and DiLorenzo begin by examining the public health bureaucracy, its preoccupation with expanding governmental programs, and its concern with political issues that too often have little to do with improving public health. Then they trace the evolution of the American public health movement from its founding after the Civil War to the 1950s. They describe the transformation of public health's focus from the eradication of disease to social policy as a by-product of the 1960s. Bennett and DiLorenzo include case studies of the politicization of the public health movement in America. The authors reveal methods of statistical manipulation that certain public health researchers use to achieve politically correct results. A final chapter discusses the implications of the transformation of public health from pathology to politics.This vigorously argued analysis sees the public health movement as claiming expertise on virtually every social issue, from poverty to human rights. Students of public policy and public health officials, along with readers interested in public health issues, will find this absorbing reading.
Polynucleotide Sequence Divergence Among Strains of Escherichia coli and Closely Related Organisms

Polynucleotide sequence similarity tests were carried out to determine the extent of divergence present in a number of Escherichia coli strains, obtained from diverse human, animal, and laboratory sources, and closely related strains of Shigella, Salmonella, and the Alkalescens-Dispar group. At 60 C, relative reassociation of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from the various strains with E. coli K-12 DNA ranged from 100 to 36%, with the highest level of reassociation found for three strains derived from K-12, and the lowest levels for two “atypical” E. coli strains and S. typhimurium. The change in thermal elution midpoint, which indicates the stability of DNA duplexes, ranged from 0.1 to 14.5 C, with thermal stability closely following the reassociation data. Reassociation experiments performed at 75 C, at which temperature only the more closely related DNA species form stable duplexes, gave similar indications of relatedness. At both temperatures, Alkalescens-Dispar strains showed close relatedness to E. coli, supporting the idea that they should be included in the genus Escherichia. Reciprocal binding experiments with E. coli BB, 02A, and K-12 yielded different reassociation values, suggesting that the genomes of these strains are of different size. The BB genome was calculated to be 9% larger than that of K-12, and that of 02A 9% larger than that of BB. Calculation of genome size for a series of E. coli strains yielded values ranging from 2.29 × 109 to 2.97 × 109 daltons. E. coli strains and closely related organisms were compared by Adansonian analysis for their relatedness to a hypothetical median strain. E. coli 0128a was the most closely related to this median organism. In general, these data compared well with the data from reassociation experiments among E. coli strains. However, anomalous results were obtained in the cases of Shigella flexneri, S. typhimurium, and “atypical” E. coli strains.
Broncholaveolar lavage to detect cytomegalovirus infection, latency, and reactivation in immune competent hosts

Roughly 1/3rd of immune competent patients will reactivate latent cytomegalovirus (CMV) during critical illness. There are no standard methods to detect reactivation, and some investigators have postulated that presence of DNA in BAL fluid is indicative of viral replication. To test this hypothesis, we used a murine model that allows inclusion of matched healthy controls which is not possible in human studies. BALB/c mice infected with Smith‐murine CMV or PBS (mock) had BAL evaluated 7, 14, or 21 days after acute infections, during latency, or during bacterial sepsis. Plaque assay, PCR, and rtPCR were performed on BALs and concomitantly obtained lung tissue. BAL cellular compositions, including tetramer evaluation of CMV‐specific T cells were evaluated by flow cytometry. CMV DNA were detected in BAL at all time‐points during acute infection, becoming undetectable in all mice during latency, then were detected again during bacterial sepsis, peaking 3 weeks after onset. mCMV specific T‐cells were most numerous in BAL after acute viral infections, decreasing to low levels during latency, then fluctuating during bacterial sepsis. Specifically, mCMV‐specific T‐cells contracted at sepsis onset, expanding 2–4 weeks post‐sepsis, presumably in response to increased viral loads at that time point. Altogether, our results support the use of BAL PCR for the diagnosis of CMV replication in immune competent hosts. Additionally, we demonstrate dynamic changes in CMV‐specific T cells that occur in BAL during CMV infection and during sepsis induced viral reactivation. J. Med. Virol. 88:1408–1416, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Money Demand: Cash-in-Advance Meets Shopping Time

The paper presents a theory of the demand for money that combines a special case of the shopping time exchange economy with the cash-in-advance framework. The model predicts that both higher inflation and financial innovation - that reduces the cost of credit - induces agents to substitute away from money towards exchange credit. This results in an interest elasticity of money that rises with the inflation rate rather than the constant elasticity found in standard shopping time specifications. A number of the key predictions of the banking time theory are tested using quarterly data for the US and Australia. We find empirical support for some aspects of the model.
Analysis and Quantitation of NF-κB Nuclear Translocation in Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha (TNF-α) Activated Vascular Endothelial Cells

Nuclear factor–kappa B (NF-κB) is a heterodimeric transcription factor typically composed of p50 and p65 subunits and is a pleiotropic regulator of various inflammatory and immune responses. In quiescent cells, p50/p65 dimers are sequestered in the cytoplasm bound to its inhibitors, the I-κBs, which prevent entry into the nucleus. Following cellular stimulation, the I-κBs are rapidly degraded, activating NF-κB. The active form of NF-κB rapidly translocates into the nucleus, binding to consensus sequences in the promoter/enhancer region of various genes, promoting their transcription. In human vascular endothelial cells activated with tumor necrosis factor-alpha, the activation and translocation of NF-κB is rapid, reaching maximal nuclear localization by 30 min. In this study, the appearance of NF-κB (p65 subunit, p65-NF-κB) in the nucleus visualized by immunofluorescence and quantified by morphometric image analysis (integrated optical density, IOD) is compared to the appearance of activated p65-NF-κB protein in the nucleus determined biochemically. The appearance of p65-NF-κB in the nucleus measured by fluorescence image analysis and biochemically express a linear correlation (R2 = 0.9477). These data suggest that localization and relative protein concentrations of NF-κB can be reliably determined from IOD measurements of the immunofluorescent labeled protein.
Evaluation of the hepatotoxic potential of minocycline

Minocycline (25 to 100 micrograms/g) dose dependently increased serum glutamic oxalacetic transaminase, urea, and bilirubin levels, and the hepatic triglyceride content in mice. In animals pretreated with phenobarbital to enhance minocycline metabolism, the effects on liver triglycerides were attenuated, while the changes in serum glutamic oxalacetic transaminase, urea, and bilirubin were enhanced. It is concluded that part of the toxic effects of minocycline may be produced by a metabolite of minocycline.
Contribution of Spectrotemporal Features on Auditory Event-Related Potentials Elicited by Consonant-Vowel Syllables

Objective: To determine the influence of spectrotemporal properties of naturally produced consonant-vowel syllables to speech-evoked auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) for stimuli with very similar or even identical wide-band envelopes. Speech-evoked ERPs may be useful for validating the neural representation of speech. Design: Speech-evoked ERPs were obtained from 10 normal-hearing young adults in response to the syllables /da/ and /ta/. Both monosyllables were obtained from ongoing speech. They have quite similar wide-band envelopes, and they mainly differ in the spectrotemporal content of the consonant parts. Additionally, each stimulus derivatives were investigated with (1) isolated consonant part (“consonant stimulus”), (2) isolated vowel part (“vowel stimulus”), and (3) removed spectral information but identical wide-band envelope. Latencies and amplitudes of the N1 and P2 components were determined and analyzed. Results: ERPs in response to the naturally produced /ta/ syllable had significant shorter N1 and P2 latencies and larger amplitudes than ERPs in response to /da/. Similar differences were observed for the ERPs evoked by the consonant stimuli alone. For the vowel stimuli and stimuli with removed spectral information, no significant differences were observed. In summary, differences between the ERPs of /da/ and /ta/ corresponded to the distinct spectrotemporal content in the consonant parts of the original consonant-vowel (CV) syllables. Conclusions: The study shows that even small differences in spectrotemporal features of speech may evoke different ERPs, despite very similar or even identical wide-band envelopes. The results are consistent with a model that ERPs evoked by short CVs are an onset response to the consonant merged with an acoustic change complex evoked by the vowel part. However, all components appear as one P1-N1-P2 complex. The results may be explained by differences in the narrow-band envelopes of the stimuli. Therefore, this study underlines the limitations of the wide-band envelope in explaining speech-evoked ERPs. Additionally, the results of this study are of special interest for clinical application since some of the ERP parameter differences, as the N1 latency, are present not only in the ERPs of each single subject but also in the group mean value of all N1 latencies. Thus, presented ERP measurements in response to CVs might be used for identification of potential problems in phoneme differentiation caused by spectrotemporal analysis problems.
Task Demands Determine Comparison Strategy in Whole Probe Change Detection

Detecting a change in our visual world requires a process that compares the external environment (test display) with the contents of memory (study display). We addressed the question of whether people strategically adapt the comparison process in response to different decision loads. Study displays of 3 colored items were presented, followed by ‘whole-display’ probes containing 3 colored shapes. Participants were asked to decide whether any probed items contained a new feature. In Experiments 1–4, irrelevant changes to the probed item’s locations or feature bindings influenced memory performance, suggesting that participants employed a comparison process that relied on spatial locations. This finding occurred irrespective of whether participants were asked to decide about the whole display, or only a single cued item within the display. In Experiment 5, when the base-rate of changes in the nonprobed items increased (increasing the incentive to use the cue effectively), participants were not influenced by irrelevant changes in location or feature bindings. In addition, we observed individual differences in the use of spatial cues. These results suggest that participants can flexibly switch between spatial and nonspatial comparison strategies, depending on interactions between individual differences and task demand factors. These findings have implications for models of visual working memory that assume that the comparison between study and test obligatorily relies on accessing visual features via their binding to location.
Efficient Walking Control of Robot with Torso Based on Passive Dynamic Walking

This paper studies a biped walking robot with torso based on virtual passive dynamic walking. First we realize a walking motion on a slope using input to the torso where the desired angle to the torso is synchronized to the angle between foots. Secondly we introduce criterion functions for the motion and make the walking motion more efficient by adjusting the control parameters. Finally we compare the efficiency of proposed system with conventional methods.